Be My Eternity

by Naughty Tome

Eternity is both a curse and a blessing. It was a hard path to walk into, and she knows she has to endure any hardships that comes with it. But at least she doesn't have to walk that path alone.

4. Chapter 4

At last, after five months, this story is finally finished! I'm sorry for those who are waiting for this chapter to come, I was being hospitalized, so the majority of time I spent on writing this chapter was only using my left hand.

---

The resistance army gasped when the strange black smoke reappear, the same black smoke that engulfed Lumine with no one unable to react fast enough to save her from the hands of the Raiden Shogun that snatched her away.

Emerging from the black smoke, the Electro Archon of Inazuma looked down towards the Sangonomiya resistance, her eyes is still the cold, uncaring, and emotionless gaze she was known for.

Seeing the opportunity, the general of the army, Gorou, commanded his subordinates to attack.

"Charge!" The brunette shouted, and the army behind him followed his order, running towards the Shogun with their spears pointing towards the Goddess of thunder.

The Shogun merely sigh, unamused. Before their weapons could even touch her, a lightning strike the ground, creating a shockwave that pushed everyone backwards.

Among them, Kazuha plunges his sword into the ground in order to stop his body from getting pushed away. Looking up, he readied his sword again and coated it with Anemo energy to prepare for an attack. But that's when he realize something terrible.

Resting on the arms of the Raiden Shogun is an unconscious Lumine, the distant Traveler that he befriended during his trip back to Inazuma. Even from a few meters away, he could see the torn parts of her clothes, and the multiple cuts and bruises on her exposed skin. There's no doubt that the Shogun did this to her.

"Oh no, Lumine!" Kazuha shouted in shock. Paimon who also saw the terrifying sight began to panic, but her fear of the Raiden Shogun prevent her from doing anything.

"What did she do to her?" Gorou who was beside Kazuha also didn't know what to do, they are so close in getting rid of their main target in the war, and yet, sacrificing the life of a comrade is something that he's not a fan of.

The resistance didn't know what to do, they either can attack the Shogun now at the cost of Lumine's life, or they can retreat for now and think of a way to rescue Lumine later.

The conflicting choices of action cause them to stand still for now and keep their guard up in case if the Shogun is going to attack for the second time.

Seeing the tense atmosphere within the army, the Shogun close her eyes.

"Listen to me, the resistance army of Watatsumi Island." The Shogun spoke up, her voice loudly rang in the air making sure that everyone in front of her can hear it clearly.

"Drop your weapons and listen to what I'm about to say."

When nobody drop their weapons like she told them to, the Archon sighed again, deciding that she was fine with it since no one would dare to attack her when they see Lumine is cradled in her arms anyway.

"This girl right here..." She gestured to the unconscious Lumine in her arms. "She has beaten me in a fair duel inside my personal realm. And her aspirations along with all of you has proven me that perhaps it was wrong for me to judge you without a proper close inspection." Taking a deep breath, the Electro Archon open her eyes and looked down towards the humans in front of her with a stern and serious look.

"Therefore, in order to honor her request after finally beating me. From now on, I declare that the Vision Hunt Decree has been abolished!"

Everyone gasped in surprise and disbelief, Kazuha and Gorou widened their eyes and dropped their jaws, Paimon stop panicking for a second before start yelling in disbelief that her dear friend has been successfully defeated a god in a one-on-one battle.

"You're... You're kidding right?!" Gorou yelled, completely baffled at the information.

Kazuha didn't say anything but to stare at Lumine in surprise. Not long after, Paimon's disbelief turn into joy, and the little pixie happily doing summersault in the air while cheering for her friend.

"Way to go, Lumi!" Paimon screamed out loud while nodding her head.

Descending the stairs, the Raiden Shogun glance around the army, looking at each individual one by one, until her eyes landed on Kazuha.

"You, You there." The Electro Archon gestured him to get closer, and the white haired boy hesitantly do so. "Take this girl and make sure she have a rest she deserve." Extending her arms, the Shogun hand over Lumine to Kazuha, the boy carefully wrapped her in his arms, making sure she was in a comfortable position.

With that said and done, the Raiden Shogun sighed, turning around and prepared to go back into her palace.

"For the rest of you. Go back to your island and spread the news. With the decree being repealed, the war between the Shogunate and Sangonomiya shall end here as well. Be sure to tell that to your Divine Priestess." The Shogun said before walking away.

Before she get far, Gorou stand up and speak up. "But wait! What about all the Visions that has been stolen?"

"The Tenryou Commission will make sure they return all the stolen Visions back to their rightful owners. For those of you who had lost their Visions, make sure you come to the Omnipresent God Statue by tomorrow at noon." The goddess of thunder explained, not even turning around to look at them anymore.

After the goddess leave them, the crowd all murmurs at each other. Some of them are still in shock at their apparent victory and need time to process the information, while some of them cheers at Lumine for her bravery and for saving them from yet again another crisis.

Gorou with the rest of the army eventually departs for Watatsumi Island to inform Kokomi with the good news. Meanwhile, Kazuha carried Lumine to the Kamisato estate, a place where she could rest, according to Paimon.

While waiting for Paimon to bring Ayaka and Thoma out of the mansion. Kazuha stayed outside, Lumine in his arms stirred awake for a moment, cracking an eye open to see his brother -or rather, someone with a face similar to him- above her and carrying her in his arms.

"Ka... Kazuha?" Lumine questioned the boy, blinking her blurry eyes.

"Lumine? You're okay?"

Lumine grumbled, looking around to find out where she was. "What happened?"

"You did it Lumine. The Vision Hunt Decree has been abolished." The boy said with a gentle smile on his face.

The memories of her battle against the Raiden Shogun inside her plane of Euthymia slowly enters her head, and Lumine smiled at him in return.

"We did it." She smiled, before sleepiness slowly took over her mind again and she fell asleep once more.

Shortly after, Thoma and Ayaka came rushing out of the mansion with a concerned expression on their faces.

---

It has been two weeks after the Vision Hunt Decree has been repealed. All the ninety nine Visions that had been embedded to the Omnipresent God Statue had been returned to their respective owner.

After that, Inazuma returned back into the state that it was two years ago. There wasn't much of a difference, except for the fact that the people are happier than before.

After she recovered, Kujou Sara with the help of the Yashiro Commission had conducted a search for all Inazuman politicians, in hopes of finding every single one of them that had been colluding with the Fatui, and thus partly responsible for the Vision Hunt Decree.

The result was rather... totally expected. Many of the politicians were captured and imprisoned after the investigation was over, among them are Hiiragi Shinsuke, the old man Lumine met in Ritou who was the commissioner of the Kanjou Commission that got persuaded by Signora to prevent Lumine to get out of Ritou at all cost, and Kujou Takayuki, the Tenryou Commission commissioner and also Sara's own adoptive father.

Currently having no opposition against the Raiden Shogun anymore. The war between Watatsumi Island and the Inazuma Shogunate also came into a close, giving both parties the peace they seek and deserved despite of the heavy casualties they received during the war times, especially for Sangonomiya.

After abolishing the Visin Hunt Decree, Ei has returned to her eternal meditation whitin the Plane of Euthymia in pursuit of eternity like she always do for past 500 years.

Or at least, trying to...

After her defeat at the hands of Lumine, and then debating about eternity with both the Traveler and her old friend Miko, Ei has now found herself doubting the very beliefs she had followed ever since the day she took Makoto's place as the Raiden Shogun of Inazuma.

What does it means for a nation to attain eternity?

What does it means for mortals to 'surpass the gods' expectations?

These questions has been stuck inside of Ei's mind for the past two weeks, which is equal to several centuries inside her personal realm due to the different flow of time.

But no matter how much time has passed in both sides, Ei cannot come up with any answer for both questions, and mentally debating with herself doesn't do any good either.

How much time will it take for her to finally think of an answer? How long will she continue to disable some of the puppet Shogun's functions because of this? How will the people of Inazuma will react when their Archon would simply just sit in her throne and not doing anything for potentially the next hundreds or thousands years to come? Surely chaos would stir amongst them, and Ei would hate it if her people are worried about her without knowing what's even happening inside her mind, meaning that she couldn't keep this up forever. But what should she do?

Trying to rummaging trhough her mind again, Ei's thoughts drifted back to days before the destruction of Khaenri'ah, when Makoto was still the true Raiden Shogun of Inazuma, while Ei was her Kagemusha who defended the nation of transience from the varios threats around it.

Remembering those days, she think about how Makoto was as a ruler, how the people love and adore her while simultaneously fear and respected her power which in truth was Ei posing as her older sister while on the battlefield.

When Makoto perished along with the godless nation, Khaenri'ah, Ei took over and change Makoto's ideals of transience into eternity. And thus, people's opinions on the Raiden Shogun also changed drastically.

The love and respect they had towards the Electro Archon has mostly faded away, and now the only prominent feelings they have is fear for her judgment towards those who committed disturbance for the eternity she earnestly endeavours.

Even back when she was alive, Ei hardly knows what Makoto is trying to pursue with her ideals of transience, and Ei also doesn't care that much since leading a nation is not her speciality either, but now that she was, Ei found herself regretted for never asking Makoto about it.

Finding no answer in remembering Makoto's past, Ei choose to remember her own past instead. Ei remembers the time when she was surrounded by friends. Familiar faces like Saiguu and Chiyo enters her mind as she tried to think of what will the two tell her of they are still alive and standing besides her right now.

It's obvious that Saiguu would say that memories are what truly eternal in this world, even a long dead person would continue exist as memories as long as there's someone who remembers them. As for Chiyo though, Ei has a lot of difficulties to think of what the girl would say about eternity, but she'll figure it out eventually. With the two out of the way, the last person she could think of would be...

"Lumine." Ei's eyes opened as the image of her blonde haired (friend?) entered her mind.

It has been only two weeks ever since she came to learn that the blonde haired Traveler is not a trick that Celestia used in order to lure her out, but was instead her dear old friend that Ei had thought abandoned her during the Cataclysm, but turns out Lumine was also another victim of the Throne of the Gods in the skies, and her encounter with one of them had resulted with her losing a part of her memories that conveniently made her forget about Ei, Makoto, and their friends.

While thinking about what path she should take to continue pursuing eternity without harming her people, a part of Ei's mind couldn't stop thinking about Lumine.

She's really happy to see her again, and she desired to hang out with her again just like in the good old times, and try to catch up with each other by telling stories while sitting atop mount Yougou with a picnic may and a basket of wine and desserts.

Oh, just how much she longed to experience something that just like those days again.

But in the other side, Ei hesitated to do anything.

Lumine had forgotten about her, the blonde girl didn't even remember that she had visited Inazuma before. Miko said that Ei should leave her alone for the time being, allowing Lumine to fully adapt with the current Inazuma first before doing anything to help her regain her memories.

But no matter how much Ei tried to hold back, her desire to be with Lumine is far stronger than that.

She recalled the time she spent with the blonde girl all those years ago. Every morning, Ei would wake up at the sight of Lumine peacefully sleeping in her futon not far from Ei. Her sleeping face is so cute, especially because of her chubby cheeks that makes her looked like a hamster or a shiba inu. Often times, Ei would also unintentionally woke up with Lumine wrapped in her arms and their bodies pressed together, with the blonde girl loudly telling Ei to let her go while struggling to get out of the woman's clutches.

In the noon, Lumine will spar with Ei to help the woman improve her martial arts, the two would do that until they were covered in sweats and their energies were completely spent. Makoto would then approached the two and praises them for their hardwork, with the still small Yae resting in her arms.

In the afternoon, the twin sisters would sit around the table of the living room as Lumine was busy in the kitchen making desserts for the two. Apparently, Lumine is a really great chef, and many times she had presented the two sisters with several specialities from different worlds she came across into during her travels, including her own home world.

In the evening, Lumine would take a stroll around the streets of Inazuma city, enjoying the beauty the city has to offer during the night time. But there's also a time when she is decided to go to other places such as Chinju forest or Grand Narukami Shrine where she asked for Ei to accompany her.

And after all that, the two then returned to the Tenshukaku to sleep. And their activities for the day would restart again on the next morning.

Ei stared into the distance of her personal realm. Sighing, she finally made her choice.

It's been so long since she come out of the Plane of Euthymia, she doesn't know what the outside world beyond Narukami island looks like, but she doesn't care because her sole focus is only on Lumine and nothing else.

---

"So what are you planning to do now, Lumi? Wanna go back to Mondstadt and pay Amber a visit? Paimon missed Sara's sticky honey roast."

Glancing at the emergency food beside her, Lumine gives Paimon an unamused frown, mentally face palming herself.

"Paimon, you just ate a whole sweet madame all by yourself this morning, and that was three hours ago. Aren't you concerned about getting fat if you keep this up?" Lumine asked, staring at the little pixie with her usual blank expression.

"Nah, no worries. Paimon will never get fat because she has more than one stomachs, remember?" The white haired pixie said as she crossed her arms and give the Traveler a mocking glance, causing Lumine to roll her eyes. "That's why Lumi should feed Paimon again, because that sweet madame only filled one of them."

"Hmm, that's a real shame though." Lumine closed her eyes and sighed. "If Paimon can never get fat, then how will she provide me enough nutritions as an emergency food?" She said with a shrug.

"Hey! How many times Paimon have to tell you, Paimon is not an emergency food!" Throwing her fists downwards, the tiny creature yelled in frustration.

"But you sure look like one to me though." Lumine replied blatantly.

"That's totally not true and you know-" Before Paimon could finish her sentence, she was cut off when she got bumped into someone's back, eliciting a yelp out of her as the impact causes her to spiraling in the air uncontrollably. "H-Hey! Watch your back mister!"

The person that Paimon run into didn't respond, his back is still facing Paimon.

That's when the two friends realized that a large crowd had gathered around the streets, murmuring among themselves for reasons that the two travelers don't understand.

"What's with all of this commotion?" Paimon asked in confusion, she tried to see the thing that made the people gathered around the streets, but the crowd is too thick for her to see anything.

Turning her head to look at her companion, the tiny being asked. "Hey, Lumi. Any Ideas what's happening?"

Lumine didn't answer her for a second, looking at the sea of people, she squints her eyes and activate her elemental sight, her eyes immediately catches the unmistakable divine aura in the distance that could only belong to one person in this nation. And worse of all, that divine aura is currently heading her way.

"What is she doing here?"

"Lumi?" Paimon nervously asked, her tiny hand lightly tugging the blonde girl's dress.

"Trouble." Lumine simply answered, her right hand is only second away from materializing her sword. "Brace yourself, Paimon."

"Brace? Brace for what?" Paimon asked in total confusion.

It wasn't until the crowd in front of them dispersed, revealing the familiar figure that has become the center of their attention. Paimon gasped in surprise before flying behind Lumine, poking her tiny head from behind the girl's back as she now recognize who it was.

Long dark purple hair tied into a braid, custom made dark purple kimono that suits for both daily chores and when on a battlefield, deep purple eyes that for some reason is now lighter and more full of life than usual, and two matching hairpins on the right side of her head.

Lumine narrowed her eyes, something is different with the Shogun, the divine aura is not centered only on chest area like it normally does. It has now spreading all over her body just like what an Archon supposed to be.

Does that mean Ei is inhabiting the puppet Shogun's body right now? But why did she come out of her Plane of Euthymia? And why it was Lumine of all people is the first person she's looking for?

Not wanting to ruin her public image for the second time, Lumine refrain herself from summoning her weapon, choosing to meet the Shogun's gaze on her instead.

Ei's steps come into a stop when the woman is just a meter away from Lumine. The atmosphere suddenly become heavy and a bit unsettling, as the two continued to stare at eachother while the gathering crowd began to whisper, wondering what will their Archon do. Some people are even running away in fear of the Shogun's almighty punishment.

After what it felt like minutes of silence between them. Ei, finally opens her mouth.

"Hello, Lumine." The goddess of thunder greeted. Her voice is somewhat blank, almost like the puppet Shogun's voice, but not entirely emotionless.

Lumine didn't answer the woman in front of her. Opting to continue starting at those deep purple eyes, the same eyes that used to stared down at her during their battle two weeks ago.

Behind her, Paimon uncomfortably clung into Lumine's scarf as she peeked at the Archon from behind Lumine's shoulder. "L-Lumi, we didn't do anything wrong, did we? She's not mad at you for beating her and here for revenge, right?" Paimon nervously asked her friend, her words is stuttering as she speaks.

"We'll see." Lumine whispered back. After taking a breath, Lumine finally answered the woman in front of her. "I see you finally have the courage to leave your realm behind. I presume the almighty Shogun has some words for me to the point that she has to abandon her isolation?" Lumine raised an eyebrow, her sword is already halfway fully materialized, with Lumine's hand already clenching the grip tightly.

"I do." Ei simply answered, her purple eyes catches the slight tremble on Lumine's arm, already itching to pulls out her blade and strike the goddess down, not caring for the crowd that are watching them.

Sighing, Ei glanced at the crowd around them, and then back to Lumine and her tiny floating companion who is hiding behind the blonde's shoulder, eyeing the Archon with fear.

"Perhaps... We could find a more... Secluded place where we can freely talk things out." Ei muttered, loud enough for Lumine to hear. "I would not like it if my people get the wrong idea."

Lumine continued to stare at Ei with narrowed eyes for a couple of seconds before she finally loosen her grip. Her sword dematerialized back into thin air, and she took a deep breath to calm down her rapidly beating heart.

"The cave under the Tenshukaku, meet me there in three minutes." Lumine said blankly.

Before Ei could say anything, Lumine turned her back on her before suddenly disappear, using her teleportation magic to instantly get herself out of the Inazuma city, shocking the clueless crowd, and making Paimon yelp in surprise as Lumine didn't take the little pixie with her, and leave her behind to deal with the crowds.

As Paimon starts throwing tantrums for being left behind to deal with the mess. Ei heavily sighed, seems like Lumine still holds a grudge against her for what she had done to during the Vision Hunt Decree. Her plans to reconnect their friendship must wait for now it seems.

After three minutes had passed. As promised, Ei arrived at the location, the cave beneath the Tenshukaku. Back in the past, this place are used to be the place where Ei would train her martial arts in secrets, a place where Makoto would never suspect her using as training grounds, therefore, giving Ei all the time she needs without her sister telling her to take a break.

When she arrived there with the tiny being known as Paimon following her from behind, Lumine was already there, sitting on top of a rock, legs crossed, elbow resting on her lap while her face was covered with her hand. Giving the impression that the goddess of thunder just destroyed the blonde girl's mood entirely.

Ei felt slightly guilty for it, but she reassured herself that it's better to explain things as soon as possible before their current relationship goes for the worst.

"You want to talk? We're alone now." Sighing heavily, Lumine looked at Ei with sharply, full of cautiousness. "Please make this quick, what do you want, Raiden?"

"Please call me Ei, there's no need for formalities between us." When Lumine didn't respond, Ei sighed as she closed her eyes and begun explaining her predicament. "I need your help, Lumine, I can't think of anyone else except for you."

Lumine narrow her eyes at this statement. The almighty Shogun came all the way here just to ask for help from an outlander like Lumine? How ridiculous.

"And what does the almighty guardian of Eternity wants to do with me? The most wanted person in Inazuma?" Lumine raised an eyebrow, Paimon who was behind the Shogun quickly floats towards the outlander and cling to her arm.

"Lumi... Paimon think it's best if you not provoke her any further." The little pixie whispered to her companion in concern fearing for the god's wrath.

Taking a deep breath, Ei spoke up. "As you well known, Lumine. After our last battle two weeks ago... Your resolve has proven to be strong enough to shake my will. And with Miko by your side, admittedly, the two of you had successfully made me doubting my whole belief on the eternity I pursue."

Lumine and Paimon kept silence, patiently listening to what the Electro Archon is saying.

"After that, I did some thinking about the true eternity that this nation should pursue, what means necessary for Inazuma to attain that eternity, and also what it means for mortals to surpass gods expectations." Ei explained, putting a hand on her chest, the purplenette looked at Lumine with a narrowed gaze. "I keep on meditating, trying to find an answer for all of this questions. But, no matter how much time has passed in both the real world and inside the Plane of Euthymia, there are no single answer that I can come up with."

"So?" Lumine raised an eyebrow, hands are placed on her sides. "What does this have to do with me?"

Ei sighed, her eyes are filled with emotions that Lumine cannot describe, but she doesn't care that much about it.

"So, I figured. Since I can't come up with any answer for these questions, then maybe the one who had put me in this ordeal in the first place would know a thing or two about it." Ei answered, her purple eyes didn't miss the slight twitch in the corner of Lumine's eyes as she said that.

"So you think talking with Lumi would help you figuring out a new kind of eternity that Inazuma will be heading to?" Paimon curiously asked, rubbing her chin with her tiny hand.

"More or less." Ei simply answered.

Silence filled the air as neither Ei or Lumine didn't say anything more afterwards. Only the sounds of the ocean waves and the strong wind of the clifside that filled the emptiness. Paimon nervously look back and forth between the god and her best buddy, the two of them only continue to stare at each other, and the little pixie deeply feared that another battle between the two could happen anytime soon.

However, in an unexpected sudden twist of event. Lumine simply closed her eyes and turns around to leave, surprising both Paimon and Ei.

"We're leaving, Paimon." Lumine said, before walking away.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up there! You can't just abruptly leave like that, Lumi!" Surprised, Paimon quickly floats in front of Lumine, stopping her from walking any further.

"I have more urgent matter to attend to, I would not waste my time chatting a god who doesn't care for the lives of her own people." Batting Paimon away, Lumine continue to walk away, her ears caught the sounds of footsteps behind her, causing her to bit her lip in frustration.

"But you can't just ignore her! Not when she asked you so nicely." Paimon said, causing Lumine to roll her eyes.

"Your little friend have a point, Lumine."

Now that made Lumine stopped in her tracks.

"Please, I need your help. For the sake of the people of Inazuma, I need to attain an everlasting nation for their own happiness." Ei explained, putting a hand on her chest as she watch Lumine didn't even bother to turn around and face her.

"Is that all you can think about? Eternity?" Lumine's voice is dangerously low, full of venom, her hands tightly bawled into fists.

"If it will bring happiness to the people, then yes." Ei answered with a sigh. "I just wanted to protect their happiness, you know. And if by achieving eternity means that I can preserve them as long as possible, then Inazuma will-"

"Humans do not need eternity!" With a yell, Lumine turns around to face Ei once again, and once the goddess of eternity take a look at the blonde girl's face she was completely stunned.

With tears running down her cheeks, face red with anger, and her golden eyes glared at Ei, as if she was looking directly into the god's soul. Her eyes loses all the calmn and gentleness Lumine always had, it was all replaced with anger and hatred, even during their battle two weeks ago Lumine still maintain some of her composure, even when the goddess she hated so much was standing in front nod her.

But now, she was like a different person altogether. Not the dear friend that Ei had centuries ago. The intensity of hatred pouring out of those eyes are enough to make Ei's inside shook, completely renders her silent.

"What good is eternity to them when their lifespan isn't even a hundred years?!" Lumine quietly said with a broken voice, her body is shaking and her hands tightly clenched the hem of her dress. "You claimed to be the guardian of eternity... And yet, you took away people's ambitions, their hopes, and their dreams..." An image of Teppei enters her mind and Lumine gritted her teeth. "You even take their lives..."

Ei didn't know what to say, she only stands there and watch as Lumine starts sobbing, Paimon gently rubs her arm as a way of comfort.

"I... I don't..." Ei wants to say something, but she's stuttering, she really didn't know what to say.

Before Ei could say anything further, Lumine turns her back on her once more.

"I don't need to talk with a hypocrite like you, bye." Rubbing her wet eyes with her arm, Lumine walks away.

Paimon behind her silently looks back at Ei and apologies for Lumine's behaviour before approaching her companion.

"Lumine, wait-"

"And stop calling me by my name!"

In a flash, Lumine was gone again, this time bringing Paimon along with her using the teleportation magic. Leaving Ei alone on the beach, the purple haired woman's hand are reaching out to where Lumine was seconds ago.

Now that she was all alone, Ei couldn't do nothing but to look down at her feet, somewhat ashamed of herself as pain and sadness slowly fills her heart. A certain memory related to what just happened rang in her head.

"Ei, if you need any help, or if there's anything bothering your mind, just come to me and we'll talk about it, okay? We are friends after all, and friends supposed to help each other, right? Hehehe."

---

Inside the private quarter of the Grand Narukami Shrine, two woman sat facing each other, with only a table separating them from each other. One of the woman is a pink haired fox lady who was the overseer of the shrine and also its high priestess.

Meanwhile the other woman is a purple haired deity who ruled over Inazuma. After being rejected by her old friend, Ei had went to the Grand Narukami Shrine to meet Yae where they could discuss and potentially solves Ei's problems, the one that Lumine had refused to help with.

Putting her cup of hot tea, Yae sighed as she looked at the form of a sulking Ei, eyes downcast and filled what it looks like to be mixture of sadness and regret.

"Oh Ei... I knew this would happen sooner or later. Your actions has taken quite a toll on her. It's no surprise that she would eventually burst out after everything she's been through during her time in Inazuma." With a hand palming her chin, Yae watched as the Raiden Shogun released what appears to be her 900th sigh for today, her expression remain unchanged.

"It was all my fault..." Ei whispered gently, staring down at her untouchable cup of tea. "I shouldn't have seek her advice when she clearly hates me. Maybe I was too naÃve to think that she was still the same Lumine from 500 years ago, when she clearly forgets everything related to us." Sighing again, So closed her eyes. "Maybe I shouldn't start the Vision Hunt Decree in the first place... If only if it wasn't for those Fatui..."

Yae hummed as she listened to her friends rambling. Gulping down the rest of her hot tea, she crossed both of her arms and legs as she eyed the purple haired woman.

"Hmm, while I do agree that it was mostly your fault for being so immature at handling the situation. I think it's too early to assume that our dear Lumime is a completely different person than what she used to be." Yae said while looking at Ei with narrowed eyes.

Looking up, Ei stared at Yae in slight confusion and curiousity. "What do you mean, Miko?"

"The girl herself refused to speak much about her past, or her experience while traveling through Tevyat. However, her little friend has proven to be talkative enough to share some interesting information about her best buddy."

"You're speaking of that creature named Paimon?" Ei asked, receiving a feeble nod from Yae.

"Days before the Vision Hunt Decree was abolished. I had the opportunity to chat with her, we talked a lot, and she revealed many things about Lumine to me."

Reaching out, Yae gently took the cup containing Ei's tea and took a sip from it, with the Electro Archon seems to be completely unbothered by her antics.

"One of them is about the fact that it seems like Lumine is aware of the memory loss she suffered, and fragments of her broken memories would occasionally resurfaced on her mind accompanied by a severe headache. Usually this happens only during night time while she were asleep. But after arriving in Inazuma however, things become a little out of hand."

After Yae finished her explanation, Ei let the information sink in.

So Lumine is aware that her memories is broken, she is aware that she had forgotten faces, some of them are even the important ones such as Ei herself. Even so, there's still fragments of her broken memories left inside her mind, but unfortunately, those fragments aren't enough to make her remember anything at all, and only acted as a pain in her head. If only there's someway to restore her memory.

"Do you think outright telling her the truth would restore her memory?" Ei gently asked with a hopeful tone.

"With what just happened before, do you think she would just stand around and listening to your stories?" Yae asked back with a hint of amusement of the idea.

Ei went silent for a second before nodding her head. "You might have a point." Sighing Ei rubbed her forehead in frustration. "Is there really no way for us to restore her memory?"

Yae chuckled at her friend's words, causing Ei to look at her. "Now now, Ei. I did say that it was hard for you to restore your beloved Lumine back to what she used to be, but I didn't say that it was impossible, am I?"

Ei once again looked back at Yae, despite of already getting used to it due to the time they spent together in the past, she always dislike this side of Miko who likes to twist her words around instead of getting to the point.

"I must say, your idea is actually pretty great. What is the best way to restore our friend's memories other than telling her the truth from the one that she had forgotten in the first place?" Miko chuckled again, covering her lips with her fingers. "The only flaw of that plan is how are we going to execute it, now that our little Lumine is all angry and hateful, how will you make her listen to your explanation?" Yae asked the purple haired woman, who looked down at her thighs as she tried to think of an idea, but couldn't come up with anything.

"You're right." Ei nodded her head. "Miko, do you have any ideas?"

Yae hummed in response, her lips formed into a playful smile. "Hmm, I do. I have plenty actually."

Ei stared back at her with widened eyes, before asking. "You do? How come?"

"You're not the only one who deeply missed her, you know." Yae answered with a wink, standing up, the Kitsune headed towards the exit. "Besides. She haven't fulfilled the promise she made to me 500 years ago."

Ei nodded in understanment, fully knowing what promise Miko is talking about. As Miko exited the room, another memory entered Ei's mind, this time, it was shortly before her last picnic with Lumine and her two other friends.

"Be a good girl, and stay with Makoto, alright? I promise, when I return, we will play again! This time, let's go to Watatsumi Island together, there's a lot of fish in there, let's catch one and grill it together, okay?"

---

"What do you think Miko wanted us to do this time?" Paimon asked her companion as the two ascending the pathway to the Grand Narukami Shrine.

"I don't know. But knowing her, it's either something super trivial that she was too lazy to do it herself, or some kind of crisis that could threaten the entire Inazuma." Lumine simply answered with a deadpan expression.

After what happened between the blonde girl and the Electro Archon this morning, Lumine wasn't in the mood of doing anything related to that woman, especially such as visiting the shrine dedicated to her.

But when a Shrine that she came across to in the city had told her that Guuji Yae invited her to meet her at the shrine, Lumime found herself accepting the invitation and thus leads her to what she was doing now.

Putting aside her status as a close friend of Ei, the fox lady had saved Lumine from Scaramouche several weeks ago, if it wasn't for her, the Vision Hunt Decree would never been abolished, and Lumine wouldn't be able to live long enough to reunite with Aether again, something that the blonde girl is really grateful for the pink haired woman.

With this reason, Lumine didn't see why she should decline. Let's just hope that nothing bad will happen.

Arriving at the entrance, the Guuji of the Grand Narukami Shrine is already waiting for them, arms crossed and eyes narrowed as she looked down specifically towards Lumine. The blonde girl giving her a blank stare in retaliation.

"Ah, hi there little ones. Glad to see you accept my invitation." The Kitsune greeted a her usual smile plastered on her face.

"Hi there Miko! Do you have anything you wanted for us to do today? We've just finished the commissions, and Lumi here is super bored." Paimon said while pointing her tiny thumb towards Lumine, who only shook her head in response.

"Oh, how very nice of you ask. You two certainly love being my errand girls, huh?" The woman said before ending the sentence with a giggle.

While Paimon is busy screaming out that she wasn't a servant for the sneaky Kitsune. Lumine step forward and asked. "What do you want, Miko? Something urgent that I need to dealt with?"

"Yes, how right you are." Yae nodded with a satisfied smile. "Before we began, let me ask you one thing. Have you heard what the locals talking about recently?" Her tone became serious suddenly, giving both Lumine and Paimon a slight surprise.

"Oh yeah, now that you mentioned it..." Paimon muttered softly as she realized what Yae is talking about.

"They said that the thunderstrom around Inazuma has gone wilder, it caused some troubles for the ships that come and go." Putting a hand on her chin, Lumine look down at the ground. "And the worst part of all, some observers also claimed that it slowly moved closer and closer to Narukami Island, which is a really bad thing."

"Indeed. You have seen Yashiori Island, right? Now, imagine if what happened there also happened in Narukami Island."

Paimon gasped, recalling the memory of when she and Lumine cleansing the Tatarigami in the aforementioned island. "That would be terrible!"

"Mhmm, and that's not all. Since this is the storm that the almighty Shogun created herself, it will be ten times worse than the one in Yashiori."

"Eek!" Paimon yelped in horror, while Yae smirked in amusement at the tiny being's over reaction.

Crossing her arms, Lumine give the Kitsune a knowing look before asking. "So now that you have summoned us here, I assume you're going to make us solve this problem?"

"Yup, quick witted as ever. Surely you won't refuse, right? The lives of the people are at stake here." Giving her a raised eyebrow, Yae watched as Lumine's expression remains unchanged.

After a minute of silence, Lumine sighed, nodding her head while closing her eyes. "Sure, why not."

Giggling, Yae nods her head. "Wonderful."

"I take it that you know how to prevent this from happening?"

"Naturally. As you already know, this thunderstorm was created by the Raiden Shogun as a way to ensure that Inazuma is still an enclosed nation. However, you must also know that the intensity of the thunderstrom is affected by the Shogun's mood, meaning that whenever Ei is feeling a bit down, the thunderstrom would also get wilder."

After Yae finished explained, Lumine could feel her eyes twitched, something in the back of her mind told her that she already knew where this is heading, but she kept her silence because it's best to not jump into a conclusion yet.

"Wait, are you saying that all of those rumors about the Shogun's will affecting the thunderstrom is actually true?!" Paimon asked in disbelief, there was a hidden fear in her voice, she was afraid that they were indirectly the one who caused this problem due to what happened between Lumine and Ei this morning.

"Mhmm, that's true. Which is why I brought the you two here to fix the issue from its very source."

There was a sound of a door creaking open, followed by the sounds of footsteps on the wooden floor. And not long after, the person that Lumine knew was going to appear, came into view. The Raiden Shogun Inazuma approach the three of them, coming to a stop behind Yae, and a distance away from Lumine and Paimon.

The very sight of the woman is enough to make Lumine's blood boil, her hands are already clenched into fists, and her nails are digging into her palm, almost makes it bleed. Anemo energy subconsciously flowing out of her body, making the grass and sakura trees nearby to flutter violently. The ground is slightly shaking from the Geo energy that Lumine channeled into her foot, a countermeasure should Do starts attacking. Several sparks of Electro energy also flickers around Lumine, causing anyone near her, including Paimon, to yelp when the sparks touched them.

"L-Lumi! Calm down, okay? Calm down. W-We can't let the other Shrine Maidens see you attacking the Shogun." Rubbing her arm with her tiny hands, Paimon tries to calm Lumine down, but Lumine is still visibly not calming down in the slightest.

"Hello, we meet again... Traveler." Ei gently greeted the blonde girl, making sure to choose her words carefully in fear of angering Lumine again.

Watching the awkward meeting between the two. Yae mentally sighed, things are certainly escalated quickly.

"I see there's something between the two of you, are you two still haven't reconciled yet?" Taking a few steps back, Yae look at Lumine and asked.

Turning her head to face the Kitsune, Lumine gave her a death glare. "Miko... You are seriously not going to make me take care of her, is it?" With words full of venom and a dangerously low tone, Lumine asked the pink-haired woman, who couldn't help but shudder a little from Lumine's question.

"I'm afraid so, little one. Like I said before, the thunderstrom around Inazuma is affected by Ei's current mood, and it seems like what happened between the two of you this morning had worsened the condition, simply put, you have to take responsibility for this, Lumine." Yae explained, putting her hands on her sides.

"So you're saying that this is fault?!" A burst of Anemo energy suddenly appeared, making Paimon screamed as the winds pushed her away.

"Lumine, please, getting angry will only further worsening the situation, you need to calm down." Yae simply said, losing her usual smile, she was frowning at the scene in front of her. "Remember, the fate of Inazuma is in your hands, do you want to solve this problem? Or do you want to endager the people's lives?"

After this question, Lumine went silent for a while. Eventually, the tremors, the sparks of electricity, and the winds all calmed down. Taking a deep breath, Lumine looked at the two woman in front of her before turning her back on them.

"If the thunderstorm really is affected by that woman's mood. Then what am I supposed to do? Gives her candy and babysits her till she's happy, then suddenly the thunderstorm would return back to normal?" Lumine asked, with a bit of sarcasm. Her voice still contains some hatred and anger, but it's not as dangerous as before.

"Pretty much." Yae said with a shrug of her shoulders. "If you want to know more about the details, why don't you ask Ei herself? She is the Raiden Shogun after all." Looking at Ei, the pink haired woman winked at her friend.

Sighing a again, Lumine facepalmed herself as she groaned in a mix of anger and disbelief. "Of all the things I need to do..."

"I'm sorry you have to do this, but this is the only way." Ei said, putting a hand on her chest.

"So rich coming from the one who made this trouble in the first place." Lumine snapped back, turning around to face the two woman again, she glared daggers at them. "None of this would happen if you never issued the Vision Hunt Decree in the first place."

"You're right... I'm sorry-"

"Stop apologising, it's disgusting." Lumine cut off before the Electro Archon could even finish her sentence. "So if I somehow came up with an answer to her questions about eternity, then that should be enough to calm her heart down, right?" Lumine asked while looking at Yae.

"Mhmm, your tasks is just as simple as that. But it would be great if you also reconcile with her."

Turning her head to look at Ei, Lumine was silent for a few seconds before slowly nodding her head.

"Alright then. I guess spending a single day with your most hated enemy wouldn't hurt." Lumine finally said with a closed eyes. It's not her first time spending a day with someone that she hate anyway, if her weekly sparring with Childe counts.

"Really? You're willing to do that for me?" Ei asked with a somewhat hopeful tone.

"But that doesn't make us friends, obviously." Lumine quickly replied. "If you follow me around for a day, then perhaps you can come up with the answer yourself instead of asking me for it. The same way I provided Barbatos and Morax an answer for their respective problems."

"I see, I understand. Thank you for your understanding, Lumine." Nodding, Ei give the blonde girl a small smile, receiving a huff from Lumine in return.

Turning around, Lumine walked towards the exit. "If you're ready to go, meet me at the foot of mount Yougou." She said before departing, followed by Paimon.

When the two travelers are finally out of sight. Ei turned to look at Yae.

"Do you really have to come up with a story like that? You do know that I can just simply made the thunderstorm back to normal, right?" Ei asked with an unamused smile, receiving a chuckle from the fox lady.

"Oh come now, how else do you think are we going to make our little Lumine to stop wanting to kill you whenever she saw you? You should be grateful that I can come up with a believable story." Smirking, the sneaky Kitsune crossed her arms.

"I do agree about the 'stop her from killing me' part, but still, it's embarrassing."

With a giggle, Yae patted her her friend's shoulders. "Now now, don't think too much about it. Just be grateful that she believed me. You should go now, your little angel is waiting for you."

"Right. Thank you again, Miko." After giving her friend a smile, Ei proceed to exit the shrine and descend the staircases.

Once she arrived at the foot of mount Yougou, the Archon found Lumine and Paimon is already waiting for her, with Lumine leaning against a Torii Gate.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. So, where are heading now?" Ei asked, Lumine instantly looked away, so Paimon is the one who answers.

"Lumi said that the first thing we should do is to walk around the city. Since many people has began assuming that the Raiden Shogun might be not feeling too well judging from the thunderstorm, if people saw you walking around the streets with us, then surely it would put all the speculations and rumours out there to rest!"

"Hmm, I see, that does quite make sense." Ei replied, gently rubbing her chin with her palm.

"Lumi also said that the change of scenery might put you in a different mood, and give you some fresh inspirations!"

"It might do everyone some good." Lumine simply added.

"I understand. This is the first time I came out of the Plane of Euthymia for the past hundreds of years. I wanted to see the conditions of my people by myself."

"Great! Then allow us to be your tour guide." Nodding happily, Paimon said in a cheerful tone.

"Let's go." Lumine was about walk away, but Ei stopped her.

"Hold on, one moment please."

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Paimon asked, tilting her head.

"I'm sorry to ask, but what's a tour guide?"

Lumine face palmed herself after hearing the question. Meanwhile Paimon has seemingly forgotten how to fly and thus plummeting to the ground with a thud.

---

As soon as the three entered the streets, the whispers of the people came back. However, unlike this morning, instead of whispers of fear and silent prayers, everyone is now silently expressing their surprises at the sight of their God walking besides the illustrious Traveler.

Lumine can't blame them though, if she were in their position, she too would drop her jaw upon seeing the odd couple, just a few months ago, the two were seen trying to kill each other due their different ideals, but now, they somehow appeared to be getting along with each other.

"It appears that we have frightened the people." Ei muttered softly, she is aware that the appearance of the Shogun amongst the people would cause quite a ruckus, but it has been centuries ever since she experienced it fist hand.

"Well, what did you expect? The almighty Shogun and the illustrious Traveler walking around together in pair is not something you see everyday. It's normal that people would freak out a little." Paimon answered with a shrug of her little shoulders.

"At this point, everybody knew that I am the one responsible for stopping the Vision Hunt Decree. In short, they still saw us as enemies, which is pretty much true." Lumine added, she was the one leading the group, with her arms crossed and eyes closed.

"Lumi, Paimon knows that you still unable to get over what Ei had done in the past, but can you stop being so insensitive? The fighting is over so can you at least act neutral towards her?" Paimon said with a sigh, putting her hands on her sides.

"I don't see myself doing that anytime soon." Lumine simply replied, causing Paimon to groan.

The three of them continue to walk down the streets, chatting about various topics such as how the puppet Shogun's body that Ei's currently inhabit has the consciousness and the will of it's own, and also about Ei's apparent lack of Mora since she could simply ask for anything from one of the Tri-Commissions, all the while trying to ignore the stares that people gave them.

When they reach a certain point on the street, Ei spotted something that caught her attention.

"Hmm? What is that stall selling?" Ei suddenly asked, following her line of sight, Lumine saw the food stall she's familiar with. "I don't believe I've ever seen this before."

"Paimon knows that guy, Tomoki, he's a snack seller." Paimon cheerfully said, seems like the idea of food is getting to her again.

"A... Snack seller? What's a snack?" Confused, Ei rubbed the back of head.

"Basically a light meal that you can eat anytime you want." Lumine answered.

"Oh, you mean, something like a dessert?"

"Well... it's kinda the same thing I guess." Lumine shrugged.

Without waiting any longer, the two approached the food stall, the seller saw them coming and his face immediately gets paler and sweats starts pouring down his forehead due to nervousness, Lumine silently pitied the guy.

"Sh-Shogun, I... Excuse me..." Don't know what to say, the food seller starts blabbering incoherent words.

Luckily however, Ei knows how to deal with this. "It's alright, relax. I'm just here to look around. I'm having a change of pace today. Could you tell me what items you're selling?"

After the reassurance, the man seemingly less nervous and more calm now, but the slight fear in his eyes never leave, poor guy.

"Of course! I've got all kinds of snacks here: Takoyaki, Dango... And, uh, Milk, and so on." He immediately went to the back of his stall to show the Archon what he have.

"I see, so many options... Do you have any recommendation?" Ei asked the man again, causing his previous nervousness to return.

"R-Recommendation? Well, uh... In that case, w-would you like a taste of my Dango Milk?" Tomoki asked as he approached the barrell where he put the said drink on top of.

"Dango... Milk? What's that?"

"It's a specialty of his! You should try one, Ei, it taste super delicious!" Paimon cheerfully said, happily rubbing her tiny legs together.

"Ehehe, plenty stop, you're uh... You're flattering me." Tomoki rubbed the back of his head before clearing his throat. "So you see, many of the stores in town are already very well established. I couldn't compete with them no matter what I sell. So my idea was to create some new combination to give customers a novel experience."

"And the result was this Dango Milk of yours?"

"Indeed. When the Dango are worked into a viscous form, they mix very nicely with the milk. The focus is not just the taste, but also the unique texture."

"Huh, I must say, that's some brilliant idea." Ei nodded, putting a hand on her chin. "What made you want to do this?"

Immediately after the question, the man clapped his hand together. "Ah, I'm sorry, Shogun! I've got no bone to pick with eternity!"

Seeing his antics, Ei once again sighed. "I said relax, there's no need to go threading on eggshells. Do you really think the Eternity I pursue is something that can be shaken by Dango and Milk?"

Tomoki looks baffled for second because of the Shogun's rather casual behaviour, but he quickly regain his composure.

"Actually, it came to me by chance. A friend was catering once and made too many Dango, so they gave some to me." Tomoki explained. "But there were more than I had used for. My Milk wasn't selling well either, and both Dango and Milk have a short shelf life. So I thought I'd try mixing the two as I had nothing to lose. To my surprise, in the right proportion, it taste superb."

"A chance combination. Hmm, interesting." Nodding her head, Ei looked at the products before asking. "May I try this drink?"

"The almighty Shogun wants to try?! Well, certainly!" He looks like he's about to faint from the mix of shock and happiness, but with his strong will, he resisted the urge to collapse, and immediately took one of the bottle and handed it over to the Shogun.

Ei looked down at the drink in her hand, closely inspecting it and shaking the bottle for a few times, she carefully opens up the lid before taking a sip. Her eyes widened when she feel the taste, and before long, she gulped down the rest of the drink before sighing in delight.

"Nice, it's sweet. The sensation is not so different from eating a dessert. A unique beverage indeed." Ei said with a nod, smiling happily.

"Yeah, it's definitely a drink, but it also feels like eating food." Paimon added.

"It's a little bit like... Porridge? But the resemblance is only superficial. But anyway, I like it."

The man clapped his hand together again. "I'm very glad you approve!"

"An item as delicious as this Dango Milk must sell exceptionally well, no?"

"Heh, well... I won't lie to you. Sales are very average." Tomoki said while rubbing the back of his head, seriously, is he nervous? Or is his hair just itchy?

"Huh. So it's selling slowly? Why is that?" Ei seemed pretty shocked about it.

"Because... Most people aren't willing to give it a try. They think it's an unusual combination. Even though everyone who's tried it before rates it highly. B-But I'm not saying the Almighty Shogun has unusual taste! Please don't take it the wrong way!"

"Ah. I see. Well, that can be fixed. I'll just have the Yashiro Commission order a few hundred cups and go door-to-door delivering them."

The man's jaw dropped into the floor immediately. Meanwhile, Lumine raised an eyebrow at the statement. So the Shogun can be nice to her people once in a while, but only when it's related to what she likes.

"No, no, no, Almighty Shogun, that's too much!" Tomoki muttered in disbelief and shock, shaking his head harshly.

"Is it? I just want them to try it. It would be a shame for them to miss out on Dango Milk." Ei said with a slightly confused expression on her face.

When Tomoki is unable to come up with an answer, Lumine steps in.

"I think it's best that you accept it, Tomoki. An opportunity like this only come once in a while, you know." Lumine said with a wink.

"Yeah! Just imagine a crowd of people gathering in here to buy your Dango Milk! Wouldn't that gonna be awesome?" Paimon added happily.

"Well... Ehehe, I guess you're right. I'll think about it." The man replied with a nod.

"By the way, Lumine." Hearing Ei's voice, Lumine turns around to face her. "Miko mentioned that she founded something called the Yae publishing House to sell some sort of... Light novels. She always bragging to me about it, but it's difficult for me to really imagine without seeing the place for myself. Can you take me there?"

"Sure. Let's go and have a look." Paimon said while Lumine nodded in approval.

"Traveler, one moment please." Before the three could go, Tomoki called them. "Since the almighty Shogun get a taste of my drink. Why don't you take one as well?" He said while handling over two bottles of Dango Milk.

"Ah, there's no need for that, Tomoki. I won't take it without paying." Lumine shook her head.

"Oh come now, my Dango Milk won't be as well known as it was now if it wasn't for your help. I owe you a huge debt, and this wasn't even enough for that." With determination in his eyes, Tomoki insisted.

Sighing, Lumine eventually takes it. "Fine, if you insist. Thank you."

Handing one of the bottle to Paimon who cheered happily, the three continue their walk towards the Yae publishing House.

Halfway to their destination, Ei suddenly asked Lumine. "Are you his regular customer?"

"Hmm, I occasionally drop by to buy his snacks, but his Dango is definitely the best." Lumine answered with a nod.

This makes Ei raised an eyebrow. "You really like Dango, huh?"

"Indeed, it's a funny story actually. When I first arrived in Inazuma city, Paimon is complaining that she's hungry, and so we walked around the streets in search for food. And that's when we stumbled upon Tomoki's stall, I look at his variety of snacks and that's when I spotted this colorful and round shaped food. I don't know why, but even by simply looking at it, I feel like I was going to immediately like it for some reason, as if something in the back of my head tells me that it's delicious, even though it's the first time I tried it."

When Lumine finished explained, realization struck Ei. "Could it be it's the fragments of her memories of that day?"

A certain memory of the past replayed inside Ei's mind.

"Miss Lumine, would you like to try some of these?"

"Ooh, it's so colorful! What is that?"

"It's a Dango, I made it myself. Here, have some."

"Wow, it's so tasty! Lady Chiyo, you really are talented in the field of cooking!"

"Hehehe, I'm flattered."

---

They arrived in Yae Publishing House not long after. After calming down the editor from seeing Ei coming there only to look for light novels, they approached a bookshelf where the latest best-sellers are being displayed.

Being her first time seeing a light novel, Ei was in absolute confusion. She began questioning about a number of things, such as why some novels have an overly long title, or why does the story doesn't make any sense to her, and she even ask whether the fictional contents are true or not.

After a lengthy explanation (mostly by Paimon) of all of her questions. Ei understood the purpose of light novels, most of it anyways.

"So what do you think of Yae publishing House's light novels, Ei? Do you like the stories we picked?" Paimon asked once Ei is done reading the novel, the one about Daily Life Romance Story.

"What I take from these stories is not so much the content itself, but what they represent in terms of the effects of time upon Inazuma." Ei heavily sighed as she closed her eyes to think. "Back when I decided to isolate myself in the Plane of Euthymia, there was no Yae Publishing House, and certainly no stories of this kind."

"And you're also not there." Ei mentally speaks.

"In accordance with my wishes, the Shogun did her best to create an eternal nation. A nation that, in theory, should remain unchanged over time." Shaking her head, Ei looked down to the ground and muttered. "But the fact is that both the food and the stories have changed with time..."

"Change is inevitable." Lumine answered while crossing her arms. "It is the rules of nature of this and every world I once visited. Even if you're a god, destiny is unchangeable."

"Normally, I would disagree with your point of view If we were still in the Plane of Euthymia." Sighing again, Ei looked back towards the Yae Publishing House, and then to Tomoki's stall in the distance. "But the truth is right here in front of my eyes, and I can't deny it."

"And that's exactly why we decided to brought you here, to give you some fresh ideas." Paimon said while nodding happily. "Sure, it's not the same as you remember, but one way or another, people are loving life in the present. That's gotta be a good thing, right?"

Smiling, Ei nods her head. "Yes, you're right. I'm wary of any and all change, but I do not wish for my pursuit of Eternity to stop human lives from changing for the better."

As she listened to Ei, multiple trains of thoughts starts appearing inside her head.

In the end, every Archon only has one goal in mind, to bring happiness to the people. Venti freed the people of Mondstadt from Decabrian in order to gave them the liberty to freely choose their paths of life. Zhongli and the Adepti built and defend Liyue Harbour to make sure it's people are safe for the many generations to come. And now, Ei's only desire is to preserve Inazuma to become what she saw as the ideal nation where the happiness of the people would also remain eternal. It was all because of her lack of preparedness to become an Archon, added with Fatui manipulation that ultimately caused her declare the Vision Hunt Decree.

With that in mind, could Lumine really blame her for the terrible things she's done?

"Thank you for walking with me, Lumine, Paimon. This trip has been quite eye-opening for me." Ei said while nodding her head, putting a hand on her chest.

"Now that you're calm and cool, the storm should be back to normal, right?" Lumine questioned, putting her hands on her sides.

"Huh? Oh, right, yeah, the storm. It should be back to normal now that there are less conflict in my mind." Truthfully, Ei had almost forgotten about the thunderstorm, thankfully however, she is able to remotely return it back to normal, washing away everyone's worries.

Sighing, Lumine gently shook her head before turning around, preparing to leave. "Great, that means Miko's request is also done. See you around then."

"Huh? You're... Leaving?" Ei asked, her voice sounded sad for some reason.

"Of course I'm leaving, since you have seen the current state of Inazuma yourself, surely now you can come up with a new idea of eternity, right?" Lumine answered, not bothering to even turn around.

"Well, I do, but-"

"Let's not forget that I did this solely because I want to solve the thunderstorm issue and nothing more. I need to go somewhere else this afternoon, so I better not wasting my time here." Lumine cut her off.

"Whoa whoa whoa, are you really going to leave again?! Can we at least take a photo together and give it to Ei as a souvenir or something? Seriously Lumi, can you just stop being rude for five minutes?!" Paimon floats into Lumine's face, glaring directly into the blonde girl's eyes while putting her tiny hands on her sides.

Before Lumine could say anything however, a man approached the group and bow his head at Ei. He then began to tell them that he was a servant for the Kujou Clan and that he was looking for his master, Kujou Kamaji, the youngest son of the Tenryou Commissioner, and also Sara's adoptive brother. Apparently, Kujou Kamaji haven't returned yet from the negotiations between him and the head of Takatsukasa Clan about the Tenryou Commission's internal crisis. A topic that interest Ei enough that she decided to step up.

---

So this is what it's like when she spent centuries mediating inside her personal realm.

For all she knows, Ei designs the Puppet Shogun as her replacement, the one who ruled Inazuma by following her beliefs on Eternity, and nothing more. The Tri-Commissions are the one responsible for managing the various affairs in Inazuma, needless to say, they are akin to the ant workers, while she was the ant queen.

But even so, an ant queen can't fret over every workers that sacrificed themselves for the prosperity of their colony. She didn't know every or any problems that each individual ants suffered.

Perhaps that's what differs between Ei and an ant queen. As a god, Ei is fully capable knowing every problems that her people suffered, as Archons is capable of hearing the prayers of their people. And yet, instead of doing that, Ei instead choose to isolate herself from the rest of the world, shutting away all ties she have with not only Celestia, but also her nation, her people, and even her friend.

Perhaps that decision is the one that caused her to be so low that she was in equal footing with a mere insect.

But that has changed however.

For now that Ei has been reunited with the light of her heart, Lumine. The goddess could feel herself rapidly changing.

The blonde girl is always special for Ei. Whenever Lumine is around, Ei always find herself can't think straight, she always feel safe and comfortable when they're together, comfortable enough that she'd willingly share any secret she has with the girl, comfortable enough to show her hidden side of a normal girl who loves desserts and enjoys the pleasure of a good fight.

She really is a fate changer. Who knows what would become of Ei if Lumine never came to Tevyat in the first place.

Maybe she should leave the Plane of Euthymia more often in the future, if it means that she could spend more time together with Lumine like this, even if the girl doesn't remember her at all, or that she kept being rude towards her, Ei believe that Lumine would eventually regain her memories, even Miko believes in that.

"Watch out!"

Ei looked behind her to see a ronin swung his sword towards her back, the unprotected parts of Ei's body.

Luckily however, Lumine blocked the attack with her sword, before sending the man flying with a kick on his chest. With their backs touching, they watched as even more Samurais and Treasure Hoarders entered the room, outnumbering the two of them.

"Hmm, I never thought an Inazuman head clan could be this petty that they are hiring bandits to guard this place." Lumine muttered, clutching her sword tightly, elemental energy coursing through her body.

"Heh." Ei chuckled at the statement. "Although I agree with you. It's been a while since we've fought side by side like this. Their pettiness has granted us this rare opportunity."

"Again? What are you talking about?" Lumine asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing."

---

And so, after a duel between the Almighty Shogun and Kujou Kamaji, and the exposure of the Takatsukasa Clan's rather barbaric methods of trying to seize control of the Tenryou Commission, the conflict has finally settled.

The three walked out of the dungeon where the "negotiations" take place. Breathing the the fresh air of the outside world once again, Ei sighed in relief after knowing that she had made the right decision for once.

"When it's time to deal with a situation, you're just like the Shogun. So strict." Paimon muttered softly as a way to ease up the atmosphere after a tense situation.

"You think so? I thought I was rather accommodating. If it had been the Shogun... She would have decapitated Kujou Kamaji without a second thought." Ei asked, raising an eyebrow at the tiny creature.

"After everything that you let the Shogun do for the past 500 years, I bet he was fully expecting that to happen." Lumine replied with a nod, turning her back on them and opting to enjoy the view of Inazuma city in the distance instead.

"I do believe he was prepared for that outcome. I could see it in his eye. The Kujou Clan has undergone a dramatic change from its glory days to its present decline. Kamaji is hardly a great heir to the Kujou name, but..." Ei turned her head to look at Lumine's back, if there was something unchanging in this world, the blonde girl would be the first one that came into her mind. "He has shown me how some things remain the same even as the world around them changes."

Silence filled the air after Ei's last sentence, as everyone let the words sink in. After about a minute has passed, Lumine broke the silence with a snort.

"I'm surprised that you got that right for once." Lumine said with a smirk. "Even an unchanging and immovable stone cannot withstand the passage of time, someday, they all will disappear."

Ei slightly widened her eyes, those words feels a bit familiar for some reason.

"Gods or mortals, they all will die eventually. But their memories and feelings will continue to exist as it will be inherited to other people who shared them. That is what truly eternal in this world."

"You... Keep saying that. Is that something you learned from someone?" Ei asked in curiosity.

"A certain shrine maiden told me that. She's no longer walk amongst the living, but her words have certainly taught me a very valuable lesson." Lumine said with a heavy sigh, maybe she should pay Kazari's grave a visit sometime later.

"Shrine maiden? Could it be... But she died many years ago, and Lumine shouldn't have remember her at all, at least with her current memory issues."

Sighing, Ei put a hand on her chest. "Yeah, I guess you were right. Thank you, Lumine, Paimon. The things we experienced out on the streets had helped me to come to this realization." Ei said with a nod of her head.

"So what's next for the Kujou Clan? Will they get to carry on being in charge of the Tenryou Commission?" Paimon asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Not a chance. Even if their heir was someone who showed promise, their past mistakes cannot be erased. But Still..." Ei waited for Lumine to turn around to look at her before continuing. "I will give them a little more time. After all, they are not the only ones who made mistakes. The Shogun does not make mistakes, she is incapable of doing so. But I, as Ei, would like to offer my apologies. Forgive me everyone."

Lumine narrowed her eyes at this statement. Ei may have a point, if the puppet Shogun are designed to follow what she believes to be the path to eternity, then she wasn't in the wrong entirely, but rather, it was her creator, Ei, who had allowed her to do what she pleased, including enabling the Fatui to manipulate the puppet.

But even so, now that Ei is no longer isolate herself in her realm, going outside to see the mistake that she had indirectly caused, the Electro Archon is more than willing to fix it as a way to redeem herself.

Perhaps this why Lumine's heart had mellowed out a little now. She is now comfortable enough with Ei that she's able to smile at the purple haired goddess.

"No need worry. Paimon is happy to spend some time with you, so there's no need for you to apologize. Paimon don't know about Lumi though, Paimon think she's still-"

"I forgive you."

Lumine's words came so suddenly that it catch everyone off guard. Paimon dropped her jaw in shock while Ei widened her eyes, causing Lumine to sigh and roll her eyes.

"I admit that maybe I was too harsh on you. The people of Inazuma suffered from the eternity that you pursued, but even so, the majority of people willingly accept the decision that you've made, even if it brings harm to some of them."

Lumine looked up to face Ei directly, gold eyes meet purple eyes.

"It's because they still believe that the almighty Shogun did it for the sake of her people, to protect their happiness and shield them against harms way, and ultimately, it was because of those Fatui manipulation alongside of your lack of knowledge in certain things that caused the Vision Hunt Decree to happen."

"Lumine, I..." Ei was at a loss of words right now, didn't know what to reply.

"However, today, you have proven yourself that you are willing to learn the lives of the people at the present time, and also to correct the mistakes that you have allowed the Shogun to made." Putting a hand on her chest, Lumine give her a genuine smile. "Therefore, you gained my respect and trust. Please forgive my harshness from earlier, friend."

Her smile... It's the same smile Ei had seen from 500 years ago. Seeing that smile again made her heart fluttering like a butterfly.

"No." Ei shook her head while closing her eyes, she felt like she was about to tear up. "There is no need to apologize, Lumine. Your actions are completely justified. If I was in your position, I too will get angry at whoever that caused harm to my loved ones."

Why does Lumine felt like she had a similar conversation with Ei like this? She never talked to Ei outside of the Plane of Euthymia until today and yet, why does she have the sudden urge to hug her?

"I have much to contemplate in the days to come. But at least I can now see the way ahead." Ei said after several seconds has passed.

"Will you rule Inazuma directly?"

"I think I'll leave that to the Shogun. The greatest threat to eternity is still the erosion that comes with time. As I said, the Shogun has a robust system to protect her against modification. This is because I anticipated that I myself would change over time. But I've made up my mind. So I will do what needs to be done, no matter how difficult it is." Ei explained, and Lumine nodded in complete understanding. "But still, I must say, this has certainly been a memorable series of events."

"Absolutely! You sorted out the Tenryou Commission and the people in the city got to see a happy and healthy Shogun. All the awful rumors will disappear in no time." Paimon replied with a happy nod of her head. "If you enjoyed your trip, we should get you out again some time!"

"Next time, we'll bring you some fun little trinkets as well." Lumine said with a smile of her own.

"I..."

Ei is about to say that she doesn't need to do this kind of trip again anytime soon in the future. But her desire to see more of the outside world, her desire to reconcile with Miko after their hundreds of years of separation. And lastly, her desire to spend some more time with Lumine. All of this desire holds her tongue back from saying those words.

And so, after a five seconds of pause, she finally decided what to say.

"Of course. I am more than happy to be with you, Lumine." Ei nodded, closing her eyes as she smiles. "And next time, let us go and enjoy a festival together, okay?"

Ei's smile caught Lumine off guard. It looks so genuine and full of kindness. It makes Lumine's heart fluttering with butterflies. But it also triggered something in the back of her head.

"Why does that smile looked so familiar?"

There's a sudden throb in her head, and Lumine grimaced in pain, but she tried her best to hide it from her companions.

"Anyway, it's getting late. I think we should head back to the city now. My period of solitude shall be continued."

Both Paimon and Lumine nodded. The sun is already setting, and the whole Inazuma is slowly plunging into darkness. The three ladies proceed to walk back to the city, never anticipated what awaits them there.

---

"What... Is this?!"

When the three got back. The streets of Inazuma city are crowded with people. Various food stalls lining across the side roads, and each building in the city are decorated with all kinds of decorations, some of them are unfamiliar to Paimon and Lumine, however, Ei's eyes are sparkling when she look at them for some reason.

Also, now that she look more closely, Lumine realized that all of the people are wearing kimonos, both men and women, and the designs are also more traditional than the modern ones.

"Paimon didn't know there's going to be a festival tonight! Why didn't anyone told Paimon!" Paimon complained, stomping her tiny feet in the air.

"No one told me about this either." Lumine muttered while rubbing her chin with her hand. She looked at Ei besides her and asked. "Ei, you are the Shogun, do you know what festival is this."

Ei is still in a trance-like state that she didn't replied to Lumine's question, and continue spacing out. It was only when Lumine touched her that she snapped back to reality and realized she was being asked.

"Oh, about that... Actually, I have no idea about this either." Ei shook her head. "Festivals and cultural events are managed by the Yashiro Commission, the Shogun's role in this are merely giving them the permission to held it."

"But since I didn't know anything about this. The mastermind behind this festival would be none other than..."

"Ah, Lumine, Paimon, you're back!"

A familiar voice entered Lumine's ears, she looked up to see Ayaka and Thoma are approaching the group. And same as everyone else, both the face of the Yashiro Commission and it's housekeeper are also wearing kimonos. Ayaka wears a light blue colored Kimono with a white flower pattern, meanwhile Thoma wears a dark red kimono with the same colour scheme as his usual clothes and decorated with brown-colored pattern.

"Oh, Almighty Shogun, I didn't expect you to be here either." Seeing the Raiden Shogun besides Lumine, Ayaka and Thoma quickly bowed their heads in respect, Thoma looked a little nervous thought, perhaps he's still a bit traumatized with what happened in the past.

"Raise you head, daughter of the Kamisato Clan. There's no need to be so formal around me." Ei said after looking at their salute.

"Hey, Ayaka, what is this festival? And why does Paimon doesn't hear anything about it?" Paimon asked while raising her hands.

"This? Well, this is to celebrate your hard work of course." Ayaka smiled, looking at Lumine as she said that.

"My hard work? What do you mean?" The blonde girl asked in total confusion.

"M'lady is talking about your hard work for the past six months, Lumine." This time, Thoma is the one who answered. "After the Vision Hunt Decree has been abolished, all the stolen Visions has been returned to all their rightful owners by the Tenryou Commission. Afterwards, all of those people who suffered from having their Visions taken has recovered, and that's when people decide that its great to celebrate this, and thanks to Guuji Yae's permission, we were allowed to held it here in the city."

"Oh, I see, that does make sense. But wait, that doesn't explain why nobody tell me about this festival! I could've offer some help with the preparations you know." Lumine said with a pout on her face, putting both of her hands on her sides.

"About that... I don't exactly know why, but Lady Yae had specifically instructed us to keep it a secret from you." Ayaka answered, her expression shows some concern at the reason behind the instruction.

"Miko wants to keep it a secret from me? But why?" What is the sneaky Kitsune after? Is this festival supposed to be a surprise gift or something? But Lumine knew the woman enough that she is not the type to give anyone a surprise present.

"Oh, don't worry about that, Traveler. I'm sure Guuji Yae is just worried about your well being." Thoma said, trying reassured her. "After everything you have done, I'm sure she didn't want to make you work any further, and only wants you to enjoy the festival to the fullest."

Lumine doubt the woman would think that far, but she guess it wouldn't hurt to make assumptions for now.

"Hmm, I guess you're right." Lumine smiled, deciding to not worrying about it too much. "Oh, Ei, do you want to come too?"

Lumine turned around to face the Electro Archon, however, when she looked behind her, the purple haired woman is already gone.

"Huh, where did she go?" Paimon asked, looking around to see if she can spot the goddess to no avail.

"Oops, my bad, I was so focused on talking that I didn't notice her slipping away." Thoma muttered, rubbing the back of his head.

"Do you think Ei is going beck to Tenshukaku? It's kinda rude that she's not telling us first." Paimon whispered into Lumine's ear, receiving a nod from the blonde girl.

"Maybe. I guess she doesn't like crowded place that much." Lumine said with a shrug.

"Oh, one more thing, Lumine." Ayaka suddenly grabbed Lumine's hand and began pulling her deeper into the city. "Lady Yae also instructed us to give you a kimono to wear. Let's go to Ogura's place to pick one, okay?"

"She what?" What the heck is that fox up to?

Meanwhile, in front of the Omnipresent God Statue, Ei arrived to see Miko is already waiting for her. The pink haired woman smirked at her while having her arms crossed.

"Miko, don't tell this is that idea that you're telling me about." Ei said with a frown as she approached her friend.

"Indeed. This is my ultimate plan to restore our little Lumine's memories." Yae answered, standing up from sitting on the statue. "There's nothing better to end a day by doing fun things in a festival with a friend, am I right?"

"But aren't this a little too much?" Ei's tone sound concerned, looking back at the bustling city below.

"Oh stop worrying your pretty head around it dear." Yae chuckled, covering her mouth with her fingers. "It was the people who wants to celebrate it in the first place. I just saw the opportunity to use this to our advantage and now, this is our chance to bring your beloved Lumine back."

"Can you please stop made it sound like she and I were lovers? We're not even dating." Ei said with a reddened face, the thought of she and Lumine becoming an item brings out weird feelings into her heart.

"Right, right." Yae smirked, there is nothing better in this world than to tease Ei about her obvious secret crush on the star-born Traveler. "In any case, we need to get you prepared as well."

"Prepared? For what?" Ei asked, tilting her head to the side.

"What do you think? Come on, follow me." Giving the goddess a wink, Yae holds Ei's hand as she leads the two inside the Tenshukaku.

---

The more Lumine walked along the streets, the more she felt her heart pounding on her chest.

The structures of Inazuma city is still the same as ever. But the decorations, the way the food stalls lined up on the side of the streets, and how everyone wears Kimono with traditional design, the atmosphere feels awfully familiar for some reason.

It feels like she was in the past, but Lumine didn't know how she got that Idea.

Another thing that doesn't make sense to her is how Miko staged everything for her. Not only the Kitsune didn't tell her anything about the festival at all, she also made Lumine wear a specific Kimono that the Guuji of Grand Narukami Shrine herself has chosen, according to Ogura.

The Kimono she's wearing is a white colored one with blue linings and blue flower pattern. Additionally, Ogura said that this Kimono is a new model that has been recently made, and once again, the model is requested by Yae Miko after handing the woman an illustration that detailed the design of the Kimono.

Although she's a bit uncomfortable from hearing Miko's name so much, Lumine nevertheless liked the Kimono a lot, aside from the fact that it was her first time wearing one, and that it was gifted from a friend, Lumine also felt like she had some sort of attachment to it. But she couldn't think of a reason why.

After they finished dressing Lumine up, the four spend their time enjoying the festival. Buying snacks, catching goldfishes, pulling a fortune slip, and many more.

Throughout the time however, Lumine is less focused on the festival and her mind is more focused thinking about Ei for some reason.

How great would it be if she was here.

Although she's having fun, the festival feels incomplete without Ei. The goddess said that the next time they went on a trip, she wanted to have fun with Lumine during a festival, but now that a festival is here, then why did she leave so suddenly? Is there something urgent she need to do? Is she going to see Miko? Lumine doesn't know.

At one point during their walk, Lumine decided to separate herself from the group, after telling them she was completely fine, Lumine went on separate ways while Paimon continue to follow Ayaka and Thoma.

As Lumine walks alone along the streets of Inazuma, she continues to think about Ei and her time spending the day alongside the Electro Archon, not even realizing that she was unconsciously heading towards the Tenshukaku.

She only realized this when she saw a large crowd of people gathered in front of her and all of them murmurs something about the Raiden Shogun which sparked Lumine's interest because the same scenario had happened this morning.

Not long after, the familiar voice that Lumine recognized as Kujou Sara pierce through the murmurs of the crowd. "Attention everyone! Move to the side and give path to the almighty Shogun!"

Once the people heard this, they moved to the side of the road to creat a pathway in the middle. Once the path has opened, Lumine looked up to see Ei standing at the other side of the crowd. Their eyes met with each other, gold meets with purple.

Time seemed to slow down as they continue to stare at other. Each of them are transfixed by the other's appearance.

Ei is no longer wearing her usual custom made purple Kimono that suits her for daily chores and during in the battlefield. Instead, she is now weariny a pink kimono with purple and yellow linings and a red obi tied to her midsection. The long sleeves of the kimono are decorated with the pattern of purple colored Inazuma crest, while the red obi are decorated with a blue ribbon and flower pin. If Lumine have a word to describe her appearance, "Majestic" would be the perfect word.

"So beautiful..." Lumine thought as she stared at Ei with widened eyes. Who would've thought that by merely changing her clothes, Ei's charmingness can be amplified.

"That kimono... It's the same design with the one that she wore 500 years ago!" At the same time, Ei also thought as she stare at Lumine with widened eyes.

Mentally, the goddess curse Miko for her perceptiveness, at the same time, she also praise the Kitsune for being very thoughtful for this event.

Without them realizing, the two ladies walked towards each other, each steps they take fills the silence in the air as the crowd watches them. Once they stop a few centimetres away from touching each other, the crowds whispers starting again, only this time, it was a lot less audible as such, it gave Ei and Lumine the opportunity to talk.

"Hi, You're looking... Good." Lumine complimented, having a loss of words to say any other else.

"Yeah, you too. Your Kimono certainly looks... Nostalgic." Ei said with a small smile on her face.

"I thought you're going to continue your meditation. I was worried that you didn't like crowded places when you suddenly disappear without a trace." Lumine said, raising her eyebrow.

"It's not like I dislike crowded place or anything." Ei said with a small giggle. "It's just that I'm afraid my appearance in the midst of crowds would cause some unwanted ruckus. Luckily however, Miko told me that I was an invited special guest for this festival, so everyone already knows that I would come."

"Miko... You met her, right? Then can you explain this?" Lumine gestured to the kimono she's wearing.

"Are you saying that you are worried that there's a hidden meaning behind this festival?" Ei asked, raising an eyebrow while her lips turned into a smirk.

"Of course I do! That sneaky fox is always up to something! You know what I mean."

Ei giggled again from Lumine's words, shaking her head softly, she said. "You are worrying too much, Lumine. Miko did this as a way to thank you for your hard work in stopping the Vision Hunt Decree. Miko also said that this was to celebrate us for finally reconcile and become friends with each other. We should have use this opportunity to have some fun and deepening our bond even more. Wouldn't you agree?" Ei asked, tilting her head while still retaining her smile.

Lumine looked at Ei for a few second. What Ei just said... It's the same words Lumine would use to her friends during a festival in Mondstadt or Liyue. Was Ei saying relatively the same thing are pure coincidence? Or else.

Ei watched as Lumine went silent for a while, she mentally sighed after saying those words, the words that Lumine used 500 years ago.

"I never been into a festival before... Makoto loves to participate in any festival that was being held in Inazuma. But whenever she does that, I usually remain in Tenshukaku to continue honing my skills in martial arts."

"Aww, really? That's horrible! Why wouldn't you ever try going into a festival? There's plenty of fun things to do, you know?"

"To be perfectly honest, I... Don't really like crowded place that munch. And on top of all, just what exactly these "fun" things you're talking about?"

"It's pretty much anything really! Chatting with people, buying snacks, hanging out with friends, and so many more. A festival should've been a place where a couple have some fun and deepen the bond they share. We are friends, right? But we only met a couple of days ago, so I want deepen my bond with you, Ei."

"Is something wrong, Lumine?" Ei asked, snapping the blonde girl back to reality.

"It's nothing." Lumine said, shaking her head.

"In that case." Reaching out her hand, Ei give Lumine a bright smile. "Let's have some fun, shall we?"

"Yeah." Putting her hand on top of Ei, the two headed into city while their hands are still connected.

Ei briefly looked back to see Yae who was standing beside Kujou Sara winking at her, a silent gesture to tell her good luck.

Now with Ei by her side, the strange sensation of emptiness that Lumine felt before has gone completely. The atmosphere of the festival feels complete. Lumine's heart are filled with emotions she cannot describe as she and Ei enjoyed everything that the festival has to offer. Every time Ei smiled and laugh, Lumine too are filled with joy and happiness.

But on top of all that. Perhaps the strangest thing of all is the feelings of nostalgia that slowly fills her heart. Why does she felt like she experienced this before? With Ei, nonetheless. Simply thinking about it makes her head hurts a little. So Lumine choose to ignore it for now.

As time went on, dawn slowly turns into midnight, and the majority of the people have returned to their respective homes.

Lumine and Ei sat around the Omnipresent God statue, resting their bodies after a few hours of fun activities that they do at the festival.

"That was amazing. I never have this much fun before." Ei muttered, sighing as she watched the decorations slowly being lowered down by the people.

"Yeah, it's a lot of fun hanging out with you Ei." Lumine replied, giving the goddess a big smile.

The two continued to sit there, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere of the night time and the refreshing air that the cool wind brought. After minutes of silence passed, Lumine suddenly broke the silence with a sigh.

"You know, Ei..." Lumine began, causing the purple haired woman to look at her. "The truth is, I have a twin too."

Oh. Ei think she knows where this is going, but she keep her mouth shut for now. "You have?" Ei asked.

"Yes. He's my older brother, his name is Aether." Lumine's tone become more moody as she continue to explain. "We were both travelers who goes from world to world in search for a new home, because our homeworld are deseased. When we came into Tevyat, my brother went missing after a brief confrontation with an unknown god. I kept searching and searching for him, but I cannot find him, and every time a day passed without him, I can feel my heart sinking deeper and deeper into the sea of dispair."

Ei didn't say anything, opting to stay silent and listen to everything Lumine said.

"And in the meantime while I was searching for him, my mind goes haywire, and I can feel something is wrong with my memories." Clutching her head, Lumine sighed. "I don't know why, but sometimes, I dreamed of this dream where I was sinking into a murky ocean, a apparition of my brother was there, and every time I talked to him, he always said something about me having "another light.""

"Is that so?" Ei asked, receiving a nod from Lumine.

"At first, I thought he was talking about the friends I made during my journey. No one can replace Aether for me, but whenever I was around them, I can feel the emptiness of my heart slowly being filled. That is why I treasured them greatly, and I would do anything I can to protect them." Lumine sighed as she looked down on the ground sadly. "And then come that day. The day I reunited with my brother."

Ei's eyes widened at the last sentence. "You already found him?"

"I did. I finally found him not long before my trip to Inazuma. However..." Lumine sighed again, her voice become more saddened. "He... Don't want to come home with me. He has chosen his own path, and favoured his own goal more than he favoured reuniting with his little sister. And that is why I came to Inazuma, because I wanted to ask if you know anything about him." Lumine said, turning her head to look at Ei.

"I see." Ei simply replied.

"Shortly after meeting him again, I realize now that maybe I was wrong, maybe that other light is not the friends I made along the way, but it was someone specific, maybe someone who I can relate with, someone I can share the pain I felt with them." Lumine looked at Ei again. "And that's when I met."

"Me?"

"Yes. After Miko told me that you have a twin as well, I realize that maybe we aren't so different, maybe you are the other light I've been searching for, someone who is similar to me, but also different in terms of appearance and personality. Maybe that's the reason why I have this strange feelings on my heart when we are together during the festival, when you are around, I feel my heart beating on my chest, and my face getting hotter at any second."

"Lumine..." Ei muttered softly.

Lumine put her hand on her chest, smiling brightly as she closed her eyes. "Thank you, Ei, for being my friend. I promise, I shall treasure our friendship for all eternity."

Time seemed to slow down, as Ei stared at the smiling Lumine, her smile shines brightly as the sun. The way her body bathed in moonlight is really an astonishing sight. Ei felt her chest hurt from the overwhelming emotion, and after a quick glance around her to see that they were alone, Ei finally decided.

"I think its time."

"Hey, Lumine." Ei began putting her hands on her hips. "You said that you lost your memories, right?"

"Indeed, although it's nothing much, I do feel like I was forgetting something, something really important to me, but I don't know what." Lumine said with a shrug.

"Then..." Ei gulped down the lump on her throat. "Would you like to know about it?"

"Huh? What are you talking about Ei?"

"Let me ask you first. Have you ever wondered why some people in Inazuma know your name?" Ei's tone become so serious all of a sudden, surprising Lumine.

"Um, yeah." Lumine nodded. "It's almost like everyone in Inazuma knows who am I, although the majority of them only recognize me as the Traveler. Some people like Miko and Kazari already knows my name for some reason, even though we've never met before."

Ei sighed, shaking her head gently. "I know the reason. It's because the truth is, this isn't your first time arriving in Inazuma."

Lumine went silent to process the information, and when she heard the last words, her eyes went wide.

"What?"

Ei gritted her, collecting the courage to say the next sentences.

"That day, during the Vision Hunt Decree ceremony... That wasn't our first time meeting, Lumine. Our first meeting was 500 years ago, not long before the destruction of Khaenri'ah." Ei said putting a hand on her chest.

"You arrived in Inazuma like a shooting star, falling from the sky and landed near Chinju forest. That was when I first found you. Despite of having only met for some hours, we already become close friends. We goes to picnic together, sparring together, and we even go to a festival once. We became so close that I even saw you as my family, even Makoto felt the same too."

Lumine was silent the entire time, her mind was completely in shock from this too much revelation.

"Like you said, when you are near me, your heart beat quickened, your face becoming hot, and you lose some focus. And to be honest with you, I feel the same way. I feel that way ever since the day I met you. However, I never got the chance to convey that feeling or told you anything about it. But now..."

Ei approached Lumine, and gently took the smaller girl's hands and give it a gentle rub. Her mind went back to the romance novel that she read this noon with Lumine.

"Now I can finally understand, and have the courage to confess it to you." Ei look directly into Lumine's eyes, gold met with purple.

"Lumine. I love you."

Silence, complete silence lingers in the air around them. Lumine is in a complete shock right now, her jaw dropped and her eyes are wide open. Her body is trembling lightly.

"I've been waiting for hundreds of years just to say that." Ei said with a small chuckle. "Miko always tease me about it, but now, I don't think I care about it anymore."

When Ei release Lumine's hands, the blonde girl starts stumbling backwards. "No... I... All this time I..." With her lips trembling and eyes starts watering, Lumine began stuttering incoherent words.

"I know it's very shocking, Lumine. But please, calm down and-"

"No!" Ei was about to approach Lumine but the blonde girl pushed her away. "If what you said is true, then I- ugh!" There was a sudden painful throb on her head, provoking Lumine to clutch her head.

"Lumine! Are you alright?" Ei reached out to touch the suffering girl, but Lumine ran away before she could. "Wait, don't go!"

"Leave me alone!" Lumine shouted as she ran, stopping Ei from chasing after her.

"Lumine..." Watching as the girl ran away, Ei looked at her hand sadly, bawling it into fist. "Is telling her the truth a wrong desicion?" Ei asked to no one in particular.

"Oh my, look what you have done, Ei. You made the poor girl cried."

Hearing the familiar voice, Ei turned around to see Yae approaching her. The fox lady is wearing a pink kimono instead of her usual shrine maiden outfit, and there was a fan on her hand.

"Miko..." Ei greeted, gulping down, Ei looked at her friend and asked. "You... Saw that, didn't you?"

"Hmm, I did, I was watching you the entire time. I didn't expect you would be so forward to tell our friend the truth so suddenly, and even confessed your love to her as well. How cute." Yae said with a chuckle, causing Ei's cheeks to redden a little.

"Miko, do you think I made a mistake?" Ei asked again, her voice is low. "Do you think I should've tell her later instead of now?"

"Not at all actually, you did a great job, Ei." Miko smiled at her friend before gesturing her to the way where Lumine ran. "Why don't you go after your little star, hmm? It's quite dangerous to be alone at night, you know."

"You're right. Thank you, Miko. I'll go after her now." Giving her friend a final smile, Ei ran towards the direction Lumine headed.

---

She didn't know where she was heading, not that she care much about it. With blurry vision and head that she felt about to explode, Lumine continue to run into the wilderness of Inazuma, and as she ran, various flashes of fragmented memories that she didn't recognize starting to appear in her mind.

"I'm a distant Traveler goes by the name of Lumine, I'm here because I want to pay Inazuma a visit before going to the other nations, I hope I won't be a bother to you."

"Will the three of you be a guide for me? Please?"

"I'm sorry. I should've never asked that. I understand how's it feel to lose someone precious to you."

"Of course! Once whatever the problem in Khaenri'ah has been solved, I will immediately return back here, I did promise to teach you how to cook after all."

"Ei, if you need any help, or if there's anything bothering your mind, just come to me and we'll talk about it, okay? We are friends after all, and friends supposed to help each other, right?"

With all of these memories filling her head, Lumine lose the focus to keep her body moving, and eventually, she stumbled upon a rock and fell into the ground with a loud thud.

With tears still flowing out of her eye sockets, the blonde girl starts sobbing while clutching her head as the memories wouldn't stop invading her mind, torturing the blonde girl with painful headache and also a ridiculous amount of emotions that filled her heart all at once.

"Ei... And I... Are old friends?" Lumine mentally thought while still laying on the ground.

"And... She also love me?"

"This is too much! I can't... What should I do?"

"How can I forget about her?! How can I forget my own friends?"

Closing her eyes, Lumine stayed there for a few minutes. Letting her racing heart and to calm down, and trying to steady her breathing to at least ease the her awful headache. After doing so, her heart eventually calms down, and her headache slowly fades away. Sighing in relief, Lumine grasped the grass under her with her hands, opening her eyes to stare at it. The colour of Inazuma's grass... It remains the same as 500 years ago, she realized.

"I am not from this world." Lumine muttered to herself. "When I found Aether again, and free him from the clutches of the Abyss Order, I'll be leaving this world behind, leaving Ei behind."

Ei, how will the woman react if she rejected her love?

"I... I don't want her to be sad." Lumine said, sighing again. Her heart is conflicting between her brother and her friend.

Lumine's mission is to find and bring Aether home with her. But when she succeed in doing so, she would leave this world alongside him, leaving behind all the friends she made during her journey. Lumine hates the thought of that, the thought of leaving everyone she come to treasure behind.

If she leave this world, there will be no Paimon than she can tease and bicker with, there will be no Xiangling that smiles as she cook for her, there will be no Zhongli that can tell her interesting stories, and there is certainly no Ei that she wants to be together with.

Sighing heavily, Lumine turns her body around to face the sky, and how surprised she was to see the sky was covered with a sea of sakura leaves.

"What the..." Sitting up, Lumine looked around to see she was in the middle of a sakura garden. Sakura trees surrounded her in every direction, and with how the moonlight penetrates through the gaps on leaves just makes the view almost mystical.

"This is..." From the flashes of memories she just saw inside her mind, Lumine vaguely recognize this place. This is the place where she first met her.

There was a sudden sounds of footsteps behind her, and Lumine's bodies stiffened when she heard that awfully familiar voice.

"What's a young lady like you doing outside at this time of night?"

That voice, it's exactly the same as Ei's voice, but a lot more gentle and soothing.

Lumine turns around to face the person, and just as she was expected. The woman with the same face and voice as Ei is standing not too far from her. Her light purple kimono is still the same as ever, and so too her purple umbrella.

"Raiden... Makoto?" Lumine whispered, but loud enough for the other woman to hear.

"Even now, you still refuse to simply call me Makoto." Makoto shook her head with a light giggle. "Oh, how long I've missed you, Lumine."

"You're still alive? I thought you... Ei said that you're..."

"Dead? Well, I won't deny about the fact that I no longer walk in the realm of the living. But as for how I'm able to interact with you now... Well... Let's just say it's one of my abilities as an Archon." Makoto smirked, giving the blonde girl a wink.

Lumine lowered her head before asking. "Does that mean that you heard what did I just said?"

"Mhmm, I heard what you said, and also some other things that you said before." Approaching Lumine, Makoto took a seat on top of a rock near her, gesturing the blonde girl to sit besides her. "I've been watching you Lumine. I've been watching you ever since you returned to Inazuma. When I saw you, I instantly knew that you are the only one who can change Ei, to ease her pain after losing her friends and older sister, to make her a better goddess than I am."

"So you also knew about what Ei had done?" Lumine asked in curiosity, receiving a nod from Makoto.

"Indeed. Although I disagree with her methods that caused some people to suffer, I can't fully blame her either, after all, it's only normal for her to do that after what happened 500 years ago." Makoto explained, with Lumine nodding in understanment.

There was a silence between them for about fifteen seconds, and after much consideration, Lumine asked the former Electro Archon.

"Hey, Makoto. You heard what Ei said right? She said that she love me." Lumine began, receiving a nod from the other woman. "I... Don't want to make her sad, but... I don't know if I can accept it or not."

"Ah, yes, I always knew my sister have her eyes on you." Makoto said with a giggle. "Although she had some friends that she treasured equally, perhaps it was because of how similar you are that made you special in her eyes."

"Yeah." Lumine looked down while playing with the hem of her dress. "My big brother is missing and I have to find him and bring him home, which means that I will have to eventually leave this world behind. But my heart... It disagrees, I want to be with Ei, I don't want to leave her alone again, I don't want her to suffer any more."

Lumine turned her head to look at Makoto, the goddess still retains her gentle smile.

"Makoto, as Ei's sister, what do you think I should do?" Lumine asked, giving the woman a pleading look.

Makoto was silent for a while, before sighing, gently shaking her head. "The love life of my sister is not for someone like me to interfere, Lumine. Even though I was her older sister. However, if there is something that I can advice you for, is that I hope you follow what your heart desire."

Lumine widened her eyes at Makoto's explanation. "Follow my heart's desire?"

"Yes." Makoto replied while standing up, followed by Lumine. "What is your biggest desire Lumine? Do you want to be with Ei? Or do you want to be with your brother but without Ei by your side?"

Lumine think about this for a while. She couldn't possibly choose between the two. Aether is her only family, her own flesh and blood, there's no way she abandon him. In the other hand, Ei is someone important to her too, she too love and care for the woman, and leaving her behind again would certainly very hurtful for both of them.

Which means that the only answer is to choose both.

"I want to reunite with Aether." Lumine said in a low tone before looking at Ei. "And I also wanted to be with Ei. So I have decided, I will save Aether, and I promise that I will always stand by Ei's side while doing so." Lumine answered, determination burning in her eyes.

"Now that is the Lumine I knew." Makoto said with a giggle.

Looking up, Makoto saw the moon is directly above them, indicating that it's already midnight, releasing a sigh out of her mouth, Makoto looked at Lumine with sad but gentle eyes.

"My time is running out." Makoto informed, putting her umbrella on the ground. "But before I go. Lumine, would you like to have your memories back?" The woman asked with a smile.

Her memories. Makoto is able to fully restore her memories. Ever since she started her journey, Lumine always wondered what kinds of things she had forgotten when she lost her memories, every day and night, flashes of it's fragments would always haunted her, making her even more curious.

But after arriving in Inazuma, those flashes has come even more often than before, and at some point, she began to fear those memories and express no interest in restoring them again. But after what happened during the festival, she began doubting it and thinks that it would be nice if she have them back.

And it was only after Ei's confession that Lumine finally accepted it and desired them to be back, so she can make her relationship with Ei easier, so she can reminiscence the good old days together with her.

And so, with confidence, Lumine answered. "Yes. Please, I want to remember those days, I want to remember the friends I made on my first visit to Inazuma, I want to remember all the good times I spent with Ei." Lumine looked at Makoto with a begging look. "Please Makoto, if you can do it, then please restore my memories."

"Gladly." Makoto said with a smile. Reaching out, she placed both of her palms on Lumine's cheeks. "Now, close your eyes. This won't hurt a bit." Once Lumine did what she told, Makoto bumped her forehead against Lumine and start the process.

In just a second, Lumine felt like everything that was broken inside her mind is reforming back to what it used to be. All the memories, form the day she first arrived to Inazuma to the day she leave it, Lumine remembers them all.

Once all of her memories are restored, Makoto released her, smiling down at the smaller girl.

"All's done, I'm afraid I must go now."

Makoto leaned closer and gently kissed Lumine's forehead, completely erased the her headache once and for all.

"Take care of yourself Lumine. And please, look after Ei for me." The former Electro Archon gently whispered.

After that, the woman picks up her umbrella, giving Lumine one last smile before walking deeper into the Sakura garden. In the distance, Lumine saw the apparition of Saiguu and Chiyo is standing in the way Makoto is heading, both women give Lumine a smile and a nods of their head before both the three of them disappear altogether.

Lumine continue to stand there emotionless, her mind trying to process everything that just happened, this is all too much for the blonde girl.

"Lumine! There you are!"

That voice... That familiar voice.

"Thank goodness you're okay. I was looking everywhere for you-" Ei stopped once the blonde girl turned around to face her. Lumine was crying, tears continuously flowing out of her eyes. "Lumine, what's wrong? Are you hurt?"

Ei slowly approached the unresponsive Lumine and gently wipe her tears away. Her brows is furrowed in concern, and her eyes is starting sadly at the girl.

"I'm sorry if what I said earlier greatly upsets you. I was just-"

Ei's words are cut off when Lumine suddenly lunge forward and hug her tightly, cathing the goddess off guard.

"Ei... I'm sorry." Lumine said in a very low tone.

"Lumine, what are you apologizing for?" Ei asked in confusion, although, she enjoyed the warmth that she received from the hug.

"I'm sorry for not teaching you how to cook." Lumine said, her voice lose it's saddened tone from before, and now it sounds like she was holding back a laughter.

"What are you talking about?" Ei asked in total confusion.

"I made a promise to you, didn't I? I'm so sorry for forgetting it."

Realization finally hits Ei, and she stared at Lumine with widened eyes. "Lumine, are you..."

"Yes." Lumine nodded with a happy smile. "I remember everything now, I've missed you so much, Ei." Lumine said with a happy giggle.

The two started at each other's eyes for a while, and before long, the two engaged into a deep loving kiss.

"I love you too, Ei."

---

With the moon high on the sky. The streets of Inazuma city is now completely devoid of live, since everyone has already returned to their respective home.

Despite that however, a happy couple could be seen taking a stroll on the street, heading towards the Tenshukaku, with their fingers intertwined and their shoulders pressed against each other, both Ei and Lumine have a small smile on their faces.

"I've been meaning to ask you this, but what exactly are you doing in that garden?" Ei suddenly asked to fill the silence of the night.

"Nothing much, just... Meeting with an old friend, that's all." Lumine answered with a shrug.

"An old friend? May I know who it is?" Ei asked, tilting her head to the side.

"You know who it is." Lumine replied, smirking.

"Enlighten me."

"It was your sister, Makoto."

Ei's eyes widened in shock, did she heard that right? "Makoto? But she's..."

"I know, I couldn't quite understand it either." Lumine sighed, gently shaking her head. "I guess it was a miracle that we are able to met with each other again."

"Is she the one who restore your memory back?" Ei asked again, her voice is filled with curiosity.

"Mhmm, and that's not all. She also told me that she's been watching us the entire time, and even though she disagree with some of your methods in ruling Inazuma. She never blames you and will continue to support you to become a better ruler than she was." Lumine explained, remembering what Makoto told her in the garden.

"Hmm, that sounds like Makoto alright." Ei muttered softly, nodding her head.

The two laughed together as they continue their stroll towards the Tenshukaku. With Ei now by her side, Lumine felt like the hole in her heart has been filled again. All she needs to do now is to save Aether, only then she can finally enjoy her time with Ei for all eternity.

The End.

---

I originally planned to have Ei accompanying Lumine when she goes to Watatsumi Island to help Kokomi with the peace talk she have with Kujou Sara. However, I scrapped the Idea because I can't think of the proper way the inhabitants of Watatsumi Island will react after seeing Ei with Lumine.

However, if you like the idea, please tell me in the comment section then maybe I can write a separate story about it.

With that said. Thank you very much for reading this story. I love you all. :)