happy new year! i hope everyone's ayato/raiden and weapon banner summons have been going well :) hoyofair 2023 was so fun to watch! my favs were the fischl vs mona rap battle, fatui harbingers fight scene, and the yelan & dehya heist/car chase

i'm happy i was able to crunch in time to write this week! last week was...the busiest i've been in a while ;-;

With Amber's jaw hanging open as she stood in front of my room, I dared to look back at the scene she witnessed. Before, Diluc was standing on the other side of the room from Kaeya, and Childe was relaxed on the chair. Now, they'd closed the distance and were one step away from a very stiff Kaeya. His wide eye quickly flicked to me before turning down. With his lips pressed in a thin line, it was obvious that Kaeya continued to feel guilty about what had happened back then. Though, he had the courage to lift his chin and appear unbothered by the glares directed at him.

"On second thought, I won't be staying the night after all." Childe angled away from Kaeya slightly, speaking to me. "I just so happened to come across some very serious business that needs to be taken care of."

"Likewise," Diluc grunted.

Amber stepped forward and nudged my arm with a scheming grin. "Do I want to know what's going on here? I hope I wasn't interrupting anything important."

"You're timing sure is something," Kaeya said with a casual chuckle. It sounded forced. "If it's a girls' night you'll be having, then I suppose someone like me has no place here. Then again, I do have quite the talent for braiding hair."

"Really?" Amber's eyes sparked with eagerness, but then she cleared her throat. "I mean, of course, you can't be here."

"Come on now, brother." Diluc emphasized the last word and laid a heavy arm around Kaeya's neck. "I have a few words I'd like to share with you—in private."

Childe joined in, placing a firm hand on Kaeya's shoulder. "Please, don't mind if I join in."

Together, Amber and I moved out of the way as Kaeya was essentially dragged out of the room. Right as Kaeya turned to look back—like this was the last time we'd ever see each other—Childe reached for the doorknob and cut off Kaeya's line of sight right before closing it shut.

"Lumine, Amber," Diluc said to each of us with a curt nod. "Enjoy."

Then, they were gone.

A moment of silence elapsed, and I feared the worst. Should I follow them and stop whatever execution Kaeya was about to face? I'd already forgiven him for the harsh rejection—it'd only happened out of a concern for me, after all. Except, Diluc and Childe wouldn't see it that way. With this news fresh in their minds, I was reminded of how even Amber was eager to teach Kaeya a lesson when she found out.

Speaking of Amber, now that we were alone, she slapped my arm energetically.

"I didn't know they were in your room! Why were they in your room?" She paused to peer over at my bed. "Okay, it doesn't look like any funny business was going on…yet."

I blushed and looked away. "It wasn't like that."

"Uh-huh, sure."

"We were talking about serious things."

Her eyebrows wiggled. "Like how the four of you were about to get serious?"

"Serious things like…" I stammered as she grinned in my face like she'd won the lottery. "Thoma."

With his name, Amber's buildup of giggles subsided. "Oh."

My intention wasn't to bring her mood down—just to avert her attention. So, I tacked on another purpose for tonight's meeting that she would relate to more.

"There's also this whole thing with Huffman."

As I expected, Amber's shoulders slumped as she sighed. "Not him again. Wait, don't tell me anything yet. As much as I'd love to hear about what Huffman has been up to, let's wait for Xiangling to get here."

I nodded and couldn't help but look back at the door. It was strange—my worry for Kaeya. Thoma was the one going through a serious life-or-death crisis, and our energy needed to be directed fully at him. I hoped Diluc and Childe went easy on Kaeya. My heart wouldn't be able to take seeing another one of them weakened, be it physically or mentally.

"Teyvat to Lumine," Amber said. "If you're going to sigh longingly after them, you'd better give me all the details. We can start with your romantic getaway at the Dawn Winery and move on from there."

"Oh, yeah?" I raised a brow. "I'm sure you and Eula did more than just tango."

Now, it was her turn to blush.

She was saved from giving a response when a knock came at the door.

"Is this thing locked?" Xiangling's muffled voice asked through the wood. The doorknob jiggled once, and there she appeared with an armful of snacks. "Great! Who wants roasted jueyen chili chips? Guoba fired them up all on his own. Oh, but first, let me tell you the craziest thing I just saw on my way here. Childe, Diluc, and Kaeya are definitely up to something."

Amber's grin returned, and all I could do was sigh before indulging in the gossip that followed.

A tingling sensation on my wrist woke me, but upon opening my eyes, the faces of Amber and Xianging mere inches away from mine spooked me into springing up from the bed. Unfortunately, my jerk reaction was too fast, resulting in the three of us smacking our heads together. We exclaimed in mutual agony, and I rubbed at my forehead as they moved away.

"What were you doing?" I asked with watery eyes.

"We were trying to wake you up," Amber said and pointed to the window. The sun had risen. "If we waited any longer, you'd oversleep and be late for the first day of the second semester."

Xiangling nodded. "Yeah, but no matter how many times we called your name, you wouldn't wake up. Not even tapping your face worked. Are you okay? It looked like you were having a nightmare."

A nightmare? I didn't remember dreaming of anything strange last night. As a matter of fact, I didn't remember dreaming of anything at all.

"Thanks for waking me up," I said. "I feel fine."

Amber and Xiangling exchanged glances with each other before shrugging and shuffling out of the bed. They yawned together, causing me to yawn, and we stretched for a moment—our arms in the air and friendship bracelets on full display.

"Wow, they look even better in the daylight." Amber lowered her arm to inspect hers. "You chose the perfect colors, Lumine."

"They suit you," I said with a smile.

Last night, we'd picked the thread colors for each other. I chose red and brown for Amber, Amber decided on red and yellow for Xiangling, and Xiangling matched me with blue and white. Though each of our bracelets was different, there was a single thread of silver woven into all three—a symbol of our friendship.

My wrist still tingled, but not because of the bracelet. Though Diluc had mentioned he would find a bracelet to cover the abyssal runes, the opportunity presented itself when Amber asked which wrist I wanted her to tie the friendship bracelet on. The braided threads were now securely wrapped on my left wrist, covering the reminder of my deal with Enjou.

Though I couldn't peek at my skin underneath with Amber and Xiangling here, I had no doubt that the tingling was the result of me losing another day. Even without looking, I knew only five runes remained.

"Are you sure you're not sick or something?" Xiangling frowned. "You look a little off."

I shook my head. "I might have had one too many snacks last night. It's nothing a proper breakfast can't fix."

"You're absolutely right! I'm so glad my teachings have finally gotten through. Fulfilling meals and exotic ingredients are the spice of life. Still, I can't believe Thoma ate live scarabs. He's got more guts than I thought."

Amber paled. "Let's not talk about bugs until after breakfast."

"I couldn't agree more," I said with a grimace before pushing out of bed energetically. "See? I'm doing fine—nothing to worry about for me. Instead, I want to see how Kaeya's doing. Do you think he'll be in the dining hall?"

While I was genuinely concerned for his well-being, the two of them smirked with a silent chuckle.

"There's only one way to find out." Amber winked.

Kaeya did not make an appearance in the dining hall for breakfast.

Looking for him hadn't been an option—not with Childe pretending like nothing happened and insisting that I stay for the full meal. Luckily, there'd be no one to interfere with my search during lunch, but until then, I had to go through beginner's gliding.

My attention was all over the place during class. Though it was important for me to grasp the lesson, I also spied for any changes in Venti's behavior. He didn't treat me any differently from before. After all, he did seem to be somewhat close with Dain and chose to reveal some secrets to me before. I even remembered Venti mentioning that I reminded him of the Champion. With the strong possibility that Aether could be the Champion, that made a whole lot more sense now.

Lastly, I kept an eye on Huffman. He was awfully flighty wherever I glided remotely close to him—not because we were in flight. Normally, Amber and I would do the gliding lesson together, but after the information dump from girls' night, she knew I had business to sort out with Huffman. So, I spent most of the hour failing to speak with him, but that was about to change.

Once I made the final landing before anyone else, I returned the windglider and hurried to where the students left their belongings. After snatching up my bag, I spotted the satchel that Huffman carried around. I took that, too. If he wanted it back, we'd be having a proper conversation first.

Part of me felt bad for using this tactic. The guy clearly harbored guilt for trying to sabotage me, and he'd already been hounded by Diluc and Childe just yesterday. It's understandable why Huffman wanted nothing to do with me for both of our sakes, but I wanted answers.

Huffman had no choice but to approach me, and I could see the resignation in his eyes now that his belongings were in my possession.

"Is this yours?" I asked him innocently.

"We both know that it is." He sighed in defeat. "Alright, I'll talk to you, but only if you promise that they never come after me again."

"Diluc and Childe?"

Huffman nodded, jaw clenched.

"Fine," I said with a shrug. "I never asked them to, by the way. You have physical combat next, right? Come on, we can walk and talk."

I noted how he wrung his hands nervously, and though I was tempted to pity him for it, I resisted. The situation on the beach could have been a lot worse if I'd kept that necklace with me.

Nothing was said at first, and it was obvious that Huffman was waiting until everyone else had cleared out. It was only until the two of us were the only ones walking through the woody path that Huffman's words came out in a rush.

"I didn't say this to Diluc or Tartaglia because I knew they wouldn't understand. They've been Vision holders for so long, so it's impossible for them to connect with someone like me. You're different somehow—they stick around you, and I'm happy for you. I really am. It's just…not all of us can be so lucky. Strength in power and friends is something I really admire, but it's never been achievable for me."

"So, you were looking for strength elsewhere?" I guessed. "Did Signora promise she'd do that for you?"

"Kind of. One day, I just couldn't take it anymore. The Twin Mages were at their worst, and even though I knew Signora was the one behind it all, she'd never personally laid a hand on me. So, I thought it'd be worth trying to convince her that I was worthy of being powerful, too."

I wasn't surprised by the confession, but hearing Huffman lamenting over the situation he had little control over gained some sympathy from me.

"She's truly a force to be reckoned with. I can barely remember the deal we struck because I was so scared, but it was pretty simple. Signora said that if I wanted power like the Twin Mages, I needed to prove myself. I needed to be useful to her. Because you're her number one enemy, taking you down was the obvious way to earn her trust."

"That sure sounds like Signora," I mumbled. "Was it too much to ask that she moved on after getting expelled?"

"I'm so sick of it, Lumine. Back in Mondstadt, I'm the ideal candidate to be a top member of the Knights of Favonius. Over here, I'm weaker than weak. So yeah, I did what I thought I had to do. Signora sent me that necklace and told me what it could do to someone without a Vision. I hesitated before giving it to you—you have to believe me—but eventually, I physically couldn't take it anymore."

"You didn't look too good when you handed over the gift box," I recalled. "But you still did it and watched from the sidelines as I felt worse each day after that."

Huffman hung his head. "I know, and I'm sorry. Once I saw that the necklace was really working, I wrote my report to Signora, but I couldn't bring myself to send it. Going home for winter break made me realize a lot of things—like how my time here is temporary. So, I planned on taking the necklace back and tossing it in the ocean or something."

"And risk her wrath?"

"She wouldn't have given me what I asked for, anyway," Huffman sighed. "Except, I was too late. You and Thoma were attacked by rifthounds before I returned back to the island. If it weren't for me, you two would have won that fight on your own."

While Huffman was right to take the blame for most of what had happened, that last part wasn't true. I sorted through my new opinions of Huffman's character and told him that the necklace stopped being a problem weeks ago—that Thoma thankfully caught on, and the rifthounds overpowered us all on their own.

We'd reached the main campus at this point, and now that I heard the full story from Huffman, I understood where he was coming from. Forgiveness wasn't quite there yet, but I knew he wasn't an enemy.

"What are you going to do once Signora finds out that you quit?"

"It's wishful thinking, but I might be insignificant enough that she forgot all about me. If that doesn't pan out, then I'll stay as far away from the Twin Mages as I can. They became more tolerable once they learned that I joined their cause, but that's over now." His fists balled, and determination shone in Huffman's eyes. "These are just the consequences of my actions. I'm unworthy to be a Knight of Favonius if I ignore these transgressions."

"That's the spirit."

I clapped lightly to cheer him on and even laughed despite the circumstance. Little resentment remained from me, and I looked forward to Huffman turning over a genuinely new leaf. As for the Twin Mages…

"Plus, when all is said and done, I had no shot at eclipsing your strength, Lumine. No one does."

I frowned. "That's not true. We're all still learning and growing—not to mention the highly skilled upperclassman."

"I stand by what I said. You survived that rifthound attack for a reason. Any day now, Thoma will be dead. Then, you can move on to bigger and better things! It's a shame to have so many people holding you back from your true potential."

For a moment, I didn't register what Huffman had said about Thoma. The words were so surreal coming from him, and I couldn't believe he had the nerve. After we had just cleared the air about Signora, too. What had gotten into him?

"I'd call Thoma a dead man walking, but he's not even walking! The good people at the infirmary should stop bothering with him—wasting resources that could be going elsewhere."

I'd been taken aback by the change of topic, but now I felt rage as Huffman continued to blabber on. Before I knew it, I'd tossed Huffman's satchel to the ground and stepped on it as I marched into his personal space. A sly grin had replaced the nervous expression he wore not long ago.

Huffman didn't break eye contact with me when he asked, "What's the problem? I'm only speaking the truth."

"Take it back," I demanded. "And apologize."

"No, I don't think I will."

"Huffman."

"What are you going to do about it? Nothing. There's nothing you can do—not about me or Thoma. Give up on him, already."

That was the last straw. The last bit of restraint within me snapped, and I found myself shoving Huffman to the ground beside his satchel. Before I could really teach him a lesson, a shout from nearby made me hesitate.

"Stop!" Ellin came running over. "Lumine, what do you think you're doing? I thought you were better than this."

I calmed my heavy breathing and narrowed my eyes at Huffman. "I was delivering the consequence of his actions, or in this case, his words."

"Do you really think I'd believe that? I was worried when I saw the two of you talking together, but I really hoped for the best."

"What are you talking about?" I scoffed.

"Oh please, when Huffman told me that Tartaglia and Diluc harassed him yesterday, it's obvious that you were the one who sent them." Ellin sounded hurt. "So much for us Visionless sticking together. You're no better than Signora—actually—you're worse. At least she doesn't pretend to be good."

Before I could explain what had happened, Huffman scrambled back up and stood next to Ellin. Gone was his boldness, and the panicked Huffman returned.

"I…I don't know why Lumine…" he gasped. "So suddenly. I was trying to explain myself. I thought we were okay now."

Ellin sighed, her expression softening a fraction when she spoke to Huffman. "Go to class. Don't bother stressing yourself out because of her anymore."

That was all it took for Huffman to back away, taking his satchel with him, and casting me a confused look before leaving entirely. Now, I had a very angry Ellin to face. I, too, was also angry, but this had nothing to do with her.

"Bye," she said and walked away.

I hadn't expected that, nor was I keen on letting the conversation end on this note. With a sigh, I jogged to catch up with her.

"Ellin, wait."

She whirled on me. "Why should I? Are you going to attack me if I don't?"

"What? Don't be ridiculous."

"Oh, I'm the one being ridiculous? Of course, I forgot that you're too perfect to be in the wrong. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get away before I become your next target."

"I would never hurt you or anyone, for that matter. There's been a misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding, right." Ellin shook her head and barked out a laugh. "Forgive me if I don't believe you. First, Vlad gets attacked by Tartaglia in the dining hall, and you do nothing to stop it. Then, Huffman is chased down by two of your people. Now, I see you've taken it upon yourself to do the dirty work."

"It's all because of Signora that—"

"Save it for someone who'll actually listen. I'm not naïve enough to make the same mistake twice."

Ellin was more stubborn than I thought, and I found myself at a loss for words. Somehow, she believed in this twisted image of me. As I watched her storm away, I found that I couldn't blame Ellin for becoming so bitter. When we first met, I fully intended to be there for her, but then life got in the way.

Life was no excuse, though. I remembered when she was concerned for Vlad, and I'd brushed it off. If only I'd taken the time to explain to Ellin what Vlad was up to—if only Huffman had opened up to her about the necklace—we wouldn't have ended up like this. There had to be a way to make things right, but it wouldn't be easy. Unfortunately, it would also have to wait.

Huffman's cold words about Thoma spooked me enough to bypass the dining hall and head straight to the infirmary. After checking in with Qiqi, she led me to the same private room where Thoma was, but the interior was quite different from what I remembered. On nearly every available surface were bundles of flowers—the same ones Childe had bought for me. There was even a small cluster of red apples piled on a side table, and Venti came to mind.

Still, no matter how decorated the room was, there was no distracting from the fact that Thoma's condition had worsened. His paled skin had taken on a worrisome grey undertone, and my heart ached as I sat by his side for the rest of the hour. Barbara had yet to return, and my faith in the library had dwindled ever since I came across the ominous repetition of the word 'dead.'

Giving up wasn't an option, but I may just have to give in.