Despite of its length, I have a hard time writing this chapter for some reason. I'm glad that it's finally done. This is just the prologue for the story, the plot will began after this.
Prologue
If she have to pick which seasons that she liked the most, then the summer in Tevyat is perhaps the most enjoyable season for Lumine.
Not only because she likes the feeling of working up a sweat as she fights and run across the landscape of Tevyat under the burning gaze of the sun. But it was also the time she usually spends the month with most of her friends in some crazy bizarre adventure.
Last time, Lumine was summoned into the paradise known as the Golden Apple Archipelago. What she first thought is going to be a grand quest to help her little friend, Klee, to some unknown previously unexplored islands that was never charted on the map turns out to be a well planned vacation that Klee's mother has given to all of them, and although Lumine admitted that she was a bit disappointed on the fact that they all have been tricked this whole time, she couldn't say that the excitement and anticipation that has been built up throughout the time they spent on cracking the case down was bad. In fact, she really enjoys it.
It has been a while since she was able to relax and enjoy some quality time together with her friends like this, all the stress and sadness she have accumulated throughout her adventure of trying to find her missing brother have been gone in an instant, and Lumine was glad that she was able to put her focus on something else other than her mission for once.
She hoped that someday, when she get her brother back to her side, she was able to bring Aether here with her, so that the two siblings could enjoy a moment of peace together... Without anything to worry in mind... No Abyss, no Archons, and no Fatui.
Although, she is completely aware that such dreams are impossible to be realized anytime soon. There are still four nations left that she needs to go after all.
Anyway, the trip to the Archipelago last year was pretty enjoyable, mostly because it was her first time visiting it, and also because everyone she knew well from Mondstadt was there, from little Klee, Grandmaster Jean, Albedo, and even Diluc. The adrenaline of having to explore a completely new places, the absolute fun of having to drive the Waverider across the ocean in spite of everyone's loud yelling and screams of horror as she pulls out some sick maneuvers and sharp turns. And also the sense of mysteries as she and her friends finds some ancient engravings and interesting stories retelled by a collection of mysterious conches able to record the voices of the people from the past. Words simply cannot express the wonderfulness of that summer, arguably the best ever vacation the blonde haired girl ever have in her hundreds of years of existence.
And although she couldn't have that same feeling this time, the feeling of having to revisit this paradise of a place after a year with some new friends she had made wasn't so bad either.
Together with four of her friends, each came from a different nations save for Mona and Fischl, Lumine is once again having another great time in her life. Visiting the Archipelago that she had missed after some time of not seeing it, cracking yet another mysterious case revolving around the appearance of strange structures that are connected to each of the groups's inner thoughts, and also to explore a set of bizarre mirages while learning more of her friends' pasts and their respective inner struggle in their lives which made her coming to a better understanding of them and also deepening their bonds.
They are having such a wonderful fun times and honestly, Lumine is looking forward for more of what these Islands have in store for them later in the future.
But this however... Is not something that Lumine is looking forward to...
"You know..." Paimon started, gulping down the cooked fish meat inside her mouth down her throat, as puts down the tiny utensils in her hand, and giving everyone around the table a glance. "Throughout our time in this place, we have seen and explored Kazuha's, Xinyan's, Fischl's, and Mona's mirage. And we also have solved the mystery behind the appearance of these mirages which were caused the Fatui's broken machine that we have successfully fixed."
The little pixie with white hair then turned her head to look at one person that she has intentionally missed to give a glance at, which is none other than the illustrious blonde haired Traveler known as Lumine. With the girl in question giving her tiny companion a mixed of confused and curious stare, blinking at her as she chews on the food she's currently eating.
"But there is still one more person that we haven't seen her mirage ever since the day the craziness starts to happen." Giving the bigger girl a narrowed eyes, and putting her small fists on her sides, the pixie continues. "And we all know who is that person in question is, right?"
Giving the floating girl and owlish blink, Lumine gulped the food down her throat and take a sip of the cup of tea in front of her before answering the tiny creature's question.
"Was it you, Paimon?" The blonde girl asking back, causing Paimon to seemingly instantly forgets how to fly and face vaulted herself on the wooden table, receiving some small chuckles out of some people on the group.
"Paimon is talking about you! Dummy!" The White haired girl shouted once she recovered from her shock, practicality zeroing on her friend's head and spits all over the blonde's face.
There was a moment of silence after that, everyone on the table stops their chatting and laughing as they turns their heads to look at Lumine. The one girl that had brought them together like this. If it wasn't for her, then they could never possibly be on these islands in the first place.
"Me?" Lumine said, with a deadpan expression, pointing her index finger to herself.
"Yes, You." With a huff, Paimon crossed her arms on her chest as she floats away from Lumine's face. "That weird Fatui machine thinggy is supposed to alter the state of people's brains and manifest their inner thoughts into these dream-like mirages, right? And we have seen how these mirages are related to our past memories and also our deepest secret desire that we never had the chance to fulfill before. We see how Kazuha's mirage is related to his family's bonsai tree, then Xinyan with her passion for rock n' roll music, Fischl with her endless dreams of the Immernachtreich kingdom, and then also Mona's inner struggle with her job as an astrologist. Shouldn't that mean that you should've had a mirage of your own as well?"
Lumine was silent again, looking down, she closed her eyes and gently rubs her chin. "My mirage huh..." She muttered out softly.
"Yeah, we have seen what our friends' past looks like, and we even helped them to get over it and to live on the present moment, shouldn't it be fair if we see what your past looks like and maybe help you with your problems too." Now that she was finally getting through her friend's head, Paimon regained her cheerful self, nodding happily as she explains.
"Hmm... Come to think of it, I too starting to get a little curious as well." Sitting across the other end of the table, Kazuha nods his head in approval. "After seeing the all mirages that comes after mine, I found myself quite liking these little adventure we go through. It would be a missing opportunity if we didn't see what's the inside your mirage looks like, Lumine."
"Yeah! Now that we got that strange machine all fixed. There's no guarantee of how long these awesome mirages would last until they're gone." After gulping down the rest of her drink, Xinyan slam it into the table and spoke up enthusiastically. "It would be a shame if we miss even just one more mirage before they completely disappeared on these islands. Plus, maybe we can use it to learn more about you, Traveler!"
"I too agree with everyone's opinions." Mona in the other hand, doesn't even bother with her table manners. She spoke up while still having her mouth stuffed with all the food presented to her from today's cath which is a lot thanks to Lumine's hard work on catching the fishes with ease and then cook it in the most delicious way possible, all thanks to the various ingredients she had in store and also the recipe she had learned from Xiangling a long time ago. "By seeing your mirage, who knew what kind of inner problems we may find that you had keep it away from us, and maybe we can help with you with it as well." Mona said with a nod, finally swallowing the food she's munching, resulting with her getting a coughing fit until Kazuha presented her a newly filled glass of water which she quickly drinks upon.
"This Prinzessin Der Verurteilung has to admit that she too is interested on the mystery behind the illustrious Traveler's past." Still keeping up with her roleplay even in the time like this, Fischl is the one to spoke up next. Standing up graciously while making an elegant poses as she speaks. "Thus I shall shall be more than honored to see the holy land of my utmost important retainer." She said, ending her speech with her index fingers pointed towards Lumine.
"What Mein Fräulein means to say is, she is also curious about the not yet discovered Traveler's mirage, and she will be happy to come and visit it." Fischl's familiar, Oz, translated his master's language just like usual. Seriously though if he wasn't here, the whole group would probably have a rough time trying to understand every single words that came out of her mouth.
Probably.
"See? Even everyone is agreeing with Paimon." The little pixie said while glaring back to Lumine. "Paimon is super curious too. Paimon can't wait to see what you have in store for us. Maybe we can see more about Lumi's past and just what kinds of exciting adventure you have before arriving in Tevyat. Paimon loves those stories you always told Paimon before bedtime, and it wil be awesome if we see those in real life, even if it's just an illusion."
Giving all of friends a quick glance, with their own eyes is all looking at her, Lumine sighed as she rest her back against the wooden chair, closing her eyes as she gently shook her head.
"I don't know guys, but maybe we should skip this one." She said, receiving tilted heads from her friends due to their confusion, and also Paimon wailing and asking why. "Because... I don't think I even have one on these islands." Lumine replied, with her eyes are still closed like this, no one would know whether her eyes are twitching or not.
"How can you jump into that conclusion so quickly?" Paimon asked with narrowed gaze. "That Fatui researcher clearly said that his machine are influencing everyone within the Archipelago vicinity, and people with strong willpower are able to manifest their inner thoughts in the physical world as mirages, and those who don't have enough willpower will suffer like those Fatui soldiers. Lumi, you look like someone who has a strong willpower like the rest of us here, and you certainly doesn't shows symptoms of being negatively affected by the machine. So surely there's a mirage about you somewhere on these islands." The little pixie explained, waving her hands around while doing so.
"Then how about you, Paimon?" Lumine retorted, opening her eyes and looked at the little emergency food with a gaze that speaks amusement. "Why couldn't we find your mirage? Could it be that there's only food inside that head of yours in place of a brain?" The blonde girl asked with a teasing smirk.
"GAH! Don't you dare mocking Paimon like that! Also, stop changing the subject!" Reduced to a screaming mess yet again, Paimon yells at her friend while having her tiny hands clutching her chest, making the impression that she has been shot in the heart after hearing that rude comment from Lumine.
Giggling a little, Lumine sighed a little before resting her chin on her palm as she continued. "Well, it's true what you said about the brain thing. But if I remember correctly, didn't Persikov also said that the machine is actually imitating the ability of a god? A mirage Archon perhaps."
"Mhmm, that is correct. I do remember it being said somewhere in the manuscript we found." Mona nodded her head in agreement, but then she looks at Lumine with a slightly confused expression. "But what does that have to do with anything?"
"Well... If there really is a mirage Archon existing in the past. Then that God would've more likely use their power for the sake of their people. Their people the humans of Tevyat... But I am not from Tevyat, aren't I?" The girl with short blonde hair asked back with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh." Everyone said simultaneously as a response. Everyone in Lumine's group of friends already know about her nature as an outlander, that she was not a normal person, that the very laws of Tevyat doesn't even work on her.
"There's a very slim possibility that the machine could comprehend the inside of my brain enough to create a mirage out of it. And besides, I don't see any other structures appearing on an island other than the ones we just explored, which means that there was no mirage about me in the first place." Lumine explained with a shrug of her shoulders, causing Paimon to slump down on the table.
"But... That just wasn't fair though!" The little pixie stomp her tiny legs to the wooden table below her. "We're all having a good time exploring these mirages, learning about our respective past and fulfil our desire from it. But why can't Paimon do it with Paimon's best and closest buddy?" The white haired girl continue her wails, her tone become a little somber now, giving the said best buddy a somewhat saddened look.
"I really appreciate your feelings for me Paimon, I really do. But I think it's best if you gave up that dream." Lumine too becoming a little bit sad judging from her tone which also becomes a little somber for some reason. The blonde girl look back at the pixie with a sad smile on her face. "And even if my mirage really exist somewhere on these islands, I bet that it's just going to be filled with boring stuff like my training to become the warrior I am today, or all the time I spent with my brother in the past. No one would be interested in the kinds of stuff like that."
Sighing again, Lumine put her hands on top of the table and push herself up to stand.
"Anyway, it's getting pretty late. I think I'm gonna go to bed now. Goodnight everyone, she you all in the morning." Without speaking another word, the blonde girl turned around and headed towards their camp to sleep. Receiving only silent waves from her friends as they watch her walk away from them.
"Did y'all noticed the weird way she just spoke those words?" Once Lumine is out of the picture, Xinyan is the first one to spoke up among the group.
"Lumi just sounds... Pretty sad... Did Paimon just upsets her somehow?" Putting her hand on her chest, the tiny creature is concerned about her friend, fearing that the talk about mirage she just brought somehow greatly upsets her without her knowing about it.
"Hmm, I too noticed the sudden shift in Lumine's mood for some reason. But I'm sure that it has nothing to do with you, Paimon." Kazuha muttered, trying to reassure his tiny friend as he rubs his chin with his hand as he thinks.
"I also starting to get worried with my retainer's sudden shift in the way she acts. This is not what the lady Lumine I know usually behave." Although she's still in her roleplaying mode, even Fischl has toned it down a bit due to her concern.
"Indeed. Usually lady Lumine is so energetic and full of life. But the tone of how she speaks up just now is... Concerning." Standing on the table beside her, Oz said with a shook of his head.
"Ohh... Paimon is starting to feel bad about this. Lumi must be sad knowing that she's the only who doesn't have a mirage of her own." Paimon muttered, rubbing her two legs together.
"How did you even jump into that conclusion?" Behind her, Mona replied after finally finished up all of the food on her plate.
"Well... Based from everything we have seen before, all the mirages will always containing our past memories and experience. So if by chance there are a mirage created by Lumi's mind, then her brother must be in there." Now that the little pixie has explained it, everyone now understand what she's talking about.
"Ah... Now that you mentioned it, I think you're right." Xinyan muttered with a nod of her head.
"It has been a long time since Lumi met with her brother again, and even during that reunion, only pain and sadness are the one that Lumi felt once she learned of what has become of her brother throughout her absence."
"Even if it's just a mere illusions, it must've been nice to see someone dear to you that you haven't see in a long time. I wish I could do the same while inside my mirage. I would like to see my father again after years of not seeing him after he passed away." Kazuha silently muttered, his mind remembering the time when he and Lumine spends some time together, remembering how the blonde haired girl would sometine cling to him like that of a sister who clings to her brother while in need for comfort.
"Hey, Mona. Can you please use astrology to maybe locate Lumi's mirage somewhere on these islands? You can do it with the other mirages, so surely you can do it with her too, right?"
"As much as I want to do that, Paimon, I'm afraid I can't." Mona said with a shook of her head, sighing as she does so. "I believe that I have told you this before, but I apparently can't use astrology on Lumine. I still have no idea why that could happen, but I assume that it must be because of her nature as an outlander, her constellation is not one that belongs to the skies of Tevyat."
"What? That's even more unfair!" Paimon groaned, once again stomping her feet on the table. "I-In that case, how about if you use it find if there's any other mirages that we haven't discovered yet?"
"There are plenty of mirages on this Archipelago than those that we have founded, Paimon." Mona said with a narrowed gaze, crossing her arms over her chest. "Right now, we may only see the four mirages that all belongs to us, but that's only because we are the only people left on these islands that are capable enough to manifest our thoughts in such a large scale. Using my scryglass to find other mirages other than the ones that we have already explored will only resulted in me finding unstable illusions that are produced by animals like birds and squirrels because they too have a brain, but definitely not a strong willpower like us."
"Well, that sucks." Xinyan mumbled with a click of her tongue. "Guess that means there's really no mirage for our dear Traveler friend, huh?"
"Paimon refuse to believe that!" The little pixie furiously shook her head in denial. "Paimon believe that there's gotta be a way. How about if you be more specific about it then, Mona. Can you try it with a bit of more complexity? Something like: "A mirage produced by a someone with a strong willpower and mind that we haven't found before?""
"T-That's just sounds ridiculous!" Mona replied with a shook of her head. "Such complexity cannot be easily divinate with astrology, you know!"
"But it's worth the try, right? Please Mona, can you please just give it a try for once, for Lumi and everyone's sake." Making a pleading puppy eyes, Paimon stared deeply at Mona's eyes.
"I-I won't do it! Even if you beg me for it." Closing her eyes, Mona looks away as she tried to forget the image of the begging Paimon before her.
"B-But... Imagine what we can found inside Lumi's mirage. Aren't you excited at what kinds of secret that Lumi have hid from us?"
"Secret?" Cracking an eye open, Mona looked at the pixie in front of her again.
"That's right, secrets. Who knows, maybe we may learned if Lumi have any hidden crush to any of us here." With her eyes narrowed, Paimon gave the black haired girl a small smirk when she saw a faint color of red appearing on her face.
"H-Hold on! What do you mean by crush?"
"Well... From what Paimon have seen, Lumi can be pretty close and clingy to some of the friends she made throughout her journey across Tevyat. Surely she would develop a little bit of romantic feelings for one of them, you know?" Even without the need of turning around to see it, Paimon could already felt how everyone's face is heating up. "Who knows, maybe she have a crush to certain black haired astrologist-"
"Alright alright! I get it!" Before letting herself get teased by the tiny creature any more, the said astrologist quickly stood up and raised her hand. "I'll try my best in finding it, but it may take more than just a single night to find it."
"Yay! You're the best Mona." Paimon visibly overjoyed with happiness once her friend is finally agreeing to it, taking herself off the table and spins around in the air as she does so.
"J-Just remember that I do this for Lumine's sake, alright? It's definitely NOT because I want to know who she may have a crush on or anything." The black haired girl huffed, looking away with a frown on her face.
"Yeah yeah, whatever. Paimon is just happy that you agreed to help Lumi."
Eventually, time passed. And as the night getting late and the moon rises high into the sky, everyone returned to their respective beds and fell asleep to regain the energy they had spent for today. But as each of them tried to catch some sleep, they couldn't help themselves but to feel a little nervous, and perhaps a little excitement as well. Will Mona be able locate the mirage they all been missed? What kind of things will they see once they enter it? What are Lumine's past looks like? And what kind of desire she have hide from them? To see her brother again perhaps? Or will it be something else. The question can only be answered once the sun starting to rise.
"Paimon, Paimon, wake up!" There was a voice coming from above her, and she could also feel someone is shaking her.
"Mmm... Five more minutes..." She mumbled, trying to bat away the hand that is shaking her.
"Come on, you lazyhead, the food are not going to eat themselves." Now that her hearing is a little better, she could recognize the voice as the one that belongs to Xinyan.
"Food?! Where is it? Where's the food?" Upon hearing her most favourite word in the world, the little pixie known as Paimon immediately jumps out of the bed and looks around in search for it.
"Actually, that was a lie because you keep on sleeping no matter how hard I shake you."
"What?! How dare you lie to Paimon like that!" Turning around to face the red eyed girl, the tiny creature throws her fists downwards in frustration.
"Hehe, sorry sorry. It's just that Mona said that she just found what we're looking for, and she asks me to wake you up to tell you the information."
"Wait, really?! She really did it?! Where is she? Where's Mona now?" Upon hearing what the brown haired girl said, Paimon gets even more excited than before, zeroing on Xinyan's face as she look deeply into her eyes.
"Geez, calm down will ya?" Making some distance between her and the floating creature, Xinyan use her hand to push the pixie away. "She's waiting on top of the hill, along with Kazuha and Fischl too."
"Then let us not make them wait any longer, come on, let's go!" As if completely forgotten what she was angry at, Paimon quickly fly into the nearby hill of the island their camp is located at, followed by Xinyan behind.
True to what she said, everyone is already waiting at the top of the hill. Everyone except for Lumine strangely.
"Hey everyone! Good morning." Waving her tiny hands, Paimon approached the group. Fischl is talking with Oz and Kazuha, while Mona is busy looking through her scryglass.
"Ah, lady Paimon, I see that you're finally awake. I presume that you have a good night sleep?" Oz was the first one to greet her, receiving a big nod from the floating child.
"Yup! Paimon dreamed of having to eat all of the delicious food in Tevyat. And the best part? Paimon never gets hungry until Paimon ate all of them, Hehe." The little pixie giggled while happily rubbing her belly. "So anyway, what did you find Mona? And also, where's Lumi."
"Well... First, I gathered you all here because I think I finally find what we are looking for, and as for your second question, Lumine is still asleep, she looks pretty tired when I was about to wake her up, so Kazuha said that it's best if we let her rest for a little longer." The astrologist explained as she made her scryglass disappear in front of her.
"Does that mean you finally found where Lumi's mirage is located?" Paimon asked again with excitement in her voice.
"More or less."
"Woohoo! I knew you can do it if you try, Mona. So, where is it? Where is Lumi's mirage?"
"It's... Surprisingly closer than we thought, actually..." Mona said while scratching her cheek, she looks kinda distressed for some reason. "I always thought that since our mirages are manifesting on the other islands, the one that belongs to Lumine too should be somewhere far away from our camp. But it turns out, after six hours of searching and trying to confirm the facts, I concluded that Lumine's mirage is actually located on the very island we're standing on right now." The astrologist explained with narrowed eyes and a hand resting on her chin.
"What?! So it was here the whole time?! How can we never realize it until now?!" Catched off guard by the information, the pixie starts shouting due to the sheer shock she's having right now.
"I must admit that it was also pretty shocking to learn about this once I'm one hundred percent sure about." Mona admit with a little blush on her face, crossing her arms as she looks around. "But after I think about it, I think it's pretty natural that we never knew about it. I mean, don't you think that compared to the other islands, this island is a little... Bland?"
"Hmm... Now that I think about it... You're right." Kazuha muttered, with his fingers covering his lips. "The mirages we encountered so far took place in some of the largest islands in the archipelago, and the access points is also relatively visible on the surface. I have walked around this island when I was searching for berries and mints for our dinner in the last few days, and never before I saw anything out of the ordinary."
"Yeah, and during that moment when these strange mirages starts appearing around us. I didn't saw any kinds of structures or things appearing here other than the ones we saw in the distance." Xinyan continued, putting both of her hands on her sides.
"The color of the sky above us is also pretty much normal compared to the one appearing on my glorious kingdom." This time, it was Fischl who spoke up.
"Hmm... So basically, what everyone saying is that there's nothing strange happening at all on this island?" Paimon asked, looking around to see everyone nodded as an answer to her question. "Uhh... Mona... Are you sure that this is where Lumi's mirage is taking place?"
"I am positively sure about it, Paimon." Mona replied with a nod, the corners of her eyes visible twitched from the question. "I have looked over 14.000.605 possible mirages that belongs to our friend among all of the illusions appeared on these islands and I have concluded that only one of them are strong enough to be the one that Lumine's willpower could create, and it's not the one that we ever discovered before.
"FO-FOURTEEN MILLION?! How did you even counted that much?!"
"Hmph, the power of an astrologist is one that you should never underestimate, my dear disciple." Mona said with a huff, boastful about her apparent success it seems.
"W-Well... That aside... So where is it now? Where's the access point?" Paimon asked after deciding to forget what she just heard.
"It's right below us, actually."
"Below us? What do you mean?" The little pixie asked again.
"Here, take a look."
Gesturing everyone to look down, Mona use her feet to dig the ground that everyone has gathered around. Pushing away all the grass and dirt to reveal what has been buried under it. When she could feel something hard and solid brushed against her boot, Mona pulled back her feet to reveal what she just found.
It was a pendant, an amulet of some sort which are tied to a cord, a cord that are long enough for someone to wear it around their neck. The said amulet has a star like shape with silver linings around it, and on the surface, a strange symbol is visible, emanating a golden glow that won't fade away.
"Is this... A pendant?" Xinyan asked in curiosity, crouching down to look at the object a little closer.
"It seems so." Kazuha answered, also crouching down to the ground. "The color scheme does fit well with Lumine though. But is this really an illusion? It looks very realistic to me."
"It was." Mona nodded her head. "Just like Kazuha's bonsai tree, or Fischl's story book. It seems like this pendant is also an object closely related to Lumine, and it was also the access point to her mirage, touching it will likely sends us into it."
"But why would it be burried like this instead of appearing on the surface? The audacity of that machine to show such disrespect to this prinzessin's favourite retainer is unforgivable." Fischl muttered out loud, visibly sounding pissed.
"So... Now that we have found it... Should we? I mean... Lumi is still asleep, should we do this without her?" Paimon nervously asked and no one answered.
The group stays silent for the next several seconds. With only the sounds of waves and the strong winds filled their ears.
"I think... We should just go without her." Mona answered after what it felt like hours of complete silence. "Lumine seems to not interested in her own mirage, and even if she does, we could always go back and tell her to come with us later, right?"
Everyone nodded at Mona's explanation, agreeing that she should do this now, and they can simply asked Lumine to come later once they got out.
"Alright then, let's do this everyone. Let's see just what Lumine have hidden from us."
And with that, Paimon's tiny hands touch the star pendant below her. And immediately after that, a vortex of air appeared around them, and everyone was transported into a place that they believed to be the mirage that belongs to their beloved blonde haired Traveler. Not knowing just how much things will they witness in there.
And once everyone is out of the island. A certain pair of golden eyes opened, widening, as she realized what just happened.
To be Continued...
Well guys, I have finally decided.
I have decided that I will write Fischl's dialogue no matter how out of character they will be. However, if you think that it's still weird that she talks pretty normal compared to her cannon counterpart, you can always tell me in the comment section about what she should've said during certain scenes in this story.
Also, I feel like this prologue is incomplete in some areas, so I might edit it later. Thanks for reading.