previous chapter: with signora on campus, lumine takes extra precautions to stay vigilant against any possible attacks. her escorts to and from class offer some sweet moments, but reality comes crashing back with the sinister nature of huffman's "delusion" and bennett's disappearance.

Elemental sight was our friend.

Though I could chase down the Twin Mages and try shaking an answer out of them, they've never been particularly useful. It's a good thing I could see wisps of Pyro emanating from Bennett's goggles. They led out the door, down the hall, and off to somewhere else on campus. Thoma tracked Bennett's trail, too. We threw on our coats and made haste into the night.

"I hope he's not too far," Thoma said.

"Or badly injured. He's a danger to himself as is. If we're lucky, his bad luck will cause trouble for whoever is out to get him."

Guessing the culprit's identity wasn't difficult, but I had a hard time making sense of it all. Cici and Cicin brought the goggles to me on purpose. They knew about my friendship with Bennett, so of course I'd go looking for him. Their pranks never got this extreme, though. Kidnapping was a scheme only Signora would come up with, but why bother if she's already left the island?

The Pyro trail that followed the paved walkways then veered off into the grass. Soon enough, it took us to a line of trees marking the beginning of the forest. The unease in my gut deepened. Bennett might be able to handle himself on campus, but the wilderness…

Thoma held a hand out just as I was about to step into the forest. "We don't know what to expect, and just the two of us might not be enough to face this."

I bit my inner cheek, thinking through options. Most any other day, it would have been more than just Thoma and I. The tavern fire was no small issue, and Diluc would be stuck sorting through the aftermath all night. Though I had a vague idea of where Childe and Kaeya might be, searching for them would take too much time. Was it really pure misfortune that they were all preoccupied with equally pressing matters?

There wasn't enough explicit evidence to suggest Bennett was a missing person, so alerting the task force would likely get us nowhere.

"I know where to find someone who can lend a hand," Thoma said. "Just like me, he participates in a number of clubs, and I have a good idea of which one he's at right now."

"Aether?" I guessed, and when Thoma nodded, felt slightly better. "I'll wait here, then. There's a chance Bennett might find his way back. Once you bring Aether here, we'll make whoever is behind this pay."

When he hurriedly ran off, I eyed the trees ahead of me like a hawk. There were no signs of suspicious activity from here, and Bennett didn't suddenly stumble into view as I hoped. Instead, when I checked with elemental sight a second time, the Pyro trail that once glowed brightly had now faded to barely visible. At this rate, it would completely disappear by the time Thoma returned.

Going in alone would be even worse than with one other person, so I didn't immediately throw caution to the wind.

Right as my eyes began to strain from trying to keep ahold of the Pyro trail, they caught a small movement. Any usual moth could be disregarded since I was outside at night, but this was no usual moth. A bright crimson aura surrounded the small creature.

It flitted in between the trees somewhat at random, but I noticed it never strayed too far from the disappearing Pyro trail. Curious, I took a few steps deeper into the trees and noticed a second moth further down. I'd heard of butterflies that fed off blood and were drawn to people with exposed wounds. Were these crimson moths somehow drawn to Bennett? The context clues screamed Pyro. This couldn't be a coincidence.

Just as the trail disappeared, the moths gradually flew deeper into the forest. I didn't have the luxury of pondering this phenomenon. Tampering my impatience as much as possible, I willed Thoma and Aether to show up any second now. Though, both the moths and the trail said I couldn't afford to wait any longer.

As terrible of an idea as it was to go off on my own, Bennett was alone and probably scared out of his mind. If I were him, I'd appreciate any amount of support. Just knowing someone was there for me was worth something. So, I let the moths guide me.

How would Thoma and Aether be able to find me, though? They would have no hints to go off of unless I left something behind. Breadcrumbs—or in this case—Geo pebbles. After a small round of trial and error, I replicated my skill to make Geo boulders and restructured smaller versions. The effort was slightly draining but worth it.

Where there used to be two moths, there were now three. Soon, it was a small swarm of the harmless creatures that helpfully provided a small light source. When the trees began to thin out and I could glimpse a bit of a clearing, I knew my gut instinct had been correct. The moths fanned around the open area that held more water than grass.

It was a large, frozen pond. Two people waited at the very center, the layer of ice beneath them glassy and smooth. Signora and Bennett.

"What are you doing here?" I balled my hands into fists, too shocked by her presence to move any further. "What did you do to him?"

While Signora stood with a wickedly smug smile and folded arms, Bennett lay unconscious. At least he wasn't awake to live through this hostage situation.

"He's only sleeping." To prove it, Signora kicked at Bennett's ribs—to which he responded with a soft groan. "For you to make friends with such weak people—I can't say I'm surprised. You can have your little friend back after giving me what I want."

I itched to cross the pond right now and grab Bennett, but there were still too many unknowns.

"Aren't I lower than scum in your eyes?" I asked. "What could you possibly want from me?"

"I commend you for being self-aware. There is nothing of yours I want in my possession, per se. I simply request a show of evidence. You undoubtedly possess a great amount of power—a Visionless rat like yourself wouldn't be so arrogant otherwise. Since you evaded my question on this matter once before, I have enough reason to suspect that Childe truly has given you a Delusion."

That's what this was all about? I remembered she mentioned similar nonsense in the past, and though she was right to assume I had some form of power, a Delusion was far from it.

"I've never had and never intend to own a Delusion. I didn't even know what one was until after you brought it up. Have you seriously been plotting to expose a nonexistent secret this whole time? Why do you even care so much? It's none of your business."

"That's where you're wrong. No matter how hard you try to play dumb—assuming you actually have some form of intelligence—you cannot fool me. My intuition tells me you have a Delusion, and my loyalty to the Tsaritsa demands that you are punished for the possession of a highly revered object representing Snezhnayan honor."

Whatever Signora's idea of punishment was, I had no intention of finding out. Even though I truly was innocent, the implication of being guilty sparked fear in me. Luckily, I no longer hid my powers and could easily prove that Visions and Delusions weren't the only sources of strength in this world.

There's just one problem.

"What's stopping you from lashing out at me and Bennett when I prove that your intuition is wrong?"

"Impossible," she sniffed. "You're worried about a lack of witnesses? I can assure you that we are not alone."

With those words, the trees around me rustled to reveal a group of Fatui soldiers that emerged in the surrounding area. I heard a weapon whir uncomfortably close to me and jumped away upon seeing a massive soldier looming at my back. He had the same stature as the grizzly man from the tavern—his drunken stupor replaced with sharp attention.

"You call this assuring?" I gaped and silently prayed that Thoma and Aether picked up on my Geo trail.

"It's not so fun being ambushed, is it? Now you know how I felt upon being accosted by the Celestia Academy Task Force. Just as they took me away for questioning, so too shall you be escorted for an audience with the Harbingers."

All the way in Snezhnaya? Yeah, that wasn't going to happen.

"Fine," I said. "Now we have a whole audience to see that you're psycho."

I splayed my hands out to generate an Anemo current, strong and sure. It whipped the air around and cleared a patch of dead leaves from the ground. When it dissipated, I crossed my arms and stared Signora down. Instead of looking unsure, she glowered at me with an eye that roamed my body.

"There's nothing on me."

"Search her."

The guard behind me stepped forward, so I darted ten paces away. When the other soldiers moved in, panic built within me. I summoned a Geo boulder, and it swiftly landed to block off my pursuers.

It was my turn to glower at her. "Can Delusions manifest multiple elements, or are you going to claim I have two Delusions now? Even if you think I'm stupid, I'm not stupid enough to try using a device known to backfire."

"Seize her," Signora said next. "By any means necessary, I will uncover a Delusion. Even if it means planting one on you myself."

The Fatui launched into action. Dodging the attempts to grab me was simple enough—armor made their maneuvering difficult—but evading attacks was a different story. A massive hammer crackling with Electro nearly smashed my head in, and I barely escaped the searing heat of a Pyro bullet. Running away wasn't an option since I couldn't leave Bennett here.

Being this outnumbered, it would only be a matter of time before Signora got her way.

A potbellied soldier aimed his Hydro gun at me. Getting hit by water was least ideal under the cold temperature, but he didn't get the chance to fire. A Cryo gauntlet smashed his face in, knocking the soldier to the ground.

Aether.

Though my brother came out of nowhere, Thoma also appeared after knocking some branches away with a polearm. Aether barely regarded me, his hard expression softening for a mere second after his eyes met mine. It was Signora who received every drop of the menace in his voice.

"Ten to one? That doesn't seem very fair. Then again, when haven't you played dirty?"

For the first time, Signora's composure dropped. She looked as if she'd seen a ghost—as if Aether never existed as a variable for her to consider. Those who had been on campus when the amnesia spell broke had no problem instantly recalling the Champion, but that apparently wasn't the case for outsiders. Recognition flickered over her features.

"You…" Her tone lost its edge for just a moment as she gaped at him. "You!"

A hammer swung at Aether, but he caught the handle and wrenched it away. Instead of using the soldier's weapon to retaliate, he unsheathed the sword at his back and heated it to slice clean through armor.

"I was right to lay low—to never stop suspecting you," he said with a dark smile. "To wait for you to act. To defend my sister as I should have after you dared to harm a single hair on her head. This spells the end for you, Signora."

She barked out a harsh laugh. "Siblings! I can't say I'm surprised that the two most insufferable pests are related. What happened to the golden child who didn't lift a finger to stop me? Imagine what the headmaster will think after he hears of such roguish activity."

"I don't care about what he thinks," he snapped while also snapping the arm of a Geo gunman.

I didn't know what to be more concerned about—the extremity of Aether's attacks or rescuing Bennett. Though with less ruthlessness, Thoma joined the fight with his shield repelling a slew of Cryo shards and Pryo bullets. Since the Fatui had their hands full, I carefully stepped onto the frozen pond to reach Bennett.

By some stroke of luck, he began to stir on his own.

Eyes blinking open and voice groggy, Bennett asked, "What happened to me? Where…oh, no."

Fearful of Signora, he scrambled away with his butt sliding on the ice. She didn't pay him any mind until I inched closer, frantically waving for him to come this way.

"I don't think so," she said with a smirk and lashed a hand out.

I expected her to freeze him on the spot, but her attack was much worse than that. Somehow, it was Pyro that glowed at her fingertips and whipped around Bennett. The ice thinned and could no longer support his weight—cracks forming underneath him. Startled, he tried to move to thicker ice but was slow. The cracks got larger.

"Don't move!" I yelled at him. "Stay still."

Too late.

The ice split to reveal water, and Bennett was two seconds from falling in. Fast. I had to be fast. Without thinking, Electro energy laced around my legs to propel me forward. My body zipped across the ice, arms reaching out to tackle Bennett at the waist just before he plummeted into the pond. In the next second, we were safe at the closest edge of land.

The act left me breathing heavily, and my legs trembled from exhaustion as though I'd just run a marathon. Bennett yelped belatedly and patted the ground like he couldn't believe he was truly safe.

Thoma rushed over to the both of us, having dealt with the Fatui soldiers alongside Aether. "Are you alright?"

"That was amazing!" Bennett cheered with a thumbs-up.

We couldn't celebrate just yet. Signora fumed from her safe spot on the pond, but there was no more backup for her to call upon. Aether tossed the final Fatui soldier to the ground and brandished his sword at her.

With a leveled voice, he asked, "Will you go down with a fight or prove yourself to be a coward?"

Signora scoffed once, twice, and then doubled over in a fit of laughter. Though her behavior left me bewildered, Aether's scowl proved that he clearly didn't appreciate how she seemed to take him lightly. Her laughter stopped abruptly, and she completely ignored him to regard me with a cold smile. At the same time, the moths swarmed around her so densely, it looked as though she wore a striking crimson gown.

"Foil me once—that's a shame on me. Foil me a second time? I simply cannot allow that to happen, Lumine." This was the first time she'd ever addressed me by name, and a shiver ran down my spine. "Do you have any idea how disappointingly predictable people are? Take that weasel, for instance. He can barely carry himself, much less a Delusion. In his expected incompetence, I knew you'd find out about the device."

My stomach dropped. "You targeted Huffman because of me?"

"He came to me first and faced the consequences," she said with an eye roll. "As I thought, your simpering white knights will do whatever it takes to keep you safe. They would rather handle the situation themselves than risk putting you in harm's way, failing to see the irony in leaving you completely and utterly alone."

Her words held a bite meant to hurt me—to make me question their faith in my ability to survive on my own. It's true, at that moment, I had felt mildly betrayed when Childe and Kaeya wouldn't let me join them. Especially knowing now that it had been a part of Signora's plan, I should have been more persistent.

Though my legs still ached, I stood tall and waved a hand around me. "Do I look alone to you?"

"Always relying on others," she tutted. "A pitiful damsel in distress."

Instead of falling into her manipulation, I thought of just how far ahead she planned. The odds of her success hinged on how many people she could pick away from me. Realization dawned when I thought of the first who had no choice but to leave my side.

"You caused the tavern fire," I said. "Instead of sparing innocent lives that have nothing to do with this, you chose such an underhanded method to—"

"Oh, I can assure you that had nothing to do with any bad blood between you and I." Her voice was laced with stinging hatred. "Diluc Ragnvindr deserves to burn the same way he scorched me unfairly in the night. Fighting fire with fire is child's play. Drawing him away from you was a convenient byproduct."

I chose not to mention how Diluc's attack was completely justified as payback in my name. Bringing that up would surely anger her—more than the amount of fiery rage that simmered around her at the memory. It was no secret she had a Cryo Vision, so the heat waves distorting her aura must be the power of a Pyro Delusion.

Signora tilted her head and speared me with her eye. "On second thought, there's a better way for the uncrowned king of Mond to learn his lesson. Aren't you wondering how it feels to have your clothes aflame? Blisters will bubble up on your skin, the sticky fluid bursting out and making it near impossible to remove the very garments cooking your flesh."

She had deserved it.

The description was far more than I expected to hear, but I had to remind myself that she brought it upon herself. Her threat didn't go unnoticed, but Aether surprisingly didn't launch himself at her right then and there. Signora, too, remained where she stood.

Her rage no longer simmered, it burned. Aether had confessed how his Pyro ability flared up when he got too heated—the same seemed to apply for Signora. When the moths around her began to combust—my initial appraisal of their harmlessness proven to be very wrong—she barely took notice.

If she didn't calm down soon, the ice would melt and drop her straight into the water.

"As I thought, you're still hung up on the past," Aether goaded. "The glory days of your tyrannical reign are over, yet you can't come to terms with it. You've truly become pitiful. I might even spare you."

Water puddled at Signora's feet where growing flames flickered. If she fell into the pond, who here would risk their lives to save her? The incident could easily be wrapped up as an accident, and Aether would have his way of seeing her perish. Except, as much as I hated her, I didn't want to witness death before my very eyes.

"Forget the past," I said. "Forget me and move on with your life already. Save us all the misery. If you leave now…I won't tell anyone about what happened tonight."

Her eye narrowed. "You both mock me. I will not stand for it. Embrace your searing reckoning!"

The moths fluttered into action, spiraling around Signora's body until a fiery tornado began to take form. Had she forgotten her position on a frozen pond? How could her motivations for revenge trump any concern over her own safety?

I heard the cracks before I saw them.

More dangerous than the Pyronado, the ice beneath her gave out. The moment she went under would be the moment that solidified her death, and my gut wrenched at the thought of it. Drowning was a far cry from being locked behind bars.

Electro was already coursing through my legs when Signora slipped. Her face dropped from crazed hostility to open, innocent shock. Even those with a black heart still wished to keep it beating.

"No, Lumine! Don't—" Aether tried to stop me, but I was too fast.

My plan was simple enough—replicate the Bennett rescue with Signora. Though my tired legs could barely sustain super speed, limits existed to be surpassed. When she reached a hand out to me, I knew we both agreed on one thing. She did not have to die here.

I understood wrong.

Her hand wasn't meant to grasp mine. It sent a fireball to the already thinned patch of ice ahead of me. Simultaneously, she was quick to reinforce the ice around her with her other hand. All traces of her surprise had vanished, replaced with a gleeful smirk.

At the speed I was going, and with how my muscles ached, I could do nothing to stop the momentum that delivered me straight into her trap.

The last I heard before plummeting into frigid water were the panicked shouts of my name and a single taunt.

"You're too good for your own, well, good."

I managed to take a gulp of air, but that proved to be useless. An involuntary gasp, forced by the sudden cold, banished all air from my lungs. I watched with a burning chest as the bubbles floated above me. In my attempt to follow them to the surface, my limbs quickly grew numb. Primal instinct drove me to kick with all my might. Dark spots swirled in my vision as I used the faint glow of moonlight as a guide. Up and up, I swam for what felt like years until reaching the surface—almost.

A ceiling of ice blocked me off.

I banged on the surface above me, my fists hitting the ice with less strength each time. Urgency screamed in my head, but there was no energy left.

I sank.

I sank until not even the moonlight reached me anymore. Instead, in the empty darkness, there was a sudden, unnatural light. Was this what people saw when they died? If I didn't go into it, then my spirit might be stuck to haunt this pond forever. Although, if I chose to give in, that would mark the point of no return.

Dying now would not be good. I had too many plans for the future. There was more food for me to taste at the cooking club. I would never get to see Amber's dance at the Welkin Festival. Diluc—I told him I would be fine. I'd lied to him. Kaeya and Childe…suddenly, it was the easiest thing in the world to let my grudge go. If only I'd listened to Aether…if only I stayed beside Thoma and Bennett…

The light grew larger, and there was nothing I could do to resist. Even when I shut my eyes, its glow could be seen beneath my eyelids.

My body jerked upwards. Wow, the light was pretty strong. I didn't expect it to feel so…physical. Right when the last of my senses began to dull, time moved fast. Or…I moved fast? The pull around me only slowed until my body was no longer dragged down by the water.

I was lifted into the air and floated around until my back landed on something solid. The ground?

"Lumine!"

Before I could guess who in the afterlife greeted me, my body rolled itself onto one side and violently coughed up pond water. There was a gentle patting on my back, and my bleary eyes fluttered open as I tried to make sense of my surroundings. An unceasing shiver wracked me all over, and teeth chattered when I tried to speak.

"I'm…not dead?"

"Not on my watch," my savior—my brother—said hoarsely.

Water dripped off the tip of Aether's nose, landing on my cheek. Though we were equally drenched, a steady cloud of steam wafted from his shoulders. I sighed at the intense warmth from the hug he enveloped me in and nearly protested when he pulled away.

Thoma replaced him in an instant, pulling me further from the pond and showering me with concern. I tracked Aether as he stalked away. He stopped in front of Signora, who had collapsed not far from us. She tried to push herself up, but Aether kicked her back down.

"After you fell in, Signora refroze the water and tried to stop us from reaching you," Thoma explained. "She was so strong, I thought too much time would pass. I thought I'd lost you."

His shoulders hunched over my body as he dove down to hug me tightly. I wanted to hug him back, but my arms were too cold, too weak to move. His trembling fear joined my shivering.

"Aether was stronger. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen. If it weren't for the urgency to find you, he would have killed her. There's nothing stopping him now."

The cold I felt was already bone-deep, but those words turned my veins to ice.

"I never asked for redemption," Signora spat. "Do it."

Aether's body blocked most of her from view. If she no longer fought back, her injuries must be severe. From what I could see, the snow around them was soaked with blood.

"Death would be too lenient," Aether hissed. "I am not my merciful sister. Live the rest of your pathetic life knowing I can take it at any time. You only breathe because I allow it. Never forget today—the moment La Signora lost all pride and vanity."

In one swift movement, he took his sword and cut to the side—spraying more blood onto the snow. Signora howled and sobbed, spewing curses and whimpering in pain. Aether turned away, as though he couldn't bear the disgust of dealing with her any longer.

It was then that I witnessed her punishment. An angry gash dripped down the left side of her face, rendering her completely blind. Though my stomach churned and I had to look away, a satisfied whisper snuck into my thoughts.

An eye for an eye.