"Hey, did you hear?" Across the hall the voice of a young and enthusiastic recruit to the Knights of Favonius echoed. Beside him was another such knight, only far older and more experienced; enough to know to not speak so just outside the Grand Master's office.

"What?" he said in a hushed whisper, hoping for the other to get the hint.

He didn't. "There's been a rumor going on that the Honorary Knight is looking for a boyfriend!" hopeful words flowed out of his mouth as if he were the one she sought.

"You're not serious are you?" the older man's words never grew to be more than a whisper.

"I'm a hundred percent sure it's true" he stated. Afterwards he spoke of all kinds of rumors he heard and theories he had on what the most recent sensation in Mondstat was looking for.

His partner hoped and prayed to Barbatos that the walls of the building were thick enough to dampen all the noise his talkative partner was making.

Unfortunately that was not the case.

Pen scratched paper in a never ending symphony, the sound echoed across the room, reverberating in her ears as the sound felt like it went off over and over again in her mind, racketing inside her brain like a worm pushing break free.

To Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius Jean Gunnhildr it was more than a bit annoying. It was a sound that followed her nearly every waking hour ever since she'd taken the position of Acting Grand Master.

That was until for a fleeting moment the sound was interrupted by a faint chatter coming from just outside her office. Her hand continued to move as if it had a mind of its own while she listened in to the conversation beyond the door. She heard the young trainee talk about the Honorary Knight, speaking of her like a boy who found his first love; which he was. Praising the woman about her constant acts of charity and goodwill in the city.

It was both an accurate assessment, as well as an incredibly biased one. While she as the leader of Mondstat's Knights would never discount her accomplishments, she instead questioned Lumine's motive for her actions.

A week or so after the storm terror incident, Lumine had returned to Mondstat after leaving for a few days, it was then Jean noticed something changed in the woman. Back when she first met Lumine, it seemed she could barely restrain herself from trying to kill anyone that got too close to her, except her companion, her eyes always held a strong disdain for … something (Jean didn't particularly know.) However, a month ago now she changed from that to a fairly amicable individual who helped everyone around her whenever they needed her aid. It was off putting seeing it from a distance, it was like she was trying to get the goodwill of the entire city, to make Mondstat's people indebted to her. She personally had become friends with Lumine after talking a few times and got to know her way of doing things. Now, hearing the rumor about her apparent search for a partner made Jean shiver and want to pray for Barbatos to protect the poor fool who gets caught in her grasp. She did wonder where she was right now and hopefully she'd be able to not get in any way involved in the situation.

Paimon followed Lumine as she walked across the city of Mondstat. She had waited patiently while her companion had talked to Master Diluc and that Tone Deaf Bard and was now headed to the Knights of Favonius Headquarters to continue her survey, or The List as Kaeya called it. She understood the purpose of said list, don't let her small body fool you Paimon is wise beyond what her appearance might tell. Still it was a bit strange what Lumine had decided were desirable traits in her survey.

For starters she didn't care what the personality of the person she was surveying was. When she asked about it she just said that her brother could get along/charm anyone. Then the age question. Paimon knew that age and age differences were important things to consider in human society regarding relationships between individuals. But, it shouldn't be important to immortal beings like Lumine or Aether right?

At Least she got why Lumine asked the fourth question; Would you like to live longer? It was vague if a bit manipulative, but she understood what she wanted to get from that, after all after seeing the argument between the siblings first hand she could see clearly how distraught Aether was. It was imperative for Lumine to find someone who would never leave Aether's side. 'Thinking about all this is really making Paimon feel smart all of a sudden' she thought.

After a while more of tailing Lumine Paimon noticed she was writing stuff down on her list once again. From her vantage point floating beside her she could see a long list of names and while scrolling down more than a few she didn't recognize she got the urge to ask, so she did. "Who are all those people?"

Without missing a beat in her step Lumine answered while still writing. "These are all the girlfriends Aether's had over the years." The list just seemed to get longer and longer to Paimon's eyes, the paper magically never ending as Lumine wrote more and more names down. She was sure it was nearing the thousands.

"So many … Now that Paimon thinks about it, why did your brother get so many girlfriends if he got all sad when they died?"

Lumine chuckled at the question, a certain tone in her voice made Paimon feel stupid for asking, though she didn't know why. "That's just who he is. He can't stop himself from helping those who need it, even if he knows he'll be hurt in the end. It's like he has a fetish for it, hell if you had a … " she stopped.

Paimon got confused and curious by Lumine's stop and asked "If Paimon what?" She saw Lumine suddenly write down her name in another section of the List with the header of "Potential" written on it.

"Can you transform yourself?" Lumine asked.

"What?"

"I mean, can you change your form from what it is currently, like having an adult body like mine instead of the child-form you have now." she clarified.

Paimon thought, and she thought hard. Though it was only for a few seconds she came with an answer "Um, no." she sheepishly scratched the back of her head. She saw Lumine hum in a sort-of-thinking-pose, if she were to describe it.

"Sigh … We'll work on that later then, I've still got a few more people to go through in this city." she said as the two entered the Knight's of Favonius Headquarters.

Well, thinking about what Lumine was possibly doing was just a waste of time. She had more important things to do, such as her paperwork. Be it as annoying as it is, it was a small price to pay in her eyes for the continuance of Mondstat as it currently is.

Still, as she continued to write legislation after a complaint sent by an annoyed citizen her mind went back to Lumine. There was something about the woman that just made her feel lacking. It was unnerving to her that despite the devotion she showed to her people every day that she was admonished by her friends many times before for "pushing herself so hard," she couldn't believe what they said. After all, she didn't just want to do her 'best', clearly her best wasn't enough if she couldn't so much as take a walk around Mondstat without planning it days in advance. If she wanted to be worthy of Vanessa's legacy she could not feel as empty and numb as she did now could she?

She certainly wasn't a help during the Storm Terror incident. She did nothing while three of her friends, Barbatos and Lumine handled the issue, and still it was mostly the Lumine whom, as she heard from Kaeya, quite literally slapped the dragon across the face until it submitted and scolded it like an angry parent would do to a misbehaving child.

It was frustrating. Of course she held nothing against Lumine, that would be unreasonable on her part right? In truth she harbored a deep jealousy against the woman. She just felt … How could she put it, Weak? No, that wasn't it; Unworthy? Incompetent? Yes that would be it. She felt incompetent, an incapable Grand Master.

It was then she felt something strange fall on the document her hand still signed without conscious thought on her part. She looked down and noticed it had more than a few wet spots across it. She wondered how it got so wet, it was only when another drop of water stained it did she realize she was the reason. She hadn't noticed she was crying that entire time, and now seeing the useless document before her, she couldn't bring herself to care or even think of it. Rather she just sat in her chair staring at the paper for what felt like hours without a sound uttered.

Vacant of thought Jean's breaths slowed down to the point they were so silent it seemed she stopped altogether. The feeling of not being able to breathe overtook her, as if drowning in the abyssal ocean. It felt like a dream, but to be awake at the same time. It continued on and on, the feeling not leaving her for a second … until she heard a knock from the door.

All of a sudden she breathlessly jolted up, taking deep desperate breaths as she felt her heart racing within her chest. After a few breaths she said "Come in" without thinking, as a reflex more than anything.

The door opened and coming in was Lumine as well as her traveling companion Paimon. She greeted them and saw their surprised faces, well Paimon was surprised; Lumine looked like she couldn't care less. Unsure if her face was still brimming with tears she asked them what was wrong. Unsurprisingly Lumine was the first to speak and called out the wet mess on her face.

"I'm sorry" Jean apologized as she dried her face with a handkerchief. She wanted to laugh at the cosmic coincidence in front of her right now, but couldn't as she saw Lumine's face and especially her eyes.

Despite her apathetic exterior Lumine was interested to know what brought Jean to tears before she and Paimon entered her office. It seemed as if the woman herself was unaware of what happened. This interest however didn't come from a genuine worry for the woman, rather in Lumine's eyes it was a fortunate occurrence for a plan formed in her mind on what to do next, but for now she would continue with what she originally came to do.

"I'm sorry if I was intruding." Lumine apologized all the while Paimon copied her in her apology.

"It's fine, I was … " As Jean spoke she realized she didn't really have an answer to what had happened, so she asked the duo what they came to visit her for. Which led to a rather long explanation on Lumine's part.

"And you want me to be a part of this?" Jean couldn't help her cheeks from flushing red at what Lumine wanted her to do. Go on a date with her brother, Aether.

In all honesty it was a very simple request and after all Lumine had done for Mondstat it would be rather vain of her to refuse, but it was all too fast in her opinion. Her mind spun as the rumor's she'd heard of Lumine's search for a partner were rather her search for a partner, for her brother. She'd never even heard she'd had one, he never came up in conversation and Lumine never bothered to tell anyone about him. It was all too embarrassing for a girl as reserved as she was, all she had to gauge any experience remotely close to this were her romance novels, and still, none were as sudden as this.

"Yeah." Lumine said and pulled out her list for Jean to see. "You are exactly the kind of girl I am looking for. You will be a perfect fit for my brother." The page had a detailed drawing of her face on the top left as well as many descriptors of her personality, place of residence, likes, dislikes and many other things Jean couldn't see since Lumine made the list disappear in a flash of light as fast as it came.

That statement by Lumine only made Jean's face flush a deeper shade of red, the absolute confidence her voice and posture held told her she absolutely believed everything she was saying. "Don't you think this is a little fast?" she nervously asked.

"No." she said.

"W-well, it's just I-I don't know him a-and … " she inwardly cursed her stutter. It wouldn't leave her and all she wanted now was to hide under her desk and curl up in a ball. It didn't help that Lumine's face turned more and more irritated as she failed to say her words again and again.

"Yes you do not know him, that is what the date is for." she said. Jean wanted to say something else to deflect from continuing with this topic but was interrupted again. "However, since you are clearly so nervous I will take you to him for you two to get to know each other before your date." she offered.

Jean agreed that that would be a better way to handle the situation, but she still couldn't accept such an offer. "I-I see … I appreciate the sentiment, but I must decline. As Acting Grand Master my duty to Mondstat and its people preside over anything else." she explained, but was once again interrupted by Lumine.

" … Did I not tell you to stop doing that last time we spoke?"

"I don't know what you mean?" Jean knew what she meant.

"Stop using your position as a way to avoid doing new things. I understand you are overworked and have an inferiority complex, but doing the same thing you have been doing over and over will only lead you a deeper downward spiral."

" … " Her lack of response made Lumine shake her head in what, to Jean, looked like disappointment.

"You are such a miserable woman … You'll be a great company to Aether." she pinched her nose in exasperation. She crouched down to the floor while she made a white chalk appear out of nowhere and began to draw symbols and some kind of sigil on the floor as she spoke.

"W-what are you doing?" Jean finally got out of her stupor.

Instead of answering her question Lumine said "If you manage to get Aether in a good enough mood to at least visit me then I'll teach you how to do your work as Grand Master far more efficiently." Jean's eyes widened at her words more than a bit surprised.

"You … What way?" she asked.

Lumine sighed and stood up straight listening to Jean's seemingly never ending questions was getting annoying. She walked up to Jean and pulled on her hand. She was surprised by the lack of resistance and held the hand close to her face as if she were to kiss it in some sort of greeting. To the eyes of a confused Jean she formed a blue glow on her index finger and smoothly traced it along Jean's hand. Red lines formed on her hand which Jean quickly learned was her own blood, which began to trail along her hand. The blood swirled across her hand to after a few seconds coalesce into a copy of the sigil Lumine had drawn on the floor before.

"What is this?" Jean was surprised and more than a bit scared at whatever Lumine had done to her hand.

"It's a tracker and Identification sigil." Lumine began and pulled Jean to stand in the middle of the chalk sigil on the floor. "It will allow you to use this teleportation sigil after some instruction. It will also allow Aether to send you back here once you two are done." she saw Jean struggle for a moment before she activated the sigil. A blink later the Acting Grand Master was gone and all Lumine could hear were the worried cries of Paimon behind her, but she didn't worry. Aether had a strong enough leash on his subordinates to allow them to turn the woman into a puddle of blood as soon as they saw her in their realm.

Jean's eyes widened in recognition. She could only mouth words as she was suddenly hit by some sort of force. A feeling of weightlessness overtook her. Everything around her seemed to spin without coherence nor meaning; everything passed in a frenzied blur and then she felt herself land rear first into a wooden surface.

"Estne?" her head turned so fast to the side her whole body shook with her. That voice, it was something she recognized. In front of her was a Herald. A Herald of the Abyss.

"Vir mulier." She turned again and saw another Abyss Herald. Her head continued to spin and looked around her. She was in a room without a ceiling open to a strange purple sky without stars. The ground was like the sky and it seemed everything in the space floated in place as if a glass floor covered the ground. She was atop a round table accompanied by a dozen or so chairs all with Abyss Heralds sitting on them and beyond and all around her in all directions were dozens upon dozens more Abyss Heralds as well as other high profile creatures of the Abyss. She was unarmed … She was so dead.

More than that she wanted to curse Lumine for doing this to her, but couldn't, she was frozen in place by the stares of the enemies of humanity.

"Princeps, quid femina ex alia terra hic agit?" she heard another Herald say, his words all but nonsense to her as she turned to whom the Herald spoke with reverence.

A young man unlike all the other Abyss creatures surrounding him. He had long blonde hair, most of it tied up in a braid with clothes with patterns that eerily reminded her of Lumine. Still despite his friendly appearance compared to all the monsters around them she still felt wary, the Herald had called him "Prince" after all. The longer she stared at him the more she felt a weight being placed on her shoulders. As if his presence itself made her quake and shiver in fear. "Depone arma. Desisto." he said to the Heralds around him. Following whatever he said she saw as some Heralds that had activated their Hydro blades withdrew them and stood at attention following the man's words. The man continued to speak and after a few minutes all the creatures of the Abyss had disappeared, some leaving via portal other simply disappearing into thin air, but the man stayed; his warm gaze never leaving her form as he spoke to them.

Step after step he walked closer and closer to her until he was only at arms length from her prone form on the table. Her eyes didn't miss a detail as he closed in, the way he walked without hurry or hesitation and lack of signs of aggression made her want to speak out and hope he wasn't like the creatures of the Abyss. That contrasted with his position above the Abyss Heralds as she saw how he ordered them around. However, unlike anything she'd expected he offered her a hand.

"You're from Teyvat, right?" he asked. The change in his speech surprised her, but she quickly nodded, not sure of what to do in this situation.

"Who sent you here?"

"L-Lumine?" she got out in a hushed whisper. He must have heard her as he seemed to transform before her. That weight she felt instantly disappeared and she felt a wave of heat hit her like a storm of fire, but unlike what the fire would have done she felt warm like a blanket covered her in the cold Abyss. She stared at his eyes, his warm kind eyes that made her want to hold him tight to hide away from all the darkness lurking all around her. As her thoughts followed her body did the same and she accepted his hand.

He pulled her towards him and made her stand on the disorienting floor of the Abyss. She looked around, a little less on edge after meeting the brother Lumine mentioned. She hoped this incident was only an unfortunate coincidence.

"Why did Lumine send you to me?" He asked. His eyes told her there was something else in that question, though she couldn't point out what it was.

After a few seconds of just staring at him Jean looked away and couldn't help a blush from forming on her face. The reason she was here was to meet him in preparation for their date, according to Lumine, but she couldn't just say that. Right?

Lumine's brother, Aether, likewise stared at her in confusion before with a straight face asking if she was an escort. Something which made her blush turn bright red and question what Lumine wanted by sending her to Aether.

"No! I'm … Just. Lumine wanted me to meet you!" she shouted in response. She saw various emotions flash across his face as her words had sunk in. Confusion, then worry and finally acceptance. He sighed and began to walk away, signaling her to follow him as he did so.

She did, unsure of what she was able to do to go back home amongst the endless horizon of the Abyss.

It had been after a few minutes of the two walking in silence that she finally heard Aether speak.

"From the way you reacted when you fell in the middle of my meeting with my Heralds, Lumine must've not told you much about me." With a soft, but firm voice he spoke.

She nodded in agreement "I- I didn't know at all about you until today."

"If that's the case, how are you familiar with Lumine? I'm sure you've realized she's not the most sociable around."

Jean wholeheartedly agreed with Aether's statement and explained to him the whole Storm Terror incident. Something she noticed during her explanation was that Aether had a brow raised when she mentioned that the reason for Divalin's rampage was the corruption of the Abyss. She also mentioned the way Lumine had subdued Divalin which made Aether chuckle. By the near end of her explanation she explained who she was as the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius.

"I see." Aether said. "She must have a favorable opinion of your character to have told you, even so far as to send you to 'meet' me." After noticing her confusion he explained further "I'm sure she hasn't told you, but she and I are not on the best of terms at the moment."

"I would expect that from being the 'Prince' of the Abyss." she didn't verbalize that thought however and just nodded to his words.

"Aside from that. How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Feeling. In what way?"

"That if I wasn't at that meeting my sister could have sent you to your death and past that, the fact that I, Aether, am the Leader of the Abyss Organization."

"I think that worry completely went away by the scare all your Heralds gave me … I just. I feel numb." She honestly did, as much as she wanted to question Aether for all the horrible actions the forces of the Abyss have committed over the years she still feared for her life, even if he seemed friendly up until now, he could just decide to kill her at any moment. That was just the modus operandi for all creatures of the Abyss and as if reading her mind he chuckled and said.

"Don't worry I won't hurt you. Lumine must consider you a friend, even if she doesn't show it and besides that I would never hurt someone like you."

"That's reassuring." Jean herself didn't know if that was a sarcastic comment or not. "What do you mean by someone like me?"

" … You remind me of someone," he said.

The two stayed silent. Jean noticed the strange, almost melancholic way he said those words. Still there were many questions yet to be answered, one of which she asked after a few minutes of awkward silence.

"Aether."

"Yes."

"You said you're the leader of the Abyss Order. If that is true … Why? Why are you sending—

Her words were halted once for the first time since she met him, she saw anger fill the man before her. No, it was further than that. Aether was furious. At seeing the fire in his eyes her body simply stopped, fearing that that sudden anger would crush her. However, as soon as it came the anger disappeared. He pinched his nose, but Jean couldn't decipher what was on Aether's mind.

"I apologize for startling you." Aether kneeled down and helped her get up.

Jean herself hadn't realized her legs gave out and thanked Aether, apologized as well for her rather improper behavior for someone in her position.

"I wasn't angry by anything you caused, it's just … It's better I just explain." Aether seemed miffed for a moment about how to begin, but started with a fact that Jean got a little scared at.

The Abyss Order is a big organization. Aether as Prince and leader of the organization has troops as well as intelligence gathering operatives spread across all the seven nations of Teyvat. Mondstat is in fact the nation where he has the least stationed at as he saw it more important to focus on nations with a larger "Geographic Importance '' to Celestia, which according to Aether Mondstat didn't have much of.

Even above all the previous revelations, one she didn't expect was that Aether isn't truly the head of the Abyss Order, or to better explain it; he isn't the head of All of the Abyss Order. Rather the Order was so large and had existed for so long that many splinter factions had formed who defied Aether's authority as prince/leader and rebelled.

Aether said that the main goal of his and the original Abyss Order was to eliminate the influence of Celestia and free Teyvat from their control. Many individuals however felt resentment at the other Nations for doing nothing to help the people of Khaenri'ah and sought revenge leading to the formation of splinter factions from the original whole.

Another fact was the creation of the Abyss Order, the land of Khaenri'ah, the godless land and their people, how Aether knew them and had become well beloved by the people. The calamity that brought Khaenri'ah to its end and the fate of the people of Khaenri'ah; the "pure-Khaenri'ahns" being cursed with immortality while the not so "pure" ones became the creatures of the Abyss as well as the Hilichurls and Churl species and subspecies.

That detail began to deeply haunt her and she knew the feeling of guilt she felt wouldn't go away anytime soon.

All the information permanently shook her views on Celestia, the Abyss Order and the gods as well as many other things. It was simply unbelievable in a way she would completely dismiss as mindless ramblings if they weren't being told by someone she believed was, in a way, trustworthy.

"That's the gist of it." Aether finished.

"I-I don't know what to think … The Hilichurls. Are they really cursed humans?" she asked and Aether, solemnly, nodded. Jean began to wonder how many Hilichurls she'd killed in her life. She felt disgusted with herself. Even if she had no way to know the reality was still there. She had an excuse, but she felt even more disgusted she had one, as if she could excuse such murder on sheer ignorance.

In all honesty Hilichurls were a mild nuisance at best compared to other threats that stalked Mondstat like the "Rogue Abyss Order" and the Fatui. Hilichurl camps were wiped out every other week and Adventurer Commissions routinely involved the elimination of a certain quantity of Hilichurls to be completed. They were a race that weren't killed because of the need for food or because they were a great threat, but because they were there. It made her feel sick and she emptied her stomach as a result, her vomit unlike her body phased through the 'ground' and continued to fall eternally until it was out of sight.

She felt a hand softly caress her back. It was a small comfort amongst the immense guilt she felt, it all lasted what felt like hours, but was only a few minutes. She eventually stood straight again, cleaning her eyes of tears and trying to hold herself together.

"You couldn't have known … But, I don't think that's what you want to hear."

"I'll be fine," she said to a worried Aether.

"No you won't." Aether held her hand and covered it with his other in a warm touch.

Jean in that moment knew he wanted to say something, but stopped himself from doing so, whatever it may have been, it became but a stray thought in the torrent that was her mind right now.

"I'm sorry our encounter brought you so much pain … If you wish, I can erase those memories. I'll send a message to Lumine to make sure we never meet again and— he felt a sudden pull and saw Jean's hand swat his own away, her face brimming with anger much like he did just a while ago.

"No." Jean knew what Lumine's words meant now. Aether was a miserable person because of his empathy. Of course he would want to end her current turmoil right now, he couldn't bear to see someone hurt and would rather leave them ignorant than wallow in misery. That act however was nowhere in Jean's wishes. "I refuse to live in ignorance, Aether. To do what you say will only continue the bloodshed of innocent people. I won't do that, even if things will never be the same."

Aether's eyes only told of his surprise. He didn't expect that answer. He saw a newfound drive grow in Jean, strong and determined, so great it was he couldn't help but smile. "I see."

Jean saw Aether offer the same hand she swatted away forward in a handshake. She took it and heard him ask "Will you be okay?" She answered positively with both in place looking into each others eyes, a smile on each and a warmth shared between the two.

"Friends?" he asked.

She shook his hand "Friends."

What proceeded next Jean could only describe as a hangout between friends. They simply talked, spoke as time flew by. She felt lighter, like a weight was lifted from her shoulders and all worries simply went away. It was an experience she hadn't felt since her childhood. But, all good things must come to an end and for them it was the appearance of an Abyss Herald with a message for his prince. As so Jean was to be sent back to Mondstat the same way she came, through Lumine's strange sigil she didn't understand. Aether did understand it telling her he was the one who taught it to Lumine.

For Jean it was a warm goodbye. She was happy. She had many things to do and much work to finish back in her office, but that didn't bother her. She would work hard to see not just the continuance of Mondstat, but change. A change for the better she would never have sought had not for Lumine and Aether.

Perhaps a date wouldn't be a bad thing.

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Thank you for reading. (✿◠‿◠)