Lumine stretched out her hand, helplessly trying to cross the distance between them before Aether could be stolen from her. The unforgiving deity between them stared at her, disdainful, uninterested in her pleas. Rage swelled fiercely within her. She opened her mouth-
And bolted awake, arm outstretched, her brother's name torn from her lips in anguish.
Her voice briefly echoed back at her - the only proof she had spoken aloud - and she startled at the sound.
Waking up in unfamiliar locations was nothing new. When you spent your days traversing the sea of stars you were always winding up in strange new places without notice. This was, however, one of the very few moments in which the last thing she recalled was combat.
Lumine sat up, and in doing so noticed that she had previously been lying on a bed. That inspired a dim hope that she had only passed out for a relatively short length of time, but she didn't truly believe it. Not unless she'd plummeted out of the sky straight into the backyard of someone who wasn't scared half to death by a fall like that not having immediately killed her.
At some point someone had removed her arm guards and boots. Given that the rest of her clothes remained intact she would leave deciding whether that was a presumptuous liberty or something to be grateful for at a less pressing moment. She quickly spotted her boots near the door across the room, so at the very least they hadn't been stolen in some inane attempt to dissuade her from fleeing upon waking.
The room itself was relatively bare-bones, containing only the bed she currently sat upon, a bedside table, and a hard-backed chair nearer to the door, but exuded an undeniable sense of wealth. This was no kindly farmer's back room, no spare room full of old or second-hand furniture. Whoever had taken her in - be it for good or ill - was not lacking resources.
The chair suggested someone often came to this room to check in on her. A stroke of luck, then, that she woke while they were gone - for her and for them. Although her sword was nowhere to be seen - likely lost in the fight - she was far from helpless in close quarters combat, and she definitely would have attacked first and asked questions later had she woken to someone in her space.
Shuffling to the edge of the bed Lumine strained her ears, trying to make out any sounds outside of the room. There was a faint whistling sound from the direction of the window - strong winds, perhaps a storm - but nothing else of note.
If I was a rich person who snatched an unconscious girl from the wild, I would have her room monitored.
The way things stood she had two options. Either she could sit here twiddling her thumbs and wait for her captor-saviour to check up on her, or she could take the initiative and check things out for herself.
Lumine could understand the strategic benefits of remaining passive in some situations, but this was not one of them.
With feather-light steps she traversed the room, locating her arm guards in the drawer and slipping on her boots. A quick glance out the window showed a furious flurry of white: a snowstorm. It didn't appear locked, but between the weather, her current attire, and the way she seemed fairly high off the ground, climbing out the window seemed more of a last resort plan.
Her room boasted two doors. The first one she carefully cracked open led to a bathroom, which meant the other led deeper into wherever she was.
Pressing her ear to the door didn't garner her any new information. No footsteps or sounds of conversation.
Well, it's now or never.
Painstakingly slowly Lumine opened the door.
She found herself facing an empty hallway. Her room was situated at the far end, near another unhelpful window in a dead-end wall to her right. Peeking her head out further she looked left, down a mid-length hallway with a handful of distant doors scattered along the walls. Already she got the sense that this was a large building, so it wasn't outside the realm of possibility that none of the other rooms here were currently in use.
The hallways turned right again at the far end. It meant no one could see her, but also that she couldn't get a better image of the area without heading further in.
A grand room lay at the end of a shorter hallway around the corner. From her position half-hidden behind the wall Lumine could only see part of it, but it confirmed her initial suspicions. It appeared to be a balcony room surrounding and overlooking a grand staircase. This was no single person's house, that was for sure, but a sprawling building.
In the open space facing her hallway someone had set up a work station. She assumed it was a temporary installation simply because it was - at least in her opinion - an awful place for an actual office.
A figure was seated at the desk, reading something. They were dressed in black and red. Lumine herself was a prime example of why you shouldn't judge a person's combat capabilities by their appearance, but even so, she didn't think they were a credible danger to her.
She could head back to her room with this person none-the-wiser, but that would be putting the power back in their hands as she waited for who knows how long for someone to come and see her. If they also happened to be so absorbed in their work that they didn't notice her and she managed to simply waltz off downstairs unnoticed then that would be a lucky break.
Lumine patted half-heartedly at her hair - an absolute nightmare of a bird's nest after her long sleep - then took a quiet but confident step out into the hallway.
She made it halfway down the hall before they happened to glance up and spot her. They dropped what they were reading, papers scattering across the desk and floor, and jumped to their feet, hands up in front of them. They said… something, Lumine couldn't grasp the meaning of the words, but the tone was more surprise than alarm so it didn't seem like she was immediately in trouble.
Not wanting to add unnecessary tension to the situation, Lumine stopped walking. They said something else, hands waving, before digging around on their desk for something. They eventually pulled out a device with no obvious purpose, pushed the single button on it, then tossed it back on the desk. Must be some sort of communicator or alert beacon. Was this a world that had that kind of technology? She hadn't been awake long enough either time to figure that out for herself.
Sliding out from behind the desk the stranger headed towards her. As they approached it became clearer that it was a man, youthful but not young. Softer features, kind eyes, a countenance that might put someone at ease. Could be a decent good cop in a good cop bad cop scenario, if the personality matched the face - or if he was good at acting. Whether this was better or worse than being confronted with a perpetually frowning face would depend on the person.
He continued to talk, tone reassuring but firm, as he came up to her. He gestured to the hallway behind her. Lumine made the educated guess that he was asking her to return to her room. She could do exactly that without kicking up a fuss, but she wanted to push a little and see what direction this would take.
Glancing briefly behind her she feigned confusion as she stared at the man, feet firmly planted.
The man's expression momentarily strained, hands lifting like he wanted to physically grab her and turn her around, but he quickly shifted pace and stepped around her, gesturing instead for her to follow him.
If Lumine really wanted to be a menace she would stay rooted to the spot, waiting to see how long it would take for the man to break and physically drag her back. Luckily for both of them she wasn't in the mood for those kinds of mind games. Out-stubborning people when suffering a language barrier was playing a more dangerous game than a normal battle of wills. There was no need to jump the gun and turn a neutral reception into a hostile one.
"Lead the way."
Paying careful attention to his face when she spoke Lumine confirmed that, at least for this specific man, neither of them could understand each other.
Being unable to communicate at the beginning of a new journey was also nothing new - some worlds had coincidentally similar languages, so they could scrape by much more easily, but they usually had to start from scratch. Normally Lumine and Aether would be together, which made many things less isolating. Travelling alone was never the intended plan.
A wave of anger and grief rushed over her. She ruthlessly crushed it beneath her heel as she started walking.
The man escorted her all the way back to her room, followed her inside, and situated himself next to the door. He didn't shut the door, a token gesture to imply she wasn't being locked in, but they were now clearly waiting on someone, and open door or no she was not permitted to leave.
She sat back down on the bed. Might as well be comfortable while she waited.
Being in the same room as someone and purposefully not trying to get their name was making Lumine restless. The itch wouldn't be as bad if he was standing guard outside where she couldn't see him, but the fact that he was right there in front of her, non-hostile, a stranger by her own inaction… She just hated ignoring chances to level the playing field, to take information dangling before her eyes.
Patting a hand against her chest she said simply, "Lumine." Then she pointed towards her guard and raised a questioning brow. Surely crude charades like this would be fine?
He stared at her for a long moment, hesitantly raising a hand to his own chest. Although his response of "Mikhail" was uncertain, the one word answer felt enough like a name for Lumine to believe he understood. If it turned out somewhere down the line that Mikhail meant something else, well, that was a problem for when they could actually communicate.
She repeated the name back to him, trying her best to mimic the way he shaped the consonants, then nodded.
There was no clock in this room, so there was no way for Lumine to accurately gauge how much time had passed, but eventually she heard footsteps echoing down the hallway.
Two sets.
Mikhail snapped to attention at the sound, back straight, feet together, hands at his sides. It was only now, in contrast, that she noticed how lax he had been while they waited.
Two men rounded the corner, one tall, one short. The shorter man entered the room fully while the taller man planted himself in the doorway.
Mikhail dipped into some sort of salute before starting a report. She caught her name somewhere in the middle, so he must have been explaining their meeting.
While she was curious about the discussion, Lumine was more immediately interested in the relationship between the three. Militaristic in nature, at least to some degree. Was this a place with a martial government? Was she simply being held by some militant group? Bandits?
Too wealthy and organised to be bandits. Still, that doesn't rule out other outside-the-law occupations.
Mikhail finished his report with a bow. With the tall imposing man blocking the exit seeming disinclined to move - and perhaps on orders from the shorter man to remain - he returned to his parade rest stance.
"Lumine."
She glanced at the shorter man as he spoke, taking him in properly.
White hair was far from a true indicator of age, but on him it felt like it was. There was something wizened about him - not that he was wrinkled and hunched, just something about his gaze and general demeanour. His inhumanly long ears and nose might, in another world, be attributed to goblins or elves or some kind of fae-folk, but she would reserve judgement on that here until she could learn this world's terminologies. Not that he would understand it if she called him a goblin to his face… Perhaps, if this proved a less than amicable scenario, she could always take a few personal liberties with her phrasing.
Hand on heart he said, firmly, "Pulcinella."
She dutifully repeated it back. He nodded. Presumably this was his name- or at the very least what he wanted to be referred to as - and not him asking something inane and assuming she understood.
Pulcinella then gestured at the tall looming man and said "Pierro."
The man - Pierro - scowled faintly but did not speak.
When she shifted her attention from Pulcinella to Pierro she found his single visible eye staring unwaveringly at her, something unreadable in its pale depths. More striking than that was what hid his other eye - a strange black mask that covered the entire right side of his face.
One thing was for certain: if that mask was a permanent fixture then he would be an easy man to pick out of a crowd.
Pulcinella spoke again. To her, to Mikhail, to Pierro, it was impossible to tell.
The one major point in Mikhail's report should have been the language barrier, but just in case he someone missed the memo she decided she might as well reiterate it.
"I can't understand you," she explained, expression mild.
Pierro twitched at the sound of her voice.
Lumine frowned.
Pierro frowned harder.
Eventually he said… something. Lumine couldn't grasp the meaning of it, but somehow the language felt a little more familiar than whatever Pulcinella and Mikhail were speaking. It wasn't a language she had learned, but maybe one that she'd had more exposure to at some point in the past? Enough to get used to the feel of it without the time to actually learn it? Or maybe it shared similarities with a language she did know.
Hell, maybe she was just tired.
"Not that either, but I'm a quick learner."
Pierro's gaze darkened.
Did he understand her? Was he expecting her to understand him? Something was clearly irritating him.
He muttered something to Pulcinella and swept out of the room.
Not my problem if the guy has a short fuse.
Pulcinella brought his gloved hands together, ignoring Pierro's departure.
He spoke some more in a tone that sounded friendly enough, said something firm to Mikhail, then also took his leave.
Lumine wasn't offended. There was no benefit to sticking around longer just to stare at each other. Whatever they wanted from her - because there had to be something, those men looked important - it couldn't be acquired until Lumine had time to settle.
Unless of course what they wanted involved invasive medical exams and experiments on her person. But, if that were the case, she would have been locked up to begin with.
Mikhail relaxed again with them gone, further confirming her thought that he was somehow subordinate to Pierro and Pulcinella. She expected him to also take his leave, but instead he gestured for her to get up again.
Curious, she obeyed.
He led her into the bathroom and offered a quick tour of sorts, showing her where things were and how things worked. He spoke to fill the silence, explaining things even when the explanations were meaningless.
It was helpful.
Being alone, or in silence, made it much harder to adjust to and familiarise herself with the languages of the world. Sound first - the melodies, the emphasis, lyrical speech patterns. The shapes of individual words, of syllables. Meaning sometime after that.
She thanked him as he left. Sometime later a meal was delivered to her room.
And so started her new waking life.
Now that she was awake new furniture began appearing in her room.
A dresser. A desk. A bookcase.
A tailor, accompanied by Mikhail, came by to measure her for new clothes.
Normally she might protest, but despite the architect's best efforts there was still an undeniable chill in the air, even indoors, that she couldn't seem to shake entirely. If tasked to choose between hot and cold, Lumine preferred cooler temperatures, but there was a difference between not hot and uncomfortably cold. If they wanted to clothe her in reds and blacks - which seemed to be a recurring colour scheme amongst the uniforms she's spied - then so be it. She could commission her own clothes at a later date.
Several days after waking Mikhail once more arrived at her door, this time accompanied by a woman in a similar uniform, both of them laden with books and writing utensils.
The woman - Valeria - left after dumping her pile on Lumine's so-far untouched desk. Mikhail spent some time sorting through the stacks, leaving some things on the desk but storing most of the books in her also untouched bookcase. What ultimately remained were a stack of paper, some pencils, a fountain pen, and a pile of what looked like children's books.
It seemed like they weren't going to simply abandon her to linguistic isolation after all.
Mikhail wasn't a teacher by trade. This wasn't an assumption based solely on his office space, but the nervous way he glanced between Lumine and the books. If she had to guess she'd wager he was worried she might be offended by them.
She wasn't.
Pictures would help speed things along where written script would hold her back.
Either way, they were clearly trying to keep her education 'in house'. They - Pulcinella or Pierro or their boss or whoever else - could have hired an actual language tutor, but instead tasked Mikhail - the first and almost only person in this building she'd interacted with before - with aiding her instead.
To put her at ease? To keep her a secret? Right now she didn't care. Those were possibilities to tuck away into the back of her mind and think on at a more opportune time.
Lumine had spent hundreds of years travelling, learning languages on the fly. She didn't need a good or trained instructor - she just needed a conversation partner. Mikhail would do just fine.
A lot could change in the course of a month.
Mikhail, tense and nervous in the beginning as he did his best to follow orders ill-suited to him, had relaxed in her presence. Lumine learned that while his personality was generally mild-mannered he could swear like a sailor.
He still hadn't admitted that he was swearing, as the curses were in his mother tongue, the language of this nation, and they were teaching her the trade language common across nations, but she wasn't stupid. Some tones of voice were just inherent to cursing.
Once her grasp of the language had improved enough for simple sentences she was permitted to roam the building under a series of restrictions. Mikhail had, for example, practically begged her to stay far away from the basement levels, and preferred her to remain on the second floor where her room was located.
Normally a warning like that would make her dreadfully curious - and boy did it - but there had been genuine terror in his eyes at the time. Lumine was adventurous but not fool-hardy. She'd rather learn a thing or two about what scared him before busting down the door just to satisfy her curiosity.
The building was large enough that the second floor was plenty of space to simply wander for a little change of pace anyway, even if it seemed oddly under-utilised - she rarely encountered other people in the halls, and not many of the rooms seemed to be in use. Later she would learn that it was a restricted floor, but for now it was merely a mystery.
All of these gradual changes in her day to day life and general living situation eventually led to today: her first meeting with Pulcinella since day one.
They were meeting in the room across the hall from Lumine's, which was kitted out with overly expensive looking but thankfully still comfortable couches and armchairs.
They sat on opposite sides of a low table, Mikhail once more at his post standing sentry at the door.
"Miss Lumine," Pulcinella greeted.
"Mister Mayor," she responded, matching his tone.
Learning from Mikhail that Pulcinella was actually the mayor both had and hadn't surprised her. It didn't help her decide on a scope or affiliation for the organisation she was currently at the mercy of, but it did confirm that it contained powerful people.
"I'm impressed by the reports Mikhail has sent me. You seem to be adjusting well and making good use of your time."
Sure, no one was locking her up and forcing her to study, but was there really any other reasonable option?
"Refusing to learn is dangerous. To understand, I need to study."
"Very good, very good. I'm told that your listening comprehension is spectacular."
It was. She had always been better at understanding things said to her than speaking in return. The less she spoke the less likely she was to accidentally say something wildly wrong. That too would change over time - particularly without Aether as a conversational buffer - but for now it would do.
"That's why I've decided it's a good time to finally sit down and talk with you."
Patience was always rewarded. It wasn't always what you wanted, but it was something.
"Go ahead."
"You may have heard some of this from my assistant already, but it's time we explained the current situation to you. Right now you are in the care of the Fatui, an organisation dedicated to fulfilling the wishes of Snezhnaya's ruler, the Tsaritsa - otherwise known as the Cryo Archon. This building is our base of operations."
They had gone over the general concept of gods and archons and elements, but while Lumine was familiar with worlds filled with deities it was much rarer for them to be directly leading mortals in person. If this building technically belonged to a god she should probably remain on good behaviour until she was prepared to test the waters.
"Some of our operatives found you several months ago, unconscious in the woods during a snowstorm."
Isn't it basically always storming around here? That aside, she couldn't exactly complain about waking up in bed rather than half-buried in a snow drift.
"Normally we would have simply handed you over to the hospital when they brought you back to the city - we aren't some charity organisation that can afford to spare resources looking after every lost person we stumble across - but you happened to match a few… parameters, shall we say, based off of data from other people in the past who were very much not from around these parts."
Pulcinella stared calmly at her across the table. 'Not from around here' could mean anything and was usually an innocent comment, but he said it with a weight that implied he knew.
Was this world a frequent destination for interstellar travellers? That didn't sound quite right - violent altercations with deities didn't lend themselves to a good vacation spot, but maybe they'd just arrived at a particularly bad time?
What did worry her about Pulcinella's implications was that people here - whether that be just the Fatui or various organisations across the world - had some sort of metric by which they could track or identify outworlders.
Although… If they could track them across long distances, maybe…
No. She didn't trust them enough to tell them about Aether yet.
Trying overly hard to deny the accusation would only backfire on her. Some worlds treated visitors as beings akin to gods, other treated them as invading enemies. While she wasn't fond of the former it was at least better than the latter. She couldn't figure out where things stood without admitting to it.
"In that case, thank you for rescuing me from the snow."
Pulcinella nodded.
"The Doctor was very interested in running tests when you arrived. It took great effort to convince him to at least wait until you woke, and in the meantime he managed to find a new project to occupy his time. No one has yet officially informed him that you are no longer indisposed, but if he hasn't noticed yet he certainly will soon enough. Agreeing to his tests is not a requirement for your continued safety here, but I would caution you to continue following all other guidelines put before you."
Is he threatening me? She frowned. No, warning. It almost feels like a reverse-threat or some sort of trick. Either way, this Doctor character sounds like someone I'd rather not bump into.
Mikhail's warnings about the basement rang in the back of her mind. She may have dodged a significant bullet by listening to him.
"I will keep that in mind."
And look into getting some replacement weapons in the meantime. For no specific reason.
"I'm glad to hear that. Given your progress in your studies, I intend to schedule an audience for you with our esteemed Tsaritsa one month hence. She is curious, and wishes to speak with you."
"I'm honoured."
She was not. She was worried.
Lumine was only safe and sound here at the behest of this archon's good will. If this meeting somehow disappointed her there was a very real possibility of her welcome quickly becoming a hostile imprisonment.
Well. That was a problem for the future.
"As you should be. Very few people receive the honour of speaking directly with her. But Mikhail will prepare you accordingly." Pulcinella glanced at his wrist, a watch hidden between the fabric of his sleeve and glove. "Now then, I'm afraid I must be going. I have other appointments to attend to today."
"Of course. Thank you for speaking with me."
He simply nodded, offering no further platitudes. She preferred it that way. The formalities all felt fake anyway.
Mikhail saluted as Pulcinella stood, and held it until he'd left the room, before slumping with a sigh.
"Time for lunch?" He asked, looking like he had exhausted all his energy for the day already.
"Sounds good."
Lumine hoped being the mayor's assistant was a high-paying job. And that he was getting bonus pay while he was stuck looking after her.
The weeks between her meeting with Pulcinella and her looming audience with the Tsaritsa seemed to disappear in the blink of an eye.
With her language lessons transitioning into history and state-of-the-world lectures she no longer felt the need to spend so much time focused on them. Her shifting priorities plus her new-found wariness of this mysterious Doctor meant she wanted to get back into physical training exercises rather than her mindless wanderings.
Mikhail had apologetically informed her that he didn't have clearance to supply her with real weapons, but one of the rooms on the second floor was a training room reserved for the Harbingers - an elite force, the reason the second floor was restricted access - which was fully equipped with training weapons and practice dummies.
Apparently the Harbingers rarely visited headquarters of their own volition outside of Pierro, Pulcinella, and this Doctor, and used the training room even less, so she basically had the place all to herself.
Training gave her the opportunity to hone her focus, work through her thoughts, and also was a stark reminder of the way her powers had been stolen away. It wasn't as though she couldn't fight without them, but now she had to train herself out of the muscle memory of moving to cast magic at opportune moments and rely solely on weapons and her own body.
As for her wings, well… Hopefully she remembered they were gone the first time she found a cliff-side that would make a good short-cut.
When asked if he wanted to be her sparring partner Mikhail had initially vehemently refused, for reasons Lumine wasn't too sure of, but watching from the sidelines for long enough seemed to spark a change of heart.
Mikhail was… not a great fighter.
Maybe that was an unnecessarily harsh judgement. It was a tall order asking someone in their thirties to be anywhere near as skilled as someone who had spent hundreds of years honing their craft.
Whatever the cause, the result was this: where Mikhail was the teacher and Lumine the student in their normal lessons, inside the training room the roles were reversed. Somewhere along the line Mikhail became Misha (at least in private) and Lumine liked to think that they had become friends rather than two people who were almost contractually obliged to spend copious amounts of time together.
She certainly couldn't say the same for anyone else in this place.
The tailor came by again for fittings, because apparently the clothes they had previously commissioned for her weren't fancy enough for an audience with the Tsaritsa. Aside from being aggressively fitted and maybe spouting some extra furs Lumine couldn't tell you why the new outfit was more appropriate or indeed much different at all, but she let them fuss. Anything to make the inevitable meeting go even the tiniest bit smoother.
The morning of Lumine's audience with the Tsaritsa dawned with unusually calm weather. She could count on her fingers how many days she'd experienced over the last two months where the winds calmed enough to see through the snow flurry to the land outside.
It was either an auspicious or ominous beginning to the day: she hadn't decided which.
After breakfast she dressed in the clothes Mikhail laid out for her, letting him fuss about. He wasn't allowed to come with her - mayor's assistant or no he didn't have the clearance to come and go from Zapolyarny Palace as he pleased - and it was making him anxious.
If something did happen Lumine didn't plan to go down without a fight, but she appreciated the worry for what it was.
Pulcinella arrived mid-morning to escort her. Following after him she stepped out of the building for the first time since waking up here.
Even without the wind she immediately found herself grateful for the heavy fur-lined coat the tailor had forced on her. Hands shoved deep into the pockets she dreaded what it must be like to get anywhere while the winds were howling, adding wind chill and projectile ice to the mix.
It was difficult to get a grasp on the architecture. Buildings in the area were few and far between, but grandiose in their own ways. Definitely not a residential area. Misha had assured her this was the capital city of Snezhnaya, but it almost felt like it must be split in two, with the Palace far removed from the people.
The Palace itself, when they arrived, was imposing and eerie.
High ceilings, long empty corridors. The whole building was silent in a way HQ had never managed. This wasn't simply a lack of people, it felt like a deliberately cultivated atmosphere.
What kind of person enjoyed living like this?
Pulcinella led her into a grand hall. She kept her head down, stopped where he gestured for her to stop, and sank down to one knee.
"Your Majesty," she intoned.
Lumine didn't enjoy playing at subservience, but she was also no fool. You didn't deliberately piss off powerful people until after you had a feel for them and the potential consequences of your actions.
"You may rise," a voice commanded eventually from somewhere ahead of her.
Lumine stood smoothly, lifting her head.
The room was oddly lit, casting long shadows across the throne and the woman seated upon it. While she could clearly see the two guards - one standing on either side of the dais, just behind the throne - the Tsaritsa's features were harder to make out. What stood out most were the pale blue strands of hair that almost pulsed with a strange light.
"I was gladdened to hear of your waking," the Tsaritsa told her. Despite being loud enough to fill the room, there was an odd quality to her voice that made it feel soft, like you needed to strain your ears to listen. Lumine couldn't decipher the emotion in even such a simple statement, so immediately gave it up as a time-wasting endeavour.
"As I am grateful for your care during this time."
"Please, be at ease. You may freely speak your mind here, visitor from beyond the stars."
Despite her best intentions to maintain a neutral expression Lumine frowned. Although it was the first time someone said it outright, this was now the second time someone here had alluded to prior knowledge of her origins - and also confirmation that Pulcinella had not in fact been bluffing.
She also wasn't going to take that permission at face value, but at the very least she could stop trying to temper her words with formality.
"In that case, Your Majesty, I want to know why I'm here."
Here in the throne room, here in Snezhnaya, here under the 'care' of the Fatui. Why?
"Long have we known of the concept of Descenders, but they are a rare few indeed."
Who was 'we'? Was it a royal we? 'We' the Fatui? All of Snezhnaya? Surely not all of Teyvat, or people wouldn't be tossing it around like a sordid secret she should be concerned that they knew.
"The people of Teyvat are bound within the world's rules and principles, and fighting against them is a struggle indeed. But you are not weighed down by those same things. When I learned of your discovery I knew I wished to speak with you, and so brought you into our care until this moment could come into being."
It doesn't sound like she intends to harm me. Not right now, anyway.
"If you'll forgive the accusation, Your Majesty, you are a god. It is because of one of the gods of your world that I am trapped here in the first place. How do I know you aren't working with them?"
On one hand it would actually be a good short-cut if she did bump into someone who was buddy-buddy with the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles, but on the other it would only be a short-cut because they imprisoned her and sent her off for another attempted execution - or whatever the hell the deity had been trying to accomplish that day. Much better all around if she found them through her own efforts.
"Empty words will not appease you. I am not familiar with all of the gods in this world, but describe them to me."
From her history overviews it seemed like, aside from the archons themselves, there weren't all that many gods left in the first place. Was she socially isolated?
Lumine was mildly hesitant, but described what she remembered of the Sustainer's appearance and mannerisms.
"Ah," the Tsaritsa began after a lengthy silence. "It would appear we share a mutual opponent. How fortuitous."
Not friends then, that was a good start.
"The Sustainer is not one of the Seven. Of course, you need not take my word for it; feel free to confirm it for yourself in person."
The implication being that Lumine would be free to travel to do exactly that.
"I will. Sustainer or not I still want to talk to them if I can."
To ask after Aether, the Sustainer, anything and everything.
Ignoring the time set aside for learning the language, receiving an audience with the Cryo Archon had been very easy since she already had a vested personal interest in seeing Lumine. Somehow she imagined it would be much more difficult to contact the other archons.
"Is there anything else you wish to ask me?"
Lumine bit her lip. Even though she fully intended to go around asking everyone and their mother if they'd seen her brother anywhere, a deep-seated part of her loathed the idea of having to admit she was lost and searching to the people who currently held sway over her safety.
Still, nothing could start without a confession.
"You seem to have some sort of method of identifying…" What word did she use? "Descenders. People like me. Do you have any idea where my brother might be?"
She was giving too much without getting anything in return, and she still had no idea what the Tsaritsa actually wanted from her, but if they actually knew where he was then she would agree to almost anything to rush straight to his side.
"Brother?" She spoke with an air of confusion which she refused to elaborate on. "No. You are the only Descender we've encountered in recent times. You may however discuss the matter with Pulcinella later, and he will include a description of your brother in our intelligence network to give you more eyes on the ground."
Hopes shattered - and more confused than ever about their mysterious Descenders intel - Lumine offered a firm nod and recollected herself.
"Thank you. Those were my major concerns. If I may, what is it that you want from me?"
The Tsaritsa smiled, but without a clear view of her eyes Lumine couldn't pinpoint what emotion inspired it. She doubted it was simply a pure joy.
"My wish was to attempt to gain the aid of a being unburdened by the cosmic laws of this land, to help me achieve what must be done for the sake of this world."
And so the Tsaritsa explained her goals. Her reasons for creating the Fatui. The mission given to her Harbingers. All of it in far more detail - not all of it, never all, but still - than Lumine felt was wise to offer someone who had made absolutely zero promises to help or even simply remain quiet about what they were being told.
Either the Tsaritsa was desperate for help or simply did not care who knew of her plans. If that sentiment was at all reflected by her operatives in other nations, then she imagined that people in power there were already wary of their movements.
All in all it was… a lot to take in.
"I can't simply swear fealty to you," Lumine hedged as her mind buzzed, thoughts racing a mile a minute.
She had no concept of what a gnosis was or how it worked, biologically speaking. Would taking it kill the owner? Was it part of them? Lumine wasn't about to commit herself to killing archons left right and centre just like that. She was no stranger to death, but that didn't mean she enjoyed killing people. If she had things her way she wouldn't engage in any fatal combat, but the world was rarely so benevolent.
"However, because we have a common enemy, I would be amenable to offering help to your people on a case-by-case basis."
Lumine and Aether always helped people in trouble they encountered along their journey. This would be no different as long as she could decide for herself what causes she could accept joining in on and what she would stay well clear of.
"Simply not making an enemy of you is enough, for now."
I don't like the sound of that.
Whatever idea the Tsaritsa had in her head about Descenders might be troublesome later down the line. She seemed to feel that Lumine was special somehow in ways that transcended simply travelling the sea of stars. Right now that impression was granting Lumine lenience and care. In the future there was potential for that to twist into something less positive.
Instead of voicing any of that unease and exposing herself to unknown dangers, she simply responded "I appreciate that."
"Wonderful. I shall speak with Pierro later about rank and appropriate levels of authority for an unattached operative. Of course, should you ever decide you wish to join our Fatui in earnest, an appropriate position can be established for you."
Was Lumine being treated like an external contractor right now?
It was miles better than being forced into service or being locked away because she refused to pledge her loyalty, but still. What a weird and exhausting day.
"I'll keep that in mind, Your Majesty."
Silence filled the room. Lumine couldn't think of any other safe but relevant things to talk about, and in all honesty she just wanted to be alone so she could digest all of this information without also worrying about accidentally saying the wrong thing.
Correctly deciding she had nothing left to say, the Tsaritsa promptly dismissed her.
Pulcinella again escorted her, stopping in her room only long enough to take a few notes about Aether's appearance for his report.
Once that was done she was finally alone.
She had absolutely no idea what was going on. Right now all she wanted was sleep.
And so she slept.
With the Tsaritsa's approval Lumine was freed from her unspoken house arrest, permitted to wander as she pleased both inside HQ and outside in town.
Acknowledging that she had essentially been held captive for the last two months (plus however long she'd been here before waking) was… Well. She'd avoided thinking about it just fine in that first month, because staying was mutually beneficial - not that she understood what the Fatui were getting out of it - and a much easier source of information, but after…
If push came to shove she would have broken out. Or potentially gone down swinging. Either way, she was only imprisoned because she allowed it to be so. Being 'free' wasn't much different.
Which is to say that Lumine used her permission to be outside in small doses, still spending most of her time indoors.
Exploring the town and getting a feel for the land in person, rather than through Misha's history and geography lessons, was an important step towards properly orienting herself in Teyvat and preparing to head out, but it really was miserable outside.
Each outing began the same way. She exited the building, picked a direction at random, and started walking.
Sometimes the walk was a whole lot of nothing. Sometimes she found civilisation.
Today she spied an odd glow through the gloom and decided to push through the chill to find its source.
If you got around enough then strangely glowing objects no longer immediately startled you, but just like anything else these mysteries could be good or bad (or occasionally actually just roadside lamps in fog).
Lumine could confidently say that she wasn't expecting a sizeable statue to be the centrepiece of the aura, but in retrospect it wasn't that surprising. Misha had mentioned Statues of the Seven in passing, but she'd never bothered to think on what they might look like.
A stone figure perched atop the pillar, robes covering most of their form and obscuring most identifying factors. Based solely on their location it had to be a statue of the Cryo Archon.
Lumine stepped closer, peering up, trying to decide if she thought it looked like the Tsaritsa or not. Absently she pressed a gloved hand to the pillar, only to immediately wrench it back when a new glow erupted from the point of contact.
The light - a pale, icy blue, reminiscent of the Tsaritsa's hair - followed her retreat as if magnetically drawn to her. Despite the serious potential of real danger (curses were nothing to scoff at) Lumine always felt ridiculous at the idea of truly fleeing from mere light, so when it continued following once she was already several metres away she quit backing off and stood her ground.
The light collided with her chest, meeting zero resistance as it went… into? Through her?
Lumine glanced over her shoulder but couldn't see any further evidence of the light.
Into it was.
There didn't appear to be any immediate effects - negative or positive - so she could think about it once she was back inside. Maybe Misha knew some old folk-tale that could answer this for her.
It wasn't until she was settled back in her room, stripping off her heavy layers and furs, that she noticed the new icy glow around her wrists and knees. Frost accumulated on her palm when she tried searching for that light inside of her.
"Huh."
Be it ill omen or good fortune, Lumine had regained - or rather, gained a minor replacement for - some of her sealed power. She'd have to dig into the how and why, in case it turned out to be something she really shouldn't discuss easily with strangers on the road, but for now…
Well, for now it seemed like a great idea to rub it in the face of that one Fatuus who kept badgering her about Delusions.
(She had purposefully refused to learn their name since they refused to listen to her opinions and refusals.)
Gradually, day by day, Lumine drew closer and closer to the time she appointed for herself to leave the borders of Snezhnaya and begin her journey.
There were two major steps she still needed to complete.
One, she needed new weapons. Other than her long-lost sword the only thing still kicking around in her inventory was an old - and now 500 years older - hunting bow. While she could use it for hunting she had never mastered archery to a level where she could use it in live combat against other beings. Hence, she needed a new sword.
The second point was one suggested by Pulcinella: to sign up with the Adventurers' Guild. It was a recognised organisation across Teyvat, and becoming a member would legitimise her existence in the minds of others and give an easy response as to why she was travelling - not to mention a source of income and information.
The Fatui had their own blacksmith, because of course they did. Between her recently acquired Fatui credentials (with waaaaay higher clearance than she thought was sane or reasonable for a non-official member), the mora allowance Pantalone had been ordered to set aside for her in case she needed it, and the fact that she didn't actually need to pay their in-house blacksmith for her work unless she wanted customisations, it was an easy enough errand to run. She just… hadn't gotten around to it until now.
Nadja - the blacksmith - was a woman of few words. Lumine felt it was the norm amongst weapon-smiths; they were serious sorts who preferred to let the results speak for themselves. She had some impressive stuff on display, but she had never been one for flashy weapons. Just give her something sharp and sturdy and she'd be fine.
She picked out a sword and a dagger that could pass as a hunting knife from Nadja's collection of finished weapons, then commissioned a new quiver and a stock of arrows. Her bow was still serviceable for the time being. If anything happened to it she could replace it in another town somewhere down the line.
All of the sheaths had the fatui insignia on them. Lumine would leave them be for now, but depending on her reception she might have to start wrapping them just to avoid awkward conversations.
As for the Adventurers' Guild, all it boiled down to in the end was Pulcinella's letter of recommendation and some paperwork.
The green of the uniform (standard across all branches but not compulsory to wear) was almost a shock to the system after being surrounded by so much black and red and blue and white for months on end. She wasn't opposed to wearing it if the need arose - to blend in rather than stand out - but for now she preferred her own clothes.
And just like that she had everything that she needed before heading off into the wide unknown world.
Bundled up in coats, gloves, scarves, and hats, with a near-empty bag mostly for show slung across her back, Lumine stood in the entranceway. Misha was her personal send-off, and the only person she cared enough about to miss while she was gone.
"I won't get mad if you guys re-purpose my room while I'm gone," she teased as she leaned in for a hug.
He laughed, patting her on the back. "Maybe as a personal nap room."
"Go for it. That mattress is ridiculously expensive, it can't just be lying around going to waste."
Especially since there was no guarantee that she would ever actually come back here for more than a brief check-in. That would be something she decided later on once she was probably stuck in to her journey.
"Try not to make too much trouble for our field agents."
"I make no promises."
They parted ways with smiles.
(She was going travelling, not marching off to war after all.)
Once outside she turned around one final time, to take in the sight of the enormous building that had hosted her for the last several months.
Movement in one of the windows drew her attention. Staring down at her from the second floor was… Pierro. Undeniably so, with that half-mask still in place.
Lumine had not spoken with Pierro again since their first encounter. At times she thought she caught glimpses of him in the halls or out the window, but he had never again approached her.
For him to be seeing her off now in this strange, silent manner…
The man was a mystery she had neither the time nor the energy to unravel. His secrets could remain buried in the Snezhnayan snow until he decided to let them see the light of day.
Just one more mystery to leave behind her as she started out on her journey.
A/N:
I didn't want to do any in-depth thinking about the Tsaritsa since I'm sure it would end up being wildly wrong down the road when we get there, so I just based the vibe off of the storyline trailer dialogue - the whole "no love left for her people, and vice versa" thing. You can decide a course of action is for the good of your people and then become so single-mindedly dedicated to that thought that you forget about the people themselves.
Yes the magic inventory is a canon mechanic. In my head I'm using FFXV Noct's armiger logic, in that it's some weird sub-space storage dimension coded to your soul or something and it's just… got so much damn space in there son. I was considering actually calling it an armiger too but there's something so funny and jarring about just calling it the inventory in the story.
This is essentially the set-up/prologue chapter for a series that follows canon events in-game - in that the world around Lumine continues to function independently of her and plots be plotting - but won't play out the same or even necessarily in the same order, which of course changes a lot of things in itself.
Important future characters that may surprise you include people like (drum roll) Subject Two! (Which means I have to think of a name for him damn it all…) Scaramouche! I haven't decided if there's anyone else yet but these two, watch out for them!