Normal text.
Italic text = Inner thoughts/past events.
Bold text = Abyss Lumine speaking.
Chapter 3
"You're a monster!"
A tiny shrill voice rang throughout the huge mostly empty throne room. Aside from the majestic looking throne at one end of the room, the long black carpet that leads from the entrance to it, and the torches that did nothing to give warmth, the room is filled with nothing. There are two occupants inside, a girl with blonde hair in a pristine white dress, and a weird floating little creature who could talk like a normal person.
The eyes of the girl who sits on the throne dedicated solely towards the supreme leader of the abyssal realm glance to her side, eyeing the little creature that is being kept inside a small wooden cage. The creature's black eyes are glaring daggers towards the girl's eyes, who are dull golden full of disinterest in comparison to the creature's hatred filled eyes.
"Paimon can't believe Aether have someone like you as his sister!"
The tiny creature, Paimon, as she refers to herself. She is one of the many close companions that the world's famous Traveler has by his side. In fact, some would say she's the closest to him, and she has a special place by his side throughout his journey across the land. That is most of what the Princess has heard about her.
The war she wages against the surface world is not an easy one, made even harder with how the seven nations are now united together to fight against the dark forces of the Abyss Order, and the one responsible for uniting them? Is none other than the traveler himself.
The princess had expected for them reunited, once her dear older brother came to know about the truth of this world, but the exact opposite happen, once he learnt the truth, he came to oppose her instead, and thus it leave her with no choice. There's only one option left, war, mankind against the monsters of the abyss. Only a great catastrophe like that which rivals the greatness of both the Archon War and the Cataclysm could awaken the slumbering Heavenly Principles, and thus giving her the opportunity to rise up there to slay it, purging it out of existence for good.
Yet despite of knowing exactly the reasons behind her crimes, her stupid brother kept insisting on siding with mankind, viewing the cost behind the war she declared for the greater good to be too severe and would leave a permanent damage to the world of Tevyat as they know it. As such, he has become a thorn on her plan, one that keep preventing her from walking this path that she has chosen and would stray out of. He naively thought that there's still another way to save the world, that there's another way for them to achieve peace without all of these bloodshed, he still think her as his sister and that they still could be reunited once more... when they're not.
Too many sins she has committed throughout the centuries, too many blood had stained her hands, and too many corpses have piled up around her feet. For someone like her who has a seat in hell already prepared, she has every right to not call herself as his sister, every right to sever their bonds so that he would stop looking at her like she could still be saved, to make him stop looking at her with such sadness and regret in his eyes. She is sick of it, she is sick of the kindness he has for a sinner like her, she would rather have him hate her, dispise her, trying to kill her! Not saving her.
So she did everything she could to make sure that they could sever that bond, by taking away everything that he held dear. She murdered that girl who had fallen in love with him, she killed off many of his friends that she's aware he's having a close bond with, she burns down the cities he viewed as his home, and now... After many considerations and attempts, she got her hands on perhaps his most prized possession, his first and closest friend, his traveling companion, his... Family.
Now that she stole the little pixie away from him, perhaps his mind would change after she did something to her.
"Hey! Are you listening to Paimon?! Paimon is talking to you!"
The golden eyes of the princess glanced to the side, looking at the creature, Paimon, that was her name, as she glared towards the figure sitting on the throne. The thing has shown a vast array of emotions like a normal person would, just before this, she was cowering in fear and begging for her life when the Abyss Creature captured her and brought her to the palace, but then, after she was brought here, right to the throne room where the princess awaits and they were left alone, she suddenly release an outburst towards the leader of the Abyss Order, ranting about her hatred towards the princess and recounting all of the sins she have done, all the people she have killed, the destruction she have caused. Any normal people would already be annoyed and offended by all of her words, but for the princess who is fully aware of how much she has fallen down the abyss, it's nothing but just another whispers from the dead, reminding her of her grave sins, much like the one she heard every time she goes to sleep...
...A constant reminder that only eternal judgement awaits her in the afterlife.
"...I could not believe it either..."
For the first time in a long time, the princess opens her mouth, and just the mere act alone is simple to surprise anyone, even the little pixie who has been calling out to her for multiple times now.
"If it isn't for our nearly identical appereance, one would certainly never thought that we're twin siblings related by blood, huh?" The princess mused, her head came to rest to her closed palm, resting against the throne's arm.
Paimon fell silent for a while, after a long time of provoking her, the princess has finally responded to her, but now, she found herself unable to think of any words to say like she initially thought a few seconds ago. She gritted her teeth in anger, her tiny hands bawled into fists, she opens her mouth again to talk, speaking out loud whatever the thing that crosses her mind.
"Why?" Paimon whispers, tears started to trail down her cheek. "Why? Why are you doing this?!" The little pixie questioned, loudly screaming out her words. "You don't even need to do any of these! Why couldn't you just go back to Aether back when you still can? Why bother with this world and all of its strange affairs when you can happily be together with your brother again? Why?"
"Why... Why indeed..." The princess repeated, closing her eyes as she continued. "You know... That is one possibility that I've been contemplating over and over again for all these centuries, ah wait that's not right... For all these Millennia. And I have arrived with one conclusion: that this world simply has things that cannot be left to continue the way it is." The princess opens her eyes, her palms open up to make a glass of wine materialized between her fingers, and she gracefully took a sip from it.
Paimon grimaced, her eyes looking down slightly as she whispers. "So you're saying that some random world full of random strangers are more important to you? More than your own flesh and blood?"
"Perhaps... Or perhaps not." The princess lightly shook her head, shaking the glass in her hand. "I've already given him a choice, remember? Join me, or suffer. And he chose the latter, he brought this upon himself, should he have chosen to be by my side, helping me with my cause, we would've been together again, we would've solve the matters of this world much quicker, and go into the next world and find ourselves our new home... But he didn't want it it seems, he has grown too attached to this world to care about his own sister anymore..." She fell silent after saying that, eyes dropping down full of unexplainable complex emotions inside.
"Paimon could say the same thing to you as well!" The little pixie retorted back, gaining a side glance from the princess. "You kept blaming him for getting attached to Tevyat to not join, but isn't it YOU who cared too much about this world?! You're the one who decided to join the Abyss Order when you shouldn't have to, you're the one who followed Alberich's ways when you could've just left that crazy old man behind and return back to Aether instead! It's all your fault! Your mistake, not Aether's!"
The glass fell from the princess' hand and shattered into pieces as it hits the floor, the sound of it rings throughout the empty large room. The form of the short haired girl vanishes from the stone throne, and reappears right in front of the small wooden cage. Her bright golden eyes glows ominously, glaring straight towards the tiny creature trapped inside. Paimon yelped and screamed in shock and fear, she cowers at the corner of her cage, away from the menacing figure right before her.
"For a creature as little and tiny as you... You sure likes to bark a lot, huh?" Bellowed the princess, her voice alone echoes throughout the large room, making sure that the caged creature would carve every word she said into her mind. "What makes you think you have the authority to talk when your very own life is within my hands?"
The white haired creature peeked through the gaps between her fingers of her hands that she used to cover her eyes, looking at the figure who is almost three times bigger than her. The Abyss Princess' gaze are sharp enough to pierce through her covered eyes, glaring straight to the little one's soul. It made her realize that even when she hides and cowers away in a corner, she'll never escape the ominous gaze of this... This monster.
"In order to make my brother wake up to reality, I need to make him realize the truth I've already tried it multiple times, but as expected, he's very persistent..."
She raises her hand, and the blonde haired princess tightly grasp the wooden cage where the creature is held, the cage alone is nothing in the face of the princess' almighty strength, just a single move and the cage with everything inside of it would be torn into pieces.
"...And now that I finally got my hands on perhaps his most treasured person, his beloved guide and companion. How do you think would he react when he find out that you are no longer here, hmm? To learn that he had lost yet another one of his friend? His family?"
Paimon finally fully uncover her eyes, she looks at the Abyss Princess who stared down at her, dark mist slowly sips away from her palm and surrounding the cage. The air suddenly becomes heavy, almost suffocating even. Any more than this and she will surely die. Deep down in her heart, various emotions churned and mixed up into a mess, things like fear and other thoughts ruining her from the insides, and yet the little pixie still has it in her to talk, to stand up for what it seems to be one last time, as she opens her mouth.
"Paimon is... Paimon is not afraid of you!" The little pixie boldly declared, gaining a raised eyebrow from the figure before her. "Even if you're about to kill Paimon, Paimon believes that even after that, Aether will definitely not give up. Paimon has seen examples of it many times before. No matter what the losses, no matter the hardships and pain he went through, he always crawls back up and pushes through the odds. Even if it was his own sister." The tiny creature said, before her eyes dropped down and so did the tone of her voice. "And besides... Paimon thinks Paimon is only a burden to Aether, so at least with Paimon's gone, some weights can be lifted off his shoulders."
It's true... Though she is known as the best guide for the Traveler, in the end, she ultimately did nothing to help with anything. Ultimately, all of the work is done by the traveler, every burden, every problem, Aether is the one who gained and solved it. While she did nothing at all, sweeping at the very last moment to take part of the credit that's supposed to be fully towards the Traveler and acting all high because of it. It was Aether who had done all the fighting, he was the one who hurt and exhausted himself all the while she was hiding comfortably in the confines of her own pocket dimension. Coming out only once the fighting is over, ordering for food and doing all the talking with the people while he mostly silently listens on the sidelines.
It's a wonder why he hasn't snapped yet because of her, he did love to tease her by calling her emergency food and all, but those were merely jokes between two buddies, nothing more.
Just thinking about it makes Paimon sad and glad at the same time. She will never experience those things ever again after this. There will be no one to tease her ever again, no one who will feed her ever again, and no one who would talk and laughed with her again. But... That's for the better, right? At least with this, Aether would no longer have to put up with all of the troubles she caused, right? He'll bring everyone with him to victory in this war, and restore peace to the world, without anyone holding him back anymore. Paimon believes in him.
The wooden cage shook violently, and Paimon thought it was the time for her to finally depart from this world. So she shut her eyes tight, and prepared for pain that will take her life away.
But it never comes, in fact, she felt nothing at all.
The cage does break out into pieces, with some of it falling into her, but Paimon was otherwise completely fine. She tries to peek from between the gaps of her fingers again. And she saw the Abyss Princess summon her sword, for a split second, the little pixie thought that she was going to use that sword to cleave her in two, but Paimon was wrong, the princess did swing her sword, but it was towards another direction, far away from the table Paimon is standing. The slash she made with her sword creates a fracture in space, and with it, a portal opens up, leading out to somewhere unknown.
The princess dematerialized her sword, before turning her back on Paimon, gesturing her towards the opened portal.
"Go. I changed my mind..." The blonde haired girl silently mutters, taking a few steps away from the stunned pixie. "That portal should take you back to the surface, it shouldn't be a problem for Aether and the others to find you there." She said before continuing to walk away.
"W-Wait!" Paimon shouted, causing the princess to pause for a bit. Gulping down the lump in her throat, Paimon opens her mouth to ask. "Why? You said that you wanted to kill Paimon..."
The Abyss Princess was silent for a few seconds, before answering her question without even looking back. "I'll think of other ways to wake up Aether... I don't think I wanted to kill you anymore, especially knowing just how much he treasured you..."
Paimon was about to say something in retort, but the appearance of some noises coming from the nearby hallway caught her attention, as it signals someone is coming in.
"You better hurry up before I change my mind again... Or worse, they see what I have done."
Paimon shoots the princess another glance, finding herself wanting to say something to her, anything, yet she's unable to make any sounds. And so, without a word, the little pixie did what the princess advised her to do. Floating up from the table, and heads towards the portal she had opened up for her.
"Hey..."
But before Paimon could fully enter the portal, she was stopped by the princess who called out to her, prompting the creature to turn around to see the princess, who now looks at her.
"When you get back to the surface... And meet with Aether again... Please tell him that I'm waiting for him..."
The princess lips curved up, turning into a smile, a somber, melancholic, and pained smile. This is perhaps the only expression Paimon has ever seen on her face, an expression that suited her for her last words that Paimon will hear.
"I'm waiting for him to kill me."
And with those words, the portal closes, and Paimon would never see the princess again for the rest of her life.
~o~0~o~
"Yes. This fairy is... My brother's best friend."
On the seashore of a beach near Mondstadt City, a girl with short blonde hair in a white dress could be seen crouching on the ground. A fishing rod in one hand, head tilted to the side in wonder, and her other hand is poking at the weird little creature that she just fished out of the water. Her golden eyes stares in confusion and curiosity at it, since the creature undoubtedly looks human, apart from its size that is comparable to an infant baby.
"Your brother's best friend?" Lumine asked the person that lives inside her, the deceased soul of herself from another world. "What's this thing relation to Aether? Did you know about it?"
"Yes, I know of it, though not in exact details like anyone else does." Abyss Lumine answered, mentally nodding her head. "From what I've heard, back in my world, this creature is someone who had been guiding Aether throughout the entirety of his journey. She was the first friend and companion he made after he woke up from his slumber, and they were inseparable ever since."
Lumine nods her head in understanding. "I see, so now that our positions were switched in contrast to the events of your world, she'll be the one who guides me, am I right?"
"It seems so. I've always wondered how did Aether got his hands on such... Weird looking creatures like her. I had expected him to go through a long journey into some places unknown for him to find his fated companion. But turns out he's simply just fish her out of the water and then that's it?" Abyss Lumine deadpanned, though she's unable to see her, Traveler Lumine could imagine her other self is twitching her eyes right now as she said that.
"Eh, I don't know. You said it yourself, our world is different. So perhaps his encounter with this thing is different from ours as well." Traveler Lumine shrugged, her eyes glanced back at the creature on the ground, still unconscious with giant swirls on her eyes. "So what should we do about her?"
A brief silence overtook them. Lumine didn't hear the voice of her other self talking, which means that she's currently thinking, so she lets her.
"Well... Since she haven't wake up yet and no one is here... Let's just throw her back into the water." Abyss Lumine spoke up after a while.
"What?! You can't just do that!" Lumine yelled in shock, eyes widening in horror.
"Or maybe we can turn her into a fine soup."
"That's just so wrong in so many levels!" Lumine yelled back again.
"So you're saying that you have a better idea then?"
"...No."
"Then why bother asking me in the first place?" Abyss Lumine said with a sigh, an image of her facepalming appears in Traveler Lumine's mind.
"You know, let's just... Wait for her to wake up, alright?" Lumine said, also releasing a sigh. Her stomach growls again due to it being empty. So she stood up and prepare the fishing rod that's already in her hand. "In the meantime, I'll go try to catch some fish, hopefully I'll get one this time."
She spent the next half an hour fishing, trying from a different spot as well. And luckily this time, it didn't take her hours to fish something out of the water. She got some nice big ones after many trials, and by the time she thinks she caught enough and return to her original spot, the mysterious thing is still there, and still unconscious as ever. She tries to poke it with a stick a couple of times, but there was no response, so Lumine decided to ignore it and continue with her activities instead.
And it wasn't until when she collected the firewoods to make a campfire to cook the fish that Lumine finally saw some movements.
As she placed the fish on the sticks near the fire and watches as it slowly cooks, the smell of the grilled fish reaches even to the depths of the tiny creature's nose. Her nose sniffs on the delicious aroma in the air, and while her eyes are still closed, she sits up from her lying down position as she continues to sniff, a hum could be heard coming out of the creature, as it finally opens their eyes.
"Mmm~ what is this delicious aroma in the air? It smells so good." The white haired creature with black eyes glanced towards the nearby source of light. And sees the burning fire in which several sticks with fish on it are being cooked. The moment she laid her eyes on it, her mouth immediately opened up as drool dripping down from the corner of her lips.
"Oh, you're finally awake."
Maybe it's because she paid too much attention to the sweet scent in the air, and the scene of food being cooked. But before another voice spoke up, one that doesn't belong to her. The white haired creature finally took notice of the presence of another person nearby. A young looking (human?) Girl with a short blonde hair and a pair of beautiful golden eyes. The pristine white dress she's wearing makes her look like a princess or a knight, perhaps even a combination of the two.
But princess or not however, this girl is still a complete stranger to her, and seeing someone suddenly being there with her without warning, would definitely give her quite a shock.
"Eeeek!"
The little creature shrieked, loudly. And quickly finds a nearby rock to hide behind it, safe from the blonde girl's gaze.
"Well, that was certainly a quick recovery." Abyss Lumine muttered, to which Traveler Lumine silently agreed.
"Paimon didn't know you were here!" The little creature explained, poking her tiny head from behind the rock, where her eyes immediately met with blonde ones. "Who are you and what are you planning to do with Paimon?!"
"Uhm..." Lumine blinks owlishly, looking both confused and stunned.
"What's wrong? Don't have anything to say?" Abyss Lumine asked, confused and curious.
Gulping down the lump in her throat, Traveler Lumine mentally speaks to her other self.
"...I donn't understand what she's saying..."
"What? What do you mean you can't understand you-" Abyss Lumine suddenly cuts herself off as realization hits her. "Ah... That's right, this is probably the first time you've heard someone speaks Tevyatian language."
"What should I do?" Traveler Lumine asked in confusion.
"Well, you either have to deal with it and speaks with sign language, or, you could learn how to speak Tevyatian, simple." Abyss Lumine said with a shrug.
Traveler Lumine mentally sighed, slumping her shoulder. "In that case, could you please translate my words into that language please? You've already lived in Tevyat for hundreds of years, surely you're already more than fluent enough on speaking it."
"Hmph, sure I guess. It's better than watching myself acting like an idiot."
"Planning to do? I didn't plan anything." Lumine replied, giving the talking creature a weird look. She speaks in a stuttering matter, as if she's trying to correct herself for every word she uttered. "I'm just here to catch some fish when I fish you out instead. You're a very weird looking one, so I excluded you from the list, what species of fish are you?" Lumine raise an eyebrow in interest.
"Wha- of course Paimon would be looking this way, Paimon is Paimon! And Paimon is not a fish!" The white haired thing protested, placing both hands on her sides and she glares at Lumine in anger.
"Really? Why did you come out from the water then?" Lumine asked, shooting her conversation partner a curious look. "Unless... If you're not a fish, then perhaps some unknown type of amphibian then?"
"What?! No! Paimon said Paimon is Paimon! How many times do Paimon have to tell you for you to understand?" She angrily objects, stomping her feet on the ground several times.
"Ah, I see. So you're your own individual creature then. I'll keep that in mind." Lumine flatly nodded.
"She's certainly an interesting creature huh?"
"If by interesting you mean "extremely annoying," then yes, I totally agree with you." Abyss Lumine said with a huff, causing Traveler Lumine to wonder if there's some sort of a relationship between her other self and this mysterious creature. "But on the bright side of things, at least she retains the same personality with the one from my world. That's one more thing to add to our list of things that shares the same quality between the two worlds." Traveler Lumine nods in agreement at that.
"I wonder what makes the Aether from your world and her become such good friends, I get it that she's the first ever friend he made since coming to this world, much more now that I've seen it for myself, do you know anything about that?" Traveler Lumine mentally asked her other self, curiously wondering about the thought.
"Those two... They were inseparable, to say the least." Abyss Lumine answered, a small sigh escaped from her lips. "Though Aether has achieved many accomplishments throughout his journey across Tevyat, none of it would be possible without the help of his dear ally and companion, the self-proclaimed Tevyat's number one guide. It was she who accompanied him from the start to the end of his journey, the one who always stood by his side no matter what the situations, she's the one who's there for him during joy and woe. Their bond is so deep that one might say that they're family."
Traveler Lumine listened closely to Abyss Lumine's explanation. And from her words, the traveler could heard the barely existing emotions hidden behind each spoken lines. Just the way she describes the pixie creature, the Traveler could heard the dark tone in her other self's voice. But she's unable to determine what she's feeling. Is it... Jealousy?
"Family huh?" Traveler Lumine mentally muttered, glancing towards the white haired creature as she kept on rambling about the fact that she's not food.
"That's what the Abyss Mages said... And also based on the observation I did myself..."
~o~0~o~
Lumine ends up staying at that beach side for more than just a few days. Building a camp for her to sleep and rest, while going out to the surroundings to collect some materials, mostly food related, like crabs.
Though the voice inside her head had keep on insisting her to continue on to Mondstadt instead waiting around here, Lumine was persistent on staying for a bit longer, as she aimed for gaining the trust of the mysterious floating creature that she caught several days ago, Paimon is her name, though Lumine had admitted that she's merely joking around for calling her a fish, Paimon seems to still be wary of her, always giving the blonde haired girl a suspicious side eye stare and keep their distance at least one meter apart.
She has no home nor a place to return to apparently, which is why she opted to stay at the beach where Lumine had found her, nevermind the fact that her stays there is accompanied by the strange "human" who for some reason also decided to stay despite of having no significant reasons to.
But those wariness would gradually recede out of the pixie's mind and the time passes.
For being someone who could fly and freely pops in and out of existence, it's shocking that the tiny creature barely knows anything about cooking or even how to collect edible food in the wild. Not to mention that she's such a glutton too, able to fit in more than two plates of dishes despite of her size.
So what can she do to satisfy her appetite when she has no other skills aside from popping in and out of existence and having mouth that's ten timess bigger than it's actual size? Well, she got herself someone with a lot of survival skills, and she's a pretty good chef too, so why don't she took advantage of that?
It took time for her to completely put her trust on the blonde haired girl, the first time Paimon dared to approach her more than the distance she herself had put between them, the little pixie is at war with the two conflicting emotions whithin her, between the desire of her growling stomach begging for food and her instict to not trust the mysterious girl, the white haired creature would ultimately surrendered to her temptations when her tummy could no longer resist the delicious looking food before her as the Traveler purposely wiggle the meat stick while clicking her tongue like calling a cat to approach.
Annoyed as she was for getting treated like a house pet, she takes the meat steak anyway, and the moment she took a bite on the thing, her eyes gleamed in amazement and ecstasy on how delicious it taste, tempting her enough to ask for another and another, until she fell asleep from satisfaction.
From that point onwards, Paimon no longer has any doubts for any of the food that Lumine presented to her, granted as the blonde girl seemingly always knows the time when the pixie needed food the most. Most of the time, the Traveler even already prepares food for the two of them even before Paimon could ask, and making sure that her portion of food is bigger in comparison to the blonde girl, which admittedly, makes Paimon feel a little guilty. This person has cook her meals and provides her with a small yet safe place, and she did that without gaining anything in return, and makes pixie feel wrong for putting the distance that separates them on the days they spent on this beach.
"You probably know this already, but Paimon's name is Paimon by the way." The floating creature told her one day out of nowhere. But it didn't surprise Lumine that much. "What's yours?" She asked the bigger girl, who sat on a log, looking over the campfire.
"It's Lumine." The blonde haired girl replied, simple and straightforward.
"Lumine huh? That's a nice name." Paimon nods her head before putting one hand on her chin. "But you know, Paimon thinks it can be a lot nicer than that. Can Paimon call you "Lumi" instead?"
Her question brought up more reaction this time. Lumine widens her eyes and she glances towards the white haired girl with a shocked look. The reason for why she made such an expression is something that Paimon couldn't understand.
"Eh, is that a no?" Paimon scratched the side of her head.
"Ah, no, no it's fine." Lumine quickly shook her head, brushing away the shocked expression from her face as she returned to her usual look. "You can call me whatever you like. I won't take offense."
"Ah, alright then. Lumi it is!" Paimon nods her head with a smile on her face. She's still confused about what she just saw, but she supposed she could think of that later.
She no longer distance herself with the Traveler ever since then. The two would go out together as they scour for some food, picking up fruits from the trees, fishing for some fish, and catching crabs, all they then brought back to their little camp where Lumine turn them all into five star dishes for both to enjoy. And while they both enjoy their dinner on a fine night, they converse, it's usually nothing too peculiar, mostly some mundane and lighearted things like what dreams they have during their sleep, what's their favourite thing to do, and what's their favourite food so far. It's very simple, yet Paimon enjoys every second of it.
But of course, with how their bonds gradually deepen as they continued to spend time with each other, it's only natural that things would get personal eventually.
Paimon notices how the mysterious girl who calls herself Lumine is not only strange in the aspect of her appearance which stands out in comparison to a number of people that Paimon have met before, but the girl also possess other strange and unique qualities, ranging from her mysterious abilities where she could magically will things to disappear and reappears on her palm (which works kinda similar to how Paimon pops in and out of existence,) to her personality and mannerisms.
Though she could speak and talk normally, Paimon finds Lumine to be a quiet and reserved individual, she always says something only when she needs to, otherwise, she only replies with grunts and hum most of the timss. Later on however, as they got closer, Lumine had come to admit that she's actually having a hard time in speaking the Tevyatian language, that she's struggling even with the simplest words, which may explain her quiet nature. Paimon does willingly offered to teach her how to speak it, an offer the blonde girl immediately accept.
Another thing that Paimom notices about the girl is also of the weird habit she has: for being a quiet girl, Lumine is surprisingly energetic, as she's able to run, swim, and climb without getting tired easily. And yet, for times more than Paimon could count, the pixie would spot the Traveler having this blank look on her face as she stare into space several times. It could happen literally anytime, from when they're walking, when they're eating, or even when they're in the middle of talking. Usually it takes only some seconds before Lumine snapped back to reality, but other times, Paimon was required to snap her out of it. This behaviour, added with blonde girl sometimes sudden outburst and yells which cames out of nowhere, has becoming a source of concern for the pixie, though no matter how many times Paimon expresses her concerns, Lumine always brush it off by telling her that she's fine.
Yet another thing that remains unanswered, Paimon starts to wonder if she would ever find out the true nature of this girl or not.
Eventually, even more days have passed. And it was only after Lumine started to master her speech in using the Tevyatian language without stuttering her words anymore that the blonde girl finally spit it out, the one thing that Paimon was curious about the most.
"So you're saying that not only are you not human, but you're also coming from an entirely different world?" Paimon asked in shock, her widened eyes stared at Lumine who was sitting on top of a rock, nodding her head.
"That's right. I was coming from a race of immortal beings, travelers, traveling from different world to another in search for a new home. Me and my brother Aether." Lumine answered, she looks down to the sand beneath her feet. Her hand which holds a small branch from nearby tree is used by her to draw some sketches on the surface of the sand.
She began to recall her story. The story about her and her twin brother Aether. A pair of twin stars who left their doomed home world, together traveling across the universe in search for a world that they could name their new home, a place where they could live for as long as they want, safe and cozy. How Tevyat is one among the many world that they have visited, and how this world is responsible for separating the two.
"Wow, you two fought A God?!" Paimon gasped in shock to which Lumine merely nodded.
Not long after their arrival to this world, the twins were ambushed by a figure who called herself the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles, and how that God is responsible for separating the twins and sealing away their powers, the reason why Paimon could meet with Lumine like this.
"How many years ago was it? I don't know." Lumine sighed while shaking her head. Once her story is finished, she sighs as she stares into the vast ocean in front of her. "But I intend to find out."
A look of determination appears on Lumine's eyes. She bawled her fist, giving herself a nod of encouragement.
"Aether is the only family I have. We've never been separated before, and no one was able to do so too. Even if he's out there at the farthest corner of the world, I'll make sure to get there and find him, no matter how long it'll took."
Paimon has been living with her for weeks now, and the two have become so close that they're friends now, perhaps even more. Lumine did say before that the knowledge of her being an Outlander is not something that she easily shared with other people, as such knowledge had brought her many troubles before in other worlds. And for the blonde haired girl to share this info with Paimon could only means of how much trust did Lumine put into the pixie despite of only knowing her for a short time.
Paimon didn't know how to describe it, but getting such treatment from the Traveler have sparked something inside her. It was desire, desire to be with this girl, to be by her side as she helps her in getting through all of her problems, to be there to see as the Traveler walked through her journey towards reuniting with her long lost brother, desire to be together with her newfound best friend.
The life that she had before meeting Lumine is not one that is to say interesting after all, and there's no way she could go back to her old life. And so that's when she decided...
"In that case, why don't you let Paimon be your guide then." The little pixie said with a smile, putting her tiny hands on her sides.
The blonde girl's eyes are visibly widened upon hearing the word. Her head slowly turned to look at Paimon and her eyes give the tiny being an odd look that makes Paimon mentally shuddered in confusion and fear at the meaning behind the odd look Lumine gave her.
"You want to be my guide? Are you serious?" Lumine asked, her voice sounded confused, as if she was hesitating to ask.
"Yeah!" Paimon nodded her head eagerly. "Paimon still owes you for what happened several weeks ago, otherwise Paimon would've drowned and died." The little pixie said, pointing a single finger towards the sea nearby, the place where Lumine fishes her out. "and besides, You said you haven't stayed in Tevyat for long, right? Paimon had lived here for quite some time, so let Paimon be the one who guide you throughout these lands."
Lumine went silent, her eyes still focused solely on Paimon. She enters her usual spacing out activity again, so Paimon patiently waits for her. And after a while, Lumine returns, her lips curved up into a smile. She stood up from the rock she's sitting on, and walked towards Paimon, standing a distance away from her before stretching out her hand towards the floating creature.
"Thank you. Then... I shall accept your companionship. Until I found my dear older brother, you shall be my guiding star, Paimon." Lumine said with a bright smile.
"Sure thing! And in return... You can pay Paimon back with more delicious food, okay?" Paimon returned her smile, reaching out both of her hands to lightly shake the blonde girl's hand.
And now with this, their journey just begun.
"Aww, and here I thought that I was your guide." The voice of Abyss Lumine whining rings inside Lumine's head.
"You still are, don't worry so much about it. I just need someone to talk with, a REAL someone, not some bodiless voice that's stuck inside my head." Lumine mentally grumbled, the corner of her eyes twitching from annoyance.
To be Continued...
Dropping this now because my heart surgery is tomorrow. I won't be uploading anything for the rest of this month if things gone badly, or forever in a worse case scenario (T_T)
But seriously though, this might as well be the last time you've seen of me, if things gone wrong during the process and I ended up dead... No more new stories from me ever again. On the good side of things though, some of my unfinished stories already have some drafts written for their chapters up to completion, stories such as Memories of The Forgotten Star is already have a completed storyline that only needs to be written, meaning that if someone were ever to take over my work after I'm gone, they'll be able to finish it.
Welp, goodbye... for now. Hopefully I'll be able to see you all again, and not in the other side I hope. Thank you for reading, love you all.