Momentum

by mitsuboo

Summary:

What does a 1,000 year old immortal girl do when the universe decides to play a sick joke on her by reincarnating her late husband?

Make it incredibly awkward and painful for everyone involved, of course.

Chapter 1: Red Scarf

 

 

  Lumine knew that returning to Snezhnaya was a mistake.

 

  “It doesn’t look the same.”

 

  Aether cast her a flat glance. She ignored him, staring up at the historical buildings and museums that made up the remnants of Zapolyarny Palace. The shapes of the architecture were the same, but the colors were off. They were too pale.

 

  “Well, it’s been a while, things change.”

 

  “I know that,” she grumbled, “but they could’ve at least tried to be accurate.”

 

  This was actually a problem with most architecture. The people of Teyvat had only realized the importance of historical preservation around 453 years ago. Which was a shame, really, seelie gardens and old ruins were an incredibly rare sight these days. She stared up at the palace. It was only a palace in name, now. The current Tsar and Tsaritsa lived in a newly refurbished castle at the head of town, allowing this historical building to be used as a museum - though not a very accurate one. 

 

  “Lumi, are you sure you’re okay?” Aether put a hand on her shoulder. His voice ripped her out of her thoughts and brought her back down to the cold street.

 

  She sent him a smile that she hoped was reassuring, that was all she could really offer. “Yeah, I’m good.”

 

  “We can leave if you want, I can get tickets back to Mondstadt and-“

 

  “It’s fine,” she interrupted, “it’s been long enough, don’t you think? I can’t stay away from an entire country forever.”

 

  “You actually can, it wouldn’t bother me if we never came back here.”

 

  Aether preferred a much warmer climate. He’d found a deep love for Sumeru and Natlan, though Lumine preferred the colder places. It was why she’d spent a good 20 years of her immortality traveling the Snezhnayan countryside. Now that she’d returned, she felt the full impact of this decision. And no matter what she told Aether, she regretted it. 

 

  Standing here, in the middle of this city, surrounded by bustling crowds and cars and the familiar architecture. Passers by spoke Snezhnayan, buses honked and groaned from the streets. The hair sticking out from beneath her knit hat was growing damp with the constant downfall of snow. It was louder than before, but the weather was the same. The people still looked grumpy. It still smelled a bit.

 

  “I just need a minute more.” Truthfully, she needed an eternity more just to soak it all in.

 

  He nodded in understanding and patted her back, “I’m gonna go inside and call Xiao, don't wander off too far.”

 

  Lumine wasn’t sure if she could handle wandering off past the palace. She knew that the little restaurant she liked wasn’t there anymore, nor the church she got married in, or the garden where she liked to rest after commissions. It was gone, time tended to do that. 

 

  “I’ll be fine,” a shrug and a smile, “I’ll just hang out here.”

 

  There wasn't much else she planned to do in this city anyhow. Aether cast her a glance as he slid through the revolving doors, leaving Lumine to herself on the sidewalk. She pressed her back against the wall of a building to avoid the constant bustle.

 

  Might as well explore what she could stomach, even it was just an alley or two. She’d decided to come to Snezhnaya and enroll in the university here for the sake of getting over that sickening nostalgia, not letting it scare and consume her. 

 

  Lumine decided to start with the street beside the palace. There was nothing there but a homeless person.

 

  She moved into the next alleyway, but avoided looking too far down it simply because there was once a wonderful food stand there and she’d be sad to know it was gone. 

 

  She slipped through the crowd and made her way towards a less busy area. Taxis waited on the streets as businesses turned into apartment complexes. Lumine watched the changes as she walked and recalled what the landscape once was. That building wasn't there 200 years ago, over there used to be natural hot springs that felt like heaven after a long day. Over the hill, past the sketchy office building, there was a good spot for picnics.

 

  She didn't even notice how few people were around her now. Not until the moment her purse was harshly ripped off her shoulder. 

 

  Frantic footsteps against the concrete, the smell of cigarettes wafting off a black hoodie. Lumine’s arm hurt where his hand had scraped, but she had no time to whine over it. The thief was now running away with her belongings in hand.

 

  He really just stole a purse from an immortal swordswoman who’d defeated dragons and gods before. There was something funny about that, even if he didn't know. She rolled her eyes and readied herself to run after the thief, but a hand on her arm stopped her instantly. From the corner of her eye, she noticed a red scarf lying lazily around a man's neck.

 

  “Hey, girlie, hold still. I’ll catch him for you.”

 

  Oh dear Archons above.

 

   It was a waking nightmare. His hand on her arm, the lilt of his voice. Those words. There was laughter in every syllable - she would know, she never let herself forget the sound of it.

 

  It was only until the nightmare of a man shot off towards the thief that she snapped back to the moment. This was real, he was real. She wasn't hallucinating that voice. The owner of said voice was fast, with much longer legs than her. His scarf whipped in the wind behind him as he sprinted down the street and around the corner, disappearing from sight.

 

  Coming to Snezhnaya was a mistake. Yet, that was exactly why she came in the first place, to face these hardships head on. 

 

  Besides, just because a random guy has on a red scarf and says ‘hey girlie, hold still’ like that doesn’t mean she knows him. She could totally be hearing things, it wouldn't be the first time his voice haunted her. Really, as a 1,000 year old she knew that her act should be far more put-together. She couldn't be hallucinating dead men in the middle of the street as civilians chased after potentially dangerous thieves.

 

  With a sigh of annoyance at herself, Lumine took off after the chaos. She rounded the corner, immediately catching sight of the black hoodie nearly a block ahead. He was followed by the red scarf. She moved as fast as she could - perhaps, even, using a subtle bit of anemo to move her closer, and closer. 

 

  Finally, her fingers gripped the man's hoodie. Gasps from both him and the stranger rang out as she seemingly just appeared behind him. She yanked the thief to the ground and stomped her foot onto his chest.

 

  “You know,” she glared, “it’s really rude to steal a girl's stuff. I bet your mom is ashamed of you.”

 

  He struggled and cursed in Snezhnaya beneath her. Lumine revelled in his shock. It was not often she got into a fight these days; Treasure Hoarders just didn’t work the same anymore, probably because they couldn't carry weapons publically. Life had been rather boring for her ever since that law was passed.

 

  There was hardly any time to soak in the excitement before it was all interrupted by a breathy, amazed, “Wow…”

 

  She looked up. Brown met blue. 

 

  The world stopped spinning. Lumine had lost the ability to breathe.

 

  “...Childe?”

 

  Slowly, as if she was watching him in slow motion, he tilted his head, “I’m sorry?”

 

  Same voice. Same face. Same body. There was a hand inside of her chest that gripped her heart and squeezed.

 

  Without another thought, Lumine turned on her heel and ran.

 

  She bumped into people carelessly, ignored their shouts and complaints, then rounded the corner back to where she began. How her feet still managed to push her along, she had no idea. All she knew was that the man back had his face. He was wearing it as if it were his own. She was going to be sick. Lumine ran and ran until she finally caught sight of Aether emerging from the revolving doors.

 

  It was not every day that his twin sister tackled him from the crowd. Instantly, she buried her face into his shoulder and dug her fingers into his arms. Aether wasted no time on returning the embrace, “What happened?”

 

  “Nothing!” Lumine gasped in exactly the way someone did when it was obviously not nothing, “someone just stole my purse, that’s all!”

 

  She wouldn’t ever be so choked up and strangled over a purse. His grip tightened, “Don’t lie, tell me what happened.”

 

  “Nothing,” she hissed.

 

  “I knew coming here was a mistake, we never should’ve-“

 

  “Aether!” Lumine cut in, pulling back to glare up at him, “I want to be able to visit this country without freaking out, and it’s going to take time, okay? I’m fine, I told you.”

 

  He sighed in defeat, “At least tell me where the guy who stole your purse went.”

 

  Hey girlie, hold still. 

  

  A red scarf. That shocking voice. Nausea boiled up from her stomach and to her throat, where she forced it back down with a heavy gulp. Hopefully, Aether wouldn't mind her clammy hand-sweat on his hoodie.

 

  “I-It’s fine,” she shrugged, trying to look nonchalant, “my phone’s in my pocket, and the I.D. I had in there was fake anyway.”

 

  His eyes flattened, “How much mora was in it?”

 

  “Does it matter?”

 

  “Guess not,” Aether sighed, “are you sure you don’t want me to go after it?”

 

  Not in the least. 

 

  “Can we just go back to the apartment for the night?”

 

  He always patted her head like she was a little kid. While Lumine was the younger between them, she was everything but a kid. He pushed her hat down over her eyes and grinned, “We can have a horror movie night. Or watch Shrek, your choice.”

 

  She frowned and buried her face into her scarf, “Shrek, obviously.”

 

  “Poggers-“

 

  “Aether, how many times have I told you to stop saying that?”

 

  He put his hands up and sighed, “Sorry, I’m just trying to keep up with the times. Gotta stay hip, you know?”

 

  He was a nearly thousand year old immortal and he was worried about being hip. He never failed to make her smile, and that was despite the whiteness of her cheeks and her wide eyes. Lumine looked as if she'd seen a ghost - Aether thought, for half a second, that she just might've.

 

  All she wanted to do was go back to her new apartment, watch a cinematic masterpiece, and forget about the man with the red scarf.

 

  And tomorrow, she will start her first day at the new university, and all shall be well.

 

 

---

 

 

 

  All was not well.

 

  A red scarf. A head of ginger hair. Lumine froze mid-step, making Aether run into her back with a light oof and a gasp. 

 

  “Lumine?”

 

  No response. Empty eyes and a racing heart. She hoped today would be good, but the universe despised her for betraying it. When she skipped out on her job as a shooting star to save Teyvat from her traumatized, depressed brother, the universe said 'hey, you're about 500 years late for work, you're fired' and then proceeded to make sure she never got a job elsewhere.

 

 When she didn't answer, Aether gripped her arm and followed her gaze to the crowd of college students nearby. “What’s wrong?”

 

  That ghost was what was wrong.

 

  “You know when I lost my purse a while back?”

 

  Aether blinked, “Uh, yesterday?”

 

  “Yes,” she nodded gravely, “well, I saw a ghost, I think. Or something, I’m not sure. And I feel like I just, uh…”

 

  Saw him again. He stood across the campus, sleeves rolled up and hands stuffed in his pockets. Slowly, hoping that he would disappear, Lumine looked at him once more. He, unfortunately, didn't disappear. If he was a ghost then he was doing a terrible job.

 

  Aether followed her eyes, “...Oh.”

 

  Yes. Oh. 

 

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” He complained.

 

  Lumine rarely felt the need to speak her feelings out loud to Aether, he could read her like a book. Yet, the subject of her late love had always been a point of contention between the two. A ghost/illusion/clone of Childe might be even worse than the flesh and blood version. At least Aether could stab the real version.

 

  Besides, she didn’t feel like thinking about it. “I just assumed I’d never see him again, so why bother?”

 

  He huffed, “You know better than that, this world isn't exactly kind to us.”

 

  It never had been. Ignoring the memories of their pasts, the twins shifted closer to each other, gripped each other’s hands for comfort, and squinted. 

 

  From across the layer of grass and melting snow, the imposter laughed. She couldn't hear his voice, but she could imagine it. Light and airy, tinged with mischief, all too familiar. It refused to leave her. 

 

  Aether broke the silence, “Well, he’s probably a great great great great grandchild.”

  

  “We didn’t have kids.”

 

  “What about one of his siblings?”

 

  Lumine cast him a flat glance, “How could several generations of mixed nationalities in the Alekseev family churn out a man who looks just like Childe?”

 

   A pause. A thoughtful hum.

 

  “...Genes are weird. Can’t explain ‘em.”

 

  As true as that was, Lumine still found herself unnerved. “Whoever, or whatever, he is... I don’t really want to look at him. Or hear him. Or have him near me.”

 

  “Understandable,” Aether grimaced, “I could kill him if you want.”

 

  “As tempted as I am, no thank you.”

 

  “He might also be a trick from an abyss mage,” he mused, “they’ve been rather active in this area lately.”

 

  Abyss mages tended to nestle within civilization, much like rats within walls. They could be found in the wilderness, but very rarely revealed themselves to humans. Their laughter and tricks had been reduced to campfire stories and paranoid ramblings.

 

  But they were very much real. And they did not like Lumine and Aether.

 

  “I don’t feel like dealing with it, let’s just get to class.” She gripped his arm and pulled him along. The campus was crowded and cold, with dead trees twisting around the sidewalk like arthritic fingers. It was supposed to be a vacation of sorts. She'd picked this place for the nice weather, perhaps for some exposure therapy. There's no better way to get over the death of a loved one than to finally visit his country, especially since she'd been avoiding it for several hundred years.

 

   Yet, right as Lumine began her retreat, a voice cut out across the campus, “Hey, you!”

 

  Aether froze. Lumine nearly tripped over herself in the least graceful way possible.

 

  “Girlie! Hey, hey girlie!”

 

  “Oh my archons,” Aether mumbled in horror, “he’s even got the same voice.”

 

  She groaned, “Point out the obvious, won’t you?”

 

  “That’s so crazy,” he craned around her to get a better look, “Lumi, he’s coming right towards us. Jeez, he’s just as tall. That’s annoying.”

 

  It really was. It was devastatingly annoying. “Hey,” he kept calling out, “wait up!”

 

  Lumine would not wait up.

 

  “Maybe he’s calling someone else.” She suggested.

 

  Aether frowned as his sister yanked him along, “He’s looking right at you. I think he’s holding your purse.”

 

  That just made it worse. Lumine cursed her decision to wear heeled boots today, or else she would be running even faster.

 

  His voice drew closer. She began to realize that this was inescapable. The imposter was determined to speak to her - just like Childe. She couldn't run from him even if she wanted to, he was like the black plague. Defeated, she slowed in her retreat, and Aether yanked his arm away, rubbing the red spot she’d left on his wrist. “Maybe we can get a good look at him and we’ll see that they look nothing alike.”

 

  Maybe. Hopefully. Lumine turned around just as the imposter jogged up to her, familiar blue purse in hand.

 

  He grinned. Lumine frowned. Freckles and ocean eyes, the messiest head of ginger hair she’d ever seen. Nausea rose once more.

 

  “You ran off yesterday without grabbing your stuff. What a coincidence that we both go here,” he held out her purse, “and good thing I left this in my car.”

 

  Good thing, right. Of course. Lumine wanted to scream. 

 

  Hesitantly, as if it was a bomb, she took the bag and clutched it against her chest. The only comfort Lumine could find was Aether’s assuring hand resting on her back.

 

  Just like yesterday, this man had Childe’s face. He had his body, his laugh, his voice. Right down to the last eyelash and freckle and crooked twist of his smile. She trailed her eyes down his arms, relieved to find that they were not as scarred as she recalled. That was one difference, one reminder that she was not going insane.

 

  Aether spoke for his sister, glaring, “This is a bit too far, don’t you think? Leave us alone.”

 

  The man with Childe’s face raised a curious brow, but kept his cavalier smile, “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

 

  “We know it’s you abyss mages trying to mess with us,” he pressed a finger into his chest, using all 5’5 of himself to seem threatening, “leave my sister alone before I make your species officially extinct.”

 

  A beat of silence. The not-Childe tilted his head. His smile grew eager, but lacked warmth. 

 

  Lumine missed that smile like the desert missed the rain.

 

  “If a fight is what you want, I’ll be happy to oblige.” He stepped forward, crossing his arms over his chest and staring down Aether as if he was a piece of meat. Despite the fact that this not-Childe fellow was about to completely body her big brother, Lumine felt a twinge in her chest.

 

  This had to be some cruel joke. Whether it be by abyss mages, or the gods themselves. It was a sick and twisted game that she was not willing to play.

 

  She stepped between Aether and the imposter, “Sorry, my brother is a big dungeons and dragons fan, he just gets a little too into it sometimes.”

 

  Aether scowled in horror, “You're making me sound like a massive geek!”

 

 “You are a massive geek,” she cast him a glare before turning back to the imposter, forcing herself to meet his eyes, “Thanks for getting my stuff back, I appreciate it. But we’re late for class, so…”

 

  The dark eagerness was instantly gone, replaced with the most innocent smile his stolen face could conjure, “Yeah, no problem. It was fun chasing that guy down, actually.”

 

  Of course it was, not-Childe. Because he was a twisted reminder of her past lover who would adore attacking criminals for fun. All Lumine wanted to do was dissolve into nothingness, and forget about this entire ordeal.

 

 Aether glared over her shoulder. Lumine gripped his arm and ripped him away, “Okie dokie! Uh, see you later!”

 

  Hopefully not.

 

  As the twins left Lumine’s not-Husband behind, Aether leaned in to whisper, “Okie dokie? Really?”

 

  “Shut up, I was nervous!”

 

  “You should’ve just let me fight him, I could summon a sword and-“

 

  “Yes, you could summon a sword in the middle of a campus of human beings who don’t believe in magic or visions anymore, and then get us both kicked out for being insane people!”

 

  Aether frowned, grumpy like a child, “Perhaps we should leave anyway.”

 

  “No!” Lumine stopped mid-step. She hand her hands on his arms, and pulled him closer to look him in the eye, the determination clear on her face, “I will not let some sick turn of events run me out. Whoever, or whatever it is that’s messing with me will get bored eventually if I just don’t pay attention!”

 

  His gaze flattened, “So you’re willing to put up with the possibility of running into that clone on an almost daily basis?”

 

  No. Not in the least. “Like I said, it’ll go away on its own.”

 

  “That’s your dead husband, Lumi.”

 

  “Oh really? I didn’t notice.” She rolled her eyes.

 

  “I’m sorry,” Aether sighed, “I just want you to be happy. But if you want to stay in Snezhnaya, we can.”

 

  She didn’t want to stay, but she knew it was for the best. Childe’s death could not keep her away from this country for 500+ years any longer. 

 

  It had been long enough, and it was time to heal.

 

  If only she didn’t have literally every class with him. 

  

 

 

 

Chapter 2: Imposter

Summary:

Which sadistic part of the universe had done this to her? 

 

 

 

 

 

 If only she didn’t have literally every class with him.

 

 Lumine had always wondered about the mysterious, unknown Gods of this world. She’d met most of them, but Teyvat was rife with secrets. And stupidity. And annoyances. Most of the stupidity and annoyances were also part of the ‘secrets’ category of things. 

 

 In summary, she just wanted to know who dared to play this twisted game with her mind and heart? If it was the remaining abyss mages, she’d just kill them. If it was some new leader of the abyss, she’d kill them too. If it was the unknown God, returned from the death Lumine and Aether had sent her into it, she’d kill her again. 

 

  Basically, she’d kill whoever had resurrected her dead husband down to the last sickening, beautiful detail. 

 

  She had a half a mind to kill the environmental biology professor who had chosen to assign seats, and made the incredibly stupid decision to put her zombie-husband right beside her. 

 

  At her left, the imposter held up his thick textbook to show her a picture across the aisle. It looked new, with shiny glossy pages and no sign of even being read. Lumine didn’t want to look at whatever he was trying to show her, but she found herself casting him a glance anyway. 

 

  He’d drawn speech bubbles over the animals in chapter one. They were quoting a vine. How modern. 

 

  He smiled brilliantly. Lumine shot him a flat look, only making him smile more. She’d missed that stupid face. 

 

  After environmental biology was political science. The imposter sat at the back of the class, and Lumine got to ignore him for a good bit. Until he made a paper airplane and shut it right at her head. Lumine knew it was him because the second she turned around, he was whistling casually in the way he did when he’d done something wrong.

 

  There was a rather long wait between classes, so she took the opportunity to grab a coffee. The not-husband was also grabbing a coffee - he grinned at her across the Starbucks. Lumine ignored him in favor of staring blankly at the menu.

 

  Next, business management. He fell asleep several rows in front of her. It was a period of peace, though Lumine found her mind racing with more and more anxiety as the day went on.

 

  A break for lunch, some time spent in the library. She saw the imposter across the room, talking to a stranger casually.

 

 Then accounting, his knee bounced the entire time. Her Childe would be incredibly bored by this point, almost as much as the imposter seemed. Lumine had only taken accounting to fill time.

 

  Finally, four in the afternoon, and the class of the day - until tomorrow’s schedules changed depending on the professors and their classes. It was world history, one of the easiest Lumine could possibly take. 

 

  She’d lived through it, after all. 

 

  If only the imposter had not been late to class. If only the seats had not filled up so quickly. If only Lumine hadn’t chosen the row with the only available seat left. When the not-Childe sauntered through the doors as languidly as could be, Lumine realized that his only seating option was right next to her. 

 

  Wonderful. She couldn’t blame the professor for this one now. 

 

  His books slammed on the desk far louder than was needed, but he didn’t dare flinch. The professor cast him a flat glance before returning to his laptop to set up a powerpoint. Lumine tried her best to scoot over and give the zombie-husband as much room as possible, she would do anything to not have to look at him anymore. 

 

  He’d been carrying around piles upon piles of books all day long. And they all looked brand new, possibly hundreds of mora. Lumine could recall the days when university text-books were not so damn expensive. 

 

  While the imposter’s books were in great shape, he was not. 

 

  It was his sigh of relief that caught her attention. He lowered himself down into the bench, furrowed his brows, closed his eyes. She watched as he tilted his head back, and his neck bobbed with his own heavy breathing. On his left arm, the red flannel stuck to his skin wetly. 

 

  He was bleeding. He was in pain, and injured, and grinning up at the ceiling with a familiar look that haunted her nights. It was the same face Childe always made when he’d just had a really good fight. 

 

   I don’t care, Lumine reminded herself. I don’t care. He’s not mine, I don’t care, and I want nothing to do with it. 

 

  At the front of the lecture hall, the professor finally got his powerpoint to pull up on the projector. Several of the more awake students clapped and cheered, while he spread his arms apart and bowed. On her right, the not-Childe sighed again. 

 

   I don’t care. I don’t care. I don’t care. 

 

  “So!” At the head of the room, the professor clapped his hands together and grinned, “Our first semester of study, as you all know, will be the legends of visions and Archons. How many of you read the syllabus?”

 

  Several students raised their hands. The Childe imposter even lazily raised his - Lumine ignored the fact that there was dried blood on his knuckles. 

 

   He’s not mine, ignore him.  

 

  “Alright, so open your syllabus packets to page three for me.”

 

  Lumine had, very stupidly, left her syllabus for this class at her and Aether’s apartment. It was currently being used as a coaster for several half-filled coffee mugs. 

 

  She took a quick glance into her bag to make it look as if she was searching, only out of politeness. After spending several years as a history professor herself, she tried her best to be polite to them, even if she knew their courses better than them. 

 

  After a moment of fake-searching, Lumine gave up and rested her cheek in her palm. At the head of the class, the professor began reciting something off the page, “The first half will be on visions and the types of them, the second will be on their supposed uses. At the end of the semester we’ll be focusing on where they are now, supposedly.”

 

  A few of the students murmured their opinions. It was not uncommon for the people of today to not believe in visions, it was quickly becoming something of a conspiracy. She was surprised it was still offered in college courses, even. 

 

  “Hey,” the not-Childe whispered, tearing her from her thoughts as he scooted closer, “you can look off mine if you don’t have yours.”

 

  Lumine looked at him, then his arm where the blood was quickly drying and making his shirt stick to his skin like glue, then at his knuckles, then at his face. High cheekbones, that smattering of subtle freckles that one could only see if they moved in close. She could close her eyes and point out where each and every one was. 

 

  And on his right cheek, was a bruise, as if he’d gotten punched. 

 

  “I can’t take it anymore,” Lumine whispered, digging in her purse, “you smell like blood, it looks like you’ve been stabbed, and this cannot be sanitary.”

 

  The zombie-husband grinned wickedly, “It wasn’t by a knife, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

 

  She froze, “What?”

 

  “It was a set of car keys.” He whispered conspiratorially. 

 

  “That’s… nice to know, I guess.” Lumine finally located her neosporin tube. Hesitant, with shaking fingers, she took his hand into her own.

 

  Her entire body wanted to catch fire; He was real. He was real flesh and bone and skin and he was not an illusion of a very tired, old mind.

 

  “Lyubimaya,” a whisper, long lashes over a set of ocean eyes. He flexed his hand the instant she touched him, “You can’t resist taking care of me, can you?”

 

  Lumine frowned down at the gash across his palm, “This cut could get infected, then I’d have to bury your gross, dead body. I don’t really feel like doing that.”

 

   “Admit it, you adore me.”

 

   That incident had left a scar across his palm. The scar was not there now.

 

  Lumine gulped her heart down her throat and rubbed the medicine on his knuckles. She had memories of long, familiar fingers, calloused from years of weaponry. These hands were not nearly as scarred or rough, but they were obviously used. Lumine finished applying it as quickly as she possibly could. 

 

  He continued to smile down at her as if she was amusingly cute. She knew that face, Childe made it whenever he was about to tease her for something. Huffing, she pulled out a wet wipe from her purse and ran it up his arm, watching it turn pink from the blood. 

 

  When his forearm was clean, she balled up the wipe and dropped it in his palm. Not-Childe stared down the wet ball of disinfectant as Lumine whispered, “I already looked at the syllabus, but thank you.”

 

  “Are you a nursing major, girlie?”

 

 “Why do I have to be a nursing major? Why can’t I get a M.D?” She scoffed, whispering.

 

  “My older sister’s a nurse,” he explained, examining his raw knuckles, “and she’s always doing this kind of stuff, trying to take care of me.”

 

  Lumine sighed, “I’m not taking care of you, I just don’t want to get your blood on my clothes.”

 

  “I think this shade of red is a rather festive color, actually.”

 

 “I’m not in a very festive mood right now,” She cast him a flat glance.

 

  “I can tell, you’ve been glaring at me all day.”

 

  So he’d noticed. They’d had several instances of eye contact, but she was also hyper-aware of his presence for obvious reasons. He could not have possibly taken notice of her nearly as much. 

 

  Yet, the not-Childe continued to casually inspect his knuckles. Lumine huffed, “That’s just my face.”

 

  “What a shame,” he mused, still whispering, “I was trying so hard to get you to smile, too.”

 

  This could not be happening.

 

  “Oh? You were doing a terrible job, then.”

 

  The not-Childe kept staring down at his knuckles. Without another thought, Lumine began to dig around in her purse once again. He watched her curiously, until she gripped his hand and pushed a pink bandaid across his skin, covering the wound. 

 

  The zombie-husband smiled down at it fondly, “Are those cats?”

 

  They were. They were very cute, pink cats. It was the only kind of bandaid she had.

 

  Lumine only hummed in response. She was trying to pay attention to the professor for once, who was still going over the syllabus, the studies of visions and the conspiracies behind them. All she wanted was something to distract her from the man at her side.

 

  “Now, I know what you’re all thinking, visions aren’t real.” The class laughed along, while the professor nodded, “And maybe you’re right, but they’re still an important part of our history. Snezhnaya’s archon was known for giving out cryo visions. Can anyone guess why?”

 

  One student raised his hand, “Because it’s cold as balls here?”

 

  “Right! The cryo vision looked like this.” He clicked something on his laptop, and an artistic rendition of a cryo vision popped up on the board.

 

  That was not what a cryo vision looked like.

 

  “And here’s a hydro vision,” the picture changed to a rendition of a vibrant blue gem. Next to her, the not-Childe stiffened.

 

  Lumine glanced at him. He clicked the end of his pen, as if anxious. “That’s wrong,” he murmured.

 

  He was right. The swirls and loops were off, they never looked that sharp. The color was not nearly as vibrant. But how this zombie man knew that, she had no idea.

 

  A shudder of fear and dread laced through her body. This was all too real, and all too weird, and she just wanted to run away from Snezhnaya and never return.

 

  “How do you know?” She whispered. He only glanced at her, brows furrowed as if surprised that she’d even heard him. 

 

  The imposter took a moment to think. The professor kept moving through the historically inaccurate visions, dendro and pyro and geo. Most of them were off in some way or another. Finally, not-Childe whispered back, “I don’t know, actually. I just feel like it’s wrong.”

 

  That had to be either the dumbest, or scariest thing she’d ever heard. He just felt like it, as if there was some inner memory poking at the back of his mind, telling him something was off. 

 

  “W-What’s your name?” She whispered. Lumine despised the shudder in her voice.

 

  A pause. The drone of the professors voice from the front of the classroom. The not-Childe glanced down at her, “Ajax Alekseev. And you?”

 

  No. Absolutely not. 

 

  The world stopped. 

 

  She could not breathe.

 

  Ajax was dead, a set of decomposed bones in the ground. 

 

  Which sadistic part of the universe had done this to her? 

 

  Lumine did not answer, instead choosing to sink down into her seat and stare at the wall for the rest of the lecture. Ajax. Ajax. The familiar slope of his nose, the long lashes. Ajax. 

 

  She was to be tortured, it seemed. 

 

  Once the professor announced the end of his lecture, Lumine was the first out the door. 

 

 

 

---

 

 

   “Lumine?”

 

  She looked up from her cocoon of blankets. There was a glass of red wine in one hand, and the tv remote in the other. “Yes?”

 

  “...You okay?”

 

  “Yes, Aether, thank you.”

 

  She had obviously been crying, but Lumine wasn’t the type to talk her feelings out. If she was angry, she’d be at the gym attacking a punching bag. If she was sad, she ate candy and drank wine, then watched old movies on repeat.

 

  Aether leaned around the edge of the tv. It was Dirty Dancing. His sister was sad. 

 

  “Do you want to talk about it?” 

 

  He watched her throw back her wine as if it was a shot, “Nope. Not at all.”

 

  “Okay… Is there anyone bullying you?” He asked. 

 

  She shook her head. The tv was playing some 80s song from a band he went to a concert for nearly 40 years ago. Time always flew so harshly. 

 

  If Lumine didn’t feel like talking, she wasn’t going to talk. Aether sighed and moved onto what he’d originally approached her about, “So I saw the zombie get into a street fight today. It was very shonen, like Fist of the North Star or something.”

 

  “Was he stabbed with a set of car keys?” She asked flatly, her eyes lingering on the screen as she spoke. 

 

  “Yeah, he was. How’d you know?” 

 

  She grimaced. Aether’s heart fell. Lumine never could resist trying to clean up Childe’s wounds, it was like some weird, nasty ritual between the two. 

 

  “Please don’t tell me you spoke to him?”

 

  An even deeper grimace, now. She stared down at her wine glass as if it had done her a personal wrong, “We have every class together on Mondays. I don’t know if it’ll be like this for the rest of the week, but I couldn’t escape him at all today.”

 

  He paused. She took another sip of wine, then popped some m&ms in her mouth. Lumine was down bad. 

 

  He supposed he’d be like that if he ever saw Keqing again, though he and Keqing didn’t have the relationship Lumine and Childe had. Aether was going through his ‘I’m going to destroy the world lmao’ phase at the time, the environment was not very conducive for cultivating romance.

 

  Lumine, on the other hand, traveled with Childe for years before they ever married. He was at her side when she faced off against Aether. He was there to hold her and support her when Aether was not. Childe was her first and only love, and seemingly the only man that Lumine would ever put up with in that way. They were like two pieces of puzzle that were created just to be fit together. 

 

  And here was this zombie, wearing his face, making her sad. 

 

  “I wish you’d just let me kill him. I could do it cleanly. No cap.”

 

  She sighed heavily, “Leave him alone, he’s only human.”

 

  He was a human who looked like someone who had died centuries ago. He was a human with the exact same face, voice, body, and personality. He looked like Childe, Aether’s ex-brother in law. Aether had watched him die. 

 

  This imposter was an abomination against all laws of nature. And he was stupidly tall, which was also an abomination, in his opinion. 

 

  “If you won’t let me kill him, then at least let me figure out what’s going on.”

 

  Lumine thought for a moment. She swirled the wine in her glass, eyes on the floor and knees curled up to her chest under the blanket. After a moment of thought, she nodded, “Okay, fine, if you can give me some closure that would be great.”

 

  Perfect. He could help his sister, pay back the infinite debt of breaking heart 500 years ago. “I’ll take care of it, don’t worry.”

 

  She was going to worry, Lumine always did. She took another sip of wine, and closed her eyes, wishing desperately to forget. 

 

 

 

---

 

 

       hey hey hey hey o_o Anthon

 

      what

 

       Im not crazy

 

      Yes u r

 

       Im really not. Shes real.

 

       Ur dream girl?

 

      Yea >.< shes here

 

       In your room?!!?

 

      At my college dummy

 

       O

 

      But shes real. I know its her, i would know that face anywhere

 

       It might be a coincidence idk

 

 

 

 

  It was not a coincidence. And Ajax was not going insane, at least not from this particular set of circumstances. 

 

  That girl, the one he’d seen every single night in his dreams, was real.

 

  Or, she was a very good doppelgänger. He couldn’t quite tell. Laying in his dorm bed, beneath the light of his phone, Ajax began to form a plan for this mystery girl.

 

  Step one, learn her name.

 

  

 

  

 

 

Notes:

Yes, I'm going to include movies and songs and pop culture in this world. I'm also kind of setting this in our modern day, so yes... Aether and Lumine were alive in the 80s, they might have had big hair and leg warmers. Who knows?

Chapter 3: Pride

Summary:

I’m not calling you a ghost, just stop haunting me.

 

 

 “Lumine?”

 

 “Childe.”

 

 “Do you believe in the afterlife?”

 

 She paused. Her sword was half sharpened, dirty fingers halting over the stroke of a whetstone, “I’m not sure if I believe. I generally don’t have opinions on things I can’t understand.”

 

“How philosophical. You’re so smart, lyubimaya.” Childe kept his gaze on the sky above as he spoke. There was something beautiful in his silhouette, Lumine chalked it up to how his eyes matched the sky. 

 

  She wished to return to sharpening her weapon, yet his words continued to linger. “Why’d you ask if I believe in the afterlife?”

 

  “Well,” he began slowly, methodically, “Because I believe in it. And I was thinking that if I die, I want you to be safe.”

 

  “Safe from what?”

 

  The thought was laughable. Lumine had met ghosts before, so obviously there was an afterlife of some kind, but she could not put her faith into it the way Hu Tao or Chongyun did. Lumine was generally unnerved by a puzzle she could not solve. 

 

  “You know, I can’t explain it…”

 

  “Try, at least?”

 

  “Okay,” Childe wasted no time in flipping onto his side and resting his cheek in his palm. There were grass stains on his sleeves that Lumine knew would be a bitch to get out. “In Snezhnaya, we believe that the dead remain in Teyvat for a period of time after passing. So we cover our mirrors and stop our clocks, and the first family member to see their reflection after a loved one’s death will be the next one to die.”

 

  Just superstition, every region in Teyvat had their own. Lumine brushed a lock of hair behind his ear, “So you’d like me to cover all the mirrors after you die?”

 

  “Oh, no, no. I want you to immediately look into a mirror so you and I can be together as quickly as possible.”

 

 “You’re an asshole!” Lumine kicked him across the grass. Before too much damage could be done, Childe lunged and tackled her down. She landed in the wildflowers and weeds where she felt most comfortable, and wrapped her arms around his neck. 

 

  His lips on her skin. Laughter in the cloudless skies of this afternoon. Yellow, dead grass in her hair and dirt beneath fingernails. Red scarves and white dresses and uncovered mirrors just so they could always be together. 

 

  “I adore you,” Lumine murmured. Childe smiled against her lips. 

 

  “You should, you’re stuck with me forever.”

 

 

 

---

 

    “I think we should leave Snezhnaya.”

 

  Lumine glanced up from the heavy textbook in her lap. Her pen stopped mid scribble, while her hand held down the edge of the paper in her notebook. 

 

  “What?”

 

  Aether frowned at his sister's fake cluelessness. “I think we should leave Snezhnaya, it’s not like we’ll lose mora if we drop out of the university now.”

 

  “What makes you think I’m worried about mora?” Lumine asked.

 

  Aether knew that she wasn’t. Lumine, in her travels, had lived in both poverty and riches. She was rather versatile like that. 

 

  The mora wasn’t a problem. It was what sat in her lap that worried him. “You never study for class.”

 

  She hated when he decided to be observant.

 

  “Perhaps I’ve encountered a particularly difficult subject, you wouldn’t know.” He was the one who chose electives completely opposite of her own. While Lumine was in history, Aether was in modern politics. While Lumine was in biology, Aether was in psychology - and she was convinced that it made him 10x more annoying and know-it-all than usual.

 

  Yet, even if Lumine had encountered a difficult class, she was still not the type to study. She was more of a head-first and deal with the consequences later kind of person. He’d never once seen his sister prepare for anything.

 

  “What’s wrong?”

 

  The pen continued scratching across the paper. Her eyes were dull as if she wasn’t even reading the words, “Nothing’s wrong, why do you ask?”

 

  Avoidant as usual. Aether knew to not push her, but there was a limit he was about to reach. Lumine could keep her emotions to herself for only so long.

 

  It was in the middle of their first week at this university. Lumine had not mentioned whether she had any classes with the not-Childe on Tuesdays, and Wednesdays were unknown as well. She’d gotten up early today simply so she could sit on a bench on the campus and scribble down notes for a subject she’d learned a million times before.

 

  It was odd. The weather wasn’t even nice, and Lumine preferred to sleep in when she could. Waking her up before eight in the morning was like pulling teeth.

 

  Aether sat next to her on the bench. The metal was cold even through his jeans, not at all pleasant. He leaned in to catch a glimpse of her notes. There, written in her scratchy handwriting, underlined several times, were the words ‘what is he?’

 

  Aether’s stomach dropped immediately. “I was thinking about calling Dain, he might have some idea-”

 

  “No.” She interrupted, “you shouldn’t have to speak to him just for me.”

 

  But he was willing to. He’d do anything for Lumine - he’d almost destroyed Teyvat for her. Aether only sighed, “Fine, what about Zhongli?”

 

  “What’s Zhongli going to do? Recite a wikipedia page about zombies?”

 

  Most likely, yes, but he was the oldest immortal they knew. There was a chance he’d encountered a situation like this before - though Aether could see how bringing Zhongli into Snezhnaya to see the zombie-Childe would only upset him. They were good friends for years up until the Harbinger’s death. 

 

  Aether racked his brain for more options. Xiao kept his nose out of business like this. Ganyu and Qiqi, who were with Xiao, would be willing to help, but he wasn’t sure what they would bring to the table. Aether wasn’t even sure if this situation was anything like Qiqi’s where the imposter was an actual zombie. 

 

  There was Yanfei, but she was currently working as a lawyer in Natlan, she would be far too busy. Venti was missing in action most of the time, only calling once a year to laugh into the phone and inform the twins that he had discovered this very cool punk band in Fontaine and that they should come visit. 

 

  That left only one option. Aether grimaced at the thought. 

 

  “There’s Scaramouche…”

 

  Lumine’s head whipped around to face him, as if she expected her brother to have lost his mind. “You want to call Scaramouche?”

 

  “He’s still in contact with the royal family of Snezhnaya and the modern day Fatui,” he shrugged helplessly, “maybe this is some weird evil experiment where they’re reviving Harbingers.”

 

  She narrowed her eyes, “Yeah, reviving them and sending them off to college to major in business and finance. Makes sense.” 

 

  “Maybe it’s not about college, maybe it’s about you.”

 

  Lumine tensed at the thought. She snapped the textbook shut and stood up, stuffing the study materials into her tote bag as quickly as she could, “Maybe, but I’m not going to let it be about me, simply because I’m never going to have interaction with the imposter again.”

 

  Aether furrowed his brows, “But you have every class with him for, like, half the week.”

 

  “Doesn’t mean I have to speak to him.”

 

  True enough, but she was writing notes about him. She was scribbling down ideas in the margins of her papers about what he might possibly be. Whether Lumine liked it or not, the imposter was eating away at her mind. 

 

  The twins stared at each other for a moment. The wind blew cold, and Aether had not brought a big enough jacket for an early morning stroll on campus. He sighed and rubbed at his arms, “You’re in that history class, right? Maybe it’ll have something to hint at what’s happening.”

 

  “That’s what I was studying,” she informed, voice soft, “but it’s all just misinformation about visions and the elements. And I was thinking of changing out of the class anyway.”

 

   “Since he’s there?”

 

   Lumine nodded. 

 

   “I think we should just leave Sneznhaya in general.” Aether continued. 

 

  He knew that Lumine wouldn’t like that idea. She was not the type to run from her fears. Changing classes was one thing, but completely moving out of the country was another.

 

  “We came here in the first place so I could get over my weirdness with it,” she began, “I’m not giving up just as we’re getting started.”

 

  “It’s okay to give up, Lumine, it doesn’t mean you’re not stro-”

 

  “No,” she snapped, interrupting him, “I can handle it. I miss being able to come here and not feeling like absolute crap. I need to get over it.”

 

  Lumine’s mind was difficult to change when it was set upon something. She’d not been able to step foot into Sneznhaya for so long, and he knew that it drove her crazy. Nevertheless, he stood up from the bench and took her hands into his own, “Lumi, your husband died here, it’s okay to feel like you can’t handle coming back.”

 

  Her glare was sudden and heavy, “But I can handle it, it’s been 500 years.”

 

  “That doesn’t matter. There are some wounds time can’t heal.”

 

  “Well, they’re going to have to heal,” she faked a smile and pulled away, “because we’ve got all the time in the world, don’t we?”

 

  She knew how to sting when she wanted to. Aether flinched automatically. 

 

  He listened to the sound of his sister’s footsteps crunch on the snow, then fade into the distance. When he finally built up the energy to look once more, Lumine was gone. 

 

  (He was totally going to play loud, annoying tik toks all night as revenge.)

 

   Lumine wasn’t sure where she was walking to, but she knew her goal; Put as much distance between her and Aether as possible. At least for the next hour or so until she calmed down. 

 

  She walked through the hallways of the science building. Her first class of the day didn’t start for another several hours, but she found herself heading straight for the audience hall it was held. She could take shelter from the cold winds and dark skies in the time being.

 

  Lumine stomped into the room. The ceilings were high and the acoustics deep and bellowing. Several students were spread across the benches and desks, huddled over their own textbooks to take advantage of the quiet. Lumine sat in the first empty seat she could find. 

 

  And it was calm, if only for a moment. She sighed and ran a finger through her bangs, bounced her knee, stared at the wall. Aether had gotten to her, though she knew he didn’t mean to. He was giving genuinely good advice. She would often say the same things to people when put in his situation. 

 

  She believed him. Some wounds left scars. Sometimes there were phantom pains that would not go away, even after the flesh had healed. And she was not lesser for feeling the lingering sting of losing him. 

 

  Once upon a time, Lumine understood that. Now, her pride would not allow her to face it. 

 

  In her pocket, her phone buzzed three times with a text. She didn’t bother to check it, assuming that it was from Aether. It buzzed again, and again. She rested her chin in her hand and ignored everything around her as she slipped into her own thoughts. 

 

  She should apologize to Aether. Lumine knew that his feelings were hurt. Every day, he tried his best to be the brother she’d lost before, to repay his debts. She had tried to explain that he was not in debt to her, but much like her own pride and losses, he would not listen to reason. She supposed that trait of extreme stubbornness simply ran in their family. 

 

  Lumine would apologize tonight. She’d make some cheesy pasta dish and they would watch a stupid movie that would make him laugh. They could drop the subject until the tension grew too big to ignore, blow up again, rinse and repeat. It had been like this for the last 500 years. Heavy baggage tended to make the journey much harder. 

 

  She was too lost in thought to notice the approaching footsteps, nor the waved hand to her left. It was only the sharp thwack of a textbook dropping onto the desk that woke her from her thoughts. 

 

  Lumine jumped. The intruder blinked in surprise. Her heart skipped a beat, and her attention went to the cover of the book now sitting beside her arm. Economics and Public Policy, looking as if it had never been opened. 

 

  The voice that followed, though, had a much worse effect on her sanity. 

 

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” 

 

  Once again: red scarf, grey jacket. Perfectly messy brown-red hair, a crooked smile. A familiar hand resting on the polished wood of the desk as he slid into the spot beside her.

 

  Lumine was being tortured by something, or someone. This had to be one of the worst days of her life. 

 

  “What do you want?”

 

  The anger in her tone slipped out before she could stop herself. Yet, not-Childe remained calm and collected “You haven’t spoken to me all week, I thought I might corner you here.”

 

  Why he’d think of such a thing, she had no idea. 500 years ago when they first met he only spoke to her for official Fatui business, not out of sheer interest. She wondered if this version of him would try to recruit her into some mlm or something. 

 

  “I wasn’t aware that I was under the obligation to speak to you.” Lumine informed. She tried her best to sound confident. 

 

  He only sighed and leaned back against the bench, “I did give you your purse back.”

 

  “Doesn’t mean I have to speak to you.”

 

  “No,” he nodded along, grinning, “but it would be nice.”

 

  She wasn’t nice. She was a tired immortal who was speaking to some walking, breathing puppet wearing her husband’s face. Lumine’s anger only deepened as she analyzed his profile. The same subtle bump in his nose, the same curve of his lips, the same length of eyelashes. She had always thought that the particular color of his eyes could not possibly be recreated, but there they were. 

 

  It sent a shiver of horror down her spine. “What do you want from me?”

 

  He wouldn’t understand the true implications of her question. Nevertheless, he cast her an innocent glance, “I keep thinking about how you took out that thief the other day.”

 

  “Yeah, and?”

 

  “Do you fight?”

 

  She scoffed and looked away, “A little.”

 

  “Well,” the not-Childe drew out the vowel playfully, “I do mixed martial arts competitions, I was wondering if you liked that stuff because I have an extra ticket left if you want to, ya’ know, come to one of my matches.”

 

  If she would go to one of his matches, and watch him punch other guys in the face. What a Childe-like idea. 

 

  Lumine shifted to face him now. He smiled and shifted as well to lean his elbow on the back of the bench and rest his cheek in his palm. There was that crooked smile, that hint of a dimple on his cheek. She wanted to melt into the shadows and stay there forever. 

 

  “Ajax, are you hitting on me?”

 

  His nod was immediate, “Yes.”

 

  Wonderful. Spectacular. The imposter was asking her on a date. 

 

  Wasting no time, Lumine slid out of the bench and away from the desk, now standing at the side and gathering her things frantically, “The answer is no. You need to stay away from me.”

 

  “What?” The imposter’s eyes went wide, “What’s wrong? Do you already have someone, or-”

 

  “No. You just need to stay away.”

 

  She should have left the moment he entered the room. Even breathing in his general direction was a mistake. Once her books were gathered, she hoisted her bag over her shoulder and stomped towards the entrance. 

 

  “Wait,” he called out, “can I at least know your name?”

 

  Lumine had never told him. The moment she discovered his, her brain had stopped working entirely. And he didn’t push to reveal hers. Turning around and walking backwards, she shot him an awkward wave and a grimace, “Nope!”

 

  “But, uh,” he pulled himself out from the bench, “why?”

 

  Lumine couldn’t possibly say ‘because you look like my dead husband and I feel as if my heart is being ripped to shreds every time you smile’. Instead, she grimaced again, backed towards the door, and pushed them open with her foot. 

 

  Then, shot him some finger guns. 

 

  Of all things to do to one’s revived/zombie husband; Shoot him some incredibly awkward finger guns. 

  

  Lumine had never run away so quickly in her life. 

 

 

  

---

 

  

 

  The rest of the day was exactly the same. Avoid Aether, go to class, avoid the not-Childe. 

 

  Let Aether’s calls go to voicemail. Feel guilty and write out an apology text. Delete it. Avoid the not-Childe. 

 

  Muse upon the trappings of her own pride and hurt. Zone out during class. Ignore the zombie. 

 

  This went on until evening arrived, and the twins finally reconciled over a bowl of very buttery pasta. No words were said, they were not needed. It was a silent understanding between the two. 

 

  One thing was made very clear by Lumine’s actions: She was not leaving Sneznhaya because of this.

 

  “Well, as long as you avoid him, it should be fine, right?” Aether reached across the table and gave her hand a squeeze, “I don’t see how it can get any worse than this.”

 

  Lumine faked a smile, “You’re right, it probably can’t.”

 

  “Oh, you’re admitting that I’m right for once?”

 

  “Don’t let it go to your head.”

 

  It would not go to Aether’s head, at least not outwardly. Mainly because of the undeniable, terrible, life-altering fact that followed this discussion. 

 

  Aether was wrong. It could get worse. 

 

  Neither of them knew this, of course, but it most definitely would become worse. Whether it be the universe’s sick games, the stars above and their predetermined pathways, a heartbreaking coincidence - it would be worse. 

 

  “It’s raining,” Aether commented. His fork scraped against the bowl, a soft sound compared to the downpour against the window. 

 

  Lumine took a sip of wine, glanced at the window, then returned to her food with a hum. It most certainly was raining. 

 

 

---

 

  It was still raining the next morning. She always slept better to the sound of the rain, though it was far more enjoyable now than in the past when she lived in tents. Even around eight in the morning, the skies of Zapolyarny city were still dark and gloomy. 

 

  She and Aether shared an umbrella as they hurried to the university campus. The parking lot was frosted over from the gathering icy wind. Lumine held onto her brother’s arm like an anchor, if she were to go down then so would he. 

 

  “Cold?” He asked, “I could give you my jacket.”

 

  “I’m okay, really.” She faked a smile. In truth, she was shivering beneath her two heavy sweaters. But Aether handled the chill even worse than she did. 

 

  The twins continued in their light jog across the sidewalk and parking lot. The rain could not deter the moods of Snezhnayans, who were used to this kind of weather. They goofed off besides their cars and bus stops more than usual. It was Friday, the weekend was about to begin. 

 

  Lumine was happy that she and Aether had made up last night. No apologies had been needed, though she had a feeling that she should apologize nevertheless. But Aether always seemed to understand how her pride worked. She nestled closer to him and ignored the sounds of the rain and passing cars. 

 

  “Hey,” he broke her from her reverie, “the zombie looks like he’s having a good day.”

 

  She would not look. She refused to look. She would not deign her eyes to rest upon the walking puppet that called itself Ajax. Instead, Lumine only glared at the ground, “What?”

 

  “Some girl’s getting all touchy with him.”

 

  Lumine’s head whipped up immediately. Despite the rain, fire poured through her veins. Her blood boiled and her muscles ached to attack whoever dared to speak to him - he was a walking flesh puppet of a man long dead, but seeing her husband’s visage get hit on by another woman would irritate anyone. 

 

  Across the parking lot, leaning against a midnight black bmu, was the not-Childe. And there was, indeed, a girl running her fingers up his arm. 

 

  She smiled up at him. He tilted his head expressionlessly in return. They shared a few inaudible words. She turned on her heel and waved a few wiggly fingers at him in goodbye, to which he did not wave back. It was obvious that the girl was flirting with him. 

 

  “Well,” Lumine cleared her throat and turned away, “good for him, whatever. I don’t care in the least.”

 

  “That’s the spirit, sis. That’s a super healthy coping mechanism.” Aether snarked.

 

  Nevertheless, he was correct. That was not her husband. He didn’t have nearly enough scars to be Childe. Suppressing her fury, as if closing a shaken bottle of soda, Lumine re-linked her arm with Aether’s, and they moved on. 

 

  Yet. 

 

  Yet, fate had a funny way of changing life within a matter of seconds. 

 

  Fate was cruel and horrible. It liked to dangle the possibilities in front of its victims face, and ask them what they dared do about it. 

 

  The squeal of tires. The gasps of the humans around them. Aether lifted his head and tilted the umbrella to find the source of the sudden, abrupt horror. Rain began to trickle down onto Lumine’s shoulder, but she didn’t mind much. 

 

  She was frozen in place. 

 

  A car, turning and twisting in the way cars generally should not move. It’s wheels caught the heavy puddles of the parking lot and spun wildly. 

 

  Ajax stood in its trajectory. He seemed to notice the chaos far too late. 

 

  It was a shame how little they were in the universe. The world still spun. In other parts of Teyvat, babies were born and people died and others reached their dreams. Lumine knew that this moment would not matter to literally anyone besides her, and the imposter’s family, and a few traumatized onlookers. She knew that gravity still did it’s thing, the sun still shined, the rain would keep falling. Even if he was dead, the world would not change. 

 

  And this was the easiest way to end things, too. She could let him die, crushed between two vehicles within seconds. Blood would drain, air would escape, bones and muscles and organs would all be broken in their various ways. There would be a funeral and she would watch from afar and wonder what he was. 

 

  Easy. It would be so easy. It would be so devastatingly easy to let him die right now. 

 

  Yet, Lumine’s legs moved of their own accord. 

 

  Electro, it’s speed and prowess. The rain on the ground nipped at her ankles, but she ignored the pain as she teleported in a flash of purple across the parking lot. 

 

  The not-Childe, who didn’t notice in time, just barely flinched. Even if he tried to move, he’d still be killed; Stuck between two machines and crushed to death. He closed his eyes as if he had realized this.

 

  Within seconds, Lumine summoned a geo construct. It halted the out of control car inches away from her hand. Patterned stone and glowing rock built up out of seemingly nowhere, denting the side of the vehicle. Behind her was Childe.

 

  Her hand had found his in the chaos. 

 

  Silence, though world around them was not silent in the least. There were gasps and screams and the endless rolling of halted tires resounding through the air. The smell of burnt rubber was suffocating, along with engine oil and smothered smoke. Rain continues to drench Lumine from above. 

 

  The first second she regained her bearings, she destroyed the geo construct. Nobody had come to check on them yet, obviously fearing the worst, she could safely assume that nobody had seen it. Nor her display of electro teleportation - something Childe had taught her long ago. 

 

  The car was stopped. There was no blood on the ground. Childe’s hand felt as familiar as ever when it gripped hers. 

 

  “Hey…”

 

  Breathless, fascinated, wide eyed. She froze and glanced up at him. 

 

  The not-Childe, Ajax, stared at the massive dent in the opposing car. 

 

  Silence. The sound of sirens. The screams of humans. Lumine’s own drumming heart. 

 

  Finally, the imposter met her gaze, and grinned.

 

   “This is just like Twilight.”

 

  

 

 

   

Chapter 4: Fortress

Summary:

What kind of man that you are, if you're a man at all. Well, I'll figure this one out.

 

 

 

 

  “This is just like Twilight.”

 

  And he was just like Childe, smiling in the face of almost death. Lumine would have found it cute if she had not been internally screaming in horror and misery. 

 

  And besides that, what the hell was Twilight? “Excuse me?”

 

  “Twilight, it’s like Twilight,” he gestured to the stopped car in front of her, with a freshly created dent in the door and it’s metal still groaning from the impact, “you’re like Edward.”

 

  That did not help deepen her understanding at all. In fact, it only made her more confused. 

 

  Worried faces appeared from over the edge of the car. Students were screaming, sirens echoed in the distance. Lumine was now drenched from the pouring rain, with her sweater sticking to her skin uncomfortably. 

 

  And her hand still held the zombie’s. She’d never yanked something away so quickly before. 

 

  “Well, it’s been fun,” Lumine stood up and shimmied herself back with whatever possible room the two wrecked cars allowed, “but I really ought to be going.”

 

  His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, “What? You can’t go! What the hell was that?”

 

  And to think that just moments ago, the not-Childe was putting some odd name to her actions. She was, apparently, Edward, whoever that fellow was. Lumine ignored the curious onlookers around the wreckage and pulled herself up over the hood of the car - promptly terrifying the disheveled driver inside. 

 

  An ambulance rounded the corner. It sped into the parking lot, with crowds of students parting for its arrival. They whispered and gossiped and gasped as humans usually did. Behind her, Childe followed suit in leaving the sandwiched spot between the cars, “Come on, you can’t just leave without explaining it to me.”

 

  “I can’t?”

 

  “Funny.” Unamused, he frowned, “Really, you were on the other side of the parking lot, and then suddenly you were right beside me. What’s that about?”

 

  A shiver of nervousness ran down her spine. He was determined to get answers, and she never was very good at satisfying his curiosity with a lie. In the past, Childe would push and push until she blew up with the truth - many surprise parties had been ruined this way. 

 

  Lumine fidgeted beneath his gaze, feeling the eyes of the concerned onlookers lingering on her back. Ajax wasn’t speaking particularly loudly, but of course someone would hear. 

 

  And there were witnesses. There would be people to vouch for the fact that she was, indeed, on the other side of the parking lot. Lumine had not quite thought this through. 

 

  She cast a glance to Aether in the distance. Even through the crowd, the displeasure on his face was palpable. She’d get a lecture upon her return home, and for good reason. The secret of immortality had been well kept over the years for a reason. So, she quickly needed to shut Childe up. 

 

  Paramedics scrambled out of the nearby ambulance, while police officers and their flashing lights pulled through the crowd. Lumine took this opportunity to gasp with every dramatic bone in her body and grip the not-Childe’s arm as if she was a damsel in distress from a very stupid movie, “You’re speaking nonsense! You must be going into shock!”

 

  “What?” He faltered, yet Lumine only leaned up to press the back of her hand against his cheek. 

 

  “You’re freezing cold! And your gums, they’re pale as the moon!”

 

  He blinked in confusion, “Isn’t that only a symptom of shock in dogs?”

 

  Most likely. Lumine ignored that, “We need to get you to the hospital as quickly as possible! Help! Help!” She cast an incredibly dramatic glance to the medics and emts, “He’s going to die if you don’t get him to the hospital!”

 

  “I don’t need to go to hospital-”

 

  “He’s raving mad! He’s speaking absolute nonsense!”

 

  “I’m fine! I don’t need anything!”

 

  Lumine gasped as if she was about to faint. This show of terror was enough to hurry the paramedics along. They grabbed the not-Childe, only making him protest further, “I’m fine, she’s lying!”

 

  “He’s traumatized!” Lumine yelled, “Save him! Get him into therapy! Give him morphine, do something!”

 

  The paramedics assured her that he’d be okay, but Lumine kept up her dramatics. They led him towards the back of the ambulance with soothing reassurances, “We’ll take good care of you, son, and get you to a doctor real quick.”

 

  The not-Childe was glaring daggers, “I’m fine-“

 

  The doors to the vehicle slammed shut before Lumine could hear the rest. With him out of sight, she let out a sigh of relief.

 

  Finally, he was out of her hair. 

 

  And next on the agenda: placate Aether’s burning anger for what just happened. 

 

  She half expected her brother to pull her out of throngs of concerned people, but he stood his ground on the sidewalk. Nobody was paying much attention to Lumine anyway. There were a few students asking if she was okay, but most of the attention remained on the imposter. With her show of dramatics and the ambulance, he was the perfect distraction.

 

  Lumine slipped between the bodies. She made a beeline for Aether, and did her best to ignore his ever-deepening glare. He was like a disapproving mother with those narrowed eyes and thinly pressed lips.

 

  She approached carefully, “So…”

 

  So what? So she saved the zombie from a gruesome death, that was rather admirable in her opinion.

 

  Aether began with a heavy sigh, “I don’t know this guy, I don’t know how much like Childe he truly is, but the fact remains that this entire situation would be much easier if you had just let him die.”

 

  In truth, yes. Lumine still remained uncomfortable by the idea nevertheless. “I think watching my husband die a second time wouldn’t be very healthy, if you ask me.”

 

  “He’s not your husband, Lumi.”

 

  Something inside of her crumbled, like the wall of a fortress falling to time. Lumine had always worked so hard to stay strong after she lost him.

 

  Even the most strongly built buildings become weak against time. 

 

  “You’re right,” she fake smiled and re-joined Aether beneath the umbrella, though she was already soaking wet, “But I couldn’t let him die no matter the circumstances, I would do that for anyone.”

 

  It was what felt like thousands of years ago when Aether was the one putting himself at risk to save others. Before the twins came to Teyvat, he was the natural leader, the decision maker and the empathetic twin. He wouldn’t think twice about saving a life.

 

  Aether became cold in the Abyss. There were humans who had been stolen into the darkness, who could not defend themselves, and he allowed them to die for the sake of his own survival. If he had not have thought twice in the Abyss, he would not have lived to be with Lumine today.

 

  She understood this completely. Yet, she could not assimilate herself to that philosophy. 

 

  And while he was not her husband, he did have Childe’s face. Seeing a pair of glassy blue eyes staring up at the sky with lifeless unfocus again would be too much for her to handle.

 

  And like all things, her own fear and actions meant that a sacrifice was taken. Aether read her expression like a book, “So, he for sure saw the geo construct stop the car?”

 

   And he had been aware that she was across the parking lot when it happened, and somehow got to his side within seconds. It just became worse the more she thought about it.

 

  Lumine nodded, “Yep.”

 

  “He’s probably at the hospital raving about it right now.” He scowled at the thought. She couldn’t help but flinch.

 

  Even if he was raving publicly, it was doubtful that the doctors and staff would believe him. She wasn’t too worried about that, not nearly as much as she worried over how mad Aether had to be.

 

  Lumine stared at the darkened concrete beneath her feet, the brown leaves floating down a gutter. The other students began to retreat from the rain once the excitement was over. This left the twins relatively alone, though they were missing classes as well.

 

  The idea of the not- Childe raving to doctors and being put in a psyche ward was actually rather tempting. That would certainly get him out of her hair - and nobody would have to die either.

 

  Yet, once again, Aether read her like a book, “You need to talk to him.”

 

  “I don’t want to talk to him.” Lumine answered. 

 

  “You need to talk to him.”

 

  “I don’t particularly need to, I think. These matters usually settle themselves.”

 

  Humans were funny, and rather predictable. Their brains attempted to explain certain oddities by linking them to the easiest, or most simple conclusion. An odd sound would easily be written off as the house shifting, or a shadow at night is the reflection of furniture. This was called Occam’s razor, and it was usually reliable.

 

  Subsequently, the not-Childe’s brain would try to explain the entire thing off as something plausible and easily deduced. And if he didn’t, that actually worked too. Lumine could imagine it now, this poor human who had the misfortune to look like the love of her life, becoming far too involved in conspiracies, only to become a hermit. She would never have to deal with him again. 

 

  So, in her opinion, Aether was wrong. She did not need to talk to him. 

 

  “You need to cover our tracks,” he urged, digging his fingers into Lumine’s arm like a set of punctuation marks, “he’s going to go around telling everybody that you teleported to his side and stopped a car with some weird rock thingy.”

 

  He very well could do such a thing. Lumine knew that, and had already made her peace with it. 

 

  “A little gossip never hurt anybody…”

 

  “It hurts us!” Aether hissed, “It hurts immortals! Don’t you know there are already conspiracy sites about us on the internet? People have noticed over the years, no matter how hard we’ve tried to disappear, and if the zombie starts going around talking about this, then it’ll just get worse.”

 

  And it wasn’t as if they could leave Teyvat. They had tried that long ago. 

 

  As begrudging as she was to admit this, Aether had a point. Lumine had not thought her actions through, and possibly put her and her brother’s identities in danger. It could easily start with the twins, then spread to Venti, to Yanfei, to Xiao and the others. Just one crack in the glass, and the whole mirror would shatter eventually. 

 

  Yet, how to even make up a convincing lie about what happened? Gas lighting was too risky, and doing that to Childe’s face - even if it wasn’t him - would be difficult. 

 

  A dependency on Occam’s razor really was tempting.

 

  “Are you sure it’s necessary? If we never acknowledge it then I’m sure he’ll forget.”

 

  His expression darkened into a rare kind of annoyance, “There were witnesses that saw you come out of the wreckage alongside him.”

 

  There were. Lumine hated it when her brother was right. 

 

  “I’ll… I’ll talk to him, but I don’t even know what I’ll tell him.” Lumine could recall the words on the side of the ambulance and knew exactly what hospital he was being taken to. Aether wrapped her in a hug beneath the umbrella, the patter of rain on plastic a relaxing sound.

 

  “You don’t have to have an explanation,” Aether said softly, “just tell him to keep his mouth shut or I’ll murder him and everybody he cares about.”

 

  “...Sometimes the Abyss Prince in you comes out, and it’s rather unsettling.”

 

  He grimaced, “Sorry, bestie.”

 

  She would kill him one day. She would take his phone and throw it into a river and hide him from society so he never spoke like a Gen-z again. 

 

  But for now, Lumine decided to ignore it. She turned to take her leave, breaking into a run down the sidewalk and away from the college campus. When there was no one around to see her, she teleported forwards, or used hydro to keep the rain away. 

 

  With Aether left behind to his tik toks and Abyss Prince tendencies, Lumine could finally think clearly on how to handle the matter. She was not going to use the ‘I’ll kill you and everyone you love’ trick, that was a bit beyond her comfort zone. 

 

  She could just nicely ask him to not tell anyone. That was a very good idea. A bit of niceness goes far in this world. 

 

---

 

  Lumine asked for Ajax Alekseev at the front desk of the hospital. Even saying his name in a formal setting like this was odd, it was a name she so rarely had spoken in the last 500 years. 

 

  Dripping wet and shivering, she made her way to his room. He was in an area with other patients who weren’t dying or diseased, sitting on the edge of his bed and frowning down at his phone. There were no visible cuts on him, nor any bruises. He looked perfectly fine - and not in shock at all. 

 

  “Feeling better?”

 

  Her sudden intrusion tore him from his thoughts. For half a second, before he turned his phone screen off, she caught a glimpse of a trio of kids smiling at him from behind his apps and games. She didn’t want to think more about that than she needed to. 

 

  “I wasn’t feeling bad in the first place,” the zombie answered, now grinning, “and the doctor confirmed it, I wasn’t in shock.”

 

  Lumine hummed playfully, “But you can never be too careful. If you were in shock then I totally would’ve saved your life.”

 

  She had already saved his life. She had teleported across a parking lot and stopped an out of control car with one hand. It was obvious that the not-Childe was thinking of this once again, as his grin fell into that blank frown. It was the same expressionless mask Childe wore when he was trying to solve a particularly difficult problem. 

 

  “I know you don’t want to answer me, but…”

 

  Lumine braced for impact. “But?”

 

  “But,” he took a deep breath and furrowed his brows, “what was that?”

 

  How to answer? She didn’t want to lie to his face, and she didn’t want to make him question his sanity, but she wanted him off her back completely. Lumine grimaced in thought for a moment before answering. 

 

  “It’s nothing you could really understand, Ajax.” 

 

  (Saying that name out loud still stings.)

 

  “I need to understand it, though,” he went on, “you involved me, even if you didn’t mean to. And I’m also wondering why you even did that, I thought you didn’t like me?”

 

  Lumine had no idea if she liked this imposter or not. So far, she’d just been angry at his very existence. “My feelings upon the matter don’t determine whether or not I’ll save someone’s life.”

 

  A beat of silence. He stared, while she avoided his eyes. Lumine tried her best to keep her attention on the tiles in the walls, counting each one just so she could be distracted from his burrowing gaze. One, two, three, four, five-

 

  “Are you a vampire?”

 

  She whipped her head around in shock, “What?”

 

  “Are you a vampire?” The not-Childe looked utterly serious, which would have been a comical expression if not for the anxiety of the situation. 

 

  Lumine stared. The zombie stared back. 

 

  “Why… W-Why would you think I’m a vampire?”

 

  His gaze became even darker, even more serious, eyes growing intense. “Because this is like Twilight.”

 

   What in Archon’s name is Twilight?

 

  “I don’t know what that is.”

 

  “Right,” he laughed mockingly, “of course you don’t. I guess this is the part where you tell me you had an adrenaline rush, and I can just Google it-”

 

  “Why would I say that?” Lumine deadpanned, “That’s a stupid excuse. I wouldn’t say that.”

 

  “Well, Edward says it.”

 

   “Who is Edward?”

 

  Ajax squinted, “Are you serious? Do you really not know Twilight?”

 

  Was she supposed to? Was this some piece of classic historical literature that she’d missed? Lumine did spend much of 100 years ago living in a secluded cabin in the woods, it wouldn’t be surprising if she had missed a few things. 

 

  Aether probably knew of it. Tonight, she would go home and ask him about this ‘Twilight’ ordeal. It would do her some good to get to the root of the problem. 

 

  For now, she simply had to placate the zombie. 

 

  “I’m not a vampire,” Lumine assured, “but I can’t tell you what really happened because, well, it’s private and I don’t want to.”

 

  Unexpectedly, Ajax shrugged, “Makes sense.”

 

  Wonderful. She went on, “And I really don’t want you to go around telling people what you saw, okay? It could hurt a lot of people if you do.”

 

  Another shrug, “Alrighty.”

 

  Spectacular. She could let out a sigh of utter relief. 

 

  “Wait,” he interrupted, holding up a hand, “So do you still want me to stay away from you, even if you won’t tell me what really happened?”

 

  In the excitement of things Lumine had almost forgotten what she’d told him. Stay away from me. The kicked-puppy look on his face almost made her want to rescind that. 

 

  Nevertheless, she steeled herself against his wiles. “Right. I need you to stay away, don’t sit near me, don’t speak to me, don’t even think about me.”

 

  He snorted in amusement, “Easier said than done, girlie.”

 

   And don’t call me girlie. Lumine wanted so desperately to scream and shout and pull her hair out. He smiled that boyish, crooked grin that made her want to melt into the floor and live between the cracks in the tiles.

 

  What to even say to that? Lumine could only glare, “You’ll be fine, I’m really not that interesting.”

 

  Ajax grimaced, “It’s a bit more complicated than that.”

 

   “Why?”

 

  Lumine knew how demanding she sounded. He had scared her with such a response, as if there was something she didn’t know. Every second that passed was another layer added to her own anxiety and fear - Ajax was taking forever to gather his thoughts. 

 

  Her stomach felt like a sinkhole. Her mind was fuzzy, an old tv that just played static. When the imposter opened his mouth to speak, Lumine wanted to collapse. 

 

  “I’ve been having these dreams since I was-”

 

  Lumine left before he could finish. 

 

---

 

   Ajax watched the odd blonde girl brush past the curtains and out of sight. The cloth whispering with the reminder of her presence, here and gone so quickly. A hallucination. 

 

  But hallucinations didn’t make massive dents into cars. 

 

  And hallucinations didn’t do college papers. And hallucinations didn’t hold his hand with a warmth that made his heart clench. It was like a wave of melancholy and sadness and pain all mixed together in this hurricane of a cocktail. Why he felt it, he had no idea. 

 

  He didn’t even know her name. Before last week, he didn’t even know she existed. Seeing in her odd, too vivid dreams was an entirely different matter. But he knew they were the same girl, they had to be. Beat for beat, down to the last strand of sunshine hair. 

 

  There was something going on. Not just about her and her brother, but with him as well. The dreams, the random deja vu moments, the heart wrenching and soul sucking feeling in his gut everytime the blonde girl looked at him sadly. It was as if he couldn’t bear to see this woman frown, but he had no idea what to do about it. 

 

  She had commanded him to stay away. He could not sit next to her, speak to her, or even think about her. 

 

  But, as he stated so clearly, that was easier said than done. 

 

  Especially when his mind was already racing with his own diabolical plans to bring him and this girl together more often. 

 

  They had every class together on Mondays. She seemed unable to resist cleaning him up after a battle. If Ajax just showed up in front of her covered in blood and cuts, it would horrify her so greatly that she would have to take care of him. Then, he could be near her, he could dig deeper, he could take in the delicacy of her cheeks and the shape of her eyes, how those features haunted his dreams. 

 

  Come Monday, and every day from then on, Ajax would find some way to speak to this girl on a daily basis.

  

  And he would uncover whatever secrets she was carrying. 

 

  

 

 

 

Chapter 5: This Fallacy

Summary:

I don’t belong, and my beloved neither do you.

  

 

 

  He was wearing a meme shirt. Lumine wasn’t sure what it meant, but at least he seemed happy.

 

  “Ae?”

 

  “Yeah?” Her brother glanced up from his phone. He had his feet up on the dashboard, despite Lumine telling him to move just moments ago. She was sure he only did that to annoy her.

 

  “What does ‘here come dat boi’ mean?”

 

  Also, is the frog the boy? Why is it the boy? Aether followed Lumine’s gaze out the front windshield, only to land upon a familiar face. Today, he was on a skateboard. How he managed to get those wheels through the half melted snow on the sidewalk was a mystery to her.

 

  The not-Childe was skating right towards her parked car. She’d driven today hoping to not run into him in the school parking lot, but he seemed determined to grab her attention. Instead of answering her, Aether unrolled the window and leaned out to yell, “Oh shit! Waddup?”

  

  The imposter pointed at Aether, right before skating face first into an electric pole.

 

  Smooth.

 

  When Lumine was married to the real Ajax, 500 years ago, Aether only put up with him out of necessity. It took him years to warm up to the Harbinger, and he’d never joke around with him in that way.

 

  Fortunately, Aether had gone to therapy several times over the last hundred years. Lumine often wondered how different it would be for her brother and husband if they had gotten more time to know each other. Perhaps they would have traded stupid jokes; But she didn’t want to stick around to find out.

 

  Lumine pushed her car into park and yanked her keys away. Aether began to speak, “Hey-“ but she was out of her seat and slamming the door behind her before he could finish. 

 

  Monday. First class of the day: environmental biology. Assigned seating. Perhaps the professor wouldn’t notice.

 

  But of course she would not be so fortunate.

 

  “Miss Lumine, your regular seat, please?”

 

  Class hadn’t even started yet. She’d only set her books down for half a second, but the professor’s eyes were already on her. He raised a brow and pointed at the aforementioned desk.

 

  And of course, because the universe held a vendetta against her, this all happened right as the imposter entered the room. Perhaps if she hurried then he wouldn’t notice.

 

  “Hey! Hey. Uh, hey.”

 

  Did he say hey three times? 

 

  She plopped down into the plastic chair and leaned back, folding her arms over her chest. The imposter was leaning against the doorframe and trying his best to look smooth. She hated to admit that he succeeded. 

 

  There was something about those floppy red-brown bangs and how they half-covered his right eye, coupled with the short sleeves of his incredibly stupid meme shirt. When he crossed his arms she saw a light flex in his bicep - how odd that this college student had the same build as a Fatui Harbinger who lifted weapons daily.

 

  Fortunately, his smoothness was quickly ruined by the professor’s interruption, “Mister Alekseev, are you flexing in my doorway?”

 

  He was definitely flexing in the doorway. Lumine did her best to hide her smile behind her hand, not bothering to look at him as he took the assigned desk next to hers. She felt his lingering eyes on her shoulders. She’d told him to not speak to her again, and could only hope that he’d respect her command. Despite that, he still stared.

 

  And stared.

 

  And continued to stare. 

 

  Painful, and nerve wracking. Her stomach began to hurt. Her knees felt weak. No matter how much she stuffed her nose into the textbook, the pressure settled deeper and deeper.

 

  Finally, she snapped. “What?”

 

  The not Childe blinked, as if shocked that she was angry. He tilted his head - her husband used to do that, it was how he got her to agree to his asinine plans half the time. And there, on his face, was that familiar grin. “You didn’t let me finish what I was going to say on Friday.”

 

   Of course he’d ignore her demands. “For a good reason, yes.”

 

  “That’s entirely subjective.”

 

  “Not really, no.”

 

  “It is,” he fiddled with his pencil, tapping it on the desk and flipping it between his fingers. Just like Childe, this imposter held boundless energy. “Unless you feel like telling me your reason for it.”

 

  She didn’t. Fortunately, the professor interrupted with a loud clearing of his throat. Both Childe and Lumine glanced up to see him standing between their desks, his hands on his hips.

 

  “Miss Lumine, Mister Ajax, if you want to flirt with each other then please do it on your own time.” This was followed by giggles and hushed whispers. She could already hear the rumor mill turning. Childe grinned, but said nothing. 

 

  Lumine gave her muttered apologies as the professor turned around and approached the projector at the head of the room. His words were garbled in her mind, inaudible, inexplicable. Just several feet away, she listened to Ajax murmur, “Lumine. Lumine…”

 

  He scratched her name out on paper. His handwriting was familiar and neat. Loomean? Luemean, Loumeen, Loomine.

 

   This asshole couldn’t even spell her name correctly. 

 

  Yet, it was the first time he’d heard it, she realized. That was one brick in her wall that was forcibly ripped out by the idiotic biology professor. In Lumine’s perfect world the imposter would simply lose interest and forget about her. Yet, judging by his repeated spelling attempts of her name, that was not going to happen anytime soon.

 

  His interest in her was rather suspicious. She had spent the weekend wondering why he was so determined to know her. Aether suggested that the imposter was some sort of mechanism from an old enemy, though she wouldn’t know who. Abyss Mages weren’t powerful enough, and Abyss Heralds were more adept in battle than illusions. The unknown God was gone, and the Fatui were a shadow of what they used to be.

 

  Childe was not so interested in her like this 500 years ago. Lumine was transactional when they had met, a means to an end. If she had not defeated him at the Golden House then he would have moved on without another thought about the traveler. 

 

  So, why did this zombie with the face of her lover seem so utterly encapsulated in her?

 

  There was a chance that there was something he wanted. There was also a chance that he was a product of a new enemy. Whatever it was, she wanted none of it. 

 

  Lumine would not let this zombie get the best of her.

 

  On the very second that the lecture ended, Lumine was up and out of her seat. She was the first one out of the classroom.

 

  Next, Political science class. Not-Childe sat in the back, and Lumine ignored him. Then, a Starbucks run - which ended the moment she saw him join the line. Business management was after that; Lumine watched his knee bounce for an hour straight. 

 

  Lunchtime. Lumine ate in her car, and watched Netflix on her phone until her accounting class began. Just like the week before, Ajax slept through it. 

 

  The end of the day drew near. Lumine’s anxiety was beginning to grow with each step towards the lecture hall. History class was not as fun as it usually was. This was mainly due to her own aggravation over the highly inaccurate information presented - she’d earn a bad grade for simply telling the truth.

 

  And, of course, just like last week, the not-Childe entered the room with a half-bloodied nose and several blooming bruises lining his arms. As they say in Fontaine, deja vu.

 

  He slid into the spot right next to her. In response, Lumine slid away. He smiled, trying his best to hide his amusement behind his palm, but this only drew her attention to the flecks of dried blood on his knuckles. He’d gotten into another fight, and the other guy was probably in worse shape than him.

 

  Lumine was not going to take care of him today. She was going to keep her distance, and ignore him entirely.

 

   “A wound is like a medal of honor, it’s proof that I survived something life threatening.”

 

  Lumine had heard this hundreds of times. Childe had his many philosophies, and he was faithful to them almost to a fault. His scars and bruises and broken bones, they were all reminders of his own strength and ability to come out of a challenge unscathed.

 

  Lumine didn’t quite subscribe to that. She ignored Childe’s hiss of pain as she pressed the alcohol covered rag deeper into his arm, “This Medal of Honor might get infected. I don’t think you’d enjoy dying that way.”

 

  He stared as she worked. Childe had this allergy to doctors, it seemed. He much preferred tracking her down for help with his wounds.

 

  “I’m not a good healer,” she murmured, “I don’t know why you always come to me.”

 

  He caught her hand and raised her arm. Leaning in, his lips pressed against the inside of her wrist. Lumine’s heart skipped a rather annoying, fluttery beat. 

 

  One kiss on her veins. Another kiss on her palm, then on each of her fingers. He opened his eyes to meet her gaze, “Your very touch is better than any healing in the world.”

 

  A pause between them; Held breaths in anticipation. 

 

  “...You’re so damn cheesy.”

 

   She would not give in.

 

  She would not clean the blood on his hand. She would not give him the attention he was looking for. 

 

  (It was difficult; This man wore his face.)

 

  Lumine forced herself to focus on the professor. He seemed far too excited to share his misinformation about history, writing ‘Snezhnayan History’ upon the chalkboard as if it was an honor to even utter those words. Clasping his hands together, he whirled around to face the class, “First, we’ll start on the known vision users from Snezhnaya, and what life was like for them. Can any of you name a historical figure that was thought to have a vision?”

 

  Several hands shot up. The professor squinted, but his gaze eventually landed on Ajax. He broke out into a grin and pointed, “Mister Alekseev, do you have an answer?”

 

  “Yep,” that familiar smile, the bruise on his cheekbone that desperately needed an ice pack, Lumine did her best to ignore his voice, “Tartaglia, the 11th Harbinger of the Fatui.”

 

  But how could she ignore that?

 

   The professor laughed, “Of course you’d know that, you have a rather unfair advantage. Anyone else?”

 

  More raised hands, the voices in the room turning to static in Lumine’s ears. An unfair advantage. What did that mean? Was this a sick joke that she hadn’t figured out yet? 

 

  Lumine forced herself to look at the imposter, “U-Unfair advantage?”

 

  “My family’s business is really intertwined with the military,” he answered, keeping his gaze straight ahead, “I was kinda forced to learn this stuff from a young age.”

 

  She felt sick. For half of a disastrous second, she thought he was hers. She thought that Childe knew, that this was an unfunny prank. Discovering that this was all a simple coincidence was like a punch to the gut.

 

  The students named other vision users, several of them Harbingers. Some of it was accurate, some of it was not. Lumine could hardly focus on the information at hand.

 

  If Ajax knew about Tartaglia, did he know that they shared a face? Has he seen the paintings, the kamera pictures? Has he looked at himself in history?

 

  Lumine didn’t want to think about it anymore. The man sitting beside her wasn't Childe, even if he wore his face and used his voice. He wasn’t hers. 

 

  He wasn’t hers. He isn’t Childe. He isn’t Childe. He isn’t-

 

  “As some of you may know,” the professor went on, “Tartaglia was a hydro user. He was quite famous in his day for defeating the traveler at the Golden House, and drowning Liyue.”

 

   “What?”

 

  Lumine hadn’t even realized that she’d spoken. Her voice carried throughout the lecture hall, louder than she’d ever thought she could be. Students turned around to stare, and the not-Childe had his brows furrowed in concern. 

 

  “Miss Lumine,” the professor broke the following silence, “Do you have something to say?”

 

  All she wanted to do was melt beneath the eyes of her peers. Curse her impulsive tongue.

 

  Yet, she might as well speak.

 

  “Sir, that’s not right,” she began, “Tartaglia was defeated by the traveler, and he wasn’t able to drown Liyue because the Tianquan dropped the Jade Chamber on Osial.”

 

  Aside from literally being there, this was also a known historical fact. Every college she’d visited throughout the years had gotten this correct, every one besides this university in Snezhnaya.

 

  The professor only smiled, “That’s a common misconception, actually. We’re here to uncover the truth of history, and Tartaglia’s victory is thoroughly recorded by royal historians.”

 

  Of course the Fatui would change their own history to make themselves look better. If only they knew how much of a sore loser Tartaglia had been that day.

 

  “Actually,” the professor continued, “let’s discuss how one would use their vision, using Tartaglia’s Golden House battle as our example. Can someone tell me what his relationship with the traveler was like?”

 

  Another student raised their hand and answered, “Weren’t they enemies?”

 

  “Yes, but the traveler was rumored to have been in love with h-“

 

  Without another thought, Lumine stood up from her spot, and brushed past the not-Childe in her retreat. The professor was still speaking as she scrambled down the steps and out the doors.

 

  She wasn’t sure why she ran. She wasn’t sure why there were hot pinpricks in the corners of her eyes. She wasn’t sure why she burst into the empty hallway as if she had been holding her breath for an hour.

 

  It was all Lumine could do to run. 

 

  Run from that supposed rumor that was entirely true. Run from Tartaglia, from history, from misinformation. Run from the blood on the imposter’s knuckles, and how he kept stealing glances at her. Run from the expectations, this place, this country.

 

  “Lumine!”

 

  His voice behind her. He’d get in trouble for yelling in the hallway, chasing after her like this. She didn’t dare stop for him as she approached the exit doors.

 

  But he was fast, and she was out of control. She slowed, pushing on the doors, doing her best to ignore his familiar hand reaching for her wrist. 

 

  “Lumine, am I saying that right? Lumine. How do you spell it?”

 

  Why does that matter?

 

  “Lumine,” Ajax went on, out of breath, “Why’d you run out like that? Are you okay?”

 

  Not in the least. She stared at the door handles as if they’d done her a personal wrong.

 

  After several seconds of silence, it became obvious that Lumine was not going to answer him. Childe sighed and pulled his hand away, “You probably think I’m an absolute creep, but I promise I’m not. I’m just looking for answers.”

 

   That caught her attention. She finally looked up at him, “Answers to what?”

 

  Another sigh as he ran his fingers through his hair. Lumine could hardly take him seriously with that meme shirt on, but she did her best to not make eye contact with dat boi. Ajax seemed utterly serious right now.

 

  “I have dreams about you, at least I think it’s you. I’m 98 percent sure that she’s you.”

 

  “...What?”

 

  “Even before we met,” Ajax went on, “I’ve dreamt about these weird things. Like, you and I at our wedding, us fighting, these moments in time when you look at me and I wake up feeling like there’s this hole in the universe.”

 

  She often woke up feeling the same, but at least she knew why. 

 

  They stared at each other. Classes were beginning to let out around them, the hallways filling up as if a dam had broken. Yet, despite the new sounds, Lumine focused entirely on Ajax.

 

   I’m an immortal demigod and you’re my reincarnated dead husband, is what she did not say.

 

  Instead, she cleared her throat awkwardly and turned to take her leave, “Maybe you should go to a psychiatrist, then. Sounds like a mental problem.”

  

  “But I have seen one, nothing’s ever helped-“

  

  “Not my problem.”

 

  “Lumine, please.”

 

  There was nothing she could say to explain what he felt, she didn’t understand it herself. Yet, he followed her down the steps and to the sidewalk. Day old snow crunched beneath her boots. His pace matched her own.

 

  “I know you know something,” Ajax insisted, “otherwise you wouldn’t be so avoidant.”

 

  “Maybe I just think you’re a creep.” She smiled bitterly.

 

  He continued to walk at her shoulder - just barely out of view. But the familiar tones of his voice would not go away, “I’ll leave you alone if so, but I just want to know what’s happening.”

 

  “There’s nothing happening.”

 

  “I know you weren’t standing beside me when that car was out of control. I know what I saw.”

 

  She couldn’t lie to him. She didn’t want to be that person, even if he wasn’t her Ajax. But what else could she say?

 

  All Lumine let out was a very intelligent sounding, “Uhh…”

 

  “Are visions real?” He asked, desperate, “Are you an archon? I thought the Tsaritsa was the last archon left.”

 

  And she wasn’t even the oldest. The current cryo archon had barely met the others; Venti and Zhongli were certainly keeping their distance from the politics of Celestia. In fact, ever since vision gifting had stopped altogether, the rest of the archons tended to lay low, pulling strings from behind thick curtains. 

 

  Unfortunately for not-Childe, she technically did not have a vision. And she was not an archon, at least not in this world. 

 

  So, instead of giving him a straight answer, she turned around... And ran away. 

 

  He didn’t bother to follow.

 

 

  

---

 

    Lumine was grateful that Aether texted her about already having a ride home. If he hadn’t gotten one, she’d have left him on campus in the midst of her retreat. 

 

  She resisted the urge to press the gas pedal to the floor. She could drive fast, with about a hundred years of driving under her belt, but she didn’t quite feel like dealing with a police officer. And there were the rare times that they saw through her fake I.D. and she’d have to get Venti erase the officer’s memory, it would just be this whole annoying affair. Lumine had enough on her mind already. 

 

  So, she left the campus as calm and composed as she could force herself to be. 

 

  And yet, she still ran several stop signs and cut other cars off. It was fine, it would all be fine once she was in her apartment and beneath her covers - hiding from the world.

 

  She parked the car crookedly and ran up the stairs. Wedging her keys into her door, she shoved it open and-

 

  “Ah, Lumine. You’re home.”

 

  There was an old man in a suit sitting on her couch, watching Seinfeld.

 

  Slowly, she shut and locked the door behind her. Aether was rummaging around in the kitchen. It sounded as if their stovetop kettle was about to scream. The laugh track on the television was fighting for the spot of the most annoying sound in the room. 

 

  “Zhongli.” 

 

  “Lumine.” He smiled innocently. She wasn’t sure if he realized that he was smiling innocently, but he was clueless to her struggles nevertheless.

 

  “Hey Lumi,” Aether walked in carrying two chipped mugs of tea, “Zhongli’s here.”

 

  “I can see that.”

 

  Zhongli smiled as he received his tea, “I don’t have cable at my home, so this is a treat.”

 

  This man had not changed one bit. The surrealism of having an ex-archon sitting on her couch, millions of miles away from his own country, was enough to distract her from not-Childe. Zhongli always knew how to make her smile, even if he wasn’t trying.

 

  “It’s not cable, it’s Hulu.”

 

  “I’m afraid I’ve never heard of it.”

 

  Right. She dropped her bag by the door and took the seat next to him, while Aether sat on Zhongli’s other side, “So, don’t be mad at me for this, but I might’ve told Xiao about the imposter.”

 

  Zhongli raised the rim of his mug to his lips and nodded, “Xiao informed Ganyu, who informed Qiqi, who informed Yanfei, who informed me.”

 

  “Why don’t you guys just start a group chat while you’re at it.” She quipped.

 

  “A… group chat? You mean to gather together and talk?” He mused, “We all have quite busy schedules, I’m not sure if that would be an easy feat.”

 

  Of course. She and Aether shared a look before dropping it completely. A comfortable silence settled in, though Lumine’s mind was still running. She wished she had sped in her car, driven it out to an abandoned highway and pushed the gas until the adrenaline drowned out Childe’s voice. 

 

  Dreams about her, about their marriage. A black hole of emptiness that he didn’t understand.

 

  Zhongli broke the silence with a polite clearing of his throat, “Lumine, do you remember Ningguang?”

 

  “...Yes, I do.”

 

  The rest could go unspoken. While his situation with Ningguang was different - with her being a bit different than Guizhong - it was still applicable. Nevertheless, Lumine didn’t see how it could help her. 

 

  Ningguang died ages ago. Zhongli had not met another reincarnation of her or Guizhong since, and had never learned why she had been reborn in the first place. It remained a painful mystery.

 

  Finally, he muted the tv and cast Lumine a glance, “I would like to see him, I considered him a friend once.”

 

  Miraculously, after Childe nearly destroyed his city. “Well I can’t stop you from seeing him.”

 

  “Is he… Exactly the same?”

 

  “He’s not a Fatui Harbinger if that’s what you mean,” she stiffened in sudden realization, “but he did mention that his family works closely with the modern day Fatui.”

 

  “So there’s a chance that he’s…”

 

  “A scumbag?” Aether finished, his voice monotone, “Yeah, wouldn’t doubt it.”

  

  “I’d still like to meet him.” Zhongli insisted. This was the end of the conversation. He’d come all this way just to see the zombie Childe.

 

  As much as Lumine didn’t want to interact with him again, it might be beneficial to have Zhongli take a look. He was far more knowledgeable than he seemed, even if he didn’t know what wifi was.

 

  She agreed with a nod. Yet a sudden buzz in her pocket tore her attention away, leaving Zhongli and Aether to drink their tea and watch Seinfeld in peace - how surreal, the Abyss Prince and Rex Lapis, watching sitcoms.

 

  Lumine dug her phone from her pocket with a sigh, “You can come to campus with me tomorro-“

 

  Pause. Stop mid-breath. 

 

  “Lumine, are you okay?”

 

  She must have visibly paled. She must be staring at her phone as if it bit her. It very well could have, with the notification on her screen.

 

   Harbinger_Ajax has requested to follow you!

 

   Instagram, that old enemy. Of course the second he learns her name he starts looking her up on social media. Lumine cursed Aether for making her keep up a profile.

 

  Both Zhongli and Aether leaned in. The friend request sat at the top of her app like a reminder of all her greatest mistakes. “Is that him?” Zhongli asked.

 

  Lumine nodded. Aether reached over to click on his profile, “Archons… He’s one of those guys.”

 

  “Those guys?” Zhongli asked.

 

  “He’s holding a fish in his profile picture,” Lumine informed flatly, “it’s just one of those things.”

 

  “I don’t quite understand… And does his shirt say ‘straight zooted’?”

 

  “Looks like it, yes.”

 

  “What does that mean? Barbatos gifted me a shirt that says ‘bazinga’ on it, he said it’s considered very trendy with the kids these days.”

 

  Aether snorted into his palm, while Lumine ignored him in favor of scrolling down Ajax’s profile. Even in this world he called himself a Harbinger - perhaps that had taken on a new meaning in the Fatui. She wasn’t sure what a Harbinger would even do in this day and age.

 

  His profile was public, and full of posts. “This reminds me of when he got his first kamera, he didn’t stop taking pictures for a week straight.”

 

  Pictures of food, of his house, of flowers and animals and incredibly familiar children. Red hair in braids, the not-Childe holding a boy with Teucer’s face. He grinned so widely. Tonia, and Anthon, baby pictures and awkward family photos. His older siblings, the ones who had held her hand as they sent Childe’s body up in flames and watched his remains mix with the funeral pyre.

 

  Lumine felt like she was going to be sick. 

 

   The shock of jumping into a cold river. The feeling of being in the air, when your ears pop. Standing at the edge of a cliff knowing that one harsh breeze would knock you down.

 

  He was hers in every single way. 

 

   “What do I do?”

 

  Aether answered immediately, “Block him. Then I’ll kill him.”

 

   “...What?”

 

  “Are you considering poisoning, or with blunt force?” Zhongli asked, a hand to his chin. 

 

  Lumine gasped again, “I cannot believe you’re entertaining that idea!”

 

  “Well I’d like to see him first.” Zhongli shrugged, “But if you desire to be rid of him then I’ll help in any way I can.”

 

  “I don’t want to kill him!”

 

  “Then what are you going to do?” Aether asked. He was condescending in that way she despised, as if he’d already made up his mind and devised a plan. As much as Lumine didn’t want to deal with this zombie, she didn’t want him killed.

 

  But what was she going to do?

 

  “I’ll ignore him like I originally planned.”

 

  “And how long will you be doing that?” Aether snarked. Lumine cast him a dagger-like glare.

 

  “For forever.”

 

   The decision was made, the book was shut. Zhongli stared at the tea in his mug for a moment. 

 

  “Lumine.”

 

  “Yes?” She glanced up from her phone, just in time to meet the ex-Archon’s eyes.

 

  He had to muster forth his heart before answering. Next to him, Aether nudged his arm in a manner that was meant to be encouraging. Even the prior Abyss Prince could tell when Zhongli was unscrambling his feelings, as rare as that was. 

 

  “Lumine… Do you understand the lengths that I would go to in order to be with her again? If she appeared in front of me today, I would not complain.”

  

  ‘She’ did not need to be named. All Lumine wanted to do was crumble beneath his gaze, “It’s a bit more complicated than that.”

 

  “How do you know? Why can’t you give him a chance?”

 

  “I… Don’t know how.”

 

  Where would she even begin? She could take him aside and explain that they’d once tried to kill each other, then got married, then saved the world. Hopefully that would not cause a mental breakdown. Or she could explain the lovely fact that she was immortal, and he’d die one day, and the very thought of that happening ripped her apart piece by irreplaceable piece.

 

  She didn’t need to give him a chance to know that it was complicated.

 

  “Let me handle it, please,” Zhongli whispered. His hand slipped into hers, the warmth familiar and comforting, “I won’t say much, and I’ll go in disguise so he won’t recognize me during my stay here. But I’ll plant the seed of understanding, and you won’t have to live with this guilt and confusion on your shoulders.”

 

  How nice that sounded. His words were the sun shining behind a cloud.

 

  Lumine’s arms were around him in an instant, “I’ve missed you… But I’m still going to ignore him forever.”

 

Two Days Later 

   “She cannot ignore you forever.”

 

  Being approached by an oddly dressed man in an alleyway was not how Ajax planned to spend this day. It wasn’t as if he was complaining, though, things had been rather boring anyway.

 

  “Excuse me?” He crossed his arms and analyzed the stranger, “That’s quite an odd way to get someone’s attention.”

 

  He was wearing cat eye sunglasses with little fake diamonds in the corners, possibly in some half hearted attempt to disguise himself. The man pulled them down to reveal his eyes, “Lumine, she’s been ignoring you.”

 

  Immediately, Ajax tensed. “How do you know…”

 

  “I’m a very old friend of hers.”

 

  This weirdo with his sunglasses and Big Bang Theory t-shirt that had Bazinga! written across the front in comic sans. He was a friend of Lumine’s.

 

  “Like a… charity case kind of friend or-“

 

  “I’ve been watching you, Ajax,” he interrupted, “I saw you start that fight to get her attention, and I saw how she walked right by without a word. You’ll soon discover how stubborn Lumine can truly be.”

 

  Ajax stared. The man stared back, a flutter of dark brown hair flipping over his shoulder as he stood in the alleyway. He wasn’t sure if loitering on a college campus was legal or not, but he wasn’t one to judge.

 

  Besides, his insight seemed far too personal to ignore.

 

  “What should I do?” Ajax was half tempted to call him his sunglasses alley fairy of wisdom, but that might be stretching things. Despite his appearance, he didn’t look much like the joking type.

 

  He took a deep breath before pushing his sunglasses back up, “Go to W W W dot Bing dot com-“

 

  “What?”

 

  “Go to Bing-“

 

  “Why not Google?”

 

  “I-I…” he nearly fidgeted, before recovering his composure, “Whatever you prefer. W W W dot Google dot com, put that into your device and look up ‘Lumine Caomhánach’.”

 

  Ajax was already pulling out his phone, “How do you spell that?”

 

  “I have no time to explain,” he pulled on the sides of his too fancy sports jacket and stepped away, just in time for Lumine and her rabid dog of a brother to pass by the alley. As always, she did not dare to make eye contact with him.

 

  The stranger joined his friends. Ajax could hear Lumine’s soft voice from around the corner, “Zhongli, what were you doing?”

 

  “Nothing at all, my friend. Don’t concern yourself.”

 

  Ajax looked down at his phone. The screen was cracked from countless fights, and he quickly checked Instagram to see if she’d accepted the request. It went unnoticed, or entirely ignored. 

 

  Loumean Cavanaught

 

  That didn’t bring up much.

 

  Loomean Cavenaugh

 

  Nothing.

 

  Loomine Cavanaght

 

  Zero.

 

  What a waste of time that guy was. 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 6: The Clouds Covering The Sun

Summary:

Runner, I know you’re living with a wild hunger. Let me make the most of us.

 

 

 

 “I could kill him. You know I could.”

 

 She knew. Lumine was entirely aware that Aether could handle the situation. In fact, she was unable to forget that fact, he’d been reminding her of it since this began.

 

  Despite her brother’s murder prowess, she didn’t want to kill the zombie-Childe. She just wanted closure.

 

  “I’m good, thanks.”

 

  “Come on,” Aether groaned, “just let me take care of it for you! You shouldn’t have to think about this stuff!”

 

  He was correct despite her refusal to agree. She was far too old for this confusion and drama. She’d saved this world, and countless others as well. Lumine should not be reduced to a melted popsicle on the floor at the sight of a mortal man’s smile. 

 

  (But she’d always been weak for him.)

 

  The hike up the mountainside was strenuous and breathtaking, with gusts of cold air nearly knocking Lumine, Aether and Zhongli back. But this was a necessary hike, as unpleasant as it was. The altitude of this spot would provide a clear view of the stars.

 

  Fortunately, before Mona died of old age all those years ago, she taught Lumine a bit of hydromancy and star-reading. This was around the time of year that Monoceros Caeli would be visible, though she desperately hoped that it wasn’t. It hadn’t been seen since the day Childe died.

  

  Zhongli kept up a pace at Lumine’s side, occasionally giving her hand a comforting squeeze as they walked. After several hours of hiking in this national park, off the main trails, the three immortals were tired. But this had to be done. Lumine’s only other option was her. 

 

   “If we can’t see it,” Aether began, almost as if he read his sisters mind, “are you going to call Paimon?”

 

  Zhongli shot him a look. Lumine kept her gaze straight ahead. Aether just didn’t get it. He didn’t know Paimon for very long at all, but Lumine avoided her like Aether avoided Dainslief.

 

  She grunted in response, “If I can’t see it then I’ll know that this guy isn’t him. There are such things as coincidences.”

 

  “Incredibly specific coincidences that recreate your husband to a T?”

 

  She would have told him to shut up if she were not so exhausted. 

 

  “I have to agree with Aether,” Zhongli said,, “Even Ningguang was different from Guizhong, despite the reincarnation aspect. Every incident I’ve seen of this happening has not been anything like this.”

 

  Again: shut up. He had a good point. She just didn’t want to listen to it.

 

  The peak of the trail was nearing. They’d left Aether’s car on the side of the road behind some trees to ward off suspicion from park rangers. Technically, nobody should be hiking up this way, nor to this spot, but for a trio of immortals who could summon sharp, pointy sticks at will, bears were not nearly as frightening. (Though Aether still chose to keep bear spray at his hip, of course.)

 

  The evening was settling in. Darkness blanketed the landscape, creating shapes from the twisted branches and trees. Lumine found herself hurrying as she spotted the clearing ahead.

 

  In just an hour or so from now, the stars would be out. She’d look for that damned narwhal, and hopefully find nothing.

 

  Aether began to set up camp. Zhongli rested on a rock and inspected his surroundings. This used to be one of Lumine’s favorite mountains to climb in the olden days, there were always snowdrops growing nearby. Even now, they peaked up from the cold ground. She carefully stepped around them and craned her neck to stare at the sky. 

 

 Already, several stars were emerging from the deep blue. Her heart skipped in anticipation.

 

  “I do wonder…” Zhongli began, tearing her from her thoughts, “if his constellation has returned to its place, then what shall you do?”

 

  “I… I have no idea.”

 

  A pitiful answer, but a truthful one.

 

  He bummed thoughtfully, “You could always give him an explanation and put his mind at ease. Then he wouldn’t feel so burdened by the mystery of it all. I think that would be the kindest course.”

 

  Lumine knew that it wasn’t so much of a burden for the zombie-Childe, but rather an adventure that he seemed all too eager to go on. If she told him the truth then he’d simply start searching for his own vision, for monsters, for ancient threats that lingered in the cracks of society. If he truly was her dead husband reincarnated then a short explanation would do nothing to calm him.

 

  She scoffed and turned away, “Do I look like mother Theresa? I’d rather erase his memory completely than allow that.”

 

  “I can do that too,” Aether perked up, “I’ll erase his memory if you want.”

 

  Which was code for ‘brutally murder’, she knew. Lumine wasn’t keen on making decisions emotionally, she’d had enough of that 500 years ago. 

 

  But she knew one thing. She would ignore him no matter what. He’d lose interest if she stopped giving him something to be interested in. 

  

  Hopefully.

 

  But when night came, and Lumine saw Viatrix in it’s usual place… She knew that it was all over for her.

 

  The horn of Monoceros Caeli was tangled with Viatrix’s sword, just as it was 500 years ago.

 

  Soulmates. 

 

  Destined to be together. 

 

  The stars never lie.

 

  “I think…” Lumine tried to avoid both Zhongli and Aether’s stares, “That I need to get away for a while.”

---

 

 

 “So, that girl, you know? The one from my dreams?”

 

  “Loooomine?”

 

  “Yeah!”

 

  “What about her?”

 

  “Well, I found her Instagram through another student she was following, but she doesn’t have her last name on her page. And the alley guy told me to look her up, but I can’t spell it.”

 

  Tonia knew that his brother could be one track minded and oblivious. That was a fact of life, and one that often caused trouble. But she didn’t think he was this bad.

 

  Ignoring the ‘alley guy’ reference - Tonia wasn’t sure what that meant - she yanked Ajax’s phone from his hand. “You’re in college, you should know this.”

 

  “Know what?” He huffed.

 

  “About the roster!” She said, “There should be a class roster with her name on it.”

 

  As she searched for the information, Ajax only stared. Slowly, he buried his head in his hands and groaned, “So I was wondering what her name was all this time, and…”

 

  And it was right there. He was already logged into the school website, easily allowing Tonia to go down the list of names and photos. He leaned over her shoulder to watch.

 

  “There’s her brother… And there she is.” 

 

  She stopped scrolling at his word. There wasn’t much else of interest besides the correct spelling of her name. Lumine Caomhánach. 

 

  “That’s not how it sounds,” Tonia noted. Ajax nodded along as they both stared at the letters. Caomhánach.

 

  It was a Saturday with no classes. He’d driven out to his family’s house in Morepesok for the weekend, though their wifi connection in the woods wasn’t good enough for him to do an extensive Google search. Nevertheless, his parents would get antsy if he didn’t visit at least once a month.

 

  Eva, his mother, made sugar cookies. Ajax was chewing on one as Tonia inspected Lumine’s picture.

 

  “So… She’s the one you’ve been seeing?”

 

  Seeing in his dreams, to clarify. She was like a memory. Her face, those eyes, that hair, all clear as day. A psychiatrist had once told him that that was not normal for dreams, nor even memories.

 

  “Yep, that’s her.”

 

  He hadn’t been to a doctor about this in ages. His parents were concerned when their 14 year old son, who had recently gone missing, began to talk about a blonde woman and dreams about another life. As an adult he’d stopped speaking about it to them, but his younger siblings were always interested to hear.

 

  Tonia was the most romantic of the family. She insisted that they were soulmates, somehow. Or that her brother had loved this woman in a past life. He wasn’t sure what to believe.

 

  But she was real; Lumine was her name. He wasn’t going insane.

 

  Tonia continued to inspect the picture, even going into his Instagram app to find her profile, “Has she hinted at knowing you too?”

 

  “I don’t think she’s meant to, but yeah.” He sighed, “She’s acted pretty avoidant for seemingly no reason, and when we first met she called me another name, then just ran away. And…”

 

  Ajax glanced around the living room. Anthon and Teucer were outside, his father was upstairs, and his mother in her bedroom. He didn’t want anybody hearing this conversation besides Tonia.

 

  She was rapt to attention. He leaned in to whisper, “We had a twilight moment.”

 

  Tonia squealed, “What? Like, like what? Like-“

 

  “There was a car coming at me, remember how I told you I almost got hit?”

 

  “Y-Yeah… Oh, oh my gosh.”

 

  He was beginning to match her high pitched energy, “She was on the other side of the parking lot, and then suddenly she was right beside me. She made this big rock thing that stopped the car.”

 

  He was tempted to call it a geo construct, like the artistic renditions he’d seen in the textbooks. It would mean that Lumine held a geo vision - but usually they weren’t very fast, how she moved so quickly across the parking lot was still a mystery. 

 

  Tonia clamped a hand over her mouth to muffle a squeal, “A-Ajax, you’re-“

 

  “I’m Bella,” he finished, “I’m the heroine of this shitty teen romance novel.”

 

  Another squeal, coupled with Tonia kicking her feet off the edge off the couch. Ajax wasn’t sure whether he should be celebrating along with her, or bemoaning his role as the self insert teenage girl. Truthfully, he was simply happy to be involved.

 

  “So,” Tonia clapped her hands together and pressed them against her lips in a thoughtful pose, “you know what you should do next, right?”

 

  “Not really, no.”

 

  She groaned, “You have to do some research on Bing-“

 

  Ajax interrupted with a snort, “Why Bing?”

 

  “Because that’s how it is!” 

 

  Of course. The alley man had told him to use Bing as well - Ajax didn’t really want to, but he would do it for the purpose of an angsty teen movie drama.

 

  Tonia went on, “So, do some research, look her up! And then walk into the woods with her, and have the ‘I know what you are’ conversation. Don’t forget to ask her how old she is.”

 

  It was upfront, honest, but he’d already tried simply asking her once before. She’d run away last time. Perhaps if she presented a binder of proof that she couldn’t refuse, she’d follow him into the woods like that scene in Twilight.

 

  He spent the weekend at his parents house, watching movies with Tonia and playing games with Teucer. He hardly studied, but that was rather normal, he never had much cause to do so. 

 

  On Sunday evening Ajax returned to his apartment and immediately opened his laptop. He should be trying to sleep to be ready for classes tomorrow, but this mystery had been eating at him for the entire weekend.

 

  Lumine Caomhánach.

 

  Several pages worth of searches. Facebook profiles of people with similar names, but none of them her. Background check websites, advertisements. 

 

  Ajax scrolled down the page with dwindling hope. The alley man in the bazinga shirt had told him to look her up, but there was nothing of note, at least not on the first several pages of Google - not Bing. He refused to use it. 

 

  With a sigh, he did something that was so rarely done in this modern era. He went to the last page result. 

 

  Lumine Caomhánach. 

 

   ‘Do You Know These People?’

 

  The title of the blog immediately caught his eye. Ajax clinked on the link and watched as this shabbily created site blinked into view. The colors were terrible and the font was in comic sans, though entirely unironic. At the top of the site was the question once again, ‘Who are they?’

 

  With a skip of his heart, he began reading the introduction.

 

   You may be wondering who ‘they’ are, but that is also what I’m wondering. I, codename Fischl, prinzessin of this blog, have dedicated my life to discovering the secrets of this group of mysterious individuals!! Below are each of the many resources I have gathered. Gaze upon them, and email me at GothPrincessMCR4eva@ gmail.com if you have any information!

 

   Beneath the block of text was a photo gallery of grainy candids. He zoomed in on the first one to see a short looking boy with braids, playing what looked like a ukelele on the street. Next to that one was a little girl holding the hand of a blurry faced man with dark hair. The background of the picture looked like Liyue.

 

  Yet, the oddest part was the captions. This Fischl person had put notes beneath the photos that said ‘The Yaksha, and the girl who never ages?’. Beside it, another caption read ‘Nameless musician’.

 

  Creepy. This site was utterly weird, but the search of Lumine’s name led him here for a reason. Ajax continued to scroll through the grainy photographs of various people- Until his heart felt as if it might stop completely.

 

  There was the alley man. 

 

  The photograph uploaded on the website was a picture of a picture, reflecting light off its yellowing corners. He wore a suit, and was smiling at someone behind the camera, surrounded by other finely dressed people. The caption read ‘found in a history museum in Qixing Village, Liyue. Date: 1932. Subject, unknown. I dub him ‘fancy man’’

 

  And next to that was yet another picture of the alley man - even older now. Another, a third, a blurry phone capture from the edge of a crowd. Every photograph was from a different era.

 

  Ajax felt a shiver of excitement run down his spine. He continued scrolling, eager and hopeful that Lumine would be somewhere below the alley man.

 

  He jumped as he recognized her brother. His heart was drumming in his ears - a braided blond guy in the background of another picture from the 80s, one at a concert, another found in a museum somewhere in Liyue. He was getting closer and closer and-

 

  There she was.

 

  It was a portrait this time. A yellowing, terribly damaged portrait. 

 

   Possible name: Lumine Caomhánach. 

 

   This piece was painted by the royal artist of the Snezhnayan court, 500+ years ago. The subject remains unknown. (But I, Fischl, have my theories.)

 

   A photograph beneath that. Childe nearly bit his own tongue in excitement. She could be seen in the background of a family portrait, passing by as a blur. In the next one she was visible in the crowd of a carnival from what looked like the 40’s. And another, the 80’s, a Cindy Lauper concert. (He ignored the hairstyle she was serving.)

 

  But it was the last photo that took his breath away.

 

  2015, Mondstadt Winery. Who is she?

 

  Lumine, laughing with another person. Lumine, exactly as he knew her. Lumine Caomhánach. 

 

  Even in the molding old portrait, she looked exactly the same.

 

  As quickly as he could, Ajax emailed the blog owner.

---

 

  

  Monday came, Lumine wasn’t in any of the classes. She was nowhere to be found on the campus.

 

  Childe was still waiting on a reply from Fischl. Nothing came, even by the middle of the week.

 

  He was growing antsy.

 

 

---

 

  Friday, Lumine hadn’t been seen by anyone.

 

  Fischl hadn’t responded. He checked his inbox every hour. 

 

 

---

 

  The week after that, Childe expected to find her in class. But her desk remained empty. 

 

  It was driving him mad, and he wasn’t even sure why. Whether it be from curiosity and unanswered questions, or some sort of odd longing for Lumine, he didn’t know. But this was the girl he’d seen almost every night in his dreams since he was a kid. 

 

  He was very much ready to get to know her.

 

  If only she would just come back to the university. He began wondering if she’d transferred, and if it was because of him. Would he ever see her again? While he still dreamt of her - smiles in the warm afternoon sun, her hair in her face and his fingers on her cheeks, a whisper of a name he couldn’t hear - that was nothing compared to a real person. Dreams and vivid memories of a possible past life could not replace her now that he knew she was real.

 

  And if she did come back, would she continue to ignore him?

 

  Ajax had a plan for that. On speed dial was an agent from his family’s company, though he hoped he wouldn’t need to call him in. It was the last resort.

 

  

---

  Fischl hasn’t responded. Ajax was beginning to wonder if her blog was some weird joke. 

 

 

---

 

  Finally, at the end of the second week of her disappearance, the sun came out from behind the clouds. 

 

  Lumine was at school again. 

 

  And she would not look him in the eye.

 

  “Hey girlie, how’re-“ he halted mid-breath as she brushed past him. Her nose was in the air as if he didn’t even exist, as if he wasn’t speaking to her. Ajax watched her retreating figure.

 

  Fine. Then he’ll just try again. She always goes to get Starbucks at lunch, he’ll buy her a drink.

 

  But of course that didn’t happen. The second Ajax slid up to the counter with his card, Lumine slammed the money down and commanded the barista to keep the tip. She proceeded to stomp away and haunt the corner of the cafe.

 

  The end of the day, the final class. It was Friday, so he had a different lecture than her around this time. Nevertheless, he left early to catch her coming out of her minor web designs class. 

 

  She walked right past him, like he was nothing.

 

  Ajax was beginning to grow desperate.

 

  Which is exactly why he decided to hire someone to stab him on the street in Lumine’s general vicinity. 

  

   Nobody could ignore a stabbing. 

 

   

 

  

Notes:

- ahhh so about Fischl, I’m going to modernize her speech a little because, well, this is a modern au

- and the constant Bing vs Google jokes is from twilight, because Bella used Bing when searching info about vampires and idk my brain thought that was funny

Chapter 7: Unknown

Summary:

meet me on your best behavior, meet me at your worst, for there will be no stone unturned or bubble left to burst

 

 

 

 
A ringing bell, footsteps on sticky tile floor and a sense of danger in the air. Lumine was doing her best to stay alert.

 

  Mainly because this Starbucks was completely empty. It was a coffee shop on a college campus, the world could be ending and it still wouldn’t be empty. 

 

  “Hello?” 

 

  No response.

 

  She leaned over the counter in an attempt to find an employee. A pen could have dropped and the sound would fill the room with its clatter. Eerie, like an abyss ruin, or an empty Toys-R-Us. They were basically the same thing. 

 

  If only it could be this empty every day, though she’d prefer there be employees in that case. That milk foaming machine looked too complicated for her to run and she wasn’t about to start drinking regular coffee with un-foamed milk. Lumine turned to take her leave, brushing past the one other customer that entered. He muttered a soft ‘excuse me’ that she barely registered. 

 

  She would simply have to go down the block to the other Starbucks around the corner. The bell rang with her departure-

 

  “Lumi!”

 

  Freeze. Perhaps the world truly is ending, if so then she’d like to try one of those white chocolate frappes. Screw calories and sugar levels. Aether had been on a health craze since the 80’s anyway. 

 

   “Hey, is it alright if I call you Lumi?” That familiar, easy laugh filled the room. It was not alright. And it was not alright that he stood in her presence, in this empty building with only a shifty eyed man to separate them. 

 

  She supposed, though, that it was in a ghost’s nature to haunt. What else were they supposed to do, run a marathon? Ghosts haunt and dogs bark and humans fight wars. It’s instinctual.

 

  Over her shoulder, Ajax closed the bathroom door and shook off his hands as if they were wet. He was in there the whole time - so this place wasn’t closed. Still, weird. 

 

  Without a word, Lumine turned to leave. The bell rang again as he cried, “Wait! I really want to-“

 

  Life changes so quickly. 

 

  The flick of metal upon metal, a sudden footstep across the floor while a shape in dark clothing lunged at Ajax. It happened fast, too fast. Lumine could not hear herself cry out his name as she whirled around to find him leaning over himself. He clutched his stomach and groaned. 

 

  In slow motion, red dripped from between his fingers and onto the floor. 

 

  How familiar this moment is. How familiar, the racing of her heart and the pain in his eyes. She’d seen him bleed a hundred times and it still struck her the same.

 

  The attacker, the only other customer, ran like hell towards the entrance where she stood, “Move it!”

 

  Lumine snapped back to the moment. Before he could deal the same blow, she raised a knee and dug it as deeply as she could into the man’s stomach, “I’m not letting you run off!”

 

  Her heart raced and her breathing accelerated. When he doubled over, she yanked his hair and slammed his head into the wall. The groans were inaudible as she pushed him to the floor. Someone was crying for help, she wasn’t sure who. 

 

  “Don’t worry, Ajax,” Lumine reassured with a panicked smile, “We’ll get you fixed up super quick! Lemme just take care of this first.”

 

  “W-Wait!” He called out, though his plea went unheard. Lumine stomped on the assailant’s chest and dug the heel of her boot in.

 

  How convenient that she wore doc martens today. Those, and stilettos, were the best impromptu weapons in this modern age. 

 

  Lumine lifted her leg again, now aiming for the man’s windpipe. 

 

  “S-Stop! Stop, Lumi, I think he’s got the message!”

 

  She glanced at Ajax with her foot still hovering over the assailant's neck, “What?”

 

  “It’s all good!” He waved a blood covered hand frantically, “As hot as this is, don’t kill him!”

 

  “Why not?”

 

  “He’s just, uh…” Ajax gestured to the poor man beneath her foot. He was nearly passed out, possibly suffering a concussion from the rather large dent his head had created in the wall. 

 

  Zombie-husband trailed off. He was still hunched over his stab wound, but able to push himself to her side with a great deal of effort, “Just take me to the hospital, let the police deal with him.”

 

  The real Ajax would be cheering her on. Nevertheless, she frowned in defeat, “Fine, my car is nearby.”

 

  One last kick to his ribs. Not as satisfying as crushing his windpipe, but it would have to do.

  

  “Come on.” She pressed herself against him and maneuvered his arm over her shoulder. With her hand around his waist, he stumbled out the door and to her waiting car. She could hardly contain the panic in her veins. 

 

  “Thank you,” the imposter began with a light cough and a wince, “I could’ve died without you.”

 

  Worry began to seep in and overshadow the anger, “Do you know that guy? Why’d he attack you?”

 

  “I don’t know,” Ajax pressed his lips together and kept his gaze straight ahead. For a recently stabbed human he still had a surprising amount of color in his cheeks. His blood didn’t even smell like blood.

 

  Something beyond her understanding might be going on here. Nevertheless, she was not about to let Ajax bleed out in pain, not again.

 

  With one hand she opened her car door and shimmied his limp body inside. “There’s a hospital just a minute away from here, I’ll take you there.”

 

  “No!” He gasped, then regained the half dead look he’d been wearing, “I-I wanna go to my family’s hospital.”

 

  Nonsense. Lumine rushed around the car to slip into the driver's seat and start the engine, “You’ve been stabbed, you don’t get a choice.”

 

  “They don’t take my insurance!”

 

  “I’ll pay for it.”

  

  Before she could back out of the parking space, he grabbed her arm, “Listen. I didn’t want to tell you this, but… I have a condition called BS where if I get hurt, it takes a special instrument to stitch me up. And the only hospital that has it is the one out past the National park, 30 minutes away.”

 

  Did that stand for ‘bullshit’ or ‘Bubonic Scoliosis’? Neither of those seemed accurate.

 

  His assailant must not have aimed correctly. For Ajax to even be speaking right then was a miracle, though he’d always fought through his own pain. And she’d never heard of this condition called BS.

 

  Humans certainly are odd these days. It seems like a new disease pops up every week. Interesting.

 

  “Fine,” Lumine sighed heavily and made for the edge of campus. She knew what hospital he was talking about, it was part of a small town separated from Zapolyarny by the National park. She could recall when that specific area of trees and mountains was not a tourist trap.

 

  There’s a chance that this Ajax might be involved in something shady and couldn’t go to a normal hospital, it wouldn’t be surprising at all. Besides that, he looked rather healthy for a stabbing victim. 

 

  Lumine drove towards the area. Snezhnaya always had a wild sort of beauty, with the towering trees covered in snow. She was glad to see that civilization remained rather intertwined with its forests and mountains. Just several minutes of tense silence later, and they were on an empty stretch of highway.

 

  Ajax sat up from the slump he’d been in. His hands were dyed in red, though he grabbed a napkin to wipe it off as if it were paint. “Do you have any wet wipes or something?”

 

  She cast an incredulous glance, “You were just stabbed, you should be wailing in pain rather than cleaning up.”

 

  “Oh, I’m fine.” He shrugged. Lumine’s suspicion rose even higher - his wound wasn’t even bleeding anymore. This isn’t how someone who just got stabbed acts.

 

  No cars drove towards or behind her. The highway was lined with thick pines and snow. This was a common area for hikers, but she saw no cars parked on the road. 

 

  “So,” Ajax began, “I’ve texted one of my fathers guys to pick him up.”

 

  She didn’t even see him pull out his phone. “What? Why didn’t you call the police?”

 

  “Oh, Lumi, he worked for me. He had a fake knife, one of those things where it looks-“

 

  God above, she was going to kill this man. 

 

  “I know what it is!” Lumine screeched, gripping the wheel even tighter. There had been something wrong. Her instincts were correct, he hadn’t even been stabbed. “What the hell’s wrong with you?”

 

  Ajax continued wiping off his hands casually, “I wanted to talk to you, so I did something you couldn’t ignore.”

 

  He was right, she couldn’t ignore a stabbing. Upon closer inspection, the ‘blood’ on his side was not drying in black cakes. It simply sunk into his clothes like dye.

 

  Wonderful. She, an immortal with infinite powers, had been tricked by a human with a pretty face.

 

  Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the wheel. “I’m leaving you in the woods, I hope you get eaten by bears.”

  

  “That’s not very nice, printsessa. I even rented out an entire Starbucks just to set up that scene.”

 

  “Well it was a waste of time,” she snapped, “I’m not talking to you, I don’t want to be near you or-“

 

  Ajax lunged for the steering wheel. Someone screamed, Lumine had a feeling it was her. He twisted it to the right as far as he could, “Hit the brakes!

  

  Trees and branches smacked the windshield with sharp pops. Automatically, Lumine slammed the brakes into the floor and tried not to scream. Everything lurched forwards, then back, her head hit the seat. Nausea rose like a boiling-over pot.

 

  As the world slowed down Lumine pried her eyes open. “W-What the hell was that?”

 

  “I needed you to stop the car,” Ajax’s voice was rough like gravel. He reached towards her hand and unlocked each finger from the wheel, “You’re alive, it’s fine. Everything’s fine.”

 

  The feeling of his fingers upon hers was a short lived comfort. Immediately, she tore her hand away, “You could’ve gotten us killed!”

 

  “But I didn’t.”

 

  “You’re insane! First, you lie to me, then-“

 

  “Lumine,” the serious expression he wore stopped her mid-breath, “I’m sorry to have scared you, but something connects us whether you like it or not. We need to talk about this.”

  

 Her heart skipped and fluttered. The nausea returned - whether it was from anxiety, or the possibilities his words held

 

  “W-What?” She gasped, “You’re insane. You crashed my car just because you wanted to talk to me?”

 

  “Would you have spoken to me otherwise?”

 

  She hated that he had a point. “And not to mention the stabbing thing!”

 

  “Again,” Ajax’s gaze fell flatly, “How else could I get your attention?”

 

  Dammit. Lumine scoffed, “You’re an asshole!”

 

  “I needed to get you into the woods, and this is the only way I figured out how.”

 

  The only way. As if. “You sound like a serial killer. If so, then you’re really bad at it.”

 

  He pouted like a child, “I would be a great serial killer, actually.”

 

  “Why did we have to go into the woods, huh?” Lumine challenged, “Are you going to dispose of my body here? Leave it for the animals to eat?”

 

  Slowly, his expression melted into a blank, untelling mask. The lack of light in his eyes reminded her of the man she knew so long ago.

 

  Except, “They went into the woods in Twilight, that’s why.”

 

  “What?” Lumine still didn’t know what Twilight was. 

 

 “I’ll buy you a new car, come on.” He shot out an arm and pushed the gear into park - correctly assuming that she still had the brake pushed to the floor. Before she could react, he twisted the keys out of the ignition, “We need to talk.”

  

  “I don’t want to speak to you.” Lumine fumbled with the seatbelt and pushed open her door with a great deal of effort. The twisted branches she’d run across had built into a wall that fought against her escape. Fortunately, the airbags hadn’t gone off.

 

  Ajax climbed out on his side. The open door chime rang endlessly as she watched him clamber to her door and force it loose with a yank. 

 

  “You can’t just crash my vehicle and then say you’ll buy me a new one, it doesn’t work like that!” Lumine’s protests went ignored. He pulled her out of the seat and onto steady ground.

  

  “Why not?” He turned to leave, grinning, “I can afford it. I’ll even insure it for you.”

 

  The last thing she wanted was to be in debt to him. Yet, the highway was empty, and her vehicle would not be escaping anytime soon. The teleport waypoints had fallen into disrepair long ago.

 

  He worked this hard to get her attention, so she might as well give him a minute. On shaking legs, Lumine trudged after him into the thick tree line. 

 

  There were bears and wolves in this part of Snezhnaya, and this Ajax doesn’t have a vision. She knew that he would be impulsive no matter what era, but she preferred when there weren’t two ton vehicles for him to crash.

 

  The snow was half melted and mixed with dirt. She avoided thorns, ducked beneath branches, and eventually caught up with him. He walked and walked until finding a clearing that he apparently deemed good enough. 

 

  A pause. The gears turned behind his eyes. It would have looked nicer without the fake blood dyed onto his clothes - if any hikers stumbled upon them Lumine would instantly be implicated in an attempt at murder.

 

  But they were alone. The forest was alive with bugs and birds, chirps and rustles. She folded her arms over her chest as if that was enough to keep her from falling apart and joining the mushrooms in their entropy. 

 

  Finally, his eyes landed on hers. The air grew tense, uncomfortable. Lumine’s only solace was how he looked just as awkward as she felt. 

 

“So”, he began, “I know what you are.”

 

  Lumine’s expectations could not fall any lower.

 

   “…What?”

 

  “I know what you are.” He echoed, more serious this time.

 

  She could only stare, “I heard you the first time, but I’m not really following what you’re trying to tell me.”

 

  “Okay fine,” Ajax rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone, “Just take a look at this.”

 

  She took a look and instantly regretted it. “Who even uses comic sans anymore?”

 

  “Just read it.” He groaned. Truthfully, it looked like an old MySpace page. Lumine began to wonder why he was bothering to show her his cringy social media history, until she scrolled down the page.  

 

  Zhongli, Venti, 

 

  Xiao. Aether. 

 

  And at the bottom…

 

  She could recall the day she sat for that portrait very clearly.

 

  So someone noticed. Finally, after all this time, someone took notice. With the rise of the internet it was only a matter of time, though she had hoped it wouldn’t come to this.

 

  He claimed to know what she was. Yet, this badly written blog didn’t, and neither did Lumine nor Aether. Not anymore, at least. 

 

  Slowly, She handed the phone back, “Alright, then, Ajax. Tell me what you think I am.”

 

  A pause. A shuddering breath. He did his best to hide his excitement.

 

  “Vvvvvampire?”

 

  Did that mean to come out as a question? 

 

  “No, not at all.”

 

  “Oh,” he sighed in relief. He did look rather uncertain about his own answer, “Well, that was actually my only guess.”

 

  Lumine couldn’t help but laugh. Ajax was tenacious, determined, shaking him off her back would be near impossible. And Aether had always theorized that they’d end up on a blog or conspiracy YouTube channel one day. Might as well prepare for the fallout now.

 

  This conversation will hurt. It will tear her apart inside to let a copy of her husband know that he once loved her. He knows nothing, now. He doesn’t know her, nor the time they spent together, the battles they faced. She didn’t want to dwell on it. 

 

  The imposter Ajax had that look in his eyes. It was the one he always wore when thinking deeply about what to say next. After a moment of patience, he began, “Can I ask… What do you eat?”

 

  What does she eat? 

 

  Lumine burst into laughter, “W-What? Is this your way of asking me to dinner?” She rubbed her eyes and snorted, “I like rice a lot, and fish. But I’ll really go for anything.”

 

  “So, not blood.” He murmured to himself, “Okay, uh, how old are you?”

 

 Perhaps he’d faint, then she could leave him here and call an Uber to take her home. Honesty is key, as Aether always says. 

 

  With a sigh, she began, “I stopped keeping track a while ago, but I think a little over 1,000.”

 

  Lumine shrugged, cavalier. His eyes widened as if that was the exact opposite of the answer he expected.

 

  Zombie husband seemed to take it quite well, disappointingly. There were no breakdowns, no screaming fits. He was a bit pale, but still on his feet. If he didn’t believe her then all the more power to her side, perhaps he’d finally leave her alone.

 

  Slowly, he gathered his thoughts, “So… Were visions an actual thing?”

 

  What a boring question. “Yes, they were.”

 

  “Right, okay. And what happened to the Archons?”

 

  “They all retired into normal immortality after the Cryo archon took their gnoses.” Lumine shrugged. 

 

  Normal immortality, as if there were levels to it. Ajax narrowed his eyes and nodded slowly, “Okay, so, who was the guy in the bazinga shirt that I met a while back?”

 

  “You met him?” She perked up, “I told him to stay away from you!”

 

  “Is he… You know?”

 

  “Gay? I don’t know, I’ve never really-“

 

  “No,” he interrupted, “I mean is he one of you?”

 

  “Oh. Kind of…” Lumine paused and rubbed at the back of her neck, “He’s not what I am, and he’s way older than me. I think you’d best know him as the Geo Archon, Rex Lapis.”

 

   That was enough to earn a laugh, “Nice try, girlie, but Rex Lapis was assassinated. Everybody knows that.”

 

  That’s exactly what Zhongli wanted the world to think, he was highly successful in his retirement. Lumine sighed and folded her arms, unamused with his smart ass remarks. “Do you want to meet him? He’s had a bit of erosion lately but he can still create land from his spears.”

 

  He did create a new island recently, the navy was scratching their heads at it’s sudden appearance. In reality, Zhongli had just gotten angry at the season finale of his favorite show and lost control for a moment. 

 

  How would this human respond to knowing how irresponsible the immortal are? A normal human would be screaming, but Ajax only looked excited.

 

  “I’d love to,” he took the challenge immediately, “then you’ll have to show me Barbatos, and Baal, and-“

 

  “Baal isn’t really into people, so we can’t go see her.”

 

  He ignored the interruption, “And you’ll have to tell me which one you are.”

 

  Lumine tensed. He thought she was a god, he was certainly looking at her as if she was heavenly. With an awkward laugh she waved the thought away, “Oh, I’m not an archon.”

 

  His eyes widened even more, “Then what are you?”

 

  “Nothing your tiny human mind can comprehend.”

 

  “Try me.”

 

  She’d try to mess with him, it would be funnier with this version than the last one. Lumine put both hands on her cheeks as if flustered and turned away, “O-Only my husband can see my true form! My tentacles might give you ideas…”

 

   “…T-Tentacles?”

 

  Perfect. If she had to break her heart with one conversation then she might as well laugh at it. Lumine whirled on her heel and began to depart, giggling all the while. However, within just a few steps, Ajax caught her wrist.

 

  Slowly, she looked at him. It was a rare sight to see him so serious.

 

  “Lumine, what are you?”

 

  He wanted a real answer. How droll.

 

  Anemo, a whirlwind of air and leaves and debris making the world around their bodies lighten. Lumine defied gravity as the wind picked her up, allowing her to drag the imposter to a thick branch in a tree above.

 

  Was there a scene like this in that Twilight thing he kept mentioning? She’d have to research it tonight. 

 

  By the time the tornado dissipated, Ajax was gasping for oxygen. He palmed the branches and leaves as if he could not believe where he was. Slowly, he leaned down to gawk at the spot where he had been standing. 

 

  “To be honest,” Lumine sighed and dangled her feet off the edge, “I don’t know what I am anymore. I haven’t had a purpose in so long, I’ve been stuck here on Teyvat, never to travel again. I am not what I used to be.”

 

  Ajax could only stare. Between breaths he spoke, “Was that… Was that anemo? You did that, right?”

 

  “I can do a lot more,” Lumine informed, haughty. She held out her hand and summoned a tiny whale from thin air, watching it dance around her wrist before disappearing. “My husband taught me that one, but he could create mimics the actual size of whales.”

 

  Slowly, he met her eyes. “Your husband?”

 

  Lumine’s heart clenched and traveled into her throat. The sudden onslaught of emotion was like a battering ram. “Yes, he had a hydro vision. But he’s gone now.”

 

  “What happened to him?”

 

  She never spoke of this. She never would talk to Aether, to anyone, about what happened. Sitting in this tree with a man who wore his face might be the perfect, beautiful moment.

 

  Or the worst moment possible. 

 

  Deep breaths. Closed eyes. It’ll be okay.

 

  “When I came to Teyvat, a thousand or so years ago, an unknown god stole my brother.”

 

  Ajax frowned, “What do you mean by unknown God?”

 

  “That’s just what we call her. We had no idea who she was, but she referred to herself as the ‘sustainer of heavenly principles’. She was a total bitch.”

 

  He stifled a laugh into his hand, “Sounds like it.”

 

  “So anyway,” Lumine went on, “My brother was gone, and I started exploring Teyvat trying to find him. I met my husband in Liyue and we were basically inseparable since, even if he was kind of an ass sometimes. We went to every region together, everywhere. And, finally…”

 

   Deep breaths. The day still pangs like a fresh paper cut.

 

  “A-And finally, I found my brother. I fought the god, and she was too powerful. She was about to kill me.”

 

  “…And then what?”

 

  “My husband attacked her,” Lumine’s voice shook, “he distracted her long enough for me to finally take her by surprise and end her. But by doing that, he was killed.”

 

  A simple, bitter story. He lay on the floor of the Abyss where everything began for him. The amount of spears sticking out of his chest and stomach were innumerable.

 

  Childe died so she could have her brother back.

 

  “I’m sorry.” Ajax murmured. The two words hung in the air between them, heavy as wool.

 

  “Yeah, well, that was 500 years ago,” Lumine managed a bitter smile, “I’m fine.”

 

  “Are you really?”

 

  Not in the least. She snorted, “Are you okay? You just discovered that immortals exist, and you saw me use elemental powers that have been out of use for ages.”

 

  “I’m not gonna have a mental breakdown over it or anything,” he rolled his eyes, “I’ve already thought about what you might possibly be, I’ve been psyching myself up for a while.”

  

  “Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you by not being a vampire.”

 

  “It’s fine,” he shrugged and glanced away, “saves me a lot of trouble, unless the immortal police are coming after me, then that’ll be kinda crazy.”

 

  “There’s nothing like that, don’t worry.”

 

  Ajax paused, hesitating, then lit up with excitement, “So, what else can you do?”

 

  Lumine only smiled. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to show you.”

  

 

 

 

Chapter 8: The Immortal and The Rando

Summary:

It’s been a long season through all this rotting fruit with you

  

 

 

  To be fair, Lumine wasn’t sure what she meant by ‘I guess it wouldn’t hurt to show you’. That was a lie. It would hurt to show him. It would hurt a lot. 

 

  “I’m having second thoughts.”

 

  Ajax whipped his head around as if she’d just  admitted to a brutal murder. It might as well be the same level of shock, this was a moment he’d been waiting for since she stopped that car from crushing him - perhaps, even since he began having dreams of her. 

 

  Even just seeing her, speaking to her and knowing that she existed, was something he’d been waiting his entire life to experience. Nearly every night, golden eyes, golden hair, and her hand reaching out to him but never quite touching. It was its own form of mental exhaustion. 

 

  “You can’t be, no.”

 

  Lumine scoffed, “I can’t have second thoughts?”

 

  “No,” Ajax turned around to face her, his boots squishing the mud and snow of the riverbank he stood on, “I’ve seen enough to know I’m not crazy, you can’t gaslight me into believing anything else. And unless you have a way of erasing my memory then you’re stuck with me.”

 

  Stuck with him. She grimaced at his particular choice of words. How naturally this copy spoke like her Ajax, with his promises in the form of amiable threats and his absolute stubbornness. Lumine wasn’t even sure if she could call him an imposter anymore.

 

  Monoceros Caeli had returned to the sky after an absence of 500 years. Fake stars or not, that constellation belonged to only one destiny. 

 

   And it terrified Lumine beyond all belief. 

 

   “I don’t have a way to erase your memory.” She admitted. He grinned at that, obviously pleased with having won the argument. This mortal man was entirely too calm after meeting a girl who could use elements long forgotten to society, though that was part of his charm, she concluded. 

 

   Still, her nerves continued to rattle. “I just don’t think you should be involved with immortals and archons.”

 

   “Why not?” He whined, “Are you dangerous or something?”

 

   “Most of us aren’t, no,” her mind went to Xiao, he still isolated himself because of his karma after all this time, “It’s just that you deserve a normal human life, that’s all.”

 

   It’s not as if he got one 500 years ago. If this was some sort of copy and paste reincarnation then perhaps it was given to him as an opportunity for a normal, healthy life. She might’ve been selfish this whole time thinking that he’d been put here just for her. 

 

    “What I deserve is a life of adventure. So, what’s next? Cryo?” Ajax thought out loud as he walked down the river bank, “Or dendro? What does that element even do?”

 

    How easily he brushed her off. Lumine only rolled her eyes, “I just use it to keep my house plants alive.” 

 

   She followed him, careful to not slip. Just as she always used to with Childe, she stepped exactly where he stepped, her shoes fitting into his larger footprints. He always liked to think that it was because she was allowing him to protect her. Lumine never told him that it was just because he got all the spiderwebs out of the way if he walked in front. 

 

   Ajax shifted towards her to extend a hand as he hopped from one rock to another. Without a second thought, she took it, and the conversation continued as smoothly as the flowing river they were crossing. 

 

   “What other elements are there?” He mused, “Oh, pyro, you haven’t shown me that yet.”

 

   “I’d rather not start a forest fire.”

 

   “Good point.”

 

    (He was still holding her hand. It felt like there was a pebble stuck in her throat everytime she swallowed.)

 

    Lumine’s car was still parked on the side of the road miles away, looking as if it had been crashed and abandoned. Aether was probably worried sick for her. She had no signal in the deep forest of this national park, and Ajax didn’t seem willing to let up until he was satisfied with knowing her powers. She wasn’t entirely sure where to start.

 

   A pit formed at the bottom of her stomach. She slipped her hand away to fold her arms across her chest, the movement catching his attention as they stood beside the river. It took a moment to capture her thoughts amidst the whirling of her mind.

 

   Finally, Lumine spoke, “Ajax, I really don’t think I should’ve shown you anything earlier. And I certainly shouldn’t show you anything else.”

 

   “But what’s done is done. I’m already involved, so you might as well.” His retort was shot back with such speed that she wondered if he’d been preparing it. Even his smile was practiced, tight and completely devoid of any genuine joy. 

 

   She didn’t notice until now, but this Ajax could be the empty act that Tartaglia was when doing business as well. The plastic smiles, the good natured demeanor of a business man that considered himself your ‘friend’ because you’d bought a product from him. She could tell the difference between Tartaglia and Ajax quite easily.

 

   But this man isn’t a Harbinger. The abyss doesn’t swallow up souls any longer. He has light in his eyes.

 

   There had to be some aspect of his life that taught him how to use a mask like that. 

 

   It would have to be a thought for another time. Lumine pushed the mystery aside, frowning as she ignored his expression, “You’re right, I can’t take it back. But I could just leave Snezhnaya completely, you’d forget about all of this after a few years and go back to your normal life.”

 

   That’s what he deserved. All this time, Ajax should’ve just been Ajax. No abyss, no Fatui, no immortal wife who only got him killed in the end. He’d have a chance if she left.

 

   Yet. 

 

    He always made things difficult.

 

   “No,” his brows furrowed, he glared in shock and disbelief, hands clenched into fists before he stuffed them into his jacket pockets, “No, that’s not happening. I’ll just go find you and your brother. You can’t tell me about this secret world of visions and immortals and expect me to move on with my life.”

    

  That statement was both right and wrong. Morally, she shouldn’t leave him. It wouldn’t be fair to let him walk the streets and wonder what else history covered up. She didn’t want him to form any paranoia. But what would he even do with this information? 

 

    Hey, you’re a carbon copy of the love of my life. I’ve tried to kiss other people but I had a panic attack every time, so I want to see if you’re different, I can’t stop thinking-

 

    Ajax would report her to the police for being an ultra-creep. Honestly, that would be worse for her than seeing him slip into paranoia. 

 

    All Lumine could do was flounder under his gaze, “You’re going to find us if we leave? That’s stupid.”

 

    “I have the resources, girlie.”

 

    The crossed arms, the unamused stare and dark blue eyes. Someone was torturing her by bringing Childe back to life like this. She wasn’t sure who could possibly be so cruel.

 

    “What do you even want?” She sighed in defeat, throwing down her arms by her hips and stomping a foot, “What’re you expecting? It’s not like I can make you immortal. I’m not gonna let you expose us either.”

 

    Immediately, Ajax softened. Snow crunched under his boots as he took a step towards her, “I wouldn’t do that to you.”

 

   “How do I know that?”

 

   “You should trust me,” he whispered. Lumine wasn’t sure why she didn’t step back. She should’ve, getting close to this imposter wasn’t a good idea. But he leaned in, brows furrowed as if focusing closely on something. As his eyes flickered to her lips she almost froze from the shock. 

 

   He was thinking about kissing her. She knew that face, Childe made the same expression the first time he ever kissed her. He was half dead in that ruin guard factory, with Teucer trying to find him just nearby. He pulled her close with his hands in her hair and kissed her, and when Lumine complained all he said was, ‘hey I felt like I was about to die, seemed like a good idea at the time.’

 

   He had been right, it was a very good idea. 

 

   A quiet moment as the running water behind them filled their surroundings. His hands on her cheeks. They lacked the callouses she remembered, but his fingers remained the same in length, even in temperature. Ajax was always perpetually cold as if he was doing his best to carry Snezhnaya with him wherever he went.

 

   Lumine worked up the breath to speak, “I-I have to warn you before you, uh…”

 

   “Hm?” Ajax raised a brow and tilted his head. He looked all too amused by her breathlessness. So much so that she automatically stiffened, spite overtaking the flutter of affection in her heart. 

 

   Truthfully, the last time Lumine kissed someone was 106 years ago. She had acid reflux that came up and out only to land on their shoes, then accidentally said ‘sorry Aj’ and went into a wild fit of apologies for calling them by her late husband's name after ruining their footwear. 

 

   She did not get another date.

 

   And she was about to warn Ajax about that, but he looked so confident in himself. If he got thrown up on then that was his own damn fault. 

 

   Besides that, Lumine had a feeling that she would be okay. These eyes, these hands, those freckles in that familiar constellation she knew so well. She might not panic. It might be okay. It might be just enough to get her through the next 500 years, like a starving person that hopes a bread crumb will keep them alive. It wouldn’t, but that’s beside the point. 

 

   Screw logic and good ideas. This man looked like her dead husband and if he was going to kiss her then she would let herself indulge for once. 

 

   A racing heart, fluttering eyes, Lumine’s mind running hundreds of miles per hour. It’s happening. It’s fine, there’s no obligation here. It’s fine. It’s just a kiss, it’s-

 

   “Don’t act so grumpy,” Ajax squished her cheeks with both of his palms, pouting as he stared down at her, “You know you can trust me.”

 

   He wasn’t kissing her.

 

    This idiot didn’t kiss her.

 

   Lumine, despite her puffed up cheeks and squished lips, managed a deadly glare that encompassed the entire whirlwind of thought she’d just gone through. It was enough to make him grimace - though he did not stop squishing her cheeks.

 

   Stupid, idiotic, oblivious boy. This dumb human in his dumb flannels and dumb memes. His boots are dumb and the fish pictures on his Instagram are dumb and his voice, face, hands, everything is dumb. 

 

   And the worst part of it all is that Lumine knew she was much dumber. 

 

   Kissing a zombie copy of Childe, right, that’s hilarious. She’d crack like an old piece of plastic. 

 

   Lumine yanked away from him, whirling on her heels to stomp back towards the river in stony silence. She listened to him suck in a surprised breath before scrambling to follow, “Hey, wait!”

 

   She did not. Her stomping continued. The second her shoe touched water, fingers of ice stretched across the surface. Her ice bridges had never been as sturdy as Kaeya’s; cryo wasn’t her favorite element despite its usefulness when fighting alongside Childe. They both preferred the chaos of her electro over anything.

 

   Behind her, Ajax stepped carefully on the ice. Lumine was halfway across the bridge before stretching her hand to summon another, “If you don’t hurry it’ll melt.”

 

   “Ice shouldn’t melt this quickly.” He grumbled, managing to jump onto the fresh bridge before the previous melted into water. For someone who knew nothing about the existence of elemental powers before an hour ago, he acclimated rather well.

 

   That was yet another annoyingly similar thing about him. Childe could move with the flow as smoothly as a river when he wanted to. When he didn’t want to he was more of a flood, highly destructive and unpredictable - also very wet, depending on whether he had his vision or not. 

 

   Right now, she didn’t want him to go with the flow so well. She wanted him to be different from what she knew. This mortal, this college student with a bumper sticker on his car that says ‘milf’, shouldn’t be walking through the woods with a celestial being that can manipulate the elements to her desires, nor should he be so casual about it. That was what a Harbinger from 500 years ago would do, not just some dude from Snezhnaya. 

 

  And that was, possibly, because this man is not just some dude. Lumine didn’t want to think about that any further. 

 

  So, Lumine did what she does best - other than pie eating contests and punching things. She walked away. She walked away very quickly. 

 

  She ran. 

 

  But unfortunately for her, Ajax has very long legs. 

 

  “Wait!” His fingers wrapped around her forearm, stopping her mid-retreat. She would’ve kicked him away if not for the look on his face. Those wide eyes, the parted lips and furrowed brows. He was genuinely concerned, she knew. He was almost scared. She tensed at the sight, far too aware of his cold fingers on her skin. 

 

  “I don’t get it” he began, “I don’t get why you’re mad.”

 

  Her guard instantly lowered. He was just acting like a kicked puppy because he thought she was mad at him. And in his defense, she was. Despite that, Lumine ripped her arm away and turned around to continue her retreat, now walking as she spoke, “I’m not mad.”

 

  “You’re lying.”

 

   She was. “No I’m not.”

 

  “That’s interesting, immortal women are just like mortal women.”

 

   “Women are women. Shut up.”

 

   The sound of his boots crunching on leaves and snow told her that he was following her, though she spared him no glance. If she was smarter then she would simply teleport away and leave him in the forest, but she wasn’t smart. She never had been.

 

  “Why’re you mad?” Ajax whined and Lumine resisted the urge to look at the pout she knew he wore, “Is it because I didn’t kiss you?”

 

  She froze. 

 

  He stopped seconds away from running into her back, his hands on her shoulders to keep them both from tumbling. Lumine held her ground as his words processed through her mind like meat in a grinder. Is it because I didn’t kiss you? Kiss you? Are you mad because- 

 

  Is she truly that readable? Are her emotions a puddle on the sidewalk, so shallow and vapid that he can see through them at a glance? 1,000 years of life and even more as a blur of light in the sky and she can’t even hide her desires from this college student who wears meme shirts. 

 

   She whirled around, glaring daggers, “Do you even think you’re worthy of kissing me? Me? I’ve slayed monsters your tiny brain wouldn’t even comprehend. I’ve traveled to worlds that your species shall never know of! I-I saved Teyvat from my own idiot brother! And you think you’re worthy of kissing me?”

 

   A pause. Ajax looked unimpressed. 

 

  “Yeah.”

 

   Damn it all. 

 

  “What’s your biggest accomplishment in life, mortal? A headshot in Halo?”

   

   “No,” he snorted and crossed his arms, “Call of Duty.”

 

  “Right. And you believe you’re worthy of kissing me?”

 

   “Yep.”

 

    Damn it. 

 

  Slowly, she gulped down her anger. Take a deep breath, Lumine. Contain yourself for one second, just long enough to ask him, “Ajax… What’s your favorite movie?”

 

   “Oh, that’s hard…” he broke into a thoughtful smile, “I think it’s between Fight Club or The Matrix.”

 

   “Oh my god,” Lumine couldn’t bear to hear any more. If he went on then she might have a nervous breakdown. Has he always been like this? Was Tartaglia, the 11th Harbinger of the Fatui, anything like this college student?

 

   The day Teucer arrived in Liyue suddenly flooded back into mind. When Childe confronted those treasure hunters and announced who he was, the pose he did… How he flipped his scarf and threw out his hand. The pose. Oh archons. She was blinded by love all this time. 

 

   He’s always been embarrassing. She’s always been with just some random guy from Snezhnaya. 

 

  Tonia and Anthon tried to warn her so many times, but she never listened. Lumine whipped around to face him, eyes wide as she took in the sight. If Childe Ajax Tartaglia version 1 was immortal, somehow, and lived to 1,000 years with her, he would have a bumper sticker on his car that says milf. He would, just as the man in front of her does. 

 

    So, to answer her earlier question: Yes, he’s worthy to kiss her. 

 

   “Lumine?”

 

   The sound of his voice shattered her reverie. She nearly jumped, “What?”

 

   “Are you okay?”

 

   “Not particularly, no.”

 

   Ajax finally broke into a grin. She was glad to see that concerned look on his face gone, it made her stomach twist and turn with something too close to affection. But when he laughed, the feeling moved up and towards her heart. 

 

   He ran his hands through his hair, still smiling that rare, genuine smile, “I’m glad you finally admitted it. So, is it really because I didn’t kiss you back there? I just thought it would be a bit rude of me, since you just talked about your husband and all.”

 

   Her husband. How ironic. 

 

   Lumine cast him a smile that held no joy, “Are you so arrogant that you think I’m upset over you not kissing me?”

 

   “It felt like a kissing kind of moment,” he shrugged casually, “there was a lot of tension between us.”

 

   There was. She hated how correct he was. 

 

   “I’m going back to the highway,” she turned around to leave, “find your own way back. Call an uber or something.”

 

  “Wait!” Once again, he was hot on her heels. She simply couldn’t get rid of him. Ever since he went after that petty thief who stole her purse, he stuck to her like a very stubborn wart. Shaking him off seemed near impossible. 

 

   Lumine didn’t want to wait. She wanted to leave the forest and leave him and go back to her apartment. She wanted to look at his social media photos and get drunk. That’s all. She wasn’t very picky. Yet, he kept following her, a puppy chasing the only thing it’s ever known. 

 

   “Listen,” Ajax spoke as he followed her, “I’m not trying to replace your husband or erase his memory or anything, I would never do that. I can’t do that, it’s just not possible. But can you just give me a chance?”

 

   This wasn’t even funny anymore. Lumine was seconds away from yelling at the sky, calling for whatever entity had brought this man back to life. The moment she discovered the culprit she would punch them for the torture they put her through. 

 

   “What do you mean by a chance? You’re being too vague.” She never stopped walking. He kept close to her heels, though she never glanced at him. 

 

   “I don’t know, don’t immortals keep, like, pets or something?”

 

   That sounded like something Aether would call his date. She laughed bitterly, “Pets?”

 

   “Yeah,” his fingers wrapped around her wrist once more, gentle this time, almost as if he was only asking her to stop, pleading that she listen to his asinine request, “I’ve dreamt about you my entire life. I know that I’m supposed to be part of something, and I know it’s something about you.”

 

   He’s dreamt of her. 

 

   The wave of affection that slapped Lumine was nearly enough to knock her down. It was like standing on the shore during high tide. 

 

   Feeling very tingly, Lumine gulped her heart down and did her best not to meet his eyes. Seeing the ocean blue would only make it worse. “So you mean you want to be among immortals, spirits and the undead?”

 

   “Yes.”

 

   Ajax smiled like he was answering questions at a job interview. She rolled her eyes, “We’re more boring than you think. And what’s this about being a pet?”

 

   “I could be your human pet,” he spread his arms as if showcasing himself, “that’s a thing, right?”

 

   “...No, that’s not a thing.”

 

   “Damn.”

 

   “…I mean, my husband was sort of my human pet 500 years ago, so I guess it’s kind of a thing.”

 

   “See! I’m right,” Ajax grinned triumphantly, “Besides that, there’s no way I’d be able to return to normal while knowing this. You might as well accept that you’re stuck with me.”

 

    She could only sigh. This was the problem with humans, they always believed that the grass was greener on the other side, never finding the positive in their own lives. “Ajax, it’s not been fun since we stopped carrying swords. Dragons never attack things anymore, abyss mages just haunt old houses for ghost hunting shows, none of the Archons are fighting because they all went to therapy. It’s boring, I promise.”

 

   “I won’t knock it until I try it.”

 

   He looked so serious. He looked deadly, utterly serious as he recited such a stupid phrase.  Lumine could hardly stand to be beneath that gaze. She fidgeted for a moment, “How can I trust that you won’t reveal our secrets? You’d get super rich and famous if you do.”

 

   “I’m already super rich, and being famous isn’t really my style.” Ajax mirrored her position by folding his arms, though he continued to stare her down as if he was aware it was working. It was like he already knew the tricks to manipulating her, like he’d never gone through the process of learning them like Tartaglia had to, “Also, with our combined powers we could conquer the world. Your elements, my money and military connections. We can get the immortal ball rollin’ again, baby.”

 

    Forget waves of affection, this was a tsunami. She was a simple bystander engulfed by the world-eating wave that would crush her completely. He called her baby. She’d never wanted to punch him in the arm so hard before. 

 

   “Ajax?”

 

   He blinked, the darkness from his eyes leaving as he flickered back into the moment. He could switch so easily, ambition to innocence, just as she’d always known. “Yeah?”

 

   Lumine was drowning right in front of him and she managed to hide it, somehow. If he noticed how tense she’d grown, he said nothing. She simply sighed and stared at a bug on the ground as if it was the most interesting thing in Teyvat. 

 

  It took a minute to find her words. When they arrived, she hesitated. 

 

  Finally, “What I was going to tell you earlier is… Well, I’ve only kissed three people since my husband died. I’ve never done anything more than a kiss, I wouldn’t have been able to take it.”

 

   He stared in silence. He had to be confused, this seemed to come from nowhere. But there was a point, there was always a point, as dumb as it may be for her to make. (Lumine never did make good decisions.)

 

  So, she went on, “The first time was about 100 years after he was killed. He was this burly guy, the complete opposite of my husband. Short and stocky, super grumpy, quiet. We had one date, he kissed me, and I had a panic attack so bad that I accidentally broke his nose… With my head. I headbutted him hard enough to break his nose.”

 

   “Oh,” Ajax murmured, paused… A breeze rustled the leaves around them before he let out a stifled snort behind his hand. The second he laughed, Lumine laughed as well. Everything erupted. Barely contained giggles at the thought of her deadly headbutts, a warmth in her stomach from finally being able to tell that story. Once Ajax could breathe again, he went on, “That poor man. Were you okay, though?”

 

   How sweet of him. She was not okay, but he didn’t need to know that part. “I survived. It was about 200 years after that when I decided to give it another shot. I thought, well, maybe it’s been long enough, maybe it’s time to move on! So I went out with a friend of mine, a mortal, he was kind and normal and a bit boring, still different from my husband. God, Childe would’ve despised him-”

 

   “Childe?”

 

   She didn’t mean to say his name. A slip of the tongue, one she hoped he’d forget. “Y-Yeah. Anyway, uh, when we kissed I kind of… Bit his lip so hard he had to get stitches.”

 

   Ajax could only stare. He stifled another laugh, though the flicker of interest was evident in his eyes. Of course he’d think that was interesting, he’s a dirty masochist no matter the era. 

 

   Lumine sighed, “There’s a point to this, I promise. So, the last person I kissed was this fancy guy that my husband also would’ve hated. We got along really well, and I thought it might actually work because it’s been over 400 years by then! And… Well, he kissed me and long story short, I threw up on his shoes and accidentally called him by the wrong name.”

 

    “...Did you get a second date?”

 

    “No. I did not.”

 

    “I would’ve given you a second date. I mean, how much throw up was there?”

 

    “Not much, really.”

 

    “He just sounds like a pussy.”

 

    He was. Lumine had this habit of seeking out men that Childe would have zero patience for, it wasn’t a very effective coping mechanism. Yet, now, here stood a man that looked exactly like him. A man that is him. A man that 100%, in some way, for some reason, is her dead husband. 

 

    Kind of. 

 

    He’s her dead husband, kind of. 

 

    It’s close enough. Truthfully, Lumine was a bit too rattled to care for details at that moment. “So, the point I’m trying to make is that earlier I got all angry because I was freaked out, I didn’t want to hurt you or vomit on you or anything else humiliating. It’s not that I was opposed to the idea of you kissing me, per se, it’s more that I have these weird mental reactions to it. And I’m thinking, maybe… You might be okay. Maybe.”

 

    “Maybe?”

 

    Lumine looked up at him through her eyelashes. She expected anger or disgust, but he surprised her, as always. He looked confident, amused even. He sent her a crooked grin and lifted her chin with his hand, “Hey, I never say no to a challenge.”

 

   Even if said challenge included possible vomit. How brave, she’d always liked that about Childe. 

 

  Here she was, stealing this man’s chance at normality simply because she couldn’t help herself. Selfish. 

 

   “You know what? Forget everything,” Lumine waved her hands as if the movement would disperse her inner cringe, “This is weird. Sorry I ever said that, it’s just so-“

 

    His lips, instantly, were on hers. 

 

   Every other feeling dispersed. Lumine gasped at the first movements of their mouths. It was slow, deep, as if he was savoring every second of it. Cold fingers on her cheeks, a sudden rush of energy that shot down from her chest and to her midsection, it all made her grasp the front of his jacket and pull him even closer. He gave a low laugh that vibrated up from his chest. When Ajax smiled against her lips, Lumine felt that she might collapse into the leaves and snow beneath her. 

 

   “Ajax,” she murmured. One of his hands slid from her cheek and down to her waist. They lingered - he’d always been a tease, she despised how slow he could move when kissing her. It seems that this version was frustrating in the exact same way. Slowly, his fingers dug into the top of her thighs and manipulated her hips forward to brush against his. Lumine’s gasp between kisses only encouraged him further. 

 

   This was, most likely, more than he bargained for. However, she couldn’t stop, not when he felt the same as Childe, not when she was a desert without rain for 500 years. 

 

   Monoceros Caeli had returned to the skies. This man resembled her husband in every way but the scars and calluses. And her heart raced just as quickly as it did when he used to kiss her, no other human could do such a thing. Lumine decided, then, that Ajax is somehow hers. Kind of. Somehow. 

 

    She knows very little of this version of him, but he resembled her husband so much already. She was already lost in his touch, only aware of how one of his fingers trailed up and down her curves, from her thighs and to her ribcage. A shiver ran down her spine. She felt him smile against the kiss once again. The exploring hand now moved to hold her back so she was firmly pressed against him, making Lumine feel as if she was on fire. She needed this. She’d been craving it for so long. She needed it from him, specifically, he was the only one. 

 

   Every inch of her mind screamed for her to let this go further. She was suffocating under her own heat, on fire-

 

    “H-Hey,” Ajax pulled back, lips twitching with an uncharacteristic nervous grimace, “I think, uh…”

 

   It was rare for him to stutter, but when he did her patience always grew thin. Desperate, Lumine gripped the front of his coat and yanked him back in for another kiss. She’d been starved, finally presented with him after nearly wasting away. He kissed back for another second before yanking away once more, “Lumine, really.”

 

  “What?” She hissed, “What is so damn important that you’d interrupt this?”

 

   “Lumi, you set me on fire!”

 

   “What?”

 

   He began shimmying his jacket off desperately, strings of Snezhnayan curses flowing until he finally threw it into the snow and stomped down a flicker of red and orange. 

 

   Her heart skipped sickeningly. Ajax sighed and turned to face her, but paused as Lumine pointed a shaking finger at his pants, “I-I… Aj you’re on fire!”

 

   “I’m what?”

 

    “You’re still on fire!” 

 

   A bit of pyro from his jacket had fallen onto his pants. Immediately, he scrambled to pat it out, “D-Do you just carry matches with you or something?”

 

   “I-I got excited!” She cried, cheeks burning nearly as badly as his jacket was on the forest floor, “I haven’t felt that way in 500 years!”

 

   “Well as flattered as I am-“

 

   “Hydro, right,” Lumine should’ve had enough sense to splash him long ago. Fortunately, the fire was still small. With shaking hands and a rattled mind, she summoned a hydro mimic to splash across the flames. Childe taught her that water mimics were useful for putting out fires because you could have several at a time, and Ajax hadn’t yet put out the rest by patting everything down. 

 

   The energy rose up from her hands. The ground beneath her feet shook. She summoned the mimic, closing her eyes. 

 

   Until a familiar, nautical cry erupted from the air. 

    

 

---

 

  “I’m sorry I dropped a whale on you, Ajax.”

 

  He could only stare. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever been this wet before in his life. 

 

  “…Eh, it happens. At least the fire was put out.”

  

  

 

   

  

Chapter 9: Conspiracist

Summary:

help me find my way back in from the place where I have been

 

 

 

 

"Why is he here?"

 

 Perhaps Lumine should've planned this better. Setting Ajax on fire in a flurry of passion wasn't her proudest moment, but it didn't mean the day was ruined. She didn't need to make it even worse.

 

 Yet, most teleport waypoints no longer worked, and her car had unceremoniously crashed into a tree. There weren't many options available, which was why Lumine teleported herself and Ajax to her shared apartment. She thought she struck a fortune when it turned out that Aether wasn't home.

 

  But of course, her brother had to walk through the door at the worst possible moment.

 

  Ajax lounged on their living room couch with his shirt off as if he owned the place. Lumine's hands were exploring his sides and backs as she healed any possible burns he might have. The pyro damage wasn't bad at all, and he wasn't hurt, but her conscience still bothered her. It wasn't often that she set someone on fire out of excitement. He seemed perfectly content to let her fingers roam his skin as he fiddled with the portable waypoint and asked questions like, "So, is this, like, alien technology?"

 

  Which was an insanely dumb question. Still, it couldn't top his question from 10 minutes ago: "Were you on the Titanic?"

 

  Yes. The food was awful. 

 

  Nevertheless, Lumine despised that conspiracy shows attributed all the mysteries of the universe to aliens. She's written several angry letters to the producers, but they've never responded. Just as she was about to lecture him on the dangers of believing loons on the television, the sound of keys jingling outside the door made her blood run cold. 

 

  The mortal and immortal stopped, her hands still on his bare chest. 

 

  The door swung open to reveal a nightmare incarnate; A 5'4, blond, baby-faced nightmare.

 

  Aether froze. Zhongli stared, wide-eyed. Lumine and Ajax looked up at the newcomers, then pointedly made room between their bodies, just for good measure.

 

  Which was what brought forth Aether's scathing inquiry of, "What is he doing here?"

 

  Ajax didn't even flinch. Lumine bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling as she noticed his boldness in the face of the abyss prince. It was those small details that reminded her of him, little flashes of a man from long ago. Although, that might've also been because Aether was wearing a Mickey Mouse t-shirt and cargo shorts.

 

  Lumine's panic also dissolved as she took in the sight, "Did you guys go to Disneyland?"

 

  "Oh, yes!" Zhongli lit up. He was wearing round mouse ears and holding an ice cream cone, "It was delightful. Of course, I didn't enjoy it as much as the Disney World in Fontaine, but it had its charm."

 

  Traitors. She scoffed jokingly, "But I thought you said we'd all go together-"

 

  Aether tossed aside the Elsa doll in his arm, shocking Lumine enough to halt her mid-question. All eyes landed on her brother as he took a slow step into the apartment, then another, each movement working to increase the anticipation thickening the air. Wisely, Zhongli shut and locked the door. Onlookers would not want to see whatever horrors lie ahead. Lumine could only hope that Aether would simply yell at her or perhaps summon a minor abyss herald. She could handle those light temper tantrums. If Aether did anything worse, Ajax might see something he wasn't supposed to. Yet, that might be her brother's intention. 

 

 Finally, he began with a sigh meant to compose himself, "Well, Lumine, I thought you said that you weren't going to acknowledge the existence of this wet oatmeal stain? What happened to that?"

 

 "Wet oatmeal stain?" Ajax muttered. Both twins continued to ignore him.

 

  It wasn't as if she wanted to admit how he faked a stabbing, then led her into the forest where they promptly made out. She could've left that situation at any point, yet she remained like a moron.

 

 Lumine was never very good at making decisions when it came to him.

 

  Sadly enough, Aether knew that. And he wasn't very good at making decisions either. But, it was precisely why they looked out for each other. The twins always stood back to back, and that's how they've survived, physically and emotionally.

 

  So, she shouldn't have been surprised when Aether flexed his hand and summoned a sword. As the blade shimmered to life, Ajax grinned and perked up, looking too excited for Lumine's comfort. 

 

 It happened within seconds. 

 

 Aether twisted the blade through the air, closed the gap between himself and the couch. He buried it into the first soft surface he felt. 

 

 "Stop!" Lumine wasn't sure when she screamed and scrambled from her seat, making a lunge for Ajax, but she came to her senses seconds later on her knees with her own sword summoned and ready to block Aether's.

 

 "How could you?!" She yelled again, throat raw, "You can't just attack people! You're like an animal sometimes! Aether, what the hell-"

 

  Like the flip of a switch, silence swallowed the room. 

 

  Aether's sword was not covered in blood, nor was it buried into the chest of a probably-innocent human being. Rather, his sword just stuck into the back of the couch cushions. White filling spilled from the rip, looking like soft, fuzzy guts from a horror film.

 

  Ajax's sudden laughter tore Lumine from her shock. She scrambled to attention only to see that he'd rolled to the other end of the couch, missing Aether's attack by half a foot. His knees were spread, and his head tilted back while he threw his arm over his eyes and laughed, "That was amazing! God, you'll have to teach me how to do that sword thing!"

 

 Amusement in the face of the abyss prince, in the eyes of death. Ajax. Lumine's knees were weak.

 

 Her heart skipped a painful, sweet beat.

 

 Aether sighed through his teeth and yanked the sword from the couch, "I wasn't going to kill you. No need to dodge."

 

  "Hey, I see a weapon coming at me, I'm gonna dodge. Doesn't matter."

 

  Lumine's mind was in the clouds. She cast a quick glance at Zhongli - he was tending to the Elsa plush that was so cruelly thrown aside, ignoring the chaos - and back at Aether. Yet, at the sight of his sword, the dizzy feeling began to melt like ice beneath the sun.

 

 "What the hell?" She burst, voice cracking, "Why'd you attack my friend?"

 

 Ajax's eyes flashed with amusement, "Oh, we're friends now?"

 

 "You're friends now?!" Aether echoed, "You know how bad this is for you!"

 

 She knows. That fact mentally played in repeat since following him into the forest earlier. 

 

 As much as she wanted to yell back at her brute of a brother, her lips shut like a bear trap. Lumine tensed, flexing her hands to make her sword disappear, then folding her arms and turning away. Silence was all she had to offer as an explanation.

 

 "Lumine-" 

 

 "Wait," Ajax interrupted, every ounce of amusement gone from his face as he sat up to glare at the back of Aether's head, "I get that you're siblings and all, but do you seriously get to decide what's good and bad for her?"

 

 It isn't like that , she wanted to say. But, before she could speak, her brother was already arguing, "You don't even understand what's going on!" 

 

 "I have an idea of it!"

 

  A snort, "Oh really?"

 

   All Lumine wanted was for them to stop arguing before it got worse. They did this in the past as well, though a similar argument 500 years ago on the topic of what's best for her was more so over what kind of soup she should be fed when she was sick - Childe usually won, mainly because she liked his cooking more.

 

   This argument was worse. She sent a pleading look towards Zhongli, but he was sitting at the dining room table and drinking tea as if nothing was happening, the Mickey Mouse ears still atop his head.

 

  Jerk.

 

  "You're an ass if you try to keep Lumi from having friends," Ajax accused, his voice harsh like gravel, "She told me how she's tried to move on from her husband through the last 500 years-"

 

  "What?!"

 

 Lumine knew she couldn't keep it a secret, but she didn't want it to come out this early.

 

 Both she and Ajax flinched, the only difference being that Ajax started to grin at the prospect of another scuffle. Her eardrums could've burst from the noise levels of the yell. Instead, she deflated when he turned his glare upon her.

 

 What was there to say? "I-I should be asking the questions here! Why'd you attack him?"

 

  "I just wanted to put a little fear of God in him, maybe scare him away or something." Aether scoffed.

 

  And here she was, thinking her twin was brighter than that. "It's Ajax. You thought attacking him would make him want to leave?"

 

  "...I see your point."

 

  The man in question perked up from his spot on the couch, still harboring a smile that was just a bit too excited, "You two know me so well. I'm flattered."

 

  If only he knew the truth of why she could predict him. Despite the display of elements and the incredibly dumb stories about her lack of emotional healing, she found herself hesitant to spit out the ultimate truth. And how could she? If Aether wanted to scare Ajax away, he could simply say, 'Oh, brother-in-law, I saw you die 500 years ago. Did you know my sister is still desperately in love with you?'  

 

   Fortunately, Aether was too scared of her to do that.

   

   Instead, he opted for glaring at Ajax as if he were a turd that was so rudely clogging his toilet, "You still haven't explained why you're here."

 

  Panicked, Lumine interjected to answer, "He's my mortal, now."

 

 "Yeah," the mortal/turd taunted Aether, "I'm the Bella to her Edward, bitch!"

 

  "Did you just call me a bitch?"

 

  "Yeah, I did-"

 

  "I'm so sorry," She intervened, then gripped Aether's sleeve and yanked him towards the kitchen, "Can we please just talk alone for a minute?"

 

 Watching the two of them go back and forth was like stepping back in time. While Lumine never minded their bickering, Aether was far more motivated to kill Ajax these days than he was back then, and she has a feeling that Ajax is now far less capable of stopping him. There's a stark difference between the mildly frustrating Harbinger and the ghost that dares to haunt his beloved little sister. Out of the two, the ghost is more of a threat. 

 

 Aether cast him a final glare before following her into the kitchen, " Lumine, why isn't he wearing a shirt?" 

 

  That was an excellent question that had no simple answer. Right as the twins stepped into their tiny kitchen and dining area, Zhongli stood from the table with his tea in hand. One thing Lumine always appreciated about the geo archon was his sense of politeness. He knew when to leave a room.

 

  "I recently taped an episode of Riverdale," he said, "so if you'll excuse me."

 

 He was excused. 

 

  Aether leaned against the counter and glared. She fiddled with a damp dishtowel in her attempts not to pull on Aether's braid and bully him mercilessly as if they were children.

 

 Finally, when the television turned on in the next room, she began to speak, "I should hit you. You can't just go around attacking people."

 

 He sighed, "And you can't go around telling people we're immortal."

 

 "You summoned a sword in front of him before even knowing I did that! How were you thinking of explaining that away?"

 

 Aether froze. His shoulders tensed, and he pressed his lips together, "Well, you know… I have methods."

 

 Right. And those were the same methods Lumine had, the kind that made her stomach churn when she genuinely considered using them on Ajax. 

 

 In the living room, she heard Zhongli explaining the ins and outs of each Riverdale character to Ajax, though the show hadn't even started yet because he kept playing the trailers on repeat, nor had anybody even asked. But hopefully, the distraction would be enough to keep Ajax from eavesdropping. 

 

  "So, what even happened to wanting to avoid the zombie?" Aether asked.

 

   Another good question. Aether should get a prize for all the beautiful inquiries. "I should be asking myself that too, I guess."

 

    His face fell. It was evident that he disagreed with her sinking ship of defeat. He had always been the less strong-willed between the two of them, but only until they arrived in Snezhnaya. Lumine's usual strength dissolved the second she heard, 'hey girlie, hold still.'

 

  What a dumb thing to say. Lumine's taste is horrible.

 

  "This doesn't have to happen," Aether murmured, drawing closer.

 

  Lumine only felt like an ant beneath a magnifying glass despite the reassurance. She fidgeted anxiously, "Listen, I think he really is Ajax."

 

  "That's just his name, Lumi."

 

  "No, my Ajax."

 

  Heavy silence blanketed the twins.

 

  It wasn't as if the theory came from nowhere. Yet, raising her eyes to meet his was like lifting a too-heavy weight. 

 

 When their gazes finally met, he grimaced, "Lumine…."

 

  How she hated that look of pity; How she despised hearing her name in that tone. Immediately, her mind scrambled to find a defense, "No, really, there are so many coincidences. Spend some time with him, and you'll see."

 

  "...We didn't get along, and you know that." 

 

  True enough. Aether threw Childe back into the abyss as an early wedding gift, though he never foresaw that Childe would enjoy that. His utter adoration for the eight-legged dragon he met only made her brother dislike him more. On the other hand, Lumine was less than amused by his stunt and demanded that he return her then-fiancé once Ajax was satisfied - which was two weeks later. 

 

  It was very disappointing for Aether. He opted for sending Childe a box of angry wasps instead. 

 

  Nevertheless, "You'll hate him just as much now!"

 

  "That doesn't mean he's the same person," he sighed.

 

  "But there's too much of him there. He can't not be him!"

 

  "I get what you're trying to say," Aether raised a hand in defeat, then rubbed the bridge of his nose like an exasperated parent, "but how do you know for sure? He could just be a lookalike. And it's been hundreds of years, Lumi, maybe some memories have been fudged a bit, I don't know."

 

  Lumine hated that implication. She pressed her lips together, opting to stare at the kitchen cabinets rather than her brother. The thought of forgetting Ajax, the original Ajax, sunk into her chest and coiled sickeningly in her stomach.

 

  Truthfully, she'd forgotten some of the more minor details. Admitting that was not easy. The memory of his touch and presence was more of a concept than actual, fleshed-out thoughts in her mind. She'd forgotten the feeling of auburn hair between her fingers, the ridges of familiar scars, the lingering of dim eyes on her back. 

 

  To lose someone, even in your own mind, that's the hardest part. 

 

  "I just… I can just tell." Lumine gulped down the feeling of a rock in her throat. 

 

  Monoceros Caeli had returned to the sky; was that not enough? 

 

  Aether continued that pitying stare. He didn't seem to realize that he was doing it; Lumine knew that he was just concerned, as a good older brother would be, but she was tired of seeing the crinkled chin and furrowed brows. 

 

  "Does he even have memories of the past?" Aether asked, "If not, then is he really who you fell in love with?"

 

  Right on target; he'd always known how to tear apart her arguments. 

 

  She ignored the flicker of anger that threatened to come alive in her chest, "Actually, I'm hoping to bring back his memories, I mean, if he really is my Ajax."

 

  "How would you even do that?"

 

  "Well, uh… I've taken care of polar star all this time, maybe if he has his old weapon, that'll help! And I still have his vision," a deactivated, grey trinket that she keeps in her sock drawer, "maybe if he touches it, then it'll come back to life! And there's the Fatui history museum, as well."

 

  "You don't think it'll be creepy to show him a picture of Tartaglia and say, 'that's my dead husband, and I think you're his reincarnation'?" Aether quirked a brow. 

 

  "…Yeah, that's creepy, but it might be a good backup plan."

 

  She'd already shown him a portable waypoint. Then, after setting him on fire in the middle of the forest, Lumine teleported him back to her apartment using the miniature device. He wasn't too nauseous from his first trip, which was a good sign, though he had endless questions about the artifact. Several museum trips were in order, it seemed.

 

  Aether remained unamused by her flippant attempt at humor, "Lumi, I just don't want you to get hurt trying to resurrect someone that may not exist anymore." 

 

  Someone that may not exist anymore. Lumine's lived for the last 500 years thinking that Ajax didn't exist. 

 

  Yet, here was his mirror image. Here was someone with his voice, touch, eyes, and smile and laugh. 

 

  "I just wanna be happy," Her stomach and chest ached. Lumine folded her arms across her abdomen as if holding herself together, "Even if he's not him , then… He's close enough."

 

  "Lumine, do you hear yourself?"

 

  She was so tired. Was this so bad? 

 

  "Yeah, I know."

 

  Aether opened his mouth as if to say more, then shut it. All he could do was stare with a desperate expression as nothing else came forth until he grimaced and murmured, "I'm sorry."

 

   There weren't any good answers Lumine could give for the apology. Awkwardly, she tapped the counter and took a step backward, "Well, he knows that we're not human now. But he doesn't know about the whole husband thing, though, so keep your mouth shut about that."

 

  Zhongli kept Ajax busy in the living room by moving on from Riverdale characters and to a drawn-out explanation of season 3. He was speaking louder than usual, his volume covering the specifics of Aether and Lumine's low conversation. If Zhongli were doing it on purpose, then she'd have to thank him later with a box set of every season of Grey's Anatomy. 

 

  Aether rolled his eyes, "So, does he know what you and I are?"

 

  "Not exactly."

 

   "What does he even want from us?"

 

  "He just, you know…" she flipped her hands absently and shrugged. Explaining the 'pet' thing would be awkward, "He and I- Well, I set him on fire."

 

  "As one does."

 

  "Right. So, we bonded."

 

  "Because that makes sense."

 

  "Right."

 

  Aether's eyes flickered past her shoulder, then dimmed as they locked onto something behind her. She turned around to follow his gaze only to find Ajax pushing himself up from the couch and saying something to Zhongli, jerking a thumb over his shoulder as if he was trying to escape to the kitchen. Fortunately, he'd put on a shirt at some point during the twins' conversation. Aether continued to mutter in a tone only Lumine could hear, "I don't like it. I know it's silly, and I know it won't hurt for now, but what if it's a trap? And if it's not, he's mortal, Lumi. He's going to die again."

 

 Without a second thought, she whipped back around to face him, "Don't say that. Please. Please just don't."

 

 "I'm sorry," he offered a smile with nothing behind it, "but you can't ignore that aspect."

 

 She ignored it 500 years ago. She ignored it when they found Aether and debated on whether to leave or not. She ignored it at their wedding. She ignored it when he turned 24 and joked about being an old man with a young wife - tense smiles and teasing laughter covering up the layer of dread underneath. 

 

 Lumine shifted uncomfortably beneath the weight of that reminder, "We're not even like that this time around. So don't worry about it."

 

  "So you're friends? And you'll stay as just friends?"

 

  Friends kiss sometimes. Friends have inexplicable electricity between them that demands skinship. It's normal. 

 

  "Yep."

 

  "Right," Aether's voice was flat. His eyes flickered past her shoulder once again, "Incoming. Zhongli can only keep him distracted from you for so long, I guess."

 

   If he wanted to speak to her so badly that he passed up the chance to see the geo archon explaining the plot of Riverdale while wearing mouse ears, that was a bit flattering. Lumine couldn't help but heat up at the implication. As Ajax approached, she hoped he wouldn't notice how she avoided his eyes.

 

 "I assumed you two were talking about me," He laughed when he was finally in ear-shot, then leaned against the counter, "All good things, I hope."

 

  "Not in the least," Aether quipped.

 

  "As expected."

 

  Silence settled between the trio. Ajax's gaze lingered on Lumine, whose eyes remained on the towel hanging off the stove handle. It was some desperate attempt to look at anything but him - especially after that conversation with Aether. She wasn't sure if she wanted to look at either of them. Aether, on the other hand, simply groaned and pushed his way between their bodies, "I'm going to sit with Zhongli. Lumi, try not to divulge any more secrets of the universe to Bella here."

 

 Her head shot up, "Who is this Bella person everybody keeps talking about?"

 

 When her brother finally rounded the corner, Ajax shifted closer so his back was to the living room. Their shoulders brushed, and her body automatically reacted by leaning in closer, "I didn't mean to interrupt whatever you and your brother were talking about, but I wanted to show you this." He said, holding up his phone for her to see.

 

   This simply being an email. A very long, very wordy email with no indents for paragraphs. At the bottom were several links to social media, one of them being a Wattpad account. Even looking at the block of text gave her a headache.

 

  "What about it?" She asked. 

 

  Ajax let out an amused huff, "It's from the owner of this blog I'll have to show you. I found it a while back and emailed her, but she only replied now. Her name is Fischl or something."

 

  Fischl. An uncommon name, but not unheard of. 

 

  Ajax pulled the website up. The low-quality, over-pixelated picture of Venti greeted her. A pit formed in her stomach.

 

  "I won't tell her anything," Ajax just kept talking; he never stopped, "But at least I finally got a response… And a link to her my little pony goth fan page…."

 

  Fischl. Superfluous and nosy Fischl who uncovered secrets at a glance. 

 

  Lumine cleared her throat to steady herself, "C-Can you go to the about page and see if she has any pictures?"

 

  "Oh, sure."

 

  When the page finally loaded, her mind stopped working.

 

  Blonde hair and dark clothes. Bennett was right next to her with his familiar grin and a thumbs up at the camera. He was dressed as Indiana Jones and she as Morticia Addams, despite that the picture seemed to be taken at a party where no one else was dressed up. Lumine would've cooed over its cuteness if she weren't having an inner panic attack.

 

  "Do you know them?"

 

   I do, is what she wanted to say aloud, yet her mind had become like the dumpster fire in the alley outside of their apartment. 

 

  Ajax's voice was almost enough to break through the ice that froze around her mind. Vaguely, she felt his fingers on her cheek, his palm on her jaw as he lifted her face, "You're really pale. Do you need to eat? Is it your blood sugar? Do immortals even have blood sugar?"

 

  "I-I'm fine," Lumine managed to stammer out before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. The coolness of his skin had the same effect as cold water - Childe used to do that when she wasn't feeling good, he'd splash her in the face with hydro, then laugh when she got angry and electrocuted him, yet it helped distract her, calm her down. Of course, he had his own roundabout, chaotic ways of taking care of her. 

 

  This Ajax seemed a bit different, though the fact that he couldn't summon water from thin air might contribute. Lumine opened her eyes to meet his. He broke into a smile, both hands on her cheeks and head tilted, ginger hair falling messily into his face. 

 

 Hers. This one was hers, and there was no doubt about it. 

 

 Then, he squished her cheeks together so her lips squished, "Do you feel good enough to get dinner and watch Twilight at my house?"

 

 Not in the least.

 

 Lumine yanked his hands away and held his wrists. Her mind was too far distracted to be able to play along, let alone spend the rest of the evening with him. If that truly was Fischl and Bennett in the picture, then this Ajax's existence just became far more complicated than it already was. How stupid of her to assume it couldn't get worse. 

 

 "I think…" she trailed off, then stepped away, "I have some things I need to do tonight. I'm sorry."

 

  His eyes widened, "Is it about the blog? If you're going to kill the owner, then okay, but-"

 

  "Don't worry about it," she interrupted, "I'm just going to look into something. I'll, uh, call you tomorrow, okay?"

 

  Ajax looked as if he didn't believe her, as if she was a date about to ghost him. Nevertheless, he offered a smile and nodded, "Alright, maybe we can do something then?"

 

  Lumine did her best to make promises. They shared a mildly awkward hug, and everybody said their goodbyes, watching the mortal walk back into his ordinary world as if he hadn't just been thrust into a conspiracy theory. He handled it well from the outside, as Childe would no matter the reincarnation, but Lumine could only wonder what he was truly feeling. 

 

How would a human feel if they knew very old, powerful people walked among them? And how would they think if they knew that most of them weren't exactly the most stable emotionally? Ajax wouldn't be terrified, but others would. 

 

  She was the terrified one in the situation. Lumine couldn't get the image of the Fischl and Bennett lookalikes out of her head. Plopping down on the couch with a sigh, she took out her phone and opened Ajax's Instagram page, "Aether, I think something weird's going on."

 

 He stood by the window overlooking the street to watch his departure, "Yeah, you're talking to the zombie; that's weird."

 

 "His very existence is odd, don't you think?" Zhongli suggested.

 

 "Yeah, but it goes further than that." Lumine scrolled down the page until she found a picture of him with his siblings. When she first looked at these pictures, she was so distracted by his very existence that she took no time to think about the other people in the post. Now, she zoomed in on the younger kids' faces making silly faces at the edge of the frame. 

 

 Blue eyes, freckles, varying shades of red, brown, and blonde. Tonia, Anthon, and Teucer, just as she remembered them. 

 

 Lumine scrolled to yet another picture. Her heart skipped a sickening beat. There was Eva, Ajax's mother, sending the person behind the camera a half-glare as she leaned against a bridge on what looked like a nature trail. Behind her was her husband, looking the same as ever. 

 

 Even his family had come back to haunt her. 

 

 Lumine felt a cold shiver run down her back. Zhongli inched closer and offered a hand, which she gladly took. He may not have known why she needed comfort, but he always seemed to know when to provide it. She touched the search bar and looked at Aether. 

 

 "Hey, out of everyone we knew 500 years ago, who do you think is most likely to be Instagram famous?"

 

  He turned around and leaned against the window sill, thinking deeply for a moment, "I don't know… Maybe Ningguang? She'd see it as a business opportunity. Why?"

 

  Zhongli squeezed her hand once again. Now, he was paying far more attention to her screen. He leaned over to watch while Lumine typed Ningguang's first and last name as she recalled it into the search bar. Several accounts popped up, yet at the very top was a profile picture of a woman with strikingly platinum blonde, almost white, long hair. 

 

 Lumine felt the archon next to her tense. 

 

 Her breath caught in her throat. 

 

She opened the profile only to be met with dozens of photos of the late Tianquan. In several of them, Keqing stood at her side. In addition, there were links to her many businesses in her bio and endless organized stories collected atop her pictures. 

 

 Both Zhongli and Lumine were left near speechless. Finally, it was all Lumine could do to stammer out the words, "This is worse than I thought."

 

 

 

  

  

   

 

Chapter 10: Beck & Call

Summary:

'Cause I'm not sure if I've seen you before, you looked familiar when I saw you

Notes:

I feel like this chapter isn’t my usual quality of writing so I’m sorry if it seems rushed!! Thank you, everybody, for your infinite patience 💕

  "Don't worry about it. I'm just going to look into something. I'll, uh, call you tomorrow, okay?"

 

  Lumine’s last words were lies. The moment Ajax walked into class the next day and found her usual seat empty, he carried a sense of foreboding with him.

 

 When she didn’t show up the next day, nor the day after that, he knew what had happened. 

 

  Lumine ghosted him.

 

  Being ghosted was a terrible experience that he would not recommend to anybody —0/10 rating. Not even the few girlfriends he had in high school dared to leave him on read. If he didn't break up with them first, they usually insisted on meeting in a public place for the deed or leaving a note in his locker. 'Ajax, you play too much Dead Space, I think we should break it off' something along those lines would miraculously end up amongst his textbooks, and that would be the end. 

 

 Ajax couldn't bring himself to care about past relationships either. He never cried or binged on ice cream and chocolate. He never acted awkward in classes with ex-girlfriends. Life moved on, so why shouldn't he? That led to many more notes appearing in his locker saying, 'you never loved me' or 'you love Fallout 4 more than me, don't you?' . 

 

 And it might've been true. Ajax loved Fallout 4 a lot. 

 

Nevertheless, on top of his sorted history remained two facts; Ajax had never been ghosted, and Ajax had never cared about a girl enough to panic over her lack of attention. 

 

 "Was she acting weird last time you saw her?" Tonia asked. She narrowed her eyes and chewed on the end of a pencil. If it were a pipe, she'd embody the character of a wizened detective-- if detectives could be teenage girls with winged eyeliner.

 

 Ajax had never needed his little sister more than at this moment, except for that time he tried to do a cool trick on his brother's motorcycle and broke his arm. Tonia was instrumental in how she called their parents for help since Sasha was only giggling at his younger brother's pain and suffering rather than getting help.

 

 However, this moment of need involves an immortal girl that may be his IRL Edward Cullen if he plays his cards right. It felt far more weighty than a broken arm.

 

 "She was acting a bit strange," Ajax thought back to how Lumine so quickly shuffled him out of her apartment, "I just showed her that weird blog about immortals and she freaked."

 

 "Vampire. I'm calling it right now, she's a vampire."

 

 He laughed, "We already talked about that. She's definitely not a vampire. She told me herself."

 

 "You're so gullible. Just because she says she's not a vampire doesn't mean it's true." Tonia rolled her eyes and returned to stalking Lumine's social media on her laptop. 

 

 Ajax had a deep-rooted feeling that Lumine was not a vampire, most likely because she summoned elements known to be tied to visions and was friends with long thought-to-be-dead archons. That was probably it. According to the research he'd gathered about vampires, they couldn't use all of the elements at once— if Dracula were able to do that, his book would've been so much cooler. 

 

 Ajax watched Tonia scroll endlessly down Instagram. Familiar pictures of Lumine passed by, and not one of them provided a clue to her odd behavior from a week ago. She hadn't posted in a month, nor did she update her stories. 

 

 Getting ghosted was horrible. Ajax now understood what everybody was complaining about. 

 

 At least he had the assurance that she was alive unless it was someone else leaving his texts on read every day for the last week. Lumine didn't even respond to the memes he sent. And those were high-quality memes. Nearly seven days passed with no hide or hair of Lumine at the university campus. Her seat beside him in class remained empty— mainly because he glared at anyone that tried to take it. 

 

 "What should I do?" Ajax buried his fingers into his hair and pulled as Tonia patted his shoulder comfortingly. 

 

 "Usually, when someone ghosts you, they don't want to see you," she mused, "but when it concerns immortals, I'm not sure. Are the rules different?"

 

 "I don't know. I was only part of their world for, like, a day." 

 

 And even that one day was enough. The memory burrowed itself into Ajax's mind; it scarred, branded, and he wondered how he'd fare if he never saw Lumine again. He could only imagine himself as an old man rambling about conspiracy theories, gods, and visions.

 

 At least Tonia was supportive. If Ajax had gone to anybody else— sans Teucer and Anthon, who were too young to advise him on relationships— they would have thought he'd gone mad. That, or a bad joke. 'Hey mom, I met the girl I kept seeing in my dreams, you know the dreams you sent me to a psychiatrist for? Anyway, she won't return my calls.' 

 

 Tonia was his only hope. She bit her lip while scrolling through Lumine's Instagram, sighing as she realized it held no information. "Maybe she's pulling a New Moon."

 

 "Leaving me for my own safety?" Ajax snorted, "Her brother did attack me, but I didn't mind."

 

 "Neither did Bella."

 

 "Right, you're right. But still, Lumine's brother attacked because he wanted to, not because he craved blood."

 

 "That's what they want you to think…."

 

 Archons, she might be onto something.

 

 Ajax tensed. He couldn't stop moving, tapping his foot and bouncing his knee, fidgeting with a loose string at the end of his hoodie. His thoughts ran in endless circles as he considered the possibilities. 

 

 Lumine probably left. She might've gotten cold feet after telling a human her secret.

 

 Tonia lifted her chin and stared him down as if she could read his mind, "Aj, go to her."

 

 "I could act like I was just in the area and decided to drop in so it won't look creepy." He nodded in pride at his foolproof plan. 

 

 "Well, after all those texts, I don't think any girl would believe that," Tonia patted his shoulder supportively nonetheless, "but whatever makes you happy, sport."

 

 It most certainly did make him happy. 

 

 Only 15 minutes later did Ajax find himself hesitantly drifting on his skateboard in front of Lumine's apartment building. The sidewalk wasn't crowded, but the few passersby shot him odd looks each time he stared up at the balcony that might be hers. 

 

 When he swerved his board to avoid a stray dog, lost his balance, and tripped face-first into a bush, he finally decided enough was enough.

 

 It shouldn't be so hard to speak to a girl. Ajax has spoken to hundreds of them. The last time he got nervous because of a girl was at the age of 12 during a school dance. Nevertheless, he didn't date frequently or have serious relationships; he wasn't prone to social anxiety.

 

 Yet, the thought of Lumine rejecting him felt as if a boulder took residence in his stomach. The concerns and worries were a bowling ball and his poor organs the pins. 

 

  Stupid, Ajax thought to himself. He stopped drifting along the sidewalk and pressed one foot onto the ground, the other still holding his board in place. Then, with a sigh, he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his coat. How utterly stupid. They kissed once, and now he's acting like a lovesick schoolboy.

 

 Nevertheless, he still stood in the street, blocking foot traffic while staring at a balcony that might not even be hers.

 

 Something inside of him curled anxiously. Stupid. Stupid, stupid-

 

 "Excuse me, are you okay?"

 

 The voice broke through his thoughts and yanked him back down to earth. Ajax scowled in irritation at not noticing his surroundings but quickly smothered the expression with a smile. "I'm fine, thanks for asking!" He looked up and-

 

 And this blond, eyepatch dude was staring at him as if he were a ghost.

 

 Ajax quickly studied his face; a cloth patch covered the right side, while what looked to be tattoos of galaxies made of purple and black ran down his neck, disappearing beneath his black shirt. His hair was half pulled back into a short ponytail. 

 

Ajax had never met him in his life. Yet, the eyepatch dude continued to stare as if he couldn't believe Ajax's existence.

 

 "You okay?" He waved a hand in front of his face. 

 

 The man suddenly broke into a soft smile, "Yes, I'm just amazed. I was beginning to doubt Paimon's words."

 

 "Paimon?"

 

 "Ah, but it's not my place to speak to you," he turned and walked up the steps to the building, "Meddling in the traveler's affairs never ends well."

 

 With that, he opened the doors and disappeared. 

 

 Ajax rubbed the back of his neck, "Man, the druggies are getting worse in this side of town." At least he didn't stick around. Still, Ajax felt terrible. He should've given him some mora or something.

 

 After several more minutes of staring, he finally picked up his board and entered the building. The lobby was abandoned save for a napping cat in the corner and the hum of the elevator. Yet the eyepatch dude was nowhere to be seen.

 

 As Ajax made his way to Lumine's floor, his mind ran with possible greetings. He could not immediately call her out on ignoring him, but he was antsy to know as soon as possible. He'd spent the last week staring at her inactive Instagram page like an obsessive ex-boyfriend. But how else would he broach the subject? It would be awkward no matter what.

 

 Before he knew it, Ajax was striding down the familiar hallway towards her apartment. He stopped in front of the door and took a deep breath, mentally chanting don't be weird, don't come on too strong . Then, finally, he lifted his fist and knocked.

 

 Hopefully, Lumine would be alone. Ajax wasn't sure how tactful he might be if Aether stared him down throughout the entire ordeal– girls don't usually like it when someone stops speaking mid-heartful conversation just to challenge their brothers. Ajax learned that the hard way long ago. He folded his hands behind his back and rolled casually on his heels as the sound of muffled footsteps approached. Seconds later, the knob turned, and the door opened and-

 

 "Oh, I wondered how long it would take you to arrive." 

 

 Eye patch dude leaned against the doorframe as if it were his own apartment. He folded his arms over his chest and smiled, and if Ajax's mind was not running with the possibilities of why this guy was even there, he might have noticed that eye patch dude looked a bit too amused at the situation. 

 

 He recovered as quickly as possible, then mirrored the folded arms position and narrowed his eyes, "You knew I was coming?"

 

 "Where else would you go?" 

 

 Good point. Still, "Who even are you?"

 

 Ajax heard the accusatory note in his voice yet could not bring himself to care. If this blond guy were Lumine's boyfriend– or dead husband came to life like a zombie– he wouldn't go down without a fight. Of course, the deceased husband/boyfriend would ultimately trump in a battle for Lumine's affections according to the circumstances, but Ajax would at least like to get a punch or two in on his way out. 

 

 However, the man seemed perfectly calm, remaining unintimidated. He even smiled as if he knew something Ajax didn't. "Dainsleif."

 

 Dumbass name. Archaic, too, like an old man's name. "Alright, Dainsleif, I'm here to see Lumine."

 

 "Oh, I imagine you are." Before he could challenge the meaning of his words, Dainsleif stepped aside and gestured for him to enter, "Come in. I told her you were coming."

 

He glanced around the empty living room. An empty cup of tea sat on the coffee table. "Where is she?"

 

 "She told me that she had to brush her hair," Dainsleif said, "And said something about putting on a nice sweater."

 

 Lumine wanted to look nice for him; that was a good sign. Nevertheless, Ajax stood in the middle of the room, unsure of what to do next. He propped his skateboard against the wall and then stuffed his hands into his pockets, "Where's Aether?"

 

 Dainsleif's one visible eye widened so quickly that Ajax almost missed the expression. It was the first time the man showed any emotion other than polite amusement. He cleared his throat before shuffling in place, "We're still a bit awkward with each other, even 500 years later. He left with the geo archon before I even arrived yesterday."

 

 That's it; it made sense. "You're an immortal?" Ajax narrowed his eyes and looked the man up and down as if his appearance might explain something he'd missed, "But…."

 

 "What?" 

 

 "You're like a goth hipster emo band guy."

 

 "A… A what?" 

 

 Ajax ignored his incredulous stare, "You look like the kinda guy to read Edgar Allen Poe at weird cafes and vape in empty parking lots."

 

 Dainsleif analyzed him critically in return, "I assure you I do none of that. However, you look as if you haven’t brushed your hair in a year, just as I remember.”

 

 “What does that even mean?” He snorted. ‘ Just as I remember’ as if five minutes ago on the sidewalk was forever ago. 

 

 “It means what I said it means.”

 

 “Okay, but I’m asking you what you meant.”

 

 “I don’t go to weird cafes,” ignoring him entirely, Dainsleif folded his arms, looking like he could barely hold back a scowl, “You, however, look like a walking red flag.”

 

 Oddly enough, that was not the first time Ajax had been told that. 

 

 "I am, actually."

 

 But perhaps he shouldn't have said that right as Lumine stepped into the room. She cleared her throat to catch their attention, "Are you really? Should I be worried?"

 

 (Yes, but he didn’t want her to know that.)

 

 Both Dainsleif and Ajax turned to see her standing in the doorway leading to a bedroom. She wore a blank face, her eyes flickering between the men as if she didn't know what to say. Ajax waited until her gaze lingered on him longer, then jumped into action, forgetting Dainsleif entirely.

 

 "Hey!" He raised a hand and waved but lowered it robotically immediately after, "I was just in the area getting, uh, fro yo. Frozen yogurt. I was grabbing some frozen yogurt-"

 

 "I don't think the yogurt's actually frozen," Dainsleif interrupted, "It's just very cold."

 

 "Thank you for your input." Lumine shot him a deadpan look. 

 

 "Excuse me. I'm just trying to lighten the mood."

 

 "The mood only needed lightening because you two were fighting," she put her hands on her hips and huffed, "You're like children."

 

 Dainsleif glanced at Ajax, then smiled wryly, "Is that supposed to be a pun?"

 

 "Dain, could you please just go watch tv or something?"

 

 He hummed mainly to himself before turning around, "I understand. Don't let me ruin your moment."

 

 Ajax didn't feel as if it was very much of a moment. Instead, he felt like an outsider looking in on two immortals, like a piece of furniture that couldn't talk. He'd metaphorically turned into a lamp, unacknowledged. It wasn't as if he had room to complain, though; he still took the opportunity to stare at her as she bickered good-naturedly with Dainsleif. Lumine, in the flesh, not a ghost.

 

 Dainsleif ignored her suggestion to watch tv and instead retreated into the kitchen. Once he disappeared, Lumine finally acknowledged Ajax with a curious look. He couldn't help but light up as their eyes met, "So he's immortal too? You know, I'd expect immortals to be all mysterious and cool, but I've yet to meet one besides yourself that fits that description."

 

 She smiled, "I don't think I'm too mysterious. You know my secrets, don't you?"

 

 "I like to think I'm the exception."

 

 "You are. Come on," Lumine turned to enter her bedroom, "I'm sure you came here for an explanation."

 

 Was it that obvious? Ajax followed dutifully, his rare bout of anxiety finally lessening. How easily he and Lumine began flirting served as the reassurance he needed. Once he stepped into her room, she closed the door, and he analyzed the surroundings. 

 

Her room was frustratingly messy.

 

 Ajax itched to pick up the piles of laundry on the floor. Her bed wasn't made, her desk was covered in papers, and four half-drank bottles of water were on her nightstand. Water bottles do not serve as decor and should not ever serve as decor. Lumine walked past the mess and sat on the edge of the crumpled bed as if nothing was amiss.

 

 "So, you've probably been wondering why I haven't called you back," visibly uncomfortable, she tugged at the bottom of her strawberry print sweater and crossed her legs, "But I don't really have an answer that'll justify it."

 

 Ajax knew that she was saying something he'd be interested in, yet he couldn't take his eyes off the uneven stack of books in the corner with a microwave ramen cup sitting on top like a crown. 

 

 He forced himself to meet her gaze instead, "Lumine."

 

 "Yes?" She perked up.

 

 "… You're like a 12-year-old boy."

 

 "Excuse me?" She immediately scoffed, "I'm not flat-chested if that's what you're implying. Do you know how hard it is to find a comfortable bra that actually fits? You can't blame me for only wearing sports bras-"

 

 "No, that's not what I meant!" 

 

 "Then what?"

 

 Her cheeks turning pink made him bite the inside of his mouth to resist the urge to grin like an idiot, "Nevermind."

 

 "What?" She stood up as if all 5'2 of herself was enough to intimidate him. 

 

 However, he took the opportunity to dart forward and yank her bedsheets up, smoothing out the wrinkles and tucking them beneath the mattress before smoothing out the covers. Lumine watched in silence. Ajax picked up all three half-empty water bottles and turned to her, "Recycling bin?"

 

 "We don't recycle-"

 

 "Lumine, you need to do your part in helping the environment."

 

 "What?"

 

 "Don't be a boomer."

 

 She watched him leave the room, make his way into the kitchen, then rush back into the bedroom and close the door. Then, he scooped up her laundry and threw it in her hamper, frowning the whole time.

 

 It was only when Ajax heard a sniffle that he froze mid-cleaning. He straightened up and looked at Lumine to find her rubbing at her eyes.

 

 "Hey," he sat on the bed beside her, "did I upset you? I can mess up everything again if that's what you want. It's just hard to have an actual conversation when it's so cluttered."

 

 Lumine shook her head. Her eyes were lightly rimmed in pink, yet she held the tears back with several deep, shaky breaths, "It's nothing, it's just been a long week, and it's nice to see that some things never change, I guess."

 

 She'd only ghosted him for a week at the most; that wasn't much time to change. He didn't even get a haircut. Ajax shot himself a glance in a wall mirror to make sure he was still himself, then returned his attention to Lumine. 

 

 Her eyes were honey-colored, and they looked up at him with an expression he couldn't name. Ajax couldn't help but smile, "What?"

 

 Earlier that day, Tonia prepped him on how to take a break up with dignity— especially a break up where they weren't even dating in the first place. As much as Ajax didn't want that to happen, he'd expected the worst. 

 

 Yet, here Lumine was, searching his face as if he held the solution to all of her problems. 

 

 His heart skipped a beat. Something— some kind of inner warmth, an emotion with no name—washed over him. Ajax considered the possibility of coming down with the flu until Lumine interrupted his thoughts, "I was trying to figure something out. That's why I didn't call you."

 

 He crashed down into reality and blinked, "Oh. Did you figure it out?"

 

 "Not in the least," it was unfortunate how she turned her head to stare at the wall instead of him, "Dain has a theory, and once Zhongli and Aether return with everybody else, we'll all discuss it."

 

 And here, Ajax thought that she was trying to figure out her feelings for him. How humbling.

 

 Still, curiosity outshined all else, "Everybody else?"

 

 "People like us. The archons, adepti, those with ancient curses that force them to suffer for an eternity."

 

 "…Sounds like a party."

 

 Lumine snorted and shot him a smile, "It's gonna be a bit hectic. I had to clear out some storage rooms in my teapot for guests-"

 

 "Your what?"

 

 "Anyway," she sighed and kicked her legs as they dangled off the bed, "long story short, Celestia might be at it again. Dain thinks it might be some kind of punishment since nobody really believes in them anymore, but that doesn't explain why everyone's been copied and pasted now."

 

 Ajax lost all understanding ever since she mentioned the teapot. "What?"

 

 "And I was wondering whether we should test some things out on you or not-"

 

 "Wait," he put his hands up, and she quieted immediately, "I need to take it from the top. So, all of the immortals are having an Avengers-style reunion?"

 

 Lumine held back a scowl, "If you want to refer to it that way, then yes."

 

 "And Celestia might be punishing something because someone pushed control C on their keyboard and copied someone?"

 

 "Yes."

 

 "So, what does that have to do with not returning my calls?"

 

 Lumine tensed. He didn't want to call her out so blatantly, but the connection between the two events was invisible. She sighed once more and leaned back, propping herself up on her elbows. "I was just freaked out, okay? There's a lot going on right now, and I don't know if it's good for me to get… Personally attached."

 

 So she was breaking up with him—even though they weren't dating. Ajax leaned back and took the spot beside her on the bed covers. Their legs dangled off the side, but Lumine didn't seem to care. She simply pursed her lips and looked at him. 

 

 Personally attached, she said. However, Ajax didn't want to beat around the bush any longer, "What'd you decide?"

 

 "I don't know," she laid down and turned to rest her head on her arm, "I'll have my answer after we run a few tests."

 

 "Don't you take enough tests at university already?"

 

 She snorted at his wicked grin, "I've been skipping for over a week now. I don't even know if the professor will let me into class at all."

 

 "But if you stop attending, I won't have anyone to bother."

 

 "I'm sure you'll survive somehow."

 

 Ajax soaked up the sight of her face. He turned to lay on his side to get a better look, noting each messy strand of blonde hair silhouetted in the light shining in from the window. His breath mingled with hers in the space between their faces. So close, her lips were so close, and he would probably survive if she set him on fire again.

 

 Ajax shifted closer. And closer. His mind began to run; would the other immortals have human pets too? Do they kiss their human pets? Do they make them fight in a ring like chickens? He hoped so-

 

 "Wait," Lumine pressed her hand against his lips. He took the hint and pulled back, yet their steady eye contact never broke, "You're not finished cleaning my room yet, so this is unearned affection."

 

 "I'll have to clean pretty quickly then." Ajax sat up, yet Lumine's hands pulled him down within seconds. She cupped his cheek with one hand and gripped the front of his shirt. He didn't realize what was happening until she leaned up to press her lips against his cheek. 

 

 She lingered there for a moment before resting her forehead on his shoulder. Her hand moved to wrap around his neck and pull him closer, making Ajax immediately concentrate on the feeling of her breath on his collarbone. That unnamable emotion burst inside his chest once more as he finally regained his senses.

 

 Lumine has soft lips. She smells like vanilla. Her hair tickled against his cheek.

 

 And a dream from long ago, blurry and misty like a fog, came to mind. The smell of lavender, golden hair between his fingers, the memory of someone he once loved pressed up against him. 

 

 Ajax rested his hands on her hips as Lumine lifted her head. "I want to go somewhere," she mumbled, "I've been contemplating when to do this, if ever, but I think I should just do it now." 

 

 He couldn't help but grin, "Where are we going? I think we're perfectly comfortable here."

 

 "I need to visit the Snezhnayan Historical Museum in Downtown Zapolyarny.”

 

 Aside from the fact that Lumine completely ignored his attempt at flirting, Ajax lost every ounce of fire within him at the mention of that place. The mood was ruined. The building heat between them and his fingers pressing into her sides disappeared like mist.

 

 Ajax had spent one incredibly boring summer volunteering at that same museum. It was the summer he decided he hated dusty artifacts; those swords always broke when he tried to use them. Useless. 

 

 “Why would you need to go there?” He pouted. Lumine pulled back further to cast him a glare. 

 

 “If we don’t go,” she paused for anticipation, “I’ll never kiss you again.”

 

 Ajax hesitated to admit how well that threat worked. Truth be told, he wasn’t sure if she was serious or not, Lumine was difficult to read. Nevertheless, as her human pet/maybe future unofficial boyfriend, Ajax had a duty make sure that Lumine's wishes were fulfilled.

 

 Even if that meant visiting the museum his family owned and risking a possible encounter with his father in the process.

 

---

 

  Nearly an hour later, Ajax and Lumine stood in front of the wall labeled 'The Harbingers of History.' Portraits of stony-faced men and women looked down on him as if to judge his choices in life. Ajax had always hated this part of the museum; the eyes in the paintings followed him.

 

 Lumine, though, was enraptured. He watched her stare at a portrait of a young-looking man with dull eyes. He looked as if he didn't want to be there, dressed in full military wear and forced to pose for hours without end so that he could be another portrait on history's wall. Yet, the spot of vibrant blue hanging off his belt didn't match the somber tones of the other colors.

 

 Ajax stood beside Lumine, staring. He only stared because she stared; of course, he couldn't bring himself to care about dead people. Yet, she leaned in closer, reaching past the red velvet rope to point at the plaque beneath the portrait.

 

 "Tartaglia," she said, "We learned about him on the first day of university, remember?"

 

 Not particularly. "Sure, girlie."

 

 She pulled back once more with wide eyes and rested her hands on the rope. "Doesn't he look… I don't know, familiar?"

 

 "In what way?" He just looked like some guy.

 

 "I think he kind of looks like you, actually."

 

 Ajax leaned in and narrowed his eyes to better view the bored-looking man in the portrait. He stared, and stared, and stared. Lumine was tense at his side.

 

 Finally, Ajax shrugged, "I don't think we look anything alike."

 

 "…Are you blind?"

 

 He ignored her incredulous look and stared at the picture again. The tiny blue spot painted at the man's side caught his attention, but the rest looked dark, a typical portrait of a guy who was good at war. The Fatui was still active—he would know— but there hadn't been a Harbinger in ages. Tartaglia was one of the last ones. 

 

 Ajax analyzed the portrait from top to bottom, then shrugged once more. Lumine clasped her hands and stared up at him, "You see it, right? You definitely look like him."

 

 He paused. 

 

Until, finally:

 

 "…Do you really think I'm that ugly, Lumi?"

 

 (Why she groaned and stomped away, looking annoyed, remained a complete mystery.)

 

 

 

Chapter 11: The Girl in the Dream

Summary:

There is love in your body but you can't get it out
It gets stuck in your head, won't come out of your mouth

 

 

 

 A girl was in Ajax's dreams, a girl with hair like sunlight and a smile that left him paralyzed. And she always smiled at him, never beyond his shoulder or at anybody else. Her lips only quirked into that particular look when her eyes landed on his. 

 

 He felt as if he'd been in love with her ever since he was 14. Or perhaps he'd loved her since he was born; he knew that they were meant to be together. Something deep within him had always known that.

 

 Together, together, together; he couldn't get the word out of his head. He and Lumine, with her honey golden eyes, together. Ajax and Lumine as she let him into her world, together. The mortal and the immortal walking into a museum, together. (A mortal and an immortal walk into a museum sounded like a start to a bad joke.)

 

 In all seriousness, Ajax would not have chosen his family's museum as the destination for their first date. But at least he had found her, that girl who fought alongside him in odd dreams about swords and monsters and blood. He knew he liked the sight of her covered in crimson without ever having truly seen it. 

 

 But the chances of Lumine somehow getting covered in blood on their very educational date were low. 

 

 And was it even a date? No matter what she preferred to call it, Ajax would take what he could get. 

 

 He followed Lumine as she stomped away from the painting of Tartaglia. He remained hot on her heels, somehow struggling to keep up despite her short legs. "What's wrong? Were you and that guy friends or something?" 

 

 Was she irritated that he called Tartaglia ugly? The painting was good, no doubt, and Ajax was not dumb enough to miss the similarities between their hair and eye colors, but he supposed he didn't analyze himself enough to recognize features similar to his own. He slowed in his chase of Lumine to look at himself in the clear reflection of a window. Beyond the window was another exhibit; the history of the past Tsaritsas, fittingly placed beside the Harbingers’ history exhibit. Childe watched his reflection faintly shift in what he could make out from the glass. 

 

 He had a straight nose, shockingly blue eyes, high cheekbones with a light smattering of freckles— perhaps he looked a little bit like Tartaglia, though why Lumine cared was beyond him. 

 

 She had left him behind in favor of entering the Tsaritsa's exhibit. Ajax picked up his pace to catch up to her as she rounded the corner, immediately slipping past the featured portrait of the current Tsaritsa. Ajax continued to follow her. 

 

 "Did you know that guy?" He asked. His voice sounded too loud in the quiet museum, and he instantly felt the need to hush in case his father was nearby.

 

 Lumine did not even spare a glance as she kept speed-walking, "No."

 

 "You're totally lying."

 

 Her shoulders stiffened and she slowed in pace, "No, I'm not."

 

 "You're such a bad liar." Ajax had noticed that for an immortal living in the shadows amongst humanity, she had her weak moments when covering up the truth—like the time she stopped a car from crushing him like a bug.

 

 "I'm not a bad liar," Lumine huffed. She stopped suddenly. Ajax nearly ran into her back, yet she ignored his struggle to stay upright as she turned around to face him, her hands on her hips and eyes narrowed. 

 

 Could bunnies pout? Ajax had a feeling that if rabbits could pout, they'd look like Lumine. 

 

 "What?" He put a hand over his mouth to stifle his growing smile. 

 

 "What?" She repeated incredulously, "What're you laughing at?"

 

 "N-Nothing."

 

 "You're holding back laughter, I see it."

 

 True, but he did not want to piss off his immortal almost-girlfriend even further. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself contained, "Really, it's nothing. You just look cute, is all."

 

 "Cute?" Her eyes widened and lips parted— were they always so pink and soft-looking? He could only wonder if they'd taste the same as last time. "I am not cute. I'm a danger to society!"

 

 He laughed, "You're a danger to my heart."

 

 "Yeah, because I'm about to stab a knife through it."

 

 "Don't tempt me with a good time, lyubimaya." As he spoke, Lumine froze. She stared up at him, her eyes wide and cheeks quickly paling as if she'd seen a ghost. Then, slowly, Ajax's smile fell, "What? Is the nickname too far?"

 

 "No," her voice was soft, reminding him of a hurt animal, "It's fine. You just reminded me of someone."

 

 "Who? If I'm allowed to ask."

 

 She shook her head. The longer locks of blonde hair framing her face swished back and forth. "I think it's better if we don't talk about him."

 

 Him, a him, and judging by the intimate nature of the word lyubimaya, he was someone who called Lumine beloved. From what she'd told Ajax, her husband seemed to be the only man she ever loved. 

 

 Did that mean he was Sneznhayan?

 

 "Is it that Tartaglia guy?" Ajax asked. 

 

 Lumine looked up at him with furrowed brows. She didn't seem surprised but more disturbed than anything. Then, she looked away with a sigh, turned around, and inspected the closest painting of one of the Tsaritsas. "Really, Ajax, we shouldn't talk about it."

 

 And perhaps he didn't know when to stop, so he continued pushing, "You just took me straight there, as if you were trying to show me something."

 

 "I just thought you looked alike. Can't we just, I don't know—" Lumine interrupted herself with another sigh and turned around to face him, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger, "Can't we just have a good date?"

 

 Ajax's heart fluttered. If it had wings, it would've soared; it would've flown up his throat and out of his mouth and then risen so high that it got hit by an airplane. Then, the pilots would be like, 'why is there so much blood on our airplane' and they'd find a heart with wings and never speak of the experience to anyone again because it was too traumatic. 

 

 "So… This is a date?"

 

 "Yes," Lumine rolled her eyes and slipped her hand into his, "it's a date."

 

 Her skin was warm and his cold. Never once had Ajax craved warmth so severely before that moment when her fingers tangled with his and squeezed. A tingle of affection rose from his chest like the incoming tide. 

 

 Lumine led him down the aisle and past the many portraits of the Tsaritsas through the years. Finally, as she neared the beginning of the line where the first Tsaritsa's portrait lay in wait, she slowed her pace. 

 

 Too many seconds had passed to acknowledge their previous topic of conversation—though Ajax was racking his brain on how he could bring up their date once again—and Lumine changed the subject quickly. She stopped in front of a large, golden-framed painting depicting a platinum blonde woman with a stony expression. 

 

 "Did you know she was the cryo archon?" She asked. 

 

 Ajax nodded, "Yeah, the history of the archons is taught pretty early on in school."

 

 "How accurate is the history?"

 

 "How would I know?"

 

 "True," she laughed at herself, "sorry, sometimes I forget you're just a feeble little human."

 

 A feeble little human. He knew that she was messing with him, but if she was allowed to tease him, he should have been allowed to tease her. Instead of retorting verbally, Ajax swooped towards her, leaned down, and scooped her up with one hand under her thighs and the other behind her back. Lumine yelped in surprise as her feet suddenly left the ground, "Ajax—"

 

 "Who's feeble now?" he boasted, carrying her like a bride across the room, away from the wall of portraits, "I could toss you around like a ragdoll."

 

 Despite the initial shock, Lumine threw her head back and laughed. Her right hand snaked up his chest and over his shoulder while she hoisted herself up further to wrap her left arm around his neck. Their chests pushed against each other as her legs dangled over the crook of his arm. 

 

 He almost expected her to smack him for picking her up so suddenly, yet she quickly got comfortable in his arms, even going so far as to lay her head on his collarbone. "I'm glad we came here. It gave me some insight." She said. 

 

 "Insight into what?" Ajax asked. 

 

 "Just something I've been wondering."

 

 "About whether that Tartaglia guy and I look alike?"

 

 "Yeah, that."

 

 Why was that, of all things, so important to her? Lumine was obviously keeping a secret, though what else was new? She was the most secretive person he knew. Only, when it came to this portrait, he found himself mentally digging deeper and putting down stakes, lingering on the face in the picture that she stared at so lovingly. 

 

 Could it be possible that Tartaglia was her husband from so long ago? 

 

 Ajax recalled the day she showed him her use of the elements. When making a hydro whale mimic, she said, 'my husband taught me this.' 

 

 Her husband used hydro— Tartaglia was clearly a hydro user judging by the vision painted on his belt in the picture. 

 

 Ajax stopped mid-step, then slowly set Lumine down. She slipped her arms away from his neck as her feet touched the floor, "Are you okay?"

 

 Not particularly. He knew he should've felt different; she thought her husband and he looked alike, and that was a good sign. Or it was immensely creepy. 

 

 But that might've been why she was able to kiss him without having a breakdown— sort of, whether setting him on fire counted as a breakdown or not, he wasn't sure. Perhaps Lumine simply closed her eyes and imagined him.

 

 Tartaglia. 

 

 Ajax stepped away, his brows furrowed as he looked at the short girl in front of him, "Lumi?"

 

 "Huh?" She was concerned; it was written on her face. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to hide the hurt coloring his expression. 

 

 "...Was Tartaglia your husband?"

 

 Lumine froze. 

 

 Ajax could only stare at her theater of emotion. For once, she didn't bother to disguise her shock beneath apathy and a blank mask.

 

 Finally, she glanced away to avoid his eyes, "Yes, he was my husband, the one I told you about."

 

 That was the mystery man. Ajax wanted nothing more than to run back to his portrait and inspect him further. 

 

 "And… you think we look similar?"

 

 "I— Yes. I do."

 

 His chest twinged with pain. Did she only put up with him because he reminded her of Tartaglia?

 

 Yet before Ajax could ask, a voice cut through his thoughts, "Ajax? What're you…" the voice trailed off as he glanced over at the source.

 

 Standing there under the sizeable arched entrance of the exhibit was a familiar face, too familiar, too annoyingly common of a sight to see. The one person he hadn't wanted to run into had somehow found him on his now ruined date.

 

 "Papa," Ajax greeted him in Snezhnayan, sending him a curt nod, "I didn't think you'd be here today."

 

 That was a lie; his father was at the museum every day. He stared at Ajax, his eyes flitting between him and Lumine, and waited in heavy silence for someone to say something.

 

 What horrible timing that man had. Lumine folded her arms over her chest as if they were ropes keeping her held together. She leaned around Ajax to catch a glimpse of his father.

 

 Then, she quirked what seemed to be a genuine smile, "Mikhael, right? Ajax has talked about you."

 

 He had not, not that he recalled. Ajax rarely spoke about his father.

 

 Mikhael looked surprised, as if he knew that fact. "Really?"

 

 "Yeah," Lumine stepped around Ajax to approach the older man. Obviously, they were related, with the same facial structure and eyes, though Mikhael had messy brown hair and big glasses. Lumine shook his hand, "It's nice to meet you. My name is Lumine.”

 

 How did she know his name? His father wasn't on Ajax's Instagram page, nor did he have any social media. The situation became more suspicious by the second. 

 

 "It's nice to meet you too," Mikhael shook her hand with an embarrassed smile, "Excuse me for any rudeness. I just hardly ever see Ajax here unless I force him to work here."

 

 "No, no, you're not being rude!"

 

 "It just looks like I interrupted an important conversation." He said, and he had done just that.

 

 "We're on a date," Lumine sent Ajax a fake smile over her shoulder, "But no worries, I'm glad to meet you finally."

 

 Mikhael's eyes widened behind his big glasses, "A date? He didn't tell me he was… Well, he doesn't tell me much anyway, so I suppose it's to be expected." An awkward silence settled between them. Lumine forced a light laugh but said nothing. Then, he cleared his throat and went on, "So, uh, I should get going. I've got some work to do. It was nice to see you, Ajax. And nice to meet you, Lumine.”

 

 "Yeah, see you later," Ajax said. He tried his best not to sound annoyed.

 

 With another warm but awkward smile directed at Lumine, Mikhael turned around and left the exhibit. Thick silence stood in his wake.

 

 Then, Ajax and Lumine felt the suffocating tension more clearly. Finally, she turned around to cast him a worried look before approaching him, "What were we talking about?"

 

 Ajax ignored her question and immediately followed it up with: "How'd you know my father's name?" 

 

 She stopped. Tense, Lumine could only stare. 

 

 "...Well," she ran her fingers through her hair and shifted uncomfortably, "it was on your social media."

 

 While there was a chance that may be true, it most likely wasn't. Childe rarely saw his father, nor did he ever have reason to post about him. He wasn't the type to complain about his problems publicly on Facebook either. 

 

 Ajax didn't want to think of Lumine as creepy; she just wasn't. Yet the realization of how little he truly knew of her was beginning to set in. She was the girl in his dreams, silent and beautiful and entirely unknown.

 

 Lumine watched him for a moment before sighing, then began to dig into her purse, "Here, I have something for you."

 

 Despite it all, he was curious. He moved closer to her, his mind still lingering on Tartaglia's shock of ginger hair and how his own features resembled the man in the painting. Lumine obviously missed her husband. If she was trying to replace him with some poor human that looked like him… Ajax couldn't stand to think about it any further. 

 

 Finally, Lumine found what she was looking for in her purse. "I grabbed this before we left the apartment. I didn't know whether or not I'd give it to you today, but here." 

 

 She pushed what looked like a vision into his hand. It nearly covered his palm with its sharp edges and circular, grey gemstone in the middle. A faint swirl denoting the element of hydro sat in the middle of the gem. 

 

 Visions were on display in another exhibit on the other side of the museum; Ajax recalled seeing them every time his father made him work there over the summer. They were all grey like the one he held in his hand, but on tv, when recreating how the visions might have looked, they were filled with vibrant colors. 

 

 "A vision?" Childe held it up to the light, "Did you get this from somewhere?" She couldn't have gone all the way to the other side of the museum to steal it, she'd been at his side the entire time. 

 

 "It's my husband’s.” Her eyes flickered away at the mention of him, "Visions can be passed onto people. I just wanted to see if you would resonate with it."

 

 "Resonate?"

 

 "Activate it again. I mean, I don't want to bring the allogenes back—"

 

 "Allogenes?"

 

 "Vision users," her voice lowered to a whisper as she stepped closer to be heard, glancing around to make sure they were alone.

 

 "You're trying to see if I could be a vision user?" he asked, also whispering, "Aren't they given from the archons?"

 

 "No, from Celestia, which is… Let's say it's inactive these days, at least I think so."

 

 "So why are you giving me this?"

 

 Ajax held it up to the light once more, yet as a family of four walked in from the entrance to the exhibit, Lumine grabbed his arm and lowered it, hiding the vision between their bodies. "Just keep it for a while and see if it resonates with you. If it does, it'll confirm a few things I've been wondering."

 

 "Like…?"

 

 "Like if Celestia is still around, dork. Among other things.”

 

 "Oh," Childe looked at the trinket one last time before slipping it into his inner coat pocket. He stood up straight and crossed his arms, "So, back to how you know my father's name—"

 

 "I just implied that there may be immortal Gods living in the sky, and all you say is oh?" Lumine asked incredulously. 

 

 That he did; even if Gods were living in the sky as there used to be centuries ago, it didn't reasonably affect him, not unless they decided to destroy the world or something along those lines. 

 

 "I'm just curious," Ajax explained, “And about Tartaglia too. Why do you think we look alike?”

 

 “I just do. You sure are nosy. I gave you a super awesome gift and what do I get in return? 20 questions.”

 

 The weight of the vision in his pocket threatened to sink him. He didn't want to disappoint Lumine by not resonating with it, but if he did, then what did that mean for him? The water-bending would have been cool, but its implications were too vast for him to grasp. 

 

 “Like I said, I’m just curious.” Ajax frowned. 

 

 "You're curious about a lot of things," Lumine cast him a stern look before turning around and walking towards the exit, "I think I'm ready to go onto the next exhibit. It’s, uh,” she stopped to read a sign with the map plastered on the front, “the ruins of Snezhnaya and wax figurines of celebrities display? That’s… an interesting combination.”

 

 (That’s what Ajax said to his father when it was first implemented. However, the ruins of Snezhnaya and wax figurines of celebrities were their biggest attraction.)

 

 Per her request, he followed her through the museum. Afterward, they got ice cream and walked back to her apartment, the conversation between them perfectly natural as if they were two normal people.

 

 Dainsleif was nowhere to be found within her home. While Ajax would’ve usually stayed a bit longer and taken the opportunity to be alone with Lumine, his mind was miles away. She asked if he wanted tea, to which he refused. He had homework, essays, and projects for college— and not everybody was an immortal demigod that knew everything. She stuck her tongue out spitefully yet hugged him goodbye nonetheless. 

 

 Through it all, Ajax’s mind was elsewhere. 

 

 He picked up his skateboard and ran back to his dorm as quickly as possible. If Lumine was suspicious of him for leaving so hurriedly, he didn’t care. He was the suspicious one.

 

 Finally, Ajax burst into his dorm and made a bee-line for the computer. 

 

 He had a Harbinger to research. 

 

---

 

 

  Tonia's voice crackled through his phone speaker, "So she knows papa's name; what's the big deal?"

 

 "The big deal is that I've never mentioned it before," Ajax said as he typed 'Tartaglia Harbinger' into the Google search bar. He pushed enter and watched the many links to research articles pop up, then scrolled down the page. Tonia listened to the sound of his mouse scroller rolling before heaving a sigh. 

 

 "Okay, and so what? She may have asked one of your friends." 

 

 There was an article about Tartaglia "Childe" that looked promising. He clicked on it and was instantly met with a long research paper. "I don't have friends." 

 

 "...True, true. But still, there are so many ways she could've found out." Tonia said. 

 

 Ajax sighed and leaned back into his computer chair. He looked at his phone, then the grey vision that sat next to it. It was the nth time that evening that Ajax found himself staring at it in complete silence. 

 

 "Hello?" His sister's voice crackled from the phone, "Did I lose you?"

 

 In a way, yes. "No, I'm here, just thinking."

 

 "'Bout what?"

 

 Should he tell her about the vision? Tonia already knew Lumine was immortal, though he had a feeling that that was already too much information. If he remembered correctly, visions were considered treasures many centuries ago, and some people would've done anything to get one. He needed to keep Tonia safe by holding his tongue. 

 

 But still, there was one aspect to it all that he couldn't ignore. "Lumine showed me a portrait of her dead husband today."

 

 "Ooooh," Tonia hissed. Ajax imagined her wincing on the other end, "it's never a good thing when she shows you a picture of her ex."

 

 "It's different, though, the guy's dead."

 

 "Still."

 

 Still, right; Ajax couldn't stop thinking about how hopeful Lumine looked when she asked if he thought he resembled Tartaglia. 

 

 He sighed, "I just can't help but feel like she's trying to replace him with me."

 

 "Well yeah, that's what moving on is." She snorted. 

 

 "No, I mean actually make me into him," Ajax picked up the vision. He scrolled down the page on his desktop with his other hand until he finally came to a picture of the portrait itself. Although the image was low quality, the bright blue shine of Tartaglia's hydro vision made itself known. 

 

 "Like… Surgery?" Tonia gasped. 

 

 He ran his thumb over the grey surface of the vision, "What? No. No, we just look alike, apparently." Another glance at the low-quality image left him feeling even more confused, "she thinks we look similar, and then, later on, she gave me—" Pause; he couldn't tell her, he shouldn't, "She just gave me something of his."

 

 His little sister hummed. It sounded as if she were eating chips while the usual noises of his home made a racket in the background. He recognized the sound of the dog playfully growling as Teucer giggled. His heart warmed for the first time since the awkward encounter with his father. 

 

 "Yeah, that's creepy," she finally decided to speak again, her voice confident. She munched on another chip for a few seconds before going on, "So, what're you going to do?"

 

 "I don't know," Ajax could only stare at the block of text on his monitor. None of the words made sense, his eyes glazed over the information without taking in a single tidbit. 

 

 "You like her, right?"

 

 He'd been in love with her since she first appeared in his dreams at the age of 14. "Yeah, I really do."

 

 "Then just wait it out," she crunched down on another chip then spoke with her mouth full, "See what else she does. If she starts trying to get you to wear his clothes, run."

 

 That seemed to be as good of a plan as any. What else was he supposed to do? "Do you think she's crazy?"

 

 "I don't know, you tell me."

 

 No, she couldn't be. There was no way. 

 

 Still: "I wonder if she's even truly immortal." 

 

 Yet she showed him all of those tricks with the elements. She had even set his shirt on fire, which was no illusion. It was real, all of it. Ajax could still imagine the mist on his face from the mini-hydro whale she summoned— and the feeling of being drenched by the enormous hydro whale she summoned afterward. 

 

 But powers an immortal does not make. 

 

 "Has she given you any reason to doubt?" Tonia asked, "Actually, it would totally make sense if she knew papa's name if she were immortal, you know? Like, it's just in character."

 

 That was true. Lumine had the whole 'wise, infinitely aged demigod' thing going on. It still caught him off guard, though, making him nervous. Rarely did Ajax feel his nerves go to high alert; he wasn't used to the feeling. 

 

 Ajax brushed his thumb over the surface once more. He watched the grey swirl within the gem— it could've been a very well-made fake. On the other hand, Lumine could be mentally ill, or it might’ve been an intricate trolling.

 

 "Hey," Tonia's voice was soft as it came through the speaker, "What's happened to make you doubt her? You were so confident before."

 

 Ajax clenched the vision to his chest and frowned, "She wants to dress me in her ex-husband's clothes."

 

 "She never said that! You're totally jumping to conclusions!”

 

 A tingle within his palm caught his attention. Tonia continued rambling about her' future immortal sister-in-law' as Ajax tuned her out, distracted by the feeling of a growing buzz in the hand that held the vision. 

 

 He held it up to inspect what was happening, and once again, he could not look away. Something about it was drawing him in as if there were ropes tied around his limbs. He felt as if he was swimming. Closing his eyes, Ajax imagined swimming in the ocean in Fontaine as a kid on vacation. His father grabbed his arms and gently pulled him through the water. He drifted and went under, the taste of salt on his tongue. 

 

 It was a shame the ocean surrounding the Western border of Snezhnaya was too cold; Ajax would have swam in it every day. Yet despite the chill, his father and uncle would always take him out on a boat. Tonia continued talking, but Ajax had his eyes closed and his mind elsewhere. It shifted from the warm water to the Snezhnayan ocean's cold breeze. The way his body swayed and shifted along with the fishing boat would always lure him to sleep. And the sting of rain on his cheeks was like affectionate greetings from a lover. 

 

 It was then that a light pierced through the black behind his eyelids. 

 

 "Ajax?" Tonia asked from the other end of the phone. 

 

 He opened his eyes and looked at the vision in his hand, only to be met with vibrant blue. 

 

 The swirls within the gemstone glowed and moved as if running water. Then, they pulsed once, and the vibrant blue color faltered. Yet, when the swirls throbbed again, the color returned as if someone had flipped a switch within. 

 

 "Are you still there?" Tonia asked again. 

 

 Ajax had no response. He could not focus on anything besides the glowing blue stone in his hand. 

 

 Suddenly, his hand felt wet and cold. 

 

 Wrapping around the vision, through his fingers, and up to his arm were tendrils of sentient water. 

 

 Ajax cursed in Snezhnayan and dropped the trinket. It rolled across his rug and under his bed, casting a blue glow from the shadows. The water wrapped around his arm like a snake fell limp and exploded into thousands of tiny droplets; they were cold and salty like the feeling of rain, the sense of raising his face to the incoming storm as he stood at the front of his father's boat. 

 

 The mist that the water created cooled the air in front of him. Tonia sounded worried from the phone speaker, "Ajax? Really, are you okay? Dammit, I—"

 

 "Tonia," he said, picking up the phone, "I… I just— Well, um."

 

 "What?"

 

I just summoned water from thin air, was what he did not say. "... I've got to go."

 

 With that, Ajax ended the call. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 12: Home

 

 

 

 Lumine knew this day would come. 

 

 Childe wasn’t going to live to an old age, but she liked to pretend that he had a chance. She liked to contemplate what it might be like with him at 70 years old, frail and grey-haired, beautiful though wrinkled, bursting on the inside to fight despite his aching bones. She would be at his side as life left his body, and…

 

 And she would live. The struggle would be daily. 

 

 But old age wasn’t meant for Ajax. Even as a young boy, he couldn’t see himself growing old. It was as if he had always known, internally, that he would die young from some terrible wound that he wouldn’t recover from. He was never destined to grow gray and frail. He was never destined to live past 23. 

 

 So Lumine knew this day would come, but that knowledge did not prepare her for it, not in the least. She stood in place, white boots sinking into the mud and blood covering the ground. It was picturesque, how it rained. Of course it would rain on one of the worst days of her life. As Ajax stumbled backwards, both hands wrapped around one of the polearms jutting out from his stomach, Lumine felt the familiarity of ripping apart. 

 

 She was a frail, thin paper, and Teyvat ripped pieces of her away. First, when Aether was taken, the paper was ripped clean in half. Now, it was ripped into a fourth as she watched Childe drop to his knees. All that was left of Lumine was a tiny crumb, frail and easily crumpled, frayed at the edges and worthless. 

 

 Blood streamed like a red river from his wound. It trailed down his stomach and dripped onto the ground, where it mixed with mud and rain water to create a dirty puddle beneath him. There was nothing she could do to help. She didn’t know how to heal, she wasn’t a doctor, and the polearm was so embedded into his body that she could see the shaft sticking out of his back. 

 

 This was the end. 

 

 Childe was not destined to live past 23. Lumine would never watch him grow old. 

 

 Without a second thought, she moved her sinking feet through the mud and approached him. Childe looked up at her with wide eyes tinkling in sick amusement, as if he found it funny that there were a myriad of spears sticking out of his stomach. He opened his mouth to laugh but only blood trickled out from the side of his lips. His eyes began to droop, his skin turned clammy and pale. 

 

 Lumine stopped in front of his body as he knelt on the wet ground. She leaned down and pushed her hands through his hair, brushing back his bangs to reveal his forehead, where she pressed a soft kiss to his skin. 

 

 “I love you,” she whispered. 

 

 Childe would’ve replied if he were not, unfortunately, dying. 

 

 Lumine left him there. He would’ve preferred to lose this battle alone, with no one watching. 

 

 She turned away and trudged through the battlegrounds to where her true enemy lay in wait. Her heart lay in the mud behind her. 

 

 She knew loving a mortal was a mistake. Aether always warned her of that. He’d had mortal lovers in other worlds before, and he outlived them all. Grief persevered until time closed the wound, leaving a scar that would forever ache in the back of your mind. Lumine thought she was smarter than her brother by never letting herself love, but that was until Teyvat. That was until Ajax. 

 

 She’d done this to herself. And forever would she ache from the consequences. 

 

---

 

 

 

 Lumine knew this day would come. 

 

 Ajax had stopped responding to her texts. 

 

 “I made a mistake,” she said into the open air, expecting no response aside from the silence of her brother and the archon crashing on her couch. Zhongli closed his eyes and returned to his attempt at slumber as if he knew encouraging Lumine would be a mistake.  

 

 Or perhaps he was just resisting the urge to say ‘I told you so.’

 

 Aether, though, was not afraid to tackle the thick silence. He looked at where Lumine sat, her hands folded over each other politely and her ankles crossed. She wore a white sundress and sandals with ribbons that tied around her calves. If she slouched anymore, she would’ve resembled a wrinkled napkin. It wasn’t a good look on her. 

 

 “Confront him,” Aether said. Those two words hung in the air of the apartment. 

 

  In the past, Lumine would’ve agreed. She was very honest with Childe and always confronted him if she felt that they weren’t communicating well enough. However, Ajax was different now, he was just a guy ghosting a girl, and she didn’t know how to handle it. 

 

 The obvious solution would be to text him and ask him why he’s avoiding her. 

 

 That was not the solution Lumine wanted. 

 

 She’d just given him his vision from the past and tried to imply that he was Tartaglia. He was probably creeped out and needed space. 

 

 So, she gave him space. 

 

 The one day she attended class, he sat on the other end of the room away from her. He got up the moment the professor dismissed everyone and stalked out of the lecture hall. She didn’t see him for the rest of the day. 

 

 The next day, she texted him Good Morning, and received nothing but a Read signature.

 

 “Lumine.”

 

 Aether’s voice tore her from her thoughts. She looked up only to see her twin's lips twisted into a disgusted sneer. 

 

 “Huh?”

 

 “I’ll repeat myself: confront him. You should just demand an answer!” He slammed his palm down on the coffee table. Mugs of half drank tea rattled from the impact, their clanking loud enough to make Zhongli open his eyes. “Sorry,” Aether sent him an apologetic glance, “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

 

 Lumine took her chance to change the subject, “Why are you even still here?”

 

 Zhongli ran his hands through his hair. He pushed himself up to sit, fluffing out the pillow at the end of the couch, “I’m waiting to see what happens.”

 

 “Yeah, well, we can’t sit on our couch anymore because it’s your bed now.”

 

 “Then perhaps you should buy me a mattress, or a bigger apartment so I can have my own room.”

 

 500 years later and Zhongli was still exactly the same. Lumine could only wonder if she was as unmoving and stubborn as he was, if she was still stuck in her ways from 500 years ago. Most immortals tended to find their niche and stick to it. Even Dainsleif kept his old habits. But unlike Zhongli, he opted to get a hotel room instead of crashing in the twins' apartment. 

 

 Aether and Lumine most definitely could afford a bigger apartment, they’d just argue over who’d have to clean it. The last time they owned a big house together they ended up fighting and knocking out two walls just because of a week-long argument over a spill in the kitchen. 

 

 Aether scoffed, “Stop changing the subject. Back to the Childe-clone.”

 “He’s not a ‘Childe-clone’ he is Childe,” she said, “I’m 80% sure of it.”

 

 “Only 80%?”

 

 A reincarnation would be slightly different. And while this Ajax didn’t have the same darkness within him, he was just like her old Childe to a T. There were less scars on his arms, but he had the same freckles in all the same places, the same hair, the same body. A reincarnation would have a different name, too, at least that’s how she understood it to happen. It was almost as if some higher power just resurrected her husband and his family from the dead and put him in their modern time. 

 

 And they did it to Ningguang too. Just last week, Lumine called Yanfei and Ganyu and asked them to keep an eye out for anybody they used to know, and Ganyu reported seeing Yelan getting out of an expensive-looking car near Liuli Pavilion. At least, it was someone who looked like Yelan. 

 

 She also informed Xiao, Albedo, and Wanderer to keep an eye out. Wanderer, who was currently wandering around in Sumeru with Nahida, apparently saw someone that looked like Cyno–who he met briefly a thousand years ago–telling bad jokes at a standup comedy club. 

 

 There was something happening to all of the mortals from 500 years ago. And Ajax was her closest bet to finding the truth, so now really was not the time for him to be ignoring her. 

 

 And she wouldn’t admit it, but she missed him. Kind of. A lot. 

 

 Lumine decided to ignore Aether and return to her phone. She scrolled down Ajax’s social media, looking for anything new that he might’ve posted since their museum date, but it was all empty of anything recent. She could only wonder what made him want to ignore her. Was it about the vision? If it reactivated then surely he’d be dying to tell her. It just wasn’t like him to keep things like that from her. 

 

 Aether noted his sister’s deflation. He scooted closer to her, both of them sitting on the ground around the coffee table while Zhongli stretched out on the couch. Aether nudged his arm against Lumine’s, “Hey, I really do think you should just talk to him.”

 

 “I don’t know…” She was still feeling quite petty, after all, “if he wanted to speak to me then he would do it himself.”

 

 “Maybe he’s playing some kind of mind game with you or something.”

 

 “That’s not how Ajax is. He’s so straightforward, if he had something to tell me he’d just do it.”

 

 “True,” Aether bit his lip and glanced away in thought, “then I wonder what’s wrong. Really, you should just ask him.”

 

 She should. But it needed a few more days. 

 

 Another several days went by without one word from Ajax. Lumine knew she was being childish, especially for her ‘big age’ as Aether would say. Yet she’d been through this before with Ajax. 1,000 years ago, when they had a fight over his loyalty to the Fatui, Lumine and Childe went two months without speaking to each other. Once he calmed down, he finally reached out to her through a letter and spoke his feelings. He didn’t keep anything inside. If he had something to say, he’d say it. 

 

 But this felt different. They weren’t fighting, at least she didn’t think they were fighting. All she’d done was give him a vision.

 

 Lumine could hardly think about it without her mind tangling itself into knots. After several more days of silence, the weekend finally arrived and Lumine had had enough. 

 

 She didn’t want to be the one to break first, but it was so unlike Ajax to ignore her, she couldn’t take it anymore. 

 

 Something was wrong. 

 

 Dainsleif agreed. When Lumine visited his hotel room to ask for council, all he said was, “You're not a child, just talk to him.”

 

 She hated it when he was right. Though Dainsleif’s interest in the situation was purely from a business standpoint— he knew Ajax was part of the puzzle they faced. But what he said could also be applied to her burgeoning relationship with him. You’re not a child, he said. Lumine certainly was not. 

 

 She borrowed Aether’s car—Ajax still hadn’t bought her a new car like he promised, seeing as he wrecked it and all— and drove it to the college campus. There were only two dorm buildings that Ajax could’ve been in. She checked in the first building, asking a fellow student if they knew Ajax lived there. After asking other students, she finally concluded that he lived in the other building. 

 

 Fortunately, there was a helpful young man in the lobby. The moment she asked him if he knew Ajax Alekseev, he lit up, “Yeah, he’s my neighbor,” he said.

 

 Lumine instantly relaxed. She exhaled deeply, closing her eyes, “Thank goodness. Which dorm is he in?”

 

 “111, but you won’t find him there.”

 

 She tensed, “Why?”

 

 “Last I heard he was off visiting his family in Morepesok,” he rubbed the back of his neck in thought, “Why’d you wanna know anyway?”

 

 But before he could get his answer, Lumine had already turned around and left. She hurried across the lobby and burst out of the doors, letting the cold evening air hit her cheeks. 

 

 Ajax went to Morepesok. He was out of town and he didn’t even bother telling her. 

 

 As concerned as Lumine was, what she mostly felt was hurt. Had she done something wrong? Had she finally scared him away? She wasn’t sure how to feel about his sudden disappearance. It was probably good that he stayed away from her, but then again, he was literally her dead husband resurrected. That warranted some explanations, perhaps. 

 

 Not that he could explain it himself, though. He didn’t even know his own identity. 

 

 Lumine jogged back to the car and slipped into the front seat. Then, she turned the key to start it. She’d have to text Aether later and tell him where she was going, hopefully he wouldn’t be too worried. It was just Morepesok, after all, the little town hadn’t gotten much bigger over the last 500 years. 

 

 Perhaps dropping in on him during his family visit was unwise. It was most definitely rude, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. It was what he got for ignoring her. 

 

 Just for good measure, Lumine pulled her phone out of her purse and sent Ajax a quick text that read ‘I’m coming to see you.’

 

 Appropriately cryptic, mildly threatening, it was everything an angry immortal kind-of-girlfriend should be.

 

 Were they boyfriend and girlfriend? They went on one date, they kissed once, she set him on fire and dropped a hydro whale on him; that was normal for a relationship. He hadn’t asked her to be his girlfriend yet. But they were technically married before, so she wasn’t sure if that mattered. 

 

 Ajax didn’t know they were once married, of course, but that didn’t matter. 

 

 Semantics aside, she pulled out of the parking spot and onto the road. It was a long drive to Morepesok.

 

---

 

 The seaside town Ajax grew up in had always smelled of chimney smoke and fish. It was an odd mixture, and not a very pleasant one, but it was the scent of home. 

 

 Ajax liked his dorm, but it couldn’t compare to Morepesok. The city didn’t have a rocky, black beach where the water was freezing. It didn’t have snowdrifts you could get lost in, or cliffs to jump off into the sea below. It didn’t have fishing boats and old men with stories beyond belief. Ajax missed home more than he thought he did. He was almost ashamed of the reason for his visit. 

 

 He needed Tonia’s expert opinion. He needed her to tell him he wasn’t going insane. 

 

 Ajax had been home for the last four days, keeping a distance from Lumine all the while. Each time he yearned to text her, he felt the weight of the activated vision in his pocket. It was like a constant reminder of her ex husband and the fact that he could never be him. She couldn’t have found a different vision to give him? She just had to give him her ex husbands? 

 

 Ajax couldn’t even summon a whale. He tried it several times in his bedroom when alone. All he did was get the carpet wet. 

 

 And while it was super cool that he could summon water from thin air in the first place, he didn’t want these powers in this manner. He didn’t want to get a vision so he could just be a replacement. 

 

 “I think you’re thinking about Lumine’s reaction too much,” Tonia said as she sat on the edge of his bed and crossed her legs, “I mean, you have water powers, that’s what’s important.”

 

 But he only had these water powers because of her. She gave him her husband’s vision to ‘test’ something. Would him becoming a vision wielder give her the results she wanted? Ajax knew that he should do something with these powers, maybe become a superhero, but he could hardly use them without getting himself soaked in the process. Even Tonia got splashed as she watched him try and fail to summon a small whale again. 

 

 He locked the door, leaving him and Tonia alone in his childhood bedroom. It had been a long time since they’d seen each other in person, and Ajax felt guilty for making the entire visit about himself and his problems. Tonia had problems too. She liked this boy at school who didn’t like her back, she was starting to wear makeup, she took AP classes. Usually, Ajax would be at the edge of his seat when hearing all of the new updates in her life, but he couldn’t tear his mind off the fact that he could literally bend water. 

 

 Tonia didn’t seem to mind, though. She watched him create a ball of water that wobbled mid air. Mama would be mad at him if she found the carpet wet. 

 

 “Just tell me one thing,” Ajax said as he dismissed the large water drop and watched it crash to the ground, exploding in hundreds of little droplets that sprayed the front of his jeans. He ignored it and turned to face Tonia, “Am I valid in thinking that she’s trying to replace me?”

 

 He didn’t want to believe that, but the facts were lining up too well. First, Lumine tries to convince him that he looks like Tartaglia, secondly she gives him Tartaglia’s vision. What would happen next? Would she give him Tartaglia’s old clothes and try to dress him up like a demented version of her dead husband? Ajax liked Lumine. He really liked Lumine. He was her mortal pet, after all, but he wanted to be his own person. 

 

 Tonia pressed her lips together and nodded slowly, “Yes… and no. I can see where you’re coming from, but I think you just need to talk to her.”

 

 “But what if she gets pissed? I can’t just go up to her like ‘hey Lumine, are you trying to make me into your dead husband?’”

 

 “Why not?”

 

 “Because what if she is?” Ajax spread his arms out, flabbergasted at the possibilities, “Then I’ve just called her out on her plan, and she’ll probably get embarrassed or angry.”

 

 Tonia snorted, “Since when do you care if you make someone angry?”

 

 He didn’t, not usually. “This is different. I want to be part of her world, I don’t know what I’d do if she just left me alone with this knowledge. Like, how can I live normally knowing that there are immortals and visions and gods?”

 

 “I’m living quite normally with that knowledge myself, actually.”

 

 Ajax knew that he shouldn’t have told Tonia. Bella never told anyone else about Edward, after all. But then again, Twilight also would’ve been a much happier series if Bella had just talked to a friend or gone to therapy. 

 

 Aside from that, Tonia hadn’t actually met Lumine yet. She didn’t know her nor had she seen what Lumine was capable of doing. It didn’t feel as real to Tonia because all she knew was from what Ajax told her. Even watching him manipulate water right in front of her hardly phased her. When he first showed Tonia what he could do, all she said was, “Hey, that’s cool.”

 

 And perhaps Tonia was just putting on a brave face to seem more adult. Perhaps she was trying to make Ajax feel less worried, since it was so rare for Ajax to worry about anything in the first place. 

 

 If Ajax had been given a vision under different circumstances, he’d probably take up sewing and make a superhero costume, then jump from rooftop to rooftop in the city while doing his best Spiderman impression. But the fact that it was from Lumine, and some sort of ‘test’ that she was doing, made all the difference. 

 

 He wanted to be Ajax to her, not Tartaglia, not Childe. Ajax.  

 

 Silence had filled the room. Tonia returned to fiddling with her phone while Ajax stared at the vision in his hand. It was so blue, so alluring. He hated to part with it, but he forced himself to put it into his nightstand. He was almost tempted to keep it on his person, just in case. Not that there were any threats to his family’s safety around, but just to feel the weight of it in his pocket. 

 

 “Ajax!” His mother’s muffled yell cut through the air. She was calling for him, most likely for dinner. So he stood just as Tonia looked up from her phone. “You have a visitor!” She called. 

 

 “A visitor?” Tonia repeated, confused, “You don’t have any friends. I wonder who it is.”

 

 Maybe it was someone from his old high school in Morepesok, just come by to say hello. Or maybe it was someone trying to sell him something. He hated to admit it, but Tonia was right. He didn’t really have friends besides Lumine and maybe her brother— despite how much Aether disliked him. 

 

 Ajax left his room, walked down the hall, and slowly came down the stairs. “I’m coming,” he said, “Who is it—”

 

 There, standing in the foyer of his childhood home, was the blonde haired goddess that he’d been doing his best to avoid. 

 

 Lumine met his eyes. Her eyes narrowed as she put her hands on her hips, glaring at where he stood at the foot of the stairs. Ajax felt a chill go down his spine. 

 

 Then, Lumine smiled innocently, “Found you.”

 

 

Notes:

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