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Mondstadt had the cleanest air that Lumine had ever breathed. Even when Stormterror had been roaming the skies, it had been refreshing. What Mondstadt also had—at least according to the Adventurers Guild—was a dangerous Abyss mage problem.
Frankly, when Katheryne had offered the commission to her in Liyue, Lumine had been surprised. Not because of the Abyss Mages, but because of the commission. It was not as if it was a new problem—all of Teyvat had a problem with Abyss mages, and the reason for it sat heavy in her stomach.
“Do you think it has anything to do with the shrine?” Paimon’s voice was unusually quiet, careful not to be overheard and Lumine was grateful.
“Maybe.” Probably. She still couldn’t shake the image of the desecrated statue out of her head—and less so the image of her brother. If the explosions that the people in Springvale had reported had anything to do with the Abyss order, Lumine needed to investigate. What little she had learned so far was ominous enough to fit.
According to the residents of Springvale, each of the explosions was accompanied by the sky lighting up. It didn’t sound unusual to Lumine, but she had been assured that it was different from the usual explosions Springvale experienced whenever Klee went on an adventure. Different and disquieting.
Explosions that scorched the earth, uprooted trees and pulverized mountains. Was it another piece of Abyss Order technology like the field tillers eye? Were they plotting something in Mondstadt after the Fatui had accidentally messed up their plans regarding Osial?
Lumine didn’t know, and it made anxiety gnaw in her stomach- It didn’t take long for her and Paimon to witness it first hand.
One moment they were carefully walking through the underbrush—avoiding the roads to avoid being spotted—and the next the sky-burned. There was no other word for it.
For a brief moment it flashed so brightly that lights continued to dance in Lumine’s vision even after it had disappeared. Then came the sound. It was less of an explosion, and more of a whine. It reminded her of the explosive mix of superconduct and overload reactions that she and Childe had triggered in a domain once. Whatever it was—and it had to be what she was searching for—it made her teeth ache.
Next to her Paimon squeaked and disappeared, and just like so often, the moment her companion left her, Lumine’s other companion-her trusty sword-appeared in her hand. As soon as her fingers curled around the smooth hilt of her weapon, she felt like she could take on anything-and that included whoever was causing the explosions.
With determined steps Lumine made her way towards the origin of the explosion. Just like the people in Spingvale had said it was coming from the direction of Cider Lake, one after another, after another. A familiar area and not one where explosions would usually occur. Lips pressing into a tight line, Lumine pushed on, whoever was responsible for this better be prepared. With a quick sweep of her sword she parted the bushes and stepped out, Anemo energy already gathering at her heels to catapult her forward when-
When she heard the laughter.
Bright and cheerful and utterly delighted, and most of all familiar.
Lumine felt pressure building inside her head, the first sign of a headache to come. Beside her the air rippled as Paimon materialized. The look on her friend’s face is as disbelieving as Lumine feels.
“Is that?” Paimon sounded almost pained.
“Yes.” Lumine nodded, a curious sense of resignation coming over her.
Another boom. Lumine’s skirt whipped around her legs. She sighed, swords disappearing.
“Hello Klee.”
There was a squeak, and the little girl that had been excitedly jumping up and down at the edge of the lake whirled around, an expression of exaggerated worry on her face, but it faded when she recognized them, only to be replaced with one of delight.
“Traveler!” Klee cheered. “Look! Look! Dodoko evolved!”
She gestured towards the Pokémon floating next to her and Scorbunny. Lumine stared at it, but she had never seen anything like it before. The Pokémon was small—bigger than Klee’s Dodoko charm had been, to be fair—vaguely rabbit-like, with big blue eyes and ears almost as long as the rest of it’s body. The ears were colored differently than the rest of its fur, namely a bright orange color that gave its ears almost a V-shape. And no matter what Klee said, it certainly wasn’t Dodoko. Lumine could feel elemental energy radiate from it, could see it even—a mix of psychic and fire—with her aura sight.
She said none of that, however.
“Oh? How did you meet… Dodoko?”
Paimon shot her an incredulous look, and the strange Pokémon noticed the pause as well. Slowly it floated down, so it was almost behind Klee. Klee, however, grinned and put her hands on her hips. The pose was clearly copied from Jean, it was adorable.
“It evolved, Traveler.” There was a chiding tone to her voice. “One moment Klee was eating at the good hunter.” An emphasizing nod. “Then my bag glowed! And then Dodoko had evolved.”
“I see.” Lumine responded, and wondered if this was another ploy by Alice to help Klee. It didn’t quite fit, so… “What did Dodoko evolve to?”
Klee beamed again and turned to her (new) friend.
“Victini!”
“Vic-VICTINI?” Paimon screeched. The volume took umine by surprise, and so did the tone. Paimon rarely sounded genuinely worried like that. Before Lumine could ask why, however, Klee spoke up.
“Yeah!” She agreed, “But Dodoko is still his name! And see!”
She whirled towards the lake, throwing a quick glance back to Lumine and Paimon. Scorbunny started bouncing next to her. “He got really strong””
The Pokémon—Victini?—seemed hesitant but under the expectant and encouraging look Klee kept giving him and Scorbunny’s cheering, he gathered his resolve.
Slowly he floated over towards the edge of the lake and after another hesitant look at Klee—which earned him an encouraging and very enthusiastic look—the Victini started to glow. The energy made the surrounding air vibrate and to Lumine’s elemental sight it was bright enough to make her eyes water. She had to turn it off, but even without it, the Victini was glowing and the intensity of it building further and further.
Klee was all but vibrating with energy as well, watching her friend with anticipation, and bobbing her head up and down, almost like a countdown.
Lumine knew that the buildup was done when Klee froze, took a deep breath and let it out. In front of her, without turning around, the Victini nodded. His hesitance had been replaced by bold confidence, and it was glowing like a miniature sun!
“Go! Dodoko!” Klee shouted, and the Pokémon blasted upwards like a rocket. Then he came down faster than the eye could see, and leaving a trail of light in his wake.
It hit the water with extreme speed, and the lake exploded outwards. Due to the vaporization of the water, the splash was smaller than expected, but what remained rained down on them. It hit Lumine’s face, the intensity of it more extreme than her worst sunburn to date. She barely managed to dodge a Magicarp that had been caught up in the explosion. Others were still in the air, or flapping on the shore.
“Go! Dodoko!” Klee cheered. “That was amazing! You sent them flying!”
The Victini gave a shout of triumph and flew back towards Klee and Scorbunny. He looked exhausted, but very happy with himself.
Lumine grimaced and wiped the hot water from her face. At times like this she wished she had a Pyro vision.
“Did you see Traveler?” Klee asked, “Dodoko got so strong!”
“...Yes.” Lumine agreed, still feeling the prickly of the heat on her skin. Klee beamed and turned back towards her friend, gesturing wildly along the (devastated) lakeshore.
Magipcarps and Goldeens were flapping on the ground, and further back Lumine spotted a Whipcash slowly flopping back towards the lake. Lumine hoped that it managed to flee.
“Mondstadt is doomed.” Paimon mumbled. “A Victini… noooooo.”
So it was a legendary mess. The question was if it was a Diancie or-
“Is this another Zapdos situation?” Lumine still remembered falling into that nest on Seirai Island.
“Worse.” Paimon responded with all the gravity of a Paimon-out-of-food. “This is a Morax-makes-a-Stoneforest situation.”
Lumine did not want to think about it. A Magicarp flopped past them.
Another boom. Heat washed over Lumine and she closed her eyes.
The day ended like this: Explosions, flying Magicarp and laughter. Lumine stood on the Shore of Cide Lake and watched Klee and Paimon-who forgot that she was supposed to be afraid far too quickly- cheer and laugh and wondered how exactly she should report this to the Adventurers Guild. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she imagined grinding Childe under her boot. Was it Monday yet?
She needed it to be Monday.