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Stars of the Abyss

Chapter 2

Notes:

In which Lumine and a mysterious stranger have a conversation, and in the background Diluc is confused at why the Honorary Knight looks like someone just threw her pet turtle into the abyss.

Chapter Text

The tavern was almost empty this late at night. The voices were low enough that Lumine’s ears picked up on the shuffling movements against cloth, glass and wood. Her racing heart seemed ready to burst until it came to a sudden stop.

Aether wasn’t here. It wasn’t much work to spot her target, however. He stuck out against the locals, to say the least.

Not even an army of monsters, nor even Barbatos himself, could have stopped her from making it to that table.

Dropping into the seat across from the stranger, Lumine waited. He said nothing, silent and perceptive and oh-so cold. His disposition reminded her quite strongly of a certain cavalry captain she knew. Should she say that? She hesitated, barring any emotions from escaping her lips.

“I’m the Honorary Knight of Mondstadt,” she announced. She hoped the hard-won title would catch his attention and persuade him to trust her. Or at least stop looking at her like as though she were an intriguing painting of a person, two dimensional and wordless.

Maybe he was worried she would report him to the Knights of Favonius. “Don’t worry,” she added, “I’m here on my own time.” She raised her hands in mock surrender and gave him a twisted, wry smile.

“In the end, I’m really just a… traveler.”

“A traveler, you say?”

Worried she leaked a bit too much vulnerability into her voice for her comfort, Lumine cleared her throat. “Yes.” Taking a note from her brother, she added, “I’m on a perilous journey to uncover the location of my long-lost twin.” A bitter familiarity nestled in her chest. He always was a poetic fool.

The man’s eyes widened ever-so-slightly, and Lumine was struck by their shining turquoise hue. She’d only ever seen gods with eyes as bright as those. Not that she’d ever tell him such a thing, of course. “Your… twin, you said?”

“Well, that as good a reason as any.” He seemed to soften. “Companionship is a precious part of any journey.” She sensed a story there, but decided not to press.

“When I heard of you… I had hoped it’d be him. I was rather… disappointed to find I was wrong.” She rested her head on a hand. “No offense, of course.” She knew her tone told a different story and betrayed a deeper annoyance, but she meant the words. She liked to think of herself as respectably impartial when it came to those who weren’t her brother.

He shrugged. “None taken, I assure you.”

Lumine suddenly had an idea, one she usually suppressed. What if she invited him to travel with her? This man clearly wasn’t her brother, plain as day. But someone besides Paimon to keep her company wouldn’t be bad. Someone with whom she could set up camp, fight alongside, maybe even watch the familiar stars with.

What a mad idea. She’d refused countless offers, pride and a deeper fear pushing them away. But he hadn’t offered. What if she did first?

Well, he clearly wasn’t conventional. She had spent the last few minutes staring him down with an evaluating gaze that would cause many an enemy to whimper. And yet there he sat, calmly gazing back and not interrupting. Maybe he’d be strange enough to agree.

“I’m an adventurer of sorts. I was wondering, actually, if you’d like to go on an adventure with me?”

“Sure.”

What? His voice carried not even an ounce of hesitation, and his face revealed not a hint of humor. “I- Do you mind if I ask why? We don’t even know each other’s names!”

His icy demeanor finally slipped, the edge of his mouth turning up. “Well, that’s something we can remedy.” Placing a hand on his chest, he introduced himself.

“I’m Dainsleif. And you?”

“Lumine. Surely you want payment?” She felt as though she had underestimated his abnormality. If she didn’t know better, she’d say he was possibly one of her own people. If only she still had her old powers…

“Of course.” She allowed herself to be comforted by the ordinary response for a mere moment. Maybe he was a sensible human like the rest of this world’s inhabitants after all. “500 mora and three questions should settle it.” Nevermind.

Having been caught off guard enough times by now, she straightened her shoulders and crossed her arms in front of her. “Sounds fair enough.” She passed him the 500 mora, thinking of the Archon of geo’s contracts. Solemn, immovable as stone. No place for petty emotions.

No tears shed or dismayed screams for a missing half.

Of course, the god had also risked everything to recklessly retire in a fit of immortal exhaustion. So there was that. Maybe he wasn’t an entirely emotionless role model, nor one she should mimic her own immortal life after.

When she noticed the man staring, she cursed her expressive face. She could be silent, but she could never be blank. Kind looks and soft conversation were her brother’s deal. Regardless, there was no way he could know her thoughts, however much her expressions irked her. “Do I need to answer them correctly? The questions, I mean.”

“The answer to a question says nothing about right and wrong. Only about differences in attitude,” he assured. It sounded awfully like something her twin would say to convince her she wasn’t one of the bad guys.

“Mm.”

“Shall we start then?”

“Is that the first?” Lumine teasingly shot back on impulse before recalling the concept of manners. “Yeah, sure.”

“The crisis Mondstadt faced was resolved by an alliance between yourself and that… Anemo Archon who calls himself Venti. Who, in your view, was the key to ending that crisis?”

Lumine sensed a residual bitterness of sorts when the man said ‘Archon’, and filed it away in her mind for later. Not to mention, how had he known Venti’s identity?

“…Likely Venti. He was the one who decided to save Dvalin rather than to fight him, after all. Though, between you and me, it still could’ve been solved another way had he not been involved.” Lumine found herself pouring truth into her words, unsure of what his reaction would be should he notice a lie, and wondered just how badly she wished for Dainslief’s company.

Dainslief seemed unperturbed. “I see… so that’s your answer?” He lifted a hand to rest his chin on, seeming comfortable despite Lumine’s inner turmoil. She suspected she had a bitter look on her face as she tried to shift it into a smile. “Well, second question then. Rex Lapis, who has defended Liyue Harbor for millennia on end, used his Gnosis to lay down a Contract to End All Contracts, of which the stipulations are still unknown.”

“…How did you know?”

“I know everything I should.”

Lumine should have been put off by this, alarmed and concerned. But instead, she felt like she were closer to the stars than she had been ever since she first awoke. He was strange, but he seemed knowledgable. Would he be more loose-tongued than the last two gods she met?

“…Your question?”

“Right. Then, who do you think will defend Liyue Harbor now that they’ve lost their deity?”

It hadn’t escaped her that these questions seemed to be about nations and their archons. Interesting. “I believe it’ll be the people of the nation. The Liyue Qixing may try, and so may the Adeptus, but their bickering will hinder them. And in the end, they’re all people of Liyue.”

Dainslief tilted his head. “Even the Adeptus?”

“You would have me count them as monsters?” Lumine sensed something vaguely dangerous in the air around them.

“Hmm… an intriguing answer for sure. Last question, I suppose.” The sensation faded. “Which do you think hold more importance in the eyes of the gods: those who have visions or those who haven’t?”

Lumine sensed a trick question. Why would the gods be more concerned about those without them when visions were seen as a blessing? But then again…

“Perhaps none of them do.”

Dainslief finally smiled at this. It was a hard-earned smile, bright and yet carrying what she had come to recognize as a characteristic secretive tint. “As I thought, you really are the same.”

“The same?”

Dainslief was silent for a moment, and Lumine let him be. There was no way he was leaving her without answers to her own questions, she had decided. Let him keep his secrets for as long as he could hold onto them. She knew that she could do so better.

Lumine had lived for thousands of years, visited countless worlds, and pried secrets from both the living and the dead, peasantry and monarchs, mortals and gods.

She may not have her powers, but she would know what he did.

Finally, a real goal.