Chapter Text
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Lumine is gone. This is a dull truth that resounds in your chest for ages after the battle, its terrifying magnitude beating alongside your bleeding heart.
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Missing her It feels like you are missing a piece of yourself. Like there is something in your spirit that will forever be restless and broken. This is the first time you've ever been alone, you don't like it at all.
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You miss your sister like the clouds that dance along the blue sky miss the steady background sun. You miss her like the cold of night after a long hot day.
And, you are perfectly content to wallow in your self pity and grief for a few more centuries, lying on the shore of a sandy beach passively watching the waves as they come closer to swallowing you every hour.
Sadly, fate has other plans for you as a terrific scream pierces your ears. Paired with the visual of some sort of flying projectile crashing into the waves at high speeds.
It appears to be some sort of sparkly rat, one that is now screaming all hell.
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For a moment you consider doing nothing. After all, what's the point of heroism if you do not have Lumine by your side, but, eventually your good nature, and considerable annoyance at the noise wins out over the desire to ruminate in the dust.
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You jump into the water after it, the ocean is cold and unforgiving and you have the strange thought you might have made a mistake. Although maybe it is for the better if the icy cold grasp of the sea takes you, there's nothing here for you now your sister's been turned into a cube.
The salt of it stings in your sand infested wounds. Scratches, remnants of a miserable fight.
Once again to your great regret you do not drown, dragging you and the squeaking rat both alive out of the water. The thing coughs up a storm as you settle back into the sand, establishing it is in fact accustomed to inhaling an amount of oxygen that is not provided by the ocean. Based on the fact it is floating you conclude that this is a creature of the sky.
"Gosh! Thank you stranger! Paimon really oweโ" The small thing's gratitude is interrupted by more coughing coming from yours truly.
Once you finish hacking up the entire fucking ocean you roll over onto your side, back turned towards it, the voice is quite grating and you have no desire for conversation, "Paimon really owes you for that one, Paimon likely would've drowned!" It continues to speak. Not taking the hint it appears.
You ignore the creature.
"Hey! Are you ignoring Paimon!?" If you were asked you'd say 'Paimon' should try being less demanding of the person who saved its life.
You voice these concerns to Paimon who seems less than impressed, "If Paimon were asked she'd say that you should learn some manners, and also SHE'S NOT AN IT."
You attempt to ignore her once again, you have more wallowing in grief to get back to.
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Except, Paimon never leaves. She talks to you, asks you questions you do not answer. Like, "Who are you?" and, "So where are you from?" and, "Why are you crying?"
Sometimes she leaves, but to your surprise she always comes back, usually with trinkets, fruits and lizards, "Paimon loooves lizards," she tells you as she stuffs one, still crawling into her cute little cheeks. You did not ask but you find yourself laughing.
At some point it rains. Paimon complains, yet she still does not leave your side. At some point the sun shines, and at another the stars come out showing you the immense sky. "I miss my sister," You admit to her, quietly in the dark. She nods knowingly, and, against your better judgement you tell her the story.
Travelers you were, from a whole other world entirely, cruising the galaxy until you were stopped in some ancient ruins by a woman clad in red and white. That's when you lost her, your sister tragically methamorphized into a cuboid.
"So, why do you think your sister is dead?" is the first thing Paimon asks, which you find rather insensitive, "It seems to Paimon like she's been transported to a different place, just like you."
You consider this, a spark of hope flaring in your chest, you try not to feed it, "Even then," you say, voice raw, "she's unreachable to me. How will I possibly find her?"
"Paimon thinks you can't find her without looking that is!"
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You've always been a wanderer. More so than your sister, she's always been the quiet hero, your quiet hero. But, what you lived for was the thrill of exploration, and maybe, you can take comfort in that little thing, even without your sister.
After all, you miss 100% of the shots you don't hit.