Chapter Text
The Traveller blinked slowly, sand sticking to her hands as she pushed herself upright. Her surroundings
were tranquil.
‘The sky here looks... unfamiliar.
Almost as if it is not really there…’
The sound of water softly crashing at the shore and the wind felt unnatural to her.
“I'm not meant to be here,” she quickly concludes,and begins to carefully tread the shore, tracing the
outline of the horizon, and considers amusedly.
‘another journey, and this time, I'm alone’
_____________________________________________________
A week has passed.
Yet, nothing has changed.
There was a peculiar energy that seemed to be suspended indefinitely across
the land. It wasn't unsettling, but it felt like someone was watching.
Not for the first time, she thinks of her brother.
‘This would be so much easier if he were here”
She would find him -no matter how long it took, or how demanding the journey becomes. She silently
promises.
‘It won't be too much trouble.’
She wasn't wrong to think like that. After all, they always found each other, no matter the circumstances.
But no one was certain of what lay ahead when they started a new journey.
————————————————————————
Time flowed in a trickle.
It might go by unnoticed for others, but for the Traveller, it was borderline painful.
Minutes faded to hours and hours into days.
still no progress.
‘I need something to do’
The thought seemed practical. It would keep her occupied, for a while at least.
She looks around, then her eyes pause at the water.
A few minutes later, a makeshift fishing rod sits in her hands. Not her most refined creation, but it would have to do.
After casting the line into the sea,
She waited.
and waited.
and waited.
And then-
The line tugged. not gently, not like anything ordinary.
Her grip tightened immediately, instinct taking over before thought could follow. The water broke in
an uneven splash.
What she pulled out was nothing like what she had seen in her millennia of experience.
It was bigger than a normal fish,
It had wings, white hair, and it hovered, sputtered about, in a high-pitched voice.
certainly not from the ocean
‘What… is that?’
“….-WAAH—!!”
The Traveller blinks. Meanwhile, the creature, still mumbling and dripping water everywhere, begins
to talk to her.
“….E-EXCUSE ME! PLEASE L-LET PAIMON DOWN!!”
Slowly, the Traveller unhooks the creature from the hook.
“uh-umm… hello! Paimon is Paimon! What's your name? a-and can you stop STARING at Paimon!?”
Finally, the Traveller falls out of her stupor and replies,
She tilts her head,
“…Lumine.”
A pause
“Are you some kind of fish?”
Then—
“PAIMON IS NOT A FISH”
As Paimon continues to converse to Lumine, she finally breaks into the smallest of smiles; the noise,
strangely enough, made the silence feel less heavy.
"Paimon still can't believe you thought Paimon was a fish..."
"I already apologised."
"Paimon is a 100% sure you didn't mean it."
The Traveller allowed herself the faintest smile. For a moment, neither of them spoke. The sea continued its steady rhythm
behind them.
Then Paimon tilted her head.
"Actually..."
“Lumine, Paimon is very curious about why you’re here, all alone, too”
Whatever peace Lumine felt in that moment disappeared as she was once again reminded of her mission.
Her smile disappears as quickly as it came.
“….I don't know”
“What does that even mean??… Don't tell me you're lost?”
Lumine glances at the sky in a moment of contemplation, then she turns around slightly and says,
“I… got here by accident”
Paimon gives Lumine an inquisitive look and asks,
“How about you tell Paimon about it and then… maybe Paimon can help you?”
She considers the question for a moment. The wind chimed, as if trying to listen in. In their wake, another memory
resurfaces. She closes her eyes. When they reopen, uncertainty clouds them.
"I'm not from here."
Paimon’s eyes widen, almost comically. Lumine would have laughed if not for the seriousness of the
situation.
“You mean... you came here from somewhere else?”
“I never said I didn't”
“HEY, Paimon’s being serious here!”
_________________________________________________________________________
Therefore, Lumine begins to relate her journey thus far to Paimon. From the time the Outlanders fell into this
unknown world, to when they got separated.
“So… what you're trying to say is that you fell here, from another world?”
“But when you wanted to leave and go to the next world,
You were stopped… by an unknown god?”
For a moment, she considered answering. Instead, she found herself remembering.
A journey that should have continued.
A journey that never did
Lumine lowered her gaze.
"...Yes."
And suddenly, she was there again.
Not on a lonely beach.
But among countless stars, with her brother at her side and, in front of them, a God that intercepted them.
___________________________________________________
When Aether and I finally found each other again, he told me that we needed to leave.
This world's future looked twisted.
It wasn't what we came looking for. Therefore, our journey on this planet ended. Or so we thought.
Pillars stretched endlessly upwards and outwards, hovering above the world itself. The only path that would
take us away from here.
Suddenly—
The atmosphere shattered as the unknown deity descended, her presence overpowering. She announced in a
manner that seemed as if she were stating a decree,
“Outlanders, your journey ends here. The arrogance of mankind ends now.”
I asked her in a haze,
“Who are you?”
She claimed to be The Sustainer Of The Heavenly Principles, after which, she proceeded to attack us.
The Sustainer barely moved.
Golden shapes materialized as she flicks her hands. They glided through space with precision, crossing the
distance between us in an instant.
Aether moved first.
Light flared around him as he surged with intention.
For a moment, I dared to hope he would make it.
Then the woman raised her hand.
Golden walls of nothingness distorted around Aether as his form folded into itself.
He called out to me, eyes seized in hysteria,
“Lumine!”
Moments later,
he was gone.
"Aether!"
My voice broke. Silence remained where he was meant to be.
Where he had been moments ago, there was only darkness. At that moment, panic seemed
to take complete hold. But then,
The woman turned her toward me.
Panic turned into something more sharp as I pushed forward. It was of no use.
As I fought with nothing left but desperation and anger, the space around me seemed to fold into itself as the same
walls that took Aether formed once again.
“Wait! Don't go! Give me my brother back!”
My call fell on deaf ears.
Then the world vanished.
_______________________________________________________________
“And just like that, the God took away my brother.
Some kind of seal was cast upon me, and I lost my power.
So while we used to travel from world to world, we are now trapped here.”
Lumine finishes. writing on the sand of the beach.
“How many years ago was it? … I don't know. But I intend to find out. ”
Lumine pauses, then smiles a little before saying,
“When I woke up, I was alone — until I met you, or fished you out”
Paimon grins at that and nods,
“Yeah, Paimon owes you big time for that! Otherwise, Paimon would have drowned…”
Lumine looks at Paimon’s embarrassed face for a moment, then smiles faintly.
She turns to speak, but—
“BEFORE you say something that obviously isn't true, Paimon has an offer for you!”
Lumine sighs quietly and motions for her to continue.
“Since you aren't from Teyvat —which by the way is the name of this world— Paimon thinks you need a guide!“
She puffs out her chest proudly.
“And you know who's the best candidate?”
A pause.
“Because you saved Paimon from drowning, Paimon has decided to be your guide! You're welcome, hehe”
Lumine blinks.
‘Shouldn't you be saying thanks to me?’
Still, she thanks Paimon with a smile anyway.
“Alright”
Paimon looks at her triumphantly and says,
“Alright! Let's set off now! It's been a long time here.”
The wind tinkles with the promise of a new adventure. Lumine gets up and,
After a moment of consideration, she traces the shoreline once more. Then, she turns away.
‘Just what will we come across this time?’