Chapter Text
The blonde girl slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she felt was the sunlight hitting her face. Next came the sand slipping into her white dress, mildly irritating her. The sound of the waves crashing against each other and the cries of the seagulls flying overhead reached her awareness shortly after. Where was she? She tried to move, but her body wouldn’t let her. Everything hurt. Her bones felt as if they were about to shatter into a thousand pieces.
She could only let out a groan from the effort. She lay sprawled on the ground for what felt like an eternity, letting the sun burn her skin. She tried to remember things. Her name… It was Luma… Lumi… Lumina. No—Lumine! Yes, that was it. Her name was Lumine. A name she loved. She also had a brother. A twin. He looked a lot like her. She couldn't remember his face, as it was blurry, but his name was Aether. A name she also loved. The last thing she remembered was that they were in an unknown place, like some kind of station.
Stars surrounded them, as if they were watching. Both carried matching swords, forged of gold and silver. Just as they were about to leave that place, an enraged red light blocked their path. An unknown woman emerged from it. “Travelers… your journey ends here.” the woman told them, her appearance as beautiful as that of a goddess, yet surrounded by a fearsome aura. Lumine felt a shiver run down her spine.
"W-Who are you?!" she shouted, asking. Her brother gave her a look, before looking at the unknown woman again.
"The sustainer of the heavenly principles" she answered, surprisingly "I won't repeat it. Both of you shall leave, now." She was dangerous. Lumine could sense it. Everything could've have gone well if his brother didn't open his mouth.
"We won't, ∎∎∎∎∎∎∎!" he shouted "You're nothing more than a fraud, you and ∎∎∎∎∎∎!" Lumine looked at her brother, confused. He knew her? He seemed furious. The woman frowned.
A big, red cube appeared between them. They had to evade the attack, making a big jump before unfolding their false wings. While floating in the air, Lumine remained on the defensive, but Aether went directly to to attack her. "Aether! What the hell are you doing?!" her brother ignored her. The woman kept parrying his attacks, with a bored looked on her face. Lumine didn't move, as she knew she had no opportunity against that woman.
Her brother eventually lost his sword, falling to the void. At this point it was hopeless to keep fighting. The woman, with her red cubes, captured her opponent.
"Hm. How pathetic." she murmured. Some drops of sweat ran down Lumine's face.
"Aether... AETHER!" As quick as she could, Lumine teleported behind her, trying to stab her from the back. But it was useless. The woman not only did parry that, but also kept her sword too. The same red cubes that ate her brother started to surround her too, blocking her sight slowly. "Please! Don't do this to us! Give me my brother back!" The last thing she saw before laying unconscious was the woman's face.
Eventually, she was able to get up. As she stretched, her back cracked so loudly she almost thought she had broken it. Lumine looked around. She was, as she predicted, in a beach.But were was she? What was that place? Was her brother okay? Were was he in the first place?
She sitted on a rock near her, looking at the sea. She could divise an island or two. With her fingers, she drew. She drew herself, with Aether, fighting that Unknown God. Being bored, she tried to get closer to the water. She saw her reflection. Her eyes seemed tired, and her white dress was dirty, as well as her hair. There was a little red fish, swimming near her. She kept her attention to it. The little one was doing zig zags, probably searching for food. It swam further.
You could say that the little fish had a good ending by ending up with some food in its stomach. But, unfortunately, his hunt was interrupted by some little fairy. The little silver-haired girl quickly grabbed the fish, pulling it out of the water. She started shouting with joy. "Woo hoo! Paimon finally got some food for today!" she didn't even notice Lumine. She looked back to the fish, now dead in her hands. "Awww... It's kinda small... Just like Paimon!"
"Uuuh... Hello?" The fairy finally noticed her and flew back, jumpscared. "Ah, don't worry! I'm... not gonna do anything to you! Really!"
"W-Who are you? Since when you're here with Paimon?" She asked, with the fish in hand, on guard.
"I... Don't really know? Where are we?" She seemed harmless, so Paimon got closer to her.
"We are in a beach in Mondstadt." answered the fairy.
"Mond-what?" Paimon seemed confused.
"You know... Mondstadt... One of the eight regions of Teyvat... Wait, are you playing with Paimon right now?!"
"N-no, I swear to God! I don't know where I am! I woke up right there!" she pointed at the marks in the sand that had formed as she moved. "I just remember my name and some few things more! I really need help!"
"...W-well... In that case... Paimon is Paimon!" she introduced herself "What about you?"
"My name... is Lumine. Nice to meet ya, Paimon" Paimon extended her free hand, and Lumine did the same. Since Paimon’s hand was much smaller, she could only grab her pinky.
"So, you really don't know anything?"
"Nope. Wait, everyone is like you? I mean... Little fairies?"
"Huh? No, you look like everyone else! Paimon it's just a rare species." Lumine was kinda glad. She couldn’t imagine being surrounded by small, flying people 24/7 of the time…
"And... What about this place?"
"This is Teyvat, a biiiig continent divided in eight regions!" She explained "Each region is ruled by an archon that represents an element. Mondstadt, the one we are in right now, is ruled by Barbatos, the Anemo Archon!"
"Barbatoes? Anemo? Huh?" She made a confused face.
Paimon had to draw in the sand. She had to explain how the elemental system worked, from Anemo to Cryo. She explained that people gained “Visions,” which allowed them to access one of those elements—except in a region called “Nod-Krai,” which used an ancient power similar to Visions. Each of the eight regions that existed was ruled by a god, or “Archon” (except for Nod-Krai, mentioned earlier), each representing a different element. Lumine was understanding it really well. It will take time before she get used to all this.
"So the region we're in now is Mondstadt, ruled by the anemo Archon named Barbatoe... I mean, Barbatos!"
"Yup! Hehe, Paimon is a good teacher, right?"
"Or maybe I'm a good student. Who knows." Paimon pouched a little. She got too distracted that didn't even notice that the fish fell into the sand long time ago, and a crab stole it.
"Anyways... The main city isn't far from here. Let's have a deal! I will guide you there, and, as a reward, you'll be preparing Paimon a biiig meal!"
"Mmm... I don't see the problem. Especially because you lost your food while teaching me, I kinda feel bad for you."
"Okay, that's a deal! Wait... My fish!"