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“Childe invites Lumine to the annual Snezhnayan holiday dedicated to the Tsaritsa. There, she meets his entire family, and all the conflict that comes with them.”
notes: thanks for your patience as always ;__;
love you guys <3
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“ice fishing” (pt. 5)
“So Misha just asked you about besting me in combat?” Childe asked.
“She seemed to get a real kick out of it,” Lumine said.
He smiled through gritted teeth. “Of course she did.” He put down a chess piece. “Well apparently that was enough to convince her. She’s a completely changed person.”
“I like sister Misha like this!” Tonia chirped behind Lumine as she tried braiding the traveler’s blonde hair.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen her smile so much!” Teucer added from Lumine’s lap where he was reading a book.
“It’s a little weird,” Anthon commented. “But I guess I like it too.” He moved a chess piece opposite Childe’s. “Aaaand checkmate!”
“You beat me again, Anthon,” Childe said, exasperated.
“You let an 11 year old beat you at chess?” Lumine asked.
While Anthon giggled, Childe turned his nose up. “It’s not as easy as you think.”
The five of them were sitting in one of the den rooms, gathered there after dinner. A large fireplace burned in front of them, as the cold Snezhnayan night frosted on the great windows. The rest of the family had already turned in for the night.
“If only Alexei wasn’t so weird,” Tonia mumbled.
“Why do you think he’s weird?” Lumine asked. She was curious as to the children’s opinions of their eldest brother.
“When Mommy got sick, he stopped playing with us! He wouldn’t talk to us either…,” she replied.
“He was always really mad when talking to Mommy or Daddy,” Teucer said sadly.
Anthon gripped a chess piece in his hand. “It’s like he has a dark cloud following him.”
Childe’s brows furrowed. “Don’t worry guys. He’ll be gone soon; the holiday is almost over.”
“Does that mean you and Lumine will be leaving too?!” Teucer cried, dropping his book, and turning to wrap his arms tightly around her waist. “I don’t want you to leave…”
“Can you stay forever?” Tonia begged.
“Ah…uhm…maybe one day?” Lumine hesitantly responded. She smiled sadly. “I have a…mission I have to finish first. Maybe after that?”
“Okay!” Tonia stepped around Lumine to face her. She held up her pinky finger. “Do you pinky promise?”
Lumine looked down at the little girl’s finger, her hopeful face. I…I…
Her heart broke. I can’t make that promise.
As much as she loved her time here, there was no telling where her journey would lead her. And what happened if—when—she found Aether?
And would Childe even still be at her side?
She glanced at him, surprised to find him already staring back at her, his own eyes wondering, waiting for her response.
She looked back at Tonia’s awaiting hand, biting the inside of her cheek.
Protect the children’s dreams, she thought. She raised her hand, ready to seal the promise. Ready to lie to this sweet little girl.
Childe’s gloved hand gently closed over Tonia’s. He knelt down, so he was face to face with his sister. “Let’s not make Lumine promise something like that, okay?” he said quietly. “It’s a big promise to ask of someone.”
Tonia blinked, her doe eyes glistening, and her little mouth turned into a frown. She put her hand down. “Okay…”
Childe smiled at her, then ruffled her hair. “Thank you, Tonia.” He stood, then turned and walked out of the room without another word.
There was something wrong, and Lumine knew it. She stood as quickly as she could, picking up Teucer out of her lap. “Keep playing, kids. I’ll be right back.” She ran into the hall, the children’s noises of protests fading behind her.
The hallway was dark, the only source of light was the pale moonlight streaming in through the large windows.
She caught up to Childe, grabbing his arm. “What’s wrong?”
He stopped in his tracks. She heard him take a small breath in. He turned, and there was a smile on his face. “Nothing’s wrong.” He continued walking.
Lumine frowned. A lie.
She stepped in front of him. “Tell me.”
He looked at her. The smile dropped, and he looked tired. “How much longer do we have, Lumine?”
Lumine blinked at him. “…What do you mean?”
“You have your mission; you have to find your brother,” he said. “Then what? You find him, then bring him back here?” His eyes were concerned. “Would he even want to come here? Would you even want to come back?”
He…He’s worried. Worried about their future together.
Sure there was a lot of uncertainty. And that was something she battled for a long time. But for the first time in a long, long time, she felt safe and warm. Comfortable. Loved.
Lumine stepped close, wrapping her arms around Childe. He hesitantly hugged her back. “You’re right. I don’t know. I don’t know about a lot of things in the future,” she told him. “But…I do know that…I love you. That I want to be with you. For as long as I can.”
A soft laugh. “You…” He put his index finger under her chin, tilting her head up, his thumb on her lips. “You always know what to say,” he leaned down, close, his breath on hers, his voice getting quieter, “to make me fall in love with you even more.”
They shared a kiss—a soft, sweet kiss. A soft promise of being together, for as long as they could.
Then there was a shuffling behind them, and they broke apart to see the three children scurrying back to the den.
“I told you, Tonia, they were just gonna be kissing out there!” they heard Anthon whisper aggressively down the hall.
Tonia giggled and Teucer let out an “ewwwww!”
“You sure you want to come back to that?” Childe asked, teasingly.
“Of course,” Lumine said. “It’s family.”
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Lumine awoke in the middle of the night. Childe was sound asleep next to her. She curled up next to him, laying her head on his chest.
She tried falling back asleep to the rise and fall of his breathing, but to no avail. Something was keeping her up.
She sat up, yawning and stretching as quietly as she could, then slid out of bed. She left the room. Hopefully a stroll around the house will help.
She walked down the corridor, passing closed doors, making her way to the stairs. She heard footsteps coming from the adjacent hallway. Someone else is awake?
She turned the corner and saw Alexei walking down the hallway, to his mother’s room. Clutching something in his hand.
“Taking everything that’s rightfully mine.” His chilling words rang in her mind.
She stepped towards him. “Stop,” she said, her voice bouncing around the stone hallway.
He froze, then slowly turned towards her. His eye twitched. “Ah, Lumine,” he said with a strained smile. “Whatever are you doing up at this hour?”
She crossed her arms. “I couldn’t sleep. And you?” she asked, eyeing his clenched hand.
His gaze flickered to the hand as well. “Giving my mother her nightly medicine.” He opened his palm, revealing a small vial of liquid. It looked medicinal enough. But is it?
Lumine took a step towards him, and Alexei took a step back. Nervousness. Or defensiveness. “Why do I not believe you?”
“You’ve only just met me, dear,” he said. “Of course you don’t trust me.”
“You pulled a dagger on me.”
He laughed. “Apologies for that. I do get unreasonably angry when people compare me to Ajax.” He bowed slightly. “Other than that, I haven’t wronged you, have I?”
She scoffed. “You said you were going to take what’s ‘rightfully yours.’ And, you said you would only hurt me if I got in your way.” She glared at him. “So forgive me if I’m not exactly trusting of you.”
“How about this?” he said, pocketing the vial. “You let me go, and I’ll do the same for you.”
“Absolutely not.”
Alexei shrugged, a quick exhale escaping from his nose. “Your loss.”
He charged at her, taking out his dagger speedily.
Too easy. Lumine materialized her blade, catching his dagger. “Same old trick, Alexei?”
He smiled. “Hmm…not quite.” Suddenly, the dagger glowed purple, and sent out a sphere of Electro energy.
What?!
The wave shocked Lumine point blank, sending her flying backwards, landing on her side. The air was knocked from her lungs, and now her entire body was in pain.
Alexei didn’t have a Vision before—?!
She looked up to seeing him examining the weapon. “You know, it took me a while to find a black market Delusion,” he told her. “But with this, I’ll be able to easily take on anyone with a Vision.”
Of course…that power was stronger than a Vision. She had been unprepared for it. Now her body was suffering because of it.
“So…what now…Alexei?” Lumine said heavy breaths. “You…you going to murder…your family?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Is it that obvious?” He laughed wickedly.
“And…and for what?”
“For everything, of course. The wealth, the power, blah blah blah.” He came and crouched in front of Lumine. She weakly held up her sword in defense. He continued, “There’s no place for weakness in this world. So my parents have to go. My siblings? They never saw me as superior.” He grimaced. “Always Ajax…” He glared at her. “So they all have to go.”
He stood, raising his dagger, charging it with massive amounts of Electro energy. “And now that you decided to get in my way, you’ll have to go too, dear Lumine.” He tilted his head. “A pity. I was just getting to know you.” A laugh. “Oh well!”
The dagger came rushing down.
Lumine took a deep breath, starting to muster her energy to conjure enough Anemo power to hopefully blast the attack away. But she didn’t have to.
A large wave of Hydro energy splashed in front of her—a shield—sending the Electro energy sparking back.
“Just like I said,” Childe said behind her as he helped lift her up, “Stirring up trouble as always, Lumine.”
“Seems like trouble just seems to find its way to us.”
“You let Alexei almost beat you?”
She glared at him. “Of course not. I was caught off guard.” She lifted her sword, turning to Alexei. “I won’t let it happen again.”
Alexei let out a haggard laugh. “What a lovely power couple.” He charged up a ball of electricity in his palm. “Will it be enough to stop me though?”
“Alexei, you always lost to me,” Childe said, Hydro energy swirling around him. “What makes you think this time is different?”
The eldest brother grinned. “You may be strong, Ajax. But you never were very good at chess.”
He shot the electricity at the door behind him. Into his mother’s room.
The entire wall crumbled, sending debris flying down the hall. Childe and Lumine dropped to the floor, dodging the pieces. When they looked up, Alexei had disappeared. They heard the sounds of people approaching.
Misha stood there, looking dazed and confused, along with Feliks. “What happened?!” she asked, eyes on the blown out wall.
“That’s—That’s Galina’s room!” Feliks yelled. He rushed forward, but Childe stepped in front of him.
“It’s too dangerous,” Childe said.
Lumine nodded. “You two take the kids and get away from here.”
“Where’s Alexei?” Misha asked.
Childe’s jaw clenched. “Who do you think started this?”
She frowned. “That crazy bastard.” She unsheathed her own sword. “Let me help.”
“No,” Childe said. “He has a Delusion now; you two don’t have Visions. You need to get Tonia, Anthon, and Teucer out of here.”
Misha paused, then sheathed her blade. “Okay…But give him a piece of my mind for me.”
“Alexei…,” Feliks murmured, incredible sadness crossing his face.
Lumine set a gentle hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay. We’ll handle it,” she reassured. “Now, quickly, get out of here!” We’ve wasted enough time…
Feliks and Misha nodded, turning the corner to the hallway where the kid’s bedrooms were.
Lumine and Childe nodded at each other, then ventured through the rubble into Galina’s room.
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Half of the wall had been destroyed in the blast, letting the cold night air rush in. Little snow flurries floated in, and the moonlight casted a blue hue throughout the room. Alexei knelt in the middle of the room, Galina in his arms. Her eyes were closed.
Lumine raised her sword while Childe raised his Hydro spear.
Alexei looked up at them. Then, “Too late,” he said, a sardonic grin splitting his face. He held up the empty vial.
He dropped her on the floor where she fell limply.
Lumine’s heart froze. No—!
Next to her, Childe was still, as if all time had stopped. His eyes were unblinking as he looked at his mother on the ground.
Alexei stood. “Look at what happens when you worry about family too much,” he said. “If only father and sister didn’t show up, maybe you would’ve stopped me in time.” He charged up his Electro energy in his hand again. It was growing more unstable, lightning strikes lashing out at random. “One down. Eight more to go.”
He shot the attack towards Lumine and Childe.
Childe caught it in his bare hand, holding the ball of energy as the electricity crackled around him, up his arm. He bared his teeth, biting down so hard Lumine saw a trail of blood leak from his lips. His face was twisted in pure anger.
…
“ALEXEI!” he screamed, his voice becoming heavily distorted.
He’s—! Lumine automatically knew what was happening. She dove to the side, getting as far away from him as she could.
Childe absorbed the Electro energy he held, his whole body becoming engulfed in the sparking electricity. Then, Lumine heard the familiar sound of metal crashing together as heavy armor clashed onto his body.
Alexei’s eyes widened.
The lightning cleared, and floating before them was Tartaglia: complete in his Foul Legacy Transformation.
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[part 6 coming soon]