Lumine walked quietly, boots crunching against the cobbled path as the golden light of Teyvat bathed the world in warmth. The sky stretched clear above, yet her thoughts drifted far beyond the serene horizon.
Mondstadt's distant peaks loomed behind her, the birthplace of their first chapter. Beautiful, yes—but beneath that beauty lingered an undercurrent. A tension. The kind that whispered of things still to come.
"So much left to understand," she murmured, her voice barely rising above the wind. The pull of the Abyss still echoed in her soul, distant yet persistent. A shadow that never fully faded.
She had come to this world with a mission: to find her sibling. To uncover the truths that lay buried beneath gods and stars. But somewhere along the way, she found something she hadn't expected.
Companionship.
She watched the three ahead of her—Noah, Kiana, and Elysia—their silhouettes cast in gold by the sinking sun. The silence between them was no longer unfamiliar. It was comfortable. Shared. The kind of quiet that existed between those who had fought, laughed, and nearly broken together.
She found herself walking closer.
Noah.
A calm presence with storms beneath the surface. He never raised his voice, never demanded obedience, but when he spoke, people listened. He bore his power like a blade sheathed—never flaunted, always ready. She admired him, even if she didn't always understand him. His help came without condition, and he offered strength without expectation. He reminded her of someone she once knew—a memory too tender to name.
Kiana.
Chaotic, bright, and full of contradictions. Kiana carried fire in her steps and thunder in her laugh, yet Lumine had seen her crack—seen the golden eye, the rage, the fear. But she had also seen hope. And stubbornness. Kiana fought to define herself in spite of the voice that lingered inside. Lumine couldn't help but admire that spirit. Maybe that was why she found herself smiling more around her.
Elysia.
Graceful, radiant, and heartbreakingly kind. There was something about Elysia's presence that lifted the air around her, made it feel like spring no matter the season. But Lumine knew that wasn't the whole story. There were shadows in her laughter, memories hidden behind the way she listened so intently. Elysia loved sincerely, and in that love was a resilience that Lumine wished she had.
And Lumine…
She had always been the traveler. The one who watched, who walked ahead. But now, she was walking beside them. Maybe not entirely part of their world, but no longer a stranger to it.
Maybe she didn't have to carry everything alone.
Her smile softened at the thought.
Teyvat had been a journey of revelations.
In Mondstadt, they faced their first true battle against the Abyss—Durin's corrupted bones rising in rage beneath Dragonspine, echoes of a monstrous will stirring in the frost. They had descended into a wound in the world, and clawed their way back with resolve, fire, and the wind at their backs. Venti had revealed himself not with fanfare, but with music—melodies wrapped in secrets. And Alice, chaotic and brilliant, had shattered expectations with fire and laughter both. When it was over, and the mountain still stood, the city welcomed them with lanterns and music. There, under Mondstadt's stars, they danced—not just to celebrate survival, but to reclaim something they thought they'd lost. Together, they rediscovered joy, the wind's song, and the first threads of what it meant to be a crew.
In Liyue, Kiana had trained with the adepti, meditating in the stillness of clouds high above mortal worries. It grounded her in a way she hadn't known she needed. For Lumine, Liyue was carved in stone and silence, and yet in that stillness, she found fleeting moments of fragile peace. They watched Kiana close her eyes atop Qingyun Peak, her bat set aside, the winds threading through her hair. For a heartbeat, she wasn't fighting. Just breathing. And Lumine had smiled.
But even Liyue was not untouched by darkness. Beneath the mountains, the Abyss had burrowed into forgotten ruins, seeking to unravel the contracts that bound the city's soul. They faced it in the depths—shadows that whispered false promises, creatures that crawled through shattered ley lines, illusions born from old betrayals. It was there, amid stone and tremor, that Lumine touched the Geo element for the first time. The resonance came not as a roar, but as a steady weight—enduring, unyielding. With a golden shimmer, she anchored the ground beneath their feet, shielding them when all else faltered. Kiana swung her bat like a comet; Noah's saber cut through lies made flesh; Elysia's arrows sang with crystalline resolve. And Lumine—Lumine met the Abyss with blade and stone, her stance firm, her light unwavering. It was not just strength that saw them through, but the bond that had been carved between them—stronger than fear, deeper than the earth.
In Sumeru, the forests sang with dream-voices. The Aranara welcomed them as if they'd always been part of their stories. Elysia's lullabies quieted the woods, her voice threading between the trees like sunlight through leaves. Kiana had tried to play their instruments—tried and failed with so much gusto that even the plants giggled. For the first time in a long while, Lumine had laughed so hard it hurt. But even Sumeru, with its blooming wisdom and ancient trees, was not untouched. The Abyss seeped into dreams there, twisting memories and warping the minds of researchers. They faced illusions that struck not the body, but the heart. And when Lumine stood before a phantom of her sibling—made of memory and pain—she almost broke. Almost. But instead, something bloomed within her. A green pulse of light, quiet and alive. Dendro. The element of knowledge and renewal. It wrapped around her like vines of truth, dispelling the mirage. She used it not to strike, but to guide. Kiana and Noah carved through the falsehoods while Elysia's light restored balance to the glade. Sumeru gave her not answers, but a sense of wonder. Of joy. And in that moment of clarity, Lumine learned that some truths don't need to be found—they need to grow.
And Fontaine…
Fontaine had tested them in ways none of them expected. The Abyss did not come with beasts or blades alone—it infected hearts, casting suspicion and guilt like oil on water. Beneath the beauty of the Opera Epiclese and the rhythm of law, doubt festered. Accusations spread. Families broke. The city teetered on collapse, not from invasion, but from within. They had stood with Furina as judgment cracked the heavens, torn between ideals and chaos.
In that crucible, Lumine felt herself unravel. The people cried for justice and certainty, and for a moment, she wasn't sure if they could give it. But then—water. Pure and resonant. She reached into herself and felt the cool current rise. Hydro. Not forceful like flame, nor unshakable like stone—it flowed, listened, adapted. With it, she steadied the tides, mending broken trust with gentle resolve. Her words, guided by this newfound power, carried weight. And when she moved, the city listened.
Noah remained a lighthouse amid the storm, unflinching in silence. Kiana charged where needed, a beacon of fierce loyalty. Elysia wove harmony into every discordant note. Together, they fought not only to stop the Abyss—but to remind Fontaine what it meant to believe in something again.
And when the cheers rose at the end, when sunlight finally broke over water that had long reflected only doubt, Lumine had nearly cried.
They had saved a city—not just from the Abyss, but from forgetting how to hope.
Each nation carved something into them. Each battle, each story, each step—etched deeper than the last.
Lumine wasn't the same girl who stepped into this world looking for her brother. She still searched—but now, she walked with others.
She looked up as the wind shifted, and the others caught up beside her.
"Where are we off to next?" she asked, her voice quiet but no longer uncertain.
Noah looked toward the east, toward a sky lined with thunderclouds and cherry blossom winds.
"Inazuma," he answered, voice like a promise.
Kiana whooped, stretching her arms. "I hope it's got snacks. And fireworks."
Elysia laughed gently. "Only if you don't cause the fireworks yourself."
Lumine chuckled softly, her eyes shining as she stepped forward, her place now certain.
Next stop: Inazuma.