Chapter Text
Lumine met Nahida alone, Paimon having flown off to find something to eat. They stood on the balcony just outside the Sanctuary of Surasthana, looking out over the snow-covered city and the giant, equally snow-covered branches of the Divine Tree.
"How has your journey in this realm been so far?", Nahida asked.
Lumine shrugged, but then really took some time to think before answering: "It has... less action than the journey through Teyvat. I didn't have to fight even once here. But I'm not sure if I'm happy about that or if I miss the action."
Nahida hummed, nodding, but remained silent to give her some more time to just... talk.
"It's been nice, meeting all those people again. I haven't seen some of them in a while."
"But?"
Lumine was about to ask why the Archon expected a "but", but then she sighed as she realized that there really was one.
"But", she said quietly, "I feel a... detachment. I never really felt very attached to Teyvat either, and according to what you said about Irminsul, that seems to make sense..."
Nahida nodded, "And now it feels the same way with this world?"
"Mhm", Lumine sighed, thoughts drifting off for a moment as she watched a snowflake fall down right in front of her.
"There is no Irminsul here", Nahida said then, "And no Ley Lines either. I assume that's why all those waypoint have disappeared, too."
Lumine blinked in surprise. No Ley Lines?
"I don't know how else everything here works", Nahida shook her head, answering her unspoken question, "This world feels... empty. Not quite like a dream, but not quite like the reality we know either. It's like we all are leaves on a branch of Irminsul that has been cut off and was grafted onto the root system of an entirely different tree."
Lumine blinked, trying to understand the analogy.
After a moment, Nahida went on, "We know the memories that the roots carry, but we are still the same leaves as we were before. It's just that everything that happens now is like the water taken in by the roots. It's new and unfamiliar to us, but it's completely normal to the roots."
Slowly, Lumine nodded. She wasn't completely sure if she understood all of it, but she did think she at least got the basics.
"Then... can this process be reversed at all?", she finally asked quietly, nervous of what the answer might be.
But Nahida shrugged, "I can't say. I think it's possible. All of this seems way too deliberate, too planned out, to be something that happened for no reason."
"But is that an opinion or a hope?", Lumine frowned, "pretty much everyone we've met so far has said the same thing, but can anyone be sure of that? It seems deliberate, okay, but how can we prove that?"
A touch on her arm, soft and gentle and warm. Lumine looked down at Nahida's hand and sighed.
"You still want to find your brother, don't you?", Nahida asked softly, "You're afraid staying here forever means to never be reunited again."
Of course that was it. It hadn't appeared as a conscious thought in Lumine’s mind, but oh, it had been there all this time.
She didn't actively show her agreement, but surely Nahida must have noticed it anyway, for she said: "I think he's connected to all this somehow. Or, specifically, I think you are connected to all this. And if you are so special to whatever is going on here, then the likelihood of your mission being of importance must be high as well."
"I don't understand", Lumine whispered, looking down at the city and the few people walking through it.
"If we are leaves on this grafted branch, then you... you're a bee. You sat on this branch, and after it was cut off, you followed it." Nahida kept her hand on Lumine’s arm, the touch strangely grounding as she tried to keep up with the influx of information.
"Then what about my brother?"
Nahida shrugged, then said: "his memories got recorded in Irminsul. It's not impossible for his leaf to also be part of the branch we all are part of. And it's also not impossible for this world to have somehow incorporated the story of him and you into its own lore."
Lumine let out an audible breath, suddenly feeling a strange sense of realization, "You think his role is that of "Santa", don't you?"
Nahida nodded, letting go of her to cross her arms, "Santa was kidnapped by the Abyss. I believe you're able to make many more connections between this knowledge and that which you have from what you experienced in Teyvat."
There was no Abyss Order in the Christmas Realm as far as Lumine had heard, so the idea that the Abyss had taken over that role here wasn't too illogical. Aether... if he was here, what would happen if they saw each other again? If Nahida was right, his memories would also be affected somehow. Would the altered memories make it easier or harder for them to interact?
Lumine wrapped her arms around herself and gulped.
...all those questions required Nahida's theory to be correct. Aether could be Santa, but he just as well couldn't be.
"If this is deliberate...", Lumine quietly asked, voice slightly hoarse with emotion, "do you think this is meant to motivate me?"
"Motivate you?", Nahida frowned curiously, looking up at her.
"Give me a sense of... accomplishment." Lumine tried to explain herself, even though she suspected that Nahida had only asked her to elaborate to further aid Lumine’s thinking, not because she herself needed an explanation, "If I can save him once, then maybe I'll be more focused on doing it a second time."
Nahida smiled at that, just a little, "Would you be?"
For a moment, Lumine gave no response. Then, she nodded.
"I won't give up", she whispered, more to herself than to Nahida, "And if I know I can do it, then... then I'll try even harder to do it again."
"If this is all deliberate", Nahida agreed, "then this is a very sound conclusion."
Lumine nodded. The Abyss Order was a threat to all of Teyvat. Whichever power or person managed to do all this, to create or find this world and then bring all of them here... they must have known that as well. And they must have assumed that Lumine, who was so closely familiar with the Prince himself, would have a chance at defeating it somehow.
With a sigh, Lumine nodded again, then gave her best at showing Nahida a smile.
"Thank you", she said, voice quiet and rough.
"Not for that", Nahida shook her head, smiling back at her, "I'm the God of Wisdom, no? Even if my duty is a different one here, that doesn't change who I used to be back home."
Lumine averted her gaze from the city, looking down at the Archon next to her. And then she practically fell to her knees, her arms wrapping around Nahida as a tear rolled down her cheek.
"Hey, shh...", if Nahida was surprised by this, she didn't show it. She just hugged her back, her small hands rubbing over Lumine’s back in soothing circles.
Lumine couldn't tell just what had caused her emotions to overflow like this, but the crying felt great. Something had opened up a vent for everything to flow out of her, making her feel so much lighter and relieved already.
Nahida didn't ask what's wrong, didn't tell her to stop crying, didn't complain about Lumine’s tears staining her clothes. She just held her, whispering variations of "It's okay" and "I'm here" and "let it all out".
Nahida let go only when Lumine pulled away a little, rubbing the back of her hand over her eyes to get rid of the last couple of tears.
She would have remained on the ground like this, but Nahida gently grabbed her hands and pulled her back up.
"I have an idea", she said, a soft smile on her lips, "one that might cheer you up a bit."
"Hm?"
"You still need a Spirit of Christmas, no?", Nahida said, her tone of voice almost mysterious and conspiratorial, "Well, I have just the right person for that."
...and that was how Lumine found herself in Wanderer's company. Nahida had left them alone with a wave at Lumine and an almost dangerously sweet smile for Wanderer, so now the person standing next to Lumine on that balcony was the former Harbinger.
"So", he said, scowl on his face and arms crossed in front of his chest, "What do you want this time, huh?"
"Nothing important", Lumine shrugged, already cheered up a little at the idea of getting to bother the other for a while, "just wanted to see how you're doing since I'm already here."
Wanderer sighed and rolled his eyes, "sure you did. Well, I'm not doing anything important, so there's nothing for me to tell you about."
"Hm?", that was actually somewhat surprising, "You mean you don't have any duties here? Don't you have a Christmas celebration to prepare for?"
But Wanderer shook his head, "Nope. Whatever the others did to get punished with senseless tasks about a stupid festival, I fortunately didn't do."
Lumine was about to say something unfriendly in response to Wanderer's choice of wording, but then her curiosity won, "So you just... do nothing all the time? You don't even help Nahida or study or something?"
"No." Wanderer's scowl deepened, but then he groaned, "Well, maybe, but that doesn't count. I do it because-... because..."
Lumine had to hold back a chuckle as the other groaned again and shook his head.
"Just admit that you're not as awful anymore as you were when we first met, hm?", Lumine grinned.
The only response she got was Wanderer rolling his eyes, but his missing reply really was an answer in and of itself.
"So what do you do, then?", she continued, adamant at not letting go of this topic, "I was right about either helping Nahida, studying, or both. So what is it?"
For a moment, it seemed like the wouldn't get a response at all. But then Wanderer sighed and shrugged.
"I really don't do anything. I'm just... there." He spoke more quietly now, less annoyed, "But if Nahida needs help with something, most of the time she'll ask me. And most of the time it's something I can help her with, so I do just that."
A smile tugged at Lumine’s lips, and she hummed softly, hoping that he'll keep talking.
He did.
"Most of the time it's just making some snacks or bringing her something she's left somewhere else", Wanderer shrugged, "But I've also traveled around a bit. I can still fly, so... that's been a pretty helpful talent so far."
"And for Christmas?" Lumine asked softly, "what do you do then?"
Again a scowl, paired with a roll of his eyes. But after a silent grumble of words she couldn't make out, he actually did answer: "Depends on Nahida, I guess. If she's busy with something, I'll just find myself a quiet spot and make sure nobody comes and bothers me. If she has time... she makes me bring her with me. And we'll have a picnic of sorts."
Lumine smiled as his voice softened the more he spoke, and she let her gaze drift off to imagine what that would look like. The god and the puppet that had once desperately wanted to become one. Enemies in the past, now friends. Perhaps even more like family.
"Sounds... peaceful", Lumine finally commented.
Wanderer nodded, a quiet hum further emphasizing his agreement.
"I prefer it like that", Wanderer admitted after a long moment of silence, "having no tasks like all the others do."
Lumine raised an eyebrow, wordlessly asking him for further explanation.
"She can rely on me. As can others, if they know where to find me." At that, he grinned and added: "Most don't."
That got a chuckle out of her, paired with a nod as she could easily assume his words to be true.
Wanderer continued, the grin softening into a smile, "Nahida always knows where to find me, even if I don't tell her. Since I have no duties, I'm always free, so if something happens... she can rely on me."
"But", Lumine tilted her head to the side, looking at him with the softest expression she could give to someone who could be as frustrating as him, "then that means that you do have a task. Just that it's one you gave yourself. Your duty is to assist Nahida."
Wanderer blinked at that, visibly caught off guard for a moment. And then he chuckled, the sound oddly soft and genuine.
"I never thought of it like that", he said after he'd calmed down again, a smile still tugging at the corners of his mouth, "but I guess it makes sense, doesn't it? That I'd have to give myself my own purpose."
He chuckled again, more softly this time, and then he shook his head and lifted a hand to his chest right above where a heart would be.
"You've won, Traveler", he said, lowering his hand again. In its place, a light now flickered in the air in front of Wanderer's chest.
"Won?", Lumine watched the Spirit of Christmas flickering in and out of existence, the time frame in which it was gone growing shorter each time.
"Didn't you want this to happen?", Wanderer raised an eyebrow, staring down at the spirit, "I expected that Nahida wanted you to talk to me so I can get into the mood for Christmas, but I will admit I didn't expect there to be another reason behind that first one."
Lumine hummed, reaching out for the spirit as soon as it stopped flickering.
"You guessed right, then.", she said with a shrug, "but that doesn't mean I wouldn't have wanted to talk to you without that reason."
They both watched the spirit disappear, Wanderer looking way more surprised than Lumine, who by now was quite used to the experience.
"Will you leave now?", Wanderer asked when it was gone completely.
Paimon spared her an answer, flying up to them while waving, "Traveler! Hey, don't leave without Paimon!"
"I wouldn't dare", Lumine chuckled.
Paimon just crossed her arms at that, "Yeah, exactly. Because then you wouldn't get the snacks Paimon bought extra for you!"
"Snacks?", Lumine grinned, "oh, I sure would love a snack right now. Guess that means you can stay with me."
Wanderer scoffed as he watched the interaction, turning away to look into the distance as Lumine quickly ate the local delicacies Paimon had brought her.
Paimon only looked at him, but didn't say anything. She just waited for Lumine to finish eating, then asked: "So, Fontaine next?"
Lumine hummed in agreement, "That was the idea, yeah. Now we just have to figure out how to get there. I assume the railroads won't get us all the way there, with Fontaine being higher up than the other nations and all that."
A sigh from Wanderer, then he turned around with a roll of his eyes.
"Oh, just get it over with and ask, will you?", he grumbled.
Paimon huffed, crossing her arms, but Lumine spoke up before she could: "Would you be able to help us a little? Please?"
And so Lumine found herself on Wanderer's back, her arms around his neck and her legs around his middle. She gleefully giggled like a little child at this unfamiliar mode of transportation, even though every sound seemed to deepen the scowl on Wanderer's face. After a couple minutes of flying, she stopped herself, not wishing to be thrown off.
Paimon flew next to them on her own, holding onto Lumine's skirt at times when she couldn't keep up anymore.
The sunlight made the snow far beneath them sparkle, so Lumine had to look ahead if she didn't want to accidentally damage her eyes.
Soon, the sea between Sumeru and Fontaine appeared before them, and Lumine used this time where she had nothing interesting to look at to tell Paimon all about what Nahida and her had talked about earlier.
Wanderer listened as well, but other than a couple hums of agreement and one or two scoffs, he didn't comment on what she said.
With Wanderer's speed and his lack of a need for rest, they reached Fontaine much quicker than they would have via the railroad system or a boat.
Lumine told him that he could just leave them at the Romaritime Harbor, but he scoffed and shook his head. She tried again when they neared Poisson, but he completely ignored her this time.
In the end, he only let her get off of his back when they reached the Court of Fontaine. He had chosen the main plaza as his landing spot, which naturally drew a couple gazes towards them.
Wanderer ignored them all and instead just looked at Lumine before saying goodbye with a "Good luck on the rest of your journey" and a nod.
Before she could respond and say something that he wouldn't have wanted to hear, he rose up into the air again, quickly disappearing in the distance.
"Well", Paimon commented after a short moment of silence, "guess he didn't want a five star rating for his transportation services."
Lumine couldn't hold her laughter back at that. Actually, she didn’t even bother to try. Really, if their arrival hadn't already turned all the other people's attention towards them, it definitely would have happened now.