Chapter Text
Night falls near the plains of eastern Teyvat. Stars aligned yet static, above every set of eyes and ears there were always those who shot a glimpse of the sky’s illuminated bloom of sparks. Fingers reach the mirage of glittering specks of dust with her hands, clasping an illusion of destiny in her palm. Nothing.
Her eyelids drawled heavy counting each star as her head rested back on the pillow. The tent behind her rustles from the wind with no one inside, sturdy enough to pull through tonight’s usual weather. She shifts, leaning towards the low dim of the campfire on her right, peeking at her sleeping companion. Paimon is lost to the world of her own, drooling in her slumber. Lumine watches in amusement for a while and turns back to the stars.
Another night will turn into another dawn. Tomorrow night her journey heads to the chasm to complete a few requests far from human contact. It won’t take her long to finish each request, as her status as an adventurer is nothing to scoff at. Lumine ponders if she’s even the best person for the job, but wouldn’t want anyone to fall into the unknown abyss due to the lack of strength and preparation. She worried for the normal teyvatian who didn’t wield a vision - and still worried for those that do. Countless times adventures head out and need to be rescued by her sword and accidental saving, earning the title of honorary in many ways. To the people of Teyvat, she’s a guiding hand, a hero. Towards the world, it is another day.
Lumine groans squeezing her eyes shut and opening them to the dark abyss above. Today was busy. Too many people asking for requests and routes she couldn't care less for. Faces she couldn’t bother to remember and hellos and goodbyes that mean nothing. Her bones became numb and static, enjoying the languor from the errand running. A simple boring routine like last week, last month. So predictable. She’s restless from countless travels and sleep doesn’t come easy. Lumine stares at the sky again.
Nostalgia cursed its way into her pain once more. She and Aether arrived like shooting stars soaring across the nations on that faithful day. That night is grim to let it fade in her memories. She didn’t get the see them all - the people, the homes, the monsters -only a glimpse of what they’d pass through. Specks of little details. Just like the worlds they visited.
Lumine solemnly watches a comet fly across the stars. Aether would always tell her to make wishes, plainly aware that she didn’t believe in most miracles after they age. The missing ache of her brother’s presence still haunts her, turning the edges of her decision when she recalls every smile she witnesses on his dimpled face.
Underneath the fresh wind was a small used tent outside of Liyue’s plains, hollow. Not even Paimon went to sleep inside, babbling about how important warmth is when it's nighttime. She finds it funny when Paimon gives in and snuggles next to her arm. The warmth follows. She compares it to Aether's comfy hugs in times of tears, but the smaller warmth is like a child's, a blooming feeling that erupts, spilling emotion from inside. She can't understand the need for cradling the pixie in her sleep, but she does it anyway like a tender mother.
Lumine gives in. What’s the harm, she muses, stuck another year after their separation. In times like these, she wishes miracles did come true. Foolish, foolish - it echoes in her brain until she snaps at the array of stars. She sighs, takes a deep breath, and prays. The shooting star twinkles brightly across the sea of stars, vanishing into smaller wisps. Gone.
Give me a reason to keep going.
A frown displeases her expression, despite how strong her words are. How despairing, she scolds herself. His name couldn’t even escape from her lips. Maybe she holding onto something, a concept of her past family. Family, something she desperately lost sight of inside the rhythmic painful beating of her heart. But what could that be? A yawn forces her thoughts to abruptly stop, finally weighing her fatigue down. From another day to another dawn, it would all be the same. She knows this. Back to the drawing board, and into the hollow trail to find the last remnants of her family. She counts the stars, gaining a different number, and turns to complete darkness, lulling to the sound of the hushing wind.
Just before night falls, a series of comets take flight.
Dawn has arrived. The sun rises as well as the citizens of Mondstatd from their beds. Some off the ground. An unconscious girl of twelve years of age stirs and blinks awake.
“Ugh,...where…are we?”
Curls of blue locks sway up from her face from lying on the fields. The stars landed too quickly, and she had little time to maneuver through parts of Mondstadt before she lost control. A hand whisks away the grass weeds from her cheek and dress. The young girl grounded the earth with her elbows and then soon her wobbly legs, dusting off her knees. She steers from the wind blowing from the west, towards the city, and squints from the sun piercing her fragile blue eyes and shedding light across her bronzed skin features. Diamond irises stare back at the morning sky, blaring.
“Wait,” she twists towards the view of the city, her home, gasping, “did we actually do it?!?” Mondstadt stood plain and bustling with windmills falling dandelions, just as she remembered. Extending her awareness, the high plain she’s standing on is a cliff filled with condensed flora and weeds. Starnatch cliff. The ends of her black and gold dress flutter through a breeze as she runs to the edge, “We’re here…” The star ornaments in her hair and necklace rang in echoes.
She saw the cliffs and the entire grass plains of Mondstatd’s highest peaks. The sea and water near the bridge. The blue-haired girl stood in awed, despite her ruined blue gradient tights and open-starred gloves worn from the fall. A blue ribbon hooked behind the sash of her dress is still neatly in place.
Wait - “Lucius?” she calls out, flailing her arms. No response, “Lucius! Where are you?? Hey! Everyone!”
No response. Had they been separated? Their stars were aligned. She remembers being next to Lucias, and in between her siblings, holding Ava's hand. A deep pit of turmoil settled in her stomach. If something had happened to them -
“Lucius! Amara! Vin! Can anyone hear me?!?” She yells higher the wind carrying her plea. Did they land in different places? What if they-
“Stop shouting, Saira. I’m up here.”
The blue-haired girl twists to her twin brother, “then say something!”
A groan tumbles out from the highest branch on the tree to the right. Perched on the tree is a red-headed boy with a wolf tail and a sheathed sword on his hip. He has dressed in the same golds and blacks, only wearing a short black coat over a well-tailored white shirt and black trousers. At present, he shared with her a face of annoyance and exhaustion from having a hand hold onto a branch above him. The mirrored golden eyes stared back at her, without traces of the diamond. Leaves pilfer in his hair and clothes, likely from falling into the tree.
“I couldn’t cause I was stuck,” he grumbles, hopping down on his feet. “I woke up to you prattling.”
“Oh, my apologies for being so worried!” Saira grounds her palms on her hips, “I almost thought you died, idiot.”
“Well, I didn't. We just fell from the sky,” Lucius casually explained, picking the leaves out of his hair.
“Then what is this?” Saira extended her hands, barren without a single sight of the others, “and where are the others?!?” her voice raised higher with concern, eyes glistening. Lucius sighs.
“I don't know,” Lucius quickly answers, dusting his hands, “but we’ll find them. They couldn’t have gone far.”
Lips quivering, Saira only frowned at the negative possibilities waiting to occur. Something didn't feel right about this mess. She's used to parting with her mother as a traveler, but time traveling was different! They were all together in one place, ready to fly…..then some stars stopped and some kept going. The others were too young to defend themselves and they were told to be careful or else…
"What if they get hurt?"
Lucius studied her expression, pausing. Aside from his emotional twin, he often lets her rant and babbles his ear off, much to his displeasure. But this time the situation is rare for her to keep her thoughts disclosed. It's easy to speculate what she's thinking, his thoughts are the same, but his concern is surrounded by another opinion. In case of the worst, he'll think of a better plan than he has now. Lucius’ hands crumble as he grabs the hilt of his sword. "Then our parents will protect us, right?"
Saira blinks away the small tears, "um, yeah. They would, huh." She wipes them off, turning to the city. "Do you think they'll recognize us?"
Lucius strolls next to her, peering at the homely view he’s known to cherish. Side by side they are nothing alike. Clashes of blue and red contrast their vision abilities, bursting near their left hips and planes. The Kaenriah descendant carries an icy glow but is more warm-hearted than most. She stands confident, but careful, always leaning towards her brother. The Ragninvdr heir ignites a fiery spark, strict and calm, the first to draw his hand back to whatever comes in between his family. They are young and naive, reflecting hues of bright honey innocence.
The young boy crosses his arms, “we look just like our fathers. It won’t be hard,” the sun rises higher, morning drifting, “but they might feel weird about it.”
Saira's shoulders slump, “and they might fight about it too.”
“Yeah,” he painfully nods. Their fathers can be annoying from time to time. When their mother isn’t around, the house would be unstable with jabs and glares throughout the day. Only a fraction of their distinct animosity for one another slips through the cracks when they are born, a tint of flame left behind after their mother leaves on her journey, pulling her twins aside and asking them to be patient with their meddling, promising their fathers are just as careless with their love. Behind facades of status and chivalry, their boundless affection for them is rooted at their birth. In the end, their fathers would put them first, regardless of which twin they were with.
Lucius gazes west, pointing at the Dawn Winery. Their home.
“We can go home, and try to explain to Adelinde.”
Saira crosses her arms, worry glazes in her honey eyes, “And Amara and Vin?”
“We’ll meet them. And the rest. C’mon,” He takes her hand as always walking down the cliff, “let’s go.”
—-
The lab door creaks open with a nervous push. Timid hands shake widely as the light of the hall enters the giant lab room. Mr.Albedo's lab. Sucrose's daily schedule consisted of visiting the lab multiple times throughout the day, except for running the alchemy stand near the plaza. Today she was late to conduct her experiment from yesterday until she ran into a knight who heard something rumble from the upstairs lab.
Sucrose peaked in, ears drooped in fear, wondering if anyone had broken in. The dark lab was accompanied by all material and equipment of alchemy expertise, sitting quietly. Nothing moved. She knew the lab like the back of her hand and Albedo had mentioned her confidence is key to maintaining better use of her anemo prowess. Sucrose quickly clicked the lamp on the right and jumped in with her catalyst in the air. "C-come out! Or else!"
Surely this was a good method, right? This was Mr.Albedo's lab. Anyone who entered unrestricted would face the knights and the alchemist himself. Bright lights momentarily flickered all at once showcasing the lab with a few differences.
One light source evaded the room from pure sunlight, out the broken mirror of the window. Sucrose steadily moved closer inspecting the window. Below the breakthroughs were broken shards on the floor and other equipment that tipped over. From her analysis, something hurdled and smash through the glass, knocking out the smaller things in the way. Her eyes trail to the straight momentum down the wall.
An animal? It could have rolled through and made a run for it. Sucrose followed the trail of dropped materials that were once on the tip shelves and found a giant round cut sphere at the end. The cut diameter of the Teyvat model was broken, likely the victim of the burglar's force of entry, with its round surface facing up. Sucrose sighed, inching forward, grabbing the sphere model,
Then it inches away. Sucrose gasped, stepping back. The sphere continued to move away from her, into the center of the lab. "Eh?!" Sucrose hesitantly followed it, pondering how to approach the wild animal inside. I could blast it. Or should I trap it until it frees itself? Maybe it'll suffocate-
Suddenly small thumps on the metal clunk from the inside. The sound echoes, the pauses, then giggling rings.
"...I want out." A young childlike voice quipped, almost monotone.
"Aww, but I wanted to keep scaring her…" a familiar voice, why was it so familiar - giggled again, and then the edges of the sphere lifted from the bottom, tipping back.
Sucrose's jaw drops, blinking. Children… in the lab? "What-"
"Surprise!" Yells the dark-haired little boy with swept blue bangs and a green cape around his shoulders. "It's us, Auntie Sucrose!" He yells out almost in song, very similar to an enchanting bard's voice from the main plaza. He looked no older than five years.
"Auntie Su-su," says another child who steers the gears in the wildest interpretations as she gazes into the same teal eyes she's had multiple times in her life. The same shade that taught her alchemy countless times and has praised, lectured, and comforted her in her hardships and successes was staring right back at her.
"M-Mr.Albedo?!?" Sucrose hastily bends her knees, grabbing the short little girl in the air, shrieking. "Have you shrunk?!?" Besides the white and red dress, the young girl was her mentor in every way, boring her with those teal eyes and hair styled just like the alchemist. The only difference was the color of her hair, a lighter shade of blonde that confused her.
The girl around six years of age merely tilts her head and then smacks her temple, "Wrong theory!" The little girl opens her arms wider, "Take me to papa."
"Papa?!? You mean…you couldn't mean-"
A little nudge tugs the ends of her frills, signaling her to look down. Amber-colored eyes met pools of viridian waves. The little boy gives her a large dose of pleading puppy eyes.
"Can you take me to see my dad too, Auntie Sucrose?"
—-
The time exceeds the hour before the afternoon, the sun hovers on a clear day without enemies roaming, launched on the ground by a hydro spear. One man grumbles in Snezhnayan slammed to the ground from the burst of hydro shards and geo constructs.
"Alea, I think he's had enough." The other compliant one says, calm as stone but the fierce look on his eyes says otherwise.
"Nope." The girl, the frightening one, plants a foot on his chest. He stares up at the girl around thirteen years, scowling with those furious golden hues of hers. The wavy-ginger hair girl made the fatui question whose kid was insane enough to approach him and beat him to a pulp. He doesn't recall taking any debt belonging to any orange hair father! Especially not a terrifying battle-hungry girl! She moved like a crane, swift and dangerous, barely catching the swings of attacks coming at him. Her eyes never left him, like prey seeking the final blow. Skilled and stubborn, as if she had training from a specialist.
"You better answer my question or I'll send you to the bottom of the river."
A malicious aura surrounds the tomboyish girl, peering below with illuminating eyes of a warmonger. Something that strikes him eerily familiar but the way she's dressed is completely baffling. Snezhayan ornaments hung from her blue hoodie vest, too casual and open for winter's harsh winds. Sleeves of her white blouse underneath flowed to her wrist along with half-black gloves. She wore black shorts and hardware boots with fatui accents, very recognizable to any lackey in the field. The fatui’s mind scrambled, did she come from the orphanage or did someone bring their daughter to work today? If he wasn't battered, he'd be mildly impressed by her disguise - whoever the brat was. The only thing out of place was the darn pink narwhal hair clip.
"Hey!" He felt the brunt of her boots whack his chest, "where’s papa?"
"Papa?" He spoke in his native tongue, confused, "you're too far from home, little girl."
"I am home," she replies sharply, turning to the harbor of Liyue, "I want to know where my dad is."
"Alea. Wait."
She turns to another boy with brown hair neatly braided around his neck dressed in a simple liyuen tunic and trousers with regal traditional patterns. He doesn't hold a weapon, but a simple geo sphere that vanishes with a flick of his wrist. His calm posture reflects a mature personality for someone younger than the girl. He inspects him cautiously and bends down near his masked face. He saw the shape of his eyes burn a rust hue and then gold like the girls. He appeared far younger, counting the kid's height, but the way he holds himself is miles mature than the snezhnayan girl. The fatui can't piece it together but something does look familiar about this kid. Like he's seen this exact face before.
"We have a few questions," he says softly yet assertively, and more patient than the other girl, "Is the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor still open?"
The fatui stirs, glaring behind his mask. "It is. Can't you brats go check it yourselves?" His ribs are broken for this?!? Tsaritsa help him, today was not his day.
"That's good." The kid brightens up, a light illuminating his childlike features, "and have you seen the consultant guy?"
"No," he bluntly says, what the hell did they want? "Seriously, can't you check up on him yourself?"
"Well-"
"That's enough Jin." Alea crosses her arms, "we're going to. But we need one more thing from you, fatui."
Ugh, the man just wanted to go home. "And what's that kid?" If he makes it out alive, he'd need to send a fast report to the harbingers-
Alea smirks stretching her grin and mimicking a similar battle-hungry harbinger's expression, "Bring the eleventh harbinger to the funeral parlor. And tell him to get there fast."
—-
Wood thumps reverberate on the ship’s dock, men hoisting timber on board. A woman with a bandana crosses a few things off her checklist, checking barrels and crates full of what the ship needs. One man carried an open crate, missing the eyes of the attendant casting a simple glimpse, eyeing haystack popping from the cracks. The Alcor is docked and loaded until the last passenger lifts the planks, setting sail from orders near the steering wheel.
The bright afternoon is a fresh breeze. Sails flourish onwards as the ship steers north to Liyue. The captain is leisurely speaking to the merchant assigned to the crew with the woman in charge of supplies. Behind them, the crates are carried to the lower deck by the first mates. Captain Beidou's ears twitch to irritable voices on deck. Her crew often laughed and threw punches out of nonsensible heated arguments. She paid no mind until a sharp scowl stings the air. And her wilted patience.
“Juza! How could you be so careless!”
“Oi, don’t look at me, it started doing that on its own!”
“Hold off on that,” she nods to the supplier and heads to Juzu and Huixing, inches from tearing the other apart. Beidou strolls in with a fierce aura of her own, crossing her arms, armed to scold her crew, until her eyes land on the crate.
Sheets of ice spread the outer layer crawling towards the edges. “And what is this? I don’t recall seeing ice flowers on the list.”
Juzu shrugs, “Captain, I only carry the goods. Whatever is inside should be the supplier’s handle. Not mine.”
Huixing shakes her head, “You dunce, it looked suspicious and you still decided to bring it on the ship - we don’t need dangerous shit like this on the Alcor-”
“Dangerous?” Beidou chuckles sharply causing the two to finally whip their heads to her. She takes out her claymore and stabs the edges of the ice, “Let's see how dangerous this thing really is.”
The steel chips the nails snapping out breaking the wood on the side. A noise shifts, a very human one. Most of the crew circled the scene and peered at the questionable crate. Beidou bends down and shoes her weapon aside, grabbing the broken top layer and yanking it open.
Roars of shock and curses filled her ears when the goods, - or stowaways in question were brought to light. Beidou crosses her arms frowning in silence below.
Inside were two children who barely looked like they just learned to grasp speaking. One was a boy with short hair with the lightest shade of blue around eight years. He wore a long drapery over his small body, with patterns of blue and gold fishes. Underneath he wore a styled Inazuman dress, a kimono from the looks of it, Beidou assumed, with a dark sash around his waist. The ice from the crate came from the bursting cyro vision near the sash. So there's the lucky kid.
The girl hugging him in his sleep was far younger - four years from her smaller limbs with short white hair. A familiar streak of red strands peaks from her bangs and ends. Beidou fixates hard on the kimono the girl is wearing, a white robe with maple leaves adorning her skirt. Hmm, have I seen this kid before-
“Captain Beidou? What do we do with them…and their visions?”
The whole crew waits for her answer, some ready to drag them out or turn away from the whole ordeal. They’re not barbarians but they honored ground rules. Well, hers, specifically. Pirates live by code and do ominous trade in the seas. That implies leaving family behind, no matter the cost. But Beidou always made exceptions. She has no pleasure seeing kids drown or off her ship below the waters. Still, anger boils inside her nerves. What kind of shitty parents abandons their kids in a crate? Tch, the next orphanage would take a while to sail to, not that she minded more mouths to feed but the babysitting didn’t sit well with her crew. She could force Huixing to care the for kids in the meantime while she sends a note to Thoma for help.
Still, turning tail from a good tavern in Liyue was right around the corner-
A wail came from below, snapping everyone’s attention. The white-haired girl stirs and blinks, honey eyes marveling at her surroundings.
Huixing groans arrogantly, “Oh god, they’re awake.”
Beidou shoots her a glare and watches the girl rub her eyes coming face to face with a row of alarming eyes. She appears unfazed, roaming those golden hues until they land on her. Beidou smirks, “welcome aboard, kiddo. Not pleased to see stowaways, but being able to scare the pants off two of my men does bring a smile to my face.”
The two pirates in question drop their jaws at the jab, as the crew follows with snickers.
The little girl blinks, hopping to the crate’s length where her neck could barely reach, “Auntie Beio!”
“....What? Captain-???”
“Auntie? Auntie?!? Captain, you’re a-?”
“Pff, Beio-”
Lightning snips the legs of her crewmates stinging her men with a warning. They cry out and jump back from the shock. Beidou pats the little girl’s head as the rest of her men give them space and blame the other like children.
“Auntie, huh?” She rumbles in laughter, “Now who said you could call me that?”
The white-haired girl smiles brightly with her small seven growing teeth, “My father! He said Auntie B-Beio is a good pirate.”
Beidou plays along, “Well, you see, It’s been a while since being out at sea, so tell me your name again.” Beidou mentally cheered seeing the kid beams.
“Hanami. But,” she twidles her fingers, “you like saying Hana, Auntie Beio.”
Beidou takes another glance at the sleeping kid and then to her, “Yeah? Hana sounds nice,” She rustles her hair again, “And where can I find your dad?”
“He’s trav…travl..ling!” She blurts out her best for someone her age, and Beidou gets the gist. Traveling in Inazuma, no doubt, she suspects. She was gonna hunt this guy down for passing her name like this. This guy is lucky his daughter knows the right words to say.
“That’s your brother, right? Say, what’s your dad’s name?”
When the soft words full of affection leave the girl's mouth in excitement. Beidou's eyes fatten like the fish she catches reeling the hook by their gaping lips. The shock leaves her dumbfounded and out of place - damn, she didn’t expect that. Beidou swerves up and gives her assuring smile hiding her menacingly thoughts. “I’ll be back, kiddo. Huxing will show ya to your rooms and feed you. As captain, I need to take care of… some business.”
“Okay!” Hanami crawls to her brother, shaking him, “Wake up, Akio! Up, up, it’s morning!”
The blue-haired boy cracks his eyes slowly sly as a snake, hearing the entire conversation.
Beidou passes Huixing’s cursing and sends her a warning glare that you’ll clean the entire deck if the kids hear that again. Beidou storms to the front of the ship’s wheel and in one go steers the ship off course from Inazuma. Everything rolls to the left, feet wobble to anchor and hang on for dear life as the compass on deck strikes south. The crewmates and navigators above brashly shout their foul concerns and headaches, but Beidou ignores them. It’s not the first time they act like weak newbies on the ship. The supplier from earlier comes back, hesitant, “Captain, why is the ship heading back?!”
Beidou stares at the open seas, locking gazes with the mountains of Inazuma. “I forgot something,” she says cryptically.
“Eh? You?” The woman stumbles, flipping through her lists. “No, we got all the goods and didn’t leave anything behind.”
An image of a wandering samurai flashed before her eyes, “oh we did, alright. And I’ve got something to deliver to him.”