Almeda Huo, part one of two (Amber x Lumine)

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Lumine suddenly returns to Mondstadt, and Amber wonders why. 

After a day in the library, Lumine catches up on the life of her friends over a drink.

Author's Notes:
This is a chapter set right after Aether and Lumine's brief reunion; filled with a newbie's headcanons some non-story-bending fan-lore, and plenty of references to other stuff I like, happy hunting!

Also, I did Dain's archon quest during the Lantern Rite soooooooo-

Ahead of this line lies plenty of spoilers. Just a heads up.

...

As Lumine drowsily pondered over the past week, she realized that the messy stacks of paperbacks fueled the library aura.

About a week ago, Lumine finished assisting Keqing with the fireworks and was feeling her fullest at the Liyue Lantern Rite Festival when the Mondstadt Adventurers suddenly commissioned her to a man named Dainsleif, a mysterious man who surreptitiously even knew of Venti's true identity. Two days later, they found Aether, Lumine's long lost brother... Leading the pinnacle of Teyvat's nefariousness. The Abyss Order. It was there Lumine learned more about K'haenri'ah. Without time to process the circumstances, he left in a portal, and Dainsleif ensued inside. Lumine tried, and failed, to join the chase.

How was her own brother, once her closest companion, now on the other side of the spectrum amid a plot against Teyvat?

Come to think of it, what was humanity to her to begin with?

Is she the human in the alien land? Or Is it the other way around?

Why were the two even outside their home planet, to begin with?

Aether and Lumine first came to Teyvat five centuries ago as interplanetary travelers during a catalytic war; and luck had it, departure was not an option. In their attempt to leave, a godly maiden stripped them of their supernatural abilities and has since bound the two on Teyvat on differing ends.

Aether was set free long before she was.

At this point, she's uncertain weather the god had twisted his mind into cynicism, or if he had freed himself and developed some sort of existential reason to associate himself with the Abyss.

She returned to Mondstadt after leaving Paimon with Xiangling, who surely needed help catering to the Wanmin's heavy load of reservations during the festival. After the first Paimon-less day, she realized it's been many a moon that she couldn't even recall when she first arrived to the continent, let alone the feeling not being guided over by a floating... thingamajig.

Lumine finished spending the second Paimon-less day bound in the Favonious library with three books in her hand.

Under the sunset, Lumine brisked straight into Mondstadt upon exiting the Favonious building. Lumine wasn't heading anywhere, she was just trying to further distract herself by getting lost in the city; head face-down, avoiding anyone from making eye contact with the honorary knight. With every step she took, Lumine thought of each book in her clutch.

Book one was a Snezhnayan epic called 'Svernut Boga.' Where out of nowhere, a group of gods start to destroying planets at random, until a certain planet finds out that the gods weren't choose so randomly, and that they're next, and Khaenri'ah's name was spread all across it.
Book two was a Mondstadtian local, "Liz & the Blue Bird." She doesn't know why she picked this book in particular, maybe her foggy memory mentioned how this was Amber's second favorite tale behind 'Wind, Courage and Wings.'
Book three, however, wasn't a book, it was a diary. A stereotypical, small, brown journal that piqued Lumine's interest with it's unmarked cover. It seemed to be long lost by its author, someone named Almeda Huo. 

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