❝𝐀 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥.❞ | 𝘓𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘎𝘕!𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳

CHAPTER 8: THE ABYSS IS NOT A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH

A/N: ...hey!!!

- (POV CHANGE : Third Person)

Lumine's back arched over the sofa, bored. Her head hung off of the back of the rest, looking up at the ceiling of the palace that she resided in. The dark stone walls towered over her so far that the top seemed to blend the lines between matter and the voidal abyssal sky beneath the lands of the living. Defeated, she was, both in battle and internally. She saw her brother, and, sure, she's been seeing him forever. She's been stalking him over his shoulder, watching intently for the past, what now, 500 years? 

500 years since she's last met him, talked to him, interacted with him. Hopefully he didn't notice her fingers fidgeting with the handle of her sword when she struck Dainsleif, or the slight shake in her voice when she turned her back on him. Lumine didn't want to turn her back on him. She was his sister.

She had to, though. She couldn't leave Teyvat. Not until she and [NAME] finally usurp the throne that celestia resides on; the destiny that they weave between their sinful, yet pure, fingers and the calamities they've caused finally are avenged by the abyss; not until the world is truly safe from those above.

She can't go back to him, not yet. 

The threads of fate lie in impure hands and if those threads of fate weave into an ending of disaster just as Khaenri'ah faced all those years ago then her meaning in this universe would cease to exist. These thoughts that Lumine thought were complex and widespread; yet her face remained calm; bored if anything. 

"Hey, [NAME]?" She abruptly said, turning her head over to the reading god beside her. [NAME] was sat on the sofa adjacent to Lumine. The couch was purple and decorated with dark blue and white pillows, a peculiar one being a yellow four-pointed star. [NAME] got it back from Mondstadt as a souvenir for Lumine. Cocking their head up, [NAME] replied. "Hmm? What's up, Lumi?"

It had been a month or so since the encounter with Dainsleif and Aether, yet it still weighed heavy on both of their minds; like a crow with a boulder on its back. "Do you want to go out for a walk?" And, with that, [NAME]'s lips curved into a gentle smile, closing the book and setting it aside as they got up, their hands outstretched to get Lumine up as well. "Sure, Lumi."

Now, the sight of Khaenri'ah was both a majestic and tragic one for an eye to behold. The skies were everywhere; a sea of stars that felt like white and yellow dots on a navy blue canvas. The purple aurora that waved to the children of the ancient nation and the dull stone castle in the middle of it all only added to its beauty. How funny, it was, that such a diminished and damp grey could stand out so prettily in a sea of purples, blues, and whites. Surrounded by colour, yet, colourless itself.

[NAME] always laughed at the oddity. The thought brought amusement to their face. The castle towers were simple and cylindrical. The stone ground beneath it bridged out into other platforms with houses on them. Sure, the bridges broke off at some point and were not always connected with one another and, sure, you could fall to your impending doom due to that, but that never usually happened. Abyssal guards always positioned themselves near the bridges which you could possibly die beneath. The matter of the platforms resembled Celestia in a way. The way the society wrapped around each other in circles with pillars of stone at the very edge of the walls that surrounded Khaenri'ah divinely felt like an ironic mock to the sinly pure above them.

"Do you reckon that the stars have already painted a destiny for us?" Lumine asked, the two of them walking side by side on the outerwalls. "Never," They replied, their eyes flitting upwards. "We are the divine in our own right. Celestia's rule doesn't ordain us, nor does it confine our power. Lumine, we are the ones in charge of our destiny."

Lumine smiled at that. The thought of that was nice. The thought of having your whole world in your own hands, with nobody to judge or alter it to their liking. The thought of having independency; individuality; an identity identified by millions was nice. All of this was nice. Perfect? Never could be. Perfection itself is imperfect. 

But, with each other by their side, Lumine and [NAME] could do anything. They could rid the people of their selfish gods and could rid Teyvat itself of a destiny worse than calamity itself. 

In the context of Khaenri'ah's values; [NAME] and Barbatos would agree. Freedom is what gives a person motivation. The freedom to do something and be unafraid of what its consequences are is truly a gift that can only bestowed upon you by you. Not a god. Gods are simply faith-based and do not truly need to control you.

The abyss is dark and infinite, but thats what makes it special.

"Always remember that."