EN | An encounter she will never forget | ᴄʜɪʟᴜᴍɪ

9 - Reconciliation

At the exact moment Childe walked out of the room, Lumine realized how frustrated and angry he must have been with her. She wanted to scream, not because of the lack of understanding as to the cause of his fury, but against herself because she thought at that very moment that she had lost a friend. She could have tried to reason with him and to plead her case, but in the end, she was unable to hold him back.

Instead of screaming not to wake up Paimon, tears began to roll down her cheeks, crashing onto the edge of the duvet which she clutched tightly with both hands.

Why am I reacting like this? I don't even know if I can consider him a friend, or even trust him! So why, why does it hurt so much... so much as thinking about Aether again?

Fortunately for her, despite the tears she was trying to muffle and the door that had slammed a few seconds earlier, Paimon was still sound asleep, a trickle of saliva escaping her mouth. She praised the Archons that the pixie didn't have the opportunity to see her in this state.

But as she continued crying silently without really knowing why, fatigue caught up with her again without her even realizing it, causing Lumine to fall back to sleep. Her injury had visibly drained her of all her energy, forcing her to sleep like a log to recover.

From the next day onwards, the boredom began.

Paimon decided, much to Lumine's misfortune, to take matters into her own hands. She brought Lumine lunch, entertained her all day, and watched her so that she would not sneak out of the room in her condition. In spite of the distractions the pixie was planning, Lumine couldn't push away this feeling of loneliness and ennui which weighed on her heart.

The Traveler was like trapped in this room that was not originally hers. However, she couldn't blame her friend. She had been very worried and was doing everything she could to cheer her up, and she knew that everything she was doing was for her own good.

But Lumine couldn't stay calm. Not with the knowledge that she had in all likelihood hurt a dear friend, despite her conflicting feelings. Since he walked away with a slam of the door, Lumine didn't get any opportunity to apologize to Childe, nor to thank him. After setting foot outside the room, he had vanished and nobody had seen him since, which was sapping her spirits. She might well have asked tirelessly every day, the same answer was systematically given to her.

On the morning of her fourth day of containment, Lumine was feeling much better: her wound was healing quickly and she had regained her usual energy. She was tired of being locked up, she wanted to go out. Seeing Paimon still asleep on the side of the bed—and not in her personal world to better watch Lumine—, she decided to take a walk unbeknown to the pixie.

Getting up while making sure not to accidentally touch the little fairy, she left the room with as little noise as possible and finally stepped outside. It was not yet daylight, the glow of the lanterns hanging in the streets was the only light in the city. It was a warm day, with a light breeze shaking the leaves of the trees and enveloping the young woman with a sweet warmth.

Lumine felt alive again. She could finally breathe the fresh air. But that wasn't enough, she veritably wanted to be in communion with nature. Instead of staying parked in the city, she decided to venture out a little further, to a place where she was sure there would be no monsters.

Her goal in mind, she took the northern exit of the city and continued northeast towards the beach. The monsters were mostly concentrated inland, and those on the beach were easy to avoid, so it was the perfect place for a stroll despite her convalescent state.