6 One Shots + 1 10k words Two shot
[July 18th to 24th]
https://twitter.com/ChilumiWeek/status/1398717819483824132?s=20
1. While Lumine and her group of friends are planning a tournament after discovering a mechanism called Kaboomball, they are one p...
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Prompt: Angst & Lantern
A beautiful day for a wonderful romantic outing. What more could one ask for? The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the ocean was peaceful. Everything was perfect and idyllic.
Childe and Lumine held hands as they browsed through the various shops in the shopping streets of Liyue. From jewelry to clothes, weapons and necessities for adventure, nothing was left to chance. Lumine smiled and laughed as she gazed at the beautiful ornaments, fine clothes and shining swords. She was true to herself, cheerful on the outside but sadly lonely on the inside. Since they had grown so close that they couldn't deny they were dating, Childe had learned to appreciate every facet of the young woman who had stolen his heart. And yet, it had taken an incredibly long time for him to crumble the wall Lumine had built around her mind to keep from showing all the loneliness she felt from not being in her brother's company.
She was a seasoned and strong warrior, and as such, only rarely let her true state of mind show, nor did she show her weaknesses. Although Childe described himself as someone trained to put on a mask of impassivity for the sake of his work, Lumine was on a different level.
He had to admit, he had given in long before her, and he was certainly the first to fall in love. But when finally, for the first time, she had cracked, he was glad he was the only one to witness it. It was as if this moment of weakness was a closely guarded secret that had only brought them closer. He jealously guarded that memory so he would never forget the first time Lumine had trusted him enough to show him her vulnerability.
That's how their story began. And ever since then, Childe has been trying to get closer and closer to her. He wanted to know everything about this person who fascinated him, both in terms of her unique and epic fighting style and her complex and fragile personality. Fortunately for him, she didn't push him away, and on the contrary, she let him gradually gain ground in her heart. The signs of affection became more and more numerous and public, whether holding hands in the street, kissing or spending most of their nights together.
A close bond had formed between them, one that Childe thought was unbreakable. As long as he was alive, he vowed to protect her against all odds, no matter what he had to stand up and take up arms against. She was his goddess before whom he would not hesitate to kneel down and throw himself into a battle already lost if that was what she desired.
These strong feelings that he dedicated to her, and that he hoped that she also felt towards him, only allowed him to appreciate all the more each moment that he spent in her company. He wanted to fill her with priceless gifts —which he could easily afford because of his wealth— and to give her every moment of his life all the love he had for her. This is what he did while the Lantern Rite Festival was in full swing.
Every time they went out, he gave her another gift. But all the while, an unpleasant feeling gradually took hold of him, darkening his heart more and more deeply as the days wore on. He had the impression of being there without being there, seeming to navigate in a fog veiling his reason. He felt joy in spending his time with her, but everything seemed so far away and distant.
Every smile she offered him was blurred, every gesture lacked more and more warmth and comfort, every word was more and more devoid of feeling. It was as if reality was slipping through his hands, like someone trying to catch a fish just out of the water with his bare hands.
And yet, in spite of all these strange feelings and this gradually fading reality, Childe clung to those precious moments he shared with the person dearest to his heart. When the moment he had been waiting for since the beginning of the festival finally approached, he couldn't resist taking her to the top of Mt. Tianheng to admire the lanterns in the fading sunlight.
Both sitting side by side, staring at the horizon with the orange light gradually giving way to the darkness that night brought, they both held a lantern in their hands on which they had written their most cherished wishes. The moment was divine, their warmth intertwining to reflect the love they had for each other. Nothing could ruin this moment, he was sure of it. And yet, something seemed... off. When it came time to release the lantern in unison with everyone else in Liyue, a thought crossed his mind.
What had he wished for?
He had written it on his lantern earlier in the day, as had all Liyue people, and yet he could not recall the few words he remembered writing. Some people wrote poems, others just wrote a word, but what had he written? Something was wrong, and this was just the proof.
Panicked, he sought comfort in the figure sitting next to him, but only emptiness greeted him. He was all alone on top of his mountain, like the sun left behind in the immensity of a cloudless sky. The only proof that he wasn't alone a few moments earlier was the second lantern floating next to his.
A very unpleasant feeling seized him to the bottom of his guts, pushing him to do everything possible to catch the lantern that his beloved having suddenly disappeared had left, but in vain.
While he could only watch his own lantern fly away into the dark skies accompanied by another one becoming more and more ghostly until it totally disappeared, as if it had never existed, the memory of the one and only wish he had written struck him at the same time as he felt forcibly extirpated from this world.
Waking up with a start, panting like never before, Childe felt tears running down his cheeks in abundance.
A dream.
That's why everything seemed so blurry and out of place. This dream, more characterized as a nightmare, was only the consequence of his implacable solitude. This imagined Lantern Rite Festival that he had just experienced in his dream, had in fact never taken place. It was what he had planned and hoped for this day, but the devastating reality had swept away and buried as deeply as possible what he had hoped to experience with all his heart.
He had held her little body in his arms while she had just accomplished the impossible at the cost of her life: saving Teyvat from destruction. It was this war that had broken out between gods and mortals that was the cause of her sacrifice. He had cried out for injustice, but no one had heard him. He had cried for the loss of his soul mate, but no one could console him. He had cursed every living thing in this land, but they didn't care.
He cursed from the bottom of his soul this useless conflict that had taken away his happiness and his joy of living, but above all, the person dearest to his heart.
Lumine was no more, and all that remained in his heart was remorse, guilt and hatred.
[1245 words]
NB: How could I not choose "Angst" when it was served to me on a plate haha. And then, what would ChiLumi be without a good dose of depression? xD It is on a touch of tragedy that ends this Chilumi Summer Week! Feel free to leave your impressions!
Quite honestly, I'm pretty impressed that I managed to get all the 7 OS out in time (6 and a half if I do the Zelda Botw AU in 2 chapters) xD I hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them x)
Now that my work here is done, I can go back to my business, i.e. exploring Inazuma (and shipping Ayaka x Tohma xD). I don't know if I'll write something new for a while, the only thing I know for now is that I'll finally start editing and correcting my fanfic An encounter she will never forget (it's about time you'll rightly say haha).
