To Rise, To Fall | genshin impact | ningguang

Epilogue: Parting

Lumine's eyes are shut when Ningguang goes to see her, and Ningguang hesitates, taking slow steps into the room. Halfway to the bed, she shakes her head, turns on her heel, and begins to exit. She shouldn't disturb the girl's rest, after all. (That's definitely all it is.)

But as she leaves, she hears a rustle of blankets and Lumine's soft voice.

"Oh, hello," she calls, and Ningguang must turn back around and approach her.

"Hello," Ningguang greets. After a beat of silence, she clears her throat and continues, "It is a relief to see you awake and recovering."

She almost says 'recovered,' but the sheen of sweat that glistens on Lumine's skin only accentuates her tired eyes and frail body. Even sitting up appears to take a grand effort.

"Oh, thank you," she replies, fingers toying with the hem of a blanket. "It's... kind of you to visit. I've heard you're very busy."

"Yes, well, there is much to be done around the city in the wake of the attack, but we will manage. I was told you wished to speak with me..?"

Normally Ningguang has no issue letting her authority carry through her voice, but now the end of her sentence turns upwards in questioning hesitation, and her eyebrows twitch in displeasure at her own self-doubt.

Lumine's eyes widen as she gives an owlish blink. "I'm sorry, " she says. "I didn't mean to take you away from something important."

"Nonsense," Ningguang replies. "As the city's savior, you are important as well. We owe you a great debt of gratitude."

"I was happy to help," Lumine says, but she doesn't sound particularly happy. Ningguang struggles to reconcile the curious adventurer and fierce warrior she met a week ago with the timid girl before her. "No one owes me anything..."

"I don't like having unpaid debts," Ningguang explains. "My resources and the Qixing's are vast; name your reward—material or immaterial—and you shall have it."

"You've already done so much," Lumine says, looking around the room and gesturing weakly to herself. "Thank you for having me looked after... Really, this is enough. I don't need anything."

For a moment, Ningguang half expects the girl to get out of bed and insist on leaving, and frustration begins to worm its way through her veins, tingling under her skin. Stubborn humility will get Lumine nowhere; someone of her capabilities should be asserting herself and negotiating a fair compensation, not bashfully turning down every offer.

Ningguang crosses her arms, but the position feels too patronizing, so she opts to sit next to the bed so as not to tower over the girl. "I do not mean to be invasive," she says, "but I have heard about how you live. I have heard of you camping in the wilderness even during rainstorms, and of you scrounging for enough mora to buy just one more night at an inn. I have heard you go out of your way to hunt and cook over a campfire rather than patronize a restaurant unless it is someone else's treat."

Most of this she knows from her intelligence network around Liyue, but it is backed up by snippets in the letters from the Acting Grandmaster in Mondstadt. She cannot tell whether the expression on Lumine's face is one of embarrassment, sadness, or confusion, but regardless, Ningguang still sighs.

"It doesn't have to be that way," Ningguang urges. "You do incredible things that deserve incredible rewards."

Lumine only shakes her head. "It's okay, really," she says, and Ningguang gets the sense that she is completely serious. She cannot understand this mindset—where would she be if she had not taken every opportunity to gain and accumulate throughout her life? What is the purpose of expending such effort to get nothing in return?