The World Looks Glorious in the Snow

Chapter 2: "intentions are meaningless"

Lumine gasped in pain. One of his blades had sliced a clean cut through her upper arm. While the two fought weekly and often beat each other to the ground or gave the other a few bruises, neither dared to draw blood. It was a silent promise between the two of them, vowing to challenge each other, to exhaust each other, but never significantly injure each other. Now, Childe had broken that barrier, that silent promise, and he was going to pay. Lumine reared her sword and prepared for a vicious blow right across his temple. She was moving at speeds she never thought possible, knowing she would only graze the surface, knowing that he was quick too and she needed to be fast if she wanted to land a hit. Everything was in place. Everything was planned. Soon the blood would spill out from a gash in his head and Lumine would have her revenge. The blade was close. It touched his skin. It went further, deeper, too fast, too fast...and Childe wasn't moving.

Lumine jerked her hands backward in a desperate attempt to stall her blade. The sword went flying, and Lumine could barely control it, so she decided at the last minute to put it away. She looked at Childe, at the blood dribbling down the side of his face, a cut that could have been lethal had she not pulled back just in time. Suddenly, Lumine was not angry anymore. "Why didn't you dodge?"

"I..." His weapons disappeared as his hand moved up to push his mask to the side, and all signs of electro power vanished.

It hit her all of a sudden. That face...His eyes were wide, his mouth slightly agape, his brows resting somewhere between raised and furrowed. Lumine waited for him to break into a smile and make a lighthearted joke or two, but he didn't, only stood there as the blood came dripping down.

"Childe, why didn't you dodge?" repeated Lumine.

"I...I'm tired," he finally said in a tone Lumine had never heard before. "Let's not spar anymore today. We'll call it a draw."

"They're just cuts. I can still fight. Can't you?" For an instant, Lumine wished she hadn't been implanted with the instinct to constantly taunt him with every chance she got. It didn't feel right at the moment.

"No, trust me, I'm fine. I can fight, I just...I don't really feel like fighting right now."

What? "You...don't?"

"Yeah."

"Since when?"

"Since now."

"Don't play games with me." Scowling, Lumine stepped up to him as if to warn him.

"No games. I'm just not in the mood."

"But you're always in the mood."

Lumine felt oddly comforted when he laughed. Laughter was normal for him. It was something familiar, something she recognized. Something she could handle. "Oh, Lumine. So amusing. Are you turning into me now?"

Lumine blinked. "Wha-what?"

"You're so eager to fight these days. It really makes one wonder..."

Lumine scowled. "You're an idiot, Childe." She walked past him towards the exit, purposefully nudging his shoulder as she went.

"Yup. Say, how about I treat you to a meal?"

Lumine whirled around and gasped in amazement. "In your crazy, delusional dreams!" With that, she stomped out of the Golden House and slammed the door behind her.

Why didn't he dodge? She couldn't figure it out. Why didn't he want to fight? It was unfathomable. Was it because he hurt me? Lumine dared to wonder. Does he...care about me?

No. Childe did not care about anyone. He made that abundantly clear when he attempted to murder hundreds of innocent people just to claim Zhongli's gnosis. He was a heartless, egotistical murderer, and one day, Lumine would put an end to him. He's an enemy, she reminded herself as she stormed back into Liyue Harbor. He's an enemy. Childe is an enemy. She placed down her pot. And I hate him.