I think we'll be ok (lumine centric)

Capture

The next time Lumine woke up, she was cold and dark and every part of her body hurt. Badly. As if she had been mauled by 100 wild boars simultaneously. There were no sounds other than the light dripping of water. When she finally did manage to open her eyes, she found that there was no light in her.. room?

Despite the pain she tried to move, only to be held in place by cold metal cuffs, around her wrists and ankles. Her wrists were chained above her head, so she couldn't move even if she was physically well enough. She huffed, blowing her hair off of her sticky, sweaty face. She shifted slightly, trying to see what the rest of the room looked like. The walls were solid stone and were bumpy in some places, so when she turned her head the rock dug into her neck.

The floors were also stone, but they were completely smooth, at least. Still, they hurt to sit on, and Lumine was sure she had sat there for a long time. The source of the water-dripping noise was a tiny window near the top of her room. She could see the sky outside, but not the ground, or any defining feature. It was raining, and the water had leaked through the seal around the glass. Maybe that's why it's so cold in here.

After a moment, Lumine assessed her own body. She felt better than she had that first day of being sick but much worse than she had when she was in the library. She didn't have her shoes or gloves on, and her feet were freezing on the damp stone. She was wearing only her undershorts and shirt- which was technically a full outfit, but she still felt naked without her normal dress. She could feel the sweat on her face, her hair sticking to it despite her efforts to blow it out of the way. In a moment of panic, she tried reaching her hand down far enough to see if she could feel the flowers in her hair. Luckily, the flowers were still there. The door to this room was placed so that if you were to walk in, you would see Lumine's right side profile. If she strained enough, she could see a small amount of light from underneath the door.

Lumine didn't want to give up so easily. She was strong enough to escape bonds like this usually, but for whatever reason, she was incredibly weakened. In a moment of stricken fear, she realized what the Fatui documents she had seen meant.

She was the target. She was who they came for.

Lumine felt sick to her stomach, even more so than she already did. Before she could stop herself, she was crying, silent warm tears streaming down her pale face. She was so stupid. She should've just said something. If she hadn't kept the scroll a secret, she might not have been stolen away. And now, her worst fears were true.

She was alone, without her brother, in a dark and secluded place, too weakened and powerless to do anything.

She used to save people from situations like this. In her other worlds, she could be a hero, an angel, or a princess. Everywhere she went, she and Aether were deemed ethereal beings. But not here. Not here, in cursed Teyvat.

Her tears stopped, and she fell to her exhaustion, letting herself slump over again.

The next time she woke up, it was because of a shrill voice in her ear. A voice she knew, all too well.

She opened her eyes. "Paimon!?"

"SHHHH!" Paimon said, whisper-screaming.

"Paimon is going to try and help you, the knights sent out search parties, but Paimon found you first! Come on, we have to get you out of here-" The jingling of keys interrupted Paimon. Lumine stared at her, still in shock, with wide eyes.

"Paimon, leave, please- the- it's the fatui- it's not safe. Leave. Now." Lumine said, as strongly as she could. Paimon looked like she was about to cry.

"But Paimon can't leave you like this!"

"Paimon, please. If you're captured, who will save me?" Lumine said desperately, as the person on the other side of the door banged on it, seemingly having issues with the lock.

Paimon managed to shake mid-air. "Right, ok, Lumine. Paimon will see you soon, and.. and we'll save you."

And before Lumine could even say goodbye, Paimon flew through the now-open glass window.

The door creaked open, and Lumine turned her attention away from the window. A figure stood in the doorway, and with a loud CLAP! The room was bright. Lumine winced. The man approached.

Lumine didn't see much of what he looked like, with her weakened state and tear-blurred vision. She could see, though, that a greenish mask was covering most of his face. She remembered that mask, that face, from somewhere. But she can't remember where.

The man unlocked her handcuffs, and her arms immediately fell to her sides, weakened significantly. Lumine couldn't move her arms much- she was barely even able to twitch them. She could feel them regaining strength as the blood flowed back into them, but still, they were far too injured right now.

The man scoffed and shook his head, unlocking her ankle restraints. She could feel her legs, at least. She tried to stand up.

"Tut-tut, Lumine. Not yet." The man said. Lumine's legs gave away quickly, anyway. She could feel like she wanted to cry again. She didn't want to give her captor that satisfaction, that privilege. So she held strong. The man moved towards her, preparing to grab her. Lumine flinched.

The man laughed coolly. "Now, Lumine, if you don't cooperate, this will only hurt more. Got it?"

Lumine nodded, scratching her neck on the rock accidentally. She felt a small drop of blood dribble down her back.

The man advanced again, holding a syringe of.. something. Lumine shook harder than she ever had before, perhaps out of fear, perhaps out of anger.

The man grabbed her arm, and Lumine closed her eyes. She had to bite her tongue to keep from crying out when the needle jabbed her. It felt like fire and ice were fighting in her veins simultaneously. It hurt so badly. The man seemed satisfied with this reaction, taking out a pen and writing something on a piece of paper.

"Now, Lumine, follow me to the lab." The man turned away from her, and she could see him smiling. Lumine didn't move.

The man turned back towards her, shaking his head again. "Now, Lumine, we can't have that. I said, follow me." Lumine was still shaking, but this time, used what little strength she had to stand. He looked at her curiously.

"Ah, good choice. Though, I didn't think you'd actually manage to stand by yourself. More powerful than we thought, apparently.." The man scribbled something else down. He began walking into a bright hallway, and she trailed behind, trying to remember every detail she could in case she needed to find this place again. After a moment of walking, he turned back towards her, and she gasped slightly when she saw his full face. Or, at least, what was on his face. Dottore. One of the fatui harbingers themself.

"Here we are. Enter." They were in front of a steel door. She pushed it open, and what she saw inside horrified her. It was a lab, with multiple machines, and a large wall of many, many different supplies. What made her the sickest was the fact that the back wall was decorated in dead visions. She paused for a moment, to stare at the visions. Each vision was once a person's ambition, a person's motor to keep going. A vision will only die when its corresponding owner dies, as well. And this wall? This wall had at least a few hundred.

He caught her staring, and smiled. "Yes, beautiful, isn't it? Each experiment failed, of course. They were pathetic. But maybe you will suffice. Though, if this does not work, you don't have a vision to be displayed.. hmm, perhaps your eyes then?" Lumine was frozen, unable to move after hearing his words.

"Well, let me begin. As much as I would love to experiment on you without a sedative, the amount of screaming might give away our location. And it'd be a shame to be interrupted, wouldn't it?"

Lumine could only nod. Dottore turned towards the large operating table. He had another syringe in his hand. When he approached her, she stumbled backward, nearly tripping.

"Would you rather not be sedated?" He asked, holding out the syringe. She shook her head. Her head hurt so badly. This felt fake. Like a bad nightmare.

He smiled again. "Unfortunate." And then he grabbed her arm, somehow even rougher than before, and stabbed the syringe into her vein much harder than needed. Lumine immediately dropped like a dead weight. Dottore began laughing again, lifting Lumine's completely limp body onto the table. He grabbed an assortment of scalpels and began working, stabbing Lumine's arm and cutting it open.

Lumine was entirely limp, yes, and she was very, very close to losing consciousness. But she still felt that first cut.