The Final Chapter

Spirit

Chapter 28

It had not been the first time a voice had entered her mind. But she knew exactly who it belonged to. Lumine had heard her voice in the memories of her brother. It was the voice of that vengeful spirit that had controlled him. The woman who claimed to be Khaenri'ah's archon.
"Amalie? No, you wont get Lumine! Only over my dead body!", she heard Paimon say and in that instant her mind snapped back to reality. Paimon had heard it too. She was here!
The Traveler turned around and raised her sword. The figure before her was almost translucent and floated a bit over the grass. She wore something that was not home to Teyvat, but something from Celestia. Looked like she was being truthful about being a god.
But then her mind realised what Paimon had just said. She knew her. Not only that, she knew her name and had history with her. So her fear was true, Paimon knew more than she led on.
"What do you want?", the Traveler asked her sword still raised but pointless against an enemy without a body. "I want to help you get your vengeance and to satisfy my own...", the woman before her said in a menacing tone.
"Oh no Lumine, don't believe her for a second! She will take you down with her...", Paimon answered. Her dark and endless starry eyes looking directly at her. "And you know that because...?" Lumine's eyes wandered back to their unexpected guest.
Paimon became quiet. She seemingly understood instantly that not telling Lumine the truth had been a mistake. Amalie just smiled, having her fun with the situation in front of her, when she explained: "She and I have quite the history... That's a topic for the future however, because you still did not answer my question..." The spirit let her fingers glide over the blade in front of her, toying with Lumine.
"The answer is nothing of your concern, Amalie", Lumine answered almost roaring tightening her grip once again, almost digging her nails into the metal of the handle. The face of the spirit changed into an overly sad expression, which was obviously not real.
"Your brother told you, didn't he... What a shame, we could have been friends you know" Amalie then quickly giggled again and stopped to touch the blade of the Traveler before she shrugged and disappeared. "Phew... That was close", Paimon sighed and turned to Lumine only to look into burning eyes.
"I understand if you don't want to talk about it, but I would deeply appreciate it if you had told me, that you two had a history!"
Her little companion sank towards the ground, looking down in shame. The Traveler let her blade down and turned away from her. "We should-", she began but Paimon began to explain with quiet voice: "She... made the world forget about me. Caused me to loose my power and my memories. Thats how I became Paimon the travel guide..." Lumine gazed back at her now tear filled eyes. "I'm sorry for not telling you... Even when I first got my mem-", Paimon cried but was interrupted by the Traveler pulling her into a tight hug. "It's okay. You don't need to apologize... I am sorry for getting angry at you...", she said holding her tears in. It was a pain they felt together. Caring for a world that didn't even knows their names. Where they were nothing more than an already forgotten memory. Both loosing something they deeply love to that woman, who clearly thought of herself being more important than them. Paimon wiped tears out of her face and said: "But you're right. We should go..."
Lumine spread her wings again and they took off, leaving Teyvat behind. The Traveler looked back at that mountain next to Mondstadt, then the city itself. Saw it get smaller and smaller. She would bring them their archon back. She would bring everyone's archons back. If she got the chance even those the world had already forgotten. Together they would end the tyranny in Celestia finally giving their world the freedom to decide over it's own fate. And then finally, she would ask the archons to capture that spirit, so she could lock her up for good.
Slowly they came closer towards the flying city. Mondstadt was now lost in the rest of the continent and hardly noticeable. As they arrived at the city, Lumine set foot on one of the endless paths in the sky. They were surrounded by countless beautifully decorated pillars and even more built paths that formed a confusing labyrith, that kept uninvited guests away from the gateway to the Celestia. "Where do you think the door is right now?", Paimon asked quietly and looked carefully around. Waiting for someone, they both feared. "I don't know... Aether and I tried to study the movements of that door, but we failed. It was sheere coincidence we found it the day we lost our memories..." Her companion sighed: "So we have to search for it? But where to start, this place is huge!" Lumine patted her tiny shoulder and smiled. Paimon looked back at her and then turned around before she froze in her movement. Her eyes widened as she wispered the Traveler's name.

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Wanted to upload that chapter yesterday ^^ This is not a 1000 words but almost 900. Do you want another as compensation 👀
(I am totally not excited about the next chapter and want to know your reactions... *heavy sarcasm*)