Dark Secret

Chapter 5: Death Wish

"A-Aether!" Lumine cried out, suddenly waking up.

"Whoa! Calm down! We're already out of the creepy place." Lumine turned her gaze, seeing Childe, who was annoyed, but also relieved.

Lumine breathed a sigh of relief, thankful they were now out of that place. "Where's Dain?"

"HE DITCHED US, THAT'S WHERE HE IS!" Childe yelled. Looking into him in shock, it dawned on her that he was crying.

"C-Childe?!"

"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE FOR ONCE!" Childe's tears started pouring down.

"Childe, what's wrong?"

"NOTHING BUT YOU AND MY LIFE!" Childe turned away, gripping his fatui mask.

Lumine frowned. "Childe, please, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing. N-not like you'll understand."

"Childe, please."

"No. Not until you tell me what happened before you started searching for your brother. How did you lose him to the fucking Abyss?!"

"W-what do you mean? N-nothing happened..!" Lumine said, clearly lying.

"You're lying. This is what I mean. You know what? Nevermind. You don't tell me, I won't tell you what's going on then."

"Fine! I'll tell you, but don't blame me once you hear my story!" Lumine took a deep breath.

Flash Back:

"Outlanders... your journey ends here." A god stepped out of a portal.

"Who are you?!" Lumine cried out.

"The Sustainer of Heavenly Principles. The arrogation of mankind ends here."

Attacking. Dodging. Blasts of light.

"Aether!" Aether looked desperately at Lumine, knowing that he was lost.

Lumine attacked, only to be blocked, and then imprisoned, sealed away, for 500 years, that was until she reawoke on the land of Teyvat, 500 years after the war.

End of flashback

"L-Lumine..."

The blonde streamed tears. "No. Don't. It's your fault you started this anyway. I didn't want to lie. Do you think I want to? Do you think I don't want to scream in pain? Think I don't want to tear down every living thing here in the world of Teyvat? Do you think you're the only one with pain?! I don't want the pain! I don't want to help! I don't want any more pain! Why do I do this then?! I DO IT SO THEY DON'T HAVE TO GO THROUGH EVERYTHING I WENT THROUGH! HAS ANYONE EVER STOPPED AND ASKED HOW MY DAY HAS BEEN?! DOES ANYONE ASK IF I'VE EVEN CAUGHT SOME SLEEP LAST NIGHT?! DOES ANYONE EVER CONSIDER EVEN LIFTING A FINGER TO HELP SEARCH FOR MY BROTHER? SURE, POSTERS. DO YOU THINK THAT'S GOING TO DO ANYTHING?! THIS IS THE ONLY REASON WHY I EVER THANKED YOU. BECAUSE YOU CARED ENOUGH TO ASK HOW I'VE BEEN. CARED ENOUGH TO ASK IF I WAS OKAY, EVEN AFTER A BATTLE. YOU KNOW WHAT?! I ADMIT IT. I DID WANT TO GET TO KNOW YOU, EVEN AFTER THE TUSSLES WE HAVE AT GOLDEN HOUSE." Childe, now had stopped crying, but instead now, crippled in front of his very eyes, was Lumine. "Why..? Why? Why? WHY? WHY, WHY, WHY? WHY?!" Lumine suddenly looked at him. "Why do I do this? Why can't I just go with my brother? WHY CAN'T I JUST DIE ALREADY?! Aether! WHY?!"

Childe rushed over, hugging her. "Shhh... I'm sorry... it's going to be okay... everything's going to be okay... we'll get Aether back..."

"P-promise?" she asked, between hiccups.

"Yes... promise..."

There was a rather long pause before Lumine's reply. "Thank you... Ajax."

A/N: Omfg, now that I read this over, I just realized that I forgot about Paimon in the last two chapters (T_T) Help me