𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐒𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠

Chapter 2: Freedom

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*flashback: Homeworld, 400 years ago*

A young girl with illuminating blonde hair and sunflower yellow eyes, who wore a sparkling backless white dress with Juilet sleeves and a gold permanent 6 pointed star-shaped tattoo on her back, stood in front of a portal gate, and behind her were all the townspeople. They were currently staring at the two older gods. "Promise you'll come back?" The young girl said, as her brother ruffled her forehead and smiled. 

"A promise is a promise. And I'll keep it." The boy said, standing back up and wrapping his scarf around his neck, his sister nodded at him, before the two went through the portal. Once they were gone, a villager approached the girl. But the girl was too saddened to respond. 

"Your mother and father would be proud." He said and sighed, "If only they were here...Ah, Lord  Mahuruyo and Lady Persephone..." Her parents were gone, and now her siblings have left her too. Yet it wasn't always like this.

It never was always "peace and tranquility" no, to earn it, you must work for it.

*flashback end*

Lumine awoke once more from that dream. It was always in her mind: her saddened sister, her dead parents, the war that took place, it was all so easy to remember, and so painful too. "Lumine...?" Paimon asked, as Lumine snapped back to reality. "U-uh, yeah...What were we doing again, Est- Paimon?"

"...Completing a commission." Lumine looked around and saw an untouched hilichurl camp, other than the two towers she had to break. She clenched her sword. "Alright...Let's...do this..." She murmured. A few hours later, Lumine had defeated the hilichurls and destroyed the two towers. She felt tired again, but pushed herself to stay awake. She just couldn't. She just couldn't have anyone worried about her again. She had to stay strong, or so she thought. "Lumine?" Paimon said. "H-huh-"

"Paimon feels something's wrong with you...You've been so silent ever since we confronted you about that dream..." Lumine really felt sick in the stomach, but she responded, "I'm fine, Paimon." Paimon was suspicious, but didn't push further. Yet, her curiosity took over. "....Don't lie to me Lumin-" 

"I said, I'M FINE." Paimon went silent as the two friends started to walk back to Mondstadt after completing their last commission. On the way, they saw Amber and Kaeya talking about "Estelle." Lumine just felt tired as fuck. "Oh, hey Lumine!" Amber said, a hint of concern laced in her voice. "You seem tired....as hell." "Well, she just did 4 commissions by her lonesome, she has a reason to." Kaeya said with his usually playful expression. Lumine rolled her eyes. "I just...need to do something real quick..." Lumine said, in a slightly exhausted tone of voice. 

Suddenly, Paimon's expression turned to curiosity and shock as she noticed a figure in the distance, walking in the crowd of Mondstadt. It was a figure with a white hooded cape that had a yellow line going down it, the bottom of the large cape left a path of sparkles, and they wore a gold Columbina mask on their face, covering their eyes. 

"Lumine, look!" Paimon exclaimed, Amber and Kaeya looked over too with a "who the heck is that" expression. Lumine looked over. "What the..." 

"Hey! Stop right there!" Amber yelled out, and the figure took one look at them, and started to sprint away. "Kaeya, tell the others we've got a mysterious individual on the loose!" Kaeya nodded, his playful expression now serious as he ran off. Amber nodded at Lumine, Paimon stared, and the three started to chase after the mysterious hooded person. "Stop right there!" Soon, all the members of the Knights were chasing after the hooded person. The person reached Starsnatch cliff, and got cornered. "We've got you now! Now surrender and-" 

The hooded person took off their mask, threw it on the ground, and smashed it with their feet. "Hm. I'm not here to play games with the Knights of Freedom currently." Their voice said, before they gracefully ejected themselves off the cliff. "Damnit!" Jean said, as they all ran over to the cliff. "Hm...It seems they had planned to escape this whole time. But why though?" Mika said. "Whatever it is, we gotta be on our guard next time." Amber said, a little bit annoyed. 

Lumine looked over at the smashed Columbina mask. "Estelle..." She murmured. 

"Who's Estelle?!" They all asked, they were incredibly irritated that Lumine had hidden so much from them. "Estelle this, Estelle that, just who is Estelle...?" Amber said, calming down. Lumine did not answer, she clenched her fists. It reminded them of the same burning passion they saw in that hooded person's eyes. They were filled with anger, confusion, sadness, and nostalgia. 

"....It's nothing you need to know." Lumine said, in an unusually angered tone of voice. "Let's just figure out who the hell that was and leave." Lumine picked up the half broken mask in her hands, and they all started to walk back. When they got back, they brought the mask back to their office, and when Lumine tripped, it instead floated, a path of constellations following it as it gracefully floated in the middle of the room. They brought Venti (Anemo Archon) to see what was wrong with it. "Hm...This is very strange. I have never seen such a mask like this. Possibly, it is the only remaining one ever seen?" But when he used his powers, the mask glowed a golden color, Lumine's eyes did too as she suddenly felt like she knew it from somewhere. "What the..." The mask was then glued back together with the help of Venti's wind power. "So, what is this anyway?" Lumine asked. 

"....An otherworldly source of magic." Venti said, surprising everyone. But Lumine, she was in shock. "Otherworldly...?" They had never heard of something "otherworldly" before, other than this unusual mask they just found a moment ago.

'Estelle...' A soft sigh escaped Lumine's lips. "Now we gotta find whoever this otherworldly is and...." "How about we find out their identity?" Paimon suggested. "I'm getting annoyed, let's send them to prison, they may have stole this. You can't just have a person walking around with a golden mask unless they're wealthy and shit." Amber said. 

'Damn...she really just woke up and chose violence...' Everyone thought, making them amused.