insurmountable | you know i'm the type / type to risk my life, not afraid to die

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you know i'm the type / type to risk my life, not afraid to die

[Call it crazy, call it morbid curiosity, call it insane. A craving for battle, a craving to test his skills against the powerhouses of the Abyss, he follows a few Heralds into the portal they'd left behind as they whisked themselves away from the camp they'd set up for their next assault in Teyvat. He couldn't leave the Abyss without aid, of course, but if he could find his master once again, he'd be able to return to Teyvat. And maybe get a good sparring match out of her while he was at it. Either way, he's got his sights set on those Heralds who thought they were alone, announcing himself behind them as he brandishes his weapons with glee.

They look surprised. Good. That was the point.

The battle rages on for some time. They prove to be incredible foes, taking several on at once. One dies, cut down by the Harbinger- the others wounded badly. But what Childe hadn't counted on was that they'd get reinforcements so soon, and with more numbers, they manage to overpower him. The Foul Legacy Transformation still proves to be a large burden on his body, and with waning strength, he finds himself captured and chained. The remaining Heralds drag him to an incredible hollowed out ruin, one that looks like the very architecture of the ancient dynasty from Khaenri'ah itself. Finally, he's thrown to the ground in a room that clearly was made for some sort of royalty, his knees hitting the concrete hard.

His head bowed, he coughs up blood, knowing he'd really messed up this time. This isn't good, and he has no way out of it. His body is wrecked. It's taking all his strength just to keep from passing out, as he looks up and sees the leader of the Abyss...]

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[ she says nothing, doesn't even ask what he's thought about since their last encounter months ago, and instead just steps into the portal, the yawning void closing behind her. it doesn't matter to her, not when he's back on teyvat and once more under the scrutiny of the gods.

his siblings' letters flit through the recesses of her mind once in a while and there's been a few instances when she finds herself opening a portal in morepesok. she doesn't show herself to anyone, however, simply lingering on the side to see how they're faring. they're just little kids after all, and while she's never been good with children, they're not exactly someone she holds a grudge against.

it takes her another few months to return to the ruins, portal opening under the overhang where they'd found respite from the rain previously. ]

Don't worry, [ she tells her herald who once more follows her out into the open. ] The Fatui has not been seen in this area lately. I'll be fine.

[They haven't been there for a reason too, as Childe has instructed his subordinates not to go near the ruins for an indefinite amount of time. The amount of ruin guards in the area was what he'd cited, saying that their numbers were increasing and that it was no longer safe to linger in the area. It wasn't entirely untrue, knowing that Dottore's old research lab was there, and inside was a wealth of of the machines that could eventually wander out.

But he also figures that was the reason for her visit, because there was nothing else in the area that could possibly warrant her precious time. She wouldn't show until it was safe to move, and so he bides his time until then.

He's already inside the factory, though not because he knows she's there. The incident with Teucer made him worry, and his little brother can be just as much as a troublemaker as he can be, what with showing up in Liyue unannounced as he did last time. So he's gone about to try to disable as much dangerous machinery as he can in case of another surprise arrival by his brother, as a way to pass the time, get some exercise in and wonder if Lumine would show up here one day.

He's working behind a deactivated ruin guard a little into the factory, not knowing he has a guest.]

[ lumine only moves once her herald has finally left, operating the mechanism at the ruin's entrance. it's certainly a monument from before she and her brother had arrived in teyvat, but it's now being used for other purposes, remnants of that purpose scattered all around her in pieces. human curiosity, she thinks, is too powerful to let these field tillers rust and decay without figuring out what they can do.

she walks past several ruin guards, most of which are deactivated and hanging from chains in the ceiling. but those are not the subject of her search, for now, going deeper into the ruin guard factory.

there should be a sentinel around here, one that should still be in operation. she finds it minutes later, the armoured robot sitting at the very end of one of the halls. the moment she approaches it, however, it activates and starts moving, slowly getting up from its slumber. lumine slowly backs away, her sword in hand.

... should she destroy it? as long as she's able to get the eye intact, then it doesn't matter, does it? ]

[He thought he heard footsteps. Childe immediately ceases his work, listening carefully. Light on their feet, heels tapping against the metal of the floor as they walk further into the factory. He stands after the footsteps have wandered off a little, as to not alert whomever it was to his presence. And then he moves.

It's not hard to pick out the familiar noises of one of the machines activating. He pokes his head around the corner, only to see the snake-like Destroyer loom over Lumine. His eyes narrow; he could intervene, but there's a part of him that just wants to watch. If she gets in trouble, he could step in of course, but it would be more interesting to see how she really works- and what kind of warrior she really is.

For now, he hangs back. He's ready to help if needed, but won't do anything unless she needs him to.]

[ she doesn't notice her spectator at first, her attention focused more on the automaton as it rears its head. eyes trained on the glowing orb, lumine starts sprinting to the right when it fires energy orbs at her, easily avoiding each one and deflecting the last with her sword; that's not really a problem to her. but then, it soon folds into itself and burrows into the floor of the factory.

she slows down her pace, walking around the area warily. she softens her footsteps and heightens her senses, ears pricking at the smallest of sounds around her that could tell her where it is. where it would strike her next.

a moment later, she's leaping off of the floor when it emerges right below her, expanding like a flower opening its petals. the orb glows below her once more, unprotected by its armour this time. lumine touches down on the ground, suddenly feeling annoyed. if she wants to retrieve it properly, she can't destroy that eye. but she doubts it'll deactivate itself if she doesn't destroy it.

summoning a herald and a mage would be much easier, but she supposes this is training too. she starts first with its extended arms, spinning around its central base, cutting it off with a slash of dark energy from her blade. sparks erupt from where its been severed, and it tries to burrow through the ground again. ]

No, you don't, [ she murmurs, extending a hand to summon ropes of shadow to hold it in place. it strains against its binds, seemingly wanting to get away as she slowly walks towards it, jumping up in the air once more when it summons an energy field around it and landing lightly on one of its broken arms to protect herself.

lumine sighs under her breath, wedging the point of her blade between its armour and the eye it encases and starts prying it off. the machine whines like a tortured creature. ] ... Stop crying. It'll only hurt more if you fight back.

[Looks like she's got everything under control. Interesting fighting style, it certainly is different seeing her work with a sword versus when they'd been fistfighting back in her quarters in the Abyss. But now he's in a dilemma. She's clearly here for something, obviously something that helps her achieve the Abyss's goals. And whatever it is probably has to do with that machine, given that she isn't completely destroying it immediately.

She's probably going to be pretty pissed at him for attempting to destroy what she's here for, but he can't really let that go. It might be for something that could potentially be used against the Fatui later, and they are trying to destroy the world, after all.

He begins walking towards her, giving her a friendly wave as she works to pry the eye out of the machine. There's no murderous intent coming from him at all, he's really not here to hurt anyone. He walks right up onto another one of the broken arms she's cut off, his thumb on his lip as he looks down at her progress.]

Hmmmmm.

[His polearm appears in his hand, and with one quick movement, he thrusts it into the center of the machine, destroying it and the eye along with it. The sentinel shudders, before falling silent.]

[ it all happens too quickly.

perhaps it's the lack of murderous intent from him that kept her guard down. perhaps it's the fleeting feeling of success when she finally manages to separate the destroyer's eye from its shell. whatever it was, she barely catches the polearm that slices through the eye, the weapon soaking her hand with hydro and blood when she misses, eyes wide. the automaton shudders beneath her, dying with a mechanical groan.

almost immediately, she whips around towards the harbinger, her sword pointed at him once more, the tip of the blade drawing blood from the softest part of his neck. her expression is impassive, and yet there's clear annoyance and rage flashing in her golden eyes. ]

Are you that lacking of attention from anyone, even your own Archon?

[ this isn't a great way to make friends with her, childe. ]

[He doesn't flinch as her blade procures a small stream of blood down his neck, barely even glancing down as she holds the sword once more against him. His own expression is one of indifference, though his body is tensed to fight her if need be. He'd enjoy it, but he knows now that a direct confrontation with her like a battle isn't going to accomplish his goals, but will only to scratch the never ending itch he's had to really face off with her in combat.]

Come on, not everything I do is attention seeking. Think about it from my point of view. I don't know what you needed that for, but considering the Abyss's agenda, how am I to know that it won't be used against the people of Snezhnaya one day? Against my own family, for that matter? I won't have their blood on my hands.

[He still doesn't budge an inch though, studying her to see if and when she tenses to try to remove his head from his body.]

[ lumine doesn't let up the pressure against his neck, even as blood trickles down the length of her blade, staining it red. ]

If I wanted to kill your entire family, I would've already done so and you'd only find out about it after it's over. [ she leans in closer, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly and her voice lowering to a soft whisper. ] You'll find that I'm not at all different from the Archon you serve.

[ her visits to snezhnaya without his knowledge are more than enough to support that bluff. but even she's not cruel and merciless enough to do that, to repeat the same actions that celestia had once done to the children of khaenri'ah. she doesn't think she'll be able to do it at all. but this harbinger needs to know better than to instigate her ire.

she pulls her sword back, swinging the blade to shake off his blood, and turns away from him. ]

... Stop pestering me. I've already returned you to Teyvat. What else do you want?

[His eyes narrow at the threat to his family. Though he does believe her- if she wanted them dead, she could certainly have it done. But as it stands, and given that she's threatening now, that means she hasn't touched them. And, there's a part of him that doesn't believe she'd do such a thing. If she was, wouldn't he be dead already?]

I wasn't here looking for you, actually. I was doing some of my own work in here, given that this place has been abandoned for some time now. I just heard you enter, and followed you to this machine here.

[He reaches up to wipe some of the blood from his neck. That might leave a mark for later.]

Though, now that you bring it up, I do still wonder why you returned me here in the first place, and even returned my Vision to me...it's been on my mind for quite some time you know. Not that I don't appreciate it, of course.

[ work? what work?

he himself confirmed that the place has been abandoned by its owner, something that her mages have reported to her. what kind of work does a harbinger have in this place? a part of her wonders if intelligence has been leaked somewhere down the road, but it doesn't seem like he's her target here despite being present during the same instances that she's shown up in the ruins.

lumine jumps off the broken arm of the destroyer, lightly landing back on solid ground and dismissing her sword into a flurry of gold. ]

Has someone told you that you think of stupid things?

[ why would he let that linger in his mind? a normal, sane person would've simply accepted the gesture of goodwill and moved on with their life. ]

Now, what do you mean by that?

[He hops off too, trotting up to join her at her side. He doesn't think he wastes his time on stupid things at all. He doesn't have time for that.]

I think I'm entitled to wonder about how certain things come to pass, after all. Especially when they involve someone of your stature.

[Since when does the Abyss Princess just let a Harbinger go?]

My brother said the nice lady had a warm smile. Now where would he of gotten that idea from the one who wants to destroy the world?

[ ... why is he following her? does he not have somewhere else to be, other things to do? he's certainly becoming more and more of a bother, which makes her almost, just almost regret returning his vision to him. if only because his lack of motivation and ambition has turned him docile, less inclined to pester her.

then again ... ]

Is thinking of stupid things an inherent trait in your family? I'm starting to think that it is.

[ did she smile at that little boy? lumine doesn't entirely remember. all she remembers is dropping the glass orb into his tiny hands and giving him a quiet reminder to tell his brother. that's it. ]

Hey, that was uncalled for.

[She's really trying to deflect, isn't she. He continues to follow her deeper into the factory, passing by ruin guards he'd already destroyed enough parts of so it didn't activate and try to kill anyone. Other ruin guards look like they've been completely destroyed, that he'd fought weeks before.]

I don't think I'm wrong in my thinking. You showed me an undeserving amount of compassion, and don't think I'm about to forget it.

[He doesn't say for what reasons he won't forget it, he doesn't say what he thinks. He'll let her guess. Will she regret being nice to him forever? Probably.]

[ she stops in her tracks and whirls at him, annoyance simmering beneath her skin ever since he's started to follow her. ]

One gesture of kindness, and it has you wagging your tail, seemingly begging for more.

[ what happened to his spite, his scathing remarks at her? what happened to calling her a bad sister to aether, a villain for wanting to destroy the gods? and here she thought she was doing him a favour for returning his vision, doing aether a favour for releasing his friend. ]

What makes you think that my actions are not disingenuous and calculative? That they're not meant to ensnare you, turn you away from your Archon?

[ because it's clearly working in her favour—even if she doesn't want it to. she's done with him, unwilling to deal with his unrelenting stubbornness. ] Just go away.

[He doesn't let her cold shoulder turn him away, only smirking and stopping right in front of her. He's not unused to people who act this way, though their actions are usually a little less sympathetic than what he's seen from her.]

You could be leading me right by the nose down a path that ends up in my betrayal to Her Majesty the Tsaritsa.

[He says it as a thought, as if that would ever happen. But sure, he accepts that might be the plan here. But he knows himself well enough that he doubts there's much that could turn him.]

But you can think whatever you want. I'm not some dog that you can just feed a treat to and thinking I'm forever loyal. But...

[He tilts his head at her, still wearing that same smirk.]

I'm very intrigued with you; I'm starting to lose track of how many times you could have killed me by now. So has it really only been one gesture?

[Why is that?]

[ his face is so irritating to look at that she wonders how her twin brother can stand it. aether must've lost his mind, allowing this man to tag along with him during his journey across teyvat. so a part of her thinks that he mustn't have a choice either, the way she doesn't have a choice with him stalking her like this. ]

Your interest will get you killed one day, [ lumine murmurs, averting her gaze from him. ] And I'm sure Aether ...

[ whatever she wants to say next, she stops, pressing her lips together. there's no point in telling him more, is there? she starts walking once more, feeling even more annoyed. ]

... Leave. I'm sure you have better things to do than follow me around.

[He really doesn't have that much better of stuff to do at the current moment, with things in Liyue being as calm as they were. But she doesn't need to know that.

But, what was that about Aether?]

I can tell that you miss him.

[Yeah, he did call her a bad sister and all. But, he knows what happened five hundred years ago- and from that time in the Abyss, he gets why she's doing what she's doing, even if he doesn't agree with it.]

I do see him from time to time. Since you don't see him for whatever reasons you have, do you have anything you'd like passed along?

[ aether's name sends a pang of loneliness lancing through her, but she says nothing further. a part of her wonders if he resents her for telling him to continue his journey across teyvat. after all, they could've just left this world upon reuniting, needing only each other to go on. that's how it's always been with them.

but her reports say otherwise, her brother seemingly in high spirits despite the obstacles he's met. he's clearly well, still searching for ... ]

What would I need to do to have you leave me alone?

[ honestly, doesn't he get exhausted by her deflections of his questions? she certainly does. ]

[Ah...looks like he might of hit on something there. That's an interesting look on her face. But hey, that's a concept he can understand, quite well actually.]

Don't go dismissing me quite yet. I can't really let you roam about in here unattended, as much as asking you to fight me would be the one thing that might encourage me to do as you ask.

[If only they'd been somewhere else, that didn't require his attention.]

So I'm afraid you're stuck with me for the time being. We could make the most of it, you know. I'm really not a bad guy.

[ she doesn't see the reason why she can't walk around this factory unattended, especially when she's more than capable of taking care of herself and handling whatever else is lurking around the corner. the mere fact that he wants to fight her proves her point enough, but he somehow has concluded that she needs his company to make it through this place. ]

That's quite rich, coming from the Harbinger who decided to wake an ancient god and drown an entire city.

[ not a bad guy? who is he kidding? she's at least not claiming what she's not, unlike him who clearly needs to work on his skills at convincing people. ]

I have no interest in "making the most" of things with you.

You got me there, [he laughs, though there's an underlying irritation at the whole thing. Set up to fail, having to take all of the blame for it, unacceptable. He'll still get even with Zhongli for that, somehow...]

But surely you understand, yes? Doing what it takes to accomplish the mission set before you means taking actions you may not necessarily agree with.

[He really didn't want to do that. But he thought he had to.]

Don't you make those kinds of decisions on the daily?

[He imagines so; somehow, he's not sure if she'd want to just kill off innocent people either, if being around Aether is any indication.]

[ lumping her in with him. that's even more irritating than having her undertaking get foiled in front of her. ]

And yet I still don't claim myself as a saint despite making those decisions.

[ those were difficult choices, choices that others shouldn't make. others who won't be able to deal with the burden of its consequences. lumine would rather that her hands are the ones stained with blood than anyone else's, willing to carry this war she started against celestia by herself. ]

[He spreads his hands out, mock offended.]

Now, when did I say anything about being a saint? Just because I'm a bad guy doesn't mean I'm a bad guy, you know.

[He thinks for a second.]

Hmmmm...well, since it seems I've made you a little perturbed with me, why don't we have a little sparring session? Exercise usually helps get the tension out, and we've got plenty of room in here. You'd get the chance to punch me right in my face, if you wanted.

You make less and less sense with every passing minute.

[ ... is this normal for any harbingers? it doesn't seem so, based on the reports she's received. the others seem to be a little less incoherent than this one; could just he hit his head far too many times getting into brawls.

lumine supposes it wouldn't hurt to indulge him, also feeling a little irritated by his presence and the fact that he's still following her around. a sparring session isn't something she's unused to, just something she hasn't done in a while. she doesn't stop walking, however, even as she considers his suggestions, instead lifting a hand in front of her just as a thoughtful expression crosses her face.

tendrils of abyssal energy slowly creep up behind him like living vines, slithering on the ground. keep yapping, childe, and she'll have your ankles ensnared and this sparring match over in a second. ]

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