One flower, One sword

The meeting with the mysterious helper

This includes Inazuma's archon quest spoilers.

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Why was a female figure fighting ruin guards that had never once activated in the centuries? It would be good to know the answer. Instead of mulling it over, Zhongli brought up the question of whether to help the figure or not. So far they seemed to be at an advantage, but how long would it last?

In the distance, Lumine noticed that Zhongli had arrived. As expected, Xiao came too. Now Lumine didn't have the time to play with these silly ruin guards anymore.

Originally Ruin Guards, also known as Field Tillers, were machines created by the people of Khaenri'ah. The Abyss Order was on the side of Khaenri'ah, so why would these machines attack the princess? The thing is that these machines were long lost to time. They were also programmed differently from those of the Abyss Order.

When waiting for Zhongli to arrive, Lumine got quite bored. And a small disclaimer: bored people are known for doing stupid things. Even the Princess of the Abyss Order was no exception. So she went around hitting their weak spots. A stupid, out-of-character thing to do. But Lumine still did it. Sometimes she still acted like a child.

Then she decided to play around with them and now that the people she entrusted the fate of her brother to arrived, Lumine had to stop her playtime and get serious. With swift motions of her blade, all the ruin guards turned to nothing more than Dust. Just like La Signora when she lost the battle before the throne with the Traveller.

In the distance, Zhongli was a bit stunned. But a person who knows about the traveller's condition couldn't be anyone ordinary. So at the end of the day, it was nothing surprising. Meanwhile, Xiao's face didn't portray any hints of fascination. He remained on guard. not knowing what the other party would do next.

It only took Lumine less than 3 minutes to deal with the ruin guards. Could have been faster but then one ruin guard had wandered somewhere off and with the distance it kept shooting its missiles, making it harder for Lumine to deal with it.

When Lumine was done dealing with them, she put away her sword and began walking towards Zhongli and Xiao. Both of them noticing that the figure is approaching them, and they did the same. At the same slow pace, they walked towards her.

The closer Xiao got to the figure the more it resembled Aether. The same golden hair. The same golden eyes that resemble the sun. Xiao was very suspicious that this person could be the traveller's twin. Zhongli figured it too. But they were both very puzzled by how she can help.

"Greetings" Lumine spoke first, "Let me introduce myself first, I am Lumine. Aether's twin." Even though Xiao had guessed that this woman is Aether's twin, he was still a little surprised. "I do not wish to waste any time since I know your identities please allow me to go to the main point."

"I have the artifacts to unlock the domain."

"As you may know me and my brother traveled through many words. We collected a lot of weapons and relics from them. The 5 that the Celestia had 'thrown' outside of Teyvat are also in my possession."

"Very well then, I do have a few questions, however."

Zhongli now starting into Lumine's eyes asked

"If you knew your brother is searching for you, why did you never go to him?"

"We have met already. I have my own plans that I need to complete. I would like it if you didn't ask any questions. I'd like to keep this whole thing in dark like you."

Lumine pondered for a moment. "Once Aether is back please don't tell him the fact that I helped."

Xiao wanted to protest. It wouldn't be exactly fair to Aether if he didn't know who saved him. But Zhongli spoke first. "Alright. Do you have the relics on you?"