[༄༄༄]
𝚙𝚊𝚐𝚎 VI
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She ran.
She ran.
She stumbled.
She got up.
She ran.
The blonde dodged yet another debris of the pillars that fell upon her, as she took a series of breathless gasps. She barely landed on a more stable chunk of platform nearby, her heels making a loud thud in doing so. Her white dress was tattered and stained of crimson by the edges. She leaned her weight on her legs while bending down slightly, taking a gulp and taking a deep breath. Another figure soon followed after.
"______, are you alrig-" Her companion's sentence was interrupted as the blonde gasped and was glued to the small patch of grass she stood.
Ahead, rows upon rows of black and red cubes were drifting at a horrifyingly slow pace to the direction of the once mighty nation. Flickers of flames lit upon buildings were visible from the distance. Lands cracked and separated as they sank into the murky waters that swallowed them whole. "No.." Falling down to her knees, the girl's pupils shook to the point they were vibrating. Her cut, curled fists dug into her thighs. This.. Had to be a dream. A sick nightmare.
"...." The mechanism stood silently with her eyes on the scene ahead of her. She raised her head up to the scarlet sky, not a single piece of cloud or the stars lingering above. Instead, there was only a lone moon that shone ever so brightly, as though mocking humanity down below its perfectly round face. Her eyes drifted to the girl on the floor. "Come on, we have to get going."
Her companion did not raise her head or react to her words. She sighed softly and reached down, placing a gentle hand upon the female's sagged and pale shoulder. "______, we must-"
"What did they do..." Yet again, the mechanism was interrupted for who knows how many it had been so. "What did they do to deserve this??"
She was taken aback by the sudden raise in the traveler's usual gentle tone. Slowly raising her head up, two enraged golden suns gazed at two e/c stars. They observed each other's expressions for a while. The mechanism immediately discovered the new emotions upon the human's face. Anguish, devastation, resentment, and more. "What did they do?! How could the so called divine beings be so selfish?"
"Please calm down, we can't risk to act rash in such environmen-"
"My nation just fell! How am I supposed to.... I failed them." The traveler's head drooped back down. Her company stayed silent, but squatted down and cautiously patted her back. Even now, the said nation was endlessly sinking into the salty water. The mechanism looked back up to the moon with an unreadable frown. After what felt like hours, the blonde silenced her sobs and slowly stood back up on her feet once more. Her hair on the sides of her face veiled her expression.
But when she looked into her eyes, the sun was no more.
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"Are you sure she's alright? Paimon was so surprised!" A squeaky voice spoke out her concerns for the individual currently bedridden. The goddess nodded and smiled reassuringly. "Y/n has a rather long story, but this often happens to her. Do not worry, this occurrence are none of your faults." The two travelers both unleashed a sigh of relief at her words.
At last night's night market, their newly introduced ally had seemingly fainted out of the blue. Aether was about to offer to carry her back to the dorm, when a familiar figure practically materialized himself from thin air and dragged (very gently carried) her away. He didn't answer anyone, and just left like that. At their insistence and Nahida's agreement, they had visited the private dormitories of the akademiya as soon as the sun arose over the horizon. With Paimon worrying about the girl all night, Aether barely got a wink of sleep.
"Oh, look. She's awakening." A pair of e/c irises blinked softly as she sat up on the mattress, looking around her surroundings. After a long moment of silence, she contacted eyes with the blonde. She appeared to think for a while, before her eyes squinted in suspicion.
"Lumine...?" She spoke out as her voice cracked slightly.
With only a single word uttered seemingly half asleep, the poor girl got all eyes around her widened in disbelief.
"You.. You know my sister?" Aether carefully spoke as he took a hesitant step towards the bed. She tilted her head as focus came back into her line of sight. The blurry golden figure only happened to be someone who was similar to her former companion. Wait, sister? "Lumine, I know her." Agreeing with his question, she nodded her head. She had a brother?
Matching description discovered
Her systems rang in her head, as she checked the memory storage further.
"Hey, hellooo- anybody home? Nahida, is she really okay?" Paimon flew around her frozen figure in concern before she returned to her friend's side. Nahida placed a hand on her chin as she seemed to be in her own thoughts. Y/n suddenly snapped out of her trance and glanced at the two. "Sorry. I got distracted."
Aether's eyes shone with hope. Perhaps he could finally get some whereabouts or information on his sibling after all these years. "It's alright. But may I ask, do you know anything about Lumine? Anything, really. Your relationship with her, her current state-" He stopped himself when he found his mouth to start go blabbering off. "Ah, apologies. I don't mean to be rude. It's just... I haven't seen her for so long."
He reminded her of a pot of dandelion flowers that suddenly drooped down from lack of sunlight. "I understand. Lumine was my... My.." She trailed off, looking blank. Lumine. She was blonde, shorter than herself, and.. And...
"I apologize. I can't seem to remember much about her, all I can remember is her appearance and her name." Y/n spoke sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her nape. She had observed other mortals do the gesture when they were apologetic or awkward, so she decided to try it out herself. Aether's expression fell slightly, but he composed himself. "No need to apologize, it's not your fault. But please tell me if you happen to recall anything about her." "Orders received."
Paimon tilted her head. "The way you speak is so- what's the word for it... Artificial? You speak so smoothly as if you know exactly what you're planning on saying." She stated while making a gesture with her hands. Nahida chuckled and smiled at her. "Technically, you do have to know what you're planning on speaking before you say it out loud. Are you hinting that you don't think before you talk, Paimon?" The said girl huffed and stomped her feet in the air, speaking in a too squeaky tone for Y/n to catch onto. Aether joined in. "She does that on a regular basis."
"Hey, not you too!" The mechanism observed their interactions carefully. Nahida and Aether were laughing softly at Paimon's outburst, but she didn't seem actually upset. Their dopamine levels spiked slightly, and the tones in their pitches raised higher. That usually indicates they were enjoying to talking to whoever they were speaking to. At least, that's what the data she collected so far matched to.
As she zoned out for the next little bit, Nahida began to explain how she had ended up in the Sumeru city. From how she was found in the giant ruin golem, to what W/n and she knew about the man-like mechanism so far.
"Hm... So is Y/n like, a different version of W/n? They're both puppets of some sort?" The goddess placed a hand on her chin as she thought of a responce for Paimon. "That's what we've been trying to figure out. But from what I have been observing so far, I believe she is more closer to being a mechanism rather than an artificial human." She concluded with an unsure tone. Y/n had focused back on the situation and tuned into the conversation. Paimon and Aether both seemed surprised at the news.
"Eh? So does that mean you can't feel emotions, or feel yummy taste of foods??" She shook her head. "It's.. A little more complex than the matter of that I can or cannot. I understand what kind of emotions I should be feeling in certain situations and how to behave accordingly to that emotion, but I seem to be unable to be able to feel it." Nahida seemed to disagree at her statement. "Your programs seem to have the ability to learn and develop, so I believe you will come to be further than merely understanding the concept of feelings."
The floating girl placed a hand on her head and pretended to faint as she closed her eyes. "The discussion is becoming too big brain words for Paimon.. We didn't even have breakfast! How about we go to Puspa cafe?" She looked towards Aether with sparkling eyes as he chuckled. The two had hurriedly left their place in a hurry in worry for Y/n, that they had completely forgotten to take a meal. The dendro archon seemed to have a lightbulb go off in her head. "I know the two of you must be having a break, but could I ask for a favor?"
The blonde turned and smiled with a firm nod. "Ask away, do I have to find someone? Dig out a lost object? Face an evil god trying to destroy a city? I've done it all." She laughed and shook her head softly. "Actually, this will probably be a refreshing on not on your list. Could you take Y/n along with you for today?" Nahida gestured to the girl who was sitting on the bed, who tilted her head in responce. The only people she had been actively interacting with were herself and W/n, it must be a nice experience to make some new friends.
"W/n usually does the job, but I'll tell him about the change of plans once he arrived. You just need to walk around the city with her and go for a trip into the Avidya forest." Aether and Paimon shared a glance of agreement. "We'll be glad to. Y/n, come on."
She stared at his outstretched hand before she took it gently, getting up from her seat. They walked outside the akademiya and was heading down the large path to ground level. Aether thankfully dropped the topic about his twin, assuming his new companion would feel uncomfortable with it. Paimon seemed to catch on and was interrogating her about her favorite foods.
As they walked in a leisurely pace, a familiar face was seen in the distance. "Eh? Isn't that W/n? Paimon remembers that he just disappeared after carrying Y/n back to the akademiya last night!" Paimon proclaimed while pointing towards the male. W/n raised an eyebrow as the four met in one place. His eyes drifted to the mechanism on the side. "What is she doing here." The floating girl stomped her feet in the air and did a dramatic spin. "Wow, not even a hello or a good morning? You haven't changed a single bit from when we last saw you." The blonde laughed as Y/n tilted her head.
"Nahida asked us to take Y/n around Sumeru today. Want to come along?" Aether offered with a smile. The wanderer raised an eyebrow, but he had expected something along the lines from the lord of dendro. "....I'll go. You two will lose her once she runs off up the trees somewhere." He sighed out as he glanced at Y/n. She rolled her eyes and followed Paimon as she leisurely flew in the air. Did she just...
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"Nahida, I have a question." Y/n said blankly as she swung her legs back and forth on the tree. Nahida had let her climb up the tree bark unlike her other companion. The two were sitting side by side under the setting sun, with W/n somewhere down below. "What is it?" The goddess tilted her head and looked beside her. Y/n usually only gave replies to asked comments or spoke in simple terms to correct a misunderstood information, so she was happy to answer what little questions she had.
"What does it mean.. When someone does this?" She looked towards Nahida, raising her left hand to her cheek. With her index finger, she gently pulled down the skin underneath her eye and poked out the tip of her tongue between her lips. Nahida laughed quietly at how cute she looked as the mechanism lowered her hand. "It's usually a playful insult given from someone." She nodded at the information. "Then what about this?"
Nahida started laughing softly upon seeing her companion roll her eyes before looking back at her for an explanation on the gesture. The variety of facial expressions she could make with merely observing others was amusing, and the fact she was usually blank and monotone made this even funnier. "Pff... That's considered a passive aggressive, or a sarcastic body language in responce to an undesirable situation or person. Or used in a comedic matter. Where did you see all of this?" The goddess eventually responded as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
Y/n looked down the tree trunk and pointed towards a certain figure who raised an eyebrow in responce. Nahida's laughter grew once more, echoing through the forest.
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The two males walked side by side while Paimon was busy talking with the mechanism. She seemed to have taken a liking to her. Aether told W/n of his journey in the land of justice, as he replied with uncensored comments. But the blonde noticed that his azure eyes often drifted to a certain figure in front of them every few minutes. Each time the female said something, he seemed to be distracted from Aether's words. The blonde noticed this and a mischievous smile came to his lips. He had a topic to gossip with Paimon later now.
They grabbed a small snack at Puspa cafe earlier, and was currently heading to the rainforest together. After a while of walking, they arrived in the realm of sky piercing trees and was surrounded by the familiar humid air.
"Aether, look at this bug! It's really shiny." Paimon exclaimed as she pointed to a colourful beetle of some sort that was sunbathing on a tree trunk. The blonde smiled as he bent down to observe the insect. Paimon compared the beetle to the wanderer observing from a few feet away due to the disc shaped skin on top of its head, resulting in W/n's comparison of Paimon to a lavender melon. Small and unfilling. They bickered for the next few minutes, before they noticed the absence of a certain individual.
"Y/n, can you believe this guy- Y/n?" The white haired girl turned around and looked at all angles for her friend, who didn't even leave a pair of footprints behind. Aether looked equally panicked as he drew out his blade, looking around in suspicion and worry. W/n only sighed as he crooned his head up, scanning over the tall branches of the trees. "AAAH, She's gone! What if she got kidnapped, or maybe an animal got to her??!" Paimon screeched out as she flew behind her companion. Aether noticed the wanderer's unfazed state and turned his head to him.
Following his actions, the blonde also raised his head up to the branches. To both his surprise and relief, Y/n was sitting on a sunny branch up in the tree above them. He sweatdropped upon seeing how smooth the trunk was with only occasional cracks of the bark. How did she even get up there... "Get down. There's hundreds of sunny spots on the ground." W/n stated blandly while crossing his arms. The scene reminded the two travelers of a tired parent.
In responce, the girl tugged on the bottom of her eye and stuck out her tongue with a blank expression.
As Aether and Paimon burst out in laughter, the puppet grew an irk mark on his head and levitated from the ground, the cyan symbol behind his back. Y/n hopped up from her seat and ran through the branches and trunks of the trees.
"Go Y/n go!!"
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Yn copying scara is so cute
In my thought, reader's voice is similar to Rime (cevio ai vocaloid) or a fem version of Fukase. But imagine whatever you'd like 😋
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