Chapter Text
Aether and Lumine were quickly growing tired of running through every nook and cranny of the Abyss Order’s most secure headquarters. And every time they did, they were caught by the abyss mages and dragged back to either the throne room or their bedrooms.
’We should leave while they’re busy with whatever they’re doing.’
Lumine was the one who had shoved the idea into their minds, and the outside world was all they could think about now.
‘How about at lunch time?’ Aether had suggested.
You'd think that the abyss mages and heralds would be watching over their prince and princess every waking hour, and, for the most part, they did.
But they were also foolish enough to think that Aether and Lumine were too occupied with the food that they wouldn’t come up with their own schemes, so the mages would terrorize Teyvat while the heralds would go off to their other domains.
It’s a good thing that the twins never acted out of line during their mealtimes, or else their plan to sneak out would’ve been foiled.
So, here they were now, creeping down the hallways of the only place they knew, ready to book it out of there.
The old stone walls were covered in foliage and dangling vines, moss hiding the crevices of the walls and floor. Right now, they were at the end of the domain. A couple meters in front of them was the domain’s entrance—and their exit.
The twins used their tiny hands to grip the wall at the end of the corner. Lumine cast a glance to the right of the corridor, and Aether turned his head to the left.
When they confirmed that there wasn’t anyone passing by, they gave each other quick nods and bolted to the double doors.
With all of their might, they pushed the doors open and tumbled out towards the blinding light.
It took a few minutes for them to get up, and, when they did, Aether and Lumine didn’t expect to be met with the starry night sky.
The outside world was beautiful—why hadn’t they seen it sooner?
Aether fixed his gaze in front of him, gawking at what looked like a castle’s peak surrounded by walls. He could faintly see some weird turning buildings that reminded him of Windwheel Asters. Maybe they’d meet some real people!
Lumined was looking to the right—and she gasped in wondrous delight. Her gaze had settled on a mountain, the many ridged edges of what looked like an oncoming adventure making her excited. What really caught her attention, though, was a strange floating structure hovering above the peak of the mountain. She made up her mind, that mountain was the first place she and Aether would explore.
Before her twin could take off in the direction of the city, Lumine grabbed Aether’s scarf and dragged him towards their first adventure.