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magicalara · 2 years

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Sacrifice

AN: So a comment of mine got like 4k+ likes on tiktok that was about a hero sacrificing their lover for their city and leaving them with the villain so I took it and made it Genshin themed. That being said, this is not a romantic fic. It contains Lumine and Aether as the stand-in hero and lover, but they are not to be seen that way here, their relationship is familial and that is it.

Featuring: Lumine, Aether, Dottore

Word Count: 2,046

TW: manipulation, sexual harassment (maybe? Dottore puts his fingers in Lumine’s mouth idk if that counts but putting it anyways)

He wouldn’t do that to her, she knew he wouldn’t. Sure, he was a hero, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t love her. Besides, he’d see right through this asshole’s scheme, anyways, and know that the choice wasn’t serious. There was no conceivable way that Aether would choose Khaenri'ah over her, his own sister, for heaven’s sake. No, he loved her more than that.

Yet, with the way that this self-proclaimed “Doctor” looked at her with such a menacing smirk, that didn’t mean that Lumine could feel any more at ease. Rather, the masked man’s pacing steps back and forth across the room put her on edge. The Doctor was known to be an unpredictable man and, being number two of the Harbingers and all, a strong one at that.

“Will you stop pacing, please?” the blonde headed traveler finally spoke up, distress hidden, yet still present in her voice, “It’s so annoying.”

“Aww, poor traveler,” Dottore drawled in a monotone voice. “We must take care of our precious guest, no? Especially after such the long journey you’ve had.” Despite the sympathy he so painfully lacked, he made a faux attempt to create such an illusion with the facial features he did have visible.

Stopping his pacing, the Doctor stared straight ahead of himself before making a sudden turn towards the chair the girl was tied to, choosing to stare at her instead. Quite the pretty little thing, he thought; it was such a shame that his younger colleague had gotten to her first otherwise he most certainly wouldn’t have hesitated to make the blonde his newest test subject. With the silky red ropes keeping her bound, it certainly looked to onlookers as if he had already gone and done as such.

“Take a picture, pervert, it’ll last longer.” Lumine snapped at him, refusing to look at him directly. His red eyes were piercing, she’d give him that, but that didn’t make her want to look at them. She knew the situation she was in and, even if she knew she had a good chance at beating him, there was no telling what concoctions or automations the psycho had on his person at the moment.

Chuckling darkly, the Doctor didn’t break his stare as he walked closer to Lumine.

“Now, now, my dear traveler, I would remember your place around me at the moment.” He reached the chair she was bound to and grasped the armrests, leaning down to attempt and meet her eyes with his. “It’s quite rude not to look at the people you talk to in the eyes during a conversation, you know.” The traveler lifted her head slightly and spit in his direction.

Now angered, Dottore grabbed her cheeks harshly, forcing the girl to look at him, “You’ll come to regret that, you fool. You seem to be quite confident for a person who’s own brother is about to give her up for a fallen city full of sinners,” he growled, sharp teeth on show.

“You don’t know anything! Aether would never; he’s my brother and he loves me,” Lumine replied, the determination in her voice evident, “he’d never give me up for something which he knows will never be the same again.”

The sound of a door being broken was heard in the distance causing the two to look towards the door in the room they were currently in. Lumine felt relief flood her system. The Doctor smirked, already knowing where this was going.

“I guess we’ll have to see then, hmm? Let’s put on a show for brother dearest.” he laughed out.

“Aether!” the girl yelled out for her brother, doing her best to let him know her location. Seconds stilled to minutes and minutes to hours as both the Doctor and Lumine looked to the door in anticipation of the Prince of the Abyss to come through.

“Lumine!”

He was closer now, but still faint. The girl went to yell again but was cut short by two gloved fingers being stuffed into her mouth, effectively silencing her. Instead of words, only a muffled whine came out as she kept her gaze steady on the door trying to block out the actions of the man holding her captive.

Her twin’s footsteps got louder as he approached the room. Closer and closer until, finally, a loud bang reverberated through the room as the door was forced open and slammed against the wall.

Aether flourished his blade, pointing it at the blue haired man with a psychotic grin in front of him.

“That’s enough, Doctor, let go of her and give up.” he demanded of the Harbinger. There was no waiver in his voice, no hesitation to his words; yes, Lumine thought, her brother wouldn’t give her up for anything.

“Well, well,” chuckled the eccentric doctor, “Look who decided to finally bless us with his presence. You’ll have to excuse the poor presentation, my prince, I thought I’d still have some more time to have fun with sister dearest here before your arrival.”

Aether remained as still as stone, his gaze hardening. He was obviously not going to back down as easily as Dottore originally thought he would. Time to bring out the big guns, he supposed.

“I figured you wouldn’t be one for pleasantries, your majesty,” he took his hand out of Lumine’s mouth finally, giving her a warning gaze to not talk, and going to walk towards the aforementioned royalty, “Though it would be nice if someone indulged me from time to time.”

“My sister, now,” Aether once again demanded. After years of playing the games that Teyvat wanted to throw at him, the Abyss Prince refused to play this one again.

“Oh, your majesty, I’d love to do no less than give you your precious sister back,” sighed the Doctor, “But then I’d be forced to destroy your beautiful Khaenri'ah, and we don’t want that now, do we? Especially not after you’ve been working so hard to bring it back to life.”

The prince’s eyes flashed with hesitation, his sword falling out of his grasp slightly as he processed the words that just came from the harbinger’s mouth. Dottore smirked, loving that his plan was working.

“Of course, it would all be left in perfect condition as long as you quietly leave this nation and never come demanding for your precious sister from us again.”

And then there it was again. The air around the room went still, the tension thick. The relief that had previously flooded Lumine’s system at the sight of her brother seemed to evaporate in seconds seeing his hesitation. The thought of being stuck here, and because of a lapse in judgement from her brother no less, set off every nerve in her body.

“W-What?” the Prince stuttered out. He couldn’t believe the proposition that was so carelessly thrown out by the other man. What did he mean Khaenri'ah would be destroyed? That was impossible; it was hidden in a place no other being not associated with the Abyss could find. Thoughts of his people getting hurt or worse flooded his brain, everything else seeming to just float in the background.

“You heard me,” the Doctor said, “You get to keep your precious Khaenri’ah, and we get Lumine.”

“Aether-” Lumine started, before being cut off by the Doctor with a cough.

Aether didn’t know what to do. Would he sacrifice his country, his legacy, for someone he hadn’t been as close to in years? Granted, it’s not like Lumine felt the same, she had been asleep for the majority of it, after all. Regardless, he couldn’t let the innocent survivors burn again.

“You promise that you’ll leave them alone?” he finally spoke. Tears gathered in Lumine’s eyes.

“Scouts honor,” chuckled Dottore, bringing a hand over where his heart would be.

“Then I guess I have no choice, do I?” Aether spoke, his voice wavering. “I’ll be taking my leave then.”

“Aether, please!” his sister pleaded with him, “What about us? We’ve traveled words together and you’ll let it all end here? Because of one place?” She was sobbing her words out now as his figure turned around and retreated from the cold lab.

He stopped as he got to the door, hesitating for the last time. The Prince wanted to turn around, wanted to run to his sister, promise it would all be okay. More than he wanted to do all this, however, he needed to protect the citizens of Khaenri’ah, it was his duty as their prince.

Swallowing hard, Aether grabbed the handle to the door and closed it behind him, walking away with the sounds of his lost sister’s screams and cries for him to come back. He walked forward knowing that he made the right decision in his mind, even if his heart may never be able to forgive him.

“Oh, Lumine,” the Doctor said as the door clicked shut, locked once again as if no one had entered in the first place, “Poor, sweet Lumine.” The blue-haired Harbinger turned around to look at the woman. She was quite obviously devastated, form slipped forward as much as the bindings would allow and body still shaking as she sobbed quietly. Had Dottore been able to feel sympathy, he swore he’d feel it pang in his heart. Unfortunately for Lumine, all he could muster was a blank stare that attempted to fake the feeling.

Lumine couldn’t believe the events that had happened mere minutes ago. Aether, her brother, her twin brother, left her just like that. He didn’t even turn back to look at her again before leaving, he just…left. How could he do such a thing? Didn’t he love her? Wasn’t the whole point of her journey to be reunited with him in the end?

More importantly, what was she to do now? There Lumine sat, strapped into the chair, no weapons, no will to fight, no friends to help her. She was all alone. In such a short amount of time, the once fierce fighter known all across Teyvat became nothing but an empty shell filled with emotions she didn’t even know she could feel. Loss, anger, regret, weak; she felt them all surge up at once and then dissipate into nothing.

“Well, there’s no point in crying now, is there, my dear.” sighed Dottore, walking up to her.

“What do you mean?” she whispered back, “I’m all alone, isn’t that what you wanted? To see me weak?”

Sighing again, the Doctor started to undo some of her bindings, he knew she wouldn’t fight back now. “No, not quite. While seeing the amazing Traveler all done out like this is slightly amusing to me, my job has changed in a very big way you’ll find.”

Lumine was confused as she felt the pressure of the rope once holding her in place being removed from her figure. She looked up at the Doctor, tears still in her eyes and her face red. He looked down at her in return and then crouched down to her level.

“You see, my dear, I have observed how you have been hurt. I watched as that idiot you called a brother left you to die, and I see how weak you are because of it. I may be a bad guy, but that doesn’t mean that I’m truly evil, you know. In fact, none of us Harbingers are, really.” he told her in the softest voice he could.

“So you aren’t gonna kill me?” She spoke, just as softly.

He chuckled at that, “No, my dear, I’m not going to kill you. In fact, none of us will.” He stood up straight and grabbed her hand to help her do the same.

“Now,” Dottore cleared his throat as he spoke, “why don’t we get you bathed and changed, hmm? If my memory serves correct, and you’ll find it most always does, Pantalone has given me some fresh new clothing for you to wear. And with how wealthy that idiot is, I can assure you it will be some of the comfiest you ever will wear.”

Nodding, the once fierce Traveler followed along, not knowing what would come next, but willing to see in any effort to spare the heart that she now carried broken in pieces.

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