Chapter Text
“ Aether!!”
Her final scream still rang in her ears, and was still sore in the back of her throat when the Unknown God singlehandedly blocked her frenzied attempt at a strike.
She was left paralysed, unable to move as the angry red and black pixellation of the god’s power slowly obscured her arm, then her shoulders, then everything else, from view. She could just barely make out the wicked smirk that passed across her opponent's face before her senses were flooded with agonizing pressure, like gravity was pressing down on her from all sides, crushing her like a dying star. Unable to hold out against it any longer, Lumine begrudgingly allowed the darkness to claim her, and she knew no more.
—
Lumine woke up screaming.
For a fleeting moment, she had hope. Hope that, foolish as the notion seemed, it had all been a horrible, horrible dream, and she’d turn to see Aether next to her, and they’d laugh good-naturedly about the nightmare before finding something to eat and continuing on their way, to whatever new world was before them.
But Aether wasn’t with her. The connection they had, the invisible thread by which they could always find each other, wherever the other was, was frayed. Not broken, thankfully –Lumine nearly cried with relief at the realization that her twin was still alive somewhere– but frayed, gnarled and tangled like overgrown vines. And the wounds were still there, the bruises and scratches and the burn of strained muscles. Every movement she made bore the physical reminders of the encounter, a painful confirmation of her worst fear.
She hadn’t been dreaming.
The Unknown God was real.
Aether was gone .
Lumine took a steadying breath, ignoring the rattle of her bruised lungs as she calmed her racing pulse. Okay , she thought. Information first, emotion later. Information first, emotion later. One more time. Information first, emotion later.
Once the mantra had been reiterated enough to feel like it bore any semblance of truth, she extended her wings– thank gods she still had her wings– and shot up out of the nearly chest high grass she’d found herself in. They felt weird on her shoulders now– not like the sleek golden-white feathers she was used to– but she paid them no mind. They were working just fine, afterall, and were probably just stiff from injury, or perhaps she’d rolled over on them at some point while she was asleep.
She continued upwards until she had a clear view of her surroundings, specifically the massive tree that stood before her. It looked to be an oak tree, but it also seemed like it was bigger than a city. Could trees even grow that tall normally? Lumine wasn’t sure– she’d never been nearly as interested in plant growth as Aether– but there was definitely a feeling in her gut, and she knew that there was something strange going on here.
Belatedly, she noted a monument nestled along the roots of the tree, an immense statue of sorts. As she approached, she could make out a figure, clad in swirling robes with elegantly curved wings arching out from their back. She landed on the pedestal beneath the winged person’s feet, moving to circle it for a better view of the area, but the sound of… singing?... made her pause.
The sound of strumming met her ears moments later, and Lumine found herself listening along, entranced, as she peered her head around the statue to find the source of the beautiful melody.
Just below her, sitting on a ruined stone monument and strumming away at an old ornate harp, was a Giant. He looked to be rather young, maybe a few years older than her and Aether biologically (in reality they had existed for centuries, but appeared, behaved and identified like human teenagers.), but compared to Lumine, he was massive. She stared at him, terrified of the potential threat and yet captivated by the music of his harp, until he reached into his bag and pulled out an apple, shined it on his shirt, and took a massive juicy bite.
And Lumine’s brain short circuited.
An apple. The giant was eating an apple. A normal apple. But that would mean–
Fuck.
She staggered back a bit, her brain finally able to perceive the minute details around her. The tall grass wasn’t tall at all, the tree wasn’t– well it was still technically massive, but not nearly as much as she’d originally thought– and her wings…
She looked back towards her shoulders and nearly gags. Her feathered wings are gone– no longer the solid bone and muscle appendages she and Aether had come to rely on in their travels. In their place were a pair of fine butterfly wings, clear as glass and shimmering pale blue and gold whenever they caught the afternoon sun. She ran one of her slim fingers over their edges, and was shocked at how little she could feel them. It was almost like having flimsy bits of sheer fabric glued to her shoulders.
No wonder they felt so weird earlier, I’ve been turned into a fucking insect, she cursed to herself, before the greater realization she’d felt before surged forth again with renewed vigor.
She was stuck in a world that was too big for her, and only her. She was alone and surrounded by beings that were far larger and more dangerous than her, without her powers and without her sibling.
The understanding of the danger of her situation and her own newfound fragility had Lumine throwing out a hand to catch herself on the statue beside her– lest she tumble and fall. As soon as her fingers made contact, however, the statue began to glow, and she was nearly sent toppling off the side of the pedestal by the sharp gust of wind that seemed to flow from within her. She screeched in momentary terror, and the music stopped.
The bard turned to face her, a concerned expression on his face, and Lumine barely avoided being seen before she could right herself and duck back out of view.
Silence. Neither of them seemed to move in a moment of tension so thick she’d struggle to scoop it up with a ladle, and then the music picked up again and Lumine slumped to her knees and quietly began to cry
It must've been hours there, before her eyes grew dry and she looked up towards the now-setting Sun. On shaky knees, she stood, and turned toward the silhouette of a city in the distance. There was absolutely no way she’d survive alone in this strange wilderness, not at this size, so with a single grounding breath, she threw herself foreward into the air and started on her way towards the city before her.