Chapter Text
The sun was shining bright, painting the whole sky in its fiery orange and the clouds in cotton-candy pink. A beautiful sunset, perfect to end the day. It was usually the time where any activities Lumine might have would be over, kendo school included, so she currently walked the path she usually did, from university to home.
Lumine was ready to go home, take a good shower and eat whatever her brother made for the day. They usually rotated chores like those, and Aether’s spaghetti was divine. She could practically smell it, that rich pasta with tomato sauce and the most delicious condiments to add every bit of amazing taste.
Her stomach agreed with her mind, quite vocally so. God, I’m so, so hungry. She could probably eat a whole horse or something.
Well, that was what she thought at the moment, but in reality her stomach's pleading was average at best, nothing compared to Paimon’s legendary gluttony. Even Aether could eat more than her. That being said, she wasn’t picky by any means.
All this paved the way for a very recent memory. The three siblings were starved under a brutal rain, until they coincidentally stumbled into the Kamisato family state. Thoma (bless him), one of Aether’s friends, recognized him and treated them to a meal, a roof to rest under while the rain was still pouring and even dry clothes. They even got to meet Ayaka, the youngest of the two Kamisato siblings.
Well, I got to meet Ayaka. I’m pretty sure Paimon and Aether already knew her. Strangely enough, the younger Kamisato frequented the same dojo as Lumine, but at different times, and they weirdly never encountered each other.
Whatever, the meal was absolutely luxurious. If being treated to more of these by Aether’s friends was the result, Lumine could forgive her siblings for keeping a secret or two…Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted while passing the university’s corridor, where she heard hushed voices, failed attempts at whispering.
“Open it! Open it!”
“No way in hell, you open it!”
“You’re the one who found it, stop being a pussy!”
That made Lumine raise her eyebrows. They didn’t steal anything, did they? The girl wasn’t someone to tattle to the teacher, but who knows what they could be getting into. Now, if there was a misunderstanding, she could simply leave them be. There was no reason for her to ruin someone else’s fun just for the sake of it.
“Oh, so now I’m a pussy for not wanting to be cursed!?”
“For the love of God, Takeda, you’re not going to get cursed. It’s just a godamn box.”
“Well, what if the box releases a curse when it’s open!? Never heard of Pandora’s Box!?”
“Takeda, that’s a Fontainian legend. We’re in godforsaken Inazuma!”
“Then it’s a youkai! It must be!”
“Don’t tell me you believe in this bullshit!”
“Of course I do! This is the fucking occultism club!”
Occultism club? That’s the first time Lumine heard of it. Must be new if Lumine hadn't seen a single poster of it in the walls.
She decided to quit eavesdropping and moved to show up at the door frame. The two (oh, wait, there were three?) students immediately looked at her and a very uncomfortable silence installed itself in the room.
Lumine cleared her throat. “Uh... You guys were talking really loud. I could hear everything on the other side of the corridor.”
The third member of the club—a boy with brown hair, green eyes and thick glasses—glared at his friends, as if to say “told you so”.
The other boy, with long hair and blue eyes—probably Takeda—looked sheepishly at Lumine. “Sorry for that. We... Didn’t bother you, did we?”
The only girl in the trio—ginger, hair reaching her lower back, somewhat pinkish eyes—crossed her arms and muttered something out of her breath. Lumine could only pick out the words "of course" and "blonde prick". Huh.
“No, no, I didn’t mind it much. More importantly,” she pointed to the likely cause of discussion, right on top of the only table in the room “What’s this?”
They all began at the same time. The green-eyed boy did the classic “adjusting eyeglasses to explain something”, Takeda opened his mouth to speak and the girl raised a hand, ready to complain about something.
“Well, you see–”
“This is–”
“Wait, we shouldn’t–”
The silence returned. Lumine politely raised her hand.
“Uh, one at a time, please?”
They let Green—yeah, Lumine was going to call him “Green” now—speak first.
“This is a most likely cursed object! Want to take a look?”
Well, that she already knew, but would she get closer to it? The blonde liked to believe she wasn’t really scared of these kinds of things, but one could never be so sure. Pretty much everyone had a bit of fear of the supernatural, right? No one ventured into forests at night, no one left the group when in a scary place, and if you thought you heard someone say your name, no, you didn't, keep doing what you were doing. Common sense, right?
With a sigh, she relented. Takeda enthusiastically passed the thing to her.
The thing was indeed a box – black, with blood-red designs all over it. Flipping it over, she saw an engraving in the bottom, also in red.
天
理
の
調
停
者
Lumine squinted at it. Surely her understanding of kanji was enough for her to know what it meant, right?
Yeah, no. It definitely wasn’t.
“What’s... Written here?”, she asked, helplessness seeping into her voice. Lumine prided herself in being able to pick just about any language, but kanji was the bane of her existence.
“Sustainer of Heavenly Principles.” was the answer provided by Pink—the girl. “Really flashy, right?”
“Flashy” was really an understatement. With a title like that, there just might be a god inside of this thing! Like one of those enshrined objects that contained the soul of a kami.
Looking again, the design of the box felt... Familiar. Eerily familiar. Where has she seen something like that before?
After some more poking, she managed to find a way to open the box. Realizing what she was about to do, Takeda quickly snatched it from her, clearly afraid. Lumine knew, and so didn’t even shout a “hey!". Instead, she continued to peer at the box from a distance.
“But really, don’t you guys want to know what it’s inside?”
“And be cursed for it!? Hell no!” Pink exclaimed, also scared out of her wits.
“...Then why did you get it?”
Takeda at least had the decency of looking away at that.
“Well, we’re the Occultism Club, so...”
One of them was clearly afraid of the supernatural, and the other seemed to not believe in it. Green was probably the only true member of the club. Were the other two his friends and they went to form a club for his sake? The thought was oddly heartwarming.
“Well, if you guys are part of the Occultism Club, you should be opening it. It’s your job!”
“I can’t!” Takeda whined, “What if there’s a demon inside it!? Or a god!? Or a demon god!?”
Pink threw her hands in the air. “Ahhh, I’m tired of this shit! Takeda, give it to me!”
Takeda brought the box close to his chest and mouthed a “No way”. In response, Pink tackled him and began to wrestle the box out of the poor guy’s grasp on the floor.
Lumine looked up and her eyes crossed with Green’s, a momentary understanding. He then scowled at the pair on the floor, sending the message of “Can you believe I’m friends with these clowns?” straight to her mind.
“By the way,” She began, “Where did you guys find this thing? I don’t believe cursed boxes are common to find.”
Green was enthusiastic in his answer. After telling Lumine exactly where they found the box (a small shrine, relatively away from the town), something clicked inside her head.
Wait, I live near this address! How I never saw that shrine!?
Apparently, she said it out loud as well, and the fight stopped at the same moment.
Pink emerged victorious and said so to Takeda, who was reduced to a whining mess of huddled limbs. Lumine wondered how he could keep up with the girl’s enthusiasm. But she had little time to do so, because Pink threw the box at her.
Barely catching the thing when it was millimeters away from her face, she thought to at least scowl at the aggressive girl, but decided against it. Being angry for so little was taxing and she did want to hold the thing.
“You live close to the shrine, right? So it’s all yours now!” she said smugly.
“But it’s your job.” Lumine repeated. Clearly, there wasn’t enough resolve in her voice, because she was already being pushed outside the room.
“Take this with you!”
Lumine went cross-eyed for a good second before seeing just what Takeda shoved in her face. A... Paper charm?
“It’s for protection!”
“Wasn’t it for good luck!?” Green shouted, still seated at the table.
“Uuuuuhhh... Good luck also counts as protection! Goodbye, stay safe!”
And with a final pat in the back by Pink, she was out.
Lumine only realized her situation when she was already walking away from the school.
Wait, did all that happen for real? Am I really taking this home?
Lumine looked down. Yep, the thing was on her hands. She could flip it upside down and yep, “Tenri no Chouteisha” was still carved there.
Sustainer of Heavenly Principles. It really must be a god inside, right?
Lumine tried to recall any legends about something like that. There were many other gods beyond the Seven, no?
Ugh, Aether was right. Lumine always got involved with all sorts of strange things. She accepted a suspicious box from a bunch of weirdos because of it! What was she supposed to do now?
Well, open it, of course. Lumine’s parents didn’t raise no cowards (well, there was Paimon, but she was adopted, so maybe it was genetic).
Looking up, the sun had already disappeared in the horizon, leaving only a residual light. On the opposite side of the sky, stars already twinkled. The faint rays of red sunset blended in the dark tapestry of early night, filled with luminous dots here and there.
What a beautiful view. Lumine was truly happy with moving to Inazuma City with her family…Or what remained of it, anyway.
“Lumine! You’re late, you know!?”
Speaking of the devil...
Aether was at the door, with his ridiculous pink apron. He wore the thing with pride too. Where did he get it? It even had frills. She often taunted him, saying she'd burn it if she ever got the chance, but she just knew he'd buy another one on the spot.
“I know, I know.” Lumine answered before she could forget. Sidestepping Aether, she found Paimon on the couch, munching some cookies.
Cookies... Wait a minute.
“Paimon!” The blond girl yelled, hands in hips and already looking down at her white-haired sister. Said sister cowered at the voice, putting a pillow between her and Lumine.
“Stop eating my snacks, you bought your own!”
“But Paimon already ate those and Paimon was starving!” And as Paimon said that, she stuffed yet another cookie in her mouth.
“Starving!? Dinner is almost there!”
At her side, Aether huffed. “You know how that little gremlin works. Can’t stay without eating for five minutes, I swear...”
Paimon grabbed Lumine by her blouse, shedding tears that were no doubt fake.
“Pleaaaaaase, Lumi! I’m sorry! Paimon will never do it again!”
Oh, but she would. Lumine knew that well, and so decided to compromise.
“You can eat them, but–” The girl raised a finger, “You will have to ask first. No more sneaking.”
This time, Paimon shed true tears and Lumine had the faint urge to roll her eyes. All that drama for what?
“Lumine, you’re a true goddess! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
A snicker, coming from their brother. “Yeah. Facing Lumine’s true wrath is really like facing a god’s judgment. You got away easy this time, Paimon.”
“Bleh! Stop being a meanie, Aether!”
After the commotion, the trio settled down and ate to their hearts’ content. Lumine couldn’t contain a few happy hums here and there—her brother’s food was truly divine and she needed to show appreciation.
And to think that until months ago, the boy couldn’t fry an egg. Paired with the weird apron, Lumine had her suspicions about his newly acquired skill… Suspicions that pointed towards a certain third party.
But enough of that. The short-handed blonde shook her head lightly in order to get rid of those thoughts. When she opened her eyes, she saw Paimon peering at the box with poorly concealed curiosity, much like how Lumine was earlier that day.
Knowing her younger sister’s antics, she shot a hand towards the thing, protecting it from Paimon’s prying hands. The little troublemaker immediately frowned, as though Lumine was the one who made a mistake.
“Paimon wasn’t going to touch it!”
“Weren’t you?” Lumine threw right back at Paimon, looking unimpressed by the other girl’s poor excuse.
“Okay, Paimon was! Geez, Lumi, could you stop being so stern!? We’re not Natlans going to war!”
Still unconvinced, Lumine brought the box to her lap. What other options did she have other than acting like a general, anyways? Paimon was far too meddlesome for her own good and outside of their family, Aether never thought twice before causing trouble and fighting people. Being the only one endowed with common sense in this house, one couldn’t bear to give leeway to others’ antics.
“What’s that thing, anyways?” Aether inquired.
“A weird box the members of the Occultism Club gave me. They said it was cursed, or something.”
Paimon sniffed, looking at Lumine’s lap with suspicion. “Occultism Club? Sounds fishy. And why did they give it to you!? You’re not part of the club, are you!?”
“Well, I happened to overhear the situation. They told me where they found the thing, and it was in a shrine near here, so they thought I should have it.”
“Lumine.” Aether began, and Lumine pushed the urge to sigh down. That tone… That tone was a warning in itself.
“You can’t just accept something like that. What if it’s dangerous?”
“What, do you really believe that there’s a fallen god or something inside and opening the box will unleash a curse upon this household?”
“No, but if there’s something I believe in, it’s your ability to attract trouble like a magnet.”
At that, the girl huffed. “And I believe in your ability to make trouble. We’re not that different, dear brother.”
“Paimon believes in both your abilities to be dramatic with each other!” Paimon was clearly fed up by now. “Paimon says we open the box!”
“I say we put it back where you found it.”
“Hmmm...” That was a hard decision. “I don’t want to put it back, but I don’t want to open it right now.”
Aether grunted. Paimon did a little dance in her seat, apparently content with waiting to see the box. She was also relegated to dish-washing, courtesy of the male twin.
And with that, Lumine went to her bedroom, taking the so-called cursed box with her. She flopped on her mattress immediately, wanting to sleep the strangeness of that day away.
Far into the night, she realized she wasn’t going to sleep. She needed answers.
Sitting up, the blonde reached for the cursed object she put on her bedside table. Same pitch black box, same strange red markings, same saying written in the Inazuman language she does not quite understand yet.
Sustainer of Heavenly Principles. Who would that be?
Mulling over, she tried to recall what she knew. If “Heavenly Principles” are the key here, then it must be an Archon, right? But which of the Seven? Baal, Focalors and Balaam were still alive and ruling their respective countries. Gremory, as far as she knew, had died centuries ago in a great battle – she couldn’t be trapped in this box.
That left three: Barbatos, Morax and Buer. The first two stepped down from their responsibilities as rulers of their nations and disappeared ever since. The third, while technically still ruling, seldom appeared, and so her predecessor had more popularity. But if she was to doubt the veracity of her existence, then that meant Snezhnaya’s Archon could very well be the one inside, too.
Lumine was frustrated, then. Stupid cursed box! Why did she care so much about what god was inside this thing!? There could very well be nothing! Why did she let the Occultism Club’s paranoia get into her mind!?
Well, that settled it. In one swift move, the girl opened the box.
And that—that was her mistake.
Black mist enveloped Lumine completely, muffling her surprised yelp. Her vision darkened until she couldn’t perceive even the slightest amount of light, and then...
Pain. So much pain, and the feeling of being trapped on her own body.