Chapter Text
Venti blinks slowly. His head still feels foggy, and his vision is blurred to the point everything is just blobs of color.
“Ughh…” He groans, a sound not unlike one he’d make while hungover. As he reaches to rub his eyes, he quickly realizes something is very wrong. His hands don’t even reach his face. Blinking the grogginess away, he looks down at himself, and his eyes widen. Chains have been wrapped around his arms, keeping them held up. Metal cuffs are wrapped around his ankles, and chained to the floor. A metal ring is around his neck, and chained to the same place his arms are chained. They rattle as he tries to move, like distorted bells ringing.
“What in Teyvat…?” Looking around, he’s in a chamber. It’s dim, with light coming from a hole in the ceiling. Although, the view to the hole is slightly blocked by the bars of the cage he’s in. The cage is circular, resembling a large silver birdcage. As he tries to teleport, something is off. Some form of magic has blocked his teleportation abilities.
The sound of heels clicking against the cobblestone is heard approaching. Looking up, Venti makes eye contact with the same blonde woman who knocked him out in the first place.
“Hello, Barbatos,” She drawls, her voice light and amused, “Aren’t you a sight to behold? Archon of freedom, chained in a cage like a pet bird. Ironic, isn’t it?”
“What do you want?” Venti asks, ignoring the blatant provocations. The woman stalks closer, sitting in a comfortable armchair. She places her chin in her hand, crossing her legs.
“What do I want, hmm? Well, I want many things.” She says, tiliting her head. “But what I want from you is very specific. I want you and your kind gone.”
”My kind?” Venti questions, looking at her with narrowed eyes.
”Do you remember Aether?” She asks, leaning forward.
”…you’re his missing sister,” Venti realizes, looking at her. “…but what does that have to do with gods?”
The woman—Lumine, if Venti remembers correctly—laughs, but it lacks warmth. “After what your kind did during the cataclysm, he fell into a deep sleep. This is simply karma.” She stands, approaching the bars until she’s just outside.
”None of those archons aside from me and Morax are alive anymore. I didn’t participate in the cataclysm, and I know Morax holds deep guilt for what happened. The celestials were the ones who demanded the destruction.” Venti points out, looking up at her. He can’t help but feel a pang of guilt thinking about Zhongli. He must know that something is off with Venti, and is probably worrying in the calm, silent way he expresses most emotions.
“Do you think your words matter to me? I do not care if you were there, I do not care about remorse.” She narrows her eyes, reaching through Lumine bars and gripping Venti’s jaw with one hand. She tilts his head up, forcing him to look into her eyes.
”If you hate me so much, why let me live? Why not just kill me now—?” Venti asks, before getting cut off by Lumine covering his mouth with a few fingers, silencing him.
“Because death is a freedom.” She whispers, pressing her fingers down to prevent him from speaking. “And freedom is something you will never be granted.”