Chapter Text
"Hey you almost got it right this time !"
"Ah ? You think so ? I feel like I'm not improving at all…"
"You have only just begun Jean, it's okay to go slowly for starters."
The little girl with long blonde hair tied in a bun pouts while looking at her bow. Her mother, Frederica, has just bought it for her to train. As the next successor to the Gunnhildr Clan, Jean is expected to later integrate the Knights Of Favonius and become a righteous and reliable warrior. Someone that would protect their city from any danger, “For Mondstadt, as always”. But honestly, she doesn't think that bows suits her as a weapon.
Yet her mother says she should learn to master all kinds of weapons and not miss an opportunity to grow stronger. Even though children her age all consider the Windblume Festival to be an occasion to have fun. She does too, although she has no friends to play with anyway. Her mother watches her from afar, judging the way she holds her bow and aims at her target. Jean doesn’t even know if people will accept her as the next protector of Mondstadt. She is just a kid and has yet to become a person people could rely on. She doubts she will ever become such a person and deceive her mother who put so much effort into her training.
But then she notices her little sister, Barbara, looking at her with her big blue eyes.
"Big sister is so cool !" She says with enthusiasm.
Jean blushes at the compliment. That's right, she has someone to believe in her no matter what. To her little sister, she is already a hero. Someone she can always rely on and who will forever protect her. She won't give up and will train very hard to make her proud.
She pulls the string, ready to launch another arrow and shoots at the balloons flying in the sky. The Bullseye balloon game of the Windblume Festival is a tricky trial and requires precision. The arrow reaches the red balloon with a heart on it and the four others nearby burst with it. It is the first time she has ever nailed it.
"Wooaahh !~" Barbara come to throw herself on her. "Will you teach me that too ? I want to be as strong as you when I grow up !"
She takes her little sister's hands and puts the bow between her small fingers. Teaching her the posture and how to hold it without the arrow.
"Your arms are still too small and too weak for that. " She explains as she sees her struggle to keep the bowstring in her palm. "You will need to grow up very fast if you want me to teach you okay ?"
But before Barbara can answer, a strong breeze of wind passes and they see a green silhouette flying between the leaves and the balloons.
Venti pulls out a shining celestial blue bow, composed by four strings and wings at both ends of the recurve bow. The wind seems to magically obey his movements and gather the balloons altogether for him to shoot. Sparkles from the popped colorful balloons are flying everywhere around him and he set foot on the ground graciously.
Jean stares at him with admiration in her eyes.
Holding her sister close to her, she contemplates the young boy. The tip of his braids turning into clear aqua and his teal blue clothes blending into the landscape. His anemo vision hanging from his shorts with feathers and his cape being carried elegantly by the wind. She wishes she can have an anemo vision one day too. To become someone powerful the people of Mondstadt would be able to rely on.
"Venti ! Don't steal the children's game !"
It is a tall lady who calls out, with long brown hair and a dark coat, followed by two kids probably a bit younger than Jean. One of them wears some kind of eyepatch which makes her frown. The three of them seem to wear style of clothes she isn't used to see around Mondstadt. Especially the lady's outfit, she have some very strange patterns on her coat.
"Does that mean I'm no longer a child ??" The archer pouts.
He would be more credible if his other hand wasn't holding a bottle of alcohol he just steals from Kaeya's bag.
"You can't possibly play fair with your powers. Just let this little girl have her fun." Zhongli takes his bow away and pulls him back on the road "We can't be very far from Windwail Highland anymore, right ?"
"How should I know ?" Venti answers looking in the opposite direction, already planning on getting away to play.
Zhongli rolls her eyes then walks over to Jean's dad to ask him :
"Hello Sir, may I ask you which path should we take to gain Mondstadt, the city of the wind ? Is it still far from here ?"
Seamus Pegg, the Cardinal of Daybreak of the Church of Favonius and the father of Jean and Barbara blinks a few times as he recognized Liyue's most expensive style of clothing. Having being a traveler in his young years (before he married Frederica) he has lived in Liyue a few years :
"My my… did you perhaps come to enjoy the festival, foreigners ? May I offer to show you the way ? We were just about to head back for dinner. You must have come a long way from Liyue, I would greatly take you as my guests of honor !"
Venti scoffs behind his hands while Zhongli looks as pleased as she could possibly be : "Yes please ! We would greatly appreciate your help, Sir !" Zhongli hastens to answer.
They have been turning round and round in the plains for hours now. It is what you get when you trust the Anemo Archon !
He's like the wind, he can never stick to a direction !
The fact is, Venti obviously knows the way to Mondstadt but just gets distracted by all the games that are currently installed throughout the country. The festival has just begun and they can already see people flying everywhere in the sky, offering flowers, shooting balloons and playing music ! Meanwhile, Zhongli is determined to honour her contract and take them both to Mondstadt so she can get back to work in Liyue. But then, even though they are about to follow their guide, she sees Childe staring at the balloons with curiosity. Approaching calmly and crouching down to his level, she asks him :
"Did you perhaps want to play too ?"
The ginger boy immediately blushes at the question. He doesn't want his crush to think of him as a baby… he wants to look cool but…
"It looked fun actually…" Tartaglia looks down to his feets as he admits it.
When he looks up, he feels immediately rewarded because Zhongli is smiling at him tenderly. But Childe suddenly remembers :
"Ah I'm not good with bows actually, I would prefer choosing another game."
He will look totally uncool !
Zhongli looks at him and handles him the bow anyway :
"If you're uneasy using a bow, you should take all the opportunities you can to improve yourself. Just try it."
Childe's eyes sparkles at that. Is that… a date ?
"Okay I'll try then…"
They both look back at Venti and Kaeya and tell them they will join them later. Tartaglia sees his eye-patched friend congratulating him from afar and smiles at him.
Yes ! This is the afternoon he dreamed of !
The road goes on until they walk through a small village called Springvale according to Seamus Pegg. There is one high mill at the center of the house and passing in front of them, Kaeya could smell all kinds of delicious smells coming from the open kitchens. Among the dishes on display on the stalls, the blue boy eyes the chicken-mushroom skewer the most. Venti turns to see what he is looking out and smiles.
“Are you hungry ? I can buy you something if you want~”
“I thought you didn’t have money.” Kaeya replies but he couldn’t help his stomach from rumbling.
Venti laughs as if he said something silly and pulls out his lyre.
“People will pay for a performance ! They absolutely crave my talents !” He winks at him.
“Why do I find this hard to believe ?...” Kaeya sighs, already preparing for the worst case scenario.
But before he can say anything else, Venti is already running out to meet the merchants with a wide smile, and surprisingly… It works. The people cheer for him and clap their hands in rhythm to his music. Moras flow from their pockets like breadcrumbs.
Seconds later, he comes back with three chicken-mushroom skewers and gives each to Jean, Barbara and Kaeya. The two sisters beam with joy and munch on it gracefully meanwhile Kaeya stares at it blankly and takes a discreet glance to the others.
He isn’t used to food you eat with bare hands…
At the palace, they would usually eat seated at a wide marble table with silvery cutlery, golden plates and napkins made in silk. They always had many different dishes placed on the table and each was to be eaten properly with the silverware. He had never experienced anything else than the overwhelming elegance and strict protocol of his home. As a result, he had no idea how he was supposed to eat this properly .
So Kaeya stares at the skewer in his hands, feeling the grease leaking on his hands and the meat sticking to his fingers. The feeling isn’t very agreeable. It’s dirty…
Although, he has to admit one thing as he sniffs the food, the smell is deliciously mouth-watering. He approaches his mouth hesitantly then draws back when he realizes that Venti is eyeing him intently.
“What ?”
The bard doesn’t answer and turns back, holding back a giggle. Kaeya was ready to retort with a snarky response but his stomach rumbles again. So he turns back to the skewer in his hand, and without a second thought, takes a small bite of it. Then another and another until he is left with just the stick. He turns back to Venti and looks at him with sparkling eyes.
Mondstadt's food is delicious ! He thinks.
The bard smiles back at him and taps his shoulder gently : “Don’t worry, we will get you more if you want.”
Kaeya nods, thankful for the bard’s kindness. He isn’t as bothersome anymore, all of a sudden, he thinks.
Later on, after crossing a forest and arriving in front of a stone bridge, the group finally reaches the city of Mondstadt.
Venti discreetly lowers to his level (which isn’t a lot) and asks in a whisper : “You don’t have any identity papers with you, right ?”
Kaeya goes stiff. Of course he doesn’t ! Everyone in his country knew who he was. Nobody would dare ask for identity papers from a prince ! He had never needed such a thing !
The eye patched kid shakes his head with worry but the bard’s confident gaze reassures him instantly.
“Don’t worry. Mondstadt security checkpoint is a butterfingers.” he looks at Seamus Pegg and Frederica out of the corner of his eye. “As long as you come accompanied by a citizen of the city, they will let you in easily.” He smirks down to him.
Kaeya narrows his eye. That bard really has a way with people that he admires. It would be a good idea to learn some things from him, in order to gather some survival strategy in this unknown world he wanted to explore so badly.
At the gates, the guards barely glance at him and he is allowed to enter the city, just like Venti said.
Frederica suddenly turns around to speak up, she had barely talked during the trip and hadn’t paid much attention to Venti nor Kaeya : “I will have to take leave from you now. My duty urges me to head back to Favonius’s Headquarters. We have received rumours and warnings concerning the fatuis and we are worried that they might be plotting something in Mondstadt.”
Jean’s expression drops into a forced smile and takes her little sister’s hand. Seamus Pegg simply nods and encourages her to come back when she has the time. She took off without looking back.
The small group continued to walk into the city before Jean catches sight of a purple kid with a excentric witch's hat. It's a girl with wide green eyes and long light-brown hair. The cardinal seems to know her and urges his daugters to go play with their friend. Venti smells the opportunity to leave their guide behind instantly : "Well my dear you've been a great help to us ! (Even though he could have reached the city far more faster by gliding) But now is the time for us to leave you. We've got some friends we need to meet. But we shall meet again soon I'm sure !"
Before Seamus can answer this, Venti grabs Kaeya by the hand and disappears in the streets of Mondstadt.
They arrive at what looks like a tavern to Kaeya. Again ?
"You wanted to taste Mondstadt's best wine, didn't you ?" Venti giggles and pushes him to the door.
Kaeya is forced into the Angel's Share by Venti and finds himself in a bar. Again.
The building has an upper floor with more tables and all are more or less occupied by guards. When Kaeya looks interrogatively at them long enough for Venti to notice, this one adds : "They are part of the Knight of Favonius, the great defenders of Mondstadt. Although, those ones must be off-duty…"
"Or scramming." Kaeya smirks.
Venti giggles at that. To Kaeya, it seems that the bard knows Mondstadt very well, but he's far from figuring out that he is the anemo archon in fact. Although the blue boy has his doubts. He scratches his right eye pensively. Second thing he notices is that there isn't much people with tanned or black skin in Mondstadt, so maybe that might make him stand out even more.
Someone from the bar then calls them out. It's a tall man, with deep red hair and a beard. He wears a black suit and apron, drying a glass in his hands.
"Venti, did you bring a minor to my bar ?" He asks with an exasperated look.
Venti turns around with a big smile and walks over to him with all the confidence in the world :
"Crepus ! It's been so long !"
"The answer is no, Venti. You won't get free drinks, especially not to minors. Besides, I saw you just a week ago."
"SUCHhh a LONG time indeed !" Venti rolls his eyes.
You're digging your own grave bro, Kaeya thinks while rubbing his eye again.
Crepus then proceeds to ignore him so Venti decides to lean on the counter right under his nose. Well this looks familiar...
"You know, I spotted that dirt on your roof ?" Venti says while looking at his nails sassily. "I guess cleaning all that must be reeeaaally bothersome, ain't it ?"
"..." Crepus stares at him and narrows his eyes. He knows where this is going.
"Hummm but I guess for me it would take, what, twenty ? Ten seconds ? How easy really...'Getting it all clean with a bit of my anemo powers would be a piece of cake. As I thought, I really can't relate to non-vision holders' problems." He laughs and sits on the counter lazily.
Kaeya can now hear Crepus gritting his teeth and decides to back off a little. Argh it itches , he thinks and rubs his eye harder.
"Well, I guess it can't be helped. I'll go to the Cat's Tail place, see if Margaret can offer us some hospitali-"
"One sip from your drink." He cut him grudgingly. "One sip and that's all. I won't let this kid drink a full glass, got it ?"
"I want one glass of your finest wine then, Master Crepus." Venti defies him with a wide smile.
"Ugh, you fucki-"
"Tatata~ swearing in front of a kid is not a good example ! <3 Do you do that with your own kid too ?" The bard croons playfully.
"To my own k- ? Wait, how do you know about Diluc ??" Crepus shout out in shock.
"I. Know. Everything." Venti winks at him.
Crepus looks as if he would crush the glass between his hands but contains himself, hopefully.
"Fine ! Fine !" He takes out a bottle of wine from behind the counter and one glass. "But you gotta clean my roof after, we're clear ?"
"Yes sir !" Crepus puts the glass in front of him and sees Venti licking his lips in anticipation.
When the archon turns back to Kaeya, this one seems to have disappeared.
"Oi Crepus, did you see where the kid went ?"
"How should I know !?"
It itches so damn hard !
Kaeya walks up the stairs in panic. Why does it itch so much ?? It's as if Kaeya's eye is burning from the inside.
But he can't take off the eyepatch, can he ? Argh, why does it have to happen now ??
He arrives at the second floor and passes through the table as discreetly as possible. There's a door at the back of the room that looks like it's leading outside. He heads over to it and finds a rooftop.There, he closes the door quickly and immediately takes the eyepatch off because he can't take it any longer. He sits on the floor, his back against the door. Covering his eye with one hand, he summons a small piece of ice in the other.
If somebody sees me now, I'm dead.
He slowly approaches the ice to his eye, while keeping his lid closed, and winces at the pain. But the burning sensation just won't subside.
That's when he hears it. A faint yet beautiful melody. It's near him.
His right eye still hurting, he covers it back with the cloth and looks below the rooftop where the music seems to be coming from. It suddenly reminds him of his hometown, especially the festivities that the royal court would organize every week. He decides to silently go down the stairs to peek at the mysterious musician but all he can see from there is red. Another set of stairs later, he realizes it's their hair. They have long crimson hair with curls spiked in every direction. They are holding a lyre in their hands, and their pale fingers tease the cords lightly.
Then the music abruptly stops and Kaeya sees a pair of ruby eyes set on him.
Ah...he saw me...
Kaeya immediately try to think of something to say but…
"So it's that bad, huh ?"
Eh ?
"Excuse me ??" Kaeya asks, immediatly confused.
"The music, it was that bad ? You don't even know what to say. Besides, it's not polite to spy on people like this."
The boy offers him a very stern look and it gives a familiar emotion. He's not very tall but seems to be his age. He wears basic clothes, a white shirt and black pants. He has big red eyes which come off brighter in the sunlight and gives the impression of someone who's not easily impressed.
Kaeya's eye still hurts so much that he can't quite focus on their conversation : "I never thought it was bad, though ?? And I'm sorry I didn't mean to spy on you."
Somehow, the boy still looks upset : "Whatever." He forsake his lyre on a barrel and walks towards him. "Why is your eye bleeding ?"
What ?? Kaeya hurries to palm his right eye. His cheek and the eyepatch are all sticky. The red boy narrows his eyes in curiosity and approaches a hand to his face before Kaeya can notice it. He tries to take off the bloodied cloth. Kaeya immediately closes his eye in fear of being discovered.
"Don't do that."
When Kaeya reopens his eye, he sees a familiar gloved hand holding the red boy's hand.
"Zhongli…" Kaeya sighs in relief.
She stands in the way of the boy, her expression even more serious than usual. Tartaglia is standing behind her with a bow under his arm. He furrows at the sight of him. It's the first time he has ever seen his friend that worried. Zhongli speaks before any of them can say anything : "I'm a doctor, no need to call for one. Thank you for your concern, young man, don't worry I'll take care of his eye." She says confidently.
She spares a quick glance to Kaeya, that makes him wonder why she interfered. Does she knows for his eye ? How ?
The red boy hesitates for the first time and takes a step back. Kaeya is pulled backward by Childe as he stares at his bloodied cheek with concern.
"Why do you look like this ? Did you hurt yourself ?" Childe starts gibbering.
Kaeya stares back at him with his valid eye, unsure : "I'm okay, don't worry..."
The ginger boy frowns at him and flicked his forehead : "You idiot..."
Zhongli asks with her usual imperative voice : "Tartaglia, I'll go out of town with Kaeya. I don't have the necessary remedy in hand but I've spotted what we need while coming here so no need to accompany me. Instead, I'd be thankful if you could go inside and keep an eye on Venti for me."
"Alright ! You can count on me !" Childe cheerfully answers, too glad to be trusted.
And the two of them leave Tartaglia and Diluc alone.
Childe is about to head back inside, but the red boy holds him back by grabbing his scarf.
"Hey ! What are y-" Childe chokes out.
The red boy's eyes squinting suspiciously at the ginger one, he spits out : "You and that boy whose eye was bleeding, who are you ?" He commands.
But Childe only laughs at it, surprised to see such a strict expression on a baby face. The boy has round cheeks and fluffy hair like a newborn eagle : "What's it to you ? 'got a crush on me or something ? Sorry bro but I've got my eyes on someone el-"
"Not my point." He cuts him "You guys are dressed weirdly so you're probably foreigners and trustfully, your attitude is very suspect."
Why do you need to bother me like this ?? Can't you just let me do my task so I can make my crush proud of me ?? Childe enrages.
He swiftly makes him let go and faces him, irritated but still calm : "Okay what's your problem ? Did we offend you somehow ? I know Kaeya can be pretty weird sometimes but he's really not a bad guy."
The young boy places a hand on his chest as he speaks out proudly : "I am a Knight of Favonius in training, meant to protect Mondstadt at all cost. The Windblume Festival offers many opportunities for malevolent people to attack our great city and it's my job to watch out for suspicious individuals."
Childe holds on his breath to prevent himself from bursting into laughter. What the fuck is that ?? He didn't know Mondstadt's people could be so serious and careful. Fatuis trainers have always sold it as the capital of fools. And this kid is so young, does he even know what he's talking about ? Or even expect to be able to beat him ? He would like to see him try.
The little Knight continues : "I have no choice but to ask you to follow me to the Knights of Favonius's headquarters so we can check your identity. Your friend too of course."
The Fatui trainee freezes. Oh no he cannot go there ! No way ! The only identity paper he has are snezhnayan. He'll be thrown out of the city before he even gets the chance to explain himself. It's not like Fatuis are particularly disliked by the Knights of Favonius, but as a matter of fact, there isn't any place where the Fatuis are welcomed either.
Tartaglia smiles nervously. Calm...I need to look calm...
"Okay there, I'll set things clear for you, red boy." Childe attempts to tone him down. "We got our identities checked at the gate like everyone, there's no need to set procedures !"
But the red boy shakes his head, unconvinced : "You're lying. I don't know for you, but your friend got in without because he was accompanied by Seamus Pegg. The fault is on the guards but errors like this are not to be tolerated in the order."
Dammit why did he have such bad luck ?! Damn you Venti !!
"But you don't know for me, right ? Trust me, you'll be wasting your time !" Childe begins to take a few steps back, ready to make a run for it.
The young knight pulled out a sword from his backpack, ominously.
"I have all day, don't worry." He declares in a low voice.
Childe stares at the sword with anxious eyes and grabs his bow, now openly up for a fight. He picks an arrow discreetly from behind his back, and sees the Knight's eyes narrows.
"What are you trying to look good in front of your supervisor ? I know that strategy and trust me it doesn't work for shit !" Tartaglia spits out angrily.
The boy seems to hesitate suddenly and stares at something behind Tartaglia.
"What the-"
All they could hear as a warning was the clicking sound of heels on the pavement that instantly sends shivers down his spine.
Oh no...
"Well well well~~ Mister Tartaglia, what a surprise !"
A beautiful, elegant yet sarcastic voice resonates from behind him and they see a tall and ravishing woman appearing before them. She wears a black mask which takes the form of a butterfly and covers the right side of her face. Her eyes are a glacial blue and her long curly hair a very pale shade of blond. The air around her is cold.
"Don't you know it is disrespectful towards your Queen to take off your mask in front of non-snezhnayan people ?"
Childe is literally frozen in place, unable to move his feets. The ground has been covered with ice. The Signora took a few steps forward, graciously walking on the ice with her high heels.
"I didn't think I would see you in Mondstadt, though. Weren't you supposed to do some errands for us in Liyue ?" She said with a sultry voice but with a hint of threat that encouraged caution.
Childe tries without much conviction to free his feets but he knew there was no chance he could get out of this situation easily. Not against such a strong cryo user. It is no use for a hydro user like himself.
"I got thrown out of town haha~ Do you believe that ? " he explains with a nervous smile, trying to look natural.
Hopefully, Kaeya isn't there. He doesn't know how he could have protected his friend in such a situation. He has a hunch the blue boy is hiding a lot of things from him (even his cryo vision he found in his bag the day he embarked on his boat and while the other was fast asleep) but he just can't bring himself to ask him. Because even he hasn't been completely honest with him. One thing he is sure of is that he can’t bear the sight of him getting hurt for some reason. That’s why he has to handle this smartly.
"Unsurprisingly." She gazes at him unimpressed, visibly comforted in her already low opinion of him."I knew from the beginning that we shouldn't have taken you into our organisation. You're not suited to become a harbinger, Tartaglia."
"You're both fatuis ?!" Suddenly the red boy cries out.
She turns to see who the other boy is and her expression turns into one of curiosity and Childe gulps. That's bad....
"What have we got here…." She walks over to the knight "this is quite a remarkable hair colour, young man."
The boy, frozen in place and unable to move away from her, doesn't flinch nor unclench his teeth when she tilts his chin, her nails digging in the skin of his cheeks and looks attentively. He faces her with an expression of indomitable determination and reckless bravery.
"That crimson pigmentation of the eyes and the hair… you are a descendant of the guinildirr lineage. Or perhaps you have Muratan's blood ? This is rather interesting." The Signora croons, fascinated.
Tartaglia stares at them, uncertain. Even though he sure doesn't want to go to Favonius's headquarters, he doesn't want the poor boy to get hurt because of him. But the red boy doesn't waver and holds her gaze.
"Don't touch me, you dirty fatui." He spits in her face.
Oh oh... thinks Tartaglia. Wrong move bro...
Without further ado, she slaps his face with the back of her hand and an expression of superiority nobody could match. Tartaglia closed his eyes on reflex. Damn that woman could be so violent. The hit forces the young boy on his knees and the cryo Harbinger grabs a fistful of his hair upward.
"Dirty ? I am the purest being you'll ever encounter in your short miserable life, little red dwarf." She declares.
The boy grits his teeth as she crushes him with her gaze. Then she begins to smirk, as if she suddenly got an idea.
"The Windblume Festival was made to celebrate the end of slavery of Muratan's people, right ?" She chuckles darkly.
The young boy widens his eyes in disgusted realization.
"Don't you know slavery is yet to be abolished in Snezhnaya ? I could easily sell you there and have you on a leash."
Childe looks at her, horrified. How could she put on such a horrible lie ?
"Hey ! I'm still here you know !" Tartaglia wails, trying desperately to distract her from the boy.
But then he notices steam beginning to appear around the red boy. The ice was slowly melting. He is a pyro user ?? In a moment, the boy frees himself and his sword is consumed by indomitable flames, directed directly to the Signora.
But the hit is stopped at the last moment. Not because it was blocked...but because a child had suddenly walked between the two of them, her cute lil face raised up interrogatively. The knight has to stop himself before it hits her. She doesn't seem alarmed though.
"Do you know where Qiqi can find cocogoat milk ?"
The red boy and the cryo Harbinger stare at her, face blank.
"Brother Xiao promised Qiqi he would get some for her but it seems to Qiqi that he actually doesn't know where to find it…"
Their hear an approaching voice screaming in the distance.
"QIQI ! I TOLD YOU NOT TO RUN OFF !!"
The little girl looks up shyly behind her. Childe follows her gaze and sees a silhouette, dominating them from the top of the roof, a very dark ominous aura emanating from him. He holds a green luminous spear in his hand and a demon mask in the other.
"Oh...did we come at the wrong time ?" He asks a bit more calmly and casually jumps down from the high roof, as if height was nothing.
"Adeptus Xiao." He presents himself while standing next to the child "Conquering demons is what I do." He eyes La Signora with animosity.
He makes his spear hits the ice at their feet and disperse it swiftly. Black and jade green particles gleams around him.
"Perhaps, you need my help ?"
Childe passes a hand on his face. Just end me please...