Chapter Text
It was already evening as a party of 4 arrived outside the Cathedral of Mondstadt. Injured and exhausted, they barely
escaped their previous quest with their lives.
A young boy breaks the group's silence. "It wasn't that bad, wasn't it?" He chuckled, trying to hide his nervousness. He knew what was going to happen next. Its the same for every other party that he joins. "Next time, maybe we can-"
"There won't be a next time, Bennett" One of his partymates interrupted.
"Its true, what the people said. God, I should've listened."
The last party mate looked back at the unlucky boy. "No hard feelings, mate. We have mouths to feed, and quotas we have to meet, yeah?"
"I understand."
He bowed his head low as the three went on inside the cathedral to get their wounds taken care of. He needed to get his injuries taken care of, too, but he didn't feel like being with his former partymates. He didn't want the people there to look at the party, then look at him and say "Ah, so that's why.." He's used to becoming the scapegoat of failure for all his adventures, but just today, he didn't want to deal with it.
He found himself a spot near Barbatos' statue to sit down on. One of the terraces near the ledge overlooking the Knights of Favonius' headquarters. This was one of the more relaxing spots in Mondstadt, and even more relaxing since it was already dark. A good place to get lost in one's thoughts.
He stumbled down beside one of the bushes and leaned on the wall.
Pain shot up his arm as he tried to close his right hand to a fist. "Lets see.." He winced a bit as he tried to raise his arm over his shoulder. Lucky for him, it was only his arm that got injured. His pride and reputation as an adventurer too, but this is just another day for him. He's used to it.
"Ah, looks like I'll be going solo for a while again." He thought to himself. Tears started to flow down his face. "Maybe I am cursed, eh?" Another frustrating adventure failed. "Maybe I really am.."
How many adventures has it been? Too many to count. And everytime he had someone else with him, the outcome just becomes worse. Maybe he should settle down? Maybe the adventurer's life is not really for him. A fleeting dream. He glanced at his vision, attached to one of the belt loops on his pants.
The boy starts to sob, tightening his grasp onto the glowing jewel. "Why do I have this? Why do I have this if all I get is-"
His train of thought was suddenly interrupted. "Bennett?"
He was startled as he heard the voice and quickly started to wipe his face. That voice was familiar, and he couldn't let her see him like this.
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"Just the three of you?" One of the sisters asked as she wrapped a bandage on one of the adventurers.
"We had another member but..." The adventurer trailed off to a mumble. "He was bad luck from the beginning. See, our luck began to turn around once he wasn't with us!" The second adventurer exclaimed as he applied ointment to one of his injuries. "Good riddance, if you ask me."
Barbara raised a brow when she heard bad luck. "Where is your fourth member?"
"I wouldn't know. He vanished when we were on our way here." The third adventurer blurted out as he laid on one of the beds. The other sisters glanced at each other as Barbara pulled out a small sling bag from one of the nearby cabinets. "Deaconess, what are you doing?"
"There's one more that needs help." She smiled as she took out a few rolls of bandage from a nearby pan. "Knowing that boy, he'd be hurt way worse than you three."
"Actually, we're the ones who took the brunt of the damage." The first adventurer commented as Barbara went to a nearby hanging closet to take out some disinfectant, a few pieces of cotton, and some burn ointment. "Sister Barbara, must you really?"
"I can't ignore anyone who needs my help. I'll be back shortly!" The deaconess says as she bows in apology before she rushed out of the room.
The three had already been treated by the other sisters, so taking care of the fourth would be her job. "Bad luck can only mean one person" She hated it when people would refer to him that way. Its just too cruel. He didn't ask for this fate, and Barbatos isn't a cruel god to bestow such a curse onto anyone.
She made her way out of the cathedral and scanned around for any signs of the boy. This wasn't the first time he got himself into some mess, too. And every time he returns to the infirmary, the injuries get more and more serious.
"And if things keep going like this, eventually, he'll.." She tried not to think of that fact. As she looked around the statue of the Anemo archon, she spots a faint red glow near the ledges. She squints her eyes and moves closer, making out someone slumped down on the ground.
"There you are!" she exclaimed as she went towards him, but as she drew closer, something was off. She remembers, everytime he would come see her, he had the confidence that put Stanley to shame. No matter how bad his injuries would get, he would just shrug it off.
"Bennett?"
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"Ah, oh my, its a strange night for rain, yeah?" The boy joked as he tried to hide his face from Barbara. He kept a forced smile to keep up with
appearances.
"Its not raining." Barbara looked on with a look of concern. "That's a very cliche thing to say."
He laughed nervously. "No, I think this is your vision trying to heal me! I feel better alrea-" He tried to raise his arms to flex, only to wince in pain.
The deaconess sat down on the ground beside Bennett. "Where does it hurt?" she said as she began to take some bandages from her bag.
"Uh, wait, lets go sit somewhere, you can't sit down on-"
Barbara pouted. "Where. Does. It. Hurt?" Bennett gestured to his right arm. She took out some pieces of cotton and started putting disinfectant on it. "My.. what did you get yourself into?"
"I jumped off a cliff and tried to plunge down on some hillichurls. I didn't get the notice that my party mates weren't in position yet.."
The deaconess took his hand and inspected the arm. Some small gashes that have yet to heal fully, plus bruising all over the upper arm. She has seen worse, and yet she senses something troubling about the boy. Gently holding his right hand, she started to apply the disinfectant onto the wounds with the cotton, Bennett slightly wincing from the pain.
"We ended up aggro-ing another tribe entirely as the other three rushed to get into position" He would glance every now and then to her eyes, only to
quickly avert his gaze whenever her eyes would meet hit.
"Aggro-ing?" She wasn't familiar with terms adventurers use. After all, she has yet to go on an proper adventure herself.
"..uh, we ended up attracting too much attention from every hillichurl in the area." Barbara nodded as she started wrapping the bandage around his arm.
"But I'm not that hurt this time, right!" Bennett laughed as he tried to reassure her not to worry. The last time he saw her for healing, he was bleeding to his death. So this simple mangled arm shouldn't be a cause for alarm right?
He looked at Barbara for some kind of reaction, expecting to be reprimanded, but there was none. Her eyes seem.. cold? Sad? Is this disdain?
His heart sank as he waited for any kind of reaction. "Are you.. tired of me being this way?" He murmured in a half whispered voice.
But before he could say another word, Barbara tightened the end of the bandage, almost making the boy jump up from pain.
"H-hey, I'm sorry! You don't have to-"
Her eyes met with hers. No amount of pretending can get him off the hook; after all, his eyes were still a bit red from crying.
"You know, the wounds on your arm might not be as bad as the other times I saw you, but.."
She placed a hand on his, and her other hand on her heart. "..its the wounds here that I'm worried about."
The evening breeze blew around them as Bennet froze.
"You have to heal those wounds too, you know?"
Tears started flowing again. Bennett held back so many emotions for the longest time. The disappointment, the frustration, the self-hate because he wasn't strong enough, he wasn't fast enough, wasn't lucky enough to be a successful adventurer. He wanted people to be proud of him. He wanted to earn the respect of all his dads in the adventurer's guild. He wanted to go on more adventures, and he wanted to make sure that people remember Benny's Adventure team.
"Haha, I can't believe.." He said as continued bawling his eyes out. "..I'm acting so uncool in front of you."
Barbara let him rest on her shoulder as he sobbed. Was it a few minutes or an hour? He felt warm on her shoulder, or was it the vision?
She recognized his scent, like the scent of a sunny day. She did feel a bit flustered, since this can be seen as a public display of affection in the eyes of the public, and her status of being an idol and deaconess might be put into public scrutiny. But it is already late, and it has been a long day. She glances at the boy and notices that he has already fallen asleep. The adrenaline must have worn off.
She starts to hum a tune, and a faint glow envelops the both of them. Her eyes glance at the lanterns near them, then to the statue of the Anemo Archon.
"To the wind that guides us. When he's exhausted, bless him with the strength to keep going forward"
"When he's uncertain, bless him with the wisdom to distinguish good from evil."
"When he suffers from injustice, bless him with the courage to fight back.
"Let the wind guide him." She mutters under her breath before leaning her head onto Bennett's.
Her vision's glow slowly dims as she starts to doze off herself.
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"OH MY ME!" A figure lying prone on the palm of the Barbatos status exclaims. "This is an interesting turn of events!" The figure laughs as he peers down on the two below.
"A precious moment worthy of a song!"
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