Chapter Text
“Man~ That was soooooo boring!”
“Lord Barbatos, please refrain from saying such things while others are near…”
“You’re such a party pooper Jean!”
Jean couldn’t help but sigh at the silly antics of the former Anemo archon. It had been three long years but Jean still had difficulties believing that he was the same Anemo archon who everybody in Montasdt worshipped – the same one who’s statue still stood tall at the middle of Montasdt.
Who would though, with a personality like that? The smaller boy took joy in pretending to be a self-proclaimed bard and always managed to wipe Angel’s Share’s entire stash of Dandelion Wine within just one night, much to the Dawn Winery owner’s dismay. There was no way anybody would believe that a laidback boy like him would be the great Archon of Wind who overlooked Montasdt.
Even now, after a grave meeting such as this, he somehow managed to stay so carefree. Jean didn’t, no, couldn’t understand. “Lord Barbatos, do you not realize the extent of our current situation?”
The corners of Venti’s mouth drooped down a bit to form a sad smile in response. He stopped walking and paused to look out the window, a floating piece of land in the sky coming into view. “…Is there anything more we can do?” Venti asked with a hint of what seemed to be sorrow in his voice. He then turned to gaze directly into the blonde knight’s eyes before asking again, “do you truly believe that there is something we can accomplish at our current state?”
Jean looked away from his gaze and clenched her hands together into a tight fist. She had forgotten for a moment that there were also times like these in which the Anemo Archon did a sudden 180 in his personality. However, these moments were quite rare – it just came to show how seriously even Venti though of the current situation.
“I’m not sure if there is much we can do right now…” Jean started with an uneasy and unsure voice. However, as she continued to speak, her voice gained more and more confidence before she could finally look back up at him with unwavering eyes. “But if she was here, I’m sure she would have done anything and everything she could!”
“…” Venti’s face visibly darkened as Jean spoke the latter part. He narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to say something back in retaliation but no words seem to come out. Once he realized that nothing good would come out of continuing this conversation, he frowned and turned his back to her. “But she isn’t here now, is she?” Jean looked on in regret as Venti quietly muttered to himself walked off.
“…You pulled a stupid move there, Dandelion Knight. It takes guts to anger an archon, former or not.”
Jean tore her gaze away from the god to look behind her at the newcomer. “…Signora.”
The Eight Harbinger casually sauntered over to Jean with a taunting look on her face. “I have to admit, that was a low blow. Even our dear Scaramouche doesn’t dare mention her in front of them.”
Jean furrowed her brows at the approaching Cryo user and snapped, “what do you want, Signora. Everything should have been spoken about during the meeting.”
“Nothing much. Just wanted to see what the noise was about,” Signora chuckled as she leaned in to take a closer look at Jean’s face. “You look absolutely horrendous,” she observed with a smirk. “Serves you right for bringing up such a taboo.”
Jean flinched.
“You should be glad that Tartaglia didn’t hear you. He would have had your head – treaty or not,” Signora said as she leaned backed away from the Favonius knight’s face, satisfied at seeing her former enemy’s misery. “Just a bit of a warning to you: not everybody will have as much patience as that rodent ruler.”
“It’s been 3 years already! What do they expect at this point?” Jean screamed. Signora watched on in amusement as the blonde began flailing her hands around exasperatedly to emphasize her frustration. “There has been absolutely no sign – no news – about her whereabouts! I understand that people are upset, because I am too! But we really shouldn’t be walking on thin eggshells and crying over somebody who might be-!”
Jean immediately paused when she felt something sharp – something cold – press against her throat.
“I dare you to finish that sentence.”
Jean froze and slowly turned her head around, carefully in order to prevent any injury to herself, to see a familiar face.
“…Tartaglia.”
It took all Jean had for her to not tremble in fear upon seeing the murderous glint in his eyes. She, afterall, had a reputation to uphold.
“I fucking dare you.” The Eleventh Harbinger let out a low growl as he pushed his hydro blade further into the knight’s neck, enough to break her skin and draw a bit of blood.
Jean bit into her lower lips and chose to remain silent because she knew better than to react to his provocation. Especially when he was in a mood such as this. Even Signora, who usually found entertainment in pissing off the younger Harbinger, looked at the scene in unease before finally speaking up.
“Put your blades down Tartaglia. I will not allow you to sully the Tsarita’s name and cause an international incident,” Signora warned.
Tartaglia glanced at the senior Harbinger for a second before his eyes traveled back to the Montasdt knight. He clicked his tongue in distaste as he pulled the hydro blade away from her neck, twirling them back into nothingness.
Just when Jean was about to let out a sigh of relief, he took her by surprise by grabbing onto the collar of his uniform and pulling her close to his face. Jean struggled to break free from him grasp but it was impossible considering the difference in pure strength between them. Signora’s finger twitched a bit in anxiety when she saw the other woman’s face pale from the lack of air but chose not to take action. Not yet anyways. She didn’t want to provoke the boy any more than he was at the moment.
“Don’t ever say some stupid shit like that. Not about that. Not about her. If you do…” he trailed off, pulling her even closer to the point she could feel the harshness of his breath on her face. “I won’t let you off easy, the Tsarita be damned.”
Without sparing another glance, Tartaglia stalked off into the empty hallways after roughly pushed Jean away from him. Signora sighed as she saw Jean stagger backwards and cough, the color finally returning to her face.
“Right after I just warned you too,” Signora murmured in annoyance, massaging her head to soothe the migraine that she was getting from the little incident. Jean glared back at her angrily in response but Signora scoffed. “If you don’t have a death wish, I advise you to keep shut about it. I’m afraid that there are many people who are still…sensitive…to the topic.”
“…You know, Tartaglia let you off pretty easily just now,” Signora commented. She had on a sullen expression as she looked towards the direction he had disappeared into, something that Jean was not used to seeing on the Eight Harbinger. “The brat was closer to the girl than anybody else.” Close enough for him to disregard the Tsarita whom he had sworn loyalty to and that was saying a lot considering who be was.
With those final words, Signora left, leaving Jean to her own devices.
“…You guys aren’t the only ones that miss her…” Jean huffed and stared at the floor in frustration as if the slowly increasing number of water drops was the most interesting thing in the world.
Her expression melted into one of defeat as unwanted memories of the past began to flood her head.
“Lumine…Paimon...”
It was a grand room. Dull and void of flashy decorations, but grand nevertheless. It was a room he had prepared for her when he had finally taken her 'back home' with him. In that room dark room, his sister, wearing an all white outfit, seemed to stick out like a sore thumb. He had to admit that she didn't seem like she belonged there.
But what could he do?
They were twins, they weren't meant to be separated. They belonged with each other. They only had each other.
"Lumi, are you done sulking now?"
"..."
"It's already been 3 years."
"..."
The blonde boy gave a resigned sigh at his sister's refusal to speak and cautiously walked towards her. Regardless of the fact that he had been the one at fault, it still upset him to see her like this. When she sharply turned her head to avoid looking at him, he groaned at her stubbornness and plopped himself next to her.
After a lengthy period of silence between them, he longingly stared at the back of her head unmoving head before running his fingers through his hair in frustration.
"...Just know that I do what I do for both mine, and your, sake," he hesitantly said, narrowing his eyes and abruptly standing up. "I don't care what happens to anything and anyone else, be it Celestia and it's unknown god or the rebelling citizens of Teyvat, as long as you're safe."
Once more, he never received a response back from her, much less an acknowledgement of any sort. It had happened everyday for the past three years so it hadn't been much of a surprise, but he had still been hopeful. He had always been hopeful. However, today didn't seem to be the day either. Deciding that nothing would come out of this one-sided conversation, he gave her one last glance before exiting the room.
The now lone girl in the room finally let out the broken sob that she had been holding back the entire time and buried her head deeper into the pillow.
It was the same thing every time.
Everyday, her brother would come and go without so much as a word from her mouth. When was the last time she had an actual conversation with her brother? Another person that wasn't a creature of the abyss? She didn't remember anymore.
Although the brother she had once longed so much for was finally by her side, she had never felt so alone before.