Chapter Text
AU of Xiaoven where Xiao doesn’t know venti is Barbatos and venti decides to play with it lol ( roll with me )
Reminder! : Please excuse grammar and spelling issues, this piece isn’t perfect!
The people in Mondstat have a saying for when the wind is blowing, “when the wind is blowing, shall it carry the dandelion seeds to bring forth new life.” It was more on the cliche side, but Venti always liked this saying. He always loved the thought of new life. Whether it’d be the lion-fang knight Vanessa, or the fearless bard with a dream, Venti always hoped they would reincarnate for a more peaceful life.
The soft wind blew Venti’s braids into his face as he sipped into his tea. He rarely ever drank tea, it was always wine or grape juice… Whichever one he could afford. Besides, he didn’t really have a choice in drink when conversing with the Geo Archon, Morax. If he were to upset this god he would be yelled into or even shredded into smithereens, so the best option was to respect the god in his nation.
“Barbatos, is there something you need to be this far out from Mondstat?” The composed figure set down his cup as he raised his eyebrow with a nasty golden glare.
“I go by Venti nowadays, Morax. And besides, do I need a reason to visit this lovely nation of yours?”
“Well this visit was quite uncalled for, and I, myself go by Zhongli around here.” Morax crossed his arms, his golden glare was growing colder by the second and Venti was getting the shivers. “When will you be leaving?”
“I was actually planning to stay awhile!” The breeze grew stronger. “I plan on seeing that adeptus I gave a vision to at Juyen karst— Xiao, right?”
“Huh. Why must it be him? Surely you have another reason other than just saying ‘hello’.”
“How many years has he been working under your contract relentlessly, Morax? Surely, he’s lonely up there since, if I recall correctly, the other adeptus, Ganyu, is working here with the mortals. The last time I met her she was such a hard worker.” Venti was saddened a little by the thought. Reminded him of a friend he had.
Zhongli sighs, “I told you I am the mortal Zhongli now, Venti. I have set down my duties as an archon quite a while ago. If you want to see Xiao you might want to bring him a little gift for me.”
“Oh-ho-ho! The father wants to send his son a little gift, eh? Fine, gladly. What will it be?” Venti was quite surprised with Zhongli’s response. He didn’t think he actually wanted to have any more interactions with the adepti anymore.
Zhongli raises his hand to call a waiter nearby, “hello there, can I place a to-go order for almond tofu with some Qinxin flower decorations?”
“Sure! That’ll be 2500 mora.” The waiter smiles.
“Ah. Can you start a tab on the name of ‘Hu Tao’?” Zhongli clears his throat.
“Hu Tao from the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor? Sure!” The waiter walks away as Zhongli takes another sip of his tea.
“Qinxin flowers?” Venti asks, cocking his head to the side a bit, “why would he want Qinxin flowers?”
“It’s part of the meal. He picked up the habit from Ganyu, a vegetarian with Qinlin blood. When they were still in contact, Ganyu urged Xiao to try some and he ended up liking it.” Zhongli smiled at the thought. Must have been a cheerful memory.
“Huh… Okay then. Noted.”
In a few minutes the waiter came back with a bag with a box inside of it. He put it on the table in front of Venti and Zhongli. As Venti takes the bag, Zhongli stops him.
“Please tell Xiao that it was a gift from ‘Rex Lapis’ other than ‘Zhongli’ this once? I don’t want the other adepti to know I live as a mortal nowadays…”
Venti was a bit stunned by this request and laughs, “Hehe, sure then ‘Zhongli’! Thanks for the tea!”
Venti waves off Zhongli and dashed up to Juyen Karst, the home of adepti. Climbing up the mountains weren’t too hard, but they weren’t easy. Most of the time Venti just used the convenient wind currents that appeared then and there, he tried to refrain from summoning the wind-currents himself as it would alert the other adepti. Still as he reached the top of one of the mountains, an adeptus in the form of a crane awaited him.
“Barbatos. It has been awhile. What brings you here in Liyue…? Let alone Juyen Karst. You know this is the home of the adepti.” Cloud retainer bellows as she flaps her wings a little.
“Don’t worry adeptus Cloud Retainer. I’m not here to cause trouble. I just need to know where the conqueror of demons is… Y’know, adeptus Xiao.” Venti clutched his bag a little as he looked around at his surroundings. A Qinxin bunch on top of a mountain next to him.
Recalling what Zhongli had told him, Xiao liked those. Venti decided to scoop them up and put them into the bag, which seemed to catch Cloud retainer’s eye.
“And what is that?” Cloud retainer’s beak snapped a bit.
“It’s a gift for Xiao from… From Rex lapis. He told me to give this to him.”
“Rex Lapis?! Why the last time we ever heard about him was when we were informed he wasn’t actually assassinated…”
“Well yeah— he’s not. So, could you tell me where Xiao is? I need to give this to him.”
Cloud retainer sighs, “If you insist. He is at Mount Aocang, probably around the seating area where me, Rex Lapis, and Guizhong sat… Makes me pity that poor boy.”
“Thanks Cloud retainer! Do you mind if I—“
Cloud retainer sighs, “do as you may.”
~~
End of Chapter 1 :)