Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Venti wakes up with a pounding head, an extreme amount of Anemo, and shock running through his system.

He's supposed to be dead. He'd felt the malice eating away at his body. He'd seen the wide, dying eyes of his people and the other Archons as they had succumbed to the corruption. He knew what was coming even as he buried them. He knew he was going to speed up his own inflection, but he hadn't cared.

Where was the freedom in solitude?

Where was he supposed to go in a world of death?

He had nothing...and yet the feelings remained.

He's supposed to be dead.

So why is he sitting in the formerly destroyed forest of Windrise, with a blistering headache, and what looks to be a dead group of Hilichurls surrounding him?

He doesn't know, but what does he know is that he brimming with power. So much power, that he is confused and frightened in equal measures. He's never had this much power even at the height of the Archon War and it's scaring him. Taking a deep breath, and reigning in his power, Venti watches as the Hilichurls' bodies vanish into the aether, dropping large amounts of items and Mora, the sight of which nearly causes him to break into tears.

Mora meant Morax.

Reaching out one hand he calls to his wind sprites siblings asking for their assurance that what he sees and feels was correct. They were shocked at first that he was able to finally hear them and answered his call, jumping to follow his commands. The wind blew through the trees and as he moved into a more comfortable sitting position against one of the trees, he waited patiently for their return. 

Once he had his answers then he would move.

If he was in the past, like it seemed, then he would act and do anything to change their fate. If he wasn't and he was in the far future...well, he'd cross that bridge if it came to it. But, he was weak, and so he wished for the vain hope that he had a chance to be better. Shifting his legs to hug them, Venti waves his hand and summons the monster drops, before sorting through them to pass time. He finds nothing of value and tosses the items into his false Vision, Venti moves back to leaning against the tree, as the wind returns with the sprites.

Morax with tree paper.

Ei yelling.

Mammon mean!

Crocell still hiding.

Murata fighting.

Haures screaming.

Exist!

They exist!

Alright, brother?

Is this enough?

Venti nods, relief flowing through him. He doesn't stop the tears or smile that come to his face, but he doesn't have to.

Because this is enough.

It's more than enough.

Curling up, he cries into his arms, only vaguely aware that his brothers are growing more panicked the longer he cries.

Brother!

Why are you sad?

Please tell us.

Brother!

Finally, he can heal.

...

...

...

...

When Venti's tears dry and his emotions have fallen into happy numbness, he gets to his feet and... floats...?

Looking down, Venti knows he shouldn't be shocked by this. He's the God of Wind, some amount of flying was always going to be assumed of him, and yet never before did he manage to float as easily as he did now. Before it was always a sort of a struggle to stay in the wind for more than a few minutes, and yet here he was floating naturally, it was a bit strange.

Focusing, Venti dropped to the ground, bare feet on grass.

"Strange..." It almost took more effort to stay on the ground than in the air.  Letting himself float back into the wind, Venti glides up and over the trees to the one place he can't help but return to. 

Galesong Hill.

Dropping into the Tree of the Winds, he glances down below its canopy to make sure there is no one by its roots. The winds say there is no one there, but he knows there are two people he cannot sense—at least not directly. Looking around he sees neither Aether nor his sister anywhere nearby. Floating down by his statue, he gathers the wind in his fingers and starts to summon forth the few pieces in his armory.

A simmering of blueish-green dust parts to reveal his old friend, the Skyward Harp, and Elegy for the End. Sheathing the bows, Venti steps away from his statue to seal the armory closed again. He'd figure out the best armory builds for himself later. But for now, he needs to see himself. Because he feels very different since he awakened on the hill and he needs to know if something has changed. Something more visual than just his memories and his apparent increase of power. He knows his clothes are more colorful than the first time, and he sees that his wings look more brilliant in dark blues and green highlights, but beyond that, it's hard to tell.

Floating down to the river Venti peers in and freezes when his archon form comes into view.

While his outfit is physically the same, he's much more vibrant. Instead of the pure white of the past, all of his feathers are shaded into more colors than he had seen. His wings, once the palest of whites, now flowed into blues, greens, and golds while his hood was longer and ended in gold diamonds that left after images of silver-gold dust. But it was his left leg that had the most striking difference. Instead of the single turquoise triangle tattoo that circled his thigh, he had five of them that combined resembled an Anemo symbol intersected with a clock hand. Reaching out his hand, he touched it, emotions bittersweet.

He would carry markers of his dark future then...but it was alright. He could live with that.

Dropping to the ground Venti dissolves back into his normal bard attire.

It was time he got moving.

Summoning his lyre, he uses the wind to take him to more monsters. 

He isn't disappointed when it drops him only meters away into a camp. Strumming his lyre, the Hilichurls scream in pain, before dying as he unleashes Skyward Sonnet. Picking up the mats, he destroys the camp structure, before jumping up into the wind to continue.

He does this again and again, steadily moving up in difficulty as he tests himself against more of his foes. He knows he's in the past but even he doesn't know where his limits are. He sweeps through camps all over Mondstadt until finally, he meets his match in a level 63 horde of Dendro slimes and Hilichurls. Falling back into Wind's Grand Ode, he leans forward on his knees trying to catch his breath.

He was in his sixties then. Likely either mid to high considering the difficulty and type disadvantage, but it's an answer. Slicing through the camp, to stop another infestation from spawning, Venti moves back into the wind, riding it back to Galesong Hill. He wants to take his time going through his items in safety before he heads into the city.

Finding several rolls of Hero's Wit, Venti consumes them immediately before starting on the artifacts that he acquired. None of them are high in quality and instead, he merges them into his existing set. It consumes more Mora than he'd thought but considering the high value of Anemo sigils that he can endlessly create to get more money and the mora he just picked up, it mattered little.

Ruffling through his mats, he's rather disappointed to see nothing more than low-quality items. He knows the monsters in his land are nowhere near enough to give him what he needs but until he can purchase permission to use a vision test [1] he's stuck trying to guess what he needs to improve...but if he remembers correctly, there was a vision tester in the cathedral so a quick trip into the city should be enough to sell what he can as well as test his vision.

Banishing his lyre back into his fake vision [2] Venti jumps back into the wind flying straight to his home. He debates whether he should go through the gate or simply fly over when a small group of people catches his attention. Even from his distance he can see the purple of their outfits, and hear the whispers of their corruption.

Fatui.

He had almost forgotten about them.

The Fatui were the first to fall when the world was corrupted so he had completely blocked them from his mind. Morax had mourned a few of them, as did a few of the other Archons, but Venti wasn't among them and would never be. The Tsaritsa and her Harbingers had hurt him terribly, and too many times for him to feel anything but anger at their appearance.

But if they were here, then he could get even.

Especially, now that he remembered a certain incident...

Summoning his Gnosis, he warded it with the strength of a million winds and let it settle into his hand. He had just the perfect plan for them.

Bypassing the gate, Venti dropped down into an empty alley and summoned his lyre but he was far from the mood to play. Hocking his lyre at his side he wandered into Mondstadt looking for a certain shop. If he wasn't mistaken it should be around the north gate and it was.

"Excuse me, Mister!" Venti chirped, perhaps a bit too pleased with himself.

The blacksmith, Wagner looked up at him. "Can I help you?" He asked gruffly.

"I'd like to have something made."

"An instrument? Or something else?"

"A custom piece," Venti says and takes out his gnosis. "Would you be able to make a copy of this?"

Wagner frowns, before shaking his head. "I can't. But the girl by the tree, Shiliu might. I hear she's a Jeweler of some kind."

Venti nods and after thanking him, goes up the hill to the tree. Sure enough, a Liyue girl is peddling her items looking a little sad. Walking over, Venti catches her attention.

"Greetings. Mine apologies for disturbing you but I have a question."

Shiliu blinks, looking a little taken aback. "Alright. How can I help you?"

"Do you do custom work by any chance?"

She blinks and then smiles. "Of course! How can I help?"

"I'd like a custom copy of this item." He tells her showing his Gnosis. "It was once part of the set but I've lost the other sadly... would that be possible?"

"Yes. Yes, of course, I can. This is such a beautiful item. The design alone is breathtaking...but the amount of metal. Mmmm....it might be a bit pricey though."

"Excellent. How much?"

"Depends. Do you want an exact copy or would colored metal be enough?"

"An exact copy, please. Metal and all."

"10,000...no 20,000... and it'll take me a few days."

"Alright, here," Venti says a little shocked. It was pricey, but considering he had earned a cool thirty thousand from killing quite a few Hilichurl camps, it was a small amount. After all, if this worked he would be very happy. Very happy indeed. However, that left one question. "Do you need to take the item?"

She shook her hand.  "No, I brought a jewel scanner, so as long as I get the measurements and graph it properly, there is no need for me to have it."

Venti sighed in relief. "That's a relief. Here." He says handing it off, a little nervously. Handing off his Gnosis was never going to get easier.

Shiliu takes the gnosis gingerly perhaps sensing something about its importance to Venti before taking out a small scanning stone that scans it. It takes only a minute to hover over it before she shifts the small scanning stone back into her bag and pulls out a sketchbook and a charcoal pencil. Immediately she starts sketching it and then rolling it in her other hand when she glances back and forth. She's good at her job though because in little more than another ten minutes she's coloring the final touches on the Gnosis sketch before handing it back to him.

"I think I should be done by Pyrusday[3]. Would you meet me back here then?"

"Of course. Thank you for your time." Taking a bow in the proper Liyue style, Venti waves her off watching as she walks clear out of sight before he moves on.

He has promises to keep, after all.

Walking up the steps, he takes a turn and ends up at his favorite tavern.

Angel's Share.

Walking through the door, Venti is not surprised to see a small line in front of the register. He had missed this. Glancing around the people in line, he's happy to see that Diluc is manning the desk. Finally, he can make good on his word.

Moving forward, Venti smiled, his heart feeling so happy and bitter at once. Diluc had been one of the first to go when the world went wrong, choking on black blood. Shaking his head, Venti moves up the register. He lets Diluc go through his usual complaints about him and his tab. Venti lets him go for longer than usual before he drops a pile of Mora on the counter.

"I'm afraid, I have no time today for a glass, but I have come to pay off my tab," Venti says relishing a little in the pure shock that sinks into the tavern.

Instantly the bar goes silent, and Venti can feel the eyes of the bar on him. Diluc himself looks no better looking rather confusedly at the money for a few minutes before he starts counting. No doubt, he felt like the rest of the Ragnvindr's that he would never pay off his debt, but Venti had always intended to do that.

Still, Venti waited patiently for Diluc to go through the money counting every Mora until finally he was done.

"Was it enough? I have more if necessary," Venti says softly hoping to comfort his young friend and yet, somehow, it did nothing more but cause tension. He knows he's acting differently but he just won't be the same as he once was. He was different. He had more riding on his shoulders, and had so much left unsaid—

"It's enough. Your tab is paid off." Diluc tells him, but there's a line of worry on his shoulders that hadn't been there only minutes before and he isn't the only one. A familiar man with blue hair is coming down the stairs with a rather quizzing look in his eyes. It takes Venti only a second to wonder why Kaeya seems even more confused than his brother before he shrugs it off. He's got other places to go.

"Till later, Master Diluc." He says and pauses to look him straight in the eyes. "The winds grow foul."

Both Diluc and Kaeya freeze at his words, while Venti takes the opportunity to walk out the door and into one of the side alleyways before either of the two inside follow him. Kaeya and Diluc will no doubt have questions, but Venti has no quick answers for them or for anyone else.

In the emptiness of the alleyway, Venti takes off using the breeze to land carefully on the alleyway side of the Souvenir Shop. While he has a few Anemo sigils he found during combat earlier in the day, Venti knows it won't be enough. Summoning a concentrated sphere of wind, Venti creates a dozen more, a soft smile creeping up his face at the sight of them. Ironically, Anemo sigils were always in high demand due to their compatibility. Humming a tune Venti stepped out and walked up to Marjorie. [4]

He handed away all of the Anemo sigils on him and he was able to make back what he gave to Diluc and more, and yet the money would only be one step in his plans. Certain items he needed to ascend couldn't be bought, so he was going to have to be creative. But how? He can't physically go to some of the places that had the items he needs so he either needs to either sneak into other nations or maybe go through the black market...

Decisions, decisions...

He'll have to think more on that later, for now, he needs to make a trip to the cathedral and figure out where exactly he is on his ascension scale. Hopping over a stone ridge Venti makes his way to the smaller building connecting to the vision tester located just to the east of the knights' barracks. Getting into the small line is no big deal, and he takes to tapping out a melody on his arm as the line moves forward.

People move forward little by little until finally Venti is let into a reception room. He pays the lady at a small desk before he's let into a small room on the left.

Inside there's a table with a glass sheet and a chair as well as a small notepad and pencil. Taking both, Venti moves to the glass sheet and taps his fake vision onto the status board. It takes a second for it to scan the information on his fae vision, but once it does, it lights up showing a picture of him and his stats. According to the information he was a level sixty-seven Anemo Vision user, and his artifacts were all four stars which were okay, but he really needed to get five-star equipment if possible. 

His Skyward Harp was a perfect five-star weapon that was maxed out so there was no need to level it up, and the Elegy of the End was equally as good, so for now he needed to gain ascension materials for both himself and his artifacts, as well as faith...and yet there lay the problem. How to gain faith in a city of freedom...? His fellow Archons gained faith through commands, either by ruling or outright guiding their people but he wasn't like them so he would need to get creative.

A wisp of wind went by containing lightly whispered words flowing through it, and Venti spun around.

That was it!

Prayers!

He could answer prayers.

He had completely forgotten about prayers.

All of the other Archons had gained their faith directly so they never really needed to relay upon prayers so he hadn't thought about it in centuries.  Waving his hand back he listened to words, his expression going a bit sad when it ended. It was a wish for food, from the lower alleys if he wasn't mistaken. It was rather sad. Turning back to his stats Venti wrote down everything, before clipping back on his fake vision and walking out the doors.

Yet, another thing he hoped not to think about in his beloved city.

Poverty.

The Knights and the Church worked hard to do their jobs among the people and yet, as normally was the case, they were stretched far too thin in both resources and people. Luckily enough, Venti has picked up a number of food items during his little combat tests earlier so he had plenty to share, and yet there still remained the problem of recognition. He needed to prove the items were being left by Barbatos to gain faith, without actually being there...

How to solve...?

Stepping around the exit Venti frowned deeply.

If there was no way to create a connection, he would have to make something up but how? It wasn't like he could just reveal himself every time and say it was from him. That was way too much trouble, not to mention exhausting if he had to do it every single time he answered a prayer. Maybe he should just appear in the church once and get the Lyre der Himmel. It would be a good backup weapon in case he needed to appear in his Archon form...

Mind made up, Venti checked the hours on the church, and after enquiring with a janitor about hours, Venti made his way back into town to find an inn. He'd need to step up a temporary home for himself while he was in the city. Finding a good inn down one of the older roads Venti arranged to rent out a room long-term. It was a little more expensive than if he had rented out an apartment, but it offered him the flexibility to cancel if he suddenly felt the need to leave.

Getting his temporary keys Venti went upstairs and into his room to get started. Summoning out all the food he had gained from his raids of monsters, he started putting together some bags with food and a couple of Anemo sigils. Venti wavered over what to make as his identifier. It had to be something that couldn't be easily copied and it needed to have at least a shard of divinity to draw out faith. [5] Changing into his Archon form, Venti very gingerly created some crystal flies and infused them with a small drop of silver-gold Anemo dust. It was the same dust that came off his hood and contained a small piece of his power. Holding up one of them up to the light he inspected them watching as they turned a vibrant shade of blue-green trimmed with gold rather than the plain blue ones found in the wild.

Smiling, he had them sit on his bags, and wait until he called for them.

Looking at the window he was slightly surprised to see the sky was already turning dark, he looked across the room to the clock on the wall. It was a little after seven. The cathedral would close at eight, but the nuns would stay until nine to close up. Powering down into his bard form, Venti opened his window taking care to make sure no one saw him step out into the wind. Floating up into the wind he let it take him to the roof of the cathedral so he had the perfect vantage point and then he sat and watched as the sun slowly descended below the horizon.

...

...

...

It was time.

...

...

...

As the sun left the sky and the moon rose in its place, the people of Mondstadt started turning in for the evening.

Inns dimmed lights and shops closed and empty their business it was just another ordinary day in the cool month of August. Or it would have been, except for soft music that started playing. It began softly, but little by little it grew until everyone inside their houses could hear it. Some peaked out their window, and to the shock of many the statue of their god, Lord Barbatos started to light up.

Bright gold dust the kind never before seen started to gather in the wind, and a song started growing in both tune and volume. It was like the wind was calling them. People flowed out from their houses, some curious, and others are drawn to the statue but all wondering if maybe it could be a sign. Up the road and just a block from the foot of the statue, the Knights of Favonius were marching out into the streets trying to regain order and keep calm.

All of them have heard the song and all of them were growing anxious.

As the people of Mondstadt gather in the plaza, the simmering condenses and grows into bright white light. It was like starlight coalescing into a teardrop that slowly dripped from the inky pool of the glittering night sky. The people of Mondstadt gaped at it, pointing and wondering at the orb of light that outshone the moon. They watched in pure awe as light seems to burst into feathers and wind revealing an angelic figure clad in vivid blue and greens, and wings the color of the night sky.

Silence descended upon the crowd before one by one they bowed. There could be no mistaking the figure in front of them. Immediately the nuns from the cathedral kneeled, as the figure dropped down into the hand of his statue, and smiling so warmly started to sing. 

"I held a Jewel in my fingers, and went to sleep,” A stunning voice sang in the night, he smiled so softly and floated in front of his people. "The day was warm, and Ah the winds, the winds were prosy..." [6]

To say that the people were awed and even the nuns couldn't help themselves. This was the first time the Anemo Archon was seen in over a thousand years. Before this day, many of them would have assumed that Anemo Archon was little more than a fairy tale but here he was finally after a millennium, he had returned.

"I said, I said "Twill keep" I woke and chid my fingers, the gem was gone in my hands. And now a Turquoise remembrance Is all I own."  Lord Barbatos sang, "Yet I feel that I shall stand, henceforward in thy shadow...Yet I feel that I shall stand, henceforward in thy shadow..." The melody was something that no one had ever heard, but the tone was one that was similar in cadence to the songs that the current Deaconess was known for.

As the last note finished he bowed and he slowly floated down to the people landing gently above them. Many of them moved back a step, awed beyond belief and scrambling to show their honor. Many of them tried to go back to bowing, but Barbatos shook his head and helped them up. 

"Dearest children, please do not bow, not to me." He said in a voice more delicate and melodious than any of them dare dream. "I have walked among ye many times, and I have grown proud of you, all of you." He said pausing to smile at a child, eyes shining. "Thank you for remembering me."  He said and to the shock of the people, he bowed. Gasps rang out, and some people denied that they need not be thanked while others cried out in shock.

Floating up, he looked out at his people before he delicately went over to the cathedral and his supporters.

"I have a request, if I may?" Barbatos said dropping down to float in front of his adherents. 

Cardinal Calvin nodded, arms out in prayer and awed to be in the presence of his god. "Of course, My Lord." 

"Might I borrow the Lyre Der Himmel?" He asked, gently. He paused eyes sad before he looked into the distance pausing. "It will be needed soon."

The Cardinal nodded and motioning to the sisters, ordered them to retrieve it. "Of course, the Holy Lyre der Himmel has always awaiting you, Lord Barbatos. No permission is needed for the Holy Lyre to return to his rightful holder."

"Thank you, thank you, oh dearest children."  He smiled, and the gold dust sparkled.

Seconds later the Holy Lyre was brought out with its pedestal and placed reverently before its owner. Venti smiled and as he reached for it the Lyre simmered brightly glowing in both brightness and color with Barbatos' form. If there had been any doubts left to his identity they were gone, as he strummed the cords, and the wind blew and grow into crystal flies lined in gold flew into the crowd, in exactly the same shade as the one he made for the food kits. 

"We will meet again," He said to his people and vanished into Cecillia and starry feathers. "I don't intend to leave again." 

And as the Anemo Archon vanished, a new kind of devotion grew in the hearts of the people of Mondstadt. Their god had returned to them at last.

(As the people scattered and wandered off, only a select few of them noticed the rather small bard appear among them. The wind had blinded them to his sudden arrival among them.)

Running off into the night Venti mixed among them, as he headed off to his first prayer.

His people had waited long enough.

...

...

...

When Venti finally returned to his inn room he was exhausted. Not physically, but spiritually and mentally.

It was the first time that he felt so much devotion from his people and it was a little overwhelming. How did the others deal with it all the time? Just having his people's eyes on him for those ten minutes was so draining. Removing his hat and tossing it onto the desk by the window, Venti slumped onto the bed.

A nap sounded good. Tomorrow, he'd get started on the next part of his plans.

XXxxxXX

In different parts of Teyvet, the actions of the Anemo Archon did not go unnoticed and when many heard tales of his appearance, only one question was asked.

"Why did he appear?"

XXxxxxXX

Chapter Text

After napping for a few hours, Venti found himself energized and ready to start anew. Grabbing his hat from the table, he heads to the restroom to wash up. Looking in the mirror, Venti blinks when he notices that his hair is unbraided. Which meant it probably had been that way yesterday considering he didn't have any of his hair ties. It didn't look strange, just different from his normal appearance.

Shrugging off his thoughts Venti brushes his hair once more deciding to forgo hair ties, and just clips the hair down when he hears a voice carried on the wind.

"...he's staying here, correct?"

"Yes, my Lady. I think he's still upstairs, no one's come down yet..."

Venti frowns at the conversation.

Jean.

Of course, she'd show up. 

Time to make his great escape.

Jumping out of the window, he ends up having to use his winds to avoid landing on not one but two people.

"Master Diluc and Captain Kaeya. Morning greetings!" Venti says a little too chirpily and unluckily for them, he's got a little ace up his sleeves. "I didn't think you two would be getting along quite that well." The two immediately redden at the implications, and Venti uses the opening to call the winds. "Farewell my companions, I may see you two later!"

"Wait!"

"Bard!"

The two yell but Venti is already gone.

The wind takes him far into the deep forest where Venti drops down on more enemies. There were fewer Hilichurls than yesterday, but Venti makes quick work of them all the same, cleaning up the roads to and from Mondstadt in little more than an hour. When that's done, he starts sending out his winds searching for Fatui and the Abyss that dare enter his lands. He gets back too many wisps with information, and slowly starts taking care of them. While he can't throw the ones in his city out that doesn't mean he will allow their stragglers to invade his lands. The Fatui led the world to destruction for their fanatical devotion and this time Venti wasn't against using some of Decarabian's weapons to help him get rid of them. He was past that point.

Twisting the wind around them, they slumped in place unable to breathe and falling unconscious. They weren't dead but that didn't mean they wouldn't wish they were after he was done with them. Tapping into the dark winds, Venti curses them, all of them. [7] The winds would never be kind to them from this point forward.

Words and breath would forever be a struggle for them for he has rejected them. And if any of them are Anemo Users...well, their deaths will be on the Tsaritsa's head. If they returned to Snezhnaya, the curse would lighten and fade in time, but every time they left it would increase in strength and if they used their delusions...well that was on them. Anyone who dared tamper with the forces of corruption was beyond his mercy.

Stepping back from them, he moved on to destroying any crops of Abyss mages that were starting to leak into Mondstadt. They weren't powerful, or many but the fact that they were here in his lands were galling. The corruption was already starting to infect the world. Snapping his fingers, the winds grow fierce and heavy sending a simmer of silver-gold dust across the land to seal up as many of the cracks as possible. He wouldn't be able to do all of them, all at once, but to seal them with the Eternal Winds was doable.

Anyone who tried to leave the Abyss and land in Mondstadt was going to land in pieces.

And yet, perhaps he had done a bit too much for one day.

Already, he was feeling sluggish, and it was a bit of a struggle to land on the ground instead of floating in the air. Riding the wind to the top of a mountain, Venti was not shocked to see that his bard disguise was warping, changing in places to black or that small plumes of blackish-green dust were starting to smolder off of him.

Letting the disguise fade, Venti watches his clothes change, inch by inch.

Instead of the purity that his Archon form represented, this corrupted form of his was darker, its tone lined in black and burning teal. Long tethered bandages ran up his legs ending at the beginning of an off-white shirt that was snitched into a corset. While it was similar to the corset that he wore as a bard, it was different in that it had dark teal pinwheels hanging off the edges. His arms were covered in dark long sleeves that slit open at the ends in black and grey. His hair also changed length Instead of being short, it was longer, closer to shoulder length, highlighted in burning green teal. His wings also warped, no longer being feathered with circular metal but were glass shards of wind that glowed a sickening teal. Yet, it was on his face that the greatest change had occurred, under one eye was a dark teal marking similar to the one that had been on Dvalin. It was like an alchemist's script, fierce and distinct but it was in no language found in Teyvet. 

He had probably cast far too many curses in one day and thus was stuck in his corrupted form until his power had settled back down to normal levels. It was a strange reminder that in some ways, this corrupted form of his was more familiar than anything else in this untouched past. 

Unlike the other Archons who'd quickly become infected and burdened with illness when the Malice had steeped into the world, Venti was the odd one out in that he hadn't been affected. At least, not in the way the other Archons had thought. Venti had already been infected by the darkness during the whole Stormterror incident, so he couldn't be infected again, but some of the other Archons hadn't seen it that way. To them, the infection was debilitating, and yet Venti was the parasite that had been spared its wrath.

But he hadn't been. Just because he didn't have black patches of Malice on his body didn't mean he was unaffected.

When Venti could not cure his corruption, he attempted to mold it into another form of power. It had been a highly risky gamble on his part, not just because he could have failed and died, but because Celestia could have removed him from the throne of Archons for it. But she had not. She had feigned ignorance later on, but Venti knew better. As long as the chains of the Archon bound him, there was little he could do that she would not know.

In accepting this corruption, he had forever changed himself into neither God nor Demon but something in between. He had the purity to be a God, and the darkness to be a Demon when he felt like it, and as a result, he had gained another form.

Tapping his fingers on his lap, Venti inched to play his lyre but resisted the urge knowing full well that he could not. In this form, anything he touched could be corrupted, and divine items would crumble in his hands. Leaning back against the ancient pillar Venti stared off into the distance.

Maybe once he was a little more settled, he could pester Morax before he faked his death again...

Humming, Venti stared up into the sky. Such a peaceful day, he thought before he felt a sudden shift in the winds. Jumping up from the stone pillar to avoid the Geo Meteor attack aimed at him, Venti floated up into the air. He hadn't sensed any Abyss mages or Fatui in his area so who had—? His eyes went wide when he noticed two very familiar people landing heavily on the grass, angry and tensed. 

Morax...and Xiao, but why were they here?!

Venti knows he hasn't crossed Stone Gate. He was still in Mondstadt so there should be no reason for them to be here. Let alone attacking him.

So, what was going on?

He thinks about it for all of one second before it dawns on him. He probably seemed like some kind of Demon instead of the Archon he is. In this form, he was nothing more than corruption that was in the shape of a human and he has no way to explain that he isn't here to cause any problems.

In this form, he couldn't talk. [10]

Growl? Sure.

Hiss? Yep.

But talking was beyond him. How was he supposed to convince his friends that he was well, himself if he couldn't talk?

"Identify yourself, Demon Lord!" Morax growled almost instantly throwing Venti for a loop.

'Demon Lord...? What Demon Lord? Is he talking about me?'

Unfortunately, Venti couldn't answer, and Morax took his silence as a confirmation and moved into a fighting stance. Stomping his foot Zhongli summons Geo Towers and dashes forward to corner Venti while Xiao moves to attack Venti from behind. Flying up Venti throws out some Anemo gales at them trying somewhat weakly to get them away from him.

He really didn't want to hurt either of them but, if he didn't do something there was a good chance he would be wounded and that would be bad in his current form. Any so-called blood that fell from him in this form was acidic and able to eat through anything. Dropping any of his 'blood' would be nothing less than a disaster. [11]

So, he had only one option.

Fight, and escape.

Casting a Haunting Wind attack to add a slowing debuff on the pair, Venti glades higher than Morax and Xiao can, and screeches, unleashing an ear-bleeding screech, and then he summons small waves of Razor Plumes feathers to hound the two of them with damage over time.  Zhongli recovers first and destroys most of his Plumes with quick spear attacks, while Xiao gets the rest. Raising more Geo Pillars, Zhongli summons another Meteor to try and drag him down but Venti is wise to his old friend's ways. After having watched and fought alongside his friend for years, Venti knows Morax's attacks inside and out. Dipping down to reach out to the grass, Venti snatches a cluster of them by flying down and neatly dodging some more Geo Pillars. Blowing onto the leaves to infuse them with dark Anemo, Venti can't help but feel a little disgruntled.

He was doing well so far, but eventually, he was going to revert to his bard form so he couldn't be here much longer. He needed to leave and fast. Morax wasn't named the Master of War[12] for nothing. One of the only reasons he had been able to keep himself out of his friend's hands was because he had the height advantage, but that wasn't going to last for long. Sooner or later Venti was going to have to return to the ground, and Morax knew it. Yet, it was also why Morax had Xiao stand down, so as soon as an opportunity presented itself the Anemo Adeptus could attack him.

So that left Venti with no choice but to end the fight by any means necessary.

Separating the grass into both hands Venti begins the process to use his most powerful attack, Tornado. Even if the very notion of doing so irritates him. Venti hated using Tornado. It caused so much damage and he was going to have to do so much work to clean up.

Calling forth the winds, he used the grass as a catalyst to collect winds from the frozen north of Snezhnaya into one hand and the humid southern air of Natlan in the other. He was going to need to make this big enough to distract them from his presence because this was his last chance. Already he could start to feel this form start to waver. He didn't have much time left. Slamming the two types of wind together, Venti released the Tornado out into the world. Zhongli summoned more Geo Pillars, as both he and Xiao raced for cover. Likely the two of them assumed the Tornado to be like any other Anemo attack and assumed they could ride it out to survive, but it wouldn't be enough. Forcing the attack to encircle the duo, Venti lifted his wings and turned away.

Perhaps a bit too soon, as Morax's spear tried to impale him. Dodging to the right, Venti hissed as black blood dripped down his right arm. He had let his guard down too soon. Speeding off into the cloudy sky Venti tried his best to cover up the injury as he rode the wind. Ripping off a bandage from his leg he wrapped his arm. It was a messy wrap but it would work for now. Racing into the forest Venti tied off the bandage, but he had overexerted himself. Dropping back into his bard disguise and landing roughly on the ground, Venti struggles to rip off the bandage. He is not happy to see that his right arm is a wounded mess. [13]

"Stupid blockhead," He mutters, glad to have his voice, but this was going to set him back. Maybe not a lot, but at least a few hours, or even a full day.

What a mess.

Reaching into his fake vision Venti retrieves more bandages, and slowly and steadily rewraps the wound, knowing full well that having the black 'blood' near his mortal clothes was asking for holes to be burnt into it. Tossing the old bandages into his vision and wiping off the black blood Venti re-wrapped the arm in its entirety making a little arm sling to cushion his arm.

Now, he definitely wasn't going to be able to play his lyre for a few hours. 

Or return to Mondstadt.

If he returned like this, he would only worry Jean and the others and that was unacceptable.

Leaning against a nearby tree, Venti rubbed his eyes with his free hand. He was so tired but he was so far from Galesong Hill. Maybe he should just rest here for a bit. It won't be the same as sleeping in the Tree of Winds but it should be enough if he put a small wind barrier, right...?

Raising his other hand, Venti tries to set a wind barrier, but the energy it consumes is far too much for him. Blackspots and heaviness overtake him so that he doesn't feel the hands that catch him as he falls...

Chapter Text

Covered by softness, Venti opens his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. Looking around at the decor and the fact that Venti knew he shouldn't be in a futon, he can only assume that someone found him in the forest and brought him back to their home to recover. Except, if he wasn't mistaken, he was in Liyue, which could only mean one thing.

Morax had found him.

For the Seven's sake, what a mess.

Rubbing his eyes, he looks down at his wounded arm and notices that not only is it wrapped much more expertly than his own sloppy attempts, but its wrappings are also both clean and crisp as well as light, touching his face Venti feels some medicinal cream on his cuts, as well as a wrap-around his chest. There was no doubt that the material used to treat it was incredibly high quality but this seemed a little overboard considering his wounds would be healed before the day was over.

Wait.

Why was he wearing a green robe? [13]

Surely his wounds weren't that bad?

Sliding up from the bed, Venti tries to stand and nearly has a heart attack when Morax's voice comes behind the sliding doors. 

"Standing now would not be beneficial to your recovery, Barbatos," Zhongli says sliding the door open and entering the room with a tray. There is a container with a ceramic top and two cups with a tea kettle on it. How incredibly peculiar. Venti almost expected that Zhongli was going to roll his desk in and yet he didn't see anything behind him. Peering around his friend, he frowned. Maybe he was simply going to drop off the food and return to his office...?

"You have a question," Zhongli says placing the tray down but rather pointedly crossing his arms at the fact that Venti has not yet gotten back into bed.

Signing in defeat, Venti resolves to just get this conversation over so he can go home.

Sitting back on the raised futon, Venti is more exasperated by the fact that Zhongli tucks him in than surprised. Zhongli hadn't acted like this since Venti had gained his human form and Zhongli thought he was a child Archon. He wasn't, he was young by years of godhood, but he wasn't young. Wind sprites were incredibly long-living, even accounting for Decarabian's twisted love of caging them whenever they appeared. [14]

"It's strange to see you without your work," Venti mutters, moving the cover off the container to reveal apple porridge in it. At least Zhongli remembers his favorite foods. Taking up a spoon, Venti slowly starts to eat. It's good, but that's to be expected of Morax. The elder god was never one to let any skill be unmastered.

Zhongli pauses at that. "Perhaps... I have questions for you if you feel up to it."

Venti smiles rather good-naturedly at that. "Of course, I do. Go on. What's on your mind?"

"I found you south of Wolvendom. How did you get wounded?" He asked crossing his arms, a hint of steel in his eyes. It was a little scary.

But what could he say? 

Not the truth for sure...but lying was not good either. Morax would know in a heartbeat if he was lying. So, he needed to stretch the truth. 

"I was fighting against two rather brutish individuals," Venti said instead. Words were his weapon and flipping the situation just so would do fine. "One used Anemo and the Other Geo, but they were not Abyss agents, they were human in form but not human." Venti continued. Feeling the anxiety growing in the back of his mind. "I just managed to push back the Geo user, but I didn't defeat them. I escaped when I started to get overwhelmed."

"I see. Can you describe their appearance?" 

"The Anemo user had blackish teal hair, I think. Darker clothes, kind of similar to your adepti." Venti said grasping for straws. He had never been so lucky in his life that Xiao looked similar to his corrupted form that he could say just enough to muddle through the conversation.

"And the Geo User?"

Venti jumped, fingers shaking. 

Were there any words to convey how much he hoped Zhongli would have forgotten about himself? 

But he had no choice. He had made this web of lies, might as well go all the way.

"He looked like...you," Venti said unable to look his friend in the eyes. 

"I see. So that's how you managed to gain that wound." He mused. "I noticed that it was caused by a polearm, but if the Geo User looked similar to myself, you might have assumed it was me and came closer than you should have and received that injury."

Venti smiled thinly but didn't say anything.

He was so, so not looking forward to the conversation in the future where he had to explain everything. But thankfully, that was a problem for future Venti. He was sitting here eating apple porridge and was definitely not the Demon (Lord?) that had been fighting against Zhongli and Xiao earlier. He was the God of Anemo, of course, he wasn't. Just like his long-time idiotic friend hadn't nearly impaled him.

"Barbatos."

Venti turned at his name and blinked when he saw Zhongli bowing.

Wasn't that a really deep bow? Why was he bowing?

"Stand up," Venti pleaded, now completely thrown, but Zhongli didn't.

What even was this conversation?

"Why are you bowing? I don't understand." He tells Morax, so very confused.

"It seems in my ignorance...and my complete obsession with my people I have left yet another duty abandoned and it has come to bear upon you. This is discord and—"

"Stop." Venti hissed feeling very annoyed because this conversation was going over his head in so many ways. Was Zhongli actually apologizing for looking after his people? No. Venti was not going to place any blame for this situation on his friend. He was at fault, not Xiao, and most importantly not Zhongli.

Zhongli looked up, a little shocked by the amount of venom in Venti's words.

"What happened wasn’t your fault," Venti started. "I was too weak to defeat them, this is true. I am weak." Venti said looking at Zhongli in the eyes. "That is no one's fault but my own...but no more. It's time I stepped up." Venti said. He had been taking everything far too lightly and it was starting to come back to hurt him. This whole situation was one example.  Looking down at his hands, he gripped the sheet feeling his weakness far too keenly. 

"Then if you will not take my apologies, can you accept my help?" Zhongli said eyes determined. "I wish to dispatch my adepti to track down the Demons in Mondstadt."

Venti looked at him in shock. Xiao in Mondstadt? But what about Liyue?

"But wouldn't that be rather irregular...?" Venti said trying to find a tactful way to say that the adepti didn't normally leave Liyue because they had issues with the other gods. Well, that and they were seen as some sort of military force to the other Archons. Venti didn't see them that way and most of Mondstadt probably wouldn't either considering their nation's close ties but...

"I am aware, but humanity cannot hope to destroy higher Demons or even a Demon Lord," Zhongli told him, which made some sense...kind of.

Venti still didn't know what a Demon Lord was, besides what he had managed to glean from what Zhongli and Xiao said. Obviously, it was a more powerful Demon but was that it? Did it have nothing to do with the world's corruption? Or even the Malice that appeared in the future? Or was all simply some kind of mistaken identity? Venti had no idea.

Before his jump to the past, Venti hadn't known much of the adept's work and after the world went to complete scheiße he had never gotten around to asking. So maybe this was a good time to get some good information.

"I don't mind," Venti said, "But you should probably let Mondstadt know," Venti said finally before another thought occurred to him. "And what's a Demon Lord? That's the second time I've heard that..." He muttered absently.

Zhongli frowned. "A Demon Lord is a demon that has consumed massive amounts of Malice or other such darker human emotions. They are sometimes born of humans that have become cursed. They are the inverse of Gods and normally dwell within Teyvet waiting for the end of days." Zhongli said rubbing his chin. "I am a little surprised to find you did not know this."

Venti rolled his eyes at that last comment. 

"Of course, I wouldn't know. I was never an adepti, you know this," Venti says finishing up his food. 

"And you didn't learn this in the Plateau of God's either?"

"The what?"

"The floating island above Mondstadt, surely you went there to gain your Gnosis?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Venti says because what else could he say? He just had some of his questions answered by Zhongli and here he is talking about something else. "When the revolution in Mondstadt ended, Celestia went around trying to find a new Anemo Archon and because none of the four winds or the windy dragons wanted to be Archon, she picked me. Apparently, I was notable." Venti says, thinking over how weird that day was.

Celestia had shown up and had given him his Gnosis without much information and then left. Later on, he did receive some scrolls that said what his duties were and a basket of poorly tasting apples from the floating island but that was it. There was no summoning anywhere.

"And now the pieces make sense," Zhongli says rubbing his forehead. "I had wondered why you so easily seemed to shirt the taboo punishments."

"Punishments? For what?" 

"When we become Gods, we are held to a set of rules with which we must observe. We may not mess with the abyss. We may not bring the dead back to life. If we battle, the challenger can accept or deny the fight, the only exception being in war. Our words are our contract and so on. The rest are more specific and concern domains, of which you have none."

Venti blinked at that. 

That was a lot to unpack. He had rules to follow as a God and he had never known!

Why hadn't anyone told him?

And... domains? 

He had those. Not as many as the other nations, but he did have them, and yet why did Zhongli think he didn't?

He was so very confused.

"I have so many questions now," Venti says feeling so stressed.

"As do I," Zhongli said looking so exhausted. "Allow me to serve you some more porridge before we continue our conversation." He says taking the tray from Venti and quietly leaving the room.

Venti slumped back onto the futon frustrated. 

It was just so annoying...

...

...

...

...

A few hours later, after getting every bit of information he could out of Zhongli, Venti flew off back toward Mondstadt, unaware of his silent protector following him from the shadows.

XXxxxXX

Chapter Text

He arrives back in Mondstadt a little after nightfall, his mind spinning. He had no idea that the other Gods were doing so much. He knew demons appeared in Mondstadt, but never at the levels or extremes that Zhongli described. Venti, himself had swept the land yesterday and beyond a few Hilichurl camps and one or two of their more powerful evolutions, but he hadn't seen anything more than that.

Which was a little strange in retrospect. 

The Knights of Favonius were the protectors of Mondstadt, and they numbered less than a few hundred and somehow, they were able to suppress the demon pollution[15] in a way that the rest of Teyvet was unable to. Venti had no idea that the reason why the other gods surrounded their cities with an overwhelming amount of elemental energy was because of them. He had always thought it was because they were showing off or something or other. It had never occurred to him that there was an actual reason. But then again none of the Archons even so much spoke to the others unless they had to. If anything, he was the most unusual of the Seven because he traveled Teyvet using the winds to get from place to place.

Zhongli, himself was beyond mystified with the fact that Venti wasn't necessary for the protection of his city. It was probably one of the few times, Venti has ever seen the Geo Archon look so confused.

Oh well.

Landing lightly on the roof of the inn, Venti slides down to the balcony. There aren't many people out, but it's better not to take chances considering how aware Mondstadt is of his presence now. Waving his hand, the window swings open, unlocking. Floating in, Venti hides a smile to himself as his room guard finally gets up and turns on the light.

"Greetings Master Diluc," Venti says taking a seat on the desk in his room and summoning an apple from his fake vision. He was feeling a little hungry after traveling home while he was wounded and so he quickly started eating it finishing it in several quick bits before tossing it in the direction of the trashcan.

"Took you long enough," Diluc says before he catches sight of the bandages still on him. "What happened?"

Ah, Venti had kind of forgotten about them, to be honest. Taking off the top portion of his bard jacket Venti is left in his white lace shirt and his corset.

"I'm going to remove the bandages, and we can converse if you like," Venti says casually unbuttoning his corset, so he can reach the bandages under his white shirt. Apparently, Zhongli and his people overdid it because even his scratches have bandages which were a little wasteful considering he was just going to immediately remove them, but oh well.

After dropping the bandage on the bed and moving to unbutton the sleeve on his right arm, Venti barely holds back a laugh when he notices that Diluc is facing the opposite wall entirely. Venti wasn't naked, for the Seven's sake, but Diluc was acting like he was. Maybe, it was a mortal thing? Venti was technically in the form of a human teenager so maybe it was dishonorable in some way...? [16] Buttoning back up his shirt, and his corset, Venti left his sleeve open. It was better for his arm to air out if he wanted to speed up his healing.

"My shirt is buttoned, Master Diluc. You can turn around now," Venti said, his voice amused. Body modesty was a human trait, and although Venti had assumed a human form, and lived among them for many years there were still some things he couldn't quite understand about them. "Now, your questions? I assume you have many questions for me."

"How did you end up wounded?" Diluc says watching as the nearly clean bandages were placed into Venti's fake vision before his eyes trailed to the dark pink line of skin that is already starting to turn white. In minutes or even hours, it will be gone and restored.

"Two very angry ruffians who attacked first. I didn't defeat them, but I will get even," Venti says leaving how he intends to get even unspoken. Maybe he'll appear at Morax's stupid funeral just to spite him. He'll figure out something to use against Xiao later, but he will get even. Both of them caused him to nearly have a heart attack, so it's only fair.

"Ruffians? Who?"

"Demons apparently, according to Morax," Venti clarifies because he had been calling his other form Anemo Corruption and no one thought to tell him differently. It made a little more sense now why future Morax was always so sad to see that form of his in the future-that-wasn't. He probably took it as some sort of personal failing that Venti had gotten corrupted when in reality there was nothing, he could have done to foresee the Abyss' plot.

"Morax, the Geo Archon told you that?" Diluc said giving Venti a rather hard look. Perhaps, he has finally figured out his true identity?  Though it wouldn't be too hard to guess, considering he had just reappeared as Barbatos yesterday. "And demons?"

"Yes, demons. Hilichurls are technically lower demons and a Demon Lord was supposedly responsible for creating the nearly two miles of destruction out in the forest south of Wolvendom." Venti says absently internally cringing. He was going to have to drop by tomorrow and restore the forest if he didn't want to end up dealing with more random portals to the Abyss opening. "My wounds will heal fully before tomorrow."

"Good. What about your words from earlier?"

"Dvalin has grown corrupted, but he's not the only danger. The Fatui are growing bold. Several of them are attacking travelers out in fields though, for what reasons, only the Tsaritsa knows,” Venti says knowingly giving Diluc just enough to let him make his own assumptions. Venti is a master of words, and nothing he said is a lie, but he also wasn't saying everything, only just enough to get Diluc moving and get some of his people to act. 

Even if Diluc isn't a part of the Knights of Favonius, the amount of power and influence he carried in Mondstadt was staggering. If Diluc mentions something to his people, the word will be out on the streets by tomorrow and everyone will be more aware of the Fatui and their actions.  Though that likely means Diluc will be even busier.

"Is Jean busy tomorrow?"  Venti says aplomb of nothing.

Diluc frowns, seeing something in Venti's eyes. "No, but she'll make time for you."

Venti's eyes soften. "Thank you, and if you can drag Captain Kaeya there I would greatly appreciate it." 

Diluc crosses his arms, and moving over to the balcony, looks back at Venti. "He'll be there. Get there by 9 am bard."

Venti laughs at that comment.  "A true bard is never late. Until then Master Diluc."

Diluc jumps down, the Pyro user vanishing into the night. No doubt going to look for evildoers in the back alleys of Mondstadt. Venti wishes him well and sends one of his brothers to watch over him.

Just in case.

Stretching his right arm, now fully healed Venti casts his attention to the newest set of prayers. A few are thanking him, or sharing their thoughts with him, but a few contain genuine pleas for help. More children and their families are calling out from the back alleys and unlike yesterday their pleas are louder and more numerous. Venti frowns, moving back towards the window. He had another busy night ahead of him. Picking up his jacket from the bed, Venti jumps out the window and away.

Some of them sound desperate. 

Landing on the ground, he has the wind hide him before he's gone flying with the wisps looking for the closest entrance to the city underbelly, or as some called it Nachtstadt, Night City in old Mondstadt. [17]

For most people who came to Mondstadt, there was a misconception that all the people lived and worked on the cobblestone streets, but this was little more than an illusion most tourists never bothered or cared to see past. Living on what was essentially the second level was impossible for most people. Mondstadt had a population of several thousand and there was no way less than a hundred houses were going to supply enough housing for all of them. It just wasn't possible, especially with the lack of land on the island. So, because of this, there was a large network of people living in what was once the water maintenance zone. It wasn't part of the sewer anymore thankfully, that had been moved deeper years ago, but it wasn't much better. Vagabonds, unclaimed orphans, and people who couldn't fit in the city above went down there to live.

It was a depressing place, but one that was slowly, very slowly getting better. There was no sewage flowing through the zone anymore and the City Public Maintenance Office did pay small amounts of Mora for cleaning out the water gutters but it wasn't a good or easy life. Employment opportunities in Mondstadt were still rather limited if a person was unable to find work as a harvester, hunter, or bard, and outside of the Dawn Winery, good pay was difficult to find in the City of Freedom.

Hence why so many people started to claim abandoned areas for themselves underground.

Landing just outside one of the City's many pulley elevators, Venti makes his way down knowing he's walking into the most dangerous part of his nation. Stepping off at the bottom, Venti looks around, seeing what looks like a sea of makeshift houses and tents in all directions. Some of the houses are comparable to the structures on the upper streets while others only seem to be standing with the help of a lot of staples and tape. There are not many actual street lights here, but there are enough string lights to get an idea of where everything is. 

Forcing back his emotions, Venti walks on. There are some people up and about, either patrolling or heading off for work, but for the most part, people in the Undercity are asleep in their beds and bedrolls.

Sensing a soul wavering to the right, and the soft pleading of a child, Venti flies off. He knows he may be too late, some people wait too long to pray, and sometimes people hide their problems from their loved ones. There are a million reasons why Venti might not be able to save someone, but he's going to try. He owes it to his people. Arriving outside a ratty tent Venti wastes no time walking in. The noise makes the child stand up in terror and grabbing a pipe starts to swing frantically.

"W-who are you? G-get out. We ain't got nothing, so just leave. Leave!" The child screams, and Venti signs. 

This was not the way he hoped for this to go and immediately there's shuffling outside as people mutter, but it matters little to Venti. Instead, he bows in the traditional Mondstadt style.

"Mine apologies, child. I am not here to steal. Rather, I would like to help." Venti says knowing full well that it might fail.

The child looks unconvinced, but his pipe drops an inch. "Why should I believe you? I don't know you! You look too clean." He hiccups, trapped between threatening Venti and the person he's protecting. 

Deciding that he doesn't have the time to explain, Venti decides to do as he did at the church. He has not the time to waste.

"Forgive me," Venti says letting the wind simmer and cover him until it reveals his Archon form, his wings floating behind him. "Is this better? I did not mean to scare you but I could sense the winds vanishing from the person behind you."

"A-an Angel?" The child whispers overcome. He drops the pipe in shock. "Can you save Mama? Please save her. Please," The child asks him crying in despair. 

Venti kneels and lets the child lead him to the pile of blankets on the ground where an older, skinny woman lies. Her face is red with a fever and her breathing is rough and ragged. Taking the child's hand, Venti reaches for the woman's hand and calls to the Healing Winds. Anemo is just as good at healing as Hydro, and yet it was so very rare for an Anemo Vision User to gain a healing spell.

Humming Venti reaches for his power and very gently lets it absorb into the woman. At first, it looks like nothing happened, but her breathing slowly returns to normal. She wasn't completely better but she was out of the danger zone. Turning in her pile, her eyes flicker and open. She's still a little unsteady but she pushes herself up, before freezing. There was only one figure that had wings.

"L-Lord Barbatos?" She says completely in shock, wondering if perhaps her eyes were playing tricks on her, but the image in front of her isn't changing. There's a being with simmering wings sitting in front of her that looks very much like the statue of Barbatos in the upper city. Almo, her child is sitting next to the Anemo Archon as if everything is normal, but she's unable to take her eyes off her patron god sitting in her shabby home.

Venti smiles as if reading her thoughts, and pats Almo on the head.

"He called for me," Venti says beckoning to her son in the most melodious voice she's ever heard in her life. "Rest, and regain your health. You've done enough." And then, to her utter shock helps pull some of her blankets up to make her more comfortable. But still, she can't help but worry. Even if her God healed her, she can't afford to rest, she's a day worker. If she doesn't work, they won't eat and Almo was already starving—

"You needn't worry," Venti adds, as he moves his wings back to show a bag half-open, with food sticking out, and a small stack of Anemo sigils. "May this ease your worries." He whispers and vanishes into a wind of feathers and flowers.

Appearing a few tents down, in his bard outfit Venti can feel his stress rising. He was really hoping not to do that tonight but he had no choice. The mother had been so close to dying that he had revealed himself, but it was somewhat exasperating. In the first timeline, Venti only rarely turned into his Archon form, and yet three days into this timeline, he had been forced to change four separate times. It was exhausting.

But...if it could help his people, he was going to keep doing it. Even if he was late and not a very good god or archon.

Steeling himself, Venti walked off making sure to stop every so often to leave some items to his people in need, whether that be in the shape of Mora, food, or some other vital commodity. Venti tried his best, but even with his resources, it was hard to help everyone. Some needed more advanced healing than he could manage, while some needed only encouragement, Venti did his best to help but sometimes there was nothing he could do but help some of them move on...

It was depressing but he mustered forward trying to make a difference. 

There were so many people in need, and still so much to do. He made note of items he was going to have to buy, such as clothes, blankets, toys, firewood, and so on that the list seemed never-ending but as he continued his patrol some of the guilt in his heart started to lift. This is what he messed out the first time, but not anymore. He was here.

Taking out his pocket watch, Venti was not shocked to see the time. 

4 am.

He had been working all night. Again.

As much as he wanted to keep going, he was going to have to stop. He did need to sleep to replenish his energy and considering his meeting with Jean and the others was in a few hours, he should probably get to bed. Pulling the wind around him once more Venti used the last of his power to teleport himself directly into his room. Tossing off his outer jacket and his shoes, Venti climbed into bed, barely taking the time to set the alarm on his watch before he passed out.

He was so tired.

...

...

...

The sound of ringing disturbed him from his sleep four hours later. Sitting up and rubbing his eyes, Venti set about making himself presentable. Grabbing his outer jacket, and clipping it on, Venti set about splashing some water on his face in an attempt to wake up. It only worked somewhat. There was still a paleness to his face and a line of exhaustion in his shoulders but that was normal.

At least for him.

He had done more with less, so even though he hadn't slept much, he could make due. Collecting his hat from his window desk, Venti stepped out onto the balcony and jumped down.

If the fates were good Shiliu should have his fake Gnosis ready. Making his way to the north gate, he went past the Blacksmith, before he caught sight of Shiliu standing under the tree.

"Good morning," Venti greeted, perhaps a tad too eager. 

Shiliu smiled. "Good morning. I have your order ready." She said opening the small wooden box in her hand. On a soft cloth, was an exact copy of his gnosis, metal and all. It was beautiful. It wasn't as bright as the original but that was something that he could easily fix by imbuing it with pure Anemo energy. Taking out a bag of mora from his fake vision Venti set about counting out the right amount and placing it within Shilu's hands.

"It's perfect," Venti said taking the item from her before he closed the case. "Was the Mora I paid sufficiently good for the commission?"

She nodded smiling. "It was. Thank you for your business." She bowed and repacked her items before walking off, likely to find more work.

Placing the fake gnosis into his imitation vision, Venti set off for the Knight of Favonious Headquarters on the far north of the island.  While normally, he would be more comfortable taking the wind and arriving in moments, he holds himself back knowing full well how similar he looks to his Archon form especially now that he is being observed.

If he had been going anywhere else, in Mondstadt, or anywhere of Teyvet it likely wouldn't have mattered but today he wanted to see his nation and take in the sights.

Turning, Venti makes his way north. 

He still has some time before his appointment.

Chapter Text

Stepping onto the entrance, he lets the guard at the door know his name, before he's escorted straight inside to Jean's office and into the gathering of people inside the room. Jean is leaning against her desk, a tinge of anxiety in her stance. Diluc was sitting on the couch by the wall while Kaeya leaned on the handrail by the bookshelves...and yet there were still people missing. Perhaps they thought other people shouldn't know, or tried to keep whatever information to themselves, but Venti knew better. He knew his people and their strengths.

"If you prefer to add Captain Albedo or Miss Lisa to this conversation, I would have no objections," Venti tells them, unhooking his Lyre and sending it back into his vision. He pretends to not notice the looks going over his head from Jean and the others and instead unhooks his fake vision and places it on Jean's desk both as a sign of trust and an olive branch. He trusts them to listen, but more than that he needs to prove himself to them. They need to believe in him or else nothing will get done.

Mondstadt needs to be ready to stand, but knowing everything will only burden it and with the Fatui in his city, the need for secrecy is a must. So, he'll do what he always does and stretch one word into five and five words in one to get across multiple meanings. Taking a seat on the lone chair he waits while Jean sends off Kaeya to retrieve Lisa and Albedo, and he is far from surprised to see that Diluc is the first to reach out to his vision.

More than likely the young Ragnvindr has some suspicions about him and his vision and was taking the time to verify some of them after a minute of long silence, the door opens behind Venti and three people enter. All of them are tense, but there's a certain amount of interest that sparks in their eyes when they notice that Diluc is holding another vision.

"Is that not that bard's vision?" Albedo says, moving closer.

"Yes," Diluc says before he tosses it to Kaeya. "It's also a fake." [17]

Lisa looks intrigued. "A fake vision...that is remarkable." She starts before she turns to Venti. "And yet...why would you pretend to be an Anemo user?"

Venti smiles softly. "I had no choice. I needed to blend in," he says and removes his hat before he closes his eyes and very softly taps into his power. He lets the wind and emotion transform him into his Archon form, and floats lightly, a little sad that sitting on the chair would be impossible with his wings. Letting his hat sit on the chair behind him, Venti looks up to see the surprise on some of their faces.

"I thought you would figure out," Venti says looking at Kaeya and Diluc. It would make sense. Both of them had known him from his performances in the tavern and just the vast amounts of time that he spent in Angel's Share, and considering he did just appear in his real form a few days ago it would be harder for them not to know. "Archons don't need a vision to use their elemental powers, but not having a vision would draw the wrong kind of attention. So, I made a fake one and gave it most of the powers that normally come with owning one."

"How very interesting," Kaeya affirms before he hands it off to Lisa. "And considering cultural taboo's against separating a vision from its owners, there would be no one who would say otherwise, unless they did touch it, which no one would normally do. Ingenious, really." [18]

Venti nods and lets his power disperse enough that he's only barely floating above the floorboards. "While I'd like to take that compliment, I'm afraid that Morax was the one to come up with it. I simply crafted it and helped craft the cultural norms associated with them...which is one of the reasons for my sudden reveal." Venti tells them pole-vaulting to his main topic. "How familiar are you all with Delusions?"

"Delusions?" Albedo mutters frowning as he takes the fake vision from Lisa and starts looking it over. "Not much. Besides coming from Snezhnaya, information has been difficult to gather." 

"Not just difficult, near impossible," Kaeya tells them frowning. "It's been years, and beyond a few basic scraps of information about them, it been difficult to find out more. Snezhnaya is a paranoid and fanatic country and with their diplomats in the city, relations are strained."

"Then it's as I thought," Venti says taking his fake vision back from Albedo. "The Knights have learned little." Jean finches at that comment, and Diluc gives him a narrowed look but no one defends them. "I am not criticizing the Knights for their work," Venti adds, tiredly. "But I needed to know what to explain and what not to. Let me begin once more."

"The Tsaritsa is creating the Delusions." Venti begins dropping the first bombshell. He ignores the shocked faces of his old new friends but he's not done. "She not doing this because she has to, or needs to but rather because she feels like it's owed to her." Venti nearly grows out and everyone else finches at his anger. His eyes are shining a burning turquoise and the winds pick up in the office, but Venti quickly regains control of them. He will not harm his people. "She's throwing a tantrum and if she does not snap out of it. She will get herself killed...and perhaps all of us. She is the reason for most of the problems Mondstadt has faced and will continue to face, but no more."

And then Venti sees the shaking of Jean's hands and feels all his anger melt away. Standing this close to him is hurting them, even with him caging the majority of his winds. He shared too much of himself again, didn't he? 

"I apologize," Venti says, and pushes away his divinity to return back into his normal bard outfit. He reaches out to Jean and very gently takes a hand humming. "It was too much wasn't it?" He calms the tremors with a few short music bars of Healing before he turns to the rest of the room. Kaeya and Diluc seem to have gotten ahold of themselves while he had healed Jean, Lisa seems only a little flustered. Whilst, Albedo on the other hand...

Floating up Venti makes his way across the room, landing lightly on the raised floor, and takes Albedo into his arms. He had no idea Albedo would be affected this badly but that was no excuse.

"I know nothing of the Art of Khemia but still I am at fault." He tells him, even as he senses Kaeya and Diluc tense. "Listen to my breaths, and slowly match my breathing." He says sitting there and bringing Albedo out of it until all the fear melts away, and only then does he help the Chief Alchemist stand. Venti leads him to the same couch as Diluc. "If my words are not enough, and you need more reassurance I can swear upon a contract overseen by Morax." Venti offers in the silence, taking a seat between them.

"No," Albedo says, but he's not the only one. Kaeya and Diluc had said so as well. "That would not be necessary. My observations are…that you are trustworthy. After all, myself and... others are here, so harm to us seems unlikely."

Venti leans back unto the couch relieved that Albedo is better, and a little happy at his attempt at deflection and protection of the only other person from Khaenri'ah. "You need not hide anything Albedo. I've known about the others from Khaenri'ah since the moment they stepped in Mondstadt. I've always known." He turns to level a rather mischievous look in Kaeya's direction. "Though I would ask that next time he attempts to sneak into another Archon's territory, he does not knock them out of another tree. I had been in the middle of composing a rather good song...but that is neither here nor there—" Venti says, feet slightly swinging. The chair was rather tall.

"You knew all this time?" Kaeya cuts in, something fragile and young in his words.

Diluc is staring rather intently at the floor, but he isn't as unaffected by his words either it seems.

"Of course, I did, but the help I could offer was limited until you both arrived in Mondstadt," Venti explains. "If I attempted to reach out more directly our rather boring Lady of the Sky might have added Mondstadt to the rubble." He tells them, being ever so careful not to look up or say her name. The last thing he needed was for her to start paying attention to him again.

"I see," Kaeya says voice ever so caught before the emotions settled back beneath the mask, he made for himself, but Venti isn't going to let him escape just yet.

"After this meeting, if you have any questions I would answer them," Venti tells them, "Any of you..." He levels a look at all the occupants to make sure that they all know that they can come to him before he moves on. "Prior to the creations of Khemia, there was nothing to allow mortals power, and visions themselves are new to history. I have no doubt that the Cryo Archon has come to learn the truth of her price, and she seeks to even the odds, artificially."

"How so?" Albedo says eyes curious and focused.

"Being a god is not what mortals think it is. Everyone pays a price, but to put it another way. The ideals we represent as gods are our own fervent wishes...they are desires we hold close to our hearts because they were things, we were denied ourselves."

"Please, a moment," Lisa said coming around the sofa, and leaning against the armrest. "I don't mean to presume but based on your words, it sounds like—"

"I surrendered my freedom,"* Venti finished, looking down at the hands in his lap. It was a bit too painful to look at any of them. "You need not soften your words. I knew I would pay a price when I allowed Mondstadt her freedom. The other Archons have told me this, tried to warn me away but I knew."

"Explain...please," Diluc pressed words silted and short. He looked thunderous. He wasn't the only one. Kaeya shared his sentiments apparently. Looking up, Venti saw he wasn't the only one. Jean was shocked, but she was quickly coming into anger and both Lisa and Albedo were looking at him worriedly.

Sighing Venti, rubbed his eyes feeling drawn and worn. He had forgotten how draining talking about his ascension was.

"Mondstadt has remained free from control from the other Archons ever since I ascended as Anemo Archon even though we are the weakest nation. We have fertile land, an abundance of rivers, and a number of minerals. Our nation has no curses, and the temperature is mild year-round. So, the question becomes how?" He tells them and then waits a few seconds letting that information sink in and then continues.

"I spent most of the power I gained as an Archon to cleave the mountainous rocks to allow Mondstadt the land it needed. I took on the curses of the land into myself. I bargained with the former Pyro and Dendro Archons to adjust the climate adequately. I paid in blood to Morax for mineral resources. I parleyed with the previous Hydro Archon for ocean food...and to her, I gave her my obedience... and..."

"And what else?" Jean whispered voice caught. She was more than overwhelmed, but there was a stubbornness to know in her eyes, the same that was in the rest. He really was blessed, to have such citizens care for such a terrible god like him. He took that small bit of happiness and pushed on.

"If Mondstadt needed it, I wrote an amendment to the treaties currently in circulation... in exchange for sparing Mondstadt and her peoples, I would surrender myself entirely to the control of the offending nation."

Diluc slammed his fist on the armrest.

"That was not necessary." He hissed, turning to Venti with a look as fiery as his hair. "Mondstadt didn't need you to do that. The knights have not sunk so low as demand that their god be used as collateral." But there's a hint of uncertainty in his eyes as the past lingers, and he turns to Jean. "Or I am assuming too highly on the integrity of the Knights of Favonious?"

Jean shakes her head. "I didn't see anything, but that doesn't mean anything. The official treaties are long, complicated pieces of documents. I could have just not understood them. Grand Master Varka and the Eighth Company were responsible for the negotiations." She added rather sadly. A hint of doubt forming in her heart as she mulled it over. She hoped not, but that's what she thought of the former Grand Master and his crimes.

Venti shook his head at that. "You did see it you just didn't know what it meant. This phrase might sound familiar. Interŝanĝo por mia nacio. La prezo estas mi mem." [19]

"The motto of the first company?" Albedo said mused. "I had assumed it was ancient Mondstadtian, and thus, never did devolve much thought into it."

"It's not," Lisa explains shaking her head. "According to records, the phrase was created during the era of Vanessa the Heroine, but what it says has always been a mystery. It’s recorded on all official documents in Mondstadt from citizen paperwork to criminal charges, and remains not just as a homage but because it was supposedly suggested by... Lord Barbatos, himself."

Venti hums. "I did suggest it to Vanessa and she agreed, but I did not tell her what it actually meant till some years later. She was rather upset as you can imagine, but by that point, no one would change it. They took it as my word and thought it profound, and in a way it was. It was my first vow, to Mondstadt and myself that at least this nation I would protect, but that is a topic for another day." Venti said, and although no one looks happy about it, they let it pass.

Yet, even as they do let the conversation drop Venti knows this will come up later, but he is prepared. Morax may have been the God of Contracts, but Venti is the God of the Arts. Words are simply a more rigid form of poetry at the end of the day and he has long mastered them in all their forms.

"Delusions are similar to alchemy, but they are not of Khemia make," Venti says summoning his hat from the chair and putting it back on, he lets his hands rest on his lap, and takes a deep breath. He looks at all of them one last time before he begins again. "In order to create a delusion, place three containers of blood and let them drain into a crystal glass...and power it with the death of a human." He says voice hushed and shaking. "It's the reason why Snezhnaya keeps asking for 'tributes' from the other nations...and the reason why none of the twenty people who went to Snezhnaya have returned. They're dead."

He bows his head, ashamed of himself. If he hadn't been so stupid their lives wouldn't have been extinguished. If he hadn't believed that Mammon was finally reaching out to him, he would have never been fooled. But when did regrets ever change the past? Only actions would, and he was here, years in the past. Wiping his eyes, Venti clears his throat and carries on.

He looks up expecting to be judged, and he is met with harsh silence. Standing, Venti bows deeply at the group, and apologizes knowing that it is nothing compared to the lives lost, but he has to do something. He was their Archon and he must take responsibility.

"There are no words, to convey my unending mistake in not protecting them. I do not ask that you forgive me, simply tolerate—"

"Enough," Diluc says sharply, cutting him off. "Stop blaming yourself for the Fatui's crimes. They will answer for them, and they alone."

"Master Diluc is right," Jean added. "We allowed them to go.  I have no doubt that the Grand Master will say the same. But that brings us to our next problem." She shares a look with Kaeya. "Getting the Fatui out of Mondstadt without starting an international incident. While many of our citizens do not see eye to eye with them, the truth remains that we are indebted to them for killing Ursa."

"Jean, stop," Venti says a little confused before it dawns on him that they don't know the truth. "Ursa was never a stupid dragon. Only an angry one. The Fatui invaded its lair and tried to attack Ursa for materials. So killing it was only fair, but this wasn't known I'm assuming..." He trails off feeling the room grow hot and angry.

Diluc is not pleased by his information, but in all fairness, Venti didn't know that they didn't know. To him, this happened years ago, and it was a minor footnote in the grand list of crimes the Fatui committed under the Tsaritsa's bloody banner. Jean looks beyond shocked and stumbles into her chair looking pale.

"Just... unbelievable..." She whispered looking drawn and so very tired. "All this time...and all their demands."

"But it makes sense," Kaeya remarks. "Snezhnaya has never been so kind as to help anyone without payment. I had my suspicions but now with this information. It will be difficult to force them out nicely."

Venti hums. "I don't think you need to worry too much about them...at least not for much longer," He says and as one, all the occupants of the room turn to him. "From the messages on the wind, something rather bizarre is happening and the Tsaritsa trying to contain it. A pity." He says with a rather dark smile that sends shivers down each of them. This is a side of Venti that none of them were familiar with at all.

Kaeya looks intrigued and moves forward in his seat even as Lisa steps back at the cold, dark look in Venti's eyes.

"Oh, and I assume you had something to do with that?" Kaeya suggested even as Diluc is giving Venti a rather strange look. Not judging, but curious. There are very few things Diluc won't forgive his Archon for, and considering the Fatui have trampled over much of his mercy, there are even fewer things that are unforgivable.

"An alchemic potion, perhaps? Airborne, maybe?" Albedo says just as intrigued as the other two and moving on to attempting to unravel what exactly the Anemo Archon did to cause such a stir among the Fatui, but he's thinking a little too small. Venti doesn't get mad often, but when he does, he is vicious and in some ways even more so than Morax. Morax had the power and strength to allow mercy, Venti has never had that comfort or that power.

Venti shakes his head. "Nothing as complicated as that I'm afraid. I simply revoked their right to Anemo."

Lisa frowned as she mulled over the words. "You don't mean visions. So perhaps it has something to do with the actual winds?" She theorized.

Venti nodded. "Anemo is used to describe the winds, but by its very nature, Anemo is air. The Tsaritsa's people have attacked and hurt my people. Killed them and attempted to attack me several times. So I made the very air reject them. If they stay in Mondstadt, they will get sick. If they attack my people, they will wish for death. They let their actions define them by hurting my children, and so I revoked their privileges to Anemo."

Kaeya whistled. "That is terrifying." He commented even as the rest stared at Venti will wide eyes. "Though I can't help but wonder if this will rebound on Mondstadt. Public relations are sadly important to Mondstadt's standing."

"Nope," Venti replied confidently, taking an apple from his fake vision and biting into it. "Using an element in this way is beyond any of the newer Archons so even if they did suspect that I had a hand in the Fatui's issues there would be little they could do about it and blaming Barbatos for their illness will be tough to argue considering I am so very weak. The only one who might guess is Morax, and he won't do anything about it unless it affects Liyue. So all we will need to do is wait...and once they realize it won't simply go away, they will leave."

And with that, Venti throws the apple core into his fake vision and got his feet, sparing just a moment to summon his lyre. 

"Now, then. I have things to do, but if you have questions, simply whisper into the wind, and I'll come." He tells them before fading into the wind. It's a lot more dramatic than he would like, but it's better than being held back. He still has a lot of things to do, and it's better if he's not there while they take some time to think over his words.

Letting himself reappear in another small alleyway off one of the streets in the market Venti, creates another sizable stack of Anemo sigils and places them into a small stack. It's not as many as he would need, but considering he doesn't want to crash the market, this amount will do for now.

Hocking his lyre on his waist, he walks out again, and towards Souvenir Shop, before he pauses when he notices a small hurdle of people surrounding Marjorie. None of them looked violent, but there was an air of nervousness and impatience around them, and all of them were in outfits that were obviously from different countries. A few from Natlan, and Inazuma, and even a couple from both Fontaine and Liyue.

As he nears the group of people he can start to hear a bit of the conversation between all the yelling.

"... I need more!"

" Natlan has always been good! Offer them to us! We'll pay you!"

"I still have to bring back more!"

"Fontaine offers two times the price! Sell them to us!"

What exactly were they talking about?

Pushing through one side of the crowd, Venti manages to get to the front. No one looks happy about him doing this, but considering he's here for business, instead of whatever they are shouting, it only seems fair and if he had the wind help him to reach Marjorie well, that's his secret. But his fighting through them seems to have the opposite effect and the crowd starts fighting amongst themselves.

Of course, this gets the attention of the Knights, and within a few seconds, a squad heads to the shop and starts separating the people. Venti is left alone and turns to Marjorie rather confused. He hadn't seen that kind of mob fighting since Decarabian's fall and considering this mob was made up solely of foreigners, it was rather odd. 

"Is everything okay, Miss Marjorie?" Venti asks more than a little confused.

Marjorie sighs and starts to rub her forehead looking drained. "No. Not exactly. But, I can explain in a bit. What business brings you here?"

Venti nods and carefully hands over his sack, and watches her eyes go wide.

"Thank Barbatos," She whispers looking so relieved. Venti flinches for a second before he realizes that she not looking at him. "Follow me and we'll get you your mora. "

Leading him into the shop Marjorie leads him to a counter that has a weighing machine, as well as a mora dispenser. Typing in some numbers to the weight she set about pulling the Anemo sigils from the sack and watches as the number on the counter goes up and up until it reaches a nice and even sixty. It was a fairly large amount, but something about that number seems to make Marjorie sad as she turns to the dispenser and types in another number. Once she completed this, the dispenser starts issuing mora—quite a lot as the pile of money it's issuing seems to grow and grow. 

Blinking at the huge pile Venti starts picking it up and setting it into his fake vision. It takes a full minute before he finishes, but the final amount seems a little high. 

"This seems like too much," Venti tells her, "You gave me one hundred and fifty thousand—"

Marjorie shakes her head. "No, it's correct. At two thousand five hundred per sigil, it's correct."

Venti looks at her in shock. "Two thousand five hundred? But was it not one thousand six hundred a few days ago?" He asks feeling a bit faint. That was a huge jump in just a few days. "Did something happen?"

Marjorie rubs her eyes. "Yes, yes something did. Apparently, Fontaine has released its annual technology upgrade, which needs a higher-than-normal amount of Anemo sigils, supposedly, it's a stove of some type and Natlan needs Anemo sigils to power their household coolers for the hot season, and Sumeru had a flood. Now normally I would have a stock set aside for most of these, but Snezhnaya of all nations has bought up a huge amount of Anemo sigils for some reason, so the supply is much more limited than normal."[20]

"That seems stressful..." Venti tells her feeling very out of his depth. Because as far as he knows there's never really been a shortage of Anemo sigils. Even in the future that was, no one thought much of his creations, and even the Anemo crystal flies were thought to be little more than trinkets that jewelers used in place of more expensive gems, but apparently he spoke too soon because Marjorie slumps into a chair.

"That's not all," She says, "Natlan had a fallout with Liyue over prices on Anemo items."

Venti looked at her owlishly. "Prices?"

"Prices." She repeats looking dead. "Apparently, the merchant in charge of Anemo items in Liyue was up charging Natlan, and pocketing it while reporting something different to the Qinxing. So until their diplomatic dispute is solved they want to directly buy from us."

Venti rubbed the back of his head. Corruption was still very much an issue in Liyue despite their attempts at weeding it out, and no doubt there was going to be yet, another re-work of the current laws. Talk about exhausting. More revisions meant more paperwork and inevitably more taxes. Wincing at the thought of anyone trying to do business in Liyue was enough to give him a headache...looking back to Marjorie, Venti tries to comfort her.

"Well, at least we can solve it a little at a time, right?" Venti says confidently. Anemo sigils weren't exactly rare, and given enough time there should be enough for everyone.

"I wish," Marjorie said and a knight entered through the door, a notebook tucked into his hands. "How bad is it?"

The knight, Swan, if Venti remembered correctly looked equally as tired as Marjorie. "Nothing was broken, and while Acting Master Jean has managed to get some rooms at the Gothic Hotel, the mob patience isn't unlimited." He says hands her the notebook, a list of names and numbers as well as dates are listed upon it. "Snezhnaya has been pushing to get their second order filled first but Natlan and Sumeru diplomats are having none of it."[21]

Taking the page, Marjorie reaches for a calculator and starts trying to figure out how to allocate the remaining Anemo sigils. Venti watches her become more and more annoyed until she finally heads to the back room and pulls out not one, not two but three medium boxes of sigils and starts digging through them.

"It's not enough," She says at last. "I only have enough to fulfill a third of these orders. Even if I do pay for adventurers to bring more, it will be days, if not weeks to fulfill them, and afterward, my stock will be completely depleted. " She mutters.

Swan looks just as defeated, but Marjorie's words cause some confusion in Venti. She mentioned adventurers, but at no point did she mention Nachtstadt. 

"Did you try buying some from Nachtstadt?" Venti asks. "I know they have Anemo sigils, in fact, the City Public Maintenance Office will occasionally buy them to refill the knights' supplies every so often."

Marjorie looks at him in confusion before she brightens. "You are a genius." She mutters taking Venti's hand and shaking it wildly. "I never knew that was a possibility! Swan, get me a guide to the underground. If I can get enough to fulfill enough of these orders I don't care if I have to wear a cloak! Or carry a weapon. Or even carry a wagon of mora." She says and starts laughing. She rushes back into her supply room to gather up empty crates. 

Venti watches all this craziness for a moment, a little glad to have helped out before he steps out of the shop. At the very least, there was going to be a big boost to the economy in Mondstadt which is always good...

Smiling, Venti took about a small notebook from his vision and started to write.

Time for plan b.

Chapter Text

His next order of business is to gather supplies.

Now, that he has revealed himself, he’s going to have to be much more careful in his activities. He still won’t be able to move around lightly unless he gets a certain item, but for now, he must focus on the things he can do.

If a person needed a large amount of an item, whether that be food, clothes, or so on, a person could place an order at the merchant guild and the respective guilds would take care of it, but the only problem was that the Tsaritsa has spies in it, and the last thing Venti needs is to tip her off to what he’s doing.

His people have been mostly safe because everyone assumes he’s weak, and there’s nothing of value within his nation, but if he starts acting strangely— a great number of people are going to want to know why and the first thing they will do is monitor him much more closely.

While Venti doubts that any of them will figure out that he’s time traveled, his nation does not need anyone getting dangerous ideas. It's one thing for him to reappear in his Archon form after a thousand years, but it's quite another if he starts amassing what appears to be war supplies. So, he needs to be careful.

No one can know the reasons why he’s suddenly on the move, or where he obtained several divine items, so he must move a little more carefully.

But, that brings him back to the issue of supplies and how to solve it.

He may need to tap into the resources of either his nobility or church if he wanted to obscure the numbers… Master Diluc will undoubtedly be busy but it would be far easy to gain his assistance than going up to Jean where everyone can see him.

Making up his mind, Venti scratches out a note, then two just in case Captain Kaeya just happens to be in the bar, and sets off. It’s a little after noon and although drinking hour is just barely picking up there are enough people flooding the streets to make his destination in line with what he would normally do.  Taking out some mora from his inventory, Venti makes a great show of walking into Angel’s Share.

For once his luck pans out, and Master Diluc is indeed at the counter, and he steps up placing his Mora and the small note on the table.

“One glass of your best, please!” He smiles with perhaps more teeth than he means to.

Diluc does not seem comforted by it but takes his money anyway.

Both ignore the fact that the pyro user’s hands are shaking ever so slightly. Not many people would be able to figure it out anyways, except for Diluc’s estranged brother and maybe Master Jean, but Venti’s been around long enough to see the stress.

He knows his children well.

Venti waits ever so patiently while Diluc gets his drink…and food? [22]

He didn’t order food, but Diluc isn’t an easy man to say no to, so Venti takes his plate and casually looks for a spot to sit. There isn't a huge amount of people currently in the bar, but there are enough people that finding a solitary spot is a little difficult.

And he doesn’t see Kaeya either—

“Hey Bard,” Kaeya says from above.

Thank Barba—ugh. [23]

He almost thanked himself.

Balancing his plate and his glass, Venti made his way upstairs, a little confused to see that the second floor was empty. Was there something going on? He didn’t know, and walking over and taking a seat across from Kaeya he placed his food and drink down.

“My, searching for bard tonight?”  Venti says just this side of sultry even though both know that Venti sees no mortals as potential romantic relationships. He’s not a masochist, and he refuses to fall into that trap. * (Though he can think of certain people who never got that message considering their problems, but that's a mess he'll deal with later.)

 "A dinner companion is very welcome here." Kaeya laughs, but it doesn't reach his eyes. It figures that he’d met yet another person freaking out. Hopefully, it isn't because of him, but Venti is starting to get the feeling that it is. Perhaps he went a little too overboard but he did need to get the point across, so he'll have to deal with the fear for now.

Taking up the fork and knife and digging into his food, Venti considers how to go about his next words. If he says too much Kaeya will overplay his hand, and things will go sky-high, but go too vague and Venti might as well get Mona to send his messages…

Sipping on his drink, Venti comes to a decision.

“How many of the noble houses still exist?” He whispers, tapping his finger and letting the wind on the second floor muffle his words.

Kaeya watches the glow of green dance and flitter to all corners before leaning back in his chair.

“The three big, eight mediums, and about fifteen lesser ones,” He answers, taking care to respond just so.

Venti nods and slides a small folded paper to the Cavalry Captain. “I leave this in your hands. Give your answer to Master Diluc when you get an answer. This task will be difficult, but I wanted to give my people the choice.”

Kaeya pauses and takes up the pages, eyes going wide. “This…is interesting, but how to contain it if it goes wrong?”

Venti slips on his drink again. “The option is just an option. I will force no one, but that does not mean I will let anyone murder and plunder our home. I will take it back if it is too much, but it is what it is.”

“And the other nations?”

“Morax has the adepti, Bal has the Tenrou Commission, and so on. I simply never used my power because I had fail-safes…that are quickly becoming corrupted no thanks to our rather annoying ice queen.”

“I see.” Kaeya nods, expression intrigued. “But why nobility? It just seems so unlike you.”

Venti smiles sadly. “Military training, I’m afraid. But if you know someone who needs a leg up, and isn’t part of the original group I wouldn’t be opposed.”

Kaeya’s smile is all teeth. “Indeed. I will make sure that their loyalty is beyond compare.”

Venti nods and finishing up the last of his food, makes to get up before he considers one more thing.

“Limit your most ardent to only a few,” Venti proposes tapping on his sleeve and turning it inside out [24]. From his angle, no one looking through the windows will see his motions, but the message is clear. Venti will tolerate only so much, even from Kaeya.

Kaeya nods, and Venti lets the wind barrier dispel before he takes his empty plate and heads back downstairs. By this point in the day, the bar is already starting to get full and Diluc is swamped at the bar counter taking orders.

Venti waves when he catches the pyro wielder’s eyes and walks out into the city. It’s a little after three pm, and already the streets are bustling with the flow of people heading off to home, work, or other such places. Inching into one of the small side streets, Venti creates another small stack of Anemo sigils and makes his way back to Marjorie’s shop.

Helping her meet her quota with the various nations is one of his many reasons for returning to the shop, but he’s not beyond taking a look at her stock of unique items.

Tossing the sigils into his fake vision, Venti makes his way back to the main street and back in the direction of the Souvenir Shop. It's not as crowded as before, but there are still several people loitering outside in a line, while just above them reads a sign, ‘Buying Sigils’. There’s even a guard outside keeping an eye on the group so nothing gets out of hand.

Walking up to the group, Venti inquires about selling and is waved through the doorway. Inside Marjorie and her assistant (?) are dealing with a customer at the front, so Venti takes a seat on one of the waiting chairs for his turn.

He doesn’t wait long before he’s waved over.

“Back again, Venti?” Marjorie asks motioning him over to the scale.  “Selling, I assume?”

“Precisely, Milady,” Venti says dropping his newly created sigils onto the measuring bowl. He didn’t exactly know how many sigils he created; he never really did. Mostly he just waved his hand and they appeared, so he was a little surprised to see that he had created more than earlier. A respectable sixty-four of them.

Marjorie whistles and breaks into a grin.

“Perfect. Absolutely perfect,” She grins typing the amount into the register next to her and both of them watch as a flow of simmering mora drops into a long metal tray. It takes a long minute before the flow cuts off and Venti starts piling the money into his fake vision.

He blinks when the final amount appears.

“…that does seem like a bit much,” Venti says, because even though he knew that the price per Anemo Sigil had risen there’s no way that each sigil is now worth three thousand Mora.

Marjorie's grin seems a little too bloody thirsty. “You would think so, but since the Tsaritsa is bankrolling most of the buying, I added some additional costs… especially after the recent discoveries.” She says and then proceeds to wink in Venti’s direction.

…She knows, doesn’t she?

Venti can’t help but think. It's certainly a shock, but not one that didn’t make sense. Marjorie’s stock was rare and unique and to get such rare items, she would certainly need contacts in other counties, and considering how well-placed she was, Venti had little doubt that she was working with any number of the hidden powers in Mondstadt. Perhaps with Diluc or even the Eternal Wind Knights [25]. It mattered little in the grand scope of things, though it did make him feel a little embarrassed. Dealing with anyone who knew his true identity has always made him feel shy. Rubbing the back of his head, Venti takes a step back and bows neatly.

“I thank you,” He mutters, and steps back—

“One moment, please Venti,” Marjorie says, and leans down and starts moving something from inside of the counter. After a few seconds of moving around unknown items, Marjorie stands back up with a long-wrapped item in her hands, but even with the wrapping Venti is more than familiar with its shape.

“A bow?” He says gently taking the item and unwrapping it.

He nearly drops it when he sees what it is.

The Sacrificial Bow.[26] An extremely rare, and powerful four-star bow that can only shine in the hands of a master archer.

“This…” Venti starts but struggles to continue.

“It's a gift. From all of us.” Marjorie smiles and then frowns. “And we’ll be very upset if you don’t take it.”

“I see…then thank you,” Venti says bows again and lets the bow settle into his vision.  ”Until then…” He tells her finally and walks out, his heart so full for the first time in a long while.

He exits the shop and fights with himself not to cry because his heart was so warm. In his first timeline, he had known that his people had cared for him, but it was in a distance kind of way. The sky was blue and the people of Mondstadt believed in Barbatos. It was just something common and mundane, but here, as he walks to the gate, he has proof that his people cared. It was almost too much for him to believe.

Wiping the lone tear off his cheek, Venti crosses the stone bridge and heads into the forest, before he lets himself fall back into the wind and to the land that was still destroyed.

A minute later he was on a hill overlooking the destroyed area. Immediately he notices the presence of several mortals as well as one Adeptus—Xiao. He sighs frustrated. He didn’t expect the Anemo user to be present, and can’t help but be annoyed that Zhongli sent him to clean up Venti’s mess. He knew his friend had good intentions, but this was not smart.

Venti doesn’t have corruption in his lands for a reason…

Summoning his powers forth, Venti transforms into his Archon form and then takes flight. Xiao has done enough. There’s no reason for the poor Adeptus to take on Venti’s problems too.

Re-appearing in front of all of them, Venti floats patiently in front of the gathering. The clearing goes quiet at his arrival, and the mortals, or rather knights drop into salutes. Xiao, himself drops into a deep bow.

“Lord Barbatos!”

“Our God is here!”

“Praise be!”

Venti smiles at them, and then elegantly bows back. “Greetings, my children…and Adeptus of the Wind. Mine apologizes for my delay…might I be allowed to help?”

The knight in charge looks shocked for a second before he motions for his group to step back. None of them dare say no to an Archon. None of them were that heretical, and besides even with the presence of the Liyue Adeptus, they were nothing more than glorified guards. Xiao is the only one who looks uncertain, but Venti’s kind smile seems to be enough to stop him from trying to help.

He waits for them all to take a step back, but he starts.

Floating above the land wrought with damage, Venti opens his wings wide and summons the light beyond the winds and sings.

Like glimmers in a flower…

Like jewels in a dream.

The sky breathes life, and love to everything.  

At times I thought, "I’m not enough." The chains that tied my heart.

But there’s still a path that lies ahead for you and I.

Memories faded away, clouds of yesterday… Was there no one to love?

Is this life worth living?

Come back to me and stay by my side.

I feel my heart shake. Come ease this ache.

I’m standing over here, reaching for you.

A million miles away, come back and stay…

No matter how far the memories may be...

When I close my eyes, you're all I see...

Come back to me!

A million miles away, come back and stay... [27] A Million Miles Away English Version

When he’s done, he opens his eyes, unaware that he had even closed them, and looks down. To his complete shock, the ground before him was completely restored and the corruption was gone.

That shouldn’t have been possible.

And yet it had happened.

Perhaps he had grown stronger because of the prayers of his people.

It was hard to say, but it really wasn't that important at present. As it was, both the knights and Xiao were looking at him with shock.  Floating down to the group, Venti inquired about injuries and was very thankful that there were none. After a few minutes of shock, the Knights gathered themselves and started making their way to Mondstadt to report about the mission (and very likely his appearance).

Venti watched them depart softly, and then calmly went over to Xiao who had still not moved from his position. When Venti landed in front of him, Xiao dropped back into kneeling.

“Lord Barbatos,” Xiao greets him voice respectful and proper.

Venti frowns at the motion unable to take the formality.

“Please stop bowing,” Venti pleads but it does nothing against Xiao’s manners. Feeling like he’s talking to a certain blockhead, Venti drops down next to the Adeptus, uncaring of the expression on the other. “If you kneel any lower, I’m going to hug you.” Venti threatens when it looks like Xiao is going to kowtow even lower. No one should ever bow to him, Archons are simply another chain in the cycle, or more simply the personification of an element. And not even a good one, if Venti was being truthful.

“Please sit,” Venti asks, but even with how gently he says it Xiao immediately snaps into action and moves into a seiza sitting position, head bowed.

Venti resists the urge to sigh and instead settles himself more properly, but it’s a bit hard with his wings still out. He would put them up and go back to being a bard, but transforming back into his mortal form in front of the Adeptus would make him pass out or something equally as insane over the perceived 'honor'. Forcing himself to deal with a little bit of uncomfortableness, Venti moves into a slight lounge to accommodate his wings and turns his attention back to Xiao.

“I wanted to thank you,” Venti says and raises one of his hands to summon and create a very unique gift.

As much as he would like to just take away Xiao’s pain, Venti knows that doing that would get Zhongli on his case so fast. In the past timeline, Venti wasn’t really involved with the adepti. Not only because Venti, himself refused to turn any of his spirits into his subordinates but also because Zhongli has always been very stubborn about dealing with his problems by himself.

In the Geo Archon’s eyes, keeping little to no debts was just as important as self-sufficiency, which probably explained more than Venti would have liked about his friend. If Zhongli hadn’t made that distance between himself and the other immortals, he probably thought he couldn’t be betrayed but Venti knew better. He had seen the betrayal happen anyway. Gods dealing with other immortals needed to be very careful when dealing with each other, for both their safety. [28]

But that was a problem for another day.

For now, the best he could offer Xiao was a token that would help with his karma problems.

Venti gently reaches behind himself to pull one feather off and infuse it with purifying winds before offering it to Xiao. It wasn't as powerful as if Venti had absorbed the karma directly, but this feather would ensure that Xiao would not fall to his demons. Adding it to a small band of other wind-aligned jewels that he pulled from his vision such as peridot and green sapphire, Venti places the bracelet into Xiao's hands.

"This—"

"I won't take no for an answer," Venti presses gently. "This will help ease the way for you...take it with my thanks." And with that, Venti floated up into the sky, and let themself fade back into the wind.

(There was no way he was going to give Xiao the chance to say no.)

Chapter Text

He appears back within Mondstadt minutes later, landing on the roof just above his little apartment, and hops off to gently let himself into his room. He still hasn't gotten around to talking to Diluc or even the church and until that happens, he'll be the sole person in charge of the welfare of Nachtstadt. Sure, people are helping out here and there, but based on what Venti had been seeing, the assistance being given is grossly insufficient.

Removing more food from his fake vision and stacking it on his small desk, Venti sets to work making yet more bags. He'd likely need to buy more materials tomorrow considering that he's starting to run out, but at least for tonight, there's enough for a few dozen. Waving his right hand to summon more Anemo sigils, Venti then commanded some crystal flies to sit upon the bags. He summons some small amount of divinity to change their colors to the rare blue-green color trimmed with gold that is becoming his symbol before he starts in on his last self-imposed chore.

Acquiring toys.

One of the main things Venti had noticed while he had been down in Nachtstadt the last time was the lack of any sources of entertainment. There were no toys, no instruments, no knick-knacks. There was nothing but pure, unending grief, hunger, and despair. The people in Nachtstadt had been so torn down that many of them seemed inches from the edge of insanity. The children were cynical, and acting so far beyond their age that it was heartbreaking even though it made sense in their circumstances, it completely pissed Venti off.

He did not strike Decarabian down just so his people could find other reasons to hate each other, starve each other, and leave each other to die, and yet here Venti was seeing everything he hoped his people could fix. Now, Venti knew his people couldn't get rid of all poverty, all sickness, or all despair but by the seven this was a huge problem! Venti let his people have freedoms, yes, this is true, but freedom did not mean ignoring your fellow man. Freedom came with responsibilities and effort, especially to each other and it was just so grating to see so many people suffering.

It makes Venti wonder if this was just another symptom of his absence. Was he to blame for all of this? He hopes not and then he remembers that he's seen similar problems that all the other Archons had in their countries even with their direct supervision. 

Sighing, Venti adds the final touches to all his gift bags, before stuffing all of them into his fake vision. Unlike the first round where he went only where the prayers were, Venti intends to be a little more organized this time. That’s not to say that he won’t answer prayers, but rather he’ll start from the very back of Nachtstadt before moving to the front, just in case he needs to escape.

Now that his appearance has been seen by the public there would be many people looking to cash in, or even trying to find him for many reasons. Unlike the rest of the Archons—many of whom lived in grand palaces or vanished into highly protected places for most of the year, Venti lived among his people, and sooner or later people were going to get the idea to come looking for him.

After all, while he might not put much stock in being a god, mortals tend to look up to him for very different reasons. A struggling bard might seek him out for a blessing of words, or a greedy human might come after him for his blood [29]. There were dozens of reasons why Venti might be hunted, and most of them could only be dangerous to the people around him. So, he had to be careful.

Glancing out the window, and seeing the sun starting to dip, Venti knew he didn’t have much time until night came. Thinking about his last task left, Venti mulled over the problem carefully. He could attempt to make the toys he needed, but considering the time left and his lack of materials, it was probably better to buy the toys rather than attempt to make his own.

Waving the windows open, Venti hopped out of his room and landed in the alleyway behind his apartment while he considered his options. Several shops would meet his needs but considering the rather higher costs of some of them, Venti knew he was going more for quantity rather than quality.  

With his mind set Venti fell back into the wind and set off towards the south side of Mondstadt. Much, like its counterpart in Nachtstadt, the south side of Mondstadt was for the poorer people, except unlike the underground, the people above ground had decent houses. It was also the area that had many second-hand shops which was something virtually unknown to most Liyuens even though it was a rather common beginner shop for most Mondstadtians. [30]

A flea market, to be more precise.

Landing on the side street just before his destination, Venti took his green cape off, and let it be absorbed by his fake vision. Being seen as a bard in this area of town would be annoying, especially if Venti revealed his fake vision. People tended to be a little more religious in this area and having an Anemo vision showing would catch far more attention than he would like.

Pulling off his fake vision, and stuffing it into one of the pockets of his shorts, Venti steps out into the walkway and makes his way to the first shop he sees. It’s a decent little place with several good items from dishware to clothing but it’s the toys at the far end that catch Venti’s attention. Contained within a corner of the shop, there were many items in the child’s section. Stuffed animals, cards, board games, marbles, and so on. Venti went through the piles looking for complete and newer items making sure that nothing he took was damaged or incomplete. It was somewhat tricky but Venti refused to compromise on his mission.

He picked a few of each item in a basket he had grabbed from a nearby shelf and carried them to the check-out counter where a man at the front logged the numbers into the register. After several minutes the man turned to him with a total. Venti nodded and reached into his pocket took Mora out a little at a time to give the illusion of reaching for a money bag, and carefully placed money in front of the man until he came to the price asked for.

The man handed him a receipt and Venti took his goods and walked out.

He did this again and again, as much as possible before night came, and he rushed back to his room in a hurry. He thought he had more time, but that was not the case as Venti quickly gathered up the toys he had bought, pushed them into his fake vision without the shopping bags, and got ready to set out.

Jumping out his window once more, Venti travels to one of the City's many pulley elevators and jumps down, far too busy to even think of using the elevators. He lands on his feet gently and nearly has a heart attack when he sees several knights, and sisters wandering about Nachtstadt. None of them are looking at him, but Venti can't help but feel a little annoyed at this new stumbling block in his way.

Moving back behind one of the tents near the elevator, Venti takes a minute to re-elevate his plan. Showing himself in front of any of them was more stressful than it needed to be and would make it difficult for him to work. He could wait for them to leave, but considering he didn't know any of their schedules, it could be that there was a rotation of people and thus no break for him to work with.

What to do?

Venti hadn't received any pressing prayers tonight, so he could come back the next day if he had to...

But even just thinking that made him feel guilty, so he needed to find a workaround.

Summoning his brothers with a gentle whistle, Venti asked them to follow the people in armor and the sisters in black. It wasn't a great situation but it would have to do for now. Fading into the wind Venti set off to the south and waited as his brothers told him when any of them came near. When the coast was clear Venti dropped off items in the tents quietly and tip-toeing around sleeping people before stepping back into the wind. He was extremely careful to move about even resorting to sending out his brothers to drop off bags for the people awake when they weren't looking.

Venti moved between the tents, going from south to north and then east to west. He handed out all his items and reappeared to heal when necessary, but did so with one ear out as several times, the sounds of people celebrating and praising him nearly gave him a heart attack. Unlike before people had well and truly coined on to the fact that he was appearing and spoke in awe as people noticed his newly delivered gifts.

It made him feel a little bashful at the thought of his people thinking so highly of him, but also a little weird—and then he heard it.

A sound he was more than familiar with even though it had been years.

The sound of a delusion activating.

Sliding back into the wind and calling his brothers to pull back, Venti watched from the ceiling as a masked form sped through the tents searching.

They were likely searching for him, Venti thought as the person glanced into the tent he had just come from and then attempted to enter. Venti moved quickly and sent a curse toward the Fatui. He watched as the man dropped like a rock, likely unconscious but it was hard to tell for sure. Refusing to take any chances Venti nailed the masked person's limbs with paralyzing feather plumbs and waited for it to activate. When the person didn't move, Venti very cautiously approached bow and arrow at the ready. And yet it wasn't necessary, as Venti pulled the man up by the scuff of his cloak. He was unconscious. 

Eager to see his true face, Venti pulled the mask down but was disappointed when he didn't recognize him. Pulling off the delusion, yielded no answers either as Venti had only seen the attack types, but even with that Venti wasn't going to let this opportunity pass him by either.

A Fatui had so generously fallen into his lap, so it was only right that he get some answers, and he knew just the person to help him.

Falling into the winds and speeding off to the forest south of Mondstadt, Venti is eager to get to the bottom of this mystery. Landing in Windwail Highlands, Venti drops the man down and ties him tightly to a tree before he quickly writes a note to a certain Pyro user asking for his assistance. [31] 

Venti had so many questions after all and he would get answers.

One way or another.

Chapter Text

Dropping this short preview real fast.

My computer was damaged (brother spilled milk on it), and although I recovered most of the data, I've been working extra hard for a new one. Moving the update for this chapter till the end of June. 🙇🏻♀️🙇🏻♀️🙇🏻♀️🙇🏻♀️🙇🏻♀️🙇🏻♀️

Almost got the money for a new one!

Thank you for all the well wishes and comments I've received during this time! 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

(Updates for any other fanfiction will start after mid-June in case anyone was wondering!)

Preview:

It's not long before Diluc shows up, two-man standing behind him, sees Venti with wings and puts the pieces together. He's probably not able to glean all the information, but there are enough clues right in front of him that he is not happy. Waving over his men to take the Fatui captive, he crosses his arms and spends a moment looking over Venti. He doesn't say anything in classic Diluc fashion, but the fact that he was worried about Venti was heartwarming.

"Thank you, Master Diluc," Venti says, feet on the ground and bowing slightly.

After all, he was bothering Diluc in the middle of the night to help him take care of the Fatui.

And yet, Diluc looks pained at the thanks. He reminds Venti of the child, Diluc was, that made a similar face the one time he had bitten into a lemon—

"Keep your thanks," Diluc says, and turns. "The Fatui aren't worth it." And then he walks away.

Venti waves bye and then pretends he doesn't notice his two new shadows following him.

Diluc was such a softy.