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Xiao sat on his usual spot in Wangshu Inn, thinking about all the gods and demons he killed. He could not take the pain anymore. The karma was overcoming him. He could not break free from his karmic vines.
He was confused. The God he served was ‘dead’ so he wouldn’t actually need to continue killing. But yet again, Morax was still… alive. He was alive as a mortal named Zhongli. He had to continue serving his contract.
As he looked at the night sky, full of glittering stars, he reached his hand out as if he wanted to take the stars for himself. Tears fell of his face and stained his shirt. He wanted the pain to be gone. He wanted to be free.
Just then, a gentle breeze wrapped him as if comforting him. Venti appeared behind him after the breeze stopped. “Care for a drink? Dandelion wine, that is,” Venti asked the adeptus.
Xiao turned around with his eyes wide open. “Ba- Barbatos? What are you doing here?” He asked between soft sniffles.
Venti smiled. “I asked you a question first.”
“Sure, I’ll have a bit of the Mondstadt specialty.”
Venti took out two glasses and poured the wine into them. He then sipped some of the wine one cup. “I felt that you were in pain,” he finally replied in a gentle tone, “Are you okay?”
“Maybe, maybe not. I was just thinking about the battles I fought in.”
Xiao took a sip of the dandelion wine. It was sweet, unlike his memories. It was… refreshing to him.
“Hey Xiao, doesn’t the night sky feel nostalgic to you?”
Xiao usually didn’t take notice of the starry sky above him. He was always alert and on his feet after all. But yet, he thought that it was nostalgic. He kept silent, nodding his head.
“It’s rare to have calming nights like these. Heh, usually I’d be getting wasted at Angel’s Share.”
“It’s not healthy to drink too much, Barbatos.”
“I go by Venti now, Xiao.”
Xiao started to get a bit drunk at this point. He drank slightly over his tolerance level. But the adeptus didn’t care. He continued drinking until his face was red. “Ve- hic Venti, I’m tired. I feel… hic burnt out…”
Venti, for once, was a good listener. He patted Xiao on the back gently as the other cried.
“Y’know, Xiao, no one’s stopping you from taking a break. You can go to Mondstadt with me for a short while. You’ll be free to do whatever you want there! It’s my nation, after all. My city of freedom!”
Xiao lifted his head after Venti said those words.
“Ca- hic can I… really?”
“Go ask Morax of you don’t believe me. He probably won’t stop you from taking a break. You’ve been serving him and slaying demons for thousands of years, after all.”
“I see…”
Venti took his second sip of the sweet concoction. He wanted to listen to Xiao vent, and then comfort him.
“Are you feeling better now, Xiao?”
“Yes, thanks for listening to me, Venti.”
Venti stood up with the half-empty bottle of dandelion wine. “Then, I’ll be headi-” Venti announced before he was cut off by Xiao holding onto a piece of his cloak.
“Can you… stay here for a bit? I’ll feel lonely…” Xiao asked timidly. In return, venti sat back down and replied, “Alright.”
The two immortal anemo users sat there, staring at the starry night sky.