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Venti couldn’t help but look at the field of white flowers with some sense of longing. He stayed perched on top of this, now rotting, wooden beam as he looked at the flowers swaying in the wind. In a way he envied the wind, they're always gonna be closer to living beings than he ever will. He carefully stepped down from the pillar, the grass dying instantly underneath his feet as he walked toward the river bank. Peering down inside of it to see his veiled reflection.
What did he look like? He wondered this ever since he was placed in this utopia. Maybe it would be ugly, like many beliefs of the people in this world. Maybe he was pretty, like the flowers that he saw earlier. He then felt something tap his shoulder, and he instantly knew who it was. After all, not many people could survive poking him or being around him for that long.
“Hello, Xiao.” He says softly as he then turns around to see Life hiding something behind his back. “Do you have something for me?” He asked as he leaned to the side, trying to see what it was.
“I..realized that mortals celebrate individual lives once a year,” Xiao muttered as his face flushed slightly as he felt Venti’s gaze shift to look at him.
“Ah yes! A birthday right? Many mortals tend to be reckless on these days.” Venti pauses, trying to keep the conversation flowing. “Why bring up this annual event?”
“I wanted to give you something, for your birthday.”
“A gift…?” Venti’s eyes widened in surprise, then it finally hit him. This was probably the first offering he’s ever received! His eyes welled up, falling from his cheeks and hitting the ground, making the grass shrivel up even more.
“Venti? Are you alright? Apologies if this had caused you distress, that wasn’t the intention of this—“
But Venti couldn’t hear him, he was overwhelmed with joy. He reached under his veil and wiped his tears, soft sniffles escaping. A celebration of him, he didn’t know he was yearning for this.
“If I may ask…? Why are we doing a celebration of life, if I’m the embodiment of the complete opposite?”
There was no answer, but if you were to look at Xiao’s face, you could tell he was searching for a reason. After some time he finally responded.
“You’re alive, is that not enough?” He says in an endearing tone, as he carefully reaches his hand under Venti’s veil. Carefully wiping the tears away with his thumb. “Now close your eyes and hold out your hands.”
“How would you be able to tell if they're closed?”
“Your eyes glow, Venti, I can see the light through the veil.”
“Oh right! Ehe I’ll close them.” he giggled a little, sniffling again as he closed his eyes. He held his hands out in front of them, feeling a long, but thin, rectangular box being placed in them. “What is it?”
“Open it.”
Venti opened his eyes, staring at Xiao for a brief moment before deciding to open the box. There was a flower inside. It looked exactly like those flowers he saw earlier today.
“Oh…Xiao you…I can’t hold this..it's so beautiful to accidentally kill.”
“Venti, look closely. It's okay to touch it.” Xiao said softly as he took the flower out of its container. “It’s not even wilting in your presence.”
He was right. It was perfectly fine. How was that possible? Venti hesitated before taking the flower from xiao. Holding the flower by its stem. “It's not dying..or withering.”
“It’s not exactly a flower like in the field. I created it out of crystals, so while it's not real, it's as close as we can get to nature without dying at the touch of your fingertips.”
“I..I love it so much.” Venti said softly, in awe of the crystal flower in his hands. He held it carefully, tracing his fingers along the stem, feeling the smooth surface.
“It’s perfect.”
The first offering to Barbatos, the God of Death and Balance.