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The Lord Barbatos had been robbed of his gnosis; the Anemo Archon had lost the spirit of a thousand winds… and the City of Freedom had no idea that any of it had happened.
The archon himself, however, certainly did.
Venti woke up to Barbara trying to heal him. She had a concerned look on her face, tinged slightly with confusion as to why her hydro abilities weren’t working.
He’d always liked Barbara. She was devoted to the church, but what he liked more was how kind she was. She put everyone before herself, occasionally to her own detriment. Venti would be remiss if he didn’t admit to blowing some leaves in the faces of her “fans” every now and again.
“Ah! Y-You’re awake! Are you alright?” Barbara spoke frantically as she noticed that the bard’s slight movements.
“I’ll be fine!” Venti chirped, trying to sound like his cheerful self. He moved to sit up, which Barbara helped him do. To his surprise, he actually leaned into her touch, allowing her to help him.
“A-Are you sure? I found you unconscious out here - the Honorary Knight, too! I’ve healed him already, though he’s still unconscious… But you! My… My abilities aren’t working on you, I’m so sorry…”
“No need to be sorry, it’s completely normal!” He smiled, standing up fully. He stumbled a bit, again to his surprise. Brushing that aside, he turned, moving to leave.
“Where are you going? You’re still injured, at least allow me to offer you some food, or perhaps a place to rest for a bit-”
“Again, no need. I’m headed to The Symbol of Mondstadt’s Hero,” and with that, he left as quickly as his injured form would let him.
Only once he was across the bridge leading into the city, feet on the grass of Windrise, did he allow himself to fall.
Collapsing onto the ground, he finally noticed just how awful everything felt. His chest burned as though he’d been stabbed, making each breath in feel as though he were inhaling geo shards, and he was trembling worse than the last autumn leaf of an oak. He felt… empty, like a hole really had been punched through his chest.
He had been expecting this, however. No archon had ever had their gnosis stolen before, but once Venti made the decision to surrender his, he started preparing himself for the worst, and that included pain. There was one thing that he didn’t anticipate, though…
Everything felt… wrong. It wasn’t a physical sensation, and it wasn’t entirely an emotional one, either. His head felt fuzzy, most of his senses dulled, and not from his lack of elemental energy. The ground felt too far away although he was sitting down, and - most concerning - he wanted to cry.
Everything hurt, he felt sick, and it was awful. All he wanted to do was lie down in the grass and sob until everything went away. No, he wanted someone to come and pick him up, and carry him away from all of it. To make him feel better, and tell him it would be okay.
Yet, he couldn’t do that. He had to make it to Vennessa’s tree to get some of his stamina back. Then he would have to answer questions for the Traveler. Besides, he had no one who would do that for him. He was… He was the anemo archon. Why on Teyvat would he need help? Why did he want help?
“What kind of god am I, lying on the ground to die…” Venti shook his head, pushing himself up off the ground.
Poetry always made him feel better, specifically rhyming. The Traveler had picked up on the fact that Venti tended to rhyme more in everyday speech when he was upset. This time, however, the words felt thick and hard to conjure. A normally childish rhyme scheme felt near-impossible just then.
He couldn’t focus on this, however; he had to make it to her tree. So, forcing his shaking legs to move, he started walking.
Venti could physically feel his spirit lifting the further he made it into Windrise. By the time he was at Vennessa’s tree, he could finally breathe again. He was nowhere near back to his usual god self, but he felt average. Mortal, in a sense.
This was what he had wanted. He had wanted to cut ties with Celestia, he had wanted to give Mondstadt true freedom, and he had wanted the freedom to be Venti, and yet…
Why did he feel so utterly small? Mortals didn’t feel this way, he knew that for a fact. Why did he still want to cry, despite being as healed as he could be? Why did he want someone - anyone - to fix everything for him?
Before he knew it, tears were welling up in his eyes, and he blinked harshly, rubbing his face against his sleeve. He couldn’t cry, not when the Traveler would be here so soon. Yet, that fuzzy feeling was creeping up from the back of his mind, encompassing him in this blanket of… something.
“Venti?” The Traveler and Paimon were finally here. It was Paimon who had spoken up, as she usually did. She had her head tilted, concern etched on her features.
“The wind amongst the branches is good, I love the way it smells…” Venti said, trying to distract himself by closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He could smell the history among the leaves, he could almost hear her voice…
“I said the exact same thing the last time,” he laughed, before sighing deeply. “Why do I only say these things when I’m down on my luck?”
Venti didn’t make eye contact with the Traveler, until the outlander asked about his gnosis. With another sigh, Venti started talking.
They talked for a while, about many things, until the time came for the Traveler to leave. Venti gave his closing speech, trying his best to seem positive, before the Traveler caught him off guard.
“Venti…” He spoke, and Venti met his eyes. The Traveler’s eyes were so full of worry, as well as what Venti could only make out as a combination of pity and care. That fuzzy feeling intensified, and Venti quickly coughed, turning his head.
“Great. So that’s that for the Anemo Archon’s admonishments! Back to Venti Time!” He plastered his signature smile on his face. It was clear that the Traveler wanted to say more, but he was quickly dragged away by Paimon, rambling about the joys of Liyue.
As soon as the Traveler was out of earshot, Venti felt his chipper façade breaking. The fuzzy feeling had fully surrounded him, and he could feel tears welling up once again.
He felt small, and he felt scared. His body felt too big, and his clothes were too tight, and everything felt wrong. He didn’t feel like himself, not in the slightest.
He wanted someone to help him, and in his panic, as he ran through faces in his mind, he settled on one particular person. Using what remnants of elemental energy he had, he vanished into the wind.
He reappeared at Nantianmen, stumbling as he did so. He fell to his knees, scraping them a bit against the harsh bark of a root, and that was the last straw.
Wails filled the air and emotion overcame him. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he sobbed, hoping that the person he wanted could hear him.
Crackling electricity filled the air before someone was in front of Venti. He didn’t register who it was through his sobs, simply curling in toward himself at the presence.
“Venti?” The person spoke harshly, causing Venti to blink and look up.
“Are you hurt? What happened?” Xiao said, unease and concern clear in his voice as he quickly moved closer.
As soon as Venti saw Xiao, his cries picked back up again, this time making grabby hands at him. This was who he wanted, and he was too deep into this new state to care about appearances.
Xiao hesitated, shoulders tensing as he looked at Venti, then at the scenery around him as if asking the universe what was going on. After a long moment of silence (minus Venti’s cries), Xiao knelt down.
“Venti… Are… are you okay?” He asked, pulling a face that Venti typically would have found hilarious. He was so confused that it looked almost painful.
“Xi- Ji- I… ‘ao!” Venti cried out, throwing himself into Xiao’s arms. Now it was so bad he couldn’t even pronounce the first half of Xiao’s name, and it was starting to scare him. So, the only logical thing was to grab onto Xiao. He was a super strong adeptus, he could help!
Xiao tensed up immediately as Venti latched onto him, arms straight out in a nearly robotic pose.
“Hello…?” Xiao tried, though it was becoming clear that simple conversation wasn’t going to calm the archon down.
Thankfully, Venti spared both of them some time by piping up.
“‘ao, I… gno- gnosis ‘s gone, an’ an’ it hurt, an’ I- I dunno!” He said, staring up at the adeptus with wide eyes.
Xiao finally put his arms down, resting them on Venti’s back, which the archon didn’t protest to. Then he seemed to register Venti’s words.
“Your gnosis is gone?” Xiao whispered, as if anyone could hear them.
Venti nodded, a pathetic whimper escaping him. He suddenly felt very exposed, so he buried himself into Xiao’s chest again. Xiao took a deep, slightly shaky breath at the action.
“So, your gnosis is gone, and you’re hurt, and you want…” Xiao tried to rephrase, trailing off at the end.
“‘ao… Want ‘ao…” Venti mumbled into Xiao’s chest, wishing the adeptus had sleeves so he could cling to them. He settled for resting his fists against Xiao’s sides.
“…and you want me?” Venti nodded, sniffling wetly. Xiao hummed lowly, seeming lost in thought.
Suddenly, Venti was being shifted. He went to protest, before he was lifted into the air. A small squeak escaped him as he was hoisted onto Xiao’s hip, though he quickly found that he didn’t mind being carried.
“Hold on,” was all he said, before Venti felt the sensation of teleporting. He held on as tightly as he could, burying his face into Xiao’s shoulder.
When it felt like it was over, Venti peeked an eye open, looking around. He gasped as he realized they were at Wangshu Inn. The lady at the front desk was talking to Xiao, and when she noticed Venti moving, she waved at him. He tucked his face closer to Xiao, before shyly waving back.
“So, will you and the little one be needing a room?” Verr Goldet asked, a soft smile on her face. Venti decided that he liked her; she seemed kind.
“‘Little one’?” Xiao questioned, tilting his head slightly. Venti giggled at his face, causing Xiao to turn his confused gaze onto him. The idea of the Anemo Archon being called ‘little’ had Xiao’s face twisted comically yet again.
“Morax help us, you’re denser than I’d thought, Xiao,” She laughed slightly, a teasing glint in her eye. “I’m not sure who he is or how you two know each other, but I know one thing for sure: he’s a regressor.”
“What… does that mean?” Xiao questioned, looking down at Venti again. Venti just blinked at him, feeling fuzzier than ever. He could understand what the two were talking about, but the words were starting to lose meaning to him. It was all just comforting noise, and he yawned, clumsily rubbing at his eye, which earned him an ‘aww’ from Verr.
“It means that he’s not… well, I don’t know what age he is normally, but right now he’s a lot younger. Mentally, he’s like a little kid. A little little kid, based on how he’s acting.”
“Why?” Xiao asked bluntly, and Verr laughed.
“Who knows? Some people regress because of trauma, or to cope with stress, or just for fun! I’ve seen quite a few regressors pass through this inn, so I know one when I see one.”
“Do I… Do I treat him like a kid?”
“Duh. In his head, he’s a child. You wouldn’t treat a child like an adult, right? It’d stress them out.” Xiao shot Verr a slightly panicked look in response, and she laughed again.
“You’ll do fine with him. Just take him upstairs, the poor thing’s about ready to pass out.”
That much was true, as Venti found himself struggling to keep his eyes open. Today had been too much, it was getting dark out, and the constant noise of the conversation was lulling him to sleep. He heard them keep talking, though he didn’t really register what was being said, only letting out a soft whine as he was jostled slightly. He was asleep before they even made it to the room.
When Venti woke up, he was lying in a comfy bed. The first thing he noticed was the utterly Liyue decor of the room. He ran his hand over the comforter, tracing the pretty leaf pattern and finding that he liked the texture. The next thing that he noticed was that he was still very much fuzzy — little, the front-desk lady had called it. Everything felt simpler, and words felt very out of reach. The last thing that he noticed was Xiao, sitting in a chair against the wall.
“You’re awake…” Xiao stated, as if he was surprised. He cleared his throat, before moving to sit on the bed next to Venti.
“Do you still feel… small?” He asked, hesitation clear in his voice. His face was shifted into a particular scowl of his that meant “I’m confused and really don’t want to be here right now.”
Venti tilted his head, before nodding, wiggling himself out of the blankets and moving to sit next to Xiao. It didn’t even occur to him that Xiao must’ve tucked him in for him to be under the blankets in the first place.
“How old are you?” Xiao asked, before wincing. “I mean, we’re not even mortal, so that’s not a logical question. Besides, your thoughts are… impaired right now, so why would you even-”
Xiao’s muttering was stopped by Venti poking his shoulder, holding up three fingers. Xiao gaped at him for a split second, before slightly shaking his head and fixing his expression back into one of neutrality.
“Three. You’re not even that many millennia old normally, so do you mean centuries?”
Venti shook his head, pushing his fingers towards Xiao’s face adamantly. After a moment, a soft “oh” escaped Xiao’s lips, and he swallowed.
“You’re three mortal years old?” Venti nodded, a large smile on his face. He was proud that he got Xiao to understand.
Xiao took a deep breath, emotions flickering across his face as he seemed to think through what was happening. Venti got bored watching him, kicking his feet against the bed as he thought of what he wanted to do.
After a minute of intense debating, Venti decided that he wanted to explore the room. Except… The idea of walking made him feel icky inside, and he couldn’t see everything properly if he crawled…
Suddenly, he remembered a solution! He was a wind spirit, first and foremost, so even without his gnosis he could still float! Xiao was muttering about something under his breath, so Venti scooted back, trying not to disturb him. Getting onto his knees on the bed, he focused all of his concentration onto the air around him.
The small plants in the room rustled a bit as the wind was pulled toward Venti. Xiao seemed to snap out of his thoughts, feeling the tug of the wind as well.
“Venti, what-” Then Venti was in the air.
Loud giggles escaped him as he floated a foot or two above the bed. He didn’t have a plan for what would happen after he was in the air, but it was fun to be up! Looking down, he noticed one of his shoes falling off, so he reached down to grab it. That action sent him spinning as he lost control of his floating. He squealed in delight, limbs flailing with his happiness. His braids were coming undone from the whirling, but he didn’t care. Floating was so fun!
“Venti!” Xiao said sternly, catching the little off guard. He slowly stopped spinning, lowering himself down onto the bed with a soft thump.
Xiao just stared at him, his usual apathetic look on his face, and Venti felt himself tearing up. Did he do something wrong? Was Xiao mad at him?
Slowly, tears slid down his cheeks and hiccupy sobs escaped from his lips. Xiao had to be mad at him, since he wasn’t saying anything!
What Venti didn’t see through his tears was Xiao’s face quickly morphing into one of panic and confusion (or, as close to those emotions as his face could show).
Feeling the bed dip as Xiao moved closer, Venti turned his back to the adeptus, tears still falling as he whimpered quietly under his breath.
“Venti, I-”
“Mm-mmn!”
“I don’t know-”
“Mm-mmn!!”
“Would you just-”
“No!”
Xiao took a deep breath in, before sighing heavily. Slowly, he reached out, hesitating a moment before placing his hand on Venti’s shoulder. Venti tensed up, before slowly turning toward Xiao.
“Sorry,” Xiao mumbled, looking at the wall behind Venti’s head. The small utterance was good enough for Venti, however, and he threw himself into Xiao’s arms, knocking both of them down onto the bed.
Xiao pulled a face at the contact but didn’t protest, letting Venti cry it out on his chest. Once the tears were done, Xiao shifted so that they were sitting up, Venti in his lap.
“You are an enigma,” Xiao said, which made Venti giggle.
He made eye contact with Xiao before turning his face to the side shyly, eyes focusing on Xiao’s tattoo. He gasped, tracing it with his fingers.
“Pretty…”
“That’s- Yeah, that’s mine,” Xiao said, confusion heavy in his voice.
Venti then turned his attention to Xiao’s hair, moving it away from the adeptus’ face. Then, he had a realization.
“I's the same color!” Venti cried, voice higher than usual. He held up one of his now undone braids. They both had blue hair, and that was the coolest thing in the world to him right then.
“Yes, we do…” Xiao trailed off.
It was silent for a moment, before Venti lit up.
“Play!” He shouted, his volume causing Xiao to wince and lean back a little.
“Play?” Xiao repeated.
“Mmhm!!” Venti nodded eagerly, summoning his lyre. “Cuz you like when I play, an’ I like when I play, so we both be happy! But you have to play too, so i's fair!” Words seemed to be coming easier now, which he was grateful for.
Xiao just stared for a second, before huffing and pulling out his flute.
“Fine, but get off,” He said, moving Venti off of his lap.
Venti started the song, as he usually did. He played a few chords, looking up at Xiao to make sure he was ready. When Xiao came in, Venti started to sing.
They played together for a good while, and as he played, Venti could feel the fuzzy feeling receding slowly. His head felt clear, and he felt… calm. Calmer than he had been in a long while.
Slowly, Venti stopped the song, looking up at Xiao. The adeptus looked more relaxed, too, though Venti knew it was because his Karma had ebbed for the time being.
“So…” Venti started, clearing his throat. Xiao looked up at him, narrowing his eyes.
“Are you normal again?” He asked, which made Venti snort.
“What, you didn’t like taking care of me? Having me around for so long?”
“No. I couldn’t work,” Xiao deadpanned, looking down as he put his flute away.
“Mmhm…” He hummed, smirking. Then he started playing with one of his undone braids absentmindedly, meeting Xiao’s gaze.
“Thank you, though… I had no idea that losing my gnosis would affect me like that, so- Thanks, Xiao.” Gods, was Barbatos at a loss for words?
Xiao turned his head, and Venti could’ve sworn he saw a hint of blush on his cheeks.
“Just… don’t let it happen again. Or go bother someone else,” He mumbled, before his head perked up, and he met Venti’s eyes quickly, an almost guilty expression on his face as he vanished. Someone must’ve called for him.
Venti was left laughing into the open air, a large smile on his face.