Chapter Text
The wind was softly rustling the leaves of the Windrise Tree, as they carried the melody of a song throughout Teyvat. Upon the tree, a bard could be seen playing his lyre as the darkness fell, sending everyone in to a peaceful slumber.
The bard froze his fingers as he felt an unpleasant shift within the winds. Opening his eyes, the bard tilted his head, hoping to get the answer of the sudden shift in the wind. His eyes widened and he quickly jumped of the branch he was sitting upon, running towards a dragon that was sleeping under the tree.
The dragon opened his eyes as he too, felt the shift in the wind when the bard had stopped playing his music. Knowing what the young-looking boy wants, the dragon let him climb on top of him, before he took off, in the direction of Sumeru.
The air was tensed as the bard climbed down from the dragon’s back.
“You will call for me when the situation is resolved… Right?”
The bard stroked the dragon’s head, calming down the ancient being. “Ofcourse I will… Although don’t be surprised if it might take some years… After all we don’t know what exactly the problem is and how to solve it…”
The dragon tensed up again at those words, which the bard could feel. “But don’t worry, my dear friend. I will make sure to always come back for you, even if it takes centuries. That’s my promise to you.” He tried to reassure his decades-old friend.
“I will hold onto your word, Barbatos.” The dragon breathes out, before the God of Freedom let go of his head and the mythical creature flew off into the air, flying back to Mondstadt to tell the other winds that their God is out to solve the problem that caused the unpleasant shift in the wind.
And while their Archon is away, they will be protecting Mondstadt for him.
Barbatos smiled at his beautiful boy flying away, before turning around and treading into the nation of wisdom. The winds whispering of a danger with every step he took.
It was late at night, when a certain bard walked into a deserted market. With how late it was, it was no wonder why everyone was in the comfort of their own home. Though a purple-haired boy with a large hat and an Anemo vision on his hip, could be seen wide awake in the middle of the abandoned market, seemingly waiting for the bard.
“Ah Wanderer! I hope I didn’t keep you waiting for long!”
“Long enough that I was about to go without you.” The purple-haired boy mumbled, before indicating that the bard should follow him. “Come on, Buer is already waiting for you in the Irminsul.”
Barbatos smiled appreciatively at the boy leading him the way to where the God of Wisdom was. He could easily find the way himself, seeing that he often visited the Dendro Archon, but the winds were really distracting him with how panicked they sounded.
The Anemo Archon tried to calm the winds down by speaking to them, getting an annoyed side-eye from his guide to which he ignored, the winds needed him, and he would do anything for them to be happy again.
“Barbatos, right on time.” A child-like, gentle voice spoke, making the bard snap out of his conversation with the winds. “Thank you, Hat Guy.” A little girl said towards Wanderer, who nodded but made no indication to go elsewhere. The bard also smiled as he crouched down to hug the little girl.
“Buer! It is good to see you again! Although this not the most pleasant time, I hope your new-found freedom is treating you just fine?”
The younger God melted into the hug and also hugged back, needing the comfort the older could provide at the moment. “You and your rhymes… But yeah, I’m doing better then ever, now that I get to see my nation in real life! It’s also good to see you too, Barbatos.”
Buer quickly let go, as she still has to explain the problem they were about to face. “I am guessing that the winds have led you to Sumeru?”
The God of Freedom nodded, explaining to her friend what he was hearing. “I was playing my lyre to guide the people in Teyvat into a peaceful slumber, when I heard them panicking about some danger that can encumber the people of Teyvat, that’s… if we don’t do anything soon.
Buer nodded, just as she suspected. Wind and time were everywhere and nowhere, to which only Barbatos understood, so for the winds to tell their God that there was a situation in Sumeru that could be harmful for all people in Teyvat and for him to come here to see if he could help, wasn’t really a surprise.
“I am glad you came; you experience could become useful with this situation.”
“But what is the situation exactly? Not even the winds told me about it and with how panicked they sound; I can only imagine the worst.”
Buer guided her friend closer to the Irminsul and to his astonishment, he could see some dark grey cracks into the otherwise beautiful, silver tree.
“As you can see, something is harming the Irminsul, and I am afraid it is the Forbidden Knowledge.”
“Haven’t you exhausted your strength to make sure that the Forbidden Knowledge was eradicated?” –Didn’t Greater Lord Rukkhdevata solve that problem?– He wondered, as he remembered the winds whispering to him about it, even when everything was erased.
“Indeed, but this isn’t the Forbidden Knowledge of our world.”
“You mean…” Barbatos trailed of, as he caught on what Buer was trying to say.
The Dendro Archon nodded at her friend’s unspoken question. “Yes, another universe is merging with us… I think it has something to do with the Irminsul.”
“What do you mean, Buer?”
“Something from another universe is connected with the roots and branches of the Irminsul, making it so that the Forbidden Knowledge of that universe coming into ours… Maybe it is even trying to make the two worlds into one…”
Barbatos eyes widened as he took in the severity of the situation. “If that happens then there is no-telling what they would do, not to mention we know next-to-nothing about that other universe! We don’t know how different they are, what kind of people we are dealing with, not even what makes our and their world connected!”
Buer nodded. “Exactly, if our universes, worlds, collided into becoming one… Then that could end into chaos, maybe our people and theirs would even declare war on each other…” She shook her head at the thought of thousands, maybe even billions, of people losing their lives, just because they were scared. It may seem irrational, but it wouldn’t be the first time that someone was irrational because of fear. The God of Wisdom then looked at the Anemo Archon with some hope. “Which is why I am also glad you’re here. As you see, the process of two universes becoming one is already starting with the small cracks in the Irminsul, I was hoping that you speak with the winds of the other universe and see if we can find a solution for this problem.”
“Why can’t we seal the cracks off?” Barbatos asked in curiosity.
“I have tried that, and it worked…”
“But?”
“It is only temporary, before some new cracks showed up. No, if we want to solve this problem then we have to take it down by the root.”
“And to take it down by the root then we have to see where the problem is stemming from.”
Buer smiled at Barbatos who smiled back at her. When God of Freedom heard that the Dendro Archon was free from captivity from her people, he visited as quickly as possible while the Traveler headed to Fontaine. He has helped the younger God a lot in understanding Teyvat and guiding her through her trauma. In the time they have spent with each other, they have both come to see each other as siblings. Both knowing more than the other Gods, and yet finding themselves unworthy of being called an Archon, they have found solace in each other.
Barbatos took a step closer to the cracks and closed his eyes, trying to listen to the winds that don’t belong in their world, as Buer took a step back beside Wanderer, who has been watching the whole exchange in silence.
“Are you sure that this is a good idea?” He asked the God that took him in.
Buer nodded. “I trust Barbatos, he knows how dangerous this situation can become, and he cares for Mondstadt as much as I care for Sumeru. Beside he is the only one who can talk to the winds.”
Wanderer still looked skeptical. Not that he didn’t trust the Archon to his vision. It’s even the opposite, to his utmost dismay, he has come to care for the bard like he has come to care for Buer. When the bard would visit Buer, he would always make time for him too, telling the purple-haired guy all about freedom and the choices he can now make. It was weird to know that other than Buer and Traveler, Barbatos also seems to remember him, yet didn’t hold his actions against him. To say that he didn’t like the cheeky brat, would be a lie, not that he would ever admit it to anyone ever.
Buer smiled as she glanced at the boy next to her, she knew that he was only worried for the Anemo Archon. He cares for him like he cares for her. Deciding that she would tease him about it later, Buer looked back at her brother, in every way but blood, and saw that he looked more and more worried as the minute goes by.
When the bard finally turned to look at them, Buer and even Wanderer looked worried at the grave expression on the Archon’s face.
“Barbatos?”
Instead of answering the unspoken question, the God of Freedom told them what they needed to do. “We need to find a way to seal off the cracks immediately!”
That didn’t do for the younger God, as she took the hand of the bard, before he could turn away from them. “Ofcourse, we will do that. But first, what have you heard? Did you find the root of the situation?”
Barbatos let out a smile at the worry Buer showed and placed his hand on top of hers. “I have found a solution to the problem, but if I were to tell you know then I am afraid you wouldn’t let me do it…”
Buer frowned, as it only made her more worried. “Barbatos, please tell me. I give you my promise that I will step back if that is the only solution.”
“Just tell her, Barbatos. You know how stubborn she can be.” Hat Guy said, annoyance written on his face, but his voice betrayed the worry he felt for the God of Freedom.
“You said the Forbidden Knowledge is coming from the other universe… Well, our root is also in that world…” Horror was written on the Dendro Archon face, as she understood where this is going.
“I won’t let you!” She vehemently said, holding Barbatos’ hand tighter. The latter just smiled as he squeezed her hands back. “If you know a better plan, then I am all ears, if not… Please keep your promise in mind, my dear friend.”
“Can someone tell me, what the hell is going on?!” Hat Guy asked in confusion, wondering what Barbatos meant that ticked the ever so calm and gentle God of Wisdom off.
“Barbatos here, is planning to jump into the cracks to find the root of the problem, while we seal off the cracks.” Hat Guy looked up at the Anemo God in shock.
“But that means…”
Buer nodded, barely hiding the tears in her eyes. “Unless he finds a way in the other world, he would be stuck there for eternity.”
“There has to be another way!” The purple-haired guy said, looking at the Dendro Archon with wide-eyes, not caring anymore that he shouldn’t worry that much about the God of Freedom. Because… Dammit, he saw the older God as his friend… as his dad/uncle.
“Hey, hey, look at me you two.” Barbatos said, freeing his hand from Buer’s tight grip and placing his hands on each of the younger immortals’ cheek, making them look at him.
“It will be alright; I will come back.” Barbatos smiled reassuringly at them. “Beside I made a promise to someone that I will come back… and a promise is a promise after all!” He cheerily added.
Buer couldn’t hold it in anymore, little drops escaped from the corners of her green eyes, as she tried to think of another way, another solution, that didn’t risk her friend being stuck into another world, another universe…
“Hat Guy is right! There has to be another way…” Desperately clinging on to the hand holding her cheek, yet she knew that Barbatos is right. If the root of the problem really is in the other universe, and the God of Wisdom knew that Barbatos is correct, then she also knows that the only solution is to go to that root. She knows… She knows it all too well, but that doesn’t mean she has to like it.
“Buer… Wanderer…” Barbatos sighed, he knew he shouldn’t have told them anything, but… It would’ve only made them sadder if he had gone through with his plan without even saying a goodbye to them. “I will be alright, I promise.”
Letting go of the two, he turned towards Irminsul and stepped closer to the cracks. To make sure that they didn’t follow him, he put a wind barrier around himself and the Irminsul, blocking the young immortals out.
As he expected, Wanderer and Buer both ran towards him, but were stopped by the heavy wind. Banging on the wind, as if it was a wooden door, Barbatos could hear the cries of his friends trying to stop him. The bard didn’t stop of course, he needed to do this. For his beloved Mondtstadt and his children, for Buer’s beloved Sumeru and her people, for the people in Teyvat!
However, while the cries of his dear friends didn’t stop him, a determined shout did.
“If you go now, I will follow you!”
The God of Freedom turned around, to see a shocked Wanderer looking at an equal surprise Buer, but even if the young God has a surprised expression, her eyes were determined as she continued.
“If you go now, this wind barrier will also disappear, since we still need to seal the cracks off on the Irminsul, which gives me plenty of time to jump in after you!”
It was a gamble, Buer knew, but a gamble was better than not having tried at all, and it worked. Barbatos dropped the wind barrier. She and Wanderer rushed to the bard’ side, thankful that he stopped, but Buer knew that she has to be quick as she noticed the cracks getting bigger every second, they stall.
“Why are you doing this, Buer? No one will notice if I disappeared and don’t come back again. You, however, has a whole nation that needs you!”
Buer couldn’t see the bard’s face, but she could hear the crack in his voice. That is when she understood, this wasn’t what he wanted too, he also doesn’t want to leave his home, his friends… his family behind. But… for Teyvat and its people to remain, then someone has to make a sacrifice and go.
“You know that is not true, Barbatos.” Buer said, gently grabbing the Anemo’s Archon fisted hands. “For one, I think the winds, Vennessa, Dvalin and even Andrius will miss you. Morax would ask around if someone has seen you if you don’t come to visit him, even Ei would notice your absence! The people of Teyvat, especially Mondstadt, would ask where the sweet tunes, that brings them to sleep every night, has gone and I… I would miss my brother. My brother, who has taught me the meaning of freedom, who has helped me in my journey of becoming a worthy Archon, who has held me through the nights whenever my mistakes became too much. My brother, who is silly, a drunkard, but lovely to animals and children alike, who plays music like no one else does and gives great advice or just an ear to listen to whoever needs it.”
Buer tucked on the arm, making Barbatos turn around. It was then she saw the tears streaming down his face, the little hiccups between each breath. The Dendro Archon smiled and made the older God crouch down, so that she could hug him.
“Not that I care or something, but you are the only one that can give me great blackmail of the Raiden Shogun and you are also the only one who can make Buer rest. So, yeah, I rather not that you disappear or something like that.”
The God of Wisdom felt the older’s shoulders shake, as a laugh bubbled up at Wanderer’s attempt at comforting.
“I love you too, Wanderer.” Barbatos softly let out between his breaths. Buer continued to rub his back to comfort him, encouraging the other to hug her back, which he did.
“I am still not letting you follow me.”
“And I am not letting you go off on your own! We don’t have time to find another person to go with you anyway. So, it is either you let me go with you or you are not going at all.”
“I sometimes hate it when you are so smart.” Barbatos grumbled, making the younger girl smile.
“I know. That is why I am called the God of Wisdom and not you.” She cheekily added.
She felt the gasp, rather than heard it. “Are you saying that I am not smart?”
“You are smart enough to keep up with me… Most of the time.” Another laugh bubbled up from her shoulder. “I guess you are right… My little sister.” To that, the smile on the Dendro Archon widened, as they, for the first time ever, addressed each other as siblings out loud.
“I hate to break this corny moment. However, we still have a situation, in case you’re forgetting.” Wanderer called out in annoyance, now that it doesn’t seem like that the bard was going to do anything reckless.
Both Archons were smiling as they broke off. Buer closed her eyes, as her highlights glowed in bright green, as she made four flowers. She gave two to Barbatos, who also closed his eyes while his hair glowed in a bright turquoise, making his flowers also shine in the same colour.
“What the hell are those for?!” Wanderer grumbled, when curiosity took over as he continues to watch with whatever the Gods were doing. Both Archons held the flowers towards the purple-hair boy, letting him see the two green glowing flowers and two turquoise glowing flowers.
“Flowers… very nice.” He said sarcastically, not getting the point of making these.
“Each two flowers are infused with our powers, meaning if something were ever to happen to us, then these flowers will disappear.” Slowly beginning to understand where this is going, Wanderer could only freeze up at Buer’s words and listen to Barbatos talk next.
“Since the root of the problem is in the other universe, someone has to go and solve it. It will take some time, days or maybe even years, so no mortal can do this, it’s not like we will let them anyway. Tsaritsa is too busy with the war against Celestia, Morax is on retirement, Ei is still trying to make it up to her people, Foçalors is gone, and Traveler will soon be going to Natlan, when their journey in Fontaine ends. So, we can’t be asking the current Pyro Archon for help nor can we disturb Traveler’s journey through Teyvat.”
“The only choices left, are me and Buer, and while it is better for me to go off alone, since Mondstadt doesn’t need an Archon, nor do they even know that their Archon is still roaming around between them. But… It is like you said, Buer can be really stubborn when she wants to be. So instead of her following me, I will take her with me.” The bard finished off, smiling exasperated to the younger God, who warmly smiled back.
Barbatos sighed when he saw that Wanderer still wasn’t moving, but cheekily smiled as he tucked the boy down, making him crouch beside the two Archons. The bard placed one of the Anemo-infused flowers behind the younger’s ear, Buer doing the same with one of the Dendro-infused flowers, placing it next to Barbatos. It made Hat Guy snap out of it, as he touched the flowers behind his ear, shaking a bit with unshed tears in his eyes.
“And… w-what about me?” Both Archons turned to the young-looking boy that they took under their wings. Barbatos gently held one of the boy’s cheeks, while Buer held the other, making him look at both of them. “You will have the most important job of them all, my dear Wanderer. To make sure that whenever Irminsul gets more cracks that you’ll closed them off and to deliver the other flower to my dear friend, so that he knows that I did not abandon him.”
“B-but how do I close of the cracks, Buer is the one that have done it the first time.” The Dendro Archon only smiled, as she explained.
“The second flower I will be giving you, can be used to close off the cracks if you mixed it with your Anemo. Please tell Alhaitham or Cyno that I will be going away for a while and that none of them need to worry about me. Tell them, that it is an urgent trip and that I hope that they trust me in my decision-making and take care of Sumeru while I am gone.”
Wanderer could only nod, his head held in their hands. He saw the determination and stubbornness in their eyes and knew that he couldn’t do anything to stop them. Barbatos and Buer dragged him into their arms, as he finally let out the tears he was desperately holding back.
“You two better come back!”
“We promise.” They both simultaneously said, hugging the crying boy until he only hiccuped here and there with leftover tears, that were quickly wiped away by Barbatos and Buer.
“Tell anyone about this and you two are dead.” Wanderer threatened, as looked away in embarrassment. Buer practically cooed at his adorableness, while the older patted the boy on his hat.
“Don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone that you’re a softy at heart.”
Wanderer send a furious glare towards the Anemo Archon, who did not feel threatened at all with the boy’s red-rimmed eyes and red nose. “Just go you brat, before I change my mind and kill you here.”
Barbatos laughed as all three stood up. The Archons gave Wanderer the other two flowers, before the bard bowed down to the God of Wisdom, extending his hand.
“Shall we then go, my dear sister?”
Holding back a laugh, Buer placed her hand in Barbatos. “We shall, dear brother.” She said chuckling at the antics of the older Archon. Hand-in-hand they walked closer to one of the larger cracks, but before they could step in, Hat Guy stopped them.
“Wait! Barbatos, what’s the name of your friend that I have to give the flower to?”
The God in question, smiled mysteriously before answering. “The same friend who I gave a promise to. Dvalin! You can meet him in Stormterror lair, which are the ruins of old Mondstadt, just outside of my beloved city.”
Wanderer nodded, having heard of the dragon quite a lot when the bard came to visit Sumeru. Buer and Barbatos waved at the purple-haired boy, saying their finals goodbyes.
“Take care of yourself, Hat Guy.”
“Remember to not overwork yourself for it’s not good for your health!”
And with that, they stepped into the crack, leaving Hat Guy to seal off the cracks.
“I will hold onto you two promises… Me and Dvalin both will.” He whispered into the emptiness, before mixing his Anemo powers with the Dendro flower to seal off the cracks and disappearing into thin air to visit a certain dragon, a scribe and a general.
It was dark. Dark like an abyss with no ending or the moonless night sky unaccompanied by any light from the stars. Barbatos grabbed Buer’s hand tighter before he hugged the younger God, making sure that they won’t lose each other in this darkness.
What felt like hours, a sudden light underneath Barbatos and Buer swallowed them whole, and they fell down, however before they could touch the ground, the wind slowed their fall, and the Anemo Archon softly landed on his feet with the God of Wisdom in his arms.
Putting Buer down, both Archons turned towards the shortened crack they had come from. Buer quicken the process to close the crack with her powers, while Barbatos made sure that the winds of this world told him when another crack would show up.
The God giggled when the winds excitedly played with him, surprised and delighted that someone can hear and speak with them and went to spread the word to the other winds around the world. Barbatos raised an eyebrow at Buer as he noticed her staring at him with a smile. She shook her head. Buer just felt happy that the older was laughing.
They look around, wanting to know where they were and if anyone has saw them or the crack, but not much could be seen with all the trees blocking their view.
“We are lucky that we landed in some kind of forest and that no one saw us in the first place.”
“Indeed, but I hope we can find our way to civilisation and find out how things work here, soon.”
Barbatos extended his hand towards the younger Archon. “Well then, let’s not waste anymore time then!” Buer smiled and took the Anemo Archon’s hand. “Do you know the way then?”
Barbatos just grinned. “Nope! But the winds of this world do, and I am sure we can meet some animals along the way to ask them for help.”
“Correction, you ask the animals for help. After all you are the one that can talk to animals, not I.”
“And you can read minds of humans and animals alike, so I would say we are quite even there.”
And with that, the two Gods walked away with the winds guiding them out of the forest. They may not know where they are or what they will encounter. But one thing is for sure, they will do anything to make sure their world is safe.