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The Land of the Wind. The favored of the Anemo Archon. The Nation of Refuge.
There were many ways the people of Tevyat addressed the acreage that lay between her and [F/N]’s last destination. Its name,however, and the most straightforward way to address it, would be Mondstadt. Named after its round form in the ancient tongue of the region. The land ruled over and protected by the anemo archon Barbatos.
A queasy feeling started to pool in her stomach as she listened to the rattling of the merchant’s wagon. A perk of having become a renowned hero, not many people had trouble taking her along for a ride. Even if they sometimes needed a few coins to provide extra convincing.
They were getting closer and closer to the border by the second. Only a few more minutes and they would reach the point. [F/N] could feel it in the way the air turned crisp and their surroundings ever greener. Thoroughly saturated with the blessings of the residing god. How odd, she knew that Mondstadt was renowned for its fertility and prosperity- yet how a god of the winds could bless the ground and harvest was still a mystery. Nahdia certainly never did or tried to do something like that, despite being the lord of Dendro.
She was ripped from her thoughts upon the halt of the wagon. Voices behind her rang out, probably talking whatever buisness had to be talked. The merchant to whom belonged the cart she sat on came by her.
“We’ve arrived.” He announced quite redundantly, “I’ve told the people taking it from here that you would be joining, they should get you right up the the main city. Are you sure you don’t want to back out? Now’s your final chance.”
[F/N] shook her head, “No, but thank you for asking.” The merchant just nodded and didn't press any further. Perhaps he assumed she had her reasons, or he simply wanted to get away from this place as soon as possible. The girl could not particularly blame him.
Everyone knew that if you wished to return to someplace else, it was better to not risk setting foot into the dominion of Lord Barbatos. The god was kind, but there was a reason a saying in Tevyat was that the wind tended to whisk away all that he could.
The cart began moving again, this time with a new driver, and the girl took to following the trail they were moving along with her eyes.
Out of the seven Nation of Tevyat, there were only two who were so isolated. The first one, the Nation of Eternity, Inazuma, who was ruled over by the electro archon that had ordered the decree to remain so isolated. No one was allowed to get out, and no one was truly allowed to get in. Not even merchants.
[F/N] thought that, funnily enough, Inazuma’s situation still seemed somewhat safer to visit. Afterall, there it was law and decree she was going against. She could know what to expect. Mondstadt however…..Mondstadt was unpredictable.
The Nation of Refuge, ruled over the anemo archon, was not a hostile place. Their ruler did not forbid others from entering- from what she has heard, the people of Mondstadt are actually quite welcoming of people not from their nation. No, the issue that made Mondstadt so isolated was not the entrance one.
It was the leaving one.
Everyone knew by now that the archon was kind and loving. The people of Mondstadt were the children of the wind. And as the nation of Refuge it offered…..well, refuge to whomever may seek it in their lands.
But it was not always the people coming who decided whether or not they were simply a guest, or had come to stay.
A shudder went down [F/N]’s spine. She had heard the stories, everyone told her the same when they heard of her steadfast plan to visit this nation.
The anemo archon, Lord Barbatos, was kind and loving. But he was equally possessive and protective. The people of Mondstadt were not allowed to even take a single step outside their archon’s domain- the god was far too afraid of something happening to them.
It was the Nation of Refuge, the place people went to when they were tired and needed protection and care. But who was seeking refuge to stay permanently and who wasn’t often did not matter. People who entered Mondstadt and stayed too long quickly were seen as Children of the Wind too, and equally kept from leaving. Barriers and windshields keep them from leaving Barbatos’ watchful eye.
[F/N] heard the stories. Merchants or scholars who stayed a bit too long, who came to the realization that the god had already decided that they were guests no more. No protest could change his mind, when confronted with separation from their family the archon simply said they should come too. Mondstadt had space, and the god had love and protection.
Not even the other archons could return you, once the wind took you. Zhongli had told her that Barbatos was always far too trigger-happy when it came to the loss of his children. The times had made him unstable, paranoid. Made him believe he knows better than everyone else. One could not risk agitating such an unstable foe, so better to steer clear of his nation altogether.
At least, [F/N] reasoned with herself, the people seemed to be happy. And it wasn't like the archon was mistreating them. There was a reason people called Mondstadt a gilded cage after all. Their wine industry was still the most renowned in Tevyat, and if their trade with other nations was anything to go by, their economy must have been doing wonderfully too.
The only difference in those aspects was that the wears changed hands at the border to partners that would sell them on the other side. The merchants too scared to set foot over the invisible line that separated them and the people of Mondstadt unable to without summoning a storm or barrier to return them back home.
As the wagon came to a halt, and [F/N] decided it was better to walk from now. She did not yet want to go to the main city, and this pit stop seemed to be a good point to leave.
The others from the Traveling party did not look particularly happy when she told them as such, and thanked them for taking her along. Perhaps they were worried, or asking themselves what was important enough for a foreigner to risk a visit. They did not say that out loud however, and [F/N] did not wish to comment on it either.
Mondstadt was, despite all the tales, still a beautiful nation. With ever blue skies, green fields and abnormally crisp wind. Unlike the other nations the girl had been to, no monster or puzzle or chest could be seen. A testament to how thoroughly protective the god of anemo is of his children.
Part of [F/N] couldn't help but wonder how the archon could manage to keep an entire nation so clean of any dangers. Surely, even for a god, it must be difficult to protect an area this huge? Or was it that it was never any issue to begin with, and the archons she met before simply had never wanted to? A nation as peaceful as this also meant that it was a boring nation after all. With nothing much to do besides lazing and enjoying life.
She shook her head. The traveler had no idea how long she could spend in this place before being taken; no one really could know. It was dependent on how much the archon liked you- and unlike the other nations she came to so far, Mondstadt did not present itself with a clear problem besides the archon himself.
Her brother had told [F/N] to travel this world, so that they would meet again at the end of their journey. But he had never mentioned solving issues. She had to see Mondstadt and explore this nation, but she could get away with not confronting the archon.
Fighting a malicious one like Raiden was easy. You had your enemy, and you had your goal. But what should she even attempt to do against one like Barbatos? Especially if he, if the talks from the other nations were correct, was also beloved by his children? When did he rule a happy and peaceful nation? She knew she did not want to draw the ire of the citizens, and certainly not the attention of the god.
“Just get it over with, you’ve put this off for long enough already.” She told herself, and [F/N] knew she would learn to handle it in due time.
“Be quick. Don’t get too involved. And then move on to Snezhnaya and be with your brother.”
The wind, however, was always present. And she could feel it in the way it changed the second the merchants she had traveled with had gotten out of reach.
“Oh my, it seems I’ve gotten a visitor~” a voice behind her cooed out of nowhere. [F/N] turned around abruptly, hand instinctively drawn to her sword. Only to be met with a young boy’s face clad in white. “And here I had thought the famed traveler would decide to skip my nation.” He added- an almost sly smile on his lips and a sing-song in his voice.
The anemo archon, [F/N] realized, a second too late. Before she was even able to comprehend, she had already felt a cool touch on her cheek. “Have you grown weary too, my child?”
The girl had set foot into the nation barely a few minutes ago, for the archon to appear this quickly and in person-
She remembered that Zhongli once told her, suddenly. “Barbatos,” he had said, “is stubborn. And if you stay for too long, he will take you. But if you tell him this as your very first words towards him, you will at least buy yourself some time. How much exactly it will get you, however, that I cannot promise.”
Time. Yes. [F/N] needed time. And the months of issues and treacherous quests had taught her to quickly adapt to it all.
The girl turned her head and took a step back to free herself from the god’s gentle hand. “I am not of Mondstadt, and not of the Wind,” she said instead. Just like how Zhongli had told her when she came to him while passing through Liyue. “I have come to this place not to seek your refuge, Lord of Anemo, nor am I yours to protect. I am a mere visitor.”
How much time she could get- [F/N] did not know. But she did know the dismay in the archon’s eyes upon her words.
“You have come prepared,” the archon commented. “And you search for your brother, yes?”
[F/N] was not sure how to properly respond. The archon was dangerous, but not hostile. An answer, however, did not seem to be what the other was after, instead continuing without giving her time to answer. “Are you not tired? You humans are so fragile, after all”
“I am not human.” She replied quite curtly, much to the archon’s amusement.
“But you hurt like one.”
Suddenly, the girl could understand why Zhongli did not enjoy spending too much time with his oldest colleague. Something about the god made her feel….uneasy. “You must be tired. Why not simply stay?” He asked.
“I must find my brother, and my journey must continue.”
“Why not settle, and let him come to you? Surely he must love you enough for that.”
“He is of the abyss.”
“I do not care where my children come from.”
Whether or not she should be more worried about the non-reaction to the fact that her brother was the Prince of the Abyss or about him already calling them his children , [F/N] would decide later.
She shook her head, “I am not of Mondstadt, and not of the Wind.” She repeated as a reply, “I have come to this place not to seek your refuge, Lord of Anemo, nor am I yours to protect. I am a mere visitor.”
He just looked at her lovingly, as though she were an unknowing child. “Kindlein mein, bald wirst auch du dein Heim hier finden.”
Ancient Mondstadtian, she realized. But what it meant, and what the archon had planned for her, that she could not say.
But the wind did blow suffocatingly close to them.
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