Chapter Text
" ...But it also looks like my Knightly work is not yet done. Even if I could move on, there is still something that I must do.
I have to stay here and make sure that what happened minutes ago won't happen again."
...
" I won't change my mind, Lord Barbatos, no matter how much you try to make me reconsider.
This is my decision. A duty I choose to do, as both a KNIGHT and a CITIZEN of Mondstadt. One who BELIEVES IN and FOLLOWS you no matter what."
…
"If YoU tHoUgHt ThAt YoU cOuLd EsCaPe YoUr PuNiShMeNt, ThEn YoU aRe GrAvElY mIsTaKeN.
...FoR dArInG tO cOvEt ThAt WhIcH dOeS nOt BeLoNg To YoU...
...YoUr PuNiShMeNt Is CoMpLeTe ErAsUrE."
...
"NO! IT IS MY FAULT, LORD BARBATOS! THERE IS NO NEED FOR YOU TO LIE TO ME IN ORDER TO MAKE ME FEEL BETTER ABOUT MYSELF!
I promised to protect you and then failed! I failed my knightly oath and let you get kidnapped! There is no excuse for my incompetence and inability to keep you safe!"
...
"FoOlIsH sEcOnD-rAtE dRaGoNs. Do YoU tRuLy ThInK yOu CaN sToP mE...?! sToP uS?!
If YoU tRuLy ThInK tHaT yOu CaN dO aNyThInG tO sToP oUr PuNiShMeNt, ThEn YoU aRe SoLelY mIsTaKeN!
...NoW, tHeRe Is No OnE tO iNtErFeRe In YoUr PuNiShMeNt, BaRbAtOs. InStEaD oF bEiNg AbLe To SaVe YoU, aLl ThEy CaN dO iS aGoNiZiNgLy WaTcH yOu DiSaPpEaR.
...AcCoRdInG tO hUmAn TrAdItIoNs, ThIs CoUlD bE cAlLeD yOuR fUnErAl PrOcEeDiNgS, iSn'T iT...?~"
"...Y-you...W-why are you so...C-cruel...? N-not only did you...B-but to also have them watch...
...T-Traveler, Paimon...Y-you came..."
"...Venti...?!
No, Venti! Please, hold on!
Let him go right now, you asshole!"
...
"Let Venti go, you Overgrown White Cucumber!"
"...SuCh A fOoLiShLy FuTiLe ReSiStAnCe.
...EvEn WiTh YoUr NeWlY rEtUrNeD pOwEr, YoU aRe StIlL wAy ToO wEaK tO bEaT 'mE'!"
...
"Lord Barbatos, I know about your current situation with the Partial Amnesia and understand that what happened must be really hard on you, but forcing yourself into deep sleep like this...
...Why are you doing this...? Why choose such an option...?! Do you really think that anyone would want this, to see you...?!"
...
"But everyone knows it's not your fault and are already trying to find a solution! Forcing yourself to sleep like this...!
Don't you realize how worried everyone must be right now...?! And without even thinking it through, you decided to...!"
...
"...T-Traveler...P-Paimon...B-because of me...Y-you...
...B-because of me...E-everyone is...H-hurt and suffering...A-and..."
"...YoU sHoUlD hAvE bEeN eRaSeD aLrEaDy, HaViNg SuCcUmBeD tO oUr PoWeR. aNd YeT, sOmEhOw, YoU aRe StIlL aLiVe. FoR a LoWeR gOd SuCh As YoUrSeLf, ThIs ShOuLd Be ImPoSsIbLe...
...Y-yOu...! JuSt HoW mAnY sOuL bInDiNg PrOmIsEs DiD yOu MaKe?! FoR sOmEoNe LiKe YoU, wHo Is A lOwEr LiFeFoRm To Us...!"
"...I-if this was in...T-the past I might have...A-accepted getting erased...B-but not now, I...
...I-I can't...I-I just can't...D-disappear this way and...L-leave my children...M-my family and friends...N-no, it's so much more...
...M-my everything...T-the people who made me...W-who I am now...T-the ones who not only...F-from a weak Wind Spirit...M-made me into their god...B-but also saved me...M-more times than I...C-can count...
...A-and those same people...T-they will be devastated...I-if I give up now and..."
"We ShAlL sEe AbOuT tHaT!"
...
"...Lo...Venti, just promise to never do something like that again. Promise not to worry me like that again, okay...?
...It really feels like I have a son, even though Rossie and myself...
...I wonder what she is doing right now and how she even is. If she realizes where I currently am...I should definitely prepare a full explanation for her or she might misunderstand...
Don't worry, Lord Barbatos. I won't let her hurt you again, I promise."
...
"...I'm...so...rry..."
...
"Do YoU sEe It NoW? nO mAtTeR hOw MuCh YoU sTrUgGlE, yOu ShAlL nEvEr EsCaPe OuR pUnIsHmEnT!
...In JuSt A fEw MoMeNtS, bArBaToS wIlL fInAlLy CeAsE tO eXiSt AnD hIs GrAvE sIn ShAlL bE..."
...
"...YoU tRuLy ThInK tHaT...yOu CaN sAvE hIm...? SuCh UtTeR...fOoLiShNeSs...!
...YoU mAy TrY aS mUcH aS...yOu CaN, yEt YoU...sTiLl WoUlDn'T bE aBlE tO dO aNyThInG!
...EvEn WiTh YoUr CoNsTaNt InTeRfErEnCe...I sTiLl MaNaGeD tO pUnIsH bArBaToS...aNd NoW hE iS fInAlLy DeAd!"
...
...
"...Rostam, so this is what you meant by those words...
...Just to protect me, you have truly resolved yourself, your very being to..."
...
"...It's not working...
...I just administered the Anemo Potion and yet...There wasn't a reaction at all!"
"...The tree didn't heal him either...
...And as for prayer..."
"...W-we couldn't reach him…!
N-normally he would...H-have woken up...A-and said the prayers...W-were too...E-embarrassing...B-but now...!
...B-big sister...V-Venti...L-Lord Barbatos...H-he is...! H-he is...!"
...
"...P-Papa is...Gone?!"
"NOOOO! DADDY CAN'T BE DEAD!"
"That's right! Father is...!"
"Venti is not moving...At all..."
"...And nothing that the grown-ups did..."
"...That...Woman...To Venti, she..."
"SHE KILLED MISTER VENTI!"
"SHE KILLED VENTI AND SHE LOOKED HAPPY ABOUT IT!"
"THAT WOMAN, HOW DARE SHE DO THAT TO VENTI?!"
"...S-so Father is...R-really...!"
"...D-Daddy's dead now...?!"
...
"N-no! V-Venti! V-Venti!"
"D-daddy, please don't go! P-please don't leave Nora!"
"...P-papa is...! P-papa is...!"
"...V-Venti, please...! P-please, don't go..."
"W-why did you leave me...F-father...?!"
"...M-Mister Venti...E-even though I just...A-and now you are...!"
"Venti, stop fooling around already! You can't just die like this!
Your eyes are still open! Everyone can see that! So please, stop playing dead! Stop scaring everyone and wake up alrea...!
...Venti, please, say something...! Anything...! So I will know that you are okay…!
...V-Venti, please...S-say that...I-I failed you...T-that I was...A-a bad friend...T-tell me that...Y-you hate me...F-for being so...U-utterly useless...T-that you don't...W-want to see...M-me ever again...
...Y-you can't be dead...Y-you can't be...Y-you can't…!"
...
...
...
"...Lord Barbatos, I am truly sorry. Even though I promised to protect you...Just like with the corrupted Osial and Beisht, I thought that...No, I hoped that...", Rostam couldn't help but quietly say, as he was now standing before the barrier, looking at the form limply floating inside with a guilt-striking expression, "...And you even thanked me back then...As if I did something noteworthy...", his words trailed off, as he slowly moved his right hand towards the barrier, before quickly retracting it and moving a foot away, "...This time, for my great failure, I truly have no excuse...!"
He once more apologized, upon going into a bow,
His guilt-stricken voice resounding through the Dreamscape...
...
"To think that...The first thing...I will hear would...Be you apologizing...", a familiar female voice was heard from nearby, as "Wendy" soon appeared, "No, rather than...Just apologizing...You are basically..."
"...Lady "Wendy"...? You are...!", Rostam soon interrupted, upon noticing her current state, "...Your body, it's...!"
"...Flickering in and out...Of existence...? I know...", she interrupted him, looking and sounding bittersweet, as she soon glanced towards the limply floating Barbatos, "...My current state...And the fact that...I managed to..."Appear" only now...Is due to the...Connection we share...If he disappears...So will I...", she suddenly became completely quiet, as a small hollow chuckle was heard moments later, "...To think that I...Would be dying...Again...And in such...A way..."
"...Seriously, first Rostam and now you too...Even though the situation is very bad, you act as if it's completely hopeless!", Rosalyne was the next to say, looking and sounding a little weary, "The people of Mondstadt love their God way too much to just let him die. No matter how much time it takes, they will surely find a way to..."
"Time is something…That He/w̸̮̞͙̦̮͕͈͒̆̃͗̕ẽ̵̢̛̥̻̣̙͎̙̘̩͈̟̀̑̾͐̏̽̇̓͊͌̋͆̐͛̕̚͝͠͝ don't have…Enough off anymore…In both senses…Of the word.", "Wendy" interrupted her, looking and sounding serious, yet there was a tint of hopelessness in her voice, "...So if they can't…Find a way to save…Barbatos in time..."
-...It's like Mondstadt itself is mourning for Venti...-Vennessa couldn't help but quietly mumble, upon glancing around the ghost-like city. -...And I can't blame them for it, especially since all of them...All of us had to watch him getting erased...-She quietly continued, guilt now seeping into her voice. -...Simply watching until she killed him, without being able to do anything...
-It's all that 'Goddess' fault! -Dvalin was the next to say, looking and sounding enraged. -NOT ONLY DID SHE DARE TO HURT BARBATOS, SHE EVEN LAUGHED ABOUT IT!
"...Yes, that Goddess...She is the one who killed Barbatos...", the Winds quietly added, sounding hollow, "...And even though we are connected to him...We barely did anything to save our favorite Archon..."
-That's not true. Many of you disappeared while trying to save Venti! -Vennessa intervened, looking and sounding reassuring, as her expression soon fell again. -...If not for you intervening when you did, Venti would have already been...
"...This is not something we should be thanked for...We did as SHE asked, making sure Barbatos doesn't disappear entirely...And this is the price we were willing to pay...", the Winds interrupted her, becoming completely quiet soon enough, "...Yet, we wish that we could have done more for him...To make sure that he's still...Alive..."
They ended moments later, their voices now full of sorrow and guilt,
The wind which had previously been weakly blowing around the city, coming to a complete standstill...
A few hours ago, they decided check on Lord Barbatos’ condition,
By 'going to' the Dreamscape and seeing for themselves his soul's current state...
*And while he saw Frederica understandably worried and guilt-stricken...
...
"Frederica, are you certain you are alright...?
...After what happened just an hour ago and considering that you are pregnant…”
“Both me and the baby are fine, Seamus. Somehow…
...I am mostly worried about the children. They cried themselves to sleep after finding out that Lord Barbatos…
...All the beds must have been prepared now, right...? If so, it's high time we 'go' to the Dreamscape and…
...That…’Goddess’ said he was dead...Nothing we did worked to save him and when the Traveler...Started to frantically shake him and…
...I am going to go first, Seamus...I have to know...That we can still...Save him..."
...
It was still not as bad as what followed afterwards...
*First when he saw her quietly cry,
The tears streaming down her sleeping face...
...
"...s-still failed...d-do nothing...d-dead...b-barely..."
"...Frederica, why do you...?!
...Tears...Just what...Did you see...? For you to react in this way…!
I will be going to the Dreamscape now. Everyone, please decide on the order of ‘departure’ between one another."
...
And later on, when he 'went' to the Dreamscape himself,
Finding her sitting by the barrier Lord Barbatos was encased in, crying uncontrollably...
*Even then, while seeing the Archon...His Archon so limp, it felt terribly wrong...
...
"...W-we failed...I-I failed...A-and now he's..."
"Frederica, what's...?! Lord Barbatos?!"
"...S-Seamus...Y-you are here...! I-it's horrible...! L-Lord Barbatos is...! V-Venti is...!
H-he is dead! H-he is really dead! A-and his soul...! H-his soul is...!
...R-Rostam...A-and Rosalyne...T-they told me...I-it's that...B-barrier...!
...H-he still...E-exists...O-only because...O-of that...B-barrier...! I-if not...F-for it...!
...I-if not...F-for it...H-he would...H-have...A-already…!"
...
...
Her words from that time, shaky from crying,
They kept echoing in his head even now...
*Her crying face, the broken tone of her voice,
And the true meaning of those words...
...
Things should have never come to this...
*With Lord Barbatos in this...State,
And everyone, including Frederica...
...
-...Frederica, are you certain...You are alright now...? -Seamus couldn't help but slowly ask her, the worry seeping into his voice. -...After what happened in the Dreamscape...
-I apologize for reacting like that, Seamus. I should have kept my emotions under control. -Frederica soon said, looking and sounding ashamed, before she deeply sighed. -...To think that those pregnancy hormones would make me act in such a shameful way, unbecoming of a kni...
-You did nothing wrong, Frederica. Pregnancy hormones or not, I can fully understand your reaction at that time. After all, Lord Barbatos, or Venti as he likes to be called...Not only is he our beloved Archon, but he also became an irreplaceable presence in Mondstadt. -He interrupted her, looking and sounding serious, before his expression fell. -...So seeing him in such a horrible state and hearing just how much worse it is than it looks...
His words soon trailed off, as he remembered just how wrong it was,
With Lord Barbatos floating inside the barrier, as if asleep,
And yet, all parts of his body were completely limp...
*Just like someone who had just recently died,
As their body had gotten so heavy that...
...
...
"...Where...? The Gunnhildr estate...? Why am I here...?
...It's best not to shift into THAT form for a while...Lest everyone become insane again...
...I must have held too tightly to Barbara while I was asleep and dreaming of...
I am sorry for inconveniencing you all like this and intruding on your family time. I even pulled Xiao into this.
...Well, I suppose that I will be going back to the Cathedral now and..."
"Wait, Venti! Don't go!
I-I mean, you should stay and celebrate the festival together with us!"
"You never intruded on our family time or inconvenienced us in any way, Venti.
It was our joint decision to have you and Xiao join us in our family gathering and festival celebration."
"We are glad to have you here, Venti.
...Both as our Archon and a friend/family member."
...
...
"What other kind of "acceptance" were the winds talking about...?
...Mondstadt already accepted me, right...?!"
"Not in the way of our community as a whole, but on a more personal level.
It's thanks to you that we could be together now, Lord Barbatos. If not for your help back then, not only myself, but everyone on the expedition would have either gone insane or died.
I can't stress enough how grateful I am to you for giving me this chance and...
...I still can't fully express my gratitude to you, but know this: my home is also yours, its doors are always open to you and I gladly accept you as a part of our family."
...
"...I...I understand...
I accept your gratitude and generous offer, Seamus.
I will be glad to be a part of your family."
...
That's right, back then, during their first Ludi Harpastum celebration together,
They all...His youngest, Frederica, his oldest and finally himself,
Accepted him as part of their immediate family...
*Something which he soon also agreed to...
...
And yet, when it mattered the most...
...
"This is as far as I can go, Barbara. Everyone. I am sorry, but I can't go with you. Not anymore...', Lord Barbatos interrupted his youngest, soon looking between everyone present, the (Crystal)tears seen glistening in his Archon's eyes, "...It's time for my punishme..."
"If YoU tHoUgHt ThAt YoU cOuLd EsCaPe YoUr PuNiShMeNt, ThEn YoU aRe GrAvElY mIsTaKeN.", A distorted-sounding voice cut off his words, as a strange energy suddenly enveloped him, forcibly making him shift into his Archon form, "...FoR dArInG tO cOvEt ThAt WhIcH dOeS nOt BeLoNg To YoU...", the voice eerily continued, as Lord Barbatos was quickly 'dragged' into the sky, where a long haired demon in the form of a woman was seen floating, "...YoUr PuNiShMeNt Is CoMpLeTe ErAsUrE."
At these words, the Demon's eyes narrowed into a glare,
As not even a moment later, the strange energy became much thicker,
Enveloping his Archon whole, as moments later Lord Barbatos cried out in agonizing pain...
This...Memory and what followed,
Even now, he couldn't help but feel guilty...
*Even though he was the Seneschal of the Church of Favonius,
Back then, he...Could do completely nothing to actually save...
-That time, it was so much easier, Seamus. Back then, during the sudden Abyss Order's attack on Mondstadt. -His thoughts were interrupted by Frederica's quiet voice, as her expression looked conflicted. -...At that time, when that dark smog flew towards Lord Barbatos...When it 'attacked' him and he...Fell into a coma...It was quiet, really quiet...Unlike earlier in the day, when...-She quietly explained, as tears soon started to gather in her eyes. -...H-he was crying so badly! T-those horrible agonizing yells...! A-and then, when they became...Q-quitter...H-he was...A-already…!
-I know. I know, Frederica. What happened earlier today, when they were supposed to depart for the Golden Apple Archipelago...-Seamus told her in as much reassurance as he could, soon proceeding to get closer to and hug her warmly. -...There should still be something that we can do. There has to be. Something that we can do in order to save our Archon from...
Knock Knock
...
-...I-is that...? -Frederica started, upon hearing the sudden knocking, as she tried to move out of her husband's arms. -...T-the window...?
-Carrier Pigeons. Even from here, I can see the letters attached to their legs. -Seamus explained, upon slowly letting go of the embrace. -...I think I know the contents of those letters. Frederica, are you...?
-...I-I am fine...-She interrupted him, upon quickly wiping the tears off her face and turning towards the awaiting pigeons. -...I-if it's to help save Lord Barbatos...V-Venti...T-then I should be fine...I-I have to be, for his sake and everyone else's...L-like our daughters, who are also…T-taking it badly…