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It was a frigid, dark day in the distant lands inhabited by the mythical Adepti, the Geo region, the renowned Liyue. Dark clouds obscured even the smallest ray of sunlight, their thick mass and melancholic sighs filling the entire nation. The inhabitants of Chingste Village were preparing the village's quintessential traditional dish in the comfort of their homes with their families, savoring unforgettable moments, even though they had to halt their vendor activities due to the low temperatures outside. The birds, usually singing their joyful choruses, remained silent that morning. The day was so profoundly phlegmatic that not a single person was outside, not even the normally extroverted cranes sheltered in the comfortable haven of the Liyue valleys. Almost all the creatures under that dawn lay peacefully in their homes, with the exception of two exceptional and unique individuals: Alatus and Barbatos.
Both beings stood atop the highest mountain in all of Liyue, Qingyun Peak, though their objectives were entirely different. One wished to end the suffering that was his life, while the other was there to try and prevent him from doing so.
Alatus, better known as Xiao, was part
of the elite warriors within the Adeptus, the famous Yaksha, summoned by Archon Geo, Morax, over 2,000 years ago. Sadly, he is the only one of the Yaksha race still alive, the only one who survived the karmic torment that exterminated his loved ones, though he has to bear the immense grief of his entire family and friends on his shoulders; weary, aching, and deeply wounded by the infernal pain caused by his mere existence on this earthly plane, in addition to the remorse that gnaws at him for not having acted in favor of those he loved during that tragic day. He witnessed some of his comrades succumb to the madness and paranoia that karma inflicted upon them. He saw others driven mad by corruption and hatred, attempting to annihilate one another. He even observed one of his friends go so far as to have to exile himself to avoid harming any more innocent people with his combat techniques. Despite witnessing all those calamities, his efforts were entirely in vain. Five people died that day, but only four of them
stopped breathing.
After those unexpected and tragic events, Alatus himself was on the brink of death. But something, or rather someone, gave him the chance to move forward, someone who stood by his side during the lowest point of his existence. Barbatos, the Anemo Archon, better known as Venti the Bard among the mortal realm, anonymously saved the Yaksha from succumbing to the madness brought on by his karmic debt. When Xiao was about to lose himself and be consumed by the pain it caused him, Venti was surprisingly able to calm him and bring him to his senses with the sweet melody of his flute. "Thank you," Alatus murmured almost inaudibly to the wind. That simple yet profound word was enough to make the archon smile at that small gesture of affection.
Xiao never knew who saved him that time.
Years had passed since those events. Xiao had promised himself he would try to move on. For years he tried and tried. He traveled through countless lands in search of a place to belong, even though he always returned to his homeland to carry out the occasional mission Morax entrusted to him. Aside from that, after the death of his companions, Alatus was never able to find his place again. Day after day, he begged the Celestial Order, amidst laments and groans, to do something, to take him too. "Celestial Order, I offer you my life, if you also want my soul, just let me see them one more time..." Despite his immense hatred for Celestia for taking his compatriots, for creating the void they left in his soul, Alatus was still unable to take root against that establishment. "They control everything in Teyvat, there's nothing I can do..." The feeling of profound desolation that this caused him was so great that he could feel it slowly consuming him. That was why he had made a decision. He would end his torturous suffering once and for all, and if the celestial order took pity on his poor, utterly miserable soul, he would finally be reunited with the faces of the people he had once loved most, those who had lived by his side in days gone by, whom he could barely remember today because of the ravages of time.
It was for this heartbreaking reason that he stood atop Qingyun Peak, to end his miserable, sorrowful life. The wind whispered softly across his face, with an angelic gentleness, as if trying to tell him something, but he paid it no mind. He would die anyway; whether the wind blew strong or not no longer mattered to him. After all, it would all end. "It's just a passing breeze, it will pass," he thought, but how wrong he was. He didn't know that behind that breeze lurked the Anemo Archon.
Venti, seeing that his subtle attempt at help—quite similar to the one he'd used when saving Xiao from his karmic debt—wasn't working, thought of another way he could help without being discovered. "I'll have to be more direct this time," he thought. He moved away from the area, far enough so the yaksha wouldn't see him once he assumed his physical form. He quickly transformed and, using his anemo powers, manifested a small lyre. With this, along with his celestial song, he would try to reach the depths of Xiao's heart and make him reconsider what he was about to do.
Xiao was walking toward the edge of the peak.
"I guess this is the end," he thought to himself. If his past self had been asked how the Yakshas would become extinct, it would never have even crossed his mind that it would be like this. But that was the past, and that version of him no longer existed. Only remnants of what he once was remained. Slowly, he began to take steps closer and closer to the end of the peak, each step a thing he would leave behind: 1. His friends, 2. The Adeptus, 3. The lantern rites, 4. The landscapes of Teyvat...
Reaching the top of the peak, he sighed wearily and thought he should have one last good memory of his homeland. After all, Liyue had been his home for millennia. He gazed one last time at the beautiful mountains of his home, admiring the beauty and complexity of each one, its fauna and flora. He cast a final glance in the direction of the Adeptus' abode. He turned on his heels and let his body, once brimming with life, fall into the void—now merely the shell of a broken heart. "May the wind guide me to them," was his last thought as he closed his weary eyes and prepared for his long-awaited demise.
Just as Alatus's body was about to hit the ground, an invisible but impressively strong force gently lifted him, returning him to the place he had been before jumping. As this happened, a soft melody began to play. Venti played his lyre with great agility and fragility, then began to sing:
“Child of the wind, from it you came,
And to its arms you'll go the same.
Yet now is not your time to fly,
Nor leave the earth nor seek the sky.
Let the wind guide where it must lead,
And answer softly to its creed.
But do not think your tale is done,
For life still calls beneath the sun.
The road you've walked was hard and long,
Marked by sorrow, yet made you strong.
And though the trials have tested thee,
They shall not steal your destiny.
The wind will love and shelter you,
With tender grace and skies of blue.
It will guard your heart through every storm,
And keep your weary spirit warm.
No longer lost, no more alone,
For gentle breezes are your home.
Wherever fate may have you roam,
The wind shall always guide you home.”
With those sweet and beautiful words, Venti stopped singing his melodious song, but his lyre continued to play in an attempt to calm Xiao.
The words spoken pierced Xiao's heart, shattering the mask he had tried to maintain for so many years. For the first time since that fateful day, they allowed him to cry, to release his emotions, and to free himself from everything he needed to let go of. All of this brought him a sense of peace, something he hadn't felt since the soothing strains of the flute that had saved him long ago. He was so mentally exhausted that he didn't stop to consider that perhaps it was the same person protecting him from himself all this time…
Barbatos, seeing that he had managed to make Xiao feel slightly better and finally express everything he had kept bottled up for millennia, was happy to have helped him in such a complex process, even if only minimally. So, he sent a gentle breeze to dry the melancholy tears from his beautiful face and envelop him in a warm breeze so that his heart could finally have a place to rest after so much suffering.
That cold night, Alatus slept peacefully under the moon's mantle, with Barbatos by his side, simply admiring him as he slept, feeling his heart flutter at the sight of the person he loved most.