Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He died, he definitely remembered dying. 

Wait no, he wasn’t supposed to remember dying. 

A dead person doesn’t have a memory after all. Why was his mind awake? Furthermore, why were his senses returning when he had most certainly felt them fade away. The sounds of voices cheering in victory all around him had faded as if swept away by the wind, growing more and more faint. Yet now, gradually the rest of his senses returned to him. 

The ground upon which he lay did not feel like the cold hard stone he’d last remembered. When he flexed his fingers to test out their feeling, he could feel an unfamiliar texture. His hearing returned to him and he could hear the wind again, yet instead of the sound of raging winds his ears had grown accustomed to over the course of his life, this wind was soft, gentle almost. As if a certain wind spirit was still there by his side.

Ah, that’s right! Venti! I have to tell Venti I’m awake, that I’m alive! By all odds, I’ve survived!

His eyes shot open, only to immediately close again because by Celestia, it was bright. Why was it so bright? Slowly, he opened his eyes again, allowing time to adjust. His breath caught in his throat when he found himself staring up at an endless blue, small and soft wisps of white drifting along a vast canvas. Was this the sky? It was so much more blue than he could have ever imagined. And were those clouds? They were so soft and fluffy, he wondered what it would feel like to touch one.

His vision of the sky above blurred and with great effort, he raised a heavy arm to wipe the rapidly forming tears, several different emotions taking over at once, overwhelming to his newly returned senses. So they’d done it, they’d really done it. Decarabian was no more and his winds had dispersed. Mondstadt was free.

Still rubbing his eyes, several thoughts raced through his head. I wonder where everyone has gone, I must find them! Ah.. That’s right.. If I am to open my eyes again right now and look around me will I see the bodies of the fallen? Will I see the destruction brought about upon the battlefield of a rebellion? Oh, I do hope Venti has not been grieving me yet. He found himself giggling at the thought of how the little wind spirit might react when he sauntered up to them, very much alive. Look! I’m not dead! We can see the world together now just like we always wanted to!

The world. What will become of the city of Mondstadt? So much had been destroyed during the fight, and Decarabian’s death had released so much power it had shattered the tower and instantly parted the storm. Will we build the city anew? The thought rang in his mind as he finally blinked away his tears and on stiff arms that felt as if they hadn’t been used in centuries, he brought himself to sit up. 

What he saw, however, only brought even more confusion and all his thoughts seemed to slow to a frozen halt, the sound of his - very much alive and working, he noted - heart pounding in his ears.

He’d expected a battlefield, torn and broken, bodies scattered and smoke billowing from recently burned out fires. Arrows scattered across bloodied ground, furthermore, he’d expected to discover he’d been laying in a pool of his own blood, two of those arrows lodged deep into his chest where they’d struck him perfectly in the heart. However, the arrows were not present at all. In fact, neither were any signs that such wounds had ever been there at all.

When he looked down, he saw that everything was covered in a blanket of green which grew up from the ground, soft to the touch beneath the hands he used to prop himself up. It made a soft sound as a light breeze brushed over it. He recalled the books he’d read before. Was this.. Grass? Such a thing never grew in Mondstadt, the only green he’d ever seen being those ever so bold flowers that braved the violent storm to grow. How fast did grass grow? Had it swallowed up the bodies of the dead as soon as the wind had parted for the sun? Had he been unconscious for more than a day? The world around him felt unfamiliar, different. He found he could only barely recognize the city around him. All that remained of Mondstadt were the skeletons of structures, the buildings, or rather what was left of them, were broken, half-collapsed, half-buried in the ground, looking as if they’d weathered with time. Time. Tears flooded his eyes, obscuring the sight of the broken city once more. Everything was empty, gone. The world around him was nothing but a graveyard for a god and those who fought to dethrone him, devoid of life and teeming with a strange but not entirely hostile energy. The thoughts of many different possibilities racing through his head scared him as his mind raced and he finally pulled together enough energy to stand. Only for his knees to give in once more, and he fell to the ground as sobs wracked his body. Tears falling past his splayed fingers and onto the grass. Venti.. I hope you were able to see the sky, I hope you made it out alive. 

A shout broke him out of his moment of thought and he looked up to see an odd human-like creature racing towards him. It yelled something in a language foreign to his ears as it clutched something unusual in its arms. Whatever the strange item it carried was, it seemed to be glowing. It raced past him, ignoring him or perhaps not noticing he was there. 

Before he could ponder the strange sighting further, another yell rang out from a slight distance behind, though this time he found he understood the words.

“H-hey, stop! Come back here!”

He turned around just in time to witness a blur of color barrel into him with a yelp of surprise.

“Ah! Sorry, sorry! I’m so sorry!” A young female voice stuttered. He hoped his shocked blinking cleared away the tears in his eyes, however, the stranger did not take notice of the fact that he’d been crying as she appeared to be avoiding his gaze in the shame of her clumsiness. 

He took the hand that helped him to his feet, stumbling slightly on unused legs.

“That hilichurl stole something very important, you see. Mr. Albedo is really going to kill me if he knows how irresponsible I was with it..” The stranger ran a hand through green hair and adjusted round glasses which had fallen askew. The boy noted the unusual appearance of animal-like ears upon her head, twitching as she worried, though he didn’t understand much of what she spoke of.

“Hilichurl?”

The girl nodded quickly. “Did you happen to see where it went?”

Is she referring to that creature? “I believe it continued straight ahead,” He pointed in the direction he’d seen it run and she seemed to be in great relief at this.

“Oh thank you! Thank you so much!” 

Whatever she had lost must’ve been quite important, he guessed.

“The object it carried - was that yours?”

“Um- well, actually it belongs to Mr. Albedo.. I only assisted in the creation of it. Albedo moved to the other side of the ruins to record the distance the reaction traveled when I activated it, but something went wrong. So, I really do need to get it back before he returns.” Her eyes flickered between the boy and the direction he’d pointed her. “I’m sorry but I really have to go!” Unable to continue loitering, the stranger took off in a hurry, forgetting to bid goodbye to the young bard.

The boy pondered his choices: remain where he was and lose the first real person he had encountered since waking up, or follow the stranger. He decided the latter was the better option as he quickly brushed away the grass which stuck to his clothes and set off quickly to pursue the green-haired girl.

Unfortunately, his muscles strained with the sudden use and allowed him only a light jog rather than the intended sprint, causing him to fall much further behind than he intended.

It was after a short distance that he came across a small gathering of strange structures he'd never seen before, resembling an encampment.

Sitting atop those strange structures were creatures unfamiliar to him, somewhat resembling the one that had rushed by him not long ago. He paused for a moment, pondering whether they were hostile or friendly, where they had come from and whether they spoke his language. Cautiously, he approached with the intention to peer closer.

He realized his mistake when, even from a distance, his footsteps alerted the creature nearest to him and it let out a shout, rallying company.

But at that moment, someone leapt above his head, cutting down the creatures with a sword in one single plunging attack. A young man stood to his height and returned the sword to his side. The stranger had blond hair tied in the back and sharp blue eyes which turned to the boy, seemingly reading him, analyzing the meaning behind his every movement. The stranger’s clothes were unfamiliar, a coat in a style he’d never seen before even in books, leaving him wondering where this stranger could possibly be from. 

“Are you alright?” The stranger asked and the young bard found himself slightly startled at his voice. With eyes so full of intensity, he’d hardly expected the young man’s voice to carry such a soft and gentle tone.

He blinked. "Y-yes! I believe I'm-"

"Mr. Albedo!" It was the girl from earlier, rushing toward them with the object now clutched close to her chest. "Mr. Albedo! I'm so sorry! After I activated the prototype it started glowing like we expected but I believe the glow alerted a nearby hilichurl and it ran by and stole it from my hands and it triggered the reaction too soon and-"

"Sucrose." The man cut her off gently. An understanding and calm tone in his voice, not at all scolding "Sucrose, it's quite alright. I could not have predicted that the hilichurls here would like.. glowy things. May I see it?"

The girl - who he now guessed to be Sucrose - passed him the object. The boy watched as he took it into his hands and inspected it from all angles.

Curiosity got the better of the young bard as he leaned forward to get a closer look, clearing his throat before asking, “if it is alright for me to ask, what is that.. Glowy thing you now possess?”

The man looked up, inquisitive eyes meeting his gaze. “Ah, this is one of my first prototypes in the creation of a machine that intends to use an old alchemical recipe to bring about new life through the assemblance of particulates that make up that of ancient dust that has collected around ley lines. I have been testing it and making improvements but the prototype has yet to yield any significant results. Perhaps today it may have but unfortunately I did not anticipate that the hilichurls would have taken an interest to it."

The young bard blinked. His attention had already been lost on the word “prototype”. Whatever did such a word mean and most especially in the sense the man before him was using it?

As the odd stranger stared at him for a reply, it was then that his brows furrowed and an odd look passed over his gaze.

“You seem.. Familiar.” The man murmured, almost as if he had not intended to say so out loud.

“Huh?”

“Perhaps it's the hairstyle.” Without bothering to offer further context, the man broke his gaze and glanced away from the boy’s face to fiddle with the machinery in his hands, but his brows were still drawn together in thought as he muttered several things under his breath.

“Quite unfortunate, it seems the core has broken and the ley line extract has disappeared. We will have to harvest more if we want to fix it.”

This time the girl answered him, addressing him with the same formality and name once again.

“Mr. Albedo, perhaps we should get back to Mondstadt? All the pieces we need to fix it are still with Timaeus.”

The man - Albedo  - paused and looked up at her with a sigh, “Yes you’re right, Sucrose.” He then turned to the bard, “most people tend to avoid Stormterror’s Lair. Are you not aware how dangerous it is here?”

“I’m uh- I am not from here, I’m afraid. I’m.. Traveling from afar and I seem to have taken a wrong turn somewhere.” He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, in what he hoped was a convincing enough cover-up.

Albedo nodded in understanding, it was clear from the way his eyes narrowed in the slightest that he was not fully trusting but regardless, the man was convinced enough that he did not question the boy any further. “I see. Well, if that is the case then why don’t you join Sucrose and I on our way back? I'm assuming you were headed to the city and it would not be safe to attempt to leave here by yourself. It's a miracle you managed to wind up here without any issues."

“I would most appreciate that, thank you.” The boy smiled. Relief flooded his nerves, the panic of earlier beginning to fade as he realized several things. One of them being that he was not alone, and by all chances he'd met two kind and trustworthy strangers who gave him a chance at safe passage in a world surrounded by unfamiliar, hostile creatures. The other being that the two before him were from a city beyond the walls, meaning that there were more people and a thriving civilization outside the ruins of Mondstadt.

The peculiar duo became his guides as they made their way toward the exit of what was once Mondstadt. The man had introduced himself as Albedo, an alchemist with the Knights of Favonius and the girl as his assistant, Sucrose. He did not have a clue what any of those titles meant but to know their names was enough for him.

“You were lucky enough to enter unscathed, as it is risky to set foot in Stormterror’s Lair without a vision.. Or a weapon for that matter.” Only then did the man’s eyes sweep over the rest of his profile, observing his lack of weaponry. It was true the weapons he once wielded were now lost to the land just the same as the rest of the world he knew - and he dared not question what a “vision” was at this current point in time. Perhaps, he would start with a more pressing matter.

“Sir, if I may ask, you have called this ‘Stormterror’s Lair’ on more than one occasion. Might I inquire as to why?”

“It is the name the people of Mondstadt give to these ancient ruins. The dragon Stormterror resides here, after all."

“Dragon?!” He'd certainly heard tales of dragons. The massive, fierce and deadly beasts had been quite common in the land, though they did not follow the rules of the gods and acted independently, wreaking havoc wherever they wished. He'd only ever seen pictures and heard stories, but he never wanted to meet such a creature. He remembered a few songs about dragons that he'd learned and performed once or twice, and all ended quite gruesomely.

Albedo hummed. “Stormterror is no imminent threat if that's what you're concerned about."

"You're sure?" The bard questioned.

The man nodded and the boy swallowed to quell the sudden burst of nerves. He looked up as they crossed under a grand yet crumbled arch of stone, and for the first time ever, he realized he had set foot beyond that which he had always known. He had never seen anything beyond this point. Decarabian’s storms had always blocked what once was a grand entrance for visitors into the city, created in the age before the greed of the god of storms. It was a path once used by merchants and visitors and the transport of supplies. However that age did not last when snow befell the mountainous landscape and storms enclosed the city from all beyond it. The stories woven by those who claimed to have left through the storms and come back alive described in vivid detail the harsh and dangerous landscape beyond the walls. They spoke of a cold wasteland where life did not thrive, fueled by the rage of Lupus Boreas, the wolf who sheltered a heart as cold as the winds that planted the fear within Decarabian’s cruelty. However, the land he witnessed now was not barren, and the temperature within the air did not nip at his skin like the bite of a wolf. Rather, the ground was covered in that same soft green texture - grass - and the light that fell upon him from the skies above was warm. A light breeze in the air brushed around him, as if the wind were greeting him, welcoming an old friend into this new world. Ah, that soft touch of a gentle breeze suddenly felt all too familiar and he felt his eyes sting sharply as he was once more reminded of the presence of a dear friend. Did Venti travel this same route whenever the little wind wisp would leave and return to bring him gifts from beyond the walls of the storm? Had the people who lived to tell the tales of the persistent ones who freed them from tyranny traveled this path to leave the battle behind them? If so, what had they seen of the world beyond? How long ago had those he knew traversed these grounds and how long ago did their presence fade from existence?

“Is everything okay?”

At the sound of a voice some steps ahead, he finally realized that Albedo and Sucrose had both paused to look back at him, eyes of concern. He blinked back to the present moment, the speed of which cleared his watering eyes.

“I am alright.” He said aloud, glancing up at the clouds above as the wind once more wrapped around him as if in a hug to comfort his overwhelmed emotions and thoughts. “The breeze is quite lovely, isn’t it?”

And so he trailed closely behind his new companions. Thanks to Albedo’s watchful alert, they were able to avoid further confrontations with those strange creatures - which the man had claimed to be of a species called “hilichurls” - who appeared to have inhabited the ruins of the ancient pathway.

That was when he first saw the new trees - the tall growths rose up from the ground, further growths and fraying out into green growths. An image came to mind of an old painting he'd always held dear to his heart: Soft blue painted the sky above as wispy white filled the open space, fields of green blown by gentle winds and all kinds of flowers and plants, distant trees towering beyond. The world he'd envisioned in his dreams, now laid out before him.

He couldn't help reaching out to touch the parts of any trees that hung into the path as they walked. Here he discovered that these trees were not as soft as they looked, it was certainly different from the grass.

They'd continued to walk, with the young bard exploring and admiring much of the scenery, especially that of the remains of what we're once grand buildings. Enraptured by the living world around him, he could not help but to curiously observe the peculiar.. thing which lay still against a wall. Curiosity brought him closer, but a shout from Albedo brought his attention back. Unfortunately,  he had only a moment's reaction time when that thing moved . Emitting odd noises as it came to life and pushed itself to stand on two feet. A lengthy arm wound up to swing at him. 

Ah, celestia forgive me, for once again it seems I witness my end. . 

He would never be able to dodge it fast enough. It seems that was the end of him, having returned from certain death only to die once more so soon by the hand of a horrifying monster. He was never meant to see what lay beyond the walls of Mondstadt, why did he ever believe he'd have a chance?

As he braced for the impact of a killing blow, he heard Sucrose's voice, and the bard witnessed in complete shock as green anemo energy swirled up from under the monstrous creature. The monster stumbled, knocked out of position from the blow it had been directing at the boy, and stunned long enough for Albedo to land several blows on it with his sword. The boy took the opportunity to roll out of the way as his two companions descended upon the monster. He looked on in awe, watching as Sucrose repeatedly summoned anemo energy which she then directed at the creature. She did not fight with as much confidence as Albedo, and stood back, mainly assisting in keeping the creature from winding another attack as he dealt the major blows. Finally, propelled by a flower-like object which appeared at his feet, and assisted by the winds his assistant cast, Albedo leapt up and stabbed the monster directly in its face, in that singular glowing eye, before jumping back to the ground. It crumbled to a heap, silent and unmoving.

Albedo then turned, eyes flickering around until they finally landed on the bard and the tension in his stance seemed to relax as he saw that the boy was unscathed save for a couple scratches on his knees.

"There should not have been a ruin guard here," the man informed his companions. "And I do not remember it being present when we entered. Concerning… I see you are unhurt?" He turned to the boy, who was, however, busy staring wide-eyed at Sucrose.

“You can use the wind!” He exclaimed.

She looked startled at this, "oh? my anemo vision?” She looked down as she showed him the turquoise gem-like object attached to her collar. "Ah, yes, we both wield the powers of the gods." 

Albedo then touched a gem-like charm of similar size attached to his own collar. However, his was the color of the earth.

Wield the power of the gods? The premonition seemed so outrageous and yet the two who stood before him claimed to have received power from the gods and brandished the gem-like objects as seemingly evidence of such a feat. So this was the “vision” Albedo had spoken of earlier - and though he hadn’t a clue and wished to ask a million questions further, he could determine from the way the duo seemed to treat it as typical knowledge that he would draw further questions than answers lest he give in to his curiosity.

"What exactly can you do?" He asked instead.

“Sucrose has excellent control over her element, while I specialize in constructs. This," he made a swift motion, and the same flower-like object from earlier sprouted from the ground as if blooming from the earth. ".. is a solar isotoma. It provides excellent support within a field of battle."

"Whoa!!" Almost immediately, the bard rushed around it, inspecting the summoned construct from every angle, poking it and watching as it sprang up into the air like it had moments earlier to assist Albedo in landing the killing blow. Then as quickly as it had sprouted from the ground, it descended and disappeared.

He supposed the two could see the twinkle of impressed amazement in his eyes as Albedo chuckled when the boy's face spread into a wide grin, the previous near-death scare nearly forgotten and replaced by a new rush of energy created by the immense interest in new knowledge.

"Please tell me more about your abilities as we travel, I am most intrigued!

They thankfully did not have any further encounters with monsters as they walked and Albedo and Sucrose answered his questions in the words of those who had clearly spent much time studying the subject and honing their own abilities.

He had learned that the man's vision was that of the god of stone - "geo" as he had called it - and that the stone flower he was able to construct was created from this "geo" material. But the boy was more curious when Sucrose spoke of her vision, which was a gift from the god of wind.

So in the place of the fallen tyrant, a new anemo archon had most certainly taken his throne. Most suspected it would be Andrius who would take Decarabian's place, but they were willing to endure the cold if it meant freeing themselves from the storm. But this land was not frozen, it was warm and painted in green. Had another god stepped up to the throne? If this anemo archon was friendly, perhaps he could ask for help finding Venti.

"The god of wind.. Is he a kind god?" He questioned aloud.

Albedo hummed. "Some believe he abandoned Mondstadt centuries ago, others praise his kindness for allowing the people to govern themselves. The church is quite adamant in spreading the belief that he is always present in the wind. Distant travelers like yourself tend to find it overwhelming how many different opinions the people of Mondstadt have on their archon. I advise you to keep your opinion open-minded. Many don't. Barbatos is simply a mystery in many ways."

The boy considered these words greatly, trying to understand what he could of the archon when a new question came to mind.

"Barbatos.." He spoke aloud, testing the name on his tongue, then turned to look at the man. "What do you think of him?"

Albedo looked at him curiously, and the boy worried he had asked too much. However, the man only turned to look ahead, coming to a stop just before a sharp turn of the path as the road they had been following finally came to an end and emerged into the world beyond. Sucrose had already continued ahead and her figure had disappeared under the arch of ancient stone, but the boy matched pace with Albedo.

"My own opinion? I don't think about it much, nor do I care. However, I can't help but to be impressed by his abilities.." Albedo seemed to ponder something, eyes downcast and a hand coming to rest under his chin in thought, before he looked back up at the boy and gestured for him to follow.

"Come along, we shouldn't take too long or we will not arrive before sunset."

The young bard only nodded, only then realizing what reaching the end of the pathway meant.

He let his feet carry him forth without hesitation in his step.

Nothing could've prepared him for the sight that befell his eyes when he raised his gaze to the land outside the city he always knew. The sight that first greeted his eyes was that of a massive, ice-capped mountain towering beyond the land in the far but reachable distance, the next was that of the bright open sky above all, then trees of many types clustered along hills of soft green. And finally, a large building that featured architecture unfamiliar to him, but felt very friendly and grand by nature. Below the building were small orderly fields of twisting green plants. Colors he'd never seen so vibrantly before flooded his eyes and the smells carried by the breeze overwhelmed his senses in the most wonderful of ways.

It was freedom, all of it was freedom. The freedom he'd always longed to feel. No longer did the heavy air of dark days of the past weigh him down. Instead his heart felt light and he wished at this moment that he could sprout wings on his back and fly to meet the birds of this new world, to touch the skies and meet the heavens.

The emotions were certainly too much for him, but this time it was because everything just seemed so truly wonderful. The soft breeze that blew past him again felt just like Venti's presence. A giggle rose up in his throat, one which bubbled into a joyous laugh and suddenly, before he could realize what he was doing, he was running.

 Running down the path.

Past more buildings, under the trees. A cautionary protest from Albedo went ignored, growing distant as he leapt over obstacles on the ground, determined to chase the wind. He had no time to slow down, nor did he understand where he was going, but the wind was leading him somewhere and he had to follow it. A woman carrying a basket of items exclaimed her surprise as he rushed past her, and unfamiliar creatures scattered on four legs ahead of his incoming footsteps as he rushed into the trees. He reveled in the sound of his footsteps against the soft undergrowth. Caught then within his moment, he tripped over the roots of a tree within his path and tumbled to the ground unable to right himself before his balance was lost. There, cushioned by the soft grass beneath the trees, the boy rolled to his back to turn his gaze to the leaves filtering gentle sunlight down from above and smiled as he closed his eyes, listening to the sounds of the living and thriving world around him.

It was a few minutes that he lay there peacefully, before finally footsteps on the grass nearby caused him to open his eyes again and Sucrose’s figure appeared in the corner of his vision.

"There you are!” She sounded out of breath, as if she’d rushed to catch up. “The dangers don’t simply vanish beyond this path, please be careful."

The boy giggled as he got to his feet and brushed leaves from his cape. "My apologies, I got caught up in the moment. I was simply following the wind."

Albedo caught up with them not long after and the trio continued down the path to the city, the man explaining that the building he had rushed past earlier was called “Dawn Winery” and that it was a private property belonging to one Diluc Ragnvindr - the richest man in Mondstadt. Ragnvindr, huh? If this truly was the future, then it seemed the old friend of his had indeed been one of the few to survive the war and this man could very well be one of his descendents. He would like to meet this Diluc at some point.

They remained silent for most of the walk that followed after that, and the boy enjoyed the silence, as it allowed him to listen to the sounds of the forests they passed beneath. It felt like quite some time before Albedo finally spoke up again to inform his company that they would soon be passing a town called Springvale, and the city of Mondstadt should soon be visible beyond.

Unable to resist once more, the bard rushed forward to be the first to see beyond the hills and trees. His steps disturbed several small creatures upon the ground up ahead, and when at first they took to the skies in a flurry, he did not understand what he’d just witnessed. Until he looked up and saw their shapes silhouetted against the sky above. The shape of feathered wings spreading from a body to carry their owner into the skies, a silhouette he’d practically committed to memory in longing for such wings, in a longing to witness birds flying free in a land of freedom. Tears sprang to his eyes again, but this time he did not stop them. Finally it seemed reality came crashing down and he let the tears flow freely, unsure whether what he felt was joy or grief, or both at once, and more.

A singular white feather fluttered down towards the ground.

He reached out and took it gently into his hands, cradled it as if it were something more precious than his own life.

It felt soft to the touch and lighter than air - for of course in order to take to the skies with such ease, it must be lighter than the sky. He pressed the feather closer to his chest in a hold so gentle he felt as if the wind may steal it away if he were not careful. When he looked to the distance beyond, he saw a grand city poised in the center of a lake. Great walls of protection surrounded buildings of an architecture that reminded him of the building back at the winery - and a great building at the highest part of the city towered over all, spires reaching for the skies. With feather in hand and the new city of Mondstadt within view, he couldn’t help but to feel that it was too good to be true, and that at any time he would awaken back upon the battleground - or perhaps even to the day before the battle, finding that they had never succeeded in the first place and his hope had taken him too far into a world his mind longed for. But it all felt so real, so vivid, things beyond his mind’s ability to merely create within a dream.

He felt a presence approach, then Sucrose’s quiet but gentle voice.

“Will you have a place to stay when we get to the city? Oh! Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t realize you were- Is everything alright?”

Still clutching the feather in a gentle hold, he quickly wiped tears from his eyes, but it did not stop them from continuing to fall as his emotions finally took over. “Yes I- I am well. The s-sights they are.. it is merely a lot for me.” He murmured.

She seemed to understand and fell quiet. When Albedo approached, she leaned over and whispered to him and with a nod, he too remained quiet. Though the duo did not understand the reason for the boy’s distress, they allowed him space and gave him the moment he needed to process everything within that day.

Eventually, his thoughts finally returned from a spiral and his emotions calmed. The soft feather clutched to his heart was the first thing he felt as it seemed to ground him back to reality - the irony of something meant to fly freely within the sky being the only thing to ground him to the earth did not go unnoticed and a smile returned to his face at the mere thought of how silly yet poetic such a thing was. His eyes stung, but the tears had finally ceased. He tucked the feather away, snug within the collar of his cape - the same secure place the little wind wisp would always hide. Taking a deep breath, he turned to Albedo and Sucrose and nodded, hoping his immense gratitude showed in his expression.

At the gates of the city of Mondstadt, they were greeted by two friendly guards who allowed them entry without question after a joyful greeting to Albedo. The boy quickly learned that Albedo was quite the major figure within Mondstadt - and many who passed greeted the head alchemist (he still did not understand what an alchemist was, but it was clearly not something small, as the man he had been traveling with was certainly no one simple). As for the city itself, it was grand, lively and bustling with people. He had grown so used to seeing crowds of dejected souls, people who had long given up on hope of life beyond the city they knew - those people were the reason he’d played songs of hope and freedom, after all. However, the people hurrying about their duties, selling goods, and simply sightseeing, were all happy. There was no dreary or hopeless air casting a shadow upon these people. The citizens of this city of Mondstadt were friendly, inviting, and an air of freedom hung high above it all. He quite nearly tripped over obstacles in his path or narrowly avoided bumping into others as he looked around, taking in the sights of the city. He could never have dreamed of any of this, it truly impossibly, had to be real. The sights were beyond what he’d ever imagined when he imagined a future for the city of Mondststadt and yet they were so, so very perfect. The pavement, the flags, the buildings, the laughter around him. It took all he could to keep from bursting into tears for the third time that day, yet he could not manage such a thing in the middle of a busy location. He followed just behind Albedo and Sucrose as they made their way up the sloping pavement to a rather large fountain.

A man standing at a small booth against a building to the right waved upon noticing them and Albedo approached him in greeting. “Hello, Timaeus.”

“Sir Albedo!” The man exclaimed brightly. “How did the experiment go?”

Albedo pursed his lips as Sucrose reached down and brought the dismantled object from the bag she’d been carrying it within.

Timaeus seemed to deflate upon seeing its dejected state. “Oh, I see.”

“It’s no real issue,” Albedo stated. “We will just rebuild it and make some adjustments. Particularly, hilichurl-proofing.”

Timaeus’s concerned questioning to the addition of requiring “hilichurl-proofing” went ignored as Albedo turned to address the young bard.

"I believe this is where we must bid you farewell.” Albedo said.

The boy nodded in understanding, a soft smile upon his face as he then spoke, turning to look between both the man and his assistant. "Thank you both for all your help. I truly believe I would never have made it out alive had it not been for our chance meeting.”

Sucrose pushed her glasses further up her nose as she spoke up. “If you’d ever like to speak to us again, don’t hesitate to ask! Mr. Albedo is often busy, but you can always tell me and I’ll relay any questions you may have to him later.”

 “Thank you,” he nodded again. “Thank you sincerely. Goodbye for now!”

They waved him off as his feet had already begun to carry him whichever direction he let them, excited to see everything this new city had to offer.

It all rushed by quickly.

He paused to smell the scent of fresh cooking by a furnace, admire the flowers in the display of a young florist, observe the work of a blacksmith, smiled as two children ran by with joyous laughter that rang like bells in his ears.

Finally, as the sun dipped low in the sky - for the sun truly did move across the sky as the tales once said! How peculiar it was that it did not seem to move until he wasn’t paying attention. Was it shy? - and the shadows grew tall, he slowed his pace. Where to next? That was the question weighing on his mind. Now perhaps, he should seek a place to stay come nightfall, however another thought weighed on his mind. The air was filled with gentle winds that felt like that of a wind wisp, but he had yet to find Venti. Right! He would meet the anemo archon of this time and tell the god his tale.  Then if all went well, he would request them to help him find his dearest friend. Yes indeed, that was precisely what he would do next. Such a plan brought immense nerves to his stomach. After all, confronting a god was no small feat, let alone asking a favor from one, but the scenario within his imagination - a reunion of friends once separated by a war that changed the world - gave him the confidence he needed as he approached a man nearby.

"Hello good sir, do you know where I can find the anemo archon? I wish to speak with him."

To his surprise, the man laughed heartily. "You must not be from around here, boy! You wish to meet with Barbatos? I'm afraid no one has seen or heard from him in centuries.”

“But I truly need to speak to him, please sir!”

Another man, holding a basket of various breads, paused to interrupt upon overhearing the conversation. “You’re probably looking for the church then!"

When the boy showed interest in this, he shifted the basket to a single arm and pointed upwards with the other. "Look for the cathedral. It's that massive building back there, behind the statue of the anemo archon. Up several flights of stairs, can’t miss it!" 

The boy followed the man’s direction with his gaze to see the spires of the massive building that he had seen from afar, towering just visible in the near distance behind another structure.

"I see. Thank you, kind sir." 

"It’s no problem at all, kid! May the wind be with you, young traveler."

May the wind be with you. The phrase rang within his mind as he stared up at the tall stairs that seemed to stretch before him at a great height. The sky above him painted the clouds with red and pink as the sun’s light faded when it sank below the horizon to slumber. How peculiar - he wished to know why the sky did that when the sun went to sleep. 

Upon beginning to climb the stairs, he almost hesitated and turned back. For what chance at solace did he have if the people of Mondstadt had not seen their archon in years? Why did he wish to pursue something so pointless? Yet.. Hadn’t that always been what he’d done? Pursuing life on a glimmer of hope, even after many told him it was pointless to try to raise the spirits of the people, pointless to gather a rebellion, and yet he’d proved them wrong. The city he now stood within was living, thriving proof that even a glimmer of hope could shine light in the darkness.

Albedo had, after all, warned him that the situation involving the anemo archon’s indirect rulership resulted in many mixed interpretations. He only hoped that those saying that the god was nowhere to be found were wrong. For how else could he ever get answers as to why he was given new life in this time so far ahead of his own?

Before he knew it, he’d climbed the staircase that had minutes ago seemed impossible and intimidating - almost as if blind hope had taken hold - and was staring up at two grand structures. One being the grand sight of the cathedral, and the other being a grand statue depicting a figure in robes with massive feathered wings. This must be the statue of the anemo archon . So this is Barbatos? Oh, I cannot see the face from here. He approached closer, hoping to get a glimpse of the god’s face as the current angle prevented it. However, the gentle sound of a lyre that graced his ears sent his gaze back downwards, to settle on a small crowd gathered around the base of the statue. 

Someone was playing a lyre! Oh how wonderful it was to hear its gentle sound again. He must certainly see who it was so as to compliment their skills.

He approached the group of people with immense curiosity, the melody growing clearer to his ears until he could hear something else.

From where the soft sounds of a lyre could be heard, so too could a gentle voice. The player of the lyre was singing - a voice pure and clear, like morning bells and.. And the melody! The melody.. It was familiar! 

Long, long ago, he remembered the feeling of the rough cold ground beneath them and the light of a crackling fire as he strummed the delicate strings to several onlookers in effort to drown out the sounds of the raging storms. He remembered the way Amos smiled, the way children several years younger than him saw hope for the first time, he remembered how he’d giggled upon always spotting red hair at the back of the crowd - finding it quite amusing how far back the man preferred to stay. Then, he remembered Venti’s presence. A gentle weight on his shoulder, a glimmer of hope within heavy air.

He pushed forward through the crowd. Determined to meet the bard who sang the ancient songs of his time, determined to speak to one who brought back such memories.

He saw a youthful figure dressed in green, twin braids framing their face tipped in blue color and a peaceful look upon their face. And their face..

He saw.. Himself. Only it was not himself, it obviously couldn't be because he was most certainly in his own body. It was someone else, and they were wearing his face.

There was a bard in the new city of Mondstadt wearing his face and sharing the songs of old for the people of this time to hear.

His rational mind screamed at him to call it a coincidence because there was no way any of this was true, yet he truly had to know and understand what was happening. 

As the bard clad in green finished his next song, he bowed to a series of applause from his audience. He held his hat out for the audience to place coins in, then when no one did, he replaced the hat on his head with an exaggerated disappointment, the expression quickly morphing into a playful grin as he looked back at the audience.

Accidentally, their eyes met. The boy’s breath hitched as bright turquoise, the color of the clear sky, met cloudy gray. the color of the sky of raging storms, and the fellow bard was suddenly holding his gaze. The bright grin fell away as hundreds of unreadable emotions flashed through those bright eyes. There was amazement there, among other things. Confusion, doubt, grief, in a flurry all at once.

Recognition.

Finally, finally his mind seemed to come to a conclusion.

The person who stood before him was himself, yet it was not him at all. 

But somehow.. It was Venti.

He’d know that playful behavior anywhere - everything made sense and yet at the same time nothing did.

It felt like time had stopped to accommodate the meeting of the two, though the boy knew this was impossible and in fact, everything that felt like minutes had been mere seconds.

The other (Venti?) looked to have frozen entirely, mouth opening and closing in a helpless attempt to say something.

Not knowing what else to do and unable to find the words to speak, he carefully raised a hand from his side, giving a very subtle, and very awkward little wave. 

“Hello.” He whispered.

The bard in green promptly disappeared in a whirlwind of anemo.

Oops.

Chapter Text

Wondering what had happened, or why the bard had disappeared so suddenly. The boy could only stand there, with one hand still raised, trying to understand what had just occurred moments before.

He needed answers so desperately, and yet the bard in green had left so quickly upon seeing him. Was that truly Venti? He wished to know for sure, and it seemed from the strange bard's reaction that he was indeed recognized. Yet, what if it had simply been the shock of seeing someone in the crowd who resembled one’s self? And yet.. Normal people do not simply vanish into the air as if one with the wind.

The crowd that had been watching the bard descended into confused chatter, many people already beginning to split off and leave, assuming that the show was over for the day, while some scratched their heads trying to figure out how the entertainer had pulled such a vanishing trick and why the bard had disappeared so suddenly.

The boy looked around, hoping that by some miracle the mysterious bard in green had not gone too far away, but unfortunately all he saw were strangers at every turn of the head.

A gentle wind brushed past him, then seemed to swirl back around him before vanishing. He looked up, but no further breeze greeted him.

After a moment in which he did not move from where he stood, he felt the wind blow past him once again. However, this time it felt less like a gentle touch and more like a harsh tug. The gust that blew past him was strong enough that he stumbled slightly.

With yet another strong gust, his bangs whipped into his eyes and his cape wrapped around his body as the wind pointed him in a certain direction - a direction that was back the way he came. It was most definitely a tug. It was as if the wind was trying to get him to follow. 

“Alright, alright!” He exclaimed aloud, without a care for whether strangers would look at him strangely for speaking to nothing in particular “I'm following, I’m following!”

A memory: A wind wisp tugging at his sleeve the best it could in an attempt to direct him somewhere as he giggled. 

“Alright, I will follow you, my friend! Is there something you wish to show me?"

The little wind spirit nodded enthusiastically. The tug on the boy's sleeves was gentle but insistent. 

And so, the boy ran with the wind just as he had always done. Down the sets of stairs, past bright lights that streamed from the buildings of new Mondstadt, sidestepping around people heading their way home for the night. 

A dog ran with him for quite some time before it grew tired and left, barking a farewell as he crossed through the gates of the city. The guards at the city gate were snoring softly as he slowed his pace to pass them and cross the bridge at the city’s entrance. He snorted in amusement, such truly excellent security. Yet, it did seem that this time was peaceful enough that they needn’t worry about sudden invasions into their walls. It was odd to see people so at peace, yet comforting in unexplainable ways. To be able to enter and exit the city at will felt like simply a dream.

The sky had grown almost fully dark now, and now that he was outside of the city where no lights obscured his vision of the sky above, he could see that it shimmered with tiny sparkles. These were stars weren't they? The stories spoke of how the sky sparkled at night. Paintings had also depicted a colorful river of stars that crossed the night sky, and what he saw was truly no different from the paintings. Over everything he had seen that day, the only thing that never truly seemed to change, from distant past to welcoming future, was the sky. It looked just the same as the paintings from decades before Decarabian's reign. The sky he had always longed to see - it was still there after all this time, waiting for him to finally witness all that he wished for.

The breeze made a soft sound as it whistled through the grass in the silence of night, the temperature slightly cooler than the day but not at all chilly.

A sudden gust whipped his hair into his face again. With a startled blinking, he suddenly realized that he had been staring at the night sky for a minute much too long for one who had just been following a path of importance - for if it truly didn't change he would have further chances to observe its beauty, while the wind was ever-moving and would not wait for him forever.

Before he could begin to move, a sudden gust with incredible strength drew the feather from where it had been tucked securely in his cape, perhaps fed up with his standing around, and he quickly grasped for it, only for it to flutter higher into the sky, just barely evading his fingertips.

"W-wait! Please give that back!" He exclaimed as the feather began to twirl and float away, carried in the wind. He ran after it to pursue it - for he could not possibly lose such a precious object, but it was always several steps ahead of him and every time he reached out to grasp at it, the wind lifted it to a height just beyond his reach. He ran until he did not realize he'd traveled a great distance, eyes trained on the runaway object that he pursued, the bright white feather which seemed to almost glow under the light of the moon above, like a beacon leading him to a destined location. This continued until finally, finally , the wind stopped just as suddenly as it had first appeared, and he reached out and took the feather gently into his hands before it could flutter to the ground in the sudden absence of a breeze to keep it aloft. As he tucked the feather safely away once more with a heavy breath of relief, he looked up to see that the wind had led him to a massive tree that rose from the ground in a field where no others grew around it. A statue sat proud and tall at the forefront of this grand tree, the figure on the pristine stone pedestal seeming to be a smaller version of the grand statue that stood before the cathedral in new Mondstadt. Perhaps now he could get a better glimpse at the anemo archon’s face. 

He squinted, for from this angle, it was difficult to make out such details accurately. No, surely this angle was simply playing tricks on his eyes, because the figure in the statue almost looked like-

A flash of green at the tree's bottom caught his eye and he cast his gaze downward to see the green-clad figure from earlier seated at the base of the grand tree, leaning against the bark. The figure was still, eyes closed as if resting. With each soft breath the figure in green exhaled, the wind seemed to blow softly as if in sync.

He cautiously began to approach, but the ground would betray him. At the single crack of a fallen twig underfoot, glowing turquoise eyes snapped open and the bard in green moved faster than the boy was able to react. He found himself faced with the tip of an arrow, knocked against a glimmering bow that appeared out of seemingly the air itself, condensed anemo gathering quickly at the tip of the pointed weapon.

“Who are you and why do you wear the face of someone long dead?” The strange bard questioned.

The boy answered simply, “I believe I should be asking that question instead.”

The hands that drew the arrow back faltered momentarily. The boy held the other’s gaze. The eyes of this bard in green held such a strange intensity. It seemed impossible for one’s gaze to contain such kindness side by side with such a strong threatening danger, yet the eyes that met his own were both at once and yet so much more.

Slowly and hesitantly, he brought his hand to his heart.

The boy inhaled slowly. “Earlier this day, I awoke alone in the ruins of a city long dead. There I met kind friends who led me safely to the world beyond. I found a beautiful new city and heard tales of a kind and benevolent archon. I learned that this land is one of freedom and plentiful life, that this land is one of gentle winds. The wind… It has been leading me wherever I seek to go. By Celestia, it knows . When I wished in my heart to find my dearest friend, by any mere hope that they still walked the thousand winds of this new land, it led me to you.”

He paused, then, “It’s you, isn’t it Venti? Lest the way you appear in my image be any obvious factor, your reactions are so truly familiar.”

The bard in green frowned and backed away several steps to gain distance between them. “Stop, stop that. You sound so much like him,” the other’s voice wavered, cracked from emotional strain. “You look like him, but you can’t be him. If this is some cruel trick please stop now and don’t- don’t do that with his image”

“Wait- Halt, I plead! I- I can prove- I’m- Please just wait a moment longer!”

The bard in green paused, a cautious look in emerald eyes.

He was suddenly left to ponder as the other awaited his next move with a finger that pinned an arrow to the low-held bow. Ah, how could he possibly prove himself?

Once, there was a boy. A boy who sang of hope and freedom amidst an imprisoning storm. Once there was a song. A song which drew the attention of a small wisp of wind. The hope in the boy’s heart would grant the little wisp of wind an appearance, and eventually the hope of the people would grant it solid form. The boy would sing to the people as the little wisp of wind joined him by his side, and upon hearing his songs the people would hold their heads to the sky - wondering if such hope would be enough to bring them victory.

An idea came to him.

He began humming a soft melody. It was a familiar song- a song of freedom long lost to the winds of time. His song. One he had written himself and the song he had been playing when Venti had first appeared to him. It was one particular song they'd sang around campfires, gathered in hidden corners out of sight of Decarabian's patrolling guards. Alas, he did not have a lyre to play, so he would have to settle with only his voice.

A flurry of emotions flashed in turquoise eyes and he silently begged that Venti would not panic and run again as he continued to sing. He closed his eyes, lost to the memories it brought back.

A second voice joined his own. It was Venti, vocals pure and gentle, harmonizing with the ancient melody. The boy felt tears dwell in his eyes. Of course just as only he would know to sing his own song, only Venti too would know this melody from heart - for it was one the wind wisp had heard him play many a time long ago. For truly had they both not been alive in that ancient time, neither would know the tune, with words they now began to sing in a language of old since lost to time. If either had doubted the other’s true identity before this very moment - that doubt was no more.

As they sang he could feel a gust of wind blow up and around, picking loose leaves from the tree above that then fluttered down upon them like gentle and light raindrops. It was as if the wind, too, was celebrating their reunion. 

They sang one final harmonic note at the song's end - it was a beautiful melody composed in a tune like birdsong.

Finally, the melody faded and before the boy could even fully open his eyes, Venti had rushed forward and enveloped him in a hug so tight yet so careful and gentle - like he was but a porcelain replica at risk of shattering. In return, the young bard wrapped his arms around his dear friend, reveling in how it felt to hug someone he’d never really been able to hug before. Oh, they were the same height now! And oh, he could never possibly have hugged the little wind sprite the same way for fear of simply squishing them. And yet- Venti appeared as a human now. The bard in green who clutched him tightly was still the wind at heart, though now Venti had a human form, Venti looked like him. Had his dearest friend really taken on his image? The thought alone brought even more tears to his eyes.

“I must be dreaming. I must- I must be- This can’t be real its- It just can’t be. I-I’m-” Venti sobbed, clutching at his cape as if it was just an illusion that would vanish the moment both of them let go. 

"I'm real. I'm here. Truly here." The young bard choked back a sob of his own as he answered. “ You’re real. You’re here.”

“You are. I am. We’re here and it’s real.” Venti softly replied.

It felt like it had been forever and still not long enough as Venti finally pulled away from the hug, eyes wide and shining.

"Never in a thousand years could I have fathomed meeting you again like this. I-I missed you so much." Venti sobbed. "However impossible it feels.. Welcome back, Himmel. Welcome home.”

With tears now flowing freely from his own eyes, the young bard did not at first register the name Venti had called him by. Barely able to pull his thoughts together, he suddenly asked,

“Himmel?”

This inquiry seemed to snap Venti out of momentary wonder and the bard in green suddenly looked immensely flustered - like one would look when caught slipping the truth while telling a lie.

“Oh! That’s right, you never knew!” Venti exclaimed.

“Do pardon?”

“Himmel! That was the name I called you by." At the young bard's further confusion, Venti continued, "when you first called me Venti I was so overjoyed to have a name - the winds would never receive names of their own you see. Of course these days I name them myself knowing how much joy it brought me - so when I found out you didn't have one either I.. Felt like repaying the favor, but I never had any way of telling you so instead it became a nickname I'd call you to only myself." Venti looked away bashfully. "To them, you would be 'the nameless bard', to me, you would always be Himmel. It means sky, the heavens if you will."

Did Venti truly..? “A name.. I would never have thought that you'd given a name for a name. Himmel .. I would be honored to accept the name you've given me as my own. Thank you, Venti, it means so much more to me than you'll ever know."

The tiny hint of a happy expression that he’d learned to identify on the little wind wisp’s face was nothing compared to the bright and joyful smile his dear friend - in human form - gave him now.

“What made you guess it was me?” Venti asked him then - his head tilted in a look of curiosity.

An image came to his mind of the little wind wisp doing this very same action - an inquiring head tilt - making him giggle.

“Your mannerisms are still the same, dear friend. Much has changed about you, yet I know you well enough to see what has not. Besides,” he giggled. "You look just like me!"

Venti blinked wide-eyed at him, then began to tug absently on a braid, eyes suddenly cast downward. "I.. I wished to honor your image, to make sure Mondstadt would never forget the one who truly brought them to freedom. I'm sorry, I know you must be uncomfortable seeing a copy of yourself standing before you."

"Uncomfortable? My dearest friend, why would I ever feel anything less than honored?" Venti's eyes snapped up at this, full of shock, and the young bard - no, Himmel. His name was Himmel. - realized that perhaps his dearest friend had always been doubting what he’d think of such an identity.

"You spread my image to the people all these years in the future," he continued. "You sing my songs for the world to hear. You've kept the memory. You- you've kept the memory of everything from times long passed" His voice cracked at this. "And I'm-I'm so grateful. So, so very grateful."

After a moment's pause to wipe forming tears on his sleeve and collect his composure again, he met Venti's shocked gaze. "May you introduce yourself to me? The current you, Venti. The you that stands before me has grown so much from the curious little wisp of wind I knew when we first met. I am beyond overjoyed to see the person you've become and I want to know who you are today. "

For many seconds, perhaps even a minute passing, Venti seemed truly at a loss for words. The wind whispered through the grass as if it were giving a gentle assurance. Then, finally, Venti obliged. 

"Why, of course! Because what is a bard who cannot tell his own story?" With a nod of his head, the bard in green quickly took on a confident composure, even placing a foot upon a root of the tree for extra emphasis and flair as he placed his hands on his hips.

"Well then, allow me to introduce Venti the bard! Expert in showmanship, connoisseur in the arts of romance, and the finest singer in all the land! Three time winner of the greatest bard in Mondstadt, might I add." Venti winked. “For years I have brought music and tales of legends past to the people of Mondstadt and sing songs brought on by the winds of time.” Placing a hand on his chest and holding the other high, Venti struck an energetic pose - it reminded Himmel of the pose one might give a statue of a heroic figure.

“Are these claims you make true or simply an exaggeration for my first impression?” Himmel inquired with a raised eyebrow.

“I simply am that impressive, dear Himmel!”

“Well I can’t say the same about the rest but I certainly do not doubt your skills in showmanship.” An amused tone of voice.

“Hey!” Venti exclaimed with a lighthearted glare that quickly dissolved into laughter between the both of them.

“To hear that you’ve become a bard- it brings me such joy!" Himmel exclaimed when their laughter had subsided. "When I heard you play earlier - I was quickly drawn to the sound of your lyre and voice. You possess such talent, Venti.”

“Ah, but where do you think I learned my skills?” Venti told him, sending a bright gaze his way to emphasize. “I had only the best to serve as my inspiration.”

Himmel returned his gaze. “Yet you have had centuries more practice in my absence, dear friend, perhaps even millennia.”

Venti’s expression broke into a bashful smile. 

“Perhaps one day soon, we can perform a duet for the people of Mondstadt!”

“I would sincerely love to join you in your melody.” Himmel replied.

For some time, the two sat beneath the great tree and talked - Venti expressing his utmost joy at the idea of finally being able to tell Himmel all sorts of things now that he had a human form with which to speak with.

“Have you met Barbatos?” Himmel asked finally after Venti had answered a couple of his questions regarding current-era etiquette.

Venti blinked owlishly, then answered, “oh! Er- Yes, in a way?”

“Is he truly the kind god they speak of?”

Venti smiled and nodded.

 “The people of Mondstadt speak of his absence, yet still they seem to care for him greatly.”

“He has not appeared to the people in a very long time, yes. However, the age of gods is dwindling and the archons lack the same power that they did back then. So he probably has his reasons, right?” Venti said with a shrug.

Himmel answered, “I am simply overjoyed to know that Mondstadt is under the protection of one who cares for his people.”

Venti’s soft smile turned into a grin at this. There was a bright sparkle in his eyes.

A moment of silence passed with only the sound of the wind rustling the leaves of the tree overhead before Himmel suddenly remembered something else he’d meant to ask.

 “Oh! Venti,”

The bard in green turns to him and upon seeing his expression, the smile faded into a questioning gaze.

 “If I may inquire.. Where shall I stay tonight? It is getting quite late and I- I do not suppose you might allow me a night of rest in your home?”

At this, Venti glanced at the sky as if having a momentary realization at how late into the night it was.

He scratched awkwardly at the back of his neck, “Ah, about that.. All of Mondstadt is my home, so I don’t really have a solid place to stay… I never really have.” Venti replied with an incredibly apologetic and sheepish expression much to Himmel’s concerned look. “And I also don’t have a single mora to my name at the moment so an inn stay is out of the question.” He added, then brought his hand to his chin in thought. “ Unless .. Hmm…”

Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he looked to Himmel. “Actually, I happen to know just the person who can help! If he’ll be willing to help, that is.” Venti exclaimed, hopping confidently to his feet and motioning for Himmel to follow him. “Follow me! To the city of Mondstadt!"

Venti took him back to the city, where Himmel noticed that compared to the liveliness he had seen just around when the sun had begun to sleep, the city appeared to have already gone quiet for the night, with the bustling folks finally turning in and leaving the streets empty and quiet - save for flickering lamplight.

At the end of a street, they reached a building where bright light still streamed through every window - a truly lively and inviting appearance for a building so late at night. 

Venti turned to Himmel. “Welcome to the Angel’s Share! Oh I sure hope Sir Diluc is in tonight. Do be nice to him, he’s the only one I trust to help you get a place to stay but I miiight have wracked up a bit of debt, so he doesn't like me very much.” Venti told a confused Himmel with an apologetic grin as the bard in green opened the door and the two entered the building.

The tavern was cozy and well lit despite the darkness outside - and incredibly busy despite the late hour. There was a distinct chatter among the various occupants. Himmel noticed the way some of them - invasively curious about the new arrivals into the tavern - seemed to squint at the appearance of him and Venti, confusion etched on their faces. Most of them were drunk, which came in luck for them as people didn’t ask any questions as Venti led him towards the bar. There he noticed a few figures gathered who seemed to stand out from the general crowd. Two people seated at the stools, and a busy man behind the counter.

The first was someone with dark blue hair and a rather fancy outfit. This figure was sitting with their back turned, using a glass of wine to gesture expressively in conversation to the bartender - who could not have been any less interested. The second was a woman with dark short-cut hair and an equally dark outfit who sat so still and unanimated in comparison to the rest of the bar’s occupants that he almost didn’t realize she was there at first.

The bartender in question did not seem to be paying much attention to what the person in blue was saying, and instead actively shuffled bottles along shelving. The boy blinked in surprise at the man’s appearance. Long messy red hair tied in the back and a resting scowl spoke of an immense similarity to a good friend from thousands of years before. This surely must be the man who is the descendant of the very same Sir Ragnvindr he'd known in his time.

This man was the first of the group at the bar to notice their entrance and Venti waved. The man’s resting scowl seemed to fall further into a full disgusted frown upon seeing the bard in green. However, once the man’s gaze fell on the boy next to Venti, this expression seemed to change drastically, morphing into confusion. The red-haired man froze in the midst of using a cloth to clean a glass, eyes flickering between the two bards in confusion.

Meanwhile, the blue-haired man seemed to take notice that their company had suddenly paused and swiveled in the stool to look. This revealed the face of a man with an eye patch that did not seem to conceal a sharp gaze beneath. A questioning expression on the man's face morphed into a truly amusing look of dumbfounded surprise upon seeing two copies of the same bard. Himmel watched as he picked up the bottle at his side and looked it over with concern, looked at the bard duo, and then looked back to the bottle.

“ Goodness me , well that’s certainly enough wine for tonight.” The blue-haired man concluded.

“Oh in the name of Celestia, there’s two of them now.” The red-haired man grumbled.

“Hello Diluc. Hello Sir Kaeya.” Venti answered in a tone that suggested he was well acquainted with these two men.

Himmel noted this new information: The red haired man was Diluc Ragnvindr - the “richest man in Mondstadt'' according to Albedo’s words, the descendant of the knight Himmel had once been friends with according to his appearance, and the man who would be able to give him a place to stay according to Venti. Under the man’s scrutinizing gaze, he suddenly felt ten times smaller. This man seemed incredibly important and he did not wish to mess up a first impression.

"I'd like you to meet Himmel." Venti introduced the boy with an energetic gesture. "He just arrived in Mondstadt earlier today and he doesn't have a place to stay. So I was wondering if perhaps-"

The red-haired man cut him off sternly. "No. Whatever it is, I want no part of it."

"Oh Diluc, please , have some heart. Listen to what he has to say?" The blue haired man - whom he now guessed to be the one named Kaeya - leaned against the counter with a mocking smirk, words slurring ever so slightly. “I’m much too curious for you to just let this go.”

Diluc looked between Kaeya and the two bards, then made eye contact with Venti.

"If you'd like to explain to me the sudden arrival of this.. Lookalike of yours, perhaps I will consider."

"I am also curious, I must admit.”

The woman who sat in the shadows finally spoke up, making Himmel almost jump as he had momentarily forgotten she was there - Venti too, it would seem, as his dear friend next to him did jump.

“Ah, Sister Rosaria! Fancy seeing you here!” Venti exclaimed suddenly. Himmel glanced at him from the corner of his eyes. The smile the other sent her way was basic - not friendly yet also not hostile. He could tell that much - that this was not at all the same friendly greeting he had given Diluc or the knowing jokester’s grin he’d exchanged with Kaeya. Venti's entire posture was different now, less laid back, but taller and more assertive. It was truly interesting how Venti's entire posture seemed to change based on how comfortable he was with a person. Only if one would think to look, would they be able to notice the slight changes. He could also discern by this that this ‘Sister Rosaria’ was not by any means a friend of Venti’s and simply another presence in the bar.

"Good evening to both of you." The woman addressed the two bards with a curt nod. Her gaze did not lift from her respective glass as she spoke but in no way was she ignoring their presence. "You may call me Rosaria."

“Himmel.” The young bard answered after discerning that she was speaking to him.

“..Nice to meet you.”

“..Likewise.” Himmel replied carefully - trying desperately (and to no avail, it would seem) to read the intentions behind her words and movements.

"Ventii, come join us! It’s all you can drink tonight!" Kaeya said suddenly.

"It is not 'all you can drink', I just haven't stopped you yet." Diluc replied.

Kaeya paused in the midst of another sip.

"You always stop me ." Venti spoke up with a pout.

The man retorted immediately, "That's because Kaeya, unlike you , can actually afford to pay for his drinks."

Venti had left Himmel's side to lean against the counter, practically invading Diluc’s space, who looked about ready to grab him by the collar of his blouse and throw him from the tavern.

"I'll have a traveler’s lonesome , please," Venti grinned. “I’ll tell you everything after I get a drink.” 

Diluc paused then. A particular look seemed to pass through his eyes at Venti’s words. His eyes narrowed. Venti smiled back innocently.

The red-haired man sighed. Grumbling something under his breath, he procured a spoon from a cupboard and struck it against the glass he had just been cleaning. The loud ting rang throughout the tavern. It took several attempts of this before the chatter in the building had finally stopped altogether and he was able to speak up.

“The Angel’s Share will be closing early tonight. I would like to ask that everyone please finish your drinks, pay if you haven’t, and leave so that I can close up in peace.”

"Not even a glass of wine? Aww, you're no fun." Venti slumped against the counter in exaggerated disappointment, but obliged a moment later as he pulled away to return to Himmel’s side.

“But-” Himmel began, but Venti’s hand on his shoulder stopped him. He turned to meet his friend's gaze, and Venti simply sent him a small smile and winked. 

Chatter rose once more, now mostly in the form of disappointed drunken grumbles and the clinking of glasses and mugs as guests put down their drinks and began to shuffle toward the door. 

Kaeya looked immensely distraught. “Eh? You can’t be serious! It’s not even-"

“Your total for tonight is 10,000 mora.”

Kaeya stuttered at him with slurred protests for several moments, then finally sighed with an expression of defeat and produced a small bag from the pocket of his coat. The contents inside made a jingling noise as it was dropped on the bar counter and Diluc picked it up.

“Sister Rosaria, please see to it that he leaves in a timely manner.” Diluc then said, gaze turning to the woman.

There was the sound of a stool dragging across floorboards as the woman stood immediately.

"Of course." She nodded, as if this was somehow a normal occurrence, before grabbing the partly drunken man by the fur of his coat. 

Before Kaeya could let himself get dragged away, he reached out to take the bottle he'd been using with him, only to have it snatched and returned to the shelf behind the bar by an unapologetic Diluc.

Kaeya made a noise of disappointment as Rosaria pulled him through the door.

The bard duo followed behind them and as did the final other tavern guests. The door to the tavern slammed shut behind them not long after, and the sound of footsteps from inside was followed up by the click of a lock sliding across. Himmel’s heart dropped knowing they’d just lost his only hope at a place to stay for the night. That man had been so quick to chase them out and close everything in order to avoid Venti’s confrontation. Perhaps he'd thought too highly of Sir Ragnvindr's descendant, for the man he once knew would never have turned down a friend in need.

This thought did not last long, however, as it seemed the blue-haired man from earlier had taken it upon himself to engage in conversation with Venti.

"Venti! You didn't tell me you had a twin!" Kaeya, seeming to have already forgotten the lost wine, slipped his way out of the woman’s grip to sling an arm around Venti and begin chatting animatedly with the bard. He began to pull Venti away from Himmel’s side.

"Well um- actually-" Venti tried to refute this and remain with his dear friend, but Kaeya remained persistent.

"Oh you must tell me more, especially since a certain Sir Diluc was rude enough to cut it short.." Kaeya continued to talk and Venti laughed to play along with the drunk man’s energy. Himmel watched as Kaeya began pulling Venti farther down the path. He was about to move to follow, but noticed that the woman from earlier had taken this opportunity to pause and look at him and was observing him with a strange look on her face.

With a step as quiet as a predator hunting prey and a side-eyed glance at the other duo who were stuck in animated chatter quite a bit farther away, Rosaria swept closer to him. Himmel began to take a step back to put distance between them again, concerned that she was about to leave him dead in that alleyway - while perfectly out of sight from Venti and the other man - but the woman instead stood there and crossed her arms - and said something which caused him to freeze.

“I know you entered this city with Albedo,” She muttered softly. “I don't know how well you know him, but you’d do well to be cautious of him.”

Her expression, the look in her eyes, surprised him. Despite her hostile aura, this woman did not seem to have bad intentions - rather, the look she gave him was genuine. There was a guarded concern in her eyes that he did not notice previously.

“What do you mean?” He asked her.

“I’m curious about your case with that windborne bard, but I’ll admit I’m even more curious about your relationship to that alchemist. It’s clear you’re not from around here, so be careful. He’s been running some strange stuff behind the backs of the knights recently. Dangerous stuff.”

“He is- What? What sort of things do you speak of?"

“I don’t know myself. I’ve been keeping track of him and that assistant of his on their outings. This morning, when they set off.. They returned with you. And now you show up again in Angel’s Share with the bard who you bare a striking resemblance to. Who are you?”

“..If you can not give me the knowledge to support the ill manners you accuse Sir Albedo of, then I shall not share with you my identity.”

“Hm. Fair.” This answer did not seem to bother her at all.

With how easily she'd gone undetected in the tavern earlier, and the way she walked with the footsteps of an assassin, there was no doubt that she was someone capable of watching from the shadows. He shuddered, for the thought of someone watching his every move the moment he'd set foot in the city was a startling one. Perhaps he was not as safe as he'd thought, perhaps the welcoming environment had left him much too distracted to remember to watch his back - for no matter how joyous a time and no matter how many thousands of years passed, there would always be people worth fearing in the world. And these words of caution about Albedo, how could she think he’d believe such words without proof? Albedo and Sucrose were the closest thing he had to friends besides Venti since stepping into this new world and likely without their assistance on his journeys he would not still be alive and standing where he was.

“Himmel!”

He could not fathom any of this for longer than a moment as he looked to see Venti emerging from back around the corner with a wave, prompting her to clear her throat and quickly turn her gaze back to Kaeya who was following a little ways behind Venti looking a little disappointed at something Venti had said. Kaeya made a quick move to duck as Rosaria approached him to avoid being grabbed again. However, she moved much quicker than him and she immediately grasped him by the back of his coat with the opposite hand and yanked him off his feet.

Kaeya, now being dragged, defeatedly waved goodbye to Venti and Himmel, as they turned the corner of a nearby building and disappeared into the night. 

Himmel moved with intentions to follow their exit, but was stopped by Venti’s hand upon his sleeve. He turned to look at his dear friend to see Venti holding a finger to his lips in a gesture of quiet, a sly smile spread across his face. After waiting a moment to ensure the other duo were indeed gone, he motioned for Himmel to follow, and the two bards silently made their way around the back of the Tavern where Venti knocked gently on the back door. Much to Himmel's surprise, Diluc opened a lock from inside and let them back into the tavern. Once inside, Himmel watched as Diluc poked his head around the open door to glance around in caution before pulling back inside and closing the door behind him, locking it again for an extra measure of safety.

Inside, the man leaned against a wooden support beam and crossed his arms, looking at the two bards with an exhausted expression.

“This better be worth the trouble of clearing out my business at this hour. Now that it’s just us, explain .”

Himmel glanced at Venti in concern, but the other simply smiled and nodded. “It’s alright.” Venti said, “Diluc is a good friend and trustworthy accomplice. We can tell him the truth.”

The man huffed in response to this.

Venti stepped forward, cleared his throat, and gestured toward Himmel.

“I would like to introduce Himmel, the very leader of the rebellion against the tyrant of old Mondstadt and the true founder of this city in many ways. He has returned suddenly from the land of the dead and seeks the answers to his return.”

Before Diluc could even think too long on the words of this introduction, Venti continued.

“And Himmel, I would like you to meet Sir Diluc Ragnvindr. Descendant of the long line of Ragnvindr knights and the owner of Mondstadt's beloved wine industry!”

“It’s wonderful to formally meet you. I heard much about you upon my arrival in this city.” Himmel commented, holding out his hand in greeting.

The two exchanged a friendly handshake and though Diluc did not smile - he assumed this man was not the type to smile much - the man seemed pleased with his professional greeting, and perhaps a little surprised that someone with the ability to present so maturely and formally was the beloved friend of Venti.

Diluc looked him up and down. Himmel could not for the life of him figure out what the man seemed to be thinking. His initial impression of the man was undoubtedly confusing, but he should've known to trust Venti's plans, as well as anyone Venti called a friend.

Eventually Diluc raised a hand to rub his forehead, then finally spoke up. “Rebellion leader from old Mondstadt… I’d assume this was some sort of joke, but..” He glanced at Venti, who simply grinned, “I think at this point I’ve seen enough strange happenings in my lifetime that I’m almost inclined to believe you.” He looked between the two of them, “Old Mondstadt.. I only vaguely remember mention of a previous ancient Mondstadt from millennia ago. How long ago exactly would this be?"

Venti brought a hand to his chin in thought. "Ahh, let's see.. Maybe around.. three thousand years at this point? Or was it two thousand? I've lost count!" He finished this with an awkward laugh.

Diluc blinked. It seemed to take a few minutes for this to register in his mind before he spoke again.

“...I.. See,” Was all he said. 

A moment of silence passed between them as Diluc seemed to decide this timeframe was not worth pondering on as simply a mortal living for less than a fraction of that time - Himmel understood and sympathized quite a bit. It seemed that out of the three of them, only Venti who had always been one with the winds of time seemed to be capable of comprehending such a gap in time and treated it with such nonchalance that Himmel wondered whether Venti found it difficult to witness so many generations and civilizations pass while still remaining the same as he always was.

Diluc fixed his gaze on Himmel, arms crossed. “So if you’re telling the truth, then you don't know why you're here. It seems I won't get any real answers out of you, will I?"

“Answers are what we’re hoping to look for.. Tomorrow that is, because Himmel here needs a place to stay while we figure things out.” Venti sent Himmel a look of sympathy as Diluc hummed in thought at this. “And that’s exactly why I came to you. Come on, a favor for an old friend?”

Diluc glared at him. “We’re not- Ugh..”

Then, Diluc looked at Himmel again, observing the boy’s appearance - simply a boy awoken in an unfamiliar world: hair beginning to look unkempt from all the times throughout the day it had been tousled by the wind, tired eyes that betrayed his exhaustion despite the way he continued to stand tall (an old habit) - and Himmel watched as Diluc’s shoulders fell, and so did his expression - even if only for a moment before a stoic barrier was back up. Venti spoke no words of interference, though he seemed ready to retaliate should Diluc reject. However, the red-haired man only continued with a lighter tone,

“ Fine , I hope you’re telling the truth, because if this is some elaborate prank, I will not stop the knights from arresting you this time. Both of you.” He sent Venti another sharp glance and the bard in green held his hands up in a defensive gesture as he turned his gaze back to Himmel. “I can offer you a room at my guest home here in Mondstadt. I’m assuming you’re not picky considering your.. Situation.”

He glanced over at Venti, who looked immensely relieved, and nodded. Diluc pushed himself away from the support beam he’d been leaning against with a huff.

He commented. “I’ll join you in a moment after I’m finished closing up.”

“Alright!” Venti replied with a mock-salute.

“Thank you kindly, sir.” Himmel replied.

And so he found himself standing before a building among the many homes in the city of Mondstadt, mouth agape.

“Pardon me sir, do you own this whole building?”

“Yes.” Diluc said matter-of-factly as he fumbled at the door with an iron key he had pulled from his pockets.

“And you mentioned that this is only your secondary home for extended stay within the city?”

“..Yes.”

“Whoaaa.”

Venti giggled as Himmel’s eyes went wide in wonder - the young bard unable to fathom someone owning more than one home, let alone two of such size.

Diluc pushed open the entry door and Himmel looked further in wonder at the contents of the moonlit interior.

“The servants are asleep at this hour, I apologize.” He told Himmel, who did not have time to word his shocked exclamation of ‘you have servants in your secondary estate?!’ before he quickly added, “Please come in and try to keep your footsteps quiet.”

Himmel entered curiously, peering around at the various decor - some being items he’d never seen before - strange creations from foreign lands that would never have reached the borders of the Mondstadt of his time.

“Oh no you don’t.” At the sound of the man’s voice and Venti’s annoyed whine, Himmel turned to see that Diluc had moved to close the door on Venti, who cheekily stuck his leg between the door frame and held it open.

“Last time I let you in, the key to my wine cellars went missing.” Diluc glared at him. "You're banned from this property as well as Dawn Winery, remember? You're lucky I made an exception for your friend."

"Whaat? But you can't just ban me! I'm Bar-" Venti's voice trailed off momentarily and his eyes momentarily met Himmel’s, then he quickly continued. "I'm- I'm a bard! You wouldn't dare ban this bard , would you?" 

This only intensified Diluc's unamused glare.

“Alright alright, fine, I’ll be off!" Venti replied with a lighthearted huff.

Venti peered around the door at him just long enough to wave and exclaim a loud "goodbye for now!", to which Himmel returned the favor as Venti finally retreated and Diluc closed the door with a sigh.

“Does he truly not have a place to stay?" Himmel asked as the man slid a lock closed with a sigh. "Should you not be nicer to him in his homeless state?"

“You’d be surprised," Diluc answered. "Even if I had the favor to invite him in, he wouldn't stay for long. I don't believe he even sleeps most nights. That bard goes wherever the wind does. Don’t ponder it too much.”

Himmel watched Diluc cross to a table, where he picked up a candlestick, then to a shelf where he obtained a match to light it with. Flickering light cast across the walls as newly born flames danced on candle tips.

Diluc then turned to him. “That friend of yours is quite the wine lover, by the way. And seeing as to how he never seems to have the funds on him to pay for such endeavors, perhaps you might be able to keep him from the drinks while you’re here.”

Himmel laughed softly. "Is he truly? I cannot say I am surprised. I shall try."

Diluc led Himmel up a set of stairs as the boy observed expensive decor on the walls through the candlelight with wonder. Finally, they reached a door and Diluc turned to him, then spoke in a low whisper.

“This is the guest room. I hardly have any use for it so everything should still be clean and made. A maid will deliver your breakfast in the morning.”

Himmel nodded, still slightly in wonder, and Diluc bid him goodnight.

Then, he heard the man muttering to himself as he descended the stairs, catching most bits of what he was saying.

 “Can’t have a single normal night. An ancient bard is staying in my guest room, oh Barbatos help me.… Cause of all my troubles.. Foolish bard.. Foolish god…”

What an odd move it was to slander Barbatos, although Himmel decided not to ponder too hard the nonsensical nighttime ramblings of an overworked businessman.

When Himmel entered the room, he was greeted with a sight unlike anything he’d ever seen before. Spotless of any dirt, wooden furniture that was minimal yet fancy occupied this room. Red curtains patterned with gold were pulled back to reveal a window that cast the light of the moon upon a tidy bed. It felt, in all ways, wrong to be setting foot in a room that previously in Himmel’s time would have been considered a luxury belonging to only that of royalty or gods. Given, he had never had the chance to witness these rooms in person himself, only in sketches within scrolls. Detailed illustrations of the interior of Decarabian’s tower that the people he knew had risked much to obtain in the rebellion’s plans before their fight.

Crossing immediately to the bed, he threw himself upon the soft cushion - laughing softly in pure disbelief as he stared up at the ceiling.

He only got a moment to admire the unfamiliarly soft feeling of the bed in the room before there was a tapping sound on the window pane. His head snapped up to see Venti hovering just outside. He blinked, wide eyed, knowing that he was on a higher floor of a rather tall building, as the bard in green simply responded with an enthusiastic wave. Pushing himself up off the bed, he went to the window and fumbled momentarily with it - unsure how the mechanism works - until he was able to pull open the glass panes. Venti hopped inside as a rushing breeze of cool night air followed him.

“How could you possibly-?” Himmel questioned in a tone akin to a yelling whisper, still blinking in shock. “This building is quite tall, how could you possibly have retained the ability to fly in that form?”

Venti simply laughed in return, crossing over to the bed and plopping himself down on it. “I simply forgot to say good night, can I not wish my dearest friend good night?”

“And tap on my window in the middle of the night to do so? That’s not the only reason, is it?" Himmel observed, closing the window and going to sit down on the bed beside him. 

Venti looked at the floorboards, avoiding his gaze, a soft smile upon his face. “Observant as ever.” He sighed. “There's.. Something I want you to know before I leave you for the night, I think it's important that you hear it from me and no one else. Something earlier made me realize how silly it would be of me to keep this a secret from you.” At this, he looked up, eyes of sky met stormy blue and the bard in green shifted his hands to tug on a braid as he had done earlier in the day - something Himmel now knew to be a sign of nerves. He was beginning to understand some of the new mannerisms of his friend in this form.

"I’m going to tell you what events transpired after Decarabian fell. Promise me you won’t freak out and also please promise me you won’t say anything until the story is finished.”

“I-” Himmel blinked twice. “Yes, alright. I promise.”

Venti breathed deeply. 

There was a minute of silence, where Venti’s silence made him wonder if his dear friend was okay - and he was about to say something and tell Venti that if he did not wish to relive those memories, then there was no need to tell the story.

But then Venti began to speak, sounding as if he was reciting the ending of a tale from a story.

“When the tyrant was defeated and the storm clouds cleared, the position of anemo archon was left to two potential candidates. The wolf Lupus Boreas, and the wind spirit. However, the wolf would reject the title of archon, believing himself - one with a heart of ice and a hatred of humans - unfit to become a ruler for the people. So by default of his 

Himmel nearly fell off the bed with how quickly he jumped backwards.  "Wait! Then that would mean-!" 

"Shhh- shh!” Venti responded quickly. “You promised you wouldn't say anything! Let me continue, please?"

Himmel nodded, quickly. 

Venti continued, “The spirit of wind was granted a seat among the seven in Celestia and given the name Barbatos. As the first use of his power, the new archon would take on the form of his most beloved friend. As the second, he would clear the snow from the lands with warm winds and cut the peaks of the mountainous landscape to toss them to the sea, and create a landscape that would be safe for the people to inhabit. He worked with those who had survived the war to build a new Mondstadt that would be one of freedom and ensure the landscape would be safe and prosperous. It was only the near beginning of what would come to be known as the Archon war - a centuries long war between gods as the seats of the gods in Celestia were opened to new challengers one by one. But Barbatos and those who fought alongside him stood their ground and came out victorious among them. The god of freedom and wind, as this god came to be known.. Became one of seven rulers and Mondstadt was established as a nation of Teyvat. And somehow- somehow. Managed to withstand all of - of time. All of time. To become one of the only original seven who still stands. I still.. Will never know why. Why me? I ask myself that often.” Then a pause as Venti seemed to gather his composure. “Well- there you have it, ehe. The story of how the wind - how I - became the god of freedom.”

Himmel could only stare at him as Venti stared at the floor in pensive thought. Himmel wondered why he would choose to tell the story of Barbatos in third person - yet an even greater matter at hand left him purely speechless and stuttering for words.

“You- y- you’re the anemo archon. You’re Barbatos.”

Venti nodded, avoiding his gaze.

“ You’re the anemo archon !” He pointed at his friend with an expression of awe, as if not believing Venti was truly speaking about himself. 

“Yes, yes! That’s me! Don’t wear it out.” Venti suddenly laughed, the solemn demeanor gone in favor of his usual playful self. “And lower your voice, I’m done for if sir Diluc finds out I snuck in!”

But Himmel was lost in wonder, staring at his dearest friend who seemed to appear in a completely new light. The bard in green who sat beside him was a god. The very god who rose to protect Mondstadt after Decarabian’s fall, the very god he’d wanted so desperately to meet… Was his dearest friend. Because of course, what kinder a soul to rule these lands than Venti? Venti was Barbatos - the anemo archon. Of course. It all made sense now. As did the youthful figure within the statues depicting Barbatos, the familiar appearance of twin braids that he had momentarily glimpsed upon the statue under that tree.

Then, Himmel started to giggle and Venti looked at him as if in concern that he may be going hysterical with the burden of this new information. Yet Himmel simply turned to him with shining eyes and said, “I am but a fool. I pleaded with the winds to help me find either you or Barbatos and the winds led me to you - because of course there was simply no one else to lead me to.” Himmel said with breathless amazement. “I thought that perhaps if I could speak to Barbatos he could help me find you. Ah, had I only been able to see the face of the statue of Barbatos back there when I first saw you, I would certainly have known in an instant. What a fool I was to not see the obvious right in front of me, truly.”

Venti giggled at this.

“You did this- all of this?" Himmel asked him, with wide, awestruck eyes. "You shaped the land, protected Monstadt, kept the winds and storms at bay.”

“The credit is not all mine, dear Himmel,” Venti commented with a forlorn glance. “I simply gave the people the tools to build a nation and allowed them the freedom to shape it.” His voice seemed to carry some hurt within, as if burdened with thoughts of the city’s past that he did not include in his story.

A beat of silence, Himmel decided it best to change the topic ever so slightly.

"Does Sir Diluc know? It seemed as if he did."

Venti nodded. “Yes, he does, but he doesn't treat me any differently and I truly appreciate that. Same goes for Master Jean, and the traveler! But they’re the only friends of mine currently in the city who know - besides you now, of course - so don't go yelling it to the heavens, alright?” Venti raised a finger to his lips and winked. "I like to keep a mortal appearance to most. To the general people of Mondstadt I'm just a mere bard. No need for any of them to know that their 'absentee' archon walks secretly among them."

Himmel nodded. Then, curious about the new mentions, he questioned, “Master Jean? The traveler?”

“Ah! Jean, the acting grandmaster of the Knights of Favonius! I’ll actually be taking you to see her tomorrow, I need to employ the knights if we want to find out the mystery behind your sudden return. The traveler.. Is a dear friend you may encounter if you’re lucky enough to be in the same place at the same time - but I believe it may be impossible for you both to meet right now." Then, Venti's expression turned serious. "Himmel, if you run into anyone else who knows who you are, please promise me you will be careful. There are other immortals and gods, who might kill you on the spot for the crime of defying time. I don't want to lose you again, so please promise me you'll be careful, alright?"

"Venti, you know that I am not afraid to face gods."

"No, not these gods. There are gods stronger than the archons . "

"I can fight, I know how to wield a weapon."

"You died the last time you faced a god."

"I-”

"And you don’t have a vision."

"A vision.." Himmel looked down at the turquoise orb that glimmered at Venti's hip. "I was told this was a symbol of recognition from the archons, a share of their power."

Venti nodded.

"What of your vision, then?" Himmel gestured at the anemo orb clipped to Venti's side with an inquiring expression. "I don't suppose you have a need to give yourself a share of your own power."

Venti laughed and looked down before gathering the charm into his hands. "This old thing? Just a fake. I just wanted to be able to use anemo without question. Plus, check this out!"

In a swirl of anemo, the fake vision shifted into a lyre in Venti's hands. Staring in wonder, Himmel remembered the way he'd seen Venti summon a bow in a similar motion.

The bard in green strummed the strings of anemo, which produced the most lovely tone.

It was then that Venti gave him a sympathetic gaze. “Ah, I’m sorry, I never meant to keep you up so late.”

“It is quite alright, it is I who asks too many questions. Can you blame me for my excitement? My dearest friend is the anemo archon.” With a soft laugh of disbelief, Himmel let himself fall backwards onto the soft pillow of the bed. "Were I less exhausted, perhaps I would be able to show my true thrill."

Venti moved to stand from the place where he was seated, however Himmel’s hand reached out to gently grasp his sleeve.

“Please, stay a moment longer, at least until I am asleep.”

“Of course.” Venti answered, smiling softly as he brought the lyre of anemo into his arms once more. “Would you like me to play a song?”

“That would be most wonderful.”

As he drifted off to sleep to the sound of gentle music, he would dream memories of an era long gone.

A young bard leaned against a stone pillar to rest for the night, looking to the wind wisp that rested on his shoulder. Before he could close his eyes, the wisp floated down to nudge at the lyre at the boy’s side.

The young bard smiled. “Oh? You would like me to play a song?”

The wisp nodded eagerly.

And so the young bard played a melody, a melody of freedom to bring them light in the darkness.

Perhaps Diluc, on his way to his own bedchambers, candlestick in hand, would hear the soft sound of a lyre muffled through the door of the guest room. And perhaps he would simply sigh and continue on.

Himmel awoke to the bright light of morning streaming into his eyes. For a single moment, he expected to feel the cold stone of a dirty alley between buildings beneath his back and to awaken realizing it was the morning before the rebellion’s attack and he’d dreamt up everything from his death to this beautiful new world out of his worries and hopes for what might happen if they finally took down the tyrant god.

However, when he moved his hand, it instead hit something soft and he jolted fully awake as a result, sitting up in the bed. No, it was no dream, he was truly in a bed - a real bed. He'd spent the night in a real, proper bed for the first time in his memories of life. And the view of the city from his window was most certainly real.

The curtains were open - Venti must have left them that way when leaving late at night - giving him the most wonderful view of the morning sky framed between the lovely buildings. He smiled softly as he pushed himself from the bed and crossed to the window where he pushed the glass panes open and inhaled the scent of morning carried on a breeze - the scent on the wind was soft and sweet, like flowers.

“No wonder you’ve been so kind to me.” He said aloud, unsure if the breeze that gently graced his face could truly hear his words. “My dearest friend is just as dear to you."

He then cast his gaze to the sky, and found himself squinting, as the sun had returned.

How interesting , he thought, when the moon rose into the sky, the sun ran from it. Similarly, when the sun decided it was time to take back its light, it chased the moon from its domain. Truly, stories from the past - and what light could be seen filtered through the clouds of storm during days in old Mondstadt - did not do such a beautiful cycle true justice.

His stomach flipped at the smell of food wafting from somewhere in the building and he realized with a jolt of concern that he had not eaten at all in the past day. He crossed to the door to his room and opened it in his curiosity, only to be greeted with the sight of a small platter, presented on the ground before it, where it had been kindly placed by someone within the house.

He enjoyed the most delicious meal he’d ever had in his life, then. Truly amazed at the developments of this new era.

The morning is lovely, and there aren’t many people around yet. Perhaps I will explore the area. He thought to himself with a glance out the window.

He rebraided his hair to tame the tousled locks and hummed a tune softly to himself as he readied once more for a new day.

When he went to wrap his cape around his shoulders again, something white fluttered to the floor and he bent to pick it up.

It was the feather.

Albeit a little ruffled during travel, it had remained with him this entire time. He smiled, for this was the feather that had led him to Venti. He never would have guessed that what he'd always longed to find would be the thing that would lead him back to what was most familiar. Perhaps it was something he should keep with him, as a lucky charm of sorts. After a moment’s consideration, he settled for attaching it to his belt, pinning it snugly between the fabric and metal clasp. Perfect. Now he could keep it with him - at least until he found a better way to carry it with him - and hopefully it would never be stolen away by the wind again.

Diluc had long since left for the day, and Himmel left without so much as seeing anyone within the house. Stepping out into the street, he observed his surroundings having only seen them in the darkness of night previously.

Without much thought behind it, he immediately began to head towards the city’s entrance, with the intention to further observe the beautiful green landscape of Mondstadt that he had witnessed the day before.

He found the entry gate easily by retracing his steps from the previous day. When he skipped across the city's bridge, a flurry of birds took flight, the sight causing him to stop and stare in wonder.

"Hey!" A kid's voice drew his eyes back from the sky to see a young, brown-haired boy standing a few feet from him. "You scared them away!"

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to, I truly didn’t.” Himmel replied. “Is it not lovely when they take flight?”

"They're my friends." The little boy crossed his arms with a pout. "I want them to stay."

"Isn't it in their right to fly free? They are not bound anywhere to the ground."

"Nu-uh! What if one day when they fly away and don’t come back? I don't want that. Go away, you're standing in their spot. I'm going to wait here until they come back!"

Himmel nodded silently and hurried away from the kid on the bridge.

It was an odd thought, he would admit. He’d always known the little wind wisp he called Venti was able to leave the walls of storm beyond the city as they pleased, but would always return. That was true friendship, the ability to return to each other's side no matter how far apart you journeyed - this boy was certainly mistaken.

When he was a fair distance from the city’s gate, odd sounds nearby would cause him to slow as he crested a hill, approaching carefully as he realized it was another camp of those same odd creatures from before .

He knew them to be relatively hostile from his previous interaction with them, and having only been saved from certain doom by the chance appearance of Albedo the day before, he knew it best not to approach any closer.

He watched from the distance where he stood, observing the behavior of these unusual humanoid beings. These creatures - hilichurls, he remembered - held themselves in a startlingly human-like fashion, communicating in what appeared to be a foreign language of their own.

A dark figure caught in the corner of his eye caused him to make a sudden turn on his heels to ensure he was not being approached from behind. 

When he could see no such shadowed figure, he turned cautiously back to the creatures.

..And practically jumped in surprise, for standing next to him merely a few feet away was a most peculiar figure. The stranger stood still as a statue, staring at the creatures, giving them a forlorn look that almost appeared to be guilt. Blond hair and a dark unusual outfit spoke of a stranger not from the land of Mondstadt. 

“Hello.” The man spoke suddenly after Himmel had spent a moment observing him. “Finally without him trailing your every move.”

“Those sound quite like the words of someone planning to kill me.” Himmel voiced his thoughts aloud to the man.

 A subtle sign of amusement appeared on the stranger’s face and Himmel watched as the man’s eye’s finally moved away from the creatures to meet his gaze, but then dark blue eyes widened and the stranger called out.

"Behind you! Look out!"

Himmel turned just in time to see one of the creatures had apparently snuck up on them from behind and had begun charging toward him while wielding a flaming weapon. Before he could make a move to run, a strange dark power shot past his shoulder and knocked the creature to the ground, where it began to disintegrate.

Then, the two watched as the most peculiar thing occurred - for simply a moment later the dust seemed to regain corporeal form and the hilichurl stared at them, docile and now uninjured as if it too was confused. Then, the creature scratched its head, turned, and began to run back to the camp it came from. However, it only got so far before it collapsed upon the ground once more, and this time when it disintegrated into dust the wind chased the particles away instantly as if persistently intending to clear the evidence.

Himmel turned back to the man, who still had his hand outstretched. 

"Impossible.. It’s as if it revived for a moment." The blonde stranger muttered aloud as he finally lowered his hand to his side and looked to the place where the body of the hilichurl had disappeared.

Though caution made Himmel wary of the strange figure and the peculiar occurrence he had just witnessed, this man had just saved his life, and Himmel would be a fool not to thank him.

"Er- Thank you, stranger. For saving me." 

The stranger cast a glance over his shoulder at Himmel as the bard spoke, but quickly turned his gaze back to the grass after acknowledging the other’s presence.

"This appears to be a bigger problem already." The man said suddenly aloud.

"P-pardon?"

The man did not answer his inquiry, nor elaborate on his previous statement. He turned to look Himmel directly in the eyes with a gaze that sent chills down the boy's very spine. There was something so unusual about this man, so out of place in a way that he could not understand. Blue eyes that appeared to reflect the stars of the night sky itself seemed to see through to his very soul in the most haunting of ways as the man held his gaze.

“You should not exist.” He said simply. 

"I am quite aware of this."

The man shook his head. “But if the gods find out, they won’t spare you. Your very presence here is a crack in their precious order of time. A crack that apparently grows the longer it remains unrepaired.” He added that last bit with a pointed glance toward the hilichurl camp.

“Who are you? Why do you speak as if you know the gods personally?”

“I don’t, nor would I ever wish to.” The man replied with a look of disgust, much to the further confusion of Himmel - who noted that he had avoided answering the question of his identity. “Yet you're one to speak. You’re the one that little anemo archon who calls himself ‘Venti’ based his form on, aren’t you? Interesting..” 

“I- How do you know who I-” Himmel stammered.

He remembered Venti's words of caution the previous night - how concerningly quickly he would seem to have encountered someone who fits the exact description, much too perfect for coincidence. Had this man been intending to speak to him and did Venti know? Was that why Venti was so adamant on ensuring that he knew the full story as soon as possible.

“I don’t know much, if that’s what you’re thinking.” The man answered. “But I know enough to know that you’re supposed to be dead and you have no idea what you’re getting yourself into. I wanted to give you some words of caution. Let’s just say I’m someone familiar with the extent of the archons’ power .” The man cast his gaze to their surroundings as he continued to speak. “Come, let’s distance ourselves from that hilichurl camp over there, I’m afraid the others will notice that one’s absence.”

Himmel nodded cautiously, hesitant to follow the man. However, the stranger merely led him to the shade of a tree a little farther down the path, where he stopped, glanced around to ensure they were truly alone, and then crossed his arms as he confronted Himmel.

 “Do you have any idea what he’s capable of as an archon?" The man said.

"Venti? He is my dearest friend! He is no danger to me if that’s what you speak of."

“I'm not asking you to believe him to be bad, but neither is he the same as you knew him in your time. You may have known him when he was new to this world, but the one who walks next to you now is a god. An archon. One of the only original seven remaining for that matter.”

“I know this. He has told me so and I do not need to hear it once more.”

The man shook his head. “It’s no easy feat for a god to keep their throne as long as Barbatos has. Those hands are stained with the blood of millions. Stained with the permanence of what he has done to keep his place in Celestia. Has he told you this part?" When Himmel remained silent, he added, "He hasn't.”

Perhaps the man had mistaken Himmel's thoughtful silence for that of shock, as he seemed more than a bit surprised when Himmel looked up at him with an intense expression.

“Forgive me good stranger, but what would have become of Mondstadt had he allowed it to fall to the hands of another god? Would the land of freedom be the same it is now? There are reasons others go to such great lengths to defend what they believe in. I too know what it’s like to carry the weight of the sacrifices made to reach a goal, and am not unfamiliar with the feeling of blood on one’s hands. You say he has killed gods and mortals alike. In a way, so have I. Their blood stains my hands by my decisions alone. Can you say that you, too, could be free of such burden? Would you not do everything you can to protect the values you hold dear? To pursue a future you wish to see?"

The man looked at him for a very long time, almost as if he was unsure what to say in reply to this. He raised his own hands up to look at them with a distant expression, then clenched them with a sharp inhale.

"I.. Suppose I can't deny your words. It seems you aren’t as naive as I assumed you to be when I first saw you in the tavern last night, I apologize. Though no matter what you may choose to deny, even you are well aware that he is one of them too- one of the gods responsible for both the life and death order in this world.” The man turned to leave, then a thought seemed to occur to him as he paused and looked back. "If you choose to learn why you must doubt the gods, I will tell you a forbidden history. Next time we meet, tell me your choice. I think you are someone who will be able to understand the reality behind the truth. Choose freely who you wish to trust, boy from the past, but be careful in this world. Even those who were once close to you can one day betray you."

There was something knowing in the man’s eyes when he said those last words.

Then, the man simply faced his gaze forward and began to leave.

"Wait! Who are you? Might I at least know your name?" Himmel called after him in urgency, but the man did not reply, did not pause, and did not turn his head to look back. As quickly as the stranger had appeared, he disappeared in a ripple. Himmel could almost swear that in the moment before the man disappeared, he saw an image through the ripple. 

A sky of endless stars - like a crack had been made in an illusion. 

But which was the illusion and which was reality?

The man was gone. The wind whispered soothingly across the grass.

Himmel had expected the man to put up a fight, perhaps to argue with him for a point he felt strongly about, but it seemed his answer was satisfactory to the man, who sympathized with him in a way unknown to Himmel. It was as if the stranger had not intended to sway his point of view - but rather to caution him, similarly to what that strange woman had done the night previous. 

Why must people cause him to doubt his only friends? First that woman spoke ill of Albedo and now this stranger spoke of caution regarding the gods - regarding Venti. Himmel did not ask to take part in such a game of passing trust between individuals like a letter between messengers - it made choosing who to believe the truth from so much more difficult.

He could certainly guess what lengths Venti may have gone through to keep his position as archon. Taking down other gods who challenged the throne, taking part in battles even when he wished for peace. The innocent, pure-hearted, determined wind sprite, forced to kill - to taint his hands, his heart - to keep the peace he believes in. The thought of it was horrible - not the idea of knowing that his friend had blood on his hands, but the knowledge that Venti was even forced to do such a thing in the first place in this unforgiving world.

In a way, the fates of everyone who participated in the rebellion against Decarabian had been in Himmel's hands. It was he who began the war, he who led the rebellion, and though it was not him who landed the killing blow, he knew he was in some way responsible for all the deaths that took place - including that of the tyrant god himself. If that alone puts blood on his hands, was there anyone who didn't carry such a burden in this world?

Himmel stared out across the fields of grass, past where the man had previously stood.

He trusted Venti with his life and even beyond that, his soul. Nothing would change that. His dearest friend was no monster. Yet in some way that man had also been right - do you really know someone after so long apart? After almost three thousand years , in his case. Venti was hardly the same anymore, there was so much he couldn't possibly know about his dear friend. He was a bard, performer, a youthful spirit, a guardian figure to those close to him, but he was also a god, a leader, a sharp thinker who held within him the powerful heart of a whirlwind strong enough to cut mountains into the sea.

What exactly had Venti skipped when he told his story that night? Had it simply been due to the lengths such a story would grow to be or was there more to it - knowledge he did not wish to burden Himmel with?

He shook his head, trying to chase any doubts away - for he would dare not let the man's cautions get to his head without proof. Furthermore, who was this man he had just spoken with and why did he carry himself with such secrecy? Why did his eyes reflect a darkness that shimmers with dimming stars? Furthermore, why did he have such knowledge of the past and Himmel and Venti's identities? Had he been purposefully trailing Himmel to speak to him, or was it simply by chance that they had happened across a moment alone? Could that man be mortal or god or something else entirely? Venti had also mentioned that there were many more gods in the world at a strength and status higher than that of the archons, so perhaps this man was one of them? Yet it still did not explain why rather than kill him on the spot, as Venti had warned, the man had instead cautioned him, saved him even. He spoke with the wisdom of a god yet held the fears of a mortal.

Yet it was foolish to immediately believe that man's words as he very well could be another god attempting to turn him against Venti. He knew their tricks - he knew how Decarabian had attempted to delusion his people.

Yet.. The man had said something about a choice - a story that he could choose to hear that could change his perspective on the gods. He wasn’t sure if this was something he wished to hear. Not yet, at least.

However, he would certainly keep watch should this curious figure appear again, he would like to ask this man more questions. Perhaps fate would allow it.

No sooner had he continued down the path once more while considering the strange man’s words, did he hear Venti’s voice calling him from a distance. He whipped around, seeing his dearest friend’s enthusiastic wave as he ran with a hop in his step.

“Himmel! There you are, I’ve been searching everywhere! Good morning!” Venti greeted when he reached the young bard. “Ready to head back into the city?”

“Good morning to you as well, Venti. What for?”

“Why, to give you a proper tour, of course!” Venti exclaimed. “What sort of friend would I be if I didn’t show you everything the city of wind and freedom has to offer! It's not often anyone gets a city tour from the god of the very land himself." Venti brought his hands to his hips in a proud stance.

Himmel smiled at this. "Then let us go."

As he followed his dear friend, he found himself walking a little farther behind than before, watching Venti's cape sway gently in the wind and the enthusiastic skip in his step.

Even those who were once close to you can one day betray you. The strange man with eyes of endless stars had said. 

What if one day they fly away and don't come back? The boy with the pigeons had said.

He shook his head so the words would stop ringing and raced to catch up with Venti. 

No, enough. He'd had enough. Until an impossible day would come that he'd find himself standing on opposing sides to Venti - he would choose to trust his dearest friend over the words of any strangers. For Venti was the one familiar thing that remained in his world.

"Over there is the adventurers guild! Oh! And that's the Cat's Tail! And over here-" Venti was saying, pointing and often waving to people, who either smiled with familiarity or waved back. Most people were too busy going about their day to pay much attention to Himmel, who trailed behind his energetic friend like a calm shadow. However, some strangers who did notice often did a small double take before deciding it was not something to dwell on.

"You're certainly well known." Himmel commented as Venti exchanged morning greetings with another stranger.

"Most popular bard in Mondstadt isn't just a title, you know." Venti grinned at him.

"You were so shy when we first met - do you remember?" Himmel asked with a smile.

"When I hid in your cape whenever you would speak to someone? Yes of course I remember.” Venti answered with a giggle.

It's almost as if the roles have reversed now. The words went unsaid. Himmel was now the one in an unfamiliar environment, treating Venti as his only comfort of familiarity. Did Venti realize this as well?

They continued toward a fountain in the center of the busy square. It was there that a familiar figure caught his eye among strangers and it was finally his turn to call out in familiar greeting.

"Ms. Sucrose! Hello!" He waved. He could see her ears twitch at his voice and she turned to look with confused eyes, only to recognize the boy she had met the previous day and a friendly smile spread across her face.

She lifted her hand in a small wave and Himmel gestured to Venti to follow as they hurried to meet up with her.

"It's wonderful to see you again! Where is Sir Albedo?" He asked her as soon as they were close enough that he did not need to yell.

"Mr Albedo is in Dragonspine today." Sucrose smiled apologetically. "As soon as we fixed the broken prototype he went back to his isolated lab to continue testing it."

"Ah, I see." Himmel's shoulders dropped a little. He'd hoped to reintroduce himself to the alchemist now that he had a name to speak of.

"You know Albedo?" It was Venti who interrupted his thoughts, and he looked to see the bard in green regarding him with curious eyes and a surprised expression.

"Why yes, Sir Albedo and Ms. Sucrose are the ones who helped me find my way to Mondstadt. I truly would not have made it thus far if not for their company."

"Ah, so they were the ‘kind new friends’ you spoke of! I would expect no less of Mondstadt’s most beloved alchemists.” Venti then turned to Sucrose. “I must thank you sincerely for helping my dearest friend Himmel here find his way.”

They saw Sucrose's posture turn shy at this. “Oh, no no, I do believe the credit here should go to Mr. Albedo. I was just tagging along.”

“Nonsense!” Himmel assured her, “you both were such wonderful help. I would likely have been killed had I proceeded on my own. Come to think of it, I never did introduce myself, did I?” That he did not have a name to introduce the previous day went unsaid. “I am Himmel, a traveling bard. Venti here is my dearest friend - we share much in style if you were perhaps wondering.”

Sucrose looked between the two as her eyes widened ever so slightly in surprise, as if only just properly looking at them long enough to notice their similarities in appearance.

"Are you also both familiar with one another?" Himmel questioned, looking between Venti and Sucrose.

Sucrose nodded slightly. “Through Mr. Albedo, yes.”

"Indeed!” Venti said. “It happens that I've personally spoken with Sir Albedo on multiple occasions. Not only is he the best in his field of research but that fellow is truly a talented artist!”

"Oh, yes! Mr. Albedo's paintings are lovely!" Sucrose added with twinkling eyes. "His works are lifelike enough that they can be used in- Er- To create- Um-" She looked as if she was about to say something else but a momentary look of panic passed through her gaze and she instead cast her eyes downward and opted to adjust her glasses to cover the awkward end to her sentence. "..Forgive me, I'm getting ahead of myself. I really admire Mr. Albedo, you see."

Venti’s smile was apologetic and Himmel found himself wondering about the words left unspoken. Perhaps these cautionaries regarding who to trust were beginning to get to him.

"Sucrose! Don't forget those supplies!" A shout came from off to their side.

"Oh! Yes! Sorry Timaeus!" She exclaimed back towards the source of the voice, then turned to Venti and Himmel with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I'll have to get back to work. I'm sure Mr. Albedo will be back later today, please don't hesitate to come by again if you have questions for us or if you just want to talk again!" She told Himmel, who nodded gratefully.

They waved as Sucrose scampered off hurriedly. When she disappeared into the crowd, Venti turned to Himmel and motioned for the other to continue walking.

"Hm? What is it?" Himmel asked, after noticing that Venti looked to be considering something to say.

"How did you happen to meet those two?" Venti asked him.

"When I first awoke in this unfamiliar world, Ms. Sucrose and Sir Albedo were conducting some form of research when I happened across their path. I believe it to be simply by chance and fate. They were very kind to me, and hardly questioned my situation at all. I.. Would’ve died once more before I’d ever had a chance to see the world outside the city had it not been for them.”

“When we next see Albedo, you must remind me to extend my thanks to him.” Venti said softly as they continued on, though the look in his eyes carried something more that Himmel could not read.

Between pointing out notable people and buildings, as well as further morning greetings between strangers, Himmel found that he remembered some of these sights from the day previous when he had first arrived. Although the bright and cheery environment still left him slightly dazed - like it was still only a dream. Nothing about it felt real, and yet at the same time there was no way the smells, sounds, and the presence of Venti who led the way in front of him could ever be fake. He wondered if he would ever stop being in denial, and knew that in the back of his head the thought that this was just a dream he would eventually awake from would always remain.

“Ah! Here we are!” Venti’s steps suddenly slowed to a stop with a hop in his step and Himmel paused as well to observe the large building before them. “The Knights of Favonius Headquarters!”

The building was huge and built of stone, with a pair of guards standing at the entrance - it reminded Himmel of the buildings belonging to the Mondstadt of his time - yet there was an aura of grandeur about the place rather than the forlorn shadows that usually clung to the entrances of Decarabian’s domain.

Venti turned to him. “Do you remember I mentioned Master Jean yesterday?” At Himmel’s nod, he continued, “Well she’s the only person in Mond besides Diluc that I trust with more- er- private matters , so I’ll be entrusting her with your case! The anemo archon has a grand history with the Knights of Favonius, did you know? Maybe I will tell you the story of Vanessa another time."

Then, making a show of clearing his throat, Venti strode confidently up to the guards that stood at the doors. "Hello there! Official business with the acting grandmaster!” He announced, then proceeded to push open the grand door without waiting for a reply. He turned towards Himmel and nodded his head towards the door, and Himmel followed suit, albeit with a side-eyed glance towards the guards as if expecting them to move and stop them - although no such thing occurred. Once inside, Venti grasped him by the arm and pulled him wayward when he paused a moment too long to admire the interior.

They pushed through a door into a room unlike anything he'd ever seen before. Shelving lined the walls, with trinkets both new to him and familiar scattered throughout, and grand glass windows that cast glowing sunlight across the floor. A blond-haired woman worked diligently at a desk in the far center of the room. She wore her hair tied back and her outfit bore the same emblem that had been emblazoned on flags he’d seen throughout Mondstadt. The woman was focused within her work and did not look up as they entered, yet she seemed to recognize the unique lightweight patter of Venti's footsteps, accompanied by those of someone else.

"Venti. There was something you wanted to speak to me about?"

"Yes! But first, if I may, I would like to introduce my best friend Himmel!"

Jean looked up with an exhausted gaze, however when her eyes fell on the figure Venti was introducing - who simply smiled and gave a polite nod - Himmel’s appearance caught her off guard and her quill fell from her hand onto the paper with a clink and a small splatter of ink.

“Is this some sort of prank?” Jean questioned carefully after a moment’s silence. “Venti, you know I don’t like to be disturbed during work for something like this.”

Venti held his hands up in defense. “Not a prank! Not pranks this time at least. You see, Himmel here needs help. He has returned suddenly from the land of the dead and I want to employ the help of the Knights of Favonius in finding out the cause behind this!”

Jean frowned and lifted a hand to rub at her temple. “‘Returned from the land of the dead’? Please slow down.. Do you really expect me to believe something like that? Venti, I have work to do, I can’t spend all day on some wild goose chase.”

Venti flinched. “Okay okay- So it's not very believable but it’s all we have to go by! Listen, we can explain!”

“No, we cannot.” Himmel spoke up and the others’ heads turned to him. “There is simply no explanation and that is why we seek your help.” He meets Jean’s gaze. “Venti has assured me you are quite credible in your field of work and he trusts you greatly - so I do as well. We simply ask that you consider the matter. I believe that my sudden revival may be of great importance - lest that be for worse or for the better.”

“Hmm.. Your dialect is quite old-fashioned.” Jean comments. “If this is another one of Venti’s planned pranks, you would’ve had to study a lot of ancient texts to pull that off - and let’s just say Lisa doesn’t let just anyone handle the antiques.” Finally she sits back in her chair and crosses her arms on the table, giving them her full attention. “Okay, let’s say I believe you. Who are you exactly? Or.. Who were you, I should say.”

“You may call me Himmel. I come from Mondstadt at the time of its previous archon, Decarabian. I am unsure if you are familiar as it was millennia ago, but alas he was a tyrant who cared little for his people and would not let them see the world outside his raging storms. It was I who incited the rebellion that would become his downfall. I led them into battle, yet unfortunately I perished before I could see the battle through to its end. Despite all that is possible, I have awoken once more in this era.. And I see Venti has failed to speak of the very one whom he based his current image on to his friends of this time.” He added that last bit with a teasing smile towards Venti, who was staring quite pointedly at the shelves on the wall and pretending not to hear a thing.

Jean looked absolutely flabbergasted. “Well I'm honored to meet you.” She said with awe as she stood quickly to shake his hand in proper greeting. “Jean Gunhildr, Acting Grandmaster of the Knights of Favonius. I'd be happy to help, Himmel.” She said, finally introducing herself fully.

“What? That’s all it took?!” Venti exclaimed as he turned back to them, mouth agape. 

Himmel’s eyes went wide. “Gunhildr? As in..?” 

“Is the name familiar?” Jean questioned.

“Oh! Why yes, I knew a great ancestor of yours.” Himmel nodded. “A member of great importance within the rebellion, her clan stood at the very lead beside myself and Venti.”

From the proud sparkle in her eyes, it looked as if hearing this meant a lot to Jean.

How wonderful that the descendants of those who fought for Mondstadt carry on the legacy of the city today.

“I’m assuming you two don’t want to involve anyone else in this case,” Jean said then, thoughtfully.

Venti looked to Himmel, who shrugged, unsure.

Jean continued, “it would make things a bit difficult, but I can try my best. I’m not really an expert in any of these fields.”

“Oh, if I may?” Himmel interrupted. “I do know of someone who, from my understanding, does deal in such matters. I believe you know of Sir Albedo?”

“..The chief alchemist? Why, yes of course.”

“Sir Albedo and Ms. Sucrose were both nearby when I awoke, they helped guide me to the city.” He explained when she expressed her surprise. “We are.. Somewhat acquainted. I would consider him a friend, I would not mind speaking to him.”

“Albedo?” Venti began to speak. “I’m not sure if-”

But he was cut off just then as a boy burst through the door.

“Please come quick! Urgent!"

Wild grayish hair and sharp red eyes bore a striking wolf-like image. The boy’s outfit was ruffled and he was breathing heavily as if he had just run a great distance.

“Razor. Is everything alright?” Jean asked with a hint of concern in her voice, recognizing the boy.

Razor scanned the room, and when his eyes landed on Venti, he looked surprised. The wolfish boy suddenly raised a hand and pointed.  "You're here. That is good.” He spoke in short, simple sentences. "Lupical said ‘send for green bard’.”

“Andrius wants to speak to me?” Venti asked.

The boy nodded. “Yes, and quickly. Don’t know why. Urgent matter.”

“He usually never does this. I wonder what’s going on..” Venti said, bringing his hand to his chin in thought. Then, he looked up at Jean and Himmel. “I’ll go with Razor. You two can stay here.”

“No. I’m coming with you.” Jean said quickly.

“ As am I .” Himmel responded without any hesitation.

Venti paused then, taking in the determined expressions on their faces, then a fond smile spread across his face. “There’s no stopping either of you, is there?” He said with a sigh, shaking his head. “Always diving headfirst into potential danger without fear. How can I protect the people I care about when you guys are so selfless?”

Himmel gave him a determined expression while Jean crossed her arms.

“There’s no way you’re dealing with any of this alone.” She said, “That’s what the Knights of Favonius are here for.” Then she stood, putting her papers away and adjusting her coat for a more proper appearance. “Also, you just asked for my help a minute ago. If Mondstadt is in any potential danger I want to be made aware.”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out, I suppose.” Venti said with a sigh and an expression that changed into one of confidence as he turned to Razor.

“Alright, take us to Wolvendom.”

Chapter Text

Wolvendom was a peculiar place - the trees twisted in gnarled formation and Himmel could swear the eyes of wolves watched from places he could not see.

Yet the boy that led them walked with confidence. Perhaps Himmel would have been more fearful of this place would the one who led them not have been so unfazed by their intimidating surroundings. Jean walked up front with Razor while Venti remained by his side - his dearest friend’s presence brought him comfort.

“There. He is waiting.” Razor pointed as they crested a hill and Himmel gasped as his gaze followed the boy’s indication.

"That is-!"

There within an ancient structure that resembled a battered arena, stood Lupus Boreas in a form that appeared ethereal. Himmel froze in initial panic, but felt Venti’s comforting hand on his shoulder as his dear friend spoke to him in a low whisper with a comforting tone. 

“Andrius is not a danger, not anymore.” Venti said. “You shouldn’t worry. Remember it was he who surrendered the role of the anemo archon to me back when the storm fell. We have a mutual respect between us. I'm sure he will have respect for you too - you did take down his enemy after all.”

With those words, Venti left Himmel's side and approached the wolf's arena.

“Barbatos.” The wolf greeted the archon in a deep voice that seemed to come from their very minds, speaking not aloud but through a particular form of telepathy. 

“Hello Andrius.” The anemo archon replied.

“Something is amiss. I have felt a concerning shift in the flow of time. ”

“A shift?” Venti questioned.

 “It has affected myself and parts of the environment in Wolvendom. Even now I can feel some of my old power returning - yet it fades just as quickly. It is unstable, but it could grow to become stronger. I called you here because I wish to caution you, Barbatos."

Venti seemed to ponder this new information, bringing his hand to his chin as he listened to the great wolf who stood before him.

The boy who had summoned them to Wolvendom approached the gods who stood within the arena’s center while Jean remained behind to stand beside Himmel - the latter duo being those who were unsure what to make of the situation and knew that it was not their place to approach.

Razor placed his hand upon the paw of the great wolf. “Shift.. In time?" He questioned. Surely, had it been anyone else, the Wolf of the North would have torn them to shreds for interrupting a talk between him and the anemo archon. Yet his gaze went soft when it landed on Razor .

"It is best you do not concern yourself with such matters, young lupical."  

Razor cocked his head slightly, reminiscent of the expression of a confused dog.

“You-” He started to say, "You.. And green bard..” He tried again, but simply shook his head after a moment of stuttering. “Never mind.”

Razor bowed his head and left the wolf's side. The boy brushed past Himmel and Jean, and settled to sit at the base of a tree farther away from all of them. He seemed to be lost in thought, surely from his perspective it was very difficult to be caught in the middle of a situation so difficult to process.

Venti finally lifted his head, a peculiar expression on his face. “At any other moment, I would’ve been completely shocked by what you're telling me. But! There happens to be someone here who is living proof.”

He turned to catch Himmel’s gaze. The Wolf of the North seemed to follow this look and finally noticed the small human standing beside the Dandelion Knight.

“You.. The one who truly shook Decarabian from his throne."

Himmel blinked in surprise as the great wolf's gaze met his, then immediately glanced away.

“Boy, do not fear me, come closer.”

Inhaling a breath of confidence, he slowly approached the wolf's arena. Andrius's massive physical size only grew more intimidating as he grew closer. However, when he found himself staring into the eyes of the great wolf that had struck fear into the heart of Decarabian, he only saw a calm complexity as the Wolf of the North observed him.

“Yes, I see. You are no ghost, boy. Where you should be nothing more than an apparition of the past like myself, you are completely mortal. How curious..”

“Do you know what the cause could be, great wolf?” Himmel asked, standing up tall to the spirit of the god before him.

Andrius let out a low rumbling growl - the wolf equivalent to a grumble of annoyance. “No, I don’t, but it is not safe to remain like this. Your presence in this era appears to create a disturbance in the flow of time.”

"I have been told of this already. If I do not belong, if my simple presence causes such a major fault, then why have I still come to be once more in this era?"

" You ask a fair question boy.. One I am not sure even the gods have the answer to." The wolf said, then leaned closer to Himmel, truly inspecting him this time, yet now the young bard had learned not to fear the presence of the great wolf and stood unflinching. 

"At first I could not believe someone so young could initiate a war against a god as powerful as the god of storm, yet in your heart and in the words you speak I see one who is mature and intelligent beyond your age. That can be both a blessing.. And a curse. Use it well."

"Thank you great wolf." His voice came out more strained than he intended and the wolf huffed at this. Was that a hint of amusement from the ancient god?

"Yet still so hesitant in my presence. Very well, I shall leave you be. I must talk with Barbatos a moment more without.. Others present." This was done with a pointing glance toward Jean, who still remained at the arena's edge in respectful silence. “I wish you luck, boy. Although this world has changed, it is no kinder than it was back then.”

Himmel nodded silently, mimicking the same way Razor had shown farewell, and left the wolf's arena. Venti watched him as he left.

"This situation might be bigger than we thought.” Jean muttered aloud as soon as he returned to her side. “I might have an idea where we can start looking into this."

Himmel nodded. “Very well then, will we be heading back to Mondstadt?”

“Yes.” Jean replied. “I'll be able to organize my thoughts better on paper.”

Then she turned to call out to the wolfish boy. "Razor, are you coming back with us?"

Razor nodded as he got to his feet. "I ask… Question first?" He inquired.

"Yes of course, what is it?" Jean answered.

They began to leave as they talked.

Himmel began to follow them, tuning out their words to the sound of his own thoughts, but the voice of the wolf which once more rumbled in his head when he did caused him to still. 

"On second thought, perhaps I will wait for Venti."

After ensuring that the other two were too engrossed in conversation to notice his pause, he decided to take some steps back so he was back within earshot as he listened to the tail end of Venti’s conversation with Andrius.

“Barbatos.” Spoke the wolf’s rumbling voice. “What will you do if the boy truly is the root cause of these anomalies?”

There was silence from Venti.

“If he is, he cannot remain in this world or his presence will destroy it. He must return to the dead or risk destroying time itself.”

“That can’t be the only option.” Venti exclaimed quickly. “I will rule out every other possibility first and it will never come to that."

“You are too attached, Barbatos.” The wolf snarled. “I warned you.. You should’ve lost that attachment centuries ago, yet you insisted on retaining that form of yours.”

“Leave it, Andrius. We'll solve this, and there will be no death.”

“Is it still a death if one was never meant to be alive in the first place?”

Silence, again.

“..Farewell Barbatos. And good luck.”

Himmel clutched at the hood of his cape as he shuffled away behind the cover of the trees so he would not be seen watching when Venti turned around. Oh gods, he almost wished he hadn't overheard that. Of course, there was a tiny part of him that knew that such a thing - his own execution for the crime of defying time - may be inevitable the moment that he'd learned of the warp in time his presence was creating. Yet, he'd chosen to ignore it, forgotten about it out of favor of enjoying this new world.. Until now when it was brought to light once again.

How easily all of this could end in tragedy. He sincerely hoped that Venti meant what he said, that his dearest friend, the beloved archon, would do everything he could to avoid such an outcome.

The matter was that, should it come to it - would he be willing to give his life once more to protect this land?

“Oh, Himmel! I thought you left with Jean.” The sound of Venti’s voice and light footsteps pulled him from his thoughts.

"Ah, Venti, I- I simply became lost in thought, forgive me."

Venti threw an arm around his shoulder and hugged him gently from the side. "I hope you aren't doubting yourself! Don’t let that grumpy old wolf get to you. To return to a completely different world - Any would find that incredibly overwhelming. Yet you're taking it on with such confidence. You've always been so good at quickly grasping any situation." His tone turned wistful as he continued to speak. "I wish that I’d been more like you back then." Those last words were nearly a whisper, almost as if he had mistakenly spoken it aloud.

"Venti, whatever do you mean? You are so loved by the people of Mondstadt as archon, more confident as a leader than I'll ever be. How could you ever doubt yourself?"

Venti shook his head. Then, turned to look at him with a glimmer returning to his eyes.

"Remember how I said I'd tell you the tale of the hero Vanessa? Why don't I tell you a small story while we return home?”

At Himmel’s curious nod, Venti continued, “You see, many, many years ago, I’d returned to Mondstadt after a great absence.. When I returned, I could barely recognize the state of the city….”

Once they had returned to Mondstadt, he spent the rest of the day at the desk in his new room at the residence pondering his situation like he was planning his next move on a battlefield. And perhaps in a way, he almost was. Planning the correct steps on unfamiliar ground while knowing that each misstep meant life or death.

He went over the full extent of the new information he had learned. 

Venti.. Venti was Barbatos, the anemo archon. He had taken on Himmel’s image and now passed as a mortal bard. Venti had warned him not to trust any gods he encountered, and a stranger from an unknown land had reinstated this to him, yet also warned him not to trust even Venti, seeing as Venti, too, was one of those gods.

Albedo.. He was an alchemist whose area of study might best be able to help Himmel understand why he had returned from the dead. The woman from the tavern had warned him not to trust this man, yet all he knew of Albedo so far was a gentle soul with ambitions. He should likely approach the matter of involving the man with caution, yet he also trusted Albedo enough to feel as if he should. Although the man was most often on the great mountain called Dragonspine, a place he had been ill advised to visit.

The warnings of strangers, the assurances of friends, the threats of the gods, the living heart that beat steadily in his chest when it should have been dead thousands of years before. It was still all so much. Only in the silence of night did these thoughts return to him, escaping free from the daytime distractions which had held them back.

..Why him? Why only him? Why only him when so many others, so many who sought to see their loved ones return from the dead once more, could not? What made him so special? He, a simple orphan bard from a now-dead city who in childhood had never even received a name? Did he truly deserve this?

The sky outside the window had turned a beautiful yet foreboding color of red, and he had once more removed the feather he’d been carrying with him and held it up to the fading light of sunset, watching the illusion of the backlighting make it appear as if it were glowing golden.

"Tomorrow.. I must venture out into the land myself and I will find the answers I seek." He muttered aloud. "Winds, protect me, for I fear it will not come easy."

It was as he drifted to sleep that night, that he could have sworn he heard a voice speak to him in his dreams. 

“I’m sorry”. Said the voice, gentle and solemn. Unfamiliar. “That you must carry such a burden is unfair. That which is changed cannot be easily undone.”

He couldn’t be sure if he was imagining things.

He awoke before the sun had risen and quickly dressed before quietly making his way through the hall and down the stairs.

When he rounded the staircase, he noticed Diluc leaning against a table across the room. When did the man appear there? He hadn't heard a door open or close, nor the sound of footsteps on floorboards.

He began to walk faster as he passed by Diluc, but then paused, sighed, and turned to him.

“Please don’t consider stopping me, Sir Diluc.”

“I’m not going to stop you.” Diluc said simply. “You’ll need this.”

Diluc tossed a small bag into Himmel’s hands and the boy looked down at it in confusion.

“One of my travel packs - dried snacks and a canteen of water. There's a map of Mondstadt in there as well." Then, the red haired man handed him something else. "And you'll also need these."

Himmel slung the strap of the bag across his shoulder and peered at the second item Diluc had just handed him. A holster filled with... "Arrows?"

Diluc reached behind him to the table and picked up a large parcel that had been placed neatly on it. He handed it to Himmel, who gasped softly as he unwrapped the paper to reveal a wooden bow.

Windblumes danced across delicately carved wood, painted with careful artistry. It felt light in his hands, like a feather, no doubt it had been imbued with the slightest power of anemo so as to aid in the stability of one's shots.

“He brought this late last night.” Diluc commented, breaking the silence of Himmel’s wonder. “No doubt one of his bows. ‘A weapon to protect yourself should you journey alone.’ - His words, not mine.”

Himmel smiled fondly. He'd spoken his intentions aloud to the winds last night, of course Venti had heard him. Venti knew him all too well, knew that so his dearest friend would decide to set out regardless and left a gift to ensure his safety instead. This and Diluc’s extra generosity, it was all an incredibly sweet gesture. 

Making sure this new gear was safely attached to his person, he glanced up toward the red haired man who had begun busying himself by reshuffling the contents of his shelves. Perhaps it would be best not to ask any more questions.

"Thank you." He said simply.

"Thank him, not me.."

"I thank you both."

Diluc huffed. "Just stay safe."

He never felt like he was leaving Venti behind during any step he took, especially not with the bow he carried strapped to his back and the wind that always blew across the land he walked.

He made use of the map in the bag Diluc had given him, tracking a path towards the massive mountainous portion of the region. He was headed to Dragonspine, and alone at that. He had to make this journey himself. Although he hadn’t mentioned where he was headed, he was sure that Venti must’ve already guessed, or perhaps he knew simply because the wind was omnipresent. Himmel couldn’t be sure of the extent of his powers as anemo archon, yet it did not frighten him. No, not in the slightest. Rather, it was a comfort, and a relief.

A sign of trust. Because of course, Venti understood more than anyone how important it was to trust those close to you to return after a long journey.

He needed to speak to Albedo again and urgently. Whatever dangers the mountain carried, he would face them.

He encountered many more ruins as he crossed the land. Every time, he ran his hands along the worn stone of the ancient archways and crumbling walls, trying to imagine the structures at the days of their peak, lively and bustling full of the people from some lost civilization. All of them souls lost to time, never to return to witness the world as he did. A couple times, he found himself wiping tears from his eyes, the wind blowing past him leading away from the source of his mournful imagination - as if urging him to continue down the path he had momentarily left and not to ponder on the past for too long.

He wasn’t sure how much time in the day had passed by the time he found himself staring up at the intimidating figure of the giant mountain before him. Standing this close to it, its sheer size became clearer and he finally understood the fear that should he set foot alone, he may get lost. Although the rest of Mondstadt’s landscape had been shaped by the anemo archon's power, this mountain seemed to have remained the sole exception. It frightened him to think what circumstances had caused it to appear the way it did. 

There was something.. off about the weather that encircled the mountain. The sky was covered by overcast clouds here, casting the kind of hazy darkness across the landscape that he was quite familiar with and not at all happy to return to. Even more peculiar was the lack of a sound he had grown accustomed to over the last days - the soft sound of wind in the grass. Not only did the gentle snowfall seem to mute this sound, but the wind here felt less strong, perhaps even barely present. It was as if something about this mountain left the powers of Barbatos greatly weakened. It was no wonder Venti had not seemed very willing to journey here with him. That comforting presence that had accompanied him during his initial journey felt concerningly absent now.

He gazed out over the frozen landscape. Despite the air of hostility, something about it also felt hauntingly peaceful. It was so quiet that the crunches of his footsteps seemed to echo off the cliffside. The air grew colder as he journeyed further inward and he was grateful for the hood which he pulled over his head which helped only slightly in the frigid temperatures. To know that this had been the environment of the entire land of Mondstadt from beyond the reaches of Decarabian’s city before Barbatos and Andrius had freed it from icy grasp. 

He imagined himself as a survivor of the rebellion’s war, journeying beyond the storm’s reach for the first time. What could’ve been, back then. It distracted him from the cold.

Movement caught the corner of his eye and, snapped back to reality, he looked farther down the path expecting an enemy. Instead, a familiar figure knelt inspecting an odd flower that bloomed between the spilling frost. Blond hair and a white coat, a gloved hand that reached out to pluck a petal, then pressed it between the pages of a notebook.

"Sir Albedo! Hello!" He called out with a wave as he chose to approach with confidence.

The alchemist seemed to pause for a moment as if caught off guard by the unexpected presence of another, then he stood, quickly pocketing the notebook, and turned.

"Oh. Hello." The man said simply with a polite smile. “I don’t exactly get many visitors out here. What brings you all the way to Dragonspine?”

“Do you remember me? A day ago you had accompanied me to the city when I became lost in my travels. I do not believe I introduced myself then. I am Himmel!”

Albedo seemed to consider this for a moment before recognition dawned on his face. "A day ago.. Ah, yes of course. It’s nice to meet you, Himmel." Albedo held out his hand in greeting and Himmel took it - noting how cold the alchemist’s grasp was.

"I had been intending to seek you out.” Himmel explained. “I have heard from Grandmaster Jean that you are not only the head alchemist but also the head of the Knights’ investigation team. I have a particular situation you may find of interest."

"Well, you’ve certainly piqued my curiosity." Albedo said, interest shining in his eyes. “What sort of matter?”

Himmel glanced around quickly where they stood exposed in the middle of a traversed pathway. "I.. Don't believe it would be wise to speak of such a thing in open air such as this."

"I see." Albedo answered. “Will you accompany me back to my camp, then? We can talk properly once we’re out of the cold.”

Himmel nodded and followed the man, taking a glance down at the flower that Albedo had been inspecting moments before as they passed it by. 

That was odd.. No other flowers had been growing here. It almost appeared to be glowing.

“You’re lucky you ran into me.” Albedo commented, causing Himmel to look away and back to the alchemist again. “Anyone inexperienced with this landscape would never make it very far up the mountain alone, much less to find someone.”

“Do forgive me, I am in no way familiar with present day Mondstadt.” Himmel answered absently as he breathed warm breath onto his hands to chase away the cold.

“Present day Mondstadt?” Albedo looked confused at his words.

“Ah, please forgive my- my Choice of words.” Himmel corrected himself quickly. “I fear the distraction of the cold has made it difficult to find the correct wording for my thoughts.”

The brief look Albedo gave him afterward had him reconsidering whether involving the alchemist was a good idea, if maybe the warnings had been right, but then the gentle smile and soft eyes returned and he wondered if he’d been imagining things. The mountain truly was getting to him, wasn’t it?

He froze, holding his breath. No, the rumble he was hearing was no illusion.

From the snow burst a massive figure - what could only be described as a humanoid monster covered in elaborate armor. It cast bolts of dark power toward Himmel, but the boy managed to dodge by letting himself fall to a crouch, trusting the snow to cushion the impact of this move.

"Sir Albedo!"

He stood just as quickly and whipped around on his heel to ensure the man next to him hadn't been hit.

..Only to find that the figure of the alchemist had vanished. He was gone - as if he had never been there to begin with. Albedo couldn't have run, could he? Just yesterday the man had tried everything possible to ensure Himmel saw safe passage back to Mondstadt. There was no way he would abandon Himmel..Right?

He knew one thing for sure at that moment though, and it was that he was now alone in a vast mountain with only the monster that stood before him.

Himmel readied his bow, commenting as he glared at the monster, "It seems that if this world really wants me dead - it is doing rather well trying."

At this the monster laughed, in a way much more human-like than he’d thought. Then, in a hollow tone somewhere between a hissing whisper and a voice of grandeur, it spoke .

"You are mistaken, boy. It would be a waste to kill you. With the possibilities you hold, oh if only you knew.”  

“What I know is that my existence is a danger.”

“A danger.” The monster laughed again. “Your existence is a blessing. It is evidence of possibility. Your presence in this world holds a purpose grander than anything, the key to-”

Shards of ice flew through the air like glittering crystal projectiles that pierced through the armor, and with a howl of pain, the monster whipped around to block an incoming attack. A figure leapt forward with a frost-tipped sword to land skilled slashes at the areas of armor which had been weakened by the ice.

Himmel snapped to attention, still holding his bow at the ready. He quickly sent an arrow that struck the attacker right between its armor. The monster recoiled, giving the other attacker an opening to strike. At the same time, the boy fired another arrow, this time striking the armored monster at its knee, causing it to fall and allowing the sword wielder to land a particularly damaging blow.

Now wounded, the monster grasped at its shoulder and glared at its attacker.

"You-! Defending this boy, are you? Oh this is rich. The abyss will have him."

The armored monster let out a horrible growl of frustration, then a portal appeared around it - the same type Himmel had seen the odd man from the other day use - and it quickly vanished, escaping the encounter.

"What a shame that interesting fellow couldn't stick around." Said a voice, and Himmel whipped around on his heel to finally confront the one who had assisted him.

"You’re quite skilled with that bow, I didn't take you for the fighting type. Nice defense back there." The person said.

He recognized the figure walking towards him at that moment. An elegantly dressed man with blue hair, an eyepatch, a sharp icy gaze - and the glimmering vision swinging at his hip that fueled the frost that coated his sword. 

Kaeya was much different from his drunken self the night before. Sober now, his very words seemed to pierce like ice into the soul with a calm yet condescending tone.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot." Kaeya said, twirling his sword like it was merely a toy weapon. "I'm Kaeya Alberich, Knights of Favonius cavalry captain. And you.. Are supposed to be dead."

Himmel took a step back. His immediate reaction was to quickly prepare another arrow in his bow - this time aimed at the man.

"Now now, don't misunderstand," Kaeya said then. "I simply overheard your conversation with that abyss herald just now. Sounds like you should be dead, but the abyss wants you alive. So which is it? Which are you meant to be?"

Himmel remained silent. He tightened the hold on his bow as Kaeya sliced the air with his sword.

"If you're so important to the abyss, tell me why I shouldn't kill you right now."

"Please, Sir Kaeya- I do not know why that monster wants me."

"’Monster’?" Kaeya laughed suddenly. "Oh my.. You'd offend the whole lot if they heard you call them that. Still, that doesn't answer my question: Should you be dead or not ?"

"I come here seeking the answer to that very question, Sir Kaeya. And I deign you to put that weapon away, lest you forget that the friends we both know will not take kindly to my injury."

"Saying that, yet you’re out here alone with merely a bow and nothing more? You're asking to freeze to death ."

"Well then, sir Kaeya, if you wish to kill me indirectly, you may freeze me in place with that power you carry and leave me until the mountain takes my life."

Kaeya was silent for a moment, as if he hadn’t expected such a morbid answer, then a smirk appeared on his face - such a sudden sight was mildly frightening. "Is that Diluc's travel bag, I see?" He asked.

Himmel simply nodded. “Why yes - he and Venti lent a hand in my safety.. And if you are as much a friend to them as I assume you are, then you would know that I am not an enemy but a friend of friends."

Kaeya chuckled, seeming to finally give into his defeat in the war of words. The man stowed his sword away in a skilled motion, then turned his gaze to Himmel. "You can put that bow away. I’m not the type to kill you without valid proof. I know Diluc better than anyone and if he cared enough to give you his pack like that, then I have no reason to see you as a threat."

Himmel sighed, then returned his weapon back to its holster as his heart rate began to calm.

“I'm willing to trust you. Do not betray that trust, Sir Kaeya." Himmel told him.

"Consider it likewise." The man answered with another smirk.

Himmel glanced around. "As for my current state, I was accompanied by sir Albedo. However, we grew separated when that.. Thing attacked."

Kaeya frowned, then. "Really? I've never known him to be the type to abandon someone, especially not on Dragonspine. Are you truly sure? This mountain, the abyss - they like to play tricks on you sometimes. You can’t be too sure about it, now." 

"That is- That is impossible.” Himmel replied. “A mere illusion would not have spoken to me, and would not have felt entirely real when I shook his hand.”

Kaeya looked like he was about to say something else, but decided against it and shut his mouth in favor of turning his gaze ahead.

"I can take you there." He said then, to Himmel's surprise, "I happen to know where his camp is. Besides, you’ll be much safer in my company.”

“Dare I say, to refuse that offer would be a death sentence.” Himmel muttered, much to Kaeya’s amusement.

“You’re right! You’re stuck with me out here now.”

The journey was much easier with Kaeya’s presence. The frozen trials of a trail he most likely had not been capable of braving alone. How did Albedo make such a trek like this?

Yet the lack of the chief alchemist’s presence was obvious the moment they reached their destination.

There were items scattered about, books and trinkets upon shelves. Yet the furnace was unlit and there was a chill in the air that meant no one had been there in a fair amount of time. There was a clear absence of presence.

"He's not here." Kaeya commented.

"What? All of this for naught?" Himmel exclaimed.

"Perhaps he left the mountain as we traveled further in."

“This has been simply a waste of time, then.”

“Not entirely. Thanks to all of this I’ve been made aware of quite the curious situation.”

Himmel crossed to a desk in curiosity, reaching for a book.

“I wouldn’t touch those if I were you.” Kaeya said with an amused smile. “He’ll know if something’s been moved.”

“My apologies. Let us head back, then. I will seek sir Albedo’s whereabouts elsewhere.” 

Kaeya nodded.

Before they could move, however, they heard the sounds of rapidly approaching chatter.

The boy immediately reached for his weapon, only for Kaeya to shake his head and motion for him to lower his hand.

Two people approached them from farther down the path. One was shorter and dressed in red with a headband tied around her head in a way that was resemblant of bunny ears. The other taller figure, a woman dressed in a soft blue, held a cold judging expression that would intimidate most. In stark contrast to her silent partner, the girl in red gave them an enthusiastic wave.

"Oh hey! Kaeya! Venti! What are you two doing out here?" She exclaimed.

"Amber. Eula." Kaeya acknowledged the duo, then gestured toward the boy. "Not Venti, actually. This is Himmel. He's Venti’s-"

"Eh? Venti has a twin?!" The girl in red interrupted.

Kaeya laughed and shook his head. "They're not twins, really."

"Hm.. But you look almost identical." The other more stoic woman commented.

"That's what I said!" Kaeya exclaimed. "But Venti told me off. Said he doesn't want people mistaking them for twins."

The woman in blue continued to hold him in her judging glare. "Then who are you and why do you look nearly identical?"

"I apologize, allow me to explain, Miss…" He trailed off.

It was the other girl who answered his implied inquiry. "I'm Amber! This is Eula."

Himmel nodded in greeting and continued: "I'm a traveling bard, I've been to many distant lands and it has been many years since I have seen Venti. Yet we promised to keep each other in our image for as long as it took to meet again." Himmel answered with a hand to his heart to emphasize - the storytelling spilling as naturally from his lips as if it were truly reality. 

"I see." Was all Eula said as the expression on her face did not waver.

"Aww, that's so sweet!" Amber exclaimed.

"Were you two also headed back to Mondstadt?" Kaeya asked as the four of them proceeded in the same direction.

"Yep!" Answered Amber.

"We have to report to Jean." Eula said.

Amber nodded. "Right! When we were out on patrol we ran into something super weird. She did tell us to keep an eye out for anything strange and to report it, so.."

“Yes, that’s what she told me too.” Kaeya answered. “I think our dreary days of patrol just got a lot more interesting.”

It was as they were nearing the base of the mountain that Himmel paused, as he recognized their surroundings.

"What is it?" Amber asked.

"Ah, this would be the location where I encountered Sir Albedo. It's just that- earlier, there was the most peculiar flower here. Yet now it seems as if it had never existed at all."

Amber and Eula exchanged a glance.

“Well that's- Certainly strange!” Amber exclaimed.

“Very strange.” Eula nodded.

“But uh- it was probably a whopperflower! Which is uh- Hey, it’s gonna be a pretty long walk back to Mondstadt, isn’t it? I could definitely use some entertainment to pass the time right about now!”

"Oh?” He did not miss the way the girl rapidly changed the topic, yet happily complied with the intention behind her request. “Why of course! Might you favor the company of a bard's songs as we journey on our return?"

"Oh would I ever!” Amber turned to him with shining eyes. “Yes please!"

Under the guidance and protection of three members of the Knights of Favonius, they made it back to Mondstadt at sunset, and Himmel followed as the others headed for Jean’s office.

Amber and Eula went ahead inside with Kaeya, while Himmel remained behind, lingering in the open hall of the building, not quite knowing what to do at that moment until a voice suddenly called out to him.

"Mr. Tone-Deaf Bard!" A little girl in red sprinted up to him with an excited skip. Once she was closer to him, she paused and frowned, then seemed to glare at him. Seeing this little child trying to act serious and giving him a glare was, he'd admit, absolutely adorable.  

"Wait a minute, you're not Mr. Tone-Deaf Bard -" She exclaimed, "you're an imposter!!" The girl pointed an accusatory finger at him with a gasp.

"Klee, that's no way to greet someone." A familiar voice said and, and he looked up to see Albedo approaching them. "Oh- it's you." The alchemist exclaimed with surprise, then leaned down as he addressed the little girl. "Klee, he's not an imposter, he's a good friend. He’s the traveling bard I told you about yesterday. Be nice, okay?"

“Oh! Sorry!” Klee nodded energetically. "Albedo! He looks just like Mr. Tone Deaf Bard, doesn’t he?" Then she looked up at Himmel. "Are you and mister Venti related?"

"I see the resemblance now." Albedo commented as he examined Himmel. "I knew you looked familiar, you and Venti."

"Venti is 'tone deaf bard? '" He laughed. Whatever did he do to get such a nickname?

Albedo chuckled as well. "You'll have to forgive Klee, she's picked up some.. Interesting nickname habits from a friend of ours."

Himmel knelt down to the girl's height and in an attempt to match her energy, exclaimed: "I'm Himmel! Nice to meet you, Klee."

"Him…mill." Klee muttered immediately, attempting to figure out how to pronounce his name. "I'm Klee!"

She shook his hand with vigor.

"You are the first to not immediately assume we're twins." He then said, addressing Albedo as he stood.

Albedo tilted his head slightly. "Oh? It's impossible though, Venti is clearly older than you."

An understatement. Himmel thought, but said aloud, "You understand then!"

“Are you at all related?”

“As a matter of fact, no. We are very truly just friends.”

“How interesting. Yet from the way you both wear your hairstyles, one would think you two to be one and the same."

"Ah- Er- well, you see, Sir Albedo-"

Albedo interrupted him with a shake of his head. "No, please save the explanation. I wouldn’t wish to pry."

"I would take it you of all people would be most curious!" Himmel replied, surprised.

Albedi sighed. "You would not be the first I know who chooses to share an image with another. I understand this is usually for.. Personal and typically private reasons.”

“Himmel!” A familiar voice rang out and before he could ponder Albedo’s words and a flurry of green encaptured him in a tight hug. “Diluc said you left before sunrise! You didn't even say goodbye! Where did you go ?”

“To Dragonspine.” Himmel answered.

Venti pulled back from the hug, hands remaining on both of Himmel’s shoulders. Himmel blinked owlishly as his dearest friend gave him a look of immense concern at his words. “ Dragonspine ? What were you doing in Dragonspine?”

“I went in pursuit of Sir Albedo."

"You were.. Looking for me?” Albedo said. “Well, then I must apologize. I had returned back to Mondstadt around sunrise, you would have left the city just as I arrived in it."

Himmel froze.

..What?

That didn't seem right.. If Albedo was long gone, then there was no way he could have spoken to- Unless, perhaps, Albedo was lying? Or Kaeya was right, and the mountain had indeed been playing illusionary tricks on him. Something was off. Something felt very, very off.

“But I-” He began to say, but he cut himself short.

"Himmel..?" Venti questioned.

"..Never mind.” He decided this matter would only bring up further complications to what was currently a peaceful shared moment.

He would be inclined to ask Albedo at a later time - for now he could be certain that there was indeed something more about this man. Yet, he could not help but wish sincerely for the warnings to be wrong.

“You’re strange, Mr. Bard Friend.” Said Klee’s voice, and the three present seemed to simultaneously remember that there was still a fourth in the room.

All tension in the air faded as their gazes turned to her and Venti smiled brightly as he leaned down to greet the girl.

“Well hello, Klee! I see you’ve met Himmel.”

“Mhm!” The girl nodded. “He’s strange, just like you! Albedo says you guys aren’t twins but I don't believe you oneee bit.” She said with an adorably smug expression. “I’m going to find out the truth. Sparknight Klee is on the case of the mysterious bards!”

Venti laughed with her, then reached out and ruffled her hair. “Good luck there, little Sparknight! I hope to hear the results of that investigation of yours soon!”

This seemed to give Klee even further confidence, as she proudly put her hands on her hips

It was then that Kaeya walked through the door to Jean’s office and the wholesome mood broke when they saw the tired expression on his face.

“Good, you're all here. Please, come in.”

“Thank you.” Himmel commented.

“I understand that Jean wanted us here but I still do not know what this is about.” Albedo said.

“Neither do I . But from what I've heard I don't think I want to find out.” Kaeya whined, then pushed himself off from the doorframe and waved dismissively to the group as he left down the hall. “If you need me,” He called out, “I’ll be at the tavern trying to forget I ever heard anything about undead hilichurls.”

“Hm? Why's everyone talking to Jean?” Klee piped up, giving them absolutely no time to process Kaeya’s words.

"Adult matters, Klee." Albedo turned to her. "We have to go do adult things now. Can you go find Miss Lisa in the library?”

"But he's not an adult." Klee argued as she pointed at Himmel.

"He's much closer to being one than you are."

Klee pouted, but only for a moment as it seemed in all her energy she was not capable of staying sad for more than a moment. "Okay.. You'll go fish blasting with Klee tomorrow like you promised, right Albedo?"

"Yes of course."

Klee seemed satisfied with this and she gave them a huge smile. "Good bye Albedo!! Good bye Tone Deaf Bard!! Good bye strange bard friend!!"

Albedo chuckled. "Good bye Klee."

With that, the little girl waved as she rushed off.

Albedo watched her leave with attentiveness. Then, after the girl’s figure had disappeared around one of the doors across the hall, he nodded to Himmel, who in turn pushed open the door to the Acting Grandmaster’s office.

"-it was so odd!" Amber's voice was saying. "I’m telling you, Eula struck it with what should've been a killing blow but it kept going for another minute before it fell. It was like - its death was delayed!"

“I've never seen something like it." Eula commented. “We may be dealing with a formidable enemy.”

Jean caught Himmel’s gaze and quickly spoke - “thank you for your report, you two. I think I have an idea what this could be connected to but I need to make sure first.

“Oh! I guess our time is up, isn’t it? Come on, Eula, let’s get going.” Amber said, after following Jean’s gaze and noticing the new arrivals.

Eula blinked. “I’m not.. Oh very well. Farewell.”

“It was nice meeting you, Himmel!” Amber called out as the two women left the room.

“Likewise!” He called back.

The door shut. The most peculiar trio found themselves together in a room.

“Albedo,” Jean greeted, “I promise you’re not in any major trouble, but we need to talk.”

“I’m not sure I like where this is going.” Albedo replied, although his tone of voice was calm.

“Himmel.. Could you please describe - fully - how you met Albedo?” Venti asked.

He finally understood then - Jean and Venti were looking to interrogate Albedo. For what yet, he did not know, but he did know that he was the witness.

“I-” He sighed. “I first encountered Sir Albedo and Ms. Sucrose when I found myself lost in the ruins of the old Mondstadt. They had been conducting an experiment of sorts that had failed shortly prior - Sir Albedo explained its mechanics to me, yet the terms he used were unrecognizable to me and I cannot recall..”

Albedo nodded. "The device I'd created holds the purpose of bringing about new life through the use of the ley lines. It was a simple theory I’d crafted regarding artificial and forceful creation of organic objects." The alchemist answered, causing Himmel to stare at him in surprise.

Why was Albedo so.. unbothered? Was it because he understood that his actions had consequences? Under most circumstances Himmel would be frightened, for he had forced the reveal of the secret of someone who trusted him and in most cases that would mean the loss of their trust and as a result - the loss of friendship as well. Yet there was a mutual respect between Albedo and Jean and a calmness to Albedo that left him perplexed.

“There’s a flaw in your theory.” Venti shook his head. "The ley lines hold the memories of the past, they can't bring new life but they can reflect what was once there."

“Could I have overlooked something?” Albedo looked immensely confused at this. "The general assumption is that the ley lines hold the power to create objects from nothing. That is what is recorded in most research presented throughout the ages. Do you claim to know more than the history books?" His tone of voice was not challenging, moreso genuinely inquisitive, yet Venti went silent with lack of response nonetheless. "I'd always understood that inanimate objects can be brought forth from within the ley lines so I simply wished to find an answer to the theory of whether one could do the same with brand new living beings - I wanted to know if that- If that was how she did it… When she created me."

Something flashed in Venti’s expression, but it was gone quickly.  "I.. See."

Himmel wondered - Venti did not mention Albedo to be an acquaintance who knew of his true identity as Barbatos, yet the alchemist treated the bard with an equal’s respect as if he was aware that Venti was something inhuman - and that he was well aware his actions went against that of the immortals.

"Albedo, what exactly do you think you have done?" Jean questioned, the reminder of her unaware presence broke the tension ever so slightly.

"I was conducting an experiment of trial and error based on a theory I created on an inspirational whim in the most barren and isolated location possible should anything go wrong."

"Old Mondstadt is anything but barren." Venti chimed in with a fearful shake of his head. "Gods of old have perished there - dangerous gods."

Albedo's eyes went wide - he'd instantly understood what was implied.

"Do you.. Really have any idea what you're doing, messing with time?" The gaze Venti fixed on Albedo, the tone of his words, the appearance of his dearest friend startled Himmel. His posture, the glow in his eyes, the tone in his voice - all of it was something powerful. Those were not words spoken by Venti the bard in that moment - but by Barbatos. This was the first time Himmel had truly seen his friend act like the god he was.

Yet there was something in the way Albedo stared back at the archon with an unwavering gaze, it startled Himmel as well. There was an apology present. But those were also the eyes of a man willing to defy the gods in pursuit of his craft.

It brought words back to his memory. 

The one who walks next to you now is a god. An archon.

You’d do well to be cautious of the alchemist.

Himmel found himself unconsciously moving to take a step back, to put distance between himself and his friends who suddenly felt like strangers.

Venti drew back quickly, his countenance faded. A part of him he wished not to show had clearly slipped for just a moment.

“Albedo,” It was Jean who interjected. “We're just concerned. What we mean to say is that you should stop the operation of this experiment immediately. If this is true, it’s too dangerous for you to continue. For the sake of both yourself and Mondstadt. These are Acting Grandmaster’s orders, I’m sorry.”

“Hm it’s alright, I understand.” Albedo replied. “Perhaps it was for the better that the device I made did not show any results.”

Jean sighed, then began softly, "Earlier today on that mountain, Amber and Eula defeated a Hilichurl that stood and continued to fight for several minutes after being killed. Wolvendom is currently undergoing strange fluctuations of power, Kaeya informed me that he encountered an abyss herald earlier. And.."

Venti looked toward Himmel. Jean cast her gaze away to allow the duo their own decision. Venti nodded, and Himmel answered him with a small nod as well.

"I believe your encounter with me was not simply by chance either." Himmel spoke up and Albedo turned to him with a confused expression. “Sir Albedo.. I'm not from here. I am not from this time . I am a bard of ancient times who perished upon the freedom of the old Mondstadt. Only to awaken once more in this present day - directly after the mishap with your device that occurred when you and Ms. Sucrose were present in the area."

"You're saying.. That not only have I successfully reversed the course of time, but I have succeeded in a size greater than that of a simple flower or crystalfly? And you," he turned to look at Himmel, "are.. From ancient Mondstadt.” 

Albedo went silent for a moment, his eyes cast to the floor darted left and right in panicked thought, then looked up. It was Venti’s gaze he met when he spoke his next words. “I should be amazed at my own accomplishments, but- If what you say is true then.. I believe we may be in more danger than I anticipated.”

“What exactly do you mean by that?”

“You see, earlier today...I tested it in Dragonspine. I thought I'd seen no results, but knowing what we do now, there could be a chance...” Those last words were almost a whisper. Although Himmel was unable to understand why, this comment seemed to make both Venti and Jean tense.

A moment passed in silence, then Venti sighed. He turned towards Albedo, and the moonlight streaming from the window behind bathed him in an ethereal glow, in a way that none who saw such a sight would doubt that he was a god .

“You know, Albedo,” Barbatos said, “I always feared that one day you would destroy Mondstadt. But I never would’ve guessed that this would be how it happened.”