Slapped by Reality (Venti Fanfiction)

Chapter 7

This chapter will be in Venti's point of view :)

 I am not just a bard. Not just a cheery bard. I'm the Anemo Archon, Lord Barbatos, a worshipped figure in Mondstadt. I'm a hero, an important being.

But being a hero also comes with the package of loss. How can one succeed in anything if they're afraid of mistakes and loss? One can't. I know that. I've seen people die in front of me, seen people give up their lives for their ambitions, for other people's ambitions. To die selflessly, to be willing to fall down for another. That is the most heroic thing one can accomplish. The people who have died for others, those are the ones who deserved to be admirable, deserve to be graced with rewards and love.

And yet here I am, a hero. But not a true one. A false one, a fake one. Because I'm said to have driven the mighty Decarabian, God of Storms, away from Old Mondstadt. Because I'm said to have founded a new Mondstadt, full of freedom and peace, a land where birds can be freed from their cages, a land where the skies are always clear.

I'm said to do all these heroic things. Defeat a god. Create a new era for the people of Mondstadt. Started, and won a revolution. But it wasn't me who began this idea, who was brave enough to step up.

I was simply a follower at the time. I found a kind, righteous bard who longed for the freedom of Mondstadt's civilians. Who longed to see the birds fly far from the caged city. It was he who truly was the hero. I was nothing but a small spirit, listening to his songs and words, following him around like a child to a mother. I did nothing. If that person was never there, if I never found that person, I would never have dreamed of going against a god.

But I followed him, stepping in his every footstep. Sloppily, perhaps, but I wanted his hopes to be true. For the birds and the people, yes, but most of all, for myself.

I was scared of Decarabian. Fearful he would put me to an end, drive me into a corner. I wanted to live. I wanted more than anything to live a peaceful life with no worries. I didn't want to be at the mercy of a merciless being capable of ending me with a single slash. At that time, I simply wanted to escape. Even if others were to be slaughtered in the process, I would be fine with it. As long as I could flee and never return.

Or that's what I thought.

When he died, I was beside him. I was terrified. The leader of the rebellion was dying, of course I was scared! He was the one who persuaded everyone to protest, to fight. What would be if he disappeared?

That was what I would think if I didn't know him personally. That would be what I'd think if he wasn't my first ever friend.

He had hopes and dreams for the greater good. He wanted the people of Mondstadt to be happy. He was selfless, the most selfless person I had ever met. And for that, I admired him, I still do to this day.

When he died beside me with a tired smile, when his last breath was gone, I thought to myself,

"The war is done, but the leader is gone. So who shall lead the path to an era anew?

"It will be me. I will continue his hopes and legacy, for I know him best. I know him better than I know myself. I understand and respect his selflessness, but do others? For if an unworthy one takes control, this fresh start could lead back to a corrupt Mondstadt."

And so I copied his body, continued in his place. He spent all the work cutting down a tall tree, and then I gave the smallest blow that caused it to fall.

I built the new Mondstadt in his place. I created laws, built peace and freedom for the people. I punished those who attempted their cruel practices.