To the unknown Future

Chapter 3:

After that, the room became quiet and steady breathing could be heard carried by the wind. Venti looked at the horizon with a thought in mind, before he left that establishment and went in the direction of his long-time friend who is still called Zhongli. 

"Venti," before he could go inside the Funeral Parlor, the person he was looking for already found him first and was walking towards him. 

"Zhongli, we meet again, Old friend," Venti greeted him and followed him inside the Funeral Parlor. 

"It has been a thousand years after the traveler has left Teyvat, and yet it was only now that you came and visit me, what a surprise," He said as he watched the vacant look on his friend's expression. 

"I think... I think there's another person like the traveler," Venti said after a cup of tea's time. Zhongli could only look at his friend in pity, It seemed like he still cannot move on. 

"Who are you talking about, Venti? Maybe I know the person and we can see what kind of person you are saying that is similar to the Traveler from the past?" Zhongli asked and Venti told him about this person called Uriel. 

"... before I got to you, I saw her inside the Fueyun Commerce Guild with that boy Xingqui," Venti ended his story and looked at his friend with eagerness. Zhongli could only keep a sigh inside his body before looking at Venti and telling the history of the Feiyun Commerce Guild after a thousand years.

"The Feiyun Commerce Guild's Family branch has many subfamilies and the original branch have a strict rule of giving the first name of their fathers to their Children and it keeps on going on and on for generations. As for the person called Uriel, she was but an adopted daughter of a branch family of the Feiyun Commerce Guild and grew up with the Present heir of the Guild itself. Her name is yes, very peculiar, but the rest of her was just a vision-less person of Teyvat," Zhongli said and put down the teacup that he was holding and looked straight into his friend's eyes. 

"Dear friend, I too, missed the traveler, however, we cannot be tied to the past for so long. This is where we belong and we have a responsibility in Teyvat that we could only fulfill, please, take the time soon to let go of the past memories and move on," Zhongli said and watched how the light in the eyes of his friend get extinguished once again, and this time, by his own doing. He felt complicated inside and wanted to console his friend when another person went inside the parlor.

"Sir Zhongli, the young master of the Feiyun Commerce Guild was calling for you about the scheduled commission that the two of you has agreed upon," one of the personnel of the parlor called him and he nodded, before looking back to his friend and making up a plan inside of his mind fast.

"Since you still cannot put down your speculations about the girl, then just follow me to the Feiyun Commerce Guild and gather your own information from the people there. It would be more believable if it came from the others' mouth who knew the girl right? Come now, let's go," Zhongli stood up from his seat and pulled his friend gently from under his arms, and went to the Feiyun Commerce Guild headquarters. 

There, they were welcomed by the heir of the guild, who was the tenth generation heir. 

"Greetings Sir Zhongli, Oh, I see you have someone with you, welcome to the Feiyun Commerce Guild," The child called Xingqui greeted Venti in a formal way. 

"Young Master Xingqui, my friend here is from Mondstadt and was visiting me before our scheduled meeting, but since our conversation was cut short, I made him follow me here so he won't get bored at the parlor," Zhongli said and Xingqui nodded in understanding,

"A guest is still a guest, would you like some refreshments and snacks? I will order the servants to prepare it in due time," Xingqui said and the servants went to prepare. 

The commission between Zhongli and Xingqui was the history of Liyue, and Venti could only seat near them while the two were immersed in the topic. 

While he took the time to eat the snacks in gusto, someone suddenly wrapped their arms around his neck and snuggled against the side of his neck in surprise. 

"Sir Venti- AH! Jiejie how are you here?!" Xingqui suddenly stood up from his seat and helped untangle the arms around Venti and pull the other person away from him. 

"Dandelions~ Didi when did you smell Dandelions? Hmm?" When he heard the voice of the mysterious person, Venti became tensed up and his heart suddenly beat in a rapid manner. 

"Uriel Jiejie, come now and let's go back to the bedroom, ugh, Your sleepwalking is getting out of hand," Xingqui shot them an apologetic look and had Xu help him get his older sister upstairs. 

"I'm terribly sorry if my older sister offended you, Sir Venti. My sister is part of the Adventurer's Guild and whenever she didn't get an appropriate rest at the right time, her sleep-walking started acting up and will get her somewhere far," Xingqui said in an apologetic tone. Zhongli conversed with the young Xingqui while he tapped Venti underneath the table, helping his friend to get out of his own thoughts.

'W-What in the world?' Venti could only think of those worlds after getting hugged from the back by Uriel. It was but a brief moment, but the smell of Cecilia was on her, and the softness of her skin was like the texture of soft and moist tofu. And her lips, those pair of lips that brushed against the skin of his neck- Venti couldn't help but shudder a bit as heat rises up to his face. 

He doesn't understand why he was reacting like this, what more about the name of his current feelings because of the thousand years of grief and longing that accompanied him for so long.