Between Duty and Love

Chapter 2 - Distress and doubt

 Venti's POV

 Cough! Chough!

 I looked down at the blood I had couched up.

 "This body really can't handle something like this."

 I had gotten my body back about a year ago. Had I been in a puppet body, I might have died on the spot just now.

 "Are you alright, Barbatos?" A tired voice came from behind me.

 "Yes. This body just can't handle that amount of power, that's all."

 I didn't need to turn around to see who it was.

 Soler, or Sol, as most call him these days.

 The spirit of the summer winds and my-

 "Brother... I'm really sorry for this."

 "It's not your fault. You couldn't have known."

 I couldn't sense it either.

 "You'll need to return." He said after some time of silence.

 His voice was filled with certainty, but it held a wist of anxiety.

 "I... I know."

 This time, I really need to go. They won't be able to solve it. Not with just the three of them.

 "He'll be fine-"

 "Oh, shut up!"

 The winds rose again with my anger and I had to calm myself down.

 "How bad is it?" I asked.

 If the damage isn't too bad, I might-

 "It's better if you go see for yourself." His words instantly shattered all my hope.

 So it's bad. Very bad.

 "Could I go and-"

 "Will you still come with me if you go back now?" He interrupted me.

 He's right.

  If I go back now. If I see Xiao...

 "I'll just come with you."

 And from this point, there might be no return.

3rd person POV

 All this wasn't felt only in Mondstadt. All of Teyvat had been struck by these disasters, though depending on the region, some elements were stronger than the others.

 "What in the name of the archons was that?!" Childe exclaimed in shock.

 Seven rounds of disasters with the first earthquake being the strongest.

 "Do you know what caused this, xiansheng?"

 "I'm not sure. In my 6000 years of life, I have never once experienced something like this. It was as if the very earth had gone out of control." Zhongli looked around worriedly till another figure caught his eye.

 Xiao was standing not too far from them, his eyes filled with loss and confusion.

 "He'll be alright, Xiao. he's stronger than he looks." He tried reassuring him.

 He tried, but the young yaksha was anything but reassured. His face soon paled as he turned to the ex-archon.

 "Morax... I can't feel him."

 "What are you talking about?"

 "Venti. It's as if he is gone. I felt his worry, then anger, and now nothing, as if he never even existed."

 He didn't wait for the old god to process his words. He directly teleported to the last place he had felt him.

 He soon found himself in the air high above Mondstadt, falling down toward the city.

 "What? Why..."

 He decided to take a step back, to go from where he had felt his worry.

 "Xiao?"

 He was greeted by a messy office, which after a few moments, he recognized as Jean's.

 The one who had called out to him was Istaroth, who was holding the unconscious acting grandmaster in her arms.

 "Where is Venti?"

 "I... I don't know."

 For once, Istaroth looked lost.

 "Where is he, Istaroth?!"

 He grabbed her by the collar, distress filling his eyes.

 He felt nothing.

 For once after two years, he couldn't feel him.

 "There was a wind... He left before it arrived here. He told me to-"

 She went silent.

 "What did he tell you?"

 There was some hope left in Xiao's eyes.

 Hope that Venti had just gone somewhere for a while and that he would be returning shortly.

 This small spark of hope, however, was extinguished by Istaroth's next words.

 "He told me to tell you that he's sorry."

 Xiao's world seemed to crumble.

 In the past two years, he had gotten really attached to Venti. The two spend every moment they could together. Except for the moment Venti was with Jean, the two never separated.

 Xiao had begun to feel more and more emotions over the past year, emotions he had been pushing down. And now, those emotions were hitting him right where it hurt.

 There was no one to tell him that it was okay. No one that could tell him that it was going to be alright.

 That smile that never disappeared, even in the face of danger, was no longer here.

 "Xiao. Xiao!"

 Istaroth's shout snapped him back to reality.

 "He's not dead."

 "But I can't-"

 "Even if you can't feel him, as long as that mark is around, he's still alive." She pointed out.

 This finally woke up Xiao and his completion somewhat cleared.

 "If you can't feel him that means he's not in this world, or at least, not in this realm."

 "Spirit realm..." Xiao muttered.

 "The spirit realm? You're right! That's probably it! The spirit realm is completely cut off from this one, even the time passes differently! If he's there, it would be normal for you not to feel him. It's just..."

 The spirits didn't really interact with mortals. Even though they both knew that Venti was a wind spirit, Istaroth was aware of another thing.

 Spirits shut out those of their kind that interact with the people of this world.

 They have their own laws, their own rules.

 Venti who took a physical form and ascended to be a god would have been despised and looked down on by the rest of his kind.

 "Why? Why would he go there? What happened?"

 There were things istaroth didn't know, things she had no way of knowing. But she knew someone who did.

 If she wants to know what's happening, she'll have to look for her.

 "I'll have to find my mother."