A lost friend's journey

Chapter 3

Venti didn't know how he should feel about this. Why were they here? Why now? Could they be having a meeting? But that didn't make sense! Why would they do it in Mondstadt of all places?! The last time he saw the Archons, they had been pretty mad at him. He had clearly understood that they didn't want him, that he was not welcome. That they never appreciated his presence among them. They had no reason to visit Mondstadt, a nation they never bothered to learn anything about. They discarded Mondstadt just like they rejected Venti, so why?

Venti was aware of Dvalin trying to calm him down, but his mind couldn't focus, it was elsewhere. How could he focus when his fellow Archons, who very clearly expressed how dissatisfied they were with him, where in Mondstadt! Normally, he couldn't feel it when someone entered or left his territory, but the Archons were different. They were literally connected via their gnosis.

No, no! There was no point in fretting over it! He would simply avoid them! It wasn't going to be easy as he couldn't know where exactly they were, but until he felt them leave Mondstadt, he'd just have to be careful. Yes, yes, it was as easy as this!

"Barbatos?!" came the panicked voice of Dvalin, startling said God.

"O-oh! Sorry, I just- I was just lost in my thoughts."

"How do you feel then?"

How did he feel? That was a good question, a question he wasn't sure he could answer. He felt... mixed. All the Archons gathering in one territory they had no business in wasn't something he could have ever expected. Suddenly, Venti felt a deep fear install itself in his heart, bringing with it a cold dreadful realization, like a dagger being pointed right at his heart waiting to impale him. He was completely terrified that the reason of their presence was the same one that brought them to the events of the Cataclysm. But how could it be when Mondstadt was very clearly a nation following an Archon, even when said Archon was absent? No, it couldn't be. It couldn't be.

He could only hope his distress was not seeping through, and that Dvalin could not sense it. "I think I'll be fine," he reassured his friend. "They don't even know what I look like! They'd have no way of knowing who I am if we stumble on each other."

And that was one reassuring factor, albeit very small and insignificant in front of the fear that was threatening to consume him. Whatever happened, if he were to see them, he would just have to remain calm and pretend as if they were juste simple strangers, and had nothing that could attract a bard's attention. As long as he stuck with this rule and did nothing overly suspicious, he would be fine. Mondstadt would be fine.

"I'll make my leave to Mondstadt then," he announced while getting up, quickly attracting Dvalin's attention. He only hoped his quick escape was not seen as such, trying to make it seem as casual as one could be in this kind of rather unfortunate situation.

"Are you sure? Knowing they are going there..."

Ah, Dvalin bless his heart, always the perceptive one. So he did notice something was very wrong with Venti. He really was a fool for thinking he could make him believe he was not as bothered as he actually was. After all, Dvalin had stuck with him ever since Venti first became a God, staying by his side in whatever hardship Venti happened to be facing. He nodded, crossing his arms over his chest and smiling reassuringly. "I am. Mondstadt is big, our path might not even cross!"

He laughed, trying to ease some of the tension away. Not that it particularly did anything.

"Plus, even if they did, this would be an occasion to see how they are doing."

And to assess a possible threat to Mondstadt was left unspoken, but Venti could see that his friend understood nonetheless if the way he turned his head towards the general direction of the city was anything to go by.