modernity - xiaoven

48.

only a half day tomorrow until im on Christmas break!!

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"we'll leave in a few moments, and once we're gone, xiao will head on ahead, until we get to wangshu inn, where, unless it's day, which it may not be, you two will stay the night, and i will continue to the harbor. in the morning, xiao will excort you to the harbor and then return to the inn."

"that's complicated-"

"i know it sounds that way, but it isn't, truly. now, i didn't get a chance to earlier, but how are you feeling? i have your gnosis, while your body feels like it was ripped out due to la signora's actions, correct?"

"it does, yeah."

"i don't want you to extert yourself that much, then. if anything happens, please tell me how i can help."

"i'll tell you."

"thank you. are you ready to leave?"

"yeah."

venti stood up, and left the room, with zhongli close behind. xiao was speaking to jean at the end of the hall, with the blonde seemingly contradicting him.

"xiao, i can't take it."

"you'll need to, please."

"i can't. what if anyone were to find out? only diluc and i know, and what if the fatui come?"

"you're a strong and capable person, jean, you're the only person in mondstadt i would trust with the gnosis, besides venti himself."

"that's sweet, but what would i do?"

"until our venti returns, you will simply hold it and keep it safe in any way."

jean nodded slowly, sighing. "where is the gnosis currently?"

zhongli walked over, venti following him. "pardon my eavesdropping, but i have it." he summoned the chess piece, which began to float in his hand, pulsing with anemo energy.

"alright. are you sure you can't take it?"

"we don't want to alert anything that the gnosis has left mondstadt, and there's a chance that the fatui will follow venti for the gnosis, so if we take it with us, we can lose it."

"i understand." jean nodded slightly, as she took the gnosis, and slipped it into her sleeve. "i'll place it in my desk once you leave. until then, i'll keep it on me."

"thank you, acting grandmaster."

"no need for the formalities, just jean is fine. and, because of the recent events, i've requested that either amber or kaeya escort you out of the city, and to atleast windrise. unfortunately, we'll be quite busy with the aftermath of the attacks, so that's the farthest they could go."

"thank you. that's quite kind of you."

"you're welcome, and when is the best time that we leave, so we wont be bothering your efforts to quell the fears of the citizens as well as the repairs."

"there's no best time, actually. we're doing all we can, and we have an expedition in dragonspine returning soon, so we really can't waste any time."

"very well then."

"before you go, since i wont be seeing you off, as i need to get to my office as soon as possible to sign off on the efforts, if you're with amber, tell her to tell timaeus to head to dragonspine to bring albedo back, if you're with kaeya, tell him i give him permission to head to dragonspine to get albedo."

"why the specifics for each person?"

"as an outrider, amber is best clearing out the hilichurls that are getting closer to the city, and it's best if kaeya goes to dragonspine, because then we ensure that timaeus is safe and in the city, and we don't have another missing persons case."

"another..?"

"we have tw-one. a young boy name joel's father."

"you almost said two?" venti spoke up, from where he was playing with his hands.

"yeah... i was thinking of lu- no i hadn't? i only said one? you might be hearing things, venti, i'm sorry if i confused you."

"it's fine."

venti blinked slowly, taking in the fact that somehow, jean was switching words and what she was saying in a matter of seconds.

and that neither zhongli or xiao had noticed anything off had happened.

what was going on?