Chapter Text
“More wine please, Master Diluc!” A cheery voice came. A glass raised slowly after.
”You’ve had your 13th bottle, bard,” began the redhead, who was shaking his head in disapproval, “This is where I have to cut you off.”
This is a recurring theme, the bard comes for drinks on days that the man behind the table there starts barking at him once he starts going way out of the range that he can allow. There was no room for negotiation with the Ragnvindr before him when he got too much into his system.
The tavern of Angel’s share was lively, the smell of alcohol and whatever foods that were quickly cooked up for those that want to sober up before they start heading back home. Cheers were heard from the upper floor - a successful business venture had occurred and it appears that they won something big - and there was significant, alcohol induced chatter from all over.
Venti had finished his performance for the night and was letting Six-Fingered Jose take over and start earning his fair share.
Venti’s antics have not yet changed the few years he had woken back up. Even as the traveler has fixed whatever problems - or is in the process of - Sumeru has been going on. That whole Akasha system or whatever.
He? The most popular bard in all Mondstadt? Barely changed, other than a steady weariness of Musk Reef and trying to keep his identity under wraps. Hoping that the whole thing with Hans Archibald didn’t blow too far out of proportion.
Actually he probably is staying silent since nobody would believe him, not even as “Stanley” would anybody take him seriously, less his own church comes bearing down on how Stanley is probably seeing things.
“Aww come on~” playfully, the bard sang, “You’d defy this humble bard the fine tastes of wine?” Another sigh, and the redhead just nudged him a little. It was close to night, around 10 one can surmise. Much of Mondstat is shutting down to get some shut eye.
And judging from the look on Master Diluc’s face, he’d rather not have a drunken Venti going around and causing a racket for those already asleep or too tired to deal with the day.
“Venti, you know this,” he began, “And besides, you don’t wanna add to your tab any more than you already-“
Before he could even blink , the bard was gone, impressing even some of the people that remained. He took a look at a bard that was at the door, singing a lovely tune with his own Lyre, blinking in incredulity as somebody of a familiar profession left that fast when threatened with a tab.
Diluc sighed, uncrossing his arms that he had not been aware was so firmly clenched against him in the first place. “You gonna go after him?” Six-fingered finally spoke, pointing at the door.
With a shake of his head that had been more fond than he’d like, Diluc responded, “No, but he cannot escape the tab forever.”
Ahh…. Venti softly exhales, sitting in the hands of his old friend again. A full moon, and the stars were glittering under a clear and inviting sky.
Staring beyond the grand walls that protect Mondstat from the outside, and into the beautiful wide forests that cover his nation.
His nation… he will always love his children, no matter how foolish some can be, or how devout they are.
Peace was something tentative over Mondstat.
With Grandmaster Varkha taking most of its actual armed manpower, the Knights of Favonius has taken it upon themselves to try and get adventurers, more of them as of late.
Maybe something to do with the Abyss Order, cause more manpower isn’t needed to handle a bunch of Hillichurls .
Barbatos forbid - “Wait… I’m Barbatos… ehe” - that an Anemo slime formation is actually causing trouble. Even then, most of the issues are usually handled by Diluc and his contacts or - on rare occasion - the Knights themselves.
Nothing ever really needed or went beyond what could be handled by them, and even then, Dvalin and Andrius weren’t really active protectors considering the little threat the Nation of Freedom and their Archon faced.
Well, as long as the big island in the sky wasn’t causing him trouble or his dear city is under actual direct threat, he wouldn’t care. Venti was content to just let the world just pass him by, while enjoying the company of his people as much as he could.
The moon glimmered, and he swears he can see 50 of the stars above start shining brighter than normal, before fading back to normalcy. “A nice sight, for those out tonight,” he hummed, as he curled into the hands, eyes and face still towards the wide expanse.
He let the winds come and tell him stories of afar.
Kusanali being freed, Ei trying to figure out her eternity in a changing age, Zhongli being yelled at by his… boss for his spending habits, and Focalors ever so dramatic. He can hear Murata and her desire for… not war, something else?
And of course, the chilled winds that bring in word of Tsarita’s plans…
He focuses on Nahida for now. He can’t hear all of the details of course, but just enough to get a general gist of the whole situation. That was fine, as long as he sits up here, he can get a free broadcast of everything that was going on in Teyvat.
From any corner, the winds were blowing in some shape or form. Even in Enkanomiya or as far off as Natlan’s volcanic landscape, he always heard from the winds anything that was going on.
And they were always eager to share some of the latest from around, even putting the Steambird to shame with how much he can just know by asking his dear friends of the North. If he could speak with the southern, western, and eastern winds, then that is definitely a bonus.
They only ever respond whenever he directly wills it.
That’s why he was strong, information. Probably why the Dendro Archon was so powerful too with Irminsul. They can hear the winds and all of its stories, bringing facts, gossip, and… well, Barbatos can’t exactly attribute his power because of his relation to her but…
That information enabled them to be able to act with cunning and intellect, and not reliant on the brute force like Morax or Ei. And also why the Anemo Archon can afford being lazy, for if something happens, the winds will definitely tell him.
“I am thinking of limiting the Akasha system and getting education back on track.”
“Oh?” began another voice that was probably the Scribe that he heard every so often from the winds, “I was told that you wanted to shut it down fully. What changed?” Genuine surprise, something that always made Venti at least semi-interested if it wasn’t the same old gossip that he would get used to over time.
“Economically, too many people rely on the useful and practical functions for their businesses and their day to day calculations…” Venti waved his hand, and the winds over Sumeru stopped deliberately delivering him what was going on over there.
He didn’t need to know what would happen if something as useful as that system gets shut down, he was a little familiar with it himself - and probably Kaeya, but he wasn’t going to prod.
He began to close his eyes. He always loved his naps, and with the winds speaking and reporting, he knew that when he closed his eyes, everything would be alright when the sun came over the Horizon…
Venti let out one more, slightly alcohol tainted yawn, as he leaned into the hands of the Statue, “Good night Mondstat…” and his eyes came close.
“What does that Bard think he’s doing up there?” Grace sighed. She was planning to head home for the night, but she caught the most popular bard in the entire nation climbing up Barbato’s great statue and resting up there?
His legs were dangling off the sides, and she swore she could hear some snoring coming from the boy.
The audacity of this bard, she swears to Barbatos.
He would probably not appreciate somebody sitting like that on a holy piece of the Church and the Anemo Archon - well she thinks, blissfully unaware that it IS him up there - and she was ready to try and get up there to get a hold of him herself and bring him down.
“Alas…” she began, sighing and rubbing her head. It was a ROUGH day for her, and she can’t bring herself the energy to try and handle the problem this time.
“Oh well,” Grace concluded, going to the statue. “If anything, I’ll at least pray that the winds do not let him fall, and that if he does; he is granted a nice bed of Anemo to be lofted down upon.” She goes over to the base and begins her quick prayer.
However, as she begins, she takes notice of… some sort of carving underneath the placard, somewhere close to where his robe touches the bit of grass that it connects to. Strange, she began, stopping her prayer and kneeling down, I don’t recognize this script…
She looks at it, tilting her head a little. It looked like - and it was a bit of a stretch - Tevyatian Common language. The letters were all there, but they were arranged in a pattern that was undoubtedly strange. And the shapes were undoubtedly familiar too, but they were more… solid, yet broken at the same time.
This… certainly was not supposed to be here. She began to look around, Why was it here? Surely that bard could’t have? The stone looks like it was elevated and not carved, and he certainly didn’t have the skill to do that.
She had not noticed the little bit of gold and white that was buried in said words.
Grace gave it a closer look, well there was still moonlight, so trying to figure out what it says should be a little easy? She began to squint.
“Orbem… gentium et… orbem bellorum,” Grace read a little slowly, and deliberately, “libera… nos longe… sedentibus… oras?”
Was… this some old language? She… was able to say it , but there was a whole difference between saying something, and knowing what each word meant.
She shook her head, nope, she wasn’t going to worry about it. She yawned and began to walk away, “May the winds protect you, Bard upon the statue…”
As she marched away to her home or wherever she goes to rest, she failed to notice the white glow that was starting to cover the robe of the statue, which gradually began to cover the Courtyard in front of the Cathedral, before it fully expanded.
Without warning, the winds began to violently scream, windmills starting to spin at rates they cannot sustain.
Anybody still out on the streets - of which, a few nights and a few people trying to head home - were suddenly caught in the confusion that immediately followed the light.
Before the exhaustion hit and they all fell down.
Godwin was near Windrise when it happened. Standing by the tree, and mulling over if he should ever go back into the city with what had happened, he was there gathering some things, trying to make it seem like he was still out on the mission and not… hopelessly stuck there.
He would have taken a nap by the tree too, waiting for day and its sunshine to come, and under the protection of the Statue of the Seven that resided there, had it not started to suddenly glow with Anemo energy.
“What in Barbato’s…” he began slowly, reaching for his sword, before an even greater light came from the center of Mondstat proper. The light was fantastic, brilliant in nature too, and… was it getting closer?
He had to cover his eyes, for whatever it was, had come and consumed him as well in its glow.
The glow reached far and wide, even going far north, consuming Old Mondstat and even bits of the north where the waters of the nation come from.
Dragonspine was destined to be hit next, and even the golden apple archipelago and Musk reef was not spared as the light began to come too.
Ningguang didn’t mind sitting at the front of her Jade Chamber, looking down upon Liyue Harbor and marveling at its activity. She took a quick hit from her pipe, and blew it into the wind, humming in interest as some lights down there began to finally turn off and tuck in for the night.
The lady knows by heart that Liyue’s fortune has multiplied. Even as Rex Lapis is no longer with them - which is a flagrant lie, thanks convenient Adepti arts - they still produced, signed contracts, and made money.
We still need to go over that whole Mora problem… she wondered vaguely. Eyes flickering to the moon and the shine of many stars that were to the north.
The wind blew, a little violently, but that’s to be expected if she’s higher than most buildings - barring whatever was coming out of Fontaine - of course the air is more bitey.
She was ready to go back into her chambers. She was only out here for some fresh air, something that reinvigorated her, especially as she sees the Alcor and the Crux Fleet out over by the stone forest.
Ningguang was satisfied, blowing out her pipe, and preparing to head in, when something in her peripheral caught her attention. “Hmmm?” she began, turning in its direction.
She wishes she didn’t, because she saw a great wall of light, brilliant white light, encase almost the entirety of Dragonspine mountain and what her geographic knowledge knows is Windwail Highland.
“What in the name of the Seven…” she hummed under her breath, before the white light vanished.
And she can no longer see the silhouette of Dragonspine.
She bursts open the door to the Jade Chamber, “Bring forth the Millelith, immediately!”
“... wasn’t Mondstat just here?!” commented a Milleleth guard. Many had come from the direction of the Stone gate after the white light dissipated. Spears drawn, and many with visions ready to try and counteract whatever was possibly out there.
When the light appeared, they feared it was some sort of Divine attack.
The idea only solidified when it faded, and they weren’t greeted by the paths that would certainly lead one going this way near Dawn Winery and Wolvendom.
No, they were only greeted by a desolate, almost flat land. The news was quick to spread, reaching far and wide.
The Nation of Freedom… has seemingly vanished without any trace.
Many feared it was Celestia’s doing, for who else could have the power to uproot an entire nation but the Heavenly Principles?
Somewhere all over the world, a stubborn blockhead, a shogun, and a little girl with green eyes sat in silence. A dramatic theater girl of an Archon had been shot silent. The lady of fire let her flames rest for a moment.
And the supposed god of love stayed dead silent.
Before their own nations began to be engulfed in a light that Morax swears it is Celestia’s doing.
And Furina has to take cover, despite her position on the throne, as the Oratrice activates, and covers the Opera Epiclese in its own light.
And soon, as the Heavenly Principles will eventually discover.
Teyvat was an empty land, with almost zero signs of civilization ever gracing the lands below.
The Sustainer, if she was present, would have gone apeshit.
The wind always carries information and news, that ability Venti often takes for granted…
“...the war on Terror has only escalated with the deployment of combat robots to Iraq and to Yemen. The U.S. Army has yet to release a statement on why engagement policies-”
“The NOAA of the United States has reported unusual weather patterns over its Tornado Alley region.”
“Occult activities in Poland and in various regions across Central Africa has led to Martial Law implementations in order to contain-”
“The State of Japan has declared an emergency state, as electricity and an unknown hostile force has been found outside of the various cities.”
“The Russian Government and the Kazakhstan Government are trying to smooth over Siberia-”
“For the first time in a long while, a snow Storm has touched down on the British Isles-”
“There is a GIANT rainforest in the middle of Iraq now-”
“Unexplained, and sudden homicide reports are flowing from various cities across the globe.”
“Australian miners are reporting strange automatons-”
“There is no way a city pops up in the MIDDLE of the 2 Dakotas AND Minnesota with how Tornado Alley and even the Canadian Shield is treating the region this year-”
“Archaic readings along the equator has gotten significantly worse. If you are a well attuned user of any of what we could call ‘magic’, please stay away-”
“The Royal navy has reported a strange oceanic anomaly near the Island of Jersey and the cost of France-”
…but he can’t help but feel…
“...uhhh sir? There’s a stone city and a giant snowy mountain in the middle of the I-29”
“That’s… impossible Lieutenant.”
… but it feels like something is wrong with the wind today.
…wasn’t it 11pm just now?