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yuesya · 11 days

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Sweet notes of music drift into the nighttime air, the song of a lyre accompanied by the clear notes of a young voice.

Ventus smiles broadly, fingers plucking the strings of his own lyre in harmony to his friend’s song.

The life of a bard is not a particularly affluent one. But luckily for them, Ventus has made many friends in all walks of life within the walls of Mondstadt… including talented craftsmen who happened to be highly skilled with woodwork. They had only been all too happy to indulge Ventus’ unusual request of making a miniature-sized lyre for his miniature-sized friend.

“How was that, Ventus? How did I do this time?” A white blur zips towards him, eagerly spinning around him a few times before stopping to hover directly in front of his face. Beneath the white hood, it’s difficult to make out distinct features, or even a face at all, but the small wind spirit’s buoyant enthusiasm is clear to identify from his voice alone.

Ventus smiles and praises, “That was great! You’re getting a lot better with the lyre now, Little Breeze.”

“Yay!” The nameless wind spirit cheers, with a small tinkling laughter that’s filled with genuine delight. He twirls in the air with a small somersault and–

–lands on an open palm.

Ventus blinks. Then, jumps with a startled yelp, because he had not noticed anyone else standing right next to him this entire time–!

The young wind spirit laughs, bouncing excitedly on the newcomer’s hand. “Did you like my music?”

“… It was passable,” is the young girl’s response.

Ventus roams the streets of Mondstadt every day, and he knows all its residents. Yet he can say with complete confidence that this young girl who’d appeared out of nowhere next to him is not someone whom he recognizes at all.

Her hair is long, white. Smooth and silken, in a way that Ventus hasn’t even seen in noble-blooded daughters before. Likewise, her skin is pale and smooth –unblemished and flawless in the way that a person might suspect of a statue, rather than another living human being.

But despite the physical perfections, she’s only clad in a simple white chiton. There is a thin girdle that encircles her waist, and looks to be entwined of coarse wooden fibers.

The juxtaposition is a little… startling.

“Just ‘passable?’” The tiny wind spirit that still stands upon the strange girl’s palm freezes for a moment, then draws himself upright with a loud ‘hmph.’ “But Ventus said my song was great! And he’s the best bard in all of Mondstadt, so there!”

“Well, I wouldn’t say best bard,” Ventus laughs sheepishly, then puts on a friendly smile towards their unexpected guest. “Are you new to Mondstadt, perhaps? A rare visitor! Shall I sing a small song of welcome for the lovely young lady, perhaps?”

The girl doesn’t even deign to glance in his direction, which. Ouch. That’s actually kind of–

“Unnecessary. Your music is stifled.”

Ventus freezes.

Stifled.

… A thick barrier of fierce, impenetrable winds surrounds the city of Mondstadt and its nearby territories. Stifled is the right word for it –how could he not be, being caged like this under the aegis of an uncaring god?

For all that Decarabian had been the one to protect the earliest generations of Mondstadt’s people and help them raise their city from the ground, their patron god had eventually chosen to retire to the recesses of their high tower after the barriers were raised, and none had seen them since… save for the few chosen among the God of Storms’ knights, who continued to serve the deity faithfully throughout the generations. Blindly.

“But your music…” the white-haired girl lifts her hand, studying the little wind spirit that cocks his head towards her. “… you are… happy. Exceedingly so. Why?”

“Well, what’s there to not be happy about?” The young spirit responds. “I’m with my friend, and he’s teaching me how to play wonderful music! We’ll be playing together in the tavern with all of our other friends, too! There’s going to be yummy food and drinks!”

The excitable wind spirit does another little flip again.

“How long have you tarried here?”

The little wind spirit freezes mid-flip, dangling awkwardly in the air. “… Eh? I-I don’t understand what you’re–”

“You should know this,” the girl says, and her next words dismiss any possibility of her being a mundane traveler for Ventus. “You are only a fragment of the wind, a momentary breeze. The rustling of leaves in the morning light… which is how you slipped through the barrier. But no wind is meant to be bound to a single place.”

“B-But I have friends here,” the little wind spirit stomps his feet. “I like listening to Ventus’ music. I like playing tag with Gunnhildr. I want to stay here! … Please?”

The girl tilts her head. “Even if it means your sense of self will disappear entirely, if you insist on forcibly maintaining this form instead of returning to the Thousand Winds?”

Ventus’ mouth drops open.

What?!

“I won’t be myself anymore, if I return to the winds,” the little spirit answers. “I… want to spend time doing the things I like, with the people I like, in the place that I like. Is that so wrong?”

The girl is silent.

Ventus tries to say something, anything. Why didn’t you tell me about this? Is there anything that I can do to help? How could you hide something like this from all of us, foolish little breeze?

But nothing comes out from his mouth. Ventus discovers that his voice has been silenced without his knowing–

And in front of him, a small breeze picks up around the strange girl and the young wind spirit that hovers in front of her.

For a single moment in the silence of the night, only the stars and wind remain.

“… Nameless spirit. One who is but a mere wisp of the Thousand Winds. Who has cast his gaze upon this land and its people, and wishes to linger,” the girl says. But there’s a certain cadence to these words, a certain intonation that causes each syllable to echo in Ventus’ head.

Every note overlaps upon each other again and again, rising into a terrifying crescendo–

“Upon the authority of–”

The girl’s voice disappears entirely.

… No, it doesn’t disappear. Ventus is still cognizant of her voice, but for some reason he just can’t hear. But the moment passes swiftly before he has a chance to think too deeply on it, and–

Suddenly, all pressure disappears from his mind.

Blessed calm.

Ventus gasps, staring into the ground, hunched over and kneeling. What–?

“–I bestow upon you the name, ‘Barbatos,’” the girl says quietly. “… Rise. I permit you to cease your endless wandering, and henceforth grant you a place to belong.”

There is a blinding flash of light that encapsulates the wind spirit. It’s–

Music, song, laughter–

Run, drift, fly–

Freedom–

…

With a sharp gasp as he startles back into the world of wakefulness, Ventus immediately bolts upright in his… bed…?

No. No, he remembers going out to meet his little friend last night. Playing music together. Then, there was that strange girl who appeared and did something to the wind spirit. It didn’t seem like she had any malicious intent, but…

…

… just who was she? Surely there was someone who would know; her appearance was quite distinctive. Long white hair, coupled with eyes that were–

… were…

…

(What did her eyes look like again? Ventus can’t remember. Ventus has excellent memory, and he can’t remember.)

“You’re awake!”

It is with great relief that Ventus takes in the sight of his little friend… or rather, not so little anymore. The little wind spirit appears to have grown slightly in height. More noticeably, though, there are now a pair of feathery white wings that sprout from his back, fluttering in the air.

“Ba– … err, um. Cecilia! Cecilia said that you were a little sensitive to her power, which was why you passed out, but you should be fine after a good night’s sleep.” The wind spirit turns a playful somersault in the air and plops down atop Ventus’ stomach, causing him to let out a slight ‘oof.’

Then, the words register. “Cecilia?”

“Um… yeah!” A shifty response, accompanied by nervously-fluttering wings. Ventus gives his little friend a look.

“… Did you just make up a name for her on the spot?”

“Her hair is pretty! Like the cecilias you showed me!”

Ventus opens his mouth, then closes it distractedly. “I suppose that’s true…”

“Isn’t it?” Eagerly, the little wind spirit leans forward. “And thanks to her, I don’t have to worry about disappearing anytime soon! And I have a name now, too –Barbatos!”

“… Do you know who she is, really?” Although the girl hadn’t been particularly friendly or talkative… despite everything, she’d helped the little wind spirit –Barbatos– of her own volition even though there hadn’t been any reason for her to.

The power she’d shown… was she a wind spirit, too? Surely a strong spirit, at the very least. Decarabian had slain so many gods that even now, none dared to linger anywhere close to Mondstadt’s borders. So the very thought of the girl potentially being a god in disguise was a laughable one, but…

If they could get her help, then… perhaps, they would stand a better chance at resisting and overturning Decarabian’s tyranny.

“The winds cherish her,” Barbatos responds, which lends credence to the growing theory of the mysterious girl being another wind spirit. “And… I think she needs friends.”

Ventus hums.

“Well, I think we could help with that.”

#writing #zenith of stars au #mondstadt au #this doesn't come up in the tidbit but #in my head the statues of decarabian in mondstadt #are tall and male!#i wonder why #:)#sometimes in older records though we have decarabian showing up as a little girl #so there are also theories in which decarabian is a shape-shifter

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