#trying to watch over him as a lingering ghost kinda did the opposite effect tho but she tried her best

[gierosajie]

Thinking about how there's a lot more ghosts wandering Mondstadt in the Archon Dvalin AU than usual because Venti is usually the one sending off spirits into the afterlife and well. he's kinda stuck on that side post-Cataclysm

At first there weren't any because they just followed Venti, but afterwards there were some that still lingered and the number just kept piling up over the centuries. Many did eventually go on their own, but there's just more that didn't want to or simply couldn't

Dvalin doesn't know how to send them off, no one really showed him how and he doubts that even if he knew, he probably couldn't. Still, whenever a spirit decides to show themself, he stays with them for a bit, just to alleviate their burdens even a little and maybe help them find enough peace

It's probably another thing that eats at him alive because he couldn't even help those that he failed to protect, no matter how much most of them say it isn't his fault

And then, after the whole reconciliation with Celio thing, one of the lingering spirits asks him for a song. Before, he might've gently turned down the request, but after everything, he decided he might as well

Dvalin starts singing an old song he loved. Singing it had been painful, once, considering it was made as a duet and having to listen to the silent answer just brought him nothing but grief. Now, there's a sort of peace to how the breeze and the sound of nature fill in the gaps and pauses.

Over the course of the song, more and more ghosts come to listen. By the end of it, Dvalin opens his eyes to see most of them disappear, not in terms of hiding away like usual but rather beginning to dissolve into light as they finally move on

The last one to leave was the one who requested a song. She turns to smile at him. "I suppose I can finally tell that bard how much you've grown," she says before finally dissipating into the wind

#anemo archon dvalin au #I wanted to post hurt/comfort so I dusted off one of my drafts and added the comfort part #anyway yeah the last ghost was from the Cataclysm and probably met Venti briefly when they were still both alive #and then she met him again as he was gathering up all the dead so they could go together #but then she takes one look at Dvalin looking absolutely miserable #and decides she ain't going to rest until she deems the poor guy to be doing fine #it took 500 years but y'know Mondstadters are a certain brand of insane sometimes #trying to watch over him as a lingering ghost kinda did the opposite effect tho but she tried her best #'what about the miasma and evils spirits that would appear due to all these ghosts tho?' you may ask #Idk copious amounts of seals and blessings and maybe the occasional exorcist that pass by #Venti's resentment and regrets were probably the only tatarigami that plagued Mond #and even then it just stayed around the vicinity where Venti died and took a while to even manifest #mostly due to whatever wackery is going on in Dragonspine + intervention from Andrius and Dvalin