As I promised in my previous story ' For Her Sake ' here is the story and my reimagined version of Venti kicking La Signora's ass . This is of course canon to my two previous stories ' Lord of Winds' and ' For Her Sake ' . I plan on releasing far more fics in the future as part of a series .
Though if I'm going to do that I should probably establish a sorta timeline for all this , but that's beside the point of this story .
With that in mind , let's get this story started !
Lord Barbatos , like many of the original Seven held many titles and names after the Archon War and during it . His most famous and well known of which were of course the ' God of Freedom' and the 'Lord of Wind ' .
But there was one title that was lesser known by Mondstadts residents and even members of his own Church don't know about , it was the 'God of Death ' .
Well , more specifically it was a nickname some of his soldiers had called him back during the Archon War when they had thought he wasn't listening . He honestly didn't mind or was even all that bothered by the name too much , since Morax had titles like the 'God of War ' or ' God of Spears ' .
And even Barbatos himself couldn't disagree or refute the title since he was quite well known throughout the Archon War for his rather ... ruthless battle strategies or his practice of almost never taking prisoners during battle . Of course , these were during the earlier centuries of the war when it was at its fullest and the gods of Teyvat had to use all of their power and every resource at their disposal to stand a chance against each other . So Barbatos was merely doing what everybody else did .
But of course , as time went on and he later forged an alliance with Morax , his tactics became less ruthless and more ... pragmatically brutal . He never did anything more than to win a battle against another god or did any less to ensure to safety of Mondstadt .
But the title as the 'God of Death ' still stuck with him even throughout the entire war .
The God of Wind was as brutal with a blade as he was precise with his arrows .
... Was what he had heard from one of his soldier's bragging to some of the prisoners they had captured in an attempt to scare them into talking .
And Barbatos could not refute such a statement , as it was entirely true . While he never took any pleasure or satisfaction in taking a life , be it god or mortal . He always found a sense of peace knowing that he was able to protect Mondstadt through their deaths .
He even remembered there being a short story written about him once , if he recalled correctly it was :
On the battlefield , when the wind starts to rage and the clouds in the sky turn black with righteous anger ... was a sign that the God of Death had arrived and was prepared to lay down his scythe of death on all the poor fools who stood in his way .
He never did like that story about him , which while mostly true , he sure as hell never used a scythe in any of his battles .
Fortunately as the millennia went by and passed , people of course forgot all about his title as the 'God of Death' something he was most happy about . The title itself made it seem like he was the grim reaper himself , which while it acted as a good way to scare and demoralize enemy soldiers , in times of peace and when war is a thing of the past he would rather his followers and people not remember him by such titles anymore .
Yes , he was but the God of Wind , Freedom and Wine . Lord Barbatos .
When he was Venti the travelling bard , he was just that - a playful bard that would play songs in exchange for wine and sometimes payment .
And he would prefer if it stayed that way until the end of time itself .
Venti flinches as Barbara screams in horror at the state of the Holy Lyre , he honestly can't blame her . It is quite badly damaged , the wood horribly askew - the few strings barely hanging on and the rest of it looked like a stiff breeze could snap it in two .
Though if Venti was being honest , he was actually kinda surprised the Lyre had lasted as long as it did throughout the millennia . He had long expected it to be have been broken back during the Archon War , it wasn't like the Lyre was of special make or anything . Well , to be fair he did receive it as a gift from Sir Ragnvindr after his friend died during the assault on Decarabian's tower . And when he first held it , even he had to admit that Lyre was of fine craftsmanship .
He suspected that the reason it didn't break during the Archon War was because of all the celestial energy he poured into it , making it and the songs it played much more stronger than any sword , bow , spear or even shield could defend against . Mind magic truly was a terrifying thing . Though after deciding leaving it with his Church as a sort of keepsake before going into his 'retirement ' , which was countless centuries ago , the power contained in the Lyre had long dissipated without Venti frequently pouring energy from Celestia into it .
Nowadays , Venti doesn't really have much use for the Holy Lyre , not counting his most recent use and theft of it . Besides the occasional want for sentimentality or perhaps wanting to play a nice tune to the children of Mondstadt with his Lyre like he had done when he had first returned to the city during Vanessa's time .
Venti has to physically stop himself from rubbing his forehead to nurse an oncoming headache when Barbara drops to her knees and begins asking for forgiveness . She was still but a child , she still had yet to fully understand how the world worked . Then again if it were any of the other sisters or priests , then he's pretty sure that they would probably be doing the exact same thing . With the exception of Rosaria of course ...
" Oh , give it here " Venti lets out a sigh reaching out an expectant hand to Lumine . Who hands it over without any resistance .
He decides to just use a simple glamour to hide the damage for now . He can still feel some traces of celestial energy in the Lyre as he holds it in his hands , but he can't truly repair the Lyre without tapping into his celestial energy and he really would not want to do that in his own Church that had plenty of witnesses that he really did not want to do some mind erasing on .
Using some good old fashion theatrics which included excessive wind, braids flying regally and teal tips glowing, and the Lyre floating in his hands . He places a temporary glamour on the Lyre , making it look as if it had been repaired , though Venti can see through the illusion of the glamour and see that it is still horribly broken .
Jean , Lumine and even Paimon looked surprised at this . Barbara immediately stops begging for forgiveness and takes the Lyre out of his hands , holding it close as if it were a delicate child . Judging from the looks on everyone's faces , it seemed that the con had worked ...
Although he should probably figure out a way to repair the Lyre before the glamour wears off , it would be too cruel of him to leave his believers to one day find the Lyre in disarray for no particular reason . Other than their Archon got hit by a well aimed ice spike and Lyre was used as an impromptu shield , but that's something he's going to leave out .
" The Holy Lyre , but how ? " Barbara asked in disbelief , still holding the Lyre close . Venti doesn't answer her , its probably better that she simply doesn't know and let her believe whatever she wants to believe . Its definitely easier than trying to explain it to her .
" Can Paimon see ? " The little fairy tries to get a closer to the Lyre , but Barbara pulls it away keeping it out of reach of Paimon .
" No ! I don't know how or what you did to the Holy Lyre , but you'll never touch it again ! " Barbara takes a second to glare at Venti before walking off with a huff . He finds it awfully ironic that the Deaconess of his own Church is glaring at him , an irony that is only known to himself but still ...
" Barbara ! Hang on , I still need to talk to you about that report ! " Jean goes after her retreating sister .
Venti turns to Lumine as Jean and Barbara disappear from sight " Come on , Lumine let's get going ..."
As they start to walk out of the Church , Lumine leans in " Hey ... so what did you do to repair the Lyre ? " Lumine questions , an inquisitive look on her face . Paimon also seems interested in what he had done to the Lyre , he supposes he can tell them at least .
" Well , I uh ... didn't actually repair it per say ..." Venti sweatdrops , scratching the side of his head " I kinda just put a magical glamour on the Lyre to make it look as if I had repaired it ..."
" So you didn't actually fix it ? " Lumine stops , raising an eyebrow at him .
" If I actually wanted to repair it , I would have to tap into my Archon powers which would make my true identity way too obvious to anybody with half a brain " Venti explains . " That being said we should uh ... probably get going "
" Why ? " Paimon asked .
" That trick I used to place the glamour on the Lyre , it uh ... isn't going to last forever you know " Venti cheekily winks at them .
The look of surprise and shock on Paimon and Lumine's faces were priceless .
Venti couldn't help but giggle in amusement , as Paimon's expression turned to one of anger " You tone deaf bard ! "
" Relax , relax ..." Venti tries to get them to calm down , some of the people and nuns at the Church are casting odd glances at them now . Venti speaks in a low tone so only they could hear " Don't worry , I'll come back another time and fix the Lyre for real "
" You better ! " Paimon yells in a slightly more hushed tone .
" Would you keep it down , the last thing I need is for people to -" Venti freezes at that moment , as he feels a cold ... familiar feeling pass through the winds .
The winds bring a warning . Something or someone is coming .
Lumine quickly notices this , placing a hand on his shoulder " Venti , you okay ? You look worried "
" Oh , its nothing Lumine ... " Venti smiles at her " Just a familiar chill that I remember from a long time ago ... "
They had barely even left the Church when suddenly Venti feels it - the sense of oncoming danger in the wind itself . Its the kind of feeling that its enough to turn the air itself stiff . Then he heard the sound of stilettos sharp enough to pierce his skull, and Venti could physically feel the air get colder .
Venti turns to the source of the noise and sees a woman , with long blonde hair, a dangerous looking mask that covers part of her face , and hollow blue eyes . He easily recognizes her as La Signora, Sixth of the Fatui Harbingers .
The Tsaritsa's Harbingers .
Before he could erect a protective wind barrier around them , La Signore snaps her fingers and in the next instant they are hit by powerful storm of ice that turns the wind in the air cold . The air grows viciously cold, forming a thick shell of ice that covers Venti's legs and feet. He notices that this is not the ordinary power of a Vision user - no , this is the borrowed power of an Archon .
Venti is briefly amused , it warms his heart a little to see that his dear Tsaritsa still deems him dangerous enough to lend one of her precious Harbinger's power .
But the amusement quickly dies out , as Lumine is pushed back by the winds and Paimon is blasted away encased in a block ice . Lumine is quickly restrained and held back by two Fatui agents .
Looks like he's on his own ... just perfect .
La Signora approaches him , flanked by two Electro Cicin Mages. A gloating smirk lights up her detestable face as she looks him in the eye. "At last , Mondstadt's rodent ruler in the flesh."
Venti ignores her already figuring out how to get out of this one , 5 agents in total , 2 regular agents , 2 Electro Cicin mages and one Harbinger .
Sounds easy enough .
"Scurrying through the streets, looking for leftovers?" La Signora asks. His attention is brought back to her when she runs a finger down his cheek, trailing down to his chin to lift it. "Mondstadt calls this a god?"
Venti looks up at her with a blank face , before spitting in her face , smirking at her " Resident vermin beats invasive vermin , you wannabe Tsaritsa bitch-"
Her slap hits his cheek and he can feel the heat of it on his cheek " Don't you dare speak back to me, you insolent bard."
" Why ? Can't take a little bit of criticism ? " Venti mocks which earns him another slap . Worth it .
"Speak for yourself , absentee Archon of Mondstadt." La Signora's grins as she grabs him by the throat and lifts him up , breaking the ice holding him down "How impotent you've become."
Even through all of this , Venti is not scared , smirking even bigger at her "That smirk you wear looks out of place. Did you steal it from your master's face?"
She frowns , blasting him away with icy winds. Dashing forward, she strikes him in the chest with pure Cryo energy, extended nails of ice tearing through skin and flesh and bone. "You should've held your tongue."
He collapses as she lets him go, blood dripping from his fresh wounds . Staining his white clothes . He could feel agonizing pain course through his body , but he still managed to remain focused through all of this .
La Signora lifts a glowing object to her visible eye. "So this is a Gnosis, huh? Wouldn't be caught dead wearing this ugly thing in public."
Venti's eyes widen for a minute , so that's what the Tsaritsa is after . She wants his Gnosis .
Venti grit his teeth , he can't let this bitch run away with his Gnosis . Of all the things in his lifetime on top of his most recent breaking the Holy Lyre , that was the last thing needed to lose today
"Beauty is a waste when the beholder has no taste," he growls.
The Harbinger kicks him in retaliation.
" Don't touch him , you bitch ! " Lumine screams out , trying to fight against the hold of the agents . But is shut up when one of them slaps her across the face .
" Don't you dare speak to La Signora that way ! " One of them yells out , before taking out a blade .
Venti felt his heart drop for a second , no .
He positions the blade behind Lumine's back ...
No , no , no ...
... And thrusts it clean through , impaling Lumine . Her body falling to the floor , her head resting against the floor .
No .
...
" AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH ! " Venti lets out an loud , almost inhuman roar as a powerful whirlwind gather around him with himself at the center . Becoming so strong that it hurls La Signora and her Cicin Mages back . His feelings coming in full force with rage at the forefront fueling the wind covering the area . His body glowing brightly , his wings unfurling , the power of anemo and wind coursing through his veins as his clothes change to that of his armor that he wore during the Archon War . His true form .
On any other day , he would chastise himself for doing something so revealing ...
But right now , he really doesn't care . He's going to make La Signora and every single last one of these Fatui beg for mercy and regret ever being born .
" What in Teyvat- " The Fatui agent who had stabbed Lumine spoke up , which made it easier for Venti to target him .
" Wind Cutter " Venti simply said , his voice as cold as ice itself .
With those simple words , the wind cut the agent at his command . One swift cut of wind later , followed by blood spilling the concrete , followed by the man falling to the ground writhing in pure agony and pain .
" AAAAAAAAHHHHH ! MY FUCKING LEGS ! " The agent gripped his knees , where his leg used to be .
The other agent who had been holding down Lumine stepped back in shock , disgust and terror . Even La Signora and the Cicin Mages looked shocked by this .
Venti had used the wind to cut the agent's legs off .
But it won't kill him , no , Venti uses the wind to keep more blood from pouring out , he wants as many of them alive ...
" O-O-Oh my Archon-" The second agent barely had time to start praying for the Tsaritsa's mercy , because he was unfortunately at the mercy of Venti .
And he was sadly all out at the moment .
Venti used the wind in the same manner to decapitate the second agent , his head flying for a moment before falling ungracefully to the ground . The sounds of the first agent who was still screaming over the amputation of his legs howled through the raging winds , as the sky turned black and the wind started to rage as a storm started to come to fruition .
Venti looks back at La Signora and the mages , her face previously wearing a smirk now wears the face of shock and surprise .
Venti smirks , this was going to be fun .
He looks to see his Gnosis lying on the floor , having been dropped from the raging wind . Signora seems to notice this too , making a dash for the Gnosis " No ! "
Venti doesn't even move from his spot , holding out his hand the Gnosis flies back to him and returns to his body . He can feel the power of Celestia itself start to pour back into his body , his former strength during the Archon War coming back , along with a new rage that he is more than prepared to unleash on these pathetic Harbingers .
" What is wrong La Signora ? You seem a bit ... scared ? " Venti mocks , which seems to enrage the woman .
La Signora screams , dashing at him trying to attack him with ice to trap him once more , the Cicin Mages unleashing their annoying electro cicins . Venti rolls his eyes , could they be any less imaginative ?
With a flick of his wrist , the blasts away all of the ice and slices through the cicins with wind . But that is not the only thing he slices with the wind ...
The two mages who stood beside La Signora had their throats slit , as if by a blade of steel but in reality it was with the force of a thousand winds . Both mages chocking on their own blood , before collapsing dead on the concrete floor .
That left La Signora all alone ... perfect .
" Do you fear the storm Harbinger ? " Venti calmly asked , taking a step forward . La Signora looking from her falling comrades to the raging wind around them and to the sky turning black .
" How could anyone be afraid of a pathetic rat like you ! " La Signora shouts back , but Venti can practically smell the fear coming from her .
" Then how about you prove it , you two faced Fatui whore " Venti insults and that seemed to be enough to goad her into attacking .
She dashed at him with a blade of ice , Venti summoned his own blade of wind and clashed with hers . Strangely enough this weirdly reminded him of his days of sparring with the Tsaritsa's or the past Cryo Archons , but now wasn't the time to get sentimental .
Venti blocks and parries all of Signora's attacks , he had to admit that her speed and skill with a blade was impressive for that of a human ... but she was still only human .
Striking at Signora who blocked the attack with her icicle sword , but she was not prepared for the aftershock blade of wind that was chanelled into the blade . Shattering her pathetic ice blade and sent her tumbling to the ground .
As Signora tried to recover and get up , Venti suddenly appeared standing atop of her , giving her a hard kick in the gut making her cough up blood .
Payback's a bitch .
Venti looks down at her , his face covered by the darkness of his white hood , but rage apparent on his face " Don't tell me ... you actually thought you could take ME down ? An Archon ? A living god himself ? You seriously thought you stood a chance against me ? "
La Signora stiffened as she slowly got up , her eyes wide with rage and embarrassment .
Venti smirks continuing to mock her pride " You seriously overestimated yourself , huh ? And you dare to call yourself a Harbinger ? You incompetent moron ..."
La Signora stands up straight , rage clear in her eyes " YOU DARE INSULT ME ?! YOU WORTHLESS BARD ! "
La Signora takes out a glove with some kind of red glass ball in its center , putting it on her hand . Venti guessed that she was preparing to attack .
This time however , La Signora tries to attack him with chains made out of fire . Strange , he could have sworn her Vision was that of ice ...
The reason quickly coming to his mind , as he calmly blocks the attack with a barrier of wind around himself " A delusion ? How pathetic ..."
"I'll show you pathetic , you rat- "
" Wind Prison " Venti cut her off , when he summoned a prison of wind around her entire body , breaking the chains and trapping her completely .
Venti calmly walked up to her , the wind covering her mouth cutting off her ability to speak . Venti looked into her eyes and saw fear , he smiled but this one was filled with venom " Shall I show you ... the wrath of a god , Harbinger ? "
La Signora couldn't even scream , as Venti began violently slamming her body into the wall and concrete floor of the courtyard of the Cathedral .
Again , again , again and again .
To the point where he lost count how many times he had done this , but La Signora was bleeding heavily from several spots , her dress torn and bruised in darker spots and he was certain that several bones had broken at this point .
But he wasn't done . He wanted her to suffer a bit more .
He began slamming her into the large doors of the Cathedral , over and over again until ...
CRACK !
The large wooden doors completely collapse and La Signora's battered body flew through the air and landed right down the middle of the row of seats . Shocking his believers inside and he could see Barbara and Jean turn to him in shock .
Venti paid them no mind , walking inside with his blade still coated in blood not caring that some of it was spilling onto the floor .
La Signora tried to crawl away , her legs clearly broken and as pathetic as it looked . She had to at least try to get away .
Not that it would do her any good .
As he walked inside , he ignored the sounds of gasps and some of the nuns noticing his heavenly wings , quickly coming to the only logical conclusion...
" Oh my god ... that's Lord Barbatos ! " One of the nuns gasped , knelling in piety .
" Venti , what's wrong-" Jean tries to ask , but he doesn't answer her .
" V-Venti ?! " Barbara face turns to one of alarm " Venti is Lord Barbatos !? "
Venti tunes them out , as he finally gets close to La Signora's crawling form , kicking her in the stomach so that she can look up at him . She does and her eyes show that of true fear .
She was afraid of him . Good .
" What's wrong little Harbinger ? Afraid of the God of Death ? " Venti asks in a sickeningly sweet tone " Don't worry it'll all be over soon "
Venti raises his sword over her body and Signora closes her eyes in fear , hoping for it to be quick . He can hear Jean shouting something , but he doesn't hear her .
Before his blade could fall , somebody grabs his wrist , the touch feels ... familiar .
Venti turns to see the injured Lumine standing there with Paimon at her side , her clothes still red with blood from her injury and teeth gritted from the pain .
" Venti ... that's enough ..." Lumine says " You're scaring everybody ..."
Venti looks around and can see that his people ... his children are looking at him in fear .
It all hits him like a large boar charging at full speed .
" Lumine ! " Venti throws away his sword and holds Lumine just as she was about to fall .
What was he thinking ?! He should have prioritized Lumine's safety over getting even with the Fatui . He would smack himself up the head for that if he could , but now was hardly the time to be chastising himself . He had a friend to help .
" Can you stand ? " Venti asks .
" Kinda ..." Lumine answers clearly in pain , Venti puts her arm around him and helps her stand .
At that moment , Lumine seems to lose consciousness and Paimon's face turns to one of worry " Lumine ! "
Venti can still feel her breath , she must have simply passed out from exhaustion .
Venti helps carry Lumine up to the trio " Rosaria , take Lumine to heal her . Barbara go with her and help "
Rosaria simply nods , not bothering to argue taking Lumine out of his arms and holding her bridal style .
Barbara on the other hand , her face cycles through guilt and fear and veneration in the span of a second . He suspects it has something to do with her rudely telling him off earlier . Not that he was really angry about it , considering she didn't know who he was at the time "Of course, Lord Barbatos ! Whatever you need ! " . She bows her head as a show of piety before running off with Rosaria with the still carried Lumine , Paimon trailing behind them with a worried expression .
Venti then turned to the still battered La Signora , who looks up at him in fear and anger " Go fu-"
Venti cuts her off when he slams his boot into her face , knocking her out .
He could practically hear Jean flinch at his brutality , but he didn't have time to be gentle .
" Venti , are you- "
" I'm fine " Venti quickly answers Jean's question.
While he appreciated Jean's concern , he needed her help " Jean , listen to me very carefully . I need you to get every available knight down here now and cordon off the area outside . I also need you to get this piece of trash and another Fatui agent outside with no legs locked up at the Knight's HQ , keep them both under high security "
" A man with no legs ?! " Jean asks in alarm . " Venti , what did you- "
" Jean ..." Venti said with perhaps more hostility then he should have , but he didn't have time to argue " Don't argue , just do it "
Jean seems to think it over for a second , before nodding " Understood , Lord Barbatos ! "
Venti tries to ignore that she used his true name , before running off to organize her knights that were starting to form outside .
Venti took a deep breath , as he let out a sigh .
He already knew that he had a lot of work ahead of him ...
And that this fight was far from over .
And that is the end of the chapter ! I hope you all enjoyed more of Venti being a badass , I'm definitely a sucker for the whole nice but extremely dangerous character that hides underneath a pleasant persona of kindness . I personally like to reinvent Venti in this sorta character .
Now that this chapter is settled , I hope to see you all in the next one !
Angel Out .