And this is the final chapter of the story before we move on to the next one !
Also before we get this chapter started , in response to a guest that had reviewed : Venti is not 'ruling' over Mondstadt , that's not what his big reveal is supposed to mean , but rather he's taking a more upfront approach to protecting Mondstadt and its people . Since before he used to do this whole hiding in the shadows business . Though I will admit that the idea of Venti becoming more ruthlessly tyrannical as things go on is certainly an interesting idea that has crossed my mind ...
I may need to think about that for future stories ..
But enough about that , let's get this chapter started .
The area around Windrise was deathly quiet at night , it was quite a contrast to the liveliness it had during the day with birds chirping and the pleasant feeling of sunlight on one's skin . Now as night had fallen , the only noticeable sounds that could be heard was the sound of the trees rustling from the gentle but strong breeze of the wind . Leaves fell from the especially large tree that stood to shelter the statue of the Anemo god and the beautiful moonlight shined down on the statue ...
Venti had to admit that he may have liked to loiter around Windrise a bit too much , but then again who could blame him ? The Windrise statue was by far one of the most popular spots in all of Mondstadt's territory , with its gigantic tree easily one of the largest in Teyvat . It was also a spot of great historical importance as it was said that the Lionfang Knight Vanessa would frequently visit the tree and statue to pray to the god , Barbatos . There was even a myth that she had been buried by the tree .
Venti was at least glad that the historians were able to at least get part of it true , while Vanessa certainly did frequently come to Windrise for matters involving Barbatos ... it was hardly for anything holy like praying if one could understand his meaning .
Venti shook his head now was not the time to be thinking about his nightly escapades with Vanessa , he had to keep an eye out for an important guest . Hiding up in the gigantic tree and sitting on one of the branches that gave a clear view of the approaching path to Windrise , Venti kept a close eye out for any movement .
After about a half hour of waiting , Venti finally spotted a tiny figure approaching the tree , even from his covered position he could still see that the moonlight revealed a single fairy , floating towards the statue with a look of impatience and anticipation .
Venti smirked as Paimon stopped by the statue and floated there , he was wondering if he should reveal himself now when she suddenly looked up directly at him " You can come out now , I know you're there Venti "
Venti raised an eyebrow at this , but shrugged , he had already expected this . Jumping down from the tree branch and down to the grass , causing a few stray leaves to fall from the tree and onto the ground right next to him . Dusting himself off , he approached the fairy with his usual smile " Paimon ! So glad you could make it "
But the fairy was clearly not having any of it , merely glaring at him " Cut the crap , why did you call me here and what do you want ? "
Venti dropped his smile , it was clear there was no point in trying to play the familiar friend or face , then again he and Paimon have never really had the best relationship to begin with . He gets the feeling that she only tolerates him for Lumine's sake , but that's not important right now ...
What was important was trying out a hunch he had about the fairy ...
" Oh nothing too important I just ... wanted to ask about particular incident a little while back "Venti walked past her and showed his back to her " Specifically the one where you and Lumine got attacked by those band of Fatui "
Paimon visibly stiffened but kept her composure " What about it ? "
" Nothing I'm just ... wondering about a lot of things now regarding that incident " He turned back to look at her " You see , I find it hard to believe that you were able to merely hide from the Fatui and secondly ... I doubt that you actually carried Lumine all the way back to Mondstadt , especially with the injury she had ..."
" It was dark and raining , the Fatui probably gave up and decided to run before reinforcements could show up " Paimon defended with a glare " And like I said I used my fairy magic to heal Lumine so that she wouldn't die on the trip back "
" Ah , but there lies the contradiction to your statement my dear Paimon ..." Venti smirked at her " The Fatui never give up "
Paimon went silent at that , as he continued " And I find it very , very strange that we have never seen you use your healing magic discounting that one incident . If its so powerful to the point where it doesn't even leave a scar , you'd think you would use it more often ..."
" Is there a point to these questions ? " Paimon spat out .
" Yes , there is Paimon because you are ... by all purposes a mystery to me " Venti crosses his arms at her " Nobody has ever even heard of your kind before , including me and that's saying something . Not even Lumine knows where you come from or your origins ..."
Venti walked to look Paimon directly in the eye " You are ... an anomaly Paimon and I hate that ..."
Paimon didn't back down or even look the slightest bit intimidated , in fact she looked even more enraged but was just barely keeping it down " So what are you going to do about it ? "
" Why do you have to make it sound so heinous ? I'm just doing what any responsible Archon would do if there was a mysterious person lurking around his region " Venti smiled , walking past her with his hands around his back " I'm merely investigating it ... and testing it ..."
Paimon eyes widened as he twirled around as fast as he could , summoning his bow and firing multiple arrows at the fairy .
A loud bang echoed from Windrise , followed by the bright light of something transforming ...
...
...
...
When the light finally died down and Venti got a clear look at Paimon , he smirks that his hunch had been proven correct .
Standing where Paimon was just moments ago , was now a tall beautiful adult woman . Her hair had grown significantly in length but was still the same pure white it was , her clothes had completely changed to a white dress that had bits of black mixed in here and there . Her eyes had also turned to a golden color that were now boring holes into his head , as she trained some kind of large long ranged weapon that had smoke coming out of the barrel and was aimed directly at his head .
It didn't take him long to figure out what the weapon was ; a pistol or was it called a revolver ? Either way , the thing had blasted his arrows out of the air and were now crumpled on the ground between them . With Venti aiming his bow right back at the now revealed Goddess .
After a moment of silence , Venti decided to speak " Khaenri'ah weapon , eh ? Nice "
" Thanks asshole , I quite like it myself , I even made some of my own modifications to it " Paimon glared right back at him .
Venti pulled his arrow further back and in response , Paimon cocked her own weapon preparing to fire .
Quickly sensing an oncoming battle , Venti tries to defuse the situation " So should we just kill each other or do you want to talk ? " Venti knew that may not be the best choice of words , but after that little stunt he had just pulled , being absolutely straightforward with Paimon was probably the best way to go .
After about another 2 minutes of staring at each other with their weapons drawn , the two in synch lower their weapons . Neither of them really wanting to fight the other .
" You know , you could have just asked me to transform and I would have " Paimon glared at him , as she made her weapon disappear .
" I had no guarantees that you would do so easily , so I had to experiment a bit " Venti noticed that Paimon was still glaring daggers at him " Oh quit glaring , you and I both know an attack that weak would have never killed you , even if they had landed you could have used your powers to dodge just as easily "
Paimon crossed her arms " So I take you've figured who I am ? "
" Yes ... I think I have " Venti had only heard of one god who had pure white hair like that , even though he had never seen or even met them in person back during the Archon War , there was no mistaking it " Its Kiara right ? Goddess of Time and Shapes ? "
After a brief pause , Kiara nods " ...Yes "
" Yeah , I figured . You know you were pretty famous and had quite a rep back during the war " Venti gave a soft smile as if that would stop the tension between them " One of the most powerful Goddess during the Archon War , easily having one of the highest kill count of gods during that time . Hell , even I was scared of ever facing you back then "
Kiara gives an amused chuckle " Glad to know , my reputation still precedes me "
" Everybody was up in a panic when you went missing at the final battle , we all thought you went underground and was planning some kind of massive assault against us or something . " Venti chuckles at the memory of the original seven being up in arms about the disappearance of the Time Goddess " You know , Rex was particularly curious about your absence , but we all eventually wrote it off as you simply perished at the final battle and your body had merely dissipated along with all the others "
" Well as you can see , I am not dead and am in fact alive and well " Kiara pointed out the obvious with sarcasm in her voice , before her eyes " That fight was certainly a bloody one , was it not ? "
Venti nodded " Indeed . I lost the entire battalion of soldiers I had brought along with me ... there weren't even any bodies left to bury by the end of it all " The memory of his men getting turned to ash during the last few moments of that final battle will forever be ingrained his memory .
Kiara didn't speak , but rather just give her silent condolences .
Venti let out a breath " But enough about that , I'm curious about you Kiara ..." Venti narrowed his eyes at her , as she tensed up once more " I'm not gonna bother asking how you survived or what the hell you've been up to since then ... but what I am curious about is why you are masquerading as a fairy and accompanying Lumine as her guide "
Kiara goes silent for a moment , before she speaks again " Is it so hard to believe that I simply now wish to live the ordinary life of a fairy and companion to a girl in need ? "
" Yeah , I'm gonna call bullshit on that " Venti harshly refute , not believing Kiara the slightest " Sorry , but I find it hard to believe that the Goddess of Time who also at the time held the title of ' Goddess of Apathy ' all of a sudden wanted to live a peaceful life . So what's your real play here ? "
Kiara glares at him , before letting out a sigh , her eyes softening " Did Lumine ever tell you about her brother ? "
" Yeah , she said when they were about to cross over into a new world a goddess stoppe- Oh wait ..." Venti quickly put the pieces together " You're that Unknown Goddess , aren't you ?"
" ...Yes "
" So why are you suddenly so inclined to help out one of the travelers you attacked ? " Venti asked , but this time was met with silence .
" That's for me to know and for you not to know ..." Kiara gave a look at him " Just leave it at that Barbatos ... please ..."
Venti gave a sympathetic look at Kiara " Very well . I don't plan on revealing your identity to Lumine anytime soon but I would like to know what you're plan is for finding her brother "
" You act as though , I don't already know where he is ..."
Venti raised an eyebrow at Kiara " Oh ? And where would that be ? "
" The Abyss ..."
Venti's eyes widened as those words sunk in " You ... you're kidding "
" Yes . Because I have been known to make such great jokes ... " Kiara reaffirmed with seriousness in her eyes " He has become the new leader of the Abyss and I fear what he may have planned "
" I do not like the sound of that ..." Venti knew for a fact that the powers from the Abyss were nothing to scoff at , if Lumine's brother had access to it ...
And to make matters worse , Varka went on an expedition against the Abyss months ago with most of Mondstadt's experienced knights and veterans ... and they have yet to return . It is not a thought that Venti likes to entertain , but he may have to consider that the worse has happened ...
" What exactly is your plan for when Lumine finds out her brother is the Abyss Prince ? " Venti asks , giving Kiara a hard look .
"...I'll figure it out "
" And when she finds out you are the very same Goddess that took her brother away from her and caused him to become what he is ? "
"... I'll figure that out when I get to it "
" Yeah , good luck explaining that Lumine " Venti rolled his eyes , its clear that Kiara has no plan for dealing with Lumine's eventual mental distress for her brother . Then again , who is he to judge ?
" I think you have asked enough questions Barbatos , perhaps its time for me to give you some words of advice " Kiara narrowed her eyes at him .
" Oh ? What might that be ? " Venti crossed his arms.
" Don't even think of letting your guard down or Mondstadt's for that matter " Kiara warned with a serious expression " The Tsaritsa's is planning something Barbatos , I don't know what it is but I have a boding feeling that its going to concern every square inch of Teyvat "
Venti nods in agreement " Yeah , La Signora was trying to steal my Gnosis , so maybe her goal is to gather the other Gnosis's ? "
" Possibly . We can't be too sure of anything at this point " Kiara put a hand to her chin " Just don't get too comfortable , this matter is far from over ..."
" Never planned too " Venti answered .
" Good ... then I think we are done here ..." Kiara made a move to leave when Venti stopped .
" Hang on a second ! " Venti shouted .
" What is it now ? " Kiara rolled her eyes in annoyance .
" Do I have your word that if the Tsaritsa really is planning on something big against Teyvat ... can I trust that you will stand on our side if that happens ? " Venti asks .
Kiara scoffed " I am not the God of Contracts or your friend Barbatos ..."
" Do I have your word ? " Venti gave her a hard stare .
Kiara thought it over for a moment before nodding " If it ever gets to that point of severity , than yes I suppose ..."
Venti smiled " Good to hear it . I've always wanted to see the Goddess of Time in action ..."
" Let's hope we never have to ..." Kiara warned " I should get going before Lumine wakes up in the dead of night and finds me missing "
Venti nods , as Kiara turned to leave as the wind started to pick up around them . But just as she was about to teleport Kiara turned back to him " Though I'm curious , how do you plan on obtaining more information about the Tsaritsa's grand plan ? "
Venti smirks at her " Let's just say that I am very happy that we took La Signora prisoner , I have a feeling she'll be able to tell me everything I want to know "
Kiara grins " I almost feel sorry for the bitch ... almost "
Venti waves goodbye as Kiara teleported away back to Mondstadt , just as he was about to leave himself he looks up at the sky and sees a bird flying .
He has a lot of work ahead of him .
In case any of you are wondering , yes , Kiara/Paimon uses modern-ish weapons since I feel like its pretty fitting with her title of the Goddess of Time in my story . Since she has lived centuries and has probably been around to see the fall of Khaenri'ah and since Ruin Guards exist in canon , it isn't so much of a stretch to believe that they were able to make modern weaponry . Since it was kinda implied that Khaenri'ah was an industrialized nation .
But anyway that is the end of the story ! I think I should explain why this story ( And For Her Sake ) is so short , well that's because this is sorta like a series of stories that are connected to each other . But I don't want to do it all in one big major story , so I break it out into several small stories . Cause I'm not totally sure if I can really commit to a major story right now .
Rest assured there will be more of these stories in the future .
And stay tuned for my next story which is a continuation of this one " La Signora's Interrogation " .
With that said , I'll see you all in the next one .
Angel Out .