Echoes of the Dihua Flute:

A Start

Only a Few Centuries

An Immortal's Slumber

Reunion

Just a note, even though Echoes of the Dihua Flute is a 'series' of sorts, each story is an independent short story (as in each title. The chapters within each title will be connected) and you will not need to read the stories before it to make sense of what is going on. There may be some light references to other tales, but they do not hinder your understanding of the plot

It attacked him suddenly, like a shadowy hand seizing you when you turn the corner of a dark alley. But unlike a shadowy hand, this pain held him with and iron grip. Xiao clutched his chest and fell to the floor, his teeth barred.

He had felt the pain intensify the moment he put on his mask, but as that was normal he thought nothing of it. But by the time he had eliminated all the daemons, he most he could do was break his fall slightly by bending his knees. Curled up on the floor, he tried to hold in his screams as much as possible, shivering.

Will this be the end of me?

…

That morning when he awoke, as always, two pains assaulted his conscious mind. His karmic debt, and the loss of his love. In the one thousand years that Venti had left, the pain had not become any less, nor his longest fade. It was easier to bear, yes, but that was just because he was used to it. Just as he was used to the pain of his karmic debt, he was used to the pain of Venti's absence.

…

In the darkest part of his soul Xiao now resided. With his feet weighing as the thousands of years of sorrow, a step was impossible. Bound in chains of hatred, and assailed with waves of vengeance, he screamed where no one could hear him. In the best scenario, this harassment would kill him, and in the worst, it would overtake him. However, considering his thousands of years of endurance, he thought the second was more likely.

Sorry

He didn't know who he was sorry to. To all those daemons he had killed, instead of giving them a second chance (author's note: Xiao himself was given a second chance by Morax, which he is eternally grateful for, so he believes others should also be given a second chance. Though this does not hinder his killing, as he know how futile his hopes are of 'converting them to good', but still, if you don't try you'll never know). To his merciful master, who saved him from another type of hell, much worse than this one. Or sorry to his love, to himself, for not being able to endure until their reunion, which may be ten years, may be another thousand. For not admitting that yes, he loved Venti, and now he would die without letting anyone know, not even the wind whispering between the reeds.

In the deepest recesses of hell, he tried to use the last bit of his energy, a very last ditch effort, to tell the world, to shout out,

I love you

Because he understood. How could such feeble beings such as mortals possess such a powerful, enduring emotion, he would never understand. And though it hurt, too, he thought that love was worth it.

…

After awakening, the first thing on his mind was,

Xiao

Yet both what he wanted the most, and the least, was to see him again. How was he supposed to meet Xiao after being away for so long? (because though he didn't know exactly how long, he knew it was long)? Hi I'm that dude that used to be really close to you, and now after being away for almost an eternity I've come back and hope that things came be the same - maybe even more – between us? Worse, what if Xiao had already forgotten about him? It was not uncommon for immortals to forget things in the eternity that is their lives. What if Xiao was angry at him? What if he didn't want to get back together? What if he already had someone else? (This, Venti realised, was the worst option out of them all)

So instead of going to face his fears, he first went to check on Mondstadt. Which (now that he thinks more carefully about it) should have been his first concern.

so um yeah, then the stuff in the first few chapters of the manga happens, he goes to stormterror's lair and sees there's no one there, then panics, then goes to new mondstadt. I'm too lazy to write sorry. But, one thing I have to change is that before venti enters new mondstadt there was this little section:

He was about to enter the city, when he stopped. Hastily, before anyone saw him, he put away his wings, because he wouldn't really waltz into town with wings on his back and claim that he was a normal bard, right?

Then venti goes to meet vanessa and frees Mondstadt by defeating ursa the drake. Yea. Sorry for the bad reading experience.

Venti stayed in town for a little longer, helping Vanessa establish the Knights of Favonius (aka: drinking in her office), and generally procrastinating the act of visiting Xiao. His heart twisted at each time he thought of the adeptus, and he would almost jump of the window ledge, spread his wings and fly to Liyue. Almost.

One evening he was sitting on the rooftop of the new Knights of Favonius headquarters when he felt something wrong.

He put away his alcohol, and listened to what the wind was telling him.

Immediately he jumped off the roof and flew as fast as he could to Liyue.

Once he arrived, he fell to his knees and lightly, ever so carefully, brushed away a streak of hair plastered to Xiao's face by sweat.

…

Xiao knew he was hallucinating. His mind was trying to conjure an image of his brightest dreams to battle the darkness around him. In this moment of total chaos, he wasn't surprised his mind summoned the face of Venti.

In his hallucination, Venti was trying to say something to him.

He didn't know what, but he knew that Venti was worried. Worried about him.

He almost laughed.

So even his dreams would not ignore the fact of his current circumstance?

Still, he couldn't bear the lost look on Venti's cheerful face, "It's ok" he tried to say.

But his throat was not cooperating.

"It's ok"

He tried again, and heard the cracked, wheezing sound that was his voice.

"It's ok. I love you"

Then the world went black

…

Venti wanted to scream, to cry, to tear out his hair in clumps so that it would sit on the floor like dead grass, like huge black gollups of charred sting, lying all around this terrible scene.

But he knew that isn't what Xiao would want his last view of this world to be.

So he tries to laugh, tried to sound nonchalant when he says "I'm back."

"I'm back, so don't you leave me"

"I'm back, don't leave me now"

"Not now, please, not now, not now, not now…"

His pleas turned more and more desperate as he saw Xiao's eyes close, as he felt his head tilt back, his body go limp.

"I love you Xiao, please, please don't leave me, I love you"

he shouted.

…

That melody…

so beautiful

He knew it wasn't something his imagination could come up with

so beautiful

His sluggish mind slowly came to realise, that skill, that skill

Only one person could play such beautiful songs.

He also realised, only one person could play that instrument, that instrument no one can play, not even its maker. No one, that is, except the greatest musician of all time, beyond time.

He's back

He mentally gasped, his struggles with the chains of hatred filled with a new energy.

Focusing on the sounds of the flute, he tried to anchor himself to its notes, because such an extraordinary song it was, that no mind could grasp the whole melody, tune. With a reference point, he was able to make sense of the churning darkness around him, pulling himself through the layers upon layers of loathing, rage, vengeance, retribution.

Finally, he broke the surface, the notes faded away, and he gazed upon the face he had thought only his hallucination.

Xiao wanted to bat away the flute obscuring his mouth, and smash their lips together.

He saw the tears on Venti's face, and both wanted to reassure him that he was back, as well as let him cry, for he deserved a little grief after everything he had done to Xiao.

He tried to lift his head, but couldn't.

He didn't need to, for Venti bent down and locked their lips together, saving him the trouble.