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The following is a fan-based

FICTION

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Anemo: The Price of Freedom (1)

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He did it. Venti had managed to help Dvalin.

The idea of failure terrified the Anemo Archon as he finished removing the shards of the corrupted blood that had been stuck on his former familiar's back for a long time. Yet, it was also odd that he succeeded into the ask as he could tell Dvalin had been interested to either fly or fight him rather than accept his request.

Yet he decided to not 'risk it'. He smelled something bad. Something that could kill it if he made a mistake.

Something had happened. Something big had changed. And Venti could also feel it in the wind as it wandered within the region itself.

Old, declining, but still strong and almost endless in its own existence.

It was the first time Barbatos felt someone this powerful and it made him worried that the source of this dissonance was none other than someone from Celestia. He didn't have much context in that regard, but he could tell this individual was just now entering Mondstadt.

He could smell the blood carried through the wind, the pain and suffering- all of that cautiously kept hidden from most with just a lingering unease persisting. Yet, no trouble came from that. Mondstadt was most peaceful even as he focused on helping Dvalin recover from his many centuries-long slumber and understand that people had been unable to keep track of him due to Venti's own fault.

It annoyed the Dragon, but his familiar was in a better mindset after being freed from the influence of the Abyss. After setting Dvalin off to explore the region that had changed from the time he used to freely fly by Barbatos' own desire, Venti decided to 'play Bard' and go back to Mondstadt.

By the time he got there, the city had been fine and there had not been any disturbance. In fact, many were just curious about the new 'travelers' that entered Mondstadt. Peaceful ones, but definitely 'odd ones'. Venti tracked them down fast, but he was unable to get too close that he was noticed.

Absurd considering that he was putting effort in softening his steps, yet the tallest of the trio had actually seen him moving. Hiding away for a solid minute, trying to put away the strange deep fear of approaching the strangers, Venti ultimately decided to keep track of those three... from afar.

The two girls, the flying one and the blond-haired one, didn't appear too dangerous as the former was quite 'weak' while the latter appeared to be... suppressed. The tall man was another thing. That bald entity was not a normal human- oh no, mortality had long left that wandering soul as he carried through a sort of power and experience that truly caught Venti off-guard.

Is that... Is that a God?

No. It made no sense. He sensed no Gnosis on him, yet he clearly held some divine power. An agent from Celestia? Not even that as such an event would have been far too calamitous than it truly felt at the moment. As Venti was close enough to get a better reading, Venti realized this individual was someone else. He was something else. Something that this world had never seen before now.

As he continued to follow them, noticing how Amber was at ease around the trio, it became apparent that his unease came from a divine understanding. The bald man could have been a relatively towering human, but all in all Venti doubted that much could be discerned from the wind alone.

He had a name, however. Kratos. Such a curious and yet unfamiliar term, yet he had a feeling it had value somehow.

With the group reaching the headquarters of the Knight of Favonius, they disappeared for some minutes. Kratos was the one that left earlier, perhaps asked to keep out due to his terrifying frame. And yet this gave him an opportunity to avoid misunderstandings.

At this point Venti knew that their 'guests' had a feeling he was around.

So, as the tall man made a couple more steps away from the Knights, Venti decided it was time to make his presence known to him. Again.

"Greetings," He welcomed quietly, a smile on his face, but the intention duller than its brightness.

Kratos tensed up, almost ready to jump him but he... held back. He merely turned, gracing him with a frown.

"So, I was right. You are Barbatos."

"That's the name, so, Kratos, what's the purpose of your visit?"

Perhaps Venti was sounding a bit unreasonable here, but his mind was storming with worry and unease at the pressure exerted by the big man.

"Visiting. Finding people."

"To talk with them or-"

"Companions of mine. And one brother to the girl."

"Oh! Apologies then, it's just... you know you are quite intimidating."

"..."

"I mean, not the posture but, you know, the divinity in you."

"We mean no trouble. We are here to pass by and then leave."

"Oh, don't turn this into an effort to kick you from Mondstadt. The City of Freedom is not one that reject those that have no ill intention towards its denizens or other innocents," Venti assured mirthfully. "Say, I know this place with some booze. How about we have a chat there?"

Kratos contemplated this for a while, clearly intrigued by the idea of alcohol and...

"Lead the way, Barbatos."

"It's Venti, by the way. I don't like for others to know I have returned just yet~."

This line seemed to surprise the bald man, but while many would have been annoyed by this knowledge, that a God had gone 'missing' for a while but was actually around and letting mortals do their things, he could tell Kratos was actually accepting this idea faster than those people.

"Hmph, fine."

But he was still a prude. And Venti could live with a new grumpy friend to add to the list.

AN

As promised, a massive change just unfolded- Dvalin is not the big issue of this first 'Arc'! In fact, you can say that the boss here is someone that may have their destiny changed considerably. After all... they are not too different from Kratos to some extent.

Also, to answer some important questions: I am not nerfing Kratos (he is going to struggle even at full power anyway against some baddies), he is not a 'tag-along character' in the sense that he is dependent on Lumine & Paimon's current interactions as shown at the end of this interlude and, most important of them all, he will have his solo fights. Such as the one that will be the most important for this Arc.