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FICTION

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Anemo: The Price of Freedom (2)

P.S. I now have a discord server! Discord .gg/ceBMM2Zz6c

That booze-induced nap was perhaps one of the nicest way to find some peace, yet Venti's job in Mondstadt was far from over.

Albeit his exile had been shaky in the last few years, the recent events had him wondering how much things had truly changed. Not much in regard to his subjects as those had found prosperity under the freedom they enjoyed, but rather over the world's affair as he couldn't help but smell more trouble.

Kratos was not trouble unless the mini-giant was provoked into retaliatiory actions, and the Anemo Archon knew the real worrisome elements were those aiming to destabilize Mondstadt's own purpose by targeting him. Someone knew he was active, and while the flattery was not missed, Venti also knew whoever noticed was also given the means to seize him if given the chance.

A quick look into the current 'unusual' locals confirmed that the Fatui were indeed in town. The Tsaritsa had been an odd ball, and that was indeed a noteworthy concern to keep an eye on, but as the bard strolled through the streets, he could feel a lingering and faint energy that was 'tracking' him.

Not Fatui, not Kratos... no, this was foul for sure.

Moving fast, Venti managed to get a glimpse of his pursuer. The figure was disguised in a different form, no different from the common denizen of Mondstadt, and yet carrying through a sense of wrath akin to a certain dragon that Dvalin took care of used to have.

What are you doing here?

A game was not afoot, but Venti deemed it fair to treat it as such while also tackling it with enough seriousness to avoid any surprises.

The chase was long and, after a while, boring as he realized the one chasing him was ill-suited for such a role. Confusing at first, and yet amusing enough to make the game last for roughly two hours. Admittedly, Venti was looking for fun, but he hadn't thought things would have grown stale relatively fast.

Once he was bored with that silly antic, he decided to show his current source of trouble a taste of the wind. Moving quite fast, he siphoned Anemo's energy from the feet of his chaser, pushing him onto one of the dark alleys around. Away from witnesses, away from more trouble.

"So, that was fun. But I think we have gone a bit too far with the game since, you know, you can't win it," Venti hummed, stepping into the alley and smiling at the growling individual as abyssal energy was mustered on the ground. A thin barrier of Anemo kept it at bay, but at least now the bard knew that this wasn't a mere visit. "How may I help you, worm?"

"Y-You Gods and your arrogance. It will be your undoing," The man snarled, his disguise faltering as Anemo particles shredded at him- keeping him contained in that place. "You- You think I am the problem? You are t-truly stupid, Barbatos."

Venti raised a perplexed eye at this, then frowned as he tried to make sense of this. "Hm? What are you-"

Before he could finish the sentence, his eyes went wide open as he felt something wrong happening by the Cathedral. Not precisely in a random place, but from a specific room that no one but a few should have access to. As he turned to frown once more at the Abyss Agent, Venti appeared stunned to see that the entity was sinking into the ground.

"A-As I have told you already, Barbatos... You gods are arrogant!"

The raspy rebuttal was the last thing the bard heard as the pursuer disappeared outright, leaving him to chase after this new problem. He barely made it to the cathedrals, rushing on the side to avoid the sight of any nuns - lucky that people like Rosaria and Juliana were busy at the time - and then reaching his destination.

His Harp. The one item the had left behind as a symbol of his 'ever-lasting presence' was gone. The guards all around had been disabled, painfully hurt, but overall spared by intense pollution. As they could be cleansed and were so at the behest of Venti's rapid intervention, the bard stood by the empty pedestal, his mood spiraling into a dangerous decline for anyone tempting his divine wrath.

Once he was done that no one had been hurt extensively, Venti resumed the chase which took him out of the Cathedral and then out of Mondstadt.

This time the chase was frustrating. The item was already important, but the true source of worry was what the Abyss was planning to do with this, and the fact that the one he was chasing was surprisingly nimbler than the one that he had played with just mere minutes earlier.

The chase was a bit longer this time around, and, much to his growing irritation, was not giving him much to work with to outpace his target. But as they were running around, the one that he was chasing made a solid mistake. He took a turn, seemingly going to somewhere specific, but the truth was that, in that desperate chase, the target had gotten the attention of someone not fast but... persistent.

Before he knew it, Venti was forced to slow down and take a far enough hiding spot as he saw something happening within one of the clearings in the woods they had been running into. It was the sight of a very annoyed bald man wielding one of his weapons, a lance, and staring at a strangely familiar blond young man that was growling at him. He had a sword at ready, while his other hand firmly grasped the harp.

Then it clicked to Venti's mind who it was and he forced his hands to hold a gasp in. There was no doubt in his mind that the one that had unwittingly picked a fight with Kratos...

...was none other than Lumine's brother!

AN

First Boss in Teyvat, and Lumine is not around to see the show. What a shameful surprise!