Summary: A conversation over dinner. Archons are powerful beings, Gnosis or not.
"So, you willingly handed over your Gnosis?" The Shogun asked, her voice deadpan. "To the Fatui?"
"Not only that," Venti grumbled. "He handed it over to Bitchy McBitchface."
"The contract had been fulfilled," Zhongli countered. "And my promise is—"
""Solid as stone,"" his fellow former-Archons recited his adage with a rehearsed boredom, Venti going as far as to pick his ear and flick it at the Geo God.
"We know."
"Come up with something a bit more clever maybe," The Shogun said bitingly.
"I might take you a tad more seriously if your cheeks weren't currently bulging with rice." Zhongli retorted. Indeed. Since they'd sat down for their evening meal, Ei had paused her eating only to breathe. Aether pinched his brow.
"Ei, the food isn't going anywhere," he said patiently. "You don't have to eat as though the world is ending."
"I cannot." The Shogun swallowed her mouthful before resuming her solemn task. "The one within has decreed delicious food must be consumed posthaste."
"It's rice."
"And it's delicious."
"She has a point, Aether!" Paimon nodded sagely. "Rice is food. And all food is delicious!"
"Even emergency food?"
"Especially emergency— Hey!" The sprite turned to glare at him, her cheeks likewise bulging with rice.
"Joking aside," Zhongli broke in before the conversation could devolve into their typical emergency food banter. "I must find myself agreeing with the sentiment. Despite the simplicity of the meal, your culinary technique is impeccable. Your ability to bring simple flavors to life is truly admirable."
"It's chazuke." The Traveler said bluntly. "Literally tea on rice."
"Just let it go, Aether." Venti winked, raising his bottle of dandelion wine. The blond traveler sighed before resuming his meal. The group ate in comfortable silence before Paimon asked a question she'd been wondering for a while.
"By the way, Venti," the fairy began. "Aether told me about the showdown he had with Ei back in her... uh..."
"Domain Expansion?" Aether supplied helpfully.
"My what?" Ei, sensing the coming conversation would require her input, re-took control from her puppet.
"Or maybe it was a Reality Marble..."
"I know all the words coming out of your mouth, but the order and context you say them in makes no sense!" She sighed. "If you mean my inner-realm. It is called the Plane of Euthymia."
"Basically the same thing," Aether waved her concern off. "Their names were just chosen because somebody thought they sounded cool."
"Anyway," Paimon stressed before Ei could further express her confusion. "He told me what went down inside her inner realm-thingy. And from the sound of it, she was super strong! I mean, the first time she did it, she was going to execute him in front of everybody!"
""She what?""
Ei coughed, averting her gaze from the unamused eyes of her fellow gods.
"Technically, that was the Shogun," Aether offered in an effort to sooth their displeasure. "But yeah, I was a little in over my head. I guess my string of victories against Boreas, Dvalin, Childe, Osial and Azhdaha went to my head and I got cocky."
"Paimon can't tell if you were being genuine or if you were humble-bragging," Paimon said. "Anyway, that's besides the point! Paimon's original point was this: Venti, there was no way Signora could have overpowered you so easily. Even if you are the weakest of the Seven, you still had your Gnosis. You didn't even bother fighting back!"
"Huh," Aether mused. "Y'know what, Paimon's right..."
"Of course Paimon is right!" the fairy huffed. "Paimon's not an idiot!"
"Ah..." Venti smiled smugly. "You mean that." He took a sip of his wine. "Well, tell me this, Traveler. Do you remember the conversation we had with Dvalin after we freed him from his corruption?"
Aether's brow furrowed. The conversation with Dvalin? It had been pretty brief from what he remembered...
"Why did you not ask me to protect you like the last time?" The great dragon asked the Anemo god riding upon his back. Venti smiled, fondly patting his old friend's scales.
"Me not wanting you to listen to the Abyss Order doesn't mean that you have to listen to me." The party watched as the bard clasped his hands together, a brilliant teal energy coalescing within his grasp. "Freedom, if demanded of you by an Archon is really no freedom at all." Like a gentle breeze, the orb of energy flowed into the dragon, engulfing him in its brilliant glow.
"Is this... the power of the Anemo Archon?" The dragon asked hesitantly. "But I am no longer part of the Four Winds..."
"Even if that's so, you still protected us regardless," Venti smiled once more. "Now spread your wings of freedom and go with my blessing!"
"No way...!" Aether yelped, turning wide eyes upon the bard sitting across from him.
"What is it?" Paimon asked, cocking her head in confusion.
"Dvalin...! You gave your Gnosis to Dvalin?!" The other's eyes also widened as they turned towards the smug bard.
"HUH?!" The fairy gasped. "But... That doesn't make any sense! We saw Signora take your Gnosis!"
"Let's just say that Visions aren't the only thing I can make a convincing fake of," Venti said, his smugness reaching its upper limit. "The Anemo Gnosis is safely being looked after by the new Anemo Archon."
"So, if Dvalin is the new Anemo Archon and Yae is the new Electro Archon, then... wait..." Aether paused. "That means... The only one to actually lose their Gnosis is..."
All eyes turned towards a sweating Zhongli. Ei snorted. Venti smugged.
"...My promise is solid as—"
""You're just an idiot, Morax.""
Closing Notes: Most chapters will probably be short like this. And I still don't believe Signora could have defeated Venti so easily.