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The following is a fan-based

FICTION

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Chapter 21: Winging It

Exploring Mondstadt with Lumine was like doing it the first time again (in game) and doing so with a little sibling around. To be fair, Lumine wasn't exactly an innocent and naive child when it comes to combat, but she proved to be extensively silly when it came to meet new people.

Which is why I was accepting the notion that, out of the two siblings, Lumine was actually the asocial gremlin and her twin bro would have been better suited for the solo journey.

The first Archon Quest was a blur to my mind. I suppose the fact I had done it so early on in my tenure as a player meant that a lot of details just eluded me. And I had to attain to some specific path provided by looking around and about.

In the specific, I meant more on a certain bard being far more elusive than he should be and the plot immediately changing when the 'theft' of the Holy Lyre der Himmel kind of failed to happen because... I was faster. And the Cincin mage assigned on the case was not expecting for little Lumine to have a big and fast Sampo to intercept her with a bonk on her head followed in dropping her off to the local knights.

We had the lyre... but we lacked the user. For some damn goofy reasons I couldn't find Venti anywhere and this really puzzled me. Shouldn't he be proactive in fixing this mess? And shouldn't he have noticed both Paimon and Lumine to know they may be the key to solve the Stormterror issue?

The more I kept around the little blonde, the more I started to contemplate if I really needed to follow the rules since... Rules were meant to be broken! Or something of the kind as a certain Galactic Baseballer would say. Now, taking under consideration the fact I had to be out of the region around the time Arbad arrived to claim my spot at the school, I needed to pick up the pace. Thus, it was either Venti came up somehow and did his thing as part of the plot.

As if I had put a gun against the timeline's head, Venti did come up or... actually we found him. Sitting in a small bar in Springvale, and we found him by accident as I had contemplated going to Boreas and beg the big dog former god for some help.

"Look, it's the bard!" Paimon squeaked loudly enough to get us to find Venti sitting by a table and chugging on some wine... while also getting him to look at us. Specifically, at Lumine.

"O-Oh, it's you two. Hello ladies and... you?"

I shrugged at the implied 'what are you doing here?'. "What? Should I have left these two on their own when the winds have been so unruly as of late?"

"Heh, maybe you could have just waited in Mondstadt while... proper people handled this mess."

"While I appreciate your concern, Venti, I have to say that these two are more than you are thinking."

My words seemed to struck him out of his funk, the slightly drunk bard turning to the serious-looking Lumine and the puzzled Paimon.

"I don't get it?"

"How about I say 'I know they are important'?" I argued back, sensing his eyes studying me. "And you know that my word when I am super-serious is quite relevant."

"...Perhaps. Still, I will not use the Lyre."

...

Ignoring the confused expressions from the shorter companions I got, I tried to make sense of this odd behavior. Venti had reasons to be invested on helping since it was Dvalin that needed some saving. You know, the familiar of his that he would end up giving most of his powers to so he could semi-trick Signora.

So, for him to behave like this... something had happened. And I had a feeling it was about Dvalin.

"So... why not?"

"Because the abyss got involved," He grumbled. "And what came back was not... my friend."

...No. No way. No frigging way.

"What's that supposed to mean, Mr. Sampo?" Lumine asked, clearly out of the loop. But while I was about to answer, I saw Venti slam his bottle down onto the table, almost breaking both in the process.

"It means, child, that I have no reason to involve myself in... whatever Mr. Sampo is trying to accomplish. So, good day to you both."

I flinched, but knew better than just press on the topic. After all, Venti just told me to screw off or face consequences. Not exactly a nice first impression with an archon for Lumine, but I decided it was best to get back to the city as it was getting dark.

"Mr. Sampo, what is wrong with that dummy?"

I thought of how much I could say and how little I could use, so I sighed. "He lost one too many friends, kiddos."

I think I heard Venti slam his head onto the table and sob quietly as I said that, hearing it even if I had been fairly distant for the wind carried the message back to him.

As I got Lumine back to the Knights of Favonius' Headquarters where their temporary room was located, I strolled in Mondstadt's nightly streets. I thought on what to do next. Should I wait for the next morning...? No. That would be too far. And, admittedly so, Venti's words acted as a warning. If it wasn't Dvalin, then it was Durin. One was corrupted by the Abyss, the other was born through it. And if the Dragon lingered for long enough, then he wouldn't just cause basic destruction but possibly lead to a mini-calamity.

Thus, I passed by the school-flat to tell Collei I would be out and would be back the next morning for some 'stretching'. An unusual chore she possibly ruled out as me going on extra smuggling, but I wasn't planning to do that. Oh no, I was a man on a mission and one that involved me finding my path to Stormterror's domain, use my Fool's mask to bypass both the Anemo barrier around the lair, something I was sure Venti was responsible for, and the abyssal pollution within said lair.

The stench was horrendous, but even worse was to see that the source of the corruption was the very entity I came looking for.

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!" Durin's loud call echoed all around and almost deafened me. He looked ready to fight, to destroy the puny interloper that dared to wander in his fief but...

"Sorry, pal. But the kid is not ready for that sort of sights," I replied quietly, taking a particularly familiar JJK prayer pose as I unleashed the most powerful curse upon this land.

"Domain Expansion: Marketable Plushification!"

Durin was stunned as a powerful beam of light struck him, blinding everything and everyone in the lair as his body changed upon the attack itself and soon... I was on my way home with a very cute and very marketable mini Durin under my arm.

I hope Lumine's eventual Saurian Pet/Friend doesn't get jelly she lands a proper dragon baby as her first Pokemon.

AN

Mondstadt Plot... finished? Of course not, Signora has yet to find the most elusive rat yet. Still, there are more changes hitting the plot to make things interesting for the trip, especially in already-explored regions such as Liyue and Inazuma.