Chapter Text
{Final scene will begin in thirty minutes.}
There was a brief silence before a conflict erupted between two nations.
“Does Snezhnaya have anything to say about this stunt?” Jean asked, her tone remaining calm. She knew it would be seen as unprofessional if she had an outburst even if she was actually angry.
The Harbingers hadn’t anticipated development. It was frankly quite idiotic to consider such a factor in their plan.The eleven Harbinger each looked at each other to provide answers before all focusing on Signora. She gave them a look before clearing her throat.
“We all have our own goals. Seeing as your God showed no struggle nor care, I don’t believe it’s a big deal,” Signora explained. “If such an attack could harm your God then I’m sure he wouldn’t be alive along with Mondstadt.
“So what is it you took? What is a Gnosis?” Jean asked. The thing stolen seemed to be a chess piece but that sounded ridiculous.
“I’m afraid that is classified information,” Signora answered.
“I believe we have the right to know.”
{Final scene will now commence!}
“It’s barely been five minutes though?” Azar said. In hindsight, he shouldn’t have been surprised as the system had a tendency to do random things but Azar was stupid in that aspect.
{I don’t really care ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ }
{The scene opens up with Barbara kneeling over Aether as she just healed him.}
[Barbara: Ah! Honorary Knight, you’re awake!]
“Oh,” Barbara said, not having anticipated making more opinions.
[Aether: Venti… is he alright?]
“The traveler and Venti seem to have developed a tight knit friendship already,” Yae Miko said. “It is to be predicted though.”
“Hm, why?” One of the Shrine maidens asked.
“In a foreign world with nobody close, the first hand extended is the one humans tend to grip the tightest,” she explained with a fond smile.
[Barbara: Um… I wouldn’t say he’s “alright.” exactly.]
“That’s quite worrying to hear, Barbara,” Jean said.
“I’m sure it isn’t as bad as I worded it,” she replied, a tad bit embarrassed.
[Barbara: I found you lying unconscious outside the Cathedral, and used my elemental powers to heal you… That bard awakened first, but strangely, my healing powers had almost no effect on him…]
“Venti is an elemental spirit after all, it was my mistake,” Barbara said.
‘Ah, I had forgotten. Odd, what could she have taken?’ Jean wondered.
[Barbara: This is the first time I’ve encountered such a patient. But he just said, “it’s completely normal.” and then got up and left the Cathedral.]
[Paimon: He left? Already? Where’d he go?]
[Barbara: The symbol of Mondstadt’s Hero, that’s what he said. I wanted to stop him, but Jean — I mean, Master Jean said to let him leave. How strange.]
“This isn’t related, but does that mean that they just left him unconscious on the floor?” Xiangling wondered.
“It’s not a good idea to move someone when you don’t know what’s wrong with them,” Yelan answered.
[Aether: (I think Jean understands…)]
[Paimon: Paimon remembers Venti healing under that tree before…]
“Wasn’t that when they got kicked out of the Cathedral? Why would he need to heal?” Navia asked Silver.
“It may have occurred earlier, mademoiselle,” he answered.
[Paimon: (It’s probably due to the connection between Windrise and the Anemo Archon. Master Jean has figured it out as well, but we can’t tell Barbara…)]
“Do the traveler and Paimon have some sort of telepathy?” A young woman with purple hair asked. Chevreuse had been given an even briefer summary than the rest and was rightfully confused.
“I believe that they can read each other’s expressions,” an Inazuman stylist replied.
{The screen blacks out. The scene opens up with Aether and Paimon approaching Venti who is under the tree.}
[Venti: The wind amongst the branches is good. I love the way it smells…]
“Is he gathering his power to heal?” Noelle asked, noticing the elemental power surrounding the god.
[Venti: Haha, I said the same exact thing the last time. sigh. Why do I only say these things when I’m down on my luck?]
There was a sharp pain of sadness shared by a few people. The sadness in his voice made others uncomfortable.
[Aether: So… what is a Gnosis?]
‘It seems I didn’t need to ask,’ Jean thought. She had a hunch that the screen would explain, but she still needed to perform her duty as the leader of Mondstadt by holding the Fatui accountable.
[Venti: Ah, so you noticed. *sigh* This isn’t something I’m meant to discuss with ordinary people.]
“I don’t think the traveler can be categorized as ordinary, nor Paimonn,” Kirara said.
[Venti: But I suppose I can let you in on the secret.]
“And the many people here!” Hu Tao chimed as a remainder.
[Venti: As you know, Visions are external magical foci that only a small minority of people possess. They use these Visions to channel elemental power.]
The archons present didn’t attempt to interfere, rather they couldn’t. Even if they could, it wouldn’t be worth the risk. To those five gods the most important priority was ensuring the safety of their citizens.
[Venti: In truth, every wielder of a Vision is one who can attain godhood and ascend to Celestia. We call such people allogenes.]
There was a brief moment of silence before a burst of chatter. Many of those whispered about the new revelation.
‘If this is how they react to that, I can’t imagine how they’ll react to what a Gnosis is,’ Skirk thought. She had no actual interest in what was happening on the screen, but she couldn’t exactly leave. She had already attempted all the methods that wouldn’t bring attention to herself.
[Paimon: Allogenes? Paimon’s never heard of them before.]
“I don’t believe any of us know,” Kirara spoke for the majority.
[Venti: Hehe, that’s because this is a secret that only archons are privy to. We don’t need primitive tools like visions.]
Many vision users in the room tensed, instinctively reaching for their visions, just to not find them. To them, it felt like they had lost a part of themselves, and to the others who didn’t really care, there was an aching feeling in their hearts.
[Venti: Instead, each archon has an internal magic focus that resonates directly with Celestia itself… known as a Gnosis.]
“So, it’s like his heart?” Yao Yao asked. “I wouldn’t want to have my heart ripped out…”
[Aether: What about the thing hanging off your hip?]
‘It’s a fake,’ Keqing thought.
[Venti: Eh-he. It’s just a glowing ball I carry around to avoid suspicion.]
[Aether: … I feel cheated… but I guess I’m used to that by now.]
[Paimon: So who was that nasty woman who sent Paimon flying and stole your Gnosis?]
[Venti: Her name is Signora, No.8 of the Harbingers.]
“She was mentioned by that Fatuus when Diluc and the traveler had invaded their base,” Shinobu explained. The Arataki gang and those around her were impressed with her memory while Itto complimented her.
[Venti: She and the rest of the harbingers have been given god-like executive authority by the Tsaritsa of Snezhnaya, and with it, strength surpassing that of other mortals.]
Many eyes landed on the twelve harbingers who sat in the Snezhnaya section.Teucer spotted his older brother sitting among them.
‘Is being a harbinger bad?’ Teucer wondered. The negative reactions weren’t giving the naive boy much hope.
[Paimon: The Tsaritsa of Snezhnaya? Isn’t that…]
[Venti: Indeed. She is one of The Seven, the Tsarista who reigns from the Zapolyarny palace, and the one person that the Fatui Harbingers all answer to.]
‘I wonder if we’ll be able to see her through this thing,’ Ningguang thought.
“Venti seems bitter,” Jean commented, noticing the tense features on the bard’s face.
[Venti: The Seven don’t always get along well, but still — I never thought that she would plot to steal another archon’s Gnosis...]
‘That’s not true. You’re smart, Barbatos, and you know her well. At the least, you would’ve had suspicions,’ Zhongli thought.
[Aether: What sort of god is the Tsarista?]
[Venti: Ah… how should I put this? Five hundred years ago, I knew her well. But I can’t say the same is true now.]
Sucrose oddly pitied the god. She knew the pain of losing friends you were close to without any knowledge of where they are now.
[Venti: You see, a certain catastrophe happened five hundred years ago, and after that, she cut off all ties with me.]
‘I wonder how people can throw friendship away so easily.’ Chongyun didn’t have many friends but the ones he had, he held close.
[Venti: But we can save discussion of the Cryo Archon and the Fatui for another day. If you seek the rest of the Seven, many difficulties lie ahead of you still.]
‘I did feel confident about the traveler not encountering any troubles in Liyue, but Barbatos’ words are worrying to hear,’ Ningguang thought.
[Venti: You should head for Mondstadt’s neighboring nation of Liyue. The Geo Archon who reigns there, unlike me, administrates his entire region personally. He only descends once every year to give his divine predictions, which set the direction for Liyue for the rest of that year.]
“The Rite of Descension is rapidly approaching, isn’t it?” Madame Ping chuckled.
[Paimon: Even so, it sounds like he works much harder than a certain someone.]
The devout followers of Barbatos felt uncomfortable with such a joke as they knew how much effort their god put in.
[Venti: Eh-he? In any case, this year’s Rite of Descension is soon to begin. If you miss it, you’ll just have to wait another year.]
‘Just another year…’ The Geo Archon thought with a small smile.
[Paimon: WHAT!? Why didn’t you tell us before? Well then bye. Traveler, we’re going!]
[Venti: One moment, Windborne Outlander.]
‘So, he’s known from the beginning.’ Aether wondered if this was where he was going to get information on his sister.
[Aether: Sorry for borrowing the statue’s Anemo power without asking…]
[Venti: Haha, just use it gratefully — or better yet, treat me to a glass of dandelion wine.]
To many, this reinforced their idea of the god being an alcoholic. To a select few, this brought and confirmed new information.
‘Archons are incapable of giving out elemental powers.’
[Venti: Traveler, as you set off on your journey once again, you must remember that the journey itself has meaning. The birds of Teyvat, the songs and the cities, the Tsaritsa, her Fatui and the monsters… they are all parts of your journey.]
At that moment, Aether felt that this adventure wouldn’t be so bad.
[Venti: The destination is not everything. So before you reach the end, keep your eyes open. Use the chance to take in the world around you…]
Aether paused. He hadn’t even realized how fast he had been moving. Without his sister, he had forgotten the reason why he traversed planets.
[Aether: Venti… I understand.]
[Venti: Great. So that’s that for Anemo Archon admonishments! Back to Venti Time!]
Ei giggled. She had forgotten how carefree the god was for a moment.
[Venti: If you want to chat, now’s the time — a bard stays not always in a single clime.]
“It is truly unfortunate that we are unable to interact with this… thing?” Furina was unsure of what it was. It resembled the film screens in Fontaine, but they seemed more advanced.
“It truly is.” Neuvillette nodded.
[Aether: About Dvalin…]
[Venti: Up till the end, Dvalin remembered his duty as one of the Four Winds. As such, I don’t intend to forcibly strip him of that duty and force my ideals of freedom onto him.]
“So, Mondstadt doesn’t have a specific definition of freedom? That’s unusual!” Beidou laughed.
[Venti: I just hope that Dvalin will be able to choose for himself and understand what freedom is. Before I became an archon, I too was taught the meaning of freedom in this way by a friend.]
“It’s truly unfortunate that we have no records of Barbatos before his ascension,” Barbara said.
[Aether: About the Abyss Order…]
[Venti: Kaeya shared some new intelligence, you say?]
‘When did Venti meet Kaeya? Is this one of his abilities?’ Sucrose wondered.
[Venti:... I see. So, the Abyss Order has a Princess who orchestrated the plan to corrupt Dvalin. They were probably trying to turn Dvalin into a weapon of war for the Abyss. But that said, I have never heard of any such Princess of the Abyss Order.]
“So, the Abyss Princess has likely only been serving for five hundred years,” Ganyu noted. Five hundred years wasn’t much to her, it was maybe five years.
[Aether: Not an Abyss Order tradition, then. So this is a recent development…]
[Venti: Apparently… But how does a Princess come out of nowhere and take command over the entire Abyss Order?]
[Aether: About Signora…]
“Ah, Paimon had almost forgotten about that nasty woman.” The white haired child crossed her arms angrily.
[Paimon: The Fatui lady didn’t hang around, did she? She just grabbed your Gnosis and left!] (A/N: Not google docs wanting to autocorrect Fatui to fat…)
‘We wouldn’t want anyone witnessing and then interfering with the delivering so getting it to her majesty is the best option,’ Signora thought, eager at the thought of delivering such a treasure.
[Venti: She wanted to avoid any eyewitnesses from the Knights of Favonius. The slightest slip-up here would’ve destroyed the Fatui’s diplomatic relations with the Knights.]
‘That, unfortunately, can’t be salvaged anymore,’ Pierro thought.
[Paimon: So they’re just gonna keep acting like Mondstadt’s allies as if nothing happened!?]
[Venti: *sigh*... If only the seven nations had banded together against the Abyss Order in the first place.]
‘Is the Abyss Order truly the Fatui’s main objective?’ Kokomi was unable to see the connection between the Abyss Order and the Gnosis.
[Venti: The Fatui possess the strongest military among the seven nations. Yet they’ve used it to steal the Holy Lyre, covet the power of gods, and use Dvalin as a bargaining against the Knights…]
[Paimon: Speaking of the Lyre… didn’t Diluc say something like this before? He said that the Fatui can only run amok across the seven nations and threaten the Knights because of the harbingers.]
The sentiment shared by the tavern owner did make sense. As demonstrated earlier when the traveler and Diluc had broken into the base to take back the Lyre; the Fatui embers either cowered in fear or were defeated pathetically.
[Venti: Yes. As I said earlier, the Cryo Archon has given them authority and strength beyond that of mortals.]
The majority of the harbingers were quite old actually, some not even being human. Those who had been part of the Fatui for a long time had noticed how many of the harbingers seemed to not age. The only one they could actually recall growing older was the eleventh.
[Venti: The Tsaritsa… I haven’t seen her in five hundred years. What is she thinking? What’s her plan?]
Many in the room shared the same queries, they could only hope to discover them through this machine.
[Venti: Whatever the answer, I have a feeling it’s only going to make your search for The Seven all the more difficult.]
‘We must place more supervision on the Fatui, especially that harbinger,’ Ningguang thought. She had noticed the highly suspicious activity of the Fatui, but placing too many guards would only cause the Fatui to be more sneaky.
[Aether: About deities…]
[Venti: As I said before. Vision wielders are known as allogenes and may ascend to Celestia.]
The vision holders in the room had conflicted feelings. The idea of being able to ascend was such an odd concept and even felt creepy.
[Venti: A Gnosis is a higher-order nexus of elemental manipulation and is emblematic of an archon’s status as one of The Seven.]
Ei wondered what Yae Miko did with her Gnosis. It was just a curiosity, not a concern.
[Venti: But as for which of The Seven took your sister… I’m sorry, I don’t know.]
“What if it wasn’t one of The Seven, but a completely different god altogether?” Keqing suggested.
“That is certainly a possibility,” Ningguang replied in agreement.
[Venti: …Wait, as one of The Seven. I’m not clear of suspicion yet either, am I?]
[Aether: You don’t look like that god at all…]
“Unless Venti decided to turn into a tall woman and kidnap the traveler’s sibling for fun!” Gaming jokily suggested.
[Paimon: Hang on a hot second! Tone-Deaf Bard is one of Barbatos’ many incarnations, who’s to say—]
[Aether: We’ve known you long enough to trust you.]
“Paimon knows she was wrong, but you didn’t have to cut off Paimon!” Paimon grumpily shouted into Aether’s ear.
[Venti: Haha, we’re a great team indeed! Say, once you find your sister, how would you like to become one of the new Four Winds?]
“Then you could stick with us forever!” Klee exclaimed.
[Aether: Perhaps…]
[Paimon: Hmm, you don’t seem too into it, traveler…]
“I was merely joking. The traveler is far too much of a free spirit to be confined to one place.” Venti smiled brightly.
[Paimon: Hey Tone-Deaf Bard… If being one of the Four Winds means free food, you can consider Paimon!]
“Such an insatiable appetite,” Kaveh said in awe.
“Having a large appetite means larger greed,” Alhaitham said in response.
[Venti: Hahaha…]
[Aether: There’s nothing else…]
[Venti: Well then, best be off to Liyue. If the descension ritual you fail to tally, then another year you must dally.]
“Are we finally done…?” Diona asked. She hated being confined to one place especially