Work Text:
It had been many millennia since the Vigilant Yaksha had crossed paths with the beloved Anemo Archon.
The Yaksha often kept to himself in his little room above the Wangshu Inn. He had, of course, caught snippets of conversations that spoke of the mortal bard ‘Venti’ residing in the rooms below for a night or two in passing. His senses had long since been attuned to the whispers of the wind, which often came stronger in tandem with the soft sound of a Mondstadt lyre and the faintest smell of cecilias.
It was only a matter of time until he figured out who the mortal bard truly was. The only thing keeping him from greeting his age old friend was the deepset betrayal that lounged in the abyssal hole in his heart.
They had known each other well, once. So long ago that Xiao struggled to remember anything but the reminiscent ache in his chest that resurfaced every time he heard the gentle song of a dihua flute.
He thinks it was sometime during the Archon War, when Barbatos had freshly acquired his mortal form, shedding the weightlessness of a wind sprite and leaving behind the remnants of the tyrant that plagued his land.
“Y’know, Xiao,” Barbatos had said once while they lounged at the top of a mountain in Jueyun Karst, legs dangling off the edge, “One day, I want to walk away from Mondstadt and Liyue and never turn back.”
Xiao had turned to him, mildly alarmed. He didn’t want to imagine a world without his friend close by his side, but if Venti were to leave, he would have no choice but to stay behind. His duty always came first.
“Why do you wish to leave?”
Barbatos hummed thoughtfully for a moment. “I don’t think wanting to leave is the problem.”
“Then what is the problem?” Xiao asked, scrunching his face, eyebrows furrowed.
“After everything that’s happened…” he smiled carefully, ”I just don’t think I can stay, I suppose.”
Xiao had brushed it off. For all Barbatos was adamant on not ruling Mondstadt in fear of becoming a tyrant much like the one before him, he loved his land dearly. The Yaksha had a difficult time believing he would ever leave.
And besides, the war was far from over. Battles still scarred the land of Liyue. It was a miracle in itself that Xiao still managed to find the time to visit Barbatos at all, and even more of a miracle that the bard managed to weave his way through the turmoil unscathed. What kind of Archon would abandon their nation at a time like this?
Even if Barbatos had successfully obtained the seat on the throne, there was no doubt that desperate powers would still try to take that seat. The people wouldn’t be able to fend for themselves against age old immortal beings.
There was no way he would leave, Xiao was sure.
And yet it was hardly a surprise when the Anemo Archon disappeared without a trace come the first winds of peace.
As soft winds dissipated from the peaks of Liyue and new life grew on old battlefields, Xiao found himself often staring at the wilted cecilia that adorned his empty desk.
Xiao did not miss people, but he couldn’t deny the bittersweet smile that swept at his lips when the mortal bard returned to Wangshu Inn once more.
It hadn’t occurred to Xiao that the bard might want to see him again until those three swift knocks came upon his door, followed by the flourishing scent of fresh cecilias.
“Wandering bard Venti, at your service!” he heard a faint call, muffled by the thick wall between them. That voice was unmistakable.
Xiao was yanking the door open, eyes wide and unguarded as the Anemo Archon came into view.
If Xiao hadn’t known any better, he would have assumed that the bard was rather young; with a lopsided grin gracing his face, accompanied by lively jade eyes and ruffled wind-swept black bangs. But there was an unmistakable hardness that resided in the tense set of his shoulders and the memory of horrors long-forgotten by modern day Teyvat that glinted behind the sparkle in his eyes.
“Xiao,” Venti breathed, the wide grin on his face settling into a gentle smile.
“Barbatos,” he whispered back, like the word was too sacred to be spoken aloud.
He distantly registered relief in the recesses of his mind. Despite feeling the wind and hearing that lyre, there was always a part of Xiao that wondered if he ever really survived after disappearing so suddenly. It was foolish, he knew, but that inkling of doubt followed him for a millenia nonetheless.
“It’s so great to see you again!” Venti began, voice airy and light despite the tension in his face.
Xiao grunted in something reminiscent of a response as Venti smiled at him, silence thickening the air.
The feeling of comfortable companionship that Xiao remembered all too well seemed to have stayed behind as the years passed by, replaced with an unfamiliarity that the two were unaccustomed to in each other's presence.
“Can I–can I come in?” Venti spoke after several heavy beats of silence.
A portion of Xiao screamed at him to turn away, to leave, to close the door and never open it again–but instead, he simply moved aside and allowed the bard to enter.
He stiffly sat on his bed, staring as the Anemo Archon awkwardly stood, out of place in an environment he had never been in before. Venti looked around, eyebrows furrowed as his eyes glazed over the empty bookshelf and emptier desk, save for that solitary cecilia.
Xiao watched as Venti’s eyes paused on it, something akin to recognition sparking on his face, smiling like he didn’t know the happiness pulling at his face.
“So! How have you been, Xiao? It’s been so long!” Venti grinned, turning his attention back to him.
Xiao grunted. “Fine. I’ve been fine.”
He watched as hurt flashed across Venti’s face before it was replaced with careful indifference. Why, Xiao wasn’t sure. Perhaps it was because of the rough tone of his voice, or the way he felt like they were strangers despite knowing each other for longer than either of them could remember. Maybe it was because of the way Xiao had drifted from him, even though Xiao was sure that Venti knew the fault was his own.
“That’s–that’s good. I’m glad you’re doing well.” Venti smiled, small and timid.
Xiao distantly felt the inkling that the distant expression was so wrong wrong wrong on Venti’s face.
“So…” Venti spoke again after some time, “that cecilia–have you been to Mondstadt?” His tone was careful, as though he was afraid that saying the wrong thing would set the Yaksha off.
“No,” curt, simple and straight to the point.
Venti’s sigh was almost imperceptible. “This might sound crazy but,” a pause, “Is that the one I gave you? In the middle of the war?”
Xiao’s face remained the same, despite the mortifying embarrassment that clawed at him whilst a betrayal as old as time resurfaced in his chest, deepening the ache that rested in the crevices.
“Does it matter?”
“Of course it matters!” Venti’s smile was almost imperceptible, “I’m glad you kept it. And here I was thinking you would have forgotten about me!”
Xiao couldn’t help but feel like Venti was being tone deaf. He was the one that disappeared. He was the one that left. And yet he made it sound like it was Xiao’s obligation to remember him?
“I wish I had,” Xiao whispered, so quiet that he was pricked with surprise when Venti’s eyes widened, glistening with unshed tears.
“Wh–what?”
Despite the years they had between them, Xiao couldn’t help but feel like he was standing in front of a stranger. And he was so angry.
It wasn’t often that the Vigilant Yaksha trusted. It wasn’t often that he loved.
But he had, once upon a time. And he had learned the price of vulnerability.
“Apologies, Barbatos,” he spoke, voice firm and devoid of emotion. He watched as Venti flinched away slightly at the unfamiliar tone, “Unless you are here on formal business, I’ll have to ask you to leave. I have duties to attend to.”
“Wait, Xiao–” Venti tried, but before the sentence was out of his mouth, Xiao was gone in a crack of Anemo energy.
Another millenia passes and the people of Liyue don’t encounter the Vigilant Yaksha near Wangshu Inn in anything more than passing. The people of Liyue think it’s a rather peculiar thing that the frequent appearances of the Conqueror of Demons is replaced by a somber Mondstadt bard.
The tides of Teyvat change, and word of a fearless traveler saving Mondstadt from the hands of the dragon Dvalin wash across the land. As the world changes, as does the small establishment known as Wangshu Inn.
If the people of modern day Teyvat were told that the Vigilant Yaksha had once resided in the tiny roof of the Inn, seldom would they believe that the room housed anyone but the Anemo wielding bard that has been mourning for as long as the wind perseveres on the barren land of the Bishui Plains.
It’s peculiar, they think, that the protector of Liyue avoids Wangshu Inn like the plague; how he completes any tasks nearby quickly and efficiently, never lingering like he does near Guyun Stone Forest.
What they don’t know is that the wind-wielding bard is the Anemo Archon, Barbatos, returning to Liyue and knocking on that wooden door above the Wangshu Inn in hopes of seeing his old friend again. What they don’t know is that the Vigilant Yaksha known as Xiao has avoided that tiny toom at the top for a millenia in avoidance of Barbatos.
What they don’t know is that after centuries of stalking up those stairs and knocking on that particular door, the Anemo Archon has lost all hope of ever seeing his wounded friend again; that he has not played the dihua flute since the first winds of peace on the war-filled land of Liyue.
They don’t know that long after the Archon known as Barbatos had given up on his fruitless search in favour of spending time with the lone traveler and tiny companion that has so fondly named him the 'tone deaf bard', the Vigilant Yaksha returns in a flicker of Anemo to that barren little room and hopes to see the Anemo Archon, too.