"venti the bard in the tavern at this early of an hour? i can't say it surprises me," veritas approached the green figure sitting at one of the far tables, joining him at the chair across the table.
veritas took in the bard's melancholy expression, frowning slightly.
venti let out a long sigh. "what happened to him?" he shook his head in disbelief.
"he's been corrupted," veritas said, "there's no doubt about it. the question is, by who?"
"my thoughts exactly," venti said, fidgeting with the brown bag on his hip. looking anxiously around the near empty tavern, he held out a red, glowing orb to the girl.
"oh, dvalin," veritas choked, taking the object tenderly in her hands.
"a tear," venti narrated, "a poisoned tear. the one that you gave me," he added, taking the object back from his friend and placing it back in his bag.
"he's in pain." veritas said, and venti shook his head, his two braids swinging about his head mournfully.
"i know."
there was a moment of comfortable silence between the two as they listened to the ambient noise of the tavern.
"that traveller," veritas broke the silence.
"pardon?" venti's head tilted up to gaze at her through his bright green eyes that were missing a certain light.
"aether. why did you bless him? what do you see in him?"
"he was in danger," venti said, "i only helped him."
"you could have let him down to the ground, but instead, you gave him the facilities to fight. why?"
"to be fair, you did encourage-"
"who is he?" veritas pressed. "is there something i'm missing?"
venti shook his head slowly. "no... i just- i felt some sort of connection."
"elaborate." veritas instructed. "what kind of connection?"
"like... the connection i felt with you after the fall of the decarabian."
veritas felt another sharp stab of jealousy. "first amber, the grandmaster, lisa, and now you. next, it'll be dil-"
"what are you talking about?" venti quizzed, cutting her off.
"this- this spell he's got everyone under!" veritas babbled. "trust me, v, this guy's bad news. he's a... oh, i don't know! a fatui harbinger in disguise."
"a fatui harbinger in disguise," venti repeated, a mocking smile playing at his lips. "and his short friend? is that the balladeer?"
"i'm being serious," veritas said earnestly. "he's just a traveller. we don't know anything about him. he's already in with the knights, he'll be alone with amber right now, maybe even kaeya by now. i feel like i'm the only one thinking, hey, maybe we shouldn't just trust this random guy with the fate of our nation, and at least do a background check on him before we let him play around in my temple! i know i'm not crazy. it's not right."
venti gazed at his friend, listening silently.
"plus, what even is that thing?! slymon, or whatever? that's some celestial-level stuff! like, is this my final reckoning? have they sent this little creature down to mondstadt for-"
"i get it," venti said tiredly, "you want to protect mondstadt. it's what you've always done. it's what you're always supposed to have done. but i think you should take it easy on this one. get to know him, huh? before jumping to conclusions. i have a sneaky suspicion that your dislike for him is not entirely based around this though..." he sang, trailing off slowly.
"by which, you mean?" veritas challenged, her eyes narrowing.
"first amber, the grandmaster, lisa, and now you," venti quoted veritas with a smug smile, "it it possible that you're... jealous?"
"what?! why would i be jealous of him?" veritas scowled, scraping her chair back from the table and standing up.
"ver..." venti's eyes softened, reaching his hand out to her.
"no!" veritas slapped his hand away angrily, "i have work. and i need to think," she stormed out of the door of the tavern, leaving venti with his thoughts.
as veritas left the tavern, she hit a very large obstacle at full force, almost making her lose her balance and causing the obstacle to stumble back.
"out of the way!" she said angrily, marching away, but something grabbed her by the wrist.
"veritas?"
veritas froze at the mention of her first name without the 'captain'. she turned slowly on her heel to meet a pair of red eyes.
"diluc," she nodded respectfully, taking her hand away from his.
"what are you doing at the tavern this early?" he quizzed, "and what's gotten into you? you seem upset."
"well observed," veritas grumbled.
"well?" diluc folded his arms patiently. "can i help you?"
"actually," veritas hummed, "i think you can."
-
"so," diluc hummed, having seated himself at one of the outdoor tables alongside veritas, "a suspicious, unknown traveler waltzing in and doing what a cavalry of knights of favonius couldn't?"
"hey, this isn't an opportunity for you to talk down the knights," veritas lightly backhanded his arm, "remember i'm also one of them."
"the efficiency of the knights doesn't reflect on you, does it?" diluc quirked an eyebrow, and veritas gave him an exasperated look. "i was thinking more about the cavalry captain."
"the cavalry captain has a name," veritas deadpanned.
"well, i think i'd pr-"
"enough! i've had enough of your sibling rivalry, squabbling, whatever it is."
"we are not sib-"
"i said enough!" veritas cut him off sternly. shockingly, diluc obeyed. "it's not only about dvalin. everyone seems to, just, love him. and trust him immediately. you know they sent three high ranking knights to accompany him to three of the four wind temples? not a question about who he even was."
diluc was quiet for a moment. "and how do you want me to help?"
"will you go to the temple of the wolf?"
YOU ARE READING
fidelity || gi
Fanfiction"until next time, friends." baal nodded, smiling widely. beelzebul bowed her head politely at the three individuals remaining in the room, and with a flash of lightning, they were gone. "until next time, morax!" zepar was the next to rise, pulling b...
