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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN ;
BALLADS

ACT TWO ;
WINDSWEPT CITY

The night was cool, not in a bad way though — it was nice

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The night was cool, not in a bad way though — it was nice. I decided to leave the city of Mondstadt for the time being and have a look at the wild.

It was different from the wilderness in Liyue. There were less mountains and more rolling hills and plains.

After wandering for a while, I had came across a rather large tree. The small crystal flies illuminating the area like stars and the fresh breeze creating a calming atmosphere.

If I were to be honest, I'd rather be than in that stifling hotel room.

It was a quiet night, with the occasional howl of a wolf, the chirping of a grasshopper and the gentle strum of a lyre.

wait a second—

I looked around. Now that I thought about it, it was a lot breezier around the tree and the crystal flies seemed to cluster around a certain branch.

'is it a ghost or something?'

I thought to myself whilst staring up at the said branch. Maybe the tree had a vengeful spirit attached to it?

"You're up late!" A cheerful voice from up above chirped and the instrumental sound halted.

Then, the sound of someone landing on the ground came from behind me and I turned around.

Leaning on the bark of the tree was young man with a serene smile plastered on his face.

"um... yes" I replied awkwardly.

"Ah! You're the one from the tavern!" He exclaimed with visible happiness.

"I went... to a tavern..?"

Silence filled the air and his smile turned to a more confused smile.

"Yeah, don't you remember?"

He stood up straight and leaned forward in curiosity.

"no"

A laugh came from him and he brought his hand to his mouth.

"How amusing! You must've been absolutely wasted!" He joked, but I didn't  laugh.

"I've never had alcohol."

"Oh"

Silence again until the boys face lit up once more.

"A forgetful maiden who's one goal is to regain her memories..." He said dramatically as if he was telling a story, "would make such an interesting ballad!

I looked at him confused as he continued to do some sort of brain storm of various verses and ideas.

"What's a ballad?"

He let put another laugh and swung an arm around my shoulder.

'this guy sure isn't scared to get all buddy-buddy'

"Well my dear, a ballad is..."

and then he explained what a ballad was in much detail as a professional would.

Now, he was back in the tree whilst I sat on the ground just listening to the lyre he continued to play.

"I believe we haven't introduced ourselves yet" his voice was a lot calmer now.

"Even if you did tell me your name, I won't remember"

He let out a hum, though it was overridden by the music.

"Regardless, I'm venti the bard!"

"[Y/N]"

A small chuckle came from the branch.

"Well even if you don't remember my name, there's a good chance you'll hear a song about you, y'know!" He teased and I rolled my eyes.

"I hope you fall of the tree"

And with that, I left the tree and went the direction to the city with the distant sound of echoing laughter and strumming in the background.

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reward to the future best best friend goes to venti. it's probably obvious I simp for anemo characters a lot more.

anyways, I'm tempted to make a one-shot genshin book for the giggles.
o p i n i o n s ?






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