Those Who Share the Memory

7.

The Holy Lyre der Himmel was the lyre once played by Barbatos. A special artefact treasured by the people of Monstadt, it had been kept within Mondstadt's cathedral. Years untouched had left its anemo powers to run dry but now that Barbatos was in the past, holding his treasured lyre, he was reminded of just how strongly the anemo magic had been imbued in the lyre. A simple pluck of the string could do what would have taken an entire tune back then.

Claiming the Holy Lyre Der Himmel had been a personal endeavour of his upon returning to Old Mondstadt. What was the lyre he had once played had also been the lyre his friend had once played. His week had been busy spent finding his lyre and working with his people, many asking for his aid to which he was glad to help.

Playing a quick tune on his lyre, a loud melody reverberated from it, and with it a gush of wind followed, hitting the land.

The citizens of Mondstadt could only watch in awe and slight fear as an entire mountain casually flew across the sky, splashing down into the ocean, far into the distance. The splash was so large that a large wave had formed, rising higher and higher, thundering towards the lands only to be stopped by a wall of wind. The water fell and with a resounding splash, the waters stilled.

If one were to squint their eyes, they'd be able to see the faintest hints of the peaks of newly formed mountains in the distance.

Seconds later, another mountain followed, once again tumbling into the ocean.

From where he floated, Barbatos stared at his handiwork. He drifted down to the ground, facing the people in front of him. "Our path is clear now. However, we will not continue yet. Take this time to rest, we still have a few days of journeying left."

Without the ragged mountains that Mondstadt once featured, the lands started to look more and more like the open plains he once knew like the back of his hands. Of course, there was the odd upturned rock here and there; the hills that were slightly steeper than he remembered; the unfamiliar arrangement of trees that dotted the land. But his goal had never been to recreate his world as he remembered.

With time, the lands would no doubt change again, but for his people, what mattered was creating a safe path of travel as the landscape before had been overwhelmed by nature's different forces, untouched by humanity. Rocks jutting out and falling to the ground; high winds weaving through the mountains cacophonously - where they had once been, now stood rolling terrain.

Someone came running up to him, panting with a note in his hand. Barbatos recognised the other as one of Liyue's adepti and carefully took the note. Oh? Morax wanted to meet him. He had been pestered with similar requests from other gods but had chosen to ignore them for the time being. However, Morax wasn't just any other god.

Barbatos turned to face the adeptus. "Tell your god that I'd love to meet him. In fact, I can meet him tomorrow at Stone Gate. Oh, and next time Morax wants to contact me, just tell him to tell the wind. I'll hear his request." Inside, he giggled at the thought of Morax talking out loud to the wind.

The adeptus nodded before transforming into a crane and flying away.

Really, it was sweet of Morax to kindly ask for permission to come to Mondstadt through a messenger bird. Other gods who had tried to invade Mondstadt hadn't met the best endings. Had Morax simply come unannounced, Barbatos would have still welcomed him with open arms.

He was hoping that Morax would remember to bring wine. He really needed a good drink.

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Contracts and Freedom, ever so far apart yet erroneous to say that the two never collided.

"I was told that you enjoyed wine and thus I have come offering osmanthus and dandelion wine. Rest assured, it is the highest quality wine Liyue has to offer."

"Aww, you didn't have to do so for li'l me, but nonetheless I am rather flattered, I do graciously accept the wine as a gift from Liyue. Cheers!"

Barbatos held his cup out earnestly, waiting for his friend to clink his against it.

A moment of awkward silence passed in which Zhongli only stared blankly at the outstretched cup.

Barbatos let out a cough and slowly withdrew his cup, taking a long sip of his wine. "Ahem, so, lovely weather lately, I must say so myself."

"Why, yes indeed," the other god replied.

Barbatos adjusted his hood. For this occasion, he had come with his hood over his face, not wanting his friend to make the connections between him and Venti. At least, not yet. Other than the hair, he trusted Morax to be oblivious enough to not notice the other similar details.

It was rather funny - where he had once been the one to seek out the other god, this time it was Morax who had come seeking him.

Barbatos poured himself another glass of wine, gulping it up quickly, and in a way that would have come rather undignified for a god. "Ehe, soooo, my friend, is there anything you wished to talk about? I didn't expect to have any visitors from other lands so soon, hic- am I really that popular~"

Morax raised an eyebrow at 'my friend' but chose to ultimately ignore it. "As Mondstadt is the neighbouring nation of Liyue, I do believe that we could form some sort of alliance - perhaps through trade."

"Ah, yes. I must say, your nation does seem to be flourishing quite more in comparison to other nations. And that leaves me unsure of just what imports you'd be interested in. Mondstadt doesn't have an official military, and most of its materials have been depleted or destroyed in the recent rebellion against Decarabian. Perhaps it would be better if you came with trade offers a few years later. Though of course, I am open to hearing any other requests of yours~"

Morax's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "That is quite the shame. However, even then, my offer to still form an alliance remains..." Watching the other god's carefreeness and ever so increasingly drunken state, he was beginning to have second thoughts.

"Ahhhh, I remember now. Yes, yes, how could I ever decline an alliance with the one and only Morax? I have heard of your great feats and sweet Celestia, must I say that I am impressed. So, you're the god of contracts, right? Any fine print I need to be aware of? Terms and conditions? Other legal, contract stuff blah blah blah? Because if not, my friend, then I'll be off and on my way."

Morax did not get the chance to reply as Barbatos jumped off the cliff, dramatically disappearing in a flash of teal light and feathers. A voice echoed in the wind, as if right into his ear. "Ehe, later gator, I look forward to our friendship!"

A stray leaf fell and got caught in his bangs. Plucking it out, he was surprised to find writing on it.

Thanks for the wine, my cool but kind of stony-faced neighbour! I must say, dandelion wine is my favourite, though osmanthus wine is also quite lovely. I had a friend who loved osmanthus wine. They kept going on about it, I think it was something like: Osmanthus wine tastes the same as I remember, but whe-

The rest of the ink was too smudged to be legible. With a sigh, he placed the leaf on the table next to his cup.

There was something familiar about the god. Something important that he felt as if he should have known.

Perhaps it was the braids that caught his attention - the way they were braided the same way as Venti's. But where the ends of Venti's hair had been purple, Barbatos' had been a bright teal that hummed with elemental energy. And where Barbatos had a grand set of wings, the boy had nothing.

He wondered what the other god looked like under the hood; what expressions the other god had been making during their meeting. His meeting with Barbatos had left him with more questions than answers. It would be safe to say that Barbatos had been the strangest god he had ever met. He could feel a growing headache.

Morax was not the type of god to let himself get drunk. Yet just for that day, he let himself drink away to his heart's content. The wine tasted the same as he remembered, but something was still missing.

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A/N: So Venti and Zhongli meet again, though both are hiding their own secrets. Their meeting was short but there will be plenty more to come. Thank you for reading!