The Wind || Genshin Impact

Chapter Two: The Song of Venture

Birds coo as they blissfully watch from afar.

Lotus follows the familiar path to the large tree, her heeled boots clicking against the occasional stray rock that furrowed into the misty soil. Her tattered dress, which was gifted to her by a dear friend of her fathers after his passing, swings around her legs with every step. The thick fabric is rough, yet still soft to the touch. Its dark brown color is quite muddy against her complexion, which she doesn't mind. The straps are thick, just the width of two fingers side-to-side. The underskirt is a faded white color, much softer than the dress and easier on her skin. Her corset, tight enough to help keep her back straight, is a lighter hue of brown, the front and sides embellished in flowers and birds. Along the hem of her skirt, similar flowers are stitched in, each thread precisely placed to create bouquets of the herbs. Dangling from the corset hands the Vision her father was holding and a small pouch filled with mora. And hanging from her back, her quiver, which has threads of greens and whites growing from the bottom, large cecilias decorating the piece. Cecilias, her fathers favorite flower, and a reminder of him wherever she may go. The arrows stored so perfectly in the bag that she would never want to get a new one.

The girl walks up to the Statue of the Seven where the archon who is no longer a stranger to her looks toward the distance. She smiles, remembering the turmoils she faced with the silly bard and their group of friends.

"Are you going to Scarborough Fair?"

She begins to sing, holding her hand out to the statue as if her actual friend were present and curtsying. She lifts her skirt with one hand and keeps the other out, taking familiar steps around the stone, similar to how she would dance with Venti while they listened to her father sing.

"Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme."

Lotus spins herself, as the bard tended to, and let out a small giggle. The song she sings was performed when they first met. When he ran forward and joined the girl in her frolic. The tune reminds her of him now. The innocence of life felt so simple back then. When all she had to worry about was what to cook for dinner.

She stops her dancing and looks up at the statue again. Wrapping her arms around her body, Lotus falls to the floor, her knees hitting the soft grass, which welcomes her to the earth.

"For she was once a true love of mine-"

A set of soft tears wets the girl's cheeks. Her emotions were not nearly as raw as they had been. But with how much happened as of late, she began to feel significantly more overwhelmed than she would care to admit. The tiresome questions that plague her constantly flurry around her head, making her mind ache for some release or distraction.

"The tears may flow when one is lost, but answers make the turmoil frost."

A familiar voice breaks Lotus' inattentiveness, causing her to jut her head up and look at the grinning archon. He looks down at her with such remorse. "I hear sorrow in your song. What troubles you so?"

The bard gets on his knees in front of the girl, touching his hand to her head, weaving soft circles through her hair. It's as if he's a parent consoling his child.

Lotus sniffles, wiping a tear from her cheek, which is a dusted pink from the embarrassment of being caught crying by a god. "You could probably make a solid guess. Aside from the loss of my father, I've had so many strange things happen to me and they've all left such tumultuous questions." She admits, watching Venti's grin lower to a frown.

"You're the Anemo Archon. Can't you tell me why this is happening? At Stormterror's Lair when I was saved. That didn't feel like you."

Venti stands up, pulling Lotus to her feet with him. He caresses her cheek, and it feels just like the wind. She closes her eyes and her pain resides for just a moment. His touch felt like the sound of windchimes, soft and fragile.