Welcome to a new chapter , I hope you like it.
The people of liyue and mondstadt were all still looking at lumine who was sweating quite a bit expecting answers.
Lumine : please guys, I can't say anything.
Ganyu : please travelor, we want to know why my lord faked his death.
Lumine : I can't because I ...I SIGNED A CONTRACT NOT TO SAY ANYTHING.
Paimon : paimon doesn't remember ...
She was suddenly hit by childe and went to sleep.
Lumine : so you see unless I want to suffer the wrath of the rock, I can't say anything.
This made everyone sigh and back off.
Ningguang: very well travelor, we can't force you knowing that you would pay the price.
Xiao : but why would lord morax not tell any of the adepti, could he have planned something that he does not want to involve us in ?
Keqing suddenly woke up startled.
Keqing : I just had the most ridiculous dream, rex lapis was alive and he is the funeral consultant.
She looked around and saw that she wasn't in her room but in a theater.
Keqing: IT WASN'T A DREAM.
Yanfei : nope , the old man is still alive.
Many gasped at her disrespect to the geo archon.
Licai ( scandalized) : how can you disrespect the lord of geo like that ?
Yanfei : relax, he used to take care of me when I was little.
Taking out a picture and showing it to everyone
Keqing : why would he take care of you ? (Gasp ) don't tell me you are his daughter.
Murmurs began to spread between the humans in liyue.
Ganyu / xiao / adepti : NO WAY/IMPOSSIBLE/ NOT EVEN IN YOUR DREAMS.
Yanfei : no I am a half adeptus, he would visit my dad sometimes and talk and would play with me sometimes.
Hu tao : who knew he was good with kids ?
Ganyu : yeah good with kids
With a sweat drop remembering the past.
Flashback
Morax : remember xioa murder is good
Guizhong: morax NO, STOP TEACHING THE KIDS BAD THINGS.
END OF FLASHBACK
Before anyone else can say anything the screen flashed and on it barbatos was written on it.
Victoria : how fortunate, it would seem that the next showing is about lord barbatos.
Barbara : isn' t that great jean, we will get to know more about lord barbatos.
Jean ( worried ) : yeah barbara.
Rosario : great..just my luck.
Grace : this is indeed a blessing.
Kaeya : seems our archon is next.
Albedo : seems like it
The screen lit up showing venti playing the lyre in the forest.
Victoria : why is it showing the bard ?
Klee : I thought this was about lord barbatos.
Sucrose : I am confused
Albedo : maybe...
Venti : now what should I play...hmm it has been some time since I played it.
The screen turned now showed the video.
The people who were watching could not believe it, their archon bas been living with them all this time. They all also felt tears come out of their eyes when they saw barbatos lose his friend.
Victoria : I ...I disrespected lord barbatos and refused to give him his lyre. What have I done ? Forgive me my lord.
Barbara : I disrespected him in his own church, OH LORD BARBATOS EVEN IF I ATONE FOR MY SINS FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE...IT STILL WOULDN'T BE ENOUGH.
Falling to her knees in despair and crying while jean jumped to her and tried to console her.
Jean : shhh, I am sure venti..I mean lord barbatos doesn't hold a grudge and forgives you.
Jose : no wonder I was beaten in music.
Diluc : well the secret is out.
Kaeya: wait you knew ?
Diluc : so did jean and the travelor and paimon.
The people of mondstadt now looked at jean, lumine and diluc.
Jilliana : you knew ?
Jean : it was during storm terror accident, venti accompanied us to save mondstadt. We found out there.
Klee : no wonder venti is fun to play with.
Ningguang: to think that the anemo archon lives with his people undetected.
Ganyu: and the travelor met him .
The screen continued showing many some abyss monsters trying to sneak up on venti.
The got closer but were soon blown away.
Venti : don't you know it is disrespectful to cut in on a bard's song.
The monsters all charged at venti who flew in the air.
Venti : seems like you need to be taught a lesson.
The people of mondstadt and liyue were in awe at their archon's power and how easily he killed those monsters.
Diluc : I didn't know he was this strong, jean can you do anything similar ?
Jean : no I don't even come close.
Barbara : thank celestia lord barbatos is okay .
Venti : now that that is done, I need to meet him.
After that he teleported to a place were everyone saw rex lapis.
Zhongli : you are late.
Venti : it was just a few minutes. Besides I was attacked.
Zhongli : so was I, it would seem that the tsarista wishes to eliminate us.
Venti : she is not the only one.
Zhongli : what do you mean ?
Venti : a long story, let us sit but first let us change to our archon forms like we always do.
The wind picked up and the ground shook and in a flash both were in their archon form.
Many of the viewers were excited to hear that they would be in their archon forms but blushed when the flash of light subsided.
Morax's chest and abbs looked much harder and more prominent than his statue, many had blushes on their faces and had a really hard time not staring at his chest. Venti on the other hand, many looked away seeing how revealing his clothes are, many wondered if he wanted to be kidnapped and molested. Were they going for body worship ?
Kaeya : oh my...
Diluc : kaeya ...WHY IS YOUR NOSE BLEEDING ?
Kaeya : you can't blame me , lord barbatos has quite a feminine figure, you don't know if he is a boy or a girl just by looking.
Jean : look away , how can you have such impure thoughts about our archon ?
Kaeya : hey I am not the only one blushing , you are too and most of the people here, even your sister.
Eula : making me have improper thoughts, I must have vengence.
Lisa : ara ara...both of them look delicious.
Barbara : don't speak about our archon like that.
With her own blush.
Lumine : why do they dress like that ?
With some blood coming out of her nose.
Cloud retainer: one remembers that this is the casual dress code from long ago.
Xioa : indeed many gods dressed like that long ago.
Having seen this scene many times.
Ningguang who had her eyes transfixed on zhongli's abdomen suddenly coughed.
Ningguang: I guess this is how people dressed many years ago.
Keqing had a red face, she wondered if she could get away with snapping a photo of rex lapis in his archon form, she did not have a figurine like that in her collection.
Ganyu who saw her lustful expression suddenly smacked her.
Keqing : oww, why did you do that ganyu ?
Ganyu : I will not have you or anyone else disrespect my lord by fantasizing about him. Have some shame.
Hu tao : ok then ANYONE WHO MAKES A DEAL WITH OUR FUNERAL PARLER CAN HAVE A DATE WITH MR ZHONGLI.
Lumine : you can't do that.
Hu tao : I am his boss and he is bound by contract. Business first lumine.
Xioa/ ganyu : we will not allow it.
Hu tao : you can't stop me.
Ganyu/xioa : we can kill you to end the contract.
Jumping at her with intent to kill, after a few minutes they were forcefully seperated.
Keqing ( whispering ) : sign me up first.
The two sat and took out some wine and drinks. Taking a sip zhongli sighed.
Zhongli: osmantheon wine tastes the same as I remember but where are those that share the memories.
Venti : everyone is dead, we are the only two left , havria, guizhong, vanessa and many others. All our friends, everyone we have ever loved has been taken from us.
Zhongli : and yet both of us remain.
Venti : yeah, you know not a day goes by when I don't think about ending it. Seeing everyone die infront of me is the worst feeling ever.
Zhongli: then why don't you..
Venti : someone has to look after you.
Drinking more wine.
Many were both shocked and heart broken to see their archons like that.
Childe : man this is fucked up.
Diluc : I never knew he thought like that.
He knew venti as an annoying god who always drinks but to think it was to suppress the pain.
Barbara : no lord barbatos, what would mondstadt do without your songs ?
Zhongli : how are your people ?
Venti : as always cheerful and free. And yours ?
Zhongli : they are doing well in my absence. It makes me proud of them. What about the people of khaenri'ah ?
Venti : behaving kaeya and albedo have become true citizens of mondstadt and are loved by many.
Zhongli : you know I would never have taken those two, I would have killed them for being a threat.
Venti : they were children, I took them to mondstadt for protection. Even if kaeya was a spy, he was but a child.
Many looked at the 2 mentioned in surprise.
Kaeya was shocked that venti knew about him , if he did then why let him in his city and save him.
Jean : both of you, we need to talk when we get back.
Klee : master jean please don't punish them, my big brothers did nothing wrong. They are innocent.
Albedo : klee please don't defend....
Sucrose : besides this is the will of lord barbatos, you can't disrespect his choice.
Jean looked conflicted but finally nodded and began to look on the screen.
Zhongli : what did you mean by the tsarista not being the only one who wants to destroy us ?
Venti : the winds told me that the other archons except baal are preparing a new war for power and wish to eliminate us first as they see us a threat even if a war is against their people's wishes , those brats did not live through the war, they see themselves as a breed higher than mortals, they are arrogant and don't know how hard it was to secure followers during the war to increase our power.
Screams began to echo in the theater, a war was coming to their homes and many would die.
Jean : please everyone calm down. I promise to do everything in my power to protect our people.
Diluc : those power hungry bastards.
Rosario : we need to begin preparing for war.
Barbara/ nuns : lord barbatos please protect us.
Praying for their archon to save them.
Ningguang: make sure security is up when we return and train the soldiers.
Xioa : I will kill those greedy gods in the name of lord morax.
Rock shaper : the adepti stands with rex lapis. We will once again help him in war.
Lumine : EVERYONE CALM DOWN, WE NEED TO SEE WHAT VENTI AND ZHONGLI WILL DO ?
This made some look hopeful, maybe their archons would have an idea to save them.
Zhongli : do you have any information ?
Venti : they will meet in a month to discuss plans. Morax my people can't afford a war, varka took most of the knights and even then the people are not as strong as they once were.
Zhongli: neither are mine, now they don't practice their visions like in the past, compared to long ago, the people can be considered ants, they barely were able to withstand a weakened osaial, even ganyu has rusted.
Ganyu and many others looked down in shame at their abilities, it stinged to be criticized like that by their archon.
Ganyu : rex lapis forgive me.
Ningguang: what did he mean we are weak compared to the past ?
Moon carver : during the archon war, many trained from a young age relentlessly to simply survive, nowadays it is just for fun, the level of strength has changed since then.
Venti : mine as well, morax we can't plunge them into war. We need to do this ourselves.
Zhongli : indeed, what if we simply cut the head as they say.
Venti : what do you mean ?
Zhongli : we face the other archons and kill them, their people would simply give up since they are forced.
Venti : we are out numbered four to two. Baal can't help us since has her own problems to deal with after the civil war.
Zhongli : we might lose our lives but our people will be safe.
Venti : there is no other choice huh ?
Zhongli: do you think that the four winds can help us ?
Venti : no they must protect mondstadt in case we fail.
Zhongli : then it is only you and I old friend.
Venti : we might die this time.
Zhongli: it will be an honor to die beside you even if you are a drunk.
Venti : me too you brutish blundering buffoon.
Lumine: I don't like this, it sounds like...
Childe : they know they will die.
One month later
On the screen we can see an area that suffered great destruction, but what many focused on is the 4 dead corpses of different archons.
Seeing this many began to celebrate their archon's victory.
_ I knew they can do it.
_ I never had any doubt.
_ thank you lord barbatos.
_ the power of the lord of geo is unrivaled.
Albedo : wait everyone where is lord barbatos and rex lapis ?
This made everyone freeze and look at the screen.
The screen showed venti his white whings were now stained with blood and many injuries on him, he tried walking but fell infront of him 2 archons he killed.
Venti : ( I am losing counciousness, am I going to die ? It's finished , I guess this is where my song ends and looking back my life has been filled with nothing but failure, unable to save my friend, unable to stop my friend from being corrupted nor save him, compared to the other archons, my actions are nothing but insignificant things indeed and I have no legacy
.
.
.
.
.
Wait I do have one, people of moonstad I thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing your laughs with me, allowing me to spend time with you, it was all of you that gave me the strength on this day, thanks to all of you my life was not terrible,but my song has come to an end, I guess it is about time I put down my lyre and rest easy. Oh what should I name the next song I make , oh I know the tale of moonstad has a nice ring to it.
With that last thought,he closed his eyes and died with a smile on his face.
The people of moonstad were all crying falling to their knees in sadness.
Jean ( crying ) : no you were a great archon, you gave us our freedom, never demanded anything from us, we love you. Please don't go.
Kaeya : you knew I was a spy and yet you gave me a family, thank you very much.
Klee : venti you always played with me, you are the best archon ever. Come back.
Barbara : lord barbatos can't die, this is just a trick, jean tell me the truth, lord barbatos will not die.
Falling to her knees in despair as some nuns tried to comfort her but they too were sobbing.
Bennett: was this because of my bad luck ? No it can't be so bad that it kills an archon?
Lisa : impossible this is just an illusion, nothing more, you will see...
Noelle : lord barbatos please come back, I promise to never ask for another anmeo vision in place of my geo one.
Razor : andrius will be furious.
Diluc : damn it, don't go I promise to give you all the wine you want.
Xioa : I didn't repay my debt to him, I let him die. I am a failure.
The people of liyue looked at the people of mondstadt with pity, they all knew how they felt having suffered the same when they thought their archon was dead
The screen then moved to see rex lapis leaning on a tree with blood coming out of him.
Zhongli : this would have been easier if the tsarista didn't share the power of our genosis with those idiots but atleast we won. Our people are safe though it would seem the time of my erosion has come. It will be fine, they no longer need me, I am but an old relic of the past. I do hope ganyu and xioa will be okay. I will not be able to apologize to them for tricking them, I admit I will miss some of hu tao's pranks . I am sorry everyone.
Finally closing his eyes and dying.
The people of liyue began to cry seeing their archon dead.
Ganyu : I am sorry, forgive me , I swore an oath and was unable to protect you due to my weakness. I am unworthy of your compassion.
Xioa : those gods will die by my hand, they will not reach lord morax, my spear will kill them.
Ningguang: we can't lose our archon a second time. I refuse to let that happen.
Hu toa : no this can't be true, the old man will get up, doesn't he know people can't die twice. I refuse to bury him, he will come back again, he is just faking his death.
Keqing : I..please forgive me for the disrespect I showed all those years ago, please come back and I swear to follow your orders to the letter.
The adepti lowered their heads in respect to their friend.
2 days later
The atmosphere in mondstadt was depressing , many were sobbing as rain came down on them and wind raged no longer having a calming feel to it.
In the knight office
We could see jean in her office on a chair seemingly unmoving as a statue looking blankly at the document infront of her.
The door suddenly knocked and in came diluc.
Diluc : jean, the funeral is about to start, we need you to be there.
Jean suddenly snapped as she flipped the table in anger while tears of anger and sadness flowed.
Jean : need me ? No mondstadt doesn't need me, it needs our archon lord barbatos who sacrificed himself to avoid war and keep us safe while I was here signing papers. I am a guunhildr , a noble and old clan from mondstadt that worshipped lord barbatos till this day and swore loyalty to him and I let him die. My ancestors are probably cursing my name , I don't deserve to be a knight of this nation.
Jean : it's true, I am a failure, I don't deserve to be the acting grandmaster or a knight.
Xioa : ENOUGH, Tell me girl do you wish to disrespect lord barbatos ?
Jean : no I would never....
Xioa : then control yourself, lord barbatos did not change you so he must have saw something special in you, prove he is not wrong or I will end you myself.
Lumine : it's true, he thinks you are a great leader.
Jean : thank you.
Diluc : you can't blame yourself.
Jean : then who if not me ? You were right the knights are incompetent.
Diluc : listen I may hate many of the knights but you are not one of them. You work hard, you barely sleep, all so that mondstadt can thrive. Listen this will be your last chance to say goodbye if you don't I know you will regret it.
Jean : how is barbara ?
Diluc : she still refuses to eat or drink, lisa did get her to attend the ceremony though.
Jean : let us go.
The two walked to the church and saw venti's body unmoving while many were crying. His wings were cleaned along with his wounds, all hoped for a miracle but it seems they would not get it.
Jean spotted her sister being held by Rosario so she would not fall.
Jean : lord barbatos was a great archon, he gave his people freedom and was not a tyrant who demanded things from us like other gods do, he died because he wanted to protect each and every single one of us, protect our freedom and our lives.
She turned to his body and bowed to him.
Jean : having you as my archon and protecting your city has been my life's greatest honor. Please look out for us because we promise to make mondstadt thrive and keep the people free.
The coffin was then taken to symbol of mondstadt hero and was burried there.
Lumine : that was a great speech jean.
Jean : thank you lumine. You too diluc.
Diluc : no problem. Don't mention it.
In liyue the scene was the same, but it was worst than last time, to know that their archon was alive was a great shock but knowing that he died for real this time protecting them was a great slap to the face.
Hu toa : please wake up , who will bore me to death with their many facts. Please mr zhongli come back.
Xioa : I failed you once more my lord, not only you but lord barbatos as well. I am not worthy to be your underling.
Ganyu : forgive me for not being there my lord.
The ceremony continued and rex lapis was burried for real this time.
In the distance two transparent figures were seen floating.
Hu toa : can it be ?
Ningguang: they are still watching over us, even in death.
Keqing : thank you for everything.
Barbara : please come back
Zhongli : what do you think ?
Venti : they are all sad but they are strong, soon they will get over it and our nations will florish once more. Now come on, the others are waiting for us.
Zhongli : you are right we are no longer needed. It is time for us to rest.
Ganyu : that is not true, we need you.
Jean : please come back to us.
Slowly their figure faded from the world knowing that everything will be okay.
The theater was filled with crying and despair, many began to pray to their archon asking them to be safe.
Lumine : I can't accept this...I refuse.
Jean : travelor ?
Lumine : this is the future or a version of it, so what if it happened there, I will not let mr zhongli and venti sacrafice themselves for our sake. I will stop them from dying and if some archons wants to challenge them then they have to challenge me as well.
Kaeya : she is right, I won't let the person who gave me a new home die while I do nothing.
Diluc : kaeya is right, I won't let him sacrafice himself, I will fight with him.
Jean : the knights will save lord barbatos and stand by his side till our final hour.
Ningguang: I do owe him for my vision and helping me when I was younger.
Hu toa : yes no way will I let my consultant die.
Ganyu/ xioa : I swear to not let him die.
The spirits of the people lifted, all swearing to save their archons even if it meant death.
The end
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