Aether's POV

I'm walking through the streets of Mond, trying to organize my thoughts. I helped Venti, so as we agreed on, he should help me with my sister... However, should I wait a bit more before asking though?

I know today is Lady Y/n's last day, and not only because of her servants warnings, but after I personally saw how attached Venti is to her, I feel like I should help him get over her disappearance before moving on with my own mission. After all, I know Lumine can be found, Barbatos will never see his mentor again; and that.... that is beyond devastating.

"What if we have to go to Liyue?" Paimon's rants of words drag me back to the real world. "Do you think the Tone-Deaf bard will put a good word with the Geo Archon?"

Why the air feels so heavy here? My inner bells scatter the moment I enter the plaza. I halt my steps and look around.

"Aren't those Kaeya and Lisa?" Paimon points at the staircase that leads to the church. "Why are they in such a hurry?" and like she said, I spot Kaeya and Lisa rushing as fast as they physically can to the doors with preoccupied expressions.

Something happened. I gulp as I instruct Paimon to stay close as I bolt towards the knights' same direction.

I climb the stairs three by three to be quicker, but moment I arrive, a horrible sight welcomes me. Jala tries to crawl outside, leaving a big stride of blood behind. He's paler than his usual healthy shade, he mutters nonsense and yet he tries to go elsewhere.
Barbara, Kaeya, Lisa and whoever has healing skills are there for those severe and mortal injuries, but he refuses to be treated until Arius get the treatments first or until a certain Harmonia gets there.

Where did I hear that name? I try to remember but all of that blood and gruesome sight is not helping me to keep a calm mind.

"Please Jala, let us-" Jean sighs desperate, although when she meets my gaze, she nods, letting me know that I'm about to be pulled in. "The Traveller is here, would you like him to help you?" she softly speaks pointing to my way.

I know my task; influence Jala to stay put and get treated, and get some intel if I can. I get to work immediately, Paimon joins as well, but before we could get a single word out of the owl, Lady Y/n materializes with Izel. We all turn our backs to look at them, both stop at their tracks, bewildered.

"What-" for the first time, I see the Noble speechless. "What happened, child!?" she slides on the floor to hug Jala, but the boy hits his head on the marble once more.

"I left them!" he sobs opening his injured wings to expose his most vulnerable zones. "I left them behind! I won't beg for forgiveness, I know my mistake is great, a-and that I was useless but please save them!"

In silence, Lady Y/n looks at Izel and the man, like always, knows already what to do. Jean though moves before the butler servant could disappear once again.

"Master Diluc went to aid.... Please watch his back as well, sir." the woman bows deeply and now Izel knows the situation is grave.

With a thunder, he vanishes. The loud noise startles us all, especially Jala who jumps out of his skin, reasseambling a lost and terrified puppy. The Noble takes her cloak and envelops the owl with it, whispering sweet words to sedate his fear.

"M-madam...." Lisa is the first who notices how in bad conditions is the goddess' arm, so she tries to be of help. "Your-" the witch eats her words in her throat when those minty orbs scans her soul and a simple gesture as a finger to the lips from the same Noble, gets the message across.

Why is her arm bleeding that much!? I bite my lips shut. It's like her jewerly is cutting her..... It looks so painful too....

"Tell me my boy, what happened?" The god moves her arm behind her back so that Jala won't see it and fall once again into a spiral of anxiety and panic.

"Sensei!" Venti arrives and just like the others, he's shocked at the sight of a bloody church. I quickly approach him and whisper that I'll tell him everything, first we need informations, so it's better to not speak to distract the source.

"W-we went back to t-the shrine like you asked..." Jala hiccups but sinks his face deeper into the goddess' chest. "We discovered someone went down there and moved stuff a-around...."

"You're doing amazing, my boy." She cuddles the servant so that the memories won't block the intel right where she needs it the most.

"T-the door was shut close, so Ahl opened it, but we got sucked in and teleported.... gods who know where.... A-and then...." the shaking restarts, the shaky voice as well. "All went wrong.... Many, too many wraps opened at the same time, bringing defeated enemies from other worlds there and attacked us for so long...."

Venti and Lady Y/n both turn a pale shade of skin when they hear that. It seems they both have a suspect and whoever they might be, it doesn't sound good at all if two mighty gods reacted that way.

"And when a new horde came..... there were things with the Black Rot.... and I was crushed and beaten by a huge golem and- and Arius-!" Jala gasps and loops one more time. "Arius! I will bring you to him!" he pushes the woman away and tries to crawl outside, but his master puts herself in front of him and hugs him.

"You were courageous, my dear boy. Now rest, I'll deal with the rest." the Noble let the stone in her forehead touch Jala, and the owl immediately passes out.

While the deity lays the servant down, covers him with her cloak and takes care of the most severe injuries in a bat of an eyelid, there's a suffocating silence in the chapel. Even if painful, no one dares to break it, I guess just for a simple yet strong fear of waking something we'll regret.

"Your healing will work now. I leave him in your care." the sweet and tender voice is long gone. Now a too calm and cold one took over the goddess.

"Yes ma'am!" Barbara quickly uses her Hydro to tend to the once joyful and playful boy. Using the chance to also avoid at any cost to look at the woman who taught her so much for the festival.

"I'll come with you, Sensei!" Venti trots closer but, despite having a bad feeling about it, he gulps it down to assist his friends.

"Remain." one command, not a glance, not a moment to halt her steps. Not even for a dear pupil.

"Huh? B-but Sensei, I wish to help-" Barbatos literally steps back twice the moment he meets his mentor's eyes.

"Your land, this whole world lost its safety to my eyes. I have to leave Jala to someone I trust, someone I know for sure will guard his life with care." Harmonia returns to walk, struggling to keep her emotions under control. "You remain here for him."

"The Traveller is here also...." being spoiled so much, the bard forgot that pushing too much his luck won't do him any good. In fact, the air in the church is so cold that a freezing mist floats around, that minty hair is lifted by an unknwon force which is labelled at first sight as death.

"Venti." a roaring tone makes the god of freedom almost squeak when blinking, his mentor is bent down right in front of him, staring directly at his soul. Threats and fury linger in those eyes. "Do not put me in a position where I have to show you how heartless I can be. Stand against me or stand aside."

Us mortals are brought to our knees, terrified of the individual before us. What the Noble has left of that, is the title only, right here stands a true god where force every instict to shut down into utter submission. Terror rules our hearts that with pumping blood, it injects even the brain with that fear, resulting in not even try to cross that god's shadow by mistake.

"I-if I may.... Lady Y/n...." I slowly raise my hand, approaching the duo. "I'll stay with Venti, and make sure nothing happens to Jala. Go to your family, they need you." to avoid a catastrophe, I nail the bard with a hand on his shoulder, also signing him to not insist. Just like during Dvalin's rescue, something seems off about the woman and is not her emotions, but something more sinister. If it's that corruption, she needs to be away asap. I don't stand a chance against her, nor I believe Barbatos does... If she loses her mind like that night, this church will turn into a grieving place instead of worshipping one.

Without a word of gratitude, the goddess vanishes and in that exact moment, Lisa's stuttering breaks the stunned silence.

"I told you Jean..... Now the scales might be hanging against us...."

"Paimon was joking!" Paimon pulls her hair, freaking out. "It was a stupid guess! Paimon didn't think it could happen for real!"

"Venti, are you alright?" I focus more on the bard, who's visibly shaken to the core. Tears threat to fall, his hands terribly shaking.

"Was that lullaby a lie....? The wind carried it to me, you were so distant and your voice was so muffed...."

"Tone-deaf bard?" all the church halts to watch its most famous musician, broken and lost in his own world, walking towards those open doors facing an incoming storm.

The shoulder of a god never looked so lonely and tiny before his own lands.... I think between myself, heartbroken to see Venti like this. Especially when I know something he doesn't, and it won't help him get over this.

"I can give you everything you need or do you want to hear me plead? Just look my way..." he murmurs with a tune, hardily can be called a song. He tries to reach for something only he sees, but by the way he stretches his arm far beyond his reach, I guess he feels his mentor once so close to him, now so far away. "Is there something more that I don't know that you won't say 'til we've both grown cold?"

Like the Noble and her servants said, Barbatos wants to be stupid but he's not one. Those words in fact stab me in the heart, it hurts so much but I made a promise. Venti knows something is wrong with her, I guess not knowing what though is the wall that now stands between them.

"How do you know.... mistress' song....?" Jala opens his eyes, sloth-like movements do not stop him from looking at Venti with a curious hint in his face.

"One day the wind talked and it carried it." Barbatos sniffs but when he turns, he brightly smiles at his old friend. "I modified it a little though, was that ok?"

"I'm glad someone heard her sadness...." Jala closes his eyes, tears streaming down. "She had no choice.... and she felt that everyone will surely forget her and move on.... So she often sang this song, so that someone.... will stop walking to look back at her..."

"It's unusual for Sensei to be scared of such trival things though." Venti sits next to Jala and holds his hand in hope to bring enough reassurance to take him back to dreamland.

"She cared.... still does.... Even being a walking bomb, she did not deny a single request...." the owl looks at the bard and tiredly smiles back. "She gave you everything trying to make amends..."

"....Wait, what do you mean with a walking bomb?"

Oh no! I gulp, biting my lips unsure if to intervene or not. If I do though, it might raise even more doubts.

"Being a god of mistress' level must be.... awful.... especially when created with a heart moved by human feelings..." Jala tries to pat Venti's head but his arm falls back down due to lack of strength. "She's capable of feeling fear... anxiety, relief, love and hate..... She came to help you 'cause scared, you.... might get hurt..." he closes his eyes, his breath falls to a even slower pattern.

"Let him be, mister Venti." Barbara's plea halts her own god's train of questions. "He was barely alive when he came with Master Diluc. I bet he's very tired, therefore, now that our skills are effective, let him rest."

A moment of reflection, then the always joyful musician literally slaps himself twice in the face. The clap resounds loudly in the church as we all look at Venti shocked. His cheeks are bright red, the signs of his own fingers plastered on his skin....

"Traveller, we'll guard this place!" he grabs my scarf and starts to drag me outside. "I leave my friend in your care, miss Barbara!"

I help him shut the doors, but before they're fully closed, I hear Kaeya say something. He said that Mondstadt should brace for impact, since the one who has a good heart have the most dangerous anger.