Flowers apart

6

Ganyu, Zhongli, and Jean sat across from Xiao, looking at him with varying intensities and pity. Xiao, feeling as if he was in for an interrogation session, sat stoically and stared back at them blankly, too numb to feel any annoyance or irritation.

Just...emptiness.

"Xiao..." Jean said softly, and Xiao can't help but feel guilty, a feeling that has been eating away at his insides for the past few hours.

Jean was probably having a harder time than he was, having been someone who worshipped - no, had worshipped - the god of Mondstadt, Barbatos. She even knew him personally and in the end even seemed to have taken up a mother-like position in Venti's life, and having him gone like that, without even saying goodbye, probably took a toll on the poor woman. However, she still seemed gentle and determined despite everything, and had seemed to put away everything in her mind just to come to Liyue to find out what happened from Xiao.

And look at the sorry state of mind Xiao had reduced to.

"...do you mind telling us what happened?" Jean continued, keeping her tone soft as if she didn't want to startle the boy. Xiao wanted to scoff - why was she treating him as if he was some fragile item that could be broken in one touch?

Well, because you are. A little tinny voice said in his head.

Xiao only could nod to Jean's words. There was no reason to turn her down, no matter how much Xiao doesn't want to relive that particular hour.

And so he explained. Slowly, so that he could take sometime to try to find no meaning in the words that he was saying.

Words like:

Dead.

Venti.

Barbatos.

Gnosis.

Blood.

Pain.

He was afraid that if he goes fast, that if he explains everything in one breath, the memories of him would come so fast into his mind, crashing into each other, and he would keep rambling on and on until he breaks down in front of them.

The only thing he omits out was Venti's confession to him. About his identity and his love for him, despite not remembering their past. It felt too private for him to share, like that small moment was theirs to keep and not to ever be shared.

When Xiao was done, he just went silent, staring blankly at the table and willed his mind to blank out too, so that he doesn't have to register whatever he had just said minutes ago.

"Ok," Jean said quietly. "I see."

Xiao looked up at the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius. How could she accept his death so easily when Xiao hasn't yet? He keeps expecting Venti to come around the corner and start teasing about his hair, or steal his almond tofu from the kitchen. He keeps expecting his voice and the beautiful notes of the lyre to interrupt the silence in his head, and annoy him like always.

But whenever he turns around to see Venti's braids swinging, his mouth working up a storm to fill the room with chatter, he was always met with an empty space and silence.

Never did he thought he would ever want to hear Venti's voice by his ear 24/7.

"I guess the saying that you'll never appreciate someone until they're gone is true, huh?" Jean's voice pealed in his mind.

She's right.

"I'll get someone to do up a funeral for Venti. People will get suspicious if Venti disappeared out of nowhere, given his popularity in Mondstadt," Jean sighed, and Xiao could hear that she was barely containing her emotions as she said that.