𝚂𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝙰𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 [𝚐.𝚒 𝚟𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚡 𝚐𝚗!𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛]

XVI

Well… this is awkward.

The six of you were standing around in a weak circle under the soft lights of the Angel’s Share. Diluc had his arms crossed, a frown on his smooth face, Venti was unusually serious, Aether and Paimon were quiet, and Jean just looked so confused. You were standing at the head of this circle, hands on your hips as you tried not to die from suffocation.

You sighed, trying not to fold into yourself as five pairs of eyes locked onto your form. How did you get into this situation?

-

“If you’d care to listen,” you started hesitantly. “I have seen how Dvalin can be beaten with minimal injury to Mond and the people fighting.”

Venti squeezed your hand before letting it drop, walking back towards Vanessa’s tree and leaning against it. It looked like something was pressing on his shoulders and they drooped, along with his eyes. They fluttered shut with exhaustion and a frown settled on his youthful face.

“I wish I could simply use the lyre to help him.” Venti slid down the tree, resting his back on the trunk and curled his knees to his chest. “He’s so gentle, so kind. We would fly together. The wind through our wings and the clouds that gather in the sky, soaking up the glorious sun. The tranquility, I want him to feel it again, I don’t want him to be in any pain.”

You saddled up next to Venti, leaning down your head to an almost uncomfortable level to rest your head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry.” You whispered. “If I knew of another way, I would tell you, but in my visions, Dvalin has only been defensive with passive methods to help him. Believe me when I say he will appreciate what we do afterwards, when his mind is clear.”

Venti sighed. “So what was your idea?”

You took a deep breath. “We’ll have to go to Dvalin’s lair in Old Mond. We won't have a base advantage, considering we'll be on his terf, but it'll be away from anybody that could be potentially hurt." You paused, trying to gather all the thoughts in your head. You were really jumping the gun with this, but you couldn't care less. "I think we should ask for assistance from Diluc, Jean, and Aether."

Venti hummed. "Why them?"

You tilted your head. "The way to break the Abyss Order's control over Dvalin is to destroy the infected blood spines on his back. Diluc is proficient with a claymore which will hopefully have enough power behind it to break the spines, Jean is an amazing healer, which is necessary in any battle, and Aether has the ability to purify corruption. He might be able to use his purification to weaken the spines and make them easier to break. Obviously you'll be there because Dvalin is your friend and your powerful winds would be able to get rid of any shields Dvalin tries to put up."

"And you?"

You furrowed your eyebrows. "Me?" Of course you thought about fighting Dvalin and being a badass hero, but you hadn't considered yourself skilled enough to do that yet. Sure, you fought Andrius, but that was a spar if anything and he wasn't trying to kill you, with Dvalin, you'd be fighting for your life. Plus, you didn't think Venti would want you to tag along. Perhaps he'd see the upsides of the people you just proposed to be there and help him fight, but he said himself that there wasn’t anything particularly special that could help, so what was there for you to do?

"Yes you." He giggled. "Have you not included yourself in that plan of yours?"

"No." You admitted.

“Well I would like you to be there. If I recall, you’ve also been training in the art of the claymore. Two is better than one, especially in this case.” Venti looked up at you with a warm smile on his face, contrasting his cold demeanor from not too long ago.