The Wind's Fury

Divine Punishment

Old Monstadt/Stormterror's lair

The whispers started subtle, like leaves stirring in the night breeze. But as they gained urgency, swelling into a mournful symphony, Barbatos knew.

It coiled around Venti's ear, a chilling story of his lost friend, trapped within the confines of the Akademiya in Sumeru. Laughter died on his lips, replaced by a glacial rage that frosted his oceanic eyes.

"Buer..." he breathed, the name a whisper of sorrow. A ghost from a forgotten age. "No, it's Nahida now, isn't it?" His young fellow god, imprisoned within the very land she was born and sworn to protect.

Once the name of a child crying for freedom was uttered, the wind, once a playful companion, roared in his ears, a chorus of fury.

How dare they!!!

A god imprisoned!!!

A child imprisoned!!!

For 500 years!!!

Her heart is crying!!!

Save her!!!

Save her!!!

Save her!!!

As the anger in the bard grow, the wind told the prisoner's tale. A mournful symphony of rustling leaves and sighing dust.

It spoke of scholars drunk on knowledge, blinded by their own dogma. It spoke of fear and control, a poisonous vine choking the very essence of freedom.

Rage, an ember long dormant in the bard's playful heart, fanned into a tempest. No mere mortal dared imprison a god, let alone one bearing his friendship and protection.

Nahida's laughter echoed in the wind's song. However, it was short as if it was a mere illusion. For the young god, in all the years the wind accompanied her in the absence of their brother, had never experienced anything that can emit the melodious laughter that children often make.

He wouldn't stand for it. Not the God of Anemo, not the bard who once sang of rebellion and unbound skies.

And not the friend that she shared memories with.

------

In the blink of an eye, he stood atop a bustling city, his emerald eyes, usually warm with mischief, glinted like storm clouds.

In the heart of Sumeru, a city pulsating with knowledge and arrogance, Barbatos stood. Not as the bard, but as the wind's fury incarnate.

He raised his lyre, not to play a merry tune, but to unleash a symphony of destruction. The air itself twisted and contorted, whipping into razor-sharp blades that carved through the verdant landscape of Sumeru. Sand and stone became projectiles, hurtling towards the towering Grand Bazaar, the winds howling a battle cry.

The song of freedom.

A gust ripped through the Akademiya, tearing down banners of false wisdom, scattering scholars like autumn leaves. Dust clouds danced in the whirlwind, sculpting fleeting monuments to defiance.

Whispers morphed into shrieks as the wind became cruel.

Buildings groaned, their foundations buffeted by invisible fists. Statues of haughty sages toppled, their granite pride dashed against cobblestones.

Within her golden cage, Nahida's eyes widened.

He's here!

Barbatos, son of time, was unleashed. And the wind carried his message, every howl a whispered promise of freedom.