Chapter Text
"Good Hunter has some amazing food! Haha! So I'm sure you'll enjoy it!" Venti announced cheerfully, leading Oliver through the winding streets of Mondstadt. "Sara's cooking is something else entirely." His smile didn't falter once.
Oliver nodded, awaiting this place. He was still a bit shy, and a little confused with everything. But he just continued to walk with Venti. There was something about this place to him, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it. Something was still so familiar, yet so unfamiliar at the same time. Like he's been here before, but at the same time, he hasn't seen this place ever in his life.
They rounded a corner onto a wider street, and something about it clicked differently in Oliver's head. Not in a way that gave him answers — just in a way that felt less foreign. To the left was the draw gate, the one he'd come through earlier. To the right, the staircases that had eventually led him to that big statue. Lining the path between were shops of all kinds, and nestled among them was Good Hunter — an outdoor food stand with wooden seating and a handful of patrons working through their meals in the evening air.
"Come on, come on!" Venti snatched Oliver's hand without any warning. "There it is!"
"Woah—" Oliver stumbled. "H-Hey slow down!"
"Hello-Hello!" Venti said cheerfully to the owner behind the stand, as he skidded to a stop at the counter, and Oliver nearly walked straight into his back for the second time that day. Venti laughed about it immediately, then he plucked the menu right off the countertop. "Here, look at this!" He pressed it into Oliver's hands. "Look at all the yummy choices they have!" He smiled.
Oliver steadied himself and looked down at the menu. "Wow..." He scanned the options slowly. "This feels like something out of a Studio Ghibli film or something..."
Venti giggled. "Ehehehaha! Yeah it kind of—" He stopped. His head tilted. "Huh? Studio what?" He squinted in confusion.
Oliver looked up. "What?"
"You said something. About a studio."
"I..." Oliver's brow creased. He looked genuinely uncertain, like the words had slipped out from somewhere he couldn't locate. "Did I say that?"
Venti studied him for a second, then waved a hand. "Haha, never mind! Just pick something, what do you want?"
Venti just waved it off. "Haha, it's fine! Just tell me what you want!"
Oliver looked back down at the menu. There were a lot of food options. And he wasn't going to lie, they all looked really good. He actually didn't know which one to pick.
"What's the...," one did caught his eye though. "Sticky... Honey Roast?"
Venti's whole face lit up. "OooH! That's basically a local favorite with most of them here! You want that? It's basically a really sticky mess, you'll get honey everywhere ha!" Venti smiled then turned to Sara. "One order of Sticky Honey Roast please!" Venti smiled. "And for me... I'll just have that Apple salad you guys have!"
Venti glanced back at Oliver was now sitting at one of the chairs at the outdoor tables. He tilted his head, Oliver was still looking lost. "Don't worry, I believe a tasty dish will rejuvenate you right up!"
Venti hopped into the seat across from him. "Hey." His voice dropped a little, softer now. "You can talk to me if you need to. I just met you, but I don't want you all lost and confused if you really did lose all your memories,"
Oliver shifted his gaze over to him, then out at the street, then back. "It's this place," he said eventually. "The buildings. The food. The people walking around." He exhaled slowly. "It all feels like something I recognize. But I don't. I've never been here. I know I haven't. So I don't understand why it feels like I have."
Venti nodded, listening. "Could be that you're actually from Mondstadt. Memory loss doesn't work the same for everyone — sometimes just being somewhere familiar is enough to start pulling things back up from wherever they've gone. Something in your subconscious holding onto it. Being here might get you to remember and get your memories back naturally." He rested his chin in his hand. "Though... I don't recognize you. And Diluc didn't either. Maybe you're from one of the other nations?" He paused. "Do you remember where you were last? Like, did you wake up somewhere specific?"
"Outside the gate." Oliver turned slightly in his chair to look toward the draw gate in the distance. "Way outside. Out in those open fields."
"Outside? You mean outside of Mondstadt? Windrise?"
He looked back. "Is that what it's called?"
"Mhm! It's beautiful out there, honestly. All that green. When I'm not wandering around the town I'm usually out there somewhere, just sitting up in that tree."
"Oh," Oliver said simply.
Sara arrived at the table and set their food down before either of them could say anything else.
"Thank you, Sara!" Venti beamed at her.
Oliver looked down at his plate and went very still for a moment. "Woah..." The dish looked almost too good. He was fairly certain he'd never seen food presented like that before, though of course he couldn't actually confirm that. "That is..."
"A sticky mess? Definitely," Venti giggled. "I personally don't like sticky things. One of the many reasons why I absolutely hate cheese. But this apple salad I got is the best! I love apples!" He let out a soft breath of giggles that sounded very light in the air.
Something about it caught Oliver off guard. It was such a light sound. The kind of thing that could probably stop someone mid-thought without trying. He cleared his throat quietly, picked up his fork, and took a bite of the roast, and—wow.
He was practically blown away, all his down bad thoughts for Venti flew out of his mind momentarily as the taste and texture of the roast hit his tongue. "Holy- I... this is good!"
Venti giggled as he ate his own food. "Told you Sara cooks the best!"
Oliver closed his eyes, savoring the great blend of sweetness and savory. He knew he lost his memories, so he doesn't remember exactly what he had eaten before. But he knew it wasn't anything as good as what he's having right now. He opened his eyes again, and saw Venti devouring into his Apple salad. He glanced up, and could see in the distance the Barbatos statue. He remembered that's what Venti called it.
He glanced back down at Venti, then back up at the statute in the distance. He blinked once. Then, he looked back down at Venti. "Huh?" He muttered to himself. The face on the statue looked at little similar to Venti's facial structure. He and the statue also had the same two braids on either side.
He took another slow bite. "Hey... has anyone ever told you that you look a lot like that statue?"
Venti froze, and nearly choked on his food, and had to grab the water Sara had given them complementary, and drank it. "Huh!? Why... why would you-," Venti glanced around quickly, and then looked back at Oliver. "Haha!" He laughed, but the laugh sounded nervous. As if he was hiding something. "That's silly! Why would I... hah! How can I possibly look like a statute that has been up for years haha...I-,"
Oliver tilted his head. "Oh... I- It's just that the statue looks similar. Or... you look similar to it."
Venti's ears went a little pink. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I— well—"
"Are you the statue?" Oliver asked.
Venti went completely still.
"Or... is it a relative of you?"
Venti exhaled slowly. "Okay. I... I am going to tell you. But you better keep it a secret. Only a few people know. Barbatos... he's a god. A god for Monstadt. The people here worship him. And... I am them. The statue was built for me years ago." Venti said. He said it very quietly. He only wanted Oliver to know, and no one else around them.
Oliver froze, his eyes widen slightly. "... A god?" He whispered. "Like.. you're... you're a..."
Venti pressed a finger to his lips. "Keep your voice down." He glanced around again. "I don't exactly advertise it. I just want to be a bard. Play music, wander around, make people's days a little better. I gave these people their freedom a long time ago — the last thing I want is for them to spend their lives kneeling at me. I want them to just... live."
Oliver sat with that for a moment. Several moments, actually. "How old are you?"
Venti blinked. A quiet smile crossed his face. "Over two thousand years." he whispered.
Oliver dropped his fork and it clattered on the table. "Sorry— what?" He pushed his chair back and stepped around to Venti's side of the table, crouching slightly to look at him more carefully. "You don't look— you look like you're nineteen at the most—"
Venti giggled, looking up at him with a faint blush. "This is just what I looked like when I became a god. Gods tend to stay however they were at that point. Guess I should thank the universe for me to have such a handsome and divine body!" He smiled, flipping one of his braids.
"O-Oh-," Oliver blushed, and stood back up, and backed to get back to his seat, but he nearly tripped, and grabbed his balance. "Ah! I-," He quickly stood up. "I'm okal- I mean okay!" He didn't say 'okay' right, and got embarrassed, and sat back in his chair with a very red face.
He stared at Venti across the table.
Venti blinked, then burst into uncontrollable giggles at the human in front of him. "Are you okay? That was quite the fall. At least you managed to brace it haha!"
"I'm fine." Oliver's face was still very red. "So. You're a god."
"I am," Venti said, still catching his breath.
"And... you don't like praise?"
Venti shook his head. "Not really no,"
Oliver chuckled. "So, you don't like this-," Oliver stood up, and dramatic bowed in front of Venti. "Oh praise thee, I... uh.. I come from the divine... land of- uh...," He was trying to make a joke, but he ended up not knowing what the hell he was saying. But this random amount of silliness made Venti burst into louder laughter then what he did when Oliver almost fell onto the table.
"Oh my word! Stop! No! That's so stupid hahahaha!" Venti clutched his stomach as he laughed. "Please never do that again!" He said, still laughing.
Oliver cleared his throat, and sat back down. "I... I don't know where that came from, I'm sorry,"
"Haha!" Venti let out another cute giggle. "It's totally okay! That was so silly of you. Ugh, I hope I don't regret telling you what I am when you get your memory back~ Because it sounds like you're a trickster in that subconscious." Then Venti took a breath of laughter. "Well, I guess I am one too! Haha!"
Oliver giggled shyly, and scratched the back of his head.
~~~~~~
Night came rather quickly. Once Oliver woke up, in... that Windrise place, as Venti called it. He wasn't really aware of what time it was. But with how quickly nighttime fell, he then assumed it was late afternoon. So then Oliver realized he had more things to worry about.
The two of them, Oliver and Venti were sitting at the edge of the Barbatos statue, relaxing. Venti was playing on his lyre, some people around came by to give him some coins as he played.
Some of them shot Oliver curious glances — clearly puzzled by the unfamiliar boy who'd apparently been following their beloved bard around all day.
Eventually Oliver turned toward him. "Venti?"
"Mm?" Venti opened his eyes, looking at Oliver with a soft expression. "What is it?"
"Uhh.. I think it's getting darker. It's nighttime right? Where will I sleep?"
Venti suddenly stopped playing his instrument, and looked at Oliver. "Oh-," he blinked. "Right... sleep. You need sleep," he looked around. "I haven't thought about that... oops-,"
Oliver blinked a little. "Do you even sleep? Can you even sleep?" He whispered.
Venti nodded. "But I somewhat just sleep wherever. I don't have a house or something," he stood up, and the lyre disappeared from his hands. "I sometimes sleep in my... realm, but I don't think I can bring a human in there with me-,"
He then had an idea. "Ooh! I got it! The tree! I sleep in there sometimes!"
Oliver blinked. "Tree? What tree?"
"I'll show you, come on!" He grabbed Oliver's hand and took off down the street, already pulling him along before he had any say in the matter.