Chapter Text
Stasis completed....
Initiating extraction.
3... 2... 1...
Commencing body transfer...
Error....
System fault detected. Continue?
The system rebooted. Someone made the choice to go on.
~~~~~~~
His eyes opened. The light hit him all at once, sharp and blinding. He blinked through it. His gaze swept around to the left, right, up, down. Grass. Trees. Dirt paths winding near him. A river off to his right. The sound of it moving was soft. Gentle and peaceful. Somewhere above him, birds. He could hear them chirping. Maybe sounds of insects too.
He couldn't remember a thing. Not his name. Not even what he looked like. Not where he'd come from, or who he was before this moment.
He looked down at his hands. Strange clothes. Gold and purple, his midsection left bare. He turned toward the river and walked to it. Crouched at the edge and looked down at the surface.
He looked down at his reflection. A young looking man, brown hair. Once he turned his head, he saw a single braid hanging down from the side.
He studied that reflection for a moment. Something sat wrong in his chest. "That's not me..." he murmured. His mind was still empty. He had no memory of what he looked like. But somewhere underneath all of that blankness, something quiet and certain told him... that wasn't him.
He lifted his eyes. A town sat in the distance. It looked... old. Medieval, his brain supplied, before he even thought about it. He frowned. Why had that word come to him? There was something there — hovering at the edge of his thoughts — but it slipped away before he could catch it.
He exhaled slowly, then started walking toward it through the short grass. His surroundings were beautiful, he thought. Still, the unease didn't leave him. Something wasn't right.
The town was built on an island, ringed by a high stone wall. A bridge stretched from the mainland to its entrance. He doesn't know why he was drawn to this. He just was, and walked towards it.
People crossed the bridge in both directions. Strangers. People he had never seen in his life. And yet , somewhere deep, somewhere he couldn't name — they felt familiar. Adults like him going about their afternoon. Older folk, and younger ones. Children running ahead until someone called after them to stop running on the bridge.
He crossed to the other side without a word.
Two guards stood at the entrance. They each gave him a single nod as he passed.
"Welcome to Mondstadt," one of them said. A brief salute, nothing more.
He nodded back, quiet, his expression still. The town sprawled out ahead of him. It was bigger than he'd expected. He could probably get turned around in here easily.
But what did he have to lose? He didn't remember anything. Walking around seemed like the only real option — maybe something would shake something loose in his mind to jog everything back into place.
Shops lined the streets on either side. His stomach growled. He was hungry. He also had no money. What could he do now? He couldn't possibly beg? That would be embarrassing. He shoved his hands into the attire's pockets, and continued walking.
A fountain sat ahead of him, right in the middle of the path. Steps led up to the left and right. He went right and kept going.
He walked, passing people without stopping, until he found himself standing in front of what looked like a church. In front of it, a massive statue — arms outstretched, wings fanned wide behind it. A hood resting over the head, two braids falling forward from beneath it. "Who's that?" he muttered to himself.
Then, he heard music coming from nearby.
He looked to the left, and saw a bard sat at the base of the statue, strumming a lyre with his eyes closed. His outfit was old-fashioned, heavy on green and brown. He played like he wasn't thinking about it — easy, unhurried.
The boy stood there and watched. Didn't say anything. Just watched the bard.
Eventually, the bard's eyes opened. He caught sight of him immediately, then a smile spread across his face. "Hey there, cutie~," he said.
The boy got startled and looked away fast, like he hadn't been staring for the past few seconds.
"Haven't seen you in Mondstadt before," the bard laughed softly. He set his instrument aside and got up, wandering over. "Though, many people come here at times, can't catch everybody,"
The boy glanced back at him, cheeks warm.
The bard's eyes crinkled at his expression. "I'm Venti. And you are?"
He opened his mouth. Nothing came out. His name — whatever it was — wasn't there. "I..." He stopped. Then, he tried again. Still, nothing. "I don't remember."
Venti's smile faltered. Something concerned moved across his face. "You don't remember your name?"
He shook his head.
"Do you remember anything? Where you're from, maybe?"
Not even that, he remembered. He could only remember stuff that has happened before he seemed to regain consciousness. He remembered the grassy areas outside of the town. He remembered that the name of the town is Mondstadt, as said by the guards. He remembered what the name of the bard is... Venti, as he had told him.
"Oh no," Venti said quietly. "Okay. Stick with me. Maybe I can help." He reached out and set a hand on the other boy's shoulder. The boy blinked, uncertain what was happening.
Venti closed his eyes. The wind shifted — picked up, swirling around them both. The boy sucked in a breath and looked around. "Wh — what—?"
Venti pushed with his power, searching. Looking for whatever was underneath.
There was nothing there.
That wasn't right. Even a curse — even something designed to strip a person's memories clean — would leave something behind for the bard to see. But this was different. This was a blankness that went deeper than that. Something outside of what Venti knew.
He opened his eyes slowly. "That's not right..." His brow creased. "You can't be like—"
The other boy's stomach growled. Loud.
Venti blinked. Then his expression shifted, something lighter taking over. "Oh! You're hungry." He said it like he'd just solved something. . "Okay... Uh-I.. Wait! I know! The taverns! I was saving to buy some wine for myself, but you need the food! Let's go!" He suddenly grabbed the other's hand, pulling him, making him gasp.
The boy stumbled forward. "Wait—"
~~~~
They were halfway through the streets when Venti slowed and looked back at him. "You really don't remember anything? Not even your name?"
"Nothing," the boy said. "Not my name. Not where I'm from. I don't even know how old I am. I just... know I'm an adult at least."
"Hm." Venti tapped his chin. "Okay! Then I'll come up with something. A temporary name, until yours comes back to you!" He brightened at the idea.
The other guy blushed a bit. "O-Oh... okay?"
"Let me think," Venti murmured. He squinted as he thought about it. Then shook his head. "This is harder than I thought. Maybe we could—"
Something surfaced in the boy's mind. Out of nowhere. "...Oliver?" He said it without meaning to.
Venti managed to hear him, and looked towards the other. "Oliver?" He repeated. "You remember?"
The other boy blinked slightly, he couldn't remember anything else. He really didn't even know if that was his name or not. It somewhat just appeared in his mind. "I don't know, it kinda just came into my head.."
"Oliver it is!" Venti announced, already moving again. "Come on, Angel's Share — Diluc can probably get you something to eat... 'Oliver~!'"
The boy — Oliver, apparently — barely had time to react. "I — but I don't have any money, I don't think—" He doesn't remember when the last time he has gotten currency. Did he work somewhere? All of those possible memories were gone from his head.
"Don't worry about it!" Venti called back. "Everything will be on me!"
And before 'Oliver' could get another word in, he was being pulled down the steps to the lower part of the town, through cobblestone streets, until Venti stopped in front of a tavern. A small wooden sign hung overhead with a painted wine glass and the words Angel's Share below it.
Before he could say anything more, Venti pushed the door open, and dragged him in.
"Hello Diluc~!" His voice rang out bright and cheerful.
Oliver stumbled over the threshold. He grabbed onto Venti's arm to keep from going down. "oOf!"
Venti steadied him and laughed. "Sorry about that—" He got Oliver upright, then swung his attention to the bar.
The man behind it looked up. He folded his arms. "Venti." His voice was flat. Maybe unimpressed for some reason. Judging by his mannerisms, Venti probably has been inside this tavern one too many times.
Venti practically skipped over to the bar, then jumped into the stool, and spun around to Diluc. "One bottle of Dandelion Wine, please~!" He smiled greatly, his squeaky voice sounding extra squeaky as he ordered that drink.
"One?" Diluc asked, arms still folded. "Usually you order my entire stock in one sitting," He turned around to get the bottle. "Trying to not show that boy you dragged in here that you're not a drunken bard?"
"N-No — I just—" Venti started. "His name is Oliver, and he-," Venti then blinked, and noticed that Oliver wasn't seated next to him at either of the stools. "Eeh? Where did you go-?" He turned around on the stool, and saw Oliver was still standing at the door, looking rather dazed.
Venti blinked, then giggled. "Why are you still standing over there for? Haha, come over here! You said you were hungry, Angle's Share has food too as well as Dandelion Wine and other delicious wines!"
Oliver cleared his throat. Then walked forward and took the left stool beside Venti.
Diluc set the bottle down in front of Venti and looked at Oliver. Studied him for a moment. "You're new. I don't think I've seen you here before."
"He might be a Traveler," Venti said, already popping the bottle open.
Diluc was about to wipe off the counter, but then froze. "A-A Traveler?" He glanced at Venti, then at Oliver with wide eyes. "L-Like the other one? The one looking for their sibling?"
Venti nodded, taking a drink. "He said he doesn't remember anything. It's as if his mind was wiped or something. I met him just outside at my- I mean, the Barbatos statue. He looked pretty lost. I heard his stomach growl, he sounded hungry."
Diluc finished wiping down the bar and set the cloth aside. "If he was hungry, why didn't you take him to Good Hunter?" He looked at Venti, genuinely puzzled. "They have more food than me, all I have is bar snacks."
"Well, I..." Venti rubbed the back of his neck and kept his other hand on the bottle.
Diluc sighed. "Of course. You just needed your 'daily' dose of wine."
Venti grinned. "Yeah, yeah~." He tipped the bottle back and finished it off, setting the empty down on the counter.
Oliver stared at it. He'd watched Venti drink the whole bottle in the span of two minutes.
Venti turned around on the stool and hopped off. "I'll get you one, but I dunno what you really are, and if you have the best wine intolerance like me, hehe~," Venti walked forward, leaving Oliver there, who looked back at the bottle then at Venti as he continued to walk.
"He usually goes through ten in one visit," Diluc said, without looking up.
Oliver blinked, then his eyes widened.
10?!
Oliver shook his head, then turned around to get to Venti, who was already at the door about to leave.
"Hey! You comin' or what?" Venti said with a playful smile with hands on his hips.