Venti rocked back and forth, humming a little tune as he watched Diluc's body burn and incinerate in the fire he created.

"Oh, what a shame. Master Diluc, given a Pyro Vision for his accomplishments, being wiped off the face of the earth in a fire. How sad." Venti complained, but ended up laughing at the scenario.

After the body fully turned into ashes, Venti grabbed a nearby water bucket and tossed it onto the fire to extinguish the flames. He managed to find Diluc's ashes with anemo powers and scooped them into his hand. Where would he put them? Of course, snorting said ashes wouldn't be the best idea. Throwing them in the ocean...maybe not. Surely enough, Venti had an idea for the resting place of Diluc's ashes.

_____________

"Rest in peace, Master Diluc. You were a great man. But don't piss me off in the next life." He teased and giggled. Venti poured the ashes into a decorative pot in Dawn Winery. It was a gift from Kaeya to Diluc, and Venti saw that as a perfect place to put the ashes.

It was now midnight. The moon hung high in the starry sky. Maybe this is a good time to visit Celestia. Venti flew on top of the roof, to which he soon shot off to the floating home in the sky.

___________________

"Focalors? What are you doing? It's 12am. Shouldn't you be sleeping?" Mavuika asked groggily, half asleep.

"Uh, I got hungry? Did I wake you up? My bad. It's not my fault you sleep light." 'Focalors' snorted and filed through the fridge. Mavuika rolled her eyes hard and crossed her arms.

"When do you think Barbatos is coming back? He never really comes back here too often, huh?" Mavuika leaned in the doorway to the kitchen. "Soon, right?"  'Focalors' nodded, but Mavuika doubted she was listening at all.

The door to Celestia opened suddenly and Mavuika peaked out of the doorway, followed by 'Focalors' who had a spoon in her mouth.

"Well speak of the devil! It's Barbatos! He came back to meeeee!!" 'Focalors' squealed and rushed to hug the anemo archon. She was squeezing him so tight, his face started to turn blue.

"Hey, Fo...calors. C-Can't. Breathe." Venti struggled. "Oh, sorry! You're pretty tiny so I guess I can understand. Haha!"

Furina lessened her grip around Venti's waist and swung him around like a baby. "I missed youuuuu! Yes I diiiiid!! I bet you missed me too! Hahaha!"

"Uhm, thanks for that kick in the balls, I guess. Could you put me down now? I feel sick." Venti pleaded. Vision blurry, he was finally released and swayed violently on the golden floors.

Furina pouted. "If you're gonna puke, don't puke on me! Puke on Murata! She'll just burn it off anyway." Furina pointed at an irritated Mavuika.

"Ok, ok! I get it. Let Barbatos and I breathe for a second. Just go get your yogurt and head back to bed."

"HEY, SHE WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAVE YOGURT. SHE KEEPS EATING ALL OF IT!" Venti complained, looking up at Mavuika and gesturing towards Furina, who was vibing a few feet away.

"She can't help herself, ok? Now, you should stay here for the night and get some rest. I'll cook breakfast tomorrow."

Venti pursed his lips together and nodded, walking towards his room and shutting the door. He curled up in his blanket and looked on his dresser. A picture of Lumine and himself was hung into the frame. In the picture, Lumine was hugging Venti and Venti put two fingers behind her head, making it look like bunny ears.

Venti couldn't help but blush and bury himself deeper into the sheets. He really wanted to confess to her, but didn't know how or what time would be ok. He'll figure it out soon enough, surely.

_________________

In the morning, Venti trudged out of his room and yawned. He saw a few other archons outside; 'Focalors', Mavuika, and Kusanali.

Kusanali was the first to notice him. "Barbatos...? Where have you been?" She got up to hug him gently and let go. "Uh...busy. I've been busy with a few things. I'll try to visit more often. But, I need to talk to you about something."

He led her towards an empty hallway where no one could listen in and began to speak. Before he could, he ended up crying and sobbing without uttering a single word. Kusanali patted him on the back. "It's ok. Take your time. What's the problem?" She coaxed.

"I...I-I...I committed murder..." the last part was barely above a whisper. "H-He just ticked me off so much! I couldn't even stop myself from stabbing him! Over and over and ov..." He sobbed and slid against the wall towards the ground.

"Hey, it's ok. I mean, you did kill lots of people before, right?"

"That was different! I did it because I didn't have a choice! This time, I felt like I killed someone and actually LIKED IT!" He buried his face into his arms. "I'm so messed up..."

Kusanali pondered for a while before giving Venti her final answer. "Well, if you do get urges to kill, it helps to think about something positive. I haven't actually killed before so I wouldn't know. But I hope that piece of information helps you."

Venti nodded and forced a smile. This whole thing was a lie. The archons' acceptance towards him. Venti's ranting about murder and hating it. It was just a trick. He wanted to see what would Kusanali do. He didn't mean to start crying but the idea quickly brewed up inside of his head. Now, the talk only made him more interested in killing the people who pissed him off. To which, he had an idea.

_____________

After breakfast, Venti tapped 'Focalors' on the shoulder. "Oh, hey Shorty! You need something?"

Venti nodded with a smile.

"Teach me how to fight with another weapon."

_______________

In the combat room, Venti walked in to find a massive marshmallow-like creature standing before him. 'Focalors' was fixing him up and glanced at Venti. "Ah, come in! I'm just patching this big guy up."

Venti gaped at the weird creation. "Uhm. 'Focalors'? What is that?" She looked up at the thing. "Oh, him? Hehe, it's something I made myself. Drumroll please!"

She drummed on the walls before doing jazz hands and introduced the thing. "Meet Maybax!"

"Maybax? I feel like I've heard of something like that before but I'm not sure where." Venti mused aloud.

"Pffff. Maybax is original. Don't worry. Anyways, he's gonna be your training dummy today! He's super squishy so he won't feel anything." 'Focalors' proved her point by hugging Maybax. She almost melted right into him!

"Oh- wow. Uhm, ok!" Venti was still overwhelmed at "Maybax", but he quickly got used to him. 'Focalors' pointed to a bunch of basic weapons: swords, bows, claymores, catalysts, and polearms.

"Hmmm, maybe I can start with a claymore." He picked up the giant sword and leaned on it. "You sure? With your tiny figure, you might as well look like a mouse with a knife in its paws." 'Focalors' snorted with that comment.

"Oh, shut up. I'll be fine. See- woAh. WAAH-" Venti tried to swing the claymore but it ended up being the claymore that swung Venti. He lost grip of the massive sword and threw himself onto the ground with a flop, face first. 'Focalors' laughed to herself silently the whole time.

"Maybe I'll stick with a sword." Venti muttered, face still on the floor.

___________

'Focalors' tought him the basics of the art of the sword and how to use it. "Ok, now try to hit Maybax." She instructed. Venti gripped the sword and took a swing at Maybax, whose squishy body deflected the hit and Venti sliced his cheek instead. He gritted his teeth as the blue liquid pooled out of his face.

"Oh wow. You suck much harder than I thought you did. That's good! It's room for improvement, you know!" Venti glared at 'Focalors'. From that statement alone, he knew it was gonna be a long session.

____________

45 minutes later, Venti panted and leaned a wall, bleeding from his nose, arms, hands, and face. He really was starting to hate Maybax a bit more.

"Ok, that'll wrap it up! Sheesh, you look awful. Don't worry. I got some bandages. Give me a sec." 'Focalors' jogged over to a drawer across the room. Venti stared at Maybax and flipped him off.

He knew that one day, he will destroy Maybax with every fiber of his tiny being. He promised himself on that. He hoped that the day he will stab Maybax in his non-existent heart will be very, very soon.

He just knew it.