Venti had one last victim in his mind as he went to the kitchen to cook with Lumine later on. Her name was Gianna. He hadn't seen her in a while and she probably hid herself away after Diluc got killed.

His motive? Gianna had rudely ran into Lumine and never even bothered to help. But mostly because she copied him.

Every.

Single.

Detail.

From his hat to his own lyre, she copied it. Instead of Cecelias, she replaced them with windwheel asters. Was she TRYING to be the better bard? Venti already knew that he was the best bard in Mondstadt so who the hell was she to beat him?

Venti set out the ingredients and looked at Lumine, who was sitting on the couch and reading a book. He crossed the room and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"I'll be back soon. This should be the last time you'll hear about my unfinished business." He put on a smile and hugged her.

"Alright! Just be back in time for dinner!" Lumine called to him as he disappeared into the night.
_______________________

How long was she staring at the photo of her and Venti?

Gianna blinked and she was back in reality. She sighed and placed the picture back on the table.

Venti was her main inspiration to be a bard. He basically taught her everything she needed to play the lyre. And soon, she was getting better!

Gianna had went into hiding after the news that Diluc was dead. And the more the news spread about deaths, the more fearful for her life she was. What if she was next? She didn't want the same thing that happened to her brother happen to her.

Her brother, Geronimo, had fell into the water and never came back. He was trying to teach her how to fly with her glider, but something went wrong...

Through her distress, she ran back to Mondstadt and accidentally bumped into Lumine. However, she was crying so hard that she didn't bother to see who it was and unfortunately didn't have the time to help.

Now, she was sitting in a small cottage she used to share with Geronimo. But she had barred the door closed to his room so she wouldn't remember what happened to him.

"Hmm...I should probably get some groceries from Good Hunter. I haven't been out in some time. Maybe I can see Mr. Venti again!"

She picked up a wooden basket and hurried outside in the night.
_________

"Gianna? I haven't seen you in a month! How have you been?" Sara, who ran Good Hunter, asked her.

"I'm ok, Miss Sara. I do need a few dishes for dinner tonight. I would like some ham, cheese and mushroom skewer." Gianna replied with a smile.

"Alright! Your total is...$12,750!"

Gianna nodded and fished into her skirt pocket. But it was empty. She frantically dug around, tears filling her vision.

"I'm so sorry! I-I don't have any mora!" She started to hiccup, as that's what she did when she was under stress.

"Oh, don't worry. I'll pay it!"

Gianna whirled around to see Venti with a pouch of mora in his hand. He gently placed it on the counter and patted Gianna on the shoulder.

"Well well, if it isn't my favorite student! Where have you been this whole time?"

Without thinking, Gianna jumped up to hug Venti, as she was quite short. Venti almost fell backwards from the force but hugged her nonetheless.

"Ah! I'm sorry...I haven't seen you in a while. I guess that was kind of my fault, huh? Heheh..."

A hand was placed on top of her head. "Don't fret, little one. Those recent murders must've scared the daylight out of you, huh?" Venti crouched down to her level. Gianna sniffed, followed with a nod.

"Ah! You're getting dinner, aren't you? Why don't you come over to my house. Well...our house. I live with Lumine." Venti grinned sheepishly.

Gianna's face turned bright red. "HUH?! ME? I-I couldn't possibly. I'd be a burden..."

"Nonsense! You're a good kid. And we can catch up too! What do you say?"

Gianna fiddled with the windwheel aster on her belt for a while. "Um...ok! I'll come over!"

Venti smiled, but deep down, he already had hatched a plan to get rid of this piss colored copycat by morning.
________________

"Woah! This is your home?" Gianna questioned, stepping into the beautiful abode in front of her.

"Oh! Gianna! Hey there." Lumine closed her book and went over to hug her. Gianna hugged back, but her excitement got the best of her and she ended up squeezing Lumine a bit too tight.

"Ow. Gianna. Too tight of a hug."

Gianna nervously let go and played with her side bangs. "Sorry."

Venti was this close to just snapping her neck but that wouldn't really be fun. It would mean that his plan would go to waste. And he was already super pumped about it too!

"You can talk with Lumine, Gianna. I'll prepare the dinner." Venti instructed. Gianna nodded silently and went with Lumine on the couch.

Perfect. Venti filed through the cabinets and poked around for a while before finding what he was looking for.

Sleeping meds.

Venti put a few drops in Gianna's portion of the food and put the meds back into the farthest corner of the cabinet.

He fixed Lumine's food without anything weird because he loved her so much that he couldn't bring himself to do anything to her food.

After 10 minutes, dinner was officially served.

"Dinner's ready! Enjoy!" Venti beamed proudly, placing each of the dinners in front of the girls.

Gianna happily dug in, while Lumine looked at Venti with a puzzled expression.

"Are you not gonna eat?" She asked him.

"Oh! Don't worry. I already did. Ehe." Venti stuck out his tongue in reassurance.

"Ah. Alright." Lumine gave in and started eating.
___________

Gianna was done first and politely thanked Venti and Lumine for letting her stay.

"Thank you both so much for having me over! It was an honor to talk with both of you."

She bowed and waved at them before excusing herself outside. But she felt like she was moving much slower than usual. Wait...no. It felt like the world was much slower.

What did Venti put in her food? Why was she moving so horrendously slow?!

"Hey, Gianna...you don't look so good. Here, I'll take you home. Just rest on me."

Gianna couldn't even turn her head to here the familiar voice that offered to being her to her house.

She was just...

S o....

T i r e d . . .

.     .     .
__________________

Gianna woke up in a chair. She tried looking around and even getting up, but it seemed as though she was bounded to stay in it.

"We meet again, Gianna." A voice called. She looked up to find a boy with a striped green shirt and an adorable hat on his head.

"Mr. Venti? Where am I? Why am I tied to this chair??" She flooded him with a stream of questions, but the only answer he gave was a harsh slap to the face.

Tears started to well up in her eyes. "Cry, you little brat, and see what happens. I better not see ONE tear run down your face." Venti snapped at her.

"Now, here is how this goes. I ask the questions and you answer them! Just like how you were learning how to play the lyre and you asked very good questions. Got it?"

She wanted to disagree, but she didn't have any other options. She sniffed and looked up at him. "Yes, sir." She muttered.

Gianna noticed that Venti's right eye looked a bit funny, but she couldn't ask about that. Unfortunately.

"Now, let me look through your info..." Venti muttered and a beautiful catalyst appeared in front of him. His eyes widened.

"Hmm...Gigi? Is that a nickname you go by?"

Gigi...

Gianna went stiff and tears started to fall. She couldn't help crying.

"I'm sorry I'm crying! You can kill me if you wish!!" Gianna cried out.

"Huh? Why are you crying? I didn't really expect you to cry from a nickname..." Venti stared at Gianna. He thought of her as someone interesting. Which is why he wanted to press her for answers.

"Yes...my brother used to call me that. Uhm...by the way, how long do I have to stay here?"

Venti clapped his hands together. "Oh! About that..." He got closer to Gianna's face. He smiled before hissing out.

"You're not leaving until you answer all of my questions, little girl."

Gianna shuddered. Since when was Venti so cold?! What happened to him while she was in hiding?

"Next question. I heard you have an older brother, yes? How is he?"

"He..."

Gianna couldn't even force out a sentence before sobbing into her lap.

"Ugh, do you cry for EVERYTHING?! Dammit, I actually liked it at first but now it's getting annoying!"

Venti grinded his teeth and brought his hand to collide with Gianna's cheek. "I ASKED HOW THE FUCK IS HE, GIANNA!"

"HE'S DEAD, SIR! HE ISN'T ON THIS EARTH ANYMORE!!"

Oh...

Venti wringed his hands and looked away in shame. Why did hearing that make him sad...? Well, she was a good child. But, he just forced her to admit that her sibling was dead.

"I'm sorry for your loss. And for screaming at you. Heh. I just want to get to know you better. That's all."

Gianna smiled even though she was still crying. "It's ok, sir! I'm trying to move on from it myself. It's not too easy because I sealed up my brother's room."

Now it just made him feel worse. He felt his eyes get damp until Gianna spoke up again.

"You know, I really admire you. You taught me how to play the lyre and now I'm a pretty popular bard in Sumeru! We moved away though and now I'm here in Mondstadt."

Oh. So she wasn't copying him to beat him. She did it because she looked up to him as an idol.

Venti already knew he was the jerk for killing all those people, but besides death, bringing up false accusations about people just made him a bitch.

"Hey, do you wanna go to where your brother died? He might be lingering there as a ghost and maybe he'll want to hear your lyre playing skills!"

"Really?" Gianna asked.

Venti nodded with a smile.

"Yes, I wanna go! Come on, come on!" Gianna bounced around in her seat as Venti laughed, untying the ropes.
______________

Once at Starsnatch Cliff, Gianna sat down and pulled out her lyre. She took in a deep breath and strummed the notes.

Venti silently listened to Gianna's lyre. It was a beautiful sound, and he smiled to himself knowing that he taught her well.

After Gianna was done, she stood up and smiled. "What do you think? Was it ok?"

"It was beautiful. You've improved a lot! I'm quite impressed."

He took a step closer and Gianna took a step back.

"Oh! Uhm, I didn't bring my glider. I put it away in my closet. I can't fly. Sorry!" Gianna laughed nervously as Venti continued to step closer. And closer.

"That's good! You have an anemo vision so you should be able to fly someway, no?"

Gianna shook her head.

"Ah. I see. Well-" Venti began, but Gianna brandished her weapon, a catalyst. Small gusts of wind escaped from her palm.

"STAY BACK! I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING BUT STAY AWAY!!" She had tears in her eyes and a petrified expression.

Venti frowned. No more playing games. He walked up to her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"I'm doing you a favor. You can finally die and reunite with your brother! Hehe!"

Gianna squirmed but it was no use. She couldn't run anywhere...

"So long, my dear student~

You'll never be a better bard than me."

With a shove, he sent Gianna off of the cliff. And she fell, screaming and crying.

He watched her fling about as she got smaller and smaller, until he heard a splash, meaning that she was gone. He smirked and turned around, walking back to Mondstadt City. He finally killed all of the people he wanted.
_________________

Gianna opened her eyes. Everything was bright...and the sky was blue and clear. Wasn't it night when she was pushed off the cliff?

Gianna looked around and saw that she had beautiful white wings. She jumped up and her wings caught her. And with that, she flew into the houses in front of her.

There were so many people like her. They all had wings and white clothes. Each house even had their tiny faces on the doors to let them know who lived where. There was one house that looked like her, but as a boy. Maybe this is where Geronimo lived?

She knocked shyly and waited for a response. The door opened; she looked up and gasped, tears filling up her vision again. But this time, they were happy tears.

"Gigi? Is that you...?"