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Dragonborn's Might makes Right by Infonticus

Game X-overs & Avengers Xover Rated: M, English, Adventure, Words: 356k+, Favs: 1k+, Follows: 1k+, Published: Aug 25, 2021 Updated: Jun 12, 2022

513Chapter 8

Chapter 8: A Waifu's Betrayal

(Five minutes before the portal opened) [Aether's Mansion]

Even though Venti was the Deity of Wind, why is it then that he always felt he moved too slowly?

He gave out another restless sigh. On any other day, the mansion would have been full of the carefree excitement of more than twenty people from all walks of life in Teyvat. On any other day, the sound of his sigh should have been immediately lost in the exuberant chatter of their spacious home.

The ringing of laughter. The sharp jabbing of playful arguments. The rapid staccato of footsteps as everyone ran everywhere instead of walking like normal people. All those happy memories were just that now- memories of happier days. Only a grim atmosphere hung in the mansion now, not unlike that of a funeral.

And Venti couldn't help but think how apt that comparison was. He wished that anyone would at least speak. But the day had taken its toll, and now everyone was as silent and solemn as a grave.

The soles of his leather shoes tapped against the exquisite wooden flooring- wearing it down with his pacing.

Zhongli looked up from their dining table that was now covered in maps and magical trinkets. Various map markers shaped of wood and metal that sat on the map marked out points of interest as well as their scouting parties.

The Geo Archon aimed a pointed stare at Venti- no doubt to rebuke him for his restlessness. But instead, the God of Contracts drew his lips in a thin line and turned back to his work- turning his focus back to that damnable map that showed how their scouting parties- their family- were dwindling in number.

"It is now the fifteen minute mark, let us retry and scry for our missing scouting parties?" Zhongli questioned calmly, even as Venti walked around the map table for the fiftieth time- Venti unable to control his nervous energy after being in battle with Hevnokren.

"Well, Mona? Can you see anyone?" Aether spoke, his golden eyes aglow with worry and the undertone of guilt in his voice.

And from underneath her purple wide-brimmed witch hat, she met Aether's eyes and shook her head.

"Practically everyone except the Childe's scouting party is unreachable now. I've tried everything, but I can't locate any other scouting teams with my scrying anymore." Mona, their resident seer and expert astrologist sorrowfully murmured as she looked up from her crystal ball.

And in response to that grim news, their illustrious leader and head of their family, clad in his gold and white and brown outfit… merely gave a regretful sigh as his brown-gloved hand plucked scouting teams' map markers off the map, and set it aside.

"That blasted Hevnokren! Rrrrrgh!" Venti cursed- throwing his green beret onto the table so that he could run his hand through his deep blue hair in frustration, "We never should have fled from the battle!"

When he and Zhongli witnessed Hevnokren's gargantuan dragon form blaze a trail into the horizon, they were presented with two choices:they could have made chase and continue to do battle, or they would open a portal straight back there at the Manor to report to Aether.

Zhongli didn't hesitate then to put himself in charge and make the decision for them.

"Given the situation we had found ourselves in, it was the correct course of action to take." Zhongli stated impassively, not even looking up from the map table.

Venti merely shot the Geo Archon a bitter look. He was still annoyed at how the Deity of Earth had wasted no time to decide that he was in charge. Venti slammed his hands down on the wood- demanding that Zhongli look him eye to eye. Which he did, Zhongli's bright amber ones meeting Venti's blue-green.

"We had first set out to prevent this precise scenario from happening." Venti stressed, narrowing his eyes at Zongli, "You, me and Ei were meant to keep Hevnokren dancing to our tune. We were meant to keep him harried so that the others would not be in harm's way! But now that we had exited the scene prematurely, that is precisely what he's doing now!"

Annoyingly, Zhongli was unruffled by his outburst- not even a sigh or a harsh look.

"Venti, our goal was to gain an understanding of the power our enemy possesses." he stated, "We achieved that goal."

"Don't make it appear like it was a great victory!" Venti thundered- slamming his clenched fist onto the table again and knocking over the little metal figurines with a gust of wind, "Do you even care that we had abandoned Ei to Hevnokren's clutches?! We should have stayed the course and chased him down!"

"I do care." Zhongli replied stony-faced and with a voice that born six-thousand years of practiced patience, "And that is why any action we take to free her must be successful and decisive. Knowing what we know now of Hevnokren's full scale of power, Venti… We both know now that the outcome of such a rash battle would be the two of us going the way of Ei- captured by Hevnokren. This is how we shall save her."

"UGH!" Venti gave an eloquent shout of capitulation, throwing his hands in the air. Morax and his mortal incarnations always had this effect on him: making him feel like he was attempting conversation with a boulder on two legs… with stupid face.

"Venti, where are you going?" Aether called out to him. Still fuming, Venti whipped his blue-green eyes to Aether's worried golden eyes then towards the door that led outside.

"I just need some fresh air." He glowered, not bothering to look at the earth deity before marching out the door and onto the rear porch. He shut the door behind him and let out a heavy sigh. The cool evening air greeted him as he walked over to one of the porch's cream-coloured couches. And with another sigh, he let himself sink into the comfy tweed couch- strumming a chord on his wooden lyre.

He hated it when Morax made sense. His arguments may have been sound, but they never felt right.

So what if Aether painted a frightening picture of Hevnokren's capabilities? Ei needed them- she needed them more than she ever had before. And they had simply fled and… left her behind.

But there was a little voice at the back of his head that told Venti four simple words: "Zhongli's right, you know?"

Aether had briefed them all on Hevnokren's powers. Of which, they were many, but there were three powers that were the principal threat to them.

The Thu'um - a versatile discipline of magic that made Hevnokren's spoken words into reality. Fire, Ice, Lightning and other effects such as enslaving minds, slowing time and making him faster than the wind itself.

[Dragon Scale] - a power that gave him full dominion over an element or idea to the same extent as Venti had dominion over Wind and Freedom. And it enabled him to take on a massive dragon form- the one that he, Ei and Zhongli had fought.

The Power Stone - an entire fledgling realm compressed into a tiny stone no larger than a chunk of rock candy. If Hevnokren had all six Stones, he could have just snapped his fingers and erased them all from existence. But even as it stood, Hevnokren could simply punch the ground with the Power Stone and destroy the entire world beneath their feet.

Thankfully, the dragonborn's incredible greed was working to their favor- he hadn't done just that, because the slaver was more inclined to enslave their family members than he was to kill them. And it gave his little family precious time to call back everyone and tighten their defenses around the Manor. But to think, Aether had stated that he had expected this mission to be a few weeks long. But now it wasn't even 24 hours and everything was already falling apart.

This Hevnokren was as relentless as he was aggressive.

And they had no way of knowing what his next move would be. The slaver had the means to shield himself from their scrying. All efforts to detect him through magical means were met with blanks and failures, and now the Dragonborn-Slaver and/or his waifus were picking them off one by one before they could even call for help.

Aether had been kicking himself for not giving them better means of communicating with each other.

Back in their homeworld of Teyvat, Aether's Skill [All Roads Lead To Home] had been their answer to all their transportation and communication needs. And why wouldn't they have used it for everything? It provided instantaneous transport to the Manor so long as there was one of his family members on location to open a portal.

One of their family needed to travel elsewhere? Let her summon a portal straight to the Manor where they had other already-open portals that led to every major city on their planet.

One of their family needed backup? Let her summon a portal straight to the Manor where there were well-rested people ready to tag out with her.

One of their family needed a safe place to rest? Let her summon a portal straight to the Manor where she had her own spacious bedroom, well-stocked pantry and every known amenity available including zen gardens, a private beach and saunas.

Of course, that all hinged on their family member being able to summon a portal for help, but that had never been a problem as they had never met a foe that could incapacitate four of their number before they could even will a portal into existence.

Until now.

Of the sixteen people they had sent out on patrols, only four people were left. With their locations unknown, they had to be signalled to return using fireworks- their emergency form of communication. The rest must have fallen to Hevnokren and his waifus, and the overall morale flagged. How disheartening it was? To have no choice but to stand and sit around as the rest of their family was picked off by some great evil? Only very disheartening, Venti knew from experience now.

But then, some much needed good news arrived.

"A portal has opened!" Venti heard someone shout out, making him bolt up from his couch in a gale of wind. Like a sparrow in the breeze, he flew down the marble corridors and to the lobby where the portals were opened. The stampede of people following eager to see the safe return of one of their little family's members.

But which one? Who managed to evade Hevnokren to come home? Jean's team? Ningguang's? Klee's? Childe's?

On a polished smooth marble floor, and surrounded by pillars of the same, the luminous doorway appeared in thin air. And through it, a glow illuminated the rest of the lobby. Descending from the air and back onto his own two feet, Venti drew closer. And there, he couldn't help but whisper a horrified 'No...' as the source of the light was immediately evident.

Shining through was the flickering orange of a raging forest fire.

The portal led right into the center of a small forest clearing as every tree in sight was completely engulfed in flames. Even apart from the blazing treeline, a battlefield was ostensibly devastated the entire scenery: a deep trench dug out from the soil, the flaming tree line flattened as if something massive had barreled through them with great force. Without a doubt, this was the dragon Hevnokren's doing.

And it was there Venti received the answer to his question of who had come back safely.

"No one." Venti whispered hopelessly, "No one was able to return."

Blinking away tears of bitter anger, Venti had half a mind to charge through the portal and onto that hellish battlefield to face Hevnokren. But just as he was about to do that a familiar figure stumbled into view and through the portal- almost tripping over her feet.

Garbed in a white frock with blue trimmings scorched in places, her ash-blonde pigtails almost visibly wilted and faded in colour, and her grey-blue eyes were darting all around as if every little shadow was about to pounce on her.

It was then that Aether caught up with everyone else- entering the lobby and slowing to a halt as he saw Barbara's condition.

The gentle deaconess' blue eyes snapped to focus on Aether.

"Barbara!" Aether couldn't help but yell in worry and relief, and Venti watched with him as he rushed forward. A grateful sigh of relief escaped his mouth then. But that didn't last long as a look of panic in her eyes as she took a frightened step back from Aether's yellow and white form.

"No! Stay away!" She shrieked in fear. That was enough to make Aether stop in his tracks, just beyond arm's reach.

Her reddened eyes that looked like she had been crying, the faint stench of ammonia wafting off her said that she lost control of her bladder at some point, and how... despite not having a visible tear on her clothes or wounds on her body, fresh blood splattered all over sides of her white and blue dress.

And without Barbara even saying a single word, everyone knew then and there that her team- that Jean, Sucrose and Kaeya did not make it.

It sent a sharp pang of pain in Venti's heart as he saw the state of his most faithful follower. The girl who believed in him the most. Not in his power as the Deity of Wind and Freedom, but as one person to another. And just like Venti, the head of their increasingly small family wasn't about to give up, not on the sole survivor of that team.

"Barbara, it's me, Aether." Aether tried again- raising his palms up in calming fashion as he stood where he was.

"I know, I'm so sorry, I can't… it's just..." the ash-blonde girl babbled as she slid down to her shaking knees and let out a small sob.

Venti could only look at her with pity. Even with someone as gentle and kind as Barbara, Hevnokren really didn't pull any punches, but what matters is that she's safe.

"H-hevnokren captured us!" Barbara choked out in a tiny, frightened voice that travelled across the dead silent lobby. "And he… Oh Barbatos! Why would he do those things to Jean..."

"It's alright- you're going to be alright." Venti heard Aether whisper as soothingly as he could to reassure her- taking small steps towards her until he was by her side. Taking off his white and yellow cape, Aether gently draped around her shaking shoulders.

Then Venti noticed a small metal device clipped onto the back of Barbara's dress, and before he could shout in alarm, a voice echoed throughout the lobby.

"Aether." Hevnokren's deep voice rang out from the device. And from just that voice uttering a single word, Barbara's pretty face pailing chalk white and her steel-blue eyes widened in terror as they locked onto the device.

"AAHH!" she shrieked in fear- tearing the device from her dress and hurling it with panicked desperation far across the lobby. But Hevnokren's voice still continued uninterrupted.

"If you're receiving this message then little Barbara has managed to stumble her way back to you, it's good that she arrived safely to you. But don't you worry, I'll be coming back for her later on."

The device skidded along the smooth marble like a pebble across a like before light burst from it and a hologram flickered to life- projecting a floating screen the size of a widescreen in the air for everyone in the lobby to see. It showed an eastern type of bedroom like those found back home in Liyue and Inazuma. The sand-yellow tatami mats, the cream-white walls and birch wood, even the futon that lay forgotten and crumpled in the corner.

But everyone's eyes, Aether to Venti's to everyone in their little family that had survived so far had their eyes locked at the center of the room where a man and a woman in the middle of heated sex- visible for everyone in the lobby to behold.

A very familiar man, and a painfully familiar woman.

Venti winced in pain for Aether.

Completely naked save for her deep violet thigh high socks, her long fishtail braid whipped about with each brutal thrust the man behind her made. Their combined juices splattered over the tatami. With her back against the man and her naked front bare for the camera, there was no mistaking the Deity of Lightning and Eternity.

"More... MORE! Aaaahhhnnn~! IT FEELS SO GOOD!" Ei's melodic voice moaned out over sounds of their feverish love-making washed over everyone's ears as they stood dumbfounded. Her head pulled back, her glimmering purple amethyst eyes narrowed, her soft pink lips widened into an O of great pleasure, and her face morphed into one of pure euphoria. It was the happiest expression that Venti had ever seen his fellow deity make.

"Tell them the name of your master, Ei." their great enemy goaded her, his big hand snaked out to her front and groped one of the goddess' bouncing breasts. Thick fingers sinking into the soft titflesh and halting its bounce for his fingers to pinch a stiff pink nipple.

"HEVNOKREN! YOU'RE MY MASTER, HEVNOKREN! OH, HEV! P-PLEASE DON'T EVER STOP!"

Venti couldn't help but purse his lips in regret as his fingers gripped against his lyre: He couldn't help but blame himself for this. He shouldn't have let Ei go and face the dragon alone in the sky while he and Zhongli cowered at the ground. He should have been up there with her in the sky- fighting Hevnokren.

But he hadn't, and now Ei was being defiled by this slaving scum.

Hevnokren pushed Ei's thighs wide- showing off where they were connected. The smooth inner thighs soaked with their combined juices, and left little doubts in their minds: this was far from the first time that Ei had enjoyed Hevnokren's attention.

But that wasn't what Hevnokren wanted for them to see. Instead, his hand rested beside a curious-looking tattoo on the inside of Ei's right thigh: A flaming grail inscribed in a circle.

"See, Aether?" The slaver taunted as he continued to bounce Ei up and down the long shaft of his manhood, "Your mind-controlling brand is still in effect: Her mind is still under the effect of your brand. She should still be yours, and yet..."

"HEV, I'M CUMMING AGAIN!" Ei screamed rapturously as she did just that: cumming around Hevnokren's shaft.

The Dragonborn's eyes twinkled with cruelty as he looked into the camera- a mocking question on his lips.

"... it's not your name that she's screaming, is it?"

Venti glanced at Aether. The ever-fearless leader of their little family had tears in his eyes- streaming down his cheeks as he stared unceasingly at the hologram of Ei literally and eagerly laying with their enemy. But more than that, Venti couldn't help but be reminded that this was a recording. This could have been recorded more than an hour ago.

By now, what is to say that Jean and all the others have not met the same fate as Ei?

Hevnokren tilted Ei's head to capture her lips in a heated kiss. Ei's loving moans were muffled but still audible as she leaned up into the kiss. Venti personally felt that the sounds were supremely uncomfortable- that the act of kissing denoted a level of intimacy that even intercourse did not have.

He could only imagine how much worse it was for Aether, who had never even gotten that far with any of them.

"Even with her will still enslaved to you, she chose me." Hevnokren muttered, groping the lightning goddess' breast roughly in a way that she visibly appreciated- leaning her soft chest into his touch, "Without the Company Stamp, you couldn't capture a girl's heart. But as it turns out... You couldn't keep a girl even with its effects on her mind."

His red eyes seemed to glance across the assembled crowd.

"And speaking of the Company Stamp… Barbara? Why don't you ask Aether about it? About how the brand twists your mind to shower him with your love and affection?" Hevnokren dared- his grin turning malicious, "Ask him how you and every single one in your 'little family' is bound in slavery thanks to Aether."

And with a dark laugh, Hevnokren's hologram flickered out from the device. Ei's lustful screams still rang through the ears of those in attendance. And for the longest while, no one said anything. Sorrow for having heard what Ei had said to Aether, dread that they might just lose this fight against Hevnokren, and utter terror that they would share Ei's fate and lose their minds in a flurry of lust.

"Aether… is it true?" Barbara's soft voice rang out through the quiet lobby- so filled with uncertainty- as she pleaded to Aether's unreadable expression.

Everyone turned to see the bubbly deaconess looking up at the head of their little family. Her steel-blue eyes aimed at Aether with an unusual determination, even as her shoulders shook slightly underneath Aether's coat that he had draped over her.

"Barbara…" Venti called out to her with a helpless, pleading tone- his wooden lyre feeling useless in his hands. For once, he had no song in mind that could calm the angry heart of his most faithful follower.

"This brand! Does it really force my mind to love you?!" She demanded. And despite her indignant tone, everyone in the lobby could see her panting breath- how she was moments away from breaking into tears. Venti could hear the tumultuous storm of emotion in her voice: Fear, indignation, hope and despair. All of them mixed together in a tangle that only Barbara herself could undo.

But Venti could not just stand idly by. So, unable to keep himself from intervening, he placed a hand on Barbara's shoulder- just over Aether's white and yellow coat that still covered it.

"Barbara, are you seriously choosing to believe whatever Hevnokren said?" Venti pleaded to her, but she simply shot him a pained and irritated look- completely uncharacteristic of the gentle deaconess that he had known.

"But this brand!" Barbara growled with irritation. And before everyone could react, she had her fluffy white and navy blue skirt hiked up to show her slender legs covered in white tights- still shamefully stained with her own urine. Her small hands tore at her tights right at the upper inner thigh. And underneath the torn patch of white tights, on creamy-smooth pale skin, was the same tattoo that Ei had: A flaming grail inscribed in a circle.

It was Aether's sigil. A sigil that everyone in the lobby recognised to be on their bodies as well, Venti realised. He had noticed a while back that he had one as well, but had paid it no heed.

"Hevnokren mentioned that all Company Contractors have this ability to brand people so that the Company could sell them as slaves." Barbara muttered bitterly, letting her skirt fall back down past her knees as she all but spat the last word.

As the Deaconess of the church that worships a Deity of Wind and of Freedom, it was to be expected that Barbara held a special contempt for the practice of slavery. And as said Deity of Wind and Freedom himself, Venti could whole-heartedly understand; and yet, that wasn't the reason why he disagreed with her.

"And you believed his words?" Venti whispered back, but his voice rose to almost a shout, "Listen to yourself, Aether would never do something that reprehensible!"

But Barbara didn't face him, choosing instead to rest her bowed head onto Aether's chest- the top of her head just resting against his heart. Her slender hands gripped the fabric of Aether's shirt- crumpling the front in her small clenched fists as if for dear life.

"I don't want to believe it either!" Barbara agreed in a desperate whisper, "But I need to hear it! I need to hear that we were ever a true family instead of slaves that had happiness kneaded onto our minds through magic brands… I need to hear that all this love and care I feel for you- that I feel for anyone here- is real!"

Venti's blue-green eyes just gave a confused look at his ash-blonde deaconess. He didn't know what she was so upset about. Even if all the accusations were true, what's so bad about being Aether's slave? Certainly, slavery was an abhorrent blasphemy to everything he stood for as the Deity of Wind and Freedom, but Aether was Aether. Even if everything Barbara had said was true, being Aether's slave was still different.

Venti did not think he would mind being a slave to Aether, but Barbara seemed to have a different opinion.

"Please, Aether…" She begged him, "Tell me that it's all just Hevnokren's lies…"

Venti watched as Aether's golden eyes seemed to crack with internal conflict. The head of their little family pursed his lips in dire hesitation before finally answering.

"Hevnokren told the truth: The brand does exactly as he says it does." Aether admitted before taking Barbara's hands in his, squeezing them reassuringly as his golden eyes locked with Barbara's steel-blue ones. And his voice rose in an inspiring fervour- Aether's golden eyes almost glowing with sincerity and passion.

"But you have to believe me when I say I've done my best to treat you all kindly and to make this a real family. All those moments we shared together, they were real to me as well! All those days we've spent together and all those battles we won side-by-side, they were all real. Even without the brand, I would have treated you the same way."

At that touching reaffirmation, Venti felt his heart almost fly up into his mouth and a healthy blush settle on his cheeks. And he wasn't alone, all around them. Aether's declaration was just so touching and heartfelt; and Venti knew that they felt the same burst of sheer joy from Aether's words. All except for one…

Barbara didn't seem as convinced- her pink lips still pursed in doubt.

"But why brand us to begin with? Like we're cattle for you to own?" Her words seemed to have struck Aether right where it hurt him- the blond visibly wincing at that.

"I-"

Whatever Aether was about to say, it was stopped in its tracks by Barbara's slender finger held gently on his lips.

"It's okay… I think I understand." She reassured him. A watery smile on her face as she looked up at him. "Now that we know… you don't have to bear that weight alone. Please let us help you."

Venti found it strange at the sudden change of attitude for the deaconess- one moment she was on Aether's case and the next, she had accepted him. But he would not look a gift horse in the mouth.

"That's right!" Venti chose this moment to interrupt with a reassuring lilt to his voice, "A burden shared is a burden halved. That's what familie does, yes?"

His elbow rested on Barbara's shoulder as he grinned- the lofty feeling of relief filling up his heart to know that Aether and his Deaconess were getting along. Whatever crisis of faith his beloved deaconess was having seemed to have evaporated away and left nothing but a hopeful smile.

And all around them, everyone around them sounded out their own little affirmation of acceptance for their little family's leader.

"This family is real to me too!" "We have Aether's back, no matter what!" "We'll always be here for you, Aether."

Everyone beamed a reassuring smile at their leader, and being surrounded by their support seemed to push Aether over the edge and his golden eyes welled up with grateful tears at them accepting him.

"Thank you, Barbara. Everyone..." Aether burbled as his voice cracked- small twinkling tears of relief running down his face before he rubbed them away with the back of his gloved hand, "I'll be honest and say that I was so afraid of what everyone would think when you all knew the truth… I promise to make it all up to you for putting my mark on you all."

There were smiles all around at that statement, and even Venti couldn't help but get swept up in daydreams of happy festivals back in his home city under a warm midday sun… colourful streamers, uplifting concerts and- ofr course- free-flowing wine. Then Barbara poured a bucket of cold reality on the whole affair.

"After this battle is won." Her soft voice rang out clearly. There was an edge to her normally warm voice as it cut sharp through the smiles and laughter like a knife.

And the look in her eyes frightened Venti.

It was often noted that Barbara shared the same steel-blue eyes as her older sister Jean. The same sister who was the head of their city's order of knights. A military woman, dutiful and determined. And a bit too stuffy for Venti's taste at times, but he rested easier knowing that her heart was in the right place. Jean's steel-blue was always aglow with a certain steadfast, dutiful valour.

But Barbara's steel-blue right now?

They were furious and hateful… Glimmering with an eagerness for violence that reminded Venti too much like the eyes of that metal dragon that had claimed Ei.

Far too much like Hevnokren.

"Big sis would know what to do. But she isn't here." Barbara muttered with scathing bitterness, "If she was, big sis would…"

Venti watched as a troubled look came to her face as she ostensibly tried to think hard of what Jean would have done. What happened to her?

"...she would pool our remaining resources together and coordinate them into a precise strike. And in one swoop, disrupt their unit cohesion and Kill them all."

The way that she said it sent shivers down everyone's spines.

"Barbara…" Venti whispered to her, his slender hand gently holding hers. There was something deeply wrong with his deaconess, he could feel it. That battle with Hevnokren where she lost her entire team- her sister included- must have taken a toll on her.

But despite Venti giving her small hand a reassuring squeeze, her eyes seemed to be locked straight at Aether.

"Aether… what do we have to work with?" She prompted him, "What have you purchased from the Company Store and what else can you purchase?"

In response, Aether pursed his lips for a moment before sighing.

"So, Hevnokren explained that much to you?" Aether asked Barbara, and the ash-blonde deaconess only nodded with hard eyes. Her steel-blue molten with so much anger and bloodthirst that it looked like it was directed at Aether. And Venti had to wonder why she was being like this.

"I know that you earn Company Credits whenever you brand someone. I know you can exchange it for people or for powers. Hevnokren explained it all…" She forced out through gritted teeth, "...while he was occupied with big sis."

Everyone in the lobby winced at that, even Aether who looked like. And Venti couldn't help but understand now just why the normally soft-spoken and gentle-hearted girl was filled with such rage and hatred.

Regardless of her reasons, Aether was unable to deny her.

"Alright, as you like it… everyone gather around me." Aether conceded as he gestured everyone to huddle around him as he brought up his Company Tablet. Venti stepped closer along with everyone else- taking his place just beside Barbara as they peered over Aether's shoulder.

"Here… this is what I had bought for you all so far…" he announced, scrolling down the display with his finger.

The glossy-glass screen lit up and showed a long list of purchases, mostly the enhancements that he had mentioned to them much earlier these past few months. Venti could still remember the surge of power he felt during those times. And a sense of wonder rested on his mind at how Aether could just give away such power to the people close to him.

Like a real deity would.

Venti glanced at Aether- seeing him in a new light. One with awe.

"I only have 40 Company Credits remaining." He hesitantly explained, "I could take out a loan, but that would mean that we can't go home until we pay it off. And it might disable some of the Company Perks that I bought for you all."

"It's worth it, Aether." She reassured him, "We can't afford to lose this fight. The moment we save Ei and big sis and all the others, that's when we win and we can take it all back. But if we lose..."

Steel-blue eyes glanced at the device that projected that horrid message of Ei being taken. The black chunk of plastic and metal lay inert at the far wall of the lobby, and Venti saw how Aether's lips pursed with deep hurt. Even as the Deity of Wind and Freedom, the capacity of mortal's for cruelty was still something that disappointed and saddened him from time to time.

"It's all or nothing now." She solemnly whispered with razor-sharp determination that was so uncharacteristic of her, "We need to strike with all that we can muster while Hevnokren isn't taking us seriously."

There was a length of silence that filled the lobby as eyes darted around to meet one another's gaze: Venti's blue-green, Barbara's steel-blue, Mona's pale green and everyone else'. And there, a silent agreement was settled. Venti felt vindicated that there was a general sentiment that everyone remaining wanted to take the fight to Hevnokren and save their friends.

But still, all eyes looked to Aether. Because he was still the final authority on it.

His golden eyes withered under the weight of their gazes and he sighed.

"Alright, I'll take a loan of 200 Credits." He conceded with a fond smile before joking- trying to insert levity into the situation. "Pressuring me into splurging again? This is almost as bad as the time when you all had me fund and manage the last Windblume Festival in Monstadt."

Venti's own smile reached his blue-green eyes. He remembered that festival, it was one of his happiest memories. Their entire family had been in attendance as he gave his best musical performance yet. The wine, the music, and the happy smiles of his friends and family.

It was a bittersweet thing- to relive happy memories in a time of sadness. And after losing more than half of their family in one night, the mention of the last real party they had as a family was particularly bittersweet. But still, everyone broke out in nostalgic smiles and weak chuckles as they drank in the memory of better days. Even Barbara smiled wistfully.

"There." Aether muttered softly, "We're 200 Company Credits into the red, but we have 240 Credits to work with… now all we need is a plan on what-"

Aether stopped mid-sentence as he suddenly found an arrowhead made of tempestuous winds aimed at him- just inches away from his eye. And everyone found that the hands holding the bow and arrow aimed at Aether were none other than Venti's own two hands.

"What have you done to me!?" Venti demanded- his considerable arcane power as one of the six deities of their homeworld leaking into his voice, and the magical wind arrow drawn between his fingers glowed that bit brighter. That bit deadlier.

Even with the sudden turn of events, the ever unflappable Zhongli immediately jumped back with Aether- creating distance between them and placing himself between Aether's confused face and the arrowhead that Venti poised. An unyielding look was in his amber eyes.

Venti hated that look.

It was that look at all but announced that the ever patient Morax, God of Earth and Contracts knew better. Such arrogance was why they never got along.

"Step. Aside. Zhongli."

"Venti! Calm yourself! Come to your senses!" The Deity of Earth firmly commanded- refusing to budge even one inch over the Deity of the Winds' furious roar.

"I have come to my senses, and that is why this loathsome cur must pay for what he has done! To me! To you! To everyone here!"

It was like his entire world suddenly became a maelstrom of pure anger.

Because for a Deity of Freedom like himself to be robbed of something as quintessential as Free Will was already wrong. But more damning than that, Venti was one of the first to fall under Aether's spell; and he had helped others into the same shackles that bound him. Venti had never paid mind to how Aether had stamped others with his brand- his own mind was twisted by then that he ignored the action despite knowing deep down what the blonde had been doing.

"What have you made me do!?" He demanded to the coward hiding behind the Geo Archon's back. And Venti felt a pang of guilt just then as his blue-green eyes met Zhongli's amber ones- he remembered how he had helped Aether 'Capture' his fellow Deities.

Those bright memories were Venti had spent by Aether's side- distracting others so that Aether could 'playfully' place his brand on others. Those heartfelt songs in the morn, those little pranks on those lazy afternoons, those sincere words in the eves… All those memories were now seen under a new light, and Venti could now see what he was truly doing: Helping Aether rob innocents of their minds and hearts and souls.

And Venti had done it all with a song in his heart and a joyous smile on his lips.

It was sickening and it was blasphemous to the extreme: A Deity of Freedom helping someone enslave others. His very soul was now irrevocably stained from those deeds, and Venti felt that he could no longer claim Freedom as one of his domains.

"You will pay a thousand fold for all the foul deeds you have done, Aether!" Venti roared with a rage that felt like it sprang from a soul-deep river of anger that he never knew he possessed. It felt like his blood was boiling with an insatiable need to inflict violence- He had never felt anger like this before.

But then again, he had never been violated right down to his heart and soul before either.

"Venti, why are you acting like this!?" Aether cried out in confusion- his golden eyes peering over Zhongli's shoulder. Venti took the time to meet Aether's eyes then- making sure to pour all his venom and hatred for the head of their 'little family.'

"Be silent, you wretched enslaver!"

"I don't understand! Please, whatever it is, we can help you. We can get through it together!" Aether cried out once again- looking straight at him with those eyes that he had waxed poetics and songs over once upon a time. Now, Venti wanted only to pluck it out of his head.

"I said be SILENT!"

The swirling winds around the arrowhead flared in a bright blue light for a brief second- a deadly warning.

"Venti, Whatever your conflict with Aether, Hevnokren is still at large!" Zhongli urgently reminded him, "We can ill afford to be divided when we still have an enemy that would enslave us all!"

"But we have already been enslaved! BY HIM! I know not how, but now I am free of the leash that was around my mind!"

"I think I can explain." Barbara's soft voice offered, the sound was like a gentle brass bell through the tense air of the lobby. The clack of her leather shoes on marble soon followed as she stepped forward, and all eyes turned to her.

With an oddly sadistic smile like she was enjoying all this, she turned her eyes to Aether.

"You already said it yourself, Aether." She explained with a laid-back drawl, "Going into debt might disable some of the Company Perks, bindings included. Depending on the size of the debt, one of the possible side effects is the weakening of your binding."

"Exactly!" Aether piped up, "It was supposed to weaken, but it should still be there."

"You STILL want to enslave me?!"

Venti had to resist loosing the arrow just then at Aether's head, right there through Zhongli's shoulder. However, he knew that Wind does not simply batter Earth aside. But oh, how Venti wished that he could pierce through the Earth deity to impale the contemptible coward behind him.

"It looks like you read through the Company's explanation on Bindings, how studious." Barbara complimented with a patronizing smile, "You're correct: Even this weakened brand should still maintain control of most waifus. But Waifus constantly resist the effect of the brand to an extent too."

Venti watched with narrowed eyes as Barbara's slender, fair-skinned hand gestured to him.

"And for someone like say… the Deity of Wind and Freedom?"

Venit pursed his lips. How long had she known that he was the mortal incarnation of said Deity of Wind? And as if sensing his question, Barbara gave him a knowing wink before turning back to Aether.

"You'll find that deities with a domain over Freedom to be the most resistant to the effects of any mind controlling brand- the company binding included." She advised Aether. "And with enough power, or in this case right here with a weakened enough brand…"

A glimmer of understanding flashed in Aether's golden eyes as he finished where Barbara left off.

"...They can shake off the mind controlling effects of the binding just like Venti did right now."

The deaconess merely gave a patronizing smile as if Aether was a slow-child to be congratulated.

"Barbara, is that what happened to you too?" Aether whispered sadly, then his expression changed to one of deep confusion, "But the weakening of the brand only happened once I got into debt, and that was only just now... You've been acting so odd even before that, Barbara."

"Oh, Aether… There's an explanation for that too." Barbara promised with a patient, almost motherly smile. But there was a sinister edge to her words, and Venti was not alone in sensing that they were on a precipice overlooking a sea of violence just then.

"No, stay back!" Aether cried out pulling out his longsword, and Zhongli adjusted to put himself between Aether and the approaching Deaconess.

"Take the shot, Venti." She growled out to him, her steel-blue eyes still locked on Aether. The rest of their 'little family' was still paralyzed with indecision. Not knowing whose side to take on, they watched at the sidelines. Watching as Zhongli defended Aether with his own body, but trapped between two of his former slaves, he couldn't protect Aether if the two of them attacked at the same time.

And Aether knew it as well.

"Don't listen to her, Venti!" Aether begged, and Venti almost relished the fear in his voice like fine wine. He had an almost clear shot of Aether, and the rage at being enslaved still spurred him to loose that arrow. But through the red haze of anger, Venti felt a tiny whisper at the back of his mind that told him something was very wrong.

"Don't fall for his whispers, Venti!" Barbara urged him, "Kill Aether now, and you'll free everyone here from his control forever!"

The drawn wind arrow that Venti held grew in power- wind swirled in the lobby. And Venti saw how the members of his little family were drawing their weapons- ready to fall on him with blade and magic.

"Barbatos, don't do this! We swore an oath to preserve this family, not strike at it!" Zhongli warned him- even if he loosed that arrow and struck down the slaver. Venti did not know if he had the will to fight his allies. Glancing around the room to briefly meet everyone's eyes with his own green-blue ones.

If he started this fight...

"Please!" his most faithful follower's soft voice called out to him-begging him with her steel-blue eyes, "Gather your courage and loose that arrow or we'll all remain as mindless slaves to Aether!"

Venti's fingers trembled in indecision. Not knowing who to believe ass his blue-green eyes flicked from Barbara to Aether to the arrow made of swirling wind held between his finger.s

"That's a lie!" Aether protested, "You've always been family to me!"

"Barbatos, please! Kill Aether and save us!" his deaconess pleaded almost desperately. "SAVE US!"

And that were the words that pushed Venti over the edge, the arrow loosed from his fingers.

And time seemed to slow to a crawl.

Venti watched as Zhongli's amber eyes narrowed- his polearm appearing in his hands in a flash of golden light to parry the raging hurricane contained within that single arrow. They both knew that he could; for after all, the Earth does not bow to the whims of the Wind so easily. And yet, Venti also watched on as those same amber eyes widened in shock as he was caught in a brutal tackle by Barbara - who had somehow crossed the distance in a blink of an eye. Sent off-balance, Zhongli buckled to the ground- allowing the arrow to sail above them as deaconess and earth deity both tumbled across the marble floor.

Then blood.

It was an arrow meant to pierce through solid stone blessed by an earth deity. A mortal's bone and heart was no obstacle for it- the turbulent winds shredded through both with ease.

A spray of red mist spritzed through the calm lobby air, and a bloody fist-sized hole was punched clean through the blonde boy's chest.

And for the briefest moments, Venti's green-blue eyes met with Aether's molten gold- nothing but confusion glimmering in those golden eyes before Aether staggered a small step backwards, coughed up blood from his lips, and fell face first onto the cold marble floor.

And Venti felt…

Venti felt vindicated.

"Barbatos… What have you done...?" Zhongli murmured in disbelief as he picked himself up from the ground- staring at Aether's body laying in a growing pool of thick blood, then his voice rose to a vengeful roar, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, YOU OATHBREAKER?! YOU TRAITOR?!"

But suddenly, like an invisible messenger-pigeon crashing into his forehead, pure information was shot straight into his head. Thoughts not of his own played like a record player through his mind.

~~ {} ~~

Warmest greetings, (Barbatos)!

Oh no, it would seem something unfortunate has happened and your leader has perished!

But fret not!

You, as part of the retinue of the Company Contractor (Aether), have been empowered to act on his behalf! Functions that were normally limited to your Company Contractor (Aether) are now made available to you and all your other retinue members!

A special list of every waifu capable of resurrection has been added to the shopping app for your perusal. You have a 72 hour window to resurrect your Company Contractor (Aether) before their death becomes permanent.

Good luck and happy shopping!

Sincerely,

The Company

~~ {} ~~

And from the surprised looks all around the lobby, Venti knew that he wasn't the only one who received that message.

A little chime resounded from Zhongli, and in his gloved hands was the Company Tablet that Aether treasured. His amber eyes seemed to widen in realisation. And faster than Venti thought the earth deity was capable of, Zhongli moved in an incredible burst of speed- snatching up Aether's body in one hand with the Company Tablet in the other. And Zhongli dashed- down the corridor and deeper into the mansion.

Venti was about to give chase, but with a rumble of the ground, massive rock pillars blocked off the corridor entrance so tightly not even wind could find gaps.

"Tch! He blocked off the route! Damn it all!" Barbara growled- punching the stone obstruction as she stopped to look at him, "Venti, we can't let Zhongli revive Aether!"

"We'll have to go around!" Venti replied, nodding.

They turned just in time to be greeted with the sight of their remaining family members looking at them with vengeance in their eyes.

"Now hold your horses!" Hu Tao, the funeral parlour director, called out to them as she stood in their path with a mischievous grin, "I'll be honest, I have some misgivings about Zhongli flaunting the rules of death, buuuut this is Aether-boy that we're talking about. So, just this once, I'm going to have to help Zhongli bend some house rules and punish some dirty backstabbers. Hehe..."

And it was then that Venti realised that they were hopelessly surrounded.

His green-blue eyes looked to the remaining members of their family who had stood like a formidable wall around them in a semicircle. Hu Tao, Quiqui, Mona, Noelle, Lisa, Razor, Fischl, Ayaka, Diona, Yan Fei, Sayu, Diluc and so many others. All incredible individuals, the most capable mortals that Teyvat had borne, infused with all power Aether's accursed influence could purchase for them.

Even as the Anemo Archon of their homeworld, Venti felt that this will be a challenging fight.

Then Barbara stepped in front of him.

"Venti, you go ahead. I'll handle them." she firmly declared as she stared down their family. And from them, the mysterious Fischl took a step forward, the foreign princess locking her gaze on the ash-blonde deaconess with a response to the deaconess' bold declaration.

"Power solemnly inscribed upon the portentous obelisk of fate and destiny, chosen stars of all elements gaze down upon the lone realm cast into the darkness. The waning moons above weep for thy hubris, O' Faithful of the Four Winds." Fischl's soft voice ominously proclaimed to them- cradling her eyepatch with a slender hand.

"You cannot possibly win against all of us, Barbara." Oz, Fischl's raven familiar helpfully translated with his deep solemn voice as he landed on his master's shoulder- beady black eyes staring unblinkingly at them.

"She's right, Barbara." Venti conceded as once again he was forced to contemplate leaving someone behind.

But like an immovable column of white granite, Barbara stood her ground.

"I don't need to." She whispered back to him, still staring down their family. She was a petite girl, but with her back towards him, it felt like he was gazing at a giant ready for battle. "I only need to stall long enough for you all to regain your senses from Aether's mind magics. By any means necessary."

And as if to prove a point, Barbara held up a familiar piece of cursed jewelry- a Delusion, Childe's to be exact. Venti recognised them very well. Remains of a dead god reforged into a magic focus that could enable the harnessing of an element that one was not aligned to… all at the price of some disastrous side effects including losing one's own mind.

As a demonstration, a hovering flower of crackling lightning blossomed in Barbara's left hand. All around them, their family members watched on with narrowed eyes. And again, Fischl was the first to speak out.

"Taboo amongst taboos is the forbidden fruit you flaunt with your own hand. The Magic sings sweet melodies, but the Soul cries out in pain. Doth thou taste the poison within its sweetness or hast thy tongue grown numb?" Her soft-spoken voice murmured loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Aether had told us that it isn't safe to use Delusions, Barbara. It disturbs a person right down to their very soul. Surely you realise that, unless… your mind is already too far gone." Oz translated once again, even as his master conjured her own little star of lightning in her hand.

"Ai-yai-yai... You've done it now, Barbara." Hu Tao sighed in grave disapproval, "The degradation of the soul is one of the few things the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor cannot pretty up with makeup or hide with a coffin lid. You should just drop that to the ground right now."

And Venti had to agree that they held a valid point.

"Barbara, the cost is too high for you to use that, there has to be anot-"

"All that has been done! All the people who have been lost!" She snapped at him, "None of that will amount to anything if Aether is able to reassert the mind-controlling effects of his brand! You must stop Zhongli from reviving Aether!"

There was a sincerity in her words that wasn't there in all her words before.

"Don't look back, Venti… FLY!" she cried out as she charged their family- lightning flashing in her hand.

And Venti did just that, as fast as he could. In a powerful nova of wind that almost blew everyone off their feet, Venti shot down the other corridor- leaving Barbara behind to deal with almost half of their entire family.

Taking detours wherever Zhongli had blocked off the paths with his stone walls, Venti knew that there were only a few safe places that Zhongli could have taken Aether's body. Furious battle echoed from behind him as he flew down the corridors, his most faithful follower putting up a good fight. Buying him precious seconds with what could possibly be with her life.

Venti can only hope that Zhongli hadn't summoned that healer yet.

[In the mansion's basement 'panic room']

Angela Ziegler may have been- first and foremost- a woman of medicine. But she was also a veteran of the Omnic Crisis.

So, when she was suddenly whisked away from her medical lab at Watchpoint: Gibraltar and into this opulent bedroom fit for royalty, her hand instinctively went for her sidearm. And to her great surprise, not only was it on her hip, she also found herself already fully geared for combat: Her Valkyrie swift-response suit rested reassuringly around her body like a carapace. Her Caduceus Staff was already in one hand and her Caduceus pistol in the other.

"I beseech you, honorable healer. Please revive my friend." A man begged her as he bowed low, holding a tablet in his hand.

And despite being in a suspicious situation, Mercy did not think of anything except to come to their aid.

"I suppose explanations can wait, I will not turn you away. Is that him?" she replied in a reassuring tone as she gestured to the person laying on the bed under the dim candlelight.

"Thank you, healer." the man sighed with relief and gratitude, "I am Zhongli, and yes, this is Aether. He requires your specific sort of medical attention."

Holstering her pistol, she followed him to the luxurious king-sized bed that rested against the wall. And laying on the pristine cream-coloured sheets was a young boy who looked barely into his teens. Her pink lips pursed as she caught sight of his injury: a ragged puncture in his chest so large that she could fit her fist through his chest.

Then the ground trembled with an earthquake and made Angela look about in caution, her hand hovering over her pistol.

"What was that?" She murmured to this 'Zhongli' character, and just as she spoke those words, a distant roar seemed to echo throughout all of existence. The way his amber-coloured eyes widened and his lips drew into a thin line set a cold sinking feeling in Mercy's abdomen.

"I'll ensure your safety, Miss Healer, but please, hurry." He urged her, meeting her eyes with a determined look on his face.

"Call me Mercy." She sighed- realising that she was knee-deep in another person's conflict yet again, "and I'll do what I can, but I'd like answers afterwards."

"Anything you need, Miss Mercy." Zhongli readily replied- eager to placate her, "So please heal Aether."

Setting her diagnostic visor of her valkyrie suit to scan the boy, Aether. Mercy found as she had suspected: he displayed no life signs, and the diagnostics only confirmed it as she parsed through the information.

"It's like someone had run a coring drill through the boy's chest." Mercy muttered grimly to herself- reading through the yellow holographic display. "Cylindrical puncture straight through the thoracic cavity 12cm across anterior to posterior… Heart condition, nonexistent from the superior vena cava to the descending aorta... Lungs, medial middle lobes torn off… Liver, left lobe completely gone… Vertebrae fifth through eighth, missing."

Mercy felt that it was both fortunate and saddening that she had treated this type of wound before in her time practicing medicine. But this Aether… he was young. Too young for this sort of thing to happen to him. And she was once again reminded of why she had chosen to practice medicine.

She sighed.

"Estimated time of death, not two minutes ago…" She solemnly stated before glancing at this 'Zhongli' person who was observing intently, but had been thankfully calm this entire time, "It's good that you brought me to him so quickly."

"Do you need any assistance?" He calmly offered, "Perhaps some raw materials for you to revive him?"

Suddenly reminded that she was alone with questionable resources, Mercy made a quick few presses through her holographic interface, and she found herself sighing in relief. Thankfully, she was fully stocked up on Biotics- stocked up on everything actually.

"I have everything I need, but thank you for offering." She responded before getting to work.

Supplied with all the information and resources she needed, Mercy hovered the head of her Caduceus Staff- glowing gold with Biotic energy- over Aether's open chest. A flip of the switch and the glowing Biotic energies lit up Aether's entire body in a bright golden glow reminiscent of the fairy tale magic that her parents had read to her in those bedtime stories.

Lips pursed in concentration, Mercy monitored Aether's condition closely as she guided the Resurrection Process across his body. Reversing brain damage, reforming bone, mending organs, undoing tissue damage, and knitting flesh closed.

"We have a minute or two, Mr. Zhongli." Mercy said as an aside to Zhongli as she held her Caduceus Staff steady, "Will you give me a brief explanation of my current circumstance? How was Aether injured?"

"Of course." the man replied, "Aether is the head of this family of more than 30 individuals, and we had come to this world of Emsiyu to do battle with a violent slaver named Hevnokren. However, through a manipulative message, he has managed to turn two of our own against us, Venti and Barbara. Venti loosed the arrow that inflicted the wound that you see now. But by now, I hope the rest of our family have already restrained them."

"That is good." Mercy responded with a relieved sigh, "I thought I was brought to a battlefield."

She had enough of fighting in wars and battles. She had joined Overwatch to be heal people, not

"Hevnokren and his own family are still active and hunting us from the shadows." Zhongli pointed out. "They are formidable fighters, but Aether simply needs to wake and we will emerge victorious in this battle with him."

Mercy had heard that promise several times from a dozen people. But as she observed this boy laying on the bed, something told her that she can believe that he can do such a thing.

And just as she finished that thought, Aether's wound closed and left nothing but flawless skin- the only sign that it was ever there in the first place were the bloodstains and the circular-hole on the front of his shirt. The once dead Aether took a gasping breath as his eyes flew open- looking around the room.

"Aether!" Zhongli exclaimed in a relieved tone in the first display of real emotion Mercy witnessed him make.

"Zhongli? And… Mercy?" Aether groaned as bleary golden eyes looked up at her, and Mercy was taken aback- questions abound in her head. He recognised her? How?

And just as she was about to once again demand answers, a loud almost whistle-like hiss emanated from the armoured panic room door- as if there was a constant gust of wind that was trying to force itself through the gaps of the doorway.

Everyone looked to the doorway as the whistle grew louder and louder.

"Venti has found us!" Zhongli urgently announced- turning his dire expression to them, "Mercy. Aether. We need to portal back to the lobby and regroup with the rest, and we need to do it quickly."

Mercy helped the newly healed Aether off the bed and to his feet, slinging his arm over her shoulders.

With what looked to be a practiced wave of his hand, Zhongli conjured a shimmering blue doorway opened in thin air. Mercy was caught off-guard by that- finding the sight to be reminiscent of Symmetra's teleportation pads. And before she knew it, Zhongli had his grip on her upper arm and was pushing her through said portal.

"Wait!" She protested, shaking off the initial surprise, "I do not wish to be an active participant of your batt-"

! !

Caught mid-sentence, the armoured door was blasted off its hinges- the half-meter thick door impacting against the far wall.

And the wind… it was like that door had been holding back some primordial superstorm- hurricane winds at least thrice as powerful than any storm that Mercy had ever weathered. Reflexively, she shielded Aether from the worst of it, and it was the right decision. Metal shrieked as- all over her Valkyrie suit- scratches appeared as if this unnatural wind itself was a ferocious beast clawing at her.

"GAh!" Mercy cried out in pain as she felt the wind slash at her head and face- opening paper-cut lacerations all over it.

The force of the wind was enough to push them both through the portal. And as they did, Mercy caught a glimpse of Zhongli. Relief coloured the the man in the brown coat as he looked to them- even as he was covered in a hundred wounds all over his body. That look lasted only a fraction of a second before the portal closed- flicking off like an old television.

But as she regained her bearings, Mercy realised that they were, as the Americans say, 'out of the frying pan, and into the fire.'

"W-was zur hölle?" she stuttered out in dread, her blue eyes wide as she surveyed the chaos that surrounded them. "What battlefield had I been brought to now?"

What looked like the lobby of a particularly luxurious mansion was now a ravaged battlefield.

Fire raged all around the lobby- claiming huge swathes of the walls with their bright orange flames. The marble floor was torn off in chunks, and melting pillaros of ice stood from floor to ceiling everywhere, and bright red puddles of blood looked like they were freshly spilt not five minutes ago.

And in the center of all this devastation stood a girl, no older than Aether. Her steel-blue eyes glittered under the light of the many fires as she looked at them with a grim expression.

"I anticipated that you would try to regroup with the others. After all, the majority of your combat prowess lies in your 'waifus.' "

Her soft lyrical voice welcoming them stood in stark contrast to her appearance. She would have been someone Mercy would have described as a gentle beauty if it were any other scenario. But now, she only struck an intimidating sight.

She was splattered head to toe in blood. The tips of her ash blonde pigtails were red as if they were brushes dipped in red. Her white and blue dress was splattered with so much blood that it would have had to come from almost a dozen people. Her white sleeves were coated up to the elbows in red.

"Dealing with your 'waifus' first was the way to go. Because it would have been futile to attempt to kill you directly- surrounded as you were with all those people capable of incredible sustain and healing. Venti turning against you, Zhongli separating you from everyone else, and now even with Mercy reviving you so that Venti would be distracted. All of it worked in my favour... and worked against you and your waifus."

Mercy subconsciously stood in front of Aether- hiding him behind her scratched Valkyrie suit. But the boy seemed to have taken deep hurt to what the girl had said- glittering tears sliding across his fair cheeks as he poured his heart out for the girl.

"And you're one of them! You're one of the closest waifus I have." He vowed- like a boy pleading for his love to return to him, "I cared for you, I was there when you were sad, when you were happy, and when you needed to rest on someone's shoulder. I respected your boundaries and was willing to wait patiently until your heart was ready. I tried to treat you like a real gentleman would!"

Aether gasped for breath after his heartfelt declaration as he peered around them all, tears in his eyes as he gestured at the destruction that surrounded him, "So, what did Hevnokren do to you that made you turn against your family? Against me? Barbara, I love you!"

Mercy did not know what happened next.

One moment, she was shielding the confessing Aether with her body, and the next, she was on the floor with her ribs that her Valkyrie suit helpfully indicated as sustaining multiple fractures. Incredible pain blossomed on her side, but still she looked for her latest patient. Her bleary blue eyes were quick to spot the Barbara girl who was sitting on Aether's chest as he screamed on the ground like a wild animal.

But then her eyes finally focused and she saw what was truly happening: the girl had both her thumbs driven deep into Aether's eyeballs- blood and viscera streaking down his cheeks in red rivers like bloody tears.

"Please stop!" Mercy shouted, pushing herself up to her elbows despite her broken ribs, "I do not know why you wish him harm, but violence is not the answer!"

At her words, bloody thumbs coated in pulped eyeballs retracted from Aether's eye-sockets, and with deliberate slowness, the Barbara girl stood up from Aether's screaming form- letting him writhe on the ground as he clutched his lost eyes.

"Th-thank you for listening…" Mercy sighed in relief- giving the blood-stained girl a grateful smile, "I know you are angry…"

Then Barbara lifted a blood-stained foot over Aether- its shadow casting a shadow on his sightless eyes, and Mercy only scream out 'NO!' before that foot stomped down on Aether's gut with enough force to pulp innards.

"Guh!" he groaned in pain as her soles did just that. Mercy's diagnostic visor indicated that he was going to die soon if the girl did not stop. And it won't be painless either. Mercy scrambled around for her pistol- only to discover that it was nowhere to be found.

"Please, he's just a boy!" she shouted, reduced to begging for his life as she tried to stagger to her feet- her Valkyrie suit's Regeneration function began injecting her with Biotics to numb out the pain, and mend her broken ribs. But it was not an instantaneous process, and all she could do was beg and watch as the girl continued to stomp on Aether's abdomen with murderous intent.

"Please stop!" Mercy kept pleading- wishing that she could do more. But unarmed and with her Valkyrie suit's flight function damaged, Mercy could only limp towards them. But rather than simply stop, Barbara grasped Aether by the shoulders and hauled the groaning boy to his limp feet.

"You wanted to know how or why I ended up doing this?" She demanded- shaking the whimpering Aether. And Barbara leaned in close to him, placing her lips close to his ears and whispering something that Mercy could not her. It could not have been anymore than three words.

"No, that's not true...No!" she heard Aether cry out in denial. "So all this time-!"

"Yes, and now you're finally going to die here." Barbara sneered- the ugly, hate-filled expression looking so alien on the girl's face. But rather than simply saying anything more, Barbara rested her forehead against his breastbone, and shouted something.

Mercy did not hear what it was, but she witnessed what came next.

Everything below Aether's shoulders literally exploded in a shower of blood and gore. Shreds of skin slapped them across her cheeks, a length of meaty entrails caught on her neck like a macabre scarf and bits of bone grazed scratched at her breastplate as they flew by. And Blood, so much blood. In the center of the white marble lobby was an explosion of red.

And for a scant three seconds, Aether's eye flickered down to his missing lower half as if only realising now that he was suddenly bereft of everything below his shoulders. His young face stricken with an expression of pain and terror. And with a dull wet thud, his lifeless upper half tumbled from Barbara's embrace onto the marble floor.

"W-what?" Mercy stuttered in horror.

Over a hundred battlefields across long blood-soaked years, she had witnessed the horrors of what war could bring. Watching yet another too-young victim of war meet an untimely death should have glanced off her hardened heart, but for some reason, this one didn't. And there was nothing stopping the full horror of what had just happened from crashing into her.

The full realization of what she was now covered in, who she was now covered in. The dangling meter of small intestine around her neck, the fresh blood seeping under the damaged seals of her Valkyrie suit, sticky-wet and still very much warm with body temperature. She retched until her stomach was empty.

Another boy, garbed in teal and even younger than Aether was, walked into the flaming lobby.

"Little boy, run! She's dangerous!" Mercy shouted at him. But the boy ignored her words- only sparing a mildly annoyed glance at her like she had butted into some private family matter. With his blue-green eyes, he stared Aether's mangled corpse at Barbara's feet as he walked up to them.

"So, he's dead..." Mercy heard him mutter tiredly as he nodded to Aether's mangled corpse, "I wish I could say 'Good riddance' but my heart is too heavy. Oh so heavy."

"Venti, is Zhongli still…" Barbara asked the boy, now named Venti. The same Venti that had attacked them back in the opulent bedroom where she had revived Aether.

"He's alive. Sleeping soundly." the boy in teal responded with a sad smile, "He had a sharper tongue than I thought him capable of: He sang quite a verse about my own shortcomings and my betrayal of Aether. I'm afraid he may be in the right for once."

"It's over now." Barbara reassured, giving Aether's ruined torso a little kick before looking over to Mercy herself with narrowed eyes. "It's over, isn't it?"

There was a pointed edge to her words- the looming threat of violence.

"Y-yes... it is." Mercy relented with a weary sigh. It wasn't the first time she had been threatened not to heal people; and honestly, she did not think it would be the last either. Unarmed and alone in enemy territory, there was nothing she could do but acquiesce to the demand: Aether will stay dead.

"Good," Barbara stated, "That's enough of this weak deceptive farce then."

"What do you mean, Barbara?" Venti asked, a puzzled expression on his face. And as if to answer his question, the front entrance of the mansion exploded inwards. And there- pushing its gargantuan torso through the concrete- was a dragon of gleaming metal.

"Hevnokren!" Venti gasped in sudden panic- drawing a bow from thin air in a flutter of light and wind, "Stay behind me!"

"That's Hevnokren?!" Mercy couldn't help but exclaim in trepidation as she looked at what Aether and his family had been fighting.

The massive European-style dragon was so large that even the three-stories-high vaulted ceiling of the lobby seemed too small for it. Lightning arced across its metallic wingspan that rivaled that of many modern planes. Eyes of baleful blue fire glowed noticeably in the orange light of the flames. Deady rows of teeth as long as swords lined its gigantic maw. It reminded her too much of the Titans back home- skyscraper-sized omnics that could reduce a city to ruins by their lonesome.

The dragon, Hevnokren, boomed- his deep voice rumbling through Mercy so deeply that it rattled her bones.

"This world is about to break apart into a nigh infinite void where there is no air, earth, water or fire. You have two choices, former slave-god of Aether. Stay here and be consumed by the blackness that awaits you. Or come with me, and we can negotiate safe passage."

But of the three of them that stood before the dragon, it was only Barbara who looked utterly unsurprised at the dragon's appearance. And in utter silence, and still covered head-to-toe with Aether's blood, Barbara walked up to the dragon, and fearlessly stopped just between the dragon's foreclaws.

Even to Mercy who had just gotten into this mess, it was obvious that the Barbara girl had been working with this Hevnokren all this time.

"So, what will your answer be, Venti? Come with us or stay here to die?" She questioned the boy, who only gave Barbara a worried glance before meeting the dragon's eyes.

"I'm not going to address your demands until you release Barbara from whatever mind control you have on her, Hevnokren!" Venti demanded, that swirling wind-arrow of his flaring outwards slightly with a gust of wind- as if to highlight its power.

"Ahahaha!" Barbara laughed melodiously as she wrapped her blood-soaked hands around her sides.

"Hevnokren's mind control?" Barbara sighed incredulously before adopting a mildly amused smile, "Oh Venti… Do you still not understand?"

And at Venti's absolutely confused look, she stepped forward as she casually slung a horrid looking black mace over her shoulder- seemingly pulling it out of nowhere. The massive rod of jagged dark metal looked oversized as it rested on her small, blood-stained frame.

"I'm not under Hevnokren's control, Venti..."

Leaning forward slightly as if to share a secret with him, a positively malicious grin grew on her face as she gave them a playful wink. And with her soft lyrical voice, she spoke three words. Three words to send shivers of fear down Mercy's spine. Three words to make Venti fall to his knees in shock. The same three words that she had said to Aether to rob him of his hope.

Just three words. Uttered with that soft voice, by that beautiful face and that slender body that had shattered Aether into a million pieces.

"I am Hevnokren."

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