"Good news, then."
Seeing Venti's complicated expression, Rowan raised a brow.
"The good news is—it can treat erosion."
"And the bad news?" Istaroth took Avalon, turning it over in her hands. As the Sovereign of Time, her resistance to erosion was maxed out. Even though it had been at least eight thousand years since Phanes descended upon Teyvat, Istaroth's erosion was almost negligible. Which meant Avalon's restorative effect was basically imperceptible to her.
"The bad news is… if I want to erase my erosion, I'd have to wear this thing for at least a thousand years." Venti shrugged, helpless.
"Yeah, then you're not borrowing it," Rowan said, reclaiming Avalon without a second thought.
A thousand years? Dream on.
It made sense, though. Avalon was Rowan's Noble Phantasm; it would show its fullest effect with him. On others, not so much.
Venti looked a bit disappointed, but he didn't dwell on it. He'd long since gotten used to it—he actually hadn't accumulated much erosion. Ever since he donned the Wind God's crown, he'd barely been awake for more than a year in total. Most of the time, he'd been asleep, slowly restoring his strength.
The three of them sat and chatted for a while after that—mostly Istaroth asking about Rowan's homeland. Rowan didn't hide anything, and as he spoke, both Istaroth and Venti lit up with wonder again and again.
"Dvalin's awake. You can open your eyes now," Rowan suddenly said after a time. "Stop pretending to sleep."
As an inheritor of Red Dragon blood, Rowan was a dragon in a sense himself. He was keenly sensitive to draconic aura; the change in Dvalin's breath earlier told him the dragon had recovered. He'd only kept his eyes shut because he'd sensed Rowan and was… scared.
Venti blinked, then walked to Dvalin's head and laid a hand atop it. "What is it, Dvalin? Are you awake?"
"Uh…" Through the bond between the Wind God and his familiar, Venti easily grasped Dvalin's thoughts. He turned, speechless, and spread his hands at Rowan. "He's afraid you'll beat him up again, so he doesn't dare open his eyes."
Who could blame him? Dvalin had only poked his head out when he sensed someone breaking the seal—and got pummeled so hard by Rowan that he lost all his dragonly pride. Sensing Rowan was still here, of course he didn't dare look. What if he got thrashed again? Even Barbatos being present didn't help—everyone knew Barbatos never had much combat power and rarely did his actual job. Dvalin wasn't about to bet his life on Venti's protection.
"You're overthinking it. I'm not going to hit you again," Rowan said, guessing the dragon's worry. "I hit you before because the Abyss had tainted you. That was the only way to let the poison blood out. Now you're healed—no need for more beating."
Only then did Dvalin dare crack his eyes open—and the first one he looked at wasn't Rowan, but Venti. "Didn't expect the first to save me would be you, Barbatos. You actually did something right."
Once, Dvalin had been drawn to Barbatos's lyre, becoming his first familiar and guarding Mondstadt in his place while the god slept. Five hundred years ago, he and Venti had rushed back from Khaenri'ah to face Durin. They felled the demon dragon, but Dvalin was grievously wounded and poisoned, falling into long sleep. When he finally woke, the Abyss's influence muddled his mind. He returned to Mondstadt only to be treated as a monster and driven out. Hurt and confused, his resentment boiled over, and he attacked the city. The Knights of Favonius repelled him, and with his lingering ties to Mond, he left rather than sack it—an old dragon crawling back alone to the Stormterror's Lair to sleep away the corruption. Not long after, the seal broke… and then Rowan beat him within an inch of his life. If not for Venti's sudden appearance, he might not have made it. For that, the dragon felt… something.
"Old friend… you've suffered," Venti murmured, hugging Dvalin's head and pouring the Wind God's familiar power into him once more.
"This is… the power of the Anemo familiar?" Dvalin stiffened. "Barbatos, you know I no longer deserve to be one of the Four Winds!"
From the moment he had attacked Mondstadt, even if he recovered after, he knew he'd lost the right to be one of the Four. He hadn't expected Venti to not only save him but return the familiar's blessing.
"Dvalin, you've carried this for years," Venti said, eyes soft with a smile. "Take this power and fly a little freer. This time, I won't ask you to guard Mondstadt. Freedom bound by a god isn't really freedom, is it?"
Dvalin stared at Venti. A glimmer of wetness flashed in his eyes before his chin jerked up with draconic pride. "Hmph. Don't think I'm grateful. If it weren't for you, Barbatos, I wouldn't be like this. You caused this—you fixing it is only right."
"All right, all right—it's my fault. I'll make it up to you," Venti said with an easy laugh. "Feeling any better?"
Dvalin snorted and turned to Rowan. "Are you human… or dragon? Why do I sense a Fire Dragon's breath on you?"
A Red Dragon, given form in Teyvat, would be a Fire Dragon. Rowan wasn't surprised he noticed.
"Who knows?" Rowan shrugged. "Maybe I'm a dragon-slayer who bathed in dragon blood."
"Uh…"
(End of Chapter)
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