Dream Of Merged Souls

It was time to execute the plan. At my request, Signora provided me with a Fatui mask, some clothing that I could use, and a hat.

I had told Signora and her agents to wait at a specific secluded alleyway and prepare themselves. 

After a bit of walking, I arrived at Angel's Share and stood in front of the door. I took a deep breath, trying to assure myself that this was going to work.

'I'm sorry, Venti, but it's better to get this over with quickly...'

After steeling my resolve, I strongly knocked on the door, and said in a deep, forced voice, "Knights of Favonius! Thief of the Holy Lyre der Himmel, we know you're here, come out now!"

I heard some ruckus inside, likely Venti moving around, trying to see what he could do.

After knocking a few more times, now with cursed energy, the door dented and I hid behind the corner of the building.

A creaking sound filled the silence of the night, signaling that the door was being slowly opened. "Uh... Hello?" Venti said, peeking his head.

I remained hidden, just observing his actions.

"I need to get out of here..." Venti whispered to himself, leaving the tavern.

I stomped the ground, mimicking the sound of footsteps. Venti visibly recoiled and started running.

Maintaining my distance, I followed him, using the houses as cover. I continued imitating the sound of footsteps, guiding him to the alleyway where Signora waited.

When he was close enough to the location, I stopped and hid myself on the rooftops.

Venti stood in silence and cautiously looked around the alleyway. Suddenly, two Fatui Pyro Agents appeared out of the shadows, intending to ambush Venti from behind.

Venti couldn't react in time, and the agents managed to grab a hold of him. Signora appeared around the corner, walking in an elegant manner befitting of her appearance.

"There you are. Mondstadt rodent Archon in the flesh." Signora had a smirk plastered on her face as she approached Venti.

Ice spread from her heels to Venti's feet, freezing them in place. 

A smile appeared on Venti's face. He was about to say something, but Signora grabbed him by the face, and said, "You better not dare to speak to me, impudent rat."

Venti tried to free himself, gathering his Anemo power on his feet. The agents tightened their grip on him, while Signora just smirked.

"Let's get this over with quickly." As she said that, she coated her hand in ice and struck Venti's stomach. A bright light enveloped his midsection and a moment later, Signora got her hand on the Gnosis.

The agents released Venti and he immediately dropped to his knees, grabbing his stomach. Meanwhile, Signora and her agents quickly retreated.

I didn't feel particularly good about doing this, but I had my reasons. Besides, Venti didn't seem like he opposed much resistance. It's almost as if... he already knew that the Fatui were after his Gnosis.

Still, I can't help but have a bittersweet feeling in my gut.

With the Gnosis retrieved, I returned to the Goth Grand Hotel. After changing back to my usual outfit, I entered Signora's room.

She sat at the table, the big candle still lit. She fiddled with the Gnosis with a smirk on her face. Then, she looked at me.

"I'm guessing you all are leaving for Liyue tomorrow," I said.

Signora stared at me, deep in thought. She left the Gnosis on the table, stood up, and strutted toward me. "It seems you know more about our plans than I gave you credit for."

She stopped right in front of me, still looking directly at my eyes. It was intimidating, but I stood my ground and looked back.

"You know too much. Tell me, why should I let you go right now, instead of getting rid of you?" She stared deep into my eyes, trying to get me to crack.

"Uh, because I helped you get a Gnosis?" Cold sweat dripped down my face. One wrong move and I'll be killed.

She snorted. "That you are right about." She strutted back to the table and sat down.

Picking up the Gnosis, fiddling with it once again, she said, "I took a gamble by hearing you out, let alone by following your plan, but it seems it paid off. The Fatui are indebted to you."

"If that's the case, you wouldn't mind offering me some compensation, right?"

"You really are overstepping your boundaries, outlander," she said.

"I'm not asking for much, just that you put in a good word for me to your Fatui colleagues."

"Hmph, then it shall be done." She stared at me in silence for a moment, then spoke again. "Just what is your true objective?"

"Well, if the main goal of the Fatui is what I think it is, then I'd be glad to help. Though, I can't say I agree with your way of doing things. Seriously, would it kill you guys to be a bit less evil?" I asked.

"The goals of the Fatui are above notions such as good and evil... When we, the Harbingers, were bestowed upon our roles, we knew such sacrfices had to be made." She didn't seem to have a smudge of regret on her face.

I sighed. Of course, I can't expect the Fatui to just be the good guys all of a sudden. As much as I don't like some of the things they do, smoothing over the relationship between the Traveler and the Fatui is one of my main reasons for helping them. Another reason is that... I don't really think their goal is inherently evil. They just go about it the wrong way.

"Well, I'll take my leave for now. I hope we can continue this... strictly business relationship."

As I was about to leave, Signora asked me, "What is your name?"

"Dani."

"I will make sure to remember," she said.

As our conversation ended, I left the room and closed the door behind me.

It was a long day. 'I can't wait to feel the warmness of my bed...'

I walked through the dark streets at a relaxed pace. Reaching the plaza, I saw a familiar figure sitting down at the fountain.

I approached him, and asked, "What're you doing here, Venti?"

He was looking at the night sky, a forlorn expression on his face. "Hmm? Oh, well, I could ask you the same thing."

"I went out for a walk, and when I came back to the Tavern, you weren't there, so I'm going back to the inn," I explained.

"I see. Well, I'm just reminiscing about the past, that's all."

I stood in silence for a moment, before saying, "Alright. I'm not gonna interrupt you any further then."

He looked at me and smiled. I waved and went back to the inn.

In the comfort of my own room and bed, and after the long day I had, it wasn't hard for me to fall asleep.

_______________________________________________________________

I felt something poking my face repeatedly. Slowly opening my eyes, everything was dark. Streaks of purple and blue were everywhere. It was almost like I was in the middle of space.

I looked to my side, to the source of the poking, and a man was squatted next to me. A smile appeared on his face after seeing me wake up.

He was tall, had a muscular frame, and had white messy hair with blue eyes. He wore a black compression shirt and baggy white pants. 

My face must have been priceless, as the man laughed quite heartily.

"You're... Gojo."

"Yep, that's me. And you too, I guess," he responded.

"Ugh, what's going on?" I leaned my head on the ground if you could even call it that. 

After a bit of silence, I slowly stood up. Rubbing the bridge of my nose, I said, "Of course... I'm in your body, so it makes sense you're here... Wait, maybe this is a dream..."

"Nah, this is very much real... Well, it is technically a dream, but you know what I mean."

"So what now? We fight each other to the death to see who takes over the body or what?" I asked.

He laughed, and said, "No, nothing like that. Trust me, I tried to take over. If I could, I would've done so already." He smirked, and spoke once again. "Buuut, I can't say I haven't been itching for some action. I've been stuck here for a while after all."

"Right. Do you have any idea of why or how?"

"I have a rough idea of our situation, but I can't say how or why it happened," he replied.

"And that rough idea is...?"

"Our souls... have merged!" He said, pausing in the middle for dramatic effect.

I stood in silence for a moment, thinking about what he just said.

"So... what does that mean, exactly?"

"Hmmm, it's hard to say." He crossed his arms and closed his eyes, seemingly thinking deeply about the issue. "Normally, the soul and the body are inseparable, and merging two souls usually causes an adverse reaction, as the souls reject their merging..."

After being silent for a moment, he said, "But it seems our souls merged perfectly. Though only one of us can control our body, and that's you," he explained, pointing at me. "Meanwhile, I'm stuck here seeing what you do."

"I hope that's a lie. I don't want you seeing my wanking sessions."

"That's too bad, then!" he said while chuckling. "Well, I can't exactly see what you do, but I experience what you experience. Your happiness, sadness, and everything else in between. You also should feel what I feel, though there isn't much to feel here..."

I don't like the implications of that...

Leaving aside unnecessary thoughts, something dawned on me. The reason why at the Temple of the Lion I felt that coercion to fight.

"So you compelled me to fight at the temple..." I muttered.

"Yep. Normally, there's no warning for when you're breaking a binding vow, so I couldn't let you break the vow you made with much care and effort."

"Uh, well, I didn't do it on purpose exactly..."

He chuckled. "Yeah, I already knew that. Your cursed energy manipulation is subpar, and the only reason you haven't struggled as much is because of your sheer amount of cursed energy, as well as your output." He paused for a moment, thinking about something, and then said, "But worry not! I'll help you out with that."

"How?"

"Let's spar."

...

After a... 'sparring' session with Gojo, which looked more like a beatdown, I laid on the ground, panting heavily, almost out of breath, while he looked at me from above with a smirk. "Wow, you're even worse than I thought!" he said.

"Give me a break..." I said between my pants. "I should be as good as you, but for some reason, my Six Eyes don't work properly..."

"Yeah, I noticed that... It's very weird. It's like some external force is interfering with it..."

"So you're not the reason?" I said, sitting up.

"Why would I be the reason?"

"I don't know, I'm just trying to find one is all..."

Still, he said that some 'external force' is interfering with my abilities... It could be a myriad of things. Maybe the world itself is rejecting me? Or maybe it's... Celestia.

Leaving that issue aside, I asked Gojo, "By the way, why are you even trying to help me?"

"Well, what else could I do? I'm stuck here, in another world for some reason, and I have to see you struggle with cursed energy and butchering your chances of going out on a date with a cute girl? I'd rather help you out."

"Don't remind me of that please..."

"Besides, now that our souls are merged, I am you, and you are me. I wouldn't want to see myself fail," Gojo said.

Whatever his reason may be for helping me, I have a feeling my abilities are not going to be restricted for the rest of my stay in Teyvat. But for the time being, I want to improve as much as I can.

I stood up, assuming a fighting stance, and said, "Let's keep sparring, Gojo."

He smirked. "That's the spirit."

_______________________________________________________________

I slowly opened my eyes to the sunshine peeking through my window. Stretching lazily, I slowly got out of the bed.

I don't know how much time I sparred with Gojo, or how time even passes there, but I don't really feel that tired.

Besides, I think it was quite productive. I learned a lot not only about hand-to-hand combat but also about cursed energy manipulation.

I stepped outside the inn and was greeted by none other than Lumine and Paimon chatting.

"Do we really need this guy to go summon Stormterror? We would do fine just by ourselves!"

"Well, Jean asked us to go fetch him. Besides, even though I hate to admit it, he's strong. I'm sure he'll be useful one way or another," Lumine responded to Paimon complaints.

"Did I hear that right? Lumine complimenting me?"

Lumine groaned, hands on her hips, and said, "Don't get too used to it."

"Well. I heard something about summoning Stormterror from that little pipsqueak. We'll do it now?" I asked.

I could almost see the steam coming out of Paimon's head. Lumine, without paying her anger too much attention, said, "We'll meet with the others at Starsnatch Cliff in an hour or two."

"Cool. Let's get going then. You can tell me the plan along the way." Before we could go, I remembered something I had planned. "Oh, but before that, can we make a stop at Windrise? I wanted to do something there."

"Yeah, whatever, just don't take too long," Lumine said.

We started walking toward our destination. On the way, me and Lumine chatted quite a bit, with the occasional bickering with Paimon interrupting our conversation.

Eventually, we arrived at our detour in Windrise. Lumine and Paimon waited for me on the road, while I walked to the Statue of the Seven. I contemplated it for a moment.

Descenders are beings that come from outside of Teyvat, and from what I know, it's possible that they have special affinity toward the elements of this world. I'm pretty sure I'm one of the Descenders, so...

I touched the Statue of the Seven and closed my eyes.

...

Nothing happened. I didn't feel any different. I turned around and walked toward Lumine so we could continue to our destination.

'Oh well, that's disappointing...'

It would've been cool to have some elemental abilities...

Lumine looked at me, her mouth agape. "What's wrong?" I asked her.

She looked at me in silence for a moment and then said, "Nothing. Let's get going or we'll be late."

...What was that about?

Leaving that interaction in the back of my mind for the moment, we resumed our walk to Starsnatch Cliff.