Purification

https://discord.gg/qpDTvSj3TC

https://pa treon.com/StickSwinger

***

"Can you not speak like that? Please talk normally..." Yomite half-smiled at Venti, but his eyes showed no humor at all. He felt like strangling this trap.

"Yes, that I can do. Is it better now?"

"Thank god..."

"Which one? Depending on your answer, I might reward you with another song!"

"Ugh..."

He always laughed at the protagonists who couldn't differentiate guys from girls and mocked them...Now he did the same freaking thing and it was unbearable.

Just then, someone entered the tavern and shouted, "Ah! We finally found him! You can no longer hide green man!" the little flying girl pointed in the direction of Venti the bard, showing a triumphant expression, "See! Paimon told you we would find him!"

It was Lumine and Paimon, the duo that was pursuing Venti since a while ago. They finally found elemental traces and located him inside of this tavern, and to their surprise, Yomite was already sitting right next to him.

"It seems like the party leader was here before us," Lumine muttered under her breath. She knew he was impressive but to find the man before them, as expected of him.

"Wait...you guys...What are you doing here..." With his mind swirling in an oasis of sudden confusion, Yomite stared at the duo of troublemakers, without having any idea of what was currently going on.

Venti stood up as he immediately recognized them, yelling, "Ah, that's right! You are the ones that scared Dvalin away!"

"Dvalin? Who is that? Paimon doesn't remember anyone with that name." She was holding her head in her arms, yet she couldn't remember no matter how much she tried. The name wasn't familiar to her.

"Lisa told us already, weren't you listening? That's Stormterror's real name."

"Oh...Yeah...Most people seem to call him Stormterror...Why do you call him Dvalin? Are you two meant to be close or something? Suspicious."

"Oh, we are so very close you have no idea!" Venti cheerfully replied.

"Hey...Paimon thinks this guy has a screw loose..."

"I'm sorry for my friend Paimon..." Lumine apologized and sat down on a bar chair next to him, "My name is Lumine, and you are?"

Venti put his hand on his chest and introduced himself, "I'm Venti the bard! Anyway, from the way you are staring at me, it seems like you want something. So, what is it that you need?"

"Hm? You guys met Venti before? Apparently, it's a dude! Funny, right?" Yomite let out a humorless chuckle. Feeling every tiny bit of pain from that one sentence.

Lumine nodded, "We know. Anyone could tell. He doesn't look like a girl whatsoever."

"Ah...is that so...okay then..." Yomite slumped back down onto the table. Was it just him who was baited by this so-called "Trap?".

'Impossible! I refused to believe this!' He roared in his mind.

"Given you recognized us, Paimon doesn't believe we need to explain any further. Of course, it's about Stormterror or Dvalin or whatever!"

"Hmmm...Storm?...What was it again?" Venti, who tried to be oblivious, was dodging the question the best way he could.

"Hey! Cut it out with your amnesia act!" Paimon shouted as Lumine held her back by her tiny waist or else she would pounce on him.

She was holding Paimon back, but she agreed with her words, "Apparently, there are people called Fatui targetting Dvalin, so if by any chance Dvalin is your friend, I am letting you know."

Noticing a small change in his expression, Lumine knew that he most likely cared about Dvalin a lot.

Charles, the bartender, overheard their small talk and sat down on one of the bar chairs, joining in on their conversation, "If you don't mind, I will join you for a bit. So, are people actually hunting that thing now?" he poured himself a glass of wine and awaited their response.

Lumine nodded, "Yes. Acting Grand Master Jean told us a few things about it. If Knights of Favonius agree to Fatui terms, they will take care of the Dragon."

Venti frowned, "Kill Dvalin...That's just..."

Charles sighed, "Dragon's been quite the headache for sure. Stormterror's affected our tavern's supply routes, so the variety of wines here has also dropped...As for Stormterror itself, I'm not too worried. I think those people who numb themselves with alcohol are just scared out of their wits. But if we do reach the point of no return then we just need to wait for night to fall. The "Knight Who Emerges At Night" will not just stand idly by..."

Yomite raised his head, his consciousness dwindling, "Batman?"

"Excuse me, who?"

"..."

"..."

"But Paimon still wonders why Stormterror had attacked Mondstadt in the first place...How could this happen...Wasn't Dvalin a protector?" Paimon mused as she flew around, sniffing the various bottle caps from beverages, trying to look for something to satiate her sweet tongue.

"Well, Little Fairy lady...what's passed has passed, I say. There is plenty of mysteries out there ready to be unraveled. Some people have suffered, but life isn't all sweet fruit juice. It also needs some bitter alcohol. These incidents will also become part of our experience. Rather than ask how this could happen, we should look forward to the future to learn about the truth. Accepting the bitter with the sweet is how adults around these parts do things. Once you're ready for the bitter, I'll pour you a special brew." the bearded bartender chuckled. He felt as if he was talking sense to his daughter.

The flying cutiepie could indeed leave a deep impression on people, and almost everyone could agree that she was incredibly cute.

"No, no! Paimon dislikes bitter! Pour me only sweet things! No bitter! Paimon hates when life becomes bitter!"

Charles let out another chuckle, "No bitter drinks in the future for you then, got it."

Lumine pulled out a crystal seemingly out of nowhere and showed it to Venti, "We found this."

Venti gazed at the crystal wide-eyed, "Isn't this..."

Just then, Paimon noticed something odd and shrieked, "What!? The crystal has been purified!? When? We checked it a few minutes ago, and it was full of impurities!" she moved her small head up and down, closing and opening her eyes, yet no matter how she looked, the crystal was of pure blue color instead of the crimson red.

"Yep, that thing was fully red, even the magician mil— I mean...even the Librarian Lisa was injured while trying to touch it," Yomite also testified, while choking on his words a bit there.