Chapter Text
When mortals' ambitions exceed expectations, gods look upon them with favor, granting them the most precious gift one can receive from an archon — vision. Visions are magical foci representing seven main elements making up our world: Cryo, Pyro, Anemo, Dendro, Hydro, Electro, and Geo. Seven elements, seven archons having dominion over the world of Teyvat.
Once a person receives their vision, they become capable of manipulating elemental energy in various ways. Some prefer channeling their power through various weapons such as bows, swords, claymores, etc. While others prefer a more witchy approach: using various magical stones or grimoires that act as their catalysts.
Such people, the vision holders, are also referred to as allogenes. While all allogenes are vastly different from each other, they all have one thing in common. Potential. Potential to surpass human nature and rise above the mortal coil. Potential to become one of the archons. As you can imagine, this little tidbit is a highly guarded secret privy only to archons.
Celestia, a realm out of time that floats above the land of Teyvat, acts as judge and jury when it comes to choosing new archons. Receiving a vision is only one step of a journey. What allogenes do not know is that their challenge has just begun. After all, the most effective types of tests are the ones where the test subject is unaware that they're being tested.
So it's not entirely unheard of when allogenes—or vision holders—achieve godhood. Not unusual, but definitely rare. So rare, in fact, that current archons never had to worry about it happening. It was a closely guarded secret, you see; so decreed the Celestia.
As you can picture, it came as a shock that reverberated throughout the Teyvat that they were getting another archon. The word soon got out that a new god would be joining the original Seven Archons of Teyvat. Many were displeased because of all the chaos and disorder it would bring. Others were surprised, unsure how to react to the news, or what it would mean for the future of Teyvat.
His name was William. It was not an unusual name, considering how diverse and vast Teyvat was, but it certainly sounded nothing like their local names.
William—or Billy, as he preferred to be called—was a young man. A very young man. Billy was shy of fourteen winters when he was told that he has become an archon.
His trip to Celestia was sudden and unplanned. He found himself standing in a white room, dressed in a white toga that only concealed his private parts and part of his chest. No prior warnings, no messages saying: "Hey, you're gonna get spontaneously transported to a weird city in the sky. Have fun~". Nothing.
So it was expected that he got scared. Not the best moment of his life, he had to admit. The part of the Celestia where he was transported to looked like a coliseum. It was full of spectators too; the most beautiful people Billy has ever seen in his life. They looked like angels. Blemishless, perfect angels who gazed upon him with indifferent eyes.
"Welcome, William, to Celestia. Realm of the Gods."
Billy gulped, his throat felt like a Sumerian desert. "Did I... do something wrong?"
"Did you?" the lady gazed down at him with a glare that Billy couldn't quite place. He just knew that he disliked it. It felt like she thought he was a bug sitting on her boot—not worth her attention.
"I don't know...?"
"You have been summoned here, William, because you have been deemed worthy." Billy didn't interrupt the pompous-looking man, even though he was itching to ask some questions. "You have been deemed worthy to become an Archon."
"M--Me?" He couldn't quite believe what they were telling him. Him? An Archon? Surely, it must be a joke, right?
"Yes, you, child. Are you daft, perhaps?" Billy bristled at the insult, frowning at the man who kept looking down on him—literally.
"After the whole fiasco in Inazuma," they sighed, obviously annoyed, "we decided that another archon needed to take dominion over the land of Teyvat."
"What.. what happened in Inazuma?"
The man gazed at him with a raised eyebrow, surprised that the child dared to question him. "Baal, or as she goes by 'Raiden Shogun', almost lost her gnosis to Tsaritsa of Snezhnaya. 'Tis most troublesome times. Sadly, we cannot interfere in their affairs; so decree the divine laws. All we can do is place our hope in you, William."
"What could I possibly do? I just recently received my vision... and, aren't there like... only seven elements?"
"All valid questions," nodded the elder, "allow me to answer them. We will assign you a teacher of sorts since you are still... uh--green behind the ears. We spoke with Barbatos, the Anemo Archon. He should meet you in Mondstadt and teach you whatever you need to learn about being an archon. As for the element, we decided to give you the Electro element."
Elder raised his hand, stopping Billy before he could ask his question. "The Electro element that we are bestowing upon you differs from the one Baal possesses. We will grant you control over Divine Lightning—the element of light and life. Know this, William, your powers will turn volatile just as much as they will be benevolent. Do not abuse the trust we put in you, young archon, and for the sake of everyone, fix things."
Billy was about to open his mouth to ask another question when every single person stood up. They spoke as one in an ancient language Billy couldn't recognize.
For a moment, he thought nothing would happen and it failed, but then yellow lightning struck him in the chest. Power surged through his veins as the images and memories not his own flashed before his eyes. His transformation into archon lasted only a few seconds, while to Billy it felt like an eternity.
"Primordial spark of life that created this universe, the fifth element — Etherion. Rise, William, Etherius Archon."
Billy never felt this wonderful in his life. He still felt like himself, but his body... it was hard to describe. It's as if all of his senses reached their potential. He could feel the ancient power sitting inside his small chest. The power that flowed throughout his body.
"One more thing, William. Once you meet Barbatos, help him locate his gnosis." Billy frowned, confused as to what the hell gnosis was.
The elder pointed his slender finger at Billy and his chest glowed with yellow light. A strange-shaped vial came out of his chest, hovering in front of him.
"This is gnosis. It amplifies the archon's powers thousandfold as long as the archon possesses it. And while an archon can survive having their gnosis removed, its destruction is fatal to the archon. Barbatos had his gnosis taken against his will by a mortal. Help him locate it and return it to the rightful owner. Restore balance, William."
The elder knocked his staff on the ground and Billy knew only darkness.
He could feel a warm breeze blowing in his face. "So young." A muttered whisper carried through the wind. Billy's eyes slowly adjusted to the light as the blurry images coalesced into a face of a petite boy. He had the biggest green eyes Billy has ever seen. His two little braids swished in the wind as he gazed down at the sleeping child.
Billy did the only sensible thing a child his age would. He screamed and jumped away from the weirdo. "AARGH!"
Venti immediately jumped back, wind softening his landing. "Whoa! Easy there, pal!" he held up his hands in surrender, "I mean you no harm. Promise!"
Billy calmed down once the initial shock of the rude wake-up call wore off. "What were you doing peeping at me?!"
"I wasn't peeping!" Venti denied, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment and slight anger. "I was making sure you were the one!"
"I was the... You're Babratos?!"
"Shhhh!" Venti shushed him. "Don't call me that. My identity is kinda secret around here if you catch my drift," he grinned with a cheeky smile. "Call me Venti, Venti the Bard!"
"Uhm... Billy... Just Billy."
Venti's grin turned into a genuine one as he gazed at the kid. "Okay, just Billy. I got a message from a very unpleasant sender," his face scrunched up in distaste, "but since it had a kid involved who needed my help, I agreed. So you're the new archon?"
"Yes," Billy agreed, glad to be talking about things he understood—at least somewhat. "I... I've no idea what to do. They told me to fix things and..."
"Wait. What things?!" Venti demanded with a narrowed gaze.
"Uhm... they said something about chaos and disorder," Venti nodded his head, urging him to keep talking, "Tsaritsa of Snezhnaya lady who needed to be stopped," Venti nodded again, a bit warily this time, "the whole Inazuma situation and uh--" Billy scratched his cheek, "your stolen gnosis."
Venti's eyes turned furious. "How dare they?! How dare they give these tasks to you! You're a child. You haven't even been an archon for a full day!"
"They said that uh--you could show me the tropes? If it's not too hard Mr. Ba--Venti, sir."
Venti sighed, dragging his hand down the face. "I don't like it. Not the teaching you part," he quickly amended, "it's just... it's a suicide mission! What's your element anyway?"
"Uh... Divine Lightning. They said I'm an Etherius Archon?" Billy watched in concern as Venti's face went through several shades of purple as he tried not to choke on his spit.
"Motherfucker!" Billy blushed several shades of red at the crude language.
"Watch your mouth around the kids, bard!" Venti suddenly found himself clutching his abused head. "The name's Diluc. Where are your parents, kiddo?"
"Uh... I'm with Mr. Venti," Diluc's eyebrows climbed his forehead in incredulity and surprise. Not that you could see thanks to all that hair covering his forehead.
"Who's the kid?" Diluc glared down at scowling Venti.
"Ugh! If I didn't like your wine I would've turned you into a human tortilla," Venti grumbled with no real heat behind his words. When Diluc didn't budge, Venti sighed in resignation. "He's a new archon. Bow down, mortal," Venti declared dramatically.
"I see," Diluc was hard to read, kinda like people of Celestia. "So you're what? Teaching him?"
"Got it in one, buckaroo! Say, Diluc, ol' pal, what about that dandelion wine you--" Diluc's glare was impressive enough to make Venti flinch from the heat of it.
"Pay first, then you can have your wine," Diluc stalked away, grumbling under his breath. "Broke-ass god."
"No respect at all," Venti whined, staring at Billy who stood silent throughout the whole interaction.
"Secret identity, huh?" Venti grinned sheepishly. "Is Mr. Diluc your friend?"
Venti snorted and waved his hand in a wishy-washy manner. "No. I mean kinda? He's my wallet."
"I see..." Billy didn't. Not really. "So, Mr. Venti. What do I do? How do I... get back your gnosis?"
"Kiddo, listen. You know that Celestia can't interfere right? The moment they made you an archon, they lost all rights to make decisions for you. You can go and live your life the way you like it. Be free."
"But..." Billy argued, frowning at the prospect of abandoning so many people to their fates, "what about you Mr. Venti? If your gnosis gets damaged it could kill you."
Venti's eyes widened like saucers. "WHAT?!" He grabbed Billy by the hem of his shirt and started shaking him. "WE NEED TO GET MY BABY BACK ASAP!!! I'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO DRINK AGAIN IF I DIE!"
"M-M--Mister V-Venti, please s-stop shaking me," Billy asked with a dazed facial expression, trying to pry away the surprisingly strong hands of the bard.
Venti finally seemed to calm down. "We need to find it. That bitch Signora took it. I think I might know where she's headed."
"Where?" Venti looked at him, sizing him up for the size.
"Follow me. I'll teach you stuff as we walk by. We are headed to Liyue, the City of Contracts. We need to see an old acquaintance of mine."
"Who?"
Venti smiled mysteriously. "You'll see."