In this moment of silence where neither God nor Dragon spoke, they both remained silent, watching the stars. Putting away his lyre, Venti stepped forward, his voice gentle as he said, "How about Astro for short? Doesn't sound too bad now, does it?"
With a beaming smile, Astro looked down from the sky and said, "I don't mind it at all. I actually love it. I—I love my name."
"Well then, it's about time that we start looking for a place for you to stay for the night. After all, that beautiful moon can only stay in the sky for so long."
Nodding happily, Astro followed along as Venti began walking through Mondstadt. Although Astro couldn't see too clearly the beauty of Mondstadt, he could see rough shapes and outlines—beautiful bushes and greenery, well-made medieval-style buildings decorated elegantly yet freely.
"Hey Venti, where are you even taking me?"
"Ohh, right, I never told you. My bad. I'm taking you to the Knights of Favonius headquarters. I'm going to ask the Grandmaster to see if she will grant you a temporary stay."
"Ohh, that's cool, I guess."
"Don't worry too much, Astro. Trust me, you'll absolutely love her."
"Alright, if you trust her so much, I guess I'll trust her too."
The atmosphere falls into a soft, contented silence as they walk at a leisurely pace toward the headquarters. Finally arriving, Venti softly opens the door and guides me toward the Grandmaster's office, nudging me to open the door myself. I begrudgingly do so.
Opening the door softly, trying not to bother the room's occupants, Astro is greeted by a beautiful woman with platinum blonde hair, her figure well-toned and shapely, and her clothes elegant and knightly, showing both her status and her character.
Slowly but hesitantly, Astro walked into the room. Seeing his hesitance, he pushed him forward softly, guiding him to stand in front of the Grandmaster as he spoke up, making sure both could hear him. "Astro, this is the Acting Grandmaster of the Knights of Favonius, Jean, the Dandelion Knight."
Venti paused for a moment, allowing his words to sink in. "Jean, meet Astro, our new resident Dragon Sovereign."
For a long second that almost got uncomfortable, Jean remained sitting, blinking bewildered at both divine beings that stood before her, before she stiffly stood up and stretched out her hand for a handshake.
Complying with the handshake, Astro spoke, trying to keep his tone open and inviting. "My real name is Astrophel. It's a bit of a mouthful, so just call me Astro for short."
Slowly but surely, the stiffness in her shoulders left her as she responded, her tone a little bit calmer. "Understood. It's nice to meet you, Astro."
Feeling a little bit left out, Venti decided to butt in as he said, "Hey now, don't forget about me. You wouldn't be so mean as to forget your favorite little bard now, would you?" As he struck an almost childish pose, like a child begging for attention.
Glancing at him, both Astro and Jean had a look that could only be described as are you kidding me right now, you're a grown god.
Smacking his lips, Venti muttered, "Tough crowd nowadays," before fixing his demeanor and expression and beginning to talk business. "Well, Jean, I didn't just come here for pleasantries. Well, neither of us did. I wanted to ask if you could give him a place to stay within the headquarters, as it would be a pretty good place to let him learn about the world and keep him safe."
Seeing her god finally get serious, she followed suit as she began to explain. "Yeah, no problem. I think we still have a free room that he can use. If anything, it should be right next to Albedo's room, if I'm correct. And yeah, I understand your concerns—they are valid."
However, as both god and Acting Grandmaster began to have a very in-depth conversation about Astro's lodging, the man in question was long gone from the room, his curiosity having been piqued by his surroundings.
Silently exiting the room, he walked around the Knights of Favonius headquarters until suddenly he felt something hit against his leg with a soft thud. Looking down, he saw a beautiful little girl dressed in a simple red dress that was lively, her red eyes lively and curious, exactly as a child should be.
Kneeling to one knee in front of her, he helped her get up as his soft voice rang out, all kinds of warmth following suit that he himself did not know where it came from. "Are you alright, sweetie? You didn't get hurt, did you?"
Looking at Astro's angelic wings, she squealed in delight as she answered in a blur of words that he barely even caught. "Yeah, I'm perfectly fine actually, but your wings are so, so, so pretty!"
"Ohh, so you like my wings? Do you? You can pet them if you want—just be gentle, alright?" Then he gently lifted her up by her arms, letting her stand on her own feet before spreading his wings out toward her direction.
"Sweetie, what's your name, and why are you running alone within the halls of the headquarters?"
"Ohh, my name's Klee, and I actually live here. I get taken care of by the Knights of Favonius. And as for why I was running in the halls, my big brother of sorts wanted me to go to sleep, but I'm not tired yet."
Laughing softly, Astro gently raised his hand to pat the girl's head, and with a brush of wind that he had created, he lifted her up into the air as he said, "Then how about we play a game? After all, your big brother must be quite tired from trying to get you to sleep, so how about we make sure that you're tired as well? That way, you can both go to sleep."
"Okay, mister, what game will we play?" she said, her eyes sparkling with genuine curiosity and innocence.
At the sight, Astro's heart throbbed at the beautiful scene as only one thought resounded throughout his mind: This child is so innocent.
"The game is simple. You have to catch me, and if you catch me, we can go flying—just you and me—flying in the sky, seeing the stars and looking at the world."
Suddenly, an almost serious look covered her face, or at least as much of a serious look as she could muster, as it still looked insanely cute. "Bring it on, mister."
Guiding her to the main hall, Astro spread out his wings after stepping a couple feet away from her as he said, after counting backward from three, "Begin."
With a rush of wind, he spread out his wings and flapped them a couple times, trying to get used to the feel as he began to dodge and weave as she tried to catch him with all she had, all while she laughed and smiled with glee.
After a while, she began to tire, her body slowing down and her eyes growing heavy. Seeing this, Astro began to slow down as well until eventually she said, her voice groggy and slow, "Mister, I'm sleepy. I want to go to sleep. Could you take me to my room, please?"
Slowly, she fell into my open embrace as I carried her within my arms, walking toward Jean's office. I knocked on the door and opened it softly, seeing her and Venti having a nice chat as Astro said, gazing at the child in his arms, "Pardon the intrusion, but to what room does this sweet angel belong?"
Seeing Jean's expression turn to one of slight worry, Astro quickly added, "Relax, we were just playing around. She had way too much energy for this time of night, so I said why not play a game. She ended up getting tired and falling asleep in my arms."
"Okay, thank you," Jean responded quickly. She paused for a moment as if remembering something before she spoke up once more. "If I remember correctly, her room was the third room to the left after you take the stairs to the second floor."
"Got it, thank you."
Without caring to say goodbye, as swiftly as he had entered, he left. The stairs visible from the main hallway, he followed all the steps that he was told until he finally arrived at a room that had a door slightly ajar.
Opening the door softly, he saw a bed with a simple red cover. Smiling softly, he had already guessed which bed was hers. Laying her on the bed, he took off the little hat, exposing her blonde hair. Sitting down on the seat nearby, he allowed the anemo energy that made up his being to cover this girl, playing a soft, gentle gust of wind. It was cold, like a good night breeze. Quickly, she relaxed, falling into even deeper sleep.
However, exactly as he had his hand outstretched above her, a figure appeared at the door. His face was stone cold, his hair a dusty blonde, and the coat with the insignia of the Knights of Favonius placed in clear view. His posture indicated a sense of calm composure, but his facial expression was one of stone-cold anger. His voice, most likely warm at times, now sounded cold as he said, "What the hell are you doing?"
In that moment, a singular thought rang through Astro's mind.
Well, this doesn't look good.
Authors notes:
I'm back, baby—haahhahahahah. Life thought it could stop me from writing; it was wrong. Dear God, why am I even writing this down… why am I still writing this!!!!?
Anyway, back to our scheduled program. Long story short, yeah, I just hope y'all enjoyed this chapter now that you've kind of gotten a glimpse at what the rest of this fanfic is going to feel like. Sometimes you'll have very consistent uploads; other times you'll be lucky to have one once a week, because sadly that's just my life. There's only so much I can do about it.
But anyway, thank you all for reading to this point yet again. Bear with me. Ohh, and I guess add it to your libraries and leave a review. (yiiiipppeeeee)