Venti the bard, mortal incarnation of Barbatos the Anemo Archon, was not one to use his divine powers lightly, preferring to keep his true identity a secret from the world and pass as a young man like any other. However, from time to time he did like using his powers to enjoy a brief retreat in other worlds to enjoy their sights and sounds. Sometimes a new song was inspired by his trips, but mostly it was just for his own enjoyment.

When, on a fine spring day, Venti found himself in the mood for another such retreat, he followed the road near Mondstadt to the Whispering Woods and, after making sure there was no one around, he briefly focused and soon made himself appear in a place unlike any he had seen before.

There were no trees around; no grass on the ground, nor animals anywhere to be seen. There were no clouds in the sky either, and though it was daytime, the sky was black, not blue nor any of the warmer colors of dawn and dusk. More curious than that, the land around him curved steadily downwards before apparently coming to an end several yards away in all directions, with nothing else visible beyond it. But though the land appeared to curve downwards, when Venti took a few steps along the slope, it was as if this spot he now stood on was the new peak and the previous one was downhill from here. It was really disorienting.

But the most curious thing of all Venti noticed only when he took a closer look at the land. For one thing, there were curious, cottony-white tufts hanging just above the surface and floating gently along. For another, the patterns of land and water, and the patterns of color—whites, browns, grays, and greens— over the land, were nothing like any place he'd seen in his or any other world, yet even so they looked strangely familiar. In fact, they looked almost exactly like a map.

That was the last piece of the puzzle Venti needed to understand what was going on. This world he had appeared in now, it was thousands of times smaller than any he had ever seen. The boyish bard must have seemed hundreds of miles tall to this world's inhabitants, if indeed there were any people living here.

Crouching down, Venti looked closely at the ground to see if he could find any cities on it. His eyes were soon drawn to the many grayish spots that dotted the land, the biggest of them little larger than his fingertips and the smallest of them that he could distinguish no bigger than a dot of ink. He reached for a small cluster, his fingers easily tearing through the planet's crust to scoop up the gray dots and the land they rested on, then brought them up to his face.

No merely human eyes could have told those patches apart from some gray moss or dust, but the Archon's bright blue-green eyes saw in much greater detail, just enough to discern the tall, boxy buildings, the black webs of streets in geometric patters, and even the oh-so-puny beings moving around down there, many times smaller than even a grain of sand.

The discovery astounded him even though he had already suspected it. He watched intently the tiny little people running in a panic through the streets, or riding around in strange metal vehicles that seemed to move of themselves. Curious, he brought his other hand closer, holding a single finger over the cities. He watched the people grow more panicked as his fingertip waved back and forth above them, then he gently set his finger down, letting it settle into the dirt. When he moved it away, there was no sign that a city had ever existed there—nothing but dust could be seen.

How many people had been down there? A million at least, he thought. Over a million souls whose lives had been instantly extinguished... all by the mere touch of a finger.

Venti wiped the dust off of his hands as he took another look at the surrounding land and noticed the prints left behind by his shoes. How many more millions had he crushed under his feet without ever once suspecting it? How many hundreds of millions had witnessed it all and now looked at him wondering if he might do the same to them too? Normally he would feel guilty about having killed even a single innocent person, but... even having killed millions of them already, he didn't feel a thing. The inhabitants of this world were simply too small, too weak, too pathetically insignificant for him to feel guilty about their deaths, just like he didn't feel guilty over all the dust mites or bacteria whose deaths he had surely caused without being aware of it. If anything, knowing that these were people and not mere bacteria only made him all the more fascinated by their frailty.

For a while Venti remained crouching, staring at the remaining cities at his feet, leaving their people wondering what he would do next. Then he grinned, striking fear in their hearts. “It's awfully silly, don't you think? You go through all that effort to build those grand, dazzling cities of yours... and they can't even survive a tap from my finger.”

Screams arose from every city under Venti as the bard's hand stretched down, a single finger reaching to one of them, stopping just a mile above the earth where it blocked out every ray of sunlight they had enjoyed. They kept on screaming even as he wagged his finger from side to side, admiring how their city seemed to disappear behind his finger every time it passed over them. “What's the matter? Why are you all so scared? Know you not what an honor it is for such insignificant beings as you to catch the attention of a god? Even to die by my hand would be a greater honor than you deserve. Perhaps if you showed some appreciation I would let you live... but it's too late for that. Good-bye, little specks.”

Venti sharply lowered his finger onto the city, destroying it all on impact and causing a shockwave to ripple over the land, subjecting nearby towns to cataclysmic earthquakes. Seeing the crater he left behind, he smiled, perfectly delighted over the power he now wielded. This was power far beyond even that of an Archon of his home world, the absolute power to determine the fate of every last one of this world's inhabitants, to determine whether they lived or died and even the shape of the world they would be living on. A power such as this was more intoxicating than any one of his beloved drinks. It called on him to use it, and use it he gladly would.

“You know, as impressive as these little cities of yours are, I have to say, they're a bit of an eyesore on this land. Could you not have made them some color other than the drabbest gray? I'm afraid I must do away with them so you may start over from scratch. Do try to build something more beautiful next time.” Humming to himself, he set his second and third fingers down on a city, then lifted one and moved it forward, casually “walking” his hand across the countryside on its way to the next city over which was crushed in a single “step”, as was the next and the next, until nothing remained save some small towns scattered around.

“It's quite the improvement, don't you think? I'm a poet, not an artist, but I think it turned out rather well. Say, while I'm at it, why don't I pretty your world up a bit more? Let's see... I think there should be some mountains over here, a lake over here... Here the sea should reach further inland, and over there should be a nice valley,” he said, carving out all the geographical features he spoke of with his own hands, making himself a painter and the land itself his canvas. After a while he stopped to admire his handiwork, carved out a few more mountains and valleys where before had been some ugly cities, then gave a satisfied nod. “Once the plants grow back in, this should be quite a beauty to see. Ah, I almost forgot!” With his finger he carved out his name by the shore, putting his signature on his masterpiece. “There, now it's truly finished. I'm sure you and all your descendants will one day thank me for having given you this gift. And now for a little rest and relaxation.”

Rising back to his feet, Venti looked around for a good spot to sit away from his handiwork. He found it on the continent's opposite shore and strode across in a few quick strides, not caring one bit for what destruction he caused along the way. “Do you all mind if I sit here a while? You don't? Ah, how courteous of you!” he said to the cities at his feet before bending over and letting his butt come crashing into the earth, laughing as the apocalyptic impact wiped out millions and millions of people in one fell swoop. “I trust you won't mind me taking my shoes off either; don't worry, I'm told they don't smell too bad.”

After setting his shoes aside, he stretched out his slender legs in their pristine white stockings and spread his toes to air out his feet. Then he pulled out a bottle of wine that he had brought in his carrying bag and uncorked it, taking a few gulps of it before setting it aside and looking over to his feet. It had only been a few seconds since he'd had them out, but already the mustiness surrounding his feet had caused huge clouds to condense around his feet. No more than an inch tall, the clouds looked so cute next to his feet, their white perfectly matching the white of his stockings.

Rocking his feet playfully back and forth, Venti dispersed the clouds over the surrounding area, bringing torrential rains for miles and miles around, humming to himself all the while. Then he took some more swigs from his bottle while idly contemplating the towns and cities surrounding his legs.

“Ah! Mondstadt's best!” he sighed after a few more chugs from the bottle, swinging it back and forth to head the wine sloshing around inside. “Oh, but how rude of me; I didn't even think to offer my hosts a drink. After all, it's the least I can do for you after all the hospitality you've shown me.” Holding out the bottle to his right, he slowly tipped it over until a tiny trickle of wine—an unstoppable torrent of liquor—came spilling out of it onto the ground, flooding everything for miles around, sweeping over mountains and valleys, razing forests and cities alike, leaving nothing but a lifeless lake of red wine in its wake.

“Drink up, all of you! Don't let it go to waste,” Venti said, giggling drunkenly over the little puddle. He then took another swig and looked at the little bit of wine he had swirling about inside the bottle—barely enough for one more mouthful.

“You know, as great as this wine is, it's even better with a meal, and I have just the thing in mind!” Looking to the cities on his right, he made a beckoning gesture and instantly the winds of this world leapt to obey him, powerful air currents blowing through each city to pick up millions and millions of the planet's speck-sized people, carrying them rapidly through the air to be deposited on the veritable landscape of Venti's palm, from which they gazed on his sky-filling visage while he peered back at them. “Now, let's find out what you all taste like, shall we?”

The millions on Venti's palm were thrown off their feet as the Archon angled his palm back, pulling it closer to his wide, gaping mouth. As the slope of his palm became steeper, more and more people started tumbling down its miles-long length while others clung fearfully to anything they could grab. Then Venti stuck out his tongue, setting the wet, pink appendage against the base of his palm and slowly licking up along the length of his hand, gathering everyone up with its spit. Then, pulling his tongue back in once he had licked up everyone on his palm, Venti sloshed them around his mouth, thoroughly tasting them.

“Hmm. It's a bit salty, but... not bad,” he announced. “And now to wash it down.” He brought the bottle of wine to his lips, letting its remaining contents fill his mouth, then swished it around, imagining how terrified the people in his mouth must be at that moment, before finally swallowing, focusing on the feeling of wine going down to his stomach and the warmth spreading out from there.

“Ehehe!” he giggled. “That was great! I'll have to do something very special to thank you for that lovely snack.” He rolled over on the ground, holding himself over various cities. “I don't usually do this, but you've got me feeling so good, I think I'll give you a kiss. Just sit tight down there.” His eyes locked on a little cluster of cities, Venti slowly lowered himself towards it, eyes half-closed and mouth half-open, his braids brushing against the land and sweeping away vast swathes of forest.

He held his face an inch over the cities for a bit, breathing slowly, his wine-scented breath washing over and ravaging them with hurricane-strength winds, blowing away everyone who remained outside and even wrecking countless buildings. “Heh! You little things are so pathetic, it's adorable,” he said watching the destruction he caused. “Are you ready for your kiss? I'll be sure to make it  a good one; you just try and survive so you can experience it all, okay? Here I come!”

He closed his eyes and bent his head forward, his dainty puckered lips crashing into the earth and instantly obliterating everyone caught beneath them. Only in the thin space between his lips did anybody survive, though even there it was only one in a hundred. When he pulled away, chunks of earth and debris falling from his lips killed off many more survivors. After watching those who remained crawl out of the dust and rubble, Venti brought a finger towards the mark left by his lips, setting it down just outside the crater and carving out a big heart around it. “Hope you little specks liked that!” he said cheerfully.

“Now, I know I said that I didn't want to demand too much of you guys, but there's one more thing I want to ask. You don't mind rubbing my feet for me while I lie down, do you? No? Great! Then you can get started right away.” Again he gestured and again the wind gathered up millions for him, flying them all the way to his feet, where they were floated through the threads of his stockings and deposited on his silky smooth soles, where they stared wide-eyed at their new surroundings until a scrunch of Venti's foot got their attention. “So what are you all waiting for? Go ahead and get to work,” he said, and they hurried to obey, running their tiny little hands against the leathery surface of Venti's foot.

Sighing, Venti closed his eyes and lay his head down on his arms, letting his thoughts drift to the barely-perceptible sensation of the speck-sized people rubbing his feet. Using his divine powers, he shifted his awareness so that he could not only see and feel every last one of the millions who were toiling away on his soles, but even get a sense of what was going on in their puny minds. He could feel the dread and terror, the pitiful sense of hopelessness and desperation, and even the awe and admiration that he inspired in them. It was so much fun to see a wave of terror sweep through, to feel them tumbling around on his sole or falling into the tiny wrinkles on his skin, and to hear them cry out in alarm every time he moved his feet.

Many minutes later, Venti felt a curious sensation of warmth coming from a specific spot on his right sole. When he focused his attention on that spot, he saw a young woman on her hands and knees, not only rubbing his feet but even worshipping them, bending over to kiss his soles in between words of praise. Delving into her mind, he found that she wasn't doing it only in hopes that he would spare her life, but out of genuine devotion arising from his many displays of power. When he wiggled his toes to see how she'd react, she clung fearfully to his skin, then reaffirmed her devotion to him even as the world still shook around her.

It was all so adorably amusing. Most of his followers back home worshipped him because he treated them well, but in all his time here, he hadn't done a single thing to help out these people. For one of them to worship him meant they recognized him as being deserving of devotion, regardless of how callously he treated them; it was a truly unconditional form of worship, very fitting coming from such insignificant creatures.

In truth, though, Venti didn't care whether or not any of them worshipped him. They simply weren't worth his attention one way or the other... or so he thought until he realized that, despite her size, this young woman's worship was as potent a source of power for him as that of anyone from his own world.

Venti's eyelids sprang open at this discovery, his thoughts racing with possibilities.

Four million; that was roughly the number of people on his soles right now. This world as a whole must surely hold thousands of millions of people. If even a fraction of that number could be made to worship him, it would grow his number of worshippers by an order of magnitude, increasing his power exponentially. Venti didn't even know what he might do with all that power, but it was enticing enough on its own that he became determined to turn everyone in this world into his loyal followers.

“New request, everyone! You did a fairly good job rubbing my feet, but now I want you to go even further. Now you're going to worship them. So, you know, just get on your knees and start giving me the praise and adoration I deserve! Any way you want to show me your appreciation is fine.”

After his new order, the millions on his soles started awkwardly trying to worship him, getting on their knees and offering a few words of praise. It was an attempt, at least, but it brought Venti no more power. It just wasn't real worship; they may have been going through the motions, but they weren't being sincere about it. How could they be, when most of them didn't even believe in gods anymore?

Frustrated with their feeble attempts at worship, Venti took to communicating directly with the minds of the speck people to tell them exactly what he expected from them. When they still weren't properly worshipping him, he decided to take matters into his own hands and show them all how it was properly done.

The people of this world had such weak minds that they were easily susceptible to being influenced by his will, and Venti took advantage of this to instill in all of them the feeling of absolute, unconditional adoration, after which they started worshipping him in earnest. Even when he stopped messing with their heads, the feeling remained; now that he had shown what absolute power he held over them, even beyond that which came from his gigantic size, the micro people were one and all ready to accept him as their god, and started frantically worshipping him.

“Perfect! That's just what I wanted from you!” Venti said as he felt his power increase from all his new followers, growing so much and so quickly that his body couldn't contain it all as he now was. And so his body grew together with his power, every part of him rapidly expanding and barreling over the surrounding land. His feet, legs, arms, belly—all of him grew several times bigger in all dimensions, an unstoppable avalanche that destroyed everything in its path, leaving behind only a continent-wide crater in the shape of his body, all while Venti simply reveled in the blissful feelings of growth.

“Ah, my followers! Thanks to you I'm more powerful than I've ever been before! You've done very well; now, go rejoin your kind and lead them in worship of me while I go convert the rest of this planet to the worship of me.”

The wind obediently picked up everyone on his feet and set them all back on the ground. Once they were all off, Venti stood back up and surveyed the land, taking great delight to see his shadow stretching over the full length of the continent while he addressed the remaining survivors. “So what do you say? Have you seen enough to accept me unconditionally as your new god and worship me, or do I need to show you even more of my power?” he asked. It took no further convincing for them to accept bow to his command, giving him a new surge of power from their worship that made him expand to twice his size, now standing half as tall as the planet itself his feet sinking so deep into the world that great rivers of magma seeped out of the surrounding lands.

“There go some of my worshippers,” Venti thought, regretting their loss only because it meant that he wouldn't be as powerful as he might have been otherwise. “I'll have to be more careful now; I might destroy the whole world just by walking across it, especially if I get any bigger.” And so he used his powers to make himself levitate, his feet dangling just a couple miles over the planet's surface.

With that taken care of, he floated to the neighboring continents, easily converting every last one of their inhabitants to his loyal worshippers simply based on his sheer immensity, growing still bigger with each new batch of followers.

After just two more continents he was already bigger than the planet, his body visible from everywhere in an entire hemisphere all at once. Then he found that he didn't even need to ask for people to become his worshippers; no sooner did they see him filling up the sky than they fell to their knees in worship, eager to please the colossal bard to whom their planet was no bigger than a melon—an apple—a lemon—a grape.

Then, once everyone on the planet had been converted, giving him such power as he had never in his life thought possible, Venti was so big that their world was no bigger than a young blueberry. The whole planet quivered in fear and exaltation over his might as he stretched out a hand towards it, fingers more twice as thick as it closing in on opposite poles, threatening to turn the planet into space dust at first contact. Yet by Venti's will, the planet was allowed to survive his touch, and he plucked it harmlessly from its orbit to inspect his little prize.

“What a puny little thing,” he chuckled, turning it over between his fingers, his words resounding and shaking the planet to its core. “It's funny to think that I used to be able to stand on your planet without breaking it. Now I could crush it all just by pressing my fingers together, if it weren't for my protection. I'm really tempted to do it, too. Even though I would end up losing all the power your worship brings me, it would be worth it. I mean, what's the point of having power if you're not going to use it? And what's a more impressive use of this power than destroying an entire world between my fingers?”

Venti fell silent for a moment, letting the planet stew in his words. “The lot of you are dirt. Less than dirt, even; you're all pathetic little nothings who would die in seconds without my protection. If I brought you back to my world, no one would think you were anything other than a pretty marble. I could drown you in a cup of wine and then drink you all down, or leave you out in the middle of a street and let you get crushed when some random person steps on you. There are so many fun ways I could put an end to your planet, it's a shame I can't do all of them. Or, can I?”

A devious grin spread over the Archon's face as he beheld his little planet. “Well, let's not have this chance go to waste! I can end your world in one of those ways, at least!” he said, then gestured the world away, directing it down, towards his feet. Soon the planet came to float between his soles, the soft white fabric of his stockings flanking it like a pair of heavenly planes.

Venti eagerly brought his feet together around the little planet, encasing it in the white expanse of his socks. He still held it together for now, allowing him to roll the pale blue marble around between his soles, enjoying the feeling of it against his feet, as well as the sheer terror filling the minds of its billions of inhabitants.

Then, little by little, he began to ease up on his protection, allowing his sole to come near enough to the planet's surface that it grazed the tips of the tallest peaks. Then they were pressing lower and lower to the ground, until all the world's great skyscrapers were scraped against the fabric of his stockings. Towards the end he was simply holding the planet between both big toes, letting the protective field around it get smaller and smaller until there were only a few dozen feet separating his toes from the ground, and everyone on the planet was begging that they would come no closer.

“Scared, little germs?” he asked the planet. “If you want to be saved, you only have to do one thing: swear your souls to me. Make yourselves mine forever, and I'll allow you to live. Don't, and I can do nothing for you.”

Even as everyone swore themselves to him, his protection still kept on decreasing. Soon there were only five feet separating his toes from the ground, then four, then three, then two, and all the people were asking themselves if their god had been lying when he said he would spare them. When there was only one foot left, Venti repealed his protection entirely, instantly crushing it all between his toes, scattering the planet's remains all over the fabric of his socks.

Yet, when he moved his feet apart, there was the planet again, floating intact as if its destruction had been nothing but a bad dream for all its people. “Congratulations!” Venti said. “It looks like you were all smart enough to swear yourselves to me forever. Oh, but are you surprised that still destroyed your planet? I did only promise that I'd let you live, not that I wouldn't kill you. Now that your souls are mine I can kill you and bring you back to life as many times as I want, which means I can have fun destroying your planet in every way I can think of! Watch.”

Holding the world in front of his face, Venti blew gently on it, his breath whipping at the planet so violently that it tore off huge chunks of its mass at a time, until nothing was left of it but space dust. Then, at Venti's will, the dust swirled back together and reformed into the same world, all its inhabitants now shaken with the memories of having died twice in a single minute.

“Well, I think that's enough for now. I'd share some of my other ideas with you, but I don't want to ruin the surprise. Anyway, it's time I got going back to my world now. Oh, but don't get upset at me leaving you; you'll be coming along with me! You're all my property now, so there's no way I'm leaving you behind!”

Venti quickly located his discarded shoes on the planet's surface, then willed them to grow to the proper size for him, crushing everything around them as they grew and even destroying the planet for a third time. Before putting them on, Venti reformed the planet again and slipped it into his right shoe, then stuck his foot inside, keeping the planet under his the arch of his toes. With it there he curled his toes around it, holding it tight to reaffirm his ownership of everyone living on it, before putting on his other shoe and focusing a moment to bring himself back to the Whispering Woods.

Returning at his normal size, the bard took in the beauty of the surrounding woods and breathed in deeply, filling his lungs with the fresh forest air before letting it out with a sigh. He wiggled his toes in his shoe, feeling up the little marble-sized ball beneath them, and once he had made sure that his planet was still with him, he started out on the trip back to Mondstadt, skipping along just to make his planet bounce around the inside of his shoe and rattle all its people, already thinking of what other fun things he could do with his pretty new toy.