Expanding on my earlier idea about Venti giving birth to a new Anemo Sovereign.
So after the throne of the Hydro Archon was destroyed by Focalors, the other Archons are thinking of taking a few leaves out of her pages â but none of them have a unique power source the way Fontaine does, and Nod-Krai never needed to destroy any throne when the Trilune authority was rightfully Columbinaâs to begin with.
Ventiâs idea to bring in a new Anemo Sovereign is to give birth to one, in case Dvalin doesnât want to take the spot. (As for whether Ventiâs dragon child will want it for themself, he will think about that conundrum when he reaches it.)
His idea works out a little too well and he ends up pregnant with three eggs.
Neuvillette, while out to meet the Archons as part of his intent to judge them like in his voice lines, is wondering why he can sense such highly concentrated Anemo energy and finds Ventiâs cottage (and nesting area) while the latter is a few months along.
And Neuvillette is honestly terrified for him.
Like, itâs nice that Venti is more than willing to give up his divinity and return that stolen power to the Sovereigns but. đ° âSir? Sir. Sir, are you insane??????â Because laying dragon eggs is already hard enough on dragons, laying them when youâre not even a dragon would surely be even more taxing if not outright hazardous.
Venti knew this and went ahead with it anyway. Dragon eggs might be new for him, but heâs given birth countless times before.
Neuvillette takes it on himself to check in on him every once in a while because his conscience demands it of him. And Ventiâs going to need an actual dragon to monitor the exchange of elemental power, anyway.
Venti cracks a little joke that if Neuvillette were to volunteer to watch over his little ones, Venti could probably pass on peacefully in prison.
Neuvillette knows heâs joking â not every judgement ends in a guilty verdict â but he takes it seriously anyway and volunteers to be the godfather. đ
Venti is touched that he actually jumped at the idea. Thatâs not just the Hydro Sovereign accepting the role of a godfather, thatâs the Chief Justice of Fontaine. Even if none of his children choose to become the Anemo Sovereign, theyâll definitely grow up safe and proper.
The birth is absolutely chaotic.
It started off mostly fine. Venti wakes up feeling contractions and preps himself like with previous births.
But then, just as Neuvillette had feared, the eggs turn out definitely bigger than regular babies.
Itâs only the first egg and itâs already sort of stuck.
Venti is pushing and pushing with everything he has, and the more itâs pushed out the more painful the stretch before it slips back in. After several hours, heâs still trying to lay it when his previous children would have already been born, and his anxiety is growing with each extra hour.
Yeah, heâs in over his head.
Itâs all he can do to focus and push harder until the egg is finally halfway out before getting stuck again, and heâs shaking badly with tears running down his face. His headâs swimming in-between the pain of the contractions and the burn from his vent stretching far past its limits.
Neuvillette and Aether barge in after hearing him scream (they were already on their way to visit) and they scramble to help, Aether running off to get actual help with Neuvillette staying and letting Venti hold onto him.
Dvalin is also there, but he doesnât know how to take a human form, much less how to support someone in labor; so heâs just there for moral support, twiddling his claws and cringing every time Venti lets out another agonized scream.
And itâs really not looking too good. The first egg is finally laid, but thereâs still two more to go, Venti has already lost a lot of blood, and heâs clearly too weak to keep pushing.
But surgery wouldnât be ideal in a place like this, and itâs not like they can move, so Venti grits his teeth and keeps pushing anyway, even when Neuvillette advises him to rest in-between.
Aether arrives with Zhongli just in time as the second egg starts to breach.
Zhongli is also looking at Venti like heâs lost his marbles but thatâs a discussion for another time when Venti isnât almost dying from laying dragon eggs â how does a wisp even get pregnant with dragon eggs to begin with!?!?!
And over time Venti is getting worse and worse. Heâs so pale from the blood loss, drenched in sweat from exhaustion, and he probably tore from the first egg.
The second egg comes out a little bit easier thanks to Zhongliâs instructions, but Venti really has to stop and rest before he can start pushing out the last egg because his body clearly canât take much more, even with the contractions still going.
And they did expect even more difficulty with the third egg.
They just hadnât expected it to be coming out sideways when it breached.
Venti is almost hyperventilating when gripping Neuvilletteâs hand tight. Having to push a large egg back up his birth canal and turn it isâ He canât. He just canât. Heâs thinking âThis is it. This is how I die.â
(Outside, Dvalin is whipping his tail with anxiety because Venti has been screaming and crying for so long???? Whatâs happening in there!?!?!?! And Xiao has joined him because he was wondering what that howling wind was and now he is also very scared for Venti.)
Thankfully, the last egg is smaller than the others and Ventiâs able to push it out with a little less effort. Still terribly straining, but itâs finally out.
He wakes up in the Churchâs infirmary with his eggs next to him, all nestled in a cute bassinet with baby blankets, and Neuvillette discussing with Aether and Zhongli about some stuff involving Celestia, the Archons, the moons, and other probably important things that Venti doesnât have the brain cells for at the moment. Something about Zhongliâs contract with them being âunenforceable.â
Zhongli notices heâs awake and immediately starts checking him over.
Ventiâs still pretty weak and sickly. Color is returning to his skin, but heâs still anemic and his vitals have yet to fully stabilize. Heâll also need to be careful with his tear (now stitched up) and watch out for infections, but once itâs healed he can go to Windrise to speed up his recovery.
Venti doesnât care about himself at the moment. Heâs thinking of his children.
Neuvillette assures him that not only are all three of them perfectly healthy, but the power exchange Venti intended had actually succeeded. As for the throne of the Anemo Archon, theyâll have to wait and see if it will disintegrate on its own from this. It wasnât actively destroyed like the Hydro Archonâs, after all, and itâs not like any of the three are of age and strength to accept the Anemo Sovereignâs authority.
At this point, Venti has to ask if Neuvillette has changed his mind about being the godfather to his children, considering it was kind of on the spot when Venti made that joke. And with Neuvillette being busy with running Fontaine, far be it from Venti to impose with his own from Mondstadt.
Aether stares at Neuvillette because theyâre godparents now and Neuvillette forgot to tell him?? (No, Neuvillette has not changed his mind.)
And thatâs how Venti and Zhongli find out that theyâre honorary uncles to the Hydro Sovereign and the Travelerâs dragon hatchlings.
Furina and Sigewinne are all too excited to run over with the baby pictures.