#your relationship w/ barbara is platonic!! just wanna clarify

[ogh-rambles]

In Your Absence.

Transported into another world entirely with no memory of your distant past life, you find yourself perfectly slotted into someone else's life. As it turns out, it was this world's 'you'. They had died.

And you had replaced them.

No matter what you do with this reignited life, there is one thing you must decide. This 'you' was beloved and treasured by many. Will you tell them the truth behind your so-called 'resurrection', or live with the lie?

various x gender neutral! reader | 1.5k words

Prologue

Muffled voices, a raging headache, and a metallic stench.

Finding yourself unable to open your eyes, you lie limp against the ground… sand? The grains dig into your face, covering your skin in a sticky embrace. Wishing only to wipe yourself clean and shake the debris off, you attempt to move your arms.

… Nothing.

Your limbs are as good as lead, they merely twitch at your sides. Feeling less like a person and more like a puppet whose strings were cleanly plucked off, you all but lay there. Motionless. If you had died and this was the afterlife, this truly was not what you had been expecting.

“Y…”

 Your poor heart, the fickle thing,  jumps and leaps and rattles against your ribcage.

“... it’s…”

Piercing through the thrumming of rushing blood in your ears, you hear a voice. Or at least you think you do. It’s not clear whatsoever but hearing mere snippets of someone… something… who found you makes you jittery.

Too bad you couldn’t move your body.

“Let’s get them to safety.” The stranger spoke, voice kind and sweet. It wraps around you like a warm blanket, snug.

“They’re hurt…” Another voice joined in, much more shrill than the last. “Oh, Mondstadt’s Cathedral helps the injured, right? We can take them there!”

… Mondstadt?

Only a brief moment of silence fills the air and you become somewhat worried. Had these strangers left you? What were you going to do then?

Warm, gloved hands slide under your dead-weight body, shifting you from being face flat on the sand to lying flat on your back. However, with your newly given position — to your abhor, comes a sharp, stabbing pain in your head and abdomen. It’s a hurt, an ache, unlike anything you’ve ever felt before.

Your brows involuntarily furrow, a distressed sound escaping your lips. The hands pause momentarily, almost as if waiting for you to wake up and open your eyes. However, it never comes, with you still being unable to… do anything .

Slowly and a bit more gently, you note, the hands slide under you once more. To your astonishment, they lift you as if you weigh nothing. Only the gentle sounds of the breeze and your laboured breathing fill your ears.

The talking and chatter had ceased and you couldn’t tell if that was bad or good.

With every foot forward, you felt yourself rock against your saviour’s arms. You don’t remember the last time you were held like that. Frankly, you don't remember a lot of things that you think should be important to recall. 

Shouldn’t it worry you? It should worry you. But, you don't feel anything in the slightest. It was as if the wind brushed against your face had taken memories from your head and away with it went your past also.

In and out. In and out. Like the tide, the breeze spilled onto your skin, leaving you clean. In and out. In and out. Came and went your saviour’s breaths, your head lolling against their rising, then falling chest. 

They keep a steady grip on you.

“Look!” You hear the stranger with the shrill voice shout. “Mondstadt’s right around the corner!”

It was that word again. Mondstadt.

You don’t recognise the term, but there is a sinking, twisting feeling in your chest that tells you that you should.

Not leaving you too long to dwell on your thoughts, your saviour picks up the pace. Briefly, you overhear an annoyed exclamation, the sharp beating of wings and a cry of birds, before it settles into a slow murmur of sound. You can hear the stranger’s heart fluttering and drumming along, your ear pressed tightly to their chest as they hold you closer.

“Honorary Knight!” A sharp sound of rustling and clanking alerts you. “Who is— Hold on, is that…?! ”

Another voice, in disbelief.  “It cannot be…”

More rustling and clanking. The person that your saviour: Honorary Knight , you note, is talking to clears their throat. 

“We will clear a path for you..! Please head straight to the cathedral, Honorary Knight.” They spoke, a slight tremor in their voice.

Without waiting, you felt the air around you move once more. The further this Honorary Knight went, the noisier your surroundings seemed to get. Was Mondstadt a city perhaps? You wondered. A place?

It’s not long before the chattering of the people is gone and you are back to the whispering of the wind once more. You hear a prominent creak of a door before your saviour steps forward. The cathedral is quiet, you note, and echoey. The sounds of rushed footsteps ricochet in the room, along with the heavy breaths of the ‘Honorary Knight’.  

Despite its silence, you can still feel the strange buzzing of wind around you. In fact, it seems more prominent in this Cathedral that this stranger had brought you to.

“Honorary Knight! It’s a surprise to see you here.” A gentle, feminine voice echoes from somewhere behind you as you feel your saviour jolt underneath you. “Is there anything you�� need…?” 

A faint shimmering sound came from above you. “ Barbara, help! This person’s very injured… and Paimon’s very worried!”

Did they just refer to themselves in… third person?

You hear a shuddering gasp. “Oh, dear Barbatos… ”

The snappy reverberation of heels against the floor made its way closer, with haste. A petite, cool hand tenderly, yet firmly pressed against your forehead — stunning you in the process. Barbara , you assume, seemed almost frantic in her movements, if not a bit subdued.

Eventually, she took in a sharp breath, as if snapping out of a trance.

“No, no… I should not be wasting any more time— Follow me, Honorary Knight… Paimon.” Barbara spoke quickly, her footsteps steering further away.

Promptly, your saviour followed close behind.

“Please, lay them on this bed.” She spoke quietly, voice trembling faintly. “Ah, Paimon — could you go call over Acting Grand Master Jean for me? Tell her that it is of the highest importance, alright?”

Obediently, the ‘Honorary Knight’ lowers you onto the bed, making sure that they weren’t jostling your wounds in the process. Thanks to them, the ache in your head and your… everything else — is only a discomfort. 

“Jean?” Paimon questions. “Why would Jean need to be here for them?”

“I’m… sorry, Paimon. Could you please just do that for me?” You can hear the stained smile in Barbara’s words. “I’ll try my best to explain later.”

"Okay... Paimon will be back." Paimon sighs, and with another soft ‘whoosh’ from above, you assume that she’s off getting this ‘Acting Grand Master’.

“Honorary Knight, could you do a favour for me as well..?” Barbara tentatively asks. ”There are a few rolls of bandages above the cabinets in the store room, could you please get them for me? Their injuries seem too severe to just be healed by vision only.”

“Of course.” They say before footsteps shuffle away. 

Once everyone had gone, and it is only Barbara and you left — is when she got to work.

A damp cloth gently dabs at your face, arms and legs. 

“ Did… ” Barbara cuts through the silence with a feeble thready voice, like a knife through butter. “Did Barbatos bring you back to us, (Name)?”

The air around you goes cold. It’s almost electrifying how prominently you can feel the presence of wind in the Cathedral. Every gust against you sends a chill down your spine.

Your…  name.

She said your name! You had never met this person before in your life. At least, you don’t remember meeting anyone like her. Was she a part of the important memories that you had lost? That the draft had taken? How could Barbara…? How did she know?

You cannot answer back, but you reckon that it would be best for either of you if you didn’t, even if you did have the opportunity to speak. 

And Barbatos… who was that? A God, you presume — with how Barbara refers to them. But a god of what? It's on the tip of your tongue...

An abrupt cacophony of sound suddenly echoed through the Cathedral, the crisp noise of heels rebounding through the walls. It drew nearer as Barbara paused her tending to.

“Paimon’s back with Jean! ”   

A single pair of footsteps hurried closer to where you were being treated. 

“Barbara !” A mature voice rings out, clear and full of concern and you figure this person is Jean. ”What’s wrong, you never call for—”  

A sharp intake. 

“I… That is…” Jean’s voice tremors. “That’s impossible.” 

You hear Barbara abruptly stand, a tender hand resting on your shoulder.

“That’s what I had thought!” The younger, whom you assume is Barbara, exclaims before catching herself. “But… They look so similar and their injuries… It is just like that cursed day we found them, si— Jean! I can’t help but hope… ”

Another shuddering sigh. “Have they been unconscious all this time…?”

This time it’s Paimon that speaks. “Mhm. Paimon has been by their side for a while now and they haven’t even peeped!”

“I’ll... go call for Albedo.” Jean finally concluded. You could feel the stress drip from every parting word as her footsteps faded away as swiftly as they had come.

Although, you wondered, why had they all spoken about you like they had known you before? Did you know them? Were you supposed to?

So many questions and not enough answers.

Your finger twitches.

Prologue > Chapter 1