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Furina opened her eyes when the servants began streaming into her room and pulled open the curtains to let in the early sunlight. While some servants carried her daily clothes to her double queen-sized bed and put them down on the bed’s edge, Furina sat up and stretched along her length. She had to squint because of the sudden light from outside which caught in her room’s hundred basins and playful water streams and reflected in ten thousand diamonds along the walls.
“Bonjour, Mademoiselle l’Archonte. I am thrilled to be in the presence of such magnificence and perfection.”
Furina covered a majestic yawn behind a lifted hand and slowly edged over the bed, blinking at the prim and proper lackey standing out of the way of the servants who immediately rushed up to dress her. Despite her tantrum about it yesterday, he still stood at her side as if he had a stick instead of a spine in his back but at least he was dressed even more stylishly.
What was his name again?
“Start reporting,” Furina yawned and slipped over the edge of her bed right into the short pants her servants held ready at knee height. Standing up, she extended her arms so that her servants could pull on her coat, fastening it and its bows, and allowed that two others busied themselves with her hair, mainly working her curls into place to frame her face prettily and tying longer strands into a ponytail.
“Two cases of wasting public funds, one of attempted murder, one homicide, five appeals due to suspicion of prejudicial errors, one group suspected of poaching, all hearings and trials scheduled in the morning, Mademoiselle l’Archonte,” her personal reporter, whose name she hadn’t bothered committing to memory, rattled off his list that was neatly clipped to his clipboard. He pretended to read off the sheet of paper but in truth he had memorised every detail not to disappoint Mademoiselle Furina by making any mistakes.
“You also have a meeting with the Champion Duelist before -”
“Did anyone try to assassinate me while I was asleep?” Furina interrupted him, fixating the reporter with her piercing stare as she blindly reached to the side for her differently coloured gloves.
To his credit, the reporter caught himself almost immediately and quickly drowned the look of surprise in the depths of his soul.
“Non, mademoiselle,” he said, lowering his head in a bow.
“Ugh, boring! When will somebody finally be audacious enough to try it?!”
Rolling her eyes, Furina pushed past the servants, who all parted like waves in front of her, bowing their heads reverently as well. She walked over to the breakfast table that had been carried into her room while she had been getting dressed, the served breakfast covering a variety of jams and honey for her tartine, plus some cut radishes and salt, and coffee.
Another servant in a black coat with a table napkin over his arm pulled back the elegant chair for Furina to sink on and immediately poured her coffee, professionally lifting the coffee pot high over his head as he was doing so. This way, the Hydro Archon could drink the hot beverage at once, without burning her tongue with the first sip.
“Alors. What else?” Furina crossed her legs demonstratively and threw a bored glance at her personal reporter, who scrambled over, almost tripping over his own feet, and continued his oh-so-boring report.
There had to have been something exciting happening in Fontaine while she had been sleeping! Maybe somebody pulled off a grand-scale heist in the night to rob a bank, or the Fatui had finally infiltrated the country and were plotting to overthrow the nation and steal Focalors’ gnosis? Wouldn’t it be most interesting to have beef with the Tsaritsa herself, especially seeing how easily she had tricked the other Archons?
Let’s do this, mon bébé. I, Focalors, Archon of the Nation of Hydro, know the law as it stands written.
Amused, Furina added four spoons of white sugar to her coffee with a slight upturn of her lips, turned her spoon exactly four times counter-clockwise and was about to lift the coffee cup to her lips when she noticed something amiss on the table in front of her.
Her cup clinked when she set it back onto the table.
“Where in Celestia’s name is my copy of today’s Steambird?!” She stood up so abruptly that she kicked over her chair, and thrust her palm on top of the table, glaring at the reporter. The man held his clipboard like a shield in front of the lower half of his face, trying to hide himself behind it by making himself small.
“Mais mademoiselle,” he whimpered, unable to hold his Archon’s gaze but also too afraid to look away, trembling as if he stood naked in freezing water. “You burned yesterday’s copy in a fury and asked to never be insulted by such crappy content ever again! So we … désolé, but we cancelled your subscription with The Steambird!”
“You what?! Are you joking? That was yesterday!”
Furina was boiling with anger and about to show just how badly boiling water could burn, but before she could let off any steam, somebody she hadn’t even heard enter the room dropped something on the table with a loud slap, drawing her attention with this impudence. Who would dare -?
“Today’s copy of The Steambird. Fresh off the press, my Lady Focalors, for your perusal.”
Neuvillette pulled back the second chair on the other side of the breakfast table and sank onto it unfazed, his gaze sliding to the butler without any significant change in his facial expression. He made a small gesture with his cane, and the butler quickly bent down to lift and righten the chair for Furina, who stared at her subordinate incredulously.
“Hmph!” With a defiant huff, Furina dropped into her chair and reached for The Steambird, unfolding it with a hard stare over the table at Neuvillette before she started skimming over the various headlines to see if anything caught her interest. She doubted that anything would because anything of interest would evidently first reach the ears of the Hydro Archon herself before some journalist of her glorious nation would even dream of writing it as an article.
She was right. But at least The Steambird had an entire page dedicated to praising the court's justice, and a smaller section flattering her, Focalors, in every aspect imaginable to the mortal mind.
Furina was content.
“Well, n’importe quoi. You there!” she addressed her reporter snappily, folding the newspaper, and reached her copy to him with a click of her tongue, having immediately lost interest in it. “You may thank me, your benevolent Archon, for not dismissing you from my service for not consulting with me first before making any decision. You will express your gratitude and reverence appropriately at a later point in time. And now, fix your mistake,” she said icily with a brief wave of her hand, taking no note of the trembling deep bow at her side. “Dismissed.”
Instead, Furina reached for her coffee to take her first sip but immediately spit it back into her cup because of course the coffee was cold already.
“Bleh! Berk! Disgusting! Hey, make me a new one, tout de suite!” she demanded from her butler, grimacing at the awful aftertaste in her mouth. She grabbed a napkin and tapped it against the corners of her mouth.
And then to Neuvillette, who watched her even-faced across the table, she said with a certain irritation in her voice: “And why are you still here, Neuvillette? Don’t you have work to do?”
“It seems that you really have forgotten the date.”
“Huh?!” Furina furrowed her brows, feeling herself come to a standstill at the surprising comment. In any other case, she would’ve rolled her eyes at Neuvillette’s terrible attitude and habit of remaining so awfully calm all the time, or thought that he was mocking her or pretending to be better than her, but now that he mentioned it, she really did have a feeling like she had missed something.
And then, with a start, she remembered. For the second time today Furina sent her chair flying.
“The famous Traveller is coming to visit me today!” she exclaimed, grabbed a tartine with butter and cheese with flying hands, and biting into it, rushed out of the room with flying hair and coat, leaving everything else behind.
How could she have possibly forgotten such an important event?!
Behind her, complete silence settled.
“Did the frivolous child forget about her fellow Archons' visit?” Neuvillette asked nobody in particular, knowing well enough that nobody but him would dare react to this, not to mention question the Hydro Archon herself.
He heaved a sigh.
The clacking of her heels against the stone floor resounded loudly in these wide halls of justice, echoing through the air like the ticking of a clock, but Furina wouldn’t have changed this fact even in exchange for the entirety of Teyvat at her feet. She loved how this rhythmic sound announced her coming way ahead and how people stopped to turn and parted for her to come through at this sound, whispering her name and bowing their head reverently.
They loved her.
Oh, and everybody was dressed so well and just a joy to look at! Well, being underdressed was basically a crime in Fontaine that everybody would judge you for non-stop, so obviously everybody adhered to certain standards and at least tried to look their best. Hats, dresses, frills and bows were so important to look chic!
Smiling, Furina held her head a bit higher and her shoulders a bit stiffer, walking proudly in direction of the court’s main hall, rejoicing in today’s future events. She couldn’t wait to make a good first impression on the famous Traveller, the saviour of nations, the straight-shooting knight-errant who made a name in Mondstadt and dominated the gossip kitchen for weeks here in Fontaine.
What an honour it would be for him to finally meet her!
The Traveller would come to understand the perfection of this excellent nation and more so, admire Furina’s beauty, elegance and wisdom, praising her to the skies so that even Celestia would be moved to smile down benevolently at her and her just work. Oh yes, and the Traveller would also come to understand that this was the best nation in Teyvat and she the best Archon among the Seven!
And then, as Furina walked with such pleasant thoughts, she heard something that turned her mood sour like salt in a glass of sweet water: an obnoxious laugh rang through the hall and drowned out the clacking of her heels with its volume. Not only that - the words that followed this laugh were said in such a pretentious Fontainian accent that it made Furina’s hair stand on end and forced her to stop, her cheeks heating up with anger.
“Ohohoh, travelleur! Wouldn’t gliding be faster?”
Who would dare mock her nation’s glorious language like this?! Head whipping around, Furina tried to locate the source of this impudent mockery so that she could have the person arrested and punished on spot. Her cheeks were burning red.
Worse yet, suddenly nobody was paying attention to Focalors anymore but also looking around to find the source of this aggravating grating voice. How dare someone else steal Focalors’ spotlight!! – Theft was punishable with half a lifetime in jail!
“Almost there!” a different, clear voice called as if in response.
Someone must have pointed first because suddenly everybody turned to look in one direction. Furina, too small in comparison to everybody else in these halls, couldn’t see past everyone’s extended arms in the gathered crowd, but she heard that somewhere, something crashed into the ground. It was followed by a high-pitched: “Oh no, Aether, are you okay??” and a more subdued: “I’m fine! Fine! I got it! Ouch …”
“Poussez-vous!” Furina snapped.
With clenched fists and free use of her Hydro, she made her way through the crowd in her way roughly, having to elbow her way through the people who had turned their backs to her and stared at someone who slowly got to his feet with many ow’s and ouch’s. Furina glimpsed from the corner of her eye a golden braid and took notice of an exposed midriff (absolutely scandalous!) before she managed to push past the last body in her way and came to stand in front of a blond stranger, who stood bent over and tried to dust himself off to no avail.
“How dare you?” she huffed, with already half a mind of having this guy arrested on spot for stealing her spotlight, something that was rightfully hers in these moments of the day. However, her bodyguards were the slow incompetent snails they always were and were still struggling to push through the crowd in their way, so she couldn’t command them to arrest the blond stranger yet.
Seeing this pitiful display, Furina scrunched up her nose and narrowed her eyes against angry tears.
“Who even is this guy?!” she demanded to know haughtily, fighting to suppress the tremor in her voice. “Who let this guy into my hallowed halls of justice looking like this? And where is that other criminal who dared disturb public peace? I want him found and arrested, tout de suite! Alors, qu’attendez-vous?”
Her guards had just managed to close up to her, having pushed the unmoving onlookers apart, but hearing their Archon’s orders, they turned on their heels and hurried to obey. They knew what would happen otherwise; the only reason not to follow Focalors’ every whim would usually be directives from Neuvillette or the Oratrice’s judgement, but otherwise, Furina’s word was law. And disobedience to the law was punishable.
“We’re truly sorry!” A voice behind her made Furina’s head snap back to the blond stranger, who she had almost forgotten again. Now that he stood upright and as tall as her, she was met with an honest and sincere look from amber eyes that made her pause visibly. The youthful face and dreamily disorderly hair framing it just invited her to trust and believe him, no matter what he said.
Like a puppy, she thought, stunned.
“We really didn’t mean to intrude! I’m -”
“He’s got such a squishy cute face!” Caught up in her own thoughts, Furina crossed the distance between them and leaned into the other’s personal space, ignoring how the blond stranger was startled by her sudden proximity. Instead, she unceremoniously poked a gloved finger against his chubby cheek and squealed with delight.
It was as soft and squishy as it looked! How truly delightful!
“My!" Furina's lips parted with a bright smile. "I like your face, mon garçon!” She cocked her head and joined her hands behind her back, making herself smaller than she actually was. Like this, she enjoyed a nice angle, looking up into the stranger’s embarrassed cute face. “You have such cute squishy cheeks!”
From up this close, Furina also noticed the faint blush that was powdered across the cheeks which she had devoted her entire attention to. The sight of it reminded her of sweets, with no way of fighting back this particular association.
“Like pink macarons,” Furina observed loudly and straightened up again, arms against her hips. “Do you want macarons, boy?” she asked, and before the blond stranger had said as much as “Uh,” Furina already shouted at nobody in particular, simultaneously moving to push past this blond stranger: “Hé, attendez! CAN SOMEBODY BRING THIS GUY SOME MACARONS? Et que ça saute! You have such a cute face. I like looking at it. It almost gives me cuteness aggression with how cute it is!”
And with that, she walked past him, ignoring the confused look that followed her down the hallway. After all, Focalors was a busy Archon and she had an important meeting to prepare.
They arrived in a group of four right on time. Four and a half? Even with her difficulties of seeing clearly, Furina could make out two tall figures, one of roughly her height, someone really small, and somebody even smaller floating in mid-air - in fact so small that Furina assumed they must not be human but someone’s pet.
Urgh, did they not know that pets were not allowed in the holy halls of justice?
From up where she was seated to greet the Traveller, Furina had a hard time seeing the arriving group well, but she didn’t want to seem too eager standing up and leaning against the separating railing for a better view, or worse, descend to the guests ahead of time. She had an image to uphold, and for that, she would throne above everybody else until the very end. So instead, she impatiently waited until the group of colourful people stopped in some distance, then got up from her seat and walked forward to the railing that separated her platform from the abyss below.
“Welcome to the glorious Nation of Hydro! I extend my warm welcomes to my honoured guests.”
Theatrically, she extended her arms in welcome, laughter pearling off her lips like water droplets, the sound like from a suikinkutsu. Only when she saw everybody bow their heads in returned greeting did Furina swing her legs over the railing and willed Hydro to form stairs for her to descend to the other’s level slowly and impressively.
The water under the heels of her shoes, of course, was crystal clear like Furina’s conscience and form and glittering in the light that broke through the water into its thousand shiny parts, a work of beauty like it could only come from this element’s Archon herself.
“I expect you had a pleasant travel? Maybe you already had the time to admire my beautiful nation and enjoy your stay to the fullest? I am ready to listen to your high praise of anything that captivated your attention.”
Now that she came closer, she could better discern the group of wildly different people that at one glance seemed to have nothing in common. Her attention only briefly grazed the taller archons (tall people should be forbidden by law - what, did they want Furina to break her neck looking up to them?) before her eyes snapped to the funny floating pet thing that bore resemblance to a tiny human because of human features.
“Well, Paimon and Aether basically just arrived, so we didn’t see much of the city yet …”
Furina inhaled sharply and lifted a hand in front of her mouth. It could talk!
“We had just enough time to visit the Statue of the Seven, resonate with it and offer our first Hydroculus before we had to run here. And then the tone-deaf bard was chased across the plaza and got himself into … ah … w-well, if you’re the Archon of Fontaine, you probably know about this. He’s a pain in the … neck, but he’s alright, Paimon swears!” the white fairy answered in a high-pitched voice, prompting Furina to laugh with delight.
How amusing this creature was! How exciting!
“You’re such a funny thing! What exactly is this creature? Is it like a flying Melusine, just from a different nation, or is it your -” Furina whirled around to the person next to the fairy. At that moment, her eyes met familiar amber-coloured ones, the face framed by wild strands of golden hair, and Furina’s smile froze on her face.
Oh.
Furina blinked repeatedly, the gears in her head beginning to slowly turn again and moving the puzzle pieces into place. Rendered momentarily speechless, she just stared, so the Traveller completed the sentence in her stead, smiling sheepishly.
“… My travel companion, yes. And emergency food for dire times, in the future.” The Traveller laughed silently when his pet fairy stomped her foot in the air and protested loudly in his direction: “Paimon is not emergency food, Traveller! And she can speak for herself, thank you very much!”
The Traveller. The blond stranger with eyes of the colour of liquid amber and the squishy cheeks was the famous Traveller, hero of nations.
And Furina had not known from the get-go, making a fool of herself like some ignorant child when they had met in the hallway before.
“Sure, Paimon, whatever you say,” the Traveller said, still laughing in a way that turned his eyes into crescent moons, and to still speechless Furina he said: “Thank you for the macarons earlier. They were truly delicious.”
“They really were. Paimon can only agree!”
Furina felt herself run red from head to toes, hysterics boiling in the back of her throat, unwept tears burning behind her eyes. How could something so embarrassing have happened to her, fabulous Focalors from Fontaine? Was Celestia really that cruel to her?
The Traveller seemed gallant enough not to notice Furina’s crumbling composure but changed topics, his manners filling Furina with a different sense of warmth.
“You didn’t meet yet, right?” He gestured to the side at his companions, who had been patiently waiting for their turn to speak. “The others.”
Blankly, Furina followed with her gaze to where the Traveller was pointing.
The others?
“Thank you, Traveller. Focalors, please allow us to introduce ourselves properly to you, as I believe that we did not have the pleasure of meeting in person yet,” a different, very pleasant voice brought Furina back from the depths of her spiralling, raging thoughts, and the tall man of the group drew her attention. Despite herself, she found herself desperately clinging to his words like a drowning person to a rock because he had something … grounding to himself, something that made her feel safe and guarded and like nothing could ever go wrong when he was around.
“You will probably have heard the many names that I went by in a distant past,” he said with a smile at Furina, and Furina thought hazily that objectively speaking he was as attractive as those statues people put in the middle of fountains. “My name is Zhongli and I’m from Liyue, the Nation of Stone and Contracts. Fortunately, I was lucky enough to hear many stories about your great nation as well and came to appreciate its wealth, progressive technology and the impressive study and use of energetical compounds. It’s a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance and match a face to the remarkable descriptions of Fontaine’s Archon.”
“Oui,” Furina said flatly as she didn’t trust her voice at the moment. So this was Rex Lapis, the God of Contracts. Knowing about his past battles, Furina had expected him to be more ... commanding and terrifying, but the equally tall woman at his side fit the bill better.
Furina sized her up thoroughly. This woman was the complete opposite to Zhongli - a commanding presence, almost threatening just from the way she stood, her gaze sharp and watchful. Being scrutinised like this, she used the opportunity to introduce herself.
“Raiden Ei, God of Eternity and Thunder, the most supreme incarnation of lightning, Archon of Inazuma,” Ei introduced herself briefly, her tone impassive. “… I hope this does not intimidate you,” she added almost as an afterthought with a ripple of emotion running across her face, and Furina found that she did not like the tone Inazuma’s Archon took with her. It sounded disrespectful, as if Raiden Ei thought that Furina was a child that might be scared of someone like her. But why should she - Focalors - be afraid of some lightning when she could command waters at the size of tidal waves and easily drown out the puny little islands of Inazuma?
Furina did not get to return anything because the last Archon spoke up.
“You probably remember me, Nahida, Dendro Archon and God of Wisdom,” the last one introduced herself, prompting Furina to look down.
Nahida put a hand on her chest with a smile, seemingly not minding that she had to put her head back to talk to anyone, ever. “On our way here, I noticed that the people of your city are all dressed very beautifully, showing themselves in all colours, like Sumeruan birds that are native in Dharma Forest. Like them, your people, too, fit very well in their natural habitat and embellish your city’s grand architecture that is easy on the eye and nice to look at.”
“You are the Dendro Archon?” Furina asked sceptically, lifting an eyebrow as she looked Nahida up and down, finally recovered from her mistake with the Traveller and fully back in her element. The Lord of Dendro looked ridiculously like a radish, Furina thought. Oddly fitting. “I thought you would be taller.”
At this, Nahida’s smile turned complicated.
“Height is not an indicator for someone’s level of proficiency or what they’re capable of, Focalors. Please don’t judge me ahead of time like this based on my physical appearance.”
“Ahead of time?” With a huff, Furina placed her hands at her hips, pushed out her breast, and raised her voice, making sure that her voice reverberated through the hall in all its glory. “My, the magnificent Focalors’ personal judgement is one of the highest institutions here in Fontaine! And I declare that you Archons don’t meet even the lowest of my expectations though I based them on the stories about you and your oh-so-great achievements in the past. But I guess rumours do tend to inflate and distort reality like mirages in the desert to the weary traveller. But don’t mind it! You’re new here. You will quickly learn to live up to my standards.”
She whipped around, grabbed the Traveller’s hand and roughly pulled him along as she walked ahead, calling over her shoulder: “Come on, stop wasting my time! Let’s go for some refreshments already!”
Behind her, the Archons exchanged glances, but the first disappointed sigh that was heard came from someone else, who joined the party completely unnoticed but suddenly appeared between Ei and Zhongli.
“Do excuse her, please,” Neuvillette said, casually putting a hand on Ei’s elbow and thus stopping her from lifting it any higher as if he had read her intention of pulling out the Musou Isshin from her breast. Neuvilllette's eyes followed the rapidly smaller growing figure of his Archon, the stumbling Traveller and Paimon, who followed them at high speed. “I fear that she has some uncivil habits and the rough confidence and pride of youth that doesn’t make her consider her words before they leave her mouth.”
“A hard but precise description that happens to describe some close acquaintances of mine as well,” Zhongli remarked gravely, immediately sparking a deeper kind of understanding between himself and the newcomer.
“It seems Focalors is only interested in Aether anyway,” Nahida added, her fingers having formed a square in front of her through which she squinted at the quickly retreating figures, filling the surrounding air with the tickling taste of Dendro. “She did not even remember meeting me before.”
“It’s not personal,” Neuvillette reassured Nahida. After all, Furina hadn’t even noticed that the God of Freedom from Mondstadt, Barbatos, was not among the Archons present.
Aether very obviously didn’t know what to do with Focalors’ attention all on himself. When the others joined this group of three at a pretty table with lunch platters set out for everyone, he shot them a help-seeking glance, which only Nahida credited with a sympathetic shrug before taking a seat herself.
“You may serve us now,” Neuvillette let some servants lined neatly along the wall know with an accompanying nod, and they immediately set into motion and disappeared through sets of doors only to reappear moments later with food trays. Even Paimon, who had been floating above a mountain of cheese on the table and sulkily stuffing her cheeks, stopped eating in favour of floating to her seat at Aether’s side and see what was going to be served.
Furina paid the Archons absolutely no attention but instead noticed something fascinating when the Traveller lowered his head to thank the servants for putting down a food plate in front of him. By doing so, his earring slipped free of his wild strands of hair and into Furina’s line of sight.
“Dis donc! Your earring!” Exclaiming this, Furina leaned over to Aether’s seat, reached boldly past his chin, and, forcing him to turn his head unless he wanted to risk having his ear pulled, cupped his dangling earring against her hand, the jewel’s dark blue a stark contrast against the pure background of Furina’s white glove. Her eyes were positively shining with excitement.
“We’re matching, Traveller! That’s my colour!” she squealed.
“Well …” Moving as little possible, more sweat pearls forming at his temples, the Traveller reached up with an awkward laugh and carefully took Furina’s hand into his to remove his earring from the danger of her pulling at it by accident. Putting their arms down, he made sure to let go of her hand immediately too and thus restored some distance between them.
“We kind of … are? It’s the elemental energy of Hydro after all. You know, from your Statue of Seven.”
“Oh, bon? You carry my elemental energy within you? How uncommon!”
“Technically, it’s not that uncommon because it’s the same with every nation’s Statue of -” the Traveller started explaining, but Furina interrupted him by abruptly extending her black-gloved hand at him as if she was offering him her hand. The middle part of the black glove was designed open but for a string that had a pure blue gemstone enclosed in its middle.
“See here? I, too, fancy Varunada Lazurite gemstones. That’s why I have several of them included in my outfit design: my garterbelts, on ribbons, and obviously on my jabot as well! Obviously I shall parade them around because only the best serves to accentuate my perfection! If you want -”
Furina broke off suddenly when the Traveller’s fingers touched her palm, the touch as soft as bubbling water.
Mesmerised, the Traveller stared at the back of Furina’s hand, his nose mere inches away from her bare skin, the room’s light drawing fine lines on his face and throwing pale shadows from his eyelashes on his cheeks. In this moment of surprisingly intimate stillness, Furina noticed with a pang of irritation light-coloured scars across his skin that stained his otherwise perfectly smooth skin, cracks in the perfect image of a hard-working saviour of nations and most exciting character in this room.
Close together like this, for a moment, she also irrationally thought that the Traveller might do something as brazen and stupid as kiss the back of her hand.
The mere imagination filled her with disgust.
Many would crawl before her with their foreheads pressed against the floor and in vain beg for a chance to be in the same position as the Traveller was now, being allowed to touch the Hydro Archon and hold her dainty hand. This was an honour basically everyone could only ever dream of, as Focalors did not allow favours like this, and daring to ask for it would only serve to have the audacious severely punished for wasting the Archon’s time and souring her mood.
The Traveller probably wasn’t aware of the fatal danger he was in right now because of this small gesture, or aware of the precipice he was balancing on: if Furina decided that he was overstepping his mortal authority, the Traveller would be no more. She had done away with people for less.
But before the growing irritation inside Furina could fester and poison her waters, the Traveller let go of her hand and said, sincerely: “This is the purest Varunada Lazurite gemstone I’ve ever seen. I don’t need to be Zhongli to know how invaluable this is gem is. Worthy of an Archon like you, definitely.”
... What?
Wordlessly, Furina retracted her tingling hand and mechnically turned to face the table.
She slowly dropped her gaze on the table, letting her locks of two-coloured hair cover her slowly heating cheeks from possibly passing glances, and blankly stared at the Bouillabaisse in front of her. In fact, she could not focus on it at all, her blood suddenly rushing louder in her ears than all of Fontaine’s waterfalls together.
For a horrifying moment just now, she had thought that the Traveller would foolishly destroy everything that they had and do something awful like holding her hand with ill intent, taking advantage of the situation or something preposterous like that. But no, her judgement had been clouded. The Traveller had simply taken the opportunity to praise Focalors’ magnificence and gone back to eating without a second thought.
He was perfect.
Yes. He was perfect.
Furina’s head snapped up. She met eyes across the table with Neuvillette, who was in deep conversation with Zhongli at his side, nodding along with great interest as the Liyuen god was monologuing. Intriguing. However, when Neuvillette noticed his Archon’s burning eyes and further, that she hadn’t even touched her Bouillabaisse, Neuvillette sighed visibly, excused himself with a polite gesture towards his conversation partner and stood up from the table without that Furina had had to order him to, making a move away from the table to meet her at a convenient spot out of earshot.
Good. Neuvillette knew his place well.
Furina slid off her chair and urgently walked in roughly the same direction, met by Neuvillette half-way, stopping where they were out of earshot from the table. None of those who remained seated there paid any more attention to them than strictly necessary because at that moment, the servants brought out the second dish to serve, efficiently replacing the first one, which gave the two a moment of privacy.
“Mademoiselle?” Neuvillette inquired politely, but Furina refused to look up at him and only impatiently waved him down, her eyes pinned on the table where the Traveller had just refused being poured some of the finest Fontainian wine. As her hand missed its aim several times in Focalors’ selective blindness, Neuvillette repositioned himself to be grabbed by his elbow, gave in and went down to one knee, his head now on one level with Furina.
“The Traveller, Neuvillette!” Furina tightened her grip around his forearm, visibly vibrating with excitement. “He’s so well-mannered! He’s even better than The Steambird reported him to be!” she fake-whispered, too excited to keep her voice down properly.
“Yes, mademoiselle. I’m sure.”
“He’s everything that I need! Easy on the eye, flattering and so amusing! We’re keeping him,” Furina informed him.
Neuvillette’s face remained impassive.
“I’m positive that will not be possible, mademoiselle.”
“Non? Et pourquois pas, s’il te plaît?!” Any other would’ve instantly grovelled at her feet and begged for forgiveness at the sudden dangerous undertone in her voice that was like a deadly underwater current threatening to drown you, but Neuvillette simply exhaled softly through his nose.
Irritated, Furina faced him completely now, threatening the Chief Justice with her finger. “Do you even know who you’re talking to? If he wants to leave, imprison him! Say it’s because he’s going against the Archon’s wishes; we judged people for lesser crimes!”
“I am certainly aware, my lady. However, you know the law just as well as I do. Allow me to remind you: If the Traveller has not committed any crime, we have no right to detain him. That would be unjust and stain your spotless reputation as the purest soul of Fontaine.”
Furina had opened her mouth in protest but closed it when she heard the last part, seeing as Neuvillette had a point concerning the injustice and the damage it would do to her name. And yet, she was not the kind of person to accept rejection like this. If she wanted something, Focalors would have it.
Looking at her, Neuvillette knew that her brilliant mind would come up with an idea sooner or later. He hoped this idea would not be something similarly devious as Focalors’ first whim.
“I would hate to miss the Salmon en papillote, mademoiselle,” he went on, and his tone could almost be described as gentle if it was anyone but Neuvillette talking. “Let us return to the table and eat.”
At this point, a newcomer, a figure clad in mostly green, joined the table with a joyous “Yahoo!”, drawing their attention. Not only theirs - but that of the entire table. Judging from the general reactions, the others were familiar with this lithe character, who was approaching the rest of the group with intent.
“Weren’t you … in jail?” the Traveller’s white floating travel companion piped up, having been silent but for occasional “tasty!”s ever since the meals had been served. In fact, Paimon had been so busy tasting the Fontainian cuisine and melting in its flavours that she had had no time to care for much else.
“Hah! That was half an hour ago! Times change!” Venti pulled back the chair next to Nahida, opposite of Zhongli, without lifting his hungry gaze from the table and dropped into his seat. With a swift grab, he got hold of the abandoned wine bottle, his cheeks slowly turning the colour of the liquid out of joy as he poured himself a glass.
“A toast to freedom!” Venti exclaimed with a brief toast, downed the glass, smacked his lips, and instantly poured himself another one. “And a toast to our lovely reunion!”
The rest of the table watched him do so with a certain amount of awe.
“Jails are a curious thing I noted,” Ei remarked evenly from her seat slightly removed opposite of the newcomer in a tone as if she was talking about the weather, and put down her fork, staring into the distance. “They have a strange habit of not holding people who were previously arrested. I noticed that during the Vision Hunt Decree. So many escapees.”
The Traveller choked on air and started coughing, gesturing at Ei that he was alright when she turned to offer her help.
“Birds are not meant to be held in cages,” Nahida remarked from over her elevated seat, and something about the way she said it, paired with how sad she looked for one moment, made it clear how loaded this statement was for her.
“Truly! Every bird shall have its freedom.” As if to the suddenly changed atmosphere, the newcomer raised another, this time silent toast.
In the silence that followed, Furina reached her original seat at the Traveller’s side, eyes on the newcomer who had, by now, emptied an entire bottle of wine by himself, in record time. Concerning his last statement …
“Barbatos?” Furina asked.
The green-clad youth turned to her as if he saw her for the first time, surprise clear on his face. For just the duration of a butterfly’s wing beat he looked as if he was going to deny it. Then, a bright smile pulled the corners of his lips up, transforming his face into sunshine incarnate.
“Venti, the Bard,” he introduced himself. “Enchanté, mademoiselle,” he added after a beat with pretty good pronuncation and gave a little bow in Furina’s direction. Impressive was how he managed to bow without that either his bonnet slipped off his head or without that he spilled a single drop of the wine in his cup.
He must be a master of his craft.
Unfortunately, the bard was not the Traveller, so he could not have the same effect on Furina as he had. In a matter of seconds, Furina had lost interest in the bard.
“Traveller!” She turned to the Traveller again, who stopped his fork half-way to his mouth. “Do something amusing for me!”
“Something … amusing?” he echoed, confused, and put his fork back down. “If you want entertainment, you had better ask Venti to perform -”
“How about using my Hydro?” Furina interrupted and picked up her cutlery to finally eat something herself. “Everyone who has had the blessing of a Hydro Vision uses it differently. How do you make use of my powers?”
“Uh … I didn’t … yet.”
“Huh.” Furina cocked her head, briefly considering the Traveller. Then, she shrugged. “I guess you need some time to prepare. Well, no matter!”
[Two additional thoughts that didn't tie into anything else]
The bard had ignored his Salmon en papillote long enough that it was taken away and replaced with the third course - baguette, butter, and cheese - in favour of emptying two more bottles of wine, yet he had still managed to hold normal, though loud conversation with Nahida, who seemed to like the stories about festivals the bard had sung at. Their conversation seemed so interesting to each other that they didn’t care about Furina’s continuous attempts to monopolise everyone’s attention while she was only talking to the Traveller, following the “all eyes on me” principle.
It was pissing her off.
At some point of their lively conversation, the bard had the nerve to call out: “Olah, Focalors! Do you have some apple cider in your esteemed establishment? A little birdie whispered into my ear that you have Dawn Winery vintage in your cellars!”
“No,” Furina said curtly and chopped a bigger piece of cheese in half with her knife, done with the conversation.
“Oooooh.” Venti made a sad face, closing his eyes. Playfully thoughtful, he tapped his pointing finger against his lower lip, then lifted his hand as if he had a spontaneous idea. He obviously wasn’t done with this conversation, for some reason, persisting in his endeavour. “What about apple juice? You must have some sort of juice here, right?”
“No. There are no children here who would be in need of non-alcoholic beverages, bard. Everyone drinks wine at all times of day in my nation,” Furina answered icily.
“There is plenty of water in all varieties if you wish.” Neuvillette didn’t need to explain that they had plenty of water here, but his remark had been meant to diffuse the sudden tension at the table. In fact, a simple wave of Furina’s hand would’ve filled their cups with water or thinned down any wine if she wanted that.
However, Venti didn’t seem content with backing down now, following his own agenda. He sighed theatrically and assumed a half-shrugging pose with the same hand.
“You know, being a child has little to do with this, Focalors. From a certain age on, everybody has the freedom to choose whether they want to drink alcohol or don’t support such a lifestyle.”
“No juice.” Focalors pierced her fork through the left piece of cheese with more force than needed, hitting the plate underneath audibly. “Final. Word.”
“I don’t drink any alcoholic beverages by choice, Focalors,” the Traveller quietly added to the conversation. His eyes were fixed upon the table cloth but his shoulders were tense. “I prefer Wolfhook juice, for example, or Sparkling Berry juice over alcohol.”
“Bring some juice! If we don’t have any, mix it for all I care! But whatever, make it happen! Now!” Furina barked over her shoulder, and when everybody in her back was running to obey, she nonchalantly popped the pierced piece of cheese into her mouth, pretending not to notice everyone’s eyes on her.
The Traveller had lifted his head too, his gaze … intense.
“For Nahida and Paimon too,” the Traveller added, his attentive gaze never leaving Furina’s face. There was a severeness in his expression that Furina was unfamiliar with, not just with seeing it in the Traveller’s face, but with being faced with it in general.
Furina stared back without blinking.
How curious.
In fact, she did not know what to do in such a situation, seeing as she hadn’t known that she could ever get into such a situation. Of course, as the Hydro Archon she knew that one day, she would be judged in the same way as she usually judged everyone - but by Celestia, not a golden-haired stranger.
Furina also noticed how unusually calm she felt. Not a single bit irritated by being put on trial like this.
Huh.
“By my grace, I will fulfill this wish,” Furina finally said, still unblinkingly staring back at the Traveller.
--
“Name whatever you want and through my grace, it will be yours,” Furina said as if she was swearing an oath. Able to compare herself with the other Seven, she could confidently say: Who but her was able to fulfill the Traveller’s every wish?
“I …” The Traveller shook his head. “I don’t think that …”
“Are you trying to insult me, Traveller?" Furina placed her hands firmly on her hips and lifted her chin. "Do you want to insinuate that there is anything in Teyvat that I, Focalors, am unable to do?”
“Well, I …" The Traveller shook his head again, almost as if to clear his mind. Furina couldn't see his face, but she knew defeat when she saw it. It brought a smile to her face. "I want to find someone.”
“Ohohoho! Say no more! My people are very good at finding others. Go on. Name someone.”
“Lumine.” The Traveller's head shot up to meet her gaze, looking tense for a reason Furina did not understand. His hand, which had been fiddling with the end of his braid almost nervously, held onto it like onto a life line now. “Can you find her? She’s my sister.”
“Your sister?” Furina repeated flatly.
“We travelled together. I am looking for her. I …”
“Hmph.” Furina crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I will not do that. Ask me anything else.”
“Oh." He ... deflated. "I see.”