Chapter Text
It was a perfect night.
Furina adjusted her top hat in the mirror, making sure it was perfectly adjusted at a 45 degree angle. Her hair was curled to one side and in a wavy ponytail that flowed down her back, her midnight blue dress swooping up in a v-cut, exposing her thighs. She smiled, sharp and fast. As the door creaked open, revealing the numerous people standing at the doors, dressed to the nines.
“Welcome, everyone, to Fontaine’s masquerade ball!” She waved her glass of champagne up and pressed her own sapphire-adorned mask to her face.
As customary, in true Fontainian fashion, she bowed, and was met with applause when she looked up. “This night is one to remember! I guarantee that you will, all of you, will have fun at this ball! So while the night is still young,” Furina added, before turning around and pushing the doors to the Opera Epiclese open with a flourish, “please enjoy yourselves.
“I guarantee it will be a night worth remembering.”
—
“This thing,” Rui announced, while swirling the glass of wine in his hand. “Is the good stuff, Tsukasa-kun.”
“Just don’t get drunk on Mondstadt grape wine.” Tsukasa snorted while adjusting his coat lapels. “C’mon, you full well as I do that my Cryo vision makes me immune to these sort of things.” Rui gestured to his vision hanging by his waist, clipped on to his belt. “There is no scientific evidence that it does.” He deadpanned. His own Pyro vision was gleaming a bright red, hanging on his neck and secured with a choker. “Fine, then my Inazuman blood will save me.” Rui took another shot from the buffet table, his mask still firmly secured over the bridge of his nose.
Tsukasa rolled his eyes. “I’ll pretend not to know you.” He said as he slid away from the table and melted with the crowd, ignoring the purple haired man’s protests. He got halfway when he came across an individual around his edge, his mask not hiding emerald green eyes that gleamed in the light. Twin braids tipped turquoise at the end moved along as he turned around with an easy smile on his face. “Care to dance?”
“My pleasure.” Tsukasa let himself be swept away with the stranger as the orchestra’s music played a slow waltz. “Mme Furina throws good parties, hmm? Judging from your vision holder shape, you’re not a local.” The stranger asked him, voice low. “I didn’t catch your name.”
“Apologies, please call me Venti.”
“Tsukasa. And yes, most astute of you. I am from Inazuma.” Venti chuckled in response. “Then, allow me to tell you about the ball, hmm? Furina is the God of Fontaine, and Fontaine is famous for its…rather unique trials to uphold her ideals of justice.” He pauses for a while here, as if deciding how to continue. “Furina has been doing this since 200 years ago, annually, and for fun, she is tested by the Oratrice Mecanique d’Analyse Cardinale, to see whether she is truly deserving of the title as Archon. To this day, it has always pronounced her as innocent.”
Tsukasa raised an eyebrow. “You seem to be waiting for the day she is pronounced guilty.”
“Maybe I am.” Venti gave him a small bow and disappeared as the last notes of the music faded, his twin braids the last thing Tsukasa saw of him.
—
Rui pouted after Tsukasa abandoned him near the buffet counter by himself. Seriously, he needed to take a chill pill. He swirled the glass in his hand, watching the purple liquid move around. All right, he supposed dancing wasn’t really much of his thing.
“My, my, alone on this fine night?” Rui looked over to the other side of the table to see someone with blonde hair, a simple plain white mask adorned with checkered diamonds alternating between black and white framing blue eyes. The stranger flicked his wrist, and suddenly, where there wasn’t before, now lied a simple card with a black and red front. “I have never been a fan of dances, or balls for that matter.” He shrugged. The stranger began flipping the card back and forth, too fast for Rui’s eyes to follow. “Fair enough.” They said, and suddenly, there were multiple cards sitting in their hand. They then began shuffling their deck, looking thoroughly bored. “Even I belong on the stage.”
“Pleasure to meet you, magician Lyney.” Rui flashed a wry smirk over. Lyney pauses in his shuffling momentarily to look over at him, small smile on his lips. “Likewise.”
“So,” he put down his wine to look over at him. “What does Mme Furina do around here?”
“Everything you possibly can think of.”
“That’s not what the question was.”
“I was just pulling your leg, no need to get so serious.” Lyney pulled one card out before sliding it back in the deck in one smooth motion. “To answer your question, other than trials, she also likes cake. Desserts in particular. Whatever Archons do, she doesn’t rule over Fontaine like…” he leaned over to look at Rui’s vision. “The Raiden Shogun. She seems to handle most of the reins to the Chief Justice, Neuvillette. He’s the one who reads and delivers the Oratrice’s readings. Some people joke as if he’s the real Archon.” The magician flipped his cards around once more before flipping one over and sliding it across the table. “Sometimes, it’s what people wish to see and believe, because they choose to advert their eyes from the truth. That’s the beauty of Furina. She chooses to bring down the curtain to avoid other attention in other areas; when she does, however, slide it down, she uses their attention to change some things in the play.
“Unfortunately, our time is up, dear stranger. My dear sister is wondering where I have disappeared to. Till we meet again.” Lyney slid away from Rui with a wave of his hand and into the throng, his card deck seemingly vanished into thin air. Confused, Rui turned over the card.
Justice.
Equity, rightness, triumph in the deserving side of the law.
—
Toya’s not sure why he and Akito made the trip to Fontaine in the first place. An had shrieked when the invitation came in, but was cranky when it was revealed that it was only addressed to the both of them.
“Hmph, for the two people who don’t even know how to dress well, invited to the Masquerade party in Fontaine?!” An threw her hands up in the air.
“An, if this invitation didn’t even come addressed to us, do you think we would’ve gone?!” Akito shot back in response. “I would rather stay in Liyue.”
“But still, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for you two!” Kohane piped over the phone and patted An’s shoulder, which was as high as she could go. “Besides, you two need a break. Leave everything to us!”
“Be sure to tell us everything when you get back!” The two waved as the call ended before Akito could even protest. “Shiraishi’s not wrong.” Toya said from his position from the couch, laptop in his lap as he clicked away. “And I really think Lady Ningguang can go without you for a few days, Akito.”
“Easy for you to say, cuz you can bring your laptop there and work on your book.”
“I think my boss will understand as well, because Fontaine’s balls are very hard to get an invitation to.” He ruffled the ginger’s hair, earning a glare. “Think of it as a vacation. Besides,” he added on teasingly, “Albedo told me about this one pancake place when he visited Fontaine for a book signing event under his pen name. Afterwards, we can go check it out, should you wish.”
“…Fine.”
In hindsight, for him, this was easily one of the must boring events he’d ever been to. After the orchestra switched songs for the 10th time he had been standing in one corner, he slipped out of the Opera Epiclese and breathed in some fresh air near the balcony. Even with half of the city in the dance, the streets of Fontaine were still bustling with life, lights shining in storefronts and robotic guards and pets patrolling the streets. To his surprise, a large fountain lay in the middle of the square, the bottom filled with coins glittering at the bottom. Toya mentally filed away that information to use for his manuscript. “Legends say, if you flick a coin to the bottom, the wish you make will come true.” A woman’s voice came to his right. As he stared, violet eyes tinged with slight hues of lighter purple looked back at him. Her long hair was tied back in a braid, trailing down her back and stopping at her waist line. “Care to try?”
He hoped his own mask wasn’t loose. “No thank you.” He shook his head, hoping that he wasn’t too disrespectful. “I’m not a local, so I have no idea if their traditions will work for me.”
“Fair enough.” The woman tucked one stray strand of hair behind her ear and walked over to stand at the balcony. “If I wish to make a wish, I would do so at the Grand Narukami shrine and take my fortune there.”
“Oh, you’re from Inazuma? Pleasure to meet you, then.” He looked over and saw the woman smiling back at him. “And I suppose all authors from the Land of Contracts are smooth talkers.”
“You recognise me?”
“Your books sell out fast at Yae Publishing House.” The wind blew his blue hair back from his face, exposing a small shocked expression. “I would know, because Yae complains to me on a regular basis about how it’s always out of stock.”
“Wait- you’re-”
“The Raiden Shogun. Please call me Ei.”
Toya was, in one word, flabbergasted. “I-Wait, huh?”
“Mmm, surprised? I’ve left Inazuma in some capable hands for a few days, while I relax. Unfortunately, these things aren’t my cup of tea. I suppose it is the same for you.” Her eyes flitted to the Electro vision hanging on his hip.
“It was a once in a lifetime experience. I couldn’t let that die, right?”
“I suppose not.” Ei’s gaze traveled across the courtyard as Toya went over to stand beside her, night wind rustling coat and dress. “As a writer, do you think plot twists are important to the story?”
“Of course.” The answer rolled smoothly off his tongue. “It keeps the readers hooked on edge and keep on reading.” The archon fiddled with her braid.
“Seems like we have different tastes. I prefer a straightforward approach, where the protagonist overcomes obstacles in a systematic way and manner, while learning about themselves. Efficient, and to the point.” She ticked it off on her fingers as she said it. “And we can agree to disagree, correct?”
“Mhm.”
“I shall return to the festivities, then.” Ei twirled around and let her kimono flutter out behind her. “And if you do live in a story…
“Remember that the most complex ones always have a rising action.”
—
Akito lost Toya in the first 20 minutes of the festivities. The blue haired man had disappeared into the crowd, leaving him lost. And alone.
He sighed as he picked at one of the small cakes arranged in a layered tier tower and popped one in his mouth. (It really was good.)
How he wished to hold a spear in his hand and spar with somebody right now. Even in Liyue, in the Lantern Rite festivities, there was something for him to do, be it watch a small paper play or release a lantern into the starry night sky. Here, he had to dance.
As if the universe were laughing at him, a woman strode up to him. “Care to dance?”
She was dressed in thigh high boots, her dress exposing some skin before it flowed down her back in waves of white. Her blonde hair was cropped short, flowers woven into her fringe before two thick strands of blonde dangled in front of her face, obscuring his vision of her mask. The way she said it, she looked physically strained to ask the question.
“Let’s.” Akito pressed a small kiss to her hand, as per Fontainian tradition, and guided her to the front. He didn’t recognise the song, but it was fast paced and quicker to dance to. As he prepared for the music drop, the woman leaned close to him, pressed her mouth close to his ear, enough that her words were only audible to him as she whispered, “How do you define justice?”
He was so startled, he nearly fell on his back as the masked woman leaned back and pulled him in close. “People say it’s different, but in the end, all their ideals go to the Oratrice to determine fates.
“I just hope the Fontainians can escape from the prophecy. ‘The people will all be dissolved into the waters. And only the Hydro Archon will remain, weeping on her throne.’” As she slipped away from Akito’s hand, dark amber-orange eyes stared from under the mask. “And I hope you don’t get too close, even though you aren’t from here.”
As she merged and Akito lost sight of her within the crowd, he felt a chill run through him.
—
“Attention, everyone. Please turn your eyes to the stage, where Neuvillette will now be commencing the trial of Furina.” The voice sounded over the speakers in the room, and the lights dimmed. Rui crossed his arms and watched as a man with white hair ending in blue strode onto the dias at the back of the hall. A lone spotlight shone onto the Hydro archon sitting on a small chair in the middle of the stage, looking thoroughly bored. Footsteps sounded from behind him. “Found you.” Tsukasa’s voice said as he came to stand beside Rui. “Mhm, found your way back?”
“Shh, it’s about to start!” A woman with pink hair and a lone monocle shushed them, and they both quickly shut up.
“As we all know,” Neuvillette began, stoic face revealing nothing, “The Hydro archon’s trial is customary at every Masquerade Ball of Opera Epiclese held in the last two centuries or so. The Oratrice will judge her for her crimes, if she’s held accountable. So without further ado, let us start.” He pressed a button in front of him, and the giant scale that Rui thought was decoration moved to life. Creaking from one side to another, energy tinged blue flowed up the Oratrice, condensing at the bottom and shooting straight towards Neuvillette. A small piece of paper ‘dinged’ at his waist area; Rui assumed it was the ‘verdict.’
As he took the paper, something dawned on the Chief Justice’s face, and his mouth dropped in a small ‘o’. Not sensing the dire state of the situation, Furina yawned and stretched out lazily on the chair, before she remembered herself and sat up straight. “I’m innocent, aren’t I?” She drawled.
“On the contrary,” Neuvillette began, as chains snapped from the floor and bound Furina’s wrist before she even had time to cry out. “What?”
“She’s…”
“It can’t be…!”
“The Oratrice has found Madame Furina guilty.” Neuvillette dropped the paper and strode off the podium.
Tsukasa gripped his arm. “Rui, what’s going on?”
“It seems like no one knows, either.” The crowd buzzed with confusion, excitement, and even anger. Cries of,
“Is this part of her play?”
“Surely this isn’t anything…unusual, right? It’s all orchestrated!”
As the noise grew louder and more deafening, Rui remembered the card he got from Lyney that he’d slipped into his coat pocket.
He took it out.
A reverse Justice stared back at him.
Bias, legal complications, unfairness, lack of accountability.