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"neuvillette, care to dance with me?"
she had explained it all to him.
the sins of egeria, the sins of focalors, the sins of fontaine.
there was nothing more to be said as they awaited for focalors' time to come. neuvillette looked on somberly as he hesitantly took the archon's hand. they stepped and twirled to silence, without a beat or notes to guide them. they danced a solemn dance on a lucid stage, in the privacy of a dream.
but if it was a dream, furina--no, focalors--wouldn't die.
a dream could last forever.
"you're so cold," focalors whispered. "it feels like i'm dancing with a stiff corpse."
"apologies, focalors." neuvillette swept her across the stage, his mind whirling. he didn't want to let go yet. if he allowed her to slip from his fingers, he feared she would be gone, gone forever, and he would be left in solidarity once more.
the best he could do was make this a memorable dance. hydro mirages sprung in their wake, recording a waltz that no one would ever witness. no words were shared, just a mutual sense of the next step, the next turn.
"what beautiful music," focalors said, breaking the silence. neuvillette looked at her curiously, but did not say anything. "how lovely that i'll die with something you'll never know."
neuvillette smiled sadly. "petty till the end, i see."
focalors glanced up. "well, considering my boundless kindness," she said, bringing up an illusion of her "normal", arrogant self, "i suppose i'll allow you to have a sample."
"really, now--?"
he was interrupted by a low hum. it was quiet, but rich in melody, and a treat to the ears. as a dragon, he had yet to fully understand what was considered "beautiful" and "ugly" in the perspective of a human, but he figured this was neither--transcendent beyond the comprehension of any human's opinion. the dance intensified as neuvillette pictured the music in his own heart--violins whirling and flutes twirling, with an entrancing beat beneath all of it. he added his own attempt at harmonizing with the archon, his mind filled with nothing but the moment.
as the music reached a crescendo, so did the dance. what had once been a lazy, improvised few steps and spins became a complex, twirling work of art.
the music was cut off.
"the time has come," focalors said with a sorrowful smile. "this is where i bid farewell, my friend. i hope you've enjoyed the part you've played for the past five hundred years."
neuvillette's breath hitched. he was incapable of words as focalors broke away from the duet to perform her own dance, notes slipping from her tongue as she did. neuvillette tried to record all of it in his mind--every twitch of her hands, each whisk and turn, each pitch falling from her lips. he could not understand any of it, but it was mesmerizing yet.
thoughts swirled in neuvillette's head, but yet none could come out in the form of speech. he had so much to say, and yet he had nothing to say.
breaking her rhythm, furina knelt down in the very center of the stage, where the oratrice méchanique d'analyse cardinale hung over her--a cruel end to a beautiful dream.
before he knew it, a tear slipped down his face. his breath shook as his emotions quaked. furina smiled, a pitiful little thing that neuvillette would never understand.
"hydro dragon, hydro dragon, don't cry."
once a silly little chant taught from mothers to children, it was now a haunting final phrase from the one who taught him to cry. what was flung from the tongues of infants to pretend as if they were comforting the hydro dragon in order to stop the rain became something that fell miserably from the heavenly voice of an archon in order to stop his grief.
_
in the world, an outlander from worlds unknown witnessed the very same thing. as the beloved archon furina danced to her death, the slow patter of rain thudded in their ears.
a royal blue hat fell to the ground.
an imposter who had masqueraded as an archon wept in her throne.
the prophecy came true, after all.
_
his entire figure shook as he alone stood over the sinking city of justice.
the duke wriothesley, who neuvillette once thought he would have plenty of chances to have another cup of tea with.
navia, who had the most complex and tangible emotions neuvillette had seen in a human.
sigewinne, who like him, had much yet to learn about the human world.
lyney, lynette, and freminet.
clorinde.
charlotte.
the melusines of fontaine.
the people that neuvillette had taken for granted, choosing to seclude himself in his office rather than speaking to them.
all of them, sunken.
"i, iudex neuvillette of fontaine, hereby declare your sins forgiven."
it was a stormy finale to the great opera that had been played for centuries. alone in the sky, neuvillette allowed himself to let out his own emotions. he did not understand them. he only knew that they needed to be released.
_
the next day, the streets of fontaine were as usual. filled with buzzing people, they were filled to the brim. the sun shone happily down on the fontaine people.
of course, neuvillette explained what he could of the entire ordeal to the traveler, who in turn explained their point of view from the opera epiclese. neuvillette gave the traveler some much-desired answers, they exchanged a few farewells, and set off on their own way--to natlan, as per neuvillette's recommendation. whatever they encountered was upon them, now.
"so, it's all over, right?" said the duke from beside him. neuvillette smiled.
"for now, yes," neuvillette said. "the opera of fontaine has come to a close, but i must play one more role. a crucial role beyond understanding as of now, but the time will come for me to cast a final judgment." he glanced at wriothesley. "until that time comes, i hope we can enjoy ourselves thoroughly...as normal people, at last."
wriothesley smiled, adjusting his tie. "yeah. yeah, i'd...i'd like that."
neuvillette checked his pocketwatch. "excuse me, wriothesley," he said. "i have one more appointment today. i shall...see you around," he said, trying the form of farewell that the traveler had given him.
a smile split wriothesley's face. "see you," he called. "and come around for tea sometime, will you?"
_
neuvillette knocked on the simple door. it was normal, and not at all extravagant in any matter.
"come in."
the first thing that caught neuvillette's eye was the royal blue hat hanging from a hanger on the door.
"it has been some time, furina."