Chapter Text
“Come over here, you little critter, you!”
The Knave listened, in silence, as the young-sounding voice – long familiar, to any who had spent measurable time in Fontaine – drifted over to her, from nearby.
“You dare to run from me? Stop, right this instant!”
(This was… an unexpected development.)
“Aha! I have you now, beast! Cease your struggling at once!”
She wondered what exactly would be the best move to make, in this situation.
On the one hand, one could see this as a golden opportunity. Her objective was, after all, to obtain the Hydro Gnosis, which was presumably in the possession of the Hydro Archon.
Of course, one would obviously expect an Archon to be… a challenging target. All gods were, in one way or another – whether by power, or by… less straightforward means.
(That was a lesson they had all been taught, not too long ago.)
As such, Arlecchino had expected to be hunting this particular target for quite some time. Lady Furina de Fontaine – id est Focalors, God of Justice – was almost never alone; the Hydro Archon was almost constantly surrounded by others, whether she was on stage or in her seat in the Opera Epiclese, in the halls of the even more heavily guarded Palais Mermonia, or merely in the company of her usual entourage, in the city’s streets. One would therefore expect potential opportunities to be scarce, and fleeting in nature.
Arlecchino had not expected her target to suddenly be presented to her on a silver platter, when she had only been planning to gather information tonight, to begin with.
“Ah! And just where do you think you’re going now? Come back here, you!”
In that light, this was a perfect opportunity.
In fact… it was a little too perfect.
The Knave was no fool – discounting her (currently willing) affiliation with the Fatui, of course. Such a convenient opportunity was almost certainly a trap. She wasn’t sure exactly how Fontaine’s authorities had known she would be here, tonight (though perhaps they hadn’t – there were plenty of others who might be lured in by such a trick), but surely the Archon had not come here without reason.
And that aside, there were… other factors, to consider.
It wasn’t exactly a secret, that the Fatui had never been well liked. Their use of forceful diplomacy – or, on some occasions, force itself – often made them… unpopular, with those they had dealings with. Fortunately, most people preferred to avoid unnecessary conflict, and would thus rather ignore the Fatui’s activities.
Or at least, that had been the case.
Until just under a year ago.
(That arrogant fool had left quite the mess behind.)
Thankfully, the Fatui’s reputation had not taken quite as heavy of a blow in Fontaine as it had elsewhere. The Fatui were not welcome in Fontaine, exactly, but given that their activities in the Nation of Justice were mostly limited to espionage, and the occasional (alleged) act of… self-authorized public service… most Fontainians kept their suspicions as merely suspicions.
The Fatui were being watched more closely, though. Other nations had not been so quiet about… recent events.
“W – ow! Hey, stop that! My hair is not a toy!”
Under… prior circumstances, Arlecchino would probably not have given this situation so much thought. After all, even if this was merely a trap, one could not catch any fish without first sacrificing some bait.
But things were different, now.
In the aftermath of the (apparent) assassination of the first Dendro Archon, the Tsaritsa had ordered all major Fatui operations suspended. The backlash would be too intense, she had said; it would be best to lie low for some time, and wait out the oncoming storm.
Things had seemed to calm down, after several months had passed, and there had been no incidents of note. The rest of Teyvat had still been… more wary, than before, but not so much so as to be unmanageable, with an appropriate degree of caution.
But then there’d been… whatever it was that had happened, three months ago.
No one was quite sure where the rumors had come from. The sudden surge of abnormal Ley Line activity had hit Snezhnaya just as hard as anywhere else; there was no apparent reason for anybody to suspect that the Fatui had been in any way responsible.
But a reputation was a difficult thing to shake.
(A cat that burned itself on a hot stove would never touch a hot stove again… nor would it touch a cold stove.)
If the Fatui had been on thin ice before, now they were treading on frost. Mondstadt and Liyue still tolerated the Fatui’s presence within their borders, but only barely; Liyue was clearly just waiting for an excuse to cut Snezhnaya off altogether, and Mondstadt would likely be all too happy to follow suit. And Inazuma had not been on speaking terms with the Fatui to begin with, since Rosalyne and the Balladeer’s activities had been revealed. Things were… better, in Natlan – the Captain had only just arrived, so Fatui activity in the Nation of War was still at a minimum – but even there, relations were tense. The locals had apparently been paying an unusual amount of attention to the Fatui, for the past few months; the Abyss would normally be a higher priority, but it had apparently been… strangely quiet, as of late.
The less said about relations with Sumeru, the better. The Nation of Wisdom was at least responding to Snezhnaya’s attempts at communication – the few that actually made it to Sumeru City, anyway. But from what Arlecchino had heard, the responses, while outwardly polite, were generally… opaque, at best.
(The intended message, at least, was clear. “Do not come back.”)
Fontaine, at least, remained mostly neutral, if perhaps… chillier, than before. But even here, there were rumors. And while Arlecchino was not normally bothered by a few unpleasant rumors, the ones going around now were… inconvenient.
It was becoming difficult for her children to operate. Lyney and Lynette had even chosen to postpone their debut at the Opera Epiclese – not that doing so seemed to have helped much, in the end (she’d have dealt with the snakes involved herself, had they not already been disposed of for her). The House of Hearth had been building a network, within the Fortress of Meropide, but now their contacts had all mysteriously gone silent.
Snezhnaya’s foreign relations were so delicate, now, that even the Harbingers themselves were beginning to feel the effects – even in their personal lives. The Eleventh had been forced to postpone his vacation to Fontaine; even when it had been deemed safe for him to go, he had been ordered to remain in contact with the Knave while he was there, just in case something happened – and of course, to be on his best behavior.
Not that any of that seemed to have helped, either.
(Another reason to confront the Archon, given the opportunity. Though to be honest, she was beginning to question the likelihood of receiving any actual answers… whether Lady Furina was willing to give them to her or not.)
And as if that wasn’t already enough… the Traveler was here, now, too.
In all honesty, Arlecchino had been hoping the golden-haired outworlder would take… a while longer, to show up in Fontaine. That she would perhaps go to Natlan first, and ideally stay there until things in Fontaine had already been resolved; the girl would probably even get along with Il Capitano, given their shared tendencies.
(… probably. Tartaglia had mentioned encountering the Traveler, and noting that she’d seemed… harder, somehow. The Eleventh was hardly the most intelligent or observant member of the Fatui… but he was the one who knew the Traveler best.)
There was, of course, the possibility of a fight. Arlecchino was reasonably confident that she could handle such a scenario… but then, Rosalyne and the Balladeer had been confident, too. And then there were the political considerations. The Traveler was… very well connected; if she were to decide that things had gotten too out of hand, this whole situation could easily turn into a diplomatic nightmare.
Not to mention, the Traveler was known to be on very good terms with the first Dendro Archon… who was rumored to enjoy observing the world through the eyes of those she favored.
If the Fatui acted too carelessly, the Traveler might not even need to do anything at all.
The Dendro Archons had little raw power. The first had lost most of hers, and the second was very, very young.
However, they were not weak.
Officially, Il Dottore, Second of the Fatui Harbingers, remained classified as “missing in action”. Unofficially, given the way his duplicates had all abruptly and simultaneously suffered a fatal malfunction, the Harbingers all knew he was dead – almost certainly by the machinations of the Dendro Archons, given that the last Zapolyarny Palace had heard from him (or at least, the “him” that had been in Sumeru) was that he was on his way to Sumeru City, for a second attempt at acquiring the Dendro Gnosis.
In a direct physical confrontation, this outcome would have been impossible. Or at least highly improbable.
But it had been the outcome, regardless.
There was no evidence. The Fatui could prove nothing – and even if there was evidence, it wasn’t as if anyone would likely come to their defense, anyway. The Doctor was simply gone – all records of his fate gone with him, destroyed along with his prized “segments”.
(The fool had prided himself on the fact that his segments could not be plundered of their knowledge – that their knowledge would be lost upon their destruction, which they would trigger themselves if necessary. They had, according to the handful of records Marionette had been able to decipher, been designed to automatically share their memories with any other active segments, upon sustaining fatal damage – but that wasn’t helpful, when they were all gone.)
Arlecchino paused, as she caught herself smiling a little, at that train of thought.
She allowed the expression to remain, for a moment.
(At least one good thing had come of this mess. The others’ reactions had varied, but her only complaint was that she hadn’t gotten to do the deed herself. Sumeru’s Archons would have no trouble from her… at least for now.)
“Aw, you’re so cute! Come here, kitty!”
… this was a good opportunity. There was nobody else around – nobody that Arlecchino had noticed, in any event, and Arlecchino was very good at spotting hidden observers (a “Father” quickly learned a few things, especially when all her children were Fatui). And even if Furina escaped, Arlecchino was certain the Hydro Archon would never speak a word of anything that happened here – not to the Iudex, not to the Gardes, perhaps not even to herself.
(Furina would say just about anything, to avoid admitting weakness or fault. Most people ate up the act like candy, but she was not nearly so blind.)
… it would still be too dangerous, though.
A reputation was a difficult thing to shake. This would hardly be the first time the Fatui had attacked an Archon; if Arlecchino were seen, or if someone were to find even a single trace of the act, rumors would spread like wildfire, whether they were logical or substantiated or not. She had come in disguise, but no disguise was perfect… and of course, Fontaine was also home to the Melusines.
It was too much of a risk. The Fatui were already balancing on a knife’s edge; they could not afford to let their diplomatic standing fall further.
Even if they could survive the potential fallout, in a worst-case scenario… there would be little to gain, from such a victory.
(The recent incidents would at least blow over before long; the twins’ show had not even been a week ago, and that case had already been all but forgotten. The effects of a more serious incident would be… more persistent.)
“Yes, that’s right. Who’s a good kitty?”
The Knave was no fool.
She would not make one of herself, here.
“You are! You are…”
She carefully folded her hands.
(Tonight, she would simply watch.)