Chapter Text
It was said that the Hydro Archon, Lady Furina de Fontaine, had sacrificed her life in exchange for turning Fontainians’ blood into true blood so they didn’t dissolve in water. As a result of this valiant sacrifice, the sky wept for her heroism and caused a second flood.
It was uncertain whether this was a fact or not, but people loved speculation especially in the face of veiled mystery and vague explanations. Many fontainians wept, trusting the rumors blindly, and the mood of the nation became as gloomy as their sky. Voices of dissent still existed, especially amongst residents of Poisson, but those people mysteriously had to suffer various misfortune with their remaining wealth or almost drowned enough to focus on their recovery instead of complaining.
Arlecchino knew underlying tension when she saw one.
Finding the Iudex was the goal when she arrived with disaster aid. If Arlecchino was not wrong (and she was rarely wrong), the Iudex should be in the possession of the gnosis after the passing of the Hydro Archon, officially speaking.
It came as a surprise when she was summoned to Palais Mermonia for audience, she was even surprised when she was led to a completely different wing than when she first visited. It felt like a trap, especially when the somber melusines left her alone before the door.
She knocked and entered calmly, ready to face anything. She wasn’t quite ready to see a rest bed overflowing with Lakelight Lillies, laid on it was the peaceful form of the flamboyant lady in blue, lifeless and surrounded by hydro energy.
Arlecchino’s fingers twitched but otherwise betrayed no other emotion.
Standing with his back towards Arlecchino and looking straight to the bed was Neuvillette. “You want the gnosis, right?” he asked coldly.
Arlecchino smiled flawlessly. “It will be nice if we can discuss the change of ownership of it peacefully.” She prepared herself for an ambush.
Neuvillette nodded. “Take me to the Cryo Archon.”
Arlecchino blinked. “I... beg your pardon?”
Neuvillette turned around, his stern violet eyes were worn with anguish, and Arlecchino’s shoulders sagged. A man in despair would do anything. Even if Arlecchino was a daredevil herself, she didn’t want to risk it if Neuvillette turned violent. “If she can fulfill what I need, I will give the gnosis to the Fatui.”
Arlecchino was silent for a beat before nodding. “Very well.”
Neuvillette didn’t have a single thread of fear when he stepped into Snezhnaya’s Fatui Headquarters. Facing the elusive Cryo Archon, he showed little reservation, which incited several loyal Harbingers that were present in the hall.
“Usurper of Cryo,” Neuvillette called out calmly and let shocks spread across the observers, even Arlecchino was not immune to it.
The Tsaritsa finally moved. “I see.” She understood. She waved her hands to some of her loyal subordinates, ordering them to vacate the premises.
When they were truly alone, The Tsaritsa stood up from her throne and walked down, full of impression. “I could feel the throne of Hydro destroyed itself, and I was wondering where the power have gone to... Welcome to my nation, Hydro Dragon Sovereign.”
Neuvillette stared blankly at her and proceeded with his blunt demand. “Make me a coffin of ice that would last forever to preserve a body.”
The Tsaritsa blinked in surprise. “A coffin...? For who... If you want to hibernate, I assure you the seabed is the best place,” she harumphed.
“Not for me. For my Hydro Archon,” Neuvillette said bluntly. “With the power of Cryo, you can do that.” He clenched his hands with frustration that wasn’t directed at The Tsaritsa personally.
The Tsaritsa went silent. “Why?”
Neuvillette looked at her coldly. “I shouldn’t explain myself to a usurper.”
“Yet you try to preserve another usurper,” The Tsaritsa pressed.
“She’s not you,” Neuvillette glowered.
She stared, her cold frozen heart ticked with a beat she thought had suppressed. Cryo Archon, goddess of love, could she overlook that overflowing love that caused such anguish for the man? She wanted to be stubborn, a little derisive, but in the end... she nodded.
“I’ll have it ready on the next full moon,” she spoke softly.
The news of the death of the Hydro Archon spread throughout Teyvat, and questions about the next Hydro Archon were thrown around when Sumeru’s sages announced their Dendro Archon’s declaration.
--The throne of Hydro Archon was no longer. The lineage of Hydro Archon ends with the last Hydro Archon.--
Nahida opened her eyes and sat silently on her swing. She sighed. “What a shame...” she turned to look at the traveller that slept on a bed made of vine. He had come to her to help him with his reoccurring dream (not nightmare, but still a fatiguing dream) about the late Hydro Archon, and she inadvertently went through his experience when he was pulled into Furina’s heart of hearts. “I would have loved to know her.” She patted Aether’s head and strengthened the seal around his memory of the Hydro Archon.
“The late Hydro Archon destroyed the throne and killed herself? Isn’t she the dramatic and incompetent Archon that always enjoyed theatricals rather than doing her job,” Wanderer said, more out of curiousity than care.
Nahida nodded and hummed, her eyes blinked and a flash of green surrounded the entire sanctuary, creating a space away from peering eyes. “The real Hydro Archon destroyed the throne and took herself along in the process. Furina, the acting Archon... was not really the archon per se. She was completely human, created to be a smokescreen and to do the duty of an archon as a facade. For five hundred years, she was forced to act to deceive the Heavenly Principle... Unfortunately when the divinity of Hydro Archon, Focalors, died, Furina seemed to have lost clear direction on what to do after... and...”
Wanderer’s eyes flickered, and the dome of green disappeared with a gust of wind. Along with it, Wanderer was gone, full of righteous fury with nowhere to vent over someone he had never even known.
Venti absently ran his fingers through strings of his harp, the wind was restless for the last weeks. The sky of Fontaine never ceased to be gloomy, and it truly affected the mood of the surrounding sky. Rather than being bothered, Venti absorbed the atmosphere with a little helpless smile.
“Another gone, but this one with a fanfare...” Venti sighed. “Such a shame. I always thought I’d meet the archon of Justice and have a duet. Whispers from the wind said she was a terrific singer,” he said casually, but he popped open his third strongest bottle of beer that night, betraying his melancholy.
“Are you here just to wax poetry over the departed?” Zhongli said to the annoying anemo archon on his windowsill.
“Lighten up a bit, old rock. We just became The Six now because the glorious Hydro Archon had done the unthinkable, we never know when we would be The Five,” Venti said with a drunken chuckle. “Truly domain of Hydro. What’s the saying in Liyue again? Uhh, the next wave is bigger than the last???”
“The rear waves of the Bishui River drive on those that came before it. The new generation surpasses the old,” Zhongli murmured the saying right before he took another sip of his osmanthus wine.
Venti nodded carelessly. “Yeah. Egeria picked a successor much more ruthless than she ever could.” He laughed. “Focalors, that is. I heard Furina was more naïve, though no less ruthless to herself.”
A pregnant silence fell. Beer was downed and osmanthus wine was drunk.
“...It’s a shame,” Zhongli spoke up.
“Damn shame,” Venti agreed solemnly under his breath. “She could save the entire world with that willpower. But amazing artiste always seemed to have a curse, haha...” he laughed mirthlessly.
“Justice is always unfeeling,” Zhongli murmured. “She finished her contract and left.” In the most heartbreaking way possible, clearly seen from Fontaine’s sky.
Venti raised his bottle. “To our latest lost comrade.”
“To the one that defied the fate.” Zhongli raised his cup.
When the next full moon came, the Tsaritsa personally came to send the Cryo Coffin and exchange it with the gnosis. Her eyes lingered on the lifeless beautiful woman who was surrounded by the dragon’s protective hydro aura. She also personally witnessed Neuvillette lowering the woman’s body down carefully as though he was afraid she would feel hurt or uncomfortable.
Finally, a bunch of neatly arranged Lakelight Lillies were put inside on her chest to accompany her before the coffin was sealed. All anyone could see now was a youthful human encased in ice. Yes, human. The Tsaritsa was thoughtful at first, because although she didn’t know the Hydro Archon personally, she had heard Egeria appointed Focalors before she joined the Cataclysm. In the Tsaritsa’s memory, Focalors was an Oceanid turned human, even in her human form, there was an otherworldly aura around her. Even in death, this kind of aura wouldn’t dissipate.
This Furina, although similar to Focalors in look, was thoroughly human. She had also heard from The Knave about Fontaine’s archon’s situation previously. No matter how hard she thought about it, she couldn’t come up with a direct answer to this conundrum. But regardless, the throne of Hydro was destroyed, The Seven was shaken, and the chains Celestia put on Teyvat had now started to be undone. All thanks to Fontaine’s archon.
Neuvillette touched the lid of the coffin, staring obsessively through the transparent ice. He took out the gnosis and handed it over without any ceremony. His eyes beheld not power or authority but the woman laid to rest inside the coffin.
“Take it.”
The Tsaritsa didn’t reply and simply took the gnosis. She didn’t fuss over the sovereign’s temerity and lack of gratitude, she wasn’t doing it for him but merely as a favor to the departed Hydro Archon. She left after taking one last long look at Furina.
The Tsaritsa would make sure this love sacrifice would not be in vain.