Chapter Text
What was supposed to be a casual city get-away turned out to be a real nightmare.
It has been almost a year since the curtains closed on Focalors. Furina bought herself a house in downtown Court Of Fountaine, right across Estelle's Blacksmith Shop. Sure, it was quite loud every day due to the sounds of the machines coming from basically everywhere, but it was quite peaceful. She could go outside whenever she wanted, she was learning how to cook, and had both her water friends and her real friends to keep her company.
As a way to commemorate this Tuesday evening, Furina decided to invite her people to a casual hangout with her. It was supposed to be quite chill - first they'd take an Aquabus to check out the city from afar and chat, then they'd go for a picnic, and maybe after that go flower-picking. The previous Hydro Archon was really proud of her cooking skills, and wanted to show it off to her friends. Obviously, it couldn't compare to Navia's macarons, but she still was proud regardless.
Out of all 6 invitations she sent, 3 were accepted. Navia couldn't come due to how much business Spina Di Rosula had to handle, even almost a year after the flood. The people in need of help kept coming, and the optimistic president couldn't let them down. However she did send a plate of macarons and a promise she'll be at the next meeting. Wriothesley had a lot of "things to take care of" in the Fortress of Meropide. He would not elaborate further. Furina was afraid of the elaboration. Due to the fact that the invitation was sent to the Duke and the Duke declined, Sigewinne couldn't come either due to similar "things." Lyney and Lynette had a magic show scheduled on Tuesday, and they had to spend all day preparing.
Clorinde, Escoffier, and Neuvilette gladly accepted the invitation, and Escoffier was quite excited to try whatever Furina cooked up, and of course, judge it. Furina feared the distinct taste palate of her friend, but she hoped she wouldn't be too harsh on her. Neuvilette had no court cases that day, and despite his stern looks he was quite fond of Furina and her original ideas, so of course he'd say yes. Clorinde.. While Furina wasn't yet so sure what to feel about her, she sent her an invitation regardless, as a way of saying "thank you" for showing her she didn't have to be alone. She was quite surprised to see that she had accepted the invitation, because she fully believed she was a busy lady with many plans.
She has no idea how, but Charlotte found out about the invitations and practically begged Lady Furina to take her with her. She had a day off on Tuesday, and really, REALLY wanted to spend it with the previous Hydro Archon. Charlotte was quite persistent, and after getting followed around with a 'pleasepleaseplease' for a week or two, Furina finally broke and said yes. But she did say that during the hangout, Charlotte wasn't allowed to interview anyone, because it was supposed to be casual. Charlotte didn't argue with that.
So now, she had 5 people waiting for her at the Aquabus station, because she was running late. Again. Mademoiselle Crabaletta "accidentally" turned her stove off while she was trying to cook pancakes, and she had to manually reheat it again. This was probably revenge for what happened yesterday, when she and Furina played rock-paper-scissors. You already know how that goes.
But despite being late, they managed to get on the Aquabus on time.
'Hey- sorry- for- being- late..!' Furina managed to wheeze between breaths.
'It's okay, Lady Furina. I hope all is well.' Neuvilette smiled at her, holding a cupcake tray in his hands.
'Did all of you... bring food?'
'Of course! This is a picnic, after all. Everyone has to bring SOMETHING.' Escoffier answered, side eyeing Clorinde, who had no dishes in her hands.
'Not to worry, Madame Escoffier, I did bring something.'
'What?'
'You'll have to find out soon enough.' Clorinde said, but Furina already knew what she brought, based on just her expression.
'Guys, guys, we HAVE to take cute pictures while we're at it! Everyone, say "Otter!"' Charlotte bought some food for the picnic (despite Escoffier's deadly glares), and of course, brought her Kamera, and she was running around everywhere on the Aquabus despite the heavy wind trying to blow her back.
The ride was quite peaceful. Furina and Escoffier chatted about the correct way to decorate a cake, with Charlotte adding her three cents from time to time based on her own experience, and Neuvilette and Clorinde talked about the last few trials. Soon they all came together and just exchanged how their days went, how are they doing at their jobs, some personal hobbies each of them took up, chatted about the news, the weather ('Hydro Dragon, Hydro Dragon, please don't cry today...' - Furina) and played Genius Invokation: TCG against the wind (which, surprisingly, would allow for quite some cheats, if not for the fact that Neuvilette pursued each flying away card with a burning passion.) The Melusine Aeval entertained the group with her stories about locations they passed by, and they all did their best to listen when she talked. Especially Neuvilette. This man is like a father to the Melusines and would stare deadly glares into anyone who dared to talk during Aeval's presentation. That included, and wasn't limited to Furina. It was beginning to look quite well.
Until it wasn't.
When they entered the tunnel of the West Slopes of Automnequi, their Aquabus suddenly stopped.
'Please hold on dearest passengers, it appears we're losing power!' The melusine exclaimed, which got everyone on their guards.
'Knew there was a reason why I polished the sword so great today.'
'You polish it every day, Miss Clorinde.'
Clorinde didn't answer.
They all drew whatever weapons they had - Charlotte drew her Kamera, Escoffier carried her kitchen knife, Neuvilette.. didn't need any weapon to blast anything in a 500km radius, and Furina summoned her Salon Solitaire.
Yet it was quite difficult to fight in the dark, especially when your enemies were Rifthounds.
Surprisingly enough, Rifthounds were quite common practice in Fontaine. You could find them near summoning circles all across Fontaine, and their teleporting capabilities were envied by the Fontaine Research Institute, who had tried for years to replicate them. Charlotte ran into them a few times while trying to scoop up some information on Fontaine's new cult - she can confirm that their claws are quite sharp, as she had to get treated by Miss Sigewinne herself. Did she succeed? That's a story for another day. Spoiler: Yes, she did.
Another thing about Rifthounds is they were an absolute pain if you couldn't see them coming. Which was exactly what was happening.
Clorinde took down anything on sound, regardless of it being a Rifthound or not. She apologised profusely as she blasted the creatures apart using the power of Electro and her own sword skills. Furina just stood there, holding her pastries menacingly as her Salon members tracked down the Rifthounds. They didn't need the sunlight to see anyway. But Furina did, and that's why lots of pastries ended up hitting Neuvilette, who picked up each one and put it back in her basket. The Rifthounds knew not to mess with Neuvilette. And if they didn't, they surely knew now, as they were blasted away with the power of Hydro. Charlotte froze anything on sight with her Camera, and Escoffier lunged at one random Rifthound and tore it to pieces while critiquing it so much it wouldn't be of a shock if it died just because of the critique.
However, while their fighting skills were great, they couldn't account for the element of surprise the Rifthounds had. For instance...
'LetgeofmeLETGO!' Furina yelled as one of the Rifthounds, and quite a big one, seized her by the arm, and another Rifthound by the leg. Her basket of pastries lay forgotten on the ground.
'Miss Furina!'
Furina fought them tooth and nail (as in, she most certainly but the Rifthounds), but her efforts were in vain. The Rifthounds were dragging her away from the ship right into the portal of theirs, and her friends had no idea where the portal even was! As a last ditch effort-
'HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!' She yelled, hoping that someone from the ship could tell where her voice was coming from.
And off she went.
'Miss Furina!' Neuvilette yelled back. 'Where are you!'
'If she could answer, she probably WOULD.' Escoffier commented, still slicing and dicing Rifthounds.
'I know the source of the voice! After me!'
'... After you where exactly, Miss Charlotte?' Clorinde questioned.
'... Ah, right.'
Charlotte grabbed each of her acquaintances' hands, and ran as quickly as she could, dragging everyone behind.
'QUICKLY! THE PORTAL IS CLOSING!'
They understood the assignment, and all eventually stopped holding hands, and just ran where Charlotte's voice echoed in the tunnel. All the Rifthounds tried retreating, but Clorinde and Neuvilette, being the seasoned fighters, had one rule: Leave no one standing. And so they didn't.
Soon they had to jump overboard the ship, however not before thanking Aeval for the ride and paying their ticket price (and Furina's). Neuvilette made sure of that, and also profusely apologised to the Melusine for the sudden interruption.
They kept on running, led by Charlotte's voice, on the narrow path between the bridge and land. At least, most of them were, because Neuvilette was running on water, like the Hydro Dragon he is. No one questioned that.
'OVER THERE!' Charlotte's commands came to an abrupt stop as they stood in front of the Rifthounds portal, each one feeling it right in front of them despite not seeing it very clearly. It did radiate an aura of what could only be described as evil, however.
'Are we sure that we want to enter?' Clorinde, the cautious one asked.
'Of course ✰! Everyone is curious what's inside these portals, and just imagine the news when I find out and we save Miss Furina!'
'I must insure Miss Furina's safety after all these years.'
'I'm coming for Furina, also. I feel so bad about these pastries... They looked so good....' Escoffier sighed.
'Alright, then. We're going in.'
First went Clorinde, aiming her gun at the portal in case something came out of it.
Then went Neuvilette, just staring at the portal with such a look it would close up on itself if it could.
Then Escoffier went with Charlotte, with Charlotte taking photos from all possible angles of this portal.
'I must get some before we all go down the portal that could lead us to doom, y'know?' Charlotte said defensively.
'Yeah, yeah...'
...
'If we make it out alive, I'll cook you up a meal. Free of charge.'
'Deal!'
And with that, they went in.
When Escoffier and Charlotte came in from the portal, the Rifthounds were already defeated, and Furina was taking her sweet time adjusting her clothes after the attack. And, of course, saying thank you to everyone involved.
'Now we can all go ba-' She began, until she realised the portal closed. 'HEY!'
She attempted to bang the spot where it was before, but all she hit was air.
'Archons I swear to-'
'Where even are we? This doesn't look like Fontaine.' Escoffier commented. 'Charlotte, please stop taking pictures for once.'
'Sorry, Escoffier..!' Charlotte shyly put her Kamera away.
'I mean, it most certainly does look like Fontaine..?' Furina began. 'Just... kind of different?'
As they all looked around, they all agreed with Furina silently. The architecture did remind them of Fontaine, but it wasn't as technologically advanced as they were.
'And look, they speak some kind of Fontainian too!' Furina pointed at a sign which read "Please remember to clean up after your dogs."
'Maybe they're not so different after all.' Neuvilette smiled slightly, reminded of the many trials he had to judge about dogs and their litter.
'Do all of your Visions work?'
'Mine does.' Clorinde picked up her Vision from her jabot and looked at it from the sunlight. It was still glowing Electro, which was a good sign.
'Mine too.'
'Same.'
'That's great to hear. I have this... feeling that they'll be of great use soon.' Neuvilette said, already walking in some direction. 'Now let's get a move on. We have to investigate the city if we want to leave it.'
'At least the city doesn't look like it's full of doom, right-'
Charlotte didn't even get to finish her sentence when she saw a giant baby approaching their location.
'And that's our cue to get out of here.'
And on that note, all of the Fontainians made a run for it.