Fontainian Zhongli
On the watery equivalent of train tracks and a canal, the group of misfits and the unfortunate souls of Lyney, Lynette, Aether and Paimon traveled to the Court of Fontaine, pretty much the capital of the Nation of Hydro. It was as the group rode on the Aquabus (the transportation vehicle they were riding to the Court of Fontaine from Romaritime Harbor), that Izuku looked over at Lego, who was spacing out and asked, "So what can you tell us of this world?"
Lego blinked a few times as if he were suddenly forced awake, before looking at Izuku. "What?"
"What can you tell us about Fontaine, and maybe Teyvat as a whole?" Izuku repeated. "I mean, clearly things are different from other Earths, so I'm curious how this world is different."
"First, I'm not sure if this planet is called Earth, so just refer to it as Teyvat," Lego said. "Second, there is a LOT to unpack."
Lyney smiled at what Lego had stated. "Well then allow me to help you out," Lyney said as propped himself up on his seat, ready to help explain what there is to be learned about this world.
"Thanks, might make things easier," Lego said as he stood up and walked alongside Lyney to begin the explanation. "First and foremost, there are seven nations, each of which are diagnosed by regional specialties like flowers and ores, and the Statues of the Seven that litter each nation. These Statues depicted each of the different Archons that live in each nation." Walking over to Aether, Lego added, "They also allow Aether here to resonate with the element of that nation/statue."
Aether nodded, confirming this. "That's… actually true." The Traveled looked down at his outfit, where parts of it glowed blue. "I resonated with Hydro earlier when I interacted with the Statue of the Seven back at the harbor."
"So the Statues of the Seven each have their own element since Hydro is likely Water," Izuku commented as he examined Aether.
"Yep," Lyney confirmed with a nod. "The seven elements are Pyro, Cyro, Dendro, Anemo, Geo, Electro, and Hydro. These elements are what people with Visions are able to wield." Lyney held up his Pyro Vision. "I have a Pyro Vision, so I can make use of Pyro for things like my magic tricks." Lyney gestured to his sister Lynette for her to stand. Lynette stood up from her seat and showed her Anemo Vision. "My sister Lynette also has an Anemo Vision."
"These seven elements are what select people are able to resonate with," Lego elaborated. "So although Lyney and Lynette have Visions, they are unable to channel any other element other than the ones in the Vision they were given by the gods, although the gods have no control over who gets a Vision. Visions are complicated in that manner."
"So people just… receive one?" Bardock questioned.
"Sounds randomized," Raiden commented.
"Well it tends to be people with lots of passion that tend to receive Visions," Lego said. "Likewise, all sorts of people can receive Visions. Humans, Adpeti ‒ who are somewhat like powerful entities or something, so don't get me started on them ‒ Yo-Kai, Artificial Humans, and other non human creatures are capable of receiving Visions. It's… actually interesting how different people receive their Visions and the effects the Visions can have."
"So do the Gods need Visions?" Raiden questioned.
"No, but they have counterfeits, or at least some of them do," Lego commented, surprising Lyney and Lynette with that information.
Lyney looked at Lego, surprised at what he was hearing. "Pardon me, but did I hear you right?"
"Yep," Lego said as he looked at Lyney. "But to be fair, some of the gods are complete fuckin' nutjobs. All I have to say is 'Osmanthus wine tastes the same as I remember' to get a point across."
"...what?" Bardock questioned.
Lego sighed. "Zhongli is crazy, okay? That's a whole theory and a half with evidence to support such a claim, and it all has to do with Mora. But, subject for another day. Where were we? Ah yes, Visions!"
"As long as we don't have to hear you mention a Yo-Kai Watch, or moxie, or feeling the burn, I think we'll be fine," Cell commented as he crossed his arms.
"Look, the basics of it is people sometimes get Visions, they tend to be passionate about stuff, they can channel the element that is displayed on their Vision, and yada yada yada," Lego summarized a bit lazily. "The only exception to this is the Traveler here who obviously has to interact with a Statue of the Seven, and someone else who technically isn't relevant due to crossover shenanigans with Sony and Playstation."
"Lego," Bardock said as he looked at the author.
"Yeah?"
"This is a crossover fic, and not to mention I am a Saiyan from Dragon Ball," Bardock stated. "You can name that other person."
"It's Aloy from Horizon, the Playstation Exclusive game series," Lego replied. "She's a Cryo Bow user."
"What are you people talking about?" Lyney questioned as he looked back and forth between Lego and Bardock.
"Bullshit," everyone from Lego's group said at once.
"Look, I honestly don't care about superpowers," Raiden said as he stood up. "Especially seeing as I have this goddamn blade that can cut through metal and giant robots," Raiden stated as he pulled out the HF-Murasama Blade from its hilt. "That, I can swing this blade so fast and make extremely accurate swings while it is raining that the raindrops look like they're falling in slow motion. So regardless of what a Vision can do, I really don't give a shit."
"Moving on from that, supernatural stuff can also happen," Lego said. "But that's a go figure since gods and Yo-Kai exist. Likewise, so do spirits, ghosts, demons, and other entities. In fact…" Lego then pointed at the Aquabus operator/attendant, who was a Melusine, a bipedal creature of short stature, and almost faun-like in appearance. She had a long, tufted tail, long ear- or horn-like head protrusions resembling the rhinophores of sea slugs, mitten-like hands, and stubby feet. "Our friendly attendant here is one such creature, a Melusine!"
"Melu-what?" Cell questioned.
"A Melusine," Lyney said. "They're very friendly creatures that live here exclusively in Fontaine. They are also an all female species, and are only allowed to be referred to by she/her pronouns by Fontaine law."
"That's right," the Melusine said with a cheery, happy-go-lucky tone. "I am Aeval, and I'm your tour guide!" Aeval smiled. "Also passengers, if you look to your right, pass the tall building, you'll see the Opera Epiclese, where the trials of Fontaine are held in the presence of our Chief Justice, the Iudex, Monsieur Neuvillette!"
Aeval's prompting then made everyone turn to look at the Opera Epiclese. Lyney chuckled. "That's where I'm going to be holding my performance later," Lyney added. "The opera house also holds performances occasionally whenever there isn't a trial going on."
"I'm at least aware of that…" Lego commented, his words having a bit of an edge to them as he stared at the opera house, knowing what would transpire within several hours.
"Wait, Paimon's confused," Paimon said as she looked at Lego, putting a hand on her head. "You know a Melusine that has a Vision? But you just entered this world from a different one…"
"I know a lot more about this world than you would think," Lego retorted as he glanced at Paimon. "Just like how I am the storm that is approaching."
This confused most of the present party as what he said was pure utter nonsense.
"Explain," Lynette made the mistake of saying in her usually tired monotone and slightly robot-like tone.
"Very well," Lego said as he pulled out the Yamato, one of the most powerful blades in the Devil May Cry series.
Bardock then smacked Lego upside the head. "Alright, let's not get ahead of ourselves."
"Fuck you…" Lego said as he put the Yamato down.
"Where did you even get the Yamato from?" Cell questioned. "Shouldn't Vergil be in possession of it?"
"He probably got it off EBay," Kermit responded.
"I got it at a Comic Con actually," Lego corrected. "I think it was like 50 bucks."
"Those competitive bastards," Kermit said as he held up his fist.
Lyney just looked back and forth between everyone. "To be quite frank, I'm… surprised at what I'm hearing as all of this is new information," Lyney commented.
"Trust me, you'll wish to forget," Izuku replied as he looked at the magician, surprising Lyney and Lynette.
Aether looked at Izuku and said, "It can't be that bad."
"Oh but it is," Cell, Kermit, Bardock, and Izuku said all at once.
"Yep," Lego said with a nod. "It's bad. Very bad." This only served to frighten Aether, Paimon, Lyney, and Lynette, although it also made them ever more curious to know what was going on.
After disembarking the Aquabus and going down an elevator, the group arrived in the Court of Fontaine officially. The reactions were mixed, but they weren't here for sightseeing. They were here to trade and sell goods to get parts to fix their ship.
"Okay, so first order of business is trying to actually sell our random shit," Lego said as he dropped two random duffle bags of stuff in front of everyone. "By selling this shit off, we can hopefully get enough Mora to buy parts, or we can hopefully trade our scrap for parts."
"If anyone wants to trade with us, I'll be impressed," Cell commented.
Raiden nodded in agreement with Cell. "I'm with Cell on this. We legit look nothing like normal people. If we can even hold so much as a conversation with people, I'll be surprised."
Lego just gave a deadpan expression as he said, "We just did." This caused Cell and Raiden to both go silent as they both realized what just happened.
"Okay, to be fair, they seemed quirky, so I'm pretty sure that's not going to apply to everyone else," Cell commented.
"Look, we'll be fine as long as we don't break any stupid laws since this nation has a bunch of weird ones," Lego replied as he crossed his arms.
"Apologies, but I couldn't help but overhear what you all were saying," a refined gentlemanly voice said, causing everyone to look over at him. "What were you saying about not breaking the laws?"
Lego gestured to the duffle bags. "Our ship broke down so we're trying to look for parts to fix the engine, but knowing Fontaine has random laws that make almost no sense, it's hard for me to believe that we're going to be able to safely trade for those parts." Lego then looked at the Fontainian that approached them. "I don't suppose you can- holy shit, you're Neuvillette." Lego's sarcastic and downcast expression was instantly replaced with one of surprise upon realizing they were face to face with Neuvillette, the Chief Justice of Fontaine.
"Ah, so you've heard of me," Neuvillette commented as he saw Lego's shocked face. "Indeed, I am who you think I am. Perhaps I can give a few pointers with the laws of Fontaine. It would be most unfortunate if I'd have to see you in court because you made the mistake of breaking the law, whether it was willingly or not."
"You look hella French," Cell commented, causing Raiden to jab at Cell with his elbow. "What?! He does! He looks like nobility or something!"
Neuvillette chuckled lightly. "Well I am the Chief Justice. I suppose I would look the part. However, this is how I usually look and dress, and likewise, I am nothing more than the Chief Justice. I still consider myself an outsider to the people of Fontaine, even though my role is very important." Neuvillette turned to look at Lego and said, "Now, what of the goods you are attempting to sell?"
Lego opened one of the duffle bags and showed Neuvillette the goods, which ranged from weapons, to scrap metal, to other components that probably could fix their ship, which drew everyone's attention.
"I'm sorry, but why don't we make parts from these scraps?" Izuku questioned as he looked at Lego. "Wouldn't that be-"
"Easier? Probably, but it'd also be more time consuming since we don't exactly have a forge," Lego responded as he closed the duffle bag. "And I'd rather not mess with anything involving dimensional travel since lord knows what alternate world we'd end up in, and I got enough on my plate as is."
"YOU DON'T DO SHIT!" Cell shouted at Lego since in truth, Lego rarely wrote. "You post a chapter like once a month!"
"Fuck you," Lego retorted as he flipped Cell off.
"Settle down," Neuvillette ordered Lego and Cell, his aura of authority shutting them both up. "If this broke into a brawl in these streets you both would be put on trial or instantly sent to the Fortress of Meropide."
"The what?" Cell questioned.
"Basically their collective prison," Lego explained as he continued to inform the group. "They only have one in Fontaine, but it's also massive and serves as a factory for their Gardemeks, which are the robots that roam and protect the people of Fontaine. In fact, most criminals after being sent to the Fortress choose to stay there for the rest of their lives."
"Must be a good prison," Bardock commented.
"You seem to know a lot about Fontaine despite not knowing its laws," Neuvillette commented, a bit surprised by Lego's adept knowledge of Fontaine.
"You know a lot about how water tastes different depending on where it's from," Lego responded as he looked at the Chief Justice, confusing everyone and surprising Neuvillette once more.
Raiden merely blinked and looked back and forth between Lego and Neuvillette. "I'm sorry, the fuck? But water has no taste!"
"Tell that to the Fontainian Zhongli," Lego said as he pointed his thumb towards the Chief Justice once more, adding more confusion to the mix.
"Pardon?" Neuvillette said. "Zhongli?"
"You're just the Fontaine version of Zhongli, who lives in Liyue," the author explained. "All it takes is for you both to say 'Osmanthus wine tastes the same as I remember' and it would all make fuckin' sense."
"What, so this guy right here is a god?" Bardock asked, recalling that earlier Lego mentioned a god named Zhongli. "Is he the Fontaine version of this god from Liyue?"
"I could've sworn I heard that the god of Liyue, Morax, died after being assassinated in the Rite of Descension," Neuvillette commented.
"You'd be surprised at how many people with power would want to give up that power and simply lead a normal life," Lego replied. "Likewise, you both are quite similar, but I'm not looking to get into that. Just know, you're very similar to Zhongli. Hell, I could go get him right now."
Neuvillette looked at Lego confused. "Wha-" Lego then suddenly disappeared into thin air, shocking Neuvillette. "What in the world?"
"Instant Transmission," Bardock said as he looked at Neuvillette. "He can teleport as long as he knows someone's energy or the location in question. It's pretty usef- that bastard made us walk here!" Bardock exclaimed as he realized Lego subjected them to the Aquabus ride, meeting Paimon, and dealing with the Hydro Archon. "That little-"
Lego suddenly popped back up with the man Zhongli in question, surprising the Geo Archon as he looked around. "In the name of Morax, what just happened?" Zhongli questioned, speaking in a tone similar to Neuvillette.
"And this is Zhongli," Lego said. "See the similarities?"
Izuku analyzed both of them. "Actually, yes, yes I do. Huh…"
Neuvillette and Zhongli both then promptly stared at each other, before saying, "I don't see it."
"Fuck you both," Lego said as he teleported Zhongli back to Liyue. "Well, let's get to what we're really here for before we miss Lyney's performance later."
"Ah, so you're attending the magician Lyney's magic show?" Neuvillette asked. "But you just arrived in Fontaine."
"We were personally invited by him after we dealt with your Hydro Archon," Cell said. "To be honest, it's best if we kept Lego far from her considering the massive hate boner he has for her for seemingly no reason."
"She's a bitch!" Lego shouted as he glared at Cell.
"Settle down," Neuvillette said to Lego. "While her antics may be a bit dramatic at times, that doesn't mean-"
"She blatantly fuckin' harassed the Traveler and Paimon, while also threatening them and itemizing Paimon," Lego retorted, cutting Neuvillette off as cracks formed in his mask. "I have every fuckin' reason to hate her, and seeing as she has proven to be nothing but a spoiled brat there is no reason for me to change my mind or opinion. She's gonna need to prove herself before I respect her and stop calling her a bitch."
Neuvillette merely sighed, seeing Lego's stubbornness on the matter. "Very well… Although please refrain from calling her a… 'bitch' so openly. You will attract negative attention and that will likely dampen your chances at getting those parts you desire." Lego huffed, but didn't argue with Neuvillette, which satisfied the Chief Justice. "Now, allow me to assist you before I return to my duties."
"I can't believe people actually were willing to trade with us," Raiden said to Villain Izuku as they walked around the Court of Fontaine, an hour or so after the Chief Justice of Fontaine assisted them with finding appropriate places for trading their scraps for parts.
"Well, you're not so different from one of their Gardemeks," Izuku replied as he walked alongside Raiden. "Although I'm pretty sure people believe you're a samurai."
Raiden looked down at the hilt on his hip that carried the blade of Jetstream Sam. "Ya know, you might be right about that." Looking around, Raiden let out an audible hum. "This place feels like it's inspired by France."
"So you noticed that too?" Izuku asked as he too had made the assumption about Fontaine. The way the people dressed, the naming themes, as well as how some of the people spoke did invoke the feeling that Fontaine was inspired by France in terms of its creation, which only Lego's group would know since they were multiversal travelers, and Izuku and Raiden came from Earths with a France in them.
Raiden nodded, before looking ahead and noticing something. "Hey, it's the Traveler and his annoying fairy Paimon," Raiden commented, making Izuku look over to see Aether and Paimon talking with a woman at what looked like an automated forge, as well as four random men approaching, with Raiden and Izuku noting the men seemed to have ill-intent.
"And company…" Izuku said a bit grimly as he noticed the woman flinching as the men started talking, prompting Raiden and Izuku to get closer to try and deal with this issue, before noticing a fifth man appear.
"Hey, hold on! Before you go around trying to collect payments, why don't you settle your own debts first?" The fifth man said as he crossed his arms and looked at the original four men, surprising Izuku and Raiden at how this fifth guy seemed like a debt collector, here to collect from the first four men. "If Confrerie of Cabriere wants to poach clients from Northland Bank, that's fine, but I'm afraid you still owe the bank a hefty sum of Mora. So why don't we work things out between us first before you get back to your little conversation here?"
Before one of the four men could say another thing, the fifth man saw Aether and Paimon and began approaching them with a smile. "Oh, Aether! Paimon! I didn't think I'd run into you here in Fontaine. What are the chances?"
"Childe! We're surprised to see you too!" Paimon said, identifying the fifth man as well as knowing him. "What are you doing here in Fontaine? You didn't want to stay in Snezhnaya?"
"Isn't Snezhnaya a river in Russia?" Izuku asked Raiden curiously, with Raiden nodding in response as the two hung back and observed the situation whilst Childe, Paimon, and Aether had a conversation while the four men just stood around confused.
"Ahem, uh… Hey you, Northland Bank boy. Aren't you forgetting something?" One of the four men questioned as he glared at Childe.
"Don't interrupt. It's not often I run into the Traveler like this. Why don't you wait for me over there for a while?" Childe said, brushing the four men off to the side.
"You kidding?! Aren't you the one looking for us?! You really expect us to sit and twiddle our thumbs while you catch up with your friends?!" The man questioned. "Listen to me, boy, if you want your Mora, fine — why don't you come and take it?"
"Hey, I just said not to interrupt," Childe said as he turned back to Aether and Paimon. "Oh, by the way, Aether-"
The first man was angered by Childe choosing to ignore him, but as he took a step forward, Izuku appeared in front of him and socked him in the face, surprising the men, as well as Childe, Aether, and Paimon by his sudden appearance. As the man hit the floor, Izuku said, "He said not to interrupt."
"Why you little-!" The first man glared at Izuku. As one of the other men tried to throw a knife at Izuku, Raiden came in and grabbed the knife between his foot and heel.
"Someone oughta teach you some manners," Raiden stated as he threw the knife up and caught it with his hand, surprising everyone else once again.
"Raiden and Izuku?! What're you two doing here?" Paimon questioned.
"Oh, you know these two?" Childe asked as he looked at Paimon.
"Yeah, we just met them earlier," Paimon said. "They were here trading parts to fix their ship."
"We happened to be passing by and we saw what was transpiring," Izuku said as he cracked his knuckles and popped his neck. "Mind if I rough them up for you, Childe?"
"Hmm, go ahead," Childe said as he looked at Izuku, curious to see what he and Raiden could do. "We can simply say this was an act of self-defense after this. Aether and Paimon here are my witnesses to that."
Izuku smirked. "Fair." Izuku lunged forward towards the man with the throwing knives and before hitting him in the stomach with an open palm, sending him forward and into a wall, before Izuku jumped up and brought his heel down on the third man's head.
The fourth man pulled out a crossbow he had hidden, but could only look on in horror as Raiden pulled out a High Frequency Blade and sliced the crossbow in half, before placing the tip of the blade at the man's neck. "It's not time for Jack to let 'er rip," Raiden stated as he glared at the fourth man. "But I will kill you if you try anything funny."
"D-Damn it," the first man said as he crawled backwards, trying to get away from Izuku and Childe, it being clear that he and his group were fighting a losing battle. "Th-This is too much for a simple debt collection!"
Izuku grabbed the man by the throat and lifted him in the air. "Rich coming from the four guys who showed up to harass a woman. You have no place to say such a thing!" Izuku's grip around the man's throat tightened so he could merely struggle to breathe, though he made sure it didn't kill him.
"Just make sure you understand that you don't mess with Northland Bank, got it?" Childe said as Izuku threw the man to the ground and Raiden sheathed his sword, before the four men ran away. Childe then turned to look at Izuku and Raiden. "I must say, I'm quite impressed with how quickly you two managed to defeat them. Color me impressed!"
"I could've ended it sooner if I chose to," Izuku admitted as he looked at Childe, before turning to Aether and Paimon. "Mind introducing us to your friend?" Izuku asked Aether and Paimon.
"Oh, well allow us to introduce to you one of the eleven Fatui Harbingers, Childe," Paimon answered. "He could've handled those men easily before you all showed up and beat them up."
"The Fatui Harbingers?" Izuku questioned as he raised an eyebrow, unfamiliar with who the Fatui were.
"We work for the Tsaritsa, the Cyro Archon," Childe elaborated. "You can find the Fatui all across Teyvat doing her work and accomplishing her goals. We do also employ underhanded tactics from time to time, and most people aren't exactly fond of us."
"So you're some sort of neutral terrorist organization?" Raiden asked as he stood next to Izuku and crossed his arms.
"I suppose," Childe said with a shrug. "Not all Fatui members cause chaos, but that doesn't mean we're friendly most of the time." Childe looked at Izuku and Raiden. "And just who you two might be? I have never seen anyone quite like you both."
"I'm Izuku Midoriya, and this is Raiden," Izuku explained. "We're not from this world as the ship we were flying in suffered from engine failure because for some reason the pipes were made of cardboard, and lord knows why."
Holding up one of the bags of parts they got, Raiden added, "We were just walking around when we saw what was going down. And honestly? A little disappointed at how easy that was to resolve."
"Perhaps before your ship is repaired we can tussle! I would like to fight you both since you both seem strong," Childe said with a smile, clearly thrilled by the idea of battle.
"And there he goes, already craving another battle," Paimon commented while Aether chuckled. "Paimon's not sure if this is a battle he could win though…"
"You'll likely have to take that up with Lego," Izuku said to Childe. "Maybe he'll say yes, but that's up to him. Anyways, we're gonna take off."
"Fine, I guess I'll just have to find your ship and wait to find your leader," Childe commented as he chuckled. "I'll see you all around then."
"Bye! Remember to make it to the opera house later!" Paimon said as she waved goodbye as Raiden and Izuku left.
As they got out of earshot, Raiden said, "People with Visions are weird."
"You noticed Childe had a Vision?" Izuku asked, not surprised Raiden saw Childe's Vision.
"It's probably a Hydro one, but yeah I did," Raiden replied with a nod. "And so far, I'm convinced most of them are crazy people…"
"Agreed," Izuku said with a nod.
Eventually once it got late and they delivered the parts to the ship, Lego's group gathered outside the opera house early before Lyney's show had started.
"I'm sorry," Lego said as he looked at Raiden and Izuku as they explained what happened earlier. "You both met Childe?!"
"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" Raiden questioned.
Lego sighed a bit. "It's… it's nothing." Lego started scratching the top of his head. "I'm hoping it's nothing…" Raiden and Izuku looked at each other, slightly confused by his bullshit, but it wasn't like it was anything new.
"Well regardless, let's get inside and get our seats," Cell said to Lego, drawing everyone's attention as he pointed to the front doors of the Opera Epiclese.
"I'm with Cell," Bardock admitted as he crossed his arms. "It'd be nice to finally relax for once. We've done nothing but bullshit this entire time. At least with this we can potentially relax."
"Alright, alright," Lego said as he started walking towards the front doors of the opera house. "We'll get going."
The group entered the opera house, and after checking in at the front desk, they made their way to the front row of the theater. While everyone but Lego was surprised at how empty the theater was, they saw Aether and Paimon down in front as well, accompanied by Neuvillette.
"Hi ho!" Kermit called out whilst waving, gathering the attention of the three.
"Ah, it's you," Neuvillette said as he stood up and looked at the group as they approached. "I hope my guidance was able to assist you all in getting those parts you needed."
"Actually, it was very helpful," Lego replied with a nod, smiling under his mask. "I'm sure most of my team can agree." This drew multiple responses of agreement from Lego's posse, as well a few nods.
"That's great!" Paimon said as she flew forward a bit. "Paimon assumes this means you'll be able to fly the ship soon?"
Lego shrugged. "Potentially."
"It seems some interesting conversations are happening over here!" The voice of Lyney called out as he walked towards them whilst he was on stage. Lyney also saw Neuvillette and smiled. "Oh, Monsieur Neuvillette! What an honor it is to have you see my show!"
"Yo, what up Lyney?" Lego said as he looked at Lyney, before patting his own chest and throwing up peace signs.
"Ah, and Lego and co!" Lyney added with a smile. "I must say, this is shaping up to be quite an exciting performance, especially with all these amazing and interesting people here!"
Neuvillette smiled lightly, the faintest smile ever. "Ah, so it seems we all are, mostly, acquainted then?"
"That'd be correct," Lego said. "I believe you four are the last ones to meet each other," Lego added, referring to how Neuvillette has just met Lyney, Aether, and Paimon.
"Hold on one second," Paimon said, taking a few steps back in the conversation. "Neuvillette… wait, is he…?"
"Ah, allow me to introduce you to Fontaine's Chief Justice," Lyney stated as he began to formally introduce Neuvillette to Aether and Paimon. Turning around and gesturing to a seat above the stage, right above an oddly giant scale, Lyney continued. "That seat is always reserved for him. It wouldn't be too much to say he's the symbol of justice and honesty in Fontaine."
"So he's this world's All Might…" Izuku mumbled to himself, quiet enough so only those of Lego's group, minus Kermit, heard.
"Whoa, Paimon had no idea you were such an important person…" Paimon said as she became apologetic, likely due to a previous conversation Lego's group wasn't present for. "Sorry for being so rude just now."
Neuvillette nodded. "No offense taken. Being Chief Justice is merely what I do for work. Nearly every person has their usual reserved seat, so I am not so special, really." Neuvillette's eyes averted from Aether and Paimon for a second, before he sighed. "And by the way, I should let you know, even though I would prefer not to… There's someone sitting up there in the VIP seats that has been striking a pose for quite a while now…"
This got everyone's attention as they looked up towards the VIP seats, and saw the Hydro Archon, Furina, looking down at them whilst striking a pose, trying to be elegant and impressive as she looked down on them.
Lego glared at Furina, which seemed to startle the Hydro Archon as she sat back in her seat and looked away. Neuvillette was surprised by this as he looked at Lego. "I was going to say you all should take notice of her sooner rather than later, otherwise she may become flustered, but it seems you scared her instead."
"I have beef with her," Lego replied as he looked away and crossed his arms, a scowl on his face.
"Yeah, you did get pretty heated when Furina attempted to arrest us and put us on trial for one of the most random laws ever," Aether commented.
Neuvillette seemed surprised by this. "Oh? And which one was that?"
"She tried to objectify Paimon and designate her as a flying object, which would've broken the bullshit law of 'no one is permitted to release any flying objects within Fontaine city limits within the first three days of each month'," Lego explained. "Actually, does Romartime Harbor even count as a part of Fontaine as a city?"
"Hmm." Neuvillette seemed to be considering what Lego said. "Noted…"
"Well in any case," Lyney said as he redirected everyone's attention to himself. "I've pretty much finished my preparations and the performance will start as soon as the audience has made their way to their seats."
"Well, we better sit down then," Raiden said as he and everyone else sat down in the front row. Lego however made it a point to sit next to Bardock and Izuku specially as everyone sat down.
Gradually, the rest of the audience filtered into the theater, and slowly, the show began.
Lyney took center stage and performed some simple magic tricks. Make cards appear out of thin air, making a dove appear out of his hat.
After a moment, Lyney balled his hands together and made another one appear from his hands, before the bird flew to who knows where as a large water tank began to lower slowly from above the stage, with Lyney's sister Lynette appearing on top of the water tank.
"Using this water tank, I shall make my sister vanish completely!" Lyney called out to the audience as Lynette jumped into the water. "It's quite simple! She'll just turn into air bubbles and float right out of the top!" However, as he said that, the lid of the tank closed, surprising most of the audience. Lego's group was clearly intrigued at how this would go.
"Oh no," Lyney said. "I told them to check all the props carefully. With the lid on, even air can't escape..." Lyney looked down. "An amateur magician would be getting nervous right now, hehe." Lyney turned around, held his left hand out whilst putting the other on the rim of his hat. "Luckily it's me on stage! So let me show you what a true virtuoso can do!" With a snap of his fingers, air bubbles started appearing within the tank, before they shrouded Lynette, obscuring her from view.
When the bubbles vanished, only Lynette's clothes were in the tank. The audience started clapping after letting out gasps in surprise and awe. "Lynette! Are you still there?" Lyney called out. "Don't go too far. We don't want to use up all our magic."
"Hi," Lynette said as she appeared on stage, walking out from the shadows, as if she were never in the tank, still wearing the same outfit as when she dove into it. "I'm back." Everyone began clapping, even Lego and his group.
Lego's eyes narrowed as he stopped clapping and crossed his arms. Izuku looked over and noticed his nervousness. "You're nervous," Izuku whispered to Lego whilst Lyney was talking on stage
"Don't do anything," Lego told Izuku, surprising him. This wasn't a request.
This was an order.
"-magic of transformation and disappearance can go far beyond what you've just seen," Lyney said. "I'm sure many of you are thinking that escaping the water tank was impressive enough, but Lynette is still my assistant, after all. In which case, I have ample time to make all necessary preparations. So for my next trick, I will require the participation of one lucky audience member." Lyney gestured to the stage. "Please, if my assistants could bring out the magical boxes now…"
Slowly, two boxes were pulled out for the next trick, one on stage and the other in the middle aisle between the seats, each the size of a phone booth. "There are two boxes, and only two boxes," Lyney said. "One is here, and one is there in the aisle among the audience. I'm sure many of our clever audience members have already guessed our next magic trick. A swap!"
Lyney smiled as he stepped forward towards the front of the stage. "Our lucky audience member and I will each enter a magic box. After one minute, we will each emerge from the opposite box." Gathering the audience's undivided attention, Lyney said, "Now please, everyone pay very close attention to the box you see here. Don't give me any chance to make a move!"
"The lucky audience member will be generated by this random number selector," Lyney said as a small machine was pulled on stage. "It selects numbers entirely at random. Even I don't know who will be chosen to participate!"
Starting the machine, Lyney said. "Now, let's begin." After a moment, numbers came up on the machine. "Ah, let me see… row seven, seat three. Congratulations! You now have the chance to experience magic firsthand for an entire minute!" A young woman stood up from her seat as her seat's number was called. "Please, come forward. My assistant will take you beside the magic box."
One of Lyney's assistants came up and guided the woman to the magic box as the doors opened to the inside, showing the balloons and decorations inside. "I'm sorry, it might be a little cramped inside, but no need to feel nervous. We've carefully arranged everything for you to be as comfortable as possible," Lyney explained to the chosen woman. "You don't need to do anything. But no matter what strange things may happen, don't come out of the box. If the magic is interrupted, who knows where you might end up? You might even find yourself in the Fortress of Meropide."
"Oh, okay," the audience member said nervously as she entered the magic box.
After Lyney entered the magic box whilst the rest of the audience began giving a sixty second countdown, Lego shivered randomly. Izuku turned to look over at Lego. "Alright, spill, what's going to happen?" Izuku asked Lego as he looked at him, getting Bardock's attention as well.
Lego was silent, before Bardock realized that something was going to happen as well. "...you knew something was up," Bardock commented as he began to look around, sensing the energies of everyone within the opera house.
"No one is to do anything… Are we clear?" Lego questioned as he looked at Bardock and Izuku. "Trust me…"
"Fine," Izuku said, before they all heard a loud BANG! randomly. "What was that?"
"Justice," Lego merely answered. "Ignore it."
Bardock looked down at the ground. "You sure that's wise?"
"Positive," Lego said grimly as he popped his neck.
Slowly the audience continued counting down. During the last three seconds, Lyney suddenly popped out of the box, before quickly reentering it. As the audience finished counting down, the lights completely turned off within the opera house, before a singular light shone on the magic box in the middle of the audience, before Lyney opened it and walked out, striking a pose as the audience clapped.
Fireworks and sparklers went off on stage as the attention was diverted to the stage, the light shining on the magic box in the middle of the stage.
Raiden however looked up as he realized something. "WAIT-!"
A sickening THUD! and CRUNCH! was heard as the water tank fell on top of the magic box, breaking the box and shattering the glass of the water tank from the sudden drop, the water pouring out from the water tank as the tank fell on its side, shocking the audience as a few panicked.
Lyney was in shock as he saw one of the masks worn by his assistants come out from under the broken planks, whilst everyone in the front row seats (which was mainly Lego's group, as well as Neuvillette, Paimon, and Aether) saw an arm peeking out from the broken blanks.
The person in the box was dead… that much was certain…
CLIFFHANGER (not really, you can watch the 4.0 Archon Quest to find out what happens and see how I twist the story, or play Genshin Impact)! This chapter is getting too long and I honestly don't wish to drag this on.
We'll attempt to resolve this all next time. PEACE!
