Chapter 12
Just as Furina and Aether were ready to leave the house, they heard a loud knock on the door. "I'll get it," said Aether, and he pressed the door handle. Navia burst in so suddenly and quickly that she shoved him aside while he was still holding the handle, passed him by without noticing, and went straight for Furina. Clorinde followed her soon, but at least stopped to give Aether a cordial smile.
When Navia saw Furina, she exclaimed, "Oh. My. Archons. I am so mad at you right now! Why didn't you say anything? Why didn't you invite us? Why didn't you tell us you were going to perform?"
Furina, who initially had a frightened look on her face due to Navia's outburst, took a second to calm down and laughed nervously, "Ehehe, sorry... I wasn't actually intending to perform; it was kind of a last-minute decision. I had to replace one of the troupe members who was sick and suddenly felt bad. Sorry..."
"But you still helped them set it up, didn't you? Was it the same people you came to Poisson with?"
"Yeah..."
"Neuvillette told me this morning," explained Clorinde. "So, I immediately went to tell Navia. Then we came straight here."
Furina smiled. She had noticed Neuvillette. When she first went out on the stage, as the projector lights were dimmed for a while and were not shining in her face, she saw him sitting in the first row and even made eye contact with him. His look was one of the reasons she felt encouraged to perform the song the best she could. And at the end, as her name was announced, he was the first one to stand up and give a standing ovation. She would never forget that. "Yes," she said, "he helped with booking the Opera Epiclese for the performance. So he knew I was involved."
"I am so jealous! I heard it was a-maze-ing! And we missed your first new performance," sighed Navia. Then she suddenly dropped the offended act. "I am so happy for you!" She rushed to Furina, hugged her, and gave her three kisses on the cheeks. "You did it, you are so brave! And a Vision! Now we can do everything we want together!"
"Congratulations! It is well deserved. You've overcome a huge obstacle very quickly," added Clorinde, who came to kiss Furina as well, as Navia was taking a closer look at Furina's Vision.
"Clorinde," said Navia, with a puzzled expression on her face. "Come take a look at that. You know more about these things than I do."
Clorinde inspected Furina's vision for a few seconds and frowned. "I see."
"What?" asked Furina with a scared voice. "Is something wrong? Is it broken?" A Vision couldn't break... could it?
"No, no, don't worry," calmed her down Clorinde. "But it's different."
"How so?" asked Aether, intrigued.
"Well, you've probably noticed that there are two types of visions in Fontaine. Every Fontainian Vision holder also has an innate predisposition to either Pneuma or Ousia, the types of energies native to Fontaine, which we call Arkhe, a term I'm sure you've heard. This is reflected in their visions as well. As Visions themselves are a mystery, we don't really know why that is the case or what the connection between the two is; we just know that it exists. The Fontaine Research Institute theorizes that it is related to elemental energies, but I don't know more than that," responded Clorinde. Aether nodded to show that he knew and understood that, so she continued. "Only in Furina's case, the Vision seems to have elements of both Arkhe. Quite curious."
"Is it even possible to manipulate both Pneuma and Ousia?" asked Aether. "Even I can't do that."
"You can control multiple elements, but not both Arkhe? Curious indeed. Furina, do you think you are able to manipulate both?"
"I don't know yet. I haven't tried," answered Furina, a bit flustered. "Nor do I know where to begin to even try. We were actually going out to train somewhere, so I can better understand my Vision. Maybe you'd like to join us?"
"Great idea!" chimed in Navia. "Unfortunately, I can't today; I have to run back to Poisson. More supplies have arrived, and I have to sort everything out. Plus, I don't want to interrupt your date," she winked at Furina.
"I am also up to my neck in work," said Clorinde.
"Why did you come here if you're so busy?" asked Furina, a tad disappointed.
"We wanted to see you. You are more important than work," smiled Clorinde.
Furina smiled back. It was always great to receive compliments from Navia or Aether, but she appreciated it even more from someone like Clorinde or Neuvillette. She knew that they only gave praise where it was merited.
"How about the day after tomorrow?" asked Navia. "I will have sorted out the mess at Poisson by then, and it's Clorinde's day off, so we can all go together."
"Sounds great!" said Furina.
"By the way," said Navia, "is it just me, or does it look and smell somehow... really damp in here?"
"Ehehe, I'm sure it's nothing!" quickly tried to brush it off Furina, once again forgetting that Paimon was in fact still in the room.
"That's because Furina flooded everything this morning by trying out her Vision," causally explained Paimon without a hint of discomfort or remorse. "We spent hours trying to get the water out, and then we were soo tired. Oh, and then Furina assaulted the Traveler with a mop because he said-"
"Yes, thank you, Paimon; that's enough!"
Aether laughed together with Navia and Clorinde. He was happy not to be the subject of Paimon's unintentional ridicule for once, and Furina wasn't taking it to heart.
A few hours after the brief encounter with Navia and Clorinde, the trio found themselves on a secluded beach near the Court of Fontaine. It was a beautiful day, and so the main beaches were full of relaxing Fontainians. Luckily, because of his commissions, Aether had found many smaller and less crowded beaches. He had fought some Fontemer Aberrants at the one they were currently on. Now everything was quiet, and they were the only ones there, save for a few Blubberbeasts and Armored Crabs that were minding their own business. This was perfect for them, as there was no risk of accidentally harming someone and no problem if they got wet; after all, they were at the beach.
They left their bags near a tree, then Aether turned to Furina and said, "All right, let's begin."
"Your humble student is ready to learn, oh wise Traveler" joked Furina as she sat on the sand.
First, Aether explained what he knew about elemental energies and elemental manipulation in general. He wasn't a theoretician, so he kept it short and mainly focused on Hydro (admittedly the newest element for him personally), but he had learned a lot during his travels and had observed other master Hydro users, so it was enough to go on. Finally, he got to the part Furina expected the most: how to practically use Hydro powers.
"As an Oceanid once told me, "The power of water is its ability to take any shape". The best Hydro users I know don't just splash some Hydro on their enemies. Instead, they use it to create a shape they feel comfortable using to do battle. For example, Xingqiu, who is a proficient sword user, creates Rain Swords around him that target his enemies and protect him from their attacks. Yelan, skilled with a bow, shoots arrows made of Hydro with each shot."
"That's right!" added Paimon. "And Kokomi summons a jellyfish!"
"A jellyfish?" thought Furina to herself. This sounded like something more in her style; after all, she loved aquatic creatures.
Aether nodded. "Hydro can also be used to infuse your attacks. Childe, for example, makes daggers of Hydro, while Ayato uses it to empower his regular strikes. Although in your case, Furina, I would wait until I have some experience with a weapon to try that out. Lastly, Hydro is often associated with the power of healing, so we can try that out too at some point."
"Can you show me what you can do?" asked Furina. She felt like a demonstration would help her a lot.
"Uh... sure," said Aether somehow nervously.
He pointed out a finger and shot out a powerful droplet, which crashed on a nearby rock. Furina didn't think that was the best display, and apparently so did he, because he concentrated and then created a large Hydro bubble. Around the bubble, he made blades of water, spinning so fast that they could cut through his enemies. He then released the bubble at the nearby bushes, cutting them down along with a small tree in the process.
To be completely honest, Furina still didn't think that was particularly impressive; she was expecting something a lot cooler and stronger, but she clapped for him, so she didn't offend his feelings. Twice on the same day, she forgot that Paimon was right behind her.
"What was that? I don't think you convinced her that Hydro is a powerful element, Traveler. It really isn't your strong suit, is it? He was a LOT better with Dendro, Furina."
"Well, it is true that it's not my forte... But it should be enough for het to get the concept," Aether tried to salvage some dignity at least.
"Yeah, I doubt it," continued Paimon. "You better do what you think is right for you, Furina. What is your strong suit?"
"Take your time, Furina, it will probably take a while. Just try to shape anything using Hydro."
This got Furina thinking. What was her strong suit? What shape would help her to fight? She wasn't skilled with any weapon. She desperately looked around for inspiration. The lake, the trees, the rocks, the sand. A few Blubberbeasts were sleeping blissfully under the sun. A bit farther away, a couple of crabs were chilling in the sand.
Suddenly she remembered a story that had inspired her to keep moving forward in some of her most difficult moments: the story of Mademoiselle Crabaletta. Maybe, like this Kokomi she heard about, she could use Hydro to shape a loyal companion in the form of the sea creatures she so loved. She took another good look at the crabs and, full of inspiration, focused on her Vision.
"Okay, Furina, let's not have water coming out of everywhere like what happened at home," she kept thinking. This time she would be careful. Slowly and methodically, she created the shape of an Armored Crab right before her. Sure, it wasn't the best-looking crab ever, but it had a shell, pincers, and six legs, which was enough for her at that point. Amazed, she turned to the Traveler.
Aether's jaw dropped. "How did you do that? It took me days to learn how to make any shape at all, and all I could manage are these lousy water drops!"
"Hehe, Paimon thinks she's just better than you at it, Traveler!" exclaimed Paimon.
"Yeah... I guess she is," smiled Aether while looking at her. He didn't seem envious at all; on the contrary, he was amazed.
Furina smiled at him too and lost concentration. The crab immediately fell apart. "Aw, it was so cute," she sighed.
"Don't worry," laughed Aether, "you'll be able to make it stay for as long as you want with a bit of practice. You might even be able to make several of them at the same time. But for today, I think that's enough. Now let's get to the fun part."
"The fun part?" What could be more fun than creating cute aquatic creatures with your newly acquired Hydro powers?
"Yup. I'm going to teach you how to wield a sword."
"Oh," said Furina. Not that she had anything against it; she was just even more excited about the creatures she could make. But she decided to listen to Aether. "But... I don't have a sword with me. Should I buy one?"
"Don't worry; Paimon and I already thought about that. We packed a weapon specially for you."
"Really? What is it?" asked Furina, starry-eyed. Suddenly, she got excited. What elegant and beautiful, yet also deadly and dangerous blade could Aether have prepared specially for her? Surely, it must have been a magical weapon belonging to a legendary warrior that he found on a long-forgotten battlefield in a faraway land. A weapon so amazing that her loving knight in shining armor, Aether, would think could be fitting for the lady of his heart, Furina.
Aether picked up the weapon from their bags and handed it to her.
"Aether... that's a pipe."
