On with the show.
Disclaimer: Genshin Impact and its characters belong to Mi-hoyo and Hoyoverse; I own nothing.
Today was certainly shaping up to be quite something.
When she had been roused from slumber this morning, dressed, fed and otherwise catered to by an army of attendants, the hydro archon could've never guessed she'd be subject to such a whirlwind of events.
Being kicked out of her own courtroom - her own courtroom! - by none other than her chief justice.
Encountering her newfound nemesis shortly thereafter and deciding to make him share her misery in whatever manner she could manage.
Teaching a few uncouth individuals the value of respecting her station, coming to develop an intense dislike for weasels in the process.
Learning that the ocean wasn't as terrifying as she imagined it to be, as well as just how special said nemesis had turned out to be to her.
Now...
"Such a poor showing. Has playtime as a god really caused your skills to diminish this much?"
The loathed cur that haunted the depths of her dreams now stood before her, as arrogant as ever.
In the past, Furina might've been intimidated by her current situation. After all, going toe to toe with one of the most powerful of the Abyss Order's underlings wasn't something even she in all her confidence was comfortable with. The mages were nuisances at best and despite Aether's insistence he deal with them, she had slayed more than her fair share during their descent, after Aether dealt with their barrier that is.
Mathias, as it turned out, was very much cut from a different cloth. It wasn't so much that he was intent on ending her like the self-absorbed mages were, rather, he seemed content to toy with her, which only furthered her outrage.
Furina dove to the side as the Baptist let loose another volley of energy, this time cryo instead of electro. The grazing jet of cool air made the feeling in her cheeks grow numb, prompting her to turn a glare back on her attacker. With another cry of rage, she lanced forth, pirouetting her blade enroute before landing a clean strike on Mathias. Yet, like before her sword was rebuffed by the barrier, knocking her off balance.
"I would suggest you drop such pretenses of being an archon and start acting like the instrument you were cultivated to become," the Baptist remarked, steeping his fingers together into a sort of pyramid - all twenty-four of them.
Now he's as much a monster on the outside as within, she mused before giving a sneer.
"You would be wise not to trifle with the likes of said god, Mathias. I could end you with but a snap of my fingers!"
"Then why don't you?" the Baptist called her bluff, causing her to curse. "Ah, but you can't now can you? Otherwise, you would have had more to show than this."
While Mathias' survival had unnerved her initially, she would be damned if she let this cad learn of the absence of her powers. "Pah! I shan't need to waste such precious energy on vermin like you. My blade is all I need."
"A paltry excuse for one such as you, #238," Mathias scoffed. "You have yet to land a single blow upon my person since this exchange began."
"Because you only hide behind that damned barrier of yours! Your claims of power mean nothing if you have nothing to show for them, Baptist!"
"This is how the vaunted hydro archon conducts herself? What a pitiful state my homeland has been left in if the likes of you are at the helm. All you can do is fall back on the talents of others to clear your path."
As much as she wanted to argue that fact, it was the truth. Years of being in such a lofty position had indeed made her soft as well as blinded her to the happenings of her nation. Even with Clorinde and Neuvillette she had used many others to handle problems she either couldn't at the time or rightly be bothered with. She was paying for that hindsight now and it couldn't have been at a worse time.
"Yet here you stand with minions of your own to do your bidding! Face it Mathias, you're just as guilty as I am when it comes to fighting your own battles! You can't even face me like a man! Although perhaps that's being too kind since you were never much of one to being with!"
A sudden burst of power threw off her latest offensive, breaking her balance as well as loosening the grip on her blade – just in time for the Baptist to pick her up by said blade, dangling her like a child's toy. "Enough games, child," Mathias told her before flinging her back to the ground like a ragdoll. The impact was not kind to her, and she was sure she'd be nursing some serious bruises come next morn.
Even so, she couldn't help but gasp as the denizen took her blade and snapped it like a twig, tossing the remnants at her feet. Undeterred, she picked up the broken blade and prepared to carry on before a cry of pain drew her attention.
Aether!
The blond warrior had managed to take down the two abyssal lectors, only for an abyssal herald to take their place and catch him off-guard. And given that he was still using the power of hydro, there was little he could do against the hydro-aligned foe. The herald caught him by the throat and hurled him over to her, Furina just barely having time to cushion him with her own body.
A lawachurl might as well have sucker punched her for all the weight the Traveler held.
The battered boy groaned, sporting multiple burns and bruises from his battle, his face contorting into a grimace.
"Aether," she uttered, eyes wide as she looked over him, her hands hovering just above his face as if afraid to touch him.
"I shall offer you one last chance to consider my offer, #238," the Baptist stated, drawing her ire. "You need not waste such precious energy fighting against your fate when others' hang in the balance."
Before she could answer, Aether rose up and drew his sword, stumbling a bit as he got to his feet. "She's not... going with you!" he shouted up at the Baptist.
"Admirable Prince, truly, but futile. You cannot hope to stand against the might of the Abyss in your state."
Aether just growled, gripping his blade tight, backing up closer to Furina. "Not a single one of you will touch her," he vowed, panting hard.
"Aether…" Furina murmured, casting her gaze around them as the denizens closed in. Power thrummed; the air alive with energy from the Order's minions. Her eyes landed once more on Aether's back, her heart starting to pound heavily in her chest.
"How unfortunate, Prince," the Baptist intoned. "I do not look forward to informing her highness of your fate, but she will come to understand that the world she seeks cannot come about with the likes of you in it."
"Then what are you waiting for?" he growled, summoning what was left of his strength to draw his blade for what would likely be his final fight.
Time seemed to slow, the world screeching to a halt as if the scene had been captured via kamera. Even sound quieted to a hushed rumble in her ears, light seeming to blur their surroundings.
No… no this isn't how it's supposed to end. Not like this… not like this!
There was still so much she had to do. The prophecy was nigh, her people were in danger and if nothing was done then Fontaine would be swept from the face of Teyvat.
Aether... they still had matters to resolve!
Was this how the second hydro archon would meet her end? Ousted by zealous neophytes that sought to ruin not just her nation but the entirety of the world? Cast into shadow, left as but a passing mention in this chapter?
No.
No this could not be allowed.
Power… she needed power. Her power.
So, she dug deep inside herself, scrounging, searching, scouring the depths of her body for any inkling of the power that had been snatched from her.
Deeper... deeper...
I need it… I have to have it. If I don't-
"So sure, are you?"
A sharp intake of breath, and suddenly she realized she was no longer within the ruins of the Institute. Instead, she found herself standing on a stage not unlike that of the opera house's. A quick glance around showed that only the stage was intact – everything else was either torn asunder or left to float as if gravity no longer held court. Beyond, a swirling maelstrom of sky blue hung in the background, like some grand canvas.
What's more, she hadn't been imagining things. That voice…
Suddenly, a cloud of light blue energy manifested before her, taking shape and shifting into the form that the oceanids seemed to prefer only this one was humanoid. Then, it spoke.
"For what reason do you believe you deserve such powers, hydro archon? Is it to simply conquer all those who stand against you, or is it to protect yourself solely from retribution?"
Furina's first instinct was to affirm such notions, but she reconsidered at the last second. "I… I do want to protect myself and I do want to destroy my enemies," she admitted, clutching a hand to her bodice.
The figure's eyes seemed to narrow at her disappointing answer. "Then you are not worthy of such-"
"Let me finish!" she snapped, and surprisingly the figure went silent. Taking that as her chance to reinforce her case, she sifted through her thoughts, hoping that she could explain herself. Because right here and now she was, for once, the one being judged and not the other way around. "I don't want it for just that, not anymore."
"Then what do you desire power for, child?" the figure asked, not harshly but not kind either.
The god of hydro considered her next words carefully. She thought of the depth of her desires, what it entailed and why – the true crux of it all.
Before she had wanted her power back simply because it belonged to her. As her successor, Egaria's gnosis had been left solely in her care and nobody had dared question her right to possess it. It was hers.
For so long that had been all that ever mattered to her.
Not Clorinde... not Neuvillette, and not the people who hung on to her every word. She - Furina de Fontaine, the hydro archon, was top priority more than anything else. No one else mattered in her mind. If she ever put any interest in others it was solely for her own benefit, her entertainment.
It should've been the same with a certain blond traveler that had waltzed onto her stage. Her newfound source of entertainment proved to be much more bothersome than thus, leading her to headache after headache... but also, excitement.
His entrance into her fabulous but dull existence had forced her to really look at the world around her - not just of the people around her, but herself as well.
Fontaine wasn't just Furina. Fontaine was her people, her life, and her future.
A future that had been nearly stripped from them time after time since time immemorial.
"Fontaine was nearly destroyed many times in the past," she began, making sure she had the figure's attention before going on. "Countless lives lost due to a calamity we couldn't have defended against. Now my successor's prophecy hangs over our heads like a guillotine waiting to drop."
"And you believe only you can stop it," the figure stated blandly, though Furina was sure it was meant to be a question.
Furina paused, weighing her next response carefully before she shook her head. "I don't know anymore," she admitted quietly. "But I know that I can't let this happen unopposed, not if I can somehow mitigate it in any way. And I'm not alone."
She never had been. Clorinde had been there to protect her and look after her, even when she was considered off-duty; Neuvillette would patiently listen to whatever rant she had prepared for that particular day and would even arrange to make her day just a bit better in the form of sweets or simple entertainment.
And Aether...
He'd opened her eyes, not just to the reality she lived in but things she would rather have taken to the grave, and he'd accepted them all with a smile. No matter her past, he was the first one to learn what she was and did not scorn nor pity her for it.
She would be a fool to forsake not only that but all that those around her done for her sake.
She owed them a debt beyond the lifespan of a god.
"I buried who I was all to prove I could step into Lady Egaria's shoes, so that I could protect what she did. But at some point I grew complacent, indulgent in the status I held, driving all those I feared would never understand in the faint hope it would protect me. All it did was isolate me from what really mattered and in the end, my demons still caught up with me. So, If I can't face my own darkness, how can I possibly stand against that which is sure to sweep across my land?"
The figure remained silent after her rant, Furina hanging on to her reaction. For one awful moment it seemed as though the figure would merely scoff at her resolve… until it laughed.
More than that, the figure began to glow faintly with a bright blue hue. The mysterious voice she'd come to associate with her mind suddenly began to change, and Furina could feel something locked away deep inside her bubble to the surface. "Hmph. Well then, it was about time you parted ways with that mask of yours, child."
Furina was forced to shield her eyes, the light threatening to blind her before she felt something remove her beloved hat. "H-hey don't-!" All her words ceased, her heart nearly stopping as she came to view not the blue figure but a phantom from her past. "Y-you…"
Because before her stood none other than the former hydro archon, her predecessor, mentor… and older sister – Egaria. She looked just like Furina remembered; her long aqua-marine hair tinged with white flowed down her shoulders like rolling waves and curly bangs framing deep, azure orbs glimmered with a familiar twinkle of amusement A resplendent off-shoulder dress in foamy white adorned her body, flowing down to her ankles, caressing her bare feet.
"L-Lady Egaria?" Furina stammered, tears threatening to spring to her eyes.
"I'm afraid not, my dear," the being wearing her face said sadly. "I'm merely the cognitive remnant of her."
"C-cognitive?"
"Call me a memory of sorts. I exist because Egaria was the most important person to you and thus holds a powerful presence in your mind. No one else mattered as much to you until now."
"That's not right! You… you still matter to me! You saved me from that hell! You rescued me, you spared me… I'm alive because of you…" Furina sobbed, throwing herself into the phantom's arms. She didn't care if it was just a memory or even a phantom of her own making; she could feel Egaria's embrace around her, just like she used to do when she was still alive.
"You feel you owe her a debt," Egaria spoke softly, brushing her hair back. Furina nodded her head against her chest. "She gave you your name."
Her time in the institute had completely erased any memories she might've held before. Her family… her friends… her entire identity… all a blank slate thanks to that monster Mathias. Even after Egaria saved her those first few years were difficult; she didn't speak, she could barely stand anyone touching her save for Egaria and even that was touch and go. There had even been a small part of her that resented the god for not acting sooner, for letting so many others vanish from this plane until only she was left.
It wasn't until she had been bestowed her new name that she finally accepted that Egaria wouldn't be like Mathias and his ilk. From then on it didn't matter who she had been before Egaria – only who she would be to the woman who saved her.
"I… I owe her everything," Furina uttered tearfully, pushing herself further into the woman only to feel herself pushed back. "W-why did you-?"
"Because I am not her, child, and I think you know it," Egaria's phantom said with a bitter smile on her face. "Don't lose yourself in your memories, else you will only repeat what happened before."
"Before?"
"Egaria" sighed, closing her eyes briefly before opening them, fixing Furina with a stern look. "Furina, you have never been able to accept Egaria's death. Even now locked away inside you are your true memories from that time."
Egaria's… death. She had done her best to move past it, but even then she always felt some bits were missing – something vital that had been… misplaced. "I know she's gone," she admitted bitterly, tears stinging her eyes once more.
"Knowing and accepting are not wholly one entity. Tell me, do you know why I restricted your powers?"
"Because I was misusing them," Furina answered quickly, only for "Egaria" to shake her head.
"You are not wrong but not correct either. Your powers were not restricted by me at all but by your own subconscious."
Furina stared in shock at the phantom, stepping back in disbelief. "That… you're saying I'm the one who locked my power away? But that's-!"
"Ludicrous? Perhaps. Were you a mere Vision holder then you likely wouldn't have succeeded. For the same reason I exist is why your powers were locked away – because deep down, you were afraid. As I've said, you did not accept Egaria's death even though the truth was right in front of you. Your ascension as the hydro archon shattered whatever stability you had been developing up to that point; you went berserk and had it not been for a fail-safe Egaria installed into the gnosis itself, you would've sunk Fontaine itself."
Furina recoiled, aghast. She was that dangerous? God or not, she didn't believe she could ever wield even a tenth of the power Egaria held as archon. But if this "Egaria" was telling her this…
"But… then why could I still call on it? If you… if Lady Egaria did such a thing, shouldn't I have been like this up until now?"
"Your grief was uncontrollable at the time and only served to make your powers unstable. Egaria knew you would need such power in order to ascend as her successor, so she made a loophole; and don't say she couldn't do such a thing – it was her gnosis, after all, and she'd spent ages studying the powers not just her but all of the Seven were given. Instead of shutting you off entirely from your power, only memories of Egaria's passing would be sealed which would balance out your psyche therefore making it safe to use your powers - to a reasonable degree that is."
Slowly the pieces began to fall into place for Furina. Her rage and fear of her past from the Institute had incited the Egaria's fail-safe to activate, suppressing her powers before they could lash out in dangerous ways. Sure, she could still get angry and call on her power but the extent of it – the intensity, specifically – would depend on how it affected her.
Otherwise, what Aether had made her feel would've cut her off long before now.
"I… suppose that makes some sort of sense," she admitted before looking back at the cognition of Egaria. "But how does that explain you? Are you part of that fail-safe too?"
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," the phantom answered, and Furina's heart leapt up to her throat. "You were Egaria's world just as much as she was yours, so it shouldn't surprise you that some aspect of her was passed on in her belongings."
Did… did that mean-?!
All of a sudden, Furina felt a splitting headache grip her, dropping her to her knees. "AGH! This… THIS… pain…!"
"Furina, listen to me. There's no time left."
Time…? Wait, then that meant-!
"Aether...!"
"You are the only one who can save him, Furina. But first you must do what you couldn't five hundred years ago - you must ascend as Fontaine's archon proper."
"H-how-AGH… it hurts…!"
It felt as if something was hammering on her skull, trying to get out, threatening to burst from her skin.
"To feel grief is not the end of all things, Furina. Remember what she taught you of water! Happiness... sadness... You are the only one who can control how you feel."
The shattered opera house began to grow brighter and brighter, beginning to swallow Furina's vision as well as Egaria's form. "Wait, no! Don't go! Don't leave me again!"
Then, as she felt a familiar weight placed back upon her head - the hat Egaria had given to her - the hauntingly familiar voice, though faint, floated back to her.
"Oh child. Just as all the waters of this world return to Fontaine, so shall those you hold most dear. Trust in that if nothing else."
And then she was gone, consumed by the oppressive light and now she found herself standing in an office, right behind a familiar girl as she screamed at the gardes assembled, and Neuvillette.
All of them wore grim faces, some were even in tears... the Iudex was the only one of them that wasn't, but Furina knew that the stone face he wore now was much different than his usual stoic expressions.
Grief had gripped them and Furina suddenly realized what she was witnessing.
This... this was the day Egaria perished, the day Fontaine's archon fell... the day that the mental state of the girl she had saved shattered like a fine vase thrown at the wall.
Furina's eyes landed on the glowing object floating before her past self, her eyes widening as realized that it was a gnosis - Egaria's gnosis.
Now hers.
"Lady Furina... you must accept it," the chief justice told her, and she swore she heard his voice hitch.
The screams only intensified making it feel as though Furina herself might go insane from it all, or her head exploded. Was this what she'd held inside her all this time? 500 years of grief, all kept bottled up until now.
"She is not dead, she's not dead, she's not dead," her past self chanted as she caved inwardly. "Stop standing there and go find her! Bring her back, you dolts!"
"We cannot Lady Furina, and you know why."
"Lies! LIES! She wouldn't die like that! She's coming back, I know she is!"
Neuvillette - or rather the phantom playing as him - once more urged her to accept the gnosis, his voice becoming muddled as if being drowned out by something.
"Lady Egaria will come back. I know she will. She wouldn't abandon us - abandon me! She promised we'd go on a picnic again when she comes back... Then we... we..."
The sounds that erupted from her past self unnerved her because they did not sound like they came from anything human. Because that's what she had been without Egaria - an animal.
The animal that Egaria had saved her from becoming.
Each cry, each scream - everyone felt as if Furina herself had been the one to let them loose, her throat feeling raw from the experience.
"I'm nothing without her! NOTHING. NOTHING...!"
The gnosis before the phantom Furina began to glow brighter and brighter, hydro energy seeping out in vicious waves before it all fell silent. Nothing remained, except for two phantoms - Furina's, and what could not be mistaken as anything other than Egaria.
Furina swallowed, making her way over to them with purposeful steps, trying not to let the wails and whimpers deter her. Soon she reached them; the phantom of herself continued to sob into Egaria's spectral form, the larger phantom staring in what she could only describe as helplessness down at the younger phantom. Then, it looked at her.
Furina stared into the soulless orbs of the spectral entity - of her lasting memory of Egaria. This was no longer about reliving the past but confronting it.
That included Egaria too.
"I don't know if you're a cognition, a remnant or whatever else you think you are," she told the phantom, her eyes narrowing to a fierce glare. It wasn't anger that she felt towards the phantom, however, merely resolve... one that had long since been overdue. "But you're gone and I'm still here - we're still here so let me get this out of the way. The prophecy might've been your doing for all I know but that doesn't mean it has to be our end. To fall is to fail, and no matter how much I wish it wasn't so... you failed. That means it falls to me to clean up what you left behind," she stated firmly, gesturing down at the still weeping phantom of herself, "and that includes her."
The phantom stared silently at her, judgingly. Furina did not once break that gaze until finally, and shockingly, the phantom smiled... and stepped away, fading into the darkness.
Only me, myself, and I, she found herself thinking before she lowered herself and hugged the crying girl tightly.
"I... I don't want to be alone anymore," the phantom whimpered into her chest. "Lady Egaria... Lady Egaria...!"
"We won't be," Furina assured. "Egaria entrusted us to stand on our own two feet, so that's what we'll do no matter how painful it will be."
That's right. Egaria was gone, yes, but she hadn't been alone for a very long time.
Now so many others were standing beside her even with the weight of that terrible future barreling down upon them. What lay in store could indeed be cruel but letting it swallow them simply would not do. But first, they needed to put the past to rest once and for all.
"The ones lost are gone forever, but we can't let him do it again. Now stand up Furina. It's time to stop being a scared little girl and start playing the role Egaria meant for us."
Aether had fought many, many battles over the course of his long life even before his journey across Teyvat. He'd met countless foes and made unforgettable bonds, even here in the land of hydro. Always he'd been able to come out on top no matter what the challenge.
But, with his body pushed to its absolute limits, his sword dragging against the stone beneath them, he wasn't afraid to admit he might not come out of this one unscathed. His foes were powerful and given his current state, it would take little to put him out of commission.
Not that he had any intention of lying down like that of course. It wasn't just himself he had to worry about. Furina sat oddly silent behind him, perhaps terrified beyond words at the fate that loomed before them. Indeed, if he faltered, her life would surely be forfeit – the Abyss loathed all the gods and Furina would be no exception to their hatred.
So, he stood even when his body pleaded with him to give in. To give in meant the end of not just Furina but his journey to understand just why the Abyss was doing this… why his sister refused to come back to him.
His bones could break but his spirit would not shatter, not here and not ever! He had too much to live for! He could fight until his body broke… or he could give in, surrender himself to the Abyss in exchange for Furina's safety.
The last card he had to play. It would mean the end of many things but if she could go free… he would be happy with that.
Paimon too… Can't let her get dragged down with me, he thought bitterly.
His closest friend would pitch the fit to end all fits and he wouldn't fault her for it. He would be breaking a promise to her to always stick together.
No. She could not go with him to the Abyss. They would not treat her kindly.
That was enough reason to give them hell.
That is, until a wave of energy washed over him from behind, somehow reinvigorating him. Stunned, he whirled around… and nearly dropped his blade at the sight he came to behold.
There stood Furina, but at the same time it wasn't her. Her customary suit dress had since vanished, replaced by something he could only describe as divine attire. Now she wore a long flowing dress in blue and white with a few openings in the fastened together, offering him a modest glimpse at her alabaster skin. In a similar manner to other gods like Ei and Nahida, her dress seemed to share the gradual fade to starry details along the hem and edges of her dress. She now stood barefoot; her hair having come undone from its twin-tails now flowing down her back in gorgeous waves. It wasn't until her eyes opened and she met his that Aether realized this was still very much the girl he'd been prepared to defend to his last breath.
Just, you know, beautiful beyond all worldly understanding.
"Furina…" he breathed, mesmerized.
"WHAT IS THIS?" Mathias exclaimed, outraged. "Impossible! You held no power!"
"That is truth of a sort, yes," Furina spoke calmly, as if she wasn't surrounded by dangerous beings from the Abyss. "You may have made me into this, but you do not define my life, Mathias. My life as your little pet project ended the day the Institute was washed away by Lady Egaria."
"That is where you are gravely mistaken, #238! So long as you or I exist, the dream of human ascension will never perish! Now you will come with me willingly or I shall drag you back to Abyss myself, child!"
Aether growled, drawing his blade once more only to feel a hand ghost across his gloved hands. He glanced over in shock, finding Furina there smiling demurely at him. Heat blossomed in his cheeks as he stared unabashedly at her, entranced by her radiant beauty. Furina was beautiful before sure, but like this… she was ethereal.
"You played the role of my protector brilliantly, my dear," she said gently, and his heart skipped several beats. "Now it is high time I took this stage back." Then, she waved her hands about and, to his shock, drew out the power of hydro from him and back to herself. "Forgive me, but I'll be taking my power back for just a bit."
"Are you sure about this?" he couldn't help but ask, swallowing a bit. Even if she clearly had gotten her second wind, he still wasn't keen on leaving her to face off against Mathias alone if he could help it.
"You have your demons to fight, but mine belong solely to me. Speaking of which," she cast a look at the lone herald that seemed itching to be let off his leash, "let me level the playing field." She threw out her hand, causing a puddle of water to form underneath the herald that soon began to cry out in pain. Blueish energy was drained from the abyssal warrior in streams of water-like energy, bringing it to its knees. "Now then, my dear chaperone," Furina said playfully, her tone almost sensual even, "cast these heathens from my sight at once!"
It might've seemed silly to play along given their situation and he was sure Paimon would tease him for it later, but now he knew for sure there would be a later for them all. Taking up his blade with renewed vigor, a face splitting grin bloomed across his face as he answered her summons, "Yes, my lady!"
Yes, I adopted Focalors' canon appearance to suit Furina's higher self. I did say she was the real archon in this story, didn't I? Sure it might seem a bit contrived to slap that design on her but Focalors and Furina were once one and the same. So I think it works.
Speaking of Focalors, let me just say this. Damn her, and damn the heavenly principles for forcing my Furina to go through something like this.
That said I am a proud Neuvolors shipper now XD
Egaria on the other hand... Gotta admit, I had to get a bit creative with her. Her design is not based on anything established in the lore (to my knowledge at least). I tried to think of something that would seem both elegant and plain for Egaria while also making sure she didn't mirror Focalors to an extent. Hard to do that when they both were dresses but I digress. There was also the idea of having Egaria wear gloves but I felt that might have been too impersonal. Egaria here is known for doting on Furina, thus she would've forgone wearing gloves to better impart that with Furina (if that makes any sort of sense).
Now, as I've stated many times throughout this fic, I'm taking some serious creative liberties here with what Furina can do as a god. Can all the archons strip beings of their elemental rights? Perhaps, but with Furina I feel it makes a bit more sense. She has a dominion of hydro and thereby she has the right to strip anyone of said element if she feels the need to, plus the Abyss Order only has a provisional affinity to their elements as it is. I will say I'm going to devise an original elemental burst for her so stay tuned for that - it's what I expected her burst to be before her canon played out.