Furina waved goodbye to Clorinde. She had arrived the following day as promised and Furina found it to be the most enjoyable visit so far.
Nothing particularly special happened but she felt more comfortable simply talking to her. Clorinde was perceptive and had been quick to point out the differences in her behaviour. Her posture was a little straighter, she was trying to make eye contact more often and her responses were showing more confidence. Furina smiled to herself when Clorinde told her she was glad to see she was in better spirits.
Even though she was curious about how Furina would explain her change in demeanour , Clorinde didn't press on anything involving the prophecy or trial when Furina struggled to put her thoughts into words. It was clear she knew Aether had something to do with it based on the last visit but despite how obvious it might have been, Furina was grateful to her former bodyguard for not prying further.
She knew she could trust Clorinde but she wanted to be sure she was ready to talk about it on her own terms. Even though she had already torn open old wounds in front of Aether, Furina still didn't consider herself able to relive her experience again just yet. She hadn't even intended to talk to Aether about it in the first place. It would always hurt to think back on it but she didn't want to break down in tears as she had before for everyone she decided to share her pain with.
Furina had told Clorinde that she wasn't ready to discuss what she had spoken about with Aether to her yet. Though Furina promised she would tell her everything one day, she still expected Clorinde to be disappointed, especially when she could no longer meet her eyes and she lost the small amount of confidence she had managed to build up. She didn't want to hide anything from the people trying to help her.
To her surprise, Clorinde accepted her reasoning. She'd then said to her that she was just glad to see she was opening up. Furina could only smile warmly in response. She knew she had been assuming the worst of people recently and was wanted to change her outlook, especially for those close to her.
Again, time seemed to fly by and Clorinde had to return to work. Furina saw her off and sat back down.
There wasn't anything she had in mind to do for the rest of the day. Her shopping had been done for her yesterday and there were no other errands to run. Even if she was feeling more lively, going out in public with no urgent reason to was still daunting. Just being able to talk a little more was enough for now.
She was glad to hear from someone that she was doing better. She felt better too. It felt easier to hold her head up a little higher, to be able to hold more of a conversation and speak above a whisper. They were small steps and she felt she could only do so with a select few people but it was a start.
If she could keep it up then maybe she would gradually see be back to her old self-
Furina stopped short of finishing the thought. The familiar expression didn't fit her at all.
"What even is my 'old self'?" she muttered.
Playing the role of the Archon was all just an act in the end. She had to be the kind of god the people imagined one to be. How could she tell how much of it was truly herself and not part of the act?
Her people couldn't have any reason to doubt her divinity. She needed only to remember her accession speech to realise how easy it was for doubts to spread.
She wanted to be a fair and just god. She would be approachable and open to criticism. Even as a supposed deity, she would work hand in hand with her people and they would make Fontaine prosper together.
But her hopes were too human. To humans, a god surpassed humanity, was confident in their power and presence and was someone people could put their faith in.
Who she was before becoming the Hydro Archon hadn't mattered. She couldn't be that person if she wanted to save Fontaine from the prophecy.
Furina couldn't recall much about herself from centuries ago. Had she ever had much confidence in herself? Was there anything she had wanted for herself outside of keeping up her performance? Maybe she had always been shy and didn't enjoy the spotlight.
So much of the person she could possibly have been outside of her act had been lost to time. Even as part of her act, her Archon persona would have had to go through many iterations over the years. She had outlived countless people, seen sweeping changes through Fontaine and had to adapt to it all. Each generation was different in small ways and there was always the possibility that the next generation would be less likely to believe in her status.
Even if she could sift through every single memory of every mask she had worn, she doubted there was anything left of her original self left to find.
The question of what her place was in the Fontaine of the future now that the prophecy had been averted also remained.
After 500 years, the character she had portrayed was all she had. Now that she could finally step down, who was she without it?
Her expression fell. She had been enjoying her day. Now she had ruined it.
Furina let her head fall against the armrest of the sofa and stared blankly forward.
She wasn't sure how long she sat in silence just staring at the wall. It couldn't have been that long. When she looked towards the window it was still bright outside.
The thought of dragging herself to bed and lying there until tomorrow entered her mind. It was what she had gotten used to whenever she thought about her past, the prophecy or her trial. With her mood soured, she didn't have any desire to do much else.
Furina sighed. She assumed this was normal. Just because things were improving for her, it didn't mean the past had been fully put behind her yet.
She had already had lunch with Clorinde so there was no immediate reason to get up. Maybe she'd get up to make something later if she felt hungry. As long as she got up before Clorinde arrived tomorrow, there wasn't anything else to worry about. The only other people likely to visit at all were Neuvillette or Aether and Paimon.
"Neuvillette would probably let me know he was coming," she thought to herself. She imagined he'd send a letter or ask Clorinde to relay a message. That only left Aether and Paimon.
Furina lifted her head, wondering about the possibility of Aether and Paimon showing up. She had said that they were also welcome to visit now that they knew where she lived. Clorinde hadn't seen them today so perhaps they had been busy with commissions for the Adventurer's Guild at the time.
If she could put the recent thoughts out of her mind, she wouldn't have been opposed to seeing them and even if she couldn't, they'd be understanding.
The visit the previous day had been something she had always wanted but never thought she could have once she had regained her composure. She had spent time with people who she knew cared for her and she could enjoy it to the fullest without having to act as people would expect a god to.
Even before then, Aether had been so comforting and so kind. When he held her, she felt safe and for the first time felt it was truly okay to let someone in. He knew what she had been through and though she had convinced herself that he should only have had contempt for her, he held nothing against her and showed her that there were people who wanted to be there for her.
Furina smiled warmly.
She hoped she could have more days like it.
She wasn't sure why she had lingered on the thought of seeing them again. It was all hypothetical since she didn't know what they were up to or where they were. Still, the thought was nice. She'd have to return the favour and visit them at some point.
Furina blinked and sat up.
She stood and made her way over to her kitchen. Opening the cupboards and drawers, she looked for where she had placed the Realm Dispatch.
Perhaps it was a stretch to say she had made up her mind to use it but after yesterday's experience, she should have at least found it again. Regardless of whether she had misplaced it or hid it from sight because she thought Aether would judge her for her current lifestyle, she shouldn't have forgotten about it.
She found it in a drawer underneath the apron she had bought recently. She had forgotten about that as well. It was supposed to save her from giving herself as much to wash if she accidentally splashed sauce on her clothes again.
Furina replaced the apron and closed the remaining open drawers. She took the Dispatch back to her seat, intending to put it on the side table.
Before she did, she looked it over and frowned. As she had told herself earlier, she didn't picture herself using it now but there was a more pressing issue on her mind.
"How does this thing work?"
There were no buttons or mechanisms on any part of it and she hadn't seen anything else like it from Liyue so she had no point of reference. She turned it over and inspected it from a number of different angles but still nothing.
She knew she must have been missing something obvious which annoyed her.
She sighed in frustration. Giving up on the further inspection, her shoulders slumped and she let herself slide down in her chair. What was the point of inviting her with this thing if he didn't even tell her how to use it?
Propping herself up before she let herself sink any further in the chair, she absentmindedly ran her thumb over the carving of the teapot. She couldn't help but wonder about the place Aether called home in the meantime. He had said he got it in Liyue so it was probably at least somewhat inspired by their culture. Was it anything like her apartment? He was a traveller and worked closely with the Adventurer's Guild so he probably didn't get to spend much time there. She imagined it to be a modest place to rest one's head after a hard day's work.
She was about to set the Dispatch down when she noticed an intensifying glow emanating from it.
Startled, Furina recoiled and dropped it. The world seemed to blur around her and by the time she reached down to pick up the talisman, instead of apartment floor, she saw she was standing on grass.
Furina immediately shot back up to see where she was and was left speechless.
The cramped walls of her apartment had given way to a series of islands suspended in the air connected by translucent golden bridges. The world seemed to go on without end, the sea of clouds below stretching far beyond what she could see. A Liyue style mansion towered over her surrounded by buildings and architecture showcasing the variety of cultures each nation of Teyvat had to offer.
She hadn't visited any of the other nations but she could still identify their defining features. A row of traditional houses from Mondstadt, a small Liyuean street of food stalls, stands for an Inazuman festival and a fountain surrounded by Sumerian plants and flowers.
Furina stood stunned as she took it all in.
While she was undeniably amazed at the realm she had inadvertently entered, she quickly brought herself back to reality with her most pressing issue: how was she supposed to leave?
Furina picked up the talisman, inspecting it again. Something she had done earlier must have set off something that activated it. Still nothing jumped out at her as to what she was meant to do. She looked around the immediate area to see if her arrival had opened some kind of entryway when she caught sight of the large white teapot by the entrance to the mansion.
Considering there was a teapot on the talisman itself, it was possible it could do something to help.
With little other choice in her mind, she approached it and looked over the teapot for some sign that it would be of assistance. The teapot shook a little and, for a brief moment, Furina thought she had finally found her exit.
She was proven completely wrong when a bird popped it's head out from under the lid of the teapot.
"Welcome visitor!" the bird said cheerfully.
"Ah!" Furina jumped and stumbled backwards, nearly falling down the steps in the process.
"There's no need for alarm. My name is Tubby and this is the Serenitea Pot."
Furina stood speechless, not sure how to process what she was seeing and hearing. Tubby seemed to squint and take a closer look at her.
"Oh, you must be Furina," Tubby concluded. Furina looked incredulous raising a hand about to ask how this 'Tubby' apparently knew who she was. "Aether requested another Dispatch to give to someone called Furina and you look just like the person he described. He was quite hopeful that you come by someday."
"I… see," Furina finally said. It was comforting to hear Aether had faith that she would eventually use the Dispatch even when she herself thought otherwise for a time.
"To be honest, I actually didn't expect to be here," she admitted as she showed the talisman to Tubby. Based on what Tubby had said, she would know how it worked. "Aether didn't tell me how to use it and I must have done so by accident."
"Oh, well that's unlike him." Tubby tilted her head in confusion. "I see how that's quite the inconvenience for you. Adeptus technology can be confusing for those unfamiliar and it's not immediately clear but using the Realm Dispatch is simple."
Furina frowned. It would be simple for someone who seemed to resided in the realm but she couldn't blame Tubby. She'd have to have words with Aether about it.
Tubby continued having not noticed her reaction.
"All you have to do is hold it in your hand and picture home in your mind. I imagine you were thinking about Aether's home while holding it if you used it accidentally."
Recalling what happened when she was still in her apartment, Furina nodded.
"And to leave again, it's the same and you'll be back where you came in from. It'll only respond to you or someone else with one but try not to lose it!"
"Oh. Thank you." Furina looked back at the Dispatch. It really was that simple.
"Well no matter the reason for your visit, any friend of Aether's is always welcome," Tubby beamed at her. "Since this is your first time here, feel free to look around. Aether isn't here right now but he'll be around later. One of his friends left a note that he said see them about."
Tubby gestured to the paper pinned to one of the columns in the entryway.
Furina could hardly read the scrawl, only just being able to make out the greeting of 'What's up, my man' and a few words like 'beetle battle' and 'training'. She opted to not spend any more time trying to decipher it.
"I think I'll take in some of the sights then," she decided. Since she was here, Furina thought she should see what was around. She imagined she'd be back in future at any rate.
"Alright then. I'll be here if you need anything!" Tubby chirped.
By the time they finished the next page of Thelxie's Fantastic Adventures, the sun had started to set. Aether and Paimon waved goodbye to Freminet and Zuria promising to meet up again in two days so they could finish the book.
"See all those things Thelxie can do? I don't know how to make a clockwork anything do that so I can't make a Thelxie for us."
"Paimon didn't even say anything! Besides, there's only one Thelxie. If we had one, we'd have to come up with our own name."
"And you'd carry on as 'Goddess Paimon' I assume?"
"You know it! It's the part Paimon was born to play." Paimon put her hands on her hips and tilted her head back. She then patted her stomach as it started to grumble. "Ugh, saying that, being a Guardian Goddess is hard work."
Aether looked over at the setting sun. "Yeah, I guess we've been working hard today. Let's go the teapot and we'll get something to eat. Gotta see if Itto's around too." He summoned his travel bag and reached for the Serenitea Pot.
"Oh yeah, the Onikabuto thing. He was pretty happy with it last time so makes sense why he'd wanna go for it again."
"Here's hoping we can get some use out of the ramen voucher we got."
The Serenitea Pot activated, bringing the pair to the floating island realm inside.
"Good afternoon, Aether and Paimon!" Tubby popped out of her teapot. Aether and Paimon approached and greeted the teapot spirit.
"Hey, Tubby. Have you seen Itto around at all?
"Oh, yes. Mr Itto came by not long ago," Tubby explained and gestured to the mansion. "He was going to wait outside but didn't want to lose any of his beetles. He seemed quite proud of them and worried they might fall off the islands so he took them all inside."
"Uh oh, Paimon hopes they're not all loose in the house now. What if they get to our food?!" Paimon gasped.
"Well he's got plenty of experience training them so I should hope he's got them under control," Aether shrugged. He turned back to Tubby. "Anything else come up?"
"I don't believe I've heard any fuss inside," Tubby replied. "Besides that, Lady Keqing is going over preparations for Lantern Rite and Miss Fischl brought some books back. Oh and Miss Furina showed up."
Aether and Paimon both shot up in surprise.
"Furina's here?"
Tubby nodded.
"She arrived by accident and said you didn't tell her how to use the Realm Dispatch." Tubby faced him with a disapproving look.
Aether flinched. Furina was probably going to be mad about that.
"Wait, what?" Confused, Paimon looked back and forth between Tubby and Aether. "How do you forget that kind of thing?!"
"It wasn't that I forgot but my bad I guess?"
Paimon joined Tubby in not looking impressed. "You forgetting things aside, it's great that she's finally here. She looked really happy by the end yesterday. Paimon was worried when we first saw her. Whatever you did when we were gone must've been super helpful."
Aether scratched the back of his head. He'd been hazy on the details when Paimon had asked him before, concluding with saying it was for Furina to share if she chose to.
"I'm not sure exactly where she is but she's been exploring the realm," Tubby continued. "Come to think of it, that was a while ago now and she hasn't come back here yet."
"Huh, well she can't be lost. Maybe she's just really focused on something?" Paimon suggested.
"We'll go look for her," Aether replied. "Tubby, can you let Itto know I'll be with him in a little while?"
"Of course," Tubby smiled.
"Thanks."
"See you later, Tubby!"
They set off keeping an eye out for Furina. As Paimon had said, she couldn't have gotten lost. The layout was very linear and there were only so many islands to go to.
Walking across the golden bridge onto the next island, Furina wasn't anywhere to be seen by any of the stalls or houses on either of the first two islands.
It was only when they reached the last island when they saw her sitting in front of the replica of the Zubayr Theatre.
Aether wondered what she was thinking. Perhaps she was imagining a performance play out or even scenes she'd like to see on stage. In all her years, she had surely seen it all. He'd even heard that she had performed in the past to overwhelmingly positive reception on the rare occasions she chose to appear on stage.
He wondered what her thoughts on performing were now.
Furina turned when she heard them approaching. Aether and Paimon waved before sitting down next to her.
"It's a wonderful stage," she said, turning back to it.
"Yeah, it's just a replica but I'm happy with it," Aether replied. "We don't have the same atmosphere here as Sumeru though."
Furina smiled. "I'd like to see it someday."
"Ooh, yeah then maybe you can see Nilou perform," Paimon chimed in. "She's super amazing and Paimon knows you'd really enjoy watching her dance. Wait, Paimon just had an idea! You could go and see one of Yun Jin's operas in Liyue as well. You can tell them we sent you."
"One thing at a time please Paimon," Aether sighed.
"I've never actually left Fontaine before but that sounds nice." Furina thought. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you've gotten acquainted with performers from across Teyvat."
"Yeah, we meet all sorts," he chuckled. "A bunch of them just so happen to let us experience some culture once in a while."
Furina hummed in response and looked back at the stage. She seemed content to sit in silence for a while longer.
Aether supposed that with her newfound freedom, Furina could venture beyond Fontaine if she wanted. He kept the thought in mind in case he heard of something that she might enjoy happening in one of the other nations.
"By the way," Furina spoke after a few moments of contemplation. She reached into her pocket and took out her Realm Dispatch.
Aether looked at it when she held it out and then back at her. She was suddenly frowning.
"Did you ever intend on telling me how to use this?"
He flinched at the accusatory tone and the finger she was now pointing at him with. Furina had been soft-spoken in all previous conversations since she moved out of the Palais. He knew why she was annoyed at him but he hadn't expected her to resemble how she did on the prosecutors' bench during Lyney's trial.
Aether scratched the back of his head and gave a nervous laugh to compose himself.
At least if she was acting like this, it meant she felt a little more comfortable around him, he thought. However he still would have preferred to not be on the receiving end of her accusations.
He held up his hands.
"To be fair, when I gave it to you, I didn't think you'd have heard me out."
Furina took a moment to consider his defence. At the time, she hadn't wanted to see him and imagined if he had gone on to explain it any more, there was a good chance she might not have taken it with her. She eventually settled on responding with a pout.
"True," she conceded. "But you could have still done more to inform me." She held the Dispatch up punctuating her words by waving it in his face.
"Right, sorry then." Aether dipped his head. No harm had been done but she was still owed an apology. He couldn't expect her to know how to use an unfamiliar piece of technology. There was one last thought bothering him though.
"Wait, how were you trying to use it?" He pointed to the Dispatch. "Were you looking for a button or something?"
"Huh, yeah, there's nothing else you can do with it." Paimon floated down looking over the talisman in Furina's hand.
Furina froze and her annoyance vanished in an instant.
"S-so what if I was?" Furina frowned and tried to regain the composure she just had. "Should I then present you with parts to a Clockwork Meka and expect you to put it together?"
"You know how to make one of those?"
Whatever response she had prepared instead had her opening and closing her mouth as she scrambled to say something to salvage her image. The smug smirk on his face wasn't helping. Her face burned bright red.
"Y-you-! That's not the point!" She huffed and turned away with her arms folded, her chin held high.
With Furina apparently deciding to give them the silent treatment, Paimon looked between them not sure of what to make of what was going on. "So uh, are you both even now or…?"
"I think so?" Aether offered. Furina had begun to turn back only to huff again. "Alright, how about I make it up to you? What if we take you around the city tomorrow? My treat."
He recalled that Clorinde had told them the day before that Furina didn't often leave her home. Perhaps she might be more willing to give going out another try if she had company.
Furina appeared to take her time in considering the offer. She slowly turned around and unfolded her arms. There was a light blush on her face and she was looking anywhere except at him.
"I wouldn't be opposed to that," she muttered.
"Great, we'll work out the details later," Aether smiled.
"Yay! We can go to all the places Furina recommends," Paimon cheered."Anything that meets your standards is bound to be good."
Furina didn't look sure of how to respond to that.
Aether then stood and dusted himself off.
"I've kinda kept someone waiting back at the house so I'm gonna head back. You're welcome to stick around for dinner by the way."
"Oh, thank you," Furina replied. "I'll be around so I'll consider it."
"Fair coming, Paimon?"
"Nah," she waved dismissively. "You can help Itto with his tournament organising thing, Paimon's gonna show Furina around some more. There's tonnes of stories to tell about all the stuff we've got here. Just let us know when the food's ready."
"Of course Goddess Paimon, anything else?"
Paimon squawked indignantly about the supposed improper use of her title.
Aether started to make his way back to the main island. Furina seemed happy enough to be led around and he trusted Paimon make her feel welcome.
He looked forward to their upcoming outing.