"D-Do you think they will return?"
"Have faith in them, Lady Furina. They are our archon and Grand Duelist, they have faced worse odds before."
It's been days since Fontaine's Hydro Archon and her Grand Duelist marched off to war against the Abyss. She was entrusted to oversee the nation as the only remaining divine being. She suddenly found herself filling shoes that are too huge to fill.
It's not to say that she's left to oversee the nation all on her own without assistance. Neuvillette was also tasked to remain behind together with her as Fontaine's last bastion of defence and so did most of the lochfolk that were in the nation. It would be too late to recall the lochfolk that were scattered to all corners of Teyvat prior to the start of this sudden war so they would have to make do with whoever was left.
It was through repeatedly telling herself that the real Hydro Archon and their Grand Duelist will eventually be back that she was able to keep herself sane. She's going crazy at the stress of trying to keep everything together, feeling very lost for not knowing what to do. She was always the one creating mischiefs and troubles in her wake and leaving Egeria and Lucine to clean up her messes. All of a sudden she found herself being the one that people turn to for advice, to lead them, to tell them what to do in the face of great odds that threatened to tear their nation apart, looking at her in a silent plea to give them the confidence and guarantee that their nation will tide through this crisis.
She knew what her people wanted to hear. They wanted to hear her say that everything will be alright because she is here in their archon's absence, that she will definitely be able to protect everyone as a divine being of Fontaine, but who is she to give her people what they wanted to hear? She's just an elemental being that was not even a century old, a child by their standards, a child who knew nothing but to hide under her custodian's shadow whenever trouble brewed.
So in what capacity was she supposed to make such a bold claim that even she couldn't believe in? She's not even their archon, just a temporary stand-in that is playing pretend, wearing a crown that she's not supposed to wear.
Never in her life had she hated herself more. She hated herself for not taking her lessons with Egeria seriously, for not taking her lessons with Lucine seriously, for skiving off in everything that her seniors wanted her to learn to eventually be a divine being that can actually live up to people's expectations of her. She really, really, really regretted not taking things seriously when she had the chance.
If only she could turn back time. If she could turn back time she would go back and slap her past self in the face over and over again and yell at her to take things seriously instead of focusing on her own selfish whims and wants. She wished that she had learnt everything her predecessors knew before they were gone, she wished she had at least tried doing what they did to run and govern Fontaine when they were still around because at least she would have the luxury to err, learn from her mistakes, and eventually learn how to make the correct decisions when her predecessors were still around to act as her safety net.
There was no safety net when she suddenly found herself leading a nation with too much power in her hands. There was no luxury to err, there was no room for error because Fontaine cannot afford to suffer from a single mistake in that very crucial period. There was no longer any chance for her to learn because she never cherished the chances she had until she learnt to appreciate them when it was far too late.
Every step she took could spell disaster and it took everything she had to not cave from the pressure. Lucine always reprimanded her that complacency is unbecoming of a warrior and she really wished that she had actually understood and took his advice to heart when he was still around.
The things she would do to undo all her regrets.
The emergency didn't give her the time to adjust to her new temporary role or to drown in her pressure. Their archon had led their best forces towards the frontlines, the border between Fontaine and Sumeru, in an effort to exert damage control as best as they could. It wouldn't be that bad if that was all. Things only started to spiral out of control when forces of the Abyss had slipped through and rampaged across their territories, causing immeasurable destruction and loss of lives.
Their people were dying by the thousands. Their people were terrified, they were gathering in front of the Palais Mermonia and pleading for her to save them, the divine being that her archon had officially appointed to lead Fontaine in her absence. They view her as their last hope because who else are they able to rely on if even the sole remaining divine in their nation cannot protect their home?
She found herself absolutely terrified at the idea of leading the defence of a nation. At best, her only combat experience was taking down hostile elemental beings through brute force or taking part in a sword fight in a duelling ring. Leading armies to war against enemy forces was something that she had never taken part before so how on earth is she going to do this? What is she even supposed to do? Who should she appoint to what positions?
Just what should she do?!
She wanted to just defer everything to Neuvillette and have him take care of everything but she's the one leading Fontaine now, even if she's just a phoney that was standing in until the return of their real archon. She cannot appear to be weak. People are sensitive to the fears of others and even with her limited intelligence she can foresee what would happen to Fontaine if their people realise that she's even more terrified than they were. The nation would crumble from within even before the Abyss reached them.
She honestly believed that Neuvillette would be the better candidate to lead Fontaine in the absence of their real archon. However, there was some sort of secret contract between Neuvillette and Egeria that he can be anything in Fontaine but their archon. Furthermore, she's the acting leader that their Hydro Archon had officially appointed before she marched off for war. That was something that the whole of Fontaine was made aware of. As much as she wanted to just ditch everything and push it to Neuvillette, concerns about legitimacy of this handover would be raised if Neuvillette were to really take over her duties in such a sudden manner. Fontainians do place a heavy emphasis on the legitimacy of succession and inheritance due to their culture. Such an irresponsible move would only further divide the nation and was something that cannot be allowed to happen in that very crucial period.
There needs to be a figurehead, a figurehead that's legally and rightfully endorsed through the correct channels and that happened to be her. The only person who happened to tick all the right boxes was only her. There needs to be someone unifying and leading Fontaine in this time of crisis. Someone needs to give Fontaine hope, even if it's a false one, because that's the only thing that can hold the nation together until their archon and Grand Duelist return victorious. This was the role given to her by her archon: to be the figurehead that can unify the nation that they wholeheartedly love.
Worries rose and fear started to blanket the nation the longer she dallied. The Abyss were so close to knocking on their doors and she knew that she couldn't afford to delay and wait any longer. Trying to convince herself that their archon or Grand Duelist will return in time to deal with the threat just right outside their city will be no different from lying to herself and their people.
Something must be done right now. Somebody has to do something right now or Fontaine will be in danger.
She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. So in the end, all she had to do was to act, wasn't it? Fake it until she made it? Okay, that's doable, it's all just a temporary act anyway and she's the up and coming Chief Entertainer of Fontaine. Wearing a mask and putting up an act that can deceive everyone would be child's play.
She had made a promise that she would protect Fontaine in their stead. They had given her a magnificent nation to guard for a short moment and she had promised to return to them a nation left untouched and unsullied. She knew she's useless but deep down she didn't want to disappoint them. She hates breaking promises and she loves Fontaine too much to allow the Abyss to destroy their home.
Her resolve was made. She will do what needs to be done, even if it's through a lie, even if that lie has to be covered with another lie, which needs to be covered up with another lie, and another, and another and another until Egeria and Lucine return. She promised them that Fontaine will still be here when they return and she believed that they will return very soon. It doesn't even matter if the skies were to fall, Fontaine can always believe in their archon and Grand Duelist when all else fails. They have the power to make the impossible possible because they are Egeria and Lucine.
"Neuvillette."
She looked up at the person who in her opinion should be the real stand-in archon instead, her fists clenched and palms clammy with sweat, her body trying very hard not to tremble from the heavy expectations suddenly placed on her. He looked back and gave her a silent wordless nod in acknowledgement, pledging his unwavering support. That was all she needed.
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and in the next instance what appeared before Fontaine was a confident divine being that held a grand speech in front of all her citizens. Her sweet honeyed words rallied them together, raising their morale, rousing their fighting spirit, and she gave her false promise that everything will be fine because she is a divine being that had sworn to protect Fontaine and injustice will not occur where she is standing right here. She can and she will protect Fontaine; that was what she lied to her people. Her lies were what broke the figurative dam and the stationary gears in her nation finally started to turn. The surge of patriotism broke forth like an uncontrollable flood and volunteers began to step forward in droves. Even the lochfolk that she had never gotten along with were willing to lend her their strength in this trying period because while they have their disagreements, they do have one thing in common.
They really love Fontaine, their Nation of Justice, their one and only home.
That day was the day where Fontaine was truly unified as one. The speech she made that day was the greatest white lie she ever spun. She will soon learn that one should be honest with themselves because a lie will inevitably be covered with another lie for as long as the deceit continues. She was thankful that Fontaine had no lack of talents and geniuses and that she had at least a somewhat good eye for people because that was how Fontaine managed to miraculously tide over that crisis. She was forced to make many difficult decisions, some of which were against the wills of those who were being called upon to spill blood and fight for their nation but she really had no better ideas. Appointing Basil Elton, former Admiral of the Fontaine Armada, had been one of the best decisions she made even if her sacrifice was deeply regretted. Basil was one among many whom she had to send out to war despite knowing that they would most likely never return after she gave that order.
She knowingly sent her people to their deaths because that was the only way she knew to protect their home. Some "archon" she is.
"T-They should be back soon, r-right? It had been so long…"
Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months. The war with the Abyss was still ongoing but the worst had mostly passed. Even she had managed to lead Fontaine to somehow defeat the great beast Elynas so their archon and Grand Duelist should be back soon, right?
Right?
… Right?
It was that constant convincing that she told herself again and again, day after day, night after night, that soon became the only belief that she could desperately cling onto to keep herself sane. That belief would soon turn out to be a lie that she obsessively insisted as a truth, which pushed her to continue to be the lynchpin that forcefully held the nation together in the absence of their archon. She did her best to handle the governing of an entire nation which she had absolutely no idea how to run because she had never learnt how the nation operated when she previously had the chance before the cataclysm. She pretended that she understood what was going on in the meetings that were held by the various department heads of her government when in fact she understood nothing of what was discussed.
It will be fine, they will be back to take over and clean up her mess when they eventually return. She kept telling herself that lie over and over again until she actually believed in it.
But all lies will come to light eventually, it was simply a matter of time. That lie was brutally shattered when a lone survivor that had followed after their archon to war returned, barely alive, to bring back news of what really happened at the warfront and with that, a prophecy made by their archon before her demise. The messenger never had the chance to fully explain and elaborate on the details of the prophecy before he succumbed to his wounds and breathed his last, which in turn transformed the last words of their archon into a mysterious cryptic message. He only managed to survive long enough to die on the soil of his homeland through sheer willpower and he finally fell like a puppet with its strings cut the moment he dutifully completed his mission.
She will never fault that messenger for being incapable of explaining that cryptic prophecy in full due to his untimely death, he had already tried his best to bring crucial news back and she will forever remember his contributions and sacrifice. What really happened at the Tunigi Hollow would forever remain as an unsolved mystery. The only thing they learnt was that the only reason why the worst of the cataclysm never reached Fontaine was due to the sacrifice of their archon and Focalors' heart ached at her death.
Focalors panicked once she was done with her mourning. What would happen to Fontaine now that their archon is dead?
It was then she remembered that they still have Lucine to rely on, their Grand Duelist had also fallen in that battle but he's a unique outlier even among elemental beings and the divine. He had the unexplainable ability to constantly undergo rebirth even if that process would take a few years. It's okay, things will be fine, she was fully capable of carrying on with her act for just a few short years and she will hand everything over to Lucine thereafter. She's sure that Fontaine will prefer him to be their new Hydro Archon over her. He's someone that every Fontainian has acknowledged, someone who even the lochfolk will bow to, he is someone who can truly unify and lead Fontaine with his mere presence alone and she will happily accept his ascension to that vaunted seat of power.
As long as he's back she will happily make way for him and help him however she can. She had learnt a very important lesson and swallowed a very bitter pill in the time that she had to lead Fontaine and play pretend. She finally learnt the meaning of responsibility and the weight of the crown. She will never ever complain about work again, she will never skive off her lessons again, never shirk her responsibilities again. She promised to do everything that Lucine wanted her to learn without any complaints as long as he returned back to her and to Fontaine.
All she wants is for them to be back, even if it had been confirmed that one of them would forever be unable to return. How she wished that she was the one who had died in the cataclysm instead, but that would forever remain as an unfulfilled wish.
She waited and waited. She even thoughtfully sent in an expedition team to retrieve Lucine's Sword of Temporal Justice that had been left behind in that battlefield, eagerly anticipating for his eventual return. Months turned to years and the years passed one after the other. Just one more year, she would always convince herself with yet another lie, just one more year and the rightful ruler of Fontaine will return. The false archon will no longer need to put up an act any longer.
She didn't know when exactly she had stopped believing in that lie. Maybe it was when people were starting to doubt the legitimacy of her rule and she was left with no other choice but to quell it through an iron fist that turned the waters of her nation red with her people's blood. It was either that or risk a civil war that would fragment the nation. Maybe it was when unknown hydro elemental beings that will eventually be known as the tainted hydro phantasm started to take residence in their waters, the cause of their births unknown, and started terrorising her people as evil creatures that only appeared after she took Egeria's place as the Hydro Archon, a sign that their nation's waters are no longer pure ever since her ascension. Maybe she had finally woke up from her deceitful dream and shaken back into reality through a rude awakening when the lochfolk finally had enough of her and left the nation which they had once sworn to protect. They would rather leave in an act of self exilement than to stay in their beloved home, condemning her and proclaiming that they will never acknowledge her as their archon.
The lochfolk were highly revered by Fontainians and the self exilement of the lochfolk had swiftly divided the nation. She can accept not being acknowledged as Fontaine's archon, she understood better than everyone that she's not qualified to be anyone's archon, but watching Fontaine dividing herself from within is something which she would never allow to stand for. She tried to come to a compromise to appease the lochfolk but her best simply wasn't enough. The lochfolk which had guaranteed the stability of the nation for aeons had ironically became the trigger that destabilised the entire nation.
By that point she knew that drastic measures had to be taken or Fontaine might really destroy herself from within. It was with a heavy heart that she drove out the lochfolk with her very own sword, using the very same techniques that Lucine had taught her in hopes that she would one day protect the nation alongside him. She did the exact opposite of what he taught her; she drew her blade and pointed it at her own people instead of the nation's enemies, using his techniques to drive out the lochfolk who were once their nation's most treasured guardians. Vocal supporters of the lochfolk had to be either imprisoned or permanently silenced with extreme prejudice until people started to forget about the lochfolk with the passing of time and it was how she avoided another civil war in Fontaine. She had defiled his teachings and once again, Fontaine's waters ran red with blood in her final desperate gambit to keep Fontaine together, all because she wasn't able to do better.
The Fontaine which was so pure and magnificent became tainted with sin ever since she wore the crown, all because of her inadequateness, all because she wasn't good enough, all because she didn't try her best to fulfil her responsibilities as a divine of Fontaine when she still had her predecessors to rely on for guidance. Her past inactions resulted in her not knowing how to resolve such a mess in the present, this was how she had sinned.
All she eventually understood was that her archon wouldn't be able to accompany her any longer. Even the infallible Lucine that she would always be able to rely on had disappeared from her life forever. She couldn't hide under anybody's shadows anymore, nobody would be around to reprimand her for her tardiness anymore, nobody would be nagging her ears off and offer guidance when she needed it anymore.
It was then the reality really started to set in and she screamed in denial and grief, her body curled like a baby and her hands clutching onto the sides of her head. No matter how she weeped and cried and screamed and begged there was no longer anybody that would be able to answer her prayers, there was no longer any archon for her to pray to.
In a cruel twist of fate she had now instead become the archon that everyone is praying to, an archon with no power, no wisdom, and no experience to grant her people's wishes. She's an archon who failed everything and achieved nothing. Her very first lie had somehow become the truth but what would happen if that lie is inevitably exposed and laid bare for all to see? What then?
To lie is a sin that goes against the belief that this nation is built upon, the notion of justice. She wanted to laugh at the irony of it all, that the God of Justice became the very thing that their ideals condemned, but she couldn't bring herself to laugh no matter how hard she tried. She had forgotten how to laugh from the bottom of her heart ever since her unworthy self wore this crown. Life is like a play and plays are a reflection of life. She had been acting for so long that she had forgotten who she truly was.
All she knew for certain was that her tears had never run dry even after five centuries had passed. The waters of Fontaine were no longer pure. Her grief for those who she had lost, the immense regret she carried for those who had suffered loss due to her actions and inactions, her hatred for the Abyss that took the lives of those dearest to her heart; all of those emotions eventually spilled over in an unstoppable flood and were poured into the waters that surround Fontaine and she couldn't stop weeping whenever she was finally alone in her private chambers in the Palais Mermonia where she could momentarily cease her pretence.
But Lady Furina cannot cry, she cannot weep, she cannot show her true self to anyone else because the Hydro Archon cannot afford to appear to be weak before her people or everything will come undone. She's not like the other archons in the other nations, she could never be like them. She couldn't flatten mountains with a blade of wind, she doesn't have the power to seal deities in pillars of stone, she couldn't split an island into two with a swing of her blade, she doesn't have limitless wisdom that can guarantee the prosperity of her nation.
She's nothing but a big fat liar.
She lied and acted, it was the only thing she knew to keep Fontaine together. She tried her best to imitate how Egeria had carried herself during her reign. She must act confident, she must look as if she knew exactly what she was doing, she must bring laughter to her people, she must be approachable, she must carry herself as a powerful divine being despite knowing that she will never amount to anything unlike Egeria and Lucine. Egeria was all of the above where she was none of the above. Trying to live and act like Egeria was so exhausting but she cannot cease her act, she cannot afford to cease her act. Fontaine would start to tear itself apart the moment Fontainians knew just how weak their archon is. Fontaine cannot be ruined by her hands.
She promised them that she will protect Fontaine in their absence.
The pain of loss and regret never truly went away but she eventually learnt how to cope with it. She had a lot of time to think and do some soul searching over hundreds of years. She had too many regrets, there were a lot of things that she could have done better, there were decisions that she was forced to make for the majority at the expense of the minority. She could go on and on but there is no longer any point in dwelling upon the past. She has to live in the present and look to the future for the sake of her nation. She would accept any and all accusations about her poor decision making with grace as long as it meant that Fontaine remained united and stable. She had tainted her nation with her sins and she pledged to eventually redeem herself by correcting those sins at any cost necessary.
She had long since accepted the inevitable that her people will one day unravel her long string of lies. It no longer mattered why she had done what she did because a wrong is a wrong and two wrongs don't make a right. She had acknowledged that she had sinned and all sinners will have to pay for their crimes one day, because Fontaine can only remain as the Fontaine they know and love if justice will always prevail in their land. Their ideals of Justice cannot be allowed to be sullied and especially so by the hands of their unworthy archon.
She had made her peace. For the past five centuries she had worked hard towards building a nation that would need minimal supervision from a divine being to run its daily operations and she could confidently say that she had at least partially succeeded. All the gears were already set in place, what's left is the appropriate time to set them into motion.
When the time finally comes, she will allow herself to be judged by her people, to be tried for her long list of crimes and executed at the guillotine that could slay even the divine. No longer will others need to bear the sins of her mistakes like Basil and countless others did in her reign as their archon. This is her responsibility and her sin, one that she will fully shoulder alone with no regrets. To be judged and die at the hands of her people is the very last act she can do for them, she will shoulder all the sins in their nation that had accumulated since the cataclysm and it shall be cleansed with her death. Fontaine will then be reborn anew, it will be as pure and as magnificent as she remembered it to be before the cataclysm. That shall be the very last thing she will do as their Hydro Archon.
And when that time comes, there will be no more pretences, no more lies. Justice will be served and the sins of their nation will be purified. She can finally be freed with a smile on her face and rejoin her Egeria and Lucine in the afterlife where she will forever beg for their forgiveness for failing to live up to her promises.
Her last will shall be seen done, the final enactment of justice will be carried out.
For their magnificent nation which they love for her purity.
For a world that is fair and just.
Right in a private room of the Palais Mermonia, a certain man roused from his slumber and opened his eyes.
He blinked, slowly raising a hand to rub them with the back of his hand and found himself wiping off the wetness that had accumulated in his eyes. He had experienced a killer headache from the large influx of information that the water had told him per his request. He had a dream. The water had shared with him the memories they contained in the form of a dream. The water had told him everything but at the same time, told him nothing.
All he received were very scattered and randomised emotions and memories, bits and pieces of what he presumed to be everything that the little brat had experienced in his absence. The water did not manage to convey to him in full about everything that had happened in the five hundred years of history he had missed out; what they conveyed in full to him was something else entirely.
Her fear, her sadness, her grief, her hate; he had truly felt them.
His archon was right, his archon was always right. He had always been too quick to judge. He was so self-absorbed in his own grief ever since his recent resurrection that he failed to consider that Focalors would have been grieving too. He saw what was on the surface, he also had a glimpse of what life is like underneath the city, and yet the first thought he had was how Focalors could have done more instead of considering the possibility that things might have been much worse if it wasn't for her.
Some "Grand Duelist" he is. Nothing about him is grand other than his selfishness.
The door creaked open and the sound of the door opening pulled him back to reality. A furry creature wearing a uniform- a melusine, a species of organism that was never seen before the cataclysm and had somehow integrated into the nation and became part of her people- poked her head in.
"Ah, you are awake. Monsieur Neuvillette did say that you might rouse at around this hour. How are you feeling, good sir?"
"Neuvillette…?" He spoke in a hoarse voice, his thought processes still a little sluggish thanks to the headache and he finally remembered to check his surroundings. This luxurious room where the large bed he was sitting on was situated certainly looked like what he would expect of Neuvillete's chambers. The guy did love to hoard a great many things and the many shiny decorations and antiques in this room certainly looked like objects he would collect.
So Neuvillette was the one who found and picked him up?
"Where is he?"
"He said that you would either request to see him or simply make your escape," the melusine chuckled. "If you wish to see him, I can call him over right now. Will that be okay?"
"That will be fine," Lucian nodded, "the children that were with me…"
"Monsieur Neuvillette has made appropriate arrangements for them, he wants to let you know that you will not need to worry about them."
Lucian released a soft sigh of relief. He could imagine how his sudden fainting spell would have worried the children. He would like to tell them that he's alright now but after what the water told him there's something that he had to urgently address before returning back to them.
"I have things to do before I return to see them, so can I trouble you to tell them that I'm alright now? I want to avoid worrying them as much as possible."
"Sure, I can do just that on my way out."
"Thanks, uh…"
"I'm Officer Sedene, or just call me Sedene. I'm a member of the Marechaussee Phantom and also Monsieur Neuvillette's personal assistant. Monsieur Neuvillette did say to take special care of you so if you require me, just call for me and I'll be there."
"Thank you," Lucian sincerely thanked the officer and the polite melusine bowed before exiting the room and closing the door behind her. That same door was open not long after and someone who he had not seen for a long time reappeared before him. That dark blue shaded slit eyes, that pointy ears, that long white hair, the ever present formal blue suit that he wore and that cane that he always brought around; they remained the same as per Lucian's memories. Guess some things just don't change even after five centuries have passed.
Both men stared at each other in silence for a short while. There were many things that Lucian wanted to say and he guessed it probably was the same for Neuvillette, yet he didn't really know how to start this conversation that was five hundred years too late.
"It's been a long while. It's nice to see you again," Neuvillette was the one who eventually initiated the conversation, taking his seat on a chair just right next to the bed. It was by chance that he was near the fountain when he heard children suddenly screaming for help. Imagine his surprise when he found Lucine and that surprise surged when he found him nearly being consumed by the corruption of the Abyss.
"Indeed," Lucian agreed and another short moment of silence fell upon them.
"Your injuries, they are… quite severe," Neuvillette eventually spoke again. "I found a huge concentration of the Abyss' corruption within you. I had to exert quite a bit of effort to help you suppress them when it almost ran out of control earlier. Honestly, the fact that you are still around and still capable of wielding the amount of power you now wield is quite unbelievable. It should be impossible."
"Corruption? I see, that would explain certain things," Lucian looked at his right hand and certain dots finally started to connect after Neuvillete had verified some of his suspicions. Why he had resurrected only after a long period of five hundred years, why the recovery of his power was so infuriatingly slow, everything now can be explained after Neuvilette had given his validation. He had been tainted by the Abyss. The corruption lies somewhere deep within him, so deep that even he was unaware of its presence, and he was able to somehow keep them at bay until now. What the water gave him upon his request at the fountain had loosened the figurative gate keeping the corruption imprisoned and it was why he had blacked out.
He should count his lucky stars that Neuvillette happened to be there on the scene. If it wasn't for Neuvillette he might have really lost control and some irreversible consequences might have already happened.
"How long has it been since your return?"
"A couple of years. I found myself resurrecting in the waters of Sumeru near our borders, actually. I swam back and nearly couldn't recognise Fontaine. Things are just so different now."
"I would imagine it to be so," Neuvillette chuckled before looking back at his old friend. "Are you… doing fine?"
"Fine? I don't know," Lucian frankly admitted and his carefully repressed grief started to leak out a little at the mention of his beloved archon. "Do you know what it's like, Neuvillette, to wake up one day far from home with most of your powers gone, make the arduous journey back, only to find out that you are five hundred years into the future and that your archon who you died trying to protect had already been dead for centuries? I couldn't even start describing that feeling, that despair, and I will forever remember it. Fontaine is still around and is prospering, which is a good thing, but it also proved that they hadn't needed the Grand Duelist for the past five hundred years too so does Fontaine need Lucine Fontinas anymore? Do Fontaine need the Grand Duelist anymore when they had prospered even in his absence? What is my purpose then, what is the reason for my existence when the archon whom I had sworn to protect is already dead and the nation no longer needs me?"
The repressed grief that surged through his mind emptied him of his emotions and it took all he had to push it back down once more. He supposed he should be thankful that the stars had not totally forsaken him because he met the twins when he was at the lowest point in his life, the children that gave him a reason to continue pushing forward, even if it's just for just a few years longer. The twins believed that he had saved them but in truth, he's not too sure if it was him who had saved them or if their presence had saved him. Their existence gave him a very meaningful distraction from the pain and grief that had wrecked him when he had just resurrected a couple of years ago. Taking care of them allowed him to properly process his grief and overcome it instead of going mad just by dwelling on it.
"Knowing how close the both of you were, it must not have been easy for you."
Neuvillette's words held the truth. Lucine Fontinas had known and served Egeria for thousands of years. They were more than just friends by that point, they were family. They were the closest person that the other had. The sorrow that resulted from her death is not something that will magically disappear even after hundreds of years had passed and for him, only a few years had passed since he last saw her at the Tunigi Hollow.
It's only been a couple of years and sometimes he still had trouble accepting the fact that she's no longer around. He had never stopped grieving for her, he just learnt how to cope with it and had hid it very well, because there are still people relying on him for survival and support and he doesn't want to infect them with his sadness. He still has the twins to take care of, children whose well-being is now his responsibility until they become adults and now, he has a new student that he had inwardly vowed to teach everything he knew.
But the water had told him that he's not the only person grieving for what had been lost. It was never just him alone, there are people that have grieved for even longer than he is doing and are still grieving as they speak.
"I'm sure it wasn't easy for you and Focalors too."
The expression on Neuvillette's face softened wearily.
"She hadn't smiled from the bottom of her heart ever since she believed you and Egeria departed."
"The water… I asked them questions and they answered me. The water is also no longer pure and I could make a guess as to why. Focalors' emotions, fear, sadness, grief, hate; I felt it all," Lucian's hand gripped his chest where his heart was at when he recalled how raw her emotions felt in that dream. "I… I'm ashamed, for not considering the possibility that she might have been suffering all alone ever since our supposed demise. I was so absorbed in my grieving that I failed to consider that she would also be grieving. I should have been there for her the moment I returned, I should have at least checked in on her but I didn't."
"She does have a knack for duping everyone around her. You said so yourself."
"Yeah, Chief Entertainer of Fontaine," a soft laugh escaped his lips at the fond memory of happier times. "Where is she now?"
"If we were to take reference from her usual schedule, she should return back to the Palais Mermonia in less than an hour. I haven't informed her of your return because I presumed you might have your reasons for not informing us about it when you obviously had returned home for quite a while. Would you like to see her?"
"I think a meeting is overdue. Not just between me and her, but for all three of us. Focalors, she… She did her best, she had suffered enough. What she believes to be a sin, if that is considered a sin, then it's a sin that Egeria and I both share as well. She shouldn't have to bear the consequences of our mistakes and oversight all alone."
"I had tried saying something similar to that effort but… You know me, I'm not the best when it comes to conveying or understanding emotions," Neuvillette freely admitted his shortcomings and was just overall glad that there's now a chance to lessen the burden placed on his archon, "I think those are words that she needs to hear, especially if she were to hear it from you. I know that she still cries in the privacy of her room from time to time."
Lucian's heart pained a little when he heard that. It served to make him feel much more guilty than he already was. Focalors is not even yet an adult by the standards of the divine and yet she had already shouldered too much.
If she had committed a fault then he is the origin of her faults, if she had sinned then her sins are also his responsibility. The severity of his fault is not any lesser than hers, his sins are not any less grave than hers.
They are all equally guilty.
But things were already done and mistakes were made. What's more important is if they are willing to face the mistakes together and do something to fix them. It's like he said, a meeting is long overdue. No matter how long it takes, be it tens or hundreds or thousands of years, water from all around the world will eventually converge and fall back down together onto the earth once again as rain. A reunion was simply a matter of time and the same goes for them.
It's time for them to meet once more.
AN: Considering the relatively lack of lore about Fontaine's history before the cataclysm at this current point in the game, and also Hoyo's tendency to give us the most unexpected plot twists and developments, I believe that this chapter will be where this story will truly diverge from canon and become an AU.
Given the circumstances stated above, for the purpose of this story I will have to make several assumptions. I will assume that Egeria is truly the mortal name of the first Hydro Archon (like Zhongli is to Morax, Venti to Barbatos, Ei to Baal, Nahida to Buer, Furina to Focalors) and that she had another God name that is not Focalors (that will belong to Furina). Egeria's God name will not be named in this story for now until Hoyo is able to give us some confirmation and I will just adjust accordingly then. Furina's God name will be Focalors in this story. Neuvillette will be assumed to be the hydro dragon. I know it's already 99% confirmed that he is the hydro dragon but you really will never know until Hoyo officially confirms it. I certainly never expected that it was possible for the position of the electro archon to be jointly held by twins when I wrote For Eternity before the full Inazuma lore was dropped. It was certainly an unexpected plot twist. For all we know Neuvillete may have been the real Hydro Archon all along and that Furina parading around as the archon is just a ploy to hide who the true archon of Fontaine really is (shrug shoulders). That actually would make a believable plot twist imo.
So yeah, putting this here just in case some readers are still not aware of what they are getting into. AU ahead, just saying.