"Now then , lady furina as the prosecutor of this trial you may now begin your opening statement". Wriothesley started the trial.
Furina nodded towards the ludex "now before i give my statements, i would like to point out that the accused the knave or Arlecchino is not present in the hall. Has the fatui grown so confident about the trial that they decided to take lightly of your accusations...or". Furina's smile gained an edge "is it that she doesn't believe the trial to be worth her time"
A few murmurs rose from the audience at furina's statement. Seeing that the situation might go out of control Lyney decided to clarify. "It's not that. Father was called for some business as such couldn't come. It will be me and my sister who will be representing father and the fatui".
"Well if your are confident enough, then there is no reason for me persist. Now then with that lets start my opening statement." Furina stated. Making sure everyone was paying attention she decided to continue. "As per my accusations i was the target of assassination and the attempted robbery of the symbol of the hydro archon, the hydro gnosis. And this was done by none other than the knave, the No.4 of the fatui harbingers and furthermore i accused the travellers as a co-conspirator of these events. With that mr.lyney do you accept these charges?"
"No. I refute these charges. Lady Furina you are the archon of this nation and as such the most well guarded person in entire fontaine. You are protected twenty four-seven by the gardes and the champion duellist herself. For such a big events such as the ones you describe to happen, your guards would have noticed and all of fontaine would have been notified of such attempt. The fact that no one even your gardes have not yet spoken up or informed the authorities itself means that the charges are false." Lyney stated with confidence.
The crowd fell into discussion, some starting to accept lyney's statement since what he said was true. If such an attempt has been made fontaine would have already notified. Some of the crowd didn't believe a single word of the statement.
Before the crowd can make theories of their own furina spoke up ." You are very much right Mr. Lyney, normally if such an attempt have been made my gardes would have noticed. But if you are part of my personal gardes you would already know that i have a habit of sneaking out the Palais without their knowledge. Even monseigneur Neuvillette is aware of my bad tendencies." Neuvillette nodded from his place in the stands. No matter how much he had advised furina not to do such things she has never once listened to him.
"While that may be true it still doesn't prove your charges against us" Lyney stated.
"Of course, it doesn't prove anything. But still, for me to accuse you all of such crimes. I need a solid evidence, do i not." Once more Lyney and the others were subject to a grinning furina beaming with confidence . "With that , acting ludex Wriothesley i would like to present my first evidence".
"Permission granted"
Furina raised her hand, a glowing green crystal within a bronze flower appeared in her hand. Seeing the object lumine and paimon gulped, they knew exactly what that was and if furina was going to use it as they thought she was...then they were in serious trouble. Ignoring the pale faced travellers furina decided to elaborate seeing the confused faces of the crowd . " for those that do not know about this object, this is called a knowledge capsule. It is an item used by sumeru's researchers and others to share information, techniques and experiences with others. It allows the user to either store or retrieve information from it. I have already infused my memories of the night of the attack inside this capsule and with the permission from the acting ludex, i would like to project the contents so that everyone can witness it."
Lyney and the others paled. They already knew they were in deep trouble but stil -" wait a minute mister ludex. While what lady furina said about the item maybe true, we still don't know if they are still authentic or if they have been tampered with" Lyney panicked for a moment before composing himself. He couldn't afford to lose his composure right now, he had to maintain a level head.
Wriothesley nodded seeing the point in Lyney's statement . " lady furina, what Lyney said is true. The court still doesn't know if the evidence is sincere or not. Do you have something to say to that."
Furina looked calm as if that didn't bother at all. In fact she looked like she was waiting for them to say that. " yes, if it is about the authenticity of this capsule. Then i have already prepared the evidences to prove it. As such i would like to invite two people that can help me with that"
"Very well. Please bring the witnesses." Wriothesley replied
From behind furina a boy with purple tinted hair and on his shoulder a small girl with white hair with green tips and green eyes with a four clover pattern in them arrived. Lumine froze with widened eyes and paimon let out a gasp.
"nahida!!!wanderer!!!" paimon's shrill shout echoed throughout the hall.
"order!order!" Wriothesley lightly slammed the end of his cane, causing the hall to go silent. Making sure there were no more ruckus he looked towards the new arrivals . "now then you two, please introduce yourselves"
The little girl smiled cheerfully and waved her hand " hello everyone. I am nahida, you may know me as lord kusanali the dendro archon. And this is my assistant and bodyguard. you can call him wanderer "
"whoa!, thats the dendro archon. She's so cute"
"i know right and she's here as lady furina's witness!"
"maybe everything lady furina said is true!. The trial the other day might have been their way of usurping her position!"
The crowd grew louder and louder. Lumine and others could only watch in silent shock and dread as furina smiled in cold amusement towards them.
"What are we gonna do?! If nahida is on furina's side, maybe that means we might be the one in the wrong!" paimon panicked.
Lumine tried to calm paimon down. But inside she herself was panicking. Nahida wouldn't have joined furina unless there was a valid reason. if that was the case, then does that mean she was in the wrong here. Is there something more to the answers that they have been seeking. Still they have come a long way to just give up now.
Furina clapped her hands regaining everyone's attention. " first of all i would like to clear up a misunderstanding. Lady nahida is here only as an authenticator to the contents of the knowledge capsule. She will not have anymore participation for the rest of the trials. I hope everyone can accept that. Now then with that, lady nahida if you would please..." she extended the capsule towards the little archon.
Nahida hovered her hand above the capsule, the glow of the green crystal brightened as she inspected the contents. Seemingly done with her inspection she returned the capsule to furina.
Addressing the crowd and the ludex she spoke. " as the authenticator for the contents of the knowledge capsule. I on my title and responsibility as the god of wisdom acknowledges that the capsule or the contents are in no way tampered with and all of its contents are genuine."
"bet you were banking everything on there being no witness, didn't ya? Hehe." Furina chuckled sending shivers down lumine and group's spine.
It only increased lumine's and the others dread as their only escape they banked everything on there being no witness for the assassination attempt went down the drain. They couldn't refute anything as the contents were inspected by the dendro archon herself. Before their thoughts could spiral out of control, nahida spoke up.
"now then, i will relay the contents of the capsule for everyone to witness but...for those who are weak to the sight of blood or if there are any children watching these, then they should divert their attention as the contents can be quite disturbing" nahida warned.
"if anyone wishes to leave for the duration, then they are welcome to wait outside the trial hall. Refreshments can be arranged and you can come back once the projection is over." Wriothesley stated.
Some of the crowds who came with children escorted them outside. The others that were witnessing the trial outside the opera hall, closed the eyes of their children. The others remained seated, they wanted to witness the incident even if they were disturbing. This was one of the greatest trial in the history of fontaine and they didn't want to miss a single second of it.
Seeing that no one else was going to leave Wriothesley decided to begin . " Lady kusanali, if you would..."
Nahida nodded. The capsule began to glow and a giant screen appeared above it as the contents of the capsule and the irrefutable evidence to furina's claims were played for all to see.
They watched as furina snuck out of the Palais and wandered through the streets before seeing a cat and chasing after it. They saw furina trying to pet the act outside the aquabus station. Some of the crowd exclaimed how the cute their archon looked. But their awe and adoration turned into shock and horror as a figure cloaked in darkness appeared before furina and plunged their hand into her chest. They heard their archon begging and screaming in agony as the assailant rummaged inside her chest as if it were a bag. The crowd felt sick to their stomach, more than few running to the toilet to empty their stomach. Some of them felt tears running down at the raw agony in their archon's voice. Some fainted from the sight of gushing wound on her chest.
Neuvillette gripped the handle of his seat, the handle cracking under his grip. His teeth sharpened as a snarl went from his lips. The slit of his eyes now more prominent than ever for all to see as his violet eyes brightened with a inhuman glow. The pure rage in his eyes was for all to see. Navia and Clorinde tried to calm down the chief justice who now looked more of a beast than a human. Neuvillette has never been as angry as he was now. There have only been one incident in the past where he had felt such fury in his veins and that was four centuries ago. The dragon inside his wanted to jump out, to find the assailant and all those who were involved in it and make them beg and scream as his lady had. But the more human part of him rationalised that he too was part of that group as few days ago and only left because of lady furina's unexpected forthcoming. The anger inside him was cooled by the regret and shame that filled him as he remembered his actions. So for now he decided to just calm down. He swore on his title as the hydro dragon and as the chief justice that anyone involved in this would not escape his judgement.
Navia covered her mouth with her hands as tears streamed down her face. she couldn't believe the fact that her friends and partner knew about this and never told anyone. A part of her wanted to believe in them, that maybe they were not involved as much as furina proclaimed they were. Shame and regret filled her as she realised that she too was part of that group that harmed their archon. She watched as blood gushed out of the gaping wound left behind as the assailant seemingly didn't found what they were looking for and ripped her hand from furina's chest before disappearing. The small part of her that blamed furina for what happened in Poisson and her father was eternally silenced at the sight of her covered in blood shivering on the ground as she tried to stop the bleeding with her hands. She watched as furina picked herself off the ground before stumbling off as she walked in the direction of Palais Mermonia.
Clorinde couldn't help the horrifying gasp that came from her at the sight of her bloodied goddess. She couldn't help the intense feeling of failure that filled her as she watched her archon getting attacked. She had failed her god once when she had raised her blade against her, going against her oath that she took when she was chosen as the champion duellist and the personal guard of furina. Now, the evidence of one more of her failure was displayed right in front f her. And all she could do was and swallow the shame that was continuing to grow larger and larger. Before when they agreed to trick furina into the trial, she ignored the feeling of being a traitor by convincing herself they she was doing it for fontaine's protection. But now, what justification can she give herself after witnessing the proof of her failures right in front of her. How could she ever not question where the fatui twins and the travellers got the information. How could she so readily accept to betray her god.
Before she could go down the self-deprecation thought she felt a hand grabbing hold of her. Looking to the side her eyes met navia's which was equally distraught. Navia gave her hand a firm squeeze, pulling her out of her thoughts. Thats right, it wasn't just her who was having these thoughts neuvillette and navia seemed distressed as she was. All of them exchanges looks making a silent promise to do whatever it took to earn their lady's forgiveness. They swore to themselves that not once will they ever again betray their goddess.
As the projection came to an end all fell silent before exploding in rage a moment later. All the anger directed towards the fatui present in the opera house. Wriothesley didn't waste a single moment, ordering the gardes to form a barrier around the stage to preventing anyone from harming the fatui twins and the the travellers. It was only after furina's reassurance that they will receive the appropriate punishments for their crimes that they calmed down. A few that got past the gardes were easily subjugated and was escorted outside
Nahida and wanderer were given seats beside furina as the observers. Wanderer now muching on some popcorns that he got from somewhere as he looked around at the chaos in amusement. He didn't regret a single moment about coming here after receiving the letter from furina. The fact that the traveller and the floating fairy was being publically grilled and got shut up was worth every moment. The fact that it involved the knave just made everything better.
As the crowd began to calm down wriothesley decided to continue on. " now then, does the defense have anything to say regarding the evidence."
"as a matter of fact we do your honor. Although the evidence does show that the attempt did happen it doesn't show that it was father who did it. The assassin was clearly disguised and there is no identifiable features. It is illogical think that it was the fatui who was behind it." Lyney defended.
"hehehe" furina giggled before responding to lyney's statement . " do you think we are fools mr.lyney? there are many traits that are identifiable especially since they are so rare that it is easier to narrow down the culprit. And the traits that we have seen are only belonging to a single individual that is your 'father' . those blackened claws, that attire and while she was wearing mask you can clearly see those red crossed eyes which only one person in fontaine possess."
The audience nodded at furina's statement those traits only belonged to the knave especially those eyes.
"still it could be someone that disguised as father, to put the blame on us." lyney protested.
"very well, i will prove the connection between the culprit and the knave. Acting ludex i would like to call the traveller and paimon to the stage for questioning to prove my statement." Furina pointed at them.
"huh? What?" paimon looked confused.
"permission granted. Traveller ,paimon, please come to the stage" wriothesley stated.
"wait! we-" before paimon could protest lumine grabbed her before moving to the stage.
The duo made their way to the stage and says "alright ask away"
"traveller paimon, it is true that you have been to four other nations other than fontaine, isnt it ?" furina asks
"its true. We have been to mondstadt, liyue, inazuma, and sumeru." lumine replied
" is it also true that you are regarded as a 'hero/savior' in all four nations? "
"yup, paimon can vouch for that" paimon said.
"now then, if you don't mind could you please elaborate the circumstances that led to you attaining such titles ?." furina questioned.
"oh..that's easy paimon can tell you that. So in mondstadt, we saved the city from dvalin, one of the four winds after he was corrupted by the abyss. In liyue, we saved the harbor from osial, an ancient god. In inazuma, we ended the vision hunt and sakoku decree. In sumeru, we saved the dendro archon who was imprisoned by the previous grand sage." Paimon explained.
"while all you said does align with the stories that we have heard. It not all that happened, right? "
"huh, what do you mean?" paimon tilted her head confused. While lumine stiffened 'there's no way she knows, right?' . looking at the amused smile that furina sent them she did know. But...how?
"you forgot to mention some of the details such as... In mondstadt, the 8th harbinger attacked you and barbatos before stealing the anemo gnosis. In liyue, our dear missing harbinger childe, attacked the harbor by unleashing the ocean god osial from their seal only to find that he was played with and the 8th harbinger got her hands on the geo gnosis. The electro gnosis somehow found its way to sumeru and was used by the 2nd harbinger to create a false god. Later it was retrieved by lady kusanali and was then traded along with the dendro gnosis to 2nd harbinger for valuable information. Is that right ?". furina stated with a sharp smile.
"what!? How do you know all that!?" paimon yelled. Lumine too was surprised at how accurate everything furina said was. Behind furina nahida and wanderer looked at furina in surprise and shock. Those events were only known to a select few and they could swear that none of them ever revealed it. Then...how? nahida tried to look into furina mind to see what exactly was she going through her thoughts. But the moment she did she felt like she had hit an impenetrable barrier.
Furina was grinning. All those centuries she had worked hard to establish a information network had come in handy. She could confidently sat that her network was even greater than the fatui's. There was very little that she didn't know about the happening in other nations. Heck she even had her agents in shnezhnaya which was the home ground of the fatui's and the tsaritsa. The moment something notable happens she will know.
"now all these details reveal one thing, that fatui is after the gnosis- the archon's symbol of authority. So it is only logical that one of the harbingers, the knave, will also be after the gnosis, right ?" furina stated
The audience began discussing with each other. They knew of the traveller's heroic deeds but they didn't had any idea that there were so much more behind the scenes.
"lady furina makes some valid statements, mr.lyney. All the evidences are against you and you have failed to refute any of it. Is there anything you would like to say or present as defence against lady furina's statements." Wriothesley interjected.
Lyney was silent. There was nothing he could say after all the evidences were given. They were banking everything on there being no witness but they never expected to furina to pull this off. Right now there was nothing they could do but concede.
"very well, i concede, lady furina. However all the charges and evidences will be nullifies if we managed to prove that you are not the hydro archon" lyney was now grasping at the last straws.
"after all the charges are of the assassination attempt against the hydro archon. If you fail to prove you are who you claim to be then the charges nullified". Lyney explained
Rather than being wary or even surprised furina still maintained her confident smile. The smile then morphed into a wicked grin that sends shivers down their spine. Furina laughed wholeheartedly shocking them. Did they make a mistake? Did she have something else up her sleeve?
" very well, it seems its time the grand finale. Lets switch it up shall we. From onwards you are the prosecutors and i am the defender. Do remember, as a defendant all i have to do is refute all your so-called evidences to prove myself. You are the one burdened with providing concrete proof to back-up your claims. So Mr. Lyney and company... Shall we start ?". furina's wicked grin remained, making them nervous of what's to come. The way her dual coloured eyes shone didn't help either.
Lyney and the company could only gulp. From the moment they went against furina nothing had gone well for them. This was the last chance they will get, to not only prove themselves and get the secrets that furina had been withholding.
Naruto wouldn't appear until two or three chapter later.
Also i wanted to keep a weekly updation but had a problem with my laptop. and typing on my phone is tiring . so the updates might get late. it also doesnt help that i have so many ideas for this fic that i am confused about what to choose