"now then, as per the arrangements we will now proceed over to the next trial based on the accusation provided by traveller and the company of lady furina being a false archon." The duke's voice echoed through the hall silencing everyone, making them anticipate for the greatest trial fontaine has ever known. Throughout the previous trial lady furina has remained as an impenetrable wall, no matter what was thrown at her she remained strong shattering each and every accusation thrown against her. Now her godhood itself was being questioned and they couldn't wait for the trial to start.
From the outside lumine was looking calm and confident while she was sweating from the inside. The confidence she previously had was slowly being shattered. They had thought that they knew furina and her whims but they couldn't have been more wrong. Furina was showing a side of her that was never known even to the ludex who has worked with her for the past four centuries. Their initial plan of using the trial to scare and corner furina into confessing was shattered much a glass even before the plan had begun. In fact it could be said that it was them that was cornered. Looking back there was never a moment where furina had faltered and she almost seemed expectant of them almost as if everything was going according to her expectations. That thought only made lumine sweat more. As much as she would like to get the fuck out of here, she had come this far she might as well see through the rest.
"now then I believe it's time we start this trial. Mr.lyney, your opening statement please." Wriothesley nodded towards lyney and company.
"thank you milord. Now then lady furina, while you may claim to a god and fontaine may have worshipped you for all these years. There has never been an instance where you have shown your powers . isn't it suspicious that there is not even any tales or stories about you showing your power?. " Lyney started off. Even some of the audience felt weird about this fact despite not showing anything outside.
Furina simple smiled. " There has never been any need for me to use my powers since fontaine has never been in any danger until few days ago in Poisson. Even then , people who was there to witness that tragedy knows that it was a sudden danger without any warning. By the time i knew about it ,it was already too late. Before you say anything, i may be an archon but i am not all knowing and i have never claimed myself to be."
That made sense to the people. For as long as lady furina had been an archon there had never been an incident where a god's power was needed.
Seeing that the scale was tilting in furina's favour, the prosecution decided to continue.
"then if you do have any powers you don't mind displaying and proving it in front of everyone do you?" this time it was lumine who spoke. Her request was met with the agreement of others along with the audience.
The audience was excited. Would they finally be able to witness their god's power. As the prosecution has stated, there has never been an instance where lady furina needed to use her power so they might be the first ones to witness it.
"is that it ?" was furina's nonchalant answer as she looked at lumine and company in only what could be described as boredom.
"what?". The prosecution gawked. Their mind coming to a screeching halt. Furina couldn't possess any power... could she? If she did, why have anyone seen it? Why didn't she use it when the knave attacked her? So many questions ran across their mind.
"I asked... if that was all you needed, to see my power. If yes, then" furina raised her right arm, palm facing towards the stage. "Be sure to keep your eyes open" furina grinned.
Everyone could see that a whitish aura had began to cover her palm. Those who were sensitive to elemental energy like the vision bearers or in case of neuvillette, being the hydro dragon. They could sense the elemental energy being emitted from furina's palm.
Droplets began to form in front of her hand before they converged into a single ball of water. The size kept growing and growing until it became twice as big as furina. She moved her hand and the water followed her movements. Moving her hand faster the water effortlessly glided through the air before its shape began to change almost turning like a rope. The people watched mesmerized as they finally witnessed their goddess using her powers. Lumine and company watched with open mouth as furina effortlessly controlled the water. They were quick to regain their composure as furina surprised them once more. Looks were passed between each other as they decided on what exactly to do now that their initial statement was proven wrong.
Wriothesley smirked. This wasn't the first time he had seen her use her power, but he could help but be captivated everytime he sees the was she gracefully uses her power. But still this was nothing compared to some of the thing he had seen her do.
Neuvillette and clorinde couldn't hide their surprised faces as they watched furina use her powers for the first time. Despite being the closest people to spent time with furina they have never been able to see her power. That gave them more questions like, if they had asked lady furina to show her power would she have shown them?. but they have never asked did they?. All this time they have only made speculations about their goddess despite having no proof. Throughout these trials they had witnessed a side of furina they have never seen. And all their previous beliefs and speculations were being torn down one by one.
Seeing the faces of everyone, she decided to pick it up a notch. Turing her hand the water twisted and turned obeying her commands as it shape changed, a long torso was formed along with four legs, a mouth full of sharp teeth was formed on what appeared to be a head of a creature. Long twisted horns. Finally reaching its intended form the figure glided through the hall above the audience earning gasps from the people as the figure turned out to be a dragon made of water. It glide through the air almost as if was swimming through the waster before once again bursting into countless droplets of water as furina closed her fists. Raising her other arm the droplets began to converge into a whirlpool as it descended onto the stage. It once again began to change it form as it turned into a tree with countless leaves. Gasps of amazement were heard again as they saw the most beautiful tree they had ever seen, even if it was made entirely out of water. Deciding to finish with a bang, furina clapped both hands together, the sound echoing through the silent hall as the leaves on tree burn into countless small birds of water as they flew towards the audience.
Navia raised her arm as one of the bird came near her. It landed on her palm as she brought it closer to her face. She giggled as the bird chirped happily as it nuzzled against her face. Beside her clorinde had a small smile as a bird landed in her hand. Both of them let out a small laugh as many birds deemed the ludex beside them as their perch, landing on his head, shoulders, arms and pretty much everywhere. It was such a refreshing sight, seeing the normally serious ludex frozen with a complicated looked on face almost as if all the birds would burst at his slightest movement. The sight made them forget about their guilt and their fears even if it was for a mere moment. Their gaze went to their archon who was looking towards them with a small smile. Seeing their look furina waved with a soft look on her face before turning to watch others reaction. Clorinde and navia shared a look. It felt like lady furina had done this intentionally to give everyone a moment to forget everything and enjoy this moment. That thought made them smile as they realised that their goddess was still looking after them, even when she was in the middle of a problem they had created.
Deciding it was time to continue with the trial, furina dropped her hands he water creations began disappearing in a blue glow earning some disappointed groans and whines from the audience. Chuckling to herself she nodded towards the duke, an indication to continue the trial.
Seeing furina's indication, Wriothesley decided to continue. "now then as everyone has already witnessed, lady furina indeed possess powers. With this lady furina has proven your statement to be quite inaccurate, now then does the prosecution has something else to say."
This time it was lumine who took the lead. "While furina may have displayed her powers, it still hasn't been proven that she is an archon. With that, i would like to propose a test as the proof of our claims." nodding towards the twins, Lynette disappeared from the balcony.
The audience anxiously waited, anticipating for what kind of test the legendary travel and their company might have prepared for the trial. Furina remained calm a curious brow raised as she waited for them. Finally lynette appeared pushing a trolley onto the stage. On the trolley was a bowl filled with some kind of water. The water inside was special, it had a small purple and bluish tint to it. Those that knew easily recognised it as the primordial water.
Furina slightly leaned forward now having an idea of what the 'test' might be. Same with neuvillette and the others though they were more surprised than intrigued. This was the final plan they had created, if all else fails and furina refuses to share the truth, they would have used this plan to force her. While they had been ready and prepared before when they were part of lumine and company, now they didn't know what to feel. Right now as part of the audience, they could only feel complex emotions within themselves.
Seeing some of the audience's curious looks, lumine decided to elaborate. "what we have here is some primordial water. If furina is a god, then there wont be any problems and she will be file. And even if she is not the primordial water is diluted, so rather than some side effects there shouldn't be any damage." She then turned towards the duke before continuing. "Acting ludex wriothesley, with your permission we would like to request for lady furina to put her hand in the water to carry out this test."
"request denied" wriothesley replied with a strong voice. This surprised lumine and company along with the audience.
"what!? Why!?" paimon's shout echoed through the hall. Her sentiment was shared although none dared to say anything.
"please don't misunderstand. I denied it because it goes against the laws of fontaine. I believed you were quite knowledgeable about the rules within the court my.lyney." lyney flinced when the duke's eyes narrowed onto him before continuing. "any type of test or evidence that may bring harm to the defendants life or those in the hall are not allowed within the court. The only way a defendant's life can be harmed is if they decided to partake in the duel. What you requested was of mere speculation is it not. Primordial water is still a mystery to everyone and no one knows what the exact effects of it are aside from being capable of dissolving someone completely when comes in contact. You may have said that lady furina would be unharmed, but that is mere speculation, is it not? Whether she is a mortal or divine has yet to be proved and if she is a god then, we don't know what kind of effect it will have if she comes in contact with the primordial water. There is no way of telling if the reaction will be even greater. Are you capable of taking responsibility for everyone's life here?" this time his voice was hard, sending shivers down lumine and company's spine as they realised another flaw in their plan.
Grasping at last straws, lyney came forward. "milord, its not like that. The primordial water has been diluted and there shouldn't be any possible dang-".
Before he could finish wriothesley interrupted " still a mere speculation. You say that there is no danger, but do you have any proof of that?" lumine and the others flinched, but couldn't give any reply. " we still don't know if the diluted primordial water still possess any danger. And acting upon a possibility of something that go any way is something i cant allow. Until you can prove that it wouldn't possess any danger for any possible outcomes, i cannot allow such a test to happen."
The oratrice began to tilt in furina's favour as the audience began agreeing with what wriothesley had said. Even those who came up with the plan like neuvillette and other along with the prosecution felt stupid for not regarding that detail. Especially neuvillette since he knew that if he had been the ludex for the trial he may have allowed the test to happen thus endangering the lives of everyone present here. Now he was more than thankful that he had withdrawed.
Furina smiled. Biting her lips to stop herself from giggling out loud. Behind her wander was in the same position, his shoulders trembling as he tried to stop himself from bursting out as the travellers made a fool of themselves. Beside him nahida looked at him in concern, patting his back as he seemed like he was choking on his own spit.
"now then does the prosecution has anything else to say? If you do, i hope its not based on mere speculations this time" wriothesley looked towards the prosecution, who looked awfully comfortable looking anywhere but towards him and furina.
"i..uh..well" lyney tried to salvage the situation but couldn't find anything else to say.
"mr.lyney, this is something that i realised from everything that has now happened in the trial. Despite telling that you have evidences to prove your claims all i have seen is you and the prosecution throwing speculations around and each one of them were designed to make the defendant corner herself or hinder her ability to make clear judgements, ultimately pushing her to make a fool of herself and thus being unable to defend against your accusations." Wriothesley stated. Daring anyone to refute him.
Lumine and others looked at the floor shame and guilt filling them as each words stabbed into them. It was true, from the very beginning they hadn't possessed any concrete evidences to prove their claims and each one of their methods were created to corner and pressure furina.
The oratrice tilted further towards furina, who seemed quite fulfilled with this outcome. Deciding to do her part, furina spoke up " since it has come to this and the prosecution seemed to be silent. Let me ask you this. If i am not the hydro archon, then who is it? If i am a mere imposter then do you think the god of justice will let me be in this land of justice? Allowing them to rule over her nations for 500 years. Do you believe the embodiment of justice will tolerate such injustice?."
Lumine and the others pondered the same questions in their maid. Their thoughts trying to make heads and ends clear about this situation. Were they truly so desperate to get the truth from furina that they had failed to think about anything else?
"but..but.. you are not a god ! Paimon has seen other gods and are even friends with them !!. You..you are nothing like them!! Even nahida looks much more of an archon than you do!! Tell them lumine !. Tell them about othe--" before she could continue lumine grabbed her pulling her back and putting her hand on her mouth to prevent the fairy from pouring more oil to the already burning flame. It seems she a bit late as the hall turned silent before erupting into angry shouts.
"what did you say you rat!?"
"how dare you insult our goddess you balloon!?"
Angry comments continued as paimon realised what she had said. She hid behind lumine as if hiding away from the comments. Lumine and the others tried to make themselves as small as possible. There have been many instances where paimon had got them in trouble because she couldn't keep her mouth shut. It seems like this time they were truly in trouble. Insulting a goddess to her face in front of people that practically adored her, especially after making a clown of themselves in front of the whole nation. 'she might have gone too far this time.' Was on lumine's mind as she completely refused to look towards neuvillette and clorinde. Even without looking she knew the distinct killing intent aimed at the floating fairy hiding behind her back.
*BANG!!*
Before anything or anyone could do something they were silenced by a loud sound as if something had smashed into somewhere. They followed the noise and found furina now with her sword in her hand. She had smashed her sheathed sword into the floor of the balcony. However what truly silenced them was the pure look of coldness on her face. Her face shadowed by her hair seem to darken and her eyes seem to possess an unnatural glow to them as they stared at lumine and company making them flinch. They further shivered when furina began speaking, her voice as cold as ice
"not ...like... other gods?" despite furina's voice being a mere whisper it still resonated within the hall. The audience shivered never having seen their goddess like this. " you little balloon. What do you know? You think i want to be like other gods? You think the fontaine that you see now would have existed if i had behaved like other gods!" furina roared getting everyone to flinch, even the duke and neuvillette. Calming herself, furina took a deep breath before looking at paimon with a wicked smile on her face. "if you are so much of an expert on how a god should be, then tell me o great paimon. How should i act a god? Should i disappear for five centuries while letting my nation be as it is all in the name of granting them freedom all the while stealing alcohol and being a drunk, surrendering my gnosis to the fatui by acting weak like barbatos did. Or should i trade my gnosis for the fatui to release a fallen god on my nation while faking my death all in the name of testing my nation like morax did. Then how about i rule over fontaine as a tyrant ready to cut off the head of anyone that stands against me like the electro archon does. Honestly i am leaning towards the third option since it would have been easier to deal with pests like you." Each word furina said was filled with venom. Paimon trembled as she hid behind lumine even then she could literally feel furina's gaze through lumine. The twins moved closer towards each other as they tried stop their shaking. Lumine was also shocked at the pure venom in furina's voice, she gulped when those crazed eyed looked through her.
Neuvillette and others were shocked, seeing this side of furina, very much different from the normal diva that they knew. The audience gulped see those crazed eyes and that vicious grin on her face. It took them a while to register what their goddess had said. 'wait, lord barbatos gave up his symbolof power?'...'rex lapis is alive.. and he was the one behind the attack on liyue harbour and even traded his symbol of divinity with the fatui'... such thoughts raced through everyone's mind.
Lumine and paimon was shocked, that information was not supposed to be known to others . especially the trade between morax and the fatui. 'how on teyvat does she know. No one was supposed to know about it!!' before she could make any conclusion to how furina could have known about those things, furina continued.
"so then why don't you tell me paimon about what type of god should i be ?" her words brought everyone's attention back to lumine and paimon. The people eagerly waited for their reply.
Lumine and paimon gulped not knowing how to reply to that as furina centered all her attention on both of them. The crazed look fading now replaced with a bright smile that didn't reach her eyes. Somehow that just made her look scarier.