The life of the Descender in this current cycle was peaceful, much to his inner disbelief.
He wondered if this is because this is his twentieth cycle, perhaps a milestone worth commemorating over, and whatever gods or deities up above had finally taken pity on him and decided to give him a temporary break. It's been three years since he arrived here in Fontaine and he's enjoying his peaceful, ordinary, and mundane life thus far.
He woke up early that morning so he decided to take a detour and leisurely strolled through the streets of Fontaine on his way to work. He found work as a member of a performing troupe in this cycle, where the kind director readily accepted him into their fold despite their financial struggles. He was initially a member of the backstage crew until Aurelie wanted to see if he had any talent in being a performer.
The troupe was surprised at how he effortlessly breezed through the impromptu audition. He was a little surprised at how well he performed too, until he recalled that he was taught by none other than Furina herself in the eighth cycle. She had taught him for only one night but it's as she had claimed, there is nobody who could outperform her in the performing arts in the whole of Fontaine and quite possibly, the whole of Teyvat.
He had the best teacher in the world to teach him, so it would be a disgrace to the superstar Furina de Fontaine if he fell short. However, he preferred his role as a member of the backstage crew and expressed his preferences to the director, who respected his wish even if she preferred if he took on a more active role on stage than backstage.
His calculated detour allowed him to reach the troupe's studio just right on time. The troupe was hard at work producing and refining their latest masterpiece, The Little Oceanid, which he vaguely recalled Furina singing the song from this particular show, La Vaguelette, when he was her only audience on the night before they defied fate to set everything right. He also vaguely recalled that there might be a show with a similar name being performed by Furina in his twelfth cycle when he was a member of the House of the Hearth, but he never had the time to spectate her performance and he never knew that The Little Oceanid was written and produced by Aurelie's Troupe.
Alright, he will admit, he had never bothered to learn more about this particular show or the troupe in his previous cycles until now.
He knew his treasured peace was finally shattered when he pushed open the door to the studio and found everything there in a chaotic mess.
"What do you mean Aurelie is missing?!"
"I… I don't know! She told me this morning to hurry and tell everyone to leave the city and she said she will be heading off for Flueve Cendre. I felt something was off so I backtracked halfway and… she's gone! She wasn't there at Flueve Cendre and nobody there saw her no matter how I searched and asked and–! D-Do y-you think… that she had might be kidnapped? T-The m-missing women case…"
"Shut your trap!" Pauleau raised his voice, declining the possibility that Aurelie might have been a victim of the mysterious and harrowing women disappearance case that had been plaguing the Court of Fontaine for close to two decades. "S-She will be fine! We just have to look for her! Quick, someone go inform the gardes! Move, everyone, move! Go look for Aurelie!"
The entire troupe shuffled and started to move but the Descender's gaze lingered at Vilmant a little longer than the rest. His vast experience clued him in that Vilmant definitely knew more than he let on and after some deliberation, he decided to discreetly use the one skill that he never really liked to use on another.
This is an emergency, after all, and he owed too much to the kind hearted Aurelie to be able to live such a peaceful and ordinary life for three whole years.
All Schemes to Know
It was then more details were being revealed. The Descender simply closed his eyes with a defeated sigh, turned on his heels, and walked out of the studio together with the rest but silently parted ways with them a few minutes later without any of them the wiser. Vilmant's memories had revealed that Aurelie's disappearance had relations to the attempted distribution of Sinthe, and whoever that mysterious merchant was who wanted to sponsor their troupe with that illegal beverage definitely had to be involved in Aurelie's disappearance.
He could also almost say for certain that the merchant definitely had to be related to the serial disappearance case.
He had never imagined that the investigative and espionage skills that he picked up as a Fatui agent in his previous cycles had to be put to use, but at this moment he's glad that he had such skills and knowledge at his disposal. Vilmant's memories gave him a very credible lead to follow up upon and that's what he will do immediately. He had no idea if the kind director was indeed a victim of this serial disappearance case back in his previous cycles but now that he's here, if he has a say in this matter, he would do his best to ensure that she would come out unscathed.
It would be a mocking irony that injustice prevailed in the Nation of Justice. He's sure that the Furina he knew would agree with him as well.
"W-Who are you… How did you get here– AHH!"
Merciless sparks of lightning struck down the man that the Descender had traced and hunted down. This is not the first time the Descender had to deal with incorrigible scum but he could say with certainty that Marcel – or Vacher, whatever this piece of shit chose to call himself as – was one of the few who successfully made his skin crawl with how absolutely disgusting his thoughts were when he read them using Nahida's techniques.
Unfortunately, as much as he wanted to rip Marcel's flesh from his bones, he had to keep him alive. The Iudex of Fontaine would be the one to pass judgement onto the vile man and the truth of this serial disappearances should be made known to give closure to everyone who was hurt by his actions. Everything in this facility is sufficient evidence to trial him for his crimes.
"A-Adam…?"
The weak voice of the kind director made him release a breath of relief that he never knew he held. He undid the constraints that binded Aurelie and also for the other victims that were unfortunately held here. He's not too sure if there were others that he did not arrive in time to save, but he's glad that at the very least, the director and these other women had not yet come to harm. Most of them looked so weak that they could barely move and some were obviously down with illnesses, but it's nothing that they cannot recover from given time.
"A-Adam… is that you…?"
He remained silent while healing the worst of Aurelie's injuries with his power over the hydro element. He had hid his face with a Fatui mask that he had conveniently robbed from an unlucky agent and even used the stolen outfit of a treasure hoarder who happened to be at the wrong place and time, but somehow he wasn't surprised that Aurelie recognised him at a glance. He had hid the fact that he could fight and control the elements from everyone in the troupe. Everyone assumed that he's just another street urchin with no place to go and that was the identity that he initially planned to use until the day that he had to enter the next cycle.
"Adam…"
"Be quiet, you are injured," he interrupted, his voice garbled due to the mask's influence before gently setting Aurelie down to tend to the other victims that he had found in this facility. Aurelie can suspect his identity all he wants but as long as she does not have concrete proof, her suspicions would forever remain as suspicions.
He prepared to take his leave once he was done administering first aid and making sure that none of the victims would kick the bucket anytime soon. He had already anonymously alerted the gardes and left very obvious clues on his way to the facility; they should be arriving here at any moment. He should hurry and make his retreat if he wants to continue to keep his identity hidden and continue living a peaceful life.
He was about to turn on his heels and leave the facility until he sensed a dangerous displacement of air. He quickly ducked and he muttered a silent curse upon realising that a bullet would have put a hole through his head if he hadn't reacted in time. He immediately rolled to take cover as gunfire rained on his previous position and he could not hide the groan that came from his throat when he saw the strongest Champion Duelist in Fontaine that stood in between his way to the exit.
Oh come on
"Surrender," the duelist declared with her rapier and pistol in hand. Maybe he shouldn't have pilfered the Fatui mask and the treasure hoarder's getup. It really is no wonder why Clorinde had immediately assumed him to be the perpetrator of this entire mess.
"You got the wrong guy," he cautiously poked his head out from behind a huge shelf and pointed at the slightly charred, but still alive and breathing body of Marcel. "He's the one you should be arresting. Go read the notes on his desk."
All that answered him was the cocking of her pistol that indicated that her pistol was loaded and ready to fire. Electro infused bullets tore through the shelf that he was hiding behind and he had no choice but to engage her in a duel.
Him and his goddamn luck. He knew that it was too good to be true when his life had been so blissfully peaceful for the past three years.
The ancient wisdom of the Yunlai Swordsmanship came to blows with the relentless bladework passed down among the Marechaussee Hunters. Neither combatant was willing to back down but they had an implicit understanding to keep their power under control while subtly shifting the location of their duel outside where the injured victims wouldn't be implicated, and also to ensure that the scene of the crime would be left as realistically intact as possible so that all the evidences here could be used to convict the true perpetrator when this entire case would be put up to trial in the near future. Adam knew of Clorinde from his previous cycles but he never really had the chance to interact, much less duel her.
Now, he could say for certain that she's one terrifying woman to make an enemy of.
"Surround him!"
Clockwork mekas started to enter the place and quickly surrounded the two combatants, and Adam seriously contemplated if he should just surrender and reveal his identity to clear his name but thereby forgoing all hopes of living a peaceful life, or just bust out his more powerful techniques to get the hell out of here.
His eyes also momentarily widened when he noticed that it was Furina who led the team of clockwork robots here. He knew that she took all matters relating to the prophecy or the primordial sea very seriously, but he wasn't expecting for her to personally lead this investigation right into the enemy's den because he knew full well that everything that people knew about her as an archon was a very well crafted lie. This dramatic archon is the same silly girl that would scream while reading horror novels. She barely knew how to wield a sword without breaking her wrist, much less know how to fight.
Yet, she's here, all because she wants to save her nation and her people.
He took a quick glance at his surroundings and decided that he really has to take things a little seriously in order to protect the normalcy of the life that he's been living in this cycle. He finally had a chance to live a normal life without all the weird shenanigans that were thrown at him in his previous cycles, he's not going to give up on it anytime soon. His life would definitely change once people knew that he's a powerful fighter and he's not at all interested in getting tangled up in whatever political nonsense or saving the world bullshit once again.
He's going to fight tooth and nail to protect his normalcy.
A powerful burst of anemo blew the gardes backwards as he invoked the teachings of the mystical adepti arts that he was taught in his thirteenth cycle. Cloud Retainer's techniques turned him into an elusive blur that cannot be grasped as he disabled the mekas with deadly efficiency. Clorinde raised her pistol, her breathing still and hands steady as she took aim. She was a split second away from pulling the trigger when she felt a hand gripping onto her ankle, causing her to hesitate.
"W-Wait…!" Aurelie's strained cry reached the ears of the Champion Duelist and also the archon of Fontaine. "H-He's… innocent!"
The statement that Aurelie tried to cry out while pushing her injured body to its limit in order to reach Clorinde was heard by the gardes. The plot twist that they learnt also provided the brief respite to the other victims which the Descender just saved for them to pull their injured and weakened bodies closer to the scene of the battle to plead for their archon and Champion Duelist to not unknowingly mete injustice upon their saviour.
"He… He saved us! So please… don't…!"
Clorinde's falter was an opportunity that the Descender fully capitalised upon. Blades of swift wind sliced apart the mekas that were in his way, the howling gale he blew forced everyone to close their eyes, and when Furina opened her eyes again she was shocked when the Fatui mask was suddenly inches away from her face and she released an unsightly scream that one would never expect to hear from an archon.
"Boo."
"Ah AH AHHHH! CLORINDEEEEE!"
Clorinde immediately cocked her pistol once more but her shot was never fired. The mysterious Fatui agent slash treasure hoarder had already disappeared before she could even take aim, but not before lightly hitting Furina's forehead with a finger flick and then disappeared like the wind with his laughter trailing after him until it quickly vanished.
"That… That little…!"
Furina de Fontaine repeatedly stomped her foot on the ground with her face red from embarrassment while facing the direction in which the mysterious prankster had just disappeared. How… how dare he make fun of her in the presence of the public! How dare he make fun of the Regina of All Waters, Furina de Fontaine?!
That little interlude aside, the name of the mysterious Fatui Treasure Hoarder was cleared soon after when all of the victims found in Marcel's secret facility that were recovered and saved fiercely vouched for his innocence and told the gardes the truth of what happened. The case was handed over to the Iudex and the arrested Marcel was put on trial, and the shocking truth of the serial disappearance case that had plagued the nation for close to two decades was finally revealed to the world.
"Uncle Marcel… I couldn't believe that he…"
Callas had no appropriate answer to Navia's words other than to give his daughter a comforting pat on her shoulder. He couldn't imagine how many more victims would fall prey to Marcel's schemes if his evil deeds weren't exposed in time.
Meanwhile, no matter how shocking that particular trial had shook the nation outside, it didn't really affect the everyday lives of the Aurelie Troupe other than the fact that their director had returned safe and sound and they gave her their full unwavering support when she stood up and participated in the trial as a witness to convict Marcel for his heinous crimes. The Descender did not miss how the director glanced at his direction whenever she thought that his back was turned, looking as if she had many things to say to him but had no idea how to broach the topic, but her suspicions were ultimately never acted upon and her mouth was sealed. Production of The Little Oceanid continued after the director had made a full recovery.
All is well, his coveted normalcy wasn't disturbed. His hope for a normal life in this cycle looked to be more and more promising as the days passed and for once in twenty cycles, he started to hold a small belief that this time, he could finally live and die while living a normal life the entire time.
Until one fine day, after he knocked off from work in the evening, made his way home, and found the Champion Duelist waiting patiently at the doorstep of his home.
He immediately turned on his heels the moment he spotted the Champion Duelist but she had already noticed his presence. Two clockwork mekas immediately moved to block his exit and he had to put on a convincing act and play the part of a confused law abiding Fontaine citizen who was spooked out at the sudden "special" treatment.
"Uh… evening, Miss Clorinde… how can I… help you today?"
He believed that his act was convincing enough but Clorinde clearly wasn't buying any of that. Another figure walked out of the shadows of a nearby alley and he immediately recognised that person to be Furina.
"Boo," Furina greeted him with her arms crossed and a flat look on her face that also looked mildly annoyed, clearly holding a grudge towards him for scaring the wits out of her back at Marcel's facility. He had no idea how they did it, but it was apparent that they had successfully tracked him down and had decent grounds to believe that he was that mysterious Fatui Treasure Hoarder from that day.
"There's no need to panic, Monsieur Adam. We simply wanted to talk."
And that was how an ordinary and plain backstage crew of a performing troupe was "invited" to the Palais Mermonia under the invitation of Furina de Fontaine for a "talk". He knew that Furina had many sides to her and she would never settle for less for any matters relating to the prophecy and the primordial sea. The Furina which he knew from the eighth cycle had told him all about what she had tried to do in her long life in attempting to avert the prophecy. He knew that behind the scenes, she managed a huge team dedicated to investigating the prophecy and the primordial sea and he saw no reason why that would be different in any other cycles for as long as the prophecy hung over Fontaine like a Damocles blade.
It was in this invitation that she extended him an offer. Just from the fact that Adam could swiftly locate Aurelie to bring a close to the serial disappearance case meant that he possessed unparalleled skills in the investigative field. The Palais Mermonia had recognised that fact and acknowledged his skills, and it was also why Furina was adamant on seeking him out, believing that he might be of great help in uncovering the secrets of this dangerous prophecy or even locate the source of the primordial sea itself.
Of course, Furina never intended for him to work for free. The compensation and benefits she offered was generous but that was never his concern. He knew that the moment he took up on Furina's offer all sense of normalcy in his life would forever be out of his grasp and it would go against everything that he had been working towards ever since he became a member of the troupe. Under other circumstances, he would have firmly stood his ground and declined the offer, no matter how generous it may be.
However, the person who's pleading for his help is Furina. He understood better than anyone the insecurities, the woes, the suffering that the woman masquerading to be an archon is going through. If there's anybody that he knew of in all his cycles who's in serious need of therapy, she would be the first on his list.
He always had a soft spot for the strong yet fragile woman and so, he gave in, but not before putting in his request.
"Help out in the production of… The Little Oceanid?"
"You will love it," he stated with certainty. He knew she would love it because the Furina he knew had loved it. Besides, helping out in this production would be a piece of cake to Furina, the greatest actress in Teyvat, and he understood just how much the members of the troupe adore and revere Furina, especially Aurelie.
"That's… all you want?"
"That's all I want," he affirmed with a nod of his head. It took Furina and Clorinde a while to digest his strange request but it was ultimately accepted.
"See you at the studio at nine tomorrow morning," he exited the room with a casual wave. The look of awe and shock that adorned the faces of the troupe members when they all saw the Lady Furina entering their studio and stating that she's helping out in its production was a hilarious sight that he will never forget.
To the troupe, this is like a dream come true.
Aurelie completed her script under Furina's guidance and it's like Adam had claimed, Furina had found herself thoroughly immersed and in love with the script. She found herself being able to heavily relate to the character named Clio in the script, drawing parallels to their circumstances that were too intimate for her to be initially comfortable with. Yet, it was because of the heavy similarities that they bore which made her adore Clio so much.
Aurelie was originally intended to play the role of Clio. However, with Furina's inclusion, Aurelie wished for Furina to play the role of Clio instead and after much deliberation, Furina agreed to her request. The person who was originally supposed to play the role of Clio's lover was Pauleau but he didn't seem as enthusiastic after he learnt that Aurelie wanted Furina to play her role.
Pauleau kept his innermost thoughts concealed but that didn't escape Furina's notice. Furina wasn't exactly pleased at having an unenthusiastic actor on stage but she couldn't see any other suitable replacement available in this small troupe. The gears of mischief in Furina's mind then started to turn when she spotted Adam's smug smirk from where he was sitting at a corner as a member of the backstage crew, lazing around with a cup of coffee in hand while everyone else was busy at work.
"How about having him play the role of Clio's lover instead?"
Everyone's gaze followed to where Furina's finger was pointing at and the troupe adored Furina too much to decline her simple request. That was how he found himself shoved up on stage to rehearse the lines together with Furina, his objections were not taken into considerations and he eventually accepted his fate. Memorising the lines wasn't an issue since he had already heard it countless times during the rehearsals to the point that he could even recite them backwards.
To Furina, however, what she's concerned about was if Adam could rise to the role that he was suddenly thrusted upon. This originated from her moment of mischief but she took every performance that she had a hand in very seriously. If Adam is not suitable for the role, she will replace him with another who could do so just like how she did for Pauleau.
She was in for a very pleasant surprise.
"You are… surprisingly good."
"I had a great teacher," he cryptically replied to her words of praise after their first full rehearsal together. She naturally assumed he was referring to Aurelie, the kind-hearted director who everyone viewed as the backbone of the troupe. She would never know that he was referring to herself.
"Aurelie," Furina turned towards the backstage to call for Aurelie where she was taking notes and making adjustments to the imperfections she had noticed during the rehearsal earlier. The director raised her head, always ready to listen to what their revered idol and archon had to say.
"Adam's performance exceeded my expectations. With that in mind, I wish to make some adjustments to the script. Do you have time to discuss?"
"Wait, what?"
"I'm not accepting any objections," Furina playfully stuck her tongue out at Adam before leaving together with Aurelie, leaving Adam to stare at their departing backs in disbelief. Furina came back to him with a revised script the next morning.
"Here, we thought that it would be better if we added a segment where you would perform and sing a song like I did as well, after Clio's sacrifice. Aurelie suggested that if it's possible, make it such that the verses of Clio's song and yours can not only become standalone songs themselves, but also become a duet when combined. If this can be managed well, it would make it easier to push the show's brand to a wider audience in its subsequent marketing efforts after its first debut."
"Tandem au cœur de Fontaine?" Adam read the name of the song out loud. The script for the added segment was completed, but the lyrics of the song had not yet been penned.
"Aurelie and I only managed to agree on the song title last night. She said that both songs will use the same music, but sang with different lyrics to convey the difference in thoughts held by Clio and her lover. I think her idea is a novel approach and it's worth a shot. Aurelie said that you are capable of finishing the lyrics on your own, she told me that you had many experiences in filling in the lyrics of their songs in many of their previous productions and that you are the best lyricist the troupe has."
He quickly read through the revised script and understood what had been changed. Aurelie and Furina had revised the ending of The Little Oceanid where the original version had ended with Clio's sacrifice, in the revised version the curtains would close only after Clio's lover embarked on a travel through time in a bid to reverse the tragic outcome while singing the song that Adam had penned, turning the nature of the ending to be one of an open-ended nature and the true ending could be left to the audiences' individual interpretations.
"She knows how much I dislike doing that particular job and seriously, she always gives me the hardest of demands. Two separate sets of verses that can not only become standalone songs themselves, but become a duet when combined? Really? How troublesome," Adam grumbled under his breath but still took over the sheets anyway. He already knew the tune of the song like the back of his hand so what's left was really only filling in the lyrics that could properly convey the thoughts that Clio's lover had in accordance with the script, which is after his beloved sacrificed herself and he made a final attempt to save her by travelling through time.
Huh, travelling through time to save people. The unintended allusion to his fate-defying abilities and the things he did to help Furina in his eighth cycle made him wonder if the revised ending of this particular play in this cycle is a result of him meddling with fate.
Nevertheless, he grabbed himself a quill, dipped it in ink, took one long look at Furina before he started writing under Furina's curious gaze. The lyrics flowed out naturally because this entire story is like a mirror of Furina's entire life and so, all he did was to pen out his sincere and truest thoughts about the Furina which he befriended in the eighth cycle, and also for this Furina who still silently bears the sin on behalf of the entire nation.
She would never know that he already knew her secrets so maybe, this way, he will be able to show her his support in a way that would never reveal her greatest deceit and performance until the finale arrives.
He ignored Furina's look of disbelief when he completed his assignment barely five minutes after he took the sheets from her. The troupe rehearsed the revised script and they all agreed that this additional scene that was added at the end of the show made the entire performance feel more complete, in particular the song that Clio's lover would sing at the end since its presence would make the scene feel like an epilogue to give the entire show a proper closure.
Thanks to Furina's connections, their show will be held at the Opera Epiclese. Whether the seats of the Opera Epiclese would be filled up on the big day was never a concern because they had Furina starring in the show. In fact, the tickets were sold out just three days after they went on sale. The big day of The Little Oceanid's debut finally arrived and The Little Oceanid, starring Furina and Adam, received a standing ovation for its first debut once the show had ended. The audiences enthusiastically requested an encore and as previously planned by the troupe if an encore was requested, a duet was performed by Furina and Adam where the lyrics of La Vaguelette and Tandem au cœur de Fontaine intersect as the verses beautifully answer each other akin to a conversation before they sang in harmony during the chorus. It was an idea that Aurelie first proposed during the conception stage of the revised ending that ultimately gave birth to Tandem au cœur de Fontaine and it was as Aurelie had foreseen, this novel musical arrangement was adored by their audiences.
One song, two versions with separate verses, each capable of detailing the individual thoughts of the protagonists as a standalone song but could also be combined to create a duet.
The songs La Vaguelette and Tandem au cœur de Fontaine became so popular that it swept through Teyvat like wildfire, and it wasn't uncommon to come across a Fontainian citizen humming along to its tune and many renditions of both songs were also adapted by people who were fans of the show. Many believed that The Little Oceanid would be a timeless classic for generations to come.
Furina starred as Clio as per Aurelie's request, but it was only for the show's very first debut because at the end of the day, she's Fontaine's archon and she has many other responsibilities to see to. It was an arrangement that was previously agreed upon with the troupe and along with it, Adam's departure from the troupe as well because it was time for him to fulfil his end of the promise. Aurelie didn't question the reasons for Adam's departure and it was something that Adam was grateful for. Aurelie and Pauleau then took over the roles that Furina and him played and The Little Oceanid's continued success was proof that even without Furina as the star, the story itself was widely loved by their audiences.
"Fortress of Meropide?"
"That's where my investigations led me to," Adam told Furina. That was where his knowledge led him to based on what he knew in the eighth, twelfth, and also this cycle. That's where one source of the primordial sea could be found.
However, he also knew that the resolution of this entire problem lies with the throne of the Hydro Archon and its eventual destruction. The how doesn't really matter; the prophecy would find a way to fulfil itself with or without knowing that what lies beneath the Fortress of Meropide was one entrance to the primordial sea. As of now, he couldn't see an alternative method to resolve this crisis that does not involve Focalors' sacrifice which the Furina he knew told him about in the eighth cycle.
There's no alternative unless Focalors willingly passed on the title and authority of the Hydro Archon to him and allow him to sacrifice himself in her place, which he knew would never happen.
That still doesn't stop him from assisting Furina in investigating every other matter relating to the prophecy barring those that he knew he cannot reveal lest he accidentally doomed Fontaine without meaning to. The secrets and deceits that Focalors and Furina concealed from everyone and the Heavenly Principles was what allowed Fontaine to be saved in the twelfth cycle and he planned to stick to the script this time, as much as he reasonably could.
However, he wasn't expecting for the all-devouring narwhal to awaken prematurely. He's not too sure if this was a consequence of his unintended meddling, or if this was predetermined by fate with or without his presence in this cycle. All he understood was that the narwhal's early awakening had accelerated the fulfilment of the prophecy several years in advance and that the sea level is now rapidly rising at an unprecedented rate, threatening to swallow Fontaine whole and dissolve her citizens in a matter of days.
Ironically, fingers were pointing at Furina, with the citizens accusing her of being the cause of the prophecy for poking around the seal at the Fortress of Meropide, which they both kind of did in order to proceed with their investigations of the primordial sea, but he knew that the citizens were simply finding an excuse and a convenient outlet to vent their emotions in this moment of fear. Deep down, the citizens understood that Furina couldn't be the real cause and that the prophecy is inevitable, but humans can be such irrational creatures when emotions are running high.
What made it so mocking was that Furina's deceit was also accidentally exposed in that same trial, that she's not the true archon of Fontaine when people started to question her identity and asking her to prove her claim as an archon, which she obviously couldn't. The trial that she had been waiting for close to five hundred years was, ironically, her very own trial in which the oratrice would grace her with the death sentence in a mocking show of fate.
The person who wanted to save Fontaine more than anyone else was judged guilty and declared to have sinned.
He was vaguely aware that a similar trial had taken place in his twelfth cycle because the twins were partially involved and they had told him bits and pieces of it. He's not too sure how similar or different this trial is compared to the one that took place in the twelfth cycle, but the final outcome was the same.
Furina was to be detained after the trial in accordance to the law but it was all interrupted when the narwhal tore through space to invade the Opera Epiclese. Neuvillette and Clorinde had immediately moved to intervene in order to save the citizens who had the bad luck to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Adam simply blinked to Furina's side, confident that the audiences would be safe with Neuvillette and Clorinde around. Personally, he's more concerned about Furina.
The way she slumped defeatedly in her seat after realising that nobody believed her, the realisation that her lie was exposed, that she failed in her task that her mirror-self asked of her and how it might doom Fontaine, the way tears filled her eyes; these were all sights that he's all too familiar with and this sight dragged out memories of his initial meeting with Furina in the eighth cycle and his heart pained at the sight. Furina was his first friend in Fontaine and in a way, one of the few whom he could highly relate to.
Her entire existence was a lie, just as his entire existence was a lie in almost every cycle except for his first where he met Junjou. He had to lie about his identity again and again, to people he knew but did not share the memories he did. Who are you? Where are you from? These are questions that he had to answer with lies at the start of every cycle to whoever picked him up and it got horrifyingly easier and easier to spin these lies so smoothly and convincingly that even he started to wonder who he really is at all.
Who is he? Adham, friend of Junjou? Xun, disciple of Guhua? Cavalry Captain of the Knight of Favonius? The First Sage of Buer? Secretary of Yuheng? The man who duelled the Shogun? Adam, Child of the Hearth? General Pingtian of the Millelith Brigade?
Where is he from? Mondstadt? Liyue? Inazuma? Sumeru? Fontaine? Snezhnaya?
The answer to all of the above is yes, but also no. So who is he really? Where is he really from?
He doesn't know because everything about him is a lie but at the same time, not a lie. Like how Furina is an archon but at the same time, not an archon. He could relate to Furina on a deep level because the circumstances that they were in forced them to adopt very similar beliefs and habits that they do not wish to take, but have to shoulder out of necessity.
For what do they lie for? For whom do they lie? Why do they have to masquerade themselves under an identity that is not a true reflection of who they really are? Neither of them really know, but it's a show that they both have to continuously put up for the rest of their lives. This is their eternal performance, it's their neverending curse. They are the stars of their own shows and everywhere's their stage.
He gently raised a finger to dab away the tears in her eyes, ignoring the utter mayhem down below where their Iudex was busy trying to chase the narwhal away from the theatre and protecting his citizens. Adam's gesture seemed to finally snap some of Furina's attention back to reality and he decided, that maybe, they should have some time alone to enjoy their final moments of peace before the curtain closes upon the finale of the show.
The finale is near. She can finally rest, he can finally rest.
They can both finally rest.
"It will be fine, Furina. Everything will be fine."
It was a selfish act on his part. He brought her into a dream using Nahida's techniques without her consent. Everything in a dream could stretch on for infinity if he wished it to be so while only taking place in nary a second in reality. In that dream, his stage was built from the memories of his eighth cycle, where he planned to give Furina a brief moment to heal just as the first Furina he knew once did in their two weeks together.
"Where…?"
People often do not recognise that they are in a dream until they wake up from it and as of this moment, Furina is asleep and has no idea that this perceived reality is a dream. He reenacted their initial meeting from his eighth cycle, the only thing that changed was that in this dream, Fontaine had already been saved instead of it being flooded like it was from his memories. In this dream, he told her of his stories like he did for her in the eighth cycle only that this time, he had so many more stories to share. In this dream, she was smiling and thoroughly enjoying herself as she put up her performances not as the Hydro Archon, but simply as the performer, Furina, because her duties as Fontaine's archon had already been relieved and there's no longer a weight on her shoulders. In this dream, she declared that there will be no greater teacher than her in the performing arts and she taught him her knowledge once again, right on the grand stage of the Opera Epiclese with themselves as the only audiences, just as she did for him in their very first meeting in his eighth cycle.
In this dream, she had so much more time to impart everything she knew rather than the short one night which she did for him in the eighth cycle.
"One two three one two three… Hey, you are pretty good at this."
The dance she taught him was her favourite dance, the Sinner's Finale, which was also exactly what she taught him in his eighth cycle when they first met. The national music of Fontaine played in the background and she never once stopped to think why there would be music despite the lack of any instruments or phonographs around. If she did, she might have noticed that they were all in a happy dream that he constructed for her sake.
A dream where he could say his final farewell.
"I had a great teacher, the greatest in Teyvat," he told her with a fond smile as they both shared a dance on the stage of the Opera Epiclese where the spotlights shone on them and them alone.
"Really? Who is it? I want to meet him or her."
"It might be a little difficult because she can be quite the eccentric character, and also very insecure," he told her as he raised his arm in an invitation for her to twirl. "She's brave, strong, and has an iron will that is not inferior to that of any archon despite her weakness and insecurities. She's so fragile, but has so much strength. What do you think of such a person? What would you say to her if you could meet her?"
"I think… I would tell her that things would eventually pass, and that things would eventually be okay? People always say that tough times don't last, but tough men do. Personally, I think otherwise. Men aren't necessarily tough; they only manage to tide over whatever trying periods in their lives because all tough times will eventually end. Tough men don't necessarily exist– because we are only human and we are vulnerable precisely because we are humans – but all tough times will eventually end."
He smiled.
"Thank you, Furina."
"Huh?"
"Those words you just told me, please remember them. Tough men don't necessarily exist, but all tough times will eventually end. Goodbye, Furina."
May you be happy and free
A bright light shone and Furina woke up with a gasp, utterly confused and at a loss. The bright light continued to blind her and she eventually realised that the source of that bright light was the oratrice; the instrument of justice is releasing a loud whirr that's as equally powerful as the colossal energy it's emitting.
She felt the presence that had been beside her taking its leave. She only managed to catch a glimpse of a blurry figure blinking through space with the power of electro, just in time to chase after the narwhal that was trying to make its escape via the rift it created previously to barge into the theatre. The rift closed shortly after.
She didn't have much time to ponder over what she just saw. The water rose to submerge her nation and she accepted her failure. The memories of that dream were still fresh in her guilt ridden mind as she allowed herself to drown in her guilt.
Tough men don't necessarily exist, but all tough times will eventually end
Yes, tough times do end, but Fontaine had ended along with it as well. That was her last thought before she allowed the water to drown her where she sat on her throne so imagine her surprise when Fontaine and her people were still alive when the water receded just as quickly as it had risen.
"How…?"
It was only much later that she learnt the truth about Focalors from Neuvillette, and how the Iudex had pursued the narwhal that threatened to end their nation once the flood receded, only to find that it had already been slain by a mysterious third party. The identity of that entity who slayed the narwhal was never discovered but the narwhal will never threaten Fontaine ever again.
Much later, she learnt that nobody had perished that day when the prophecy submerged Fontaine, but there was one missing person that the gardes could never locate. That strange but happy dream she had at the theatre that fateful day after the world's greatest trial, Adam's disappearance, the oddly fresh memories that she could recall from that dream in great clarity even till today, the stories he told her in that happy dream; she eventually put two and two together and came to a conclusion that she knew was probably the truth despite how absurd everything seemed.
Adam of the Aurelie Troupe was never to be seen again.
Furina de Fontaine would also never perform The Little Oceanid again, although she would often be seen among the audiences when another rendition of the play was being performed at the Opera Epiclese by the Aurelie Troupe.
Rumours also have it that she never once missed any performances of The Little Oceanid.
–Tales of a Hundred Cycles, Vol XX
.
.
.
Furina had stepped down from the position of the Hydro Archon ever since that fateful day, but she's still active in the nation's entertainment industry and had helped a great many troupes with their performances as long as their script could capture her interest. Her dazzling performances also gathered her a great many followers, where they sang praises of her performances and fervently wished to see her perform once again in any shows that she might choose to star in.
Not many would know about how she would occasionally visit the rooftop of her apartment in the dead of the night, gazing at the stars while softly singing to herself the lyrics penned by someone whom she once shared a stage with and jointly performed a world-renowned show that had once swept across the whole of Teyvat like wildfire.
"Mon âme
Une larme au grè des courant
Témoin du temps qui passe
Seul à contempler, l'histoire
Son âme
Une larmes au coeur de l'océan
Troublée par le présage
D'un avenir sans éspoir
Parfois je doute qu'elle ait assez de force
Un être si fragile
Pourtant elle affronte tant d'intempéries
Parfois elle me surprend de tant de force
Si elle devait s'égarer
Je serais à ses côtès"
She would never sing this song in any public performances, but it was this song whose lyrics would forever remain in her memories. She didn't realise back then what this song really meant to them when he wrote it under her gaze or when she first performed it with him during The Little Oceanid's debut; she really should have noticed the odd way that he looked at her before he started penning down the lyrics in her presence, and when she finally understood what he wrote he was already gone.
She finally understood that her deceit had been laid bare to him a long time ago, that he had simply played along with her pretences until they reached the sinner's finale where the masquerade of the guilty finally ended, where the final judgement passed onto Fontaine was that nobody had sinned.
Everything that she found a little odd ever since she first met him at Marcel's facility suddenly all made sense, especially how he decided to prank her of all things he could have done right before he made his dramatic escape.
He knew. He knew her all along. They had to be friends before she knew of him, and they were probably very close friends too.
"A neverending cycle, a neverending samsara…"
She whispered these secrets to the night sky and tried to imagine what he must have experienced for twenty whole cycles, but she found herself failing to comprehend the entire breadth of such a concept. She believed that her experience was suffocatingly painful and she would not wish it on anyone else, but Adam's own experiences are equally tortuous on the soul as well.
Tough men don't necessarily exist, but all tough times will eventually end
"I hope… that your tough time will eventually end too, just as it did for mine."
"Goodbye, Adam."
May you be happy and free
AN: For those who were unaware, there was a song made by this music artist "Vulkain", who collaborated with hoyo who commissioned him to create an alternative take on La Vaguelette. The end result was a song titled "Tandem au cœur de Fontaine", which according to google translate, means "Tandem in the heart of Fontaine". Ffnet is not hyperlink friendly so for those who are interested, you can google "Vulkain" and "Tandem au cœur de Fontaine" and you should arrive at the correct video on youtube. I would personally recommend you to listen to it if you haven't done so.
Needless to say, this chapter was inspired by Vulkain's Tandem au cœur de Fontaine. Since both songs used the same music, there were many on youtube who combined both versions together to create a duet. I personally prefer the version by "Kategari Live" on youtube where he arranged the song and verses such that the duet flowed like a conversation rather than being forcefully slapped together. His version felt much more like a proper duet and his version was what I tried to describe in this chapter during the encore sung by Furina and Adam.
The original Tandem au cœur de Fontaine was written from Neuvillette's perspective but since this is fanfiction, I adopted it to suit the context of this story. For those interested, the english translation of the lyrics are as below, taken directly from the comments section of the video itself.
And if you couldn't already tell from this story or my other works, yes, I'm a hopeless simp for Ei and Furina.
Alternative song: La Vaguelette – Tandem au cœur de Fontaine
Vocals: Vulkain
Lyrics: Vulkain
Music: Hoyomix
Mon âme (My soul,)
Une larme au grè des courant (a tear in the currents)
Témoin du temps qui passe (Witnessing the passage of time)
Seul à contempler, l'histoire (Alone to contemplate history )
Son âme (Her soul,)
Une larmes au coeur de l'océan (a tear in ocean's heart)
Troublée par le présage(Troubled by omen)
D'un avenir sans éspoir (of a hopeless future)
Parfois je doute qu'elle ait assez de force (Sometimes I doubt that she is strong enough)
Un être si fragile (Such a fragile being)
Pourtant elle affronte tant d'intempéries (But she faces so much hardship)
Parfois elle me surprend de tant de force (Sometimes she surprises me with such strength)
Si elle devait s'égarer (If she were to lost her way)
Je serais à ses côtès (I would be by her side)