Gaping holes tore through heavens and earth, dark miasma spilled forth like a great flood. Monsters of all kinds started to flood into Teyvat en masse. It truly was an apocalypse, doom had come to claim Teyvat.
The inhabitants of the world rose to fight for survival. Archons who were bestowed the authority of divine thrones by beings that reside in the island on the sky could not turn a blind eye to the disaster that raged over their nations like a flood. The shadow dragon that tainted the land of freedom, the darkness that erupted from the maws of the great chasm, the corrupted wolves that seek to tear eternity asunder, the poison that threatened to wither the world tree, and the great beast whose very presence polluted the purity of the waters of justice.
The great beast Elynas was on a march charted to the Court of Fontaine. Yet, the Hydro Archon needed to be present at the Tunigi Hollow or more would be lost. She could only place her trust in her followers and her nation that they would be able to defend themselves in her absence.
"Can I ask for a favour from you?"
The man who she met as fate ordained nodded his head. They have not known each other for very long but she knew he was different. She was created by the divine in replacement of the fallen Hydro Sovereign to serve as the new heart of the Primordial Sea and as such, she had learnt and seen many things that many others have not.
Yet, she had never seen anyone capable of wielding the power of time in the manner he did. That kind of power should only be found being wielded by beings of a higher power. It gave Egeria hope– a glimmer of hope that her followers can be saved from the judgement of the divine.
"Can you help to save Fontaine from the prophecy?"
She knew it was a tall order that she asked from someone that she only just met. He had no obligations to agree. Fontaine was not his home and neither was he born in the land of justice. However, she did not have many options left. The sudden emergence of the Cataclysm did not give her the luxury of time.
"My life is short. Even if I wish to help, I may not have the time to see through my promise."
Nobody knows the exact promise that was exchanged that day, but the man who would later be revered by Fontaine as the man who slayed the great beast never aged ever since he made a pact with the original Hydro Archon. Egeria perished at the Tunigi Hollow, and her death ushered in the eventual reincarnation of the Hydro Sovereign about a hundred years later.
The Beastslayer extended an invitation to the incarnation of the Hydro Dragon on the behalf of the second Hydro Archon. The man who would later be known in the future as the Iudex of Fontaine accepted the offer, hoping that this might allow him to receive the answers he seeked for the many questions he had about himself that arose from his missing memories.
The Iudex's time overseeing trials led him to experience a plethora of human experiences and emotions which made him perceive humanity in a different light. The Iudex was far from an approachable person but he had a friend in the Beastslayer who was cursed to continue living until he fulfilled his promise to Egeria. The Iudex taught his friend the intricacies of the hydro element and what one should understand about the element that created life in order to achieve mastery over it. The Iudex also marvelled at the Beastslayer's ability to copy elemental techniques of others, a conundrum that nobody understood how or why it existed. The powers that the Beastslayer could copy from him even included small fragments of his authority as an incarnation of the Hydro Sovereign, which was truly astounding.
The Regina of All Waters did not really care about the Beastslayer's oddities. Besides awaiting for her fated dramatic trial or investigating the prophecy, she's more concerned about having afternoon tea with the Iudex and the Beastslayer, some of her few trusted friends who could accompany her in this long and lonely life. Together, the trio led Fontaine through one crisis after another, and they grew to be revered, trusted, and loved by the people of Fontaine. Even if the sky were to fall, the people of Fontaine knew that their Archon, Iudex, and Beastslayer would be here to save the nation.
That was why the whole of Fontaine was so shocked when the man who slayed the great beast to save Fontaine was put to trial at the Opera Epiclese approximately two hundred years after the Cataclysm.
"According to the judgement of the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale, Adam is–
– guilty."
The judgement being handed down by the impartial Iudex ignited emotions from everyone in Fontaine who had gathered here to witness the historical trial. Why? Why would the Beastslayer…
… kill the Hydro Archon?
Those who were more observant also noticed that the Iudex did not seem to be as calm as he appeared to be during the trial. The skies outside were pouring as if in grief of the passing of their late Hydro Archon. Hateful words and spiteful remarks were hurled at the man who stood at the defendant's podium, who received everything the public threw at him without nary a flinch.
"Defendant, do you have anything else to say?" The Iudex questioned, his gaze staring straight at the Beastslayer's eyes as if trying to seek for an answer. The Beastslayer's gaze gave a slow sweep of the Opera Epiclese and finally spoke for the very first time in this trial.
"The second flood is coming. All of you might want to head for higher ground."
The Beastslayer's confusing words that were seemingly unrelated to the trial could not be understood by the audiences. That is, until someone from outside ran in, shouting at the top of their lungs for everyone to run because a huge flood had suddenly appeared to submerge Fontaine. It would seem that the corpse of the great beast had suddenly been reanimated and its presence had somehow caused the waters to suddenly rise.
To make things worse, there were preliminary reports that lethal levels of concentration of the waters of the Primordial Sea had been detected within the rising flood.
Chaos ensued. In lieu of the emergency, nobody paid any attention to how the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale whirred as it passed its final judgement to deliver the Beastslayer's sentence– the death sentence. The Iudex had to prioritise saving the people of Fontaine over watching the man who he used to view as a trusted friend. He did not stay nor did he have the luxury of time to stay and question the Beastslayer for answers he so desperately wanted to know. With the passing of the Hydro Archon and the sinning of the Beastslayer, he's the only one left who can protect Fontaine from her tribulations.
As such, nobody noticed how the Beastslayer snuck into the Oratrice. If they were to see what was within the Oratrice they would be shocked to see who resides within.
"You didn't have to go that far."
"If it allows me to end her suffering earlier, it's worth it," the Beastslayer replied to Focalors. He casted a glance at a sleeping figure seated on her throne at the centre of the front row seats, the Regina of All Waters that the whole of Fontaine believed to have been assassinated, Furina de Fontaine. He was forced to use his powers capable of invoking dreams to make her sleep through the entire ordeal because she wasn't agreeable to this plan of ultimate sacrifice. A lone tear flowed out of her closed eyes, having understood just moments before she was forced into a slumber what and why this was happening but powerless to oppose the plans made by her friend, the Beastslayer Adam.
"It was a sufficiently dramatic trial, right?"
"It was dramatic enough to summon the flood, what do you think?" Focalors answered. She held out her left hand and a divine object appeared at her command.
"As promised, the Hydro Gnosis, and my divine authority."
The Gnosis floated over to Adam's hand and he grasped it, and with that the authority of the Hydro Divine Throne was passed on to him. This was exactly what he needed to fulfil his promise to Egeria, a source of power that can fuel his time manipulating ability in order for him to save Fontaine. He had a plan but for that to work he would first need to become the Hydro Archon. Convincing Focalors to agree and accept his proposition was difficult, she did not believe that his plan was an enactment of justice that she believed in but he had over two hundred years to get her to see his point.
He would not die, he would simply be reborn anew to experience his next tribulation. That's the fundamental difference that eventually persuaded Focalors to go through with his plan instead of hers.
"I guess this is where we say our farewells."
"Indeed," Adam nodded. "Thank you, Focalors, and… goodbye. I enjoyed the part I played these two hundred years."
"And I too, enjoyed getting to perform this play with you," Focalors said with a smile. "Don't worry about us, we will protect this rendition of Fontaine for you. And if you do get the chance to see me again in your future cycles, remember to say hi, alright?"
The Beastslayer walked up to the centre of the stage where the spotlights shone. He held onto the Hydro Gnosis and started to use it to fuel his own power. The small sword that was hovering in the air above rapidly grew in size, bigger, larger, and eventually grew to the point that it became massive enough to nearly break through the roof of the Opera Epiclese.
A lone tear was shed by the former Hydro Archon. This plan is a cruel plan, but necessary to deliver justice. She forced herself to see this through until the very end, it's the least she could do for her friend and the third Hydro Archon.
"Goodbye, Adam."
The sword fell, the throne was destroyed, the authority of the Hydro Sovereign was freed and returned to its rightful owner. Focalors finally allowed herself to close her eyes and she took in a deep breath to recollect herself. When she opened her eyes once more, all that left was a look of burning hatred and determination.
She walked up to the centre of the stage. The sword that delivered justice had shrunk, having lost most of its power to carry out the execution but had enough left to remain in existence. It's now just at the right size to be wielded as a proper weapon and Focalors picked it up, the sword that executed the samsaric wanderer.
"Celestia–!"
Those words were spoken with a soft yet clear burning sense of hate. Despite being embroiled with grief Focalors knew she could not dally here for too long, the threat that's just right outside the courthouse had not yet been subjugated and powerful Neuvillette may be, even he could not protect Fontaine from the coming flood while fighting Elynas' corpse all by himself at the same time. She picked up her slumbering human counterpart and exited the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale, just in time to witness the great flood submerging their beloved nation.
It looked like she and Adam had executed their plan in time, for Neuvillette had just enough time to use the power that he just reclaimed to pardon the people of Fontaine of their Original Sin. She placed Furina at a safe location and headed to where the reanimated corpse of the great beast Elynas was, marching towards the Court of Fontaine in almost the exact same manner it had done two hundred years ago when it was still alive before being slayed by Adam.
How and why Elynas' corpse was reanimated was no longer Focalors' concern since the prophecy would find ways to fulfil itself once all the conditions to trigger it were in place. All she knew was that she would not allow her nation to be destroyed.
She stood in the middle of the sea, right in the path of the great beast. She ignored the shocked gasps of the people who spotted her and swung her blade.
This sword would only ever kill three individuals.
The first, her friend, the Beastslayer Adam who sacrificed himself for Fontaine.
The second, Elynas' reanimated corpse.
And the third, she swore–
– would be the divine that perpetuates injustice.
–Tales of a Hundred Cycles, Vol XVI
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The Second Coming of the Flood, or also known as the Parousia Diluvi, was a historical event that took place in Fontaine approximately three hundred years ago. It was named as such because the first flood to occur was the one that drowned the once great civilisation of Remuria, the flood that nearly submerged Fontaine three centuries ago was thus referred to as the second great flood.
The start of the Parousia Diluvi was marked by a trial that was widely agreed to be the most dramatic trial to have taken place in Fontaine. The assassination of the second Hydro Archon was a tale spoken by many and passed down from generation to generation. The many twists from start to end of the historical event was soon adopted into the numerous operas and plays over the years, telling how the legendary Beastslayer endured the scorn of the nation for admitting to a crime that he did not commit in order to save the nation from their Original Sin.
Fontaine had since become a nation without an archon, and all affairs that an archon would usually oversee had been handed over to the Hydro Sovereign. Lady Furina had passed on, having lived to a ripe old age of an additional hundred and three years since the conclusion of the most dramatic trial, but Lady Focalors was still a prominent presence within the Nation of Justice.
Many things had happened over the three hundred years. Focalors had patiently waited for the day that her friend once told her about. The sword which executed him still hung on the wall in her room, awaiting the day where she would wield it to execute the third and final entity to enact justice.
"Lady Focalors."
"Ah, Neuvillette, fancy seeing you here today," Focalors opened the front door of her home and greeted the Iudex who had paid her a visit. "What brings you here?"
"It has begun."
It took her a few seconds to understand what Neuvillette was really referring to but when she did, she found herself oddly at peace with what's to come.
"Give me a couple of minutes," she told him before turning back to return to her room. She took one long look at the sword that hung on the wall of her room and reached out for it with her left hand. Memories of fonder times briefly flashed across her mind as she did so and the former Hydro Archon made her resolve.
She grasped onto the handle of her sword. It's time.
It's time to kill the third and final entity that will die by this sword.
Justice will be served