Chapter Text
"Are you sure this is it?" Skirk asks, a hint of doubt in her voice as she summons her sword, brandishing it at the large, arching double doors in front of them. Furina nods confidently, summoning her sword in her left hand. She was very certain this was where that thing was located.
"Very sure, Skirk. How are you doing?" Furina asks, giving her friend a once-over. Cuts, bruises, and lacerations litter her usually unmarred skin, a sign that this was the toughest battle her otherwise extremely skilled friend has faced in years. Skirk chuckles.
"Worried about me?"
"Well, it is not often you get so battered up in a fight."
"But what a challenge it was. The tyrannical divine were certainly worthy opponents," Skirk grins at her, as Furina stifles a laugh. Trust Skirk to make the rebellion sound like a sparring match, and maybe for her friend, who lives for the fight, the thrill of it, it probably was.
"There you both are. Did you have any trouble getting here, Eri?" Furina turns to see Bronya and Lumine running up to them from the dimly lit hallway they had used to come down here. She examines their appearances quietly.
The two of them looked exhausted and worse for wear, and Furina felt guilty for not considering the burden she was stressing them with. They had led the combined forces of all seven nations and the abyss to break into Celestia, the rebellion against the Divine has begun. Lumine shakes her head at Furina as if she had the thoughts that were brewing in her brain.
The blonde offers a small smile to Furina, who stares at her and Bronya with barely concealed guilt.
"We are alright, Eri. You don't have to feel guilty," Lumine said softly, her tone consoling as Bronya nodded in agreement.
"That's right, we came this far only because of your plan. It will all end when we storm into that room." Bronya frowns deeply at the large double doors, before turning back to Furina, who was also staring at it quietly.
"Do you think there is anyone in there?"
Other than a seed of disasters, The Cancer of All Worlds? Highly unlikely, in Furina's opinion. But if she were to hazard a guess, the last adversary in their way, the one guarding the stellaron and the only one possible that probably knew of its existence...
"Did you see the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles?" Furina asks, fear creeping into her voice. Bronya and Lumine look at each other, alarmed by the reminder of that dratted divine being. They had not seen her at all during the fighting, which means...
"She's in there, isn't she?" Skirk deadpans.
"Probably..." Furina had accounted for this possibility, though she had hoped the Sustainer wasn't here. Lumine gulps visibly, no doubt remembering her last encounter with that god.
"We're no match for her. She's powered by the Heavenly Principles, right?" Bronya asks, a grim look on her face. Furina nodded.
"Yes," she confirms, a look of trepidation overcoming her friends.
"So...how do we beat her up? You do have a plan, right?" Skirk asks, turning her head slightly to look at Furina, who grins at her. She did have a plan, for who would she be without them? Under that easygoing and cheerful deposition was a master tactician capable of making the impossible the achievable, for she was a genius acknowledged by Nous himself.
"Just fight her with everything you got."
"Really?" All three look at Furina with surprise. The plan was simple, a little too simple for Furina, Furina who came up with the craziest of plans all the time. For a formidable, undefeated foe like the sustainer, would it truly be as simple as just fighting her?
"Yes. You'll know why later. You three attack, while I cast a shield for protection for later. When I say retreat, come into it immediately," Furina told her friends, her stance ready to charge into the scene. Her friends nodded at her, as all four of them broke through the doors and charged into the room.
Sure enough, standing (or floating) in the center of the large room was the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles, lying in wait for them, the unwelcome guests.
And behind her, sitting on an overly decorated marble platform, was the seed of disaster itself; a stellaron, or otherwise known as 'The Heavenly Principles'. What a shame, it was such a cool-sounding term for something such as a stupid tumor.
Though Furina supposes, this tumor caused the fall of many civilizations and the isolation of Teyvat from the Cosmos for 500 years, maybe the term was fitting.
"It all ends here for you, meddlesome protectors." Furina had only ever interacted with the Sustainer once, but she was sure her voice was not this distorted.
A sure sign that the Fragmentum energy was overwhelming her. Slowly, but surely.
Even divine beings were susceptible to the corruption of stellarons. The corruption process was far slower for a divine being like a god as compared to a human. But eventually, they too will fall completely to the Fragmentum corruption.
"The sustainer sounds different," Lumine whispers to her, as Furina nods.
"The effects of Fragmentum energy from the stellaron," Furina explains under her breath, watching the Sustainer closely.
The Sustainer must have grown impatient or annoyed by the lack of an offense from her intruders because she started shooting red cubes at the four of them. They jumped away in time before it hit them, as Furina readied herself to defend against any attacks.
"Fools, your arrogation ends here!" The Sustainer crows out, summoning more of the same red cubic structures, throwing them in every direction as the four of them continue to dodge.
"Hrgh!" Skirk slashed her way through the cubes coming in her direction, landing a successful hit on the Sustainer, who screeched in pain.
"Nice one, Skirk!" Lumine said as she dashed forward at the Sustainer, careful not to be hit by the red cubes. Her clothes started to glow as she attacked the Sustainer from all sides in a 7-element attack.
Bronya throws a hail of ice shards at the Sustainer, as Furina hears her cast a series of protective and enhancement spells for them.
"I'll cover you! Just focus on attacking the Sustainer!" Bronya shouted as she deflected another red cube sent in her direction.
Furina barely dodges an incoming red cube as she tries to concentrate on the spells. She kept her eyes on the Sustainer, who was growing angrier and more ghastly by the minute, a sign of the growing corruption of the Stellaron.
"You...will...pay...!" Furina watches the Sustainer howl in anger, successfully casting the shield, a protection against the Fragmentum outburst that was waiting to happen.
Now, she just had to cast the containment spell...at the right moment.
"This new world...will never fall!" Furina frowns as she watches the Sustainer fall to the ground, her body now marred with the blackness of the Fragmentum energy.
Now was the chance she had been waiting for, when the Sustainer was in complete delirium, completely overtaken by the Fragmentum.
The Divine Being's fate is sealed.
"Everyone fall back! Into the shield! NOW!" Furina yells at her friends, who jump away from the Sustainer, now completely overtaken by the Fragmentum. They fall behind her in the shield, helping to reinforce it as Furina hastily begins to cast the containment spell.
"The Heavenly Principles...is the salvation from the DESTRUCTION! It will...protect us all..." The Sustainer shrieks, her last words before her body implodes, just as Furina finishes casting the containment spell.
Furina feels relieved wash over her as the dark fragmentum energy dissipates. Once the fragmentation energy from the Sustainer's demise was gone, she let down the shield, walking over to the Stellaron.
"..." Furina walks over carefully to where the stellaron, the 'Heavenly Principles' was kept. It emits a soft, warm light. Its innocent appearance deceives its mysterious and destructive nature, and one that does not know of what was a stellaron would fail to know it is a dangerous lifeform.
"What are we going to do with that?" Skirk asks from beside her, scrutinizing the warm ball of light.
Furina feels the seal place on weakening with the Sustainer's defeat. It wasn't completely gone, but enough for her to use her quantum powers to seal and contain the Stellaron.
"We can't destroy it, unfortunately. I'll seal it away," Furina said as holds out her palms, using her quantum powers to seal away the Stellaron's fragmentum energy.
"Where do we keep this? It's too dangerous to leave it here," Lumine asks, looking at the sealed stellaron apprehensively as Furina nodded.
"I'll look after it until I find somewhere suitable to keep it," Furina said as she stored it away, turning to her friends with a smile.
"The Sustainer's worst move was to underestimate you and think too highly of herself. The arrogation of mankind? More like arrogation of the divine," Bronya snorted as Furina laughed.
"Well, it's a good thing she was arrogant instead of being cautious, right? I'm still standing because of it," Furina said with a sigh as she turned to look at all three, remembering what else they had to handle in the aftermath of the rebellion.
It wasn’t over just yet. This was just the beginning of battles to come. But that was a story for another time, and Furina had to make her timely escape before anyone else saw her here. Her presence in Celestia would raise questions that she didn’t want to deal with right now.
"I should get going," Furina mumbled quietly when three pairs of arms grabbed her, pulling her into a smothering hug.
"Oh C'mon! Is this the time to be hugging?" Furina grumbles though she smiles as her friends.
"We were apart for 500 years, 500! I say this hug was long overdue," Bronya grins from ear to ear, her eyes reflecting the happiness in Furina's heart. It has been a long time, hasn't it? They were finally free of the Heavenly Principles, the very thing they all had been secretly working against for the past 500 years.
"I'm so relieved...I thought we might not make it, that we might fail, but I'm so glad we did," Lumine said softly, as all four collapsed into the ground in a fit of giggles, of how silly they were acting.
"It was a very risky gamble, to be honest," Furina admits. Many civilizations fell to the Heavenly Principles, and one wrong move on their parts would have ensured their fates to follow that of their predecessors.
Not to mention all of them had been preparing for the rebellion separately.
Lumine, who had formed the Abyss Order from the remaining cursed Khaenri'ans had worked in the shadows, far from the prying eyes of Celestia, helping to amass the army and power needed to fuel the rebellion and free the Khaenri'ans from the curse.
Bronya, on the other hand, turned her nation into one of a mighty military force, The Fatui, and led the rebellion against the divine.
As for Skirk, she trained in the abyss for 500 years, to aid in the rebellion as the sharpest sword.
For Furina, it was simply to work behind the scenes, the mastermind.
"The fight is far from over. We all know what lies beyond this planet, in the cosmos," Skirk's usually indifferent voice sounded heavy as she said the thing that has been hanging on their minds, of the Sustainer's last words.
"The Destruction..." murmurs Furina, her eyes steeling themselves at the thought of those dratted beings. If the Heavenly Principles were bad, then Nanook and his Antimatter Legion were worse. The latter's goal, stupidity at its finest, was to eradicate all lifeforms, and destroy all civilizations because the Aeon believes the creation of the Universe was a mistake.
"Not only those cavemen. There are still plenty of hostile groups out there...we must prepare," Lumine said with a sigh, stretching her arms as she got up.
"But we still have time until then, right? The Stellaron's effects do not fade instantly, do they?" Lumine turns to Furina, who nods. "A year, given that we have the technology to speed up the recovery process."
"It's enough time for us to recover and recoup our losses before re-entering the cosmos," Bronya agreed, getting up as well. Furina and Skirk followed suit, dusting themselves off as the four of them walked out of the room.
"Go and re-group with the others. I'm sure they are looking for you," Furina encourages her friends, who stare at her quietly for a good minute. They do not budge at her encouragement to leave her and find their allies, their people. Bronya sighs, breaking the uneasy silence as she steps closer to Furina with a frown.
"This is stupid, Erinnyes."
Bronya shakes her head at her in clear disapproval.
Furina scowls at the use of her Lochknight name. It was her birth name, the one given by her mother and creator, Egeria. But she does not use it often, it was a name lost to time, one that she regains with the return of her full memories. Not that she ever wanted to remember.
"Bronya, don't," Furina said with a sigh, her tone cold, hoping her friend got the hint to drop the topic.
Bronya does not. Even after 500 years, Bronya and Furina's bond remained strong, if not stronger during their centuries of separation. Unfortunately for Furina, it also meant dealing with the God of Love who also happens to be a nag, despite her well-intentions.
"Why are you doing all of this because of a man?" Bronya asks with a disappointed look in her eyes, as Furina looks away. They had this conversation a few times now, but Bronya never agreed with her decision to keep her involvement in the rebellion a secret.
"Dragon," Lumine corrects her gently. Bronya frowns at her as if to say, 'Seriously? Now, of all times? When I'm trying to knock some sense into her?'
"Who cares if he's a dragon or a man? Erinnyes-"
"Can you just call me Furina? I hate that name," Furina said with a defeated sigh, as Bronya glared at her, clearly annoyed at being corrected twice now.
"Alright, Furina. So why must you go to such lengths to keep your involvement in the rebellion a secret from the hydro sovereign?" The anger in Bronya's tone dissipates, her voice cracking. She gazes at Furina with sorrow, though she has nothing to do with the reasons behind Furina's decision.
"I'm not doing it to keep it a secret from him," Furina said, looking away. Her heart felt heavy, knowing full well she was lying.
She never wanted him to know about this, their relationship was too complicated now, if he learns of this, that she purposefully kept him in the dark...
No, he won't find out, Furina will make sure of that.
"All rulers of the seven nations knows you are involved. All of us, except Monsieur Neuvillette. At your request, we kept your involvement a secret from everyone, including him. It's so obvious why you are keeping your role in the rebellion a secret. It's because of him!" Bronya exclaimed accusingly.
Furina does not respond immediately. It was true, but she had other reasons for keeping this a secret as well. She had to keep a low profile, or she just might find herself trapped in a gilded cage again.
"The lesser the number of people that know, the better. I have my reasons for keeping it a secret," Furina said firmly, crossing her arms in defiance as Bronya glared at her.
"Really? And what are those reasons?" Bronya demanded, on the verge of tears as Furina tensed up. She did not want to quarrel with Bronya now, but her friend was making it tough for Furina to keep her cool. Luckily, Lumine intercepts, pushing them apart gently with a scolding gaze.
"Guys, c'mon. Don't fight now. We all just reunited, and you two fight in less than an hour," Lumine shakes her head in disappointment. Furina and Bronya looked away, now feeling ashamed of their heated conversation.
"I'm sorry. But-"
"Bronya. No one can know of my involvement. No one can know Erinnyes is here on Teyvat," Furina interrupts Bronya, grabbing her by the shoulders. She gazes at her friend sternly, she had meant every word that she had said, for no one can know. Bronya stares back at her, clearly confused by her words.
"What do you mean?" Lumine and Skirk looked equally as confused as Furina shook her head.
"I'll explain everything, just not now. Please. If people find out now, it would only make things harder for me," Furina said with a frustrated sigh, releasing Bronya from her iron grip. Bronya stares at her unsurely, but nods, seemingly convinced now.
"Alright, I trust you."
"I promise, I will tell you everything," Furina said when she heard the faint sound of voices coming from the hallway that led to this room. Her eyes widen in alarm, looking at her friends, who nod at her.
"Mask your presence and hide over there, behind that large pillar. We'll handle them," Bronya said reassuringly, offering her a small smile, one that Furina returns as she hides herself just in time.
"Tsaritsa, Princess of The Abyss Order and Miss Skirk. There you are, we have been looking for you."
Neuvillette? Furina blinks, recognizing his voice instantly. She spent 400 years together with him, how could she not? She sneaks a small peek, and sure enough it was the hydro sovereign himself, accompanied by a few other familiar faces; Clorinde, Duke Wriothesley, and Miss Navia from the Spina Di Rosula.
Furina's heart feels unsettled when she sees them; she was not counting on seeing them here. Now a little more fearful, she scoots away from their line of sight, listening to the conversation with her rapidly beating heart.
"Hydro Sovereign." Furina watches as Bronya greets Neuvillette. She stifles a laugh at how cold and impassive her best friend sounded. If someone told her the warm and expressive Bronya could be this chilly, Furina would not have believed it if she had not seen it with her own eyes. Neuvillette did not look bothered by the coldness of Bronya's tone, mostly likely thinking of it as normal and in the character of the Cryo Archon.
"We heard that you came down here to deal with the Heavenly Principles."
"Yes, it is done," Bronya nodded, holding her head high, her gaze firm against one of the Dragon Kings.
"The Heavenly Principles are no more?" Navia had asked, looking thoroughly surprised as Furina resisted a snort.
"Of course, what else could have happened?" Skirk asks flatly as if it were normal or a highly expected outcome. Furina watched as Navia chuckled nervously, not seeming able to deal with Skirk's statement.
"Where is the Heavenly Principles? You said it was some sort of...uh..." Furina watches as Neuvillette struggles to remember the exact nature of the Heavenly Principles.
"Stellaron, Hydro Sovereign. It's a stellaron," Lumine supplied the information to Neuvillette, who nodded. "Yes, that."
"So, what happened to it? Did you destroy it?" Wriothesley asks as Bronya shakes her head.
"Stellarons cannot be destroyed. They can only be contained."
"I see. What do you plan to do with it then? I believe it would be prudent for us to discuss on how we should hide it and any plans to continue to ensure its energy is contained," Neuvillette suggested. Furina frowns at that, as do her friends.
"Well, uh..." Bronya falters, looking unsure as she turns her head slightly to look at Furina, who shakes her head vehemently, mouthing for her to agree with his suggestion.
"I-I suppose you are right, Monsieur Neuvillette. We should discuss about how to handle the stellaron, but not here," Bronya said impassively, turning to walk down the hallway, the other following suit. Furina waited for the sound of their voices to get fainter and fainter until she heard no more. She waits for a good few more minutes before she makes her way out, taking the path she had used before.
Letting out a sigh of relief, she gazes at the state of Celestia from a secluded spot. Once home to the tyrannical divine, it was now the place of the battlefield of the rebellion that changed the fate of Teyvat.
For many, this seemed like the last hurrah; the rebellion was over, and Teyvat was free.
But on this chessboard, checkmate is not where it ends.
It was only the first of matches to come, a never-ending tussle between the higher beings of the Cosmos.
Neuvillette stands before the door of a quaint little cottage Northwest of the main city. He ignores the whispers and stares he gets from the neighbors. He was used to them by now, though he knew Furina would not appreciate the gossip his appearance before her house would cause. At the very least, he knows the people living in this area were kind, good people.
They treated Furina like she was always one of their own. He could see it, there was no mistake in the radiance of her smile, or the way her eyes lighted up when chatting with another villager. It was the kind of radiance she never had in the 400 years they spent together. Or perhaps it was just him that never moved on.
A part of Neuvillette always hopes, fervently wishes that Furina would come back one day, that she would go back to him. He wanted them to continue to rule Fontaine together, side by side, just like they had for 400 years. He would do better this time around. He would never make her feel grief again, he swore on his authority as a dragon sovereign, if she ever gave him a second chance.
"Monsieur Neuvillette?" A pair of heterochromatic blue eyes with tear-shaped pupils stare at him from the now-opened doorway. Furina was peeking through the gap in the doorway, her eyes filled with confusion as she fully pushed open the door.
"Lady Furina," Neuvillette greets. Furina frowns at his addressment but does not comment on it. She never liked being addressed as 'Lady' ever since her abdication from her role as Hydro Archon four years ago. For Neuvillette, it was a stubborn habit that was hard to shake off. 400 years of addressing her by that term, and now, it was the only thing related to Furina Neuvillette could cling to.
"Come in, I'm sure you are getting uncomfortable by the stares," Furina's distant gaze looks past him and at her neighbors who were probably gossiping. She graciously lets him into her house, closing the door tightly behind her as she walks off to the kitchen. Neuvillette looks around the living room, noting the various books and papers scattered across the floor, the tables, and the couches. Furina was not a neat person by nature, her spontaneous nature meant she had a messy streak, but something of the messy state of her living room implants suspicion in Neuvillette.
Or perhaps it's because he did not step foot in here for over 3 years?
"Here, I made Blubber Profiteroles. You wanted water, right?" Furina came out of the kitchen, carrying a tray with a plate of the flaky crust, cream-filled desserts, a teapot, a water jug, and two teacups. Setting down the tray gingerly on the dining table, Furina motioned for Neuvillette to sit with her. He obliges, feeling a little more awkward now as Furina silently bites into her dessert, Neuvillette watching her in complete silence as she eats.
After maybe two or three more bites, Furina stops eating to look at him quizzically. Neuvillette clams up under her stare, feeling a little more self-conscious now.
"Is there anything you want to tell me? Like the purpose of your visit today?" Furina asks, her voice distant, but not impolite. Neuvillette stares back at her, unsure of what to say.
There were many things he wanted to tell her, to show her. Teyvat was finally free of the Heavenly Principles and was finally at peace. The Dragon Sovereigns and the surviving archons had put aside their differences for the sake of humanity, now ruling Teyvat together peacefully.
Admittedly, Neuvillette was far too busy with the war efforts to visit her during the war. Instead, he had written to her numerous letters throughout the war. Furina had reciprocated this gesture by writing back, and Neuvillette was beyond overjoyed to receive her letters.
It also helped to reassure him of her safety. She and Focalors had tricked the Heavenly Principles, and so she had a target painted on her back. What if Celestia attempted to send their minions after her for revenge? Granted, Neuvillette had cast warding spells in the village area, but even that could not ensure her safety.
"I...I just wanted to see you," the words slip right out of Neuvillette, his gaze lowered in embarrassment at his own words. Furina stares at him, no doubt surprised by his words. But she says nothing of it, continuing to eat her dessert quietly.
"It's been a long time since we last saw each other. I know you sent me a letter informing me of your intentions to visit a few weeks ago, but I didn't think you would show up," Furina said quietly as she polished off the first Blubber Profiterole, her fork snatching up another to her plate as she savors the next piece.
Neuvillette wilts at her words. She didn't expect him to visit today? Did she think he would stop caring about her? Never, he could stop caring about her even if he tried. No, he must make it clear and correct his mistake. It hurts him to think that she thought he would stop
"I'm sorry for not visiting you for the past 3 years. We kept in touch through letters for the past few years, but I wished I could have come to see you," Neuvillette confesses, sincerity in every word he says. Furina says nothing to him, humming softly as she pours herself more tea.
"I'm not offended or upset you didn't visit. The war efforts were your priority, after all. The Heavenly Principles are gone thanks to the aid of the Dragon Sovereigns, Teyvat is finally free of their tyranny, I suppose I should be thanking you instead," Furina said with a distant smile that didn't quite meet her eyes, silently biting into the bluffer profiterole (how many has she eaten already, five? He did not keep count).
Neuvillette looks down at the cup of water, feeling dejected by her reply. Their relationship was never the same after that...after she abdicated from her role as archon. Now, Neuvillette was not human by nature other than being reincarnated in human skin, but he knew that they had to talk it out for them to put it behind them and move forward.
Only, Furina never made it easy or possible to do so. If Furina wanted to yell at him, give him the cold shoulder, or slam the door in his face, that was something easier to accept and resolve. But Furina held no enmity towards him, only it was much, much worse. The faraway look in her eyes, the distant, detached tone when she speaks to him. It hurts to see her treat him like a stranger, but Neuvillette does not want to let go, for he fears he would lose her for good if he did.
"How have you been for the past few years?" Neuvillette asks, watching her in silence as Furina stops chewing, staring back at him. She swallows, and for a moment, Neuvillette thought Furina looked nervous.
"I've been working on a few plays," Neuvillette perks up at that. Furina has been working as an artistic consultant all over Teyvat. Neuvillette has watched many of her works and was an avid supporter of them. Furina had the natural talent to move people with her artistic skills, and could deeply understand humanity, aspects of her he admires greatly.
"Really? That is wonderful to hear."
"How about you? Fontaine did suffer quite a few casualties during the war. I imagine you must be busy," Furina asks quietly as Neuvillette shakes his head.
"I have been busy, but not because of the war efforts." Rather, he was kept occupied by preparations to deal with the issue that Teyvat had been isolated from the Cosmos for 500 years. Now, as one of the ancient authorities, he always knew that Teyvat was not the only planet that was inhabitable by lifeforms. He was aware of the existence of the Cosmos and what lies outside of it, though he was surprised by the advancement of the universe.
The Tsaritsa had informed him of a Faction known as the Interastral Peace Corporation (IPC) that was responsible for managing the entire economy of the universe. Knowing full well how profit-driven the IPC was, Teyvat had to provide trade deals to sustain its presence in the Cosmos, especially after 500 years of isolation, and ensure that it wouldn't be exploited by the IPC. As such, most of his efforts were on preparing for just that.
"I'm sure you know how Teyvat was isolated from the Cosmos for 500 years. Now, we are preparing to restore relations with the organization responsible for the economy of the entire Cosmos, opening up trade deals and routes. As such, I have been busy preparing for the upcoming negotiations," Neuvillette explains.
Furina listens quietly. Her half-eaten dessert lays there on her plate, the dessert fork abandoned on the table as she parts her mouth, but no words come out of it as she looks away, her lips shutting together tightly, forgoing what she was going to tell him.
"Furina?" Neuvillette does not know what to make Furina's strange actions, but it worries him when she looks at him with hesitation in her eyes.
"Is there..."
'Is there anything you want to tell me?'
Neuvillette was no expert on reading other people's emotions. Granted, he spent 400 years living among humans, and he has come far in understanding them, but Furina was truly always the exception.
He thought he understood Furina. They spent 400 years together as companions, after all. Yet, at every turn, he realizes how little he truly knows Furina, who was like the oceans of Teyvat.
For Furina De Fontaine was like the deepest trenches of the sea, a mystery with a never-ending amount of secrets buried in her depths. The stormy gaze in her eyes, the warring emotions in those orbs never left her, even after her retirement as Archon.
"Uhm...I'm going to Snezhnaya soon," Furina supplies quietly, as Neuvillette blinks at her sudden words. He examines the expression on her face quietly, not quite knowing what she meant by the statement.
Wait, she couldn't mean...
"Are you moving there permanently?" The words leave a bitter taste on his tongue. His heart squeezed tightly at the thought of Furina leaving him again. Only this time, it was far worse, for she would be out of his reach, in another nation far away from Fontaine.
"I'm not sure." That does not make Neuvillette feel any better about the possibility of Furina leaving.
Why did she even want to move to Snezhnaya in the first place? Granted, the 500 years she spent playing as the hydro archon left her broken, but she continued to stay in Fontaine nonetheless. He thought she was doing well, but was he wrong all this time?
"Can I ask why?" Neuvillette does not mean to overstep Furina's boundaries. It was a painful lesson he learned the hard way. But for a dragon who struggled to understand humans, especially one as complex as Furina, it was hard to tell when he broached a matter that was far too sensitive for her.
But he had to know why. He was being selfish, but the thought of Furina moving away for reasons unknown to him was like a stab to the heart. He had to convince her otherwise, to stay in Fontaine. He would offer her the world, anything she wanted or desired so she wouldn't leave again.
"Just to handle some matters." Furina does not delve further into what 'matters' she has to handle in Snezhnaya, but Neuvillette knows the line not to cross, for if he did, he would lose her even more.
"I see."
"I...heard you might be going to Snezhnaya as well," Furina said quietly, as Neuvillette nodded.
"Potentially. We have not decided on where to hold the negotiations, but Zapolyarny Palace is likely where it will be held."
Neuvillette would prefer if Fontaine would be chosen, or even Natlan and Sumeru. Snezhnaya was far from Fontaine, and negotiations are expected to take quite a while. it would be good to be so far from home, in case anything happens in his absence.
"Do you expect it it take long?" Furina asks, and though Neuvillette is a little confused by Furina's sudden interest in the negotiations, he doesn't think too much of it.
"Yes. A month, at least. There is much to discuss and negotiate, after all. We have to build back old alliances and forge new ones."
"I see," Furina commented quietly, sipping her cup of tea as Neuvillette watched her.
"When are you leaving for Snezhnaya?"
"Tomorrow," Furina stated, setting down her teacup, and gazing at him with an inscrutable look in her eyes. Neuvillette stares at her in shock, his cup slipping from his hands, water spilling onto his pants.
She was leaving so soon? And she might not return to Fontaine, ever. It might be the last time he sees her, no, he can't let that happen, he refuses to.
"Furina, I..." Neuvillette starts, his voice faltering slightly as Furina shakes her head, stopping him from saying anything further.
"Don't worry, I will be fine. We'll see each other again."
"Will we?" Neuvillette could not ascertain whether Furina was telling the truth. She looks away, her gaze lowered to the ground.
"The truth is, the Tsaritsa invited me to Zapolyarny Palace," she admits quietly. Neuvillette frowns at Furina's words.
The Tsaritsa was the leader of the rebellion against the divine. He respects the Cryo Archon for her bravery and role in the rebellion, but even so, he knows she is not someone without ulterior motives.
But Furina wouldn't know that would she? Neuvillette was ready to advise Furina against going, but she stared at him with a determined gaze.
"I can't persuade you otherwise, can I?"
"No. I'm only telling you this so you won't be so surprised if you are heading there for the negotiations," Furina said quietly, a faraway gaze in her eyes.
So it was just a heads up for him, so he couldn't be caught too unaware of it.
The question now was, why? Why did Furina want to go there, to meet the Tsaritsa? And what did the Tsaritsa want with her? Questions Neuvillette will find the answers to, once he gets there himself.
"I see. Then I'll see you in Snezhnaya then if the negotiations are held there," Neuvillette said in reply, setting down the teacup back on the table.
There would be no question as to where the negotiations are to be held now. Since Furina is going to Snezhnaya to meet the Tsaritsa, Neuvillette has made up his mind to follow her there, no matter what.
He would follow her to the ends of the earth and across the stars. For Furina de Fontaine has ensnared the heart of the Hydro Sovereign, the Iudex of Fontaine in her grasp.