Chapter Text
Two hundred years ago Furina once found a white snake with the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen. She held her hand out to the small creature letting it know she was not a threat to it, the second the creature calmed down she decided the best course of action was to bring it home with her.
"Neuvillette look what I found," Furina walked into his office watching the snake wringing between her hands trying to get comfortable.
Neuvillette looked up from the paper he was reading staring at her curiously as she planted a small kiss on the snake’s head, "Be careful with that, Furina, snakes aren’t capable of feeling attachments like love. It can only ever trust a person if it's capable of that at all.”
She giggled at his remark brushing him off at the moment. She should have paid more attention to his remarks, he was speaking from experience.
She gave it a home so it could crawl around freely, food so that it was never hungry, and a little outfit so it was never cold during the winter. Furina loved that snake so much that even if it could not love, she did not reciprocate feelings to be happy, just enough trust in one another that it would never bear its fangs against her.
It came as no surprise to Neuvillette the day the snake bit her, sinking its teeth into her flesh and leaving a gaping hole in her arm. Furina would sit there for hours listening to him lecture her about the dangers of owning a snake especially one that came from the wild and that she was lucky that the snake gave her a dry bite rather than infecting her with its venom leaving her paralyzed or seriously injured for who knows how long. Mirror-her did not exactly explain how illness and loss of limbs would affect her.
The possible venom did not matter so much to her, it was the action that did. She thought the two had an understanding to never harm one another but it seems that was untrue on the snake's part.
She would release the snake back into the wild where it belonged a day later.
It more than likely never wanted a life beside her and only ever entertained her ideals. But she would never know she could not read the snake’s mind.
for the next three years after that, Furina could swear she would occasionally see the snake slithering outside her home. Checking in on her- white snakes were incredibly common in Fontaine.
-
Furina should have seen it coming from miles away when Neuvillette put her on trial, within a single swoop condemning Fontaine to its death and shattering their five hundred-year-long relationship like it was nothing, embarrassing her on stage in front of everyone like a clown in a circus, subjected her to burning her hand in a bowl of primordial sea water just to prove whether or not she was the archon. All her lies and schemes were laid plainly on the table for all to witness, read, and gossip about.
His bite was laced with the worst kind of venom, one she would never heal from.
Fontaine was spared by some miracle.
The first thing she did once the trial was over, was run far away from all her problems and she dared hide in the home she shared with the hydro dragon but where else could she exactly go, everyone in Fontaine would soon know exactly who and what she was.
-
Furina heard Neuvillette’s gentle knocking on the door, he was still asking for permission even though she had no right to grant it, not like she ever did. high and mighty was the Hydro Dragon who could part the seas with a simple flick of his wrist, she had to do something to slightly measure up to him. She did so in her voice and like a dog he listened.
He would let himself in without her consent moments later, taking a seat on her bed beside her.
"Furina, I think we should talk," Neuvillette eyes met hers, seeing her for the first time.
"There's nothing to talk about," Furina wailed.
Neuvillette reached his hand out to her, to wipe away the tears falling from her eyes, and she pulled away from his touch as it creased her face for the first time in either of their lives. He dropped his hand beside her reading her body language.
Furina never really noticed until now how sharp his nails were before, how pointy his teeth and ears were, how his horns if she could call them that moved like they were limbs on a body, how his eyes were slit like a pretty white snake she once owned.
She always believed Neuvillette was more of a man than a monster, more human than an animal. She saw how her hypothesis was not true, just an act he put on just as she did herself. it seems they were both seeing each other for who they truly were.
A liar and a monster.
Neuvillette placed his hands in his lap, keeping his distance, as he began to tell her a story about herself, a much smarter and wiser version of herself. the one who died for Fontaine's sins. He would tell her how she was once one of Egeria oceanids before she was a god and how she was a god before she was a human and that now she was free to do whatever she liked. She no longer had to pretend to be an archon, and he would completely support her decision.
How kind of him, she knew what he was doing.
Furina took him on his offer, she no longer had the right to stand as the Hydro Dragon's equal not as a god, nor as human, and not the monstrosity of both.
It was funny to her now that she thought about it more, of course, she would be everything he ever hated.
Furina would ask him to buy her house away from the Palais, so she could finally learn to live her own life and he would do it without a second thought within a day her bag was packed.
The rest of her items would be shipped within the coming week and the two would never speak to each other again like he always wanted. Furina always gave him everything he wanted.
-
Neuvillette used to beg Furina for silence like this, she was too much of a distraction from his workload. She always had a problem with barging unannotated, sitting on his couch or his desk when that no longer suited her. telling him about everything and nothing in between, the latest gossip from the noble houses of Fontaine, a new book she was reading, or a play she heard that would be premiering and he would brush her off each time telling her he had work to do. He was the closest person to her; he should have paid attention more in those conversations rather than just zoning her out then maybe he would have noticed more.
Sometimes she would come in and drag him out for a walk or to go see another show with her, he would oblige her but would be annoyed with her every second he was away from his desk. Someone had to run this country and it seemed she did not want to do it. All Furina wanted to do was spend time with him, human beings are pack animals not solitary like himself.
There would be times when she would lay beside him in his bed because she was 'afraid' the horror show they just saw was 'too scary' for him, or play with his hair when he would work, wrap her arms around him when he would be upset over a court case whispering sweet nothings to him between each breath and he would pretend to enjoy it for her sake.
He did enjoy it.
He just did not realize how much he did until it was gone. He once heard someone tell him, ‘You really don’t know how good you had it until it's gone,' he never understood what that meant until now sitting in his silent office like he always wanted.
Time fell away from him quickly he would wake up and within minutes it would be nightfall. Neuvillette had once read in the paper that Sumeru researchers once discovered that time moves differently for people the older, they get, he wondered how differently time moved for someone who lived a thousand times longer than the average human.
Furina would be the one to bring him food when he would skip out on eating to focus on working, pull him to bed once it got too late into the night. She would be the one to remind him to go out and see the world rather than being couped up all day and she would be the one to hold him when he cried.
No one would do that now.
Neuvillette could easily just pay someone to come into his office and remind him to take care of himself, but he knew he would not listen to them. They were simply not Furina.
It seemed even the most solitary of animals still seek companionship. He was no different than a pack animal.
-
Neuvillette on occasion found himself looking for her, recently he came across a letter on his desk inviting him out to a comedy romance musical from one of Fontaine's greatest theatre troupes.
He knew it would be something Furina would be interested in, so he made his way to her old apartment door knocking on three times as always.
"Lady Furina," he called for her on the other side, she did not answer.
He waited a minute before entering, finding the door strangely unlocked, he spoke as he entered.
"Furina an invination arrived-" the smile in his voice dropped as he looked around her room.
Th windows were clear of curtains, her bed stripped bare, her bookcase and closet empty of all wears, the furniture gone. There was no sign of someone living here.
She left weeks ago.
He must look insane.
Neuvillette existed in the room closing the door behind him, heading back to his office at least he knew his paperwork would be there, truly the only constant in his life.
-
When Furina arrived in her new home she only had a single suitcase with her. The first thing she did was smash every mirror in her home and then she laid down on her carpeted floors crying her eyes out, her entire world had come done in a matter of hours. She had gained her freedom like she had always wanted but why did it feel like she had lost more than she gained?
Within the coming days Melusines would drop by bringing her stuff, she never cared to unpack most of it, climbing into her new bed she was tired after everything that happened, five hundred years would do that to someone.
At least she thought she was tired, but now it felt like everything spent her energy getting up to take a shower exhausted her, eating food exhausted her, getting dress exhausted her, leaving the house to go grocery shopping exhausted her, no matter what she did she found herself lying back down in her bed in less than an hour.
Furina knew she had to take care of herself one way or another so she would force herself to get up and make herself a bowl of macaroni even though she craved to eat something different. She no longer knew if she just did not possess the talent for cooking or that the idea of cooking anything else would send her back to bed for another three hours.
No matter how many times she would change the sauce she made, it always ended up tasting like nothing.
She forced herself to eat it anyway.
There would be days when Furina would lie in bed wishing that someone would come take care of her just for a little bit or have someone drag her out of bed and force herself to get ready, on those days she found herself thinking of what Neuvillette said to her just before she left, 'always think of me if you ever need any help, just say the word and I will do my best to support you.' He was so nice but that’s all it was, he's just being nice. She knew him like the back of her hand, she knew how much he found her annoying, how much he despised her antics, how much he hated her hysteria. It was all just words of comfort with no actual meaning behind them.
If Neuvillette’s words were true, would he not have been here by now, if he was so concerned about her wellbeing, he should have at least checked in on her.
He never did of course.
Two months flew by in the matter of moments that she could no longer tell the time even with a clock staring at her, no one came to speak to her or see her isolation like this would have driven someone mad by now.
She went mad centuries ago, it no longer matter to her.
It was better for Furina to be inside anyway, going out there was her being warranted to be mocked and harassed. There had been one too many occasions of her leaving her house to be insulted, followed or assaulted. She no longer had Clorinde and Neuvillette to watch out for her, this was no freedom it was the worst kind of imprisonment she had ever faced. If she did go out, she made sure to cover herself up head to toe and buy enough macaroni to last her a couple of weeks so that she would not face this issue.
It was three months into her new, 'freedom' that someone knocked on her door, she put on plain dress, before answering the door the last thing she wanted the stranger to see was her sitting in the same pair of pajamas she’s been wearing for the last two weeks, she had other pairs but they were all dirty now. She’s been needing to do her laundry for weeks, but she never seemed to have enough energy by the time she got to it.
Furina opened the door seeing the last person in the world to see Clorinde, her late bodyguard, the same person to turn her sword against her three months ago.
"Lady Furina," Clorinde gave her a small smile at the sight of her.
"C-Clorinde?" Furina's stumbled.
"I’m sorry to drop in unannounced but I think it’s been quite a while since the last we spoke," Clorinde look down at her, "I was wondering if I could come in and speak to you for a while."
""I-" Furina looked behind her seeing all the boxes and all the wrapped furniture she never had the energy to unpack, "I do not think that’s the best idea, whatever we need to speak about it can be down out here after all its beautiful day today."
"It’s very hot out today," Clorinde disagreed, she waited a second almost as if she was trying to read her, "if your house is messy at the moment I do not mind, after all, I did stop by without warning," Clorinde tried to comfort her, "even I live in a mess sometimes when work gets too busy."
Furina looked back at the boxes and then at her sighing she knew she would not win in this scenario, so she opened her door open to Clorinde.
Clorinde took off her shoes at the door in politeness not noticing the environment around her, as she finally lifted her head to notice the living condition around her. Furina watched as Clorinde tried to keep herself composed as her eyes flew to the boxes, to the sink covered in dishes, the severe pile of trash building up in her garbage and if there was a smell she refused to comment on it. Furina already knew she lived in a pig’s pen, but she knew that’s also where she belonged.
"Lady Furina," Her voice dragged.
"I am no longer a lady," she corrected her.
"Ms. Furina, it’s been months, and your stuff is still packed away," was what Clorinde chose to comment on.
"I have been very busy," Furina crossed her arms lying, the only thing she ever did was lie in bed, cry and sleep.
"With what exactly?" Clorinde asked.
"Stuff!" Furina held her gaze, "Things! That are very important!"
"Hmm I see," Is all she said.
"I just did not have the time to clean that’s all," Furina laughed nervously, "but given the fact I am free today I was planning on cleaning, and then you came by and now we are all caught up."
"It’s the late afternoon."
"I know what time it is, I just slept late getting a late start, so I will just work late into the evening," Furina was finally satisfied with her lie.
"Would you like some help with that?" Clorinde offered.
"No, no I am fine doing things on my own and I do not think you came here to help me clean," Furina waved her off.
"I will be free for the next four hours until later tonight, I have an engagement," Clorinde persisted, "so if you need help, I can provide it."
"If that is what you wish to do with your time then I will not stop you," Furina looked away.
"I will be right back Ms. Furina," Clorinde put back on her shoes and left the house.
Furina sat down in her plastic wrapped couch now waiting for Clorinde to return as seconds became minutes and minutes became hours. Furina must have scared her off, and she would not blame her for it either. Furina livid in filth, it was quite a disgusting sight to see.
Within an hour Clorinde was back at her door with a bag of cleaning supplies, a box cutter and a broom. When Furina let her back in for the second time she kept her shoes on.
Clorinde went straight to cleaning up the dishes and throwing out the trash while informing Furina if she kept up this habit mold will start to form, and bugs would start to appear. She knew this but the task just sounded exhausting to her.
She prayed that Clorinde would not go into her room because whatever was happening out here was worse in there.
Furina stood around and watched as she worked until she finally got done clearing out the filth I the sink, Clorinde pulled out some of her new cleaning supplies from her grocery bag and handed Furina the broom.
"I thought we were going to unpack the boxes," Furina exclaimed.
"But seeing as the way you live now would only make it worst its best to clean it all up and then unpack," Clorinde explained, "we might not even be able to get to that today."
"Why? do you plan on coming back?"
"If you will allow me too."
The two spent the rest of their time together cleaning Furina's floors, walls and counters, making the place about as clean as when Furina first walked through the front door.
The two sat on her now unwrapped couch catching their breath from all the cleaning they did together.
"Thank you," Furina said between heavy breaths, “I have been planning to do this for a while, but you gave me the final push.”
"You’re welcome," Clorinde accepted her words, "but I must ask if it got this bad why did you not ask for help, I heard from Monsieur Neuvillette that he is paying for everything and that all you need to do is ask. He's worried about you."
"If he’s so worried he can come here himself," Furina spat on her words, " don’t tell me he sent you here," Furina shrank into herself, of course he would do something like that, "leave."
"Ms. Furin-"
"I am thankful for what you’ve done today, but you can tell him I am not a child that needs to be watched over!" Furina was boiling over, "I am capable of taking care of myself and if he wants to see him tell him he can go do it himself!"
"I did n-"
"You have an engagement to get too, do you not?" Furina reminded her, "you know where the door is located."
Furina got up, retreating to her dirty bedroom not caring to watch as Clorinde left, she waited until she heard the door close before becoming undone like a horribly tied ribbon.
It made sense why she suddenly dropped by, Clorinde was not worried for her, probably did not even care about her existence it was all just a paycheck to her at the end of day and Neuvillette was the one signing off on.
He was the one who asked her to come because 'he's ever so busy.' It was funny how he was always too busy to do anything for her but if it were anyone else suddenly his schedule was clear for the next four hours. She knew exactly where she lay in his pyramid of care.
-
Neuvillette no longer slept on a consistent schedule, he would go anywhere between three to five days before eventually passing out at random, usually on top of his desk.
Sleep was just unappetizing to him these days, it was just time consuming, and time was a limited thing, an item that could not be sold or bought for more, so he cut out what he deemed the least necessary which was sleeping.
Then he had all the time in the world, not that he did not have that all ready. Death would not grant him peace for centuries.
It was also dreams; he never used to dream this visually before but now since Furina was gone suddenly he could see and remember his dreams like they were happening before his vary eyes.
It was always the same three on repeat, the time he had to go down to the fortress meropide and reseal the primordial sea, he now visualized what would have happened if he had not been there in time. Everyone would be dead with nothing but all their clothes floating in the endless stream of water.
He remembered Furina's trial, and Focalors death but this time it was Furina who died under the blade with her head rolling too his feet with her large smile carved out on her face.
The last one was a conversation they had just before she left.
'I am tired I need to rest,’ Furina's voice died with each word.
'I understand five hundred years of acting must have been a lot for you, understand I will pay for any vacation you take, and you can leave for ever long you like, I know you said you always wanted to see a Liyue o- ‘
'Thats not what I am talking about monsieur Neuvillette,' she never used titles when speaking to him in private.
'Furina what are you talking about?' his voice wavered in confusion.
'I do not want to be here anymore Monsieur; this charade has gone on long enough don’t you think? I do not belong here, I never have.'
'But this your home Furina, it’s always been, with me and Melusines,' Neuvillette corrected her, ‘and before I arrived if you need space I will gladly leave.’
'it’s never been, its home to the true ruler of Fontaine something I never was,' Furina shook her head, 'and what exactly do you know about me, not the image I put on but the real me,' she waited for answer that never arrived, 'exactly nothing.'
He should have answered her, given her a list of everything he knew and if she denied it all, he should have said he would be happy to learn about her anything that would have kept her from leaving. Anything that would have stopped him from feeling like this.
But his dream would end the second he thought of changing the scenario and Fontaine would wake up to fresh rain in the morning.
Neuvillette only had time, mistakes, and paperwork.
-
Clorinde came back the next day and Furina slammed the door close in her face. So Clorinde tried again the day after that and the day after that. It went like this for almost two weeks before Furina was finally ready to speak to her again.
"I told you that if Neuvillette wants to speak to me then he can do it himself," Furina crossed her arms looking up at the woman.
"I am not here on Monsieur Neuvillette's orders," Clorinde admitted, "not once did I come here by his saying."
"Then why come at all? you are not paid to take care of me," Furina tried to look for the explanation in Clorinde eyes.
Her eyes lowered to the ground then rose to meet hers, "No one has seen you in months Ms. Furina, people have been wondering if something had happened to you. So I took it upon myself to come visit you, I know I use to be nothing but your bodyguard and I am also the same person who turned her blade against you but that did not mean I did not care for you and given how you are now I think you need someone here for you."
"I am-"
"I do not think you are child or incapable of doing things on your own," Clorinde cut her off, "you led Fontaine for five hundred years by yourself, now please allow me to help you not as a subordinate," She sucked her breath in, "but as a friend."
Those last words shot through her heart like a bullet as Furina felt her lip tremble, and she saw the tears clogging her eyes as a small wail escaped her throat. She's so pathetic.
Clorinde lightly touched her shoulder pushing her back inside her house, closing the door behind herself so no one would peak inside Furina's home as she wrapped her arms around her back, letting Furina cry on her chest.
From then on twice a week Clorinde would come over to Furina's house to spend time with her after work, helping her unpack her home and clean the rest of it. When they finally made their way into her bedroom no judgement escaped her throat. Clorinde helped her to go shopping as she was too afraid to face the public by herself. Sometimes she would bring the cake Furina enjoyed with her and the two would have tea.
Most people thought Clorinde was a stoic person, but Furina thought she had a heart made from the purest form of gold there was.
Clorinde had become the only thing Furina looked forward to seeing, she had become her light at the end of the tunnel.
Clorinde even helped her cut her hair; bring a mirror along with her. When Furina looked into the mirror for the first time in months she finally saw her own face and not Focalors.
"Furina," Clorinde dropped the titles weeks ago, "may I ask you something."
"Anything at all," Furina put down her teacup.
"Would you like to accompany me tonight? I am meeting up with some friends and I would love to have you join our group," Clorinde suggested.
"I-I don’t think that’s a good idea," Furina declined, "as much as I have been appreciating our time together, I don’t think it’s best for me to become acquainted with everyone. I don’t think they would like to see me like this," Furina admitted, "especially after what happened."
"It would be fun, were only going for some drinks," Clorinde persisted, "and you can leave at any time, I will even walk you home if that would make you feel better."
"I will only come for a little bit," Furina agreed, "but I will not stay for more than an hour."
Furina went along with her meeting her friends in a small bar in the court of Fontaine most she did not recognize, some were her ex-employees that she did not remember, and one was girl who sat at hir trial, one that helped in her downfall.
Navia gave Clorinde a tight hug upon seeing her peaking over her shoulders looking down at Furina who looked anywhere else but at her, she felt small under her gaze, she always felt like she was tinniest person in the room, a simple breeze could come in and it would take her away. that would have been a good thing if it did.
"Oh Ms. Furina was a surprise," Navia spoke with a smile, "I did not expect that Clorinde would bring you along."
"Yes, she invited me to come with her and I graciously accepted," Furina finally mustered up the courage to speak.
"Hmm," Navia seemed to reel back on the way Furina spoke to her, "well I am just glad she managed to bring you, I would introduce to everyone, but everyone already knows who you are."
Navia did not have to point that out she already knew everyone had been staring at her since she arrived, but maybe Navia deserved to be a little mean to her, she is the last person in the world that deserved her kindness.
Clorinde followed Navia to the bar and Furina found herself in the corner of the room standing alone, she knew everyone's eyes were on her like a hawk. She used to be the life of the party who would not want to spend time Furina de Fontaine people would go up and talk to her looking for insight, beholding her beauty, she was just an object for them to play with. one to be laughed at. she knew that she was nothing but Fontaine’s personal clown and the noble’s personal whore.
Furina sat in her booth as people moved in and out shooting their chances to either be with her or insult her for everything, she's done wrong. Not like she did not already know.
Furina sipped on her drink watching the ice cubes melt, feeling the alcohol going straight through her body, she was never too much of a drinker it was not because she was afraid of her mask becoming undone, she was afraid of forming an addiction. Not that she did not suffer from one already.
Sugar was a double-edged knife.
Furina heard a cup slam on her table and without looking up, "no I am not interested in being with you," Furina spoke lazily.
"Shooting me down already," Navia joked.
Furina's eyes lifted from her glass, finding a smiling Navia staring directly at her.
"I never would have imagined you to be such a solitary creature," Navia pointed out, "you always had such a big personality, it surprises me to see you like this. I thought you would come here and make a big show out of everything."
"I do not plan to stay long if you’re concerned about that," Furina explained to her, "I only came because of a request. So do not worry about me stealing the spotlight in fact I do not think should have come at all."
"Why is that?"
The last person she planned on opening her heart too was Navia, "it’s not my thing that’s all."
"Would you rather have been invited to a show or ball?" Navia asked her, "if that’s what you want Clorinde informed me this one coming up."
Furina knew exactly what she was talking about, she planned it out herself months ago back when she was still an archon. That meant a chance at seeing Neuvillette if she even still got an invite.
It was clear he never wanted to see her again because if he did, he would have made the effort by now.
"While that does sound fun, I do not think I would attend one. after all its a plus one invite only and I am not trying to steal Clorinde from you," Furina resumed.
She watches the blush spread across her fac, "now why would you say something like that,” Furina chuckled at her reaction, "laughter always suited you best lady Furina."
As Furina straightened out as remembered who she was speaking too, "you don’t have to take pity on me."
"I'm not," Navia took a sip from her glass, "trust me I was mad at you, but I also understood you did everything in your capabilities, and the past cannot be changed there's no use holding grudge against something that will never change."
"Your quite wise Mademoiselle," Furina smiled at her.
"Thats not true at all, I just have grown a different perspective on things lately," Navia brushed away her compliment, "now if it’s dancing you want will you join me?"
"R-right now?" Furina flushed.
"I don’t think that should be a problem for the best dancer in all of Fontaine," Navia held out her hand, "or was the press lying."
"No, they weren’t," Furina huffed, "I am the greatest dancer in all of Fontaine people use to line for hours to get a chance dance with me."
"Oh, so there's a waiting list."
"There is but I can let you slide to the top but just this once," Furina took a hold of her hand.
Furina danced with her spinning her around like the most precious thing in existence, the two did that for a couple of songs and then she followed her back to the bar for another drink as her night started to blur together.
She awoke back in her bed with a note from Clorinde along with some pain medication, apparently, she tried dancing on a table.
-
Furina's life only went up hill from there now Navia came over to her place as well as Clorinde for the first time in her life she genuinely thought she had real friends not someone who had to put up with her just because that’s what they agreed on.
Furina and Navia would bake together every other weekend exchanging recipes or adjusting each other’s to suit their tastes better.
She even exchanged messages with Wriothesely now, she had not met the man in person since he was put on trial when he was a child. but Furina received tea from him back when she was still an archon and then again now but that was by accident.
Clorinde brought it over with her one evening afterwork because he apparently had a bunch of extras, she did not want any of it, so Furina was glad to take it.
She brewed some of it up, it was sweet with a slight taste of apple too it, the tea had no name on it, so she wrote him a letter asking him what the brand was and then asked Clorinde to deliver next time she saw him.
Now the two had a secret tea letter exchanging tea club that Clorinde was being roped into.
Life was good, almost too good.
Furina awoke one day to hear knocking on her door, and she saw Lumine the traveler for the first time in a long time. Furina had known of her accomplishments since then she was brilliant, smart, well-versed fight and friends with almost everyone she came in contact too, but Furina still had no clue whether she even liked her.
Furina always felt like the traveler was disappointed in her in a way does not like she was not already disappointed in herself she knew she was a terrible archon and every time she saw the traveler it felt like she was seeing right through her, and she hated it.
Today Paimon and Lumine searched for her to ask for a favor, they were asking to see if she could perform in musical. Furina at first denied her at every chance, while she would not lie, she was interested in the idea of being in a show again, performance was not her thing anymore.
Had Furina not performed enough already.
By some more convincing Furina joined the group not as a performer but as artistic consultant, and she helped bring the group back together for their final performance that was all in the name of their dearly departed director.
She even saw Neuvillette again for a second, she would not lie she was nervous to see him, but she knew where he would be. He was a creature of habit, never changing, she could not say the same thing about herself.
Furina would not lie, her heart-skipped a beat when he spoke to her old feelings are hard to get rid of.
Neuvillette seemed happy to see her, he had not gazed at her so kindly in half a century she had forgotten how soft he could look. The reason why she never deemed him a monster was in the first place he always spoke with such kindness and sincerity she could not deal with it properly.
As quickly as that thought arrived it died in the matter of moments as she remembered why her stance on him changed like the wind. Every argument, every insult flew back into her mind, how he told the public once that he thought she was hysterical undermining her for twenty years in the public eye just because a reporter once asked him where his real thoughts on Lady Furina were, he could not lie not even to protect her image just because he happened to be impartial Chief justice who would judge all the gods including her.
Furina should have known that putting her on trial to reveal to the world how she never was the real archon in the first place, showcasing all her flaws to every single person in Fontaine, was not below him at all.
Yet Furina still found herself wishing for Neuvillette to show up to her house with an apology and a slice of cake in hand or maybe a bouquet of rainbow roses, her feelings for him were always complicated. it seems spending five hundred years together does that to someone.
Furina found herself looking for Neuvillette the night of the premiere of the little oceanid she scanned her eyes trying to get a glimpse of him, of course he was not there.
He did not have the audacity to visit her home, he would not have enough of it to visit her here in his own domain.
Furina performed the final song of the show after the lead actress felt too ill to perform, closing up the show a real hydro vision dropped to her feet, she picked it up with a sad smile on her face.
Furina used to pray for a power like this, a hilarious concept she only gets now that she has almost no use for it.
It looked different from other Fontaine visions, four sharp claws or teeth were edged into the rim of it, she wanted to look into at a further date but there was a guarantee she would never get the answer.
For now, she was happy to learn how to wield it, with her first test being against a local legend to get back at it for attacking her in the first place only to lose again for a second time because her vision would not spout hydro power from it.
She went home that night to lick her wounds in her bath tub staring at vision on the counter wondering how to make it work properly, she did not take long to try working on it again as she stood in her Pajamas in her living room yelling summoning words, throwing it about trying to make it work.
She was excited when she saw the first drop of water leak from the vision, that smile turned to fear once it refused to stop, flooding the first floor of her house.
Frustration boiled in her, she now had to not only somehow get the water out of her house but also replace all her now damaged furniture, it would have been an easy fix if her vision worked properly.
She flew upstairs throwing her vision in her closet while she delt with the mess downstairs.
She spent a week doing nothing but cleaning and shopping trying to fix the mess she caused, that was usual for her it seemed.
Furina was out shopping for new decorative pillows seeing a cute selection of pastel macron pillows for sale, hearing a child's voice.
"Maman, look," a child's giddy voice filled the air looking at the selection of teddy bears, "can I get one?"
The child's mother nodded her head as the kid grabbed a blue bear hugging it tightly.
Furina smiled sweetly at the scene, as a human, she always wanted a family like that, it was always weird to her that she managed never to have a mother or father given the fact she was a human. She should at least have someone she was related to too; would someone not been amazed to see their daughter crowned archon.
It made more sense after learning she was nothing but shell made by a god who wanted to experience humanity. She would never have an actual family.
But in a way the oceanids that fled Fontaine technically were her sisters. If Egeria was the one who created her, would that technically make her mother? She had no idea, but another idea came to mind as she bought herself her new macron pillows.
Furina wanted to know who she was before she was Furina, before she was Focalors. What kind of oceanid was she? was she still the same person she was now or was she different back then? What did she look like as one? the form that was robbed from her much like her own power and history.
Focalors was both cruel and loving to her in a way that she could never wrap her head around nor get over.
The only person who could give her answer were the other oceanids that existed around Tyvet and that’s if they wanted to speak to her, they had not wanted to do so in the past five hundred years what would change now.
If she could not see them, then she would go to the only person in the world she knew had traveled through most of Tyvet.
-
Furina found the traveler sitting at a cafe drinking a cup of tea while Paimon consumed the three plates of cake sitting in front of her.
"Furina!" Paimon yelled with food in her mouth, "what are you doing here?"
"Is it not obvious I am here for my afternoon tea!" Furina lied, it was such second nature to her at this point she could no longer catch herself doing it, "but as seeing that you are here, can I join you?"
"Of course you can!" Paimon exclaimed, "isn’t that right traveler?" Lumine just nodded her head. She was always the quiet type.
Furina ordered herself a cup of tea at the stand carrying it with her to the table sitting across from the two of them.
"You have seen a lot in Tyvet correct?" Furina asked the traveler.
"Yes, we have been to Mondstadt, Liyue, Inazuma, and Sumeru at this point," Paimon answered, "that’s practically all of it."
"You know this already," Lumine finally spoke, "you also know my origins, so why are you asking?"
"No reason in particular," Furina laughed, "I am just interested in traveling, as you know I have been stuck here for five hundred years I was never able to see the world around me- any places you recommend?"
"Hmm let paimon see," Paimon spoke, "well I loved the sweet Madame from Mondstadt along with their sticky honey roast but the Wanmin restaurant in Liyue harbor is always a must-"
"Paimon she's asking about place recommendations not food recommendations," Lumine interrupted.
"Those are the same thing!" Paimon shouted back, "food and places are intertwined."
Lumine rolled her eyes ignoring her comment, "I think you would like visiting Liyue harbor they have an excellent Opera troupe down there and also a great tea selection apparently."
"Are there any oceanids in Liyue?" Furina finally asked.
"Yes, a rather mean Oceanid name Rhodeia lives that," Paimon spoke, "she always wants to fight and she quite strong too but not stronger than the traveler that’s for sure."
"And what about the others?" Furina's smile fell.
"I don’t think there are any more in Liyue outside of her that paimon can recall," Paimon shoved another cake piece in her mouth.
"Are you interested in learning about the oceanids?" Lumine caught on, she was always smart, it’s kind of scared Furina that nothing got passed her, "should there not be a recollection history in Fontaine's archives or something like that?"
"It’s different," Furina looked into her cup, "Every person in Fontaine by all means is-was technically an oceanid, but it’s different for me, right?"
"Neuvillette informed me that you or well Focalors or both?" Lumine sounded confused by her own phrasing, "was once considered Egeria’s right hand, are you trying to understand your own past?" Lumine concluded.
"I have no memory of it, it was wiped from me as you know and the only person who could give it to me word for word is dead," Furina met her golden eyes.
"I am pretty sure Neuvillette might have some records about the past oceanids that existed in Fontaine beforehand if you want to go get, I am sure you know where," Lumine suggested and Furina's face twitched, "or how about I go get it for you?"
"Really?" Furina and Paimon spoke at the same time.
"For a price of course," Lumined teased, "feed this one for a change, she practically eating through my wallet."
"You have a deal!" Furina clapped.
-
Within the next two days the traveler came by with several books and files with Neuvillette's seal stamped on top of it all. Apparently once he heard the request, he was happy to drop everything and look for it all, it must be nice to be the traveler if Furina were to do that it would have been a fight and a half.
Furina made a spread of desserts, and tea sandwiches for paimon to munch through as Furina read everything there was to know about Egeria, and the oceanids looking for any sign of who she was throughout the books and what kind of person her dead goddess was.
That night when Furina fell asleep she dreamed of an oceanid with a tear drop eye wearing a large crown on her head, she was singing to her, a sad and lonesome song. The voice and song sounded quite familiar though Furina could not recall it come morning.
Life was good for her, as good as it could get.
-
She spent most of her days with her friends or learning about oceanid history. She had completely forgotten about the vision she had thrown away in her closet but that did not matter to her anymore. She had other things more important to deal with than learning how to make a vision work.
She was happy, every night she would dream of a world where she was still an oceanid, she knew it would never be, but it was fun and fantastical. She dreamed it like so many novels she read some nights she was like a princess or like one of the knights that Egeria entrusted herself with. She lived in a stone castle, went exploring looking for dragons or fighting with the Remus who sought to go to war with Egeria.
Every time she would hear that same sad tune from the Oceanid with a crown on her head.
her life would take another dive when she awoke one day earlier than most when she awoke to hearing banging with urgency on her door.
"I’m coming!" She screamed not even bothering to change it was too early anyway, she swung up the door, "I hope this better be important enough to ruin my beauty sleep over," Furina crossed her arms.
"Furina you’re okay," Paimon's voice breeched her ears.
"And why would I not be?" Furina looked at the traveler and Paimon.
Lumine uncurled the newspaper in her hands, giving it to Furina with a sad smile on her face.
"All of this over a newspaper, you both know how popular I was back in the day," Furina took the paper out of her hand flipping it over.
Her heart started beating faster as she read the headline, as her hands started to shake as she read it over and over again.
"This is a joke, right?" Furina's voice cracked, "it’s a very cruel joke if it is. I know I have not treated you the best in the beginning, but this is even low for you," Furina wailed.
"This was not done by either of us," Paimon defended the traveler, "we promise."
Furina dropped the paper on the ground, closing the door and locking it in front of their face. She was wrong to trust either of them.
-
"Furina!" Paimon banged on the door, "Furina! Furina please open up!"
"Leave it alone, paimon," Lumine told her.
"But she thinks were the issue," Paimon explained her reasoning, "we need to explain not her were not - paimon would never do something like this."
"She needs time to process it, give it to her, forcing her to open up- well we both know how that went," Lumine reminded her.
"But-"
"We will check on her later, but first we need to solve this issue," Lumine reached out to the new paper on the ground.
She picked up re-reading the headline for the tenth time since she found it this morning.
'Furina de Fontaine or more notably the Whore of Fontaine.'