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Chapter Text

Sumeru is Furina's first stop on her journey of self-discovery. It makes sense from a logical standpoint, being the closest nation to Fontaine in terms of distance. It ends up being the best choice she could have made.

Buer's retainer, who goes only by the Wanderer, intercepted her soon after she entered the nation; she spent the entire time faintly terrified as he herded her to the capitol. Her pleas that she was not, and in fact never had been, a rival god only got her funny looks and huffs of breath and eventually she stopped complaining and decided to see where fate would take her. Anyway, after the utter terror of believing even for a moment that the prophecy had been fulfilled, every other fear paled in comparison and she fancied herself rather serene by the time she was finally ushered into the Sanctuary of Surasthana to meet the Dendro Archon.

Buer took one look at her and then gave the Wanderer an exasperated look. "You didn't explain anything to her, did you, Hat Guy?" she asked.

'Hat Guy', Furina mouthed to herself.

The Wanderer crossed his arms over his chest. "All you told me to do was 'retrieve' her," he said. "If you wanted me to play extra nice, you should have asked."

Buer turned to her. Furina looked into the all-knowing eyes of the Dendro Archon and felt an old thrill of fear and despair: How in Teyvat will I hide everything from a real god? before her conscious mind remembered she no longer had to.

"I'm, ah, sorry," Furina fumbled. "I'm technically a regular citizen of Fontaine now, and as far as I know there's an open border between our countries, so I didn't know, um, uh..."

She trailed off as the god's patient, placid expression gave her absolutely nothing to work with.

"I see we've gotten off on the wrong foot. I'm sorry about him," Buer said sincerely. "I hope you like sweet things, because I've prepared some candied ajilenakh nuts for us. Won't you have a chat with me?"

*

One hour later and she was sobbing into the tiny archon's shoulder. It only took a few sweet smiles and gently prodding words from the Dendro Archon before Furina was spilling her entire life story. Nahida- she's been given the privilege of calling her Nahida- pats her on the back and coos soothingly into her ear. Hat Guy/Wanderer - who is also there for some reason - stands in the corner with his hat tilted down to hide his expression.

"Grown quite fond of picking up strays, haven't you, Buer," he says, but his tone lacks the sneer that the mean-spiritedness of the words would seem to suggest.

"Oh, hush, you know you'll always be my favorite," Nahida says, which is quite bold for someone who still has Furina's tears soaking into her dress.

"You-!" Wanderer snaps, reddening.

"You're my- what is it the children are saying these days- my special little pogchamp," says Nahida seriously.

"NO," the Wanderer shrieks.

Somehow the patent absurdity of the situation gets to Furina, and she burbles out a little laugh, surprising not just her company but herself: it's the first one she's had since her nation flooded-but-failed-to-flood.

*

So Furina has been taken entirely under the Dendro Archon's wing, and is at least tolerated by her- shadow? ward? bodyguard?- her Wanderer. She finds they have a lot to talk about, for all three of them have recently started over at the ripe old age of five hundred years old, although she knows little about the Wanderer's circumstances in particular. Nahida has been taking her on tours around the city, seeming to enjoy playing host.

All of this brings her to her current dilemma: they have passed by the Bimarstan and Furina is trying not to get caught staring at what appears to be a woman with a grotesquely bloated stomach. Neither the woman nor the doctor attending her appears the slightest bit distressed, even though it simply must be a fatal condition; in fact the woman looks content, even happy, as the doctor examines her belly. Furina would expect rather more horror from all involved.

Finally she decides to ask about it, as Nahida has been exceedingly indulgent of her curiosity so far. Furina has never had the luxury of freely asking questions- she always had to appear on top of everything, beyond the need for help- and it still makes her anxious but she is slowly starting to enjoy being able to do so. Like a baby chick testing its wings, Nahida called her, and the Wanderer rolled his eyes and assured Furina that the metaphor would feel less insulting after the sixth or seventh time she heard it. She stoops down to tug on the archon's sleeve like a child, which looks quite silly given their respective heights but still feels like the most appropriate way to get her attention.

"Nahida," she stage-whispers, "What's wrong with that person?"

Nahida blinks. "You mean the pregnant woman?"

Furina's mind goes blank. "What," she says. "Pregnant? Like an animal?"

Many Fontainians keep pet dogs and cats, who of course reproduce through pregnancy; Furina is aware of the concept in general. But to suggest it could be applied to a human is simply absurd.

Nahida holds a fingertip to her chin, spinning out into thought. "Well a human is a type of animal, from a certain point of view-"

"No no no," Furina interrupts, with a faintly rising hysteria. "I mean- that's not how it works for humans. There's no- there's no such thing as a pregnant human!"

The Wanderer breaks into loud, raucous laughter, startling her badly as he has been skulking behind them so quietly that she almost forgot he was there. "What are you talking about," he gasps, bent nearly double from laughter, "I was a stupid kid but even I knew how reproduction worked by the time I was a few decades old!"

He is starting to draw attention. Furina feels torn between impulses: she doesn't know whether to quail from the judgmental eyes or puff herself up and become indignant. "That's not- no," she stammers, flustered. "They don't- couples go to the fountain to pray!"

Nahida looks up at her, pity shining in those big green eyes. "Is it possible you didn't get out much?" she asks gently and Furina-

"I'm not lying!" she screams, and then bursts into tears, because she's a liar, that's all she is, and everyone knows now, and no one will believe her, and then her people will be doomed and everyone in Fontaine will be dissolved in the flood-

By the time she has calmed down, with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and a slice of cake put in her hands, one thought is nagging at her mind. The Fontainians would have dissolved, she repeats to herself, and no, not just because of her unresolved trauma. Because she knows there is something obvious she is missing.

They would have dissolved, but they didn't, because Neuvillette pardoned their sins. What was their sin? Existing as humans. Why? Because Egeria made them from the oceanids. From the oceanids. From-

"They were oceanids!" Furina shouts, leaping to her feet.

"What are you on about now?" Wanderer asks, annoyed. The three of them are jammed in the corner of a hole-in-the-wall cafe while Furina recovered from her breakdown. Nahida has been nibbling a pastry while the Wanderer sips black coffee.

Furina reddens and sits back down. "They were oceanids," she stresses. She knows she went over this part of the story with them once, though not in great detail. "They didn't- really, they didn't get pregnant. If a couple wanted to be parents, they would pray at the Fountain of Lucine, and eventually another oceanid would descend in the form of their child."

They are both staring at her again though not, thankfully, with the looks of disbelief they had given her previously.

"Wait," says the Wanderer. "You mean to tell me that no one in Fontaine has ever gotten pregnant?"

"Why did they never realize they differed from other humans physiologically if there was such an obvious difference?" Nahida asks.

"No, they haven't, and I don't know," says Furina. "I mean, if they ever heard about human pregnancy from anyone they probably just assumed the foreigners were pulling their leg. That's what I thought for a second, when you told me."

"But Fontainians go abroad too," Nahida insists. "Surely they must have seen pregnant humans while traveling to other nations?"

"Well it's not usually considered polite to comment on a stranger's deformity," Furina says helplessly. "Listen, I'm not saying it's not weird, but up until last month-"

"Wait," says the Wanderer slowly, a funny look on his face. "Do Fontainians know they can get pregnant now?"

Furina and Nahida exchange dawning expressions of horror.

*

"I must return to my nation," says Furina, frantically packing her things back at her accommodations in the Akademiya.

"You could just send a letter," says the Wanderer, unimpressed.

"I must warn my people of this grave danger!" Furina declares, slipping a bit into her old persona simply from the stress of the moment.

"Even if no one knows yet, anyone who's fallen pregnant will only be a few weeks along," Nahida reasons with her from where she's sitting on the bed.

"Yes, and they'll all start having miscarriages because they don't know they're not allowed to drink," the Wanderer drawls, completely contradicting his stated lack of urgency.

Nahida glares at him. "That is not helpful!"

The Wanderer shrugs. "Maybe they already know about pregnancy," he says as if to walk back his statement. "Maybe it's common Fontainian knowledge that reproduction works differently for the rest of Teyvat and Furina is just out of touch. Wouldn't be the first god to be," he adds in a mutter.

Furina's shoulders go up to her ears. "Was never a god!" she remarks shrilly.

Nahida reaches over and pats her on the hand. "It's okay, Furina," she says. "We'll go with you to make sure it all goes smoothly."

Wanderer eyes her. "We will?"

"Of course," says Nahida, swinging her legs happily. "I've been looking for an excuse to travel outside of Sumeru anyway!"

Chapter Text

The boat is halfway across the harbor to Fontaine before Furina realizes that this means she is going to have to talk to Neuvillette. She hasn't spoken to him since that stiff, awkward conversation about the Opera Epiclese. She misses his steady presence like a wound. (She can't stop seeing the way he turned his back on her in the trial, when she tries to fall asleep at night.)

Nahida has been distracting, at least. She keeps piping up with "fun facts" about pregnancy, each more horrifying than the last. Furina can't tell whether she's picking the disturbing ones to get a reaction out of her on purpose or not. Either way, she's starting to worry about what will happen to Fontaine's national birthrate when they learn about all of this.

"The mother can feel the baby kicking from inside the womb!"

"Did you know, many of the internal organs are temporarily moved out of place to accommodate the baby's growing size! This makes the mother have to go potty more often!"

"Early side effects include nausea and strange cravings."

Everything she learns makes it sound like some horrific parasite!! Furina's the one who'll be nauseous at this rate!

Trying to learn something actually useful, Furina stalls the next bout of trivia by asking, "How long does a human pregnancy last?"

"Nine months!" answers Nahida, chipper as ever.

"Urgh," says Furina. Fontainians are an impatient bunch, she knows this. She's had centuries of experience to master the art of captivating their limited attention. They are not going to be happy to learn how inconvenient this is going to be.

She wonders if she can spin this so that she'll take the blame for this whole thing, rather than Neuvillette. Her reputation is already bad enough that trashing it further won't matter much. Neuvillette, on the other hand, is new to leading the capricious populace and doesn't need them turning on him on top of everything else.

"You at least know what causes a pregnancy, don't you?" the Wanderer asks her, smirking.

Furina makes a face. Yes, she knows that much. Every Fontainian is familiar with the concept of pregnancy in the abstract - many people keep dogs and cats as pets, after all. They just do not apply the idea of it to themselves.

Unfortunately, Nahida seems to take her silence as confusion. "It's caused by sex," she chirps. Furina and the Wanderer swivel to face her in horror. "Otherwise known as coitus, or copulation. Specifically betw-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH," the Wanderer says, breaking out of his trance to launch himself across the deck and slap a hand over her mouth. "You're not supposed to know about these things yet you radish!"

Nahida pries his hand from her face, frowning. "I may be small, but I'm the God of Wisdom. You know I'm hundreds of years old, Wanderer. I'm certainly old enough to know how human sex works!"

"NO YOU ARE NOT," he insists, red in the face.

"Fine," Nahida says peevishly. "If you feel so strongly about it, why don't you try erasing that from Irminsul too?"

His hand falls limply back to his side. He gapes at her. Furina gets the sense some major faux pas has been made, one which she isn't privy to the details of. Sure enough, Nahida's little scowl falls off her face, replaced by shock at her own daring. Frantically, she waves her hands in front of her face. "Oh no. Oh no, I'm so sorry. Wanderer, I didn't mean to make light of-"

The Wanderer, whose expression is hidden by his ginormous hat, suddenly throws his head back in an explosive gale of laughter. "You know I like you better when you let yourself get a little mean," he tells her.

Nahida looks distressed. "But I don't want to be mean!" She wrings her hands unhappily. "It's just- and I don't mean you did it on purpose- it's just, when I feel like someone is condescending to me, I just- it feels-"

The Wanderer's expression suddenly becomes deadly serious. "I get it," he says quietly. "I know, Nahida."

The air on the boat is thick and awkward. It's terribly solemn. Furina cannot stand it for one more minute. What's more, they seem to have forgotten she's even there. Furina is used to being larger than life- keeping everyone's eyes on her. She grew to despise the limelight, but grabbing for it is almost muscle memory by now. So, she breaks the awkward silence by blurting-

"Did you know the Knave tried to rip out my heart once?"

...What the hell, Furina. Was that really the best thing she could think of? Yes, okay, distracting them by making it about her was what she was aiming for, but! As if she wanted more people to know of her humiliation!

Nahida's dainty features quickly rearrange themselves into a moue of concern. The Wanderer mutters under his breath, "Oh yeah, she'll do that."

Furina stares at him. "What?"

He looks back at her, outwardly unruffled. "What," he repeats.

Furina flings a finger out at him in accusation. "You said-"

"No I didn't-"

"Do you know her?"

There is a flash of panic on the Wanderer's face and the next thing Furina knows a blast of wind has flung her off the side of the boat. She tumbles through the air and hits the sea with a slap. Water goes up her nose. Indignant, she swims to the surface, head breaking the waves with a gasp. "How dare you-" treat a god in such a manner, was going to be the rest of that scream.

The boat moves placidly away from her. She bobs, treading water, and she can hear the Wanderer arguing with Nahida from here: "-she's FINE, she can walk on water, I've seen her do it before!"

Oh that's right! She has a Vision now. She summons her Salon Solitaire, and they buoy her up, helping get her feet under her so she can stand on the surface of the water. By the time Nahida and the Wanderer appear at the rail to anxiously scan the sea, Furina is standing there and waving cheerfully, though the effect is somewhat ruined by her soaked hair, plastered to the back of her neck and dripping into her clothes. The Wanderer sighs and vaults over the railing, using his Vision to glide through the air and extend a hand for her to take.

"Why thank you, Monsieur!" she says, only a bit sarcastic.

"Tch," he says, and doesn't look her in the face again until they're all bundled in the hold in dry clothes with warm hot chocolate in their hands.

"Wanderer," Nahida starts sweetly. "Is there something you want to say to Furina?"

"No," he says, glaring at his hot chocolate.

"Wanderer," Nahida says. "Do you want to try that again?"

He transfers his glare to her, although it softens to the point it looks mopey. "You know I hate sweets."

"Yours is 70% cacao," she informs him.

Furina is horrified. "Then what is even the point?"

The Wanderer shoots her a dirty look. Finally, haltingly, he says, "I'm ex-Fatui. I knew the Harbingers. I'm not with them anymore, though, and none of them would recognize me now either."

"Oh," says Furina. She truly didn't expect any kind of an explanation out of him.

"That's not what I was trying to get you to say," Nahida sighs.

He spreads his hands, exasperated. "Then what? Do you want me to explain Irminsul, too? Yes, I tried to delete myself from the World Tree, and now no one remembers I ever existed at all. There, are you happy?"

Nahida stares in shock.

"Oh," Furina says again, and then, before she can think better of it, "That sounds nice."

They're both staring at her now.

The Wanderer laughs, harsh and bitter. "It wasn't supposed to be temporary," he says. "I wasn't supposed to come back."

Furina is starting to get a bit frustrated. She may not be getting in a huff about it, but she didn't particularly enjoy being tossed off the boat, and what, now he has the audacity to act like he's the only one who's ever fantasized of non-existence? Please! She was daydreaming about it by the end of her first century! Probably long before he got it in his head. So she just looks back at him, unblinking, and goes "I said what I said."

"Celestia above," Nahida mutters, and lets her head drop into her tiny hands.

"Don't swear on them," Furina murmurs, petulant. She crosses her arms and looks away from the two of them, self-conscious. "They're assholes."

Focalors may have arranged her half-millennia of suffering, but Furina has never resented her. It was Celestia that forced the goddess's hand. In fact, if it weren't for Celestia's assholery, she wouldn't be stuck in a boat on her way to break the bad news of pregnancy to everyone in the first place. The Fontainians would still all be incarnated Oceanids if only Celestia hadn't taken issue with it.

"You know, I think I like her," the Wanderer says with a constipated look on his face. It would be nicer if he didn't sound so bewildered about it. And also, if he weren't talking like she wasn't in the room.

"Oh, shut up, Mr. Harbinger," she snipes.

He reels back. "I never said-"

"I'm right, aren't I?" she crows, with the sudden thrill of presenting a damning piece of evidence at a trial. "That's why the sixth seat has been empty all these years!"

Wanderer sputters. "How the hell are you the first one who's figured that out?"

"I'm not as stupid as I look," she says, smugly. It really isn't a difficult leap of logic. He's too powerful to have been merely a rank-and-file soldier, and since he seems personally familiar with the Harbingers, it's an easy conjecture to make.

"She's not the first," Nahida chimes in. "Alhaitham figured it out, too. He merely doesn't see why he should talk about it."

Wanderer scowls, but pushes it down to fix her with an intense stare. "And you're really okay with that," he checks. "Me being an ex-Harbinger."

Furina shrugs. "Why shouldn't I be? The Knave attacked me, yes, but she helped the residents of Poisson more than I could in the end." Some bitterness has snuck into her voice, and she tries to iron it out. "And that other one- Tartaglia? He stalled the All-Devouring Narwhal for weeks. He may as well have saved Fontaine, even after we wrongfully convicted him! Although honestly I think that was unintentional on his part," she adds with a frown.

The Wanderer groans. "Yeah," he says. "That sounds like the ginger idiot." Then he eyes her, like he's trying his best not to project any nervousness. "Are there any Harbingers in the country now?"

"I think they've all gone back. But you'd have to ask Neuvi, really," she answers primly.

...And there it is again. Anxiety settles over her again and she takes a long drag of her hot chocolate.

She hopes Neuvillette isn't too unhappy, to see her again so soon.

Chapter Text

Furina's anxiety swells as they land in Romaritime Harbor. She isn't wearing her usual ostentatious clothing - rather, she is dressed in simple blue Sumerian street garb that Nahida helped her pick out, with a wide-brimmed hat that helps hide her teardrop-shaped pupils, causing a funny visual similarity to the Wanderer. They look like two tall mushrooms to Nahida's sprig of grass. She is hoping she'll evade being recognized, but at the aquabus station they are greeted by a melusine, who of course recognizes Furina instantly.

"Oh! Lady Furina! It’s me, Everallin!" exclaims the melusine. Furina doesn’t know her well personally, but the name sounds familiar. Furina took care to memorize as many melusine’s names as possible after the look of grave disappointment Neuvillette once gave her for failing to recognize one. “We weren't expecting you back so soon,” Everallin continues. “Allow me to accompany you to the Palais."

At this Furina squeaks and ducks behind the Wanderer, who crosses his arms and looks down his nose at the melusine. "We're not here for small talk. Prepare us an aquabus, creature," he says.

Furina winces. Sure, she is the one who implicitly asked him to shield her, but that was a bit harsh. "Wanderer, be nice to her," she says, hushed. "The melusines are beloved of all Fontaine, and they are protected by law here, you know!"

"It's okay, Lady Furina," Everallin speaks up. "I suppose I am a sort of creature." She tilts her head to the side, examining the Wanderer. "But then, what are you? You're covered in purple strings, but they don't seem to lead anywhere..."

The Wanderer reels back, the motion so violent Furina actually has to duck to the side to avoid catching an elbow in the ribs. "I am not going anywhere with that thing," he hisses.

Everallin looks alarmed. "I meant no offense by it!" she protests, waving her paws in front of her face. "We melusines see things quite differently from most other people…"

Nahida has been watching all of this quietly, but now she steps forward with her hands clasped and eyes sparkling. "How fascinating!" she exclaims. "Everallin, what do you see when you look at me?"

"Hmm..." Everallin hesitates. "Your presence is almost as big as Monsieur Neuvillette's, but you feel warm and friendly! Though I can't help but feel your shadow is incomplete..."

Nahida looks a little befuddled, but smiles brightly all the same. "Thank you! I was looking forward to meeting the melusines of Fontaine. You remind me a bit of the Aranara!"

"Oh? Most visitors say they've never encountered anything like us. What's an Aranara?"

Quickly, the two are drawn into conversation. Everallin and Nahida move into an aquabus, and Furina follows with a concerned glance back at the Wanderer. He grits his teeth, but finally folds himself into a corner of the vehicle, glaring sulkily out the window.

"What is it like being a nonhuman citizern of Fontaine?" Nahida asks the melusine.

"Oh, I love living and working among the humans," Everallin says. "The only frustrating thing is some of them have the tendency to treat me like a little girl, just because I'm the same size as one. Well, and because melusines tend to have personalities that humans see as 'carefree'. It's very silly, since most of us help solve crimes for a living!"

Nahida actually reaches out and grasps Everallin's paws. "I know just what that's like," she says with great feeling.

From the corner, the Wanderer makes a tch sound. "I said I was sorry," he mutters.

Nahida straightens up. "Actually, you didn't before now!" she says, "But I wasn't even thinking of that anymore. I trust you, Wanderer."

That makes him jerk his hat down over his face with a sputter. Furina is rather amused, and in other circumstances would be thrilled that Nahida is hitting it off so well with the melusines. But her stomach keeps trying to tie itself in knots, so she barely pays attention to her companions' antics for the majority of the aquabus ride.

Finally, they reach the end of the line in the city. The three of them bid Everallin farewell and take the elevator up to the Palais Mermonia. They start to walk across the bridge-

-and there stands Neuvillette in front of the Palais steps, already waiting for them. Both hands rest on his cane, and his face is grave. In fact, the temperature is visibly chillier, the day less bright, than when they started their aquabus ride. Furina experiences a moment of pure panic - oh no he really DOES hate me - before she remembers exactly who her companions are.

Nahida is not just Nahida, she is also Buer - the Dendro Archon, one of the Seven, Neuvillette's ancestral enemies. One of the archons showing up in his territory unannounced, so soon after his ascenscion, could easily be taken as an act of aggression.

Without thinking about it, Furina throws herself out in front of the two of them, waving her hands frantically in the air. "Neuvi! They're with me!" His draconian eyes sharpen, focusing on her with a startling intensity, and she suddenly remembers that she has no right to talk to him so casually anymore. "Ahem- I mean, Monsieur Neuvillette, dear Iudex, we mean no harm! I have returned early because there is a matter of- of great importance I must bring to your attention!"

For a long moment Neuvillette looks between the three of them. Nahida offers him her most disarming smile along with a cheerful little wave. The Wanderer hovers by her side, glowering warningly and in general making no attempt to present himself as unthreatening. Neuvillette's gaze returns to Furina, and is she imagining it, or does his expression soften a little?

"Furina," he says, stately and austere. The sound of his voice, like a gently tolling bell, almost makes her relax all by itself. "Very well. What news do you bring?"

"Um - ah." Apparently she has not defused the situation enough to get them invited inside for tea, and she flounders, not knowing how to broach the topic in public.

"Pregnancy," the Wanderer says flatly.

Neuvillette slowly turns to stare at him, expression growing thunderous. Or that might just be the literal roll of thunder that has started from overhead. Furina has no idea why this should have upset him so much and therefore no idea how to fix it, and the Wanderer is just staring him down, and-

Nahida steps forward, unphased and still smiling. "Lady Furina is not pregnant," she announces.

Furina splutters. "Of course I'm not! How would I- why would you even-"

Neuvillette looks down at the little archon, the tense line of his shoulders slumping somewhat but confusion visible on his face as she prattles on.

"I am the Dendro Archon, Buer, but I hope you will call me Nahida," she says. "It's so exciting to be able to meet another of the Seven Sovereigns. Tell me, do you know Apep? I had the chance to talk to her recently-"

"Yes, when she tried to kill you and you almost turned yourself into a tree sprout, don't remind me," the Wanderer mutters bitterly.

"A tree sprout?" Furina breaks in, unable to help herself.

"Oh yes," the Wanderer goes on in only the most acerbic of tones, making it clear he hasn’t fully forgiven her for the scare yet: "She would have sacrificed all her power to save Apep and therefore Sumeru, reverting herself to a lower form of life."

Forgetting the tension of the situation completely, Furina rounds on Nahida with another sputter. "You!" she exclaims. "How can you go criticizing us for wanting to delete ourselves when you-"

"Criticism is different from worry!" Nahida retorts, pink-cheeked with embarrassment.

"Excuse me," Neuvillette cuts in, tone steely, "delete yourselves?"

Furina flounders. Another crash of thunder goes off, this time directly overhead. That's when Gardemeks come streaming into the courtyard and, to be blunt, it all goes to shit.

*

Furina is separated from her companions and herded into a pristine side room. She has to dodge mental health assessments from no less than three concerned melusines, all while listening to the rain pound on the roof, before she manages to give them the slip in the familiar halls of the Palais.

As she approaches Neuvillette's office doors, she hesitates. But she can't keep running away from him, and anyway, she has to keep her friends from accidentally starting a world war or something.

She knocks. She waits. There is no reply. It is very unlike Neuvillette, who is always proper and polite.

She knocks again, raising her voice. “Monsieur Neuvillette-“

The door is thrown open so quickly Furina almost falls through it. Neuvillette stands there with his brows furrowed grimly in thought. “Lady Furina,” he says. “I thought you were with the melusines.”

Furina does not really want to discuss how she escaped the melusines, which mostly involved distracting them with her Salon Solitaire and hiding behind conveniently oversized vases in the hallways, so she deflects with a nervous titter and says, “You don’t have to call me Lady anymore.”

“And you do not have to call me Monsieur,” Neuvillette returns, then stands aside and gestures her into his office.

“Don’t be silly, of course I do,” she says. She enters and perches delicately on the chair he offers with tension in every line of her body. “I have no position in this court!”

He looks at her like she has kicked him, which is funny because if anyone in this room has the right to be making soggy wet kitten eyes, she feels it ought to be her. “Or did you not pronounce me guilty?” she asks, and it just pops out, and oh no she didn’t mean to confront him, she doesn’t hold it against him, really, he was just doing his job and it all worked out fine in the end so it shouldn’t matter that she still has nightmares of that moment, and she told herself that she was going to be professional and keep it together for the sake of Fontaine during this trip, but haha, ditzy Furina has ruined it all again-

Neuvillette’s eyes have slipped closed. There is a pained expression on his face. Furina has never seen pain on his face before, yet still she can read it. “Focalors was not the one who ruled Fontaine for five hundred years,” he says in a soft voice. “I had hoped you would realize you were still entitled to call me however you like.”

She wants to stammer and say I’m sorry Monsieur, I didn’t mean it, let’s move on to the important things! But she pretended to be okay for five hundred years straight and now that she’s stopped she seems to have lost the knack of it completely. Because what comes out of her mouth is, “But that’s exactly the problem! That is what you convicted me of, is it not?!”

Neuvillette’s eyes slit open and then in one smooth motion he is kneeling on the ground. “I am sorry,” he says, voice heavy. “Focalors’ plan was cruel. It was the only way forward, but I have wished every day since that Fontaine could have been saved some other way.”

And Furina must be a silly girl indeed. She realizes that this was precisely what she wanted - for someone, anyone from her old life (but perhaps especially Neuvillette) to recognize their role in her suffering and apologize sincerely, despite how necessary it may have been. And in the same instant, she realizes that she cannot bear this for one more second. She springs to her feet, patting at his shoulders frantically. “Oh Neuvi, Neuvi, please get up,” she protests, “I know you did your best, I know it had to be done.”

He does not budge. “It was true, but it was not just,” he says firmly, and rain beats harder at the window, and Furina remembers the old child’s tale, Hydro dragon, hydro dragon, don’t cry.

“Oh you silly old dragon,” she says helplessly, “I thought you would be glad to be rid of me,” and the look he gives her is so shocked and heartbroken that she knows instantly she has made a misstep. Panicking, and perhaps remembering her own breakdown in an archon’s office not so long before, she does something very unlikely and throws her arms around him in a hug.

He goes so entirely stiff and still that if she didn’t know better, she would think he has never been hugged before. Wait. Has he ever been hugged before? Who other than she would have ever dared to hug the Iudex? Oh no. Furina suddenly feels woefully inadequate for this situation. Fortunately, that emotion is so familiar it somehow wraps back around to comforting her.

Finally, he sighs and lets his pointy chin dip down. “I never intended to make you feel you had no place here,” he says quietly. “I thought by supporting your exodus, I would leave you free to seek happiness.”

“And I have been!” she assures him. “Sure, maybe I was also too ashamed to show my face in Fontaine after hundreds saw me publicly humiliated -” she laughs nervously, again - “but I’ve enjoyed myself, out there! They’ve been treating me very well in Sumeru. I just also… really, really missed you.” Suddenly, she’s blinking too-bright eyes.

“And I you,” Neuvillette says, with an exhale so deep it sounds dredged all the way from the ocean floors.

“Wait, really?” Furina squeaks. What is there to miss about her? She’s been nothing but an inconvenience to him, hasn’t she?

But she knows there is not an insincere bone in the Iudex’s body, despite how awkward he can be with human emotions. To the point many are not sure he has them! It must have cost him a lot to express himself so directly, Furina thinks, which must really mean… he means it?

She is still in awe of this when, gingerly, his arms lift up to encircle her in return. And, finally, the frantic beat of the rain on the window starts to lessen.

It’s a moment of perfect tranquility.

…And then, naturally, the sounds of a distant commotion filter through to their ears. Crashing and clanking and hollering, which has an eerily familiar timbre. The speaker is clearly arguing with the young, piping voice that follows it. Soon, they’re close enough for Furina to make out the words.

“ - need to find out where they’re holding her!”

“-and I’m telling you, it truly would have been better if we’d waited-“

“And trust the Fontainian court system?” A scoff, which Furina really feels she should be offended by, but-

“Oh! Through there-“

Neuvillette and Furina are both staring at the double oak doors by the time the Wanderer kicks them violently open, sailing into the room. Nahida is riding piggy-back, bare feet dangling and little arms clinging on for dear life. Clearly, the Wanderer broke them out from wherever they were detained, ignoring Nahida’s objections. They’ve left a trail of destruction behind them, trashed Gardemeks littering the halls as far as the eye can see.

The Wanderer, already gathering another anemo projectile, stops short with a dumbfounded expression when he takes in the sight of them - both sitting on the floor, Furina now clinging to Neuvillette in startled alarm more than hugging him.

Nahida’s head pops over his shoulder. “See?” she says, grinning cheekily. “I told you she’d be fine.”

Chapter Text

One week later, Furina stands in the Opera Epiclese with Neuvillette, Nahida, and the Wanderer. The curtains have yet to lift, and already she is sweating. She pulls at the collar of her suit and asks, "Is it a little hot in here, or is it just me?"

Nahida puts a hand on her wrist and looks up at her with a kind but solemn smile. "You know, you don't have to do this if you're not ready," she says.

"Whaaaat?" Furina laughs nervously. "Why wouldn't I want to?"

The Wanderer shoots her a look. Neuvillette says, "Lady Furina. I am perfectly capable of handling this myself, if-"

Her stomach lurches. "No, no, Neuvi, let me do this with you!" she insists. "I can't let you just-"

She is unable to find a way to complete her thought before the curtains go up. Instantly, she yanks her arm away from Nahida; her back goes ramrod-straight, posture constricting, a false looseness to her shoulders as she stretches a meaningless smile onto her face.

There are so, so many -

eyes -

people in the crowd.

"People of Fontaine!" Furina belts out, throwing an arm out theatrically before anyone else can say anything.

Already murmurs rising like a wave. Lady Furina? - Furina? - the old Archon? - the fake? -

"I have returned to-" grace you with my presence, no, dial it back- "warn you all of a-" grave danger, no, Nahida said not to present it so negatively- "Change that will be affecting the populace in the near future!" Pause. "In fact, some of you may be affected by it already!"

The murmurs get louder.

When they planned this, Furina insisted upon being the speaker as much as possible. Neuvillette would lend legitimacy and authority, and Nahida would handle the more technical parts of the presentation, while the Wanderer was there simply because where Nahida went, so did he.

But already -

Your line. Say your line. Say your line!

The pause is too long. Her companions' gazes burn. But it doesn't matter that she can feel her throat close up at the mere idea of bringing up the prophecy, because Furina has a role to play-

"Remember all that wretched business with the prophecy?" she wrings out, high-pitched, too nervous, then hurries to deflect like a pebble rolling downhill, "Neuvillette resolved that so handily, didn't he? Let's all give him a round of applause!"

The crowd hesitates for a moment that feels like an eternity, no longer used to taking her cues, but the applause starts in a scattered burst and then a wave, sincere if not enthusiastic. It was a little soon to build momentum for that- she knows this, she's been managing crowds literally since she learned how to walk- but it's fine, it's fine.

Neuvillette frowns lightly at her. It's fine.

"As you might recall," she says, "the Primordial Waters are a danger to us all no longer. But what you may not know, is that the changes to the people of Fontaine are more than skin deep!"

The murmurs change tone - confusion and worry. No true upset, not yet.

"Buer, the God of Wisdom, Archon of the nation of Sumeru, has graciously agreed to accompany me here to help educate you on the issue," Furina declares, sweeping an arm out to gesture at the small archon. Nahida stands up on her tiptoes and waves at the crowd, waggling dainty fingers with an adorable smile.

The anticipation rises.

"And that issue is- is-" Furina takes a deep breath and forces herself to announce it:

"Humans can get pregnant!"

Silence. Then uproar.

Furina forces herself to bear it as the crowd launches into a frenzy, although her smile turns plastic and her chest feels tight. A contingent of reporters shove their way to the fore. Kamera flashes go off as one of them hollers, "Iudex Neuvillette, is this true?!"

Bam.

Neuvillette's cane thumps down harshly as a gavel, cowing the crowd into silence. "I have no reason to doubt the word of Lady Furina," he says, calm yet stern. "Nor that of Buer, who has aided our Lady in her time abroad. To my knowledge, all information to be presented here is scientifically sound. You would do well to show them respect."

Nahida steps forward, hands clasped in front of her. "Do not worry," she says sincerely, "Pregnancy is not as scary as it sounds! We will tell you all about the basics. We even brought visual aids!"

With that verbal cue, the Wanderer activates his Anemo vision and leaps into the air, grabbing the drawstring to unfurl a massive banner from the ceiling. There is a click as an assistant starts up the projector, throwing up an image for the audience to see.

The first slide reads, PREGNANCY AND YOU: The Beginner's Guide to the Gravid Condition, by Lesser Lord Kusanali and Furina de Fontaine.

"Who is that?!" one of the braver reporters cries out, pointing at the Wanderer - temporarily distracted from the grave subject matter by the startling show of power.

"He is my retainer," Nahida says sunnily, expression changing not a bit.

The reporters stare at her expectantly, then wilt in confusion when no further information is forthcoming.

"I'm no one important," the Wanderer sneers, looking down his nose at them as he floats softly back to the ground. His haughty expression and tone contrast severely with his actual spoken words.

"Well," Nahida says, clapping, "Let's begin!"

*

It's kind of a disaster.

About the time Nahida starts pulling up diagrams is when the first people start fainting in horror. It's a whole production, and forces them to briefly pause the presentation. Nahida's perplexed, slightly worried green eyes meet Furina's, and Furina in turn looks over her head to Neuvillette, who is as calm and steady as ever, a slight line of tension in his features that says, It can't be helped. He inclines his head minutely to her - your choice, my Lady - and her smile grows tighter.

"Smelling salts will be provided free of cost," she trills. "Next slide, please!" After all, the show must go on.

Nahida presents most of the actual information. The absurdity of the pint-sized foreign Archon educating them in frank terms about human reproduction with an inappropriate amount of pep in her voice is enough to defuse a lot of the tension.

Yet, the tension keeps building as they cover the shocking and grotesque physical aspects of pregnancy; the basics of what can and can't be done to carry a pregnancy safely; and the actual process of labor, at which point one audience member noisily loses their lunch.

Furina feels wound tight as a spring by the time the presentation reaches its end. Nahida claps and turns to the audience, smiling brightly. "Alright," the tiny Archon asks, "Any questions?"

And like the floodgates have been unleashed, the protests of the audience rise into a cacophony. The complaints come in a volley one after another.

"This is outrageous!"

"Preposterous!"

"It's sexist is what it is! Misogynistic!" a woman shouts from the crowd. "Why should women have to take all the responsibility for making children?!"

"Yeah!" a young man agrees, shaking his fist in the air. "What if I don't want to watch my wife go through all that? What if I would rather do it for her?!"

"The population of Fontaine is gonna collapse!"

"We'll die out!"

"This is homophobic!" someone bellows, standing on top of their seat to be better seen. "What happened to equality?! Celestia is homophobic! Monsieur Neuvillette, can't you change us back?"

"I'm afraid," Neuvillette begins, "that's outside my capability-"

"Why is the Dendro archon the one telling us this? Shouldn't you have realized sooner?!"

"What if I never get laid again!"

"Forget homophobic, we're all gonna turn gay after this!"

"What was the point of preventing the prophecy if Fontaine was gonna end like this!" someone hysterically screams- one of the same people who had to be revived with smelling salts earlier, flinging an arm out in accusation, and Furina-

snaps.

The angry ringing voices, echoing in a familiar way off the vaulted ceiling. The hundreds and thousands of eyes on her, disappointed, furious, beseeching, and she- she-

Give the people what they want give the people what they want-

She can't she was never going to be able to at the end and any moment the water will wash them all away-

Furina collapses to the floor unbreathing like a puppet with its strings cut.

The uproar, somehow, gets worse.

A pair of hands grabs her and drags her away. The overwhelming floodlights vanish. The din fades, the eyes and voices are gone and oh god, have they dissolved already, is it already over, why can't she dissolve away too-

Hands slap at her shoulders. "Furina! Furina. Breathe."

She heaves in a massive, whistling breath. It chokes in her lungs.

There's a frustrated noise. "I know you know how to breathe!"

Yes, she does. She gasps and sputters. Tears cascade down her face. There's at least one other person still alive, and that means she can say, "I tried," and it comes out in an undignified wheeze. "I tried, I tried, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, it's all my fault-"

"What are you talking about!" the person demands. And then they grab her by the shoulders and shake her.

This is a highly questionable action to take with a panicking person. Or really with any person in general. But somehow, it works. Furina is so shocked by it, she's knocked right back into her surroundings. She can count the number of times she's been manhandled on one hand- not even at that horrible sham trial would anyone have taken such liberties!

She blinks, and blinks, and takes a few more heaving breaths, and looks around herself.

She is propped up against a wall in a dim hallway backstage. The person who is gripping her lapels and looking into her face with a strange mixture of anger and worry is the Wanderer.

"Oh," she says.

She realizes she is crying.

"Oh no."

"Back with us?" asks the Wanderer, releasing her and taking a step back.

"M-hm," says Furina miserably, an overwhelming feeling of humiliation washing over her. She scrunches her knees up to her chest, hiding her face behind them as she starts swiping at her tears.

"Quit that," the Wanderer says with what sounds like disgust.

"I'm trying."

"No. I mean-" He seems affronted watching her dig the palms of her hands into her eyes. "Quit that. You don't have to stop crying."

"I'm not crying," she says, by reflex. His eyebrows shoot up. "I'm- it's-" She hiccups. "It's a natural overflow of Hydro-"

"No the hell it is not."

No, the hell it is not.

She really, truly does want to stop lying. But it's second nature in this place.

"What is this, Furina?" he demands and oh no, she's upset him. He waves a hand in the air. "What the hell was - all of that? None of this is how you act!"

It is, in fact, how she's acted for hundreds of years. The behavior the Wanderer is used to seeing from her is what is actually out of character. Or- well, maybe it is actually more in-character, if that's how she acts under no spotlight, but she's still learning how to tell the difference, alright?! She doesn't know what to say, and she must be silent for too long because he continues,

"Watching you like that made me sick. Prancing around out there like- like-"

Furina finally takes her tear-stained face out of her hands and asks with a hollow laugh, "Like a marionette?"

The Wanderer cuts off, staring at her.

Furina shrugs, one-shouldered. She feels herself smiling, small and empty. "It comes naturally," she tells him. "It's what I was made for."

His hands curl into fists. "Useless fucking archons," he sneers to the wall somewhere above her head. "They're all the same."

"Hey!" she protests. This is all really, really mean from someone she's come to think of as a friend. "I'm trying, okay?! I-"

"I wasn't talking about you!" he snaps, eyes wild as they cut to her again, "I was talking about Focalors!"

"Sorry! Sorry!" she squeaks.

"I'm not angry at you!" he tells her, angrily.

"Okay," she says meekly. "That- I mean. F-Focalors-" She gathers herself. "Focalors sacrificed herself for everyone, she- she actually died for Fontaine. She's the one who fixed everything. If anything, I had the easy part-"

"You cannot possibly believe that." She quails under his expression of outraged disbelief. "She left you to do everything on your own," he goes on. "She gave you an impossible task. When she came back, it was just to abandon you again, and-"

"She set me free!" Furina interrupts hotly.

The Wanderer freezes - his whole body seizing, an involuntary twitch running through it. "Free," he echoes in a frighteningly empty voice. "Are you even enjoying it?"

"I am! Most of the time! Actually!"

Listen, it's - it's not as if her relationship to Focalors isn't complicated. But she believes that Focalors was making the best of a bad situation, just as Furina was. Sure, there were so many nights she was left pleading with her empty mirror to give her a sign, to show just even one scrap of guidance-

But it happened the way it had to happen.

And sure, Furina may be teetering all the time on the abyss that is her own fledgling sense of identity, and a couple dozen things may make her flinch after the experience she had at the trial which saved Fontaine, but- it'll be better eventually. She has to believe that. She does believe that, because it has started getting better already. And none of that really explains,

"Why do you hate her? I don't even hate her. Did you somehow know her too?!"

The Wanderer eyes her in a long moment of indecision. Finally, he blows out a noisy breath and pushes off the wall to sit down beside her. He mirrors her position, his knees drawn up and his chin resting atop them, not looking at her when he speaks.

"Did Focalors," he asks, gaze slanted off somewhere in the distance, "get it right the first time?"

She hesitates. "...I don't know what you-"

"When she made you," the Wanderer spits with a degree of bitterness that makes her flinch. "Did she get it right the first time?"

"...I," Furina stammers, helplessly, "I mean, I think she did? As far as I know of?"

"Because," he says, sharp as the edge of a razor blade, "Raiden Ei didn't."

It takes a minute for Furina to put it together. But, as she's said- she isn't as dumb as she looks.

"...Oh," she says. Then: "Oh."

She can see it now. The indigo hair and stormy purple eyes. The delicate, youthful features, foreign but not of Sumeru. Furina has never met the Raiden Shogun, but she's seen the paintings. If he is an archon's creation, it explains his inhumanity, and why he seems so curiously powerful. It explains...

Well, it puts him in a very unusual class of being. In fact, Furina is not sure she has ever heard of anyone so alike to her as this. Other than, she supposes, the second creation of Ei's he has alluded to.

"Oh," she says again, more softly.

"Is that all you have to say?" he snipes, gaze finally cutting back to her. The look in his eyes is brittle.

For some reason, "Inazuma is also ruled by proxy?" is the first thing she blurts out.

His eyes narrow; he's clearly irked by this direction of questioning. "Until very recently, yes," he says evenly. "I don't know much about it. Seeing as I wasn't the successful candidate."

"...I'm sorry," Furina says.

"It wasn't part of some grand plan," the Wanderer says eventually, gaze unfocusing again. "Beelzebul was just running away. She seems to think when she discarded me, she was setting me free-" His voice breaks into a snarl, then flattens again. "But my replacement didn't fare so well either. Ended up facing her in single combat last year." He sighs and rests his head sideways on his knees. His voice is faraway, and there's a wry twist to his lips. "Things like us, we just can't win, can we?"

Okay, clearly he's- he's going through something, Furina thinks. This has all brought up emotions. Desperately, she wishes that Nahida was here. "Hey, heyy, don't say that, we're not things," she tries, scooting closer to put an arm around his shoulders.

"Don't touch me," he snaps.

She scoots back. "Alright, alright, not touching!" She has to break the tension somehow. "That's- it's, well, quite the coincidence! Thank you for... telling... me?"

He's scowling, now. "How is it you're so much more awkward when you're not onstage?"

"Well excuse me for not knowing how to be a person!" she exclaims, abruptly on the verge of tears once more.

This seems to strike a chord in him. He looks away again, blowing out a breath in something not quite an apology. For some reason it's this that strikes her with the realization that... he really gets it, doesn't he? He really... gets it.

"Thank you for telling me," she says, much more sincerely.

There's never been anyone who could understand her. No matter how much some have cared for her, none could truly understand.

"Yeah well, don't go spreading it around," he grumbles. "The only people who know are Nahida and the Traveler."

"Oh, the Traveler," she says automatically. "Of course. They seem to know everything."

There are so many things she wants to ask him. But... now really isn't the time. She suddenly remembers that Nahida and Neuvillette are still out there, trying to manage the- The presentation! She squeaks and starts trying to scrub all remaining evidence of tears from her face.

The Wanderer snorts. "That 'overflow of Hydro' thing. Did that really work on people?"

She pauses, laughing. "You know, it did," she says. "Used that excuse four or five times. And it never failed. People didn't... want to break the illusion, you know? And no one expects to see an archon truly crying."

"...No, I suppose not," he says, after a complicated, stony silence.

She gets shakily to her feet. "Now. I have to get back!"

"You don't have to," he grumbles, slouching after her.

"Maybe not," she says, "But I can choose to! They need me!"

*

When they return, Nahida is rambling her way though a very tense exploration of abortion.

"...It's, considered a highly controversial action in most nations- the issue tends to be quite divisive, but-"

"How can we be held responsible! We didn't even know!"

"Couldn't we start up the Oratrice again just long enough to ask it whether it should be a crime!"

"Obviously, it shouldn't! Forcing people to give up a year of their lives to that?!"

"But, I mean- Well, when does the baby start to be alive?-"

"Order!" A resounding noise as Neuvillette's cane hits the ground. He speaks with steely authority. "A public referendum will be held to determine the legality of abortion in Fontaine."

Beside her, the Wanderer makes an odd choking sound.

"People of Fontaine! I have returned!" Furina announces, flouncing back on to the stage.

"Lady Furina!"

"What happened?"

"Are you okay?"

"I was merely- overcome with excitement from seeing you all again!" she exclaims, feeling the Wanderer's eyes bore into her back. Her voice lilts anxiously, and too late she remembers she is not an archon anymore, to ply her people with obvious falsehoods.

But no one calls her on it.

They manage to wrap up the Q&A session, curtains closing to the strident cry of reporters begging for one moment more.

*

They reconvene in Neuvillette's study, calming cups of tea pushed into their hands.

"That went well, I think," Nahida says brightly.

"It... wasn't as awful as it could have been!" Furina concedes, a tense smile still on her face. She's kind of forgotten how to take it off.

"It will take the people of Fontaine some time to adjust, but I am confident we can overcome this challenge as a nation," Neuvillette says.

"Is no one going to mention Furina's panic attack?" the Wanderer cuts in.

"Hey! Mean!" Furina protests.

"No, no, I was going to ask," Nahida adds, frowning. "Are you alright?"

Neuvillette nods, looking solemn. "I considered stopping the presentation, but you previously expressed a desire that it should continue despite adversity, and the Wanderer seemed to have the situation in hand."

"I'm- I'm fine," Furina insists. "I just haven't- haven't been on stage very many times since-!" Her face turns red. "But we handled it!"

"Very well," Neuvillette concedes, still an unwanted pinch of worry in his face but it relaxes into something softer as he glances between and the Wanderer, who has his arms crossed and is glaring steadfastly at the wall. "Have you... considered what you will do next, Lady Furina?"

"I-" She frowns, arms squeezing around herself in a hug. "What do you mean?"

"Does this conclude your business in Fontaine?" he asks patiently, and she- flushes.

Eager to get rid of me, is her immediate thought, but especially after their awkward heart-to-heart last week, she knows that it's likely the opposite.

"I- I suppose it does," she says. It's not that she doesn't miss Fontaine, but she... just isn't ready. And besides, she's been tied to this land for five-hundred years. There's so much out there to see, so much that was never an option before.

She'd like to see more of Sumeru. She'd like to talk to the Wanderer about those revelations more. And after that, she thinks she'd like to travel further. "I'd like to spend more time in Sumeru before I continue my travels, if... if you'll have me," she says to her friends.

"Tch," goes the Wanderer, and Furina can't stop herself from flinching.

Nahida's hands clap together, once. "What he means is of course, you shouldn't even have to ask! We'll take good care of her, Monsieur Neuvillette."

"I'm not a child," Furina finds herself whining. The Wanderer, who a moment ago was sourly side-eyeing Nahida, is now smirking at her in commiseration.

"Of course you're not," Neuvillette says easily, "But I find myself reassured all the same that you have found yourself in the company of such capable allies. We will miss you, Furina."

"I'll miss you too. I'll visit, Neuvi. And I- I'll write! I promise."

His voice is warm and sincere when he tells her, "I'll look forward to it."

*

They're on a boat pulling out of Romaritime Harbor by the time the Wanderer remarks, "You rather neatly sidestepped any mention of transgender issues in that presentation."

Furina's brows furrow. "What issues are there?"

"No, you're right, it was a little cisnormative, but it was only a 101-level course," Nahida says.

"I don't see what difference it makes how you were born?" Furina tries again.

The Wanderer is giving her a look, one part bewildered and one part incredulous.

"We did try to default to 'human' instead of 'woman' where we could," Nahida says. Then, addressing Furina: "Because transgender women cannot get pregnant, but transgender men can?"

Furina blinks. "No? That's not how it works?"

They both turn and look at her.

"I mean," she says. "If you wish to change your sex, all you must do is go to the fountain and-"

Furina cuts off as the dawning realization obliterates her whole train of thought. Then she does something very, very unusual for her: she raises her voice and wails,

"Oh, FUCK!"