Location: Opera Epiclese, Court of Fontaine
Current Form: Human
Status: Locking the doors, preparing a tissue box
The stage was set. The audience had gathered, believing they were here for a special performance by the Furina herself.
Furina walked onto the stage, waving to the crowd, her smile plastered on like a fragile porcelain mask.
"Welcome, my adoring subjects!" Furina announced, striking a pose. "Today, we shall discuss the... wait, why is the Traveler standing in the prosecutor's box?"
She looked around. Neuvillette sat high above in the Iudex's chair, his expression grave. Raiden was leaning against the main exit doors, arms crossed, effectively blocking the only way out.
"The doors are locked," Raiden called out, his voice cutting through the murmurs. "Fire code violation? Maybe. But nobody leaves until the show is over."
Furina's smile faltered. "Iudex? What is the meaning of this?"
"Lady Furina," Neuvillette said, his voice heavy with reluctance. "You are not here to perform. You are here to stand trial."
"Trial?" Furina laughed nervously. "For what? Being too fabulous?"
Aether slammed his hands on the prosecutor's podium.
"For the crime of deceiving the people of Fontaine," Aether declared. "We accuse you, Furina... of not being the Hydro Archon."
The crowd erupted. "Blasphemy!" "She's our God!" "What is going on?"
The trial proceeded. It was a brutal dismantling of a 500-year-old lie.
Aether presented the evidence. The fact that she couldn't control the Oratrice. The fact that the prophecy tablets depicted the Archon weeping alone on her throne. The testimony of the Knave regarding her lack of divinity.
Furina fought back with every ounce of theatrical skill she had.
"I am a God!" Furina cried, sweating. "I have lived for centuries! I have protected you!"
"You have lived," Raiden spoke up from the back, his voice projecting effortlessly without a microphone. "But you haven't ruled. You've acted."
Raiden walked down the aisle. The crowd parted like the Red Sea.
"The Primordial Water," Raiden said, holding up a vial he had procured from Sigewinne. "Aether, show them."
Aether offered the water to Furina. "If you are the master of the Primordial Sea... this water should not harm you. Put your hand in it."
Furina stared at the vial. Her hand trembled. She knew what it would do. It would melt her. Because she was human.
"I... I refuse!" Furina shouted. "A God does not perform parlor tricks for the amusement of mortals!"
"It's not a trick, Furina," Raiden whispered, suddenly standing right behind her on stage.
Furina jumped, yelping.
Raiden leaned down. "It's okay to be scared. You've been scared for five centuries. You're tired, aren't you?"
Furina looked at him. Her mismatched eyes filled with tears. The mask cracked.
"I..." Furina whispered, so quiet only Raiden and Neuvillette could hear. "I can't... I can't say it... if I say it, everything ends..."
Raiden looked up at Neuvillette. He nodded.
"She won't touch it," Raiden announced to the court. "Because she knows she will dissolve. Because she is human."
The crowd was silenced. The belief - the Indemnitium - shifted. The people realized the truth. Their faith in Furina as a God shattered, but their pity for her as a person grew.
Neuvillette turned to the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale.
"Oratrice," Neuvillette commanded. "Deliver your verdict regarding the charges."
The massive machine hummed. The scales tipped.
A card flew out. Neuvillette caught it.
He looked at it. His eyes widened. His hand shook.
"What does it say, Monsieur Neuvillette?" Paimon asked nervously.
Neuvillette took a deep breath.
"The defendant, Furina... is guilty of deceiving the people."
The crowd murmured. Expected.
"However," Neuvillette continued, his voice straining. " The Oratrice has delivered a secondary judgment. Regarding the true Hydro Archon."
He turned the card over.
"The Hydro Archon... is sentenced to death."
Silence. Absolute, terrifying silence.
"Death?" Furina gasped, falling to her knees. "Me? But... I'm..."
"Not you," Raiden said, looking up at the machine.
He could see it now. With his [Magic Sense] fully focused on the Oratrice, he saw the soul hiding inside the core. A divine mirror of Furina, dancing with a sword under a guillotine.
Focalors.
"She's not sentencing you, Furina," Raiden said. "She's sentencing herself."
Before the shock could set in, the floor of the Opera House began to rumble.
CRACK.
"Earthquake?" Navia shouted, equipping her umbrella-gun.
"No," Raiden grinned, black scales spreading across his neck. "The guest of honor is here."
The center of the stage exploded.
Water - Primordial Water - erupted like a geyser.
From the depths of the abyss beneath the opera house, a massive, celestial beast breached. It was star-skinned, horned, and radiated an insatiable hunger.
The All-Devouring Narwhal.
It was huge. It filled the entire opera hall, smashing the balconies, sending debris flying. It opened a mouth large enough to swallow the stage whole.
"IT'S A WHALE!" Paimon screamed.
The Narwhal lunged for the audience.
"Not on my watch!"
Tartaglia (Childe) fell from the ceiling - or rather, from the dimension the whale just tore open. He was in full Foul Legacy form, riding the whale's back like a rodeo cowboy.
"I TOLD YOU I WOULDN'T LET YOU ESCAPE!" Childe roared, stabbing his spear into the whale's hide.
The Whale shook Childe off, sending the Harbinger crashing into a wall.
The monster turned its attention to the juiciest concentrations of energy in the room: Neuvillette and Raiden.
"Evacuate the civilians!" Neuvillette ordered, summoning a barrier of water to protect the audience.
"I got the big fish," Raiden stepped forward.
He cracked his knuckles.
"Hey, Moby Dick!" Raiden shouted.
The Narwhal looked at him.
Raiden expanded.
[Partial Transformation: Dragon Maw].
A spectral, black dragon head the size of the whale itself materialized around Raiden.
"I heard whale meat is high in fat."
Raiden jumped.
He didn't use magic. He used brute force. He punched the Narwhal in the jaw with an uppercut that generated a sonic boom.
BOOM.
The massive whale was lifted off the ground and slammed into the ceiling of the Opera House. The chandelier shattered.
"Get in the hole!" Raiden commanded.
He grabbed the whale by its tail and threw it back into the dimensional rift it came from.
"Traveler! Neuvillette! We're taking this outside!" Raiden shouted. "Or rather, inside the rift! Don't let Furina dissolve!"
Raiden dove into the rift after the whale.
Neuvillette looked at the chaotic scene. He looked at Furina, who was huddled on the floor, traumatized.
"Traveler," Neuvillette said. "Protect her. I must... execute the judgment."
Neuvillette flew into the rift.
Inside the rift, it was an endless ocean of purple stars.
The Narwhal recovered, shrieking with cosmic rage. It summoned knights of dark matter to attack.
Raiden floated in the void. Neuvillette appeared beside him.
"The verdict of death," Neuvillette said, his eyes glowing. "It was for the divinity within the Oratrice. Focalors intends to destroy the throne of the Hydro Archon to return my full authority."
"I know," Raiden said, kicking a dark matter knight into oblivion. "She's playing 4D chess. She kills herself, breaks the Celestia-imposed rules, gives you your dragon powers back, and you save Fontaine. Smart girl."
"It is... a heavy sacrifice," Neuvillette said.
"Then make it worth it," Raiden pointed at the Narwhal. "That thing is trying to eat the planet's amniotic fluid. Are we gonna beat it up, or can I eat it?"
"If you consume it," Neuvillette noted, "You will absorb a massive amount of Abyssal energy from beyond Teyvat."
"Don't threaten me with a good time," Raiden licked his lips.
The Execution of Focalors
While they fought the whale, in the mental realm, the execution took place.
Focalors explained everything to Neuvillette. The dance. The suffering. The plan.
The Sword of Damocles fell.
The Divine Throne shattered.
The Hydro Archon ceased to exist.
And the Hydro Dragon Sovereign was reborn.
Back in the rift, Neuvillette began to glow. His hair grew longer, luminous and flowing like water. The rain outside stopped, replaced by a gentle, cleansing purity.
Neuvillette raised his hand.
"I, Iudex Neuvillette, hereby declare..."
He looked at the Narwhal.
"...People of Fontaine, your sins are forgiven."
He turned his gaze to the Whale.
"As for you, intruder... you have no place in my sea."
Neuvillette blasted the Narwhal with a beam of pure, original Hydro authority. It separated the Primordial Water from the beast, weakening it.
"Raiden," Neuvillette commanded. "It is yours."
Raiden grinned.
"Thanks for the seasoning, Judge."
Raiden transformed fully. The Obsidian Dragon materialized in the Primordial Sea, dwarfing even the Narwhal.
The Narwhal tried to flee. It tried to warp space.
But Raiden's [Beelzebuth] locked the dimension down.
"ITADAKIMASU."
Raiden bit down.
He didn't just bite the flesh. He bit the space around the whale.
CRUNCH.
The All-Devouring Narwhal—the pet of Surtalogi, the cosmic devourer—became lunch.
Raiden swallowed.
"System Report."
"Consumed: All-Devouring Narwhal."
"Energy Density: Cosmic/Abyssal."
"Skill Acquired: [Star-Swallowing Whale]. Can summon the Narwhal as a familiar or use its mass for attacks."
"Evolution Progress: 99%."
They returned to the Opera House.
The floodwaters had receded. The people of Fontaine did not dissolve. The prophecy was fulfilled (the Archon wept alone on her throne—Furina was crying on stage), but the disaster was averted.
Neuvillette floated down. Raiden landed heavily, burping a small galaxy.
Childe fell out of the rift last, landing face-first.
"Did... did you win?" Childe groaned.
"I ate your pet," Raiden patted Childe's head. "Sorry. I'll buy you a goldfish."
Furina looked up at them. She was shivering, broken, and human.
Neuvillette walked up to her.
"Lady Furina," Neuvillette said softly. "You have performed well. The stage is yours no longer. You may rest."
Furina looked at him. She looked at the crowd.
"It's... over?" she whispered.
"It's over," Raiden said, offering her a hand. "Come on. I promised you cake. And this time, nobody is going to interrupt."