So long... so lonely... how much longer...
It's already been several hundred years, hasn't it?
Perhaps this play will have to continue for several hundred more.
I never imagined this process would be so agonizing.
Have I already reached my limit? No... I should have reached my limit a long, long time ago. Today, I didn't even notice my own tears falling.
[Neuvillette: Whenever I pass by the Fountain of Lucine, I often hear the sound of weeping. It seems Furina was the source of that sound.]
[Charlotte: These five hundred years sound so unbearably heavy.]
[Zhongli: To resist erosion with a mortal body—Furina, you have endured so much.]
[Ningguang: Any ordinary person would have gone mad here. What terrifying loneliness.]
[Keqing: Furina didn't even know the details of the plan. She was only trying to hold on to a single ray of hope.]
[Ganyu: Though she could only pray for the future, Furina's heart never wavered.]
I so desperately want to confide in someone. Even just one person... But if I do, everything will have been for nothing, won't it?
Over these centuries, I've conducted so many investigations, yet I found no hope of breaking through the prophecy.
Now, I can only believe. Continuing to play the Hydro Archon is the only way to save Fontaine. Please... please succeed, me in the mirror.
...
Act 182,376: The Opera House, Furina and Lumine.
On the screen, alongside Furina, Lumine also appeared.
Lumine: "Furina, perhaps you truly need not shoulder all of this alone."
"Though I still don't know what else you may know, your people are very willing to share the burden with you."
[Paimon: I remember this scene. Back inside the magic box, Furina seemed about to say something for a moment.]
[Venti: Yes, I remember it very clearly too. Furina looked like she was about to speak, but then quickly caught herself and stopped.]
[Keqing: The subtitles beneath the footage reveal inner thoughts. I imagine Furina's inner thoughts should appear here too.]
Lumine on the stage immediately realized—this voice... it sounded like the one from inside that giant magic box.
Wonderful. I never expected this scene to replay within Furina's heart. Now I can finally learn what Furina was thinking at that moment!
On the stage.
Furina answered coldly: "Sharing the burden... that is something simply impossible. From the very beginning, it was fated that I alone would carry this duty..."
Lumine: "Even if you don't need to share the burden, you can at least choose to confide in someone."
"I am a Witness. You can confide in me."
Furina's eyes lit up: "A Witness... I heard you came to Teyvat from beyond the sea of stars, didn't you? In other words, you have never truly belonged to this place..."
"Suppose everything in Teyvat is a drama upon a stage, then you are merely a spectator in the opera house, aren't you?"
"If it's you..."
Furina's inner world split into two little figures.
(If it's her... maybe confiding wouldn't hurt.)
(But if things don't develop as expected, then the ones bearing the risk would be all the people of Fontaine!)
...
(No, Furina. You mustn't be selfish.)
(But... what if it really is fine? Furina, you've already worked so hard for so long. Being just a little selfish should be all right, shouldn't it? You're not about to do anything terrible. You just want to confide your troubles and pain to someone. That should be okay, right? If you miss this chance, you might never find another one, you know?)
[Zhongli: This wavering is a manifestation of Furina's humanity. The divine love all mortals. For the safety of her people, Furina could only bear the misunderstandings alone.]
[Raiden Ei: Yes. My will is extremely resilient and does not waver easily. Five hundred years of silent meditation did not disturb my heart.]
[Nahida: The Traveler can know all of this because none of her actions are recorded in Irminsul. But Paimon cannot.]
[Ningguang: Looking at Furina's inner thoughts, she clearly overlooked Paimon. Telling the Traveler would theoretically be fine. Telling Paimon, however, would certainly cause the plan to fail.]
[Furina: No, no... The Traveler couldn't be told either. She is also part of the prophecy. If I had spoken then, the trial would never have happened—or rather, the trial would have descended in some other form. No one knows what consequences might have followed.]
[Neuvillette: Though Furina often appears rather foolish, I know she is in fact a very delicate and thoughtful person.]
[Furina: What?! Neuvillette, that was only because I didn't know what else to do. I'm not a real god after all. Don't call me foolish.]
[Focalors: Acting is also a task that demands a very high level of intelligence, you know.]
Think it over carefully.
Returning from her thoughts to reality, Furina lifted her head. The dejection on her face instantly vanished, replaced by a forced confidence: "It's nothing. There's nothing I want to confide. I am Furina, the Hydro Archon. Everything will be all right."
"As a member of the audience, until the final curtain falls, just watch over me."
Lumine hesitated for a moment, then nodded firmly. "Mm!"
...
The scene shifted back to the courtroom.
Neuvillette questioned Focalors: "So, Furina herself didn't know the truth either? You never told her the complete plan?"
Focalors nodded: "Yes. To deceive the Heavenly Principles, one must first deceive oneself."
"Furina truly is remarkable. Over these five hundred years, if her will had faltered even once, Fontaine would have met only the worst possible outcome."
"Mm. Believing in humanity was indeed the right choice."
[Ningguang: Believing in Furina was indeed the right choice.]
[Keqing: Believing in Furina was indeed the right choice.]
[Venti: Believing in Furina was indeed the right choice.]
...
[Furina: Thank you... thank you, everyone.]
Neuvillette pondered: "At this point, I can understand how you deceived the Heavenly Principles. But that is only half of the truth, isn't it?"
"The key is still this: on that foundation, how exactly do you intend to save the people of Fontaine from the prophecy?"
[Arataki Itto: How did she deceive the Heavenly Principles? I don't get it at all.]
[Paimon: Mm, I don't quite understand that part either.]
[Ningguang: Hm? You don't understand something this simple?]
[Lyney: Then allow me to explain. Fontaine's prophecy is itself a kind of trial. The Heavenly Principles wrote a script, act by act. Fontaine was meant to head toward destruction when the final curtain fell. But that script only describes certain specific scenes. As long as those specific scenes occur, the Heavenly Principles would not notice anything amiss.]
[Neuvillette: Indeed. That is what I thought as well. Focalors had Furina, playing the Hydro Archon, step into the Heavenly Principles' script while she herself hid away, quietly preparing against the prophecy. Though I still do not know what those preparations were, I believe Focalors was certainly not running away. Running away would be meaningless.]
[Focalors: Mm, mm. That's right.]