"Wake up, wake up! Time to get up!"
Xia Yu was jolted awake by Furina's voice. She slowly blinked her eyes open, only to see Furina grab the curtains and pull them open with a loud shuck. Morning sunlight instantly poured into the room, spilling across Xia Yu's body.
'Ah, this warmth...' Xia Yu pressed her hands together in a prayer pose and peacefully closed her eyes again.
"Why did you fall asleep again?!" Seeing this, Furina put her hands on her hips, shaking her head in a mix of frustration and exasperation. "Get up! We have so much to do today!"
"How can you be so lazy!"
"Oh? Then let me ask you," Xia Yu replied drowsily, one eye half-open. "If one day you finally put down the burden on your shoulders and lived in this city as an ordinary person, would you sleep in?"
"I... I certainly wouldn't!" Furina looked away. "Sleeping in is not something the Hydro Archon..."
"But in this hypothesis, you've already set down the burden, haven't you?" Xia Yu countered.
"...There are no 'ifs.' We haven't made it to that day yet, have we?" Furina reached out and yanked at her blanket. "Get out of bed! People in Fontaine are already working at this hour! How can you sleep!"
"..." Xia Yu wanted to retort: It's not "we," it's "you." I'm just an outsider... But when she saw Furina's big blinking eyes and the overwhelming sense of expectation radiating from her, she couldn't bring herself to say it.
"You definitely stayed up late last night, didn't you?" Furina said with absolute certainty. "There's no way someone who slept at a reasonable hour would be this tired. You stayed up late!"
"Yes, I stayed up late," Xia Yu sighed, finally sitting up. "I've never been this far from home in my life."
"...Are you homesick?" Furina's voice softened. She finally remembered that the person in front of her had ended up in Fontaine due to a freak accident. Though the story was bizarre, the fact that they looked identical was undeniable...
There were surely many details Xia Yu hadn't shared, and many suspicious points remained, but Furina chose not to pry.
Xia Yu didn't answer. Instead, she looked at the clothes laid out nearby with a troubled expression. "This... how do I put this on?"
"Here, let me help!" Furina immediately grabbed the outfit and hopped over to her side. "This goes like this, then put your arm through here..."
She guided Xia Yu while smoothing out the wrinkles in the fabric. "Mhm, there we go."
Furina stepped back two paces, looking at her handiwork with satisfaction. "As expected of me! Truly beautiful!"
Xia Yu stood there dazed. Honestly, this was the first time in her life—other than her mother—that a girl had handled her appearance with such care...
Sigh, whatever. A top-tier beauty like Furina is personally waking you up and dressing you—what more could one ask for? Whatever she says goes.
"See? I told you that you should stay with me," Furina continued to ramble. "I actually have so much I want to ask you. we could totally have a 'girls' night' under the covers..."
She actually longed for such ordinary interactions, but due to her status, almost no one dared to act so familiarly with her.
Xia Yu's expression froze. At this point, she couldn't bring herself to reveal her original gender... she had forgotten to mention it yesterday, and now... looking at the completely unguarded Furina in front of her, she swallowed her words.
She followed obediently as Furina led her out the door.
"This is..." Xia Yu looked at the blue mousse in front of her.
"This is 'La Lettre a Focalors' (Chanson d'Aurore), my favorite dessert!" Furina's eyes sparkled as she looked at Xia Yu expectantly. "Try it!"
Cake for breakfast? That's certainly... a lifestyle, Xia Yu thought. She wasn't usually a fan of cake. Back home, breakfast was usually two meat buns from the shop downstairs.
Perhaps this was just a Fontaine thing? She took a bite. It was surprisingly delicious.
"How is it? Good, right?"
"It's great," Xia Yu gave a thumbs up. "But isn't it a bit weird to have this for breakfast?"
"I knew you'd say that!" Furina acted as if she had predicted this. She clapped her hands, and a Melusine came pitter-pattering over, carrying a plate of Liyue-style... uh, Siu Mai? Dumplings? It didn't look exactly like either. A pair of chopsticks sat beside it.
"Ta-da! See? I specifically had someone find a Liyue chef in the city to make you some Lotus Seed and Bird's Egg Soup and Jade Parcels! How's that for being touched?"
"I am very touched." Xia Yu felt a warmth in her heart. Furina had actually remembered everything she said yesterday.
Damn, I'm going to be captivated by her at this rate.
"Oh, this taste is authentic!" Xia Yu ate them one by one. Though she hadn't had much Liyue cuisine, it definitely tasted like home-style Chinese food. "Here, you try some too!"
Xia Yu scooped up a piece of steamed egg and instinctively moved it toward Furina. While Xia Yu was still hesitating whether to put it next to the mousse, Furina leaned over and took a bite of a Jade Parcel. While chewing, she said, "Not bad for a Liyue chef. A change of pace for breakfast is quite nice."
Across the table, Xia Yu was completely "sunk."
Ah, why does every move she makes hit my heart so perfectly... This damn sweetness...
Watching Xia Yu eat silently with her head down, a glint of cunning flashed in Furina's eyes.
Target captured!
She had sensed it last night: this person who looked exactly like her wanted to run! Not literally "escape," but she clearly wanted to be a "salted fish" (slacker) and avoid doing anything major. As for those secrets she mentioned... do you think I believe you?
Knowing the status of the other nations' gods so clearly—even as the Hydro Archon for five hundred years, she wasn't that well-informed! Yet she lacked basic common sense about Teyvat... plus that face... how familiar, isn't that just like me five hundred years ago?
And claiming to be from another world? Ha! The confusion she showed when seeing the Jade Parcels wasn't fake—you've never even seen Liyue's most famous breakfast, yet you lecture me on their gods?
Focalors definitely sent you with a mission. How can I let you stay a "salted fish"? You're going to help me shoulder the burden of Fontaine!
If Xia Yu knew what she was thinking, she would have cried injustice. Sister, it's not that I don't want to explain my origin, I can't! Being a "Descender" is a big deal; you don't just go around blabbing about it.
Since Furina was a "fake" Archon, she was actually ignorant of many common rules among gods—such as the taboos regarding Descenders. Otherwise, she would have connected the dots easily. To her, the only god she ever met was Focalors. Combined with the face and the Hydro Vision (which she assumed only the Archon could grant), the case was closed in her mind!
(In reality, Furina didn't know that Archons don't personally hand out Visions because she wasn't a "real" one. Teyvat's common belief was that the Seven granted them, so this misunderstanding reinforced her theory.)
In Furina's eyes: You look like me, you come from a mysterious place, you have a Vision granted by Focalors, and you know top secrets. You are definitely on our side!
She assumed Focalors created her to deal with the prophecy—much like herself, but while her role was to stabilize Fontaine, this "sister" was likely meant to fight the prophecy. So, when Xia Yu said she "knew everything but couldn't speak," it all made sense.
But for some reason, this "sister" wanted to slack off... Furina couldn't accept that! If she slacked off, all of Fontaine would suffer!
They finished breakfast in silence—mostly Xia Yu's silence, as Furina talked her ear off about every aspect of Fontaine.
"Let's go. We're going to see Neuvillette," Furina said, grabbing Xia Yu's hand after they finished. "There are many details from yesterday's case you need to fill in. You can do that, right?"
"Even though I woke up in that underground ruin and saw the kidnapped girls as soon as I turned a corner," Xia Yu replied, "I'm quite clear on the sequence of events."
"Oh, I see~" Furina's lips curled into a smile. And you still claim Focalors didn't send you! If you just "woke up" there, how do you know the background? The serial disappearances have spanned over a decade! Unless Focalors told you, there's no other explanation. It's not like you went to Sumeru to check the Irminsul tree!
Hmph, let's see how long you can keep this up!
As they arrived at Neuvillette's office, they heard a young woman's stifled, emotional voice from inside.
Inside, Navia, the president of Spina di Rosula, had rushed to the Palais Mermonia upon hearing that the culprit behind the serial disappearances had been caught. She wanted answers. Her father, Callas, had been framed while investigating "Sinthe" and the disappearances. For two years, she had been searching for the truth.
"Is that so? Well, thank you, Monsieur Neuvillette. We'll be going now." Though her voice sounded like she was on the verge of breaking, Navia maintained her composure—until Neuvillette spoke again.
"Miss Navia, I can understand your feelings. Your father, Mr. Callas, was a truly exceptional man. His death is a profound regret."
Xia Yu winced. Hydro Dragon, Hydro Dragon... you still don't understand humans. Saying that now... you're dancing in a minefield.
"Monsieur Neuvillette, what is this? Sympathy? Consolation? Or as you put it, 'regret'?" Navia turned around to face the Chief Justice. "I can tell there is no emotion behind your words. You simply feel that this is what you ought to say at this moment. Just like when my father stood on the field of duel... I ignored the guards and came here to find you. You told me then that you also felt there were suspicious points in the case, yet you still permitted the duel!"
"In your eyes, the value of a life cannot compare to those cold rules and laws you hold, can it? If you truly felt his death was a 'regret,' why didn't you stop him? Why... didn't you give me the right to stop him, and instead let him die with a stained reputation? If we had tried just a little harder then, we might have turned it all around! I still had so much to say to him, and he still owed me so many answers!"
"If you truly have no emotions, then look at me—look into my eyes. I will tell you what 'regret' really feels like!"
Neuvillette fell into a two-second silence. All he could manage was, "I am sorry, Miss Navia."
"Callas the Unfaithful..." Furina whispered in Xia Yu's ear. "Two years ago, that case shocked all of Fontaine. I also felt Mr. Callas's case was suspicious, but we couldn't find any evidence... Sigh, if he hadn't stepped onto the dueling grounds, perhaps he could have spent his later years in the Fortress of Meropide. That's his daughter, Navia, she's a good—"
"I know," Xia Yu reached out and patted Furina's head. "I know everything."
"How rude! You can't just pat a lady's head!" Furina indignantly swatted her hand away. In her mind, she was the one who was "born" first, so she was the older sister! How could an older sister be patted by a younger one! "I see I must teach you some proper lady-like etiquette!"
She felt she needed to take up the responsibility of being the elder sister.
"Etiquette?" Xia Yu's face turned pale. "How about we skip that..."
"How can we skip it?" Furina insisted. "For people like us, etiquette is vital. Otherwise, when you attend public functions in the future..."
Before she could finish, the office door opened.
"Lady Furina... Wait, this is..." Navia froze at the sight of the two Furinas. "So the rumors were true? There really are two Hydro Archons? I thought it was just a tall tale. Oh, I'm sorry... I should go. I've overstayed my welcome. Monsieur Neuvillette, Lady Furina, my apologies..."
She fought back tears, apologized to the group, and turned to leave.
"You can't leave," Xia Yu reached out and stopped her.
"My Lady Archon?" Navia turned back. "Is there something else?"
"It's about your father," Xia Yu looked toward Neuvillette's office. "I think you should be present."
"Wait? My father?" Navia was stunned. "Uh, Lady Archon, do you know something?"
The title was awkward, but she had no choice—two identical Archons with no names to distinguish them.
"Don't call me Archon," Xia Yu pulled out her Vision. "I'm just a worker bee split from the Hydro Archon. She didn't even bother giving me divine power, just threw a Vision at me to make me work."
Neuvillette and Navia both turned to look at Furina. Furina didn't feel a thing; in fact, she quite agreed. Because in her eyes, Xia Yu wasn't complaining about her, but about Focalors—a sentiment she related to quite deeply.
"As for leads," Xia Yu started her bluffing. "Over the years, I've tracked clues from Fontaine all the way to Snezhnaya, following tiny trails until I caught those criminals in the ruins. I have plenty of information. Come in, Miss Navia. Honestly, asking Neuvillette won't get you far; he really doesn't know the whole story."
Xia Yu pulled them both into the office. "I should have explained everything yesterday, but I was too tired and put it off. Mr. Callas's wrongful accusation is tied directly to them."
"Thank you, Hydro... uh..." Navia wanted to thank her but didn't know how to address her.
Xia Yu's mischievous side flared up. She said with a straight face, "Ei (Shadow). Just call me Ei. I am the shadow of the Hydro Archon, responsible for handling the 'dirty work' that isn't suitable for her."
"I see. Thank you, Lady Ei," Navia thanked her sincerely. "Thank you for all your hard work!"
"It's fine. I'm mostly doing this for our Chief Justice," Xia Yu looked at Neuvillette with a grin. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to go out and have fun today."
If Navia had kept berating him, Neuvillette would have almost certainly closed his doors and "dropped some little pearls" (cried) later...
Neuvillette knew what she was implying and looked away guiltily. "If we are to recount the case, please wait a moment. I shall call Chevreuse. She needs to record the testimony."
After instructing the Melusine outside, he returned and poured everyone a glass of water.
"This is water from Qingce Village in Liyue. Mondstadt's water is crisp, Liyue's water has a long-lasting aftertaste, and Inazuma's water has a deep, profound flavor. Sumeru's water is rich in flavor but requires careful tasting."
He was about to begin his lecture when Furina interrupted him.
"Enough, Neuvillette. I've heard your water-tasting theory a thousand times," Furina rolled her eyes. "I'd rather have a Fonta!"
"Regarding Fonta... such comments can only be made in private. I could never say this in public," Neuvillette said solemnly. "The popularity of Fonta is somewhat baffling to me, though I suppose it is understandable. It allows one to stay hydrated while replenishing sugar, and it is inexpensive."
"Inexpensive compared to water?" Navia was confused. Fontaine had no shortage of water.
"For certain reasons, I have rarely left Fontaine," Neuvillette explained. "Therefore, while I taste famous springs from all over the world, they are all shipped here. I have not visited the sources myself."
The shipping costs would obviously make it more expensive than Fonta.
At that moment, Chevreuse from the Special Patrol arrived.
"Lady Furina, Monsieur Neuvillette," the capable captain immediately went into work mode. "The criminals have mostly confessed. Only the leader, Marcel, is acting strangely for some reason. He keeps muttering about the Fountain of Lucine. For safety reasons, I have temporarily cordoned off the Fountain until we uncover their scheme."
"Actually, there's no need for a cordon," Xia Yu looked at Chevreuse. "Nothing is wrong with the Fountain. He's like that entirely because of me."
"Understood. I will have the cordon removed after the briefing," Chevreuse looked at her. She had expected this "clone" to vanish after the mission, but she was still here.
"Just call me Ei. The Shadow of the Hydro Archon," Xia Yu replied seriously. (The humor of the name would only be understood by a few people, none of whom were likely to visit Fontaine.)
"Understood, Lady Ei," Chevreuse saluted.
"Wait, if I heard correctly, the leader's name is Marcel?" Navia suddenly asked. "In Fontaine, I only know one Marcel. He was a close friend of my father. In the two years since my father passed, he has taken great care of me and the Spina di Rosula... I even call him 'Uncle'..."
"It is the same Marcel. He is a prominent merchant in Fontaine. He was recognized as soon as he was brought in yesterday," Chevreuse answered directly. "We have already carried out an emergency seizure of his guild. We found the prohibited substance, Sinthe, in a hidden warehouse."
"I came to the Palais as soon as I heard the news, but I never expected..." Navia looked devastated. "Is it definitely him? Could he have been framed like my father..."
"Members of the guild were brought in to identify him. It is indeed Marcel," Chevreuse said. "Furthermore, his crimes are undeniable. We all witnessed him commanding thirty-two Clockwork Meka to attack Lady Ei. The crime of attacking the 'Shadow of the Archon' alone is unforgivable, not to mention we found the production process for Sinthe at that hideout."
"Wait! I forgot yesterday!" Xia Yu suddenly stood up and looked at Chevreuse. "Tell your officers absolutely not to touch any of the water inside! No water at all! If necessary, use Clockwork Meka to preserve the evidence!"
If anyone came into direct contact with the Primordial Sea Water, it would be a disaster. For the people of Fontaine, that was a death sentence.