Location: Palais Mermonia, Court of Fontaine
Current Form: Human
Status: Crashing a diplomatic meeting, intimidating an assassin
The atmosphere in Neuvillette's office was suffocating.
On one side sat Furina, looking like a cornered animal pretending to be a lion. She was sweating profusely, clutching a piece of cake she hadn't taken a bite of.
On the other side sat Neuvillette, stoic as always, but radiating a protective tension.
Opposite them sat a woman with black and white hair, red cross-shaped pupils, and a smile that promised a swift death.
Arlecchino. The Knave. The 4th Fatui Harbinger.
"So," Arlecchino said, her voice smooth and dark like velvet. "Miss Furina. You claim to have a plan to save Fontaine from the prophecy. Yet, you cannot share a single detail? Not even to reassure your people?"
"I... The plan is in motion!" Furina stammered, her voice cracking. "A god does not reveal her secrets so easily! Trust in my divinity!"
Arlecchino leaned forward. The shadows in the room seemed to stretch toward Furina. "Divinity? Interesting choice of words. When I attacked you the other night... I felt no divinity. Only fear."
Furina flinched violently. Neuvillette's cane hit the floor with a sharp crack.
"Diplomat," Neuvillette warned. "Watch your tone."
"I am merely seeking the truth, Iudex," Arlecchino smiled coldly.
SLAM.
The office doors burst open.
Raiden walked in, holding a box of macarons.
"Did someone say cake?" Raiden announced. "I brought snacks. And by brought, I mean I stole them from the lobby."
He pulled up a chair, dragged it loudly across the floor, and sat directly between Arlecchino and Furina.
Arlecchino's red eyes shifted to Raiden. She didn't look surprised. She looked... calculating.
"Raiden Ragnvaldr," Arlecchino nodded slowly. "The Anomaly. My children speak highly of you. Lyney says you saved him. Childe says you... ate his whale."
"He has a big mouth," Raiden popped a macaron. "Hello, Father. Nice nails. Very sharp. Good for stabbing, I assume?"
"And for protecting my family," Arlecchino replied, her gaze unwavering. "I heard you drank Primordial Seawater in the Fortress. Are you quite finished showing off?"
"Never," Raiden grinned. "So, why are we bullying the mascot? She's doing her best."
He pointed a thumb at Furina.
Furina looked at Raiden with teary eyes. For once, the scary dragon man was defending her.
"The 'Mascot' holds the fate of the nation," Arlecchino countered. "If she cannot save Fontaine, the Fatui will step in. We have the means."
"You have a Gnosis to steal," Raiden corrected. "But let's be real. You care about the orphans. I respect that. But back off the girl. She's about to hyperventilate."
Raiden turned to Furina and shoved a macaron into her mouth. "Eat. Sugar helps with the panic attacks."
Furina chewed mechanically, looking like a deer in headlights.
Before Arlecchino could retort, the floor shook. It wasn't an earthquake. It was a deep, resonant thud from the earth.
Neuvillette stood up instantly. His face went pale.
"The water levels," Neuvillette whispered. "They have risen. Dramatically."
A breathless Melusine burst into the room.
"Monsieur Neuvillette! Emergency! The Spina di Rosula reported... Poisson is flooding! The water is toxic! People are dissolving!"
Arlecchino stood up, her diplomatic mask vanishing. "My children are there helping the Spina. I must go."
"We're coming too," Raiden stood up, swallowing the rest of the macarons. "Aether is probably already there trying to be a hero."
They arrived at the underground village of Poisson. It was a nightmare.
The water had risen, flooding the lower levels. It glowed with the eerie purple hue of the Primordial Sea. Screams echoed off the metal cavern walls.
Navia, the President of the Spina di Rosula, was on her knees near the water's edge. She was sobbing.
"Melus! Silver!" Navia screamed into the water.
There was no answer. Just clothes floating on the surface.
They had dissolved protecting the villagers.
Aether and Paimon were helping evacuate survivors to the upper platforms. The Fatui soldiers, led by Lyney, were carrying the injured.
"It's not stopping!" Lyney shouted. "The water is rising too fast!"
Arlecchino leaped down, her heels clicking on the metal grate. She began barking orders, organizing a defense line.
Raiden landed next to Navia. He looked at the floating clothes.
He felt the residual souls. Fading. Gone.
"I can't bring them back," Raiden said softly, his voice devoid of its usual humor. "Once they return to the sea, they are part of the collective."
Navia looked up at him, her blue eyes filled with shattered hope. "Do something! You're a monster, aren't you? Monsters can do anything!"
Raiden looked at the rising purple tide. It threatened to swallow the rest of the village.
"I can't bring back the dead," Raiden said, his eyes turning into vertical dragon slits. "But I can punish the water."
He walked to the edge.
[Ice Magic].
"FREEZE."
He didn't shout. He commanded.
He stomped his foot.
A wave of Absolute Zero flash-froze the entire flooding basin. The Primordial Water turned into purple ice instantly. The rising tide stopped dead in its tracks.
The cold was intense. It burned the lungs. But the water was halted.
"It... it stopped," Lyney gasped, seeing the ice wall.
Raiden turned to Neuvillette, who had just arrived.
"Judge," Raiden said, pointing at the ice. "I bought you time. But the pressure is building. The seal in the Fortress is failing. We need a permanent solution."
Neuvillette looked at the devastation. He looked at Navia's grief. The sky outside began to weep uncontrollably.
"I understand," Neuvillette's voice trembled with suppressed rage and sorrow. "The Prophecy... must be defied."
Later, on the dry upper levels.
Navia sat silently, holding her father's hat and her bodyguards' accessories.
Arlecchino approached Raiden and Aether.
"This tragedy was preventable," Arlecchino said coldly. "If the Hydro Archon had acted. But she did nothing. She sat on her throne while her people dissolved."
"She doesn't have the power," Raiden said quietly. "You know it. I know it."
Arlecchino nodded. "Her curse... I sensed it. She is human. Cursed with longevity, perhaps, but human. She holds no Gnosis. She holds no divinity."
"Then where is the Archon?" Aether asked.
"Hiding," Raiden looked at the Opera House in the distance. "Or waiting. The Oratrice is the key."
Arlecchino looked at Aether. "We need to force her hand. We need to put her on trial. If we break her spirit, perhaps the real God will emerge to save the nation."
"A trial?" Paimon gulped. "Put a God on trial?"
"It's poetic," Raiden smirked, though his eyes were cold. "Fontaine loves drama. What better finale than the trial of the Archon herself?"
He looked at Navia.
"Navia," Raiden called out.
Navia looked up.
"Do you want justice?" Raiden asked.
Navia wiped her tears. Her expression hardened into steel. "I want answers. I want to know why my family had to die."
"Then help us," Raiden extended a hand. "We're going to trap a God."
The group gathered in a secluded room in Poisson.
"The plan is simple," Arlecchino outlined. "We will lure Furina into a trap. We will force her to stand trial for 'Deceiving the People of Fontaine'."
"Neuvillette will preside," Raiden added. "He has to. His impartiality is the only thing that makes the Oratrice work."
"And the Traveler will be the prosecutor," Arlecchino pointed at Aether.
"And you?" Aether asked Raiden.
"Me?" Raiden checked his nails. "I'm the executioner. If things go south... if the Whale breaks through... or if the Oratrice decides to laser everyone... I'll eat the consequences."
"Literally?" Paimon asked.
"Literally."
Raiden looked at the ceiling. He could feel the Whale beneath the earth, thrashing, growing fatter on the tragedy of Poisson.
"Enjoy your meal while you can, Mobydick," Raiden thought. "Because I'm coming for dessert."