Author's Note:
After years of waiting, the Cryo Archon, Tsaritsa, has finally been revealed to the general public!
Until now, I was undecided whether to choose Furina or Mavuika as my favorite Archon, but Tsaritsa looks fabulous, a true winter queen.
XXX
Story Arc: A New Nation and a New King for the Earth
Episode 1: The King of the Witches and Hydro Nation (III)
Chapter 3: The Hydro Family
Plot: Francis, Furina, and Neuvillette are having a meeting to decide what to do with Fontaine.
XXX
POV Narratore
The Hydro Trinity is the name that the people of Fontaine have spat out and engraved upon the three individuals who rule, with an iron fist, the entire country.
The Hydro Dragon, Neuvillette, Iudex of Fontaine, and the leader of the Marechaussee Phantom, sits upon the Judicial Power and holds massive influence among law enforcement. Neuvillette is considered by everyone to be an upright, wise, and incorruptible man; the steel backbone and the main reason why the Kingdom of Fontaine keeps walking straight.
The Hydro Archon, Furina de Fontaine, Goddess of Justice, Regina of All Waters, Kindreds, Peoples, and Laws. Furina, despite being the Goddess of Fontaine, is often considered the beloved mascot of the kingdom, as well as a highly famous actress and artistic consultant who fills the stages with her theatrical presence. When Furina de Fontaine is not indulging in treading the polished floors of the fine arts world and high society parties, she handles the Legislative Power, which is divided and shared between her and the Parliament of Fontaine.
Finally, the Hydro Monarch, Francis Le Fay de Fontaine, the Prince of Fontaine, who holds the office of Director of the Clock Tower and the position of Prime Minister. Thanks to the weight of his positions and his talents, the Prince of Fontaine holds the Executive Power and makes his massive influence felt among the aristocracy, the common people, intellectuals, and the armed forces.
Neuvillette, Furina, and Francis: the three big shots who, with a wave of their hand, can change the destiny of millions of people, revered and admired by countless individuals for various reasons, are actually... an eccentric family that could get their own personal sitcom.
XXX
The office of the Iudex of Fontaine is an elegant place, steeped in the scent of antique wood and wax, used by Neuvillette for his grueling administrative work or to meet individuals of high importance for Fontaine's internal and external affairs.
Francis Le Fay did not even have time to cross the threshold and make the floor creak before she—his adoptive mother, Furina—hurled her body upon him. The Goddess locked him in a sudden embrace, pinning his arms and nearly making him lose his balance with the weight of her momentum.
"My little prince, are you alright? What happened? What did you do?" Furina asked aloud, her voice vibrating against his clothes. She kept her chin planted and resting on the young man's chest, forcing her neck into an unnatural bend just to look her son straight in the eyes, with a worried and maternal expression tightening her facial features.
The Hydro Archon, Furina de Fontaine, is a 500-year-old woman who looks 18; she is 165 cm tall (with heels) and weighs 50 kilograms. Her hair is of a white-blue shade, straight, with darker light-blue strands streaked inside and a messy fringe. Her hair is cut short in the back, with two long, thin strands cascading down the sides of her face. Her eyes feature two different shades of blue, and her pupils are shaped like an inverted teardrop.
Furina wears a dark blue outfit similar to a pantsuit over a vest with a jabot, all decorated with numerous cut blue stone accessories resembling water droplets in various places. A blue sash rests on the vest, tied in a bow and fastened by a large blue gem at the center. The cuffs are turned back, hemmed with brass-like inserts, and the sleeves end in two dark blue ruffles, one on each arm.
She also wears a dark blue top hat tilted to the left of her head, decorated with metallic ornaments that give it a crown-like appearance, while also including her emblem on the top surface. Numerous other fabric ornaments decorate her attire, including pieces of blue and white cloth falling behind her waist and hat.
Furina wears a short black glove on her right hand and a white one on her left. She wears short pants, which look like shorts, with bands wrapping around her thigh. On her feet, she has dark leather heeled shoes stamped with her emblem, and white ruff-like collars wrapped around her ankles.
"Furina, some decorum. Francis is a grown man; he can look after himself," Neuvillette said, his calm, serious voice cutting through the room's air like a cold blade.
While speaking, the Iudex did not even lift his gaze from his paperwork; his posture was motionless, his back straight against the backrest of the chair, and his long fingers gripping the fountain pen with a firm, almost marble-like hold, exuding an aura of absolute and imperturbable control.
The Hydro Dragon, Neuvillette, is a man who has held the position of Iudex of Fontaine for 500 years. Physically, Neuvillette looks like a handsome and charming 30-year-old high-class man, 190 centimeters tall, weighing 80 kilograms.
Neuvillette has very long, silver-white hair. It is partially gathered at the back with a large black bow, while two long front strands feature bright blue gradients. Two unique wavy strands on the crown of his head vaguely recall the shape of dragon horns. His eyes are a very intense and bright ice blue, with vertical, elongated pupils similar to those of a reptile or a marine creature.
Neuvillette wears a black ribbon with a blue underside and golden ornaments that secures his hair. Two elaborate golden clips gather his hair above his left ear, one of which bears a blue feather-shaped ornament. He wears a white shirt with ruffled cuffs and a ruffled white jabot on the collar. The jabot fades toward blue at the ends, is a darker blue around the neck, and is fastened at the center by a golden brooch decorated with an iridescent droplet set in the middle and a hanging blue teardrop gem. He wears black gloves with golden rivets on the knuckles of both hands.
Over the shirt, he wears a long dark blue coat with indigo patterns and golden details, including lily-shaped closures on the turned-back cuffs. The sides of the coat fade into a brighter teal. Attached to the coat is a dark blue cape with wide golden and blue peaked lapels, featuring golden details and teal designs. From the two front ends of this cape hang two gold ornaments, arranged in a way that recalls the proportions of the Fontaine court. He wears dark blue trousers, over which he wears black thigh-high gaiters with golden details. His shoes are black with golden details and blue soles bearing the design of the scales of Fontaine.
"Mom, I'm fine, you can stop holding me tight," Francis said, wanting Furina to let him free and trying to apply pressure with his arms to push her away.
Unfortunately, the Hydro Archon does not let go of her grip, squeezing his wrists with a tenacity surprising for her slender build.
"Dad, can you help me? Mom is sticky again," Francis said in a resigned voice, accustomed since childhood to dealing with a mother who was far too affectionate and present in his life. The young man let his shoulders drop, offering zero resistance to his mother's lock.
Neuvillette approaches, his heavy and measured step making the floorboards vibrate imperceptibly. He places his hands on the shoulder of the Goddess of Justice, wrapping her in his wide palm, then says: "Furina, you must give Francis his space; he is a brilliant and capable young man."
Furina lets go of her grip suddenly, almost snapping, and whips around toward Neuvillette, making her hair swing.
"I know, my little prince is my greatest pride! All his teachers told me how intelligent and gifted he was since he was little; he learned to read by himself at three years old!" Furina exclaimed, speaking of news that was 17 years old, while gesticulating wildly, flinging her hands forward.
'When will she stop using that nickname? Mom, I outgrew you in height at 13,' Francis thought, feeling embarrassed as his gaze inevitably fell upon the height difference between them.
"But he is so intelligent and dedicated to his work that he neglects his health; look how much weight he has lost since the last time I saw him in person," Furina said, pointing her index finger straight at the chest of her beloved adoptive son, as if she wanted to measure the thickness of his clothes.
"You're exaggerating, I've only lost two kilograms, and only because I had little time to perform a miracle," Francis said, touching his stomach, pressing his robe against his skin to check the silhouette for himself.
"When I allowed you to move into that Clock Tower with Luvia, I thought she would be able to take care of you, but it doesn't look like she is doing a good job," Furina said, crossing her arms tightly over her chest with a sharp movement, hugging her elbows as she began to ponder whether she should withdraw her blessing from the Duchess of Fontaine.
'Mom needs to get herself a boyfriend or a girlfriend, or maybe a little pet to spoil, so she can think about something else,' Francis reflected, touching his forehead with the tips of his fingers to massage a sudden pang of migraine, having had trouble putting some distance between himself and his family "home."
Furina de Fontaine, despite her teenage attitude and appearance, is a 500-year-old woman, and she has lived so long that twenty years pass in a flash to her. In her perspective, just last month Francis was taking his first unsteady steps on the carpet, and today he is close to marriage.
"Furina, Fontaine needs its Archon, not a worried mother," Neuvillette said, having learned over twenty years to handle his colleague's maternal instincts with his usual imperturbable firmness.
In a couple of minutes, the Hydro Trinity sat around a table: each man took a couch for himself, sinking into the velvet with their long legs, while the only woman took the central armchair, curling up on the edge.
"I have some extremely big and important news to give you," Francis Le Fay said with a serious expression, tensing his neck muscles to capture their attention, wanting to talk about what happened to Fontaine.
"Did you and Luvia break up? You can cry on my shoulder as much as you want, I always knew Luvia wasn't good enough for you," Furina said, leaning her torso forward, convinced that this could be the "worst" that could happen to her adoptive son.
Furina has a bit of a problem separating her side as an Archon from her side as a mama bear.
"Nothing of the sort, we are happy. An occasional disagreement now and then, but we get along famously; Luvia is an excellent girlfriend," Francis said, straightening his back and meeting his mother's gaze, feeling duty-bound to protect his beloved's honor.
"I take back what I said about Luvia not being good enough for you, I was just trying to make you feel better," Furina said with a slightly embarrassed expression, lowering her eyes and fiddling with the details of her outfit, having taken a step forward without looking.
"The news I want to give you will change the whole of Fontaine and perhaps the balance of power in our family," Francis said, resting his palms on his knees.
At the word "family," Furina's brain stopped reasoning, her logical thoughts wiped out by the dynastic implications.
"Is Luvia pregnant?!" Furina asked aloud, jumping to her feet on the armchair; the idea of a grandchild was a bombshell that made her eyes widen.
Francis blushed visibly, the heat rushing from his cheeks up to his ears, imagining what a pregnant Luvia would look like or what it would be like to hold a little, white-haired Luvia in his arms.
"My little prince, you don't have to marry her. We live in progressive times and you have done so many good things for the whole country, a small scandal can be forgiven," Furina said, gesticulating like a professional actress/manager who was already calculating the impact on the press.
Neuvillette, instead of calming Furina down, joined her, leaning his elbows on his knees with a heavy movement.
"A man must take responsibility. Marriage is not mandatory, but looking after one's family is," Neuvillette said in a serious voice, his gaze fixed and stern, getting the wrong idea.
"Dad, don't become like Mom; she is the imaginative one, you are supposed to be the one with his feet on the ground," Francis Le Fay said, while massaging his forehead with his entire palm, pressing hard. Strangely, his family gave him more headaches than solving a divine calamity.
"Sorry, Francis. Furina can be contagious with her actress spirit," Neuvillette said, narrowing his lips slightly and relaxing his posture, realizing that humor was not something he was good at.
"Luvia and I are not about to split up, we are not about to have a baby together, and we are not getting married tomorrow or the day after," Francis said, articulating his words and planting his feet on the ground to make it clear that his important news did not concern his love life.
"Good, you are still too young to get married. Maybe in five or ten years, just to be safe," Furina said as she sat back down and adjusted her hat with a sharp flick of her hand, straightening the brim.
"I am here in my capacity as the Hydro Monarch and Headmaster of the Clock Tower, not as Francis visiting his mother and father. Let's talk about serious matters or I will go consult with Navia and Arlecchino," Francis Le Fay said in a serious voice, slamming his fist against the desk with a sharp, dull thud that made the inkwells jolt.
"No!" Furina suddenly exclaimed, standing up, with a slight trace of fear in her voice that cracked her tone. Her tense body stiffened instantly.
'Mom is still afraid of Arlecchino,' Francis thought, aware that the black-and-white-haired woman had traumatized Furina, leaving her with a cold shiver every time she was summoned.
Remaining silent for a moment, Furina's shoulders slowly relaxed. She sat down and placed her hands in her lap, intertwining her fingers to compose herself.
"Let's be serious people, Francis. What happened? First, doomsday was about to strike, then there was a flash of light and an earthquake, and now everything seems resolved," Furina asked, lifting her chin and straining to act like a true Archon.
"Mom, Dad, you know that I am a genius of magic and science, and I am a decent artist," Francis said, spreading his arms in a calm gesture to open the conversation with something simple.
"Yes, you don't know how proud you made me when you published your first book, Atlantis, the Lost Empire," Furina said, a nostalgic smile softening her features at the memory of Francis's first signing line.
'At least I had the decency to make several changes to the plot, blending a successful movie and a failed movie into a seven-book series,' Francis thought, having borrowed a few things from a certain Disney film.
"Have you read Guild Heroes in Another World?" Francis asked, staring into their eyes to bring up an isekai-themed Light Novel.
"Yes, it was a different piece compared to your adventure or sci-fi books: a guild of brave heroes is teleported into a dark fantasy world that needs to be saved," Furina said, nodding vigorously, having read every volume of the saga until she wore out the pages.
"To put it simply, in this case, Fontaine is the Guild Heroes and we find ourselves in Another World," Francis said, stopping all hand movements and limiting himself to saying the essentials to avoid using technicalities.
"Please tell me you are talking about a new work of yours," Furina asked; the color drained from her cheeks, leaving her face paler than before as she clung to the armrests of her chair.
"No, it might sound like the plot of a generic Inazuma Light Novel, but it's the truth," Francis said, touching his forehead.
"My son has isekai'd the nation, and I was worrying about grandchildren or whether you were building a secret harem made of female students," Furina murmured in a low voice, her eyes staring wide into the void as if her home had been flooded while she desperately tried to fix a minor problem.
'My Son Has Isekai'd the House would be an interesting title,' Francis thought lightly, his lips curling into a faint smile.
"Furina, you should not listen to groundless rumors. Francis is a respectable and impeccable man, an example to many," Neuvillette said in a chastising voice, deep and thundering, which tensed the muscles of his imposing figure.
"Thanks, Dad, but I am the way I am because I had a good role model," Francis said, looking at Neuvillette with a nod, admiring him for many of his qualities.
"You are too sweet a boy to speak so highly of your mother," Furina said, her cheeks flushing red at compliments that were not directed at her—though she did not realize it—as she puffed out her chest with pride.
"Fontaine is no longer in Teyvat. Why did this happen?" Neuvillette asked, leaning forward on the couch; his tired but sharp eyes sought answers regarding the cause of it all, even though he had a vague idea of what had occurred.
"As we all know, some time ago Auntie put her plan into motion to save Fontaine from its fate. There were some unforeseen complications," Francis said, lowering his tone of voice when referring to Focalors and her 500-year-long plan.
Furina let out a long sigh that deflated her chest, as she was one of the living complications of her divine half/sister.
"Somehow, after pretending to be the Hydro Archon, I became a real one," Furina said; she moved her fingers in the air and the humidity condensed, creating three small marine animals of pure water that began to float over the coffee table.
"Auntie did not reflect upon what would happen in the long term. Like the fact that the Heavenly Principles would not appreciate being deceived, or that the divine throne of Hydro was shattered. Cut in two? Or whatever happened to allow us to have a Hydro Dragon at maximum power and a low-tier Hydro Archon," Francis said; clenching his fists, he admitted to himself that not even he, with all his resources, knew what had truly happened to the Divine Authority over the Hydro element.
"I am an actress, not a warrior woman, and I have had these powers for only a short time. I am still learning the tricks of the trade," Furina said, crossing her feet and waving a hand in the air to try and defend her personal pride.
"The Heavenly Principles decided to punish Fontaine and its inhabitants for disobeying its rules," Neuvillette summarized, crossing his arms over his chest with a stiff movement, catching onto the situation immediately; in truth, Francis's words were confirming his hypotheses.
"I am a genius, one of the five smartest people in Teyvat. Only Dottore, Sandrone, Nahida, and Aino can hold a candle to me," Francis said, straightening his back and showing unwavering confidence, having only a few peers in the world when it came to pure intelligence.
'Maybe I am biased, but I believe Francis is the best, even though Aino is still a little girl and has time to grow,' Furina thought, softened both by maternal love and by twenty years of witnessing the extraordinary achievements of the King of the Witches.
"As for strength, my magic allows me to face even Lady Arlecchino, and she is the most powerful woman in Fontaine," Francis said, his body stiffening slightly at the memory of having had to face the black-and-white-haired woman over several matters, with results resulting more or less in a draw.
Furina could not help but shiver visibly, a jolt running down her spine just at the mention of The Knave.
"With a little preparation time, I can hold my ground against a Dragon Sovereign, though I doubt Neuvillette gave his 100% against me during our mock duels," Francis said, turning his head toward his father, whom he considered the strongest man in the world.
"A training session where we give 100% would be more fruitless than useful, not to mention the collateral damage," Neuvillette said, his firm voice betraying the absolute certainty that a fight between individuals who dwell in the realm of myths and gods could cause wounds to the earth capable of changing geographical maps or sinking entire islands.
"Even with such intellect and strength, I have absolutely no intention of facing the First Descender. Instead of fighting and dying for nothing, I preferred to retreat and take everything of value I have," Francis Le Fay said, gritting his teeth and knowing his limits in front of absolute power.
"You took every grain of earth and every drop of water of Fontaine," Furina commented, scrutinizing her son with her eyes wide open, certain that her adoptive son had done far more than just take his simple valuables and flee.
"The entirety of Fontaine and every single one of its inhabitants belongs to me," Francis Le Fay de Fontaine declared with an authoritative tone, his voice turning dark and heavy, showing for a moment his side inherited from Morgan Le Fay.
'She has always been a little possessive toward the things she loves,' Furina thought with an inner smile, remembering when Francis, as a child, would clutch his toys to his chest and would rarely share them with other children.
"Francis, where is Fontaine now?" Neuvillette asked, planting his palms on his knees and staring at him to know what to expect from this new world.
Francis abruptly lowered his head, his cheeks warming into an embarrassed face very similar to the one Furina used to make when she was caught red-handed.
Francis muttered something in a low voice, an indistinct whisper that died against his own clothes, and neither of them could understand what he had said.
"My little prince, speak louder," Furina said, leaning forward and making a circular motion with her hand as if to turn up the volume of a radio.
"I don't know," Francis said at an audible volume, gritting his teeth and avoiding his parents' gaze.
"What do you mean you don't know?!" Furina asked aloud, jumping a few centimeters in her chair, having rarely heard such defeatist words come out of Francis's mouth.
"It means what it means: I don't know," Francis said, crossing his arms over his chest and tightening his biceps, getting on the defensive.
"But you are the most brilliant mind ever born in the history of Fontaine!" Furina declared, waving her hands in the air, holding the King of the Witches in far too high esteem.
"I am a super-genius, not omniscient," Francis Le Fay declared, sighing deeply, knowing that his public image always portrayed him much better than he actually was.
"So Fontaine could have ended up anywhere... in a world full of zombies, or a world where animals are giants, or where there is only a perpetual winter," Furina murmured with a worried, trembling voice, as she curled up in the armchair and began counting with her fingers the worst-case scenarios crowding her mind.
"Furina, you are exaggerating again. Francis would not have let chance decide Fontaine's fate," Neuvillette said, certain that the King of the Witches was not that reckless; the Iudex accompanied his words with a firm nod of his head, straightening his massive shoulders against the backrest.
"I won't explain the exact methods to you, but I created a sort of safety filter: worlds unsuitable for life have been banned by the system," Francis said, arching his eyebrows and sporting a half-smile, proud of the precautions he had meticulously integrated into the mechanism.
"You created a safety filter, but you have no idea where you sent the entire Hydro Nation?" Furina asked, leaning her torso forward and widening her eyes, unable to comprehend how such a contradiction was physically possible.
"The universe is infinite. I didn't have the time to look world by world through my magic mirror; I had to use a computer the size of a house, an underwater palace full of servers, and a myriad of complex equations," Francis said, moving his fingers in the air as if typing on an invisible keyboard, his arm muscles still tense from the exhaustion accumulated while calculating those endless formulas.
"At least I finally understand why I barely saw you over the last few months," Furina said, a veil of melancholy lowering the corners of her mouth; she had thought her son wanted to cut ties with her or that he wanted to avoid her because of those thorny political matters that appeared on the front page of the newspaper.
"I can at least say that we are somewhere in the middle of the ocean. It would have been a tragedy if Fontaine had appeared in the middle of the desert or on top of another civilization," Francis said, forcefully exhaling the air from his lungs and leaning his back against the couch, relieved to have planned the truly crucial elements of the operation.
"How did you know that Fontaine was about to be destroyed by the Heavenly Principles?" Neuvillette asked, tightening his fingers around his walking cane and focusing with an icy gaze on the important matters.
"I had a sort of premonitory dream," Francis said, meeting his father's gaze and shrugging his shoulders, as if that vague mention were enough of a reason to justify the cataclysm he had unleashed.
"You executed a massive secret project that cost you every single second of your free time—and who knows how many fractions of the Edelfelt treasury—for something you dreamed about?" Furina asked; with a abrupt gesture, she took off her hat, placing it on the coffee table before running her fingers through her messy hair to ease the tension.
"I am a scientific genius, but I am also the King of the Witches. To me, dreams are just as valid as data collected by a machine," Francis said, straightening his neck, his magical nature glowing latently in his pupils as he claimed his occult nature.
"Why didn't you tell us what you were planning?" Furina asked, finally, something intelligent, planting the palms of her hands on her knees and staring at him.
"You didn't involve me in your previous attempt to save Fontaine from the crisis," Francis suddenly retorted, his expression turning hard and his jaw clenched at the memory of being pushed aside the last time the nation had risked annihilation.
"That was different, you were still a child," Furina said, shaking her head as a protective shiver tightened her chest; she had possessed too many valid reasons to keep her son away from that collective madness.
"In this crisis, I didn't involve you because you, Mom, are an actress, and you, Dad, are the Iudex of Fontaine. You are important people and have great powers over the Hydro element, but I didn't need any of that," Francis said, clenching his fists on his knees; he had employed only pure magical strength and scientific calculations to move the entire territory, and their elemental powers would not have made any difference.
Furina parted her lips, ready to retort fiercely that she could have given a hand anyway, but Neuvillette raised a calloused hand, motioning for her to remain silent.
"Arguing no longer makes sense. Francis has carried out his actions, and we can no longer do anything to change them," Neuvillette said, the monotonous and pragmatic voice of a man accustomed to dealing with accomplished facts rather than regrets.
"Then what do we do?" Furina asked, her gaze oscillating anxiously between Francis and Neuvillette in search of an immediate plan of action.
"We need to hold a press conference and explain what happened to the entire population, order the Fleet to patrol the borders, and set up reception centers," Francis said, listing the points on the palm of his hand, having already mentally structured the post-transfer logistics.
"Reception centers?" Furina asked, arching an eyebrow, not seeing the need to set up such structures in an already organized country.
"Tourism is one of Fontaine's economic pillars. All the people who were visiting Fontaine during the event have just become permanent residents of our country," Francis explained, clenching his fist to emphasize the bureaucratic and economic weight of that mass of trapped foreigners.
"This will be a problem. People might be grateful to be alive, but they might condemn you for taking them away from their families," Neuvillette commented, narrowing his eyes; his centuries-long experience on the courtroom chair reminded him all too well how human resentment could surpass even the survival instinct.
"A welcome package consisting of citizenship, housing, and monetary compensation should be enough to soothe their spirits," Francis said, moving his hand in a generous gesture, ready to empty the coffers to make concessions and integrate the new citizens without unrest.
"Not everyone will be happy with this approach, but many will appreciate it," Furina commented, relaxing her posture; after all, she knew the emotional mechanisms of the general public better than anyone else in the room.
Furina grabbed her hat again and adjusted it on her head with a sharp flick, her features tightening into a confident and focused expression.
"I'll have to cancel my performance tonight, won't I?" Furina asked, her shoulders sagging slightly under the weight of disappointment, even though she already knew the obvious answer.
"The Hydro Trinity will be busy for a long time. We must placate the people, take a census of the population, take care of the new citizens, speak with the leaders of the various internal factions, raise our defenses, organize a reconnaissance team, and begin the construction of new structures for self-sufficiency," Francis said, partially rising from the couch to emphasize the colossal volume of work that awaited them.
"Do you mean to expand Rapture, the underwater city you love so much?" Furina asked, training her eyes into her son's and referring to one of the most colossal projects born from the mind of the King of the Witches.
Francis's first true masterpiece, a monument to his devotion to the occult, remained the Clock Tower, a mammoth structure of gears and stone that floated heavily above the skies of Fontaine.
The second miracle, a child of his scientific genius and the sweat of the workers, was Rapture: a submerged metropolis where thousands of lungs breathed thanks to massive steel and glass domes under controlled pressure. Every single hour, heavy underwater trains hurtled along brass tracks anchored to the seabed, packed to the brim with workers descending into the abyss and then re-emerging at the end of their shift, mixed with crowds of tourists who had flocked from all over Teyvat to admire what was considered the most advanced technological fortress in the world.
"The construction of a new dome for agriculture is not as useful and profitable as you think," Francis said, nipping his mother's idea in the bud with a firm wave of his hand, knowing full well where her imagination was running.
"In reality, in the long term, I am thinking about the construction of an artificial island dedicated to the growth of fruit and legumes, but in the short term, I think I will limit myself to surface skyscrapers where each floor is a greenhouse where a different type of plant is grown," Francis exposed the plan, waving his fingers to trace the vertical lines of those future agricultural giants meant to feed the isolated kingdom.
"I expected something more ambitious and crazy from you, my little prince. When you were little, you used to draw flying cities and underwater cities, and the latter has become a reality," Furina said, an affectionate smile illuminating her face as she mimicked Francis's old childhood sketches with her hands, recalling the purity of those past times.
In the mind of the famous actress, there was still the vivid image of herself holding a sheet of rough paper between her fingers—a drawing that looked like the illustrative material of a Light Novel. Then, years later, that sheet had transformed into tons of underwater steel and glass, and Furina had been among the first to tread the polished floors during Rapture's opening tour.
"The flying city does not exist yet, but we have a flying tower as the most prestigious magic school in the world," Francis said, curling his lips into a half-smile, having set aside the Columbia project.
"The owner of the Jade Chamber of Liyue dies of envy every time she visits Fontaine," Furina commented, clenching her fists with excitement while feeling a deep maternal and patriotic pride toward this total aesthetic and engineering victory.
"I have some blueprints on how to upgrade Fontaine's ships to grant them the ability to fly in the sky, and designs for a new type of single-seat war Airship," Francis said with a dangerous smile on his face, his eyes narrowing as he mentally calculated the silhouette of those light hulls.
"Do you intend to create an Air Force for Fontaine?" Neuvillette asked, tightening his grip on his cane and raising his eyebrows, having heard nothing of the sort in any military report.
"Water will always be our strongest element, but ignoring the land and the sky would be a fool's move," Francis said, tapping his index finger on the edge of the table to give rhythm to his words, wishing with all his heart that Fontaine be ready to fight and spit fire on every possible battlefield.
If he had more structural resources at his disposal, and if the sky of Teyvat had not been a false and oppressive illusion, Francis would have already founded an entire institute dedicated to deep space exploration.
"You know, I miss the days when your projects weren't almost always linked to the structural, economic, or military development of Fontaine," Furina said with the melancholic tone and the fading voice of a mother whose baby has suddenly become a man of arms and power.
"I also miss the times when I could sit in your lap and draw at the table," Francis said in a bittersweet tone, showing a tired gaze veiled by deep dark circles; the dimensional transport of the entire Fontaine had cost him countless sleepless nights spent wearing his eyes out over blueprints.
"Good times. You were such an adorable, happy, and carefree child," Furina said, while she gently caressed her legs with the palms of her hands, looking down at her thighs as if she physically missed that light weight to cradle.
"But I've grown up, I am an adult man with many responsibilities, I am the Hydro Monarch, and I have a nation to lead toward its golden age," Francis said, suddenly standing up, straightening his robust back and showing with his full height just how much he had actually grown.
"I'm going out for a moment to contact The Steambird and Charlotte. I will be able to make a public statement, but I will give an exclusive interview only to a trusted person," Francis said, taking his first rapid steps toward the exit, his mind already projected toward working to the point of physical exhaustion.
The King of the Witches left the office, making the heavy lock click, leaving the Hydro Archon and the Hydro Dragon alone in the silence of the room.
"We did a good job raising him," Neuvillette commented after a long moment; his deep voice vibrated within the wooden walls, finally being able to call himself proud of Francis.
"I know, but my little prince seems to have grown up too fast, and it seems he has put too many burdens on his shoulders," Furina said, lowering her gaze while a grimace of anxiety tightened her lips, always worried about her baby's well-being.
"We will lend him a hand; Fontaine is not his responsibility alone," Neuvillette said, standing up with the solemnity of a monument, ready to shoulder his share of the administrative work.
"Yes, the curtain rises and the show begins," Furina said, jumping to her feet in turn and adjusting her hat upon her head with a theatrical and decisive gesture of her fingers.
The Hydro Trinity is preparing to grit their teeth, and rightly so, because the nations of this entire new planet have already noticed Fontaine's sudden and titanic arrival right in the middle of the ocean. The first to move and take a step toward their borders will be a female super-spy dressed in a tight black suit, and a decidedly too talkative archer.
To be continued...
XXX
Author's Note:
I hope you liked this chapter! I admit it has been a very long time since I last published a new chapter for this story; I wanted to do it for a while, but there was always something.
Anyway, I mentioned that there are tourists in Fontaine and I'm reflecting on which tourists should be there.
Surely they cannot be the Archons or a vital character for the government of another nation. However, Yelan, given her job, could have found herself in Fontaine at the wrong time and gotten involved in this "Reverse Isekai."
Do you have a favorite Genshin Impact character that you wish to see stranded in Fontaine within the MCU Universe?