"Neuvillette, Furina... she..."
Neuvillette stood up, turned, and gazed at Fidelle's clothes on the table, pursing his lips.
"Let her calm down. She'll likely need considerable time to heal from this incident. But given how quickly Fontaine's water level is rising, we can't afford to wait that long."
"Furina is undoubtedly hiding something. Perhaps, after this shock, she'll finally reveal it."
Neuvillette composed himself, reverting to his usual calm and composed demeanor as Chief Justice.
But... the torrential rain outside the office had only slightly subsided, showing no signs of stopping.
"Traveler, Paimon, I can't leave for the time being. I'll need you to check on Poisson for me."
Lumine: "Don't worry. We'd be going even if you didn't ask."
Neuvillette then addressed Navia: "Miss Navia, please wait a little longer. It will take time for the Maison Gardiennage to inventory and transport the supplies."
He had already issued these orders before Lumine and Paimon arrived.
Navia: "I understand. But... is Lady Furina really alright...?"
Neuvillette: "Don't worry. I'll send Clorinde to check on her later. Furina's spirit isn't as fragile as it seems. Even in her grief, she knows what she must do now."
Lumine was deeply moved by the sight of Furina fleeing in tears just moments ago.
Having lost her best friend before, she knew this pain all too well. Given Fidelle's attitude toward Furina, their bond must have been extraordinarily close—far beyond mere god and guardian. So close, in fact, that Furina abandoned her carefully maintained divine composure upon learning of Fidelle's departure.
"Lumine, Lumine? Didn't we still have something to tell Neuvillette?" Paimon, though saddened, hadn't forgotten their purpose in coming here.
Lumine snapped back to attention. "Neuvillette, we came here to..."
She recounted the dream she'd had in the Fortress of Meropide the previous night.
"Based on your description, that's no ordinary underwater environment," Neuvillette said. "Its composition more closely resembles Primordial Sea water. Judging by its size and form, that narwhal couldn't have originated in Teyvat's normal aquatic ecosystems. Therefore... Childe may currently be encased within Primordial Sea water."
"Encased in Primordial Sea water... doesn't that mean he's in the Primordial Sea itself?!" Paimon exclaimed. "Is that even a place you can enter?"
"Paimon," Lumine reminded her, "Childe isn't Fontainian. He won't dissolve."
Neuvillette lowered his head in thought for a moment, then said, "Inside the Primordial Sea... It's possible, but ordinary people couldn't accomplish such a feat. I can't fathom how he might have entered it."
A while later, a Maison Gardiennage officer entered to report that the supplies were fully prepared.
Lumine, Paimon, Navia, and Melus bid farewell to Neuvillette and prepared to accompany the supplies to Poisson.
As the group exited Palais Mermonia, the torrential rain in Fontaine abruptly stopped.
"Lumine, did we forget something?" Paimon asked.
Lumine's eyes widened in alarm. Oh no! Chu Xi is still waiting at the Fortress of Meropide exit!
"Paimon, wait here for me. I'll go—"
"No need, Lumine. I'm already here."
Chu Xi had materialized behind Lumine without anyone noticing, her small eyes carrying a hint of resentment.
Why did she take so long to arrive?
The Fortress of Meropide exit was quite a distance from Palais Mermonia. Lumine and Paimon had arrived so quickly thanks to teleportation, unlike Chu Xi, who had to rely on her own two legs, sprinting through the downpour—a much slower journey!
"Chu Xi, you're soaked! Are you alright? Not catching a cold, are you?"
"I'm fine. This body is immune to water."
Lumine breathed a sigh of relief and immediately apologized.
Chu Xi, only mildly resentful, brushed it off without a second thought.
Lumine recounted the situation with Fidelle to Chu Xi. After a brief moment of surprise, Chu Xi fell in behind the group, joining them in transporting the supplies back to Poisson.
-
Inside Furina's room, she finally drifted off to sleep, waking up just over two hours later.
The awakening brought her no sense of refreshment. Her eyes were bloodshot, and tear tracks streaked her beautiful face.
In those mere two hours of sleep, she had dreamed of the decade-long bond she shared with Fidelle. Instead of easing her grief, the dream had only intensified her sorrow.
No longer crying, Furina picked up her hat from the floor and placed it back on her head.
Behind her desk, she slid it aside to reveal a hidden staircase leading downward. After descending the stairs, the desk automatically slid back into place.
At the bottom of the staircase lay a vast chamber filled with bookshelves overflowing with well-worn tomes, each bearing the marks of countless readings.
In front of the bookshelves stood a desk, and beside it, a pristine mirror.
She paused before the mirror, her icy fingertips touching the equally cold glass.
"I... what am I supposed to do?"
The dry, hoarse voice shattered the oppressive silence, carrying a desperate, lost bewilderment.
Furina gazed at her own disheveled reflection in the mirror, as if it were the only being capable of comprehending the abyss of her pain.
"Fidelle... dissolved..."
A tidal wave of primal sorrow, like a deluge of Primordial Sea water, instantly breached the dam she had so painstakingly maintained.
Furina slammed her forehead against the frigid mirror, the dull thud echoing like a desperate attempt to draw false comfort from its inhuman coldness.
"It hurts... it really hurts..."
Suppressed sobs escaped her tightly clenched lips, her shoulders heaving violently.
"It's like... something's been hollowed out here... I can't breathe..."
She clutched the fabric over her chest, her knuckles white with strain, as if there were an invisible, bleeding void within.
The "Furina" in the mirror stared back at her silently, its eyes equally hollow.
"I can't hold on much longer..."
Furina's voice suddenly rose, cracking with hysteria. Tears finally breached their dam, cascading down her frigid cheeks and leaving twisting, distorted streaks on the mirror's surface.
"Five hundred years... I've gritted my teeth... and clawed my way through... bit by bit... But can I really do this...? Can our plan really succeed?"
She gasped for breath, like a drowning person desperately trying to gulp air.
"Fidelle... she knew... she knew everything! I didn't need to explain... I didn't need to say a word... She just... stayed there... all this time...!"
Furina screamed at her reflection in the mirror, as if accusing Fate or muttering to herself in despair.
"In that deep, dark abyss... when I was about to be crushed..."
Her voice trailed off into helpless sobs, her body sliding slowly down the cold mirror surface until she curled into a ball, hugging her knees tightly as if they were the only anchor she could grasp.
She buried her face in her arms, and the suppressed, heart-wrenching sobs finally burst forth. No longer the elegant Hydro Archon, she was now a helpless soul utterly crushed by agonizing pain.
Here, she didn't have to maintain the Hydro Archon's facade, allowing herself to unleash her emotions like an ordinary girl.
Exhausted from crying, Furina collapsed in front of the mirror:
"I'll keep enduring. You must succeed—for me, for Fidelle, for everyone in Fontaine, for you in the mirror..."
She repeated these simple, powerless declarations over and over, addressing the cold floor, her curled-up shadow, and the "Furina" silently weeping in the mirror.
The mirror reflected her trembling, curled-up figure, offering no response—only a cold, silent void. The "me" in the mirror remained just a silent vessel, bearing her endless pain and secrets.