By the third morning, rumors were spreading faster than Hydro currents.
Fontaine's papers screamed headlines:
"Our Archon Fights Herself!""Mysterious Mirrored Woman Saves District!""Furina: Hero or Hallucination?"
She slammed the newspaper onto the table. "They never use my good side!"
Focalors looked up from his tea. "They took the photo while you were mid-sneeze."
"It was a battle cry!"
He raised an eyebrow. "It echoed 'Achoo.'"
Before she could deliver a rebuttal worthy of the stage, another messenger arrived."Urgent summons from the High Court, Your Excellency. They request your presence for clarification regarding… the incident."
"Clarification," she repeated. "That's bureaucratic for 'public humiliation.'"
Still, she went. A Hydro Archon doesn't skip her own court—especially when half the city had seen her clone-army performance.
The Grand Court of Fontaine was its usual spectacle: marble pillars, gleaming water curtains, and a crowd eager for drama.As Furina entered, murmurs spread like ripples.
"Order!" the presiding judge cried. "This emergency session concerns the recent magical disturbance in the lower canals."
Furina took her seat—or rather, her throne. "Well! I'm thrilled to be both defendant and deity today. Two roles for the price of one!"
Focalors stood beside her, hands behind his back. "Perhaps answer their questions seriously this time."
"I am serious. I'm dramatically serious."
The judge adjusted his glasses. "Your Excellency, witnesses claim the phenomena resembled multiple manifestations of yourself. How do you explain this?"
Furina leaned forward. "Obviously, I'm too fabulous for one body."
The courtroom erupted in laughter. The judge sighed. "This is not a comedy, Archon."
"Oh, I disagree," she said. "Life is a comedy. Some of us are just better at timing."
Still, as the questioning continued, Furina's wit began to falter. They wanted explanations she didn't have—why her powers had shifted, why the water acted of its own accord. Every answer she gave felt like guessing lines in a play she hadn't rehearsed.
Then, in the reflection of the courtroom pool, she saw something.A second scene—herself, not in this chamber, but in another version of it. A mirrored court.And in that reflection, the other Furina looked sad.
Her breath caught. "...I think the water is trying to tell us something."
The judge blinked. "Pardon?"
She pointed to the reflection. But by then, it had already dissolved.
Focalors placed a steadying hand on her shoulder. "Later," he murmured. "We'll investigate."
For once, she didn't argue.
After the trial, as the crowd dispersed, Furina lingered by the fountain. The mirrored water showed not one reflection, but countless faint outlines—alternate versions, whispering at the edge of hearing.
"Are they memories?" she asked quietly.
"Possibly echoes of timelines," Focalors said. "When you became aware of the story, you opened doors to others."
"Wonderful," she muttered. "I'm multiverse-adjacent. Does that come with a health plan?"
He smiled faintly. "It comes with purpose."
She looked up at him, puzzled. "Purpose?"
"If you remember what was written," he said, "perhaps you can help rewrite it."
The idea sent a thrill down her spine. A new script. A new act.
For the first time since her awakening, Furina smiled—not her practiced grin, but a real one. "Then let's make the next scene unforgettable."
Focalors bowed slightly. "After you, my Archon."
End of Chapter 3