Crossover: Monthly Character Templates in the Multiverse Chat Group — Chapter 97

Chapter 97: I am the Hydro Archon

Frez set his porcelain teacup onto the saucer with a soft clink. To his left sat Wis’adel and Yixuan, while Aquan and Seele were happily demolishing a tiered stand of delicate pastries.

He turned his gaze to the white-haired girl across the table. “Furina, I need to know. Have you heard of a blonde traveler?”

“No.”

Frez blinked, genuinely surprised. “So the Traveler hasn’t even started their journey yet?”

Wait, hadn’t Furina mentioned earlier that Yixuan and the others should help farm regional legends?

“Is this traveler important?” Furina asked, her mismatched eyes narrowing slightly.

“Yes, extremely. She comes from beyond the heavens. Although she’ll fall asleep almost immediately upon arrival and her initial multi-element gathering power is weak, the moment she sets foot in Fontaine, it means the prophecy is about to trigger.”

The word prophecy dropped into the room like a lead weight, pressing heavily against Furina’s chest.

For centuries, she had been masquerading as a god, desperately trying to unravel that very prophecy and free the people of Fontaine from their doomed fate.

“What prophecy?” Yixuan asked.

“It’s the original sin of Fontaine’s first Hydro Archon, Egeria,” Frez explained, leaning back in his chair. “The people of Fontaine aren’t actually human. They are beings known as Oceanids, pure water spirits. Egeria used the power of the Primordial Sea to trap them in human forms. Because they are fundamentally still Oceanids, they cannot reproduce.”

Yixuan frowned, clearly confused. “But if they can’t have children, how has Fontaine survived as a nation until now?”

“They make a wish.”

“A wish?”

“Exactly. When a couple in Fontaine wants a child, they go to the Fountain of Lucine to pray. That fountain is where all the water veins of Teyvat converge. It’s not just a wish, it’s a ritual. After a few months, the Oceanids blessed by the spring water are born as new Fontainians.”

Frez mused inwardly. ‘The Fontainians are quite fascinating. I wonder if they have reproductive isolation from the people of other Teyvat nations.’

Wis’adel’s sharp mind immediately caught onto a loophole. She raised a hand, a sly smirk on her lips. “Hold on. So you’re saying if two Fontaine girls go make a wish…”

“Nobody’s tried it as far as I know, so I can’t say for sure,” Frez replied dryly. “But usually, it’s couples.”

Furina offered a stiff, noncommittal shrug.

Yixuan picked up a macaron, steering the conversation back on track. “So, Egeria transformed the Oceanids into humans, and she was punished for it?”

“Yes. According to the prophecy, the people of Fontaine are born with sin. The sea levels will rise, completely flooding the nation. Eventually, everyone will dissolve back into water, washing away their sins, leaving only the Hydro Archon weeping alone on her divine throne.”

Furina’s expression darkened, her gaze dropping to her lap. This was the tragic end she had spent five hundred agonizing years trying to rewrite.

She had played the role of a flawless, arrogant god for so long, terrified of dropping the act even in front of her otherworldly friends.

Yet, she knew Frez likely already knew her true identity. The way he spoke, he was deliberately hiding certain truths, explaining the lore of the world but carefully skirting around her personal secrets.

‘Frez knows,’she realized, her heart trembling.’He’s protecting me, isn’t he?’

Seele swallowed a mouthful of cake and asked, “Was this sin entirely Egeria’s fault?”

“Yes.”

Frez didn’t elaborate out loud. Instead, his fingers tapped silently, sending the real truth into the multiversal chat group.

[Dump Truck Hater: Teyvat was originally a world ruled by dragons. Later, the current Heavenly Principles arrived, and a massive war broke out against the dragon sovereigns. The first Hydro Dragon, the heart of the Primordial Sea, was killed. After the Heavenly Principles claimed victory, the Shade of Life created Egeria to replace the Hydro Dragon. She then created the Oceanids, who deeply yearned to become human. Egeria stole the power of the Primordial Sea to grant their wish.]

Naturally, this act of defiance was strictly forbidden by the Heavenly Principles. The people of Fontaine were burdened with original sin, and Egeria was condemned.

It wasn’t until the Archon War, when Fontaine desperately needed a ruler, that Egeria was chosen as the Hydro Archon. Throughout her reign, she constantly sought a way to absolve her people of their sin.

Five hundred years ago, the Cataclysm of Khaenri’ah erupted, and Egeria fell in battle. In her final moments, she entrusted the power and responsibility of the Hydro Archon, the looming prophecy of destruction, and the original sin of Fontaine to her successor, Focalors.

Focalors devised a desperate, brilliant plan. She believed that the only way to save Fontaine from the prophecy was to deceive the Heavenly Principles themselves.

She separated her divinity from her body and spirit, leaving behind a human shell with no memories, as if she had just been born. She named this human self Furina.

Frez’s messages echoed in the minds of the chat group members, leaving them in a state of utter shock.

Wis’adel was the first to speak, her voice sharp and fast. “Wait, so you’re not the Hydro Archon?”

Furina flinched, instinctively defaulting to her centuries-old script. “I am! I am the Hydro Archon!”

Her tone was panicked, desperate to prove herself, but Frez smoothly intervened. “That’s right. In Fontaine, Furina is the Hydro Archon.”

Yixuan quickly caught on to the delicate situation. She nodded firmly. “We can’t doubt Fufu’s identity. She’s the Hydro Archon, and she’s incredibly powerful.”

Aquan opened her mouth to ask a question, but Frez swiftly grabbed a piece of cake and shoved it directly into her mouth, silencing her with frosting.

[Dump Truck Hater: We can just discuss this in the chat group. Furina, the Heavenly Principles can’t invade this chat. Besides, they aren’t doing so well right now anyway, so they don’t have the capacity to monitor your side anymore.]

[Fufu: So… so…]

[Dump Truck Hater: In front of us, you don’t need to pretend. You can just be yourself.]

Furina waved her hands frantically in the physical world, forcing a strained laugh. “What disguise? No, no, no, I’m not…”

She smiled, but the dam finally broke. Hot tears began to slide uncontrollably from the corners of her eyes.

Her nose stung fiercely. Five hundred years of agonizing hardship. Five hundred years of isolated waiting, of flawless perseverance, without a single soul she could confide in.

In everyone’s eyes, she had to be the perfect, dramatic Hydro Archon.

Today repeating yesterday. Tomorrow repeating today.

Day after day, year after year.

“I… I am the Hydro Archon…” she whispered, her voice cracking.

Even though she knew she didn’t need to hide in front of these friends, the words were so deeply ingrained in her soul that she couldn’t stop saying them.

Yixuan sighed softly. She reached out and gently pulled the trembling girl into her arms. “Just cry. There’s no one else here.”

“I won’t… I won’t… boohoo…”

She couldn’t hold it back anymore. Furina buried her face in Yixuan’s shoulder and began to sob, desperately trying to muffle her wails so no one outside the room would hear.

Seele silently patted Furina’s back. Hearing the sheer weight of those five centuries, Seele genuinely couldn’t fathom how the girl had managed to survive it all without shattering.

Furina needed this release. She cried until Yixuan’s shirt was completely soaked through, clinging uncomfortably to her skin.

But Yixuan didn’t complain. She merely stroked Furina’s hair, letting the centuries of grief wash away in silence.

A while later, with her eyes swollen and red, Furina sat back down. Someone had brought her a couple of ice packs, which she pressed gently against her face. Yixuan had excused herself to take a quick shower and change into dry clothes before returning to the table.

“So, what about the prophecy?” Wis’adel asked, leaning forward.

“There is a solution,” Frez replied.

[Dump Truck Hater: Focalors is currently inside the Oratrice Mecanique d’Analyse Cardinale, gathering energy through trials. When the prophecy finally arrives, she will use this massive accumulation of energy to shatter the divine throne of the Hydro Archon. That throne was forged using the stolen authority of the Hydro Dragon Sovereign. Once the throne is destroyed, the ancient dragon’s authority will return to its rightful owner. At that moment, the Hydro Dragon Sovereign will have the power to completely turn the Oceanids of Fontaine into true humans.]

“Where is this Hydro Dragon Sovereign?” Aquan asked directly, finally swallowing her cake.

“In Fontaine. The Iudex, Neuvillette, is the reincarnation of the Hydro Dragon Sovereign,” Frez said, taking a calm sip of his tea. “In a sense, you could consider Neuvillette to be Furina’s second uncle.”

Furina lowered the ice packs, blinking her puffy eyes in sheer bewilderment.

Furina:???