The Second Archon War: Animula Choragi 26 (Patreon)

Animula Choragi 26: L'infedeltà delusa

Furina had no idea what she was doing and was about half a second from dissolving into a puddle of pure anxious nerves as the Tsaritsa glared at her. Which in her current form, wouldn’t be all that difficult to do. 

It had all started about an hour ago, at least from the world’s perspective. She’d been at home with Yennifer working on the script to la Petite Océanide while Yennifer worked on a case on her laptop. They were still in the tiny apartment, though really they should have been looking for somewhere more spacious and less dingy. And also, less water damaged. 

Still, the old flat felt like home, and Furina hadn’t had it in her to broach the subject of moving to Yennifer yet. That bedroom and bed had too many wonderful memories for Furina to want to leave them behind, even if a newer abode would have been much more spacious and less cramped with four people sharing two bedrooms. 

Diane was sitting in the living room, drawing in a coloring book, while Charlotte was in her bedroom editing a video. It felt downright domestic, and Furina often looked up from her own scribbles to smile at Yennifer or squeeze her hand.

“You know, we could get you a computer instead of you writing all that in notebooks,” Yennifer pointed out as she gave Furina’s hand a squeeze.

“It helps me think, and while I have used a typewriter, they hadn’t been around for very long from my perspective, only about 50 years,” Furina explained.

“Hmm, you’re an old woman robbing the cradle,” Yennifer chuckled, then kissed Furina on the cheek. “More coffee?”

“Please,” Furina agreed, and clicked her ballpoint pen absently. She did so like the clicky pens. Very satisfying to play with while you thought, though she’d long employed inkwell pens over feather quills. Unlike Neuvillette, who would probably insist on using quill and ink pot until his dying day, despite pens having been around for a century. 

That was when there was a ding on Yennifer’s computer. It was quite insistent, and then a frantic voice came over the line. 

“Furina! It’s me! Please, answer right away! It’s an emergency!” the voice of Lord Buer cried.

Furina gasped in shock and spun the laptop to face herself, finding that the screen had been taken over by the glowing green avatar of the Dendro Archon. 

“Nahida!? What’s wrong?!” Furina hissed, glancing frantically over at Diane, who had sprung up on the back of the couch and was eyeing her mother curiously. 

“The Abyss! The Abyss has attacked Russia! It has invaded five points in Dantilion’s domain!” Nahida cried.

The Abyss!? Here, now?! Oh sweet songs and waters, why this doom now!?  Focalors wailed in the back of Furina’s mind. 

The news very nearly made Furina faint, and she had to lean on Yennifer who had dashed over to support her. 

“What is the Abyss?” Yennifer asked, peering at the screen. 

“The realm of darkness, chaos, and all consuming hunger,” Furina said, shivering despite the warmth of the day. “It…it can’t be here, can it? Abyssal contamination…it…it’s not present on Earth Bet.”

“It wasn’t, but we now have five active incursion points. The other Archons and I are mobilizing to root out the corruption and purify the contamination before it spreads. We can only pray we are in time,” Nahida’s avatar said with a shake of her head. “We need you, Focalors. I know you have laid low, but this-”

“I, I don’t know what I can do, but, but I will help, however I can!” Furina promised, fear gripping her heart. This was how Egeria had died. Battling the Abyss in the Cataclysm.

“Good. The Tsaritsa is still weak from her battle with Barbatos. We have ceased all hostilities. The Abyss is a threat so grave, we cannot afford to be anything but unified,” Nahida said. 

“Understood, I, I will depart at once!” Furina said, and Nahida’s image vanished from the computer. 

Trembling, Furina got slowly to her feet, and kissed Yennifer before taking her lover’s hands. “I…I have to go, Yennifer. This…this is the duty of a god, to protect mankind in their hour of need. I…I don’t know if I will come back, but I love you, with all my heart.”

“Of course, and I’m coming with you,” Yennifer said firmly.

Then the door to Charlotte’s room banged open and a teenage whirlwind stormed out. “Wait, HOLD UP! You’re going to go fight something called the Abyss in-”

Furina surged forward and tackled Charlotte, shoving a hand over the girl’s mouth. “Do not speak its name! You crétin! This is the cursed knowledge that has destroyed kingdoms! And no, you are NOT coming, Charlotte! You have to stay and protect Diane!” 

“From what?!” Charlotte demanded when Furina moved her hand. “I have a Vision! I can use Cryo! I can help!”

Oh child.  You know not what you say, Focalors groaned. 

“From…from an incursion, here,” Furina said, getting shakily to her feet. Her knees were knocking together, and cold sweat had broken out all over her body. 

“But Paris is more than 2000 kilometers from Moscow,” Charlotte scoffed. 

“It doesn’t matter. We’d get incursions from Natlan in Fontaine at times. The fel beasts can appear anywhere, spreading their taint. We had to constantly be on watch, purging nests of hilichurls, and far worse, from Fontaine and her waters,” Furina whispered. “It is the Abyss. And…and we have no Celestia to shelter us now.”

If there had been one useful part of having Heaven lording it over and dooming mortals that Sinned, it was that the wrath of Celestia was one of the few things certain to beat back the Abyss. A Divine Nail was a cruel judgement…but such measures were necessary when it came to the Abyss. 

Charlotte’s enthusiasm vanished as she slowly got up. “You…you’re actually afraid… Furina…what is this?”

“I can’t explain. To even know the name…it’s tainted. Drives mortals and gods alike to madness,” Furina said with a shiver. “It’s…it’s hell, Charlotte. Hell and all its demons. And if it has found this world…it will attempt to consume every last living soul, every last bit of matter, and drag it into its corrupting hell as it destroys time and Fate itself.”

Diane started to cry, and Furina hastened over, picking up her daughter and squeezing her tightly as she planted kisses on Diane’s forehead and cheeks. “Shhh, shhh, it will be alright. Maman…maman will keep you safe. You will stay here, with Charlotte, and keep Paris safe, alright?”

“B-but I’m scared,” Diane hiccuped, her ears flat against her head, her eyes wide with terror. 

Furina hesitated, but Yennifer came over and hugged Diane as well. “Mutti will keep Maman safe. You stay back and protect Charlotte, OK? She’s scared too.”

Diane sniffled and nodded, and Furina passed their daughter over to Charlotte, who had gone deathly pale. “I…I can’t publish a story on this, can I?”

“The Abyss is memetic corruption. Even knowing its name is dangerous, let alone any further details. To know more is to court worse than madness and death. If anything, you should do all you can to suppress all knowledge of the Abyss, in the hopes that fewer will learn of its secrets,” Furina confirmed. She hugged and kissed Charlotte as her own sister, and Yennifer made her goodbyes as well. 

“Go to Barbara’s. You’ll be safest there. Tell her as little as possible,” Furina urged, and pushed Charlotte and Diane out the door. 

Mother, how can I fastest travel to New Moscow? Furina asked as she and Yennifer grabbed their arms and dressed for battle, though that mostly consisted of sensible shoes, jeans, and a warm jacket. It wasn’t as though Furina had armor or even a weapon she knew how to use. 

I am afraid I see but one recourse: We must travel to the Seine, and call upon the Hydro Dragon. I know very little of her, save that she served the Raiden Shogun, and is a mother herself. Perhaps she will be amicable to us. 

Wincing, Furina nodded. She grabbed Yennifer, kissing her passionately. “I love you.”

“I love you,” Yennifer gasped. “What’s the plan?”

“We need to go incognito,” Furina said, and hastily wove disguises from Hydro, altering her and Yennifer’s features to be plainer, drabber, and more ordinary. “Second, I will need to seek to summon the Hydro Dragon. She can convey us to Moscow, and…and we will need her abilities.”

She and Yennifer called a cab, and within minutes, were at the Seine, where Furina hastened down the banks with her lover at her side. She crouched on a cobbled path, and immersed her hands in the waters, drawing a few curious looks. The Seine was cleaner now, but no one paddled about in it very often as it had long been quite noxious. 

With all her mental might, Furina projected, Hydro Dragon, I, Focalors, Hydro Archon, summon you. The Abyss threatens this world, and its people have need of us.

There was silence for five long, heart wrenching seconds. Then, I COME. 

Furina and Yennifer hastened along the river to a small dock and stepped out onto it, waiting patiently. About ten agonizingly eternal minutes later, a glowing wave raced up the Seine, and Keiga the Hydro Dragon, as long as a bus, rose up out of the waters to regard Furina. She had long pink whiskers like a catfish, and two coral-like antlers, with deep blue eyes that regarded Furina with curiosity, but no malice. 

She’s rather different from Neuvillette, isn’t she? Furina thought breathlessly to Focalors. 

Indeed. She is young, of an age with Yennifer, I think. It is interesting, for I can see how she was forged. Beezelbul picked a warrior and made herself a weapon. I do not think she intended this weapon to pass to us, but we shall see. I sense a longing in her, a longing for us to reveal her ultimate purpose. This will be a delicate matter. 

HYDRO ARCHON. I HAVE COME. LONG HAVE I SOUGHT YOU, Keiga rumbled. WHY DID YOU CONCEAL YOURSELF FROM ME? 

I concealed myself from everyone, Furina replied. She cast off her disguise, but did not assume her mortal form. Instead, she transformed herself into pure hydro, obscuring her features and shape, and setting her clothes to be that same outfit that was still hidden at the bottom of her drawers. At the same time, she clad Yennifer in opaque Hydro armor, like that of a French Medieval Knight. 

 I meant you no disrespect, Dragon. Instead, I explored this world with caution. 

THE PEOPLE NEED YOU. THEY CRY OUT FOR RESTORATION. FOR JUSTICE, Keiga growled, then shook her head. NOW IS NOT THE TIME. THERE IS A FOE WE MUST FACE. TO WHENCE DO WE DEPART? 

New Moscow. You shall convey myself and my Champion there, that we might aid the Tsaritsa and save her people from the Doom of the Abyss, Furina stated. 

VERY WELL. CLIMB ON, Keiga said, and drew herself up alongside the dock so that Furina and Yennifer could get on the dragon’s back. 

No sooner were they aboard than Keiga raced off, jarring Furina in her seat and clinging tightly to Yennifer. They raced down the Seine at incredible speeds, but Furina knew that they were still too slow.

I am the boatwoman of the River of Time, Furina said to herself, and began to move her hands in arcane patterns that came naturally to her. Let not the flow of Time pass but slowly, ere we reach our destination. 

The world around them froze utterly, save for the waters through which Keiga raced. 

THAT IS A MIGHTY SPELL, Keiga commented. ONE WORTHY OF AN ARCHON. I CONFESS, I HAD MY DOUBTS AS TO YOUR POWER, AS YOU WERE SO TIMID. 

“Do not doubt my Lady’s power!” Yennifer said, her voice distorted from her disguise. “She is the Hydro Archon!”

“I think we can dispense with that, for now,” Furina said, and dismissed her and Yennifer’s disguises. Cautiously, she clambered up until she was sitting atop Keiga’s head. The great eyes turned up to glance at her, then returned to the waters. Furina swallowed. 

I RECOGNIZE YOU. THE PRISONER. AND…YOU DID THE CARAMEL DANCE ON THE INTERNET. MY DAUGHTER IS FOND OF IT. Keiga hesitated, then, suddenly, Furina found herself standing on the water, Keiga having turned back into a woman. For a brief instant, she was naked, until she waved water to cloth herself.

Oh, darling, Focalors sighed, manifesting herself fully next to Furina and making Yennifer jump. There is no need for that. Does Beezelbul have no taste? Surely she taught you how to keep yourself clothed while transformed. No, of course she didn’t. That one never gave a fig if she were clothed or naked, save for if it were armor for battle. 

 Similarly to her reinment, Keiga crafted a boat from pure Hydro, a small, narrow craft that had the look of a traditional Japanese fishing vessel. Keiga sat in the stern, and motioned for the others to seat themselves in the prow. “I will continue to propel us. It is not so fast, but as we seem to have all the time we require, I suggest we acquaint ourselves before battle.” 

“Oh, um, yes! Introductions,” Furina said hastily. “Ah, this is my mother, Focalors. Mother, this is Yennifer Lustria, my, um, my lover and champion. I…I am Furina de Fontaine, who was once but a mortal woman, now…now the Hydro Archon.”

Keiga gave a seated bow. “I am Wang Chiyo, wife of Wang Kenta and mother of Wang Bailu. I am the Hydro Dragon.”

Charmed, Focalors said, turning her head toward Yennifer. A pleasure to meet you face to face at least, Yennifer Lustria. And you as well, Madam Wang. 

“I…I thought you were Focalors, Furina,” Yennifer said, sounding a bit confused.

“Well, I am. Or, rather, I’m Focalor’s humanity. We were separated for five centuries, and, well, we’re rather different people now,” Furina admitted. “We have remerged in many ways, but I myself seem to have become a god…or, perhaps not? As you know, I still have my womanly courses and human frailties."

Chiyo started. “You still have your monthly guest? Mine ceased when I became heavy with my daughter, and have not resumed. I spoke of this with Lord Beezelbul, and she confirmed such is the way of the kami.”

My daughter is yet fully human, though she has also the spark of the Divine. Such was the way of the Pyro Archons, and, perhaps, now the Hydro Archon as well, Focalors said with a watery shrug. We shall see in two-score years if my daughter has grey upon her brow and a back bent from age. 

Furina started, but that was true. She hadn’t really thought about it, but if she was mortal now, then she had perhaps four-score years. How old was she, really? Physically, she seemed to be the same age, or even younger, than Yennifer, who was twenty-and-six. “If it is so, then I welcome it. Five centuries of life is enough for any woman, and I would not wish to outlive Yennifer regardless.” 

“Furina, don’t die on my account,” Yennifer said with a nervous chuckle. She turned towards Chiyo then. “You have a daughter, don’t you? We do as well, though until a month ago, she was our pet kitten.”

Chiyo brightened and summoned a screen of Hydro, upon which she projected pictures of a young girl of about 3 years of age, though this one had small nubs of horns and a purple tail. “She is my pride and joy, my Bailu.” Chiyo’s expression fell, and she had to wipe away a tear. “I miss her greatly.”

Furina bit her lip and nodded. “I’m worried about Diane. She’s older than Bailu, or, well, developmentally, she’s further along? But she’s still just a little girl…”

Pulling out her phone, Furina showed Chiyo pictures of Diane, which Chiyo greatly appreciated. They swapped a few stories as well, with Yennifer retelling the near-disastrous Disneyland visit where Diane had climbed Fortuna to get at that damned pigeon. 

For her part, Chiyo shared stories of Bailu being what sounded like an unholy terror to the entire Imperial Palace. A toddler that could fly? That was a recipe for disaster indeed. 

“I must confess, you are not as I expected, Madame Wang,” Furina said as their boat left the Seine and began to race up the coast to the East. 

“Please, Lord Focalors, call me Chiyo,” the dragon said with a slight bow. 

“Then you must call me Furina, Lord Focalors is my mother,” Furina joked, which made her mother snort in amusement. 

“Are you…always with us?” Yennifer asked Focalors, who gave a tinkling laugh. 

Heavens no! At times I travel away from Furina in spirit. Especially when the two of you are abed. There are certain things a mother does not wish to know her daughter is doing in fact, even if in practice she is quite aware. 

They chatted for a few minutes more, until Furina felt them sailing through the Baltic Sea and approaching the Tsaritsa’s domain. She could feel that she had long ago left her own lands, and while she had some authority over the waves, these were waters claimed by the Tsaritsa. 

“What do you know of the threat we face?” Furina asked Chiyo. 

“Little and less,” the dragon admitted. “I do not know that Lord Beezelbul even spoke of the Abyss and its threat. What must I know before we arrive?”

“We will need to purge the Abyssal monsters, then purify the land. The Tsaritsa will have a specific means of doing so, but we must aid her. The Abyss is a threat to all mankind, and if we do not erase it, it will return, and more deadly than before,” Furina said, thinking to what she’d learned from her research, and what she had inherited from Focalors. 

She hesitated, then added, “I am…not very proficient as a warrior. I will support and aid as I can, and I can cleanse and heal, but…fighting is not my strong point.”

“My aspect may be Restoration, but by training I am a warrior,” Chiyo said, and nodded at Yennifer. “You have the bearing of one who has seen battle as well.”

“I fought against the Fatui at Riga, when I had only my lame antlers,” Yennifer said, reaching up to touch them. “I am not a warrior by nature, but I will do what I can.”

“You did very well against the Blasphemies,” Furina said, taking Yennifer’s hands in hers and squeezing them. “I shall rely on you to safeguard me in the Tsaritsa’s court.”

“Then I shall take the field and cleanse the land by slaying our foes,” Chiyo said with a nod. “Be ready. I will transform once more and bring you to the Tsaritsa’s palace.”

“My spell will take effect only so long as we stick to the waterways,” Furina said. “We will have to take the canals to the Volga. The route is longer and more arduous for us, but time will remain at a crawl while we do so.”

Indeed, though they had traveled for about two hours by Furina’s reckoning, bare minutes had passed since they had departed Paris for the rest of the world. She could see frozen seabirds hanging in the air, and the waves they cut through moved only so long as they were upon them, going to stillness once more in the vessel’s wake.

Chiyo returned to her draconic form, and Focalors vanished back into Furina’s spirit. Reweaving Yennifer’s disguise, Furina assumed her form of Hydro. It didn’t quite feel natural to her, but it was easy enough and it would obscure her features sufficiently that none would be able to identify her. 

They passed through the Tsaritsa’s realm, Furina noted the coldness of the air. Even in summer, a chill pervaded in the air, and she could sense it was not simply due to the northern climes she now passed through. The power of the Cryo Archon kept all in a perpetual near winter, preserved in stasis by her power.

She did, however, also note the industry and fields of hearty crops they traveled through. Cruel and cold the Tsaritsa might be to outsiders, but Furina sensed that no Russian children starved, no Russian elders froze to death for lack of shelter, and no Russian man or woman suffered for want of a well paying job. Like a mother, the Tsaritsa provided for all. And, like a mother, her punishments were severe for any who stepped out of line.

“This isn’t true Justice,” Furina whispered. “Justice must be tempered with mercy.”

I AM GLAD TO HEAR YOU SAY SUCH, FOR MY OWN THOUGHTS AGREE WITH YOURS, LORD FOCALORS, Keiga rumbled under Furina as they left the Volga and time snapped back into normal motion. MAKE READY. WE APPROACH NEW MOSCOW. 

Taking a deep breath, Furina locked her arms around Yennifer’s armor and tried to compose herself. Focalors. She had to be the character of Focalors the Hydro Archon, not Furina the Scared Actress. 

Confidence. I need to be confident. Project calm, power, and authority. I need to be Justice itself, imposing and final, here to save the innocent and judge the guilty. 

Don’t forget class: Focalors is famously the most erudite of Archons, at home in the concert hall, the garden, the villa, the judgement seat, and both prosecutor and defense depending upon the case, her mother chided. 

So, I should just be you? Furina demanded breathlessly as Keiga came in for a landing before the Imperial Palace. 

Be yourself, Furina. You reigned in Fontaine for 500 years without anyone suspecting a thing. The Tsaritsa would know this, so show her that dazzling star who deceived heaven itself! 

That was never me though… Furina thought, but then Keiga had alighted on the staircase, Fatui guards watching nervously as Yennifer hopped down, then extended a hand to help Furina down. She hopped down confidently, then strode up the steps. She just heard the Tsaritsa mention her name before she burst into the council chamber. 

THEN, DARLING, FEAR NOT! FOR THE STAR HAS ARRIVED! I, FOCALORS, AM READY FOR MY GRAND DEBUT!

Too much, too much! Aahhhhh, they’re going to know I’m pretending! Furina wailed mentally as she swayed up to the table and leaned against it. 

LORD FOCALORS. I AM IN YOUR DEBT FOR YOUR WILLINGNESS TO COME TO MY AID IN MY HOUR OF NEED, the Tsaritsa said, assuming her own godly form and inclining her head to Furina. 

Oh thank the Seven, she bought it! Furina nearly wept, and continued her charade. 

The situation was indeed dire, and Furina felt her heart quail at the thought of potentially thousands of these skaven things in the sewers of New Moscow. However, Furina knew sewers well, having overseen the construction of extensive ones within Fontaine. 

“Schematics, darling, I need schematics!” Furina declared, snapping her fingers and making a splashing sound. “You, fetch me the layout of the sewers! Be quick!” 

The schematics were brought out, and Furina surveyed them, grasping the machinery quickly. It was, after all, Fontainian in design. “Oh ho, I see you’ve been stealing from my realm, Dantalion! Well, never you mind, I’ll come after you for the patent rights later. Still, yours are dreadfully out of date. These are based on the designs by Gaspard Virelle in 427, non?” 

“Yes,” the Tsaritsa agreed easily. “Plans that we purchased with full authority for use in Snezhnaya.”

Furina laughed in the stereotypical and false fashion that she’d always used for the Hydro Archon, “Ehehmhmhm! But not in Russia, my dear, not in Russia! Well, I’ll forgive you for now, darling, as dearest Monsieur Virelle designs will make this easy! I shall tell you how we manage this: you station men here, here, and here. I shall flood the sewers, then you freeze them. That shall cleanse these vile pests. Then you can have your little army deal with the riffraff we flush out.” Furina flicked her fingers dismissively, as if such a plan was almost beneath her.

“And the cleansing of the Abyssal Taint?” the Tsarista demanded. 

“That is my task,” Keiga pronounced. She was wearing armor now, the lacquered armor of what Furina would have said was Inazuma, but was probably Japanese in style. She had a kabuto helm under her arm, and a katana that was clearly god-forged at her hip. “I will cleanse this taint once the source of it has been removed.”

“Then let us see to it before-”

There was a distant explosion, then church bells began to ring in alarm. 

“Majesty! Monsters are attacking Imperial Square! They’re appearing from portals!” an officer shouted. 

“Portals opening all over the city!” another reported, even as the sounds of battle could be heard. 

TO ARMS! The Tsaritsa bellowed, her massive blade forming in her hands. FOCALORS, WITH ME! WE MUST STEM THIS TIDE BEFORE MY CITY IS OVERWHELMED. 

NOT A DROP OF INNOCENT BLOOD SHALL BE SHED WHILE I HOLD COURT, Furina declared, and reached out. I SHALL BUY US TIME. 

Furina reached into her memory, and recalled the latest blueprints for Guardemeks. With a bit of focus, she began to form battalions of them all across the city, wherever she could sense the encroaching presence of the Abyss. 

LET THE WORLD COME ALIVE! Furina decreed, and her hydro-clockwork army sprang into motion, stemming the tide of the Abyss. They were individually rather ineffectual: Guardemeks were notoriously bad shots and generally slow and jerky in motion, but Furina was able to direct them all herself, tapping into her new godly powers more deeply than she ever had before. 

THERE, she sniffed. NOW, TO THE SEWERS. 

Furina and the Tsaritsa raced outside, Yennifer and Eidolon dogging their heels and destroying any Abyssal creatures that got too close. What was an American cape doing helping them? Wasn’t he the Tsaritsa’s foe? No matter. They had a city to save, and little time in which to do it.