Ren
The burst of energy faded away almost as quickly as it came.
Furina flinched, pulling her hand away at the sudden sensation and staring at it oddly.
Meanwhile, Ren prepared himself, thinking of what questions he wanted to ask. He decided it would be better not to beat around the bush.
"First question," he said, staring into her eyes. "Are you the Hydro Archon?"
"Yes," she said instantly, settling onto a wooden chair in the corner. "I have been for over five hundred years, watching over Fontaine after the First Hydro Archon passed away."
Ren couldn't hide the shock he felt.
'She's actually the Hydro Archon?'
Nothing happened to Furina, which meant that she didn't violate the vow's conditions. She was being entirely truthful.
But even if she was, there was just something that didn't sit right with him. Too many odd actions and decisions, along with Furina's own mannerisms, were just too suspicious.
"Satisfied?" Furina regained a slight smile, a bit of her usual pride back in her voice.
"Not even close." He had to hide the unease he felt now, interrogating an actual deity. "Then what happened to your power?"
And just like that, her smile was gone.
Furina stared down at her hands, thinking hard about how to answer, and even when she finally did, she chose her words carefully.
"Five hundred years ago, Fontaine was in peril. A great catastrophe befell the land, and Egeria, the First Hydro Archon, fell." Her hands clenched the fabric of her clothes. "Fontaine needed an Archon, and so… Focalors was elected by Egeria herself to handle the disaster and keep Fontaine in one piece."
She paused for a moment, and Ren waited for her to continue.
"...Even after the land was safer, people were still uneasy. Crime was rampant, and Fontaine was destroying itself internally." She swallowed, her body tensing. "So the Oratrice was built to put people's minds at ease, and to protect Fontaine's stability."
"So when the Oratrice was finished…"
"I had not a sliver of power to my name." She looked up at him with a sad smile, one that he tried to ignore.
"But even so… a god without power still has the body of a god. Why are you unable to even defend yourself against thugs?"
His bluntness made her wince, but she answered. "It doesn't work that way with me. When the Oratrice was created, my divinity… left me. Aside from my immortality, I'm—" Her breath hitched. "I'm only human."
Ren thought back to when the rogue had a blade pressed against her throat. The fear in her eyes was not something a person could just fake.
…
"Why did you make me your assistant?"
Out of all his questions, this was the one that made Furina freeze. She opened her mouth to answer but shut it not a second later.
"...I can't answer that."
"Are you saying the answer could put Fontaine in danger?"
Furina nodded.
'How does this make any sense?' How could this mundane, almost insignificant question be the one she couldn't answer?!
His curiosity only grew. What could the Hydro Archon want with him to make him her assistant? What could she not say that could endanger an entire nation?
But he couldn't force her to tell him, not with the vow in place.
"Fine." He let out a long breath. All the anger and frustration he had brought into this room had almost completely faded away, and it left him conflicted.
In front of him was not a powerful deity. But a deity that had lost all her might, yet still chose to lead a nation, deceiving everyone into thinking she still had that power.
His only question was—
"Why?" His voice came out much softer now. "You don't possess any power or authority over the Hydro element. So why are you still telling everyone you have an Archon's strength?"
His question didn't leave her frozen so much as confused. It looked like even she didn't know how to answer.
"Because it's my responsibility." She put a hand to her chest, a sad smile crossing her face. "The people look to me, and when they see me, they feel safe. They find comfort knowing their Archon watches over them. That's all there is to—Ghh!"
Her hand clenched her chest, her body shivering in place like a cold wind had just blown past her.
It was obvious what had happened.
She had just triggered the vow.
Furina let out a shaky breath that slowly turned into a sad laugh. "...Of course I can't say that."
She went quiet for a long moment. When she finally spoke again, her voice was barely above a whisper.
"Do you know what it's like? To stand in front of an entire nation for five hundred years. Constantly worrying that if you played your part wrong, everything would come crumbling down?"
Tears pricked at her eyes, but she didn't seem to notice. Instead of just the look of sadness in them, she also looked so, so tired.
"Ruling, judging, protecting an entire nation with no more strength than the people I'm supposed to protect? Not even that, I'm weaker than most!" Her voice cracked, but she didn't seem to process it. The moment she started to vent her frustration, she couldn't stop all that had built up. "Smiling every single day, putting on a show in front of the world so that no one would look any closer. Because if anyone found out, then Fontaine would be doomed."
Tears fell down her face as she trembled in her chair, barely keeping herself together. But she soon forced herself to breathe, looking up at him with a firm expression.
"I may not have the strength of a god. But even so… Fontaine needs an Archon."
…
…
/ — /
Furina
Furina sat frozen in her seat, cheeks still wet, waiting for Ren to say something.
He didn't. He was completely silent for at least an entire minute.
Just standing there with his head lowered and hair hiding his eyes. Suddenly she spotted his shoulders trembling slightly, and his hands were balled into fists at his sides.
'...Oh no.'
She went back over everything she had just said. This wasn't how it was supposed to go! She had planned her words so carefully, but she had blown it!
When she triggered the vow, a part of her just… couldn't hold back. She spilled all her worries and fears in front of him, and the moment she realised what she had done, it was too late.
Then she straight up bawled her eyes out in front of him. Rambling on about things she had never told anyone in five hundred years.
Her mind flashed back to her own words. 'I'm only human.'
'GAAAH! Why did I say that?!'
Five hundred years on stage, playing her part flawlessly in front of thousands, only to fumble her facade in front of an audience of one.
The worst possibilities flashed through her mind. Ren would tell everyone, Navia maybe, then the Gardes. By tomorrow morning, it would be on the front page of the Steambird for all of Fontaine to read.
The Hydro Archon was powerless!
And then everything would come crumbling down. Fontaine would be doomed.
All because she couldn't keep her mouth shut for one night.
Furina tried to come up with something to say to salvage the situation, but then she remembered she couldn't lie her way out of it.
This was the end.
'You idiot…' Her eyes watered again. 'Five hundred years… All for nothing…'
She looked up at Ren, ready for his look of disgust at the false Archon she was—
Only to hear him sniffle.
'Huh?'
He finally raised his head to look at her, showing his glossy eyes. He wasn't crying, but he was pretty close to it.
The same hardened warrior that had looked at her with such anger before was now on the verge of tears.
"I'm sorry, Furina…"
'HUHHH??'
"I called you nothing more than a damsel and questioned your legitimacy… And I made you swear a vow just so I could interrogate you when you've been protecting Fontaine all by yourself for five hundred years…"
…
'...He bought it?'
She blinked.
'He bought ALL of it?!'
It wasn't like she had lied. She couldn't! But still, her words were half-truths, and she had abused the fact that the vow only stopped her from lying, not from leaving things out. She just twisted events to fit a different narrative while keeping every word true.
When he asked if she was the Hydro Archon, she answered as the Archon all of Fontaine knew: Focalors. And in everyone's eyes, Furina and Focalors were one and the same.
She thought she had done a sloppy job.
To think he bought every word…
'I was worried for nothing!'
Furina nearly fainted from sheer relief. She had sat through thousands of trials and stared down the worst criminals Fontaine had to offer, but few had ever gotten her this riled up.
"Can you forgive me?"
"Yes!" The word flew out of her mouth before she could even think. She got off her chair and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Yes, of course! You're completely forgiven!"
She winced when she realised she had spoken without thinking again, but all her words were true in that she was more than happy to push the entire conversation out the window.
Ren just nodded, looking at her now with some shame and regret, but also with great respect. He was about to say something, but she grabbed his sleeve before he could say another word, dragging him to the door.
She was NOT going to risk saying anything in this forsaken room!
"Wonderful! Now that that's settled, let's get out of this room. Right now."
/ — /
Ren
Furina didn't let go of his sleeve until they were back in the hall. The thing that immediately got their attention was the growling.
Vader and Yoda glowered over the tied-up rogues, focused on one that had woken up. A woman was leaning back against the broken bar.
She glared at the two of them with nothing but fury in her eyes. He had to give it to her, she still showed spirit even after losing.
"You two sure took your sweet time." She spat a glob of blood onto the floor. "Enjoy this short victory while it lasts."
Her words made Furina and Ren glance at each other.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
The rogue's lips curled into a grin. "While you two were busy fighting us off, we sent a few of us to slip out and get help. Three of our strongest are on their way here right now."
'That's not good.' Ren frowned. The rogues on average didn't give him any trouble, but three of their strongest would be tricky to fight off.
Even if none of the three were as strong as someone like Solenne, they could be close, and in a 3v1 he wasn't sure he could do it with his limited arsenal, especially if they had Visions.
Another thing he noticed was the look of confidence in the rogue's eyes. She recognised who Furina was, that's for sure, so why did she look so irritatingly smug?
"That's some big talk for some petty thugs." He crossed his arms. "What makes you think three Rogue Duelists could take on the Hydro Archon?"
The woman's grin only grew wider.
"You two weren't exactly quiet in the other room."
Furina went pale.
The woman's shoulders shook as she laughed. "Who knew that the great Hydro Archon would actually be powerless—!"
THUD.
Ren hit her on the side of her head before she could say anything else, knocking her out instantly.
Turning to Furina, he saw the mortified look on her face. Her body trembled as she stared at the woman.
"This can't be happening… If this gets out…"
"I mean, I could just—" He drew his sword from his Shadow Storage and pointed it at the unconscious rogue, then made a cutting motion.
For a second, she actually looked tempted. Then she shook her head. "We already defeated her… It isn't right…"
"I'm sensing a 'but' here."
"...Only as a last resort," she said, not proud of her words. It was clear that she was rattled, confused about what to do.
While Ren would rather just kill the rogue outright, there was another option, but it relied on other people.
"Even if she does tell people, no one's gonna actually believe her, you know?"
Furina looked up at him. "What are you saying?"
"Think about it. You are the god of a literal nation, watching over everyone for five hundred years. She's a thug everyone in Fontaine wants behind bars. Who do you think people would believe?"
Furina looked like she wanted to object. But the longer she thought about it, the more the tension left her shoulders.
If some random criminal started spouting that the Hydro Archon was powerless, people would write it off as the ramblings of a bitter thug. Nobody would even dare confront her about it. As outgoing as she was with her people, she was still their god, and asking her would come close to blasphemy.
"...I guess you're right." She sighed, putting on a smile. "Thank you, assistant."
"Glad to hear it." Ren smiled back. "But let's get back to the bigger problem now. The three strongest rogues."
He and Furina didn't even need to exchange words, already thinking the same thing.
Navia had her people posted around the area in case any rogues slipped out. They might have already caught the runners. But with how many rogues they had fought earlier, there was no telling how many got out and got past the Spina.
Which left them with two options.
They could run and get reinforcements. But there was no way in hell they could drag every captured rogue out with them.
So they would have to either kill the ones still alive—which he knew Furina would not let him do—or risk having the remaining rogues escape once the three strongest arrived.
The other option was to stay and fight. Which, as much as Ren loved a good battle, he also loved not dying.
The more troublesome part was that Furina wouldn't be much help here. He couldn't fight them while keeping her safe.
"I can still fight," she said, eyeing one of the many guns on the ground. But even as she said that, he could see her fingers trembling. She knew how risky this was as well as he did.
"...No." She let out a long sigh. "We should retreat. We've already dealt them a huge blow tonight, and we still have everything we found in that office. Stopping the rest is only a matter of time."
He couldn't argue with her logic. It was ultimately the safest choice.
But it didn't sit right with him.
"And then what? Those three show up and cut everyone loose? We would just be slowing them down, and it won't be long until they get back up and running." He stared at the tied-up rogues. "And they'd probably be even more careful, so we can rule out tracking them down quickly."
He looked back at Furina. "There won't be a better opportunity to hit them this hard. We could end this all tonight by taking out their strongest."
"...Then what do you suggest?"
"I'll stay behind, and you get reinforcements."
"What?"
"Max Elephant can take you back up to the surface. You need to find Navia and see if her people caught all the runners. If they did, then come back and tell me." He paused. "If they didn't, then get backup—probably the Gardes—and keep the Spina out of here. I have a feeling that Navia's been itching to send her people or herself down here, but they'd only get in my way."
Furina stared at him, aghast.
'Right. She probably doesn't know what Max Elephant is.'
"Oh, Max Elephant is one of my shikigami. It's actually how I use Hydro, so it can make you a bubble on the way..."
"THAT'S NOT WHAT I'M WORRIED ABOUT, YOU IDIOT!"
Ren blinked.
"You want to stay here alone? Against three of their strongest?!" She jabbed a finger into his chest. "Doing something like that would just get you killed!"
"I'll be fine."
Probably.
"You don't know that!"
"You saw what I did to everyone in here. Just this once, please trust your assistant."
Furina held his gaze for a long moment. Then her shoulders sagged.
"...Fine." The word came out through gritted teeth. "But I'm not bringing the Gardes."
Ren raised a brow.
"Not after what we found in that office." Her expression hardened. "I'll bring the real Champion Duelists. I'm sure they'd be delighted to get their hands on these impostors."
"That's fine by me."
Ren formed a hand sign.
'Max Elephant.'
The shadow beneath him rippled, and Max Elephant rose out of it. He made it much, much smaller than its normal size to let it fit through the hallways.
Furina looked up at it in awe for a moment before getting on its back, sending him one last glance. "Don't you dare die before I get back, assistant."
He grinned at her. "Then you better hurry up, My Lady."
"Hmmph. I told you not to call me that." But there was no bite in her words.
Ren gave Max Elephant the command, and his shikigami lumbered down the hallway, carrying her out of sight.
/ — /
Ren pulled up one of the few stools in good shape and sat down.
He kept his senses locked on Max Elephant and Furina as they moved further away, until both their energy signatures were far enough from his senses.
'...She's out.'
He let out a long breath. For the first time tonight, the hideout was quiet. Aside from Vader and Yoda pacing around the captives, the only sound in the hall was his own breathing.
Keeping Max Elephant summoned so far away would usually be very taxing, but this version was slightly weaker and much smaller, lowering its CE cost.
Hopefully Furina would come back with good news, or get reinforcements quickly. Because he'd rather not fight the strongest rogues with only one element.
'Archons, I've been spoiled with multiple elements, haven't I?'
Now that he finally had a moment to himself, everything that happened in that storage room flashed back in his mind.
When did he get so abrasive as to back someone like Furina into a corner, insult, and even yell at her? Even if he was frustrated, that seemed a bit more impulsive than usual.
'I'm such a dick.'
How could he not feel guilty? After hearing Furina's whole story with the assurance of a Binding Vow, it really just hit home how he berated one of the most upstanding individuals he had ever seen.
But underneath his guilt, another feeling arose.
Respect.
She had given up her power for her people, poured it all away until she didn't have a sliver of it to her name. Instead of stepping away, she kept standing in a position no normal mortal could hold, carrying all the responsibility that came with being the Hydro Archon, without any of the strength that was supposed to come with it.
In the short time they'd known each other, he had caught glimpses of her true self, the fear and doubt she carried. But she never used them as an excuse to shy away from her duty.
Ren had felt Rex Lapis's power up close, and he had been nothing more than an ant. Furina didn't have even a fraction of that power.
But in her own way, she was just as strong.
'So this is the Hydro Archon's strength.'
If anyone deserved the title of Archon, it was her.
But that still left one thing he couldn't explain.
'Her negative energy.'
Because of the info dump in the storage room, he had completely forgotten to ask her about it. Even now, he could still remember the feeling of her energy. How it was constantly leaking out of her, so overwhelming that it was impossible to ignore.
If she had really lost her power, then what the heck was that?
He frowned, but eventually chose to let it go.
He had already pried enough out of her, and she had answered everything she could, even when it hurt her to. If that wasn't proof she could be trusted, he didn't know what was.
Between the negative energy and whatever reason she had for making him her assistant, she clearly still had her secrets.
'If she wants to keep some things to herself, then I'll let her.'
Then something brushed against the edge of his senses.
Ren's head snapped up.
Three energy signatures.
They were still far, but they were getting closer. And their energy was much more refined than the rogues he had fought before.
These guys were proper fighters.
'So Navia didn't get all of them after all.'
Which meant Furina would be going for the Champion Duelists. It looked like he'd have to beat these guys himself, or stall long enough for backup.
Ren stood up from the stool and cracked his neck.
Fighting without most of his shikigami would be a hassle. But it wasn't anything he hadn't done before.
'Now that I think of it, I've been a lot more impulsive, haven't I?' He couldn't help but look down at his palm.
The old him would have been much more paranoid about fighting three strong rogues head-on, especially since he didn't really have to. He could just as easily stall them all. With Rabbit Escape and the right plan, he probably could do so without much trouble.
But where was the fun in that?
His rational thoughts paled in comparison to the anticipation he felt, the excitement for a good fight.
He pushed his thoughts aside as a small grin formed on his face, and sank into the shadows to greet the newcomers.