Chapter Text
Amid the chaos of Fontaine’s apocalyptic judgement and subsequent pardoning, there was one face Lumine failed to keep track of. The same face whose absence felt like a deepening gouge in her side over the following days. She didn’t blame her for wanting to keep to herself; she’d been exposed in front of the entire country after all. The fact that Lumine had been a part of it only inflated the guilt suffocating her every waking moment. Furina had trusted her enough to share her secret for the first time in 500 years, and she had only led her blindly to the guillotine.
After the situation in Poisson had stabilised, with the House of the Hearth’s diligent management, Lumine plucked up the courage to find her friend – she hoped she could still call her ‘friend’ after everything. Her first port of call was Clorinde. The woman had never left the former Hydro Archon’s side beforehand, though could now be found glued to Navia’s. Making her way through Poisson’s gloomy cavern, gingerly avoiding the slippery patches of damp metal, she spotted the couple standing on the deck of the Caspar’s grandiose ship.
“Hey partner! Come to join us for some afternoon tea?” the blonde waved her over, grinning.
“We were about to distribute refreshments among the town’s residents.” Clorinde gave her a curt nod.
“Normally, I’d love to, but I’m currently looking for someone. Clorinde, do you know where Furina has been since the flood?” Clorinde’s brows furrowed and her eyes averted Lumine’s.
“Lady Furina? I am afraid I do not. I only saw her once, packing up her belongings in the Palais Mermonia. I tried to assist her, yet she simply thanked me for my service then left. Neuvillette likely set her up somewhere else in the Court, but he is currently inspecting the seal below Méropide, so you are likely not able to contact him. I… I would like to see if she is doing well.”
“The Knave has eyes and ears in every corner of the country,” Navia added. “I believe she is currently with the Iudex, but you could try Lyney or Lynette.” As Lumine turned to leave, a hand tugged at her shoulder.
“Once you find her, could you invite her to a gathering of friends in Hôtel Debord? And please, look after her for me,” Clorinde said in a near whisper.
“Of course.”
The twins proved harder to track down - Lumine resorted to wandering the streets of the Court. Three passes of the fountain later, she spotted a group of kids crowding two performers. A flurry of confetti scattered the audience, revealing the twins behind them. Lyney beamed when he caught sight of her, and while Lynette’s demeanour remained serious, her ears pricked up as their friend approached.
“Well, well, a visiting traveller from afar – what grand tales will she bring,” Lyney graced her with a theatrical bow, his hat grazing the paving slabs beneath. Said traveller returned it with a curtsey.
“Lumine, would you join us for afternoon tea?”
“Heh, Navia and Clorinde have just offered the same thing. I’m sorry, but I actually came to ask for a favour.”
“If the Demoiselle couldn’t help you, then it must be a conundrum. We’ll try our best, so long as you promise to dine with us next time,” Lyney said.
After Lumine relayed the details of her quest, Lynette got up from her perch on the wall, placing her own top hat on her head, balanced precariously between feline ears.
“Father has indeed received intel regarding Lady Furina’s new residence - she was sighted at a market stall buying macaroni. It wouldn’t normally be our place to share, but after everything, you are more than worthy of our trust. We will show you the way.”
The party wound their way down Vasari Passage, avoiding insistent shopkeepers flogging their wares. As she found herself standing outside a modest apartment building, Lumine’s heart hammered against her ribcage. It wanted to climb out of her throat and hide behind Estelle’s workshop, and she was tempted to join it. Would Furina even want to see her? Or would Fontaine’s darling do what she had every right too, and have the Iudex banish her? A quick glance over at the twins, crouched behind a bush egging her on with thumbs up, confirmed there was no backing out now. A deep breath in. Heart steeled. Lumine wrapped a knuckle against the door. Once. Twice. Three…
“Who is it?” a faint rasp enquired from inside. The brass knob turned, and the door swung inwards.
Lady Furina de Fontaine, Regina of All Waters, Kindreds, Peoples, and Laws, was a ‘Lady’ no longer. She hadn’t ever been, really – just a lonely girl hidden deep within veils of deceit. Every time the spotlight shone judgement upon her performance as Focalors, she’d felt the lies burn away ever so slightly. But to be discovered was to doom Fontaine, the nation that put her on a pedestal as a bastion of Justice. All she could do was keep up the façade in front of them all, only for it to fall as she cried herself to sleep every night.
Those piercing lights shone ten times brighter the day her mask was ripped asunder. Blindingly so. At least they’d offered the relief of obscuring her view of the audience’s faith come crashing down. At first, she tried to fight back against the mounting accusations, going so far as to plunge her hand in primordial seawater. After all, sacrificing a limb for a nation would be worth it in the end, right?
Yet, as the onslaught continued, she sank deeper and deeper into herself, drowning in her mounting anxiety. And then she dreamt of a stage. For once, one with no audience. Just her on a solitary throne, and her sweet Lumine gazing up at her.
Lumine, her guiding star. The woman whose achievements had fascinated her even before her prodigal arrival in Fontaine. Whose dashing charm had enthralled her since they first met, who had so tactfully beaten her in the courtroom. The one who had held her hand drenched in sweat as she quivered in the face of the Knave. The person she had daydreamed of in her bedroom, kicking her feet while clutching a certain Yae Publishing House novel to her chest. The first person to whom she had nearly revealed her truth.
So, as the grand performance drew to its finale, she acted out her past for the golden traveller, offering a glimpse into the recesses of her soul. And when that was done, she danced, for Lumine alone. Guillotine plunged down, and then it was over. She was free to live.
Neuvillette had offered to let her stay in the Palais, but now she was a normal person, shouldn’t she live as a normal person? Duly, he had arranged an apartment and allowance for her, then bid her the best. Only now, curled up in a bed half the size she was used to, encased in her mountain of plushies, did she realise that her freedom hadn’t made her any less lonely. To fix that, she would need the courage to face those she had lied to. Would anyone want to know her true self in the absence of their god?
Would Lumine? After all, she had been the one wielding the knife that stabbed her in the back. Her mind wandered to the traveller’s swordplay. Archons, what she’d do to be cut to pieces by those arms. The actress let out a squeal and dived under her covers as her face burned a fiery hue. She couldn’t let the plushies see her thinking such thoughts!
A knock at the door startled Furina, sending several stuffed sea creatures tumbling in a fluffy avalanche. Who would care to visit so late in the evening? No one had called in the few days she’d lived here. It could be someone from the Palais Mermonia with belongings she had forgotten. Glancing around at the piles of unopened boxes, she hoped it wasn’t.
Furina dragged her body out of bed and over to the door. It opened with a click as she mumbled, “Who is it?”
Her eyes locked on amber ones, then onto the tender smile on their face. White dress fluttered in the breeze. Furina’s face burned an even deeper shade of scarlet. Archons, save her.
Merely the sight of her alive and well was enough for Lumine to start smiling. Furina’s snowy hair was a tangled, frizzy mess, and she shivered in nothing more than a camisole and shorts - this was possibly the cutest she had ever seen the woman. She had finally found her.
Lumine met her eyes. They were beautiful, like stained glass - one the colour of the deepest ocean, and the other of the sweetest glacial meltwater. The two women held each other’s gaze for a minute stretched out to eternity before Lumine noticed Furina’s blushing cheeks.
“Would you like to get out of the cold? You’re shivering.”
Furina snapped out of her gay thoughts-induced trance. “Ahem…C-Certainly. Please, come in.”
Lumine was ushered through the door and through the maze of boxes. “Apologies with regards to the mess, I was just in the process of unpacking,” Furina lied, which made her giggle. Furina hefted a box of crockery off of a chair and gestured for her to take a seat, perching herself on the foot of her bed. “So, why have you knocked on my door at this hour? Am I being summoned by Neuvillette again?” she said with false incredulity.
Lumine took a deep breath, bracing herself for what could follow.
“Actually, I wanted to say I’m sorry. For what happened in Poisson and in the trial. I should have given you more time to explain yourself. And it was horrific of us to go behind your back, but we didn’t think you’d show up to the opera house otherwise.”
“Oh. I see. No, you are correct, I wouldn’t have.” Furina looked to the side and tried to appear intently interested in an empty macaroni dish to avoid Lumine’s eyes.
“I’d also like to say thank you, for trusting me back then. And, since you’re a free person now, I’d like to start over.” She slowly extended an arm, her hand hovering in mid-air with an invitation to shake. “Hi, I’m Lumine, and I’m an adventurer. How may I be of assistance?”
Furina tentatively took the outstretched hand and looked back towards the woman opposite her. Lumine’s grin shone like the sun, threatening to expel all darkness in the room. She had finally caught up with the shooting star she had been chasing.
“Greetings, traveller. My name is Furina de Fontaine, actress. Would you be able to stay with me, for a while?”
They began by shifting boxes off the table. Lumine took one look at the bags upon bags of pasta in every cupboard and took it upon herself to make Furina a more diverse meal for a change. With a spark of electro, the hob ignited. Furina watched Lumine from the table, somewhat wistfully, as she removed ingredient after ingredient from somewhere within her seemingly bottomless pockets. She got to work at the stove, frying some onion in a large pan before adding garlic and tomatoes.
“Y’know, in 500 years, I would’ve thought you’d learn how to cook loads of dishes.”
“When one is a god, one has a legion of servants to prepare your meals, so I never felt the need to. I was able to study the art of desserts, but those aren’t exactly a balanced diet.”
Lumine giggled. Furina loved hearing her laugh, the sound of a bubbling fountain.
“You remind me of a friend. Ei can’t cook at all, though that’s more an ineptitude on her part than any refusal to learn. Miko says she always leaves the kitchen with charring up the walls.”
“Hmm. Who is this ‘Ei’?”
“Ah, um… The Raiden Shogun…” Lumine explained tentatively as she added roughly chopped carrot, pepper, and courgette to the mixture.
“You know the Electro Archon?!” Furina almost screamed. She slumped back down in her chair and sighed. “What did I expect? You gained an audience with me after all - of course you’ve met the most powerful people on the continent. What’s she like?”
Lumine pondered the thought while letting the mixture on the stove simmer. She took the chair opposite Furina and rested her chin on her hand.
“Pretty… and handsome… at the same time. She tried to kill me.” That last bit came out concerningly casual.
“Hmm, maybe I should have tried that, if it got you to say nice things about me.”
“I think you are as well. Both pretty and handsome at the same time.”
“Wha…”
“With that outfit you wear, you’re very princely.”
Furina’s blush came back with full force.
“W-Well,” she stammered, flustered by the praise (flirting?). “Every prince needs a knight. A servant to answer their beck and call and defend them until the end. I hear the Order Favonius made you an honorary one.”
“Touché.” Lumine leant forward, taking Furina’s unusually bare hand in her own, and pecked the back with her lips. “What would my liege desire to drink? I have apple cider, out of date rainbow aster, or Fonta.”
The snowy-haired woman’s mind struggled to process the question, having been scrambled to oblivion by the prior act of chivalry. Not even realising she had left her mouth hanging agape, a jumble of sounds preceded any meaningful answer.
“Uhm… Just tap water, please,” she mumbled. As soon as her brain had reconstituted enough to form coherent thoughts, it started racing. What did that kiss mean? Was Lumine flirting with her?
She was interrupted by a dish being plonked down in front of her.
“Tasses ragout.” Lumine greedily dug into her own portion.
“Thank you. Bon appétit!” Furina took a bite; flavours danced around her mouth in magnitudes far greater than her simple ‘pasta and miscellaneous sauce’ could achieve. In between mouthfuls, she snuck glimpses at the girl across the table shovelling food into her mouth as if she were being raced. Whether it was the warm food or something else, her body was beginning to feel hot again.
Once the dishes had been scrubbed clean, the lamps extinguished, and half of the plushie Dragonspine on the bed shifted to the couch, the two women sat side by side. One engrossed in a light novel, the other playing with a stuffed crab. Lumine quickly got bored, and shifted her weight in order to rest her head on Furina’s shoulder. She must have glanced at the page she was reading, because she began to narrate a choice line.
“‘Well, as usual, are you going to have dinner first or take a bath first? Or do you prefer...’ Hey, I know this one. The Yae novel from last year’s Irodori festival, right?”
“Pretty Please Kitsune Guuji, yes. I managed to have a copy imported. I would have like it signed, but alas, those were only available in person. It helped me come to terms with the types of connections to others an Archon could truly have.” It had helped her realise that the Hydro Archon, at least, was able to be loved by another in the way she oh so deeply desired.
Growing increasingly flustered, Furina set the novel on her bedside table. Was she really about to do this? Why not? After all, Lumine had been all over her tonight. Maybe, just maybe, there was the slightest chance her feelings were reciprocated. She had nothing to lose, and the world to gain. Deep breath in. Resolve steeled. Her head tilted towards her neighbour, a sliver of golden locks caught in the edge of her view.
“L-Lumine… Could I kiss you?” There was no response from the other girl, only the shifting of fabric. And then…
Another’s lips pressed against hers – chapped from months of travelling the wilderness. Her breath caught in her throat, and her eyes opened directly into the amber pair gazing back at her. Lumine pulled away from her, averting her eyes. Thumbs twiddled anxiously.
“Is that enough of an answer for you?” she said.
“How long have you been waiting to do that?”
“Since I saw you in that dream, in the opera house. You danced for me. It was… beautiful.” Her eyes drifted back up to Furina’s face, which she found looking like a puppy pleading for attention. “Would you like to do it again?”
“Uh huh,” Furina nodded.
The next kiss was slower than the first, both women sinking into each other. Lumine basked in the presence of her friend – or maybe lover? – inhaling the faint scent of sea salt in her snowy hair. She edged her hand over Furina’s, feeling the one beneath turn and intertwine with her own. Several times, the diva sighed into her mouth, before pushing deeper into the kiss. Lumine decided to try for more. First, an experimental flick of her tongue across Furina’s plush lips. Then, after they parted, delving into her partner’s mouth and exploring every nook and cranny. The diva’s sighs blossomed into moans.
An eternity passed existing with only the other, but eventually they parted, a string of saliva still connecting their lips. Furina chased after that sweet taste as it departed, to which Lumine could only smile and tenderly stroke a lock of hair out of the girl’s face.
“Would you like to go further?” Lumine asked, running her palm along Furina’s jaw. Furina leant into her touch, craved her hands to explore elsewhere on her body, but was becoming immediately aware of her underwear straining against her arousal.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not sure if I’m ready for that tonight.” She shifted her thighs to cover her crotch. Her star gave her forehead a peck and nodded understandingly.
“That’s ok. Do you want me to stay, or…?”
“Stay!” she cried. Then, shocked at the sound of her own voice, “Please, would you be able to hold me tonight?”
“Of course, seafoam.” Lumine started stripping: first her white dress, and then the bra underneath. Not quite used to the sight of a naked woman, Furina found something interesting to study in her bedroom, such as where to hang some of the paintings she’d brought with her. She also made sure to avert the eyes of as many plushies as she could handle, so Lumine didn’t feel too awkward. Shortly, the duvet rustled behind her. She shivered as cold arms looped around her and pulled her in closer, until the adventurer’s breasts were squished against her back. Legs, fluffy from a lack of shaving on their travels, entangled themselves with hers. Lumine sighed as she snuffled into Furina’s bob. Right now, in bed with her crush, the diva felt more at peace than she ever had in her life of luxury.
“Lumine,” she called out, receiving a muffled ‘hmm’ in reply. She continued. “Just after Focalor’s execution, she spoke to me for the last time. She told me to live happily as a human, just as she wished we could. I think… I think that, today, I’m finally living up to her wish.” A tear landed on the pillow beneath her head as she quietly sobbed in the night. A week and 500 years’ worth of emotion finally let free. Lumine drew her tighter into the safety of the scarred arms wrapped around her as she peppered tender kisses on the nape of her neck.
Shortly, whimpers were replaced by steady breathing. Lumine squeezed a soft hand, and it lazily returned the gesture.
“Lumine, what are we right now?”
“What would you like us to be?”
She considered for a second.
“Would you like to be my girlfriend?”
“Of course I would. I love you, Furina.”
“And I you, mon étoile d’or.”
Without Paimon to use as an alarm clock, Lumine slept for hours past sunrise. When she did finally stir, she found an empty bed – as empty as it could be with the several plushies piled in it. Sitting up and rubbing the crusted gunk out of her eyes, she realised Furina was nowhere to be found in the apartment. She also happened to notice that, with the bedroom door being left wide open, she was in direct line of sight of the front door. Archons forbid someone opened it now. Her girlfriend, naturally, chose that moment to barge through.
“Bonjour, ma chérie. I come baring gifts.” She seemed much more like the cheery, enthusiastic self Lumine had known. She was even dressed in her iconic outfit, or at least a variation on it. The topless traveller retreated below the covers slightly.
“You look pretty.”
“Why, thank you, my dear. It’s fresh from Chioriya Boutique - a parting gift from Neuvillette.”
“I didn’t just mean the outfit, silly goose. But yes, it’s very dashing.”
Furina stuttered under the compliment before regaining course.
“H-Here, I got you breakfast. As a repayment for last night’s meal.” She took the bag that was offered to her and drew out the diligently folded card box. Unfolding it revealed a steaming pastry inside.
“You don’t need to repay me for anything, but thank you, I appreciate it.” She kissed Furina’s palm as the woman withdrew her hand, which set her blushing once more. “What is it, exactly?”
“A pain au chocolat. It is delicious, though a tad simple for my tastes. Had I the ingredients I could have made you an extravaganza – alas, I do not.”
Lumine put her meagre Fontainian to work.
“Where’s the bread?”
The diva responded with an exasperated sigh.
“Eat it. We have a big day ahead of us.” She perched herself on the edge of the bed and looked bashfully at Lumine, mid bite. “You have inspired me to reintroduce myself to the world.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to begin small?” Lumine said, still chewing.
“That is precisely why I would prefer to start with some familiar faces. I did think of Neuvillette, if we could catch him with some spare time, but apart from that I’d like to become better friends with Clorinde. She stood beside me every day as my chosen duellist.”
“Ah… Uh… Navia and Clorinde actually asked me to invite you to a gathering. Next week in Débord.”
“Then I shall accept in person… Um, would you be able to invite them to some nearby locale, I’d prefer to keep a low profile for now. Let’s say, 2 O’clock at Café Lutece.”
“I’ll have Paimon zip over to Poisson and ask them. As soon as I find her, that is.”
Furina leant to and cleaned a cluster of pastry crumbs out of the corner of her mouth with a kiss.
“Thank you, my love.”
Furina felt her stomach lodge itself in her throat as she waited at an out of the way table in the café. Her fingers wouldn’t sit still, fiddling with the edges of her gloves as anxiety threatened to overwhelm her. Speaking to strangers - waiters, clerks, shopkeepers - was one thing, but those who she wanted to meet the true her were another thing entirely. Yesterday, she would have felt utterly dwarfed by the situation, isolated from the rest of society. Today however, she wasn’t alone – Lumine was beside her now, sipping a cup of coffee as she recalled the time she got trapped in a time loop with the Dendro Archon. While appreciated, it did little to help the situation.
The other blue and gold pair arrived on the stroke of the hour – probably thanks to Clorinde’s exceptional punctuality, though this did make Furina worried she saw it as just another business meeting. She made an effort to sit up straighter once they had spotted the couple at the table. A knuckle tapped her thigh – Lumine gave her an encouraging wink as Navia and Clorinde took the seats opposite.
“Ahem– Thank you for coming, despite us not having arranged it in advance. Before anyone says anything, could I get your orders?”
“Oh, tea please, with just a little bit of milk.” Navia said, a little taken aback.
“The same, thank you. Are you sure I couldn’t go in your stead?” Clorinde tried to protest, yet the diva was already sprinting off to the counter. The two opposite Lumine exchanged a confused look, and then again at Lumine herself. Eventually, Navia chuckled and grinned at the traveller.
“I’ve got to hand it to you, I didn’t think you’d be able to prize her out of her shell this quickly. Congratulations, partner.”
“Partner?” All three turned to see Furina with a tea set on a tray and a face like a cat left out in the rain.
“I meant crime-solving partner - we made quite a team to have bested you in the Lyney and Lynette case. Though now that I think about it, I don’t recall ever having been introduced to you. Navia Caspar, President of the Spina di Rosula, at your service.”
“Furina de Fontaine, likewise,” she carefully placed down the tea tray before shaking Navia’s hand and returning to her seat.
“Ooh, Furina, tell Navia about the dessert recipes you know, I’m sure we could all try and make them with the portable stove some time.” Her eyes lit up at the mention of desserts, and the group fell into the routine of conversation, two chatting away about baking (with Furina wanting to know every last detail about the stove’s workings), and the others adding the occasional remark here and there. Lumine dreamily admired her girlfriend’s determination to understand and learn. Whilst taking another sip of her coffee, she noticed Clorinde doing the same thing. The usually stoic woman now possessed a caring demeanour.
“Lady Furina-”
“Please, Clorinde, just Furina. I’m no longer your boss, after all.”
“Furina, it gladdens me to finally see a genuine smile on your face after all these years.”
The diva’s cheeks reddened.
“Thank you, Clorinde. And for being beside me every day. I’m sure, if it weren’t for our dear friend the Traveller, you would have had to wait quite a while longer.”
“Don’t call me that after last night,” Lumine pouted. “I was ‘ma chérie’ earlier. Or have I already been demoted.”
“Lumine!” Furina squealed, red as a freshly plucked apple – and just as sweet. She hid her face in her palms and peeked at the couple across the table.
“I win, hand it over.” Clorinde resignedly dumped a handful of mora into Navia’s awaiting hand. Lumine’s eyes wandered over to Furina, and she burst into laughter at the incredulous face the woman pulled.
“Did you two make a bet on whether we would get into a relationship?”
Navia simply crossed her arms and smirked at the actress.
“Oh, no – with how lost Lumine looked when she went searching for you, we assumed that was guaranteed. We were merely speculating over who would slip up first. Naturally, given Miss Furina’s inordinate acting ability, I voted for Lumine.”
“My apologies, Furina. However, standing beside you for years on end has given me an extraordinary insight into how flustered you become in the company of women.”
“Speaking of acting,” Navia interrupted before Furina could retort the claim. “When I was a child, I saw you perform in an opera. You were incredible: truly in your element! I just wonder whether you’d consider returning to the stage.”
Furina lowered her head abashedly, giving her thought a moment or two to organise themselves before answering.
“While theatre is definitely still a passion of mine, I’m not sure I’m ready to start pretending to be someone else right now. I’d like to experience the world as just me for a little while.”
“Hehe! Well, if it’s experiences you want, you’d better attend mine and Clorinde’s party – well, tea party at least. There’ll only be a few of us there, and they’re all friends. What do you say?”
“We would love to have you.”
“Then I shan’t miss it.”
A black-gloved hand sought out Lumine’s under the table. She gave it a squeeze so as to say, “I’m proud of you”, and it squeezed back in response. The owner admired her from her own chair until, deciding she couldn’t hold back any longer, she leant in and pressed her lips to her lover’s. Once they parted, starlight golden hair rested upon an ocean blue shoulder, much to the amusem*nt of the straw- and lighting-coloured couple facing them.
