Chapter Text
Lyney brings them to an elaborate, elegant, black-and-white carriage, has a few quick words with the very non-descript woman tending to the stallions and then climbs inside. Lumine, Nahida and Lynette follow suit. The carriage moves almost immediately, leaving the high towers of the City of Fontaine fading in the distance and swiftly taking the road for Mount Esus. The seats are made of smooth red silk, reminding Lumine of worlds now left behind. The slow and regular rhythm of the wheels on the pavement grounds her, taking away some of the anxiety plaguing her, and it's fair to say that the immense trust she has in the twins is helping a lot.
But no one talks.
Rightly so, Lumine thinks.
They're probably on edge, thinking of her as a threat to their family. Yet they're bringing her to the House because leaving her in the harbour after she showed them how much she knows would be illogical, and also not what Arlecchino would want.
The carriage turns left, leaving the very sunny road for a dim, creepy trail in the woods.
Again, silence.
Through the forest, it goes, the carriage that shouldn't be there.
...
The thing is... Lynette wants to say something. She's fidgeting, stealing glances and blushing when Lumine catches her eyes, with her tail unnaturally still.
"Do you have a question?" Lumine softly asks, careful to smile.
Lynette gulps, and Lyney looks like he could've turned to stone.
Maybe this isn't the best way to gain -once again- the twins' trust, but Lumine honestly doesn't care, not one bit. She's not going to pretend like she doesn't know them, like she doesn't perfectly understand what troubles Lynette and why. The Knave may have taught them to hide their emotions, bury their feelings and put the Fatui and the House of the Hearth before anything else, but the Knave is not here. And they're so young, so innocent, practically still kids.
"I-" stutters Lynette, staring at the floor.
...
Lumine can only wait.
"Were you there," the girl finally finds the courage to speak, "when-"
"I was there," Lumine gently interrupts her, "and I'm sorry for how it all ended, but the Fair Lady challenged me to a duel before the throne of the Electro Archon, and I couldn't turn around and leave. Going back, I would make the same decision."
And, oh, isn't it an ironic sentence right now?
Lynette told Lumine about La Signora on a random night at Fort Meropìde as they waited for Lyney to return from the prison's lower levels. She spoke about the lengthy visits the Harbinger would pay to the House of the Hearth, bringing gifts to all the children and telling stories about Snezhnaya. That was a night of crying, a night of confessions -because Rosalyne had been the one to console Lynette the months after the pedophile freak tried to kidnap her, the one teaching her how to fight and how to use her vision.
"She wasn't always there," Lynette had sniffed, "but when Father had some long mission in the motherland, she'd often visit us. And well ... She liked me. I think." It was the first time Lumine felt guilt for La Signora, " she convinced me that what happened was very wrong and how that man's death was well-deserved. Father's never been good with words, but Lady Rosalyne ... I still remember her stories about valiant Knights, Abyss beasts and pointy-hat mages. I loved them so much."
"I would've liked to say goodbye to her." The girl had ended. "She always seemed so lonely."
Lumine had cried that night, her face hidden in the pillow.
On a different note, Lyney's staring daggers at her.
He's probably confused, worried for his sister and unsure what to do. And afraid, presumably.
Nahida's looking outside the small, coloured window in the carriage's door, seemingly raptured by the lone sunrays breaking through the canopy of leaves above them.
And the words come to Lumine's mouth unbidden, yet very heartfelt.
"I know you have no reason to believe me," her voice cracks, "but I don't have any ill intention towards your family, especially not towards you." Maybe she should stop. "You don't know me, that's true, or you could've heard stories from other Fatuis or voices brought by the wind, but trust me -and I swear this to you on my brother's name- I won't ever hurt you."
The silence, now, is louder than ever.
And the rest of the travel is spent like that until the carriage halts.
♫♪♫♪♬♪
Furina stares at the sky.
There's a book in her hands, a book she really wants to keep reading. She's sitting on her favourite bench in her favourite garden on a beautiful sunny day, and Clorinde's standing guard near the fountain as her subordinates patrol near the gate.
The book is about soulmates, a new fan-favourite around the Fontaine's circles. Some author in Inazuma imagined a world where you're born with a tattoo on your wrist that only your soulmate shares. Not everyone finds their soulmate because many die young, while some are unfortunate enough to get old before fate lets them meet the other half of their soul. It's a fascinating idea, and she's having such a good time reading about the shrine maiden with purple lightning etched over her heart.
But now she's nearly at the end -only a few chapters remain- and the shrine maiden and the enigmatic swordswoman are about to meet, and...
She doesn't want to read anymore.
Huff.
She's learnt to ignore this sensation. This odd emptiness in her chest that rears its ugly head when she thinks about things she promised would always remain well hidden behind her mask. But sometimes, when her guard is low, she yearns for something she can't have.
It's simply not meant to be. And I made peace with it.
Furina knows that. And very well.
And so, staring at the sky, she waits.
♫♪♫♪♬♪
The door stays stubbornly closed.
Lumine huffs. It's been at least twenty minutes, and the extravagant, mahogany door hasn't yet moved an inch. Lynette left earlier with Nahida, taking a pretty path among the flower beds and murmuring something about bedrooms and a women's wing, while Lyney brought her here directly through the House's main gateway.
The Fatui guards glared at her.
Well, House. It's a Mansion. Nearly as big as the Knights' headquarters.
It makes sense, because the amount of Fatui here is crazy, and that's ignoring the orphans. But she doesn't have time to admire the high ceiling and their frescoes, nor the beautiful portraits and golden chandeliers. Arlecchino is waiting for her, and Lumine doesn't exactly know how the conversation's going to pan out. The only advantage she has over the Harbinger is understanding that she genuinely desires to see Fontaine saved from the Prophecy -which is not that much, actually, but it's what matters. That's the only thing she's sure about. She played her card close to her chest, the Fourth, not that it's surprising for a Fatuus, to hide behind a mask.
How old is she, anyway? Comes the natural thought. Is she immortal? She has to be, to reach such a high position in the Harbinger's ranks. Or at least very long-lived.
Yeah, she didn't learn much about the Knave during the first time.
She's powerful, that's for sure. And very much disliked by Tartaglia.
What did he tell her, that one time?
...
Whatever. She doesn't remember.
And so, Lumine keeps waiting, playing with her hair.
The image of the falling Celestial Nail flashes behind her eyes.
It had to be because of Focalors' trick.
And it had to be Celestia, like in Dragonspine or the Chasm.
After all that Furina had to suffer, hiding for five hundred years, living with the knowledge of being a sacrificial lamb, a shadow of a God left behind to trick the Heavenly Principles, then it was all for nothing?
As if. Someone gave me this second chance, I won't waste it.
That's the exact moment the door opens.
The room is large and classy, both fashionable in the modern Fontaine way and oddly... gothic. Also, everything's red -crimson, to be more precise, from the steel of the weapons hanging from the walls to the wood of the enormous bookshelf, even the light filtering through the closed tents. Arlecchino sits on the other side of the room -wearing her white coat- behind a big, cluttered desk, clasping her hands. She looks unearthly, and her eyes, that red, magnetic glare, command attention like nothing else ever could. The two guards walk away, inviting Lumine to enter. And she doesn't need to be asked twice, closing the door behind her and sitting on the big, comfortable chair in front of the Harbinger.
The old pendulum clock ticks in the background.
Her heart's pounding.
"Little Red Riding Hood comes in the Wolf's Den, all alone," smiles the Knave. "Some would call it recklessness, others, plain stupidity."
"Do you think you could beat me?" Lumine grins, leaning forward, eager, "right here? Right now?"
Finally, this is her element: a direct confrontation, nothing of that tricky, time-loop stuff.
"Yes," confidently says Arlecchino, sitting straight, "I'm pretty sure I could."
"Childe said I'm the best swordswoman in the Seven Nations," she confidently replies, never breaking eye contact, her voice never wavering. "But I bet you already knew that, I hear I'm pretty popular amongst the Fatui."
"Maybe," Arlecchino tilts her head, "but I'd rather make up my own mind," she leans as well. "You certainly seem at an advantage over my children, though. You left them quite shaken."
"What can I say," and Lumine can almost sense the Harbinger's curiosity -behind the barely hidden hostility and faux courtesy- "I'm just that good at reading people."
"Yeah, surely," states the woman, "but I was far more interested in your goals for this... meeting."
Lumine plays with her gown, still unsure about how much to say.
"Couldn't I just be curious about the infamous Knave?" She finally asks.
And Arlecchino's voice is silky, like the gentlest of rains.
"Do I satisfy your curiosity," she answers, "traveller?"
"For now," Lumine laughs. "But I must confess I also came here because I need help. And," she raised her hand, "before you interrupt me, I assure you our collaboration would be in our best interest."
"You came into my home uninvited," Arlecchino's nostrils flared, "bringing a powerful, mysterious creature masquerading as a child, leaving my favourite and most trusted children lost and scared and you pretend some kind of association without any hint of an explanation," she snarled, standing up. "And I dare you to give me one reason why I shouldn't kick you out of my house right now."
Her eyes are fiery, and Lumine can swear the air around her trembled, for a moment.
"You must, at least, care for your nation," says the traveller, almost holding her breath, "I have information. Information about the prophecy."
Arlecchino raises an eyebrow.
"And about Lady Furina."