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After the trial had happened, she was ready to be charged as guilty as she is, with a side of the death sentence. hell, she had been waiting for it
But when she was told to live the rest of her life as a human, shouldn't she be relieved to be let out of this prison that is her title, as the human who faked being a god, as the hydro archon as furina
She just felt certain..anxiousness and emptiness. She would've still been known as the fraud, no? The liar, the one who tricked us all! But, what can she do? She was just human, a human with a small apartment. It was normal, and mediocre. Just like her. Though being the Furina de Fontaine! as a usual person did prove to be difficult. She’d try to get a job but, nooo they weren't looking for a liar and troublemaker! had they really seen her that way all along?
And even after becoming a movie director and making friends and forgiving the traveller. She wasn't satisfied, not when people were whispering about her when she walked by, not when the traveller acted as if they’d saved her from her suffering. She hated the traveller. But she had to keep up her act. Wait, when had I heard this before? Anyhow, she wanted to cut her strings and sprint out of Fontaine as if it had personally betrayed her. It did. They betrayed her.
She wasn't that impulsive though.
“Hello, I’m Katheryne from the adventurer's guild, my job is to find adventurers like you.”
“Ah, hi! Do you need anything?”
“No, but we are looking for adventurers, are you interested in joining the adventurer's guild?”
“I..sure!”
“Then, Ad Astra Abyssosque, and welcome to the adventurer's guild!”
Furina thanks the lady and runs away to a random clothing store.
Adventurer's guild, Adventurer's guild. She'd heard that so many times yet she knows nothing about it. Oh well, she's about to.
Right, she wanted to run away from Fontaine.
She wants to run away from Fontaine.
2 a.m. That was when she went for it. And thank archons for her weird vision. Even if someone catches her, what could they really do? Follow her with their non-existent vision that lets them walk on water?
“Hey! That must be the archon!”
Archon? The audacity?
“Wuh…what? Toodles!”
‘oh furina were you that obvious? oh god this is so embarrassing! what do i do??’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~・}~♡~{・~~~l~~~~~~~~~~
Oh, oh my. I have to stop for a bit.
I sat on the water and let out a breath I didn’t realize I was even holding.
Sumeru desert is so near! I can surely make it in a few hours!
I continued walking for a few minutes before I started feeling the temperature change. So, I decided to go around the desert until I made it to the forest part of sumeru.
I met a forest watcher that called himself ‘Tighnari’ , a good name for a good guy! He hasn’t noticed that I look suspiciously like a certain Furina, which is nice! I.. also met his student, Collei! She’s nice and also doesn’t recognize me! She seemed to have some kind of illness? If I still had my status I'd love to use every last resort I had to cure her.
“Ah, and how did you end up where i found you?”
“I..I’m from um…Natlan…? No, I'm from Fontaine, that lie was really bad..haha”
“How did you exactly get here though? isnt there an entire ocean between Sumeru and Fontaine?”
“I was on a boat! Then it crashed so then I made my way to the desert then to this forest.”
Tignari eyes his student and sighs. He looks uneasy.
“I find it hard to believe since if there were Fontaineians coming to Sumeru, we’d definitely have heard something about it. Sumeru isn't a popular tourist attraction so it's rare to even find people from other regions.”
Huh, I guess he’s correct.
“I..have my ways. Thank you so much for your hospitality, though! Toodles oo!!” Why am I acting so much like my past self for a person who wants to change so badly. It disgusts me. I disgust myself.
I soon made my way into Liyue. I know a lot of Liyueans come into…Fontaine for trade. I’ve always wondered how Liyue actually is!
I finally got to see the chasm in all its glory. I felt incredibly tiny and miniscule compared to it all and it felt relieving in a way that I wasn't the center of everyone's worlds and expectations.
It was wonderful! i made it to Liyue harbor all by myself, not in a lonely way, no. It was freeing and i loved how i wasn't tied down to one place or responsibility. I still have a good sum of mora but i should go and complete some commissions.
Also, was there always another katheryne or is it just me who's slower than the world?
“Ad astra Abyssosque!”
“Are there any commission i could do?” i asked politely
“yes! this is the map with all the hilichurl towers and camps, choose your pick and come back to any adventurer's guild to claim the rewards!”
“I’ll take these four, thank you.” i replied as i pointed to the 4 nearest camps.
“Ah, i didn't exactly catch your name at all, miss, would you mind telling me?”
“My name’s Estelle, nice to meet you.”
What could I do? I was simply left with no other choice than to lie! I, for one, am not spilling the beans about me!
I ran off to the nearest camp on Mt. Tianheng.
A dendro samachurl, a pyro abyss mage and two regular hilichurls. Wonderful! Is it not? Getting to fight without anything big on the line like your reputation.
Other than gaining someones approval, eating cake and drinking tea. Pain is one of the clear things I can feel without confusion or uncertainty. It was there and it made its presence crystal clear. Though, I usually heal it off before anything major happens since it would be a shame for the people of Fontaine to see their brightest star with a scar.
“Yoohoo!” I summoned my loyal helpers, Mademoiselle Crabaletta, Surintendante Chevalmarin and last but definitely not the least, Gentilhomme Usher! After the shenanigans of the trials and whatnot, they have been awfully free wih nothing to do! Well, i talk to them quite frequently since I'm not a heartless deadbeat friend!
Anywaya Surintendante Chevalmarin blows the absolute unliving living life out of the poor abyss mages’ shield! She can smell the vaporization happening in real time, a burning smell with a hint of seaweed and salt in it! Oh, the bubbles, the bubbles are just so pleasantly popping in the pyro shield!
Ah ah, until Mademoiselle Crabaletta goes in and steals the show with her magnificent cutting skills, cuts the abyss mages’ nose! Never underestimate a carefully trained crab with sharpened hands!
In the middle of it all, Gentilhomme Usher and the radiant me take the two hilichurls and samachurl. I gracefully knock out the samachurl. My gaze crossed the scene to see how everyone was doing, which was amazingly. By the way.
Gentilhomme Usher dealt with the other hilichurl diligently, as he always does, so gentlemanly. (i am not ever going to use that word again)
“High five, everyone! We crushed it!” I loosely twirled my tranquil sword in the air while Surintendante Chevalmarin jumps around excitedly, the others just stood there.
So I AM capable! Hah, take that losers. I, the amazing me, can now stand on my two feet and not be shackled by some stupid curse and some stupid title and some, some stupid lies!
The three other camps were a breeze to get by, though when i was walking back, i noticed a treasure hoarder camp and decided to rob whatever they had. Which was a lot, it also took me overly long to notice how severely dehydrated I was, but i wasn’t stooping low enough to drink the poor treasure hoarder’s water.
I made my way back to Liyue harbor and passed a jewelry shop, and I had a…mischievous idea.
Sneaking a decorated box of jewelry under my sleeves, I skedaddled to Katheryne to claim my hard earned reward of a few hundred mora.
“Hi, a room for one for two nights please.” I handed them my mora over.
Oh I have NOT opened these in forever! Instead of two glistening pearl necklaces or whatever Liyue has to offer there was a…
“EHHH???!!” I was mortified at what was in front of me.
A…CRYO VISION?
Wait, then what's this? My hydro vision from Monsieur Neuvilette? Has Celestia classified me as a non vision bearer? Had I fooled Celestia for the second time?
And not only that! But it was also star shaped! It almost has a pulse of its own, I briefly hesitated before reaching out with my gloveless hand. It responded strongly to my touch and floated onto my bowtie and stuck onto it for dear life just like how a piece of metal would be attracted to a magnet. A clink echoed across the small room.
So is this, what a vision granted by Celestia looks like? I’d read Snezhnayan books about this before, this specific type of vision is referred to as a stellar linchpin.
I’d never even been? In Snezhnaya Before? So like, what's the situation here? Had the Tsaritsa taken pity upon lil’ old me? The story of the humanity of Focalors striving away from humanity as much as possible, is pretty applause worthy.
Whatever it is…
Is a problem for tomorrow Estelle.