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'Fontainians love their Archon. She’s pretty, she’s funny, she’s the leader of every trend, and she’s as dramatic as every Fontainian loves. They love her for representing everything the Fontainians love most. There’s one other reason though, something she does quietly when she thinks no one is looking.
There’s a legend that says, whenever a Fontainian needs it, she lends remote aid through the power of hydro. They know it’s her, because a brief reflection of her appears in the nearest water source. No one has caught a good look but glimpses concur she wears her hair loose and bears a dress much simpler than the average Fontainian couture.
Some report that in their lowest moments, they hear her voice humming a tune: the same tune, and the Fontainians have made their nation’s anthem. Bubbles appear seemingly out of nowhere, but somehow they can always find a source where they catch that glimpse of her. The bubbles brush against them, never popping until one makes contact with their forehead, like a soothing kiss from one’s mother. It’s with that bubble that they all pop and the humming stops.Her voice is calm, and deeper, more mature sounding, giving them the feel that she’s watching them, and caring for them from afar.
Whenever someone leaves their home, Fontainians tell their loved ones “When you need help, turn to the water. Lady Furina will lend her aid.”
If Fontainians asked, the water responded. Outsiders could call upon her aid as well. No matter who needed her help, even without request, Furina responded to their needs in kind.
Wriothesley recalled she helps when he remembers his crimes, and he fears he goes too far. She came to Navia as a tune when she lost her father, to Clorinde as a puddle when catching criminals, Sigewinne when someone calls her names for being a melusine.
Even members of the fatui. She helps Lynette by having a cup of tea and sweets ready when she returns from a late night mission. Lyney has heard her tune when he gets scared for his siblings and he just can’t calm down. She helped Freminet when he passed out in the water by trying to reduce the concentration of primordial water. Arlecchino saw her reflection at the feet of someone who attacked her from behind, an attack that would have killed her because her attention was spread too thin. Although faint Tartaglia felt her embrace as he floated in the same waters as the All Devouring Narwhal.
She healed wounds that could be fatal just enough so the one who got her aid would survive. She brought those who drowned to the surface where they'd be found moments later.
Neuvillette too felt her presence sometimes. For him, she always came as the bubbles and hum. She came when he worked too hard, when he wept after a trial, when he felt he could do nothing for the people of Fontaine. She lent her best aid with primordial waters, helping push it back with as much power as she could lend.
When they saw her, Fontainians would thank Furina for her recent help, and she would simply smile and no further acknowledge their gratitude. They liked it that way. Knowing she did it not out of a desire to be seen but the kindness of her heart. Not needing the recognition that she did something, just that her citizens were safe and cared for.
Truth was, Furina was not lending her people aid. For why would she lend it to herself? She knew not for certain whose aid it was, but she had ideas. The same tune people spoke of came with the presence of her reflection whenever she needed it. She believed her reflection was giving quiet aid. Unable to do anything particularly flashy for fear of people knowing her presence. Furina knew not why her reflection had asked her to live out their dream, and lead Fontainians as their archon, but it was clear her reflection was trapped behind reflective surfaces. She wondered if she felt as alone as Furina did.
No one knew why, but the day of their archon’s trial, her tune echoed through all of their nation with bubbles and rain to follow. After that though, her help stopped entirely. No longer did the water answer their calls. Her aid was never seen, never heard, never felt. They feared they had angered her, because they had no other explanation for her disappearance in their lowest moments.
Only 4 people ever knew the truth: Furina, Neuvillette, The traveler, and Paimon. Furina noticed her reflection never showed. The Traveler and Paimon learned from Neuvillette.
Neuvillette? He watched the very reason she no longer gave the people their aid. He heard her hum her tune one last time as she danced right before her instrument of death followed its design. Her design. He felt the touch of her bubbles one last time as they relinquished the power of hydro to him. He knew that Fontaine’s quiet helper did not stop because she was angry at them, but because she loved them too much.
She never received a shred of credit for her actions. The people of Fontaine were never aware that she ever existed. She died for people who would never acknowledge her. She died alone with a dream she never got to experience, having someone live it for her. She sacrificed everything for nothing in return.
Neuvillette wept at the injustice done to her, this time with no gentle hum to calm him. So, although it was not much, when he was near someone who needed it, he lent the same quiet aid she did, never to receive the credit that was due. Although much rarer, his actions restored the faith of the people in her aid.
And so, the legend carries on. So does the saying of the people.
“When you need help, turn to the water.”