They boarded the patrol tram and in no time reached their destination: Fontaine Proper.
No sooner had they stepped ashore than Paimon and Lumine were transfixed by the sights around them.
No wonder Su Xuan said Fontaine felt more advanced than other nations. Towering architecture, clever mechanisms, intricate clockwork sentinels—and even clockwork dogs engineered to roam the streets. In terms of applied ingenuity, other nations looked like fishing hamlets next to Fontaine. Even Sumeru's inventions seemed to lag by several streets.
Su Xuan smiled at Lumine, who was staring like a country girl visiting the capital for the first time. He snapped a photo of the moment.
[Country Girl-In-The-City.jpg]
Lumine blinked, turned, and pouted at the nickname—obviously not pleased. After all, she had flown before; she only lacked the memory to remember it. Once those memories returned, she'd blind Teyvat's natives with how dazzling she truly was.
[Fontaine is not only the land of law and trial—it is also the source of Teyvat's waterways.]
[Fontainers pursue art, fashion, and justice to excess, and their light-industry tech is the most developed among the Seven Nations. The Steambird Gazette is based here.]
[Few know Fontaine's ancient history—the real epic hidden beneath its modern façade.]
[If the Narta continent's draconic empire forged myths by tech, Fontaine forged gods with spirit-power.]
[By contrast, Sumeru's 'rightful-gun' construct looks almost crude.]
In an underground Sumeru workshop, Nahida halted mid-run with a stack of documents and glanced at the gathered ladies. Her father had once torn the Academia apart in memory—now he'd done the same to Fontaine in Su Xuan's diary. Curious, she brightened and looked to the ever-smiling Buyeer.
"Mother—do you know Fontaine's history?" she asked.
The gathered researchers craned their necks toward Buyeer. As an avatar of worldly wisdom, she should know about the fall of the Remlia Dynasty, right?
Buyeer smiled faintly, then sighed. "I know a little."
"Su Xuan might be referring to the long-lost Remlia Dynasty."
"Remlia Dynasty?" Liuyun tilted her head. Guizhong immediately edged closer, eager. "You know of it?"
Liuyun nodded. "Yes—appeared after the later stage of the Archon Wars. Its founder, King Remus, originally hailed from Sumeru and fled to the seas after losing to the Crimson King."
"Many things cannot be pried from the World Tree," Buyeer continued. Her answer made the researchers lean in even more, eyes flicking to their diary copies.
[There once was the Remlia Dynasty.]
[Their seer foretold the kingdom's end.]
[To resist being swallowed by the sea and prevent citizens dissolving into the water, King Remus created the Phobos Grand Symphony System.]
[He sealed the souls of his people into eternal golems and used the Symphony to guide them, fulfilling their wishes.]
[But sealing souls brought pain. Human wills vary in strength; many could not bear the burden.]
[The system fused their wills into a collective consciousness—an unintended hive mind that precipitated the dynasty's collapse.]
[Hidden resentments surfaced; the merged negativity overloaded the Phobos System and it went mad.]
[Thus the Remlia Dynasty sank beneath the sea.]**
Was the prophecy truly unchangeable? The diary mused that Remus's attempt to overturn fate was the very spark that turned the wheels of destiny. Still, the civilization his system produced was astonishing—so much so that Sumeru's wisdom schools would later study hive consciousness, yet fail to tame the negative emotions that topple such constructs.
[Enter Réné of Fontaine's Nym-Cross Consortium.]
[Understanding the prophecy's inevitability, Réné undertook a long path to save Fontaine. He transformed himself into a being called 'Nakhisen Cruz'—a sentient collective able to absorb other minds and memories without being impaired by them.]
[Nakhisen Cruz's role was to devour every Fontaine mind, hold them through the prophecy, then release them into new bodies when the danger passed—thus preserving the people's existence.]
[Frankly, Réné's solution is one of the wildest mortal acts I know.]
[Did it work? Yes—their consciousness persisted.]
[And more damningly: the true destroyer of Fontaine wasn't the sea or a prophecy, but the people themselves.]
Focalors froze as she read on, incredulous.
"The people themselves?" she muttered. "What do you mean?" She flipped to the next page.
[Some adapt to the Abyss; some do not. Drowning Fontaine won't annihilate the people—they are bred to be aquatic. But the prophecy isn't simple drowning; it's dissolution.]
[Once exposed to the concentrated waters of the Primordial Belly Sea, the mimetic bodies of Fontaine's natives will unravel—returning their awareness to the ocean whence they formed.]
[Yes—most native Fontainers are not true humans but mimetic people fashioned by water-spirits.]
[Contact with the primal sea triggers the mimic-water inside them, and their forms dissolve. Their minds revert to the original sea-homes.]
[The Star-Swallowing Whale nesting in the Primordial Belly Sea is the agent that will stir those waters.]
Focalors: "!?"
The Fontainer ladies went pale. It wasn't the prophecy nor the whale that utterly dumbfounded them—it was the revelation that their people were not truly human.
Not human—but mimetic forms made by water-spirits…
Paimon's voice shrank almost to a whisper as she peered at the crowds on the avenue: "It's hard to imagine a whole nation that looks human but isn't… Do other nations know?"
Lumine's brow furrowed. "Only a very few know. If this truth spread, panic would follow. Even Fontainers themselves believe they are true humans." Su Xuan answered simply.
As they spoke, three figures approached at a measured pace.
"Hey—there's the Treasury Goddess," Paimon chirped, pointing. Rosaline rolled her eyes at the nickname; she wasn't some lucky talisman—she was a proud diary-holder.
Rosaline introduced her companions politely. "These are our Executives: Arlecchino—Fourth Seat, 'The Servant'—and Columbina—Third Seat, 'The Maiden.' They, too, are diary-holders."
Paimon snorted. "I expected Fontaine's diary holders to greet us. Instead we get these Harbingers of the Fatui."
Su Xuan chuckled at Paimon's scowl. He looked around and explained, "They aren't absent—those Fontainers are standing not far off. Maybe they're unsure how to approach us."
Rosaline's expression was cool. "More like stunned," she said. Fontaine's doomsaying prophecy had hung over the nation like a shadow for generations. Most Fontainers ignored it; centuries passed with no sign of doom. Few truly believed the prophecy—until now. Su Xuan's blunt revelations changed everything; worse, learning that they weren't truly human made the nation vulnerable. If this were exposed, the Primordial Belly Sea could be used to persecute them.
"Small matter," Su Xuan waved. "Compared to that, it's strange the three of you are traveling together."
Rosaline and Arlecchino's presence in Fontaine made sense—Arlecchino's hearth sat there, and she managed Focalors's Heart of God affairs. But Columbina, the Harbinger-Third Seat known as 'The Maiden', had no business being here.
Su Xuan's playful gaze landed on the trio. The Harbingers exchanged glances. Their current caution dated to the moment Su Xuan had crushed a Dottore fragment in front of the other Fatui executives—since then, every Fatui move had become more careful. Add Su Xuan's recent proposal to gather nations' faith for a common purpose, and the situation grew delicate. The Ice-Queen had already returned a retrieved Divine Heart to Rosaline—intending it for Su Xuan. After all, a Divine Heart was essential for harvesting citizen faith.
Paimon piped up: "So you're not here to collect the Divine Hearts—you want the Hearts returned to each nation's ruler?"
The three administrators nodded.
Lumine and Sikok burst into laughter.
"So the Empress's centuries of effort—gone in an instant," Lumine laughed aloud.
Rosaline laughed too, a sharp, worldly sound. "Some things come from mouths larger than the world knows." The Ice-Queen's behavior had made her stance clear: she would act on a whim and return treasure if it fit her mood. Her single decision had tangled centuries of careful stewardship.
Sikok frowned. "You need a Divine Heart to gather worship-power?"
Rosaline shrugged. "That's what Her Majesty said."
Sikok's gaze turned serious as she looked at Su Xuan. He pinched her cheek and smiled lightly.
"Relax—this is nothing. Switching rulers is just a line in the Sky-Isles' ledger. If they oppose your collecting faith, I'll go myself."
"But first—our business is to visit Lady Focalors of Fontaine."
"Now that you three are here, we'll use the Winter Envoy delegation as cover to meet her."
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