Fontaine's EPIC: The Musical

The Horse And The Infant

Note: I suggest you check out the song above called "The horse and the infant" before reading if you're not familiar with it.
-
[Furina, playing Odysseus and many other soldiers crowded together, clearly hiding. Furina is dressed like a man, her hair cropped short and wearing men's clothing; armour. She is holding a sword, not her usual Splendor of Tranquil Waters but a much simpler sword, like a Dull Blade that would make The Traveller proud.]

[ODYSSEUS]
Alright my brothers listen closely
Tonight we make the Trojans pay
Ten years of war they killed us slowly
But now we'll be the ones who slay
Think of your wives and your children
Your families wonder where you've been
They're growing old and yet you're still here
Do what I say and you'll see them again
Yes sir!
Diomedes will lead the charge
Agamemnon will flank the guards
Menelaus will let our mates through the gates to takе the whole city at large
Tеucer will shoot any ambush attack
And Little Ajax will stay back
Nestor, secure Helen and protect her
Neo, avenge your father, kill the brothers of Hector!

People observe how Furina is commanding the soldiers. Some with amusement, such as Arlecchino.
The others with bitter resentment and pained expressions at the reminder of their loved ones, having passed on. Especially those who were from Poisson.
Some of them were thinking about if that would be how Furina would act if Fontaine was in a war or if she was the real Archon.

Would she be a good commander? Probably not. Fighting for Fontaine mentally though... She had done that for hundreds of years.

[ODYSSEUS]
Find that inner strength now
Use that well of pride
Fight through every pain now
Ask yourself inside
What do you live for?
What do you try for?
What do you wish for?
What do you fight for?

Neuvillette was pained at the thought of Furina asking herself these questions when she pretended for 500 years to be a god.
Luckily, Sigewinne and Wriothesley snapped him out of that misery.

Other people in the audience, really just the main Fontaine cast and the Archons, seem to get the irony of this too as some of them looked pained, grimacing or raising an eyebrow. There were probably a few in the audience who were asking themselves these exact questions. Who were they fighting for, living for?

[ODYSSEUS]
Penelope
And Telemachus
I fight for us

Neuvillette clenched his fists and watched through narrowed eyes as the others around him tried to find a way to calm him down. But he kept thinking about how she had been fighting for the entirety of Fontaine…

Venti swings his legs as Zhongli and Ei stare at him disapprovingly. Nahida tries to lighten up the mood by asking them what they fight for, but it only made them even more moody. (Ei recalled Makoto, her twin sister, Zhongli thought of Guizhong and the other friends he had lost, Venti with a reminiscent smile as he recalls Nameless Bard). But they all answer the same: Their nation.

[ODYSSEUS FALLING TO THE GROUND WITH A SHOUT OF PAIN ALL OF A SUDDEN.]
Everyone tenses.
Neuvillette is a split second away from stopping the musical entirely when Wriothesley reassures him by telling him it's part of the script with a slightly exasperated expression.
People murmur, wondering what had happened.

[ODYSSEUS]
Who was that?
“That's what we are wondering.”

[ZEUS]
A vision
Of what is to come, cannot be outrun
Can only be dealt with right here, and now
“Who is that…?!”
“A vision? What does that mean?”
They all look tense and wary at the sudden appearance of a new character that they couldn't yet see, only able to hear their vocie and the faint crackling of thunder.

[ODYSSEUS]
Tell me how
[ZEUS]
I don't think you're ready
Furina's not... though Odysseus maybe is. Was the general consensus.

[ZEUS]
A mission to kill someone's son.
A foe who won't run.
Insert gasps. Though most people know that Furina in real life wouldn't hurt a fly. Some people, though, especially from Poisson, kind of took that to heart. They had lost people they hold dear to them, and they weren't above blaming their former Archon.

[ODYSSEUS]
It's just an infant…
People having their jaws drop. The audience burst into noise at the revelation.
"An infant?!"
"That mysterious voice wants him to kill a baby? What the heck..."
Everyone who was sane looked relatively ill at the very thought of such a thing happening. A particular funeral parlour director was rubbing her hands in something like anticipation, which made everyone near her back away and give her weird looks, which she promptly ignored.

[ZEUS]
If you dont end him now, you'll have no one left to save.
Probably how some people thought of the prophecy of Fontaine in the past that foretold Fontaine sinking beneath the waves and every Fontanian dissolving into the waters: "If  you don't force Furina to reveal her secrets, no one will be left, everyone will die," or in Furina's perspective: "If you don't lie to your people now/if you tell them now, you'll have no one left to save."
Either way, the prophecy had forced their hand. They all thought they had no other choice... even if there had been one.

[ZEUS]
You can say goodbye to
Penelope
You can say goodbye to
Telemachus
In Furina's case: You can say goodbye to Fontaine.

I could raise him as my own (he will burn your house and throne)
Or send him far away from home (he'll find you wherever you go)
Make sure his past is never known (the gods will make him know)
I'd rather bleed for you, down on my knees for ya (he's bringing you down on your knees)
I'm begging please (this is the will of the gods)
They see Furina (Odysseus) arguing with Zeus, which people close to Furina can see happening in real life, she's a very kind and sefless person in actuality but people who don't know her well are skeptical, wondering if she would really do so or her kind demeanour had also just been a façade. They couldn't be all too certain. The former Archon had given them some trust issues-

[ZEUS]
The blood on your hands is something you won't lose, all you can choose is whose.
That gave them all chills. Though in Furina's situation, it is more like: "The blood on your hands is something you can't lose, all you can choose is how much of it."

How many people can you save?

And how many will die because you are not the real one?

You'll never be.