shipwrecked || furina & neuvillette

🫧 31 🫧

"He's a very smart man, Furina." Mavuika stands up. "Smarter than many. He's prepared to sacrifice things in the pursuit of his ideas and that is incredibly dangerous."
"I... I helped a group of little children get out, when he took me." Furina stands up and continues walking. "He was experimenting on them."
Mavuika's face falls. "Yes, I have heard about that."
"You must know what it's like," Furina murmurs quietly, "when everyone underestimates just how determined you are to protect your nation."
Mavuika nods with a smile, looking over at Furina.
"Yes," she nods. "I know exactly how that feels."
"So you must be able to see that I absolutely will not allow myself to be sent away because people are scared that I might get hurt." Furina finally feels like she's making sense to someone. "You must be able to see that I will give up everything I have to make sure that no one else gets hurt."
Mavuika's face softens as she hears Furina's words.
"Because I will," the girl with silver hair says desperately through watery eyes. "I will give up everything. If death is the price I must pay, then so be it." She glanced over at Mavuika, the Pyro Archon's face unreadable. "No cost is too high for the safety of my people."
"Spoken like a true Archon," Mavuika replies. "Look, Furina. I will support you. I will support your judgement, even if it may differ from those around you. I will support your desire for the safety of the people to rise above all else." Mavuika takes a couple of steps forward, before she pauses, sighing. "Mental strength should not be taken lightly, in this realm where physical strength is deemed the most important quality in a person. Don't let it go unnoticed. Goodnight, Furina."
Mavuika walks into the night, and Furina can't help but stand there aimlessly for a few moments. Today has been a big day, but she doesn't feel tired.

It all feels hopeless, like it's just a string of bad days and she can't seem to escape them. She enjoyed getting away with Neuvillette, but it's all been unravelled by the dramas that unfolded over the past twenty four hours. She turns and glances up at the Palais Mermonia, gritting her teeth. The rain still avoided her every step, and she stared up at the sky. Neuvillette was sad, the sky was crying.
She didn't want to talk to him, didn't want to hear his list of excuses as to why she should be sent away.
"Neuvillette isn't up there," a Melusine tells her as she slips by. "He left the office hours ago."
Furina glances after her, a puzzled expression on her face. Neuvillette left? Where did he go? Maybe he went to find her - maybe Clorinde is with him. Anxiety fills the put in her stomach as she panics about where he might be.

Walking up to the front door of the Palais Mermonia, Furina guesses where he might be. Taking a left and walking past the building entirely, Furina reaches the outskirts of the Court of Fontaine. Leaning over the stone wall, and staring down at the beach, she sees a figure sitting in the sand, half submerged in water. Her face softens as she sees him. His head hung, his robes drenched by the waves that roll in and out. Rain is still falling heavily around them.

She wishes that she could be so unfazed by the water, but as she makes her way down the grassy hill towards the shore, she feels her chest constrict. Memories of Dottore, holding her head under. Memories of how it felt to be drowning. Memories of sitting on that throne as her life fell to pieces. But still, she ventures forward.
"Neuvillette?" She softly calls his name. She stands behind him, the waves lapping onto the sand, never quite reaching her shoes.
He turns to face her, tears in his eyes. He doesn't speak, just looks over at her. In that moment, seeing him sobbing into the ocean, Furina forgets her fears, forgets everything around her. She rushes towards him, kneeling down in front of him, and holds him close. She throws her arms around him, holding him close as he cries.
"Furina," his arms wrap around her waist, and he squeezes her. Resting his head on her shoulder, she feels his body start to soften. She's straddling his lap, her knees sinking into the sand on either side of him.
"Hydro dragon," Furina pulls back, cupping his cheeks. "Hydro dragon, don't cry."
Neuvillette glances up at her and gives a sad smile.
"I'm so sorry, Furina." He refuses to meet her eyes.
"I know you're trying to protect me," Furina tells him gently. "I haven't had anyone to protect me before," she brushes his hair out of his eyes, ignoring the feeling of the rain on her fingertips. "But Neuvillette, after being stuck with me for four hundred years, I think you know as well as I do - that I don't let others fight my battles for me." Furina presses her lips to his forehead. "I don't let other people take all the risks, put their life in danger. I am not that kind of person. I know that's hard, I know it's irritating, but... I would hate myself forever if I let other people deal with my... mess as I sailed miles away. We will handle this together, Neuvillette." She kisses him again. "Whatever he's got planned, whatever he thinks he's going to get from me... whatever it is. We fight it together."
Neuvillette nods, finally looking up at her. Cupping her cheeks, he kisses her lips. She can't help but giggle, the sound tickling his lips.
"I'm so sorry, Furina." He whispers. "I just... I've never loved anything as much as I love you and it's terrifying." He pauses, helping her stand up before he stands himself. "I... I love you."
"And I love you," Furina stands on her tip toes. "We've helped each other survive for four centuries, Neuvillette. We can last the distance. I promise."