Chapter Text
In her stupor, she fails to hear the dragging of scales across the floor and the creak of the study door opening. What she does notice is the warmth pressing against her back and the squeak of shock that leaves her lips. Her eyes are wide as she freezes in his grasp. The book in her hand is plucked, and the pages are given a cursory glance. "What are you reading, Furina?" The once-dead archon notes that her dragon’s voice is softer today, gentler, almost as if he were normal once more. But there was nothing normal about all of this.
“A…diary.” Her voice is a whisper as she observes him. His colder gaze lingers upon the pages before a noise of recognition leaves him. Like this, she could almost pretend that they were back in his office, and she was merely watching him tackle a rather tedious case. But this was also not then, and she was reminded as his clawed hand rested against her hip.
“I remember this one," her gaze snapped towards his eyes, "she would not dissolve." She wonders how he could say it so easily as if he had not gone around claiming lives for his whim. As if sensing her growing distress, Neuvillette bent his head, his chin nuzzled against the crown of her hair, gentle and deliberate. "Do not fret, since she served no purpose for your revival, I had her sent away with the Melusine."
At that moment, Furina discovered the unlikely coexistence of fear and gratitude within her chest. "Th-the Melusines are alive?" A fragile hope surged within her, hope that there was still some vestige of the Neuvillette she once knew buried beneath this distorted facade. He emitted a thoughtful hum while tracing a finger through her hair, casually discarding the book on the table. "Alongside those that could not dissolve. I sent them away before tracking down those that sinned," he declared with a perverse sense of pride, sending a shiver down her spine. His embrace tightened as he lifted her effortlessly. "I remember, we only judge those that carry sin." The remnants of her hope shattered like delicate glass. What about the innocent children, the unsuspecting civilians—what had they done to deserve such a fate? A torrent of emotions surged within her, a part of her yearning to scream, to cry, to strike him relentlessly as if somehow that could undo this nightmare.
But Furina knew from bitter experience that her actions would only be met with his unrepentant gaze. He harbored no remorse for his past deeds, and she doubted the man he had become would ever feel such a thing. And it burns to know that this…that this is all her fault.
This is the result of her hubris, of her senseless fight against a being higher than her. She thinks of it sometimes; it's all she has to do in her now empty nation. Would things have been different if she had let fate run its original course? Would things have been better if she had tried things differently? All these questions only cause her grief. The past was firmly entrenched in its irrevocable place, leaving her with nothing more than a desolate present. Her fingers clung to him, a living embodiment of her transgressions, while she grappled with the pressing question of how to mend the fragments of this shattered existence, to absolve herself of the weight of her sins.
Her incompetence.
It was maddening.
It burns.
She had condemned everything she ever loved because of her inabilities.
Her nation, her waters, her dragon. Everything had been ruined by her own hands. By her own love.
Lost in her thoughts, Furina failed to note the way Neuvillette’s expressions shift as he walks them home. The minute display of displeasure causes his brow to pinch. His dearest does this quite often, and drifts away from him. It is vexing as it is endearing. She should be here, with him, enjoying the time he had so painstakingly earned for them. He preens as her attention turns back towards him after a sharp nip to the underside of her chin. Her neck is littered with them, marks that tell him that blood flows through her veins, that she is truly here. A rush of adoration fills him, making the smile that pulls at the corner of his lips almost boyish. He tries his best to have it reach his eyes. He knows he’s doing well when Furina smiles back, small, tentative, but brighter than before. This is good, this is great, this was better than the maudlin air she held ever since she awoke.
He could smile like this for eternity if that meant she would be happier. He knew, of course, without a doubt that she would be upset…at his actions, but he also knew she would forgive him. For that was how Furina always was. She was the embodiment of kindness, a soul that loved endlessly, that loved a little too much. But that was alright, for he now exists to protect that endless love of hers. She would never have to hurt herself for the undeserving ever again. He had ensured that. His chest rumbled as he purred. Now that Fontaine was cleared of everything, they could start again.
A warmth flooded his chest. A new nation, tailored just for them, for her.
He tucks her into the sofa of his office and presses his head against her lap. The soft carpet of the floor gives beneath his scales. His eyes drift closed as he takes her hand in his. Contentment seeps from where she touches him, fingers carding through his hair in soft strokes. “Do you want me to undo the seal? To bring the Melusines back?” He can hear her think before shaking her head.
“Maybe later…we need to fix the city first.”
Furina’s fingers tighten in his hair as Neuvillette buries his face into her stomach. She had no intention of ever letting anyone back into this broken nation of hers.
She bites back the tears, her lips quiver.
This mistake of hers is her burden to bear.
She exhales softly as she buries her face into the crook of Neuvillette’s neck.
She would bear his sins as if they were her own. After all, she created him.