Chapter Text
‘There is an ancient prophecy in Fontaine.’
‘All inhabitants are born of primordial sin – one that which cannot be absolved.’
‘One day, the waters will rise and drown the sinners, washing away their tainted souls.’
‘Only the Hydro Archon will remain, weeping on her throne – lamenting the fate that befell her people.’
‘But…’
‘It is said that Egeria, Mistress of Many Waters, found the being who will bring destruction upon us all.’
‘Swiftly, she brought down judgement onto this calamitous being – proclaiming an eternal sentence of silence and darkness.’
‘It is said that this being sleeps within the deepest parts of the ocean – awaiting the day it would be freed from its cage.’
‘Pray, children, pray – give praise upon our departed Mistress, and give praise upon our magnificent Regina–’
‘For they were the ones to save us from this cruel prophecy.’
‘May the wicked Hydro Dragon never awaken again.’
Wriothesley felt the thin material in his hands, quietly counting how many coupons he still had. Seven. Just seven.
An actual meal would cost him 20. He wouldn’t be able to afford to eat today.
No matter. He would work hard tomorrow. Maybe the guard on shift would be kind enough to let him work with the ores instead of the stamping machines. It always took him thrice as long to get one thing hammered correctly; not being able to see what he was doing was making it way harder.
He just stood there in the Administrative Area, still contemplating whether he should stave off his hunger with a bottle of Fonta (5 coupons), or if he should just tough it out. Sometimes, the staff at the Coupon Cafeteria was extra kind, giving him some scraps at the end of the day.
Even if he couldn’t really see much these days, Wriothesley could still tell whether a person was sneering at him or not. The cooks at the Cafeteria were usually quiet; not the dismissive type, though.
Another sigh left him when he had finally made the decision to just save his money instead. He was making his way towards the elevator to go up to his room when he could hear two guards walk past him. Their heavy steps and the manner of their walking suggested that they were carrying something.
“Seriously, why do I have to bring that thing food? Can’t we just starve it?”
An older, more stern sounding voice immediately reprimanded the other one.
“Our Mistress Egeria’s sentence proclaimed that the beast be fed once a day. Once spoken, an Archon’s word is law. Don’t be stupid!”
Wriothesley stopped in his tracks, quietly listening in even more. People never paid him any mind – they always dropped their guard when he was around. Who was afraid of a blind man anyway?
“Can’t we just have a convict do that? I hate going down there, it’s so creepy…”
Work. That sounded like a guard was contemplating giving someone a food delivery job of sorts.
“The moment prisoners find out that this monster is imprisoned below us, they’d rather starve to death than do what they’re told to do. Give it up.”
The guards’ conversation died down as they waited in front of the elevator leading downwards – but when they heard the sound of boots drawing close, they turned around to be met with a young man bearing scars unlike any other.
His once blue, now greyed over eyes, were quite mesmerising to behold.
“Need a hand?”
The elevator ride down took ages. Wriothesley had made it a habit to count quietly in his head whenever he was going somewhere. This way, he would always know how long something took, and how much distance was left to traverse. Even the way to his cell was memorized – he knew exactly how many seconds it took him to get from the elevator to the stairs leading to his room.
And this elevator ride was taking almost 600 seconds.
‘Once you’re down there, walk forward until you reach a vault door. Put your hand on the nearby console and clearly speak the following code: 8-25-4-18-15. After the voice prompts you, speak the second code: 4-18-1-7-15-14.’
The guards had refused to tell him what exactly was down here. It had to be some kind of living being or he wouldn’t have needed to bring it food. Was it a criminal with such a heinous crime that they couldn’t be allowed to mingle with the general population?
A telltale screech was heard as the elevator came to a stop. The door opened in front of him, and Wriothesley carefully stepped out and down the stairs. With the package securely held in his left arm, he grasped the wall to his right and used it to find his way forward.
17 seconds.
34 seconds.
84 seconds.
Finally, after about 90 seconds of walking, Wriothesley felt how the wall next to him shifted away, seemingly opening up. He could hear the echo of his own boots, and he heard a splashing sound as he seemed to step into shallow puddles. Leaking pipes, huh.
Judging from the echo of his boots, he had reached the room harbouring the vault door.
It took a bit, but he found the console hidden away on the right side of the room. He blindly grasped it, and a mechanic voice spoke to him.
“Automated system response. Status of prisoner: Alive. Status of seal: Active. Remaining time in solitary confinement: Nine nine nine nine nine nine …”
9?
99?
999?
9.999?
99.999?
999.999…?
“…days left.”
Almost 1.000.000 days of confinement left? That couldn’t be a human in there, could it? Since when did Fontaine sentence humans to life in solitary confinement? Life in prison was a severe punishment, but to spend all of that time on their own… how was this okay?
“Opening prompt received. State your name.”
The blind human quietly chased those thoughts away.
“Wriothesley.”
“Affirmative. State the first sequence.”
What was awaiting him behind these doors?
“8-25-4-18-15.”
“Affirmative. State the second sequence.”
Just what crime did this being commit?
“4-18-1-7-15-14.”
“Code received. Initiating opening sequence.”
Wriothesley could hear how some bolts were unlocked. It sounded like multiple locks all being undone one by one. Quietly, he counted inside of his head yet again.
11 seconds.
29 seconds.
37 seconds…
The vault door seemed to be moved to the side. It took a bit for the noises to die down.
“Solitary confinement temporarily paused.”
As before, Wriothesley slowly walked forward until his hand grasped the railing of what seemed to be stairs leading up to the door. He made his way up, listening for the moment when his boots made contact with the metallic frame of the vault door. Once he passed through the frame, he began counting again.
The ground underneath him was still of the same material as outside… but quieter. There seemed to be no puddles of water, but the echo was different. It seemed to be cramped inside, but there was no way for him to tell.
He couldn’t tell where he was – there was nothing for him to grasp onto.
“Hey,” he blindly called out. “I’m new. I’m bringing you your food.”
No answer. Not in that moment, at least.
Wriothesley stopped in his tracks when he heard something; a faint sound his oversensitive ears picked up on.
Not in front of him. Somewhere to his left side. Behind him.
He turned around in timea as he suddenly recognized that sound right in front of him. It was breathing.
Something was in front of him. He had no idea what it was.
That something didn’t make another move. It remained in front of him – Wriothesley extended the package forth, accidentally pushing it against whatever was there.
It was at least tall enough for him to push against what seemed to be a chest. The breathing indicated it was around his size – maybe a little smaller. For now, he couldn’t tell what gender it was.
“Here’s your food,” he, yet again, explained. At first, nothing really happened, but then he felt how hands grasped the package (so it was humanoid). He felt fingers touching upon his own.
Cold, but human.
A quiet noise left the person in front of him – its breathing sounding… interested.
“Your hearing is exceptional for a human.”
Sounded like a male voice. The tone and manner of speech seemed to indicate age, but… the fingers touching upon his own betrayed that. That man in front of him had a young appearance (at least guessing from the smoothness of his skin), but an ancient way of speaking. Fascinating.
“You always greet people from behind?” Wriothesley leisurely responded. There was a hitch in the other person’s voice – a sound similar to… amusement?
“I wished to sate my curiosity. Your name was unfamiliar to me.”
“You heard me talking to that machine through the door? Which one of us has exceptional hearing here?” Wriothesley raised an eyebrow. The man in front of him let forth a pleased sounding noise.
“A sharp mind and an even sharper tongue. None who come down here speak like this.”
More and more, Wriothesley could feel his fascination take over. The Fortress was the same thing day after day – this right here was something new. A change of pace.
“I take it you don’t get many visitors.”
This time, a short breathy chuckle was his response.
“None ever walk inside.”
Wait, so he wasn’t supposed to go in here? These guards should’ve told him so…
He must’ve been grumbling visibly, seeing as another quiet amused huff came from the man in front of him. Eventually, those fingers grabbed the packages fully, allowing Wriothesley to pull back his hands. It was then that he realized that he might’ve made a mistake.
“So… a stupid question.”
“Mh?”
“…Aren’t you gonna escape solitary confinement now?”
Wriothesley almost expected to hear the sound of footsteps dashing towards the door, but nothing happened. In fact, the person walked away from the open door towards another corner of this room.
“A door is merely the beginning of the Usurper’s means of keeping me locked away.”
There was a hint of amusement hidden within what seemed to be quiet fury. It was the kind of anger where people were still smiling, where they seemed to be pleasant about it, but secretly they were seething on the inside.
Sometimes he really regretted losing his eyesight – he would’ve loved to know what this guy looked like right now.
“I guess it wouldn’t be a prison if it were easy to escape,” Wriothesley shrugged. He kind of disliked standing in the middle of an unknown room – he still remembered which way he came in, but since he had turned, he had no means of knowing where exactly he was in that moment. He’d have to blindly walk around until he found a wall, and that was just a show of weakness.
Though… this guy hadn’t made a single attempt at hurting him so far. Yes, he had ambushed him, but probably only because he was curious. If it was true what he had said, then people never came in to talk to him.
So…
“You seem malnourished,” sounded the voice of the other prisoner. “Join me.”
Was that a trick? What sane convict would share their food with others?
He must’ve been furrowing his brows, seeing as a chuckle escaped the other.
“A healthy amount of mistrust. Commendable.”
The package was seemingly opened.
“The food I receive is merely for my pleasure, not to sustain me. Within a day, this is just another form of entertainment for me.”
Solitary confinement for over 1.000.000 days…
“You are quite fascinating. So, in exchange for this momentary pleasure, I request your presence.”
“A trade, huh?” Wriothesley found himself grinning lazily. “For someone that never gets out of solitary confinement, you know how the Fortress works down to a T.”
“So?”
A moment of silence. Wriothesley weighed his options.
The guards hadn’t told him when he was expected back. They were probably thinking of him either dying or being scared down here anyway, so a few more minutes didn’t matter. Plus, the thought of food made him even hungrier than before…
“Alright, you got a deal.”
A short pause – and then a sigh from Wriothesley.
“Can you tell me where the nearest wall is?”
The prisoner seemingly shifted in his position – a dismissive, yet almost encouraging sounding huff leaving him.
“You need not rely on physical objects to find your way, human.”
Wriothesley grumbled.
“Spoken like someone who didn’t go blind.”
He was used to it. People were always using this to their advantage to get something out of him. It just kinda sucked that even this guy–
“You need only feel for the elements around you – they shall guide you.”
Slowly, Wriothesley shifted in his position, tilting his head in question.
“I don’t have a Vision if that’s what you’re implying. I only went blind after I got here.”
Another sigh left the other. He seemed to shake his head at that idea.
“Humans always restrict themselves to needing the gaze of a Usurper upon them to live their lives. The elements have been around since long before the ‘Archons’ descended upon this world.”
“Are you really giving me an unofficial history lesson now?” Wriothesley grumbled. The other huffed yet again, seeming moderately pleased with his responses.
“Elemental sight is something that can be achieved without relying on one’s ambitions. I shall teach you.”
“What’s that gonna cost me?” Wriothesley spoke while raising an eyebrow. As expected, the other chuckled yet again. Seemed he was making himself quite sympathetic to this creature (or whatever he was).
“A portion of your time… and the promise of more food deliveries.”
He was about to reply, but his growling stomach interrupted them. It was seemingly loud enough for the other to hear as well, as his nameless prisoner acquaintance finally seemed to see reason (for now).
“Just walk forward for now.”
Wriothesley stuffed his face as if his life depended on it. Well, it did kind of depend on it, actually…
The entire time, he could hear the person in front of him breathing, seemingly watching him. Since he had sat down, the other hadn’t spoken a word – just content with having him sit by his side. It was odd, but given that he was in solitary confinement, that seemed to explain a lot.
“Is the food to your liking?” the creature eventually asked of him. He watched as Wriothesley chewed a big bite, swallowing it whole before taking a sip of water (cup provided by the imprisoned man).
“This stuff is a hundred times better than what you get upstairs,” Wriothesley confessed, feeling the package for the amount of food that was left. “Plus, that’s a big portion size. If it meant I’d get food delivered to me like that, I wouldn’t mind being down here that much.”
His remark was rewarded with another chuckle.
“A human’s mind will eventually deteriorate in conditions like these. I doubt you would survive a year of no contact.”
“I mean… I guess you got a point,” Wriothesley shrugged while taking big bite out of a loaf of bread. “What did you do to get locked up down here anyway?”
Asking a prisoner for their reason of staying usually was a one-way ticket to getting beat up – or finding someone to beat up depending on the crime. Someone who was in for domestic abuse usually found themselves on the receiving end down here…
“I existed,” came the mere reply of the other.
In that moment, Wriothesley furrowed his brows.
“Actually, I haven’t even asked you for your name,” he said with an almost embarrassed seeming tone.
Well, he couldn’t really say anything about ‘manners’ seeing as he hadn’t been raised by anyone who could’ve taught him that… but it was still foolish of him to start talking to someone without knowing their name. He had even started to refer to this guy as a ‘creature’ because he just couldn’t figure out if it was a human or not.
His way of talking seemed to indicate age, and this prison sentence that seemed way too severe kind of pointed towards him being an older guy… as in several hundred years old. That was his impression, at least.
“Your name,” the other suddenly spoke up. “Is it a first name or your surname?”
Deflecting a question, huh. Well, if he wanted to play that way…
“I don’t know,” Wriothesley shrugged, looking into the general direction of where the voice was coming from. “I just took a dead guy’s name when I was convicted. My birthday is the day I was sent to prison, too.”
“So, neither your name nor your manner of birth is truly yours,” the other concluded. Wriothesley nodded.
“That about sums it up.”
“Hm,” the other quietly began, taking his time. Wriothesley could hear him shifting in his seated position yet again.
“I was sentenced without a name,” the mysterious person eventually concluded. He seemed to have thought about it for quite a bit – probably to give a better answer.
Still, it was enough to garner Wriothesley’s interest.
“Well, you might as well pick one out now,” the black-haired man chuckled. “I need something to call you. I’ve been told that just calling someone ‘you’ is rude.”
He bet everything on it that he was being stared at. Wriothesley just continued eating as if nothing had happened at all.
A long silence engulfed them – and by the time Wriothesley had finished his food, no other words had left his conversation partner.
It was then that the other finally regained his voice.
“Then give unto me a name, human.”
“Just like that?” Wriothesley raised an eyebrow, but laughed, nonetheless. “Alright, but don’t go complaining if you don’t like your new name.”
“I will keep this in mind.”
And when Wriothesley looked up after a few seconds of thinking, a big grin was on his face – prompting… something to well up inside the other; as if a shroud had lifted from his mind after all these years.
“I guess Neuvillette is a cute enough name.”
When Wriothesley walked in through the door the next day, Neuvillette was seemingly already awaiting him. Though he couldn’t see anything, he just had a feeling that he was being watched.
“Good evening, Neuvillette,” Wriothesley announced himself, coming to a stop in the middle of the room. He hadn’t gotten around to creating a mental map of this place, so he was still unsure on where to go to.
An acknowledging hum came from in front of him, sounding as if it was a few metres away. He couldn’t remember exactly how it was yesterday, but he could’ve sworn that the table had been somewhere else.
“Walk forward, Wriothesley,” came Neuvillette’s response. Wriothesley imagined his face to be quite relaxed, maybe even moderately amused. So far, he hadn’t gotten around to asking what he looked like.
“You’re the boss.”
He did as he was told, carefully walking forward with one hand stretched out – just in case he was going face first against a wall. When he did finally collide with something, he felt surprise coming to his face.
It was incredibly soft and squishy. Kinda like…
“Mattress?” he looked up, expecting Neuvillette to be somewhere close.
“You are correct,” Neuvillette spoke – sounding as if he was right in front of him. Wriothesley guessed that he must’ve been sitting with his feet up on the bed or he would’ve bumped into him too.
“Eating in bed, are we? I sure hope you aren’t a messy eater,” the black-haired man joked, handing the package over to Neuvillette. However, instead of just taking it from his hands, Wriothesley felt legs slide against him. A moment later, Neuvillette seemingly got up from his bed.
“If you are to replace my former warden, then you will soon bring other necessities of ‘life’ to me,” Neuvillette explained, walking off. Wriothesley followed him, always listening for the sound of his naked feet on the ground.
Good thing water didn’t leak into this place…
“I mean I guess there are some other things besides food that you occasionally need,” the human murmured, blindly reaching out for a chair and sitting down. Neuvillette had already taken a seat in front of him.
This time, Neuvillette did take the package out of his head, leaving Wriothesley to lean back in his chair.
“I’ve already told those guys I want this to be my permanent job,” Wriothesley idly chatted while Neuvillette opened his package. He could hear a hum coming from the immortal (or whatever he was).
“Most prisoners seem to be working on metal. I assume you are incapable of doing so due to your missing sight.”
A grumble escaped Wriothesley, and he crossed his arms before his chest in an almost insulted manner.
“I can still do their job – it just takes longer. Any other guy earns up to 400 Credit Coupons in a day working down there.”
“And you?”
A short pause followed. Then, Wriothesley grumbled yet again.
“…On a good day, it’s a 100.”
Instead of being ridiculed, Neuvillette just gave off an acknowledging hum. It seemed to be a cue for him to continue speaking – that much Wriothesley had figured out by now.
“The cheapest actual meal costs 20, so technically it’s enough to cover that… it’s just that you need to buy a shit ton of other stuff that isn’t food to actually live.”
“Which would be?”
“Anything,” the human continued, gesticulating with his hands. “Soap, books, weapons, pillows, haircuts, sex – you name it.”
“I understand,” Neuvillette replied yet again. So far, Wriothesley hadn’t heard a sound that seemed even closely related to eating. Had he just opened his meal and… not done anything with it?
“Then how much are you being paid for your service right now?”
Wriothesley gave him the smuggest grin he could manage.
“500 per delivery.”
“Mh,” came yet another hum. “Then I presume you have used your Coupons to buy yourself a meal today.”
“Well, I got breakfast,” Wriothesley nodded, though he grimaced. “It’s something to fill your stomach, but if you want actual good food… you are in a different price range. Try 200 to 300 Coupons.”
“Mhmm.”
By now, Wriothesley had managed to see through Neuvillette – well, as much as a blind man could. His questions and the way he seemed to respond to them indicated that he…
“Thinking of trading your food for my time again?” Wriothesley just asked him out loud. He had no idea if he really was staring at Neuvillette’s face, but he was making an effort to at least look into his general direction. You know, being a good conversation partner and whatnot…
“Quite perceptive,” Neuvillette commended him.
Nothing more was said. He didn’t seem to be that good at keeping a conversation going, but that wasn’t too surprising given the fact that he had been imprisoned for Archons knew how long, and the fact that he was in solitary confinement…
So, it was up to Wriothesley to decide the course of this conversation – and he wanted it to continue. Truthfully… he wanted to know more about this man than what he would ever let on.
“I’d like to trade my time for your food, Neuvillette.”
As expected, an acknowledging hum was his response, followed by the sound of a package being pushed his way.
“I accept your trade, then.”
And honestly, Wriothesley was so happy he got to eat some more food. He got paid delivering food and then he also got to eat it. It did make him wonder, though…
“You said you don’t need to eat to survive,” he began in between bites. Neuvillette, who seemed to be watching him, hummed again.
“Indeed.”
“Then what exactly are you? I don’t know of any living being that doesn’t need food to survive.”
He could hear the other shifting in his seat, adjusting his position.
“Unlike humans, I only require water to survive. Being deprived of food is not enough to take my life.”
“Heh,” Wriothesley responded, feeling curiosity take over, “then what are you?”
A short pause followed. Neuvillette seemed to gauge his reaction as he spoke his next words.
“I am of dragonkin.”
When Wriothesley failed to really react in any significant way, Neuvillette let forth an almost dismissive sounding huff.
“Of course. The Usurpers would never let their pawns know of the bloody history surrounding Teyvat.”
“Well, frankly speaking,” Wriothesley interjected with a shrug of his shoulders, “there’s a good chance people are taught about these things, and I just don’t know. I didn’t attend school.”
Neuvillette seemed to think on his words a bit. He leaned forward, suddenly seeming quite interested in Wriothesley.
“Pray tell, human: Have you ever heard of the prophecy?”
“What prophecy would that be?” the black-haired man tilted his head slightly. He doubted he was really looking into the correct direction, but he just imagined that he was. Neuvillette wasn’t letting him know if he was making a fool of himself or not.
But then again, Neuvillette seemed to have taken an interest in something else.
Quietly, the dragon (Wriothesley at least thought that was what he had meant with ‘dragonkin’) leaned back in his seat, crossing his legs and sitting leisurely. Though he couldn’t see it, Wriothesley imagined Neuvillette to be looking quite pleased judging from the relaxed breathes that were leaving him.
“You are the first human to not know,” Neuvillette responded with a pleased sounding tone. It kind of… excited Wriothesley to hear him talking like that.
Why? He had no fucking idea.
“So? Are you gonna tell me or not?”
A breathy chuckle escaped Neuvillette at his ‘insolence’, yet he seemed not to mind. Perhaps this rudeness (as the Overworlders would say) was something quite interesting to him. Had to be given that he barely got to talk to others.
“Then let me repeat those words spoken by the guards–“
‘There is an ancient prophecy in Fontaine.’
‘All inhabitants are born of primordial sin – one that which cannot be absolved.’
‘One day, the waters will rise and drown the sinners, washing away their tainted souls.’
‘Only the Hydro Archon will remain, weeping on her throne – lamenting the fate that befell her people.’
‘But…’
‘It is said that Egeria, Mistress of Many Waters, found the being who will bring destruction upon us all.’
‘Swiftly, she brought down judgement onto this calamitous being – proclaiming an eternal sentence of silence and darkness.’
‘It is said that this being sleeps within the deepest parts of the ocean – awaiting the day it would be freed from its cage.’
‘Pray, children, pray – give praise upon our departed Mistress, and give praise upon our magnificent Regina–’
‘For they were the ones to save us from this cruel prophecy.’
‘May the wicked Hydro Dragon never awaken again.’
Wriothesley counted the number of steps that passed by his cell. Judging by the frequency and haste, it was one of his least favourite jailors. If he caught him up at this time, he’d make sure to punish him.
So, he kept his eyes closed and his breathing low. He listened to the faint conversation between the guards, then for the telltale moment of silence when a guard was glancing into his room, followed by footsteps getting quieter as he left.
He had about half an hour before someone would check again.
Though he couldn’t see any longer, Wriothesley liked keeping his eyes open. He imagined himself seeing things – something else besides the eternal darkness that had become his everyday life.
He wondered what colour Neuvillette’s hair had.
Wriothesley furrowed his brows when he caught himself thinking like that.
Why was he thinking of Neuvillette now of all things? Yes, he was currently the only being he talked to frequently, but that didn’t mean he had to think of him too. He was just…
…really interesting. Yeah. That was the word.
An immortal dragon that had been imprisoned by none other than the Hydro Archon Egeria herself. A being apparently capable of drowning all of Fontaine (at least according to the prophecy), yet still humble enough to talk to a mere human like him.
What did a dragon look like? Neuvillette seemed to be as tall as him – well, actually, a little smaller. He hadn’t touched him in many other places, but he imagined him to be a slender figure like how those aristocrats looked.
His hair was long – incredibly long. Wriothesley remembered Neuvillette once quietly grumbling when his hair had gotten caught on the chair.
But what else? What colour were his eyes? Would his pupils look different? What about ears? Did he have scales like actual Vishaps?
So many questions. Why was he so interested in Neuvillette? According to the legend, he was the one who would doom all of Fontaine.
…
Why was he chuckling when he thought about Fontaine being swept away?
Was a human… supposed to be this excited about a nation’s demise?