Vourukasha Oasis. This was the closest border between Sumeru and Fontaine. Looking across the ocean, one could see the nation of Fontaine situated on its inland lake, and the bustling Port Romarin, the most complex trading hub among the six nations.
Although Teyvat's size had increased significantly after becoming reality, this aspect remained the same as in the game.
And even across the strait, from any high vantage point in Fontaine, one could almost always see the towering emerald green pillar of light emanating from Vourukasha Oasis.
If the area wasn't so desolate, countless people would surely visit this wondrous sight.
However—the location of the pillar of light was a rare spectacle in the barren Vourukasha Oasis, a verdant paradise formed by a magnificent, lush giant tree—the Vourukasha Oasis. But in the eyes of those who knew, this oasis held a different meaning.
It was…
The final resting place of the first Hydro Archon, Egeria.
"So this is where Egeria perished…" The blue and white-haired girl, having disembarked from the steamship and traversed the narrow desert valley, looked at the Vourukasha Oasis and sighed.
This wasn't a secret among Oceanids, especially for Focalors, the leader of Egeria's dependents.
"You haven't been here before? This is a sacred pilgrimage site for Oceanids, isn't it?" The other voice within her body—Jiang Qiao teased. As they were now one, sharing the same consciousness, Focalors's everything wasn't a secret to him, even her preferred color of undergarments, even the wrinkles… ahem, in any case, he knew everything.
However, this feeling of being completely seen through wasn't pleasant. Although Focalors enjoyed this "close" state… Give me some privacy!
Under her soft, slightly annoyed plea, he temporarily stored away those memories and perceptions.
"No, although I am an Oceanid, I'm different from the others. I wasn't among the first batch created by Egeria to connect the waterways. On the contrary, I was born relatively late and only learned about this place from my companions."
"I always stayed by Egeria's side, until one day, five hundred years ago, she suddenly approached me and entrusted this burden to me." Focalors sighed helplessly.
"And after that… there's no need to mention it. Hastily making arrangements, then hiding in that damned machine… It nearly suffocated me."
The girl complained, yet also felt a sense of joy, experiencing this exotic scenery.
Although there was plenty of entertainment at the opera house,
Only flowing water was truly vibrant.
Stagnant water… wasn't that just dead water?
The same applied to Oceanids.
Especially Focalors, who was naturally lively and free-spirited.
After being imprisoned for five hundred years, even the sand of Sumeru smelled refreshing.
Experiencing the world with her body, her skin touching the air and water, the feeling of being grounded was truly delightful—not to mention being able to mentally embrace Jiang Qiao, Focalors felt that her five-hundred-year-old weariness was being replenished.
Like a house, or a bed, or a car… [Furina] stepped into the Vourukasha Oasis with light steps.
She scooped up a handful of water and brought it to her lips.
The taste, as sweet as morning dew, was vastly different from water elsewhere.
"There's a nostalgic taste in the water."
"After all, it's formed from Egeria's body. Uh… in a way, shouldn't this be called… Egeria's…"
"Shut up!" Focalors, guessing what Jiang Qiao was about to say, blushed, her expression darkening slightly.
Although it was true from a human perspective, after all, this Vourukasha Oasis was indeed formed from Egeria's remains, wasn't that a bit too ominous and unpleasant?!
This made Focalors lose her appetite for the oasis water.
But then she realized—wait, wasn't that bad guy Jiang Qiao currently sharing her body?
Their senses and thoughts were one.
Trying to tease me, are you?
I'll just drink a lot!
"Burp." Undoubtedly, Focalors drank her fill.
A provocative expression appeared on her pretty face.
Now, they had both drunk it!
The next moment, [Furina] said helplessly, "Even if you do that, it's meaningless."
She gently rubbed her slightly bulging belly, and after a warm current, everything returned to normal.
For this Archon body, such retaliation was just like a child throwing a tantrum.
If she wanted, [Furina] could even drink the entire Vourukasha Oasis dry.
"I like drinking it, can't I?!"
"Fine, fine~"
Jiang Qiao chuckled, then walked on the water towards the central tree—the Great Irminsul Tree.
She arrived at the base of the tree.
Five hundred years ago, during the Kaenri'ah Cataclysm, to contain the Abyss, Egeria chose to sacrifice herself and transform into the Vourukasha Oasis. The Simurgh drank the oasis water and, combined with her own Pari, created the Pari.
The Dendro Archon, unable to bear seeing Egeria perish, used her own power to create this Great Irminsul Tree from the Vourukasha Oasis to house Egeria's remaining consciousness, and to suppress the Abyssal power within the Tunigi Hollow.
And this sliver of consciousness was Jiang Qiao's goal for this trip.
Entering the tree from its roots, [Furina] arrived at the interior of the Irminsul, as seen in the game's storyline.
Without any barriers, Focalors, as Egeria's dependent, instantly sensed the presence she had longed for.
Correspondingly—a fragmented consciousness, dormant for many years, also opened its eyes.
A dim, illusory figure appeared.
"You… Focalors?!"
A beautiful woman in elegant attire, with white hair similar to Focalors'—Egeria, the previous Hydro Archon, her face filled with initial confusion, gradually regained her senses. Seeing [Furina]'s face, she looked incredibly surprised.
Normally, Egeria, with only a fragmented consciousness remaining, would be difficult to awaken. She knew this herself, so her consciousness remained for only two reasons—one, to assist if the Tunigi Hollow ever became unstable, and two, if Fontaine ever faced a crisis, if the Hydro Archon encountered trouble, her fragmented consciousness could still offer assistance.
"Focalors… you came here because… has Fontaine's prophecy come to pass?" Egeria's elegant face held a hint of sadness and anxiety, but she tried to conceal her emotions with a forced smile, looking at [Furina].
Even if Fontaine had already met with misfortune, she wouldn't blame Focalors. After all, this problem was caused by her, and she, the one responsible, hadn't solved it, but instead left hastily due to a sudden crisis, leaving this difficult task to her dependent.
Egeria had always felt guilty about this.
However, as one of the most exemplary Archons of love, she still held a sliver of hope, hoping to hear that Fontaine, everything she loved, hadn't been destroyed.
"No, at least not yet."
"And I've already found a way to resolve the prophecy."
Hearing this, Egeria was surprised, then her face lit up with uncontainable joy.
"Really?" Her voice was filled with disbelief.
Egeria herself wasn't confident in resolving Fontaine's prophecy. As for leaving it to future generations… a problem that even she, the heart of the Primordial Sea, couldn't solve, could be solved by future generations?
If the Kaenri'ah Cataclysm hadn't been so important, with its people suffering, and Celestia acting as the overseer, she wouldn't have left Fontaine.
If she had any other choice, she wouldn't have placed her hopes on that outsider, Remus.
She hadn't expected Focalors to actually solve this problem…
"Then why are you here…?" Egeria, overjoyed, was also puzzled. She looked at [Furina] questioningly.
If Fontaine's problem had already been solved, there was no reason for Focalors to come to Sumeru and find her.
Could it be… that this solution was related to her?
A possibility emerged in Egeria's increasingly clear mind.
And Jiang Qiao, controlling [Furina], got straight to the point:
"I need your power, Egeria."
Although Jiang Qiao guessed that Mr. Hydro Dragon would probably make the right decision, and he wouldn't need to do anything more to solve the problem of Fontaine's people dissolving in water, he still considered other possibilities.
And even without dealing with Fontaine's original sin, to handle certain situations, this [Furina] body needed the power Egeria held to better protect Fontaine.
Egeria, her guess confirmed, immediately had a troubled expression on her face.
It wasn't that she didn't have power—on the contrary, Egeria knew what [Furina] wanted.
She did have it.
But… she couldn't give it away, or rather, it wasn't a good time to give it away.
The "Heart of the Primordial Sea"—this was what Jiang Qiao wanted.
It was also Egeria's greatest strength as the previous Hydro Archon.
Although during the Kaenri'ah Cataclysm, Egeria had given almost everything she could to Focalors,
This one thing, she hadn't given, or rather, couldn't give.
As the Primordial Sea's heart, created by Celestia to control the Primordial Sea, an Archon with a unique position, the "Heart of the Primordial Sea" was Egeria's essence.
With it, she could suppress and control the Primordial Sea, gaining authority second only to the true power of the Sovereign dragon.
Because of this, Egeria could even be ranked among the top-tier Archons.
As long as she had this, even if Egeria gave her Archon status and other powers to Focalors, her own strength would still be immense—didn't they understand the significance of surviving the Kaenri'ah Cataclysm?
She wasn't a weakling who was killed in the war; she had sacrificed herself willingly to contain the spread of the Abyss!
"..."
But just like what she said before, she couldn't give this away.
Not to mention that giving it away would mean her death—this wasn't a problem in itself. If that was the price, how could Egeria, with her personality, be afraid of death?
If her death could bring peace and prosperity to Fontaine, Egeria wouldn't hesitate for even a second.
If Focalors could obtain this, then even without any plans, simply by existing, she could be like her, the heart of the Primordial Sea residing in Fontaine, and the water level wouldn't rise at all.
Not to mention solving Fontaine's crisis, it could at least give Fontaine another eight hundred years of peace.
However, the biggest problem was—this thing was bound to her.
"I'm sorry… I…"
Egeria lowered her head apologetically.
The "Heart of the Primordial Sea" was still within her, and it wasn't impossible to extract it after her death, it would just be difficult to control, and she would completely perish after its removal. But compared to these reasons, the biggest reason she couldn't hand it over was because this Great Irminsul Tree and the entire Vourukasha Oasis relied on it for their existence.
As long as the Primordial Sea hadn't dried up, her "heart" could continuously generate power to maintain this oasis.
But once the heart was removed, the disappearance of the oasis wouldn't be a big deal, but the Tunigi Hollow, sealed by a mirror image, wouldn't last long.
If that seal broke…
Not only would Sumeru be doomed, but even neighboring Fontaine would suffer.
And if it contaminated the Irminsul trees, all of Teyvat wouldn't be spared.
Egeria was in agony.
If her heart was the key to saving Fontaine, she really wanted to give it to [Furina] immediately.
But with the Tunigi Hollow, this crucial heart couldn't be moved.
On one hand was Fontaine's destruction, on the other hand was the potential destruction of all of Teyvat…
For Egeria, a god of love, this was an impossible choice.
Jiang Qiao also saw the source of Egeria's dilemma. He—[Furina]—smiled:
"It's alright, I understand your concerns."
"As long as we solve the Tunigi Hollow problem, it's fine, right?"
"If that could be solved, then it would be possible… but that's impossible to solve." Although Egeria agreed with Jiang Qiao's point, she was extremely pessimistic about its feasibility.
Because of its proximity to Kaenri'ah, the Tunigi Hollow was where the Abyss's influence was strongest in Teyvat.
Back then, to solve this, even though she had survived Kaenri'ah, Egeria still had to sacrifice her life to contain the Abyss's expansion.
And the Simurgh, possessing a power on par with the Abyss, only after drinking the "Egeria-flavored mineral water," finally sealed the Tunigi Hollow.
The Simurgh was a creation of the former Dendro Archon,
And the former Dendro Archon was an Archon exiled by Celestia.
A creation of a Celestia-exiled Archon, no less powerful than a top-tier Archon, the life of the Primordial Sea's heart, and the Great Irminsul Tree, which had consumed most of the current Dendro Archon's power… only then had they finally ended that disaster.
Now, what could a single [Furina] do? It would be incredibly difficult!
Egeria had no hope for this, but then she thought of something else—
"But five hundred years have passed, the Dendro Archon's power should have mostly recovered."
…She could still faintly sense the Simurgh's power. If they could borrow the Dendro Archon's power, combined with Focalors'… and her own contribution, it might not be impossible.
Egeria seriously considered the possibility of asking the Dendro Archon for help.
----
Extra Chapter Again… I Don't Know What to Say…
BASTARDS! I DON'T KNOW IF THEY'RE FOLLOWERS OF MYTHUS OR JUST PURE MORONS, BUT THEY'RE SPREADING FALSE INFORMATION LIKE WILDFIRE!
Sometimes, I get annoyed at self-insert fans, but then I realize that this particular breed of stupidity is the same one that trashes SI fans while being even worse.
They are the bastion of ignorance.
"They just mischaracterize her!"
"They just reduce her entire personality to being their waifu/girlfriend!"
Like, girl, YOU are literally doing that yourself. Your entire argument boils down to:
"She's a lesbian."
Brah, how does that narrow anything down? That's not an argument; that's a lazy cop-out!
"I think Otto and Kallen weren't meant to be together because—"
"No, Kallen is a lesbian, end of discussion. What, are you lesbophobic?"
NO, I'M STUPIDPHOBIC.
I swear, arguing with these people is like trying to explain quantum physics to a brick wall. It's not about character depth, not about themes, not about writing—just this one-note, brain-dead take that shuts down any actual discussion.
I have many thing to say, like Mei as character, Sakura samsara, Sin Mal, Theresa, Cocolia, Otto, kallen, Li Sushang, Elysian Realm, timeline, whatever, but I quite lazy write them now, so take your extra chapter, emm Chapters