Re-entry into Chaos Hall, Reunion with Fontaine's Hydro Archon, Furina

After leaving the room, Hyuga Hiashi noticed his wife's worried expression and couldn't help but ask with a puzzled look:

"What are you worried about?"

"You agreed to let Hinata and Roman stay together for so long—aren't you afraid they'll end up in trouble?"

Hinata's mother voiced all her inner concerns.

"Hinata is a clever child. Since she agreed, she shouldn't easily..." Hyuga Hiashi paused mid-sentence, recalling Hinata's unusual behavior over the past few days. After a long hesitation, he added, "Of course, more importantly, I'll dispatch Elite Ninja Guards to watch over Hinata's house. At the slightest sign of anything unusual, they'll act immediately."

"With your Elite Ninja Guards watching, I can rest easy."

Hinata's mother let out a long sigh.

Over the next few days, Roman and Hinata spent their time eating, drinking, and having fun. Six days passed like this.

Finally, the Chaos Hall in their minds rose once again from the pitch-black, abyssal mist of chaos.

Creak...

The ancient, bronze-hued door slowly swung open.

Without a moment's hesitation, the two of them instantly crossed over into the Chaos Hall, arrived before the Table of Destiny, found their seats, and sat down.

Then Hinata surveyed the surroundings and said, "The Chaos Hall has finally opened again. The environment hasn't changed at all from seven days ago."

Roman: "Yeah, we get to see Furina again!"

As he spoke, Roman heard hurried footsteps from within the chaotic mist. Turning his head, he immediately spotted a figure with silver-blue short hair.

It was none other than the Fontaine Hydro Archon of Teyvat, Furina.

Roman: "Speak of the devil, and he appears."

"It's not the devil—it's the Fontaine Hydro Archon, the Queen of All Waters, All Peoples, and All Laws, Furina."

Furina pouted as she finished speaking, quickly walked to her seat, sat down with a long sigh, and looked at the Chaos Hall with a nostalgic expression. She ran her hands over the rough surface of the round table and said, "After so many years, I've finally come back to this place. I was starting to think my previous visit here was just an illusion."

?!

Roman and Hinata both showed puzzled expressions. They exchanged a glance and asked Furina in unison:

"What do you mean by 'so many years'? Hasn't it only been seven days?"

Furina: "It's been seven years since I last came here. I've already been the Hydro Archon of Fontaine for seventeen years."

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

Roman and Hinata were both stunned. "Has seven years passed in Teyvat, the world of Genshin Impact?"

"That's right."

Furina nodded, then lifted her head, a glimmer of tears in her eyes. "I thought I wouldn't see you two for the next four hundred years.

"That I'd have to keep playing the Hydro Archon alone in Fontaine, hiding all the secrets in my heart!

"--Now that I can see you again, it truly makes this god happy."

Hearing these words, Roman and Hinata met Furina's gaze and quickly sensed the emotions in her heart at that moment:

Relief!

Release!

Joy!

After sensing these feelings, they both understood that Furina was telling the truth.

Since their last meeting in the Chaos Hall, Furina had waited alone in anxiety for seven years, playing the role of the Hydro Archon all by herself.

"You've been through a lot, Furina."

Hinata stood up, walked behind Furina, and gently stroked her silver-blue head with her small hand.

Roman also stood up, came to Furina's side, and took her soft, boneless hand in his, signaling that he would be by her side to reassure her.

Seeing their actions, Furina felt a bit awkward and said, "I'm fine, you don't have to do this."

Roman and Hinata blinked at her words but didn't stop. Because now that they were so close to Furina, the Soul Resonance had begun.

Through it, they could feel the emotions in Furina's heart:

Hold my hand more!

Pet this god's head more!

Sensing these feelings, Roman and Hinata exchanged a glance and then both reached out, making Furina feel even more at ease.

It wasn't until several minutes later that they felt Furina's emotions had fully stabilized.

So they stopped, sat down beside Furina, and began asking her about more things that had happened over the past seven years.

Roman: "Furina, after you resonated souls with me and Hinata seven years ago and left the Chaos Hall to return to Teyvat, did you gain any power?"

"As a matter of fact, yes." Furina nodded. "After I got back, I immediately started cultivating the Chakra Cultivation Method at the Palais Mermonia, and then I obtained a Hydro Vision."

After saying that, Furina pulled a hydro-blue Vision from beneath her skirt and said:

"This is it.

"The Eye of the God of Justice, the Queen of All Waters, All Laws!

"That's how I've marketed it to the public!

"With this, I, Furina, can control Hydro elements, which made playing the Hydro Archon for the past seven years much easier."

"Then can you summon three Hydro Elemental Lifes?" Hinata asked with keen interest. "You know—Lord Uther, Mademoiselle Crabaletta, Mademoiselle Seelie!"

"Of course."

As Furina raised her hand and grasped the air, she drew from the void an exquisitely ornate ceremonial longsword at her waist:

Splendor of Tranquil Waters.

She pointed it at the Table of Destiny, and in an instant, three Hydro Elemental Lifes appeared, poised and ready in attack stances.

Seeing this, Furina quickly called out: "Stop, stop, stop—they're not enemies."

???

Not enemies?

Lord Uther, wearing his top hat, scratched his head with a hydro-blue octopus tentacle.

Mademoiselle Crabaletta fluttered her small wings and flew up, scanning the surroundings to confirm this wasn't the Palais Mermonia.

As for Mademoiselle Seelie, the crab-like summon, she was quietly blowing bubbles...

"Wow, you really summoned them."

Hinata was amazed, her eyes sparkling. "Then did you take them to fight a tough opponent (a seal)?"

"Ahem, no, I didn't." Furina put her hands on her hips and said coolly, "After all, I, Furina, am the Fontaine Hydro Archon. Every day of mine is far too precious to waste on something so boring."

But just then, the three summons on the Table of Destiny shook their heads in unison.

"Hey, what are you three doing, selling me out?"

Furina noticed their movements and stomped her foot in frustration.

This scene immediately drew intrigued looks from Hinata and Roman. Under their gaze, Furina deflated like a punctured balloon and spoke dejectedly: "Fine, fine. The moment I got it, I snuck out of the Palais Mermonia, summoned the three of them, and challenged the seal... and I still couldn't beat it!

"Its health bar was too thick. Even Mademoiselle Seelie, Lord Uther, and Mademoiselle Crabaletta working together couldn't dent it!

"As for me—I'm the noble Fontaine Hydro Archon, the Queen of All Waters, All Laws, All People—so naturally, I couldn't just go and brawl with a seal..."

By the end, Furina's voice had faded, and she felt a strange pang of guilt inside.

Because she knew the real reason she hadn't fought the seal herself was that she was afraid if she did, the outcome would still be a loss—and worse, the seal might even beat her to tears...