for all to see
summary: fontaine’s court of law is questionable on a good day. on a bad day? well…
word count: ~1.2k
-> warnings: you die, blood mention, spoilers for fontaine archon quest (only names of things), potentially ooc neuvillette(?)
-> gn reader (you/yours)
taglist: @samarill || @thenyxsky || @valeriele3 || @shizunxie || @boba-is-a-soup || @yuus3n || @esthelily || @turningfrogsgay || @cupandtea24 || @genshin-impacts-me || @chaoticfivesworld || @raaawwwr
< masterlist >
despite being the nation of justice, fontaine was not known for its fairness.
trials took place in opera houses, the prosecution focused not on proving their claim, but to put on a show. the citizens didn’t care for the outcome if it wasn’t amusing, the archon known for throwing fits if things were too boring. to survive was to be entertaining, painting as many coats of shimmering blue over your soul until it was shiny enough to go outside.
obtuse laws hid around every corner. no floating objects for the first three days of each month. no fonta was to be brought into any government buildings, unless the date was a prime number, in which case it could be any flavor but strawberry. mechanical pens had long since been invented, but had to be classed as a meka, which required a permit that far outweighed the price of the pen itself.
nothing made sense. even neuvilette, as well versed in the law as he was, did not understand the reasoning behind most of these rules.
however, there was one that he backed entirely, the very first law ever established in fontaine—arguably in teyvat as a whole, the very notion of such a crime pulling disgust regardless of origin.
‘Any person or persons found to be impersonating the divine creator, with the exceptions of roles within an opera or other such performance, shall be punished with the full extent of the law, up to and including the death penalty.’
“defendant, do you have any evidence to refute ms furina’s claims?”
you said nothing, staring down at your hands. you’d stopped pulling at the cuffs that bound you to the railing, leaving you still as stone. your entire appearance was disheveled, a result of the nearly year’s long hunt for you. part of him felt pity, but he quickly dismissed it. you deserved this—provided you didn’t, somehow, have evidence to the contrary…
you looked up, overgrown hair falling into tired eyes. you were dirty, dark crusts of blood lining hairline scratches all over your face and arms. you didn’t say a word, but he found himself avoiding your sharp gaze quickly, inspecting your wrists instead. raw, angry, the metal cuffs unkind.
“if you wish to think, say so. if your silence continues, i will be forced to move on.”
you looked back down to the banister wordlessly, the crowd murmuring at your silence. he ignored them.
“we now turn to the oratrice mecanique d'analyse cardinale to render the final verdict on the charges.”
the oratrice clicked and clunked, gears spinning and meshing as the machine drew its conclusion. blue faith filled the tubes within the walls, collecting, then were pulled back in relative quiet. now would be when the scales would return to normal, but he hadn’t heard them tilt at all during the trial… he pushed aside that train of thought once again. he was getting distracted too easily considering the importance of this trial.
he picked up the verdict from the oratrice, addressing the crowd. “according to the judgement of the oratrice mechanique d’analyse cardinale, the defendant is…” his breath skips as he opened the small folder, something in his chest twisting violently. “…innocent?”
how?
furina sat up in a hurry, the audience clamoring for reasoning, but he barely hears anything. if the oratrice itself declared you innocent, then…
behind furina, his god also stands, cold eyes staring into the crowd. “calm down, everyone. it’s clear this fraud has simply tampered with the oratrice.” your head snapped up as neuvillette closed the pages from the oratrice, sending it back down the chute.
“my god, i can personally assure you that the defendant has not had the opportunity to-“
“silence.”
he bowed his head when they turned to him, mouth dry. something was off about the situation, but what?
“since we clearly have all the evidence in front of us, i think we can safely override the oratrice’s rule.”
“divine one, in fontaine law it clearly states that the oratrice-“
“and i’ve stated that it can be overruled. which is more important, fontaine’s laws or divine laws?” he couldn’t speak. “clorinde, my bow.”
he watched as clorinde produced a bow, as quiet as the crowd below. nobody could say a word—the death penalty hadn’t been imposed in fontaine for years… but this was a special case..
black steel arrows reflected light into his eyes as the creator pointed them at you, his heart thundering. the air was always polluted in fontaine, but it felt twice as oppressive now.
“chief justice. i can’t get a clean shot.”
neuvillette bowed once more, feeling cold. he weaved through the private hallways of the opera house, making his way to the defendant’s balcony.
he didn’t even know your name. you’d refused to give it- refused to say anything, really. how his god had arrived at this verdict was beyond him… but he could not overrule the divine. he opened the door to the balcony, uncertainly stepping to your side.
this was wrong. he could hear it begin to rain, water pattering against the windows, but all he could tangibly feel was confusion. he knew something was wrong, but what?
he lifted his hand but you beat him to it, lifting your head as you turned to face him. “step back,” you mumbled, and he found himself obeying in the split second before the arrow struck. bright blue blood flew into the air, landing right where he would have been.
you didn’t want him to get blood on his clothing.
the rain picked up, lightning striking close and shaking the floor beneath him. the whole house gasped, all eyes turned to you as you collapsed. he couldn’t look away, not when he heard the sound of a sword—clorinde’s, likely, furina was never one for a fight—or the shouts of the gardes. he was paralyzed, watching blue spread out beneath you, reaching the edge of the balcony and beginning to drip.
he’d known. he’d felt it. and yet he was powerless to stop your death, the one he- the one they all perceived as divine pinning down teyvat. he should have known from the moment they overruled the oratrice, should have seen the blue tint to your scratches, should have asked for more evidence before- before—
rain came down in hails, his hands shaking as he stared at the injustice before him.
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Silence
Neuvillette x reader [angst]
Rain will only fall once the hydro dragon weeps. A folktale of Fontaine that never grows old. Yet after a while everything has grown sunny and cheerful. The laugh of the citizens around the streets, sweet roses around the air, you and neuvillette. It was a dream come true. Nothing could ever ruin the moment..
...
But if only the moment could stay a night longer...
With tears in your eyes you plead the court to lift the case of one of the disappearance case. You had the house of the heart's full support in this case. But even so.. There's only so much they could do..
The court continued like any other. So far.. It was going for the worse. Like any other the rules are places where you also have to follow.. No matter what.
"Neuvillette please believe me!" The disappointment in his eyes were not to blame. And he found you to the reason. You cried, and cried, and cried.. Begging to the gods to change your fate.
The trial had moved on and the oratrice mechanique d'analyse cardinale.. Found you guilty. No one spoke a word.. The silence was really a blooming flower as Monsieur neuvillette was at lost for words.
"Ahem. Defendant is guilty.. Punished with free of punishment."
As you become the main focus.. You knew.. Almost everyone you loved.. had given you up... Friends? Family?.. Neuvillette?... Nobody cares..
You ponder.. Was this.. What your life was meant to be all this time..? Alone... Punished with no punishment.. Just to serve guilt...
The chief justice looks towards the answer and puts it back where it belongs. "Order! This trial is invalid. We shall see each other again once we have a solid conclusion!" The crowd died down and everything will only turn from there right..?
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Do you have any neu/vi headcannons 👀? He has SO much potential
HI OKAY ill write a couple here as i think of them
i love n/euvillette he's such a Guy. he's the guy ever. and my tiktok has been full of memes of him saying oratrice mechanique d'analyse cardinale it's so funny ANYWAY OKAY
- in public/around people he is so polite about it. stifles whenever possible if anyone is likely to witness it
- he always says "excuse me" too :') every single time so cute,, i feel like he does it when nobody else is around too 😭 just out of habit
- unstifled his snz is probably kinda harsh but not massively loud but definitely on the forceful side,,
maybe like a "hh'HRSHHh!" something like that if you catch my drift here
- im feeling like he isn't the type to get colds very often like he just seems like he has an impeccable immune system. if a hint of a cold does manage to slip through his defenses though it probably wouldn't affect him much, maybe just an annoyingly persistent itch in his nose and throat that he can't seem to shake
- if i say he has hayfever what then. what then. and he's constantly suffering too cause it seems like there's flowers and plants even in the city :') poor guy
- the flora from f/ontaine still gets to him but he's sort of accustomed to it now so he's not quite so sensitive anymore but any foreign flowers will have him RAVAGED oh my god. ugh
- f/ocalors / f/urina (what even is her name) teases him when he sneezes aw aw aw she's just kind of a menace
erm i think that's all i can't really think of much else 😭 sorry if it was a bit brief or a bit Bad in general but there are some hcs for n/euvi <3 hope you likeee
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