Chapter 11: Deal With an Archon (Shimmer)
"Finally in Fontaine!" Shimmer thought to herself, looking at the grandious city, "Now who should I ask for the pieces..." She wondered, thinking of the options she had available.
First would be Focalors herself, she should have easy access to every single weapon part available in Fontaine, "Since the Prophecy never happened I should look for Focalors or Nuevilette, although Furina might still be around..." She considered, thinking of a few arrangements Focalors may have wanted to make one way or another.
"Another option would be Chevreuse given her position." Shimmer thought before realizing, "She still works for the court of Fontaine, meaning Focalors, so I would still have to ask the Archon..." She figured that might be an issue, maybe even incriminate her as an illegal weapon dealer or something.
"Oh! You're not from around here are you?" A voice called out to Shimmer, causing her to turn over and see the president of Spina di Rosula, Navia, "Actually... You don't seem to be from Teyvat at all... Are you on vacation?" She asked curiously, "If you are I'm happy to see you've chosen to stay in Fontaine." She said with a smile.
Looking over Navia's shoulders, Shimmer saw her bodyguards, which made her a little sad, "I'm ust gonna guess you know Sibley too." She said, having understood the pattern.
Navia looked surprised at that, "You know Sibley too?" She asked, "Wait are you from her world?" She deduced.
"I can see why you're the President of Spina di Rosula." Shimmer responded, confirming Navia's deduction, "...Sorry if I seem tense, but I know the version where the prophecy happened." She explained.
Learning that made Navia cover her mouth, "Oh... Do you want to talk about it?" She asked, thinking it would clear Shimmer's head.
"...It would make you feel like an absolute jerk so no." Shimmer said in refusal, "Anyhow!" She said, wanting to move on from that, "I'm here cause I wanted to buy parts to build and maybe sell weapons I found the designs for" She explained.
"Well that mood shift made Furina's period look like a candy store..." Navia compared, "I... Could probably get you an audience with Focalors to... Discuss business?" She offered, "I mean, she might be pretty interested in supplying weapons to her guards if they're good quality." She explained.
That offer made Shimmer look at Navia dubiously, "What's the catch?" She asked, causing Navia to look confused, "In every deal like this there's always some kind of string attached, what is it?" She explained her confusion.
Navia nodded at that, not really sure she gets it, "You can rest assured there's no... 'strings attached' in this deal." She reassured, "I'm offering this cause I'm currently on my way to a tea party with her." She explained.
"Oh..." Shimmer let out in understanding, "Well... If you're sure it's okay..." She said, picking up Navia's offer.
Court of Fontaine.
"It's so nice of you to come Navia! And to invite a guest!" Focalors said as she placed an extra tea cup on the table, well one of the Focalors anyways.
Shimmer and Navia were greeted by two Focalors, one of which clearly is Furina, but dressed up, "Okay... The one on the left is Furina, the one on the right is Focalors." Shimmer guessed.
That random guess made both the Focalors look shocked, "How did you even!? We look exactly the same!!" The one on the left exclaimed in stupor.
"Hold on, she actually got it right!?" Navia asked now in equal shock, "That seemed so random- Do you have a method to differentiate people?" She questioned, wanting to know the secret.
"Since Focalors has the authority of the Hydro Archon, the tips of her hair glow." Shimmer explained the method.
The actual Focalors quickly gave her own hair a check and saw that it actually was glowing, "Darn..." She said, having realized her trick got discovered and she wont be able to pull it on Navia anymore.
While that was happening, Furina was focused on Shimmer, "...You're from Sibley's world aren't you?" She figured.
Shimmer chuckled at that, "Archon or no Archon I guess you two still share the God of Justice thing don't you?" She asked sarcastically, "Seriously, that was great." Shimmer complimented.
"Speaking of God of Justice, I suspect you wanted to talkabout something." Focalors brought up, having noticed the paper sticking out of Shimmer's skirt.
"That's correct." Shimmer confirmed, pulling out the blueprint and putting it on the table, "I was thinking we could have quite the deal with this: perfectly good guns, that have great fire power and incredible personalization." She explained as Focalors inspected the blueprint.
Furina also gave the blueprint a look, "This seems like a pretty good rifle, maybe we shouldd have Chevreuse have a look at it to confirm quality." She suggested.
At that suggestion Focalors nodded, "That'a good idea, she definetly knows a lot more about guns than us." She agreed before turning to Shimmer, "If this is as good as it looks then we have a deal." She said as she tossed something at the white haired girl.
Quickly catching it, Shimmer looked at what it was, seeing that it's a Hydro Vision, "Let's keep in touch." Focalors told her as she went over to her desk to write a letter to Chevreuse.
"...Oh my God..." Shimmer muttered as Navia patted her back as if to say 'congratulations'.