The Second Archon War: Animula Choragi 18

Animula Choragi 18: Seize the Day 

Yennifer was just getting her purse and pulling on her combat boots when the light in Charlotte’s room flicked on. She groaned. And here she thought she’d been quieter. Her sister stumbled out, pint hair sticking up all over the place and glasses slightly crooked. “Hey, what’s up? It’s after midnight.”

“Go back to sleep, there’s just something I need to take care of,” Yennifer said, and stood up.

Charlotte's eyes went wide as she came awake, and she saw what Yennifer was wearing. “Wait, why are you dressed up like that? Armor and fatigues? What’s going on?! Is it Furina?!” 

There was no point in lying to her sister. Charlotte could practically smell a lie at 100 meters. “Furina has been arrested, as have Barbara and Julie. I-”

Charlotte disappeared back into her room with a cry of  “Don’t even think of leaving without me!” 

“Charlotte, this is dangerous. If they’ve arrested Furina, then they could arrest you!” Yennifer said, coming to the door and keeping her voice low, as it was the middle of the night. 

“Yeah? Well, Barbara’s my best, and only, friend, and Furina’s like, my second big sister! Plus, Julie’s cool too! And don’t forget!” Charlotte paused in hopping around with one leg in her pants, and held up her Vision. “I have this! And if you want to be doing any elemental reactions, you’ll bring me with you!” 

“I’m not planning on simply storming l’École Militaire and rescuing Furina,” Yennifer said.

Charlotte pulled on her pants at last then grabbed her backpack with her camera gear while trying to get on her socks and shoes. “And that’s why you’re armed and armored for a fight?” 

Damn her sister and her truth sense. Yennifer was strongly considering trying to do just that, even if it would be the height of foolishness to do so. The Mousquetaires had their own Vision Holders and plenty of parahumans, not to mention a legion of heavily armed soldiers and police. “It’s not my first plan. I’m heading for the Mayor’s office, she’s sending a car.” 

“Perfect! Now, you don’t happen to have a weapon ready for me, do you?” Charlotte asked, standing up as she settled her beret on her head. 

I think I can handle that for both of you, the voice of Focalors said. Yennifer gasped in shock as water shimmered into the air, before forming into two weapons. One was a book that Charlotte snatched out of the air. It had a spine formed of silver metal, but its cover seemed to be made of pure waters with draconic horns etched into them. The other was a sword that Yennifer took with a steady hand. It was made of blue metal, with a crown on the pommel of the hilt. The blade grew lighter along the length, until the tip ended in a pearly white. 

This is the Tome of the Eternal Flow, once wielded by the Iudex of Fontaine. It is the Book of Law Egeria gave to her people, to show them her own Justice. I kept it in my memories for just such a time as this. The other is my own blade, once the Scepter of Remus, last King of Remuria, known as the Splendor of Tranquil Waters. Wield them with Truth and Justice, and rescue my daughter from her peril, brave Champions. 

Charlotte slowly opened the book, which glowed with power, fresh water falling from the pages like rain. The pages were written in a language that neither Charlotte nor Yennifer knew, yet somehow, they could still read its decrees. 

As for the sword…the Favonian blade that Yennifer had been given was a weapon of power that made using elemental energy much easier, and even generated some amount of it for its wielder. This sword, however…this sword was a weapon akin to the God-Forged Blades of the Raiden Shogun!

“Holy Archons,” Charlotte said reverently, looking up from her book to meet Yennifer’s eyes. “We’re on a Mission from the Gods! We can totally storm the École Militaire now!” 

“That’s an option of last resort. First, we try the legal route. I don’t know exactly why Furina was arrested, but I’m willing to bet it was on trumped up charges. Which is why we’re going to see Jeanne. She’s already contacted Judge Morel, who is one of the few good ones left.”

“Right! Then we storm the prisons?” Charlotte asked, a spark of anger flashing in her eyes. “Don’t forget they locked me up for ten days just for getting my Vision!” 

“Oh, I won’t. One way or another, before this is over, I think we’ll see this entire rotten regime toppled,” Yennifer growled. She wasn’t happy with Mégret’s government before, but now? Now she was ready to drown Paris to get back the woman she loved. 

Oh hell, Yennifer. Furina’s straight! You can’t just go making declarations of love like that, Yennifer told herself. She was somewhat resigned that Furina would never return the desire that Yennifer felt for her, but a girl could dream. 

They hurried down to the street, and a minute later, a car pulled up and the two sisters got in. 

“Hello, Pierre. You ready to kick some ass?” Charlotte asked the driver. 

Pierre glanced in the rearview mirror and gave a nod. “I’m no cape myself, Miss Charlotte, but if you need a lift, I’ll be there. Arresting Miss Barbara? I can’t even imagine her littering, let alone committing an actual crime.”

They hurried through the quiet streets, Pierre going far above the posted limit. Paris never truly slept, but in the middle of the night, traffic was light. They soon arrived at the Hôtel de Ville, where Jeanne was waiting on the sidewalk, dressed in trousers and a coat. She had a sword on her hip and a grim expression on her face, and was accompanied by several bodyguards. “Ah, Charlotte, it is good to see you as well. I would not normally seek to involve a young lady of your age-”

“Barbara’s my friend, and Furina’s important to me too! You couldn’t keep me away with a pike,” Charlotte declared. “When are we attacking?!” 

“If this devolves to physical violence, I do not like our chances. I am not skilled with my Vision in combat, and I am an old woman,” Jeanne said with a shake of her head. 

“You’re forty-two, that’s not that old,” Yennifer said. She was only 26 herself, but 42 wasn’t that far off, really. 

“Thank you, but it’s much too old to be running about the battlefield,” Jeanne said with a tight smile. “No, we fight this in other ways.”

“I could make a video!” Charlotte said eagerly. “Record a statement and get the word out that Furina’s been arrested! Her videos get hundreds of thousands of views, and I have her login information! Ooo, I wonder if Marcel could get me the security footage from the theater?”

“That, and the footage from the train station. They’re claiming Furina assaulted an officer of the law with her abilities, which is a major crime,” Jeanne said. “I’ll have Pierre take you over to the theater to get the footage there, then send another team to the station.”

Charlotte hurried off, and Yennifer went inside with Jeanne. On the way, she paused, then pulled her old sword from her hip. “Here, that looks like a regular blade. Take my Favonian one. It’s designed for Anemo wielders.”

Jeanne took the sword reluctantly. “And what of you?”

Calling on her Vision, Yennifer summoned the Splendor of Tranquil Waters and held it up. “I was granted another sword by Focalors to-”

Yennifer paused. Wait. Rescue my daughter. She remembered the dove coming down with Furina’s Vision, and recalled the Baptism of Jesus. A dove had descended from Heaven, and God the Father had proclaimed, “This is my Beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” 

Hold on. Was Furina…?

Later. “-act in the interest of Justice in this matter.” It wasn’t like Archons weren’t known to grant blessings and gifts to those who worked towards their ideals. Ajax had received a polearm from Venti, and even Nahida gave weapons to her servants. 

“You saw the Hydro Archon? She is here, in Paris?” Jeanne asked, stopping in her tracks and spinning to face Yennifer, eyes wide in shock. 

“Not as such. Charlotte and I just heard her voice, and the weapons appeared. She…does seem to have a special interest in Furina,” Yennifer admitted. 

“Hmm. Well, the Archons act in mysterious ways,” Jeanne said skeptically. “But perhaps we should keep the source of your new weapons quiet.”

If they wanted that, they shouldn’t have involved Charlotte. Oh well. Yennifer wasn’t exactly interested in the stealth approach at this point. 

They hurried inside to where dozens of advisors were already waiting. Judge Morel had already arrived and greeted Yennifer gravely. They were well acquainted, Yennifer always tried to have cases argued before him, as the man actually had a sense of Justice. He was bald, with a neatly trimmed beard and spectacles, somewhere in his late 60s and past the age most retired already. 

“I am afraid that the charges against Furina de Fontaine are substantial, and perhaps well-founded,” Judge Morel said. “I have seen the warrant, and two officers attest that Furina summoned constructs and assaulted them in a public train station. There will need to be an investigation and evidence collected. She may spend months, even years in jail.”

“What about my daughter? What about Barbara?” Jeanne demanded. 

“She used her abilities to hinder Furina’s arrest, as did Miss Julie Mao Yu,” Judge Morel said. “At least according to the reports I’ve read. She may be let out on bail, but…”

“But Iron Mask is a fils de pute,” Jeanne growled, and several people, Yennifer included, recoiled in shock. The Mayor was a lady to her core, and did not swear. It seemed she had lost her temper with her daughter’s arrest, however. “I want every lawyer we have working on this. They go too far this time. Get me an interview with the morning news broadcast, and get this news in every paper. Get to work. I want my daughter and the others free as soon as possible.”

“And if they stall, reject us?” Yennifer pressed. “How long do we let them rot?”

Jeanne’s nostrils flared. “I would not have another August Civil War. But if they try to keep my daughter locked up …I’ll raise the flag of rebellion myself. And this time, I have a weapon with which to fight.”

Yennifer felt her blood run cold, but she nodded. Damnation, she was ready to raise the banner and storm the citadel alone if she had to.

Hold on, Furina. We’re coming.

After a sleepless night, Charlotte should have been exhausted. Instead, she felt more alive than ever, her Vision glowing brightly, and her spirit soaring as she pointed her pen at the security guard. “So, you have no footage of the incident?! Were your cameras conveniently not working!?”

“No, as I already said, the Mousquetaires took all the footage! I don’t have backups; they took those too! There’s nothing!” 

“Did you witness anything!? Were you on shift?!”

“I was, but no! I can’t watch every camera all the time,” the man said, but he was sweating. Charlotte glared at him, and stepped forward. 

“I will have the Truth, one way, or another! Do you realize what has happened!? They’ve not only arrested Furina de Fontaine, but Barbara d’Orleans, and Julie Mao Yu! Three of our fair city’s rising stars, trampled under the jackboots of a fascist regime! Are you a Nazi, sir?! Or would you resist tyranny, as the French have always done!” 

The security guard turned red. “Out! Get out! I never should have opened the door to you!”

Charlotte could have pressed further, but she was getting nothing, and even with her shiny new weapon, she didn’t want to resort to violence. That wasn’t her style. 

Though if she had to freeze a few enfoirés to get Barbara and Furina free…well, then she had to freeze a few enfoirés. 

Charlotte left the small security office, and went to the corridor where the attack had occurred. It was the same dirty floor as everywhere else, with caked on grim, old gum, and stray cigarette butts. There was no evidence, but…

Charlotte set up her camera, then posed for it and started recording. “Hello again, Truth Seekers! I’m Charlotte Lustria, here at the scene of the crime! It was here that Furina de Fontaine was brutally assaulted by the tyrant’s thugs! Later, they blamed her for the attack, and have now arrested her and thrown her in jail! Even now, our beloved Furina and my best friend Barbara d’Orleans are locked away in the dungeon, deprived of liberty over false crimes that-”

“Excuse me, did you say that Furina de Fontaine was arrested?” a woman said, coming up behind Charlotte’s camera stand. 

Instantly, Charlotte plucked the camera up and held it up so it could record her and the woman. “Indeed, I did, Madamoiselle. It is a most heinous crime! How does this startling fact make you feel?”

“Well, um, outraged! I saw the whole thing. I didn’t realize it was Furina at first, but I saw a woman get attacked by two thugs, then pepper-spray them after they shoved her into a wall. I recorded it, actually, and then got a selfie with Furina later!” 

A wide grin spread over Charlotte’s face. “You don’t say? Would you care to come with me? I know some very important people fighting for Furina’s freedom who would be most interested in that footage and your testimony.” 

“Um, well…” the woman winced. “I…I’d be late for work, and if I’m late again, they’ll fire me…”

“My sister is an excellent lawyer! And don’t you want to see this horrible miscarriage of justice stopped? Besides, I bet Furina would take all the selfies with you that you could desire if you help free her!”

“I…I suppose. Um, my name is Lepine-Pauline! And…and I’m a huge Furina fan! I promise to help get her free! Just, er…you don’t happen to know anyone who’s hiring, do you?”

“Trust me, you help out Furina, and you’ll land a job,” Charlotte promised. “Did I mention that Barbara d’Orleans was arrested as well? Which means Mayor Jeanne d’Orleans would be in your debt!”

“I…yes! Yes, I’ll come with you straight away!” 

“Excellent!” Charlotte pulled out her phone and dialed Pierre’s number. “We need a pickup! I’ve got the scoop!” 

“YOU UTTER FOOLS!” Iron Mask roared, slamming his fists on his desk. “You arrested the MAYOR’S DAUGHTER?!” 

He was in his office at the École Militaire, desk a disorganized mess of papers. A number of underlings were in his office, including the morons who had just conducted the ordered raid on Furina the night before. Iron Mask had slept peacefully through the night, not giving the operation a second thought after signing off on it before he went to bed. But now, he was regretting his peaceful slumber. 

“We didn’t realize it was her! And she attacked my team with a Hydro Vision! You told us to scoop up any of Yennifer’s allies who resisted us!” Captain Armand Cazeneuve protested. 

Iron Mask could feel his anger rising, but he forced himself to calm. He couldn’t afford to look weak or lose control now. “Find a way to let her out on bail! She’s a minor, even if she is a cape. We-”

The door burst open, and another aide ran in. “Sir! Another video has been posted!”

“Posted? What are you babbling about?!” Iron Mask snarled. 

The aide hurried up with a laptop and plunked it on his desk. “We don’t know how, but, Yennifer’s sister, she found the footage!”

“What footage? What are you oafs…” Iron Mask trailed off, as Charlotte Lustria’s face appeared. 

 Hello again, Truth Seekers! I’m Charlotte Lustria, here at the scene of the crime! It was here that Furina de Fontaine was brutally assaulted by the tyrant’s thugs!

The footage cut to…

“Merde,” Iron Mask growled, as video of Feu Follet and Bitumen in civilian clothes grabbed Furina and slammed her into the wall. It looked like two thugs harassing an innocent woman, and Charlotte’s voice played over the footage. 

Here, we see two so-called ‘heroes’ of the Mousquetaires attacking Furina as she was taking the train to work! These two have been identified as Feu Follet and Bitumen, who have a long history of roughing up innocent civilians! Feu Follet has even been accused of sexual assault!

“Oh my God, someone help that woman!” the person recording gasped. “Where are the police!?”

Indeed! It seems the police were the ones doing the assaulting here! Now, as for the accusation, Furina used her powers…well, see for yourself! 

Three hydro constructs appeared, and Iron Mask growled in approval. Now they would see the lie for-

Only, the constructs were brushed aside by the thugs, and didn’t attack. Instead, Furina used ordinary pepper spray against Feu Follet and Bitumen. Which, since they had clearly failed to identify themselves as officers, wasn’t a crime at all. It was just a woman using perfectly ordinary self defense tools against two much larger opponents who had already attacked her. 

“This is bad. Shut it down!” Iron Mask ordered. 

“We can’t! It’s hosted on Dailymotion, yes, but to get a subpoena to raid their servers-”

“Just do it!” 

“...and she mirrored it on an American site called Youtube…and it’s been picked up by the BBC, CNN, and…and BFM TV. Jeanne and Yennifer are live there now…”

Snarling, Iron Mask turned on a television and turned to France’s largest news show, where curse it all, a reporter was sitting with Yennifer and Jeanne. 

-so as the footage clearly shows, Furina was simply defending herself from two men who did not identify themselves as police officers. We have multiple witnesses who have come forward to verify that, Yennifer was saying. 

Jeanne nodded, looking grim. Marcel Vautrin and his actors have stated that my daughter was only defending Furina from a sudden attack by thugs, interrupting a play. She did surrender, but she did nothing wrong in trying to prevent the wrongful arrest of her friend. Additionally, she is a minor, and should not have been treated so. 

That’s right. Which is why today at noon, we will be marching to the École Militaire to demand their release, Yennifer said.

Yes. I call upon all the citizens of Paris, of France, to join me in protesting this gross violation of human rights, and demand the release of these political prisoners who have been locked away for nothing more than defending themselves from brutish men who would abuse a woman simply because she looks weak. Will the men of France stand by and allow their wives and daughters to be abused by this regime? Will the women of France allow their sisters to be accosted in the streets for the crime of attracting a man’s attention? Jeanne demanded. 

The reporter nodded gravely. BFM TV will, of course, cover this march, and be right there on the ground as Mayor d’Orleans marches from the Hôtel de Ville to the École Militaire today at noon. That’s only two hours away, but this reporter believes that Mayor Jeanne will not march alone. 

Iron Mask turned off the TV, and turned to Captain Cazeneuve. “Get your men out there. We need riot police. The second you smell disorder, I want them all arrested!” 

“Sir!” Captain Cazeneuve said, saluting, then hurrying off. 

Iron Mask sat down, steepling his fingers, and forced a smile onto his face, though no one could see it. Yes. This would play straight into his hands. He could arrest Yennifer Lustria and that irksome mayor. All his enemies would be swept up for rebellion and sedition. Perfect. He would come out of this victorious. All he had to do was stop the mayor before she even left her house, and prevent what could be a riot. He would go himself. It would be simple. No one could organize a riot in less than two hours. 

Unfortunately, Iron Mask should have realized that a riot isn’t something you organize. 

It’s something that happens when a people who will not be slaves again rise up, and say “No More.”