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❖ The Island of Lovers: Where the Tide Remembers (Fontaine Secret World Quest)

➤ Wander along the coast of Fontaine and find a lost spirit

Age old history cites a chapel that appears only when the tide permits it, a sort of fairytale structure assembled with pale stone standing far upon a narrow island beyond Fontaine's harbour.

It predates the modern courts of the land and belongs to a time where vows were witnessed by the sea. Couples who seek union must first receive the Blessing of the Tidal Accord... though it is lost to time how to acquire such.

Unlock Conditions: Achieve friendship level 10 with The Seamstress of the Departed and The Emissary of Solitary Iniquity, and have both in your party. Along the coast you may find a spirit in need.

Quest Overview

After assisting with several anomalous spirit disturbances across Fontaine, the Seamstress learns of a presence lingering near the coast. It's a forgotten matron who once bore witness to sacred oaths before Fontaine's laws formalised marriage through contract.

When approached by Winter, who now works as practitioner of parting rites in Fontaine, and Wriothesley, Duke of the Fortress, the sea's recognition of a blessed pair wakes in gentle ripples.

They are being offered three trials.

l. Trial Of Knowing

The couple is separated by rising mist, and each one presented with questions the other cannot hear. Not surface level details about their chosen other, but deep truths safely tucked away:

What regret weighs most heavily upon their heart?

What comfort eases their unrest?

What fear would make them withdraw?

What would they protect, even at personal cost?

Perfection is not required, understanding is.

ll. Trial Of Choice

Both halfs are offered an illusion:

Winter beholds a restored homeland with exile undone, her name and clan returned to honour among the desert mausoleums.

Wriothesley sees a life unmarked by blood, no murders, no Fortress, no burden of command, no sins to carry.

The trial asks: Would you return? Would you choose this life over what you have achieved together and individually?

To pass, neither must destroy the vision. They must simply turn from it voluntarily and in peace.

lll. Trial Of Witness

At the chapel's stairway, the final trial begins, but not to recite any vows tonight. Instead, they are asked to speak one thing they forgive.

Not of the other but of themselves.

Winter speaks of exile, of rites deemed taboo and a heritage she proudly carries on, ensuring the teachings of her lineage and the dead remain without shame.

Wriothesley speaks of survival, of blood shed in youth, of the weight of necessary cruelty that led him below sea levels. He protected what he deemed more important than his own dignity, which was once considered a flaw now turned strength.

When both fall silent, the water surrounding the island gleams faintly with cryo-blue light paired with pale petals carried through the sea's breeze as the structure is restored to its once pristine state.

The Blessing of the Tidal Accord is granted and the island remains accessible thereafter.

Wedding Sequence: Chapel of the Receding Tide

With the blessing secured, the chapel doors open at dusk on their grand day. Sunlight fractures across the ocean surface, scattering reflections upon the stone walls in pastel prisms while a steady sea breeze carries the scent of salt and a gentle warmth up the chapel steps.

Winter's gown bears frost-like embroidery paired with crystalline accents along sheer lace sleeves. When the wind lifts the fabric, light catches upon it like thin ice over water.

Wriothesley stands beside her, proud, composed... with tears welling up in his eyes each time his beloved so much as looks at him.

They did not expect a big audience, only hoped for the sea to witness their choice. Though they are welcomed by a crowd of loved ones, from Iudex to past lovers, to friends made along Winter's long journey through Teyvat. Sumeran gold, Liyue's pastels, Mondstadt's gentle touch, Nod-Krai's melancholy and Inazuman's strength to bathe the ceremony in love and appreciation.

Upon the chapel steps, the two settle momentarily, where the Duke attempts to regain his wits as he charmingly adjusts a loose strand of her hair displaced by the wind. His fingers linger only a moment, incapable to resist the tempation of tracing her jawline.

There is no need for a fanfare. It is enough to linger in the tide's gentle applause created through waves which brush softly against the island's edge until the sun sets once more and the chapel descends to its peaceful slumber beneath the sea.

Quest Completion Rewards

Unlock: Chapel of the Receding Tide (Permanent Access)

Serenitea Pot Furnishing Blueprint: "Tidal Accord Archway"

Achievement: Chosen for Love

Notes

‘The Evenstar’ but real name Jade because there is already a canon character named Jade

evenstar is the older form of evening star (venus) which appears at dusk (and dawn hehe) and is considered a symbol of transition which ties into my ghostly themes

atm I THINK I want my memokeeper way of collecting memories is something along the lines of altering bad memories (or even removing them altogether) and in exchange, I file through their head for a mem of my choice as payment ;p

"You should not draw so close," Blade states quietly, but the stubborn one keeps coming closer anyway, lifting her gaze until they meet wild crimson for the world to fall away.

They are standing in a garden of corpses, and yet the moment feels eerily intimate. "Are you wounded?" Winter asks, though she already expects his sarcastic response. The humourless breath of air Blade exhales alongside, "I am always wounded."

Her fingers find the edge of a bandage at his chest, where she slowly begins to unwind it. Peeling away not only crimson-stained layers but icy walls, to reveal old scars layered over newer ones that are already healing.

"And you should not touch me when I am like this," Blade adds in a grumbled tone, his defences high since he rather keeps her at an arm's length than hurt her again.

"When are you not like this?" she replies, tinged with a truth that has followed them across lifetimes. "I promise I won't bite," she murmurs softly, teasingly, though terribly aware that she isn't the danger in their dynamic.

The irony isn't lost on Blade, though he tries to bite back the memories of her blood on his hands, of him clinging to her bloodied corpses or lying on her graves. His jaw flexes then, brows drawing together. "But I do."

Her hand stills against his chest, feeling his rapidly beating heart beneath her palm. Too hard for someone who claims to feel nothing. "It doesn't matter."

Something eerily unknown yet familiar presses against him all the same, a faint sting behind his eyes, a sense of something unfinished that he currently cannot name. "You will be buried because of me," and his voice is hoarse, barely a whisper, a plea. "Again."

She does not look surprised that he seems to remember parts of their past. Sometimes the Aeons are almost kind in their cruelty. His hand comes up to her face where he brushes blood from her cheek as he looks at her like she is his salvation.

"Then you simply have to lay beside me," she answers gently. "Like we promised."

Promised. The word unsettles him, and lands in place Blade cannot quite reach, hitting him like a sword to the sternum. Not clear, never clear, but felt like a dream. A vow of silver rings and a long lost paradise. He remembers the feeling of losing her; that never fades.

"If I lose control," he says slowly, his gaze dropping to her mouth and then rising again with something uncharacteristically soft beneath it, "if the Mara takes me and I turn my blade on you—"

"You have," she interrupts, not cruelly, only honestly. "And I found you again. More than once."

The words should horrify him, but instead they steady him. Because beneath the guilt and the violence there is a crueller truth he has never dared to articulate, which is that she has always come back, that no grave has held her long enough to free him.

The world could end in this moment and he would not notice, too consumed by her eyes as he lowers his forehead. Blood smears where fabric brushes fabric.

"You should not love something that destroys you," he says. "I do not love the destruction," she replies, now that their breaths have begun to mix the truths slips out easily. "I love what remains."

He studies her as if trying to carve her face into whatever part of him survives forgetting, memorising the curve of her mouth, the blood at her throat, the unwavering love in her eyes, and then he presses his forehead to hers.

"I was yours before you forgot," she adds softly. "And I will be yours after I die. We are one," she answers. "Even when you try not to be."

And Blade—the poor immortal, the cursed one, drenched in the aftermath of his own violence—allows himself, just this once, to close his eyes and lean in. As if loving her was not the most dangerous thing he could ever do.

art by @vanillssugar who so amazingly and insanely brought my entire idea to life again!! thank you so much for working with me AND for the chibi 🥹🤲🏼 this is literally the sweetest ever look at mini winnie :(

gachiverse enjilex debut! i am so so incredibly floored with how this came out, and i can't thank @vanillssugar enough for exceeding my expectations with this gorgeous artwork! the amount of detail throughout the entire piece is just CRAZY and they nailed the vibe/inspo to a tee. i highly recommend working with them! as always, this is a personal commission— do not save, repost, or use this as your own! reblogs are okay! ♡

gachiverse enjilex debut! i am so so incredibly floored with how this came out, and i can't thank @vanillssugar enough for exceeding my expectations with this gorgeous artwork! the amount of detail throughout the entire piece is just CRAZY and they nailed the vibe/inspo to a tee. i highly recommend working with them! as always, this is a personal commission— do not save, repost, or use this as your own! reblogs are okay! ♡