Unleashed: The Seven Deadly Sins - Lust

by Naughty Tome

The pain of heartbreak is equal to the amount of love you have for someone. And sometimes, a part of loving someone is to learn how to let them go. But if you love someone so much to the point that you're unwilling to let go... Then it's no longer love that controls you.

3. Consumes

Well... This took longer than I expected, just in time as well for the 4.2 update. How confinient.

Anyway, this would be the last chapter for this story. Still can't believe I wrote this much just because I feel pissed off for one day. But oh well, as long as I can get to vent my frustrations :D

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Chapter 3

The pain of heartbreak is equal to the amount of love you have for someone. And sometimes, a part of loving someone is to learn how to let them go. But if you love someone so much to the point that you're unwilling to let go... Then it's no longer love that controls you.

What controls you then... Is lust.

She has seen one example of this in this world, as well as in the other world. And just like in the other world, she has disposed of it too, albeit with more regrets this time.

"Hey now, don't take your eyes from your enemy, girlie."

Lumine snapped her attention back to the real world, just in time as Childe thrust her Hydro Spear forward to stab her. She stomp the ground to make a small pillar of stone erupted from the ground to interrupt his way of attack, redirecting his arm upwards and miss her head by an inch.

"What's the matter with you? You're not like yourself today." Childe remarked as he jumps back to make some distance from her.

Well of course she's not, her mind is occupied by a lot of things right now, and yet this man insists on taking her on a spar like any other day, completely ignoring her inner struggles.

This has become their weekly activity ever since that day they spent together in taking care of Teucer. After deciding to forgive the man for his attempted genocide of the people in Liyue harbor, Lumine had offered him a private weekly training for him to get stronger by having him challenging her to a spar at any time of the week, so long as she wasn't busy with any other problems.

When she first offered him, he merely laughed and remarks at how terrible of a joke it was, until he finds her to be actually serious. She even gave him a realm dispatch for the serenetea pot in order to better contact her for their weekly spars, and that's how it began.

Every time in the week, while both have free time in their hands, Lumine would find Childe knocking on the door of her mansion, asking her out for a spar, to which she accepts.

However, although they called it a "spar," it's more accurate to say that it's a training regimen instead. For there's never been a time where the Fatui Harbinger ever won in their battle, only ended up exhausting himself when none of his attacks ever came to badly injuring her.

But still, despite his growing frustrations, Lumine could see how his training paid off well as he kept getting strong, with him admitting it himself as well. And that's why they continue doing it, with Childe hoping to get stronger and one day finally beating her in doing so, and Lumine who genuinely feel the same as she wanted him to be strong in order to protect his family in one side, while selfishly doing it because she wanted to have someone who could kill her on the other.

Usually, she accepts whatever challenges he has in store for her. But on this particular day however... She's not having it.

It's been a while since she last met Childe, in fact, it has been over six months since the last she saw or having a spar with him. Lots of things happened during that period, lots of bizzare things, to number a few, just recently, Lumine had not only abolish the Vision Hunt Decree that has been going on for over a year in Inazuma, defeating the Raiden Shogun, the god of Inazuma herself in the process, but she also has herself quarrelling with the Fatui again for the third time, meeting the sixth of their eleven harbingers, losing herself after being overwhelmed by the dark thoughts that keeps pilling up in her mind after witnessing all the horrible things happening throughout the land, and ends up killing the eighth in her rage, something that she's glad for doing it as much as she regrets it. And those conflicting thoughts still lingers in her brain, up until now.

The way she treats Signora's body... It's definitely something she could never forgive herself.

"You're not even gonna raise your sword for this? How can I believe that you killed Signora like this?" Childe asked with a smirk on his face, he moves with his Hydro Spear, trying to cleave her, yet Lumine keeps dodging it effortlessly.

Oh he's just gotta bring this up huh? She haven't seen him in half a year and he's already bringing the most unwanted topic to her face?

But then again... That woman was a Harbinger. She had great value within the organisation, and someone like that isn't something that you could just find in a supermarket.

"I didn't kill her..." Lumine blankly answered, arching her body backwards to avoid a horizontal slash. "She killed herself." She continues, tapping the ground to create a Geo structures that pushes her away from him to make some distance.

"Ahaha, that's an interesting way to look at it. Considering that it's not true." Childe laughs as if the fact greatly amuses him, but the truth is, he is greatly disturbed by it.

After all, nobody amongst the Harbingers would ever expect to just find severed body parts right by their doorstep one morning and recognized it to be the mangled parts of someone from among their ranks. Childe too received one himself, finding a box filled with platinum blonde hair that he thought to be a wig or something at first, only realizing a bit later the true nature of it once the Harbingers were called to a meeting at noon.

Two arms, two legs, a torso, a hair, a pair of ears, a featureless head, and a pair of eyeballs. All nine of the Harbingers received one, and only after reassembling them, did they find out who's body it really was.

Lumine stays silent. Childe fires multiple Hydro arrows at her in a rapid succession, yet she dodges them all seemingly without moving a single muscle, letting the arrows passing through her body like she was nothing but an illusion.

"What? Can't even remember how you killed your own victim?" Childe asked again, when Lumine didn't respond, he chuckles lightly. "Alright then, Let me jog your memory a little then."

He moves forward with his spear, rapidly thrusting at her, trying to turn her into a pincushion. She deflects them all with ease with a single spell that sends multiple blades of winds that blocks his attacks.

"Twenty eight stab wounds. Does that ring a bell?" Childe questioned, turning his spear into twin blades, rapidly slashing Lumine who use a Geo shield to protect herself.

Dottore's autopsy report concluded that Signora's body suffered a total of 28 fatal stab wounds from a variety of different kinds of blades moments prior to her death. Her limbs were severed only after that.

Lumine shows no change of expression, she kept a blank straight face, even as her shield breaks and she was forced to call multiple thunders to strike down the spot where he stood to force him away from her.

"Okay, then how about the fact that her body was mangled beyond recognition? Severed into nine parts, and delivered to each of our doorsteps? How did you even do that anyway? Nobody in Snezhnaya ever saw you entering and exiting." He smirked lightly when he felt a wetness on his cheek, along with a stinging pain, one of the thunder she called forth must've hit him.

Childe got himself a hair, the Regrator and the Captain received one arm, Marionette and the Rooster received the legs, the Knave received her plucked out eyeballs, the Damselette got herself a pair of severed ears, the Doctor received her Torso, and as for the Jester... he received her head, a head without hair, ears, nor eyes. The only reason why he could recognise whose head it was is due to the funerary mask it was wearing.

"Still can't remember? In that case, does the word "Death for the Fools" familiar to you, girlie?" Childe breathed out, dispersing both of his Hydro blades, he decided that a breather should do for a while.

As he was inspecting Signora's headless, armless, legless torso, Dottore found that there are words carved into the eighth Harbinger's back, written in ancient Snezhnayan's language. The word "Death for the Fools" is carved into her flesh, using burning hot iron of a blade. Even the Doctor, arguably the most despicable person among the Harbingers, stayed silent after seeing it.

Lumine lowers her head a little, with a single gesture, she disperses the three elements resonating around her body.

"I didn't killed her." Lumine repeated after some moments of silence. She raises her head back, looking at Childe directly. "She brought it upon herself."

"Oh?" Childe raised an eyebrow at her. "And what exactly did she do to deserve that kind of death?" Childe questioned, putting one hand on his chin while scratching it. "Is it for the people she harmed? The victims of the war from both sides? The people who lost their Visions?"

"For pissing me off." Lumine answered simply.

Childe just stare at her blankly, and she sighed as she looks up to the sky, the sun is warmly shining down on them, the wind brushes against them gently.

"The suffering of those who lost their Visions... the lives that were lost in the war between the Shogunate and Sangonomiya... the pain from the families who suffers from the lost... I carried all of their pain on my back, and deliver it to one responsible for all of it. That's simply what happened, I lost control." Lumine explained, even though the bandages around her eyes hid most of her expression, Childe could the mixture of sadness and anger in them.

"Ah..." Childe silently nods his head. He knows full well of what happened when the Traveler is emotionally provoked, tell that to the doctors who treated his cracked ribcage.

"Besides, I gave her a warning already, when we first met in Mondstadt. Yet, she still foolishly challenged me to a duel before the throne, even after I told her that I'll spare her if she were to leave Inazuma at once."

"Heheh, good luck on convincing her on that." He shrugged his shoulders lightly. "So you're saying that even after all of that, you're still want to spare her?" Childe asked curiously.

"Believe me, if the circumstances were a little different, I'd much prefer to keep her alive."

Keeping that vixen of a woman around as a pet wouldn't be such a bad idea after all...

Such tempting thoughts, Lumine licks the corner of her lips mentally.

"Heh, how curious... I wonder if you'd do the same to me if I managed to piss you off as much as she had."

The thought of Lumine butchering his body apart is a horrifying idea, but if it means that he could see her unleashing that side of herself again...

"You're a special case." Lumine shakes her head. "You have a loving family that you need to protect, It's impossible kill you."

Childe feel another smirk is slowly creeping up on his face.

"But... If you do manage to piss me off however..."

Any thoughts of him smirking quickly fades away. It was crushed under the sudden intensity of Lumine's voice as she glares at the Harbinger from under her blindfold.

"Then I guess I'll just have to "half-kill" you."

~o~0~o~

Two years have passed already since her involvement in everything that's going on in Inazuma. After digging down information about the Abyss regarding her brother and the truth of this world, as well as delivering blows to the Fatui, again, her journey has now taken her to the land of water and Justice of Fontaine.

She was mildly surprised to find the nation hasn't been submerged in water already, but that is a good thing.

After arriving at the port, meeting with a pair of unexpected twins, and having a brief quarrel with a certain ̶b̶r̶a̶t̶t̶y̶ ̶p̶r̶i̶n̶c̶e̶s̶s̶ mistress over a certain flying balloon, she gets on an Aquabus that would takes her to the main city, while on the way, she met a familiar face.

"Do my eyes deceived me, or is that the legendary Traveler I see?"

A certain reporter from the Steam bird gets on the vehicle right before it departs from the station. A pink short haired girl with a camera, a certain girl Lumine have met before a few months ago.

"It's Charlotte! What a surprise!" Paimon exclaimed upon seeing the familiar figure, probably the first Fontanian person that both travelers have formed a close bond with.

"Didn't expect to see you here." In contrast to her flying ̶b̶a̶l̶l̶o̶n̶'̶s̶ companion's excitement, Lumine maintain a quite disposition as usual.

"Hehe, still with that blankness too." Charlotte remarked with a giggle.

The travelers briefly catch up with their reporter friend, sharing stories about some of their recent adventures, namely helping the Pari race and spending the time of summer in a world hidden inside a bottle. While Charlotte on the other hand, shared the stories of her work as a reporter, retelling some cases that's been a hot topic in Fontaine recently. One of which piqued Lumine's interest enough for her to turn her head towards the pink haired girl and listened.

"So what is the "serial disappearances of young women" case? You mean the culprit hasn't been found?" Paimon asked about it curiously, Lumine silently listen to the ensuing conversation.

"Oh, it's arguably the most mysterious, the most confusing, and the most popular case that has been going on in Fontaine." Charlotte answered, crossing her arms across her chest. "The case started when the first missing girl in the record happened almost twenty years ago. And ever since, after a period of time, another girl disappears. What the cases have in common is that the girls are all of similar age, and that they've all vanished without a trace." Charlotte puts one hand on her chin as she scratch it. "But the scariest part is that to this day, none of the girls have ever been found. Many suspects have been arrested over the years in connection with this case. But shortly after each arrest, another disappearance would always happen."

A serial disappearances huh? Hearing about this makes her feel a little nostalgic... But still... This is even worse than that case. The fact that their bodies were never found is... Really disturbing.

"Do you think there may be more than one criminal at work? Or maybe there are copycat criminals?" Paimon asked again, tilting her head to the side.

"Hmm, it's possible. But either way, I believe that every case has some precise truth behind it, waiting to be exposed." Charlotte said with a light shook of her head.

"Yes, I agree. And at the very least, the families of those missing girls deserve some sort of explanation." Lyney said with a nod of agreement, giving his twin sister beside him a side glance. "I just imagined for a second what I would do if Lynette were to suddenly disappear... I'd pay any price to get her back and then find a way to track down the culprit." He said with a sigh.

"Please don't imagine that, Lyney." Lynette muttered in response, blankly.

"Yikes, that sounds creepy." Paimon then turns towards Lumine. "Lumi... Paimon thinks we should be careful around here, like, REALLY careful. What if the criminal saw you and tries to kidnap you with how you look like an easy target?" The fairy warned her.

Lumine shrugged her shoulders. "If being their target means that I could meet face to face with the criminal behind this case. I think would rather just let myself be kidnapped by them." Lumine answered, earning a shriek from her companion.

Great, a new nation, and yet another problem she encountered. Lumine hoped sincerely that she won't get roped into this. But knowing of what happened to the four nations she has visited previously... She highly doubts things will go her way.

~o~0~o~

And sure enough, things really didn't go the way she hoped to be...

What was supposed to be a simple day watching her newfound Fontaine's friends magic show turned into tragedy and a criminal case, when something goes horribly wrong with the Lyney twins performance resulted in not only the disappearance of one of the audience, but also the death of one of their assistants, being crushed by a water tank falling from above, breaking the exciting and joyous atmosphere that exists just now and sends panic to spread over everyone present.

In the end, the Opera Epiclese is put under quarantine, and everyone who came for the show is being locked up inside until the murder case is solved. Lucky for her, she could just easily get out of it by using her teleportation magic, or by retreating to her teapot. But, she has promised to clear out the Magician twin's names after they were accused by that bratty Archon for being behind the murder and disappearance case, so escaping from this is not an option for her until she helped them out.

"Hey, you! Yes, both of you! Over here!"

While she was wandering the entrance, wondering if she could find some clues there, Lumine heard someone calling out for her. So she turned her head to the side, finding that there's a group of people gathered there, two men dressed elegantly in suits with a hat on, arms crossed and eyes staring right at her. But the one who just spoke is neither of them, instead, it was from someone behind them, the only female in the group, a girl with an elegant black and white dress, her hair are golden brown and it trails behind her back. A cup of tea was placed on the table before her.

"I've been keeping an eye on you for a while now." The girl in the dress said as she smiled at her.

"Huh? you are...!" Lumine felt like her heart just skipped a beat.

"Uh, you're referring to us?" Paimon asked, pointing at herself and looking around just in case if she was mistaken.

"That's right! If I'm not mistaken, you're also among those who wish to cut down the thorns and pursue the truth, no? And by the looks of it, you're not from Fontaine." The girl spoke up, using one hand to adjust the heart she's wearing, she reveals her face, looking at them with her blue eyes.

So she's here... Lumine wonders what kind of big scenario is involved for her to be here.

"Um, who are you?" Paimon asked, curious and confused of this stranger who just called them out so suddenly.

"Hehehe, have you heard of the Spina di Rosula? From mediating disputes and providing protection, to solving conundrums, you name it, Spina di Rosula does it." The brown haired girl spoke up, straightening herself in her seat as she said her words with confidence. "And I, Navia, have the honor of being its renowned president... Though those who play by our rules call me "Boss.""

"I'm Silver, her attendant. Pleased to meet you." One of the men in suits spoke up next, the one with shades on.

"And I'm Melus. Demoiselle's various daily needs and affairs are under my purview." Spoke the other one, an old man with glasses.

"Huh? Boss, Demoiselle... What gives with the names?" Paimon asked with a tilt of her heads.

"They were basically tittles given to her, Paimon." Lumine answered her companion's question.

"Hehe, that's right. I'm the second-generation president of the Spina di Rosula you see. Melus and the others are still used to my... Previous title." The girl now revealed to be Navia explained, sneaking a glance at Melus, the old man in the room.

"My apologies, Demoiselle. Should you prefer "Boss," I will endeavour to use that instead." Melus said while bowing himself.

"No, no need. You don't have to call me Boss. Just "Navia" is fine!" Navia said with a shake of her head.

"Okay, if you say so... Not that we're members of Spina di Rosula, anyway!" Paimon said with a nod.

Yes... Navia... That was her name...

"Haha, all merely trifling details, never mind. Now, back to the situation at hand." Navia clears her throat a little before being serious. "I've always kept an eye on the serial disappearance cases, my interest stems from a matter from my father's time. And judging from the look of things, I find Lyney an unlikely mastermind."

"Really? We think so too! That's why we're looking for clues now. But how did you come to that conclusion?" Paimon asked again.

"Intuition, naturally. My unparalleled intuition!" Navia said confidently.

"Uh, okay..." Paimon sounds doubtful and confused, meanwhile, Lumine just simply tilts her head at that.

"Furina sure was quick to point the finger at Lyney without any decisive evidence whatsoever, wasn't she? But that's not uncommon for her. If you remember, the Justice had to interrupt her and ask if she was pressing charges just to keep her from getting carried away." Navia explained with a light shook of her head, crossing her arms across her chest. "Anyway, a trial begins the moment someone levels charges. And of course, there was no way Furina was going back down in that situation."

Lumine sighs a little at this. "Yeah... she's such a piece of work to be aeound." She said while rolling her eyes, but not like anyone could see it.

"Sounds more like you just don't trust the Hydro Archon." Paimon remarked.

"Well, what's your opinion? I must admit that she can be interesting at times, but liking her doesn't mean that I'll blindly agree with her." Navia responded.

"Hmm, that's true." Lumine nods in agreement. Furina is not that all bad, but still, sometimes, that brat can be extremely annoying.

"Alright, I've answered your questions. Now it's time you answer mine."

"Wait a minute, did that answer count?" Paimon asked with widened eyes.

"Well, I say it does. But don't worry! You won't hear any pointless questions from me!" Navia waves her hands before asking her question. "In your opinion, do you think it's right to treat a trial like it's an opera?"

"Um, well..." Paimon seems struggling to come up with a response, so Lumine answered it instead.

"Personally, it's not." The blonde haired traveler answered.

"And why would that be?" Navia raised an eyebrow at her.

"Because judging someone for their sins shouldn't have been about fun and games." Lumine said with a shook of her head, crossing her arms on her chest and head dropped a little. "I've seen many trials in my life before... And not all of them were pretty."

In fact, if one were to think of a trial as a process in which a criminal is decided whether to receive their intended punishment or not, then surely someone would think Lumine as a trial herself. For how many souls have she judged for their sins, and for the judgement she befall them as well.

"See, Silver and Melus? I told you they'd be different!" Navia said with a small laugh.

"Most astute of you, Demoiselle, I too think that the Traveler's response was most excellent." Melus nods his head as he turned to look at Lumine. "No matter how wonderful the script or how fervent the audience's expectations may be, the trials that go on stage here must be based in fact."

"I like your answer. You pass with flying colors!" Navia smiled happily as she put both of her hands on her sides. "Now, I need to make some preparations, following which our joint investigation shall commence. And you two shall be my assistants!"

"Wait, since when did we become assistant-"

"Awaiting for your orders, Boss." Lumine said immediately without hesitation, bowing her body while hiking up her skirt. Earning a yell from her fairy companion.

"Oh, didn't think you'd agreed that easily!" Navia said with a small gasp, using one hand to cover her mouth. "B-But anyway, like I said before, no need to be so formal, just call me Navia, Navia, alright?"

"Understood... Navia." Lumine responded, straightening herself back into position.

And that's how she gets herself a new ally in Fontaine. One that she or Paimon don't have to be wary around them as they don't have connections to any antagonistic factions as much as they know of. Unlike a certain twins that they've just met.

Thanks to the generous help provided by Navia, their investigation of the case became much more easier, and they came nearer and nearer to the truth, but that was not the biggest contributions of hers just yet.

Just as the ̶b̶r̶a̶t̶t̶y̶ ̶A̶r̶c̶h̶o̶n̶ Hydro Archon is about to annihilate them with tons and tons of accusations, while they are struggling to come up with a comeback due to the lack of more evidence. The leader of the Spina di Rosula burst into the trial while it was still going, and provided them with evidence that no one in the opera house would ever expect.

It turns out, the missing girl was never missing to begin with. She is the same girl who was a thief that Lumine caught just a day ago in the port of Fontaine. Lumine had initially thought that Lyney must have some sort of plan in choosing her as a volunteer, either that, or it was just pure luck coming from the lottery machine. But it was neither, the machine was hijacked from the very beginning, and culprit was related to the serial disappearance case.

Lyney's deceased assistant were in fact the one in the wrong here. He's the one who hijacked the machine to choose the thief girl as the volunteer for the magic show, thinking that she was a native of Fontaine, when she's actually not. Splashing her with a substance called water of the primordial sea which can turn any Fountainians into water, but since she is not from Fontaine, she remains intact, and the assistant assaulted her where she fights back, knocking him unconscious and placed him into the box where he was then crushed by the tank of water, which is also a set up by him who initially planned to cover up his tracks once his plan has succeeded. But in a twist of irony, that plan has backfired and ended up taking his own life instead.

How tragic... And by that Lumine means that it's a shame that they couldn't place a dead body for a trial.

But the revelation of what happened doesn't mean that the case is over. Just some time earlier, a garde said that he found a vial of water from the primordial sea inside Lyney's bag, yet Lyney's reaction and the girl's confessions just now didn't line up at all with the testament. As such, the garde has now become the true suspect of the case, but just as the man began to speak, something rapidly changed with his body...

At first, it looks like he was sweating a lot, likely from fear and nervousness upon being revealed of his true affiliations. But things took drastic turns when he started screaming, the once normal looking sweating turns into melting, his body literally melts and transforms into transparent, and in a matter of seconds, the once human standing on the stage is reduced to nothing but a pool of water, right before the audience's very eyes. It was such a horrible sight to see.

But that's not the only horror of that scene...

Lumine widened her eyes as she looked in complete shock and horror. That man... It's not just his body that transforms into water...

His soul... The one thing that gave life to a living being... His soul is gone!

How could a soul be gone just like that?! Just what is this Primordial Sea? And why are only people from Fontaine affected by it?

Lumine doesn't know, she doesn't know much about this Fontaine to come up with an answer. But one thing she knows for sure... To whoever is responsible for this, for the missing girls and their missing souls that were gone and denied an afterlife... They have successfully incurred her wrath. Lumine licks a salty taste at the corner of her mouth, she grits her teeth in anger so hard that she makes the corner of lips bleed from her fangs pressing on it.

This is utterly unforgivable!

Lumine licks her dripping blood to calm herself down. She can't afford to lose herself again here and burn the whole place to the ground from her wrath. The serial killer behind this is her main target, not anyone else here.

And now that the trial is over, and everyone is allowed to leave, Lumine prepares to leave as well...

"Hey there!" Someone called her out from behind, and she turned around to see Navia approaching her. "What was with the disappearing act you pulled right as the trial ended? I was just about to talk to you."

"Ah, sorry about that Navia. I just need to talk with someone else first." Lumine lightly shook her head.

There's actually nothing that she needs to talk with Lyney, but since he insists, she listened to his whole story about how he and Lynette ended up in their current positions. Her blindfold is still wet from that.

"Were you looking for us Navia?" Paimon asked, tilting her head a little.

"Well, this whole thing isn't exactly over, is it? I do feel that we're getting closer to solving the serial disappearance case, though. Don't you think so too?" The brown haired girl asked, putting both her hands on her sides.

"I guess so..." Lumine mutters softly, head looking down slightly.

"Hmm? What's wrong, my dear partner? You seem a little down." Navia remarked, sounding concerned.

Should she tell Navia about it? About how's the body is not the only thing that's missing, but also their souls? Navia and other humans in general are not born with the abilities to see them, perhaps maybe Hu Tao or Xiao... But... Will it do any good if she tell her?

Lumine thought over it for a moment, before shaking her head mentally.

It's not worth it. Even if she do, she'll probably just gonna freak her out, or else she'll just make Navia sad or mad about the case. Lumine really don't want to see nor imagine Navia like that... She is a kind and mentally strong leader. She will not break so easily.

"I was... I was just thinking about what we had witnessed just now." The blonde haired Traveler putba hand on her head, looking distressed. "To think that someone would just vanished that easily... Leaving nothing but their clothes behind, as they screams while their bodies melting... I can't get that picture out of my head." Lumine muttered with a heavy sigh.

"Ah..." Navia nods in understandment. "I see... Yeah I also can't imagine it too." The brown haired girl said while scratching the back of her head. "A had always thought that this case that I've been following for so long would be about kidnapping and murder, but I certainly never think it'd be that far."

Lumine nodded at that. That's what she thought first as well, a serial killing cases would be a much more simple and common story that Lumine thought this whole situation to be. But to think that it was not only that, but also a new batch of mysteries that even Lumine couldn't understand, is very surprising...

"By the way Navia, why were you calling us out again?" Paimon asked, now remembering about why the brown haired girl stopped them from leaving.

"Ah right! About that..." Navia clears her throat a little. "I was thinking about inviting you two for a dinner tonight, if you have the time, as a celebration feast for our breakthrough today."

"Breakthrough? What do you mean?" Paimon asked in confusion.

"Well, we did find out now of how the criminal behind the serial disappearance case operate. By using Primordial Seawater to cause Fontaine people to disappear, which likely why the victims' bodies were never found because they disposed it using the same method." Navia explained, before looking at Lumine with a smile. "And I have you to thank, thanks to your efforts today, we managed to uncover this truth, which is precisely why I'd like to reward you a little."

"Well, Paimon is happy to help. But..." Paimon sneaks a glance towards Lumine beside her, which prompt the blonde girl to let out a sigh.

"I'm really sorry Navia." Lumine began, putting her hand on her chest. "I was solely focused on clearing Lyney's name, and I became your partner for the sake of that reason only. I didn't pay much attention to this serial disappearance case."

"Huh?" Navia looks at Lumine with a surprised expression. "Well, that's true but..."

"I'm not entirely serious when I said that I became your partner that time. As I don't have much interest in the case as well as not wanting to get involved in it. In short, it's like I was using you for my own benefit, and I'm sorry for that." Lumine apologize while bowing her head.

"I see..." Navia nods her head in understandment. The two of them are travelers from outside of Fontaine, so getting themselves involved in this case should be-

"However, I have a change of mind."

Lumine said suddenly, making everyone to look at her.

"To see someone turned into water like that... Just disappear into a pool of liquid... After I saw that scene, my mind instantly think of the many victims of this case. All those precious souls... Disappeared, just like that." Lumine grits her teeth, putting her head on her palm. "I won't pretend that this case doesn't concerns me anymore, I won't turn a blind eye on it." She bawled her hands onto fists, feeling her anger rising up again. "I will never forgive them... Never. To whoever behind this killings, I swear, I shall being them judgement!"

She could feel the eyes of the people around her looking at Lumine with a mixed reactions, raging from concern to worry. Taking a deep breath, she calm herself down, uncovering her face as she looks at Navia.

"And that's why, Navia..." She began, before suddenly dropped to her knees, bowing her head and using one arm as support on the ground. "Allow me, for real this time, to ask your permission for me to become your partner. I shall lend you my strength, just as you have lend me yours. Until we break through this case, together."

Everybody was taken aback by this, even Paimon just floats there and gawked at her friend. But the biggest shock came from Navia, who looks at the person before her in shock, a faint shade of red appears on her cheeks.

"G-Geez! What's gotten into you all of sudden? Being overly polite to me like this?" Navia questioned, rubbing the back of her head with one hand. "Like seriously though, you don't need to apologize to me at all, nor do you have to ask me for permission." Navia waits for Lumine to raise her head to look at her. "I've always considered you as my partner, even now, so you don't have to ask for my permission to be one, you already are."

Lumine was a silent for a moment. Navia smiled after she said that, her smile brings a lot of nostalgic feeling to Lumine's chest... Her kindness truly is unchanged.

"Thank you." Lumine whispered softly, standing up from the ground, her lips turned into a small smile.

"You're welcome." Navia said while smiling back at her.

They stayed at a comfortable silence for a while, before the boss of the Spina di Rosula clears her throat.

"Anyway, about the dinner, it would just be a meal, so it shouldn't take up too much of your time. I really hoped that you would come along, celebrating our recent breakthrough is better when it was done with friends." Navia explained, putting one hand on her chest.

"Well, You don't have to twist Paimon's arm! If Boss Navia's treating, count Paimon in!" Paimon eagerly nods her head, seems like all the investigating has made her hungry.

"Let's go have that meal, then." Lumine nodded along with her. "I haven't tasted much of Fontaine's dishes yet, it would be a great opportunity to do so."

...As well as calming down the darkness that grows hungry within her.

"Perfect! Alright then, how about if we go to the Hotel Debord? I believe we'll make it just in time for dinner."

~o~0~o~

"Oho, everything looks so good! People in Fontaine sure know how to enjoy life."

A few hours later, the three found themselves sitting around a round table in their intended place for dinner. A variety of dishes laid out on the table for them to enjoy, Navia picks some of her favourites since she has been visiting the place a couple of times in the past with her father. Paimon on Lumine on the other hand, picks some food that they haven't tasted yet since the day of their arrival, Lumine picked at least three of them, while Paimon, as usual, picks five, all for herself.

"Why, of course. Go ahead, try whatever you like. If the food's good. I'll make a group reservation for the rest of Spina di Rosula next time." Navia said with a smile, a little true proudly.

"And if it's not?" Paimon tilts her head.

"Well, ah... Then I'll bring everyone, albeit with only one dish per table." The brown haired girl replied, with a dry laugh.

"You sure have your own way of doing things." Lumine remarked, she reaches out to one of the plate and began eating.

"Speaking of cases, do you think that the mastermind behind the serial disappearances will get caught soon now that this all has happened?" Paimon asked after a while, speaking while still munching on her proportions of foot.

"We've certainly taken a big step forward, but I feel that's about it." Navia responded with a shrug of her shoulders. "We know that there is an organization that means to dissolve these young women, but we still don't know what they are really after."

"If it hadn't happened right in front of us, Paimon wouldn't have ever believed that a person could be dissolved like that..." Paimon muttered, her voice lowering down upon remembering what she saw few hours ago.

"Right? Yet it was because this was such a preposterous notion that the investigation could never really move forward before." Navia said with a nod.

"Ugh, if only that guy could've finished speaking..." Paimon sighed heavily. "We were so close to hearing who was behind it."

"I doubt that he may want to speak about it, Paimon." Lumine said with a light shake of her head. "He may as well knows the consequences behind that actions. But it seems like our guy didn't take lightly to mistakes."

"That is true. In such investigations, even the smallest step can seem like a yawning chasm if the trail of clues is cut off." Navia agrees with a nod, before she narrows her eyes and a look of doubt fashion her face. "To be honest, I don't have high hopes for any follow-up that the authorities might conduct. It's not that I don't have faith in their ability, it's just that a different perspective is required in some matters."

Lumine and Paimon listened in while they were eating their food. Navia is busy explaining, that she plays with her food using the utensils in her hands instead of eating them.

"It's easy to guard against and deceive a single, narrow perspective. A shift in thinking is required at such times in order to produce a breakthrough."

She continues, observing her, Lumine finds an existing conflicting thoughts in her head that seems to bother the Boss lady, slightly making the traveler curious about her inner problem.

"And that is exactly why the Spina di Rosula exist. Those highfalutin folk are not all-knowing. That's why we exist, to seep into the cracks where filth falls through, where their watch fails them. That's the kinds of problems we solve." Navia explained, Lumine noticed a silent huff coming out from between her lips.

"Huh. Seems Paimon thought things were simpler than they actually are..." Paimon muttered softly, putting both of her tiny hands on her sides.

Navia sighed, lightly shaking her head. "It's alright, this was supposed to be our victory feast, we should've cheered up and not being all sulky like this." Clearing her throat, Navia turned her head to the side. "Boss, we'll have another two dishes! And a bottle of Fonta too!"

"Two of them please, I'd like to give it a try." Lumine added.

A voice responds to their additional orders, telling them to wait for a moment for them to be ready, to which both girls nodded and they wait for their new orders to come.

"How about if we talk about something else." Navia begins, crossing her arms across her chest. "Like... What are your future plans after this?"

"My plans huh? Hmm..." Lumine thinks about it for a while. There are still a lot of mysteries and questions that surrounded Fontaine. Things that needs to uncover and answered. But most of them were not as important as the obvious one, the reason why she came here in the first place. To meet her. "Honestly, there's plenty of things I wanted to do. But for now, my goal is simply to ask the Hydro Archon for some information... Which unfortunately we haven't had much opportunity to do so." Lumine answered, resting her elbows on the table to press her hands against one another, intertwining her fingers.

"That's true. We didn't have a chance to speak to her after the trial ended. It didn't really seem like the right time or place to do it anyway..." Paimon added with a shake of her head, sighing a little at her own remark.

"I see. So your primary objective which has been foiled so far was to have a chat with the Hydro Archon." Navia put her hand on her chin and scratch it as she think. "I've heard that there's a long line of people waiting to meet lady Furina. I suspect you'll be waiting for quite a while, considering that you missed your chance today."

"Yeah, we've heard that she's super popular here in Fontaine, and that it'll be tough getting any of her time." Paimon nodded.

"Hmm, well... Would you consider some more... unique ways? Perhaps even methods of, let's say, questionable legality?" Navia asked, looking at Lumine with narrowed eyes.

"Guess that's Spina di Rosula's boss for you... Chock-full of sketchy ideas." Paimon said with a shrug, looking at Navia, she asked. "Well, what did you have in mind?"

"Well, one way would be to infiltrate a performance troupe at the opera house, only to abandon your act at the play's climax and ask to speak to her after the performance. I'm sure lady Furina would be eager to see the ending, and would agree in order to finish watching the play, don't you think?"

"Huh, that's a good idea, knowing her, she'll definitely goingto do anything as long as she got what interest her the most." Lumine mutttered, considering the given idea.

The only problem about the plan would be the performance. Lumine already did a performance once in Sumeru at the Grand Bazaar, when she unintentionally offered herself to fill in an absent performer's show. Nilou's practically dragged for that, but Lumine has no regrets since her show ended up attracting everyone from Sumeru. Even Nahida the Archon and Alhaitham who's normally not interested in that kind of thing came to see her performing. That was a lovely night.

But still... Performing a show for ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶b̶r̶a̶t̶ the Hydro Archon... Lumine's not sure what's this Furina's likes and and interests, so even if Lumine were to perform in Opera Epiclese, there's no guarantee that she will be there to watch it, just like how she attends Lyney and Lynette's magic show.

"Uh, Paimon thinks that this plan seems pretty hard to pull off..." Sensing Lumine's confusion, Paimon spoke up, shaking her head at the idea. "Could you suggest something a little more practical?"

Navia nods in understandment. "Alright, here's another... find a way to conceal yourself under her bed. Then wake her up in the dead of night and demand answers. Don't let her go back to sleep until she answers all your questions!" The brown haired girl chuckles at her own thoughts. "I can personally testify that this one works. When I'm sleepy, I'll do anything as long as I can finally get some sleep!"

"Ah... Now this is a great idea." Lumine spoke up as if she finds the idea briliant.

Sneaking into Furina's bedroom doesn't seem to be something that is hard to pull off. Lumine has more than enough tricks up her sleeve to do it. The only problem being to this plan is about Navia's testament of someone would do anything to get some sleep. While it could work with basically someone else, the same thing couldn't be applied to a god like Furina, as gods do not necessarily needed sleep. it's just something that they could just simply do anytime they want, just like eating.

But still, Lumine couldn't help but be curious... What would happen if she do pull off this plan? How will Furina react when two sleepless being is placed within the same room in the dead of night? Mentally, Lumine thought that the whitenette would probably be flustered upon seeing her in her bedroom, especially after Lumine challaged her for a dance of midnight underneath the sheets during their first meeting (which of course, Lumine wasn't serious about, but still enjoys the tomato face that the Archon made.)

"Uh, that might work, but that's not really the problem. The problem is we don't want to get ourselves arrested." Paimon spoke up, putting both of her hands on her sides.

"We can just simply bust out of the prison if we do get thrown into one, Paimon." Lumine replied, causing the white haired fairy to look at her.

"Don't tell Paimon that you ACTUALLY consider to do this!" The little pixie said in slight disbelief. "Easy for you maybe to escape, but not for Paimon!" Lumine simply shrugged her shoulders at that.

"Ah, valid point. I overlooked that part. I was just thinking about leveraging a person's desire for sleep." Navia said with a small giggle.

"How can you overlook something like that?!" Paimon protested.

"Alright, alright, no more joking around. Perhaps you could... oh I don't know, cut the line when she's on a break." Navia suggested, earning a raised eyebrows from both travelers. "You did defeat her in court, clearing citizens of hers from false accusations, false accusations she had nearly upheld personally. I'd imagine that she feels quite ashamed about the whole thing... Or more specifically, ashamed by you." The brunette said while glancing towards Lumine.

"You mean that if we catch her while she's on a break, she might be too embarrassed to refuse?" Paimon asked, earning a nod from Navia. "That does make some sense."

It does make perfect sense! Furina is the type of girl who always did whatever it takes to not let her confidence break, and to maintain that aura of dignity that she always surround herself with. And Lumine had just successfully shatters those two aspects of her personality. Under condition like this, that girl will be vulnerable for a while, which gives Lumine just the perfect chance.

"That's a perfect idea." Lumine nods her head in agreement. "I think I'm just gonna go with that."

"Then how about if we give it a try after this meal? Y'know, strike the iron while the iron is hot and all..." Paimon said, agreeing with her.

A butler came into the room with a tray in his hands. He approaches their table and placed the tray on top of it.

"Here's your Fonta, madam." He says quietly, as he puts two bottles of Fonta on the table, as well as two glass.

"Thank you."

Navia thanked him, and the butler simply bowed his body slightly before taking off and disappear in the corner.

"Ah, finally. I always enjoys a good bottle of Fonta before the day ends. It's keeping me relaxed." Navia smiled upon seeing her favourite drink on the table.

"You really like the stuff huh?" Lumine asked, taking one into her hand, she eyed the bright colored liquid in a bottle closely.

"Why indeed." Navia nodded, she opens the lid of the bottle in her hand, which oddly enough, is surprisingly a bit loose than usual. And pour it into the two glass. "Here, have a taste of one for yourself. It's pretty good." Navia hands her one of the two glasses, which she takes it.

Lumine look at the colorful liquid in her hand. It smells nice, and it looks good as well, she wonders how it taste like. Lumine already has seen them displayed in some stores and bars in the city, as well as people who drink it, it looks like they enjoyed it, so she can't wait to find out for herself.

Lumine raise the glass, and take a big gulp of the Fonta.

Huh... It taste... Salty, and icky... It taste like... It kinda taste like...

No. It's definitely taste like...!

Lumine's eyes blown wide open behind their blindfold.

"Navia! Don't drink that!" Lumine yelled, rising up from her seat just as Navia has the glass mere inches away from her mouth.

"H-Huh?! What's wrong Traveler?" Navia asked the suddenly tense blonde haired girl, thankfully, she puts the glass away from her face.

Lumine stays silent for a while, as if thinking about how she supposed to say this. Both of her companions look at her in confusion.

She turned to look at Navia. "Navia, please give me your hair, just a single strand of it."

"Huh? What for?" Navia said in confusion of her partner's strange request.

"Just... Trust me." Lumine reaches out her open palm to her.

"Uh, okay..."

Reluctantly agreed, the brown haired girl reaches back to her hair, plucking a single strand from the sea of brown, from the one that she felt loose. And then place it on the open palm of Lumine.

Lumine looks at the strand of hair in her hand a bit suspiciously, she took Navia's glass of Fonta, and slides it close to her. She brought the strand of hair above the glass, and drop it. The long thin object floats above the liquid's surface for a while, before it suddenly vanishes into nothingness, leaving no trace of it.

"Whoa! What happened? It just disappear!" Paimon exclaimed in shock, she zeroing in to the glass of Fonta trying to look for the strand of hair, but it's simply isn't there, like it was never existed.

"Traveler..." Navia's lips parted to call her, looking at her, Lumine finds the girl is looking at her in complete shock and disbelief. A normal reaction from someone who realized that they've just avoid certain death. "Is this...?"

"Exactly what you thought." Lumine nods her head, looking back towards the glass where a seemingly harmless Fonta waits for an oblivious person to drink it. "Water from Primordial Sea is mixed into the Fonta."

Navia look like she just got her soul sucked out of her body from shock, Paimon has a similiar look of horror on her face.

Now that Lumine has seen it up close, now that Lumine had taste it. Lumine finally understand. The reason why a mere water could potentially cause doom to an entire civilization...

...For such water contains nothing but extreme concentrated amount of Negative Energy in them, more than enough to devour the whole body and soul.

~o~0~o~

Despite avoiding certain death for Navia, and getting themselves an evidence, the three didn't manage to catch the person behind her attempted assassination. They talked to the manager and also the butler who delivered their Fontas, but they found no answer.

But they do however, learn that there is someone who breaks into the hotel without notice, knocking one of the staff unconscious, tied him up in the backroom, and took his uniform, using it to disguise themselves as one of the staff in order to lace the Fonta they ordered with the Primordial Seawater. Unfortunately however, upon being questioned, the said staff claimed to not see his attacker's face, once again leaving them completely clueless.

Upon leaving the hotel, Lumine bid Navia farewell for the night, mutually reminding each other to watch their every step as their dinner for tonight has proven that someone is clearly targeting and wanting them dead.

Navia returns to her home, wherever that is, while Lumine decided to return to the Opera Epiclese with a goal in mind.

"The water from the Primordial Sea... How can such a corruptive substances be so..."

Lumine has taken both bottles of Fonta with her. Separating the drink from the dangerous substances is no hard task for her, and now that she got herself the Primordial Seawater in her hand, she could inspect it closely.

Drinking and tasting it herself already confirm her initial thoughts about it, but looking at it closely now, Lumine is able to determine what exactly makes this substance be so dangerous, and she finds out that it is because of the extreme amount of concentrated Negative Energy in them.

Negative Energy is dark and corruptive by nature, they are formed from the dark thoughts of humanity. The way it can corrupt both inanimate objects and living creatures' body, mind, and soul are what makes it so dangerous. With this great amount of Negative Energy contained within a single droplet of the seawater, surely it can cause massive damage to a living being.

But the fact that it could only affect a native from Fontaine is... Really strange.

Why does the corruptive nature of the water can only consume a Fountainian? While leaving other humans from outside of the nation harmless? Lumine has several hypotheses regarding the matter, but perhaps the most logical one is due to how the people from Fontaine are built.

While it was not visibly seen, each nation in this Tevyat is flowing with unseen Celestial energy related to the Archons that reside there. Mondstadt, Liyue, Inazuma, and Sumeru are filled with an abundance of Anemo, Geo, Electro, and Dendro elements respectively. Fontaine too is similar to them, flowing with Hydro energy from the Hydro Archon.

And believe it or not, with those kinds of energy flowing in the air, in the ground, and also in the sea, it does affect the humans who lived here, from moments of their birth to their last breath.

Maybe the seawater are specifically made to target those kind of people, people who are born in Fontaine and has been living with the Hydro Elements that was flowing around them for years.

But those were merely her guesses, now she intends to find the correct answer herself by asking the two people she has in mind, the Hydro Archon, who rules over this land, and a certain dragon who used to rule it.

"We've arrived!"

Paimon's voice brought her back to reality. Looking up, Lumine finds herself standing in the yard in front of the Opera house, where she and Paimon are the only people standing there.

"There aren't many people around anymore. Looks like that boat we took to Erinnyes might have been the last one..." Paimon muttered as she looks around, finding nobody else there.

Now then, to talk with Furina... Lumine wonders how she should approach this, maybe she should go with the initial plan after all, sneaking into her bedroom and talk to her in the dead of night. But where could her bedroom will be? She needs to search around the Opera House first, and then maybe...

"Vacher..."

Lumine stops in her tracks. Hearing that voice again. Slowly, she turns her head to the side to look at the Fountain of Leucine, the source of where the voice comes from.

"What's wrong Lumi? Why stop walking?" Paimon asked confusedly when her partner abruptly stopped moving.

"I... I just hear the voice." Lumine answered, now turning her whole body to face the fountain.

"Huh? You mean those voices that you said before this morning?" Paimon asked again, she's still couldn't understand what the Traveler meant because she doesn't heard anything aside from the water sprouting out from the fountain.

"Yes... And it's clearer than it was during the day." Lumine said with a nod, just hearing the voice made her feel... Weird.

"Uhh... That's kinda spooky. Are you sure we don't wanna come back in the morning?"

Lumine listened to the voice more closely. It's getting louder and louder, almost feels like it speaks directly into her brain instead of normal means... Is this telepathy?

"Vacher... Vacher..."

Lynette says that hypersensitivity towards the Hydro Elements is what enables her to hear the voice, voices coming from the emotions of many contained within a single droplet of tears that eventually converges here... But is it fully the truth?

"Hey! Why're you still walking towards it? There might be something nasty in the water..."

Lumine didn't even hear what Paimon is saying. Her mind is getting blank, and her brain is on autopilot. Her legs moved to take her into the fountain... She feels... Dark... Cold... Is this...?

There's no doubt about it. Strong emotions are indeed leaking out of the fountain, dark and twisted thoughts, reeking of negative energy, not as much as the one in the Primordial Seawater but... It still lures her in...

"Hey, Lumi! Stop walking! C'mon, wake up!"

"Vacher... Vacher... Vacher...!"

~o~0~o~

Lumine wakes up to see a sea of blue filled her vision.

She is in a standing position, yet she feels like she is floating in a void of emptyness.

How unusual, she would expect to find herself stuck inside an endless void of darkness where no light shines. Yet this time, instead of darkness, the world around her are filled with the color of blue, it's almost like she is submerged underwater, yet she didn't feel like drowning, she breathe normally, and she is standing on her two feet like she is standing on top of a solid ground despite the fact that there's nothing under her.

Is this a different realm she finds herself in? A world of dreams like the one she encounters in Sumeru? Or for the more important question... Just what is the thing that is in front of her?

"..."

Turns out this space wasn't so "empty" as she thought. Existing inside the blue space alongside her, a strange entity floats before Lumine, with it's back turned on her. Looking at the shapes, the color, and the wetness it radiates, Lumine instantly could recognise the strange creature.

"An Oceanid?" Lumine mutters in wonder and confusion.

The entity, obviously heard her voice, turn itself around, facing her directly. And after seeing it, Lumine can confirm that it was indeed, an Oceanid, or at least some strange entity that looks similar to it.

"Vacher? Are you... My dear Vacher?" The thing asked her, her voice sounds exactly like the one she heard in the outside world. So this creature is the one who whispers those voice into her head. "No, wait, you seem to be someone else... Do you know Vacher? Do you know where my love is?"

"I'm afraid not..." well of course she doesn't know, she just arrived here a day ago. "Who are you, if I may ask?"

"I'm..." The Oceanid-thing was about to say something, before it cuts itself off. Appearing to be confused as well as hesitating. "Wait, who am I...?"

Lumine tilts her head at the creature's self question. She doesn't recognize it's own self, yet still remembers the name of another?

"I'm very sorry, I fear i do not know." The creature said while making a gesture akin to a shake of its head. "My memories feel like they have been washed away like a flood. So many fragments dissolved amidst the tide, never to be recovered." The entity then paused for a while, thinking over things. "How much have I lost? How many things that I once held dear while on land have I since forgotten?"

Lumine was silent as well, she thinks over the words the creature spoke. Dissolved... Lost... Forgotten... Is this creature perhaps a...

"Are you... A human before?" Lumine asked, a little bit hesitantly.

The creature nodded. "Yes, that is what I was once. But now, I am but the consciousness of one who has lost their form." It explained.

"Lost your form?" Lumine could feel this conversation is heading somewhere, and she wasn't sure she'll like it.

"I do not know how I came to be like this either. I only vaguely remember being covered in light blue water, and then all grew dim..."

""Light blue water?!" Could that have been..."

Alarms sets off inside Lumine's brain. All of her thoughts points out towards one thing in mind...

Remembering the absolute horror she witnessed today, Lumine reaches up to her head, and tugs at her blindfold lightly, pulling it down and allowing her eyes to see the void blue around her, as well as this strange creature. Her eyes glows a bright glowing blue color, as she closely inspect the Oceanid looking entity, and what she saw made her eyes blown wide open.

"What's wrong? You look... Surprised."

"Ah, it's nothing." Lumine shook her head lightly, fixing up her blindfold back in place. "You just reminds me of something that's all. Anyway, what else could you remember?"

"Ah, yes. I also remember going to many places. I loved adventure, love exploring places of peril." The creature begin, sounding a little somber as it continues. "And, no matter where I went, Vacher would go with me. I knew how dearly he loved me, and I also love him equally as much. But now... We can no longer go back. The pain of such parting... I never knew how heavy it could be." It says as it's body drooping down in sadness.

"So you wish to find him?" Lumine raised an eyebrow.

"No! Our reunion no longer has any meaning, there is no way for us to create any new memories." The creature shook it's head violently. "The thought of me gives him no succor, so let it lie forgotten beneath the waters." The creature sighed, once again shaking it's head as it looks at her. "If you meet Vacher, tell him not to look for me. Tell him to move on, that is the only thing I still remember."

"I believe it will be hard for him to forget you. Really hard." Lumine crosses her arm on her chest.

"Perhaps that is so... As I was submerged in the waters, losing consciousness, I saw Vacher above the surface. His eyes were filled with such sorrow, such longing. If only I could have comforted him, told him that I did not suffer. Indeed, I had felt a great warmth."

"So he was there to witness you dissolved..." The blonde girl muttered softly, thinking how sad, shocking, and horrifying it would be if she were him.

"Is that what you call it? "Dissolving?" If anything, I consider it a form of "release."" Lumine raise an eyebrow at the entity for that. "It was a state of neither fear nor frenzy, with only an endless peace, like the water's still surface. I could also liken it to being a thirsty person who drinks water for the first time, and only then sees how they have lived for so long in a world of endless want and anxiety."

"That's... An interesting way of describing it." Lumine silently comments under her breath.

There was a sound ringing within the space that comes from neither of them. It was unclear and distorted, as if Lumine was hearing it while she was drowning in water.

"I think I hear your companion. It's time for you to go, I think." The entity spoke up. So it can hear what's happening outside?

"Ah right, I wonder how much time passed in reality... Paimon must've been worried." Lumine softly whispered. Now that she remembers it, passing out in the middle of the street is bad move for her, especially knowing that someone is after her life.

"Farewell, then, I am glad that you were able to sense my presence. Remember, if you see Vacher, tell him not to seek me out any longer."

As the entity bids her farewell, the space arounds her are enveloped by a blinding white light, as Lumine could feel her consciousness getting pulled out of the strange space and back to her body in the real world.

And while on her way back to her body, Lumine couldn't help but to chuckle, as her mind thinks back to the entity she just saw.

It seems like dead or not, humanity is just the same... Always having a mask in their possession.

~o~0~o~

By the time Lumine regain consciousness, it was already chaos around her body.

Navia and her two loyal servants are there, for some reason, and they are defending her while she was left defenseless, from an army Mekas that came to kill her. Just as when Lumine wonders of how their enemy will have to deal with her considering that she is not as easy as a Fountainian who can get dissolved by a splash of seawater.

Anyway, right after regaining consciousness, Lumine dealt with the Mekas effortlessly, simply by flooding the streets with the water from the fountain behind her, and then raining down thunder upon the clockworks machines while keeping everyone safe by raising the ground beneath their feet into safe distances.

But Navia and her loyal followers aren't the only newcomers there. There was another one, a woman with purple eyes and dark purple hair, with a shirt that's probably a little too tight for her size.

But anyway, it seem that she came to help them, but too bad that by the time she arrived, all of the Mekas were already destroyed by Lumine's combination attack. But destroying the Mekas are not the only reason why she's here, according to Navia, who knows the woman, the Champion Duelist Clorinde, the same person who stood by Furina's side during that time at the port, as well as the person whom Childe has some sparring schedule with, she is there because she's been following Navia, stalking her one might say.

It seems like Navia has some history with her, and it's not a good one judging from the hostility that the brunette throws at the purplenette. It was something involving the former's father, as what exactly the latter did is currently unknown, Lumine made a mental note to find out about it later, if Navia don't mind.

Clorinde eventually leaves, not wanting to bother Navia much more than she already did, and so, Lumine is left with the Spina di Rosula again.

They parted ways back when they finished their victory feast with a message to watch their own backs, so why is Navia here, protecting her? That was the first question Lumine had asked the brunette about after things calmed down. But the reason turns out to be much mundane than what she thought.

Knowing that it was Lumine's second day in Fontaine, Navia correctly guessed that the Traveler must've hasn't found a place to stay yet in the city, so she decided to follow her back to the Opera House to give her one. A little unnecessary as it was since she has the Serenetea pot to go to, or that she can simply camp in the wilderness, Lumine still feel grateful nonetheless.

Navia leads the way there, taking the Traveler to underneath the Court of Fontaine, where one of the bases of Spina di Rosula is located. Since it was already nighttime, and Paimon is complaining of how tired and sleepy she was, Lumine decided to crash for the night as well. Deciding that talking to the Hydro Archon and the Hydro Sovereign Dragon could wait for another day. More importantly, she shared her newfound information to Navia, about her encounter with the mysterious being calling out for an individual named Vacher. And marking him as someone who holds an important info, the group determined to try looking for him to ask some questions, but Lumine has some other plans in mind.

Minutes later, they arrived at the base, a place called Fleuve Cendre where less fortunate people of Fontaine lives. It was quite a nice place, but perhaps a little bit of cleaning and rearraging would make it even better for Lumine's taste.

As they walked around the place searching for the place where they could sleep, Navia explains to them how the Spina di Rosula works, how their funds as of recent times aren't as better as it used to back when her father leads the organization. Which then prompts Paimon to ask regarding the matter, much to Lumine's displeasure for her who brought it up when it was clear of how much it still saddens Navia. Lumine herself doesn't know much of the details but... she has a guess or two.

Navia is fine with it though, thankfully, stating that she couldn't run from the topic forever, and decided to to tell them the story herself. Her father's name is Callas, and he was the leader of Spina di Rosula before her. Several years ago, he was accused of murdering his own friend, but instead of standing on trial, he choose to defend his honor, taking part in the Duelist Ring and died while doing so, at the hands of a champion duelist none other than Clorinde. That explains the animosity between the two earlier.

By the time of his death, her father has been investigating about the serial dissapeariance case, which may may be the reason why he was framed of the murder, at least that's what Navia thought so. As she refused to believe her father for committing such heinous crimes, Navia since then is determined to continue her father's investigation, hoping fullheartedly that in doing so will also uncover the truth behind the case that took the life of her father, even if the truth will be unpleasant, she still wants to know.

Seeing such a sad face on her face... It doesn't suit her at all, Lumine thought. She wish that she could comfort Navia... just like how she comfort her. But maybe Lumine could do that later, for now, she need time to think.

Hours passed and morning eventually arises. Today, the group decided to look for this person called Vacher, and they concluded that if there is one person or place that is good source for information, then it would be the Chief of Justice Neuvillette, at the Palais Mermonia.

Navia seems a little bothered of the aspect of meeting him, with Lumine guessing that it must have something to do about her late father's case. So Lumine held her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, telling her that it will be okay, and the brown haired girl seem to calm down a little after that.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, the three decided to go there now. After using the elevator to the highest level, passing through the front door, and stating their official business to the Melusine guarding inside. They finally entered Neuvillette's office. The man immediately stood up when he sees them, walking around the table to approach the group of three.

"Um... Sorry to barge in, Monsieur Neuvillette. We only lied to get in because we didn't know any other way..." Paimon was the first one to spoke up, greeting the tall man with a nod of respect.

"We'll get out and rearrange another meeting some other time if you're not available now." Lumine added, crossing her arms across her chest.

"It's alright. Please let me know how I may be of assistance to you." Neuvillette said with a light wave of his hand

"Uhh, so you're not mad at us?" Neuvillette shakes his head.

"Then we better make this quick before he does." Lumine whispered to Paimon's ears.

"We're looking for a man called "Vacher." He may have been an eyewitness in the serial disappearances case." Navia spoke up next, getting straight to the point, almost feeling like she doesn't want to be here more than she needs to. "If we can find him, we may be able to unearth some key information on the case."

Neuvillette looks at Navia for a moment, and for a split second, Lumine caught the small glint of emotions passing through his eyes, as if staring at the girl has reminded him of something, or someone. Before long, he's back to himself already.

"Ah, I see. In that case, please wait here a moment while I browse through the files." He nods his head, before turning to the side and approach the bookshelves on the sides.

While he is searching, they patiently waits for him. Paimon looks tense, perhaps feeling nervous if their visit to this place will even give them their needed info. Meanwhile for Navia on the other hand, Lumine could tell that she is unsettled by the very aspect of being in this room, or more specifically, being in the presence of Neuvillette. Lumine silently reaches out her hand to pat her on the back, the taller girl seem confused by the gesture, but Lumine did not say a word.

Several minutes later, Neuvillette returns empty-handed.

"Unfortunately... I'm quite certain that no one by the name of "Vacher" has been involved in any case, criminal or civil, in the past several years." Neuvillette revealed with a shake of his head. "There are no records of him either in the files or in my memory."

"So another dead end huh?" Lumine said with a click of her tongue.

If only Oceanids or... Whatever that thing was she met while unconscious has a biology that's the same or at the very least similar, to that of a human, then maybe she could use her eyes to-

"Lumi, what if it was all just a dream?" Paimon tugs at her sleeve, cutting off her thoughts.

"I know the difference between realities and dreams, Paimon." Lumine said with a shake of her head. "And what I saw and experienced that time, is no illusions."

Beside her, Navia slumped her shoulders, disappointed and sad from the lack of their desired info, she sighed, a little heavily, as she nods her head, weakly.

"Is that so... Alright then, thank you so much, Monsieur Neuvillette." She spoke up, though it's barely audible, Lumine could hear the weight of emotions that drags her voice down. "We'll take our leave now."

The brown haired girl turned to look at Lumine and Paimon, then gestured towards the door, they nods in understandment and follows her as they approached the office door and is about to leave.

"...Miss Navia, I can understand how you feel."

Just before Navia's hand could touch the surface of the door however, the Chief Justice voice reaches to her ears, and instantly, her body froze.

"Your father, Callas, was a truly exceptional man. We deeply regret his passing." Neuvillette finishes. Lumine looks back to see the man has his head slightly downturned.

In front of her, Navia's breath hitches in her throat. She stays silent for a moment, before taking a deep breath, her lips turned into a frown.

"And what are you trying to say, Monsieur Neuvillette?" Navia asked back, her voice... It loses all of it's usual tone. Mixture of emotions are clinging to her every word, sadness, anger, resentment, Lumine could feel it all. "Are you trying to console me? Extend your sympathy? Or just express some tendril of regret..."

She took another deep breath, before turning her body around, finally facing the Chief Justice once more. Her blue eyes glares at him with mixed emotions swirling like clouds inside. The was she looks at him is full of anger, yet it was clouded by layers of sadness, truly an unfitting look on the face of a girl like her.

"No... You are not trying to do any of that. I can hear it in your voice. There's no emotion behind your words, you only said those things because you felt like you should." Navia stated, shaking her head, she starts losing her composure, her voice cracks by the emotions.

And Neuvillette's response to that is merely silence, as his head lowers down slightly even more, his expression is unreadable.

"It's just like last time. After my father took his place in the Duelist Ring, I pushed through the guards to talk to you as a last resort... You even told me then that you thought there was something fishy with the case, yet you still allowed the duel to go ahead."

Navia slowly walks towards the silent man, tears began forming in the corner of her eyes. Paimon looks at her in concern, reaching an arm as if trying to say something, but Lumine puts a hand on her shoulder, shaking her head when the little pixie looks up at her.

"In your eyes, the value of a human life is nothing compared to those cold laws you hold so dear. If you truly regret my father's death, then why didn't you call a stop to the duel?!" The brown haired girl yelled, her words began to get cut off by her sobs. She feels like she should reach up and wipe her tears away, but she endures it, opting to continue giving the man before her a piece of her mind. "Why didn't you... give me the power to stop him from throwing his life away, why did you just let him die, despised and hated by all... Everything was hanging on a thread at that moment... Just the tiniest effort could have changed everything."

Her sobbings intensifies, and she took some moments to stabilize her breathing first, before continuing.

"There are still so many things I never got to tell him... So many questions he still owes me answers to..." She stood right before him now, her face approaches him, as her teary eyes stares directly into his unmoving ones. "If you really have no heart, then just look me in the eyes. I, Navia, will show you the true meaning of "regret!""

Neuvillette does look deeply into Navia's eyes, seeing the depths of sorrow inside those beautiful blue marbles, just like the sea outside... So blue and so deep...

"...I'm sorry, miss Navia." Is his single response. Without a shred of emotions.

Navia lightly huffed, lowering her head slightly, as she takes a deep breath.

"You and my father are truly alike. You'd keep all kinds of things in your heart, and never say a word to anyone." She lightly shook her head. "It's not so much that you can't feel, but that you would never express anything."

Reaching up, she finally wipes the tears on her eyes away. Exhaling, she turns her back on him.

"Oh well... In any case, everyone already knows full well the apathy of the Chief Justice. My apologies for taking my emotions out on you, Monsieur Chief Justice." She said without even looking back at him. Walking away with the heels of her shoes filling the now completely silent room with it's clacking sounds, she walked pass her two companion. "Let's go, Traveler and Paimon."

Paimon nods her head silently, following after the brown haired girl as she opens the door for them.

Lumine was about to follow them as well, but she look back at the Chief Justice again once, seeing him still in that position, as if frozen in time.

"It must've been really hard to express your emotions to those who are naturally below you, huh?"

Neuvillette's body finally moved after it stays still for a long time. He looks up to see the blonde haired Traveler is still in the room, looking straight at him. He knows that she feels certain emotions right now, but she couldn't express it, not with the blindfold that sealed her eyes. She almost like... him.

"But I understand how you feel. Someday, you might understand it, when fate decided to."

Lumine says before exiting the office as well, leaving Neuvillette there alone with his silence.

~o~0~o~

The trio exited the Palais. With no word said as the atmosphere is a little heavy for them to say anything. With Navia on the front, she has her head looking down, and one hand placed on her face, hiding it, but the two people on her back know full well of what she truly feels.

"Navia... are you okay?" Paimon decided to break the long silence, looking at the brunette in concern.

"I'm fine... Paimon. I'm... Really fine, it's just-"

Navia tries to look back at her two companion to show them how fine she was. But the moment she turned around, something threw itself at her. Pressing against mid section, and wraps a pair of arms behind her back.

"Wha-" Navia stares in shock, as the blonde haired Traveler gives her a hug. It's a weird feeling, to see someone shorter than her wrap themselves around her, but she couldn't deny the comfort it brings. "Traveler... Why are you..."

"You don't need to hide and pretends that you're fine Navia. Not in front of me." Lumine softly whispered at her, Navia could feel her hugh tightens a little. "I'm here for you... and I believe in you, no matter what. Even if the whole world doesn't believe in your father's innocence, then I'll be the only one that will believe him. That is how much I trusted you."

Navia was stunned by her words. What is with this sudden statement from the Traveler? They've just met like yesterday, and suddenly she already trusted her THIS much?! Is it because of the fact that she went her way to protect her while she was unconscious last night? Or maybe because she helps her in proving the Lyney Twins innocence? Or is it because of something else? The Traveler does in fact an interesting person to say the least, the way she acts sometimes baffled Navia, and her relationships with others can sometimes be intriguing as well. She is someone that interest Navia a lot, and the brunette could say that she's definately not making a mistake in choosing her as her partner.

"Thank you... I guess?" Confused of what to say, Navia could only thank the blonde girl instead. Her hands instinctively went to her back and hug her back.

They stayed in the awkward (or at least Navia thought so) position for a few seconds. Before it was interrupted by a feeling of something small landed on their skin, making them wet.

"Ah... rain... It's raining." Navia softly mutters, looking up to the sky as it suddenly grows dark and heavy clouds settles above the Court of Fontaine.

"You're right... Wasn't it sunny when we went into the building? And there shouldn't be any active trials today, how strange..." Paimon added, covering her head with her tiny arms in futile attempt to stay dry.

"Hmm..." Lumine hummed as she release her hug from Navia. Looking up into the sky, that was definately bright and sunny moments ago, she knows that this isn't a natural phenomenon. Not to mention the fact that they've just exited the Chief Justice office. So that could mean...

"It's said that a Dragon of Water once resided in Fontaine. Though we don't know where the dragon went, every time it weeps, the skies will cloud up and pour out rain."

Lumine remembers the words said by Freminet. Although she has some doubts about it before, now she is fully sure of it. Even if one couldn't project their emotions outside, the heart won't ever lie.

"What's wrong Traveler? You look like you have some thoughts." Navia asked, looking at Lumine who stayed still as she gazed into the crying skies.

Lumine looks at her, and smiles a little. "Oh, it's nothing. Just wanna say to you that... even someone couldn't express emotions through natural means, it doesn't mean that they couldn't express it through other ways." The blonde girl said, causing Navia to tilts her head in confusion. "No need to understand it, it's just something I'd ike to say." Lumine shook her head a littlt. "More importantly however, this rain made me thought of something."

"What is it, Lumi?" Paimon asked in curiosity.

"About your father's case... when it happenned was he outside? And was it raining that time?" Lumine asked Navia.

"Huh? How did you..." Navia look shocked, before pausing for a bit and then nods her head. "Yeah, he was outside... It was uncovered and the rain could fall there. Why? Do you think the rain could have affected the crime scene? That thought has occured to us before. We've even expanded the search area to try to account for that, but didn't find anything of value." The brunette explained.

"I was just thinking..." Lumine puts one hand on her chin, while the other circles on her waist as she explained. "Your father investigated the serial dissapearances case right? And that would made him a target of the mastermind, just like we does. And if he was indeed framed and the info we have aren't public knowledge at the time..."

"Oh? Wait, you don't mean..." Navia widens her eyes as realization hits her.

"The fact that people can be turned into water." Lumine answers, snapping her fingger, mimicking a certain detective in Inazuma. "The true murderer could have been turned into water, and then got washed away with the rain. No one would have believed your dad even if he explained what he saw to the authorities."

Paimon beamed in joy from her deductive. Navia still took some moments for her brain to process the information. And after a while, she smiles, replacing the ugly frown on her face from earlier. Lumine is really glad that she is able to make her smile.

"I really think I've found a true genius for a partner... You're completely right, how did I not connect the dots earlier?" The taller girl chuckles a little, a look of determination formed on her face, as she brought her fist into the air. "With this new lead in mind, we'll get to the bottom of my father's case for sure!"

"Yeah! We're gonna make progress for sure this time!" Paimon nods in agreement, while Lumine merely smiles.

~o~0~o~

With a reignited hope, their continued investigation brought to the Spina di Rosula's main base in Poisson. A small underground city located in the Belleau Region.

They went there to talk to Melus to inform him of their newfound information, the connection it has with the case involving Navia's father, and uncovering some new truths in the process as well.

Through talking with Melus, he reveals that many years ago, there was a drug that's been selled in Poisson called Sinthe, which Navia is now certain to be created from water from Primordial Sea, which gained popularity from the side effects it induced to the user.

As the overseer of Poisson, Navia's father called for the ban of the drug's abuse, desiring to put a stop to it once and for all, by uncovering the mastermind behind Sinthe operations. To that end, he formed a relationship with one the dealers, Jacques, a dealer who regret his actions after seeing the many families he destroyed by selling the drugs, and thus agreed to become Callas' informant, becoming his friend.

So, turns out Jacques is the said friend of whom Navia's father is accused for murder. When Callas hosted a banquet to exchange information with Jacques over some food, a series of unknown an unseen events occurred, two gunshots are heard coming from the courtyard, and by the time people had gathered there, they see Callas holding a gun, while the body of lifeless Jacques is lying on the ground. It was a case with a culprit that seem obvious, but with an unclear motive.

At that time, Callas being the culprit might've been the most obvious answer. But by looking back at it, with the information they have now, they determined that it wasn't the case, especially after remembering there is one detail that have been overlooked at the time: a piece of clothing left on the wet ground of that raining day.

Now only a few steps away from the truth, they only left with one more key to finally crack this case now. The third person, the one whom Jacques worked for, the one behind the Sinthe's productions, and the one behind the missing girls. Just one more step, and the truth be revealed!

And speaking of truth... Melus also reveal another thing. The reasons behind Callas' demise all along... Is to protect her own daughter.

The former Spina di Rosula's boss is already knew the connection between the Sinthe's productions and the missing girls cases. And from that, he learnt that Navia is the next target to "disappear," and after being told that he only got five years left to live due to the rare illness he contracted, he decided to sacrifice himself by turning himself into the main target of his enemies and redirecting all the dangers in the present and in the future from Navia to himself.

So dying in silence, being accused of a murder he didn't commit, and being labelled as the unfaithful, is far better than to be dying in front of his daughter... Callas is truly a great man, Lumine respects him for that.

Navia is near to breaking down for the second time that day upon hearing the truth. But this time, she has Lumine there, the blonde girl took the taller girl's hand into hers and held it tightly, just to give her some comfort, and it seems to be working as she calmed down much quicker, giving Lumine a smile of gratitude of doing so, while Lumine returns it with a nod.

And now, with a single goal left for them conclude all of these. The only thing they needed to do left are two things: one, infiltrate the place where Sinthe is produced, which was uncovered by Callas moments prior to his death and have been shared with Melus, his butler. And two, uncover the mastermind behind the Sinthe and the disappearance case using whatever evidence they could find inside the Sinthe headquarters and what they already have.

For the mastermind behind all of this, Melus concluded that it must be someone who is familiar with Spina di Rosula, meaning that they could be a mole within the organisation, or that they have an informant planted inside. The suspects are three people, the senior advisor of Spina di Rosula, the bridge that links the organisation with the gardes, and lastly, the head of a guild in Poisson called Confrerie of Cabriere.

With their targets marked, the three made up their minds and took off to search for this targets, hoping to finally being able to unmask the enemy among them, whoever it is.

After a brief visit to Jacques family, his daughter and wife, reassuring them that they will uncover the truth behind the man's death, they went straight into their first target, Florent, the said senior advisor of Spina di Rosula. After some questioning which reveals more small details surrounding the Jacques death, Lumine mentally concluded that he is unlikely the culprit they're looking for.

Next one on the list is Thierry, a garde that is also a member of Spina di Rosula, and who has been bridging the relationship between the two factions. Every Garde in Fontaine has some authorities of the Guardmeks, so remembering the event that happened last night when they were attacked by horde of those machines, they asked the garde about it, and Thierry reveals that hypothetically, it's impossible for him to be the one behind the attack. As the Mekas who attacked the group that night, as revealed by Clorinde, are all without serial numbers, meaning that they were private units, and each one is very expensive. Meaning that whoever owns them is super rich, with business like selling Sinthe will be profitable enough for it.

Not just Lumine, even Navia as well thinks this one is on the clear of their suspect list. Leaving them with only one left...

For the last one is Marcel, The head of Confrerie of Cabriere. Navia refers to him as "uncle" due to how frequent she talked with him and becoming close in the process. It would be a shame if it turn out that he's the culprit... But oh well, you never knew of how close your worst enemy can be until you see it, Lumine knows.

In the contrary to the other two... Their talk with Marcel didn't reveal anything, other than some mundane things that they didn't really want to know. Suspicions arise inside Lumine's mind, her eyes glares at the old man behind their covers. Is this guy... F

Truly what they've been looking for?

Perhaps they could prove it by finding more needed evidence from the enemy's headquarters that Melus had told them. And if it's not... Lumine still has some other ways.

After talking with Marcel is over, they went to the city square and go over all the clues they've got.

"We've talked to all three suspects, purely based on their conversation with me... And none of them sounded particularly suspicious." Navia muttered as she scratch the base of her forehead with her fingers, looking confused.

"Yeah, none of them really stood out as a suspect." Paimon agrees with a nod.

"I suppose that's to be expected, though. If a single conversation's all that's needed to find them out, then my father wouldn't have needed to investigate the case for so many years." Sighing, Navia shook the thoughts away as she chose to focus at the present situation. "Anyway, even though we didn't make a breakthrough, let's still compile what we were able to find shall we?"

"Hmm... But where should we start?" Paimon asked in confusion.

"Jacques' motive." Lumine answered.

"Ah, you're right! Florent mentioned that Callas probably only ended up with the gun because of circumstance. Meaning that killing Jacques is definitely not his intention." Paimon said, remembering what the senior advisor explained to them.

"According to Jacques' family members, he already told them that he had been discovered and that he had no choice before he left home that day. Hmm, if I had to guess, he probably received an order from the Sinthe boss to kill my father. Had he refused, he and his family's lives would have been forfeit." Navia guessed, putting one hand on her chin, as she thought.

"So, Jacques fired the first shot?" Paimon guessed.

"I don't think so." Lumine shook her head, gaining the intention of the other two. "Personally, if I were to be in Jacques' position... I wouldn't have fired a shot at all."

"Oh? And why is that?" Navia questions curiously.

"Because I wouldn't even trust a cold blooded killer like the Sinthe boss, not even a bit, especially if it involves my family." Lumine explained, her lips turned into a sour scowl.

"Ooh, that's a good point!" Paimon nods in understandment. Getting what Lumine is pointing at. "Jacques already knew that he was just being used as a tool for murder. And once he had completed his mission, he'd be of no use to his boss." She explained.

"So, what would make more sense from his prespective would be to turn his back on the order, and seek protection from my father." Navia finishes the fact.

"Seems the third person was the one who derailed everything."

"Make sense, but without evidence, that's still just a theory..."

Navia sighed once more. Shaking her head slightly, she looks at her two partners and continues.

"Beside Jacques, the attack from the Gardemeks has been bothering me for quite a bit as well. It's obvious that our enemy has become more antsy after the secret if the Primordial Seawater was revealed."

"Do you think he knew, even then, that we'd follow this lead to the end?" Paimon questioned.

"Given everything that's happened since... It's quite possible." Navia nods her head, placing her hand on her chin, the girl wondered. "But who among the three suspects would have the ability to control owned Gardemeks?"

The three went silent for a moment. Navia continues to think, while Paimon is scratching her heads to think of an answer. Eventually, their answer came from Lumine, who clears her throat.

"I think I have the answer for this." Lumine spoke up with a raised hand.

"Oh? Who do you think it is Traveler?" Navia asked, curious and nervous.

"It's Marcel." Lumine answer.

Paimon release a small gasp, while Navia's eyes widened slightly. They were shocked by her answer, but at the same time, they couldn't help but to admit mentally that it does make sense.

"Uncle Marcel?" Navia asked, even if somewhere in the back of her mind the brown haired girl refused to believe that someone who is close to her ever since she was a child is the one behind her beloved father's death, she's still desired to know the truth, even if it's ugly. "What makes you think it's him?"

Lumine huffed a little, crossing her arms across her chest as she began to explain.

"Marcel is someone that is close to you, is he not? Then it must means that he also very close with your father." Lumine began, laying out the clues one by one. "With that closeness, it's possible for Callas to put his trust on himz and through that, he for sure would know a thing or two about the Spina di Rosula's inner workings. However, it was the Gardemeks' attacks that really pins my suspicions on him. Thierry said that converting the Gardemeks for personal use is no easy matter, and even if he found a way to do so, that kind of tampering will not go unnoticed by the authorities, and not to mention that it'll be easier to find out when and how that happened. Buying those mekas are the only rational option for the culprit to pull this off. And who do you think among the three is wealthy enough to afford that?"

Navia is silent after Lumine asked that. She lowers her head, taking a deep breath, before responding.

"Florent... It is true that he was closest to my father, and thus had the best chance of learning about his dealings with Jacques... But as Spina di Rosula's adviser, his work mostly deals with personel and security, so he shouldn't have much means when it comes to finances. And as for Thierry... It's just as impossible like you said." Navia narrow her eyes, a look of doubt and uncertainty filled her eyes. "But as for Uncle Marcel... my father did really trust him, and they worked together on a large number of projects. Maybe that's how he got to know Jacques. And with funds from the Confrerie, he could also afford a large number of Gardemeks... It's still hard for me to imagine, though. After all, Uncle Marcel has been around since I was just a child... "

Navia took a deep breath, releasing it with an exhale. Looking up, she look at Lumine.

"But... You know what? If I think everything through, Uncle Marcel is indeed the most suspicious of them all..." Navia said with a nod of her head, now feeling slightly confident in her belief. "The suspect is knowledgeable about the Spina di Rosula's internal affairs, has the means to dispatch meka to assasinate us, and possesses significant intellect and foresight... Even if I don't want to believe it, I'm starting to see how things could all tie back to Uncle Marcel."

Lumine nods her head at that. "I understand how that feel, he is someone who's very close to you, after all. But sometimes, reality is a bitter pill to swallow."

"Yeah, and besides, we still have another trump card on top of all the theorizing and speculating. The Sinthe production base!" Paimon added, nodding her head.

"Yes... Melus did say that charging straight in there would be extremely risky, but we don't have any other options right now. We'd need far more solid proof before we can hope to go charging in on our enemy." Navia stated, to which her two companions nod their heads in agreement.

"Navia, here you are... I've been looking for you."

A voice came from their side, and the three turned to the side to see Thierry running towards them with a distressed look on his face.

"Huh? Aren't you the guy from the Gardes? Did something happen?" Paimon questioned, confused and curious.

"Yeah, news came from Erinnyes just after you left! We've got another trial on our hands!" The garde revealed.

"Wasn't that place built specifically for holding trials? What's so newsworthy about this one?" Navia curiously asked.

"I know, I know, but they said the person they're putting on trial is a Fatui Harbringer called Tartaglia!"

"Wait, Childe?!" Paimon exclaimed in shock.

"What has gotten him into this mess this time..." Although she doesn't show it, Lumine is inwardly surprised as well.

"What? Is that someone you know?" Navia is curious about her two's reactions, she asked them.

"Yeah, we know him, maybe even a little too well..." Paimon replied nervously, scratching the side of her head.

"He's a friend." Lumine answered.

"Well, he's been acused of being the true culprit behind the serial disappearances case. It's absurd, don't you think?" Thierry added, causing them to get even more surprised.

"Wait, how? None of our investigation have had anything to do with him."

"That's what I thought was strage about it... So I came to tell you the news right away. If the charge against him stands, then it'll be next to impossible to get the Gardes to support any of our planned investigations." Thierry explained.

"Right, because they'll think they've already found the culprit..." Navia mutters softly.

"Yeah, and it'll be a lot harder then to clear Mr. Callas' name." The garde finished her sentence.

"I understand. Well, partner..." Navia turned to look at Lumine. "What do you think we should do? We still haven't found any conclusive evidence..."

"It's obvious isn't it." Lumine crossed her hands across her chest. "We split up."

"Hmm, split up? What do you mean?" Navia tilts her head a little.

"You can go to Erinnyes, try to stall the trial as long as you can, and might as well press charges at Marcel if you think you can. In the meantime, I'll go investigate "that place," and search for the evidence we need to end this once and for all." Lumine explained, straight to the point as always.

Navia is silent for a moment, before her lips turned into a smile, and then, she laughs, certainly impressed and feeling pleasant with the idea.

"Hahaha, just as expected of my partner!" She declared, a confident smile adorn her face as her spirit rises. "Since this is a trial about the serial disappearances case, the culprit's attention will be focused on Erinnyes, leaving his home base wide open." Navia said with a confident nod. "You're right, this is our best opportunity. Alright then, let's do this. I'll stall them at the opera house and charge Marcel as the true culprit. But I won't have any chance of making that charge stick though, unless we find more evidence. It'll be up to you to make it back in time and hand the decisive evidence to me."

"I promise, I'll be there by the time you connected all the dots." Lumine said with a nod, putting one hand on her chest.

"We'll help you just like you helped us in Lyney's trial!" Paimon added.

"Demoiselle, please allow us to accompany you."

"I'm ready."

Two people approached from behind Navia, and she turns around to see her two most trusted servant standing there, looking at her.

"Melus, Silver... when did you two get here?!" The brown haired girl asked in surprise and confusion.

"We heard that you'll be leaving Poisson and figured that you might require our assistance. It's our hope that your confidence will be bolstered with the two of us by your side." Melus answered, while Silver merely nods along.

"Hahaha, thank you so much, you two. But really, you don't have to do this." Navia shook her head, as she glanced back towards Lumine. "My confidence will goes unshaken, even without you two by my side. After all, I already have them."

The boss threw a smile towards Lumine, and the blonde girl returns it with a smile of her own.

"Then, let's make haste for Erinnyes! Paimon, Traveler, I'll see you at the opera house!"

~o~0~o~

Inside the Opera Epiclese, another trial is being held. The Chief of Justice who stood by his usual spot above the audience, but still below the Hydro Archon, sighs heavily as he pinch the bridge of his nose while lightly shaking his head.

"It would appear that I must repeat my question again, Mr, Tartaglia." He opens his eyes to look at the suspect being held in this trial. A certain ginger haired man from Snezhnaya. "Do you accept the charge that you are the true culprit behind the serial disappearances case?"

The man known as Tartaglia on the outside, and Childe on the inside, scoffed as he crossed his arm. He didn't even know how he ended up in this mess. Just when he thought his vacation will goes peacefully, or at least, as peaceful as it can.

"To be perfectly honest, I don't understand your country's complicated court system, or the reason why I'm being charged with something I've never even heard of." Childe shrugged his shoulders without care, not even taking this whole thing seriously. "However, I did hear that people who have been charged can choose to participate in a duel to clear their name. Is that right?"

He sneaks a glance towards the throne above, occupied by the Hydro Archon, though the bratty girl sitting there is not the one he's looking at, rather, it was the woman who stood by her side.

"In which case, as long as I accept the charge, I can have an all-out fight with that Champion Duelist Clorinde, right? I've gotta admit, that's one of the most enticing offers I've ever received." He then scoffed once more, a look of displeasure on his face. "When I privately sparred with her last time, she was obviously holding back... Real dissapointing."

"Hey, don't you understand? You're currently the prime suspect for a major case! This isn't the place for you to be looking for fights." The Hydro Archon's voice rings throughout the opera house, making sure everyone present heard her.

"Oooh? Sounds like the Hydro Archon wants to lecture me on the ways of the opera house..." This time, Childe fully turn his body around to face them. He glares at the white haired girl sitting on the throne with a challenging look. "Then why don't you duel me, too? I'm the kind of student who learns best in the heat of battle."

Immediately after, her confidence immediately fell after that.

"A-ah, no no no, that's not what I meant..." Furina muttered out, waving her hands in front of her.

Neuvillette sighs once more. "Alas, it would appear that communication with the defendant is going poorly, and we have made very little progress." Inwardly, he wonders what he should do in order for this to proceed and they don't just waste time doing all of this. "In that case, let me explain everything from the very beginning again..."

"That case had nothing to do with him! You've got the wrong man!"

Everyone in the audience turn their heads to look back to see three familiar faces walks into the court. The brown haired girl Navia, and her two loyal servants. And the audience began to wonder what she's up to this time.

"Miss Navia, this is the second time you've interrupted the court proceedings." Neuvillette sighs yet again for that day. Annoyed to have this girl interrupting a serious matter such as a trial, again. "I only tolerated your behaviour last time because you were able to provide the court with key eyewitness. But that was an exception rather than standard court protocol. I can very well charge you with contempt of court for your interjections."

"Please, did you think I had any respect for this place's pointless theatrics?" Navia rolled her eyes, hard. "We can put that discussion aside for now, I'm not here to argue with you. I'm here to charge the true culprit behind the serial disappearances case." She stated, before looking to the side towards Childe who looks at her with slight confusion. "And if my charges prove true, then Tartaglia here will be proven innocent by default, correct?"

"Oh? A young lady has charged in and offered to clear my name, how fascinating." Childe lightly smiled at her. Not expecting this kind of unknown support. "Well, I'd gotten half bored to death by all these rules and procedures anyway, so I'll take you up on that offer." He then turned to look at Neuvillette again and asked. "So, Your Honor, is there nothing else for me to do now?"

Neuvillette shook his head. "You may take a seat for now in the audience, but that doesn't mean the suspicions against you have been lifted." Childe sighs a little at this, but he obliged nonetheless and leaves his spot. The Chief Justice then turned his attention back to Navia. "Now then, Miss Navia, who is the person you would like to charge instead?"

"That person is Marcel, the head of Confrerie of Cabriere!" Navia answered, causing the audience to get confused, both from not knowing who he was or why did the president of Spina di Rosula blames one of it's own comrade.

"Please let me remind you, Miss Navia, that charging someone is an incredibly serious matter. Committing to the charge also means taking on the legal responsibilities associated with it." Neuvillette reprimanded, narrowing his eyes slightly towards the brown haired girl. "And if the charge fails, depending on the circumstances, you may also be charged with the crime of making a false accusation. Knowing this, do you still wish to charge this man?" He asked her.

"Yes, I do." Navia answered, full of confidence.

And in return, Neuvillette gives her a nod of acknowledgement.

"In that case, I declare the charge to be valid. Miss Navia and attorneys, please take your places on the court. Members of the Gardes, please contact Mr. Marcel right away so that he may stand trial." He commanded, and all the Gardes who are present in the court immediately spring into action.

Navia looks at her two companions, and nods at them. It's time for them to take the stage.

"Hiya there, miss." As they're on their way to take their place, they walked into Childe. "Thanks for your help. I don't know who you are, but you have my gratitude for taking me out of this boredom of a trial." He said while flashing her a smile.

"No need to thank me Mr. Tartaglia. The Traveler are the one you should be thanking. She asked me to stall this trial in order to expose the true culprit." Navia shakes her head, putting one hand on her chest.

"Ooh, so you're one of Girlie's new friends? I see." Childe's face immediately brightens up at the mentions of the Traveler.

""G-Girlie?"" Navia repeated, sweatdropping a little at the nickname.

"Well, I can't help but admit that she does know how to attract all kinds of people. It's her special nature." Childe says with a small smirk.

"Hmm, yeah, she really is special in my eyes."

"Heh, guess I'll have to thank her for this later. Best of luck for you." He lightly patted Navia's shoulder as he walked past her.

"Yeah, thanks."

Navia and her two accomplice take their place in the court on one side. After waiting for several minutes, Marcel shows up and occupies the other, alone. He looks at Navia, whom he saw like she was his own daughter, confused and a little disappointed.

"Mr. Marcel, you will not require an attorney, is that correct?" Neuvillette asked the old man on his left side, who wore a confused expression on his face.

"Ah... Apologies, it all happened so quickly, I still haven't figured out what's going on." Marcel said while rubbing the back of his head, turning his gaze to look at Navia, who glares at him sharply. "I think an attorney won't be necessary. This is probably just a misunderstanding between me and Navia."

Neuvillette nods his head. "Very well. In that case, since both sides have now arrived, Miss Navia, please present your charges." He turned to look at the brown haired girl on his right side.

Navia nods her head, as she start this trial.

"I would like to take everyone back three years ago, to the case of "Callas the Unfaithful." Only through elucidatinh what really happened in that case can we connect all the dots for the serial disappearances case."

"Navia, do you really think I was the one who killed your father?" Marcel interrupted before Navia could lay out the full explanation in her mind. "Come on, why would I do that? Callas was my benefactor, and remember, both you and I only ran to the scene when we heard the sound of a gun. If that's enough to make me a suspect, wouldn't that make everyone at that banquet a suspect as well?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I, uh... I think there's no point in getting into the specifics right now. The audience doesn't even have the big picture yet. Even I'm... ahem, struggling to remember some details of that case." Furina's voice came from above, and the audience below agreed with their god's words.

"Exactly correct, Your Honor. I must refresh everyone's memory about that case before I can explain my charge and reasoning." Navia said in agreement.

"I see. In which case, I will recount the findings about that case as originally recorded by Maison Gardiennage."

Neuvillette nods his head. Turning to look at the audience before him, he starts to recount the reports about the case, by his memory of it alone.

"On the day of the murder, Spina di Rosula hosted a large banquet in a countryside estate owned by the Confrerie of Cabriere. During the banquet, all attending guests heard two gunshots from the courtyard. When the guests arrived at the scene, they found the primary suspect, Callas, holding a gun, while his acquaintance, Jacques, lay dead from a gunshot wound. The Gardes' investigation did not recover any other firearms from the scene. As a result, they concluded that the suspect's first shot must have missed, while the second must have taken Jacques' life. The suspect did not dispute this conclusion, and also declined to defend himself in court. Instead, he chose to prove his innocence through a duel. Callas was defeated by Champion Duelist Clorinde in the ensuing duel, and soon succumbed to the injuries. These are the known facts about the case."

Everyone took their time to let the information sinks in. Those who were there at the time when that happened merely hummed as they wonder about what kind of truth Navia will bring to this old case that has been closed for three years. Meanwhile, others who haven't heard any of it, curiously wondered how this will connect with the disappearances case.

"Thank you for the summary, Your Honor." Navia spoke up after taking some time rummaging through her thoughts. And after carefully sorting out her mind, she's now ready to reveal the truth. "Of course, the Gardes' conclusion appeared quite sensible to us at the time. However, we should revisit the case now that we've gained new information about the abilities of Water from the Primordial Sea."

Clearing her throat, she began her explanation.

"First thing first, the testimony of the victim's family confirms that Jacques had thoughts of assassinating Callas when he set out for the banquet. However, in the end he reconsidered, and instead shared everything with Callas, hoping to seek the latter's protection. Unfortunately for Jacques, the true culprit had already considered this possibility, and had sent out another assassin. This assassin first shot Jacques, then turned to shoot Callas, only for Callas to wrestle the gun from him and kill him instead. A pile of clothing was found at the scene. The Gardes once believed they were used by Jacques as a costume to disguise himself... But now, it is clear that the clothes were proof that there was a third person at the scene, and that they were turned into water after committing the murder. And since it was raining that day, the culprit was confident that they could use the rain to wash away all traces of their dissolved accomplice. Realizing this, the true culprit caused the hired assassin to dissolve into water, leading everyone to believe Callas was responsible for Jacques' murder. This is the true version of events."

The audience "oohs" and "aahs" filled the court from Navia's explanation. Surprised to learn the truth behind that events that they've once believed to be reality for so long.

"What a great theory. It also explains Callas' and Jacques' respective motives... I guess they didn't shoot each other after all." Marcel spoke up after a while, he doesn't look at all offended.

"Mr. Marcel, you are the one being charged with a crime. You should provide a rebuttal if you wish to prove your innocence." Neuvillette said to the old man, to which the latter shakes his head.

"Ah, but I think I agree with everything Navia just said. In fact, there was nothing in her speech that directly implicated me." Marcel replied.

"Th-Then, may I ask some questions?" Everyone turned to look at Furina who raise one hand. "In my opinion, we primarily need to determine two things. One, do you have the evidence to back up your claims?" The Hydro Archon asked, which caused Navia to fidget in place.

"I... I'm afraid not, at least, not at this very moment." She said with a shake of her head.

The sounds of disappointment came from the audience bellow. Some of them even boos her for coming here not even prepared.

"However..." Navia began, gaining everyone's attention once more. "Even though I don't have the evidence with me, I know where I could go collect it." Everyone looks at her in wonder and curiousity. "If we look up the deserted clothes against a record of people who went missing at around the same time, we should be able to find a match. Considering the serial disappearances case, the Gardes probably kept careful records of all missing persons from around that time, regardless of age or gender."

"That makes sense to me..." Furina muttered with a nod of her head. She looks at Neuvillette below and asked for a request. "Monsieur Neuvillette, I would consider this to be a reasonable investigative direction."

Navia tilts her head slightly in confusion. "Huh? Why do I feel like Furina's acting a little differently today?"

"Maybe she's scared of embarrassing herself again?" Silver beside her guessed.

"Alternatively, she's becoming more diligent after charging an innocent citizen in the last trial." Melus replied in a whisper.

"Alright then, as for my second question, it has to do with the ensuing duel. If the truth is indeed as you described..." Furina paused for a bit, as if considering what she should say. "Then why didn't Mr. Callas explain himself in court? If he had testified that a person had been dissolved, he could have at least mounted a defense."

Navia lets out a sigh at this, a little bit heavily. Inwardly, she gathers her strength to form the words she need to say. And after taking a deep breath, she nods to herself in reassurance, looking forward to the crowds before her and spoke up.

"I've thought about this too, and the answer is actually pretty simple. He felt there were things that were more important to him." She answered, making everyone raise their eyebrows. "The dissolving power of Water from the Primordial Sea is an important secret for the true culprit of the serial disappearances case. My father could have exposed it for all to see, but he chose to take it to the grave. Because at that time, Spina di Rosula was in dire straits, and his reputation had already been shattered. He had no guarantee that going forward with the truth would allow the culprit to be brought to justice." Closing her eyes, Navia put her hand on her chest. "But what was certain to him, however, was that it would paint a gigantic target on my back."

Melus could feel the surge of emotions rising inside Navia, and so, he stepped forward to continue instead.

"Boss once told me that Demoiselle had already been selected as the next target of the serial disappearances case." Melus revealed, and everyone gasped in shock, even Furina the Hydro Archon is equally shocked as well.

The old man is about to continue, but Navia put her hand on his shoulder. He looks at her and she gives him a shook of her head, signaling for him to stop and let her take care of this. He understood, and he goes back to his initial position, as Navia step forward and continue.

"If the secret had gotten out, the culprit would have fought an all-out war with the Spina right there and then. I wouldn't have been the only one in danger, all of us would have stood to lose our lives." Navia explained, shaking her head as she continues. "Of course, the Gardes might eventually figure out the truth of the matter, and determine that we were in the right. But what good would that do? How can a hollow verdict protect anyone?" She asked, and everyone in the audience start to understand what she's saying. "Had this opera house ever given my father any kind of confidence in it's brand of justice, Spina di Rosula would have had no reason to exist! But by staying silent, we retained the ability to deter our opponents, and continue the stalemate. I was also able to become Spina di Rosula's president, which made me harder to target, as well as giving me more time to grow and learn. And once I figured out the truth and stepped up to the challenge, I will do what this opera house cannot, and restore my father's truth and honor back to him!"

The opera house went silent for a while. Everyone in the audience murmurs among themselves regarding what Navia said, meanwhile both the Hydro Archon and the Chief Justice stays silent to think over her words.

"So..." Furina spoke up after several minutes of not saying anything. "You mean to say... Your father intended to die in the Duelist's Ring?" The Hydro Archon asked, to which Navia lowers her head a little.

"That's right." The brown haired girl nodded.

"Do you have any proof?"

"Of course. All you need is to ask his opponent, Clorinde." Navia turned to look at the woman standing beside the throne of the Hydro Archon, who kept a straight face throughout the entire time. "I don't need your apology, your guilt, or your support from the shadows. You don't have to do anything for my sake." The brunette shook her head at the purple haired woman. "But since he entrusted his will to you, Clorinde, you should tell us the truth about his sacrifice."

Furina then looked at the woman beside her, who averted her eyes immediately, clearly hiding something.

"So... During the duel, did you believe that Callas was intending to die?" The white haired girl asked the woman, who sighs heavily, before nodding her head.

"Yes, I did." Clorinde replied. "As a Champion Duelist, I've fought many battles, and taken a countless number of dishonored lives. In my line of work, I've seen all kinds of people give their all for the faintest hope to continue living. Some were determined, others passionate, and some even manic and twisted. Just one look and I can tell if a duelist is hoping to live, or if they're looking to die." The electro user turned to look at the audience, her face shows nothing but seriousness. "I hereby swear on my name and honor as a Champion Duelist that Mr. Callas never intended to leave the Ring alive."

The audience once again becomes silent from her words. Some of them are praising Callas for his actions, while others are still slightly confused.

"Since that's your testimony, I have no more questions. It appears there really are good grounds to reopen this case." The Hydro Archon spoke up.

"I concur. However, Miss Navia, you still have not explained the link between your father's case and the serial disappearances case." Neuvillette, who is completely silent for a long time, finally spoke up, he looked at Navia and continued the trial, despite of some emotions that's starting to surface in his mind.

"Of course, Your Honor. The two cases are connected via a matter of timing." Navia answered, beginning her explanation. "In my father's case, the culprit intended to kill both Jacques and Callas. As a result, they planned to act after hearing two at the end of Lyney's trial, the culprit is also only dissolved the victim in front of everyone because they realized they were at risk of being identified. The culprit could only time their actions so precisely if they were already at the scene."

She then glanced at the person standing on the other side of the court, the man she once called her "Uncle."

"Coincidentally, Marcel attended both the banquet and the trial."

"So that's why you suspected me... Even after hearing your reasoning, I still can't help but find it a little preposterous." Marcel sighs as he waves a single hand at her. "I'm used to it, though. You've always been an impulsive and sentimental child, Navia. It's one of your most endearing traits."

"No need to appeal to pathos." Silver who is beside Navia silently mutters.

"I won't try to refute your points one by one, but even if everything you just said was true, can you prove that I was the only person present at both events?" Marcel continues, starting to pressure her with questions Navia knows she couldn't answer. "On top of that, does a person have to be physically present to control the timing? Can't someone remotely monitor the place?"

"Ah..."

The scale of the Oratrice tilts, raising the one on Marcel's side, while dropping the one in Navia's side. Her testimony is being rebuked.

"I know that even with that, you might still think you can reduce the list of suspects with some further investigations, until I'm the only one left on the list." Marcel sighs, making a hurt expression, as if trying to get everyone's sympathies. "Alas, who won't feel at least a little hurt by an accusation of murder from a girl you see as your own daughter? But if I were to dismiss this completely, you'd think I'm not being considerate of your feelings. Ah well, let Uncle Marcel teach you another lesson." He crosses his arms on his chest as he glares back at Navia. "Do you know what the biggest flaw in your reasoning is?"

"I suppose you're going to tell me anyways..." Navia said, not knowing anything else to say.

"It's "timing," again." Marcel answered, causing Navia to raise an eyebrow slightly. "I'm a businessman by trade. From that standpoint, there's no reason for me to kidnap young women. It's high-risk action with nothing to gain." He began, starting his explanation. "In addition, I left my home in Snezhnaya when I was young to come to Poisson and work in some trade. My business only thrived when I received Callas' patronage. But the disappearance began before I ever stepped foot in Fontaine."

Another shot of rebuttal that Navia couldn't deny. If this continues on, she'll surely lose in this trial!

"I do apologize, Demoiselle. This was my mistake." Melus apologized, seems like he overlooked this detail.

"No, it's not your fault. I'm sure he had come prepared." Navia said with a shook of her head.

"Is there anything else you'd like to say? Would you like to check the date of my first business license against the first known case of the serial disappearances?" Marcel continues, making this harder and harder for pinning the blame on him. "You can also take a look at my border entry records, or ask my friends and family when I left Snezhnaya for the first time. Could those records and testimonies do something to appease the unspeakable anguish in your heart?"

The Oratrice's scale tilts once more. And now, the scale is in an even position, meaning that if Marcel manages to rebute her charges one more time, then Navia will lose the case for sure.

"I think you've done a superb job of dissecting your father's feelings as he neared the end of his life. But aren't you going against all of his wishes and expectations right now?" Marcel questions, so now he decided to attack psychologically, trying to lift down her spirit that has been built up for this. "He wished for you to become more rational, collected, and conscientious, instead of dwelling only on your own feelings. Once you've learned to be more considerate of others' feelings, and to stop rushing headlong into things, you've met most of his expectations."

Navia gripped the hem of her skirt tightly. She can't give up now. Not after all those years she spent weeping for her father and swear to clear his name. The Traveler... Lumine, she is the key for this to be done. The blonde haired girl have put her trust on her fully despite of having been acquainted for a few days. And in return, Navia should feel the same as well. She trusted Lumine fully, trusted her for her kindness of offering help to her and the Lyney twins despite of barely knowing them, trusted her for the hardwork she puts in helping Navia solving this case, trusted her who is there to comfort her during this long journey.

She trusted that Lumine will come back, and with her, the evidence they need to finally solve these cases once and for all.

"This isn't just about me, and it never has been..."

Navia spoke up after a while, putting her hand on her chest and shaking her head.

"The biggest difference between me and the rest of the victims is that I still have the ability to search for the truth, while that same agency has long been taken from them. The people whose family were destroyed by Sinthe abuse, the people who lost their loved ones to the serial disappearances, and the people who suffered tragic ends due to their sense of justice... Many people's images are flashing before my eyes. I'm sure some are coming to those of you in the audience as well..."

She then glares towards Marcel, sharp and piercing.

"And whose image do you see, Marcel?" Navia asked, narrowing her eyes at him. "Is it a man named "Vacher?""

"...?!"

Marcel made a surprised expression. Navia could barely make it out due to the distance between them, as well as just how good the old man is at acting. But she is a hundred percent sure that he was indeed shocked, upon hearing the name.

"Oh? So you do know that name." Navia muttered, her eyes narrowed even more.

"I'm merely surprised you'd suddenly say the name of someone I've never even heard of." Marcel replied, trying to sound confused, but the slight stutter in his words is all it needs for her to be sure.

"I was waiting for you to say that."

Before Marcel could say anything. There was a sudden shift in the air, as if the atmosphere suddenly becomes slightly heavy. Everyone in the court were silently confused by the feeling they thought to be just mere imaginations. But it wasn't until a new voice spoke up.

"Heh, you said that you never heard of it? Even if it's no one but yourself? How laughable."

Everyone in the audience gasped loudly in shock, as they see a figure of a blonde haired girl in a white dress suddenly appears in the midst of them. Sitting with one leg crossed, in an empty seat right beside where the Fatui Harbinger is sitting.

"W-Whoa! Where did you come from Girlie?!"

Childe feels like his heart is about to leap out of his mouth from shock when he finds Lumine sitting beside him where she definitely wasn't there one second ago.

"From outside." The blonde girl simply replied. Now that Childe looks at her carefully, he sees that her whole body is soaked, even the blindfold that seals her eyes. "How the heck did you become the suspect? Don't tell me it's because you're picking fights with girls that look strong on the streets." Lumine asked, giving the Harbingers a pout.

"Ahahaha, it's a little more complicated than that Girlie..." Childe replied, scratching the back of his head.

"Naviaaaa! We're baaaack!" Paimon pops out into existence right after, announcing their return.

"Ah, as expected of my partner! I just knew you'd return in the nick of time." The moment she sees Lumine, Navia's eyes immediately brighten up, the doubts and fears she has just now instantly subsided.

"Just how often do you intend to flout the rules of this court..." Neuvillette muttered hopelessly, face palming himself.

"It's alright, Monsieur Neuvillette. Given their confidence, I expect they've found crucial evidence." Furina reassure him, immediately setting her gaze to the blonde Traveler below.

"My deepest apologies for interrupting while the court is in session, Monsieur Neuvillette." Lumine spoke up, slowly standing up from her seat. "But I came here not without a reason. I came here to give you and everyone else here the evidence we need to solve this case. To prove that Marcel, is in fact, guilty." She said while pointing a finger at the middle aged man.

"Huh?!" Marcel could only stare in confusion at her.

"Well then, without further ado, allow me."

Lumine raise her arm up and snap her fingers. Dozens of objects materialized in the air, and then dropped to the stage right in front of everyone. At first, it looks like the things she just willed to appear looks like a bunch of useless junk. But upon closer inspection, everyone realized that each of them has history on it, as well as some level of sentimental value.

"Hey... That necklace! It's my daughter's! I gave it to her during her birthday! Before she... Before she's..."

"That's the dress Coralie wore before she's gone! It's... I can't believe I would be able to see it, after so many years..."

"So many items... Just how much girls have gone missing under the Gardes' radar?!"

The audience all had a mixed reactions upon seeing the belongings that Lumine brought. Some of them realize that it belongs to the missing girls who were part of their families. While others simply stared in horrors upon realizing just how many victims this case hadevod devour.

"Ladies and gentlemen. As you've already guessed by now, these were the belongings of the missing girls of the serial disappearances case, taken from the lair of the mastermind behind the serial killings, as well as the one behind the Sinthe's productions, and the case that took Mr. Callas' life." Lumine raise her hand, and points her index finger towards Marcel. "And that mastermind, is none other than Marcel AKA, Vacher himself!"

Neuvillette and Furina share a shocked expression, and the audience followed suit.

"We've investigated your lair, and we already know everything!" Paimon added, putting her hands on her sides as she glares at the man. "After your lover, Vigneire, was dissolved, you kept abducting young women to experiment on in hopes of bringing her back to you! You even created "Marcel" as a new identity, and destroyed all records of your past as Vacher!"

"So that's it... Even the villains in opera performances rarely go that far. And with that, Marcel's motive has now been established." Furina mutters out, her heterochromic pair of eyes looks at the blonde haired Traveler below, with admiration and amusement.

Neuvillette silently lets out a huff. He looks at the Traveler, inwardly impressed by her abilities to overcome every obstacles in a trial, both this, and the last one.

Before he knows it, that same girl raised her hand.

"Monsieur Neuvillette, if you allow me, there is one more evidence I would like to show you, the last one that will put and end to this." Lumine requested, without even turning her head to look at the Chief Justice, not that it matters though since she won't be able to see him anyway as long as she has that blindfold on.

"Huh? We have another?" Paimon asked in confusion. Navia is also curious about this.

"If it can provide a testimony for one side. I'll allow it." Neuvillette answer with a nod.

"Thank you. But... I require Mr. Marcel's cooperation first, as he has the evidence in his possession right now."

Marcel hears the voice coming from behind him, and he screams to see Lumine is standing right behind him, where she wasn't just one second ago. The audience share a reaction as well, realizing a second later of how the Traveler just suddenly disappeared from her spot among the audience, and is now above them in an instant. But for a man named Childe however, he merely grimaced as the action of his comrade brings certain memories back to him.

"Wh-What evidence?!" Marcel questioned the blonde haired girl before him. "I don't even have anything on me! I left it all at home because the Gardes dragged me here!"

"I can see that, you really have nothing on you right now." Lumine chuckles a little while shaking her head. Marcel didn't understand it, but that simple motion unnerved him. "But..." She paused, taking a few steps towards him. "You do however... Have something IN you!"

"Blarrgh?!"

Without warning, Lumine lunges an arm at him. Aiming to his neck, she choked him, and brings him down to his knees as he struggles to breathe.

The audience gasped in shock and horror upon seeing what she's doing, Paimon and Navia did the same and looks at her with widened shock eyes. Childe meanwhile, narrowed his eyes and wonders of what Lumine's doing.

"Traveler, violence in court is strongly prohibited. Release him, now!" Neuvillette's voice loudly enters Lumine's ears, but she doesn't pay any attention to it, she ignores it completely.

"Wh... What are you...?"

Lumine ignores Marcel's pained croak. She use her free hand to reach up to her face, and pull down the blindfold over her eyes, allowing her eyelids to snap open, revealing a pair of glowing blood red eyes.

"Scanning." She softly mutters out a word. Her eyes connects with Marcel's, staring deep into them as if entering his very soul.

Neuvillette raised his hand, preparing to do something, the Gardes climb up the stairs leading to her location, prepared to split the two apart from one another.

When she hears the sounds of footsteps of the incoming Gardes. She finally release Marcel from her chokehold, just in time when they arrived.

"I'm done. I got the evidence I need." Lumine declared, fixing up her blindfold as Marcel violently coughs on the ground.

Before Neuvillette could say anything. She disappears from the place she's standing on, again. And reappears back on the stage below, facing the audience who all look at her with a variety of looks.

"Now then. It's time for me to show you all. Show you, of just how much of a despicable of a mad man Vacher really is. Watch carefully."

Everyone is confused as Lumine turned her back on them. She reaches both of her hands up, and fully takes off the blindfold that seals her eyes, dematerializing it out of existence. With her eyes still closed, Lumine took a deep breath...

"Project."

The moment Lumine opens her eyelids, lights shoots out from her eyes. She turns around to face the audience, and looks up to above, where the lights that comes out of her eyes formed to make a projection in the air, one that everyone could see and hear, as if what they're seeing is from their very own eyes.

"So where are we going now? Do you have a place in mind?"

"Ah, I do! I just find this one beautiful place underground, it even has underground lakes and rivers in it, you're gonna love it!"

"Huh?!" Marcel exclaimed in surprise. A voice came out from the projection, and it sounds just like... "Is that me? And... Vigneire...!"

The projection then shifted, forming and image of a girl with long hair and a familiar looking green outfit. The girl is smiling and laughing inside the projection, as if she was smiling towards someone.

"Is this... Some kind of video?"

"Yeah, seems like it. But..."

"Why does it feel a little..."

Lumine nods her head. "What you're currently seeing right now is the memories of Vacher, the man who'd one day become Marcel." She answered the audience questions, while continue to create the projection. "He is an adventurer, who worked with his partner and lover Vigneire."

The projection then shifted again, now showing the image of a scenery of an underground cavern, with stalagmites and stalactites in every corner, and waters dripping from the ceiling to form small flowing rivers and lakes around them. Vigneire is among these scenery, and she is shown to be happy and excited as she walks around it.

"Vigneire and Vacher loved one another. They promised that wherever one of them will go, the other one will also follow. But unfortunately, a tragedy would happened that Separates the two forever."

In the projection, Vacher sees the love of his life screaming, as she just touched something on the ground. Her body starts to drip with water, and eventually, her whole body dissolved, turning into water and leaving only her clothes behind.

"Vigneire! What happened?! Vigneire! Vigneire!"

The audience gasped in shock, even though this is an event that already happened plenty of years ago, seeing someone simply gone just like that is still a very terrifying image. Marcel particularly, look like his soul is almost leaving his body, due to seeing the memory that has been haunting him for decades once more.

"Discovering the existence of Water from the Primordial Sea. Vacher then began to experiment on them in hopes of restoring Vigneire back, given that dissolving along with her is not an option. And to that end, he begins to kidnap young women, as test subjects."

"Gah! Who are you? What are you trying to do to me?!"

"Please, take anything you want, please! Just let me go!"

"H-Help! Help! Someone help me!"

"You're a monster! Release me this instant!"

"N-No, no! I don't... Wanna die..."

"Mama... Papa..."

What the projection shows next is the complications of Vacher, now taking the name of Marcel, kidnapping, locking, and experimenting on a bunch of different girls. He would subdue these girls first using chloroform, and then silently drags them to his base where he locks them up in a cage, or chained them to a pillar, before eventually killing them by turning them into water.

"Another failed subject. What an utter disappointment."

And he would brushes off all the lives he takes like they were nothing. All of the people present could feel their anger and resentment grows, and all of it is directed towards Marcel.

"But for his research to continue, he needs funds, lots of it. And after learning that a diluted concoction of Water from Primordial Sea can cause the drinker to feel a sense of Euphoria, he invented the drug called Sinthe. And began to sell it in Poisson, where he would meet an objection from the Spina di Rosula's Boss, Callas. And after years of exchanging blows with the Spina di Rosula, he decided to assassinate their president. Though it was didn't go as he expected, he is able to turn Callas into the murder suspect, eliminating his biggest obstacle."

The projection shifted, and now it shows Marcel in the middle of dealing with some people. And one of them being Jacques. He ordered him to assassinate Callas, to which Jacques agrees to do so, due to the safety of his family being on the line. But, unsure of Jacques loyalty, he sent an assassin to make sure things went right. And when it didn't goes as planned, he turns the table around, by making Callas a criminal.

Lumine closes her eyes, ending the projection. With everyone's eyes fixated on her, some are still wondering how did she managed to do that.

"And the rest, is history. Callas tried to frame Lyney the magician to be the culprit behind the serial disappearances case, but it backfired on him and cause the existence of Water from the Primordial Sea to be revealed instead. And that is how we conclude this case."

The whole opera house went silent at first. Still processing the information being presented to them.

But before long, one person clapped their hands, followed by another, and another. Until eventually, almost everyone clapped their hands. Some of them even cheers and shouted.

~o~0~o~

"Yippee! We helped Navia bring the bad guy to justice!" Paimon cheers happily, jumping in the air as she does so. "He's hurt so many innocent people, now he's finally getting what he deserves."

With the Oratrice proclaimed Marcel guilty righteously, the Gardes escorted Marcel out of the room. The old man has been throwing tantrums after the revelation, madly blames everyone instead of himself for what he's done. Even drinking a bottle of Primordial Seawater right in front of the audience as if to boast the fact that he cannot be dissolved unlike everyone else, that he has no choice but to bring his lover back due to that.

Meanwhile, on the platform above the audience, Navia could be seen covering her face with her hand, hiding it as if to not show everyone the emotions spilling out from them.

"Demoiselle, you are absolutely brilliant." Silver behind her spoke up to comfort her. Even the usually quiet man knows how to ease someone's pain, or at least tried to.

"The day our late Boss had always hoped for has finally come. You can rest easy now, knowing justice has been served." Melus added, putting one hand on her shoulder and give it a gentle squeeze.

"Yeah... Yeah, it's finally over." Navia nods her head, wiping a tear away from the corner of her eyes with one hand. She then turns around to face her two loyal followers. "It's all thanks to you guys. Thank you, Silver, Melus, for everything." She smiles brightly at them. But not forgetting someone, she glanced to her side, and her blue eyes landed on the form of the Traveler. "And it's all thanks to you too... Lumine."

Meanwhile, on the audience's seats. Lumine slowly walks to the front row seats, where two of her friends waited.

"Well done there Girlie, you cracked that case as easy as cracking an egg. You sure are something, huh?" Childe said to her, giving her a cool smile.

"Not as easy as you may think." Lumine replied, staring at him blankly. "You still owe me an explanation on how you got yourself in this situation."

"Ah, come now. You know who I am, a Fatui Harbinger isn't the kind of person someone, at least the normal ones, think kindly of." He shrugged his shoulders before standing up from his seat. "Oh well, perhaps some other time. I've got some business to attend to, so if you'll excuse me..." And with that, her turns his body and left.

"Ugh, and just like that he left us here again!" Paimon groaned, stomping her foot in the air.

"Please wait just one moment, Mr. Tartaglia." Neuvillette's voice spoke up, stopping Childe from leaving.

"Oh, what now? None of this has anything to do with me." Rolling his eyes, Childe looks back to Neuvillette above.

"According to court protocol, since this trial was initiated due to a charge against you, a verdict must also be made regarding the initial charge before the trial can conclude." Neuvillette explained.

"Ah c'mon, is this really necessary? Haven't you already caught the real criminal? Isn't it time for side characters like me to exit stage left?" Childe complained, clicking his tongue in annoyance.

"Please respect the laws of Fontaine. This has always been the rule." Neuvillette simply replied.

"Just do what he says." Lumine muttered, Childe looks back to see her behind him. "We knew of the true culprit already, so it shouldn't be long."

"Tch, alright, alright, but this sure is a lot of hassle." The ginger haired man scoffed while rolling his eyes again. "All I need to do is to stand over there, right? Let's get this over with."

Neuvillette nodded. Childe climbed up the stairs and take his place in the court. Waiting a little impatiently as the Oratrice glows a blue color.

"... Through evidence presented in the public trial that was just held, it has been established that Mr. Tartaglia has no direct connection to the serial disappearances case. The guilty party has been identified, and thus, it is logical to suppose Mr. Tartaglia is innocent of the charges. We now turn the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale to render the final verdict on the charges."

After a while, the Oratrice finally prints out the result of the final verdict. Neuvillette takes it and read it. And after a while, something changed. Although his expression remains unchanged, the small glints in his eyes indicates confusion and uneasiness. Making Lumine wonders what is happening.

"According to the judgement of the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale, Mr. Tartaglia is... Guilty."

Everyone lets out a shocked gasps. Both Lumine and Childe shared a wide eyed expression of shock.

"What?!" Paimon exclaimed loudly.

"Hey, hey! That's not funny... Didn't you say I'm supposed to be innocent?" Childe yelled in anger, glaring sharply at the Oratrice. "What's with this verdict? Is your justice machine malfunctioning?"

Neuvillette above looks totally confused. He sighs to voice this confusion, however, he is a man lived by law. So even with this confusion he...

"The judgement of the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale is, by law, the final verdict of the court. We must accept the guilty verdict." Neuvillette announced, putting away the paper in his hands as he gestured towards the Gardes below. "Gardes, please take the suspect into custody per court protocol."

Childe stays silent, his eyes narrowed, and his blue eyes starts to emit some emotions.

"Childe, wait. Calm yourself." Lumine who noticed this, and immediately steps in. Holding Childe's hand to prevent him, he looks back to see her suddenly appears behind him. "Just come quietly with them for now, I'm sure we'll figured out what is going on here."

Childe looks at her, and then flashes her a smile, one that definitely not a good one to look one.

"Sorry Girlie, but I think you forgot..." Purple electricity crackles around him, and Lumine widen her eyes. "I don't always play by the rules!"

He yanked her hold on him with sparks of electricity. Lumine gasped lightly as she looks down to see the man jumped down to the stage. His appearance changed as he dons the Fatui mask, electricity course throught his body, filled with Negative Energy. Gardemeks began to surround him.

Badum

Lumine clutches her chest, feeling the darkness that starts filling the air. Damn it, she can't let this continue!

"So this is how justice is done in Fontaine. What a joke." Childe says with a wry laugh. As the Mekas closing in on him, he materializes his twin blades created from Electro Energy and began to slashing his enemies into pieces. "You've got your rules... Well, I've got mine too!"

Furina and the other audience in the opera house gasped as they have a full on battle happening before them. Sparks of electricity filled the surrounding, and bits and pieces of the Mekas fly everywhere as Childe utterly destroys them all with ease.

Even more Mekas came in, dozens of them now, all surrounding Childe who stood alone in there. The man scoffed, he raised both hands as dark purple energy began to pour out of his body, lightning struck the ground around where he stood, the atmosphere inside the opera house becomes heavy, almost suffocating, the audience were ready to leave, Furina stood against the railings and look down in worry and fear, and up above, the Chief Justice Neuvillette is inches away from standing up from his seat. When suddenly...

Splash

"Huh?!"

Childe feels a wetness on his cheek, and a little stinging pain afterwards. It was like something just threw a water ball towards him. Which might be the case as he looks to the side to see Lumine standing there, eyes closed, and a finger pointing towards him, the gem in her clothes glows blue, emanating Hydro Energy.

"Heheh, of all times..." Childe lightly rubs the spot where Lumine shoots a water ball at him. Turning his body to face her. "You choose to pick a fight now Girlie?!"

Childe's body creates even more intense aura. Dark purple smokes reeks out of him and filled the room. Paimon nervously considers if she should stay and watch or go back to her pocket dimension. Navia and Furina both watched cautiously at what is happening, meanwhile, Neuvillette is tempted to step down and resolve the matter himself, but something tells him that he should leave it to the blonde girl below.

Childe groaned as his body is encapsuled with Abyssal Energy, armor starts to form around his arms and legs, starting his Foul Legacy transformation and-

"Stop."

"Ghnh?!"

Lumine, whose eyes were closed just now, open her eyes. Her eyes glows a crimson blood red color. She opens her palm and spreads his fingers towards him. And then strangely... Childe's body complies with her words.

Childe loudly groaned whe he somehow no longer able to control his own body. It moves on it's own, or rather, it moves according to her.

"Kneel."

By Lumine's words, Childe's body forcefully made to fall to his knees while keeping his upper body straight. The Foul Legacy transformation subsided before it was even finished, the Abyssal Energy dispersed, returning the air back to normal.

Childe looks up to his front. Seeing Lumine slowly approaches him with silent steps, her blood red eyes stares at him blankly. This isn't the same Lumine whom he frequently spars and talked with. This side of Lumine... Is what happened when he pisses her off.

"G-Girlie... Y-You..."

She came to stood before Childe, staring at him emotionlessly, while he stares at her with the kind of expression you make when you see someone who's definitely going to be the end of you.

"I'm sorry for this..."

Childe hears her muttered softly. Without another word, Lumine turn her back on him.

"Knock yourself out."

With the command and a simple hand gestures. Childe's body moved by itself, arching his back slightly before smashing his head against the ground, so hard that it leaves a crater there, and he instantly passed out.

Everyone who watches it is stunned in silence. Even the Hydro Archon and the Chief Justice is unable to say anything as well.

Members of the Gardes looked at one another, before nodding their heads. Immediately went into the stage and take the unconscious Childe into custody, taking him out of the opera house.

~o~0~o~

"Hey, Lumi, are you alright?"

Paimon finds her at the back of the stage, leaning against the wall while clutching her head with one hand. A pained look appear on her face, making the little pixie worried.

"I'm... I'm fine Paimon." Lumine replied after a while, sighing a little as she took her hands off her face. Blinking her golden eyes to clear her vision. "Just a little headache."

"Ah, okay. Paimon was worried when you suddenly disappeared again." The floating fairy nodded, but then, she remembers something important that she should've asked. "But wait, that's not what Paimon wanted to ask. More importantly, what the heck did you do just now?"

Lumine stares at Paimon, who look at her with furrowed eyebrows and a pout on her lips.

"The way his body moved, and his expression that betrays his movements. It almost like he's... Like he's being controlled." She then looks at Lumine, somewhat warily. "Is that you... Lumi?"

Lumine was silent for a while, before nodding her head with a hum of confirmation.

"Wha- How did you do that? You're not secretly able to control people's mind, are you?" Paimon knows she made a joke about the Traveler having telepathic powers, but she doesn't know it was real!

"No. That won't work on him." Lumine shook her head. The words she chose for that sentence actually made Paimon's belief even stronger. "All I did was simply controlling the "water" in his body that's all." She said, quite simply.

"The water in his body?" Paimon asked in confusion, tilting her head to the side. "But didn't he give you the Hydro Vision a few days ago?"

Lumine shakes her head again. "No Paimon, I wasn't referring to his Hydro power." Lumine averted her gaze a little, looking down at her hands "I was referring to the liquid that flows inside his body. Namely, his blood."

"His blood?" Paimon repeated, and Lumine nodded her head.

"Ideally, every living organisms has water inside their bodies. Even the small bacteria possess water in their cells. Humans were no exceptions, their bodies are composed of sixty percent water, after all, especially in their blood." Lumine opens her hand, Hydro Energy gathers on her palm, swirling around like a river's flow. "And the power of the Hydro Elements in this world, is the power to control water. So if one can control water on the outside..." She closes her palm, dispersing the water into nothingness. "Then they also be able to control it on the inside."

Paimon still can't understand the full concept of it, but she could make out what Lumine is trying to say: controlling the fluids inside someone's body, like controlling the water in the outside world.

"So you're meaning to say that all this time, you can just freely controls people's blood, to make them submit yet you just simply choose not to?"

Paimon questioned, this kind of power sounds pretty dangerous, and although Paimon knows what kind of person Lumine is: being the kindest person on earth in one day, and the person who'd shove her stockings down your throat in the other. She's still worried nonetheless.

"Not exactly." Lumine said with another shake of her head. "It's my blood that I can control, not other people. Remember that Dewdrop that I shot at Childe prior to his attempt at transforming?"

"Oh, you mean that water ball you threw at his face?" Paimon saw that, and she was initially confused on why would the blonde girl would throw such a seemingly puny attack like that to someone who is a one man army in the Fatui.

"That Dewdrop actually contains my blood. When it hits Childe on the face, the dewdrop create a small cut on his cheek, and through it, my blood entered his systems."

Lumine raised her hand, and Paimon looks at it to confirm that there was indeed a small cut on Lumine's fingers, deep enough for blood to drip down.

"The blood that I injected made contact with his own blood, and a connection was formed between us that enables me to manipulate the flows of blood in his body, and with it, his muscles and bones." Lumine looks up to the ceiling, as if thinking over her decision. ""Bloodbending" that's what this technique called."

Paimon's... Not sure if she should be impressed or not. But then again, this is Lumine they're talking about, always full of surprises.

"Wow, you sure have a lot of tricks in your... Arsenal, huh?" Paimon muttered, sounding unsure of herself.

"Hmph, I'd much prefer to never use this, honestly." Lumine said with a small sigh. "But that guy gets into my nerves, for acting recklessly even after I warned him. Not to mention my mood that are already down from this whole case. Adding him to it just pisses me off!" She said with huff.

"R-Right... But well, at least it's all over now, right?" Paimon asked, putting her tiny hands on her sides. "After all, Vacher has finally been caught after avoiding authorities for so many years. We finally brought him to justice!"

Lumine thought about what Paimon just said. Bringing that man to justice? Hmph, no, not yet. In order for justice to be truly served, there's still one more thing she needed to do.

"No. No it's not over yet." Lumine replied, pushing herself from the wall, and took a deep breath.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Paimon asked in confusion.

"There is still one last thing that needs to be taken care of." Lumine stated. And without answering any further questions from Paimon, she headed towards the entrance of the opera house.

~o~0~o~

Near the entrance of the opera house, a Garde is seen escorting Vacher away. They're just about to exit the building, when a voice spoke up behind them.

"Excuse me, mister Garde. May I have a word with Vacher please?"

The two men heard the voice, and they turned around, only to see the blonde haired Traveler and her companion standing there, with the Traveler is smiling.

"Ah! Traveler! Perfect timing! There's something I want to ask you as well!"

"H-Hey!"

Vacher yanked the hold that the garde has on him, and quickly approaches the Traveler.

"Gah! Marcel! What are we doing meeting him here?" Paimon asked Lumine beside her. Is meeting him the last thing that needs to be done?

"Stop resisting arrest! Cease, or we'll add another charge to the list!" The garde quickly gets behind the criminal, and restrains him once more.

"No, no, wait! I just wanted to ask the Traveler something... I'm not looking to run away, please, please, just let me ask this one small thing." Marcel begs desperately. In the corner of her eyes, Lumine saw a figure approaches.

"Let go of him." Neuvillette ordered, the garde looks at him in slight confusion. "Let him say what he wanted to say."

The garde nods in understandment, and release Marcel.

"Ah, thank you... Thank you." Marcel thanked the man, before turning his attention back to Lumine. "I was being led away when I finally realized something... Where did you first hear the name "Vacher?"" Marcel asked, confused and curious. "I erased all records of that name, so how did you..."

"What do you think?" Lumine raised a single eyebrow at him. "I heard it from "her," from Vigneire herself."

Marcel's eyes widened in shock, full of disbelief and surprise, yet there's no denying the euphoria he feels upon hearing her name.

"A-Ah... Really? You, you did? You're sure? You met her... But how could that be, how did you manage to do it?!" He immediately asked her, still in disbelief yet full of hope.

"I am." Lumine nodded, pointing her finger towards the exit. "I met her there, by the Fountain of Lucine"

"The Fountain of Lucine?! Then... Then she's been so close to me all along?! And I just never..." Marcel trails off, as he realizes.

"That's right. She's been calling out to you, every single day, but unfortunately, you just simply can't hear her." Lumine nods her head, making a saddened expression.

Marcel's face becomes pained. His lover has been here the entire time, longing for him as she repeatedly calls out his name. Yet... No matter how much, how long, and how hard, he just can't hear it.

Marcel turns to face Neuvillette, and claps his hands together as he begs the Chief Justice.

"Please, please give me a chance to talk to her again, just let the Traveler take me to the Fountain to see her one last time... This is the last request I'll ever make in my life, you can do whatever you want to me afterwards, I don't care..."

"What, give you an inch, and you wanna take a mile? Do you think serial killers get to make requests like that?" The garde scoffs at him.

"Hmph, Paimon agrees! Why should we give him what he wants when he's only done a ton of super terrible things?" Paimon added.

"Because... Even the most evil person could still have family that they care about, Paimon." Lumine answered, looking at Marcel. "He's been dedicated his whole life looking for a way to see his beloved again. It wouldn't hurt to reunite them together at least for a while, after all, we already got him, he wouldn't go anywhere."

"Uh, that's true, but..."

"But you know, Vigneire also missed Vacher as much, hoping to see him again one more time. Just imagine being all alone stuck in an unknown place with an unknown form, terrible isn't it?" Lumine added, looking to the side, she sees Marcel's face becomes even more sad.

"This request, is it worth as much as your life?" Neuvillette asked the criminal, approaching the group.

"Of course! Wait, no, it's worth even more than my life!" Marcel answered, and his words made Neuvillette inwardly surprised.

Humans... Will they betray the instincts to live just to satisfy spiritual needs...?

"Very well, I will grant your request." The Chief Justice nods his head.

"Your Honor, I fear that..."

"I will go with him. You do not need to worry about any escape." The white haired man reassured the garde.

"Ah... In that case, I shall leave him in your most capable hands, Chief Justice."

"Thank you, thank you, Your Honor..." Marcel thanked the Chief Justice, clapping his hands together.

With Lumine's lead, she brought them outside to the Fountain of Lucine. The waters sprouted out from the fountain calmly, making a gentle relaxing noise that one couldn't help but stop and listen to.

"Is this the place? You said she's here, but what do I need to do to see her?" Marcel questioned, they stood before the fountain now, but there are no sign of a woman with Vigneire's image around.

"It's simple really. All you need to do is to increase your sensitivity to the Hydro Elements." Lumine answered, gaining a look from Marcel.

"Hydro sensitivity? But how could I accomplish that?"

"Back when I met her. I drank the Primordial Seawater that you spiked into our Fonta." Lumine answered, glancing at the fountain where she could already feel the whispers of the entity calling out for Vacher. "It what enables me to see her. Since you've drank a lot of it back in the court. You should be able to start hearing her voices now."

"Vacher..."

Right on cue, Vigneire's voice came out of the fountain. Louder this time, and Marcel seems to heard her voice as well.

"Ah, there she is. Looks like you're able to hear her too."

"Vigneire, it's me! It's me, Vacher!" Immediately, Marcel called back to her.

"Vacher... Vacher..."

"I'm here, I'm here... Where are you, Vigneire? I'm coming for you, I'm finally here for you..."

Marcel's legs moved to take him closer to the fountain, step by step, he walked...

"Hey, wait, be careful, hey, waaaaaait!"

Not heeding the voice behind him. Marcel keep walking and walking and walking, until he walks out of reality and into another space. Unaware that as he disappears, a pair of lips turned into a grin behind him.

~o~0~o~

"Vigneire... Is that you? It's me, Vacher... Vigneire...!"

Marcel keep walking and walking, the world around him has changed. He's no longer in Fontaine, nor in the real world. He has entered into a void of blue, like being submerged underwater, but he wasn't drowning nor dying.

"Vacher... Why did you come... Didn't I say... You don't need to look for me..."

A voice spoke up, and Marcel look forward to see a mysterious entity floating before him. It has the shape akin to an Oceanid, with it's big bright one eye.

"You... You look a lot older than I remember... How long has it been?" The creature questioned as it look at him curiously.

"It's been... More than twenty years. I've suffered for over twenty years since the day you left..." Marcel answered, a look of sadness mixed in with happiness upon seeing his lover again. "All this time, only the thought of bringing you back has kept me alive... Nothing else mattered to me..." Marcel confessed, he could already feel the tears slowly forming on the corner of his eyes. "Ah, I must be dreaming... Who would have thought I'd get the chance to tell you all of my feelings like this... Vigneire... You are my everything... I really don't know... How I could live without you..."

The entity went silent for a moment, before it spoke up again. The tone of it's voice changed somewhat from before.

"But Vacher... If you ask me, this world would be better off without you." The thing said, causing Marcel to pause.

"Wh-What are you saying?" He asked in utter confusion.

"If not for you, I would have finished my law degree, and probably become a top-tier attorney one day..." The entity said, it's voice has changed again. "If not for you, I would have continued to pursue my love of the arts, and my works would have been displayed in the Palais Mermonia itself..." Another voice that's different from before also spoke up. "If not for you... I would at least have been able to take care of my mother, and she would not have grown old and died alone, with nothing but the tears on her cheeks..." And then, all the three voices spoke up in unison. "It's all because of your selfishness, Vacher, it's all because of you!"

Vacher was completely stunned by their words. How could Vigneire say something like this? On top of that... These stories are all wrong. Unless...

"You... Wait, you are not Vigneire... Who are you?!" Marcel questioned, pointing a finger at the creature.

"You're right, I'm not Vigneire... I am... The "sacrifices."" The creature revealed, causing Marcel to widen his eyes in shock. "Every woman who died by your hands... As our bodies dissolved, our consciousness flowed back to the Primordial Sea. Our thoughts circulated endlessly within the Primordial Sea, and we were no longer individuals, but we became one, just as streams of water come together in the sea."

"I'm Crecy."

"I'm Lemonie."

"I'm Aisine..."

"The only one I am not... Is Vigneire."

Vigneire... So she's not even here?! But then... Where is she? If these were all the victims dissolved by the Primordial Seawater, then she should be...

"Why... But then, where is Vigneire?!" Marcel asked desperately.

"She doesn't want to see you anymore... Every tendril of her consciousness is avoiding you." The creature answered, shaking it's head as if berating him for what he's done. "This is what you hey for your selfishness! Your selfishness robbed us of our lives and our futures. You said time and time again that you'd do any and everything for her. But did you ever consider whether she'd want to see you do the things that you did?! If she would despise you for what you became?"

"I... I..." Marcel find no words to say anymore.

"You are a liar, a heartless murderer, and a cowardly narcissist. The only thing you're not... Is Vigneire's beloved." The entity stated. "From the moment your first victim died, and her consciousness merged with Vigneire's, she has had nothing but pure hatred for you."

"No... Vigneire, she can't hate me... Let me see her, please, have mercy..." Marcel begged.

"You still don't understand? When I said, don't look for me... That came from the real Vigneire, she really doesn't want to see you anymore." The creature then let's out a sigh, as the voices starts to speaks in unison again. "But on top of that, she also said that because... It's her final drop of pity for you. She said that because she knew... That is you did come here, "we"... Will show no mercy to you."

"Vacher..."

"Vacher..."

"Vacher..."

"Vacher..."

"Vacher..."

"Vacher..."

"Vacher..."

Ghostly apparitions began appearing all around him. All of them were the girls he kidnaped, he experimented on, the ones he killed for his selfishness. They all surrounded him, all eyes glares at him as sharp as daggers, piercing through his being and slicing it apart until there's nothing left.

"Drown." The voices of the spirits all said in unison.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"

In one second, all that Marcel could see is the apparitions of the girls closing in on him, filling his vision with nothing but blue. And in the next second...

...He sees nothing at all.

~o~0~o~

"H-Hey! What happened?! He just stopped breathing!"

Back in the outside world, by the Fountain of Lucine. Marcel's body had fallen unconscious when he enters the unknown space, just like how Lumine was when she first entered it. However, unlike Lumine...

He doesn't come back at all. In fact, he stopped breathing entirely.

Paimon floats over his now dead body, in a state of fright and panic. Neuvillette was beside him, grabbing Marcel by the wrist in order to check for a pulse, but there was nothing...

"He doesn't have a pulse." Neuvillette stated, causing Paimon to look at him in horror.

He truly is dead, but how could that be? What did he saw in the other side? What did he encounter? If the Traveler could come back safely just as she said, then why did he...?

Neuvillette heard a voice coming from behind him. He look back to see who it is, only to see the Traveler standing there. The shades of her hair cover her eyes, but there's no denying the huge grin she wore on her face, a grin that speaks of malice, of satisfaction.

"Heheheh, so... They've finally done it huh?" Lumine asked to no one in particular, a dark chuckle escaped from her lips.

Neuvillette narrows his eyes at her. She's the one who said that Vigneire is here, she's the one who urges Marcel to enter the fountain. Is she... the one who did this?

"Traveler, what have you done?" Neuvillette questioned, if she's purposely killed Marcel, she might as well be charged with murder.

"Ah, me? I didn't do anything." Lumine said with a shook of her head, before pointing a finger towards the fountain. "But, they did."

Neuvillette narrows his eyes in confusion. "Who are you referring to?"

"The missing girls, the ones that he shouldn't have killed." Lumine answered, her voice becomes serious. "Those girls... Or rather, what is left of them, are what killed him. Their vengeful spirits have destroyed his soul."

"Vengeful spirits?" Paimon asked in curiosity and confusion.

Lumine approaches the fountain. "When I saw how a person can be dissolved into water by the effects of Water from the Primordial Sea, there is one detail that no one is aware of." She stood by the fountain, her eyes unmoved as they stare into the water flowing out from the monument. "The fact that it's not just the bodies that dissolved, but the very soul of a person gets dissolved by the water as well."

"What? For real?!" Paimon exclaimed in shock, while Neuvillette just widen his eyes very slightly.

"That's right. It is such a horrifying sight, to see the very thing that made up a person's life to just disappear like that without a trace, it's so terrifying that it gave me nightmares."

Lumine muttered, sighing heavily as she puts her palm on her face and her face grimaced.

"However..." He uncover her face, her eyes narrowed and sharp. "That time when I fell unconscious here, I finally learnt of what happened to those souls that got dissolved. It turns out, once a Fotainian is dissolved, their souls are brought into the Primordial Sea, where they would born into a new form." She explained, causing Paimon to let out a gasp.

"B-But... Didn't you say that you met Vigneire here? How did Marcel end up getting killed by the victims instead?" Paimon asked, a look of fright and confusion on her face.

"That's what I thought initially as well." Lumine nods her head, crossing her arms across her chest. "However, I realized later that what I met that day is not "her," but "them."" She reveals as she close her eyes. "Vigneire was only one amongst the many souls trapped within the Primordial Sea. When Vacher murdered those girls by dissolving them, their souls entered the Primordial Sea as well, it merges with Vigneire's to create a singular being with multiple consciousness. I doubt that the one I talked to that day wasn't even Vigneire at all. I was obviously talking to the victims, and they tried to trick me into thinking that I was talking to Vigneire so that I would bring Vacher to them."

Lumine's lips turned into a smirk, and she lets out a scoff of amusement to the two's watchful eyes.

"Heh, but those kinds of tricks won't fool my eyes. And besides, even without tricking me, I would've brought Vacher to them anyway." Lumine said, causing Paimon to jerk.

"W-Why? Why would you want to do that? We already caught him, so why did you do this, Lumi?" The fairy asked, concerned and scared.

"Because Vacher is a terrible person, Paimon."

Lumine answered, opening her eyes again to look at fountain somewhat somberly.

"He deserves death for what he's done. He thinks that his love for Vigneire is what drives him to do what his done, a justification for the crimes he committed. Thinking that his lover would still love him as long as they could be reunited. Ignoring the cries, the pain, and the suffering for others. He wholeheartedly thinks he did is out of his true love... But what he fails to realize is that... A part loving someone, is learning how to let them go. By clinging to that love and not willing to let go, he let his love turns into lust, he lusted for that reunion with Vigneire, and that lust is what drove him to kill those girls. For such great sin... He deserves nothing bit death, I would've killed him myself if I wanted to. But I figured, that that kind of privilege should be placed in the hands of his victims who were robbed of their lives and future instead of someone like me. And besides it's better this way, thinking that he finally find his true happiness once more, only to realize it was the very thing that'll robbed him of his life. Such a satisfying ending."

Lumine chuckles darkly at her own words. Grinning widely as she does so. Paimon and Neuvillette looked at one another not knowing what to say.

When Paimon tries to say something, Neuvillette beats her first.

"So this is a planned murder then?" Neuvillette spoke up. Lumine side glanced him, before turning her body to face her.

"Why, would you like to charge me for his death, Neuvillette?" Lumine asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

The way she acts right now is severely different than he ever seen. She's so haughty, so challenging.

"I am but a Traveler visiting Fontaine. I don't always go by the rules. All I did was for the sake of the missing girls, what Vacher did to them have turned them into vengeful spirits seeking revenge. But now that I've delivered them to the one person they wanted, I could feel them finally at ease. In fact, I don't hear their callings anymore."

It's true. Lumine couldn't hear the voices calling out Vacher's name again. As if their world has been muted

"Their desires for revenge is what keeping them ties into the mortal world. I can neither hear their voices nor feeling their negative energy no longer. I've put them to rest for good." Lumine muttered with a sigh. Turning her body to face Neuvillette again, she looks at him in the eyes. "But... If you think what I did was wrong, then arrest me if you want. I don't mind it now that I've finally set those souls free."

Her eyes, Neuvillette noted, they've changed colour from red to gold to match her hair's color. She is a person who fascinates him. Not just her personalities as a person, but also how she generally acts. She may have a side that is both dangerous and terrifying to others. But there's no denying it that behind every actions she's done, lies a kindness that she gives away freely without expecting anything back.

For a person like that, even the apathetic Chief Justice couldn't bring himself to do any harm to her.

"I won't." Neuvillette said with a shake of his head.

"Huh?" Paimon exclaimed, eyes widened by his decision. "Wait, you won't arrest Lumi?" Paimon asked, to which Neuvillette nodded his head.

"Professionally, what you've done now is definitely against the law. You've played a part in Marcel's death, when he should've been alive to be transferred to Fortress of Meropide. However, there is no indecisive evidence for this case to be put into trial." He explained, but he wasn't done yet. "And as for personally, I feel like there is no need to do that. What you've said about Marcel is true, he deserves more punishment for the crimes he committed. And since you're not directly responsible for his death, then it's only natural that you're innocent in theory." The chief justice finished.

Lumine went silent for a while, looking down slightly, her eyes shows conflicting emotions. Between guilt and ease. But after a while, her lips turned into a smile, a small one. She nods her head and looks at him again.

"I see. I thank you for your understanding, Monsieur Neuvillette." She muttered, still smiling.

"You're welcome." He replied back.

After that, Neuvillette called over the Gardes to take Vacher's body away to be buried somewhere. The Chief Justice bid them farewell, since it's already late at night. Leaving the two alone still by the fountain of Lucine. And shortly after Neuvillette and the Gardes left, another person came to them.

"Ah, Lumine, Paimon, there you are!"

Lumine and Paimon turned to see Navia come out of the opera house and approach them, a happy smile adorned her face.

"Look, it's Navia! What are you doing here?" Paimon asked the brown haired girl as she came to stand before them.

"I've been looking for you since the trial is over. What were you doing outside? You're not thinking of disappearing on me again without at least saying goodbye, are you?" Navia asked, eyeing them suspiciously, putting both of her hands on her sides.

"Oh, um... Well..."

"You look like you need some time alone after the trial is over." Lumine answered in Paimon's stead who is confused on how to answer. "Solving the case that took the life of your beloved father after years would surely make you emotional. I understand that, so that's why I think we shouldn't intrude." Lumine explained.

"Well, you're not wrong about that one." Navia scratches the side of her head. "But still, who do you think you are? Without the two of you, this case will never be solved, and my father's name would never get cleared!" Navia asked, looking at them with a serious look, causing Paimon jerk at the voice. "I owe the two of you so much... I wanted to thank you, for everything."

"Aww, don't say that Navia." Paimon replied after a moment. "We were always happy to help anyone in need. No need to feel like you owe us anything. We're always happy to help a friend!"

"Paimon's right." Lumine agree with a nod. "You are my friend Navia, I will do everything to help you. Just call us and I come in immediately."

"You two..." Navia looked at her two friends, both of them smiles at her kindly. "Thank you. Seriously..."

"You're very welcome."

They stay like that for several moments. With only the sounds of water from the nearby fountain and the breeze of the night wind that filled their ears. And after several seconds passed, Navia clears her throat.

"Ahem, say... Lumine. Would you... Like to go for lunch with me? Tomorrow?" Navia invited out of the blue.

"A lunch?" Paimon asked, her eyes immediately lights up at the mentions of it.

"Y-Yeah! You know, it's another victory feast! To celebrate our victory for this case as well as a thank you from me to you." Navia explained, a faint shade of red appears on her cheeks for some reason. "So... Are you available?"

Lumine considers it for a moment. Unlike before, she doesn't have any particular plans for tomorrow. Meaning that she'll be free to do anything she wants starting from the next day, and Paimon would've urged her to go anyway, so she'll accept.

"Sure." Lumine said with a nod, causing both Navia and Paimon's face to brighten up. "All of these running around solving this case makes me hungry anyway, I don't think my hunger will be dated until tomorrow."

"Great!" Navia clapped her hands in joy. "In that case, I'll see you again tomorrow, partner."

After that, Navia bids them farewell as well. She waved her hands at them cheerfully, and Lumine could only watch with a smile on her face as the brown haired girl walks away and disappears in the distance. Leaving the two alone once again.

"Welp, now that it's all over. Whaddya say if we crash the bed for the night, Lumi?" Paimon turned to look at her, it's been a long day, so the pixie would be very tired.

Hmm... She would like to get some sleep as well. But...

"You go on ahead Paimon." Lumine said, waving a hand at her as she turn her back on her. "I... I would like to stay here a bit longer."

"Huh? But what do you want to do here?" Paimon questioned.

"Nothing, just... Staring into the fountain. I need to calm down a little." Lumine answered, without even looking at her companion.

Paimon looks at Lumine in silence for a while, contemplating what she should do. Before eventually nodding her head.

"Alright then... Paimon will wait for you, okay?" She gets a nod from Lumine, and after that, the fairy returns to her pocket dimension.

~o~0~o~

The courtyard of the Opera Epiclese is a lonely place at night. Nobody is left there as they've all returned back to their respective home to rest their tired bodies after watching the latest trial being held inside.

But if one were to go there and take a look at the lonely scenery, they would see a young girl with short blonde hair and a pristine white dress standing before the big fountain at the center of the place.

Her body is unmoved, as well as her eyes. Staring blankly into the waters flowing out of the fountain, as if in a daze and beung captivated by the waters...

The sounds of waters flowing, and the gust of wind of the night enters her ears... But there is another...

The truth is, the sounds of the vengeful spirits of the dissolved girls aren't the only voices she hears from this fountain. There is another... One that is different than the others.

She heard it only once, and for a short time as well, but it was there, she hears it, she knows it, she recognized it... The voice that speaks of pain and sadness... She still remembers what it says.

"It's terminal..."

"So lonely..."

"How much longer...?"

Lumine blinks her eyes once. There's no doubting it, she knows of who that voice belongs to. It belongs to her friend, her... Family.

"Furi..."

She whispered out that name. Mentally imagining a certain girl with white hair would immediately came before her with a happy look on her face, like a dog being called by her owner, or a cat upon being presented can food.

But it didn't happen. And it made her realized how different things were than it was before, and all she could do, is to make the best of it.

"I don't know the kind of pain you're going through this time... But I swear, I'll be there for you, I won't run away."

Lumine whispered to no one else in particular. She's talking to herself, but it feels like she's saying it to a certain someone.

"After all..."

Her lips curves up into a small smile, her left hand reaches to rub the ring finger on her right hand.

"I wouldn't be a good "wife" if I don't, am I?"

There's nothing attached to her finger. But somewhere in her memory, she vaguely remembers the feeling of a ring placed on it.

The End.

---

Another small teaser for the Memories of The Forgotten Star there, hehe~

Perhaps I will expand the idea once I finally done with the incomplete chapter of that story. Anyways, thank you for reading the result of my frustrations again. If you enjoy it please let me know, because I don't think this kind of story would normally attract that much people.