Coppelia withdrew her hand. "We still need to go find the Oceanid. They are Egeria's kin; perhaps we can ask them how Oceanids themselves are born. If we understand that, and you follow a similar principle, you might be able to find a way to bring the Moon Spirits to life."
She paused for a moment. "I'll go finish packing up first."
Columbina nodded. "I'll wait for you."
Coppelia quickly returned to the tent, methodically retracting the scattered cooking utensils, blankets, and tent poles back into her "Backpack."
Only when she finished packing did she suddenly remember something. She looked up and asked, "By the way, you haven't had breakfast yet. Are you hungry?"
Columbina shook her head. "Not hungry. After my power increased, I don't feel hunger as easily."
"Alright, then let's set off."
Columbina immediately dispersed the "Moon Spirit" in her hand, the Lunar Force merging back into her body. She took Coppelia and flew up into the air, crossing over the shimmering great lake. On the way, the two briefly discussed a plan: how to ask questions if the other party could communicate, and how to respond if they could not.
Before long, the small lake with the strange blue weeping willow growing in its center appeared below them. Columbina lowered her altitude, slowly descending towards the edge of the azure water.
Almost at the moment her feet touched the ground, Coppelia already held Amos's Bow in her hand. She drew the bowstring slightly; a pure arrow of light formed at her fingertips, its tip condensing a frost-white chill visible to the naked eye.
After standing firm, Coppelia signaled to Columbina beside her with a glance, then took a deep breath and shouted at the calm lake surface:
"Oceanid! Are you home—?!"
The shout exploded over the lake, startling a flock of water birds resting under the weeping willow and disturbing the calm water, sending out ripples in rapid succession.
Columbina's perception immediately caught movement underwater. Something was rising rapidly from the depths.
Gurgle, gurgle... A dense stream of bubbles surged from the center of the lake. Immediately after, with a loud splash, an Oceanid—composed entirely of pure water and shaped like a fusion of swimming fish and bird—broke through the surface. It hovered five or six meters above the lake, silently facing the uninvited guests on the shore.
Coppelia took a step forward, drawing the bowstring tighter, though the tip of the arrow drooped slightly, pointing towards the ground.
She tilted her head up and shouted at the hovering creature, "Can you understand what we're saying? We're here to ask for your help!"
She was testing whether the entity understood human language. She couldn't rule out the possibility that this guy, like some of the primitive cave dwellers they had met when they first arrived in Fontaine, did not share a language with her.
The Oceanid made no sound. It merely swayed its fish-tail-like lower body gently and spread its wings, which flowed with watery light. Several masses of darker-hued pure water separated from its body, dripping onto the lake surface below.
The instant these droplets touched the water, they rapidly transformed into a water-formed forest boar over a meter long, a frog with puffed-up cheeks, a squirrel dragging a fluffy tail, and a majestic raptor characteristic of Fontaine. They stood steadily upon the water's surface as if the liquid were solid ground.
As soon as these hydro creatures took form, they turned their heads in unison towards Coppelia and Columbina on the shore. Without any superfluous pause, they shook their bodies, seemingly limbering up, and immediately launched an attack.
The forest boar lowered its head and charged, kicking up a wave of water; the frog and squirrel leaped high into the air, intending to slam down and knock their targets over with shockwaves; the raptor flapped its wings and swooped, its wingtips slicing through the cold air.
Columbina made a subtle move, taking Coppelia with her in a gentle leap, leaving the ground and rising into mid-air. All the attacks from the hydro creatures missed, splashing only a chaotic spray of water.
"Can you actually understand what we're saying or not?" Coppelia, suspended in the air, raised her voice at the still-silent Oceanid.
Please, say something, even if I can't understand it! She added silently in her heart.
The Oceanid remained silent.
It flapped its wings again, separating several more masses of pure water. This time, all the droplets transformed into birds of various shapes, flapping wings made of water as they sped towards the pair in the air.
It's hopeless. Initiate backup plan.
Around Coppelia's body, a wisp of subtle Electro elemental power darted from her fingertips. The moment it touched the water bird, an [Electro-Charged] reaction occurred.
The electric current jumped from one water bird to another. The fragile pure water structures could not maintain themselves amidst the violent lightning; before the birds could even get close, they dispersed one after another with a poof in the air, turning back into formless puddles of pure water that were eventually silently reclaimed by the Oceanid's main body.
"Land!" Coppelia shouted low.
Columbina immediately brought her back down to the shore.
Those hydro creatures that could only move on the water's surface instantly stirred, attempting to surround them once more.
However, while they were still descending, Coppelia had already drawn her bowstring to its limit again. An arrow of light, wrapped in dense chill, flew from the string, shooting towards the area where the hydro creatures were most densely packed.
The moment the light arrow hit the water surface, frost bloomed like an instant flower, spreading rapidly from the point of impact.
Cryo and Hydro elements triggered a violent [Frozen] reaction.
Crack, crack—!
The forest boar, the frog, the squirrel, the raptor... every hydro creature touched by the frost froze instantly in mid-action. Their surfaces were covered in a thick layer of ice-blue hard shell, turning them into ice sculptures of various poses, stiff on the spot and unable to move.
The two landed on solid ground at this moment.
Seeing this, the Oceanid flapped its wings again. Another batch of new hydro creatures was created, gathering towards Coppelia with clear intent.
Coppelia didn't bother wasting any more words. The bowstring vibrated again, and another frost arrow infused with ample Cryo element shot out, freezing this group of newborn hydro creatures into a second row of ice sculptures.
The Oceanid seemed enraged. It flapped its wings vigorously, and the ice shells covering the frozen hydro creatures began to tremble violently. Cracks spread, and ice chunks fell away as they broke free from the frozen state.
However, the very next second after the ice shells shattered and the hydro creatures regained their vitality—Thwip! Thwip!—two frost arrows struck with precision, landing right in the midst of the newly thawed group. The water bodies that had just resumed flowing were once again sealed tight by the glacial cold.
The two sides fell into a stalemate. The Oceanid continued to create; Coppelia continued to freeze. After several rounds, the Oceanid seemed to finally realize that this consumption was meaningless.
It stopped trying. With a folding of its wings, all the unfrozen hydro creatures instantly turned into water currents and returned to the main body. Even the frozen ice sculptures disintegrated on their own, the pure water detaching from the ice shells and flowing back.
Then, without uttering a sound, its body sank downwards, rapidly disappearing into the deep lake water.
____
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