Coppelia released the bowstring without a pause. A faint glimmer surfaced in her eyes. Elemental Sight activated.
"Let's chase it!" she said.
Columbina immediately took her into flight again, plunging straight into the lake water. The moment they entered, that familiar spherical bubble wrapped around them once more, separating them from the currents on all sides.
The underwater scenery was far more colorful than above. Bizarre bioluminescent water plants, brightly colored reefs, and schools of fish weaving through them composed a quiet yet magnificent world.
But Coppelia had no time to give Columbina a tour right now. Finding the Oceanid was the primary task.
Once an Oceanid enters the water, its clear body blends almost perfectly with the lake, making it extremely difficult to distinguish with ordinary vision.
However, in Coppelia's Elemental Sight, a deep blue "trail"—distinctly different from the elemental color of the surrounding lake water—appeared intermittently but clearly. The trail started from where the Oceanid had entered the water, winding and extending toward the entrance of some gloomy cave at the bottom of the lake.
That was the "trajectory" left by its concentrated pure Hydro elemental power in the water body as it departed. Following it, they might find its destination, or even find other Oceanids capable of communication.
In the Fontaine of this era, the number of Oceanids was by no means small; one could always find one or two willing or able to speak.
Coppelia pointed out the direction for Columbina. The two delayed no longer, speeding toward the depths of the lake center along that gradually fading elemental trace.
That uncommunicative Oceanid seemed unaware of the pursuit behind it, or perhaps it simply didn't know how to erase the traces it left in the water. It just fled blindly deeper along the winding underwater passages, leaving a clear and rich elemental remnant behind it, like a glowing thread in the darkness.
The underwater cave network extended in all directions with countless forks, cold undercurrents surging through the rock fissures. But this trail became the most explicit guide. Coppelia and Columbina didn't expend much effort before tracking it to a massive cavity eroded by water flow over the years.
The inner walls of the solution cave presented strange streamlined grooves and smooth curved surfaces. The rock walls were polished smooth, reflecting a moist, ghostly light under the faint fluorescence. Countless slender stalactites hung from the dome, their tips occasionally condensing a drop of water that fell into the pool below, emitting a lonely echo.
Columbina brought Coppelia bursting out of the water from a side channel. With a splash, water spray scattered. The sound of exiting the water echoed repeatedly within the empty cavern.
Coppelia deactivated Elemental Sight. Even without it, she could tell that another body of water not far ahead contained a considerable concentration of Hydro elemental power. The flow of Hydro elements caused the water surface itself to emit a stable blue light. This was the source of the fluorescence illuminating the cave.
Coppelia was just about to probe that glowing water for potential danger when the surface moved first.
She instantly drew Amos's Bow again. Columbina's reaction was equally swift; liquid Lunar Force flowed before her, constructing a transparent shield of aquatic blue.
Several Oceanids, identical in form to the one they had been tracking, quietly floated up one after another from the glowing blue surface. They hovered above the water, their clear bodies almost merging with the surrounding blue light, making it hard to distinguish one from another.
At the same time, a gentle voice, sounding as if it reverberated directly within the water body, rang out from nowhere, clearly entering both of their ears:
"Guests, please stop here. Do not approach, lest you inadvertently pollute the source of pure water upon which we rely for survival."
Seeing that the newcomers could communicate and that their words held no obvious aggressive intent, Coppelia slowly released the bowstring, and the light on the arrow dissipated. Columbina also withdrew her shield, leaving only a ring of Lunar Force circling her like a ribbon, maintaining a state of readiness.
The two of them and the group of silently hovering Oceanids thus confronted each other across a distance, amidst the air and light.
The Oceanid's voice sounded again: "For what matter have you two guests pursued us to this place?"
Coppelia used the most concise language possible to explain Columbina's desire to "create kin with a sense of life." Subsequently, she cut directly to the core question:
"I want to know where the original Oceanids came from. How exactly did Egeria create the first Oceanid?"
The answer to this kind of question was useless to Columbina. What she needed was the principle of "creation" itself; only that contained the key to making the Moon Spirits "live."
The Oceanid fell silent for a moment, then the voice echoing directly in their minds gave the answer:
"The first tear Lord Egeria shed transformed into the ancestral Oceanid."
...Just like that? Coppelia felt a wave of helplessness.
"Is there... no more detailed explanation?" she pressed.
"This is the truth," the Oceanid's voice was calm and ripple-less, betraying no concealment or defensiveness.
The truth... Thoughts turned in Coppelia's mind. Compared to "the first tear," the view that "Oceanids suddenly popped out of the Primordial Sea" felt more reliable. Were they being defensive? Judging by the tone and attitude, it didn't seem so. Perhaps they really only knew this much; after all, who knew how long ago the first Oceanid came to be...
She decided to change direction. "Then, your ability to control hydro-formed creatures and make them mimic real animals—how was that obtained? How can one make them 'live'?"
Columbina understood the cue and used liquid Lunar Force to manifest static animal forms like pigeons, squirrels, and swimming fish.
The group of Oceanids seemed to ripple slightly.
"We are born possessing the ability to understand and mimic life," the voice answered. "Therefore, we can transform into the myriad forms of living beings."
"So, you yourselves are not clear on the exact 'principle' behind this ability?" Coppelia seized the key point.
The Oceanids did not respond.
It seemed they probably didn't know the principle, just like pigeons wouldn't understand why they need to eat, yet the flock would still go to the grass every day to peck at seeds... Seeing that she couldn't ask for information regarding "creation," Coppelia tried asking for some details regarding the fine manipulation of Hydro elements and maintaining the stability of complex forms, hoping to help Columbina improve her control over the liquid Lunar Force.
The Oceanids answered every question, but their answers were mostly based on innate "feeling," which was quite difficult to interpret.
The conversation did not last too long. When Coppelia realized she could not obtain clear inspiration here to make the Moon Spirits truly "live," the exchange naturally moved toward its end.
____
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