Chapter Text
Isn't it a shame to admit? Neuvillette hadn't visited the oceanid for three, if not five, days.
He and Furina had fallen into the same pattern: she had tried to meet with Iudex as little as possible after the prophecy, and now he, too, was avoiding the curious child's gaze. If Furina had previously avoided meetings out of shame for her lies, what kept Neuvillette away was his acute awareness of the current situation.
He wondered how she was feeling now, what memories were troubling her small head? Perhaps Cliona had at least passed the threshold of memories where Neuvillette begins to appear... He still couldn't fathom how many moments from the past she witnessed each day.
A knock on the door pulled the man from his thoughts. Without waiting for the owner of the study to grant permission to enter — or, for that matter, to fully collect his wits — the door opened with a faint creak, and a pink head topped by a tall blue cap peeked through the resulting gap.
"Monsieur Neuvillette? G-good morning!"
Blathine hadn't appeared at his office since she started working on Erinnyes Island.
"Good morning, Blathine. Has something serious happened?"
The Melusine timidly entered the room. Her large pink eyes darted over the familiar shelves and stacks of papers, but her expressive face showed none of the tension the man had initially assumed.
"No, no! Not exactly..."
Cliona nearly cried out the moment she woke from sleep. For a few seconds, she looked around and saw nothing but the familiar basin of the Fountain of Lucine. Once her thoughts settled somewhat, the oceanid poked her head out of the cool water. It was good that no one was around, or they would have suspected something was wrong upon hearing the loud splashing of the creature.
Duty, reflection, fog in the head... Reflection, reflection...
Cliona lowered her head to the now-calm surface of the water and saw a little oceanid staring back at her with fear. Not quite what the child expected to see.
"How..."
Before, Cliona hadn't been able to test her abilities. Judging by the memories where she was a similar tiny creature, she was capable of doing something.
The oceanid decided not to limit herself to ordinary bubbles and little whirlpools in the fountain. She needed to aim higher. For example...
"Mimicry! How could I forget", Cliona continued muttering to herself, "I need to try..."
The oceanid concentrated. How is this done correctly... Imagining who you want to become is simple enough, but Cliona noticed she remained in the same small form. She had plenty of memories of looking in the mirror, she remembered her human appearance down to the smallest detail...
She tried to focus once more. A dull pain throbbed in her head, and then she was surrounded by a multitude of bubbles of various sizes. Cliona examined each one and froze in place. The reflection showed a gently smiling young woman with white hair. Cliona was about to rejoice at such a result when she noticed, glancing at the reflection on the water's surface, that nothing about her had actually changed again.
Cliona lost count of how many attempts it took before she felt a great surge of Hydro energy and an awkwardness in her body, which made her lose her balance and fall. The little one noticed she hadn't landed on her outstretched small fins, but on... hands? Long, graceful hands with matching fingers. Completely human ones. She rolled onto her back and lifted her lower limbs — human legs just the same. Cliona wiggled each toe before getting up on her knees and examining her current reflection.
Now, a surprised young woman with the same messy white hair and a silly, sticking-out strand was looking back at Cliona. She did it!
"She was waiting for you so eagerly, Monsieur Neuvillette! She asked about you every day..."
With each step towards the fountain, the number of questions about Cliona's memories and her reaction to his appearance grew in his mind. He could already picture her joyful exclamations.
"Neuvillette!"
A clear, ringing female voice struck his ears. It carried familiar notes of the calmness with which Furina had spoken to him in his early days in Fontaine. Then, more demandingly:
"I'm here! Come on, come closer!"
Neuvillette noticed his steps had grown heavy. His heart, which had been beating calmly moments before, accelerated until it pounded in his throat. Blathine grew alarmed. She instinctively tugged at the Iudex's coattail.
"Monsieur Neuvillette, what's happening? I thought I heard Lady Furina's own voice..."
Peering intently, the Melusine gasped. Her gaze fell upon a figure waving a welcome to the pair.
Indeed, it was the same Furina: the same graceful movements, the mismatched eyes, though their gaze held none of the five-hundred-year accumulated weariness. How strange it was to see her so carefree...
"My dear Iudex, you've finally graced me with your presence! Ah, how delighted I am!"
She extended a slender hand to him.
"Will you help me up? I'm afraid I can't stand steadily just yet."
Cliona had sat down on the fountain's basin and begun studying her own body. She examined her hands and legs once more, then looked at the simple dress, whose fabric she was clenching unnaturally tightly in her excitement.
Only now did Neuvillette notice how much shorter she was than Furina. Likely, it was due to the oceanid's young age.
The silence that had fallen stretched on for several long minutes. Now expecting a flood of questions, Cliona spoke:
"By drawing on all my memories, I was able to derive this human form from them. Turns out, it wasn't as difficult as I thought!" she smiled smugly, then continued less cheerfully, "The only thing is, I must always stay near water, or I'll revert to the form of a little oceanid again. What a pity..."
No matter how many years passed, Teyvat seemed to mock her, denying her even a sliver of a chance for a peaceful life as a human.
"If you wish, I can find a way to grant you a proper human body" , Neuvillette stated.
"No need to rush so much! For now, this opportunity is enough for me. Just promise you'll at least visit me here occasionally."
Cliona looked into the dragon's stern eyes, awaiting an answer. After a brief silence, Neuvillette replied:
"I promise."