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Only the vast waters of Fontaine’s “ocean” could offer any solace to Freminet in times as stressful as these. His siblings had just been put on trial, though it was Lyney specifically, for a crime he was sure they didn’t commit. Everyone had to make sacrifices and commit crimes, especially if they belonged to the House of the Hearth like he and his siblings did. But this… This, Freminet was sure of. Lyney was innocent.
Thank the Archons for the Traveler. He had offered to be Lyney’s attorney, which lifted a massive weight from Freminet’s shoulders. Stories of the Traveler’s otherworldly achievements had circled Teyvat twice over, and Charlotte has certainly kept up to date in that regard. Freminet was confident in the Traveler’s abilities.
Still… the one thing he couldn’t manage was being present at the trial. Just thinking about it set his mind into overdrive, heartbeat thundering in his chest as soon as the word “trial” passed through his brain. So, he did what any logical person would do and hid beneath the waves.
Everything was far quieter down here. Each and every sound was muffled by the water in his ears and it’s limited acoustics. Everything moved with such grace and rhythm, fish following the current, long seaweed stalks swaying in the flow, the sand slowly falling back down to the bottom after being disrupted by the crabs. Freminet took a long, deep breath, letting himself float beneath the shelter of some ruins. A few seahorses shot bubbles at each other just a few feet away, and Freminet watched them idly. Pers flapped his little mechanical flippers and spun in cute circles to his left, air bubbles escaping from the shifts in machinery. It was peaceful.
Freminet held his glowing Cryo Vision in his hands, occasionally kicking his feet to keep himself from floating around. Somehow, the metal of his Vision was still radiating an incessant chill, despite the warm waters he was in. The gem pulsed in tune with his heartbeat. He watched it slowly return to a more manageable rate, sliding his fingers along the casing’s edges.
From this far underwater, even the sun was soft on the eyes. Freminet wasn’t particularly fond of the bright light the sun offered in shallower waters, but he did like the way it wove and danced on the ocean floor. On a day like this, most people were likely to be either at the Opera Epiclese, or waiting impatiently by the headquarters of The Steambird for an update on the trial. Not even the divers would be down here, and as such, the waters, alongside his view, remained undisturbed.
Clipping his Vision back to his thigh, Freminet pushed around his diving helmet and watched it spin. He didn’t need it anymore, not since he’d received his Vision, but he found the item comforting. He liked to use it to avoid people on his way to the shores, nobody bothered him if he was wearing a big, bulky diving helmet. Plus, it looked a little bit like Pers. Why wouldn’t he carry it around?
Speaking of Pers… Freminet glanced to his left to find his robotic friend absent. His heart skipped a beat, but he quickly swallowed the panic. It’s okay, Pers sometimes swam off if he found something interesting. He wouldn’t go too far away. Freminet pushed his helmet down to the sand and dug a little hole, making sure it wouldn’t go anywhere. Then he kicked off the ruined bricks in search of Pers.
The seahorses had left, too. That was normal, but something still felt off. Everything was eerily still, not to mention essentially silent. All of the crabs had vanished from the sandy floor, the schools of fish were nowhere to be found…
Freminet quickly found out why.
A heavy rumbling emanated from around a rock formation, sending plumes of sand swirling into the water and trampling seaweed stalks. Freminet knew that sound— it was the distinct movement patterns of the Ocean Circuit Judge. But the Ocean Circuit Judge lived much farther south and rarely ever left its territory. What was it doing up here?
Then, a flash of fluorescent purple followed by electric blue broke the top of the rocks, just above where the Ocean Circut Judge was thumping around. Freminet watched, stunned, as the Fairy Knight Twins wove around the giant crab. Their powerful stingray blades slashed at the hardened shell of the Ocean Circuit Judge, leaving gashes in their wake. Freminet glanced around anxiously. He found neither a hiding spot nor any sign of Pers, still frozen in shock. Those three oceanic animals were never to be trifled with, it was practically the number one rule of diving to avoid their respective territories. But here they were, both in unfamiliar waters, battling it out.
Freminet started to move back to his previous shelter, hoping he could ride out the battle, when he spotted Pers obliviously waddling in the sand. His seemingly innocent activities were bound to attract unwanted attention, especially with the Fairy Knight Twins on the hunt. Freminet dashed toward the seabed. No sooner had he scooped up Pers was he faced with the glowering eyes of Medoro, inches from his own. Panic seized Freminet’s heart and he sucked in a surprised breath. There was no way he could hope to survive a fight with even one of these local legends. He needed to get out of there, and fast.
Freminet tried to surge forward with Pers in his arms, but his ankle had gotten stuck under a bundle of coral. He must’ve accidentally stepped in it during his rush to grab Pers. Medoro still circled above him, Angelica at their side, as if they were contemplating what to do with him. The Ocean Circuit Judge was nowhere to be found. Though Freminet’s heart thundered in his chest, he kept his movements steady as to not startle the stingrays. He attempted to breathe evenly, but his foot was really stuck, and the panic was definitely setting in. Pers flapped around Freminet’s legs, beeping anxiously.
Just as Freminet had finally freed his foot, one of the Fairy Knight Twins took a nose dive, barreling straight at him. It moved so fast Freminet couldn’t tell which of the Twins was going in for the kill. All he could do was scramble to the side, watching in horror as the stingray grazed his thigh, and carried off his Vision.
The diver quickly sucked in a breath and held it. Without his Vision, his abilities as an Allogene were stripped away, and he could no longer breathe underwater. Freminet’s priorities quickly shifted: he needed to get to the surface. Retrieving his Vision would have to wait until he could return with backup. Freminet kicked hard toward the surface, Pers skittering ahead of him.
That’s when the Ocean Circuit Judge decided to make its grand return, thundering out from behind the rock formation with murder in its eyes. Freminet made eye contact with the giant crab. Big mistake.
The Judge began pursuing the tiny diver, covering an obscene amount of ground in no time at all. Its massive pincer caught Freminet’s calf and dragged him back downward. It took every ounce of willpower Freminet possessed to not gasp in pain and waste any of the limited time he had underwater.
Before he’d received his Vision, Freminet was still training to be a diver, so he still received the basic training. Freediving had been a hobby of his. Freminet knew his breath hold limit. He knew he was about halfway through it. He knew he was in big trouble.
The Ocean Circuit Judge released Freminet’s leg as soon as he was eye-level with the beast, bloody and throbbing. Time froze for just a moment, neither party knowing what to do with themselves. The Judge seemed mostly curious, with an air of caution, but Freminet recovered first. He started to make a dash for the surface again, but the Twins blocked his path, tossing his Vision back and forth like it was a toy. Seriously, what did these massive Fontaine legends want with a puny little diver like him?
Time was running out. Freminet could usually push through the aching of his lungs, but once the contractions started… That’s when things got concerning. He floated there, trapped between the three creatures, one hand placed on his stomach as it spasmed. Freminet knew panicking would shorten his breath hold, but he couldn’t stop the slamming of his heart against his ribcage. There was nothing he could do. He couldn’t even bring himself to find humor in the irony— a diver dying via drowning. Divers should know better.
But really, when was a diver ever going to be faced with both the Ocean Circuit Judge and the Fairy Knight Twins at the same time?
The Twins moved closer and Freminet’s body forced air from his lungs. Every moment was excruciating. He’d never had contractions as severe as these, each one rolled through his entire body and put unimaginable pressure on his burning lungs. Black spots danced in his vision and he felt himself losing control. He couldn’t stop his body from expelling the little air he had left. He’d stopped trying to swim to the surface long ago. He could only hope, as his consciousness drifted away, that the Traveler had found a way to prove his brother innocent…
.
.
.
“He’s breathing again!”
“Freminet!”
“Hey, give him some space…”
There was so much water. Everywhere. The ground he lay on was soaked through. His wetsuit was still cold and damp, clinging to his clammy skin. And his lungs… It felt like they were made of water. Freminet coughed for what felt like years, bringing up more water than he thought was humanly possible. Once, he felt a foreign presence help guide the water out, but he didn’t question it.
Finally, he took a shuddering breath, and exhaled without it catching in his chest. Then another. And another. After two more full breaths, Freminet’s eyes finally focused on the scene before him.
He was lying on the beach, the Opera Epiclese towering above the landscape not too far away. Pers happily waddled next to his head. And kneeling right beside him… The Traveler. The blonde sat back on his calves and took a deep breath himself, bangs plastered to his face and long braid dripping steadily. His floating companion twittered around the pair, pausing every so often to give Pers a pat on the head. The penguin seemed to enjoy the attention.
As Freminet’s eyes focused, they caught on a familiar red hat and an unmistakable purple gaze. Freminet inhaled as sharply as his delicate lungs would allow. “Lyney?” he croaked.
The magician practically melted in relief. “You’re okay…”
Freminet slowly nodded. “I’m okay.”
“You scared us half to death, Freminet!” Paimon shrieked, causing the diver to flinch at the volume, “What on Teyvat happened down there?”
“The Fairy Knight Twins. And the Ocean Circuit Judge.”
“Come now, Freminet, now isn’t the time for fairytales,” Lyney chided, his usual spunk slowly creeping back into his actions. Freminet glanced to the side. Lyney never believed him when he talked about the underwater local legends— nothing he said or did could convince his brother that they were real. But the Traveler nodded thoughtfully, a look of confusion passing over his features.
“Really, Aether, you don’t need to indulge my brother—“
“What were the Fairy Knight Twins and the Ocean Circuit Judge doing in this area? It’s quite far from both of their territories,” he asked.
Freminet shook his head. “I thought the exact same thing. Medoro took my Vision.”
“Oh, so that’s why you didn’t have your Vision! Paimon was too worried to notice before…”
“Here,” the Traveler extended his hand to Freminet, a gleaming Cryo Vision, his Cryo Vision resting in the center. Freminet carefully accepted.
“How did you…”
“I guess the Twins got bored and dropped it before they left,” shrugged the Traveler.
“Thank you,” Freminet glanced at Lyney, then back at the Traveler, struggling to find the right words.
“Don’t mention it.”
“Now let’s get out of here! Paimon’s freezing!”