Gazing at the blue weeping willow in the center of the lake, which differed starkly in color from the other trees, Columbina asked:
"Why is this tree blue?"
"I don't know," Coppelia answered truthfully. "However, this tree also has times when it withers and yellows. I suspect it has something to do with the water quality of this lake. If the body of water is relatively healthy, it should be blue."
The sound of their voices echoed through this quiet secret realm, seeming to alert certain existences.
Coppelia sharply heard a splash of water. Columbina also sensed a massive object underwater changing its form, constantly rising and approaching the surface.
The two simultaneously retreated about five or six meters away from the shore, observing the movement on the water's surface.
Splash, splash, splash...
The creature quickly leapt out of the water, bringing with it a spray of droplets. It left the surface and hovered in the air, observing the two outsiders on the shore who had broken the silence.
Coppelia looked closely. The fellow's body possessed a translucent texture, displaying the same aqua blue as the lake below it. It seemed to wear a crown formed of pure water on its head; elegant wings spread out from both sides of its body, and a fish tail swayed left and right.
"Oceanid!" Coppelia blurted out. She hadn't expected to encounter Oceanids here.
Columbina also gazed at the Oceanid, curious as to how this familiar of a god would behave.
Just as Coppelia was planning to step forward and communicate, the Oceanid moved.
It spun in a circle in the air, flinging off several clusters of pure water. Before the two outsiders, these transformed into a group of hydro-mimics, including frogs, hunting hounds, boars, and some birds native to Fontaine.
Without waiting for Coppelia to speak, the hydro-mimics charged toward her and Columbina in unison.
Seeing that the comer was unkind, Columbina immediately took Coppelia and ascended over twenty meters into the air. Coppelia also pulled out Amos's Bow, infused it with Cryo, and prepared to respond.
The two looked down, only to find that the Oceanid did not launch an attack as expected. Instead, it was looking around in all directions, and the hydro-mimics were also scurrying about, searching for the "disappeared" targets.
The Oceanid scanned the area and found nothing. It shook its wings, seemingly confused as to whether it had been hallucinating. It immediately recalled the hydro-mimics, turned into a splash of pure water, and sank back into the lake.
This Oceanid doesn't look very bright, Coppelia remarked silently in her heart.
With the crisis averted, she put away Amos's Bow and had Columbina land on the peak of a mountain surrounding the lake.
Columbina looked at the lake, recalling the hydro-animals she had just seen, and asked:
"The animals that appeared out of thin air just now were so strange."
"Those animals aren't real animals; they are hydro-mimics that the Oceanid pinched into shape using pure water, modeled after other creatures," Coppelia explained.
"Why did the Oceanid also attack us upon sight, just like that group of people?" Columbina turned her head to look at Coppelia, pressing for an answer. "You said humans weren't led by a god, so they behaved that way. But aren't Oceanids familiars of a god? Their god should have taught them knowledge, right? Could it be that their relationship isn't good?"
"This... let me think." Coppelia wasn't sure about the exact relationship between the Oceanids and Egeria in the Primordial Sea, so she had to recall the various lore analyses she had read.
Columbina gazed at the lake again, waiting for the other to give an answer.
Coppelia thought of a possible explanation: "Their relationship should be quite good. However, Egeria seems to have dispatched Oceanids to all parts of the world, wanting to tightly connect the entire Teyvat continent. I guess the smart individuals probably all went to foreign countries. So, the ones remaining in Fontaine are mostly of lower intelligence."
Columbina nodded; this conjecture seemed capable of explaining the Oceanid's behavior just now.
...
The two sat on the grass to rest.
Columbina cupped her hands, and Lunar Momentum flowed from her palms, forming a ball of light between them.
Columbina carefully manipulated the Lunar Momentum, attempting to control the shape of the light ball, making some parts expand and others shrink. The surface of the light ball was as round as a pebble washed by flowing water, but no specific shape could be discerned at all.
"What are you doing?" Coppelia couldn't help but ask.
"I want to shape my own Lunar Momentum just like the Oceanid molded those frogs and boars," Columbina said as she tried to shape the light ball.
"I plan to mold a fish."
Coppelia looked at the ball of light in Columbina's hands. The texture of the light ball was like a dense mist, quite different from real water; she feared it wouldn't be able to form a shape as vivid as the hydro-mimics.
Sure enough, although the "fish" in Columbina's hands became streamlined, one could only barely make out the shape of a fish. The tail and fins were all stuck together, looking like a fish made of cotton candy that had been put into an oven and melted.
"I failed." Columbina dissipated the light ball in her hands, unwilling to accept defeat.
Coppelia encouraged her: "It doesn't matter. Wait until your power becomes more solid and your control over it becomes more precise; then you can mold whatever you want. As long as you retrieve a bit more power and practice controlling it more."
...
Once Columbina's energy had recovered, Coppelia synchronized the new search route with her.
Columbina then took her companion and flew westward, crossing a large lake to reach the land on the other side.
Coppelia searched a circle to the north again. On the mountain slopes facing southwest here, she found no traces of any meteor impact, nor any traces of Lunar Momentum flowing.
This further corroborated Coppelia's conjecture: the places where the Moonlight Stones fell were concentrated in the "Sea of Bygone Eras" region. The search range had further narrowed.
The two directly changed direction and flew south.
Before long, they discovered traces of a Moonlight Stone. They didn't even need Elemental Sight; the impact caused by the Moonlight Stone was visible to the naked eye.
On the emerald green grass, a patch of bleached white earth had appeared, looking very abrupt. The trees growing on the edge of the bleached land also showed signs of withering and death.
In the center of the bleached land was a crater that could only be formed by a meteor impact!
"Found it!" Coppelia shouted, the stone hanging in her heart finally landing. Hearing this, Columbina also lowered her flight altitude.
"Wait." Columbina, in the midst of descending, seemed to sense something was wrong. "There is nothing below attracting me."
Coppelia was startled; she believed Columbina's perception wouldn't be wrong. This meant there was no Moonlight Stone in the crater they were looking for!
After landing on the edge of the crater, Coppelia immediately jumped into the pit. As expected, there was absolutely nothing inside.
Columbina also jumped into the pit. After checking to no avail, she asked worriedly: "Did we come too late, and they have already naturally dissipated?"
____
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