Chapter 127: Deceiving "Fate"
An intense flash of cerulean light washed over them, forcing Ran, Haibara, and the children to squeeze their eyes shut against the blinding glare.
When the light finally subsided, they cautiously opened their eyes. Haibara quickly took stock of their situation. Her companions were all present, still huddled together, and Neuvillette stood nearby, his expression grim. A quick glance at their surroundings revealed a bizarre, dreamlike space. It bore a faint resemblance to the Opera Epiclese, but here, debris and crystalline fragments drifted lazily through the air as if gravity were a forgotten concept. This was most certainly not the real world.
"Look! There's someone over there!" Ayumi exclaimed, pointing toward a lone figure in the distance.
"It looks like that god," Genta observed, squinting. "But what's that blue thing floating above her? It looks dangerous."
"That… I think it's a kind of execution device from France," Mitsuhiko murmured, his brow furrowed in concentration. "It looks like… a guillotine blade…"
A guillotine? France? The death penalty… The words clicked together in Haibara's mind.
"Louis XVI," she said suddenly, the name escaping her lips in a near whisper.
"Haibara, what are you talking about? Who's Louis XVI?" Ayumi asked, her head tilted in confusion.
"Louis XVI was a king of France," Mitsuhiko explained, picking up the thread. "He's the only king in French history to be executed. About half a year after the French Revolution began, he was sent to the guillotine by the public."
Genta scratched his head, looking completely lost. "Huh? What does that have to do with us? And why'd they execute a king?"
"King Louis XVI was sent to the guillotine because he tried to solve the country's financial crisis by raising taxes during the revolution," Haibara elaborated, her voice low and measured. "But that action only intensified social conflicts and fueled public outrage, which ultimately led to his execution."
Genta nodded slowly, as if piecing it together. "Ohh… so it sounds like this King Louis wasn't such a bad guy, then."
Haibara shot him a sidelong glance. "You could argue that, but it's not the important part. I suspect that the object floating up there is the execution device meant for the Hydro Archon… and that the person standing over there is the real one."
"The real Archon?! So Focalors really wasn't her?"
As if summoned by their hushed discussion, the distant figure, who had been facing away from them, finally turned around.
"Lady Focalors?!" the children cried out in unison.
They exchanged bewildered looks. Hadn't Haibara just said the other person was the real Archon? How could it still be Focalors? Was her deduction wrong?
"She is not Focalors," Neuvillette stated, his voice cutting through their confusion. He had been standing silently, but his expression was now one of deep gravity. "Or, to be precise, she is not the Focalors you know. She… must be the true Hydro Archon."
Mitsuhiko nodded in agreement. "That's right. Her clothes are different."
"Idiot, you can change clothes," Genta retorted. "I think her eye color is different."
"Is it?" Mitsuhiko hesitated. "I thought they were the same."
"The eye color is the same, Genta. You're remembering it wrong," Haibara confirmed, siding with Mitsuhiko. "Aside from their attire, the biggest difference is their hair."
Ran, standing off to the side, listened to the children's debate as a single bead of sweat trickled down her temple. 'Are they really just kids?'she thought, a sense of the surreal washing over her.'They were just suddenly transported to another dimension, and they have the nerve to play spot-the-difference…'
Ignoring the children's whispers, the Archon across the void regarded Neuvillette's stunned expression, and a soft, melodic laugh escaped her.
"My apologies, Neuvillette. I simply used to imagine, so very often, what your face would look like when you finally saw me and learned the truth. Now that I've witnessed it for myself… it truly is quite amusing. I couldn't help but laugh."
Her gaze softened as she continued, "In truth, I only ever intended for you alone to witness my end. I certainly didn't expect a few uninvited guests. Though, you are rather cute uninvited guests…"
As she spoke, the Archon's eyes shifted to Haibara and the others. "Hello, little friends—ah, and one big friend. I am the Hydro Archon, Focalors. The true god of Fontaine."
"This Lady Focalors gives off such a different feeling from the other one," Ayumi whispered to her friends.
"Yeah," Mitsuhiko added. "She feels more… composed."
"Not just that," Genta chimed in. "She seems way more confident."
Ignoring the commentary from her friends, Haibara stepped forward, her small form radiating an unshakeable resolve. "Then, Lady Archon, I would like to ask: since you are the real one, who is the Focalors—um, I mean, the one who has been in Fontaine all this time?"
Before she could finish, Genta bounded forward as well, his curiosity getting the better of him. "And how do you two look exactly the same?"
The Archon chuckled, a warm and gentle sound that echoed in the strange space. "Patience, little ones. Take your time. I believe Neuvillette also wishes to know the answers to your questions. Rest assured, we still have time. I will answer each of them, one by one."
She paused, her gaze drifting into the distance. "First, as to who exactly 'Focalors'is… She is another me. A mirror of myself, created to be completely and utterly human. An'ideal' version of myself, you could say."
As she said this, Haibara caught the faintest, almost imperceptible sigh, and saw a flicker of deep sorrow in the Archon's eyes.
"Another version of yourself? What does that mean?" Neuvillette asked, his voice tight.
"I was once an Oceanid, one of the familiars of the previous Archon, Egeria. After I inherited her divinity and became a god…" the Archon began, her voice taking on the cadence of a long-held story. "In my eyes, the 'her'you know is the perfect human. Brave, kind, arrogant, cowardly… she possesses all the virtues a human should have, and she carries all the flaws a human is burdened with. That version of her… she is the'me' I always idealized."
Genta still didn't quite grasp it. "Why would you call her a perfect human if she has flaws? Generally, isn't it better for people not to have any?"
Ran gently patted Genta's head. "Because humans are supposed to have flaws, Genta. If a person had no flaws at all, then they wouldn't be human. They'd be…" She searched for the right word. "…a saint."
"Pfft," the Archon let out a small, amused sound. "This young lady is correct. It is precisely because they experience joy and sorrow, because they have virtues and flaws, that they can be called human. That is the kind of true human I so desperately wished to become…"
Neuvillette looked at the god before him, his draconic eyes a swirling mix of complex emotions. "Then why?" he pressed. "Why did you do all of this?"
A faint, sad smile touched Focalors's lips.
"Why, to deceive 'Fate,' of course."
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