Hydro Dragon, Hydro Dragon, Don't Cry...
Conan was a touch miffed at having his line stolen right out from under him by Xia Yu, but he nodded along in agreement all the same. The exchange that followed between Vacher and the pure-water spirit went on to confirm exactly what the two of them had suspected.
Only then did everyone learn the truth: all of the dissolved victims, as their bodies melted away, had their consciousness flow back into the Primordial Sea. Within those waters their minds drifted in ceaseless circulation, no longer scattered and separate, until at last they fused into a single whole.
And it was precisely Vacher's experiments — the sheer number of girls he had murdered — that kept swelling the consciousnesses in the sea, until Viniel was no longer Viniel. In a very real sense, Vacher had brought about her true disappearance with his own two hands.
Ran's heart ached, and she murmured under her breath, "How could it come to this..."
Conan caught the gloomy look on her face and stepped over to take her hand, offering what comfort he could.
The conversation between the pure-water spirit and Vacher, meanwhile, was still going on. The truth had left Vacher reeling, almost beyond bearing — and yet he still wanted to see Viniel just one more time, so he could only plead with the spirit before him yet again.
The pure-water spirit refused him, then said, "When you were told before not to come looking for me, that was the will of the real Viniel. She hates you. She has no wish to see you. And at the same time... that warning was the last faint shred of pity she had left for you..."
"Because she knew... if you ever set foot in this place, 'we'... would never let you go."
Every alarm in Conan's head went off at once — the pure-water spirit meant to strike Vacher down. He shot forward to stop it the instant the thought landed, but Xia Yu had kept her attention pinned on him the whole time, and she caught him just in time.
"Big Sis Xia Yu, what are you doing?! Something's about to happen to Vacher — I have to go save him, fast..." Conan pleaded as he squirmed against her grip, though for all his wriggling, her hand didn't loosen so much as a hair.
Xia Yu sighed, half exasperated. "That thing isn't human. How would you know whether a pure-water spirit can attack or not? What good would it do, a little kid charging in like that? Besides, they're the victims here. When a victim wants to take justice into her own hands and settle the score with her killer herself, it's not for outsiders like us to interfere. There's a good boy..."
Being cooed at like a toddler left Conan sulking, and once it was clear he genuinely couldn't wriggle free, he could only drop his head in defeat.
And sure enough, across the way, as voice after voice — each a different woman's — cried out the name "Vacher," the terror on his face climbed higher and higher, until at last every one of the murdered girls spoke as one: "Go to hell." With a scream of "AAAAHHH—" Vacher keeled over, out cold.
Before it reached that point, Xia Yu and Ran had already planted themselves in front of the children, shielding them from the sight — because truth be told, a scene like that, come upon without warning, was enough to curdle anyone's blood.
But Conan was, after all, the legendary Shinigami elementary schooler, and fear simply wasn't in his vocabulary. The moment Xia Yu let go, the instant his feet touched the ground — before he had even found his balance — he was sprinting for Vacher's fallen body.
He reached out and pressed his fingers to the side of Vacher's neck. Relief — a pulse still beat beneath the skin. It had to be nothing worse than a faint.
Then a familiar wave of dizziness washed over them all, and when their heads cleared, they found themselves standing beside the Fountain of Lucine once more.
Xia Yu and Ran checked everyone over. Aside from Vacher, still dead to the world, the children were all in fine shape — very fine shape, in fact; one might say bursting with energy.
The group managed to get word to the Gardes, handing over the clues and evidence they had gathered so far. The suspect Vacher was taken into their custody so his condition could be examined, and the Gardes promised to notify Xia Yu and the others the moment anything turned up.
It was still early, so Xia Yu and Ran led the children off for the time being. While they waited on the Gardes' findings, they would keep their ears open for more about the prophecy, the Hydro Archon, and the Iudex — after talking it over, everyone had agreed that Fontaine's Iudex, Chief Justice Neuvillette, simply had to be connected to the prophecy too. In all of Fontaine, he alone besides the Hydro Archon had lived that long. And so, gathering what information they could, they waited on the examination results.
After a while, the Gardes came back with bad news: Monsieur Vacher appeared to have had his soul stolen from him. He was now all but mindless — which meant he could never again take the witness stand.
For a moment everyone just sat there, deflated, heads throbbing. They had finally, finally unmasked the killer behind the girls' disappearances; he had even agreed to surrender the evidence of his crimes once his conditions were met. And now, with the finish line barely a step away, the killer had lost his mind. Ah...
Seeing the whole group drooping, Xia Yu cheered them on. "It's far too early to be losing heart. We still have a whole day — the courtroom showdown isn't until tomorrow, so there's time. We've found the killer, which means we can go search his residence. And he had Primordial Seawater on hand — who knows, we might even turn up something tied to the prophecy while we're at it."
"Besides, as long as the game hasn't ended, that means we haven't hit the point of no return. Sitting around doing nothing — that's what would truly be hopeless..."
At her words, the Detective Boys perked right back up, and Moroboshi and the other two rallied as well.
Just as everyone was about to move, Xia Yu felt a cool touch on her cheek. She looked up — a light rain was drifting down from the sky, slow and soft.
It wasn't heavy yet. To save time, everyone bought a few umbrellas and set out through the drizzle for Vacher's home to hunt for clues.
On the way, a handful of children came dashing past them, paying no more mind to the falling rain than to the wind, still tumbling and roughhousing — and every so often one of them would holler up at the sky: "Hydro Dragon, Hydro Dragon, don't cry..."
Conan noted the detail, but with everyone hurrying along, he didn't break stride to ask.
They did turn up some clues at Vacher's home, though not many — and most of what they found concerned the Primordial Seawater experiments, with precious little touching on the prophecy.
This time nobody let it get them down. After a moment's thought, Ran suggested they go back to Callas's grave and look for that girl again — at the very least, they owed her word of how things stood with Marcel.
No one had any objections, and off they went once more through the rain, making for the cemetery at Petrichor. Thank goodness it was all inside a game — even after a good soaking, none of them felt much the worse for wear.
Petrichor wasn't far, and before long the group arrived at the cemetery.
But against all expectations, it wasn't only Callas's daughter they found there. There, too, stood the Iudex of Fontaine himself — Neuvillette — before Callas's grave, head bowed, as though paying his respects to the dead.
Sensing the eyes upon him, Neuvillette turned toward Xia Yu and the others. Recognizing them, he inclined his head in greeting. "Greetings, travelers from afar."
The girl noticed their arrival as well, and beckoned them over.