The Attack on Focalors, Part 2
"Waaah!" Focalors shrieked, and then her voice came out on the edge of tears. "Who are you? Wh-what do you want? Please don't kill me, I'm begging you..."
None of them had expected that this would be Focalors's reaction to danger.
Still brandishing his weapon, the suspicious figure glared down at her. "The future foretold in the prophecy is almost upon us, Lady God of Water. What have you done about it? From beginning to end, you've lounged around in a manner frankly beneath contempt — not a single move to counter the coming crisis. If you refuse to do anything, then I'll simply make sure you can never do anything again..."
Ignoring her pleas, he swung the sickle in his hand, intending to finish off the god of water then and there.
Not good — she's in danger!
Conan finally realized that Focalors had no way of dealing with the man herself, and without even pausing to wonder why a deity couldn't handle a single human, he opened his mouth to shout him down.
But someone moved faster than he could speak. Before Conan could get a word out, Xia Yu darted past him and drove a kick into the man's weapon hand.
While the man was still reeling from the sudden intervention, Xia Yu planted herself in front of Focalors, eyes locked warily on his every movement, ready to stop him from striking again.
By that point, Mouri Ran had arrived as well. Realizing that with so many witnesses present there was no longer any way to dispose of the god of water quietly, the suspicious man seized the moment when Xia Yu's attention wavered and bolted.
Fearing it might be a decoy to lure her away, Xia Yu chose not to give chase.
"Travelers from afar — th-thank you, first of all, for lending me your aid. But truly, if you had only waited a little while longer, you'd have seen that the danger just now meant nothing to a god like me... Ahem. In any case, thank you for your help."
Focalors had been sprawled on the ground, her eyes wide with terror, her whole body trembling faintly, still not recovered from what had just happened. But with outsiders present, she did her best to smother the fear, rose slowly to her feet, and forced a smile as she addressed Xia Yu and the others.
By then, seeing that the danger had passed, Conan and the rest had hurried over to the scene as well.
Hearing this, Genta sounded none too pleased. "What do you mean, nothing? I just saw you begging for your life! If Xia Yu's big sister hadn't shown up, you'd never have..."
"Genta!" Conan, noticing that Focalors had clenched her fists and was fighting to keep her body from shaking, barked the boy's name and cut him off mid-sentence.
"What?! You all saw that?!" At Genta's words, Focalors instantly realized these people hadn't just arrived, and a flicker of panic crossed her face — but an excuse came to her just as fast. "Ahem. What I meant was... that was all part of my strategy. Yes, strategy! I was lulling him into a false sense of security. That's right, that's exactly what it was..."
Kikukawa still didn't understand. "But aren't you a god? Why would someone who could smite her own attacker need a strategy?"
By now the conversation had steadied Focalors; the fear was gone from her face, and her manner had grown far more natural. Hands on her hips, she declared, "What do you know? You people have no conception of a god's power. If I actually threw a punch, what if the force of it was too great and innocent bystanders got hurt? Of course I had to lower his guard first — strike once, when he least expected it, and finish him in a single blow. That's how you minimize accidents!"
Genta wasn't buying it. "Then could you show us a little of that divine power?"
Ayumi and the others turned to Focalors too, watching her with open, eager curiosity.
Uncomfortable under so many expectant eyes, Focalors waved a hand dismissively. "I am the God of Water, not some street juggler. One hardly performs parlor tricks on demand."
Conan had already formed a fair guess about what had really happened, and seeing that Focalors was determined to paper over the whole affair, he decided against pressing further and switched to a different question.
"Lady God of Water," he asked, "we met Monsieur Neuvillette today. He said you've been investigating the prophecy — has that investigation turned anything up?"
The question caught Focalors off guard. She blinked, then smiled. "Progress? No, not really. I was only curious, so I've been looking into it a bit. Nothing worth reporting to you. And really, you needn't worry about any prophecy. With me, Focalors, the God of Water, here, everything will be just fine."
Conan pressed on. "But lately girls have been dissolving in the Primordial Seawater. Doesn't that connect to the prophecy—"
Focalors cut him off, raising her voice to repeat herself with even greater emphasis. "All you need to do is trust in me, your god! Whether or not you can honestly convince yourself deep down — do as I say! Besides... it will all be fine. Certainly."
Conan: "..."
Everyone: "..."
Focalors gave no one else the chance to speak. "Ah! Look how late it's gotten. That's enough chatting — we have a courtroom showdown tomorrow, after all. Get some rest tonight, everyone. I'll see you at the opera house tomorrow." With that, she scurried off.
Moroboshi had been about to stop her, but Conan held him back. Watching her go, he asked Conan with obvious frustration, "Why did you stop me? Focalors was clearly lying just now. The courtroom showdown is tomorrow — that could be the game's deadline. Tonight is our last chance, and we finally got our hands on the god of water. Why not use it to ask more about the prophecy?"
Emori backed him up. "Exactly. Honestly, that god of water didn't strike me as all that impressive. With this many of us, holding her for a few questions wouldn't have been hard."
Genta didn't really understand Conan's reasoning either, but with the others criticizing him, he planted himself on Conan's side. "What do you need to ask so much for? Conan must have his reasons." Then he turned to Conan. "Right, Conan?"
Conan: "..."
Genta... you don't even sound sure of that yourself. How can you say it so firmly?
In the end, Conan had to explain. "The reason I stopped Moroboshi is that asking more questions would've been pointless. I noticed something just now — even right after the attack, while she was still terrified, the god of water wouldn't admit she'd been in danger. Now that she's had time to collect herself, I don't think we could get anything out of her without forcing it. And whatever else she is, she's still Fontaine's god of water in name. We can hardly rough her up for answers, can we..."