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A shaky sigh escaped his mouth.
It was raining outside right after a trial as usual. Except it wasn’t just raining. It was pouring. Neuvillette didn’t know why he felt more shaken up than other days. It was just another trial. Why? Why was he crying so much?
Soft sobs escaped his mouth. His elbows were on his desk with his hands covering his face. His nails were sunken deep into his skin. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he started bleeding from it. He tried his best to keep quiet but failed miserably.
“Monsieur Neuvillette? Are you alright?”
A melusine walked through the door. He swore it was locked.
He gathered the courage to respond.
With a shaky voice he reassured he was fine. It wasn’t convincing, but it was clear he didn’t want to talk to anyone at the moment. The melusine left with a sigh shutting the door behind it.
A while passed.
The pouring soon turned into normal rain.
He finally calmed down.
Sure there were still tears falling from his eyes. But at least they didn’t feel like fountains anymore. He wiped his tears away with a handkerchief as he looked in his pocket mirror. The sound of rain usually stressed him out. Not this time.
The rain turned into sprinkling.
There weren’t tears anymore.
He looked outside the window. The weather seemed nice. Perfect for a stroll…
It was cloudy outside. Calming. He sat on a large rock near the water. He wasn’t thinking about anything in particular. He was just enjoying the view. It was hard trying not to think about the trial. Letting his thoughts run free was a mistake. Soon it started to rain again.
“Hydro dragon, hydro dragon! Don’t cry!”
He looked up. A blond young boy wearing a diving suit was standing a few meters in front of him.
It stopped raining. A cloudy sky stood before both of them. The young boy seemed happy. He looked around. For a moment they both locked eyes. The boy’s eyes widened. He quickly looked away and dived back into the water.
“Wait!” Neuvillette stood up. He didn’t know why he did it. He just did. Out of instinct.
The young boy slowly came out of the water. His diving mask displayed a nervous emotion. Interesting.
Neuvillette didn’t know what to say now.
The young boy dived back into the water.
“No…”
Neuvillette took off his shoes and went after the boy. The water was cold and he knew it would probably ruin his clothes and hair. But that didn’t matter right now. He catched up to the boy thanks to his swimming skills. A little out of breath. Not surprising due to his old age. He put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. The boy seemed frightened. He didn’t even try to get away. He was prepared for for what was coming.
Or at least for what he thought was coming. Neuvillette’s grip was gentle. He pointed upwards signaling he wanted to talk to him above the surface of the water. The boy and Neuvillette slowly went up. Once they were out they were both soaking wet.
It was silent. Too silent. He had to say something.
“…what’s your name?”
“…why should I tell you?”
A stubborn one.
“…apologies. My name is Freminet.”
The name sounded familiar to Neuvillette. It echoed in his head.
“The experienced diver?”
The boy hesitantly nodded his head.
Interesting.
“…I am Neuvillette. The Chief Justice.”
“…I’m aware…what buisiness do you have with me Mr. Chief Justice…?”
Dear archons… Neuvillette didn’t know why he chased after him. His best guess was that it was out of pure instinct.
It was silent for a while.
That’s right Neuvillette thought.
“…how do you know about the Hydro Dragon legend? I thought many people stopped believing in that.” Neuvillette didn’t know why he asked this.
“…”
No response.
“If that is all I will be leaving now.” The boy seemed eager to leave.
The boy swam away.
Great…