Focusing his attention on the festival, on the crowd that had gathered around Valen's display, on the way the people pressed forward, their hands reaching out, their voices rising in a cacophony of desperate enthusiasm, they wanted a piece of the fish, a piece of the prosperity, a piece of whatever Valen was selling.
The girl lingering at the edge of his vision faded without warning. Her outline unravelled into countless golden-white motes, each one drifting upward before dissolving into the air. It reminded him of the Rifts. Whenever they claimed a person, they vanished in much the same way, their bodies scattering into fragments of light until nothing remained.
His eyes followed the last lingering particles.
Only then did the truth settle over him.
She had never truly been there.
Not in the way he had believed.
She had been little more than a lingering remnant. A soul unable to depart. A silent witness condemned to watch as the world continued without her.
His chest tightened.
There were countless cruel fates in the world. He had seen enough of them to know that.
Yet this...
This was different.
His eyes followed the last lingering particles.
Only then did the truth settle over him.
She had never truly been there.
Not in the way he had believed.
She had been little more than a lingering remnant. A soul unable to depart. A silent witness condemned to watch as the world continued without her.
His chest tightened.
There were countless cruel fates in the world. He had seen enough of them to know that.
To remain behind for years beyond counting. To watch parents grow old. To see friends continue living. To witness children become adults, adults grow frail, and familiar faces disappear one after another while remaining incapable of speaking to any of them.
Lucid lowered his gaze.
'She was never asking for him to buy from her.'
The realization left a bitter taste in his mouth.
It had never been a negotiation, It had never been a bargain nor had it been some elaborate attempt to persuade him.
It had been a plea. A desperate cry from someone who had exhausted every other option.
His fingers slowly curled.
The thought that followed unsettled him even more.
If Alice's speculation was correct, then the deity to whom she had devoted every last shred of hope had answered her prayer.
Just not in the way she had expected.
Perhaps the town had prospered afterward and the economy may even have recovered.
But yet none of it mattered.
Because the price had been her.
The deity had accepted the offering without hesitation, his attention never left the place where the girl had vanished.
'That still wasn't enough...'
The thought surfaced before he could stop it.
If the domain truly functioned as Alice believed...
If it required more than a single soul...
Then...
His breathing slowed.
It would have continued feeding.
Not only upon her.
Upon everyone else unfortunate enough to become ensnared within it.
His eyes widened.
'Hence the domain.'
Everything aligned.
The Domain of Mercyros was not just a place of commerce and transactions, it was a feeding ground, a trap designed to lure in the desperate and the hopeful, to consume their souls and their futures.
He fed on their faith.
Then suddenly he spoke without even thinking.
"but that's not for me to decide," the thought came unbidden, settling into his mind like sediment in still water, "that's not for me to intervene in, it's just not my responsibility."
He observed the crowd in that instant, every face jumping, every hand gesturing, the hollow individuals that they had become, the empty shells of what they once were, he studied them in great detail, the way their eyes moved without seeing.
the way their mouths smiled without feeling, the way their hands reached out for something they would never truly possess, and he looked at Valen who was more energetic than ever, his movements sharp and deliberate.
His grin almost manic in its intensity, and he looked at Ayame whose eyes were fixed on him, a shallow line opening in her cheek where a new wound had formed, bleeding silently, unnoticed by anyone but him.
He had been sent here, no, they had been sent here to get rid of the Congregation, that had been the mission, that had been the goal, even the princess had suggested he not meddle in affairs that were beyond mortal reckoning.
And the job was already done when he went inside that Domain and broke whatever that auction was, the Congregation was gone, the threat was neutralized.
There was nothing left for him to do here, he felt the notebook they had given him in his back pocket, pressed against his skin through the thin fabric of his swim trunks.
Bizarrely he had kept it, he did not know why, but he had this feeling of not wanting to go further, not needing to, their jobs were done, and he would go back to Elara, then resume on to their lives, whatever that meant now.
He sighed deeply, feeling the weight of his own indecision pressing against his chest like a physical burden, he could feel her observing him, Alice, watching his inner turmoil, his descent into madness, it must have been super interesting to observe.
A front row seat to the destruction of a mortal soul, but you could not blame her, there was a moral dilemma being presented, a choice between two paths that would define everything that came after.
Do your job and only what you came here for, not poking your nose into places you are better off not seeing, do your job and prove that wretched princess wrong by poking your nose in places beyond her, because human lives were at stake.
Because the people of Port Vexis were not just statistics, they were not just pawns in a game of cosmic chess, they were real, they were suffering, and they deserved someone to fight for them.
Arthur watched the crowd, not noticing Lucid's inner turmoil, the mist was practical, it hid his face well, you never knew what he thought of, what he felt, what he feared, he could be screaming inside and no one would ever know.
"I am not someone who can turn away when I clearly see something wrong," Lucid said.
His voice was quiet, but there was certainty behind it.
"I am not the same person I was before. The person who had no power. The person who hid behind others and believed those with authority would naturally create a better world."
He looked toward the survivors.
"I believe anyone can make the world better. It does not matter if the role they take was expected or unwanted. It does not matter if others believe their actions are selfish."
His hand tightened.
"Everyone has a part to play."
The pressure inside his mind increased.
Alice intervened.
Her presence descended over him, overwhelming and absolute. Lucid felt a heavy force press against his thoughts, his body growing tense under the weight of her divine authority.
For a moment, it felt as though his own will was being pushed aside.
But then she stopped.
She noticed something.
He was fighting against it.
Against the comfort of surrendering.
Against the numb acceptance that would allow him to walk away.
Alice remained silent.
A strange sensation passed through her.
Something she had not expected, she could have broken that little pathetic shield of his and numbed him like always.
But she felt a sense of admiration twords him. Like how a brave cute dog charges at a threat to protect its owner.
For the first time, she was looking at him as someone who possessed a will that even she could not easily bend.
And that made it all the merrier.
Arthur's voice cut through Lucid's spiraling thoughts like a blade through silk, breaking the tangled web of indecision and doubt that had wrapped itself around his mind. "Lucid," he said, his tone carrying a note of urgency that demanded attention, "we need to move, Valen and Ayame are waiting, and I have a feeling they have answers we need."
He gestured toward the stage where Valen was still holding court, his golden hair catching the light, his grin wide and unrepentant, and beside him stood Ayame, her pale form still as stone, her eyes fixed on Lucid with an intensity that made his skin prickle, the wound on her cheek had stopped bleeding, but it had not closed, a thin line of red that seemed to pulse with its own rhythm.
Lucid blinked, the fog of his thoughts clearing as he focused on the present moment, the festival was still raging around them, the crowd still cheering, the music still playing, but it all felt distant now, like a dream he was watching from outside his own body, he shook his head, trying to clear the last remnants of his internal struggle, and nodded at Arthur.
"Right," he said, his voice rough, "let's go."