Over the distant horizon, dark clouds continue to gather, creating a cold and gloomy scene. Even the youngest Mermaids in the army can see that something big and possibly bad is about to happen.
They can all feel the difference in the water, the sea getting angry, and their Queen concerned. The Mermaids wonder if this has anything to do with Lucien's arrival, or is he the help against a bigger problem?
Five miles from the Mermaid camp, Nea also wonders about that while looking southwest. She doesn't have as good eyesight as Lucien and the Sins, but due to her affinity to water and specifically connection to the Blue World's seas, she can feel a group of Mermaids swimming quickly towards her.
Nea can even feel the desperation of those Mermaids as if they were running from imminent death. But then she turns around when she notices other people coming up from behind.
[It's him... him again.] She's not happy to see Saria holding Lucien's hand as they fly. Although she doesn't feel negative emotions from Lucien toward the Mermaids, Nea can clearly see that his life is shrouded in mysteries and dangerous people.
"..." She sighs. She wouldn't mind dying to keep her people safe and thriving. Still, the idea of letting her daughter be seduced by the devil and ending up leading the Mermaids into the middle of a war between Superior Races is terrifying.
[But what could I do?] Nea wonders. She knows Lucien and his family are trouble, but he doesn't even have to try very hard to make any woman attracted to his offers.
She understands that the more she tries to push Lucien away from Saria, the more attracted to him she becomes. And that's not just about the Princess; the other Mermaids are also starting to feel that way... tempted to him and what he can offer.
The fruits of the Mermaids' sacred tree have strengthened their people for thousands of years, but only a few of them can truly benefit from it, and except for the royal family, other Mermaids can only have a piece of that fruit in their whole life.
The Mermaids never complained about that because the power that comes from the fruits is accompanied by great responsibility; the royalty has to protect the people at all costs.
But Lucien looks different. Nea can hear the Mermaids talking about him all the time; some of them think he wants to steal their souls, but most of them don't quite know what to think. They believe he can strengthen a woman with just one look and wonder if being loyal to someone like that would even be worth going to war for him.
"Mom." Nea wakes up from her thoughts by Saria's concerned voice.
"Oh?" She looks at her daughter before looking at Lucien and Eve. Maya is there, too, with an annoyed expression, making Nea wonder how they managed to piss off someone like her.
Nea doesn't hide some hostility and apprehension as she looks at Lucien, and he notices that, so he flies away from Saria and goes a few meters forward to look at the horizon.
Eve stands by Lucien's side as Lust and Pride materialize their bodies close to them; even the Sins have strange expressions as they look at those black clouds.
"It's furious..." Lust comments in a mysterious tone. "I can feel something there, I don't know what it is, but it's certainly angry."
"That's a powerful energy." Pride also comments in a stern tone. The fact that even she is that way makes Lucien more concerned.
"How likely is it to be Leviathan?" He asks, causing Nea, Saria, and Maya to look at the Sins.
"This is different from the Leviathan." Pride responds.
"It doesn't look like an aura..." Lust explains. "It's more like raw energy, furious and unstable."
"Like is a crystal mine energy?" He asks.
Lust makes a thoughtful expression for a second before nods. "Yes, it's actually quite similar to magic crystal energy, however..."
She looks at Nea. "Do you know about mines of dark crystals in this world?"
"I think never." Nea quickly responds. "Well, I've never heard of any dark crystal mines, and there's nothing like that in the records of my people either."
"What about that ritual..." Lucien pauses for a second before looking at Nea with a sorry expression. "The one Kaisa did. I mean, wasn't there dark magic involved in that?"
Saria bows her head with a sad expression as she holds the Ghost Lady's hilt tightly. Nea sighs before answering. "Yes, but I'm pretty sure the dark magic was brought here by the Fox Princess."
"I see." Lucien knows that talking about that is painful for Nea and Saria, so he stops the questions about that.
"What about Tyrion and the Siren??" Lust quickly thinks of something. "They have a great affinity for dark magic, so it's likely that they found a dark crystal mine in the depths of the ocean."
Pride shakes her head. "But then they would have absorbed up all that dark magic..."
Nea sighs. "I don't think a dark crystal mine could do that to the sea... whatever it is... it's much bigger than we can imagine; the sea is angry, the Blue Star is furious."
Maya looks at the Mermaid Queen with an apprehensive expression. "Nea, do you think I should go back home and protect my people??"
"I'm still not sure wh-" Nea starts to respond.
"Of course not." But Lucien quickly comments as he looks at Maya with a determined expression. "Your daughter is still in danger, and you clearly want to save her, so going back home now wouldn't be right."
Nea disapproves of that comment and quickly exclaims. "Who are you to say what she must or not to do?!?"
"I didn't mean what she must do." He responds in a neutral tone. "But it's evident that she wants to save her daughter, so even if she can't go to the bottom of the ocean, she would regret just returning home without her daughter."
Nea shakes her head with a disapproving expression. "To lead requires sacrifices, and for leaders, their people are more important than the family."
"Ridiculous!" Lucien immediately denies that. "Even leading thousands of people, if a leader can't take care of their own family, how can they take care of thousands of other families??"
"..." Nea can't deny that Luciem's words make some sense. But many generations of her family have been teaching their descendants to protect the Mermaid people at any cost, so she can't just ignore that.
She looks away and notices Saria gazing at Lucien with sparkling eyes, which makes her upset. "Do you approve of that?? So you think that if Kaisa hadn't sacrificed herself, our people would still exist??"
"She also did that to save us!" Saria quickly responds while holding the Ghost Lady; the sword's blade begins to glow as Saria continues. "I think we can protect our family and people at the same time; that's what I want to believe."
Nea sighs again, but before she can say anything, Lucien speaks to her. "Wouldn't you have sacrificed yourself in your daughter's place?"
"That would be different." She explains. "By the time I found out about that, it was already too late... but if I could, I would have done it, not to save my daughter but because it was my duty as Queen and also because Kaisa could do so much more for our people as the next Queen."
Now it's Lucien's turn to shake his head. "If you want to lie to yourself, I won't stop you, but... I can see in your eyes that you would do anything to protect your daughters, even if it went against your duties as a Queen."
"Oh, you little devil-" Nea starts to get really angry, mostly because Lucien's words have both teasing and sense.
But before she can do anything, Maya stands between them with burning wings and blazing eyes. "STOP!!!" She exclaims in an authoritative tone before making a sorry expression. "I didn't mean to cause fights; I just..."
"It's ok, my friend." Nea sees that Maya is worried about her daughter and people, so she stops arguing with Lucien to comfort her friend.
Lucien turns to the horizon again, but he also notices Saria gazing at him, now with brighter eyes and a gentle smile on her face, making him smile at her too.
That might have seemed like an argument to others, but Saria paid close attention to Lucien's words and feelings at that moment. She realized that he praised Nea, not only as a wise Queen but also as a caring mother.
He exposed Nea's feelings and how hard it is for her to deal with the responsibility of being a Queen and a mother at the same time.
"They're getting closer." Lust comments, breaking that awkward silence.
Lucien looks out to sea and sees the water being stirred up by a group of Mermaids coming from the east. That is evidently a group of scouts that Nea sent towards the dark clouds and the reason she called Saria.
As Lucien and the others fly over the sea, the Mermaids just poke their heads out of the water and look at Nea with respectful and worried expressions.
"My Queen..." The one who looks like the leader of the group speaks first, although Lust warns Lucien that the strongest of them is behind the others, severely hurt.
Several other Mermaids in that group are injured, but not as badly as the one hiding behind the others. Nea notices that, but since the storm situation looks like a global problem, she gets right to the point. "What did you find out?"
"Ehhh..." The leading Mermaid makes a concerned expression as her gaze wanders between Nea, Lucien, and the Sins. "Is that..."
"You can speak freely." Nea quickly comments. "Whatever this is, it's already involved all of us."
"Yes, my Queen." The Mermaid nods and quickly starts reporting. "We tried to go as far southwest as possible, but the sto... the storm was too strong. We didn't find out much, but it's like your majesty feared... the storm is..."
"Coming from the central region..." Nea completes the sentence while her expression becomes even more concerned. Then she looks for the Mermaid group. "You did well; now rest and tend to the wounded."
The leading Mermaid bows with a grateful expression. "Yes, my Queen."
The group of Mermaids swims towards the camp, the most injured is being carried by two others, and by seeing that, Lucien calls them. "Wait!"
"What is this about???" Nea quickly asks.
Lucien points to the most injured Mermaid. "Your case looks serious; I don't know much about your people's medical abilities, but my sister can help you right now."
Nea shakes her head. "It's okay, we have excellent doctors in the army, so they will receive immediate treatment."
"I'm sure they will, but..." Lucien tries to insist since Lust is mentally telling him that the other Mermaids can't heal that woman like Sophia.
Nea thinks he just wants to show off and try to gain more affection from the Mermaids, so she tries to deny it again, but the leading Mermaid interrupts her.
"Sorry, my Queen!" She speaks in a desperate tone, leaving Nea confused. "She is actually the leader of our group, and... that was my fault; I wanted to find out more about the storm and got too close... I was swept away by a terrible hurricane, but she saved me... at her own safety's cost."
"Oh, I see..." Nea looks at the injured Mermaid with a proud expression before looking at Lucien. "That is the burden of a leader; to sacrifice herself to protect those under her command."
"Oh really?" Lucien smiles teasingly at Nea as the Mermaid leader pulls the injured ones out of the water and leads them towards him.
When those Mermaids come out of the water, and everyone can see their bodies, Saria and Maya get immediately so sorry for them as their bodies are badly hurt and their armors destroyed.
However, the Mermaid leader looks much better than the other since her mate has several parts of her body mutilated, and even her right arm was completely taken away by the hurricane.
Strangely, the Mermaid leader seems to be suffering a lot more because of her mate, who seems to have already accepted death.
"You..." Nea is also sorry for that woman's situation.
But the injured Mermaid smiles at her Queen. "I completed my mission... I brought everyone back alive... and..."
Her expression becomes very loving as she looks to the Mermaid leader. "I protected my little sister..."
[Sister???] Nea finally understands why Lucien had that teasing expression on his face. The Mermaid who jumped into the hurricane was not only saving her mate as the leader in charge but risking everything to save her family.
The injured Mermaid had already accepted death as even the best doctor among their race could not restore her lost body parts. And as a proud warrior, the life she could have next would be excruciating.
Nea wouldn't be too sorry if a group leader died protecting her mates. That person would die with honor and be remembered by everyone with love. But that is different because if the older sister dies now, the young sister will go into depression and blame herself forever.
Then she looks at Lucien. "Can you really help her???"
He stops trying to tease the Mermaid Queen and quickly responds. "Sophia can."
'If you manage to wake her up...' Lust comments in his mind.
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