After Sapphire explained us many things about the Stigmas, her true identity, and more, she seemed to have come to a conclusion.
"It has been so many years since I considered fighting them... If you truly are willing to do as you said, then... I will also help you. But don't think this will be easy, that Dungeon... It is where the Guardian's remains have been sealed, even after death, he seems to not be able to rest in peace." She sighed.
"The Guardian?" I wondered. "Just who is he?"
I had been growing rather tired of her using names I couldn't recognize, and the more I heard about this "Guardian" the more intrigued I became.
"He's an Ancient Being, a Divine Dragon, just like you." She said, her eyes seemed filled with sadness as she recalled his name. "He was Aquarius, the Great Sea God, and the founder of our country."
"A Divine Dragon like me? And a Sea Dragon at that!" I said in surprise. "The only one I've ever meet is Leviathan, but she's a Dragon Monster that was born from a Dungeon..."
"Indeed... This story goes to the beginning of our history, when we mermen lived as many small tribes spread across the coasts. We possessed magic and were intelligent, but the beasts that roamed the seas were too dangerous. In the past, the seas weren't as dangerous, however, as the Eras went by, the world was filled with Miasma and Dungeons, and so were the oceans." Sapphire said.
FLASH!
Suddenly, she conjured magic, generating images of the past resembling paintings made of many colorful smokes. It showed several mermen swimming around the seas, and a group of them praying to a god, a gigantic sea snake.
"As multiple tribes, we continued praying and praying to our God, a God of the Oceans and Seas. Believed to be a beautiful sea snake that dwarfed every other monster."
"Ultimately, such prayers were answered." She said. "He came. A beautiful, and gigantic being, the divine god of the seas, he... Lord Aquarius."
The pictures changed, as it showed many mermen shocked as a gigantic and majestic being emerged from the seas, it resembled Leviathan a bit, but it might have been several times bigger, and it also quite fat, with a long beard. It seemed ancient and powerful.
"He came answering our prayers, sent by his mother, the Progenitor Dragon Goddess of Sea Dragons, Aquarius came to protect us. He used his powers to create the Aquarius Archipelago, and invited all Mermen tribes to live over its bountiful lands." She said. "He filled them with nature, with forests filled with fruits and vegetables, with mountains filled with precious metals, and with bountiful seas surrounding the various smaller islands."
The show once more changed. The pictures now showed the enormous Sea Dragon summoning the island and then utilizing his divine powers to create the land of the mermen, the Aquarius Archipelago. I noticed the children looking attentively in surprise, fascinated by the moving images.
The more I watched the images, the more I felt like I was within that picture's world. The story continued as Sapphire explained more of this archipelago's past.
"Lord Aquarius was humble. I... I remember speaking with him myself. He disliked being called a God, but always let us do as we pleased because he said it was what made us happier." Sighed Sapphire. "Like that, our ancestors created a religion, the Religion of the Sea God. The Deep One who's impersonating Aquarius is NOT the real Sea God."
"Then... why did Aquarius... die?" Miranda wondered. "How did he die?"
"Well, that's the hard part to explain..." Sapphire sighed, a tear began flowing from one of her eyes. "As time went by, tribes unified as a gigantic queendom, but this queendom became unstable. Living with so many luxuries also made us selfish and egocentric. We ended splitting into two factions who wanted more than the other. The gifts of Lord Aquarius were meant to be shared with one another, but these ancestors were selfish, wanting everything for themselves."
The pictures showed two groups of mermen, almost identical, led by two different queens that used to be sisters. Both fought wars and killed one another for these resources which were plentiful, showing how Aquarius had committed a mistake by giving them too much without always being present. He was gentle, but never taught them how to earn their own bread.
"What? You guys fought because you had everything? Sheesh." Miranda sighed, crossing her arms.
"I guess Aquarius wasn't all that virtuous, he gave them all, but he never taught the to share and to also earn things on their own." Benladann sighed.
"More or less." Sapphire nodded. "Nonetheless, he tried to stop this senseless bloodshed, taking away the riches he bestowed and punishing the mermen. He decided to create a special family, the royal family, as the ones that would distribute the food and necessities instead, while asking everyone to cooperate and to earn their own weight."
"But this... of course, wasn't without its flaws. The opposing group, albeit temporarily suppressed, fought back after many years. The sister of the queen of those times was said to have been an Evil Sorceress that channeled the power from an ancient Chaos Spirit's Core, giving her Chaos Attribute magic and otherworldly powers..." She explained.
The pictures once more changed, showing the insane "Sorceress Queen" as she raised a black orb. It was indeed the core of a Chaos Spirit. How did that end in her hands is a mystery but seeing how they were killed all over the world, it is not rare to find their remains around the world. Similarly to how we found that one that turned into a the deity of the lizardmen.
"She sacrificed thousands of innocent souls and used the core's complete power to summon their own God." Said Sapphire. "A gigantic Gate in space opened, as a being from another world... from the same world where the Chaos Spirits came, emerged. They called him their True Sea God, but our people came to fear him as the Deep One."
