"T-They summoned him?!" Miranda wondered. "Now... This makes sense."
"I see, so this is why when I confronted his soul, I felt such a similar power to the one coming from the Chaos Spirits." Said Ruby.
"Huh? Y-You confronted his soul?!" Asked Sapphire in shock.
"Yes, and I cursed him before departing. That must've weakened him a bit. It is a curse that works over time, so it will only get worse." Laughed Ruby.
"I-I've lived my entire life concealed inside this island, and was never able to learn the things from the outside world... To think there's such powerful people out there. Vampires in specific!" Sapphire said.
"I did heard you guys had a Vampire problem some hundreds of years ago?" I wondered.
"Yes, but that was... resolved. Although gruesomely. They had come from another country through the ships." Sighed Sapphire. "Nonetheless, I had found out they were being manipulated by the Deep One, and hunted them down. They were evil, unlike the Vampire girl here, Ruby, was it?"
"Yeah. I don't really mind it. They might have been vampires like me but... I didn't knew them anyways. And I am well aware of the vicious nature of my bloodline." Ruby said.
"Well, that's nice to hear." Sapphire sighed in relief. "Now, let's continue."
She continued explaining, as the images showed an enormous gate in the skies, the people summoning it began falling to death one by one, their very souls were eaten by the Deep One's powers as he manifested himself.
Only a massive amount of tentacles continued emerging. He seemed to have no real shape, and was more like a mass of black flesh with red eyes and tentacles everywhere. I guess I couldn't had expected much originality from his design.
"The Deep One came from that other world the Chaotic Realm, and upon his summon he immediately fought against Aquarius. He was brought to destroy, and so he did. Using his otherworldly powers that corrupted and devoured everything, he overwhelmed our god and defeated him in a gruesome battle in the seas..." Sighed Sapphire. "But our Lord did not fall without giving a fight either..:"
The pictures changed, as both titans were shown to fight in the middle of a sea raging with a thunderstorm. A gigantic Cthulhu-like monster versus the sea dragon.
"Our God used his special powers and his very soul to corrupt the Deep One's very heart, weakening him in the process. But by sacrificing most of his powers, he was also easily defeated afterwards, and his body was cursed by the Deep One." Cried Sapphire.
"He became an empty husk. With his last remaining will, I utilized my own powers bestowed from his own divinity and sealed him and the Deep One. The Deep One's powers... were still overwhelming, so I utilized the power of my lord's Four Familiars, transforming them into Stigmas that sealed a fragment of his powers, and then cursing my own bloodline to hold them through the next generations to maintain the monster sealed for eternity."
The pictures continued moving, as it showed Sapphire herself doing the deed. The Deep One's powers were shattered into four fragments. Using all these powers granted to her by the inheritance of the Dragon God himself, Sapphire was able to seal them all, but to completely seal the Deep One's powers, she had to curse her own bloodline to carry the Four Stigmas.
"I carry the Stigma of Curses and Monsters." Said Sapphire. "I've been able to live so long since then thanks to having ascended into a Deity myself, but that was only thanks to my lord, who trusted me and granted me the last divine power he held... Rose, my child, you're my descendant, and despite what you might believe, you're most likely part of the royal family of our Queendom, as you carry the Stigma as well."
"This Stigma?!" Asked Rose in shock. "S-So my mom... Was she a princess or the previous queen?"
"Most likely." Sapphire nodded. "I am sorry for not being able to protect you... But it seems the previous queen might have been your mother. if you appeared in the suburbs, it means she tried to bring you as far as possible from the castle, knowing that her sister, the current queen, might try to use you as a sacrifice to awaken the Deep One."
"S-So that's... how it was?" Rose felt rather surprised, yet at the same time, I could tell her heart was very hurt. She felt... it could even be said she felt empty. "This damn Stigma... And that Deep One... If it wasn't for them I could... I could had been raised with a family..."
"Rose..." Coral tried to comfort her, but Rose quickly rejected his hand.
"I... I need time alone..." Rose began crying, running away from the room.
"Rose!" Coral quickly ran behind her, and so did Benladra and Kate.
"Rose? Wait!" Benladra said.
"Rose..." Kate seemed just as worried.
"Wait, children!" Sapphire cried.
"Leave them..." I said. "I guess she needs some time alone." I sighed. "She has gone through a lot, don't you think? And I trust my daughters, I am sure they'll comfort her."
"Drake..." Sapphire sighed, looking into my eyes. "Your gentle eyes... They remind me of him, of Aquarius. A faint, yet noble light... Are all dragons like this?"
"Huh? W-Well... We are kind of like family so maybe?" I said while feeling slightly awkward.
Was this lady... in love with Aquarius, by any chance? The way she talks about him is not with devotion or faith, but with an even stronger emotion, a strong emotion of love.
"Lady Sapphire, did you...?" Benladann wondered.
"Were you and Aquarius...?" Miranda asked.
"Eh?! Ah..." Sapphira felt surprised we figured it out so quickly. "Is it... too obvious? Yes... I... Lord Aquarius and I... We loved each other."
"Now it makes so much sense he entrusted all of this responsibility to you!" Yuki sighed. "And even his divinity, no less..."
"And this is also why... You look so saddened each time you talk about him, as if your heart was being broken apart again?" Ruby wondered.
"Yes... I suppose I've become rather transparent as I've aged... I miss him... I miss him so much." Sapphire started crying.
Suddenly, I put a plate with seafood hot pot in front of her, the smell quickly waking her up from her dizziness.
"Ah, this food..." She muttered.
"Eat up, we can't plan what to do next with an empty stomach." I smiled back at her.
"Heh, thank you." She sighed, cleaning her tears, and beginning to eat. "Ah, so warm and tasty..."
"Yep, there's deep one's vessel in that." I said with laughter.
"PPFFFF... W-WHAT?!"
Oops, maybe I shouldn't had told her the secret ingredient...
