After the tense and stressful situation that Nea and Saria went through, both get in a state of shock for a while. The mere idea of losing a loved one is devastating to even the toughest creatures in the universe, let alone such gentle and sensitive beings.
Saria seeks comfort in her mother's embrace as she tries to avoid looking at Lucien's naked body, so she doesn't feel even more attracted to him.
But Nea, on the other hand, allows herself a moment to relax and fill her mind with something other than concerns, and for that, the devil's beautiful and perfect body works perfectly.
However, that moment only lasts a minute before Nea comes back to her senses. Her thoughtful expression reverts to a sharp gaze as she looks upset with Lucien. "Don't you intend to use clothes anymore?"
Lucien can't help but laugh, still maintaining his usual teasing expression as he looks Nea in the eyes. "I'm not sure... you seem to be enjoying the view."
"Huh???" Saria looks at her mother's face with a curious expression.
"..." Nea feels the embarrassment growing in her heart; she doesn't feel ashamed to admire Lucien's body, but she doesn't want her daughter to think she's falling in love with that devil too.
She thinks about saying something, but before any sound leaves her mouth, the sky roars above as black clouds bring rain and thunder; Also, the sea finishes covering the crater made by Lucien's energy explosion, reminding the group of their purpose there.
"We have to go on..." Nea lets go of Saria and swim westward, passing on Lucien's side in silence, but he can see her lips slightly curving before she moves on. "The fortress is near."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Lucien turns and watches Nea from behind; her tail's movements are as sexy as any Mermaid's, but she seems to have a special grace that she shares only with Saria.
As he thinks of the cute Mermaid Princess, he also feels her quickly come up behind him and hugs him tightly, pressing her breasts against his wings and back.
"Thank you!" She speaks joyfully before her tone becomes low and shy. "I knew you wouldn't let anything happen to me, but… I felt horrible when I thought you got hurt because of me."
Lucien can't help but smile at how adorable Saria is. "Liking someone a lot is like this... it's not easy, and it makes us suffer as much as it makes us happy."
"I see..." Still hugging him, Saria makes a thoughtful expression. "So, why did you choose to have so many precious people? Doesn't that make you suffer more than anyone else??"
"I think so..." He replies. "But also no... anyway, my life would be meaningless without them, so I think there wouldn't be another path for me."
"A path, you say..." She remains thoughtful. "I always believed that there was only one path for me, but now I'm not sure about that anymore."
Due to Saria's warm embrace, Lucien can't help but get aroused, mostly because of her pure feelings. That also makes his body react, and his tail starts to sway, touching her body and making her blush.
"Maybe your path remains the same, and it will just be improved with new people who can make your life better." He comments.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Saria blushes even more as she can't control her feelings; she wants so badly to caress Lucien's tail, kiss his lips, feel every part of his body... That drives her crazy, and so she quickly releases him before swimming after her mother.
But before getting too far away from him, she looks back and smiles kindly at him; words are unnecessary as her feelings are evident, so she goes back to swimming.
Lucien sighs; he feels a little bad that he hesitated to save Saria even for half a second, but he needed that time to understand how much important she already is to him.
So he swims in that direction too. After a few minutes, Nea sees Saria passing by her as a blushing ray, clearly embarrassed by the interactions with Lucien.
Nea isn't moving at full speed as she tries to keep her senses as sharp as possible, so she notices Lucien approaching her as well.
He slows down to swim beside her, and before he can say anything, she does first, in an honest and grateful tone. "Thank you."
"What is the reason for this gratitude?" He quickly asks, leaving her confused.
"The fact that you saved my daughters just ago, of course." She quickly responds.
"Oh, that..." Lucien speaks in a casual tone. "You don't have to thank me for that; It wasn't because of you."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Nea rolls her eyes. "Was it to make her like you even more?"
"No, of course not." He quickly responds. "I like her a lot, and no matter what happens between us, I will always help her."
Nea can feel Lucien's intentions and how honest he is. And he's been that way since the beginning, which would be very strange even if he wasn't a demon. [Is it his arrogance that allows him to be so straightforward?]
She can't understand many things about him and so tries to get to know him better through casual conversation. "Why did you ask why I was grateful to you? I mean, should I know something other than you saving my daughters?"
He smiles with that teasing expression that Nea is no longer sure what feelings arise in her. "Well, I'm grateful to you for just showing up in my life."
She shakes her head, not understanding how he can actually talk nonsense so frankly. "And you expect me to be grateful to you for being in my life too? What's next, we get married, and I show my immense gratitude by sucking your cock??"
"That would be great!!" Lucien exclaims expectantly as he genuinely believes in a future like that. Then he smiles at her lovingly. "But I'll also make you feel good using my mouth, don't worry."
"..." Nea doesn't know how to react. She feels like Lucien can see the future with some miraculous ability to say those things so confidently, a crazy future, of course.
"Hahaha..." He starts laughing at her reactions; messing with arrogant and graceful women like her is a special joy for him and also a way to improve her relationship with her, creating fun memories at least.
Nea rolls her eyes again, but even she can't help but smile at how bizarre this situation seems. "Hehehe... you're a very wierd devil..."
Lucien is lost in thought, seeing how beautiful Nea's face looks when she's laughing. Even though she is so hostile towards him, he doesn't hate her because he understands all the reasons that make her act that way and is willing to accept her just as he accepts the Sins with their even more peculiar personalities.
"It's okay to call me a weird devil; just don't call me a boy anymore." He comments.
"Oh?" Now it's her turn to make a teasing expression without even noticing it. "Why? Does that destroy your expectations of getting laid with me??"
"No." He answers in a determined tone. "It's already a fact, which will happen no matter what. But I feel weird when you call me a boy; it makes the difference between our ages seem significant, when in fact it won't have any relevance on our relationship."
"DAMN!" Nea exclaims in disbelief. "You've just been almost devoured by a shark, but your arrogance still touches the skies!"
"Hehe..." He smiles. "That's part of my charm, you know."
Nea shakes her head again, trying to deny herself a bitter truth. After a minute of swimming in silence, she starts talking again. "Why my people?"
Lucien looks into her eyes, and his expression becomes purely honest, without any teasing. "I don't know how to explain it well..."
"Try." She asks.
"Alright." He nods and then makes a thoughtful expression. "Well... it's evident that I need more power, not just personal or for my family; I also need influence and troops."
Nea listens in silence as Lucien continues. "I already have some troops; it's a small group of around two thousand people. I left them in Argerim because it would take a lot of resources to bring them with me, and they would be easy prey in a world like this with their current power level."
Lucien pauses as he remembers a not-too-distant past. "Actually, this all started with me just wanting the strength to rescue my mother and protect my sisters... but things took an unexpected turn, and I had to change."
"My first troops were actually a group of bandits that attacked Angela's kingdom," He explains. "I promised her I would solve that problem, probably by killing them all."
"But when I saw them in the forest... I realized they were homeless people, fighting in the shit to survive. I didn't feel sorry for them, but I saw an opportunity there."
Nea can't help but think aloud. "The more screwed up people are, the easier it is to get their loyalty, just by offering a little help."
"Exactly." Lucien nods. "And I did that, I offered them help in exchange for loyalty and used them as servants to rebuild Angela's kingdom while my wives and I trained them for a war... one where they would likely die as good pawns."
She understands that it is normal for soldiers to die in battles for their masters since the beginning of time, and it will likely be that way forever. However, she can see in Lucien's eyes that he doesn't like it that way.
"Well, I thought I wouldn't mind their deaths, but..." A special sparkle flashes through his eyes. "I thought that all I could give them was my limited knowledge of combat, but it turned out that I could also strengthen them with my power... not all of them, of course."
He doesn't even like to think about that but makes an effort to explain it to Nea. "Lust says my energy can strengthen men too, but I couldn't do something like that... I know a lot of men want it and are even attracted to me, but I don't plan on using it on men no matter what."
"I see." Nea understands that because all Mermaids are females and no matter how hard they try, they cannot feel strong sexual attraction to other females; they may feel romantically connected to them sometimes, but their bodies don't get aroused by a woman's touch.
Lucien sighs. "I tried to strengthen the men of my troops with resources like potions made from life crystals, but it turned out that only women could receive the benefits of my power, so they naturally became more loyal to me, and I became more connected to them."
Nea looks into his eyes with a fond expression. "And then you no longer saw their lives as disposable..."
"Yes." He nods. "The thought of their death seemed horrible to me, so I did my best to strengthen them in every way possible, and in that war that followed, not one woman under my command died; some got seriously injured, but I healed them immediately."
"So you understand why every Mermaid is so precious to me." Nea comments. "I don't want any of them to die fighting by your side in wars against the Superior Races."
"Naturally." He responds. "But you see, I got attached to those bandits I rescued from the forest, a people I only saw as pawns... but with the Mermaids, it was totally different."
He smiles. "When I first met Rupa, I couldn't help but think that if all Mermaids were such lovely and kind creatures, they deserved my care more than any other people..."
His honest expression remains, but his smile gets teasing again. "And of course, in the future, when I've resolved all my family's problems, I'd like to find a place to live in peace around such lovely creatures."
Lucien pauses before finishing. "I know it sounds dangerous, but the best opportunities are always accompanied by risks. And in exchange for loyalty, what I offer is also loyalty; in exchange for power, you will have more power, and in exchange for happiness, you will get more happiness."
Many thoughts run through Nea's mind, and she keeps looking into Lucien's beautiful blue eyes. Then she smiles. "I believe you."
