In one of the deepest and darkest parts of the Blue Star's ocean, there is a set of buildings made of ebony stone; dark energies are more intense in this place than anywhere else in this world as it is the biggest of Tyrion's special prisons.
There, the Naga King's special servant, the Siren Tanu, usually does experiments with Blue Star's most powerful creatures, using dark magic to try to corrupt those monsters to obey Tyrion.
But now, with no time for further experiments, she is working on the greatest spell of her entire life. Using life as fuel for a malefic dark spell, Tanu is simultaneously creating multiple portals to send the most brutal and craziest creatures from that prison over the Mermaid Kingdom.
Inside the largest room in the main building, she floats in the midair while channeling mana into a vortex of dark magic. The vortex creates black siphons that suck the vital energy of different prisoners like animals and even people to open the portals.
Tanu keeps her eyes closed while using her power to the limit to do that perverse spell. She doesn't feel bad about taking so many innocent lives as she believes that is the only way for her to survive in a cruel universe.
Yet, even she can't help but wonder if that's the only way to power. Since her village was attacked by Tyrion and her people killed, she accepted that being his servant would be the only thing that would keep her out of his prisons or even dead.
But as his servant, the only thing she does is help him become stronger. Everyone knows how selfish and greedy he is, so she, as the person currently closest to him, knows that expecting him to reward her for her hard work is laughable.
[But what else could I do other than follow his orders?] She's been thinking about that a lot in the last few days, and as she does that, she can't help but wonder about how Mira and Kamala got away with Lust's host.
[Do she regret it?] Tanu can't help but wonder how Mira is doing now because she's always envied the Naga Queen be it for her talent, character, and beauty.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})And, of course, she also thinks a lot about Lucien and Lust. [That devil looked so amazing... and Lust really seems to love him...]
Many thoughts come to Tanu's mind, and her spell starts to become unstable. "AHH???"
She quickly refocuses, stabilizing the dark vortex. She calms down and tries not to think about Lucien again because if Tyrion finds out that, he could kill her right away.
[You must not think about him... Tanu, you have no choice... all for survival...] She talks to herself.
But at the same time, she's thinking of Lucien, of the sensations he'd made her feel with just his presence. She didn't understand how he did that, but he aroused feelings in her body that she'd never had before, something good that made her body strangely lively.
Tanu tries to get rid of those thoughts, but somehow, she seems to feel again the sensations that only Lucien made her feel. [What is going on???]
She opens her eyes again when she feels as if Lucien is there, looking at her with that teasing expression and a seductive smile, which makes her tail tremble.
[?????????] And the shock comes when she sees a pair of white eyes staring at her. Those eyes seem to be in front of her at the same time they aren't there, and the craziest thing is that she recognizes those eyes even though they have a different color now.
"YOU?!?!" She exclaims in confusion as she prepares to attack. But the pair of white eyes mysteriously disappear as if they were never really been there.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})[?!?!?!?] Tanu is perplexed as she thinks that it could have been an illusion of her exhausted mind. But somehow, she believes it was real because that delicious sensation continues in her body for a while. [Lucien...]
—-------------------------------------
An hour ago.
Lucien can't help but be happy that Nea is increasingly impressed with his abilities, as that supposedly makes her more willing to accept that he might be a good leader for the Mermaids.
Lust, on the other hand, is a little disappointed that Nea and Saria's water mana blocks the poison of the dark energy around. She doesn't wish bad the mother-daughter Mermaid pair, but if they needed the help of 'Doctor Lucien' and his 'Special Healing Tool,' any negotiations ahead would be much smoother.
"What should we do??" The cute Mermaid Princess can't help but ask in a worried tone. And she instinctively looks to Lucien, seeking his help.
"We need to find out what and who is causing these dark mana residues to spread across the sea and stop them." He suggests a simple plan, but also the most effective.
Nea grits her teeth in anger. "It's evident that only someone has power and is so vile to pollute the whole sea... that bastard Naga King!!!"
Saria shares her mother's anger, but she is more sad than upset. "Is he doing this on purpose?? I mean, it's damaging the whole sea, so there wouldn't be anything left even for his own people..."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"We have to be sure of it before planning our next steps..." Lucien comments and then looks at the dark roots below the Mermaid fortress. "If there was any way to track this energy..."
Lust makes a thoughtful expression. "In Superior Worlds, there are magic tools that can track any energy fragment to its source, but... I don't think there's such a tool here, right?"
"I've never heard of anything like that." Nea comments in a sad tone.
Lucien looks at Lust. "Can we build a tool like that? I mean, with the help of Daisy and Rebecca?"
"Yes, it's possible..." Lust responds positively, but her expression doesn't seem so positive. "However, even with our knowledge and their abilities, it would take several weeks, and we would need very rare resources, which I'm sure don't naturally exist in this world."
"So, we need another plan." He comments.
"Let's go to the gates of main Naga City!" Nea speaks in a determined tone. "I've tried to avoid war for a long time, but it's evident that Tyrion is destroying our whole world, so it's time to end it once and for all!"
"And how do you plan on getting through that green barrier?" Sloth asks in her usual slow manner. "He could keep his troops safe inside the barrier while the dark mana in the water would poison your people to death."
"I..." Nea can't think straight being so upset by the death of so many Mermaids and the threat to her entire race. Then she looks at Lucien with the same expression as Saria. "You're going to help me, aren't you? I know Mira does whatever you say, so she could help us get through the barrier."
Lucien sighs. "Mira doesn't blindly obey me, and I wouldn't make her abusive requests either because that's not part of a healthy relationship, you know; we're partners and lovers, not some weird shit you think."
Nea realizes that she may have offended Lucien with her way of thinking, so she quickly apologizes. "But she wants to help her people, right? If Tyrion destroys the sea, it's all over for everyone, so she'll probably want to help us."
"Indeed, she is willing to help, but she also wants to save all the innocent Nagas." He explains. "Anyway, she told me that Tyrion has been slowly corrupting the Naga's Sacred Tree to the point that while it still obeys her Bloodline, it also obeys Tyrion, so there's no way to be sure we can get through the barrier while he's there."
"What the... crap!!" Nea gets very frustrated, but she can't even curse properly, which makes her look cute somehow. "We don't have time for this; my people and my world are in danger..."
"Yeah, it sucks," Lucien comments in a sad tone; it is evident that he is also furious and is struggling to control his emotions. "But we cannot lose our calm, we have to be rational, or we could end up making mistakes that could cost more innocent lives."
Nea would never expect anyone outside of her family to understand how she feels right now. Yet, she can see through Lucien's emotions that he feels just like her.
In fact, she understands that he hates Tyrion even more than she does due to all the harm he's done to Mira and Kamala. Also, she can see more and more how much he cares about her people despite the Mermaids not being his people yet.
Only now, Nea realizes what Saria had already understood, that Lucien has come at the moment they need help the most. She's not foolish enough to believe it's a miracle of fate, but even if it's the work of people manipulating him from the shadows, the result looks the same; she needs him, and he is willing to help.
She lowers another of the emotional barriers that keep her away from everyone and speaks to him in a more friendly tone so far. "You're right; I can't act without thinking, but..."
"Maybe there's another way!" Lust quickly exclaims. She knows how much Lucien cares about the Mermaids, so she's using her mind to the fullest to find a solution.
Lucien, Nea, and Saria look at her expectantly, and she quickly explains. "People with high tracking abilities can follow traces of magic too, but... such individuals with the power and ability to do it without special tools are very few in the whole universe."
"Do you think Maggie's ability could allow us that?" He quickly asks.
"Maybe..." Lust again makes a not-so-positive expression. "But as I said, the people who do this sort of thing have high knowledge, exceptional skills, and thousands of years of training..."
Before Lucien can say that they should try it, Sloth speaks. "Well, what makes it that complex are several factors but mainly the type of energy being tracked..."
"What do you mean?" Lust asks as Sloth is usually so slow.
"Well..." Sloth understands that everyone is very tense, but she can't go against her nature and continues talking slowly. "Lucien has some dark affinity because of Olivia and water affinity because of Angela and her daughters..."
"Oh..." Lust's eyes gleam with expectation as she understands what Sloth means. "Since Lucien has dark affinity, it would make it easier for him to track this mana, and as we are in a world made mostly of water, his water affinity would make it even easier!"
Sloth nods slowly, and Lucien quickly speaks. "Just tell me how to do it!"
Wasting no time, Lust gives Lucien tips on how to try to use Maggie's special mana to activate his vision ability in another way. "You'll have to touch the roots... and it can be a little uncomfortable due to the raw dark mana."
"Alright..." He hands the Ghost Lady to Saria and touches the dark roots without hesitation. As soon as he feels that dark mana, several negative emotions get intenser in his heart, and he can't help but be sorry for Olivia having to deal with such a disturbing element.
"Just like this..." Lust closely watches all the changes in Lucien's body as she continues talking to him about how to track that energy. "It's a complex, but you must try to take your consciousness out of your body... make it fallow the dark mana... with just your vision ability..."
It takes him almost a full hour to use his vision ability to just move his conscience, and Maggie even comes to him to restore his special mana with a few kisses, making the atmosphere less tense.
And even though that seems like a long time for Lucien and the Mermaids due to how eager they are, it is again one of his unbelievable records as the few people who can use the vision ability like that need thousands of years to do so.
Thanks mainly to Lust's energy, which can adapt to all other energies and improve them, and the elemental affinities of his wives, Lucien manages to make his conscience track the dark mana.
That energy makes his vision and consciousness run at extreme speed across the sea, passing through different places until it arrives at Tanu, in that dark prison of Tyrion.
Despite having his conscience split between two very distant places, Lucien manages to talk to the group and report everything he sees. In this case, he reports the interior of that big dark room, Tanu, and the dark spell she is doing.
"That woman... the Siren... she's doing something... looks like portals... lots of them... and in this place... there are so many creatures... monsters..." His words leave Nea and Saria more concerned, just like he gets.
"What else do you see??" Nea can't help but ask because having the opportunity to see through her enemy's plans is an incredible specialty.
"Hmm..." Lucien tries to expand his vision to understand more about Tanu's surroundings, but that makes his presence become more intense around her, and the Siren ends up feeling it.
"FUCK! She noticed me!!" He exclaims when Tanu talks to him.
"Come back now!" Lust gets concerned and asks him to come back. "We don't know much about this ability, so it could be dangerous."
Nea and Saria are also concerned for Lucien's safety, and the Mermaid Queen even regrets asking him to try harder.
"I'm fine..." He comments. "How do I get back?"
"Just try to bring your consciousness back, don't force anything, let it flow like a river." Lust explains.
Lucien continues to do as Lust says and brings his conscience and vision back down a path backward from what he used to reach there. But halfway through, in a place near the very center of the Blue Star, he feels something that shocks him to the core.
"WHAT IS IT?!?!" He can't help but think aloud, leaving the group confused and concerned.
"What happened??!?" Lust, Nea, and Saria ask simultaneously, both worried.
Lucien's eyes shine like solid white pearls while his vision is elsewhere, so he tries to explain. "I'm feeling something calling me... it's a familiar feeling... something I've felt before, but I'm not sure..."
"Calling you???" Lust asks. "To where?? How???"
"I don't know..." Lucien's voice starts to lose strength, and he doesn't even realize it. "This feeling feels so good... I need to go there... I need to see it..."
