After seeing Nea praying for the Water Spirit to show her a way for nearly an hour, Mira joins the Mermaid Queen in her pleading.
Mira didn't have much faith in that mysterious creature because her people got corrupted by Tyrion and his greed without the Water Spirit appearing to help all of his victims, including the Mermaids.
But now, seeing that the Water Spirit couldn't help as she was still paying the price for helping them a thousand years ago, Mira doesn't know what to think. And since Nea seems to have so much faith in that mysterious protector, she also wants to have hope.
Saria also joins them to pray in front of the giant magic shell. Meanwhile, Lucien continues to help Olivia absorb that dark mana, cleaning the surface of the shell.
The Sins closely watch them as that mysterious shell is something unlike anything they've ever seen, and it seems to have a strange connection to Lucien as an almost imperceptible glow follows his movements across its surface.
Sloth manages to watch in silence for a long time, but Lust and Envy don't have that much patience and end up talking about their thoughts in Lucien's mind.
'Why does it seem that the Nature Spirit knew this would happen??' Envy is the first to speak.
'Good point.' Lust comments. 'And why do things that seem so far away also seem to be connected?'
'You mean the Phoenix thing??' Envy quickly understands what Lust means. 'And everything, absolutely everything always revolves around Lucien...'
'Maybe it's not like that...' Sloth comments in her usual slow tone and her sisters have to wait for her to continue. 'We always see these coincidences as a plan someone has for him, but what if it's not just about him?'
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Lust and Envy wonder about that, but Lucien is the first to speak. 'I've never seen these things being just about me, in fact, it's pretty clear that everything I do depends on the people around me, so I think it's about all of us.'
'Exactly.' Sloth agrees. 'Maybe it's about us or rather what someone has planned for us.'
'Makes sense.' Lust responds.
'Yeah...' Envy still looks pretty confused, but she likes to feel important too. 'I guess so.'
When the Sins mention that 'someone,' they can't help but think of Lucien's mother as she is a figure as mysterious as the woman who made Pride initiate the events that led the Sins to Lucien and his sisters.
Lucien can't deny that his mother looks very suspicious, but he doesn't want to think about that now, so he tells the Sins. 'How about you stop thinking about someone else and figure out a way to open this shell? Olivia is already finishing absorbing the dark mana here.'
'You're right.' Lust supports him anyway.
However, Envy is not optimistic. 'How are we going to open it?? I don't feel any aura coming from this thing, but it is evident that it is an object, or... creature? Anyway, it's magical, and I can't even cross Its surface or materialize my body on the other side.'
'Yeah, this shell is so peculiar...' Sloth comments. 'It seems to have an energy similar to Nature Spirits, something that we can't understand... as if it isn't from this universe...'
Lucien wonders about that. 'If it is a type of treasure, it must have a mechanism, and... if it is a creature, must it react to us?'
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})'To you, I guess.' Sloth answers. 'That little glow following you along the surface of the shell makes it clear that Its energy reacts to you.'
'So what should I do??' He asks, but before Sloth can think of anything else, he notices the sea currents around him getting strong again.
He holds Olivia tightly so she doesn't get swept away by the force of the water before looking at Nea. "Something happened??"
Nea falters due to her body reaching an even higher level of exhaustion. She was already tired when she started that water domain and kept it for three hours before hitting the limit.
Mira quickly supports Nea, who doesn't refuse that help, creating a friendly scene between the two Queens. And Saria quickly starts her water domain, stabilizing the area again.
"She needs a break." Mira talks to Lucien while lending her shoulders for Nea to rest.
Nea looks at Mira with a kind expression. "Thank you... but I can't stop now; our Lady needs my help... I have to..."
"It's alright," Lucien speaks as he approaches Nea and Mira. "See, we've already cleared the dark mana from outside the shell; now we need to find a way in."
"Oh..." Nea looks at the magic shell and notices that its surface now shines so clean, and it reflects the sparkle in her eyes as she looks at Lucien. "I see... that's why our Lady wants you to help her... it had to be you, or I wouldn't even find this place..."
Lucien is glad Nea doesn't seem so hostile to him anymore, but he won't abuse her weakest moment. "We're here as a team, and actually, Olivia did all the work, you know."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Olivia proudly smiles as she continues to hug Lucien. Although that seems like some hard work, she is actually very grateful for that opportunity as the dark energy that now runs inside her body continues to make her cross Sky Realm's layers with the help of Lucien's energies.
Yet, Nea looks at Olivia with a friendly and grateful expression. "Thank you, Olivia; all Blue Star's races owe you a debt for it."
"I don't need your gratitude," Olivia responds in a neutral tone; she doesn't hate the Mermaid Queen, but she, like all Lucien's wives, is not friendly with people who don't respect him.
"Also..." Olivia's smile grows even more brilliantly proud as she hugs Lucien tightly. "I already have everything I could want, or rather, everything any woman could want."
No one would like to have their gratitude answered with arrogance and mockery, but Nea understands that she is the one to blame for that after the way she treated Lucien, so she doesn't think bad of Olivia and just nods.
Mira is trying to get closer to Nea, but she is also one of Lucien's wives and thinks like Olivia about people who don't respect him, so she keeps silent.
Saria isn't upset about the situation either; in fact, she admires Lucien's wives and him for supporting each other that much.
Despite the mood looking strange, Nea still looks at Lucien with a pleading expression. "I can't thank you enough, but... our Lady still needs help, and you seem like the only one who can do something about it..."
"I..." Lucien feels bad that Nea begs him for help while he wants to help the woman in the glass coffin more than anyone else. Yet, he doesn't know how to proceed.
"We don't know how to open the damn shell." Envy to comment in an upset tone and hit the shell surface.
"Don't hit our Lady's protection!" Nea quickly complains to Envy, but when she realizes nothing has really happened, she sighs and changes her tone to something friendly and pleading again. "Please."
Envy rolls her eyes, and Lucien talks to her lovingly. "Take easy, Envy; we're all tense, you know."
"Whatever..." She grumbles as she looks at the shell with a bored expression. "If this primordial wants our help, why doesn't it open this shell and let us go in???"
"Our Lady must be very weak..." Nea comments. "Maybe she can't open the shell right now."
While the others wonder about that, Nea again looks at Lucien. "I can't talk to her... my voice doesn't reach her... but could you try... I don't know, talk to her? Or maybe use your vision ability to enter the shell again and try to get closer to her?"
Lucien also thought about using the vision ability again, but he's a little hesitant. He wouldn't be afraid to face Tyrion now, despite knowing that would be a very wrong decision, yet he fears using his vision ability again and feeling those emotions of suffering that made him feel so helpless and useless.
But if that's the only way, he has nothing else to do. "I guess s-"
"No!" Lust interrupts him by exclaiming in a concerned tone, then she looks at Nea. "Didn't you see how bad he got the last time he used that ability? I don't know what that means, but I won't let him go through that shit again."
"But-" Nea tries to say that that seems like the only way.
"Come on!" Envy quickly interrupts her. "Do you think someone should bleed from their eyes? Not even vampires should do it normally, let alone Lucien."
Slot nods. "It's certainly not advisable for him to use that ability until we understand more about it... or at least right now."
"Mom..." Even Saria tries to speak in Lucien's defense.
Nea sighs. "I guess it can't be helped…
Lucien wants to agree with the Sins, but he can't stop his heart's desires from forcing him to want to do anything to help the supposed Water Spirit.
"We have to do something..." He comments, bringing hope to Nea's heart. Then he looks at the magic shell. "Am I going to try... talk to her? Well, if nothing happens, then all we'll have left is the vision ability."
"Please, try this!" Nea asks. "Perhaps your voice is the only one that can reach our Lady."
Lucien nods, but by realizing that Nea is too weak, he tries to persuade her. "But first, you have to get some rest... we don't know what will happen when the shell opens, but you better be prepared for anything, you know."
Nea doesn't know how to react to Lucien's request. She can feel that his intentions are honest, which makes her feel closer to him, but she also wants to block those feelings. "l..."
Saria is also very concerned about her mother's health, so she looks at Lucien thoughtfully. "Maybe you can... you know, help her recover quickly."
Everyone understands what Saria is suggesting, and Nea can't help but blush a little. "It is not necessary!"
She quickly regrets her tone as she doesn't want to appear to have any hostility towards Lucien anymore, so she tries to explain her point. "Well, it's just that... you're already helping us so much..."
Lucien doesn't have the Mermaids' special abilities, but Nea's feelings are clear to everyone. He could let it go, but a part of him, that part that always makes him act teasingly, doesn't want to miss an opportunity to make the graceful Mermaid Queen blush a little more.
"That would be nothing for me." He smiles at Nea. "I mean, what would be wrong with a few recovery kisses?"
"..." Nea can't help but blush even more as she finds herself in one of the most difficult situations in her life. She is very grateful to Lucien and doesn't want to seem hostile towards him, but she fears that if she gets too close to him, she may fall like all the women around him, which seems like a big problem.
Olivia and the Sins don't have any reaction to that, but Mira and Saria can't help but laugh as they all think the same thing about Lucien. [YOU DEVIL!]
