The situation is tense inside the mysterious magic shell as Nea stares at Lucien with a frustrated expression. Most of the women there love him, but they also understand why the Mermaid Queen is that way.
"While we were all here freaking out, you were..." Nea blushes both in anger and embarrassment. "Having sex?!?!"
"I needed to relax a little, just like you do." He responds in a calm tone.
"Of course!!!" She comments in a sarcastic tone.
Lucien's good mood starts to go downhill quickly, and his ever-friendly smile disappears for a few seconds. "Why do you try to make me look like a villain the whole fucking time???"
The girls get surprised by his words, and Nea doesn't even know what to say. But that's not the end, and Lucien continues. "I had to get out of here because you kept asking me questions which I don't have an answer for..."
"You expect things from me that I can't give you…" He takes a step toward her and continues to release all the complaints from his heart. "And even though I've been sincere, understanding, and even friendly with you since the beginning, you're never satisfied!"
Lucien's harsh words are a bitter truth to Nea, and even Saria agrees with him, so the stubborn Mermaid Queen is forced to accept that she is wrong.
"Alright..." She sighs and looks into his eyes. "How can I fix that?"
"Start with apologizes and then stop acting like an arrogant bitch with me." He quickly responds.
"I'm sorry." No one expected Nea to apologize so quickly, but she does, and quite frankly.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Lucien's teasing smiles reappear on his face, but his expression turns neutral as he points to the glass coffin and speaks in a little concerned tone. "I want to understand who that woman is and what she represents to me as much as you do, but..."
Nea can see through Lucien's feelings, but she doesn't think to tell anyone that. "It's okay... you don't have to do anything alone; we're here as a team, after all."
"But you want me to touch the coffin, don't you?" He asks.
"..." Nea doesn't respond, but everyone can see that she thinks that.
"Damn!!" Lucien exclaims in frustration and concern; then, he starts walking toward the coffin while remembering how strong the feeling he got when he was using the vision ability was.
With each step he takes towards the coffin, he becomes more concerned, and to ease the tension, he starts to think aloud. "I can't deny that I'm apprehensive about this... I'm afraid of what I might find out if..."
Helena and Mira are shocked to see Lucien in such a state. They are used to seeing him face any problem and enemy without faltering, no matter how dangerous that is, but now they are seeing how even he has a fragile part.
Lust and the other Sins really want to be able to help him, but everything about that glass coffin and the woman inside it is a mystery to them.
Hundreds of confused thoughts and bizarre hypotheses run through Lucien's mind as he steps in front of the glass coffin. The beautiful woman inside him looks so serene while in a deep sleep, but his feelings are chaotic in contrast, which makes that seem pretty unfair.
[Is she related to my mother? Is my mother related to the Gods?? Could it be that I'm connected to the Gods???] He can't help but think.
Lucien extends his hand towards the glass coffin, and when his emotions seem about devouring his soul, another hand appears and holds his wrist gently.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})That hand isn't really warm, but its touch is so gentle that the coldness is not a problem. Lucien looks to the side and sees Saria's beautiful smile, which along with her touch, makes him feel confident again.
Saria doesn't say anything and just holds Lucien's wrist, giving him positive energy and support. The other girls are sorry they didn't notice how much he needed that help, but they're glad the Mermaid Princess noticed it, and she is happy that her mother gave her such a tip.
Now with Saria's support, Lucien takes his hand to the glass coffin and touches Its surface. He has no idea what will happen next, but he imagines something big.
[???] However, he doesn't feel anything special; nothing really happens when he touches the glass coffin, and he can only feel the coldness of Its surface.
Lucien's lack of reaction makes all the girls even more concerned, and he can feel Nea's disappointment as something real and touchable.
Contrary to what Lucien imagined would happen in a situation like that, he is not at all relieved by the lack of response from the supposed Water Spirit. He quickly understands that more than anyone else, he not only wants answers but needs them.
So, doing what Nea has already suggested, he resorts to a little silly method and tries to talk to the mysterious figure inside the glass coffin. "Please... talk to me... give me something... I need answers... Anything!!"
Lucien's words echo within the magic shell as the girls make sorry and concerned expressions. And even though he thinks he's being ridiculous now, he keeps trying to make his words cross that magic glass and reach that beautiful, mysterious lady.
"Anything..." But after several minutes and many unanswered requests, Lucien realizes that his efforts can't reach that woman.
That coffin is even more impressive than the huge magic shell, and the group has nothing that can get through it now. So Lucien can only look at that woman's beautiful, serene face as he wonders why it is happening that way.
He can't help but wonder how everything that has happened to him so far has had a meaning, a purpose, even if that was due to his own choices or the manipulations of someone else. [But now... it feel... pointless?]
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Saria starts to think that she might be getting in the way of Lucien and walks away from him in the hopes that the Water Sipirt only wants to talk to him, but again, minutes pass without any change in her state acting.
However, she notices something curious; As Lucien looks at the woman in the glass coffin, his expression is unlike any she has ever seen on her face before. Saria tries to understand what that means, but all she gets is a familiar feeling that reminds her of Nea, or precisely, the way her mother looks at her.
[That...] A strange idea passes through her mind, but she quickly discards that for being so crazy and then concludes that Lucien has a gentle side that he only saves for those closest to him, like her mother, and now he is trying to use it to reach the Water Spirit.
The mood gets weirder and weirder, and when no one knows what to say, Lust materializes her body next to Lucien and hugs him. "It's alright... you don't have to try anymore; it's evident that this woman doesn't want to talk to us."
"I'm not sure..." Sloth materializes her body beside the coffin and gazes at the mysterious lady inside it. "Let's analyze the situation; this woman, supposedly a legendary Primordial, has been infected with a massive amount of dark energy..."
Everyone pays attention to Sloth's words, and she continues. "So she came to such a remote and dangerous place... inside such a tough shell and a coffin even tougher... and as she seems to be recovering on her own with this deep sleep, it's natural to believe that nothing can really break through this glass."
"I agree with her." Envy quickly comments. "If I were going to need to recover like this, I would make sure that nothing could get in my way, including sounds, because otherwise, anyone could attack me with sound abilities."
Not only Envy but everyone else agrees with that, and about sound abilities, Aria, Ella, and other harpies are good examples of people who could attack that mysterious woman if sounds could pass through that glass.
"At least you tried..." Mira also approaches Lucien to support him.
But Nea and Helena can't accept that they can't do anything. Just as the Water Spirit is so important to Nea because of her connection to her people, that woman is to Helena because of her supposed connection to the Water Goddess.
"There has to be something..." Nea thinks aloud.
"We need answers!" Helena continues.
"There are no answers here..." Lucian comments as he continues to look at the mysterious woman's face. "At least not now."
"But-" Nea tries to say something.
"We have to go back." Lucien interrupts her.
Nea still feels that she needs to help the Water Spirit. "Our Lady could solve all of our world's problems, including Tyrion."
Lucien can only see a little girl resting inside that glass coffin. "She can't do anything for us right now… but that doesn't change the fact that other people need our help."
Before Nea can respond, Sloth speaks. "Lucien is right; we have to get back to the surface as soon as possible; it doesn't matter that we've cleared this place if the spell that is dropping dark mana into the sea keeps on."
"And soon the dark mana will accumulate outside the shell, but we won't be able to do anything from here." Lust complements.
Those words are very convincing, and Nea starts to get more worried about her people. They don't know how things are going on the surface, but it is likely that the magical storms are not going to stop immediately, and the worst part is that they don't know what Tanu's dark spell is for, although it is undoubtedly part of Tyrion's evil plans.
"Alright..." She looks at the shell walls with a confused expression. "But how are we going to get out of here??"
Before anyone can say anything, Wrath materializes her body; she's holding a big mace in one hand and an ax in the other, and now she's smiling more than ever. "Let's break through it, of course!"
"Haven't you already tried that?" Envy asks in a provocative tone.
Wrath glances at Lucien and blushes a little before tightening the grip on her weapons. "Now I feel stronger than ever!"
"We will not break anything here," Lucien speaks, breaking Wrath's mood.
The angry Sin is confused, and Lucien quickly explains as he looks at the woman in the glass coffin. "This shell is part of her security, so we shouldn't damage it in any way."
Sloth nods while also not resisting provoke Wrath. "I doubt you could damage it now… maybe in a few months, but not now."
"So, how are we going to get out of here?" Saria thinks aloud.
"There's a way." Lust comments.
"Which?" Nea asks, and Lucien extends his hand before opening it, showing two brightly colored stones that were in his storage ring.
"The Instant Teleport Gems!" Mira exclaims as she feels silly for not remembering that.
Nea also recognizes those gems which are very rare treasures. "Where did you get them?"
"Tyrion gave them to us," Lucien explains. "He said that if something happened to Kamala and me, it would get us safely home..."
"Where would he be waiting for us with a dark enchantment..." Lust rolls her eyes at how evident Tyrion's plan was in giving those gems to Lucien and Kamala.
Saria can't help but giggle. "Looks like the Naga King's stupidity saved our day, hehe..."
Yet, Nea's expression isn't really positive as she gazes at the gems in Lucien's hand. "But there are only two..."
As more than one person cannot use an Instant Teleport Gem at a time, and as such treasures can only be used once before disappearing, that number should be an issue; however, that is not really a problem for Lucien.
He smiles at Nea and Saria as his expression makes them concerned and curious, respectively. "Which of you goes first?"
