Chapter XXXV: Just Us
════════ ××× ════════
RAISING HIS power watch up, Boboiboy is once again preparing to transform. This time, he's doing it quickly. "Boboiboy Cyclone!" He yelled out once he managed to transform to his desired element. He turned to Y/n with a knowing grin before giving her a thumbs up which was a sign that he'll start with the creation of the vortex. "Alright, here we go!" He smiled, his carefree attitude being displayed. "Cyclone Rush!" He swung his arms to the side after he yelled his powerful attack.
Out of nowhere, they felt the ocean water around them moving, due to the reflexes Y/n had, she managed to drag Boboiboy Cyclone out of the place before he could get himself sucked in by the water. "Wait, whoah there!" He let out once he felt himself got dragged off by the female elf. "I want to see the vortex!" He pouted at her but she didn't gave him the permission. "It is too dangerous, it is already too hard to move around with the water swirling around the attack you made," Y/n argued, giving him a death glare from behind her mask.
"You know, I prefer it when you use your scroll. You're scary when you're angry," Boboiboy Cyclone gulped as he let Y/n pull his wrist. "I would have not spoke like this if you listened to me. I cannot also use my scroll, it will get pulled by the water if I do so," Y/n rolled her eyes. "Good point," Cyclone chuckled called nervously. Suddenly, they felt themselves being pulled by an unknown force. It was the ocean water. "Uh.. I think the vortex is getting bigger!" Cyclone warned the elf once he noticed what was happening from behind.
Y/n turned her head back to notice the water at the previous place that they were in, circling around like a huge tornado. The cries of the mermen guards could be heard. "How about we search for everyone else, yeah? " Cyclone suggested without letting the Lluminarian elf answer with a soft pull by her wrist. "Where did we even go?" He questioned once they were out of the chaotic place where the vortex was at. "I am not quite sure," Y/n responded using her scroll this time.
"Eh? But you've been here before, right?" The wind element turned his head to the Glamouran elf with a tilted head. "Indeed I have, but not all parts of the castle, although we just have to find the throne room if I could still remember the way," Y/n explained which made Cyclone's face fall in realisation. "Oh.. if that's the case, then we just have to find it, yeah?" He tried to lift up the mood. Y/n didn't respond but only nodded her head. The said element transformed back to his normal form.
Y/n didn't notice the heavy weight on her wrist but once she did, she turned to the boy who was practically dragging her as they continue swim towards an unfamiliar place. "Boboiboy," she called him. "Yeah? Oh─sorry, I forgot," he blushed in embarrassment, letting go of the elf's wrist soon after. It was silent as they continued to swim through the empty hallway. It was odd that no one was there. 'Servants must have evacuated as soon as we passed by them earlier,' she thought to herself. It was still silent and awkward.
Y/n didn't mind it but Boboiboy was internally dying at the situation. None of them started a conversation yet and the elemental hero didn't like it. "So.... how's life?" He awkwardly started, nervously glancing at her. 'Ack, stupid! That's a stupid question!' He mentally scolded himself, he knew he was awkward but he didn't know he was this bad. "You do realise that we are on a mission, right?" Y/n turned to him with a blank look on her face. Boboiboy flinched and nervously chuckled in result.
"Uh, yeah I knew that. But, I was mainly talking about your...current state," He avoided her gaze, turning away from her as they continue to swim in search for their comrades. "My current state?" She breathed in surprise that she even forgot that she can use a magical scroll. "Yeah, how does it feel to reveal your voice to me or how did you feel when I found out about... everything," he questioned her. Y/n gulped before she spoke. This was something new from the elemental hero. "Oh... that..." she blinked, her voice getting smaller.
"Of course I was nervous, I have never revealed something this much for the last few lunarias. Eros, even I thought this will lead to my doom but, overall, I somewhat feel..."
"Relieved..."
"As if a heavy weight from my chest was suddenly released, it made me realise how my fear was making my situation worse. If I was not so afraid, perhaps maybe, I could have done something better," Y/n trailed off, sadness and regret laced upon her voice. "No, don't regret anything. There was a reason you've done that, but the good thing is that you're finally thinking your decisions out, right?" Boboiboy responded. "What's done is done. You can't change anything from the past. If you've made a worse past then I know you can make a better future," he cheered the (h/c) haired girl up.
"Trust yourself."
Y/n's eyes remained on the said boy, thinking of the words that he used for advice. She never saw this side of him, but she was glad that she did once. "And I like your voice," He began out of nowhere which made Y/n's eyes widened. A silent moment passed suddenly. The boy soon realised what he had said and covered his face in embarrassment. "W─wait I wasn't supposed to say that! I mean─" he tried to shake it off, his cheeks blooming a bright crimson of colour.
Y/n watched the boy cover his face in embarrassment. She was amused that he was bold enough to say a compliment like that, it sounded rather intimate but she didn't mind it. She felt flattered, all this time she was afraid to show them her true self when the real fact is that they'll still understand and learn to love what she truly is. The elemental hero was never this flustered in his entire life and yet, here he was stuttering and flushing red in front of a girl after complimenting her.
With a small smile from behind her mask she shook her head playfully. "Thank you, that means so much to me. It is giving me more confidence, I like yours too," Y/n responded blissfully making the boy pause from his embarrassment. Boboiboy turned to Y/n, confusingly blinking his eyes in surprise. That didn't take long for him to look away from her, a small amount of blush decorating his cheeks at the praise. "Y-yeah, thank you, I guess..." He trailed off.
Y/n didn't say anything after that which made the elemental hero have the time to calm himself down.
Y/n's nose twitched once she smelled that awful smell, a sign dark magic has. The girl stopped swimming, alarming her companion who was bewildered at her action. "Hey, what's wrong?" He questioned her in concern. "Dark magic, I can smell it from nearby," she responded cautiously, using her scroll this time. "Nearby? Wait─ woah!" Boboiboy suddenly yelped as he felt his wrist being dragged off by the elf to who knows where.
They were swimming out of the hallway, sighting the end of the walls. They both hoped they'll find their friends nearby. They keep separating during a mission and it seems like it's a normal occurrence already. The Lluminarian elf felt her blood turn cold when she recognised the place that they were entering. She has been here before, this was the place where the King and Queen spent their time the most.
The throne room.
Although Y/n was a bit confused.
Where was the royal family?
"Are we... at the throne room?" Boboiboy asked the girl, his eyes scanning every detail and corner of the unfamiliar room. "Yes, this place is indeed the throne room but, why is it empty?" Y/n nonverbally asked, trying to see if there were any signs of danger around. "How would I know?" Boboiboy blankly responded, an invisible sweat suddenly dropping from his forehead. "Serena..." Y/n mumbled in worry, her friend could be in danger right now. She didn't want to think of the worst cases but she couldn't help it.
"Hey, don't feel down. She's probably alright, we can find and save her. Maybe if we find the Gem of Water, she'll appear, " Boboiboy tried to reassure the female elf with all the best that he can. "You are right, we will save her. We just need to find the artefact," She nodded her head, shrugging off her sadness which made the elemental hero relieved. "Well, we can't find it if we stay here," Boboiboy pursed his lips.
"Yes, we need to─ "
"WAIT."
Y/n's scroll disappeared as soon as she halted her elemental hero friend. "What's wrong?" He worriedly asked her, concerned at the sudden change of the atmosphere. "Someone else is here..." Y/n whispered lowly, her cautious figure suddenly swimming closer to Boboiboy. Boboiboy tensed and also leaned closer to her, waiting for her to say anything since she's basically the only one who knows where this mysterious creature was. Their eyes scanned the whole place.
They had their guards up, prepared for any attack that will land on them. If it meant that they had to fight again then they'll fight once more. After a while of waiting, a shadow loomed over from the back of the thrones. The two gritted their teeth, turning towards this unknown figure. "Who are you? Show yourself!" Boboiboy demanded loudly, swimming in front of Y/n with his arm trying to cover her. A silent moment had passed before this creature began showing theirself.
Swimming in front of them was someone familiar-looking to Y/n. The elf unconsciously placed a hand on Boboiboy's shoulder to lean closer to his ear before whispering to him. "Boboiboy, this mermaid... she is dangerous," that was the only thing she informed him, confusing the elemental hero even more. "What? Who is she?" He turned to her with an obvious bewildered look plastered from his visage. Before Y/n could respond, the mysterious mermaid did for them this time.
"Who am I? I am Ymeriah and you are entering the side of the castle where anyone is forbidden to enter."
════════ ××× ════════
Coral felt something odd from within the atmosphere. He was worried that it might be his Lluminarian friend who was nowhere in sight after they got separated from them while fighting. He noticed that Boboiboy was also missing. There was a big chance that the two got lost together somewhere in the castle. "Are you all hurt?" He worriedly asked the group who just finished knocking out the mermen guards who surrounded them earlier.
The gang turned to him to wave it off. "None of us are hurt. There might be a few scratches here and there but that's all," Yaya gave the delphini a kind smile. "Luckily ocean water doesn't affect us, it would really hurt if the saltiness got to us," Fang swam closer to them, scanning for any more signs of danger. "We're very lucky! What a relief," Gopal cried out, not liking the idea of dipping any part of his body in saltwater with his current state.
"Hey, where did Boboiboy and F/n go? They seem like they always tend to get separated from us," Ying wondered, following from behind once Coral began swimming in the area. "Worry not, I do have a feeling that they are somewhere near. Perhaps the throne room?" He questioned out, slightly worried for the two. "Isn't it weird how each mermen were moving like a brain-dead zombie!? My gut feeling tells me that it has something to do with the gem," Gopal proudly stated.
"Surprisingly, you are quite right. The way they acted was very suspicious, as if they're somewhat in a deep and echanting spell," Fang agreed with a hum in thought. The mermen guards did act so unusual, Coral agreed with that fact. Their voices sounded more hostile and somewhat full of rage. Although he didn't know what this 'zombie' creature is, he mainly got the idea. Mermen guards may be strict but, they were never this aggressive. There was no way a simple command will change their personalities.
Something wasn't right.
The truth laid only upon the royal family who was still nowhere in sight. He tried to ask the guards that they fought against about the royal family but they were unsuccessful; the guards refused to exchange a word about the whereabouts and the current state of the rulers. That is a sign of a red flag, something must've indeed happened to them. Coral felt a weird feeling circling from inside his stomach, the feeling of guilt. Despite that, he couldn't bring himself to blame someone.
Not even himself because he knew it was wrong for him to do that. How would he be a good adviser if he was being a hypocrite? Setting that aside, they needed to find the Lluminarian elf and the elemental hero. That was the main goal as of now, perhaps they can continue to sneak in and find the truth about what's going on in Aquarius. He had a feeling that they were somewhere in the throne room, he could feel the elf aura Y/n always have radiated.
That was the only sign that he has. They need to follow it to find the two. "Are we there yet?" Gopal suddenly asked out of nowhere. "Of course we're not, do you see any thrones around?" Fang answered with a blank look on his face earning a scoff from Gopal. "Geez, no need to be grumpy. I was just asking," Gopal commented at the shadow manipulator. "Where are we anyway?" Ying questioned the delphini in confusion.
"This area connects to the throne room, we are not that far," Coral responded formally, scanning the place while swimming. "This place is so quiet and empty too," Yaya commented, eyeing evey detail of the mysterious place. There were so many old pillars, the others even had pieces of them chipped off. Seaweeds mysteriously grew from around the pillars. It was oddly quiet, the peacefulness made a shiver run down to their spine. Something around the place wasn't comforting.
"Uh... hey, why do I feel like someone is watching us?" Ying suddenly asked, slightly spooked by this eerie feeling that failed to leave her. "Now that I think about it, you're right. It's creepy," Gopal agreed, swimming much closer to everyone in fear. "I can feel it, someone is here with us," Coral informed them in seriousness. "Dude, that doesn't make things better for us," Gopal eventually hid behind the delphini who just gave him an unamused look. "You are supposed to be the superhero between the two of us," The cyan dolphin blankly stated.
"Y-yeah, but you know Aquarius better than me, you can also sense danger unlike me," Gopal argued with the said Glamouran creature. Coral blinked his eyes before thinking about this response. "Fair point," He mumbled without Gopal hearing this. "H-hey what's that?" Ying stuttered once she heard a weird noise from somewhere within the place. "I don't want to know," Gopal shivered, mentally crying in fear. Everyone stopped swimming and remained from their place, waiting for any signs of danger to come and face them.
A moment passed after the noise echoed around. Thinking that it was just nothing, a sigh of relief managed to escape their lips in a heartbeat. Before they could continue their journey, they froze once they felt a new presence suddenly joining them. They turned to the owner of the mysterious and weird presence which internally scared each one of them out. Once his eyes landed on the figure, Coral suddenly froze. He was very surprised to see this unknown stranger.
"Princesa?" Coral hesitantly called out, feeling that something was wrong about the mermaid's presence. She looked dull and pale, the silky lavender locks that she has was now even lighter than normal. It was like someone came out from who knows where and sucked the life out of her. She looked unstable and it made Coral very worried. Everyone except him were tensed, although they didn't entirely know the Princess of Aquarius, they still felt that something was wrong.
"What happened to you?" Coral asked the mermaid who looked at him with dull cyan eyes. "It is..." her forehead began glowing as she spoke without the use of her mouth but unfortunately, she trailed off. It looked like she went through something exhausting. She didn't look like she put so much effort into her talking but somehow it did look like it. Coral began swimming to her, noticing that she was harmless at the moment. She didn't have the same aura as the mermen guards, hers was rather weak, almost out of life.
"It is okay, you cannot speak at the moment. Do not put effort into it that much, I would not want you to lose your remaining energy," He reassured the princess who just gave him a weak smile before nodding. "Woah, she can speak without using her mouth," Gopal whispered towards Fang in awe, not forgetting how her forehead glowed with a weird symbol on it as she spoke without the use her mouth.
"Hello, we are from the TAPOPS organisation, we're here to help you, your highness," Yaya smiled softly at the mermaid. Despite looking rather dull and weak unlike the usual, they couldn't disagree with the fact that the princess was utterly beautiful. She looked like she was someone out from a fairy tale book.
They might not show it but everyone was astounded at the beauty she possessed and that's not even its full potential which was rather terrifying. The cyan eyed mermaid turned to them, giving them a nod of appreciation since she is having a hard time trying to speak. "Did something happened inside?" Ying immediately asked the princess in worry. Everyone noticed the drastic change of expression from her visage. This sign indicated that the situation was indeed very bad.
"I guess from the look that she gave us, it is most certain," Gopal tapped his chin in wonder. "Who did this, Princess?" Fang questioned the lavender-headed Glamouran. Worry was written from within her face before she could tell them the exact reason why this was happening. "Ymeriah..." Princess Serena managed to say as her forehead began glowing again which surprised Coral. "General Ymeriah did this? Something must have happened to her, it is either she has gone looney or she has been controlled by the artefact," Coral started suddenly.
"General? Is she the highest ranking mermaid guard?" Ying questioned Coral in curiosity, slightly confused at the reaction that they've received from the delphini. "Yes, she is the head guard, that is why I am beyond bewildered. General Ymeriah is not the one to do something like this which brings me to the conclusion that she was affected by the artefact," Coral responded to her question. "Wow, it's like F/n is still here with us," Gopal sneakily whispered to Fang who nodded in agreement.
Coral was wise while Y/n was the smart one. There was huge difference but Coral could also pull of being the smart one since he was more responsible than the stubborn elf herself. "I am assuming that she has done something to you, your magic aura is somehow weak," Coral continued, earning a nod from the lavender haired girl. "She has absorbed my magic..." Princess Serena trailed off, trying her best to give off information to her friend.
"Pardon?" Coral questioned in absolute surprise, he obviously couldn't comprehend what he just heard from the Aquatic royal. "Absorbed your magic? That sounds kind of terrifying," Gopal commented, intimidated at the idea of someone doing the same thing to him but with his power watch instead. "That doesn't sound like normal magic at all," Fang added, furrowing his eyebrows at the thought. "B-because it is not.." Princess Serena sighed, holding her head in slight pain.
"Indeed, light elves neither the mermen and mermaids can do that. Their magic is too limited for that, therefore, they cannot just steal off another individual's magic," Coral explained to the group. Everyone let that information process inside their minds, obviously it would always lead to one thing. The magic used for this was the dark magic from the artefact, they began being used to this by now. But, one questioned remained unanswered throughout their whole journey.
Even Y/n never had a thought or theory about it. She got was too used to their adventure that she almost forgot to think about the reason why this happened in the first place. Same as her, everyone also forgot about it and didn't mind it anyway. Perhaps it was natural? No. It wasn't caused by nature. Why would that happen if it's caused by nature? Nature isn't connected to dark magic. Dark magic is a practice of forbidden magic or corrupt magic after all so it wasn't natural.
But, still...
Why are the artefacts getting infected by it in the first place? Who caused the breakage of the protection crystal?
It shouldn't be ignored by anyone at all. Despite that, they still can't bring theirselves to find a reasonable explanation. Nothing was accurate, it led them all to a dead end. But, why was this possible? Is it because they're thinking of the wrong possibilities? Is it because they were blaming the wrong creatures? Is it because everything was all just a mistake? But, these were all rhetorical questions.
It could be possible and it couldn't be possible at the same time. But, at the meantime, who will they believe first?
"Princess Serena, I shall order you to find a safe place to hide. It is not my place to say that, but currently we would not want the next heir to the throne to get herself killed, please do it for us?" Coral told the lavender haired girl, who had a look of disagreement. She felt like what she was doing was wrong. She want to help them but, her situation makes her unable to do so. Gritting her teeth, she reluctantly nodded her head. She hoped she wouldn't regret her decision. She just trusts Coral way too much.
"There they are!"
With widened eyes, they turned to the angry yells of male voices. It was an another batch of mermen guards. "They just won't stop running out don't they?!" Gopal spoke, panic evident from the sudden rising of his tone. "Quick, hide!" Coral uses his forehead to push the royal girl off somewhere. With one last glance, she had a frown from her mouth as she locked her eyes with her friend. "Worry not, we shall manage! Someone you miss is here with us, you will see them soon after. Now, go!" The delphini yelled at the lavender haired royal.
She nodded her head, leaving them in their place. "Now, w-what?" Gopal gripped Fang's shoulder tighter than usual because of fear taking over him. "Let's go inside, hurry!" Yaya told them before gesturing towards the way to the throne room.
"Alright, let's go! WAIT, AAAAAA! THEY'RE GAINING ON US!"
"LET GO OF ME, GOPAL!"
════════ ××× ════════
Aight so, here are the additional fanarts which I forgot to show during the other chapter.
She made her own design of the mask. By ths way, I'm leaving the design of the mask to you readers.
Arts above by: simp_foranimeboyz
This one is an old fanart of Y/n Llumina. This was done a few months ago and currently, I'm making a better fanart of her since I kind of rushed this drawing and I didn't like it─
Art by: Me (lmao)
If you want to show your arts from this book then just send it to me!
Disclaimer: The illustrations above aren't mine. They belong to their original artists.