"So, is he going to pretend we're invisible throughout the whole trip?" asked Thelma.
Arisa shifted her gaze from her book and looked at the girl with a high ponytail. Thelma was glancing over her shoulder from her seat, examining the young merman taking a nap in an area not far from them.
"Let him be," said Garoh, who had sat in a corner to chat with Kazuya. "As long as he takes us to our destination, it's fine."
Thelma focused her eyes back on her device. "He could at least tell us his name and attempt to break the ice a little. It's been thirty minutes since we dived in the ocean and there's still an hour more until we reach the city. I kind of feel uncomfortable isolating him like this."
"Woah, it's only been thirty minutes?" asked Kazuya, changing the subject. "It will be a long journey. Will we really make it in time before Caris gives up her powers in public?"
Arisa's heart sped as Kazuya said those words, remembering that they were on a race against time.
"Tausa mentioned that she would do that after sunset," said Garoh thoughtfully. "We still have a couple of hours until then."
"Is that so?" Kazuya folded his arms, supporting his back against the transparent surface. "Still, the journey to that city is long. I can't believe that we still have an hour left. Any idea on how we can kill time until then?"
Garoh touched his jaw and as he explained to Kazuya a game he used to play with his brother in Lunara, Arisa returned her view to the book. She sighed, knowing that there was still more time until they reached their destination. She couldn't wait to see Caris again and hoped that she was okay as she was going through a lot for a girl her age.
As Arisa had lost her concentration on the chapter, she gazed up and met a group of fish passing by their transportation. Even though the beings outside the machine couldn't see the passengers inside it, the people inside of it could admire their surroundings by looking up or examining the transparent walls. Looking around, she felt as if she was inside a bubble that floated deep in the ocean.
Examining her surroundings, Arisa thought that their transportation wasn't so big. But compared to train that took them to other worlds, it was definitely more spacious, having leather seats filling one side of the area and a medium-sized table decorating the other side with its four chairs.
Arisa admired the view outside their transportation, losing herself in her thoughts. Ever since the ship left the port and traveled deep down into the sea, Arisa spent most of the time admiring the underwater world. In the first fifteen minutes, she only saw regular marine life like fish of various sizes and a small number of dolphin-like creatures.
As they slowly went down, even more, Arisa saw creatures that she hadn't seen in the Researchers' books before. Some had a monstrous look and were large, but they didn't seem to have an interest in attacking them.
It was not after the ship reached a small town that Arisa's heart pumped excitement and made her focus on the scenery for several minutes. She remembered being stunned when she saw various mermaids swimming around. She never thought they would look so diverse. Some had the typical appearance of a half-human and half fish, others had the upper part covered in fish scales and a face that didn't have many features resembling a human.
She remembered that some merpeople had a similar appearance as the young man that was guiding them. They had legs instead of tails. When she saw those beings in that town, Arisa remembered wishing that her grandmother was there. She couldn't imagine how she would react upon seeing a real mermaid. She was such a big fan of them.
Still having that small town flashing in her mind, Arisa realized that most of the buildings there were circular with several seashells decorating their surface.
Arisa sighed. After passing by that town, she remembered seeing a small number of buildings before the scenery swapped into a regular view with a few sea creatures swimming by. She flipped the page of her book, returning her focus on the story in an attempt to kill more time.
Arisa didn't see time passing as she flipped through the pages, she was so immersed in the story that she jumped a little when their transportation shook.
"What's going on?" Arisa dropped her book
"It seems that sea creature grew an interest in us," said Kazuya.
Arisa supported herself on her seat as their transportation shook again, she could hear the smashing sound as the creature aimed at the ship. As she attempted to stand up, Arisa met the large creature attacking them. It looked like a whale with long spiky fins. The creature didn't hesitate and kept on hitting its target.
"We should do something before it destroys the ship," said Arisa.
"Is there a way we can leave the ship without allowing the water to leak in?" asked Thelma, holding her seat as she almost fell. "If we leave from the main entrance, the system will be damaged unless it's waterproof."
Arisa examined her surroundings, trying to see if there could be another way out. As her eyes met a rectangular-like detail on the surface of their transportation on a corner not far from them, she wondered where that gate lead to.
"There is an alternative way to leave," the young merman's voice pulled away Arisa's thoughts. "But there's no need to go through all that trouble."
Still supporting herself on her seat, Arisa turned around. She saw the young merman walk towards the cockpit. He almost fell as he placed his hand on the transparent surface.
"What is he up to?" whispered Thelma as the young merman closed his eyes.
For a moment, silence took over the atmosphere as the creature kept hitting the transportation. As Arisa kept supporting herself on her seat, she noticed that the being's attacks were slowing down. A few minutes passed and the whale-like creature stared at the ship with hesitation. For some reason, Arisa felt as if someone was there with them, watching them.
She examined her surroundings. She didn't see anyone else besides her companions who were looking at the young merman confused. Another minute passed and as Arisa's heart started to spread fear, the creature finally set them free and swam away.
The young merman opened his eyes, exhaling. Arisa's heart calmed down as soon as he dropped his hand from the transparent surface. The young merman walked towards their area and had a seat on one of the many leather seats.
"What was that?" Arisa rubbed her arms, still feeling the chills.
"I don't know," replied Kazuya. "But I guess the presence I felt and the fear has something to do with him."
As everyone's gaze fell on the young merman, Arisa was surprised to know that she wasn't the only one who felt that strange presence.
"So," said Garoh approaching the young merman, "can you tell us what you did to stop that creature?"
"Nothing much," said the young merman, readying himself to have another nap.
As Garoh and Kazuya glared at him, Arisa wondered why he couldn't act a bit friendly with them since they were only visitors from other worlds and not his people's longtime rivals.
"I think I have a theory of what he just did," said Thelma thoughtfully.
Everyone's gaze fell on her, curiosity sparkling in their eyes.
"I think he manipulated sound," guessed Thelma, looking at the young merman. "You used low-frequency sound to scare that creature."
The young merman gazed at Thelma, intrigued.
"I remember reading an article about infrasound for one of my classes' assignments," continued Thelma. "It mentioned that infrasound can cause feelings of awe or fear in beings, which explains why we suddenly felt a presence and were scared."
Arisa's brows arched, amazed by Thelma's theory. It was incredible how the inhabitants of each world had different abilities.
"Spot on," said the young merman, smiling. "Manipulating sound is my people's ability. Although each species has its specialty. On the opposite of the people with tails, my species use sound waves to control their opponents. The others only use their voice to freeze them."
"Interesting," said Garoh. "This world sure has a lot of curiosities."
Arisa agreed with Garoh, wondering what other surprising things Oceana hid. The team tried to develop the conversation with the merman, but as he didn't show any interest to talk to them, the team gathered in a corner and had a chat in an attempt to spend time.
More minutes passed and the team split, focusing on another activity to spend the remaining time. Throughout the trip, Arisa spotted more creatures swimming by. What caught her attention were giant jellyfish, illuminating their surroundings with their colorful glow.
As time went by, Arisa saw that their transportation had stopped diving deeper. Instead, it was moving around an area filled with a type of flora that brightened weakly. She almost fell when the ship drastically moved sideways as it dodged something.
"Obstacle ahead," said a robotic voice in the background. "Fasten your seatbelts."
As their transportation evaded yet another obstacle, Arisa saw Garoh and Kazuya joining the seats. She quickly grabbed her seatbelt.
"Out of all the available pathways," said the young merman, his tone annoyed, "it had to take the Anemone Forest. Useless program."
As Arisa tried to glance at the young merman, she saw a giant and smooth tentacle attempting to curl on their transportation. The ship moved down, escaping the threat. As their transportation fought to escape more tentacles, Arisa curled her fingers on her seat.
"At this rate, this thing might be destroyed," said Arisa. "Isn't it better to fight those creatures?"
"It's alright," said the young merman, his tone calm. "The ships were designed and programmed to endure any kind of attacks. We'll be fine; we only have to get out of this side of the forest. Most of the anemones on that side are harmless to beings like us."
Arisa gazed at the young merman, surprised at how calm he was. For a minute, Arisa tried to remain calm as the ship traveled through the forest of countless smooth tentacles. It wasn't after they reached another area that Arisa's heart started to calm down.
She relaxed, admiring the environment behind the ship. She saw various types of seaweed with several anemones filled in between, their thin tentacles dancing in the water like petals. As the ship moved forward, Arisa saw a variety of sea creatures swimming by.
For a few minutes, she admired the scenery until a cry for help filled the background. Arisa examined her surroundings carefully. Her eyes widened, noticing a little merman fighting against an anemone that had caught his arm.
"That boy needs help," said Arisa. "Stop the ship."
"We can't," said the young merman, his tone relaxed. "The ship has been programmed to take us to Corale City. It won't stop until we reach there."
Arisa glanced over her shoulder with her brows rising. She then gazed back outside the transparent surface no longer seeing the child. Even so, she still could hear his cry of help.
"But we can't leave him there," she said, almost in a whisper.
Arisa clenched her fists, wishing to do something.
"Autopilot deactivated," said a robotic voice in the background.
Not long after hearing those words, Arisa saw that the ship had stopped moving.
"Hey," protested the young merman, "what are you doing?"
"Trying to help the child in trouble," said Thelma, examining the many buttons in front of her. "We can't just leave him there."
Arisa gazed at her front. Not far from the seats, she saw Thelma approaching them from the cockpit.
"Well, that's his problem," said the merman. "Every kid knows that they cannot wander around Anemone Forest alone. Now put back the autopilot so we can resume the trip."
As Thelma glared at the young merman, Arisa couldn't believe that he thought it was okay to leave a child begging for help.
"Even though the People of the Sea and the People of the Surface don't like each other," said Thelma, "I thought you would be more united with your own people."
The young merman looked away as the cries for help filled the silence.
"We have to do something," said Arisa. "Is there a way we can leave the ship without water invading it."
"There is," said the young merman. "But I heard that rune works only once. You won't be able to swim freely underwater again if you return to the ship."
Arisa's brows arched, remembering that detail.
"It's okay," said Garoh. "Only the two of us will go. After we rescue the child, we can follow the ship to the city."
"If you say so," said the young merman. "Follow me."
The team followed him to the area Arisa had spotted the rectangular detail. She thought it looked like an elevator now that she had a better look at it. As the merman tapped a few buttons by the dark surface, he explained to them that water would slowly fill that small area before the gate under them automatically opened for them to swim and leave the ship.
Garoh offered himself to go since he was told his powers would be effective in this new environment. Thelma asked to join him to test if her arrow of light would work in this unusual world.
"Be careful," said Arisa.
Garoh and Thelma nodded as the metal doors in front of them closed. Arisa and Kazuya rushed to the area where they could see the scenery outside the ship. It took them a few minutes to spot two beings awkwardly leaving the ship.
Another minute passed before the duo adjusted to the new environment and grew better at moving around. Arisa smiled as she saw Thelma waving at them and quickly swimming in the direction where the boy was.
"I hope we're not too late," said Arisa, sighing.
Kazuya patted Arisa's shoulder, trying to comfort her. She didn't drop her view from the transparent surface, hoping that everything would end well.
---♐♑♓---
Arisa tapped her fingers as worry started to spread in her veins. She hadn't seen the clock when Garoh and Thelma left to rescue the boy, but she felt as if a lot of time had passed. With each passing minute, she wondered why they were taking so long. Could it be that they were having trouble rescuing the boy or something went wrong as they swam towards that area?
She rubbed her arms, trying to calm down.
"I think we should go too," said Arisa, standing up. "They might need our help."
"I was thinking the same thing," said Kazuya.
The young merman gazed at them. "If you leave, don't expect to find the ship here."
Arisa and Kazuya stared at him, frowning.
"You wouldn't dare," said Arisa.
The young merman didn't say anything. Arisa curled her fingers. From his attitude she had a feeling he would have the courage to do that. She gazed at the floor, trapped in a dilemma. They needed his help to reach the city, so she thought leaving him alone in the ship was risky. Yet she couldn't help but worry about her friends.
"We have to go," said Kazuya, grabbing her hand. "Our companions might need our help."
As soon as he said that, Kazuya walked towards the elevator-like area deep in the ship. As they strolled in there, meeting dark metallic surface, the duo heard the merman wishing them good luck before the gates closed.
"What a bizarre individual," said Kazuya.
"I just hope he won't abandon us like he said he would," said Arisa.
Soon after she said those words, Arisa shivered a little as she felt cool water bathing her feet. She gazed down and saw that water was slowly filling the area. Arisa gulped as her heart suddenly sped.
As the water slowly rose, reaching her knees, anxiety grew stronger within her. Despite knowing that they would breathe underwater just fine, her mind couldn't help but spread negative thoughts. She wasn't sure how deep they were in the ocean, but if the rune didn't work, that would be the end.
The water reached her chest. Arisa exhaled, trying to calm herself.
We'll be fine. There is no way an enchantment from a Sage would fail.
She took a deep breath, remembering how Garoh and Thelma were doing well after leaving the ship. Fingers curled around her hand. When she glanced by her side, she saw Kazuya attempting to comfort her.
"Don't think if the rune will work or not," he said, his voice quiet. "You saw the others. We'll be fine."
Arisa nodded and before she could say anything, she felt the water touching her neck. Not long after that, she no longer felt her feet on the concrete.
Kazuya gazed at Arisa before he immersed in the water. Arisa took a deep breath and followed him.
As she slowly left the area, Arisa instinctively held her breath for the several seconds she swam away from the ship. She didn't have time to admire her surroundings as her lungs started to burn, begging for air.
"You can relax," said a soothing voice by her side. "It works."
Arisa looked by her left side and saw Kazuya winking at him, his white hair dancing freely in the new environment. She released her breath, allowing air to travel in her lungs. Her brows arched, amazed that she could really breathe underwater. She felt as if a thin layer was protecting her face.
"So you were really holding your breath." Kazuya chuckled and held her hand. "Let's go."
Arisa nodded and swam by Kazuya's side.
As they swam through the colorful forest, Arisa did her best to kick her legs and increase her speed. A few minutes passed before they reached the area where the boy was trapped. Relief calmed Arisa's heart as she spotted Garoh and Thelma talking to the little merman.
Reaching them, Arisa noticed that roots had curled around some anemones' tentacles with other tentacles being pierced by sharply shaped woods.
The boy's voice made Arisa return her view to Garoh and Thelma. As the boy talked to them in a language she couldn't understand, Arisa saw that on the opposite of the young merman, the boy had a silvery blue tail instead of legs. She could see a soft dorsal fin beautifying it.
"I'm not sure what you're saying, little one," said Thelma, caressing the boy's light brown hair, "but you're welcome."
"Huh?" The boy gazed at Thelma and then at Garoh. "You people are not from these waters?"
Garoh and Thelma shook their heads.
The boy gasped. "The Mother of the Sea must have been watching me all this time. I am really lucky you swam by this forest. Thank you very much for helping me."
"No problem," said Garoh. "It's our duty to help others."
"In the end," said Kazuya, "you really didn't need our assistance."
As the boy turned around to look at them, Arisa saw that he had dark eyes with no white part. Looking at him, she thought that he resembled a child who was around ten to twelve years old.
"Sorry," said Garoh. "We had a bit of trouble swimming around while fighting."
Kazuya nodded. "It's alright. We should go before that guy leaves us."
"You're right," said Thelma, swimming towards them. "Even though we can no longer get in the ship, we still need him to guide us."
The boy gazed at the team as they slowly left the area.
"We're going to the city," said Garoh, glancing over his shoulder. "Want to join us?"
The boy nodded and quickly joined them as they swam on their way to the ship.
"You people are not from this world at all," said the boy a minute after they left the battlefield.
"Oh really?" teased Thelma.
The boy giggled. "I thought you looked weird to be members of the sea. But from the way you're swimming and how slow you are, I can see that you are not used to this place. Where are you people from?"
Arisa gazed at the boy, wondering how fast the people of the sea could swim.
"We come from different worlds," said Garoh. "Far from the ocean and the islands."
"Wow," said the boy, his tone amazed. "I never thought I would talk to beings from other worlds one day."
The team swam for a few minutes before they reached the area where their ship was parked. The team examined their surroundings as they didn't spot the silver, sharp shaped machine.
"Where did he go?" Arisa gazed around.
Kazuya sighed. "I guess he was serious when he said he would leave us behind."
"I can't believe he abandoned us," said Arisa, feeling a bit annoyed. "We just wanted to help and now we lost our guide."
As silence fell, the boy gazed at the team curiously.
"Corale City is not that far from here," said the boy, swimming to their front. "I can show you the way. Follow me."
As the boy swam forward, the team followed him. Arisa tried to increase her speed but failed to keep up with him.
"He's so fast," she said, breathing heavily as she fought to increase her speed.
"Now you know how we feel when we run with you," teased Kazuya.
Arisa raised a brow as she glanced at him. A minute passed before the boy realized that he was swimming too fast. He slowed down his pace, swimming along with the team.
The clock ticked as the team swam through the forest of anemone and algae. As they explored the area, crossing paths with a small number of creatures of various sizes and shapes, Thelma asked the boy what was his name and what he was doing in this beautiful yet dangerous forest. The boy told them to call him Malu and that the reason he risked swimming in the forest was to find something to give his mother as a birthday present.
Arisa noticed the boy tightening his grip on a small bright bag. She wondered what special item he hid there.
More time passed as the team kept swimming. Slowly, slowly, Arisa noticed that the number of anemones was decreasing and she found herself in an area with a small number of tall colorful algae. Swimming for some minutes more, Arisa finally saw an open area with several buildings that were either roundish or had an abstract shape. Her eyes widened as she saw bright, tall edifices on the horizon.
"This is as far as I can guide you," said the boy. "I would go to the city if I wasn't visiting a relative here."
Garoh gazed at him. "It's okay. Thanks for showing us the way."
The boy smiled. Before the team could say farewell and resume their trip a soft voice called Malu. It didn't take long for the team to spot another child with long blonde hair and a silvery tail. As the little mermaid reached them, Arisa noticed that on the opposite of Malu, the girl's blue eyes looked the same as the humans'.
"Lala," said Malu, "what is it?"
"I'm sorry," said Lala, recovering her breath. "You took long in that forest. I had to tell aunt Arielle the truth."
Arielle? Arisa couldn't help but be curious about that person. She remembered Rangi mentioning that name the first time she met him.
"You see, aunt Arielle said you were leaving since she had something to do in the city," continued Lala. "When she realized you weren't around, she asked me about you. I lied saying you were at a friend's house, but when I couldn't find another excuse to call you because she's in a hurry, I told her the truth. She's angry. She said you shouldn't have gone to the forest alone."
"Malu," a female voice called from afar, "there you are."
As Malu froze upon hearing that voice, Arisa spotted a mermaid approaching them. The mermaid's short dark hair that had dark blue tips danced in the water as she shook her silver tail.
"You're grounded," said the mermaid as soon as she reached them.
"What?!" protested Malu. "Why?"
The mermaid crossed her arms and stared at him. Malu gulped. Looking at the mermaid more closely, Arisa saw that she had the same eyes as Malu. But there was something familiar in her features. She reminded Arisa of someone.
"Go to uncle's house and grab your belongings," said the mermaid. "We're leaving."
Defeated, Malu nodded and swam away, followed by Lala. The mermaid dropped her arms as she watched the children swim. She exhaled.
"Um, excuse me?" called Arisa before the mermaid could leave.
The mermaid glanced over her shoulder. "Yes?"
"Sorry to bother you," said Arisa, her tone a bit nervous. "But I was wondering, are you Arielle, Caris' mother?"
The mermaid turned around, looking surprised. She gazed at each of them, a frown forming on her forehead.
"You people don't seem to be from here nor from the islands," she said, tilting her head. "Who are you?"