"We're here to see you," said Arisa, lowering her weapon. "There's something you have to know."
Caris blinked her eyes a few times before she swam forward and wrapped her arms around Arisa.
"I'm so happy to see you," she said, her voice quiet. "I always wondered what happened to you after Enchantress summoned me. You were the only one left in that forest; I'm so glad that you survived the Guardians' threats."
Arisa gazed at the Oceanian, speechless. She locked her arms around her friend, happy to see her again. For a moment, whispers filled the silence as everyone wondered who were the people that dared to interfere with the execution and why they were being so friendly with the half breed that stole the prince's powers.
"What's going on?" asked an annoyed voice. "Guards, what are you doing? The traitor is still alive."
Arisa looked at her front and saw that the dark-haired prince with a silvery blue tail was slowly swimming towards them with an impatient expression spreading across his pale face. The guards apologized and readied their weapons upon hearing the prince's words.
Thelma, Kazuya, and Garoh joined Arisa, standing in front of Arielle, who still shielded her child with her arms and body.
"You'll have to pass through us first," threatened Thelma, summoning her bow.
The guards looked at them. They then pointed their weapons at them, confused. As the team prepared for battle, whispers from the crowd wondered who were those strange beings that dared to challenge the Royal Family.
"And who are you to dare to interfere with the crown's orders?" The prince glared at each of them, his brows touching. "You seem to be from the surface, which makes you nothing. Guards, you know what to do."
"No," protested Caris, dropping her arms from Arisa. "You can't do that. They're not from our world."
The prince smiled. "It doesn't matter. They're interfering with the crown, therefore we're allowed to kill them. Maré won't be in trouble because of these nobodies. Now come here and let the others do their job."
The prince quickly grabbed Caris' wrist and forced her to swim away from the area where the team was standing. Caris protested, telling the prince to let her go, that he was about to commit a big mistake. The prince didn't listen, still forcing her to swim further away from the spot.
As the prince distanced himself away from the area, the guards threatened an attack. Before the team could prepare themselves to face their opponents, a quick scream of pain stopped both parties. Everyone's gaze fell on the two beings standing not far from their area. Arisa's forehead wrinkled as she noticed that the prince was holding his right arm as if it was broken.
"You," said the prince, glaring at Caris, "what did you do?"
"I-I'm sorry," said Caris, timidly bowing to him. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I increased the pressure around your arm so you could let me go, bu-but it seems I still lack control of that ability. I apologize."
The prince didn't drop his threatening glare. "You think your mere words will fix my arm? How dare you use the powers that were supposed to be mine against me."
Chatter filled the atmosphere again as the prince threatened to harm Caris. The crowd then cheered, encouraging the prince to punish the half breed that dared to challenge him.
"Stop it, Atlas," said a soothing female voice.
Arisa didn't take long to spot the pale mermaid with short white hair and tail, holding her golden stick that had coral details. The King swam alongside her, patting his son's back.
Atlas looked at the Queen, anger still present across his face. "But mother, you've seen what she has done to me. She deserves punishment. An eye for an eye."
"You're forgetting that you still need her to pass Pisces' powers to you," said the Queen. "Don't be a fool. Besides, you should have listened to her. There must be a reason why she doesn't want those beings to be killed."
The prince exhaled and looked away, still holding his arm.
"Now then," said the Queen setting her green eyes on the team, "may we know who these strangers are?"
"They're my friends, Your Majesty," said Caris before anyone could reply. "I met them during my journey in the Forbidden Lands."
The Queen's brows rose. "Forbidden Lands? So they're Guardians?"
Caris replied with a quick nod. Gasps filled the silence as the prince looked at the team surprised. He then looked away. Judging by his reaction, Arisa thought that maybe he was a little bit embarrassed to have treated them so coldly.
"Guardians she says," said the King, rubbing his bearded jaw. "Could it be the ones that creature warned us about?"
The Queen tilted her head and slowly swam towards them, examining each member.
"Are you Guardians perhaps from Celestia, Lunara, and Earth?" she asked, her tone calm.
For a few seconds, only the chatter of the crowd broke the silence as the team exchanged looks.
"Why do you want to know?" asked Garoh.
"I want to confirm something." The Queen smiled.
Garoh frowned. "What?"
One of the guards pointed his spear on Garoh, glaring at him.
"Stop playing around and answer the question," demanded the guard.
Garoh stared at him. "What if I don't want to?"
The tip of the spear touched Garoh's throat as the guard glared at him and threatened to sink the sharp blade deep in his skin. The Queen chuckled.
"There's no need to go that far," said the Queen, lowering the guard's spear. "Even if they won't confirm it to me, I know it's them based on its description."
"What description?" asked Kazuya.
The Queen raised her head as she looked at him. "The strange creature made of algae."
Arisa blinked her eyes two times, trying to picture what a creature made of algae looked like.
"When we found out Pisces had chosen a half breed to represent her, we were shocked," said the Queen, touching her chest as if she was hurt. "It was a great embarrassment for our world to have something born from sin to be worthy of those astral powers instead of us purebloods. We thought that there was certainly a mistake and that creature confirmed it to us."
As everyone's attention focused on the Queen, Arisa couldn't understand why the people sharing the same world couldn't be happy that someone from their homeland was chosen as a Guardian.
"One day, that creature showed up in the castle, claiming it had good news about Pisces' power," continued the Queen. "It was the one that told us there was still a way to receive the astral powers. It also prophesied that you would be here to stop us and help the Children of the Sea receive the zone where the waters don't meet."
Arisa's forehead wrinkled. "Zone where the waters don't meet?"
"Yes," said the Queen. "That place is very sacred to us. After all, we believe that the Water Goddess lives there and watches us from there. The Children of the Sea have no right of that zone. It's ridiculous that the People of the Surface believe that our goddess made that place exclusively for the half breeds."
Upon hearing the Queen's words, Arisa couldn't help but think about the Water Goddess. Something in their belief sounded familiar.
I'm seen as a goddess.
Arisa's eyes widened as realization was slowly flowing in her veins. Could it be?
"Since the islanders believe that the Water Goddess will send someone to help those children get what's theirs," continued the Queen, washing away Arisa's thoughts, "We couldn't ignore that algae's warning. Thankfully, it said it would ask a friend to help it guard that area while we took care of the one who was given Pisces' powers by mistake."
"This can't be good," said Garoh. "The algae creature, I have a feeling that it's Virgo."
The team gazed at him with their brows raised. Arisa curled her fingers as worry flowed within her.
"For once, I would like to pass by a world without those monsters wandering around," said Thelma, sighing. "I wonder who's this friend she's brought along with her."
"It's probably..." Kazuya examined his surroundings. "We have to go."
Thelma nodded. "Yeah. At least this time we found our friend before their surprise attack. We should leave this world before it's too late."
As the team prepared themselves and gazed at Caris as if they were telling her to come with them, the Queen called her daughter, who quickly swam towards her. The princess spoke to her mother in a language Arisa couldn't understand.
When the team turned around to swim away from the area, they found themselves surrounded by guards.
"Unfortunately, you can't leave," said the Queen. "You're a danger to Maré. Lena."
A soft voice brightened the atmosphere. As the peaceful melody filled Arisa's ears, she turned around and saw that the mermaid with long white hair was the one singing. Hearing that graceful voice, for some reason, Arisa felt peace in her. Watching the princess, she felt as if her problems had vanished and her good mood had increased, feeling relaxed.
Staring at the singing princess, Arisa thought that she looked like an angel that called her to join her. She slowly swam towards the mermaid.
"Cover your ears," said a voice in between the tune. "Don't fall for it. Cover your ears."
Arisa stopped. As the princess kept singing, Arisa attempted to cover her ears. She struggled to control her arms. It was as if a heavy boulder was pulling them down.
"Cover your ears," persisted Caris. "You can do it."
Arisa fought against her arms and after several seconds she succeeded in covering them, only hearing a faint tone. She examined her surroundings and saw that the Queen had raised her arm and was concentrating. It didn't take long for Arisa to spot several sea creatures joining the Queen.
Arisa heard loud cheers as more creatures swam towards the Queen. Arisa saw that the creatures had various sizes and appearances. Some had a monstrous figure, others looked friendly but their size could intimidate any small being.
As the princess stopped singing, Arisa dropped her hands from her ears, her heart hammering.
"Since you're already here," said the Queen calmly, "I don't think we'll need the algae creature's help. We can deal with you ourselves."
The Queen dropped her arm and as soon as she did so, the creatures standing behind her swam forward. The team quickly summoned their weapons and protected themselves against the threats.
Arisa felt the heaviness in her arms as she blocked one of the creatures' attack. Examining the monster behind her blade, she saw that it was large and gray with multiple razor fins and thin teeth.
She attempted to counter-attack but was too slow thanks to the environment. She swam sideways as the creature opened its mouth to pierce her with its sharp teeth. The creature's head met the floor, allowing sand to mix with the water. Arisa swam forward and tightened her grip on her weapon, focusing her strength.
Before her opponent could regain its posture, her blade traveled through its thick surface. Blood flowed in the environment as the creature shook its body and cried in pain. Arisa attempted another attack but swam sideways to dodge a sudden attack from another creature.
She tightened her grip on her sword, breathing heavily. It hadn't been a few minutes since the battle started and she was already feeling heaviness in her body.
Could it be because I'm underwater?
Arisa's eyes widened as she felt heaviness pulling her heart. She gazed up and saw a snake-like creature approaching her at high speed, aiming its horn at her. She quickly swam away and saw an arrow of light pierce the monster. She didn't take long to see another one, targeting the snake-like creature that cried in pain.
Arisa glanced over her shoulder. Not far from her, she saw Thelma summoning the arrows of light. Behind her, she saw Arielle and Malu, who looked around with fear.
As Arisa prepared herself to attack another opponent, she saw Kazuya attempting to strike with his double-bladed staff every creature that targeted at him. Arisa noticed that he was struggling piercing his opponents as his movements looked slower than usual.
Returning her focus on a potential threat, Arisa attempted to swim upwards as a creature aimed at her. She ended up dodging the attack by swimming to her left side as she felt as if something was pushing her down when she swam upwards. She tightened her grip on her sword again, attempting a counter-attack. Failing to strike her target, Arisa swam sideways as the scaly creature attempted an attack.
Finding herself on another side, she spotted Garoh handling his opponents by summoning his element. Even though he was succeeding in defeating the monsters, looking around, Arisa thought the battle wouldn't end so soon.
She sighed, telling herself to be strong. Before she charged forward to strike another opponent, Arisa saw that the water in the battlefield was gaining a greenish-blue tone. Looking at her surroundings, she saw that the stream with that color was concentrating on the creatures targeting the team. As soon as that stream disappeared, she noticed that the creatures had stopped attacking them. It was as if they were frozen.
"What's going on?" Arisa wondered.
Whistles suddenly broke the silence. Arisa looked around and saw more creatures joining their area, only that this time those creatures had beings riding them. Looking at those creatures, she thought that they looked like large sea-turtles with shells filled with flora.
Arisa felt something metallic curl around her hand. She looked by her left side and saw the marine blue armored Caris.
"Quick, we have to go before they wake up." Caris swam forward, holding Arisa's hand.
"Wait," said Arisa as Caris swam at full speed. "What about the others?"
Caris glanced over her shoulder. "I spoke to aunt Rayanne. She'll make sure my brothers leave this side of the city with them."
As they distanced themselves from the area, Arisa could hear the crowd shouting what was going on and why the soldiers weren't doing anything to stop the Children of the Sea. Noticing that Caris was swimming at a high speed, Arisa took a deep breath, wondering where she was taking her.