"What''s taking over you Amelia?"


    Karteira blinked in surprise at her friends sudden outburst.


    "I''m just excited! I''ve been waiting this for quite some time already."


    Orion smiled at her and clicked on the tablet.


    *BIP*


    <Weather variation input registered.>


    <Rainclouds forming in 3...2...1...>


    *DRIP*


    For the very first time, Horizon''s white sky darkened. The first drops of rain fell here and there, turning into a light shower.


    Introducing the rain at first, Orion watched carefully the device to spot any unexpected trouble, especially around the Siren Sea and the Fairy Village.


    "I haven''t seen rain in so long."


    May approached her face to the window and looked outside.


    "I''m used to seeing snow all the time, so I had completely forgotten."


    *WAM*


    A loud bark made the women jump slightly, before realizing where it came from.


    "Sirius is still outside! Crap, I''ll bring him in."


    Karteira hurriedly ran toward the front door and opened it for the dog, who zoomed past her and settled next to Orion.


    ''Seems like Sirius hates the rain? Or maybe he felt the static charge in the air?''


    Just as Orion thought of that, a bright light made May jumped away from the window, before the loud cracking sound echoed in the distance.


    *Rumble*


    A bolt of lightning fell upon Horizon.


    Most of the women in the room looked slightly frightened. Henrietta, Tetra, and Amelia were fine, but everyone else remained frozen in fear.


    Particularly Senia. The trauma of the typhoon leading her to become a prized trophy still remained with her.


    Scared, she grabbed the first hand near her, which was Deveralna''s. The lamia looked strangely at the siren, before smiling warmly at her. She tightly held her hand, and did her best to calm the poor girl.


    "We never had lightning in the fairy realm... I hope none of the fairies will fly during that time."


    Dramia said in a low voice. As a former human, she already was scared of the lightning as a child. Drania was a little better off on that side, always helping her sister get through the moment. It had not change, as for once, Drania was the one acting like the eldest of the twin.


    "It''s alright. I''m sure Orion thought of something to avoid the worst. Right?"


    She looked at him, expecting a good news. She smiled when he nodded.


    "I can isolate the places where the lightning strikes. None will fall around the Fairy Village, the Siren Sea, the Arachnea Forest, and other buildings we''ve built. Of course, this includes our house."


    All the frightened women breathed a sighed of relief.


    *RUMBLE*


    Another bright flash of light followed by the sound of thunder instantly made them on edge again. Erasing their fear was near impossible at this point.


    "Karteira."


    Orion looked toward her and asked a question with a serious expression on his face.


    "Hmm?"


    Karteira looked back at him before pushing a strand of hair behind her right ear.


    "Have you heard anything about Olivia? It has been more than a week now."


    With a hint of worry in his voice, it made everyone forget about the storm outside, and focus on him.


    "..."


    With a frown, Karteira shook her head.


    "No. She hasn''t returned at all since leaving for Noctelagia. Her maid came to our home with an important matter to discuss, that''s the last time we saw her."


    "..."


    Orion looked very displeased. This was Olivia they were talking about. A woman ready to assault him at the first opportunity if he wasn''t careful around her.


    ''Why is she not coming back? I should probably go check on her. I really hope nothing happened to her.''


    *RUMBLE*


    After the third lightning strike, suddenly, footsteps were heard from upstairs rapidly moving down the stairs.


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    "PAPA!"


    Stella turned into the living room with tears on her face and a stiff expression. She looked so terrified it worried everyone.


    "Stella. I''m sorry, I should have told you beforehand that there was going to be a storm outside."


    He crouched and caught the little girl in his arms, who instantly curled up and cried on his chest.


    "It''s alright. I''m right here."


    Caressing her hair slowly, Orion calmed her.


    For a few more minutes, they all looked through the window silently. Then, a shadow ran past it, which took everyone by surprise.


    "What was that?!"


    *Click*


    The door to their house opened suddenly, and a dripping wet Olivia entered with a frantic expression.


    She didn''t bother removing her shoes and entered the living.


    "Orion! I need your help!"


    "..."


    Internally, he breathed a sighed of relief seeing that she was fine. On the other hand, he was surprised to see her this agitated.


    "Could you come with me to Noctelagia? Please!"


    ''She ran all the way from the portal to here...''


    He observed her outfit. Olivia loved her modified maid outfit very much so, so it was always in good condition.


    Though, not this time.


    "Come here, first."


    With Stella in one arm, he asked Olivia to come in front of him. She was about to refuse and tell him that there was no time, but she complied thinking that time wasn''t a problem with Orion''s warping ability.


    "..."


    She stopped in front of him and kept silent. Orion touched her left forearm gently and noticed a small painful reaction coming from her.


    "You fell, did you? Your stockings'' all ripped up too."


    While rushing back here, she fell down thanks to the rain. In fact, she was so pressed by the situation that she hadn''t noticed the storm. Only now did she realize that she was wet.


    "Yes..."


    Her left forearm and tibia were bleeding thanks to her fall. The black clothes she loved so much were murky with mud and grass, and she even had some mud on her left cheek.


    Orion''s free hand began to shine, before placing it on her arm.


    "Kh..."


    Olivia felt the pain at last, but it quickly subsided. Even her leg quickly healed as if nothing had happened.


    "Alright, you should be good. Now..."


    *RUMBLE*


    Lightning fell in the distance, lighting his face as he asked.


    "Tell me what happened."


    ...


    Everyone in the room listened to Olivia. When she finished, Orion nodded and made a quick decision.


    "Senia, your coming with us. I''m very sorry, Stella, I will have to leave you here."


    "A-Alright..."


    The trembling little girl removed her hands from his chest and waited for him to drop her down. Instead, Orion walked to the twins and dropped her between them.


    "I leave her to you."


    He turned around and opened a portal.


    "Wha- Hey!"


    Dramia stood up and tried to say something, but Orion ignored it and picked up Senia in his arms before walking through the portal with Olivia.


    "Sis?"


    Drania began to pat Stella''s head, before her sister dropped on the couch with a defeated expression.


    ''I''m not good with children...''


    ''I know, but he still asked us. It''s Stella we''re talking about, she''s not like other children.''


    ''...''


    The cold fairy looked at the trembling girl, and hesitantly went to grab her hand.


    ''Right...''


    With both sisters were tasked to protect Orion''s daughter under the warm eyes of the women in the room.


    The thing on their mind was, will Orion be fine?


    ...


    *Whooo*


    The sound of a portal opening in Noctelagia was heard, before three people walked out.


    "The entrance to the castle, huh?"


    Orion looked around, and noticed that there was also a storm brewing above the sea in the distance.


    "Let''s move. We want to quickly take care of this, right?"


    "Yes."


    With a confirming nod, Olivia looked toward the beach at the bottom of her city, you could see large ''things'' here and there laying on the beach.


    "Hmm... Orion?"


    Senia, still in his arms, called his name to get his attention.


    "What is it, Senia?"


    "Why do you need me?"


    With a frown, he answered.


    "This matter might require someone who can go underwater. As you know, I can''t."


    "Well... you might be right. Sorry I asked."


    "No, I''m the one who should apologize. I''ve brought you without telling you why."


    In fact, Senia didn''t care at all about that.


    ''I''m being carried! I''m so close to him! This is a rare opportunity!''


    Feeling her love growing, she kept those thoughts hidden in the deepest part of her mind.


    ''Forget it, this is not the time for that.''


    She shook her head and looked at Olivia.


    "Are you sure that something happened?"


    Orion asked and opened another portal, which lead to the beach down below. Before they walked through it, Olivia answered with an ominous tone.


    "You''ll understand."


    She closed her eyes and walked into the portal with a pained expression.


    Senia and Orion readied themselves at her words, and walked through the portal too.


    "!"


    It wasn''t very difficult to see the problem. Not only see, but smell too.


    "The stench of rotting corpses..."


    He dropped Senia on the sand and looked around.


    ''There''s probably more than twenty corpses laying on the beach. What are these, whales?''


    "Correct. This is what I told you earlier."


    "Wait..."


    Orion approached the closest body and carefully scanned it before looking at Olivia.


    "This is a kelpie?"


    Olivia silently nodded, slightly sick from the mess and smell.


    ''Now that I have a closer look at them, they do look like horses. This...''


    ''What could have done such damage to such a massive creature?''


    Kelpies were larger than normal horses. Four people could sit on their back, and there would still be space for another.


    Their front legs were those of a horse, but their behind was replaced by a long eel-like tail that acted as their way to push through the water.


    Such mighty underwater creatures, reduced to broken bodies beached on the sand.


    ''This one has its belly wide open. It''s like something took a bite of it and just did that.''


    He walked toward another corpse.


    ''Its neck has been bitten, similar to the one before.''


    Orion looked in the distance with ''Eagle Eye'', and noticed the same similarities with the other bodies.


    "I see... We''re dealing with a predator that wasn''t here previously."


    With a small nod, Olivia confirmed it.


    "I haven''t been able to talk with the kelpie leader in so long, so I thought everything was fine. It was only last week that this horrible sight begun. The worst part is, I haven''t seen their leader yet."


    "I don''t know what happened, and I have no idea what to do at this point."


    She clenched her hands into fists and looked down.


    "I don''t want them to go extinct!"


    With a neutral expression, Orion stared at her.


    "..."


    Then, he looked toward the sea.


    "Me neither."


    "Senia."


    He turned to Senia and opened his hand. Inside it, a swirling cloud of stars began to agglomerate, which turned into a crystal.


    With a lob throw, he threw it to her. Senia caught the crystal and looked at the crystal, then at Orion.


    "Can you go into the sea and bring the leader to us? Use this crystal in two situation."


    With one finger up, he said this.


    "You find the kelpie leader, or..."


    Lifting the second finger, he frowned.


    "You find yourself attacked by the thing responsible for their death."


    Senia nodded with a serious expression.


    "Just crush the crystal in your hand, and it will create a one-use portal to me. Do not try to play heroes."


    He stared at her with a stern expression.


    "I repeat. Do not play heroes. Whatever happens, come back to me."


    She looked at him with surprise, but ultimately agreed.


    "I will. I''m not ready to die yet."


    "Then be careful. I''ll take care of cleaning these bodies off the beach."


    And just like that, Senia began her mission to rescue the kelpie leader. She dragged herself toward the water, and plunged into the cold water.


    ''Senia. I trust you.''


    Orion watched as she vanished into the water. He then turned around and focus on his task.


    "Alright, I have a job to do too."