*Bloop*


    Bubbles of air rose from the bottom of the sea and traveled upward past Senia.


    She had swum quite a distance off the shore, and was pretty deep under the sea level. Looking around in the darkness, she stopped to think.


    ''I have no idea where those kelpies are...''


    In truth, she thought a kelpie would appear in front of her at some point, but to her disappointment, nothing of such happened.


    Not only was she alone, but something looked terribly amiss.


    ''I can''t feel any life around me either. There are no sounds.''


    As a siren, Senia had the ability to feel the life around her when submerged. She could hear the movements of fish, the swaying of seagrass, and the soothing underwater currents.


    But there was no such thing around here. Worry began to fill her mind.


    ''What''s wrong with this sea? Why is it so dreadfully quiet?''


    Feeling a bad omen from the unusual phenomenon, she carefully proceeded forward.


    Using her tail to create a blast of water behind her, she threw herself rapidly and swam further down.


    At one point, she stopped in front of a slope, which led to the darkest part of the sea, the abyss.


    "!"


    A bubble escaped her mouth as she felt an ominous presence down there.


    ''What the... the abyss isn''t supposed to feel like this.''


    She knew exactly what the abyss was. Some sirens sometimes descended there to hunt some rare fishes, which were delicacies for them. It was by no means a dangerous place, at least, not in her memories.


    ''There''s something down there... something very dangerous. This is probably the reason for the surrounding stillness.''


    Suddenly, she heard a single sound coming from the abyss. She looked towards her left, and settled on the seafloor to remain out of sight. Between two pieces of coral, Senia patiently waited.


    Senia had no idea that her vision, capable of seeing better in the water than other species, would let her see a horribly terrifying scene.


    Like a horror story, a terrifying scene played in front of her.


    *FOOSH*


    In the distance, a creature emerged from the abyss and tried to flee in Senia''s direction.


    ''Is that... a kelpie?''


    A horse like beast with an eel tail dragged its broken front legs behind it. A long and constant blood trail followed behind its frantic movement, as it seemed to be in a fight-or-flight response.


    Its expression was panicked, but it stopped for a moment after escaping the darkness below. It looked at its broken legs, before swiping its tail left and right to flee further.


    But fate had other plans for it, as a tall shadow crept behind it from the darkness.


    It turned its head to see the dark figure with terror painted on its face. The kelpie tried to move away rapidly, but it wasn''t fast enough.


    The long shadow wrapped around the kelpie''s body and began to drag it back down into the abyss.


    One of its legs cracked completely as it tried to resist the pull, but ultimately, in a cloud of sand and bubbles, it disappeared into the void. Ten seconds later, a sound broke the silence of the sea, bringing cold sweat to Senia.


    *CRUNCH*


    A bone chilling noise echoed in the water. Senia remained completely still, and gulped in order to keep her emotions in check.


    Moments later, she heard the sound of something massive moving through the water. It came from deep below her, and moved upward.


    *FUUUUUUSH*


    A larger shadow, way bigger than the thing that dragged the kelpie away, flew upward. A red ''eye'' looked in every direction as it flew in circles above the abyss.


    ''W-W-What... is this?''


    Senia remained completely shocked. A being longer than anything she had ever seen in the sea writhes and swam in front of her.


    She tried to compare it to the biggest creature she saw, a whale, but even that was small in comparison.


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    ''This thing is at least fifty meters! What kind of monster dwells in this sea?!''


    With the crystal Orion gave her in her hands, she thought of crushing it immediately.


    ''I can''t! This thing is out of my league! I just finished learning how to use magic!''


    Panic took over her.


    -


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


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


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


    -


    Orion''s words echoed in her mind.


    ''Attacked...''


    She quietly took control of her raging emotions, and observed the massive beast, which spat something from its mouth near the start of the slope leading to the abyss.


    ''I''m not being attacked. It still hasn''t noticed me, so I''m not in danger.''


    ''My mission isn''t to kill this thing, it''s to find the leader of the kelpies.''


    Having returned to her senses, she looked at the thing spat by the beast.


    ''That''s...''


    With a saddened expression, she watched a headless corpse fall on the sand. She closed her eyes and turned her face away.


    ''So that is what''s happening to the kelpies. It''s not even a need to feed, it''s the pleasure to hunt for no reason. This thing doesn''t eat them, it kills because it can.''


    Looking at the massive red eye, she finally understood.


    ''This is a corrupted...''


    For the first time, she saw one. A giant at that.


    ''Like Orion said, they aren''t to be taken lightly. I will be careful around here.''


    The fifty-meter long beast finally looked down and plunged back down into the abyss. After making a sort of long growl, stillness returned to the sea.


    At last, Senia released an air bubble of relief from her mouth. She released her grip on the coral next to her, and looked at the crystal in her other hand.


    ''I was about to act like a fool. I''m sure Orion wouldn''t have said anything, because it would still be useful information, but still.''


    ''If I can bring the kelpie leader and information about this thing, it would be more useful to him.''


    She waited a few minutes, making sure the corrupted stayed in the deep. After feeling safer, she turned around, and swam away from the slope.


    ''The kelpie came in my direction, which meant something important is over there. Probably the kelpies nest.''


    Her speed dropped dramatically, to avoid being spotted.


    ''I''ll find them, and then, I''ll return to Orion. Alive!''


    Determined to find the kelpies, Senia followed her instincts, and finally found what she was looking for in the vastness of the sea.


    ...


    "Why have you sent her alone?"


    After two hours, there were still no signs of Senia. Olivia asked Orion after being unable to stand the mood between them.


    Orion seemed distant, his mind somehow unfocused compared to usual. Olivia wasn''t stupid enough to not notice that he was worried about Senia.


    "Because everyone as a job they fulfill better than others. If you need to go to the sea, you bring a specialist of the sea."


    He answered with a terrifying neutrality.


    "That makes sense, but I''m sure it''s not everything. Won''t you tell me?"


    Olivia hesitantly took a step forward. She was unsure of his reaction, but she had no reason to worry in the end.


    With a gentle and careful movement, he placed his hand on her head and began to pat her.


    "I''m too overprotective. Amelia and Karteira are one thing because they are trained fighters, but Senia isn''t."


    "The same goes for you, and the others. Not being worries means not caring about you. Of course, I trust everyone nonetheless, but this and that are different matters."


    He gave a small smile before worriedly looking in the horizon.


    ''I can still feel the crystal. It hasn''t been destroyed, so she''s doing fine.''


    A small sigh escaped his mouth.


    "Well, that''s pretty much it. Now, there''s someone else who worried me this week. Do you know perhaps who it is?"


    On his face, a scary expression appeared as he looked at her.


    "Ha-Haha~ I think I do... I''m sorry."


    Looking down, she seemed to truly be sorry. Orion kept patting her blonde hair, which swayed in the sea breeze.


    "Knowing the situation, I can''t be mad at you. I don''t plan on scolding you or anything, thought, I was incredibly worried. It made me think something had happened to you."


    In a gentle manner, he pulled her arm and hugged her. Her face sunk into his shirt, and as she listened to his heartbeat, she nodded.


    "I''m sorry. I lost track of time, dealing with what was happening. At first, it was the storm staying in the distance, which wasn''t going away. It was affecting the fishing boats, and our seafood supply at the same time."


    She wrapped her arms around his back and continued.


    "A few days later, the first kelpie washed ashore. Then another, then more. I was lost, not knowing what to do."


    "I was panicking, and the people were getting scared. For the first time, I realized that there were matters I was unable to deal with."


    Olivia moved her head away from his chest and looked at Orion with a defeated smile.


    "You know, I was pretty confident about my leadership before. I thought dealing with the previous Apostle and his aids to be easy, and it was. Improving the life of Noctelagia''s people was simple, too."


    "Even breaking the chains between factions was rather easy."


    Her expression darkened, as if she was about to cry. Orion caressed her hair and listened.


    "But... I was completely lost when the kelpies began to die. The sea is sealed away by the storm, and there''s no communication between us. Besides watching more corpses washing up on the shore every day, there was nothing I was able to do."


    At last, Olivia couldn''t hold the tears back. She buried her face in his shirt and quietly cried.


    ''Even the strongest have a moment where they can''t take it anymore. She''s younger than any of us, too. It''s a miracle she had never broken down until now.''


    Orion tightened his hug, and spoke.


    "You''ve done well until now. You aren''t alone anymore."


    "We''re not strangers, so depend on me more. I''m glad you still came to me when you needed help instead of dealing with this alone."


    With a nod, Olivia removed her face from his chest. She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand, and looked at Orion.


    "Thank you for helping, you and Senia. I hope she makes it."


    "Me too."


    In each other''s arms, they looked in the distance.


    ...


    ''What a mess...''


    Senia swam into what seemed to be an underwater forest of kelp. The algae were around five to ten meters high, but most were completely ripped off the seafloor.


    Through the kelp, she discovered what seemed to be a cave system.


    ''The rocks are broken here and there, and the entrance seems to have been forced. That creature tried to enter, is what I can guess.''


    She carefully entered the cave and traveled through. There was no current, which made the dive rather safe.


    The only things dangerous were the sea urchins and jellyfishes she encountered, but other than that, she arrived at the bottom unharmed.


    After entering the cave, she traveled the only path that existed, before being blinded by a bright light.


    ''What?''


    She placed her right hand in front of her face for a moment, adjusting to the light.


    When she removed her hand, she opened her mouth in shock.


    ''I... made it?''


    A massive natural cave with pillars supporting the roof laid bare in front of her. Kelpies hurriedly swam here and there, before she felt piercing eyes on her.


    ''Eh?''


    Before she knew it, she had been encircled.


    *Bubble*


    ''W-Whaaaat?!''