Louisa's POV
"Don't say that to yourself. You aren't stupid. The real stupid people are those who try to bully others for a living," I said.
Mana looked at me with sadness and said, "I don't think they're stupid. They're living a very good life. They've got everything. Those traveling druids live like Kings on islands in Agier Sea."
"Nobody will live a good life by making others' lives miserable. In their consciousness, they know they aren't doing the right thing and they will be punished for what they've done to others," I said.
"Well, Miss. I agree with you," Mana swallowed his saliva and said. "But the thing is, not everyone has consciousness as you do. Those traveling druids are mad right now. They have been mad ever since we were driven away from the mainland."
Mata heard our conversation and said, "Thousands of years have passed. Some of us have already started to evolve, to move on with our lives. But some of them just refuse to let it go."
Mana continued, "They say they want to return to the mainland to reclaim their past pride and glory. But to be honest, I think they are making a fool of themselves. We were cast away by werewolves for a reason and there wasn't any pride and glory in it! I seriously don't know why they want to return to the mainland."
Mata nodded and said, "They are so trapped by hatred and disgrace that wherever they go, they just change the location, not the situation."
It was amazing to see these two fishhead druids finish each other's sentence just like that. It felt like they were two synchronizing parts of the same person.
"If they can't forget about the past, how did you manage to do it?" I asked.
Mana pointed his head and said, "Well, we've evolved into tuna heads. I guess fish just have poorer memory."
I looked at his round head and found it looked kind of cute.
Mana looked a bit embarrassed, so he covered his head with the towel again.
"How could people be haunted by something for thousands of years? How can a person call themselves a freeman, when they are dominated and consumed by their fear, desire, and grievance?" I whispered.
Mata looked at me and said, "Miss, we really understand what you're talking about, but we can't do anything to change it. This world is a very big place, but there's nowhere for creatures like us to live. We're too stupid, feeble, and useless!"
Then, he covered his face with his webbed hands and started to weep.
"We're just two big foolish tuna heads that don't deserve to survive!" Mana said and started to cry as well.
Lucian looked at me with an inquiry. He was very disturbed right now and these two little fishermen crying like whales certainly didn't help.
I patted Mata and Mana's shoulders and said, "Don't cry. Maybe one person can't do much to change the world, but at least we can do something to change the situation we're in. We can try our best to take care of our friends and loved ones, to provide them with love and protection. We can always choose to do the right thing. Nobody can take that right away from us."
Both Mana and Meta were suddenly silenced.
"You mean, you want to be our friend?" Mata asked.
I nodded and said, "Yes, you two are my friends now."
"But we look so ugly... We are bold and slimy and clumsy... We have scales... We have tuna heads!" Mana looked up at me and said.
I said in a soft voice, "Please stop calling yourself that. I don't think it's fair to judge anyone by their appearance. It's their disposition and deeds that matter. Some people look handsome, but they are assholes and do terrible things to others. So, they're, basically, a gold-plated trash bag."
"Wow. I like gold..." Mana said. "But I hate trash bags. We can't get anything to eat in trash bags and they make us stink."
"You'll never get anything to eat from the trash bags ever again. I am a good cook and I'll cook for you." I tried to cheer them up by putting some positive thoughts in their minds.
"You're so kind, Miss! I wish we could meet you earlier! " Mana started to weep again.
"We'll do everything for you!" Mata wept as well.
They sure cried a lot. But after what they had been through, I really couldn't blame them.
At that time, Lucian suddenly asked Meta, "How did the druids get on the mainland? According to the King Czar's First Ruling, as soon as they step on the mainland, they will be reduced to ashes."
"We really don't know," Meta wiped his tears and shook his head. "Those traveling druids wouldn't tell us anything."
"But they mentioned something about the relics..."
"And earthquake..."
"And an underground city."
"But we really don't know anything about it."
I looked at Lucian and said, "They said something about relics, an earthquake, and an underground city. Does that make any sense to you?"
Lucian didn't say anything. He looked extremely distracted and upset.
"We need to hurry up. I could feel that we were getting closer to Gianna, but she refused to talk to me. She must have already been in danger."
The road to Backsaw Mountain was poorly lit and muddy. It seems that the White Walkers hadn't brought civilization to this part of the Kingdom.
"This place is populated by rogues. There were so many of them!" Mata said.
"Sometimes they attack people passing by!" Mana added.
"But don't worry, Miss. If someone shows up, we can hypnotize them. They'll leave us alone," Mata said.
"We can also make them believe that they are ducks and make fun of them, but I don't think that's appropriate," Mana said.
"Are you going to hypnotize me?" I frowned. I didn't want to be laughed at while walking and quaking like a duck.
"We can't hypnotize you, Miss," Mana said.
"You're one of us," Mata said.
"What?!" I asked with surprise.
"You're one of the Gifted Ones. We share the same ancestor," Mana said.
"You can talk and hear us. Plus, the blood stains on your dress... We can smell the person who bleeds the same blood as us," Mata said with a tickling nose.
"We can't hypnotize people who bleed the same blood as us." Mana looked at me with his giant eyes. I saw the color of his eyes slowly changing into red, and there were some swirls of light in his eyes.
Then, the light in Mana's eyes dimmed and he said with open hands, "See, I was trying to hypnotize you to make you think you're a duck, but it didn't work."
"Wait a moment..." I said in a trembling voice. "Do you mean that... I'm a witch?!"