Meanwhile a convoy from the human world was speedily approaching towards the Southern . It was a place of quiet. Footfall in this region was bare minimum. The only noise that from here was the roar of the huge ocean waves crashing against the rocky mountain . It was a place where alone humans, immortals feared to tread.The region belonged to mer- people. They were a tribe created between humans and Pisces. Legends have it that when the Twelfth Zodiac had taken a human form, it had fallen in love with a human girl.
Since the mer-people were descendents of their children, they were seen as an outcast by the of the worlds.Even though they were blessed with tremendous power, fish like abilities , water bending skills , astrological knowledge, they were treated like criminals and in the forlorn southern region. This humiliation and anger drove them into a frenzy.
They became desperate to prove their worth. In their quest for it, they started practicing dark crafts, namely the witchcraft of the damned. It did what they wanted. All the world fearing them and their boundaries extended like never before. However, like all dark , it claimed something terrible from them in return. The tribe lost its original beauty. They so disfigured that even they themselves feared to look in the mirror. Suicide rate in the population. When they were almost close to extinction, the ruler made a pledge the heavens, never to venture further than their present territory and give up their quest for
World dominion for good. It did normalize them. But it erased the entirety of their male , leaving behind only the females. How their population multiplies, remains a mystery everyone till date.
"Halt" Yelled the one leading the chariots, as soon as they reached the southern borders.
Their borders were unmanned but it was guarded by a very strong current which immediately anyone trespassing without authorisation. The leader of the convoy bowed in regard the borders and let his intention known to them for the visit.
The communication between the mer-witches was mostly telepathic which gave them a better underwater. The message of the convoy was discussed between themselves for a while they decided to let him in and hear the full version.
"Hail to the queen" He bowed down half terrified and half mesmerized at the sheer beauty of the . Beholding a mer-witch was a miracle and privilege in itself as they rarely had with the outside world. Visiting the queen was close to impossible. Only when and if thought fit, a convoy had the luck to directly meet the queen.
"What brings you humans here? What is your emergency" She asked in a voice that sang like ocean.
It was only the leader from the convoy who was allowed to accompany one of their generals to the queens hall. The human was fed from a fruit that enabled him to breathe for a while. On his way to the hall, his eyes had been shut with a spell . It was only front of the queen that he got his sight restored. And the marvel and glitter he witnessed once opened his eyes, were driving his senses into a full adrenaline rush. The sheer beauty of the -witches were enough to drive men crazy and to add to it the glitter and glamor of their inner . It was more than a human could imagine. The leader had a hard time maintaining his and getting straight to business.
"I hope you are aware of the fact that the curse has been evoked that forbade blood ties the immortal tribes of the east and west. " He said. The queen only nodded in reply so man continued. "We in the human world are already suffering from its early signs. However the tribes dare to keep their development and action on the matter hidden from us. We are if the scenario gets worse, our race might have to face severe damage. " He finished.
"So? " The queen urged for him to continue.
"So, my Grace, we come in submission to you to seek protection and help of any sort from the of the curse and the damage we might receive as collateral because of the infighting the immortal tribes. " He said looking down, afraid he might have pushed his luck too .
But the queen smiled and sat back in a reclining position. Then said "and why should we help ? "
The man fell on his face in front of her and begged "Please help us. We have no other protector than you. "
The queen burst out laughing "but aren't we vicious ugly creatures devouring on souls.
Shouldn't you be more afraid of us than this curse or the immortals. " She said with a look of in her eyes. The man knew his breath was numbered. So he gathered all of the strength he had left and said " You were once persecuted like we are about to be. Our kind might the same level of disaster leading to our extinction just like you once faced. We hope you even a little with us because of this. "
The queen immediately moved her hands in the air and the head of the man tumbled over the , blood spilling in all directions. A subordinate rushed to contain and clean up the mess.
"Send this head to the human king and ask him to visit me in person if he wants any help" The retorted and stormed out of the Hall. The subordinates followed orders and sent the head to the convoy waiting outside their border in a wrapped box. They sent a along inside that read -
"Feel blessed to cherish our gift for you. If you are looking for any favors from us, ask your king be a man and visit our queen in person. "
Unaware of what they carried, the convoy sped back to the palace hall where the king and his waited eagerly.
*******
Through the undercurrent
It was sometimes since Mia was gone underwater. Lin and the rest waited eagerly for her to . Roe and Xie kept exchanging strange looks while they waited. Lin had his fists . Boshu circled the horizon once and then around Lin once. After what seemed like a long time, Mia swam back to the shore. Lin rushed to help her out of the water. She sat against Lin, facing the others.
"I tried talking to the creature. It is down there. But it refuses to take us all to the tree of . It said it can only take me there. However it does agree to take the rest of you back the stream at the ridge. "
"What ridge? " Roe asked. Mia looked at Lin.
"The one in our world. Precisely it agreed to take us back home. But only Mia can go get the from the tree of knowledge. This is messed up. Mia can't take me instead of you. " Lin very frustrated.
"I tried. It said no. " Mia said. " Well you can tell me what to ask. "
"It's not that simple Mia. The tree of knowledge talks in riddles. Moreover it asks for sacrifices to out answers. It's very difficult to negotiate with them. I do not want you to go there alone.
It's too risky. " Lin said, holding her hands tight.
"But what other option do we have? " Asked Roe.
"We can take another day and try to figure our way out if we can. '' Boshu tried to sprinkle some .
"There is no point waiting. We only have two options. Either we persuade the creature to take at one more of us with it or we give Mia all possible information that we have and then trust to do the rest on her own. '' said Xie.
"Mia, take me along underwater to the creature. Let me try one last time to persuade it" Lin said.
Mia stood up and held his hands "Ok, let's give it a try".
They dived underwater and swam. But no matter how much they swam, they could not find the . It was as if it was gone. Mia tried concentrating hard to communicate with it through mind. All attempts failed . They finally swam back as both were nearly out of breath.
They had another round of discussion after taking some rest. They had no other option but to let
Mia go alone since the creature wouldn't even appear before them to negotiate. They told her they knew about the Tree of knowledge. They narrowed down on some of the they needed to get answers to,like the origin of the curse, its source, its nature, the , how to combat it etc. But since they were having a group discussion about the issue ,
Lin and Mia could not share their personal views. They already knew who it concerned. Mia a little bit about its history. But they all narrowed down on the fact that the most important to know was how it could be countered.
"Mia, it will ask for sacrifices for each of the three answers, but choose wisely. Lin held her in a firm grip and said. He then hugged her and whispered in her ears " You know our priorities are. " Then he drew back and said "be careful. We will be waiting here for . "
They all stood in anticipation as she disappeared yet again under water. After she was gone,
Xie came up to Lin and asked "now that we have so much time to spend and nothing to do, why 't you share your and Mia's story with us"
Lin was expecting something like that from the two of them but he didn't expect to get asked or so soon. He played along and said "What about us, Xie? "
"Mia didn't appear like a fox to me," Xie said bluntly.
"No she isn't," Lin confessed.
"How did you make your family accept her? " Roe asked.
"They don't know about her yet" Lin was being honest.
"Oh! I see. But how did she manage to come here? Do you know anything about why the only communicates with her and none of us? Moreover, what sort of creature is it? "
Roe asked it all without being able to suppress her curiosity any further.
"Honestly, no clue. " Lin wasn't lying either. He too did not know anything about the creature or Mia was the only one to talk to it. Or why it only agreed to take Mia to the tree of . It was all beyond him .
"Well I guess we need to wait for Mia's safe return to get our answers then. " Boshu put in.
They all nodded and then dispersed, looking for a spot to sit and wait.