Tsubaki strided out of the room, wondering how she could convince Soul to stop Medusa.

She pulled Kim along with, asking her to bring Jacqueline, while she found Kilik. All four met in her room.

"All right." Tsubaki spoke up, breaking the silence in the room. "This meeting is about Soul."

Kilik pipes in, "Do you think he is getting too involved with Maka? The last time I spoke to her, all she wanted was to get off of the ship. Personally, I think she is good for him."

Kim interrupts, "I warned her about getting close to Soul, but she still did anyway. I thought she would leave, if she got the chance… but she has only become closer to him. I don't know whether that's good for him."

"That's not what we are talking about." Tsubaki ceases the chatter in the room. "As you know, we are nearing the one-year anniversary of Wesley's death, and our escape." She clears her throat, and continues. "We all agreed we would give him time to grieve, to recover, before he had to face Medusa."

"I think it is time." Kim murmurs her agreement, while Kilik speaks up in rejection.

"He's not ready. He just began to feel happy again, and we all know that he has not yet recovered from Wesley's death."

"We need to get rid of her now. Comms from Lantasia, show her slowly taking power over the council. Proving the death of the heir, Soul, might assist her to assume the throne, but his death does not need to be proven. It has been a year, and many of the citizens believe he has died; they probably believe he was also killed by Kronos."

Kim laughs sarcastically, "Medusa is so… To frame her own son for murder, and his escape. Even worse, the public believed in the guilt of her son, and her innocence, a mourning mother unable to control her child. Because, Kronos absolved the blame for the murder of the heir, Medusa will probably face no backlash against her coronation. He needs to kill her."

Kim speaks up," Perhaps her death, a completion of revenge will help him recover." she firmly states, while Kilik shakes his head.

"You know as well as I do that revenge cannot fill the hole caused by death. Only love, kindness, and acceptance can. I think Soul is recovering with Maka. We need to give him more time, wait until he is ready."

Tsubaki sighs, "Soul has already refused to kill her. He is still afraid. He doesn't need to be. We outnumber her. But I fear, if he meets her, he will be too emotional to kill Medusa. His unresolved feelings will work against him, he needs to be determined."

"Which is exactly why he needs more time."

"Before it is too late, we have to kill her.

"Can we not try to kill her? If we disable her, and have Soul deliver the killing blow, will she not die? He will not have to face her then."

"Remember, Only royalty can kill itself. That is why Lantasia has been prospering for many eons."

"You still believe that old maid's tale?"

"A king in our history, has never been killed by a commoner. Soul has to face her, and defeat her."

"He has to be ready. How can we convince him?"

"Maka."

"You're not suggesting we give her to Medusa."

"No. Merely explain the situation, and ask her to convince him." She sighs. "He needed an outsider to help him recover, perhaps he needs a outsider to convince him."

"Okay."

"Can you get Maka?" She turns toward Kilik, and asks him. "You said you had talked with her at the beginning, initially."

"We had left on a worse not, but I can get her." Kilik finds Maka, in her room, talking with Black Star. He asks her to come with him to join the four in Tsubaki's room, and her smile fell, when she encounters their serious faces.

"What's wrong?"

"Sit down."

"Why?"

"This is a long story to tell." Maka was getting a little bit flustered at their serious faces, and the crypticity. She sat down and took a few deeps breaths.

"We come from a kingdom called Lantasia."

"I've never… Wait, I…" The word sounds familiar, and she tries to think back to where she had heard it. The memory kept eluding her grasp.

"Is it an islandic kingdom?"

Kim snorts. "Do you think such a small kingdom would have the resources to create this?" She gestures around them, and in perfect synch, all four of them remove their neck coverings, and tilt to either side.

"You all have the same scar Soul does."

Tsubaki speaks up softly, "Not quite. They are gills,

"What?" Maka gasps as Tsubaki peels the flesh back to show a flesh-coloured, fan-like organ. It was obviously a gill, and Maka didn't know how she couldn't see it sooner.

"We come from a kingdom under the sea."