Finally, the first arc is done! I don't know how much time I'll have to work on polishing up the RP posts for the rest of the first season, but I'll try my best, I hope. There was more editing in this chapter than normal, mainly to try and balance all the presences of the characters to make it more like a regular story, though it wasn't too much.

In the meantime, enjoy the story.


Luna had never seen a Panthalassan in person before all of this happened to her. She really wasn't ashamed to admit that — most mermaids had never met a Panthalassan in their entire lifetime, and being from where she was, it was a wonder she even knew what demons were like. Still, it had come with a pretty hefty cost, if she had to say so herself — being a convict of a crime she hadn't ever committed and having to stage a mass breakout to get free was not a small price to pay for the freedom to know whoever she wanted to.

That still didn't explain why she was peeking, though. Standing behind the not-quite-shut door — which opened inside, thankfully, so no chance of getting hit if the door opened — and looking through the opening to watch as the two resident Panthalassans practice. The display of colours that cast streaks of light — both a more soothing bright light and a harsh dark glow — across the room made her inside prickle in mild fear at the sight.

So this was what Panthalassans were capable of? It was just scary to think that Kazi knew all of this. And this was just the basics, he had said. What would the more advanced abilities look like? The hairs on the back of her neck were standing at the thought. Just what were the limits of what Kazi could do?

"That's good enough," Kazi said encouragingly to Jasmine, who nodded and let the blackish-purple snowflake she'd been manipulating in her hands vanish into thin air.

The girl immediately relaxed her stance, tension leaving her immediately as she clasped her hands together. "Great," she said with a heavy sigh. "That took more out of me than expected." She grimaced and raised a hand to flex her fingers.

The white-haired man laughed. "It's like that for the first few tries. You'll get used to it," he assured her. "Get some rest and don't push yourself too much. You've done exceptionally well for a first-try today."

Jasmine just frowned as she turned towards the door, which made Luna jump back automatically in fear of being found out, for some reason. The door opened and she walked outside, her blue gaze landing on the mermaid nevertheless. "Luna," she greeted with a small smile that was more tired than anything. She wiped her brow, grimacing at how her hair was sticking to her forehead. "Looking for something?"

The purple-haired mermaid quickly threw out her pre-prepared excuse. "Nothing much, just maybe a cast or something to wrap my broken arm in. It doesn't hurt that much, though, I've been through worse." Like the awful labor they make the worst convicts do, and the emotional pain from everything else numbed a lot out. "If you're still going to continue, can I watch?"

The dark-haired girl seemed to ignore the last part of the question. "I'm not sure if anyone would keep a cast around — though if anyone would, I'm sure he'd be the one," she muttered the last part in a low tone, "but he probably keeps medical supplied somewhere around here. It's just the smart thing to do, of course, and I'm certain that going to the hospital is a troublesome and idiotic idea…" she trailed off at the end with a frown. "I'll ask him if you want."

Luna nodded her thanks instead of replying with a verbal answer, feeling a warm feeling somewhere in her chest. These people were making her feel more welcome — more like a person — than she'd felt in months since she found her refuge in the North Pacific. It made her crack a little smile as Jasmine headed back inside the room to speak with the older man. It felt nice, and she supposed that she could get used to that.

"If you're looking for a first-aid kid, I have one under the sink in the bathroom, but we won't need it here," Kazi was saying as he made his way over with Jasmine. "It's been a while since I've had to heal someone other than myself, but thankfully, she's a mermaid, so this shouldn't be too hard. What's the injury again?"

"Broken arm. Maybe a dislocated shoulder too from a cursory glance, but hell if I can say for sure. I'm no doctor," the black-haired girl answered as they approached the door. She moved to lean against the door frame, folding her arms over her chest. "Does she need a splint?"

The white-haired man seemed to analyze Luna like some kind of scientist for a minute — which made her grimace at the comparison — then shook his head. "Small problem," he said. "You might want to snap the bone back into place if you can, though. I'm not the most delicate when it comes to this and I doubt Luna can do it herself. After that, it'll be a simple matter of mending the bone back together and she'll be right as rain."

Jasmine glanced over to the mermaid and Luna nodded once and then glanced towards her arm, trying to tell the girl to help her.

"Usually I'd do it myself, but it's kind of hard with one hand." She waved her good arm for emphasis. "It just clicks against the bone and the pain is worse for about ten seconds or so." The Antarctic mermaid held up her broken arm helplessly as she glanced up at the Panthalassan girl. She sighed. "Mind helping, please?" It stung to hold it like this, but she couldn't cry over this! She just wanted to be more like her child self, but that was too painful.

The girl sighed, mumbling to herself as she walked over, carefully taking Luna's injured arm in her hands with a certain gentleness that the mermaid hadn't anticipated from her movements. "This is definitely going to sting," she said aloud. Bracing one hand above the fracture and one below, she barely gave Luna time to process and brace for the incoming pain before she shifted her hands and snapped the bone back into place with a crack.

Luna hissed like a cat, her shoulders locking together as she tried to jerk away, but Jasmine's grip was sufficiently firm, and it kept her from further jostling her arm than she had to. "It worked," she ground out through her grit teeth, her face contorted in pain. The pain from her arm ebbed away a little as Jasmine let go, and she sighed, her expression loosening up a little in relief. "Still hurts, though."

"Good job," Kazi said with a nod. "Now hold still, Luna," he instructed, a hand hovering above her arm, more specifically where the fracture had been. "This should be over soon." With an incantation muttered in a low voice, a soothing light enveloped her arm — though Jasmine made a point of shielding her eyes — and eased the pain from her injury. There was a mild discomfort as the bone reconnected and mended, but son the man took his hand away and the pain was entirely gone.

Luna slowly flexed her fingers, staring at her arm where the injury had been. "Thanks," she remembered to say when she finally found her voice again. "So where are we headed off to next?" she finally asked, putting down her arm again, thankful that not even a twinge of pain could be found from the action.

Kazi shrugged at the question and turned to look at Jasmine with a raised eyebrow.

The girl didn't even seem to pause as she thought about it. "It would be better if we discussed all this with everyone else, but the next course of action seems to be the Arctic," she began in a musing tone, her arms folded over her chest as she pursed her lips together. "But unless you've changed your mind about the Poles and we can find a way to avoid direct death by charging headfirst into hostile territory, we're just going to have to stay put for a while, I'm afraid."

The Antarctic mermaid frowned, grumbling, "I'll go if I have to." Her voice dropped substantially as she whispered to herself, hoping that neither of the other two could pick up on her statement. "It can't be worse than the Antarctic… plus, none of them will be shocked to see me hanging with non-mermaids… too racist…" She wrinkled her nose slightly at the reminder.

"You're from the Antarctic?" Kazi raised a brow. "I didn't think one of the purple mermaids would come so far out from her home. And your hair is white."

Luna flinched at the reminder even as Jasmine leaned in slightly closer. "Yeah, I'm an Antarctic mermaid… thought you guys would've known."

"Not white," the Panthalassan girl said, squinting a little. "Very light lilac. I nearly missed it myself. No one's going to see the difference unless they're really paying attention and they're close to you. That natural?"

"No. I don't like it that they've gotten so white," Luna said with a frown as she pulled on her braid with her good arm's hand — well, the arm that hadn't been broken before Kazi had healed her, anyway. "Mermaid genetics are strange. Mine are at least. My hair lost its color from the time I was… incarcerated. All the snow and ice ended up bleaching my hair white. It makes me stand out too much."

"Not everyone pulls off white hair," Jasmine said jokingly as she made to head back towards the living room. "Just look at Kazi."

"Oi! Was that supposed to be an insult?" Kazi called after her as he followed the girl.

"Took you long enough to notice it," the black-haired girl said with a smirk as she entered the living room.

"Where's Shelia?" Luna interjected as she followed after them. Glancing around the room, she only saw Lila and Helen sitting on the sofa, the younger girl leaning her head on the older's shoulder as they both dozed gently. Sleep actually sounded rather nice… the Antarctic mermaid had lost a few hours on all of this chaos.

Jasmine followed her glance before she moved towards the doorway. "I think Red's outside," she answered, opening the door to glance at the beach and quickly withdrawing under the sunlight of early dawn. "My eyes," she muttered with a groan.

Luna scoffed in amusement, a small smile on her face before she saw another image replace the taller girl — a magenta-haired mermaid drawing back after a prank had been pulled before proceeding to swim over to a younger Luna with glee and ruffle loose lilac hair. The Antarctic mermaid swallowed down the bile that had risen in the back of her throat, suddenly looking rather sick. No, she told herself firmly, not this time. If she wanted to change, she had to face the distress and consequences that came with it.

A hand on her shoulder had Luna quickly flinch away, turning around to see Kazi with a raised brow. "Are you alright, Luna?"

The mermaid nodded meekly and stepped away nonetheless. "Yeah," she mumbled. "Lighten up. I don't get hurt easily unless it's against her." She nodded towards Jasmine, who looked less than amused.

"Oh, hardy har har," Jasmine snarked, glaring at Luna for the statement, scowling as she folded her arms over her chest. "You were the ones who insisted on chasing me around!"

"Is that a challenge?" Luna asked, the mermaid's face suddenly wiped blank as a slate once more. "Because I can go back to normal if you want me to." Or maybe she was wrong and Jasmine was just teasing. The poor girl hoped that it was the case – she had finally found friends to rely on, after all.

Battle Royale Pichi Pichi Pitch

If you asked Jasmine, the Panthalassan girl found how Luna could change expressions so quickly and completely unnatural and mildly concerning. The dead tone in the mermaid's voice made her wonder if the Antarctic mermaid wasn't all that mentally intact. Despite herself, she made the corner of her lips quirk into a small smirk, a little mocking and mostly teasing to mask her unease. "Could be, but it isn't. Deadpan tones work better with sarcasm, just so you know." She leaned back against the wall.

Luna tilted her head. "Ah… what?"

"I'll go and look for Shelia," Kazi volunteered, interjecting into the conversation. If the man was trying to find a way out before the exchange got too tense, Jasmine found it hard to blame him. It was getting uncomfortable in there as it was.

The black-haired girl nodded at him and moved away from the doorway as he walked out through the door. "Sure. Thanks!" she called after him before her blue eyes turned back to Luna. "Don't tell me you have no idea what sarcasm is." She arched a brow and her tone dropped at the end – it wasn't a question.

The Antarctic mermaid scowled at her, her eyes – eye – narrowing. "I know what it is," she hissed, before she stepped closer, her voice lowering until it was just barely loud enough to be overheard by the taller of the two with how close Luna was standing to Jasmine. "Jasmine, do me a favour and take care of me, okay? When I get nervous, I change. I become that… simulacrum."

I swear she has Dissociative Identity Disorder. "Sure thing, Luna," Jasmine agreed, a mild frown curving her lips downward even as she used the mermaid's real name to emphasize her seriousness. "I'll be your keeper." She lightened her tone a little to try and dissipate the tension in the room. Had Helen and Lila not been asleep, the Panthalassan girl was more than certain that they'd have been spooked by the tense atmosphere already.

A cold, somewhat bitter laugh escaped from the mermaid as she backed up, her gaze leaving Jasmine. Her features contorted in a mixture of emotions that Jasmine could barely discern as worry and grief – old friends of hers – and the Antarctic mermaid hugged herself tightly. "Oh, you don't know what happens if you don't!" she hissed antagonistically. "When we go to the Arctic and you don't take care of me, give up. Don't bother to try and search for me. It's over." She scoffed viciously.

Oh, Jasmine was pretty sure the purple mermaid was not right in the head. She wasn't mentally stable herself, but she could spot them when she saw them. "Okay, kid," she emphasized, leaning in from where she was at the wall. "Lay off on the ominous foreshadowing. We don't need that kind of attitude now. I'll keep you within my line of sight while we're there – keep you within arm's reach. Does that sound alright?"

Luna scoffed at her. "I find myself wandering unconsciously… it's a habit."

The Panthalassan's smile was thin and rather forced. The mermaid was… determined to make this hard for her, wasn't she? "Then I'll get a chain and lock you to me," she drawled, plenty of sarcasm lacing her tone as she arched a dark brow at the purple mermaid, her lips still pursed into a thin, grim line.

The lilac-haired mermaid looked down at her feet, her voice softening up from the earlier harshness it had taken on when she had spoken earlier. "You… remind me of someone I used to know, you know, Jasmine?" She didn't look up. "It's… funny, really." Her voice was wavering. Was she about to cry?

Oh, shite. Jasmine wasn't good with crying people.

"You know what we talked about earlier?" the black-haired girl asked hesitantly as she stared at the mermaid, leaning back up against the wall and folding her arms over her chest once more. She didn't wait for a response before she continued, "When I said that there'd be one of us willing to listen when, or if, you wanted to talk?" She exhaled softly, hoping that she hadn't made the biggest mistake of her life. Well, second biggest, if she didn't count actually agreeing to all of this rubbish in the first place. "I'm listening if you're ready to talk."

Luna was shifting uncomfortably in place as she fidgeted. "Maybe… maybe after…" she finally said, her voice laced with uncertainty as she hung her head. Her voice was soft, wavering. "No… I guess then it'll be too late…" She pulled at her longer braid with her hands before she inhaled sharply, her shoulders pulling up to her ears. "I… I lost everything," she mumbled. "My parents were great… had a great circle of friends – you remind me of one of them, you know. Her name was Miranda." Her voice trembled as she stopped playing with her hair.

"Go on," Jasmine prompted in a mild voice, as gentle as she could muster at the moment.

"My parents were part of the war. They ended up dying in the aftermath," Jasmine flinched here – it was too much of a reminder of her own parents – "and I went to live with my aunt. She was great, kind, everything, and I still had my circle… But they found out she had ties with the South Atlantic, and they took her away. They placed me with foster parents… horrible ones. They hated me, said I was just a burden. Three of my friends believed that I was guilty of crimes against the kingdom too, and they started going away. My best friend ever, Rachel, she ended up dead somehow."

The black-haired Panthalassan watched the mermaid as the latter spoke, Jasmine's blue eyes occasionally darting across to look at Lila and Helen to confirm that they were still asleep. Her gaze softened slightly as she looked back at Luna.

"I don't know how she died, but that was the breaking point. It pushed my friends away from me and they spread those rumours that I was planning to become a traitor. I was barely thirteen back then!" Luna's voice cracked. "They threw me in jail without a trial. I just… just stayed there for a while… a long while, and then the inmates with me arranged a jailbreak. We all left, going everywhere just so we wouldn't be found. It's why—why I'm scared to go back there… it'll hurt too much to be hurt like that again!"

"The Arctic has probably heard about that already, huh?" Jasmine finally asked, closing her eyes and leaning back. The two kingdoms of the Poles were always close, of course, so it only made sense. The Panthalassan grit her teeth together as she processed the information that Luna had dumped onto her, her hands closing into fists tight enough to draw blood from her palms. "It's bad enough that they hate us already for whatever reasons they have," she growled to herself, her anger at the racist mermaids of the kingdoms mounting. "And now they're so paranoid that they're starting to imprison their own kind too?"

The Panthalassan girl growled, inhaling sharply. "Hold on for a bit," she said slowly, bad memories dredging up from back in her school days when one of her less tolerant classmates had nearly killed her in the chemistry labs, her tone slowly growing more forced, "I need to take a quick trip down to the Antarctic." It didn't matter that she was a little unnerved by Luna – no one deserved that. "What did you say their names were again?" Her vision was ringed with blue again, she noticed absently like it always got when she was angry. It had got that way too after the lab incident too.

"Don't worry about it," Luna said, shaking her head as she wiped the corners of her eyes with her hands. "It's in the past. I told you," she said, her eyes distant, "that one of my friends acted a lot like you before it happened. Plus, it's a long way off from where we're supposed to go," she added, trailing off at the end. "Our mission is in the Arctic, not the Antarctic." She offered Jasmine a tense smile. "I'll get over this. Let's focus on the mission… thanks for hearing me out, anyway."

"The mission can wait," Jasmine interrupted, frowning deeply. This was hitting way too close to home for her – it reminded her way too much of thirteen-year-old her, the her that let herself get pushed around by her classmates until one of her professors had stepped in. She couldn't stand people like them who'd take so quickly to bullying and hurting another. "What they did… that comes first," she snapped rather callously, folding her arms over her chest. "No one hurts someone like that and gets away with it. Not to my friends, they don't." She bared a vicious smile that was unnervingly sharp.

"It's been years! Forget them!" Luna yelped, waving her arms almost frantically as the mermaid stared at Jasmine, wide-eyed and gaping. "They're… they're still my friends," she added in a low voice.

What kind of friends leave you to rot in jail? The black-haired girl stayed silent, biting down on her lower lip to stop her retort before it left her. "If you insist," she started slowly, choosing her words cautiously, "then fine, I'll leave it. If I come face to face with them, though, no promises," she finished bluntly, staring down at the slightly shorter girl.

"We'll see about that." The corner of the Antarctic mermaid's lips twitched, not into a smile nor into a frown. "Anyway, for now, forget about it, okay? I'm content with hearing that I'm your friend." Luna's tone was lightly teasing.

Suddenly self-conscious, Jasmine coughed. "Did I say that out loud?" she muttered defensively, feeling her face grow heated slightly at her slip. "That… ah…" She cursed quietly as she scratched the back of her neck, wondering how she could possibly salvage the situation now. Me and my big mouth, gods! "That's, uh… erm…"

A short bark of laughter escaped the mermaid and a wide, cheeky grin split the shorter girl's face. "I'll keep it a secret for you if you want. You already did enough for me." Dark purple eyes glinted brightly in amusement as Luna winked – or blinked, really. It was hard to tell when one of her eyes was covered.

"Thanks," the black-haired girl uttered self-consciously, looking away just in time to see Lila and Helen stir on the sofa, no doubt startled awake by her earlier outburst. "I'm, uh, not used to saying that out loud," she mumbled. "That'd be lovely." And then to draw attention away from her, she immediately called out the fact that Helen and Lila were now awake. "Got enough sleep now, you two?"

Luna's cheeky 'no problem' didn't escape Jasmine.

Helen yawned sleepily as the girl stretched out from where she was seated on the sofa, rubbing her blue eyes. "Yeah… it was a good nap," she answered airily. "Especially after that chase we had, you know?"

"You two started it!" Jasmine snapped accusingly as she looked away, trying to hide her flushed face. Inhaling sharply, the girl folded her arms over her chest as she exhaled slowly, averting her gaze to the side as she calmed herself down. "…right…" she muttered to herself, fairly confident that her face was no longer red. "So, has it been decided? We're going to go to the Arctic?" Her expression turned serious – she didn't have time to joke around if this was as serious a situation as she thought.

Luna nodded her assent, a fact that Jasmine was glad to note, as she didn't want to see what would happen if they ended up not listening to Aqua Regina's 'suggestion'. Perhaps only two of the ragtag bunch actually liked the ocean goddess, but it was doubtful that any of them would be foolish enough to avoid a direct instruction from a goddess.

"You lot seem to be getting along well," Kazi said as he entered the building, leaning on the wall on the opposite side of the door to where Jasmine was. He was smiling as he added, "This might be a fool's errand, but we have to risk it if it's commanded by a goddess."

Which was exactly what Jasmine had thought. That was unfortunate – she'd hoped that one of them would be protesting and she might – might – not have to be an idiot.

"It's not going to hurt," Helen added, looking over with a nod of agreement. "If we've been chosen for… something, I guess we have to do it. Saving the world… doesn't too bad, huh?" The mermaid shot her a sheepish look.

Lila nodded enthusiastically, beaming from where she was seated on the sofa. "Mhm!" she agreed cheerfully. "Saving the world is going to be a real adventure, I'm sure! We're going to have a lot of fun!" She looked like she was glad that the tension was gone now.

"Sure, why not?" Shelia called, leaning on one hip as she made her presence in the doorway known, a foxy smile on her red lips. She grinned a little, baring her sharp teeth. "And if those mermaids try anything, I'll show them a Dark Concerto my ancestors would be proud of!"

Jasmine couldn't help but note the expressions they had, and she allowed the corner of her lips to quirk up into a smile. "All of you are bad influences," she mock-scolded with a roll of her eyes. "See? You've got the kid over there—" she motioned at Lila, "—to go on this crazy mission and you're making me smile while doing it!" Still, she couldn't help the faint chuckle of amusement.

Guess she wasn't getting out of this one easily.

Battle Royale Pichi Pichi Pitch

Shelia decided that she couldn't quite put a finger on what she felt as she watched the group of… Saviors, was it? She certainly felt a soft spot in herself for this odd group, for whatever reason that was. Strange… she didn't usually get attached to people that easily, especially not people she had only just met that day. While it was mildly unnerving, she just chalked it up to the magic of the Fates and decided to leave it at that.

"So, do tell, what are we going to do from here?" she asked, walking forward as the demon assumed a serious look.

"With Red here, then I guess we've got a decision," Jasmine announced, her expression turning back to a serious one quite quickly. A grim smile pulled on the black-haired girl's lips as she held the water demon's gaze. "We're heading to the Arctic." The Panthalassan girl looked to be regretting it already

As she had expected. "Let's do this," Shelia declared confidently, her hands on her hips. "It's dangerous as fuck and probably just as idiotic, but we don't really have a fucking choice." Damn it, Shelia would have liked to live longer so Aren wouldn't be telling her successor 'I told her so', but then again there was a chance for her to live and make it so that the mermaids would never forget her and her kind.

"Oh, wait, when we say the Arctic, where are we heading? Arctic Circle, Arctic Ocean, or the North Pole?" Lila asked, tilting her head. "Like the top of the map in the world – I mean, map of the world at the top, er, top of the world on the map – kind of Arctic?"

"Yeah… the Arctic, the kingdom," Luna said as she sat on the sofa, looking away with what seemed like a bitter look in her eye. "We mermaids should be fine," she said, not looking at anyone else, "and since my arm feels better."

Jasmine nodded as she turned towards Lila. "The Arctic Ocean," she clarified. "Probably the capital, which is in the Arctic Circle, so I hope you have warm clothes ready, kid." Aww, did Jasmine care about the human-Ancient kid? That was really nice to know.

Sarcasm noted.

"It could be mass suicide for us, but what the hell? So is this entire 'save the world' mission anyway," Shelia pointed out dryly and shrugged her shoulders. They were so going to die there – the mermaids there were ridiculously sharp with weapons in a way that only the mermaids from the Poles were. And to think those war-mongers could call the demons and Panthalassans evil? She scoffed. "Oh, wait, you all will freeze. I forgot."

Kazi shook his head. "Warming charms will be easy to place and maintain," he said. Hmm, so that was one less.

Luna shrugged. "I'm used to the cold, ebbing from the Poles. Don't need a jacket or anything." That was yet another.

As Shelia turned her gaze to Jasmine, the black-haired girl shook her head as well. "My body temperature is very low anyway. It bothers me much less than it would for anyone else. But if needed, I can head back to get some warmer clothes."

Helen wasn't bothered by the cold either, apparently. "I live close to the border," she said. "It might be colder, but at most I think I'll need something with long sleeves."

Lila gave her an almost sheepish smile when the demon turned her gaze onto the girl, a brow raised as she figured nearly none of them would actually have a problem at this rate. "Actually, I don't have any warm clothes," she said, scratching the back of her head. "I'm a winter baby, so I never really needed it."

Jasmine snorted at the statement. "Well, the Poles are somewhere around below zero Celsius. Think you can handle that, kiddo?"

"Umm… maybe a jacket would be nice."

The mermaid beside the Panthalassan – Luna – nudged the girl with a sly smirk. "Softie. So, would you get cold?" she asked Shelia, raising a brow.

"My kin can survive in extreme temperatures, but most races would get cold…" Shelia remarked, her hands on her hips as she offered her explanation. "Don't want all of you to drop dead around me just because of the cold," she teased.

Luna mimed her statement and huffed, seeming offended. "How rude. I'll be fine in the Arctic, and jackets could slow us down."

At least one of the group was amused by the teasing, as Jasmine gave a short bark of laughter. "I'm sure I can find one of my school-time jackets for you, kid," she assured Lila even as she turned towards Shelia with a raised brow. "But that's the least of our worries. We need to find a way to cover up. We're a bunch that'll draw too much attention in an all-mermaid area."

"It's the fangs, claws and fins for me," Shelia pointed out. "Not to mention you, the kid and Kazi over there have legs. Neither of the rest of you two have normal hair color for mermaids either. Hell, speaking of that, even these eyes," here she pointed at her bright yellow eyes, "will reveal what I am. How on earth are we planning not to get any of us executed?"

"Do eye contacts exist in the sea world?" Lila asked aloud.

"I can place an illusion over us," Kazi offered. "I'm not quite certain how effective it may be as I haven't been to the Arctic in a long time and they might have gotten better at repelling magic, though I highly doubt it."

Helen tilted her head to a side, the mermaid leaning forward to rest her weight on her arms, which were propped on her knees. "It's worrying, but I've got the confidence that this will work," she vouched weakly.

"Wait! One last thing!" Lila's hand shot right up, a finger held up in the gesture. "Is there an Ursula?"

"What's an Ursula?" The question, asked by Jasmine, was echoed by both Shelia and Luna in their bewilderment, and though Helen looked equally perplexed, the girl didn't say anything. Kazi just smiled and shook his head.

"Ursula is not an object, silly Jasmine," Lila said playfully. "She's a character from one of the movies I watched when I was little! She's a lady of the sea who has a scary lair with bottles of yucky stuff and a big cauldron in the middle. She can make magic potions and spells, but she sells them for a price. Usually, not money price."

"Let me guesssss," Shelia hissed, drawing out the 's' on purpose. "Ssssoulssss?"

"Well… yes." The little girl's voice became smaller.

Jasmine snorted. "Sounds like a potioneer friend. Not the whole 'sell your soul' thing – Zmi's too nice for that – but the lair part. Apparently the dark, dank caves and basements help with potions and salves or whatnot. I can never keep up with her explanations on that."

Shelia scoffed in amusement. "Wouldn't sell my souls to a potioneer." She heard Luna and Helen make their assents from the side.

"Of course it is," Jasmine muttered from the side. She raised her voice a little as she spoke to Lila. "Don't worry, witches don't exist. Unless you count Shelia and me, but we're a different kind of witch." The corner of the other girl's lips quirked up, and Shelia matched it with a grin. "I can't understand why they always want souls, though. There are other things more precious, like a mermaid's pearl."

Luna frowned at that. "Maybe, but once a mermaid loses their pearl… they're not exactly mermaids anymore."

"You speak like you have experience with it," Jasmine said cautiously. For a moment, the room had gone silent, as if waiting for Luna's answer.

"Hmm…" Luna stared at Jasmine, unperturbed by everyone else looking at her. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, there was the way you said it," Jasmine replied, raising a brow, though Shelia could note the cautious undertone.

Luna repeated her words under her breath to herself. "Oh, yes, sure. Whatever you say." And she was glaring at Jasmine now. Mood swings much? The mermaid scoffed and looked away, holding her necklace in one hand.

Jasmine grimaced, holding up her hands in partial surrender, at least, from what Shelia could gather. "No need to get defensive," she shot back, her eyes narrowed. "Just saying."

"I'm going to take a walk," Luna muttered sourly as she pushed past Jasmine. "Get me when we're ready to go. Same place, you know where." She glared again at Jasmine and exited the room."

"Just don't pull me under again," Jasmine grumbled.

Shelia scoffed when Luna was out of the room. "Eventful day, I gather?"

"You have no idea." Jasmine rubbed her temples and sighed. "Okay, we need a plan. For now, we'll be safe if Kazi's illusion holds up, but that leaves two more problems." She held up two fingers. "How are we going to deal with the problem in the Arctic and which path will we take there?"

Lila held up a hand again. "Can you please tell me about the Arctic? I was only told a little bit about it," the girl said innocently. Well, Shelia really didn't blame the kid. She didn't know what had happened in the recent decades, or else she wouldn't be so candid.

Still, it was a sore topic for seemingly a good few of them, as both Jasmine and Kazi glanced away. Kazi looked somber while Jasmine was just pissed off at the place. Nevertheless, Jasmine answered. "The Arctic Ocean, where everyone who's not a mermaid is hated, hunted, and killed. Roughly two centuries ago it was led by the famed Guardian Princess Noel. It was refused aid by the North Atlantic when the Arctic went to war with the demons and Panthalassans seeking a place in their society. After the Ocean War, they started a mass genocide against all that were not their kind and have been staunchly anti-demon and Panthalassan ever since."

Shelia nodded – that was a pretty apt summary of the most racist kingdom, second only to the North's purple sisters. "Just imagine a frozen-over hellscape and you've pretty much got it," the demon added, making a clawing motion to emphasize her point.

Lila tilted her head to the side. "Oh… Oh! Hi Luna! How was your walk?"

The Antarctic mermaid shrugged wordlessly as she walked inside again and dropped down onto the sofa beside Helen. That was fast.

"Any plans on how we're going to do this?" Jasmine asked, louder, folding her arms over her chest. "Maybe supplies?"

"We could always book plane tickets," Kazi offered from where he was standing, though Jasmine shook her head in response.

"Impractical for our case," she stated. "We'd have to possess human passports if we want to travel with human methods, even if they'd be the safest choices we can use. Considering who we are, I doubt any of us aside from you and Lila would have them."

Luna just shrugged. "That's a hassle. We could just swim there, you know. Easiest way."

"I can teleport short distances, but I doubt that it will be of any use in this, though," Shelia commented flippantly. "Our best bet would be to swim, honestly… but it won't be easy."

Jasmine hummed softly. "That's what I was worried about," she admitted. "Out safest bet would be to proceed from the North Pacific since the borders here are less stringently patrolled than the borders to the Atlantic. But taking into account all of us, we'd need a two-day trip straight there with the minimum amount of rest needed and keeping pace with everyone included," she guessed. "Four days might be a safer guess."

What if we can take an ocean current?" Lila asked, excited. She leaned in with a wide smile on her face and she clapped her hands together enthusiastically, her blue eyes practically gleaming at the thought.

It sounded like a pretty rad idea, if one asked Shelia, though the currents didn't move too quickly near the ocean floor.

Jasmine shook her head. "It goes from the Arctic to the Antarctic through the Atlantic. Not going to work."

"I'm sure there's an ocean current that can take us closer there, even if it's just a tiny bit. Most of them move in circles." Lila beamed, looking rather proud of herself. "If not, then we can ride animals! Or take a boat, or shadow travel. Or use magic to make us invisible so that we can board a plane. Or snag a flight attendant uniform and play as a flight attendant. Or we can do a mix and travel by boat and then switch and travel the rest of the way by swimming." She looked ready to continue, but Jasmine stopped her from continuing.

The Panthalassan girl blinked slowly, looking a little lost. "Uh, hold on, Lila," she hastily cut in, a small grimace on her face, "too many suggestions and some are a little… far-fetched?" She ran a hand through her hair in what seemed to be exasperation. "Yes, they move in circles. The one just mentioned still only makes its way through the Atlantic, and the borders there are too dangerous to be risking. They're not quite as powerful as you're thinking, though if we get really unlucky and get trapped in a strong current… they're as dangerous and as hard to get out of as a whirlpool." She threw a glance over at Helen, which Shelia didn't miss.

"What's shadow travel?" Helen piped up, sticking out her tongue at Jasmine. "You've got great ideas, Lila, but they're kind of complicated. I'll agree with Luna and Shelia – we should swim up there."

"As long as we can go there and back quickly, I don't care," Luna replied, huffing.

"If we take the shortcut due north, we could get there faster than travelling with the main road. Might be safer too," Jasmine said.

Kazi made a sound of agreement. "If we take the main road, there's a higher chance that we'll be seen, and faster."

The black-haired girl snapped her fingers. "Precisely. And it's one of the only paths we can take that will lead us straight into the heart of the kingdom. There's a ghost town I can recall from my first and last trip there. Presumably, no one's still there, which is what I hope will be the case."

The plan seemed simple enough, Shelia figured, so they could stick with it. "So that's the plan, then?" the redhead asked lazily, resting a hand on her hip. "We can make the trip, I think. I've been on the road for even longer times in the past. So, let's just go with it… unless someone objects?" Her bright yellow eyes swept across the other five.

No one objected to the statement, and Jasmine spoke up again. "So it's settled. Supplies, then? Anything important – besides a map – that we'll need?" She paused, pursing her lips together. "Excluding a plan?" The dry tone didn't escape Shelia.

"Food and winter clothes," Lila piped up in reminder. "And maybe some cash?"

"Do we even need that?" Helen asked. "I mean, I don't think we'll have time to be going to the Arctic markets."

"Point," Shelia said, "but it'll help avoid suspicion, if it comes down to it."

"I collect money from all over the ocean," Luna spoke up. "I can get that, if it helps."

Jasmine clicked her tongue. "Well then, let's make this quick. I'll go and fetch a jacket for Lila, gather my weapons and our map – you're welcome to join me if you want, Shelia. Luna, you go and get that bag. The food—"

"I can take care of that," Kazi interjected. "Though I'd like some help."

"Right, then Helen and Lila, I trust you two can lend him a hand," Jasmine said, making her way out. "Let's get back here and then we can move out as soon as we're ready."

Shelia chuckled as she followed after the Panthalassan. "Looking forward to it!"

It wasn't long before they had gone there and back, both carrying a bag over their shoulders. Jasmine had a jacket too small for her tossed over her shoulder and her bag containing the map and a few tools, while Shelia was carrying what Jasmine had identified as weaponry and some poisons. Personally, Shelia was fine with her own claws, but poison seemed to be a nice touch.

The six gathered in front of Kazi's house on the beach, and Shelia allowed herself to recall once more how odd they looked together.

"Arctic, here we come," Luna said with a sigh.

Shelia couldn't agree more.

Battle Royale Pichi Pichi Pitch

Lucia sighed as she dismissed the image of the six Saviours, closing her eyes as the ocean goddess murmured a soft prayer to let the group be safe on their path. They had a long way to go, and she couldn't imagine how much longer they would have to put up with the destiny the Fates had woven for them.

The Saviours were in for much more trouble than they anticipated.


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