Hey guys, thanks for reading and the reviews, although more reviews are always welcomed! I really like to read your thoughts on the story and everything :)

Any case, now is the time for a lil bit of history...

"…Triton?" Reine repeated in disbelief.

She had found his name in some old documents, written in Classical Atlantean languages. She was not supposed to be able to read it, for the language was not taught in the palace's classroom, but she could since the orcas—who had practically adopted her to their pod—taught the language to her.

The Ballad of Triton the Just, an epic written in the almost extinct language, was one of Reine's favourite literary works. She had read it so many times that she could remember the verses by heart. It was a ballad detailing the life of a great king, known as King Triton the Just. Not only a just king, he was celebrated as a loving husband and a nurturing father. The ballad traced his lineage to be the firstborn of Poseidon, the divine ruler of the seas and his equally divine wife, Amphitrite, the mother of seas. When the godly Poseidon decided to retire, he divided the oceans into five regions and asked his sons to choose the realms they wished to rule. Triton, the first born, was given the first chance to choose—and everyone thought he would choose the largest realm, the Pacific Ocean. Much to everyone surprise, however, he picked the choice of Atlantic Ocean, being overlooked by Mount Atlas where Poseidon's old enemies the Titans might still be lurking about, waiting for the chance to attack. Triton knew this, yet he picked it to be his realm since he thought it was his duty as the firstborn to safeguard his brothers and sisters and the realm of their father. And so Triton ruled in the Atlantic, and built the Kingdom of Atlantica.

As a sign of recognition of his right to rule, Poseidon gave Triton a golden trident, blessed with the sentience to recognize the true ruler of the realm among all the other magical properties of the trident. That was, supposedly, the trident that now was placed on display at the Throne Room on its resting place.

Reine had never heard anyone naming their son 'Triton', for the name was so revered among the merfolk, so could this old, emaciated man be the very same Triton the Just, no matter how unbelievable it seemed to be?

"Tell me your name, young mermaid."

His voice was weak and tremulous, and Reine was still not yet fully recovered from her shock in finding such a solitary confinement just at the palace courtyard, where she used to spend most of her time with her sisters—how could she not notice this earlier and why he was being confined here?

"Renaissance…" she murmured. "of Helenian House."

"Helenian, you say?"

Reine nodded.

"Then, you are—"

Their conversation was cut short by a sudden loud sound of the horn being blown, "Dammit! They must've found me missing!"

Reine turned to face this merman who claimed to be Triton and said, "There are so many questions I want to ask you… but I have to go back now."

"Now you know where to find me, young mermaid."

Reine nodded and swam out from the cave as quickly as she could.

After what felt like eternity for her, she finally could feel the sand on her feet. Completely drenched in seawater, Alicia slowly made her way through the hole on the wall back to the castle. She wasn't even thinking of the kind of wrath her grandmother had in store for her, she just wanted to lie down on her bed, close her eyes and wake up with all of these turning out to be simply a dream.

Her steps towards the castle were heavy, and her eyes were still heavy and blurred from being washed by the saline water. Only now Alicia felt the stinging pain from having salt entering her eyes, and she rubbed them, only worsening the problem. Due to her blurred vision, she didn't realize that she had already stepped into the castle boundary and that her grandmother had noticed her and now running frantically towards her. The young princess gasped in surprise when she felt something was tightening around her, only to realize a moment later that it was Ariel's embrace.

"Thank goodness! I thought you would be gone forever!"

And so Ariel led Alicia back into the castle, and let the princess to take a bath, rinsing off the sand and saltwater in her body and to change into dry clothes before summoning her to her room.

Alicia sat down in front of her grandmother, actually surprised that the latter seemed to be so… calm about it.

"So, what happened?"

"You wouldn't believe my story…"

Ariel stared squarely at Alicia. "Try me, young lady."

"So, what happened now?"

The human approached her the first thing in the morning and went straight into their business-talk—he didn't even greet her. While others might perceive his attitude as incredibly rude, especially considering his social standing against her, for Reine there was something admirable, and almost adorable, in that straightforwardness of his.

"Well, I'm curious about that, too." She replied honestly, "I think—"

Suddenly, the scenery before her eyes changed. There was no Neil, but there was her grandfather, the King—and somehow, suddenly she was inside the Throne Room.

"The second quest…" the voice came in as distance, more like an echo rather than a voice per se. "…is to retrieve the Golden Book."

Then, the scenery changed abruptly again and now she found darkness enveloping her surrounding. A mermaid appeared before her; her hair and tail were golden in colour and just like Gwen, she covered the lower half of her face with a thin veil.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I am the Seeress who had come before you."

"Before me? I'm sorry, you got the wrong person. Gwen's your person."

"No. It is no mistake." The mermaid insisted, "Yes, Guinevere is a Seeress on her own right, but you, too, are a Seeress."

"Pardon?" Reine asked cynically. "You're not talking sense here—there is only one Seeress for each generation!"

"So it should be." The mermaid replied, "but when the spirit of the Seeress dwelled inside of your mother's womb, it divided itself into two between your sister and yourself. She inherited a large part of the Eye while you inherited a large part of the Voice."

The mermaid reached out to Reine and touched her throat lightly. Her touch had a strangely warm sensation, and Reine felt that her voice box was being freed from the restraint she never knew she'd had.

"Be aware, though, that your power is different from your twin's. She can see the big picture of events that will come in future, but it is you who can see the small, ever-changing details. She sees the constant, you see the variables."

"Whoa whoa, hold on. Please speak in a plainer manner or else I'm afraid all those things will fall into metaphorically deaf ears."

"Fate and Choice. The power that your sister holds represents Fate: what she sees will come true. However, in her vision, there will always be blurred areas that she cannot fathom. These are the areas influenced by one's choice—and it's you who can see them: how one's choice would influence the outcome. You are able to see it all… the infinite possibilities that might arises."

"But how… how could it be? I mean, why suddenly this power conveniently…? There must be something that triggers this!"

"You are right, Seeress. The Flower of Illusions is your answer. Despite its name, the Flower of Illusions' real power is to bring out the reality in one's being. Being in close contact for a few days while transporting it, the aura of the Flower found you. As such, it awakens the real power lays dormant within you."

Reine sighed heavily. How ironic it was that she, who used to loathe people who depended on Gwen's vision to make decisions, turned out to be just the person who could foresee the consequences of one's decisions.

"Now, what?"

"Guide the people to the Truth. That is the duty of a Seeress." The mermaid replied, before her face turned grim, "Beware, though, for Truth can be ruthless."

"Reine! Hey!"

Neil shook Reine's body desperately when suddenly she stood limp and her eyes were suddenly branded with a glowing infinity symbol.

She was unresponsive; her stare was blank to the faraway distance.

Slowly, the infinity mark disappeared from her eyes and she blinked a few times. Only when he could see the usual twinkle in them, Neil let out the breath he had been subconsciously holding.

"What happened?!"

"That's a good question: I was asking myself the same thing when suddenly your face is so near from my own that I almost punched you."

"Hey, it was you who suddenly went limp and don't-know-what!"

"Thanks for being so clear in describing my don't-know-what." Reine retorted, before sighing long. "Honestly, I… I don't know what's going on myself."

A maidservant went over to them, "Your Highness, your presence—together with the human—is being asked for by His Majesty."

When Reine simply nodded without much question, Neil began to feel something was clearly different with this mermaid but not knowing what to say, he held his peace.

The King accepted them in front of the court members. Gwen was there, too, alongside the redheaded prince.

"The second quest has been decided." The King announced.

Neil glanced at Reine, who was staring at the King with an unfathomable expression on her face.

"The second quest is to retrieve the Golden Book."

While the two humans didn't understand the significance of the task, and hence engulfed in the waves of confusion, the King's announcement sent a major proportion of the court into frenzied whisperings.

Only two mermaids did not show any visible change in their expressions.

The second quest has already been revealed...

and now Reine's power is awakened!

How will things go after this?

Stay tuned to find out!

Thanks for reading! Please rate and review! ^^