"Father…"

"Yes, dearest?"

"I had a dream?"

"What sort of dream?"

Gwen opened her eyes abruptly, cutting the scene short. She knew what happened next, though, for it had really passed. She was so used to seeing for things that were yet to come; the thought of receiving a vision from her own past almost unsettled her.

The silver dolphin swam slowly towards her. "Mistress…" he called softly and reverently. "Reports said Princess Reine and the human are going towards the Cave of Treasures."

Gwen nodded in acknowledgement. "How about the human prince?"

"He spent an increasing amount of time with Young Master Rod going around the realm."

"I see…"

"Mistress…"

"Yes…?"

Gwen saw hesitation was written all over Viserys' face, which was unusual but understandable at the same time. Gwen stretched out her hand and stroke him gently. "Destiny is not something we can conquer…" she added grimly. "…not even the Seeresses…"

"You—"

"I am, goodness!" Reine interjected. "This is the fifth time you're about to ask me whether I'm sure about this!"

The princess turned around and allowed Neil to look at her eyes up close. "See? No infinity sign—I'm not changing my mind, and I know you aren't either."

They planned to swim towards the Cave of Treasures just the way they were. Mama Orca noted Neil's unusual lung power—and Reine, too had an above average lung power herself. There might be a chance for them.

"The moment you faint, I'll drag you up," Reine assured him. "That's a promise!"

"And I'm here too!" Viv quipped. "Worst come to worst, I'll drag both of you up!"

"She is stronger than she looks," Reine added right before Neil had the chance to ask.

To fill the silence in their journey, Reine began to sing.

There can be miracles when you believe

Though hope is frail, it's hard to kill

Who knows what miracle you can achieve?

When you believe, somehow you will

You will when you believe

Neil couldn't deny that her voice soothed his nerves, replacing his fears with warmth and calmness. He glanced aside and found the mermaid was smiling at him. Not her usual cheeky teasing grin—this time, it was a gentle, serene smile of reassurance.

Reine stopped swimming all of a sudden, and she looked down. That prompted Neil to do the same. The seabed around them suddenly disappeared—more accurately, they plunged sharply to some sort of black hole that he couldn't see the end.

"This is the entrance to the Cave," Reine informed him. "Anytime you're ready…"

Gwen faced her predecessor in her inner world. When her powers had been latent, these encounters were sporadic and unpredictable. After she learned the mechanism behind this communication, however, sometimes Gwen could ask for her predecessor's guidance. To others, she would appear as if she was receiving another vision, so Viserys would usually stand guard nearby.

"Will she survive?" Gwen asked.

"It is not my power to tell you so, Seeress…" the mermaid facing her replied. Her tone was, as always, cold. Her voice was really like the sea in its deepest—cold, pressurising. "You know better than to meddle with Fate."

"She is my sister…"

"And she is a Seeress as well," she pointed out sharply, as if chiding Gwen's rare naivety. "She is the Seeress of Choices—she must know the consequences of her choice."

Gwen clenched her fist. Usually, she would take that statement and asked no further. Even if she had something bugging her, she would keep it in her heart. This time, however, she found that she couldn't do the same. "How…?" she asked in a strained voice for years of suppressing her own feelings. "How did you do it?"

Finally, that elicited a semblace of intense in the other mermaid's usually placid countenance. Her brows furrowed slightly, and she brought her hand to her heart. It only lasted for a moment, however, before she reverted back to her previous calmness.

"We must speak the Truth, Seeress… that is our duty." That was the first thing she told her upon their first meeting and Gwen had believed her with all of her heart. However, this time she couldn't simply accept what was thrown in front of her anymore.

"You brought to an end a rightful dynasty by predicting its downfall."

"Yes… she admitted. "And that, on its own, was the fulfilment of the prophecy I spoke of."

"Are you saying that Truth favors the wicked?"

"No," her golden eyes glazed with conviction. "The wicked exists so goodness can be known. The world hangs on the balance between these two forces."

A Seeress who had fully realized her power had the choice when to use her Voice. Her predecessor had utilized it while speaking her last sentence, stunning Gwen for a moment.

Her next sentence, however, came not in the Voice but in a sorrowful echo. A lesson learned the hard way, she supposed.

"That is the essence of Truth…"

At first, they felt nothing as they descended. Neil had ingested another round of haleweed—it's been quite some time since he last felt that cooling sensation that he had almost forgotten about it.

He felt like they had been descending forever, yet the end was not visible yet. Their surrounding grew darker and their source of light was only deepwater fishes who happened to be illuminated as well.

Neil heard them talk something about food and rest—apparently no matter what species you were, the concerns were quite invariable.

He took another breath, but the water came in much more than he had expected, prompting a gag reflex on his part. Instead of stopping it, the water forced its way into his system.

Neil choked on a mixture of water and air.

Salty brine, stinging eyes… his limbs were next.

Reine turned around and found her companion was in dire state. She rushed to him. "Neil!"

She shook him as hard as she could, but he was unresponsive. "Oh no, oh no…"

Reine pulled him up, but in her rush she had forgotten one critical point of ascending: there was a strict speed limit on ascending. Break the limit, your lungs would literally burst out.

Merpeople lungs had adapted to this condition, although they still had to be careful in certain depths that they were not accustomed in. However, for humans, whose lungs were not naturally equipped with the ability to adjust its pressure—that was deathly.

The water around his mouth turned dark and when Reine realized that it was blood, she snapped. "NO!"

She pressed her lips hard to his, ignoring the tangy taste of blood on her tongue. She tried to suck out as many water as she could from him, and at the same time, replacing it with the much needed air.

She only tasted blood, and more blood, and she couldn't ignore it anymore.

She tasted something salty next, but she knew it wasn't seawater.

It was her own tears.

Viv pounded her body hard on Neil's back, in an effort to eject the water out, but when she felt that his limbs were getting colder by each second, she knew it was inevitable.

Morgana was the King's most trusted advisor. A lean octopoid woman with angular face and green skin like a certain witch of the shore, she was a recluse unless being called to the court. Some thought she had connection with a powerful witch of the shore she shared resemblances with, but no one knew for sure. Her lair was located near the entrace to the Cave of Treasures, and it was guarded by her faithful shark, Undertow, who led the desperate princess and her small party inside.

"Ah, what a—"

"Revive him. Turn him into a merman," Reine demanded almost immediately, skipping all that pleasantries.

Morgana's eyes shifted towards the unconscious young man. Something stirred in her—he was handsome as hell, sure, but she knew there was something else in him… power?

"And you must make it reversible," Reine added mercilessly.

Morgana looked at the princess again, smiling. She glanced at her tail—she was the youngest princess. She reminded her of certain someone… perhaps all youngest offspring did have that… rebellious tendencies?

"I don't have time, Morgana!" Reine demanded, her patience dissolving by each second.

"Ah, of course, Your Highness…" Morgana replied pleasantly, this time looking into Reine's scarlet eyes. "I can perform the spell… but it is one of the most complicated spell in all the seas… surely it has a cost…"

"What do you want?"

Morgana extended her hand towards her. Reine felt the witch's nail on her skin. It was supposed to be a light touch, but Reine felt as if the witch was grazing her.

She immediately knew what the witch wanted.

"Reine, don't!" Viv warned.

"You say… you don't have time, correct?"

He felt light. Very light. Like a great burden had been lifted from his chest. He opened his eyelids and found a group of angelfishes bundled together, swimming. So different from what he last remembered—dark, cold water and the taste of blood.

I'm still… alive?

He tried to prop his body up when he realized that Reine was sitting next to him. Viv was nowhere to be found. He accidentally let out a grunt as he tried to sit up—his back felt so stiff for some reasons.

Reine turned around to look at him, but his eyes were more interested at something else. His legs—or should we say—his new tail.

It was black in colour with dark grey translucent fins. At first, Neil didn't think it was his until he tried to move his 'legs' and found that the tail was moving.

"What the…"

He turned towards Reine. "I thought we… what happened?!"

The mermaid looked at him and sighed heavily. She then moved away from him, and he tried to follow. At first, his tail movements were awkward as he forgot that his legs were basically fused together and he tried to move it separately. After he adjusted his movements, however, he managed to catch up with Reine. "Hey! Wait up!" he called.

Reine turned around and saw Neil swimming towards her. He looked like a real merman, except for his white shirt that was still clinging on his body.

"What happened earlier?" Neil asked.

Reine opened her mouth, but closed it again. She looked away.

"Why are you not talking to me?"

A silent Reine was no Reine—that was what he thought. Her silence was really terrifying him, more than he was ready to admit. He gripped her shoulder and shook her, but she still refused to look at him. "Hey, Reine! Can you at least say something?!"

Suddenly, Neil remembered Gwen's words before they departed.

"…you will give that human something so important to you in this quest so that he will survive."

He let go of his grip as Reine bit her lower lip.

Silence.

Gwen's prophecy had been fulfilled.

What will happen next?

Stay tuned to find out!

Thanks for reading! Please rate and review! ^^

A/N: The song above is Leon Jackson's When You Believe. It's a pretty nice song :)