It's been quite some time since I wrote this story... so I hope I'm not losing my touch. This chapter is pretty hard to decide on, but eventually I'm settling with this... I hope you like it! ^^

Ariel still remembered how everything began.

The letter was delivered by a seagull, dropped right before the castle gate. Ariel rolled the paper open and quickly recognized Attina's penmanship. Attina had been somewhat their father's secretary—being the heiress to the throne and all. Ariel didn't need to wonder long about the content of the letter since this particular letter was exceptionally brief, without as much as a greeting:

Don't let any of your descendants go into the sea.

Ariel frowned. What's the meaning of this? she thought.

That night, the sea was enraged. The waves rose and rolled unforgivably again and again as the wind pounded towards the shore. Ariel stood at the balcony, watching the sea, wondering whether this had something to do with the letter. Her thoughts then flew towards her two children. They were gone for a diplomatic visit to a kingdom across the sea since last week. If everything went smoothly, they must be on their way back home by now.

Hopefully the sea is calm wherever they are, she prayed.

She decided to walk along the beach just before the sunrise, and that's when she found the red Jamaican crab. "Sebastian!" she called, waving her hand above her head. The crab noticed her and made his way to the princess—now queen.

"Did anything happen last night?" she asked curiously. "The sea wasn't exactly calm…"

"Ariel…" he stuttered. "The king had been deposed."

"What?!"

The crab nodded his head heavily. "Your sisters… they killed them all."

"Who… who did that?!"

"One of the council members," he said. "Unlike Ursula… he succeeded. Now His Majesty's whereabouts is unknown."

Ariel bit her nails. A burning question rose in her, and thinking about it made her head felt like exploding—did she really want to know the answer?

Sebastian stared at her and he felt sorry for her. Nevertheless, she deserved to know the truth. "Your children… their ship sank."

"Where are they?!" she asked almost immediately.

"No one knows…" he said. "But…"

Ariel sighed heavily. Her tears dropped as she closed her eyes, and a small roll of wave greeted them before they hit the sand. "They have returned to the sea…" she murmured.

The second trip towards the Cave was uneventful, unless they still counted the new, silent Reine as an 'event'. They stopped at the mouth of the cave, where two strange-looking fishes stood guard glared at them.

"We come to take the Golden Book," Neil announced their intention as soon as they had arrived.

The two fishes exchanged glares between the two merpeople. One of them then said. "You may enter. She may not."

"Why?!" Neil asked furiously.

"That is the rule," the other fish replied.

Reine, having lost her power of vision, didn't understand the reason either. However, she wanted this business to be over as soon as possible, so she gave Neil a small push on his back and nodded at him when he turned to her.

Neil sighed. "Show me the way."

The two fishes entered the cave and their heads glowed slightly brighter to provide illumination. Neil glanced at Reine for a moment, but the mermaid waved her hand, Follow them.

Neil entered the cave, and he couldn't help but to look around while he was inside. Unlike what the name had implied, the cave was dark and sombre; perhaps it could have been because of the lack of light that ever reached the nooks and crooks of this structure, perhaps it could be something else he didn't know. In any case, it wasn't filled with gold and precious metals or locked chests. There was only one way in the cave, too, so he wondered why they needed to swim in front of him as if they were guiding him.

And then, there was Reine—why didn't they allow her to enter the cave? Was it some sort of a rule, only one man entered at any time? But, why he was chosen instead of her? He was the 'fake' merman—and she was genuine… so why?

"Here it is."

The fish's shrilly voice—now that he was a merman he could hear their voices better—interrupted his train of thought. They had come to the end of the cave where the walls had expanded slightly to give more room. There was only one table at the middle of it and it was firmly rooted to the ground with a kind of lichens growing on it. However, instead of being repulsive, somehow it gave off a mysterious and majestic effect instead. The two guards floated at each side of the table, on which a golden tome rested. Neil couldn't be too sure why the golden tome seemed to glow in his eyes: was it magical, or was the lack of lighting in this premise had made the tome seemed to glow in his eyes? Nevertheless, Neil extended his hand and took the tome carefully, putting it away in his bag. He bowed slightly towards the two guards. "Thank you."

"Do not trust the mermaid," one of the guards said grimly. "She is not trustworthy."

"What?"

"She is your enemy," the other guard chimed in. "Be careful."

Neil clenched his fist. "What are you saying?" he growled. "If it hadn't been for her, I would've never been here!"

"Seductress, she is… that is a mere ploy to defeat you!"

"You should not yield to her!"

They continued to throw insults on Reine, and Neil swore his ears grew hot hearing them. He clenched his fist. "ENOUGH!"

Neil came out alone from the cave and Reine swam over to him, making gestures with her hand, Did something happen?

She asked the question because a few moments ago, she felt that the current movement changed considerably inside the cave. It should've been much stronger inside of the cave. However, Neil shrugged her off. "Let's go back," he replied dismissively.

Reine puffed her cheeks and stood her ground. Something had surely happened inside there—where were the two fishes that came in with him?

As if to answer her, the two fish guards came out from the cave, but they looked somewhat worn out. They glared at her for a moment before facing Neil. "You have been warned…"

Gwen saw everything that happened in the Cave of Treasures. In fact, she had been keeping a close tab on them ever since the start of their journey—and she had watched them even more closely after Reine traded her power for Neil's survival, just like as she had foreseen.

That girl… Gwen thought. She really doesn't understand, does she?

Gwen closed her eyes, and a vision came upon her. However, the vision was very blurred that she couldn't make out anything from it except for a glowing trident that changed hand… or rather, hands.

Gwen held her breath, trying to keep her emotions in check. What should I make out of this…? she pondered. It's hardly anything.

However, she knew better—her power was incomplete, after all. Choice would matter greatly when this event—the changing of trident's holder—actually occurred. The previous Seeresses would've been able to see it all, but she, a mere Seeress of Fate, couldn't.

A new question then popped up in her mind. These days, she often had these kinds of questions: questions that she didn't have the answer to despite being a Seeress.

Is Reine's power gone forever… or simply suspended until she gets her voice back? What will happen to the Seeress' cycle?

Stay tuned for updates!

Thanks for reading! Please rate and review! ^^