Numbers of his Life
Story by: VeNgEaNcEoFrAiN
Disclaimer: Hidekaz Himaruya owns every personified country as well as this Cardverse AU ideas, I merely exploit his ideas for my own personal uses muahahah! Everything else is purely fictional, any resemblance to other stories is purely coincidental – I don't really know if there's a similar story around but this idea just popped up in my head so I decided to write it (all I can say is great minds think alike). Some fundamental ideas like how the pocket watch chooses the royalty in Spades is kept in this story. I would like to credit the person coming up with the idea but I think it'd probably be hard to track who started it. If you think I violated copyright laws, erm, I can take it down if you send me a mail or review.
Summary: Time is what chooses the royalties of Spade and the same Time chose Arthur in the 21st century universe as Queen. Will this Prof survive in that universe? Cardverse!AU USUK and other possible pairings.
Author's Note: I know most of you want to kill me for cliffhanging and going on hiatus for so long. I owe you guys an explanation. So I reformatted my pc cause it caught a virus and my story file/ideas and all went poof. Subsequently my school and work took over my life. Luckily though my current job gives me some time to work on this. I'm really apologetic for this long long wait. It's been three years... Thank you for sticking with me. I'm gonna cry. This will probably be the longest replies to my reviewers ever.
As usual, here are my replies to the reviewers, 0987632424192 it ended quickly cause I ran out of ideas HAHA, you'll know what happen in this chapter hopefully. to bubbles523 Thank you and welcome on-board to NoHL! 01blackcat02 It's been a while since I last talked to you! And thank you for the review, it was tough for me as well haha. InivisibleUni HAHAHA I get what you mean by that. Thank you for your kind words, I'll do my best! xXBlack ButlerXx Hope I didn't disappoint you! PurpleLilacFlowerOfTheMist That's nice! Gosh we would've met xD Though you'd be 20 now haha omg. Thank you for your review too! Fi Suki Saki Well, let's just say he's the main character, so... Hehe. Sora Resi Thank you for your review and really sorry I stopped updating at a really bad part of the story. Gosh now that I re-read my story I was like wtf yo so yea totally understand your feelings. Dangara2610 HAHAHA thank you! I was half contemplating if I should keep them uncensored or not xD Timeinaninja Thank you and welcome to NoHL, hope I don't disappoint you! .5 Thank you and welcome! I'll do my best :) Saurie Kiryu Oh gosh, thank you so much for remembering this story. I'm so glad I have fans like you. It warms my heart really. Thank you so much. I'll do my best to update regularly now. And now, on with the much awaited story.
Chapter 7: Truth of Seven
Part I: Unforeseen Circumstances
"ARTHUR!" Francis' voice pierced through the weakening storm. He rushed to look over the side of his ship into the water while pushing everyone out of his way. Held back from jumping off the ship by Vash, he struggled frantically, desperate to save the Spade Queen.
"Your Majesty! C-CALM DOWN!"
"I-I CAN'T! I promised Alfred! I promised to keep him safe!" Francis put up quite a huge resistance before being restrained successfully. "Your safety is our first priority, you hear me?!" Vash chided. "I'm sure Spades is already doing what they can! Please, calm down!"
"Divers! GO FIND HIM NOW!" Francis commanded, trying frantically to calm himself down.
"Send word to Captain Raphael. Have him disguise someone as the Queen immediately. We can't let them know we lost him in the chaos." Vash swiftly ordered his right hand man before returning to subdue his panicking king. "Aye, Your Highness."
On board the Spadian vessel, a mad scramble to find their Queen was underway. Piscesa divers were called back up to the surface, re-dispatched to different depths to scour for their missing royalty – all amidst of a battle. "Damages, Quartermaster!"
"Aye, enemy's blown off the abaft'n mizzen, Cap'n!"
"Avast, ye landlubbers! Relíquias, no, Alice is under tremendous stress. She's been protecting us all our lives here as crew of this ship. As her crew, we fight for her, the same way she's fights for us. We will defeat them, we will bring back our Queen, we will win this war!"
"AYE!" Morale rose rapidly across the deck like a rekindled fire.
"Very well done, Feli." The Red King praised his love as he unmounted his Hippogriff.
"Ve~ Feli never disappoints Ludwig."
"It has bought us time, now that they are looking for their Queen." His gloved hands rested upon the steering wheel. "Kiku is on his way to the ruins in Clubs, let us hope he finds something." The Italian smiled as his king stared in the direction of the Spadian ships.
Across the Gyreous Sea and in the Land of Air, far away from the main battles at sea, war on the mainland was waiting to start. Mini clashes along the border had not develop into a major battlefield. Their enemies were waiting. For what, the Allies knew nothing of. Worried of what may come, Alfred and his Spadian generals gathered for a meeting to discuss the directions and gather reports from the ocean.
"Duke Smith, reports on the battlefield in Gy-ARGH-! Ack..!" The King of Spades fell on his knees while his right hand tried desperately to hold his pain.
"Sire! What's wrong?! Guards!"
"My back! A-It-it's burning!" Alfred's body twisted involuntarily as it searched for a position to overcome the pain on his back. The left side of his body burned in an excruciating pain. He was lifted from the carpeted floor where he nearly rolled around on, drowning in invisible flames. "Sire! Your Majesty?! Send for the physician now!" It was the last thing he'd heard before he blacked out.
His eyes fluttered open, slowly becoming aware of his surroundings. It was dark, with limited rays of light shining from the top or so he assumed. It was cold, freezing to the core, robbing him of the warmth he had. He tried to move his limbs yet they were not responding to his call. He tried to breathe but let out a gulp of air instead. He watched as the bubbles slowly expanded while rising upwards in the direction he was facing. It was then, he noticed that he was sinking slowly into an abyss. The light was diminishing rapidly with the descend. Alfred was quickly engulfed in fear as his helpless paralysed body felt the pressure closing in on him, squeezing what little air he had left out. He gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes tight as his hands held tightly onto his neck attempting to stop himself from drowning.
"Your Majesty..?" A soft call sounded from beside him. "Your Majesty?!"
His eyes shot open and he sat up immediately. Panting heavily, many beads of perspiration rolled down the sides of his head. He wrapped his fingers around his neck, rubbing reassuring circles along its circumference as a reflex. "King Alfred?" Sapphire eyes darted around to seek out where he was as he sorted out his thoughts. Alfred closed his eyes and comforted himself with a hand over his forehead, easing his temples. "What in the world was that?" He thought. With the pain and fatigue mostly gone, his first instinct was to sit up and leave his bed. He had a bad feeling about something but he couldn't explain it. Unable to convince his physician and guards, he was made to stay in bed.
"Your Majesty, your pain was caused by your mark. It was glowing red-hot like it was burning when we first saw it. We can rule out an attack from Hearts, however, we do not know the cause of it. We're deeply apologetic, please forgive our incompetence."
"Burning mark? And what the heck was that dream? Was that a vision?" There was a long silence as a fleeting moment of his 'dream' right after he fell unconscious flashed across his mind. He closed his eyes again, ignoring everyone and everything in his vicinity completely to concentrate. The only thing he remembered was being surrounded by water – huge volumes of water. The light from above was getting weaker and the surroundings were getting colder and darker by the minute. He was in someone's shoes, he concluded. Someone was trying to call out for help but only bubbles escaped his mouth. Someone tried to move his limbs but nothing worked. Someone was helpless. Then, his eyes opened in realisation.
Something must have happened to Arthur.
Everything was too blurry and bright when Arthur first opened his eyes. He squinted and blinked slowly to focus on anything at all but the swirling feeling in his head wasn't doing him favors. His body felt like a thousand pins were constantly poking at him, yet he couldn't move them. He remembered slipping in and out of consciousness while sinking through the depths. And all he could remember was darkness and endless darkness surrounding him and the coldness which robbed him of what little warmth he had left. The only thing keeping him alive and not squashed by the pressure of the depths was the charm from capable assistant, Hassan – a shaman cum court official, representing both the political and the magical world. He was, in Arthur's words, a little strange. Arthur would compare his practices to those in Ancient Egypt from time to time and find intriguing similarities. Hassan was a quiet and mysterious man who was close to Commodore Karpusi and Admiral Annan. From time to time, Arthur would spot him talking to cat-like spirits or Jackal-headed figures similar to those on a hieroglyphics and a modern portrait of an Anubis. He was assured that Hassan was on his side when his fairies told him that Hassan was requesting humbly for them to survey and protect the palace. The incident that left Arthur the strongest impression of the man was when he stood up alone against the other officials in attempt to completely drain the water from Dimension 12 to support the Capital. A decision that would have drastic consequences if they let it go through. The Brit admired his bravery and saw great potential in the small silhouette as Hassan stood before him, fighting one official off with intelligent verbal arguments.
His right-hand man was Raphael of course, representing the maritime and warfare world. In order to rule with knowledge, he had to learn from the best. The strategies used by Yao were more for land than sea battles, however, the two loved to exchange ideas which made him very impressed by the Portuguese captain's valor and loyalty to Spades. Having been away for more than 2 years, Raphael knew every single battlefield like the back of his hand. It was a pity the Ace went missing and contact with Raphael and his crew was lost. With both assistants, he made sure his role as Queen was taken care of before he embarked on his journey to war. Yao once asked why he was taking such tedious steps in a short month to secure and recruit trustworthy officials under his wing, when he might not stay long enough to require such power. He merely replied that he learnt from what he does back in his world that one needed to outsmart to survive. He wanted this war to end with no power struggles from within. His guiding principle was to balance information sources well and trusting the right people in order to rule successfully.
He felt a swish of a tail from right beside him. He made out the details of the said tail as the scales shone under the scarce light. "You're up, Your Majesty." The currents from that swish lapped against his face. "Easy there cowboy, you had a nasty plunge. You're lucky Alice told us to find you. You'd have paid Hades a visit and he'd have enjoyed your company so much he never let you leave." The voice had a familiar intonation akin to that of his King. Arthur groaned slightly in pain and agony. He mustered what little strength he had left, trying to sit upright. Thankfully, the water's buoyancy helped his pained body up from his soft cushioned 'bed'.
"Amelia, your tone. He's our honored guest! He ought to be treated with the utmost respect!" A voice from beside her chided. "Your Majesty, pardon my sister, sometimes even I wonder if she was raised by brutes."
"HEY!" Amelia pouted as her sister swam a little further from her to get Arthur's food.
"W-where am I?" His hand rested against a cold hard surface. He squinted a little through the glowing algae to see he was resting in a bed of seagrass growing on a slate of rock. There was a distant light far off to the background like the sun rising from the horizon. Then his gaze then fell onto the 'ladies' who spoke to him. He blinked multiple times, thinking his eyes were playing a trick on him. His saviors had what seemed like a long fish tail in place of their legs. Mermaids, or what they call such creatures, were known to kidnap sailors for various reasons – including one he was currently very concerned about. "Are you going to eat me?" He said calmly, desperately trying to suppress his anxiety.
"Eat you?" The 'lady' with beautiful blue eyes with matching colored fishtail tilted her head in question. "The war up there is right over our hunting grounds and its affecting what we can eat down here. Fishes are all scared, running away and all that. Luckily, the bodies of yo-"
"What she means," Amelia was given a death glare by her sister. "Is that, we are part hunters and scavengers. We don't differentiate meat sources and I hope you understand…" Her sister cooed hoping the young Queen would get what she meant. Arthur gulped audibly as he let the idea sink into his brain. These creatures eat humans and Arthur wasn't fond of knowing if they ever hunted any.
"Fortunately for us, we don't have to eat you since you're probably just bones. Unfortunately, today we didn't get a catch or scavenged anything because we needed to save you. We're going vegetarian today." Kelp, seagrass, weeds and some clam toppings decorated the garden salad-like dish. It looked rather appetizing and less like those of Yao and his siblings' exotic favourites – amongst raw snake bladders, fried insect appetizers and dog meat hotpot. Regrettably, those were among the dishes in Arthur's first dinner ever in the Land of Water. He never threw up so hard and fast before that.
"Lovely ladies, I think I haven't gotten your names." Arthur asked politely, hoping to get on his saviors' good sides as the two mermaids looked for their utensils. He watched both ladies exchange looks then a bright smile lit on Marguerite's face. "Oh how sweet and gentlemanly you are! I'm Marguerite and she's my younger sister, Amelia. I have a request dear Queen of Spades." She paused as she held Arthur's hands in hers. "I humbly request for you to not tell anyone about us or this place. This is our only refuge left." Arthur nodded slowly, apparently confused. Taking the cue, Amelia explained, "Long ago, there was a war between humans and mermaids and sirens – male of our kind. On land, we had feet like yours, but in water we have tails. Our ancestors lived along the shoreline and never drifted too far inland. Humans found us and thought we were the ones causing the deaths of so many of their kind. They hunted us down and declared war on us. Many sirens died protecting us and we migrated deeper and deeper into the oceans."
"The fifth Queen of Spades declared a ceasefire and ended the war. She, who looked tough, fierce, who everyone thought would exterminate us, extended a hand of peace to us. I still remembered her life motto was to fight or die, but she chose peace for the sake of everyone. From Spades' protection, alliance and the Queen's support, we managed to protect our last piece of land." The elder of the two sisters added. "So when we heard the current Queen is in trouble, we immediately came to your rescue."
Arthur took a while to absorb all the information. Trumps was more chaotic than he thought and that wasn't a good sign. "I'm glad you did what you did and I really appreciate your help. Do you know a way to return?"
"To your world?" Amelia blurted before being elbowed by her sister. "I mean, back to Spades right?" Arthur caught the slip of tongue. He wasn't going to give up on getting anything at all from anyone. "Wait, my world? You knew about my world? Like how Alice did? Do you know a way back?" Arthur sat up, leaning forward despite his wounds. "Please, tell me more!"
He watched as Marguerite eyed Amelia angrily before sighing. "Yes. We know you're from the other world. We took part in searching for you there. Two of our male nobles volunteered, including the ex-bard of Spades and the Ace of Spades. However, they're trapped there because they used up all their magic to send you over. It's part of the deal with the Joker. He's the only one who can travel between the two worlds freely."She continued, "No one knows of this except the and Spades that were involved.
"And the only one who can send people through and fro. But he's known for his arrogance and being the devil's advocate for the sake of fun. He and his sidekick love pranks. Together they're known to spark conflicts and some wars between kingdoms like it was just a game." The American girl crossed her arms. Arthur fell into deep thought. To get back to his world, first he'd have to find out more about the Joker. But said Joker seemed too crazy to reason with and the time magic in Spades couldn't possibly let Arthur leave unless he dies. Perhaps returning to his old life wasn't going to happen. His thoughts came to a pause. Did he really wanted to go back?
"Your Majesty?" Arthur snapped out of his thoughts. "Get some more rest. We'll escort you back to your people after you're well enough." He smiled but it fell into a frown almost instantaneously after the two mermaids turned around. This was more complicated than initially planned, not that anything ever went according to plan in his life.
"Get the Wyvern, get me through to Arthur. Now!" Alfred ordered hastily.
"B-but your Ma-"
"Get it now or your heads will roll by noon!"
The officials gulped audibly at the death threat and hurried to fetch the little creature. The magic orb wasn't connecting with its target at all. Alfred panicked, "Why isn't it working, damn it?! Come on, come on!"
"Zzz… Your Zzzz-ty," A disrupted screen and voice greeted the King. "Zzsh Que-zzz is-zz zzz-ing!"
"What? What are you saying, Raph?!"
"The zzz-en zzz missing!"
"I swear to god, WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?!"
"The Queen is missing!"
"W-what...?" Gasps and murmurs were heard concerting in the room while the King stood in shock. His widened eyes stared fixated at the holographic screen in front of him, mouth slightly parted as his mind went blank.
"We're trying our best to find him. Hearts has retreated for now. There's still no news of His Grace."
The glassware he was holding fell from his hand. It shattered loudly upon contact with the marble floor, spilling its contents on the ground. The piercing noise echoed down the hallways.
The Spadian King's world crumbled into pieces.
"How're we going to get back? I can't swim for too long." The Queen's lack of swimming ability was all within calculations of the two mermaid's plans.
"You'll see. Our pet, Sersha will get you there in no time!" The two ladies giggled as the circled Arthur who was swimming awkwardly between them.
"We're really sorry to have kept you in that temporary cave. We had to hide you from the rest of our kind. Not everyone thinks humans are good." Marguerite apologised while leading the slow swim forward.
"Yea everyone thinks humans are food. I mean good source of protein, ah-haha…" Amelia added, before trailing off with laughter towards the end. "But we have to pass through parts of the city to get to where our pet is kept, so we need to disguise you a little. Sorry, Your Majesty, you have to act like the prey we caught."
"The guards to the city knows anyone and everyone, so we can't disguise you as one of us. Even if we did, your distinct human scent would've given you away." Marguerite warned as they approached a gate keeper. "Just act like you're injured or comatose."
"Alright here we go!" Amelia took a deep breath and approached the gates. Her sister close behind her dragging the limp body of the Brit, in disguise.
"Halt, who goes there." A tall figure swam closer and towered over the two mermaids, his voice boomed through the slitted gills on either side of his body. "Ah, it's the royal sisters. Your Highness, pardon my prudence but I see you have a human with you?"
"Yes, that's right, we're off to see mother regarding this human we've caught."
"I see. However, I cannot let you pass until I've thoroughly inspected your catch." The guard moved closer to inspect Arthur. His shark-like tail was different from those the sisters had. He eyed the Spadian Queen closely for his injuries. If it weren't for the water surrounding him, the guard would have seen perspiration forming all over Arthur from the intense stare. A hand reached out for further inspection before it was stopped by a holler. "Hands off the prize!" Amelia snapped at the guard. "You're not allowed to touch my catch!" The guard retreated his left hand and stood in attention. "Pardon my insolence, my lady. You may proceed into the city. Welcome back, Princess Amelia, Princess Marguerite." He swam off and rejoined the rest of the guards in their patrol circle in front of the gate.
"Royal sisters, Your Highness, my lady, princess?" Arthur thought. So they weren't just citizens to know so much about the Merpeople and their relations with other Kingdoms. He should have guessed it. It was odd that they knew Alice and knew who he was. With the mermaids, battles on the sea would be of no problems. But he promised he wouldn't get them involved. The possibility of them helping in the war is slim and may backfire on Spades. It was already a blessing that they decided to help Arthur. He was not going to push his luck.
"You're in Mermaid Kingdom, Your Majesty." Marguerite whispered as they dodged into a less populated alley atop the main heart of the city.
"Yea, 10 000 feet beneath the surface. Welcome to our vibrant city!" She gestured just behind her to a clear view of the city below.
He opened his eyes and was helped upright by the sisters. He propped himself up against a soft coral-like structure which he assumed was a house. The view was simply beautiful. He never imagined the ocean floor to be like that. He never imagined 10 000 feet below the surface, he'd be able to see so much light and colours. The mushroom-lit city wasn't just a fairy tale. Dazzling corals swayed along with the currents and illuminant sponges and algae decorated the entire city. It wasn't as cold as Arthur thought it would be, neither was it as cold as on the way down and in that cave, the temperature was just right for organisms to flourish. Mermaids, jelly fishes, exotic fishes and animals swim and play amongst the darkness of the abyss, never straying too far from the lighted city. Houses made of corals, rocks, caverns, clam shells and even gelatinous materials of all shapes and sizes lined the cityscape. It was a booming city blooming with life, yet the people on the surface think otherwise.
They swam and maneuvered through the parts of the city for what seemed like hours before finally arriving at the outskirts of the west district. "Here we are!" They arrived promptly in front of a dark cave. It was pitch black even with a hand-held coral piece glowing right at the entrance. Peeking into the darkness, Arthur felt fear gripping at his heart. What if they had a change of mind and decided to feed him to their pet? What if this was an act of vengeance for what humans did to the merpeople? What if all these were a facade and he was to be a plaything to their pet? He gulped as he watched them call out to the owner of the cave. Red glowing eyes opened and stared right into Arthur's. The small human struggled to make a swim for it as bubbles escaped from the mouth which opened into a screech. Rows of teeth lined that long snout of the creature. Arthur was held in place by the sisters. "Relax, Your Majesty, she's not gonna bite!" Arthur locked his jaw to hold down his urge to scream. The overpowering restraints on his arms prevented him from moving from the spot and on closer look, Arthur recognised the creature. "Serpendra." The word slipped smoothly out of his mouth with the breath of air he held during the suspense. The creature swooped closer to the trio and inspected Arthur. It manoeuvred quickly in its domain and was clearly in an advantage. Still stunned from shock, Arthur's mind was blank. His limbs went limp against the girls. The Spadian Queen thought his fate was sealed, that the creature will eat him for summoning it earlier. Flashes of memories play across his mind and he couldn't feeling sorry for letting the people who are entrusting their lives to him down. The one he wanted to apologise to the most was Alfred. "Alfred…"
"Sersha! Good girl!" Amelia called out to the creature. The Giant rubbed her snout against the mermaid's hand affectionately. "Sersha, I've missed you so much! Where have you been?" Amelia hugged Serpendra along the side of its snout. "I'm fish food." The Englishman was on the verge of tears when he thought of Alfred. His death would mean so much to not only the kingdom and this world, but for Alfred personally too. The month together has made their reliance on each other increase to the point that one of them would be upset and affected badly if the other was gone. "Sersha, can you send Arthur to Spades?" Sersha stared long and hard at Arthur. It seemed as though she remember the incident earlier. She shook her head, indicating her reluctance to ferry the Queen to his destination. "Wha-why?" Both girls were taken aback. "We're sorry, Sersha's never like that. Right, girl?" The beast remained unfazed.
"Sershaaaa…" Amelia whined as she attempted to persuade her. "What's wrong?" The beast's tail swung from side to side slowly as it floated attentively in front of the trio.
"I-It's my fault. I summoned her by accident and she fought a Minokawa and Heartian ships." The Queen explained quietly, biting back his fear. "WHAT?" An uproar was obvious and Arthur felt he couldn't be more apologetic. "I'm sorry but I had barely a month to learn magic and there're so many kinds. I was in the middle of a summoning for Hydra. The spell was cut off midway and it summoned Serpendra instead. I'm not trying to find excuses. I am really apologetic for this unforeseen circumstance." It felt like the pair of red eyes narrowed at Arthur, trying to decide if he was sincere. Then, a hiss followed. Arthur reckoned it was somewhat like a 'hmph' in human terms. "There there, Sersha, he said sorry." Marguerite patted its snout while giving an awkward smile. "Won't you please forgive him? For us?" Arthur could feel a huff of water against his skin as the angry eyes blinked slowly.
"Erm, friends?" Arthur held out his arms half-expecting the serpent to press her snout into his embrace. It didn't happen but she seemed a little less angry. She steered away from the trio, with her back facing them. The two ladies seem to get the creature's meaning and swam towards her head. Arthur remained still, not knowing what was happening. A snort and a tilted look towards Arthur signaled to him to hold onto her spines for the ride. Arthur scurried over and held onto his dear life the entire journey.
"Currents between Gyreous Ocean has spots with weaker currents that we can ride or cut through without getting ourselves hurt. What season is it now in Hearts?" Marguerite asked. Amelia cleared her throat and began, "It's a hot and dry summer near the capital with searing heat of up to 40 degrees, warm currents should be coming from there this season. The gyres should be anti-clockwise now."
"Alright let's see." Violet orbs started glowing around them, then a flash of light surrounded them. Arthur stared in awe as a sphere frame made of light envelop the trio. The sphere displayed the main continent, islands, oceans, trenches and detailed every part of the oceanic body. Dots and specs littered the sphere, each had its own marking and comments when touched. That would be very useful in maritime warfare. Curious as to what else the sphere could do, Arthur touched a mysterious triangle demarcated on the map. A few holographic panels popped up with images of shipwrecks, deaths of mermaids and long paragraphs of notes and diaries. "That's the Fairden's Triangle." Amelia noticed the look of the Queen's face. "It's a mysterious place, yet it is the only way into the Land of the Voids by sea. Strange things happen, nothing ever makes it out. Some Kingdoms used to send batches and batches of adventurers, risk-takers to explore that region but none were successful at getting out alive, let alone get information. It's like that part of the ocean is cursed just like the cursed land it leads to." Arthur stared a little longer at the panels, absorbing the information the mermaid princess just gave him. The description of the place eerily resembled that of the Bermuda's Triangle or the other mysterious places back at home. Strange things happened, survivability was low and no one could explain why. The young man frowned as he thought it was best to avoid that place after all. "Who knows, maybe that place is the portal to your world and the Jokers are protecting it from everyone. Or maybe the ones who were thought to be dead are actually alive and well in your world." Arthur's eyes widened. If what she said was true, then it was either death or returning to where he belonged if he ventured into Fairden's Triangle. Did he want to return so badly as to possibly exchanging his life for it? He was at a loss.
"Amelia, you know all those are just your speculation and imagination. Do not put ideas into Queen Arthur's head. He's very much needed here than to try your hypothesis out." The sphere was slowly rotating to the Canadian mermaid's hand gestures. She magnified the Gyreous Ocean and swiped off the excess information. The result was a single signal to show where they were located at that time and the possible locations of Spadian ships based on where Relíquias, or rather Alice, was last seen. "Your ships might be docking about 1000 miles away from Fairbay. Sersha shouldn't make an appearance so we'll swim up once we're near. The currents are rather strong near Fairbay at the moment, we probably can't hold on for that entire duration against it. That's probably why they docked there, considering Heartian ships do not excel in such conditions."
"I suggest we take a detour south from where we are then head north from Spadian part of Silverock isle. Riding the currents will be easier on us." Marguerite traced the path with her finger as she explained the plan. Taking the cue, Amelia signalled for Sersha to make a sharp u-turn. They proceeded deeper into the water column and began their 'migration' further south.
Footnote: About Gyreous Ocean, it's an ocean that has many different gyres or vortexes within the ocean but there is one big current sweep much like the conveyor belts in our oceans. Some spots have very strong currents while others are weak. These gyres are very seasonal and follow the various seasons on land. Since the bottom of the ocean is very mysterious, no one actually know much about it. Well for Fairden's Triangle, it is Trumps' version of Bermuda's Triangle. I think that's about it for this chapter's footnote. I'll do my best to produce the next update. Leave me a review or a private message if you need anything clarified. Once again thank you all, I really appreciate your love. Until next time...