"Do I?" Kaya replied, barely out of breath.
He studied her a second longer, then asked, half-joking, half-serious, "Was your mother a mermaid or something?"
Kaya gave a soft laugh, and shook her head.
"No. She might’ve been a witch."
The little lord blinked, unsure if she was joking.
But Kaya didn’t clarify. She just kept swimming, her expression unreadable.
.
.
.
They finally stopped in front of a cave—an odd sight in the middle of the deep ocean. The moment Kaya and the others were led inside, something unbelievable happened. The merfolk’s shimmering tails shifted, reshaping into human legs right before her eyes. Kaya froze, wide-eyed.
She had heard the rumors. Whispered tales of strange caves hidden in the depths of the ocean—caves that weren’t completely submerged. Caves that acted more like pockets of a different world. But this... this was the first time she had seen one with her own eyes.
It felt unreal.
A cave, surrounded by ocean on all sides, yet the moment she stepped in, there was no water choking her throat, no pressure pulling at her body.
Just air.
Dry, breathable air.
It felt like stepping through a portal into an entirely different realm. Outside was endless blue. Inside—silence. Dryness. Space. As if water had never existed here.
The chill hit her almost instantly.
Kaya shuddered. She hadn’t noticed how cold she was until now. Being underwater for so long, soaked to the bone, her body had gone numb.
But standing here, in the open air, with a soft draft brushing against her wet skin, the cold began to bite. She wrapped her arms around herself, her teeth almost chattering.
Seeing her like that, the little lord chuckled.
"And here I thought you were some big shot," he said with a teasing grin.
Kaya turned to glare at him—but before she could say anything, he clapped his hands once.
Just like that, a warm wave of energy pulsed through her. The water clinging to her clothes, her hair, her skin—it was gone. Evaporated in an instant. Her damp strands were now soft and dry against her cheeks. Even the puddles under her feet vanished.
She blinked in surprise, glancing at the three idiots lying nearby. The same thing had happened to them—they were dry too.
Kaya didn’t know whether to be annoyed, impressed, or both.
The little lord gave her a final smirk before saying, almost too casually, "Well then, rest up. You’ve got sharks to deal with. Bye-bye."
And that was it.
No help, no proper farewell—just a wave of his hand, and they were gone. The others followed without a word, slicing through the water like shadows. Only one or two turned their heads, offering her a quick glance. It wasn’t concern. Just... a look. Then they were gone.
Kaya stood there in the middle of that strange, dry cave, absolutely stunned.
Was that it? Really?
Thrown into some mysterious pocket of ocean reality with no map, no guide—and now left with three unconscious idiots sprawled across the stone floor.
"Unbelievable," she muttered under her breath. "Even the best of men turn out to be disappointments."
Her eyes drifted to the trio lying nearby—the sparrow, the snake, and the rabbit. All three were in their animal forms, looking more like strays than anything else. She exhaled slowly, hands on her hips.
The rabbit twitched a little in its sleep, soft ears flopping sideways. Kaya’s expression softened for a second. Yeah... she couldn’t kick that one. It looked far too harmless. Probably wouldn’t wake up even if she yelled.
But the snake?
She didn’t hesitate. She kicked it straight across the cave like a football.
Thud.
"Oww! What was that for?!" the snake hissed, untangling itself with a groan and turn to its human form.
She turned to the sparrow next—no warning, just a swift kick. The tiny bird tumbled back with a startled squeak, wings flailing before it hit the wall and bounced off like a toy.
"Ack! chrippp chrip! "
(Ack! Hey! I’m delicate!)
Kaya stood with her arms crossed, the coldness in her expression enough to freeze the air around her. Her face was stone. Her eyes? Sharpened shards of ice.
And then came the smile.
That chilling, spine-pricking smile.
"Awaken, young masters," she said, her voice smooth but laced with venom.
All three stirred at once. Maybe it was her voice, maybe the tension in the air, or maybe the faint echo of the kicks still ringing in their bones. Even the "cutie"—the rabbit—slowly transformed into his human form, blinking like he’d just stepped into a nightmare.
They looked up at her—silent, pale, and visibly trembling.
Right now, Kaya didn’t look like the girl they knew. She looked like something else entirely. Like the embodiment of rage dressed in calm. The angel of death with a sweet, terrifying grin.
She tilted her head and smiled even wider.
"What’s wrong? Why are you trembling?" Her voice dropped an octave, voice coiling with sarcasm. "Go on, sleep like earlier! Didn’t it feel cozy?"
Then she snapped.
"YOU IDIOTS!"
The cave practically echoed with her roar.
"It was all your plan! All I told you—just one thing—was to stay alert! Alert! And what did you do?" She gestured at them furiously. "You all went into dreamland like your mothers were singing you lullabies! Unbelievable!"
She took a deep breath, fury trembling in her chest.
"Thanks to your brilliant teamwork, now we’re stranded in the middle of the sea with the entire Mermaid Tribe on our backs!"
There was an awkward silence. Until Vayu, ever the smartmouth, muttered under his breath, "What’s the big deal, Deva? Wasn’t this your idea?"
Kaya’s head turned slowly, neck creaking like something mechanical. Her glare landed on him like a sledgehammer.
"...Huh? What did you just say?" Her voice was calm—too calm.
Vayu instantly stiffened.
"Whose idea?" Kaya repeated, eyes narrowing. "You think I wanted to end up here? You think I had a fucking clue that we’d be crashing into the Mermaid Tribe’s territory?! That I’d have to gamble with their leader to save our necks? You think this was my plan?!"
The silence that followed was long, and heavy.
No one dared speak. Even the air seemed scared to move.