Primrose.

Her pink hair floated in the open water.

Her turquoise eyes opened into a giant glass sphere.

She felt closed in and trapped.

Claustrophobia in every rapid move. She could see the entire ocean world beneath her, on top of a fractured castle submerged beneath the icy waves. At first, she tried to scream. But that hadn't done any good.

She was the damsel in distress.

..

The bubbles rose beneath his feet. Asahi felt a current push him back as merfolk alike silently bowed. What could he have possibly done to get them roused this way? Could it be that he was more than just a Ruler, but an Owner? It hadn't stuck to him.

But that's when Paxon's eye granted him a closed memory.

. . .

He was in training, sitting on a rock as Acheros bent water to his will.

He watched as the rolling waves crashed and reeled back in terror at his power.

A whole spire of coral emerged from the waves, before collapsing down and raining on them in one foul swoop.

This power, this excellency, all belonged to none other than his father.

. . .

And so when he came back to his senses, remembering the power that overshadowed him, Asahi bent down in refusal, turning away from them, bowing at a heartbeat.

"What could I possibly be?"

That's when another memory flickered.

. . .

A young white-haired man holding onto a helmet appeared in his eyes. One who welded two swords straight from his hands alone. At once, he fought the incoming monsters, paving a pathway through the murky muck. The brilliance, the shine, had engulfed and swallowed the monsters whole. In one strike, he threw his blade and watched as lightning followed it, striking and piercing through foes.

. . .

When THAT memory surfaced, it sent Asahi reeling, nearly causing him to crash over a bridge. The merfolk swam to him and picked him up, nodding and answering after seconds of turmoil and confusion.

"What was that? What happened to me? Was that the past?"

As Asahi flew into the pile of questions and theorizing, the merfolk did nothing but stare in awe. They swam with the fishes, offering Asahi coral-bit soup. But yet that wasn't enough to bring him from his tantalizing realization.

The city he once saw hadn't belonged to the Last Incarnation of the world but the Second Incarnation.

This realization dug deep into the skull as Asahi quickly scurried over the bridge. But before he could reach the exit of the village...

(SLAP)

One of the blonde-haired women delivered a sharp slap to his face, declaring...

"Prince, now's not the time to bone doggle." One said as he picked Asahi up, trying to help. "Now's the time to familiarize. Do you truly know where you are?"

Asahi fumbled for his map, but it was useless beneath the waves. Shadows swallowed the city as sunlight danced across the water's surface. He gazed at the arches circling the city square.

"No." He replied, sweat dropping from his face.

"Then let us help you." The merfolk beckoned. Asahi drew a deep breath and stepped down the stairs, weighing his options before making his choice.

"Okay, I'll assist you."

. . .

From that moment, they began their journey across the winding bridges.

They started at the apartments of the sunken city, then ventured toward the plaza. Even underwater, plants and strange creatures spread like wildfire, overtaking the city in vibrant waves.

Asahi gazed around at the restaurants and houses embedded through the slipstreams spewing from the molten ravines. The merfolk swam together in clusters, chatting and laughing, adding life to the expansive sunken city. Asahi felt a mix of awe and overwhelm. The sheer breadth of the city unfolded before him, each corner revealing another wonder. It was both exhilarating and daunting, filling him with a sense of exploration but also a heavy responsibility to understand and protect this underwater haven.

Not only were there holes, but also shipwrecks resting on the blanket of ice, protruding down the massive spire overlooking the entire place, and, of course, the castle rested at the top of the submerged mountain far below.

Before venturing further, he paused to rest, feeling the immense pressure of the water as he sat on a bench. Blonde-haired, gray-eyed faces drifted past while the ice spire towered above. At its peak, a giant sphere gleamed. He could see it clearly, yet never guessed that inside, Primrose waited in captivity.

After nudging one, Asahi asked Brooke as the distant chatter filled and brightened the submerged city.

"So, what is above that spire overlooking the city?"

At his question, a hush swept over the crowd, each person pondering what secrets the spire concealed. If only Asahi understood. Brooke, after a moment on the bench, drifted upward with the swirling schools of fish, then said, pointing to the miniature statues resting on the streets of the submerged city.

"Come with me, Lord, Asahi."

. . .

After following the mermaid down the streets, Asahi gazed at all the abodes scattered in the city. Never had he seen so much life beneath the waves. After seeing the floating street lights and cobblestone pathways, Asahi turned over to Brooke and asked.

"How do they remember me? Shouldn't..." That's when another memory flashed in his vision.

When he picked up Paxon's eye, it seemed as if all memories were unleashed like a tidal wave.

Which then led to this reaction. Quickly, Asahi realized that this wasn't Astait anymore, but Gweenneg, the nation from the Second Incarnation of the world. It had not fallen, nor collapsed, but submerged underneath the waves. As he was taken back to the alley, suddenly...

"Oh, wretched scoundrels, when will you learn?" A man cloaked and sashed with a purple and black book proposed as the mermaids cowered in fear and intolerance. "Shall you cower beneath the waves or surrender your poor puny souls to the MIGHT of The Ending!?" His voice was deep and resonating, terrorizing the group of merfolk.

"What are you doing?" Asahi shouted, unsheathing his sword.

"Aww, look who has just arrived." The man said with a whimsical tone. Quickly, he clutched onto his book, then summoned purple corrupted spires, inking up the place like a squid. The water itself transformed from vibrant blue to murky black as the city became a battlefield instead of a living place.

. . .

The battle started with a swing. It quickly caught up to Asahi, and his armor immediately dented. Then, the mage threw his hand to the ground and summoned portals. Arising from the purple rifts appearing under the water, arose beings who moved only when he wasn't looking. These creatures, without a doubt, were the Weeping Sirens he met earlier back in the ruins. Not just them had they scrambled into the 'battlefield', but other cloaked figures, grasping onto what seemed to be pearls.

At once, they unleashed torrents of water at Asahi, slowly pushing him back to the edge of the plaza. If he were to sink even further into the depths, he would, without doubt, be crushed beneath the waves. So he parried the attack, sinking his boots onto the cold stone bricks. Then, he tossed and beset a storm of slashes before perfectly ending his symphony of clashes. Asahi felt the underwater whipping his white hair forward, feeling several explosions dancing with the battle.

But Asahi's movements were too nimble, too swift to really make a dent. The mages continued to strike Asahi, while mermaids and mermen alike scurried from the enemies. Explosions danced in the facade, blasting icebergs up above and casting iron at the white-haired young man. Asahi grasped a string and threw his blade at the approaching figures.

Lastly, one by one, they get defeated not by Asahi's strength alone, but by the might of the twin mermaids and a dark-haired merman. Together, they unleashed a blast that struck straight at the Mage, and immediately, he floated in death, unable to be saved. As ink and debris drifted in the open waters, the mermaids scrambled back, seeing their years of endless toil backfire on him.

But at last, Asahi had prevailed. He had conquered the great—

(SHING)

However, it was not over.

Without looking, Asahi felt a blade strike his arm, nearly slicing it in two.

Before falling endlessly into the ravine. Dust spilled out from his wound as he fell down on the ground, feeling the pressure of the water get to him.

He watched as the mage smiled with his descent, knowing his life had ended.

Meanwhile, all the merfolk rushed to the center, both congratulating and comforting him as a searing pain bit and blazed on his arm.

He had not lost his arm, but his metal one, the arm he had painstakingly rebuilt, was gone, lost to a single misjudged attack. As the pain seared through him, memories cascaded in, bringing an overwhelming mixture of emotions.

. . .

"Don't lose this arm again, understand, son?"

Acheros was fixing and refining the arm, slamming his hammer and tossing all the failed ones out.

With his expert hands, a beautiful metal arm took shape—crafted by none other than Acheros, his father, the Master of Blacksmithing.

At first, Asahi was broken and incomplete, missing an arm. But after Acheros hammered at the anvil, he forged a new limb from fire and steel—a testament to Asahi's suffering, now transformed into strength. He had grabbed a shard from a star and implanted it into the arm, generating strange magical power. His power was beyond immaculate and yet...

"Take care of it, my gift for the trouble you had endured in Cleira's Academy," Acheros said as he donned his helmet. "Never want I ever to see you so hopeless, ever, my sapling."

As the memories faded, grief washed over him as he thought of the countless hours spent perfecting that limb, each strike of the hammer echoing the sacrifices he made.

Anger boiled within, a resentment towards his carelessness, the single moment of lapse that snatched away part of his resilience.

Yet, within this turmoil, a spark of determination ignited.

This loss would not define him; instead, it would fuel his resolve to fight back stronger, to repair and rebuild not just the arm, but the strength within himself. And although lost, he had hoped to see his father witness how far he had come.

But that was sealed for another time.

Now was not the time to goof around.

If he wanted to save Primrose, he had to look beyond the city to find it. And with friends and merfolk alike, fighting monstrosities such as that mage, it might take more than alliances to reach that point.

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