Myriam looked through her crystal ball and watched Valerie kill the blue dragon. The fae creature grinned, showing off her sharp teeth. The harpy near her stared at Myriam with a tilt of her head.

"I have accomplished my task. It's time for me to go back." A twisted wooden staff formed in her hand, and she tapped it against the stone ground. The island started moving, answering Myriam's call.

The small harpy next to her flinched and waved her wings. "Heading back already? I don't understand."

Myriam grinned and walked over to the harpy, scratching beneath the girl's chin. "My plan ripened like a sweet fruit, so there is no need for us to be here anymore."

The harpy let herself be scratched and waved her wings happily. "What will we eat now?"

"Don't worry, there will be plenty to feast on heading back. You should get some rest."

///

Bery stared at the songstress in front of her with a conflicted expression. She couldn't decide if this person was real. She looked precisely like the mermaid from her dream. The pink-haired girl plucked her instrument in the plaza, but the scene played out differently from Bery's dream.

She sat next to Valerie on a small stone bench, and the kitten leaned her head against the dragon's shoulder. They held hands, and the dragoness wrapped her tail around the kitten's waist.

Bery enjoyed the sound of the calming song. This time, nobody around them tried to interrupt the kitten and her dragoness. Even the rambunctious fairy simply enjoyed the calming music.

The kitten looked up at Valerie and planted a kiss on the dragon's cheek. "Are you doing alright?"

Valerie nodded and wrapped her arm around Bery's shoulder. "You don't need to worry, kitten. I am a bit agitated that someone played me like an instrument, but I can voice those grievances properly later."

Bery placed a finger on her chin and tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that Myriam girl. She is the one who sent those sirens. It is the only explanation that makes sense."

Bery wondered if the empress was busy with those girls right now and what they were doing. The kitten hoped that they would not be tortured, even if they tried to mess with her mind. She would have likely been easily influenced herself if she was a wild Kanai'n.

She thought of her tribe and wondered how they were doing. Bery found herself worrying about them on their own. She couldn't imagine that boy would make a great leader. She wondered if there was a way to convince all of them to live in a castle. But casting away their freedom would go against everything that Kanai stood for.

Bery imagined that if they chose to come to the castle on their own, that would not be a violation of Kanai's wishes. The kitten shook her head and focused back on the minstrel, but dreams were often more fantastical than the real thing. She loved the song. At the same time, the dream version of her had a more exaggerated reaction.

At that moment, the empress showed up and placed her hands on their bench. "And all of my duties are now tended to."

"Perfect," Bery said, "you are just in time. I have been wondering about something."

"Oh?" Aqua asked with a raised eyebrow.

Bery pointed towards the songstress. "How does a mermaid even get into the city?"

Aqua chuckled into her hand. "That one is easy enough to answer. The channel behind the fountain leads out of the city through the wall. Mermaids can swim through small holes in the wall, designed specifically for them."

Bery nodded. "So you've allowed them to come in? What happens if other creatures slip through those holes?"

Aqua shrugged. "It is not really possible. For one, those holes are very small, and the channel has a strong current once it leaves. There is a barrier, and the water flows outwards too strongly for most creatures to swim past it. Mermaids are the exception. We have had a pact with them for centuries, so I allow them to come and go as they please.

Bery looked at the mermaid who was collecting tips from nearby elves. She looked at her dragon, unable to imagine Valerie giving up a single cent to the mermaid songstress.

"Is there a point for mermaids collecting elven money? I can't imagine that it has a use underwater."

Aqua shrugged once again. "They've bought some things from us before with our own money. There are several here who've made a business off selling things to the mermaids that come out of the channel. Otherwise, I imagine that some of them simply want to collect our coins for themselves." The empress looked at Valerie. "I think they share a trait with dragons."

Valerie chuckled and shook her head. "It is inaccurate to say that. Everyone else has simply copied us. Besides, it's normal for people to collect things. Take this city, for example. Is it not simply a collection of stones to form buildings? My collecting is no different than that."

Bery sighed. "I am pretty sure your collecting is very different. I speak as someone who came from both worlds. Others are collecting stuff to survive. How are all of those gold pieces related to your survival?"

Valerie frowned and placed a hand over her chest in an exaggerated manner. "My own kitten has turned against me." The dragoness pointed towards the vibrant castle of the empress in the distance. "Yes, I am sure that thing is all for survival. Is there no vanity associated with a castle?"

Bery struggled to not laugh. You have a castle too…

Instead, the kitten focused on the song, coming to a close. The mermaid ended her chorus with a bow. She took the bucket of coins she'd collected, and she saluted all that came to her show.

The mermaid said word's of thanks in the elven tongue, and she placed a lid over her bucket before diving back into the water.

Bery stretched her arms and legs and stood up from the bench. Her tail waved around behind her, and she smiled, reaching a hand towards Valerie. She pulled the dragoness to her feet.

"This would be the perfect place for a new painting."

Valerie grinned. "Indeed, it would, little kitten."

Aqua's eyes shone, and she placed her hands together as if in prayer. "Please, would it be possible if I can watch?"

Bery's face turned red. "You don't need to ask to watch. I was going to do it in the open anyway. Did you take care of your royal duties?"

The empress chuckled. "You don't need to worry about my royal duties. All of those sirens are being processed into the prisons. Also, there is no need to fret about their well-being. We have them in magic suppressing chains, so they cannot use their magic. We have no intention of treating them poorly. Even if they were partly responsible for the death and resurrection of my people, they will be given a fair trial."

"A trial?"

Elody flapped her wings and zipped in front of Bery's face. "You've never heard of a trial? People are judged by their bad actions."

"I have heard of them but mostly in books. It's not something that I've witnessed or taken part in."

The fairy shrugged. "I don't think you would like it. It's a lot of sitting around and waiting for people to speak. The siren leader will represent all of them together. Given the severity of their crimes, there will need to be a punishment."

Bery frowned, but she nodded. She knew that she was the one being unreasonable in the end. The elves would not be happy if someone didn't get punished for killing them or destroying a part of their wall.

Valerie pulled out a blank canvas from her space and placed it on the ground. "You don't need to worry about them. Instead of worrying over the lives of criminals, you should do something that you enjoy. I know that your heart wants to care for everyone, but your empathy is misdirected. Feel bad for those who will have to fix the wall or the ones who will remember their own deaths."

Bery did not expect her dragon to say something like that. Is my empathy misdirected? Is it wrong to care about the victims and the perpetrators?

Valerie sighed and handed the kitten her paintbrushes. The dragoness grabbed both of Bery's cheeks. "I am not saying you don't have to care. I am saying to care more about the victims."

Bery nodded and thought about her own situation that led her to Valerie. When she thought about it, she would find it upsetting if Valerie cared about those bandits. At first, she was sad that they needed to die, but she understood that Valerie was in the right. I have changed so much, but in some ways, I have not changed at all.

She turned to the canvas instead, and she looked towards the castle. The city was so much easier to understand than her feelings, and the canvas was a way to turn those feelings into motivation.

And so, the Kanai'n paintress touched the canvas with her brush.

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