Chapter 511: Underneath the sea

(Music Recommendation: Iris And Jasper by Hans Zimmer.)

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Viola wanted to insist they wait for Sebastian, but every moment was another moment closer to the body decomposing, and she had no choice but to let them take her friend’s body.

"Gilbert, could you help..." Viola asked quietly of the man, who looked at her as though his soul had already left his body, but he still nodded and came forward, carrying the body into the water to hand her over to the mermaids, who took her gently.

Ivy looked over at the werewolves, offering them a small nod, then turned to her sister. "I’ll let the other brother know, and I’ll be back as soon as I can to you."

Viola could only nod.

With that, they began carrying the body beneath the water, and Gilbert, who had handed her over, stood there watching them disappear, sunlight scattering across the surface where they had vanished.

He sank to his knees at the water’s edge and buried his face in his arms, staying like that until he felt a hand settle on his shoulder. He looked up to find the Luna beside him.

He stared at her, words of apology on his tongue, as he suddenly felt that he had failed to do right by Zoe. And no matter how much what he felt for her hadn’t been love, she had been his friend and a very good soul who deserved so much more from life.

"I’m sorry..." he rasped.

"It’s nobody’s fault..." Viola whispered, then wrapped her arms around him. Silent tears slipped from his eyes and fell against her neck.

They all remained there for a while, the only sounds left the echo of their own heartbeats, the weight of everyone’s unspoken what-ifs, the steady crash of waves, and the cry of seagulls circling overhead.

Viola stared far out past the water, wondering where Sebastian had gone, and what he must be going through, if all of them together were feeling Zoe’s loss this heavily.

Deep beneath the waves, Ivy and Yasmin swam quietly toward the burial grounds, where every mermaid who had died rested, even those killed by werewolves generations before. As they swam, a faint trail of blood followed behind them, since there was no way to carry the body without the water washing the wound clean, her stomach still open beneath the current.

"Sea Goddess, I hope her blood won’t attract the sharks to us, for you can’t imagine a shark eating her up before we could preserve her," Yasmin commented as she looked around warily. Shark attacks were not unusual when blood was involved.

"I have my Tidekin keeping watch, don’t worry. If we hurry up, there is no chance of a shark coming," Ivy replied.

Yasmin sighed in relief and then went silent for a moment before speaking again.

"Ivy, now that your sister has lost someone so dear to her, do you think it might finally push her to see the advantages of staying here with us and having the power to save lives?" Yasmin asked as they came to a stop in the graves. Ivy reached for a long, slender root called the Life Root, its tip as fine as a strand of hair.

Ivy narrowed her eyes at her cousin as she held the Life Root. "Why won’t you just drop this, Yasmin? My sister has a life now, a family. She doesn’t want to be the Child of the Sea. Can we all just respect her decision and let it be?" she said, clearly displeased that her cousin, no matter what happened, kept looking for any opening to pull Viola away from the werewolves.

"She could suppress her—"

"Yasmin. Enough. Respect the dead," she warned strictly, and the other mermaid fell silent, knowing that this twin was fiercely loyal to her sister.

Ivy turned her attention back to Zoe. She carefully guided the hair-thin tip of the Life Root into the corner of Zoe’s mouth and held it there for a moment.

Almost instantly, the root came alive.

It twitched beneath Ivy’s fingers before beginning to grow, thickening and branching as large green leaves unfurled from its length. The leaves spread outward, one after another, winding gently around Zoe’s body. They curled beneath her, over her limbs, and around her torso, gradually forming a living cradle around her.

Within moments, the leaves had completely enclosed her, holding her suspended in the water and protecting her body from decay, just as they did with every other body resting in the underwater graves.

"You placed her right next to your parents. Is there a reason for that?" Yasmin asked, watching her cousin secure Zoe’s body with the same care she might show family.

"So that if the day ever comes," Ivy said, a bitter smile tugging at her lips, "even if it takes centuries for another Child of the Sea to be born, she won’t be alone down here when they wake up to a strange world. Our father can look after her, they’re both werewolves, after all."

Yasmin watched her cousin, unable to fully understand her sentimentality toward these creatures no matter how many times she witnessed it, but she kept the thought to herself, staying until the leaves had fully secured the body. Then Ivy paid her respects to all the dead resting there, pressing her hand to her chest and bowing her head toward them before saying,

"Well, I suppose this is where we part ways. I need to be with Serena. I might not be back again for a while, but I’ll keep in touch."

"Just be careful, Ivy, especially around that madman who killed this werewolf and your mother. I will have my mate search for him."

The two parted ways, and Ivy used her portal to make her way to the place she’d made a habit of visiting, morning and night. She surfaced through the bathtub, and just as she expected, he was already sitting there waiting for her, a wide grin spreading across his face the moment he saw her head break the surface of the water.

"Thought you weren’t going to show again today, ghost mermaid." Alex remarked, pushing himself up from where he’d been sitting on the floor. Ever since the day she’d saved him, he’d come to look forward to her visits, and her company alongside them.

"I was busy yesterday, that’s why I didn’t come." Ivy muttered, holding her hand out, and he immediately grabbed his robe and passed it to her, turning around to give her privacy as he heard her step out of the tub after changing forms.

Alex had figured out she was a mermaid the very day she’d helped him, and ever since, he’d claimed her as a friend in this hellhole of a place, someone who came to check on his healing heart, though she never agreed to stay longer than necessary, always rushing back to the sea the moment she could and careful around him.