Chapter 113: ARIEL’S PAIN

SERIAL/ ARIEL

Herbert’s mouth fell open.

For several seconds, he appeared unable to decide whether to laugh or strangle Serial.

"You’re unbelievable."

"And you’re noisy."

Herbert ignored the remark and looked around the clearing.

"Where is that female, anyway? Vivian! Where the hell has she disappeared to now?"

Serial’s head snapped toward him. "Do you have to call her that?"

Herbert frowned. "Call her what?"

"That female."

Serial’s voice turned cold. "Her name is Vivian...Use it."

Herbert rolled his eyes. "Oh, forgive me. I didn’t realize I needed your permission to speak to Vivian. Since she is your lover now."

"You don’t need my permission. You just need to show her some respect."

"Respect?" Herbert scoffed. "For someone who disappears whenever she pleases and leaves everyone else to deal with the consequences?"

Serial stepped forward. "It’s okay we can go find her somewhere else."

Herbert threw his hands into the air.

"Honestly, I’m beginning to regret getting involved in this mess. We came here to hunt beasts, not chase after a female who seems perfectly capable of surviving on her own. She has a spiritual energy for someone who shouldn’t have."

Serial stopped and turned. "I hope no one will hear this anymore. It’s not okay to spread. It should be a secret between us."

Herbert sighed. "I never said I will tell anyone."

He gestured toward the forest. "We’ve already killed enough beasts to make this trip worthwhile. Vivian can take care of herself, and Eric..."

He paused briefly before continuing. "Eric can find his own way back, too."

Serial stared at him. Then his expression hardened.

"No."

Herbert frowned. "No what?"

"We’re not leaving without Vivian."

"Oh, come on!"

"I said we’re not leaving without her!"

Serial’s voice rang through the clearing.

Herbert fell silent. For a moment, the two men stared at each other, neither willing to back down.

Finally, Herbert let out an exasperated sigh.

"Fine. Go look for her, then. After all she is my adopted cousin. But don’t expect me to spend the entire day wandering through this forest."

Serial didn’t answer. He turned toward the trees, already preparing to continue his search.

Before he could take another step, a familiar voice interrupted them. "You’re both making too much noise."

They turned.

Ariel was walking toward them.

In her arms were several beast cores, each one radiating a faint glow. Some were the size of ordinary stones, while others were considerably larger, their surfaces shimmering with strange colours.

She looked exhausted, but there was a determined expression on her face.

Herbert stared at the cores. "Where did you get all those?"

Ariel lowered herself onto a flat rock. "From the beasts."

Serial glanced at the cores. "All of them?"

"Most of them."

She began arranging the cores in front of her.

Herbert’s expression changed. "Wait. You collected all those yourself?"

Ariel ignored him. She picked up one of the larger cores and examined it carefully.

Then she spoke, her voice quiet but resolute. "I’m going to use these to evolve."

Herbert blinked. "You’re going to do what?"

"Evolve."

Ariel raised her eyes.

"I may not be able to take on my mermaid form, but that doesn’t mean I have to remain weak forever. If these cores can help me strengthen my body and improve my abilities, then I’ll use them."

Serial studied her for a moment. "Ariel, are you certain you want to do this now?"

She nodded. "I’ve made up my mind."

There was something in her expression that made him hesitate.

Perhaps it was the determination in her eyes.

Or perhaps it was the quiet desperation beneath it.

Ariel had spent so long being reminded of what she had lost that she was finally determined to find something else she could call her own.

Even if it meant enduring pain and if it meant risking everything.

She picked up the first core.

Herbert watched her suspiciously. "Do you even know how to absorb them properly?"

Ariel didn’t answer. She closed her eyes and swallowed the core.

A faint glow spread beneath her skin.

She took another. Then another.

One by one, she consumed the beast cores, enduring the strange energy surging through her body.

The process was far from pleasant.

At times, her fingers trembled, and her breathing became uneven. The energy inside the cores seemed to clash with something deep within her, sending waves of discomfort through her body.

Yet she refused to stop.

Herbert stood nearby, watching with an expression that gradually shifted from impatience to concern.

Serial, meanwhile, kept glancing toward the forest.

His thoughts remained fixed on Vivian.

Where was she?

Why hadn’t she returned? Did Aston come for her? He was sure he felt Aston Aura.

And why did he have the unsettling feeling that something terrible might happen if he failed to find her soon?

Finally, Ariel swallowed the last core. She exhaled shakily and lowered her head.

For several moments, nothing happened. Then a faint warmth spread through her body.

She could feel the energy settling inside her, strengthening her muscles and flowing through her veins.

Ariel slowly opened her eyes.

"Did it work?" Herbert asked.

She looked down at her hands. "I think so."

Her voice was barely audible. Serial glanced at her, then toward the forest again. "I’m going to look for Vivian."

Herbert turned. "You’re leaving now?"

"Yes."

"But Ariel..."

"She’ll be fine."

Serial’s gaze lingered on Ariel for a moment. "Stay here. Don’t wander off alone."

Ariel nodded. Serial immediately turned and disappeared into the forest.

Herbert watched him go, then shook his head.

"That man is hopeless."

He glanced at Ariel. "And Vivian has somehow managed to make him even worse. I don’t know what is good about her."

Ariel didn’t respond. She was too focused on the strange sensations moving through her body.

The energy was fading, but something still felt incomplete.

She could feel the sea calling to her.

A distant, familiar pull that stirred something deep within her chest.

Her lips trembled.

Please.

She had dreamed of this moment for years.

Perhaps the beast cores had finally given her a chance.

Perhaps she could reclaim the part of herself she had lost.

Ariel pushed herself to her feet.

"Where are you going?" Herbert asked.

"The water."

He frowned.

"Why?"

She didn’t answer. Instead, she walked toward the nearby pool, where seawater flowed through a narrow channel between the rocks.

Herbert followed at a distance.

Ariel stopped at the water’s edge.

For a long moment, she stared at her reflection.

She looked almost like the girl she remembered.

Almost. But there was something missing.

Something that had haunted her every time she looked at herself.

Her tail. She knelt beside the water and dipped her hands into the sea.

The coldness soothed her trembling fingers.

Then, slowly, she lifted the water and poured it over her legs.

Nothing happened.

She swallowed hard and tried again.

This time, a faint tingling sensation spread across her skin.

Ariel froze.

Her eyes widened.

Beneath the seawater, tiny scales began to emerge along her legs.

One by one, they appeared, shimmering faintly against her skin.

Ariel’s breath caught in her throat.

"It’s working," she whispered.

Herbert stepped closer.

"What?"

"Look!"

She pointed at her legs.

The scales continued to spread, covering more of her skin until they formed a delicate, glistening pattern.

For a moment, Ariel couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

She touched them with trembling fingers.

They were real.

After all those years, something was finally changing.

Tears welled in her eyes.

"Please," she whispered to the sea. "Please, let this be it."

She poured more seawater over her legs.

The scales shimmered.

Her skin tingled.

But then...Nothing.

Ariel waited. Her heart pounded as she stared at her legs, willing them to change.

She waited for the familiar pull of transformation.

For her bones to shift.

For the two legs she had spent years hating to merge into the tail she had always longed for.

But the transformation never came.

The scales remained. Her legs remained.

And the tail she had dreamed of was nowhere to be found.

Ariel’s smile slowly disappeared.

"No..."

She poured more water over her legs. "Please..."

Nothing happened. "No, no, no..."

Her hands began to shake.

She pressed them against the water, desperately trying to summon the transformation.

"Please! I’ve done everything!"

Her voice cracked. "Why won’t you let me become what I was supposed to be?"

The water rippled beneath her trembling hands.

But the sea offered no answer.

Ariel lowered her head. A broken sob escaped her lips.

Then another.

Until she could no longer hold back the tears she had spent years hiding from the world. She cried not caring that Herbert was here, she showed no shame.

She curled forward, clutching her legs as though she could force them to change through sheer desperation.

"I just want my tail back..."

Herbert stood frozen.

He had witnessed Ariel’s sweetness to everyone. He had seen her try to heal others wounds, he never knew she had a bigger wound that needed healing

But he had never seen her like this.

Never seen her so utterly broken.

For the first time, he understood that her resentment was only one part of a pain far deeper than he had imagined.

Ariel wasn’t crying because she wanted to be beautiful.

She wasn’t crying because she wanted to impress anyone.

She was mourning a part of herself that she had lost long ago.

And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t seem to bring it back.

Herbert slowly approached her.

He hesitated before crouching beside her.

For once, he had no sarcastic remark to make.

No clever words to dismiss her suffering.

He simply reached out and gently patted her back.

Ariel continued to sob.

Her shoulders shook beneath his hand.

Herbert looked down at her, his expression softening.

He wanted to comfort her.

He wanted to tell her that everything would be all right.

But for the first time in his life, he didn’t know what to say.

So he remained beside her, gently patting her back as the waves lapped against the shore.

And Ariel cried as though the sea itself had abandoned her...