The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

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The pink haired girl felt a little helpless, but she knew that Nadia was probably trying to assure her that she was safe, and she wouldn't be eaten? At least, she hoped so, but it could also be that the half-fish thought she was hungry and hadn't eaten for a while?

Evelyn could only sigh in her heart. 'If only I could directly communicate with her using the soul link… Unfortunately, it seems like she can only sense intense emotional fluctuations, but nothing more.'

A mood fluctuation like that, no matter how intense, couldn't last long. Perhaps Nadia felt that the pink haired girl was already consoled, and started dragging her down again, all the way to the white sandy floor at the bottom of the lake.

The bottom of the lake was, ironically, no longer as dark, and Evelyn was finally able to see everything clearly.

Blue and green bio-luminescent plants and mildly glowing reefs fascinated Evelyn's heart with their beauty, and even though the situation was so dire, she couldn't help but appreciate the fact that she was able to view such a scene.

Soon enough, Nadia led her to a cave hidden behind a large reef, and they entered what appeared to be a small paradise full of treasure.

Everywhere she looked, there were strange weapons, accessories, armors, and gems. 

With a start, Evelyn realized that these were probably the treasures left behind by those who tried to explore the lake and died. Perhaps the translucent creatures didn't care for them, and once they floated to the bed of the lake, Nadia found them and took them back.

The pink haired girl felt her brain buzz as she tried to estimate the value of her little mermaid's treasury, but soon gave up. Without her ability to probe the artifacts to know their grade, she really couldn't tell, after all.

Thankfully, there was no 'daddy mermaid' or 'mommy mermaid' waiting for her back at home, or Evelyn was sure she would ironically become a fish on the chopping block.

After taking her 'back home', Nadia happily let go of her hand and started digging through her treasury. Returning triumphantly with a necklace.

Made out of some pure white metal and inlaid with beautiful purple gems, it looked like a precious treasure just from the appearance alone, and Evelyn was sure that the owner must have treasured it very much when they were alive.

Evelyn could only move her eyes now, even in this cave, though she felt that the suppression here was slightly weaker than before. Most of her movement still remained frozen, and her spirit power was still immobile, leaving her helpless. 

Nadia carefully finished wrapping the necklace around the pink haired girl's nape, and then happily swam away to fetch something else.

Evelyn soon realized what she was facing next with some dread. 'Am I going to be her dress-up doll now?'

Her guess soon proved to be correct, as after the necklace came a bracelet that seemed to be made out of some transparent crystal, and decorated with green and blue gemstones in a snowflake pattern.

Nadia didn't seem to understand where it will go at first, and after trying and failing at both her neck and calf, the girl finally realized it would go around her wrist. Looking proud of her achievement, the little mermaid once again darted off to fetch another treasure to decorate her doll with.

Evelyn could only sigh in her heart, realizing that the child was too lost in her play to care about anything else. In that case, she might as well make the most out of the situation, and enjoy getting a few more presumably high-grade artifacts on her person.

Since she could still move her eyes, Evelyn decided to look through the little treasury and try her best to point out something that would be useful to her. She soon found a beautiful crystalline bow among a pile of shields and swords, and furiously stared at it in an attempt to draw Nadia's attention.

Nadia remained oblivious at first, spending the next few minutes decorating Evelyn's head with various hats, tiaras, and crowns. Unfortunately, she didn't seem to like the look of any of them, and soon threw them away.

Evelyn felt a pain in her heart when some of the headgear was directly ruined after colliding against the cave wall, and could only lament at the horrifying strength of the primordial baby.

Thankfully, she didn't try to take revenge on her for 'beating' her in the soul space, or maybe she would already be blown to gory little bits. Even if Nadia regretted it later, Evelyn didn't believe her regeneration function was good enough to recover from that, even if it seemed to work fine in this lake.

Her furious stares at the beautiful bow were finally noticed by the curious Nadia, who soon bought her a shield near the bow, and tried to put it over the dumbstruck Evelyn's head as a makeshift headgear.

The pink haired girl felt like she was finally getting hit by retribution for all the time she spent teasing her teacher.

Thankfully, Nadia soon realized that it wasn't quite it, and after a few more unsuccessful attempts, finally brought back the beautiful bow to Evelyn.

Curiously enough, there was a soft glove dangling from its string nock, and Evelyn had the feeling of getting a paired freebie with her purchase.

Nadia tried a few times to get the bow over her head to no avail. Thankfully, she was quite careful and didn't force it, and soon found out that it could go through the pink haired girl's arm and rest on her shoulder.

The half-fish didn't look very satisfied, but looking at Evelyn's eyes, she seemed happier, so the little mermaid just shrugged and went back to looking for a good hat for her new companion. After all, she wanted to decorate her beautifully, and also show off all her treasures.

Evelyn could only sigh in her heart. 'Teacher, where are you? Your student has been abducted!'

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