The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 

Evelyn was still unable to move, and could only wait impatiently for Nadia's return to her cave. Thankfully, the mermaid didn't make her wait too long.

The pink-haired girl was relieved to see that nothing strange had followed her in. 'Maybe whatever was bothering her is already in her belly. Oh well…'

After the mermaid pulled her out of the pile of treasures she had been hidden in, Evelyn soon noticed that Nadia was clearly a little confused and distressed, and seemed to be debating with herself over something. 

The bluish-green-haired girl opened and closed her mouth a few times, but seemed unable to find the words to express what she wanted. In her state, Evelyn was unable to guess and work it out with her either, so in the end, the mermaid furrowed her brows in frustration and huffed.

Just as Evelyn was wondering what in the world was happening, Nadia held her hand and led her out of the cave and up towards the lake's surface. Happiness came too quickly, and the pink-haired girl felt more disbelief than joy.

Moments before, she had still been wondering if she could possibly use the soul link to brute force her message across somehow, and maybe convince Nadia to take her up. But now, before she had managed to come up with anything, her dilemma was inexplicably solved by itself?!

Evelyn would have to be a fool to not realize the link between this and Nadia's previous disappearance, and her joyful expression soon turned grim. 'I hope she's not leading me to trouble, at least.'

Thankfully, Nadia didn't stop her ascent towards the top till they finally surfaced.

As soon as her head was out of the lake, it was as if whatever spell had been keeping her frozen broke instantly, restoring both her movement and speech.

Looking at the platinum blonde in front of them, Evelyn grinned. "Teacher! How did you convince her to bring me back?!"

Aurora, who had just breathed a sigh of relief after seeing with her own eyes that her student was safe and sound, couldn't help but tilt her head in confusion.

Her student was quite a bit more 'well decorated' now than she was while diving into the lake. It seemed like in the short while she had been gone, the girl had already reaped quite a harvest?

But thinking about their current situation, Aurora soon pursed her lips and decided to put it off for later. She only hoped that the mermaid's connection with Evelyn was strong enough to support her in battle, if the worst situation came to be.

What she needed to do now was to make sure both her student and the academy are able to survive this situation. "Evelyn… what is your relationship with this girl? And how is your condition?"

It was at this moment that Evelyn realized something wasn't quite right. Not only was Aurora's expression a little strange, but there was also a presence nearby that was both familiar yet foreign.

Deciding to err on the side of caution, Evelyn coughed, as if feeling a little embarrassed. "W-Well, I met Nadia as during the conflict with the chaos bone beast, and we ended up becoming friends, I guess? And aside from being a little low on spirit power, I'm mostly fine."

Aurora didn't seem to think about it too much, and just nodded. "Okay then, you stay there with her, don't come out yet, but don't return, understand? I'll bring someone to meet you."

Evelyn was now completely sure something wasn't right. 

If Aurora insisted on letting her stay in the water, it meant that she wasn't quite sure that she could protect Evelyn by herself, and wanted to take the extra assurance from Nadia.

The pink-haired girl couldn't help but be confused. 'The chaos bone spear had already turned to dust, right? And the bones of the chaos bone beast, along with all the intent from the Lord of Bones was already chewed up by Nadia. Was there something I overlooked?'

With her teacher gone to call over whoever she needed her student to meet, Evelyn decided to clarify some things with Nadia first before the situation turned bad once more.

Looking at her bright eyes and innocent face, Evelyn couldn't help but sigh. 

She was now sure that the phenomena that rendered her immobile and helpless was caused by the combination of the water in 'Siren's Call' along with Nadia's presence.

After all, she had still been able to move inside the Siren's Call when Nadia hadn't been nearby, and once she was out of the water, she was able to open her mouth and talk once more.

The pink-haired girl couldn't help but be a little impressed. 'In a way, the Siren's Call is like an invincible fortress for Nadia, isn't it?'

Shaking off that thought, Evelyn clutched the shoulders of the mermaid, her expression grim. "Nadia, whatever happens next, remember that whenever there is no threat, you must bring me to the surface so we can talk, understand?"

Looking at the mermaid blinking her eyes and nodding 'thoughtfully', Evelyn had no idea if she understood at all. 'Maybe I should make it short and simple?'

Just as she was about to try again, however, Aurora finally returned along with a blue-haired woman, and Evelyn assumed that she must be the one whom her teacher wanted her to meet.

As the distance between them shortened, the pink-haired girl couldn't help but feel a little strange in her heart. 'What is this? Why do I feel like… her aura is a little similar to both Nadia and Aurora?'

Evelyn suddenly had a strange thought. 'Wait a minute… I seem to recall that Aurora had a hundred percent water affinity, right? And Nadia should definitely have perfect mastery over water. If that's the link between them… No, that doesn't make sense. But…'

At this point, Gwendolyn had already arrived at the lake's surface.

Evelyn was clearly able to feel the intense hostility from Nadia towards this stranger, and she couldn't help but be a little more wary in her heart.

For Nadia to be hostile, there could be only two reasons.

First, this woman was somehow her enemy, either naturally or because she had previously tried to attack her.

Or second, this woman was strong enough to pose a 'threat' to Nadia, and thus she was instinctively wary.

Whatever the case was, Evelyn knew she couldn't take it lightly. She squeezed the small palm of the mermaid under the water to calm her down, and faced the strange woman calmly. 'No matter what, with both teacher and Nadia here, she shouldn't be able to do anything, right?'

Evelyn knew that even if she wouldn't follow all her orders, Nadia wouldn't just watch her being attacked indifferently. 

The blue-haired woman smiled at the two little girls floating in the lake, though her gaze flicked towards the platinum blonde by her side. "Why so much distrust? You don't dare let them out of the water? Do you think I'll attack your student?"

The air seemed to solidify instantly, and Aurora didn't seem embarrassed to face her at all. "If I don't take any precautions for my student's safety, I would only have myself to blame if something went wrong, no?"

Gwendolyn chuckled. "True. Well, it doesn't matter."

Turning her gaze back to the pink-haired girl, her lips curled upwards. "Little girl, do you know who I am?"

Frowning, Evelyn could only shake her head in denial.

Gwendolyn smiled. "Well then, let me introduce myself. My name… is Gwendolyn Fairfax. Some also call me the Blue Moon Throne here, and in the new world, I'm often referred to as the 'Conqueror of Oceans'."

Evelyn clearly recognized who she was by now, but the blue-haired woman ignored her shocked reaction as she grinned. "For you, however… it's fine if you think of me as your only kin in this world."

For a while, Evelyn couldn't help but feel a little lost.

When Aurora and Nadia had first acted as if they were threatened, the pink-haired girl already had a vague guess in her heart that this woman must be the other throne, but she had subconsciously denied it.

After all, how could someone who was supposed to be her greatest enemy face them so calmly? The attitude of the Lord of Bones made much more sense.

She'd assumed that if this woman was really a throne, she would have already tried to kill her the moment she appeared.

Gwendolyn didn't seem to find her lost expression strange, and her smile remained undisturbed as she continued. "To be honest, my purpose in coming here today was already achieved by you, which I have to admit was quite surprising. After all, even if it was just a part of his intent, that was still the power of chaos that you were contending with. Using wit instead of power to neutralize a threat you cannot directly deal with is also commendable."

It was at this moment that Evelyn realized that the blue-haired throne was probably talking about the attack from the Lord of Bones, and she believed that it had been dealt with using Nadia's power.

While it was partially true, it also meant that Gwendolyn didn't realize that Evelyn was able to deal with the chaos bone spear without Nadia's help, and it had only been due to the urgency in needing to deal with the chaos bone beast that led her to dive into the lake.

The pink-haired girl couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. 'That's right… so what if she's a throne?'

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━