Aikel found the city’s description so absurd that he insisted on Pegasus asking Gyozoki to reword it in order to verify the translation.

There was a small island out in the center of the ocean that had only a relatively thin spire of rock below it to keep it in place. There were a few diagonal rock formations coming more or less from the sides of the island and reaching the ground like twisting deformed spider legs.

Temple walls encircled the spire’s wide base; the circle had about a mile in diameter. There were four locked gates within the wall—one in each cardinal direction. The temple itself was built into the bottom of the spire in such away that it seemed like it was supporting the rest of the spire and the island. Its walls were covered with jewels, pearls, and mirror-like rocks. There were lights on the wall, but save a cluster of handheld lines, everything within the wall was dark.

A city was built around the temple. The buildings in the center were oldest, as the town grew away from the temple. With the exception of what seemed like farmhouses, the city had yet to expand beyond the rough circle formed by the island’s spider legs. The whole thing was in a wide valley of medium deepness. What little sunlight managed to come down through all that water was blocked by the island’s shadow. The city’s main light source was piskari—meaning "fish-light," a collective term for three or so species of light-emitting fish.

There were glowing plants as well: something like glowing seaweed, another something that seemed like clover with glowing blossoms, and a third something that was more or less a normal plant save that it had a glowing fruit attached to its center with something stringy. With the possible exception of the last variety, they didn’t emit much light on their own. They were used when dim light was needed, and it was believed that the piskari fish would glow more brightly if these plants were their main diet.

Most of the piskari roamed the city as they pleased, but there were many porous glass balls, each containing a pair of the fish, securely tied to posts or buildings in regular intervals in case something such as a shark or sea lion—the latter of which was commonly domesticated—should frighten the wild ones into hiding.

Pegasus, Unicorn, Aikel, Kyri, and Yousei were following Gyozoki down the winding path toward the center of the city. Only Gyozoki and Pegasus were actually swimming; the others moved their fastest walking on the sand.

The tall oddly-shaped buildings and their surreal lights seemed to loom overhead. Merfolk occasionally looked at them with interest as they passed. The island above looked like it would start sinking and crush the city at any moment. Aikel kept instinctively holding his breath, because it felt like he would be inhaling the water. He felt somewhat sick, as well as very frustrated. He stomped too much as he walked, and his feet had to be dragged out of the sand. After waving away a billion annoy piskari that came uncomfortably close to his face, he growled and swung at the billion-and-first. He smacked it with his palm, which sent it flying a few feet through the water. After it regained control of its own motion, it swam away like every shark in the ocean was at its tail, and a few of its companions followed at a slower but faster-than-average pace.

One of the four gates surrounding the temple stood open, and there was a cluster of people holding small piskari-filled nets.

"Why do they have walls if people can just swim over them?" Aikel asked Pegasus quietly.

"It’s a reminder that entry is forbidden—usually."

Gyozoki seemed hesitant about entering, but once she found that the sand just beyond the gate was safe to step on, she hurried toward the cluster of people.

She fired off questions to the circle of stately-clad women, but they were talking among themselves and ignored her. There was a boy swimming in place nearby and holding a net of piskari for the sorceresses. Gyozoki grabbed his shoulders and shook him until he answered her questions. He answered quickly and frantically—Pegasus informed the others that he was saying something like "I don’t know." As male merfolk are almost as lowly as the land-dweller slaves, it’d be odd for this servant to know where a particular woman was.

Gyozoki shoved him away and all but threw a temper tantrum. She stopped abruptly and listened to something the sorceresses were saying. She turned pale.

"Matra wa ni le fanum!" she cried at Aikel. She pointed frantically at the temple.

"Her mother is in there?" Aikel asked, turning his gaze toward it. It now looked more menacing than beautiful.

"Yeah…" said Pegasus. He glanced at Unicorn, but she was only looking at the temple. Kyri fidgeted. Yousei didn’t look like she was paying attention. Pegasus said, "It’s now or never…."

"It’s now," Aikel said quietly. He looked around at the others to see if anyone would protest, but he knew they wouldn’t.

Gyozoki lead them to the door—the entrance of a short arch-shaped tunnel that curved up and became circular. Aikel was the first to swim up when it became vertical. All the medicines and magic they had shoved into him affected his buoyancy and he was able to stop where he wanted without floating upwards. He swam in place and reached tentatively upward. His fingertips broke through the surface and were chilled by the cool air.

"Air?" Pegasus asked. Aikel nodded. "The magic stuff that Belcis gave you will stop working once you start inhaling air, and you won’t have its effects when you get back in the water. Make sure you exhale before you go up." He looked down at Yousei, Kyri, and Unicorn to make sure they heard. "Gyozoki has some more of it for when we leave."

"Can mermaids breathe air?" Aikel asked.

"Only the adults," said Pegasus. "The ones that have real tails. She’ll have to stay down here."

Aikel nodded, shoved the water out of his lungs, and pushed himself upwards.

The temple had only one large round room, it seemed. The shiny light-blue walls curved up to a shaft in the center of the ceiling. A long path only about six feet wide stretched from the entry tunnel to the opposite side of the room, where it met with the crescent-shaped path area against that semicircle of the wall. This floor, which was made of irregular blue and green tiles and purple grout, was the only dry flooring around, but fountains on the far wall spilled streams of water onto the crescent-shaped mass. It ran between the tiles and into the water.

The area near the tunnel was apparently made so that entrants could either climb up onto the dry path or enter one of the bodies of water that were on each side. The depth of the water couldn’t be determined.

A frighteningly life-like statue of some huge serpent stood where here the path met with the other side of the room. It was coiled up at the bottom, but the front end of its body was raised as if it were about to strike something on the path. Its scales were either dull silver or bright purple depending on the angle of the light. Water spilled out from its mouth, crashing against the gently glowing blue orb that it held between its fangs on the way.

The orb was the first thing Aikel spotted, and it would have been so even if the green-haired mermaid in the water near the statue had not been pointing at it. Another mermaid, who was dressed the same way as the sorceresses outside, was halfway up the statue. She was grabbing the spikes that ran along the serpent’s spine and pulling herself up, moving in a very slug-like manner.

She started to tumble off, and the green-haired woman cringed, but the sorceress’s tail split down the center with a sickening sound. She wiggled around, trying to shove at the loose folds of scaled skin and still keep what grip she still had on the statue. The skin formed back around the two halves of her tail, and as she kicked and wiggled, the muscles and bones contorted and twisted until she used her legs to pull herself back up onto the statue. She climbed a bit more until the serpent’s head was above her. She kept both knees and one hand on the statue and reached toward the orb in the serpent’s mouth.

Aikel tried to shout at her, but it came out as a hoarse cough. The orb’s glow flared up as her fingers closed around it. Aikel struggled onto the pathway as the water surged. The green-haired mermaid screamed as a blue blur arched out of the water near her. There was a flash of red as the blur passed in front of the statue. As it splashed into the water on the other side of the path, the sorceress collided the floor below the statue. Her blood splattered across the tile, and the orb flew out of her hand, bouncing along the floor and rolling into the water.

Aikel was at her side in a few seconds. His sword was drawn and he stood waiting for the blue creature to show itself again. Pegasus had turned into a wolf and was right behind. He yelled at the shocked green-haired mermaid in her language before turning to shout at Unicorn. He and Unicorn stood still at the mermaid’s side as Yousei readied her spear and stood by Aikel.

"I think I can heal her…" Kyri said, kneeling to inspect the gashes on the mermaid’s side.

"There’s no time…!" Pegasus said as he stood straight up and kept standing until he had tripled his height. He stomped one hoof, tossed his mane, and gave the wings on his ankles a flap. Kyri blinked at him in surprise. She turned to Unicorn, who now live up to her own name.

"Put her on my back," Unicorn told her just as a snarl came from the other direction.

The blue creature was mermaid-like. Her upper body was covered in medium-blue fur, and long drenched dark purple hair fell down her back and in front of her furred cat-like ears. Her feline face had bared fangs and purple hatred-filled eyes. Yousei’s spear stabbed the air in front of her, and she swiped her claws at it. She glared at Unicorn, who galloped toward the exit as fast as Kyri could keep up while mermaid blood dripped over her white fur, and the green-haired mermaid who followed behind. The cat-like mermaid dove out of sight.

Aikel looked around for her before heading in the direction of Unicorn and Kyri. He wondered why the creature would be concerned the escaping woman when the Sea Orb was safe below the water, and he skidded to a stop as it occurred to him that she wasn’t concerned. He had realized just in time; he spotted a blue shape below the water. She jumped from the water, slashed at him, landed near the opposite side of the path, and rolled into the water. He had been more prepared than she’d expected and had suffered only a slice across his cheek, but he’d felt his sword slice hit nothing by air.

"Tsuna!" Pegasus shouted at her; that was her name it seemed.

Her attack pattern was repetitive: fly from the water, attack, and land in the water on the other side, or simply rise up slice at the legs of anyone standing too close to the edge. She must have arched over the path a dozen times by the time Kyri and Unicorn returned without the bloody passenger, and when she leapt for Aikel again, he was saved by his foot slipping on the floor’s smooth wet tiles. Kyri tried to see if he was okay, but she slipped and fell forward.

"The floor is too wet," Pegasus told Aikel. "If you don’t know how to ride a horse, learn fast." Aikel grabbed his mane and climbed onto his back. Yousei and Kyri clung to Unicorn to keep their balance. Tsuna reached up and slashed. Aikel swung his sword. The gash in Tsuna’s arm left a cloud of blood in the water behind her.

She came up from the other side, and she aimed for Aikel. Pegasus reared back as she passed. She was knocked to the floor, and she slithered into the water.

The pause before her next attack was long, and each second felt like a minute. Aikel twitched at every irregular splash made by the fountains.

Tsuna lunged. She came from the water near Pegasus and jumped at him instead of past him. He neighed in pain and tried to take flight as her claws tore into his ribs. Aikel swung at her, but only Yousei’s spear made a wound.

Pegasus hovered too far over the water, and Tsuna got between him and the path. She jumped up. She dug her claws into his neck and held him until she could grab Aikel’s cape. She released Pegasus and dropped into the water. Aikel followed with a yelp.

When he plunged into the water, he was blinded by the surrounding swarm of small bubbles. Something cold and sharp hit his chest and knocked him downward. Ice magic. Tsuna cast the spell again before she reached him. He swung his sword and missed. She clawed and ripped into his leg. Her other hand formed gashes in his chest.

She aimed for his neck. Puddles got in her way, and he got a bloody forehead instead. His lungs burned, but so did all his wounds. He fought his way upward.

The blood in the water blinded him; he couldn’t see the surface. He was about to give up when his hand struck something thin and hard. He grabbed it with both hands and was wrenched out of the water. He managed to keep his hold on Unicorn’s horn until she could fling him onto the floor where he felt Kyri kneel beside him.

He felt Tsuna’s shadow overhead and heard Kyri screamed. She hunched over him, but Tsuna shrieked in pain. He saw her land right beside him. She tried to roll away and was trampled by a shower of sharp hooves.

He felt Kyri’s warm palms press against his shredded flesh, but everything was so dark anyway that he couldn’t bring himself to open his eyes.

"Seyeney…! Daichiyari!" he heard.

It felt like hours later, but Kyri was pushed away from him with another scream. He rolled in her direction, tried to focus on the blue mass in his vision, and used his last bit of strength to swing his sword.