“What the ** did you just say?” Lorelei asked with a serious expression.

“My Queen, we were collecting algae from the old stones, and while we were doing that, a female siren from ship no.13 pulled the attention of some dark minions towards herself,” the siren reported.

“Please tell me she followed the ‘Code Of Sacrifice,'” Lorelei asked with a serious expression.

“N-No, My Queen,” the siren replied.

“What’s the Code of Sacrifice?” Neridia asked with a confused expression.

“It’s like an oath taken by us. If a siren is seen by a dark minion, she will sacrifice herself to save the rest of the group and will never lead them to hiding,” Lorelei explained.

“What? You’ve been here for like 64 hours, and you’ve already made oaths like that?” Neridia asked with a surprised expression.

“We are sirens. We like to be organized and alive,” Lorelei replied.

“My Queen, we have to run away now,” the siren from the food-collecting party spoke up.

“Fuck, don’t tell me she led them to the ships,” Lorelei asked.

“She did, My Queen. She is now heading towards her own ship, and a big army of dark minions is coming towards us. We have to leave this hiding as soon as possible,” the siren reported with a hesitant expression.

“Connect me to Ship No.13,” Grandmother spoke.

“Grandma, this is not right…” Lorelei spoke with a very serious expression.

“Just connect me to Ship No.13, or all of us will die…” Grandmother shouted.

“Here, Ma’am,” a soldier siren spoke as she handed over a small white pearl to grandmother.

“Fuck…” Lorelei immediately turned around in anger as she broke another plate.

Crush

“W-What is she doing?” Neridia asked Lorelei with a hesitant and confused expression.

Lorelei didn’t speak anything and continued to look at the broken plate.

“Lorelei… I asked you something. What is your grandmother doing?” Neridia asked again as she grabbed Lorelei’s shoulders and gave them a good shake.

“She is going to sacrifice the whole ship to save the others…” Lorelei spoke in a very low tone.

“W-What? N-No, wait… There are mermaids on that ship; you can’t do that,” Neridia spoke as she immediately swam up to grandmother.

“So, what? There are sirens on that ship as well, and I don’t think you want all of your people dead, right?” Grandmother asked with a neutral expression.

“They are innocent mermaids… They didn’t do anything to deserve death,” Neridia shouted.

“What do you suggest, then? Should we wait for the dark minions to come here and find all of us? Is that what you want?” Grandmother asked with a serious expression.

“I-I say, we go there and fight with them…” Neridia replied in a stammering voice.

“Yeah? Do you even know what will happen if any of the dark minions see you there? They will immediately inform Aegis about this or worse, they will capture you and take you to him. Once he obtains the Queen of Mermaids, he will easily find the Queen of Sirens, and if he gets both of you in one place, then he will break his lifelong curse,” Grandmother spoke with an angry expression.

“What curse?” Neridia asked with a confused expression.

“I don’t have time for this… Hello, Ship no.16, can you hear me?” Grandmother asked as the small pearl started shining brightly.

Yes, Grandmother… This is Ship No.16. We can hear you clearly. A sound came out of the pearl.

“A siren from your ship has broken the ‘Code of Sacrifice.’ I hope you are aware of that… Right?” Grandmother asked.

W-We know, ma’am.

“Good… You know what’s going to happen now, right?” Grandmother asked.

Y-Yes Ma’am. We are ready to sacrifice ourselves. She spoke in a very scared but disciplined voice.

“Good… I don’t want anyone from your ship opening their mouth about the other ships, now… Get out of that ship and don’t even let the dark minions doubt that you were hiding inside a ship. Do you understand, Ship No.16?” Grandmother asked.

Yes, Ma’am. We won’t let them doubt the other ships or let out a single word about you. 𝘪𝘳.𝒸𝑜𝑚

“Good… You’ve served us well.” Grandmother spoke as she immediately broke the pearl after that.

“Y-You can’t do this… There are innocent lives on that ship. Your people are on it as well.” Neridia spoke with a very tense expression.

“We know, and that is why they are going to sacrifice themselves.” Grandmother replied.

“Lorelei… Are you just going to stand there and listen to her bull**?” Neridia asked Lorelei.

“I-I can’t go against her decision…” Lorelei replied in a scared tone.

“What? You will let your people die… Just because your grand-” Before Neridia could’ve completed her sentence, Grandmother grabbed her hand tightly and turned her face towards herself.

“Remaining alive right now is the first priority for us. Go out there, and you will get captured within seconds… Now only some of your innocent people are dying, but if you go out there, then you will risk everyone’s life in danger.

Sorry, you won’t risk our life… You will kill all of us. So, just keep your mouth shut and let me focus on saving your filthy lives. So that you can kill that monster and start over once again.” Grandmother spoke in an angry tone.

Suddenly, something woke up inside Neridia’s heart; she immediately shook off Grandmother’s hand.

“What are you doing?” Grandmother asked.

“I am doing something that a responsible Queen should do.” Neridia spoke as she started swimming towards the exit gate.

“You will die.” Grandmother spoke.

“I am already dead as a Queen, If I don’t help my people.” Neridia replied as she looked at Lorelei with a disgusted expression.

“You are being a stupid fool right now.” Grandmother shouted.

“A Queen shall live and die with her people. If this is what the Goddess of the sea has prepared for us, if this is the end of our species, then let it be… But, I will not die as a coward.

I ran away once but I can’t do it twice.” Neridia spoke as she opened the door and exited the ship.

Click

Thud

Lorelei looked down in shame, as she couldn’t utter a single word out of her mouth.

𝘦𝑎.𝒸ℴ