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Ed tugged her arm once more and they both looked ahead. 

Lil almost screamed. Dozens of rays hovered over the mermaid, flapping their fins like flags. 

‘No, they aren’t waving their fins like a flag. Instead, it looks more like they’re dancing.’

The group dance that relied on one single light surrounded by a dark stage was truly spectacular. Dozens of wings fluttered back and forth and gracefully roamed the spotlight. In the midst of this, a swarm of sardines gathered like a whirlwind and one of the manta rays soared through the sardines. It opened its large mouth wide, revealing the inside of its stomach.

“…Miraris?”

A thin voice echoed from somewhere. The source of the sound was unknown, but Lil looked surprised at the mermaid. The mermaid’s pale blue brilliance floated toward Lil as their gazes met. With the mermaid’s movements, the scene gradually changed. As the light now illuminated a new background, coral colonies appeared and the sardines which shone brightly dimmed away.

Seeing the mermaid’s beautiful glowing eyes just a span ahead, Lil corrected her first thought. 

‘In the water, the mermaid is more like moonlight rather than sunlight. I’m this close to her, but my eyes don’t hurt, and my hands don’t get burned…’ 

It was a strange experience for Lil, who had only known luminous light from a torch or candles.

She awkwardly held the mermaid’s hand.

“Dei filia, miraris?”

The mermaid came close enough to touch the tip of her nose. Lil felt a sense of coolness, when a blunt nose, two pairs of nostrils, and smooth, blue skin approached. Lil shrank her body in a hurry to prevent herself from touching the sensory hair. Meanwhile, the mermaid pursed its lips together and blew her breath. Of course, that would have been the case if it was possible for the wind to blow in the sea. But in reality, it spouted water. Lil, not knowing what was going on, closed her eyes when the cold water rushed around her nose and mouth. 

When Lil was still dumbfounded, the mermaid turned to Ed. Upon leaning towards Ed, the mermaid sent the same wave to his face. Lil looked at Ed strangely, he looked surprised in a different way than herself. Ed moved his mouth towards Lil. At the same time, a voice was heard.

“She’s asking if you find it fascinating.”

“..?”

It was a little muffled, but she could definitely understand it. Lil looked at the mermaid in bewilderment.

‘Does the mermaid suddenly know how to speak the human language?’

“Where are you looking at? It was me. Me.”

“You?”

Lil grabbed her neck, startled by her reflexive voice. 

‘Water will come floating into my body now that I have spoken underwater.’

Lil closed her eyes and held her breath, bracing herself for death. Her entire body stiffened to the point of shaking. However, no matter how long she waited, she couldn’t feel the current entering her airways.

“Why are you so surprised? You have been breathing for a while now.”

Lil opened her eyes. 

‘…I’ve been… I’ve been breathing…’

“…But if I stop…!”

Ed’s breath created a small whirlpool. Lil pinched her nose and rolled her eyes toward him.

“You don’t have to hold your breath. Do you understand? Don’t think about it too much.”

Lil nodded without taking a moment to comprehend the situation. 

‘I can live without breathing…’ 

However, there was no room for more shock today.

Her fingers that were clutching her nose slipped off. Lil suddenly realised she had already shown several clumsy expressions, so she awkwardly smiled at the mermaid, who was staring at her with innocent eyes. The mermaid then tilted her head and pulled Lil’s hair down, which was fluttering everywhere. 

‘Where did my hair tie go?’

Even though it was natural for hair to float freely in water, Lil was concerned about how funny she was looking. It was then that Lil realised that the mermaid’s hair was neatly flowing downwards. But before she could come up with an explanation, the mermaid turned around and placed Lil’s hand on its shoulder.

The mermaid stretched its arms and started swimming. Lil’s body began to move forward on its own. Ed, of course, was on the other side. Even with two humans hanging from its shoulders, the mermaid’s movements were light.

Descending further down, they swam past spectacular coral walls. It was like travelling through a cave with the mermaid as their torch. Lil looked around the mysterious tunnel and discovered corals flowering profusely, like a swarm of trees, growing along the cave’s walls. Occasionally, a fan-shaped coral as colourful as a bouquet of flowers appeared. It was the same for the ‘floor’ of the cave. Coral colonies spread out in endless fields, with colours differing from pale green to brown. Among them, sea turtles were seen sparsely. Ed tapped Lil on her shoulder, then he put his hand on his cheek, and closed his eyes.

“Do you want to sleep?”

Ed laughed a little. Lil, seeing the sleeping sea creatures for the first time, looked carefully between the corals. When she did, she could see fish and crustaceans that remained motionless as if they were dead in the crevices of the coral leaves. The seahorses also seemed to be asleep with their tails wrapped around coral stalks. 

After passing through a colony of sea anemones, a flat vacant lot became visible. There was a large rock in the centre of the sandy bottom. Lil regretfully looked back, but it was already dark behind her.

“Pone super petram manus tuas.”

“Hold on to this rock.”

Lil and Ed reached out to the rock. As their hands created a small flow, the swarms of clams attached to the rock closed their mouths one after another. After dropping them off, the mermaid began to observe the rock closely. Lil looked carefully at the rock as well. Eventually, a crack formed along the entire length of the stone and white flesh was exposed. The mermaid didn’t miss the gap and put its finger in it. It was then that Lil realised that the crack was the mouth of a clam. The shell was covered with seaweed and sea anemones, which would normally grow on rocks, but it in fact was a clam.

In an effort to show off, the mermaid opened her fist in front of Lil. Several white and greenish grains were laying on the palms of its hand.

“Peloris cor.”

Lil understood the word without Ed’s interpretation. 

‘Pearls.’

Lil stared at the mermaid, who was giving her pearls, in awe. The mermaid picked up a bead, examined it, and attached it to Lil’s hair which was still soaring upwards. It then picked up a second pearl and repeated the process. Lil turned to Ed, not knowing what was going on. Ed’s eyes were slightly above her face. 

‘He’s basically buried in my fluttering seaweed-like hair.’ 

He spoke as he lowered his eyes.

“…She’s decorating your hair.”

Lil wondered why Ed’s expression remained so calm. 

‘Decorating my hair? But why?’ 

As soon as she wondered about it, a few bundles of hair dropped next to her ear. Pearls were attached to the ends. It was only then that Lil thought about looking at the mermaid’s hair as well. Its hair didn’t rise upwards but instead floated beautifully around its face. It was probably because of the pearls embedded on the rich strands.

“Gratias tibi ago pro salute mea, dei filia. Sume hoc in signum gratitudinis.”

The mermaid retreated with a satisfied face. It was like an artist admiring the work it had created.

“…She’s saying thank you… It’s her token of gratitude.”

Lil looked at the mermaid. 

‘She seemed unwilling to decorate Ed. Again…why?’

“How come she isn’t doing the same for you?”

“Maybe because my hair is short?”

“…How do I say back, ‘thank you’?”

“Gratias.”

Lil was tempted to ask the mermaid why it skipped Ed, but she decided to put up with it. Instead, she spoke with a gentle smile.

“Gratias.”

The mermaid laughed, revealing its teeth. Lil smiled awkwardly as she remembered her chilling memories of their sharpness.

“Mihi nomen est Bellus.”

“Her name is Bellus.”

Lil belatedly realised that they had not even introduced themselves yet. Still, it was surprising that in their culture they also have something like a ‘first name’. Except for the fact that it was underwater, the civilization of mermaids seemed no different from the customs of the empire. Lil and Ed each pointed to themselves and answered.

“Lil.”

“Ed.”

Bellus awkwardly pointed towards itself, trying to mimic their hand gesture. But because mermaids didn’t use their fingers to present themselves, it flipped its hands about, trying to figure out how to introduce itself using its fingers. After a while, the mermaid succeeded in pointing its index finger toward its face.

“Bellus.”

‘The same might be true for Bellus, who’s attempting to learn about various cultures.’

Lil admitted to being overly narrow-minded. She couldn’t envision mermaids wearing clothes until she saw Bellus, and she couldn’t imagine mermaids’ intelligence until she spoke to one. Even Lil was an arrogant citizen in the face of a foreign species.

Translator’s Note:

Hi guys, some of you probably had the same idea as us when you saw the ancient language. Our minds immediately thought about Latin. That’s why we decided to go with Latin and make our translations as accurate as possible.

As a little disclaimer we like to say that none of us have experience with the Latin language and there could very well be a possibility that our translations aren’t 100% correct. Feel free to help us out.

Translations: 
“Miraris? Dei filia.” = “Daughter of God, are you surprised?”
“Pone super petram manus tuas.” = “Put your hands on the rock.”
“Peloris cor.” = “Clam’s heart.”
“Gratias tibi ago pro salute mea, dei filia. Sume hoc in signum gratitudinis.” = “I thank you for my salvation, daughter of God. Take this as a sign of gratitude.”
“Gratias.” = “Thanks.”
“Mihi nomen est Bellus.” = “My name is Bellus.”