Coral Sea

The next morning, Lotus had already awoken and changed into her uniform. She walked out of her room and into the halls when she heard a heavy knock on the door. She found that it was the twins and opened the door.

"Angler, g'morning!" Floyd smiled wide.

"Good morning, Floyd, Jade." Lotus responded with a smile, "Those two should be coming down now."

"Lotus?" Yuu was seen in his uniform coming down the stairs with Grim following close behind him, "Are they here already?"

"Ah, Lil' Shrimp, Seally, g'morning!" Floyd said with a wider grin and an excited wave, "We came to pick you up. Let's go!"

"Gah!" Grim jumped with a start and missed a step as he tumbled down the stairs.

Luckily, Yuu was there and caught him just in time before he could crash face-first into the floor.

"Man," Grim sighed, "seeing you guys makes me scared that you're gonna try to take something again."

"You wound me." Jade said with a sarcastic tone over his calm smile, "We would never do anything unsightly to those who don't break contracts. Now, today is bright and sunny, wonder weather for a field trip... Which means..."

"Let's get a move on to the Atlantica Memorial Museum!" Floyd cheered.

"Azul was gracious enough to pay the entrance fee for everyone so don't worry." Jade responded, "He went on ahead and is going to be waiting for us there."

"I wonder if he changed the photo in the end..." Lotus wondered aloud curiously.

"He didn't alter the photo, right?" Yuu questioned nervously, "We have to get that photo back..."

"You're so serious." Floyd teased with a smirk, "We know, okay. Now, time to go~!"

They left the dorm shortly after and arrived in the mirror chamber where the Dark Mirror was and found the other three freshmen. They had Lotus and the others drink the potion that allowed them to breathe underwater as Ace and Deuce stared at her in disbelief after watching her gulp down the potion without complaint.

"Guh..." Ace grumbled, "Again, he's acting all cool and stuff..."

"Just give it up, Ace..." Deuce shook his head with a heavy sigh.

"Come on." Jack pulled the two along as they followed after the twin upperclassmen.

.....

The Coral Sea wasn't as dark as Lotus had thought it'd be. The place was lit by the rays of the sun shining through the waters and the Kingdom under the water was built from pretty ocean stone and decorated with seashells. Merfolks swam back and forth under the waters and pretty shells and wavy seaweed and seagrass decorated the surroundings.

It has been a long time since she last went underwater...

"Surprised?" Grim smirked, "It's really impressive, right?"

Lotus looked back to Grim and thought for a bit before poking at the cat ears still with the blue flame fluff sticking out, "Not as impressive as how your ears can still be lit underwater..."

"F-Fgna!" Grim jumped in surprise before scowling at her, "What's wrong with my ears still being on fire here?!"

"Now, now." Yuu wore a small smile and tried to mediate between the two.

"You guys..." Ace grumbled with a sigh of exasperation.

"Azul's waiting at the entrance." Jade said after he and his brother changed into the form of merfolk with fish fins for ears and long, green oar shape tail.

Like fish, they were green with a white belly similar to how fish would have a white belly. It was very different to how aquatic beasts had gained human form in her world. They don't become like merfolks unless they have achieved the ability to take a human form. However, it's rare, if not uncommon, for beasts to achieve this. Yet, here are people who don't require intense cultivation, but can still be partly human at birth to completely human through a single potion. If those people were to see them now, many would be envious or even wonder from which prospective family these people are from. But, it's not wrong to think that Jade and Floyd are from influential family, right?

"Let's go~!" Floyd said with a wide smile as he had Ace and Deuce under his arms in a near chokehold manner and hurried through the waters.

Sure enough, they were moray eels seeing how fast Floyd was. They don't require the scales of fishes to swim through the waters, instead, they produce a gelatin-like substance to help them slip through the waters and crevices if they so wish to. Hence, Lotus was not surprised that they were fast according to Yuu's and Grim's perspectives.

.....

Upon entering the building, she was met with a rather pretty and rural looking interior. A rather detailed statue sat in the center of the shiny smooth blue floor and rocky pillars supported the interior. Old artifacts and materials sat on shelves and scrolls made of strange leather or plastic hung on the walls all of them labeled carefully and delicately.

"Wow, it's so cool. The inside is amazing..." Ace noted in awe as he looked around curiously.

"There's the statue of a legendary king..." Deuce pointed to the statue of the merman with a trident in hand and a really buff torso while a coral crown sat on his head, "The bottom of the sea has a lot of other great figures."

"This king is pretty shredded." Jack said in awe.

"King Triton..." Lotus looked upon the statue curiously, "He is also a rare individual..."

"He's really strong, right?" Deuce said with a wide grin.

"There's that..." Lotus nodded, "But, wisdom and strength don't often come hand in hand to anyone. It's something that is attained through one's own power, not their birth. Even if he inherited strength from his ancestors, wisdom isn't something that is inherited. To even attain that he must have also worked hard, just as the Sea Witch had. They had learned a lot from what their fates had thrown at them."

"Bah..." Ace sighed in exasperation, "Talk about a deep talk."

Lotus laughed, "Sure, but you know. I think it's pretty interesting that he has a trident and we have a cat with a little forked tail with us too."

"F-Fgna!" Grim stammered, "Stop it! I know you're teasing me again, Lotus!"

"Oh?" Lotus chuckled mischievously, "I was just talking about how we have a little symbol of power here as well."

Deuce shook his head with a sigh, "Just give it up. You can't really fight against him anyway, Grim. Using magic for your own personal affairs isn't allowed either."

"Fgnaaa..." Grim whined with slight tears.

Lotus sighed, "Enough. Since you got the dorm back under your care with your own abilities, you can have two cans for dinner tonight."

"Really? Yipee!!!" Grim cheered snapping out of his depression.

Lotus watched curiously in awe of the scene before her.

"Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Atlantica Memorial Museum." Azul walked over to them with a wide smile and stood before them in his human form and uniform, "I made a reservation for us all under 'Mostro Lounge' so please enjoy everything the museum has to offer."

"Ah! There he is, octopus-man Azul..." Grim was at a confused state when he noticed that Azul was not in his octopus form, "Oh wait, why are you still in your human form?"

"Octo-mers like me are exceedingly rare around here you see..." Azul responded bluntly, "I'd really like to avoid leaving in weird impressions after I return the photo."

"There is no need to worry." Jade reassured him with a smirk, "Nobody would ever notice that the chubby octopus in the photo was you."

"We came all the way out here so wouldn't it be more convenient to be in your real form?" Floyd said curiously.

"Hmm." Azul pushed back his glasses trying to hide his emotions under his hand, "Please leave me be."

Then, he continue, "Then. I'll go get this photo returned... Please take a look around the museum."

"They have the mermaid princess's dinglehopper on display over there." Floyd pointed with a mischievous smirk.

"I saw it in the pamphlet but that's totally a fork, right? No matter how you look at it." Ace responded in confusion.

"Hehhehheh..." Jade chuckled in amusement, "It might look like that to those from land."

Lotus and Yuu watched them walk away as Azul turned to them curiously, "... You're not going?"

"I'll stick with you until you've returned that." Yuu responded nervously.

"I'm a little worried about you too." Lotus nodded with a frown.

"No need to doubt me, I'll properly return it." Azul reassured them with a sigh of exasperation, "...I thought that, if I could erase all of the photos from my past, my time spent being bullied as a 'dumb, clumsy octopus' would vanish with them."

"Then..." Yuu raised a brow in confusion.

"The Sea Witch never hid her dark past but faced it and worked to overwrite her reputation." Azul explained then said nervously, "I kept saying I wanted to be like her but... In the end, I couldn't accept who I was and tried to act like it never happened."

"I think you're pretty great without having to steal from others." Yuu pointed out with a smile.

"Eh?" Azul looked to them in surprise.

"It's harder to be better at working hard than at magic. In the end, your hard work was enough to throw off even the headmaster." Yuu explained with a smirk.

Lotus chuckled, "Yes, I recall it was the headmaster who came to the prefect for help because he couldn't stop your business this year either. Haha..."

"My... hard work?" Azul said upon hearing those words then laughed, "...Pfft. There is no need for you to flatter me. I only wanted to get back at those who had made fun of me for so long."

"Hey, you! There's a giant dinosaur skeleton back there!" Grim called out to them with a wide smile.

"That isn't a dinosaur, it's actually a monster called a sea dragon." Jade clarified with a wide smile, "The legend goes... The Sea Witch had a sea dragon's skeleton as the entrance to her cavern."

"There's even a replica of her cauldron." Floyd pointed out with an excited look on his face.

"What. There's cauldrons in the ocean too?" Deuce jumped in bewilderment.

"How the hell do they heat that down here?" Ace grumbled as he shook his head.

"No idea." Floyd admitted in a breezy smile, "Azul, tell us..."

"Very well." Azul responded with a business-like smirk, "But I warn you, I'm an expensive tour guide."

"Yay~!" Floyd cheered.

As they walked forward, Lotus watched in awe curiously as the group moved forward with a nagging feeling in her chest. After following them for a while, she finally tore herself away from the group saying she recalled a personal affair she needed to attend to back at the school and left the group early.

.....

Exiting the museum, she easily changed her appearance in a clothing store into a regular 15-year-old human tourist with a duffel bag over her shoulder as she walked out into the open and made her way towards the open seas. She then sent out her energy and finally found an energy gliding closer to her. She peered into the darkness of the murky waters and saw it.

Slidding through the murky waters was a white and black banded snake that was so long, it would've been able to wrap itself around the Museum they were at. Despite its length, it's size was thin and small like a rope with a oar-shapped tail at the end. The snake easily slid around her with eyes staring at her quizzically in doubt.

Lotus nodded, "I am called Lotus Xue... I came with upon notifying the Aspidochelone of my arrival to your Lord..."

"He does not have any appointments made towards a woman." A voice echoed into her head.

As it was a serpent, it's body was shaped more vertically than a normal snake so it could swim easier through the waters meaning Lotus could not escape as easily if she wanted to. However, Lotus smiled and nodded as she used her magic to change back into her uniform, "You're right. He made no appointments with a woman, but he has with a student of Night Raven College."

Seeing her uniform, the serpent was surprised as he recalled that it was still a school term of the year. Students of the school would not be out here in the ocean, especially not in murky waters such as these.

"Your lord would have heard of my arrival as I did not hear any notice from his servant that he declined my request for an audience." Lotus leaked a little of her energy as she continued, "Or are you saying I'm not welcomed?"

It was then that the snake realized that this little girl was actually a cultivator!

But, how can that be?! There hasn't been a cultivator for years and the last had been during his ancestor's time before this one's. It was just a small energy released, but it was enough to tell him that she was not normal and her uniform only proved that she was indeed a student of the school. However, he was very confused as he tilted his head. Did the school made a change and accepted a girl...?

However, he noticed that the uniform she had was not a skirt that he had seen most female merfolk wore in their human form before going towards the surface. Rather it was the pants of the male uniform of the school. He frowned suspiciously, "For what reason would a girl such as yourself enter the school as a boy?"

"Because I was called there of course." Lotus responded bluntly, "The Dark Mirror found me one day and recommended me to the school because he wants to keep me under a twenty-four hours protection, but a lot of things happened and now I have to seek out the guardians of the seven mirrors. If it was not an emergency then I swear by the heaven and earth that I would not have sought out the ancient one, himself."

Hearing this, the snake was surprised and grew more hesitant when a voice spoke up, "Bring them in..."

The serpent bowed his head and responded with a flick of his snake tongue, "Understood..."