Book 3 - The Merchant from the Depths: Chapter 34; Back in an Octopus Pot

The screen turns on as the chapter title plays "Chapter - 34; Back in an Octopus Pot".

They had just defeated Azul's overblot as it zooms in on Yuu while they're waiting for Azul to wake up again.

She sees a white void where Azul was standing as the boxes start appearing. The first is a single one "The only place I ever belonged was inside an octopus pot."

It then cuts to a flash-back from Azul's eyes from when he was a child.

He looked to be in what seemed to be an underwater cove of sorts, as there were three walls around the place in a circular fashion with there being only one clear exit and entrance that looked to have stairs going down into the main area. There was a giant broken half clamshell and what seemed to be a little stage.

Azul seemed to have only half vision so it was clear he was hiding for some reason.

Two children merfolk then swam up to him.

The first shouted "Hey, Frazzled Azul, ink-spewer!" at him. The second asked him rather rudely "Aw, are you gonna cry? Why don't you use one of your eight legs to wipe those tears away?"

Azul wiped his eyes with his normal hands as he pleaded with them "C-cut it out… Why are you being so mean to me?"

The first child merfolk teasingly plays with the other regular merfolk child shouting "Run for it, quick! He's gonna ink us!"

The other laughs as they swim around what could now be recognized as a pot of sorts and poked-fun at Azul while he's at it saying "He couldn't keep up with us if he tried."

Azul just sunk into the pot and curled into himself, as he wrapped his arms around himself crying.

It then goes back to the white void with Azul as two boxes appear. The first one read "Unlike other merfolk, I have lots of feet with suction cups." then the second one "I'm an introvert, and I never asserted myself."

The two disappear as two more take their place. "I'm hopeless in both athletics and studies." reads the first then the second, rather depressingly "I'm always alone."

The two disappear and the depressive tone is kept as only one box shows up "A silly little oct-twerp."

It then enters another flashback.

Azul seems to be writing something on a rock or clamshell in his pot, as two merfolk children swimming by could be heard talking.

Once Azul heard something he popped his head out slightly, curious of what was going on.

When the first complained "The water gets all cloudy when he's around. He spews ink every time he cries!" The second agrees with the first telling him and adding another complaint "He's always the first to get caught when we play tag. Playing with him is just boring."

Azul shrinks back into the pot again and back to his work, but now little sniffles could be heard from inside, although very softly.

The child Azul seems to remember multiple times when they had forcefully dragged him out to 'play' with them, only sometimes being tag. The other being and more common being some kinda monster game, with him taking the place of the monster. Always. As avoiding his ink was a good way to play a game like that without using magic and anyone getting hurt.

It then goes back into the white void as a singular box appears, asking "Ah, is that a fact?" as he watches these memories with rather cold eyes, just barely any real emotion being able to slip through his mask right now.

Azul frowns as three boxes appear around him, with anger radiating off of them. The first reads "In that case, leave me alone!" then the second "Keep running around in your little circles." before the last one "Enjoy your utterly unproductive games!"

Two boxes appear, although the second only appears after the first is read. The first says rather self-deprecating "I have no tailfin to let me swim quickly." before he names something he does have "What I DO have are ten limbs I can freely control."

The two disappear as his motivation clearly radiates off of the three boxes that appear. The first being "I'll just transcribe" then the second "five times as many grimoires" before the final one "as people with merely two arms!"

He then goes on a boasting track of sorts as he further names what he could do, as two more boxes appear reading "I can generate my own ink" then the second "for inscribing magic circles."

Anger once again comes off of the three boxes that generate, as the first reads "Just you wait." then the second "One of these days…" before the final one "I'll show every last one of you airheaded merfolk!"

It then goes into another flashback, this one being a couple of years after the last.

Azul is still just working away in his same pot, although now it is a bit smaller for him he still has decent room.

Just then a shadow is cast further from the above as someone puts their head over the opening as they ask "Heya, Octy. Whatcha doin' all crammed in that tenny little octopus pot?"

But Azul had grown a backbone of sorts as he only told the merman, not even looking up "Shut up. Just leave me alone."

Just then another voice is heard from farther away saying "Wow. There are spells and magic circles drawn all over every shell here. A spell to change species, a spell to steal someone's voice…"

Then said voice swam over as well asking "Have you been doing grimoire research with all eight of your tentacles this whole time?" sounding rather impressed.

Although hearing about them looking at his shell collection, he finally pops his head out and shouts at them "Don't touch any of it! You're asking for an inking!"

This allows the two kids to be seen as a child Jade and Floyd.

It also seems that as the other merfolk children grew up they had stopped coming over here as much to play, allowing Azul to write and place his spells and magic circles in peace without most others bothering him.

Azul clenches a fist to his chest as he shouts "I'm gonna study harder, and become as powerful as the Sea Witch herself! So go away and stop bothering me!" before he sinks back down into his pot.

But what is now recognized as elver(a child eel or at least an equivalent to it) Floyd's voice tells Jade "Octy here's pretty funny, Jade." Jade is then heard saying "I agree, Floyd. He's quite fascinating."

It switches back to the white void, although now there seems to be a slight of sorts on his face as another box appears reading "Then, after spending years studying everything I could get my hands on…"

It then fades into a middle school flashback.

Jade and Floyd are heard swimming up as Floyd comments "I hear one merman in the class next door suddenly got a girlfriend!" Jade informs Floyd that he has heard that as he adds on "Yes, and I hear that in return, his fine tenor voice now sounds more like a honking seal."

Azul had moved spots, as the octopus pot had gotten too small for him throughout the years. Although it seemed that there was something hidden behind the clamshell, or perhaps there was a rockfall of sorts.

Azul had taken refuge in a decently sized cave behind it with a partially hidden entrance.

It seems that the tweels and Azul have formed a friendship of sorts, or at least Azul realized he couldn't get rid of them.

As when the two swim in while talking about this, he doesn't stop what he's doing and only asks "Is that right?" Jade also says "I've also heard that someone got the silky-smooth, gorgeous locks they've always wanted." Floyd is the one to finish off with what they lost this time though "But the tradeoff was that they lost the big tailfin they used to dart through the water with."

Younger Azul still doesn't actually look at them as he tells them "Uh-huh. I see."

But what does attract his attention is when Jade tells him "Fascinating work, Azul. Assuming that WAS your doing, I mean."

Azul now looks at them as he asks "And why would you say that?"

But Jade rolls his eyes as he insults the other students with some explanation mixed in "These foolish minnows couldn't hope to use such powerful magic." Floyd then shouts "But you've been brushin' up since you were knee-high to a guppy, Octy!"

Azul chuckles that slowly forms and changes to insane laughter, which doesn't shock or deter the two eels in any way.

Azul then states "Yes, I see. I just wasn't expecting the jig to be up quite so soon."

Floyd then circles around Azul as he excitedly asks "So, is this what we think it is?"

Azul nods as he tells them "Yes, that's right. I've finally perfected it."

He then grabs an older version of his golden contracts, as he explains to the tweels "See this magic-infused contract scroll? I can take any power from someone, so long as they sign it. I call it, "It's a Deal!" This is the spell I'll use to show them all who's boss! Your fortes will all belong to me!"

Before he bursts out into more deranged laughter, but the tweels only smile and Floyd even gives Azul a gentle version of one of his squeezes to show his excitement and happiness to him.

It then switches back to the white void with current Azul, as a single box shows up at first reading "I never forgot for a second."

Before it disappeared and two took its place "The sight of those who mocked me." then the second "Those who bullied me."

The two disappeared as three took their place. The first reading "I've observed them for many moons." then the second "Now I have their weaknesses, their insecurities…" then the third "I have it all!"

As different scenarios he's used show in boxes. "Once I know what foils him, I can take the tailfin of a fast swimmer." "Once I know what troubles him, I can even take the voice of an adept singer."

The Azul in the background eyes widen in insanity as a single box appears and reads "As long as I have this contract scroll, I am invincible!"

He then clenches his fist as three more boxes appear "I'm not the same" then the second "silly, lonely little octopus" then the last "I used to be." with slowly more determination building up.

The three boxes disappear. Only one box shows up reading "With this power, I will rule over all."

Although it's not the last one as two more boxes take its place after it disappears.

The boxes read "I'll make everyone who ever mocked me" then the next "quaver and beg for mercy."

Those two being the last two as Yuu is taken out of Azul's mental state, with Grim resting on her head.

The screen fades to black as Azul is seen slowly seeming to wake up before "To be continued" plays and the screen fully turns off.