Chapter 15

Beatrix gave her one long stare before she left the room. But she heard Emea scoff behind her as she swam away.

But after Beatrix left the room, reality hit her like a truck.

She just kidnapped someone. And she had no clue what to do now. She kept hoping ideas would come to her, but her mind was blank.

-

The news that the mermaid princess had gone missing had spread fast. 

Despite her best efforts, Beatrix had trouble coming up with ideas to prevent the leads from meeting, short of keeping Emea hostage forever. 

But not only was the guilt eating her alive, but her relationship with Risa was getting worse.

"You have to let her go." Risa sternly said, a cold light in her eyes.

"I know, I will." 

"When? You've told me that over and over!" She raised her voice.

"I won't let you keep her here anymore. It's horrible." Risa continued. Her voice was strained and rough. She obviously didn't want to fight with her sister, but her morals were screaming at her to do something.

"I said I will, and I will. Soon." Beatrix didn't know what to do.

"How soon?! I won't let you do this anymore. You know her parents are looking for her, don't you?" Risa now looked more concerned than angry. If they found out Beatrix had kidnapped their daughter, they would probably kill her. Or worse, blame all of the sirens and start a war.

Both options were bad.

"I know, I do." Beatrix hated arguing with Risa like this. She never argued with her sister, back during her own life.

"If you don't release her, I'm going to."

"Fine! I'll release her." It's not like there's much point in keeping her anyway.

Risa slumped down in relief. For a second, they were silent before a quiet whisper escaped Risa.

"Do you think she'll tell them?" Risa seemed embarrassed by the thought, hating her own selfishness.

"No." There was a reason Beatrix was so brazen with the kidnapping. It was heavily established in the book that Emea was very proud of her abilities, to the point of arrogance. If it's found that she was so easily kidnapped, she'd probably die of embarrassment. She'd never tell anyone, not even her own parents.

-

As Beatrix watched Emea's angry form swim away, she felt a heavy sheet of guilt pass over her. She didn't mean for it to escalate so far, but she didn't know what else to do. But she hated how callously she acted with another person's freedom and well-being.

And she hated how little hesitation she had.

These books were changing her, for the worse.

She constantly felt this gloom take over her, as if becoming her whole personality. It blocked out everything else, all emotions and experiences. As if she were becoming a blank sheet of paper, destined to be crumpled up by her future. 

One world broke her, and she would have to do many more.

It wasn't worth it, she didn't want to do this anymore. But regardless of her motivations, she realized that she doesn't have a choice. She couldn't escape what she had to do.

Before Beatrix could completely sink into her thoughts and separate from reality, a sudden idea struck her. 

She knew what to do, she knew how to complete her task.

-

Risa seemed to have forgiven her, at least mostly.

She was still angry at her for a bit, often sending her accusing glares and ignoring her, but everything seemed to have gone back to normal. 

Risa was such a pitiful character in the book, and Beatrix hated to make her sad. She didn't want to involve her in the book plot or her task. Any prolonged contact with Beatrix or the plot characters was putting her at risk, and Beatrix didn't want Risa to get hurt.

"Narcissa…" Risa said with a whining tone.

"Hmm?" Beatrix turned around with a smile.

"Are you going to go hunting soon? I'm super hungry." Risa complained.

"Oh, right…" Beatrix paused, her smile faltering. 

"I don't mean to be pushy, or anything." Risa backtracked a bit.

"Well, I'm actually going to be leaving for a bit, so I won't be here to hunt."

"What? Where are you going?" Risa frowned, clearly confused. Narcissa was definitely a homebody.

"I'm going to visit a friend."

"A friend? Which one?" Risa looked doubtful. Narcissa didn't have any faraway friends.

"A new one you haven't met." Beatrix deliberately looked a bit shy, hoping that Risa wouldn't ask any more questions.

"Oh, I see." Risa caught onto Beatrix's expression and started smirking.

"Anyways, I asked and the neighbors said they'd be willing to hunt for you for a bit." Beatrix changed the subject, hoping Risa wouldn't ask any more questions. 

"Okay, I guess. But I don't want to rely on them for too long. Please be back quickly." 

"Alright." Beatrix felt a sudden flow of warmth. It was these sort of casual conversations she missed with her own sister, and Risa reminded her of her sister so much, it was painful. She couldn't help but overlap the two of them in her mind. She would make sure Risa stayed safe, if only in memory of Beatrix's sister.

Beatrix turned away, but Risa's voice brought her back.

"And Narcissa… Please don't bring a hostage back." Risa talked with a joking tone, but Beatrix could tell she was serious. She was still angry and appalled with Beatrix. But she saw worry in her eyes, too.

"I won't, I promise. It was a one-time thing." Beatrix laughed, hoping to hide her shame. It's not like she wanted to kidnap someone. 

"Okay… I don't think I can handle that again."

"Don't worry, it's not like I'm in the habit of randomly kidnapping people. It'll be fine." 

"Alright. I just don't want anyone to get hurt, okay?" Risa had her head down, her tone soft.

"No one is going to get hurt." Beatrix lied as she rubbed Risa's arm comfortingly.