Chapter 553: A Small But Warm Reunion Underwater
Chapter 553: A Small But Warm Reunion Underwater
As she remembers the few interactions she had with Lucien, Claire realizes how much she misses her brother and promises to herself to be a better sister from now on.
Greed feels Claire's internal changes and is concerned that she is too emotional about the reunion and ends up destroying their plans.
'I don't care what you want to do with your brother, but you better not let the Mermaids know who he is for now.' She suggests.
Claire doesn't like that kind of thing. 'I don't want to lie to them, especially to Saria.'
'What if they don't like to find out you host a Sin?' Greed asks. 'It could end your relationship with Saria.'
'But...' Claire is afraid of destroying the very special friendship she has with Saria. 'I don't like lying to them; we're not doing anything wrong, right?'
'Do you think that making them stronger people and encouraging them to take what was stolen from them is bad?' She asks sarcastically.
Claire shakes her head. 'No, definitely not! But then why would telling the truth be a problem?'
'Well, our people can have a bad reputation for manipulating others…' Greed explains. 'I'm sure the Mermaids would understand as they can feel that you have a good heart.'
She continues. 'But I think you'd better wait a bit before telling them to avoid the shock at this crucial moment. You could wait until we've put those damn snakes in their place.'
'Alright...' Claire trusts Greed's advice as they have been good partners since the soul contract. 'I'm not going to say anything now, but... if Lucien has already said to Saria that he's my brother, I won't let them think he's a liar.'
'Fair.' Greed agrees.
'We are already near to them, by the way.' She comments then.
'Really?!??!' When she thinks she's about to see her little brother again, Claire gets very excited.
Her siblings wouldn't believe how Claire changed since the last time they saw each other. Not even Naomi noticed such changes in her as it has mostly happened in the last two months as her relationship with Saria and the Mermaids has grown.
The once 'cold' sister is now a girl with a warm heart and a soul that burns with desire for both material and emotional things.
She can't wait to meet Lucien again, but at the same time, that leaves her insecure and concerned. Then she stops abruptly and starts to wonder. [Does he miss me too???]
Greed feels like rolling her eyes inside Claire's soul, but the Naga messenger is just confused. "My lady? Is there any problem?"
"Has he changed a lot like me?" Claire thinks aloud and then looks at the Naga messenger. "Is he too different?"
She makes a confused expression while Greed comments in Claire's mind in an ironic tone. 'Don't be stupid; how would this snake woman know what your brother was like before??'
Claire notices her mistake and rephrases the question. "What can you tell me about Lucien?"
"Lucien..." The Naga messenger thinks aloud; her expression turns a little pale as she remembers the first time she saw him at the east exit of the main Naga city.
"He seemed like a very peculiar person, and his look was..." She starts to explain but then stops because she is afraid to say something strange about Lucien, and his sister gets angry.
Claire notices that and smiles with a kind expression. "Just tell me what you think; don't worry, I won't hurt you."
'I bet you'll break her neck if she says something bad about your brother.' Greed comments in a funny tone in Claire's mind.
But the Naga messenger believes Claire's words. "Well, at first, I was scared about the rumors of him being as brutal as the King, but when I saw that devilishly handsome face... his abs... he's so..."
"Hot!?" Claire completes her words. "Yeah, he's fucking hot."
The girl can't help but feel a little sorry for Claire. [It can't be easy to have such a sexy brother...]
So she remembers how Lucien killed all the blackguards who didn't swear loyalty to Mira. "But he was also like the rumors described... in fact, I think he can be even more brutal than the King."
Claire doesn't doubt that. [I think we can all be pretty brutal because of how our father trained us as weapons instead of raising us like normal kids.]
But then she's surprised that the girl's face starts to blush; even her lips seem to want to curl up into a smile.
The Naga messenger remembers when Lucien kissed her. "But while he can be so cold and ruthless, he's also kind and caring… I'd say that there are two of them, one for enemies and one for friends."
[Caring???] Claire can't believe someone described her cold, depressed brother as caring. [It's like he's turned someone completely different... like me?]
While she is lost in thought, Greed speaks in her mind again. 'Stop wasting time with this stupid hesitation; your brother is fighting Saria right now, and they... they...'
'They what???' Claire is worried because of the way Greed speaks. 'What are they doing?!?!?'
Greed can feel that Lucien and Saria are fighting, but she also feels his demonic energy entering her body. 'Damn Lust!!'
Claire wastes no more time and swims at full speed towards them, leaving the Naga messenger with a confused expression on her face.
[What strange siblings...] She thinks while swimming towards them too.
They arrive on the battlefield, and Claire is shocked to see a huge green barrier protecting the Nagas on one side while twenty thousand Mermaids ignore them to observe something on the other side.
'They are there.' Greed speaks, and Claire quickly enters the crowd of Mermaids, swimming until she gets to the front row of the big show.
"Lucien!!" Claire would like to contain her emotions and do as Greed suggested, but by seeing her brother, she forgets everything and just swims towards him with open arms and a wide smile on her face.
The infinite family love in her heart makes her ignore what is happening between him and Saria, as well as the unbelievable changes in his body; after all, nothing changes the fact that he is her little brother.
But Greed cannot ignore some shocking facts, which make her freaking out. [What the fuck?!?! Why does he look like a High Demon?!?! DAMNN!!! Does he look like a dragon too?!?!]
Lucien, on the other hand, responds to Claire's warm greeting with the same affection and open arms. "Claire!"
They hug in front of everyone, and he spins her body as they both smile, definitely a tender reunion between siblings that love each other.
"I missed you so much… my brother." She speaks in an affectionate tone, ignoring everything around them, including Greed's complaints and comments in her mind.
"I missed you too, sister..." He responds with the same affection and hugs her even more tightly. "Don't worry; we'll keep together from now on."
The Mermaids are thrilled with the emotion that Lucien and Claire embrace each other.
Everyone is surprised by that, but 'shock' is no longer enough to describe how confused Saria is. Her eyes wander between Claire, Lucien, and the Ghost Lady in his hand. [?!?!?!?!?!?]
Then her gaze meets Claire's. They both look very thrilled, happy, and confused.
"I'll explain everything..." Claire whispers to Saria but then turns her and Lucien's bodies around to just enjoy his hug a little longer, not worrying about how she's going to maintain the precious friendship with her new best friend.
Then Lucien's eyes meet Saria's. He can't help but feel a little sad for her as he planned first to gain her trust and then tell her the whole story without her freaking out or being suspicious of everything.
But now, things are happening that way. And just as he's hugging his sister, he doesn't want to stop Saria and Kaisa's reunion either.
Then he toss the Ghost Lady to Saria, hoping the sword doesn't attack her sister due to her cursed nature.
The Ghost Lady quickly flies towards Saria, and she takes the sword by the hilt. Then her chaotic cursed energy enters her sister's body, causing her to feel pain throughout her whole body and a shiver that seems to reach into her soul.
Saria almost lets go of the Ghost Lady's hilt as her kind nature is totally opposed to the sword's cursed energy. But then she feels a good and familiar energy also come along, calming the chaotic energy.
[Lucien...] Saria knows that it is only because of Lucien and his pleasing energy that she can hold the sword made from her sister's soul in her hand.
There are thousands of questions in her mind, and she even feels betrayed due to not knowing about Lucien and Claire's relationship. But Saria still only feels good intentions from the siblings, and she continues to be grateful to them.
In fact, now that she's seeing them together, she realizes how much alike they are and also how easy it is to like them.
"Kaisa..." Saria speaks in a loving tone as she looks at the cursed sword in her hand. "You've been away from home for a long time."
If a reunion between siblings was already exciting for the Mermaids, let alone two, especially when the second is between their beloved Princess who now leads them now and the late Princess who sacrificed her life for them.
They are still in the middle of a battleground, with bodies floating in the blood-red water. But there is no will to fight in the kind hearts of those Mermaids.
Yet, one of them looks apprehensive. Ramla can't stop to enjoy that beautiful moment as she has many worries in her mind, starting with the Princess's best friend being the sister of a demon.
"What is happening?!?!" She stands in front of Lucien and Claire with her spear in hand. "Who are you really?? And what do you want from us???"
"Ramla!" Saria speaks in a firm tone of disapproval. "What do you think you're doing?!?"
"M-my Princes..." She looks at Saria with a worried expression. "These people… can't you see they're up to something?? Claire isn't who you think, and this devil is an ally of the Nagas!"
Saria sighs and looks at Lucien and Claire with a sorry expression. "Ramla is a good woman and my family... so please forgive her; her job of protecting me is a heavy burden."
"No problem." Lucien and Claire talk together as they hug and look at Saria with loving smiles. Both of them like her very much, although their feelings are different.
"There's something very wrong here-" Ramla, who needs to be more rational than emotional, knows it's very dangerous to trust demons.
But Lucien uses his demonic energy to create a gag around Ramla's face, preventing her from using mana to make her voice sound underwater.
"Mmmmm..." She tries to complain, but Lucien's energy makes her body feel good, and she starts to blush.
Saria can't help but giggle as she strokes the Ghost Lady's hilt and gazes at Lucien.
He smiles at her. "I know Claire, and I have a lot to explain… and we're going to make everything clear. But first, you have to understand that we really want to help you and your people."
"Right, sis?" He kisses Claire's head, making her feel outstanding.
"Sure, brother." She responds as she hugs him even tighter and nuzzles his chest. [Why do you smell so damn good???]
Despite being overjoyed at having reunited with her long-lost sister, Saria can't help but be jealous of Lucien and Claire. In fact, she really wants to be between them right now, being hugged by both of them.
The mood couldn't be better, but a person there is not at all satisfied with the direction things are taking.
Greed is pretty upset and uses her demonic energy to question Lust mentally. 'What the hell is your host doing with my Mermaids?!?!?'