Ball of Nothing

Chapter 626 - Coral Palace

In the history of Indra Seagloo, these land-dwellers would be the first and possibly the last guests to tour the travelling underwater city. Their queen was never so generous with them after her horrible history dating the Lycantopia king. Indra Seagloo always kept a strict policy about their relationship with land-dwellers after that incident a few centuries ago. Hence, it was difficult to not stare at the group of land-dwellers in the underwater city.

Zero and his group were walking exhibitions in the huge underwater globe city. Everywhere they went, the merfolks couldn’t help but stare and whisper among themselves. It wasn’t a negative kind of attention as most merfolks were excited and curious.

"A long ear and a metal worker!" one fish merfolk squealed excitedly. Her friends hushed her quickly when Zero turned in their direction. The fish merfolk quickly turned pink and hid her face behind her fins when Zero smiled and waved at her.

Bob didn’t bother hiding his identity. He simply walked around in his human hybrid form and sneered at Sebastian, who quaked in fear, coiled around his owner’s arm. The tension between the cursed sea serpent and young Eternal Dragon didn’t dissipate even after their owners signed the contract. Thankfully, both monsters were very loyal to their owners and did not want to start an unnecessary war.

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Queen Leah’s most loyal servant arranged some rooms in the palace for the guests. She was a very quiet and expressionless pufferfish mermaid. Zero thought she might be mute, but upon closer observation, he realised something else. It was interesting how Queen Leah relied on her very heavily. The pufferfish mermaid didn’t need to be told and understood her queen’s every need without being told. This kind of chemistry and relationship can only be found in the closest lovers who were together for the longest time or in ride-or-die friends.

"Priscilla," Queen Leah called and held Sebastian out for her pufferfish head maid. "Can you feed Sebby? I think he’s hungry. Also, find out the food preferences of our land-dwelling guests and show them around. I need to have a talk with my future husband in the sitting room."

The loyal pufferfish head maid bowed and patted the sea serpent with a fin before letting the cursed snake slither around her. Sebastian looked very comfortable with Priscilla, further confirming Zero’s suspicions. It was amazing how Queen Leah overlooked what she had so easily. In the search for the tree, she missed the forest beneath her nose. The doctor pitied Priscilla a little as he followed her to the sitting room.

Queen Leah’s Coral Palace was very grand. He thought that the merfolks of Indra Seagloo would breathe underwater inside this moving city, but he was wrong. These merfolks were able to transform their tails into legs, and the sprites living in Indra Seagloo floated around, maintaining magical devices placed all over the city, regulating the oxygen within the huge glass globe. Zero doubted that glass was an ordinary glass made from sand forged under high heat. He wanted to know what it was, but for now, he held his questions. They were going to be here for the next three months. He could find out on another occasion.

The coral palace was very colourful, and Zero didn’t know if the building was alive with how the plants and coral grew around the palace structure. Queen Leah sauntered into the coral palace with Zero following behind him in his elven appearance. They made a very beautiful sight for sore eyes, and the merfolk guards on duty felt their eyes following the two very beautiful people as they walked. Zero felt slightly nervous when a few dozen pairs of eyes scrutinised him. He felt like a freak on display but tried to ignore the inquisitive looks, training his eyes ahead and keeping that nonchalant facade.

The palace interior reminded Zero a lot of Poseidon’s palace in Planet Hyacinth. Could this be the fashion sense and interior design on sea folk royalty? Regardless, he felt a lot better once they were given privacy in the sitting room.

"You can drop that disguise now," Queen Leah told him. "We’re safe here to talk about anything without getting interrupted or overheard."

Zero wasted no time and returned to his prefered appearance. Queen Leah had many questions about Zero’s identity that she wanted to confirm. At the same time, she wanted to know what was going on with the world outside Indra Seagloo.

"Where should I start?" Zero asked. He sat down and sipped on the seaweed tea, making a face. It was salty.

After offering the sea queen some poxie tea from hell and a few cakes from Belles and Begonia, Zero started with his self-introduction as Queen Leah enjoyed the early afternoon treats.

"It’s boring to be talking all the time," Zero said after he introduced himself as the Chosen One from the legends and his affiliation with great figures from Heaven and Hell. "How about we play a game? I’ll answer a question for a question."

Intrigued and highly entertained, Queen Leah agreed. As expected, talking to a land-dweller was better than talking to fellow merfolks. Land-dwellers were more creative and had better ideas. Zero was very knowledgeable, and if he wasn’t the Chosen One, she would really have fallen for his charms even without his elven beauty.

Zero told her about his adventures in Hell, Heaven and Purgatory. When he told her how he met the other three keyholders, Queen Leah was shocked.

"Are you sure Raju is gone? Sylvia as well... did she really choose to reincarnate?"

Zero nodded. It must be a real shock to the great water sprite. These two individuals were very powerful guardians. To choose death and reincarnation, it must make the sea queen feel very alone in this world. Thankfully, Alex was still around. He didn’t know if she would be able to cope with the news of the loss should Alex also choose to forfeit his life after fulfilling his mission. The grief and aloneness would be too great for the sea queen, and she might go on a rampage again.

"Are they happy now?" Hearing how painful her fellow keyholders suffered, Queen Leah just wished for their happiness now.

Zero didn’t know if they were happy now. However, he knew for sure that they were finally at peace when they made their decision and left the world without regrets.

"I suppose they are," he told her without traces of lies. "It’s time to move on from the past."

Queen Leah agreed. Her old comrades have moved on. She was the only one still stuck in the past. Perhaps this was what the prophecy meant when they were told the Chosen would sweep the world into an unstoppable storm. Initially, they thought that he would be the harbinger of doom, but now, Queen Leah wondered if he would be its saviour instead.