Moist reached into the folds of her shadow-cloak and withdrew a small silver box, its surface etched with forbidden runes that pulsed like a dying star's heartbeat. She opened it reverently, revealing the Eclipse shard —an ancient artifact, gifted to her by her father. it was forged in the primordial chaos of the ever brewing interracial war. The jagged crystal, roughly the size of a clenched fist, swirled with liquid starlight trapped in veins of pure shadow. It was capable of unraveling divine and infernal bonds alike.
"Right before his death, my father gave me this Shard. Along with lots of other artifacts that hold great strength and fulfill great cause," Moist explained, her voice a hushed current. "When activated at the precise instant of their binding vows—under the blood moon's zenith—it will unleash the Veil of Eternal Dusk. The only defense against the veil of dusk is this bracelet, it will also block our thoughts from Sheba and Lucifer's willful reach." she stretched her other hand and two silver bracelets appeared. She gave Elisha one and her hand into one.
"After the veil of Eternal Dusk is unleashed," she continued. "For one full hour, it severs all demonic manipulation, Spiritual essences, sorcery, and divine cultivation within the Grand Pavilion in Hollow Eden. Lucifer's demonic manipulation would hold no thoughts, Aliadam's blazing fire will gutter to mere embers. Sheba's sorcery and enchantment will fall dormant like a tide receding from shore. Same would have to every being within the grand pavilion: Spirit, witch or demon. All their powers and wills will be drained from their being. They will all stand as temporary mortals—powerless, their strengths frayed to brittle threads. The protective wards around the pavilion will weaken, exposing them to chaos."
Elisha leaned forward, her pink hair swirling like blood in the water, blue eyes alight with vengeful calculation. The grotto seemed to hold its breath, the ghostfish scattering as if sensing the treason brewing.
"Your part comes at the crescendo," Moist continued. "Attend as the honored Siren Queen, your invitation already secured by protocol. The moment my trusted head priest triggers the Shard from the eastern spire—disguised among the dignitaries—you strike with the Thralldom Lament. Weave your restored voice into a song potent enough to burrow into Sheba's suppressed mind, reimposing your siren claim. Subdue her will completely. Bind her to your command. Drag her back into these depths if resistance lingers, where the sacred waters will reinforce your hold. With her powers nullified, even her fiery spirit will bend."
Moist's grey eyes hardened like flint. "My role fuels the distraction. While panic spreads and Lucifer rages in his weakened mortal shell, I will release a prepared swarm of fleshforged golems, they are animated by human will, a creation I have being working on during these days of seclusion. They are brutal, adaptive and hard to kill. They will occupy his generals and the demon court long enough for your capture. Meanwhile, my primary plan, embedded within the wedding gifts, will detonate at the height of the disorder—unleashing a cascade of nullifying curses drawn from ancient human grimoires."
Elisha remained silent for a long, heavy moment, her tail curling tightly around a cluster of black pearls. The weight of betrayal pressed upon her like the crushing pressure of the deepest trenches. Sheba had been hers—fierce, untamed, a force that had once made the oceans sing in harmony. The thought of her walking willingly into Lucifer's infernal embrace tomorrow ignited a storm in her chest.
"If we fail…" Elisha whispered, voice trembling with the echoes of old wounds.
"We will not," Moist interjected sharply. "Success means you reclaim your queen, subdued and controlled, hers to command no more. I secure the human nation from the threat of an invincible Sheba. We both live to navigate the aftermath. But if the vows complete and dominion is granted, she ascends beyond reach. You lose her to eternity. I lose any hope of containing the demonic tide. Does your confidence waver? Sheba only broke your song because of her increased sorcery from the bound she shares with Lucifer as mates. Tomorrow will be different. She would be a mere human, stripped of her sorcery and yours to command."
The Siren Queen closed her eyes, letting the cold currents wash over her regenerated skin. The sacred rituals had given her back her limbs, but not her peace. Now, this alliance offered a cruel second chance.
She opened her blue eyes, burning with bitter, unyielding resolve. "I will sing until my throat tears anew, flooding the pavilion with the Lament if I must. Sheba will be mine by the next dawn—broken, bound, and forever tethered to the shoal. Lucifer will choke on the shattered remnants of his empire's joy."
Moist inclined her head, a rare flicker of respect crossing her grey gaze. "Then we have an accord, Queen of the Depths. I will send the Shard's activation rune through the kelp messengers before the ceremony begins. Play your role flawlessly. For the sake of your fractured heart and my endangered realm."
As Moist slipped back into the shadows, her white hair vanishing like mist through the kelp curtain, Elisha clutched the obsidian box to her chest. The Eclipse Shard pulsed against her skin, cold and treacherous, like a second heart forged in betrayal.
Tomorrow, beneath the blood-red wedding moon, the oceans would rise in vengeance. The Siren Shoal's ancient stones seemed to hum in approval, carrying the faint, building echoes of a song that would drown empires and reclaim lost loves—no matter the cost in blood or broken vows, Sheba must be hers.
The deep sea gloom on the pearls and shimmering glasses casted her siloutte beneath Elisha's feet.
Moist and Elisha alliance?
plan ambush.
Elisha cant let go of Sheba.
Moist refuses, she already trusts Mogous to succedd and Aliadam to work out.
But together they still devise an ambush to pull through
This is my fallback plan—a desperate thread in a larger web. My primary scheme is already in motion among the wedding preparations on the surface. By tomorrow's climax, it will bloom into full ruin. Yet even I recognize the value of alliances in these fractured realms.