Chapter 7
90.
Out of the 3 anticipated scenarios that may happen, none of those occurred. The King of the Sea was called by the Krakquad to pass Lulu's request. The Krakquad and the Blue Sea Serpent are mortal enemies, but in front of Lulu, the fight over the title King of the Sea is not relevant. Just like how the other Giant Beasts coordinated with the King of the Land, in the Island of the Beast Mimis.
"Wha-what's happening?" Eve nervously asked as they all watched the 2 Giant Sea Beasts. Eve specialized in studying behavioral patterns, she may find this moment intriguing but it still does not change the fact that both of those creatures can instantly end them.
"They are arguing, it looks like they are not friends," Lulu answered.
"Chuu~ The Krakquad said that the Blue Sea Serpent must take Lulu's request because he couldn't. But the King of the Sea is full of pride, he will only take orders directly from Lulu. Their egos are clashing." Pily explained.
"Fa-fascinating…" Eve commented, she is amazed but at the same time bothered by the loud roars from the argument of the Giants.
"Anooo… Can nyu tell them to be careful coz we might die from their fight." Kita told Lulu.
"Please stop arguing! We really need to go back to Kemitopia!" Lulu loudly said.
In that instant, both of the giants behave like they are tamed and trained.
"FeLinE is amazed." FeLinE:1000X reacted but in a dull manner.
"Wait a minute, I haven't given nyu names yet… Let me think of one." Lulu suddenly mentioned. The Giant Beasts are seemingly excited to get their names from Lulu.
"Nyu, the King of the Sea, will be Thirdy! Because this is the third time that we met. The Krakquad name will be Kranki because nyu are always mad." Lulu declared. The Giant Beasts are somewhat honored, Lulu emits an aura that the Mimis either admire or hate.
"Chuu~ The King of the Sea also said that he will take us back to wherever we want in no time. He is just waiting for Lulu's go signal." Pily added.
"Go signal? What's the go signal?" Yuna questioned.
"Ahmm…. Go?" Lulu confusedly said.
The Blue Sea Serpent quickly dives as a big splash of water almost covers the clouds. Afterward, it went beneath them and rose to the surface a bit, putting the wooden boat on its back, in between the long sharp scales.
"FOLD THE SAILS!" Celeste shouted, it will only cause unwanted wind resistance if they did not do so. As soon as the group removed the weaved-leaves sails, off to Kemitopia they went.
Sprinting through the water, the King of the Sea takes pride in achieving Lulu's request. The group is doing their best to hold firmly, cruising through the ocean as they had never experienced. Even Raven hasn't gone this fast in her whole racing career. Each one of them reacts differently to this speedrun voyage.
"LEZZGOOO WOOOOH!" Kita shouted.
"Hang on tight!" Yuna reminded Lulu as she held Lulu's hand.
"WE ARE GOING TO DIE!" Celeste screamed.
"I'M SO GLAD THAT I STUCK WITH THIS GROUP!" Raven mentioned.
Others just closed their eyes as they concentrated on holding on for their dear lives. The supposedly days to weeks of travel will not matter with this momentum that they are in. Thankfully, the length scales of King of the Sea created enough wind barriers to prevent the wooden boat from getting dismantled by the wind pressure.
Since it's a long way back, the group takes a rest every 2-3 hours. The King of the Sea can travel for a week nonstop, but the Kemis could not. Holding on for too long drains them, and fatigue may cause problems. They have enough rations, and their boat is doing fine, but the Catgirls are still having a hard time with this trip.
As the night settles, they are approximately halfway through their return. Lulu requested that they should rest for now. The King of the Sea steadily floats while the group sleeps on their wooden boat.
After the peaceful night guarded by the strongest sea creature, the group once again resumes their progress. Eclipsing an absurd distance in a single day was something no one expected, it shouldn't take that much time for them to finally arrive at Kemitopia.
While they are on the way, FeLinE mentioned that there's a Kemi nearby. It seems like it's floating somewhere in the ocean, which makes everyone wonder if it is true. The group decided to move slower because they don't want to miss the target. After a short while, they spotted the aforementioned mystery. It is indeed a Kemi, she is a Gazellegirl Kemi, with Medium length Brown Hair, a medium-length black horn on the left, and a broken horn on the right side of her head. By the looks of things, her boat crashed and she is just barely hanging on a plank.
"There she is!" Rubi pointed out.
"Let us down Thirdy." Lulu requested.
When the boat touches the surface of the water, the group immediately paddles toward the Gazellegirl. They lifted her to the boat and Hana used her talent to heal the wounds. A few moments later, the rescued Kemi coughs as she wakes up.
"Are nyu alright? What happened to nyu?" Hana worriedly asked.
"I... I'm fine… Thanks for saving me." The Gazellegirl answered.
"What's your name?" Lulu politely asked.
"I'm Zela," she introduced herself while wiggling her ears. "I was fishing earlier near Kemitopia but a current suddenly pulled me far away from where I came from. My boat crashed later on," Zela added.
"A current? That's strange…" Celeste commented.
"Why is that?" Yuna replied.
"Well, I haven't heard of such an event while I was working in Zenshin. Though now that I experienced what it's like on the ocean, I guess there's a lot that I still don't know." Celeste said.
"Indeed, there are tons of things that we don't know…" Zela oddly responded.
"Oh, by the way, I'm Kita. Nice to meet nyu!" Kita introduced herself while wiggling her ears. The rest followed Kita's introduction one after the other.
"Kita? It's my lucky day…" Zela said to herself inaudibly.
91.
A mysterious encounter with a Gazellegirl Kemi put them in circles. It's confusing that someone is out here by themselves in the middle of the ocean. If the story about the sea current is true, it makes everyone wonder how many Kemis experience the same thing.
When the introduction about themselves was finished, Kita could not stop thinking about why Zela had a broken horn. It was the first time they saw such a case.
"Are nyu truly alright?" Kita reiterated the question earlier.
"I'm fine… Why did you ask again?" Zela replied skeptically.
"I am just worried that maybe the accident was severe," Kita added.
"And why is that?" Zela continued asking.
"Nyu know, because of the broken horn?" Kita responded.
"Yeah, I'm worried about that too. I thought I could heal it but it did not work." Hana said.
Zela suddenly got confused, in the Underworld, Kemis didn't care about broken horns. They just automatically look down at those with broken ones. "Are you mocking me?" Zela seriously questioned. The mood drastically changed from that point.
"No no no, of course not. We are just genuinely worried about nyu, that's all." Kita clarified.
"Kit is telling the truth. Usually, when a Kemi has a broken horn it means something really bad has happened, like an accident or some sort." Yuna explained.
"Wait, there's no fighting for glory here?" Zela said to herself inaudibly.
"We're sorry, we didn't mean to pry. We respect it if nyu don't want to talk about it." Hana added.
A long pause occurred since the conversation went too serious. "Anoo… shall we keep moving?" Celeste suggested, breaking the awkward silence.
"We are heading to Kemitopia, so hold on tight. This ride is about to go fast~" Raven told Zela, making the mood of the place lighter.
"Thirdy, let's go!" Lulu requested.
"Thirdy?" Zela reacted. In that instant, her confusion turned into a bewildering one when the King of the Sea once again carried the wooden boat on its back. Sprinting through the ocean like there's no tomorrow, Zela now joins them on their journey back to Kemitopia.
With the same strategy that they did yesterday, the group managed to reach their destination in less than half of the day. Thirdy instinctively put the Kemis down near the mountains instead of the dock for 3 reasons; (1) The residents of the Kemitopia will spot them, causing an unwanted commotion that may turn problematic. (2) The dock area of the Kemitopia is quite shallow unlike the nearby mountains, the King of the Sea can only swim in the deep part of the ocean. (3) and lastly, even Thirdy feels like something is going on. That's why he warned the Kemis before disappearing back into the sea, which Pily translated.
"At last, we are finally back! I missed this place." Kita said while they were going down from the mountains.
"It's my first time here. The atmosphere is cozy, kinda taking me back in time." Raven commented.
"Wait until nyu see the city itself," Hana replied.
"Speaking of the city, I wonder why Thirdy warned us to be careful. It kept me thinking since he said that." Yuna responded.
"That is a bit odd. Knowing Beast Mimis, they have refined instincts that warn them from danger. Tameable Mimis on the other hand are unable to do the same thing. They usually just rely on others since Tameable Mimis have a poor sense of danger." Eve explained, she then looked at Pily and added, "No offense."
"Chuu~ guilty as charged." Pily agreed with Eve's claim.
"I still love Pily despite that," Lulu responded.
"I actually want oneeeee!" Celeste said.
"If nyu come with us back to Rivereania, nyu can even choose what color nyu want!" Kita offering Celeste.
"HONTOOO?" Celeste excitedly asked.
"Be careful, nyu know going with them always comes with surprises." Rubi reminded Celeste.
"Which makes things more exciting!" Raven replied.
"Anooo… I should probably think this twice hehe…" Celeste responded as she changed her mind.
After a long series of walking down the mountains, the group reaches the open area where they can finally view the whole landscape of Kemitopia from the cliff. The group excitedly rushes toward the edge only to see the massive chaos that the land is in. From the dock to half of the land is in disarray. Evil Mimis have been invading the place while the knights defend the latter part of the land for a month now.
"What on UniPaws is happening…" Kita said as they all witnessed the destruction.
FeLinE uses her Relic to scan the land. "There are tons of newly created creatures down there, probably more in the seashore," she said.
"Newly created? This kinda proves our theories…" Rubi mentioned.
"Quick, to the Royal Palace. It's probably not safe outside." Yuna suggested. The group hastily ran as they all followed Kita's lead. Even in a hurry, they also minimize the noise as much as possible. Arriving when everything is in shambles makes them more cautious about their surroundings.
When they reached the end of the mountains, they flew down in front of the Royal Castle, thanks to Yuna's newly unlocked talent. The Royal Guards spotted and recognized Kita's group. They immediately let them in while other Guards inform the newly crowned royalty, Queen Grace.
Duke Nasmuir welcomed them as they all proceeded to the meeting area. As soon as Queen Grace entered the room, she immediately said "Thank the stars you managed to get here. I received Tridae's message but we can't access the dock. I'm truly sorry for not coming to your aid."
"Queen Grace wanted to board a ship with her own Royal Guards but we cannot simply leave the palace at this rate." Duke Nasmuir added.
"Wait for a second? Queen? Nyu are the Queen now?" Kita asked.
"Hai. A week after nyu left the place, my mother passed the crown down to me because of the successful interference with the Evil Mimis. The Commander of the Royal Guards also supported this procedure which is why the coronation was quick." Queen Grace answered.
"Congrats then! We are happy for nyu." Hana said.
"As much as I wanted to take pride in what we did, I cannot do so. A couple of weeks after my coronation, Kemitopia crumbled, and half of the land fell to Evil Mimis' hands…" Queen Grace sadly admitted. The melancholic voice of Grace silenced the whole room. They wanted to comfort her but it seemed like words were not enough to lessen the new Queen's burden.
92.
The Queen requested the presence of the maids in Trio Brews and Sweets. Soon after, they arrive as the Catgirls finally meet again. To make things lighter for everyone, the Kemis introduced themselves one after the other. A rare sight of the Catgirls from Riverania, Kemitopia, and Zenshin, a Catgirl Kemi representative of each continent. In terms of FeLinE, Kita requested to explain that part later on. It's a bit too complex and the current situation is what they must know first.
Queen Grace started to explain how everything started. As they trace the events, it's seemingly too sketchy that the first wave of the Evil Mimis' attack is just a day after Lulu went missing. Coincidence is an understatement in this chain of events. Someone pulling the strings behind the scenes would make more sense than just calling it a coincidence. And so far, Hideo is the strong candidate for this entire mess.
During the time of the invasion, Queen Grace ordered all of her other messengers to check Riverania and Zenshin. After a week of gathering data, they found out that the other places were having the same problems as well. Riverania is somehow surviving while Zenshin is in utter devastation. Raven, Eve, Rubi, and Celeste were shocked to hear the news. They cannot do anything except express their frustrations and worry about their homeland.
As much as they wanted to celebrate their reunion with the maids, there's no room for this as of now. The long conversation holds different emotions, it shows how disheartened everyone is. To calm everyone down, the Royal Guards serve some light meals accompanied by coffee or tea, depending on one's preference.
After a short breather, It's time for FeLinE to fully explain herself. The truth about FeLinE should be addressed before they proceed to the discussion about how they will deal with this dilemma. Maybe some factors with the appearance of the Evil Mimis and FeLinE are intertwined.
"My name is FeLinE:1000X. FeLinE is a sentient Catgirl from the Lost Civilization. Sentient Kemis' duty is to protect the Realm Sanctuary. Which means FeLinE should not be here. FeLinE is not yet sure how FeLinE arrived in this realm. But it looks like this chaos plays a big part in it. The gates back to FeLinE's realm are locked, meaning someone has been crossing through dimensions illegally." FeLinE:1000X said.
Zela was shocked to hear FeLinE's statement. Telling about Kemis crossing realms made Zela believe everything that FeLinE said. As of now, Zela can remain calm since her cover is not yet fully blown. They may know that someone is crossing through realms, but the group does not know who exactly these Kemis are.
On the other hand, the rest of the Kemis are overwhelmed with all the information that FeLinE is giving them. They cannot think that this is just a mere prank considering how grave the situation is. Even though it sounds completely unbelievable, they have to accept the circumstances. It is the first time they heard the truth about how UniPaws works. The scholars in the Hidden Den will definitely want more details.
"I remember a rumor about highly classified books. Do those contain information about the Realm Sanctuary?" Lisa questioned.
"We did some research a long time ago, 2 out of the 5 from the book archives that contain Sacred Runes were stolen. The scholars call the collection of books 'The Origin'. I guess in the rumors they call them highly-classified books." Queen Grace answered.
"Are there any descriptions about who stole it?" Yuna asked.
"They don't know who it is, but the old scholars who witnessed the crime said that it was a Kemi wearing a black formal outfit, and was wielding a long black scythe." Queen Grace replied.
"THAT WAS THE KEMI WHO TOOK LULU!" Kita loudly said.
"Chuu~ it does sound exactly like the guy that I saw," Pily added.
"Does that mean that guy has been plotting all of these since then?" Hana mentioned.
"The other question is, who controls who?" Raven added.
"What do nyu mean?" Aoi questioned.
"I mean is Hideo controlling that guy or it's the other way around?" Raven clarified.
"This is turning into a horror story…" Mae commented.
"I AM SCARED!" Celeste shares the same sentiments.
"I'll kick his bottom if he dares to touch Lulu again," Coco said madly. "Don't worry Lulu, I'll protect nyu while nyu are here," she added.
"LET'S GO KICK THEIR BOTTOMS!" Mittsy furiously echoed.
"Awww… That's sweet! Thank nyu!" Lulu replied.
"Other than those two, Vali is also working for them. I just wish it was a scenario where she was only forced to do those…" Raven madly said.
"Ahmm… Who is Vali?" Aoi confusedly asked.
"She is Raven's friend, but we saw the footage that she worked with the guy who kidnapped Lulu," Rubi explained.
"Assuming that the mysterious guy is a cunning tactician, it's either Vali made friends with Raven to let her guard down or she was manipulated under some circumstances." Lisa straightforwardly said.
"I… I'm sure she didn't want to do that! Give me some time, I'll prove that she is innocent!" Raven defensively responded.
"We understand that she is your friend. But objectively speaking, it's hard to prove that now." Eve argued.
"To be fair, Raven and Vali were friends before we even arrived at Zenshin. Meaning, may not have been plotted a long time ago. I'm not siding with anyone but I just think there's more to it." Hana replied.
"Anooo… If she was truly innocent, then why isn't she nervous even the slightest when we talked?" Lulu questioned.
"Chuu~ not to mention, Vali and the mysterious guy are like friends. I heard them talking to each other." Pily added.
The discussion is turning quite problematic as their emotions take place. "I suggest that we should drop this argument since we still couldn't prove anything yet. Our emotions are distracting us from what we should deal with first." Eve intervened.
Everyone agreed as they dropped the subject. "Do we have ongoing plans for this situation?" Rin politely asked Queen Grace.
Queen Grace shared the plan of action that they have for now. All of these are mostly countermeasures for dealing with the chaos. Plans regarding how to fully solve the situation are non-existent due to the lack of information. While everything is being discussed, Zela is already secretly stealing all of it. The meeting's purpose is to initiate a counterattack, but it looks like they are losing the battle before it has even begun.
End of Chapter 7