She yelled as loudly as she could, reaching into her pocket and taking out earplugs which she quickly put into her mate's ears. The man immediately snapped from the trance and looked at her, confused. The woman gave him a hand gesture, and he immediately knew what was happening. He started to ring the alarm bell while the woman was screaming about the presence of mermaids. In every section of the ship, there were women present, either helping out in various tasks or as maids, but all were trained for the emergency in case the magical beings lured men with their song. Women were immune to such charms, so Richard ensured all females on the ship were adequately trained. As the alarms sounded, every man received earplugs, and no essential crew members were evacuated into the storage while others were guided by their female companions. "My Lord!" A woman with short ginger hair busted into the warehouse where Duke worked. "There is a Mermaid alarm!" She shouted as she approached him. From her attire and physique, she appeared more of a warrior type than anything else. A short sword hung from her belt, indicating she had fighting experience. The men who were accompanying Richard turned pale from the news, while their master seemed not concerned. "That's it, unfortunate." It was all he said when she approached and handed the man earplugs. "Take them to safety; I will see the situation myself." He spoke to the woman, and she made a significant gesture that she understood his order.

Aravis looked at the young maid; the mermaids were nothing to her. She was not terrified nor worried. Slowly she stood up and walked outside the bedroom while tying up her eyes so the sunlight wouldn't bother her.

Once on the ship's upper level, she looked around the sea. It was not just five or six... It was more than twenty. ' damn it...' she thought to herself. She gently started to sing a song. It was the same song the mermaids were singing but reversed. The mermaids heard of it, and instead of retreating, one of them wrapped Aravis's neck with a long seaweed whip and pulled her by force into her water without giving a second for the young princess to react. The mermaids used to be weak creatures, but it seemed that over the years of the battlefield, they saw how things worked out; they lost their houses, their people, and so many other valuable things. Those creatures were lured into the middle sea, fed by man's blood which gave them strength and kept them alive. They used to do that every full moon, but now they don't care because they are angry towards humans, seeking revenge. So they made weapons from the material sea and got trained to attack anyone who would do them wrong or if they came face to face with the one who took everything from them... That would be Aravis.

"P-Princess, you should not leave outside."

The maid said worriedly and tried to stop the girl, but Aravis did not listen to her and just headed outside. The sounds of gunshots were deafening as the men attempted to repel the sea monsters. Some women were casting fire and ice magic to burn or freeze to death the enemy. Some got wounded by the spears and arrows made from materials found in the sea. Everyone was trained and experienced in a sea battle, but they did not expect this tenaciousness. The maid followed Aravis, scared of the fight and the noise. She did not manage to be brave enough to step away to the deck and just hid behind the doors.

"Princess! Come back!"

She called her again, begging to return to safety. The sight of blood and violence sends shivers down the maid's spine. When Aravis started to sing, she looked at her, both confused and charmed. However, the crew ignored her song and overlooked the girl as they fought the arrows and stones aimed at them. The maid gasped in shock when the whip grabbed the princess and pulled her into the water.

"Princess!!"

She screamed in fear. As this tragedy took place, Richard, armed with his gun and sword, rushed to the deck to take command and support his crew. Aravis might not know how to swim, but she did her very best to fight back, save herself from this and try to go up on the water to call Richard or anyone. In the deep, cold sea, Aravis saw the sunlight since the fabric got untied, which amazed her. Her body weakened from the cold water; she kept falling deeper into the sea with her breath being on its limits. Her eyes slowly closed, and the last she heard was the voice of her father yelling at her about something. Richard reached the same doors where the maid stood in horror, screaming for the princess. Duke did not hear her scream, but as he saw her, he frowned, grabbed her shoulder, and turned her around.

"What are you doing here?! Return to back inside!" He yelled at the woman who looked at him, scared with wide-open eyes. When she realized it was the Duke, she grabbed his arms and started panicking.

"The Princess! My Lord! The Princess has been captured!" She tried to tell him, but Duke just looked at her, confused. He saw something was wrong, and she wanted to tell him, but he couldn't remove his earplugs. But he recognized she was saying the word "Princess."

"Princess, Aravis?" He asked angrily. "Where is she?!" He asked the woman, who started to shake a bit before grabbing his hand, pulling him outside, and pointing at the sea. No more explanation was needed, and Richard rushed in the direction she told him. He leaned over the deck and looked into the water. Richard spotted some shadows in the water going deeper. His heart dropped as he imagined Aravis drowning. He clenched his teeth with fury. "You stupid girl!" He yelled before reaching into his secret pouch and shoving a handful of shiny golden balls into his mouth. And just a second later, his eyes and hair shined with golden light like the sun. This sudden burst of light confused both his crew and the mermaids. But none had time to see where the glow was coming from as the Duke jumped into the water. In-depth,  he saw Aravis with horror, but then the noble aimed his clawed hands toward the mermaids and gripped his hands. The water suddenly squeezed the mermaids, brutally crushing them into a pulp. Each and one of the aggressors was just turned into a bloody cloud that slowly dispersed into the water. Once all were killed, he aimed his open palm toward Aravis, but something or better, someone was preventing this movement from happening. Then the young nobleman noticed more mermaids arrived to rescue their queen. They had surrounded him. His golden eyes looked around as his hair was waving. He knew he was almost running out of time and oxygen. He had to think something fast but also have the best results too.

"You better let us take our revenge by killing her, your grace." the queen spoke to him as kindly as she good since she recognized him from the brooch, a dark sun, holding the heavy dark clock. Richard's eyes met the deadly dark white eyes of the siren; then both looked at Aravis, who was wrapped by seaweed and was guarded by two mermaids who hissed at him. The queen didn't take her eyes, not one second from Duke.

"We know who you are..." she said, then looked at Aravis. "And who she is. You are well known in our houses with good fame. Et Solah Soleam*... But she is a monster. The Beast. It would be wise if you didn't play games with her before it's too late," she warned him as she looked at the unconscious princess. "If you are willing to take her, fine. But be ready for the biggest war in history, my lord. And I am afraid we won't take your side because she will cause it. "

*The Golden Sun