Chapter 1045: The Princess of Atlantis

A few hours later, the room was already much brighter with the afternoon light when the door opened again.

Ariel turned her face immediately, expecting to find Frieren or one of the staff members who had come by several times to check her condition since she woke up. Instead, she found a man she had never seen before entering the room alone.

Strax closed the door behind him and immediately noticed a rather obvious change.

The tail was gone.

In place of the long bluish tail covered in scales that had occupied practically the entire bed for the last three days, there were now two human legs beneath the sheets. Frieren had apparently already provided suitable clothes for her, because Ariel wore something simple and comfortable while sitting with her back supported against several pillows.

Strax looked at her feet for a few seconds.

Ariel followed his gaze and then looked back at him.

The two remained silent for a moment.

"So you can do that." Strax commented while discreetly pointing toward her legs and walking to the chair positioned beside the bed.

"It would be quite inconvenient to visit the surface while dragging a tail everywhere." Ariel replied while moving her toes, still completely recovering the sensation after spending three days without assuming that form.

Strax could not disagree.

He pulled the chair a little closer and sat down, resting his arms comfortably on it. Ariel watched him with obvious curiosity, mainly because that man was not wearing any medical uniform and did not look like an ordinary employee of that place either.

"My name is Strax. I’m the leader of Asgard." Strax introduced himself while slightly inclining his head in greeting, preferring to immediately eliminate any doubt about why he was there.

Ariel straightened her posture a little.

Now she understood.

Frieren had mentioned that she would inform other people about her awakening, but she had not expected the ruler of the city himself to appear a few hours later.

"So you were the one who allowed them to bring me here." Ariel concluded while examining Strax a little more carefully, trying to associate that relatively calm man with the city where she had awakened.

"Basically. A gigantic squid crossed the ice barrier I placed over the ocean and appeared carrying you unconscious." Strax explained while remembering the almost absurd way that creature had simply forced its way through the Black Ice.

Ariel could not avoid a small smile.

"Frank." Ariel murmured while seeming much more comfortable hearing once again that her companion had managed to find her after the accident.

Strax raised an eyebrow.

"So that really is his name." Strax commented while finally confirming that Frieren had not misunderstood when she told him about her first conversation with the mermaid.

Ariel nodded.

"He takes care of me when I need to leave Atlantis." Ariel explained while discreetly moving her feet beneath the sheet, testing whether she could already move them normally.

That immediately caught Strax’s attention.

Atlantis.

He stored the information for now and decided to first finish what he had come to explain.

"When Frank arrived, you were completely unconscious. He managed to show us more or less what happened, but not exactly all the details." Strax explained while leaning slightly forward in the chair.

Ariel paid attention.

"My theory is that the disturbance that happened in the ocean hit you directly. There was an absurd amount of energy spreading through the water, enough to create tidal waves, reverse currents and cause earthquakes in several regions." Strax continued while observing her reaction upon hearing the scale of the calamity.

Ariel frowned slightly.

"Frieren told me a little about that." Ariel replied while once again trying to find something among her fragmented memories.

Strax nodded.

"Frank showed that you were hit by something, thrown against coral and lost consciousness. Considering the condition of your mana channels when you arrived, you probably took that energy almost head-on." Strax explained while avoiding mentioning Poseidon for now, interested first in what she herself remembered.

Ariel closed her eyes for a few seconds.

She could see small fragments.

The waters moving.

A strange pressure.

An almost electric sensation running through her entire body.

Then something enormous.

Not physically enormous.

Energetically.

"My memory is still quite confused, but I believe that was it." Ariel replied while slowly bringing one hand to the side of her head, although she avoided touching the injured area after Frieren’s numerous warnings.

She tried to concentrate a little more.

"I remember feeling something very strong. I couldn’t identify what it was before I was hit." Ariel continued while her gaze became lost for a few moments on the wall ahead.

The next memory was much simpler.

Pain.

Her body spinning uncontrollably through the water.

Then nothing.

"It was strong enough that I couldn’t react. By the time I realized it, I was already being thrown away. After that, I woke up here." Ariel concluded while slowly exhaling and giving up on forcing the memory at that moment.

Strax continued observing her.

That remained consistent with everything they knew.

It still did not explain why divine power was inside her.

But at least it confirmed that Ariel did not seem to have consciously caused the disaster.

She then realized that she still had not done something quite basic.

"I’m Ariel." Ariel introduced herself while tucking a strand of her long red hair behind her ear.

Strax waited.

"Princess of Atlantis." Ariel completed while her posture naturally gained a little more formality as she revealed her position.

Strax stared at her for a few seconds.

Then slowly nodded.

"I figured something like that existed." Strax replied while seeming much less surprised by Atlantis than Ariel had probably expected.

She tilted her head slightly.

"You knew about Atlantis?" Ariel asked while carefully observing his expression.

"No. But I suspected there was something between the continents." Strax replied while resting his face on one hand and remembering the maps he had looked at countless times.

There was an enormous maritime region that had always seemed strange.

Too large.

Too empty.

"There’s a gigantic area of the ocean where there is practically no apparent activity. Few animals are found near the surface, trade routes completely avoid the region and not even exploration ships usually cross that place." Strax explained while vaguely tracing with one finger in the air the region he remembered from the maps.

Ariel remained silent for a few seconds.

Strax noticed immediately.

"So there really is something there." Strax concluded while a small smile appeared on his face.

Ariel seemed to consider for a few moments whether she should answer.

Then she simply shrugged.

"Atlantis." Ariel confirmed while relaxing against the pillows again.

Strax let out a small laugh.

That explained quite a lot.

"Why does no one find you?" Strax asked while already imagining that an entire kingdom at the bottom of the ocean must have some very efficient method of avoiding visitors.

Ariel answered with surprising naturalness.

"We sink the ships." Ariel explained while calmly folding her hands over her lap.

Strax fell silent.

Ariel did too.

"You sink the ships." Strax repeated while looking at her to confirm that he had actually understood correctly.

"The ones that get too close to the kingdom." Ariel clarified while seeming to consider that practice completely normal.

Strax leaned back in the chair.

"That explains quite a lot." Strax commented while remembering the number of reports about ships disappearing in that region that had probably just gained an extremely simple explanation.

Ariel showed no particular guilt.

"It’s a protective measure. Atlantis has remained hidden for a long time precisely because we don’t allow the people of the surface to get close enough to find our borders." Ariel explained while slowly moving one of her legs beneath the sheet, beginning to regain a little more control over the transformation.

She looked directly at Strax.

"If a ship gets too close, we prevent it from continuing." Ariel added while her expression made it clear that the rule had existed long before she was born.

Strax raised an eyebrow.

"You’re being quite open with me about the location of your kingdom and about you sinking any idiot who gets too close to it." Strax observed while drumming his fingers against the arm of the chair.

Ariel noticed the question hidden in that observation.

"You want to know if I’m not afraid you’ll attack Atlantis." Ariel concluded while a small smile appeared on her face.

"Basically." Strax replied while seeing no need to pretend otherwise.

Ariel slowly shook her head.

"No." Ariel replied while her eyes briefly moved around the room before returning to him.

Strax waited for the explanation.

"I woke up in an unfamiliar place after remaining unconscious for three days. You could have done anything to me during that time." Ariel began while raising one hand and observing the small traces of the injuries that had already been treated.

She continued calmly.

"Instead, I woke up in a clean bed, with my belongings organized, my injuries treated and people coming in here every twenty minutes to make sure I’m still breathing properly." Ariel explained while remembering the almost irritating number of times someone had appeared since she woke up.

Strax almost smiled.

Frieren really had followed the order.

"Someone capable of organizing so many specialists just to watch over a stranger found in the ocean doesn’t seem particularly interested in attacking my kingdom for no reason." Ariel continued while examining Strax with curiosity.

She shifted her eyes toward the door.

"And the doctor taking care of me is quite attentive. A little strange, but attentive." Ariel added while mainly remembering Frieren’s complete lack of delicacy when saying she did not know much about fish.

Strax stared at her for two seconds.

Then he started laughing.

Ariel frowned.

"What?" Ariel asked while unable to identify what she had said that was so funny.

Strax tried to control his laughter.

"The doctor." Strax replied while vaguely pointing toward the door through which Frieren would probably appear again later.

Ariel still did not understand.

"Yes, Frieren." Ariel replied while waiting for some explanation for that reaction.

Strax ran a hand over his face.

"She’s not exactly a doctor." Strax explained while still wearing an amused smile.

Ariel blinked.

"She wears a coat, performed examinations, diagnosed my injuries and is treating me." Ariel argued while seeming quite convinced that this fit perfectly within the definition of a doctor.

"She knows how to do all of that. It’s just not her main occupation." Strax replied while relaxing in the chair again.

Ariel began to grow curious.

"Then what is she?" Ariel asked while tilting her head slightly.

Strax answered as if he were saying the most ordinary thing in the world.

"The former Queen of the Elves." Strax revealed while carefully observing the mermaid’s reaction.

Ariel’s mouth opened.

Strax was not finished yet.

"And currently a succubus." Strax added while the shock on the princess’s face made the situation even more amusing.

Ariel remained literally open-mouthed.

She looked at Strax.

Then at the door.

Then back at Strax again.

"That woman is a former Queen of the Elves?" Ariel asked while trying to reconcile the image of the woman in a white coat who had complained about not understanding fish with that of a former elven sovereign.

"She was." Strax confirmed while making a small affirmative gesture with his head.

Ariel still seemed unable to fully process it.

"And now she’s a succubus?" Ariel asked while immediately remembering the demonic horns she had seen on her.

"Yes." Strax replied while unable to hide his amusement at the princess’s growing confusion.

Ariel fell silent.

Strax laughed again.

"You’ll find that Asgard has some strange people." Strax commented while finally standing from the chair.

Ariel looked him up and down.

After discovering that the ruler of that city apparently had a former Queen of the Elves turned succubus working in a white coat in a medical wing, she was beginning to believe that statement.

Strax pushed the chair back toward the wall.

"Rest for now. We can talk properly when you can walk without Frieren threatening to tie you to the bed again." Strax said while casting a brief glance at the princess’s newly formed legs.

Ariel immediately looked at her own legs.

"I can already move them." Ariel replied while raising one foot a few centimeters beneath the sheet, apparently proud of that small demonstration.

Strax watched.

"Moving isn’t walking." Strax reminded her while imagining Frieren discovering that her patient had tried to walk around only a few hours after waking from a coma.

Ariel made a small grimace.

"I know." Ariel replied while lowering her leg again and settling against the pillows.

Strax walked to the door.

"Until you’re completely recovered, I’m going to ask them to continue monitoring your condition. We don’t know exactly what that energy did to your body and we’re still trying to understand what happened in the ocean." Strax explained while his expression became a little more serious.

Ariel also lost some of her lightness.

"Atlantis may have been hit." Ariel murmured while that possibility finally seemed to gain greater weight now that her mind was functioning clearly.

Strax stopped before opening the door.

"It’s possible." Strax replied while avoiding reassuring her with a certainty he did not possess.

Ariel tightened her grip on the sheet slightly.

Strax noticed.

"Frank remained near Asgard waiting for you to wake up. If something catastrophic had happened to Atlantis and he knew about it, I imagine he would have tried to communicate it to us." Strax added while offering the only concrete information that could ease that concern a little.

Ariel relaxed her fingers slightly.

"He would have." Ariel confirmed while knowing Frank well enough to know that the creature would not remain calmly waiting if Atlantis were being destroyed.

Strax opened the door.

"So recover first. Then we’ll figure out the rest." Strax said while remaining at the entrance for a few more seconds.

Ariel nodded.

"I’ll recover quickly now that I’m awake." Ariel assured him while moving her toes again, clearly determined to leave that bed as soon as possible.

Strax smiled.

"I hope so." Strax replied before walking through the door and leaving the princess alone to rest.

Ariel remained watching the closed door for a few seconds.

Then looked at her own legs.

Then at the room.

A former Queen of the Elves turned succubus was taking care of her.

A man who could apparently freeze kilometers of ocean ruled the city.

Frank was waiting outside.

And she had just revealed to that same man that Atlantis sank vessels that came too close to its borders.

Ariel slowly exhaled and let her head fall back against the pillow.

Maybe Frieren was right.

She really did need to rest.