Chapter 1046: The Call Beneath the Ice

Ariel really intended to rest.

At least that was what she told herself during the first twenty minutes after Strax left the room. She remained lying down, staring at the ceiling and trying to organize everything she had discovered since waking up. Atlantis was far away, Frank remained near Asgard, three days had disappeared from her memory and, at some point during that interval, the entire ocean had apparently decided to go mad. Pasted Markdown

After a few more minutes, staying still began to bother her.

Ariel slowly pushed the sheets aside.

Her legs were there, perfectly formed, although they still felt a little strange after spending so long maintaining her true form. She wiggled her toes, bent her knees a few times and realized there was no pain.

That was enough.

At least in her opinion.

Ariel carefully turned her body and lowered her legs out of the bed. Her feet touched the cold floor and she remained like that for a few seconds, waiting for any dizziness to appear.

Nothing.

A small smile appeared on her face.

"See? I said I would recover quickly." Ariel murmured with satisfaction while placing both hands on the mattress and beginning to shift her weight onto her legs.

She managed to stand.

For approximately two seconds.

Then her knees simply gave up.

"Oops..." Ariel let out as her body fell forward before she could even grab the side of the bed.

A hand grabbed her arm.

Another wrapped around her waist.

Ariel was left suspended a few centimeters above the floor and slowly turned her head.

Frieren was beside her.

The former elf stared at her without any expression.

"Don’t say anything." Ariel asked while avoiding looking directly at Frieren and silently accepting being placed back on the bed.

Frieren adjusted the patient against the pillows and pulled the sheets back over her legs.

"I didn’t say anything." Frieren replied while crossing her arms and continuing to stare at Ariel.

The silence lasted a few seconds.

Ariel began to feel uncomfortable.

"You’re thinking." Ariel accused while narrowing her eyes at that absolutely neutral expression.

"I’m thinking that Strax left here less than half an hour ago after telling you to rest." Frieren replied while pulling over the chair he had used earlier and sitting in front of the bed.

Ariel looked away.

"I rested." Ariel argued while tucking a red strand behind her ear and trying to look perfectly reasonable.

Frieren continued staring at her.

"For twenty-seven minutes." Frieren replied while looking at the small magical clock attached to the wall.

Ariel looked at the same clock.

That had been strangely specific.

"Twenty-seven minutes is still rest." Ariel declared while crossing her arms and seeming willing to defend that interpretation.

Frieren let out a sigh.

"I’m starting to understand why that squid crossed kilometers of Black Ice to personally deliver you for someone else to take care of." Frieren commented while placing a small bag she had brought with her on the table.

Ariel opened her mouth to reply.

Then closed it.

Frank would probably do exactly that.

Frieren began removing some materials from the bag, including small crystals, two vials and a thin metal plate covered in magical inscriptions.

"Now that you’re conscious, I can finally start treating the most important damage." Frieren explained while pulling the chair closer and placing two fingers on Ariel’s wrist.

The princess immediately forgot the small argument.

"My mana channels?" Ariel asked while watching a faint light begin to emerge from Frieren’s fingers.

"Mainly those. Your brain also suffered considerable trauma, but it has been responding well since you woke up. I’m not going to interfere with it directly unless necessary." Frieren explained while sending a minimal amount of mana into the mermaid’s body.

Ariel felt it immediately.

It was a strange sensation.

Frieren’s energy did not try to dominate or replace her own mana. It simply traveled slowly through the channels, touching the damaged regions and retreating whenever it encountered any resistance.

Frieren closed her eyes.

The damage was still extensive.

But something had changed.

"Interesting." Frieren murmured while slightly increasing the flow of energy and examining a region that three days earlier had possessed several small ruptures.

Ariel watched her expression.

"Is that a good interesting or a bad interesting?" Ariel asked while remaining still so as not to interfere with the examination.

"Good." Frieren replied while moving her fingers a few centimeters along the princess’s arm and following the path of another channel.

She found the same thing.

Recovery.

Much faster than expected.

"Your body is regenerating the channels on its own at a fairly high speed. Some of the ruptures I found when you arrived have practically disappeared." Frieren explained while removing her hand for a few seconds.

Ariel seemed to consider that normal.

"We’re hard to kill." Ariel replied while shrugging and immediately receiving a curious look from Frieren.

The former elf placed her hand back on her arm.

"Is that a characteristic of mermaids?" Frieren asked while resuming the treatment, now beginning to carefully reinforce the regions that had recovered enough.

"Of the inhabitants of Atlantis in general. Our bodies recover better as long as they have plenty of mana and water." Ariel explained while feeling a slight tingling travel through her arms.

Frieren looked at the glass of water on the table.

Then looked back at Ariel.

"You should have mentioned the water part earlier." Frieren commented while clearly beginning to reconsider the conditions of the room.

Ariel blinked.

"I was unconscious." Ariel replied while spreading her hands as if that were a rather difficult defense to dispute.

Frieren remained silent for a moment.

"Fair." Frieren admitted while returning to work.

Ariel smiled.

During the next few minutes, Frieren began carefully repairing the most damaged channels. Now that Ariel was conscious, she could ask whenever a different sensation appeared and immediately interrupt the magic if there was pain.

The recovery progressed without major problems.

Until Frieren reached near the princess’s mana center.

Her energy stopped.

Ariel noticed.

"What is it?" Ariel asked while watching Frieren’s expression become much more focused.

Frieren did not answer immediately.

There was something there.

An enormous amount of energy remained deeply lodged inside the mermaid’s body. She had already noticed it before, but had avoided exploring while Ariel was unconscious.

Now she could feel it better.

It did not feel like ordinary mana.

It also did not seem to belong completely to Ariel herself.

It was heavy.

Ancient.

And so deeply integrated into her channels that Frieren could not simply separate one thing from the other.

"Have you always had such a large amount of energy inside your body?" Frieren asked while immediately withdrawing her own mana, preferring not to touch that presence any further without understanding what she was doing.

Ariel frowned.

"I’m the princess of Atlantis. I have plenty of mana." Ariel replied while seeming not to understand exactly what Frieren meant.

"I’m not talking about your mana." Frieren explained while carefully observing her reaction.

Ariel fell silent.

Frieren pointed to the region just below her chest.

"There’s something else inside you. A different energy, extremely concentrated. I noticed it while you were unconscious, but I thought it might be a consequence of the explosion that hit you." Frieren explained while avoiding immediately mentioning Strax’s suspicions.

Ariel placed a hand on her own chest.

She felt nothing different.

"I don’t know." Ariel replied while her expression finally gained some concern.

Frieren observed her for a few seconds.

No hesitation.

No sign that she was hiding anything.

"Don’t try to access your mana." Frieren asked while beginning to put away some of the materials used during the treatment.

Ariel immediately looked at her.

"Why?" Ariel asked while keeping her hand over her chest.

"Because your channels are still recovering and because there’s an unknown amount of energy inside them. Until we understand how the two things interact, I’d rather you not find out in the worst way possible." Frieren explained while closing one of the small vials.

Ariel did not like it.

But she could understand.

"All right." Ariel agreed while slowly removing her hand from her chest.

Frieren nodded in satisfaction.

"Good. You’re a more cooperative patient when you’re sitting down." Frieren commented while beginning to gather the crystals used during the treatment.

Ariel narrowed her eyes.

"I can walk." Ariel insisted while pointing at her own legs.

Frieren looked at her.

"You fell." Frieren reminded while placing the last crystal inside the bag.

"I almost walked." Ariel corrected while raising one finger.

Frieren spent a few seconds staring at her.

"That didn’t improve your defense." Frieren replied while standing from the chair.

Ariel huffed quietly.

Before she could continue that argument, someone knocked on the door.

Frieren allowed them in and an employee appeared carrying a tray. There were sliced fruits, bread, a small bowl of soup, fish and plenty of water.

Ariel’s eyes immediately went to the food.

Her stomach responded before she did.

A small sound crossed the room.

Ariel froze.

Frieren looked at her.

"Three days." Frieren commented while taking the tray from the employee and placing it on a small movable table.

Ariel looked away.

"I know." Ariel replied while trying to preserve some dignity after her own stomach had betrayed her.

Frieren moved the table closer.

"Eat slowly. Your body spent three days receiving only liquid nutrients and support magic." Frieren instructed while pushing the tray into a comfortable position over the bed.

Ariel looked at the fish.

Then at Frieren.

"You’re giving me fish." Ariel commented while pointing at the plate.

Frieren looked at the fish.

Then at Ariel.

"Yes." Frieren replied while clearly not understanding the problem.

Ariel held back a laugh.

"You know I’m a mermaid." Ariel reminded while her eyes shone with growing amusement.

Frieren crossed her arms.

"Do you eat fish?" Frieren asked while, for the first time, seeming to consider that perhaps she had made some extremely inconvenient cultural mistake.

Ariel let the silence stretch.

Frieren began to become suspicious.

Then Ariel smiled.

"We do." Ariel replied while picking up the fork and calmly cutting a piece.

Frieren closed her eyes for a second.

"Don’t do that." Frieren asked while letting out a sigh and bringing a hand to her face.

Ariel laughed.

"Sorry. Your expression was great." Ariel replied while bringing the first piece to her mouth.

Frieren decided not to answer.

A few minutes later, the food had disappeared at a speed that completely contradicted the instruction to eat slowly.

Frieren watched with an almost impressed expression.

"You were really hungry." Frieren commented while Ariel finished drinking another glass of water.

"Three days." Ariel returned while placing the empty glass on the tray and using against Frieren exactly the same justification she had heard minutes earlier.

Frieren accepted defeat.

After eating, Ariel seemed to regain even more color. Her posture was better, the weakness had diminished and even her movements seemed much more natural.

She looked toward the window.

From where she was, she could see a small part of Asgard.

Buildings.

Movement in the streets.

Creatures flying in the distance.

And far beyond them, a dark strip that was probably the Black Ice over the ocean.

Ariel became serious.

"I’d like to see Frank." Ariel asked while continuing to look at the window.

Frieren followed her gaze.

"Not today." Frieren replied while beginning to remove the empty tray from the bed.

Ariel immediately turned her face.

"Frieren." Ariel called while clearly already preparing some argument.

"No." Frieren replied while calmly continuing to organize the tray.

Ariel took a deep breath.

"He spent three days waiting for me." Ariel argued while trying to keep her voice reasonable.

Frieren looked at her.

"He can also wait a few more hours until you stop falling when you try to stand." Frieren replied while indicating her legs.

Ariel pressed her lips together.

It was difficult to argue against facts.

"Then tomorrow." Ariel proposed while placing her hands on the mattress.

Frieren thought for a few seconds.

"If your channels continue recovering at this rate and you can cross this room without falling, tomorrow we can talk about it." Frieren replied while deliberately avoiding promising anything.

Ariel smiled immediately.

"Deal." Ariel replied while extending her hand before Frieren could change her mind.

Frieren looked at that hand.

"I didn’t agree to anything." Frieren clarified while picking up the tray and beginning to walk toward the door.

Ariel continued smiling.

To her, that was practically a confirmation already.

Frieren reached the door and stopped.

"Ah, and Ariel." Frieren called while turning her face slightly toward the princess.

Ariel looked at her.

"Yes?" Ariel replied while adjusting the pillows behind her back again.

"Don’t try to walk when I leave." Frieren warned while her eyes deliberately lowered to the mermaid’s legs.

Ariel remained still.

"I would never do that." Ariel replied while placing one hand over her chest with an exaggeratedly innocent expression.

Frieren stared at her.

Ariel maintained the expression.

Frieren opened the door.

"I’m going to send someone to stay outside." Frieren informed while crossing the doorway without trusting that promise in the slightest.

Ariel let her shoulders drop.

"That’s unnecessary." Ariel complained while watching Frieren leave.

"You almost fell in less than half an hour alone." Frieren replied while beginning to close the door.

Ariel found no answer to that.

The door closed.

The room became silent again.

Ariel waited a few seconds.

Then discreetly pushed the sheets aside.

Placed one foot on the floor.

Then the other.

She held firmly onto the side of the bed before shifting her weight.

This time her legs trembled, but did not give out.

Ariel smiled.

"One." Ariel counted quietly while taking the first step and keeping both hands ready to grab anything nearby.

The second was easier.

The third too.

On the fourth, her legs nearly failed again, forcing her to quickly grab the small table beside her.

Ariel took a deep breath.

Waited.

Continued.

When she reached the window, she was panting as if she had crossed kilometers swimming against a current.

But she had made it.

She placed both hands on the windowsill and finally managed to see the outside more clearly.

Asgard spread before her.

The city was much larger than she had imagined.

There were people of countless races crossing the streets, flying creatures passing above the buildings and structures Ariel did not recognize. Farther away, walls protected the coastal region.

And beyond them...

Ariel stopped.

The ocean was black.

Not the water.

The ice.

A gigantic expanse of Black Ice covered the sea so far that her eyes could barely find the point where it ended.

Ariel spent a few seconds simply staring at it.

Strax had said he had frozen the coast.

She had imagined a barrier.

Maybe a few hundred meters.

Not that.

"That was him...?" Ariel murmured while beginning to understand a little better why the man who had entered her room had seemed so unconcerned upon discovering that Atlantis had means of sinking entire ships.

Then it happened.

The smile disappeared.

Ariel felt something.

Very far away.

Far beneath that frozen expanse.

Her entire body became still.

For an instant, she believed it was only her mana reacting after Frieren’s treatment.

It wasn’t.

That came from the ocean.

A deep pulse crossed some part of her consciousness.

Ariel gripped the windowsill more tightly.

Her heart accelerated.

Another pulse.

This time clearer.

It did not seem like a voice.

There were no words.

Even so, something at the bottom of the sea seemed to be trying to reach her consciousness.

Ariel slowly brought one hand to her chest.

Exactly where Frieren had detected that unknown energy.

Something responded.

A pressure traveled through her mana channels.

Ariel widened her eyes.

"Ah..." Ariel let out while her legs lost strength again and she had to press all her weight against the wall to avoid falling.

Outside the room, the employee heard the noise.

The door opened immediately.

Ariel was still beside the window.

The employee remained motionless for a second.

Then looked at the empty bed.

Then at Ariel.

The princess smiled awkwardly.

"Before you say anything, I managed to get here by myself." Ariel explained while remaining clinging to the windowsill because at that moment she had absolutely no certainty she could make it back.

The employee took a deep breath.

Ariel immediately realized what was going to happen.

"You don’t need to call Frieren." Ariel asked while raising one hand.

The employee turned toward the corridor.

"Frieren!" The woman called while Ariel closed her eyes and slowly let her forehead rest against the glass.

Footsteps began approaching.

Ariel let out a sigh.

Maybe leaving Atlantis had been a mistake.

But while she waited for the inevitable scolding, her eyes returned to the frozen ocean.

That presence was still there.

And now Ariel was certain of one thing.

Whatever was calling from the depths was not calling only Strax.