Chapter 558: Time will tell

"You know I’d come back, Nerissa. Don’t act amused about it." Yasmin gritted out, annoyed, since she hated coming here at all, hated even more that Nerissa seemed to find amusement in her sneaking around behind her own family’s back. This was her third time being here.

"Hmm. I can’t help it, my dear lovely one," Nerissa said calmly, still hidden somewhere in the darkness, though her eyes remained sharp as they fixed on the young mermaid. "After all, you all locked me away here when all I’ve ever done is try to protect you from our enemy."

"I realized that too late, Nerissa. If you can still make things right the way you told me last time, by bringing Azmira back without hurting the rest of our family, then we can begin our plan to make that happen. It seems we really do share the same goal after all," Yasmin said.

Nerissa laughed softly.

"I would never hurt our own bloodline unless they chose to help our enemies first. I warned my sister not to trust them, but she never listened..." Nerissa said, genuine hurt threading through her voice as she glanced down at her chest, at the dark scales staining her skin black instead of their natural blue, the mark of her corruption. "Until he killed her and ended her life."

Nerissa had been left with the unbearable pain of watching her sister’s body hang before the eyes of all the werewolves. Vaelor had done it to show them that killing a mermaid would grant them an unstoppable ability like the one he had developed.

"I watched her body decay where it hung. I could smell it from the waters, knowing what they were doing to her, turning her into something for everyone to look at," the sea witch said, her words sounding almost as though she were talking to herself.

Because of him, Nerissa had become corrupted, selling herself to darkness so she could survive and avenge her sister. And now, the girl who carried more of Azmira than anyone else was following the same path as her twin. Nerissa wouldn’t allow it. She had to set things right and let the curse she’d placed on the Silvers run its natural course.

The Alpha had to destroy his own people, just as she had cursed him to do. He was never supposed to find his savior, Azmira’s reborn, who had been reborn in this time as Viola.

"Are we still going to do it as you said the last time, Nerrisa?" Yasmin asked the sea witch.

A barrier now stood between them in the cave, and Yasmin knew she had to be careful around her and not open that barrier yet until she knew they were on the same level.

Nerrisa looked at the young mermaid, who had no idea that the sea witch was no longer targeting only the Silver bloodline but also Azmira’s, determined to prevent her from returning.

"Yes. Vaelor carried a corrupted heart that developed after he killed Azmira. My curse was meant to activate that corruption with every full moon, subjecting him to endless pain and making him turn against his own people. The cure was supposed to be Azmira’s return. If you want to draw her back into the water, we can only trigger his corruption through loss. That will make her want to end his suffering somehow. She will have no choice but to embrace Azmira’s powers and leave him," Nerrisa explained calmly.

Yasmin nodded, not shy away from hurting the werewolf in anyway as long as it would pull The Child Of The Sea back to their side.

"Who are we going...to attack to trigger him?" The mermaid asked.

"Time will have to tell, dear. Only, I don’t have much time left," came the sea witch’s reply.

Nerissa swam around her barrier, moving closer to Yasmin, who couldn’t help noticing the age that had suddenly become apparent on the witch’s face. Her skin was wrinkled and weathered, and her eyes looked droopy and watery with age. She looked so hideous that the younger mermaid had to fight the urge to flinch.

Nerissa smirked. "I’m starting to look my age because I no longer have enough energy to maintain a youthful appearance."

Yasmin swallowed nervously. She knew the sea witch maintained her youthful appearance by draining the youth from younger mermaids, and the thought of becoming her next victim suddenly terrified her.

"Worry not. I won’t take your youth. You’re working with me," Nerissa assured her. For me, the witch added silently in her mind, watching the younger mermaid.

"My time is running out. According to the natural order of things, I wasn’t supposed to live this long. Just as my twin has been reborn, so have I. But before I let go, I have to make sure things fall in order..." Nerissa said, swimming slowly within her prison.

A body lay sleeping beside the barrier, and she glanced at it before continuing.

"I won’t be here much longer, but I have to make sure my reborn self follows my path, inherits my powers, and finishes what I started. We can’t have Azmira without having Nerissa, can we?" she asked with a smile, revealing her gnarled teeth and sharp fangs.

"I... don’t understand what you mean by your reborn self," Yasmin muttered, her eyes falling on the body inside Nerissa’s barrier.

Then the light from her palm fell upon the figure, and her eyes widened in recognition.

"H-how did you get him? My mother and the others have been looking for him. He’s a killer!" Yasmin exclaimed.

The sea witch burst out laughing.

"I have my ways of getting what I need, even locked away here. We need him, to trigger Sebastian’s corruption properly, this man is his worst enemy, the one person capable of truly destroying him. Don’t worry, once he’s done what he needs to do, we can kill him ourselves, for our family’s sake." Nerissa lied smoothly, looking down at Nick’s preserved body, soon to wake.

As much as Yasmin wanted Viola brought back fully to them, she didn’t love the idea of involving this particular werewolf in any of it. But Nerissa had lived far longer than she had, and surely knew exactly what she was doing.

"Is... is he your reborn self?" she asked, and the witch smiled.

"He wishes. But fortunately for me, he’s not. He’s just a means to an end."

"What do we do now?" Yasmin asked, her eyes still fixed on Nick’s peacefully sleeping face. Dark smoke rippled around him like a protective barrier as she wondered who could be the sea witch’s reborn self.

"For now... nothing. Let him enjoy her while it lasts and build a stronger bond with her. That’s what I need. We’ll let time take its course, and eventually, the version of me living in this life will realize what she’s here for." Nerissa smiled, looking down at the werewolf. "What’s destined to happen will happen. History will repeat itself." She chuckled.

Yasmin swallowed hard before speaking. "Whatever you’re planning, remember that she isn’t the enemy."

She reminded the elder mermaid, who only nodded.

"I know. She’s my twin sister, after all. How could I ever bring myself to hurt her?"