Ball of Nothing

One month. This has got to be the shittiest lover in all of Indra Seagloo's history. Like a storm, this elvish lover came. Like a wave, this elvish lover left. Yet, this was the only time Queen Leah wasn't out for blood or in tears. In fact, it was possibly the only time the sea queen saw her ex-lover off with a big bright smile.

Zero waved and looked at the sparkling blue stone in the centre of her crown. Pepper nearly had a heart attack when he handed the gnome the queen's crown and told him to remove the gem in the centre. The poor gnome pleaded with him not to make him a gem theft accomplice, and Zero had to swear on everything that it really was given to him for that purpose and not stolen before Pepper removed it.

Replacing the gem was harder. Zero had to send a message to Rocket Mountain to search for a gem that looked similar to the Mermaid's Tear. In the end, Dorgon managed to secure a rare Grade S sapphire imbued with the ability to store mana and spells. Zero told Schaf to buy it no matter what and the merchant did a good job procuring the rare find to fashion it into the tiara's centrepiece with Pepper's help.

If that process of finding a good gem and installing it didn't take too long, Zero would have left sooner. However, he was glad that they spent a month in this beautiful underwater city. There were so many things that they received from being here. Pepper drew many schematics. Ottley and his crew exchanged a lot of information with Indra Seagloo's best shipwrights. The Marrissa had an upgrade, Monoman and Jermine had a very good holiday.

Only Bob and Truen looked slightly miserable as they weren't most compatible with water. Surrounded by a body of water many kilometres beneath the ocean surface made them feel ill after the second week. Leaving Indra Seagloo was probably the best news they heard in a while.

As the merfolk waved goodbye to the land-dwelling guests, Zero spotted a few disagreeable faces in the crowd. They were the faces of council members who had more work thanks to his suggestion. However, they were also a little glad that their respectable queen wasn't marrying a scumbag. The one who benefitted the most from their arrival had to be Priscilla who became close friends with Leah in their private time. Zero was happy for them. At least, Queen Leah was no longer alone or lonely. She had a kindred soul to share her happiness and sadness in this mysterious city.

"Engines running!"

"Rudders ready!"

"Preparing to launch in twenty. Close the hatch!"

There wasn't much time after the crew's announcement so Zero gave one last glance to the people he would leave behind in Indra Seagloo and hesitated for one moment.

Then, he tossed something into the air right at Queen Leah who caught it before the hatch closed. Puzzled, Queen Leah unwrapped the cloth package and smiled. These were tea seeds that she requested for. She was so happy he remembered and looked at the sinking ship that was already floating away from the dock.

"Thank you," she mouthed and gave them a boost with her powerful water magic.

Getting to Mystic Meadows was a long journey. It was a long way around the continent so Queen Leah told Zero to remain in her city for a little longer. It would be faster for Indra Seagloo to get close to the shores of Mystic Meadows than for the Marrissa to catch the underwater current there. Besides, with the protection of the merfolks, they wouldn't get attacked by sea monsters along the way.

Now that they were at the closest point to the cove that took them to Mystic Meadows, Queen Leah told Zero to prepare for departure. That one water boost from her was enough to send them hurtling to the surface. The sinking ship should be able to endure the pressure after modifications.

Everyone held onto something inside the Marrissa, strapped tight as their teeth knocked against each other from the force of Quen Leah's water propulsion.

Going up was fine but coming down almost made the trained captain pee from fright. Gravity worked its thing and brought the sinking ship into the water once more. Half the crew's souls were lagging and floating in the air as the ship fell, while the other half regretted joining the expedition.

Zero had a completely peaceful expression mirroring the Buddha's while Truen paled so much he looked more like a high elf than a wood elf. Bob simply escaped into the Mindscape to escape the shaking madness.

The Marrissa crashed back into the water with a crash. A few glued on scales floated loose, but thankfully, the ship's structure was heavily reinforced and suffered little to no damage upon impact. The same couldn't be said about the passengers on board but nobody was greatly hurt in the process.

"L-land ho!" someone from the vigilance room shouted and Ottley crawled to the steering wheel while sea otters stumbled to their posts.

Zero ran to the dock and unlocked the hatch. According to Queen Leah, they would be staring at Mystic Meadows after they surface. The sea otters had a long journey home and he didn't want to put the reliable crew, Monoman or Jermine at any unnecessary risks so Truen, Bob and Zero would split off from the crew after they saw Mystic Meadows.

"This is where we part," Zero grinned. Bob was already preparing to transform and Truen readied Sureshot. "Thank you for everything! I hope you have enough supplies to last till you return safely."

Ottley looked green but nodded and gave them a thumbs up. "Take care," he managed to groan before turning to the side to empty his lunch.

With a whoosh, Bob turned into a dragon and Zero hopped behind Truen who was already on his back. Together, the trio flew towards Mystic Meadows for the final ŀȧp of their long adventure on Earth.

It was time to find Nel.