From another world. Our god.
Ethan didn’t react.
Cool night air slid through the cracked window and brushed over them—one inside the room, one in the doorway.
Ethan held Delanna’s gaze for a beat… then turned and walked back into the room.
He didn’t close the door. He simply stepped aside, allowing her to enter if she dared.
Our god, Ethan thought.
The System.
Delanna’s phrasing made one thing clear: at some point in the distant past—maybe before the Seven ascended—the System had touched the merfolk.
And they didn’t seem to hate it.
They called it a god.
Maybe they even served it.
Ethan also caught something else: the System was adaptable.
In a world where gods were real, it wore the mask of divinity. In a modern world without magic, it presented itself as a “game” and a “system.”
He remembered Delanna’s word for Players.
Travelers.
A local term the System had likely fed them because it fit their worldview.
Delanna walked in like she owned the room, smile gentle, eyes bright.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“You did,” Ethan said, deadpan.
Delanna laughed. “Naturally. Humans are always startled by mermaids.”
She leaned closer, voice turning conspiratorial. “Tell me, do you humans really believe male mermaids exist?”
“Do they?” Ethan asked.
Her lips curved. “No. Those are fish-men. Different species entirely—upper body fish, lower body human. Clumsy things.”
Ethan nodded as if filing trivia.
He asked, “I’ve heard mermaids were once angels. The Seven cut off your wings and cast you into the sea. True?”
Delanna blinked, amused.
So the Traveler is probing.
If she spoke too much about merfolk and the Seven, she’d inevitably brush against the Creator—the god behind the Travelers.
Clever.
“Yes,” she said lightly. “That part is true.”
She sidestepped neatly, smile turning mischievous.
“And the Seven cursed us, too. I’m sure you’re curious how we reproduce without men.”
Ethan thought: I am not curious at all.
He said, “A little.”
Delanna’s eyes gleamed. “Every midsummer, we leave the deep. We swim to the surface or to empty islands and… entice human men.”
She sighed dreamily, as if it was a romance, not a hunt. “Sailors are always an excellent choice. They’re lonely. They’re brave. They tell themselves they’re immune to temptation.”
“That answer isn’t surprising,” Ethan said.
Delanna pouted—actually pouted. “How boring.”
She lifted a finger. “But no men isn’t the Seven’s curse.”
Ethan’s interest sharpened. “Then what is?”
“Power,” Delanna said, tilting her head so her curls fell like silk. “The Seven cursed us to become creatures that are neither fully human nor fully fish. And worse…”
Her smile returned, bright and cruel.
“They decreed that only after receiving true, sincere love could a mermaid walk the supernatural path.”
Ethan blinked once.
A curse that read like a children’s story.
He couldn’t help thinking the Seven were petty.
Delanna, however, looked smug. “The Seven underestimated us. And they overestimated their human followers.”
She spread her hands, as if presenting evidence.
“We lost our wings, but not our beauty. Our legs became tails… and humans prefer us even more now.”
Ethan stared at her for a long moment, then said evenly, “So the Seven gave you a curse… and gave their followers a fetish.”
Delanna’s smile faltered.
The room cooled.
Ethan kept going, calm and relentless.
“And you took the deep-sea city away. Cut off the path to demigodhood. That’s not an accident, is it? That’s revenge.”
Delanna’s eyes dimmed, grief surfacing beneath all that practiced charm.
Most humans wouldn’t notice that. Wouldn’t connect those dots.
Ethan did.
She let out a slow breath, and the flirtation dropped away like a discarded mask.
In their back-and-forth—dodging key questions, baiting each other—Delanna realized she’d lost.
This Traveler was sharp.
Now she stopped dancing.
“I know your soul is from another world,” she said. “You’re a Traveler. And I know the god that speaks to you in your mind.”
She chose her words carefully.
“We call it the Creator. The one true god beneath the countless stars.”
Ethan didn’t respond.
The System’s warning echoed inside him—cold and absolute:
Don’t expose your Player identity.
Don’t reveal the game to non-Players.
He didn’t know whether merfolk counted as an exception.
He wasn’t going to gamble his life on Delanna’s smile.
“I know your rules,” Delanna said gently. “But we merfolk once worshiped the Creator. We were sheltered by it. You don’t need to—”
She stopped.
She saw the same thing Ethan saw: he wouldn’t bend just because she asked nicely.
Delanna sighed, then pivoted, offering a different angle.
“You can test it,” she said. “Find another Traveler. Let him break the taboo and speak to me about your god. See whether the Creator punishes him.”
Another Traveler.
Ethan’s brow lifted, barely.
Delanna continued, voice low.
“He conspired with the Gargoyle Mother. I believe he meant to harm another world.”
Ethan’s pulse ticked faster.
Someone like him. A Player. But twisted.
“What do you know about him?” Ethan asked, careful with his phrasing.
Delanna nodded, pleased she’d finally hooked his interest.
“He was a Hunter, like you,” she said. “But his eyes were red. His aura was chaos.
“After the Sorrow Theater’s lights all turned on, he sought out the Gargoyle Mother and received power from her. When those troll spirits changed the ritual and trapped her, he fled in the confusion.”
Delanna’s tail wasn’t visible now, but Ethan could hear the satisfaction in her voice.
“He escaped by ship. Into the sea.”
Ethan’s mind raced. A rogue Player, empowered by the Gargoyle Mother, loose on the ocean.
Where?
He kept his voice flat. “Where is he now?”
“I can divine it,” Delanna said. “But I need my mirror. Consider it the price of my gift.”
Every gift has a price.
Even that line—Delanna knew it.
Ethan didn’t show his reaction. “Where’s the mirror?”
“On an uninhabited island,” Delanna said. “But I want you to go in person.”
Ethan was already thinking about sending troll warriors.
Delanna read him instantly and added, quickly, “I’m not trying to toy with you. It’s because the mirror is stored with something that belongs to the Huntress Goddess.”
Her gaze sharpened.
“As a Hunter, if you see it… you’ll understand the Seven’s situation right now.”
—