Ultimate Fairy: Chapter 9 (Patreon)

Disclaimer: Ben 10 was created by Man of Action and is owned by The Cartoon Network, Inc. (Warner Bros. Discovery). Fairy Tail was created by Hiro Mashima and is published by Kodansha. I do not own any characters, settings, or other copyrighted material from either series. This is a nonprofit fan work created for entertainment purposes only.

A/N: Due to demand, I have removed the images from this chapter. If you wish to read a version of this chapter that has the images still in it, you can download the PDF.

…

Ultimate Fairy

Chapter 9: The Turning Tide

…

After Kagura finally caught her, Araña and the other girls spent the rest of the cleanup gathering scattered belongings and returning them to their owners beneath Kagura's watchful eye. Every few minutes, Araña insisted that she had already learned her lesson, only for Kagura to silence her with a single look before pointing toward the next pile of debris.

Nearby, Ben had transformed into Waterhazard and spent the better part of half an hour spraying clean streams across the shoreline. Wendy worked alongside Waterhazard, using carefully controlled bursts of Sky Dragon's Wave Wind to gather the loosened ink without scattering it across the beach again. Once Water Hazard had diluted the thickest patches, Wendy swept the remaining black sludge into miniature twisters and carried it beyond the shallows before dispersing it safely farther out to sea.

The beach still looked battered when they finished, but the worst of the sticky ink was gone and its choking chemical stench had faded considerably.

Maren eventually rested her sheathed odachi across one shoulder and surveyed the cleanup. "All right, that's good enough for now. We need to get back to the guild hall and tell Master Azure what happened."

Risley glanced toward Waterhazard, Wendy, and Carla. "What about them?"

"They're coming with us," Kagura said, stepping forward. "If today's attack is connected to what I believe it is, their assistance may be useful." She then paused, realizing she had volunteered them without asking, and looked toward the trio. "If that is acceptable to you."

Waterhazard tapped the Omnitrix emblem on his chest and, in a green flash, transformed back to human—still wearing his green swim trunks.

"You had me at 'giant squids might be part of something worse,'" Ben replied. "After all that, I kinda want to know what made them decide your beach was the place to be."

Wendy nodded beside him. "Of course we'll help. If something else is putting the town in danger, we can't just leave without finding out what it is."

Carla folded her arms, though there was no real disagreement in her expression. "I suppose abandoning the matter now would be rather irresponsible."

Kagura's lips curved faintly, nodding in gratitude.

…

Once everyone had changed back into their usual clothes, Ben, Wendy, and Carla followed Kagura and the others through the doors of the Mermaid Heel guild hall. The Omnitrix bearer made it only a few steps inside before something became increasingly difficult to ignore.

Women filled the entire building.

Several were finishing a late lunch around the bar while others painted signs, tied colorful streamers, or cleaned pieces of magical equipment in preparation for the festival.

Ben glanced to his left, to his right, and then tipped his head toward the second-floor gallery as though expecting the pattern to finally break.

It did not.

He leaned toward Wendy without taking his eyes from the room. "Okay, am I missing something, or am I literally the only guy in here?"

Wendy followed his gaze across the guild hall before looking back at him. "Um… I think you are."

Carla hovered beside Wendy's shoulder, arms folded. "Try not to make that strange."

Ben turned toward her. "I wasn't making it strange. I was just observing."

"Your observations have an unfortunate tendency to become commentary."

Ben opened his mouth to argue, paused as several examples came to mind, then closed it. "Okay, fair."

Kagura glanced back. "Mermaid Heel has traditionally been an all-female guild."

Ben blinked. "Oh. So this is actually intentional."

Maren passed him with an amused grin. "Relax, kid. Nobody here's going to eat you."

"I wasn't worried until you said that," he muttered.

Unfortunately, his second glance around the hall only made things worse. Several guild members were openly watching him now, while others whispered with varying degrees of subtlety.

"That's Ben?" one woman murmured. "The boy Kagura sparred with?"

"The one who disarmed her," another whispered back.

"And she yielded."

Ben decided pretending not to hear them was probably his safest option.

A third woman leaned closer. "He's also the one from the beach yesterday, right?"

"With the little girl and cat too," someone corrected.

"She has seemed lighter lately."

A few paces ahead, Kagura's shoulders stiffened. Ben noticed immediately and wisely kept his mouth shut. The young swordswoman stopped and looked back. The whispers died almost instantly as half the room developed a sudden fascination with festival decorations and anything else that did not involve Ben or Kagura.

Araña, standing beside Risley, adopted an expression of exaggerated innocence.

Kagura narrowed her eyes. "Araña."

"What?" the fourteen-year-old asked quickly. "I didn't say anything."

Risley glanced at her. "Yeah, but were mostly responsible for all this."

The green-haired turned toward her ravenette friend with betrayal. "Mostly? You followed us to the beach too, chica."

"Along with several others," Risley replied, folding her arms. "You were the one who turned it into an investigation."

"I was curious."

"You made a list."

Araña opened her mouth, paused, then pointed at Risley. "Y-You helped with the swimsuit suggestions!"

Kagura's stare moved slowly between them, prompting Araña to edge a cautious half-step behind Risley. "You are both making this worse."

Ben looked between them, thoroughly lost. Wendy seemed to understand considerably more, judging by the pink creeping into her cheeks, while Carla regarded the entire guild with weary resignation.

Before Araña could make matters worse, two crisp claps sounded from above. The effect on the guild hall was immediate as conversations softened and then faded, attention shifting toward the staircase.

A lovely woman in her early thirties descended from the upper gallery. Pearl-white hair touched with faint blue framed a long white guild coat, while a fitted dark-teal dress, silver bracers, and delicate pearl ornaments completed her elegant appearance.

Ben's eyebrows rose before he caught himself staring. Whoa. He couldn't help but think when he saw the attractive older woman who walked with a grace and elegance that would've fit on royalty. He quickly redirected his attention to her face, where calm aquamarine eyes carried enough quiet authority to make an even stronger impression.

When Marielle reached the bottom of the stairs, her gaze swept over the group. "I understand Spinebacks attacked the western beach?"

Maren inclined her head, one hand resting loosely near the flask at her hip. "Whole pack of 'em. Aggressive and ugly enough to ruin a perfectly good afternoon."

Kagura stepped forward. "We protected the civilians as they escaped. The squids eventually retreated into deeper water."

Marielle nodded before her attention settled on Ben, a faint smile touching her lips. "Rumor has it that a plant-man who, and I quote, 'smelled like a sewer,' fought the Spinebacks with fire attacks."

"Yeah… that was me." Ben grimaced at the description, specifically the mention of the scent he unfortunately carried in said form. "Or, uh, Swampfire more accurately." He gestured toward himself. "I'm Ben. Ben Tennyson. Freelance hero and Take-Over wizard at your service."

Wendy politely smile, dipping her head. "I'm Wendy Marvell, from Cait Shelter. It's very nice to meet you."

Carla folded her arms. "I'm Wendy's partner, Carla. The one who provides sensible judgment for this group."

Ben glanced sideways at her. "You really work that into every introduction?"

"Whenever necessary."

Marielle's smile deepened slightly. "I'm Marielle Azure. Guild Master of Mermaid Heel." Her eyes passed over Wendy and Carla before lingering briefly on Ben. "Although introductions may be somewhat unnecessary. The three of you have become remarkably popular subjects around this guild over the last two days."

Ben slowly looked toward Kagura, then toward the suspiciously attentive tables surrounding them. "Yeah. I'm starting to notice."

Kagura's expression tightened by a fraction. Araña suddenly found the tabletop fascinating. Maren took a quiet drink from her flask.

Marielle turned back to the stairs. "Kagura, Maren, Risley, Araña. With me. Ben, Wendy, Carla, I would like the three of you present as well."

Ben raised an eyebrow. "Us?"

"You fought the creatures and observed their behavior directly. Anything you noticed may prove useful."

That was reasonable enough.

…

The group followed Marielle upstairs and into her office, gathering around the broad desk where a detailed coastal map had been unrolled. Ben stood between Wendy and Kagura with Carla perched on his left shoulder, while Maren, Risley, and Araña gathered on Kagura's other side. Marielle remained opposite of them, one hip resting against the desk as she placed a familiar folder atop the map.

Kagura recognized it immediately. "This is the request you showed me yesterday."

Marielle nodded and removed several reports. "The first report arrived four days ago. Fishermen roughly twelve miles southeast of Seablossom spotted an entire group of Spineback Squids swimming unusually close to the surface."

"Is that weird by itself?" Ben asked.

"Not impossible, but unusual." Marielle slid the report aside. "The next day, two crews returned from normally crowded fishing grounds with almost empty nets."

Risley frowned. "I heard about that at the market. Prices went up because so many boats came back with barely anything."

Araña leaned over the desk. "I thought that was because fishermen enjoy complaining."

"They do," Maren said. "Doesn't mean they're always wrong."

Marielle set down another report. "That same afternoon, deep-water species began appearing near the coastal reefs. Lantern eels, Blackfin Skates, and two juvenile Abyss Rays."

Wendy blinked. "Do those normally live farther out?"

"Much farther. They prefer depths where sunlight barely reaches."

Carla's ears angled forward. "Then it is not merely the Spinebacks. Several species are abandoning the same region."

"Correct." Marielle reached for the next page. "Yesterday, three crews reported damaged nets. One claimed something tore through theirs from beneath the boat. Another returned with several sections missing entirely."

Maren lowered her flask. "The Spinebacks could have done that."

"They could." Marielle unfolded the final report. "This one is more concerning."

The handwriting was hurried and uneven. "A vessel operating beyond the eastern shelf reported seeing an enormous shadow beneath them shortly before their nets were destroyed."

Araña's amusement disappeared. "How enormous?"

"They could not estimate. They abandoned the area immediately."

Ben grimaced. "That usually means very big."

Kagura studied the map. "And today the Spinebacks attacked a fishing vessel."

"Yes."

Ben shifted his weight. "So giant squid attacks aren't just a normal Tuesday around here?"

"Seablossom has records of them going back more than a century. There has never been a problem with them entering the bay."

"So something changed."

"That is my assessment," Marielle said.

Risley folded her arms. "Could food have drawn them closer?"

"Possible, but the reports suggest the opposite. Their normal hunting grounds are becoming emptier."

Maren tapped one finger against her flask. "Which means either everything down there decided to take a vacation at the same time…"

"Or something made them leave," Ben finished.

Marielle's expression tightened. "That's what concerns me."

Wendy looked down at the map. "The ones today seemed really angry."

Kagura's eyes narrowed slightly.

Ben noticed. "You thinking something?"

Kagura remained quiet for several seconds, replaying the attack. The Spinebacks had been violent, but their movements had been frantic and poorly coordinated, more like animals lashing out than predators deliberately hunting.

"They were aggressive," she said at last. "But I am uncertain whether aggression was their purpose."

Araña tilted her head. "What do you mean, chica?"

"They attacked anything obstructing them, but they did not behave like coordinated hunters."

Ben nodded. "One went after that fisherman who fell overboard, but when I hit it, it backed off instead of fighting me for him."

Wendy's expression softened. "So they were just scared?"

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean they're not dangerous. They sank a boat and chased people onto the beach. But animals usually don't abandon a habitat that's worked for them unless something gives them a reason."

Maren's mouth curved faintly. "Smart boy."

Ben shrugged. "I have my moments."

Carla sighed. "Yes… And that was one of them."

Marielle gathered the reports into a neat stack. "Whatever the cause, today's attack changes the situation. The danger has moved directly into Seablossom Bay."

Her gaze shifted toward the office windows. "And to top it all off, the Tide Festival begins tomorrow."

Wendy brightened before noticing the white-haired woman's expression. Her smile faded almost immediately.

"Hundreds of visitors will gather along the waterfront," Marielle continued. "There will be sailing competitions, fishing and sandcastle tournaments, performances, and more people in and around the water than at any other time of year."

Risley grimaced. "Which becomes a disaster if the Spinebacks come back."

"Precisely."

Araña's shoulders sank. "You think the town will canceling it?"

Wendy looked equally disappointed. "The whole festival?"

Marielle sighed. "If I cannot reasonably guarantee public safety, I will recommend cancellation to the town council."

Ben glanced at Wendy.

She had been excited about the Tide Festival almost from the moment they learned about it. After days of traveling across Fiore and dealing with dark wizards, monsters, kidnappings, and the sort of chaos Ben had reluctantly begun accepting as their normal schedule, Seablossom was supposed to have been a chance to relax.

"That's rough," he said.

Wendy shook her head. "It's okay. If people could get hurt, canceling it would be the right thing."

Ben could tell she meant it, but that didn't make her disappointment any less obvious.

Kagura noticed as well. Her gaze lingered briefly on the bluenette before returning to Marielle. "Master, what would be required to avoid cancellation?"

"At the very least? Answers."

"Then we should begin investigating."

Maren lifted her flask toward her. "You spent yesterday fighting pirates and then Benji here. This morning learning how to swim, and this afternoon fighting sea monsters." She gave her a pointed look. "At some point, little sister, normal people sit down."

Ben, Wendy, and Carla blinked. Little sister, they collectively thought.

Kagura's expression remained perfectly serious. "We are still standing."

Ben snorted before he could stop himself.

Maren stared at Kagura for a beat, then slowly grinned. "That was almost a joke."

"It was an observation."

"Sure it was."

Marielle returned their attention to the map. "Kagura is correct about one thing. We cannot wait long. If the Spinebacks remain near shore, another vessel could be attacked before tomorrow."

Carla leaned closer to the marked coastline. "Then the logical place to begin would be their normal habitat."

"Again, correct." Marielle picked up a pencil and circled three sections of open water beyond the coastal shelf. "These are the areas where Spinebacks have historically been most concentrated. If something drove them away, these locations give us our best chance of finding evidence."

Ben studied the circles. "Predator, maybe."

Maren raised an eyebrow. "Something big enough to frighten giant squid?"

He looked at her. "I've met weirder."

Araña rested her chin in one hand. "What if the giant shadow ate all the fish?"

"That might explain one empty feeding ground," Risley said, "but not deep-water creatures appearing all along the coast."

Kagura's brow tightened. "Unless they are all fleeing the same thing."

Before the conversation could continue, the office door suddenly flew open. A young Mermaid Heel wizard stumbled inside, breathing hard. Her casual clothes were damp around the hem, her hair had been blown into disarray, and her face had gone pale.

"Master!"

Marielle straightened. "What is it?"

The young woman struggled to catch her breath, panic widening her eyes. "The sea!" She pointed to the windows. "Something is wrong with the sea!"

Everyone moved toward the tall windows overlooking Seablossom and the harbor below.

The water was disappearing.

The bay was receding with frightening speed, exposing stretches of glistening sand that should have been several feet underwater. Rocks and coral shelves emerged from beneath the surface while stranded fish flopped helplessly between shallow pools, and boats tied along the docks tilted at awkward angles as their hulls settled against the suddenly exposed seafloor.

Wendy stared through the glass. "Where is all the water going?"

Ben's expression went still. "Tsunami."

Wendy looked toward him. "A what?"

"When the ocean pulls back that fast, it means it's about to come back all at once." Ben's eyes shifted toward the horizon. "And usually a whole lot harder."

Marielle's face changed instantly. "We need to evacuate Seablossom. Now."

But then Ben saw it. Far beyond the harbor, a dark line stretched across the horizon, rising higher by the second. A towering wall of water raced toward Seablossom, broad enough to engulf the entire bay from one end to the other.

His stomach tightened. "There's not enough time."

He immediately sent a mental command to the Omnitrix, and emerald light flooded the office. When the glare faded, XLR8 stood where Ben had been.

"Ben?" Kagura started.

Before she could say anything more, XLR8 vanished in a blue-and-black streak. He shot from the office, raced down the staircase, and tore through the guild hall, sending loose papers swirling and skirts fluttering in his wake as several startled girls yelped in embarrassment. A heartbeat later, the front doors flew open and he disappeared into the streets of Seablossom.

"Whoa," Maren blinked. "Kid doesn't waste much time, does he?"

"Where is he going?" Marielle asked, already moving toward the door.

Carla sighed. "Knowing Ben? The beach."

Kagura looked back toward the windows, worry tightening her expression. "To do what?"

Wendy grinned. "Hero stuff."

…

By the time XLR8 reached the waterfront, the beach barely resembled the place where they had spent the morning. The sea had retreated hundreds of yards, exposing a vast stretch of seabed littered with stranded fish, coral, shells, and debris. The Kineceleran skidded to a stop near the edge of the remaining water and looked toward the horizon.

The tsunami filled it.

Even from this distance, the advancing wall towered over the fishing vessels caught farther offshore. White foam boiled along its crest as it rolled toward Seablossom, accompanied by a deep, continuous roar that grew louder with every passing second.

XLR8 stared up at it. "…Okay. How am I supposed to deal with that?"

Speed alone was not going to solve this. He could evacuate the town if he pushed himself, but Seablossom would still be devastated once that wave reached shore. Freezing it was another possibility. He had done something similar when he saved Gardenia, but the amount of water bearing down on him now was on an entirely different scale.

But then another possibility surfaced.

Ben remembered yesterday's spar with Kagura and the new alien that had appeared in the Omnitrix's active playlist after it had reacted to her Gravity Magic. He still had no idea what the transformation was capable of, but if the Omnitrix had selected it in response to gravity…

XLR8 looked back at the approaching wall of water and raised one clawed hand toward the Omnitrix badge on his chest. "Guess this is as good a time as any to give that one a try."

He tapped the dial, and emerald light swallowed him. When the brilliance faded, XLR8 was gone.

In his place stood a massive humanoid several times broader than Ben's human form. Reddish-brown stone formed his hulking body around a molten red core glowing from the center of his abdomen. A broad mouth split his craggy face, black shorts with green stripes covered his lower body beneath a matching belt, and the Omnitrix dial rested prominently on his rocky forehead.

For a couple of seconds, Ben forgot about the tsunami. "Whoa."

The world felt different. The sand beneath his feet registered in his awareness almost like a new sense. So did the rocks scattered across the exposed seabed, the buildings behind him, and the colossal volume of water racing toward shore.

Everything had mass. Everything exerted a pull. And somehow, he could feel the relationships between them.

The approaching roar snapped him back to the immediate problem.

"Right. Giant wave." He planted his rocky feet in the exposed sand and raised both arms toward the sea.

For half a second, nothing happened. He then focused on a point several hundred yards offshore.

Pull.

The ocean suddenly bulged upward.

His eyes widened. "Oh."

The swell rapidly grew into a towering wave, only this one rolled away from shore. Acting almost on instinct, Ben shifted the gravitational field farther out, dragging an enormous volume of seawater backward until the counter-wave rose to meet the incoming tsunami.

"Okay," he murmured, concentrating. "That's definitely something."

The collision sounded like thunder. Both walls of water crashed together, throwing a mountain of white spray into the air and swallowing the horizon behind foam and mist. The tsunami buckled beneath the opposing force, most of its momentum collapsing into violently churning water.

Ben kept his arms raised until the spray began to fall and saw what remained. It was a smaller but still dangerous surge that continued racing toward Seablossom, large enough to demolish the harbor and flood the waterfront.

"Okay. Still got leftovers, huh."

This time, he didn't bother creating another wave. The rocky alien spread his arms and focused directly on the incoming surge, causing the water to shudder and rise. Millions of tons of seawater peeled away from the seabed and lifted into the air as a vast suspended ridge. Ben stared upward at the mass hovering more than a hundred meters above the shoreline.

Tightening his focus, the rocky humanoid pushed the suspended mass of water several miles out to sea, well beyond Seablossom. Only then did he slowly ease his gravitational hold, allowing seawater to pour back into the bay in a broad curtain as powerful but manageable waves rolled across the exposed seabed and steadily refilled the harbor.

"Okay," he muttered, backing toward the original shoreline. "Let's put the ocean back where we found it."

Kagura reached the beach first, with Wendy only a few steps behind while Carla flew overhead. All three stopped at the sight of the enormous rocky figure standing near the shoreline.

Wendy's eyes widened. "Another new one?!"

Carla stared at the glowing red core in his abdomen, then toward the vast amount of water still moving under his control. Could this be the new transformation the Omnitrix unlocked yesterday?

Kagura glanced at Wendy. "You haven't seen this Take-Over?"

Wendy shook her head before cupping both hands around her mouth. "Ben! What's this one called?"

The rocky alien glanced over his shoulder. "Dunno! First time using this guy!"

Kagura's eyes widened. "Your first time?"

A second surge rolled outward from the settling collision offshore, racing across the returning water toward the beach.

He turned back. "Oh, come on."

He raised one hand, and the approaching surge jerked upward as though caught by an invisible hook. With a turn of his palm, he redirected the suspended water away from the coast. Once it was safely beyond the harbor entrance, he gradually released his hold and let the water crash harmlessly into the bay.

"And stay there."

The sea remained violently unsettled, but the towering wave that had threatened to erase Seablossom was gone. Water steadily reclaimed the exposed seabed, lifting stranded boats as the harbor refilled.

Kagura stared across the recovering bay before looking back at Ben. She had spent years learning to increase weight, anchor objects, restrict movement, and concentrate gravitational pressure, but she had never imagined using Gravity Magic on this scale. "I… had no idea Gravity Magic could be used like this."

The planet-like alien looked toward her. "To be fair, neither had I until about thirty seconds ago."

Marielle reached the waterfront moments later with Maren, Risley, Araña, and several other Mermaid Heel wizards close behind. The guildmaster's eyes moved over the shoreline and boats gradually lifting as the bay continued to refill.

"This was not a coincidence," she said.

Kagura turned toward her. "You believe the tsunami is connected to the Spinebacks?"

"I do." Marielle nodded. "The Spinebacks abandon their normal habitat and start coming to the shore, and now a wave large enough to destroy Seablossom comes from the same direction."

"Hmm." Maren rested her odachi across one shoulder, her expression unusually serious. "So something out there really is upsetting the whole neighborhood."

"Whatever it is, we can no longer afford to wait."

Emerald light engulfed the rocky planet-like alien as Ben instantly transformed back to human. "Yeah, I'd say this officially moved past 'weird squid problem.' Count me in." Ben said.

Marielle regarded him with mild surprise. "You intend to assist us?"

"Of course," Ben grinned.

"Carla and I'll help too," Wendy volunteered without hesitation.

The white feline folded her arms, hovering beside her. "Naturally. Someone has to make certain the two of you return in one piece."

Ben smirked. "See? Team effort." His expression sobered as he looked back toward the sea. "Besides, something out there nearly turned this town into New Atlantis. So yeah, of course we're helping. It'd be really lame of us not to."

Marielle clearly had no idea what New Atlantis was, but after watching Ben repel a tsunami, she saw little reason to question the comparison. She gave the three travelers a firm nod. "Then Mermaid Heel will gladly accept your assistance."

Wendy looked toward the still-churning horizon. "So I guess this stopped being a beach vacation, huh?"

"Yeah." Ben sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets. "That kinda happens."

…

Over an hour later, late afternoon light stretched gold across Seablossom Bay. Ben, Wendy, and Carla gathered with the Mermaid Heel wizards on one of the longer docks in front of a beautiful sailing yacht.

She was an elegant two-masted schooner, nearly ninety feet from pointed bow to rounded stern. Her sleek midnight-blue hull took on hints of violet beneath the setting sun, broken by a broad ivory stripe and narrow gold detailing, while polished wooden decks and brass fittings gleamed above. Cream-colored sails remained furled against the spars, dark-blue Mermaid Heel pennants stirred from the mastheads, and a silver-white mermaid figurehead emerged from the prow with carved hair flowing backward into curling waves along the hull.

Across the stern, the yacht's name gleamed in gold lettering: Siren's Grace.

Ben stopped at the gangplank. "I gotta say, this is a nice boat."

"Schooner," Araña corrected with a smirk.

He raised a brow. "You really care about the distinction?"

"People who own schooners generally do."

Risley passed them while finishing a pastry. "Siren's Grace belongs to the guild, Arańa, not you."

"Risley!" The green-haired girl whined. "I was trying to sound impressive!"

The ravenette took another bite. "Then congratulations. The guild owns a very impressive schooner."

Wendy hurried closer, eyes sweeping over the tall masts and gleaming hull. "Wow! The guild owns this?"

Kagura stepped onto the gangplank. "The Grace has belonged to Mermaid Heel for several years. She is primarily used for guild business."

Maren followed behind her. "And parties."

Kagura glanced back. "Officially, she is not used for parties."

Maren smirked. "Officially."

Marielle chuckled as she boarded. "What happens beyond the harbor after midnight is difficult to document."

Kagura gave her guildmaster a long look.

After a group consisting of Marielle, Maren, Kagura, Risley, Arańa, Wendy, Carla, and Ben boarded, the gangplank was pulled aboard.

Marielle turned toward the women remaining on the dock. "Keep the waterfront watched through the night. If the sea begins receding again, sound the alarm immediately and move everyone inland."

Several guild members nodded.

"Leave the giant sea monsters to us!" one called.

Ben stepped onto the deck and glanced back at her. "You know, hearing that said casually is starting to feel normal, and I don't know how I feel about that."

A few minutes later, the final mooring line was cast loose. Maren, Araña, and Risely immediately got to work on preparing the sails and rigging. Ben and Wendy planned to offer any assistance, but the group worked like a well-oiled machine. Clearly, they had done this together plenty of times.

At the helm, Marielle placed one hand on the wheel before sliding her opposite forearm into a cylindrical brass fitting connected to the helm by a thick black tube. The device closed around her arm with a soft click, and a low mechanical vibration traveled through the deck.

Wendy hurried toward the stern rail as the water behind the yacht began to churn. Beneath the surface, the propeller started turning, slowly at first before steadily gaining speed.

"This boat has an engine?" Wendy leaned farther over the railing before looking back toward Marielle. "But I don't see a smokestack."

"There's no need for one," Marielle explained as she guided the yacht away from the harbor. "When we cannot rely on the sails, we use magic to power the propeller."

Ben approached, his attention shifting to the device around her arm. "Hold on, you can use magic to power the boat? If that's a thing, then why was the ship we took yesterday using steam?"

"Because a motor like this exclusively requires a wizard to operate it." Marielle answered. "Not so useful for the general public."

"And that thing on your arm?" He pointed to the brass fitting.

"This is an SE Plug. It safely draws enough magic from the user to power the vessel."

The teen hero raised an eyebrow. "So you're basically a magic battery right now. Doesn't that hurt?"

"Only if I were to overexert myself," the tan-skinned woman replied. "I'm supplying just enough to get us clear of the harbor while the others prepare the sails."

Ben studied the SE Plug for another moment. A vehicle powered directly by magic was hardly surprising in this world, but the fact that it depended entirely on the wizard's own reserves caught his interest. If magic could be converted into mechanical power, why couldn't a lacrima or some other external source do the same thing?

He made a mental note to test that theory with one of his smarter transformations later.

…

Once the Siren's Grace cleared the harbor, Marielle withdrew her arm from the SE Plug and ordered the sails raised. The propeller disengaged as cream-colored canvas unfurled overhead, the mainsail revealing Mermaid Heel's dark blue emblem while the engine's low vibration gave way to creaking timber, tightening rope, and water rushing along the hull.

Seablossom gradually shrank beneath the orange evening sky, gulls peeling away as the turquoise coastal water deepened to open-sea blue.

Ben settled against the starboard rail near the bow and watched the horizon. While he wasn't fond of long boat rides, with the calm sea and the evening breeze moving through his hair, even he found himself enjoying the moment.

He then began subconsciously singing to himself. "Farewell and adieu to you, fair Spanish ladies… Farewell and adieu to you, ladies of Spain…"

Several of the women nearby glanced his way in curiosity.

Standing a few feet from him, Wendy tilted her head. "What are you singing, Ben?"

"Old movie reference."

Her confusion only deepened. "Movie?"

Ben looked over. "Oh. Do you guys not have those here?"

"We do," Maren answered. She was lounging against the mainmast, sake flask in hand. "Movie Lacrima. They're mostly imported from western countries, though. Expensive enough that most people don't own 'em."

"Huh. Good to know."

"Is the movie you were referencing relevant to our present situation?" Carla asked.

Ben considered that. "Uh, well, three guys take a boat into the ocean to hunt a giant man-eating shark."

Carla stared at him flatly, while Araña's expression turned uneasy and Kagura fixed him with a level glare.

Ben paused. "Okay, saying it out loud, maybe that's bad luck."

Maren took an amused drink from her flask. "Oh no, keep going. I want to know how stupid these three guys were."

"Oh, extremely."

"Did they successfully defeat the creature?" Kagura asked.

Ben's expression fell slightly. "Um yeah. But, uh, define 'successfully'."

That earned several looks.

Carla's eyes narrowed. "Perhaps hold off on telling us until we return to land."

"Y-yeah." Araña nodded, glancing uneasily toward the darkening sea. "Probably for the best."

Wendy pouted. "But now I want to know too."

Before she could press him, Risley emerged from the deckhouse. "Dinner's ready!"

Grateful for the interruption, Ben pushed away from the rail. "Come on. I'll tell you guys a different story while we eat."

The galley below deck was compact but comfortable, built around a long wooden table secured to the floor so it would not slide in rough seas. The smell of grilled fish, rice, vegetables, and fresh bread filled the room while the ship rocked gently beneath them.

Maren had already claimed the seat nearest the wall and set her flask beside her bowl.

Marielle noticed. "Please drink water with dinner, Maren."

"I have water."

"That's sake."

Maren looked into the flask. "Huh. So it is."

Kagura continued eating without looking up. "Sensei has difficulty distinguishing the two."

"I trained you better than this, little sister."

The purple-haired girl's mouth twitched.

Ben caught it from across the table. "Was that another joke?"

"… No."

"It definitely was."

Risley leaned toward Araña. "She's getting quicker with those."

Araña nodded. "I think Benji's becoming a terrible influence."

"Benji?" He pointed his fork at her. "Where'd that come from?"

"It's your nickname," the greenette said with a smirk. "Like it?"

"Not really."

"Well, I like it." Maren took another drink. "All in favor of Benji?"

"Aye!" Wendy, Risley, and Araña answered together while Kagura, Marielle, and Carla simply raised their hands and paw.

Ben stared at them. "Seriously?" Noticing Kagura's hand up, he looked betrayed. "You too, Kagura?"

Kagura's lips curved into a small, amused smile. "I find it rather fitting."

Maren grinned at that. "All opposed?"

"Me!" Ben shot his hand up.

She glanced around the table. "The ayes have it. Tough break, Benji."

Ben sank slightly in his chair while Wendy laughed beside him. Kagura tried to suppress her smile and failed, while even Carla continued eating with a small, satisfied curve to her mouth.

Wendy then looked across the table at Ben. "Ben, you said you'd tell us a story."

"Oh yeah, I did." He lowered his fork. "Believe it or not, I've actually dealt with something kinda like this before."

The others turned their attention toward him as he leaned back in his seat.

"When I was younger, there was this enormous creature living in a lake. Big enough to toss boats around, scary enough that I was pretty convinced it was the problem too."

Araña leaned forward. "How scary?"

"Very."

Wendy smiled faintly. "Was it attacking people?"

"Yeah, it wasn't exactly friendly." Ben rested an elbow against the table. "Then I found its nest and realized it had eggs. Turns out this group claiming to care about the lake and its wildlife was actually run by poachers stealing them."

Wendy's expression fell. "So the creature was only trying to protect its babies."

"Pretty much. I spent half the trip thinking we had some giant lake monster problem, when the real problem was a bunch of guys stealing from it."

Carla nodded thoughtfully. "A useful comparison, considering the Spinebacks' behavior today."

"Exactly." He glanced around the table. "Big and scary doesn't automatically mean evil. Sometimes the monster's just the biggest thing around, so everybody blames it first."

Kagura went still for a moment. Her mind returned to the beach and the Spinebacks. They had been dangerous, unquestionably, but danger and intent were not necessarily the same thing.

"Then whatever we find, we should determine why it is there before deciding that it is our enemy."

Ben gave Kagura a small approving nod. "Yep. That's the idea."

From the head of the table, Marielle regarded him thoughtfully. "A lesson many wizards considerably older than you never learn. For someone your age, you have a surprisingly measured view of things."

Ben gave a small shrug. "Lots of trial and error."

Maren raised an eyebrow.

"Mostly error," he admitted.

Wendy smiled knowingly. "He's gotten better though."

"Yeah, had to learn the fun way."

Carla lifted a brow. "You mean the difficult way."

"That too."

Kagura's lips curved up in amusement.

…

Sometime later, the Siren's Grace continued steadily toward deeper water beneath a clear night sky. Their first destination was still several hours away, so Marielle ordered everyone not on watch to get some sleep and retired to the captain's cabin near the stern, where she could quickly reach the helm if anything changed.

Below deck, Wendy entered the shared sleeping quarters with Carla floating beside her, followed by Risley and Araña. Maren was already removing one of her forearm guards while Kagura carefully rested her katana beside the bunk she had chosen.

Ben followed them inside and stopped.

Bunks lined both walls with storage compartments beneath them, every available space clearly arranged for Mermaid Heel's entirely female crew. He slowly looked around before scratching his cheek. "Uhh."

Risley glanced back while unfolding a blanket. "Something wrong?"

"Yeah." He gestured around the cabin. "Pretty sure I found the one design flaw on this ship."

Araña blinked. "What design flaw?"

"You guys have exactly zero places for dudes to sleep."

Silence settled over the room as the obvious finally registered. Araña's eyes widened, Risley scratched her cheek, and even Kagura glanced around as though realizing for the first time that nobody aboard the Grace had ever needed to consider the problem.

"Ohhh," Araña murmured.

Ben waved it off. "Eh, no big deal. I'll just crash in the galley or something."

Wendy frowned at him. "You don't have to do that."

"Seriously, I'm good." He hooked a thumb toward the corridor. "Give me a bench and my jacket for a pillow. Problem solved."

Wendy's brow furrowed. "But why can't you just sleep in here with us?"

Nearly every woman in the room turned toward her at once. She blinked beneath the sudden attention. "W-What? Ben sleeps in the same tent with Carla and me all the time. We've shared hotel rooms too."

"That is entirely different, child." Carla replied immediately.

"How?" Wendy innocently asked, not understanding the issue.

"Because we each had our own bed," the feline explained with growing exasperation. She gestured toward the room. "There are only enough bunks here for the girls."

Wendy looked between the occupied bunks, considering the problem. "Couldn't we just share one with Ben?"

Once again the members of Mermaid looked at the girl with stunned looks at her suggestion which Wendy didn't notice this time.

"Absolutely not!" Carla snapped.

Araña covered her mouth to smother a laugh while Risley looked away with a poorly concealed smile.

Ben raised both hands before the conversation could get any worse. "Seriously. Galley. Bench. Jacket. I'm completely fine with this plan."

As Maren sat on the edge of her bunk, she glanced between Ben and Kagura. "Why make the poor kid sleep on a table? Kagura can take him."

Kagura froze.

"Uh," Ben turned his head. "…Take me where?"

Maren grinned mischievously. "Her bunk."

"S-Sensei!" Kagura's composure cracked, her cheeks turning pink.

Maren spread one hand innocently. "What? There's plenty of room if you two cuddle."

"Sensei!"

Araña doubled over laughing while Risley tried to suppress her giggles.

Feeling his own face warm, Ben pointed toward the doorway. "Anyways, I'm heading to the galley now."

Wendy remained completely baffled. "But Ben doesn't move around much when he sleeps."

He stared at her. "Wendy."

"And he only snores a little." The Sky Dragon Slayer added, recalling from personal recollection.

"Wendy!" Carla almost wanted to beg her to stop.

She blinked innocently. "What?"

Carla covered her face with one paw. "Child, please stop helping."

Kagura drew a slow breath and recovered some of her dignity, even if the warmth had not entirely left her cheeks. "Ben is our guest. He should have proper accommodations rather than sleeping on a table."

Maren smiled. "See? Kagura wants him comfortable."

Kagura's eyes narrowed. "I want you silent, Sensei."

"Can't have everything, little sister."

Before Maren could make things worse, footsteps approached from the corridor. Marielle appeared in the doorway and looked around at the still-awake group.

"Why is everyone still up?"

Araña pointed directly at Ben. "Master, we forgot he's a guy."

Ben stared at her. "How do you forget that?"

Marielle's eyebrows rose before understanding crossed her face. "Ah. Yes, the Grace was never designed with male accommodations in mind."

"Yeah," Ben replied. "I noticed."

A faint smile touched her mouth. "Fortunately, I considered that before we left. There's a hammock prepared in the common room, with blankets in the cabinet beside it."

Ben visibly relaxed. "You're a lifesaver."

Maren sighed dramatically. "There goes tonight's entertainment."

Kagura gave her a flat look. "There was never going to be entertainment."

"Not with that attitude."

Wendy looked at Ben with a little uncertainty. Ever since leaving Cait Shelter, they had always stayed together, whether sleeping in the same tent or sharing a room. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather sleep in an actual bed, Ben? We could share mine since I’m the smallest and wouldn’t take up much space.” She paused and glanced at Carla. “Second smallest, that is.”

“I’m not offering mine,” Carla stated flatly.

Ben looked back at Wendy with a small smile. “I appreciate the offer, Wendy, but I think it’d be better if I slept somewhere else.” His smile faded slightly when he noticed her dejected expression. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s just…” She trailed off, twiddling her fingers as her gaze lowered. “We’ve always stayed together since we left my village. This’ll be the first night we’re separated. I’ll miss you.”

Ben’s expression softened, touched by her words. She was right. Since they began traveling together, they had always slept nearby, whether in separate sleeping bags or beds, but still within sight of one another. Truthfully, he had grown used to seeing Wendy’s sleeping face first thing in the morning, and perhaps she felt the same way.

He knelt and rested a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, it’s only for a night or two at most.” When Wendy looked up at him, he smiled reassuringly. “Besides, you’ll see me first thing in the morning. Just close your eyes, get some sleep, and when you wake up, I’ll be around somewhere.”

Wendy brightened at that and wrapped her arms around him in a soft hug. Ben returned it, gently rubbing her back for a little extra comfort.

The members of Mermaid Heel couldn’t help smiling at the touching scene, which looked almost like something between siblings.

When Wendy pulled away, she looked much more like her usual cheerful self. “Goodnight, Ben.”

“Goodnight, Wendy,” Ben replied, affectionately rubbing the top of her head before standing and looking toward everyone else. “Goodnight, everyone.”

Carla gave him a small nod while Risley and Araña offered their own goodnights. Araña added an enthusiastic, "Sweet dreams, Benji."

Ben stopped halfway through the doorway. "Nickname's still bad."

"No refunds." Araña cheekily smile.

Shaking his head, he started out before glancing back toward Kagura. "Night, Kagura."

Her expression softened. "Goodnight, Ben."

He disappeared down the corridor, with Marielle leaving as well since her room was elsewhere. Silence settled over the room as everyone seemed momentarily unsure what to do next, until Risley finally spoke.

She looked toward Wendy with a soft, caring smile. “You really care about him a lot, don’t you?”

Wendy turned to her and nodded lightly. “He’s done a lot for me, and we’ve been through quite a bit together despite not knowing each other for very long.”

Kagura studied the younger girl and once again found herself reminded of Simon. Wendy and Ben seemed naturally drawn to one another, completely comfortable and happy together in a way that made their bond feel effortless.

“And gotten into our fair share of trouble along the way,” Carla added, crossing her paws.

Wendy frowned slightly before an idea occurred to her. A bright smile spread across her face as she turned toward the Mermaid Heel wizards. “I think Carla only says that because she’s kind of jealous of how close Ben and I have gotten so quickly.”

Carla’s ears shot upright, her tail stiffening like a pole as she stared at Wendy in disbelief. “Jealous?! I am not jealous! Why would I be jealous of an immature, almost man-child of a human who makes terrible jokes and hardly takes anything seriously?!”

Wendy broke into a fit of giggles. The others joined her, aside from Kagura, who remained composed despite the corner of her mouth twitching several times.

Carla looked between them before turning back toward Wendy, dread slowly creeping across her face. “Oh no…” Her ears and tail drooped as realization struck. “He’s starting to influence you.”

That only made everyone laugh harder.

Once the laughter finally died down, Maren glanced toward Kagura. “Too bad, Kagura. It seems…”

Kagura raised a finger between them. “Do not.”

Maren blinked. “You didn’t even let me finish.”

“Your expression is sufficient.”

Risley pressed her lips together to hide a smile. Araña made no such effort, already watching Kagura with open anticipation.

Maren leaned back against her bunk. “You looked awfully disappointed when Marielle mentioned that hammock.”

Kagura’s cheeks warmed again. “I was not disappointed.”

“Mm-hm.”

“I was concerned that our guest had nowhere appropriate to sleep.”

“Of course.”

Kagura narrowed her eyes. “Sensei.”

Araña placed a hand over her heart. “Personally, I thought it was very considerate, chica.”

“Extremely considerate,” Risley agreed.

Kagura looked between the three amused faces surrounding her. Traitors.

Wendy climbed into her lower bunk and pulled back the blanket. “I think Kagura was just being nice, like me.”

Kagura looked toward her with unmistakable gratitude. “Thank you, Wendy.”

Wendy smiled. “Although Ben really is easy to sleep next to.”

The purple-haired girl froze.

Carla lowered her face into both paws. “Wendy.”

The bluenette paused halfway beneath her blanket. “What did I say now?”

Maren collapsed backward onto her bunk, laughing. By the gods, this child was far more entertaining than she had expected. The way Wendy innocently said things that could so easily be taken out of context was both hilarious and strangely adorable.

It was almost a shame she wasn’t part of Mermaid Heel. She would have fit right in.

Before long, everyone settled into their beds and eventually drifted off to sleep.

…

Just as Ben had said, Wendy found him shortly after waking, getting changed, and leaving her shared room. She greeted him happily, and he invited her to breakfast, which the two enjoyed together while chatting. The others joined them but sat elsewhere, deciding not to interrupt. By the time they finished eating, word came that they were approaching their destination.

Pale-gold morning light stretched across the open sea as the Siren’s Grace reached the first location marked on the map. Nothing but dark-blue water surrounded the schooner, with only the occasional seabird passing high overhead. The sails had been reduced enough to keep the vessel moving at a slow, controlled pace while Marielle compared their position with the chart spread across the aft table.

"This is a prime feeding ground for the Spinebacks," she said, tapping a marked circle. "The water beneath us is several hundred meters deep before dropping into a narrow trench farther east."

Ben leaned over the rail. "So unless somebody packed really good diving gear, I'm guessing we're not checking this one the old-fashioned way."

"I came prepared." Marielle crouched beside a reinforced case and opened the clasps, revealing a cylindrical lacrima device surrounded by a metal pressure housing.

Wendy brightened. "It can see all the way down there?"

"If everything is functioning properly." Marielle lifted the Lacrima-camera from its padding, turned it over, and abruptly stopped. A thin crack ran through one side of the transparent casing surrounding the viewing lacrima.

Her shoulders dropped as she pouted. "Shoot."

Maren leaned over her shoulder, flask already in hand despite the early hour. "That's what you're worried about, master? It's barely a crack."

"It will not be barely a crack several hundred meters underwater."

Araña crouched beside them. "Can we patch it?"

"Not reliably." Marielle sighed, lowering the camera back into its case. "The parts needed are not aboard."

Ben stared at the device for a moment before his gaze shifted toward the sea. An idea slowly pulled at the corner of his mouth. "Maybe we don't need to see down there."

Carla glanced toward him. "I recognize that expression. The one immediately preceding something strange."

Ben grinned. "Then you're getting pretty good at reading me."

With a mental command to the Omnitrix, emerald light flooded the deck.

When the flash faded, Ben was replaced by a tall orange crustacean-like creature supported by six crablike legs. Two large pincers took the place of hands beneath his broad body, while his oversized head rose beneath a split armored crest and a black-and-silver brace circled his neck, the Omnitrix symbol resting prominently at its center.

"Brainstorm!" he announced in a crisp British accent.

Araña and Risley blinked.

Maren cocked a brow. "You turned into a crab?"

Brainstorm's eyes narrowed with immediate offense. "An astonishingly reductive opening assessment. I am a Cerebrocrustacean, possessing cognitive capabilities sufficiently advanced to make your present comparison biologically superficial at best."

"Um, what?" Araña tilted her head.

Risley leaned toward Wendy. "Does Ben get smarter when he turns into this one?"

"I guess." Wendy looked equally bewildered. "I've never seen this one before."

"Not merely smarter, dear Araña," Brainstorm corrected as he scuttled toward Marielle's equipment, six legs tapping rapidly against the deck. "My cerebral processing capacity is elevated to a degree that renders ordinary human cognition positively pedestrian."

Carla stared at him. "And apparently considerably more arrogant."

Brainstorm lifted one pincer. "Confidence and accuracy should not be mistaken for arrogance."

Maren smirked. "Definitely still Benji."

"Your commentary has been acknowledged and discarded."

That only made her grin wider.

Brainstorm turned his attention to the open equipment case and quickly looked over the cracked camera, spare cables, metal fittings, and several maintenance tools stored nearby before calculations began assembling themselves almost faster than he could consciously follow them.

"Interesting."

Marielle stood beside him. "Can you repair it?"

"Repairing the pressure housing without appropriate materials would be unnecessarily tedious." Brainstorm raised his gaze toward the sea. "Fortunately, visual observation is hardly the only means by which one may investigate a conductive aquatic environment."

Wendy tilted her head. "What does that mean?"

"He has another idea," Carla translated.

Brainstorm nodded approvingly. "Correct."

Within minutes, he had commandeered several lengths of spare copper conduit, six small brass fittings, and a collection of inexpensive lacrima crystal fragments. Under his rapid instructions, Araña and Risley helped attach each assembly to a separate cable before lowering them at different points around the schooner.

Araña watched the final probe disappear beneath the surface. "So what exactly are those supposed to do?"

Brainstorm positioned himself near the center of the deck, closing his eyes. "Saltwater conducts electricity exceptionally well. I shall transmit a series of extremely weak electrical pulses through these six nodes and monitor how the surrounding medium responds."

Risley frowned. "You can find animals that way?"

"Anything sufficiently large moving through the field alters conductivity, displacement, and signal return." The Cerebrocrustacean's pincers twitched as his mind began organizing the incoming variables. "Once those deviations are cross-referenced across six positions, they provide a rudimentary three-dimensional representation of movement beneath us."

Wendy stared at him, completely lost.

Brainstorm opened one eye. "I can tell where the fish are."

"Oh!" She smiled and then tilted her head curiously. "Why didn't you just say that?"

His expression became wounded. "Because that explanation was intellectually barren, my dear Wendy."

Carla sighed. "There he is."

The armored plates of Brainstorm's skull shifted apart, exposing the enormous pink brain beneath. Thin strands of yellow electricity crawled across the ridged tissue, brightening for a moment before six faint pulses traveled from his body, through the copper cable, and into the water below.

It dispersed through the seawater, spreading outward from the Siren's Grace in carefully measured intervals.

Wendy's face twisted. "Eugh…"

Carla recoiled. "My word!"

Araña leaned backward from the railing, one hand covering her mouth. "Ay, no. Put the brain away. Please!"

Risley grimaced beside her. "I was perfectly fine not knowing that opened."

Kagura said nothing. Her eyes remained fixed on the Cerebrocrustacean's exposed brain, shock apparently overriding whatever instinct might normally have told her to look somewhere else.

Maren lowered the flask she had been raising toward her mouth. She stared at the pulsating organ for another second before setting the sake down beside her. "… You know, for some reason I suddenly lost my appetite."

Only Marielle seemed more intrigued than disturbed. She watched closely as the electrical pulses disappeared beneath the surface, her expression sharpening with fascinated interest. "Such a peculiar creature. Have you ever encountered anything resembling him in your travels, Maren?"

The swordswoman looked from the enormous exposed brain to the crab-like body beneath it. "Giant crabs? Sure. Giant crabs that shoot electricity and talk like they swallowed a fancy dictionary? Nope. Can't say I have."

Kagura finally managed to pull her eyes away. "Apart from the dolphin, none of the Take-Overs we have seen Ben use resemble any creature I recognize."

Her attention shifted toward Wendy and Carla. "You have traveled with him longer than we have. Do you know what species they are?"

Wendy and Carla exchanged a brief glance.

Ben had trusted them with the truth about the Omnitrix and the aliens stored within it. Neither intended to repay that trust by casually revealing it to people they had only recently met.

Wendy rubbed one hand behind her head. "Um… they're really rare."

Carla gave her a sideways look.

The bluenette smiled awkwardly. "Very rare."

Carla folded her arms. "You could say they come from considerably farther away than anywhere you are likely to find on a map of Ishgar."

Araña blinked. "How much farther?"

The feline’s expression remained perfectly composed. "Very."

Wendy nodded, perhaps a little too quickly. "Really, really far."

Maren's eyes narrowed. "You two are terrible at being mysterious."

"We are not attempting to be mysterious," Carla replied.

"Uh-huh."

Wendy gave a nervous little laugh while Carla pointedly turned away.

Brainstorm meanwhile went still as information returned from every direction at once. Schools of small fish became moving disturbances within the electrical field, larger bodies produced broader interruptions, and the shape of the seabed emerged indirectly through countless changes in resistance and signal delay.

"Fascinating."

Maren peered at him. "Find something, big guy?"

"Fish."

She waited. "That's it?"

"Would you prefer I fabricate a sea monster merely to reward your impatience?"

Maren snorted. "Fair enough."

They remained in the area for nearly an hour, slowly sweeping while Brainstorm adjusted the probes and Marielle guided the yacht along the marked route. There were fish below, several larger marine animals, and plenty of movement along the trench, but nothing that explained the sudden appearance of the Spinebacks near Seablossom.

The second location proved equally unrevealing.

By early afternoon, the Siren's Grace had traveled farther out to sea toward the deepest location marked on Marielle's chart. The water had darkened considerably, and even the seabirds that occasionally followed the schooner were gone.

Far off the starboard side, a tall, barren rock island rose from the sea like a weathered pillar, its steep gray cliffs devoid of trees or any other visible life.

Marielle studied the map beside Brainstorm. "The eastern shelf begins ahead of us. Beyond it, the seabed drops several kilometers into abyssal territory."

Brainstorm's eyes sharpened, feeling something had changed.

Kagura noticed. "What is it?"

"The biological density is significantly reduced."

Araña blinked. "Translation?"

"There are fewer fish."

She gave him a look. "You could have started there."

"I could have, yes." Brainstorm concentrated again as the boat moved slowly across the shelf. The electrical grid extended beneath them, thousands of tiny disturbances flickering through his perception, but compared with the earlier locations the water felt almost empty. "Curious," he murmured. "Fish populations are approximately a fraction of what one would reasonably expect from an environment of this size. Several larger species appear to be moving toward shallower water as well."

Marielle's expression tightened. "That matches the reports."

Brainstorm lifted his head. "And we have company."

Wendy moved closer. "What kind?"

"Multiple large cephalopods. Approximately fifty meters beneath the surface and ascending rapidly."

Kagura's hand settled on her katana's sheath. "Spinebacks?"

"Almost certainly."

The water beside the Siren's Grace erupted.

A thick purple tentacle burst from the sea and slammed across the starboard railing and decking, cracking wood beneath its weight. A second limb followed from the opposite side, whipping over the deck hard enough to scatter loose rope.

"Spinebacks!" Risley shouted.

Marielle was already moving. "Everyone to your stations!"

Another tentacle lashed toward the mainmast.

Kagura thrust one hand forward. Gravity intensified around the limb, dragging it sharply downward until it crashed against the deck instead of wrapping around the mast.

Maren swept her odachi sideways without drawing it. The gravity field shifted with the motion, catching another tentacle and hurling it away from the hull before its suckers could find purchase.

Brainstorm's cranial plates opened wider and yellow electricity snapped across his exposed brain. "Kindly remove your appendages from the vessel."

A concentrated yellow arc struck the water immediately around the tentacle gripping the starboard rail. The current remained tightly localized, racing through the surrounding seawater and into the limb without spreading across the entire area.

The Spineback convulsed and released the ship.

Wendy stared. "You can shock it without hitting everything in the water?"

Brainstorm's plates snapped partly closed. "Obviously. Indiscriminate electrical discharge in saltwater would be catastrophically irresponsible."

Carla flew past him. "At least one version of you understands restraint."

Brainstorm looked offended. "All versions of me understand restraint."

She didn’t dignify that with an answer.

Then, a dark mass surfaced off the port side, followed by another. The Spinebacks surged toward the schooner from different angles, bumping into one another and striking wildly at anything near them.

One expelled a burst of thick black ink toward the deck.

Wendy swept both arms outward. "Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!" Twin currents of wind caught the ink and hurled it back in a black spray.

Araña fired strands of webbing across a section of damaged decking, binding the cracked wood together before another tentacle could damage it further. "Little busy here!"

"You're doing fine!" Risley shouted, catching a loose line and hauling it tight.

At the stern, Marielle seized the wheel and drove her arm into the SE Plug. The magic drive awakened with a deep mechanical thrum and the bronze propeller began spinning.

"Hold them off!" She called out. "I'll get us clear!"

As the Grace surged forward, a tentacle rose directly behind them and swept toward the stern.

"Kagura," Maren said sharply.

"I see it."

The purple-haired wizard extended one hand and increased the limb's weight. The tentacle dropped like an anchor, smashing back into the sea before it could reach the rudder.

Another came from starboard.

Maren twisted her wrist and the limb abruptly changed direction as if caught by an invisible current, crashing harmlessly into the water.

Brainstorm kept track of everything at once. "Three on port. Two starboard. One beneath the stern."

Araña looked around frantically. "How can you tell?!"

"I constructed the sensor network approximately three hours ago. Do try to keep up."

As another tentacle slapped across the deck, Brainstorm fired another controlled electrical burst and the limb recoiled immediately.

Within another minute, the Siren's Grace had gained enough speed to pull clear of the cluster. The Spinebacks followed briefly, thrashing through the water, but none pursued with any real coordination.

Eventually they fell behind.

Marielle kept the magic drive engaged until several hundred meters separated the schooner from the disturbed water. Only then did she ease the propulsion back and glance over her shoulder.

"Is everyone all right?"

"Fine," Kagura answered, checking the decking.

Araña pointed toward the webbing wrapped around it. "The Grace is going to need some cosmetic work."

Maren examined the black ink splattered across part of the outer hull. "Could be worse."

Wendy watched the distant Spinebacks remained near the surface, churning up the water. "Why did they attack us like that?" She turned toward Brainstorm. "Could your electricity have hurt them?"

"Highly unlikely," Brainstorm replied, adjusting one of the cables running into the sea. "The current I am transmitting is deliberately weak. It is scarcely strong enough to produce a measurable response through the surrounding saltwater, much less injure or seriously alarm a creature the size of a Spineback."

Kagura kept her eyes on the water. "Then perhaps they attacked because we entered their territory."

Brainstorm's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Possible. Though given everything we have observed thus far, I would hesitate to assume territorial aggression is the only explanation. Their movement patterns were chaotic, defensive, and overwhelmingly—"

He stopped abruptly, going completely still.

Wendy noticed. "Ben?"

The sensor lines hanging from the schooner trembled faintly in the water. Then, every one of them spiked.

Brainstorm's eyes widened. The electrical return from beneath the ship had changed all at once. It wasn't some isolated disturbance, a school of fish, or even Spinebacks moving together.

Something enormous had entered the grid.

Brainstorm stared downward. "That is… considerably larger than a squid."

Araña swallowed. "How much larger?"

"I cannot accurately determine that."

Maren stared at him. "You're telling me whatever's underneath us is bigger than your fancy crab radar?"

"My electro-sensory network was designed to detect marine life," he replied tersely. "Not map something approaching the dimensions of a geological feature."

The water beneath the Siren's Grace suddenly darkened. At first, the schooner seemed to be riding an ordinary swell, but then the bow lifted, followed by the stern, and loose equipment began sliding across the deck as the entire vessel climbed higher.

Brainstorm's cranial plates snapped shut. "Everyone, I strongly recommend holding onto something."

Marielle caught the wheel with both hands while Risley seized the nearest rail and Araña wrapped an arm around a mast support. Kagura widened her stance beside Wendy, bracing against the railing as Carla summoned her wings. The sea continued rising directly beneath them, swelling upward around the schooner until it looked like driftwood riding atop an expanding hill.

Wendy's blue hair whipped around her face. "Why is the sea rising?!"

"Because… a very large mass is surfacing." Brainstorm answered.

The realization passed across the deck almost visibly.

Kagura's hand settled on her katana's sheath, Maren readied her odachi, and Marielle tightened her grip around the wheel.

Then, the ocean exploded.

Several hundred meters off the starboard side, an enormous blue-gray head tore through the surface amid a towering wall of white spray. Its elongated skull looked like some impossible fusion of whale and ancient sea reptile, armored beneath thick overlapping scales surrounding a single enormous crimson eye.

Its jaws opened as water streamed between rows of ivory teeth, each large enough to dwarf a man. The head alone could have swallowed the Siren's Grace with room to spare.

More of the creature followed.

A massive neck rose into shoulders resembling moving cliffs, jagged dorsal plates forming an armored ridge along its back. Broad flipper-like limbs broke the surface beside its torso, while a long serpentine tail swept through the sea farther behind it before disappearing once again into the depths.

Even then, most of the creature remained underwater.

Risley’s mouth fell open. Araña seemed to forget entirely that she was supposed to be holding onto the mast. Carla’s expression turned alarmed, her white fur somehow seeming to pale even further. Maren’s jaw hung slightly open, her grip on her sword suddenly looking less certain. Kagura’s eyes widened in disbelief, while Wendy instinctively moved closer to Brainstorm, trembling behind him.

"W-What is that thing?"

Brainstorm simply stared. He had transformed into Way Big enough times to know what it felt like to tower over buildings and face creatures capable of leveling cities.

This thing would dwarf even his To’Kustar form.

The beast's emergence shoved an enormous swell toward the schooner. The Siren's Grace began climbing sharply, rigging snapping taut overhead as the deck tilted beneath everyone's feet.

Marielle reacted immediately.

"Tide Pressure: Breakwater!" She thrust one hand toward the approaching swell.

The water directly ahead of the Grace suddenly compressed and divided. What had been a single towering surge split around the hull in two powerful streams, curling away from the schooner as though an invisible wedge had been driven straight through the sea.

The Grace still rocked beneath the remaining force, but instead of plunging helplessly down the opposite side, she settled into the water with a heavy but controlled roll.

Brainstorm's eyes widened. "Remarkable."

Wendy stared at Marielle. "You can use Water Magic, Miss Azure?"

"Not Water. Tide Pressure," the guildmaster corrected, lowering her hand. "I manipulate the pressure and currents already within water."

Carla looked from the divided wake to the guildmaster. "That is considerably more useful aboard a ship."

Brainstorm's expression sharpened with interest. "Manipulating localized hydrostatic pressure to redirect an incoming mass rather than opposing it directly. Extremely efficient, I must say."

Maren smirked. "Careful, Master. Crab-boy likes your magic."

"Cerebrocrustacean."

"Crab-boy."

Araña finally found her voice, both hands clamped around the rail. "Can we focus on the thing bigger than our ship?"

Maren slowly lowered her flask. "Fair point." She looked back toward the towering beast. "So… what the hell are we dealing with?"

"Leviathan." Marielle replied.

Kagura looked sharply toward her. "You know this creature?"

"I've read about them."

Maren's brow tightened. "Read about?"

"I have never seen one." Marielle swallowed. "Few people ever have and live to tell the story."

The Leviathan released a deep rumble from somewhere inside its immense chest. The sound rolled across the ocean like distant thunder, vibrating through the hull strongly enough for everyone to feel it through their footwear.

"Master," Maren said, studying the armored plates along its neck. "Stupidly incredible size aside, how dangerous is it?"

"Extremely." Marielle's expression remained grave. "The oldest bestiaries claim their physical strength rivals that of Dragons."

Wendy's eyes widened. "Dragons?"

For once, Brainstorm had nothing clever to add. His accelerated mind was already sorting through everything he had learned about Dragons since arriving in Fiore: creatures whose power ordinary wizards could barely comprehend and whose existence had required the creation of Dragon Slayer Magic simply to oppose them.

One description returned to him above all others.

A force of nature.

If Marielle's information was even remotely accurate, the creature beside them qualified.

Kagura looked across the seemingly endless stretch of armored body. "Why would something like this come so close to land?"

"That is what concerns me." The guildmaster said quietly.

The Leviathan suddenly plunged its head beneath the surface. Water erupted around it as its armored back rolled forward, and the enormous creature accelerated directly toward the Siren's Grace.

"Incoming!" Marielle shouted.

Kagura's hand snapped toward her katana while Maren shifted her odachi from her shoulder. Wendy planted her feet and drew in a breath as Carla spread her wings behind her, ready to pull the girl clear if necessary.

Brainstorm's cranial plates opened, yellow electricity crawling across his exposed brain as the sensor network flooded him with information such as, trajectory, depth, and speed.

His eyes widened. "WAIT!"

Kagura stopped halfway through drawing her blade. Maren stayed her gravity field, while Wendy choked off the breath attack gathering in her lungs.

The Leviathan erupted beside them with its jaws spread wide.

Araña screamed and ducked as the colossal head swept past the schooner. Displaced air cracked through the sails and sent clothing and hair whipping across the deck as rows of ivory teeth filled their entire view.

Then the jaws snapped shut beyond the Grace.

CRUNCH.

Everyone froze.

A Spineback Squid thrashed between the Leviathan's teeth, tentacles flailing uselessly against its armored snout while black ink streamed across its scales. With a tilt of its head, the Leviathan swallowed the creature whole.

Wendy slowly straightened. "It… ate the Spineback."

Brainstorm's expression sharpened as the pieces fell into place. "Precisely."

Another Spineback broke the surface farther away, and the Leviathan's crimson eye immediately fixed upon it.

Kagura narrowed her eyes. "It wasn't targeting us?"

"No." Brainstorm watched the animal turn. "We scarcely register as relevant. The Grace simply happened to be between the creature and its meal."

Maren exhaled. "Would've been nice if lunch picked another direction."

The Leviathan lunged again. Its enormous body rolled through the water with frightening speed, forcing another tremendous volume of seawater outward.

"Brace yourselves!" Marielle called.

She drove one hand forward before the swell reached them.

"Tide Pressure: Breakwater!"

The approaching water buckled as invisible pressure carved through the center of the surge, forcing the heaviest part of the swell outward while a controlled current formed beneath the schooner and lifted it smoothly over what remained. Instead of being thrown sideways, the vessel rode over the weakened crest and settled safely beyond it.

Wendy stared at Marielle with open admiration. "That's amazing!"

Carla nodded reluctantly. "I must agree."

Brainstorm's cranial plates began closing as he looked toward the guildmaster. "Your control is exceptionally precise."

Marielle spared him the faintest smile.

The water she had redirected continued racing outward across the sea alongside the untouched portions of the Leviathan's wake.

Everyone turned as the surge reached the barren rock island in the distance. It struck the gray cliffs with a thunderous boom.

White water exploded nearly to the summit as fractures tore through the weathered stone from its base upward. The entire pillar shuddered, tilted, and finally collapsed into the sea, enormous slabs disappearing beneath the churning foam.

When the water settled, nothing remained above the surface.

Silence fell across the Grace.

Marielle stared at the empty patch of sea where the island had stood. "So that's what happened yesterday."

Kagura turned toward her. "The tsunami?"

"It has to be."

Brainstorm watched the Leviathan pursue another fleeing Spineback as the scattered evidence assembled itself into a single explanation.

"The Leviathan entered their hunting territory and forced them toward shallower water."

"Where fear and overcrowding made them aggressive," Kagura added.

Brainstorm inclined his head. "Precisely. And their predator followed."

Wendy's expression softened, watching its distant armored back break the surface. "So none of them were actually trying to hurt anyone."

"Intent does not eliminate danger, dear Wendy," Brainstorm replied. "But their behavior is considerably more understandable now."

Kagura watched the massive shadow moving beneath the sea. "The same applies to the Leviathan."

Maren settled her odachi back across one shoulder. "So what now? Asking it nicely to leave doesn't seem promising."

Araña swallowed. "We're not actually planning to fight that thing, are we?"

Brainstorm remained silent. He possessed transformations capable of tremendous destructive force, but attacking an animal simply because it was hungry felt fundamentally wrong. It reminded him of the Krakken, which had only been trying to recover its eggs. This creature was no different, simply hunting as any wild animal would.

Were Spinebacks part of its natural diet? Given their size, it certainly seemed possible, though a creature as colossal as the Leviathan would likely need several to satisfy its appetite unless it had an unusually slow metabolism.

Wendy leaned over the railing. "What if it didn't have to hunt here?"

Marielle turned toward her. "What do you mean?"

"The Leviathan only came here because it followed the squids, right?" Wendy looked toward the distant predator. "What if there was somewhere farther offshore with enough food for it?"

Marielle's expression changed.

Maren noticed. "You know somewhere."

"Possibly." Marielle looked toward the northern horizon. "Mashima Trench. It's more than a hundred miles from here, well beyond the major shipping routes. Giant squid and other abyssal species are common there."

Wendy brightened. "Then we just have to lead it there."

Brainstorm slowly smiled. "Precisely, my dear Wendy."

Maren looked from him to the Leviathan. "And how exactly are we doing that? Unless somebody packed a hundred-mile trail of giant squid."

"Regrettably, my cephalopod reserves are somewhat lacking." Brainstorm's eyes gleamed with an idea. "However, I believe I possess an alternative." Emerald light swept across the deck as Ben returned to human form. Ben then turned toward Kagura and the other Mermaid Heel wizards, his usual grin replaced with something more serious. "There's something else I can do that I haven't exactly advertised."

Maren raised an eyebrow. "Considering everything we've already seen, that concerns me."

Kagura studied him. "What is it, Ben?"

Ben hesitated before looking across Marielle, Maren, Risley, Araña, and Kagura. Wendy and Carla already knew the truth behind his transformations, but what he was about to reveal carried very different implications.

"This really needs to stay between everyone aboard this ship."

The humor vanished from Maren's face. Wendy and Risley straightened, Araña nodded quietly, and Carla's ears angled back as she recognized the seriousness in Ben's voice.

Kagura remained composed, but her hazel eyes sharpened. The fact that Ben was asking for secrecy now made one thing clear, whatever came next was very important.

Marielle regarded Ben carefully. "If secrecy is necessary, Mermaid Heel can provide more than our word. I can arrange a magical confidentiality contract binding everyone aboard."

Ben blinked. He had no idea what that was, but the offer sounded tempting. Just as he was about to agree, he looked around at the group and shook his head. "No."

The albino-haired woman's brows rose.

"If you guys tell me you'll keep it secret, that's enough for me."

The deck fell quiet.

Carla watched Ben with a softened expression. He had trusted Cait Shelter with the truth about his abilities and where he came from, but since leaving the guild he had been far more careful about how much of himself he revealed. Now, despite knowing the Mermaid Heel wizards for only a short time, he was willingly placing another piece of that trust in their hands.

His hands really must be tied.

Kagura stepped forward first. "You have my word. Whatever you show us will remain aboard this vessel."

Maren rested one hand against her odachi. "Same here, Benji."

Risley nodded while Araña drew two fingers across her lips.

Marielle inclined her head. "Then, as master of Mermaid Heel, you have my word. Whatever you are about to show us will remain aboard this ship."

Ben's shoulders loosened. "Thanks." His eyes shifted toward Wendy, and some of the relief left his expression. "Wendy… I'm sorry. I really wanted to show you this one differently."

Wendy blinked. "Show me what?"

Ben only smiled faintly and began backing toward the starboard rail. Wendy's confusion sharpened when he planted one hand on the railing and vaulted cleanly over the side.

"Ben?!" Wendy rushed to the rail as Carla launched from her shoulder, with Kagura and Risley reaching the edge only a step behind. All four leaned over and stared at the patch of foam where he had disappeared beneath the dark-blue water.

For several seconds, nothing happened beyond the slap of waves against the hull. Then the sea turned green.

Emerald light ignited beneath the schooner and rapidly swelled into a brilliant radiance, spilling across the Siren's Grace's midnight-blue hull and painting the faces along the railing in green. Within that glow, a silhouette began expanding beneath the surface, growing far too large to belong to any transformation they had seen before.

Kagura tightened her grip on the railing. What is he turning into?

The water suddenly heaved upward as the ocean exploded.

A colossal shape exploded from the sea off the Siren's Grace's starboard side, throwing up a wall of white spray as the schooner heaved beneath the sudden displacement.

Something vast rose through the falling water as two enormous wings spread outward. They were broad and reptilian, supported by long dark bones and stretched with deep navy membranes that were nearly black along their edges. Intricate patterns of green and teal swept across them like curling currents, catching the sunlight as the wings opened to their full span. One tremendous beat struck the air and spray was blasted across the deck. The creature's immense body was covered predominantly in dark navy-blue scales, deepening almost to black across its limbs, back, and tail. Brighter green scales armored its throat, chest, and abdomen, while vivid streaks of emerald and blue-green markings curled across its shoulders, arms, flanks, and tail. A crest of layered green feathers crowned its head and swept backward along the upper neck, almost like a regal mane. Several horns rose between the feathers, including longer curved horns at the rear of its skull, while smaller spikes framed a narrow muzzle filled with sharp teeth. Brilliant green eyes burned beneath its brow. At the center of its broad chest rested an enlarged Omnitrix dial.

(A/N: Created by Wildbeast2004)

Wisps of pale green mist curled from between its scales and around its forearms before being torn away by the wind. The ninety-foot Siren's Grace was suddenly small beneath it.

A Dragon.

It wasn't something resembling one nor a monster that happened to possess wings and scales. No, it was a true, living Dragon.

Nobody spoke.

Wendy stood frozen against the railing, eyes impossibly wide as disbelief collided with recognition. While she had seen Atlas Flame, he had been a spirit called forth through Milky Way, a lingering remnant of a Dragon who died centuries ago. .

This was different, though. This Dragon breathed, its wings displaced the air, and water was streaming from its scales. And somehow, impossibly, it was Ben.

Carla hovered beside Wendy with both paws hanging uselessly at her sides. Kagura remained completely still, one hand locked around the railing while her hazel eyes followed the Dragon overhead, and Risley slowly raised a hand to cover her mouth.

Maren's flask slipped from her fingers. It struck the deck with a clatter, sake spilling between the boards as even the normally unflappable swordswoman stared.

Marielle had gone just as still. She had read ancient accounts of Dragons, studied surviving illustrations, and heard the same stories every wizard in Ishgar knew about creatures capable of overwhelming armies and devastating entire cities.

None of those stories had prepared her for what it actually felt like to stand beneath one.

Araña finally found her voice. "HE CAN TURN INTO A DRAGON?!"

Maren turned toward Wendy. "You didn't know he could do this?"

Wendy shook her head without looking away. "No."

Every eye returned to the Dragon.

His fang-filled muzzle pulled into a distinctly Ben-like grin. "Surprise?"

Wendy didn't answer immediately.

The enormous wings, horns, scales, and sheer presence of a living Dragon dragged another image painfully to the surface: Grandeeney. Warmth and longing tightened her chest and, for an instant, she could almost imagine the familiar white Dragon descending through the clouds toward her and hear that gentle voice she hadn't heard in years.

The dark-blue Dragon then tilted his head in a way that only Ben did. It reminded her that he was still Ben in there. The same person she had found beside the river, who had carried her and Carla across half of Fiore, encouraged her when she doubted herself, and somehow made every impossible situation even stranger.

Wonder overwhelmed everything else.

"BEN, YOU'RE A DRAGON!"

Dragon-Ben's grin widened as Wendy practically glowed with excitement.

He lowered himself carefully until his immense body settled into the ocean beside the schooner, keeping enough distance to avoid disturbing it. He then extended his right hand toward the starboard railing, resting the tip of his index finger close enough for Wendy to step onto it.

"Wendy, hop on."

That was all the invitation the Sky Dragon Slayer needed.

Wendy swung one leg over the railing and stepped onto his index finger before scrambling eagerly up his arm and toward his shoulder.

"Wendy, wait!" Carla cried, flying after her.

The bluenette laughed as she reached the Dragon's upper back. "Carla, come on!"

Carla hovered beside the Dragon and stared at the girl already making herself comfortable near the base of his neck.

Her ears flattened with resignation as she landed beside her, sighing. "Very well."

Wendy placed one hand against the dark-blue scales. They were warm and surprisingly smooth, although firmer beneath her palm than Grandeeney's had been.

Her fingers drifted upward until they brushed the lowest green feathers of Dragon-Ben's mane. "It feels different from Grandeeney," she murmured.

Dragon-Ben turned his massive head enough to look back with one brilliant green eye. Some of the earlier humor disappeared from his expression.

Wendy smiled softly. "But it's nice."

The tension disappeared from his eye. "Glad to hear it."

With that, Dragon-Ben pushed away from the sea. His wings slammed downward with tremendous force, blasting water outward as his massive body surged into the sky. Wendy grabbed one of the quills in front of her while Carla wrapped both paws firmly around the girl's waist.

Below, the Mermaid Heel wizards seized whatever they could as the Siren's Grace climbed the broad swell created by his ascent.

Maren caught the mainmast with one hand. "Hey! Try warning us before you do that, Benji!"

The Leviathan's enormous crimson eyes rolled upward as the Dragon approached. Part of its head rose above the surface, followed by a deep crocodilian hiss that was low enough to make the surrounding water tremble.

Wendy swallowed. "I don't think it likes you."

"Yeah. Got that impression."

The Leviathan's serpentine tail swept through the sea behind it, throwing up swells large enough to threaten any ordinary vessel caught too close.

Dragon-Ben stopped advancing and hovered several hundred feet above the ocean. His dark wings beat steadily as he studied the mythical sea creature below, while its crimson eyes remained locked upon him.

From the schooner, Araña stared between them. "A Leviathan facing a Dragon…" Her voice dropped almost reverently. "This is like something from a fairy tale."

"I don't think any story could do this justice," Risley breathed. "Two creatures people spend their entire lives hearing about, staring each other down right in front of us."

Kagura remained silent. Even after everything she had witnessed Ben become, the sight of that dark-blue Dragon suspended above the open ocean opposite a Leviathan made the Siren's Grace and everyone aboard it seem impossibly small.

Maren's mouth curved upward. "Not a bad view for an investigation that started with some squid."

Risley glanced toward her. "What do you think Ben can do as this one?"

Kagura watched the faint mist curling around his body. "I suspect we are about to find out."

Dragon-Ben drew his head back and inhaled.

Araña leaned eagerly over the railing. "Here it comes."

"The legendary roar of a Dragon," Risley whispered.

Everyone braced themselves.

Fire seemed like the obvious possibility. Perhaps lightning. Maybe some tremendous blast of magical energy powerful enough to match the creature producing it.

Instead, Dragon-Ben opened his jaws and exhaled a thick, luminous cloud swirling with greens, blues, and deep violet. The colors folded through one another without fully mixing, spreading across the ocean like fog.

Risley blinked. "Clouds?"

Araña titled her head. "Colorful clouds?"

The cloud rolled outward, sweeping low across the sea until the Leviathan's massive head disappeared within it. Smaller tendrils curled back toward the Siren's Grace, passing over the deck in thin ribbons before dispersing into the air.

Kagura watched one blue-green strand flow around her hand. "Magic."

Marielle's eyes narrowed. "Quite a lot of it."

The mist surrounding the Leviathan began to shimmer… and then something moved inside it.

A Spineback Squid burst from the haze.

Araña stared. "…Eh?"

A second appeared beside it. Followed by five, ten, and then dozens.

Within seconds, the water ahead appeared crowded with enormous purple Spinebacks moving through the mist. Their tentacles struck the surface, their ridged mantles twisted with every frantic movement, and sprays of seawater flew behind them as though hundreds of real creatures were racing through the ocean.

Risley's mouth fell open. "Where did all those squids come from?"

Araña leaned forward. "There weren't that many before!"

"There still aren't," Marielle said quietly.

Araña looked back. "What?"

"I've seen this before." The guildmaster continued studying the creatures. "Illusion Magic."

Maren whistled softly. "Well, didn't see that coming."

Kagura watched one Spineback pass near the schooner. She knew what Marielle had just told her, yet her eyes still insisted that something wet, enormous, and very real had crossed the water.

"They even sound real."

Risley wrinkled her nose. "And smell real. Unfortunately."

From Dragon-Ben's shoulder, Wendy stared at the impossible school below. "Ben, how are you doing this?"

"I… Just know."

The Leviathan's crimson eyes shifted as its attention moved away from Dragon-Ben and toward the fleeing Spinebacks.

Dragon-Ben's muzzle stretched into a grin. "Hooked him."

Another shape suddenly began taking form inside the mist.

The new illusion possessed a murky olive-green head tapering toward a narrow face, with three black horn-like spikes rising from its skull. Purple ridges swept over menacing red eyes, while a darker mouth opened beneath them to reveal rows of sharp teeth. Long green tentacles curled beneath its face.

Dragon-Ben blinked as the illusion turned toward him.

He stared at it. "…Seriously?"

"What? What is it?" Wendy asked.

Dragon-Ben narrowed his eyes at the all-too-familiar alien cephalopod now floating among the false Spinebacks. Apparently years of Vilgax attempting to conquer Earth, steal the Omnitrix, kill him, or accomplish some charming combination of all three had carved a deeper groove into his subconscious than Ben appreciated.

A huge grin spread across his muzzle. "Oh, this is perfect."

He climbed higher and spread both wings dramatically. "My loyal servant Vilgax!" He thrust one claw toward the distant horizon. "Go! Lead your squid brethren onward!"

The illusion promptly plunged into the sea and surged ahead of the fleeing Spinebacks.

Carla blinked. "Who is Vilgax?"

"I dunno," Wendy shrugged. "Someone you know, Ben?"

"Long story short, very annoying squid guy."

Carla narrowed her eyes. "I suspect the actual Vilgax would object to being called your servant."

"That's what makes it funny."

Below them, the Leviathan fully abandoned its interest in Dragon-Ben, rolling through the mist-filled sea and began following the imaginary school, its enormous tail sending broad swells outward as it pursued prey only its deceived senses insisted was present.

"It's following them!" Wendy shouted.

"Carrot on a stick." Dragon-Ben glanced back toward the Siren's Grace. "One more thing." He banked toward the schooner.

Marielle's eyes widened as the Dragon descended directly over them. His enormous hind legs stretched beneath his body while his foreclaws opened carefully on either side of the hull.

"Ben?" Wendy asked.

"Saving us a little time. You ladies hang on!" Dragon-Ben lowered himself until his claws curled beneath the schooner without touching the masts, rudder, or propeller. The Siren's Grace rocked violently as his grip settled around the hull, and every wizard aboard instinctively grabbed something.

Maren leaned over the railing. "You better not wreck my ship."

Marielle turned toward her. "Your ship?"

"You heard nothing."

Dragon-Ben experimentally beat his enormous wings.

The Siren's Grace rose from the ocean as water poured from the hull in streams while the ninety-foot schooner climbed beneath him. Its sails snapped uselessly in the air for several moments before Marielle quickly ordered them furled.

The Dragon adjusted his grip until the vessel hung securely beneath him, then accelerated after the Leviathan.

Araña stared over the side to see there was nothing beneath her except open air and ocean. "Is this a dream?!"

Risley hurried to the railing beside her. "W-We're actually flying!"

Maren's grin slowly widened. "All right. This is pretty good."

Kagura looked down at the sea passing beneath them before lifting her gaze toward the Dragon carrying the entire schooner.

"He is supporting the ship as though it weighs nothing."

Marielle's expression rested somewhere between disbelief and fascination. "And to think this is merely one more ability available to him."

Maren glanced toward her. "You mean Dragon-Benji or Benji in general?"

Marielle considered the question. "Yes."

Above them, Wendy laughed from her perch near the base of Dragon-Ben's neck as he burst through the edge of a low cloud. Moisture collected across his green feathered crest and navy scales before streaming backward in the wind.

She then extended both arms out. "I can't believe this!" she shouted into the rushing wind, her entire face glowing. "I'm flying on a Dragon again!" Her laughter carried over the sky.

A smile formed on Dragon-Ben's muzzle. Even Carla failed to completely hide the fondness in her expression.

Wendy twisted around and peered down toward the schooner suspended far beneath them. "Kagura!" she called, cupping both hands around her mouth. "Come on up here!"

The samurai girl looked up from the deck, hesitant. "Pardon?"

"Carla, would you mind bringing her up here?" Wendy asked.

The white cat sighed. "Fine." She flew down until she hovered several feet above the ship. "I can bring you up. Provided you do not suddenly decide that riding a Dragon is beneath your dignity." Her eyes flicked upward. "Of course, it is Ben, so no one would fault you."

"Hey! I heard that."

Carla smirked. "You were meant to."

Kagura lifted her gaze once more.

Dragon-Ben's enormous horned head was more than a hundred feet above them, his green feathered crest flowing backward in the wind while Wendy waved enthusiastically from his shoulders.

The swordswoman exhaled. "Very well."

Nearby, Maren grinned in satisfaction. There you go, little sister.

Carla carried Kagura carefully upward and deposited her on Dragon-Ben's shoulders beside Wendy. The purple-haired maiden reached for a raised ridge of scales, while her other hand settled into thick green feathers.

"Careful," Wendy warned. "Scales are probably less forgiving than dolphin skin."

"I had assumed as much."

Kagura lowered herself behind Wendy, sitting so rigidly upright that she looked more like she was attending a formal guild meeting than riding an enormous Dragon above the ocean. Both hands remained firmly secured around the horn and nearby feathers.

Wendy glanced back. "You can relax."

"I am relaxed."

Her eyes dropped pointedly toward Kagura's whitening knuckles.

Kagura followed the look. "I am… exercising appropriate caution."

A rumbling chuckle vibrated beneath them. "Uh-huh."

Kagura narrowed her eyes toward Dragon-Ben. "Continue flying."

"Yes ma'am!"

Wendy giggled while Carla settled beside her. "I suspect antagonizing the person sitting near your neck is unwise."

"You say that like Kagura would hurt the guy currently keeping her and her guild's ship several hundred feet above the ocean."

Kagura made the mistake of looking down at the dark-blue sea stretching endlessly beneath them.

She faced forward again and swallowed. "I… am patient."

For the next several moments, nobody said much.

The steady thunder of Dragon-Ben's wings and the rush of the wind filled the silence. Ahead, the illusionary Spinebacks occasionally vanished into curling banks of multicolored mist before reappearing farther away, while the Leviathan followed relentlessly behind them.

Gradually, Kagura's grip loosened and she began noticing everything else.

From this height, the ocean seemed endless, sunlight scattering across its surface in countless flashes of silver. Even the Leviathan appeared different from above, still enormous and powerful enough to make the sea move around it, but no longer something towering over Kagura.

For once, she was looking down upon it. The wind caught her ponytail and streamed the long purple strands behind her. Kagura lifted her face into the breeze without thinking, something warm spreading slowly through her chest. Yesterday, she had been learning how to swim. Today, she was riding a dark-blue Dragon over the open ocean while a legendary sea creature chased an imaginary army of giant squid led by whatever a "Vilgax" was supposed to be.

The absurdity nearly made her laugh. Instead, a broad smile spread across her face.

Wendy noticed. "It's amazing, isn't it?"

Kagura looked across the endless blue. "It truly is."

Dragon-Ben shifted one enormous green eye enough to glimpse her reflection. "Careful, Kagura. Keep smiling like that and people might start thinking you enjoy things."

Her smile tightened. "Do not ruin the moment, Ben."

Wendy laughed.

Kagura watched her, and the sight stirred the same quiet feeling that had caught her yesterday when Wendy had thrown her arms around Ben after riding Flipper.

An old memory surfaced. A hand settling on top of her head. A dark-haired boy laughing when she angrily pushed it away.

Her smile softened.

Wendy picked up on the change. "Kagura?"

The swordswoman blinked and looked toward her. Wendy's concern was gentle rather than intrusive, while Carla had turned as well, ears lowered slightly.

For several seconds, Kagura considered dismissing it. Normally, she would have. Yet something about being so high above the sea, surrounded by nothing but wind and open sky, made the usual answer feel unnecessary.

"You and Ben remind me of someone," she admitted.

Wendy's brows rose. "Who?"

"My brother."

Dragon-Ben's wingbeats continued uninterrupted, but his attention sharpened.

Wendy turned more fully toward Kagura. "You have a brother?"

Kagura nodded. "His name is Simon." The name left her more softly than most words did. "We lived together in a place called Rosemary Village when I was very young. We had little, but…" Her gaze drifted toward the horizon. "I remember being happy."

Wendy remained quiet.

"Simon was older than me. He looked after me." A faint smile touched her mouth. "Whenever I became upset, he had an irritating habit of placing his hand on my head as though that alone would solve the problem."

Dragon-Ben gave a thoughtful rumble. "Classic older-sibling move."

Kagura glanced downward. "You know this?"

"My cousin Gwen did the same thing. We share the same birthday, but apparently being born two hours before me makes her my big sister."

Carla cocked a brow. "Two hours? That is absurd."

"Thank you."

Wendy giggled, but Kagura's amusement faded as the memory continued. "Then Rosemary Village was attacked." The lightness disappeared from the air. "People came through the village taking children and killing anyone who tried to stop them. I remember shouting, smoke, everyone trying to run…" Her fingers tightened in the green feathers beneath her. "Simon tried to keep me close."

She swallowed. "But we were separated."

Wendy folded her hands in her lap.

"I remember calling for him. I remember being terrified that if I moved, he might come back and not find me." Kagura lowered her eyes. "He never did."

Dragon-Ben remained silent.

"I escaped only because another girl helped me. She was a little older than I was, with red hair." Kagura stared ahead. "She hid me inside a barrel and told me to stay quiet."

Wendy listened intently.

"I never learned her name, and I never saw her again." Kagura's gaze hardened slightly. "I also never learned where Simon and the other kids were taken. I have searched for him ever since. It is why I began training with the sword and learning magic. Why I accepted Kurogane-sensei's instruction."

She breathed slowly through her nose. "I thought that if I became strong enough, there would eventually be nowhere I could not search."

Carla studied her quietly. "So that is why you push yourself as hard as you do."

Kagura glanced toward her. "Sensei has said something similar."

"I imagine she has. Repeatedly."

A reluctant hint of amusement touched Kagura's mouth. "Yes."

Wendy shifted closer. "You really love him."

The simplicity of the statement struck harder than Kagura expected. "Yes," she answered without hesitation. "He is my brother."

"I get it."

Kagura looked toward Dragon-Ben's head.

"My grandpa went missing once."

Wendy's expression changed. She already knew enough about Ben to understand how important his Grandpa Max was to him.

"Grandpa Max practically raised Gwen and me every summer when we were kids. Road trips, camping, hero stuff, terrible food. The whole package."

Carla sighed. "His culinary crimes again."

"Relevant character detail."

A quiet laugh escaped Kagura.

"A few years ago, Grandpa disappeared while investigating something. No warning. He was just… gone."

Kagura's attention sharpened.

"Finding him became pretty much all I cared about. Every clue, every enemy connected to whatever he'd been investigating, every place he might have gone." Ben's voice lowered. "And whenever we hit something I couldn't handle, part of me kept thinking that maybe if I were stronger, faster, smarter, whatever, I would've found him already."

Kagura understood that feeling perfectly.

"Eventually we did."

Wendy brightened. "You found him?"

"Yeah." Dragon-Ben paused. "Then I lost him again."

Wendy went still.

"There was a fight. Grandpa did something to save us and a lot of other people, and for a while… I thought he was dead."

Kagura said nothing.

"Deep down, I wanted to believe he had somehow made it. But other people still needed us." His green eyes remained fixed on the illusionary swarm ahead. "That's the part nobody tells you. When somebody you love disappears, it feels like your whole life is supposed to stop until you find them."

Kagura stared ahead.

"But it doesn't." His deep voice softened as best as it could. "You still wake up the next morning. Your friends still care about you. People still need help. Stuff still happens that makes you laugh, even when part of you thinks maybe you're not supposed to."

Kagura remembered Maren relentlessly dragging her away from training. Her guildmates' ridiculous beach list, learning to swim, the dolphins, and finally the view surrounding her now.

"I got Grandpa back eventually. Long story."

Wendy visibly relaxed. "He's all right?"

"Yeah."

Kagura remained quiet for several moments before some of the guard returned to her expression. "You believe I should stop searching."

"No. Not even close."

The firmness surprised her.

"If you believe Simon is alive, find him. Follow every real clue you get. Get stronger if being stronger helps you reach places you couldn't before."

The young swordswoman's hazel eyes widened slightly.

"Just don't make finding him the only reason you're allowed to live. Because someday you're going to learn what happened. And when that day comes, whether you find Simon waiting for you or find something you never wanted to know, you're still going to be Kagura Mikazuchi of Mermaid Heel afterward."

Kagura's fingers slowly loosened among the feathers as she rose carefully and moved closer to the edge, using some quills for support as she looked down toward the Siren's Grace. From this height, she could just make out Maren near the bow with one hand resting against her odachi while she spoke with Marielle. Risley and Araña stood farther aft. People Kagura had allowed into her life even while insisting everything came second to finding Simon.

Her guild. Her friends. Her family.

Wendy moved carefully to her side. "I think your brother would want you to be happy too."

Kagura closed her eyes. What remained of Simon came in fragments. His smile. His voice. That irritating hand resting on her head. Would the brother who had protected her truly want her to spend every year afterward refusing herself anything that did not help find him?

"He would," she admitted quietly.

Carla gave a small nod. "Then perhaps allowing yourself to enjoy a beach every now and again is not the betrayal you sometimes seem to treat it as."

Kagura opened one eye. "I did not say I believed that."

"You did not need to."

The swordswoman and feline stared at each other.

A deep chuckle rolled through Dragon-Ben's body. "She's annoyingly good at that."

"Only because the two of you are remarkably easy to read."

Wendy laughed, and after a moment Kagura joined her. And it was genuine laughter.

Kagura looked ahead again. The false Spinebacks raced through ribbons of green, blue, and violet mist while the Leviathan pursued them, chasing prey that did not exist toward a home it did not yet know awaited it.

Perhaps there was a lesson in that as well. Not every path forward needed to be forced. Sometimes it simply needed another direction.

Kagura leaned slightly into the wind. "Ben."

"Yeah?"

"When we return to Seablossom, I would like to spar with your gravity Take-Over."

Wendy blinked while Carla's ears flattened. "And there goes the peaceful moment."

Kagura ignored her. "I wish to see whether some of the principles you demonstrated against the wave can be reproduced through my Gravity Magic."

Dragon-Ben's muzzle curved upward. "Sure. But I'm warning you, the new guy's got a lot more punch than Lodestar."

"Then I will adjust."

"That's what you said last time."

Kagura smiled faintly. "And I seem to recall you getting, as you put it, 'your block knocked off.'"

Wendy groaned playfully. "You two are going to start competing again, aren't you?"

"We are."

"I like how you're already speaking for me," Dragon-Ben replied. "But okay, I'm game. Just don't get too upset when I win again."

Kagura's smile sharpened by the slightest degree. "Then I suggest you enjoy that confidence while it lasts."

Wendy laughed while Carla placed one paw against her forehead.

Dragon-Ben continued onward, carrying them through the afternoon sky. Far ahead, multicolored mist shimmered above the sea as the Leviathan followed its imaginary prey.

Kagura's smile remained and this time she allowed it to.

…

Over the course of the flight, the group riding atop Dragon-Ben had grown considerably. Once the Leviathan settled into following the illusions, Carla made several trips between the schooner and the Dragon, ferrying Marielle, Maren, Risley, and Araña up to join Wendy and Kagura.

The result was a sight none of them were likely to forget. Wendy, Kagura, and Carla remained on Dragon-Ben's lower neck while Marielle and Maren sat farther back along his shoulders with Risley and Araña nearby. Beneath them all, the Mermaid Heel schooner hung suspended in the air while the enormous Dragon carried it across the open sea.

By the time the sun had shifted westward, Marielle finally pointed ahead. "There," she called. "That should be Mashima Trench. Keep this heading."

"Aye, aye captain!" Dragon-Ben answered, adjusting course.

Far below them, the seafloor dropped away into an immense chasm whose depths vanished beyond the reach of sunlight. The false Spinebacks raced toward it, and the Leviathan surged after them with unwavering focus.

Dragon-Ben sent the illusionary school diving into the abyss. One by one, the false squids disappeared into the dark water until only a handful remained near the surface. Green light flickered around them, and they dissolved into sparkling motes. The false Vilgax lingered the longest, floating above the trench.

Dragon-Ben pointed one massive claw toward him. "You did good work today, servant. Go in peace."

The Vilgax illusion then vanished with the rest.

The Leviathan slowed while Dragon-Ben held position overhead, and everyone watched tensely. For several long seconds, the colossal predator remained near the surface, its crimson eye sweeping across the water as it searched for prey that had seemingly disappeared into the depths.

Araña swallowed. "Please tell me it doesn't realize we tricked it."

"That would be bad," Risley agreed.

Something enormous suddenly moved beneath the surface.

Wendy's eyes widened. "Look!"

Several hundred yards away, a massive fish burst from the sea. It resembled an enormous deepwater grouper, broad-bodied and heavy, with mottled slate-blue scales, a wide blunt head, and great fins flaring as it breached. It crashed back down in a thunderous explosion of white spray.

The Leviathan's head turned as it swiftly dove. Several moments later, a vast shadow surged through the water after the giant grouper, and both shapes descended toward Mashima Trench.

Wendy leaned forward. "Did… did it work?"

Dragon-Ben's muzzle curved into a satisfied grin. "Yeah. I think it did."

Wendy exhaled, smiling in relief.

Kagura kept her eyes on the place where the Leviathan had disappeared. "The Spineback Squids were driven toward Seablossom because the Leviathan was pursuing them for food."

"That appears to be the most likely explanation," Marielle replied. "A creature of that size would require enormous prey. Once it entered the Spinebacks' territory, fleeing toward shallower water may simply have been their best chance of escape."

Araña rested her chin on one hand. "So giant monster gets hungry, chases giant squid, giant squid run toward town, and everybody has a terrible week. Mystery solved?"

Maren took a slow drink from her flask before lowering it. "Not quite."

Risley glanced toward her. "What are we missing?"

Maren pointed toward the trench below. "Why was the Leviathan anywhere near Seablossom's waters to begin with?"

That quieted everyone.

"Maybe it was already following the squids?" Wendy suggested.

"Perhaps," Marielle said, though uncertainty crept into her voice. "But Leviathans are believed to inhabit the deepest reaches of the sea. Something must have drawn it closer to land before it ever began hunting here."

Kagura frowned thoughtfully. "A shortage of food?"

"Possible. Changes in currents, migration patterns, magical disturbances…" Marielle shook her head. "There are many explanations."

Carla's ears twitched. "And no way to determine which is correct."

"Not with what we know now."

Araña stared down at the water. "So something might have driven even that thing out of its own territory?"

Nobody answered.

Dragon-Ben finally broke the silence with a low rumble. "Or maybe it just followed lunch farther than usual. Either way, I'm filing this one under 'mysteries for another day.'"

"I agree," Carla said.

Wendy smiled. "At least it has a new home now."

Marielle nodded. "And Mashima Trench lies far away from land. Provided it remains in these deeper waters, both the Leviathan and Seablossom should be safe."

Dragon-Ben banked into a broad turn and began carrying them back toward the distant coast. "Well, mission accomplished. Time to head back."

"You are planning on changing back before we reach Seablossom, correct?" Carla asked pointedly.

"Obviously. I can be irresponsible sometimes, sure, but I'm not about to start a citywide panic if I can help it."

Carla gave a small nod. "At least you understand that much. I'll give you credit for considering the consequences before causing another problem."

Dragon-Ben let out a rumbling chuckle. "Wow. You're sounding like you almost respect me."

She huffed. "Do not push your luck." There was no real bite in it.

Wendy giggled and then leaned forward. "Hey, Ben, you still haven't named this form yet."

Risley looked up. "Why is it so important for him to name it?"

"Because Ben names all his transformations," Wendy explained brightly. "It's kind of his thing. It gives them an identity, you know?"

Maren smirked. "In that case, what's the verdict, Benji?"

"I don't know yet. Still thinking."

That was apparently all the encouragement Araña needed. "Emeraldfang!"

Risley tilted her head. "Jadescale?"

Wendy brightened. "What about Misty-wing?"

Maren leaned forward, grinning. "Dragon-Benji."

"No." His response was flat.

Carla flicked an ear. "You are all focusing on his appearance. His most unusual ability is still Illusion Magic and the peculiar mist he uses."

"True." Marielle chuckled softly. "There is no need to force it. Names often become obvious once you understand what something truly is."

Dragon-Ben was quiet for a moment. "Yeah. Maybe you're right."

…

The Leviathan sank slowly into the abyss, the last traces of the grouper disappearing between its jaws before it swallowed. Satisfied for the moment, the Leviathan angled downward. Its enormous body disappeared beneath successive layers of blue until the sunlight above faded into little more than a pale glow. Cold water pressed comfortably against its scales, while the scents of unfamiliar creatures drifted through the currents around it.

For a long time, its old hunting grounds had been good. Deep water, plenty of food, and dark places where it could rest undisturbed.

Even the winged lizards that had once entered its territory and angered it had vanished long ago.

Then something had changed.

At first, it had been faint. A wrong feeling in the water. The Leviathan had avoided it, but the wrongness only grew. It came from a small piece of ground rising above the sea. Something tall and dark had begun taking shape there.

The Leviathan didn't understand what it was or why it had appeared. It only understood what came from it: wrongness, danger, and death. So the Leviathan had stayed away.

But as the days passed, the feeling only spread. It no longer mattered which part of its territory the creature entered. The pressure was always there, faint at first, then stronger, crawling through the water and pressing against instincts far older than thought.

Danger. Leave.

Eventually, the Leviathan obeyed.

It abandoned the waters it had known for a long time, following fleeing prey farther and farther from its territory. Hunger drove it after them into shallower seas and unfamiliar places where it had never needed to hunt before.

Now, however, the strange scent that had drawn it across the ocean was gone.

The Leviathan slowed. Below stretched darkness, stone, and deep channels filled with movement. Descending farther into the gorge, the Leviathan followed the scents into the darkness. Strange prey moved between the rock walls below, some small, others large enough to satisfy even its immense appetite.

The creature rumbled softly through the water. This place would do.

…

By the time Seablossom's coastline appeared against the darkening horizon, the Siren's Grace had been back in the water for nearly an hour. Ben had returned the schooner to the sea well before land came into view, then changed back to human soon afterward. Even with the sun sinking low behind them, the harbor ahead was still alive. Lanterns and Lacrima-lights had begun glowing along the waterfront, fishing boats moved between the outer docks, and the decorations for the Tide Festival fluttered beneath the evening breeze.

Ben stood near the starboard railing with his arms folded loosely against the wood. After staring toward the approaching city for several seconds, he finally looked back at the gathered Mermaid Heel wizards.

"So," he began, raising one hand, "I'm guessing everybody understands why I'd rather the whole 'Ben can turn into a Dragon' thing not become tavern gossip by tomorrow morning."

The lightness of his tone did little to disguise the seriousness beneath it.

Maren's usual grin disappeared first. She rested one hand against the hilt of her odachi and gave him a firm nod. "Nobody hears it from me."

Kagura nodded, her expression solemn. "Nor from me."

Risley folded her arms. "Same here. I might enjoy gossip, but I know when something isn't mine to spread."

Araña mimed dragging a zipper across her lips, then twisted an imaginary key and tossed it overboard. "Sealed forever, Benji."

Marielle stepped closer. "You have my word as guild master. Mermaid Heel will treat the nature of that transformation as confidential information unless you decide otherwise."

Ben's shoulders loosened slightly. "Thanks."

"So how big do you think your Dragon Take-Over is exactly?" Risley asked.

"Well—"

"Can you breathe fire?" Araña added. "Or just that mist?"

Wendy stood beside Ben with sparkling eyes. "Can I ride on your Dragon form again sometime? Pretty please!"

Ben stared at them.

Maren wandered over last, flask in hand. "More importantly, Benji, how much sake could Dragon-you drink?"

Carla covered her face with one paw. "Of course that is your question."

Wendy tugged lightly at Ben's sleeve. "But seriously, can we ride him again?"

"Maybe."

Her face brightened. "Really?"

"Maybe," he repeated, already laughing as the bluenette began negotiating.

A short distance away, Kagura quietly withdrew from the gathering before she became caught in the questioning as well. She crossed to the opposite side of the deck, where Marielle stood watching Seablossom grow larger across the water.

"Impressive."

Kagura glanced toward the albino-haired woman. "The Dragon?"

Marielle's smile deepened. "That too."

Her gaze shifted toward the distant stretch of ocean they had left behind. "He possessed enough power to challenge that creature directly. Yet fighting it never became his first solution." Kagura followed her gaze before looking back toward Ben. He was currently trying to explain to Wendy why transforming into a Dragon solely to give her another ride probably defeated the purpose of keeping the transformation secret. "Most wizards spend their lives seeking greater power. More magic. Stronger spells. Greater ability to overcome whatever stands before them."

Marielle’s expression grew more thoughtful. "There is nothing wrong with that. Power protects people. It accomplishes things weakness cannot." Her eyes shifted toward Kagura. "The danger comes when someone begins believing that because they possess the strength to overpower something, they should."

Kagura remained silent.

Marielle rested both hands lightly against the railing. "Ben could have attacked the Leviathan. Perhaps he could even have defeated it."

Kagura thought about the Dragon that had dwarfed the Siren's Grace, then about Gravattack holding back an entire tsunami. That possibility didn't sound unreasonable.

"But instead of destroying the Leviathan, He gave it another direction."

The swordswoman's gaze returned to Ben.

"Strength is only a tool, Kagura. Knowing when not to use it is what separates a powerful wizard from a great one."

The words settled quietly between them.

Kagura thought of her sword. Of Gravity Magic. Of years spent becoming strong enough to overcome whatever might stand between herself and Simon.

After several seconds, Kagura nodded. "I understand."

Marielle glanced toward her, a small approving smile appearing. "Make sure you remember."

…

The next morning, Wendy sat on a stone bench along the edge of the courtyard behind Mermaid Heel's guild hall, with Carla seated neatly beside her.

"I've been waiting for this!" Wendy said eagerly, leaning forward. "Ben's gravity against Kagura and Miss Maren's!"

Carla folded her arms. "I am more interested in seeing whether he can control that power with any degree of precision. Stopping a giant wave was certainly impressive, but hardly a demonstration of subtlety."

From the center of the courtyard, Ben glanced back. "You know, you could've just said you were excited too."

"I could have."

Ben rolled his eyes and raised the Omnitrix, tapping the faceplate to activate the holo-ring. He had spent part of the previous evening reviewing the newly unlocked DNA entry and what little information the device provided: Galilean, native to the planet Keplorr, with a body built around an extraordinarily dense living planetary core.

"Okay, big guy," he murmured, selecting the unfamiliar head icon. "Round two."

He slammed down the dial and, in a green flash, Ben was replaced by the massive Galilean.

Wendy pouted slightly. "Ben, you haven't named this one either."

"Working on it. We were a little busy yesterday."

Carla flicked one ear. "Perhaps gaining a better understanding of what the form can do will help."

Across the courtyard, Kagura drew her katana while Maren rested her sheathed odachi across one shoulder. The older swordswoman grinned at the towering alien opposite them. "Ready, big guy?"

The Galilean spread his feet. "Whenever you are."

Maren's grin faded just enough to show she was taking the exercise seriously. "This isn't about winning. You learn how to control that body, while Kagura and I figure out how your gravity magic differs from ours."

Kagura inclined her head. "Agreed."

"Group science project with swords. Got it."

Maren pointed toward several waist-high stone practice blocks arranged around the courtyard. "Let's start simple."

Kagura lifted one hand. "Gravity Decrease!" Gravity shifted around five of the blocks at once, launching them toward the rocky alien from different directions.

The Galilean held out his hand and the air distorted around it, and every stone immediately stopped. Then, the entire courtyard groaned beneath the gravitational pressure. Dust spiraled and pebbles spiraled upward first and the flagstones lifted into the air next, spinning around his body.

Wendy's eyes widened. "Whoa."

Maren watched the enormous field for two seconds. "Too much power."

"Huh, what're you talking about?" His rocky brow lowered. "I stopped all five."

"You also tried to move ten tons when one would've done." Maren pointed toward the trembling courtyard. "Stop solving five problems with one enormous field. Pick the point that matters."

The Galilean paused. That sounded irritatingly familiar. He carefully released the field, causing the floating dust and stones to drop back onto the courtyard with a scattered clatter.

Kagura stepped forward next.

She raised two fingers, and one stone beside the Galilean suddenly sank hard enough to crack the pavement beneath it. Another became nearly weightless and drifted upward, while a concentrated pressure settled only around his right arm.

Nothing else moved.

The Galilean studied the three effects. She had done the same thing during their spar the other day. "Quite precise."

Kagura lowered her hand. "Precision requires less magic than correcting unnecessary force afterward."

Maren smirked. "She's learning."

The Galilean looked toward another block and extended one massive hand. Instead of pushing it away, he dropped it sideways.

Wendy shot upright. "It's falling sideways!"

Carla's eyes narrowed. "Its idea of 'down' has changed."

The Galilean grinned. "Exactly."

The block sailed horizontally across the courtyard and slammed harmlessly into a wall.

Kagura stared after it. "You didn't propel it."

"Nope."

"You changed the direction of the gravitational pull acting upon it."

"Pretty much."

Her eyes sharpened with interest. Kagura raised both hands this time, sending three more practice stones toward him from different angles.

The Galilean almost produced another large field, but he stopped himself.

"Smaller." He focused and the stones curved.

Rather than freezing in place, each swept around his body in a wide arc. Their paths tightened until all three began circling him at different heights in stable orbital tracks.

The rocky alien looked upward as one passed over his shoulder. "Okay, that is cool."

Wendy laughed delightedly. "You have your own little moons!"

Kagura watched the alien's movement. "You're not holding them in place," she realized. "They are continuously falling."

His grin widened. "Now you're getting it."

The purple-haired maiden's gaze followed the orbiting stones with growing fascination. Gravity did not always need to restrain something or increase its burden. It could give something a direction from which it never escaped.

Maren had reached her own conclusion. "Interesting."

She then rushed forward. Her sheathed odachi swept toward the Galilean's side, lightening during the first half of the motion as it usually was. The teen hero expected the familiar increase in weight at impact, but the weapon jerked diagonally instead.

Maren changed the direction of gravity acting upon the blade midway through the swing, causing the odachi to accelerate along an entirely different vector.

He barely raised a hand and a translucent distortion formed between them.

BOOM!

The sheathed weapon struck the gravitational barrier hard enough to send a deep pulse through the courtyard.

Wendy's eyes widened. "Whoa!"

Carla slowly turned toward Maren. "You appear far too pleased with yourself."

The young woman's grin grew positively dangerous. "Oh, I'm having fun."

Kagura stared at her instructor's odachi.

Maren winked. "Take notes, little sister."

The Galilean lowered the barrier. "Okay, my turn."

He shifted his attention to Kagura and rotated his personal gravitational vector. His body immediately fell sideways, accelerating toward her far faster than he expected.

Kagura's eyes widened, but she stepped neatly aside. The massive rocky alien shot past her like a meteor and crashed through part of the courtyard wall, sending chunks of stone everywhere.

Wendy burst into laughter while Carla shook her head.

A few seconds later, the Galilean climbed out of the rubble and brushed dust from one shoulder. "Alright, brakes need work." He looked back at the hole in the wall. "Uh… don't worry. I'll fix that later."

Maren seemed entirely unconcerned with the damage, her expression turning thoughtful instead. "You're still trying to move like you're human, big guy. I get that you're shaped kinda like one, but you aren't."

Kagura studied him curiously. "What exactly is this creature?"

"A Galilean. They're basically living planets that…" He stopped.

His gaze dropped to his rocky body and the fragments still orbiting around him. "Hey, hold on…" Something suddenly clicked. "I wonder."

The Galilean concentrated. His arms and legs drew inward as the massive stone plates surrounding his body shifted and folded smoothly around his glowing red core. Within seconds, his humanoid shape compressed into a dense rocky sphere.

Everyone stared as the miniature planetoid lifted several feet above the courtyard.

"Wow!" Wendy practically bounced off the bench. "You turned into a planet!"

Loose pebbles around the courtyard began lifting from the ground and settling naturally into slow orbits around him.

The Galilean felt the difference immediately. "Whoa."

Kagura stepped closer, studying the moving debris. "Your gravitational field has stabilized."

"Way more," he replied. "It's actually easier to control like this."

Maren laughed, resting one hand against her hip. "Makes sense. You finally stopped forcing a giant rock to move like a person."

The spherical Galilean suddenly accelerated, sweeping around the courtyard in a smooth, controlled arc.

"Ha! Now we're talking!"

Kagura followed his movement with obvious interest. "Your mobility has improved considerably."

Maren grinned. "And he managed not to destroy another wall. Progress."

Several minutes later, after getting a feel for his planetoid form and indulging in a little flying, Ben unfolded back into his humanoid Galilean form and resumed the gravity exercise. Maren came from his left while Kagura moved from his right. This time, the Galilean didn't seize half the courtyard. Two separate distortions appeared. Maren's charge curved away from its original line, forcing her into a sweeping arc around him. Kagura suddenly became lighter and was pulled upward just enough to break her footing, while three loose stones lifted neatly into orbit without so much as disturbing the dust around Wendy and Carla.

Maren landed and looked around. "Better."

Kagura touched down several feet away and studied the rocky alien intently. She finally understood what had bothered her about comparing his abilities to her own.

"I see now. You don't just simply increase or decrease gravity," she lowered her katana slightly. "You turn gravity itself into the attack. Impressive."

He froze and his green eyes widened. "Gravity…" he repeated. "Attack."

"I know what I'm gonna name this guy now." His rocky mouth stretched into a huge grin.

"Gravattack!"

Wendy threw both hands into the air. "Gravattack!"

Maren tilted her head, considering it. "Huh. Not bad."

Carla reluctantly nodded. "It is catchy."

Gravattack planted both fists proudly on his hips. "Then it's official! Thanks, Kagura!"

Kagura blinked, her eyes widening slightly. "I didn't intend to name your Take-Over," she admitted, looking away as a faint flush warmed her cheeks. "But… you're welcome."

Maren laughed softly nearby, openly amused by how flustered her usually composed pupil had become.

The training continued from there.

Kagura began experimenting with angled fields, sending one practice stone curving around her instead of merely stopping it. Maren started shifting the gravitational vector of her odachi mid-strike, changing not only its weight but the direction from which its momentum arrived.

Gravattack practiced smaller. One stone, one limb, and one narrow stretch of space.

Soon, there was no more trembling courtyard.

…

By the time evening settled over Seablossom, the Tide Festival had took up nearly every street. Blue-and-white ribbons hung from balconies and crossed overhead between buildings, shell lanterns glowed in strings above the avenues, and floating lacrima cast soft turquoise light across streets crowded with townspeople, merchants, sailors, and wizards.

Music seemed to come from everywhere at once. Hand drums and bells competed with stringed instruments farther down the waterfront, vendors called out over steaming food stalls, and the warm air carried everything from grilled fish and spiced bread to citrus, honey, and salt from the nearby sea.

Ben had decided within twenty minutes that the Tide Festival was much better than sailing.

"This is what travel is supposed to be like," he declared around a mouthful of fried pastry, gesturing toward the crowded avenue with the remainder. "Food, music, weird games, people selling stuff I absolutely do not need. Much better than staring at water for six hours."

Carla hovered beside him, eying the powdered sugar dusting the front of his shirt. "You have already sampled food from seven different stalls."

"Research," the teen hero replied. "Gotta learn about local culture."

Wendy giggled, walking beside them with a small paper cup of sliced fruit in both hands. "You said the exact same thing when you bought those honey cakes."

"Also research. And you thought they were delicious too."

The bluenette nodded. "Yeah, they definitely were."

Their clothes had been another part of the local culture Ben had unexpectedly allowed himself to be talked into. He had traded in his jacket and jeans for a sleeveless forest-green wrap shirt with a narrow neckline and subtle black-and-gold embroidery along the edges, loose cream trousers gathered at his ankles, a black sash around his waist, and dark sandals.

A few thin festival bracelets had somehow appeared on his right arm after Araña and Wendy cornered him near a jewelry stall, though Ben maintained he had agreed to exactly one and had been the victim of a coordinated attack.

Wendy had embraced her festival clothes with more enthusiasm. She wore a sky-blue sleeveless tunic dress that fell to her knees over loose white trousers, pale-gold waves embroidered around the hem, while a translucent teal scarf wrapped around her waist fluttered behind her with every excited step. Tiny silver bells decorated the ends of the scarf, chiming whenever she moved. A little silver mermaid bracelet circled one wrist, and a pale-blue flower clip held back part of her hair beside her right temple.

Carla had insisted she required no special clothing whatsoever, but the miniature white high-collared tunic she currently wore suggested that Wendy had won that argument. Pale-blue edging decorated the hem, a deep-red sash wrapped neatly around her waist, and one tiny gold bell hung from its end despite Carla having spent nearly five minutes calling that particular addition excessive.

Wendy glanced toward the bell. "You know, Carla, you could still take it off."

Carla's paw settled protectively over the sash. "There is no reason to alter the outfit now. It would disrupt the balance."

Ben slowly looked toward Wendy. "She likes the bell."

"…I do not." The bell gave a cheerful little chime when Carla turned sharply toward him.

Ben grinned. "Sure."

Kagura walked on Wendy’s other side, and convincing her to dress for the festival had apparently required the combined efforts of half of Mermaid Heel. Her normal kimono had been replaced by a dark-violet sleeveless wrap top with a modest crossed neckline, paired with flowing gray trousers and a lavender split overskirt that shifted around her legs when she walked. A broad white-and-gold sash circled her waist, and thin golden bands decorated each wrist. For once, she had also left her long purple hair down instead of wearing it in a ponytail, letting it fall freely around her shoulders and down her back. The change softened her normally severe appearance more than she probably realized. Small silver bells had been sewn near the lower edges of the lavender fabric, quiet enough that they only sounded during longer steps or sharper turns. Her katana remained at her left hip. Some things, apparently, were nonnegotiable.

Ben looked down at the weapon before glancing toward Kagura. "So the sword gets festival clothes too, or is it just refusing to participate?"

Kagura's eyes shifted toward him. "My katana doesn't require decorative clothing."

"Hmm… That sounds suspiciously like something a katana without decorative clothing would say."

Wendy covered her mouth, already laughing.

Kagura stared at Ben for another moment before the corner of her mouth betrayed her. "I am beginning to understand why Carla finds speaking with you exhausting."

Carla lifted her chin. "Finally, someone appreciates my burden."

"Wow. I'm surrounded by negativity."

"You are surrounded by accuracy," the white cat corrected.

Kagura's smile grew a little wider.

Ben couldn't help but notice.

It wasn't that Kagura had suddenly become a completely different person. She still walked with her usual composed posture and still had a habit of standing as if she expected someone to hand her an assignment at any moment.

But tonight there was less weight behind it.

When Wendy dragged her toward a corn-hole game, Kagura had played instead of claiming she was merely observing. When Ben failed spectacularly at a ring game because he put far too much force into the throw and sent one of the rings over the stall, Kagura had actually laughed.

She then had taken her turn and landed three rings perfectly.

Ben was offended on principle. "You cheated," he accused as the stall keeper handed Kagura a dolphin plushie.

Kagura examined the prize with obvious satisfaction. "How?"

"… I don't know yet. That's what makes it such a good cheat."

"You simply missed the targets."

"That's only because the rings were broken."

Kagura gave the nearest ring an experimental toss in her hand. "They appear fine to me."

"T-That proves nothing."

Wendy hugged the dolphin plushie that Kagura had handed to her, laughing. "Ben, don't be a sore loser."

Ben placed one hand dramatically over his chest. "Wendy, after everything I've done for you."

Carla floated past him. "Accept defeat gracefully."

"I've never done anything gracefully in my life."

Kagura's soft laugh escaped before she could restrain it.

Ben looked toward her.

She noticed his attention and slowly stopped. "W-What?"

He folded his arms, studying her with exaggerated seriousness. "You know, you should do that more often."

Kagura blinked. "Do what?"

"Smile."

Her expression immediately became suspicious.

He pointed at her as if the reaction proved his case. "See? That. You keep going right back to the scary face."

"I do not have a scary face."

"You absolutely have a scary face."

Her brows lowered. "Ben."

"That one. That is exactly the face I'm talking about."

Wendy dissolved into another fit of laughter beside them while Kagura's cheeks gained the faintest color. "My expression is perfectly normal."

"Sure," he said, grinning. "But the smile's cute. You should keep that one around more."

Kagura stopped walking.

He took another two steps before realizing she was no longer beside him. Wendy stopped as well, her brown eyes bouncing between them as Kagura stood almost perfectly still amid the moving festival crowd.

A distinctly deeper shade of pink had reached Kagura's cheeks.

Ben blinked. "What?"

"You… You make observations with very little concern for whether they should be spoken aloud."

He shrugged. "That means I'm honest."

"That is not always a virtue."

"Pretty sure it is."

Carla sighed. "Not when combined with an almost supernatural absence of tact."

Ben then pointed toward her. "Nobody asked the cat."

Kagura's mouth twitched again.

The Omnitrix bearer caught it and gestured toward her. "There. See? Cute."

Her smile vanished.

He squinted suspiciously. "Okay, now you're doing that on purpose."

"I have no idea what you mean."

That only made Wendy laugh harder, and after several seconds Kagura's composure cracked enough for another reluctant smile to return. This one lingered even after she started walking again.

Ben fell into step beside her, satisfied. They made it another block before something at a small clothing stall caught his attention.

He slowed and Kagura noticed. "What is it?"

"Hang on."

Before she could ask anything else, Ben slipped sideways through the crowd and approached a narrow stall tucked between a jeweler and a merchant selling carved charms. Lengths of ribbon and decorative hairpieces hung from wooden racks beneath the awning, ranging from bright jeweled bands to elaborate floral combs.

One item among them was a plain headband with a white bow resting near the edge of the display.

Ben stared at it for a second, glanced back at Kagura, then back at the item. "Huh."

The elderly woman behind the stall followed his gaze toward Kagura and smiled knowingly. "That one would suit her."

Ben looked at the woman. "Think so?"

"I've been doing this for years, young man. I know."

"Fair."

After buying the headband, he returned to the ladies and Kagura's attention dropped to it. "What did you purchase?"

"This." Ben lifted his hand to show a white headband with a matching white ribbon tied at the center.

Kagura was unimpressed. "I can see that. But why? I did not think you were the headband type."

"Not for me." He held it between his fingers. "I saw it and thought it'd look good on you."

Kagura stared at him.

Wendy's eyes lit up. "Oh! That's so nice."

Carla inspected. "Simple, but suitable."

Kagura looked from the headband to Ben again. "You bought it for me?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

Ben shrugged. "Because I thought you'd look good in it."

That answer apparently did not help.

Kagura's cheeks warmed again. "You did not need to spend your money on me."

"It wasn't expensive."

"T-That is beside the point."

"Okay, then the point is I wanted to."

Kagura's response died before it could reach her lips.

Ben raised the headband slightly. "May I?"

Her gaze flicked toward it, then back to him as she understood what he meant. After the briefest hesitation, Kagura gave a small nod and lowered her head toward him.

He stepped closer and carefully slipped the white band over her head, easing it into place across the crown and gently sweeping a few loose strands of purple hair aside so they would not catch beneath the fabric. Once it rested securely just behind her bangs, with the rest of her long hair falling freely down her back and over her shoulders, Ben made one small adjustment before stepping away to inspect his work.

Kagura straightened, suddenly more conscious of the headband. "Well?"

Ben's grin appeared. "Yep. Knew it."

Her brows drew together. "Knew what?"

"It works." He gestured casually toward her face. "Now you look cute even when you're doing the stern thing."

Heat rushed across Kagura's cheeks so quickly that even the warm glow of the festival lanterns could not disguise it.

Wendy clasped both hands together, her smile bright. "It really does look good on you, Kagura!"

Carla nodded in agreement. "It suits you."

Ben glanced at her with a smug little smile. "See? I have good taste."

"Do not get ahead of yourself," Carla replied at once.

Kagura lifted one hand to the headband, fingertips tracing its edge. Before she could lower her hand, a flash of white caught her eye from one of the nearby festival stalls. A merchant had arranged polished brass hand mirrors among rows of jewelry.

She slowed as she passed and found her own reflection staring back at her from one of them. The headband stood out brightly against her hair, simple enough that it didn't feel gaudy, yet different enough to soften her usual expression. The white ribbon it was tied with had both ends standing upright in defiance of gravity somehow despite her knowing she wasn't using her magic. Combined with the faint color still lingering in her cheeks, the girl in the mirror looked noticeably less stern than Kagura expected.

Perhaps Ben hadn't been entirely wrong.

She turned away from the mirror and looked back at him. "Thank you," she said sincerely.

Ben's teasing expression softened into an easy smile. "You're welcome." He allowed the moment to survive without adding anything. That display of restraint lasted approximately four seconds. "Still got the scary face, though."

Kagura's eyes narrowed.

Ben laughed and moved out of striking range.

…

By the time the Tide Festival's evening performance was announced, the sky had turned deep indigo. Hundreds of Lacrima and lantern lights reflected across the harbor, their colors trembling over the dark water while townspeople gathered around a broad wooden performance platform constructed near the waterfront. Musicians occupied one side beneath an awning. Hand drums rested against several performers' knees, long-necked string instruments were being tuned beside them, and rows of tiny brass chimes hung from an overhead frame.

Mermaid Heel had claimed the platform itself. Their clothing shared the flowing fabrics, bright sashes, embroidered ocean patterns, and small bells common throughout the festival, but each woman's outfit remained unmistakably her own.

Marielle stood near the center in an elegant ceremonial ensemble that was deep teal and pearl white. A fitted teal wrap bodice flowed into layered skirts that parted over loose ivory trousers, while a long white sleeveless over-robe moved behind her like sea foam whenever she turned. Pearls decorated her hair and wrists and silver embroidery shaped like curling waves traced the edges of her clothing.

Risley stood several places behind her in rich cobalt blue. Her sleeveless tunic carried crisp white geometric trim, an amber sash wrapped around her waist over flowing white trousers, and a light blue overskirt split into several layered panels that moved freely around her legs. Thin gold bangles circled her wrists, while tiny bells decorated one ankle and the corners of her amber sash. She looked completely at home beneath the lights.

Araña's festival clothing consisted of a short emerald-green tunic layered over cream trousers, with teal fabric draping loosely from one shoulder and a raspberry-colored sash around her waist. Silver embroidery along her cuffs formed delicate branching patterns reminiscent of spiderwebs, while several tiny bells hung from the ends of the sash and sounded whenever she bounced on her heels.

After debating with the costume committee, Maren's attire was a compromise that consisted of a short sleeveless white vest edged in gold, worn over a dark navy crossover top and loose ivory trousers, with a broad black-and-gold sash keeping everything firmly in place. One narrow strip of deep-blue fabric hung from her belt like a shortened hakama panel, and the only bells she had permitted were a small cluster tied around one ankle. Her long black-and-white hair remained in its high ponytail. Her odachi was left beside the musicians while her sake flask still occupied one hand.

Marielle's aquamarine eyes shifted toward her.

Maren noticed. "What? I'm dressed."

The guildmaster remained silent.

"I attended rehearsal."

Marielle continued looking at her.

Maren huffed, taking a drink. "You're unreasonable, Marielle."

The albino-haired woman smiled. "Opening formation."

Maren muttered something under her breath, handed her sake flask to the wizard nearest the edge of the platform, and moved into place.

Kagura watched with undisguised satisfaction. "It is refreshing to see someone else lose an argument with Master."

"You're enjoying this far too much, little sister," Maren called without looking toward her.

The first drum sounded and conversation throughout the waterfront faded.

Marielle stepped forward as the rhythm began slowly, one arm lifting in a smooth arc while the other remained curved near her waist. The other Mermaid Heel wizards followed several beats later, their movements spreading outward from the center like a wave rolling away from shore.

The dance was unlike anything Ben had seen since arriving in Earthland, blending several styles into one fluid performance. Flowing arms and turning wrists shifted into sharp, rhythmic steps as colorful scarves swept through the air and bells chimed with the drums. Pairs crossed between formations before separating again, while entire rows dipped and turned in sequence, making the guild seem like waves rising and falling beneath the lantern light. Maren was surprisingly good at it. She lacked Risley's effortless flourish, but every turn and step carried the same clean economy Ben had seen in battle.

Ben leaned toward Kagura. "She practices this, doesn't she?"

Kagura watched her instructor. "She will deny it."

The rhythm quickened, and Risley immediately stood out, moving as though the music followed her lead. Her turns were light and controlled, amber sash flaring behind her as each transition came a fraction sooner than Ben expected.

Araña, by contrast, danced like she was conspiring with the music. She exaggerated turns to make the younger wizards laugh, ducked beneath scarves at the last possible second, and flashed Kagura an enormous grin whenever their eyes met.

Kagura slowly became suspicious. "She is planning something."

Ben glanced toward Araña. "She always looks like that."

"That doesn't make me less concerned."

After several minutes, Marielle led the older dancers back as the music shifted into a lighter rhythm. Children from the audience were invited to the edge of the platform, followed by visiting teenagers and anyone willing to take an offered hand.

Wendy barely waited to be asked. When a Mermaid Heel wizard reached for her, her face lit up and she glanced back at Ben. "Can I?" she asked eagerly.

Ben chuckled. "Go. Break a leg."

Carla folded her arms. "Not literally."

The bells around Wendy's teal scarf chimed as she hurried onto the platform and quickly picked up the simpler steps. The group moved in a broad circle with two side steps, a turn, and a sweep of both arms; Wendy missed the first turn while watching the others, laughed at herself, then caught the rhythm on the next pass as her scarf fluttered behind her.

Ben smiled, arms folded loosely over his chest.

Kagura saw this. "You look proud."

"I'm glad she's having a good time. She needed this, ya know? Getting to see other people and places."

Araña suddenly appeared in front of Ben, seizing his right wrist with both hands.

He recoiled. "Where did you come from?"

"Come, chico," she said, tugging him toward the platform.

"Whoa, hold on. I never agreed to this."

The green-haired girl pulled harder. "Too late, chico. You're dancing."

Wendy waved both arms. "Come on, Ben!"

Risley drifted up beside Araña, amused. "What? Afraid you can't keep up, Benji?"

Ben slowly turned toward her, narrowing his eyes.

Kagura closed her eyes. "That was a mistake."

"Oh, I can keep up," he declared, pointing at Risley.

The ravenette's smile widened as she extended one hand. "Then prove it. Dance?"

Ben glanced at her hand, then toward the platform as that familiar spark of challenge entered his green eyes. "Okay."

Araña released him, allowing Risley to pull him into the formation. Kagura watched him go with a faint shake of her head. "Predictable."

Carla nodded. "Painfully."

Ben's first few steps seemed determined to prove them right. He watched Risley's feet too closely, nearly turned the wrong way, and only barely avoided colliding with another dancer.

Risley laughed as they recovered. "I thought you could keep up."

"Warm-up round."

"There are warm-up rounds in dancing?"

"There are now."

He stopped trying to memorize the steps and started reading them. Kagura noticed as his shoulders loosened and his attention shifted from Risley's feet to her balance, shoulders, and center of movement, much like he had watched Kagura during their spar.

Risley stepped left, and Ben was already moving. She turned beneath their linked hands and released him into the next formation, where he pivoted around another dancer, caught the rhythm, and returned to her almost perfectly on beat.

Risley's eyebrows rose. "Oh."

He grinned. "Told you."

From there, years of combat experience carried Ben. The dance itself was unfamiliar, but balance, rhythm, reaction time, and anticipating another person's movement weren't. Risley seemed to realize it too and increased the pace. Ben laughed and matched her, earning louder claps from the crowd.

Risley spun away and Ben expected her to circle back, but instead she crossed straight toward the edge of the platform. Kagura had only enough time to become suspicious before Risley caught her hand.

"Risley," the swordswoman warned, narrowing her eyes at the dancer's angelic smile. "Do not."

Risley didn't listen and pulled.

Kagura stumbled onto the platform, and before she could protest again, Risley swept around her and used the turn's momentum to send her directly toward Ben and nearly collided with him. Ben caught Kagura by both forearms on instinct, steadying her as they froze for a beat while Risley vanished back into the formation.

"I will deal with her later." Kagura declared.

Risley smiled from several dancers away and waved.

Ben was trying very hard not to laugh. He released her arms and stepped back enough to give her space. Then, with the musicians carrying the rhythm around them and dancers already moving past on both sides, he offered his hand.

"Later," he said, tilting his head toward Risley. "Dance now?"

Kagura looked at his hand. For once, nobody pulled or pushed her. Even Araña, watching from the opposite side of the formation, seemed to understand enough to remain where she was. She lifted her gaze to Ben's and placed her hand in his. "All right."

He smiled. "Try to keep up."

The swordswoman's eyes sharpened. "You are remarkably confident for someone who nearly walked into another dancer thirty seconds ago."

"Tactical reconnaissance."

"More like clumsiness."

"Agree to disagree."

The music carried them apart before either could continue. Ben followed the pattern he had just learned, retreating two steps as Kagura advanced, then reversing with the next beat so she gave ground while he moved forward. Her lavender overskirt brushed around her legs as she matched the graceful arm movements of the surrounding dancers.

After another exchange, their eyes met and something clicked.

The simple advance-and-retreat pattern felt strangely familiar, almost like the opening footwork of their spar, and without discussing it they began paying less attention to the dancers around them and more to each other.

Kagura pivoted left, but instead of following, Ben slipped behind her and emerged on her opposite side. She caught the adjustment and reversed direction on the next beat, cutting across his path so neatly that Ben barely managed to sidestep her.

His eyebrows rose. "Oh, so that's how we're doing this."

Her mouth curved as she continued with the rhythm. "I don't know what you mean."

"Sure you don't," he replied, already grinning.

The tempo quickened, and the resemblance to swordplay became harder to miss. Ben advanced with a broad sidestep as though pressing an opponent out of position, only for Kagura to pivot around him like she was slipping past a blade. When she changed direction again, he anticipated her this time and turned with her instead of letting her pass. They circled for several beats, each movement inviting an answer. Ben swept one arm outward, Kagura mirrored him, and when he shifted his weight into a turn, she rotated the opposite way until their hands passed within inches without touching. Ben tried to catch her off guard on the next measure, sliding sideways before cutting sharply across her path. Kagura reacted almost on instinct, crossing one foot behind the other as she pivoted away, then reversing the motion and appearing at his opposite side before he finished turning.

Ben blinked at her. Kagura looked far too pleased with herself. "'Try to keep up.'"

A smirk crossed the teen hero's face.

She laughed, and the sound changed the entire exchange. Somewhere beyond them, Maren smiled softly while Marielle glanced toward her, but neither woman said a word.

The formation opened into pairs, giving Ben and Kagura more room. Kagura lifted one hand, allowing Ben to turn beneath it with more enthusiasm than elegance, and he returned the gesture by taking her hand and guiding her through a turn of her own. Her white headband flashed beneath the light as she came around, purple hair sweeping behind her.

Ben shifted right, but Kagura had already read him. She moved left to meet the opening, and they crossed before separating again, their footwork beginning to resemble two swordsmen testing distance without ever drawing a weapon. Gradually, their challenge became cooperation. Ben stopped trying to surprise her at every opportunity, while Kagura stopped countering him, and their timing settled until a shift of the shoulder or slight pressure through their joined hands was enough to signal the next movement. Kagura swept around him, and Ben released her hand on the beat. She carried the momentum into a graceful spin, lavender fabric fanning around her as the tiny bells along its edge chimed.

Several places away, Wendy paused mid-dance to stare, her smile enormous. "They're really good together."

Near the edge of the platform, Araña grinned. "Yeah, they sure are."

"As dancers," Risley added.

Wendy blinked between them. "What else would she mean?"

Araña's grin faltered for half a second. "Oh, yeah. That's totally what I meant too."

"Mm-hm," Risley replied, thoroughly unconvinced. "You need more hobbies."

The musicians began driving toward the finale, and Marielle lifted one hand from the rear of the formation. Mermaid Heel responded, dancers converging toward the center in rotating lines while the visiting participants were guided through a simpler closing pattern.

Ben saw the formation changing at the same moment Kagura did. He extended his hand, she accepted it, and he stepped back to draw her forward before guiding her outward into a turn. She completed the first rotation cleanly and flowed into a second. The turn carried slightly farther than she expected, however, and one sandal caught the edge of a decorative rug.

Her balance shifted.

Ben reacted, keeping hold of her hand while his other caught lightly at her side. Kagura steadied herself with one hand against his shoulder, and for a brief instant they became perfectly still while the rest of the formation settled around them.

The final drumbeat sounded.

Ben and Kagura stared at each other for a moment before she straightened. He released her side, keeping her hand only until he was certain she had regained her footing, then let that go as well.

Applause rolled across the platform as the music faded. Kagura stood catching her breath, several loose purple strands framing her flushed face while the white headband sat slightly crooked, but none of that seemed to matter.

She was smiling again, openly and genuinely, just as she had on the beach two days earlier.

Ben grinned back at her, still a little breathless himself. "Okay, that was actually pretty fun."

Kagura let out a soft laugh as she straightened. "Yes. Yes, it was."

His gaze drifted to the slightly crooked headband, and after a moment, Ben tilted his head thoughtfully. "You know, with that headband and all the hopping around, you kinda looked like a rabbit out there."

Kagura's smile vanished and Ben immediately realized he had made a mistake.

"A rabbit?" she repeated, her voice unnervingly calm.

Ben's thoughts scrambled for a way out while Wendy's hands flew over her mouth and Carla closed her eyes as though preparing herself for the inevitable. "I mean..." His expression suddenly brightened when he found what seemed like the perfect recovery. "A cute rabbit."

Silence settled over their little section of the platform.

Kagura's entire face turned bright red, and Ben's confidence collapsed almost instantly. "Okay, somehow that made it worse."

"Ben," she warned, her eyes fixing firmly on him.

"It was supposed to fix it," he defended, taking one cautious step backward.

"It did not."

"Yeah, I'm getting that." He retreated another half-step. "For the record, rabbit was a compliment."

"Stop explaining."

"Right." He obediently fell silent for all of two seconds before adding, "Cute was also supposed to be positive."

Kagura's eyes narrowed further.

"Okay, stopping now."

That finally broke Wendy. She doubled over laughing, both hands pressed against her stomach, while even Carla's mouth twitched despite the long-suffering look she directed at Ben. Risley had turned away entirely to hide her shaking shoulders, but Araña made no such attempt at restraint.

"A rabbit!" Araña wheezed, nearly collapsing against another Mermaid Heel wizard. "A cute rabbit!"

Kagura's head snapped toward her.

Araña stopped laughing immediately.

"Risley," Kagura said.

Risley's amusement vanished just as quickly. "Why am I involved?"

"You started this."

Risley paused, considered the accusation, then sighed. "That is unfortunately true."

Beside the musicians, Maren had watched the entire disaster unfold with steadily growing amusement. She slowly turned toward Marielle, only to find the guild master already looking back at her.

Matching grins spread across both women's faces.

…

Several hours later, the Tide Festival had begun settling down. The busiest crowds had thinned, musicians were packing away their instruments, and vendors turned off Lacrima-lights one at a time while the last groups of festivalgoers started dispersing.

Ben walked with Wendy and Carla near the front of the group as they headed toward the Mother Pearl Inn. Marielle, Maren, Risley, Araña, and Kagura accompanied them for several blocks, their conversation drifting between favorite festival foods and Araña's continued insistence that Kagura's dancing had been the highlight of the evening.

Kagura had ignored most of it, walking beside Wendy. For the better part of the last hour, a question had lingered at the edge of her thoughts, and when the sign for the Mother Pearl finally appeared farther down the street, she knew there was little reason to continue avoiding it.

"How long will the three of you remain in Seablossom?" Kagura asked.

Ben glanced toward her. "Actually, we were thinking about heading out tomorrow morning."

Kagura's step slowed by the smallest fraction. Her gaze lowered briefly toward the street before she gave a quiet nod. "I see."

Wendy's expression fell. "Tomorrow already?"

Ben scratched the back of his head. "Yeah. We've already been here a few days." He gave her an apologetic smile. "I figured we'd grab breakfast, pack up our stuff, and then decide where we're heading next." His smile turned a little crooked. "You know, the vagabond lifestyle."

Wendy looked toward Kagura, disappointment plainly written across her face. "I wish we could stay a little longer."

Kagura offered her a small smile. "As do I."

Marielle had been listening quietly from behind them. "I admit, I regret seeing all three of you leave as well." Her eyes shifted toward Ben before a thoughtful smile appeared. "Although there is another possibility."

Ben raised an eyebrow. "Why does that sound suspicious?"

Maren grinned beside her. "Usually is when Master gets that look."

Marielle ignored her. "You could stay."

Ben blinked. "Stay?"

"With Mermaid Heel."

The group went silent.

Ben stared at her for several seconds before pointing at himself. "Wait. Seriously?"

Marielle's smile deepened. "Quite seriously. I have never offered membership to a man before, but traditions are not laws."

Araña's eyes widened. "Whoa. Historic moment, chico."

Risley folded her arms, visibly amused. "Try not to ruin it."

Ben looked from them back to Marielle. "I thought Mermaid Heel being all women was kind of the whole point."

"It was an intentional decision when I founded the guild," the tan-skinned woman explained as they slowed near an empty plaza. "There were talented female wizards who struggled to find places where they could train and find work without being belittled, harassed, or treated as though they needed to prove they belonged there. I wanted Mermaid Heel to be somewhere girls and women could grow stronger without dealing with that."

Ben's expression sobered slightly.

"But a guild should also recognize character when it sees it," she continued. "You have demonstrated courage, adaptability, sound judgment under pressure, and an extraordinary willingness to protect people simply because they needed protecting. None of those qualities become less valuable because you happen to be male."

Maren draped one arm loosely over her odachi. "Besides, I wouldn't mind keeping Benji around. Watching him realize every single bathroom in the guild was designed for women alone would be worth it."

Ben gave her a flat look. "Great. Really selling me on the experience."

Araña bounced lightly on her heels. "I vote yes."

"There was no vote," Marielle reminded her.

"There is now."

Risley shrugged. "I wouldn't object either. The guild could use someone else who makes Kagura lose arguments occasionally."

Kagura looked toward her. "I do not lose arguments."

Risley smiled. "See?"

Ben glanced toward Kagura next. "What about you?"

She met his gaze without hesitation. "I would have no objection."

That simple answer caught Ben off guard more than the teasing had. He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced around at the Mermaid Heel women before smiling. “Okay… wow. That’s actually a really nice offer. Seriously.”

Then a thought occurred to him, and he looked toward Wendy. “Wait. Wendy’s already in Cait Shelter. Wouldn’t joining another guild break some kind of contract?”

Marielle raised an eyebrow, but Wendy answered first. “Guild members aren’t legally bound to stay. They can retire, leave, or join another guild whenever they choose.” She folded her hands behind her back. “Most people just don’t because they’re loyal to their guild and the friends they’ve made there.”

“Huh. Learn something new every day.” Ben regarded her more seriously. “So what do you think? Would you want to join Mermaid Heel?”

Wendy blinked. “Do you?”

Ben’s expression softened. He rested a hand briefly atop her blue hair. “Don’t make your decision based on mine, Wendy. This is your choice too.”

Wendy fell quiet and looked around at the Mermaid Heel women.

There was plenty to like about the idea. Seablossom was lively and beautiful, nothing like Cait Shelter’s isolated village, and Mermaid Heel offered more jobs, more travel, and more opportunities to grow. Being surrounded by accomplished female wizards like Kagura, Maren, and Marielle was appealing too. Wendy had always admired strong women such as Fairy Tail’s famous Titania, and she could easily imagine learning a great deal here.

But then she thought about Cait Shelter.

Roubaul had become like a grandfather to her, and the rest of the guild had become her family. It was the first real home she had known after Grandeeney disappeared, filled with years of memories she could never simply trade away because somewhere new seemed exciting.

And there was Ben.

Their journey had barely begun. There were still countless places she wanted to see with him and Carla, and she wasn’t ready for that adventure to end.

Marielle waited patiently without pressing her.

Finally, Wendy smiled and gave the guild master a small bow. “I’m really honored that you asked me, Marielle. But Cait Shelter is my home, so I’ll have to respectfully decline.”

“Then I decline as well,” Carla said immediately.

Araña grinned at the feline. “I’m not sure you would’ve been accepted anyway. We have a no-pets policy.”

Carla’s ears shot upright. “I AM NOT A PET!”

Ben snorted while Wendy covered her mouth to hide a laugh.

Once Carla’s outrage had subsided enough for conversation to continue, Ben turned toward Marielle. “And I’m seriously flattered you’d consider making me Mermaid Heel’s first guy, but I’ve gotta pass too.”

His gaze drifted toward the lantern-lit streets of Seablossom. “I’ve barely seen this world yet. I’m not ready to settle down somewhere before I’ve had the chance to figure out where I belong.”

Then he glanced toward Wendy and Carla. “Besides, I’m traveling with these two. I promised Wendy we’d see as much of Fiore as we could, and we’re nowhere near done yet.”

Wendy looked up at him.

Ben smiled warmly. “She’s come a long way already, too. I’m proud of her, and I’m not cutting our trip short now.”

Color immediately warmed Wendy’s cheeks. She ducked her head with a shy smile, suddenly finding the street beneath her boots very interesting.

Several Mermaid Heel women visibly softened at the sight.

Ben smiled and gestured between Wendy and Carla. "Besides, they'd probably hunt me down if I joined a guild without consulting them first."

Carla folded her arms. "Correct."

Wendy laughed. "I wouldn't hunt you down."

The white cat glanced toward her. "I would."

"See?" Ben pointed at the feline. "Exactly my concern."

Marielle chuckled softly, her gaze shifting between Ben, Wendy, and Carla. "Then I understand. The invitation will remain open to all three of you. Should your travels ever bring you back to Seablossom, and you find yourselves wanting somewhere to call home, Mermaid Heel's doors will always be open to you."

"Thanks, Miss Az..." Ben began, only for Marielle to gently cut him off.

"Marielle."

Ben blinked before a smile crossed his face. "Marielle," he corrected. "Thanks. I'll remember that."

…

Morning sunlight spilled across the stone streets outside Mermaid Heel. Ben adjusted the strap of his pack as Wendy stepped out beside him, Carla hovering near her shoulder, only for all three to stop when they saw the crowd waiting behind the guild doors.

Nearly the entire guild had gathered to see them off.

Araña stood near the front with one hand pressed dramatically over her heart. "You cannot leave yet, chico. We barely had enough time to properly corrupt you."

Ben stared at her. "Somehow that made leaving sound more urgent."

Several women laughed while Araña clutched her chest as though mortally wounded. Beside her, Risley stepped forward carrying a wrapped bundle and held it out toward Wendy.

"Food for the road," Risley explained with a smile. "Bread, dried fruit, some pastries, and enough sandwiches that none of you have an excuse to skip lunch."

Wendy accepted the bundle with both hands. "Thank you, Risley!"

A short distance away, Kagura stood beside Maren and Marielle. Maren said nothing, though whenever Ben's attention shifted elsewhere, she gave Kagura the same smug, knowing look she had perfected over the last few days.

Kagura caught it the third time and narrowed her eyes. Maren only lifted her flask innocently.

Wendy approached Kagura first. "I'm really glad we met."

Kagura's expression softened. "As am I."

Wendy stepped forward and hugged her, and after only a brief hesitation the purple-haired girl returned it. "Keep practicing," Wendy said as they separated. "Swimming, I mean. You were getting really good."

"I intend to," she replied, a faint smile touching her face. "And you should continue training as well."

Ben waited until Wendy stepped aside before approaching. For a moment, neither seemed quite sure what kind of goodbye fit them, until Ben simply held out his hand.

Kagura looked down at it, then took it.

"Don't stop practicing the swimming," he told her, giving her hand a light squeeze.

She raised one eyebrow. "Only if you do not stop practicing your gravity control."

He grinned. "Deal."

Their hands remained together perhaps half a second longer than necessary before Kagura released him. Behind her, Maren took a slow drink from her flask and looked conspicuously toward the sky. Before Ben could comment, Marielle stepped forward carrying a compact travel satchel. It was made from durable white fabric trimmed in dark blue, with a small Mermaid Heel emblem stitched neatly onto the front flap.

"One final thing," she said, offering it to him. "A Wayfarer's Satchel. We occasionally provide them to members whose work keeps them far from the guild for extended periods."

Ben accepted it, turning it over curiously. "Looks nice."

"The interior is spatially expanded. It can hold considerably more than its size would suggest. The enchantment reduces the weight of anything stored inside, though it does not remove it entirely."

She lifted one finger before Ben could start experimenting. "Nothing living and nothing larger than the opening. The capacity is substantial, but not limitless, and unstable magical artifacts should never be placed inside."

Ben opened the flap and peered inside.

He pushed one hand into the satchel, his wrist, then half his forearm disappeared into a bag barely a foot deep.

Ben slowly looked up at Marielle. "So you gave me a magic backpack."

She smiled patiently. "A spatially expanded travel satchel."

"Magic backpack."

Carla swooped down and took it from his hands.

He blinked. "Hey."

"I will manage it," she declared, already inspecting the clasps.

"It was my gift."

"You would fill it with junk."

"… Useful junk."

Eventually, there was nothing left to delay their departure. Ben tightened the strap of his original pack, Wendy secured the food Risley had given them, and Carla took firm possession of the Wayfarer's Satchel.

Kagura stepped toward Ben once more. "Ben." He turned his attention to her. "Thank you," she said quietly. "For everything."

Ben studied her for a moment before his expression softened. "You don't have to thank me for having fun."

Normally, Kagura would have found some objection. This time she only smiled.

His own grin widened before he turned and started down the road with Wendy and Carla, waving back. "See you guy around!"

Behind them, Mermaid Heel called their farewells, Araña shouting loud enough to be heard halfway across Seablossom while Risley waved both arms over her head.

Kagura remained beside Marielle and Maren, watching the three travelers grow smaller against the morning streets.

Maren glanced down at her. "You're doing the walk again."

Kagura's smile disappeared as she turned. "What walk?"

Maren only grinned while Marielle quietly laughed into one hand.

Kagura stared at both women with growing suspicion, but Maren spared her further teasing for once. "Take it easy on long assignments for a while, little sister. Nothing that drags you halfway across Fiore for weeks."

Kagura frowned slightly. "Why?"

"Because we'll likely be visiting the Grandmaster within the next few months," she replied, her tone becoming more serious. "Until then, focus on your training. Everything you learned from Ben about gravity, control, direction, all of it. Don't just remember it. Make it yours."

Kagura nodded slowly. "Understood."

Maren's gaze drifted toward the departing travelers again, lingering on Ben.

"A wizard who can transform into a dragon," she murmured.

Her expression grew distant for several seconds. "Of all times," Maren continued quietly, "why now?"

Marielle glanced toward her, but Maren kept watching the road.

"Perhaps the old legend isn't just a legend after all."

…

Far from Seablossom, beyond the reach of any traveled road or settlement, a cavern lay buried deep beneath the earth. No sunlight had touched its walls in years. Jagged stone hung from the ceiling like enormous teeth, while ancient formations rose from the floor around a shape so massive that, in the darkness, it was difficult to tell where the creature ended and the cavern itself began.

For a long while, there was only the steady rhythm of breathing.

Each slow exhale rolled through the chamber like distant thunder, stirring dust from the stone and sending faint tremors through the ground. Then, without warning, the sound stopped.

Silence swallowed the cavern.

Then, two enormous eyes slowly opened halfway. Their gaze remained unfocused for only a moment before sharpening, the creature's immense head shifting slightly upon the stone beneath it. Though miles of earth and untold distance separated it from Seablossom, something had changed.

Something new had appeared in Fiore.

The creature remained perfectly still, seemingly listening to something no human ear could have detected. Then, slowly, the corner of its enormous mouth curled upward.

A faint, knowing grin formed across its face.

Soon. It won't be long now...

But whatever more might have followed was left unfinished. The enormous eyes slowly closed again, and the creature settled back into its ancient slumber.

Before long, the cavern returned to what it had been moments earlier. Dark and still.

…

A/N: And that concludes the Seablossom two-parter! I hope all of you fine readers enjoyed this installment.

A lot happened in this chapter. We got some additional worldbuilding, plenty of character development for Kagura, and the debut of not one, but TWO new transformations. I imagine the reveal of Ben’s Dragon form was probably the biggest surprise of the chapter.

As always, a huge shout-out to Masamune X23 for his help with editing, beta-reading, and consulting throughout the writing process. Major credit also goes to BálintM for his ideas and for providing the initial skeleton and outline that helped shape this chapter.

Currently, I do not have a name nailed down for the Dragon form yet. I’m stuck between Mirageon and Nebulex, but I’m not completely sold on those and feel there may be better options. So feel free to offer your own suggestion in the comments/reviews.

Special shoutouts for my Goin’ Ultimate members.

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Thank you so much for your support!

In the next chapter, Ben, Wendy, and Carla arrive in Fiore’s fashion capital Orchid City and cross paths with a rising model from Blue Pegasus.

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