Azul looked at the scene in front of him without blinking, knowing very well what kind of things they could do to his sister. What frightened him the most was that he didn’t even know whether Sybill had survived or not.
"When I recovered some of my memories before this, I felt like all of my siblings were already gone," Azul said quietly. "I remember... Mera and I kept moving from one place to another. Every day, we would receive news from our secret contacts that another one of my siblings had disappeared."
The memories before them suddenly began to move faster. One scene quickly shifted into another, as if someone were flipping through the pages of a book. Perhaps it was because Azul himself wanted to get through this part as quickly as possible.
In the memories, Mera and Azul abandoned their carriage so they could travel faster. They continued swimming east, hoping to reach a piece of land where they could hide.
"Why didn’t everyone else go east too if this is the safest place?" Azul asked.
"There is no place that is completely safe, Azul." Mera carried two bags over his shoulders as they emerged from an underwater cave and continued their journey. "The reason I’m taking you east land is because you’re the only one who can survive on land for much longer than the others."
Unlike his siblings, Azul had never awakened any special abilities, but his body was different in another way.
He could breathe on land almost as easily as a land beast, while most sea beastmen needed to return to the water regularly, Azul could stay away from the ocean for an incredibly long time without suffering any problems.
In fact, he could go an entire month without entering the water and still be perfectly fine.
"I think..." the adult Azul finally spoke. "My mother was also half mermaid and half land beast."
He paused, trying to piece together the scattered fragments of his memories. "If I remember correctly, my grandfather was a wolf beastman—oh, damn it!" He suddenly groaned. "That means I’m from the same family as Calen too!"
Calen was a dog beastman, more specifically a Fenrir. But if their bloodlines were traced back far enough, they still belonged to the same canine family.
That was probably why Azul and Calen shared a certain connection.
"Isn’t that great?" Roxanna said with a smile. "That means you and Calen can be brothers too!"
Azul immediately hissed and shook his head. "No. Please don’t say that. It gives me the ick."
Besides, what kind of brothers shared the same wife?
[But it sounds cute,] Roxanna thought to herself. [Maybe they’ll argue a little less than usual.]
"Roxanna, dear, it is impossible for us to get along completely," Azul said. "As long as neither of us tries to kill the other, that’s already good enough."
Roxanna considered it for a moment before nodding. "Yes. That’s actually a very reasonable goal."
Meanwhile, inside the memory, the young Azul looked at Mera again. "Does that mean... I’ll be safer on land?" he asked.
Mera was quiet for a moment before answering. "I can’t promise that, Azul. But at least the Devourers rarely go far onto land. There are plenty of dangerous predators there too."
The young prince swallowed nervously. To be honest, he was already convinced he would die the moment he stepped onto land by himself.
At least in the ocean, he knew how to survive, meanwhile the land was completely unfamiliar.
But what he didn’t know was that once they finally reached the shore, Mera had no intention of going any farther.
The memory shifted into the brothers standing at the edge of a vast forest. Behind them stretched the endless ocean, while towering trees stood before them.
"Mera, what are you doing?" Azul asked. A deep frown appeared on his face when he noticed his brother wasn’t moving.
Mera remained standing where he was and the wind gently blew through his long red hair.
"Azul..." he said softly. Something about his voice immediately made the young prince uneasy. "This is where we have to part ways."
For a moment, Azul simply stared at him. "What?" He blinked several times, certain he had heard wrong, and then he hurried toward Mera. "What are you talking about? Aren’t we supposed to leave together?"
The confusion in his voice slowly turned into panic. After everything they had lost, Mera was the only family he still had beside him.
The thought of losing him too was something Azul didn’t even want to imagine.
"Like I told you before... you’re the only one who can live on land without any problems," Mera said gently. "I still need water to survive, brother."
Azul fell silent for a moment before speaking. "We can find a river here," he said quickly. "That’s what it’s called, right? A river? Water that flows from the mountains all the way to the sea."
Mera gave a small nod. "But it won’t be the same. I would only slow you down. And..." He paused for a moment. "I need to draw the Devourers’ attention away from you so they won’t know you came this way."
"No, wait." Azul immediately shook his head. "Didn’t you say the Devourers wouldn’t come onto land?"
"There are no guarantees, Azul," Mera replied softly. "The chances of them coming onto land are very small, but they’re not zero. I hope you can understand that."
"No." Azul’s voice rose. "No, I don’t understand! I will never understand!" His hands clenched into fists at his sides. "Why do I have to live while you’re planning to become bait for the Devourers?!"
His voice cracked as he said, "Mera, I hate this idea. I’d rather go with you than stay here and live by myself!"
For a few moments, Mera said nothing. He simply looked at his younger brother, the boy he had protected for so many years.
Slowly, Mera lowered the bags from his shoulders and placed them on the sand. The waves rolled gently onto the shore behind them.
"We may never see each other again," Mera said gently. "But I packed a lot of things from the ocean for you."
His lips curved into a faint smile. "So you won’t feel quite so lonely."
"I don’t want ocean stuff!" Azul’s answer came instantly. His eyes were already turning red. "I don’t care about any of that!"
He pointed at the bags on the ground. "I don’t want shells. I don’t want pearls. I don’t want any of it!" His voice trembled. "I want you."