You Come Close, You’ll be Frozen like that Fish! (Happy Independence Day, Malaysia!)

Hana was so terrified.

The intermittent flashes of light and water bubbles obstructed her view. She nearly couldn't see a single thing. The low visibility within the darkened tunnels had made her heart quaked with fear. The speed of the pink dolphin's haphazard movements added to it even more. Sometimes, the large balloon-like bubble rubbed against the walls, creating a friction sound, making Hana panic-stricken. If the air-bubble burst, she will definitely die a horrible death.

Hana felt like she entered a race with many dangerous turns blindfolded while staking her life. She didn't make any noise at all. Not even a scream. What she did was pray. She prayed hard and hugged Saras with all her might. At this moment, our aunty was scared stiff, like a frozen rabbit. Oblivious with Hana's internal turmoil, the pink river dolphin was feeling uncomfortable with the aunty's 'over-chumminess'. Nonetheless, she just pushed it deep into her heart for her own future's sake.

Although outwardly, Hana was silent, Shiro and the Grand Elder could hear her heart thumped so fast as if going into hyperdrive!

Currently, Hana and the group of nearly one hundred freshwater marine creatures were moving together within the labyrinthian underwater tunnels, expertly selecting the correct way towards the clan's main grounds. They had to go fast since the myriad of darkened tunnels were so deep and complicated, with hundreds of turns.

Every one of the freshwater creatures associated with the Waterwave Marine clan had been imprinted with an exclusive technique developed by the Crystal-veined stream Lord himself, at which they could find their way only through sight, once inducted into the clan. The clan's main ground was connected with thousands of deep underwater tunnels as another layer of defense against intruders who yearned to take over the Spirit Crystal lode.

[Mommy? Are you alright?] A soft whisper of a teenager sounded in Hana's mind. Kuro, who was miles away detected her distress, as usual, asked with a concerned telepathic-voice.

[I'm, I'm, not so okay. I'm scared of the dark, Sweetie.]

Hana feel like crying. She hated darkness and speed the most. Other people get thrilled with speed, but she was the exact opposite. However, she tried her best to maintain a regal stature of a Lord for her kids' sake. If she started losing her head and scream, she would've made her lovely Shiro lose face. So she had been trying hard suppressing her fear. She hadn't noticed that everyone around her could hear her loudly beating quivering heart.

[What happen? It's going to be okay, Mommy. Shiro is beside you.]

[I know TT_________TT It doesn't work that way. Your Mommy is a wimp.]

Then, why don't you connect to me and use my sight. You'll feel much better seeing the outside world filled with sunshine. Kuro suggested gently. Sometimes, his courageous Mommy was vulnerable to the most ridiculous of things.

Hana started chanting under her breath to link her sight to her beloved pet snake. Slowly, her onyx-colored eyes turned ruby red. She sighed lightly in relief and closed her eyes in peace, savoring the sunshine peeking through the leaves from the other side. Slowly, her frantically beating heart slowed down into a calm one.

...

[We've finally arrived, Mom. You can open your eyes now.] Shiro sent a mental message to Hana bitterly. He felt like a loser for not being able to help Mom with her plight.

As Hana opened her eyes, Grand Elder Watershade surfaced, followed by Gramps Alpy, who was carrying Shiro, Chomper, Ara, and the rest of the freshwater creatures carrying the ten Elemental Fiends. The sleeping little Pi-chan who was tied and bundled up at the back of the orange worker-classed Elemental Fiend finally showed signs of movement. It stretched a little, and upon seeing that it was being tied up, it just wriggled a few times to be free. Once it was free, the reckless aura of an early-stage Lord resonated to the surroundings, shocking the freshwater spirit creatures. The unassuming miniature bird was stronger than the Grand Elder! It flew around bewilderingly as if it was confused on how it could appear in this strange, unfamiliar space. However, once it detected its beloved 'Mom', it immediately dived down into Hana's bosom, and snuggled happily, forgetting about anything else.

Hana looked around as she surfaced with Saras, just in time to hold the chubby brown bird who was zeroing in on her. It was a dark underwater cave with a fresh air pocket. However, on the walls of the cave were studded with beautiful Spirit Pearls, spilling a romantic greenish glow. At the center of the cave's ceiling, there was a large Spirit Crystal emitting a faint white glow, illuminating the surroundings with an elegant feel. The environment weren't bad at all. It actually looked quite exquisite. Using the large Spirit Crystal as the centerpiece was genuinely artful.

"Little Ara over here was the one who made this place for her beloved Mistress. She was also the one who purged air in and decorate a little. She said you'd definitely love it. Originally, we don't have a place to accommodate land dwellers. This is also the first time we had guests from land. Apologies for the shortcomings." The Grand Elder's gentlemanly speech resounded as usual, giving Hana good feelings.

He proceeded to ask the pink dolphin to deliver Hana to a platform made from flattened stone as large as five-meter square. It looked like a tiny island, just below the large Spirit Crystal. On the platform, another smaller platform was placed in the middle. It looked like a short-legged round table.

"Have a seat." The Grand Elder conjured up a tiny bubble the size of a palm and send it over to Hana.

Feeling confused, Hana extended both of her hands to receive it reflexively. "We only have water at the moment. Hoping that it would suffice."

Mekong came over and hand over a tiny ten inches tube-like branch which was hollow in the middle with his two pectoral fins. From seeing it, Hana understood that she had to use it as a straw. Hana feel extremely gratified, as she remembered she had served the Grand Elder with a cup of honeyed coconut juice, also with a soft tube-like branch to be used like a straw. These intelligent creatures were something else! They treated her in a cultured manner, just the way she showed them only once before.

The Grand Elder excused himself for a while and asked everyone to leave except for Ara.

"The Mistress had taken a liking to all of your clansmen who accompanied her courteously at our territory. Let them know that the Mistress wished for them to accompany her here at the moment. At the end of the meeting, she will select the ones she's fond of." Shiro relayed to the Grand Elder. Hana had asked him to make all of the servants stay to protect them.

Grand Elder Watershade's eyes brightened. He asked, "How about the rest? Would the Mistress wished for these attendants to stay as well?"

"No. Dismissed all of them." Shiro's ethereal voice was ice cold.

Immediately, a cacophony of discussions in Bubble language flooded the air pocket and the waters around it!

The freshwater marine spirit creatures who accepted Chomper's call showed an unbelievable expression! This! It was true! A moment of chance had arrived for them! With a single step, they could ascend the heavens!

...

While the aunty was drinking the plain water happily, thousands upon thousands of freshwater marine spiritual creatures were observing her every movement curiously from within the waters!

This was the famed Breakthrough Specialist!

Oh, how they wished she could pick them too!

Not many were clear with the conditional advancement deal struck up by the Grand Elder and Mistress Hana. They only know that if luck permits it and they were noticed by the princess' Mistress, they could soar through the heavens too! Just like those lucky ones. Gazes of excitement, longing, and envy intermingled with one another. If only they lived inside the same water cave as the princess' attendant!

A small fish dashed amongst the densely packed water to the surface. A lot of guards were patrolling just below the waters to prevent overexcited clansmen from going near the guests. Nonetheless, it had evaded all of them expertly and jumped out of the water. Immediately, it conjured up a water bubble mid-air to approach Hana. Obviously, it was the tiny subordinate fish who wanted to relay Elder Waterfall's message to Hana.

However, before it could go near Hana, a ray of elemental ice powers struck the bubble and the unlucky little fish within, freezing it immediately. The ball of ice fell back into the water again, dampening the spirited clansmen's vigor. They just realized that the white creature with tree branches on its head beside the main Lord had been highly vigilant and would attack anyone who came close.

Shiro emitted his half-step Lord's aura and laced it a little with anger to send a message to all the creatures below. 'You come close, you'll be frozen like that fish' was what he intended to deliver. He had been wary with the movements of all the creatures within the underwater cave structure and immediately shot his Ice-ray attack once he could detect suspicious movement. What if someone wanted to assassinate his precious Mistress? There were simply too many spectating below! If an ambush happens, his last resort was to freeze everything over. If that happens, he was very sure the deal Mom painstakingly made with the second fogie will definitely crumble!

"What are you doing, Shi-chan?! Will the little fish be alright? You shouldn't attack just like that. Pity the little fellow."

"It'll be alright as long as its friend help it thaw the ice and remove the ice-poison. Anyway, that little fish is way stronger than Mom. Its actions were dangerous. Your safety is my priority, Mom. I don't care about anything else." Shiro shrugged. The guy who jumped by was a little stronger than the over-courteous minnow Mom likes so much. However, he still could deal with it with a single blow. He needed to show his ruthlessness just a little bit so that they won't see these claws and teeth as mere decoration!

...