We rented a room in a small inn for the night and I slept like a baby, appropriate since I'd been a baby. The morning was a new day, though. I resolved that no matter what I was going to face my destiny in a manner more resembling a man, even if it was destined to end badly. Alice seemed more accepting of the assignment I'd taken on, if only because she must have respected my determination to keep my commitments. I'm sure that's an important aspect of being royalty, so it seemed obvious that she could relate to it.
We trudged out to the beach again. I half expected to encounter the crab girl, since in my dream the Goddess had said I would face her again. But for the moment, there was no sign of her. I took out the crystal again in an attempt to figure out how to use it, hoping there would be no interruptions this time. Turns out it wasn't complicated at all. I had to point it in the right direction a little, almost like a TV antenna, but once it found whatever it must have been looking for it shone brightly and a large beam of light went into the water.
Alice was intrigued. "That thing created a road of light to follow. It's a tunnel to the bottom of the sea, so to speak. If you follow it closely enough it's possible to go all the way to the bottom of the sea."
By now trusting Alice's advice completely, even if all of our issues weren't necessarily resolved, I boldly stepped into the water along the light tunnel. Once submerged, I found that I could breathe normally, even speak, as if I was on dry land. I swam deeper and deeper. I had anxiety that it would go on the fritz or wink out because it wasn't picking up whatever signal it apparently had had to pick up to work in the first place, but Alice seemed unconcerned. She assured me that as long as I held onto the crystal, that I would be able to breathe even if I left the path.
The journey was long and not all that fast, since as a human I couldn't swim very fast. Since I could speak, I struck up conversation. Some questions had come to mind.
"Alice" I said, "this seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through to get married. Do all monster species make it this difficult?"
"Different monsters have different traditions," she confirmed. "Some don't care at all who their partner is, others have extremely detailed restrictions and requirements. My family requires two conditions to be met before they are allowed to be a partner. First, the man has to be strong. Second, the man has to want to get married. Only a man stronger than the female is allowed to marry someone of my clan. That's our law."
"That sounds like something that never happens," I said. It also made me start to wonder something. Although I trusted Alice completely on matters of tactics and what to do in a troublesome situation, I still felt that I was being manipulated by her. I just couldn't figure out what her goal was. Was it possible this journey was a hunt for a mate? But then why give me the tryout? Was it the fact that her flashy thingie didn't work on me, which had first signaled to her that I was different? Could that be what the hints about taking on the Monster Lord herself were about? She never seemed to say it as if she was serious, but it had been bothering me since the first day how it kept on coming up as a possibility. I put the thought out of my mind for the moment. I wasn't the kind to flatter myself and I wasn't particularly into the idea of marrying such a harsh personality, however tender she could be once she reduced you to tears. I also suspected that if it was her goal to find a strong man, my performance lately was not exactly building her confidence in me.
I remembered something the crab girl had told me in answer to another question. "Alice," I said. "How can monsters live under the sea and survive? There's no men down here to feed on."
"Monsters can survive without feeding on men," Alice replied. "It's similar to how a human could survive just eating that delicious chicken breast you make. It fills your belly, it gives you all the basic nutrients, but if you only ate chicken you'd fail to thrive and develop various conditions due to vitamin deficiencies. Since we're talking about the sea, it's much like sailors and scurvy. Semen provides us with nutrients we can't get anywhere else. If we don't get it, we don't die, but there are some negative effects: it can make us age faster, we can suffer mental decline, it could stunt our growth. Then there are the cravings."
"Like a vampire and blood?" I asked.
"Vampires don't drink blood, they drink semen like other monsters," she said, looking at me strangely. "They also suck out energy directly from the neck sometimes, which causes a little bleeding. Did humans get the idea vampires suck blood from that?"
"They sure did," I replied. "It's also said that if a vampire bites you, you can turn into one."
Alice looked at me in disbelief. "First, that's unscientific nonsense. Second, how would that even work? You can't just make one species into another species by biting it. Third, why would that kind of ability be limited only to vampires? I mean, if I bit you on the neck would you turn into a lamia? Let's find out."
She swam at me with incredible speed, her tail whipping her towards me in an instant, putting her arms around me and biting me playfully on the neck. It hurt a little, but as usual with most monster attacks, also caused an instant response from my, er… little friend.
"Nope, you still look human to me," she said. "As tasty as ever, too."
I rubbed my neck for a second and asked another question. "So monsters don't just think human semen is delicious? They like the whole human?"
"Absolutely," she confirmed. "Most monsters don't eat human prey but every part is tasty. That's why most monsters will attack women as well if they have an opportunity. If they eat humans then it's just as tasty but even if they just want to suck on them awhile it's still pretty great, like enjoying a piece of hard candy. Women are rarely killed or taken in those attacks though. They aren't suitable as mates and sucking on a woman doesn't steal her life energy the way sucking on a man does. It's just delicious. Some monsters find women to be even more fun to play with than men."
"This taking of mates," I said. "I've heard of men being kidnapped as mates or sex slaves. We saw an example of it with the harpies. Is it similar across species?"
"There are some commonalities," Alice explained. "When men are taken, they are always kept happy. Monsters don't have to keep men in chains. Once a man has tasted the pleasure a monster can bring he almost never tries to escape. Although just in case, when initially capturing a man most monsters will keep them in critical ecstasy for days, even weeks, to make escape impossible, until the man becomes addicted to her. You were right in your analysis in one respect: when humans and monsters get along, such kidnappings are rare. There's just no need. Men are abundant and willing. But during eras of high religiosity such as now, it's harder for a monster to get their hands on one, so they are more likely to take one to assure a reliable source of food. On the good side from the human perspective, it also disincentivizes complete devouring of men, at least by the more intelligent monsters. If you eat a man, you have to go find another."
"You said monsters try to keep men happy, like the harpies," I observed. "So monsters are never cruel to the men they take?"
"Usually not," she answered. "But there are always exceptions, sadistic types. There are also many monsters who have come to just hate humans, so when they capture a man they like to humiliate him constantly. Even then, the men rarely try to escape. They come to enjoy it, even fall in love with their abusers."
"Stockholm Syndrome," I muttered.
"What? Are you saying weird things again?"
"Stockholm Syndrome is a term where I come from that describes that phenomenon," I explained. "The victim starts to sympathize with their abuser."
"Hmmm," Alice said, nodding. "Your random nuggets of information aren't getting any more useful, but they are getting more intelligent. That's progress."
"It's really beautiful down here," I noted in wonder. "You have to admit, even if you think this was a useless excursion, this is a rare experience."
"It's pretty now," Alice said. "But the monsters here are really hungry. They will attack you without mercy."
I expected that, since supposedly that was part of the ordeal and why Meia hadn't wanted to put her fiancée through it. I found myself respecting Meia for caring so much about her man even though he wasn't strong. She wasn't the type of person who would just abandon someone who had been defeated by a monster!
Sure enough, I ran into trouble. I'm not going to go into great detail about all the battles I had to fight to get to the undersea temple, because none of it was very exciting if you've read about my previous battles. The wins were a confidence builder though, because I'd been on a losing streak and it was good to see that my own natural ability combined with Alice's training was getting results.
There were some interesting notes though, which I'll share: I got stung by a jellyfish girl, but shook off the paralysis, which mildly surprised Alice. "That's not normal at all," she said. I also got grabbed by a sea anemone girl, and dragged to the bottom. For the first time Alice's advice wasn't useful. All she did was explain what this particular monster did. As was often the case with monsters, once she dragged me down she basically repeated what Alice had told me already. "I'm going to suck out all your semen," yada yada. Then she told me while fighting an anglerfish girl that it could only find me by temperature, so I should lower my body temperature to match the sea water. Now it was Alice who was on a losing streak!
Maybe Alice was distracted, because she found plenty to eat on the sea floor, once she followed me down. from clams to oysters to shrimp, even the occasional small fish. "See?" I said. "Not a useless excursion at all."
After a few relatively easy battles, we found the temple. Alice informed me that the Queen down here was a kraken. That sounded formidable. Good thing I wasn't here to fight. At least I hoped that wasn't part of the trial. It couldn't be. No one would ever be able to get married if they had to take on a kraken.
We came to a giant hall, and sitting in the middle of it was the largest monster I'd seen up to this point. "Are you the queen of the southern sea?" I asked.
"Yes, that is correct," she replied. "I am entrusted by the Monster Lord to rule over these southern seas. Now human, what business do you have here in this undersea temple?"
"Well, you see, I'm on a quest for someone-" I started.
"Quest?!" she exclaimed. "Are you a hero?!"
"Er… not exactly. I'm actually here to-"
"Have you come to steal the orb?"
"Orb?" I replied, quizzically.
"I shall never hand it over!"
"No, no, not an orb, I've come to deliver a pledge-"
"Silence!" she commanded. "If you want the orb, you will have to defeat me first!"
"I don't want any orb!"
"I said silence!" and a tentacle lashed out at me.
Her tentacles weren't ridiculously fast, but they were huge and powerful. Getting hit by even one would probably knock me out if not break me in half. I couldn't afford a single mistake. But slashing at the tentacles didn't paralyze them. They were just too thick or maybe she was just too powerful. I also couldn't get close enough to her to attack her where she might be vulnerable. It resembled a slower version of the Nanabi battle, minus the pleasure attacks. The Queen was all about the violence, as befitted a kraken. There was one point where I thought she might try a pleasure attack. She focused her magic much as Nanabi had and all of her tentacles went for me at once. That was where my experience paid off. Rather than try to charge at her, which in the water would have been too slow for me anyway, I anticipated her move and dodged it. I still wonder to this day what was intended, because those tentacles looked way too big to just wrap around my penis. Even one would have been unwieldy for that.
Monsters must be an impatient lot as a general rule, because she didn't seem to realize that I couldn't avoid her tentacle strikes forever. So she cast a spell that looked like a pentagram in the water. Alice later explained that it was an Aqua Pentagram, a water defense that would make it impossible for me to hit her. I hadn't been hitting her to begin with, so I questioned her strategy.
I never got to find out where she was going with the pentagram either, because seconds later I saw Alice out of the corner of my eye. Was she about to give me a tip? Hopefully it would be better than the ones she'd come up with since we arrived down here. As I was having that thought, her eyes flashed….
Alice told me afterwards that she had flashed me and quickly moved out of the way. I detonated instantly, Alice barely avoiding the outer edges of the blast. The aqua pentagram had instantly disintegrated, but due to the strength of the magic wielder behind it, it also bore the brunt of the blast. What was left of it was still potent enough, however, as the Queen was battered and stunned. I came to to find her tilting over to one side, conscious but disoriented. I wasted no time getting in close to try to seal her. But Alice halted me with a shout.
"Stop the fight!" she yelled. "There's no need to continue!"
That got the kraken queen's attention where I had failed. Still she protested though. "I cannot give you the orb even if it costs me my life. I cannot fight back against this strange power you have. But you shall not have the orb!"
"I'm not interested in any orb!"
"What?" she said, confused. "Then why did you come here?"
"To bring a pledge of marriage! I came to deliver it in place of the couple getting married."
"Why didn't you say that earlier?" she asked.
"I did! I said it right from the start!"
Alice interrupted. "You didn't exactly say that. Anyway, what a funny misunderstanding."
"Oh," the kraken queen said. "It seems I put you through some unnecessary trouble. I shall receive the pledge of marriage. Now, hero, whom is it that you are marrying? Is it that silver haired one?"
"No, no, it's for someone else," I protested, mortified.
Alice was equally embarrassed. "Of course not, you idiot."
"I was asked by a mermaid to deliver it to you," I explained, handing her the document.
"Deliver?" she asked, scanning the document. "How come the couple themselves didn't come? Children these days… Oh, I guess it doesn't matter. At any rate, the pledge has been delivered. As Queen of the Southern Seas, I declare Meia and her husband married. Now take this pledge ring. Wearing this ring, you will always remember the pledge of marriage to your partner. No matter the difficulty, you must always support each other. Now I shall give you the Queen's blessing."
"I'll give the Monster Lord's blessing too," Alice piped in.
"Oh, I guess I'll give them my blessing too," I said.
"No one cares," Alice snapped. Nope, not going to change overnight.
We all just sort of stared at each other. Without the actual couple here, this was getting pretty awkward. "Well, that's it I guess!" the queen proclaimed.
"Good," Alice said. "Glad that's finished."
"But it's still a long way back and there are a lot of monsters out there," I noted. "We're only halfway done."
"You don't need to return that way," the queen said helpfully. "As an apology for before, I shall send you to the surface."
"Wow, thank you," I said. "that would be a huge h-"
I expected her to teleport me, or maybe give some telepathic order to her subjects not to attack me. Instead, she grabbed me in one of her tentacles and aimed me like a football. "I think dry land is that way…"
She then flung me with incredible velocity through the water. I'm not sure how fast I was traveling but I was positive I was going to die. If the friction of the water didn't get me, the bends would. I didn't even consider the impact on the beach, which was what actually caused me injury. I guess the crystal protected me from harm from the water and the change in pressure. It provided no protection from impact with the sand. Her apology had done more damage than all the battles I'd fought down there! My shoulder and my ankle were sprained. I didn't think anything was broken though, so I counted my blessings.
"What a funny queen," Alice observed, having apparently beaten me to the shore somehow. Did she teleport like Granberia? I would have asked her, but at that point all I could do was say, "Ow."
But I did recover well enough after a few minutes to stand up shakily. "A funny queen?" I asked. "I'm starting to question your staffing decisions."
"It can't be helped," Alice explained. "She was suffering from classic semen deprivation. Makes her a little senile. But that's also what makes her a great queen."
"How does that work?"
"Think about it, idiot," Alice said. "Why would the queen have no access to semen? Because she never goes to the surface and doesn't demand that her subjects share it with her as a tax. She's dippy because she's a good queen. Do you think I should have appointed a queen who would take a large share of the already scarce nutrition sea monsters receive?"
I guess she had a point there. Now that she mentioned it, all the monsters I'd faced down there had been less pretty and not too bright compared to most of the land monsters I'd encountered. It also occurred to me that they had no way of taking and keeping humans underwater.
"Alice," I said. "Thank you for helping me. She was way too powerful for me to take on."
She seemed to have some difficulty formulating a response to my gratitude, but she managed eventually. "Hmph… I said I'd help you indirectly if you were overmatched. I also did it because it was all a big misunderstanding."
Fair enough. I definitely preferred this arrangement between us to the initial one.