--Riveria's POV--
"Everyone, sit tight!!"
"Riveria Onee-chan, Papa is going down"
"Dont worry... come"
Riveria buckles Myu to the seat next her as Jetmarine dived into the sea with no problems as estimated by Ken.
"Beautiful..." was the only word that Riveria could exclaim in regards to her first time seeing the underwater world. The glass window of the cockpit and cargo bay framing miles of blue rewarded them with a submarine paradise full of 1,000+ different kinds of fish and aquatic monsters, more than 1,000 species of invertebrates and about 400 types of corals.
This underwater wander inevitably sent her back to her past which brought a myriad of emotions on her face.
Unlike Shia whose existence was kept secret for a long time before her discovery, she was known immediately because her apparent 'weirdness' was in her appearance.
Unlike most elves that had a beige or Ivory skin, she was tanned which was fundamentally different from demons, but fear and hate always being stronger than reason sealed her fate to the underworld.
Again unlike Shia's weak tribe, her parents alone held both combat and political power in the beastkin nation, not to talk about the Collbrande family. So she was saved at the cost of her freedom which at the time she had no choice in the matter, literally.
Growing up, she was isolated from her siblings and society as a whole, only making contact with her parents who showered her with much love. She was naturally an optimistic and content person– a trait that drew her parents' attention more than her siblings got.
Not wanting their beloved daughter to be hurt in such an unforgiven world, Riveria's mother taught her the ways to hide her true self behind a stoic and "cool/kuu" demeanor as Ken would put it, whiles his father taught her combat.
But the lines between her "kuu" and "dere" self began to blur when her parents died, her siblings denied her and she was exposed to the cruel world mom told her about. Whenever she had time from her hard labor, she would train in secret to be proficient in her art and one day leave the forest. And as we all know she was given to Ken for few vails of Sacred water.
Ken and Hagime called her a dark elf– which by the way sounded ominous but in a cool way– but all she wanted was the strength to make the matter of racial stereotype irrelevant in relation to her, and Ken's party gave her that which was why decided to stay even with the absurdness of fighting a god.
So Ken's statement of giving her time to decide whether or not to stay with them was insensitive to her, but they got to rectify things when he met her by the lake the evening after the big fight in Ur.
They talked about alot that night including the fact that Ken desired a sibling even though he had some in his present life and Riveria regretting how her relationship with her siblings turned out in the end. And so it became a thing were Ken privately called Riveria "Big sis" and she to him "Little bro" in a cutesy way which unknowingly became her fetish.
As for the matter of her spying on Ken and Shia's night exercise during their stay in Brook Town, she shelved in the deepest parts of her mind as an embarrassing moment as she almost satisfied herse---Ahem, going on.
Even though it was a shock that Ken was reincarnated with his memories and all that, a sweet feeling kept swirling within her when she found out that her interactions with Ken were cherished by him as it was with her and that she would very much like to start something amazing.
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Tio's POV---
Tio sat in the cargo bay like the others as her eyes followed Ken who opened the cargo door and entered the underwater world from the safety of Jetmarine. Surprisingly the water didn't flood the insides of Jetmarine thanks to a transparent force field that only allows the entry and exit of solid matter; meaning any aquatic creature could now enter the bay but it's a no brainer. Hagime saw no need to eat every monster flesh like Ken after existing the labyrinth, so Ken dived alone to kill aquatic demonic beasts for underwater movement and breathing skills.
Tio sat quietly as she tries to navigate through her thoughts that are in turmoil due to recent events. With how Ken was very forthcoming with his secret, Tio was also compelled to do the same but isn't sure how things will go with desires even she denies.
As a child who was very proud with her race and their accomplishments of unifying the world of Tortus under one peaceful rule, she absorbed the teachings and principles of the dragonkin race to a high degree.
So imagine her psychological hurdle when the subjects who they gave peace and stability, responded with betrayal in kind.
Should she follow the dragonkin teaches of moving forward with pride while looking at the bigger threat or to follow her dark desires to innact revenge on the church that killed her parents?.
By fueling her hate and confusion into trying to be the best by surpassing everyone in her tribe, she was able to live more than five centuries without breaking bad. Which was a testament to her will and mental fortitude she's hone over time.
But with the news of heroes being summoned by the church for a reason they knew was ill willed, Tio couldn't hold things bottled anymore and volunteered to enter human society and as the most outstanding within the tribe they agreed without having to worry about her well being.
Fast forward to after Ken opened "a new door" for her, she decided to stay knowing he's one of the otherworlders by his unusual name and weapons. Using her her beauty, strength and newly found fetish revealed by Ken as an excuse to follow them, Tio planned to know more about the otherworldly beings through Ken and his party.
But like Yue, [Light of Apocalypse] enlightened her to certain things.
Firstly, Ken could be someone she could use to accomplish her dark goals. From his interaction with the Template Knights and town priests, Tio knew he wasn't on their side and potentially face off with them in the future.
Secondly, if she relied on petty strength compared to Ken's, her beauty that Yue, Shia and Riveria didn't lack, and her perversion as an excuse to join the party, she would be overshadowed leaving her goals unreachable.
So she chooses to tone down her perverted acts –which inwardly she's embarrassed about– and use her wisdom and flexible thinking honed through out five centuries to make herself standout from the rest.
But the light of the beam attack that swallowed Ken showed her that Ken is also mortal and that she needs to do her part even if it means breaking some dragonkin rules.
SPLASH!!
She's awakened from her thoughts as Ken came in holding a piece of a tail, appendages with tubular feet and some normal fishes.
"I brought some fish we can roast over fire but this monster shark tail and monster starfish ray are fine"
"A starfish that's a monster?" (Koari)
"Yeah, it was huge and smart... after cutting this piece of its flesh, it immediately grew another limb and escaped"
Tio listens to the party talk with a better atmosphere around him than before and after some inner conflicts, she is determined to be forthcoming about herself in private with Ken and the girls.
And she will be in for a surprise when Ken sees no fault in having dark emotions and promises to help her fulfill her revenge by giving her an opportunity to personally destroy the church.
Still seeing the conflict in her eyes, Ken will tell her:
"By destroying the church you can get revenge and also help reduce the strength of the greater threat."
Killing three birds with one stone.