"I... I thought at most two or three years had passed. But 250 years... does that mean no one is waiting for me out there anymore?"
Mandana started to cry. It was as if all her hope had vanished. She looked like the loneliest person on Earth.
"Why... why did this happen?"
Her relentless tears streamed down her face.
"Hey girl! What do you mean you don't kno—" Resita forcefully covered Diana's mouth, causing Diana to pull her hair hard and scream.
To be honest, I felt pity for her. I understood the feeling of alienation she was going through. I glanced at Nuka. he looked at Mandana more sympathetically than any of us, as if he had gone through something similar.
Finally, after a while, Mandana's crying calmed down.
" the amount of cryings I saw today..."
I looked up at the sky.
"We need to leave here as soon as possible. It's impossible to estimate Mandana's current age due to the lack of knowledge. But certainly, every day spent here equals several days or even weeks on the other dimension."
"I'm sorry... (sob sob)... but there's no way out of here."
We all looked at her terrified.
"No, there must be a way. First, we need to figure out how we ended up here. As far as I know, we are here because we punched an ancient amulet whose function is teleportation. What about you?" Resita asked Mandana.
"One of your friends said that this is the seventh sea, and the other wanted to correct his statement. But if you pay attention to your surroundings..."
We looked at the aquatic creatures around us that were floating in the sky.
"You can see that this place is no different from a sea."
"So what do you mean by this?"
"My father was a great merchant. Because of him, I spent almost my entire life in the sea and ocean. One day while we were passing through Sea of Molas, it became turbulent. But there was no sign of a storm or tumultuous clouds. Suddenly, the sea split open in the middle. And for a moment, it lost its flow. At the same time, a loud, deafening bell echoed throughout the sea. We looked down at the ship. From that height, the only thing visible was a large palace surrounded by houses. It was as if there was a large city beneath us, with a huge bell tower that stood out from all the rest. The intensity of its sound wave was so high that it pushed out that much water.
Mermaids and other aquatic creatures were all dead, floating on the surface of the water. I had never seen a mermaid before because they were isolated creatures and didn't get along with humans. And for the first time, I encountered with their mangled and crushed bodies. We were all terrified. The loud ringing of the bell ceased. And the sea became tumultuous. Despite all our efforts, we couldn't save ourselves from drowning. A huge wave appeared above the ship and dragged us into the depths of the sea. I don't know how we ended up here. My father used to say there are 7 seas in the world that are connected to each other. When you look into the sea, you see your reflection in the water. That's you in another world. And since that sea is connected to this sea, we were transported here."
Listening to what she said it reminded me of the bell in our school.
"I think I've come up with a few ideas," said Resita.
"And what is that?"
"One of the history books I read had many historical events recorded in it. One of them was about a palace of mermaids that was located under the Sea of Molas. Within it lived a special race of mermaids. They had the closest genetics to humans and were equal to us in intelligence. However, for unknown reasons, the sea water gradually dries up. Before that, the mermaid palace is completely destroyed, and only a bell tower remains. That generation of mermaids practically goes extinct, and the whole affair is forgotten. Eventually, an aristocratic school is build in that area. I feel like the mermaid palace is the same city you saw in the sea."
"You're probably right..."
"Tch!" Diana's brow furrowed.
"What's wrong?" Resita looked at her with disapproval.
"This ridiculous information of yours isn't going to get us out of here."
"Oh really? If it's like that, then you go find a way out on your own."
Nuka, holding Mandana's shoulders with fear, signaled to them,
"Guys, stop it."
"No, let's see how this fool thinks she'll find a way out with her nonsense."
"Resita is doing her best, Diana..."
"For now, the only thing she has done is talk about her parents."
I frowned.
'This isn't going to end well.'
Suddenly, Resita smirked and chuckled.
'Come on! I told you.
"Do you know what I realized?" she said with a trembling voice.
Diana looked at her in shock.
"You're upset that your best friend is closer to me than you are."
Diana's eyes bulged with rage.
"What did you say, you fatso?''
The atmosphere became so tense that Mandana stopped her little drops of tear and looked back and forth between the two with fear.
"Yeah, you're just a naive loser we used. What can you do except stew in your anger, huh?"
Flames erupted from Diana's hands.
"repeat what you said if you dare."
"Guys, calm down," Nuka shouted, but no one paid attention to him. Instead, they became more aggressive. My mind was racing in this situation.
"Ha! What's wrong, are you angry? Is your nose burnt?"
Fear had taken hold of Resita. But she still didn't want to back down.
Diana had stood up from and was standing above her, she was looking at her with hatred and anger.
"Yeah, I burned in a way that you'll burn with me too, fatso."
"Shut up, you little bastards. Otherwise, I'll skin you alive."
My shout scared all four of them intensely.
Even Diana, who had stretched her hand to grab Resita's collar, jumped 3 meters into the air. I had become like the old Azima. I stood up, put my hands in my coat pockets, and fixed my gaze on them with eyes that I knew that frightened anyone.
"We're all stuck in this graveyard. The only thing we can do is to gave teamwork and share information. Anyone who wants to start a fight will find themselves flatered on the ground coughing up blood. Got it?"
They all nodded their heads quickly.
"This one is crazier than the rest," Mandana said under her breath.
I scanned them all with my sharp gaze. A leader must make a group obedient without having to prove themselves; otherwise, anyone would be a leader.
I turned to Resita.
"Continue."
Resita first looked at me with fear. Then she fixed her gaze on the ground.
"Our history teacher told us last time about the ruins of the Mermaid Castle. he said that our school is built exactly on the ruins of that castle. After he said that, I did some research, and I got what I said from the books. What I realized is that the only thing that has remained from that incident is a large bell. The same bell tower that is in our school."