Midnight Prince: Empire of Sin

[Saturday — 7th December 2030 — 01:00 am]

Marlen was stressed beyond her mind.

There were many reasons behind her stress. So many in fact that she had nearly lost count of them by now.

For starters, there was the fact that, for the very first time in her life, she had met a guy she was genuinely happy to spend time with and who respected and loved her with all of his heart and soul.

A true relationship, one that she had never felt before in the entirety of her miserable life. However, she had quite literally been forced to break up with him in order to make sure no one came after his life due to his association with her.

Then there was the matter of how the Great Wolf had seemingly gone crazy for some reason only they knew and thus increased the checks and balances they had placed against the other shapeshifter races under their jurisdiction as well as the other werewolf families.

Finally, the fact that her marriage might have already been decided and that if she refused something horrible might happen to the man she loved and her family was also something that made her lose her sleep at night. Peace had left her mind already, and she was finding it hard to keep on living through the pain and misery.

'Worst comes to worst we could just run back to the sea.'

Marlen sighed to herself as she thought of that possibility. This would truly be the last desperate choice they would have to take in order to ascertain their survival against the plethora of foes that were out for their lives.

In fact, it wasn't as if the Mermaid race was against forming alliances with other organizations or even becoming subordinates. Her flock of mermaids was relatively weak and in the animal kingdom, being weak means becoming prey.

Even so… What the gang of Boris wanted wasn't just subordinate or associate. But plain slaves and nothing else and even beyond that, they had a specific goal in using them and Marlen knew that doing they bidding would never result in anything good.

If they followed them, only hell would await.

All of this was worrisome and made her restless and stressed but more than anything, today she was even more stressed than usual.

She had received some news. Something she didn't want to believe in but had no choice to in the face of the overwhelming reality.

'Answer please.'

Marlen looked down at her phone ringing endlessly while hoping, against all reasons that the one she was trying to reach would answer but she was slowly becoming hopeless.

When the call stopped without any answer, she nearly sobbed out and could only glare at the new incoming she received.

Sighing to contain her feelings, she answered and brought the phone with her trembling hand close to her ears.

"Hello…"

[My, Listening to your voice is as delicious as always.]

"Boris…"

[The one and only. Well, I am sure by now you must have made a few desperate calls and received no answer. But you know the drill, right? I got your sister and your boyfriend.]

"You…"

[Don't be angry. I am a man of my word you know? Though your sister is honestly very beautiful, I have yet to do anything to her. Your boyfriend was a little roughed up but heh. He will recover.]

"Why are you doing this!? I am not the leader! I am not the one who makes decisions! Why are you even so obsessed with us!?"

Marlene couldn't help but cry and scream out her frustrations. She wondered just what wrong she might have committed to face so much one after another.

But despite her outcry, nothing changed

[Tsk, tsk, tsk. Dear Marlene. Your words hurt my heart. Why do you have to act as if I am dumb? Haha]

Boris seemed clearly uninterested in her plight and in fact might even take pleasure in it.

A low laugh in his voice but Marlen could feel a chill going down her spine,

[You know. My boss isn't young anymore you see.]

Those words had many meanings laced in them. But she already knew of the greed in human's Heart.

"You, is it our blood you want?"

Mermaids could sell for astronomical sums of money. They were very precious.

Be it dead or alive.

Their flesh gave longevity.

Their tears were elixirs that could work as healing agents. Pretty good ones too.

Their scales could serve as armor.

Their skins could be used to make magical equipment that could affect the sea and give various powers in an oceanic domain.

Alive, they were also used as singers sex slaves, or simply combat pets.

Mermaids were walking treasures in every way possible and had been hunted to near extinction because of their natural gifts.

This was something they were used to. But it still left her very bitter.

[Blood it is. But not just any blood.]

She bit her lips, dreading what was about to be said next,

[The Virgin blood of a descendant of Chalchiuhtlicue. Damn. This name is a pain. Should I just call her Chal? Hehe. Surely even if your blood is so diluted it lost its divine nature. The effects should be surprising right?] [1]

Marlen whimpered. She wished to scream and ask them how they had such information. This was one of the greatest secrets of her family.

"I do not understand what you are talking about."

[No need to act. We are pretty sure of our information. So you see, we want it. The divine weapon of Chalchiuhtlatonal or a clue related to it. You do have it, right? It would be such a sad thing if something bad happened to your sister.]

She breathed in and out, feeling herself unsteady, as if she could fall at any moment. But she could not allow herself to faint.

She had to be strong. She could not falter here because of the pressure. The life of those she cared about was on her back and any mistakes she made could be Fatal.

She knew what they wanted but it was nothing but an old jewel with no more power.

They did not have the power to awaken it no matter what they did and many already assumed that it was a fake and that the true divine weapon had already vanished long ago.

She was of the same idea. After all, even the association didn't try to take it from them. Clearly, even if it was a real one, it has lost all value.

But clearly, the boss of Boris was desperate and ready to try everything for longevity.

"I…I will call my mother."

She could not make this decision alone. She wouldn't mind sacrificing herself and a stupid useless jewels if it was necessary. They could just flee in the sea afterwards.

[Good girl. Do so and give me the result. You have until the sun rises. By the way, I advise you against trying anything funny. Because you know, one mistake and Bang! One less Mermaid in this world.]

Marlen nodded with difficulty and ended the call.

Thankfully. Thankfully they didn't seem to know that she was not the one with the highest degree of divine blood. As long as they continued to think she had more importance, not all hope was lost.

Closing the call, Marlen slowly crouched down, feeling faint and overwhelmed by everything that was happening.

She may be part of a gang but her group was not a violent one and they were more interested in showbiz than anything else.

Everything that's happening now felt like the end of the world was happening.

So, she nearly missed it — A call from an Unknown Number.

Thinking it might be Boris again, she answered with fear but the voice that came out was totally different,

[Hello! How have you been?]

It was a voice she recognized. A man who threatened her not long ago.

What did he want now?

[1]: Pretty sure no one is going to remember this name because damn. I don't even know how you would pronounce it. Aztec myth is a pain for me because I don't even know how to spell the name of 90% of the gods in that Pantheon.

Anyway. Chalchiuhtlicue which means "she of the Jade skirt" or "She who shines like jade" is an Aztec Goddess. She is the goddess of water, rivers, seas, streams, storms, and baptism. Pretty sure she would have been popular in China. Her modern form is depicted as a Woman with a fishtail. Basically the modern depiction of Mermaid.

Just as a reminder, Mermaid being half fish is a "recent" viewpoint. In the past, they were half woman half bird. Like Harpies. Then became related to snakes and dragons. Then fish.

Yep. Anyone who thought I used Latina as a Mermaid without thinking was wrong. Lol, more seriously. According to myths, Chalchiuhtlicue once ate the sun and the moon. She was the wife of Tlaloc who is a god of rain and storm and Thunder and she is the mother of Tecciztecatl who was called a God of the Moon. In some depictions, Tecciztecatl carried a large, white seashell on his back, representing the Moon itself; in others, he had Butterfly Wings. Heheh.

Finally, Chalchiuhtlicue is related to —

[2]: —Chalchiuhtlatonal who is another god of water. It is said that he granted the gift of water to one human every 10,000 years to help look after the sea.

Honestly, the information above should give you many hints about what I am about to do.