North x Northwest No Chapter 98

Chapter 98

Ed tugged her arm once more and they both looked ahead.

Lil almost scread. Dozens of rays hovered over the rmaid, flapping their fins like flags.

No, they arent waving their fins like a flag. Instead, it looks more like theyre dancing.

The group dance that relied on one single light surrounded by a dark stage was truly spectacular. Dozens of wings fluttered back and forth and gracefully road the spotlight. In the midst of this, a swarm of sardines gathered like a whirlwind and one of the manta rays soared through the sardines. It opened its large mouth wide, revealing the inside of its stomach.

Miraris?

A thin voice echoed from sowhere. The source of the sound was unknown, but Lil looked surprised at the rmaid. The rmaids pale blue brilliance floated toward Lil as their gazes t. With the rmaids movents, the scene gradually changed. As the light now illuminated a new background, coral colonies appeared and the sardines which shone brightly dimd away.

Seeing the rmaids beautiful glowing eyes just a span ahead, Lil corrected her first thought.

In the water, the rmaid is more like moonlight rather than sunlight. Im this close to her, but my eyes dont hurt, and my hands dont get burned

It was a strange experience for Lil, who had only known luminous light from a torch or candles.

She awkwardly held the rmaids hand.

Dei filia, miraris?

The rmaid ca close enough to touch the tip of her nose. Lil felt a sense of coolness, when a blunt nose, two pairs of nostrils, and smooth, blue skin approached. Lil shrank her body in a hurry to prevent herself from touching the sensory hair. anwhile, the rmaid pursed its lips together and blew her breath. Of course, that would have been the case if it was possible for the wind to blow in the sea. But in reality, it spouted water. Lil, not knowing what was going on, closed her eyes when the cold water rushed around her nose and mouth.

When Lil was still dumbfounded, the rmaid turned to Ed. Upon leaning towards Ed, the rmaid sent the sa wave to his face. Lil looked at Ed strangely, he looked surprised in a different way than herself. Ed moved his mouth towards Lil. At the sa ti, a voice was heard.

Shes asking if you find it fascinating.

..?

It was a little muffled, but she could definitely understand it. Lil looked at the rmaid in bewildernt.

Does the rmaid suddenly know how to speak the human language?

Where are you looking at? It was . .

You?

Lil grabbed her neck, startled by her reflexive voice.

Water will co floating into my body now that I have spoken underwater.

Lil closed her eyes and held her breath, bracing herself for death. Her entire body stiffened to the point of shaking. However, no matter how long she waited, she couldnt feel the current entering her airways.

Why are you so surprised? You have been breathing for a while now.

Lil opened her eyes.

Ive been Ive been breathing

But if I stop!

Eds breath created a small whirlpool. Lil pinched her nose and rolled her eyes toward him.

You dont have to hold your breath. Do you understand? Dont think about it too much.

Lil nodded without taking a mont to comprehend the situation.

I can live without breathing

However, there was no room for more shock today.

Her fingers that were clutching her nose slipped off. Lil suddenly realised she had already shown several clumsy expressions, so she awkwardly smiled at the rmaid, who was staring at her with innocent eyes. The rmaid then tilted her head and pulled Lils hair down, which was fluttering everywhere.

Where did my hair tie go?

Even though it was natural for hair to float freely in water, Lil was concerned about how funny she was looking. It was then that Lil realised that the rmaids hair was neatly flowing downwards. But before she could co up with an explanation, the rmaid turned around and placed Lils hand on its shoulder.

The rmaid stretched its arms and started swimming. Lils body began to move forward on its own. Ed, of course, was on the other side. Even with two humans hanging from its shoulders, the rmaids movents were light.

Descending further down, they swam past spectacular coral walls. It was like travelling through a cave with the rmaid as their torch. Lil looked around the mysterious tunnel and discovered corals flowering profusely, like a swarm of trees, growing along the caves walls. Occasionally, a fan-shaped coral as colourful as a bouquet of flowers appeared. It was the sa for the floor of the cave. Coral colonies spread out in endless fields, with colours differing from pale green to brown. Among them, sea turtles were seen sparsely. Ed tapped Lil on her shoulder, then he put his hand on his cheek, and closed his eyes.

Do you want to sleep?

Ed laughed a little. Lil, seeing the sleeping sea creatures for the first ti, looked carefully between the corals. When she did, she could see fish and crustaceans that remained motionless as if they were dead in the crevices of the coral leaves. The seahorses also seed to be asleep with their tails wrapped around coral stalks.

After passing through a colony of sea anemones, a flat vacant lot beca visible. There was a large rock in the centre of the sandy bottom. Lil regretfully looked back, but it was already dark behind her.

Pone super petram manus tuas.

Hold on to this rock.

Lil and Ed reached out to the rock. As their hands created a small flow, the swarms of clams attached to the rock closed their mouths one after another. After dropping them off, the rmaid began to observe the rock closely. Lil looked carefully at the rock as well. Eventually, a crack ford along the entire length of the stone and white flesh was exposed. The rmaid didnt miss the gap and put its finger in it. It was then that Lil realised that the crack was the mouth of a clam. The shell was covered with seaweed and sea anemones, which would normally grow on rocks, but it in fact was a clam.

In an effort to show off, the rmaid opened her fist in front of Lil. Several white and greenish grains were laying on the palms of its hand.

Peloris cor.

Lil understood the word without Eds interpretation.

Pearls.

Lil stared at the rmaid, who was giving her pearls, in awe. The rmaid picked up a bead, examined it, and attached it to Lils hair which was still soaring upwards. It then picked up a second pearl and repeated the process. Lil turned to Ed, not knowing what was going on. Eds eyes were slightly above her face.

Hes basically buried in my fluttering seaweed-like hair.

He spoke as he lowered his eyes.

Shes decorating your hair.

Lil wondered why Eds expression remained so calm.

Decorating my hair? But why?

As soon as she wondered about it, a few bundles of hair dropped next to her ear. Pearls were attached to the ends. It was only then that Lil thought about looking at the rmaids hair as well. Its hair didnt rise upwards but instead floated beautifully around its face. It was probably because of the pearls embedded on the rich strands.

Gratias tibi ago pro salute a, dei filia. Su hoc in signum gratitudinis.

The rmaid retreated with a satisfied face. It was like an artist admiring the work it had created.

Shes saying thank you Its her token of gratitude.

Lil looked at the rmaid.

She seed unwilling to decorate Ed. Againwhy?

How co she isnt doing the sa for you?

Maybe because my hair is short?

How do I say back, thank you?

Gratias.

Lil was tempted to ask the rmaid why it skipped Ed, but she decided to put up with it. Instead, she spoke with a gentle smile.

Gratias.

The rmaid laughed, revealing its teeth. Lil smiled awkwardly as she rembered her chilling mories of their sharpness.

Mihi non est Bellus.

Her na is Bellus.

Lil belatedly realised that they had not even introduced themselves yet. Still, it was surprising that in their culture they also have sothing like a first na. Except for the fact that it was underwater, the civilization of rmaids seed no different from the customs of the empire. Lil and Ed each pointed to themselves and answered.

Lil.

Ed.

Bellus awkwardly pointed towards itself, trying to mimic their hand gesture. But because rmaids didnt use their fingers to present themselves, it flipped its hands about, trying to figure out how to introduce itself using its fingers. After a while, the rmaid succeeded in pointing its index finger toward its face.

Bellus.

The sa might be true for Bellus, whos attempting to learn about various cultures.

Lil admitted to being overly narrow-minded. She couldnt envision rmaids wearing clothes until she saw Bellus, and she couldnt imagine rmaids intelligence until she spoke to one. Even Lil was an arrogant citizen in the face of a foreign species.

TN:

Hi guys, so of you probably had the sa idea as us when you saw the ancient language. Our minds imdiately thought about Latin. However, most of the text, especially in the beginning, didnt translate well to Latin. We were only able to translate small parts of it, the rest was just gibberish, which made us think that it was all just a coincidence (rember the Hok im pugit?). Now that were a bit further in the story we noticed that the resemblance becos more and more precise. Thats why we decided to go with Latin and make our translations as accurate as possible. Eventually, we will also change the ancient language in the past chapters.

As a little disclair we like to say that none of us have experience with the Latin language and there could very well be a possibility that our translations arent 100% correct. Feel free to help us out.

Translations:

Miraris? Dei filia. = Daughter of God, are you surprised?

Pone super petram manus tuas. = Put your hands on the rock.

Peloris cor. = Clams heart.

Gratias tibi ago pro salute a, dei filia. Su hoc in signum gratitudinis. = I thank you for my salvation, daughter of God. Take this as a sign of gratitude.

Gratias. = Thanks.

Mihi non est Bellus. = My na is Bellus.