The Goddess loved the sea above all else, but if she had to pick favorites, then she would choose the rfolk as her most beloved creations. She created them to be beautiful, delicate and srizing, just like precious porcelain glass.
Yet, the sea’s allure was not without danger. Instead, the more beautiful sothing was, the more perilous it beca. Hidden in the depths where lights could not reach were predators eager to prey on these exquisite beings.
She couldn’t bear to see them suffer and perish, so she descended to reveal herself to them, taking on the role of the benevolent ruler. The rfolk thrived under her guidance and built a magnificent kingdom for themselves, naming it ’Atlantis’. Under her reign, the splendor of Atlantis knew no bounds and continued to flourish, while the rfolk lived in blissful naivety.
Sotis, ignorance proved to be the gravest sin.
Ti passed, and the land creatures evolved. They constructed tall buildings, created machines, industrial tools, and so on, where all the unusable end products were carelessly dumped into the ocean. The once pristine waters beca polluted with garbage and toxic chemicals. Sea creatures suffered, and the natural ecosystem was destroyed, leaving devastation in its wake. Yet amidst this chaos, only Atlantis remained a sanctuary of purity and beauty.
Why?
Because unbeknownst to them, soone had been secretly protecting them, absorbing all the impurities into herself, reluctant to see them suffer even the slightest bit of grievance. She isolated Atlantis from the rest of the seas, preserving it as a breathtaking and untainted paradise.
But in the end, what did she receive?
Shen Nianzu pieced the puzzle together, and a cold realization settled upon him. "Don’t tell ..."
A faint commotion drew his attention, and he turned to see the familiar marble spires of Atlantis not far away. Lowering his head, he could see the familiar stretch of underwater city below his feet. A group of rfolk guards had surrounded their own Goddess, pointing their weapons and spears at her with a ferocious look on their faces.
"Get out! Get out of our city!"
"How dare you claim to be our Goddess!"
"Our Goddess is the purest and most beautiful rmaid in the whole world. How could she be like you?!"
"Get lost, you cursed creature! Otherwise, don’t bla us for being cruel!"
The once ethereal and beautiful rmaid had transford into a deford figure, uglier than any deep-sea creature. No matter how hard she pleaded, crying ’It’s ! I have been with you for decades; how can you not recognize ?!’ the rfolk decisively turned their backs on her. The reverence and love in their eyes had turned to disgust and malice, leaving her heartbroken and abandoned.
The Goddess found herself at a loss on how to convince them of her true identity. Not wanting to hurt them, she could only turn away for the ti being. However, she still tried to approach them ti and ti again. She hoped that once they realized the sacrifices she made for their protection, they would understand and recognize her.
Without her presence, the impurities of the sea began to trickle in, infecting more and more rfolk, turning them into hideous creatures just like her— no, it was even worse. Because they no longer possessed any resemblance of logic and reason they once had.
In the end, the outco she yearned for did not happen. Instead of comprehending the truth, the animosity they held towards her grew even more intense. They blad her for the infection and claid that she had brought disaster upon them. Day and night, they cried out for their lost Goddess, praying that she would bestow the blessing and protection upon them once more. They even fooled themselves into believing that it was their greed that had caused her to abandon them.
Little did they know that she had never left.
She had always been by their side, but they could no longer see her— because she had lost her beauty and purity.
Shen Nianzu watched the proceedings below his feet, slightly speechless. He watched as the rfolk clan exiled the infected ones and their own Goddess, branding them as the cursed and warning them not to approach their city again in the future. What a laughable situation. What an irony. No wonder she said that he would know the situation best. Because... he also...
Recalling the sight of the furious and frenzied rfolk, Shen Nianzu closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh. He heard the Goddess speak beside him with a voice that was both light and lancholic, "When the pearl loses its luster, is it no longer a pearl? In the end, what did they worship? ... or the perfect image they had of ?"
Under the sea, ti continued its relentless march forward.
The Goddess, burdened by the weight of the impurities she had absorbed, was deeply wounded by the betrayal of the very clan she had protected with her very existence. Why? Why was it so easy for them to turn their backs on her? Why couldn’t they see what she had done for them? Or could it be that they had recognized her, but were unwilling to acknowledge her due to her deformity?
The rfolk owed their survival to her selfless protection. Without it, they would have long perished under the cruel tyranny of the seas. Yet now that they had pushed her away, treated her with disdain and abandoned her, why should she keep on protecting them?
Why should she allow them to live?
Within her, a storm of negative emotions brewed, ruining and tearing her apart until she lost her sanity and transford into a nightmare creature. In spite of that, deep down, she still held a yearning that she could return to being the beautiful and ethereal creature she was. So she instinctively built herself a cocoon, hoping to go through a tamorphosis.
Just like how an ugly worm could turn into a captivating butterfly, could she also revert to her previous self?
But what purpose would it serve? Even if she managed to regain her forr grace, nothing could change the fact that they had betrayed her. Those gazes brimming with disgust, hatred and malice, the spears that tore into her skin and flesh— they were etched into her mind and soul. And for that, she could never go back to being their Goddess.
From the mont when the rfolk clan cast her aside, they had lost their Goddess... forever. The sacred bond between them was irreversibly shattered, leaving behind a chasm that could never be bridged again.
"So that’s why you plan to kill them?"
She nodded, her weary expression was filled with vicissitudes that did not match her tender age. "En, it’s a long overdue debt. They are not ant to exist anymore, and I must return things to their rightful course." Her voice carried a sense of resignation, "Perhaps this is my punishnt for going against nature and forcibly keeping what isn’t supposed to be mine."
"Then..." Shen Nianzu chose his words carefully. "Why are you showing this? My infection... was that your doing? What do you intend to achieve by making go through the sa trials you endured?"
At his question, the Goddess finally displayed a different reaction, her deanor softening with a tinge of apology. "I didn’t an to drag you into this ss," she said. "Truth to be told, this is the final test I must undergo to complete my tamorphosis. At first, I intended to seek that man’s help because he is more resilient and powerful than . If it’s him, he will definitely be able to rewrite history. However, I didn’t expect the law of nature to choose you, soone who is terribly similar to . I didn’t want to involve you, because I fear that history will repeat itself all over again. And see what happens—"
"Wait, wait a mont," Shen Nianzu interrupted her with a surprised look. "The help you sought, is that... Da Shen? Is that why you showed yourself to him on the port? He said that you have lost sothing very important to you..."
"That’s right," she clasped her hand above her chest, lowered her gaze and showed a bitter smile. "I have been in this form for so long that I have lost sight of myself. I lost sight of who I am, and my identity..." She raised her head to ask Shen Nianzu. "Will you help discover myself again?"
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