All peace was shattered as one word echoed through the air “MASTER!”

Shadow jumped as the door of her laboratory slammed open. Ranga marched in without hesitation and with a grin on her face. The two red heads began talking with each other as Victor watched them nervously from the doorway.

“Come on Victor, don’t be such a coward” chirped Emma as she grabbed him by his coat and dragged him in. He had never felt so strange before. It was like he was some stray dog picked up by a sympathetic child. Ranga and Emma had already given him shelter and provisions for a comfortable life. He didn’t understand their random kindness.

“Yeah, I really like what you’ve done with the place” said Ranga as she gazed around the laboratory. It had changed over the months.

The shelves were now lined with jars of unknown organs. Skeletons and organic pieces of creatures were hanging from hooks like meat at an abattoir. Some of the cages now housed horrifically mutated beasts. All of them smelt of the alcohol and chemicals used to preserve them. It was a mild stench that came with any biology laboratory.

Shadow smirked “Well, the MSI has kept me busy. I’m being sent quite a few test subjects to observe and dissect. Mainly they’re for practise”

“Practise? What do you need to practise?” replied Ranga

“It’s just like everything in life, you just gotta practise so you get more experience” she held up the digital encyclopaedia “The handbook says a trainee must practise as much as possible”

“But how do you know what you’re doing?”

“You’d be surprised as to how detailed the tutorials are” Shadow gestured to the black mage with Emma “Who is that guy? Did you bring a drifter home or something?”

“No, he’ll be living here in the Garden of Delusions with me” laughed Emma

Victor remained silent but his mind started panicking. The Gorgon was voluptuous and of divine beauty. It was his primal instincts as a male to be nervous in her presence. He didn’t understand why his eyes were naturally drawn to the sight of Emma’s breasts.

Ranga quickly corrected “Not exactly with her, more like in his own living quarters in the garden”

He exhaled a sigh of relief. Victor began to calm down and feel less like a hormonal teenager. He then couldn’t help but notice the subtle similarities between Ranga and Shadow.

‘Are they related? Like they’re sisters… no, it’s not that. Ranga is a magic being whilst Shadow is not. They don’t even share the same species. But I can still sense something between them’ Victor dismissed his rampant thoughts with a small shake of his head.

“Where did you pick him up?” asked Shadow

“I’m an alchemy experiment from the Kingdom of Magi” informed Victor

“I have no idea where that is”

“I thought you would, it is also occupied by your species”

“Oh right, humans. But I can honestly tell you I’ve never heard of this kingdom before now” Shadow picked up her backpack and quickly stuffed the MSI handbook in “I’d love to chat but I have an appointment with Dr Charybdis”

The puppet was perplexed as he said “You’re sick?”

“No Victor” informed Emma “She’s a mad scientist in training so she’s off to visit her superior”

Shadow focused her mind on her cat eye choker. She may possess no magic ability whatsoever, but even a brain dead monkey could manipulate the force of an Element Composer. A crude doorway opened before her leading into the MSI lobby. It was a simple warp, one way with only one possible destination. It wasn’t complex and capable of going anywhere like Ranga’s warp spells.

“See you all later” waved Shadow as she entered the portal. It sealed up behind her to ensure no one else would enter.

Victor waved his hand in the space the portal had been opened. In amazement he gasped “She’s gone… how did she do that!?”

“Her choker, it concentrates the magic of Time in small quantities. She can only go to one world and return to her home. She can’t travel freely like me” informed Ranga

Emma noticed Victor’s perplexed gaze. She said “Don’t worry, you’ll get the gist of warp magic soon enough. All you gotta do is make sure you don’t disturb Ranga when we’re in the vortex and keep close to her”

“That’s peculiar… I can recognise that you, Emma, are a user of venom and dark magic. But Ranga, I thought you were a water mage” informed Victor

The Umbra girl laughed “Why would you think that?”

“I just sense that element in you”

As Victor was a corporeal form of magic he had somewhat of a sixth sense. He could sense and immediately identify the element of a magic user. This is an advantageous quality built for his true purpose of being a weapon.

Ranga paused momentarily as that statement sunk in. She just shrugged it off casually “Well that wouldn’t surprise me, my hometown of Tempest is renowned for producing mages of the water and wind element”

“Uh… guys” interrupted Emma “Can we get outta here? No offence to your master, Ranga. But this place is starting to creep me out a little”

The smell of the sea was strong. Ranga stepped forward from the cove her portal had formed in. All around her were smooth stones curving around the small sanctuary. Deep blue waters cloaked the secrets the stone walls and pillars hid. It was a peaceful place. It was eerily silent.

“Ranga, you really need to lighten your touch on entry sometimes” winced Emma as she slinked out from the cove.

“Hey at least it’s better than I used to cast em” taunted Ranga in a playful manner

“I feel so…” Victor didn’t finish his sentence as he fell to the ground. The ferocity of a dimensional vortex wasn’t something easy to become accustomed to. It easily disorientated and invoked vertigo in its travellers.

Emma grabbed him by his shoulders. She pulled him up and said “Come on Victor! Rest is for the dead! Just walk it off, you’ll be fine”

“Um… do any of you know any underwater charms?” asked Ranga

“Why do you say that?”

“Because I have a suspicion that the races of this world are aquatic ones”

“So we do need to go underwater for prolonged periods of time…” Emma fell silent as she pondered their options.

“Sorry Ranga” admitted Victor “I only know battle spells”

Emma then said “The only water charms I know are those to make someone continuously wet their pants”

“Why would you need a spell like that?” asked Victor. His understanding of magic was that it was a tool of protection and destruction.

“For fun”

Ranga winked to Emma “I bet you were popular with the pranksters at high school”

“You bet your arse I was!” cackled the Gorgon

“Fun… Fun? Fun!? FUN!?” Victor had lost it as his arms started flailing around. He was having a tantrum just toying with such an idea. He screeched to his friends “What do you mean by this FUN!?”

Little did the travellers realise but they were being watched. Silently they stared at the outlanders from the surface of the water. Their hands tightly clutched their tridents. Anticipation rose to mind. They were growing impatient from their squabbling.

“You know, fun!” chirped Ranga “The enjoyment you receive from doing stuff in life!”

Emma said “Surely you know what it is”

“Well actually… I don’t” replied Victor

“WHAT!?” cried Emma and Ranga, they couldn’t believe such a confession.

“Then again… you did spend a long time in a crystal back in your own world. So I guess you’re uneducated” suggested Emma. She slinked over to him with a seductive smile and rested an arm on his shoulders. “Just stay with us and we’ll fill you in on every detail you need to know”

“But… um…” Victor’s heart raced as he noticed Emma’s breasts. They looked silky smooth as the sunlight glistened on her chest. “How can Ranga teach me anything? She’s a child”

Ranga immediately growled with the ferocity of a wolf, “Hey I’m twenty five so don’t treat me like some stupid kid!” as she viciously stomped over to the feet of the black mage.

“Then why do you look like one?” asked Victor as he shied away from her. Ranga was obviously rather sensitive about the subject.

“Look, I haven’t evolved an adult form yet alright”

“What are you talking about?”

Emma came between them as she diffused the situation. She calmly said “Never mind about it now, are we gonna stay in this world or move along?”

“YOU SHALL NOT LEAVE!” snarled a voice

The trio then paused as they looked around themselves. They were surrounded by merfolk; people that possessed long fish tails instead of legs and were capable of living underwater comfortably but at the same time could move on land by swishing their tails like a snake. Ranga, Emma and Victor realised it wasn’t a polite or positive reception as they were dressed in shell armour and armed with shields, spears and tridents.

“So… what did we do wrong?” asked Ranga as she blankly looked at the hostile crowd.

Emma sighed “I knew we were getting a little too loud”

A merman slithered forward. His detailed armour indicated he was of higher rank than the others. He said “By decree of King Neptune all outsiders to the merfolk are to taken to his kingdom to pass judgement”

“That sounds fun!” cackled Ranga as her hands were locked in manacles by a nearby soldier.

Emma glared at the mermaid as she received the same treatment. The eyes of all her snakes were pinned on the aquatic shield maiden. She couldn’t help but shiver from the venom in Emma’s gaze.

Victor shook his head in disbelief ‘Oh gods above, help me live through this!’

Like mindless soldiers the merfolk dived back into the water dragging their victims with them. Ranga thought she’d surely die. Her lung capacity probably couldn’t hold out long enough or even deal with the water pressure. However that didn’t happen. Instead she was simply dragged behind her captor. She didn’t feel a loss of breath. If anything, her breathing was at ease. The only logical conclusion she could draw was ‘These chains… they must be MAGIC!’

It steadily became colder as they descended further into the water. Emma never liked the cold. Her reptilian qualities meant she was an ectotherm; she couldn’t produce any body heat of her own. She always relied on the environment to give warmth to her. But underwater it was cold and wet and she didn’t like it. She didn’t even notice the beautiful coral reefs and plants that danced in the gentle currents. The sunlight spilled to the sandy floor as glorious rays. Schools of fish swam past like dancing rainbows. Unfortunately some of those fish met their ends as Emma’s snakes lashed out and caught them in their fangs.

Victor was mesmerised by the beauty of this place. In the short time out of his crystal he had seen so many amazing things. The concern and stress in mind drifted away as he just watched the underwater wonderland. Looking ahead he saw the city of the merfolk. A glorious triumph of architecture constructed from shells, stone and coral. At the edge was the castle. He didn’t notice the stares and awkward glares from civilians as the warriors pulled him past. He was too obsessed with this speculate of life.

On the balcony of a princess’s chamber were two young mermaids. They looked down upon the trio of outlanders that the scouts had captured. The princess was a beautiful young mermaid with flowing blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Her long fish tail was flecked with red and silver scales. Her head was adorned by a pearl tiara. She was topless and only covered her breasts with two large shells. “Pathetic, I wonder in they’re minions of the cecalia” she sneered

“You cannot be so judgemental princess” replied her maid as she brushed her golden locks. She was around the same age as her and almost as beautiful. But she didn’t show it like more mermaids. Her long brown hair was tied back in a ponytail allowing a small fringe to jut out around her face. She had luminous brown eyes. Her tail was green and she had fins extending around her waist, an uncommon trait in mermaids. The maid was wearing a seaweed bodice that covered her curved torso.

“Mercury, you can’t suggest these monsters have feelings? They don’t even have fins or tails or tentacles! They’re freaks! And stop calling me princess, you’ve known me long enough to call me by name”

“Sorry Astrid” said Mercury as she backed away. She swam back into the princess’s chamber to retrieve a pearl hairpin. As she clutched the pin in her hand she thought ‘They’re not freaks. They’ve simply evolved to a terrestrial lifestyle’

Unlike most mermaids, Mercury harboured a gigantic secret. She was an enlightened individual amongst her kind. She was aware of all the different life forms outside the world of Aqua. After all, she had seen them in her time at the Metropolis of the MSI.