“JUST THE WAY YOU ARE, JUST LIKE THIS NATURALLY, JUST MYSELF”

***

“WONYOUNG!”

Yujin screamed at the top of her lungs. She swears that she just turned away for a moment and that sudden splash really surprised her. She can feel like every blood within her body is drained when Wonyoung suddenly vanished without a trace.

“Yujin! What’s wrong? Where is Wonyoung?”

Nako arrived while Yujin is still frantically searching for Wonyoung. The other girls gathered in the middle of the sea when they heard Yujin desperate cries, calling for that certain name.

“Damn it! Is it those pixies again? Are they kidnapping Wonyoung?”

Yena snapped as she felt her rage is boiling within her body.

“Calm down! We are in the middle of  the ocean! There’s no way some pixies are able to do this.”

Sakura calmed Yena.

“Is she perhaps drowning?”

Yuri muttered in worried.

“No way! Something must had caught her! Is it Merman?”

Hyewon clenched her jaw when she thought about such unprecedented situation occurred when they are just trying to kick back and relax for a while.

“Or is it Mermaid? Wait, what is the difference between them?”

Chaeyeon is confused in the middle of their conversation.

“Both of them are under Merfolk species, I think. However, why would they kidnap our baby Wonyo? It doesn’t make any sense.”

Eunbi gritted her teeth as her previous bad premonition actually hinted that this situation will happen.

I shouldn’t let her enter this ocean in the first place! What have I done?

Eunbi blamed herself for this whole situation to happen.

“Why are we making assumption that some demi-humans are taking Wonyoung away? Isn’t that make us just like Wicked from Commencer?”

Hitomi glared at them for being fast to push the blame onto some demi-humans when they had absolutely no clue of Wonyoung sudden disappearance.

“Stop fighting! If what we think are true, then I Just need to drain this sea to find Wonyoung and bring her back!”

Yujin shoot her hand up into the sky and suddenly the area are turning dark with winds are howling, forming some twisters in the middle of the sea. Yujin seems so dead serious to erase all those seawater by using every bit of her MP.

“Yujin! No! Please stop!”

Minjoo hugged the girl tightly while trying to calm the girl who is engulfed by her own messy mind. It seems that Wonyoung is really important for that girl which made her trying to risk her life just to save the girl from whatever things that snatched her away in a blink.

“Yujin, calm down. Wonyoung must be sad to see you act like this.”

Minjoo said while shivering in fear as she embraced that girl from behind. it is her first time to see Yujin being so mad at something as the girl usually will smile enthusiastically in any dire situation.

“I can’t detect Wonyoung location from the map but I do find something interesting. Nako, lend me your ears and everyone, please go back on the shore. You all are just making ruckus without being able to help Wonyoung with your pathetic state.”

Chaewon said coldly which made everyone speechless. The girl who actually barely talk and even acting like a lost little kid a few days ago exude her chilly aura out of sudden. In order to be safe, everyone moved according to Chaewon words, leaving her and Nako behind.

“Err, Chaewon? You seems so mad for some reasons.”

Nako cannot look straight into the older girl eyes as she clearly gives off murderous vibe.

Chaewon:

“I am not mad.”

Chaewon short reply just made Nako shudder. She dismissed her thought to poke some question to the older girl as she had this bad feeling if she dare to ask something to the girl, something bad will happen. Chaewon sighed as she thought that she was being harsh on Nako when in fact she need Nako help at the moment.

“Look, Wonyoung may be dragged into some hidden place within this ocean. I don't want to make a bad assumption but it is highly likely that some Merpeople are involved in this.”

Nako nodded at Chaewon words. She really respect the girl who always giving her pointers when she needed it.

“I found a waterway somewhere in here. I need your Scout skill to be used and tracked down Wonyoung whereabouts. Sora can change its nature, right? Please, investigate this thoroughly as we do not know the reasons behind Wonyoung kidnapping.”

Chaewon elaborate her plans to Nako and the girl are amazed by her keen eyes to be able to come up with this plan with the spur of the moment.

“Alright, leave it to me.”

Nako make a salute gesture before calling Sora to aid her with their investigation. It is fortunate that Nako acquire ‘Dive’ skill which made it possible for her to go inside the water for a long time without having difficulties to breath while in water.

As soon as Nako went to do her work, Chaewon sighed while gritting her teeth. She is indeed worried at Wonyoung who is suddenly went missing. She felt guilty for being jealous of Minjoo and Yujin closeness when they are in the wagon earlier and lashed out her anger at Wonyoung. Now that the girl is gone, she felt so lonely without the girl laughter filled the air.

“Please be safe.”

Chaewon stared into the deep water before swimming back to the shore where her friends are waiting for her.

***

“We need to be calm. I know that Wonyoung is missing but making more ruckus won't save her. Let’s go to the guild and collect some information to see whether there are lost people or not.”

Eunbi is being a sensible leader yet again. Yujin is being quiet for the first time with her dewy-eyes, blaming herself for Wonyoung disappearance. Minjoo and Hitomi are patting the girl back silently, providing some comfort for the pitiful girl.

Yujin:

“Eunbi is correct. We need to act fast.”

Chaewon said while walking on the sand as she wiped off her body with a towel thrown by Yena as soon as she stepped onto the shore. She ruffled her hair as she walked towards the girls who are questioning her about Nako who should be with her.

“Nako had to do something for awhile and it’s not something dangerous. Let’s split into several smaller group to gather information.”

Chaewon speak while staring at each of them. Everyone is a bit bewildered as the girl usually tend to be a spectator and quietly followed whatever the group decided. Today can be marked as history because Chaewon is actually the one who initiated the plan to save Wonyoung and proactively participate to form a search party.

“Say, so we need to go to the guild and then?”

Yujin asked while frowning. She still thought that draining the sea is the wisest and fastest choice to search for her missing sister.

“Go to the market. The pub. The eateries. Information usually are exchanged there.”

Hyewon explained at Yujin while smiling. She may seem aloof but the girl is quite sharp and a good listener too.

“So we will divide into three group. One party will have four people and the rest will be three per group. We will-”

“Please count me in.”

Eunbi words is cut off when Nako suddenly appeared beside them. Everyone is shocked to see the girl coming back in a short moment. Chaewom jerked her eyebrows, asking Nako to inform them about her findings.

Understood Chaewon gesture, Nako take a sit in between her friends before taking out a big chunk of paper to illustrate her search just now. She took out a pencil and draw as accurate as she can with Sora helping her from the side.

“So Chaewon asked me to search around the area where Wonyoung gone missing. Yujin said she did dive in as soon as Wonyoung gone but cannot even catch a glimpse of our baby, right? It is because there are hidden passageway right around here-”

Nako circled an enormous stone which made everyone gasped. Who can even guess that beneath the solid chunk there is a camouflage route?

“Right. I know. I myself didn’t know about it but out Chaewon here manage to see it. So as per her instruction, me and Sora went into the route and find a tunnel connecting to somewhere. Of course we did go through it and thanks to our ‘Stealth’ skill, we come to find a rather interesting things.”

Nako stopped while biting her lip, trying to avoid everyone eyes which rouses curiosity between them.

“What Nako? What did you find under there?”

Hitomi asked as she couldn't contain her inquisitive anymore.

“I found a city which looks like Atlantis.”

Everyone look at each other, dumbfounded. Eunbi is clueless why would her friends looking so stupendous after hearing Nako said her last words.

“Wait, what is Atlantis?”

She asked while pouting, disappointing of herself for not knowing something that everyone seems to be well-versed about it.

“Eunbi, Atlantis is an underwater city. It is a well-known myth that circulated for quite sometimes. It is originated from Plato, a philosopher where it said that this city is the most powerful marine power in its time. However, the city submerged under water within a day and a night after failing to take over Athens.”

Sakura explained to Eunbi as if she recite a paragraph from a textbook which made e