"I don't get it," Neo muttered as he walked aimlessly around his room. "The author said nothing about Ivy being the queen, also why the big act?"
After Hera's plan didn't work out, Queen Elizabeth had to do something to lessen the tension.
They were asked to stay for the night while she tried to convince Ivy Gold.
Neo sat on the bed, massaging the bridge of his nose.
Obviously, there was something off about those two, but he couldn't place his finger on it.
"I'm lost, hahaha," Neo laughed.
As he stood up, he walked outside the room and saw the guards stationed to protect him.
"I need to speak with the queen," Neo said, while the guard stood for a second, wondering what the surface dweller would want with their queen.
He still led Neo in that direction.
The hallway was illuminated by the light of the ocean, since the walls were similar to transparent glass like those seen in an aquarium...
Neo could see a school of fish, a shark, and even mermen patrolling the sea.
Unlike the guest room, the queen's room was far more majestic than every other room, the intricate design on her door was that of the trident of Neptune.
When Neo walked in, she was alone, as expected, and she was making tea.
His heart pounded when he saw her, what if this was how he died?
"I expected you'd come to see me, Neo," Elizabeth smiled. "Please have a seat... Do you care for tea?"
Neo sat on the sofa opposite the bed and rejected the tea.
Elizabeth took a sip. When she asked what Neo wanted, he suggested the guards leave the room first. After that was done, Neo sighed.
"You know my mom doesn't take no for an answer," he said.
Elizabeth frowned. Even now, Hera's threat of burning Atlantis to the ground danced inside her head.
"I also don't want to force my daughter, she doesn't like you because..." she paused, as if the words would hurt Neo.
"I know, weak," Neo chuckled. "Well, I have two other things in mind that would compensate for her rejection, and I promise my mom wouldn't hurt a fly in your country."
When she heard that, Elizabeth's face brightened. But when she asked what Neo wanted, she frowned again.
"Atlantis' dark scepter," Neo demanded, not a single warm expression on his face.
He wasn't actually there for negotiation, he was there to find out who this woman was, because now he was one hundred percent sure she wasn't the queen.
His heartbeat had settled long ago.
Even if she had the authority to give him the dark scepter of Atlantis, Neo couldn't use it, but that wasn't the same for Esme.
"Well, I cannot give you that, sorry. But please, what's the second?" she asked.
Her voice, the way she acted earlier, she might only look older than Ivy, but this person was clearly a child or at least around Neo's age.
Neo took a deep breath for his next request. "Tell me where the queen is."
When he said that, the teacup she held fell from her grip.
It shattered into pieces that flew around, one of which cut Neo at the side of his cheek, barely missing his eye.
"What the fuck," Neo groaned. Right now, Elizabeth was shaking. 'That was a guess, but I was right after all.'
Elizabeth stood up. The trident of Neptune that was beside her floated towards Neo.
Even Neo was confused, but he found himself involuntarily holding it, and the blood on his cheek gradually floated towards the trident, as if Neo was feeding it.
Elizabeth's eyes widened.
"Boy!" the trident whispered. Neo saw a split image of a man with an octopus head and tentacles, Davy Jones.
Just then, the door was opened by the guard. "Your Majesty... pirates," he said.
Elizabeth stood for a second, focused on the boy in front of her, but then she quickly took the trident away from Neo and ran outside with the guard.
Neo felt his cheek heal for no reason. When he unwrapped the bandages on his palm as well, it had healed.
As he walked outside the queen's room, he saw Hera and Esme in front of him.
"Are you alright?" they both said in unison, as if the line was rehearsed, then stared at themselves. "Neo," they said again.
Neo shook his head and blinked his eyes. "Yes, yes, I'm fine, what happened?"
"Something just surfaced in the sea, it shook the whole of Atlantis," Hera said, while staring at Neo's eyes.
"Like an earthquake," Esme added.
Perplexed, Neo looked at the two women. Just now, he hadn't felt any earthquake, the sea had been calm for him until the guard rudely interrupted.
After staring at Neo carefully, Hera moved the side of his cheek towards her. "Is that blood?" but there was no injury.
"Not mine," Neo lied.
Then Elizabeth and Ivy were seen walking towards them.
"What happened?" Hera asked.
Elizabeth, who was still staring at Neo, didn't hear that the first time, she only processed Hera's voice after five seconds.
"It was nothing of importance," Ivy said.
Esme could tell she had just lied, and so could Neo, but she decided to keep it to herself.
Elizabeth cleared her throat. "Ahem... well, there is something Ivy would want to say," she said.
Ivy stepped forward and straightened herself. First, she apologized for rudely exchanging words with Hera and calling Neo weak.
And then she suddenly agreed to marry Neo.
But the news wasn't taken as they expected, Hera, Esme, and Neo knew very well something was off.
"But under one condition," Ivy added. "Neo must stay here with me in Atlantis."
"Hell no," finally, Esme's presence was felt, and it wasn't a good one.
Right in that moment, another presence was felt, and at the left side of the ocean, Neo saw the familiar figure.
The man with tentacles and a wrecked ship looming behind him, everyone noticed this.
The man, however, was staring at one person, Neo.
"Davy Jones is real?" one of the guards said.
After staring long enough, he floated towards his wrecked ship.
When Esme turned around, Neo was gone. "Where's Neo?"