SOMEWHERE IN THE Philippine Seas, from the deep where no light penetrates, Yrevia, wearing the body of the Crown of the Order, remained afloat in the center of one of their special chambers in a cave. Her head was wrapped by bioluminescent vines coming from the cracks of the wall, amplifying her telepathic connections throughout the sercean minds on the land and sea.

As she closed her eyes, her mind traveled across the seas, possessing every sercean mind, taking control of their body like her own. She saw everything through their eyes, heard, and feel everything. She took control of several sercean minds and planted commands in their brain. She sent them to different parts of the Philippine Seas and have them attack all of the boats in operation. They made sure all of the vessels and boats were destroyed; the fishermen and other men aboard were pulled to the deep until they drowned. She freed the fishes from all of the fish cages and cut the ropes, dismantling the structure in the process.

Not long, her mind reached the land, where she inhabited a mutated human mind covered and protected by a memrae. She took over the body of a man and settled in. Opening her eyes, she took a deep breath and looked around. She didn’t stay much longer inside, she stepped out of the bathroom and headed to the office located at the end of the corridor.

Making her way through the lobby, she looked at the rooms on her left and right side. Through the glass windows, she watched the different tests and experiments being conducted on the bodies of serceans lying on the table. Reaching the office at the end of the corridor, she pushed the glass doors and caught the attention of a man busy reading something on his tablet.

“What do you want, Aaron?” the man asked in a cold tone. He stopped his reading and stared at her for a second, then right there, she noticed the fear in his eyes. “Oh, I’m sorry, Yrevia.” He stood and quickly bowed down in respect and fear.

“I need an update.”

“My team is still working on it. We’re far from being finished but we attained promising results.”

“Do you need more test subjects? I found a pack of serceans hiding amongst the human. I need your men to take care of them.”

“Give me the location.”

••°°••

ASCEIA’S HEART SKIPPED a beat when she heard the elevator dinged and it opened, spitting out the men that were pushing a collapsible ambulance stretcher carrying a woman. From the moment she heard about the injured serceana they were bringing in, she can’t brush off this heavy feeling and pain on the side of her stomach that was getting stronger and stronger. And right there, as they got closer, she finally saw who it was.

“Leyrosa...” she telepathically spoke to her mind. But she was silent.

“Asceia, I need you to leave this room,” Fatima ordered as the body of Leyrosa came into their room. “You can stay outside.”

She didn’t say anything and just headed out of the room. She stood and watched Fatima with other doctors helping Leyrosa through the glass windows. She closed her eyes and established a telepathic connection with her kind. Hearing Leyrosa’s voice, she opened her eyes and found herself floating in the middle of darkness, facing her.

“Asceia...” She was pale and weak.

“What happened?”

“Days after I saved Troy and Frejean, I met with other sercean deflectors and decided to stay in hiding. We didn’t return to the water and we were always moving to get as far away as possible. We don’t want to become Yrevia’s puppets. Like you, we endured being away from the water and to die as noble serceans. But we were attacked by these men, they have bullets that can poison our bodies. I don’t know about the others, but I hope they made it out alive.”

“How many serceans are with you?”

“Fourteen, but there were only five of us being transported...and they are all dead.”

“Where are the others?”

“Dead...or they have escaped.”

“Don’t worry, you are safe here. Fatima will help you recover.”

“I am far from saving, Asceia...”

“Don’t say that.”

“I want you to feed my mind to memraes.”

“N...No!” she protested. “I won’t do that. Don’t give up, Leyrosa.”

“Please, I...I am begging you. I am dying and I don’t have much time left.”

“But I am not Faunacean, I can’t control them.”

“Just put one in my mind. They will be much attracted to those who wanted them.”

“We have memraes here but they are all active.”

“Memraes can hold several consciousnesses together. Let me join them.”

“Are you sure?”

“It is better this way.”

Asceia had no other choice but to grant her wish. As much as she wanted to help save her, she was surrendering. She can’t let her mind die with her body, only a memrae can save her. She opened her eyes, looked around, and saw the glass tank in the corner filled with memraes. Quickly, she pushed the glass door, stepped in, and headed to the tank.

“Asceia, what are you doing?”

“She is dying, Fatima. This will save her,” she answered and forcefully opened the lid of the tank. As she reached inside, one of the memraes wrapped around her hand and clung so tight. She immediately brought it to the unconscious body of Leyrosa. And the doctors, including Fatima, stepped aside to let her do it.

“Put it in my mouth.” Leyrosa’s telepathic image and form appeared on her side and talked her through the whole process.

She pulled the memrae off of her arm. With her free hand, she pulled Leyrosa’s mouth open and laid the memrae inside. The organism crawled in, making its way to the brain. And right there, Leyrosa just started shaking. She was convulsing as the memrae started feeding on her memories. It lasted for a minute. Then she stopped moving, her arms hung lifelessly on the side of the bed, and the memrae crawled out of her mouth.