Haruki Ray, a dragon hybrid. Human form with wings, horns, fangs, a tail and scales. And his boyfriend Micha Nishinko, Demon. Probably the best people that the Merfolk could run into right now. The boys lead them across the forested area into a clearing with smooth rocks to sit down on and plenty of brush to keep hidden amongst. Flowed scattered the area and it smelt of freshly cut grass.

The second they all sat down, Haru demanded Aries explain EVERYTHING that had happened over the past five years leading up to them finding the others. And Aries was quick to explain and get it all out to their childhood friend. All Haru and Micha could do was listen in awe at the roller coaster of a story. How the hell Aries managed to stay alive this long all by themselves was astounding. And the fact they managed to assemble a small group of Merfolk in the human realm of all places, get the literal chaos gems from a primordial god and plan a whole rebellion was even more mind blowing.

"Sooo... yeah I think that's it" Aries sighed, finishing up their story.

Haru and Micha just sat there for a moment, stunned.

"Wow... ok that was a lot" Haru said.

"I don't know what's more impressive, you being alive still or the fact you found THREE Merfolk in the human realm" Micha added.

"We know the pod is definitely there, just not so close to the coast like these guys were. Finding the pod had been... a challenge" Aries replied.

The dragon was just glad Aries was alive really, all this was a bonus. He missed them, they spent so much time together as kids and grew up helping each other through everything. He was worried sick when Aries disappeared, even though he knew deep down they'd be ok.

"Ok enough about me, what about you? You have a whole boyfriend now? Micha what did you do to make him soft?" Aries asked.

"I have my tricks" Micha snickered.

Haru rolled his eyes, no one would ever let him live down his edgy emo days would they?

"I mean, honestly not much happened after you left. With me I mean, stuff with Izroulia as a whole has happened. I just grew up, decided the nomad life would be fun for a while, met Micha and we travel around the island camping and staying in stoppers" Haru explained.

The human borns gave him a confused look at the last part, not knowing what a stopper was. Aries noticed pretty quick.

"It's like Izroulian for an airBNB, house someone lets people stay in temporarily for travel" they cleared up.

"Oohhh, stopper is actually a good name. Because you stop by there..." Icarus muttered.

Every time the human borns learnt something new about Izroulia, they were reminded that they had a whole other half to them they were just scratching the surface of. There was still a lot for them to learn.

"You've been travelling for how long?" Aries asked.

Haru looked over at Micha, trying to remember.

"It was just before I met you... so about 3 years?" Haru said.

"I think so, it was the spring solstice festival" Micha replied.

"That's right, yeah three years then. Which means we've seen dating three years as well... wow time is so weird"

The two had been stuck together like glue ever since they met, completely inseparable. They had so much in common, they bought out the best in each other. If true love had a picture definition, it would be Haru and Micha.

Micha wanted nothing more than to own a museum, or at least work in one. History, especially magic history was his thing. So when Haru offered for him to travel with him, he took that opportunity immediately. He could learn so much about history from travelling around, finding fossils and artefacts, talking to locals and reading books from all over the place. Izroulia was an island, but a very big one. There was still a lot of stuff to learn about it and the surrounding smaller islands that were under Izroulias rule too.

Haru adored Michas enthusiasm about history. He found it so cute seeing him light up when he found a cool fossil, learnt a new fact or connected the dots between two ancient spells. Haru liked history too, but no where near as much as Micha. It was definitely Michas thing. Haru liked it because of how much you learn from history to move forward in the present. Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it, as the saying goes.

Haru was a go with the flow person, he didn't mind what he did with life as long as he was having fun. But the thing he dedicated his life to the most was fixing the broken world he lived in. Any chance to help someone, he took it. Any chance to disassemble a harmful system and make it better, he took it. That's why he and Aries got along so well as kids, the system had failed them both and they wanted change.

Angemetra waged war on Merfolk, harmed them more than anything else ever had. Aries felt that personally, and Haru HATED watching his best friend have to hide themselves just for stay alive. And himself? He was a dragon hybrid, back in olden days they used to be seen as 'savage' for how much of them was reptilian. And while progress had been made, there were still people who didn't trust him just because he had wings and scales. He didn't have many friends as a kid because of that, he hated the way people judged him just for being born that way.

He wanted change, he wanted to find any way he could to try and fix things. So he figured maybe travelling around and learning about other peoples experiences would help him find a way to change the world around him. It'd been a wonderful experience so far, especially with Micha teaching him about history as well.

"How's the state of Izroulia right now? It's been a while since I've been on the mainland. When I had to leave I hid mainly on the smaller islands and never communicated with people" Aries asked.

"It's... ugh. There's a reason I decided to stay away from the kingdom. Being in the towns right now feels like everyone is watching you. Ever since the break into the castle hap-" Haru stopped mid sentence, putting two and two together.

Aries knew that he knew and just shrugged.

"You- YOU BROKE INTO THE CASTLE?!" Haru exclaimed.

"SHHHHH! Don't scream it! Yes it was us. That's how we figured out how to use the chaos gems duh! We couldn't do that without the grimoire" Aries replied.

"I... you... fuck Aries you could have died! All of you could have!"

"But we didn't"

Haru could hardly believe it, of course it was Aries orchestrating the whole thing. No one hated Agnemetra more than Aries and himself.

"Oh my gods dude, I mean well done but shit! When you said rebellion you really meant it huh?" He said.

"Yep, phase one was stealing the grimoire. Phase two is getting Agnemetras cult out of the picture and phase three? Ridding her" Aries replied.

"When... when you say rid her..." Micha spoke up.

It was silent, none of the Merfolk had addressed this part yet. None of them knew exactly how they'd rid her. Although there was this dark cloud lingering over them knowing that they might just have to go to the extreme. The Merfolk looked at each other awkwardly.

"I mean, best case scenario we can capture her and throw her in prison or banish her to another realm or something but..." Zagreus said.

"We haven't really thought about what would happen if that doesn't work. We're hoping we can just kick her into an inescapable realm, but if that doesn't work..." Pandora continued.

Aries sighed, they knew this would come up eventually.

"I'm not going to sugar coat it. We might have to straight up kill her. None of us want to, she killed our kind, it'd be almost... gross to sink to her level and kill her. But she's a maniac, we all know that. If we try everything and we just can't get rid of her, well... sirens are known for drowning those what wrong them in myths" Aries explained.

It was silent again, everyone understanding the drastic situation.

"I get it. It's either her or the entirety of Izroulia..." Haru sighed.

"None of us want to, but if push comes to shove" Aries said.

They'd plan the details on what they'd do to rid her of her power when the time for phase three came, but everyone had been thinking about it for a while now. Best case scenario, banishment. Worst case... death.

"Well... there is this one spell that comes from my realm..." Micha spoke up.

"Woah hang on, you're not Izroulian?" Icarus asked.

"Yes and no? Demons are form Sin, but I was born here" Micha explained.

"Ah, carry on"

Micha reached into his bag, pulling out an old tattered book that he'd had for years. Flipping through the pages he came to stop on a page written in Latin with various symbols around the margins.

"This one, it's an ancient spell. Learnt it from another demon I met travelling, it's an incantation that detaches the soul from the body. So if you had to... you could use it. You're not technically killing her, sure her body will decompose but her soul will still be alive and just... not in her body. That soul will be completely powerless so you could literally pick it up by the scruff of the neck and throw her into another realm without any issue. And that way she'd not be able to come back either, a soul on its one isn't powerful enough to open a portal" Micha explained.

Aries leaned over to look at the pages, reading it over. Zagreus raised an eyebrow at them.

"Since when could you read demon?" He asked.

"It's Latin. Momo taught me, I can read a lot of dead languages" Aries replied.

Zagreus gave Pandora and Icarus a look, all of them wondering why Aries was so full of random surprises and facts.

"That... might be our best bet actually" they said.

"I'll copy it down for you" Micha replied, reaching into his bag for a pen and paper.

"What about her cult?" Haru asked.

"That... we're still trying to figure out..."

Haru was willing to help the second he saw Aries again, he didn't want to loose them again. So offering the help of him and Micha was a no-brainer.

"We'll help in any way we can, we want her gone too" Haru offered.

"Thanks, help us come up with something to get her cult out of the way. That's our main goal right now" Aries replied.

As Micha wrote down the spell, Aries pondered on all the options. There was still one more problem in the back of their mind though. Who'd take over after Agnemetra was gone? Aries didn't want to do it, all they wanted was a normal life and to see their foster mum again. Icarus and Pandora were out as well, they weren't nearly as educated on magic as anyone else in the group was. They'd couldn't run a magic realm without the knowledge on magic. Zagreus? He was doing this for his family, he just wanted to have his mum and dad come back to Izroulia with him and have a nice farm or orchid.

But there was someone Aries was considering now. Haru.

They'd known Haru all their life, he was smart, he knew a lot about magic, he had good leadership skills and was very strongly for equality. A bisexual dragon king who fought for equal rights and a greener planet? He was the perfect option. Although they'd only just been reunited, Aries wasn't about to drop this thought on him now. Maybe later...

"Here" Micha said, ripping the page and handing it to Aries.

"Thanks, I'll put that in the grimoire" Aries replied.

"Aries tell me something" Haru spoke up.

Aries folded the page and looked up at their long lost friend.

"Now that we're in a different position, contact me as often as you can. I'll help with the rebellion, I'll even sneak into the human realm if I have to. I don't wanna loose contact with you again" he said.

Aries smiled, same old Haru... always worried for people and offering to help.

"I'm not loosing you again either, don't worry. I'm back, almost back" they assured.

Haru sighed with a smile, pulling Aries into a hug.

"I missed you, we'll get our land back for you. Promise" he said.

"With your help, I know we will. I missed you too Haru" Aries replied.

Two new rebels, a rekindled friendship and a potential solution to everything? This risky trip into Izroulia was so worth it.