Aries felt like they'd been dreaming all day. All their life they'd known there were more Merfolk out there, but never seen them. But just this morning along with the rest of the group, Echo lead them to the pod.

They'd never seen so many Merfolk in one place. They were all hiding away on one of the islands they'd already searched, having moved back there in their usual rotation from island to island. They talked to them, explained everything to them, saw young Merfolk that reminded them of when they were a kid. They met other sirens, saw the diverse colours and fin types of their tails.

All 143 of them, they'd laid their eyes on.

The rest of the group were exited to meet the pod, in the same way they were exited to find out magic exists. And while Aries was exited they were just so overwhelmed they didn't have the reaction the others did. They stayed calm and serious throughout the whole meeting, although they were screaming inside. That they'd finally done it, they'd found the pod. Approaching 20 years of age and finally, they'd found them.

All the preparations were in place, and as soon as the coming weekend the pod would begin moving back into Izroulia. They were all revived and over the moon with joy knowing for sure their home was safe again. Those who were old enough to have experienced the war shed tears over being able to go home, see all the places they grew up again. The kid born after the war were exited to finally see what Izroulia was like, the whole pod was buzzing with anticipation to go home.

"Earth to Aries..? ARIES!"

Aries snapped out of their daze, leaning up on the sides of the spirit pool.

"Hm?" They muttered.

"You good there?" Zagreus asked.

"Yeah... just, we actually did it. It's pretty much over now, all we've worked for is finally... done"

The group got what the siren meant. It'd been over a year now, exactly one year and 3 months since Icarus fell into the pool and started the whole thing. A year of looking for answers and fighting for freedom in their own land. Although what they couldn't relate to was all the extra time Aries had been working toward this.

Even before they'd met the group, they were working on hunting down the pod. Having to study magic extensively to track the location of the spirit pool in the first place. Having to get into the human realm and having to plan everything in hiding.

It was a miracle they even lived this long.

"What are you going to do now? This is all you've ever worked for" Icarus asked.

"... just go back to Momo and live with her in the cottage. Work on the orchid, help out Haru. Live a normal life, that's all I wanted" Aries replied.

If that war never happened, they'd be living a completely normal life. That's all they wanted, no hiding, no threats, no fame. A normal life. They didn't mind having a few extra adventures here and there helping out Haru with royalty, but other than they they just wanted to be normal. Just a siren, living with their fae foster mother, picking fruits and planting flowers.

"What about your parents?" Pandora asked.

"What about them?" Aries asked.

"Well, you never found out what happened to them. Do you want to know?"

"I mean I know full well they're probably dead. And while it'd be nice to know exactly what happened for closure I guess... I don't think I'll ever know. I doubt there's any documents or anything from the war that's detail what happened to each individual mer person"

They'd admit, sometimes they did wonder what happened. Did they get captured? Did they hide out and eventually succumb to the elements or sickness? Did they get taken somewhere and good knows what happened? Or maybe on the very slim chance, they escaped. And they're somewhere out there in one of the realms, alive and waiting for news of Izroulia being safe again.

Aries doubted that, but who knows?

"At least Momo raised you with stories of them so you didn't just forget them" Icarus said.

"Yeah, I think she loved them more than she lets on and the thought of the child she was trusted with not knowing her best friends, that child parents even existed hurt her" Aries replied.

"You know, you've mentioned them before but I don't think you've ever actually told us their names" Zagreus added.

Aries thought for a moment, he was right. They'd never actually mentioned their names. They'd always just said 'my bio parents'.

"Lana and Cynthus. Lana, meaning afloat. And Cynthus taken from Hyacinthus, lover of Apollo" Aries explained.

"Izroulians and their mythology names..." Pandora said.

"You're one to talk Pandora's box" Zagreus said.

"You too, prince of the underworld"

Aries knew and had accepted they'd probably never meet their parents. But that was ok, they had Momo, and Momo was the mother they needed as a child. But they liked to think that if Lana and Cynthus were here right now, they'd be proud of their child for everything they did making Izroulia safe again.

"By the way, did you see the mermaid with the lion fish tail?" Pandora asked.

"Oh my gods yes. That was literally so cool, and the one with the spots like a while shark?" Zagreus replied.

"It's so cool that some of us evolved to mimic the patterns of other sea life. I wonder what fish I look the closest too..." Icarus pondered.

"Pink maomao, they're a similar shade to your tail. You're a little brighter, but you're both pink with similar fins" Pandora replied.

Aries smiled, listening to them get all exited about learning new Merfolk information. It was like they were discovering parts of themselves that helped them understand themselves better.

They still felt like they were dreaming, like any moment they'd wake up back in bed as a kid and realise this was all just a really nice dream. But it was real, it was happening and they couldn't be happier.

It was almost over. They were almost home for good.

It'd be kind of sad to say goodbye to the spirit pool, sure they wouldn't be leaving it forever, they could always come visit. But it'd no longer be the main meeting spot. They'd have to meet up when everyone was moved in and go for a swim around Izroulia looking for another cool meeting point. There were a few caves and rock pools in the area, maybe they could claim one of them as their new hideout.