A Mermaid’s Excursion

6.A Spark Beneath the Moon

Bai Mu soon realized a new problem.

There was far too little moon-glow grass—only enough for a handful of people. But for a royal city ravaged by plague, for tens of thousands of lives groaning in pain… such an amount was nothing more than a drop of water poured onto a burning cart.

Once again, the shadow of despair descended.

Bubble noticed it too. He circled Bai Mu’s wrist twice, staring at the few slender strands of seaweed bound there, and let out several anxious clicks.

“Gurgle… it’s too little,” he said, gesturing with his pectoral fin. “Only enough to brew… maybe one cup of seaweed tea. There are too many sick humans on land.”

Bubble spun restlessly in the water, but there was nothing he could do. The dangerous region held only that small patch of moon-glow grass, and it grew far too slowly.

The road ahead was uncertain, hope no brighter than a firefly.

Bai Mu forced herself to calm down. Mermaid wisdom told her that haste would lead nowhere. Her gaze returned to the herbs around her wrist, sensing once more their cool, purifying power.

“Did Grandpa Sea Turtle say anything else, Bubble?” she asked. “Anything at all about moon-glow grass?”

Bubble tilted his head, searching his memory. “Hmm… I think he said it’s solidified moonlight—light that can reach into the darkest corners of life… Oh!”

“He also said its true power doesn’t lie in its amount, but in its ability to guide. Like… like a spark that can ignite something else.”

“Guide? A spark?” Bai Mu’s thoughts raced.

A bold—nearly reckless—idea began to take shape in her mind. If the purifying power of moon-glow grass could be conducted, or activated…

“I’ve got it,” Bai Mu said, lifting her head, her eyes lighting up. “We place the moon-glow grass at the largest freshwater outlet in the center of the royal city.”

“You mean…” Bubble seemed to understand, his eyes widening.

“This amount isn’t enough to give to everyone,” Bai Mu said softly, brushing the faint glow at her wrist. “But if we use it as a catalyst, its cleansing power could spread with the water—like moonlight flowing downstream.”

“Perhaps if every infected person drinks from the purified springs… they might recover.”

She didn’t know if it would truly work. But compared to standing still in helpless confusion, she would rather try to break through the deadlock.

Yet another question remained.

How was she supposed to deliver the moon-glow grass to their kingdom?

“I’m going ashore,” Bai Mu said at last.

“Ashore?!” Bubble screeched, stopping short beside her and sending a flurry of bubbles spiraling upward. “Bai Mu, are you crazy?”

“How will you even move on land? Without the water supporting you, you’ll be as heavy as a beached whale! And your tail—”

He pointed anxiously at her beautiful silver-blue tail fin. “Those humans will see you as a monster!”

Bai Mu thought for a moment. “The sea witch can help. She can turn a mermaid’s tail into legs.”

“The witch? The sea… witch?” Bubble’s voice trembled.

It was a more f*******n word still—something from ancient horror tales. The Abyss of Forgetting was a place even the bravest explorers dared not approach.

In that abyss lived the sea witches, the Sirens. They kept company with the deep and with oblivion, feeding on secrets and the prices paid for them.

Bubble shrank back. “She… she dealt with your people long ago. And never in a good way…”

Swimming in front of Bai Mu, he stared straight into her eyes. “Even if you gain legs, do you know how far you can walk? The legends say that mermaids who beg the witch for legs in exchange for their voices feel every step like walking on shattered glass and salt! If you collapse outside the royal city—collapse in front of those sick humans—everything will be over!”

Bai Mu lifted her head and spoke calmly.

“My curiosity about that world was never only because of Allen.

“I’ve heard countless stories from passing ships. I’ve collected so many human books. I want to hear the wind through the treetops—whether it truly sounds like a harp. I want to touch the flowers of legend, to know if they’re softer than coral. I want to see mountains, forests, and plains.”

Her eyes shone with longing. “And I’ve always wondered… when sunlight passes through rose-colored stained glass, does it really fracture into a thousand hues? Does the land wind carry the sweetness of countless flowers? Is the ground they walk upon… warm and yielding?”

The moon-glow grass in her hand continued to glow softly. Bai Mu looked up, toward the gray haze shrouding the land beyond the sea.

“I’m going to the Abyss of Forgetting,” she said quietly. “To find the Siren witch.”

“Bai Mu!” Bubble cried out.

“If the price is my singing voice,” Bai Mu said, touching her throat—the source of her enchanting song—“then I’ll pay it.”

Bubble looked into the unshakable fire in her eyes and knew that no amount of fear could stop her now.

Then Bai Mu turned and swam with all her strength toward the Abyss of Forgetting—a place merfolk spoke of only in whispers, an ancient existence that fed on memory and secrets.

She was choosing to plunge into an unknown more dangerous than the plague itself, all to trade for a single glimmer of hope that might one day illuminate the land.