[It's been a while, Zeus.]

She smiled wryly and bowed down a little.

"What is the meaning of this, Amphitrite?"

[I apologize for showing you that nightmare, but I had no other choice.]

"Why are you here?" Nero was hostile towards her.

[I apologize for showing you my face after what I did to you and your companions.]

"I asked, why are you here?"

[I am haunting this hot spring,] the girl had no facial expression as she was just water— even her lips weren't moving, and Nero was hearing her voice directly in his mind.

Nero raised his eyebrows and said with a puzzled look on his face, "Out of all the races, you favored and loved the humans most. So why are you haunting them now?"

[I am not haunting any humans, I am just haunting this hot spring.]

Nero sighed and shrugged his shoulders, "What do you want?"

[I need your help. After you disappeared, I was sealed by some entity, so I was hoping you would help me.] Nero could feel the sincerity in her voice.

"For what? I thought you hated demons" Nero asked nonchalantly.

[I have been waiting for you ever since you disappeared from this world— only to find out you were sealed. Since then, I have been waiting for you.]

Nero was about to say something but stopped and wondered, 'For eons?'

"What makes you think I would even consider helping you? You should be aware of the power gap between us. A mere queen of water spirit can't ask for my help, right? At least, that's what you said to me when we the last time."

[I… I always regretted not helping you back then. If I were given another chance, I would give my life for you.]

"That's not convincing at all. You always hated me because I was a demon, and here you are— in a helpless and weak state, cowering in front of me and begging for my help. Where did your usual attitude go?"

Nero heard her chuckle, and say, [You are right. Perhaps, if I had seen the world with your perspective, then maybe I would be standing beside you as one of your companions. Perhaps, if I had helped you at that time, this entire story would be different.]

[I can't force you to help me, nor do you have any reason to help me. But I am glad to see you and know— that you are happy and found a new love, Zeus.]

Nero pondered for a while, then glanced around, "I like this hot spring, and I feel relaxed here. So tell me one reason to help you, and I might consider helping you."

After a brief silence, she said, [I can't give you any reason to help me, and it has to be your choice to unseal me; otherwise, the seal won't break.]

Nero took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

[Before I was sealed, a piece of my soul was separated from my body— which was meant to find you. After looking for you for centuries, I couldn't find you and tried to rest here in this hot spring. I started showing dreams to those who came here and used them to spread the rumors.]

"This town is cursed by a demon," Nero recalled.

[Indeed. And you know how rumors works.]

"They turn true if people start believing in them," Nero stated.

[I always hoped that one day— when your seal is broken— you would travel the world to search for your powers and companions, and maybe, just maybe, you will drop by this town after hearing a rumor about a town cursed by a demon. Since you would be the only demon in this world.]

"I will get curious about a demon other than me, and check this town, then I will find you. Was that your plan?" Nero questioned.

[Yes, but I didn't know when or if that will ever happen. So I waited and waited.] After a short silence she continued, [I am glad I waited.]

"Who sealed you?"

[I have no idea. It was a very powerful entity, and it was so powerful that before I knew it, I was sealed.]

Nero then recalled what Sophia had said to him. 'The five moons just disappeared on the day you were sealed. And all our companions either went missing, or it was made like they never existed.'

'Did they mistook Amphitrite as my companion?' Nero wondered to himself..

"Do you know anything about the disappearance of the five moons?" Nero asked curiously.

[Unfortunately not.]

Nero nodded and gestured her to leave, "You can go now."

[Will you break my seal? I am sealed in the sea of 'Dormant Abyss of Ashlan'— though the name of that sea might be changed now.]

Nero paid no attention to her and started humming.

[Please find and free me before I disappear— I have very little of my spirit power left...]

The figure started disrupting as it slowly submerged into the hot spring.

[I… will wait… for you… Zeus.]

Nero opened his eyes and muttered, "Sophi is gonna get pissed if I mention Amphy's name."

Amphitrite was one of Zeus' old companions, but she distanced herself after finding out that Nero was a demon. And Sophia always hated her for that.

======

[Note- If anyone has doubt about how the resetting of the cores, and sealing of the cores works, let me explain.

1)Resetting the cores literally means resetting them to their base state— nothing else (i.e. Nero's powers) would be affected. This was something Nero did very often to make sure his curses weren't affecting his cores.

To reset the cores, Nero just needs to let his mana flow through the cores— but it's very tricky. For this, Nero needs to pass a specific amount and frequency of mana; if it's lesser than that, resetting won't work. And if it's greater than that, the cores will break.

The 'specific amount of mana' depends on the size and type of the cores. For example, all type A cores (with the same size) can be reset in one go. All the type B cores (same type) can be reset in one go.

Resetting cores is not hard, but it needs deep concentration and precise handling.

2) Sealing the cores is much more complex than resetting them. To seal the core, Nero needs to seal them one by one, and hence it takes more time.

He can seal all the cores in one go, but that is a different thing.

Imagine there is a folder (with 1000 files in it) in your PC, and you archive (or password protect) that folder; that would just archive the folder while the files inside it won't be actually archived.

Or imagine a large mansion having 100 rooms (with doors) inside it, and you lock the main gate of the mansion; that wouldn't mean you locked all the rooms.

Or just like how setting up a screen lock doesn't lock your apps.

This is the simplest explanation I could come up with. If anyone has doubt, feel free to ask or join the discord server (the link is in the auxiliary chapter)]