[Crown of the King] Yuno Grinberryall x Reader

[17] Hypnotic

Reader POV

I was put in a room with Yuno and some children, alongside the elders, all of us being told by the elders the legends of the sea.

"Long ago the waters used to be at peace," the elder began. "A family reined over the seas, creating the tides of life itself. They sometimes came to the surface to be with their human friends, the queen and her children, both families happily living together."

"This is my favorite part," a child whispered to their friend.

"The queen's daughter Amphitrite was known as the most powerful yet beautiful girl in the land," another elder spoke as he formed a figure made of water to look like the deity. "This caused the water princes Poseidon and Triton to fall in love with her, as some might suspect. Brothers began competing for her attention, each offering something to her."

"Poseidon was fairly confident she would choose him since he would inherit their parents' vast underwater kingdom while Triton had nothing like that. Brothers kept trying to win her affection by also offering her jewelry and gold, trinkets that humans love."

"Only Amphitrite rejected the jewelry and gold Instead, she asked for something else."

"Uh-oh," the child whispered again.

An elder created a ship and sunk it, showing a man going down with the vessel. "Amphitrite wished to say goodbye to her father who drowned when she was little."

"Wait, isn't that the seal of the Heart Kingdom?" Yuno asked me, pointing to the vessel.

"Triton knew he could never do such a thing since it would require a magic trident. He told her he could give her anything else but she turned to his brother. So Poseidon stole his father's trident and brought the girl to the depths, telling her to take the magical seaweed otherwise she would drown."

"Fortunately he succeeded but put the blame on his brother. When their father found out, he punished Triton and sent him to a remote part of the ocean near the ancient Clover kingdom, telling his personal servants to follow him. They founded our temple and ever since, we have not left. Not only was Triton stripped of his ability to breathe underwater, but he was also denied the usage of the magic seaweed that would've otherwise been the key."

"What's the point of this story?" Yuno asked me to which I jabbed his side in order for him to shut up.

"Unfortunately, things only became more complicated. Amphitrite wed Poseidon and they had a few children, all who heard whispers of their Uncle Triton banished here. Their youngest, Meredy, decided to go see her uncle but the currents were too strong for her despite her being born a mermaid. There was a legend of a creature who could grant someone their greatest wish in exchange for something. Meredy swam to the depths of the ocean and cut a deal with the Leviathan, the creature using hypnotic power to control her mind to do so."

I noticed Yuno becoming tense but ignored him.

"Unfortunately she failed to do so and Atlantis blamed Triton and our temple for her death, and the Leviathan unleashed. Poseidon fought his brother but both were powerless against the Leviathan, until Amphitrite sought the power of the great protector. In exchange for power, Amphitrite merged with the great beast and they won, sealing the Leviathan off. But as payment, Amphitrite was forever merged with the sea, unable to return."

The elder pointed to me. "Before Amphitrite merged with the sea, some say she cursed her descendants. The mark of the scales on a daughter or son of her descendant would signal that they too would meet the same fate or be called back to the sea since one of her Silva descendants left Atlantis. But only to seal off the Leviathan. The legend of Amphitrite is one to be taken with the utmost honor as it means that they will be part of the sea someday."

I touched the scales, feeling how weird they were. "So it would seem I'm destined to meet the same fate as my ancestors as well as my mother."

Children began flooding me with questions but I ignored them, moving away from the elder's temple.

"Will she be okay?" Yuno asked an elder who only shrugged.

"We do not know. The time of the Mermaid's Return and the Leviathan is upon us. It's only different now since Atlantis is raging war against us once more, though they are being tricked." The elder put a hand on his shoulder. "The best thing you can do right now is to be with her."

"I don't trust him," an older man said as he left the temple to follow me. "Something about that boy is off. I will not be sharing a meal with him from now on."

Yuno found me much later in the day, practicing using the magic necklace to harness the magic of the sea. "(y/n). I have a question for you."

"Okay." I was more concentrated on magic than him at the moment. After all, Atlantis could strike at any moment and we were forbidden to leave.

"What do you think of all of this? I mean, that's foolish. There's no creature who can control someone's body to do stuff, hm?"

I shrugged, not really paying attention to him. "I'm not sure what to think of it."

"Well, what if the Leviathan had ulterior motives? What if he wanted revenge or something? Could you go convince him to stop? I'm sure the people in Atlantis are being controlled by him."

I stopped, thinking about what he said. "Yuno, what do you mean by that? I know just as much as you do."

"I mean, couldn't you use your magic to get to the Leviathan? Last night I was doing some reading and the location of where he dwells is in a book."

"Ok??"

"(y/n), do you not understand what I'm saying? We could stop a war."

Noelle POV

"You sure we can't just go visit (y/n)?" I asked Princess Lolopechka who shook her head.

"We were not invited to Atlantis nor the temple once more. Whatever may happen down there will affect us all, should the Leviathan be successful in his conquest for the surface world." The princess looked deeply disturbed. "But that is something wrong down there, I can feel it."

Mimosa and I exchanged worried looks. "But (y/n) is there, so is Yuno!"

The princess used her magic to show us a mirror of what was going on down in the temple, displaying Yuno talking with (y/n) who was practicing magic. "That's not the Yuno you know. Something is off, but I cannot tell what."

"More of a reason for us to go save her!" Asta shouted. "I had a feeling something was off about that handsome jerk. He hated (y/n) and suddenly he didn't? I call bull."

Leopold looked deeply disturbed. "If what you're saying is true then what happened to him? It's like his soul was taken."

"It's not his soul that was taken." Gadjah pointed to a mirage of the Leviathan hanging near Princess Lolopechka's side. "He's being hypnotized by the Leviathan. There are legends of it controlling the minds of men in exchange for information. Much like the Heart Princess, it contains vast knowledge using the water."

"Wait! That means (y/n) is actually in danger! We have to go help!"

"You will do no such thing!" Gadjah said in a firm tone. "I understand you care for your friend but she is more than capable of defending herself. Especially since she's part-mermaid herself and surrounded by water. She will be fine. Have faith in her."

I looked worriedly at the image of (y/n) leaning close to Yuno. "But we can't just sit around and do nothing!"

"You will," Princess Lolopechka ordered. "You are training. The final battle will be coming soon and we cannot afford to lose a single one of you, since you are all so close to Stage Zero. Your Wizard King wanted you to stay in my kingdom as safely as possible while you trained. If I allowed you to go to (y/n)'s side, it will break the promise I made to him. Don't forget that's his daughter we're talking about."

"We can only hope she figures it out soon."