"We won't let you go!"

"No, you can't go."

"Senia!"

'So this one's called Senia.'

All of the sirens showed strong resistance against her will to follow Orion.

This woman siren had strange colors compared to her peers. Most men had a blue-ish color to their tail and hair, and the women had a beautiful light yellow, but hers was pure crimson, with a slight pink discoloration at the tip of her hair and tail.

She had really long hair, tied in a ponytail with a piece of dead coral, with the left eye was hidden by her hair that curved until it stopped over her left ear.

The clothes of the sirens was similar to what a human wore. It wasn't primitive at all, but how it was made was a mystery. Did they sewed underwater? With grass?

She seemed to be quite appreciated, as the female grouped around her to make her senses come back.

"We refuse to let you go! What will happen if it is a trap?"

The siren called Senia shook her head.

"Then you can flee somewhere else if I don't return. But that won't happen, I trust this man, even though I don't know his name."

She remembered his expression when he heard her speak in the ship. The look of despair, but still determined to do something.

"I... trust him with my life on the line. I will take any hope we are given."

'It is unusual to see the weakest of the group being protected, and being the bravest.'

Orion brought his hand forward, and portal formed under Senia.

"WAH-"

She got sucked in by the portal, under her friends gaze, who immediately turned to look at Orion.

"I'll be borrowing her for a moment."

"Senia!"

Her body fell from a portal above Orion, and he caught her.

*SPLASH*

'I forgot...'

He also caught the seawater that came with her. Now drenched, he walked through the portal with a confused siren, held like a princess.

...

"Another sea?!"

Senia looked at the sea, and then all around her.

"This place is white, there's no blue sky, but it's almost dark, just like outside that thing."

"There's a house over there? Is that yours?"

Orion nodded.

"Yes. This is our personal space, there is no one else but us in here. I know having you all move here will feel like you are caged animal, and I apologize in advance, but that's all I can do for you. You can refuse too, but at that point, I will have to leave you from there. How you will survive, and for how long, that will be your problem."

Senia stared at his face.

"Why are you doing this for us? You didn't knew about us before, so why? I don't even know your name."

"Why you asked... well."

Orion walked on the beach, next to the crashing waves.

"I am the last alive member of two factions destroyed by humans. Maybe I am trying to save whatever I can from destruction, or maybe I felt a connection with you, or it could be simple autosatisfaction. The reason is never as simple as the answer we give."

"Maybe, I wanted to save you, that's all. I also felt that this place would be perfect with a little more life around."

With fondness, she understood his words. She realized that the man in front of her was kind toward them simply because he could.

"You have had a tough life?"

"The hardest part hasn't come yet."

He laughed.

"So, what do you think of this place? Is it good enough for you twenty sirens?"

"Can you drop me in the water?"

Doing just that, he watched her swim further away, and disappear underwater.

Around five minutes later, she emerged.

"I can't believe how large this area is! Did you make all of this? There enough space for our whole species, and at least twenty times more!"

"Can we really live in there? Do you need something in return?"

Orion though about refusing, but he knew that the work and effort him, Amelia, and Dramia put into creating this place were at least worthy a reward.

"What can you sirens do?"

"Fire high pressure jets of water underwater...?"

She cutely tilted her head.

"And?"

But Orion was having none of that.

"I'm sorry! I haven't thought that much on the matter!"

She slammed her head on the water surface.

"..."

'Fire high pressure jets of water... That could work.'

Orion walked into the water, not caring about being dry anymore. He removed most of his clothes, keeping his shirt and pants on.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Fire one of your high pressure jets on me."

"Eh? Really? It might hurt you know?"

He nodded.

Stopping when the water was at his stomach, he looked at Senia who pointed her index at him under the surface of the water.

*PFOOSH*

The sound of a fast travelling bullet was heard, and it crashed on Orion's abs.

'Hmm. That is what I expected. First, it's not magic. This is something else. Second, this is strong enough. And last, this is perfect.'

Satisfied, he walked out of the water.

"I know of a way to repay us. How about raising and breeding fishes for us, and then capturing them when we want some to eat? This will be both a place for us, and you to get food."

Senia clapped her hands together.

"This is a genius idea! But what about the water jet? What does it has to do with this?"

"I'm sure you can stun a fish without killing it with that weapon."

"Eh?"

"Have you never tried?"

"No? I thought this power was useless to us..."

'Are they a stupid faction? Isn't that their weapon to hunt?'

This was the first time Orion felt like this. With a single glance, he managed to learn everything about their abilities, and even correct a misconception they had.

"Well, now you know?"

He smiled and extended his hand toward her.

"Not agai-"

*Splash*

She was once again in his arms, and him drenched from head to toe.

"This is so weird..."

She said, while looking at Orion, who had a smile on his face. He then walked through the portal.

"Senia! Thank the world you are alright?"

The sirens who were waiting anxiously for her return smiled at her.

Orion sat her on the sand, where the water could touch her tail.

"Everyone, we need to follow him."

They listened to her explained the situation.

...

"Can we trust him?"

"This man is not human, so yes, we can."

Hearing that Orion wasn't human help them ease up their worries. They were grateful for having been saved, but they couldn't repeat the same thing, so they stayed in high alert.

But there was no reason to anymore. Their friend returned safely, and they have been described something that could be a real peaceful place for them.

"Then..."

Looking at each other, the sirens made their choice.

"We will follow too."

Orion closed his eyes, and smiled. In his mind, he was thankful that they had accepted.

'I'm sure they will thrive in Horizon. And thanks to them, we will have a large supplies of seafood for Amelia. She should be happy to hear that. Karteira too, of course.'

In the end, this deal had been made for them. He would also gain from it by eating Amelia's food, so everyone won as a result.

"Alright. All of you, quickly enter the portal."

Orion opened a portal under the sirens, and they, just as he asked, quickly swam through, falling in the Siren Sea one after the other.

He closed the portal when the last one went through, opened one in the air and released the water that went on the other side back to the sea, picked up Senia, and spoke to the girls.

"Let's return home, I'm done for today."

All happy to hear that, the portal closed, leaving the coastal desert area empty of life, as it was earlier in the day.

~

"Orianne! Can you believe it? Other factions! Orion saved some of them!"

"I've seen the same thing as you, stop shouting in my ears."

*cough*

"I'm sorry."

Reon was over-excited by the news. Not only did Orion saved them once, but he also saved them from death a second time by offering to shelter them.

They were both proud of him, but Orianne was quite impressed by how her son handled the situation.

'To begin with, like Reon said, we've never heard of any other factions out there. Maybe the word 'Faction' is one only used in Triazils to differentiate between each Remnant's creations.'

'Then, if not for Orion's ability to return to places he already has been before, he would have never been able to save them.'

'Without Horizon, he wouldn't have been able to help and hide them.'

Her thoughts began to leak for Reon to hear.

"I found it weird that Horizon was so large, and that there was room for it to grow..."

Surprise appeared on her face.

"Don't tell me Horizon was purposefully created to bring others inside?!"

This topic caught the interest of Reon.

"What do you mean by that? Orion couldn't have known that this event would happen."

"No, it's not about him."

She shook her head.

"Damn it! We've missed the point all along!"

"Orianne?"

Her emotions went wild.

"Reon, remember his conversation with Amelia about the Key talking about their ability."

"I do remember it."

With a nod, he analyzed the words in his memories. One part suddenly shocked him.

/////

- Bearer of the Fifteen Shackles. Out of the fifteen available locks, six have been unlocked. Parts concerned are:

(...)

Magic (four out of ten, comprising Dragon Tongue, Light Healing, Magic Diffusion, and Void Element Creator.)

/////

"..."

With a grimace, Reon understood.

"You're right. The void element is not a variation of his power, it's also part of the Shackles. Does that mean that the path he takes influences on future happenings?"

"Is fate so easily manipulated?"

Both of them looked horrible. But in their eyes, there was still hope.

"He won't let fate hinder his path. Honestly, at this point, I even think destiny and fate are on his side."

These two went through many difficulties during their life, before having Orion. They've seen many people, saved many others, killed the worst of them, were acquainted with beings that no one would ever approach, and defied the world by having a child.

Fate seemed to be quite strange, and the Shackles had most likely a role in all of that. What in the world could be this artifact? Even Noah had no idea.

Though, nobody would be able to ask him.

After a few minutes, she calmed her nerves.

"Been stuck in here is quite boring."

Orianne stretched, hinting something that Reon picked up.

"It is. Too bad we can't go and hug Orion."

They both had a sad smile on their face.

"I really wish we would be able to encourage him."

"Don't worry, you'll see him soon enough."

They both hugged, and returned to watch the daily challenges of their son.

~

*SPLASH*

"How's the water? Has it changed for you?"

Senia showed her face when she heard Orion's voice.

"No, it still feels great. We've looked closely at the other creatures around, and none has been dying. Even the corals are doing great."

Satisfied, he sat on the sand.

'It has been three days since we've brought them in. There doesn't seem to be any problem, and the device still didn't hint at any dangers concerning the Siren Sea.'

When they returned, another task had to be done, but it was a pretty simple one. Amelia had to create a few stone blocks for the Sirens to make houses. It wasn't necessarily hard for her, and it was done in less than an hour.

Orion finally introduced himself to them too during that time.

After their housing were done, Senia explained the plan to make an area of the sea a breeding and raising ground for fishes. Many other ideas came to them, like a mollusk farm, crab farm, and other many source of food.

The only thing Orion had to say was to never force captivity on the creatures. Being taken from the real world was already going too far, though the fishes and other beings didn't seem to care.

Plants had already propagated at an incredible rate all over the place.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

With a little blush, Senia approached the beach, and dragged her tail on the sand toward Orion.

"Here, there is something I want to give you."

Stopping in front of him, she brought her hand to her hips, and dislodged one of her scale.

"Please eat it."

To say that his face looked great would be a lie.

'What's their problem with me eating parts of them? First Tiohr-nam, now this girl.'

"Don't look at me like that! It's not disgusting I swear. It's not even weird!"

Forcing the scale inside Orion's hand in panic, she laughed in embarrassment.

Orion stared at the scale in his hand. It was glistening a beautiful red, a red he only saw in his mother's hair.

"Do I have to?"

Still showing a disgusted face, he looked at Senia.

"Yes. This is my thanks for saving us."

With a grunt, Orion finally accepted the gift.

*GULP*

After placing the small scale on his tongue, he swallowed it.

And just like what happened with the seed Tiohr-nam forced him to eat, it vanished in his stomach.

*Thump* *Thump*

His heart began to pound in his chest, and a terrible heat took over his body.

"What did you give me?"

Just like before, he asked about the effects.

"Our scales help stamina to be more efficiently used, and muscles to be less exhausted when used."

"Though, more than one leads to death."

'Second Gear has been permanently unlocked.'

The robotic voice of Ego echoed in his head.

He smiled, showing all his teeth in excitation.

"You have my thanks. I will make use of this gift in full."

'I'm glad I mustered the courage to give him my scale. If he his happy, then me too.'

With a smile, she returned to the sea.

"I'll leave you now. If you need something, take the portal over there. It's not that far from the water."

"Yes."

Standing up, the desire to train took over, and he walked through the portal.

The voices of multiple sirens surrounded Senia.

"You really did it!"

"And he swallowed it."

"There was no rejection within his body either."

Senia nodded.

"We've never gave our scales to other people than heroes, so this was a first. Let's hope this will help him in his ambition, whatever they are."

She disappeared in the depth of the sea, followed by the other sirens.