For a moment there was silence as everyone gazed up at the sky. Even the restless sea creatures had paused, and the only thing you could hear was the crashing sound of waves and the relentless beat of the rain.

The storm had officially started. Not everybody knew what that meant, but that did not stop them from feeling the change in the atmosphere. That did not stop them from feeling as if they were in deep, inescapable trouble.

However, a moment later there was an explosion of water as a huge creature broke through the surface of the sea.

The body was serpentine in nature and mostly silver in colour, with the main exception being the strange white patterns decorating the surface of the body. However, this being was definitely not a snake.

First of all, the shape of the body was very thick towards the head and slimmed down towards the tail. Second of all, the head itself was very uniquely shaped and had a very wide jaw filled with sharp teeth. Lastly, running up the sides of the creature’s body were many legs that were reminiscent of a centipede, only they were much thicker and much sharper.

The creature was a Beast, a Sea Beast, going by its aura, and it was very powerful. Some people could detect that it was only in the 4th Stage of the 4th Realm, but none of them doubted that its true power was above that. The power of the Laws that revolved around it was just that noticeable.

However, to a few people here, they could see more than that.

Zero’s eyes widened when he identified the Moon Laws. He had slightly sensed it before, but he had denied the possibility. The ethereal Laws of the Moon was not something that the lowly simpletons that walked this land could comprehend. And by ‘this land’ he meant everybody. Land dweller, sea dweller, sky dweller, everybody that was not blessed by the Moon was unworthy of its Laws.

So to see this unknown sea creature emitting Moon Laws that were even purer than his own was like a strike to the face. He had not been this shocked in a long time and for a moment he just stood there dumbfounded.

But then the huge creature began to shrink as it shifted into its Enlightened Form.

Zero watched with widened eyes as the previously metallic-looking creature became a 2.5 metre tall humanoid male made of flesh and blood. It was a very tall height as far as humanoids went, not quite comparable to Isgard’s 3 metres, but still taller than most. His other features consisted of pale skin, wild and long white hair that fell to his back, and silver eyes that held a tinge of blue.

If it weren’t for the 4 insect legs sticking out of his back, or the carapace that covered his lower arms and lower legs, then it would have been very easy to mistake him for a member of the Serene Moon Owl race.

However, even with the clear signs that showed that the man was definitely a foreigner, Zero couldn’t help but find him familiar. It was as if they were really kin, but that was obviously impossible. It was probably the Laws of the Moon that they both shared that was giving that feeling.

Upon landing on his 2 feet, the man looked around with a reserved but proud smile. He didn’t hesitate to hold eye contact with the rulers like Chad and Pharaoh and wasn’t fazed by them at all, but when he finally looked at Zero, his eyes eyebrows rose up and his smile broke into a grin.

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“My brother in the Moon” He spoke out joyously. He then walked forward and spread his arms as if he were going to hug him, but Zero stepped backwards.

“Who are you?” Zero asked. Although he didn’t detect any harmful intent, and he even felt some affinity with the strange creature, there was no way he was going to let such a dangerous stranger - or even a weak stranger, get so close to him.

Those terrifically sharp appendages growing from the man’s back only made him more wary, so he ignored his body’s lack of response to the threat and kept a distance.

“Haah…” The man sighed and dropped his arms. Then he looked up to the sky with the most forlorn expression Zero had ever seen.

“Oh what a great tragedy~” He spoke as… tears began to fall out of his eyes. No, it was raining, surely it was just rain and not actual tears. “I have finally found a fellow brother in the Moon, a fellow Apostle, and yet… and yet, he does not recognise me!”

And he said it such a miserable way, you would have thought that he had just discovered his dead family.

“Apostle…?” Zero heard Pharaoh mutter, which echoed his own thoughts. Was this strange creature also an Apostle of the Moon Mother? If so then then it made sense, no, that was probably the only possibility. How else would someone else have greater comprehension in the Moon Laws than him, an Apostle of the Moon itself?

Somebody suddenly coughed loudly.

“Zuko, it’s good to see you.” Chad spoke with an awkward smile on his face. “But please, tone down your… emotions… not everyone here is used to your… behaviour.”

In an instant, the strange sea creature who was apparently called Zuko, wiped away his sorrowful expression and let out a hearty laugh as if he was the happiest creature in the world. What was wrong with this Beast?

“Don’t worry too much my dear fiery friend! We’re up on the land, where it’s… admittedly not as bright as it usually is, but still, learn to have some fun! Besides, you successfully kept your big pile of flesh in line, so you have nothing to fret about.”

“What?” Chad asked, flabbergasted.

“You know, that big fellow over there. If he had continued to belittle my brother in the Moon, I would have had to put a few holes in him.” Zuko replied with a cheery smile as he pointed at Isgard.

Zero’s eyebrows rose at that.

Chad on the other hand frowned, and many other Phoenixes look the same way or angrier. Isgard however, looked sick. Was he scared?

“You may be a Kaiser, a Kaiser of the Sea even, but we’re all allies here, Zuko. We all share the same foe and he’s not here. So don’t do anything you’ll regret. Don’t cross any lines.”

‘He’s the Kaiser?’ Zero inwardly asked with surprise and greater interest. He was already aware that they would be travelling with a Sea Kaiser, but he hadn’t known who the Kaiser was until now.

“Haaah?? What do you meannnn?” Zuko asked exaggeratedly. “I know the golden ones of your kind can fix any holes that might find their way on to your bodies, very easily at that, so what lines would I be crossing? Besides, we may be allies, but my fellow brothers and sisters in the Moon will always come first, and you will do well to remember that.”

Chad turned to look at Zero.

“I see.” An unidentifiable emotion appeared in his eyes but then he turned to Zuko, and then turned once again to look back at the giant silver cloud in the distance that was still approaching.

“However, you’ve been very vague about this ‘brother and sister in the moon’ thing that you like to talk about. You said that Ziket over there is one of such people, and I understand that you all seem to have comprehended…” He paused and glanced back at Zero with narrowed eyes. “The Moon Laws…” Clearly, he hadn’t been aware that Zero had been one of them until now.

“But it seems to be more than that. You mentioned something about ‘Apostle’ earlier, can you explain that?”

“No, I don’t think I will.” Zuko responded flatly. “But on that topic” He spun around to face Zero. “My dear brother, you’ll soon meet our sister! Isn’t that great?!”