Baby System: I'm the Beast World's Only Hope!-Chapter 200: Episode : Meeting Keenan

The merman didn’t let go.

His grip on Roxy’s arm was tight, cold, and unyielding. He wasn’t dragging her roughly like a prisoner; he was towing her effortlessly, his powerful tail beating a lazy rhythm that propelled them both through the water with terrifying speed.

"You wiggle a lot," the stranger noted, not looking back.

"I am not squirming!" Roxy protested, though she was definitely squirming. She tried to pry his fingers off her bicep.

The merman laughed, a dark, raspy sound that bubbled in the water. "In the Dead Zone? Unless your errand involves being chewed into paste by a Leviathan, you were heading the wrong way."

Roxy watched the jagged landscape blur past. He was banking left, steering them away from the open ocean and back toward the faint, pulsating glow of the city.

"No!" Roxy gasped, digging her heels, well, her tail fins, into the water to create drag. "Not that way! I can’t go back!"

The merman stopped.

He didn’t slow down; he stopped instantly, turning in the water with the agility of a shark. He hauled her close until her nose was inches from his scarred chest.

He didn’t speak. He just... vibrated.

A low, guttural growl emanated from his throat. It resonated through the water, hitting Roxy’s chest cavity like a subwoofer.

Roxy went limp. Her pink tail stopped thrashing. Her eyes went wide.

"Good," the merman purred, the red glow in his eyes dimming slightly as she submitted. "Don’t be foolish."

He turned back around and resumed the tow, his grip slightly gentler now that she wasn’t fighting.

Roxy pouted, crossing her free arm over her chest, clutching her frying pan.

"For someone who is taking me back," Roxy snapped, regaining herself now that the vibration had stopped, "you ought to introduce yourself. It’s common courtesy."

The merman glanced over his shoulder. A smirk played on his lips, revealing a flash of sharp, white teeth.

"Keenan," he said.

"Keenan," Roxy repeated. "Edgy. Fits the whole ’scarred bad-boy of the deep’ vibe you have going on."

"I am the Shadow of the Spires," Keenan continued, ignoring her commentary. "And I was out here because the perimeter alarms were screaming."

He gestured vaguely to her tail.

"You realize, do you not, that you are a swimming flare?"

Roxy looked down at her tail. Even wrapped in the grey shawl, the iridescent pink scales were very distinct. In the pitch-black abyss, she stood out like a diamond in a coal mine.

"It’s... distinct," Roxy admitted.

"It is a dinner bell," Keenan corrected dryly. "Pink is the color of high-mana concentration. To the beasts of the dark, you do not look like a mermaid. You look like a concentrated energy potion. That is why three Leviathans broke their territory to hunt you. You are the most delicious thing they have smelled in a century." 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Roxy slumped. "So I can’t escape? I’m just... bait?"

"Outside the walls? Yes," Keenan confirmed. "You would not last an hour."

He pulled her around a spire of rock. The city came into full view, magnificent, glowing, and terrifyingly inescapable.

"Which begs the question," Keenan said, his voice dropping to a silken, dangerous whisper.

He stopped swimming again, floating in the shadow of the perimeter wall. He turned to face her, his ruby eyes narrowing.

"Why were you running?"

Roxy froze. "I... I wasn’t running. I was exercising."

"You were fleeing," Keenan countered, drifting closer. "You left the Pearl Wing on the night of your Rite."

How does he even know all these, when I didn’t see him in the courtroom?

He leaned in, his face uncomfortably close to hers.

"Do you not love my brother?"

[Ding!]

[The Subject (Keenan) is scanning for weakness. Your answer will determine the stability of the Spires.]

[Option A: The Cry for Help. "I hate him. He kidnapped me. Help me escape, and I won’t bother you guys anymore." Outcome: Keenan uses you as a political pawn to incite a Civil War. The Spires burn. Caspian is assassinated. The resulting chaos blocks all paths to the Surface.]

So another fucking dead end?

[Option B: The Devoted Lie. "I love him. I was running to find a gift worthy of him." Outcome: Keenan remains neutral. The status quo is maintained. Peace allows for future escape opportunities.]

Roxy stared at the screen.

How is this my business? She hissed internally. I just want to go home to my kids! Why do I have to prevent an underwater Game of Thrones?

[System Logic: Because you are the Queen Piece. If the board flips, you drown. Choose Peace.]

Roxy gritted her teeth. Fine. Peace. Love. Rainbows.

Roxy looked into Keenan’s blood-red eyes. She softened her expression, letting her shoulders drop, channeling the look of a woman deeply, stupidly in love.

"I wasn’t running away from him, Keenan," Roxy said softly. "I was running for him."

Keenan tilted his head. "Explain."

"In my culture," Roxy lied smoothly, "the bride must present a treasure to the groom before the binding. A treasure she hunted herself. To prove she is worthy."

She gestured to the dark ocean.

"I wanted to find... a Black Pearl. Or a Leviathan scale. Something to show Caspian that I am not just a soft, pink thing. I wanted to make him proud."

She looked down, feigning embarrassment.

"I guess I was foolish. I didn’t know the Leviathans hunted in packs."

Keenan stared at her. Roxy thought he didn’t get it, as his eyes raked her very being.

Slowly, the tension left his shoulders. The predatory edge in his smile softened into something almost... impressed.

"A Hunter’s Gift," Keenan mused. "It is an old custom. We abandoned it several cycles ago because too many brides died."

He chuckled, shaking his head.

"You are reckless, Little Pearl. You have a fire in you that the ocean cannot dampen."

He released her arm.

"Come. I will escort you back. Tell no one of your foolishness, and I will tell no one I found you halfway down a Leviathan’s throat."

Well, thank you, fish brain.

Roxy let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. "Deal, and also, thank you for saving me."

They swam toward the main gate. Keenan stayed close, his presence shielding her from the curious glances of the perimeter guards.

"ROXY!"

A purple blur shot out of the palace courtyard.

It was Nimue. She was flanked by Vespera and Thalassa, all three of them holding baskets of blue crabs and algae. They looked frantic.

Nimue stopped. She saw Roxy. Relief washed over her face. Then, she saw who was swimming next to Roxy.

The relief vanished instantly, replaced by a cold, hard mask of hostility that Roxy had never seen on the bubbly princess.

Nimue moved faster than Roxy thought possible. She shot forward, grabbed Roxy’s wrist, and yanked her violently behind her back.

Vespera and Thalassa instantly moved into formation, leveling their tridents at Keenan. Their fins flared, their teeth bared in a defensive snarl.

Keenan didn’t flinch. He just floated there, his arms crossed, that lazy, arrogant smirk playing on his lips. He looked at the tridents pointed at his chest as if they were toys.

"Hello, little sister," Keenan drawled, his voice dripping with mock affection. "Is that how you greet family?"

Nimue’s violet eyes burned with hatred. She spread her arms wide, shielding Roxy completely from his view.

"You are not family," Nimue hissed, her voice vibrating with venom. "You are a traitor."

She pointed a trembling finger at the gate, away from the city.

"What is a banished prisoner like you doing here?"

A/N: Cheers to 200 Chapters!!! To celebrate, there would be an AU Chapter on the 1st of February! I celebrate you for coming this far, you guys are the rare gems <3