"That's… trident. It's one of Zeus' weapons," Sophia stuttered.
Emilia motioned Asteria to take care of Sophia and went to grab the trident.
Asteria held Sophia's hand and said, "Isn't it a good thing that we found Zeus' weapon?"
"Yes." Sophia nodded and uttered, "But we can't touch it. If we do, then we will perish from its power."
Asteria immediately glanced at Emilia, who was about to touch the trident, and yelled, "Lady Emilia! Stop!"
Emilia looked at Asteria, but it was too late. She had touched the trident.
Sophia glanced at Emilia with a horrified look on her face as her mind stopped working after seeing Emilia touch the trident.
"...!"
"Huh? Nothing happened to lady Emilia."
Baffled, Sophia forgot to breathe and kept staring at Emilia with a pale face.
Emilia rushed to Sophia and Asteria with a trident in her hand and said, "Let's go."
"How can you touch the trident like that?!" Sophia asked, completely bewildered.
"What do you mean? You touch it like you touch it." Emilia moved the trident to Sophia and said, "You want to try it?"
"Keep it away from me!" Sophia shook her head and hands.
Emilia shrugged her shoulders and asked if Asteria wanted to touch it, but Asteria denied as well.
"Let's go now. I can't wait to surprise Nero with this gift. I am sure he will be happy!"
Emilia left the chamber, and Asteria followed her.
Sophia watched Asteria and Emilia leave and bit her lips.
'So my guess was true. Emilia truly is…'
'No!' she shook her head and uttered to herself, 'I might be thinking too much, and this all might be just a coincidence.'
Sophia followed Asteria and Emilia as she thought, 'But I need to confirm it. I just hope I am wrong.'
"Emilia!" Sophia yelled Emilia's name.
Emilia jolted by the sudden loud voice and turned around to look at Sophia, but for some reason, the trident from her hand disappeared.
"...!"
"Where did it go?!" Emilia exclaimed.
Sophia rushed to Emilia with a fierce glare in her eyes and a serious look on her face.
"Wh...at?" Emilia hid behind Asteria and said, "Why do you look so scary all of a sudden?"
Sophia asked Asteria to move aside, but Emilia didn't let her move and kept hiding behind her.
"Don't tell me you are going to take your revenge for me trying to push you down the bed, right now?"
Sophia didn't say anything and pulled Emilia close to her.
"Are you truly going to drown me to death?" Emilia asked with an anxious look on her face. "Listen, we can talk about this properly. I will let you spend the entire week with Nero… no, not the entire week, maybe four nights."
Sophia stayed silent and grabbed Emilia's face with her hands.
"Are you…."
Emilia thought Sophia was going to choke her to death, but she was more surprised by what Sophia did.
"....!"
Sophia moved her face close to Emilia's and kissed her on the lips.
_____
"Where did they go?" Nero wondered as he landed on the ship.
Three pearls fell from his bracelet as he remembered what Thor had told him about the sea monster who was the guardian of the underwater temple.
The marks on his cheekbones flashed repeatedly and pulsed with his breath.
He looks at the side of the ship that was broken.
'The damage on the outer ship and the nearby islands is different from the damage on the side of the ship.'
'By the looks of it, it seems that something from under the sea pulled them in.'
He gulped down and uttered to himself, 'I am not particularly worried about them since I know they are strong and even defeat the strongest. But…'
He couldn't stop worrying about them.
'No matter how strong one is, he or she will always be afraid of losing his loved ones.' He remembered what Thor told him in the palace.
"I am not afraid because I know I will never lose them," he muttered and moved his hand to the sea.
Emilia jumped out of the sea and grabbed Nero's hand.
Emilia hugged Nero tightly, as though she was never going to let him go again, and said, "You are late."
Sophia and Asteria jumped on the ship beside Nero and Emilia and sighed.
Emilia hid behind Nero and hugged him from behind.
"What's wrong?" Nero asked.
"Sophia kissed me on the lips."
Nero frowned his face at Sophia and asked, "Sophi? What is the meaning of this?"
"I was simply trying to get her saliva for future purposes, but she overreacted and turned it into a mess," Sophia answered.
"Well, if that was the case, then you should have asked me before doing it. And still, that was a bad time to do that," Emilia remarked.
"I am sorry," Sophia apologized and went to the lower deck to check the damage of this ship
"What's wrong with her? She has been acting strangely for a while now, right Asteria?" Emilia turned to Asteria.
"Uhh… I think she is just tired or stressed out by everything."
After a while, everyone gathered on the upper deck.
Sophia, Emilia, and Asteria dried themselves up and conjured night clothes for them.
"What did you say?!" Nero asked aloud.
"We found your trident in the underwater ruins of the temple," Sophia repeated herself for the fourth time.
"Let's go get it then." Nero prepared himself to jump in the water.
"About that…" Sophia glanced at Emilia and uttered, "Emilia took it and—"
*Wait. What do you mean by Emilia took it? The trident is one of my celestial weapons, and no one other than me should be able to touch it."
"Yeah, and she touched it."
Nero raised his brows at Emilia and asked, "How did you do that?"
"I touched it like we touch it," Emilia answered with a confused look on her face.
"Are you sure you didn't feel anything when you touched it?" Nero asked with a curious and serious look on his face.
Emilia shook her head in response.
"Hmm." Nero pondered for a while, then shrugged his shoulders and concluded: "Maybe it's because it has been away from me for eons."
"Anyway." Nero moved his hand to Emilia and uttered, "Give it to me."
Emilia stood there in silence and began fidgeting.
Nero squinted his eyes and asked, "Where is the trident, Emilia?"
"It… disappeared all of a sudden from my hand."