Baby System: I'm the Beast World's Only Hope!-Chapter 182: Episode : Eat that??

"Caspian I won’t mate with you!" Roxy screamed as she evaded another attack.

The Pearl Garden had turned into a ridiculous game of cat and mouse. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"Come here, Little Landwalker," Caspian purred, his voice vibrating through the air. "Stop skittering."

"I am exercising!" Roxy retorted, ducking behind the large coral table. "It’s called cardio! Look it up!"

Caspian lunged, his massive, pearlescent tail sweeping across the sand. He moved fast, but Roxy had the advantage of furniture. She scrambled over the giant clam shell bed, putting the mattress between them.

"You are playing hard to catch," Caspian noted, his golden-rimmed eyes gleaming with amusement and a very distinct hunger.

He rested his elbows on the bed, leaning forward. His scales shimmered in the blue light, pulsing with a soft, inviting pink hue.

"It is a good instinct. It proves you have strong genes. But the chase is over, Little One. The nest is ready."

He gestured grandly to the pile of soft sponges and kelp blankets he had arranged.

"Look," he boasted, puffing out his pale chest. "I have made it soft. It is time to merge."

Roxy gripped the edge of the shell, breathing hard. Her hair, still smelling faintly of the vanilla conditioner she had used on Nimue, was sticking to her forehead with sweat.

"Merge?" Roxy yelped. "There is no merging happening, Caspian! Zero merging!"

I didn’t come here to fuck fish!

"Why?" Caspian frowned, looking genuinely confused. He ran a hand through his silver hair, striking a pose that was probably considered devastatingly handsome in the Trench. "Am I not sufficient? My scales are flawless. My territory is vast. I have brought you gold. I have even tolerated your noise."

He slithered around the side of the bed. Roxy mirrored him, keeping the distance.

"It’s not about your scales, you overgrown tuna!" Roxy snapped. "I’m dirty! I feel gross!"

She gestured to her body. She was still wearing the same tattered, salt-stained tunic she had fallen in. Her skin felt sticky with dried seawater and sweat. Her chest ached, and despite her best efforts with a damp rag, she felt unhygienic.

That is just a filthy excuse. I would not be mating with a fish.

"I have milk dried on my skin," Roxy listed, her voice rising in hysteria. "I have sand in places where sand should never be. I smell like a dead fish!"

Caspian paused. He tilted his head, his gills fluttering as he sniffed the air.

"You smell good," he corrected. "It is a potent scent. It triggers the mating response."

"Well, it triggers the vomit response for me!" Roxy countered. "I am not doing anything until I am clean. Like, scrubbed-pink, hot-water, soap-and-bubbles clean."

She pointed a finger at him.

"And we are waiting for Nimue."

Caspian’s face darkened instantly. The playful, amorous look vanished, replaced by a sullen pout.

"Nimue is gone," he stated flatly.

"She is not gone," Roxy insisted, praying to every god in the System that the mermaid was currently handing a letter to Zarek. "She went to show off her hair. She’ll be back."

"She will not," Caspian scoffed, inching closer. "Nimue is jealous. She sees that I have chosen a mate, and she flees to the lower vents to sulk. She hates you, Little Landwalker. She thinks you are soft."

When did I become your mate??

"She thinks I’m useful," Roxy corrected. "And she promised me protection. That means no forced ’merging’ while she’s on duty."

Caspian growled low in his throat. He slammed his webbed hand onto the coral table, cracking a piece off.

"I am the King of this Garden!" he roared, his patience fraying. "I do not need my sister’s permission to claim what is mine! You are in my air bubble! You eat my squid!"

He lunged again.

This time, he didn’t aim for the bed. He aimed for her.

Roxy shrieked and dove under the table. Caspian’s hand brushed her ankle, his cold skin sending a shiver up her spine. She scrambled out the other side and backed up against the wall, grabbing the cast-iron skillet she had left by the fire.

"Stay back!" she warned, wielding the pan like a tennis racket. "I swear to the System, Caspian, I will bong you on the head!"

Caspian stopped. He looked at the skillet, then at her. He wasn’t scared of the iron; he was confused.

He stood up, his tail coiling in agitation. He paced back and forth, his hands twitching.

"I do not understand," he muttered, mostly to himself. "I have done everything right. I hunted. I provided. I showed my strength. I groomed my hair."

He looked at her with wide, baffled eyes.

"Why do you not swoon? The females of the Spires fight to enter my nest. They bite each other’s fins for a chance to touch my scales. You... you are running away from me."

"Because I’m not a fish, Caspian!" Roxy yelled, lowering the pan slightly. "I’m a human! We don’t just... spawn because the nest is soft! We need... romance! We need conversation! And we definitely need hygiene!"

She took a deep breath, trying to steady her racing heart. She needed to buy time. Nimue needed time to get to the surface and back.

"Look," Roxy said, softening her voice. "If you want me to even consider... ’merging’..."

Caspian’s ears perked up. "Consider?"

"Then I need a bath," Roxy stated firmly. "A real one."

Caspian groaned, throwing his head back. "You and your water! You are surrounded by water! Just step outside the bubble!"

"That’s salt water!" Roxy argued. "It leaves a residue! I need fresh water. And I need... soap. Or something like it."

Caspian stared at her. He looked at the frustration in her face. He looked at the way she scratched at her arm, clearly uncomfortable.

He let out a long, suffering sigh, the universal sound of a male realizing his night was not going to go as planned.

"Fine," Caspian spat, his tail lashing impatiently.

Caspian crossed his arms, looking down at her with a mixture of frustration and pity. "There is a place. The Thermal Pools near the southern vents. The water there is heated by the earth’s fire. It is sweet, not salty. The Elders use it to purify themselves before the Great Rite."

Roxy brightened, lowering the skillet slightly. "That sounds amazing. Hot fresh water. Perfect. Take me there."

Caspian snorted, a stream of bubbles escaping his gills. "You are simple, Landwalker. The pools are outside the Pearl Garden. The moment I push you through that wall to take you there, you will die.."

Roxy’s shoulders slumped. "Oh. Right. The crushing death pressure. I forgot about that."

"But," Caspian added, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully. "There is a way. But it will allow your weak body to accept the ocean for a short time."

"A way to breathe underwater?" Roxy asked, perking up.

"Yes. If I bring you this... thing... will you drop the iron pot and cease this foolish skittering?"

"If you bring it so I can take a bath," Roxy bargained, "I will cook you the rest of the crab. With extra garlic butter."

Caspian’s resolve crumbled. He had started loving her food a bit too much.

"Stay here," he commanded, pointing a claw at her. "Do not hide under the table. It is undignified."

He turned and shot through the water wall, his tail thrashing with irritation as he disappeared into the black.

Roxy slumped against the wall, sliding down until she hit the sand. She dropped the skillet with a loud clang.

"Oh god," she whispered, burying her face in her hands. "I can’t keep playing hard to get with a fish-man forever. Eventually, he’s going to realize the pan can’t actually hurt him."

She sat there for twenty minutes, listening to the silence, her mind racing. Had Nimue made it? Was the letter found? Or was the note currently floating uselessly downstream while her mates slept?

And what if this "agent" Caspian was bringing was worse than the dirt?

The water wall rippled.

Roxy scrambled to her feet, grabbing the pan again just in case.

Caspian emerged.

He looked triumphant. He was holding something in his hands, a long green weed that dripped a thick, viscous liquid onto the sand.

"Behold," Caspian announced, slithering forward. "I have journeyed to the edge of the sulfur pits for this."

He held the greenery out to her.

"A seaweed," he proclaimed. "It is rare. It is potent."

Roxy looked at the thing. It looked like a jellyfish that had rotted and then come back to life to seek revenge.

Roxy felt the food in her stomach come up.

"That..." Roxy recoiled, covering her nose with her free hand. "That helps me breathe?"

"It is powerful magic," Caspian nodded seriously. "It tastes of death, yes. But if consumed, it weaves itself into the blood. It allows land-lungs to pull air from the water, just for a few tides. It is the only way you will survive the journey to the baths."

He thrust the reeking seaweed toward her face.

Roxy stared at it with disgust. She stared at Caspian’s expectant face. She realized, with dawning horror, that to get her bath, she had to consume seaweed, which would mutate her biology.

"You..." Roxy choked out, backing away until she hit the table.

She pointed a shaking finger at the green slime.

"You want me to eat that???"