[What does the Brood need to do for you?]
"There's nothing I need you to do for me. It's just that Iberians reject Aegir, so I might arrive a little late."
[Aegir, enemies of the Brood.]
"But Laurentina, Skadi, and I are all Aegir."
Mizuki spoke very softly, unwilling to disturb everyone's rest. Realizing this, his tentacles cast a small veil of silence around the room, ensuring that Mizuki's voice would not reach anyone else's ears.
[You are kin. You are the Brood's guide, our... leader.]
Even the Seaborn themselves were uncertain about that final description. They had learned much from Mizuki and gained some understanding of life on land. What puzzled them most was that, setting aside the different traits of land creatures, they actually communicated through vibrations—a terribly inefficient method.
Still, because they had learned so much, the Seaborn had developed far richer emotions. Yet nothing could shake their hive-minded way of thinking.
"I've actually always been curious. What exactly did the Aegir do to make you react so... intensely?"
Mizuki had learned about the Seaborn from Kal'tsit. Though she had not said much due to limited time, he learned what the Seaborn were and that it was the Aegir who had awakened the Brood's instinct to fight.
[They kill kin, torture them. It feels good. Not feeding. They want to exterminate the Brood...]
Iberia had actually misunderstood one thing all along. They believed the Aegir had awakened the Seaborn, but the Seaborn had always interacted with Iberians. An attack would be viewed by the Seaborn as predation, something utterly ordinary in nature. How could that possibly stir the entire Brood?
What Aegir had done was far worse—so severe that the entire Brood felt the survival of their species itself had been threatened.
"I understand."
Mizuki nodded slightly.