Imara Diversifies The Beastmen World

Chapter Ninety Eight: Reflections of Being Trapped in the Depths

Ithillon thank you bestie for helping me and giving me wonder pointers and guidance and allowing me to brain dump thanks for the inspiration. 💕🫂

Story Below:

As I walked away from Qean, her words echoed her pain. "Fine, leave! This is it for us, Imara! So much for friendship..." Each syllable squeezed at my heart, for I understood the weight of her emotions. I'm not unfeeling or inhumane, but I had reasons for my actions.

Firstly, I believe friendship, like any relationship, must be valued and respected. Qean has much to unlearn, relearn, and discover, having never had a female friend or interacted with females before.

While I won't allow her to trample over me due to ignorance, I'm committed to helping her see the value and love of having a genuine friendship with me and other females.

Secondly, I envision this experience as a stepping stone for her relationships with Wilbard and any other mates she may have. Friendship should be the foundation, allowing her to experience love that is not so transactional.

I want her to embrace a better life, one where she explores the wonders of life and doesn't confine herself to a castle camouflaged as a beautiful bird cage or, in her case, a fish tank for a mermaid.

So I continued to apply tough love for her maturity. It's clear she values our friendship and just needs help overcoming hurdles. One significant hurdle is her relationship with Wilbard and his selfishness and hers—
In our society, women are a scarcity, and she needs more protection than him.

They both make extreme demands of each other, hurting one another in the process. Her relentless pursuit of her goals and demands clashes with his desire to keep her confined to himself, prioritizing her goals at the expense of all others. This dynamic cost them their lives.

Wilbard, along with the mermaid clan, feeds into her problems, blinding her with the notion that everything will bend to her will. She fails to see how her actions are pushing him and Jin to their limits. Jin was teetering on the brink of madness before she returned to him, and it ended tragically for her.

While Jin and the rest of the mermaid clan may not be perfect, he did listen to all her requests before he lost himself completely.

It's become my mission to help her understand the importance of considering others' feelings and needs to avoid such tragic consequences.

She will gradually come to realize the protective measures I've put in place for her if she heeds my warnings.
With a heavy sigh, I initiated my plan, tipping over the domino to follow the path I'd set before it.

"You know what?" I began, my tone meant to sound mentally alarming. "There's something else I've been meaning to ask you, based on what you said."

I could see her processing my words as I continued to question her about the ten years of her life she'd lived and what she'd gained from it. I urged her to reflect on how Wilbard had kept her suppressed, preventing her from exploring life.

She had left a watery cage only to enter a stone-brick one, which explained her inability to handle normal interactions, lack of friends, and wasted time.

Wilbard's stern gaze met mine, but I returned it with equal intensity. I had words to exchange with him and actions to prove to him. He needed to clean up his act as well.

The tension in the air heightened as Wilbard's voice cut through, "Imara, that's enough!" His words urged me to stop, as he wasn't allowing his mate any others.

I scoffed in response, with a quick and dismissive retort, "Boy, bye!" I rolled my eyes and continued, "Like I said, when you're done assisting Qean, come see me. There's a lot to discuss for the bonfire tonight, Wilbard the Ape King!" My voice carried a sternness.