Joan's face lit up.
She was the second person she had met who understood the mermaid's language other than Maggie.
Nevertheless, Joan was not quite sure whether Maggie truly understood her. She simply produced some "coo" sounds, which were even harder to comprehend. As such, they could only communicate short words and phrases.
Who was this guardian then?
Joan continued to make "ya" sounds. "Are you guarding the large pit? Where am I?"
"This isn't a pit but a bridge," the guardian said smilingly.
"I saw bridges before. They aren't like that," Joan thought to herself and walked cautiously toward the pit. She took a peek at the edge of it and found the wall of the pit was covered in mud and vines. There was no road leading to the bottom.
"Not everyone can pass this bridge, only the ones with keys," the woman explained. "You don't have the key, so you can't see the bridge."