Enslaved
In this chapter, Pearl's going to try to call for help from her friends…as the chapter title implies. How is that going to turn out?
And yes, Pearl and Oyster are going to interact once again…you like it when they do that, right?
It's time for this latest chapter of this fanfic…how long do you think it should be, anyway?
Chapter 7: Calling For Help
Pearl woke up with her nap at a leisurely pace. She had to admit, it felt rather interesting sleeping in the same bed with Oyster…but it was an innocent cohabitation. They weren't in a romantic relationship.
Sure enough, Oyster woke up as well.
Oddly enough, Lachell Scallop was not there to greet them and give Pearl her chores.
Instead, he was making a phone call.
"Who is he calling?" inquired Pearl.
"He's calling the pizza man so that we can get pizza! It makes me feel so excited…" noted Oyster.
"Is it good pizza?" asked the mermaid.
"Yes! It's from Pizza Shack!" exclaimed the teenage boy.
"Don't you mean Pizza Hut?" questioned Pearl.
"We can't say that without being sued for copyright infringement…" pointed out Oyster.
"OK…" answered the mermaid. That was kind of…weird.
Sure enough, Lachell was ordering a cheese pizza for him and his son.
"You think he'll let me have some of the pizza too?" inquired Pearl.
"Dad, can Pearl have some of the pizza?" questioned Oyster.
Lachell was in fact hoping to eat most of the pizza himself…but he nodded. His slave wouldn't be of much use to him if he went hungry…though at the same time he wanted to keep his slave skinny.
According to the pizza delivery company, the pizza would be there in about thirty minutes.
Personally, Oyster wondered what he could do until then.
Suddenly, he got an idea…he was going to jump on his father's bed and have some fun.
Now seemed like a good opportunity…as Lachell had decided to wait outside his house so that he would know exactly when the pizza man arrived.
He was a bit impatient that way.
Immediately, he went into his father's room and began to jump on the mattress.
However, he was noticed by Pearl.
"What are you doing?" inquired Pearl.
"I'm jumping on my dad's bed!" exclaimed Oyster.
"I don't think your father will be too happy with you…" noted the mermaid.
"Maybe…but it's so fun! Do you want to join me?" questioned the boy.
"Well, I suppose I could give it a shot." answered Pearl, climbing onto the bed with him.
However, she wasn't able to jump quite as high since she didn't have legs.
Still, she was enjoying herself.
"You're right…this is kind of fun." noted Pearl. Still, she was a bit worried that one of them was going to bump their head on the ceiling, or fall off the bed.
Was this safe?
Hopefully they knew a good doctor.
"Look at me go!" exclaimed Oyster.
"Wait, won't this wreck your dad's bed?" inquired Pearl.
"Huh? Oh, that's right…I didn't think of things that way." answered the teenage boy.
At that very moment, they heard Lachell growling.
"Uh-oh." thought Pearl.
Apparently, he had heard the commotion and decided to take action against the duo. Immediately, he pulled out the Feather of Retribution.
Realizing what was going to happen, Pearl and Oyster began to hold each other's hands.
Shortly afterwards, they began to laugh hysterically.
"This'll teach you to use my bed as a trampoline!" exclaimed Lachell.
"If you, hahaha, got us, hahaha, a trampoline, hahaha, maybe this wouldn't happen!" bellowed Oyster.
"Yeah…probably not." noted Pearl.
Now that Lachell thought of it…that actually didn't seem like such a good idea. He did seem to be packing some weight.
After a few minutes, Lachell put the Feather of Retribution away. Now Pearl and Oyster wouldn't have to suffer.
"I'm not doing that again!" exclaimed Oyster.
"Me neither." answered Pearl. It just wasn't fun…even if part of her enjoyed being tickled.
"Is the pizza here?" questioned the teenage boy.
Curious, they looked outside, and noticed that there was a pizza van approaching.
"Yes!" exclaimed Oyster.
"Can I ask you why your house is located so close to a beach? I had a bit of trouble driving here…" questioned the pizza delivery guy.
"Yeah…I would imagine that's a problem." nodded Pearl.
"Wait, you're a mermaid?" inquired the pizzaman.
"Is that a problem?" asked the mermaid.
"No reason…I'm just a bit surprised to see a mermaid out of land that's all…I don't exactly get many of them as customers." pointed out the pizza deliverer.
"I would imagine that." nodded Pearl. Maybe he should put on some scuba gear?
Immediately, Lachell paid for the pizza so that they could dig in. Om nom nom nom.
"This pizza is perfect!" exclaimed Oyster.
"I'm glad to see that you enjoy it." noted Pearl. Personally she was enjoying it herself, though she was getting some of it on her face.
Fortunately, there were napkins that came with the pizza.
Afterwards, Pearl began to clean up the table like Lachell had ordered her too. Specifically, she pulled out a rag and made sure that the table was clean.
She succeeded in her task. In fact, it began to sparkle.
"Wow! That's really impressive!" exclaimed Oyster.
"Why exactly is the table sparkling?" questioned Lachell. It was rather…strange.
"It is blinding me a bit…" noted Pearl. Perhaps she should put on some sunglasses…though they did seem to be rather impractical indoors.
Miraculously, the pizza that Pearl and her family ate back home never got soggy. She personally wondered why, though she wasn't complaining about it.
Personally her favorite flavor happened to be seaweed…though she did love cheese pizza almost as much as Oyster did.
After they were finished eating, the three of them put their plates away. When was the last time Lachell had used the dishwasher? And couldn't he use that instead of making her wash the dishes?
Pearl in fact wanted to know already. At this rate they were going to run out of clean dishes. She was starting to wonder how her slavedriver had ever lived without her. Did he always hire a maid or something? She supposed that would get expensive after a while…
Suddenly, she remembered the phone that Lachell had used earlier, and wondered if she could try calling her friends. She in fact knew each and every one of their phone numbers, so it seemed like a good idea.
They would probably want to know what had happened to her…and if there was anything that they could to help.
She just had to worry about Lachell.
Fortunately, he was not in the room at the moment, so maybe he wouldn't notice.
Immediately, she began to dial the phone numbers of all her friends.
"Hello?" inquired one of Pearl's mermaid friends.
"Hello! Did you miss me, Goldy?" asked Pearl.
Fittingly, Goldy's tail resembled that of a goldfish. She also had orange hair.
"Oh my gosh! You're alright! I feel so relieved!" exclaimed Goldy.
"Yeah…I got enslaved though." answered the blonde.
"What? You did?" inquired Pearl's Goldy.
"Yes, I did." stated Pearl.
"That's terrible!" exclaimed the fellow teenage girl. Apparently, the rumors that she had heard about a Human Auction House were true.
How many beris did people make off of mermaids, anyway? Whoever started that business must be rolling in the dough.
"Well, I did manage to make a friend…" answered the blonde.
"Don't worry! I'll get my friends and come rescue you!" exclaimed Goldy.
Immediately, Pearl told her where she was being held so that they could come looking for her…if they weren't doing so already.
Was she finally going to be rescued? Granted, she would miss Oyster…but she was under the impression that he would like it if she were set free.
Quickly, she hung up the phone afterwards.
Suddenly, she heard Lachell growling again. Apparently, he had realized what she had been doing.
"Hey there, Lachell…I've been a bad girl, haven't I?" inquired Pearl.
"Darn right you have!" exclaimed the man.
"What do you have in mind this time?" asked the mermaid.
"This time I'll let you decide…I'm not feeling very creative today." answered Lachell.
"Can you let me off scotfree?" inquired Pearl.
"Don't make me laugh." answered the man.
"Eh, I'm just joking." stated the mermaid. She could not escape the wrath of karma.
"Anything else?" inquired Lachell.
Suddenly, she noticed a book Lachell was reading about the Egyptians.
She got an idea.
"I know! Why don't you wrap me up in toilet paper from my chest to my fins and then stick me in a sarchophagus?" suggested Pearl.
"Perfect! But shouldn't I wrap your whole body?" inquired Lachell.
"I don't want you to have to use that much toilet paper…in case you haven't noticed, I am awfully tall…" answered the mermaid.
"Good point." nodded the man. He was going to need the john later.
As it turned out, Lachell had a sarchophagus for that purpose…Pearl wasn't sure what it was doing in her slavedriver's house but she wasn't going to question it.
Immediately, Lachell began to wrap up Pearl using toilet paper.
"You're not going to pull out my brain through my nose, are you?" inquired Pearl.
"That's disgusting!" exclaimed Lachell.
"Thought so." answered the mermaid.
Immediately, Lachell put Pearl in a sarchophagus and began to wrap her up.
Oddly enough, Pearl seemed to enjoy it. Apparently, the sarcophagus and the wrappings were comfortable.
However, he stuck Oyster in the sarcophagus shortly afterwards.
"You need to hide, Oyster! It's dangerous outside!" warned Lachell.
"Hi, Pearl!" exclaimed Oyster.
"Hi, Oyster…er, why did your dad put you in here?" inquired Pearl.
"He wanted me to hide while he went to deal with the reinforcements you sent…" explained the boy.
"That makes sense." nodded the mermaid. Personally she didn't think her friends were very dangerous…but she was a bit worried that they might resort to something drastic. Just how long had she been away from home, anyway?
Her new home was a nice place to live, to be honest.
Immediately, Lachell closed the sarcophagus so that they could hide them both…though in retrospect maybe he should have chosen two different hiding spots.
But he was lazy like that.
"What happened to you? Did you get beat up and have to cover yourself in bandages?" inquired Oyster.
"No, I'm fine. Your father just decided to wrap me up like this. But the toilet paper feels pretty good…" noted Pearl.
Fortunately, they were able to breathe inside the sarcophagus, as there were a few small holes inside. It appeared that Lachell didn't want them to suffocate.
"It's kind of dark in here…" noted Oyster.
"Well, it is a sarcophagus." answered Pearl.
"I'm feeling a little scared…" said the teenage boy.
"Yeah…being trapped in the dark can make people feel that way. Maybe you should try closing your eyes…" suggested Pearl.
Immediately, Oyster began to close his eyes.
"Is that better?" inquired the teenage girl.
Oyster nodded.
"Guess what, Oyster…I'm a mummy now!" exclaimed Pearl.
"A mummy? Aren't you a bit lively to be that?" inquired Oyster.
"Well, yeah. I'm still alive and kicking…well, minus the kicking part." answered Pearl. Sometimes she wondered what it was like to have feet.
But she liked herself just the way she was.
"Wait…there wouldn't happen to be any scarab beetles in here, now would there?" asked the teenage boy.
"I don't think so…and besides, scarab beetles don't eat people for lunch…" answered Pearl.
"Really?" inquired Oyster.
"Yeah…they happen to be scavengers, not carnivores." pointed out the mermaid.
"Maybe I've been watching too many movies…" questioned the teenage boy. Still, he didn't think he would like being locked in a tomb with about a hundred of them.
Meanwhile, Lachell Scallop was standing outside the house, waiting to see if anyone showed up. For all he knew Pearl had called the military. Not only that, but they probably had tanks.
What were the merpeople military like, anyway? He hadn't really gotten to see them in action. Just how competent were they?
Sure enough, several mermaids arrived…though they seemed to have difficulty reaching his house. Much like Pearl, they did not have legs.
Lachell decided if he had to go down, he would go down fighting. His wife and his son would be proud of him that way.
Maybe he would even have some scars to show for it if he survived, and his son would be impressed.
"Bring it on!" exclaimed Lachell, taking off his shirt and pants and leaving him in his boxer shorts. He was ready to rumble.
However, the mermaids' reaction was not what he was expecting.
As soon as the mermaids saw Lachell in his boxers, they immediately screamed in horror and began to crawl away. They had never seen a more horrific sight.
Personally, Lachell began to wonder what had happened. If he looked in a mirror…he would probably find out.
It was a shame really…he was expecting more of a challenge. Perhaps Pearl had not called for as much help as he had thought.
But at least he wouldn't have to worry about his slave being taken away from him…or his son being in danger.
Immediately, he went to open the sarcophagus, which had been bolted in seven different places.
But in the process, he forgot to put his clothes on, much to his son's terror.
"Aah!" screamed Oyster, his face turning white as a sheet.
Frantically, he began to cover his eyes. Was he going to go blind from this? At least he didn't end up being turned into stone.
Oddly enough, Pearl wasn't too phased. Perhaps she didn't get scared too easily.
"Why are you in your underwear? Did you decide that since I was in a swimsuit you would join the club?" inquired Pearl, raising an eyebrow.
Lachell facepalmed. He had forgotten to put his clothes back on! Why was that so hard to remember?
Immediately, he went back outside so that he wouldn't get arrested later. Those authorities were really laying down the law these days.
Fortunately for him, it appeared that many of those laws didn't apply to mermaids, so he could keep Pearl as a slave.
As Lachell left so that he wouldn't continue to traumatize his son, Oyster took Pearl out of the sarcophagus and began to unwrap her.
"Huh. You actually managed to save me this time. I salute you." said the mermaid as she pulled some toilet paper out of her hair.
Pearl saluted Oyster with respect.
"Yes!" exclaimed Oyster. Finally he got to be a hero!
"Maybe one day I'll be able to save you…" noted Pearl.
"Maybe…" thought the teenage boy. That would be a rather interesting thought.
Immediately, Pearl went back into the sarcophagus.
"Why are you going back in there?" inquired Oyster.
"It's pretty comfortable…no wonder a mummy would want to be in there for thousands of years or so…" questioned Pearl.
Immediately, Pearl went to sleep, letting out a slight snore as she did so.
Shrugging, Oyster decided to close the sarcophagus so that Pearl would have an easier time taking a nap.
Of course, he also made sure that the sarcophagus was unlocked so that she could get out. He wouldn't want to have her banging on it later.
Speaking of which, he decided to take a nap too.
"What a nice day…" thought Oyster as he went to bed. Finally, he got to be a hero.
Unfortunately, it appeared that Pearl's friends attempt to rescue her had failed. Maybe they'll try again…maybe they'll not. Regardless, Oyster's father has scared them for life.
In the next chapter, Pearl's going to try getting help from her parents…would they be more successful than her friends were?
Maybe they will be…maybe not.
I hope you're looking forward to the next chapter!
