Lysander's stomach lurched at Ceto's words. His head began spinning once more. Jira's fever had broken. It was final then. The ceremony would continue on as scheduled. Tiamat would return, and his people would be happy again. That was all Lysander wanted in the first place. Why then, did he feel so completely awful about it.
"Lysander?"
Just the sound of Ceto's voice made Lysander's head ache with an even greater intensity.
"Yes, Ceto?" his voice was oozing with irritation.
"The child," the priestess began, "surely you are going to check on her condition yourself."
"No, Ceto. Not immediately, at least."
"Lysander," chided Ceto, "it's your responsibility as..."
"I am tired, Ceto,"Lysander snarled, "I shall check on Jira in the morning."
"But," protested Ceto, "there's still the matter if..."
"In the morning!" the emperor roared in anger.
The priestess had never before seen Lysander so enraged. She wondered what is was all about. Ceto had merely come to give him an updat4e on the health of the sacrifice, and Lysander had verbally attacked her, like a madman.
"Are you certain?" Ceto asked, "The Blood Moon..."
"We still have the entire day tomorrow to prepare for the ceremony, Ceto. It can wait."
"Lysander..."
Ceto's tone was akin to how a mother reprimands her child. The emperor did not appreciate the fact in the least.
"Leave me," Lysander sighed wearily.
"Of course," Ceto gave a quick bow of her head, and silently left the study.
When Ceto was well out of sight, Lysander released a deep breath he had been holding subconsciously. He drew in a few jagged breaths, in an attempt to regain some control over his lungs. Gazing down at his hands, Lysander realized that they were shaking. Worse yet, the emperor's head was still pounding. Perhaps it was time for him to retire after all.
"But what did she mean by starfish?" Merrick asked Hali again.
"Merrick," Hali answered through clenched teeth, "how many times do I have to tell you that I don't know?"
"I just don't understand what she meant," repeated Merrick.
Hali could feel something in the back of her brain, snap clear off, and with an aggravated shriek, took a lung at her cousin. Merrick dodged her expertly, despite the fact that he still held the unconscious form of Serene in his arms. However, Hali was undeterred, and prepared herself for another charge against Merrick. Only, this time, Hali found that her body was unable to move. Had Hali not been so infuriated at the particular moment in question, she might have noticed that Xavier had wrapped his muscular arms around her waist, in an effort to keep her from homicide. Instead, it took Hali several minutes before she came to realize why her body wold not obey her commands. However, once Hali realized that she was comfortably tucked in Xavier's tight embrace, her body began to relax.
"Calm down, Hali," he whispered in her ear.
The guardian wanted to melt into the arms of her love, and amazingly, she could feel her irritation towards Merrick dissolve.
"I'd still like to know what Serene meant by starfish," Merrick grumbled.
Hali drew in a sharp breath, and Xavier could feel that Hali's body was starting to tense up again.
"Well, we're all going to have to wait until Serene wakes up," Xavier directed to Merrick, "There's nothing we can do about it, so just drop the subject for now."
Hali couldn't have loved him anymore then she did at that moment in time.
"He's right, Mer," Cricket agreed, enjoying how her big brother cringed at the nickname she had bestowed upon him.
"Id does make sense, mon" Sebastian chimed in.
"Fine," Merrick relented.
"You should never argue with a lady," Dash added wisely.
"I said fine," Merrick repeated, suddenly feeling embarrassed.
"Are you all right there, fish boy?" questioned Tip, "You're looking a little red in the face."
"Look!" squealed Cricket, "Merrick's blushing!"
"Stop it, stop it. We're wasting time," Merrick sighed, swatting his sister's had away form his face.
"Oh my goodness," Hali said in disbelief, "that's what I've been saying this whole time, while you were hung up on the starfish bit!"
"I only asked because I'm concerned," Merrick defended himself.
"We're all concerned," Merrick Hali growled.
"Yeah, that's right!" Cricket added.
The volume of the conversation was beginning to grow again, and no one noticed that little Serene began to stir in Merrick's arms.
"Why does everyone have to be so loud?" Serene complained, "I was trying to sleep, you know. Ce me fait chier!"
"Serene!" Hali's group all called out together.
"What?" the girl replied, rubbing her sleepy eyes.
"You're okay," Hali cooed, as she snatched the girl away form Merrick, "we we're worried."
"Don't worry about me," Serene added wisely, "I'm a big girl. Worry about Adelaide."
"Yes, Adelaide," Hali sighed, "Serene, do you remember what you saw about Adelaide?"
"Yes," the mergirl shuddered, "but I don't know why? Does that mean Adelaide's dead?"
"No, Serene," Hali tried to explain, "Adelaide is not dead, at least not yet."
"But how do you know, Hali?" Serene asked.
"Well, what you experienced is called a vision," The Guardian began.
"I have good vision," the girl chirped, "my daddy says so all the time."
Hali paused for a moment, thinking up a way she could thoroughly explain Serene's gift.
"Um," Hali began, "it's not that kind of vision, Serene. It was more like telling the future."
"Telling the future?" echoed Serene, "like a fortune teller?"
"Sort of," Hali conceded, "Serene, you have a special power that can help you see important things before they happen? That means you can see things that ordinary people can't."
"I can?"
"Um-hum," Hali hummed, "You are a very special mermaid, called the Ocean's Star."
"I am?"
"Yes," Hali breathed, "Now, Serene this is extremely important. You need to tell us everything you saw in your vision about Adelaide. What did you mean when you said a starfish cut her?"
"I was a starfish," Serene pouted, thinking the others didn't believe her, "but it wasn't like a regular starfish. This one had really sharp arms. It..."
Serene's voice broke off there, and she began to whimper.
"It what, Serene? Tell us." urged Hali.
"I-it... s-she... Adelaide was lying on a flat stone, but it wasn't on the ground it was raised."
"Sounds like a pedestal," Xavier offered.
Hali had to agree, "Go on, Serene. It's okay. We're all right here beside you."
"Um," sniffed the little mermaid, "the s-starfish... it began to slice Adelaide across her throat, and then her blood began to trickle, and then I was T-tiamat, but just her face. She was laughing. Adelaide died and she was laughing."
Serene was immediately reduced to tears when she finished sharing her vision with the group, and Hali pulled the poor girl into a tight hug.
"It's going to be okay, Serene," she tried to sooth, "we're going to find Adelaide and bring her home safely."
"H-hali," Serene said between sobs, "if you knew I was a fortune teller, why didn't you tell me about it. Ce me fait chier."
"I know, Serene. I know, and I'm sorry," Hali apologized, "I should have told you sooner."
Serene did not respond to Hali's apology, but only buried her face deeper into Hali's shoulder. The guardian wished she could give Serene some more time to recover from the shock, but they really needed to continue their way to murk. There was absolutely no telling how much time little Adelaide had left. Every second that passed counted against them.
Hali handed Serene over to Xavier, who was curiously still the child's favorite person, and said, "Let's go, now."
Ultra Special Blah Blah Blah
Poor Serene. Hali really should have told Serene that she was the Ocean's Star long before now. Oh well, what's done is done. Although I do wonder what this starfish thing is all about, don't you?
Lysander yelled at Ceto. That's a first. The Blood Moon ceremony is still scheduled to take place! Poor Adelaide.
At the end of the day, you're another day older,
xJadeRainx
