In the morning, Lysander had no choice, but to see how little Jira was doing. The emperor stifled a yawn as he swam towards the nursery. Lysander had experienced yet another restless night, and was beginning to wish, he had never brought Jira to Murk in the first place. Only, there was nothing to be done about that now. Jira would perish at the rising of the blood moon, and Tiamat would return to bring Murk back to glory. Lysander was giving his people what they wanted, and that was honorable. At least, that was what Lysander tried to convince himself. Ceto was already awaiting the emperor by the time he reentered the nursery.
"Sleep well, Lysander?" Ceto asked, in a forced politeness.
"I did," the emperor lied, "and the child?"
"The sacrifice's temperature is now at a normal level," replied the priestess.
At that, Lysander's stomach gave an involuntary lurch.
Why was his body behaving so strangely, as of late? Lysander grazed the sleeping merbaby's forehead, and found it to be as cool as a sea cucumber. But maybe...
"Are you sure Jira is fine, now," Lysander started, "perhaps she suffers from a sore throat, a runny nose... anything that might interfere with the ritual?"
The priestess shook her head at him, "Don't fret so, Lysander, the little wretch is the picture of health. The ceremony should go along without a hitch."
"Splendid," Lysander whispered, as his stomached churned once more.
"Come," Ceto ordered, gesturing towards the door, "we have yet to inspect the instruments and the ritual grounds."
The emperor glanced at peacefully sleeping child, an inexplicable, searing pain tore through his heart for a moment, but he quickly pushed it aside, and followed Ceto out of the nursery. They glided through the dark, water filled corridors of the Murken castle, until they were outdoors. The priestess immediately ushered Lysander into a nearby temple, where Murkens would pay their daily respects to the Ancients.
"This is where the ceremony is to be taking place, this evening," Ceto stated, absentmindedly.
"Here?" Lysander gasped, "On hallowed ground?"
The priestess let out an amused chuckle, "Of course Lysander, the child is a sacrifice to the Ancients, after all. Now, let's go inside."
Lysander had frequented the large stone temple, more times than he could count in his lifetime, but never before, had it made the emperor's skin crawl. The only thing Lysander desired at the moment was to leave the temple immediately. Unfortunately, he had responsibilities.
"This is the sacrificial platform," Ceto explained, "the child will be placed here as the Blood Moon rises."
Lysander winced subconsciously, he had seen the pedestal before, but he had never known what its purpose was, until that moment. The emperor traced Ceto's movements with his eyes, as she swam over to the alter, and grasped an object in her pale hands. The priestess swam back over to Lysander with the object, and pressed it into his large palms.
"This is the instrument that will be used to perform the ritual," mentioned Ceto.
Lysander studied the item carefully. It was a five pointed blade, with serrated edges, a very primitive looking thing. Lysander couldn't help but think, the blade looked something like a starfish. It was quite ironic, really. Starfish were completely harmless, this blade however, was not.
"The blade is stained," the emperor thought aloud.
"It must be left over blood from a previous ritual," Ceto answered.
"What is it called, Ceto?"
"The instrument?" questioned the priestess.
"Yes, the instrument," Lysadner sounded just the slightest bit annoyed.
"It's called the Serriform Star," Ceto explained easily, "you'll be using it later this evening to perform the ceremony."
"What was that?" Lysander asked incredulously.
"The Serriform Star will be your instrument, when you slit the ritual's throat."
The emperor's heart began to pound, as his blood ran cold through his veins, "Ceto, I didn't know this. I thought you were... I was under the impression... Jira... I cannot do this."
"Lysander," scolded Ceto, "you never should have named her. It's only going to make the job harder now."
"But I thought you were going to.." Lysander paused, "to perform the ritual, not me."
"No," Ceto corrected.
"Why can't you do it?" panicked Lysander.
"I will be chanting to the Ancients, Lysander. Moreover, a blood relative needs to make the cut."
"Then Ladon can do it," the emperor was finding it hard to breath, "he's Jira's..."
"Stop it, Lysander," warned Ceto, "She's a sacrifice, nothing more. Further, Ladon cannot; he doesn't have magic for whatever reason, the Ancients forgot him. He can't. Lysander it has to be you, no one else."
Hali and the others finally hovered buoyantly in the dark, cold water of Murk. Their surroundings were deadly quiet. It was very early morning, still. Murkens had not yet woken to begin their day. However, that fact was bound to change at any given moment.
"Where are we going to start?" Merrick asked his cousin.
Hali had the uneasy feeling that they needed to find Adelaide as quickly as possible.
"The castle I suppose," Hali contemplated, "It had to be one of them who took Adelaide. Cricket, what did they look like, again?
"All I saw, before I fell unconscious was a younger merman, maybe my age, and two older merman. The younger one appeared to be their leader."
"The big question is, who is he?" Hali asked mostly to herself.
"Odd," Merrick whispered.
"What's odd?" Hali asked looking up at her cousin.
"That noise," Merrick answered, "don't you hear it?"
Hali paused for a moment, straining her ears. Sure enough, she became aware of a musical, high pitched sound. The Guardian was almost alarmed, before she noticed a bubble, silently floating towards her.
"The bubble," Hali pointed out, "It's making that strange sound."
Hali swam to it. The bubble was alluring to say the least, and she needed to investigate. The Guardian could not restrain herself. She gingerly reached out her pointer finger, and popped it.
"Hali, we love you and miss you. Please let us know if you are safe. You already know how, just look inside your hear. Mom. Oh, and let us know if Xavier is well. That way I can at least tell his father that he is still alive."
Was she delirious?
"Hali, did your mother's voice just come out of that bubble?" Merrick asked.
Good. So, she wasn't going crazy. But then, what just happened?
"Yes," Hali began unsure, "but how?"
Immediately after Hali finished her question, two more bubbles appeared, drifting towards them, humming their beautiful notes.
"What's going on," Xavier asked.
"I not sure," Hali admitted.
Before she even finished, speaking, Merrick and Cricket had already popped the bubbles. receiving messages from Attina and Jade.
"What did your bubbles say?" Hali asked her cousins.
"Basically the same as yours...." Merrick's voice trailed off, because there was still another bubble.
Little Serene, who had been sleeping. supped poked up her tired head. Something was calling to her.
"What's that?" Serene asked pointing to the bubble, "It's pretty."
Before anyone knew it, Serene had wriggled out of Xavier's grip, and popped the singing bubble.
"Mommy, Daddy, Kelvin, and Darwin say hi," the bubble said.
"Well, that was weird," Serene commented, "Why was Mommy's voice trapped in the bubble, Hali?"
"I think it's a sort of message...." Hali abruptly ended her sentence when she caught a glimpse of Xavier's face.
Poor Xavier's complexion was chalk white. He didn't look well at all.
"Xavier?" Hali asked worriedly, "Are you alright?"
Xavier opened his mouth to reply, but instead air bubbles escaped, as water filled hi lungs.
"Xavier!" Hali shrieked, "Tip, Dash, get him to the surface, now!"
