Chapter 21
They swam back to the city as fast as they could. With Gura's help, they took the fastest path back and made it back before night fell. They headed straight for the palace and brought the medicine to the king. Doris was there keeping him company when they showed up, as well as the doctor who was checking up on the ailing king. As the siblings fussed over their father, the party and the tracker slipped out of the room.
"You are quite loyal to them," commented Lamy.
"Prince and Princess. Why not?" Gura replied in halting Common.
"You almost lost your life," muttered Nene.
"Shark protect me!" she said proudly as she pointed to herself with a grin, "Shark strong. Kill enemy very fast. No worry. Have Shark."
"You really shouldn't be taking so many risks," added Polka.
"Alone, yes. No risk actions. But you are here," the tracker quipped back. She then hugged the bard.
"Ah… you make it very hard to be sad like this," the lore bard said with a smile, "Just… don't go too risky next time, alright? Even with us here, we may not be able to help in time."
"Okay!"
"Oh, Doris? Is your father alright?" asked Botan as the siblings came out. The brother went off with the doctor, deep in discussion, while the sister came to them.
"There has not been any change yet. We will have to see in the coming days," she stated forlornly, "Still, thank you for bringing my brother back. I am in your debt."
"I guess we should stick around and see, just to be sure," spoke up Aloe with a smirk, "If you don't mind putting up with us."
"I do not," she replied with a tired smile, "I shall make arrangements. You and your friends shall be my guests in the palace."
"Nice!" exclaimed Polka with joy.
The next two days passed by quickly. Nene got some help from Doris with learning one of her songs while Aloe listened in. Botan and Polka did some sparring with Gura to get used to fighting underwater. Lamy helped the doctor and Dramos to monitor the king's condition. It was she who notified everyone that the king had awoken. Everyone then hurried to the king's bedroom to check on him. At first, the doctor shooed the rest out, only letting the siblings speak with him first. After a few minutes, they were allowed in. The king was looking a little healthier, not as dark blue as before.
"So… you are the ones that helped my son," he muttered, "I thank you."
"It was the right thing to do," spoke up Lamy, "It would not sit well with me if we failed to do something."
"Ah… again, I am thankful for your intervention," he replied. Turning to his son, he asked, "I shall hand this off to you, Dramos."
"Very well, father," said the prince before turning to address the party, "Everyone... it seems that we have our culprit. The witch of the sea that lives near here. I do not know how, but she had passed on a cursed item to my father and caused his illness. We have tolerated her existence until now. For attempting to kill my father, she will be sentenced to death. You will accompany me to her abode to enact her punishment."
"Very well," replied the half-snow elf seriously, "When are you leaving, your majesty?"
"Immediately."
She made her home in a large shipwreck. It was supposed to have sunk during a rather vicious storm. It had a large hold that was buried in the sandbank and was now home to various kinds of sea life. Dramos brought along several soldiers with him, including Gura. The group went in from the topdeck entrance and made their way down to the lower decks. However, as they made their way down, they could hear loud cackling. They found the hag at the second lowest deck.
"My, my, Prince Dramos, of all people, coming to visit little old me. Why, if you told me in advance, I would have made the place presentable to your highness. What do I owe the pleasure of your presence?" she cackled, her seaweed-looking hair covering her face.
"For the attempted murder of my father, I hereby sentence you to death," he declared as he pointed at her.
"Death, you say?" she repeated before cackling, "Then... come and approach me if you dare!" With a shriek of laughter, she raised a gnarled piece of wood that had a conch shell affixed to it and chanted.
"All the tiny things to know,
You shape and reap of what you sow,
Come alive now! Monsters, grow!"
Without a warning, several giant octopuses and giant crabs appeared as her makeshift hag's wand made the sea life suddenly enlarge and become aggressive.
"Choke them, my pretties!" she cackled as she pointed at them.
"Defend yourselves!" he shouted as he and his men brandished their tridents.
The hag cackled as she moved nearer to them and then lifted her hair and let out her ugly face on full display. Misshapen face, bulging eyes, and a jawful of teeth too big for her face. A few were shocked and frightened, but the prince shouted, "Do not lose heart! Remember what you fight for, men!"
That was all he could shout out before it devolved into a general melee as the enlarged sea life converged to repel invaders. Octopuses snared and entangled them. Crabs nipped and grabbed on to their legs. Dramos got into the thick of it, taking on a giant octopus by himself. Lamy summoned her spectral weapon, now in the shape of a trident, and put it to work as she shot rays of frost to finish off her targets. However, after failing to fend off the intruders and a few minions dying, the hag decided to take things into her own hands and swam straight for the prince.
"Ahahaha!" she cackled as she raked her claws over his arm.
Distracted by this sudden attack, his divided attention allowed the giant octopus to grab him with its tentacles. "You foul witch, I shall be your executioner!" he roared as he tried to stab her with his trident.
The other tritons yelled in response to that and tried to fight even fiercer. However, one of them passed on, his bones crushed by tentacles. Nene, Botan, and Polka worked to put down that one while Aloe and Lamy worked to kill and freeze the crabs. However, all was not well.
With a great yell, the prince fell as the hag clawed out his throat. His triton escort yelled in dismay as another of their number fell as well. The lion girl roared and transformed as a giant octopus swam closer and grabbed her by the waist. She started biting and scratching with a feral ferocity. Lamy sent the spectral trident to help her while she froze off another's head, killing it in the process. The others went to help the dwindling triton force.
As the third giant octopus fell, things became more manageable to the remaining force. One by one, they fell to the deck lifeless and that freed up more people to team up on the others. The sea hag also realized this and moved to aid her minions, staining her claws with more triton blood. However, she could clearly see that the way things are, they were not going in her favor and decided to make a run for it.
"Witch!" yelled Gura, as well as several other words in her tongue, as she finished off the giant octopus she had been tussling with since the beginning and sped off after her.
"After her!" urged on Botan as she shot at the fleeing hag, her arrows finding their mark with precision.
"Polka!" yelled Nene as she moved to heal the fennec fox girl as the giant octopus slammed the monk on the deck, releasing its hold on her body as she floated lifelessly. Her bones reknitting together, the monk slamming a flurry of punches into its soft body.
"You will not flee!" declared Lamy as she froze the hag's legs, rooting her in place.
"Don't think you can keep me here!" the hag shrieked as she suddenly ripped the boards out of the side of the ship with a sudden display of strength. She then ripped her legs out of the ice, squeezed out through the hole, and swam away as fast as she could.
"Come back!" roared Gura angrily as she moved to swim after the fleeing hag but a yell caused her to lend aid to her fellow triton in killing the last giant crab, The two remaining giant octopuses tried escaping, the influence of the hag now gone. One managed to escape but the other was cut to pieces by the party and the two surviving soldiers.
After it was all said and done, the remaining soldiers and Gura slowly stepped up to the cold body of the prince and knelt around him. The party kept their distance, not knowing what to say. The prince fought bravely, this they knew and saw. Then, the tracker started singing a beautiful but haunting song. The other two added their voices in as well. They didn't know what they were singing but its essence was understood.
"A funeral dirge," muttered Nene softly, informing the others, "We will hear more of it when they bring him back."
"Should we search the place for stuff while they're singing?" asked Aloe, keeping her voice down as well.
"I don't see why not," whispered back Botan.
"Hmm, not sure if it's disrespectful… but I guess?" murmured Polka.
"It certainly is. Their prince just died and… well, granted, this place belonged to an enemy, but still, the thought really counts..." objected Lamy.
"Well, I, for one, want to look around," quipped the succubus as she slunk away to search the place.
As the singing drew to a close, the hull suddenly started creaking. Gura then called them over and asked, "Please! Help carry bodies." They were a little weirded out but complied. The two soldiers carried the prince's body while the party helped to carry the others.
"Where your friend?" asked the tracker.
Loud cackling rang throughout the deck and coupling that with the creaking hull, it didn't sound all that good.
"Erm, we better go now!" yelled Aloe as she swam past them, "Run!"
The current suddenly began picking up, prompting the others to start swimming out of the wreck. The current picked up, making it harder for them to swim. Thankfully, they made it out and swam far enough to see the ship suddenly crumble and break inward, the swirling current transforming into a whirlpool.
"What in the world did you do, Aloe?" asked Nene.
"Erm… I found a black silk bag..." the succubus muttered embarrassedly, "When I opened up to check, that laugh came out and… a tiny whirlpool."
The party just stared at her, causing her to squirm a little. Lamy then sighed and said, "What the witch had… probably, was not that good anyway, so very little loss. We should bring the bodies back to the city and give them a proper burial."
"Yeah… yeah, a bit too late to complain about this now," agreed Nene as she went over and placed a hand over the former's shoulder, "Let's go, Aloe."
Once the news broke out that the prince had been slain, Leviathis fell into mourning. Everyone, from the commoner to the nobility to Doris and her father wore black bands around their right wrist. The party did the same out of respect for the prince. A grand funeral was held at the temple and they were part of the princess' entourage. Gura took part as one of the dirge singers at the temple. The prince and the soldiers who had fallen with him were encased in caskets made of coral. Then, the caskets were paraded all around the city before being laid to rest in the graveyard. The prince's body was placed in the royal mausoleum, where the rest of the royal family was interred. The soldiers were buried with the nobility after being conferred the highest honors for serving bravely.
"Thank you, friends, for keeping company and helping my people," stated the mermaid as she hugged them after the funeral was over, "The past two days were harrowing for me and I am thankful for your support."
"It was the least we could do, princess," replied Lamy with an assuring smile.
"Will you be coming back to Rivirapolis with us?" asked Botan.
Doris sighed, looking quite tired, and said, "I… do not think I can. My brother is gone and I am expected to be next in line. With my father still recovering, I will have to help out in his stead. Even after he is healthier, I will have to be groomed to be his successor. Ah… I suppose I have to send a letter to Sir Aruran about my resignation from the guild."
"...Take your time, Doris. We'll be here until you're ready to send us off," stated Nene as she rubbed the mermaid's shoulder.
"Thank you, my friends. Thank you," she thanked them. Then, she promised, "I will have someone draft a letter for you to bring."
"You know, if you need more time..." started Polka but she shook her head.
"No… it is fine," she said, "I… I am sorry. I think I need to lie down." She then headed back to the palace.
It took another two days before Doris came to them with the letter, as well as some interesting rewards. A set of five amulets, a piece of coral in a water-filled globe attached to a silver chain.
"These amulets have been blessed in the temple," said the mermaid princess as she placed them around their necks, "These will grant you the protection of Persana as long as you wear it."
"Thank you, your majesty. We graciously accept," stated Lamy gratefully.
"Please, you can still call me Doris… in private functions at least," the former replied with a smile, "You are my friends, after all."
"Well, thank you for the gifts, Doris," said Nene as she gave the mermaid a hug, "'Thanks for everything."
She simply smiled and said, "Please bring my letter to Sir Aruran safely. I will send some of the soldiers to accompany you to Colch Island. From there, you should be able to meet up with Captain Calixes and head straight to Huan Tuo. Don't forget to return the rings."
"No worries!" exclaimed Polka, "After all that hag, what's the worst that could happen?"
"What did you say the other day? What's the worst that could happen?" shouted Botan before they were both thrown about by the rocking boat.
They reached the island with no trouble. After having retrieved their backpacks and getting more arrows for Botan, they boarded the ship. It seems that the ship will always visit the island every week. If it wasn't bringing visitors, they would be shipping supplies to and fro to the port. Then, they got caught in a storm. It was a violent one at that and being thrown about in their room was no joking matter. With the bed sliding all around the place, they couldn't sleep a wink. After the ship weathered the storm, they caught a few hours sleep despite the archer and the bard hitting their heads on the wooden walls of the ship.
Then, they were called up topside. The ship was mostly intact but the thunderstorm had caused part of the furled up sail to catch on fire and they had to repair it. However, Lamy's repeated casts of Mending helped to recover parts of the sailcloth while Polka helped the shipwright to mend the top part of the mast. While she usually used needles that sewed leather, Botan helped with patching up the sailcloth. Meanwhile...
"Still not getting a bite?" whispered Nene as she sat with Aloe on the side of the ship, holding on to a fishing rod.
"No… I really don't see why some mortals like fishing," replied the succubus with a pout.
"Well, maybe not now," the bard said as she glanced behind them, the hammering and sawing and the chanting taking up most of the air space, "But, most mortals like fishing in a quiet spot to appreciate the peace and quiet it brings."
"Hn… I guess being mortal is harder than I thought," the latter muttered, "I mean… I've been here for a while now but I barely talked with anyone else other than in the guild people and Towa."
"Hmm, still… you are fitting in pretty well. I'm kind of glad we are friends instead of fighting that time," the former replied with a smile.
"I guess… eh, my rod is shaking," Aloe started when the rod started twitching.
"Reel it in!" shouted Nene as she jumped in to help her pull on it. The fish was large enough to feed most of them for dinner that night.
AN: Hello, readers. Welcome to the next chapter. Gura talks about SHAAK. Then, the next few days, we wait for the king to be healthy enough to get an audience with the royal family. Then, we go and confront a sea hag about the poison/curse problem. The outcome was not so nice. Not to mention Aloe accidentally got the derelict wreck swallowed up by a whirlpool, so... no loot from there. But, the party does get rewarded by the princess with Amulets of Protection.
Right, it's time to make our way back home with Holo5. Will it be smooth sailing from here? You as well as I know, not everything goes to plan all the time. Thank you for reading and have a good day, dear readers.