Chapter 25

Adelina couldn't make hide or hare of Nami's mind. It broke her heart to see how shattered the queen's mind was, as each and every piece of her friend was being whittled away. Nami was brought to her knees by the by Phobos, certainly not the first one but her mind…

God her mind.

It was a floating monstrosity. Her mind palace was in complete ruins, the rubble mimicking the main Atlantian palace after the first attack. Nothing left could be distinguished what that building looked like in the time before. She stepped forward, only to redraw her step as something below her started to crack loudly. Adelina glanced upward, her face set in determination as she spread her wings and took off. She flew as fast as she could through the rubble that floated in the sky.

"NAMI!" Adelina shouted, tears falling down her face as she did so, "Please, Nami! I'm just trying to help you!"

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH~"

Oh little tuna…

Adelina stopped, and hovered midflight. Her stomach twisted as she moved forward, with a bit more oomph in her movements. She rose upward before diving back down, slamming herself into Phobos's form with all the strength that she could muster. The mutant gave a wounded growl as Adelina wrapped her arm around his neck and struggled to bring him down. But in his shock and surprise, Adelina managed to bring him crashing downward.

When she managed to wriggle out from underneath him and stand up to him, with her wings flared outward, she felt no fear or hesitation.

So the little pigeon has learned no fear. Phobos cocked his misshapen head as he stared at her. No. There is still some fear there, but-

"I will not kowtow to the likes of you, Phobos." Adelina announced. "Not anymore."

You didn't defeat me in your mind. You had help. He growled. Those miserable X-men, always meddling.

"Ade…. leave." Nami begged. Adelina's heart tugged horribly at the rundown look of her queen. "I've given up. I…. I can no longer go on."

"I won't let you give up."

Adelina and Phobos started to circle each other, like wild cats showing off to each other, with Nami as their prize. Adelina felt her heart pick up in anticipation. She had never been good with hand-to-hand combat, and now she was faced with a challenge. No one had ever gone up against Phobos alone and won.

Maybe because Phobos doesn't rely on his fighting skills but his poison. Adelina jolted at the thought. His poison….which he couldn't use inside someone's mind.

She moved quickly, jumping upwards and bringing her fists down hard. Phobos brought his arms up in a blocking position, only the feeble man wasn't able to keep himself standing up against the powerful blow Adelina had brought down. He crumbled, while Adelina kept blow after blow coming, including her claws at one point. Her tail swung low, knocking him off his feet. She pushed him away once more, off the little ledge. He tumbled, and would tumble until he came back, but during that time, Adelina rushed forward and tried to pry the chains off the queen. They wouldn't budge.

"Come on, Nami….." Adelina begged. The queen still didn't move. "Nami! Get your rear up and moving! Phobos is going to be back soon."

The chains grew tighter around Nami, especially around her throat.

"It's over, Ade." The dark-haired girl chocked out. She glanced upward, her eyes full of despair and hopelessness. "His poison is too deep within me. I can't escape. Finish the mission. Find Phoenix and destroy her. Don't let our sacrifices be in vain."

"Nami. Nami! Do you hear yourself!? Snap out of it! You're a queen!" Adelina knelt down and looked at the young girl eye to eye. "Nightcrawler and the others…..they chose to follow you! If they didn't, they would have made their choices known."

Somewhere in the distance, Phobos screamed quite maddeningly. Adelina's heart started to race.

"Nami! You're queen! Your advisors did everything they could! They sacrificed everything to send you and me back to the past to change the future!" Adelina was sobbing, as was Nami. She looked the queen in the eye and said, "Your father…..your father would be so proud of you Nami! He did everything in his power to help prepare you for your role. He loved you! He taught you how to fight! And that's exactly what you need to do now!"

Adelina felt a sort of power rise up in her before she, right as Phobos appeared, summoned it up and expelled as she threw her arms around Nami.

The three of them were engulfed in a blinding white light.

X

Nami was seven again.

She was sparring with her father, as she often did when she was younger. From the moment he could put something heavy in her hand, and the moment she was stable on her feet for more than a second, her father had started her training. His reasoning being that she was living in a world where there were dangers at every turn, and assassins who wouldn't have any qualms about taking out a young girl.

"Faster!"

Nami obliged as the swings were ramped up. The real blade swung and sang, a strange symphony under water. Her father was a ruthless teacher, holding nothing back. He never even used practice swords, having the mindset that she should have a deep fear for a sharp item pointed at her in an enemy's hands early on.

Nami cried out as the blade sliced her cheek. Not deeply, but not shallowly either.

Her knees buckled and she collapsed, heaving and tired. Namor stood above her, his hair flowing in the invisible current of the water.

"Nami. You're getting better, but you're not up to snuff." Namor held out his strong hand as he spoke. Quietly yet forcefully. Nami looked down ashamedly before pushing up on her own.

"I can do it again. I can get it. Just let me try again."

"Nami."

The warrior princess halted.

"Nami, please. You're already the heiress I want you to be." Namor turned Nami around to where she was facing him. "A pretty fine diplomat, an excellent warrior…..I dare say that you will make a fantastic leader."

"But I'm not good enough! I've got to make my ancestors proud. I've got to make mother proud. I've got to make you proud."

Namor knelt until he was eye level with his daughter. "I know I'm a tough father. A tough teacher. But I do this for your sake and benefit. To be a strong leader is to know when you're beaten. That not only makes you strong but wise."

Her lip started to quiver.

"You've already made me proud, Nami. There's no reason for you to think that I am not." He gently stroked the tears away, letting them mingle with the salt water. "Now. What do you say we go and have something to eat?"

Nami gave a watery smile, which Namor returned in kind.

"Thank you, Father."

"Any time, my little minnow."

X

The light died down, leaving Phobos confused. The little tuna was unchained and her mind seemed to be patching itself together. She and her little pet looked ready to lay down the law. It gave him a bit of an anxious feeling, something that he barely even felt.

"You've got a lot of nerve showing up here in my mind, Phobos," Nami stated with a cold voice. "I would say something along the lines of 'you'll never hurt anyone else again', but I know that Phoenix will make an assassin out of you later in the coming years. Although."

Her cupped hand started to crackle with blue lighting. Phobos felt a real spike of fear go through him.

"Although," Nami muttered, turning her eyes towards him, "I suppose I could get rid of the rot before it destroys this day and age."

With a shove, Nami pushed the strike of blue lighting towards him, striking him in the chest. While he was lying on the ground, gasping for air, Nami loomed over him with a silver trident forming in her hand. There was a smile upward towards the heavens before she scowled downward. She hefted it upwards and then brought the teeth down, right on his heart.

Everything went black and Phobos was engulfed in nothing.