So, the next three chapters will be a reimagining of an "original episode" in TKoL, namely Secuestron. Only this time, it also kinda has plot relevance instead of just being Boz angst. You may not even recognize this was based on the Secuestron chapter from reading it, so just letting you know. I hope you're enjoying the story so far (and if you do, please let me know), and let's get back into it.
Boz had this cast for a week now, and things were going well. He easily navigated the castle with one crutch, while he used two when he walked on uneven terrain. Neither Brady nor Boomer seemed to pay much attention to his injury after the first days, and either had forgotten or didn't look at it. it was probably a mix of both.
He couldn't blame them for forgetting – the kings were rather self-centered and they quickly forgot what wasn't regularly presented to them, such as the Junga ball injury Boz sustained.
Despite the cast, Boz continued his formal training with his mentor, Jeangu. He was an excellent fighter. Though he frowned at the sight of Boz's cast and his eagerness to train, he indulged the trainee. They sparred, simulating different circumstances within the arena, all of which included a leg injury.
Each day, Boz got better at fighting with a broken leg. It did hurt from time to time, but Boz ignored it. In a fight, you couldn't focus on the injury. You needed to focus on what your opponent was doing. During their last sparring match, Jeangu took advantage of Boz's weakness and beat him, careful not to hurt the leg more than he needed to.
Boz fell on his back and stayed there for a while. He'd been beaten. Jeangu was the better of them. Boz should just quit while he was at it.
Boz shook his head. Where the hell did that thought come from?
Jeangu blocked the sun and extended his arm to Boz. The trainee grabbed the arm and allowed himself to be pulled up. Back on his feet, Boz hopped back to the side, where he'd left his crutch for this particular sparring session. The crutch provided stability, sure, but that didn't take away from his hurting leg, especially after such a demanding session like this one. Still, Boz didn't sit in the chair provided for him, though he easily could.
Jeangu looked at him approvingly. "You're doing quite well, despite your situation."
He glanced at the cast. The foot was dangling a couple of inches above the ground. As Jeangu looked at his student, Boz knew he could not hide from his teacher. That man knew a lot at a glance – he probably already spotted how tired Boz was. It wasn't stopping Boz from continuing his training.
"It's just another incentive to do well," Boz responded. "Gotta be prepared for all scenarios."
"Indeed," Jeangu nodded. He grabbed Boz's wooden training machete and looked at the boy again. "Let's stop for today."
Boz shook his head. "It's fine. I can go on." Jeangu sighed. He placed the machetes on the nearest chair and folded his arms, approaching his student.
"Boz," he said. "People have limits. So do you. You're doing well, but that leg still needs a rest. We can continue tomorrow."
Boz wanted to protest. He wanted to continue. But Jeangu was a stubborn man and you could not easily convince him when he already had made up his mind.
"Fine," Boz nodded. "See you tomorrow."
Boz walked to the exit.
"Don't forget to rest," Jeangu called after him.
"I won't," Boz responded.
Back to the jungle of Kinkow. It wasn't far to the castle, which was a good thing – he did not like traversing the jungle with these crutches. Yes, he was on the Light side and thus safe in theory, but this was still the jungle. If there was one thing he learned, it was that the jungle favored the fast. These crutches were a hindrance when it came to speed, agility, and all other qualities Boz associated with the biome he grew up in.
These parts of the jungle were also abandoned – there was nobody here, except for the students of the fight school and guard training. Occasionally, for a match, people would come here, but there should be nobody around Boz. Nobody.
But something was out there.
Call it his gut feeling. Call it something else. Either way, Boz got the feeling that someone was watching him.
He quickly turned his head, carefully scanned his surroundings. He could not see anyone. The jungle provided its usual noises and ambient sounds, but he spotted nobody who might be keeping an eye on him. It could be a Flaji – but that meant he was far from home, and Flaji did not often go places that weren't familiar to them.
"Show yourself," Boz said. No response. "If you are a Flaji, show yourself. This isn't funny."
He looked around, for a Flaji to appear out of nowhere. Nothing came.
Boz frowned. He was sure someone or something was watching him. If there was, he should've heard something by now – something to identify at least the direction where the person was hiding. A twig snapping, leaves and vines being pulled aside – anything.
But there was nothing. So he continued his way, wary, slower than before, to maybe catch whoever might have been watching him if they tried to follow him home. Even this was a bust, as he only went slower than usual with no results. At last, after the long trek home, he arrived in the throne room. Boz nearly stumbled towards the couch and sat down, letting his cast rest on the small table. He caught his breath and tried to calm his mind.
Even within the safety of the castle, it seemed like he was being watched.
Later that day, something was going on at the beach. Something – quite vague. But these were the kings, who always were pretty vague. They had a situation on the beach that Mikayla and Mason couldn't know about, but Boz definitely needed to help them with the thing they were purposely being vague about.
They did not seem to understand that having a cast and going to the beach wasn't recommended – sand in the cast was not a good idea. Still, they were adamant about Boz's involvement in their next crazy plan that Boz agreed to go with them.
But the kings were impatient, as they always were. They decided to go ahead while Boz would take his time. Going to the beach with his crutches wasn't the fastest way of travel and they busted the King Cruiser, so Boz had to go on foot.
Boz didn't mind. He told the kings they should go ahead and leave him be. Still, it stung a little, to not get the same respect from the kings that he gave them. It was Boomer's fault Boz had to wear that cast in the first place – the least he could've done was argue with Boz to walk with him or to actually walk with him, instead of accepting that Boz trailed behind and would arrive later.
"Hello, handsome."
A familiar voice from the side, one that made a shiver run down his spine. Boz turned his head.
There she stood. Aerosol the mermaid. Orange top, human legs with feet and toes. Still that semi-sweet and cunning smile on her face; obviously smitten with the time traveler. Her voice already scared him, but her appearance in its current form terrified him. He did not know why he was so afraid.
"You!" he said. "How did you—? Where—?"
His gaze was drawn to the slender legs. Aerosol looked down to see her legs as well and she laughed. She raised her head again and grinned widely at Boz.
"I have my ways," she said in a flirty way. She slowly approached Boz, as if she'd had those legs from birth. "It's good to see you again."
Boz backed away as smoothly as possible with his crutches. Still, the sight of her startled him. He was not going to let her touch him in any way.
"You should be in the ocean!" Boz told her. The last time he saw her, she had her tail, pouted with her girlfriends, and disappeared into the waves. Away from Kinkow. Maybe going somewhere else to try their luck. Aerosol could be smart, but even Brady and Boomer knew better than to give her her legs back.
Was that what the thing of the beach was about?
"And yet I'm here!" Aerosol said and she giggled. "But it's not about me. It's about you."
Boz shook his head. He wasn't going to let her trap him. He was suddenly aware of how vulnerable he was, how easily she could put him in that Siren Song trance that made him powerless. Yet if he tried anything, she would use her powers. He was truly trapped.
"I was playing along, okay?" he told the mermaid. "I'm not into you. mermaids are not my type and the ocean—"
"The ocean hates you, yes. It really does," Aerosol said, in a more serious tone. Not so serious that the smile disappeared from her face, but she did give him a semi-serious look and her tone suggested she wasn't playing. "The ocean told me some interesting things. About you. About your past."
Boz shook his head. He needed to get back to the castle, where some guards or Mikayla could help him out. Maybe he'd go to the beach – lure the lady there and having strength in number with Brady and Boomer, assuming they did not give her those legs again.
"I don't have time for this," Boz said. "Go back to the island where you got your legs."
He walked away from him, with his crutches.
"Like Mindu."
Boz froze. The blood drained from his face as he turned it. "What?"
She continued to smile at him. He never talked to her about Mindu.
"Like Mindu," Aerosol repeated. "You know, the island you sank?"
Boz shook his head. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
He had to get out of there. Away from the mermaid, away from the ocean. He could not get close, not now she mentioned Mindu. A million questions ran through his mind – how did she know about Mindu? Especially since Mindu currently still floated in the ocean and was very much not sunk?
Boz preferred the castle over Brady and Boomer. They could do their beach-thing by themselves.
"Oh, you know it. You just don't want to see it," Aerosol called after him as he hurried away from her. She did not chase him down. "The ocean doesn't forget, Boz."
The more space he put between the mermaid and himself, the calmer his mind became. And yet, the anxiety remained, though in a smaller form. He looked back; he'd already turned the corner, but still he expected to see Aerosol there.
Boz shook his head. His palms were sweaty and he almost had no grip on his crutches anymore. But that was the least of his worries.
What just happened to him?
As Boz traversed the courtyard, he came across Mikayla. She was working today and currently patrolled around – she greeted him as he passed by her.
"Hi, Boz," she said, adding a nod. Boz nodded back at her; waving might not be a good idea if it meant dropping one of his crutches. Picking it back up when standing was a real pain with a cast around your leg.
"Hey, Mikayla!" He said. "I have a question for you."
She stopped and gave him her full attention. "Yeah?"
He had to know. She was a guard already, with guard duties. She knew more than Boz; she might know about hostile creatures. About certain creatures of the sea and whether someone had spotted them recently. It has been a month since the mermaids caused mayhem, but they could always return.
"Have there been any mermaid sightings recently?" Boz asked her. "Like, today?"
Mikayla frowned – maybe she wondered why he asked, but she did not deny him an answer.
"No, there haven't been mermaids since the Kings put them back in the ocean," she said. "Is there something wrong?"
Boz shook his head. The last thing he wanted was for Mikayla to worry about it.
"No, it's all good," he said. "Just had a stupid thought. Happens all the time."
Mikayla nodded, a wary look in her eyes. she chose to trust him and continued with her route.
"You should rest," she told him as she took the first steps.
"That's what I'm going to do," Boz responded. Especially after what he'd seen… "You might want to check on the beach, Brady and Boomer are going to do something stupid over there."
"Already on my way," Mikayla called back for him, heading out of the gates.
"Great! See you later!"
Boz walked to the throne room. It was empty, with nobody there. Silent. Perfect for Boz to get lost in thoughts and figure out what had just happened to him.
He had seen Aerosol the mermaid. He heard her. Hadn't touched her. The mermaids haven't been sighted since they were eliminated as a threat. There was no way that girl was actually there, legs and all, to taunt Boz about something that hadn't happened yet at this point.
Just a hallucination, Boz concluded. A sight to trick him; he didn't know what his mind was trying to do, but it sure was rough to hear from someone else that he had sunk Mindu, hallucination or not.
Maybe he was just tired. His leg ached and itched and the one without a cast was growing tired as well. He probably shouldn't have trained as much as he had today. And a power nap never hurt anyone.
The beach plan was a bust. As soon as Mikayla came and noticed what Brady and Boomer were trying to do, she shut it down. After the fact, when Brady and Boomer pouted and walked back to their room, Boz did not ask them what they had been trying to do. Something else was on his mind.
Boz was still not sure what he'd seen. Or why. It just happened and there was little he could do about it.
Still it resonated in his mind, still it consumed him. He's had his rest, his leg was feeling fine again. But his mind turned and raced and everything in between.
This wasn't him. He couldn't have hallucinated. It had to be one of the island spirits trying to communicate with him through a familiar form, choosing the clingy mermaid as their avatar.
If that was an island spirit, Boz rudely walked away. He might pay the price later.
How did they know about Mindu?
It was worrying. Boz tried to push it out of his mind – the spirits must have their reasons to bring it up, but their reasons were their own and Boz was left to wonder why. He didn't want to spend another moment thinking about it – instead, he moved on to the physical.
While his leg was rested, it had been a week since he'd seen the Shaman. Everything should be okay, but today Boz worried. He didn't know what first triggered this worry for his leg, but it might be how it hurt and how he'd pushed himself during training earlier today. He wondered if something was wrong with it, if he screwed himself over because he trained, or if something else had happened.
Either way, Boz wanted to see the Shaman. He lived in the village, just down by the beach. Boz could have asked Mason or any other guard to call the Shaman over to come and take a look at his leg, but the man had grown old as well. Though he was still spry, Boz did not want him to come all the way to the castle for a check-up. Besides, Boz was itching for some action and wouldn't mind making the walk to the village, crutches and all – as annoying as they could be at times.
Boz greeted the guards as he passed them in the courtyard. Mason briefed the other guards, which included Mahuma and Mikayla, about the roster for next week. He wasn't included in the briefings just yet. Boz hadn't yet reached the level of proficiency to be walking around with them, as some sort of guard intern. Boz expected to join them after his cast was removed and when Jeangu deemed him ready for this responsibility.
Boz walked through the gates. His anxiety spiked. Beyond these gates, he'd seen Aerosol. Beyond these gates, something else might be waiting for him.
Boz shook his head. What the hell was he thinking? He was going to the village to see the Shaman. He wasn't going to see that damn mermaid again. And if he did, he would excuse himself and go about his day, maybe schedule an appointment if the island spirits really wanted to talk to him. If they even did appointments. Boz hoped they did.
"Boz…"
No.
The young man froze. His face flushed, his breath shallower, his body shaking. He clutched his crutches, unwilling to look behind him and face what waited there. While Aerosol gave him a little fright, this terrified him, shook him to his core. The raspy voice was familiar, belonged to a man Boz only met briefly, but which was etched into his mind. The thought of this monster gave him a nightmare now and then, the insecurities bubbled up again, and Boz wondered how he ever could face this man with confidence?
Then, Boomer stood beside him. Now, Boz was alone, in a weak position.
"Boz!"
He demanded attention. Boz turned around, slowly, dreading the moment he laid eyes on the monster.
It was the mummy; Kaita, before the transformation was complete – before Boz completed the transformation. Somehow, he was more terrifying in these rags than he was when he looked human.
Boz slowly shook his head, trying to at least seem confident.
"No," he said in a shaky voice. "No, this isn't real. You can't be here."
It wasn't the island spirits communicating with Boz. Something much more sinister was going on. Something that had produced Aerosol and the mummy and made them feel real.
"But I am," the mummy responded. He lifted his hand. Only now did Boz notice what he held and his heart stopped for a moment.
The bat medallion. The mummy had the bat medallion. The sight instilled so much fear in Boz that he could not think straight,
"Run," the mummy whispered menacingly.
Boz screamed and ran back into the courtyard, through the gates. His mind was in panic mode and couldn't easily be turned off. As quickly as he could with his crutches, he ran to the confused guards.
"Mummy!" Boz yelled.
"What's going on?" Mikayla asked him. Boz pointed to the gates.
"Mummy!" Boz repeated. "Outside the gates. He's got the bat medallion."
All the guards knew what they needed to do. Some were old enough to remember what Kaita was like and a similar fear gripped them. The younger had heard enough about Kaita and the mummy to know it was bad news, though they never lived through it.
The guards drew their machetes and ran through the gates, ready to fight the mummy and subdue him before he could do any harm. Boz, though terrified, followed behind them. He needed to see for himself how they beat the crap out of the mummy. Maybe that would ease his nerves.
The mummy was gone. Where he once stood, was now an empty spot, filled now and then when a guard wandered in that direction. The guards looked around, trying to spot the mummy who could not have gone too far since Boz alarmed them.
Boz felt like he was going to have a heart attack or a stroke. Or both.
"What the—where'd he go?" he said, shaking his head. This could not be happening. "He was right here."
"What?" Mikayla said. She had no idea what was going on with him. Soon, all the eyes were on Boz and his panicked demeanor. Boz could not tear his eyes away from the space the mummy once occupied before it sped out of there. If that is what happened.
"I-I don't know. I don't know where he went. I don't know what's happening." He looked directly at Mikayla now. "I don't know what's happening to me."