Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter. Heatwave exhaustion and all that!
Enjoy!
Marina's green eyes met the glass portholes from underneath the shimmering veil draped across her face. They were lined against the corridor she was being escorted down by some Aquaphibian guards, and she noted that they were slightly large enough for her sleek body to fit through.
It would just be a case of escaping her captors and opening one.
The guards spoke to one another in their garbled language as they lead her to their Prince. To an ordinary human, the language sounded a little like someone unintelligibly speaking through water, but being of the sea herself, she was able to understand it well.
"I heard Captain Tempest was caught not so long ago. He and his associate were found hiding in one of the seawine crates."
The creatures gave out a gurgle of a laugh. The second one then spoke up. "The librarian was found colluding with the orange haired one. Our Royal Highness is to have Sequalibra executed, and is thinking of gifting the boy to Doctor Mercurio for experimentation."
Marina fought hard not to audibly gasp at this news. Execution and experimentation? She would not let the tyrant go through with this! With a grim expression, she continued to listen into the their conversation as she was lead down a maze of corridors.
"-so when will that be?"
"One marine hour from now. The wedding is to take place in thirty marine minutes. The prisoners will be brought to the Chapel of the Singing Angelfish to watch the ceremony."
Marina frowned. She'd had enough of their talk and was beginning to panic at how little time she had left to save herself and the others. It meant she had to act quickly.
No time like the present!
Without warning, Marina lashed her laced arm out at the guard on her right, knocking him down. The second guard called out in alarm but Marina had already sped off down the corridor, holding up the hem of her wedding dress as not to trip over it. The second guard fired his harpoon gun at her, but missed, the arrowhead piercing the metal doorframe above her.
Marina skidded her way into the next corridor and ran over to one of the portholes in the wall. She fiddled along the catch of the window and pulled it open, causing a burst of water to come rushing in through the hole. Pulling her veil over her head, Marina pulled herself through the porthole and swam into the murky sea.
Once the visibility cleared up, Marina swam for dear life in the direction of Stingray. She kept her gaze on the blue and yellow submarine as it grew bigger and bigger in her view. It soon disappeared as she was pulled upright by a pair of scaly hands. Without even looking at her captor, Marina kicked through the flowing drapes of her dress at the villain who grabbed her, causing him to let her go. She began swimming again and soon reached Stingray, stopping in front of the viewing deck to check the green gas from before had dissipated.
Seeing that it had, Marina swam up to the airlock. As she pulled it open, she peered back and saw that a platoon of Aquanas' guards were swimming after her. She quickly swam inside of the airlock and locked the door, draining the seawater out of it. As she waited impatiently, she glancec through the rear porthole to see that a small yellow submarine appeared to be moored next to Stingray. The tail fin had a black number four painted on it, and she noticed another on the side tank.
'What's that craft doing there?' she thought to herself. 'I wonder if it belongs to Gordon…'
Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Marina stepped into Stingray's cabin and ran into none other than-
"Marina?" X-20's surprised voice resonated through the cockpit. The silver being stood up tall, the hem of his green sparkling robe falling the floor. "Guards, get in here! Grab her!"
A swarm of Aquaphibian guards flooded into the cabin, immediately seizing her. She struggled and tried to pull away but the guards' grip remained tight. Marina sighed and resigned herself to the inevitable. She's been captured by Titanica's number one stooge.
Brilliant.
Titan's surface agent let out a gleeful chuckle as he eyed the bedraggled princess up and down. "Surprised to see me? I must say I'm certainly surprised to see you. Don't you have a wedding to prepare for?"
Marina just glared at him.
X-20 laughed again. "You'll be happy to know that our almighty King Titan is already in the Prince's domain. I was just making the necessary arrangements for our new royal yacht to be towed by one of the Terrorfish." he smirked. "Guards, take her back to the palace. I have a feeling Prince Aquanas will be delighted to know you've found his bride."
He laughed again as Marina was taken away.
Gordon scowled as he was dragged into the ceremonial hall, his arms tied painfully behind his back. He was forced down onto an aisle pew and he let out an irritated hiss. This angered the Aquaphibian guard who whacked the aquanaut on the head with the butt of his weapon before retreating, leaving Gordon alone in the nave of the church.
So soon as they left, the first thing Gordon did was try the numerous doors around the church, but he found all the exits were guarded by Aquanas' men.
He sighed and made his way back to his pew, sitting down on the hard wood with one leg folded over the other. The aquanaut found himself staring at the ornate wooden ceiling of the church, which was accompanied by the stained glass windows and murals fixed within the concrete arches.
Gordon found himself chuckling, finding the situation completely surreal. Here he was, on a rescue to save some sailors, sitting in a fish prince's kingdom, waiting for him to marry a captured mermaid. Alan would never believe it!
Alan…
He stood up once again and headed over to the altar of the church. He looked over his shoulder to see the rope was covering his watch. Gordon let out an irritated groan and spotted a jade statue of a fish labelled "Teufel" sitting in the middle of the altar. With a bemused expression, Gordon used the tail fin of the statue to cut through his ropes, which soon gave under the stress.
Rubbing his aching wrists, Gordon held up his watch and frowned as the clock face appeared as static. Despite this, he leant in close and whispered.
"Gordon calling. Does anybody read me?"