Chapter 5
The Atlantean party was nothing short of a wonder! Adeline was just in time to see the mermaids do their twirls and spins and Evander controlled the waves as they passed over the audience. He even made underwater volcanoes and rode on the back of whales.
"I want to ride the sharks!" Adeline grinned.
"Absolutely not. The sharks they have are not fully trained and we will not be using them," Evander said, now making the water swirl around them.
Meanwhile, Marina was taking a small break when she heard someone clear their voice behind her. She turned and saw Kai slowly swim up nearer to her.
"Marina~, come on, I just wanna talk," he cooed, now swimming closer to her. She growled and turned away.
"Go away," she said, a tear forming.
"Come now. You know I'm still in love with you," he said, now swimming around her and rubbing his tail against her back. She smacked his tail and that made him wince a bit. "Ow, baby, careful."
"ENOUGH! Stop calling me baby and go away! You're engaged and I want you gone!" She snarled. As she tried to swim away, he snatched her by her arm and pulled her back.
"No one swims away from me! Get back here and hear me out!" He growled.
"NO!"
"Marina, you will listen to me and if you don't, so help me, I'll lock you in my family's dungeon!" He snarled at her. Marina then used her tail to slam him hard in the face and it sent him flying into the wall; she then swam over like lightning and sent an upper cut to his face! That caused his nose to bleed!
"OW! WHAT IN THE SEVEN SEAS WAS THAT?!" He said in horror. She then grabbed him by his sash and held him up.
"Listen, you creep," she whispered lowly. "I don't care what you think; you will NEVER disrespect me like that again. If so, I'll add a fat lip to your already smashed up tail!"
Kai's eyes widened in horror; he had never seen Marina this enraged. He almost began shaking at her pure rage. But Marina didn't care; she had a broken heart and she felt like her whole world was shattered. But as she turned to swim away, he grabbed her tail harder!
"GET OFF ME!" She screamed.
"I love a girl with spirit; no wonder I never fell out of love with you," Kai chuckled deviously, now grabbing her tail harder and making her cry out because his grip hurt.
Hearing her cry, Tide swam around the corner and immediately shoved Kai away from her. The two mermen began to fight hard and punch each other. Their scuffling was causing blood to appear in the water and that attracted the sharks! Soon the sharks became uncontrollable and began to snap and try to bite everyone!
"What's the meaning of this?!" Neptune thundered, now swimming into the clear and seeing what happened. "You two stop fighting!"
Evander then noticed the sharks heading for his troupe! He quickly swam closer to them and called all of them to safety!
"Swim towards the ship! Fast!" Evander called. Adeline and the others wasted no time swimming as fast as they could from the rampaging sharks; it took both Evander and King Neptune to tame them once more! Once the sharks were locked away, Neptune angrily looked at Tide and Kai.
"You two are confined in the castle until I know the meaning of what happened here; you both could've gotten someone killed," Neptune thundered.
"It was my fault, Your Highness," Tide said, now bowing down. Kai, however, smirked happily. He was glad Tide was taking all the blame. Neptune observed both of their reactions and then turned to Kai.
"I feel there is more to this than meets the eye; therefore, you both are to go inside and I will see to this issue personally," the ruler said.
Both mermen nodded and swam inside while Marina hung her head in sadness. She felt that all of this was her fault.
"I wish I never came home," she said sadly.
"But this wasn't your fault, Marina," Evander replied.
"Yes it is. Tide came to help me and now he's in trouble," Marina said, now looking away. But as she spoke, King Neptune turned to her and swam to her.
"Marina? Your name is Marina, is it not?" He asked. Marina began visibly shaking and the large king smiled warmly. "Now, now, I only wish to hear what happened."
Marina nodded and explained everything. The king listened intently and asked a few guards nearby who also witnessed what happened.
"Thank you Marina. You have helped me to make a clear decision. But I do want you all to still perform; I don't want the celebration ending this way," Neptune said.
Evander and everyone agreed; the night was definitely far from over and they wanted it to end on a good note!
An hour later…
Everyone was still cheering and having a great time together because the party was still going great. Especially after all that occurred. But Marina hung her head, still concerned after all that happened.
"I think I need to go to my dressing room." Marina said sadly.
"Why? The celebration is still happening," a voice said from behind her. As she turned, she saw Tide grinning at her.
"W-What are you doing here?! I thought you and Kai were in trouble!" Marina said.
"Neptune told us that we needed to behave, but let us off with a warning. But Kai is the one who's not having a good time, despite this being his party," Tide smirked.
"Well it was supposed to be his engagement party," Marina huffed.
"But he kept bragging about how he was going to win you back now that you're back in town," Tide said. Marina only rolled her eyes.
"I am getting ready to go back with the troupe soon so this is only temporary; I may never be back," Marina replied.
"Aww c'mon. Surely you will come back if there is something worth coming back for," Tide said, now swimming closer. As the two talked, Adeline giggled and so did Shell as they watched from behind a boulder.
"I hope Marina feels better about her home now," Adeline whispered.
"Me too," Shell added.
"Hey, Shell. Do you think Evander will allow me to bring one pet back with us?" Adeline asked.
"Adeline, you know the rules. No bringing animals from other realms," Shell said.
"But Shell, I found a cat. I really want to keep it," Adeline pleaded.
"A cat? I don't know about that," Shell said, now somewhat concerned.
"You will understand when you see it," Adeline winked, now discussing with Shell more about the 'cat' she saw.
But as the two talked, Marina felt Tide gently intertwine his tail with hers.
"Listen, Marina; I just want to let you know that I'm your friend, okay; I'm here when you need me," Tide said.
"Thanks Tide; I needed that," she said, still sounding sad.
"Aww, come on, Marina…smile," he chuckled, now gently tickling her sides. That made Marina laugh and try to swim away from him. But Tide was right on her heels! He chased her all the way up to the surface and she tried to hide behind some boulders.
"S-Stop it!" She giggled, not seeing him hiding from her.
"Not until you cheer up," came the disembodied voice. Marina looked around, but saw him nowhere.
"W-Where is he?" She said out loud.
"Right here," a voice said from above her. She looked up and squealed as she saw him leaning on a boulder with a devious expression and wiggling his eyebrows at her.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!" She squealed, now trying to dive, but she felt strong hands wrap around her tail and pull her back.
"Nope, nope, nope. C'mere!" Tide chuckled, now pulling her back to him. "You're not getting away that easily."
And as he pulled her back, she ended up on his lap and he gently tickled her tail and that made her laugh even harder than before!
Adeline and the others chuckled as they followed the two towards the surface. Adeline knew that her good friend needed a break from all that happened. But what the others didn't see was Evander lean against a nearby wall; his energy was about to surge again.
"Evander…the Golden Moon is only a few weeks away from being the strongest it has ever been. You need to get somewhere safe," Colossus commented.
"Do not worry about me; make sure the rest of the troupe is safe," Evander replied, now shaking his head a bit.
But Colossus was concerned; too much energy could make an enchanter ill as well. Evander was getting a power boost, but it was becoming painful for him. But he refused to show his predicament to the others. He then turned to the others and motioned for them to get ready to head back to the boat. As Adeline turned to follow, she squeaked as she was pulled back by some strong tentacles.
"And where do you think you're going?" A deep voice soothed. Adeline turned and gasped as she was put in a spread eagle position and Octavius ran a clawed finger under her chin. "Now, now…take it easy. We are not all dangerous."
"B-But I have never met beings like you all before," Adeline said honestly, now blushing as he pulled her closer.
"That is because you still need to explore other realms. And be careful…the next realm you all are passing through is the realm of the Gashadokuros." Octavius said gravely, now gently touching her face. She gently leaned into his hand and he slowly let her go and she swam up to him, slowly losing her fear.
"What are they?" She asked, now getting scared.
"Large, ghostly skeletal beings. Do not go into their realm. They try to destroy every being that enters their realm and the ones they do catch, they either eat or make into their slaves," Octavius said gravely. He then turned and saw Evander crouching and looking at the others. "Your leader is strong, but he is under the effect of the golden moon. Observe him carefully."
"But Evander has never hurt any of us," Adeline insisted.
"I understand, but he hasn't gone through the painful stage of the Golden Moon yet. That can give him extreme power and extreme pain as well." Octavius warned, now glancing at Evander more. Adeline was feeling afraid. Giant skeletal creatures and Evander possibly being dangerous? What else could go wrong! Adeline shuddered a bit in fear, but Octavius gently held her shoulders.
"Do not be afraid; it will be alright," Octavius said calmly, now cuddling her.
"But what if we do get captured by those skeletal monsters?! I was told we do have to pass by their realm," Adeline said, now getting scared.
"If for some reason you do, call for Loki. He may be able to help you," Octavius said.
"Who is Loki?" Adeline asked, now thoroughly confused. Octavius chuckled and cuddled her more to his bare chest.
"Loki is his nickname…well…in your world he is known as the Loch Ness Monster. But be warned; Loki is considered a trickster and if he helps you, he usually wants something in return," Octavius said. "He and I are well acquainted, and he is a distant relative."
"Oh…so he looks like you?" Adeline said, admiring Octavius' tentacles.
"Well…he's, well…you will understand if you see him," Octavius said, now making her look at him in confusion. For you see…Loki was a beast unlike anything Adeline had ever seen.
But that could wait. They had to pack for the other realm. They were going to stop by the Minotaur's realm, but they had to get past the creepy realm of the Gashadokuros.
A few hours later…
Tide wrapped his tail around Marina's and gave her a smirk. "Now listen…I will be waiting for you to come back."
"Promise?" She asked.
"Promise." He grinned, now hugging her to him. They were just going to be good friends for now, but perhaps something could be down the road for them. Who knew? But that could wait; it was time to leave.
Once everyone was boarding the ship, Adeline motioned to Shell about the large cat that she saw. The girls looked on the shore and they saw nothing. Adeline's face immediately fell in disappointment.
"Where'd it go?" She asked sadly.
"Maybe it went back in the forest, now c'mon!" Shell said, now gently pulling her friend's sleeve.
"But…oh, wait! There it is!" Adeline chirped in glee as she pointed to the nearby trees. Shell looked over and her mouth dropped open as the tiger-like cat came from the trees and began purring loudly.
"I-It's huge!" Shell shrieked, now seeing Adeline walk over to it. "Adeline be careful!"
"It's okay! It's my friend!" She responded, now gently petting it. Shell was shaking hard as the cat glanced over.
"I-I don't like this! I need to…EEEEEEK! HEY!" Shell gasped as the creature walked over and began purring against her legs. She tried to move, but it blocked her and kept rubbing against her. The more she resisted, the more persistent the cat was. Suddenly, she started to feel calmer. "I-I guess it's okay."
"Yes! I knew you'd like him! Now we just have to get him inside!" Adeline said.
"Try the loading deck," Shell said, now motioning down to the lower deck. Adeline nodded and motioned for the cat to follow her. Shell followed too, but she noticed that this cat was very odd. It acted as if it understood exactly what they were saying! Every time Adeline told it to do something, it usually did. And it would arch an eyebrow at her sometimes and she could have sworn that she saw it smirk! She couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something different about this cat.
A few hours later…
The ship was at the surface and slowly riding the river through the other portals. Evander was at the realm and his eyes narrowed.
"We are passing through the Gashadokuros' realm. Whatever you do, do not call out their name. If you do, you are making a way for them to pull you into their realm," Evander said, now stretching out his arms and making it to where he used his power to make a forcefield around the ship. "Remember…do NOT call their name. It gives them temporary power to get through our forcefield."
The team nodded as Evander's power surrounded the ship with a golden glow. He was sweating, but he was satisfied. He knew they were safe and that was good enough for him. But Adeline couldn't shake the fact that something VERY bad was about to happen.
"Evander…," a deep voice rang from the thick mist forming. The whole troupe froze and Evander didn't even flinch.
"Begone…you have made your presence known," Evander said lowly, not losing his concentration.
"Evander…," the deep voice continued.
Adeline whimpered in fear, trying not to be afraid. She wanted to hug Evander or cuddle with her large cat, but she had to keep her cat hidden and Evander was trying to concentrate. But as she tried to take deep breaths, she heard a groan behind her. As she turned slowly, she uncorked a scream! A large skeletal hand was heading towards their ship!
guestsurprise's words: Oh my! What do you think will happen?! 0.0
To guestsurprise: Holy cow! *shudders* Talk about spooky! Hope the gang makes it past okay. Also, why do I get the feeling that 'cat' is Loki? Call me crazy, but it just seems possible. Then again, that 'cat' could be anyone. Just hope it's a friendly. :)
To everyone else: Please leave guestsurprise a review, but no flames! Remember, I'm watching those reviews very closely. Also, for those of you wondering about the story "Becoming One", there will hopefully be an update on that soon, providing my muse will let me work on it instead of going off in another direction. XD Sometimes my muse is crazy like that. :)
GoldGuardian2418