Chapter Fifteen: The Rise of Nereus
Monday, June 6, 2016
Disclaimer: I do not own or profit from the Winx Club properties by writing this story. This story is written for pleasure's sake. All rights reserved.
Notes: Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter. I know it's been months since I last updated.
I really struggled with this chapter and rewrote it several times. I know that there are a lot of mistakes in this chapter, and I'll get around to fixing them in a few days. Right now, I just want to put this up and move to the next chapter.
Thanks to Marielle Chang for reviewing last chapter.
Enjoy!
A dark cloud hung over Stella. She sent another text to Brandon, threatening him to answer. The knight would not answer anytime soon. Brandon, despite his easygoing personality, was not one to let personal affairs get in the way of his duties. Or at least, he never answered his messages in a timely manner.
Bloom was starting to see how annoying she had been when she nagged Sky to call her. She sat on a ledge, waiting with Flora, Musa and Tecna.
Aisha was not with them, too busy trying to save Andros. Her duty to her people and planet came first.
Just like Sky and Brandon's duty to Eraklyon came first.
Stella huffed and gripped her phone tightly. She pocketed it and crossed her arms. Then pulled her phone out, checking to see if anything had changed in the last ten seconds. Social media, newsfeed, celebrity gossip blogs.
Musa saw this and shook her head. "Stella, chill. He's probably in deep space."
"Well, he could have at least texted before he left." Stella pouted. She started to pace a small circle while the others watched. "I swear, when I get my hands on them…"
Stella meant both Sky and Brandon; pissed off at the both of them for leaving so suddenly. Wherever Sky went, Brandon followed dutifully. That was how it always was.
Musa and Tecna ignored the sun princess and turned to Bloom. Musa had a question on her tongue and she debated speaking until she saw Bloom's curious stare.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Musa asked.
"What is that supposed to me?" Bloom's eyebrows knitted together.
"Well, you don't like Diaspro."
"That shouldn't stop me from trying to help her."
"But are you going after her because you feel like you have to?" Tecna asked.
"What does it matter what I feel?"
"If you don't want to go after her, you don't need to," Tecna accentuated. "You shouldn't feel responsible for every bad thing that happens. All of Eraklyon is going to try and find her. Statistically speaking, they have more power and resources than us."
"We have Sirenix," the fire fairy pointed out. She exhaled, waves of heat coming off of her. She jumped off her perch to face the girls.
"It's not just about Diaspro. Alright, yes, I don't like her, but I'm not going to ignore the fact that she came out to a fight and traded herself for me."
Bloom ran a hand through her hair, trying to order her thoughts. Her mind was in chaos, trying separate her personal feelings from her moral compass. "The right thing to do is to try and get her back to Eraklyon."
"But why do you care so much? We all know that you don't like her," Tecna pointed out.
"So what if I don't?" Bloom said, albeit too quickly. Her feelings were becoming apparent on her face and the temperature around her was starting to rise.
"Diaspro has done bad things to you and Sky. She poisoned him with a love potion from Valtor and we all saw what happened to you when they almost got married. Sky just broke up with you and he is going to go to try and rescue her again. What happens if he does actually realize that he loves her? He always jumps headfirst into anything involving Diaspro."
"We did not break up!" Bloom reminded indignantly. No one believed her. "Sky jumps headfirst into anything involving Eraklyon. We're just taking a break from each other because we have our duties to do."
"What Tecna is trying to say is that we don't want you to get hurt again, Bloom," Musa translated. "Sky did some awful things to you—"
"That wasn't his fault!"
"No, it was Diaspro's," Musa reminded with steel in her voice. "What happens if actually does decide that he doesn't want to be with you anymore? And not because he was under a spell. You're going to go after Sky's ex-fiancée. Think about it, Bloom."
"I've thought about it." Bloom clenched her hands. "I know that I'm probably going to get hurt, on some level."
"You can leave out the probably," Musa said.
"I'm not doing this for gratitude, I'm doing it because it's the right thing. Diaspro has nothing to do with Dafne and what happened twenty years ago."
Flora cut in, coming to Bloom's side and putting a reassuring hand on her. Bloom sputtered, thankful for the flower fairy's interjection. "I don't think that's our problem, Musa. Diaspro is trapped in the Infinite Ocean with Politea and we can't open any of the Sirenix Gates. Are we going to abandon Diaspro—who doesn't have Sirenix—just because we don't like her? That's not what fairies do."
"I don't want to see Bloom to go through that whole mess at the Millennium Celebration again." The music fairy crossed her arms. Tecna agreed with Musa, looking wary.
"Then that's Bloom's choice; not yours, Musa."
Sparks sizzled off Bloom as Flora's voice rose. Her hands were in her hair, showing how frazzled she was. She was glad to have Flora on her side. "If you don't want to help me, then don't come. It's as easy as that. I don't want to force you into anything. I'll find a way to get Diaspro back."
Musa recoiled. "Hey, that's not what I meant—!"
Fire emanated from the fire fairy like a halo. "The real threat isn't even Diaspro, it's Politea! I broke the Sirenix curse thinking I could fix my family, but I accidentally let Politea out at the same time!"
A tense silence fell over the group, punctuated by the sound of crashing waves and bird cries.
"You let out Politea?" Musa enunciated carefully.
"Politea was under the Curse of Sirenix just like Dafne. She was trapped in the Shark's Eye Mountain in the Infinite Ocean. And I wished for my Guardian of Sirenix to break that curse." The words poured out of Bloom's mouth. "You know what happened next. I thought Politea had died when Darcy and Stormy absorbed her. I didn't know that my wish would also release Politea."
The redhead hung her head. "I have to make this right—for everyone, not just Diaspro."
Bloom jumped out of her skin when she felt Stella place a hand on her shoulder in reassurance. The blonde gave her encouraging smile, telling her wordlessly that she was with her for better or for worst.
"Leaving Diaspro with Politea in the Infinite Ocean isn't an option for us. Politea was a nymph like Dafne. You saw what her and her dragons did to this city. The only reason Laudine hasn't sunk into the ocean is because of Diaspro. No matter how much I don't like her, she saved Laudine. Politea won't stop until she has killed Dafne, I know this deep in my bones."
Bloom turned on her heel and started to make her way to the wharf, about to summon an interdimensional portal. Five years ago, she never would have imagined that she could travel through time and space in the blink of an eye.
She was going to find Omnia in Lake Roccaluce and find a way to get Diaspro out and keep Politea in. Dafne might have dark powers but it did not make her a different person. She was the older sister who gave everything to give Bloom a future. Now, it was Bloom's turn to save her and make sure that Dafne lived a long and happy life, Dark Sirenix or not.
Because when push comes to shove, she could not be anything but that girl from Earth.
Owning a hundred tiaras and fifty-two dresses did not make her suitable for the throne. The throne was Dafne's by birthright. Only Dafne could fill in the hole in the family. Be the beloved Crown Princess of Domino, become the Queen, marry a prince and give birth to little princes and princesses.
Bloom knew deep inside that she could never do any of those things.
She realized now that she did not fit into the world of Magix.
"Wait!" Stella grabbed Bloom's arm before she zipped away in a portal.
The rest of the girls followed shortly behind, everyone except Musa.
"Look," Musa said, not making eye contact. "I'm sorry. Really, I am. I'm just tired of all the drama around you, Bloom. I…I need to take a break from it. I need to get away from you and your parents, your sister and her enemies, and your boyfriend and his ex. It's too much. I'm worried about Aisha."
The excuse sounded pathetic to Musa's ears.
"Alright," Bloom exhaled deeply, shocked and hurt. She had never thought about how her friends felt about her and her family drama. Not until now. Of course, Musa was the one who knew firsthand about losing someone she loved. "Alright…I'm sorry, Musa. I didn't mean for it to get like this."
"I'm…I'm going now…to find Aisha." The music fairy started to back away, trying to create a space between her and where Bloom had stood.
"Musa, please don't do this," Stella pleaded. "We can work this out."
"Just stop, Stella. I'm sick of it, sick of you and your divorced parents and how you think they should get back together," Musa snapped suddenly. "Just stop."
The music fairy turned and started to walk away.
Stella stopped in her tracks. She turned to Flora and Tecna, unsure of what to do.
"I'll go and try to talk to her," Tecna volunteered, starting to go after Musa. She pointed to her bracelet. "Call if you need me for something in the archives."
Bloom conjured a circle of flames and disappeared in a flash of fire.
Flora conjured a portal to Magix. Stella hesitantly followed in after the flower fairy. They found Bloom sitting on a bench at the foot of the White Horse Cafe, staring at the water.
"Bloom, you have to go back and talk to Musa," Stella started.
"I don't have time. Politea is out to get Dafne and Diaspro only has one lunar cycle…if she even survived going through the Sirenix Gate."
Bloom got up and started walking, soldiering on like an automaton. She was set in her resolution. She knew it was the right thing to do, but did she want to do it? Not really, but if she looked back every time, she would never go forward.
Tressa watched the clouds swirl above her, black and ominous as the day Valtor escaped Omega. A system of clouds was moving overhead. It was the afternoon thunderstorm expected to form. It rained and thundered everyday in Laudine for a few hours around noon because of the heat and humidity.
Two hundred kilometres away from Laudine sat the old capital of the Laudinian kingdom, whatever was left of it. Most of it had been knocked down in the Deluge four centuries ago. It was rumoured that treasure was buried in the old derelict city but whatever was left of the city was buried in an impenetrable forest of kelp.
Tressa was perched on the domed roof of a submerged building, Tritannus' trident in her lap. She did not care for the lost city's history. What she did care about was the fleet of warships steadily speeding ahead in the direction of Laudine.
Nereus weaved through the kelp and made his way to the Prince Nabu, the first of six battlecruisers that had launched from the Helenis' shipyards hours ago. Five more ships just like it followed right after. Tressa closed her eyes tightly. Steeling herself, she raised her trident to the sky and began summoning a storm.
Nereus gathered speed and breached the surface, flying out of the water. He used a spell midair to transform his tail into legs and landed solidly on aft deck of the Prince Nabu. Four of this guards, three mermaids and a triton, followed right after him, weapons in hand. The sailors around them jumped in surprised.
A woman stepped out to meet the triton prince. She wore a dirtied white jacket that fluttered in the wind. She was startling young for a captain, maybe seventeen, but she had an ambitious air about her. What was most striking about her was her white makeup: white lipstick, white eyeshadow and white painted nails. It made a stark contrast against her dark skin and her brilliant purple eyes. In her glossy brown hair was a white flower.
"Nereus, good to see you," she said.
"And you too," he quipped tightly. He was not in the mood for niceties. He was going to start a war, something he was not proud of. His only consolation was that he would on the front lines fighting alongside his own men and women.
Nereus' pink hair had been pulled back into a tight plait, his sword on his back. He and his guards had been given newly forged armours.
"I wasn't expecting to see you before we began. Welcome aboard the Prince Nabu."
Nereus' fins bristled at the name. He had known Nabu from his time studying under Professor Torganis at the Marine Institute of Nadur and had respected him for his talent in magic. For a moment, he was ashamed about what he was going to do. His shame passed quickly.
The woman led them inside to a room attached to the bridge.
"There's going to be a change of plans," Nereus said.
"What?" she said, "No, absolutely not. I am not turning this fleet around." She looked prepared to fight. She wanted this war to happen.
"I never said that we were retreating, Nidaba," Nereus said, his voice dangerously low. She quieted immediately. "I want to avoid as many civilian casualties as we can. Innocent blood is not what I want on the hands of our soldiers. Enough people have died for lesser things."
"Then what do you want?"
"Divert a ship to the wreckage of the Andromachus."
The woman tilted her head in askance and listened to Nereus' plan. Nereus regarded Melite, one of the Rhinemaidens, standing just behind him.
Aisha paced a circle inside her pavilion, bubbling with shame and embarrassment. The pavilion had been raised on one of the barges, acting as her very own command tent. It stuck out like a sore thumb, made of fine navy blue and golden silks and her father's royal banners flying in the wind, compared to other blue tarp and grey salt-stained tents. She was a princess and she had acted like a besotted idiot in front of Roy. His words rung in her ears.
"I don't recognize your authority as princess or future ruler of this kingdom! The seas of Andros will dry up first before I ever think I should feel indebted to you for saving my life!"
The words hurt, it had been a stab at her pride, at an integral part of her being.
She jumped when she saw Taboc the Wise enter her tent.
"Your Highness, I didn't mean to scare you." He bowed and inclined his head. The man was old now, or rather, older than before. His age was catching up with him. There were more lines in his face and his hair was greyer.
"Lord Taboc, how are things at the Assembly and the Sovereigns Council?"
"As well as could be expected."
"Meaning not well at all," Aisha guessed. Graciously, she pulled out a chair and set a cushion on it for the aging man. It was the least she could do for one of the greatest wizards of Andros.
The old man sat down, groaning. "No. Delegations are leaving the council every minute. First Eraklyon, now Melody, Espero and Oppositus. It is a pitiable sight, but let's forget politics for now. Dear princess, I haven't seen you in months. How have you been?"
"I've been, well, fine."
"You sound unsure. Do the nightmares about him still trouble you?"
"No…yes. I don't know. I thought I was getting better, that I was healing and that I was moving on, but now I'm not so sure."
Humiliation and shame welled up in her breast again. Her face scrunched up. She rubbed her eyes, trying to not let her emotions get the better of herself. She had promised no more tears.
"I thought that I was doing the right thing by letting go of the past. But now, I don't know what to do. How do I move on…from him?"
Aisha exhaled deeply, feeling her stomach become heavy with lead. Him. Nabu. "Do you remember Sir Roy from this morning's knighting ceremony? The blond one. My father and Admiral Hautemare had assigned him as my personal escort a few months ago."
"Of course. I personally recommended him to your father. He proved himself a capable soldier at the defence of the Omega Portal two years ago."
Two years ago, during the height of Valtor's war. Roy had been there during the crisis. Naturally. This should not have surprised her, but it did.
"Sir Roy has a great future in the Royal Navy ahead of him. He's commodore material but he was picked up by the base in Castigneau. He could have been a good face for recruiting your generation."
"Castigneau? The Striped Stingrays team? That's a spec ops team and he's barely older than me. He must have been recruited as a minor."
"He was, but he's not any different from your friends from Red Fountain; young, well-trained and very dangerous when they need to be. He comes from a difficult background. When your father's forces occupied Pont Mercier…you know how the story goes, princess. A soldier from the occupying forces had a liaison with a local woman, made promises of the future and then left her as soon as your father called the retreat, leaving the woman pregnant and on her own." Taboc let the princess draw her own conclusions for a long moment.
Aisha blanched and felt her stomach churn. "Then why join the navy at all?"
"They promised him good money for his loyalty. He is an expert diver and he has connections with the undersea kingdoms that most of our divers do not have. A man has to make his living on Andros. Did Roy do something that was to your distaste, princess?"
"No…it's just he said some things that made me think. I'm the Princess of Andros. I'm supposed to be taking care of my people and then…he opened my eyes. I'm not actually doing anything that will make a difference." Aisha sat back on a divan and tucked a leg under her. She felt like an awkward teen looking to him for advice.
"He told you that?" he asked.
"No! He told me that food has been going missing in the city and no one was doing anything about it. I know that the some of the aristocracy is corrupt, but I didn't think it went this far."
She thumbed the yellow gold band on her finger. It was set with thirteen white diamonds of the highest quality mined from Tarshish, an island east of the City of Ophir. The diamonds surrounded a large deep purple sapphire. The sapphire had been cut from the Star of Tiamat, the dark stone atop the Rod of the Devout. Nabu's staff. Even now, she could feel the ring's magic hum with the energies of Andros.
It was the most expensive thing as well as the nicest that she had been ever given. It was to be expected, coming from the richest family on Andros. It had taken her weeks to get Nabu to give up the price and the price had been scandalously high, making her ashamed even for someone of her status. None of the other pieces in her dowry were as nice as Nabu's ring. Most of them were large and gaudy, unfashionable and ugly from bygone eras and dead dynasties. The purity of the gold could easily buy a new ship. Or she could use it to buy enough food from Ophir to stave off the chaos.
For a moment, she actually considered it before berating herself for thinking so lowly of his memory.
"Princess, it was not his place to raise his voice at you," Taboc continued.
"I wasn't any better." Aisha confessed what she had done, keeping her eyes to the carpets. "I don't know what to think about him. At first, I thought my father sent him to me as another suitor. To replace…" She did not trust her voice. She struggled to form words, her tongue becoming thick, her throating seizing.
"And then it turns out that Roy had no such intentions. He's just a commoner, a loyal citizen. I was stupid and now I don't know what to do about him."
"Do you wish to send him away? He can be stationed elsewhere."
"No!" she said too quickly. "He doesn't deserve that. That would be selfish of me." She did not even know where Roy lived. Did he live in the barracks of the royal capital? Or did he have a home in Pont Mercier, as his name suggested? She realized that she did not know much about Roy other than what she could skim from dossiers and from the man himself.
Roy probably thought that she was just another spoiled princess.
"What do you want then, princess?"
Aisha drew her shoulders in. "I don't want him to hate me."
"He hates you?"
"He didn't say it, but I know that's what he thinks of me."
The old man's expression softened. "Aisha, you're wallowing in your own thoughts now. You can't speak for him, you can't make up what you think he thinks. If you want to know what he really thinks, you need to talk to him."
"He's too busy with the salvage. I don't want to bother him."
"Now, you're being a coward and making excuses."
"I'm not! I'm being practical!" Aisha rose to her feet, trying to gain some control of the conversation.
"You'll never knew what he thinks if you don't talk to him, Aisha."
The water princess stopped, clenching her fists.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," a third voice said from outside the tent. One of the guards entered the pavilion and pushed aside the flap to admit a person. Aisha's heart jumped. She knew the voice.
"Lieutenant du Pont Mercier, a Knight of Laudine," the guard announced.
Roy entered the tent, still half shrugging on armour plates to his wetsuit.
"Sir Roy," Taboc greeted.
"Your Highness," he said, bowing to Aisha. If Roy had any dislike towards her, he did not show it. His voice was tinged with urgency. "Lord Taboc. I'm sorry to interrupt but I have orders from command to escort the princess back to the palace immediately."
Aisha straightened up. "What's going on?"
"An armada was spotted coming from the southeast."
"The Eastern Fleet?" Taboc asked.
Roy shook his head, his face saying it all. "They fly red and black colours, sir. The…jolie rouge." Roy's voice hesitated. She heard the accent in his voice, using the commoner's term. "It's a never before seen flag. A skull with warpaint on a bed of white flowers with a trident in its teeth."
Aisha swallowed. Pirates were an everyday fact of life on Andros but they were rarely bold enough to attack a city, especially Laudine, what with two shipyards and royal maritime command within earshot of the city.
But Laudine was weak, its people demoralized and the king's flagship scuttled in its waters.
"Where is the Eastern Fleet?" Aisha asked. Their only chance of survival at this point was to have greater numbers.
"They're still forty out. The capital fleet is moving in to intercept, but our central command…is still down." Roy looked his shoulder towards the Andromachus before exhaling. "They haven't moved command from the tents on the harbour yet."
Fear and hopelessness started to claw its way back into Aisha's heart. Her home was in danger again. The first time, Valtor had nearly torn the planet apart and all she could do was watch as Tecna sacrifice herself for her. Tritannus went mad with power trying to flood the planet. Then Politea came and attacked, looking for Dafne.
Not again.
She felt her muscles flex, as if her wings were already there. She walked past Roy, pretending to ignore his gaze.
She was not as strong as she thought she was. Four years ago, she never thought she would be so…broken and undecided. She had always known what she wanted, even when Nabu came along, but now she was not so sure.
She pulled the tent flap out of the way. The air was thick with ozone. The sea was angry and tumultuous. She looked to the once blue sky and saw it turn grey and black in the distance with flashes of lightning. A shiver trickled down her spine. The weather casters had foretold a heavy storm today.
Small black shapes dotted the horizon. The air raid sirens were already blaring, warning citizens to take shelter and mustering seaman and soldiers into action. The barges started their engines and weighed anchors. The bay and the diamond wall would soon be a naval battlefield in less than an hour, if not sooner. Diaspro's wall was a godsend. The damn thing had proven itself against tsunamis and dragons, Aisha hoped it would stand up to pirates too. There was no hope for what remained of the Andromachus. It would be a disgrace to leave the symbol of her father's power in the water, but there was nothing that could be done for it.
"Please come with me, princess. The Odyssea Explorer is prepped to go." Roy zipped up his suit and got his emerald spear out. He stood an awkward arms length away as four of her royal guards formed a tight suffocating circle around her. He still played the part of personal escort despite it no longer being his job. Personnel ran to and fro. Instinctually, or perhaps it was part of his duties as a knight now, he walked in front of the small group diverting anyone who wished to pass her retinue.
The blood was already pounding her veins. She saw the ships approaching. There was no doubt in her mind that those black specks in the distance were not friendly. She remembered a time when Laudine had been at war. They used to hide her and her mother in a bunker deep within the palace. She remembered the sirens vividly and the waiting. The waiting was what had killed her every time.
"Torpedoes off the port bow!" Roy yelled.
Torpedoes?
Impossible. The armada was still too far away to launch missiles.
Aisha barely had time to look before she was pushed to the ground and buried under a pile of loyal bodyguards and shields. Black shadows beneath the surface rushed at the barge.
Aisha braced for impact, knowing what a torpedo could do to a defenceless non-combat ship. Her heart hammered in her ears. She wanted to transform and fight.
The impact never came. She heard a splash and then all out chaos broke on the ship. Aisha crawled out from the pile of muscles and armour. She looked over the side and saw more black shadows speed towards the barge, smaller than torpedoes but fast as lightning.
The shadows flew out of the water, glittering scales, colourful fins and razor sharp wings. Their battlecries was the call to arms. Warrior mermen and mermaids emerged from the ocean. They used their speed and surprise to their advantage, throwing the sailors overboard.
Fighting broke out on the barges, even the ones that had managed to start manoeuvring out of the wreckage site. Mad chaos ensued.
Aisha rushed to get to her feet and find her bearings. She froze when she saw a mermaid burst from the waves and fly towards her.
Aisha drew in a breath to create a shield, a wall, some form of morphix construct—she could only stare like a deer in the headlights.
CRACK! Roy thwacked the mermaid down with the wide side of his spear, his chest rising and falling. The mermaid bounced and rolled across the deck, letting out a yelp of pain. Like most mermaids, she was beautiful, even in her pain, long pastel yellow hair and green scales. Her coral sword slipped out of her hand and Roy kicked it away.
He stood over the mermaid and raised his spear about his head. Aisha looked away and heard a female scream of agony mixed something wet.
The first casualties of war.
"Get moving, Aisha!" Roy yelled, pointing toward the yacht.
The mermaid was limp on the floor, her tail flicking.
Aisha could only stare at the dark red blood on Roy's weapon.
She did not—could not!—understand. Why were the merfolk attacking the surface? Why would they? She thought that they had a peace between the two kingdoms.
She was frozen in her spot, staring at the dead mermaid and then at Roy. Her mind processed what was going on slowly, like she was spectator to a movie. She was in the middle of the fight and could only watch as the violence unfolded.
They were not fighting mutated tritons, cursed mermaids guards, or escaped convicts of Omega. These were mermaids and mermen, of sound mind and body, that had come to wage war with the surface.
She could not fight them.
Roy fended off another warrior mermaid and quickly made short work of her. When he saw that Aisha had not moved, he sprinted to her and gripped her shoulder.
"Aisha, snap out of it! We are in a battle!" he yelled, shaking her violently.
That brought her to her senses quickly. Now was not the time to stand with her mouth open like an idiot. She took a deep breath and created a quarterstaff out of morphix, ready to fight.
She jumped into the fray, forming a buckler on her arm to fend off swords and using her staff to knock tritons and mermaids off balance. Most of them relied on their wings to keep them upright, and a few well-placed hits had them squirming on the ground like fish.
"No, Roy, don't—!" she shouted, reaching to stop him with a hand. Roy planted his spear into a struggling triton, dark blood gushing from the wound. Aisha pulled back, her stomach churning at the sight.
"Don't kill them!" she admonished.
"They're trying to kill us!" he snapped. His blood was boiling with battle lust. Tritons and soldier hacked and slashed at each other with curved blades and poisoned daggers.
Roy grabbed the princess' arm and pulled her to the Odyssea Explorer. The small luxury yacht was being dragged behind in the water at an angle, its moorings taut. Roy grabbed the thick rope, twisting it until he got a firm grip and pulled with all his strength, bringing it closer to the edge of the barge.
"Jump!" he yelled.
Dispelling her morphix weapons, Aisha took a running start and leapt off the gunwale. She tried to land on her feet but fell on her side with a wooden thud. It was going to hurt like hell to tomorrow. She groaned and rolled over, forcing herself up. Right beside her, a heavy coil of rope and then Roy landed on his feet, rocking the yacht.
He pulled her up and towards the wheelhouse, shoving her below deck.
"Hey! Don't lock me in here!" she shouted. "What about Lord Taboc and the other guards?"
"I'm really sorry, but those are not my orders," he said as he secured the hatch shut.
"Then I order you to go back and retrieve them, Roy!"
"Your father's orders override any orders that you give me, Aisha."
Horror shuddered through her body at the thought of leaving Taboc and her guards behind, leaving a vile taste in her mouth. She always knew that such a thing was a possibility. It was protocol. Her life was above everyone else's.
Not a minute later, she felt the Odyssea Explorer lurch forward, making her reach for anything that was bolted to the floor to steady her feet. She saw through the portholes the lounge chairs fly off the deck and into the waters.
She crawled her way forward to the ceiling hatch and peered through the small window. Roy was at the wheel going full speed ahead. The knight knew the yacht the best, coaxing it to its maximum speed.
The barge grew smaller and smaller in the distance. Aisha could only swallow her terror and pray for everyone else.
The appearance of ships on the horizon was already inciting panic in Laudine. The sky had already turned black and poured a torrential shower on the city. Visibility became zero and the hospital waiting room started to fill with people looking to get out of the rain.
Helia swerved out of the way of a gurney and fixed his comm link in his ear. He found an empty room and rushed to the window, pulling the curtains away. A strong wind rattled the glass. He pulled out his scope and fixed his sight on the dark points in the distance. The air-raid sirens were deafening.
Helia angled his scope to the west where a Red Fountain aircraft carrier floated. It had been permanently stationed there by the Council of Magix for the last three years due to the troubles of Andros. He could make out the tiniest movements on the runway as men in orange suits and hovercrafts were brought below deck.
Bringing them below deck, not preparing them for launch. Helia inhaled and exhaled, calming his heart rate. It was clear then. The old man in Magix had decided to not engage. After all, it was not Magix' place to intervene in intraplanetary conflicts.
There was a crackle noise in his right ear that made the artist wince.
"Hey, Helia, check in." Timmy's voice came through the communicator. He sounded like he was whispering. Helia could hear all sorts of background noises coming through, but above all, he heard the panic in the other man's voice.
"Helia, here. What's going on?"
"I've got bad news. It looks like pirates are on their way. There are six unclassified battlecruisers and two dozen other light cruisers and three dreadnoughts—dreadnoughts! You have to get out of there!"
"Timmy, breathe," Helia said comfortingly. "Keep calm. The pirates haven't declared their intent yet. It might be just a show of power."
The other man did not seem convinced. "We sent out some drones to take a look. Look at the names painted on the hulls, Helia. Six brand new ships, there's only one family in all of Andros that could afford that."
A holographic image downloaded onto his comm link and generated a small screen in front of him. The pictures were far from perfect but he was nearly fluent in Androsian after three years. He recognised two names immediately:
Prince Nabu.
Prince Tritannus.
Helia furled his brow. Those were two names he never thought he would see together.
"Do you think Nabu's family commissioned those ships?" Helia asked. "How do we know it's not a tactic to scare King Teredor? People aren't happy with the way the last few wars turned out. Warships named after two fallen princes heading straight at the capital is bound to make a point."
Helia received another message on comm link. Hold on, Timmy. I just got orders from command."
His orders were to stay put with the team of first and second-year cadets that under his supervision within the hospital. He was reminded with great emphasis that he was on Andros as non-combative active duty specialist and that he was not to engage in any of the fighting.
He checked that his laser string gloves were still on him.
The Odyssea Explorer rolled side-to-side, flying over choppy waves. Rain pounded at the windshield. He was blind and he only had the ship's compass and his knowledge of the nautical charts to guide him. The air was magically charged and the storm was getting worst by the moment.
He dodged the merchant ships and fishings trawlers moving to escape the city. It was absolute madness. The engine wake of a cargo ship threatened to overturn the yacht. It was either that or smash into the sheer rock formation on his starboard side. Roy gritted his teeth and ignored all the rules of seamanship.
He knew what would happen once the pirates landed on the capital. It was a matter of minutes and he needed to get Aisha onto land and into the hands of her father's guards. The harbour was on the other side of the island which seemed like a whole planet away.
Just then, the yacht lurched forward and he went flying over the windshield. Roy landed with a hard wooden smack on the foredeck. He groaned, trying to roll over. A sickening feeling of weightlessness appeared in his stomach.
He opened his eyes, blinking away white stars. The yacht was in the air. How?! he thought.
He grabbed onto the nearest rail but was sent crashing to the other side of the deck. Rock groaned against aluminium, water and pebbles pelting Roy in the face. The crash jostled him overboard and he landed on a bed of hard porous rock, the wind knocked out of him. He closed his eyes, despite the rain, the thunder, the need to fulfill his duties as both a soldier and a knight.
He tried to catch his breathe. An icy cold wave washed over him, completely submerging him and pulling him to sea. He woke up immediately and struggled to his hands and knees, coughing.
Pain! So much pain! Roy scrunched his eyes and relegated his pain to the back of his mind. His injuries were not important.
The Odyssea Explorer was on its side, looking like a beached whale. It was engulfed in a powerful purple area, the result of whatever spell had sent the ship flying into small beach at the foot of cliff face . Roy forced himself up, remembering his duty.
He groaned knowing that one or two of his ribs were hurting. He touched his side and winced. Definitely broken.
"What do we do with this one?"
Roy whipped his head around. Five figures appeared out of the ocean, wielding coral spears and swords. He recognized the markings on their skin—mermaids and tritons, their tails turned into legs.
Roy fell on his haunches, gasping at the pain in his side, the soft wet sand giving way under his feet. He looked up as the five mermaids and tritons surrounded him. For a moment, he panicked when he saw who their leader was.
Long purplish hair, light grey eyes, a pattern of blue markings on his forehead.
"Tritannus…?!" he rasped.
No, it was a trick of light.
"If only that were the case," Nereus said.
The triton prince knocked the knight out with the pommel of his sword. The blond hit ground hard.
Nereus approached the crashed vessel. One of his guards pulled Aisha out from the wreck. The fairy laid eyes on the horrible tableau, four attackers on the beach standing over Roy.
"Roy!" Aisha shouted. The wind howled, deafening her cry. She could not accept him being dead. "Get away from him!"
She ran to the knight but one of the women stepped in her way. Aisha threw the first punch, surprising the mermaid guard that tried to stop her.
Aisha paused, chest heaving, chilled to the bone. She recognised the woman, a Rhinemaiden, a warrior mermaid. Melite, the mermaid from before. Aisha looked around and saw Corrissa and Perline, the other Rhinemaidens that had been at salvage. Roy's friends.
Melite, despite coming from the sea, regained her stance and knocked the princess off of her feet. She fought like a real surface-worlder. Without warning, Aisha found herself on the losing side of a fist fight. The other guards did not even come to help. They watched with mild interest.
Aisha twisted and rolled, almost getting a kick to the face. She scrambled to get up so she could transform, scrapping her hands and arms on the sharp rock. Then she spotted Nereus standing over Roy with his sword in hand. She stood frozen in fear. Nereus? Tritannus?
For a moment, she was not so sure.
No, Nereus. She had seen Tritannus get eaten up by the portal to Oblivion. She was sure of it.
The black sky roared thunderously, raining white lightning down on city. Like a sword, a grey ship sliced through the storm, the name painted in golden yellow on the steel hull: Prince Nabu.
Bile rose up in Aisha's mouth.
"Nereus, what's going on?"
Nereus sheathed his blade on his back and took a step towards the princess. He had an explanation on his lips, but then was a thunderous boom rung out from the Prince Nabu. Eight of its gun turrets were pointed at two royal navy corvettes speeding to outflank the warship. Their tiny canons stung ineffectively against the side of the Prince Nabu.
"I am doing what needs to be done, cousin."
Aisha wiped away the ice cold rain and hot tears from her face, hoping to find a clue in Nereus' face. He wore a grim expression, looking too much like Tritannus.
"Please, come with me, Aisha, and I will make sure that this war is quick and that no one gets hurt."
Horror and understanding struck Aisha like a knife in her side, the truth of it twisting and hurting her painfully.
"Y-you…" she stuttered, her hands shaking and her blood turning cold. "You!"
She wanted to wake up from whatever horrible dream she was having. Her life was crashing all around her. Valtor, Nabu, Tritannus; now, Nereus. Roy was a motionless heap at Nereus' feet.
She wanted to scream to the heavens, she wanted to pull her eyes out and replace them with rivers.
"You're just like your brother!" she screamed. "Traitor, warmonger!"
"You sent my brother to his death," he replied coolly.
"He tried to destroy us."
She launched herself at the triton prince. She was going to go down fighting, if she had to. She had dealt with one brother, she could deal with the other, she thought—no, she hoped.
A woman in a white coat stepped out from behind Nereus and nailed Aisha in the stomach. She was lightning-fast, as if she had stepped out from the shadow of an illusion. She was dark-skinned, like Aisha, and wore a drenched white flower in her hair.
Aisha stumbled back and hit her head on a blunt rock. Her vision blurred and she saw darkness claw at the edges of her vision.
"You let my brother die," the woman in white spat out to the princess.
Aisha blacked out.
Nereus bent down and picked up the princess, her head lolling. He turned to the stormy sea, followed by the others. They had their hostage now.
Thanks for reading! Leaving a review would superbly awesome too!
References:
1) Professor Torganis and Nadur Island: Torganis is a character from the comic 46 "Mission to Andros" and he had a sickly daughter named Helisia. Nabu studied under him at the research centre in Nadur, near the Green Archipelago. Helisia had a crush on Nabu.
