Hello again! I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter of A Tale of a Tail. I really like all the thumbs up I'm getting, so I'll continue writing this story...sorry if that sounded totally rude just now. So anyways, I hope you'll all enjoy this next chapter. It's a doozy. See ya at the end! :D
"Onodera-sama! Thank goodness you've arrived so quickly," a servant called out as Onodera entered a castle made of pearl, glass and marble. Onodera just nodded his head, too exhausted from his five hour swim to give a proper response.
"Right this way. The Council is waiting for you," the servant said with a bow. He then led Onodera deeper into the castle, as Onodera's panic began to rise.
This is bad! The Council is gathered now?! They must've swam like maniacs to get here today. What's so urgent that they needed to form in such a way? Onodera continued to puzzle this as the servant stopped before a door, and opened it into a grand meeting room with a long decorated table at it's center and chairs placed evenly all around it. In those chairs sat 12, very haggard looking merpeople. The way they looked was not lost on Onodera as he probably looked like them at the moment. Onodera let out an impressive sigh before handing his bag to the servant, composing himself, and striding forward with an energy he didn't possess.
"Welcome to Viladir my Council. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company this fine evening?" Onodera said with a straight face as he took his seat at the head of the table.
"Onodera-sama, we all have reports to give to you. Strange things are happening all over the oceans and seas. I Reynard will go first," a man with a short cut black beard and vivid yellow eyes said in response. "I fear I must report that the coral in the Barrier Reef is starting to die at a rapid rate."
Onodera's eyes widened in shock as each gave their reports. All he heard were reports of fish fleeing, coral dying and even whales moving to the south towards Antarctica when it was the warm season, and they should have been moving North towards warmer waters.
"That is all," Reynard finished as the room became deathly silent.
"Such things happening to my kingdom. Do we know the cause of this?" Onodera asked the council, voice edgy but still straight faced.
"We cannot find any other source than this phenomenon all started in the Arctic, and has spread downward at a rapid pace," a female with red hair and purple eyes said sadly.
"Thank you Clara. But has anyone even attempted to investigate where the source of this...miasma is at?" Onodera asked seriously. The room went silent again as the Council lowered their heads in shame for not even attempting to investigate into it further.
Onodera sighed before saying, "It appears I will have to investigate this matter for myself. Though I am puzzled why we have not seen similar results i-"
"Sorry I'm late!" Chiaki stated as he entered the room. "Onodera-sama, I've just received reports of a large black shadow moving in the north!"
"What did you say?!" Onodera asked as his face showed pure horror.
"What are we gonna do Onodera-sama? The fish are fleeing south and the coral is starting to die! What can we do?!" Chiaki stated in clear panic, as his blue tail twitched in an agitated manner.
"Ochitsuku(calm down), Chikai. Just let me think," Onodera replied, once again under control. After about 10 minutes of intense silence, Onodera straightened up and announced, "Something must be done about this black menace. This has happened once before, but right now that black shadow is growing stronger by the minute. Therefore we have need of an ancient spell to either kill it for good, or to seal it back into the crack from which it came. We can't allow the shadow to get any stronger. We must take action now."
"But what about your meeting in two days Onodera-sama?" a servant asked from the doorway.
"This is a much more pressing matter as it affects the humans on the surface as well. I'm sure we will just be raising the alarm if we don't do something now," Onodera said firmly as he got out of his seat and swam over to the door. "I'm counting on you, the Council, to find those spells. Do not fail your king," Onodera said as he left the room and swam down the hallway to his room. Once the door to his room was closed, his facade dropped into exhaustion and panic as he began to pace the room.
What to do? What to do? The previous ruler mentioned this, but I didn't expect it to happen so soon. So he has returned, Acronon. That devil of a merman will have to be destroyed this time. No amount of sealing will hold him back for long. Of this much I am certain. But how to do it?
Onodera continued to pace the room until he could think no more, and swam over to his bed in tired resignation. Onodera then passed into the world of dreams as he fell asleep. He was woken up eight hours later by a call on his cell. Onodera sat up lazily, stretched and cast a spell to keep his phone from getting water damage, before he pulled it out of his bag and answered it.
"Hello?" Onodera asked, the physical drain of last night in his voice.
"Onodera! Where the hell are you?!" an angry Takano shouted through the phone.
"Takano-san...I'm sorry. I had to leave for Okinawa last night. I got a call on my cell after I got out of the water an-"
"Bullshit you did! You had a bag with you when you left the apartment last night! What the hell were you reall-"
"I told you! I got a sudden call and I had to go to Okinawa! It was urgent!" Onodera shouted right back, now fully awake.
"Yeah right," Takano snorted in disbelief. Onodera was getting really pissed off now and decided he had no other choice than to tell Takano the truth.
"...If you want to know the truth, then come to Okinawa and bring a bag of clothes with you. You'll be staying here for a few days. Also, cancel the planning meeting for this Friday. I have more pressing matters to deal with at the moment. And you better get on the one o'clock train. I'll see you at nine," Onodera said as he hung up with finality. Onodera let out a long sigh and sat on his bed for a bit, before finally getting up to get breakfast. Onodera swam down the hallway towards the kitchen, before he noticed that the clock said 11 am.
I guess it's more lunch time than breakfast time now, Onodera thought to himself as a small smile appeared on his lips. The smile quickly faded away once he saw one of the servants swimming towards him.
"Onodera-sama, what would you like to eat? You must be hungry after last night," the maid said cheerfully as she grabbed Onodera's wrist, and dragged him to a seat in the kitchen. He was quickly served some trout soup and seaweed bread. Onodera ate without a second thought and thanked the maid for the meal, before heading off to the library. When he entered the massive room of books, he was greeted by chaos as the Council members rushed around and read one book after another. All work stopped when he entered the room, and the Council all gave him the answer he was looking for by shaking their heads sadly. Onodera sighed, and went over to the nearest bookshelf to begin searching himself.
When 7 pm rolled around, the serving staff came in with food for everyone. Onodera took his leave once he was finished, and grabbed his clothes before swimming into a cove of a beach where he wouldn't be seen as he dried off and put on his clothes. Once he was fully dressed, he walked up the beach, to the road and waited for the bus that would take him to the train station. He got off of the bus at the station at 8:30 and waited at the main gate until 9 pm. As Onodera looked around, he saw a tall black haired figure headed straight for him. He stood up from his crouched position, and waved at Takano until the man was ten feet from him.
"Yo, Takano-san. Did you tell the board?" Onodera greeted nonchalantly.
"Yeah. And they weren't happy about it, but I said I would let them know when you had everything together," Takano said as he fell into step with Onodera, and they left the station. They then got on the bus to go back to the beach Onodera had been at earlier.
"So what is this all about?" Takano asked in annoyance as they pulled up to their stop.
"Just wait a while longer and I'll show you," Onodera said with a sly smile. Takano shut up at the sight of such an odd smile on Onodera. He followed Onodera out onto the beach, and into the cove that Onodera had entered previously.
"You really have a thing for beaches huh?" Takano asked with a straight face. Onodera just shrugged, and began to strip off his clothes. Takano thought nothing of it because Onodera had already done this before, and he watched silently as Onodera waded into the water, clothes in hand.
"Come on Takano-san. You don't have to take off your clothes, just get in the water. Oh and take your bag with you," Onodera called out as he waved at Takano. Takano thought this was an odd request, but he did as he was ordered as he waded out to where Onodera was.
"Hold on just a minute. I have to cast a spell so you can breath underwater," Onodera said seriously before uttering an unintelligible phrase. Takano was truly shocked by this, and felt an odd sensation flow over him as Onodera completed his recitation. "There. Now follow me if you please," Onodera said with a weird smile as he dove beneath the water's surface. Takano held his breath instinctively as he dived after Onodera, and what he saw shocked him to no end. Takano let out all of the air he held in as he beheld the sight of Onodera's vivid green tail. Onodera laughed at his boss's dumbfounded look, and didn't stop until he noticed Chiaki swimming towards them.
"Chiaki, over here!" Onodera called out as the blue tailed merman swam up to them.
"Have you fou- Holy shit! What is Takano-san doing here Onodera-sama?!" Chiaki exclaimed when he saw the man.
"I had no choice. He would've found out eventually anyways. He's one persistent bastard. I'll give him that. Anyways, how goes the search?"
"Not well. The Council has been through nearly every book in the first library. It's not looking good Onodera-sama," Chiaki replied in a crestfallen voice.
*sigh~*"Just tell them to pick up where they left off from tonight for tomorrow. They need to rest," Onodera said in annoyance as Chiaki nodded his head, and swam back to the castle. "Now then, Takano-san if you would follow me please," Onodera said as he began to swim towards the castle. When he didn't hear Takano behind him, Onodera stopped and turned to look back at Takano. The man was just floating there unable to think or speak. Onodera sighed, swam back over to him, grabbed his wrist, and began to drag Takano back to the castle. Takano didn't even notice it for when they can upon the castle lit up by glowing moonlight, he was further silenced. Onodera began to become annoyed by Takano's stupefied state, and dragged the man through the castle and into his room.
"Oi! Would you snap out of it already?! You're really getting on my nerves Takano-san!" Onodera said in annoyance. Takano snapped out of his revelry as soon as he heard Onodera's voice, but not before looking the man over one time.
"Y-you...are a merman!" Takano said at last, clear surprise in his voice. Onodera sighed in annoyance as Takano continued to ramble off question after question about where they were, why Onodera had kept this secret from him and how was he able to breathe?
"Stop! Just stop Takano-san. I will answer all of your questions, if you would just shut up for five seconds!" Onodera finally shouted. Takano shut up immediately, and waited for Onodera to speak.
"We are in the castle Viladir, which has been the home of the royal family line of merfolk since time began. I am the current king of the oceans and seas, so this is my actual home. I was adopted by my parents when they found me wrapped in clothes on their doorstep, thus my current appearance. I kept this secret for the safety of my people. No one can know that we exist, understand. It would mean trouble for us, and it would just be a repeat of the Meiji Era incident where we were killed by the hundreds. And you are able to breath due to an enchantment I have cast upon you. Anything else you would like to ask?" Onodera said in annoyance as he finished his explanation. Takano just shook his head, and Onodera let out a long sigh as he schooled his face into something more stable.
"I have to go check on something now, so you can go to sleep ahead of me. I'll be back soon," Onodera said as he swam out of the room. Just as he was about to enter the first library, Chiaki shot down the hall towards him.
"Onodera-sama! We have a huge problem!"
What now?
Well that's the end of chapter two for A Tale of a Tail. I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing this. I really look forward to seeing what you guys think, and I'll see ya again soon in the next chapter. Suki yo(love ya)! :D