Hey~o everybody! Hope you all enjoyed the last chapter. This story is starting to look more and more appealing to me. Why didn't I do this sooner? Oh well. Please enjoy this next chapter of A Tale of a Tail.
"What's wrong Chiaki?"
"The shadow, it's moving towards us! Not very quickly, but still! The miasma has become stronger! What do we do?!" Chiaki wailed as tears began to flow down his face.
"Get a grip Chiaki. We just have to find the spell as soon as possible. That's all we can do," Onodera said in a firm but kind voice. Chiaki calmed down a little when he heard this, and swam off to his room to get some sleep for the night. Things are getting a little too dangerous around here. Maybe I shouldn't have brought Takano-san. Just as Onodera was thinking this, a servant swam towards him with a sword poised to kill him. Onodera quickly dodged the oncoming servant, and swam to the top of the hallway to avoid a blow from behind.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Onodera called in anger as the servant rushed him again, red eyes full of hatred. Red eyes?! This caught Onodera off guard for a moment too long, as the sword sliced open his arm. Onodera refused to cry out as he disarmed the servant, and knocked him out with a well placed blow. Onodera then chanted a spell to remove the miasma's effect on the servant, and floated back down to the floor of the hallway. There he gently placed the servant on the floor, and silently went back to his room, sword in hand.
"Well isn't this something. I actually got cut for once," Onodera muttered to himself as he opened the door to his room as quietly as he could. Apparently he wasn't quiet enough, because Takano was sitting up in the bed when he looked. Onodera just sighed and retreated to a chest in a corner of the room to treat his wound. It was a shallow cut that hurt more than it bled, but Takano didn't seem to notice this as he walked over to Onodera as fast as the water would allow him to.
"Are you alright? What happened to you?" Takano said in a panicked voice.
"I'm fine. One of my servants became affected by something and attacked me. It's a small cut so there's no need to worry," Onodera said calmly as he tightened the bandage, and looked up at Takano with placid eyes. Takano was truly shocked by Onodera's calm appearance, and looked deep into the brunette's eyes where he saw just a small spark of alarm.
"Liar," Takano said as he pulled Onodera into his arms. Onodera struggled for a second, before giving up and giving in to Takano's comforting gesture. As they continued to embrace, Onodera felt his cut healing and his fins turning into legs. This shocked him and he waited until his cut had disappeared and his legs reappeared, before he said anything to Takano.
"Uh, Takano-san. You can let go now," Onodera said as he pushed away from the taller man slightly. Takano reluctantly released Onodera and was about to say something, until he noticed Onodera's legs. He looked up at Onodera in shock and then when the brunette showed him his healed cut, Takano just about fell over from shock.
"Did I..."
"Apparently you're a Catalin Takano-san," Onodera said quietly as he walked over to the bed and sat down.
"A what?!" Takano said in surprise as he turned to face the brunet sitting on the bed.
"A Catalin. A healer of merfolk and a breaker of spells. You can also turn our fins to legs under water. We'll still be able to breathe, but our fins won't appear again until two hours after their transformation."
Takano was silent for a while as he contemplated Onodera's words.
"So I can use magic?" Takano finally asked in confusion.
"Of a sort," Onodera laughed as Takano walked over and sat on the bed next to him.
"Well, there goes my sense of reality," Takano said in fake depression, causing Onodera to laugh even harder. Takano tried to hide his smile, but met with success for about 30 seconds as a wide grin lit up his face. Onodera laughed for a good five minutes before he finally began to calm down, and moved to go to the other side of the bed. Onodera then found himself pulled onto his back on the bed. Just as he was about to protest, Takano sealed his lips with a kiss and Onodera found his strength draining.
"Wai...t. Taka_no-sa_n," Onodera tried to protest. It was to no avail as Takano began to caress Onodera's neck with his lips, his hands exploring the rest of the brunet's body. Onodera was soon moaning as Takano moved his hands lower, and began to lightly stroke his slightly hardened cock.
"I wonder how long you'll keep your legs once we're done here," Takano said seductively, causing the mer-king to blush and turn his face away. Takano chuckled deep in his throat as he began to lick Onodera's nipples lightly. The brunet tensed at the feathery touch of Takano's warm tongue, as pleasure began to grow and spread throughout his body. His moans grew louder in pitch as Takano continued to play with his body.
"Ah...ngh...nnn...hah," Onodera moaned as Takano put first one finger, then two more in an attempt to loosen the younger man's opening. To his surprise, the opening was fairly easy to loosen thanks to the water's viscosity. Takano played with the opening a bit more to make sure that he wouldn't hurt Onodera, before finally replacing his fingers with his own cock. Onodera's moans soon peaked as Takano slid in and out slowly. Once the brunet was breathing more evenly, Takano picked up his pace and was surprised when his speed wasn't slowed by the force of the water like it should've been.
As his thrusts went deeper into Onodera's body, the mer-king found himself moaning with each thrust as he grew louder. The two climaxed together and released their desire in pure ecstasy. Takano laid down on Onodera's chest as the two tried to regain their breaths. As soon as his breathing was more regular, Takano pulled out of Onodera and laid down beside him. The younger man felt a wave of sleep take him as the older pulled him into his arms. They slept completely unaware of the world around them, lost in the comfort that the other brought to them.
Morning arrived in the form of very loud banging coming from the bedroom door. Onodera was awake and alert immediately. He looked to see if his tail had returned and was pleased to see it had before he quickly swam over and opened the door.
"Onodera-sama, help me!" was Chiaki's response before he passed out into Onodera's arms. Onodera immediately looked up and found himself staring into the red eyes of four of his servants. Thinking quickly, Onodera set Chiaki on the floor gently, and poised himself into a battle ready position. He was caught off guard when Takano stepped in front of him and erected a barrier around the door.
"Takano-san wha-"
"I'll protect you Onodera. Just give me some time to touch them," Takano said sternly as Onodera nodded his head, and prepared to take the weapons in the servant's hands. The two worked quickly as the brunet disarmed the servants, as the Catalin broke the curse over them with a light tap on their bodies. Once they were sure that the servants were lucid again, they set off about the castle in search of other's who'd been affected. They spent the rest of the morning curing any mer-person they came across with the curse on them.
"Onodera, what's going on? Why are they attacking us?" Takano asked when they'd finally cured everyone who'd been affected.
"It's that black merman who's behind this. His darkness is spreading, and the fish are fleeing as the coral dies. If we don't do something soon not only will we be affected, but the surface will be affected as well," Onodera explained quickly as they dashed down the hallways to a set of stairs. They climbed quickly up to the top and floated on the top spire of the middle tower. The sight they saw was a grim one. Blackened coral surrounded them and there wasn't a fish to be found.
"We need a barrier," Onodera stated as he swam back down the stairs.
"Maybe I cou-"
"No!" Onodera shouted vehemently before stopping Takano from casting a barrier. "The energy drain from the barrier would kill you. You are forbidden to use that power except on a small scale."
"But I ca-"
"No. You will die if you even attempt it. There's no way y-"
"What if I cast the spell on a model of the castle using precious stones? My power will be multiplied by the stones, and the shield will hold without my help," Takano said stubbornly as the brunet looked at him with hard eyes. As Takano's words sank in, Onodera's eyes changed from hard to contemplating as he considered them.
"Alright. I have a model in my office and some black opals you can use. Follow me," Onodera said as he led the way down the stairs and through a network of hallways. They finally came to the right door and began to get to work, setting up the model and stones. Takano then cast his barrier spell on the stones and once he was done, fell to his knees in exhaustion. The younger man swam over to him, concern plain in his eyes. The older one just smiled at the mer-king and stood up with energy he didn't possess.
"Now this is interesting," a merman with long black hair and searing red eyes chuckled, as he felt a small light appear in the darkness he'd created.
"I'm coming for you my little mer-king. And soon your kingdom will be mine," the man chuckled evilly. His laugh rang through the seas and echoed in the walls in the palace. Onodera shuddered while Takano looked up in confusion, and then down at the brunet as he uttered one word in response to the laugh.
"Acronon."
This is where I'll stop for today. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I look forward to hearing from some of you in the comments. Hint hint. ;D See ya all later and watch out for pranks this month. Halloween is just around the corner. Sayonara(good bye)!(^o^)/