Chapter 18
"...the sea king approaches," a whisper came at his ear.
Acnologia smiled to himself and waved away the eels hovering next to him. A thrill ran down his scales. The entire ocean was awash with rumors as news of their missing prince washed along the currents. Sea slugs and crabs, dolphins and manta rays, all were ordered to search for the prince and the sea king himself issued a heavy reward for anyone who had even the slightest bit of information to give. But no information would be found, Acnoloiga made sure of that.
"ACNOLOGIA!" a voice thundered at the entrance of his cave.
Acnologia held back a laugh, turning to tidy his shelves as a means to hide the smile threatening to lift his lips. He cleared his throat, glancing over his shoulder.
"Ah, Brother! To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Do not play games with me, I know it was you!" Metalicana roared, his teeth flashing threateningly. But Acnologia was immune to such tricks.
"You'll have to be more specific, little brother," he tsked, "Remember, I am not allowed in the kingdom and as such have no idea of the goings-ons in your domain."
A vial crashed against the wall. "Enough! Where is my son?"
The trident glowed, as bright and hot as the temper simmering behind the king's eyes. Acnologia schooled his features, dropping all sense of teasing; it would do him no good if the king decided to obliterate him instead of asking more questions.
"You and your temper…I have no idea."
The trident glowed brighter. "I'm warning you…"
Acnologia shrugged. "It is true, Brother. I have no idea where the young prince is at this very moment. But…" he said slowly, lifting a hand to ward off his brother's growl, "I do know his general location."
Unable to hold back his smile any longer, Acnologia pointed to the ceiling of his cave. He watched his brother lift his eyes, the scales in his mind churning until he finally glared swordfish at him once more. His dark skin paled and the trident lowered a fin's length.
"...you didn't."
"Ah, well…" Acnologia spun around the king and swam towards his sleeping area. He flopped onto his bed, tail and fins draping lazily to the side. "Perhaps if you had allowed the boy to explore his other heritage, he wouldn't have gone behind your tail fins like this."
Metalicana swam forward, "What did you tell him?"
"Nothing so terrible, I assure you. Just information about his birthright, my problems with you, your problems with the surface world–"
"You know as well as I that humans are dangerous! Remember what happened two hundred sun cycles ago? Remember how our people–"
"And yet your father-in-law married one," Acnologia shot back, sitting upright on his seat, "Apparently he was able to see through the thick bubble of past hurts and move forward."
A small twinge caught in his chest. Acnologia rubbed his scales, keeping his gaze on his brother. He continued, before the tightness in his chest could grow any further.
"But unfortunately there is nothing I can do. You know as well as I do that once a deal is struck it has to be honored. Such a shame, really, because–"
His words choked off as Metalicana reached out and grabbed him by the throat. Bubbles escaped from his mouth and his lungs seized. He jerked forward until he hovered eye to eye with his incensed brother.
"Then I will tell you my deal…If anything happens to my son, it will be your scaly hide raked across the brimstone."
Metalicana released him with a shove that sent Acnologia whirling in the water. A bright flash exploded in the cave and vials shattered on the shelfs. Metalicana turned on his tail and swam out of the cave, sea glass falling around him like sparkling gems.
Acnologia lifted himself from the ground and rubbed his sore throat, grasping the shell pendant tightly. He glared at the retreating form of his brother until the cave was once again empty.
"Just you wait, brother mine," he growled, lips curling, "Once I get a hold of that trident, you will be the one bowing to me!"
A small gust of cool, sundown air rustled the short strands of hair across his face. Gajeel rubbed away the itch, sighing heavily as he leaned back against the outside wall of his new room.
An outcropping Levy called a balcony sat on the far side of the room and allowed him an open view of the human's sundown sky and dark ocean gently crashing in the distance. Gajeel scooted until he was safely away from the edge and leaned forward just enough to catch a small glimpse of the ground far below. Levy described something called gravity and dropped a small rock over the side of the balcony as she said the word. The rock fell through the open space and clattered loudly on the ground. Gajeel shivered, wrapping his arms around his knees.
He didn't feel the need to test out that particular aspect of the human world.
A twinge formed in his calf and Gajeel shifted his position on the stone floor. He rubbed his tired leg, the aches and pains completely worth the wonders he had seen throughout the sun cycle and the laughter that followed him every time he climbed the cursed stairs.
By the time the sun dropped behind the darkening ocean, Gajeel was certain Levy had managed to show him the entire human castle. One room was filled with shining, human statues, another with human weapons exactly like the ones he found during his last shipwreck search. They snuck into every bedroom they could find and ran around corners each time Lucy spotted them. After they ate another meal in the large dining room, and Gajeel watched Levy receive a scale-curling lecture from her maid, Levy showed him her favorite room: the library.
Gajeel shook his head, face warming at how he hovered like a tripod fish in the middle of the room, just staring at the rows and rows of perfectly intact books. They spent nearly half an entire sun cycle in the room pouring over books. Levy showed him books filled with just pictures, thick books wider than his arm, and books that even she wasn't allowed to touch.
In their search, Gajeel even found a new copy of his most recent study book. He expertly pointed to the picture of a human family sitting around a table and after several minutes of him pointing and waving his arms, Levy finally seemed to understand that Wendy read him the book cover to cover.
Just the memory of her warm smile brought a tingle to his chest. He glared at the ocean with a small, silent growl of challenge.
Contrary to his uncle's dire warning, Gajeel had proven that his feelings hadn't drifted away in the short time he and Levy were apart. His heart threatened to beat right out of his chest the moment he saw her walking towards him on the beach. Her touch made starfish tingle across his new skin and butterfly fish swam in his stomach when they hugged. And while he was still unsure what human courting customs looked like, he took hope in the fact that Levy had been just as excited to see him as he was to see her.
He watched her closely throughout the sun cycle, relishing how she kept a tight hold on his hand or arm throughout the entire sun cycle. Sure, he knew it was mostly to help him stay on his feet and stop wobbling like a newborn whale calf, but it had to mean something more to her. Her smiling face turned red when he gazed down at her and she fiddled with her hair whenever he placed his hand on her shoulder to make her slow down her human words.
But Lucy's face also turned red whenever they were laughing at me…
Gajeel huffed, fiddling with a small piece of fabric of his sleeping clothes. He stared at the ocean, wondering what Lily would think of everything Gajeel experienced during the sun cycle. Would he know what the human females and their red faces meant? Why they had him change into yet another set of clothes when his other ones were perfectly fine? Why he just felt…dry. Like a literal fish out of water, having to get accustomed to things like gravity and always standing upright instead of having soothing water constantly surround him.
The dark shadows of ships bobbed in the distance. Gajeel squinted in the darkness, trying to see past the ships and the moon reflecting off the waters. He couldn't even see the lagoon where he met Levy, or the remains of the coral outcropping that used to hide his treasure trove. The ocean was nothing more than a smooth, neverending expanse of water, reminding Gajeel of just how far away from home he actually was. Lily most likely gave up waiting in the lagoon and returned to Ishgar. Juvia probably went back on her promise and told the king exactly what he was getting into up in the human world. How he literally gave up the most important parts about himself just so he could gain a pair of legs.
Gajeel shoved to his feet and crossed the room. He flopped onto the human bed and tugged the cloth blankets up over his head. The scent of sunshine and flowers waifed over him. The darkness blocked the light from the moon and stars that tried to shine into his room. Gajeel closed his eyes, hoping the deeper darkness would block out the doubt beginning to creep up his spine.
This is exactly where I want to be…
It had been his dream ever since he was a young fry still growing into his fins. During easier times when he was content to sit on his grandmaman's tail and listen to her wonderful stories about the surface world and the amazing creatures who lived in it. He wanted to see all the human tools and knicknacks, all in perfect condition and not waterlogged. He wanted to eat their food, learn their names and the names of the buildings they called home.
He desperately wanted to see Levy again.
His body grew heavy, finally succumbing to the fatigue from the long sun cycle. The new sun cycle would be busy; Levy promised to take him outside the castle area into the human city she called Magnolia Town. It would be the second sun cycle of him being human and he wouldn't waste a single moment.
And hopefully Levy would keep them busy enough that he could ignore the pang that formed in his chest everytime he thought about home.