I do not own Dragon Quest 11 or any of the characters.
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Kai watched as Michelle held the grave. She'd transformed her tail into legs, meaning that if she went back into the water, ever, she'd turn to sea foam. She'd die.
"I waited for you so, so long, through sun and stormy weather," Michelle said, speaking in rhymes as all Mermaids naturally did. "But now, it's time, at long, long last. We're going to be together." She kissed the grave, then stood, turning and stumbling toward shore, unsteady on her feet, as they were new to her. She began to fall, but Kainui caught her arm, Kai catching her in a hug.
"Michelle..." Kai said.
"It's alright, Kai," Michelle smiled. "I've accepted my time to die."
Kai hesitated, then nodded, stepping out of her way. She smiled over at Kainui and nodded, and he also released her. Then, she stumbled forward a few more steps before collapsing into the sea. Then, she was gone. Kai stared at the foam that was all that remained of Michelle for a long while before turning and heading back to the ship. After a while, the others returned and they sailed to the small island where they'd met Michelle one last time, finding a silver harp she'd left for them. Once there, however, the others didn't know what to do with it. They still had plans to talk to the queen of the Mermaids, but they didn't know where to look, yet.
"It's by Zwaardsrust," Kai finally said, leaning on the railing of the ship. "You'll see a pillar of light surrounded by five rocks. The entrance to Nautica is there. Just sail into it and play the harp. It'll call a Mermaid to bring you into Nautica safely. It's a symbol of a friend of the Mermaids."
"How do you know that?" Erik asked. "And how did that Mermaid know your name?"
"That's right!" Veronica nodded. "You never said your name was Kai! I had assumed it was so that she wouldn't think you were her fiancé, but she knew your name anyway!"
Kai sighed, his scales reaching up his neck until the Mermaid Scale was exposed. "After the Fall of the Dragovians, I was severely wounded, and I had lost everything I cared about. I threw myself into the ocean to die, but a passing Mermaid found me and took me to Nautica. While I was there, she nursed me back to health. During that time, I learned that the Mermaid who had saved me was the Queen, Marina. For nearly a year, she tended to my wounds. And then, she gifted me with one of her scales so that I could come back and visit from time to time."
"So, ye fell in love," Robert smiled.
"Don't make me incinerate you, you obnoxious fuck," Kai snarled. "Queen Marina became like my mother. She's hoping that when I come to visit, it'll be without my desire for revenge. She's waiting for the day I get to tell her that I've left my vengeance behind. And I will."
"You will?" Robert asked.
"Yes," Kai nodded. "The day Heliodor burns and your head decorates a stake, I'll tell her I've let go of my vengeance."
Robert sighed, walking away. Sylvando turned the ship toward Zwaardsrust again, and Kai turned to David and Erik, beginning to train them. Hours later, they finally found the pillar of light, and Kai dropped into the water.
"You're not going down with us?" David asked.
"No," Kai said flatly, then dove.
He swam down quickly, his feet extended, and after a moment, he heard the harp play, its melody magically carrying through the water. After a moment, a Mermaid swam up to bring the others down, waving to Kai on the way. He waved back, then extended his wings and swam downward rapidly. Within a few minutes, he swam into Queen Marina's throne room and she smiled.
"Welcome home, Kai," Marina greeted him. "I'm glad you didn't die."
Kai rolled his eyes. "Just because my name rhymes with 'die' doesn't mean you have to use it as your rhyming word almost every time."
Marina chuckled, shrugging, then creased her brow in concentration. "How was the surface?"
Kai smiled. "You don't need to do that. I don't mind anymore. I'm not that annoyed, hurting child who lashed out at everyone for anything they did anymore."
Marina smiled, nodding. "That man with whom you arrive, is he not the man you swore would not survive?"
Kai nodded. "Lord Robert of Dundrasil. I'm not strong enough yet, so I'm ensuring nothing else kills him before I can."
Marina nodded. Then turned to look past him as a Mermaid brought the others up into the throne room from the foot of the tower. Kai turned to them, then stepped aside so they could speak to Marina.
"I welcome you to Nautica, the land beneath the waves," Marina greeted David and the others. "What brings you, Prince of Dundrasil, to these coral caves?"
"Huh?" Erik blinked in surprise. "How do you know he's the prince of Dundrasil?" He looked to Kai. "Oh, he probably told you, right?"
"No," Kai said. "I didn't need to. She knows all of you."
Marina chuckled lightly. "I have a second sight that touches ever quarter, by which I keep abreast of all the news above the water. Of doomed love between men and mermaids, let us later speak. First, allow me to present the item that you seek." She reached over and lifted a glowing green sphere. "Behold the shining sphere of green, the Orb you humans need. The treasures of the world above are marvelous indeed. Consider this my thanks for what you did for dear Michelle. Pray take it, kindly travelers, and may it serve you well." She passed the orb to David, who thanked her. "I witnessed the whole sorry tale, it always breaks my heart. The tragedy of man and mermaid doomed to live apart. But while the Mermaid's Burden holds, such romances are blighted, and love between man and sea maiden fizzles, unrequited. For years now, I have sought a way to remedy this curse. Alas, my every effort ends in failure or worse.
"You humans cannot help but seem a fragile kind to we, who live five hundred years and more down here beneath the sea. But thought the flame of human life burns short, it burns so bright! You never cease to struggle; no, you push, you strive, you fight! And so, your kind admire our kind, but we admire in turn. It is the World Tree's will that from each other we should learn. It was the World Tree's will that brought Michelle and Kai together. I pray that in their next lives, they may stay that way forever. So too was it the World Tree's will that brough you here today, but now, dear Luminary, you must be upon your way. So set sail on the tide of time, that flows ceaselessly on, and if Yggdrasil wills it, we will meet again anon." She slammed the bottom of her staff to the floor. "Remember, though the paths we walk are filled with twists and turns, all roads lead from the Tree of Life, and to the Tree return."
"Uh...okay," Erik said. "I don't suppose you could tell us where the other Orbs are, could you?"
Marina smiled coyly. "Certainly I could. The question is whether or not I should."
Erik stared at her, then sighed, turning to the others. "Let's just go. I get the feeling we're only going to get more cryptic stuff from her now."
"Seems like it," David sighed.
The others all turned and walked away, and Kai sighed, looking up at the surface of the water high above them.
"I should probably go, too," Kai sighed. "Can't have that crotchety old bastard kick the bucket before I grind him up and pour him into it."
Marina sighed, smiling. "I hope you find forgiveness, along the path you tread, but here you will always have a home at which to rest your head."
Kai smiled. "Thank you. I'll be back to visit soon. I promise."
Marina smiled, nodding, and Kai pushed off from the ground, swimming out the window and up to the surface, arriving just as the magic bubble transporting the ship fell away. He kicked hard, throwing himself out of the water, and extended his wings, flying quickly to the deck of the ship before retracting them again.
"So that's your surrogate mother," Jade mused. "She's beautiful."
"But not too helpful," Erik said, "other than giving us the Orb. She could have at least told us where to look for the others."
"Relax," Kai said. "The Orbs are valued treasures. There's bound to be one at most kingdoms."
"Oh yeah?" Veronica asked. "And just where would you recommend we start?"
Kai considered for a moment. "Well, Sniflheim has always boasted about some crystal that is one of their greatest treasures. And I heard about an academy that collects some kind of treasures near the Champs Sauvage. We could start there."
"Sniflheim has always been a mite cold," Robert said. "Let's start with this academy."
Kai nodded and pulled out a map, looking at it. "Since none of you can fly, and we don't really have the time for a several month trek through the mountains, we'll take a shortcut."
"What kind of shortcut?" Serena asked.
"There are tunnels underwater that wrap around under the ground to connect different bodies of water," Kai explained. "Since you have that harp, we can go to one of them and ask the mermaids for help using one of them. As luck would have it, the Champs Sauvage is connected to one of these tunnels. The entrance is here." He marked it on the map, a point just north of a small lake in the Champs Sauvage."
"Well, Darlings, it looks like we have our heading!" Sylvando nodded. "Dave, if you would!"
Dave, the pink-masked, muscle-bound first mate of Sylvando's, nodded once and quickly set about getting the ship ready to sail. Kai was impressed. He'd never seen someone crew a ship along, but Dave was a master at it. Within minutes, they were off, sailing toward the destination Kai had marked. And, as always, they spent their free time on the ship with Kai and Sylvando training Erik and David to dual wield.
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