A World Of Treason and Tides

Chapter 20: You are very Depressing

I thought there would be guards at the border, instead a school of beautiful yellow and black fish blocked the entrance to Kingdom of Water. Ryan swam through them disrupting the perfect, synchronous way they were moving. I looked over his shoulder and found that those fish had already arranged themselves in a school, much like before. I could not help getting amazed at their level of coordination.

I asked Ryan about the lack of guards, to which he said that there were always some sentries around in case any trouble occurred. Indeed, I saw two mermen casually patrolling the water. Two long, sleek twin-swords were strapped to each of their backs. They looked at us- at me, at my appearance, which was so unlike any creature of Odalis, which was so....human. Their hateful gaze burned through the layers of my skin. I averted my gaze and feared that they might obstruct our path or worse, took us to their king- Ryan's own uncle who betrayed his own family to get that crown. But apart from throwing spiteful glares at me, they did not do much.

"For a moment, I thought they were going to capture us," I told Ryan.

"No, unless we break the law or cause any troubles or unless the King himself sends orders for them to capture us, they can't do so. So, don't worry." But we both knew that anything could happen, and maybe for that reason, Ryan swam away from the vicinity of the mermen as fast as possible.

A slight ripple of relief coursed through me and I looked around myself. The water there was a beautiful mix of royal and sea-green blue and it looked so alive- I could make out the different currents flowing through the water, and the small movements of the water molecules made it seem as if the water itself was dancing. The water at the Gulf of Forstide was calm and still, but in Kingdom of Water, it was ever-moving, with varied emotions and feelings and opinions- like it was just as much a person as we were, like it could see everything, hear everything.

A broken shell floated by me, chased by a school of tiny fish. I let out a giggle.

"I assume you find all these very amusing?" Ryan asked. He sounded squeaky, like a cartoon, like he had inhaled helium.

I laughed.

"What?" Ryan asked, laughter in his voice, except Ryan's voice was nearly a squeal. I laughed more.

"You sound--," I said between laughs, "---you sound funny." When Ryan did not say anything, I looked at him. I went into a fit of laughs and giggles as I saw that Ryan's eyes had become beady and round. His eyebrows were weird too- high in the forehead and looking as if they were painted in blue.

"Your eyes----," I started to say but Ryan cut me off.

"You are hallucinating again, Spark," he said.

"What? No--" I blinked. My laughter had ceased. "Hallucinations are supposed to be scary." I blinked again. I was feeling sleepy and everything seemed blurred out to me.

"Not always," That time his voice sounded normal again. I looked at him and found those cornflower blue eyes instead of the beady ones I saw just a couple seconds before . Ryan was right. I was hallucinating. Again.

When will all these come to an end? I wondered. The hallucinations were freaking me out and more importantly, I was not able to rely on what I saw anymore.

"Where are we?" I asked, exasperated.

"At the Starwater Canal," he said. "If I had my powers, I would have been able to surface at Myra's. It would have been so much easier than this," he muttered more to himself than to me. I remained silent, mostly because I had nothing to say. Instead, I took in the change in the scenery around me, and wondered if it would ever cease to surprise me.