Toxic | Markicest [ Merfolk AU ]

7 | Ambush

Anti swirled around in his cave before taking off straight for the castle. "A siren swims by; he sniffs and he's swift. He twirls around, his eyes fixed; on the prince whom he'll eat~" Anti chuckled as he twirled around the backside of the castle. He enjoyed the chaos of the sea. Yet... no matter how hard he tries, it was always so- peaceful. Growling, he raced out into the open. Electricity rippled along his tail as other sirens noticed his presence. They let out hisses but dared not go closer. The only siren that was powerful enough to fight him was and is always Dark. Anti let out a loud shout to call for Dark, declaring a challenge for the king to take.

He would not take the fight before as a loss. He'd fight properly, in front of all the sirens, to show how he could be their king. Dark jerked his head away from Mark to Anti, pulling the merman behind him protectively. Anti turned to look at him, smirking as he slowly drifted up to the other siren. Mark was frozen, his eyes wide and fragile. His body shook in fear at the mere sight of the siren that almost killed him. "I will take up your challenge. But you must not harm anyone else. This would be a fair fight."

Anti frowned but nodded in reluctance. The sirens watched as the two took the centre where no sirens were close to being harmed but still clear to be witnessed. Sheila moved to stay close to Mark, to protect him for Dark. So, the fight started. And like before, blood clouded the waters. Mark wanted to help, to make sure Dark was okay. But he knew he couldn't. The water was clear again. It was a tie for the both, their powers were strong yet couldn't be outmatched by one another. Just as they were ready for another round, spears came raining down at the sirens. One impaled into Anti's side while another hit Dark's shoulder. The other sirens immediately retreated into their homes, terrified and confused.

Mark quickly swam up to Dark, pulling out the spear in his now wounded shoulder. Anti let out painful groans as he pulled out the spear in his side. "Where are these from?" Anti questioned, mostly to himself before turning around and growled. Mark paled as he watched his father swim up to him, ignoring a hateful Anti next to him. "You're coming with me." Dark glared at the King as he held Mark protectively against him. "You'll have to get through me for him. By coming in our kingdom and hurting my people, you are declaring war!" Anti lunged for the king, only to get pushed back by guards.

Though that didn't seem to bother Anti. "You're asking for bloodshed on your people. I may want that but you're being rash to do such a thing to them," Anti snapped. Inside, Anti did want it. But not by the hands of others. Mark looked at his father with hurt in his eyes. The king ignored the sirens' reasoning and outburst, sending guards to grab Mark away from Dark. Dark tried to grab him back only to have a trident at his throat. He could easily flick it off but decided not to test the waters more. "Think about what you're doing," Dark growled, his eyes dark on the king. The king put down his trident and left for Atlantis. Mark struggled against the guards holding his arms as he watched Dark leave his sight. He tried to return to Dark, to be in his arms and feel safe.

But Mark knew it was never going to happen. As the guards dragged him to the palace, he felt numb. His father's outburst didn't seem to faze him. Nothing seemed to cheer him up. He wasn't allowed to even leave his room. He barely ate and barely slept. He felt empty without the freedom to do what he liked. He sat on his bed as he stared into nothingness. His eye bags were heavy, his back hunched as he felt exhausted. Yet, he couldn't get himself to lie down in a comfortable bed for the night. He ignored the knocks on his door or his father's worry. He sighed, finally giving in to sleep.

---

Dark watched as they pulled Mark away from him, his heart torn from him. The pain hit him worse than the spear did. Turning around, he left for the castle, leaving Anti to decide on whether to take the throne or stop an unnecessary war. He didn't know what Dark would do. But if history repeats itself, it would leave both kingdoms in shambles. Anti flinched at the brief memory of the bloody wars, remembering how it left him with no one but himself. He growled, swimming out of the trench at full speed. After a few days of deep thought, he was going to settle this one way or another. By killing the merman who banished them in the first place! He let out strong waves of electricity. It didn't go unnoticed by the merfolk of Atlantis, causing them all to scream in horror and fear. Some were confused while others had no idea what was happening.

And as Anti expected, it caught the attention of the king. He frowned, ordering his man to go against the Outcast. Anti may be outnumbered but the King knew of how strong he was. Anti swam at the line of guards in full armour, unlike him with none. He zapped them, easily hurting them. But more kept coming. He was draining energy quickly. Until the guards screamed as their armour melted. Anti glanced behind him and chuckled. As much as he hated Dark, he didn't expect him to help. "Did you think I'd let you do this alone?" Anti shrugged, continuing his zigzagging around and zapping more merman who tried hitting them both with sharp spears. Anti managed to dodge some but was still wounded by others.

Dark held back the guards easily, shouting at Anti to leave. It confused Anti before he strained out from dodging a few spears. "Get Mark!" Anti didn't question and dashed off to the castle, flicking off the king who tried to reach him. Anti burst into a window, barrelling into a wall. "Ow..." He rubbed his head. Mark was still asleep before he slowly jerked awake at the sight of the siren. "W-what are you doing here?" Anti looked at him and sighed. "To kill your bastard of a father and Dark asked me to get you." Mark pointed a shaky finger at him. "Dark asked YOU?" Anti rubbed his temples and grabbed his wrist, dragging him out the broken window.

But before they could leave, the king entered with a stern and cold glare.

~~~

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