𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐄

Pt 7: Kingston and the Little Mermaid

Griffith was in a similar situation, a metal spear with a coral shaft pointed at his delicate gills. The spear was in the webbed hand of chestnut-skinned woman with something of a seaweed crop-top wrapped around her upper torso, flowing blackish-green hair billowing out behind her. Where her torso would have tapered to hips, her skin greyed and became the striped tail of a tiger shark. The one assigned to Kingston was much the same, her sclera black and contrasting against her piercing green eyes. She bared her teeth at him, making him flinch and splutter "Please, don't eat me". She laughed in satisfaction, a joyous noise that sounded like ringing bells that somehow made Kingston's fear evaporate, but this was quickly ruined as Griffith snapped his fingers in front of his face.

"Don't listen to them," he said sternly, earning a half-jab towards his neck.

"You were told never to show your face here again, Stormchaser," hissed the mermaid with the spear pointed at Griffith. The Atlantean man laughed nervously, his voice cracking slightly.

"Well, that isn't very fair, Mira, considering I live here," he said in a wheedling tone.

"Lived," she corrected. "Atlantis is long gone, and it was in the opposite direction of the island. You know that very, very well. And a human? Really? Or is he a meal offering?" She referred to Kingston as if he weren't really there, a smirk creeping across her thin lips. Griffith went to say something else but was interrupted. "Save it," Mira snarled. The one in charge of Kingston looked ecstatic at the thought of eating him. Kingston watched as Mira prodded Griffith, forcing him forward. The other did the same to Kingston, pushing him to follow. He fell into step beside the Atlantean, his hands in front of him as he walked.

"Oof," he huffed, glaring at the mermaid beside him as she prodded him with the butt of her spear. They were marched towards the coral, the formations suddenly seeming to loom over them as they walked. Mira and Griffith, to Kingston's confusion, suddenly went through the coral.

"Follow," his guard commanded in much rougher English than Mira. As he realized he'd come to a halt, trying to process Griffith's disappearance, he was poked in the back, a bit harshly, into the coral. He closed his eyes, moving forward, and found he was not shoved into the wall and poked by the coral, after all. Opening his eyes, Kingston found himself in a wide corridor, also made of coral, that went up and then sloped into a ceiling with jagged pieces sticking out here and there.

"Scariest popcorn ceiling I've ever seen," he muttered under his breath. They were led through several large passages into what seemed to be some kind of throne room, mermen and -women lining the sides of the chamber. There was a large coral throne in the centre, stag-horn coral spiraling up the sides. Another shark-woman sat on it, her upper tail fin long and tapering like a whip. She clapped her webbed hands as the pair of prisoners were brought in, which scared Kingston a bit. Griffith half-bowed, kicking Kingston in the ankle. The librarian quickly followed suite. It was like the water was split into layers — at some points he could float and at the rest of them water behaved like air.

"Oh, Griff, you brought me a present!" the siren on the throne practically sang, her black lips curled back in something reminiscent of a sharp-toothed smile. Kingston couldn't help it — he snorted.

"Griff?" he mumbled to the Atlantean, amused. Griffith shrugged, ignoring him.

"Uh, no, your majesty, he's not a gift — he's my friend," the Atlantean corrected the Fomorian queen. She pouted, pursing her lips and waving her hand dismissively.

"You must have mistaken him for some kind of Atlantean, then, because that's clearly a human." Kingston was offended, but he wasn't quite sure why.

"Erm — no, I'm quite aware he's a human, Sari," Griffith continued, stepping forward as he was prodded by Mira again. Kingston glared at the ground — Great! he thought. I fought a giant octopus only to be eaten by shark people. Wait — I don't think I ever strictly agreed to this in the first place! The Fomorian placed a hand over her mouth, giggling.