Dangers of the Sea || Byler Story ||

9 - The Mystery Boy

Third Person POV:

Will, Jane, and their parents were in the throne room. It was that time of the week that they had to listen to people.

"The pirates have agreed on the new law," A random person Will forgot the name of said. They were holding a scroll and reading off it. "They will not come into our bay anymore, and stick to hunting outside of it."

"Good, they are being realistic," Hopper says. "You are dismissed."

The person bowed and left, and another person entered. "What have you to say?" Joyce asks.

"There has been a sighting of mermaids," They announce, which causes the entire throne room to go silent. Will sits up properly and stares with interest at the man speaking. "In Jade cove, there was a school of mermaids. They were trying to lure a young boy into the water to kill."

Will bites the inside of his cheek. So it was probably a mersaga, like Mike says.

"When did this happen?" Hopper asks. "And is the boy safe?"

"It only happened an hour ago, Your Majesty," The man says. "The boy is alright now, he is in the medical wing of the castle being checked out by the doctors. The guards that saved him explained he seems traumatized."

Hopper rubbed his stubble of a beard. "Would you mind describing this poor boy?" Joyce questions.

The man nods. "Yes, he has medium black hair, pale skin, and seems around fourteen or fifteen years old," he says. Will's eyes widen in shock. Mike.

"Thank you, is that it?" Joyce asks.

"Yes, Your Majesties," The man says, bowing and leaving.

The rest of the meetings were boring, and Will was practically shaking with nerves thinking about Mike. Once it is finished, Will quickly excused himself from the room and almost dashed to the medical wing.

"Hello, Your Majesty," A doctor says. "Why are you here?"

Will smiled. "I'm here to see the boy who was saved from the mermaids?" He asks. "I have a few questions."

"Ah," The doctor says. "He's been sleeping, but I will show you where he is."

The doctor guides Will through the hallways before coming to a room. The doctor opened the door, and Will saw Mike sleeping on the bed. The window was right above him, giving him an ethereal glow. He was curled up on his side, and Will could see his legs. His eyes widened in shock.

"Thank you," Will says, kindly dismissing the doctor. He walked forward and sat on the bed next to Mike. He gently stroked the sleeping boy's hair.

How does he have legs? Will thought.

A few minutes later, Mike's eyes fluttered open. "Will?" He groggily mumbled, stretching his arms and legs. Then he shot up, eyes wide. "Oh my god, Will, I have legs." He says, shocked. "I need to get back to the ocean, my family-"

"It's okay, I can help you," Will says. "We can get you back to the ocean, don't worry."

Mike frowns. "I can barely walk," He says.

"I can teach you," Will says, resting a hand on Mike's. Then his eyes lit up and he smiled. "Oh! You can meet my sister as well, now that she won't freak out."

"Jane, right?" Mike says. Will nods. "I'm not sure.. I want to get home as fast as possible."

The smile on Will's fast went away. "Oh, right, yeah," He says, trying not to sound disappointed.

Something inside Mike instantly shattered. "You know what, we can do some things," Mike says, making Will cheer up again. The smile came back, and Mike smiled with him, happy he made Will happy again. "So.. walking..?"

"Right," Will says, standing up. "It's pretty easy. Just make sure you keep balance."

Will grabs Mike's hand and helps him up, stabilizing him. Mike looked at his feet planted on the ground, eyes wide. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh," He says, all wobbly. "Do not let go." He stares at Will's eyes with so much intensity Will smiled.

"I won't, I promise," Will smiles. "Now just follow my lead." He takes a step backward, and Mike follows, almost falling. "Careful," Will laughs.

"I'm trying.." Mike whispers, in full concentration.

Mike takes another step, and he doesn't fall. A smile appears on his face. He takes another step, and trips, falling onto of Will.

"Ouch.." Mike says, rubbing his head. He opens his eyes and blushes, Will was less than inches away from his face. "Aha.. sorry-"

"It's fine," Will says. "You're doing good."

The two stand up again, with Will helping Mike stand. They continue walking, and soon Mike gets the hang of it. By the time the sun disappears from the window, Mike is able to walk properly without any stumble.

"I did it!" Mike exclaims, proud of himself.

Will smiles at the excitable behavior. "Now you can walk around with me," He says. "Do you want to leave now?"

Mike nods. Will moves to the door and and opens it, where a doctor was walking through the hallway.

"Excuse me, I'm going to take this boy with me," Will says, a blank looking expression on his face with raised eyebrows, as if to say don't question me. His voice switched to his regal persona. The doctor nods and bows, before hurrying off.

Will looked back at Mike with his normal smile. "C'mon," He says.

Mike followed him, slightly confused. Will went to his room, and gestured to the large room with his arm. "This is mine," He says with a closed eye smile.

"Woah.." Mike whispers. "It's huge."

Will nods. "Yup, the perks of being a prince," He says, and Mike walked around, looking at his bookshelves and his humongous bed. "Just be careful with everything, I'm pretty sure most of the things here cost a thousand dollars or something."

"What's this?" Mike says, grabbing a book that was open off the bed. He sat down.

Will sat next to him. "That's a book, humans write in it and publish them so others can read them." He says. Mike looks at the page it was on.

"Mermaids?" He says, grinning at Will.

The brunette blushed. "Um, yeah, I've been a little obsessed since as long as I can remember,"
He says. "And I guess it pays out, I met you."

Mike smiles. "You did," He says.

<^> To Be Continued

(1k words)

I'm hoping to make this a three book series.