We Were Always Destined To Be Together, My Love~

#9

After getting the kid to calm down, Niki spoke up, making sure to keep her voice low and soft to not scare or freak out the kid, as they were still very shaken up by what happened about an hour before. "Where did you come from? Just point in the direction, and we'll go from there, ok?" Niki finished with a small smile.

The kid hesitantly pointed towards the ocean. Niki's eyes slightly widened, "The Ocean Empire?" The kid nodded their head. Shelby spoke up, "How did you get passed those waves? Are you hurt anywhere else!?" The kid quickly shook their head, doing their best to show that they weren't hurt.

As Niki and Shelby started to talk among themselves, the kids walked over to Scott, who had gone over to the edge of the forest, leaning up against a tree. Scott looked down when he felt a tug on his pants. "Hm? What's up, kid?" The fish hybrid did grabby hands at Scott, signaling that they wanted to be picked up. Scott was initially hesitant but eventually gave in when the kid started making puppy dog eyes.

Once picked up, the kid pointed at the ring on Scott's finger. "Oh. This? My friend Shelby over there found it and gave it to me." The kid quickly started to dig through their pockets. Eventually, they pulled out a small photo of two people. Scott recognized the two people as King Smajor of Rivendell and The Codfather of the Cod Empire. The child pointed at their people's hands, or what Scott quickly realized, was the rings on their fingers. The child then pointed to King Smajor and then at Scott. "What are you-"

"Scott! Come on! We are gonna use the tunnel to get to the Ocean Empire!" Scott let out a disappointed sigh, but nonetheless, walked over to Niki and Shelby to have some water-breathing potion. Once he finished the potion, the four of them jumped into the water, a shiver ran up Scott's back as the water was a little cold.

The four of them, led by Niki, led them through a series of tunnels. Some curved up, some curved down. All in all, like last time, it was very disorienting for Scott. He practically held onto Shelby's hand for dear life. Eventually, they found themselves in the open ocean. Scott quietly sighed, finally out of that tunnel!

"Dear? Can you lead us to the Ocean Empire? It's been a while since I have been there" The child quickly nodded their head, immediately taking the lead and following the path they had taken before. Soon, they were swimming over small buildings and towers. "BROOKE!!!" The kid paused and turned to look at who had called that name. The three of them watched as the kid, Brooke, was knocked backward by a taller cod hybrid. "Oh thank Cod you're alright, Poppy!!!"

It was cute until this cod hybrid spotted Scott and Shelby, he seemingly didn't see Niki though... Scott pulled himself behind Shelby, who put their arms up. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU TWO!? AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY EMPIRE!?" Brooke quickly swam in front of the cod hybrid, shaking her head and desperately trying to get the cod hybrid to stand down.

The cod hybrid calmed down a bit, but he was still really on edge. Niki swam forward, concern laced her voice as she spoke "Codfather? What happened? Why are you acting like this?" The cod hybrids seemed surprised, slightly faltering upon seeing Niki. Without saying anything, the cod bolted forward and hugged Niki. "Oh dear..." Niki quietly sighed, hugging the cod back.

"Jimmy? Can you take me and my friends here to the Prismarine Palace? Please?" The cod, whose name is Jimmy, hesitantly nodded his head, pulling away from Niki and leading them to the palace. Once there, Jimmy excused himself, telling Brooke to show them around the palace. Before he left, Jimmy gave a potion to Niki. This potion made it so that she had legs and could actually walk around the palace.

Everyone started to follow Brooke as she walked through the halls, Scott on the other hand slowly snuck away from the group, going to see where that cod had gone. After some searching, Scott found Jimmy sitting inside one of the many rooms. A little hesitantly, Scott walked into the room, catching the attention of Jimmy.

The cod slightly glared at Scott, "Why the hell did you follow me?" Jimmy's voice was quiet and monotone, yet filled with authority. But none of this scared or frightened Scott. Without saying anything, Scott walked over and sat down next to Jimmy. "Wh-what...?" Scott leaned against Jimmy, and a slight purple fog came from Scott's hands. Jimmy, while confused, felt his body slowly calm as he breathed in and out. Eventually, Jimmy was leaning up against Scott, and a small and quiet purr-like noise came from Scott. He didn't know why but... This felt nice...

The pair stayed like this for a while. They only pulled apart when the door slightly opened. Brooke was slightly peaking inside, a slight smug look on her face. Jimmy clicked his tongue. "Where are the others, Poppy?" She walked over to Jimmy, jumping up to sit in between Scott and Jimmy. "They are in one of the gardens." Jimmy gave Brooke a small nod. Jimmy looked back up at Scott, before quickly looking away. "Let's go see them, shall we?" Brooke quickly nodded her head.

As the trio walked through the halls, they passed a balcony-like room. Inside were two graves, which caused Scott to pause. His eyes quickly trailed over what the gravestones said before quickly going back to following Jimmy and Brooke. The gravestones had read:

~HERE LAYS KING JOEL "SMALLISH" BEANS OF MEZALEA~

~A GOOD FATHER, HUSBAND, BROTHER-IN-LAW, AND RULER~

~MAY HE REST IN PEACE~

~HERE LAYS QUEEN LIZZIE SHADOW OF THE OCEAN EMPIRE~

~A GOOD MOTHER, SISTER, AND RULER~

~MAY SHE REST IN PEACE LAYING BY HER HUSBAND~

Scott slightly frowned at what he read. Those two people sounded like amazing people... Scott quickly whipped his face. He had never liked the whole idea of death, especially since he was for the most part immortal... a quiet sigh slipped out from his lips, catching Jimmy's attention. "You alright back there?" Scott gave a quick nod of his head. Jimmy gave a slight nod before turning and going back to walking.