The Legacy of the Alliance

Chapter 40

"Screw it. None of these are working..." Val had been using what chemicals she had to try and break the bars of the window for a long while now.

"We still have more..."

"And I really don't they will work." 

"Okay. What the hell is going on with you? You were up and fighting before we got here! Now, you're moping and acting like this is the end!" 

Val turned swiftly to face Cordelia, getting up close to her. "You don't have any right to say anything about how I am acting!" her mother's eyes widened in shock. "That Maverick guy has already kicked our asses! Plus, he has some weird, experimental hybrid that can only really be beaten if you catch her off guard! And that barely happens in the first place!" The researcher stood there, jaw clenched and breathing heavy.

"You've been caught by Maverick before?"

Val seemed almost surprised at the question. "Mage territory, a week or two ago." she muttered, breathing still ragged.

"If you've escaped once, you can escape again. Correct?"

The younger woman's eyebrows furrowed in anger once again. "No! No, incorrect!" Val combed her fingers through her hair. "I had a team, a fire mage who possesses a purple flame that can melt through steel bars! Even if I had the whole team, we are underwater! They would drown in minutes if they're lucky and Theo's flame wouldn't be able to even start!"

"Val, calm yourself! The only thing we can do now is keep trying your chemicals. There's no point in fighting - we're running out of time." Cordelia placed her hands firmly on her daughter's shoulders.

The researcher sighed and began testing her chemicals again. It was only until they got to the second to last one when the bars on the window started to corrode. 

"It's working... It's working!" Val cheered, slightly laughing. Once the bars we're fully dissolved, Cordelia quickly hurried her daughter out of the open window, following shortly after. 

They were swimming through the vast ocean when the older woman realised how her daughter was falling behind. Sure, Val was fast for someone without a tail due to genetics but even she couldn't keep up with a merfolk. Certainly not trained guards. "Do you know if you possess the ability to change?" she turned to her child.

"What does that mean?"

"Do you have a tail of your own?" 

Val shrugged in response. It was there that Cordelia decided to try and teach her what she never could. The merfolk were either born with legs or a fish tail (it was really a coinflip on which one) and it was only at the age of six where children developed the ability to switch. However, it was up to the parents to teach them. "I will help you find out."