Rebirth (boyxboy)

Chapter 6: fish out of water

Chapter 6

ELIJAH'S P.O.V.

Cyan: 10 months until awakening

"How do you do that?" Cyan asked, his eyes trained on my face as his right hand danced across the canvas sitting in front of him.

"Do what?"

"You haven't moved even once." He told me, setting down his pencil on the easel. "In the last hour I worried you weren't breathing like four times."

"I breath faster than your eyes can register. It's not that I haven't moved, it's that I've moved so fast you didn't catch it." I explained as he picked up a brush and swirled it in a cream colored paint on the pallet he had balanced on his left arm.

"And you still think being human is better than being faster than the naked eye?" He scoffed, biting into his bottom lip as he concentrated on the portrait in front of him. It must have been two hours since he had sat me on the couch in the castle parlor and had told me not to move. I stared at him as he focused on filling in the color of what I assumed was my likeness. When he was this distracted with other things, I was able to drink in my fill of him without looking strange. I could watch the way his chest rose and fell with every breath and how his hair tickled his shoulders as he leaned his head to the side. My eyes traced the outlines of his body and he was none the wiser.

"Your highness! I'm sorry to interrupt." Bruftus boomed out, his large body nearly shaking the room as he fell to his knees in the doorway. "There has been an attack."

"There is always a new attack Bruftus." I sighed, waving my hand at Cyan in a signal to continue painting. "Whatever it is can wait."

"I'm afraid it was not just a normal attack." Bruftus informed me, slowly rising back to his feet. "The shape shifters have officially set up a base in the waters. They attacked Margarette's castle late last night and drove her, her children, and most of the royal court of merpeople out of the oceans while those that remained of the royals were slaughtered . The rest of her people have gone into hiding at the deepest depths of the ocean. There has been no contact with any merperson until a few moments ago."

I frowned as the smell of salt and fresh sea air hit me in the face. "Oh goddess..."

"How amazing it is to see you again King Elijah." Margarette exclaimed, the sarcasm clear in her voice. "How unfortunate the circumstances however."

"It's good to see you well Margarette." I turned away from Cyan and took in the regal Mer-Queen in front of me now. She looked every inch as Royal as she always did, even with the deep gashes surrounding her wrists and throat. She was missing scales alongside the right side of her face and one of her gills looked as if they had been attacked by some type of animal.

"I come here to seek refuge for me and my two children. The rest of my people that were able to escape have scattered in hopes of saving themselves." She sat down beside me and it was only then that I noticed the two figures behind her.

Their complexion was slightly more gray than their gray-blue mother with eyes just as large and black as her as well. The one that was female was just as tall and Curvy as her mother, with thick black dreadlocks that fell down to her knees. She was wrapped in what smelt of expensive silk and when she opened her mouth all that escaped was a gargles version of the word hello, as if she was unaccustomed to talking on land. "This is my daughter Ima and beside her is my son Aku. They have never left the waters before so excuse them if they are not able to speak with you. Their lungs are still full of water." Margarette explained as my eyes turned to her second child. Aku was much shorter than his sister, with a lean build and black dreads that fell to his chin. His lips were a dark blue and were much more plump and round than his mother and sister. What truly drew my attention were the thick black designs along his chest and arms. The swirls and dots disappeared beneath his silk Capris and reappeared along his calves and feet. There were vicious bites covering his arms and chest and three large scratches stretching from his temple to the very top of his chin. Of all three, he looked to be the most damaged and yet he stood the straightest, his eyes holding a strength I had only ever seen one place before.