Chapter 23
"I'm confused," the doctor announced interrupting me and I looked over at him. "Why did Liana change when you said her name? How did you even know her name?" I glanced at Lawrence and he grinned at me.
"It was a common name. One out of every two girls was named that," he shrugged and I rolled my eyes.
"Then how did I only come across ten of them?" I remarked and he shrugged.
"Our census could be faulty. I just said that name because it was the first to come to mind," He mumbled looking over at the ceiling and I stared at him.
"You knew who she was!" I accused him and he winced.
"She had come to visit a couple of times and I saw her change," he muttered not looking at me and I sighed.
"Well, it's no use now. They're probably all dead," I told him grimly and he nodded sadly.
"The only woman I seen here besides you is that nurse and she ignored me," he complained and I wacked him in the arm."But her beauty pales in comparison to yours." He attempt to nullify the sentence didn't work and I decided to ignore him for the moment.
The Sea King's kingdom's capital was awesome. A giant coral reef forest hid the location and made it hard to get to if you didn't know where it was. I knew I would be lost if I didn't have Keresha with me and dead if she hadn't handed us a pair of stones that allowed us to breathe underwater. Keeping that in mind, I followed her closely and getting caught more than once on the coral. It was increasingly annoying until we actually got to view the capital. I gasped seeing it and Lawrence seemed to be getting the same effect.
The city was encircled by a giant dome and the merpeople were walking around looking busy. The houses were one on top of the other and were made of glistening diamonds that changed color at different times of the day and at night the whole city lit up with wonderful yellow lights that turned out to be a special kind of underwater plant. The city itself wasn't even close to the castle that the king had holed himself up in and I caught myself staring at the very top of it. The building was made of different gemstones that reflected the light of the city and lit up at dusk to put on a beautiful light show. It was in the shape of a sphere and seemed to almost float in the air as we approached it. The very top of the sphere had a statue of someone familiar to me. A face I had seen every day before she had died, my mother. Her face was in a state of pure joy as the building rotated and made her dance with her double swords that she held in her hands with an ease.
Before I knew it, I had run up the sides of the building and gazed at the face that had tried so hard to save my life. Tears that never made it down my face floated in the water around me and I touched the statue's cold cheek.
"She was an amazing woman," a man's voice said from behind me.
"She tried so hard to fight them all off. She died in the mists of it and that's the last memory I have of her," I replied and a hand landed on my shoulder.
"Humans?" his voice hardened at my nod and I turned to find myself face to face with the Sea King.
A crown of long seaweed colored hair draped around him and his feet and hands were webbed between their fingers and toes. His torso was nude and framed with muscles that appeared to be used often by the scars that wrapped around them. His lower body was covered with loose pants that floated around him and I blinked. His aqua eyes seemed to penetrate my soul and I straightened up. It was of no use to be intimidated by a king especially when you came to stop a war.
"Yes," I responded simply and his other hand gripped my other shoulder.
"Then you know that we must destroy them!" He exclaimed excitedly and I stared at him.
"Destroy the ones that were kind enough to stop me from bleeding to death? Destroy the ones that helped me get my dances? I have no reason to destroy them. Humans are double edged swords. They can hurt you and help you at the same time. You're just looking for someone to blame," I replied bluntly plucking his hands off my shoulders.
"They enslaved you!" He roared and I raised an eyebrow.
"And they set me free," I retorted and sat down on the edge ready to slide down. "You're a really angry person for a king." With that, I pushed off and I fell through the water to land gently in Lawrence's arms.
"Who was that?" He asked putting me down and I brushed myself off.
"The Sea King. He wants to kill all the humans," I answered and he stared at me.
"I feel the need to return home," he murmured and I smiled at him.
"Don't worry. I think I almost have him. He's a very angry person," I informed him and he rubbed his face with his hands.
"That's not making me feel better," he muttered and I noticed the king walking towards us.
"See? Look at that face! He looks so unhappy that he might kill someone," I pointed out and the king's fist went straight into Law's face. My hand went out and caught it from hitting him again and I glared at him.
"I didn't know that you would be so inhospitable. I wouldn't have come if I had known," I breathed but that didn't stop him. As soon as Lawrence had stood back up, the king tried to knock him back down again. He wasn't going to be fooled twice and dodged it easily and hit him in his majesty's jaw dislocating it. The king stumbled backwards and Law stared at him.
"Do you really want to do this now? I don't give a damn but she'll get in the way," the prince asked thumbing at me and I glared at him.
"I was saving you!" I protested and he grinned at me. It was a smile I hadn't seen on his face in the short time I had known him and I had to wonder where he had gotten it. It was the smile of a fighter. The smile that would've made anyone else shiver in their boots.
"Then hand me you're swords. This is going to be fun," he replied and I handed them to him confused. My confusion turned to shock as he took off his shirt and a giant black mass unfurled itself. Tattoos swirled around on his torso and extended to the rest of his body. A look of nostalgia came on his face and he smiled at the king's shocked face. He started the sword dance without hurting anyone and got close enough to the king to cut off his head.
"Do you really want to fight me now?" he breathed and the king shook his head slowly. His fury had turned to silent laughter and he clapped the prince on the shoulder.
"To find another Selenium is astonishing, how did you get here?" he questioned.
"I'm a changeling," Lawrence shrugged and handed the swords back to me.
Author's note: So...who's surprised? I know I am. Thanks for the support! Don't forget to vote and comment!
