*Splash*

*Splash*~13

I was looking around as the entire underwater city of Merpeople surrounded the main hall where I was to fight one of Kc's brothers to earn my right to eternally bond with her when the drums and massive shell horns began to blow. Then King Triton swam over to the front and told Kc to chose the challenger, she looked at Klay for several minutes before she finally decided, and said very clearly, Titus. I looked over at the brothers that were standing on the far side of the hall and thankfully he was one of the smaller brothers. He swam to the center just a few paces in front of me and held out his staff at me, but it was no ordinary staff it had an oddly shaped blade on the end of it. But me being always up for a challenge, I remained in my spot without showing any intimidation.

Klay swam over to me and handed me his staff, and told me to watch for his low swoops, for Titus loved making low blows. I thanked him as I twirled the staff a few time trying to get the feel for it. Suddenly without even the slightest warning, Titus's staff busted my nose for me and blood filled the water around me, I looked over at him and said to Klay there wasn't even a forewarning, or someone saying go or begin. Klay chuckled and said that was his cue to begin. I tried to learn by watching him while ducking and dodging his blows to me, but learning how to motivate with a damned tail instead of legs was rather difficult.

All the Merpeople there were cheering Titus on, wanting him to win, that way Kc would have to choose one of her own kind to bond with, but Klay and Kc were cheering me on, hoping that I would win. I even heard the King himself cheer me on a few times when I did a few very good moves they had never seen before. The battle seemed to go on forever, and I for one was getting a little tired of losing my blood from his low blows, but everyone said I was doing a lot better than others he's fought against by dodging most of his fatal swoops. Finally, I saw the window open to my chance of defeating him and took it. I took a low dive myself and gave my staff a quick spin, and I ended up behind him with my staff around his neck and holding him in a headlock, he's never had one to fight like that and as soon as some of the air was cut off from him, he dropped his staff and stopped moving.

Triton looked around with a small sense of pride knowing that for the first time in history a visiting human has finally defeated his son. Klay said I could release him, for I won as he swam over to me and gave me a brotherly hug, then he slapped me on the back of the head, and said now came the eternal bonding ritual that he just earned the rights too. Kc didn't beat around the bush, she swam to my arms and spun around me very rapidly and kissed me on the cheek. Then she pulled me over to their father. King Triton laid his hand on my shoulder and said it was time for the ritual if I was still wanting to be with Kc. I looked right at him and shook my head in agreement. Triton held up his staff as it began to glow a very bright blue. Triton slowly touched the tip of his staff to my hand. Then Kc placed her hand on underneath mine, when the light show was over with and her father removed his staff away from me, I looked down and saw a blue colored triton staff branded on my hand, then I looked at Kc's hand as she removed her hand from under mine, and saw the exact same brand on her hand.

King Triton said a few words in Nauticus to us both, that I barely understood, then placed his daughters hands into mine and said eternally bonded, then he swam away back to his throne and said it was done, now Kc and I were one now and forever, and that we could go back to the land if thats what we both desired, or stay there in his underwater paradise. Kc quickly told me that as long as she was with me, she didn't care where we lived. I kissed her deeply for the first time and told her no matter where we lived, we would always come back here to visit any time she felt the need to be at her birth home. Triton did one more zap on us, and when he said his goodbyes to us we were wearing a pair of matching diamond seahorse necklaces mine was black and hers was white. He told us that they would magically give us the tails we needed ever time we decided to come for a visit.

Kc reached for me and said it was time to go back to my family and share with them their great news and happiness, Klay raced off after us both as he hollered at me to wait up because there was no way in hell he was letting us go without him! Kc and I both smiled at him and told him to hurry up. Klay made it up to us and said besides we were gonna need him for the shitstorm that was headed our way with Belinda and the prize hunters that were looking for two certain merpeople that were going to be living topside with me from now on. I slapped my face when he reminded me of that bitch and her devilish plot to ruin any happiness I could ever have. But it was gonna be a cold day in hell before I let her ruin my life with my new love of my life. But what to do, and how to find her and fix her ass once and for all!