Excursion

Chapter Twenty-Three - Why Esis Dumps Water on his Head

  I had hardly any time to think about the location of my journal as Esis was leading me briskly through the halls of the Lazuli Palace, waving to every guard that we passed.

  "So, Lavern," he began, once we abruptly turned a corner. "He's my rival, in terms of Nova's affection. While I have uncanny good looks and the personality of a proper gentleman, Lavern has the aloof, happy-go-lucky, slobbish personality that every girl turns a motherly expression towards and wants to fall in love with just so they'll be able to help him out of his physical and emotional turmoil."

  I blinked several times. "Oh. So... um... everyone knows about Lavern?"

  Esis snorted. "Nova makes sure everyone knows about Lavern," he answered curtly. "She also makes sure everyone knows about me. I'm beginning to wonder if the woman is just playing off of our affections so she can get herself some more popularity."

  I thought that Esis would be the last person to contradict the Premier in such a way. "How so?"

  "Well..." he murmured, rubbing the back of his neck, "... have you ever been to a sports event?"

  "Does emu racing count?"

  "Were there different teams?"

  "Yes, of course."

  "Then yes, emu racing counts. To me, it looks like Nova is turning the entire region of Magnicum into a giant emu racing competition. There's Team Esis, and there's Team Lavern. She's promised the citizens that whichever suitor has the most people rooting for them, she'll marry."

  "And is Valentino on board with this?"

  "No. But as he originally wanted her to get engaged to me, the masses automatically stuck him on Team Esis, simultaneously making all the people on Team Lavern hate the poor man. They don't even hire him for his matchmaking services. Serves them right, though..." he finished with a mutter. "People who think that the fat crybaby should take Nova's hand in marriage shouldn't have the privilege of Valentino's help."

  "So wait... does Nova really love either one of you?"

  Esis looked at me quizzically.

  "What I mean to say is... if she's making the public choose who she's going to marry, then she can't exactly have any super strong feelings for you or-"

  "Oh oh oh, I see what you mean," he responded with a self-conscious laugh. "Yes, she loves both of us equally, and that's the problem. That's why she's making other people choose for her."

  "But-"

  "I'm sure it will all get sorted out eventually."

  "But-"

  "Nomen, don't worry about it. I really don't want to talk about this issue anymore."

  "But..."

  We walked down a few more hallways in silence while my mind bounced around, trying to think of what else I needed to speak with Esis about while I was here. We were almost to the exam room when the most important question came out of nowhere and hit me directly between the eyes.

  "Esis?"

  "Yes, Nomen?"

  I coughed. Whether it was from a itchy throat or nerves, I wasn't quite sure. "Valentino told me something else this morning."

  "What was it?"

  "He told me.... he told me that the reason you pour water on your head sometimes is because you're something... well, he told me I should ask you myself."

  Esis fell silent. A slight frown appeared.

  "What... do you mind telling me...?"

  He didn't say a word until we were standing in front of the exam room door, peering at its intricate carvings and mirrored surface.

  "I'm a scientific fusion between man and animal."

  I blinked. "A what?"

  "If a professional scientist has the ability to morph DNA from a human into another human, he can very easily morph DNA from a human into an animal. Or... an animal into a human."

  "Are you saying that you're a-"

  "Sea serpent," Esis blurted. "I'm a sea serpent."

  I took three very purposeful steps backwards, scanning Esis up and down. Nothing about his features suggested that he was an underwater snake and nothing ever had, but the longer I stared, the more things I spotted. The faint scars along his neck, where a set of gills might have been. The solid structure of his torso. His long, aquiline nose.

  "No way."

  "Way," Esis chuckled, although he sounded slightly self-conscious. "I'm rather a small one, though. Can't take down a ship unless I put my back into it. And I don't have fangs. I'm of the python division, so instead, I do a lot of sleeping, and laying in the sun, and-"

  "There are other sea serpents in the world?!"

  "Oh, yeah. Plenty."

  "But... why are you a human now?"

  "I'm a fusion. I thought we already went over this."

  "What's a fusion?"

  Esis buried his face in his hands. "A human-animal. A hybrid. A shapeshifter. A..."

  "Who made you?!"

  "Brilvial." Esis looked me straight in the eye.

  Oh, brilliant. He didn't blink much, either.

  "Royal Scientist of Magnicum," he continued. "He's an expert at taking things apart and putting them back together again."

  "So that's why you always have to keep your head damp..."

  "Not always. Only when I've been standing in the sun for too long or overexerting myself. Being in your Vannakai camp was torture."

  One of the exam room doors opened with a creak.

  "Mr. Nomen?" the man who had opened the door inquired. "We're ready for you."

  "Break a leg, Kiddo," Esis reassured, giving me a pat on the back.

  "Thanks," I told him with a smile, and quickly added, "Make sure Salandil and Yvette are all right, would you?"

  "Salandil's fine," he answered, just as the doors began to close. "Yvette's execution starts in two hours."

  "Wait, what?!" I screamed.

  But the doors had already slammed shut.