The Unwanted Wendigo [ManxMan]

Chapter Twenty: Living On

~Chapter Twenty: Living On~

When we eventually returned to the capital city, there was a definite lack of the fanfare one might expect upon returning from a dangerous mission. Considering how it was a few hours past midnight and everyone else seemed to be asleep, though, I was not surprised. The obvious fact that everyone is asleep, though, did not stop Nero and the remaining members of his team from going to report in - something that I chose not to do because I honestly did not and still do not care about that kind of thing.

If I wanted to have someone to report to, I'd have just stuck with my kind.

So, instead, I had gone back to Valentin's house, where I was finally able to sleep in my now-shell-free bed. And it is because of that and the fact that no one came to get my report that I was able to sleep for at least six hours without interruption, sleeping off my last meal as well as allowing my body to heal the worst of my injuries. Unfortunately, though, being unbothered only lasts until I leave my room and enter the kitchen, as there is a certain Mer sitting at the dining table across from my hosts.

Doesn't a new king have more important things to do?

"Come to make sure I wasn't eaten?" I ask, startling the king, who had his back to me.

Fish Man turns in his seat, and my eyes immediately settle on the place where there should be a crown but is not. Either he opted out of wearing it or he somehow lost his kingship in the span of twenty-four hours, though I rather doubt the latter, even if it would be kind of funny. "Nero-aum already gave his report," he replies, though I was not expecting anything different. "I'm just here to see if you have remembered anything that might be important to the investigation into the attack."

Couldn't have sent an actual investigator, though?

Humming thoughtfully, I sit down across from Giselle, putting me two chairs away from Fish Man. "Nero tell you about the trident-thingy?" I inquire, and after shooting a quick glance at the king, I take off my mask and set it on the floor, as though Giselle has yet to say anything, I know she does not like it when I wear it at the table.

Not that I actually sit at the table often because unlike a dog, I'm allowed, but I don't like tables much.

"He did," Fish Man confirms, "and he also said that no one saw where it came from. Did you see anything suspicious before or after the attack? Any Mer with unusual tails?"

"Unusual tails?" I repeat, unsure. If he's asking whether I've seen some sort of legendary Rainbow Mer, he's out of luck.

Since Fish Man just looks confused by my confusion, as his eyes narrow and brows scrunch up in incomprehension, Valentin, catching onto my reason for my puzzlement before I have to elaborate, cuts in, "The Mer of the different kingdoms have different tails, though there is one kingdom where the Mer do not have tails at all, but they have been missing for over five years and are likely not involved. Still, some Mer have more shark-like tails while others - like Pacific and Atlantic Mer - are more dolphin-like, and I know you have seen Giselle's ear fins and the scales that appear on her arms and face, which are common Atlantic traits but would be rare among Pacific Mer. There even used to be some Mer who were fully covered in scales, but they have been lost for ages."

Though I do not really want to, I take a moment to actually consider that. However, since I can barely remember the appearances of the Mer I saw, I just shake my head. "Don't remember seeing anything like that."

"Any unfamiliar faces?" Fish Man asks.

"I wouldn't know. Only face I knew was Nero's," I reply, leaving out the fact that I do remember the face of the Mer who saved me and then almost immediately died, as I rather doubt they were anything but loyal to this kingdom.