The Mer Prince

Chapter 49

Charley's POV

Things are a bit strange without XY around. Life never had to be about the romance, but the first day passes dully without the man I love and trust around. He would know plenty more than I do about what to do to pass time in the trenches. This world was still as new to me now as it had been the first day I was dragged into the water. A lot

"John?" I sit on the ledge of Alpha's cave with my friend. The view feels like a balcony, overlooking a crowded city alley below. The sun is far above us, but still dimmed by the depths of the ocean, giving the trench the darkness of a heavy rainstorm with the richest filter of blue.

"What do you need, Charley?" John turns his attention towards me. He seems a lot more at home here. His hands work on a grainy rock, scraping his nails to a sharp point. I figure it is the best sort of nail file he can own.

"This is weird." I start, not referring to his nail sharpening, as most octopus did the same filing. They all seemed to prioritize deadly force. "We are both alive. Free to do as we please and go anywhere. But... it feels safe with Alpha and XY, doesn't it? Does that bother you?"

"No." John is quick to reply, all his legs gathering neatly under him in a little tucked ball. I wish I had a way to sit cross-legged for a moment. A tail lacks the independence of legs.

"No?" I parrot back his response, looking at his face intently for more information. His brow forms a little crease as I press him.

"We can go anywhere without them, it's just dangerous." John explains, looking a little annoyed and rolling his eyes. He flicks the rock around as he speaks. "You and I are different from others."

I frown. "Do you think we are trapped, then? If we have to have them to go anywhere? Don't you feel like we might end up bound to them?"

"No." John faces me, his tentacles flaring out before tucking right back under himself. "They are our shields. Not chains. You're dumb."

John called life as he saw it, and he had a point. My thoughts and worries were just my anxiety, no doubt. His words made sense, I was overthinking. However, the revaluation didn't make me feel any safer.

John had more to say, though he was returning his attention to his hands. "We can choose to go without them. But we need to be able to protect ourselves if we do. Maybe you should get into training with a spear or something."

I nod in agreement. "That sounds like a good idea. Though, I might not be good at it."

"You're not born with a spear. That is what training is for. To make you good at it." John gives an annoyed little growl and looked at me sideways. Though I felt no hostility from him.

I smile to John. He is blunt. Aggressive, sometimes. But most of all he is my friend. It is easy to ask him questions;
"Where should I get spear training?"
"I don't know."
"Do you think Alpha would know?"
"Probably."
"Want to go ask?"
"Fuck. Why not?"

The stone dropped from John's hands and he moved towards me, knocking his head against mine. I can tell he is a little annoyed with me, but he puts up with me. He grabs ahold of my hands and I follow him along, back into Alpha's cave.

Something about the cave feels like it traps the light inside it, curved but formal, almost like the atmosphere of my old university campus. It feels like I am swimming past rooms where life goes on in sections, with Ursula speaking firmly to someone in one room like a lecturer, the ghost of a hot night making my face heat in another room like a college dorm, and in the back is Alpha's den with all the forbidden feeling of the Dean's Office. Except this Dean was a King of Octi.