Ocean Song Beneath the Waves
*UPDATED* Chapter 14: The Twelve

Calder’s grave tone overtakes the atmosphere in the room. “So Proteus is free then. If that be the case then no one is safe and we are all doomed...”

Cascata’s lips twist into a scowl. “We are not doomed yet, you pessimist!” Marina snaps in annoyance, lightly slapping Calder’s arm. “We still have some hope,” she says pointedly, gliding over to the bowl and waving a hand over it.

“Something can be done then?” Serena asks, a hopeful feeling taking root within her. She may just make it back home yet, and finally be together with her family!

Yet she barely notices the unsettled scowl pulling at her brother’s lips.

Cascata nods. “Indeed. As I have been tasked with protecting the prison, Calder was tasked with replaceing the Celestial Warriors,” she mutters quietly—searching through the images appearing in the ball of mist over her bowl for any sign of Proteus.

“Celestial Warriors? What are those?” asks Rodion.

Cascata scowls, apparently having seen—or not seen—what she was looking for. She slaps a hand through the mist, causing it to disperse in a flurry of sparkling particles.

Calder’s eyes narrow. “What is it?”

“Not even my magic is strong enough to replace him,” Cascata mutters in anger. She turns away and begins searching about the shelves full of potions and other such trinkets instead.

Calder says nothing and turns his attentions to answer the earlier question instead. “You humans know them as the ‘Zodiac’. Most of your myth comes from the events that occur under the sea.” He pauses when Cascata mutters an angered curse before continuing, “Anyway, the Celestial Warriors were merpeople gifted strong powers by their respective gods. There were four major deities and they were the reason that everything is the way that it is today.”

Calder holds out his hand, resulting in a green mist that rises from it and begins to depict the silhouettes of twelve merpeople. “The first of the warriors was Aries, a warrior born from the Sun and protected by fire. Aries possessed qualities of leadership and was quite spirited.” As he explains, the first silhouette is enlarged while the others shrink.

The sign of Aries appears at the core of the merperson’s body as it glows a red color. “Each warrior was given a stone that identified them as a warrior and offered them additional powers. Aries’s stone is currently harbored within the kingdom of Nerisia, the kingdom of blood.”

At this Serena tenses—her minds turning to gruesome thoughts at the name alone.

Rodion’s face is an exact mirror of her own.

“And why is it referred to as the ‘kingdom of blood’?” A shiver runs up her spine in anticipation for a frightening answer to her question.

“Not for the reason the two of you might have contrived,” Calder says with a lighthearted chuckle whilst he explains. “It is referred to as such because Aries’s stone is a bloodstone and most of the city’s color is the color of Aries’s stone, but I should probably keep the explanations short.”

Serena and Rodion release a sigh of relief—their fears dissolving into nothing. The last thing they need is for the ocean to become even more violent than it already is with the threat of Proteus made a reality.

“Then after Aries is Taurus, a warrior born of the Earth and protected by the earth, followed by Gemini, a warrior born of the Moon and protected by air. Next would be Cancer, a warrior born to the benevolent Ocean, herself, and protected by water. After Cancer is Leo, the second Sun warrior.” As he speeds up his explanation, each silhouette shrinks and enlarges as he goes through each of the warriors with each of the signs glowing as their respective warriors are called.

“Then there is Virgo, the second Earth warrior, followed by Libra, the second Moon warrior, followed again by Scorpio, the second Ocean warrior, then the last Sun warrior which is Sagittarius, with the last Earth warrior following it, that being Capricorn, then there’s Aquarius, the last Moon warrior, and finally the last Ocean warrior, Pisces.” Calder takes in a breath before releasing it—finally reaching the last warrior on his list.

“Brother? Are you not going to tell them of the thirteenth?” Cascata, having given up on her fruitless search, rejoins the conversation.

A confused look crosses Serena’s face once she notices the interaction between the two.

Calder throws his sister a sharp look—clearly having no desire for them to know what it is she speaks of.

But Serena says nothing of it. If Calder has deemed it unnecessary for her to know then it is of no business of hers’ to ask about it. No matter how much the curiosity tries to tear at her insides. She knows better than to give in to it, so she pushes it aside with the hope that it will dissolve later like it always does.

Unfortunately, for Serena, her brother doesn’t share that sentiment. “What is the ‘thirteenth’?”

Serena slaps a hand to her face—sliding it down its entirety. She grumbles a quiet warning to Rodion, but he merely shrugs it off and ignores her. She grins her teeth together.

It’s days like these where she remembers which of her brothers is the most infuriating. She can take Zale’s jokes, but Rodion has a hell of an attitude!

“That is someone you do not need to concern yourselves with.” His tone leaves little room for argument and the venom lying within it gives indication that questions are not to be asked concerning the subject ever again.

But Serena knows her brother. He’s not going to let this go, and he sure as hell isn’t going to forget about it if someone tells him to. Surely, some trouble awaits them in the future when this comes back to bite Rodion in the ass.

“Well on a not so lighter note, you have what you came for so it is time you return,” Cascata says dismissively, not even hiding her eagerness to be rid of them all. “I have a power-hungry merman to replace and you, dear brother, have twelve warriors to locate meaning you have stones to visit. So I will see you all in the not so near future! Goodbye!” As soon as the words leave her lips, Cascata swipes her hand in a dismissive motion with a trail of purple particles following it.

Calder’s eyes widen as he reaches out a hand and says, “Cascata wait–”

But the three quickly replace themselves thrust through a distorted space filled with beautiful colors similar to that of an aurora borealis but that moment ends just as quickly as they arrive back in Calder’s own abode.

“Dammit, Cascata!” he growls as he tugs at a lock of dark hair before turning towards the two who are left with him, an irritated expression on his face.

“Why do you two keep doing that?! Is a warning really too much to ask?!” Rodion complains whilst shaking his head.

Serena rubs at her eyes to regain clear vision but Calder doesn’t seem the least bit amused like he did the first time.

“My apologies but I must ask you to leave for today. We have our answers and now I have preparations to attend to,” he says with a scowl. He summons a small scroll from his hand. “Take this, Serena dear. Give it to the little prince-ling for me.” With that Calder thrusts the scroll into the hands of a surprised Serena before swiping his hand. “Get ready!”

And before anyone—Rodion specifically—can protest, they’re already enveloped within that distorted space once more.

However, just before she’s completely immersed within that space. Serena just barely catches Calder saying, “Time to get to work I suppose.” There was a tired sigh in his tone, but she’s allowed nothing else on the comment before her senses are assaulted by the chaos that is the teleportation.

The ringing in her ears, the rapid warping of her vision. All of a sudden she feels very ill…

“Calder!” Rodion abruptly shouts just when they finally emerge from whatever the hell you call a magical teleportation thing.

Meanwhile, Serena’s head is reeling and she’s struggling to discern her current surroundings. However, it only takes her a brief moment to recollect herself and realize exactly where Calder had transported them.

Prince Oceanus glares at the two menacingly. He had a blissful few hours of peace before his troubles reappeared once more.

Everything had been perfectly fine. Lady Delmara has been absent for some time having gone on a trip with her father to Portunus’s Vale, the merchant city a few miles north of Aquaria. A city ruled by House Tyranus, yet another member of the noble faction.

Finally, he’s been allowed a few hours to fully focus on his duty. Precious hours that have been disrupted by their return.

He glares at the two.

The girl has the decency to at least look a bit remorseful since these are his offices. While her bothersome brother’s only response is a crude glare. One returned without much prompting.

All the while, the two guards before him stand in utter confusion. They had been in the middle of a report on the current tensions between the noble and royal faction before they were interrupted.

“Leave us,” commands Prince Oceanus—an irate twitch of the brow all the encouragement the two need.

They exit the room with swift bows to mark their understanding. The door giving a firm thud behind them.

Silence reigns over the room. Prince Oceanus and Rodion glare at one another venomously while Serena tries and fails to figure out how to diffuse the situation.

Every time she makes a move to say or do something, she hesitates and seems to rethink her strategy.

“You had best explain and it had better be good because my patience wears thin.”

Rodion grits his teeth, but Serena rolls her eyes with a sigh—finally seeing her opportunity.

She doesn’t seem to be the least bit bother by Prince Oceanus’s glare any longer. “Calder wanted me to give you this,” she explains softly as she places the scroll upon the marble desk. He stares at the scroll scrutinizingly before deciding to view its contents.

Prince Oceanus’s eyes run across the scroll with his expression becoming more and more severe by the second whilst the two nuisances remain silent. Once he finishes reading he tightens his grip on the scroll, causing it to crinkle in his hands. He rises from his lavish clam chair and swims from the room in a hurry.

The doors click shut behind him.

The two siblings are left to stare at one another after being left alone in the room.

“Gee, thanks for giving me this scroll!” Rodion exclaims with his face taking on a more annoyed expression.

“Calm yourself, Rod. This mess we’ve gotten ourselves involved in seems to have everyone on edge,” Serena says calmly with a shrug. She can only guess the contents of the scroll. It most likely contained all of the information that the two discovered today and it only makes her worry for the future even more than she did before.

If Proteus’s objective is to feed off of this so-called mysterious power of humans-turned merpeople, then who’s going to be dragged beneath the waves next?

If only she’d listened. Why did she have to keep going back to the water? Why did it have to call to her so? If she had just stayed home–but this isn’t the time to be thinking of possibilities.

She glances at Rodion. He’s already begun to leave the room and she had already been following him without realizing it.

No. We will not die here. This has become a matter of survival and the goal is to keep out of Proteus’s reach otherwise they’re done for and the last thing she wants to do is become fish food after being drained like a battery.