Ocean Song Beneath the Waves
Chapter 28: Trouble on Land

Bonus!

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Serena releases a tired sigh as she rests in front of a fish shop after her escape from her brother and their guardian.

After they had arrived on shore, they stopped by their home to check on things and look for traces of their brothers with no luck. Then they spent a good hour walking around with people stopping to stare at them every so often, mainly women anyway. Reasons being Rodion’s handsome face or their attractive warden that watches them like a hawk. It mattered little as she quickly became fed up with the two and managed to give them the slip at the juice bar.

Briefly does a moment of guilt enter her mind, but she pushes it away just as quickly. Sure the two men would most likely be angry with her for running off when they replace her, but so long as nothing happens to her it should be fine. Right?

Wrong.

“Well if it isn’t the Fish Girl!” A quick glance to the right leaves her groaning in displeasure as she catches sight of Raquel Woods, a rather annoying girl who’s obsessed with Arion like most of the high school female population. “And here I thought you disappeared for good!” She cackles as her two friends, a dark blonde and a ravenette, laugh beside her. She flips her chocolate brown hair behind her head as she does a quick survey of the area.

Meanwhile, Serena rolls her eyes as she says rather blandly, “You will replace no trace of my brother Raquel.”

Raquel gives her a weird look as she quickly realizes that she’s still talking like the merpeople. “Ugh, why are you talking like that?” She asks, but then quickly shakes her head as she continues, “Actually, I don’t really care. It’s been weeks since anyone’s seen Arion, and your family turns up missing one by one. Yet, here you are.”

“If you’re wondering if my brothers are back, then I hate to be the bearer of bad news. Only Rodion is with me and he could care little and less for noisy girls like you!”

Raquel seems almost taken aback by her sudden sharp tone as her friends glance at one another unsurely. Suddenly she laughs out loud like a self-indulged hyena as her friends quickly join in once they’re certain everything’s fine.

“Ah ha ha! Oh, wow. Did shy, quiet Serena learn some new tricks during her trip?”

However, Serena says nothing as her gaze farts left and right in search of an escape. Raquel simply smirks as she catches on to what she’s doing.

“Aw, is the little fish scared now?” She asks with a mockingly sympathetic tone. Is she scared? Certainly, yes. She hasn’t had to deal with someone like Raquel in nearly four months! Well, there was Delmara, but Delmara wouldn’t deign to glance at her, let alone converse! Yet, Raquel is a completely different story.

“Well, say something Fish Girl!” The ravenette, Gia Sanders, barks while the dark blonde, Allison Miller, slips behind her and gives her a rough shove forward with a callous smirk on her face. Serena releases an involuntary yelp as she stumbles forward and ungracefully falls to her knees. The impact of the concrete did hurt, but she was a little more bothered by the fact that the people around them were simply going about their day as if she weren’t just pushed to the ground with three girls standing around her with obvious ill-intent.

Her gaze meets the designer boots on Raquel’s feet then continues to follow them upward until she’s looking at the pleased expression upon her face.

“That’s more like it. Common trash should know their place in the world, and yours is on your knees before me.” After these words leave her mouth, all falls into a frigid silence. Dark feelings dance about inside the deepest part of her being as she tries to reign in the negative emotions that threaten to consume and destroy her.

It’s then that a different voice rings out. “Common trash is she? Then what does that make you?” All eyes immediately snap to the source of the voice to replace an olive-skinned young man with semi-long dark gray hair. He stares at the three perpetrators with a harsh gaze of liquid honey that has them momentarily forgetting about what it is they're doing. Serena rolls her eyes as a single thought passes through her mind, Leave it to these three to focus all their attention on some good-looking guy. While they’re distracted, she stands up from the ground and dusts the sand off of her behind before turning back to the impending spectacle.

Allison is quick to attempt some kind of recovery for themselves as she hurriedly says, “We were just messing around! Fish Gir- I mean, Serena, is a good friend of ours and we were just worried since she’s been missing for so long!” Honestly, if he’s stupid enough to believe that half-baked response then there’s no more reason for me to stand around here. She prepares to walk away.

Though, much to her surprise, his frown morphs into a scowl as something of a dangerous glint makes itself known within his eyes. “I was not born yesterday, you foolish girls. Away with you! I grow weary of your bothersome presence,” he says with a dismissive wave of his hand, and as if in a trance, the three walk away without a single word. However, the fact that they obediently does as he says isn’t what catches her attention.

“You must come from the sea,” she mutters a matter-of-factly as the strange man turns back to her with a studious glance.

His gaze remains fixated on her face for several seconds before he decides to say something. “Clever girl. I do hail from the sea.”

Her eyes narrow at him as she tries to ignore the gnawing feeling inside that urges her to trust him. “Which kingdom do you come from?”

“My apologies, but I am not so quickly inclined as to tell a complete stranger every little thing about me.”

She falls silent as she briefly debates on whether or not she can trust him, but it doesn’t take much considering that everything within her being is telling her that there’s something trustworthy about this stranger.

After a few more minutes of contemplation, she finally says, “My name is Serena Adamaris, a ward of the Aquarian royal family.”

“Aquaria, you say? Hm...” Again, he stares intently at her face and little by little it’s beginning to unnerve her.

To avoid the feeling, she begins feeling around her face. “Is there something on my face?”

He shakes his head. “No, not at all. Ahem,” he pauses and stands up straighter. “You may call me Storm and I am of Vilmaris.”

Serena’s eyes widen as she rushes to ask, “Can you tell me what is happening there?! You might be able to help me replace my brothers by telling me!”

“Your brothers?”

“Yes! They went missing a while ago, but no one has been able to locate them anywhere in the sea. So I thought they might have ended up in the vicinity of Vilmaris since it seems to be blocked off from the rest of the sea.”

Storm shakes his head apologetically as he answers, “Unfortunately it has been some time since I have last been home and I am not at liberty to so freely discuss our internal affairs with outsiders.”

Her face falls at this. She doesn’t say anything more, knowing full well that any further questions will remain unanswered. Storm releases a sigh as he goes to say something, but then Rodion’s voice calls out.

“Rena!” The second she turns her head, Storm disappears into thin air.

Pelagios is the first to reach her, quickly followed by Rodion. “Lady Serena! Who was it that you were talking to?” She looks around, but replaces no traces of Storm and she almost questions herself on whether or not he was actually there. If it weren’t for the fact that merpeople and gods existed, then she probably would’ve been inclined to believe that he was, in fact, a figment of her imagination, but that isn’t the case.

“Rena?”

She blinks rapidly before regaining her composure and turning a smile to the two. “I ran into some uh...annoying girls from school is all.”

Rodion’s eyes narrow as he stares at his sister intently, though Pelagios isn’t too keen on wasting anymore time than they already have. Some time has passed since Serena went off on her own, and their time on land is beginning to run out.

“As invested as I am in your choice of topic, I must insist that you finish up with any other affairs you may have here. You have an hour left until the transformation wears off and you will be unable to return here for quite sometime.” At this, Serena and Rodion both turn to look at Pelagios as they have heard nothing of this information at all.

“What do you mean? Prince Oceanus never said anything about that!”

“You didn’t think to tell us this sooner?!” Rodion shouts, effectively grabbing the attention of people walking along the street.

“Gee Rod, can you be any louder?!”

“Oh, shut it Rena! Did you forget that you are the reason that we only have an hour left? Why did you run off anyway?”

“To escape my overprotective big brother and our vigilant keeper,” she says blandly as the three begin walking once more with no clear destination in mind.

“My Lady, I must insist that you refrain from such actions in the future. My duty is to ensure your safety and I cannot do so if you wish not to comply.” Then the guilty feeling comes back in full force. It’s his job, and he reports to the Prince so the last thing she wants to do is get him into any trouble.

She releases a sigh as she stops and turns to Pelagios. “I am sorry. It is not my intent to impede upon your job. It has just been a long time since I have been on land and having my every move shadowed left me a little uncomfortable.”

Pelagios nods his head with a kind smile. “Worry not. I hold you no ill will and I understand your desires. I just ask that you exercise caution from now on.”

With that said, the three are off once more. The siblings had decided to stop by a fast food restaurant since Rodion had an intense craving for meat after months of eating seafood and underwater plants. Of course, their next stop would be an ice cream shop for milkshakes for the sake of Serena’s own craving for a strawberry milkshake with whipped cream. Pelagios was unmistakably confused by all this, which is understandable given his little time spent on land.

“God have I missed meat!” Rodion says loudly as a grin settles on his face after having finished his cheeseburger. Serena simply giggled as she slurped on her milkshake, courtesy of some cash Rodion had found while rummaging around in their house earlier.

“I fail to understand the joy in such simple concoctions,” Pelagios sighs as he trails along behind them. He didn’t really express an interest in purchasing anything and seemed more intent on performing his duties rather than indulging in the pair’s interests in food. It’s then that he chances a glance at the sky and curses as he takes notice of the orange stained sky. “We must hurry back to the pier. Our time on land is just about up and it would be best if we make our way back now if we are to avoid growing tails right here.”

The pair nod their heads as Serena quickly slurps down the remainder of her milkshake and tosses it. They begin running back towards the pier, but what awaited them wasn’t exactly what they were expecting when they got there.

Upon reaching the pier they replace a woman standing there, but not just any woman. Clearly she isn’t human considering her skin is deathly pale and the smile she wears contains sharpened teeth. Her gaze is black as night and her matted down inky black hair is intertwined with what appears to be a few pieces of seaweed.

Pelagios steps in front of the two defensively just as she says with an even bigger grin, “At long last. I thought I might run into you if I waited long enough...”