Chapter 8

Taehyung looks at Lalisa from the quarter deck with Hoseok beside her trying to comfort her. Apparently, she is scared of Taehyung and herself. Taehyung looks at her shaking figure, worried.

Hoseok had told her they were just pirates trying to attack them and whatever she did was right. She had not uttered a single word and refused to eat or drink anything. Taehyung had no idea who had put her in a barrel and sent in the ship. He would never doubt his men. It has to be someone else. And he did not feel right to ask Lalisa about it now. She was already scared after looking at all the dead bodies and blood. And to top it all, she killed the pirate captain.

Few of Taehyung's men were in the infirmary while others were resting. It was better to not make Lalisa even more scared than she already is.

Taehyung motions Hoseok to take her to his cabin.

"You should rest for now. We will heed back soon." Hoseok tells her and in return, Lalisa does not even move, staring off at the sea.

Taehyung sighs and looks at the sea where Lalisa is staring. Hoseok comes beside him, "She won't tell anything."

"Let her be. She is already not doing well with her kidnapping."

Lalisa looks at the sea, fearing what might happen next. She does not want to die at such a young age. And no one even knows where she is. They won't even know if she is alive or already dead. And they wouldn't even find her dead body.

She had seen a lots of ships break and sink from under the sea. It was the first time she had witnessed what actually causes them to break and sink, with a lot of dead humans.

The man with a warm smile tried assuring her that everything was fine and they would send her to the land safely. But will they still take her back safely if they'd discover she is a mermaid? Or will they beat her till her eyes dry out and she has no more pearls to shed?

Lalisa shivers at the thought and looks at the man with green eyes looking back at her. Had I not smiled at him before? Had I not let myself relax in his presence before? I had felt a strong force luring me to him. I want to trust him. I really want to. But I am not sure. What if, he..

Lalisa looks down at her palms, not able to stare in those innocent and alluring green eyes any longer. Hyung would be very furious if he finds out where I am. He would kill all the men here.

It reminds Lalisa of the human she killed today. She had not meant to. But he was aiming at those innocent green eyes and she felt an urgent need to save them. It was nothing but she had really wanted him to be safe, even if he was a threat to her.

She saw the dagger clinging to the green eyed man's clothes and she had taken it to stab the pirate as fast as her hands could. And she succeeded. She had felt terrible at first, but the fear of being in the sea, although in a vessel, was far more greater than killing a human. She had put the lives of whole merfolk in danger again. Moreover, she was responsible for the safety of the little mermaid.

It's getting dark. Lalisa thinks looking at the sky.

"It's getting dark," She looks at the man with green eyes looking into her jade ones, "Take it while I am offering you." He says, tilting his head slightly towards his cabin.

The man with a warm smile had told her before to rest in the cabin, but she did not want to get in a closed space again. Not at least for a while.

Lalisa keeps staring at the cabin.

"I know you are scared. But I won't eat you." The green eyed man mutters in a low voice for Lalisa not to hear, rolling his eyes. Lalisa smiles the faintest of her smiles, as being a mermaid, she clearly heard it.

"And at least say a yes or no woman!" He continues muttering after a short pause.

'I would have responded you if only my words would not come out slurred. And. If I could speak with proper words.' She thinks and smiles just a bit wider and looks the other way so that he wouldn't see her smiley face.

She had finally managed to control the color changing of her hair. If she would have been in the sea, with the merfolk, her hair color would have changed to light pink because of her smile.

The ship starts dancing furiously as if someone is pushing and punching it. Lalisa looks in horror as the water droplets fall on the deck.

'NO!'

'They will know I am a mermaid if water touches me.'

The waves get angrier and Lalisa looks up to watch the clouds getting darker. It's going to rain!

"Would you drench in rain but not trust me?" He asks looking at her expectantly.

'Well, if I weren't a mermaid, yes I would.'

The angry waves push the ship to the right side, making Lalisa fall just when she gets up.

Taehyung winces as she falls on the deck, her brown hair falling to cover her face.

He strides towards her, trying to hide his laughter and helps her stand up. She looks at his hand holding her arm and Taehyung thinks she would shrug her arm out of his, but she doesn't. She instead lets Taehyung guide her to the cabin, with Taehyung still holding her arm.

"Rest in here. We will reach soon." He informs her, entering the cabin and letting her sit on his bed.

Lalisa just nods in response, not looking at him. Lalisa had wanted to ask how he knew her name, when she heard it slip from his lips today while helping her out of the barrel. Lalisa remembers seeing him at the shore standing beside her sand castle, and she had felt as if he had called out for her. Jimin had later told her that he had written her name on the sand. 'That is how you know my name...' She thinks.

"Are you mute?" Taehyung finally asks, considering how she has not uttered even a single word yet. And he actually wanted to listen to her voice.

Lalisa looks up into his eyes giving away nothing. 'No. But you talk a lot.' She thinks and looks away.

"Ya. Is that how you say 'thank you' to someone who is protecting you and helping you?" He asks innocently, making Lalisa look away and smile again. Taehyung smiles when he sees her smiling.

'I saved you'. Lalisa thinks her smile the same.

"Okay, you saved me, but now I am protecting you and taking you back to your home safe." Taehyung says when he remembers Lalisa killing the pirate captain who was attacking him.

Her smile falters and she looks up at him stunned. 'You can hear me? You can hear my thoughts?'

"What?" Taehyung asks looking down at Lalisa's big round eyes. He wonders if he had said something wrong for Lalisa to look at him the way she is doing.

'Oh. You can't. It's not even possible for a human to hear a mermaids thoughts. Unless...' Lalisa looks out of the porthole at the sea, 'Unless they fall in love.'

"You will never find her in time prince! Either my men will finish her within half a day if they don't hear about the king's death, or the sharks will find her before you reach her." Wook smirks when Jungkook decides not to follow him to the palace but to go to the sea by himself and save his sister.

"There's no other way. Either one has to die today," Wook continues, now right behind Jungkook. "You go after Lalisa, you lose both. You come after me, you could at least save one."

Jungkook shuts his eyes, making his decision.

"I shouldn't have trusted these greedy and filthy humans!" The sea king fumes. "Anything from Jiyong?" He asks Seokjin.

Seokjin shakes his head. They are in a room of the hanok they use when they come to the land.

"Seunghyun? Did he send all mermen?" He asks further.

"Father, a bunch of mermen refuse to obey you. They have switched sides." Seokjin asnwers.

"Eliminate them!" He commands and Sehun looks up at his father shocked. It is the first time their father has commanded his sons to eliminate this many mermen! "When their wok is done and are of no use to the shark demon, they are going to get eaten by him nonetheless."

Wouldn't that mean, we will have lesser people to fight with the sharks? Seokhin thinks, worried.

"Mother - "

"Let her be at jackson's house for now." The king cuts off Seokjin.

Seokjin looks into his fathers sad eyes looking at the talisman in his ring finger. The king has never let the talisman out of his finger and Seokjin remembers it to be there after when he was five years old. Seokjin's head starts hurting looking at the talisman, a series of blur pictures running through his mind.

The pictures of seeing a bundle of red cloth in his fathers hand when his father was young. He sees young Seunghyun glaring at the bundle of red cloth.

Yoongi kncoks off the guards at the palace unconscious when they try to stop him from entering.

He stares in disbelief as Jungkook fights an army of the human king, killing all the soldiers attacking him. I knew I shouldn't have trusted the human king! First Lalisa, and now my brother! Yoongi's angry eyes search for the king.

A lady in a snow white colored hanbok catches Yoongi's attention, as she runs with a man and an older woman towards the cart. Yoongi ignores them, averting his attention to the men following them with tridents.

Tridents?!

Yoongi's eyes widen in realization. The king really abducted Lalisa!

The whole palace looks chaotic. The mermen who had disguised themselves as human soldiers and had been living on land are killing the kings real soldiers.

Yoongi knows, that with half of the land kings men turning against the land king himself, would leave him no choice but to leave his palace.

He swings his trident to lock the sword of a soldier attacking him, and throws it away, knocking off the soldier.

Yoongi sees a platoon ushering the king away. He pushes the soldier fighting him away and runs in the direction of the king.

Wook smirks, from a distance, "If not the 7th prince, then the 4th prince." He whispers.

Wook's eyes widen in horror when he realizes the 4th prince is going after him and not the king.

"You snake!" Yoongi hisses making Jungkook look at his direction.

Just as Yoongi is about to throw his trident at Wook, he hears Jungkook scream, "Hyung, no!"

Yoongi looks at him confused, and then he senses it. Jungkook isn't just fighting human soldiers! He was fighting the mermen disguised as human soldiers! They all switched sides?!

'These mermen, Wook bought them!' Jungkook says so that only Yoongi could hear, fighting off a merman. 'They think shark demon would spare them if they work for him.'

Yoongi stares in disbelief at his merpeople. They think that demon would spare them?! These people actually betrayed father?! They are working for this scoundrel?! Yoongi thinks looking at Wook disgusted. My father would give his life to protect these filthy fish?!

"Then he deserves to rot in hell!" Yoongi glares at Wook, killing the merman fighting him.

'Hyung!' Jungkook pleads. 'Trust me. Leave him for now. We wouldn't find Lalisa if something happens to him.'

"Your Majesty!" A merman comes in panting, and bows to the sea king, "The 4th prince," the sea king gets up to his feet expectantly, hoping they have found Lalisa, "and the 7th prince, they are attacked by the palace guards! And human soldiers."

The sea king's eyes turn from expectant to furious.

Seokjing looks at Sehun confused. Why would they do that?

"Kim!" The sea king roars, accusing the land king. "Tell the princes' and the merfolk to heed towards the palace!" I wouldn't have bothered you. But you made a grave mistake troubling my sons! You knew I cannot see my children suffer!

'Forgive me hyung. I couldn't protect her. Wook wants the human throne. He would spare Lalisa if he gets it.' Jungkook tell Yoongi throwing his trident at the soldier coming after him.

'And you bought that? Are you out of your mind Jungkook?! You think that rat would keep his word?!'

'I had no choice. He sent her to the sea,' As soon as those words slip out of Jungkook's mind, Yoongi stiffens and a merman manages to graze his arm. 'with men. If they don't hear about the human king's death, they would...'

Yoongi swings his sword slicing the neck of the merman ahead of him.

Yoongi looks back to see who Jungkook is fighting with for three minutes straight. Who can stop him for so long? He notices Wook smirking and the mermen trying to keep the human soldiers away from Jungkook and the man he is fighting. It does not take long for Yoongi to realize his brother is fighting with the crown prince.

That explains why Wook instructed his men to stop attacking Jungkook and prevent humans from getting near. Jungkook was finally doing what Wook wanted. Yoongi shakes his head in disbelief.

Yoongi was here to confront the human king. But now he knows humans aren't responsible for Lalisa. His own people had betrayed him. It wasn't the king, but his own merfolk. Is this how merfolk ends? He thinks, looking at his mermen killing hundreds of humans and turning against their own sea king.

'Jungkook..' Yoongi calls out in a low voice, but Jungkook does not pay any heed.

Just as Yoongi is about to go to him, his eyes find Wook, who commands something to a merman with bow and arrow and runs away.

Yoongi's face pales when the merman aims at Jungkook.

Yoongi fails to reach or at least warn Jungkook to step aside when the arrow leaves the bow.

Wook was informed that the sea king was heeding towards the palace to confront the land king. And he knew, it wouldn't take long before the youngest land prince returns with Lalisa. No one would believe him. He must finish the land king before they know it was a trap!

He has to kill the land king before the sea king reaches him with his people. He can finish the youngest land prince once he sits on the throne.

He knows, that if the sea king reaches the palace, he would know his sons weren't attacked. He would also know that land king is innocent and I abducted Lalisa. And the land king will never get eliminated.

Moreover, the merpeople, who he had managed to manipulate, would not work for him anymore.

His dream will remain only a dream. He must reach the king sooner.

He has succeeded in eliminating one prince. The other was on the way. And the land king...

It shouldn't take long.

Lalisa opens her eyes when she hears a soft knock on the door. She sits up straight when Taehyung opens the door to the cabin and steps inside.

"We have reached." He smiles.

But I thought we weren't going to reach for another day?

Taehyung just looks at Lalisa's confused face and nods, closing the door and disappearing again.

Lalisa looks out of the porthole, the land appearing and for the first time she feels revealed to leave the sea and see land again. Don't worry father. I am going back. I am safe. Someone protected me. And she smiles picturing green smiling eyes. I hope you come to land sooner, father.

"You really do things for her, don't you?" Hoseok shakes his head at Taehyung.

"Ya! What? It is not proper to keep a woman on a ship full of men for so long." He scowls.

Taehyung had really wanted to spend a whole day with Lalisa. He wanted to go further in the sea and then go back to the land. He wanted to know her better. He wanted her to feel free and at peace with him. Just like how he felt around her.

But he knew, Lalisa was uncomfortable and wouldn't want that. She certainly would want to go back to her home after such a tragic incident with her. She must be scared. And worried. Even her family must be worried about her.

He would definitely spend time with her. But not like this. He would do it when she would want to.

Taehyung did not even ask what had happened and how she was in the barrel and who wanted to harm her.

He decided to investigate about it and punish the culprit himself once he reaches his empire.

After almost half and hour they reach and Lalisa jumps out of the bed, suppressing the happy squeal threatening to leave her lips. She gets out of the cabin smiling brightly, wanting to be in the safety of her jungkook hyung's arms at once.

She feels eyes on her but ignores all except the green ones looking at her, happy for her.

She runs to his side, not wanting other pairs of eyes on her, and just like she expected, all the eyes look away when she reaches the green ones. She looks ahead at the land, not wanting to wait any longer, and swimming off to Rose's hanok.

She feels the green eyes still looking at her, "You aren't even a bit thankful, are you?" He asks.

She looks into those green eyes for a moment. The giddy feeling she has always had because of fear or worse, today it was somehow different. She wanted to look in those eyes for a moment longer for the first time since she has seen them. But she looks away.

'Thank you.' She thinks.

She watches as his expression changes to a surprised look, "Did you just thank me?" He asks.

'You heard me?' Lalisa looks up at him, shocked again.

"Never mind. You'd never say that." He says. I just thought I heard her voice. Did my mind just make that up? Am I that desperate to listen to her speak to me? That I am listening voices in my own head? But... that voice was... beautiful. Taehyung thinks smiling to himself.

Jimin had been taking care of the mermaid since morning. He knew he would have to take care of her for a few more days. And he was growing restless every passing second.

He wanted to get out of his own house where he was feeling trapped, it was suffocating him. He wanted, no, needed to get out of those four walls which were closing in, making it hard for him to breathe.

He had thought it was evening and no one would be around. No one knew him anyway. So he went with the little mermaid, covered in a cloth, in his arms to the shore.

But he had not expected to see what he was witnessing now.

Jimin looks at the big ship dumbstruck, as Lalisa gets out it and wait. Is that the prince?

Jimin had never seen the youngest prince. But any fool will know that a crew in such a royal ship would certainly be that of a prince. And he definitely was not the crown prince. It has to be the youngest prince. The 3rd prince!

Wow. It weren't rumors and people weren't joking when they said the youngest prince looks like a dream. The most handsome face anyone has witnessed. Now that Jimin finally saw him, he understood what people meant.

Jimin does not know what Lalisa is doing with the prince. But the way prince looks at her, Jimin knows what might be going on. But, where did they go? And with soldiers?

Jimin watches as a soldier goes running towards the prince and tells him something that makes his soft features turn into stone.

"They even killed the crown prince." Jimin stiffens when he hears a woman passing by telling to another in a scared voice.

"Are you sure they were mermen?" Another asks, and Jimin feels his hands shake and go cold. He looks back at where the prince was with his soldiers but finds no one.

Is that what the soldier told the prince? Th-the mermen? Jung...kook...

Jimin looks down at the little mermaid in his hands in horror. His hands shaking.