My Accidental Power

Wednesday, 28 April 2021

A feast was held at the dining area, which was surrounded with water lilies. Their dining table with matching chairs were made of brown marbles, and I was introduced to some mermen officers and secretaries. I couldn't believe the underworld also had political designations, and I tried my hardest not to laugh because that would've been rude. I mean, I had no intention to mock them, it just really felt like I was dreaming.

After getting introduced to some people, the queen explained every food on the table. They were mostly plants like seaweed, algae, and spirulina. The queen had even shared their benefits, saying that seaweed and algae are packed with healthy fats, vitamins, minerals, and protein. When one of the mermaids, which I assume is one of their servants, served living sea creatures like clams and crustaceans, I almost barfed at the sight of crustaceans because I absolutely had no intention to eat something so raw. Out of respect, I had to try the plants and stick with them. Though it felt like eating mushy grass, I was surprised to find them quite tasty. The queen seemed to not give a damn about her daughter who was probably on hunger strike. Or actually, nobody cared enough to ask her to join the feast. They just let her be, and I guess she fell asleep.

After the feast, I walked around and admired the purple environment, which had many beautiful underwater flowers, as well as sea creatures freely swimming around. When I saw a crab, I instantly recognized it as the cute one that I saw at the gazebo and led me to the fountain. I couldn't be mistaken because it had a distinct grey mark on its shell that made it different from other crabs. "I know you! Come here, it's me!" It swam really fast that I had to hurry up and swim fast, too. "Come here, don't go anywhere near the kitchen or dining hall because they might eat you for dinner!"

How can a crab be too fast like that? "Hey, wait for me!" I was too focused on following the crab that I didn't notice I was headed towards where I wasn't supposed to be. There was this really huge red shell that looked like those purple ones covering the princess' chest, and as I continued to follow the crab, I went through these long and thick green plants. I had no idea they served as the entrance to the princess' room, until I saw the princess herself who was quite far from the entrance. "Holy shoot." I whispered. I quickly turned around and saw that there were two mermen approaching. I didn't want to give them the wrong impression, so I hid just as I was about to pass through the exit. The two mermen might be there to guard the princess or something.

In a surreptitious gesture, I took a quick peak through the green plants and saw the mermen's big arms. I immediately decided to settle inside, as opposed to coming out from the princess' room. I didn't want any misunderstandings, and hoped that maybe there was another exit. I didn't want the two mermen to find out that I had barged into the princess' room.

I quietly moved to see and make sure that the princess was sleeping, swimming cautiously while observing her entire room. This huge red shell must be what a royal chamber for sea creatures look like. It was bigger than my room, and furnished with different kinds of red plants that I knew nothing about. I could only recognize the water primrose that served as her bed, and the rest of the unknown plants were hanging around as decorations.

As I silently approached, I stopped at a distance that was close enough to see her clearly. She must've been too exhausted from all that anger. Except for the time she fainted and opened her eyes just to threaten my life, she had been asleep for the rest of the day. Come to think of it, when she's asleep, she looks so innocent and beautiful.

She was in a fetal position, with her whole weight on the right side. Her porcelain skin tone was flawless, and her downward-turned lips were candy red. I wonder if mermaids also use lipstick. With her eyes closed, her long eyelashes stood out, and her rosy cheeks were…oh no, she started to move. She's waking up! What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?

On the four corners of her room, there were huge marble sculptures of dolphins, so I tried to hide behind the one on her left side. I instantly realized it wasn't enough to completely hide me from view, so I quickly but cautiously started to crawl under her plant bed.

"What in heaven's name are you doing in my chamber?"

Shit! I was too late. I immediately felt her grabbing my foot and pulling me as if I weighted nothing. "I'm sorry, princess. I didn't mean to be here!" She let go of my legs and swam towards a trident that I thought only Poseidon would have. Upon clutching the weapon, she moved so swiftly towards me, so I swam to the other side of her bed really fast. She chased me with that scary weapon and meant to kill me! I swam around for my valuable life and hid behind one of the marble dolphins. "Princess, I can explain! Please hear me out!"

Where in the world are those two mermen guards? Aren't they supposed to come barging in when they hear some commotion?

"Your misconducts are piling up, Mr. Ugly Beast!"

"What?" I swam my way into another marble dolphin, then tried to use it to block her from stabbing me with the trident. "I can assure you, I'm not a beast, and I'm certainly not ugly! I may not be the most handsome guy, but I am charming and attractive in my own way, aahhhhhhh!!!!!"

She lifted the huge marble dolphin like a feather, and I thought that even if she missed stabbing me with the trident weapon because of my consistent and speedy sidesteps, I would've been gruesomely stabbed to death by the furious look that her eyes shot at me. "You are a thief and an intruder! How dare you trespass my private space in this hour!"

"Princess, please…I can explain. I swear, I didn't mean to…I was just following the crab and it led me here!"

"You mendacious aberrant delinquent!"

"Okay, hold on there. You're like a walking dictionary of really offensive adjectives!" She almost hit me with her weapon, so I quickly swam away from her. "Or I guess a swimming dictionary!"

She never slowed down her pace in chasing me, and I was scared to death that I won't be able to escape from her attempts to attack me with her deadly weapon. Out of so much exhaustion, I accidentally bumped into a marble figurine and hurt my arm. It slowed me down, so she was able to catch me. She raised her trident and was about to struck me when a strong blue energy naturally came out of my body and struck her first. It sent her up the ceiling and as she dropped the trident, she hit her back on the shell's ceiling and fell down on the grassy ground. The impact was too strong. I was too surprised that some kind of powerful force came from me, so I checked my hands. How in this purple world did I do that?

She groaned.

"Oh my God, princess. Are you okay? Wait, that was a stupid question. Please be okay. I didn't mean it, I swear." I instantly carried her to her bed. She groaned again. "I should call the guards."

"Wait, no!" She grabbed my hand to prevent me from standing up. "Do not call anyone."

"But you're hurt. I could've killed you!"

"Yes, you could have."

She tried to move, but the pain kept her from moving much. She could've even sit, so she just stayed as she was, lying down helplessly with her eyes close. She groaned again.

"I need to go out and call someone."

"NO! I cannot endure such unwarranted defeat! You are invincible now because of the crown and I must not let anyone see that!"

"But princess…"

"Obtain the black pearl hidden within those corals." She pointed at some colorful corals on the far left side of her room.

I did as I was told. It was easy to spot the black pearl because it was the only dark color amongst the neon-colored corals. I quickly handed the big black pearl to her. She clutched it in her palms as if she was silently praying. I studied her entire body from head to toe and felt mortified at the wounds and bruises. I couldn't believe what I had done. I would never ever raise a hand on a woman, or a mermaid, but that blue energy that unleashed itself from my body was so sudden that I didn't even know how to control it. I saw her back hit the ceiling pretty bad, and her arms and entire body fell on the grassy floor with much impact. It felt like I was less of a man for hurting her, and that pains my pride so much.

As I continued to observe her, my guilt didn't disappear, but I started to feel at ease. The black pearl must be some kind of medicine that heals, because her tired face had started to show life, then the purplish bruises on her arms, as well as some small wounds on her body and tail disappeared. I felt shocked, yet relieved. She opened her eyes and got up. "You must learn to control that power." She didn't look happy, but she didn't look as angry as she was.

"How can I control my power?"

"That power is not yours to keep, you must certainly not proclaim it as your own."

"Okay, I understand, but how do I control my accidental power? I mean, THIS accidental power."

"Through training."

"Would you help me try to control it tomorrow? If you're feeling okay now, I'm leaving, so that you can take a rest."

"No. You should sleep with me tonight."

"What?" With eyes wide as an owl's, my jaw dropped.