13 - Responsibility

I was looking at Ariel, still a little surprised by the Chi sphere I had blown up in the sand. The crater was still smoking a little, and I felt a chill at the thought of what it could do if I trained harder.

But her words snapped me out of my trance. "Your father?" I repeated, frowning. "King Triton? Would you like to meet me?"

She nodded, her red hair swaying. "É. He... he found out that I spent the day with you yesterday." She lowered her eyes, fiddling with her tail. "Sebastian told him everything, and now he's angry. But I told him you're different, that you control the water, and he wants to see for himself."

I swallowed. Meeting the king of the sea wasn't exactly what I had planned for the day. "And is he... like, really angry?" I asked, trying to sound calm. Inside, I was imagining a gigantic merman holding a trident pointed at my face.

Ariel hesitated, then shook her head. "I don't know. He started out angry, but now he's more... suspicious. I told him about your powers and that helped calm his anger, now he's curious, but he still thinks humans are dangerous." She looked up, with a glimmer of hope. "If you show him what you can do, maybe he'll change his mind!"

I laughed nervously. "Show King Triton... no pressure, right?" But I saw the way she looked at me, so confident, and I sighed. "Okay, Ariel, when does he want to see me?"

"Today," she said quickly. "He sent some guards to pick you up at night, on the beach. I... I'll be there too, okay?" She smiled, a little shyly, and my chest warmed.

"Tonight? That's a bit complicated..." I sighed, messing up my hair.

"Why?" she asked confusedly, tilting her head to the side, looking even cuter.

"I don't know if you know about the wave of monsters that are appearing in the human world?" I asked curiously, and seeing Ariel's even more confused expression, I explained. "Basically monsters have appeared caused by something in the east... wherever these monsters go they cause death and destruction, but they only appear at night."

Hearing this, Ariel was shocked. "Oh my god, and people are dying because of these monsters?"

I nodded. "Yes, few people have the power to deal with these monsters, and as my kingdom isn't very powerful, there are even fewer people with this ability... to be even more specific, currently only I can deal with the monsters without having a high chance of dying."

Ariel was shocked to hear this. "You're fighting these monsters, Eric?!" She asked as she held my arm in concern.

"I have to fight, if I don't do anything, people will die every day, as the prince of this land, and future king of these people, it's my duty to do what I can to protect them, but I can only battle at night, which is when the monsters appear." I explained.

Hearing this, Ariel became a little pensive, clearly conflicted about something.

"Don't worry, I'll talk to my dad and sort it out so you don't have to worry about your appointment with him tonight." She said decisively.

This made me smile and ruffle her hair, which, by the way, felt very nice in my hand.

Feeling my touch on her head, Ariel froze and looked at me in surprise, but didn't try to pull away.

Realizing that the situation was a little awkward, I quickly retracted my hand and didn't quite know what to say, until Ariel broke the silence with a question. "So that's why you're training so hard? To protect the people of your kingdom?"

Taking advantage of the fact that she hadn't commented on it, I answered instantly. "Yes, the stronger I get and the better I understand my powers, the faster I'll be able to deal with the monsters that are wreaking so much havoc in the kingdom."

Hearing this answer, Ariel's gaze changed.

Instead of the simple admiration she had shown for me before, something different was emerging in that gaze, something I still couldn't understand.

"So can I watch you train?" She asked, shyly.

"Sure, what knight would turn down a beautiful lady watching him train?" I joked, trying to lighten the mood.

And it worked, Ariel smiled sweetly as she went back into the water and stuck out her upper body, leaving her mermaid tail in the water. "Then I'll stay here and see how this knight trains to save his kingdom." She laughed.

I returned to the sand, picking up my sword. 'Water Breath, First Form.' I tried to use this power in silence, just saying the name of the technique mentally for the first time, focusing on the Chi I had felt before.

This execution was a little more tiring than saying the name of the technique out loud, but thinking of the disadvantages that shouting the name of my movements every time would bring, I didn't want it to become a dangerous habit for me, so I forced myself to practice this way.

The water rose around the blade, glistening in the sun, and I cut the air, feeling the flow more natural than ever.

It was getting easier, as if Johnny's Chi was blending even better with Percy's power and Water Breath now that I know it exists and try to use it actively in attack.

Ariel clapped her hands excitedly, getting a little closer.

"That's beautiful!" she exclaimed. "You're going to blow my father away!"

"I hope so." I laughed, continuing to practice.

With Ariel talking to me occasionally during training, I even forgot my hunger and continued practicing for a few more hours.

"Try that green ball again, my dad loves shiny things." Ariel commented, still excited, as if she couldn't get enough of seeing me using my powers.

I laughed, shaking my head. "Okay, but without exploding this time."

So I sat down on the sand, crossed my legs and closed my eyes.

Trying to feel the Chi again, that smaller energy that danced with Percy's power, I realized that now the amount of it was smaller, only around half of what it was when I first felt it.

Concentrating only on Chi, after a few seconds I managed to form another green sphere, smaller but more stable.

It pulsed in my hand, and I opened my eyes, seeing Ariel staring at it, enchanted.

"You're amazing, Eric," she said, so quietly that I almost didn't hear. My face heated up, but I just smiled, letting the orb disappear.

"Thanks, Ariel," I said. "Now just hope your dad thinks so too." I stood up, wiping the sand off my tunic. The sun was high, and my stomach rumbled.

When Ariel heard this, she covered her mouth with her hand and started laughing. "Looks like all that training has made you hungry, knight, how about I show you my favorite restaurant in Atlantica?"

Feeling how sweaty my body was from practicing in the sun, thinking about how refreshing the water was and how hungry I felt, I answered without hesitation, with exaggerated formality. "Then I'm counting on you, my fair lady."

Ariel turned red with embarrassment again, but laughed as she turned towards the sea.

I followed her, sheathing my sword and using Percy's power to cleanse myself as soon as I hit the water, not wanting her to smell anything on me.

As she's a mermaid, I don't know if she can smell anything underwater, so it's better to prevent that kind of thing, but my mind was on the meeting I'd have with King Triton in the future.

Despite my nervousness, deep down I was confident.

I remember there was a Little Mermaid movie that told the story of Ariel's childhood, showing her mother and how she was killed by a human ship, which made me understand the anger King Triton felt towards my species, especially since all his experiences with humans were terrible.

But I believe that as long as I showed enough potential, and more importantly, honesty and sincerity with him, the great King Triton could accept me.

But his name is very familiar...

Learning to think past things, searching through my memories for everything I knew about something, my memories of Percy revealed something surprising.

'Isn't King Triton also the son of Poseidon?!' I was shocked.

Looking at Ariel swimming beside me happily, I realized that this was even more complicated than I had imagined.

I was using powers based on a "brother" of Triton in an alternate reality, while dating the "granddaughter" of the father of the owners of those powers?!

Fortunately, I didn't feel as if I had become the son of Poseidon like Percy, but considering how messed up relationships were in Greek mythology, I don't think anyone would mind another mess like this arising, right?

--- Cat Notes ---

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