The Day He Blushed

The guard at the door cleared his throat as he knocked at the door the second time. "The King and Queen are ready to receive you."

"Right now?"

Dravion nodded. "We'll go with you."

I didn't exactly feel ready to face royalty in that awkward jumpsuit and messy hair, but it wasn't like I had much choice. I stood, and so did the Abyssari to follow the guard.

✧𓂃⋆༶⋆𓂃✧

We met the royals. They didn't ask me any questions but only asked the Abyssari people.

I was introduced briefly. Their gazes held caution, not actual hostility but behind those ornate crowns, I saw fear.

Not of me but of what I might become if I ever awaken my powers. They already had a lot on their plate with that Vaelros guy.

The audience didn't last long, the Abyssari just described all that occurred but also hid some parts about my identity and why the guardian tried to attack me.

The Queen said I would remain under their watch until they take any decision of what to do next after their meeting with the arc seer. The King didn't talk much and just observed everyone, kept staring at me with those weird eyes like he was weighing my worth.

And then we were dismissed, came back into the palace's east wing where I had stayed while I was unconscious and where Kaelen had hoarded three kinds of fruit. Dravion left the room while saying he would give us some privacy.

I sank into the cushioned couch and turned towards the group.

"So," I asked. "What happened while I was out?"

The tall woman named Syrien, crossed her arms. "The guardian sent by Delkaris was intercepted before he could even return."

"Intercepted… by who?"

She hesitated. "Vaelros."

I hated how his name had that power to make me afraid.

"He killed the guardian," another said grimly. "We sensed his divine essence being ripped apart from his body."

"Vaelros consumed him," Syrien added. "And now… he would know about you and your power."

My chest tightened. "He saw the marks?"

"He must have even felt them before when you came here in the sea," the eldest looking mermaid in the group said. "You can't hide what you are from him, he has killed all your kind and consumed all of their essence which has made him very strong and dangerous to all the realms and even... the heavens."

The room went quiet.

"He won't stop now," the one sitting closer to me, with silver coloured fin tail muttered. "Not until he knows what you are. Or capture you."

That made me swallow hard.

The Sea Goddess hadn't warned me about this danger, I woke up before I could ask more questions from her.

"I'm not ready, to face him, he sounds too scary every time I hear someone talking about him." 

Syrien leaned forward, her voice was steady and sure. "Then we'll make you ready. Before he comes, we will train you to make you independent if needed to fight him."

"The goddess said my powers are sealed right now and I need to go relic hunting to get my magic back and she... she said I would be able to see a part of my parents with each one of those relics step by step and I... haah, I would be able to see the last soul remnants of my parents,"

As soon as I said that, one of the Abyssari with purple hair and a shimmering lilac tail burst into loud sobs and pulled out a cloth from out of nowhere.

"Poor kid! Why must she carry such a heavy burden? Her life's like a three-season tragedy arc!" He started full dramatic crying while doing funny poses just like in soap dramas back home.

Though it was a serious topic, his performance made me laugh out loud and then, he swam closer to me and gave me a little bow, held my hand. "My name is Noel, the best looking guy in the squad... and also very single."

Before I could say anything, the other mermaid with short brown hair threw a punch in his stomach. "Don't mind him, he's got chronic flirt syndrome. Completely incurable. He flirts with anything pretty but if he gets annoying, just kick him in the gills."

The whole mood flipped upside down. From doom to chuckles.

Eventually, they left while telling me to rest. The royal court would hold their meeting with the Arc Seer tomorrow.

And I had a feeling… it wasn't just my fate they'd be deciding.

✧𓂃⋆༶⋆𓂃✧

Dravion wasn't sure when the dream started.

One moment he was asleep on the couch finishing all the after-work of the recent incident. Next thing he knew, he wasn't underwater anymore.

He tried to look around but this was not even the kingdom of Norvainth, and was totally different.

"Where the hell am I?"

The sky was different. The ground was harder than the one he's been on. Hot air blew against his face and didn't carry any scent of the sea

He looked down and he had legs.

Actual legs without any Aqualiths on him which made him even more confused about the situation.

"Okay. lets have a look around and try to find what is this place or is it some cursed dream."

A loud noise blared. He jumped back as a car drove past him on high speed.

Dravion stared after it, all looking horrified.

"Is that a carriage? Where are the horses?"

No one answered, the people here didn't even bother to look at him, they were all busy in their own things.

Everything around him was strange. The buildings were tall and their structure was weird. There were signs and blinking lights and people holding weird boxes with food inside. He walked around, completely lost until he heard people shouting.

That's when he saw her.

Short hair, wearing a black hoodie with shorts was a girl.

She was in some kind of back alley. Two older boys were circling her, clearly trying to snatch something from her bag.

"Try again," she said, "and I'll break your face."

One of them lunged towards her but she didn't hesitate and instead, she ducked and shoved him to the ground with a perfect shoulder twist and threw punches on his face.

The other boy froze seeing her strength of the punches landing on the face of another guy, he had started bleeding from his nose and lips which made him clearly rethink his life choices. She stared him down until he backed off.

Dravion just stood there, all stunned.

He didn't recognise her at first. But the moment she turned and smiled to herself doing a victory sign and jumping in excitement, all proud and completely unbothered—.

"Elara," he muttered. "That's you."

She didn't see him. Just walked off, singing some kind of music, chewing on something, flipping her bag over her shoulder like she owned the world.

He followed her for a bit, still confused, still wondering what this place was. There were no tides, and his magic wasn't working after countless tries so he just decided to follow her.

And for the first time in a while, he felt something weird in his chest.

He wasn't sure what it was.

But when he woke up the next morning, he found himself smiling.

✧𓂃⋆༶⋆𓂃✧

He tried to act normal at breakfast in the morning.

But every time he looked at Elara, he remembered her punching that guy and grinning like a maniac, and his ears went red.

Kaelen, of course, noticed in exactly two seconds.

"Oh no. Don't tell me you're catching feelings."

"I'm not catching anything," Dravion said quickly. "It was just… a weird dream."

"Right," Kaelen said, flicking his tail. "You had a weird dream and now you're blushing like a crab with sunburn."

"I am not and why would a crab have sunburn?"

Elara glanced over. "You okay?"

Dravion turned away suddenly. "Perfectly fine."

Then promptly dropped his fork into his soup.

✧𓂃⋆༶⋆𓂃✧✧𓂃⋆༶⋆𓂃✧✧𓂃⋆༶⋆𓂃✧