Chapter Two

A Chapter by Storm Lawson

Ari had decided a long time ago that secrets were best kept locked away. The Water Kingdom would often boast about it’s ability to adapt during times of change, but Ari knew this wasn’t truthful. Change was ignored or smothered, all for the sake of keeping the status quo. She knew well that there would be a day when this would be the cause of the Kingdom’s demise, but even she admitted she was not brave nor bold enough to take action, instead she kept her opinions hidden under her breath. I’m needed, she told herself. Others rely on me.
Ari was a Water Kingdom nurse, tending to the wounded fables after Dark attacks. Sirens and Red Spirits would mindlessly murder anyone that was foolish enough not be hidden when they came. What Ari saw night after night would be carved into her mind for as long as she lived. Most other nurses had long since retired, unable to overcome the horrors. But Ari was unwilling to leave the side of the fables that were in need of her.
She flicked her tail, buried in thought, when Tabby gently interrupted her.
“What’s captured your attention so greatly?”
Ari heaved a sigh, looping a lock of her long red hair between her fingers.
“I’m not certain.”
“You seem restless.” Tabby lay on an algae-covered rock and watched the mermaid. “I can’t say I blame you, we haven’t embarked on an adventure since we were young. Before all this adult fable nonsense came about.” She waved a pale hand about and scoffed.
“We can’t be young forever.”
Tabby plucked at Ari’s fin joyfully, ignoring her comment.
“I wish to have another adventure before my days end,” she pressed a finger against Ari’s chest. “And I know that you do as well. Whether you will admit to it is another matter.”
Ari lay down beside her old friend, still toying with her hair.
“I wish for many things, Tabby.”
“Such as?”
There was a pause. Ari listened to the silence of the sea as it pushed comfortably on her ears. Tabby watched her, turning on her side. She was an Octomaid, eight long tentacles flowing from her hips, each one a bright orange that rivalled her hair. She traced one along Ari’s turquoise tail, waiting for her to speak.
“I wish for a different world.”
Tabby wrapped her limbs around Ari, holding her close.
“I wish for that too,” she pulled back and lay down again, brooding. “Wishing for it will not cause it to happen.”
“And what do you suggest we do instead?”
“We could fight.”
“We cannot fight Darks.” Ari spoke the words as though even saying them was ludicrous. “We are powerless, they would tear us limb from limb and toss the carcass away as though we are nothing.” she sat upright, irritably brushing algae away from the scales of her tail.
“How many Darks do you suppose there are?” Tabby slowly pushed herself up from the rock and sat across from Ari. “Might we out-number them?”
“It’s irrelevant. They are not the same as they used to be - the attacks are different now.”
Tabby raised an eyebrow.
“Different? In what way?”
“I don’t know, they’re-” Ari stopped and let a deep breath escape her lips. “I’m almost certainly mistaken. But they just seem to be… targeting vulnerable areas.”
Tabby’s mouth dropped open slightly and she grabbed Ari’s arm.
“Do you suppose they’re not so mindless any longer?” she whispered, despite them being alone. Ari shook her arm free and turned away.
“I have already told you, I’m just mistaken.”
“That’s not what you said, Ari. You weren’t certain, you could be right.”
“And what if I am? What will you do? Invade Spawning? Raise an army? What will you do?”
Tabby fell silent, her eyes lowered to the sea floor. Ari saw the hurt creeping along her face but she couldn’t stop herself. All she had seen as a nurse seemed to rip themselves out of the graves she had buried them in, smothering her vision until she could see nothing but the dead that she was unable to help. And she knew that Tabby would become another of those fables if she carried along this path.
“There is nothing we can do. You are living in a fantasy and you refuse to come out of it. You asked me what I wished for - I wish you would grow out of these childish dreams.”
Ari kicked up her tail and furiously swam away as Tabby was left behind.

She slammed the door, dropping herself onto a rocky seat and immediately breaking into tears. There was an ache in her chest, her regret balled into a knot between her ribs. The words she had spoken so harshly were echoing in her mind, Tabby’s pained face repeating itself like a broken projector.
I’m a coward.
Ari wrapped her fingers into a tight fist, pressing her knuckles against her head, her eyes clamped shut.
“I’m a f*****g coward!”

Cassius lay lazily on his throne as he looked down on his guards through half-shut eyes. He was aware they were speaking but his mind was absent, choosing to run through a mental list of his current prisoners instead.
“My King?”
The guards glanced at each other uncomfortably, unwilling to raise their voices.
“My King, what do you wish us to do?”
Cassius seemed to grace his attention on his guards as he slowly raised himself up and lay his head back.
“Is this an urgent matter?”
“There is an Octomaid here to see you.”
“Why?”
“She wishes to discuss Dark attacks.”
“No.” Cassius’ silver tail slid over the floor as he turned his head, slaying the conversation.
His guards nodded obediently before one of them swam away. The remaining Merman looked to his King, eyebrows crumpled together. Cassius was young, only fourteen, but even at this age, he was unnerving. He had taken the throne when he was ten, after a particularly brutal Dark attack had left his parents dead. The boy had very soft violet eyes, and if you knew no better, you’d mistake him for a beautiful but otherwise unremarkable child. But for those who worked for him, they could see a hardness beneath the deceitful tender violet, a steel that shone when he partook in his more disturbing past-times..
“Are there any elderly fables in my dungeons?” Cassius spoke softly, innocently. His voice was still young.
His guard hesitated.
“Yes, my King.”
“Bring one to my room. My tools, also.”
A smile crept over his face, the steel glinting gleefully as his guard shakily nodded and swam away. There would be crimson water and one more empty dungeon cell that night.
Outside the green, stone castle, an infuriated Octomaid was arguing with the guard. He was struggling to keep Tabby in his grip, attempting to push her out.

“Tell me why!” she protested.
“I-I apologize, but he did not explain his decision,” the guard reasoned, still trying to stop her tentacles from pulling his hands away. He called over to another guard and together they succeeded in locking her outside.
“F*****g b******s!” Tabby screamed through the door, striking it with her fists and tentacles. She gave one last shriek of frustration before leaning wearily against the stone, breathing deeply.
“Tabby?”
“What?” she spun around to see a friendly Mermaid behind her. “Oh. Hello.”
“Are you alright?”
“Yes… yes, I’m fine, thank you. I wanted to see the King.”
Disdain filled the Mermaid’s features.
“Yes, I wanted to see him myself. My grandmother has been missing for two nights. She often swims away by herself and…” she swallowed and flashed a fragile smile. “If you could inform me if you were to see her?”
“Of course. I’m certain she’s well, don’t worry yourself.” Tabby attempted a brighter smile back as the Mermaid gratefully nodded and left. Tabby glanced angrily at the castle before leaving as well.
Deep within the walls, Cassius was smiling to himself as he set down one bloodied tool and picked up another.
“Shhh…” he placed a slender finger over her sewn lips. “I don’t enjoy so much excessive noise.”
Cassius delved into her eyes and basked in her complete, unrelenting fear. His parents had shown him the same look. He bent towards her and whispered slowly in her ear, as his excitement grew in anticipation of the hours ahead.
“There is a beauty in your pain that is unmatched by any. Take comfort in the knowledge that you are serving your dear King Cassius.”