Chapter 36: Blood Thirst

Erica and Oma at the kitchen discussing at 8am...

"Linda is going to stay here for a while, you might need to be careful" Oma silently whispered to her ears

"I will be very careful" Erica whispered back to her

"It's not that easy when you have Linda around, she is very observant" Oma whispered back to her

"Yes, i know; that's why I take my bath while she is asleep" Erica whispered with a chuckle.

Oma chuckled back silently "That's very funny" she whispered back to her

"the moment with you, Lava and I is quite unforgettable; can we do that again?" Erica asked quietly

"What, are you nuts? you are being a bitch now" Oma quickly said seeming nervous

"I was just joking" Erica said with a grin "You blushed even though you said you are not into me the way I think" Erica teased

"Geez, you are being naughty now; can we stop talking about the threesome?" Oma asked her

"Yes, i will stop teasing you; it's just fun teasing you" Erica whispered to her

"Do you really not flirt at the sea?" Oma asked curiously

"No, i wasn't really into romance until i got here; being a warrior doesn't give you that much guarantee of mating, the Queen comes first and we mate with whoever we want to" Erica responded

"So, do you think the Queen knows that some of the sirens are trying to kill you? is she that good that you would risk your life for her?" Oma asked her

"The Queen isn't good; she always made that clear to every siren. She was the only person i wanted to protect at the sea" Erica responded

"Do you still feel that way after coming here?" Oma curiously asked her 

"She is my Queen, i will do anything to protect her; but now all i see is you" Erica said silently

Oma blinked her eye twice as she adjusted her position 

Erica laughed at her "There you go again blushing" 

"I am not bushing, i am just not use to people saying those sweet words to me; it creeps me out" Oma responded

"You know i get to be this naughty when i was trying to woo Lava and use him but instead; i fell for him" Erica told her

"Are you really okay with the fact that he is the son of someone who tried to kill you?" Oma asked her

"I don't mingle my personal feelings with what i ought to do, i did the same to my mother. I won't fight Lava because his father tried to kill me; i won't let the fact that Vashi is my mother and spare her after she terrorized the Riverians and also left me to take her own path" Erica responded

"What if there was more stories than you know? there are always two side to every story. You were sent out of the sea to find solution and now there is a sea witch here on land trying to kill you and your mother is here too; dead on land, something might be happening at the sea" Oma told her 

Erica was quite as she bites her finger nails as if she was thinking.

"You know someone might really think you two are a couple" Linda interrupted them.

*** 

(Kingdom of Riverian)

"Your majesty, Your Highness, a message from the Kingdom of Riveria" One of the guards said with a bow

"A message?" Princess Adunni asked taking the shell from him

"What could be that?" the Queen asked

"It's from my husband, Prince Luca" Princess Adunni responded as she read the symbols carved on it.

"What does it say?" The Queen asked

Princess Adunni inhaled and exhaled after reading the symbols on it "The King of Marco is dead" she responded

"He finally comes to the dark just like i would do, killing his father is the only way he would wage war between the two kingdoms" The Queen said

"This is happening because of you mother..."

"Stop whining Adunni, it's time to start preparing for war" The Queen interrupted her

"Are you being serious mother? You know we are on the losing side if war breaks out? we haven't even found the Piranhas solution yet" Princess Adunni said to her

"You just need to threaten Prince Obi and everything will be sorted out. I am sitting here waiting for him to declare a war first . As a true warrior; you let them bite first; and then you bite back even harder" The Queen told her

"I have had enough of these bloody speeches that comes from your mouth; I am going to take the risk of going down the forbidden dungeon with few of the Mer-warriors to have all this sorted out first. When i am back; you will be leaving the throne; this is the only way i can make peace as their new Queen" Princess Adunni told her angrily

"You are not going anywhere; you might regret it if you don't do it my way" The queen said to her

"Watch me" the princess said as she angrily swims out of her mother's presence.

***

Oma's home...

"Have you applied for any university yet?" Oma's mum asked during their launch 

"Not yet" Oma responded

"And why is that? don't you want to go to the university?" her mum asked her

"I do want to go but... I just don't want to now" Oma responded quickly

"Why are you being so adamant about going to the university now? you used to get all worked up when someone talks about it" her mother said frowning her face

"I didn't say i won't go mum, just not now" Oma responded sipping the glass of water on the table and avoiding eye contact with her mother

Linda stare at Erica who was all focused on her food like nothing that was said on the table concerns her

"Is anyone talking you out of this?" Linda suddenly asked Oma "Hope you are not making any other friends with all this local people outside who doesn't give a shit about education?" she added again almost causing Oma to choke on her drinking water.

"No! where is that coming from?" Oma asked looking at her

"Relax, i was just joking" Linda said looking at Erica who had looked back at her. "You should urge Oma to go to college since you are now closer to her" she told Erica

"You might not know this but Oma don't want to leave her mother all alone" Erica said causing Oma to quickly glance at her, she remembers never having any conversation about that with her.

"Oh honey, that's nice but you know i will never pick my comfort over education" her mother said calmly reaching Oma's hand.

"Really?" Oma asked her trying to play along with Erica

"Yes, come here; let's have a chat with your dad on video call" she said to her

"Now?" Oma curiously asked

"Yes, i should have done that before launch, now we are done; let's do it" Oma's mum told her.

Oma briefly smiled between her teeth, her mother has been this sweet ever since she finished her high school and passed with a flying color; sometimes it creeps her out just like Erica aways do, guess she isn't yet use to someone being extremely nice to her.

Erica focused on her food even though she had sensed that Linda might say something to break the silence between the both of them.

" I know you are not Oma's sister from the orphanage even though she tried to cover it up saying that your mother doesn't know anything about it. Who are you exactly?" Linda asked her

"You don't believe Oma now or you are just trying to put words on my mouth because she has a new friend?" Erica asked

"I just don't believe you, firstly; you don't look like you belong here, secondary; you eat only sea foods, thirdly; you don't speak so fluent like the people in the city and you act all strange on top of that like you are been wary of something" Linda said to her

"Wow, you have been this observant just these few days that you have been here, i don't even know anything about you apart from being high school friends with Oma" Erica silently said to her

" She is so different from the way she was before; in a creepy way" Linda told her

"You mean she is now serious about everything and more calculative than when she was with you?" Erica asked her in a strong tone

"You look like you want to rip me apart and watch me bleed" Linda said raising her eyebrows

"I am giving you the respect you deserve because of Oma" Erica said looking straight into her eye

"So, you are dangerous like I guessed?" she asked Erica

"Maybe, you have to get on my nerve to find out" Erica said icily giving her a death stare.

***

(The forbidden dungeon)

"It's really dark down here" Amanda said

"I didn't know it's going to be like this" Princess Adunni said

"Do we go back now? we might die trying to find what isn't here or get eaten by piranhas" Amanda said

"I wish I could but this is the only way to end this for good" Princess Adunni said

"Your highness, how do we even get down there without seeing?" one of the Mer-guards asked

"I am the only one going down there" Princess Adunni said to them

"What? no princess" Amanda quickly said

"We can't let you go down there alone your highness, even if you point a weapon to our neck" another guard said

"It's an order" Princess Adunni told them

"No your highness, it isn't, we are not letting you down there alone. This are piranhas; flesh eating sea monsters." Amanda said

"So, how do we get down there without seeing?" Princess Adunni asked

"Pearls, do anyone have pearls here? we can reflect light with it from the upper sea to the bottom" Princess Adunni said

"I have a pearl, I was born to have pearls right?" Princess Adunni said

"Okay, now we know how to get to the bottom of the dungeon" Amanda said

"May our ancestors lead us …" Princess Adunni said

"May the spirit of the waters grant us pass" They responded

"For Riveria!" Princess Adunni said again

"Lead us the chosen one" they responded again raising their weapon.