Chapter 71: Erica's Return
When Amanda had seen the Princess, she was so much thrilled to know that she was alive; the warriors bowed to the Princess who couldn't take her eye off Erica, it almost seems like a dream to her.
"Everyone is surprised as you are your highness, Erica led Riveria to victory" Amanda said to her
Erica bowed to the princess "long live the great future queen of the sea, i heard from the sirens few things that have happened in my absence" Erica said
"I must say, I never expected you to be alive; it's almost a year at the sea" Princess Adunni said
"I didn't know I would come back alive either" Erica responded
Princess Adunni comes closer to her; she slightly touches her hair and skin "You changed" she said "You look different from every one of us" she said again
"The human world is a scary place but i did felt the warmth of it" Erica told her
"It's an honor to have you back here, you saved the Mer-peoples of Riveria" The princess said to her
"What about Oceania your highness?" Amanda quickly asked
"Of course, Oceania" The princess quickly said "They are under attack too, but i think is just a diversion for me not to make it to Riveria" the princess told them
"We lost a lot of the Riverian's, what are we going to do about that your highness?" Amanda asked
"Your highness, give me your orders to fight back" Erica said to princess Adunni bowing her head
Princess Adunni looked at her for some minutes, she summoned her alone with Amanda after dismissing the warriors
"Look at me" the princess said to her
Erica quickly looked up starring straight into her eye
"Why are you hiding your emotions?" She asked her
"I don't understand what you mean your highness" Erica answered
"I am sure a lot of things happened on the stranger's land including the fact that Vashi and the sea-witch was out there with you too" Princess Adunni said
Erica clenched her fist trying to hold whatever feeling that was forming inside of her
"They caused chaos in the human world and i made sure i took care of it as a warrior" Erica answered with a bow
"Why aren't you asking about why they were out of the sea?" The princess asked
"It's all in the past your highness, I am here now; where I belong" Erica answered
Princess Adunni nodded her head in agreement with her
"Don't let your emotions get the best of you" Princess Adunni said patting her shoulders.
"I will give you my orders before the morning comes" she added
Erica bowed to her in respect before swimming out of the throne chamber.
"What are you suspicious of your highness?" Amanda asked
"Throughout her whole conversations with me, she never mentioned the queen" Princess Adunni answered
"Now you said it, I find it odd; Erica is like the queen's shadow and a daughter like mermaid to the queen" Amanda said
"Something huge was opened to her in the stranger's land, she knows the truth" Princess Adunni told her
"Why did she help us fight knowing the truth?" Amanda curiously asked
"She has always hidden her emotions from the world, we will have to see what she does" The princess said.
***
(Bellaire city 8:00 am)
Oma and her mother pay their last respect after the funeral service. Oma had said her memo in tears pouring out her heart to her now late step father, Lava consoles her likewise her mother; he had joined the funeral ceremony as a friend of Oma. Oma's mum cried nonstop at her husband's burial; she still couldn't believe that her husband is just gone without seeing her for almost three years now.
The funeral ceremony ended as Oma escorted Lava back to his car to thank him specially for always having her back.
"Thank you, Lava, words can't describe how grateful i am to you" she said
"This is what we do for love" Lava told her
"I somehow want to hate her and blame her for my father's death but i can't" Oma cried
Lava holds Oma's hand while looking deep into her eye "I am sorry for whatever you have to pass through because of me, I wish I could have stopped it and I regret it; I want you to have good memory of us together and not think of anything else, I want you to move on" Lava said calmly to her " This is a message from Erica on the last day we saw, it's a message from her heart" Lava told her
Oma burst out crying as Lava gives her a warm hug "We have each other now" Lava told her.
OCEANIA...
The messenger handed the message stone to Prince Luca while he was cleaning out the dead bodies of the few assassins that has been sent as a distraction to Oceania
"The princess sent this, it's a message to the queen" the messenger said
"To the queen?" Prince Luca asked
"Yes" he responded
Prince Luca went ahead to deliver the message to the queen as the princess had said
"A message from your daughter" the prince said
Queen Ola collected the message stones from her and read the symbols, her eye widened at the shocking news
"What are you going to do now that Erica is back?" the princess message says.