Chapter 18. CARTER

Did we just enter the queen's room? Just our luck. I glanced at her. She was a titan about the height of the Statue of Liberty with coral reef hair, sea-green skin, and an octopus eye. You heard me. An eye. You probably thinking, "If she is humanoid, doesn't she have 2 eyes." No, the other eye socket was filled up by the white gem which had a flash drive in it. I guess the mostri keep up with the latest tech.

I summoned my weapon. The rest did too. I always had that habit of grabbing a weapon for defense when I come face to face with something dangerous. She said, "I, Atlanta, see you have come here to defeat me yet we all know the result." I did. There is no way we were going to win against a Statue of Liberty fish woman. She could crash us with her palm. I guess that is why this tower is gigantic. Judging by everyone's glances, they also knew this. I read that some mostri have a core when destroyed, they die. I wonder if it's the gem.

We had to think fast before she attacked. Darius whispered, "The room is dark so I doubt she can see all of us. One of you should distract her while the rest follow me." Ella leapt forward, "I beg for your mercy. I know I can't defeat you so what if we negotiate." The rest of us tiptoed to the stairs. Atlanta said, "You do know negotiation needs both of us to be getting something out of it. What can you offer?" I trudged on the stairs ascending at high speed. Sweat collected on my chest. Man, these stairs sure were many. Ella contemplated, "I could become your servant." Atlanta laughed, "I have a million of those." Ella said, "What about I give you treasures?" Atlanta said, "You would be surprised how many ships with gold and jewelry have ended up in the sea." We were halfway to the top. My muscles ached. I hadn't warmed up. Ella said, "Then what do you want?" Atlanta smirked, "A delicious hybrid." Darius whispered, "Well you aren't getting any." Ella said, "I know what else do you desire. I can give you the location of a Stella descendant candidate." Atlanta said, "Oh, there are many of those but only one is the real one. So you may be telling me a decoy one." Ella said, "I mean a candidate that Naviaf personally come to get." Atlanta's eye widened. She knew this Naviaf guy. Maybe he was important. We were almost there. Keep going, Ella.

Atlanta said, "Fine that may do. What do you want in exchange?" My mouth dropped. I guess Atlanta was gullible. Ella said, "Your gem eye" We were at the top. Atlanta said, "I'd truly accept your offer if your friends weren't sketchy." Water shot at us at a very high speed. Oh no, you don't. We jumped onto her hair. My body hurt more but I had perfected suppressing the pain. I looked back. The wall was cracked.

Atlanta said, "You dared to attack me. I will kill you." She tried to pick us out like fleas but the coral was too tall. Good thing she doesn't cut her hair. It was like a forest here. Her big hands just couldn't fit. We dashed towards her face. She said, "There is more than one way of killing you." The doors opened. Samaki walked in. He ignored Ella and focused on Atlanta. Atlanta pointed at her hair, "Son, get rid of them." Samaki hit his trident on the ground. Water erupted and engulfed him. He shot himself onto Atlanta's hair. Darius mouthed a message to Ella. She nodded and ran outside.

Before I could ask what that was about, a wave pushed me against the reef. My back didn't handle that well. The scalp was now damp. I turned my attention to smirking Samaki. Oh, how I wanted to repay. I glared at him. He whirled his trident. Showoff. I tightened my grip on my axe. Darius leapt forward and thrust his spear. Samaki used his trident to block. The water under Darius pulled away like a carpet. He fell. Samaki went in for the kill. A blast sent him back–leaving a black mark on his chest. Darius stood up. He tried to strike but a wave washed him away. When the wave settled, the mark on Samaki had disappeared. Regeneration after contact with water.

Darius retreated into the coral. I followed him and so did Ephiria. Thankfully Samaki didn't too. He instead went towards the face. He was prioritizing the gem over us. We regrouped. I asked, "Do you have a plan?" Darius said, "Kind of." Ephiria asked, "How do we get him away from water? We are literally underwater." Darius looked at Ephiria, "Your light", he looked at me, "And your darkness." He almost shouted Eureka! He said, "Okay here is the plan." Darius explained everything we needed to do. If I messed up, we'd be in big trouble.

Darius plodded towards Samaki. Samaki gave him a sheepish grin, "I see you want a rematch. I knew I smelt a warrith." Darius said, "Well then let's dance." Samaki charged for Darius. He raised his trident and thrust it. Darius blocked with his spear. He kicked Samaki back. The trident fell out of his hands. Samaki commanded the waves to push Darius. Darius planted his spear in the scalp for support. Atlanta screeched, "Ow." Samaki approached and jabbed Darius making him dizzy. Darius stumbled back making him let go of the spear. The spear turned back into a cube. Samaki tackled him to the ground. Samaki summoned his trident and got ready for a kill. Darius shouted, "NOW". A flash of light almost blinded me. Samaki was now drier than his jokes. Darius said, "Underestimating is a grave mistake." His cube was now in his hands. It turned into a spear – and stabbed Samaki in the gut. He frantically went for the pool. No, you don't. I dipped my hand in the pool and turned it to stone. Blue blood dripped out of him until he disintegrated.

I ran and held out my hand, "Are you okay?" He groaned as he stood up, "Try taking a jab to the face. That'll answer your question." Ephiria said, "Let's end this before I get hydrophobic." We ran forward. Atlanta said, "You killed my son and yet you call yourselves the heroes." Ephiria said, "He tried to kill us first. Tip for tap is a fair game." That didn't soothe her pain. She raged around shaking her head. We used the coral as support to proceed. We slid down her face and planted our weapons in her eye. I got to admit. This was a first. She hit her eye trying to crash us. Her palm compressed my body against the gem. She was seconds away from breaking all my bones. I was having a hard time breathing.

She pulled away with a shriek. Was the gem also have some sort of nerves? Pressing a pin more into your eye doesn't sound fun. The gem glowed brighter. Darius commanded, "Close your eyes." I obliged. I felt my eyelids sense a lot of light being shone on them. The water hit with the force of a waterfall. I closed my mouth. The water was pushing out my axe. It was going to unhinge me. From these heights, I'd get squashed like a pancake. The light was connecting to the gem and the water. Get rid of the gem light and it all comes crashing down. I placed my hand on the gem. Light and darkness. One exists when the other doesn't. They don't mix. I am a tenebris. I can do this. I wasn't going to die like this. I will survive for my sake. For Mom and to prove once and for all that abandoning me and Mom wasn't the worst decision you made in your life, Dad, and for a new reason, my friends. I felt electricity go down my spine. I directed it through my palms. Everything stopped followed by the loudest screech I have ever had.

I opened my eyes. Darius grabbed the flash. We were falling and why wasn't I panicking? It's because there is a pool of water under us. We landed in it. The water gave a hot slap. The ground quivered. Water barged in through the door. It was more of a hurricane. I was hitting stuff before I could say, "Ah" The water was freakishly strong. It cracked through the walls. It left nothing but destruction behind. It drove us around. I was constantly being pulled underwater. I fought with all the strength I had to keep resurfacing. The whole sanctuary was being flooded.

We were met with a fork in the road. The water separated me and Darius. Ephiria was washed to the center of the fork. She grabbed my hand. She couldn't overcome the water's strength. If she continued, she'd be pulled in with me. If death is inevitable in this situation, I rather go down alone. I let go of her hand. The water washed me away. She oriented herself towards my path. I wanted to say, "What're you doing? Darius is the safer option." The water left us in the secret passages. The water hadn't reached the ceiling yet. I surfaced with a gasp. I looked at Ephiria. She had just made a choice that would risk her life. She got her phone and called Ella.

Ella said, "You're alive. Darius is here with me." Darius said, "Where are you?" I said, "Secret passage." Ella said, "Okay, we're coming. Lira, we're going in." Lira said, "No, we can't." Darius said, "What do you mean we can't?" Lira said, "The oxygen tank was damaged. You only have enough oxygen to reach the surface." Ella said, "Doesn't matter. We need to save them." Lira said, "Might I remind you that you're Parians? You swore an oath to save the world even at the sacrifice of your own lives." Darius said, "So we'll risk our lives for theirs." Lira said, "You'll waste time looking for them and end up all dying." Darius said, "I don't care." Ella said, "I abandoned a friend today and I'm not repeating that selfish act. We'll take the chance. Drive into the mansion." Lira said, "I can't let you." I had gears turning in the back. The thrusters went off. The call ended.

That witch. They say don't trust AI and here we're now. Ephiria panicked. Her breathing was rampant. I was also scared but I wasn't going down without a fight. The water reached the ceiling. I didn't know what to do. Instincts took over with a shot of adrenaline. I swam. Ephiria followed. I didn't know where I was going but it was worth a try. I had nothing to lose apart from my life. I swam to the lower parts of the mansion. Ephiria shot a hesitant look at me. I also was wary of my direction but my instincts never stopped. They somehow knew something and I never had a better plan or the time to sit down and make one. I swam with every ounce of my strength which at the time wasn't much. My air ran out. My eyes were begging to close. My hope was dying along with my consciousness. Had I led us to an even quicker death? My arm stretched and felt a surface. All turned black.