Chapter 29 - Heart of Ice

Chapter 29

Heart of Ice

Hours of the trial had passed, and Lynae tried drinking a thick liquid to make sense of what she had just heard from Raina. She coughed after chugging the drink. "Getting yourself drunk isn't going to solve the emotional turmoil you are struggling with." Amelia spoke up.

"Shut up!" Lynae said while chugging the liquid down. "You tell me to shut up, but your mind is screaming 'I don't know what to do'. What is it you want to do?" "I – I don't know. I can't help these people, Mia. Look at me! What kind of leader goes insane and loses herself?!" Lynae shouted.

"Cirra," Amelia answered. Lynae looked at Amelia. "Believe me, I get it. I was overwhelmed too when I found out I am to be Coronum Reginae. I'm supposed to be the peacemaker for all the seven seas. I have nightmares almost every single night about my past, about my future, and about moments like right now. But right now, I'm not trying to make your fears minimal. The question is, are you going to go to Arktis and help? You can even make it a democracy and not be a queen over it. Whatever you decide, it's your choice."

"Mia, growing up, I had my life all planned out. Going to college, get married, have kids, change the world... but since that horrible night with Juan, everything changed. I thought I could put my life back together after that, but instead I've completely shut off everybody to try to be this cold hearted you know..."

"Oh I know, believe me, and I believe everyone else got that vibe too." Amelia said grinning. "Well, if you decide to go, you won't be alone."

"Really? What about Atlantica and the Aula?" Lynae asked worryingly. "I took care of everything." Amelia reassured her. "Of course you did, would tomorrow be too soon?"

"Not at all. I'll let Haruto know about our plans." Amelia said. "Wait, prince charming is coming with us?" Lynae asked. "Of course, plus I don't think he'll give much choice in the matter if he won't shut up about not taking him."

"Wait, you're letting prince charming come along with us to Arktis?" Lynae stared at Amelia. "He wants to find the final royal sibling and he feels that this can be knocking out some possibilities on where he or she could be." Amelia explained.

The next morning, Lynae, Amelia, and Haruto gathered together getting ready to head over to Arktis along with Raina who would be guiding them throughout the journey. Rimulus was with the group before seeing them off. "Think you can handle running the Aula without me?" Amelia asked. "I won't let you down. I'll make sure it was just the way you left it." Then Amelia smiled. "I know you will. If anything arises, you know how to reach me." "Of course, my lady," Rimulus bowed.

"What about the council?" Raina asked. "They know about the situation and they can handle any of the cases unless they are serious enough needing my input." Amelia explained. Rimulus said goodbye to the group as they headed out.

"So lead the way, Honorable Raina," Haruto requested. "Raina's just fine," She said lacking emotion. "I'm sorry, I meant no disrespect. I just want to recognize you to the respectable title you've earned." Haruto explained. "Titles mean nothing to me," Raina responded coldly.

"Okay then, so you said that your people are suffering from starvation. Does it have anything to do with the fishermen boats?" Haruto asked. "How did you know?" Raina's eyes widened. "Educated guess. Back in Japan, they get a lot of imports from the Artic region of whale, fish, and whatever goods we find valuable there." Haruto explained. "And you know this how?" Lynae quizzically asked him. "My mother told me about the fishermen boats that come into the ports of Japan and where they go to fish." Haruto said.

"Yes, that is a big part of the reason why the mer in Arktis are struggling to survive. The surface animals get ravenous as well and the big ones with the white fur have taken little mer children as food because there were no more sea lions or other fish around to eat."

"Dear god, that's awful!" Lynae exclaimed. "It is indeed. Which is why a lot of families with smaller children moved away from Arktis to protect their children from being snatched from those vile creatures." Raina stated. "What do you want me to do about this exactly?" Lynae asked with genuine curiosity. "Help us moderate the fisherman ratio and help replenish the sea populace what it once was. Help our people by teaching them how to defend our home!" Raina pleaded.

"I can't exactly go up to the boats and say, 'uh, hey, could you stop taking so much of our food? We live here too you know!'" Lynae said with sorrow.

"Lynae's right, we can't let the terra know that the mer exist. It'll cause more damage than good to the area if they spotted us." Haruto explained.

"We don't want to cause tension with the terra either by putting their lives in danger either. We already have one lesson that we can learn from that." Amelia explained.

"Yes, yes, yes, the great war, but right now, this is our great war. Surviving." Raina stated.

"What if we can drive them off without letting them know we're here or killing them?" Amelia suggested. "What are you getting at, Amelia?" Lynae questioned harshly. "What if we do a little sabotage on their expenditure?" Amelia suggested. "You may be onto something. We can scare them off long enough for the fish and whales to repopulate!" Haruto caught on.

"How?" Raina asked. "With this," Haruto showed his dagger to the girls. "A dagger? I thought you weren't going to kill anyone?" Lynae glared at him. "Not for that, it's for the fishing nets. When they cast out the nets, we cut a gap in the netting to that fish can swim out!" Haruto explained some more. "No offense, but not all of us are carrying daggers with us," Lynae criticized his thinking. "You and Amelia don't need daggers. Raina, do you have one?" "Always by my side," Raina said pulling up her tunic showing her dagger holstered on her hip.

"They're going to figure out something's wrong and they'll want to investigate, what then?" Lynae asked. "That's where we come in, we distract them as much as possible and draw them back to the surface." Amelia explained. "How do we prepare then?" Raina asked. "We will need to find some of your people to navigate around the waters and who knows when and where the boats will come in." Haruto said.

"I know a town where some of the mer reside at. Be on guard though because they always are." Raina explained. "Can you blame them?" Lynae retorted.

"We better make haste then if we are going to catch the next boat. How long is the swim to Arktis?" Haruto asked Raina. "Half a tide." Raina responded. "That's not bad at all," Amelia commented. "Well, let's get a move on then!" Haruto exclaimed in excitement.

Three hours in their journey, the group notices that the water fronts are changing realizing that they are getting close to the Artic barrier. They also noticed that Lynae was acting quite differently.

"Are you okay, Lynae?" Haruto asked. "Okay? I'm more than okay, I feel amazing!" Lynae said as she started doing flips in the water with ease. Her breaths feel more at ease and is more energetic than usual. Her tail and fins flutter as the cold fronts hit her bare skin and tail almost like it is rejuvenating her.

Raina butted in and explained it to Haruto and Amelia, "She's more naturally acclimated to colder waters. All true Arktis mer feel this way when they hit icy waters."

"Makes sense, she always looked so miserable whenever I see her around." Haruto observed. "Cut her some slack, she's had it rough for the past four months. Let her have this moment." Amelia suggested Haruto to lay off.

Another few hours later and the group reached their destination into Arktis territory. Raina then guided the rest to the town where she knows some mer in hopes that they could recruit them for their mission. They went into this tavern miles out of the main city of Arktis not knowing what to expect. Amelia then began to be on guard from sensing that they are not too friendly with nonfamiliar faces.

The men slammed their drinks down, scowled at the new faces entering the tavern, and one of them lit up after seeing Raina. "Well I'll be damned, you're still alive, little lion!" The man swam over and hugged Raina tightly. The men loosen up after hearing the man cry with joy. "It's good to see you too, Beluga." Raina said with a faint smile. "Are these krill lubbers with you?" Beluga said with scrutiny. "Be nice, you're in the presence of the people who will solve all of our problems." Raina scolded him lightly.

"Ha, a couple of mer can't solve the brink of extinction of the Arktis clan!" Another merman shouted. "They're not just any mer. These three are the reincarnates of the three great royal siblings." Raina explained. The men bursted out laughing. "Hey, Beluga, I think little lion being in the warmer waters has finally gotten to her head!" Another mer mocked. Beluga's face then crinkled with disappointment. "Raina, they're gone. Even if reincarnation existed, none of their descendants survived." "Beluga, you haven't seen what I have seen!" "I've heard enough! You three better go back to where you came from before you make my friends or the other tribes angry with your offending presence. You, young lady, are going to stay here and get some sense knocked back into you."

"Not a chance," Haruto said getting ready to attack. The men then grabbed their spears and weapons and rushed toward them. Then Lynae stepped in front forming spears of ice in her hands countering the strikes from the men. She spun the spears of ice and slammed the ends of them on the floor. She then got in a fighting stance pointing the sharp spear ends toward them.

"You would want to fight a mer like me? You dare fight a mer who thinks, breathes, and forms ice from the tips of her fingers?" Lynae snapped as she challenged the men. The men stood unwavering not taking heed of what Lynae said and begun charging at her again. She then formed a shield of ice plunging at one of the charging men, shot small daggers of ice at another pinning him to a wall, and grabbed the last mer giving him a bit of frost bite on his arm. He screamed in agony.

"Th-that's impossible! Our bodies don't get frozen like this!" The mer screamed in terror at his blue tinted arm.

"Now, who's got the balls for another round with me?" Lynae said as she created frost from her hands in anger and determination. Amelia and Haruto looked at Lynae with fear on her demeanor. The men stood still this time not wanting to challenge Lynae for a third round of fighting.

Beluga got up from the impact of the shield holding his head. "Ergh, damn, for a little fish, you pack a bite in you." Then Lynae interrupted. "Look around you codswallop piece of carp, you're outnumbered. I won't hesitate making each and everyone of you into a fish popsicle or a fish kabob if you dare try lifting a finger intending to harm or subdue me. Now get your ice blocked heads into gear and understand this, I am not someone you want to mess with. Understand?!" Lynae thrashed and hissed at Beluga.

He then chuckled. His chuckle grew in volume into a hysterical laugh. "No one would dare talk or fight off any of us unless they are a true Arktis mer. And that, young lass, you are." "I'm more than an Arktis mer. I'm your damn queen!" Lynae declared with her aura glowing blue and her eyes changing to an icy blue. The men's eyes widened at her appearance changing knowing instantly that she is the queen destined to rule Arktis. The free mermen kneeled in front of her. "Forgive me, Queen Eira, we've been wary of strangers coming to our waters possibly becoming a danger to our clan and tribes. Ever since the decline of mer and food, things have not been easy. I apologize if Raina has forced your hand in coming to aid us, but right now, we need your guidance! Forgive our disobediences and help us!" Beluga pleaded while he was shaking.

"Get up," Lynae said coldly. They slowly rose up shaking still. "First of all, I have a name. I am not Eira, I am Lynae, and you will address me as such. Secondly, it was my own will that wanted to come to Arktis to help you scallywags. I only commanded Raina to lead me here. Thirdly, these two are the respectable crowned prince and princess of Oceanus and Atlantica, treat them as such. Fourthly, lead me to your tribe, there is much to discuss on how to ward off the overwhelming amount of fishermen boats and to bring back Arktis to its former glory."

"Of course, my Drottning," Beluga responded submissively. Amelia and Haruto looked at each other feeling surprised that Lynae had taken this course of action on these mer. Lynae then melted the ice picks that were pinning the mer on the wall so he could move and healed the other mer's arm from the frostbite. She then opened up again, "So, your name is Beluga? Like a whale?" Lynae asked. "It's my known name, my given name is Bered, but everyone here calls me Beluga. The one you pinned over there is Jonah, and the one you gave frostbite is Moby, but we call him Bowhead." Beluga introduced the rest of the men.

"Pleased to meet some fellow Arktis mer. When Raina told me about the issue, I couldn't resist to come up here. Do you know where the boats are from and where they are coming from?" Lynae spoke up. "Aye, but there's so many, there's some coming from Berring and another few coming towards the direction of Labrador." Beluga responded.

"No wonder there's a shortage. They're cornering the fish and you guys in the middle." Haruto commented on these upcoming shortcomings. "Indeed, and that is why we've diminished to this many you see now," Jonah explained further. "We'll lead you to our tribe and others that are our allies." Beluga said leading the way.

Sometime later, the group was escorted to an icy cavern with bright lights around shining the glassy walls. The top of the cavern showed many different colors just as glass would in direct sunlight. Lynae gazed at the sight realizing she felt where she belonged. "It's beautiful!" Amelia spoke out.

"That is where part of our well known Arktis Glass is housed. We have many caverns mostly below sea floor that has this glass. A precious commodity that is used for trading. Other seas have seen its beauty and has been in demand for centuries." Bowman discussed about the history of the glass.

"We can discuss about the plan in here." Beluga escorted the group inside one of the houses. They all sat down at a table sitting across from two other men and a maiden. "Alright, don't question, just listen, this is Lynae, she is the reincarnation of Eira, Princess of Arktis and one of the great five. They're here because they want to steer the ships away at least to the point of giving the ocean a breather for all the fish and mammals to replenish our waters. This way our people can return and we can restore our realm to its former glory as well with our key player here." Beluga introduced the group to his friends.

"What's the plan, Drottning?" A man asked.

"The plan is to scare off the boats. We're not going to kill the crew or sink their ships. That will bring speculation and more scrutiny into our waters. All we need to do is to turn them away from fishing around these parts for a bit. We'll need a scout to let us know when the boats will be coming this way. Then, we need mer posted on each target so when they reach the range of probable impact, then BOOM. They won't know what hit 'em." Lynae explained the plan.

"How are we going to cover all the territories? There's not enough mer for each post." Haruto scrutinized the plan strategy. "I've got buddies out on the other side of Arktis. They're only a conch call away to tell them the plan." Bowman added.

"Once we get everything settled, call them and instruct them to set up the trap and get someone over there to be lookout for any other liners." Lynae instructed.

They went over the plan. The plan was that they would stand by with their long-headed spears and scythes to cut away the netting as they lowered it down. However, they would bunker above sea level so they would be prepared once the scout gives the signal of an incoming vessel. After the plan was set, Bowman called up his men he knew all around Arktis to give out the plan and to be prepared at all times.

Days went by as they waited for any signal of the ships. They waited and waited for a sign or a signal for preparation of incoming vessels. Amelia then sensed something which shook her a little bit. Then the conch rang for Beluga. "Yeah?" Beluga answered.

"We have three incoming vessels heading east of Blaberg. Our scout just notified us, we'll keep in contact to let you know the how the operation goes." A merman on the conch said.

"Good, keep me posted." Beluga almost hung up as Amelia placed her hand on the conch. "Hey, what the?" "Let her touch the conch, Beluga, she's a telepath, she's probably locating and visioning the situation.

Amelia was able to pick up the signal and was able to locate where the call was coming from. She managed to take control of one mer's eyesight as her own as she saw the ships above them. "Do you see them?" Haruto asked. "Yeah, I'm not going to take over unless they're struggling." Amelia responded as her eyes were wide still concentration on the vision she saw.

The men took their weapons and hid near the caverns until they lowered the netting. Once they did after spotting some fish and larger creatures, one mer gestured swimming forward hastily. They did what they were told and started cutting the hard felt, net trying not to harm the fish or the creatures being captured in the process. They managed to cut a gaping hole in each of the vessels and fish began flooding out.

"They did it! They cut the nets wide!" Amelia exclaimed. The mer cheered victoriously. However, their victory was cut short. Amelia sensed that the crew was sending off divers to investigate on the gape of the hole to see what caused it. Amelia then took over the mer she was seeing from his vision.

"Dive low, dive low, we have company coming!" Amelia said in the mer's voice pointing up.

"They wouldn't," The mer said gaping.

"Let's not take any chances, let's move low!" The other mer said supporting Amelia's warning.

After they dived low enough, the divers were seen scouting around the waters trying to find the culprit. However, their lines would not be able to go down further and swam back up to the surface.

"Good call, mate. Let's head back for further report to Beluga." The other mer said.

"He's going to contact you after they reached to their tribe." Amelia said turning to Beluga. "Are they okay?" Beluga asked. "They're fine and were not spotted." Amelia declared. "Thank the gods," Bowman sighed with relief.

"Don't rest yet, they'll probably alert the other fishing vessels to look out for any further strange activity while they try to go fish out their spots." Haruto said with caution.

"He's right, we'll need to wait for the next call that's not from Blaberg so Amelia can either locate them with her telepathy or we need to get ready to fight." Lynae said supporting Haruto.

Unexpectedly, a call came through the conch and Beluga answered it. "We have four vessels coming at approximately 45 kilometers an hour."

"We'll be ready. Take your post." Beluga hung up the conch. "That's us, let's move out!" Beluga instructed. The crew of mer including Amelia, Lynae, and Haruto went up to their places and waited for the liners to come cruising by. "Amelia, how many men can you see in one of the boats?" Haruto asked. "About thirty-two or thirty-three from counting." Amelia responded. "They're sending a few on some boats. They've been warned from the other attack." Amelia said seeing the vision.

"They never make it easy, do they?" Lynae said prepping to attack. "What are you planning to do, Your Highness?" Bowman asked. "The plan goes on, leave it to me, Amelia, and Haruto to create a distraction on these guys." Lynae said taking the lead.

The three spread out and honed in their energy together. Lynae started freezing the water to make it choppier for the boats to go through. Haruto took care of the divers by turning the tides and altering the pressure the divers are swimming in. Their machines beam in red alert for high pressure. The operators were looking at the calibrations and the locations of the divers. They were puzzled because they aren't far into the water but they are accumulating pressure as they swim further down. "They haven't reached sea floor yet! How can they be at dangerous levels of pressure already?!" A crew member asked. "Not sure, but we better get them up or they'll surely meet their grave." The supervisor instructed the divers to call off the search.

Amelia called the fish to swim away from the sight and the school made a one eighty swimming away from the fishing spot. She then focused to sabotage the radars and the radio systems. The systems on all four boats went haywire. The crew lost all contact and lost all visual underwater. "What in the devil? Manatee to Stingray, Manatee to Stingray, do you copy?" The crewmember radioed. "Manatee to Stingray, Manatee to Stingray, do you copy?" The radio was dead and everyone realized that their communications and technology on the ships were down. "What is this? Ghostbusters?" The first mate asked. "Radio and radar don't show any malfunction wears of any type, sir." A crewmate responded. "Have we hit a spot of interference?" First mate asked. "Most likely, sir. Otherwise, it cannot be explained why the radio and the radar is down." The crewmen responded. "What in the devil could hinder our visual and communications? Have the divers found anything suspicious?" First mate asked. "Negative, however, the other men manning the subs found a sudden spike of barometric pressure where it was deemed hazardous for the men to continue searching." The crewmen responded. "This has never been an issue before when we came here. Something's up." The first mate said with speculation. "Should we report to the captain, sir?" The crewmen asked. "Summarize the reports and I shall make arrangements in meeting the captain if we should change the course. Obviously, we have something or someone wanting us gone from this area." The first mate commanded. "Yes sir," the crewman answered swiftly.

After forty minutes of agonizing waiting, the boats started to shift to go back to where they came from. "They're leaving. They're turning around!" Bowman exclaimed. "I don't know what you did, but you certainly made them leave," Beluga cheered. "What did you do, Amelia?" Haruto asked. "Let's just say they won't be fishing where they want to." Amelia said calmly.

The celebration began at one of their taverns they have around their tribal homes. Everyone clanked their glasses and drank the heavy liquid with a strong presence of alcohol. Everyone was cheerful, but Amelia was not knowing this wasn't over.

"A mjöd for your thoughts?" Haruto offered a glass to Amelia. Amelia silently accepted the glass. "It's not over yet. They're acting like they won the war but they've only won a battle." Amelia said sighing while drinking the glass. "I'm sure they realize that, but this is the first time they are doing something about it. Something's bothering you, isn't it?" Haruto peered into Amelia's face. "The first mate, I sense he's going to do something drastic." Amelia said with concern. "We can worry tomorrow, tonight, we celebrate!" Haruto said with a smile. He knew she couldn't get it out of her head, but he knew he could distract her from it. Haruto then grabbed Amelia's arm and started dancing with her. Everyone was clapping as they danced to the lively music.

After the dance was over, Beluga came up to make a toast. "May I have your attention? This celebration and our victory today would not have been possible without a special little lady. Honestly, when she said whom she was, I thought someone was yanking my tail. Then when I saw what I never thought I would see in my lifetime; I knew she was destined to bring out realm to its former glory. To the woman who brought this raid to life and long live our Drottning, Lynae of Arktis!"

"Long live, Drottning Lynae, long live, Drottning Lynae!" Everyone chanted. Amelia glared at Lynae's direction with gleaming pride and joy for what Lynae did for the mer of Arktis.

"Excuse me, Miss Drottning?" a little merboy appeared shyly to Lynae. Lynae turned toward him with her attention. "This is for you, for helping us today." The boy handed her a miniature sculpture carved with Arktis glass in the shape of clumped snowflakes. "It's beautiful, I will treasure this always, thank you, little one," Lynae said with a genuine smile. The boy grinned and scurried to his mother in excitement.

"Seems like you found your true calling, Drottning," Amelia said with cheer in her tone. "Maybe I have. It's funny, when we reached here, it felt like home to me. I never liked the cold growing up, but ever since gaining this tail, it's like I've been..."

"Reborn?" Amelia finished her sentence. "Yeah, do you think maybe this was a way of giving us a second chance in life in a sense?" Lynae asked. "Depends how you see it, some may say it's destiny, some may say it's luck, and others may just say that it's another chance for another life." Amelia stated. "What do you see it as?" Lynae asked. "It's many things for me, I can't say." Amelia responded. "I hope you don't mind us staying here for a few more days... just to make sure the boats don't come back to come get at us." Lynae pleaded. "Of course not, I know they're going to come to prove there's suspicious activity, but I won't leave you alone if you don't want to face them alone." Amelia declared. "Same goes for me too. We need to trust each other to create harmony among the seven seas." Haruto stated.

Everyone drank until late evening. They then went to their habitats to sleep off the drunken daze they've placed themselves into. Only a few would wake up in the morning not feeling the effect of heavy booze while the rest would wake with an agonizing hangover.