Chapter 15: Vulnerable

(Back at the sea)

" We almost got its tail" Prince Obi said from their hiding place

" We have to set a plan" Prince Luca said

" The two plans you came up with almost got us killed, firstly; we tried communicating with it which didn't end well, let's not even talk about the idea of trapping it on the abandoned ship because I can't even find a piece of the abandoned ship anywhere " Prince Obi reminded him

" This time, I will use myself as a bait" he told him

" How? that snake is probably two times faster than us" Prince Obi said

" We are warriors with brains, once I go out there; I will lure it to me, all you have to do is strike deep into it" prince Luca told him

" Are you trusting me on this, we are rivals at this moment of duel" Prince Obi reminded him

" Yes, I know, but if we don't kill this snake, it will continue following us even back to Riveria if possible" Prince Luca told him

" So what's the plan" he said

Prince Luca quickly swims out in the middle of the danger zone. He awaited for some minutes before he noticed some movements on the water, he awaits patiently for it with his heart beating out of his chest; the giant snake was almost close when Prince Obi made a move to attack it but the snake was fast enough to use its tail hitting him out of the way. Prince Obi groaned in pain from his wounded arm that almost got dislocated from his body.

When the snake had turned to focus on Prince Luca, he was already out of its sight and beneath it with his weapon reaching its throat. As soon as his weapon deepens inside of its throat, the snake roared and moved its body but prince Luca stood strong with his weapon still inside of it, he forcefully moved down with the sharp bone cutting it all the way down until the snake forcefully threw him out. Blood filled the river as the snake sank down with its blood washing down with it.

Prince Luca noticed a shiny pearl (almost the size of an orange) sinking with it. He rushed to it and picked up the shiny pearl

" This must be it; the treasure had been inside of the snake. This was the first gift the ancient gods of the sea gave to his goddess before the war" he said smiling " I can't believe the story my father told me were real" he said.

As he was about to turn to get his weapon, a sharp bone pierced his left abdomen and the pearl was taken away from him

" Sorry, I never wanted to be any part of this " Prince Obi told him.

He quickly swims out leaving prince Luca who was bleeding heavily.

(Bellaire city)

" Why aren't you asleep? It's 2am" Lava said to Erica who was sitting down on the edge of the stairs. He had come out of the room to drink water before he saw Erica sitting down all alone

" Sleeping for a long period of time is not actually my thing, I am a warrior" she said

" Okay, is there anything troubling you?" He asked her.

He joined her on the stairs

" A lot of things that doesn't bother the humans" She said as lava dazed at her

" I got you scared for a second" She said and lava laughed nervously

" So how come you never really talked about yourself? You know a lot about me but I don't know anything about you" he said

" In my world, I probably haven't sat down like this to talk with someone, I probably haven't felt comfortable the way I am here, I probably never had a lot of people worry about me, and I probably had a lot of enemies" She responded

" That's a sad world to be on" Lava said softly

" I am afraid I have changed when I met Oma and you, I keep on denying the fact that I feel different and every minute of it I am scared of harming the people that made me feel like I existed" She said quietly as Lava could hear her whimper

" I am here for you; you don't need to try hard for whatever it is. There are still good people around you" Lava said softly consoling her with a warm hug

" What if I tell you that I am not who you think I am? do you think someone who has done a lot of bad things can redeem themselves even when they are around good people?" she asked 

Lava freed her from the hug as he stares deep into her eye

" I love you Erica no matter who you are, you might find this hard to believe Erica; I care so much about you and Oma do too. I want to go to a lot of places with you if you will give me a chance to prove myself" he said gently.

Erica smiled at him and he kissed her forehead softly

" In five days' time, my school will be throwing a party for the finalists, I want you to be my date" he told her.

Erica grinned as she knew her plan was making progress more than she had expected.

Oma had been sobbing silently behind the door as Erica story reminded her of her own life at the orphanage when she was all alone, bullied as she thought she doesn't belong anywhere.

(Back at Riveria)

Prince Obi happily swims heading back to Riveria with the pearl.

" It's very rare to see a shiny pearl, could it be really true that they also possess strange energy just like in the fairytale? It can't be true right or there would also be a sea witch; shiny pearls attract sea witches " he said to himself.

He wondered what the pearl could possibly do as he thought of converting it for himself. His father's obsession and greed's had turned him into a greedy one for power and it led him into agreeing to attack Vashi and he lost his beloved sister to her, ever since then; he had been blaming himself and kept that traumatic side of him locked for years. he wasn't fighting for princess Adunni like everyone had thought, he was fighting for his father who he doesn't want to lose just like he lost his sister and mother. He hated been lonely or losing and would do anything to avoid it.

As he giggles at his bravery, a sharp object slashed his skin causing an uncomfortable pain.

" Luca" he said in anger

" I heard you were selfish but I didn't think you would be this ruthless" Prince Luca said

" You should be happy that I kept you alive, this is just a game" Prince Obi said

"Did you really think I didn't think about killing you first? I would have killed the snake myself even if you were not there " Prince Luca told him

" Now we are even, both of us thought about killing each other and I pulled the first move, if you want the pearl? come and get the pearl" Prince Obi told him.

" I won't be having mercy on you Obi" Prince Luca told him

" Did it ever occur to you that if I can kill you right here; the Queen Riveria will be much thrilled that I made her job easier? I can even marry the princess without finding the pear" Prince Obi retorted

" I know you can, this must be how you encouraged yourself that you can fight Vashi and it turned out to be your worst nightmare" Prince Luca icily said

Prince Obi quickly dashes to him with his weapon and Prince Luca did the same. The fight between them was hot as they kept on dragging the pearl and throwing it from one direction to another

* * *

" I wonder what exactly is your plan for the two prince's mother?" Princess Adunni asked her mother " They have been gone for ages" she said again

" Don't look at me princess, I don't even know if the treasure exist or they might actually need to use their wisdom" she responded " The gods as they say will lead them" the queen said again

" Now you believe in the god's mother?" She asked

" Princess Adunni, Why don't you worry about who your husband would be is" the queen said to her

" Judging from your relationship with king Ayata, you must want prince Obi to win" Princess Adunni said

" You are becoming like me Adunni, the blood they say is thicker than water" the queen told her

" Aren't you happy that you have a competitor just like you?" She asked her mother

" You already failed as a ruler if Prince Obi wins" she told her daughter

" When prince Luca wins, I will be visiting the dungeon first for my honeymoon" Princess Adunni fired back smiling at her.

The queen lowered her head down faking a smile as she had already known that the princess knew about what was hidden down there.

The entertainers continue entertaining the Sirens as the Sirens fed themselves with all sorts of the river foods.

Forty minutes later, while every siren were still jubilating at the success of the Princess; a figure appeared far away from them having a shiny light covering the shadows of the figure. They all curiously look to see who it was. The figure revealed the body of that of a merman, they Prince Luca swim forward holding the pearl.

" Hail Prince Luca!" One of prince Luca's guards shouted and the Sirens raised their voice and hailed him in unison.

Princess Adunni starred at her mother who sat comfortably. King Ayata balled his hand in anger as he silently controlled himself from flipping the foods.

" Drink this and relax yourself king Ayata" the queen softly said picking up the sticky drink on a shell and handing it over to him

" Thank you my queen" he said collecting it from her, he drank it in annoyance as he watches how some of the merman's raised prince Luca up hailing him

" Shouldn't you send your guards to find your favorite prince?" Princess Adunni asked her mother

" No need for that, he is already here" she said

Prince Obi approached Prince Luca from behind putting on a fake smile, they gave each other a warm hug to show that they were still at peace

" If I hadn't gotten caught up with the boat net, you wouldn't have made it out " Prince Obi whispered to his ear

" Hope the Sirens doesn't find out about that and also; take a look at your Papa and think about what to say to him when you get close" Prince Luca whispered back to his ears.

The sirens continued celebrating the success of Prince Luca.

(11 am at Bellaire city)

" Where are you going Erica?" Oma asked when she had seen Erica putting on her dress

" Somewhere" she said

" But you promised to stay home today? You told Lava you are not going anywhere today before he left; you always leave the house without letting me know where you are going to" Oma said

" I am not involving anyone in my life, I am going to do whatever I want to do alone" she told her

" I heard what you told Lava last night, is that really true because you acted like you cared about him that moment?" Oma questioned her

" Everything is a lie, I just made him believe what I wanted him to believe" she told her going downstairs

" Are you afraid of someone seeing that you are vulnerable because it looks like you don't want anyone to see that side of you?" Oma asked following her behind

" Where I come from, weakness is for losers; soon I will be leaving this place back to where I belong" Erica icily said before opening the door

Oma watched her shut the door after she had left, she took a deep breath and signed in disbelief.

Erica didn't leave that moment; she had rested her body on the wall with her head bent. One could tell that she was sad because she couldn't tell anyone who she was and also for the fact that she is becoming weaker than before in her human state, she didn't belong here and she is slowly losing her ability to detect danger, her sense of hearing at a far distance, her strong sense of smell and also the sunny weather wasn't for her skin as it gets her skin itchy, all she wanted was to find a solution to stop the humans from polluting the river and taking away their foods from the sea.

She placed her hand inside her Hoody and adjusted the kitchen knife inside of it "I am going to end this today" She said to herself.