Chapter 8: Rose and It's Thorn

Before he could make an attempt to approach Erica to know if she was actually real, he was interrupted by the presence of a younger lady

" Hi handsome"

" Hi..." He responded turning to stare at the brunette.

When he had quickly glance backwards, Erica was gone. He signed in disappoint

" Am I interrupting something?" She asked

" Sorry about this but someone is kind of waiting for me outside" he said showing no interest in her

" Oh, wrong timing" she said smiling nervously

" So sorry, I will get back to you; that's if you are still here" he said not actually meaning it.

" Sure" she said smiling.

Lava left without hesitation to look for Erica.

(Riveria)

The important guests from Oceania and Marco had arrived at the palace of Riveria to win princess Adunni's hands in marriage. 

The king George of Oceania and his handsome brunette son Prince luca, King Ayata of Marco and his light skin, tall and handsome son Prince Obi.

They had come with a lot of gifts, they bowed in respect of the great ruler of the whole sea.

" You are beautiful as always queen Riveria" king Ayata praised 

" Thank you king Ayata, it's been a long time " she said

" May we have the honor of knowing how you have kept yourself looking younger every day?" King George asked

" I wish I knew how king George" she said triggering them to laugh.

" Your son's has grown so well and are more handsome than any young mermen at the sea" she said looking at Prince Luca and Prince Obi.

" It's a shame the princess have to take only one of them" king Ayata teased.

" I will try as much as possible to win the princess heart" Prince Obi said bowing to the queen

" I will so much cherish this opportunity Queen Riveria" Prince Luca said bowing to the queen.

Queen Riveria wondered why the princess haven't come out to welcome the guests for over thirty minutes of their arrival. She attempted to send his guards to go get the princess who might be hiding, but to her surprise; princess Adunni came herself followed by her maids. She was so stunning that any merman couldn't resist her charm, she glowed more with her smile while coming approaching them as the queen wondered what she was so happy about, she had been rejecting the marriage proposal since.

" I will make your perfect plan fail right before your eye" princess Adunni thought to herself when she had stood face to face with the queen.

* * *

Lava had searched for Erica the whole place his eye could meet but there was no trace of her. He was so disappointed that moment especially with the fact that he can't seem to control his growing emotions towards these strange lady, this must be a side effect of first love he thought to himself

" I came here hoping to see the public aquarium" Erica said from the balcony up the room

Lava looked up to see her, words cannot explain how thrilled he was seeing her

" You should have asked instead of disappearing on me Erica" he replied

" Oh, you know my name? and what makes you think I came here for you?" She asked with a tempting smile on her face

" Well, it won't be because of my father, right? and beside... you are not even a politician; you must have sneaked in" he said smiling nervously

" I just came for the fishes, I have always loved the sea creatures; I thought there would be one here" she said coldly not minding his burning desires of her

Lava laughed " You are funny" he said .

Erica walks down from the balcony and walked towards him

" You must have thought every lady wants you?" She asked pacing around him

" Don't you want me?" He asked her smiling

" If I say I don't, would you believe me?" She asked him stopping right in front of him

" You wouldn't be here if you didn't, I saw the way you looked at me that day" he said really nervous from her sudden closeness to him.

Erica smiled while piercing his eye with her tempting gaze, she speedily dragged him by his tie and leaned forward giving him a deep kiss which would literally steal anyone's soul out of their body. Lava felt butterflies on his belly and cold chills all over his body, he gasped out of breath when Erica had stopped,

Erica pushed him backwards.

"Your lips taste sweet, I like it" she said smiling, she walked out of his presence which confused him, before he could turn to say something to her, his father interrupted him by calling his name demanding for his presence.

Turning to the other door exit to give Erica one last look before he leaves, he was surprised that Erica was already gone in just few seconds, he scoffed as he followed his father who was leaving the room.

Erica came out from the back door she was hiding on when they were gone, she looked at the wallet on her hand, she he had collected lava's wallet doing the kiss, she smirked before exiting the door.

(Riveria)

Princess Adunni kept on starring at the two princes from where she was, when they stared back at her, she looked away.

The queen felt happy seeing how the three of them are connecting really well

" Why don't we let princess Adunni speak with each one of them at a time to get to know them better?" The queen asked the king's interrupting their discussions.

" Good idea my queen" king Ayata said and king George nodded in agreement.

Turning towards prince Obi " Why don't you escort the princess out for a moment" King Ayata said

"My pleasure your majesty" prince Obi said bowing down.

He swims forward to princess Adunni and reached out his hands to her, Princess Adunni smiled taking his hand, she followed him out.

" So tell me, what are your hobbies? you must have something you are fond of doing at your kingdom" Princess Adunni interrupted the silence between them

"I am glad you asked your highness, I play music well enough for the sirens; I am not actually a lover of swords" he replied smiling

"It's hard to see a merman who doesn't love to fight " Princess Adunni said

" It's that a turn off for you princess ? I wouldn't change myself for that" he said nervously

" You actually didn't look like you play music, am a bit surprised" she said to him causing him to smile.

" So what do you do at your free time?" He asked her

" Nothing much, I just train and prepare myself secretly everyday as the future queen of Riveria" she responded

" That's amazing, we should swap bodies" he teased which made princess Adunni laugh

" So you really think I can be the future queen of Riveria and not my mum? she is still vibrant to rule and definitely stronger than I " she said calmly

Prince Obi stopped her from swimming any further 

" Your mother is the strongest woman I know, But; that was before I come to know you, knowing you train and prepare yourself for the future is very rare among the royal mermaids, other mermaids would have just sit around and boss their maids over unnecessary things hoping to marry a fearless prince one day and hand over every responsibility to him. Even if you waver, just know that I will stand beside you to play something nice at least" he said and princess Adunni burst out laughing

" You amuse me, really?" She asked still laughing

" Yes princess, you don't expect I will fight do you?" He asked teasing her

" I thought you would at least lie to cheer me up" she said 

" I am an honest merman" he said raising his chest up.

(Back at the city)

" Oh good lord, the food was amazing" Oma praised jumping on top of her bed

" Right? probably the best thing I have tasted this week" Lilian said joining her

" We should go there every day" Oma said

" As much as I love your idea, it's still not a good idea" Lilian responded sitting up from the bed

" Why not?" Oma questioned

" Because my aunt would want me to eat for free, she will be losing some money and I will always feel guilty about that" she replied

" That's true" Oma said nodding her head

" So what are we going to do? I am sleeping over you know" she said

" There are a lot of snacks on the fridge and movies to watch on tv " Oma responded

Lilian Looking at the table close to the wall TV 

" Yea, you must be feeling so lonely to have a lot of CD ROM in your room? What time do you have to watch all these movies?" Lilian curiously asked looking at the movies CD that filled the table

" It's for...." Oma paused immediately when she almost spilled that it was Erica who had been watching them for more knowledge " It's for me, I have been learning some pick up lines for my boyfriend" she lied causing Lilian to laugh funnily

" I didn't know you would be this bad, you must be desperate to get all Mk's attention on you, speaking of Mk... how are you planning his birthday party at night?" Lilian asked

" Shit! we will be attending his party tonight, I forget to get a gift and its already late" she said frowning

" Okay... It's 4:25pm, grab your ATM card, we are going to get his gift" Lilian said getting up. Oma quickly got up to join her.

(Back at Riveria)

Prince Luca didn't waste time to follow princess Adunni once she had returned back.

He smiled at her 

" Looking closely at you, you look more beautiful than ever, I would trade myself to be your servant just to see your face every day" Prince Luca said with a cheerful smile on his face,

Princess Adunni found herself blushing excitedly

" Do you say that to every mermaid in Oceania?" She asked still laughing

" Will you believe me if I say I don't?" He asked her smiling " I don't even have time looking at any of them" he added laughing

" So what do you devote your time to?" Princess Adunni curiously asked

" I am a warrior, protecting my father and Oceania is not an easy task; I have to make sure he lives longer for me" he said

" Wow, really devoted, Guess you do everything for him" she said

" Yes, he has always been there for me so I am going to do my very best to make him happy till he is no longer with me" he said calmly

" I guess getting married to me was his opinion?" she asked

" It was at first, but talking with you right now; I just want to get to know you better, I have never had a heart to heart talk like this with any siren; you are my first and this is really special to me" he said softly .

Princess Adunni grinned as she tries hard to hide her laugh.

* * *

(8pm at Bellaire city)

Lava searched for his wallet in the entire fundraising room after almost everyone was gone, he refused to go home even when his bodyguards had told him they would find it for him.

" I will find it myself, I need to make sure everything is complete inside of it" he said raising his voice. No one could explain why he is so obsessed in finding a mere wallet. He doesn't remember where he had dropped it since he never made use of it throughout the day.

" Mr. lava, the weather is changing; it will be difficult to get home quicker if it starts raining because of traffic, maybe you have forgotten it at home" one of his two bodyguards said

" I remember taking it with me" he said silently putting his hand on his pockets. He was already stressed out because of it.

Erica continuously look at the picture containing the portrait of a young boy who was definitely lava, beside him was a woman; one could guess she was lava's biological mum, the two of them seem extremely happy. The picture had fallen out from lava's wallet when she was about to throw it away after getting the information, she needed from his Identify cards.

" How does it actually feel to have a mother?" She questioned herself " I guess it feels good when you have one" she answered herself as some unwanted emotions grows inside of her slowly. She quickly waved off the feeling of vulnerability and placed back the picture inside the wallet ready to throw it away but suddenly hesitated...

" But he looks really happy with her, he doesn't seem to be this happy at the fundraiser" she said silently.

She quickly put the wallet inside her hand bag heading back at the venue of the fundraiser.

10 minutes after she had left the bus stop where she has been sitting, it started to rain heavily. Erica didn't notice the weather change all these times she had spent focusing on getting information plus the picture that ignite unwanted emotions in her. Erica found herself standing on the road waiting for taxi to stop but none did as they were already filled up with passengers who noticed the weather changes earlier. 

Erica felt differently as if her tails were coming out but something strong was stopping it, she was getting mixed feeling as her whole body felt like they were paralyzed at the moment, she saw her necklace turn a bit light green signifying danger.

Everyone passing by kept look at her confused at why she was standing on the rain. Fear had gripped Erica that moment remembering the fact she was a mermaid standing in between humans, she would be killed at sight if that necklace let her down that very moment. She was even afraid to stare down her legs as she fears she might even grow out her tail from thinking about them.... 

Suddenly; she saw the sky above her head go darker, she felt a coverage above her head by an object which she has seen in the movies she watches at Oma's place. She felt a body move closer to her; embracing her from behind, standing in front of her was Lava.