Chapter Thirty-Three

Even though I hadn't fully healed, we rented a plane to take us to Japan. It was a small plane with no seats in the back. There was a white goat in a small pen and Jason and I held onto nets strapped to the wall. King Aquis had given us a glass bottle with cracks in the bottom. He said it was an heirloom found many years ago and told us to head to the North Pacific Ocean. The bottle was supposed to tell us where we needed to go once we reached the coast. Our goal was to get to the bottom of the Mariana Trench without being eaten alive by monstrous creatures. Since we didn't have the Trident, we couldn't rely on my Ocean Master title to command these creatures. We got off the plane and went to the east coast. I took a deep breath as an otter ran up to us.

"Don't go! Hide! You're being hunted!" She exclaimed, her long body shaking. I knelt down to her. We were on long bricks that kept the ocean from spilling onto the land.

"What's wrong, little one?" I stroked her wet fur.

"The Requin Noir! He's hunting you! Requin Noir!" She quivered, running away. I heard what sounded like a jet behind us. I turned to see a tall, humanoid, bug like, armored, suit. Its head was an oval shape with huge red eyes. Without warning, red lasers shot from the eyes. I pulled my arms up to block, water creating a large wall. The laser pierced through the wall, flinging me backwards and burning my skin. I hit a rock wall then fell to the ground, wincing from the pain.

"Blake!" Jason yelled. I rolled over, inhaling sharply as I looked at my sizzling arms. I stood as the person in the odd suit landed where I was, its jetpacks turning off.

"You don't look anything like a black shark, Requin Noir." I walked back over. "More like a black bug."

"Princess of the Lost City." His disoriented voice resonated. "I am not here for you. Aquaman owes me blood for my mother's death."

"You attacked me! You should've begged the sea for forgiveness because you killed people! You drowned and shot them!" Jason got into a fighting stance. The strange bug smashed into him, flying off into a nearby building. I watched him drag Jason through the floors then down into the ocean. I jumped into the water, swimming as fast as possible to them. I could see them fighting, punching each other then pinning each other. The suited creature had Jason pinned, punching him in the face over and over. I glowered, extending my palm to them. The water swirled, ripping the creature off of Jason. Several sharks raced over, biting the black suit. The creature struck each shark as they bit at him. Jason tackled it, pummeling it's metal face. I could see a crack forming between the big red eyes and swiftly pushed my hands so my arms crossed then pulled to uncross them. The crack widened, splitting the metal helmet. They boosted upward until they breached the water's surface. Using the water as a catapult, I followed them. Before Jason was taken back to land, I whipped my arm up making a lasso made of water. It grabbed the creature's -with the now broken helmet- ankle and pulled him back down with such speed that it dropped Jason. The three of us fell back into the ocean's embrace and without skipping a beat, I made chains made of water, locking it to the ocean floor. The chains hardened and froze, surprising me for a short moment. I sank to the bottom in front of it, my feet touching the silky sand. The creature pulled at the restraints, making grunting noises. It sounded like a man.

"Who are you and why are you attacking us?!" I interrogated. It didn't answer and after a moment, it looked up. In the wide crack of the helmet, I could see a face. A man's face. His teeth showed between the crack and a split second later I realized that he couldn't breathe. I extended my arms out to my left and right with my palms out and fingers pointed upward. An orb appeared around us, void of water. He gasped audibly then coughed out water. "What is a human doing with high tech gear like this?" He glowered at me, not speaking.

"Who are you and how did you get this equipment?" I demanded again.

"My name is Jordan and I developed everything out of what Atlantis' Prince gave me." He grumbled. The water swished around us as the orb held it's frame.

"My brother gave you this? When?" I narrowed my eyes.

"A week and a half ago." He pulled at the chains again. A week and a half ago. That was right before graduation.

"Why did he give you this?"

"We have the same objective." He grinned. "To see Aquaman dead."

"And why would my brother want my fiancé dead? Why do you want him dead?" I looked around to see if Jason was nearby.

"He let my mother die after I begged him to save her." His grin faded into a frown.

"He said you attacked him and people in the sea." I replied, remembering when a submarine had been hijacked. It happened almost a year ago and when Jason saw it on the news, he had rushed out of my house.

"We needed the submarine to attack Atlantis. We never made it and my mother, leader if the Black Sharks, died. Aquaman just walked out and left us to die." He looked down.

"Well, you can't kill him. You need to get over your anger or it will consume you and cause you to make stupid decisions." I saw a shark and several Atlantean guards swimming around the orb. One guard put on his helmet and entered.

"Princess, we heard of this criminal coming to kill the Prince of the Mediterranean Sea. Allow us to take him." The guard said.

"He is human. He can't live underwater. I'll deal with him." I looked from the guard to the man. "Hold your breath."

"Wait-!" His eyes widened. Before he could finish, the orb collapsed and I ripped his suit into pieces. He was released from his restraints and I allowed him to swim up to the surface. Now I needed to find Jason.

"Jay!" I yelled. I looked to the guards. "Fan out and find my fiancé." They nodded and swam in opposite directions. After a few minutes, I heard someone call me. A female.

"Princess!" The voice cried. I followed the sound to see a body and a sea otter swimming around it. It pressed on the body every few moments then swam around it. "Princess! He's not waking up!" I swam to them quickly. It was the otter that had warned me of the Requin Noir prior to his arrival.

"Jason?!" I knelt next to the body, looking at it's face. He had his eyes closed, his black hair floating around his head. "Jay! Come on! Wake up!" I begged. I checked his pulse, putting two fingers right under his jaw. His pulse was weak and faulty. I pulled his head into my lap, pushing my arm between his and his body to support him. As if my body had told me what to do, I touched the silky ocean floor and took a deep breath to calm my speeding heart. Underneath Jason, the otter, and I, a thick circle of ice formed. We floated up until we surfaced then sat on the ice, floating on the ocean.

"Jay, please wake up." I cried, stroking his face and moving his hair out of the way. "Please...."