Chapter

 There was this one who seem to be stronger than all of them, she was not even a merman, but a mermaid, a mermaid from the serpent clan. She evaded all that I tossed at her, she used her extremely long tail to hold me, she tied me down with her tail like a chain, she was super strong, the muscles in that tail were extraordinary. I tried all I could to escape her grip, but all to success, she then came to me, trying to get me to look at her in her eyes which seemed to be unstable, she held my head with her strong but soft hands so that I can keep still and look at her in the eyes, but I only looked up to Dad, and he said to me in his mind.

"Whatever you do son, do not stay focussed to her eyes, and when your hands are bound, what do you do? You fight with your strongest weapon, your mind." So he said. It was then that I realized that even mind-reading was a special gift from Poseidon according to dad. Because the serpent girl did not hear him, only I did. Now I knew what to do, dad had already given me a tip, I shut the doors to my eyes since even me on my own I had realized that looking at her in the eyes makes me weaker, and I could lose my mind, it almost seemed like she was trying to hypnotize me because I felt my conscious my solving off to sleep each time I look her in the eyes. 

Now I shot the doors to my eyes and focussed on the power in my inner mind, I started solving for strength which kept coming like a light, I felt the light of my strength illuminating the entire place, even though I had my eyes shut, I did this till I heard her scream out loud and swam off. I opened my eyes to see the whole mer-people around clapping for me, then looked up to see my dad who only smiled saying, "Son, you have just successfully passed the first phase of your initiation." I looked at him, seeing how he smiled and filled with excitement, I wondered what barbarian he was, how could he be happy, I just survived a near-death experience, no one told me it was going to be like this, no one even tried to explain to me, it was only that I began to see all the things that mom said about Dad and his people, I am definitely not the same with them, they are so far from being humans, they are animals, aside from the fact that they were more developed in times of infrastructure and technology, they were still behind in culture, they were still savages, they still ride on dolphins which were cute anyway. And the most disgusting thing, they eat fish, and it wasn't just that they eat fish, they eat fish raw without even cooking it, fish was their best food down there. Then I wondered why I hate fish so bad, but Dad explained to me, he said it is normal to hate eating and killing fish.

"It is in your nature, it is because of who you are, you are in the middle of a mariner and a land walker, people like you tend to not like fishes because you are a bridge, and fishes too are beige, so a bridge cannot eat bridges, it is only normal." Dad said

So, that day passed, I wondered company months might have passed on earth. I slept in dad's castle, the same castle which I had seen in my dream, everything that I saw in the dream about the castle was so real, even the mermaid who attended to people as a receptionist was also real, except I was also having a very long dream those time, else, I will say that I was here in reality and not a dream, dad only knows how to make me feel like I was having a mare abstract dream whereas, everything was true and substantial. 

I was woken up by a group of m

Mer-boys who snuck into the room where I woke. As I slept I felt some tingling, then I unbuttoned my eyes gradually only to see these boyish faces hovering above me, I thought that I was dreaming, I opened my eyes widely to see clearly, and I saw that they were merpeople, I almost screamed but one cute one with a blue flowing hair hushed at me, he placed a finger on his already pouting lips to signify that I should be calm, his innocent baby face sold out his intention, he only wanted to play. When the thought in his mind was pure and clean, I liked him, yes I did even at my first sight of him. His name was Julio Macbeth, a son of one of the nobles in Atlantis. Atlantis might be a very beautiful and big city, the people here all know themselves, they were all related in one form or the other, according to Dad, they were all the sons and daughters. Of Poseidon himself, only that not all of them can be kings, only a selected few have that golden opportunity, and I happened to fall among the golden few.

"Come with us, we have something to show you." So he said, and knowing that he was up to no bad, I stood up and followed his silently, I thought that we will follow the normal route which I took when coming, pass through the elevators and the receptionist, but no, Julio and his friends took me through a secret passage, a very long tunnel that reeks of dead and decaying fish. I managed to close my noses till we passed the tunnel and came out to this beautiful place, very colorful, no building, it was situated at the back of dad's castle. There was a pond there, the pond was in the shape of an eye, they told me that it was the eyes of Poseidon, according to them, that if I want to know anything that happened in the past that I can see it in that pond. According to them, the incident doesn't have to happen in my presence or to me before I will have to have access to them, all that I need was just to call the name of the person I want to see, the date and time, after that, I will start seeing that person doing the things they did at that time. They also told me that it was only a thing of the last that works on that pond, the future and present could not be seen there.

Well, I tried many times and it all worked, it was an easy thing, the boys said that they were all watching their dates, to see if she had any affairs with another merman, but all I did was watch mom and Cynthia.

Now, this was how I got to know some things that happened while I was not there, I know that you will be wondering how Damian got to know how Cynthia's room was even before he got in. 

We spent a measurable time there until dad started looking for me for the next phase of my initiation, I just do not know what the next phase could be.

"Prince Damian, I think it's time we go back, the water is already fuming, it could only mean one thing, the king is restless, and only one thing could make him restless, that is you, not being the could find you, we need to go back, else he will be furious." So Julio said and we buried back through the tunnel, I really had a nice day, and for the first time in my life, I was not bullied by the first group of boys that came my way. When I got into Dad's castle, it was like a war zone everyone was in a panic in search of me, it was dad who sighted me first and announce go the others go be calm that I had been found.

"Where were you all this while?" He asked me in fury.

"I just went out on a walk," I said., Julio and his friends had pleaded with me not to let dad know that they were the ones who took me out, they were all scared of dad, even though Julio's father was a well respected Merman in Atlantis, he still fears dad the King. 

"You went for a walk? Where do you know in this place? It's like you are yet to know that we are at war, our enemies could sneak in any moment from now, we do not know if they were already among us, and you went for a walk without anyone seeing you walk out. Or in, do you also have the power of invisibility?" Listen, son, you must always be by me, under my very watch, that is the safest place here." So he said.

" Now, it is time for your second phase of Initiation, it is going to take place in the sacred and forbidden dungeon." He said. These words, sacred, forbidden and dungeon were very scary to me, I wondered what would be happening in that place, who I will fight this time, what beast could be in such a place, or what war criminal could it be that they kept in such a dungeon that I might be made to fight. 

So, we rode down to the scene on the back of a well-decorated royal dolphin. 

"We are here. In the middle of the neither lands. A place where slaves are caged." The old lady who I saw the other day dancing around the statue of Poseidon. Behold we were truly there, but the dungeon was not what I thought it would be, I thought that it will be a great wall that will contain all sorts of criminal sea monsters, but no, it was all balls of water, a ball of water each for every prisoner, and they really do not look that dreadful, they were rather weak in that ball, incapable of fighting their way out.

"My son, this is the task here. I know you must be wondering, who you are going to be fighting this time, but no, you won't be fighting, we need your to make a decision here, and we wish that it will be a wise one. Whatever decision you take now and here will determine how you will be judged. But mind you, no one can judge you just yet, it will be until later that we will understand if your decision is profitable to the Atlantis or not. If it is not, that you have failed." My Father the king said. Wow! When I heard this, I even panicked, I almost wished I had the fight and gotten done with it. I hated being under pressure, and that is what I am now, I had to make a decision that will either affect Atlantis positively or affect her negatively, I wouldn't want to" be in that situation, so I thought to myself. I looked at Dad and he smiled at me and said in his mind. "Son, you have to do thin on your own." So he said to me, I looked at him and turned towards the old mermaid who went around the place dancing, she must be a lover of music when she was younger, and yea, she really was, there was a tale about her serving as a goddess of high-life and calypso music to earth. They said that many humans in the only days give sacrifices to her in return she will bless them with the power to sing either high-life or calypso music, she also blesses her devotees with the dancing spirit, being a goddess of music and face, you can only praise her in an entertaining manner