05 Sea of Soul

Liam entered the deep waters yet again, holding his sister in his hands. Instantly he decided to rush towards Coralopolis. Luckily, they weren't too far away and he arrived in about half an hour.

As soon as he was spotted from the inside, one of the gates was opened. Liam rushed inside and had to patiently wait for the water to be drained out.

He stopped the aura that surrounded him, suddenly he had the urge to start breathing heavily, as a few drops of sweat could be seen on his forehead.

But he decided to press on and got her inside the royal family's building. Then he had to hurriedly explain the situation to everyone there.

"We have to hurry!" Was the last thing he said after explaining everything. After that, he had to take a seat from the extreme exhaustion. Making that aura, big enough to protect 2 people was hard. As with each increase in size, the energy it took to sustain it exponentially increased.

"I'm sorry young prince, but I'm afraid only your grandfather has the power, knowledge and experience to save her." One of the servants in the royal family said, bowing down.

"Dammit, I can't wait for him. I have to go find him." Liam said but he was still panting heavily.

"No, you cannot do that, you are visibly exhausted. Just wait a bit more, he is sure to come." The same servant, now tried to stop her young prince from heading out.

"You will let me pass. I don't care . I will go out there and find grandfather." Liam said in such a way, the servant moved to the side without even realizing it herself.

Despite being on the brink of total exhaustion. Liam entered the deep waters to search for his father and grandfather. Luckily, from what he found out when talking with the servants, the 2 days that the hunt lasted were almost over.

There were already some people heading back, and they gave him directions to quickly find the two, who he was looking for.

"Dad, it's Hayley. She got poisoned, we have to save her! The poison is still in about her abdomen, so we have to move quickly." Said Liam.

"What! Let's head back now." He said hurriedly. Not even waiting for a response he started rushing back, towards Coralopolis.

Liam saw, that his grandfather followed his father and he was just behind. Liam quickly managed to catch up to them and even pass them.

"What? How can this kid be faster than his own father?" Eric, which was Liam's father's name, thought. But he didn't have much time to think about that, as his daughter was dying and they were nearing Coralopolis.

As soon as they arrived, Liam's grandfather, Jack went inside the medical room where Hayley was sleeping. He locked the doors and told Liam and his Father Eric, that it'll be a lengthy procedure.

Liam saw as the door closed in his face, a loud thud echoing in his ears. The fear of uncertainty, his belief in his grandfather's skill." Can he really save her, the poison got so close to her heart?" Not knowing if his sister was going to live, was taking a toll on his mental health.

As more and more people came back from the hunt, and were informed of the situation with the princess, as well as the news spreading to the citizens, a lot of distress was forming in them. But most of them had their trust in Jack.

"Don't you all worry, I heard the poison hasn't spread too far in the princesses body. She'll be fine."

"I also believe Jack will save her."

"Sadly, there is no way that she lives. I heard that there is only one record of anyone ever being infected with the same poison, and he died."

All kinds of things were being said, as everyone in Coralopolis was talking about it.

Liam and his father patiently waited outside the same door that closed on them 6 hours ago. By now everyone had returned and the currents were about to begin raging outside the city.

By the 8th hour mark, Liam thought that he was going insane. He tried meditating, but he wanted to smash his own head against the white walls that surrounded him. he looked at the shining pearl at the center of the roof above him. Their only light source in the hall. He started to feel his mind going blank. He didn't know for how long he was staring at that single point, remaining unmoving. Then he opened his eyes, but he couldn't remember that he ever closed them. In the blink of an eye, he was no longer in the same hall with the pure white walls, his father sitting right beside him.

"Where am I?" Liam said as he started analyzing his surroundings. He felt the soft grass, upon he was sitting on. He could see the sandy shoreline that made contact with the riled-up waves. wherever he turned the shoreline was visible. obviously, the island he was sitting on wasn't too big. Other than the island and water around him, the absence of a sky or clouds, there were another two points of interest.

One was the floating blob of dark blue, and a greyish black liquid, that never seemed to be able to merge. There appeared to be more of the dark blue liquid, around 50 drops and 20 drops from the greyish-black liquid.

Liam didn't spend much time on that blob, as to the right of him, there was a cage, made from pale bamboo wood. Though Liam didn't know that, as he had never seen a tree or bamboo in his life. What he did know, was that there was a hooded man trapped inside that cage.

"Argh" Liam exclaimed, as he got flashbacks from inside the cave. He saw the same blurry vision he did inside that cave. "This, this is the same place from my dreams, and that man is the man that was being chased by all of those creatures. So, this is how he ended up, this is what happened after the last thing I saw?" Liam continued, trying to make sense of the situation.

"You're running out of time you know." A voice came from the hooded man. It sounded rather menacing, but at the same time it caused anyone who heard it to feel compassion towards the man.

"Who are you?" Liam said rather worried, as he took a step back. Even though the man was trapped inside a cage, it still gave him an uneasy feeling.

"Don't be afraid, I can't do anything to you, even if I wanted to." The man said as he reached out his hand in between two planks of wood. There was plenty of space for his whole hand to go through, but not even his fingers managed to pass through. Like an invisible wall, something kept him inside.

"See?" The man said as he retracted his arm.

"Okay, but you didn't tell me who you are." Liam said in a stern voice, now a bit more confident. But still the slight fear he was feeling in the back of his head reminded him not to get too cocky. Was it the fear of the unknown, not being able to see the man's face at all, and this whole place he was in and how he got here? Or maybe some gut feeling inside of him, telling him that he should be wary of that man. And maybe it was both, he didn't know.

"Who am I? Well, that's not important right now." The man said and Liam could see the slight, creepy smile forming on his lips as he tilted his head up a bit.

"Tell me!" Liam said louder but the man ignored him.

"Your sister is going to die, you know?" The man said.

"What, no way. Grandfather is going to save her. Wait, how do you know about my sister?" Liam said, a bit angered and confused at the same time.

"Your grandfather doesn't have the ability to save her. He is waiting until it's too late, then he can just say that he tried his best but he was sadly, unsuccessful." The man continued.

"Stop saying crap like that. Grandfather wouldn't do that. He would tell us if he couldn't save her right away." Liam said back to the man.

"Don't worry if you don't believe me, in a few hours the poison will spread to her whole body, and your grandfather will probably announce it to everyone. Even though she won't die for another 3 days, he will announce her as good as dead and bury her." The man explained calmly.

"No…" Liam said, but he was slightly losing hope, as the man was dead on correct. The person that was infected when he was eleven lived for 3 more days after the poison spread to his whole body.

"And I know how to really save her. But of course, I won't tell you for free." The man said as he looked directly into Liam's eyes. Liam was mesmerized by the violet color of the man's eyes, but he quickly got out of his daze.

"And why should I trust you?" Liam asked.

"I don't care if you do. Your sister's life is on the line, not mine." The man said.

"Fine, then just tell me what you want in return." Liam said, as he had had enough of it.

"Well, of course. First, I want to be let out of this cage, allowed to roam freely around here." The man said. Liam nodded slightly, as he didn't know what the man might do to him if he came out.

"And second. I want control of your body."