Servants crowded around the two unconscious mer, one wounded and bloody, the other a sleeping beauty. Mer cried all around them, weeping for their lost family members and their destroyed homes.
Guards rushed towards the two mer, the general giving out orders to look for survivors and cecaelias. Nurses checked Triton's and Athena's pulses and temperatures, inspecting their rolled back eyes. King Xianhuawi emerged through his crying subjects, seemingly worried and angry.
" How is my son?", the king thundered.
"Your majesty, your son is not waking up. Whatever sorcery those wretched creatures have put upon Prince Triton has made it so he does not rise.", a nurse sobbed.
"And the wound? Will he heal?". The King felt his fists trembling.
"Worry not, Sire. He will recover, for he is also the son of Poseidon. His wound will heal like any other, though it will take a long time.", said an old and wisened mermaid, already patching up his wound.
The King gazed at the two figures for a moment, then cleared his throat.
"Take them to the infirmary. Have them supervised at all time by two nurses. Should they awaken, let me be the first to be alerted. Any fit mer, please start cleaning the place up.", he ordered, "Do not attempt to look for survivors unless you are a guard, if-"
King Xianhuawi was interrupted by a mermaid, whose scream silenced everyone.
"THEY TOOK THE BABIES! There is not one left, they are all gone, those precious babes had nothing to do with the violence between our domains, they are monsters for taking helpless infants, those-", the mermaid broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.
Mermaids began sobbing, while others rushed to comfort the hysterical mother. As Xianhuawi tried to think of reassuring words that were not lies, which was hard to do in these succoring times, a guard swam up to him, looking defeated.
"Sire, I am sorry to inform you that we have not found any survivors so far in the first 30 house. With a blast like that, no one could have survived. Everything is in shreds. Obliterated."
The king felt his eyes grow hot and itchy, but pushed down the urge to cry. There would be a time for grieving later. His subjects needed him. However, before the king could give words of condolence, he was stopped by an abrupt cry of a merman with red-rimmed eyes,
"THIS CALLS FOR WAR! Those 8-armed freaks have ravaged and hurt our kingdom and its citizens for long enough. They took my baby girl, and they will pay."
The merman leaned down and gripped a sharp spear, stabbing a burned tentacle, then raising it up in the warm water.
"WAR!", he screamed, face red and knuckles white.
"WAR!"
The other mer chanted with him, fueled by anger and grief.
"WAR! WAR! WAR! WAR!"
The screams and chants grew louder and louder, until King Xianhuawi slammed his trident onto the sandy floor, the sound cracking fiercely like lightening.
The mer immediately quieted.
"We all know that when someone starts a war, someone will end it. It is no different to a beginning of bloody war chants. It can only go on for so long. And I can assure you all that we will put a stop to this tyranny. But we cannot do that when we do not even know where 70 of our guards are. If they lived. If they died for us, just so an army of reckless, bloodthirsty mer could foolishly leave more sons and daughters without parents."
Xianhuawi gazed at his subjects, observing how looks of shame and embarrassment reddened their faces.
"We must focus on the subjects we currently have, on tending to the injured, rebuilding the kingdom, locating missing guards, figuring out exactly who and how many mer have been captured, how this affects the kingdom as a whole. There is much to be done. We cannot go at war at a time like this."
And so the mer turned around, the red-rimmed eyed merman shamefully setting down the spear. Mermaids continued weeping for their children, grandparents, husbands, aunts, uncles, cousins, wives and their unborn baby mers.
*****
Well. I didn't expect mer to have a sense of war. Surprising how much mer cry for their children, considering that I treat mine like rubbish. But a bit dramatic on calling us monsters. They completely ignore that they started the whole enslaving thing.
And don't get me started on Xia-what's his name. Filth. Garbage. He thinks he's so good. That he can, " Put a stop to this tyranny!". Disgusting. My rein is not tyranny, it's called tradition. Get it straight, old man.
Anyway, that bomb is quite impressive. Urina, I mean, Ursula, is really proving to be an excellent Cecaelia. Atlantia has taught her well. Too bad I can't say the same for Morris, I mean, Morgana. I thought I always saved the best for last. What a disappointment. Like her father.
Ah... what nice weather we had today. Its been a while. I hope the old man finally will announce war! There are a few new strategies and potions I've been wanting to try, and I need the excitement, there is no action lately. My blasted husband keeps insisting on going softer on the mermaids to let them get used to the pressure. Smart move but... I've got a reputation to keep.
That mermaid looks quite familiar. I can't quite put my finger on it.... nevermind that, I will tread it later. All these mermaids look exactly the same these days anyway, perfect figures, perfect hair, perfect colors, perfect perfect perfect! What happened to originality? At least when I lived there the mer had more style! They had intricate designs on their clothing, and now they want to go prancing around in shells and flirting with humans. Good thing I've been tracking them and killing any human who has spotted a sea creature. Those wretched humans. They are destined to kill themselves. Sure, they go dancing around in the skins and carcasses of Gaea but it is still a danger.
Orluiowa turned around from her misty, claw-like cauldron, stretching out her arms and yawning.
Goodnight, Flotsam and Jetsam.
Thought they were not hers, Orluiowa had taken a liking to them. How smart and sneaky they were, how mischievous and funny the two eels could be. Those two had personalities unlike any other she had ever seen in her life. Orluiowa admired how they could slink off without anyone noticing, and as their growing reputations went, the two eels slinked unseen through a gap in her bed, off to visit their mistress.