The fishman unlocked the door. And helped me get out of the tail-like contraption. He then proceeded to lock the door again.
"I'm not getting out?" I asked.
"I'll explain."
"What about my stuff?" I said.
"Someone else will be bringing them," he said. "I can't go to the spot because I'll be under surveillance. But I hope you find your parents. Even if… even if they're gone."
"Thanks, dude," I said. "Sorry I couldn't ask her for a portrait."
He snorted. "Don't worry about it. I'll just buy one here. It's rather cheap here in comparison."
"They don't have any sewers here though. That's why they gave me that bucket."
He paused for a good few minutes. "Well… the thing is, that bucket's for other stuff."
"What other stuff?"
"You see, when fishman get too excited and are unable to release, they might suffer backpain and other problems; sometimes their balls burst inside, and that's really messy. So, they let you relieve yourself in a bucket and use that as… let's just say, they use it for recreational means."
Anyway….
"So, how was I supposed to use the bathroom?"
"See that pipe?" He said.
What pipe?
Took me a while to understand what he was talking about.
So apparently, what I thought was just a drainage hole, wasn't. I forgot mermaids didn't have solid stuff. So they didn't need a proper bathroom. Only the elites had decent suction stuff.
"Why do they make pipes so big, knowing we might be able to swim through it?" Obviously, adult mermaids couldn't but kids sure could.
"Normally they would be half the size, but we're in a palace. And normally, no one in their right mind would use the sewers to escape, even if they were desperate; who'd risk getting stuck in those things? Besides, if it's not modestly wide, even liquid waste might coagulate and gelatinize in, clogging the whole system."
"This place really is weird," I said. "Well, I guess, this is it then?"
"Yes. Good luck Sol. Don't get stuck."
"Right back you, Zorkan. Good luck. And Godspeed."
"Godspeed."
So yeah, I unhooked the probably-already-most definitely- not used drainage hole's metal-ish cover and gave it a measure. "I probably won't fit, I mumbled to myself but no, I was definitely fitting.
You see… I'd shrunk. No, I didn't get short in height. I'd lost weight. Fucking hell, I'm not even half of what I used to be!
I guess these last few weeks of barely eating anything, combined with the environmental stress, fucked me up hard.
I jumped in.
Swossh!
I could not see. Waves of water and other warm stuff pushed down on me. And this time, it wasn't the mermaid pulling. It was just… the stuff pushing down.
I tried not to think as best as I could and just… just tried my best to not think about it. Not think about anything. Not mom or Den. Not the stuff around me. Not where I was going to bang my head against the pipes.
"OW, GOD! FUCK!"
It was one thing hitting your head or body against pipes. It was a wholly different thing when one of your arms were broken and every scream made you drink the… bluerh!
"FUCKKKK!!!"
Swosh!
BLueryh@!
Weightlessness. I stared around and was definitely falling, falling, and then floating at the last second thanks to a bit of my stream.
Phew!
I of course didn't see any solid stuff. But I did see some gelatinized stuff at the bottom. And unlike the last time I saw something like this, this time I didn't see any captive mermaids and I didn't see any way to escape. They were keeping all their things deep underground without any hatches or escape routes.
How was I 'seeing'? Well, a bit of sparks never hurt anyone… except almost getting me killed for almost killing the mermaid queen.
I honestly didn't want to climb back up the fucking pipes. So… so I searched around in this smell-less gelatinized dump.
I searched for what felt like hours. I knew it hadn't even been ten minutes but god I felt like throwing up again…. And I hadn't even eaten anything!
Eventually, at one corner, I found a door leading out. It was locked from the outside. But luckily, I could fry it with my electricity and I did. I opened it and welded the door tight on the other side. I was running dangerously low on mana without my bracelet. I felt like fainting but for now, I just walked.
A narrow cavernous path led out. I felt a whole lot better but… but I couldn't shake the awkward occasional want to empty my already emptied stomach.
At the very end of the cavern, I found a sole mermaid waiting for me.
Rokshana.
She had some of my things.
"You reek," she said.
"I can't tell." Actually, my sense of smell was probably dead from the moment I entered the water. But my other senses were so overbearing, I never paid attention.
"You have all my things?"
"Yeah," she said.
So, I wore my robe. I wore my bracelet. I hooked on my bow and dagger and machete. And the last few vials of my elixir. "Yeah, I should probably drink one."
"Not now. You'll only spill all its contents."
"Oh yeah. Fuckk…."
"And stop using that vulgar language."
"Okay mommy," I deadpanned.
She giggled. "But you sure you want to do this? That serpent current will lead you straight to the forbidden continent. However, it goes through some of the deadliest parts of the ocean. And There's a good chance, without protection you'll die on the way. Especially with your arm like that."
"Well, I suppose then that'll be that. Then that'll be what I was good for."
She didn't say anything. She didn't agree. She didn't disagree either. Instead, she took my elixir in hand, sucked its contents in a split second so fast I didn't even see her open it, and then pushed her mouth on mine.
The sweet contents of the elixir flowed down my throat. I gulped, and a warmth spread.
"Good luck." She backed off a step, face aflush.
Holy Rexen, my heart pounded, my face burned!
"But how will I get out of the safezone?" I managed, barely able to keep my thoughts distracted.
Did she just, did she just- calm the fuck down son, you have a fiancée!
"Through the exit, just force your way out of the exit and you'll be fine."
"I-see."
The dull pain in my arm faded, along with the heaviness. I removed the cast and I was pretty much healed.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye?"
"This is goodbye," she said, smiling.
"Sorry I acted that way. I truly do mean, you're beautiful."
"I understand, Sol. And just as I said, you matter. Your life matters to me."
"Alright then Rokshana, See you."
"See you, Soler. Let's meet under better circumstances next time."
"Yeah, hopefully I won't have to fish you out of the ocean again."
"I wouldn't mind it though."
We laughed.
And with that, I took off with a jet of water propelling me forward. I blazed through the noble zone, through the commerce district, through the stores I desperately wanted to see more off. There were mermaid patrols and even guards here and there but most probably didn't even know I'd just escaped prison. Their noses certainly picked things up though and I got some followers….
I wonder if I was ever going to come back here but for now… the exit was coming closer. The phantom pain in my arm was a stark reminder of what was going to happen if I screwed up this time.
"Wait- wait,"
"NO, no!"
The guards were panicking.
So… I blasted more water and forced my way straight out of the exit. The guards weren't stupid enough to stand in my way.
I slammed into the safe zone but unlike the last time, went through almost without effort. The water pressure pressed on me hard, and nearly choked my lungs. But… But I had to do this. I didn't faint and aimed at the distant violent white stream.
"Lord Soler, cease this at once!" A mermaid. The one from that day, the one who was so glad to see Rokshana return. She stayed on my tail despite me blasting water at full force. "Please!" She yelled. "Stop!"
The white stream was ahead. And I knew I'd be cut and I'd probably break something… but I had to this. "Sorry!" I yelled and let myself get sucked into it. "Later."
The water pressure increased to the point I felt faint. Nicks and cuts everywhere. It was way worse than before. I couldn't keep my eyes open and I didn't. I didn't want to lose my eyes anyway.
But… but even so, I stole a glance at the mermaid city below. Lights, colors, mermaids! God damn, the city was beautiful.
They were at war or something but… but this place was so damn beautiful. I really wanted to return someday.
Gritting my teeth hard, I shielded my head and just stayed put. I couldn't breathe and I'd probably faint any moment now. Or I would have if this cutting pain wasn't so fucking stinging!
But… the pain actually proved to be a double-edged sword; I was losing a lot of blood, and fast. Dizzy. Cold. Dark.
Crap.
I'm dying….
A faint light. Blue… reassuring voice called out to me…"You can't die. Not yet. Not while it still lingers."
[[A/N]]
Okay so, this is the end of the volume. A little cliffy but oh well. I wanted to release an epilogue but felt it wouldn't really make sense to add it to this now (Definitely not because I haven't written it or anything)
I initially planned on making this volume a bit longer and incorporating the next volume into it as well, but it wasn't supposed to be this huge (I feel like I say this a lot). So I decided to cut the volume in my head in half and end this one here.
The next volume, Vol 5 would start next week. I need some time to fix my schedule and rethink what I'm going to do with this story. Also, my uni starts next week, so that'll impact releases and stuff. I'm sorry I couldn't maintain a more streamlined release and honestly, I can't promise regular updates.
Still, I'm glad you're reading this, and thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you.
See you next Sunday.