The Heir of Depths

It didn’t matter how hard she tried to turn down her brain, no amount of relaxation came to her in order to sleep, but Arline wanted to do things, to forget about what she had done. She much rather feel pain and soreness in her muscles than having her stomach sink every time she remembered how the sailor dropped to his knees with the silver weapon sticking out of his forehead.

“But I’m fine” she complained to Zeroun after he rejected her proposition to work on deck. Her voice was weak and raspy but with a decided energy to put herself in a useful position.

“Merrick’s orders” Zeroun simply said while standing by her side.

“He has been treating like I am a porcelain doll” she rolled her eyes.

“I don’t treat you like that” Merrick was leaning on the door frame with a side smile “I haven’t done it for the entirety of the trip” he approached her side and sent Zeroun out of the cabin.

“Seriously I’m tired of you acting like an empath” he chuckled “Please let me be useful, Merrick” she gave him puppy eyes. Arline appreciated Merrick caring for her mental state but he wasn’t exactly known for being empathetic with his soldiers or sailors, and she wanted to be treated the exact same way, even if it costed her some tears.

“Oh don’t put those eyes” he sounded annoyed but was having fun “No Arline, I won’t give in, you can go on deck but not do work” That was the last word and it was the definitive one. She sighed in frustration and sat on the floor “You need to think about it. It’s the only way you’ll eventually stop feeling guilt” he said sitting behind her in one of the armchairs.

She didn’t respond nor looked at him. He just stared at her, at how her hair fell on her back and how her waves formed little tangles on its ends “How are you feeling?” he asked trying to get out of his trance.

“I’m good” she simply replied, with a monotone.

“Good, now say it without lying” Merrick had to give her points for acting tough, but the only thing she was getting was hiding her real feelings and getting into a spiral of numbness that would make her a killing machine. That was what Merrick wanted to avoid.

She turned around and looked at him for a second. She couldn’t understand why he would care that much for her feelings after doing something so common for him as killing.

“Turn around” he said to her.

“Why?” She narrowed her eyes.

“I’ll detangle your hair, darling” he was very soft-spoken. She melted with how he whispered the last word, and turned around slowly.

“Why do you want for everything to be perfect?” she tilted her head a little, letting him gently stroke her hair with the brush, paying extra care to not pull it.

“I don’t” he fought back.

“Yes, you do”

“No, I don’t”

“Then what is this?” she took her head all the way back, letting it rest on his lap.

“I don’t need to make you look perfect Arline” he caressed her throat gently, looking at her very closely “You already are, despite what you think of yourself” that comment took her by surprise, on a bad way. Those thoughts about herself were exclusive to her own brain, she had never said them out loud, not even to Larsin.

Arline looked front again and said nothing. He continued to play with her hair and ended up braiding the sides, making each one meet in the middle and tied it tightly with a black velvet ribbon.

“Perfect” he said “Just like you” Merrick caressed her cheek softly and then left the room, without saying anything else. He was a player, just like his brother.

⎯

Arline decided to spend the rest of her day on deck, looking at the water and the Sun. With Merrick always keeping an eye on her and being overly cautious, because the Prince couldn’t shake the feeling it was partially his fault that Arline did what she did.

As the hours passed, the ship started darkening and the shadows grew around her. The sea was worryingly calm. The Captain was standing near the rail, looking into the infinite black path in front of him, mumbling to himself. Zeroun wasn’t feeling at ease when watching this and Arline noticed when she approached him.

“This doesn’t feel right” Zeroun’s tone was one of worry for the first time since she met him, he was looking directly at his friend “He’s not like that”

“Then go and give him a shake” Arline was partially joking and he seemed scared at the idea “Fine, I’ll go” She said, telling her friend wasn’t comfortable around that suggestion and started going down the stairs before Zeroun could stop her.

Arline was about to shake his shoulder when she noticed his eyes were wide open but his dark brown irises were covered with a white veil. She instantly knew he was in a trance, the same way she had been back on the cave.

Before she could think or do anything else, she heard a loud breathing and felt how some water splashed a small part of her boot. When she looked up, she encountered the gaze of a giant snake. Without a second of hesitation, she jumped in front of Merrick, throwing him to the other side of the deck as the reptile had opened its jaws and directed its teeth towards him.

“Please open your eyes” she slapped his face a little too hard.

“All right, but don’t do it like that” he said still disoriented.

“Good God” she sighed in relief.

The whole ship turned into a chaotic and horrific blood bath. The snake didn’t only try to attack him but was now on deck, moving fast and destroying anything that crossed its path.

“Shit” Merrick cursed and grabbed Arline’s wrist to follow him “Stay behind the stairs and don’t move” he sounded serious and worried.

She hadn’t seen Merrick’s power until now. He extended both of his arms in front of him and within seconds the serpent was covered by a grey matter the came from the corners of the ship, she understood he was controlling the shadows and that his gift was light. It slowed it down for a moment but it wasn’t enough to kill it. The trance had left him weaker and couldn’t bring himself together to kill the sea snake just now.

Every kind of thought started invading Arline’s mind during the attack. She was completely frozen as blood started flooding through the deck and bodies were taken from the surface to the depths of the ocean.

Arline felt something wet and slimy wrapping around her ankle with unnatural strength and pulling her away from were she was hiding “MERRICK” she screamed as her grip tightened around the railing. But Merrick was too slow to reach for her in time and Arline too weak to hold on for a little longer. That thing had taken her beneath the surface of the ocean and he couldn’t do anything else but look.

Merrick’s entire demeanor changed in that instant as the shadows of the water consumed Arline. His gaze became darker, his powers more violent and couldn’t control his rage. In an instant, the powerful and intimidating monster was laying on deck, agonizing. There wasn’t a physical reason for it but Merrick was looking directly onto its eyes and the snake couldn’t keep up with the torture.

The Dark Prince had the ability to not only read minds, but twist them and turn its thoughts into a living torture. That’s how he got that nickname and not because of the amount of deaths on his shoulders.

Inside the creature’s mind, he saw what he feared. Pelagius, Deity of the Waters, on his hidden fortress. In that moment, he understood. Pelagius had taken her to kill her, without a known motive. He returned to his body and slashed the snake with his rage filled powers.

“Head the ship to the west until we meet land” he ordered.

Everyone got to work and threw the snake on the storage to free space on deck, the smell of blood still fresh in the air.

“Something interesting?” Zeroun went quickly to his side, not being surprised by Merrick’s powers, but by his reaction.

“Pelagius” he simply responded, with a worried tone.

“Isn’t he supposed to be hibernating?” Zeroun noted confusion. Merrick just nodded and stroke his face with cold water “What about Arline?”

“Only she can get out of this one” he said with a heavy heart.

“How on hell will she do that, Merrick? And why are you directing us to the docks of Tessenisit?” he questioned him. Zeroun was more worried about Arline than their destination, the sole thought of her helpless friend in the hands of a vengeful God was terrifying.

“Let’s hope she gets to understand what she is made off before it is too late” Merrick looked at him, he was just as worried as his friend “And we need dry land right now”

Tessenisit was a kingdom distributed in different islands. They had a Regent as their common king and was one of the most ancient and purest population of guardians across the world.

They docked on the capital island of Tessenisit, not far away from where they’ve been attacked and were warmly welcomed by some of the soldiers and sailors.

“I need to see the Regent, it’s urgent” Merrick said to one of the soldiers and he was directed towards a big sort of cabin with thatch roofs and open walls. When he was in front of the Regent, the night peace was overwhelming. He just lifted his hand, and the soldier left them alone.

“Young Prince” he respectfully took a bow.

“Good night Tua Nui” he bowed too, showing his respects for the man in front of him.

“I’m assuming the attack has something to do with you” he offered the Prince a seat.

“It does, unfortunately” he sat, Merrick didn’t seem shocked at how the Regent could know that kind of information “We needed to get out of the water, I’m terribly sorry for storming into your lands this way”

Tua Nui just nodded, understanding their situation. For the first time since the voyage had started and the ship had sailed, Merrick was nervous.

“Not to worry” the Regent reassured him, almost as if he could sense the feelings of the Dark Prince “Pelagius made a big mistake today”

“But the snake showed me …” Merrick sounded like a naive child, that believed everything put in front of him. At the end of the day, he had to remind himself he was young in years, despite the amount of power he held and responsibilities he had to care for.

“The snake just delivered the message the way Pelagius wanted you to see it” Merrick nodded “Trust her, she’s powerful”

“I know that” he said without hesitation.

“Then have more faith”.

Merrick was sent back to his crew but decided to take a seat on the dry sand, near the shore, waiting for any signal of her.