The Jellyfish Messenger

Chapter Five: Clutches of Captivity

Chapter Five: Clutches of Captivity

Current Location: Coral Sea

Current Depth: 300 ft.

Even with Kale's speedy swimming, it took us a long time to ascend out of the dark zone and finally climb back up to shallower waters. The darkness around us gradually brightened, little by little, until at last we returned to the sunlight zone, where the sun's warm rays beamed down on us through the churning waves. Experiencing the light and warmth of the sun again nearly brought me to tears. After all our past experiences down there in the dark, I was sure I would have been consumed by the endless void of the deep sea.

"I think it's best for us to stay here, at least until we get closer to Prince Stellaris' palace," Chrystal said. "I'm not keen on flailing around in pitch-black darkness anymore."

"Welcome to my world," Kale sighed. "If you think that's bad, you don't wanna know what it's like down on the seafloor. Even I haven't been down that far, I'm not that crazy."

"You're right, I don't want to know, and I have no plans to," Chrystal retorted. "Kurage, are you alright?"

She tugged at one of my tentacles, causing me to jolt out of my spaced-out daze. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. Just kind of tired...I don't think Niji's spell made us any more rested at all, and we've been swimming non-stop."

"Hmm...I suppose that's understandable," Chrystal said. "It's been nothing but a haul since we first set off from the coral city. I don't see anything dangerous around, so why don't we stop here for a short break to eat?"

"Food time is my favorite time," Kale chuckled.

I nodded. "Sounds like a good idea...I gave all my food to Kale before, so we can't have that much left, right?"

Chrystal rooted around in her satchel, pulling out the wrapped tuna slices. "I've still got mine. It's not that much, but if we split it between the three of us, it should give us enough energy to keep going for a while."

We broke up the rations and began eating, making sure to not waste even a crumb. With every bite I took, I could feel my energy trickling back into me, little by little.

"If this is the kind of food you get to eat at the coral city, then there's no way I'm not going," Kale grinned. "This stuff is so good...I had no idea prepared meat could be so tasty."

"Chrystal, can I ask you something?" I piped up.

She glanced up from her food. "What is it?"

I thought for a moment, wondering how to ask. "Well...why did you become a messenger anyway? It doesn't seem like you enjoy it very much. Plus you're much stronger than me, you could easily be independent from the coral city and not have to follow Princess Tamayori at all."

Chrystal looked a bit taken aback. "So that's what you think of me, huh? I guess it's a little flattering...but you'd also be wrong. I've trained a lot, but I'm not nearly as large or strong as an average member of my species.

I suppose you haven't seen any black sea nettle folk other than me. Compared to your kind, they get quite big, around the size that Niji was. For some reason, I happened to get plucked from the shallow end of the genetic pool, because I'm a runt. Compared to other black sea nettle folk, I'm utterly tiny. My colony rejected me because of that. They didn't want to have to babysit a little jellyfish girl who couldn't take care of herself, so they kicked me out and pretty much left me to get eaten by whatever bigger creature happened to come my way."

"Since then, I had to struggle to survive until I became Princess Tamayori's servant. It seemed like the safest place for me, where every day wasn't a battle to stay alive. I respect Princess Tamayori, and I have no qualms about being her servant...but I don't trust the Seafolk nobles. I don't trust anyone. I don't want to get close to anyone, because I know it's only a matter of time until they think I'm useless. The only person I can depend on is myself. So at the most basic level, I serve Princess Tamayori for my own survival, no other reason."