Chasing Tide (A Merman's Tale And The Human Who Desired Him)

A KING'S WRATH.

Chapter: 33.
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The sea mountains have grown cold since Tide disappeared. The King in his rage has sent warriors even into Glasa to find Tide but all search has proved futile.

Tideian has gone missing.

Words spread fast across the Seas and panic rose. Sea dwellers worried for Tideian and the fate of Aquarial. Without Tideian, Aquarial has no balance. The Festival of the Tears had been canceled by the King, he saw no reason to celebrate when Tide could be anywhere possibly hurt and so he had ordered the Merelves to give the potions to the warriors and they went door to door delivering each to its rightful house.

The Seven Seas remind restless as day after day Neptune grew furious and the Seas ran cold, colder than it should be. If Tide isn't found sooner, Neptune would lose his mind and Aquarial would suffer. It shall not be heard that during the Reign of Neptune the Sixth his Tideian disappeared.

Never has that tale been told and it wasn't going to begin with him.

It became a sad time in Aquarial as the king grew restless, so did the Merpeople and the mist shadowing the Sea Mountains grew thicker. Without Tide to keep the balance of the Mountains and Neptune refusing to call another Tideian to keep the balance, the Seas dwellers grew impatient but even more so anxious.

Not knowing where his Tideian was had become unbearable for the King and so he sent for all his Elders but none was prepared for what they witnessed upon approaching the Throne hall. Neptune stood behind his Throne with a flaming Trident in hand. The Trident has awoken, clearly, the king is responsible since he held it in his hand.

A wave of profound anger made his godly eyes glow a flaming red and when he spoke the Sea beds quaked.

"Someone in Aquarial knows the whereabouts of my Tideian and that someone has refused to come forth!" He bellowed, staring ahead to his Elders as they got closer. "I shall unleash the Trident and when I discover the reason behind his disappearance. If there be anyone who had dared cause him harm, I King Neptune the Sixth shall unleash death so much as never before heard in Aquarial and their punishment shall be told in every city, every household for generations!" Fear gripped the Elders since none had witnessed this rage from their king ever.

Neptune scrutinized his Elders, reading their many facial expressions and when he found none who questioned his judgment or held a glint of guilt within their eyes, he raised the hand which bore the Trident and with a greater force struck the Trident forward. A great fire caused explosions as it struck and Aquarial trembled from it.

The Elders stood unfazed, each holding onto their staffs of magic pointing towards the circle which had spread about in the center of the hall. They gasped when they saw a shark swallowing up the Tideian and then faces of Mermen appeared in the clear waters which had covered the fiery circle. Elder Naga turned towards Orn when he spotted amongst those faces, Titan.

"Orn!!" The king's eyes are directed towards the helpless Elder whose offspring is found amongst the renegades of Aquarial.

Quickly dropping his staff of power, Orn went on his knees before the king and pleaded for mercy not for his sake but for his descendants. "Please, your Majesty, may your anger be directed upon this failed Elder who has not put his household in proper order!" He begged, his head repeatedly hitting the cold Throne Hall floor.

"They killed Tideian!" Elder Scrolls yelled angrily.

"They should have known better." Added Elder Maine.

Snorting Elder Waves supported. "They should be punished for this act of treachery!"

All the while the Elders raged along with the angered King, Naga watched intently for a chance to speak and not seem suspicious of the situation. If he was going to deflect the King's anger then he would need more than words of mouth.

Quickly going on his hands and knees before the king just as Orn was currently doing, Naga implored the king's fury to be calm. "Neptune may your rage be calm, for I have seen the fate of this Tideian and this part is one that would lead to the greater course. He shall return to the Seas but not alone!" Naga pleaded with gaze fixed upon his trembling hands, dreading to look upon the king for fear of what he would find in their burning depths.

"What?" Orn asked softly beside Naga.

"Yes, these mermen have done an abominable act and shall be punished for their crimes, Neptune has struck his Trident but look," he pointed into the circle. Tide's body has resurfaced on the sands of the Seashores. "His body lies beside the rock over there. Look, your Majesty, he still lives!" He begged and the King looked.

"I shall bring him home!" Neptune roared, pointing his Trident to the waters.

"No!" Naga demurred with great emphasis. Getting on his feet he stared into Neptune's eyes. "You mustn't, Your Majesty!" He pleaded.

"And why not?!"

"His fate has only just begun." Naga stood up while his gaze lingered with the king. "He will not abandon the Sea nor his responsibilities, once he is recovered of his strength the Mountains shall breathe again and Aquarial will rejoice but you need to let him go for a little while, oh, Great Neptune of the Seven Seas I implore thee. Atana needs to return home for the bloodlines of royalty must not be lost in foreign lands, her soulpearl has wandered tirelessly trapped between land and Sea. She has chosen your Tideian as her link, your majesty, for her sake you must share this time!" At the end of his speech not only did it leave the Elders speechless but the fire ceased both from the circle and the Trident and while the king returned to his throne, the Elders took their seats as well.

The Seas settled.

"If it is so, then I Neptune command that all these mermen be brought before me, they shall be punished each a resting bed in the bleeding springs until the Tideian returns!" The Elders all agreed with his judgment, only one seemed displeased.

As they all arose to depart before the king, Neptune's voice seized them, causing them to halt and turn back to the throne.

"Naga," he called and the Elder nodded a bow to the king.

"Your Majesty."

"Tell me, if these mermen hadn't attempted to murder Tideian, would he have found his way above the surface to fulfill his destiny?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, there are more ways than one. What these mermen did, they did out of sheer jealousy and hatred for the Tideian, first Roan deceived him to bring Mountain Tears then out of the Tears they made a poison from Glasa and fed it to him, no sea creature would have survived that attack, not even you, your Majesty." Naga expanded to the shock of all the other Elders.

"Then how in the Seven Seas did he survive the ingestion of a Mountain Tears?" Orn interrogated.

"His fate is merged with Atana's no harm shall befall him until Atana return's home and even after," Naga told them.

The Elders gasped and the King smiled with a nod.

"Who amongst them fed him the poisoned fruit?" Waves asked.

"Roan." Naga returned. "The same Tide has refused the Princess for."

"The merman he loved?!" Cried, Maine.

"Indeed, these mermen have not only wronged the King but the God of Love." Scrolls shook his head in disapproval.

"Naga?" The king called again.

"Sire!"

"I shall entrust his safety and return into your hands but if he does not return as you have claimed then I shall have you hanged along with Orn and those who betrayed Aquarial."

"I understand, your Majesty." Naga accepted without hesitation to the surprise of the Elders.

"Thank you all." Neptune dismissed and watched them leave. Summoning his warriors he ordered that all four mermen be seized and sent to the Bleeding spring there they all shall remain until Tideian returns to the Seas.