Abyssal (ManxMan)

True Form

True Form

As the magical silver chains surrounded and tightened around Kai's body, he cast an exasperated look Marius' way, who was still standing on the balcony, watching the whole thing unfold. And not doing a thing to stop it. He couldn't be sure from this distance, but he thought he saw Marius' lips stretch into a smirk with an 'I told you so' look in his eyes. Kai glowered.

It irked Kai that he was indeed correct in assuming Ryodan would be too stubborn and honor-bound to back down from this unwinnable fight.

"Ryodan, stop this nonsense right now!" Kai hissed, his anger mounting. He was getting sick and tired of being chained up and ignored.

The chains tightened around him even more, practically biting into his exposed skin. Damn, that would definitely leave a mark. He didn't bother resisting or attempting to break free; he was already familiar with how unbreakable these chains cast by magic were. He imagined it took similar or even stronger magic to break them. Like Marius'. Who was standing on the balcony doing nothing.

And maybe that was for the best. Since Marius hadn't rained fire on them yet, Kai still had a chance of talking Ryodan and Erasmus out of this madness. He didn't dare imagine what a magical fight between mermen would do to his house.

"I thought you've sworn loyalty to me. What do you call this?"

Ryodan looked away from him, determined to do what he wanted even if it got him killed.

Kai's head whipped to Erasmus. "I can't believe you're going with this." Anything else he had to say died on his lips almost with a whimper.

When he'd first run up to the two, Kai had kept his focus on the General, only casting a cursory glance at Erasmus' way. Now, however, he couldn't look away.

He'd never seen this chilling look in Erasmus' eyes before. His child-like face was so twisted by rage that it looked wrong. Just wrong. The sheer volume of fury burning in his unsettling purple eyes was deafening. A loud fire crackled inside them, casting frightening shadows across the features of his face. He radiated hatred so palpably that Kai practically tasted his anger at the tip of his tongue. Acid poison filled his mouth.

And all that fiery rage and fury was focused solely on the dark figure standing on the balcony.

Great. Just great. There goes my chance of talking any sense into Erasmus.

Because clearly, Erasmus had as much of a bone to pick with Marius as Ryodan did. Really, who didn't? The merman had a hobby of collecting enemies, it seemed.

Kai decided to cut to the chase, sparing them both the agony of begging and pleading, and reiterated with no small amount of conviction, "You're not going to win. He will kill you."

Erasmus didn't even grace him with a response. He didn't think he was listening anymore. Blood was probably rushing to his ears.

Anxiety and frustration tightened their noose around Kai's throat. He couldn't breathe normally anymore; the breath was being knocked out of his chest in hot puffs, despite it being a cold morning.

Was there no way for his words to get through to Erasmus?

There didn't seem to be, and therein lay the problem.

Was this usual behavior for him? Kai hadn't known him that long to know if this was normal for him.

"My mother's in the house, you fools!" he roared; talking normally didn't seem to get his point across.

"We'll grab her too." Ryodan assured him, completely misunderstanding his meaning.

Kai would have slapped his forehead in exasperation if his hands weren't plastered forcefully to his sides. "No, that's not what I meant! He has soldiers protecting the house! Six or seven of them!"

That got Ryodan's attention. "Where are they?" Kai saw the flutter of alarm on Ryodan's face. If Erasmus had heard, he didn't seem to care.

"He called them off. They're not in the house now, but-"

"So they're outside the barrier?"

Kai frowned. "I... I'm not sure." He'd seen Marius order them out and they'd immediately teleported out of the house. It wasn't like they had a basement for them to hide in.

"Then it's not a problem. No one can teleport in or out." Ryodan stated matter-of-factly with a confidence that sent Kai over the edge. He'd have flung himself over the cliff if he weren't tied up.

"Marius is the real problem!" Kai yelled.

"He would have been if I'd come alone." Ryodan declared with mysterious unwavering confidence. He was sure in Erasmus' ability, like one was confident in their own team winning.

Kai looked at Erasmus searchingly. According to him, he'd taught magic to his father. He was his father's mentor in the arcane. He even knew about the nuances of controlling the Spirit of the Sea, and certainly understood much more than Kai ever did or would.

Was he really on par with Marius? It was hard to imagine.

A large wave crashed against the side of the cliff, spraying them. Alarmed, Kai looked over his shoulder.

What the hell was that?

He hadn't imagined it; his back was wet from the water spray. But how could that be?

The cliff was too high for any normal wave to reach this high, and there weren't any high winds carrying the spray all the way up here.

Another wave crashed against the cliff like roaring thunder, and Kai was sure he'd imagined it, but he almost thought he felt the cliff shudder.

Don't tell me there's a goddamn tsunami coming on top of all of this?

Did tsunamis even hit mostly landlocked seas?

A voice at the back of his head told him to run, that this wasn't normal. While he did agree with the sentiment, he couldn't run away. It seemed that there was more magic about than the chains and the barrier.

Erasmus was doing something to the sea. And Kai didn't like the way it made him feel all queasy inside one bit.

More waves crashed into the cliff, seemingly crashing in him. His stomach churned with unease. Had he had breakfast, he would have undoubtedly vomited it all by now.

"What are you doing?" he finally asked Erasmus, and was once again ignored. Wherever Erasmus was, his words did not reach him.

But Ryodan volunteered an answer for him. "He's taking his true form."

"What the hell is his true form?" Kai demanded, staring at the raging sea on the horizon with growing concern for his own safety. The sea was acting exactly as it would if a storm was coming. The peaceful blue turned dark gray, and seagulls scattered, rushing into hiding.

When he looked back at Erasmus, he was gone.

"Where did he go?!"

Something very large and slimy exploded out of the sea. 

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

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