The Twisted Tale of The Little Merman

_-*Chapter 26*-_

considering discontinuement-

Tendou POV

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The moment I got back, I knew something was definitely, most incredibly wrong. Other than the sea still being torn by a storm. The first thing I noticed was that the castle was silent.

Well, it is often quiet, but it was unusually silent when I arrived.

I snuck through my window as I always did and slipped out of my bedroom door carefully.

It was near evening so the cooks should've been preparing our supper and the staff and cleaning crew should've been bustling around to prepare the dining room.

The fact that the halls were empty caused knots in my stomach and raised my anxiety.

I didn't know what was wrong, so I didn't know where to check. But I wanted to make sure my brothers were okay.

With that thought in mind, I made my way toward my youngest brother's room.

I knocked on his shiny clam-shell door but there was no response. I knocked again and to no avail.

I hesitantly pushed the door in and found his room ransacked. His dresser was turned over, his bed was broken, everything that could be moved was moved and anything that could be broken was broken.

I choked slightly on the water and surveyed his room. There wasn't a sign of struggle, despite the mess his once tidy room was in.

The wheels in my brain spun as I tried to piece together an answer of what happened. My thoughts ran in circles, coming back to the conclusion that the king found out about the traitors in his midst.

With this thought plaguing my thoughts, I rushed towards Atsumu's room.

His was also in a state of disarray. Except, something caught my eye on the floor that made my "breath" hitch.

I knelt down and picked up a broken chain. It was pale gold and the charm was a purple amethyst in the shape of a small fish hook. Sakusa had gifted this to Atsumu, from what I remember.

But now, the beautiful necklace that Atsumu always wore lay broken and discarded amongst the clutter of the ransacked room.

My chest heaved and my mouth quivered. If my brothers were hurt because of me, I would never, NEVER, forgive myself.

I clutched the broken necklace tightly in my fist and stood up, a determined look in my eyes.

I slipped out of Atsumu's room and swam quickly through the corridors of the castle. I was planning on confronting Father immediately, but when I swam past the infirmary, my resolve cracked a bit.

I simply couldn't fight the urge to see my beloved brother. I sighed and entered the small hospital-like room.

For the first time, Iwaizumi was not by Oikawa's side. That nagged at me but I pushed it away into the back of my mind.

I swam slowly toward Oikawa's bed and when I drew nearer, I was shocked.

The sheets lay rumpled, yet empty.

My brother was gone.

Frantically, I spun around, hoping that perhaps they had moved him. Maybe he was in another one of the beds.

I rushed around to each and every one, throwing the sheets off in desperate haste.

When I finally checked all the beds and my brother was still nowhere to be found, I sank to the floor, the sadness eating me from the inside out.

I could've been there for him. I SHOULD'VE been there for him. Instead, I was off frolicking above the surface, having the time of my life.

I cried out in misery, hugging my chest, my nails digging into the flesh of my arms.

"Perhaps if you had stayed under the surface, like a good boy, you would've been there with Tooru until the end," I heard an all-too-familiar voice sneer from the doorway.

I glanced up, my face suddenly contorting into a rage.

"Where. Is. He." I demanded, rising shakily and clenching my hands in fists.

"Gone," My father shrugged, "Dead. He turned to seafoam hours ago."

"You're lying!" I screamed, my throat feeling raw.

"You should've seen Iwaizumi," the bastard chuckled, "he was sobbing for 'his Tooru' not to leave him." He figured quoting shamelessly.

"No...no, NO!" I rushed at him with the intent to claw his eyes out, but two guards suddenly rushed forward and held me back. I recognized the guards immediately, Hanamaki and Mastukawa, Iwaizumi's right-hand mers.

I bared my teeth at them in disgust, they should be comforting Iwaizumi, not following my bastard of a father's rules.

"It's a shame," my father sighed, failing at concealing his uninterest in the death of my brother, "Tooru would've made a great king one day."

The king advanced closer, peering down at me from his massive height, "but I guess he just wasn't built for it." He smirked and I clenched my jaw.

"Don't..." I muttered, resentment building in my being.

"Don't what?" the king sneered, "speak up, boy!"

"Don't call him that!" I lurched forward, attempting to break out of the grip the guards had me in. I failed and my father laughed.

"I can call him whatever I want to," He spat, "After all, I'm the king. Not. You."

With that, he turned and swam towards the door.

"Guards," he called over his shoulder when he reached the door. They straightened their posture slightly, "throw him in the dungeon. Preferably the darkest one."

"What!?" I struggled to free myself, outraged. But the king just left, the door swinging shut behind him with a dull thud.

"We're sorry, your highness," the pink-haired one, Hanamaki, apologized.

"Tch, whatever," I replied irritably as they led me out of the room and towards my doom.

Anger coursed through my veins, the sorrow I once felt only fueled the flames. I swore, that even if it brought about my death, I would see my father dethroned and served the fate he deserved.

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