The Twisted Tale of The Little Merman

_-*Chapter 37*-_

Tendou POV

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A few hours later, Wakatoshi and I returned back to the base with a single chest full of as many weapons as we could fit. There were still loads of swords and whatnot left behind in the treasury, but we were only two mers, we couldn't have possibly carried all of that and not looked suspicious. Actually, we would look suspicious no matter how many mers we had with.

When we entered the common room, the main one that all hallways and rooms branched off of, we found that Iwaizumi, Kyoutani, and Sakusa had returned. Atsumu was pestering his boyfriend and Oikawa was latched onto his lover's arm. They greeted us happily as soon as they saw us.

"Oh, you're back already?!" Oikawa said after he greeted Wakatoshi with a nod and me with a tight hug.

"Oikawa..." I looked at him dumbfounded, "we were gone for HOURS."

"To-mate-o, to-mah-to," He shrugged his shoulders.

"Where were they?" Kyoutani asked, peering at the chest with an eyebrow raised.

Iwaizumi and Oikawa glanced at each other sideways.

"If you don't want to tell me because you think I'm going to stab you in the back, you can just say it," Kyoutani huffed and crossed his arms.

"No, that's not it...well yeah it is actually," Oikawa admitted and Iwaizumi visibly facepalmed, "They went to a secret location our late mother had filled with all the weapons the tyrant king forbid the use of. Magical weapons."

Lev, who was standing silently in the back of the group, spoke up, "You mean the weapons that had the magic of Octalio and magic wielders infused in them?"

"Bingo," Oikawa nodded and motioned for Wakatoshi and me to place the chest down, and we complied immediately.

Oikawa cracked the lid open and inhaled in a manner that suggested he couldn't believe he was truly seeing this.

"Neat, right?" I said, watching over his shoulder, Wakatoshi's hand on my hip.

"Incredible," He agreed breathily, his eyes practically swimming with stars.

"Hey, Oikawa," Sakusa suddenly spoke, "I don't want to rush you, but shouldn't you be with Queen Agatha as she debriefs the Octalio King?"

"Omi Omi," Atsumu shook his head in disappointment, causing Sakusa to roll his eyes, "If we want to unite the kingdoms for a cause, we must learn to trust them. Besides, it's not like they are going to steal anything, what do we have of worth anyway?"

"For once in his life," Oikawa nodded, "Atsumu is right about something."

"HEY-"

"If we want to be able to defeat the Mer King, we need to be able to trust our allies, with little room for skepticism."

"This is why Oikawa is gonna be the next king, not Atsumu," I whispered jokingly to Wakatoshi and he snorted. Atsumu crossed his arms and scrunched his nose at me.

"But also, Oikawa," Kyoutani started, "How are we going to be able to move all the weapons to our base? It will look suspicious no matter what we do."

Oikawa was silent, finally unable to think of something. Then, his other half spoke up, "Makki and Mattsun are having rounds in that area for several days starting tomorrow, they'll file a report stating nothing out of the odds and while we move all the chests and weapons into this base. It'll take a while, so we should hope that the rest of our team returns shortly," Iwaizumi laid out the plan and the rest of us nodded in agreement.

"Right, well," Atsumu clapped his hands, clearly over the insults, "I don't know about you, but I'm dyin' to look at these weapons."

Kyoutani nodded in agreement and Oikawa flipped the lid open wide enough for everyone to see.

Atsumu, mesmerized by the shiny swords, immediately began digging through the chest. He was pulling out the weapons left and right until a small mountain collected around him. The rest of the group was digging through the newly created pile of swords around him.

Then, Iwaizumi pulled out a specifically threatening-looking sword. It was a wide, long, falchion sword that had a blade that seemed to curve and rise like waves. The handle and part of the blade were a deep ocean blue and the sharp edge was a lighter shade. There was an indigo-blue crystal set into the cross hilt of the sword, and the guard swirled around the hilt simulated a midnight-blue version of the tentacles of a Kraken. On the blade itself were words etched in Ancient Octalion, and, as Sakusa was the only one who could read and speak Ancient Octalion fluently, we all turned expectantly to him.

He sighed and rolled his eyes but read it nevertheless, "Krakenin Viha. Wrath of The Kraken."

Iwaizumi hummed and turned the sword over in his palm.

"Darling, if you want it, take it," Oikawa laughed, amused at his husband's way of beating around the bush.

Iwaizumi immediately hooked it through his belt and the rest of us continued our search. Atsumu came up with a double-edged rapier—which Sakusa thought looked like it was meant more for display than actual use—and claimed it immediately, much to Sakusa's dismay.

Oikawa settled for a longsword that had small but deadly spines all along the blade, no doubt meant to cause excessive pain.

Sakusa refused to wield a sword, confident that his dappling in magic would suffice. Wakatoshi, on the other hand, was more than happy to duel-wield twin sabers. I was skeptical he would be able to fight efficiently with both, but he convinced me of his swordsman abilities during a friendly sword fight between him and Iwaizumi.

Lev decided to make a rather large, squarish sword his own; it looked like an enlarged butcher knife that was incredibly heavy, but he handled it with ease so I'm wasn't gonna hate.

We were nearing the last of the swords, yet I still hadn't found one to my liking, which I felt nervous about. Maybe it was a sign that I was not meant to fight.

But then, I laid my eyes upon the dadao. Its hilt was wrapped in a rough fabric the color of blood. It was very different from the other weapons, which usually consisted of a blue or green color palette. This sword lacked color, excluding the clothed hilt. The blade began thin and gradually got wider until it was wider than my palm. I felt an odd sense of fascination with this sword, somewhere deep inside my consciousness was telling me that this was the one. This was the one in which my father would meet his end. I would make sure of that.

"I'll take this one," I said, not glancing up from my reflection in the gleaming silver of the blade.

"Are you sure, Tendou?" Kyoutani asked—he kept his sword, he felt no inclination to use the "trick of magic"—he looked at me with a raised eyebrow, "those swords are specifically meant to chop through flesh and bone with brutal force."

"I know, Kyoutani," I smiled, "That's what I'm counting on."

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If you could be an expert in any of the mythologies around the world (Nordic, Greek, Roman, Egyptian, etc) which one would you choose? And why?