Venom Of The Sea

Part Twenty-Six: Lowell

All hell is going to break loose soon.... I stood next to Cedric as he stared down at the menace named Berwin, the one who wanted to marry our little Serenity. Oh, Irene... Serenity. She's going to flip when she finds out...

"K-King Cedric, I need to speak with-"

"Ah, ah... Know your place... Knight. Your king is having a meeting with another kingdom and it's best if you don't interrupt them, don't you agree?" Berwin smirked as I felt my jaw and muscles clench tightly as I puffed out my chest with a large inhale only to slowly drop it as I placed my hands behind my back.

"Yes. Understood." I muttered as Cedric looked at me with a slightly hurt look, he took me in as his son when I had no family... He took me in as his own and when he sees someone disrespects me or anyone he truly cares about, he gets angry- but not this time.

"Now, Cedric... I am assuming that my mother, Veronica has told you of what she wants to happen... Correct?" Berwin smirked as I eyed him, something about this guy was... Off. Like he was a puppet and someone else was the string master. While I was studying him, I heard someone clear their throats and waved me over, I mumbled a quiet "excuse me" to Cedric as he nodded, allowing me to leave.

"What is it?" I slightly spat as my right hand lowered his voice, as he leaned closer shielding his mouth with his hand as he spoke quietly.

"There's a man in the infirmary right now, he's been stabbed in the side with some type of dagger that matches Altona's weapons... And there's another man saying that he knows him and knows how to save Serenity from the beast she's turned into..." He sighed as I pulled away and looked at him with wide eyes... I couldn't help but move back some to where my back pressed against a wall.

"T-This is big, hells, bigger than big! This could be the thing that saves our kingdom from a gigantic war... Bring that guy to the one in the infirmary then come get me and take me to them." I whispered as he went to leave, I grabbed his shoulder and brought him back slightly.

"This is to stay between you and I, understood?"

"Yes, sir." He nodded and saluted than swim quickly towards the infirmary, I moved towards the meeting rooms' door and stood there staring down at the knob as if it would turn and let me by itself but sadly I was just a guy good a combat, heh...

- Serenity -

Everything hurts! My head, my body but my mind hurts especially! My brain pounding against my skull as my heart pumped my blood harder into my veins as I screamed in pain. My face was sticky from the dried, salty tears as my throat and mouth were becoming dry from my screaming.

The guards outside my cage were annoyed and petrified by my continuous screams of pain and crying out. That's when two figures came running down the stone stairs, and it was Lotus and Rayne. I could feel myself give a small smile, but it was completely wiped away by a cry out of pain as I felt my muscles tense and my veins pumping harder against my skin.

"S-Serenity!" Lotus called as the guards held them back, but Rayne held up a piece of paper showing that Lowell had given them access to see me. One of them opened the door and Lotus dropped to her side as she placed my head in her lap, one of her hands wiping my sweaty forehead trying to move my bangs out of the way.

"Serenity, my Irene... Are you alright?" Rayne asked as she moved next to Lotus, I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out as I tried to speak only a gasp of pain.

"You know, Lotus if she was just screaming and crying I have a really strong feeling that she isn't alright. Just guessing here though." Lotus snapped slightly as I clenched my teeth trying to fight back more tears. Rayne rolled her eyes as she got into her satchel, pulling out this weird looking stuff...

"Shut up, Lotus... Okay, Serenity, I need you to hear this-" Rayne started as I looked up at her and felt my head give a single nod in pain. She looked so unhappy to see me in pain, b-but she doesn't know the pain I-I'm feeling!

"Berwin is here for your hand in marriage and they say you have to accept, or he and his mother will name war onto Mercadonia and have everyone killed-" Rayne stopped as I listened carefully, my heart was pounding harder and more than it was when it was hurting before.

"N-No, I-I don't l-love him... R-Rayne!" I gasped as I tried to inhale deeply, only to feel my bones crack and pop under pressure from something on my chest. One of my hands shot up and grabbed hold of Lotus's forearm as I clenched my eyes tightly together.

"W-We knows you don't Serenity, but if you don't... We'll all die." Lotus sighed as she looked up at Rayne, I breathed heavily through my tightly clenched teeth trying to fight off the terrible feeling in my chest, brain, and just my whole body. I looked up at Rayne and Lotus once again as I exhaled slowly before breathing out in a slight whisper as I tried to calm my breathing.

That's when I felt this urge take over my body like it did before but it wasn't as powerful as before... It just over took my eyes and my voice as I opened my eyes and looked up at Rayne and Lotus, who suddenly looked concern but didn't say anything.

"I-I'll marry him... Because I'll f-fall in love with him, no m-matter what..."

"N-No, Serenity that's not what we are saying! You don't have to fall in love with someone, y-you're doing this for the sake of your kingdom, even Rayne just told you that!" Lotus lightly scoffed as I looked up at her, there were tears in her eyes.

I merely smiled at her, showing that... I'm not hurting that much anymore, but it was a lie. I closed my eyes and slowly reopened them only to see Rayne release a tightly held breath. But my body began to shake slightly as I reached up and gave Lotus's arm a tight squeeze.

"S-Serenity..." Rayne whispered as I looked up at her with clenched eyes, only to see them looking up and past the gate of my cage. I followed her gaze and saw- No. No, no, no! H-He didn't hear me! H-He doesn't have tears in his eyes from hearing me say that!

"C-Chris-" I started but he pushed away from the man holding him and somewhat limped away as a few sharp inhales entered the air. I sat there with large eyes as they began to water... Not from the sadness of losing Chris, not from the pain that my body continues to bare- No, this pain was so much worse but it just added as a topping to what I was feeling now...

"I-I have to get married to a tyrant... And no one can stop it..."