The Mermaid That's Sweetest

13] A Rough Wooing

13] A Rough Wooing

I wait for a while surrounded by the tank water, wondering if Eros will come back to taunt me. It's as I'm being too much of a coward to leave the prison, that a shadow from the window scares me enough into spinning around and looking up... to at first, see nothing.

However, my instincts scream that danger is still present and I back away to the other side of my tank, swimming quickly.

I watch as the shadow comes back and this time feet stop by the slim window. Someone drops to their naked knees and then I see the face of what appears to be another Erebos.

This one has a severely focused stare of one eye, the other lost, and I feel repelled. I don't feel drawn to him, I can see past the bright yellow eye rimmed with black. The dark stringy hair that resembled the dirtiest sea grass was also off putting.

While watching me for a while without moving, the creature licks their lips and point at me, then at their throat, running their thumb along their neck. Without another moment passing, they jump up and disappear into a run.

They wanted to kill me.

I instantly swim to the surface of the tank and bring my head out of the water as I reach for the sides. I haul myself out and shift as I land in a naked squat on the dungeon mirrored tiles. There was no time to waste.

I skid into the dungeon hall and head for a crumbling stair case. I sprint up, no longer scared that I'm naked. I want to scream out to Eros for help, but I'm not sure if he's planned this sick encounter just to laugh at me later.

I end up running into an abandoned hall above, with spider webs caressing the walls. I look left and right, trying to find my way back to the main castle. As I run for an open bridge that descends over a cliff, to the other side of the Ezili Castle – I watch the stray Erebos leap onto the stone bridge.

They're naked and dirty, as if they scaled the black cliffs to get up here. As the Erebos sprints for me, I squeal and turn, running back the way I came.

"Help! Someone!" I call out as I skid into a dark corner and I mistakenly find myself running to a dead end. I've stopped at a balcony overlooking the ocean below. Rocks, ragged and Rough water swirl beneath, hundreds of feet below where I stand. I hold the edges of the balcony and I consider jumping, knowing I will probably never survive if a rock splits me in half.

I chicken out at the last minute and I turn to see the monster hunting me, lurching forward into my only feasible path of escape.

As the creature doesn't hesitate to chat, he lunges for me with a slobbering snarl – and I cover my head with my hands, terrified. I watch through fingers as his head jolts forward, soon it'd end up in my neck... except it doesn't.

The head snaps downward at an unnatural angle as a metal sword slams through the back of the skull. The stray thing stumbles forward and then lands on the balcony beside me, a dead hand curling in my long hair as he lays on the stones with the sword flung through his head.

Blood drips through the echoing silence as I jerk my hair out of his grip and stumble back into the balcony corner, shivering from the cold as I turn to see Eros standing in the hall after flinging the sword through the air.

He's scowling at the dead body, "An imposter," Eros jumps forward with a skip in his step, his blue eyes focused on the dead man as he takes back his sword and shoves the body over the balcony.

I turn my head and watch the dead Erebos hit not the rocks, but the water.

Eros watches too, leaning over and inspecting the fall, "...did you see where he went, Lily...every balcony ends in open water... safe descent..." Eros turns to me now and I hug my breasts as I continue to tremble. He watches me for a while, smirking as he adds, "I heard your beautiful scream and came to help."