Aura [bxb]

Twenty-Four

A/N: Shorter than I wanted, and you guys wanted, but oh well. 

3rd Person

For a couple of seconds, Storm questioned whether what he was doing was right or wrong as he carried his unconscious nephew towards the meeting point that his king had picked. Storm was a lucky mer. He wasn't entirely sure if his nephew was going to take the bait or not. The child had, which worked in his favor. Storm didn't even want to see what could have happened if he didn't manage to get his hands on the child. Storm did not want to know what the king, or soon to be king, would have done to him if he had failed. The prince was practically king already, his father, the crowned king, does nothing but sleep around with the kingdom's breeders. The entire underwater kingdom saw Prince Edmern as the king.

The weight of his nephew in his arms made Storm emotional. He knew that this could be a death sentence for his only living nephew, considering his sister did not lie when she said he was a siren. Storm couldn't figure out how the king would have known about that. Storm's entire life he had been taught to hate sirens, just like any other mer. Siren's blended in, and that made them all the more dangerous. No, it wasn't the physical part that was truly dangerous, no, it was their song, the enchanting voice that swept over everyone and enticed them to do the siren's biding. To think that the small, fragile-looking body of his nephew was that of a siren was mindblowing to Storm. But even Storm could see that his nephew has never touched the sea, never truly transforming. Storm could applaud his sister for that, as it did keep him hidden for as long as it did.

As much as Storm wanted to hate his nephew for being a siren, he knew the boy didn't ask to be. If anything, he probably wished to be a normal mer, if not human. Storm's stupid subconscious upbringing had a lot to do with the hatred, but even Storm knew that his hate wasn't strong enough to make him despise his nephew, regardless of what he actually told the boy. 

Storm never assumed that his sister would ever disappear, never expected that she'd end up pregnant, and leave the ocean like she never lived there. The nights I'd stay up in a panic, wondering if my baby sister was still alive or not. The toll it took on our father was the biggest blow, though. It had always been clear to Storm that he was not his father's favorite; his sister was. When she disappeared, something in their father snapped. He no longer treated Storm like he was his son. It was always, Rain this . . . or Rain that. Storm had been tired of it, but he had loved his sister. He had been concerned for her, scared even.

And where had she been? Living on the freaking surface, raising a child. Who's child? Storm didn't know. His sister was a breeder, it didn't take much for them to conceive, but Rain had slept around like any unmated breeder usually did. There could be thousands of mers under the water that have the potential to be his nephew's father. But even Storm had a sinking feeling in the pit of his gut at the thought of his nephew's father's identity.

Looking at his nephew closely, he could see hints of Rain in him, which made more than enough sense as the woman was his mother. It was when Storm looked passed the resemblance in his family, pushed aside hints of Rain that he could see a likeness of someone else. Tensing in shock, Storm halted, looking down at his nephew, looking at him closer than before. The shade of his hair resembled a lot of mermaids, but none of them had the same black hair that borderline blue, no one, except the king. Other things, like the boy's face shape, reminded Storm of the king. Rain always had the prettiest blonde hair, hair that reminded Storm of sunshine. Her eyes had been pale blue, bordering on pale green. Storm hadn't paid the boys eye color much attention when he first saw him eye to eye, but Storm had a sinking feeling that if he had, the boy's eyes wouldn't be the same pale blue as his sisters.

Storm hesitantly continued to walk forward, holding his nephew tighter to his chest. If what he thought was true, his nephew would lose everything he has ever known. That is if the king kept him alive, and even if he didn't, he would practically be a prisoner his entire existence, which will be a lot longer than the boy could imagine. Storm looked down at his own body, looking at what was decades upon decades of life in the barely twenty looking-year-old body. Storm didn't look like he was hundreds of years old, but he was. Rain didn't either, but that was the case. If his nephew made it to sixteen, if he wasn't already, his growth would all but halt.

Could he really do this? Storm was beginning to ponder it. After all, he's been through to capture the boy, was he willing to throw it all away? Storm glanced back down at his innocent-looking nephew's face, and his heart warmed. This was his flesh and blood, siren or not. His loyalty should always be sided with family, not the crown, and most definitely not to the king.

He couldn't go through with this. Storm halted in his steps, his eyes locked on his nephew's midnight black hair, turning back around and running in the opposite direction, taking the boy back to the mansion in which he stole him from. Storm wished his sister had just been honest when she found herself pregnant, as Storm would have loved to have been apart of his nephew's childhood, to see him grow up. But he's missed out on all of that, and there was no way to turn back the clock. He could only make up for lost time, and the best way was to protect his nephew at all costs, not hand him over to the hand that would kill him.

Storm had only been able to break into the mansion because of corrupted guards, and after this ordeal, Storm knew that the dragon would fire those corrupted. Heck, he might just take his nephew away to protect him. Storm knew little about dragons, but he knew enough about mating to see that unique protective look in his eyes, his parents once had it, and he once did too. He knew better than to break mates apart.

Standing outside the still unbarricaded mansion, Storm cracked the doors open just enough to slip inside without harming his nephew. Storm knew better than to enter the actual building, so he placed his nephew on the porch carefully, glancing around to see no one. Before retreating, Storm banged on the door roughly before darting away from the scene. Bonding time would have to wait. He had to protect Rain and get the king away from this town before it was too late.

Storm would lie to the king, deny attracting the boy's attention. He'd have to hope that the king didn't pick up the fact that it was a lie. Otherwise, he'd be done for. You don't just lie to the royal family, as it was practically a death sentence.

Storm didn't worry about it though, running to the meeting point, now empty-handed.