Princess master 3, p.25
Princess Master 3, page 25
“How had Eudora trapped our people?” Jeffrey wondered as he looked up at the redhead. “I never really got the full story.”
“She turned them into polyps,” the mermaid princess said with a grim look on her face. “Something like that, anyway. They’d been transformed into horrible creatures that were planted in the sand, and it was quite a battle to release them and keep them safe. Of course, we were happy to do it.”
“In any case, thank you again,” the mayor replied, and then he turned back to his map. “If you were heading away from the palace, you were already going in the right direction. I wish I could tell you exactly how far away you were when you came across the polyps. How long do you think you were swimming?”
“We actually still had a chariot then,” I explained. “I would guess it was about a couple miles, though.”
“Okay, a couple miles,” the merman said as he looked up at the ceiling in thought, and then he tapped the end of the pen against his chin before he began to write again. He drew a large arrow that led between the symbols representing the town and Eudora’s den, and then he marked a line on the map around a third of the way between the two places. “So, this is about where you freed our people. I would guess Eudora’s lair is only about six or seven miles from here in all.”
“Oh, that’s not far!” Jessamine sighed with relief. “We can easily make that swim.”
“Well, the last part of the journey is way more treacherous,” Jeffrey explained. “The seafloor drops off fairly close to here, so you’re going to have to travel a lot deeper…”
“Even deeper?” Cienna gulped. “I can’t imagine what kind of fish we’re going to swim into down there.”
“The fish aren’t going to be the most difficult part,” the merman sighed. “Eudora protects herself very well from outsiders. Once you get down into the deepest parts of the sea, she’s said to have constructed a tunnel that’s full of obstacles.”
“What do you mean by obstacles?” I asked. “Like monsters, or something else?”
“I’ve heard she’s made some use of the natural landscape to create her gauntlet,” Jeffrey explained. “Boulders, that sort of thing.”
“Boulders?” Ariana glanced up with a startled expression. “Yes, I think we might know something about that.”
The princesses and I all looked around at each other for a moment. Huge rocks definitely sounded like what the mermaid had seen in her vision of Eudora last night.
“Yes, well, we only know about it because some of the kids from the village have been stupid, and they’ve attempted to reach her lair,” Jeffrey told us, and then he rolled his eyes. “Over the years, packs of merchildren have swum as far as the series of obstacles leading to her hideout. The kids came back with wild stories. They told us that if you reach the end of the tunnel, it’s totally sealed. Luckily for them, no one has ever found out how to enter the den itself. I’m not sure how accurate any of this is, but it’s the best information I have.”
“So, how long do you think the tunnel is compared to the entire length of this journey?” I asked as I rested my chin on my fist.
“I would guess from the merchildren’s reports that it’s maybe half a mile long…” the merman trailed off as he made the line on the map thicker near the drawing of the witch’s face. “It’s not that long, it’s just challenging.”
“Yeah, it definitely sounds like it,” I said with a nod. “Well, we’re going to do everything we can to bring Eudora down once and for all.”
“We want to make sure the entire kingdom is safe,” Ariana said, and she leaned toward Jeffrey. “I’m sorry the royal family hasn’t been out here in a while. We’re going to make our best efforts to protect you better from now on.”
“Well, we don’t really have much trouble out here other than the witch herself,” the mayor said with a weak smile. “She’s caused us a lot of problems, to say the least, but it’s actually pretty peaceful other than that. But you were speaking of the royal family, which reminded me of something…”
“What’s that?” Ariana asked with a puzzled expression on her face.
“Well, many years ago, when I was a younger man, a party from the royal family came out this way to conduct surveillance on Eudora, and they stopped in our village…” Jeffrey trailed off and looked up from the map to make eye contact with the redhead. “There was a mermaid, about my age at the time, who came with them… and she had bright red hair, just like you. You remind me a lot of that mermaid, even after all these years.”
“Wow,” Ariana breathed, and she froze for a moment before her eyes filled with tears. Then she looked around at the rest of us before focusing on the merman again. “Did she… was she still there on the party’s return trip?
“No, I’m afraid she wasn’t,” Jeffrey replied quietly. “It seemed like whatever they were trying to do wasn’t successful, because they came back here to regroup after a defeat. And the red-haired mermaid wasn’t with them anymore.”
“O-Okay.” Ariana swallowed hard as if she were trying to hold back more tears, and then she glanced around at Cienna, Jessamine, and me for a moment before turning back to the mayor and clearing her throat. “Ahem, thank you for telling me about that, Jeffrey. So, you said you had some lanterns we could use? Could we take a look at those?”
“Oh, um, sure,” the mayor said. He seemed a little startled by the abrupt transition in the conversation, but he picked the map up off the table and handed it to me. “Yes, let’s go outside to my storage area, and we can see what’s in there.”
“Thank you, and thanks again for the lovely meal,” the mermaid replied, but her sad frown didn’t match her words.
Then Jeffrey, my wives, and I got up from the table, and we followed him out of his room and through the inn’s main door. He led us around the back of the building to a basic white shed, and he unlocked the door and peered inside.
“I have more than enough lanterns,” the mayor announced, and then he turned to us with a smile. “I can give you each one to wear on your belt, and that should help you on your journey. I see you’re all well-armed, so you won’t need new weapons… is there anything else I can do for you?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Ariana said as she returned Jeffrey’s smile. “We’re used to traveling light, and I hope we’ll be passing by here again sooner rather than later after we kill Eudora. Joe, Cienna, Jessamine, do you see anything else we might need?”
“No, I think the lanterns are great,” I muttered distractedly, because I wanted to talk to Ariana privately and hear the story about the other red-haired mermaid.
“Well, then, here you go.” Jeffrey handed us each a lantern, and after we strapped them to our bodies, he bowed to the princesses and held out a hand for me to shake. “Joe, Your Highnesses, it’s been a pleasure to meet you. You’ve already done more for my town than you even know, and thank you for continuing to protect the kingdom. I hope I’ll see you around again someday.”
“Thanks, Jeffrey,” I said as I gripped his hand in a hearty shake. “Good luck with everything.”
“Yes, and good luck to you as well,” the merman chuckled. “I wish I could say you weren’t going to need it.”
“I’d like to think we’ve fought tougher than Eudora,” Jessamine said with a smile. “Goodbye, Jeffrey.”
We turned around and headed away from the shed, and as soon we were out of the mayor’s sight, Ariana’s shoulders began to shake.
“I knew something was wrong.” Cienna put her arm around the mermaid as we stopped to talk, and Ariana leaned against her shoulder. “Talk to us, Ariana. Tell us what’s going on.”
“M-M-My father would never tell me about my mother,” the redhead sobbed. “S-She died before I ever got to know her. M-My sisters always told me it had something to do with Eudora, but I know J-Jeffrey was talking about her. I know that red-haired mermaid was my mother. And she went to Eudora’s cave, and she never came back.”
“I was afraid that was the case,” Jessamine sighed, and she squeezed the mermaid from her other side. “Oh, Ariana, I feel so sad for you right now. It’s not easy to hear those kinds of stories about the people we miss the most.”
“No, it’s not,” the redhead sniffled. “You’d think it would be easier after all these years of not having a mother, but it doesn’t feel like it.”
“Shh, it’s okay.” I walked over and threw my arms around all three of my wives in a giant hug. “Ariana, I love you so much, and I’d do anything to help you feel better right now. What can I do for you?”
“I’ll tell you what you can do-- what we can do,” Ariana said from her position in our arms. She pushed me and her sister-wives away and looked at us with glittering, determined eyes, and then she grabbed the map from my hands. “We can kill Eudora. We’re going to do it for my mother, and for all of our citizens whose lives she’s ruined. Come on, let’s go. Also, where in all of Fairyland is my chariot? Can we try to find that, too?”
“Yes, we can definitely do both those things!” Cienna patted Ariana on the shoulder.
“I guess it’s time to head in Eudora’s direction,” Jessamine said in a resolute tone, and then she looked around at the buildings. “Goodbye, civilization, if you could call it that.”
“How hard could making it through this tunnel really be?” I asked with a shrug, and then I flipped the switches on my armor to swim. “I guess I shouldn’t say that…”
“Well, I have to admit my vision was scary,” Ariana said with a frown as we swam up and away from the town. “These rocks were huge. I would say they were at least half as big as my chariot, if not bigger. If one of them fell on us, it… it wouldn’t be good. I wonder if there’s a way we could protect ourselves. I’m interested in testing our magic to see how we can combine our powers and best survive our upcoming trials.”
“You have the shields you create, of course,” I mused aloud while I brushed a wayward strand of seaweed out of my face. “I wonder if those would be strong enough to withstand the force of a boulder. There was definitely something disconcerting about our last fight--”
“You mean when the stingrays were knocking the bubble around?” Ariana asked as she glanced in my direction. “That concerned me, too. I had a thought about that, though. I know Jessamine can change physical objects, like when she turned the red heart turquoise, so I was curious if you, Jessamine, could transform something to make the shield stronger. I’ve been thinking of ways to try to improve it, and combining our powers might be the answer.”
“So, what exactly would it need to look like?” Jessamine asked, and then she looked over at Ariana and stopped swimming. “What would it be made out of? Let’s talk about this for a minute.”
“I think I have an idea,” I said as we all paused in a circle to continue our discussion. “Let me think of how to explain it. Back in my world, there’s something called bulletproof glass. I know it might sound crazy, but hear me out.”
“There’s glass that bullets can’t shatter?” Cienna asked as she looked at me with a doubtful expression on her face.
“Yes, well, it’s not really just made of glass.” I wasn’t sure how to explain plastic to the princesses. “But that’s not even the point. I think if Jessamine took enough layers of glass and glued them together somehow, we might be able to create a transparent bubble that would protect us even better than Ariana’s shield. It would still have magical properties, of course, but if you started with that concept, Jessamine, it might work.”
“A lot of layers of glass glued together…” Jessamine said, and she looked up with a thoughtful expression. “Yes, I think I could make something like that.”
“I was thinking it might be helpful to be able to see through it…” I mused as I steepled my hands in thought. “Although, maybe sometimes it would be helpful to use it to hide from enemies.”
“Joe, this just might work!” Ariana gasped in an excited tone. “Jessamine, your transformation skills are so strong at this point that you could take anything, like a piece of kelp, and transform it into glass, or solid rock, and put it around the shield I’ve created. It would make an even stronger protective barrier than the one we already have!”
“Should we try to make one?” Jessamine asked. “I know, we could build it, and then Joe could shoot sparks from Genie’s Wrath at it to see what happens.”
“Great idea,” Ariana replied with a nod. “I’ll put up a clear bubble around… well, I don’t want any of us to be inside the bubble in case something goes wrong. I don’t think Genie’s Wrath can hurt us because of our bond with Joe, but, just in case, I’ll put it up around one of these fish that are swimming by.”
The redhead focused for a moment as she gazed at a small school of foot-long fish with yellowish scales and spikes coming out of their faces. As we watched, the last fish stopped short as it bumped up against one of Ariana’s invisible barriers. It kept bumping its hideous face up against the side of the bubble and poking at it with its needle-like spikes, which were at least two inches long.
“Wow, that thing is ugly!” Cienna remarked as she swam to look at it up close. “I’ve seen a lot of strange fish since we’re this far down, but holy shit!”
“Do you think those spikes are poisonous?” Jessamine wondered and scrunched up her nose. “I wouldn’t want to be alone in a room with one of these.”
“Well, interestingly enough, I believe they’re quite delicious,” Ariana said with a grin, and I was glad to see she was feeling a little better. “If I’m correct about the kind of fish this is, we can eat it for lunch after this.”
“Yes, just avoid the needles.” Jessamine shuddered. “Alright, I’m going to try to make the layer around it. Should we try the glass one first?”
“Yeah, just so we can keep looking at our hideous friend here,” I snickered. “It’s going to be just like a little fish tank.”
“A what?” Ariana asked with a frown. “I don’t think we have those under the sea…”
“Well, you don’t need them here, but I’ll try to explain,” I told her, and then I tried to approximate the size and rectangular shape of a small home aquarium with my hands. “It’s like a box made of glass that fish can live in on land, and then you can observe them, for science, or for relaxation…”
“You keep living fish in a box?” Jessamine glanced over at me with a doubtful look.
“We do, with water,” I informed my dark-haired wife as I began to describe an aquarium. “Some of them have fresh water, without salt, and some of them have something like sea water in them. It’s like a whole… thing people are into. Some rich people even have fish tanks the size of an entire room. And then there are public aquariums, where the tanks are big enough for sharks--”
“But what do the fish do when they want to get out?” Ariana asked with a puzzled expression. “Who helps them escape?”
“Well, they don’t really escape…” I trailed off when I saw the shocked look on the mermaid’s face.
“Awww, poor little fish,” Jessamine said, but then she grabbed a piece of kelp from the water. “Okay, I’m transforming this kelp now, everyone.”
We all stared at the fish in the bubble, and in just a few seconds, Ariana’s shield was completely encased in what had to be six inches of glass. Our view of the fish was somewhat distorted, but I could still see it in its little prison as it bumped against the side over and over again.
“That’s really cool,” I said, and then I patted Jessamine and Ariana on their backs. “Good job, you two. But I suppose the Genie’s Wrath test is the real one. Everyone, move out of the way!”
My wives swam away from me, and I raised my giant, golden sword up into the water and pointed it at the small glass sphere from about a ten-foot distance. I focused on my blade’s violet stone, and then a bolt of purple lightning shot out of the tip of Genie’s Wrath and hit the transparent ball directly. I saw sparks ricochet off the place where the charge struck, but I couldn’t tell if it had damaged the glass.
So, I swam over to inspect the sphere, and I soon realized the blast from my sword had only made a chip in the top layer. Then I gave the princesses a thumbs up, and they came back over to see what had happened.
“Joe, I think it’s working!” Ariana gasped, and she threw her arms around my neck.
“Yeah, that was pretty cool.” I grabbed my mermaid wife around the waist and pulled her in for a kiss on the lips, and when I let go, she swam over to look at the ball more carefully.
“Yes,” she breathed, “it’s fascinating how little was damaged.”
“I suppose we can let our little friend go now,” Jessamine commented. “Unless we’re eating him for lunch…”
“Um, no thanks,” Cienna said with a grin. “I’d rather skip a meal than try to eat around those spikes.”
“Me, too,” I assured her. “I’m right there with you.”
In a flash, the bubble was gone, and the disturbing animal swam away as fast as it could.
“So, there’s still another problem we’re trying to solve,” Cienna reminded us. “And that’s Joe getting hypnotized by the singing. I don’t think he can stick his fingers into his ears forever, and it’s so powerful when we use Jessamine’s, or, rather, Ariana’s voice on our enemies.”
“You’re right,” I admitted. “Sticking my fingers into my ears isn’t the ultimate solution. If I can’t use Genie’s Wrath while anyone is singing, it really throws off the whole fight. I had the idea of Jessamine making me ear plugs, but they’re usually made of something we don’t have available in Fairyland. Maybe some sort of cotton ball, or wool, could be used when we’re up on land, but I’m not sure it would work down here…”
“Okay…” Ariana said with furrowed eyebrows. “Yes, it is a problem--hey, what’s that down there?”
The redhead suddenly removed her lantern from her belt, and then she held her light down toward the seafloor as she began to swim in the same direction. Jessamine, Cienna, and I followed her, but the glare from all the lights was too strong for me to view the ground clearly.
