To Kill a God by C.S. Wilde

Chapter 13

Mera could get usedto this. Being back home with the professor, Belinda, and her uncle felt right. Her friend had showed her so much the other day, that her head hurt.

From her room in the palace, Mera watched the rainbow city ahead. If she narrowed her eyes enough, she could almost spot the parts of the dome that went blue in the distance. Belinda told her that the dome protected the city from strong currents, and that the blue sparks came from big fish that occasionally hit the shield head first, only to swim away.

Breaking water to the center of the room, Mera observed the pearly curved walls, and the golden corals that peppered their surface. They matched the bright wisps of light that hovered near the room’s ceiling. The queen-sized bed rested against the left wall, rising from the white floor.

A chill ran down her spine as she remembered the cold, dark stone underneath what her uncle had built; the legacy that tainted those immaculate walls. Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she reminded herself that the past was the past, the castle had been rebuilt, and that Mother couldn’t hurt her anymore.

A few knocks came from her door, and Mera opened it to find none other than Belinda.

Her friend showed herself in, dashing to the center of the room. Twirling around, she assessed the space, her jaw hanging. “I haven’t been here since… it looks so different.”

“It really does.” Mera held her hands behind her back. “What’s the plan for today?”

“How about you help me clean the city a bit?” She nodded toward Mera’s nightstand, which rose from the floor next to her bed. A silver phaser rested atop it, close to a metallic belt with a holster—a gift from Belinda.

The silver weapon dimly reflected the golden wisps of light hovering near the ceiling. Beautiful and deadly as fuck.

Phasers packed a lot more heat than human weapons, Mera had seen it firsthand when Belinda blew off Azinor’s head with a single shot, and then again when she took her to the firing range the previous day.

Without hesitating, she picked up the belt, tied it around her waist, and placed the phaser gun in its holster. “I’m in.”

Her friend eagerly rubbed her palms together. “Let’s float.”

“Will Professor Currenter be joining us?”

“Of course not, silly. He’s the commissioner. Plus, he’s in a meeting with the king.” Belinda raised her brow knowingly.

Mera stared at her, not knowing what to make of that, or perhaps, making too much of it. “Do you know why my uncle calls the professor by his first name?”

Harold.

“They didn’t tell you?” Seeing that they obviously hadn’t, she fidgeted with the silver bracelet around her wrist. “Ah, crab’s pinchers. I’m not sure if it’s my place to tell, Mer.”

Crossing her arms, Mera sent her a defying glare. “I’m not leaving until you do.”

“Ugh, fine.” Belinda rolled her eyes. “You see, the commissioner isn’t just the commissioner. He’s also the crown prince.”

“What?” Mera gasped, not knowing how to feel about it. “The professor married my uncle?”

“They found each other after you left. They grieved together for so long… Come on, you have to admit it’s kind of heartwarming.”

“Yeah, but it’s my uncle and Professor Currenter.” Slowly, however, her shock began shifting into something warm and giddy. “Why didn’t they tell me?”

“My guess is guilt.” Belinda shrugged. “After Bluefin’s death, I felt terrible when something good happened. As if smiling or being happy was an insult to his memory. Same principle.”

Her chest stung at that. Mera wanted them to be happy, and she was glad they’d found each other. Her two favorite people in the world, together. Something good had come out of all the bad that happened to her. They shouldn’t be ashamed of that, and Belinda shouldn’t grieve her dead partner forever, either.

Leaving the topic behind, her friend pulled a little device shaped like a dot from a pocket in her bodysuit, then handed it to her. “This is a comm. We’ll need them to talk.” She picked another dot and fixed it on the space where her earlobe turned into a fin. “Ready?”

Once Mera fixed it the same way, she tapped to check if it worked. “You bet.” Yet a sudden ache spread inside her, and she halted before they left the room. Maybe she was losing her mind, but Bast’s presence awoke inside of her. He felt… closer.

Impossible.

She must have been imagining things, but the dreadful longing kept spearing her heart, threatening to drown her.

How she wished he could be there, next to her.

A worried frown marred Belinda’s forehead. “Everything all right?”

Mera nodded mindlessly.

“Bast?” She pushed the thought through their bond, but her words met a void. She still couldn’t reach him.

There was nothing Mera wanted more than to cross the seven seas, if only to touch him again, but she couldn’t leave, not yet. Once Azinor took the bait and came for the queen, Mera would defeat the dickwart. Only then, she could finally return to her hart.

Her gills inhaled sharply when she turned to Belinda. “Let’s go.”

Swimming through the streets of Atlantea with her friend felt awfully similar to patrolling Clifftown with Julian back in the day.

Glass buildings towered over them, but stone constructions peppered by colorful corals—a memory from the old Atlantea—still broke through the modern landscape every now and then.

“You should see what they did with the old fun park,” Belinda said while they broke water, dashing between constructions as big as stone krakens. “They made a gallery with holo-recreations of the giant ones, the beasts of old that used to roam the sea. They have their bones on display, too.”

“No way! Can we go there when we’re done?”

“Of course. In the meantime, tell me more about your life up above. I need details!”

They followed a current upward, then made a U-turn, passing by a waterbreaker who rode a narwhal. He carried a red squared backpack that read, “Saul’s Food Delivery”.

“A car would be faster,” Mera pointed out.

“It would, but cars can be a little expensive. Besides, if you’ve spent months training your seafriend, you can’t dispose of it just like that. There’s a bond created, though I wouldn’t know. Never had a seafriend, especially after we sent that waterdragon off to the trenches…” She shook her head. “Anyway, stop diverting. Tell me about your life as a landrider in disguise.”

“It’s such a long story.”

“We have time.” Belinda gestured to the city ahead. “It’s why I didn’t take a patrol car, you know. I wanted to catch up.”

Clever girl.

Continuing their path, Mera told her about Ruth, and how she’d been her true mother. Her mom. She explained how she’d taught Mera everything about duty and protecting the innocent; everything that made her who she was. She also spoke about the delicate political balance governing Tagrad, and about her cases with Bast.

Once she was done, Belinda blew water through the gills on her neck. “Landriders can be so thickheaded. Also, I’m sorry about your mom.”

“So am I.”

Her friend swam closer, narrowing her eyes at Mera. “Do you realize you grin like a smiling fish when you mention your partner?”

Mera chuckled. “He’s not just my partner.”

“Gotten a piece of landrider meat, have you?” Belinda’s tongue stuck out as if she’d tasted a rotten fish.

“It’s a fine piece of meat, trust me.” She glanced toward the surface, past the shining orb floating atop the center of Atlantea. “He’s probably worried sick by now.”

Belinda suddenly turned forward, scanning their surroundings. “Quick update: I hid the magic enhancer in a warehouse on the south zone.” She pointed to a section of the city before them. The light of the moon orb seemed to only reach the area partially, illuminating it less than the rest of Atlantea. “Problem is, someone tipped off Poseidon’s lackeys. Word on the street is, they’re planning on getting the enhancer so that the rotten oyster can recover faster.”

Mera pulled out her gun. “Last time he had a magic enhancer, he created a tidal wave. Who knows what he could do next.”

Her friend nodded. “From here on, we need to stay sharp.”

They turned toward a clearing, and Belinda suddenly yanked her to the side. Hiding behind a construction peppered by blue corals, she cursed under her breath. “Blasted barnacles. They already have the enhancer.”

Mera glanced at the clearing from behind the side of the building, watching two male waterbreakers discussing with each other. They wore moss-green bodysuits, and had no hair on their heads. Their dark-grey skins looked eerily similar to Azinor’s, and by the scratches and wounds on their faces, they’d gotten the enhancer at a high cost.

“Starwave, do you copy?” Belinda whispered as she tapped her comm. After a while, she clicked her tongue. “The patrol guarding the enhancer isn’t answering.”

Crap.

One of Azinor’s lackeys held a dark-silver pin shaped like a hexagon with an emerald encrusted in its middle. The other carried a beeping device that flashed to an increasing tempo.

Mera gasped through her gills. “Is that a bomb?”

Belinda leaned over, observing the two. Nodding, she pulled out her phaser before boosting forward, aiming at the criminals.

“Police! Stay where you are!”

Mera followed with her phaser in hand, but the men made a run for it. Belinda fired, and a blue, shining orb left her phaser, burning through the water, yet the siren holding the enhancer dodged the blast too easily.

Her friend couldn’t have missed, though. She was an excellent shot.

“It’s the enhancer!” Mera shouted as she boosted after them. “He’s using it to amplify his powers!”

She and Belinda zinged through town, dodging passersby, cars, and buildings as they tried to catch the assholes. They shot at the slowest one, but when the blasts slammed against a magic shield, Mera knew his partner was using the enhancer to cover his friend’s back.

“Monkfish shit!” Belinda pointed to the access tunnels on the seabed, which led to open ocean and the outskirts of town, passing right under the dome. “They’re heading to the tunnels!”

Once the criminals were out, it would be hard to locate them, especially if they caught the warm, middle streams of the gulf. Not to mention that the tunnels were packed with waterbreakers coming in and out of their daily business. Also, the pricks had a bomb.

Suddenly, their plan became frighteningly clear.

A current buzzed under Mera’s skin, like lightning coursing through her veins, warming her body from the inside out. She looked down at the criminals making a downwards loop. Soon they would reach the access tunnels.

Her own voice whispered in her ears, then split into a thousand voices, all belonging to her. Even though her bodysuit covered her from neck to ankles and she couldn’t see the runes, their tingling hummed through her skin.

“Mallak, mallak!”

The voices bloomed from her core, as if her soul tried to speak to her. She couldn’t understand how she suddenly understood what mallak meant.

Aim.

“Mer!” Belinda shouted through their comms, making a sharp dive ahead of her while she followed the criminals. “Hurry!”

Instead of obeying her friend, she put the phaser back in its holster and raised one arm. Energy crackled under her skin.

Aim.

Closing one eye, Mera focused on the bandit holding the enhancer. Her movements felt both like her own and someone else’s at the same time. It was almost as if she were in a sort of trance, yet somehow perfectly aware.

A bolt of blue lightning burst from her palm, heating the water around her. It dodged Belinda and plunged forward, slamming against the miscreants’ shield. The bolt broke through the magic barrier that had withstood several phaser attacks like it was nothing. Her power bulls-eyed the siren in his chest, and his body went limp.

Through her magic, Mera felt his heart stopping, and then, just like a whisper or a blowing wind, he was gone. The criminal’s hand released the enhancer, sending it twirling down in a spiral.

The second lackey glared at Mera, his eyes wide with terror. “Soulbreaker.”

Belinda rushed toward him, but he dropped the bomb, quickly breaking water to escape. The beeping gadget plunged toward the access tunnels and the crowd down below. Her friend couldn’t catch the bastard and save all those innocents at the same time.

“Red-lipped batfish!” Without hesitation, Belinda shot at the bomb, brave idiot that she was. And she never missed.

The blast stretched into a burning, yellow plasma sphere about to engulf her friend.

Mera’s power charged from her core, breaking through the distance between them in less than a second. It wrapped Belinda in a crackling ball of blue lightning just as the explosion washed over her friend. Golden light burned brightly, blinding Mera. The loud boom resounded in her ears, and a shockwave slammed against her, sending her toppling backwards.

Her core sizzled with the heat of the blast; the heat that swallowed the shield she’d wrapped around Belinda. She felt her friend’s heart thumping in her magic, her breathing rushed.

Mera rolled through the city for a moment until she managed to stop. Just as she did, the shield zinged past her.

“Bel!”

Pulling her magic back to her core, Mera forced the shield down to a stop, her teeth grinding and head pounding. Her vision blurred when the power returned to her, setting Belinda free.

Her friend patted her own body, clearly wondering how the hell she was still alive while the brightness of the explosion slowly faded, leaving a cloud of bubbles in the water.

The crowd near the access tunnels watched with fear and awe. Mera couldn’t explain how she heard their ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from so far away, yet she did. Everything around her seemed sharper, clearer.

Apart from a few broken windows on nearby buildings, and some smashed cars, there didn’t seem to be any great damage around town.

A relief.

Belinda turned to Mera, her gills working madly to filter water. “Plasma lightning! How in the seven seas did you do that?”

She would explain if she could, but Mera had no clue either. Her body began to feel heavy and weak. Blinking, she tried to center herself while her own voice whispered one last time.

“Aller.”

Rest.

Darkness took over, and the lackey’s panicked voice lullabied Mera into oblivion.

“Soulbreaker.”