Chapter 39: Chapter 39
(NEPTUNE CITY)
The king was sitting on his royal throne surrounded by his council.
Ma'am Mabelle the oldest and most experienced mermaid in Neptune City had called them for a meeting.
She was the only mer-being that is still living from the time of King Neptune X (King Neptune the 10th)
The present King Neptune was the 15th.
She has survived for five generations
Though legend has it that she uses special magic to sustain herself
The mermaid could no longer swim but is carried around by a special animal of hers.
Only her knows it's name
She arrived at the palace very early which was a surprise to the council
King : you're welcome old one
She nodded and all of the members of the council stood up.
She looked around, shook her head then sat on a special stool made for her
The council then sat down. Each member wore a worried face, ma'am Mabelle doesn't come to the palace with good news.
The last time she came to the palace was when the kingdom was to be attacked by whalesharks.
That was a long time ago
King: what brings you here ma'am Mabelle?
Ma'am Mabelle : you don't expect a dolphin to give birth to a shark. Neither can a shark give birth to a dolphin. You've rejected one of your own, and you're loose one of your own
Then she stood up and her creature came to her and she got on top of it
Each member looked at each other, really confused
King: please explain to us more
Ma'am Mabelle : your life is at stake. You have to find a special mermaid to restore it
Then she swam away on her creature's back.
The king was perplexed
Duchess : your Neptune, what does that mean?
Nobleman: she said your life is at stake
Nobleman 2 : who's this special mermaid
Every member kept talking at the same time, throwing the king off balance.
Just then a messenger from one of the nobleman's house came rushing in
Messenger: your Neptune
All eyes turned to him
Messenger : the grey ditch, it's closed up
King: what?
Messenger : Jace took me there, I don't know why but it closed up
Nobleman 3: what Jace my son. What happened to him?
Messenger : he's okay, he said he only wanted to talk to Rainbow. But as we came to that region, we noticed from afar that it was not there anymore
Just then, the place began to shake violently
Things began to break and fall.
The walls began to dissect. Everything was falling apart
The guards ran to the king and queen and helped them inside
A large piece of the palace wall fell from the top and hit Jace's father.
Some guards ran there and removed it.
They all left the palace and went outside
Even that place wasn't left out.
Everything in Neptune's city was falling apart.
Mer-beings were dying and getting injured.
Everyone was fleeing
No one had time to look for anybody
In just few hours, no-one was left in the city
Everything crumbled down
The next day, it was cool.
So they went back to see what was remaining of their once vibrant city
Dead animals and beings were underneath rocks and sand
Cries of those who lost family members filled everywhere.
King Neptune tried to cheer them up but to no avail.
He then proclaimed that the next seven days was for mourning
And that the next seven days after the mourning will be for them to find out the cause of the disaster.
Jace who could Now swim didn't really understand what was going on.
He suspected the grey ditch to be responsible.
Maybe it closed up to enlarge underground and it caused a seaquake.
He sat down on a broken wall and buried his face into his palms.
He closed his eyes and saw Rainbow's face
Jace: Rain, are you responsible for this?
Her face disappeared
He opened his eyes and saw some messengers coming towards him
He stood up
Msg1: Jace, your father request to see you
Jace: that old man again
Msg2: he's hurt
Jace: what? Take me to him
They took him to where his father was laying in between the rest of the council and the king surrounded by guards.
His mother ran up to him in tears
Ma'am Nalyn : Jace, your father. He's dying. Please save him
He was confused
Jace: save father, how?
Ma'am Nalyn : there's a special magic in his lineage that can heal only the person from that lineage and only by the person's son
Jace: you mean, I have magic that can make father okay? But how?
Ma'am Nalyn : you'll feel it Jace. Please save your father
She was begging him because she knew he now hates his father
He sighed and swam towards them
Nobleman : no, Jace. Don't
Jace: father, I'm doing this because of mother
Nobleman : I'm not your father
His tone was serious
Jace : what
Ma'am Nalyn : ohh please, don't start now please. You can start fighting again when he's done please
Nobleman : he can't do anything for me. We're not related
King: explain more
Nobleman : Jace is your son. He's a prince
Everybody : what!
Nobleman : I stole him from you cause you already have one son, and I had none.
So when I heard my wife gave birth already, I was the first to see the baby and it was a daughter.
I took her and placed her in your son's position.
Unfortunately she died and you thought you lost a daughter
Queen : what? How dare you? How dare you do something so evil? You deserve to die
King: so because I placed you to be the overseer of birthrate, you have the guts to switch children?
Nobleman : I'm sorry, I regret it especially when Jace turned into a thorn in my flesh
Jace was lost in all of this, he turned round and swam away
His mother was crying, so did the queen.
Ma'am Nalyn loved Jace so much, she couldn't believe he wasn't hers and that hers was dead.
Shortly after he swam away, the nobleman died