igneous - lava

CH.2 - reunion

[lowercase intended]

CH.2 - reunion

"kai! don't leave me!" nya shrieked as their uncle grabbed her arm fiercely and pulled the little girl with him.

"stop! uncle stop, please!" kai begged, forced to watch as his sister was being dragged away from him. he started crying and clawed at his mothers' arms that held him in place, preventing him from running after nya.

"mom, let me go!" he cried out, his heart visibly breaking at the sight of his beloved sister and friend being taken away from the little boy. as the heavy doors shut he stopped moving and cried silently: "why... why does she have to leave? why, mom?"

"it is for the best, sweetheart. everything will be okay" his mother cooed as she hugged her son tightly. but kai could only stare at the door sorrowfully.

he did not eat or drink for days afterwards, locking himself in his room and praying that his sister may return to him soon. the cheerful and extroverted boy turned into a quiet shadow lurking through the halls of the palace. he was so young, only ten years old, so he could not understand why nya was so important to their relatives. he wanted her to come back, even if it cost him everything, he felt demolished without his other half, and the scene of her leaving him would be replaying in his dreams for years to come.

at that time, jay came into his life like a ray of sunshine bursting through a thick wall of clouds. when the rain was over and the sun shone again, the flowers would bloom and a rainbow will appear. kai had never really told jay how he had saved him at that time. it almost felt like nya had sent him. kai could see nya everywhere in jay - in the way the skin around his eyes crinkled when laughing or how the sun shone on his skin when they swam to a bay on the surface. it healed him, bit by bit, and so he swore that by the time nya would come back, he would be his usual self: always cheerful, making jokes and laughing at her bad jokes. if only she hadn't changed so much.

after her return, the two of them exchanged what happened in the last few years. kai introduced jay to her and told her how the two became friends after nya left. he could not wait to hear what nya experienced and was quite shocked when she answered all his questions: their relatives homeschooled her and was not allowed to go past the fence surrounding the house's garden. in the afternoon she was tutored in controlling her powers by former water elementals. their aunt taught her how to be "lady-like" and nya hated it. she knew how important she was for her kind and her family but still thought that being the queen was a responsibility too big for a girl in her early teens. the siblings talked for hours, deciding to never leave each others side for this long ever again.

The coronation day quickly approached with jay, kai and nya spending as much time together as possible. kai noticed jay being giddier around nya and almost more excited to hang out with her than kai was. whenever nya looked away, he could spot jay softly staring at her and smiling. as much as he wanted jay to be happy, he was afraid that the two of them might exclude him from their activities if they got together. but kai doubted nya would let that happen after all the two went through.

"kai, sweetheart, could you come here for a second?" his mother said, waving at her son. after kai approached her, she asked him if he could go to the surface and get some algae for a special salad that was being prepared for the banquet. since the palace was located in a depth of approximately 3.000 meters, it took around half an hour for him to get to the algae.

kai quickly reached his destination and swam into a big cluster of seaweed, wanting to collect as much as he could carry. he felt the soft warmth of the sun shining, enjoying it as much as he could. the light usually did not reach the palace and it was often cold in that depth. one of a mersharks most characteristic features is its skin, not only varying in colour but also in thickness compared to the skin of landgoers. he rarely visited the surface and the cold didn't bother him either, but he had to admit that the mild heat did feel pleasant. as he was admiring his glowing skin while collecting algae, he felt a slight ripple going through the water, gradually getting stronger. he perked his long and pointy ears at the sensation and could not help but feel uneasy. something big was coming.

- 816 words