Princess Master 3, page 22
“Did you hit its belly?” Jessamine asked from her place at my side. “That actually seemed to do something!”
“It did,” I said with a short nod. “I think I need to get closer so I can really get up under them.”
“I’m going to freeze time again so we can swim up next to them,” Cienna said. “I can’t wait for this fight to be over!”
The stingrays froze in position about fifty feet away from us, and we all started to swim quickly toward them. Like Cienna, I was definitely ready to get rid of these motherfuckers once and for all.
“Listen, I’m going to have to get really close to these assholes,” I told my wives. “I’m going to swim up and try to stab them in their bellies, but Ariana, I want you to make a bubble, and the three of you need to stay safe in there. I don’t need anyone getting hurt today.”
“Okay, Joe,” the three women said in a chorus of voices.
“Awesome,” I grunted, and then I swam away to approach the first stingray. When I was just a few feet away, I actually marveled for a moment at the beauty of the creature. Its gleaming scales were unlike anything I’d ever seen before, and I was almost sorry I was going to have to kill it. Then I imagined making the princesses purses and shoes out of its silver hide, and I snickered to myself.
With time still frozen, I swam up under one of the creatures and jabbed it as hard as I could with Genie’s Wrath. Another cloud of blackish liquid floated out of the cut and into my face, and I thought I would never get used to being surrounded by the disgusting blood of sea creatures. I stabbed upward again, and the stingray sank down a little toward the seafloor. I was encouraged, so I decided to try to injure its friend.
I swam under the bottom of the second stingray, and I was about to stab it, too, when time started to move again.
“Shit!” I yelled, and then I suddenly felt the heat of the beast’s tail hitting me in the side. It burned my bare skin again, and I wanted to scream out in pain, but I suddenly realized I couldn’t move a muscle. I was floating down toward the seafloor as the stingrays circled around me, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it.
And then, all of a sudden, my paralyzed limbs were released, and I watched in amazement as the tail that had hit me slowly moved backward in the water. I realized Cienna had managed to reverse time again, and when I glanced toward her, the blonde’s face was contorted with fierce determination.
“Joe, come here!” Ariana yelled, and I swam over toward the princesses. “I’m putting up my bubble for you, too!”
“Thanks, Ariana!” I told the mermaid, and then I looked at Cienna in amazement and patted her on the back. “Cienna, you did it! I was paralyzed for a second, and then you reversed time. That was incredible!”
“I can’t hold my spell anymore,” the blonde gasped, and time started again as she listed into my side. “I’m trying so hard right now, but I don’t feel quite like myself.”
“It’s alright,” I told her. “I know it’s hard when your confidence gets shaken, but you’re still doing amazing.”
“The stingrays are coming after us again,” Ariana said in a grim tone, and I felt another jolt from a giant tail shake the bubble. “I can usually hold the shield for as long as I want, but these blows are somewhat annoying.”
Suddenly an idea came to me, and I was pretty sure it would work if we executed it right.
“So, I have a plan, but it’s going to take all of us,” I told my wives as another shock from a stingray hit the side of the barrier. “Ariana, I need you to keep protecting Cienna and Jessamine. Cienna, do you think you can freeze time once more? If so, I want you to do it when the stingrays are really close to the ground. And then, Jessamine, remember how you made me small so I could escape the whale? I want you to do that again, and then I’m going to sneak under the stingrays. When I reach the middle of their bodies, I think if you make me big right at that moment, I’ll be able to burst right through them and kill them.”
“I don’t know, Joe…” Jessamine said in a hesitant voice. “Going under their bodies just seems… risky.”
“No, I can do this,” Cienna said, and though her lips were pale, she set them into a firm line. “I’m watching now to see when they get close enough to the ground, and then I’m going to freeze them for you.”
“That sounds great--” I began, but Cienna put out a hand to quiet me, and when the stingrays’ undersides were about a foot from the sea floor, time came to a halt. “You did it! Ariana, set me free so I can get this over with.”
As soon as the redhead released the shield, I swam as quickly as I could manage to a position near one of the monsters. I nodded at Jessamine, and after a long pause, she nodded back. Then the familiar tingling sensation raced through my veins, and before I knew it, I was about six inches tall again.
I swam under the stingray’s body and held Genie’s Wrath up in the air, and then suddenly, I sensed myself grow back to my regular size. As I’d predicted, the force of the blow was enough to push my huge sword up and through the giant beast, and I could see chunks of its armor drifting down toward the ground. The black cloud of blood was overwhelming, and I choked and gagged as I pulled my blade out of the stingray’s body. When it drifted down to the seafloor, I sincerely hoped it meant it was mortally wounded.
And then time started, and I realized I was about to get smacked with a tail again right before it happened. I felt the same paralysis overcome my body, and I thought I was going to become the second stingray’s victim. It swam up to me with its jaws open, and I could see its weird, flat teeth.
As I floated, completely motionless, I prepared myself to be attacked, but then I saw the stingray reverse. Its tail slowly pulled away from my leg, and I could move again. I couldn’t believe she’d managed to pull it off in her current state, but Cienna had saved me a second time.
I looked over at the blonde with a huge smile, but she just shook her head weakly. In preparation for the time spell’s end, I swam as far as I could away from the rays, but when the ocean whirled back into motion, I saw the still-intact monster begin to swim frantically in circles, which grew wider and wider in circumference. It seemed its buddy’s injury had really freaked it out, and before I knew it, the ray was at least two hundred feet away from us. I noted with satisfaction that the monster I’d stabbed rested motionless on the ground, and I hoped the process would work one final time.
So, I swam over to the princesses, and I saw Ariana briefly concentrate so she could include me within the invisible barrier.
“Joe, you got one of them!” Jessamine cried out with excitement, and she threw her arms around me. “I was so scared it wasn’t going to work, but you actually got it. And then Cienna, you reversed time again. How did you even manage it?”
I looked over at the blonde, and her cheeks were ashen as she rested against Ariana’s shoulder.
“I don’t know,” Cienna mumbled, “I have to admit I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to reverse time like that again anytime soon. It’s pretty tiring.”
“Listen, Cienna, I just need you to hang in there one last time,” I told her, and I reached over to squeeze her hand. “If Jessamine and Ariana help you, do you think you could freeze time just long enough for me to bring this last motherfucker down?”
“One last motherfucker…” the blonde laughed weakly, and I was afraid she was losing it a little, but then she looked up at me with clear, bright blue eyes. “Joe, I’m going to give everything I have to save us, don’t worry.”
“Alright, I think the sooner we do this, the better.” I gave the nod to Ariana to raise her shield for me, and I watched my wives grasp hands to give Cienna the support she needed.
Then time froze again, and I knew I didn’t have a moment to waste.
So, I swam as fast as I could over to the remaining stingray, and I realized it wasn’t as close to the ground as I would have preferred. The stingray’s belly was about four feet up off the seafloor, and when I got close to it, Jessamine made me small again. I swam as close to it as I could, but I knew the black-haired princess couldn’t see me anymore. There was definitely going to be an element of luck to this attack, and when I was in the center of the beast’s body, I held my sword up into the water and hoped for the best.
I waited for a long moment, and then two things happened at almost the same time. Time unfroze, and I flinched in anticipation of getting hit again, swallowed, or worse, but then the second half of the illusion took hold, and I burst up through the stingray’s body. This time, I grabbed Genie’s Wrath and darted quickly away from the animal and the cloud of blood, and I watched as the beast sank down to the seafloor.
“Holy shit,” I gasped, and I put my hands over my face for a moment. It seemed like this battle had gone on forever, and I was exhausted. I knew I needed to check on my wives, though, and I was especially worried about Cienna.
So, I swam back over to my wives’ position, and I followed their gaze over to the field that had previously been filled with polyps. Our fight had brought us about a hundred yards away, and we all watched more merpeople floating upward.
“Do you think we should go check on them?” I asked. “It seems like we should make sure they’re not paralyzed anymore.”
“Joe, I’m just not sure I can handle being regal at the moment,” Ariana sighed, and I could see her cheeks looked almost as pale as Cienna’s.
“Yeah, I get it,” I replied, and when I pulled the redhead’s body close to my own, she rested her head on my chest, and I could feel her shaking a little. “Hey, you pulled it off. You all did, really, because that fight required a lot of serious magic. Honestly, all I did was a little stabbing.”
“Well, you came up with the plan that saved us,” Jessamine said as she squeezed my shoulder. “Ariana, I have an idea. What if I briefly disguise you, and then you can swim over to check on the merpeople? If there are still problems, just signal to us, but otherwise, no one will recognize you, and we can be on our way.”
“That would be wonderful,” the mermaid told her sister-wife with a relieved smile, and before I knew it, her signature, bright-red hair had been transformed into dark brown strands. Ariana grabbed one of the chestnut locks and stared at it for a moment, and then she grinned. “I kind of like it, though I’d really like to see myself in a mirror right now. Anyway, I’ll be right back.”
We all watched as Ariana swam over to the field, and when she got there, she stayed back and observed for a moment. When she turned toward us again and began to swim in our direction, I was relieved it seemed like all was well. I wasn’t particularly in the mood to act royal, either, or, god forbid, get into another fight.
Ariana approached us with a big smile on her face, and I could tell she was relieved, too.
“So, they’re all okay?” I asked, and the mermaid nodded.
“They look fine,” the now-brunette reported, “and I didn’t even have to talk to anyone. But can I have my red hair back now?”
“Of course,” Jessamine laughed, and she completed the transformation. “I’ll also change the amulet back into the rock, too, just for safekeeping.”
“Fantastic!” I praised my dark-haired wife as I felt a slight shift of the item in my pocket. “Now, let’s get Cienna back to the chariot so she can rest.”
“Yeah, sounds good,” the blonde said in a quiet voice. “I’m really tired.”
“Does anyone see the chariot?” Ariana asked, and the mermaid looked around with a frown. “I’m a little disoriented, and I’m not sure which side of the field I stopped it on, but I don’t see it anywhere.”
We all looked around for a moment, and then we glanced back at each other in dismay.
Sure enough, Ariana’s brand-new ride seemed to be gone.
Chapter 13
“Oh, my gods,” Ariana gasped, and she covered her mouth in shock. “My chariot… my seahorses! Where is Callie?”
“Shit,” I swore, and I put my arm around the mermaid. “What the hell could have happened to it?”
“I-I c-can’t believe this,” Ariana murmured as she leaned into my shoulder. “I love my chariot, but all I care about is my animals. If anything happened to them…”
The redhead put her hands to her face, and her shoulders shook silently.
“Hey, we might need to look a little better,” I consoled the mermaid. “We’ll find it. I’ll go swim around. Maybe we just can’t see it from here.”
“Yeah, that’s a great idea!” Jessamine chirped, and she smiled reassuringly at Ariana. “Joe, I’ll come with you. You two stay here and just try to relax a little. We’re going to figure everything out.”
Jessamine and I swam a little ways away from Cienna and Ariana, and then we looked at each other with doubt in our eyes.
“The chariot’s most likely gone, right?” I sighed.
“I hate to say this, but it doesn’t look good.” The dark-haired princess looked at me and shook her head, and then she pointed a couple hundred feet away. “It looks like a lantern fell out, so I suppose we should go grab that, at least.”
As we swam to get the lantern, Jessamine and I gazed around the landscape that surrounded us. The field of polyps was entirely gone, and the only signs of our fight were the two bodies of the stingrays on the seafloor. Black blood was still floating up into the water, and I was relieved we’d won, but I couldn’t believe we’d lost Ariana’s chariot in the process.
“Well, I know this isn’t ideal,” I said as I picked the lantern up off the ground. “But hey, we’re good swimmers! I’m sure we’ll be able to figure something out.”
“You’re right, Joe!” Jessamine said as she seemed to brighten up. “I have to admit the chariot was going to make it easier to find Eudora, but I’m sure we’ll work it out anyway.”
“I suppose we need to go back and tell the villagers the news, though,” I groaned. “Ariana’s going to be sad, but let’s try to focus on the fact that we’re going to find it when we tell her. Because I’m sure we will!”
We swam back to Ariana and Cienna, who were both sitting on the ground. Cienna was leaning against her sister-wife with her eyes closed, and Ariana had her face covered with her hands.
“Sooo… it doesn’t look good, but we did find a lantern,” I said, and I flipped the switches on my armor to sit down next to them as the green light cast everything in an eerie glow. “Ariana, I’m so sorry.”
“This is unbelievable,” the mermaid told me, and she looked up at me with red eyes. “What are we going to do next? We lost all our supplies, we lost our map…”
“Well, we definitely need to come up with a plan, so let’s start by swimming back to that tiny village, and then we can regroup,” I suggested.
“Do you think my chariot got stolen?” Ariana asked. “I don’t see how that’s possible, but…”
“I bet the seahorses bolted during the fight,” Cienna said, and she opened her eyes to look at us. “Sometimes, even the bravest animals get scared. It happened to Starlight during our fight with Jamar, remember?”
“Yes, you’re probably right.” Ariana stared down at the ground and clasped her hands together. “Let’s head back to that town we were in, like Joe said. The good news is I figured out our orientation in relation to the village. We’re just a couple miles away, so it shouldn’t be too hard of a swim.”
“Yeah, I think we can handle it,” I agreed as I rubbed my forehead in thought, though I cringed a little as I looked around at all the strange schools of fish swimming around us. Some of them had skeletons that glowed through their skin, and others had rows upon rows of needle-like teeth. “All we need to do right now is get to safety, because I’d hate to run into more sharks, or, god forbid, more of Eudora’s minions.”
“Yes, I suppose we should go,” Ariana sighed as she pulled herself up from the ground. “Maybe we’ll see the chariot along the way…”
“That would be incredible,” Cienna said as she held her hands up to the mermaid, and Ariana pulled her to a standing position.
Then I used my hands to push myself up off the seafloor, and I reached down to assist Jessamine.
“It shouldn’t even take an hour to swim back to the village,” Ariana said, and I could tell she was trying to be cheerful despite the frown on her face. “Especially since mermaid’s kiss helps you all in the water.”
“Hey, we’ve done swims longer than this before,” I said to my wives as I tried to give them a little pep talk. “Remember when we went down to the Boneyard? I’m sure we’ll figure out what happened to the chariot. Everything is going to be okay!”
“Thanks, Joe,” Ariana replied, and she patted me on the arm. “You’re definitely helping me feel more optimistic.”
We all picked up our weapons and stashed them for travel, and then I grabbed the lantern off the ground. Given Ariana’s smarts, I didn’t doubt we were headed in the right direction, so I just followed behind my wives. We swam for several minutes in silence, and while I had to admit I missed the chariot, being in the water was at least a little relaxing. This swim would be easy, but I wondered what would happen as we got closer and closer to Eudora’s cave.
“What’s that?” Jessamine suddenly pointed down at the ground where the light from the lantern barely reached, and I noticed something I hadn’t seen while we’d been in the chariot. From our vantage point, it looked like a big group of rectangular rocks. Some of the stones were lying flat on the ground, while others stood up straight in the water.
“Let’s go check it out,” I suggested, since I figured looking at something interesting might help take our minds off our situation.
We swam down toward the seabed, and when we reached the ground, I held the lantern up so we could better see the stones. The pale rectangles were at least ten feet long, and they were scattered around the ground in different formations. Some of the rocks were embedded deep in the sand, while the ones that stood tall in the water looked like the walls of ancient buildings. Thick strands of kelp grew in between the slabs, and different shapes, sizes, and colors of deep-sea fish swam in and out of the leafy foliage. The leaves were so thick around us that it reminded me of the kelp forest we’d passed on our travels, and I sensed we were in some sort of sacred space from centuries or millennia back.
