The World Beneath The Waves Ch. 02

Author's Note:

My dearest readers,

Thank you for your patience during the time it took for me to release this, I'd love nothing more right now than to spend more time working on it, however, sadly, life gets in the way sometimes as it has a tendency of doing, I was aiming for last weekend but, of course, I was sick as a dog.

For any who might be wondering, I do indeed have a direction in which I'm aiming the story to go, I'm currently a couple of chapters ahead of this one, however, due to my wanting to ensure that each chapter is properly written and as free of grammatical errors and plot holes as possible, I'm going to be aiming at getting a chapter out around once per week, though the exact day may vary to account for the time it takes to get approved and posted up.

Finally, my sincerest thanks for your votes, it really gives both inspiration and insight as to how good of a job I am doing so please don't let up! If you like it, please feel free to comment, if you don't then by all means let me know where I may be going wrong or how I might improve, either in comments or PM.

Well, I think I've rambled on enough for now, so please, enjoy!

Love and hugs,

~ V

-

"Richard, it's the middle of summer! There's not a cloud in the sky, what in the blazes are you doing moping around here in the library for?"

"The light keeps hurting my eyes, grandad, I can't read when it shines through the windows."

"Read? What the devil is a boy your age doing being stuck inside reading at this time of year?"

"I found a book in the back, it's brill! It reminds me of all the stories you told me when I was a baby."

"You're ten years old, lad, not exactly much more than a baby as you are now, haha.."

"If you say so grandad, I'm more grown up than the other kids at school at least!"

"Well, I suppose being able to tie your own shoes at least puts you upon something of a pedestal eh?"

"I can skim stones the furthest too!"

"Hahaha, I'm sure you can, my boy. So what is it that's got you so enthralled?"

"Entalled? Um, it's a book about people who live under the sea, they look like people but they have this big tail instead of legs!"

"Sounds like Merpeople to me."

"Yeah, them!"

"Always the inquisitive one eh? You're more like your father than you'll ever know, my boy. Come now, tea's ready, your grandma has it waiting for us outside on the porch, and she'll have my hide if I don't get back without you with me."

"Can I bring the book?"

"Heh, if you must, my boy."

-

Chapter 2 - Comprehension

Richard slowly found his conciousness once again gracing him with it's presence as he finally started to become aware of himself once more, he had not opened his eyes yet, though he was at least partly sure that he wasn't dead, not yet anyway, though something was different.

He felt..lighter, weightless almost, was the whole thing a dream? Was he dreaming now? Where was he, anyway? If he was at home, wouldn't he be able to feel the pliable embrace of his bed around him? Come to think of it, why did every breath feel like he was inhaling liquid air?

Wait..the expedition!

The disc!

The kraken beast!

The Merpeople!

His eyes bolted open, partly in hope, part in disbelief as he darted his gaze around the small room he now found himself in. It could not have been more than perhaps eight square feet and sealed by a barred bronze gate.

He went to move toward it but found his wrists clapped in irons that suspended from chains that appeared to be built into the wall through a small iron socket upon each side of the wall.

Thankfully they appeared slack enough to allow him some relative free movement about his body, though no more than that.

He berated himself mentally for the thought only just coming to him, but how in the hell was he able to breathe in this place, he most definetly felt the mercurial sensation of water about him, yet somehow his lungs took to it as they would the crip air of an autumn morning.

"Hello?" He called out.

"Is anyone out there? Can anyone hear me?"

A few seconds passed, nothing. He called out again, nothing.

Then he heard something, a subtle swishing noise as one might expect of something propelling itself through the water, apparently his hearing had adapted as well beneath the waves as his breathing.

A figure edged from the obscured right side of the gate, a pair of brilliant green eyes that matched his tail burning into him as he cocked his head to the side and spoke something in what he could only self-designate as "Merish".

"Lia'sk vel'thra?"

The guard paused a moment, clearly expecting a response.

"Look.." he said, might aswell try, right?

"I don't know what this place is, or where I am, but I swear, there's been some kind of huge mix-up here.."

The guard said nothing, remaining still, his eyes casting off a little to the side before darting back to him, perhaps as if realization had struck.

A few seconds went by before the guard finally set his spear to rest upon the wall next to the cell, his hands coming to his helmet to remove it in a smooth motion, holding it in rest underneath his arm.

This was the first opportunity Richard had to properly get a look at the fascinating, if apparently, greatly unwelcoming species that he had so inadvertently chanced upon.

Their skin, aside from the colour, did not appear, from this distance at least, to look much different in terms of texture than his own.

The next words from the guard bolstered his hope like nothing he ever though would.

"Yeu..hoo..man?" the words were slow and clumsy, as if he was trying to remember a phrase of a long dead language.

He nodded with renewed enthusiasm.

"My name.." he said, attempting to match the guard's tone,

"Is Richard, Richard Renfield, I am human.."

"Heuman.." the guard's pronunciation improved

slightly, though his expression darkened.

"Heuman..no want, no summoon, heuman atak Me'lae.." his voice took on a one to match his expression as he took up his spear again, clanging it against the gate with each pause.

Hope ebbed away from Richard faster than he would have thought possible as he pulled with futile efforts against his bonds.

"No, you have it wrong, I did not come here looking for a fight, I didn't even mean to land myself here at all!" he protested, though his words appeared to fall upon ears unwilling to listen as the guard let out a dismissive snort before replacing his helmet back upon his head and veering off away from the cell.

"Hey, where are you going?!" he called after him.

The guard stopped, looking over his shoulder

"Y'elaigh phn'yae drask de Shas'kia.." he said simply as he disappeared through the archway opposing the cell.

Alone again, he took a moment to examine himself, since his surroundings had made it quite clear that he would be leaving nowhere in any hurry. He found himself still in his diving suit, for the most part at least, his flippers had been detached from his boots and his upper suit appeared to have been cut open from the middle of the collar down to his navel, exposing his toned chest beneath.

It looked as though they attempted to remove it completely, deciding against it however, for whatever reason.

He heard a faint garbled speech coming from the archway which brought him from his thoughts as he saw through the azure blue of the water, several more of the merpeople, most of them dressed as the rest of the guards he had thus far encountered, all save but the one in the middle whom appeared to be their charge.

And such a charge was she.

The armour of the guards was forgone in favour of a dark orange coloured blouse that subtly caught the rays of light around it through a very subtle weave of what appeared to be fish scales and bound itself at the front with simple green ties.

The garment came down to just past her midriff, where her humanoid anatomy melded with her tail and Richard could not help but notice that it did less than he would have liked, given the situation, to shroud her womanly endowments with any modesty, his heart quickened simply looking at her.

Her delicately braided hair, luminescent eyes and substantial tail were coloured of a deep scarlet and she wore around her forehead a simple headband, carefully constructed from seaweed and decorated with a variety of small delicate seashells and upon her beautiful face was the gift of the most beautiful smile he was sure any mortal man would die just to gaze upon for a second longer.

He found himself quite unable to take his eyes from hers, his body all but frozen in captivation at the sight he beheld.

She shifted forwards with a flick of her cordal fin and brought herself up to the gate, her guards following suit in good measure.

She then began to speak, and her voice, much as her gaze, sought to send nirvana to his heart with it's angelic melody.

"Vea'le le J'aska" she said with a small bow of her head.

Richard imagined he must have had the most dumbfounded look on his face as he came to his senses, he bowed his head in return, daring not for a second to risk upsetting this angel of the seas.

Upon looking back up again he also came to notice that she possessed a pair of both keen and prominent fangs that shimmered of pearl as the rest of her teeth.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you, human, I have heard many things of you since you were brought here to the Sanctuary. I am Elliana, envoy to her Majesty, Queen Velunia of the Me'lae, our Shoal."

Richard was broken from his entrancement, though only enough to be able to force his mind to put together a coherent sentence at the invigorating relevation that she could actually speak English.

"T-the p-pleasure is a-all mine..M-M'lady.." he stammered.

One of the guards leaned in and whispered something in the maiden's ear, bringing a somewhat sorrowful crease to her beautiful features, she nodded nonetheless before turning her attention back to Richard.

"I'm afraid I must apologize, but I would be closer to you than this, and as I'm sure you understand, given the circumstances, my guards must take precautions.."

Richard stood confused for a moment,

"I don't quite understand what you me-argh!" his sentence was cut short by the heavy thud of a guard hitting something upon the wall by him, which was quickly followed by a mechanical whirring and jarring force upon his arms as the chains suddenly retracted, holding his arms up in a "Y" position and rendering him quite unable to move, save for kicking, though he doubted that would do him any good anyway..

The maiden nodded and spoke something in her native tongue, having the guard to the opposite side nod in acknowledgement and slide what sounded like a heavy metal bolt away from the door and cast it open, allowing the maiden to flick herself forward some more until she was but a few feet from him.

Up this close, Richard noticed that her physical size was not too disproportionate to his own, save for the tail of course, which folded gracefully as she lowered herself a few inches to bring her face level to his, her eyes sparkling and her smile returning which Richard was all too grateful to look upon again.

His eyes cast to her fangs again, up this close they appeared much more intimidating in their beauty, though he could not deny that they complimented her smile, as the rest of her features perfectly.

He must have visually displayed his slight anxiety at such a sight with her next words, and the look she gave him, that of comfort and consolation.

"Do not be afraid, for despite your current..predicament, I assure you that we mean you no harm."

Richard let out a deep breath, his mind still battling to comprehend all that was happening to him.

"At the moment, m'lady, my predicament is something beyond any comprehension I could hope to piece together. How I got here, where "here" even is, what that bloody giant squid was all in aid of, who you are, and why in the nine hells I can breathe underwater.."

He caught himself mid-sentence for fear of rambling and slumped forward in resignation, the chains holding firm about his wrists.

"I'd just like to get back home.." he said in a melancholy tone, his eyes casting down to her tail, and then to the floor beneath.

To his surprise he felt the cool, soothing touch of a delicate hand upon his cheek that gently lifted his gaze back to her, a pained, merciful expression creasing her beautiful face.

"I cannot imagine how hard it must be, and I'm sure there is no end to the questions you have right now, but I would ask you to please give us your patience, all will be explained to you in time."

She paused a moment, looking back to the guards who had so far remained stoic throughout and spoke something in her all too foreign tongue.

The guards looked to each other in some concern before one replied in what Richard guessed to be a concerned manner.

He waved her hand dismissively and spoke something else, eventually one of the guards begrudingly thumped the wall to Richard's left and he immediately felt the chains give way, sending him to his knees upon the floor of his cell as the slack chains gathered about his arms.

He looked to Elliana with confusion as she turned back to him, smiling once more.

"My bodyguards feel you unfit to be let out of your cell yet, despite my empathic intuition, they still percieve you as too much of a threat."

A smile crept to the corner of her lips.

"Unfortunately for them, I speak with the word of Her Majesty whilst here and thus, I dub you suitable to be released from this place and given somewhere more befitting a guest of the Me'lae."

She waved her hand in front of him, mumbling a sub-vocal phrase and Richard felt a quick but powerful jarring force around his wrists as the very water around them seemed to pull the iron cuffs open.

He tentatively got to his feet, the lack of gaseous oxygen in his lungs apparently being enough to keep him planted upon the floor.

This was getting to be just too much. In the last, he guessed, twenty four hours he had dove to the bottom of the ocean, fought with one creature of myth, only to be apparently cast into some unknown depth, within which he would find himself beset by another set of creatures of myth and was now speaking to the emissary of their Queen.

He could only nod in acknowledgement initially but forced himself to speak.

"Thank you, m'lady, I don't really know how the, uh, the Me'lae express gratitude here, but I will do my best to be as little hassle as possible.."

She giggled a little, guiding him down a small array of stone corridors, ending in one that sported an ornate brass contraption that revealed it's nature to be that of an elevator. It slowly gained momentum as it began to elevate them from the labyrinthine prison.

"Oh you needn't worry about inconvenience here, human, I believe you will come to see all too soon that we will be quite happy to have you here. Your little brawl with the guards has fast travelled the currents of Le'Yiah. Not many could face six of the Coral Guard and live to recount such a thing.."

Richard looked to her as they acended further still.

"Le'Yiah?"

Elliana nodded, placing her hands tenderly upon his shoulders and turning him around to face the opposite direction, to a sight that left him open mouthed in sheer awe and wonder.

It stood there before him, proud and mesmerising in it's entirety, the most magnificent city built into the side of a colossal mountain that itself was perforated with innumerable pins of light across it's face that indicated further habitation within.

The buildings themselves, like so much else down here, reflected the rays of light that shone down from the surface that, despite the obvious depth of the place, was still made visible far, far above.

Richard could only guess as to the material used to construct them, given the environment he assumed coral, though there was the occasional hint of copper among some of the buildings.

The city spanned out for miles in front of them as the elevator came to a gradual halt, connecting with a glass tunnel that led them straight out onto a promenade that overlooked the city proper below.

"Come, Her Majesty as ordered a room for you be prepared within the walls of the Aegis, she would have you well rested before your audience."

"Audience?"

"Oh yes, she, like many others, wishes to know how you came to be here, and what your intentions are."

He looked outward to the city as they made their way toward the mountain, a slight tugging at his gut as he finally began to consider his predicament.

"I wish I knew myself how I got here..all I remember is that damn disc, not to mention the bloody huge squid that made it's home there.."

She looked to him curiously,

"Squid?"

"Yeah, biggest living thing I ever saw in my entire life, closest thing to a Kraken if I ever saw one, it was supposed to be a creature of legend, then again.." he motioned to her, and then to the city below.

"So were your people, and places like this..I was told god knows how many stories in my childhood about your people and places such as this..but I never believed any of it could actually be, well..real."

Elliana said no more, simply nodding in understanding as they eventually found their way to a heavy set of jade coloured doors that were promptly opened by the sentries guarding it.

From here, the mountain looked infinitely greater in it's scale, almost intimidatingly so as they headed through.

She led him through a series of corridors, most of them bearing ornamentaion of some kind, murals within the walls, pictures pieced together in a manner resembling mosaics, he supposed they passed for their version of portraits down here.

Their journey eventually ended with her shifting in front of him and stopping before one of the doors, extending a hand towards it.

"These shall be your quarters for now." she said simply.

Richard nodded, opening the door to be greeted by a generously sized room, sporting an ornamental king sized bed at the centre of the back wall, a finely grafted heart at the other, the fireplace radiating heat from a small pile of blazing white stones that cast the room in a calm white glow.

A fine looking table and a couple of chairs were placed just by the hearth, as well as a bookcase containing a number of stone tablets, doubtless written in the Me'lae's language.

"It is modest, but functional, and I assure you that your needs will be met as generously as possble during your say." She said, bowing her head solemnly.

Richard turned back to her.

"Thank you, Elliana, it's far more than is warranted I'm sure, and a damn site better than that cell.." he couldn't help but laugh a little, she seemed to smile at that.

"I shall leave you to acclimatise, then. Shall I have some food prepared for you? A maiden for your chamber perhaps?"

Richard recoiled a little, "Maiden?"

She nodded, "A companion for the evening, it may help put you at ease a little, you seemed to tense on our journey here."

"Um.." he wracked his brains, he'd barely even begun to understand his situation and he was being presented with such a thing? "No, it's just an offer, it's not like I have to accept, argh, but refusal might be taken as an insult or something, oh bloody hell, why did this have to happen to me..?!"

"Are you alright?"

Her voice snapped him back to reality once more as his mouth made his decision before his head did.

"Yes, yes that would be, er, most delightful, thank you, Elliana." He hastily bowed his head in return of her previous gesture.

"I can just..talk to her, right? Maybe she's right, maybe she could help me understand what's going on here.." the voice in his head spoke one thing, though the familiar tension in his body threatened to challenge it, he could only hope that whatever happened, he would be able to stay out of trouble.