Mioge

By: Mangahottie740

( I promise I am going to put more description of the whole Mermaid city in this story. All Merpeople in the Kingdom are in someway High Class. -Sorry if some of my descriptions are a bit unclear. I have described them well, but it doesn't seem clear. Please bear with it.-

The Ones that stay in other parts of the Mermaid City are Middle or Low Class

Chapter Four. A Dream, A Thought An Herb

The things were after him again. They had haunted his mind for the past few days. They had haunted his vision. They had haunted his being. They had haunted the very essence of his being.

Every night he relived that dreadful time on the thrashing waves. The dark night when he was struck down by the evil Ternak, and was sent spiraling down to the ocean's rocky bottom. And everytime he thought of that he thought of that piercing pain of being stabbed through the back, and of the breaking of some of his bones.

But on this particular night, the dream was slightly altered. And it was not for the better. Now hundreds of nasty Ternak were around him, threatening him with massive pincors on flailing tentacles. They had angry and malicious looks on their faces; fires were burning in their eyes.

He watched in horror and silence as one of the Ternak extended it's long tentacle towards him, fast and unyielding. But he could not move, he was paralyzed it seemed.

He heard the thwak and felt the sharp, stinging pain of it, before going down. The water was frigid, freezing, like he was in some artic place. His whole body ached and writhed, trying to get back to the surface. But the Ternak who were surrounding him came ever closer.

It seemed like his drop to the bottom would never come to an end, it was almost like he would go on forever in the downward direction that seemed very much to be his doom. He did not know how he had so much air, but he did, and he was able to sustain himself a little longer.

His dark eyes looked at the fast approaching evil monsters and he was terrified for his life. He had no possible way of escaping them. They were definantly faster than him in the water. They were way more experienced in the ways of the ocean and could handle it better.

He watched as one of the brutes extended a long purple tentacle, reaching out towards him in an malevolent way. The thing seemed to be laughing, a smile curled up on his ugly features.

And then it grabbed him and threw him down hard onto the rocky bottom. The crack could be heard for miles around. Before he knew it the creature was upon him again, thrusting it's nasty head at him.

But then it all dispersed, and he was left in a void of nothingness, and his dream was no more.

Aílntidäle watched Mioge, worriedly. He was thrashing about on his bed, moaning and screaming in terrible fear, and she could not help him. She was utterly powerless to what was happening. She couldn't stand being useless to him, he looked very scared and hurt.

She had told the healer that he was doing this a night ago, but she had just said it was a nightmare. But to her it was more than that. It was a neverending nightmare, for as of yet Mioge hadn't showed any signs of wakefulness. She began to wonder if he would ever wake up, or if he would just lie on that bed, thrashing and writhing, a vegetable; a mind trapped in torment and suffering, unable to bend it's will to the use of the body. It was terrible. But, she thought, at the same time it was rather fascinating. It was fascinating to see the power of imagination, which is usually a docile force; unable to express itself for a lack of reality. But now it exerted itself, and she could see plainly the power it held upon Mioge, who was under it's illusion of a few nights ago.

Despite his mental state of mind, his body was healing rapidly. Already the puncture wound in his back was sealing up, and all of his other injuries as well.

As Aílntidäle gazed at Mioge, another thought struck her. Where did this man come from? Why was he even trying to swim across the ocean? A few thoughts ran through her head.

Her first thought was a reasonable but false explanation. Maybe it was a dare. Had he been competing against someone else's beliefs, had he been pompous enough, and that full of pride, that he had taken someone's stupid dare? She wasn't quite sure.

Her next thought was that he had been testing himself. She knew how much humans wanted to be the best. She knew how their pride got ahead of them sometimes. And she also knew the extent to which humans would go to get what they wanted.

Her final belief, which was closest to the mark, was that he was running away from someone, or something. He didn't look dumb enough to let his pride overtake him, nor did he look pompous enough to let someone trick him into something. But he also looked like he could fight anything that crossed his path. Why would he run? But, as she remembered, the Ternak had defeated him, so he could not defeat anything. She continued her musings as the day wore along.

The light filtering down on the City of Mer was enough to light the whole city. Tall stone structures, as large as skyscrapers, towered from the ocean bottom, held up by pillars of marble. The marble pillars had seaweed and kelp wrapping around their circular figures, and the plants shone a bright green in the sunlight.

In the center of the City of Mer was the Mer Kingdom. The deep trench that served as the Kingdom's moat ran across straight from the Kingdom Door, seperating two pieces of land. A great stone bridge connected the two halves of land, which were two seperate parts of the city.

On the left side of the Kingdom the City of Mer was in ruins. For this part of the City was old. It had been built long ago by some unknown Mer ancestors. Crumbling archways led into demolished temples of some forgotten religion- not saying that the Mers had forgotten religion, they, just like the Egyptians, lost it, and found a new one. Rocks were strown everwhere across the vast plane, and underwater grasses grew on just about any clear surface it could find.

However, the other half was beautiful. Strong iron gates blocked the end of the bridge. There was a gatehouse for the Mer who opened the gate. Just after the entryway a huge circular wall dominated the place. It was made out of stone, as well, and the kelp and seaweed around it were growing tall.

Inside of the wall, for their was a gate, was another circle. Only, this circle was placed about ten thousand feet away, and in between the two circles a city flourished. Up against the nearest wall, the tall buildings rested. Then, there was an sapphire blue walkway leading in a circle to all of the tall buildings. On the other side of the walkway smaller buildings, houses stood, built in the way of an ordinary house, only made out of sapphire stone and having a red-shingled roof.

And this was the way it went: the first circular wall, a city, another circular wall, another city, another wall, and then a courtyard containing a huge temple. This is where all of the Lower Class and Middle Class Mers lived.

One of the Middle Class Mers, Teuipo, was swimming gracefully away out of the City of Mer. He had been sent to get some wild underwater herbs for his mother, who was the city healer, and who was attending to his brother- who was badly hurt. His brother had been in an accident with a sword while in training, and had gashed open his chest and stomach.

Teuipo was rather young, about seventeen years old, and he had long sandy-blonde hair. He liked swords very much, and he believed in working out. He could easily defeat many of the other Mers in the whole ocean with his strength. But he possessed more than just that. He had cunning, intelligence, and a strong sense of good will. And since he came from a poorer Middle Class family, this was very good.

He liked adventures but he was not excited about this mission he was on now. His brother could die. He had to get the herb.

Teuipo had no idea that he was not the only one out getting herbs. As he neared the herb he wanted, Wasfafia, which only grows one time a year, and only one in bloom, he saw one of the Royal Mers coming to get it also. He knew her instantly as the Kingdom Healer. He stopped, looking at her, and she did the same.

"What have ye come for, young one?" she asked in her quavering speech. She looked at him unblinkingly, waiting for his answer.

"I need the Wasfafia herb, Mrs.-" he stopped, for he did not know her name.

"Mrs. Meru, I am called, and I, too, have come for the herb. I have a patient that needs it badly." His expressioned hardened.

"I have a loved one who needs it badly." Meru looked at him, still unblinking.

"I am sorry, then, but I have to take it." His expression then flustered as she grabbed the Wasfafia out of the ground.

"But then my dear brother will surely die!" he whispered, "You've got to give it to me. Who is your patient anyway?"

"My patient is a human. He was recently attacked and now he has hurt himself in his severe mental state."

"A human? How pathetic! Why would you want to save him?"

"Do ye know who ye are talking to like that?" she yelled back. He didn't care who he was talking to, not when his brother was about to die.

"Mrs. Meru," he growled, his quick temper getting the better of him. But she did not argue back, she simply swam away towards the Kingdom. His mind was racing. He had to do something fast. But what could he do?

Suddenly an idea struck him. He would steal it from her. He would stalk her into the Kingdom and then take it, and swim back out, and give his brother the herb he needed.

But he had to hurry. Time was sparse for his brother. He wanted him to live more than anything else in the world, and he would do anything for him. And that was why he was now going to break the law: stealing from royalty, for one thing, and breaking into the royal castle for another. But all of that was worth it if his brother lived. That was all he asked for.

He set off at a slow pace, falling gracefully behind boulders and brush everytime the aged healer turned around. She did not have a clue that he was following her... good. But if only his whole plan would go this well. He could see the herb in her withered hand, drooping over it's contours. He needed that...

He watched as she turned around again, quickly hiding himself behind a large rock. Why she kept turning around, he did not know, apparently he was being loud. He would have to be more silent. He knew the consequences if he didn't, and he wasn't willing to risk his poor brother's life, his dear brother that meant the world, and more, to him.

A/N: I know, I know, Teuipo was thrust into the story instamatically. But tried to give him character depth. He will play a big role in the story though, so this was needed.