AU - Jessen of the Sea - pt.12

The screaming of maids woke Kai up from his nap.  He had accidentally fallen to sleep at his desk, warmed by the sunshine and the warm breeze that blew through his window.  His two blue birds twittered excitedly from their large cage next to him, but he paid them no attention as the screaming continued.

It sounded as if they were being attacked… Kai yawned as he sat up and looked out the window.  No enemy ships were in sight, no smoke rose from the village… Kai’s eyes fell on the little cove and he swore.  There was a giant, dark green creature attacking the wall!  Kai’s heart jumped into his throat at the sight of the vicious monster that rose from the waves and knew that it was that creature that called forth the screams of the maids.

Jessen!

Before he knew what he was doing, his feet had led him to the twisty pathway that led to the beach.  Heavy tread followed him and he quickly turned to see Meikyou, his little sister’s guard, racing after him.  He nodded to the younger man and continued on his descent as quickly as he could without tossing himself over the rocky cliff-edge.

They were nearly at the end of the pathway when the giant sea-serpent shrieked high and jumped clear of the wall.  In the open water, it dashed the little boat that was tied there to slivers before turning on the man who was racing across the jagged rocks in fright.  Kai took note of the man, a dignitary from a neighboring country, before continuing.  He had no love for the man, though he wished him luck in escaping the sea-monster and did not wish him dead, but the fool had it coming.

Meikyou grabbed onto Kai’s arm to stop him from racing across the sand to the clear water.  He shot a glare back at the guard, then realized what he was doing.  There had been a sea-serpent swimming in the cove… what was to say there wasn’t something else quite as dangerous swimming in those churned up waters now?  But what about Jessen?  What if the merman had been caught between that fight?  Why had there been a sea-serpent in the cove, anyways?

Brave navy ships were sailing in the open sea and Kai gasped when he saw a great ridged back slip from the waves and a horned serpent’s head rise high out of the water.  The foreigner was nowhere to be seen.

“Kai, look,” Meikyou’s low voice was nearly as urgent as the hand on Kai’s arm.  Kai looked to where the blond was pointing and felt worry still his heart for a moment before he pulled himself free of Meikyou and raced across the sand towards the figure bleeding on the sand.

It was Jessen.

But there was something… something… there was blood everywhere- in the water and waves, and on the sand, and Kai noticed a long, metal harpoon sticking out of the sand and… a leg?  Legs… legs, that’s what was different.  The white haired prince covered his mouth as he fell to his knees in the sand next to Jessen’s prone body.  The merman was a human!  It was just like Imikin’s fairytale…  But why?  How?

Kai looked up when Meikyou kneeled in the sand on the other side of the naked merman-turned-human and Kai watched as Mei’s strange blue eyes swept down the unmarked skin of Jessen’s back.  Kai’s eyes followed the trail of Jessen’s spine as well, and he felt his face burn as his eyes traveled across the naked rear-end.  Jessen’s new legs were well formed and strong looking, if not for the metal pole that still stuck out of his left calf.

“This man- Kai, do you know who this is?” Meikyou asked quietly, meeting Kai’s own blue eyes.

“He- ah, his name is Jessen.  I … I do not know why he is, er, naked and-”

“-And why he has legs now when just yesterday he had fins.”

Kai eyed Meikyou curiously, “… yes, that too.  How- how do you know-”

Meikyou rolled his eyes in Kai’s general direction, “My Prince, you do remember who I guard, do you not?  Miss Imikin may be one wonderful secret keeper from everyone else, but I am her guardian, and she tells me things she would never even think of in the public of others.”

Kai eyed the taller man briefly before he shook his head and gently, lightly ran his hand over Jessen’s now-smooth back.  The ridges and fins he was used to were gone, and Kai’s hand would have probably continued exploring the new, smooth back if Meikyou had not distracted him yet again.

“He’s hurt, bad,” the tall young man said, “Look you there, at his legs.”

Kai did as told and grimaced.  Where Jessen’s tail had been wounded before rested healing cuts and deep lacerations on his feet and legs; in one leg was a long harpoon, like previously noticed and blood seemed to be everywhere.  Kai’s hands automatically went to the wound in an attempt to staunch the bleeding, but Meikyou pulled them away.

“He needs more help than what you or I can give him, my lord,” Meikyou said, “I daresay the doctors in the castle would be able to take care of him, though we will have to do something about… well, those ears of his.  And we will have to figure out a reason for a young, naked man to have a harpoon in his leg.  Perhaps we can say that he was attacked by a drunken sailor…?”

“No one has ever seen him before, though,” Kai said as he stood.  Meikyou stood as well, and together, rolled Jessen over carefully, taking care of his harpooned leg.  “Perhaps we could say he is a royal son from a kingdom far across the sea that just arrived and was found in bad straights down by the harbor?”

Meikyou took off his sleeveless overcoat and tied it around Jessen’s hips.  “Whatever we do, we need to do it fast, my lord.  He is loosing more blood as we speak-”

Kai nodded as his eyes traveled across the merman’s prone body once more, before stopping on his still-finned ears.  “What are we going to do about those?” he asked, kneeling down to run a finger across the finned ridges of Jessen’s ear.

“Your sash would work for now,” Meikyou said, motioning to the blue fabric tied around Kai’s waist, “When he wakes, we will have to tell him to keep those ears of his covered.  Now, let’s get him off this beach before the navy sees us and we have to answer all those awkward questions.”  Meikyou’s sharp eyes glanced around the cove, “I will hunt out Rosokov Garim after we have taken care of this.”

“Rosokov-?”

“The fellow who was baiting the sea-serpent,” Meikyou said as he lifted Jessen easily into his arms.  “No, no, I do not need help,” he grinned at the worried looking Prince, “Just make sure I do not fall down the path and keep your little sister from racing and tripping me on accident.”

“As if you would ever trip over my sister,” Kai teased, his worry fading just slightly, “Let’s be off.”

~