24 hours earlier in the mermaid kingdom…

Queen Neridia is sitting on her throne, just like any other day, but today there is no one inside the Royal court other than the Royal ministers.

There are 13 Royal ministers in Neridia’s Royal Court, out of which… 10 are female mermaids and the other 3 are male mermaids.

“I am getting bored,” Neridia spoke with a bored expression.

“My Queen, you should go and utilize your important time in some other activities instead of sitting here and wasting it,” Minister Tidalia spoke up.

Tidalia is one of the oldest ministers in Neridia’s court; she has been a minister since Neridia’s father was the king.

“You say that, Madam Tidalia… But you are sitting there since early morning, and if you are sitting there at that age, why can’t I?” Neridia replied with a smile.

“My Queen, my age is just too much for this minister stuff… I am thinking of retiring now,” Tidalia replied with a smile.

“Madam Tidalia is right, My Queen. She is really getting old. I guess that’s why sometimes she forgets to stand up after sitting on her seat… Hahaha,” Minister Azura spoke as she tried to crack a funny joke, but no one laughed.

“Come on, Guys. That was funny… Right, Drakon?” Azura asked as she looked at the male mermaid sitting beside her.

“Nope, not even one bit… That’s worse than a human’s sense of humour,” Drakon replied with a straight face.

“My Queen, I agree with Madam Tidalia, you should go and do something else with your precious time,” another minister advised.

“Okay, Okay… We will decide it with voting. How many of you guys want me to take the day off from this court and do something that I like, give me a show of hands,” Neridia asked.

Immediately twelve of the ministers sitting inside the Royal Court raised their hands, but one of them kept their hands down.

“Oi, Seafern. Do you want our Queen to sit inside an empty Royal Court instead of letting her do something interesting with her time?” Azura asked with a serious expression.

Seafern didn’t speak anything; instead, he continued to stare blankly into the air.

Seafern is one of the most talented ministers that Neridia has in her Royal Court. Seafern is not only a disciplined scholar, but he is also known as the master of martial arts.

“What’s wrong, Seafern? Are you alright?” Queen Neridia asked with a smile.

“Oh, he is always like that. It’s like he is looking at some ghost in front of him. Sometimes when I see him at night, I get scared,” Azura spoke.

“Have some shame; he is blind, and you are making fun of him? How disappointing,” Drakon spoke.

“H-Hey… I-I didn’t mean it in that way, and-”

Crack

Suddenly, a cracking sound came from Seafern’s body.

“Seafern, What are you doing?” The minister that was sitting beside Seafern asked.

Suddenly Seafern’s tail, like a fish, started turning into two human-like legs.

“Why is he using his legs?” Azura asked with a confused expression.

“Seafern, What are you doing?” Neridia asked with a serious expression.

Suddenly, Seafern stood up from his seat and summoned his pair of green shining Gelatin blades.

“Woah… Woah… Calm down, Seafern,” Drakon spoke as he stood up from his seat and turned his tail into legs form as well.

Seafern didn’t stop and started running towards Neridia without speaking anything.

“We have to stop him…” Azura spoke as she transformed her tail into legs form and summoned two long chains in her hand.

All the other ministers sitting inside the Royal court stood up as well and transformed their tails into leg forms.

This process of transforming tails into legs is used for fighting in the mermaids and it is called Aquamorphosis.

“Catch him from the left side, Azura. Everyone else protect the Queen,” Drakon shouted.

“Yes…” Azura replied.

“Let him go…” Tidalia spoke with a smile.

“Lady, Tidalia… What are you say-?” Before Azura could’ve completed her sentence, Tidalia flickered her hand, and a strong wave of water pushed all of the Royal ministers away from Seafern.

Hup

Suddenly, Seafern jumped towards Neridia and pointed his long blade’s tip towards Neridia’s head.

‘Is this how it ends?’ Neridia thought as she closed her eyes tightly.

Crackkkk

Before Seafern could’ve reached Neridia’s body, the glass window behind her throne broke, and two dark creatures jumped towards Neridia from behind.

These creatures had red glowing eyes, an irregular body shape, and long teeth.

“Kill, Queeeeeeennn now.” The Creatures shouted, but before they could even touch Neridia’s body, Seafern’s blade pierced through their bodies and destroyed them entirely.

Their bodies immediately turned to black ashes and started floating in the water.

“Holy mother of all fishes… What was that!” Azura asked with a shocked and surprised expression.

“Are you alright, My Queen?” Seafern asked Neridia as he looked at the floor.

“Y-Yes, But… H-How did you see th-” Before Neridia could’ve completed her sentence, Seafern hits her slightly on the head.

Bonk

“Is that, what I taught you in your self-defence class? To close your eyes when you see an enemy coming at you?” Seafern asked with an angry expression.

“Oucch… B-But, How did you know that I closed my eye-”

“More of them are coming… 100… 300… 600 and increasing. We have to get you out of this place right now.” Seafern spoke with a serious expression. .𝒎

“We can fight them…” Azura spoke.

“But, first, we have to use our defensive skills…” Drakon spoke.

“There are too many… They will outnumber us easily, and their master is coming with them. We have to escape with our Queen, right now.” Seafern shouted.

“Not all of us have to escape. Me and the rest of the ministers will take care of this place, and we will try to hold them back for as long as we can.

Seafern, you have to escape with the Queen and keep her alive at any cost… Don’t forget your promise to the king and don’t forget your oath that you took for this kingdom.

Do you understand?” Tidalia spoke as she stood up from her seat and transformed her tail into legs.

“I understand, Madam Tidalia. We have to go my Queen…” Seafern spoke as he grabbed Neridia’s hand.

This content is taken from 𝘳𝑎.𝗇t