“Who? And what do you mean ‘doesn’t end happily’?” Carter asked, sniffling. Please, please, there needs to be a way to save Arria… Carter wiped at his face again, shifting a little anxiously. Every minute that goes by…
Herla sighed and rubbed his face, "There was one guy that Yuri was with but after a few months Yuri found out that the guy was still seeing someone and… well he killed him."
"But that isn't going to happen to Arria, Carter. He's not going to die." Mulir said gently.
Carter froze, muscles tensing. No, no, Arria, no— “We have to get him out, we have to save him,” Carter said immediately, shifting even more as his voice turned to something barely more than silent, “How?”
Gallion looked to Herla who immeditely shook his head, "No. No, oh no we are not going there."
"But she could help, Herla!"
"Yeah, and she's always a sea witch! She'll probably make us do something stupid!"
Mulir sighed and shook his head, "Guys stop… Herla it might be our one shot at getting Arria back…"
“Where?” Carter breathed, looking at Gallion, “We need to go, if it’s our only shot, we need to go.” He was getting too anxious just sitting here and letting precious time fall away, time when Yuri was probably torturing Arria.
Herla sighed and gave Gallion a nod to say he was in on the plan.
"Come on, it's a bit of a swim." Gallion said, swimming towards the exit.
"We'll get Arria back, Carter. You'll be with him soon." Mulir said before following Herla and Gallion.
Carter kept pace, nervous and anxious the entire swim. He looked over his shoulder, biting his lip but kept on swimming. This is the best I can do… Arria, hold on… Carter swam quickly, anything to shorten the time with Arria trapped like that.
It took about an hour or so to reach a dark and gloomy part of the ocean. All the coral was dead and in the distance was a dark cave. The three mermen swallowed and slowed down a little.
"Be careful, this place has some… weird things." Mulir muttered.
Carter slowed reluctantly, following behind them, “Where is the so-called sea witch?” Carter asked quietly. He kept one hand on his bag, knowing he’d need a potion sooner or later and he wanted to be ready so he wouldn’t have to deal with that when he will be trying to save Arria.
Mulir pointed to the cave in the distance where suddenly a flash of lime light erupted from the mouth of it, "There… she's basically like a female version of Arria only… with magic." He explained.
Carter nodded in acknowledgment, but he was already swimming to the cave. He swallowed a lump in his throat, then called, “Excuse me, um, could you help us?” Carter bit his lip as he entered the cave, anxious to get Arria out as soon as possible.
There was a flash of red light, a curse before a middle aged mermaid with a jet black and red tail, long black hair and grey eyes came swimming towards them, "Who are you what do you want? I'm busy so this better be important or so help me I'll feed you to the sharks!"
“I-I’m Carter and we need you’re help,” He started, paling slightly when she mentioned sharks. “It’s- It’s my- my husband. The prince is holding him captive and we don’t know how to save him.” Carter looked at her with pleading eyes as he begged, “Please, please, help us.”
"Slow down child, slow down," The woman said sighing a little, "Your… husband has been taken by the prince? Why?" She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at Carter.
“I- Well Yuri always was obsessed over Arria, but we need to get him out. He probably being tortured right now…” Carter explained, chewing his lip to keep it from wobbling. Please…
The woman rolled her eyes a little, "Fine! Fine I guess I'll help…"
"Thank-you, thank-you so much." Mulir said, following her inside the cave while Herla and Gallion waited outside.
Carter didn’t straggle, “Thank you so much, thank you.” He wrung his hands, eyes looking over the cave as he asked, “How can you can help us? As soon as possible would be nice…”
The woman hushed him and waved her hand idly in their direction. Mulir brought a finger to his lips to indicate for silence as the woman got to work.
Small dead creatures of various kinds were thrown into the pot, other random liquids that created different coloured lights erupt from the pot. After a while, she asked, "Does anyone have anything of… um.. Arria's?"
“I have a potion he made, or the bottle, if that works too…” Carter mumbled, hoping for the latter because he wouldn’t be able to make it back without the potions. I just hope they don’t ask about what the potion is for…
“I mean anything with his DNA on it? Like hair or such.” The woman crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow at him.
(Was there anything in particular of Arria’s that Carter had on him? lol, my memory is so bad…)
(Um… nope not that I can remember)
(Do you think there should be something on him? Like maybe an eyelash of Arria’s that got caught in the paint designs on Carter’s face or a hair or something?)
(That could work, a hair could work)
(Oof, sorry I took so long, I fell asleep…)
“Uhhhh… I mean, he put the designs on my face…” Carter mumbled, wishing he had a mirror to look himself over. “I’m sure I have a hair or something on me, I just don’t know where…”
(Don't worry about it)
The mermaid swam closer to Carter and inspected his face. After a few moments, she reached up and plucked an eyelash from Carter's cheek and rushed over to the pot, placing the eyelash int it, "You really need to stop mumbling, boy." She said, grabbing a small vile.
Carter turned slightly red, shifting his weight a little bit. He looked over what the sea witch was doing, biting his lip. “What will this… uh, do?” Carter asked, clearer this time. I just need to save Arria…
"Simple memory loss potion. Give it to the Prince and he will forget everything about Arria." She explained, pulling up the vile. The liquid was a sea green colour, with swirls of light blue mixed in. She swam back and handed it to Carter.
Carter held the potion as if it was a precious baby. He glance at the sea witch before looking back at the potion. “What can… How much do you want for it?” Carter breathed, not taking his eyes off the potion.
“Nothing. The prince is a stuck up bastard so anything to put him in line a little is payment enough for me.” She said, waving her hand idly.
“Surely you want something?” Mulir said, frowning when the witch shook her head.
