Chapter 6

Darkness, that's all she could see, but for how long was she stuck inside the dark room for? That's the first thing that crossed her mind. The second thing to cross her mind was her brother's presence, she hadn't felt it in a while. She was starting to believe he was actually dead, after that release of energy that came from him. She knew what that spike was, he released all he had, but that couldn't have killed him.

A worried expression was on her face, Jasfu starting to pace herself around one spot of the room. Her hand glides along the wall, so she knows where she is, then a small spec of light appears. It was on the ground; this was one thing she had to wait for everyday. A small plate of food slides in from the hole that formed. She keeps her distance, waiting for the door to slide close, before finally making her approach.

She pokes at the food a couple of times, getting a feel for its texture. She can tell the meat is squishy, a little bit smoothed on one side, the other having small little cups lining it. She had a feeling of what it was she was poking, either a squid tentacle or an octopus tentacle. Her hand moves to the other part of the plate, poking at something that feels like a cloud, poking a hole that doesn't reform. She licks her fingers, tasting what she just poked, something that was lightly buttered and just as soft in the mouth. She could only assume what she tasted was mashed potatoes, something they must have on the ships stashed somewhere.

Knowing what she's about to eat, now, she sits on the floor, crossing her left leg over her right, slowly eating her meal. For the past little while they only gave her one meal whenever she believed it to be an appropriate mealtime. She saw sunlight during the time it took them to open up that door, its position was either rising, or setting, she couldn't see that much of it. The meal told her it was dinner time, but she really had no way of telling. She wasn't even sure how many meals she was getting a day, she might just be getting one per day.

Once her meal was finished, she placed the dish back down where she got it, tapped on the door a couple of times, letting them know. She backs away, to the opposite side of the room, sitting on the ground, to save her energy. Once the door opens up, again, all she sees is that small spec of light, before the tray is pulled back out, leaving her in the room with nothing.

“Gaslyrok... what happened to you?” She wondered. “And that man, why did he call me princess? It was just so... random. Just what's going on in my life?”

She closes her eyes, letting out a loud yawn, getting tired after the meal she just had. She shakes her head a little bit, thinking it to be from boredom, but has a feeling of what's going on. She pushes herself off the floor, shaking her head again as she stifles a yawn, getting a feeling the food was drugged to put her to sleep.

She takes the time to shake her head, looking to where that light came from, when the food was put in and taken out. A slow step is taken towards that location, stumbling about more than actually going forward. She tries to remain conscious, the drugs being slow active, so she knows she has time before she passes out.

“You... jerks... can't fight me fairly... so you have to drug me.” She said. She was trying to communicate to the person outside the door. “But... you should know... if I use my draconic wings... the poisons inside me will be gone.” She finished.

Without wasting time, she does as she said she would, starting to generate a glow of red on the right side of her back, the heat inside the room starting to increase. From one of the corners, a bolt of lightning strikes her, making her release a scream of pain and agony. It keeps electrocuting her, her screams of pain heard by those outside the room. With the small amount of lighting inside the room, produced by the lightning, she can finally look around the room.

She tries to look, but the pain is becoming too unbearable, making her fall to her knees. The glow from her back stops, the winds dying down, she breaths heavily on her knees, trying to keep herself conscious trembling in pain and fear.

'Gaslyrok... where are you, I need you. Why has your presence suddenly dropped for the past while?' She thought to herself.

She looks up, still trembling on her hands and knees, trying to rise to her feet. Her attempt fails, making her lie on the ground, tears streaming down her face as she is still in so much pain. She couldn't fight the drug, anymore, her eyes closing as she falls asleep. She really wished and hoped there was more she could do, but there was not, she was stuck, alone, separated from the one that could help her the most, as long as they were together.

Hours, perhaps even days, passed and she finally reawakens. She stretches her arms to the sky, feeling herself dressed in different clothing. They changed her clothes while she slept, even having cleaned her, all she can think of is one thing, that it was the woman that cleaned her. She can't imagine any of the males on the ship cleaning and changing her. Slowly, she sits up, looking around the room, imagining where the lightning came from, only one thing crossing her mind.

“The lightning rune stones around the room are to prevent my transformations.” She said, aloud.

She slides off the bed, attempting to walk around the room, once more, gliding her hand along the wall. She tries to get a better feel for the room, now that she's stuck inside the room for however long they plan to keep her in here. She is getting frustrated with all of this, stuck inside a room, unable to talk to anyone.

“What's the point of all of this!?” She screams.

She wants answers and she wants out of the room, there might only be one way to do that. She got struck by lightning when she tried to get her dragonic wing out, perhaps it's time she tried to see how far she can go with it. Her brother was always the stronger one when it came to releasing their full powers, so it's time she tried to learn how to do it as well. She walks to the centre of the room, or hopes it's the centre, closing her eyes.

The same red glow comes from her upper back, once more, heat being generated from the light. Opposite the red glow comes a green one, winds starting to pick up from the pressure the glow creates. She keeps her eyes closed, feeling her strength starting to increase with these powers being used, the strength of a dragon, as well as the speed of an Aquila. As the glows start to get stronger, the heated winds starting to increase as time passes, there was one thing she knew was coming.

Without delay, the lightning starts to come right at her, the lights around her starting to move in the direction of the corner, to prevent it from happening. The lightning was too fast, slipping past the glows and striking her, continuing to hit her with its shocks. She holds back her screams, this time, still working on her full release. Her eyes remain closed, a blue glow coming from her lower back, a brown glow from the top of her head as she keeps trying to release it all.

Another bolt of lightning comes from another corner, something she didn't expect, her concentration finally breaking as she screams out in pain. The glows die down as she releases the energies, falling to her hands and knees, once more, her clothes a little bit burned from where the lightning bolts struck her. She breathes heavily, taking the time to catch her breath, still in the pitch-black room.

“This... won't slow me down... I'll get out of here.” She rises her head, looking towards whatever wall she's aimed at. “You here me, I'll get out of this room, and kick your butt!!!”

She lies herself on the ground, rolling on to her back, still taking in deep breaths, staring at the ceiling. If her twin was here, they would have broken out of here together, getting away from these pirates. She starts to think as she lies there, thinking this is what they wanted to do, separate them and give them challenges they must pass. If that's true, then whoever Gaslyrok is with, they work for the pirates. She hopes that's not the case, deep down that he's somewhere safe.

“I'll just... take a nap... then try again when I awaken.” She said.

Her eyes closed, she pretends to be asleep, waiting for them to come inside, perhaps letting that dragon woman change and clean her. It wasn't long before she hears the door opening, voices talking close by.

“Get in there, clean her, then change her clothes, boss has plans for her, and I'm sure she will like it.” A familiar voice spoke.

One of her eyes opens up, seeing the woman approaching, as she expected, but what are these plans in store for the young girl. She's not too sure, but she hopes it's nothing too serious, or bad. The woman does as she was told, cleaning the small girl, lights on as she works, the two having privacy, for a while.

“What's gonna happen to me?” Jasfu whispered.

The woman looks down a little shocked at how the girl is good at pretending to sleep. She shrugs her shoulders a little bit, continuing to clean and change her, making it seem routine, but whispering back to Jasfu.

“They might sell you as a slave, I don't know what goes on in that captain's brain.” She whispered back.

Jasfu trembles a little bit at the words, shaking her head a little bit, not liking the sounds of that.

“I won't let him, I'll get out of this room, I just need full release.” Jasfu whispered.

“Full release, what's that?”

“It's like when you had those dragon wings, and tail, out during your fight in the kitchen, but for me, and my brother, it's harder to do, it requires concentration and for us to let out all of our energy at once. It gives us greater strength and speed and makes whatever spells we use stronger as well. Not by much when we're alone, but when the two of us are together, it's almost ten-folded.” She explained in the hushed tone.

The woman just nods her head, finally finishing up her cleaning of the girl, as well as changing her clothes, as she had to pretend to be sleeping.

“Well, hope you reach it soon, don't know how long we'll be docked at this island for, repairs are taking longer than he thought.” She whispered.

After that explanation, the woman turns on her heels, walking to the door, looking back towards Jasfu with a sorrowful expression. She knocks on the door a couple of times, letting them know she's ready to exit, hoping, deep down, Jasfu can get away from these, or that's what it seems like to her.

“Wyvenia.” Is all she says, looking towards the door, as though she was asked who knocked on the door.

She parts from the room, the lights dimmed to complete darkness, once more, letting Jasfu rest inside there for a while. She lets out a small sigh, staring at the ceiling, still worried for her twin brother, and who he might be with. She rolls on her side, slowly drifting off to sleep, again, to be ready for her next attempt.

♀_______________________________________________________________________________________________♂

The room is warmer, even brighter, than the one he previously woke up in. The air is dry, his eyes starting to open up, a sharp pain from his forehead, where he'd been struck by the large, whale like, man. Gaslyrok places his hand on the pain, throbbing from the injury, bandages wrapped around it to stop the bleeding. He wondered how long he was out for, an hour, maybe two?

Slowly, he slips out of the queen-sized bed, his hand still on the injury, stumbling a couple of steps forward. The bed posts for the bed go high, almost touching the ceiling, with curtains around it, so he might close them, to give himself more privacy. His clothes had been changed while he was unconscious, leaving him in the shorts everyone else seems to wear underwater. His gaze shifts around the room, wondering if he is a guest, or a prisoner. By the looks of the room, he'd have to say guest, this time. The bed was soft when he woke up, a detail he just remembered, the bedding looking to be of the finest any noble could afford. A mahogany dresser sits in the left corner of the room, close to the bed, a mirror placed on top of it, so he can look at it.

An assortment of trinkets lies on the dresser, from a jewelry box to a brush. He walks over to it, to see how extensive the injury is, if he was any good at telling time from how long it took to heal, he would make the guess, he's not, though. He stands at the mirror, slowly removing the bandages, wincing a little bit, to get a good look at the injury. It scabbed over, not fully healed, but it will scar, over time. He turns his head left and right, to see if he has any other injuries on his face, that he might not have been aware of, luckily, he doesn't.

He couldn't resist his curiosity for much longer, his gaze shifting towards the jewelery box, once more, a smile crossing his face. He looks towards the entrance, where he can see a matching mahogany table, table in the middle of the room, as well as a few chairs, made of the same wood, around it with purple cushions on them, in case he gets guests in the room. He turns back to the box, opening it up, a wide, childish, grin on his face. This might be the one chance he gets to be a kid, so he might as well take the chance. H grabs one of the necklaces, the chain made from gold, the jewels on it a mix of colours, from rubies to sapphires. He slips it over his neck, reaching into the box to pull out a couple of rings, the smile growing wider.

One of the rings has a ruby in it, just like the necklace, the other has a jade in it, something he'd never seen before. As he kept digging into the box, he finds something that peeks his interest, his hand reaching for something that shined a little bit more. It was different from the rest, something that seemed to resonate its own energy, for him to grip and hold. His eyes grow wide as he keeps reaching for it, he feels it's important to him, or someone he knows.

“I see you've awoken.” A familiar voice comes from behind him.

Gaslyrok jumps, swiftly turning himself back around, closing the jewelry box, still covered with what he put on. He even had a pretty tiara on his head, his face flushed red with embarrassment at being caught in such a state, looking down at the ground. The boy, Leviathan, burst into laughter right away at the sight, making him more self conscious about the situation. After a few moments of laughing, he finally stops, approaching the younger male, kneeling before him, helping to take some of the jewelry off.

“You know, most of those are for girls only, right? The tiara is for girls only, the rest was fine.” He said.

“I just... never had the chance to do things like this until now, always on the run.” Gaslyrok responded.

“Ah, yes, The One-Armed Man.” Leviathan's facial expression changed to one of grimmer. “Take a seat, we need to talk about a lot of things.”

He leads Gaslyrok to the table, the pair of them taking a seat together, the younger male feeling nervous. He knows about the one-armed man, but how much does he know? He fidgets a little bit in his seat, his gaze remaining on the ground, not looking away for a moment. He has questions of his own, such as this whole royalty thing, why was he called a prince? Tensions were starting to build up, until Leviathan takes in a deep breath, letting out a small sigh.

“So, you have questions, I have answers, where to begin.” Leviathan said, breaking the ice.

“The... the one-armed man, you know about him, why is he after me?” Gaslyrok asked swiftly.

“Well, that's something that's a little bit... complicated. You see, there are things I'm allowed to tell you, and things I'm not, under a strict code. For now, I'll just say that you're... special.”

“Special? Like royalty, right?” He was swift to ask that question.

“Well, yes. But there is something else special about you, I'll just leave it as, you are special, now, what's the next question?”

“How am I royalty? I've been an orphan my entire life, always on the run from that psycho. And how do you know so much about me, while I know so little?”

Leviathan smiles a little bit, almost chuckling at this point, keeping the smile there. He leans in, looking at the bare table, then towards the door.

“Mako, can you bring us some tea? This will be a while.” He states.

The shark man from before pops his head inside, nodding his head. He starts to walk away, leaving the door open a little bit, letting Gaslyrok see the woman with the dolphin tail, but also someone else. There was a child there, a small girl, one close to his age. It looked like she was talking to the dolphin girl, his eyes catching the same tail on the small girl. She wore the same attire as the dolphin woman, blue shorts with a sports bra to keep her covered up. Her skin was as pale as the others, and her hair was long, draped over the back, the same seaweed colour as everyone's hair.

“So, you asked your second and third question, now to answer. Your mother and father were the king and queen of two different family trees. Normally, such a thing wouldn't happen, but these two were deeply in love, nothing could tear them apart. Your father is the king of the Commonatas, they share similarities to me and the rest of the Aqualians, except for certain things. For example, you have a bird wing on your right back, a dragon wing on your left back, fox ears on top of your head and finally, a sea serpent tail from your lower back. These are features of the royal family for the Commonatas. Your mother... is a Rareta, they're the exact opposite, meaning their wings are switched around, that's the only real difference between them.”

He paused for a moment, hearing a knock at the door. Leviathan rises to his feet, walking over, to open the door and talk to the person outside, just being Mako. He takes the tray with tea on it, whispering a little bit, words Gaslyrok couldn't hear, before returning to the child, sitting down, the tray placed on the table.

“I'm guessing your twin sister is the exact opposite of you, meaning she has the wings on the opposite side as yourself.”

“H-How do you know about my sister?” Gaslyrok asked swiftly.

“I have eyes and ears all over these seas, nothing escapes them. Now, to become a Commonata, usually, you need to be born from a parent that comes from both Lankonians and Reptilians, for a Rareata, it's a parent of both an Aqualian and an Avanian. There is more to these combinations, but we'll worry about them later, for now, let's just say both are a Chimeric race. You are born from the royal bloodline of the Commonatas, which means you should only have the ears of the Ninetailed Fox, as well as the wings of the dragon, but being born from a Rareta as well, means you get the perfect mix. This goes the same for your twin sister. So, that answers the first question, right?”

Gaslyrok sits there, staring at Leviathan, a dumbfound expression on his face as he, clearly, didn't understand single bit of that. Leviathan holds back another bit of laughter, knowing he probably explained TOO much of his family bloodline to the child.

“Your parents were once the king and queen of all the cosmic races.” He stated, making things simpler.

Gaslyrok just nods his head, slowly, still trying to wrap his head around all that information about the Commonatas, Raretas and the other four cosmic races.

“As for knowing so much about things, I'm friends with your older brother, he and I used to adventure together, when we were your age, actually. The troubles we got into, but the biggest trouble we had, was the One-Man Army.” His facial expression changes to one of grim, once more.

“He almost killed us all, even cut off one of our teams’ right arm, and another member's right leg, it was brutal, we were still just children, it's a miracle we made it out of there alive.” He turns his attention to the ground, Gaslyrok shaking his head, once more, realizing what had just been said. He springs to his feet, looking towards Leviathan, his eyes wide with excitement, but also worry.

“I have an older brother?!” He shouts, actually making Leviathan jump.

“Well, yeah, no one has seen him since our last battle, but he should be around my age, now. I hope he's still alive out there, I'd tell you more stories of my past, but there are other things we need to focus on, such as your training.”

“Training?” Gaslyrok asked swiftly.

“Yes, you're gonna train down here for a couple of weeks, then you'll see your sister again, she'll be fine, don't worry about it.” Leviathan responded.

“What sort of training?”

“Well, mostly, we need to see what you're good with, magic, swords, perhaps even a bow and arrow, we don't know, yet.”

“Okay... when did you plan on starting?”

“Well, it'd getting late, I think I've used up enough of your time, plus you still have an injury to heal, don't you? You need to get more rest, I'll send Delfina in to tend to your wounds a little bit more, okay?”

Leviathan rises to his feet, walking towards the door, slowly opening it. He says a few words to the dolphin woman, Gaslyrok watching her nod her head a little bit. She starts to walk inside the room, moving towards the young male, sitting on a chair, gesturing for him to sit next to her.

“I know what I'm doing, you're not the first I've had to heal, so please, sit down, I'll take care of that injury of yours.” Her voice was sweet, and soothing, like a mother's caring tone.

He sits next to her, looking down at the ground, his eyes closing a little bit as he didn't know what to expect. It wasn't long, after sitting down, that he feels the injury becoming wet, his eyes reopening to see water over the afflicted area. He doesn't seem to be worried, he can feel the pain starting to go away, as though it was never there to begin with.

“You'll learn, while you're down here, us Aqualians can move the waters the way we want to and can do anything we wish to do with it, such as healing people. Over thousands of years, we have learned these tricks, developed them and made them stronger, you might learn how to heal while you're down here, in the morning, you will be training with Mako, don't let his looks fool you, he's really a softy at heart. And the king has also given us orders, the two of us are to protect you from now on, so when you leave, we will be coming with you, better get used to us.” She gives Gaslyrok a small wink.

She finishes the healing process, then gets to her feet, giving him a sisterly smile, before a kiss on the forehead.

“Now, get some sleep, you have a lot to do tomorrow.”

Gaslyrok nods his head, rising to his feet. He does feel tired, again, but now, he knows what to expect on the next day, training. He doesn't know why, but they seem to want to make him stronger, eventually, he will get more answers from them.