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Rows and rows of boats gleamed in the morning sun. The power of the Great Realm’s people, their willpower and their bravery, displayed in the form of this large patchwork fleet assembled in just a matter of days.
It was a mighty sight. Guided by his daughters, the people had responded swiftly and in large numbers. And the resulting sight was inspiring. Boats in all sizes from the Coral Islands, a few from the north, smaller ones from the forest, and an impressive delegation from the Harbor of the Wise.
Faced with danger, the people had risen in response, not unlike how they had done once before.
It brought him back. He hadn’t fought a battle in years, but the atmosphere brought you back quickly, as if no time had passed.
This time, they were up against Diluvia, the witch of the seas, and her monstrous fleet, instead of… the tyrant, battle mages, and… their own people.
He hoped they would be able to muster enough of a resistance, and keep the islands safe. He was oh so very proud to have his daughters at his side this time, but it did severely change what was at stake…
It was difficult to know what to expect exactly, and what to plan for. All they knew is that the fleet would attack, at these coordinates, manned by monsters with the faces of fish. They didn’t know how they would attack, in what way they would make their appearance, and if Diluvia would be present among them herself. Or when they would make their appearance.
They were fortunate to not have been attacked yet, and having had enough time to build up this fleet, but from here all that they could really do was wait, and make contingency plans.
He hoped it would be soon. Waiting would dull their sharpness eventually, and they would have severe trouble sheltering and feeding this many people. Here’s to hoping Diluvia was not one to stall her enemy for time…
Beside him, Juno stood, gazing out at the same fleet in silence, lost in thought.
She would not be participating in the battle directly herself, not being particularly proficient or interested in weaponry, but she was strongly involved in the planning and strategy, together with her husband.
Not unlike before, which was now many years ago…
The fleet was a magnificent sight, but it could not bring her joy. She was worried, worried about having to send her husband, and this time her children too, out to battle after having been reunited for only a few weeks…
The possibility of losing them, or one of them ending up badly hurt, was a heavy thought to bear. That she had dared to hope, that after everything, her and her family would be given time to breathe, time to… just be together, in peace.
But fate had different things in store for them once more, so all they and her could do was rise to the challenge. And so they did.
Oh but stars, did she hope they would all see this through safely, or as safe as one could be in these circumstances. That her love wouldn’t be too rash with his own safety, that Yara wouldn’t jump into situations too big for her to handle alone, that Kalea wouldn’t be overwhelmed, that the twins wouldn’t-
She took a shaky breath, unsteady. Beside her, her husband silently reached for her hand, took her hand in his, softly squeezing it to show his support. She breathed, steadier now.
Hours later, the enemy fleet had finally appeared, a blueish grey mist and ominous singing guiding their arrival. They were some distance away yet, but approaching steadily.
It was time for everyone to take their positions, and for commands to be given.
In the short window of time that they could allow themselves, the king and queen said their, hopefully temporary, goodbyes before all hell broke loose.
Emerald green eyes looked into lighter jade eyes, holding for just a little bit before inevitably having to let go.
‘Be safe,’ she urged him, eyes staring into his. Come back to me, she left unspoken, hanging in the air, readable in her eyes.
‘I will,’ he promised her, in response to her words, or perhaps, those left unspoken.
They shared in a quick kiss, shortly broken off, before he turned away, moving to get into position near the front lines. And she watched him go.
On one of the big ships, further up front, he gave the commands to the ships in front and closer to the middle.
On the beach, she gave orders to the ships more at the back of the fleet, handing out instructions, mobilizing them to get into formation.
And once it was done, she had to turn away, and make her way towards the relative safety of the palace. She had hugged all of her daughters beforehand, gave them pieces of her advice to take with them, had them promise to be safe. And now, she had to leave, to walk away while they and her love stayed out there, in the epicentre of it all. There was simply no sense in staying on the beach, alone, when all hell broke loose, and she wouldn’t be fighting with them on the ships. So all there was left to do was stay holed up in the palace, protected by the relative safety of the floral maze, hoping that it would be alright. That they would all come back safe. That her love would be able to outrun the hands of death one more time.
If this were to go bad, she was their remaining hope. A fate she hoped to never watch become reality.
From the palace, the sight at the naval battle was poor, everything was too far away to really make out details. Details that she cared about.
But standing wide open on the empty beach was far too dangerous in the event that the Great Realm’s formations broke.
By her side, Tiarè stood, blinking softly, trying to feel faint things in the air, or catch sounds carried over by the wind. Her princess Kalea was out there, somewhere, and Juno had a feeling her daughter meant a lot to the perfumer girl.
Tiarè frowned. ‘I hear a faint roar… of something big out there, something unnatural.’
Juno’s head snapped up, broken out of her thoughts. Focusing her eyes, she saw something, in the distance.
Big, colossal shapes bobbed up out of the water, towering over the ships, so tiny from here.
Her breath caught in her throat. Her family was up against that??
Those krakens could cause a sizable ship to sink with ease, and swallow smaller boats whole… Oh please, let them all be okay, let them all find a way…
She racked her brain, trying to think of something, anything, they could do from here to do something against those giant krakens.
Tiarè spoke again, pulling the queen out of her thoughts.
‘Can you see what is making that sound? It has to be something enormous…’
Juno explained what she saw, and Tiarè’s worry increased, processing that. This really changed the stakes.
‘I wonder if there’s a way to lure them away…’, the queen thought aloud. ‘There’s no way to easily kill something that big… and we need them gone if there is any way our people out there will win.’
‘Buhl’s cannonballs might be able to do some damage…’, Tiarè mused.
‘That’s true… but I wonder if that would be enough,’ Juno stated, worry on her face.
(...)
Out at sea, William, accompanied by Gunnar and a few other brave souls at the very front lines, were fast approaching the hull of one of Diluvia’s major ships. The plan was to board and try and quickly take out the leader, to weaken the remaining troops, and hopefully confuse the giant kraken things, who seemed to be getting orders from the admirals. It was a shot in the dark, but the best shot they had.
A moment later, he was climbing the ship’s hull, dirty with seaweed, barnacles and shells stuck to it, like it had resurfaced from the bottom of the seafloor. Using the shells as handrails, he slowly made his way upward, accompanied by the other frontline fighters. He was wearing leather gloves, but still had to be careful not to tear the fabric and injure his hands on the sharp edges.
The light armor he was wearing slowed him down a bit, but it was manageable. He was glad he hadn’t chosen to wear full armor, having opted for lighter armor given that it was a naval battle. Full armor gave a lot more protection, but it was slow, and if you got knocked down into the water, you were dead.
One meter remaining. Almost there. He shouted encouragement to the other fighters, helping them to go on, when suddenly there was a skittering above him.
The fish-men were sending two large crabs after them, while they were still in a tough position stuck to the hull… He quickly warned Gunnar, and reached for his sword, though his range of motion and the angle would be horrible, and he slightly increased his risk of falling. But maybe he could hit them off the hull with the flat side of his blade.
Gunnar was up and ready, faster and more flexible than he was. In little time, he had gotten rid of the first crab, and was trying to get rid of the one coming for the king as well. But this one was a lot hardier, and more aggressive. Gunnar tried to get a good hit in with the flat of his blade, but it currently wasn’t going anywhere, and they were losing precious time.
Resheathing his blade, William prepared to get a hit in from the side with just his fist, making use of the fact that the crab wasn’t paying attention to him right now. With a good punch, the crab was caught unaware, and was sent flying off the hull, into the water. William didn’t waste much time, and continued climbing, but saw that Gunnar hesitated, distracted. The king motioned for him to hurry, the enemy had already noticed them and with every second they wasted, they would try more things to knock them off their hull.
With a last strain of effort, they made it onto the deck, immediately scrambling to meet incoming attackers head-on, swords brandished.
(...)
William was standing on the deck, sword held out in front of him, the tip at Admiral Blackscale’s throat. His hair rustled in the wind.
He hesitated.
He had disarmed Blackscale, twice, and now all that was left to do was deal the final blow, take out the leader as they had planned.
But he couldn’t get his arm to move, drive his sword in, watch him double over, cough, gasp, and bleed. Would he bleed like a human would? Would the sight be different, soothe his conscience?
It was just a sapient fish. Not a human, not one of his own people.
But even so, even if it was just a fish, it was intelligent, it stood upright, it talked. It was alive.
In war, there was no way to win while dancing around the act of killing another person, another being. It was unavoidable.
And yet, he couldn’t bring himself to do it this time, and so, the admiral saw his chance, and slipped away, diving off the deck back into the embrace of the sea.
He watched the water ripple, resigned, hoping he would not come back around to cause more trouble.
Then, he turned around, seeing where his assistance was most needed, and whether he could catch a glimpse of how his daughters were holding up over at their spots.
(...)
Back at the palace, the queen and Tiarè stood in silence, when they suddenly heard a low rumbling in the distance. ‘Oh no…’, Tiarè managed, fearing the worst.
On the horizon, Juno saw an immense wave approach the island, taller than two houses stacked on top of eachother. Dread filled her veins.
‘A tsunami,’ she managed, panicked. She briskly turned to Tiarè. ‘We need to run, quickly, we have to get to the roof!’
‘The roof is made of soft materials, I- I don’t think it would hold us…!’, Tiarè breathed, running the math.
‘Tiarè, what is the most secure place in the palace?’, Juno breathed, adrenaline taking over.
‘Follow me,’ the girl said, hurrying away as fast as she could, the queen right behind her.
While on the run to the most secure spot of the palace, she thought of her daughters, her husband, all those people still fighting… They would all get swept up by the water. The casualties would be unimaginable, and none of them had seen this coming…
Back at the fleet, they had seen the giant wave approaching as well, some frozen in place, some frantically running. They were back on their own ship after a kraken had tried to eat the one they hijacked.
‘Break away!!’, William roared above the chaos. ‘Back towards the islands! All hands, move!!! Anyone who can manage, tie yourself to something, or get below deck!!’
People ran, scrambling to turn the ship around, grabbing rope. There was no way his voice would carry that far, especially in the chaos. He could only hope the other ships and canoes further away would try to save themselves.
He would stay on deck til the very end. Someone handed him some rope, and he scrambled to tie himself to the mast the best he could, preparing himself for what was to come.
The wave rose higher and higher, coming closer every second. People scrambled to get away or try to protect themselves somehow.
Looming, a force of nature ready to carve a path of destruction, it approached the first ships, those of the enemy. But they didn’t panic, didn’t flee, instead sailed right at it.
Perplexed, William, Gunnar and the princesses watched on. What were they doing??
The ships sailed into the colossal wave, and the wave keeled over to swallow them all whole, crashing down, and… dying down into just some small splashes, rippling.
Diluvia’s fleet was gone, without a trace, the sea being calm and clear again.
It was as if nothing had happened at all.
All the krakens were gone too, having gone under without protest or fanfare.
The people on the Great Realm’s fleet blinked, slowly and hesitantly trying to process that they were… safe now. It was over.
They were spared.
‘Well damn… did all that ropework for nothing,’ one fighter on the frontline ship commented into the stunned silence.
William laughed, adrenaline slowly receding. The fighter in question smiled sheepishly.
With the help of themselves and others, they slowly untied themselves, and got to updating those who fled below deck, and try and regroup with others, count heads, relieve stress.
Gradually, bit by bit, people found eachother again, Samah being accounted for, Nives too, Rubin, Diamante and Kaliq too… even Purotu and Naehu were present, even though they should have been safely at the palace…
Kalea and Yara had not rendezvoused with them yet, but they were all the way at the back, so that could take a while in the chaos and large number of boats.
William hugged the three princesses, relieved they were all alright, checking if they were hurt anywhere. Gunnar and Nives embraced, reunited, and Nives fussed over the cut Gunnar had on his wrist. Samah offered to bandage it for him.
Diamante drew their attention, pointing them towards the figures of Juno together with Tiarè, trying to get to them as fast as they could, relieved and worried and happy all at once.
They were led aboard, and Juno rushed to embrace her husband, who tightly embraced her back, breathing a sigh of relief, anchored by eachother. Then she embraced Diamante, Nives, and Samah too. ‘I’m so glad you’re all alright… I saw that enormous wave coming over the horizon and I thought we were all done for… with you especially… Are any of you hurt anywhere?’
Nives shook her head, Diamante denied any injuries and Samah gently confirmed that she had made it out without more than a graze. Juno breathed, relieved.
She took her husband’s face in one hand, concerned and insistent. ‘Are you hurt anywhere?’
He smiled. ‘No, I’m alright, don’t worry.’
‘Really? You can swear?’
‘No injuries anywhere. I suppose I got lucky,’ he smiled, not unhappy with the attention. Juno dropped her hand, looking back at the rest, breathing in the relief.
It was then that Tiarè softly spoke up.
‘Kalea… I don’t sense her scent anywhere…’
The others looked at her, surprised and worried.
Juno looked at her husband, suddenly worried. ‘Is she not with you? I assumed… And where’s Yara?’
Concern grew on her husband’s face as well. ‘Both of them were at the back… I thought they just took a while to get to us, and would be here soon… I should have realized something was wrong. Yara would never choose to fight all the way at the back..’
Struck by worry and urgency, everyone got back into motion, looking over at the whole fleet, scouting in every direction. But even Gunnar, with the sharpest eyesight of them all, couldn’t spot the two anywhere.
Concern grew. Normally speaking, the two really should have made it back to them by now… The possibility was great that something had happened to the youngest two, and the scenarios that played through everyone’s heads were far from cheerful.
They could have easily gotten lost in the chaos and tumult, and then…
Heads turned to Purotu and Naehu, who were looking at everything but the king and queen, or Tiarè, and who had been roughly where Yara and Kalea were supposed to be stationed.
‘They snuck away,’ Naehu admitted then, looking at his shoes. ‘The two of them wanted to sneak away on their own, and had us take their place at the back. We were uhm… told to stay out of your sight.’
William and Juno both sighed, more worried than mad, but still not calm at all. Now they had a lead to go off of, but this didn’t exactly help to ease their worries.
Then an orca surfaced to the left of their ship.
It whistled and splashed, trying to get their attention.
‘Garcia!!!’, Purotu, Naehu and Tiarè shouted in unison. ‘That’s Kalea’s orca!!’, they explained.
All eyes turned to Garcia, hoping they could provide a clue about their princess’ whereabouts.
Seeing that he had all of their attention, the orca dived under, resurfacing a little bit further away, then turning around expectantly.
‘It wants us to follow him,’ Nives said, realizing.
Juno ordered the ship to follow the orca, people manning their spots to get the ship moving, a handful of other boats flanking them and following after them, while the rest of the fleet stayed behind.
Gunnar and Nives were restless, and walked around getting supplies that they might need ready, such as buoyant supplies they could throw, blankets, and a rope ladder. Samah had her eyes trained on the orca. Diamante, Rubin and Kaliq were conversing, worried.
Purotu and Naehu stood in a corner, feeling a bit ashamed about the situation, and hoping with all their hearts that Kalea was alright.
Tiarè fiddled with her necklace, senses sharp, searching for a sign of her princess.
The royal couple stood at the front of the deck, looking out in front, hands joined, standing together in silence. What worried them both greatly, was that they still hadn’t seen any sign of Diluvia, even now, though neither of the two dared to speak it out loud, fearing that it would bring it into reality. They hoped so deeply for both of them to be okay.
They reached a small atoll, popping up on the horizon and coming ever closer.
On it stood two people.
One with curly red hair, and one with short black hair.
Everyone’s hearts soared.
‘Kalea! Yara!!’, William shouted, Juno soon joining him. Gunnar and Nives threw down the rope ladder. Kalea and Yara looked up, joy and relief visible on their faces.
Kalea jumped into the water, hugging her orca Garcia with joy, and making her way up the rope ladder after Yara soon after.
They were squeezed into a hug by everyone after they made it aboard, their loved ones looking them over, handing them blankets, asking a thousand questions.
Tiarè took Kalea’s hands, then embraced her tightly, breathing in her familiar scent again.
Yara vigorously told stories about their escapades, bragging about how they had defeated Diluvia, and caused her fleet to retreat even before that. The others were stunned speechless, proud but also concerned.
After a long day in which so much had happened, all of them prepared to go back to palace Forget-me-not together, while the sun sank into the waters, draping everything in a beautiful orange light.