Missing

Remembering her sister, Nherisa sat up on Eric's bed. Yes, Eric's bed. The time was perfect. Eric was asleep on a mat across the room, and the village must have been asleep.

Careful not to make a sound, she made her way out of the bedroom. She walked down the stairs into the dining room and turned left into the kitchen where there were cabinets full of food. She took a basket and put as much food as it could carry into it.

She jumped out the window and walked all the way over to the shore where she immersed herself in water. Swimming in water again felt different from the way she remembered it. But it still made her feel free again. It's quite similar to the feeling of flying in the air alongside a total stranger.

She imagined how happy Cordelia would be when she gave her the news. Life would be perfect if she continued this as a daily routine. Gain the trust of a human during the day and steal his food to feed her sister at night. The plan was foolproof.

The day's work was done, and she brought the reward with her into the cave where she was expecting to see her sister, but she wasn't there.

Where could she have gone? She asked herself.

Thoughts flew past Nherisa's head. Ones that she wished would disappear. Ones that she wished would cease to exist. Terrible, terrible thoughts.

Anything could have happened to her. The ocean is a big world, and she could have gotten really far in a day. She could have gone to Encrea. She could have gone to man's land. She could have been wandering about the ocean.

She could have been beheaded after being spotted in Encrea, eaten by a shark. Sh could have destroyed half of Encrea in her quest for revenge or a newly found quest for power and dominance.

Nherisa felt like Encrea was the closest and easiest option. She would start there.

She turned and headed towards Encrea.

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Cornelia stood on her balcony, looking out at the sea. Imagine that from there, a sea dweller would rise and take power from her. The thought passed her mind that the sea dweller that would come for her was the same one she saw being born twenty-one years past.

How ironic that would be. That they was the birth of their doom and were happy for the mother.

A terrible prophecy such as that would not just be put into a book without a solution. Cornelia was certain that someone had read that book and tried to find a solution to the impending doom of Fantascia. Probably captains of certain ships.

Every captain had a journal. And the three generations of men who captained 'the regal' had more experience than any other captains there were, Cornelia was sure.

She decided she would seek the help of the expert. The current royal captain captained the former ship 'the regal' and captain the new and improved royal ship, "the regal II," Captain Rodrick.

She went back into her bedroom where Roland lag peacefully in bed and wondered how the man could be so calm about the matter at hand. She sat on the bed beside him and gently tapped his arm.

It took a while of tapping, and eventually frustrated hitting, but he finally woke. "You haven't slept yet?" He asked.

Cornelia worked really hard and did a really good job at keeping her frustration inside of her. "When will Captain Rodrick arrive with 'the regal II'?" She asked.

"Next week, why?"

"Maybe he or the first three captains would know a thing or two about sea dwellers."

"Come here." Roland said. He moved towards the other end of the bed, giving Cornelia space to lie down beside him. Then he wrapped his arm around her. "It's either we will find a solution or someone else would. Things always work out for good. Over thinking would not solve anything, especially not at night."

Realising he was right, Cornelia let herself get lost in the peaceful world of his embrace and rested her head on his chest to sleep.

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Nherisa swam between the buildings of Encrea towards the King's palace. Something told her that Cordelia wouldn't have come back into Encrea without drawing attention. And if she had drawn the attention of the people, the people would have drawn the attention of the ruler.

Encrea did seem quite deserted at the moment. Encrea was a 24-hour busy area. The Encriens must have gathered at the King's Palace. Nherisa thought that she would be able to blend in with the crowd and find out something about her sister's whereabouts. Atheist she thought that until she saw the troops that spread out searching for Cordelia outside and within the crowd.

There was no way she would get inside.

There was only one other way.

No! She wouldn't do it.

But it was the only option she had.

She had to use her psychic ability. But she needed something related to the matter. Something part of the nig issue.

Guards came her way one person leading them and giving them instructions. Nherisa heard him tell them to kill Cordelia on sight.

Not on her watch.

She waited for the troops to spread out, leaving the leader vulnerable to her grasp. She swam at hi. And held hin as tight as she could. A strange feeling travelled through her body. Suddenly her open eyes felt closed. One word was what it needed. She gave the order and her inner eyes were open once again after fifteen years.

Nherisa saw herself in the King's pslace heading towards his chamber. A second later she was inside informing the king that Cordelia had been sighted in Encrea.

"I knew that girl wouldn't give up." Seward said. "Give orders to kill, her on sight. I don't want her getting too close to the truth. She cannot find out that...."

The guard broke free from Nherisa's grip snd her vision ended.

"How dare you?" The guard said.

Nherisa didn't wait to exchange pleasantries. The immediately turned around and swam away as fast as she could.

Some guards who saw what happened chased after her.

"No!" Their leader said. "She is not the one we are after. She is weak."

The guards returned and continued their search for Cordelia.

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Cornelia's eyes shot open.

Her night was peaceful as long as she was in Roland's arms. She realised that he wasn't there.

"Roland!" She called. No answer.

"Roland?" She called again.

Roland leaned on the railing of the balcony to cornelia's right, enjoying the desperation in her calls. Did she love him so much or was she just restless? Was she in need of love or did she just crave support?

He walked towards her saying: "Good morning, my love."

Cornelia sat up on the bed.

"Usually, I wake you up every morning." She said.

"Last night, I realised that I might have been a little bothered about the matter at hand. I just didn't think about it before. So I sent a letter to captain Rodrick to come home with the journals as soon as possible."

"I knew you were not a brainless zombie." Cornelia joked.

The door to the room opened and Zephyra walked in.

"Good morning mother and father." Zephyra said.

"Good morning, dear." Cornelia said, gesturing for Zephyra to move closer. Zephyra rat to her mother and hugged her tightly like she hadn't seen them in a long time. Cornelia noticed.

"I had a dream last night." Zephyra said. There it is, Cornelia thought. "In the dream, you weren't there and I was left to face a demon all alone. It was really scary."

As if the prophecy was not enough, there just had to be a dream too. The universe seemed out to get her.

"Don't worry, dear." Roland said. "We will make sure you are never going to be left alone by yourself. We would always be with you. And when we're not, there is always someone."

"Thank you, father." Zephyra said and left the room.

Roland and Cornelia stared at each other.

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Eric's dining room was more quiet that morning than it was the last night,even with Cordelia around. Eric desperately needed her to talkabout how she never had such food where she came from. The silence was killing him.

"Are you alright?" He asked her.

She didn't answer.

That stung.

"Do you miss your family?" Eric asked.

Nherisa looked up. That stirred up something in her. She couldn't tell if it was agony, frustration or just plain anger. "Yes." She said, hoping the questions would stop.

Eric felt pity for her. He didn't call it pity though. He thought of it as care. He felt so generous right then. Like he was doing her a big favor. And he needed to do more if she was going to forget her family.

She seemed to love the mountains and was also connected to the water. Eric had spent the last couple of weeks knowing and loving her.

"Why don't we go somewhere." He said.

"Where?" Nherisa asked.

"Have you ever heard of a waterfall, Springfield?"

Nherisa felt a little better. He was trying to make her feel better. It wasn't working, but the way he did it made her want to smile. It made her love him more.

How did he do it? How did he manage to steal her heart, rub it with oil and then put it back inside her so she could slip and fall in love? She felt bewitched.

"They sound wonderful." She said, almost smiling.

"I could take you there right now if you would just smile for me." Eric said.

Nherisa thought for a second. Her sister was missing for two weeks with the possibility of being dead or captured to be exploited, and her love was in front of her, asking for a romantic trip.

She smiled.

Who could blame her. Cordelia could handle herself. She could harness the power of the ocean. If anything, Nherisa should be scared for whoever would try to capture or kill her.

"Alright, the flying horse's await." Eric pulled Nherisa up from her chair and out of the house where the flying horses awaited them.

"How far is it?" Nherisa asked, mounting his horse. "To the waterfall."

"They are just behind the mountains. We should get there before noon."

Eric took off on his flying horse. Nherisa followed.

The feeling came back. But different this time.

For a second she could have sworn that she was flying without the horse. But how was that possible? Sea dwellers were made to adapt to water, not air.

But what if?

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"The regal II".

How majestic.

Roland and cordelia stood at their private pier with their castle in sight behind them, staring in great awe at the wonder that was brought home. "The regal II" stood majestically in front of them, carrying a five storey stern castle painted blue with hints of gold.

"Ah, isn't she glorious?" Said captain Rodrick, walking out of the stern castle.

"She truly is, captain Rodrick." Said Roland. "She truly is."

"Allow me to invite you in." Said the captain.

"I permit you." Roland said, holding cornelia's hand and leading her inside. The captain led them into the main floor of the stern castle. It was a big room three times the size of the size of the last one,big enough to entertain three royal families. It had stairs leading up to the loft and stairs leading down below the deck.

Beyond that room was an entertainment room. It was well furnished to match the colours of the walls. And beyond it was a stern, also well furnished.

Rodrick I'd hmm up to the loft and next to it, above the entertainment room was a library.

"I made sure to get the books you asked for." Said. the captain leading them into the room filled with books. "Luckily, we were able to save it from the shipwreck."

The captain picked two books from the table. "Captains Alaric and Cedric's diaries." He said handing it to them.

Roland took Aleric's and Cornelia took Cedric's. They read desperately through the pages like they were robots scanning and intruder. The words sea dweller seemed to be haunting them as well as making them crazy.

The diaries dropped on the table.

"Did you find anything?" Cornelia asked.

"No." Roland said.

"Neither the second nor third generation of captains had any encounter with a sea dweller." Said Cornelia

"Sea dwellers?" Rodrich asked. "Don't you mean mermaids?"

"No, sea dwellers." Said Cornelia. "They have legs."

"I have never seen one." Said the captain. "Perhaps captain Rodriguez would have written of them in his journal."

"Where is it?" Cornelia asked.

"Unfortunately, we couldn't save it. But Rodriguez was the greatest captain that ever lived, so they kept a copy in the haven of knowledge." Rodrick said.

"Haven of knowledge?"

"Yes, the king Harold's old castle." The captain explained. "He had turned it into the largest library in Aethlegard. It has a coph of everh book ever to be published."

"Then it is settled." Roland said. "We are going to the haven of knowledge."

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