Rising Dust

Everyone in the amphitheater saw their king get sent flying backwards and slam into a wall, but no one would ever dare recount what they saw outside it on pain of death.

Like the shattering of a snow globe, the Palace's quietude, and for the first time in anyone's memory, dissolved into chaos. For eons, the Palace of Nostraza, the Black Pearl of the Ocean, the Dragon's Black Eye, had stood impenetrable, utterly unbreachable. The magical dome that surrounded it ensured its impenetrability, and so the Palace had withstood many a vicious attack with nary a scratch in its invisible barrier to show for it. But this night, what a hundred armies had not been able to do, an orphaned, half-breed prince did.

The King of Nostraza had been hit in the very bosom of the Nostrazian Empire.

Upon seeing her king take a hit, a mermaid in the crowd unleashed a terrifying screech that shook the crimson walls of the amphitheater and echoed in the halls beyond.

Guards rallied.

"His Majesty has been hit!" A guard declared at the very top of his lungs!

Spears and tridents were raised, poised to strike, but they were shattered by the same wave of golden light that struck the king, and the guards that wielded them were sent to crash against the walls.

More screaming.

"We must save His Majesty!"

"Are you insane? We must get out of His Majesty's way! Soon, he'll unleash his wrath upon that filthy half-blood and it'll all be over in a flash! Come, let us hurry out of here!"

All the courtiers followed confident Lady Ezaoi out of the amphitheater, who strutted out with utter confidence in her King -or rather his destructive vengeance.

Marius, who had been momentarily stunned by the half-blood -or rather the Spirit of the Sea-unleashing his power, laughed.

The guards who remained turned to look at him with dread.

They knew very well what was going to happen next.

Grinning, Marius barked a command. They were to leave and keep anyone from coming in.

They hurried to do their king's bidding, inwardly thankful that they would not have to stand witness to their king's retaliation.

"Finally." Marius sighed, still wearing a grin. He climbed out of the wall in which the powerful wave had embedded him in. "You've kept me waiting." His grin fell. "I do not like to wait."

He regarded the Astrian Prince, who'd now taken on a new form, with a newly-found...respect.

He hadn't meant to take his life.

He had meant to bring out his true power, clearly aware of one of its most important and risky conditions.

How utterly ingenious.

It seemed that the prince being pushed to the edge had brought out his true fighting instinct; he was willing to sacrifice even himself for victory. Regardless of who or what he was, that was a sentiment a warrior king like Marius, who spent a great of his life on the battlefield, was begrudgingly forced to respect.

The unleashing of the Spirit had changed the Astrian Prince, it seemed. He rippled with raw, unchecked power; the likes of which did not exist in anything or anyone else, singular only to the Spirit who commanded the seas. It resonated within him and emitted in waves, reaching out to the magic in Marius' own body and brushing it like a wraith's chilly hand.

Marius felt renewed desire; he craved nothing more than to possess the Spirit of the Sea and begin to set things across the oceans right. While powerful, it was too indifferent to the suffering across its domain. For too long, the Spirit had neglected the rest of the oceans to human decay and the ravages of time, favoring the Astrian Kingdom above all others.

Marius would see its unjust reign ceased.

Resolute in his goal, he met the half-breed's eyes.

Gone were the green eyes, replaced by inhuman, golden, iridescent eyes. His hair had grown longer past his ears and now draped down his shoulders. His previously human skin now shimmered with the hint of golden scales across his arms and legs, but the rest of him was still not covered in scales.

Which meant the transformation was still incomplete. It wasn't even half complete.

Marius could take him.

"You wish to fight me? Surely, you must know of me, Spirit." Marius reached behind him for the sword holstered at his back. His gloved hand wrapped around the hilt.

When the half-breed spoke, it was not his voice coming out of his mouth. In a voice full of sneer and ridicule, the Spirit said, "Indeed we do, Warrior King. We know that the likes of you will never lay a hand on us."

Growling, Marius drew his sword in a brilliant flash of steel.

The Spirit reacted, punching the air and sending a burst of air flying in Marius' direction.

He didn't have a chance to avoid it. It sent him flying backwards and crashing into the same wall he'd crashed into before. The wall gave, and the king was ejected out of the amphitheater.

A boom resounded throughout the Palace.

Someplace in the Palace, the Mother Queen halted in her steps, and turned to the source of the resounding boom that shook the Palace. She smiled almost unnoticeably; it seemed that Kairus' son had some fight in him after all. Perhaps he will humble her wayward son.

This time, Marius performed an impressive flip in the air and landed on his feet, crouching.

Eyes glowing with unchecked fury, he quickly stood and sliced another air punch into two. The now two smaller attacks struck the corridor's wall on either side of him, creating boulder-sized openings on the side of the Palace overlooking the City.

****

Startled, the City's merpeople all turned in the direction of the Palace. Despite the dome around the Palace, they'd all heard the loud booms. Loud murmurs rose from the panicked crowd.

Among them, a cloaked figure observed the rising cloud of dust from the side of the Palace with equal interest, if not more. The cloaked figure's fists tightened in frustration as he regarded the impenetrable dome with mounting dread. It was the only thing keeping him from performing his duty to his kingdom and its crown.

After a commendable investigation effort, he'd come to the daunting conclusion that it could only be breached from the inside. In other words, he had no chance of getting in 'uninvited'.

Of course, there was a fat chance of that happening, considering that one glance under his hood would reveal him as General Ryodan of the Astrian Kingdom.

Ryodan would have to find a maid or guard to seduce his way into the Palace grounds, but something -more accurately the rising dust- told him that he did not have the time.

****

"I'm not one to fall for the same trick twice," Marius said, squaring his shoulders, his grip on his sword tight.

The Golden Merman smiled with the confidence of a being who was as old as the seas. "We have many tricks, Warrior."

Marius suddenly felt an enormous pressure on his body. He winced, the pressure bearing down on him like the foot of a giant stomping him. A skull-splitting headache nearly finished him off. His ears were filled with what sounded like the calling of a whale, almost making his ears bleed.

Through clenched teeth, he growled, "Y-You... bitch."

The pressure abruptly changed direction of force and slammed him into a wall, sending him through yet another wall and right out of the Palace building.

A black whip made of light materialized from his fingertip as he fell three floors down.

He waved his arm and sent the whip cracking. It shot through the hole in the wall and wrapped around the prince who was too slow to react. Smirking, he pulled and the half-breed came barreling down with him.

*~~~~~~~~~~~*

Fight! Fight! Fight!

I'm guessing a lot of you are satisfied Marius was beaten up a bit heheh, I know I was.

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