Chapter 4: Who’s Changing What?

The room was quiet. It was in disarray from the fighting, but at least it was over now. Rosalind was keeping a close eye on the incapacitated secretary. Squallow was on his knees, unmoving. Fam was by his side, watching over him with worry in her eyes. Shirley was checking the facility for anything that she might be able to use to repair him. And Rain...

“Rain, are you okay?”

“Yes...” Rain nodded as she slowly approached the motionless Squallow.

She’d come here because she wanted to talk to him, but she was dragging her feet now. She looked like she was afraid to even speak.

“Oh...”

Fam realized that she had something important to say, and after a moment’s hesitation, left Squallow and walked over to me.

All of Squallow’s motor systems had been compromised, and right now he was on his knees, unable to move even a centimeter, I would’ve expected him to fall flat on his face, but he was staying upright, either through pride or sheer force of will.

And slowly but surely, Rain approached the former merman king.

“Lord Squallow, you may know this already, but I am Rain Waterchild, princess of the merfolk and daughter of Muse Waterchild, the queen who banished your people from Berano.”

I watched the two of them carefully. It seemed a safe bet now that the currently incapacitated secretary had been controlling Squallow, but it didn’t change what had happened. Squallow and his people had been exiled from their home planet. You could control someone’s thoughts, or even their actions, but not their feelings. It was possible that he really did hate the mermaids.

“Boss...”

Fam had put on a spare headband and was now standing next to me. She was watching over the two of them the same as I was. She looked worried, so I put my hand on her head.

“The thing that was making your boss act weird is gone now. Now you just have to believe.”

“Shut up! And don’t touch my head!” Fam shouted as she knocked my hand away.

But the same was true for me. All I could do now was believe in Squallow—believe in the person that Fam believed in.

“I hate you... for what you did to my mother.”

Squallow said nothing.

“But I know that what my mother, no, what all of us did to you was unforgivable. I hate you, but I also want to atone... What should I do? I want to forgive you, and I want you to forgive me, but what do I do to make that happen? I’ve been thinking about it ever since I was captured. Please tell me what I should do.”

Squallow listened silently as she talked, but soon...

“I’m sorry... about... Muse...”

“Sir Squallow...”

Squallow’s words were strained, but he was looking straight at Rain as he apologized.

“I... The others, too... We bear no ill will towards the mermaids... That decision... was one we made... together...”

Rain gasped and quickly raised the sleeve of her kimono to cover her mouth. Her eyes were open as wide as they could possibly be, and her entire body was trembling.

So the expulsion of the mermen was something that both sides decided on together?

“There was no other way... to save Berano... our homeland... our beautiful seas... Even if we die... as long as the sea remains... we will be together again...”

Squallow explained that even after being forced into refugeedom and piracy, their dead were secretly sent back to Muse on Berano, who saw to proper burials for them.

“Then what was in that picture book...” Rain said in a weak voice.

She fell to her knees, still covering her mouth. She cried to herself in silence, unable to say another word.

Even after they’d been exiled from Berano, the mermen still had a connection to the other merfolk. What had Squallow felt when he was forced to kill the queen? What was going through her mind? And most of all, why had the secretary done something like this?

“Squallow, I know you’re not doing so great right now, but can you answer some questions for me?” I walked up to his side and asked.

I could see his eyes move, and he looked at me from where he kneeled.

“Yes, boy... I owe you... a debt, as well. I’ll answer... any questions I can....”

“Thanks. First, who is that secretary? Why did she make you do this?”

“I’ll start... with the second question.... They’re after the Mermaid Princess’s Tear. That much... I am sure of.”