Chapter 12: The Great Hero of the Open Sea, Princess Mia, Lets Out a Fierce Roar!

“See? See? I told you! It’s safe and sound! I knew it! My Emerald Star wouldn’t sink from some dinky little storm like that! Oooh, just look at it! Not a single scratch! It truly is as majestic as its name!”

For some reason apparent only to her, Esmeralda was wearing a victorious grin. Mia’s cheeks twitched—a split-second display of exasperation quickly quelled by the thought that rescue was imminent. So long as they got home safe and sound, she was willing to abide Esmeralda’s inexplicable gloating. The big question at hand was...

“So, what should we do? It’s a little far to swim, I think...”

The yacht was about 400 m (four hundred moontales) away.

I’m glad help is here...but frankly, that’s a daunting distance to attempt on an empty stomach. If only they’d come get us instead... She pursed her lips at the thought.

“It’d be so much easier if they sent those little boats our way. Can we somehow get their attention from here?”

Abel eyed the boat.

“A bit too far to shout,” he said with a grimace. “Okay. I’ll go first and get them to lower the row boats.”

With the gallant air of a knight, he nodded at them and promptly swam off.

“Hmm, it pains me to ask Abel to do this onerous task on his own, but swimming all the way there does seem pretty difficult...”

Having spent so much time in water, Mia’s conscience had taken on some of its fluid qualities. Of course, it flowed only in the direction that suited her, ignoring more pragmatic thoughts such as, “The closer they got, the sooner the rescuers could reach them.”

Aaaah... The sea’s so nice. It’s so easy to stay afloat. All you have to do is relax, she thought as she gazed vacantly up at the sky, reverting to her preferred form—the Waning Aurelia. In her languid jellyfish state, she moved only her eyes, following the vast cerulean sky down to where it turned aquamarine at the horizon. Then she scanned the surface of the water before frowning at what seemed to be a...dorsal fin.

“...Huh. I wonder what that is.”

She watched idly as it approached, slicing through the water with speedy grace. A second later, a scream rose behind her.

“Oh no! M-Milady! L-L-Look! It’s... It’s a man-eating fish!”

“...Eh?”

The words entered Mia’s ears...then slammed head-first into the massive “Out For Lunch” sign barring entrance to her brain. Blankly, she looked from the fin to Anne, then back. It rose higher and higher as it neared, and she forced her sluggish mind to consider how big a fish a fin of that size would correspond to.

And then she panicked. Because that was one big fish. One big man-eating fish. In other words, she was in a life-and-death situation, moments away from being turned into fish food.

“Quick! We need to get away!” shouted Esmeralda. “Swim for the boat! Th-They probably noticed and are sending row boats already! Come on, hurry up!”

She grabbed Anne’s arm and began hauling her toward the boat.

“Eeeek! Eeeeeek!”

Mia rushed to follow them. She deftly twirled into a back float and...uh, flutter kicked for dear life. She kicked and kicked with her dainty but woefully inadequate legs, throwing up a flurry of little splashes that provided little locomotive value. Coupled with her mounting panic, which worsened her already dubious technique, she was essentially just making a lot of noise without getting anywhere. On top of that...

“Eeeeeek! Eeeeeeeek!”

Her particular choice of position—the back float—made it easy to both breathe and see. The latter, in this case, proved to be more curse than blessing, as she had an encumbered view of the impressively thick and unnervingly tall dorsal fin zooming through the water toward her.

“Aaaaaaaah! It’s coming for me! It’s so close!”

Normally, massive man-eating fish—like meghalodoons, which Mia was imagining—weren’t something humans could simply swim away from. The creature under this dorsal fin, however, seemed to be in no rush to reach its quarry. It simply followed while she frantically tried to paddle away, closing the distance ever so slowly as if toying with her.

Ooooh, you stupid fish, trying to make a fool of me, are you? Hmph! In that case...

Mia stopped and stared at the oncoming predator, her eyes hardening with a warrior’s resolve. If she was to meet her end here, then so be it! Besides, if that passage in the Chronicles was true, then she was supposedly about to beat this massive carnivorous fish into submission. She could still win this fight! With teeth clenched and jaw squared, she let out a fierce roar no less impressive than the war cries of seasoned veterans charging into their final battle. Well, that was how she’d intended it to sound, anyway. To everyone else’s ears, it was less a fearsome “Raaargh!” and more a crack-voiced “Meeeeep!”

Mia had no time to consider such frivolities though. She had some fish punching to do. She began swinging her arms around in large circles, exactly the way young boys on a school playground might, thinking it afforded them an impervious bubble of fast-moving fists that would repel all invaders. Her haphazard arm flailing, however, did the unthinkable, and all eyes—except Mia’s because hers were firmly shut—beheld the unfolding of a miracle!

One of Mia’s hands landed on the massive creature’s nose with a splat. Yes, splat. She’d failed to fully form fists and had, for all intents and purposes, slapped the thing across its snout. There was a bit of give upon impact, resulting in a bouncy sensation odd enough to make her reflexively open her eyes, whereupon she witnessed a quickly shrinking dorsal fin as her aquatic enemy fled. Shortly thereafter a rescue raft reached her.

“Sweet moons! Miss Mia! That was absolutely incredible! You fought off a massive shark with your bare hands!” exclaimed Esmeralda as she offered Mia a hand.

Mia took it and was pulled onto the raft.

“H-Ha ha... Ha ha ha... O-Of course. Wh-Who do you think I am? That was a cinch. A total cakewalk! In fact, I can go for round two!” she declared with a proud puff of her chest before hastily shuffling to the center of the raft and holding on with white-knuckled strength in fear of falling off. Then, in a tone that was equal parts firm command and desperate, teary-eyed plea, she said, “W-Well then, I think it’s time to head back. Come on! What are you waiting for? Hurry up!”

...Now, most of you have probably already figured out that Mia did not, in fact, beat a meghalodoon into submission. It wasn’t even a man-eating fish to begin with. Known academically as the ocean fullmoonfish and colloquially as a moonbow, it was a docile creature, a flat fish that swam upright. Moonbows were delicate things, so easily injured that even bumping into a particularly craggy rock could cause their death.

Thankfully, Mia’s awkward punch-slap was weak enough that it managed to escape the encounter unharmed.

Wow, that sure was a close call, thought the poor moonbow as it swam quickly away. Best not to let my curiosity get away with me next time...

And so, everyone turned out fine, and the peaceful seascape remained undisturbed.