I wake up finding an empty chamber. No air-cooked krill for breakfast today. The palace rules must be different. I sniff the water, following the scent of my master. He's in the throne room. The guards cross their spears, blocking my way at the door.
"No one is allowed to enter. While the Elder is talking to His Majesty," a guard says.
"No, that's okay. I'm with the Elder. I'm his guardian".
They look at each other, and one says, "Look kid, just swim along. This is not a place for you to play."
This infuriates me. My nose starts flaring. I clench my teeth.
"I said, I'm with the Elder."
The guard grits his teeth.
"I said, swim along."
I take a deep breath. And with all my might, I let out an air blast. The palace rumbles, and the two guards fly through the throne door, unhinging it.
Crash! A gaping hole in a broken wall stood in front of me. I slam my jaw shut.
Long Fei snaps at me.
"Ling Yue!"
"What? I asked them to let me through nicely, but they told me to swim along."
"It's highly improper to interrupt a private conversation between the Elder and the Monarch."
He floats towards me, an unnerving aura emanating from him. I've never seen him like this before.
My body trembles. Uh-oh. I may have gone too far.
He swiftly presses a few acupoints on my body. Sharp pain sears through me. My body convulses.
"You hurt the guards when they were doing their job. As punishment, I have sealed your Air Elemental Power. You can no longer use it until you learn to control your temper."
"You can't do that!"
"Try me."
I try to use the vacuum technique, but he's right! I can't sense the air molecules anymore. I try an air blast. Nothing. It feels empty. My body feels different.
Tears well in my eyes. I didn't know how scary he could be. I knew he was powerful. But to have the power to take away mine? That's terrifying!
"Those won't work on me. We're guests here, and you must learn to behave like a guest. You can't destroy your gracious host's property. By attacking the guards you disrespect His Majesty. That's unacceptable."
He takes a deep breath. Then he helps the fallen guards up. He gestures his head towards the guard, his eyes glaring at me.
I stutter, "I'm, sorry."
They give an awkward nod as they return to their station.
I approach the King. He doesn't look upset, more amused.
But to placate my master, I said, "Your Majesty, I'm sorry for my behavior. I won't do it again."
The King leans forward and strokes his beard.
"I haven't seen a scene like that ever. My guards have never been thrown back like that by just a roar."
He glances at the Elder, who nods, then returns his gaze towards me.
"The Elder has agreed to leave you here with me so you can learn how to use the Elemental Water. It looks like you might make my guards train harder."
A sudden wave overwhelms me and I panic. This emotion, I couldn't hold it in. Wailing and darting to my master.
"I'm sorry, I won't do it again. Don't abandon me."
Shocked by my outburst, Long Fei's eyes soften.
"I'll be back before you evolve. They can teach you new techniques using water. You are a creature of the Sea after all. You should learn more about your heritage."
I sniffled, holding back sobs.
"How would you know if I'd leveled up if you're not around?"
"The King will keep me up to date. You would have figured out yesterday that he knows your level. He can update you on your progress."
"But do you have to go? I'll behave from now on. You don't need to leave."
"The Crown Prince has summoned me. I need to head back to the Celestial Realm. It's perfect timing for you to stay here and learn more. When the King tells me you're almost ready, I'll be back. Besides, you need to pay for that damage."
If my fins can reach my face, I would cover it in shame.
My face reddens. I can't believe this is happening. He's leaving me.
He turns to the King and says, "Your Majesty, feel free to train her as you see fit. She can handle it."
"Thank you, Elder. I'll take good care of her. And thank you for being my guest. We shall keep in contact."
Then, like a gust of wind, he disappears.
The King sighs and shakes his head before looking at me tenderly.
"I can't believe he trained you with pufferfish. He's one intimidating immortal."
"He's not that bad. He did cook it for me afterward."
The King's eyes widen.
"So he did feed you poison."
Oops, I don't think my master will appreciate me revealing that.
I laugh nervously.
"Well, there's no harm done."
"Well, you will be rest assured that my training regime will not include any poison whatsoever."
"Uh, how will I pay for the door given my fins are too short to fix it? What do you want me to do?"
He chuckles and then strokes his beard, his eyes distant. Then his face lights up, as a grin spreads across his face, and his eyes sparkle.
"How would you feel about going on a quest?"
"A quest? Yes! Adventure Time! Where do I have to go? What do I have to do?"
He rises from his throne and moves towards the door. The guards standing there salute him as their face reddens. He shakes his head as he passes them, gesturing me to follow him. As I pass them, I dip my head, unable to look at them in the eyes anymore.
The King leads me to where I was yesterday and hands me to the Queen.
"I'm going on the quest with the Queen?"
"What a delight." She hugs me.
"Ling Yue, she's one of our best warriors. I shall leave you two to get better acquainted while I go back to matters of the court."
I laugh nervously. This is seriously unexpected. I thought she would be a delicate royal.
"Your Majesty, you may not know why I'm here."
"Of course I do. You tore down the throne room door. Now you have to pay for it."
"How did you know? It wasn't that long ago."
"With water elemental magic in the Ocean Realm, the water whispers to us about everything. Nothing passes us."
"Then how do you keep your secrets? Especially national secrets. Wouldn't everybody, like the whole town, know what you talk about?"
"Only a select few highly skilled individuals can hear everything. Ordinary merfolk don't have that skill. The only other person in this realm, besides myself, is the King. So there are no secrets between us."
"Um, if you haven't noticed, I'm a whale. I am nothing like you. How can I learn this?"
"Oh, my sweet child. I thought you heard our conversation yesterday that we gifted you to the Elder. Don't you understand what that means?"
"No, not really. He's not exactly the talkative type."
She laughs melodically.
"Oh, I see. In a nutshell, you're supposed to be the guardian of the sea."
"Wait, I thought I was his guardian."
"We have an understanding with him. You have dual guardianship. That's also probably why you have two elemental powers."
Dual guardianship? Sounds like more work. But I like the sound of two elemental powers. It would make it easier for me to carve my legend!
I nod my head thoughtfully. Little does she know that my master always comes first. The Ocean Realm can wait.
"What exactly am I protecting you from? You seem more capable than me."
"For now, yes we are. But in the future, we may not be capable. You may become stronger than us. Like all other kingdoms, we have our enemies. I can tell you now that I won't be able to defeat an Abyssal Leviathan on my own. Hopefully, if it ever comes to attack us, you'll be strong enough to defend." The Queen says, her eyes hardening. Her shift in tone makes me wonder, how dangerous is this creature?
Then she gets up and smiles sweetly. "It's time for a quest now. Follow me. I'll take you somewhere where only guardians can go. And no Merfolks have ever been there. No ordinary ones, anyway. So, be prepared to be amazed. There should be a lot of treasure there."
I don't know what she expects from me. But for now, I'm just happy there's treasure.