Chapter 23 New King of Atla

I suddenly woke up to find myself lying on a soft and comfy bed. I looked around and the familiar setting made me realize that we were still in Atla - I mean, if there are other kingdoms that use shells and seaweeds as decorations. I tried to get up but my body wouldn't move.

"What the-"

"Had enough rest?"

I moved my head in order to look at PRINCE Ace, who was currently tied to a bed like a mad man. He was now wearing a shirt and I could see that his wounds were all healed up, but the bruises were still there. I looked at him and started laughing. "What the heck happened to you!?" I asked in between laughs.

Ace narrowed his gaze at me. "Those worthless princes told me to stay put because I was injured!" He yelled and started struggling to free himself, but to no avail. "Stop laughing!" He glared at me. "I am merely tied so I cannot move. You, one the other hand, is free but couldn't even lift the finger!"

I stopped laughing and tried to move. I succeeded but I can only move my arms. I looked back at Ace smugly. "You were saying?"

"Great. If you can move then you better untie me!"

"Aww. But I don't wanna." I said. "I mean, what's in it for me?"

"The fact that the two idiots are having a discussion with the son of the dead king."

I gave Ace a pointed look. "So? They are simply having a meeting. It's boring to listen to them anyway. Let's just wait and-"

"MY SISTER IS WITH THAT BRAT!" He screamed.

Ahh. So that is the real reason. This siscon merely wants to play keep away with his sister.

"As you can see, I can only move my arms and not my whole body." I said.

PRINCE Ace tsked. "That's what you get if you abuse magic more than you can handle. You're lucky it didn't kill you."

"It could have killed me!?"

"It would have if your familiar didn't absorb some of the magic from the rogues." He said. "Now go and wake up your lazy familiar and tell it to untie me!"

"Custard? Where is he?" I actually know where Custard is because of our link. He was sleeping beside me on the bed. I simply want to annoy a certain PRINCE.

"Beside you!"

"Which side?"

"I can snap your head to see him if I could."

"Geez. Just say the magic word."

"The magic word."

"You're not very good at this, are you?"

The door suddenly swung open and Nate, Ren, and Prince Meruem appeared. Nate and Ren saw me and immediately grinned. Ren attempted to tackle me in a hug, but Nate grabbed him by his collar. "She's hurt you mutt."

Ren looked back and glared at him. "Right. I'm sure that's the only reason you're stopping me."

"Good. You both are awake." Prince Meruem said and earned a murderous glare from PRINCE Ace.

"I was already awake when you tied me up! You bastard are lucky that I am not at my full strength." Ace yelled.

"I feel like I am not welcome here." The Sea Prince laughed nervously. "I should get going and have everything ready for you guys."

"Get back here you son of a virus!" He yelled, but the sea prince is now gone behind the doors. Ace diverted his attention to the two other princes in the room. "Well!? You guys had fun. Might as well share what you've discussed!"

Ren and Nate flinched at the elf prince, who can't seem to talk without yelling. "Right. It will we a long talk so get yourselves com-"

Nate was cut off by Ace. "You better not say comfortable!"

"...right. Sorry." Nate mumbled as he and Ren started to tell us what happened after I passed out.

They have taken the rogues into their underwater cellar. At least the rogues who still have their essence. Apparently, Custard had taken more than half of the rogue's essence making them harmless even when they are together. There were a few men from the kingdom of Atla who lost their essence as well, but these were the men who were loyal to the late king and attempted to murder us.

PRINCE Ace will be pardoned for the murder of the king, as it was decreed that it was merely a self defense to save Prince Meruem and I. The Atla king will also cut off ties with the kingdom of Tereau and agree that one day, they will start trading with the other kingdoms. But not at the moment of course. Right now, they want to properly rebuild their place until they are strong enough to open their place to the others.

Prince Meruem also promised to release all the women that his father kidnapped and have them escorted safely to their respective families.

I was happily eating that food that was served to me. Custard seem to be enjoying the food as well. Ace was also eating while cursing about how ungrateful the people are for tying him up. I could only assume that he was already planning on how to murder the rest of the royal family.

By noon, we were ready to leave. Acting king Prince Meruem and his little brother, Prince Zeraph came with us to the port. Ren carried me behind his back because my body still couldn't move. Nate held Custard as he shook hands with Prince Meruem. "I look forward to our next meeting." Nate said.

Prince Meruem nodded and handed him a conch. "We may contact one another here. Let us know if you ever need help. If it is within our power then we will come to your aid." Then Prince Meruem moved his gaze towards me. I felt Ren let out a low growl as he started to approach us. "Princess Rose, I wish you the best." He says.

"You too!"

"I said she's off limits!" Our eyes turned towards Ace, who was now carrying his sister and glaring at prince Zeraph. "You can't look at her, you can't speak with her, and you may not approach her!"

"Bwother, I wanna say goodbye to my fwend." Nora pouted at Ace while Zeraph was shaking under the elf PRINCE's glare. Nora gently hit her brother with her small fist. "Stop being mean to my fwend! I hate you." The look on Ace's face was priceless that I had to laugh. Ace gave me an irritated look and I quickly hid behind Ren.

Soon, we rode a gigantic clam that would take us back to shore. We all said our farewell to the two sea princes and waved them goodbye the moment it carried us up.

I heard someone chewing metal and I turned to see that Custard had something in his mouth. "Custard? What's that? Nate, my familiar is chewing something." I told him. Nate seems to realize that Custard was in fact eating something.

"Hey, spit that out." He ordered and handed the conch to Ace so he could grab what was in my familiar's mouth. He moved the little wolf so that it was now facing him. "Come on. Drop it." He ordered Custard. My familiar simply grunted and moved his head away from Nate's hand when the vampire prince attempted to grab his mouth. Nate frowned at the stubbornness of Custard. "Bad boy. Spit it out!" Nate used his hands to open Custard's jaw. Custard growled, but Nate was too strong and he finally managed to open the wolf's mouth. The thing in Custard's mouth drop and we all looked at the bottom of the clam to see what it was.

It was a pendant made out of gold.

We were still inside the clam, but we all felt the chilling breeze when we realized what was happening.

"OH MY GOODNESS, CUSTARD STOLE FROM THE PRINCES!" I screamed in horror. I mean, not only did we - I mean Ace - killed the king, but we also stole from them!

"Should we head back?" Ren asked as he looked at the pendant fearfully.

Custard jumped down from Nate's grip and grabbed the pendant again. 'Master, I found this in the ground! I never stole it.' He said.

"Custard, listen. Even if you found it, you simply can't take it."

'I found it on the seafloor! No one owns it.' Ren opened his palms towards Custard and the little wolf dropped the pendant to his open palm. 'Look. It has rust and moss.' My familiar insisted.

Ren brought the pendant up. "It's dirty." He said before handing it to me. "I don't think it comes from their treasury if it's like that."

"Well I don't want it." I said as I pushed the pendant back.

'But, master...I got it for you.'

"Custard, this is not finders keepers you know." I told him.

Custard dropped his ears and whimpered sadly. At this, the princes and Nora gave me a look that made me feel guilty. Wow, look at them. They are siding with my familiar now. And before they used to not like him.

Custard looked at me with his big round brown eyes and whimpered. I bit my lips as I was too weak to resist that look. I looked at the pendant on Ren's hand and snatched it. "Okay okay!" I resigned. "I'll keep it. Thanks, Custard." I mumbled.

We were finally back on land. We hoped off of the gigantic clam as we made our way back to shore. The prince's trousers got wet as they walked through the water. A few snorts brought our attention to the 3 horses in front of us. It was Ryde, Garius and Midnight.

We looked at Ace and, in return, he raised an eyebrow at us. "Of course I called them. You think we can walk all the way back to the palace?" Well all shrugged and was about to move when Ace stopped Ren. "Take my sister. I need to speak with that." He said and pointed towards me.

"Hey I have a name." I said.

Ren looks hesitant to hand me over to Ace. He simply stood there while carrying me on his back. I looked at Ace and figured that he wouldn't back down unless we would comply with his request. Nora stared at the two princes as if comparing them. When her eyes darted back to her brother, she grinned widely.

I tapped on Ren's shoulder. "It's fine. Meet you with Garius later." Ren gave me one last glance before setting me down. I took my hand and handed it over to Ace.

"Be quick." He told the elf prince and frowned. Then he took Nora as they made their way to where Nate is with the horses. As soon as they were gone, Ace held my hand and led me to sit on one of the rocks near the beach. I looked at him curiously as I wondered why he called me here to talk.

"Any time now." I told him when a few seconds flew by and he wasn't talking.

"You did good."

I blinked. Did I hear him right? "Pardon?"

"Back at Atla. You did well in using your powers." He said. He wasn't looking at me or even meeting my gaze. "Without you, I wouldn't know if we would have survived." I still looked at him. Speechless as to what I just heard. Is he complimenting me? There was a slight tint of red on his ears, but I couldn't tell if he was blushing or not since he was facing the other way. "That's why...whatever I said before that upset you...just forget about it."

I tilted my head to the side. "Upset? When?"

Ace frowned and finally looked at me. "The day we were taken." He said. "You were tearing up when I said you mean nothing to me."

I stared at him as I tried to remember. "When?"

"When we were taken!" He snapped.

Then I remembered him talking at that time, but I wasn't listening. Could he be misunderstanding things? "Um..." I said uncertainty. "I don't exactly remember what you were talking." I laughed nervously and scratched my cheek. "But I didn't cry because I was upset."

"What?"

"I actually couldn't sneeze at that time."

This time, it was Ace who blinked. "You wanted to sneeze?"

"Yeah. But I couldn't because you kept talking about something."

"You...!"Ace massaged his temples and gritted his teeth. And now I could tell that he was blushing. I couldn't tell if it was from anger or embarrassment.

Either way, I didn't want to miss this opportunity. I grinned teasingly at him and snickered. "Wait." I grinned. "Are you actually worried that you upset me?" My grin grew wider when I saw how red his face was right now. "You are!!" I declared.

"No I'm not!"

I clapped my hands and laughed even more. "Your face! You actually felt bad!" I breathed and started fanning myself. "I should write this in my diary!" I squealed. "Imagine. PRINCE Ace. THE PRINCE Ace is worried about hurting my feelings!"

Ace gritted his teeth and glared at me. Suddenly, it would seem like an idea popped into his head as he grinned evilly. "Yes. Keep laughing." He said and started to walk away from me and towards the horses.

I stopped laughing. "Ace?" I called for him when I realized what he was doing. "Ace! You do now that I still can't move the rest of my body, right?"

"You can move your arms." He called out and waved without looking at me. "Crawl if you have to."

This guy! He really is going to leave me! I tried to move my legs but it didn't respond. Damn it. "Ace! Wait. Come on. You can't handle a joke?" I called for him. Louder this time. "Ace? ACE!? PRINCE Ace!?"