Chapter 45
2:30 pm Afternon
After the luncheon Mr. Rafiq allowed the pillars to leave the ballroom a little early and Mrs. Dutch let them have some fun at the beach. Though she told them (specifically Chimzey) to be back by 7:00 pm, or get in any sorts of trouble.
After they got to the beach they all split up to do their own thing.
Danielle right now was in the ocean waters and was wearing a blue racer-back swim top with silver ripple patterns across it, high waist swim shorts with mermaid-scale pattern on the side which were custom made for her transformation, and a seashell bracelet, and a water proof camera in hand
The ocean wrapped around her in soft blue currents, cool and welcoming. Sunbeams pierced through the water in pale ribbons, flickering across forests of gold and sapphire coral. Clouds of tiny silver baitfish scattered as she passed, bursting apart like glitter.
A massive turtle glided lazily beside her. Danielle smiled, brushing a hand over its shell before drifting past.
Just as a shark was randomly swimming past her, Danielle wasn't a little bit scared. Instead she swam toward it gently, placing both hands on its snout and giving it a soft kiss. The shark's dark eye blinked slowly, almost pleased, before turning away with a calm flick of its tail.
Danielle waved goodbye but…
Eeeeeeeek - CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK- !!!
Flinched when her fins picked the high frequency bursts and a group of dolphins were excitedly swimming towards her.
'Oh no.' She whispered as the dolphins came closer. She was shaking her hand and made for them not to come any closer but they kept coming. At these times Danielle wished she had her younger brother's ability to control fish instead of water control.
She manipulated the waters around her to gently push the dolphins a few meters away, and jetted off at 140 km/h.
'Phew that was close.'
She sighed in relief, sure that she had gotten a good distance away from the dolphins enough that their echo location won't let them follow them, so she decided to go on with her underwater exploration and noticed something interesting below. A boat wreckage of sorts.
'Wow so mysterious~.' Danielle's curiosity bloomed pulling out her waterproof mini-cam, swimming closer like an explorer in one of those deep-sea documentaries she loved.
She got her camera ready to get some good shots of her and the boat wreckage. But while inspecting it she noticed something strange about it. Now she wasn't an expert or anything like that but she noticed that this boat had not been down for that long but couldn't tell how soon.
Her fins twitched as two figures were coming towards her, and it was a good thing she still has great eye sight in the water.
The first figure which seemed to be leading the others was 7 '2 in height, broad, thick limbs and slate-gray skin that gleamed like wet stone. His vest and armour with a subtle hippo insignia over the heart, gauntlets flickered in the filtered sunlight, and his head was covered with a half mask respirator.
On the right was a person at the height of 5 '6 wearing a matte-black bodysuit with golden lines swirling, smooth helmet with a rounded visor, short floating coat drifting like a mantle wing, light armor plated along ribs and thighs.
Danielle immediately recognized them as the number 6 hero Gray Hippo and one of his sidekicks Deepglide. So she condensed the water around her spelling out
'Gray Hippo and Deepglide. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm such a huge fan of the Tidal Vanguard Agency.'
Gray Hippo's gentle laugh rumbled through his mask.
"Easy there, there young mermaid. It's good to meet a supporter" His tone shifted as he gestured around. "But this area is currently a crime scene. We're investigating. We'll need you to clear out."
She nodded rapidly, spelling. 'I'm sorry. I didn't know. I'll leave immediately.'
The hippo waved it off. "Don't worry it was an honest mistake, it happens. However I never thought I would meet the famous Mami Wata in these parts."
Danielle at this point wasn't really surprised that the hero knew her even though it's only by the alias the people call her online.
Deepglide folded his arms, visor glinting. "Your purification videos circulate in most agencies be it heroes or marine protection agencies. You've got admirable technique for your age."
Danielle turned a deeper shade of red for the second time today.
'You've seen them?'
Gray Hippo chuckled. "Of course. Half the hero community has."
'Thank you.' Danielle bowed awkwardly.
"Take care, young mermaid." Gray Hippo called as she swam off.
When she disappeared into the blue, Deepglide spoke quietly, water vibrating around his whiskers.
"She's got heart."
"Mhm. From what I've seen from her in the videos and Apex Owl's description of her I can tell she's going to be a great pro in the future." He nodded and turned to the wreckage. "Now where's that bite mark you wanted to show me."
"Right this way sir." The two ran closer to the boat to continue their investigation.
Back at the beach
Vincent was just laying on a flotation device on the ocean waters just sun bathing with his brunch horns having bloomed out some flowers. He was wearing green striped shorts and sandals. He was enjoying his first time being at the beach as he first took in the scenery from the sand and ocean waters. He also admired some beautiful females which were in his line of sight.
It was a bit strange for him to see all these people from different countries in one place.
"Hey Vin!" Daniella popped out of the water with a big smile on his face causing him to jump in surprise making him fall in the water. "Oops my bad." She said sheepishly and quickly helped him to the floaty.
"Dammit Daniella!"
"Sorry, that was my bad. I'll buy you a new one. But you never guess who I just met down there."
"A shark?" He grumbled laying back down.
"No! Well yes. But let's not focus on that. I saw the heroes Gray Hippo and DeepGlide!" This statement completely got Vincent's attention.
"Eha Eha. You met one of the top heroes?" Danielle rapidly nodded her head and Vincent didn't think he'd ever seen her this giddy. "So how did it go?"
"They were really nice even though I was at a crime scene. Gray hippo is as jolly as he is on screen though they don't do him justice on how big that man is. While DeepGlide didn't really say much but at least he."
"Crime scene?"
"Yeah I came across a wrecked boat. I guess it must have just happened."
"And here I thought."
"Speaking of which, where are the others?"
"Lusungu got done playing with his little board and started playing with the sand that way." He pointed at the west side of the beach where Lusungu was building a sand structure and gaining some other people's attention, especially other kids, and some were even helping. "I don't know where the spoiled pre-teens are."
"Wait what the hell do you mean you don't know where they are!?"
"Come on Daniella you're acting like we're these kids keepers just because we're a little older. They're old enough and I hate to say this, tough enough to look after themselves ."
"Yeah sorry, I've gotten used to looking after my dumbass siblings but your right Chimzey is the strongest out of all of us so I shouldn't worry much. It's just something I'm just used to keeping." Vincent sucked his teeth at the whole 'Chimzey is the strongest one'. "But Vin, we've all known each other for three years now. I think by now you know Chimzey and Suwi aren't as bad as you thought, so don't you think you should quit it with all the hater energy to them? I'm sure now they have more reasons to dislike you than you do them."
"Look I can say that Suwi isn't that but I gave you the reason why I don't like Chimzey. I mean did you see how he acted in the Ballroom. For some reason that kid has been feeling himself a lot lately."
"What, how did you even come to that conclu… You know what, never mind." Daniella just shock head and saw the younger female pillar walking by the beach but someone slammed into her making her drop something.
A few moments later the person got up and began running but Suwi chased after him, easily catching up with him then kicked the person to the sand.
"That's not good. We should really check this out"
"We…?" He yelled
Earlier with Chimwezy and Suwi
At a beach bar
Chimzey was wearing loose dark swim shorts, unbutton blue beach shirt, a black baseball cap turned backwards, crawls poking through out of the hole, and black flip flops. He was currently eating a mango parfait which Suwi had bought for him.
Next to him was Suwi who was wearing a high waist tropical-printed shorts with bright chitenje in orange, white crop-style tankini top with a gold lining, light pink beach wrap, a wide straw hat, sunglasses covering her eyes, beaded anklet and a sandals ,with flower charms. She was eating a strawberry parfait
"So good right?" She asked her feline friend who had a blissful expression on his face as he ate which she couldn't help be smiled at. It was very rare to see Chimzey making such soft expressions and she found it really cute.
"It's awesome." He nodded while taking another bite. "But are you sure this is fine? I would have been fine with regular ice cream cups."
"You would have, but I wouldn't." She flicked his cap. "Just enjoy it, Chicky. I don't buy parfaits for people unless they're my closest friends."
"I thought Jenny and Praise were your closest friends?"
"They are but so are you. And besides this to help you with your funk today."
"What are you talking about?"
She nudged his arm. "I know you look unbothered 99% of the time, but today? You were drained especially in the ballroom. Even your snark at Vincent was low-energy. So.." She gestured at the parfait "This is my emotional repair strategy. Did it work?"
"Damn Suwi." Chimzey looked at her for a little bit and genuinely smiled brightly at her showing his fangs. "Yeah it did, thanks."
His golden eyes caught hers fully causing Suwi's face combusted in a crimson blush. She had always loved his golden eyes but the atmosphere of the beach and ocean mixed with the way he looked at her was too much to handle.
"R-Right. W-Well I-I g-got t-to s-stretch for a bit I'll be back don't go anywhere." She hopped up, flustered, walked away then marched back to snatch her parfait then left again with a dramatic huff.
Some people near them watched what happened in a bit of intrigue and others muttered something about 'young love'.
Chimzey didn't mind with the people as his radar picked up something familiar by the side, but he didn't bother looking to the side, as he scooped another spoon of parfait, lifted it to his mouth, and said. "It's weird to spy on two twelve year old kids you know."
"And here I thought I made a dramatic entrance," Anasi sighed. "You ruined it, little Caçar."Chimzey side-eyed him as he was wearing a green Hawaiian shirt perfectly tailored for his six arms and had glasses on for each pair of eyes
Chimzey just shrugged. "I've got my own secrets."
"Oh I happen to love mystries." He tilted one of his glasses. "Hm. Let me guess you using a EM properties like a sort of a radar."
"How in the hell?" Chimzey was surprised the tycoon managed to figure out his ability just like that.
"I'm not that much of a science guy but your father used to do something very similar. According to his terms, he didn't want the people he screwed over catching him lacking." Chimzey turned his head and Anasi was now sitting across from him. "So who's your date with the little lady going?"
"We're not on a date."
Anasi chuckled a bit "If you say so little Cacar. You're only twelve and you're already getting girls. I'm proud of you and I bet your father would be too."
"So Mr. Anasi about my dad…?"
"Again call me Uncle Anasi" He wagged a finger."And as for your father? We'll talk later. I promise. Spoilers are terrible for pacing."
"Come on!" Chimezy got a little agitated and slammed his fist on the counter causing a large crack and electricity was buzzing in his hair but Anasi just looked amused by the display.
"It's okay, I'll pay for it." Two of his arms worked on writing a check for the damages while another aggressive patterned Chimzey's head. "Cute display. I think the term little monster will suit you better but we'll work on that later." He got up from his seat tossing a flash drive which Chimey easily caught. "Consider that a little apology for missing so many birthdays. Well it's been a nice chat little monster and enjoy your trip."
"Werid day." Chimzey looked at the flash drive and began using his quirk to scan it but then his phone began to ring, and he saw it was William.
"Hey man what's up…? Tonight no I don't think I'll be busy. You want me to do what?"
With Suwi
Suwi walked along th
"Why did I RUN!?" She muttered under her breath. "He flashed that fang and smiled and suddenly I'm breaking down like a robot and running away like a scared deer. URGH!"
She aggressively stabbed her spoon into the frozen dessert like it owed her money.
"Honestly… How does someone with a zero-effort personality manage to be so cute? It's so unfair I thought that only happened in the media, not real life. Huh what's wrong with me I don't run from cute bo-.. YIPPP!"
Her rant was interrupted by someone slamming into her making her drop her parfait causing her to gasp in horror.
"Oh heck no."She spun and saw the eel boy who tried stealing Lusungu's drone from her this morning.
M'ponga got up and blinked and saw who he bumped into. "Oh shit diamond girl!?"
He spun to run, boat paddles clattering loudly, but he made only two steps before Suwi drop-kicked him into the sand with zero hesitation.
M'Ponga coughed, face buried in the beach. "Daaamn, mama-relax!"
Suwi conjured four decently sized diamond shards that hovered right above him ready to strike down if he did anything funny.
She crackled her fits. "You're not going anywhere this time."
"Ayy, pole sana, si we just bumping- no need to bumping- no need to bring out the baby weapons so relax." The diamonds got closer and she raised his arms, sweating. "Aight aight! Damn. I'm just sayin… your being a bit dramatic eyy? It was just a drone and some ice cream-"
"Malaya? Did you just call me a bitch!?" Suwi remembered her Swahili, and while it wasn't perfect she knew enough. "You electrocuted my friends and me, ruined my parfait and now have the nerve to call me a bitch Mshenzi."
M'ponga flinched at the word. "Ayy you understood that eish also watch how you throw that word around." He got a bit more aggressive at the end.
Before things could escalate Danielle Vincent had reached them.
"You again." Daniella pointed at him like she spotted a cockroach.
M'ponga instantly switched up when he saw Daniella."Hey their mermaid girl. You lookin fine in that swimsuit, I see you missed me."
Daniella blinked a little. "Gross."
Vincent crossed his arms, glaring down at him. "And who the hell is this clown?"
"My friend shut up and stop puffing bare chest at me, not impressing anybody." M'ponga immediately clapped back.
"Ey ey tough guy. You try it and see what happens." Vincent moved closer to M'ponga, scaring the guy whose bravado was out the window.
Daniella held him back a little. "Easy there Vin. He's just a guy who tried to steal Lusungu's drone this morning."
"A-Ay life can get really hard for people like me. So we have to do anything for the hustle just to get a little bit of money you know." He tried to earn sympathy points from the three and while it looked like it sort of worked for Danielle on the other hand Vincent and Suwi, so what he was doing.
"M'PONGA!"
A female voice screeched and they turned to see Zahra running towards them. This got various reactions.. M'ponga was cursing his luck, Vincent was surprised to see Zahra again, and Danielle and Suwi looked at her suspiciously, especially her tentacle hair, as they remembered that someone with a tentacle based quirk helped his escape last time.
"I left you alone for 20 minutes and you've already gotten into some shit again!" Her tentacles and cheeks turned red.
"Hey it wasn't my fault that crazy girl just attacked me out of nowhere when I was on my way." He quickly pointed at Suwi.
Zahra looked at the pillars cursing as she recognized the girls who her idiot friend tried to steal from so maybe they wanted some pay back.
"Zahra?" Vincent called out to her.
"Oh hey there Mr. Hero I didn't think I would run into you so soon." She waved awkwardly at him
"You know the two know each other." Suwi asked.
He scratched the back of his head. "Yeah we sort of met earlier today."
"Oh you already met some girls huh Mr. Hero?" Dainella smiled a bit coyly.
"Shut up." Vincent scowled and turned to Zahra.
She turned to the tentacle haired girl "So Zahar right? You're the one who helped him escape the first time right?"
"Yeah and I'm really sorry about what he did this morning. M'ponga does stupid stuff sometimes but I promise he's harmless so please don't hand it in to the heroes and police. I-I'll pay for whatever he stole or broke." She tried to plead her friend's case.
"We weren't going to snitch on him." Vincent's answer made everyone including Danielle and Suwi look at him in surprise. "Let's just say I get where he's coming from and I get the hustle life. And besides they got the drone back."
"Thanks for understanding." Zahra sighed in.
"Thanks my guy. But can you tell her to get these things away from me."
"Suwi get rid of your diamond stuff," Vincent ordered, causing the girl to glare at him.
"You're not the boss of me , Vincent. He still has to pay for that!" She angrily pointed at her ruined dessert.
"Like I said I'll pay for it if that helps. So how much was it."
"K7500." Her answer caused Zahar to choke a bit.
"You spent all that much on just some ice cream. That's just stupid and a waste of money." Vincent shook his head, scoffing.
"Aw sweety just because your ass I broke and can just afford some dirty diarrhoea causing street food doesn't mean the rest of us with a little more in our wallet have to suffer like you." Suwi retorted.
"Damn." Zahra and M'ponga whispered.
Daniella stepped in "Okay Suwi just get rid of them you know quirk laws are strict here you don't want to get us in trouble right?"
"Fine whatever but it's not like they were any heroes or police here now anyways." She pouted, dispelling her diamonds, making M'ponga to sigh in relief as he quickly jumped up and stood at Zahra's side.
Suwi spotted the Kitenje clothes in Zahra's arms and her mode switched immediately.
"Are you one of the dancers in the festival?"
"Sort they're actually clothes for my special performance."
Suwi requested to see the clothes which Zahara had no problem with. But she frowned at what she was looking at.
The colors seemed dull, almost faded,the material was thin and flimsy, fraying already at the hem. She then ran her hands along the seam feeling the uneven stitching, loose threads threatening to unravel at the slightest tug, the colors were off and she didn't want to get started at the fabric.
Suwi looked at her in disappointment. "You're really going to go perform with this. It's terrible. Dear you'll be trending for the wrong reasons if you and your friends put this on."
M'ponga was about to retort Suwi's comments but Zahra covered his mouth with one of her tentacles completely wrapping him up to keep him from saying something dumb and decided to play along with Suwi.
She bent a bit to the younger girl's height with a challenging smirk."Oh looks like we have a little designer here. You're telling me you can do better."
Suwi puffed her developing chest in pride "Hmph you're looking like the daughter of Nyasland's best fashion designer. Of course I can do better than this disaster."
"Well if you're up for the challenge then we can meet up at eight tonight so you can help with our outfits. If that's fine with you little Ms. Designer."
"I know what you're doing but you know what fine I will accept the challenge and by the time I'm done you'll be the talk of the islands." Suwi accepted, leading Danielle to pull her back.
"Suwi what the hell are you doing? You can't just decide to meet a random person. Didn't they teach about stranger danger she can be setting you up."
"Nah, they want to try anything." Vincent informed them.
Danielle asked. "And how can YOU be so sure?"
"Trust me from what I've seen from her, Zahra is not about that life. And I've seen set ups back in Copperbelt and this doesn't feel like one. Besides, we're not doing anything tonight anyway." He answered.
"Well thanks for sticking up for me Mr. Hero." Zahra smiled, making Vincent blush a bit. "And you guys don't have to worry we won't try anything besides we will still be out in the open at the Forodhani Gardens."
Danielle thought about it. "Well alright. We're not doing anything tonight so we'll be there but if you guys try anything funny or else."
"Don't worry y'all have my word. I'll see you there?" She waved and began leaving with Jason still struggling under her tentacle's grip..
In the distance they heard people applauding in the west side of the beach and they saw Lusungu had built an impressive large well structured sand castle.
"Well at least he's having fun." Vincent whistled at the structure and went to get a closer look followed by the girls.
"By the way, Suwi. Where's Chimzey?" Daniella asked, making Suwi's eyes widen.
"Oops." She began running fast back to the beach bar making a dust cloud.
In Tumbatu Island
The sun slipped beneath the horizon, leaving only a bruise streak of orange bleeding across the sky. Far from the glowing shore, deep inside a half-submerged coral cavern, lanterns swayed with the tide. Their dull red glow cast long, warped shadows against the wet stone walls.
The silhouettes of five figures stood in a semicircle, silent and still.
Dripping water echoed.
Only the outline of his shark-like jaw caught the red glow. Strips of bio-luminescent paint ran down his neck like ritual scars, pulsing faintly with each breath. He placed a photograph on a coral crate.
A photo of Nova.
His voice rumbled like something dragged through gravel and they all leaned in. " This target. Korora. Chuma. Barra. Spike. I want her alive to use as leverage against Kuyaka as we don't need the solar Malaya ruining our plans for the festival. You will act. Quietly. Quickly. No unnecessary damage. No deaths. " His tone sharpened to a cold command.
A spine clicked in irritation.
"What if somebody gets in the way?"
The ring leader's eyes narrowed."Then remove them. But leave no bodies and make sure I don't have to send Mawstrike for and clean ups if you fail. Understand?"
"Yes Captain." They all answered.
Author's note
Hey guys sorry this chapter took a little longer to come out than the last one but thank you for your patience.
Anyway I have exams coming up next week so I regrettably have to put the story on pause until I'm finished. But I want to try my best to update the other two Fairy tail: Wandering beast and DxD Terrible Tornado, to keep the flow going.
Like always, don't be afraid to comment on the chapter/story, or leave a review expressing your thoughts on the story, from likes, dislikes, nit-picks, or your own ideas which I could interpret. Also please drop some power stones if you can.