Hatched Part Two

 

It’s dark in the room, only a single overhead light is on. Mr. Green Eyes is slowly pacing around the metal table that I’m lying on. I’ve been asking him questions for over an hour but he has refused to even look at me. I sigh deeply before turning my back to him. At that moment the door to the room opens and an older, taller man enters in. He is wearing a tasteless light gray suit and an aqua blue T-shirt, a green tie hanging neatly from his neck. Mr. Green Eyes stops pacing and glares at me hard enough that I get the idea to get off the old metal table and into an uncomfortable metal chair. “Who the hell are you?” The question slips out of my mouth before I can stop it. It sounds snarky and cranky, which is pretty much how I'm feeling at the moment and I really don’t care.  I ignore the sharp glare of Mr. Green Eyes.

“Hello, Jewel. I understand that you have been through a lot in the past twenty-four hours.” He glances over at Mr. Green Eyes. Before I can even open my mouth to speak he holds up his hand, ready to stop the flow of demands and sarcasm that is sure to come. “Please, allow me to speak. I have just gotten off a flight that brought me from California. I am tired and hungry and like you, I am not into bullshit, so allow me to be brief. You’re not human, and you’ve always known that, haven’t you? You realized it from the moment you first opened your eyes because you were hatched from an egg, as was I and my friendly assistant over there.” My lower lip begins to tremble and I suddenly have to fight the urge to cry. I feel as if the deepest and darkest part of my inner being has been wrenched out of my body and flung out into the open, for everyone to see, in its ugliest form, dripping with the slime of hidden truths and desires.  I stare at it, the shame locked out of its dark cage and gazing back at me like a freak creature escaped from a zoo. Mr. Green Eyes looks at me and seems concerned.       

“How do you know this?” I whisper.                                                                                       

“Ah, well, it took us quite awhile to find you, Jewel, but it’s a good thing that we found you when we did. You caused us some serious trouble. The resources it has taken to cover up this fiasco, well, you just wouldn’t believe it. I know I can’t.”

“Oh, right, because I totally planned to melt that man down to his bones. I just do it for kicks.” I snap, the tears threatening to spill. Crap, I’m usually not a crier.  Is it because I am so tired? Or maybe I’m just feeling a bit overwhelmed. I run my fingers through my hair, which is dyed blue and cut into a punk pixie style. My nose ring begins to itch as the first batch of tears trickles down my face, my nose becoming runny. “What kind of freak am I? And who are you guys?!” The last part of that sentence comes out louder than I intended. By now four more men dressed as security guards have entered the room, bringing along a big comfy chair for the older man while I am still stuck in my hard metal one. I bring my knees up to my small chest and wrapped my arms around them.

“Freak? Oh no dear, you are something far more special.” He says, trying to add warmth to his exhausted voice. It makes me angrier. “Ah, and I have yet to introduce myself. On this planet I go by the name Gerald Johnson. But my real name is Sea Blade. The frowning man over there is called Emerald Undertow.”

I can't help it. A giggle bubbles its way out of a sob. “A girl’s name?”

“Where we come from, names do not have gender.” Mr. Green Eyes-renamed- Emerald-Undertow says in a surprisingly deep and mysterious voice.

“Where are you from?”

“We, as are you, are from a different planet.” Sea Blade replied.

I laugh so hard that I begin to hiccup and have to cover my tearing eyes. “Oh my gosh. Really? You’re pulling the ‘you’re an alien’ card? What is this crap, a reality TV show? Are you for real? You’re lying, man, you’re frickin’ lying to me. There are no such things as aliens and other worlds and planets. Shut up, this ain’t funny.”

“If this weren’t real, how do you explain your purple blood then?” Emerald Undertow says smugly. “And how do you explain your mortal wounds healing so quickly?”

I bite my lip as I look down at my wrist.

“It is a defense mechanism that only the prince or princess possesses from birth.” Sea Blade says quietly, the intent gaze of his eyes piercing through my skull as I keep my eyes glued to the thin pale skin over the underside of my wrist, the veins seeming more purple than ever before. I look up slowly.

“We are called ‘Meurkhoun’ and we come from the planet ‘Novaeangliae’. There are no humans on our planet as it is almost completely submerged in ocean waters. We have a few random islands and some fresh water lakes here and there, but nothing like this planet Earth. Every ten years we have a gigantic meteor shower, and during that shower the four moons that surround our planet align and a portal opens on our main island. The portal leads to this planet.” He pauses to make sure he has my undivided attention. He does. “We are not born like whales with live birth but like fish, who lay eggs. All meurkhoun eggs hatch after a year, except the royal egg that does not hatch until its fifteen years of age. When it hatches, the royal heir has knowledge that he or she was given in their dreams. You are the next ruler for our kind.”

“Holy crap. Are you serious?!” I feel like I'm about to hyperventilate. This is going from insane to unbelievable. I pinched myself about a dozen times just to make sure I am not dreaming.

“Yes, unfortunately we’re serious.” Emerald Undertow mutters. I glared in his direction.

 “What’s your problem buddy?” I snarl. “You want a piece of this?”

“Who wants a piece of you?” He snarls right back, slightly catching me off guard.

“Who pissed in your kelp flakes today Emerald-boy, ‘cuz I sure know it wasn’t me, so take your attitude and leave me alone.” 

“Go get eaten by a shark, flat chest, and while we’re at it why don’t you show some respect for your father?”

“Father?” Well, he got me there. I swing my eyes towards Sea Blade. “You’re my father?”

“Yes.” Sea Blade’s face turns a deep shade of gray and he glances down at his feet as if ashamed. “On our planet leaders can be conceived by anyone. I was just a simple kelp farmer making an honest living when you came. When your egg didn’t hatch after a year, we knew that you were next in line to be crowned. But you were kidnapped right from under my nose ten years ago.” Tears are now dripping down his face. “Your mother was so ill and the only cure for her was the Sei flowers on a tiny island. I should have left you with guards but I did not think anyone would harm you or your mother … no one ever had before! We had never known wars or strife!” I watch as his tears drip down his face and turn into scales as they plop down on to the cement floor. “When I returned your mother was barely alive and you were gone. We searched the entire planet and when we couldn’t find you, I just knew you had been brought here to this ghastly planet, but I couldn’t come for you until another ten years had passed.”