Fabian's Fables

Chapter 6

After dinner, Charlie and Fabian followed the king and queen into the Throne Room to see pictures of the royal family.

“Thank you, O Fabian the Creator,” the king said, flipping through his photo album, “for giving me a family. I wouldn’t have traded them for anything else in the world.”

“Nawwwww,” Fabian blushed. “It’s a pleasure. Just doing my job.”

“How do you find your stay in my palace so far?”

“P-pretty wonderful, Your Majesty. And very appetizing. Your chefs are simply the best!” Charlie nodded in agreement.

“Heehee. They are, aren’t they?” the king chuckled. “Only the finest in the kingdom get to serve in the kitchens of the Aqua Palace.”

“Er, your Majesty? There’s something we need to tell you.”

The king looked at the boys. “Yes. What is it, if I may ask?”

“Uh……,” Fabian began. “You, your family, your men and your servants have been very kind to us so far. It’s just that we both would like to leave soon.”

“Leave? As in, to leave my palace? And go where?”

Fabian shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe see the land above water, I suppose.”

That’s when the king gasped and dropped his photo album.

“Land above water?!” he shouted. “That’s where our enemies live! You do not tell me you are one of them?!”

“One of who?” the unknowing Charlie asked.

“Oops,” Fabian muttered under his breath.

The king blew out steam from his nose and picked up his trident. “You, spies. Fiends! How dare you play us for fools, pretending to be one of our friends, when you are NOT all along! You created a world where we are meant to become victims of the Land people’s doings! And now you want to return home safely after taking advantage of our hospitality?”

“No! No! No! We’re not your enemies, I swear! I mean, we ARE humans — we have legs instead of fins, gills and scales like you merfolks do — but we are not the BAD kind of humans! We don’t kill merfolk and feast on them. Please, just let go,” Fabian pleaded.

“I don't think so. I don’t believe you,” the king growled.

“Uh-oh……,” Charlie whimpered.

“GUARDS!” In a second hundreds of armed merfolk came swimming out into the enormous Throne Room. They surrounded the boys and pointed their spears at them.

“Just try and escape now, you snivelling little spies,” snarled the king.

Without another word, Fabian grabbed Charlie by the arm and swam upwards towards the roof of the palace, as fast as his human legs could propel him. Charlie’s weight was pulling him down, but he didn’t care. He swam and he swam and he swam until he was out and above the palace, with the armed guards chasing after them from below.

“Quick, Charlie! Let’s get away from this place. Then grab my notebook from my backpack and we’ll teleport to my third story.”

“Okay!”

The boys swam further away from the palace. Despite being land creatures, by some miracle, two pairs of human legs swam a lot faster than hundreds of fins. By the time the king and his guards reached the opening of the roof, the boys were merely two tiny dots in the distance.

“So, they think they can escape, eh?” The king snapped his fingers. “Call over my best witches, wizards and magic men. We are going to undo the spell on our water that allows humans to breathe in it.”

The guards gasped. Then they smiled menacingly. They liked His Royal Majesty’s plan. They were going to drown the boys in this fictitious universe.

Far away, when they’re sure they’ve lost the merfolk, the boys hid behind a big rock and looked back. They see the king being surrounded by more merfolks.

“They… they’re not chasing us anymore. Wh-what are they doing?” Charlie panted.

Fabian squinted his eyes. He noticed that one of the merfolks that was talking to the king was holding a magic wand and a thick book. Realisation dawned upon Fabian and his heart started pounding.

He threw down his backpack and began fishing for his notebook. Charlie observed his friend’s panicked behaviour.

“What are you doing?”

“We gotta get outta here, quick! They’re gonna undo the spell that allows humans to breathe underwater. We’re gonna drown if we don’t make it out in time!”

Charlie yelped and helped Fabian to search for his notebook. But in the process, they managed to get both their sleeves tangled up and stuck in the zippers and pockets of Fabian’s backpack. Charlie screamed. Fabian began sweating. Was he and his best friend about to die in a world of his own creation? It would be all his fault then……

The boys took some deep breaths to calm themselves down. A noise erupted from the palace. The spell was already being undone. Both boys squirm as hard as they could to free themselves from Fabian’s backpack.

Fabian tugged on a zipper, and his left sleeve came loose. He tugged again, and his right sleeve was free. He helped Charlie liberate himself as well. By the time they were done, both boys were finding it increasingly difficult to breathe normally. Quickly, Fabian pulled up his sleeves, pulled out his notebook, and put his hand on it. Charlie did the same. As their faces began to turn purple, they disappeared from the Enchanted Land of Merfolks.