Chapter Eight

The King beckoned me to a bedroom. "This is where you will be staying. I'm afraid we can't take you home tonight, but your parents are going back to the surface. Something about your sister."

"So they're just going to leave me here? Have they left yet?" Just as I asked the question, both my mother and father walked through the door.

"Dimitri, we have to go back to the surface world. We can't leave your sister up there with the sitter for too long, and we have to be back before daylight." My father explained. They moved in for a hug.

"Please behave. We will be back tomorrow." My mother planted a kiss on my head. She turned to her father. "Don't let her hurt him." She whispered, then bade me farewell, and left.

"Dimitri, please make yourself at home, although this is only temporary placement. You will have a long day tomorrow." My father gave me a nod, then left the room. The room was large and lined with gold. The bed was bigger than a queen. It had gold and sapphire drapings and tassels. It was a beautiful room, but I could tell it was only a guest room.

It was already getting late, so I sat on the bed. I looked out the window, and I could see the city below it. It was glowing with bioluminescent flowers and algae. The city still seemed busy, but I'm used to that. There were a variety of people and creatures roaming about the town. I stared for a while, then I started to feel drowsy. I decided that I should get some rest.

Today is the day I am going to meet Bagerah. I'm a little nervous about meeting her, just because of Torin's reaction to her. I have no idea what to expect, but that seems to be the theme nowadays. She lived in a sort of isolated part of town, but it seemed very open and appealing. Her home was smaller than the other homes around it, and it stood out. It was strange seeing the actual city, especially since I grew up in the surface world. It looked similar to what I'd known, but there were no vehicles of any sort, which makes sense. The "street lights" were naturally made of bioluminescence. The city was full of merfolk and quite busy during the day. I was so busy observing my surroundings that I didn't even notice we were standing at Bagerah's door.

Kaito looked at the door and said to me, in a nervous tone, "Well, here you are young Prince. I will be back to escort you back to the palace in a dit."

I looked at him confused, "Wait, you're leaving me here? And what's a dit?" Kaito nodded.

"A dit is a unit of time. Similar to that of 2 hours. I'm afraid, young prince, that you must participate in these lessons independently."

I replied, "Well. Thank you Kaito. See you later then." I sighed and gently knocked on the door.

"Come in," a soft yet harsh voice rang through the door. I slowly swung open the door and entered the room. It was homey, dimly lit, and smelled like chlorine. I turned to see a chair sitting in the far corner, and a woman sitting with a book in her lap. I introduced myself sheepishly.

"Hello, I'm Dimitri. Are you Bagerah?" She closed the book and looked up at me.

She studied me for a few minutes and finally uttered, "Yes. I am Bagerah. I assume you are the young prince?"

I answered quickly, "Yeah I—" She cut me off.

"Sit." She ordered me as she pointed to a chair next to hers. I floated over and sat down, not sure if I should say anything. She looked me up and down, again studying me.

We sat in silence until she said, "Well you're a quiet student."

I froze. "I'm sorry I wasn't sure what to say." She let out a small chuckle.

"I'm not going to bite you young Prince." I still felt uncomfortable with being called a prince so suddenly.

"You don't have to call me that. Please, just call me Dimitri." She gave me a smile and told me to stand. She led me to the back of her home through a very large door.

"What's that?" I asked. She hinted to me that she wanted me to open the door. Steadily, I gripped the handle and pushed it open. The other side was a very large room, much brighter than the room we were in before. It reminded me of a football stadium, or some kind of training room.

"This is where you will train. Develop your powers, gain control, and improve your body composition. I will be teaching you." I turned to her with a questioning look. She continued, "Don't worry, I'm a lot stronger than I look." She took a spear-like weapon off the wall. It was covered in moss, and looked ancient. "Now, shall we begin?"