“Okay. You’ll be okay,” Carter whispered then gently scooped Arria into his arms and swam out of the cave. He picked up his pace and swam faster this time, knowing the love of his life was in pain. They started to approach the city, “Can you see the shop from here? Which way should I go?” Carter asked softly as he held Arria.
Arria rested his head against Carter's chest, nuzzling into him a little. He cradled his arms against his body, trying to not move them. He looked towards the city before nodding towards a tall, white building, "H-head towards that."
Carter nodded and swam towards the tall building. “Everything going to be okay,” Carter whispered, not only to Arria, but reassuring himself. He made his way toward the building, looking a at shop that looked like it was filled with medicines, “That’s it, right?”
Arria looked up and nodded, “Yeah… y-yeah that’s it.” He almost sagged with relief at the sight of the place, knowing he was going to be fine. And he couldn’t thank Carter enough for it.
Carter quickly opened the door, his eyes searching for someone to help, “Um, excuse me, we need help, please!” Carter called desperately as he entered the store, holding Arria closely.
An older mermaid came swimming up to them, eyes wide, “Oh Triton! What happened, dear?” She asked, gently leading them towards a back room.
“I- Uh-“ Carter bit his lip as he followed the kind-looking mermaid. It certainly didn’t sound sane to bluntly say the prince kidnapped them and tortured Arria. “Err- There we’re stingrays. He was chained up, his wrists and tail, and the stingrays were hurting him.” Carter bit his lip again, hoping that would be enough he had to say. He really had no idea how to explain it.
The mermaid nodded and hummed in understanding. She gestured to a sort of bed looking thing, indicating to put Arria down. But the merman just curled into Carter more, not wanting to leave his arms.
“I’ll be right here,” Carter whispered, drifting over to the bed-like-thing and gently setting Arria down, but he didn’t leave his side. “It’ll be okay, the pain won’t last.” Carter told his love softly.
Arria nodded a little. He was reluctant to leave the comfort and warmth of his fiances side but he didn't protest further, resting his head on Carter's shoulder. The mermaid accessed his injuries and quickly grabbed some creams, dabbing them on his wounds, "How long has he had the injuries for?"
Carter glanced at Arria. “I don’t know…” It had felt like an eternity. “Maybe a half hour to an hour?” Carter bit his lip, absentmindedly reaching his hand up to comb his fingers through Arria’s hair gently.
Before the mermaid had a chance to reply, another older mermaid came rushing in, frantic, “Arria! Carter! I swear if it was that damned prince that hurt my godchild again I will give him a piece of my mind,” She huffed, waving the other mermaid away to take care of Arria’s wounds herself, “You two need to stop getting into so much trouble.”
“I…” Carter was at a loss for words. He didn’t know Arria had a godmother. “Um, who are you?” He asked, confusion and curiosity written clearly on his face. At least she knows about how the prince being -had been- a sadistic lunatic.
“Oh right yes, sorry, I’m Janie, Arria’s godmother. I’ve been watching you two for a while now, I’m surpised you two are just coming here now with all the injuries you’ve recieved,” She said quickly, making sure to be quiet as it looked like Arria was falling asleep, “I’m sorry about your foot, Carter, that woman was crazy.”
Carter glanced down at his half tail, “Yeah, she was,” He said solemnly. There’s no need to dwell on it. He looked back up, his eyes coming to land on Arria’s tail as he asked softly, “He will be okay, right? His tail won’t end up like mine, right?”
“Oh heavens no,” Janie replied, offering a comforting smile, “His tail will be fine, there’ll be an obvious mark there but he’ll be okay.”
“Thank goodness,” Carter was hit a wave of relief, slouching his back. He was worried about an infection or something, but hearing that Arria would be okay was the only thing Carter wanted to hear. “Thank you so much, Janie.”
Janie nodded, “It’s fine, really,” She paused for a moment, clear,y thinking about something before looking to Carter, “You know, I know someone who could help grow your foot and tail back. If you want, that is.”
At first Carter didn’t think he heard her correctly. “What?” He breathed, searching her eyes. “My tail… How?” He wasn’t surprised she knew he was human, but to hear his tail and foot could go back to normal… It seemed impossible.
Janie chuckled lightly, “I have a friend who lives outside of the city. He specialises in helping regrow tails and parts of the body. You’re case is special because of your foot but I’m sure he can help, in fact I know he can.”
“I…” Carter didn’t know what to say. ‘Thank you’ didn’t seem like it could express his gratitude enough, but he said it anyways, “Thank you for telling me this… I didn’t know that there would ever be a chance to have my foot back.” Carter’s mouth curled into a smile. “You’ll have to introduce me to them- but only after Arria’s all healed up.”
He looked down at Arria. Carter wanted to celebrate, but he prioritized Arria to have time to heal first.
“You humans. You have so this technology to access things like this and you use it for other stupid ideas,” Janie smiled, moving down to focus no Arria’s tail, “You know Arria, I’m sure he’d let you go now. I can always look after him for a little time while you go.”
Carter bit his lip. He knew Arria would be okay, but he still wanted to stay and just make sure. He shook his head at himself, “I should probably go before I become a mother hen.” He looked to the exit, “Could you lead me there?”
Janie nodded, “Of course, dear.” She finished wrapping some form of seaweed bandaged on Arria’s tail, quickly grabbing a bottle of ointment from the draw near by, “He’ll know how much of this to apply everyday, don’t lose it.”
“I won’t,” Carter nodded in affirmation, giving a tiny smile. Arria was definitely in good hands. And soon they could go back home and relax… and Carter would have his foot back. It still seemed impossible.