𝒮𝑒𝒶 𝓂𝑜𝓃𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝑒𝓇𝓂𝒶𝒾𝒹

      Deep at the very bottom of the ocean, where even submarines did not dive, behind corals, behind algae, behind dark crevices, in a large palace made of crystal, beautiful creatures - mermaids live. From above they were anthropomorphic beasts, and from below they had large fish tails instead of legs. In this beautiful crystal palace, the sea king, who looked like a large and slightly plump cat, purple in color, did not have a wife, but for that he had an only daughter. Her name was Blaze, after her father Bigliz. Even then, when she bought a trip from the egg to the light, her first words were “What is this?” when she saw a picture with a fire painted on land. Blaze grew by leaps and bounds. Blaze studied magic, but nothing came of it. And Blaze began to learn a competent trade. She learned to read and write excellently, and even knew how to play the piano well with shells instead of keys. Except I couldn’t sing. One day during a singing lesson, she tried to sing, but instead she heard a scream. The scream was so loud that everyone covered their ears. Only the teacher couldn’t stand it and her ears literally burst. — That's what your Blaise did! — she was lying to her father, complaining about her bandages on her head instead of her ears. Blaze had to punish herself of her own free will, realizing her guilt, and she herself stood in the corner. From that day on, she decided that she would never sing again. She really didn't stand for long. About half an hour. Her father immediately forgave her, because it wasn’t her fault that she couldn’t sing. It seemed that such a life could only be envied and dreamed of! However, there was one annoying stereotype. The excellent students and the smartest ones in any school are always hated. Everyone except the teachers. All her peers avoided Princess Blaze and did not even want to talk to her. Some even hit her on the shoulder as they passed her. One day she got tired of enduring all this and decided to teach them a lesson. She began to attack hooligans among her peers and beat them. She beat them, beat them, hit them in the face, it hurt. After that, everyone at school began to be afraid of her, but too many hooligans complained about her to the teacher, and she again told the king of the sea: — THAT'S WHAT YOUR BLAZE DID!!! He promised to speak sternly with his daughter on this topic, but in reality he only felt sorry for her, knowing that she was not to blame. And yet, after that, everyone began to avoid her, no one wanted to talk or play with her. She didn't even have friends because of this. Now the poor princess grew up completely alone, without friends or communication. Completely alone, with no one to talk to and over time, ceasing to show everyone emotions on her face in order to please someone.

***

      Several years passed, Princess Blaze became a teenager when she turned sixteen. At this age, mermaids were usually allowed to swim alone far into the open sea for one day, or to the surface to see how people were doing there. Blaze was more interested in what was out there on the open sea, where she was forbidden to swim. Therefore, when her father on her birthday allowed her to leave the palace for a day and sail alone, she promised to return immediately by nightfall. The mermaid cat went swimming, sailed far from the palace and headed far, far into the open sea, where absolutely all mermaids and mermaids were forbidden to swim. They say that it is very dangerous there and that no one has ever returned from there... Alive. Moreover, there are rumors that there are many dangers there. For example, people from land sometimes throw hooks on strings or fishing nets and capture fish and mermaids. Sometimes scary and hungry sharks roam there, which can easily catch up and eat. But worse than the sharks themselves was a giant sea serpent, which had a snake's tail with gills instead of a fish's and a body like a mermaid's. They say that if you meet him, consider yourself dead and have nowhere else to go. If he catches you, you'll never see the light of day again. The fisherman princess was not frightened by such legends and myths that could only frighten young fry. Ignoring such intimidation, she dared to swim into the open sea and was not afraid of anything. So far everything has been good, quiet and calm. For a long time she swam only forward, without looking around and without turning. It floats forward and forward without stopping. She had never swam this far before. She was ready to swim even to places where even the most fearless and experienced mermaid warriors were cautious. While she was swimming, she sometimes remembered to look around, in case she noticed something interesting. On the way, Blaze finally noticed something interesting and she swam to the left to see what was there. This most interesting thing turned out to be a half-broken human ship that sank to the bottom. More precisely, it was not a ship, but a steamer, which had a hole on the right side, behind. In addition, this steamer broke into two halves and fell to the bottom of the water in two different places, a little further from each other. Swimming inside the front half of the ship, the cat mermaid swam through the open porthole and found herself in a large hall with a chandelier, carpet and chairs. Apparently this place was for dancing. The room also had a door open to the outside and Blaze floated through it, finding herself in a large and long corridor through several doors and cabins. All the doors were knocked down, and some were only slightly open. The princess was most interested in the cabin for the richest. There were many different things and objects in it. For example, there was a candlestick for three candles. True, there were no candles themselves. That's why there was a fork, spoon and knife lying on the floor. The cat-fish decided that they were probably for that thing and put each kitchen item on its own stand. What caught her attention most was something shiny on the bed. Blaze swam towards her and picked up the shiny thing. It was a gold bracelet on a chain, and in the middle hung a red ruby in the shape of a heart. Coincidentally, there was a mirror nearby. The princess decided to try the necklace on herself and puts it on her neck, looking in the reflection. She liked the necklace, although she didn't show it on her face. Blaze decided to keep it for herself, since people lost it forever in a ship crash. She also decided to take a candlestick with kitchen utensils with her. Fortunately, she found some kind of potato bag, where all the potatoes were wet and rotten. Having sniffed it, the cat-fish narrowed its nose at the disgusting smell of potatoes and poured it all out of the bag. She put a candlestick with a fork, a knife and a spoon into this already empty bag, and then swam further, collecting some other interesting people’s objects. Blaze even imagined how she would surprise her father when she returned and showed him all this that she had found here.

***

      Outside at that time there were three sharks that swam past. One of them smelled the scent of a mermaid and swam around the ship. The smell came through the porthole and she decided to somehow swim inside, but did not notice how something huge grabbed two of the same sharks from behind her. The third shark turned in fear and looked around. There was no one behind her yet. Suddenly, a huge monster appeared from below, looking like an anthropomorphic hedgehog with gills instead of ears, claws and a snake tail instead of a fish tail. She looked at the predatory fish with a menacing look, stuck out her tongue and attacked the shark itself. The sea predator, which was smaller in stature compared to this sea snake, was frightened of her and wanted to quickly swim away, like a cowardly fish.

***

      Having finished swimming around the broken ship, the mermaid princess left this place, taking with her the entire bag with all the interesting things she had collected and swam out. After looking around and making sure that there was nothing interesting further, she decided that she was done here and it was time to swim back. Moreover, the sun in the sky was already slowly setting into sunset. Turning back towards her kingdom, she sails home. Blaze paused for a moment. It seemed to her as if someone was behind her and was swimming after her. The cat-fish turned, but did not see anyone. Deciding that it was her imagination, she just turned forward when she saw a huge hedgehog’s head in front of her. She looked at her with her fiery green flame in her eyes and licked her lips. Although the princess did not show fear or fright on her face, she was only a little scared inside herself when she saw her. Blaze just made a couple of ridges back when the giant swam quickly around her from behind in a second and, stretching out her huge right palm, grabbed her.

***

      She lost consciousness and woke up after about a long time. She lay on a large pile of wet cotton wool, as if in a soft bed. At the same time, she was inside some kind of cage with checkered bars. The cage itself was huge and was lying on the floor. There were no exit doors from the bars. It looks like this giant lifted this cage, put it inside and then lowered the cage itself, locking it inside like that. Maybe at least it will be possible to escape through these cracks between the checkered bars themselves. The princess first tried to stick her head through them, which seemed to be large, but was able to fit through the gap. Then she sticks her shoulders out, sticks her arms out and her upper torso. The cat-fish was already glad that she was free, because this stupid monster locked her in a cage, through the cracks of which she could easily free herself. But she just started swimming further, but the area of the big fifth point on the fish’s tail didn’t let her in. Everything tries to swim forward and pushes with its hands from the bars themselves, but it can’t swim further through the cracks with its tail. Do not climb through the area of the fifth point. Blaze even let out a couple of grunts through her closed mouth as she tried to free herself, so as not to moan out loud. — "Come on!" — she repeated to herself in her head, but everything was clear. She will not be able to swim beyond her upper body through the bars. Realizing that she couldn't swim across because of her fishtail top, which was quite large compared to the gap in the bars, she became embarrassed and blew bubbles upward, as if trying to blow her bangs out of her eyes. — What's wrong? You stuck? — she suddenly heard a woman’s voice. Looking around, Blaze noticed the giant mermaid herself above the ceiling. Although she was the one who looked like a mermaid. In fact, instead of a fish tail, she had a snake tail. At the same time, she had a bunch of gills on her tail, instead of ears, and on the sides of her neck. She looked at the little mermaid with a malicious smile and slowly sank towards her. Blaze, although she didn’t show her emotionless face, was frightened by it and swam back into the cage out of instinct of self-preservation. Fortunately, she was able to swim back quickly. The giant hedgehog swam closer to the cage and examined the mermaid cat squeezed in the corner. Although judging by her face, she was a little serious and was not afraid of her at all. Hedgehog asks with a grin: — Why weren’t you scared? Blaze didn't understand why the monster asked her such a strange question. She was still scared of her, she just didn’t show her fear. — You’re not afraid of me, so why are you huddled in a corner as if I’m going to grab you and eat you? — the snake asked again and the princess immediately answered: — Let me out of here, monster! Who are you anyway to keep me here? — Me?... She-naga. If the mermaid could have widened her eyes in surprise, she would have done so. But instead she just blinked and turned her head to the side and asked: — Who? — Well, the snake-wuman. More precisely, I am not a man, but a she-hedgehog. Gigantic by the way. And besides, I am a sea nagin, and there are nagas who live only on land. I prefer to live underwater, like all of you. — You kidnapped me and are holding me captive so you can eat me? — the cat-fish asked without interest, and the naginya answered: — Maybe... I like you. Not a single mermaid or merman has ever swam to me in these open seas. You are the only one who dared to sail here. You're lucky that I was the only one who noticed you. In rare cases, other nagas could swim here and immediately eat you on the spot. I didn’t eat you on the spot, but simply took you prisoner. — the hedgehog snake brings its muzzle closer to the cage. — You are my prey and you will not sail away from here! Just know it! And if I were you, I would be afraid of me, since perhaps your death will sooner or later come right here. — I’m already scared. — Blaze answered without emotion. — You can’t see it from your face. You're not afraid of me. — I don’t like to show my emotions. This is because I had no friends and no one to communicate with. — the mermaid explained. — Really? — the nina narrowed her angry gaze, and then made a kind look and added: — We’ll get to know each other! My name is Amy. And what is your name? The mermaid was silent at first and did not understand why the monster introduced himself to her, but then she decided to introduce herself in response, as she was taught according to polite etiquette: — Blaze! Princess Blaze! — A! So you are a princess! It’s all the better that you came to me. - the nigina answers and swims away from the cage. She swims over to the salad bowl and takes out some seaweed with her right hand. Placing them on round shaped bread like a pancake, she rolls the bread to make a shawarma. At first she wanted to bite off a piece of shawarma, but then she takes one piece of that seaweed and pushes a leaf through the crack of the cage. — On the! Eat! Perhaps you're hungry? Blaze swam to a leaf of this same algae and touched it. It felt disgusting and hard to the touch. — Ugh! I don't like this algae. — she said, folding her arms over her chest. — Well, you don’t want to, as you want! I'll get more. - Amy replies and takes a bite of the shawarma, which she chews and swallows. — I love rotten seaweed shawarma. Any naked person gets used to everything sooner or later. Therefore, it’s a sin for me to complain. — Do you live like a homeless person in this cave? — the cat-fish raised her right eyebrow. — I have nothing to do with this, baby. It’s all your ancestors’ kings’ fault. They drove all the nagas from their kingdom here to the open sea. At the very bottom of the food chain, where we are now forced to eat all sorts of crap, have little meat and almost starve. I am a rare exception among those who switched to healthy food by stopping eating meat. — while Amy was finishing her sentence, she had already eaten all the shawarma and smacked her lips, tasting the remnants of seaweed and bread crumbs on her fingers. — Tasty! — Let me out of here! — the cat fish demanded, and the hedgehog snake brought its huge head closer to her whip and asked with a grin: — What kind of thing is this by the way? — My father is the king of the sea. If he finds out that you kidnapped me and are holding me captive, he will cut off your huge head for this. — Blaze tried to intimidate the monster, and she only mockingly said in response: — Oh! I'm afraid, I'm afraid! — Your smile doesn’t show it. — the cat-fish narrowed her eyes, looking at her suspiciously. — But I wasn’t really scared. — she-naga explained and floated away from the cage onto the bed, lay down and folded her hands behind her head. - Yes, and there is no need to scare me with all sorts of cutting off heads and other things. I myself can easily devour whoever I want. I won’t even leave the seeds. — Why are you keeping me here? Why don't you eat me right away? — Blaze asked. — Good question! — Amy answered and rolled on the bed like a log, leaning her head off the bed towards the cage itself. — You are my prisoner. You will be a dinner guest as an appetizer for my friends who will be sailing here soon. I promised them that they would receive a hearty delicacy that they had never tried before in their lives. — I am not tasty! And anyway, I’m a mermaid, and mermaids don’t eat. — Really? — Amy looked slyly at Blaze. — It's only you who thinks so! But try saying the same thing, for example, to the same sharks that also eat mermaids! They certainly won't listen to you. Yes and then. I personally think you look pretty tasty. So smooth, small, juicy and fat. I would have eaten you myself, but there was no time. After what was said, she again lay down on the bed and tried to take a nap. Blaze doesn't want to give up and stay here. She tries to swim away again, trying to crawl through another crack. It doesn't work again. She swims back into the cage and tries to swim through the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, but all attempts to escape through the cracks through which only her head, arms and torso could swim were useless. Each attempt resulted in her almost getting stuck, and also in the fact that the cage itself twitched and crackled slightly, making metallic sounds. And again the cat-fish sometimes mooed, unable to free itself. Nagina got tired of listening to these sounds and without getting out of bed, she spoke: — Can you be quieter? I can't sleep because of you! You can at least inspect every crack in that cage, they are the same size. You will never escape from here. Now let me take a nap. And if you wake me up again, I’ll eat you right away without salt. Herself. She fell asleep again. Blaze was already desperate, realizing that she couldn’t get out of here, she sat down in the center and became sad, lowering her head. Tears appear in her eyes, which she can barely hold back, but at the same time they still bubble out from her eyes and float up, dissolving in the water. The cat-fish itself does not make any sounds or sobs. If she had been more emotional, she would have cried a lot out of despair. — "Daddy!" Amy leaned out from behind the bed again and stuck her index finger through the crack in the ceiling of the cage. She ran this same finger over the eyes of the fish cat and wiped away her tears, saying: — Well, don't cry like that! I can’t stand it when my prey starts crying and because of this I also won’t be able to eat it myself. And don't look at me like that! It’s your own fault if you swam into these forbidden seas, where any marine life is forbidden to swim. You yourself ran into the forbidden fruit and were eventually captured by the Devil himself. That is, by me. You won't have long to live, after which my friends will eat you, and then remember how it was. Your dad won't even feel you anymore. Blaze immediately could not stand it and quickly swam to the top with anger, grabbing the edges of the bars with both hands and shouted: — DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT MY FATHER LIKE THIS!!! HE AT LEAST LOVES ME, UNDERSTANDS ME AND WILL ALWAYS REGRET IF SOMETHING BAD WITH ME!!! Amy widened her eyes in fear, moving her head higher, because she did not expect such a reaction from the mermaid. Then the nigina grins again and says: — Take care of your nerves and throat, little mermaid. You will still need them when my friends cut you into small pieces, make sushi out of you, and then eat you with rice. — FOOD IS ALL YOU CAN THINK OF!!! YOU ONLY THINK ABOUT FOOD, AND I AT LEAST THINK ABOUT MY FATHER AND HOW WILL HE LIVE WITHOUT ME??? — The princess could not stand it and immediately began to cry. She finally allowed her emotions to come out. She began to sob and blow bubbles from her eyes. Naginya decided to take pity on her prey. She sticks her finger in again and gently rubs it on the catfish's head, trying to calm it down. — Please, princess! Dont cry! You know that I have no other choice. If only you had stayed at home and listened to your parents, then you wouldn’t have been here and I wouldn’t have caught you. Blaze stopped crying and looked up questioningly at Amy. The latter wiped the remains of the lacrimal glands from her eyes with the same finger. — Why do you feel sorry for me, if you kidnapped me, what should I eat? — I don’t know myself... But I think you really need it. Even more than me. My mother raised me this way. She always told me to try to understand my prey if it was strange or unhappy. Now, despite the fact that you were crying just now, why are you like this?... Emotionless, like a stupid big-lipped fish that just smacks its lips and blows bubbles. Blaze wanted to be rude to her for this, but then she restrained herself, sighed heavily and began to explain: — It’s not my fault that I’m like this. I am very lonely... Apart from my father, who is really always busy with royal affairs and I had no friends. Not one with whom I could communicate. Because of this, I grew up like this. But I'm not completely emotionless! I was scared of you when I saw you and even swam away from fear. However, I didn’t show it, because I don’t like to show emotions. I didn’t even have anyone at school. Everyone, regular students and even the bullies were afraid of me and stayed away from me. Naga listened carefully to the mermaid. She herself felt a little sad in her soul. She somehow reminds her of herself with this story. She herself almost never had friends or relatives as a child. Except that mom was always there. She loved her, raised her, sometimes made her laugh and educated her. She was the only one who was always there for her, communicating with her and loving her. So at least she grew up emotional. But despite this, she was still lonely and she still had almost no friends. Then they appeared after my mother died. Some fisherman dropped an anchor on her, crushing her, then lifted her onto the ship with a fishing net and carried her away. After this, the hedgehog-snake found herself completely alone in the sea and cried bitterly. Remembering these events, Amy herself almost cried and blew a couple of bubbles from her eyes. Blaze noticed this and widened her eyes, asking: — You... Crying? Naga did not answer her, but only turned away and tried to sleep again. The mermaid princess was still sitting in the cage and wondering what this snake was hiding from her? Did she cry like that because of her story, feeling sorry for her, or did she have something similar in her life?

***

      About a couple of hours passed and guests arrived at the sea monster. She was just waiting for them. It was the sea nagas that arrived, somewhat similar in appearance to a black jackal, a red echidna and a black-and-red urchin. — In short, did you call us? — Knuckles asked. — I called. — Amy answers and releases the guests into her cave. — I caught another one for you. — And as usual, you don’t want to eat it yourself? — asked Shadow. — I'm a vegetarian! Forgot? — she answers their question with a question. — You are certainly a disgrace to all nagas, Rosie. But we are even glad that you are the only one who switched to algae and are only trying with it. At least we get more meat. — says Infinite. — You should just eat it! — Rose answered, rolling her eyes and folding her arms over her chest. — And us too. — Knuckles added and sniffed. — I smell a snack. — Where is she? — Shadow asked, also smelling the scent. — In my bedroom in a cage. — Amy answers. — In the bedroom? Are you hinting at bed? — Shadow looked slyly at Amy and smiled. — "Fool." — she thought about him and said: — Are you going to eat? Sea predators swim through a long tunnel and swim into the nagini's room. They see a mermaid in a cage and run their tongues over their lips. — Well well well! Who do we have here? — Infinite asked and swam close to the cage. — Little fat mermaid. — HEY!!! — the princess thought such words were rude. — I AM NOT FAT AT ALL!!! BUTT IS JUST A LITTLE BIG!!! — Oh ho ho ho ho ho! Just look! Someone's angry here. — Infinite said mockingly and stuck his finger through the cage. The cat-fish, like a dog, clenched its teeth and tried to bite the naga's finger. The monster began to twist this very finger. — Well, don’t bite, you cunning one! It is we who will eat you, not you who eat us. — Let me freshen it up first, and then we’ll eat it. — Knuckles suggested. — No. We'll just split it between three. — Shadow suggested, taking out his knife. Blaze was afraid of the knife and what it would do to her. — “They want to kill me!” — But then it won’t do much. Even I won't try it. — said Infinite. — Maybe we’ll decide to use scissors on the stone, which of us will eat it all? — Knuckles asked. — Let's! I certainly won't lose. — Shadow boasted. They stood in a circle and extended their arms forward. Shadow's paper fell out, and Knuckles and Infinite's stones fell out. True, Infinite extended two fingers and exchanged the stone for scissors. — Are you cheating again, glutton? — Shadow ran into Infinite. — What are you talking about. I threw off the scissors. — Do not lie! I saw you throw off the stone and then stretch out your fingers. — Not true! — True! — No! — Yes! — No! — Yes! — No! — Liar's answer! — Shadow said mockingly, and Infinite also replies in response: — Braggart's argument! — I'll hit you right now! — Just try! — A. I’ll try! While Shadow and Infinite were quarreling, Knuckles decided to quietly get the mermaid out of the cage himself. She opened it and only grabbed it lightly in her hand, and then slowly dragged it to her mouth silently, so that his two friends would not notice or hear how he would eat it himself. Blaze realized in time to bite his hand. The echidna snake screams in pain, lets go of the mermaid and grabs her hand. Shadow and Infinite turn around and try to catch the mermaid, but they only interfered with each other. The latter decided to rush to swim away from here. — GRAB HER!!! — KNUCLES, YOU IDIOT!!! They fell on top of each other and collapsed next to the shelf. Blaze swam to the exit and hoped to finally see freedom, and at the same time return home to her father. But on the way to the exit the nigina herself stood and looked menacingly at the one who was trying to escape. The princess was very afraid of her and slowly swam back. — Are you going far? — Please! Let me go! I don't want to die! I know that you are good and do not wish me harm. Ask! Help me! — I can not! — she said and grabbed her by the tail. Blaze was already scared. Although now the snake’s gaze was regretful. She looked at her for a long time and thought, looking at her with regret. She eventually decided to just eat it herself. Rose opens her mouth. — NO, PLEASE!!! LET GO!!! — the princess begged and tried to free herself. She even bit the nigina on the hand, but she did not cry out and did not let her go. Amy puts the little mermaid in her mouth and closes it, swallowing it without chewing. For a couple of seconds, the nigina closed her eyes, as if she had swallowed something sour. — Disgusting! This taste of meat is unbearable. — she said to herself. Three nagas will immediately arrive. Amy pointed her finger at the exit and lied. — She swam there! Knuckles, Shadow and Infinite swam past her and swam away to look for the mermaid. — Where did she go? — Where is she? — Great, you piece of moron, you missed her! While the three quarreled among themselves, Amy closed the boulder-shaped door behind her and floated back to the bedroom. Blaise herself at this time, being in her stomach, sobbed and cried in the dark. All she could do now, being in the nigina’s stomach, was just cry, pray and say goodbye to life, since it was about to begin to be digested in the stomach. Of course, nothing bad will happen to it yet and it won’t even be digested. The monster outside heard her crying in his stomach. Amy of course regretted what she had to do for her. After thinking briefly, she decided to deliver the princess home herself, safe and sound. Fortunately, she will be safe in her stomach for now, although she herself does not understand this yet. The nagini finally came up with a brilliant plan for how she could end up in the palace of the sea king and live comfortably, as if in Paradise. Finally, she will be able to get out of this Hell with the open sea, where no one respects her and where it is difficult to get food for food. Having collected all her things and the bedding on the bed and also swallowed them temporarily into her stomach, she hit the road. Even the same bag with things from their ship that the guest was collecting. To where the mermaid herself swam from. At this time, Blaze, being in her stomach, stopped crying. Having come to terms with the fact that she was eaten, she gave up and realized that she would never see her dad again. By that time, Amy had temporarily swallowed all her belongings and a huge sheet and pillow. With a sad face, she lies down on the pillow and falls asleep in fear of death in complete darkness, in the nagini’s stomach.

***

      King Big, not waiting for his daughter to return, began to worry and sent soldiers on a search throughout the underwater kingdom and across the sea to find the princess. The king could no longer think about the kingdom and ruling it. He was very afraid for Blaze and imagined in his head various horrors that could possibly happen to her. From a shark attack to the fact that fishermen could catch her and drag her ashore. He was distracted from these thoughts by a red-haired mermaid soldier with two fish tails who swam up. — Your dampness, allow me to address you! — I give permission! Speak, corporal! — Our scouts discovered and captured a naga sea monster near the border of our kingdom. A female individual. She did not resist, did not attack anyone, does not try to break free and escape, and also claims that she sailed to us from the open sea with good intentions. It says it wants to meet you in person and talk. We are talking about your daughter Princess Blaze. — the mermaid explained to the fox and the king looked questioningly at the corporal. — She told us so herself. Big thought about it and said: — Okay! Bring her to me! — I obey! We didn't have to wait long. The soldiers brought a huge snake hedgehog, which was handcuffed. She was a little scared, but remained calm, did not attack anyone and did not want to run away. The king looked at her sternly and asked: — Why did you come to us from forbidden lands? Are you aware that my ancestors drove your race out to the open sea? Why did you come to us and thereby violate the ban on crossing underwater borders? Naginya sighed heavily with fear, trying to concentrate on her speech and began to say with a smile: — Hello, my name is Amy Rose. Yes, I am aware of the conflicts between our ancestors and you. But you don't need to be afraid of me! I'm not like other naked people. I am different. I only eat algae. And I'm tired of living in these dark waters. I would like to live with all of you in your kingdom. — How is it? Why did you decide that I would let you swim with us here? What if you're deceiving me? And when I allow you to live with us, will you eat all my mermaids and mermaids here? — Not at all. I'm not a carnivore. I can't even stand meat. It makes me vomit and besides, it gets stuck on my teeth. - the nun explained. — Do you really think that we are so naive and will test you so easily, naga? — Big asked sternly. — By the way, why should we believe you? — Your daughter Princess Blaze is with me! — she specifically answers them so that they try to believe her. True, this, of course, only made the king disperse a little more. He stood up from the throne, swam up to the predator, aimed his trident at her nose and asked menacingly: — What did you do to me? — Hush hush! There's nothing wrong with her. Still ok for now. I assure you that she is alive and unharmed. I didn’t even tear off a single scale from it. If you don't believe me, then see for yourself! If I really hurt her or wanted to eat her, then I would immediately eat her on the spot and under no circumstances would I swim to you, because I would be afraid of your anger. Besides, I slept her life. — Saved me? - the king asked incredulously. — If it weren’t for me, then other nagas would have eaten it and would not have swum to you. But since I didn’t do anything bad to her and swore an oath to you that I would never do anything bad to her, I sailed to you to calm you down and warn you about this personally. The king still did not trust her, but he was very afraid for his daughter and wanted to see her alive and unharmed again. Then he decided to sail with her with his personal guard, so that she would lead them to Blaze. And in case of deception or ambush, they will kill this monster. So he said in despair: — Let it be so! — the king himself handcuffed her hands. — Now take us to Blaze! — Why lead? I brought her to you myself. — Amy answers. Big looks at her incredulously and asks: — Where is she? Rose, in response, only sank to the ground, opened her mouth wider and spat the princess out of her stomach back out. The soldiers and the king himself were shocked by what they saw. Princess Blaze herself lay before them, safe and sound. And most importantly, she slept peacefully. When she woke up from being let out, the king himself hugged his daughter and almost cried. — Dad? — Blaze, my little fisherman! I was so scared for you. — See! I told you I wouldn't hurt her. — Rose explained. Blaze looked questioningly at Amy and barely managed to squeeze out a speech: — Amy?... Did you... Did you really save me? — Certainly! I didn't mean to digest you. And besides, I even liked you. — Did you like it? — Blaze asked. — Did you like it? — the father repeated the question after his daughter. — Yes. I have never met mermaids in my life who are as lonely and friendless as I am. — In what sense? — the princess asked at first, and then when she understood everything and it dawned on her, she asked: — So you also didn’t have friends with whom you could communicate? Naga shook her head in response to confirm her question. Then she looked at Big and asked him: — King, I returned your daughter to you safe and sound. Do you trust me now? On the one hand, Big still didn’t trust Naga, but on the other hand, she didn’t lie to him at all and actually returned Blaze to him safe and sound, as she promised. Thinking about this, he wondered if she really should be trusted? The princess noticed how a tear slowly flowed down the nagini's eyes, and then disappeared in a bubble. Naga saved her life and she decided to pay her in the same coin. — Dad, let's let her stay with us! She saved my life and I now owe my life to her. The father thought about his daughter’s words and with a heavy exhalation he answers: — Fine! But be warned! If you dare to eat one of ours, we will not drive you back, but will execute you. It's clear? — I swear! Honest snake! Rose saluted. — And so that you don’t dare to deceive me... before he had time to finish, the princess herself finished for him: — I’ll keep a close eye on her so she doesn’t eat anyone. I promise! — She answered her father and discreetly winked at she-naga. — Okay, Blaze, you will be responsible for her. — Big answers his daughter and turns to Amy. — Amy Rose, welcome to our kingdom. Make yourself at home! — Thank you very much, king. I promise you that you won't regret it! — the nun answered evenly. — I really hope for it. — said the king.

***

      For the snake hedgehog, they made their new home, where she will live among the mermaids and earn money for fresh and tasty algae. Amy gave Blaze back her bag of various things from that ship that she had been collecting there. Now she can share with her father what she found on the high seas. The main thing is that the princess now has a great friend with whom she can now communicate every day, play and have fun. Of course, until the time comes when it’s time for her to get married and give birth to heirs. Naga also finally had her own friend, who was not afraid of her and completely trusted her.