SIREN'S SONG

one

THE ABERRANT ANGELFISH

a few months before

her auborn locs, braids and loose hair swayed endlessly as she swam past the corals. her eyes swept over each crack and curve, noticing how the blubberbeast casually played around with other. she shook her head as a familiar bubbly seahorse rushed towards her

. " [name] ! oh i'm so glad i found you! " the golden hues belonging to the cute creature teared up with worry. "oh, bruno, don't be such a guppy, " she gently wiped the seahorse's tears. "hey! i'm trying to worry for you! " her glossed lips smiled, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "ah, yes, thank you for worrying, but I'm here now."

"and you're late. "

her eyes glanced to her left, noticing the stern ball octopus crossing it's arms. "what would your father say, [name]? his daughter, who is supposed to be at his important meeting, hasn't been seen all day. " "so it's today, " she questioned as she dotted on an otter than swam close to her, not paying him any attention.

octavius huffed in annoyance, " your highness, you should at least let someone know before you leave." her dark brown eyes narrowed as she looked at him. "i did this time. i told my bulter ivan. " octavius scoffed, " that crab bait should've been what i said a long time ago. " [name] watched in amusement as the ball octupus continued to trash talk ivan the fish before quietly slipping away with bruno.

"I'm hoping our king puts him down easy, but harsh. Anyway, we must get going to-. " His green eyes searched around endlessly for the two.

"I'm dead too. "

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚　 🫧 ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

bruno le bulle shook violently as they neared the ruins under the sea. "[name]? i don't think this is a good idea. " she glanced behind her, smiling. "we'll only be a few seconds. plus, there's no humans swimming about. " the golden eyed seahorse shook more as he swam behind her.

the mermaid kept him close as she swam through, casually picking up small trinkets to bring back home to her hideout. "oh these are so lovely. i wonder what this is. " she lifted a kamera that was in great condition, smiling a bit before her eyes were blindes from the flash after she pressed the button. bruno's eyes swirled around as he got dizzy from such a flash, shaking his head slightly.

"i think it's time we go. you remember there's a huge crab that storms through here, right? " she huffed, swimming and collecting still. "human food cannot be around at this time, i've memorized it. " the bubbly seahorse held a blank expression until a gust of a current went by. "[name] please, i don't want to be crab bait. "

"Bruno, what did i say? " [name] turned to him with her back to the entrance. "it's not coming, so you can stop worrying. " a large shadow overcasted the sun that shown above them. the bubbly seahorse cried even harder but was stunned in silence.

"... he's right behind me isn't he? "

the slam of a large claw into the cement off the ruin building shook the walls near fontaine. any passerby's flinched and ran away as fast as they could.

"I"M SORRY BRUNO!"

the mermaid held the bubbly seahorse in her arms as she swam as fast as she could from the giant crab that was chasing after her. "i told you! you just never listen to me," the bubbly seahorse continued to shout as his friend swiftly dodged the strong slams and swift snaps of the giant claw.

thankfully it knows when to not abandon it's territory, so after a good thirty minutes the crab left them alone.

[name] huffed a laugh as she kept going, swimming closer to the home hidden under the court of fontiane where an illusion of pure rock and seaweed was the entrance.

THE UNDERWATER WORLD OF SANGUINE BAY had always been this beautiful.

the sight of plenty of merpeople of different shades and scales was always refeshing to see.

they all bowed their heads as they watched the princess swim by towards the palace. "I can only hope bitter suckers [octavius] didn't tell father that we," she was quickly interrupted by her father staring her down as she swam into the courtyard.

"Left here without a notice? Yes, yes he did."

the man stared her down, his dark brown skin glowing in the rays of light produced by the false sun they created. his eyebrows nitted togeter as his long locs that were jeweled from the ends to the roots that were covered by his crown swayed around him. his dark, bloody red eyes narrowed more.

"With how things are going with that meak willed of an archon, we cannot garuntee anyone to leave and return safely." his voice seemed to boom across the entire land. "you know this. i've warned you about this since you were younger, cordelia. Fontaine is not a safe place at this time."

his daughter, despite being a newly turned adult, was still holding onto that childish view and dreams. it was endearing, the fact the harsh reality of the world came to her quick yet she continued to be optimistic. it was also infuriating.

the father watched his youngest quickly let go of her companion and empty the seashell bag fullof trinkets. "i know father, but they've created such beautiful things! we would never have to worry about them, i know, but you're making this prophecy more than it-."

"-More than it is?"

His voice grew a bit louder as he looked her in the eyes. "You were seen, [Name]. word from our brethren heard a guard in their fortress had spotted you. the stages of prophecy are growing near and i need you safe."

her eyes had widened, casted with fear before she lowered her head in shame. chizoba, the king and her father frowned at the sight, lowering his voice and genlty placing a hand on hehr shoulder. "I would not be able to live, continue to care for your siblings and rule our world if you were to get hurt, cordelia."

"so please.. be more careful and stay hidden next time." he cupped her face, wiping away a stray tear as he did so before smiling brightly. "after all, i did choose you to rule after me." the smile they shared was so contagious it had her bleaming back at him before they shared an embrace.

"i love you, dad."

"and i love you too, cordelia"

the two genlty pulled apart, the man placing a gentle kiss to her forehead. "now run and get ready for lunch." she sped off immediately, hearing the loud call of 'bring that human device as well for show and tell'. her glossed lips immediately rose into a wide smile.

her father was the best to exist.

the eesena, like many other species, have adapted from their primordial sea habitat to being able to survive in fontaine's waters. you could say if they were to ever encounter pure primordial see without it being diluted at first, they would perish.

cordelia is a nickname chizoba gave his daughter. it means, "of the sea, jewel of the sea, daughter of the sea"