Princess of the Seven Seas

Prophecy |13

  When I entered the Royal Dining Room, the smell of food greeted me. Grateful that breakfast was being served, I grinned and and greeted my friends who were already in the room. They sat patiently at the table, taking a few pieces of snacks. 

My mom moved to the seat that sat across from my father's seat. And that is some very far distance.(Royal Dining Tables are large!) I sat next to Rhea and Marina. Or more like next to Rhea and Anahi, Marina was sitting next to Rhea. 

I grabbed a cookie as I waited for my father to arrive. He wasn't here yet, and meals were always required for his presence so that we can eat. I took that time to reflect on the training my mother had taught me. I thought back to the cold piercing feeling that I felt during that reach into the ocean magic's depths. 

I bit my lips. For centuries the Dark Hunters or the mermaids that called themselves Dark Hunters has always been unknown of their base location. And the deepest and darkest sea floors are not searched or touched by mermaids. Deep Sea floors are known of their secrecy and monstrous creatures that hides beneath the darkness. 

And that cold feeling, it felt like it was created by magic. Not only magic, but Ancient magic, Ancient and Forbidden magic.  Not something any magic user mermaid would want to deal with exactly.

This was about as far as my train of thought would go until Marina snapped me out of it. 

"Hey, Layla. Why were you gone so early in the morning?" She asked. 

I gave her a smile and said, "Well you know, I'm a morning person and it's always nice to be outside and do some stretches."

She giggled, and gave me a smile smile, "That's nice."

"Do we have any plans for the day?" Rhea interrupted, or rather, jumping into the conversation. 

I thought for a moment before replying, "I'm not quite sure."

Her mysterious gray-green shone happily, "Maybe we can go hunting some monsters!"

I quirked my mouth to a side, "Today?" I asked, "I don't really feel like doing that today."

"Why not?" Anahi chirped in. "I think it's a great idea to exercise our magical powers."

"I agree." Brandon mumbled quietly. 

I sighed and paused for a moment before agreeing them that, It is a very great idea to spend a free day with.

"YOU MAY CONTINUE." A loud voice boomed from a side of the table. 

I turned my head to where the sound was coming from, and there he was. My father sitting at his usual seat. We were so caught up in our conversation we had not even noticed his Royal King Neptune take his seat! 

'Goodness, I must be more aware of my surroundings!' I scolded myself.

But I paid attention to that no more, as I grabbed several dishes of each kind and swallowed it down my throat, barely even tasting its flavors. I just wanted to be outside. I wanted to feel the ocean's depths more, it could lead some clues to where the Dark Hunters might be hiding. 

~~~

We finished our meal and gathered ourselves in the Throne Room. Father said it was some urgent news he had to share with us. The globe shone and spoke of something last night, and only he was aware of it. Father said that it was some kind of Prophecy or guidance that had spoken a long time ago, but the quest members selected, failed their task. 

Globe isn't just only some kind of communication device in the Throne Room, but it is also used for predicting Prophecies and disastrous events that might happen. This device was built when the first King of all the Infinite Oceans took his Throne. 

As we gathered to the Royal Throne Hall, I took my place in between my mother and father. And my sister and brothers stood next to the Queen. 

My mom has a grim look on her face, almost like her worry and frustration has been smashed into one to create that kind of expression. On the other side, Father wore a similar expression to mom, but it's more of worry than frustration.

"Let us begin." My father said. His tone wasn't the best. He had this grim mood and it felt like some freakish, villainous person is going to jump out at any moment. 

He waved his hand to manipulate the large Globe to settle gently in the center  of the Throne Hall where everyone can see it. Then with a flick of his hands the Globe twisted in a circular position, awakening the Globe's magic.

"Speak." My father commanded. "Speak of the Prophecy of the Night."

There was a long silent pause. It was an eerie silence until it spoke:

            "May the Heirs go with no avail,
             Only Thus will guide the path,
            Find the gem of balance to restore the ocean's magic. 
           there will be losts, and there will be grants,
          what was lost shall be found again, 
           may the currents be with the children of the crown."

I pressed my eyebrows together, glaring at the magic globe. This sounds like some gibberish. Except for the thought that this is somehow related to the Dark Mermaid Hunters. I know I had heard this before. Of course, this prophecy was heard when the last selected members was supposed to accomplish this quest, but failed. From my knowledge, this prophecy was forgotten by the Mers of the ocean because the Dark Hunters had stopped doing mischief and murdering- well until now. Disrupting the Kingdom's celebration was a BIG deal, so those Mers are really up to something. 

"Any opinions?" Brandon asked, before my dad did. (Perhaps it was his telepathy reading thoughts from my father's head).

It was Anahi that spoke, "The prophecy states 'the children of the crown' could it possibly means us? The heirs of each major oceans? Or it could mean any of us, from the prophecy I can tell that this line won't limit our members of participating of this quest."

Before anyone could speak, it was my mother that spoke, "Yes, there wasn't any limits to the members of participation from the last time this prophecy was spoken. So the Kingdom chose nine. Five Princes and 4 Princess, heir to the throne of their home sea. Only one, survived, but she failed."

Everyone felt uneasy. Nine royal mers? And if they're Royal they have been taught to be in combat and magic training, and they failed? This quest isn't an encouraging quest then. I mean, think about it! The last time when this prophecy was told and they were need of accomplishing this quest, they selected nine royal heirs! And believe it or not, those heirs were chosen possibly of their special abilities and the faith the mer-people had in them! 

Marina, who was curious, she asked, "Your Majesty, with all means of respect, can you explain why she had 'failed'?"

My mother tightened her lips, as if she tasted something bitter in her mouth. And for a moment later, she nodded slowly.

"The rest of the members of the quest died bravely, for they had been trying to kill the magic source of the Dark Mermaid Hunters. The one that survived, lacks the skill of physical fighting, she is a great tactician and a great magic user. Well, she was injured badly, during the small breakout fight in the Dark Mermaid base, so all she can do is to turn the magic of the Dark Mermaid to a temporary pause."

"She kind of succeeded." I said, shrugging. 

"The Kingdom thought she did," my mom agreed, "but after deciphering the Prophecy it wasn't exactly what it wants us to do to fully succeed."

Rhea narrowed her eyes. "But prophecies aren't that clear. They're not like, 'here', this is a list of everything you need to do in order to succeed this Prophecy." 

My mother chuckled, "Darling, this Prophecy is indeed very clear."