She didn't know how long she spent climbing up the side of that trench, but Serena is thankful when she finally finds that her hands land on a solid surface. She hoists herself up with little difficulty thanks to being underwater and proceeds to drag herself across the surface until she's completely out of the trench. She continues to drag herself across the ocean floor and stops when she gets to a coral reef. She drops her arms in exhaustion and slowly flips herself onto her back. She lays on the seafloor panting lightly while fingering the sand beneath her fingers. Her gaze stares fixedly on the bright light shining above which she figures to be the sun. Its rays seep down and warms the water surrounding her, eradicating the cold she felt while in the trench.
During the time it took her to crawl out of that trench, she had tried to figure out the workings of this unfamiliar appendage as she climbed. However, she was pretty limited in doing so since she nearly lost her grip the first few times, she tried to swim with it. Not that it mattered too much since gravity hardly exists in the sea.
Contrary to the Disney movie, using the thing is much harder than it looks. If climbing out of the trench took anywhere around an hour then surely figuring out how to move must've taken her two.
In the course of the time spent learning to wield the tail, Serena has determined that she has to move her torso a certain way that should be followed by the tail. So if her torso moves a certain way, so too will her tail which will then propel her through the water.
At first, she had tried using her outstretched arms to get her body to move like waves crashing against the shore like those professional mermaids she saw online. However, that didn't work like she expected it to at all. If anything, she didn't even move. She must've looked like a flailing fish caught in a net when she tried that maneuver.
But now, after a lengthy amount of time spent practicing, she has deemed herself at least decent to the point where she can actually travel.
So, the first thing she does is swim to the surface to see how far out she had been carried.
Her eyes flit this way and that as she swims to the surface. All around her is a vast expanse of blue sea and vegetation with the occasional school of fish. The dolphins have long since left and the area is all but deserted save for the one sea turtle passing along at a leisurely pace.
Every now and then a school of fish will come around and poke at her until one of her movements scares them off.
Swimming to the surface is slow going, but when the light of the sun begins to grow closer and the water warmer, relief floods her body. Light pants escape her lungs as she increases the amount of effort put into swimming upward.
A current comes in just then, and drags her down just a little, but she quickly rises back up once more until she's finally broken the surface with a gasp.
Creamy blonde hair sticks to her face as she looks around. Yet there's nothing. Nothing but ocean as far as the eye can see. She turns, and turns, and turns in the hopes that she may have missed a glimpse of land, but ultimately it is just her fooling herself into such thoughts.
Dread fills her heart. She's been carried too far out to determine her location. The sun has already begun its slow descent to usher in the darkness of the night, and she's stuck out here in the middle of nowhere.
Serena dejectedly slips back beneath the waves and distances herself from the surface once more.
She sits there for a moment, wondering what her next course of action should be.
"Well first thing's first, I need to find someplace for the night," she murmurs quietly as she spots the silhouette of a shark swimming along in the distance.
The last thing she wants to do is get stuck out here with no light. A few blackouts over the course of her light has shown her just how frightening the dark is, and she'd rather not have the full, terrifying ocean version of the experience.
Serena crosses her arms over her chest with a thoughtful look. Well, if she was able to turn into something from myth, then surely there must be more, right? As crazy as an idea it is, it's her best one so far. More must exist somewhere and may hap they even have an entire civilization. So, surely there must be someone down here who can help her out of this mess. Like a sea witch or something?
Serena snorts. Obviously, she's watched way too many Disney movies and read far too many mermaid stories.
But if fairy tales are all she's got, then why not? It's better than sitting here like a confused goose waiting to be something's dinner.
The ocean is noticeably darker by the time she happens upon something of interest. From a distance it had looked like a giant bubble with a dark silhouette of something within. Upon getting closer Serena discovers that it's an expansive domed city filled with light and life.
Surrounding the giant dome is a sea garden of coral as far as the eye can see. Shades of reds, blues and greens fill her vision with all sorts of life emanating from them. From fish, to sea turtles, and playing dolphins.
However, she quickly realizes that everything has started taking shelter for the night, and upon realizing how dark it has gotten, she hurries to the entrance of the city.
The city, as one would expect, is surrounded by a large, beautiful piece of architecture made of gleaming silver marble. Along the wall are towers that survey each cardinal direction with massive golden gates between them.
But as she approaches, she becomes more aware of the ridiculous top she had fashioned out of seaweed she'd found. Would they even deign to allow her inside?
But she's not given much time to think about it as she notices the main gate has begun to close. So, she hurries along and just barely manages to dart within the small gap before it shut completely.
There's a surprised sound from her left as she sits and tries to catch her breath from the effort exerted in trying to reach the gates.
Looking over, she finds a pair of golden armored mermen. They've pointed their spears at her without her notice and her blood runs cold as she gazes upon the sharpened blades.
Her relief has all but dispersed as the guard on the right asks, "Who are you? Where did you come from and why are you dressed like that?"
If it weren't for the fact that she's underwater, Serena's fairly certain that she'd be sweating by now. But she quickly lapses into a thorough explanation that only deepens the confused expressions on the guards' faces.
-
Serena stares dumbly as she finds herself being ushered into the majestic palace that sat within the center of the city atop its own massive platform. The palace seems to be made of marble and pearl, unlike the stone buildings in the city. The marble is a soft turquoise color while the pearl shines an opalescent white amidst an array of golden embellishments in swirling designs.
The guards briskly pass through the palace gates and straight into the building itself. Serena slightly pales. The guards had seemed disturbed by her story and said something about bringing her before the king.
It can't be that serious can it? After all, she knows next to nothing about how to act in front of royalty. The closest she's ever been to royalty was her TV when the British royals appeared on some show she was watching.
Due to her nerves, she doesn't even bother with taking in her surroundings as she mainly focuses on the impending disaster waiting wherever it is they're taking her.
Suddenly a soft voice causes an abrupt halt. "Who is this?"
All three turn to find a pretty fair-skinned girl with lovely honey blonde hair and electric blue eyes. The light green top she wears reminds Serena of an ornate halter top that does well in accentuating the girl's turquoise tail and fin-like ears.
"P-Princess!" One of the guards exclaim in surprise as Serena inwardly panics. Princess? All I wanted to do was get fixed! Why am I meeting underwater royalty? Serena silently laments her face as the princess converses with the guards.
The other guard hurriedly speaks up. "She suddenly appeared from outside of the veil with a rather strange story. We thought it best to bring her here for the king to decide what to do with her."
The princess stares at Serena curiously before her eyes immediately zero in on Serena's makeshift clothing.
The princess grimaces. "You were going to bring her to my father dressed like that?"
The guards take a good look at Serena for the first time before blushing fifty shades of red. Serena's cheeks redden as she absentmindedly covers her chest. Why are they blushing? I'm the only one who should be blushing in this situation.
The princess releases a sigh as she turns to the guards with a dismissive wave. "Leave her with me. I shall properly dress her and bring her to my father."
The guards look like they want to protest, but one sharp look from the princess has them biting their tongues and hurrying away as fast as their tails will take them.
The princess brings Serena to a luxurious room, naturally, befitting royalty. She disappears inside a closet, rummaging about for suitable clothes for her new guest whilst Serena waits quietly by the four-poster bed. A second ago, a servant was just in here, bustling about in a hurry to get her clean. It's safe to say that the servant was successful in her efforts to rid Serena of all evidence of having just come from the "wilds."
After about three minutes, the princess emerges with a pretty top in hand. It's comprised of a pair of white shells with golden pearl straps and an ornate golden piece at the center of the shells with purple and blue jewels encompassing it.
"Put this on," demands the princess as she hands Serena the top and pushes her behind a blue coral screen.
Serena is eager to strip off the piece of seaweed and slip on the new article of clothing. Of course, she's not comfortable wearing such a thing, but she's not going to argue with a princess, and she doesn't particularly mind so long as it's actual clothing.
Serena emerges a moment later causing the princess to clap with satisfaction. "Wonderful! I thought that might look good on you," she says excitedly before pausing thoughtfully. "Oh, I haven't introduced myself, have I?" She chuckles before gesturing to herself. "I am Arcelia Aegeana Neptunius, the Princess of Aquaria."
Aquaria? So that's the name of this kingdom. Serena smiles as she lowers herself into an awkward bow, still not sure how to conduct herself.
"My name is Serena Adamaris." She keeps her introduction short and simple as Princess Arcelia grins and takes a hold of her hand.
"Now come before my father sees fit to send a guard. We mustn't keep him waiting any longer than we have already." Serena says nothing as she allows Princess Arcelia to pull her along through the palace.
The woman doesn't bat a single eye to the servants that bow as she passes. Though that might be because she's probably grown used to it to the point where she no longer notices their presence. And as soon as the princess passes, the servants hurry along on their way to resume their nightly tasks.
The corridors are lit by strange little glowing orbs, that line the hallways. For being so small, they emit quite a bright light, only until a servant comes along and decides that it needs to be a little dimmer. Though Serena doesn't understand how it is they even manage to do that without a light switch or some other kind of control. And she's not quite ready to just convince herself that it's magic. Her brain is still trying to get itself caught up with the idea that merpeople exist.
About fifteen minutes later, and a lot of swimming, they arrive before a pair of grand silver doors that tower imposingly over them. There is a guard stationed on each side of the door, and when they catch sight of Princess Arcelia, they immediately bow.
"Open the doors. My father is expecting us." The guards readily comply, and open both doors without hesitation, bowing once again as Princess Arcelia passes by them without a single glance.
Serena glances at the two guards for a brief second, long enough to notice their own curious gazes on her before the doors shut and obstruct her view. Instead, she turns her gaze to the room they've just entered, and all breath leaves her in an instant.
A great hall of turquoise and silver fills her vision. Silver roman pillars forming a clear path to the throne atop a marble platform with a connected staircase leading up to the throne. Though, Serena fails to see the point of the staircase when merpeople have tails, and gravity is nonexistent. The stairs just seem kind of pointless, unless it's simply there for aesthetic purposes.
But all thought ceases when the two come to a stop before the throne. Upon it is a rather stern looking merman with honey blonde hair like Arcelia's, and a magnificent honey blonde beard that reminds Serena of Triton from the "Little Mermaid" Disney movie. Except, unless the king in the movie, this one appears youthful. Youthful to the point where Serena isn't able to believe that this man could possibly be the father of the woman before her.
Serena's eyes briefly run from the tanned muscle of the king's flesh to the blue and dark green tail that languidly rests against the throne. A magnificent crown of gold sits atop his head while simple golden cuffs sit wrapped around his wrists. The crown isn't quite large but is beautifully elegant in its soft designs and shining jewels. A triton sits imposingly in his hands that causes that bundle of nerves within Serena to contort uncomfortably as those stern electric blue eyes bear into her.
Beside him is a younger man, perhaps a little older than Princess Arcelia. Serena finds that her gaze lingers on him for a little too long before she becomes aware of his sharp electric blue gaze glaring holes into her. The man's hair is as black as obsidian with fair skin and a strange silver hair ornament that signifies he is possessed of great status. Cuffs similar to the ornament adorn his wrists up to his forearms.
The man stands beside the throne idly, as his electric blue tail leisurely moves back and forth to keep him upright. They're all inhumanly beautiful, and Serena feels significantly inferior in their presence.
"What is this?" The king suddenly asks in a deep tenor that rattles Serena out of her thoughts. She turns her gaze away as she keeps behind Princess Arcelia.
"The guards say she appeared outside. I am sure they informed you?" Princess Arcelia is the epitome of calm as she responds to her father.
The king strokes his beard as he studies Serena quietly. "Indeed they have. Quite an unusual story, but what brings you here?"
Serena stiffens at suddenly being addressed before slipping into a stiff bow and responding. "I-I thought that there may be someone who could help me." Her tone is quiet and her voice shaky at best, but she dares not look to see their reactions.
The king sighs. "What is your name girl?"
"Serena Adamaris, Your Majesty."
"Look me in the eye when I am speaking to you." Serena squeaks at the boom of his voice, abruptly looking up at him as a result.
"Never turn your gaze downward. That is a sign of weakness. Keep your head high and lower it for no one," The King says kindly as Serena relaxes a bit. She releases a sigh as the king continues. "As for your situation... Unfortunately, there is no one who would know about your predicament because this has never happened before." Serena deflates with a dejected look upon her face. Does this mean I'll never get to go home?
"Then what do you propose we do father?" Princess Arcelia asks thoughtfully.
The king strokes his beard with a hum. "She shall remain here for the time being. Twould not do to let a human roam this world unattended."
At this, the man beside him gives a start. "Father, you cannot be serious! We know hardly anything about this girl!" Serena flinches back at the aggression in the man's tone. So, this is Princess Arcelia's older brother? Serena shudders. Princess Arcelia had briefly mentioned her elder brother, but Serena didn't think that the man would be this intimidating.
"Calm yourself Oceanus! This is my final decision! I shall not have anything said against it."
Prince Oceanus falls silent with a begrudgingly look upon his face as he glares at Serena scathingly.
"Where is Aaralyn?" The king booms just as a slender tan mermaid enters the room. Her dark brown hair is pulled back in a neat braided bun adorned with a pretty blue shell that accentuates her green tail.
"I am here King Neptune," she says with a respectful bow as she awaits her instructions.
"Show young Serena to one of the guest rooms. You shall be responsible for her needs during her stay here."
Aaralyn is quick to reply. "Of course, Your Majesty."
Princess Arcelia smiles brightly as she grasps a hold of Serena's arms. "How wonderful! I've always wanted a female friend! We shall have the greatest fun!" Princess Arcelia exclaims cheerfully as the two follow Aaralyn from the throne room.
Once they're gone, Prince Oceanus turns to his father stiffly. "Are you certain of this decision? I do not think it wise to keep her here."
But King Neptune simply stares at the door, a faraway look in his eyes. "It is very much imperative that she remain here. Trouble is brewing my son, and it all starts with the appearance of a human in the sea."
Prince Oceanus falls silent once more as his narrowed gaze stares at the door the three women just left through.
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Here's chapter 5. I hope you guys enjoyed it. If you did please comment, favorite, and/or follow. See you guys!