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𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑻𝑯𝑹𝑬𝑬
❝ 𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 ❞
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SILENCE FILLED THE ROOM AFTER CASPIAN revealed the choice of person for the supposedly dangerous quest that presented itself to Vera and the people of Atlantis. No one wanted to talk, waiting in anticipated silence for their princess to speak, but Vera was at a loss, as she stares at the council leader in shock.
For a moment, all she could do is panic. The thoughts in her head race faster now, trying to outrun the confusion in her mind. Why her? Why did they decide to choose her? Wasn't this all she wanted? Wasn't this what she wanted to do all along? Hell, to go on an adventure? To seek the unknown? What did her family think? What did the council think? It overwhelmed Vera, as she took a seat down her mother's throne with pure astonishment, trying to make sense of the situation at hand and what they needed from her.
"Why me?" Her voice is so quiet, so soft that she couldn't even hear herself but with the echoing nature of her voice bouncing off the silent halls of the room, she realizes just how quiet the Hall has gotten after the reveal. Vera nearly cringes, realizing that she is barely the Princess they spoke so highly about and could never possibly be Queen with the lack of confidence in her tone. Granted, it was a statement that could cost her, her life but a statement that wasn't permanent yet.
Coral clears her throat, floating towards Vera with caution. Out of everyone in the room, Coral is the only one who could calm their princess down and coax her into talking more assuredly. After all, she did spend most of her years taking care of Vera. "Princess, we believe — all of us — that you are more than fit for this journey. That you are ready to leave your home behind to start a new experience and come back with protection that is needed for the people of Atlantis. For your family and for your subjects." Coral's voice is soft and gentle, trying to comfort her into making the right decision.
Finally, Marella spoke up, lifting her gaze from the ground. "Vera," she starts, leaning towards her daughter so their eyes could meet. "This is your decision, and your decision alone. No one in this room or outside can stand in your way or judge you for what you decide. Tis a difficult choice you will have to make, my light, for it is the only way they see fit."
Suddenly, the distress in her mind didn't seem so vicious. It quietened down from its ruthless roars to something voiceless and unheard. Her mother's voice brought her solace, something that she learned to appreciate from a young age. Something new settles in her head and in her heart as Marella's assuring words pierce through her; hope. This is what she needed, this is what she wanted, this is what she yearned for, for decades. An adventure where she could meet others and see the riches of the land above. A quest to find who she truly was and how she could be the better fit ruler for their kingdom. A journey to seek what her heart desires most; to protect her people and to deem herself worthy of being their queen.
Her head clears appropriately as she looks around the room, seeing the same expression on their faces that she felt in her heart. They have hope that Vera can do this, they have faith. Her eyes drift to her mother's orbs and the two come to an understanding. This is bigger than them. Finally, Vera rises up assertively with newfound determination and dignity. With a breath, she releases her words. "I will decide by midnight tonight. This meeting is dismissed."
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"Vera, you can't," Neptune pleads, his eyes looking at her in fear and panic. He didn't want his sister to embark on a dangerous journey like this, it isn't right. He, no matter how much they fought, cares for his sister too much to let her go alone or to let her go at all. She may be older than him but it wasn't going to stop him from protecting her.
After the meeting was adjourned, the council members left the Kingdom and returned to their humble homes with passive and warm goodbyes. Marella had escorted them out of the castle gates while Vera and Neptune were left to their thoughts, before she came rushing forward in a desperate attempt to change her daughter's mind. Despite her previous words in front of the council members, Vera is still her daughter and if there was a better alternative, she would take it. Still, she had claimed her sentence with witnesses and couldn't back down anymore, so she simply let her son do the talking. The remaining family members of the royal family were confused at the outcome of that useless meeting.
How did they twist is so that Vera could go and get herself killed in a journey like this?
"I don't know what to do, Brother," Vera spoke with such solemn and thoughtfulness, that Marella had to backtrack. Vera was not known for her seriousness and this was certainly something she hasn't seen from her daughter in the past centuries they have lived.
"Don't go!" Neptune pushes, clasping her hands in a plea. He hoped that his touch and his words would be enough to save his sister from the dangers before her. He isn't going to let his sister get hurt in this stupid adventure, she is too inexperienced and hard-headed to survive. He didn't want to admit it but he feared for her survival and the fact that he had to feel it overall, brought him anger. "Stay here, where you are safe."
"And be locked up?" Vera snaps. "I refuse to go back to the chambers Mother threw me in!" She was being dramatic, she knew, but perhaps a part of her did want to go out into the world, and for a great cause as saving their country.
"At least you were safe there!" Neptune argues. His attempts at keeping her in the castle were desperate but weak, and he turns to their mother, who had been silent while her children argued amongst themselves, and pleads for her to say what she needed. Neptune knew better than anyone that Marella wouldn't just let her firstborn daughter out of the castle and out of the waters with one word. They weren't going to risk Vera's life. It isn't an option, in Neptune's mind.
"Mother, what say you?"
Marella thought for a second. Two sides of her are battling against each other. While one side of her, the side in which the crown rests on her head and her people sit on her shoulder, who thought only about the protection of her subjects and their home, fought to let Vera go. To let her go to the journey she sought out for and the adventure she yearned to experience. To let her do her job and protect the people of the sea. It is their responsibility and their duty to repel any danger or harm, and if the council thought Vera is best for this, then so be it.
But her other side, the side in which she bore Vera in her stomach for ten months, the side where she cares for Vera's safety and protection, battles against what should be done. She didn't care if the council thought Vera was right for the journey for she knew her daughter. She knows that her daughter is headstrong and stubborn, she is inexperienced and naive to the realities of war. In the past few centuries Vera was born, she had never encountered the bloodshed and death; the sorrow and hauntings of it. It could destroy her in every way possible and the chances of Vera coming back at all is slim. This could cost them their heir.
Marella is conflicted, refusing to look at Neptune's pleading eyes and Vera's unfazed expression. Her daughter could see the raging war inside of her mother and she chooses to speak up for herself instead of letting someone decide what to do with her life.
No more.
"I understand that you both don't want me getting hurt. That you think I am inexperienced and naive to the world above me and the dangers of war," Vera begins, her voice starting off confidently. "But this is my decision and my decision alone. Mother said so otherwise and no one has the right to tell me what to do, and nothing can change what I have to do."
Finally, Marella speaks. "So what is your decision, Vera?" Her voice is soft and quiet, as if it was afraid of what Vera would say next; it was the voice of a mother and it's the voice Vera vaguely remembered as a babe. For a moment, Vera is caught off guard by her mother's tone.
"I will go to the council meeting in Rivendell," Vera decides, speaking clearly. "I will bring whoever you see right but I will go, Mother."
Marella lifts her head, her eyes glittering with the slightest of tears in her orbs. For once in Marella's life, she could see a queen in front of her, in place of her daughter, who stood with confidence and determination. It seemed that the never-ending reprimands finally came through to her daughter, who stood with strength and grace. Pride swells in her chest. Meanwhile, Neptune scoffs disbelievingly at his sister and mother before taking his rushed leave to his chambers. Vera ignores his childish behavior and peers at her mother. Swimming closer to her, she lays a hand on the queen's shoulder.
"Are you alright, Mother?" she asks, her voice kind.
Marella nods diligently. A proud smile crept its way to Marella's gorgeous face as she took a look at her daughter's strong eyes. "I'm proud of you, Vera. You should know this."
Vera is taken aback by her mother's sudden praise but smiles back nonetheless, taking her mother in her arms and embracing her softly. Despite the strong stance she took in front of the council and her brother, Vera soon finds herself succumbing to the maternal care her mother emits, eventually sniffing and confiding in her.
"I'm scared," Vera admits quietly. Though she did agree to go to the meeting, she only did it because she thought it was right. Marella breaks the embrace, leading Vera to the throne at the front of the room. Taking a seat, Vera curls her tail to sit below her mother, looking at her through her lashes with hope and fear in her sparkling eyes.
"If you weren't scared, my beautiful girl, then you would be stupid," she whispers, playing with her daughter's beautiful hair; hair she gets from her father. Marella's heart clenches at the thought of her late husband, her fingers moving to the ring on her right hand as she comforts her daughter as much as she could. Vera resembled her father more than she resembled anyone else; her dark features, her posture, her skin. He was practically engraved inside of her spirit and sometimes, it hurt Marella to look into her eyes. "I know I'm tough on you sometimes, Vera. Tougher than I am to your brother. But it is only because I'm scared...I don't want you to get hurt. And I know that I refused to let you go before, but during your pause from life at court, I've done some thinking."
"But I must, Mother," Vera smiles. "It's the only way to learn, to grow. You said that to me when I was young."
"You remind me of someone," the queen breathes quietly, braiding her daughter's hair patiently. "He was too determined. Too smart for his own good. He believed in something greater than the world we lived in now. He had hope for this kingdom, he had hope for this world, despite the tragedies it hit him with. He had faith in the Valar and the people above. I guess you could say he was naive, and in some ways, he was. But he cared, he loved, he lived. He was happy."
As Marella got caught up in the words of her once beloved, Vera stays silent. She could hear the sadness and grief in her mother's voice, the same unhappiness that Queen Marella hid away so coldly. Vera wonders if she talks of her father, remembering the little times they spent together before his timely death. He was gentle and caring, just like what her mother said, but he wasn't believing, either. Vera knew her father well and she knew just how much faith he truly had but she didn't question it.
Instead, she asks something else. "Is this what you've been hiding from me?"
The question obviously catches her mother off guard as she carefully lets Vera's hair go. "W—What?" She stammers, looking down at her daughter's head. She couldn't have known, she told no one.
Vera catches on to her misplaced curiosity — she understood that her mother hid things from her — but she decides against asking and clears her throat instead. "That there's a darkness in the ocean," she clarifies, referring to the argument they had the moment before the council meeting. "You said something could hurt me, something threatens our borders. Is this it?"
Marella sighs in relief. "Yes," she nods, taking the piece of hair back and continuing her work. "Plants all around are dying, the Earth can feel its darkness. The water grows colder and heavier with death. I didn't want to tell you or your brother for I fear you would worry and seek it out. I wanted to protect you both. But, that doesn't seem likely now," she finishes bitterly.
Vera turns slightly so she could see her mother. Gazing at the familiar blue eyes of her mother, she tries to piece her words together. "I know I agreed to go to the council meeting at Rivendell and I know this means I've ultimately laid claim to go to wherever they need me but...I really need your advice," she admits.
The blonde queen peers at her daughter with knowing eyes, leaving a gentle smile on her face. "As a Queen or as a Mother?" she asks with a laugh.
"Both," Vera grins sheepishly. She hadn't remembered the last time they spent so much time together, bonding and talking about something that lays outside of the castle walls. She missed it and she was eternally grateful that she could spend time with her mother before leaving. After their talk, she could get some clarity on their situation and why she chooses to remain distant from her family; her mother was grieving someone, someone she lost long ago.
"Well, as a Mother, I don't want you to go. Vera, you aren't ready for this journey. As your Mother, I made a promise to protect you from any dangers that befell our home and keep you safe. I love you more than life itself, Vera, I hope you remember that and whatever it is I do is for your own protection," Marella starts with a shaky breath. It is hard to reveal feelings she had spent centuries burying. "But as Queen, I know this is your path. That this is the fate you were meant to follow through and you are capable of doing this. You weren't chosen randomly, you were chosen for a purpose and for a reason. We have faith in our princess and we have hope. It's up to you, Vera, to not let our people down."
Vera bites her lip. The pressure of it all registers on her shoulder and makes the heaviness of the situation greater as she realizes just how serious this was. Marella notices and lifts her head up using her forefinger. "But I have faith in you, Vera. As a Mother and as a Queen, I have hope and faith that you will succeed and you will not fail. I thank the ones above that you're here today everyday, Vera, because you gave me hope. And in return, you have my love and protection."
Smiling at the comforting words, she looks up. "Was I really like him? Hopeful?" She asks, referring to the story her mother told.
Marella nods. "Exactly like him," she confirms. As Vera takes her leave with a kiss on her mother's cheek, Marella stares after her disappearing daughter and whispers to herself miserably, "But fate was cruel to him. I hope it isn't cruel to you, my miracle."