Seirra: Chapter Eighteen

We swam for several hours until I found a familiar gorge that was seemingly unsuspicious, but would actually lead to one of the most mystical kingdoms on earth. When we were somewhere in the middle I began to chant:

Gates of the seas, we come from beyond,

Lead us where water has dawned.

A current slowly began to envelop us and in an instant we had crossed the passage into the Aquanian territory. There wasn't any kind of welcome for us-which was totally unusual. For the past eight years, Aquanians had anticipated the day I would come back from land. A celebration was always held no matter the result of my search. The Celari leader's arrival from a mission was always enough cause for a feast. Today, however, nobody seemed to have realized that I was back-and just my luck, right when the princess had actually come with me.

"So all this time, my mistake was the chant. My mother told me all I had to do was reveal my powers. She said nothing about a password whatever," Marina announced, her voice filled with a mixture of annoyance and regret. She probably thought her mother had deliberately withheld the information from her-which was most likely the case.

"Nevertheless, princess. Welcome home," I told her in a solemn voice.

She merely smirked then began to look around.

"There are lots of sparkles here but it sure is creepy," Marina observed. She was probably expecting someone to give her an overwhelming welcome-long lost princess that she was.

"Something happened. It isn't usually like this," I answered, already looking for a merman or mermaid who could answer our questions.

Aquania was the most prosperous kingdom of the East Seas. It boasted of high-class, magical structures-almost like the palaces on land but made of corals and hardened sand, skilled swordsmen and a thriving economy of trade. Among all the kingdoms of the seas, it was the oldest and had retained a rich culture. Merpeople from alliances depend on Aquania to settle conflicts between kingdoms and provide aid should there be a need.

There were three smaller allied kingdoms that made up the forces of the East: Seinia, Orienta and Nymphus. Opposite us were the four kingdoms of the New Seas-most powerful of which were the Gurges of Marisia. Others were Nuvania, Ursulos and Karagas. Both sides had been at war long before I was born and it had always been known that the reason was a fight over a man who was to be king.

Several millennia ago, a queen was supposed to be selected between sisters and it turned out that the younger lady, Tethya, was chosen by the King's Trident. It hadn't become an issue until Medana's marriage was cancelled as her fiancé was chosen as king. It had caused extreme anguish for the older sister who was forced to give up her love and it turned into anger-which had started the war. The merpeople got divided as to who supported the elected royals and those who wanted the older sister to be queen.

Since then, the New Seas was formed and had slowly gained powers in their ability to create exact copies of the six most powerful Jewels of the Seas-the Crystal Key of Saol, the Trident, the Ardus Sword, Medana's Pendant (owned by the queen of Nymphus and copied by the king of Karagas), Tethya's scepter (owned by the king of Orienta and copied by the king of Ursulos), and the Aegean Ring (owned by the queen of Seinia and being copied by the queen of Nuvania). All of these jewels when combined with magic could cause destruction similar to a nuclear war. It had never happened yet but one wrong move from either side and there wouldn't be any questions asked.

As I continued to scan around, I found Doris, the oldest and wisest of the Aquanians. She was wandering around with a school of clownfish following her. Without hesitation, I pulled Marina and swam to where she was.

"Doris," I called out.

She did not recognize me at first and she had to squint and blink several times before a gasp escaped from her lips.

"Seirra, my dear," she greeted in her soft, frail voice. "I beg your pardon for a lack of welcome."

"It doesn't matter. But what exactly happened?" I asked.

Doris did not answer immediately. Instead, she slowly turned her head and gazed at Marina. Another gasp escaped her lips. Then slowly, tears began to form at the corners of her eyes just as her lips formed a smile.

"Oh dear god of the seas," she exclaimed, reaching over to hold the hands of the princess, "you are back. The King would be overjoyed! Welcome, princess! Welcome!" She dropped her tail on the sand and bowed as low as her waist would allow.

Marina was surprised for as long as two seconds before she reached out to help the older woman back on her tail. "Please, don't force yourself."

Doris stared back at her then said, "She has taken after the benevolence of her father. You shall be a great queen, Your Highness."

Marina's unusual show of kindness got me dumbstruck but Doris's remark about the princess's similarity to the king was enough to make my lips begin to twitch with mirth. King Tideus was a wise and kind king-nothing quite like Marina's bitchy wiseass attitude.

"Yeah, she'll be a great queen, alright," I sarcastically muttered under my breath.

The princess didn't like my reaction and showed me an eyebrow raised in a perfect, bitchy arc.

"I beg your pardon. That was uncalled for," was the apology I said so as to avoid giving Doris the wrong impression about the princess.

The old woman looked at me curiously then smiled-gratitude visible in her old, wise eyes. "And you have grown up into an excellent Celari leader." She lifted her hand to touch my cheek, "Now that you have found your princess, we all can begin to feel saf-." The moment her hand touched me, something flashed in her eyes and she cut off her sentence, as if in fear. She abruptly covered her lips with her hand, shock and disbelief replacing the fear. "Pray excuse me, please. There is something I must do," she said, already backing away then swimming as fast as her old tail could towards the direction of her home.

"What was that?" Marina asked in wonder.

"I have no idea," I answered, as clueless as the princess was. Doris's reaction way too strange when she touched me. Somehow, it made me feel like something was quite wrong. Dread swiftly passed through my spine. There was no way I brought the wrong person, did I? I turned to look at Marina and answered my own question. No, even Doris was sure that Marina was King Tideus's daughter. She's the princess we were all looking and waiting for. "Unfortunately, she wasn't able to tell us why no one's around to celebrate our homecoming. I think we have no other choice but to go to the castle ourselves."

As we continued to swim around the kingdom to reach the palace, merpeople slowly began to peek out from the windows of their coral homes to watch us. Everyone was an acquaintance of mine and I greeted them all with a smile. No one, however, got excited enough to come over and greet us.

"It was as if everybody was required to stay inside their houses," Marina said, voicing out her thoughts.

Her idea actually made sense and I looked around again. "There's only one way to find out. We need to talk to your father."

When we reached the castle, the guards immediately lifted their swords to block the entrance.

"What's this? Do you not know who I am?" I demanded in a firm voice.

"No one is allowed to see the King," one of them, Caius if I remember correctly, answered me.

"What are you talking about? I've just come back from land. What's going on?"

"I'm sorry, Seirra. It's an order. We need to keep the King safe," Elick, the other guard, answered.

"I come with the princess. Surely, you'll let the king's daughter see him," I announced.

Sure enough, both of their gazes wandered towards the princess and they both gasped in surprise and delight. Apparently, no one expected the princess to arrive today. They looked at each other, confused at what exactly they should do. They were given specific orders but it was the princess we were talking about. They were saved from making any decision, however, by the appearance of my father, Kalus.

"Seirra!" he exclaimed. "I was expecting you."

I bowed to greet him before I answered, "Father, what's the problem with the king? And why is everybody locked in their own homes?"

"Allow me to explain as we make our way to King Tideus's quarters." Kalus then turned towards Marina and bowed low as a show of respect towards the princess. The two guards finally realized their mistake and immediately bowed lower. They all straightened up after Marina pleaded for them to raise their heads. "Your Highness, it is an honor to finally have you here in Aquania," my father told the princess.

She smiled and said thank you in reply. Soon after, the entrance-vertical bars made of sharp corals and shells-began to magically open to let the three of us in. The castle's façade was not visible from the outside because of the bars and Marina sucked in an amazed breath as she saw the palace for the first time.

Water currents controlled by magic served as fountains while the vibrant colors of different types of corals provide homes to schools of fish that made the outside of the castle look alive and enchanting. The castle itself was nothing like the ones on land, mostly because it was created with magic. It took on the shape of a gigantic coral reef, filled with different entrances covered by tentacles which moved on its own, having the ability to keep an intruder outside the castle or block the escape routes of a dangerous dissenter. The castle, in short, was made to protect the royal occupants.

The interior was not something to be ignored either. Everything had a life of its own. Colored sand cover what comprised the grounds of the palace hallways and firefly-like creatures provide playful indoor decorations which changed forms every now and then. Glowing jellyfish that wander all over the castle provide the illumination needed by the merpeople inside.

A few seconds after we entered the castle itself, my father began to explain the reasons for what was currently happening in Aquania.

"I'm not sure if you've heard of it while on land, but merpeople had been sighted several times by humans," he began.

"We've heard of it. I met a Huntre on land and he had been doing his best lately to keep the humans from taking any kind of evidence as to our existence," I told my father.

I saw a slight change of expression in his eyes and I assumed it was because of the problem that had recently risen.

"It took an even greater effort for King Tideus to make sure none of the Aquanians would be harmed by such occurrences."

"Except for that aging part," Marina butted in. When my father gave her a curious look, she pursed her lips in an attempt to tell us that she would try her best not to interrupt again.

"Thus, more powers had to be infused into the Trident to increase its ability to keep Aquania covered and protected with magic. This is what caused the King to fall weak and stay abed. He refused to stop using his powers and so the best thing we had thought of was to avoid bringing any other problem to his knowledge. That was the reason why the guards were ordered to keep anyone out except for myself and the King's advisors-Erma and Lukos."

"Was there no one else who could infuse powers into the Trident? If the King gets weak from doing that, won't it kill him in the long run?" Marina asked. I heard a hint of worry in her voice but she hid it by emphasizing the curiosity in her voice.

"No one would chastise you if you address the king as 'Father', Princess," Kalus told Marina, a small smile forming in his lips. "To answer your question, there is someone else." My father's eyes locked on hers as he told Marina in a voice filled with severity, "You." Marina swallowed as she took in that information. "Only a royal can use the Trident after all."

"I...see," Marina said when my father continued to stare at her. It was obvious to me that she still didn't want to accept the fact that her father never did refuse his kingdom from her.

"There won't be any such need for you, though, Your Highness. You are the princess as mentioned by the ancient scribes. The Celari leader, my son Seirra, has found you and as soon as the Ceremony of Kys was performed, the seal that protects Aquania would be restored in full. That would stop any chance that might make your father go weaker," my father continued.

"Am I right in assuming that the reason why everyone was commanded to stay in their homes was to stop anyone from wandering and eventually get seen by humans?" I asked my father, remembering the other mystery that welcomed us when Marina and I came back.

"Yes. King Tideus was having a hard enough time to protect his subjects. The least we can do is to keep from adding to his burden," Kalus answered.

"What happened to those who were seen by the humans?" Marina inquired.

"They experienced the curse of aging. Aside from that, there was no further damage. It will, however, be problematic in the future since it would hasten the weakening of our people," my father explained to the princess.

"We survive from the hard work of each and every one of the Aquanians. More weak mermen meant more mermen to feed. It would cause an imbalance," I added.

Marina nodded in understanding. "Has anyone ever tried looking for other way to stop this kind of curse?" She recognized the glint in our eyes as we remembered the story behind the late queen's banishment from Aquania. The princess looked away as she said, "Well, aside from what my mother did, that is."

"Don't blame yourself, Marina," I softly demanded of her.

We reached the entrance to the king's quarters but before we could all enter, Kalus grabbed Marina's arm to stop her. "Perhaps you, Princess, would find the answer to such question. Now that you're back, there is no reason for you not to become the Aquanian princess that you're supposed to be," Kalus averred. "Remember, you are an Aquanian who grew up on land," my father gave her a grin as he ended, "yet you entered Aquania without looking any older than your real age."

My head snapped towards Marina and I had to take in a surprised breath. Nothing changed in her appearance at all, just as my father said. She recognized my reaction and her eyes widened as she grasped this new mystery about her.

There was no more time to contemplate about it though, since the tentacle curtains decided to give way to us.

We went in and saw King Tideus's lifeless body in the middle of the blue coral bed.