UNDER THE SEA
Vanora was a fearless warrior. She was someone who stood alongside the king and his right hand and fought fearlessly in the grand war. She held onto her title and pride and sacrificed her services for the underwater.
The scenes of her piercing weapon and strong mental lengths were unforgettable. She easily handled thousands of enemies.
Through the years, Vanora was perceived as a cold leader, her views were conservative, and she was quick to defend those who she thought was worth it. Being acknowledged by her was a hard thing to accomplish, and the ones who achieve that were usually on their way to success.
The golden tail and matching hair, and the swift moves of her body were refined and gentle, not disturbing the water around her. She attracted gazes and interests and with a small smile and calculative eyes, she won every battle, whether it may be a verbal or physical one.
In the merfolks, she stood second to only the king and the royal family.
And nobody thought she would marry the king's right hand. The merman who was seen as the father of the sea. The one and only son of Ster.
A son whose words were compared to poison and whose heritage told more stories than one could handle.
They were an odd match, yet very fitting.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
"How many times did I tell you to ignore them?" Vanora lectured. Her hands were placed on her hips, just where her smooth skin slowly turned into glittering golden scales. Each one had a different shade of gold, and one couldn't help but feel the need to touch them.
Lia looked down at her hands, playing with her fingers silently. She was happy to be alone right now, but the way her mother was lecturing her made her feel like a child again. "I tried to, but how could I-"
"You could, you could." The sharp glint in Vanora's eyes made Lia shut up instantly. "They would listen to whatever you have to say if you wished to rule."
Lia felt frustration pull at her insides. There it went again. Her pretty eyebrows were pulled together in a frown, and she bit deeply at her lips, forcing words back.
She heard her mother sigh. "No, it isn't your fault," hearing that, Lia raised her head to meet Vanora's brown eyes. Behind the sharp glint, there were deep remorse and anguish. All hidden and buried so no one could see it, and if Lia wasn't her daughter, she would have missed it.
"It is your father's fault," suddenly her mother's whole demeanor changed. She brought a hand up and clenched it hard, her teeth gritting against each other, and Lia could almost see fire building around her mom's figure. "That idiot! How dare he just go into solitary and leave us all behind? So selfish! It's my fault for marrying such a-"
Those words weren't transmitted to the surrounding merpeople, so no one understood what Vanora was saying, but her body language was enough to tell about how fierce she was being, and the way poor Lia was looking down and being nervous brought heartache to the rest of the community.
'Poor Lia,'
'She just wanted to help us,'
'How selfish were we,'
'Yeah, that would have taken from her life force,'
'Yes, yes! And that would have led her to disappear like her fath-'
'Dont! We don't speak of that.'
The merman who was reminded of such a thing slapped himself on the mouth. 'You are right.'
'But, Lia is such a soft thing,'
'Though careless,'
'And forgetful,'
'And sometimes an Idiot,'
'Though a beautiful one,'
'Yeah,'
The mermen and mermaids continued whispering to each other, completely immersed in their conversation while Lia, on the other hand, was suffering from her mother's anger. Her ears almost bled from the curses that her mother spilled. Some even were a total blur to Lia as she didn't understand them.
It was unknown where she learned all of these words.
Her anger diminished, Vanora let out a deep breath and patted down her hair, returning immediately to the refined version that everyone loved to speak about. If Lia wasn't afraid of her mother, she would snicker silently.
Rather than a refined mermaid, her mother was clearly a hooligan.
"Anyway, let's go, the king is planning on making an announcement soon,"
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Lia was dragged to where she had intended on going to in the first place. The moment the sea had heard of Mo being caught by the vicious humans, it was broadcasted that his majesty would like to gather everyone for a grand announcement. Which was totally unusual and rare to happen nowadays.
The meeting place was an old stadium that was rumored to originally belong to humans, before it had sunk down the ocean, like a lot of their lands did.
The built and tattered walls were tall enough that Lia's neck hurt when she looked up at them, but it was the marvelous etchings and the careful positioning of each stone that gave this stadium huge importance between merfolks.
No one was allowed to get inside or touch it unless there was special events or announcements like today. Only then, it was allowed for everyone to get close and look at humans' splendid work.
Lia could remember vividly the days where she sneaked in, and the moments where she played inside the wide arena by herself. She would imagine tons of humans sitting and gathering in the wide circle, observing something from the main stage in the middle.
She danced around her imagination and would approach the walls silently and just listened in. Listened to the voices that were lost with the centuries. Every so often she would hear cries of joy or sadness, and sometimes it would be nothing but her and her thoughts.
And she couldn't remember when she stopped going in there or when it stopped being enough for her dreams. Small touches and whispers became fainter with time, and all she could hear now was her mind speaking and pushing her toward a world where she can find thousands of these buildings, if not more.
The more Vanora and Lia got closer to the arena; the more crowded it became. The place was bustling with mermaids and merman talking and whispering about what happened. Nobody dared to be happy and laugh at such a time and even the kids were hugged close by their parents.
Even though Vanora was well known and respected, they still had to wait in line as everyone slowly got in after being checked by the security outside. They were each given a jelly-like ticket that had few symbols that conveyed their names.
Like what happened before, Lia saw how everyone would sneakily glance at them every now and then, and how their thoughts were carelessly spread around with no hiding.
'How beautiful-'
'Arrogant-'
'The royal family-'
Lia only heard bits and pieces, and she instantly shut them out, almost used to such a thing nowadays.
Contrary to what one would believe, the sea was a place full of noise. Thoughts were constantly being pushed out and some species weren't even able to hold them in. Lia couldn't recall a time where she spent her day peacefully, without having to hear someone's opinion of her or her family.
But, she heard that humans didn't suffer from this problem. She heard that it was impossible to hear their thoughts and that their actions held a multitude of meanings. There she could find silence. She could maybe find peace too.
Standing close to her mother, Lia looked at the gates that welcomed them and stared at the statues that stood proudly on each side, big enough to kill if they fell on top of someone.
These two statues and the countless more that were inside the arena were added by the king himself as he felt it would be a shame to only use the building without adding something of their history.
And so, the statues of sea creatures were added, and on the door stood two horrifying ones, as if to spread fear and respect of the place that they were in.
The first sea monster was Cetus. A horrifying monster with sharp teeth and fish-like form with a long muzzle. Yet, all the more deadly with his horns. He was never seen and nobody knew if he was only a legend. However, some rumors said that he existed and was as large as a continent.
The other monster was Iku-turso, a malevolent beast that was said to bring death and evil. His whole body was surrounded by large tentacles that were strong and powerful enough to break through million of forces and destroy a whole land.
They were enormous and they sent chills down Lia's spine, who quickly looked away when she felt as if their stone eyes were following her every move. It was the only part she hated about this historical place, it brought dreadfulness to her in ways she couldn't explain.
Shaking her head, she reminded herself that those monsters were never seen and probably didn't even exists. They were made-up stories that the Mercommunity used to scare enemies away.
