UNDER THE SEA

"We need to throw a party!"

Silence befell the arena, and with that rushed in the thoughts and scattered mind links. Some were clever enough to block their thoughts from being heard, while others weren't accustomed to doing such a thing.

'-Huh?'

'Is he joking?'

'Should I laugh?'

'Keep a straight face, keep a straight face.'

Lia scanned the audience for any sign of movement and found though they were thinking, none of them actually planned on leaving or made any disrespectful moves toward the king. Maybe it was because of the guards standing in front of the doors or because they just didn't want trouble.

Noting how everything was getting out of hand, the king watched with a smile. His black eyes were glittering, and it reminded Lia of the way parents looked at their children when they did something silly, thinking that they were being adorable.

All of this had made warning bells ring inside Lia's head.

Swallowing back her thoughts and pushing away the idea of asking her mother, who was just seeing everything playing out with a blank face. As if she had nothing to do with all of this. But Lia knew that her mother hid a treasure of thoughts, that she probably didn't wish to share with anyone.

She had learned long ago to never ask, for the answer will always be the same.

As Lia continued assessing the crowd and their reactions, she saw something weird. On the opposite side of Lia, there was a mermaid that had deep blue crystal scales and only one eye. The mermaid herself had different body characteristics than that of Lia's, as her tail was longer overall and her fins divided to four rather than to two. Her scales were rough to the point that Lia felt that if she touched any of them, they would cut her. And rather than stopping right on her waist, the scales continued to spread out until they reached her breasts, almost completely covering her up to the neck.

Moreover, she looked young. What gave away her age was the way her skin was still translucent, and jelly-like - a feature that separated adult mermaids from teenage ones.

But it wasn't her appearance that made Lia focus on her. If anything, it was the way her body was trembling and her agitated moves. It was as if she couldn't just stay right in her seat.

Nobody paid any attention to her as they were all preoccupied with themselves, but Lia saw how the blue mermaid was frantically searching left and right for something, and biting her lips every now and then.

The more Lia watched, the more she felt something pulling her toward that mermaid. And a nagging feeling inside of her told her that there was something wrong with her. Her suspicions were correct when the young mermaid accidentally made eye contact with Lia, and she saw how the mermaid's gray eye widened and she bolted right out of her seat, rushing out of the doors and disappearing out of Lia's visions.

A frown appeared as she saw none of the guards stopping her or reminding her that she was in a public formal setting. Their eyes just followed her as she opened the doors and walked out, but they didn't move from their places.

Lia thought that this was her chance of rushing out too and investigating, but the moment she wanted to move out of her seat, a guard stopped her right in her place with a firm look.

"I know that this might sound weird to many," Marcus sighed, "Why would we celebrate such a sad event? Well, I mainly thought that this would bring us closer as a community." The natural smile was still on his face. "Now, more than ever, we need to be together to be able to pass such a disaster. That's why, I cordially invite everyone to the party, inside the palace."

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Lia stood in front of the beautifully positioned plants. Her pink hair scattered behind her ears and flew with the water, playing a game of push and pull. She gently stroked the sea anemone with her tender fingers, enjoying the simple reaction of its hairs as it shied away from her fingers and hugged itself.

Lia squinted her blue eyes in satisfaction, totally immersed in the little game she was playing with this beautiful creature and completely disregarded the slight itch it gave to her fingers as its natural poison was trying to its job by protecting it.

Why should she worry anyway? She was already immune to such stuff.

The little pink plant continued to sway left and right, trying to escape from her clutches. Feeling a little sorry for the plant, Lia caught a small fish swimming freely in the little garden, and pulled it closer to the plant, watching as it paralyzed the small species and began devouring it.

She didn't know when, but Lia found herself humming a gentle song. It was only a simple melody, but because it was coming out of her, it sounded a hundred times more enchanting and beautiful. Even a few fishes swam closer to her, wanting to hear more.

When Lia turned around and saw five or more fishes just standing still and hearing her, she chuckled softly, flicking them with her hand, which made the current around them carry their small bodies away from the garden.

After all, she didn't want her plant to eat all of them.

"You seem oddly happy. I wonder why," she heard her mother say. Her tone told nothing about her mood or feelings, and when Lia tried to look at her mother to discover what she might be thinking, she saw nothing but her cold face.

Yet, the way she had said those words, and the way she had been silent ever since they came back from the announcement, had made Lia sure that her mother was definitely mad. It was better for Lia to play it safe.

"Nothing, just trying to enjoy the serenity." She knew her mother didn't believe her words from the way she raised her eyebrows.

Her mother's golden eyes seized up the garden that her husband had once built and took care of before he disappeared. Now, her daughter took on that job and maintained the utter elegance and beauty that these plants possessed.

The garden itself was built into more than one level, almost like a staircase, Each was divided into sections, merging certain species together because of their compatibility or color. All in all, it was carefully planned and put together.

Vanora didn't want to interrupt her daughter's enjoyment, but when she had heard the way she was singing happily and how her body gracefully went from one plant to the other, talking to them and teasing them, she couldn't help but feel memories resurface.

Vanora nodded. "Be careful so that no one misunderstands your optimism." She swam toward a nearby rock, letting her golden tail swirl around the rock to keep her stable as she sat on it. One of her hand touched the rock table and picked a jelly biscuit. "I also want you to be careful,"

Lia stopped stroking the sea anemone when she heard that. Her back was to her mother, so she was glad that Vanora couldn't see her expression.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sure he is planning something. Especially with the way he had invited everyone to his castle." What her mother was saying was true. The king was a very private person and didn't like to throw parties or invite everyone unnecessarily to his place. In fact, it had been such a long time since Lia saw the castle or walked inside it.

The last time she had visited that place, was before her father…

"He will probably ask something from the people," Lia heard her mother continue, "and under no circumstances, do I want you to participate." No, Lia wasn't imagining things; her mother wasn't only suspicious of the king and his actions, but also of her own daughter.

Again, the thought of her mother knowing her plans rushed to her head. It had been such a long time since she voiced out her dreams of walking onto the land, and even then, she was never taken seriously. So, Lia doubted her mother knew what she wanted.

That didn't mean she didn't suspect something.

Not to mention, the way her mother was referring to the king's plans and to Lia's thoughts, made her sure that the king was moving things exactly how she wanted them to play out. And that meant that she was getting closer to reaching her goal.

If her mother really knew what she wanted, and what she was going to do, she would probably never let her go to the party or even inch closer to the land. She would disappoint her mother more than ever and would betray her trust.

She knew all of these things, but even then, her heart couldn't stop beating frantically at the thought of her achieving what she wanted.

So, Lia only smiled gently. A smile her mother couldn't see. A smile that contained millions of meanings and there was a gleam in her eyes that would surprise thousands of mermaids who thought of her to be a beautiful, meek mermaid.

"I understand."