The Sea Legend – 9
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UNDER THE SEA

The Sea Court was a known landmark in the ocean. It was called many different names such as the Magical Garden — because of the alluring Alcyonacea, Deep-sea Coral and many other plants — also some called it the Lost Kings Palace as some had claimed to have seen the sea kings passing by the place.

As families, children and other fishes passed by the grand passage that led to the front doors of the Sea Court, the plants on each side of the trail, that decorated the main entrance, shone with atmospheric light. It was a sight to behold, and it made everyone feel welcomed.

The children failed to conceal their excitement as they rushed inside the palace. They took in every piece of glittering treasure and ancient rune with their eyes. After all, it was a rare opportunity to be able to enter the palace.

The parents enjoyed their kids' reaction, watching the scene with smiles. Yet, in their eyes doubt was in full bloom. Though the king made sure to promote this party as a way to bring everyone together, some merpersons were extremely skeptical of that. Yet, no one dared to voice their opinion.

"What a sight," A deep voice said. In a corner on top of the court sat a merman with a single guard behind him. His hand gracefully held a cup made of stone that was lined with golden metal and would tip it left and right lightly. From his view, he could see everyone rushing inside while no one would be able to see him.

His shoulders leaned on the chair he was sitting in, appearing to be lazy while he said, "How long has it been since this place welcomed such a scene?"

"Too long, my lord," Cold voice sounded beside him as a small glowing fish sat next to him. The majestic merman chuckled lightly. Although it was a pleasant scene, it was too crowded and chaotic.

"Hmm," he continued to play a little with his glass, narrowing his black eyes as he watched the liquid flow left and right. Slowly though, his smile began to disappear. "Any recent news?"

Beside him, someone coughed, and he heard, "No, my lord."

There was no answer after that, and the sole thing that filled the silence was the thoughts that seeped out of the enthusiastic visitors.

The low lights that came out of the plants brought out a distinct feel in the waters and the soft lullaby giggles produced by a child were transmitted to them before the guard heard a low whisper, "How disappointing."

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

As much as Lia was excited about the event, she also felt an uncertain part growing inside of her. Dark thoughts kept telling her all about the bad scenarios that might happen, or even worse, what might not happen.

She saw the Court nearing in as they swam toward it. She was already used to the lights coming out from the plants and the welcoming entrance of the palace. Lia had previously played inside the garden when she was younger.

Nonetheless, she gave herself a momentary break to look at who came and marvel at the sight of the attractive jewel-like plants before allowing her eyes to observe and notice the guards' behavior. Seeing how many guards were placed around the palace, this party didn't seem to be all about coming closer.

She wanted to examine them more, but her mother had reminded her that they had to move forward and get inside. There, she heard the gentle music coming from somewhere and the spacious hall that extended to a degree where she almost couldn't see the ends.

The palace was huge. She could see how colossal it was from the outside, yet when entering it, it seemed even more gigantic.

It was completely different than the ancient arena that they had gone to a few days ago. In fact, this one was more modern and appeared to be built by the sea community themselves. How they did it, though, was a mystery.

The shape of the castle from the outside was almost as if several buildings were stacked on top of each other, swirling and mending into the other, with countless windows out looking the beautiful sea. The foundation itself was the rectangular hall they were ushered in. On the very top of the palace laid a shell-shaped dome made with noctiluca scintillans induced in it, to light up from far away.

In the hall, the columns rose in arcs as they had curtains made of scales cascaded down to the ground and flowed with the current. They created an exquisite feeling and gave a whole new level of beauty to the castle as their gradient colors of purple and blue sparkled every time they moved.

The hall itself had four entrances from each side and one tube-like cylinder shaped glass in the middle of the hall. The tube had one door that was opened to only the guards and royalties and it would lead up to an opening that — Lia presumed — led to the rest of the castle.

Each entrance was connected to the other by walls made of crystalized stone. Something that wasn't unusual to see, yet strange to use in buildings this deep in the water.

Noticing that Lia was staring, Vanora nudged her a little. "Stay present," she whispered to her daughter. Lia could only nod silently as she blinked a few times.

The thousands of creatures that were invited all were happy to introduce themselves to both Lia and Vanora. They would speak of their names first, stating important stuff they had contributed to their kingdom and find a way to push forward their children.

Except that those children were all grown male adults. The moment the first parent came in and started speaking of how good and powerful her son was, Lia knew exactly where this conversation was going.

She had stared daggers at her mother, reminding her silently that she wasn't interested in the mating concept yet. And her mother didn't need a reminder, in fact, a well-known fact about Vanora was that she was over-protective of her offspring.

There was no way she would be giving away her daughter to just anyone.

Seeing as her mother was busy talking to other hopeful mothers, Lia slowly sneaked back, moving swiftly until they were out of sight and until she was sure that she escaped this dilemma.

Being used to such things happening, she didn't devote a lot of attention toward it and started looking for the royal family through the crowds. She was waiting to see when the king would release the news on all of them.

As Lia was searching, she caught the sight of her friend leaning on one of the columns near the back, totally immersed in watching her sisters make fun of themselves.

"Please tell me that those aren't my sisters, and I don't need to be associated with them anymore." Lia heard Talia say as she neared. As much as she wanted to chuckle at the situation, she couldn't help but pity her friend.

In the middle of the hall, Talia's quadruplet sisters introduced themselves to the everyone excitedly, almost causing a storm as they moved from spot to spot in the speed of light. Sadly, their energy wasn't contagious as everyone felt uncomfortable by the force of their rapid positivity and happiness.

"Well, on the bright side, your fins' color is different than theirs," as those words left Lia's mouth, she instantly regretted speaking when Talia glared at her.

Talia scoffed and said, "Yeah, as if that helps! All of us look exactly identical that even my mother gave up on identifying which one is which."

That was the beginning of Talia's rant, and from there she began telling her life story that Lia was sure she had memorized word to word. From the moment they were born till their current age. It was an endless agony on Talia's part, but Lia shared some of that agony in the form of being the shoulder that her friend would come to cry on.

Seeing her friend wasn't going to finish talking anytime soon, Lia smiled gently and narrowed her eyes. "I understand all of that, but Talia, why are you holding that golden statue, that I'm certain isn't yours, behind your back?"

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