In the middle of the sea a small island arises on it is a cave entrance to a grand structure that leads to the palace to the king of the ocean. The king is the father of five daughters, five beautiful mermaids each possessing brains and beauty. Each one had grace and poise and each one was unique in their own way. Each princess was 1 year older than the next, except the two youngest which were twins. The eldest Eleanor was a noblewoman in every way shape and form gentle at heart with a wise mind and a stern gaze. The second eldest Lisandra was a typical teen gossip (and very good at it). The third, Raven, was loving and compassionate yet came across as menacing at first glance. A lot could have been said about the twins they were definitely different but yet they harmonized each other. One, named Serenity, was small shy and sweet, quiet and mostly confided in her twin. She had hair that melded with the light and skin as white as the sand on the beach. Her tail was as of creamy ivory and her eyes were bluer then the sea and sky combined. The other twin, Evangeline, though she like her sister was very sweet and kind and had a strong sense of compassion was, however, very outspoken and in some cases out seemingly bold though only her twin knew her thoughts and secrets. She spoke her mind in a certain way that led her to unknowingly insult and in most cases flatter people so charmingly that it was endearing. She unlike her sister had a long torso and fin her hair was of the darkest ebony, wavy like the sea and able to camouflage her in the night. Her skin was sunkissed and softer then silk her tail was of the black of night however when the light reflected off of it flashed red. And her eyes were dark grey like a stormy sky. Both twins were favorites of their father and both loved throughout the kingdom.
The twins however unlike the others were both prophesied to be great and powerful on land and in the sea by a famous human oracle and were therefore cursed at birth by a jealous witch of the tides, their mothers sister, their aunt Marina. Once they were to step on the land for the first time their fins would turn into normal human legs. Unlike their sisters one couldn't speak to anyone but her twin and the other would not be able to see anyone but her twin as long as they were on land and it would continue every time they went on land until their prophesy was fulfilled. Their mother and father were distraught with this knowledge, and their mother made herself a promise that day to find her sister and make her reverse the curse.
According to the witch that placed the curses on the little mer-twins each one of the beautiful and young girls would suffer this evil curse until she found and realized her true love. As each passing day came and went the evil witch's jealousy and anger faded in realization that the young mertwins would never find true love. Until…
At age twelve the girls were finally deemed mature enough to visit the surface. On their first adventure to the nearest land kingdom the girls escorted by their sisters were playing on the beach as their sister bickered about their next activity they didn't notice the girls slipping away to the nearby forest. As they made their way through the forest, Serenity helped Evangeline over many a tree root. Meanwhile two young boys were hunting squirrels nearby suddenly they heard a noise in the bushes and took aim with their bows. Just as they were about to fire a girl in a red dress stumbled out of the brush and landed on her bum, followed by an equally young maiden in a blue dress.
"Oww! Blast that stupid bush why my dearest sister why must inanimate objects hate me so" the fallen girl said. As her sister mouthed words to her she swiveled in the direction of the boys saying "Who is there? What do you want? Who are you?".
"Don't you know you could have been killed?" said the first young man.
"Why on earth where you in a bush?" said the second. Evangeline stared toward them blankly.
"Well first of all how could I know I could have been killed" as she waved her hands in front of her face. "I am after all kind of blind and second, my sister and I weren't IN the bush we were walking passed the bush and I tripped, my sister just happened to follow me through the hole I likely made, in an attempt to see if I was ok". The boys gazed on the two girls with blank looks.
"Well then" said the first boy "My name is Prince Leonardo Gatsby and this is my friend Sir Angelo Scotts. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, I think". The second boy elbowed him hard in the ribs.
"Leo don't be so rude to them, that isn't princely what would your mother think?" he asked turning toward the two young ladies. "I apologize for his behavior I am still training him, please feel free to call him Leo and my friends call me Peace. What may I ask are your names?" Angelo asked.
"I am princess Evangeline and this is my sister princess Serenity, we are the youngest daughters of King Triton. It is a pleasure to meet you, unlike him" she said vaguely gesturing in the direction of where Leo may have been.
"Why doesn't your sister speak?" Leo asked staring openly at Serenity, Causing her to blush and look away.
"My sister cannot speak and thank you for reopening that wound" she said in a sharp tone, as Peace gave his friend a disbelieving look.
Peace in an attempt to break the awkward silence then inquired "So anyone up for lunch?" Leo then chimed in "does this mean you girls are mermaids?" causing everyone to stare at him with a blank stupefied look spontaneously causing everybody to smile with disbelief.
"Lunch sounds wonderful, Peace, Thank you" Evangeline said while taking the elbow offered to her, while her sister did the same. From that day forward they all became friends. Over the years the two young ladies visited their young friends as much as they could, that is, of course, until they were sent away for two years to train with their aunt in the ways of royalty.
Two years later:
"Isn't it wonderful dearest Serenity? In mere moments we will arrive home to be with our family and friends, we will get to see father and Eleanor and Raven; tonight we may be able to visit Leo and Peace! Hell, I'm even excited to see Lisandra!" Evangeline spoke to her sister, as they excitedly swam towards their gleaming palace home that could be seen in the distance, zooming passed fish in a blur of black and white.
"Of course Evie, I cannot wait to see everybody, I hope they took care of our gardens…" her lovely twins reply was fairly audible.
"I'm sure they did 'Ren, you know daddy wouldn't allow them to run rampant! I just can't wait to see Theo's new invention. For humans to be able to come visit us here, to see what we are like in our element; it's a great breakthrough, even if it is limited!" Evangeline said grinning at her sister, gesturing for them to swim faster. Minutes later they entered the main chamber of the Palace, and were unceremoniously glomped by their second eldest sister, Lisandra, who was now 18.
"Serenity! Evangeline! Your home! When did you get here? Did you have any trouble? Hurry! Let's go see daddy and the girls! Daddy had an important announcement for us so everybody is in the throne room!" she said all in one breath. Before grabbing her younger sisters' wrists and dragging them into a large throne room.
"Father!" they yelled simultaneously, breaking Lisandra's hold on them, and swimming towards their father as quickly as possible. Upon seeing them enter, he stood and opened his arms, gesturing for them to embrace him in a smothering hug.
"My girls! You have grown so much, you are both so stunning! In the months since I have last seen you, you two have truly grown into beautiful little mermaids!" he beamed at them, truly happy to see his youngest daughters, and hugged them close again. As they pulled away from him, faces alight; somebody cleared their throat, causing them to whip around.
"Eleanor! Raven! My sisters!" Evangeline shouted, launching herself at the two older girls. "My god Ellie you have gotten taller! JEBUS, Rae, You're still exceptionally pale! Oh how I have missed you guys!" she jested with them as she released them from her death grip.
"Hello, Ellie, Rae. It's good to see you again." said Serenity gently as she helped her sisters to stand again.
"Oh my, my little sisters are all grown up. How… sweet," Raven said with a bit of sarcasm lacing her voice, smirking at them.
"Yes little sister, the babies are young women now, and they are beautiful ones at that." Eleanor said, in the motherly tone she always used with her little sisters, gracing them with her warm loving smile. She cleared her throat again, and shook her head, putting herself back into business mode. "Yes, well father called us here to announce something to us. Now that we are all here let us sit and begin our meeting. "She said gracefully gesturing to their assorted thrones throughout the room. Once everyone was seated and it was quiet their father began to speak.
"As you have heard Eleanor's fiancé Theodore has invented a system that can allow humans to enter our domain, and see our world like never before. The tunnels have been tested several times, so we know for a fact that they are safe. So since we knew the twins were coming home today and we already had a dinner party planned for tomorrow to celebrate such a great occasion, I've decided to move it into one of the larger 'breathing caverns' in the underwater human transport line. I also think it would be in our best interests to invite some of the royalty and nobles from our land fairing neighbors to visit. Do you all agree with this decision and will you assist me to the best of your abilities in seeing to the arrangements?" their father asked.
"Of course father. We can all help" Eleanor said, watching as her sisters' excitement grew.
"We get a party?" the twins asked, ever so slightly confused.
"Well of course you guys get a party! We haven't seen you in ages. Two years you have been away, that's cause to celebrate!" Raven answered them, with a sincere smile for once in her life.
"We're in!" Evangeline said, beaming at everybody in the room.
"Father? Can we go settle in for a bit? Evangeline and I wanted to go change and check on our gardens." Serenity said quietly smiling.
"Of course my darlings. We will meet again for dinner, until then, Eleanor can assign you girls your jobs." And with that, the meeting was officially adjourned.
The next day, just after luncheon, the twins gathered with the rest of their sisters in Lisandras' room to start preparing for the party.
"Did the nobles from the land kingdom ever get back to us yesterday Rae?" Eleanor asked as she laid out a bunch of beauty products on the vanity.
"Of course they did!" raven replied as she started undoing they braids in her hair, "the king and his wife cannot attend, but they are sending their son and some of the younger ambassadors that have been staying with them recently, to come enjoy themselves." As she said this Serenity bolted up from her perch on the window, choking on the finger sandwich she had smuggled from lunch.
"*COUGH cough gag* L-l-leo is coming? Prince Leonardo? Here? Tonight?" she asked excitedly, as she tried to regain her breath, Evangeline snickering to herself as she watched her sisters face brighten up.
"Yes I believe that's the one. I made sure to specifically invite him and your other friend, the lord, or knight, or whatever he is now, what's his name? Angelo? Correct?" Raven responded, smirking at the reaction her sisters had at the mere mention of their "best friends" names.
"Peace is coming? That's excellent! I can't wait to see him again, figuratively speaking of course…." Evangeline responded with a large smile that seemed to shrink as she continued speaking, a soft blush coming to her face as she realized how exuberant she sounded.
"Alright raven, enough teasing the twins. Why don't you tell them about that servant boy you met in the kitchen? What was his name? Bran? Tell them about how sweet he is, and how he seemed so intelligent, and all that gush you told us." Lisandra said, successfully causing her sister to shut her face.
"Oh you met Bran? Finally? You would think after two and a half years of him staring at you every time you walked by him with your nose in your books you would have noticed him sooner." Evangeline said at the same time Serenity said, "Yes he is very kind, he used to let us into the kitchen and show us how to cook and bake before we left. He is an amazing chef; I always wondered why he never got promoted," thus causing Ravens eyes to go wide, and a smile to come across her face.
"Alright, enough of all this gossip, Lisandra, can you please help me, the twins need to look amazing for this party and I want to do their hair, can you try and put a bit of makeup on them? Not too much, I don't want them to look like they got hit in the face with a bucket of paint!" Eleanor said, breaking them out of their conversations.
"Of course big sister, it would be my pleasure! What color are the dresses you will be wearing?" she asked the twins.
"I'm wearing the blue dress I got in Spain with the gold accents on it, Evangeline is wearing the matching red one she bought it has a black trimming." Serenity said quickly answering for her sister and herself, a mischievous gleam in her eye that was rarely seen there.
"Aww! But I wanted to wear trousers!" Evangeline whined ignoring the pointed look Lisandra gave her.
"You are sixteen years old, young lady! It's about damned time you learn suck it up, and get used to wearing dresses! It's what's proper and expected from a princess!" Lisandra nagged at her, for the first time in two years.
"Oh my goodness! Alright, just shut your trap and I will wear the dress!" she responded rolling her eyes, turning to her twin and mouthing the words "I despise you" before turning back around so Lisandra could finish her make up.
As soon as they were done with their little make overs, the girls ran out of the room to find their trunks with human clothes. Racing back to Lisandra's room, the twins carried the two trunks that contained the dresses they had bought their sisters.
"Alright we had these dresses made by some gypsies in Paris. We thought you would like these, Lisa, Rae." Serenity said handing Raven a traditional gothic purple medieval velvet gypsy dress, and a similar pink dress, with lace trimmings to Lisandra.
"I picked this one out myself, got it in England!" Evangeline said, handing a green noble woman dress to her sister.
"They are all lovely, we thank you for such beautiful gifts, may we see yours?" Eleanor asked, staring in awe at the lovely dresses.
"Of course, they are very simple, we bought them in Spain from some of the gypsies there. You know, despite rumors, gypsies are the nicest people! We know tons of them from our travels!" Evangeline gushed, as Serenity found their dresses. They were absolutely gorgeous, halter dresses with handkerchief hem lines, the metallic accents and trimming causing the dresses to give of an angelic glow.
"Wow…" Rae said staring at the dresses.
"Yeah, we know." The girls said simultaneously.
"Oh my goodness it's 5:30! Hurry girls! Let's get to the cave! We have to have these dresses dry and on in an hour!" Eleanor said rushing out of the room with her dress in hand, everybody else following suit.
"Evie?" Serenity said, getting her sisters attention as they were changing in the back of the cavern 40 minutes later.
"Hmm?" she responded.
"Do you think the boys will recognize us? I mean, it's been two years, and I know it's improbable, but what if they forgot about us? What if they went off and met some amazingly gorgeous girls and got married or something? What if Leo doesn't want to be my friend anymore? What if he doesn't want to be friends with a 'mute'? I mean he is a prince! And he should be 17 now! What's to say he wants to tarnish his image by having disabled friends?" Serenity rambled hurriedly, her twin the only one that could actually hear the words she was mouthing.
Evangeline sighed, and in attempt to get her attention yelled "REN! I know you are paranoid, I mean you have had a crush on the boys since the first time he opened his big mouth, which I have never understood by the way, I mean no offense but he was a bit thick back then, but, anyways, you need to calm down. We both know he wouldn't really go off and do something as dim-witted as getting married without telling us, and I honestly think in his own way, he may return your feelings. So just relax! And honestly, it's easier to be on land without a voice than to be without sight, and seeing as how neither of them has ever abandoned me, I don't think your disability will be a problem." She finished comforting her sister confidently, smiling widely, just as they finished adjusting their dresses.
Meanwhile, a party of 7 had just arrived on the island that contained the entrance to the underwater human transport system. Among them were two gaunt looking young gentlemen, possibly in their late teens, a young man with a rather large nose, a girl with dark green eyes and tanned skin, and a boy that may have been her younger brother, a tall young man with curly dark brown hair and violet eyes, and an equally tall man, a prince in fact, with light brown hair and hazel eyes. All were conversing amongst themselves, two among them however seemed exceedingly excited to be there.
"Leo? Do you really think the girls are back? I mean, it's been two YEARS since we last saw them. I wonder how much they have grown, after all Serenity did always seem to stay about the same size. You think they will remember us?" the attractive dark brown haired lord asked the prince nervously.
"Yes Peace! For the millionth time I am sure they are back, why else would King Triton write on the invitation that this party is to celebrate the return of his two youngest daughters if they weren't back? And of course they remember us, it may have been a long time, but the promised they wouldn't forget us. And I'm absolutely positive that the pretty girls we knew when we were younger have grown into lovely young women." Leo replied indignantly, at is friend, as if insulted at the mere idea of somebody being capable of forgetting him. As they talked they had been led into a large tunnel that resembled a large straw made out of a bubble.
In the cavern, the twins were just helping Eleanor to finish tying up the back of her dress, when one of the servants announced that the land guests had just arrived, and were being escorted to meet them. Quickly Lisandra pushed the twins back into the hallways they had used as a changing room at the back of the cavern telling them to wait there, as Raven finished the last knot on Eleanor's dress, and they sent the servant off to fetch their father. Lining up by the door to greet their guests, the three eldest siblings impatiently picked at their dresses, and listened to the sound of footsteps coming closer.
"Welcome to our home!" Lisandra said stepping forward.
"In order to honor the return of our sisters and the invention of a new means for us to experience each other's cultures we have invited you to come to our world and grace us with your presence." Eleanor continued, "allow me to introduce myself and my sisters to those of you who do not know us," she said smiling at the 5 strangers she didn't know, "I am princess Eleanor, the eldest of five daughters of Triton, King of the ocean. "This," she gestured to the girl on her left, " is princess Lisandra, second daughter of Triton, and this," she gestured to her right, "is princess Raven, third daughter of Triton. It's an honor to meet you." They curtsied in unison. Leo stepped forward and bowed his head to the girls.
"My friends, it is an honor to see you again, it's been far too long. May I introduce Lord and Lady Romano of Italy, and her fiancé Sir Gallo," he said gesturing to the brother and sister with green eyes, and the man with the large nose, " and the brothers Grimm, Barons from Germany" he said gesturing to the two gaunt young men who had been talking animatedly in the back. "Of course you all know myself, and Sir Angelo."
"It's good to meet you all, and Leo, Peace, you are both looking well. Now if you don't mind the theatrics, please, may I introduce our father, King Triton, grandson of Poseidon, son of Neptune, ruler of the seven sea's, controller of the oceans." Raven spoke, stepping forward and gesturing to the large lake inside the cavern from which their father rose in a spectacular cyclone of water.
"It is excellent to meet you all! My boys! How have you been? I haven't seen you since the Christmas gala your parents had last winter!" Triton boomed at his guests, embracing the boys in his large arms like he might have if they were his own sons.
"Your highness, it is good to see you again." The boys smiled at him.
"Raven, go get the girls ready!" Eleanor whispered to her sister, as Raven walked swiftly to the hall in the back of the cavern.
"Get ready, your boyfriends are here, and father is about to introduce you, are you ready my sisters? Will you be able to lead Evie without my help 'Ren?" she asked jumping when Evie aimed a kick in her general direction. They both nodded and Evangeline lightly placed her hand on her sister's shoulder.
"Alright, let's go, my quiet sister. Be my eyes and guide me since you are the only thing I can see out of the water." Evangeline whispered to her twin, looking her directly in the eyes. Serenity nodded in return, just when they heard their father introduce them.
"Let us welcome home my two youngest daughters, the twins, Serenity," she stepped lightly out of the hallway, eyes cast downward, only to shyly look up and scan the faces in front of her, stopping the search as soon as she spotted the prince, who was staring at her as he never had before, causing her to look down again. "and Evangeline!" she stepped forward gracefully, head held high, eyes lightly closed in concentration as her hand immediately shot out to find her sisters arm, and only once she found it did her eyes open fully, looking slightly filmy, the grey color still obviously apparent.
She smiled into the empty space above her guests' heads, "on behalf of my sister and me, I thank each and every one of you for coming, we hope you enjoy our small party and feel free to mingle, eat, and generally enjoy yourselves." She said, the feeling that somebody was staring intently at her causing her to slowly turn her head until it stopped, her eyes landing, unknowingly to her, on Peace. "for those of you present who are not aware, Serenity and I are disabled whenever we are on land, her being without voice, and myself being without sight, so excuse us if we seem rude at any point tonight. Now with this final bit of sentiment, please feel free to go about exploring, talking, and having fun, please don't get lost, and dance to your heart's content! Thank you! Serenity, can you please lead me around the room?" Evangeline finished her speech, lowering her voice at the end so only her sister could hear her. Serenity seemingly mouthed the words "of course", but only Evangeline could actually hear her, and nodded in acknowledgment.
As the girls walked around the room Evangeline better introduced them both to many of the guests who were strangers to them, in the case of the brothers Grimm, she didn't even have to introduce Serenity, they knew sign language. As they left the brothers, Evangeline heard something very familiar.
"Wait 'Ren." She whispered, as they got a bit farther from the main crowd of people, in another part of the room. Seconds after they stopped, Evangeline said out loud to nothing imparticular as she stared at a wall, "hello Leo, Peace. Still trying to sneak up on me, I see? Though not literally of course" the blind girl said turning around to lean back on the wall, snickering to herself as she did so, her sister doing the same silently beside her.
"Damn, I never knew how you did that, Evie." Leo said frustrated, causing Serenity to start giggling silently and his attention to turn to her. "'Ren you look absolutely gorgeous!" he exclaimed, as he kissed her hand. She blushed and turned her head away, mouthing something that he couldn't see. Evangeline sighed, rolling her eyes in an obvious fashion, and shaking her head as if the situation was senseless.
"she said 'thank you!' come on Peace," she added, her hand grasping the air randomly, attempting to find his arm," why don't you escort me around the room so lover boy over here can make his move on my sister." She said smirking at the air. As her hand finally found his arm, Peace seemed to snap out of his trance and stopped staring so noticeably at her, instead taking her arm and leading her away, not hearing Serenity yell silently,
"Peace was staring at you too, so you have no room to talk!" Peace looked upon her not understanding the small blush that came to her cheeks.
"Evie, you look very beautiful, you grew well. I missed you, a lot." He said to her, once they were out of earshot of the other two. She smiled, and stopped walking to embrace him in a warm hug.
"Angelo, I have missed you as well. More than I would care to admit. How have you been?" she asked, bestowing upon him a smile that took his breath away.
"I-I-I" he cleared his throat, "excuse me, I have been well, I have kept myself entertained with my studies and training." he replied politely.
"Yeah, I noticed," she responded, tightening her hold on his arm, and laughing when he sharply drew in his breath.
"S-s-so, er, Evie, tell me, how many suitors have been thrown at you since you left?" he asked, in both an attempt to change the subject and out of actual curiosity.
"Oh," she blushed, "too many for my own good. I lost track after lucky number 13." She told him honestly.
"And did you fancy any of them?" he asked a tad of pre-emptive jealousy tingling his voice.
"Don't have a cow! Of course I didn't! Half of them were upset because I am an 'opinionated loudmouth', half were upset that I'm blind on land, and none of them were my type, at all."
"Oh good," he sighed, sounding relieved. She quirked an eyebrow at that, and he rushed to add, "That you didn't settle for any of them, I mean."
"Right… so then, do you have any suggestions for possible suitors nearby for my sister and me?" she asked with her signature smirk adorning her face.
"Well, around here, there are four eligible suitors for somebody of your high ranking. Two of them, you have hated since you were 12, your sister seems to be in love with another one of them, so I guess that there is only one that would be proper." He reasoned.
"Oh? And who is this 'proper' one?" she questioned.
"Well, you know him; he's a lord, lives on the land, is friends with a prince, and I hear he is devilishly handsome." Peace answered, adopting a smirk of his own.
"Oh, Carter is still available?" she said jokingly, referring to her friends and her most despised enemy.
"What? No. not him! I mean him? Really?" as peace fumbled over his words, Evie started laughing.
"I was joking! That would be utterly disgusting! I'm insulted that you would think I was seriously considering him!" she snorted, in her undignified, unladylike, and yet endearing way, that charmed many a lad in the recent years.
On the other side of the room, a similar conversation was being held between royals, but with their hands.
"Yes, really, about 30 suitors. Each I despised more than the last!" Ren signed.
"Well darling I'm afraid if you stay here, your options are limited." Leo signed back.
"I already have my eye on someone." She signed back sporting the smirk that was so rarely seen on her face- and yet seemed to be contagious throughout the room- as she turned and walked away from the handsome young prince, toward, instead, her twin and friend who was being laughed at by the aforementioned twin. She walked a bit faster giggling silently as she heard the prince come after her yelling,
"Wait? What did you sign? Who?"
When they reached Evie and Peace, the d.j. was going on break, and Serenity said to her twin, "come on, we have to show them what we learned eventually, now is the perfect time to start getting ready for our little 'surprise' that the gypsies taught us in Spain." Hearing this, Evie started giggling and nodding.
"Alright we might as well, come on, we have to go get ready then. Excuse us boys, we will be back whenever!" she laughed as Serenity practically dragged her to the back room, getting their sisters attention on the way. When they can out again, they looked the same, only their hair was let down, and fell to their waists, and they had hitched up parts of their skirts to reveal they were wearing shorts underneath. When they walked out, Lisandra walked up to the d.j. and had them ready the music the twins had prepared earlier that day, as she did so, Eleanor escorted her father to his throne, and Raven cleared people from the center of the dance floor, allowing the twins to have enough space to demonstrate some of the "land culture" they had picked up during their travels.
The music was started, and automatically had a beat that was an odd mix of flamenco and reggae. When it got to a certain measure, the girls were off, twisting spinning, flipping; dancing with fluidity, gracefulness, and boldness that nobody ever thought a blind girl or a mute could possibly possess. It incorporated two years' worth of culture exposed to young women who had traveled to- almost literally- everywhere. At the peak of their performance, they went as far as to incorporate the gymnastics and martial arts they had learned in the time they had been away. When they were finished, they were met with a roar of applause, their father shouting "BRAVO! BRAVO!" at the top of his voice, panting, they curtsied to each other and the audience, in turn, enormous smiles plastered on their faces. Unknown to the girls, Leonardo and Angelo were standing in the back of the crowd, feet planted to the ground where the girls had left them, mouths open in astonishment.
As the girls walked passed them, Serenity stopped, and told her sister what she was seeing, smirking, Evie nodded at her, and Serenity closed their mouths as Evie stated, "don't wanna catch flies, do we?" Just then a clock could be heard chiming midnight.
"My friends and loving family it is now midnight and time for us to retire! My land guests, you are welcome to stay the night, if you wish to, my daughters will escort you to our new guest rooms, and the rest of you will be escorted back to the mainland by my servants. I wish you good travels! Goodnight!" Triton announced clapping his hands once and diving back into the large lake he had arrived from. The Lords Grimm, Sir Angelo, and Prince Leonardo all stayed, the rest were escorted out, and the twins and Lisandra volunteered to escort them to their rooms.
"Come with us," Evie said, one arm enclosed in Peace's her other hand feeling along the wall. After walking down a couple hallways both girls stopped and Evie pushed in a notch in the wall revealing a door behind it.
"Do you guys mind sharing a suite?" Serenity signed.
"Not at all!" Leo said out loud as he stepped into the room, Peace and the girls following.
Your rooms are through those two doors, and our suite is directly below yours. If you need us, just pull this rope, it makes a noise in our room and we will come up to check on you. Right now, we have to go to bed, alright?" Evie explained as Serenity helped her to the shallow looking pond in the middle of the room.
"Okay, good night, my princess." Peace said eying Evangeline as she inched toward the edge of the pond, "my princesses, I mean" he corrected himself rubbing the back of his neck as Leo started laughing at him.
"Good night girls!" Leo called to them, as they both jumped in to the pond and sank like stones. The girls came back up to the surface once more to wave goodbye to the boys, and then dove under, swimming towards their room; the last thing the guys saw of them was the black and white of their tales following them beyond where the light reached.
Early the next morning, before the sun rose, Triton rushed into his daughters room and shook them awake, telling them to awaken the Leonardo and Angelo and to meet him in the 'breathing cavern' they had the party in earlier that morning. Quickly they grabbed their robes and swam up to the tunnel to the boys' suite.
"PEACE! PEACE! LEO! QUICKLY! IT'S URGENT! WAKE YOUR ARSES UP NOW! DON'T MAKE ME CRAWL OVER THERE!" Evie yelled as she helped her sister climb out of the water. As she was attempting to climb out, Serenity banged on their doors as loudly as she could.
"WAKE UP! And can somebody please help me? I'm kind of sort of currently blind!" she sighed as the boys came rushing out of their rooms.
Peace quickly walked over to her and grabbed her arm, "Hurry, father wishes us to meet him in the main cavern! It's an emergency of some sort! Let's go!" she said rushing in a random direction and tripping over, well she couldn't see what she tripped over. "OWW!oww! oww! Damn-it-all! Ok let's go! I'm fine! Peace! Put me down this instance! I fell I'm not broken! Oh for the love of…! Fine to the cavern!" she said exasperated as peace carried her bridal style out of the room, following Serenity.
"Sorry, I think daddy scared her a bit when he woke us up, made her panicky." Serenity signed. He just chuckled under his breath and shook his head.
"Ren Stop signing about me!" Evie said, stupefying everybody by her keen sense of interpretation.
They all entered the cavern at a run to see Triton and a beautiful older mermaid rising out of the lake in Tritons signature cyclone.
"Evangeline, its Miranda!" Serenity mouthed shouted at her sister.
"Miranda?! Really?" she asked, straining to find her sisters light figure in her dark world, finding her she saw her nod her head affirmatively. "Peace! Put me down! Put me down now! Hurry!" she said in a stage whisper. He very carefully set her on the ground, making sure she was steady on her feet before releasing her completely, "thank you!" she said as her and Serenity quickly turned and curtsied low to the beautiful woman.
"Rise my daughters." The woman, Miranda, called to them, the girls stood and ran to her as best as they could.
"Mother! Mother! We have missed you! You were gone for so long! Was there any news about Marina? Did you find a way to break the curse? Is there any way to reverse this god awful curse?" Evangeline asked question after question for herself and her sister.
"Yes, my darlings, I found my wretched sister, and though she did have a change of heart, only you can rid yourselves of this curse that she placed upon you out of spite and jealousy. She did however reveal to me that you are friends with a prince of the jungle, and an angel of peace, she told me that if you are to remove this curse, you must, travel together to the surface and visit the oracle. She can lift the spell, but you must first take the beginning steps to start your ultimate destinies, as the oracle prophesied when you were first born. You know the steps, and in knowing this, you must now have the courage to do it. Do you understand girls? Yes?" she asked. They nodded in answer. "Boys," she turned to the two still at the door "are you the prince of the jungle and the angel of peace that my sister spoke of?" she asked.
"Yes I believe so your highness. I am Prince Leonardo. Leo for short. And this is my friend Sir Angelo 'Peace'; we are friend of your daughters." Leo responded to her.
"Will you accompany my daughters and keep them safe on this journey?" when they nodded she continued explaining the stipulations of removing the curse to the girls. " on this journey, if the oracle really is to remove the curse, you cannot under any circumstances transfer out of your human form. That means no mermaid tails okay? This potion that my sister made, will allow you to enter water without gaining your tail for three days, if you want your tail you will need to will it to come, and you should only do that under dire circumstances. I have enough of this potion to last you three days, you need to drink one vial each morning when you awaken if it is to work properly. If you are not in the oracles presence by dawn of the fourth day, should your trip take that long, you will slowly start to forget everything about your life with us here, as mermaids. You will only remember each other, and you will no longer be capable of removing the curse. Do you understand the risk you will be taking trying to remove this curse?" Miranda asked, fear for her daughters evident in her eyes. Evangeline grabbed Serenity's hand and Serenity looked her sister in the eye, and though I do not know what she saw, but whatever it was, it gave her the courage to nod her head for the both of them.
"Yes mother, I think we are willing to take it, because we will never be able to fulfill our destinies if we aren't capable of seeing the injustices of this world and speaking out against them! We no longer wish to be ignorant of the world in the eyes of others!" Evangeline said, her voice filled with conviction as she felt her sister's hand tighten in hers.
"My babies, you are so brave, more so then I ever hope to be." Miranda told her girls, hugging them fiercely. "Triton, please will you go help the girls start preparing for their journey, gather together some traveling equipment for them and the boys, then go and make them rest for the day, they will need it. Boys, please stay, I need to speak with you alone." She directed them all.
"Yes ma'am." They replied in unison. The girls looked back at them once before following their father into the lake to prepare.
"Time is of the essence so let's cut to the chase. Do you love my daughters?" she asked bluntly. They looked rather shell shocked at her question. "Dear Neptune! Leonardo? Do you love my daughter Serenity?" she asked him staring at him directly in the eye.
"Wha-what? I-I-I, yes, I do, I have since we were young when she taught me sign language, even after Evie and Peace gave up on me." He admitted to the room at large.
"Angelo? You love my Evangeline, do you not?" She asked the young gentleman.
"I have since the first day I met her. Since I first saw her stumble out of that bush, I found her to be beautiful and fierce, with a mind of her own, not like some of the other girls you find common." He said with a slight chuckle.
"Remember this love on your journey, think about it, and let it grow. It will be a key tool when you reach any crossroads. You were meant to protect my daughters, to love them. Remember this." She said as she turned and started walking towards the lake, "go now, prepare for your travels, rest, and be ready by tomorrow at sunup!"
26 hours later, the four teenagers were climbing over the last hill before the ocean would be blocked from view.
"Alright, so if we continue at this pace, how long will it take us to get there?" Evie asked.
"Two days, but we will have to cut through a large forest. We will have to be careful because travellers are always lost when they enter it. We have decided that we are going to use the buddy system. I will buddy with Ren, and Peace will stick with you Evie." Leo answered. Evie glanced back at peace.
"I can live with that. Just don't get too touchy with my sister." She responded, falling back to walk with her buddy.
Soon they arrived at the edge of the forest and Peace stopped them once more to confirm the meeting spot at the other end of the forest. This meeting spot proved to be a necessary precaution because somehow in the course of an hour the two couples became separated.
"So, who was that guy you have your eye on Seren?" Leo suddenly asked, breaking a lengthy pause in their signed conversation. Serenity, feeling smart answered out loud, thinking that the curse wouldn't allow her to be truly heard;
"You my darling prince, my best friend I have always loved you, Leonardo!" in her soft dreamy voice.
"Did you just talk? Wait, why am I asking that? You love me? "He asked her, as her eyes widened in shock.
"I talked! On land! And not just to Evie! Oh for the love that is aquatic! You finally hear me speak and I say something to make me feel a fool. And now I'm talking to myself! I feel like Evangeline!" she started off excitedly and ended her sentence in a grumble. She then grew very, very quiet realizing what she had unintentionally admitted to the prince, and growing lost in thought. Suddenly she looked Leo dead in the eye and asked, "What do you think of me, Leo? Do you love me?" she smirked as his eyes widened in shock, and he froze, at a loss for whether or not to admit his feelings. "That explains it then, the curse is beginning to lift on its own." And with that she continued on her way, skipping merrily through the forest, humming to herself, going slowly as she waited for Leo to snap out of it and catch up.
Meanwhile, Evangeline had been walking through the forest rubbing her eyes and looking around, eyes like that of a mesmerized owl for at least ten minutes, when Peace finally asked, "Evangeline? Are you okay? What's wrong?" causing her to swivel her head in the direction of the voice and trip over a tree root.
"Ahhh!" she screamed as she fell. "Ouch! Wow! Everything is so vivid! Peace, am I asleep? Cause this is the best looking version of you my subconscious has ever produced in a dream." she asked said, staring at him up and down.
"What are you talking about? No you aren't asleep! You've dreamt about me before?" he answered, before throwing in his own question.
"For the love of Poseidon, that means I can see! This isn't a dream and of course you have been in my dreams before! You're my best friend, not to mention," she coughed and cleared her throat, "in case it wasn't obvious, you are most definitely my type." She pecked him on the cheek and walked farther into the forest, stopping every now and then to take in the beauty of nature, and singing to herself, leaving a stunned Peace behind.
"Wait Evie! That is a good thing right?" Peace shouted as he ran after her.
Just before sunset Serenity's voice started disappearing and Evangeline's sight started fading, by the time they finally met outside of the forest, the girls handicaps were back, full force, but that didn't stop the two groups from excitedly relating their adventures to each other.
"Just think, if we keep up this pace, we will be curse free by tomorrow morning!" Evangeline sighed, leaning her head on Peace's shoulder.
"Yeah…" he sighed, kissing the top of her head, causing her to blush.
"I can't wait!" Serenity signed as she nudged her sister playfully with her foot, stroking the hair out of Leo's face as he laid his head in her lap. They fell asleep like that, that night, and the next morning when they woke up, they continued walking north, towards the caves where the Oracle was said to live. That day they climbed tall mountains, and crossed wide rivers, and by the time they reached the Oracles cave, were completely exhausted. So exhausted in fact that they passed out just outside the entrance to her cave, and that is where the oracles priests found them.
On the third day they were all awoken by Evangeline falling from her bed and groaning loudly. "For the love of holy biscuits, why gravity?! Why do you hate me?" she exclaimed. "Serenity? Where are you? Where are we? I can't see, and this floor isn't familiar to me!" she mumbled her head pressed into the ground.
"I don't know, we seem to be inside a temple or something." She responded.
"Ladies, your friends have told us why you are here," a voice said from the shadows, "if you wish to see the Oracle, come with me, your friends have been waiting for you to wake up, they are already there." A young woman with fiery red hair said as she came out of the shadows and led them through a door. After crossing many halls and making many turns they arrived at a pair of large double doors. "This is where I take my leave. Enter, and see her most high of all mystiques." And with that she left.
As they walked in they were immediately embraced by their darling lover boys, and escorted to nearby cushions placed on the floor surrounding a small woman with graying hair.
"I know why you are here and only have one question that you must each answer honestly. Do you love each other with your whole heart and soul?" she asked them, referring to the couples.
"I have never loved somebody this way in my life, and I never want to love another like this." Evangeline responded, her voice filled with passion.
"Nor I, though I hope to one day be able to express these sentiments out loud, so Leo may hear how much I want him to love me too." Serenity signed.
"I don't know how much say in this I have, but I want to help Serenity and Evangeline break this curse, and if that meet confessing something I have known for years then I will do it. I love my Evangeline, and I have since the first time I saw her fall out of a bush." Peace answered.
"I'm afraid I cannot match those sentiments, I'm not as smart or as romantic as Peace, but I really do love Ren, and I'm willing to do anything for her." Leo said, last of all, his voice completely honest.
"That's perfect. By admitting this, you have taken the first step in fulfilling your destinies and I reward you by helping you to lift the curse. In all honesty, it's very simple, you could have lifted it long ago, but now that you see the reasoning behind the cure, maybe it will have more of an impact. The secret is that all curses can be broken by 'true loves kiss' so long as you realize that sacrifices will be made in fulfilling the destiny I predicted of you girls, then you will be freed." She said, smiling at the teenagers in a wise way. "Well? Get on with it then!" she said growing impatient.
And that is how the story ends, with 'true love's first kisses.'
For Now...