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It had been many years since the events with Prince Manaphy happened. Since then, the People of the Water have lived with great prosperity. Their numbers had grown greatly since the first time Prince Manaphy had encountered them. They had gained much land around the shoreline near Samiya and further from it. They had even built compounds and temples in these areas. They kept these areas very secret from outsiders. Just like Samiya, the only way to get inside these buildings was to have sea crystals, the mark of the People of the Water.
Samiyans always helped, always covered, always swelled around each other. They were a strong people. They were attacked countless times over the years, but they always prevailed. They had strong leadership and rarely had any fighting between their own.
We were such a prosperous nation. I still can't believe how our destruction happened. I guess all civilizations at some point must fall, and the greater question is not if they fall, but when.
It all started the day before my fifteenth birthday.
"Lady Aquamarine… Lady Aquamarine… LADY AQUAMARINE!"
"I'm up! I'm up!" I shouted.
Ms. Lani (1) was always shouting at me to get up in the morning. I could not help that I was such a heavy sleeper. Not only that, but I desperately needed the sleep since I was up all night reading about places far, far away from here.
"Ms. Lani, could you please stop yelling. I bet everyone in the temple can hear you."
"Well Lady Aquamarine," said Ms. Lani, "If you got up on time this morning like you were suppose to, I wouldn't have had to scream."
I frowned and rolled my eyes at her. She never would listen to my kindly placed directions.
"Now don't roll your eyes at me young lady! Now get up and get ready."
Ms. Lani finally left my room; however, I still need to get dressed for the day. I still had many preparations to do before my birthday the next day
I made up my bed and tidied my space a little bit before heading off to the bathroom. I never understood why my parents made me clean up my own space. It's not like we lacked servants or anything. I know that they said that they wanted me to know how to do basic chores in case anything happens which would prevent us from living here, but nothing happens. All threats are eradicated; so, I don't understand their logic.
I brushed my teeth and washed my face. Then I took my very long black, wavy hair from its ponytail and started to brush it. I decided to put my hair half up and half down. I held my hair back with a shiny, blue teardrop shaped clip.
With my hair done, I went to my closet to find something to wear. I decided to wear a dark blue, flowy skirt with gold trimmings and embroidery. I also put on a gold wrapping around my chest with a dark blue sash. I put on my sea crystal necklace and bracelet, a pair of sapphire stud earrings, and black sandals.
Once I finished getting ready, I left out of my room. Outside my door, Ms. Lani was waiting for me, ready to take me where I needed to go in order to finish the preparations for my birthday.
"Good, you're finally dressed," said Ms. Lani, "You look very lovely Lady Aquamarine. Now, first thing's first, we need to go to your last dress fitting with Mrs. Lalokinawa."
We walked for a while until we got to the woman's shop in the temple. Mrs. Lalokinawa is known as the best seamstress in our realm. She has made countless outfits for many of our noblemen. She has also made the wedding dresses for our past High Princess, my late grandmother, High Princess Dia, and our current High Princess, my mother, Eaudelle (2). She is very talented.
"Ah, Lady Aquamarine," said Mrs. Lalokinawa, "It's a pleasure to see you again."
"Likewise."
"Are you excited for your birthday tomorrow? The fifteenth is always the best one especially since you are now eligible to start courting." Mrs. Lalokinawa winked at me.
I blushed at her comment and said, "Yes, It will be an exciting birthday."
"Yes it will be," she smiled, "And to go with a perfect birthday, you need a perfect dress. The dress that I have designed for you is a long, strapless, turquoise ball gown with a fitted bodice, a little gold trimming, and two sleeves that flare at the end."
The dress was beautiful. It was simple but elegant. You could tell it was made for someone of royalty, but the one thing that I hate is that my dress is strapless. All of my gowns are strapless. The only reason this is done is so that everyone can see my birthmark, the emblem of the Sea Crown, on my left arm.
That way, everyone knows that I'm next in line for the Sea Angel Throne and will become the next Hydro Priestess. I hate it. I don't want to be the next priestess. There are so many other people more qualified for the job. Why do I have to do it?
"It's a lovely dress," I tell Mrs. Lalokinawa, "It'll be perfect for my birthday party."
She smiled at my comment.
"Well, this is one of my greatest creations. I expect nothing less."
After that, we said our goodbyes and left the store. My dress would be in my room before I came back tonight.
"Now," said Ms. Lani, "We must go visit your cousin Kala since she is the one in charge with most of tomorrow's preparations."
Kala. We're going to visit Kala (3)….
I don't hate Kala or anything. We're good friends, honestly. In fact, she is my only friend, but I guess I just feel inferior to her. Everyone calls her their little sea angel. It's like they reverence her more than Prince Manaphy! It's crazy. She's the epitome of what a Samiyan should be. Everyone thinks it, and everyone thinks that I should be more like her. More. Like. Her. I don't want to be like Kala. I want to be me. And this is just another reason why I am not the right choice to be the next Hydro Priestess.
Ms. Lani and I went down into the lower half of the temple. As we got further down, we went into a room that was made of all glass where you could see the outside world below the waves.
In the room, there was a woman with dark turquoise hair, dark skin, and blue eyes. She was wearing her hair in a braid and was wearing a light blue tunic that went a little past her knees with a blue belt and black sandals.
"Aqua!" Kala ran up and hugged me, "How do you feel?"
"Fine?" What am I suppose to feel? And what kind of question is that?!
"Fine? You just feel fine?" she asked, "You should be feeling ecstatic! It's your fifteenth birthday, the most important birthday in our culture! I made sure everything would be perfect. You don't have to worry about a thing. I've taken care of it. All the invitations sent? Check. The venue is clean and decorated? Check. The entertainment is ramped up and ready to perform? Check. And most importantly, the ten-tier sea berry cake will be freshly baked tomorrow morning? Check, check, and double check!"
I can't believe she got me a sea berry cake! Sea berries are a delicacy in our culture. They grow deep underwater, but not too deep where we cannot get to them. Sea berries are as big as a plum, have a lavender skin, and a dark blue inside. They are super sweet with a bitter aftertaste. I love them, and they are my favorite.
"Wow," I said astonished at all the work she has done, "You did all that?"
"Of course I did," Kala smiled sweetly at me, "You're my best friend, and I want this day to be perfect for you. And besides, I know you would do the same for me."
Would I? Would I really? Kala just turned fourteen a couple of months ago, but I couldn't imagine throwing her a birthday party. And even though she is my best and only friend, even imagining pulling off such a feat feels exhausting and out of my area of expertise. Kala always goes above and beyond in everything that she does, and she has such a beautiful heart. I could only imagine doing such a thing for her.
"Hey, Ms. Lani," said Kala, "Could you give Aqua and I a few minutes alone."
"Sure dearie. I'll be just outside Lady Aquamarine."
Ms. Lani left leaving us alone.
"You can't tell me you aren't excited Aqua," said Kala, "Now's your chance to show Kona that you're interested in him."
Kona is one of our wave riders, someone who has a profound connection to water creatures and has the ability to train them. He is eighteen years old and has long dark blue hair, medium dark skin, and deep blue eyes. Gosh his eyes.
Kala is the only one who knows I have feelings for Kona. And now that I am going to be eligible to court tomorrow, there is a possibility that I could court him, but … it would never happen.
"Kala, even if I was the one to ask him to court me ,which I would never and could never do, he would never say yes."
"And why not? You're amazing!"
"Thank you for the compliment, but he probably wants to be with one of our water nymphs. Not someone like me who barely has a connection to water creatures…"
"Come on, don't be like that," Kala came and took my hands, "You are incredible. You may not have the best connection with water Pokémon, but it will happen. I just know it, and one day, you will be the best Hydro Priestess the People of the Water has ever seen"
"Kala, we've talked about this. I'm not good enough to be the next priestess."
"Yes you are! It is your destiny!"
"Well maybe it shouldn't be my destiny! You know just like I do that there is someone else better out there."
"And you know that I have never believed that."
"Well maybe you should."
With that, I turned around and walked out the room going past Ms. Lani, and I didn't look back.
I just had to get away. I just had to. Kala was just being too…Kala.
I decided to go outside to one of the bridges on the upper part of Samiya. I loved the bridges in Samiya. They seemed to connect land, sea, and sky. They made me believe that I could be anything and that I could go anywhere, just like flying creatures.
I've always loved flying creatures and envied them too. They have the freedom to do what they want and go where they want. Because I love flying creatures so much, I asked for one to be my first magical creature. But because I live in a society that loves and values water creatures, my parents made a compromise. I got a female ducklett, who I named Venus. Ducklett has attributes of both water and flying creatures. I got lucky. After a year, my ducklett evolved into a swanna.
When I got to the bridge, I took off my shoes, lifted my skirt a little bit, sat down, and put my feet in the water. After a while, Venus showed up. I could tell because her sapphire necklace shined in the sun. We played together for a long time. But after a while, someone started to walk to where I was.
It was Kona.
When he saw me, he said, "Oh, I'm sorry. I'll just leave."
"No!"
He turned around, looking suprised at my outburst.
"You can stay, honest."
"Okay then," Kona sat down next to me, "It's nice to see you Lady Aquamarine."
"You can just call me Aqua," I said in a small voice.
I had my head down. I just couldn't look at him. I mean, the object of my affections is sitting right beside me! I can't just look at him. Can I?
"Okay, It's nice to see you again, Aqua," he said smiling
It had been a few weeks since I was last able to talk to him. He has been training fiercely lately. I'm not sure what for. However, I've missed talking to him.
"Did you just finish training?"
"I did. There were a lot of rippling undercurrents this morning which made it harder to train underwater. So, I had to surface train."
That was interesting. Our culture doesn't generally teach battling on the surface too much, only during certain circumstances.
"And the Otura (4) allowed that?"
"The Otura doesn't know," he smirked.
"Wow,"I said rolling my eyes, "You are such a rebel."
He laughed, "I guess I would be considered that if they found me. I only wish they had different opinions on surface training."
"Do you think that surface training is useless?" I said looking at him.
"Not at all. In fact, I believe it may be even more important; however, the elders and the Otura believe differently."
"Why do you think they believe that underwater training is more important than surface training?"
"They want us to have a deep connection to Prince Manaphy's domain; so we exclusively train beneath the waves. But to tell you the truth, I believe that we focus on that too much. We imagine all of our threats coming from the water. We can't even fathom being attacked by land or air despite the fact that not all of our people live in this temple."
"You make a very good point. I will be sure to talk to my mother and father about this."
"Thank you. I really appreciate it. Anyway, enough about me. Tell me, are you excited? You're fifteenth birthday is tomorrow. How are you feeling"
Am I excited? Absolutely not. I am dreading it.
"Yes, of course," I said putting a piece of hair behind my ear, "It will be an exciting day especially with the centennial and all."
"Why do you do that?" He sighed.
"Do what?"
"You can be honest with me Aquamarine. You don't have to put up a facade."
I was taken aback. I never thought he could ever tell when I did that. At least, he never called me out on it before.
"I guess … I'm just nervous. There's a lot of pressure. I just want everything to go smoothly."
Kona looked like he didn't believe me fully, but he didn't press either, which I was very grateful for.
"Tomorrow is just a really big day," I state.
"Definitely a big day, especially for you. Fifteen. I remember turning fifteen just like it was yesterday wondering what type of apprenticeship would I pursue, but I guess you don't have to worry about that," he laughed.
"Yeah…I guess I don't…"
"Hey, don't worry," he said looking at me, "You may have the most important job in our realm, but everyone believes in you."
"Really," I say rolling my eyes, "Because it seems as if they would prefer Kala, their precious little sea angel, to do the job instead."
I cringed. Did I really just say that? Out loud? No, no, no! I may have felt those things, but I didn't want anyone to know that, especially Kona. What will he think of me now?
"You're right," Kona said looking back at the ocean, "They love Kala, but they see something in you. They believe you have the potential to be the greatest Hydro Priestess we have ever seen. Just as it has been foretold: The smallest wave will produce the biggest impact whose ripples will last for eternity "
"You shouldn't lie to me," I stood up getting ready to leave, "No one sees any potential in me, and I don't have any either. If I had any potential to be a great Hydro Priestess, I would have been a sea nymph by now. Come on Venus. Let's go."
Venus and I walked past him. I took my shoes, and I didn't stop walking even when Kona said, "You're wrong. You may not see the potential you have, but I do."
Tomorrow will be the biggest day in my people's history. You see, it's not just my fifteenth birthday, which is absolutely important, but it's also our centennial. Our centennial is not celebrating one hundred years of being a nation. We've already passed that. Our centennial is celebrating our nation's one hundredth pair of rulers since Priest Akamoteen and Priestess Kalena. They always celebrate the current rulers when the future ruler turns fifteen. It's just a tradition.
I wish it wasn't my fifteenth birthday, especially since it's the centennial. Because of it, people will become extra nostalgic and expect to see past leaders within me. I hate having a lot of attention on me. I just want to be by myself in my room. I don't want anyone bothering me.
Sometimes it's just too much. The pressure is too much. I don't understand what "everyone" apparently sees in me. I'm nothing special. I don't really like water creatures, and I don't have a bond with them either. I don't even connect with my people that much either. I'm just not fit to be the next hydro priestess. And now with the added pressure of my fifteenth birthday, I'm a mess.
I'm expected to court with the intention of finding someone who could be the next High Prince. I don't even want to court. The only person I think of that way is Kona, but after today… I just don't know anymore.
Knock Knock Knock
"Come in."
It's my father, Hydro Priest Hydronen.
"Hey, how are you feeling?"
"I'm fine," I responded.
"Are you nervous or excited? Tomorrow is a big day."
"I'm fine dad, honest."
"Ok, well, are you going to dance with me for your first dance or do you have someone else in mind?"
Usually at my birthday parties, my dad is always my first dance, but now that it's my fifteenth birthday, the rules are a little different. I could either choose to dance with my dad like I've always done or I could dance with a boy that I deem fit for courting.
"D-dad! I-I don't want to dance with anyone but you."
"Oh, so there isn't a boy who you are interested in?"
"Well," I don't want to lie to my father, but I don't want to tell him the truth either, "I, um, there was a boy, but I don't know if I like him like that anymore."
"Why? What happened?"
"I don't know… He's just… I don't know. But I don't want to ask him to dance with me tomorrow especially if it makes him think that I like him. I don't want to lead him on or anything."
"Well, do whatever makes you feel comfortable," he said kissing my forehead, "Just know that your mother and I love you."
With that he left my room. I guess I should go to bed now and get ready for tomorrow.
Sweet dreams.
For all of you who read to this point, thank you! I really appreciate you reading my work. I would love to receive some reviews from you so that I can continue to improve my writing and make this story even better. I hope you all have a wonderful day!
Author's Notes:
(1) Lani is Hawaiian for heavenly woman
(2) pronounced O-delle; Eau is French for water
(3) Kala means princess or lady-like in Hawaiian
(4)The Otura are a group of wave riders and sea nymphs that train the next generation; in a way, they are like the generals or commanders of an army