"Go away I don't want to practice with you today," Eridan said obstinately and turned to swim away.
"I'm afraid I can't let you go, Your Highness," Equius responded with as much firmness as he could muster when speaking to the Prince of the Atlantic. Eridan turned back around and glared at his guard-turned-combat instructor. Equius grew nervous under Eridan's stern gaze despite the Prince being an eight year old child and the guard being nearly a decade older.
"I would much rather do anythin' else," Eridan crossed his arms over his chest.
"The King has ordered me to instruct you in the ways of combat therefore it is my duty to not let you leave here until your spear handling has improved," Equius held his ground. Eridan tried to maintain his defiant stance but soon realized that his only other choice was to face the wrath of his father for disobeying. That was one bite he was hoping to avoid. He dropped his arms loosely to his sides and dejectedly swam over to pick up a spear.
"Fine. Let's get this over with," the small Prince grumbled and took his stance as Equius readied his own spear. The two were motionless for a few beats before Equius made the first strike. Eridan countered just barely and within seconds his spear was knocked from his hands and Equius was at his throat, his mangled teeth poised to bite.
"You would be dead, Your Highness," the guard stated. He backed up and allowed Eridan to retrieve his weapon. Equius struck again and Eridan countered successfully then dodged another jab but was caught off guard by the teen's caudal fin slamming into his side. He was sent hurtling a few feet away but when he regained his senses he charged angrily towards the guard.
"Never let your emotions get the better of you while in battle," Equius told the Prince while easily dodging the attack. "It decreases your accuracy." Eridan glanced at the other sea dweller, breathing heavily from exertion.
"So I'm just supposed to be okay with you practically knockin' me all the way to the Southern Kingdom?" the child spat.
"No, Prince Eridan," Equius said calmly. "I expect you to learn combat, become skilled, and knock me all the way to the Southern Kingdom." He positioned himself into a fighting stance. "Again," he prompted.
Most days Eridan spent hours with various tutors learning basic schoolfeeding in addition to all there was to know about the politics of all five of the kingdoms. He learned the lineages of the royal families and the various cultural differences between each kingdom. For example, never refuse food given to you in the Indian Kingdom. Also, in the Pacific Kingdom it is common to hear puns relating to the ocean being used in speech. Whenever he wasn't being tutored as a typical child would his guard was tutoring him in combat. Eridan found that he had very little time to himself.
There was word of two more guards killing themselves over the course of just one week. One night at dinner Eridan seemed to be playing with his food more than actually eating it.
"Somethin' on your mind, chief?" Eridan looked across the table at his cousin, Cronus, who had spoken and he shrugged. "Well it's gotta be somethin' because I know for a fact you love tuna and I ain't even seen you take a bite," Cronus said. Eridan groaned and took a bite of the piece of fish in front of him. He made a point of maintaining eye contact with his older cousin as he chewed exaggeratedly.
"Are you happy now?" Eridan questioned with his mouth full.
"Yeesh, what's gnawing on your fins?" Cronus huffed and took a bite of his own meal.
"I'm just sick of havin' all these fightin' lessons," Eridan complained. "I just want to be left alone. None of the other pups around the kingdom are learnin' how to fight." He took another small bite of food. "It's not fair," he sulked.
"Well you'd better get used to life not bein' fair," Cronus retorted. "Besides," the elder Ampora leaned forward a bit more. "Uncle Dualscar wants you to learn how to defend yourself when the Serkets attack. Not everyone in the Atlantic knows what we know about our impendin' visitors, you see?" he said quietly. "If you are to be expected to rule the Atlantic one day you've got to know more than your average pup. While they're out playin' with bubbles you are here learnin' to be King."
"What if I don't want to be King?" Eridan challenged. Cronus barked out a laugh and leaned back into a more relaxed position.
"You're only three sweeps old," Cronus said with a toothy grin, "you don't know what you want yet."
Sollux and Mituna sat at the kitchen table eating their breakfast in silence. Stan sat with them glancing between the two while having his own bowl of cereal. "How is school going?" he asked breaking the silence in the room.
"Okay," Mituna mumbled.
"Stupid," Sollux lisped. Stan was surprised by the answer.
"Why is it stupid Sollux?"
"Because," the boy sighed heavily while using his spoon to stir the bits of cereal around his bowl, "most of the day I have to be in a different class learning different stuff because I can't see. I hate trying to read Braille it's stupid."
"You'll get the hang of it," Stan assured him. "It just takes time."
"I even have to have different books than everyone else because I can't read," Sollux continued.
"You can read, Sollux. You just read in a different way. That's why you're learning Braille," Stan corrected gently.
"You're not our dad and neither is Craig," Mituna suddenly spoke up. A heavy silence fell over the table as Stan looked at the frowning child who stared straight back at him.
"I know we aren't your parents," Stan addressed both boys. "But we care about the two of you and we are going to feed you, clothe you, and raise you as if you were our own because we want to give you a good life."
"You don't even know us," Mituna argued. "Why do you care about us?"
"We love children," Stan answered. "We care about you as children. You are right Mituna. Craig and I don't know the two of you very well, but we hope that over time you will warm up to us and we will learn about each other."
"I still miss Mom and Dad," Sollux added quietly. Stan was at a loss as he looked at the two broken boys at his table. He placed a hand on Sollux's arm for assurance and for good measure reached out his other hand to Mituna's arm.
"If you two ever want to talk about your parents Craig and I are more than happy to listen. Even if it seems silly," Stan said gently. "Now go finish getting ready for school before you're late."
"I want to be in the same class as Sollux," Mituna whined.
"Usually schools don't put siblings together in the same class, Mituna," Stan told him. Sollux scoffed and left the table to go brush his teeth. "You see Sollux before and after school. Isn't that enough?"
"No," Mituna answered irritably.
"Well how often would you like to see him? You can't be around each other all the time," Stan reasoned.
"Yes we can," Mituna huffed and stormed away from the table to retreat upstairs.
"No running in the house!" Stan called after him. He stood from his own seat and began clearing the dishes away. When he finished he picked up his wallet, keys, and phone in preparation for walking to the door. "Hurry up!" he called into the house. He unlocked his phone and noticed a text from Craig asking how his morning was going with the kids. He typed out a response saying that everything was fine. As an after thought he added that perhaps they should take Mituna to a counselor about his overly attached behavior towards Sollux. The two boys returned to the living room just as Stan was sliding his phone back into his pocket.
"Ready?" he asked the twins. They nodded and followed him out the door to get into the car. The three rode in silence until they reached the elementary school. "Do you two want me to walk you in?" Stan asked.
"No," Mituna answered already unfastening his seatbelt. Stan pulled the car up to the front curb and parked while Mituna grabbed his bag. The boy pushed the car door open and helped his brother out of the car.
"Have a great day," Stan smiled.
"But its school," Sollux grumbled.
"Bye," Mituna said impatiently.
"Bye," Stan repeated and once Mituna had closed the back door he drove off. Mituna walked with Sollux until they stood outside the blind boy's classroom.
"You'll sit with me at lunch right?" Mituna asked.
"I always do, Tuna," Sollux sighed. "See you later," he turned to enter the classroom leaving Mituna standing in the doorway watching his retreating back. The warning bell sounded and Mituna turned from Sollux's classroom to go to his own before he was late. Sollux found his seat and sat down with a sigh. He ran his fingers over the Braille printed nametag at the top of his desk. S-O-L-L-U-X the bumps spelled out beneath his finger tips.
"Was that your brother?" a girl's voice asked from beside him.
"Yeah," Sollux answered. "Who are you again?" He still hadn't memorized all of his new classmate's names.
"I'm Terezi," the girl answered. By the sound of her voice her lips must've been parted in a wide grin. "Do you like playing pretend? I could use a teammate during recess."
"A teammate for what?" Sollux asked with uncertainty.
"Catching that lousy thief Senator Lemonsnout and putting him on trial!" Terezi answered enthusiastically.
"Who's Senator Lemonsnout?" Sollux furrowed his brow in confusion.
"He's my stuffed animal," Terezi said simply. "He's not actually here. He's at my house but I pretend like he's here and when I go home I tell him about all the crimes he's committed," she cackled with glee.
"That sounds weird," Sollux replied.
"It's what I do for fun," Terezi shrugged. She sounded as though she was used to being called weird. "What do you do for fun?"
"I mostly just play with my brother," Sollux admitted.
"Is your brother your only friend?" Terezi probed.
"No!" Sollux said defensively. "I've got- I've got another friend," he said hesitating when he was afraid he had said too much.
"Do they go to this school? They can help us track down Senator Lemonsnout," Terezi giggled excitedly.
"No he doesn't go here," Sollux said right before the final bell rang to begin the morning announcements.
"So you'll play with me at recess?" Terezi asked with her grinning voice.
"Yeah I guess," Sollux answered. The students were silenced to listen to the announcements before the teacher began the lesson for the day. By lunchtime Sollux had warmed up to Terezi enough to invite her to sit with him and Mituna. When Mituna took his seat across from Sollux he frowned.
"Who's that?" he asked angrily.
"That's Terezi," Sollux answered. "She's my new friend."
"I thought I was your friend!" Mituna sounded offended.
"Yeah but you're my brother. I want to have other friends too," Sollux answered.
"Well I don't," Mituna crossed his arms.
"Do you want to play with us at recess?" Terezi offered kindly.
"No. I hate you!" Mituna shouted which drew the attention of a nearby teacher.
"What's all the yelling?" demanded the elderly male faculty member. Mituna burst into tears alarming the teacher even further. "What happened over here?"
"My brother doesn't want me to make new friends," Sollux answered feeling embarrassed by all of the unwanted attention.
"Come with me young man and we can have your parents come pick you up," the teacher patted Mituna's shoulder in a gesture of comfort.
"I don't have parents!" Mituna shouted and pulled away from the man's hand. "I have a Stan and Craig." The teacher looked over at Sollux and asked for an explanation.
"We're adopted," Sollux said sinking further in his seat feeling his face heat up with embarrassment.
"Young man, you need to calm down and come with me," the teacher commanded.
"Fine," Mituna gave in and followed the teacher out of the cafeteria while still in tears.
"Is he gonna be okay?" Terezi asked.
"I guess," Sollux said meekly. "He's been acting really weird for awhile."
"I didn't know you're adopted," she said.
"That's because I didn't tell you. And I wasn't gonna," Sollux lisped.
"It's okay if you are adopted. I don't think that makes you weird," Terezi insisted. Somehow hearing the weirdest girl in class tell him that she didn't think he was weird didn't comfort him much.
After school, Sollux went alone with Craig to the grocery store while Stan stayed home with Mituna. They didn't talk much since Craig wasn't a very talkative man but it was a comfortable silence.
"How are you liking your class? Learning some helpful stuff?" Craig asked as Sollux picked out some snacks for he and his brother.
"I'm getting better at reading Braille," the boy answered thinking back to the day's lesson. He placed a box in the shopping cart and walked with Craig to the next aisle. "I made a new friend today. Her name is Terezi."
"Is she in your class?" Craig asked in surprise.
"Yeah she's blind too," Sollux said. "Mituna didn't like her though," he grumbled.
"You should still be friends with her even if Mituna has a problem with it," Craig stated. "You are allowed to have friends. Why do you think he doesn't like her?"
"I don't know," Sollux answered honestly. They paused for Craig to put a few things in the cart and cross them off the list. "He's just acting crazy."
"Stan and I are going to have a counselor talk to Mituna to find out why he's been acting the way he has been. Do you feel like you would like to talk to someone too?" Craig asked.
"What would I talk about? I'm not acting crazy am I?" Sollux asked worriedly.
"No," Craig amended quickly. "No, just- if you wanted to talk about your feelings towards me or Stan or if you have something on your mind you aren't comfortable telling us."
"I don't need to talk to anyone." Sollux shook his head. The two got in line to check out and were silent for a few minutes.
"Looks like that prize machine up front has toy bees in it," Craig said when he was able to get a closer look. "You want a quarter to go try it out?"
"Yeah!" Sollux said excitedly. Craig dug in his pocket for his change and pulled out two quarters.
"Get something for your brother too. There's two machines up there. The one with the bees is on the left," Craig instructed. Sollux clutched the quarters in one hand and his cane in the other as he found his way up front. His cane ended up hitting the stand of something and he reached forward to feel the glass bubble and metal lever of the prize machine. His hands searched until he determined where the one on the left was and put his quarter in it then turned the lever. A plastic egg popped out of the flap with the toy hidden inside. He repeated the action to get a second plastic egg.
"Did you get something?" Craig asked pulling up beside the child with his cart full of bagged groceries.
"Yeah," Sollux answered. He handed Craig one of the eggs. "That's for Tuna." He then opened the egg in his hands and felt the toy to get a better idea of what he got. All he could really discern was that, yep, it was a bee. Nevertheless, he was excited about his new treasure and vowed to get one every time he went to the grocery store. Craig smiled at the child's excitement and loaded everything up into the car so they could get home for supper. As Sollux played with the bee toy in the car he thought about the time he played action figures with Eridan and an idea popped into his mind.
"Can I go to the ocean after dinner?" Sollux asked.
"As long as it's not too dark," Craig said.
"We're losing guards left and right. Surely she must be nearly upon us by now, Your Grace," Darkleer informed.
"Aye," Dualscar agreed. "But where is she if that is the case? We know she's close and by this point she's simply toyin' with us."
"We've sent rangers out to try to locate her entourage," Darkleer continued.
"And?" the King demanded.
"None of them have returned," Darkleer said gravely in his rumbling voice. Dualscar pounded his fist against the map of the kingdoms that hung on the wall.
"What the fuck are you playin' at, Mindfang?" he growled at the map's representation of the Southern Kingdom.
"Your Majesty!" a servant burst into the strategy block and immediately threw her torso into a bow. "The Lady of the Southern Kingdom approaches!" she said frantically.
"Mindfang?" Dualscar demanded.
"Yes Your Majesty but I dare not speak her name for I am too low for such a name to be permitted to cross my lips," the servant said shakily.
"Thank you for the information, you may go," Dualscar dismissed her.
"Yes Your Majesty," she hastily straightened out and swam off.
"Ready the crown block Darkleer," Dualscar ordered. "I will receive our- guests," he snarled at the word, "properly."
"Right away my King," Darkleer bowed then swam off to do as he was told.
Eridan's schoolfeeding lesson was interrupted by his servant coming to fetch him. "His Majesty King Dualscar requests your presence in the crown block Prince Eridan," the servant announced. Eridan left his tutor to go with the servant back to his respite block to prepare himself. The servant placed a small crown made from shells over Eridan's head. The crown was a show of his status- crown prince, next to inherit the position of ruler of the Atlantic Kingdom.
"What's goin' on?" Eridan asked. He rarely had to adorn himself with his crown so he knew something important must have been happening.
"The Serkets have arrived," the servant dipped his fingers in a small pot and marked the prince with a thick red paste-like substance. Bright red markings were left on Eridan's face and chest then he was being escorted to the crown block where his father was already positioned at the head of the room. Various other sea dwellers of importance lined the left and right side of the room leaving only a direct path down the middle to King Dualscar. Eridan took his place beside his father slightly further back. Cronus was nearby although not directly in the center since he was not a crowned member of the Ampora family.
Eridan stood behind his father feeling frightened and uncertain. He had never seen the Serkets before but he had heard many stories about them- mostly bad ones. He didn't think he had actually heard of anyone speaking kindly of the rulers of the Southern Kingdom. Certainly his father did not care for them. "Father?" Eridan spoke weakly.
"What is it boy?" Dualscar answered in a gruff tone. Everything about him seemed tense.
"Are the Serkets really goin' to be comin' here?" Eridan asked fearfully.
"That would be why we're all in here," Dualscar snapped. He looked quite a bit more intimidating than usual with his large shell crown over his head and bright red war paint that resembled blood, which was the idea. "Just stand there an' shut up. Unless you have anymore asinine questions?"
"The Serkets don't really kill sea folk an' lay eggs in their dead bodies to take 'em over do they?" Eridan asked worriedly. Dualscar turned on him so fast he could barely blink before he felt his father's sharp teeth pierce the flesh of his shoulder. The King pulled away quickly and looked him straight in his pain stricken eyes.
"There'll be no more talk a' that nonsense. Now straighten up an' quit quiverin' in fear for fuck's sake. Don't let your enemy see your weakness," Dualscar hissed. "Now shut yer mouth and for the love a' fuck don't look 'em in the eye." Dualscar turned his attention back to the door while Eridan chanced an experimental touch to his shoulder. He winced when his fingertips made contact with the fresh teeth marks and he pulled away to see the violet hue of his blood floating off his fingers. He turned to look beside him and sure enough the water was tinted violet with his blood. He looked over at Cronus and was sure he still looked fearful by the way his cousin was offering an encouraging smile. A servant entered the block looking rather blank faced and distant.
"Announcing Her Almighty Ruler of the Seas- Marquis Mindfang Serket and her heiress Vriska Serket," the servant said loudly to the room and stepped aside for the much anticipated visitors to enter with their entourage. Dualscar grit his teeth while Eridan just stared in amazement. Mindfang and her daughter were unlike any other sea dweller the young prince had ever encountered. The rulers of the Southern Kingdom were intimidating but also very beautiful in a strange sort of way. Mindfang and Vriska looked very similar, both with long black hair and a crustacean like tail that resembled a blue lobster. Both also had eight arms, four on each side. They moved with a dark gracefulness into the center of the block with the other members of their court following silently behind them. Eridan snuck a glance at Mindfang's face and saw that along with a haughty smirk she also had an eye with eight pupils that seemed to glow. Vriska, who looked to be close to Eridan's age, stood beside her mother looking bored.
"Almighty Ruler of the Seas?" Dualscar questioned with distaste. "I wasn't aware that Peixes and I had surrendered our kingdoms. Strider or Vantas either not that they matter much."
"I thought it had a nice ring to it," Mindfang answered with a grin that showed off her impressive fangs. Her voice was confident and sophisticated although it had an underlying note of poison. She turned her glowing gaze to the servant that had introduced her. Eridan recognized him as being one of the castle's staff. "I'm bored with you," she said and gave a wicked smirk as the servant's screams suddenly filled the room. Eridan watched in horror as the servant began to bleed from every orifice in his face then a heavy silence fell over the room as the screaming stopped and the servant collapsed and floated freely.
"What are you doin' here Mindfang?" the King demanded.
"So informal," Mindfang pouted playfully. "Not even a 'welcome to the Atlantic' from grumpy old Dualscar, the grumpiest of the grumpy gills?" Darkleer moved beside Dualscar to say something but the King motioned for him to remain quiet. The exchange did not go unnoticed by Mindfang.
"Why are you here?" Dualscar repeated.
"Fine," Mindfang sighed loudly and rolled her eyes. "I'll get straight to business. It's so cold and lonely in my kingdom I decided it was time to move a little farther north," she said with false sweetness.
"Forget it," Dualscar growled. "You had your chance to form an alliance but you blew it the day of the ceremony," he said bitterly.
"What can I say? I change my mind often. Now I'm changing it back," Mindfang said loftily.
"If you're referrin' to the pups you can forget that too. I'm not marryin' off my boy to a Serket," Dualscar said.
"I have no intentions of that," she cast a disdainful look in Eridan's direction. "In fact, I have no intentions of an alliance at all. This time I was thinking I would just take you out of the picture altogether and combine the Southern and Atlantic Kingdoms into one. One in which I am the sole ruler," Mindfang stated. The block was shocked into silence.
"You can't be fuckin serious," Dualscar finally said. "My kingdom is the second most powerful of all the seas and you think I'm goin' to hand it over to you just like that?"
"Well it would be a lot less painful for you if you just hand it over, so yes," Mindfang explained.
"You're outta your damn mind!" the King shouted. Mindfang shrugged and turned her gaze towards Dualscar's court. The eye with eight pupils began to glow again and Cronus stepped forward from the crowd. Before anyone could react Cronus was screaming in pain as his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth began to bleed. It didn't take very long until he too was floating lifelessly. Eridan looked away feeling overwhelmed with anguish.
"No!" Dualscar cried out. It was much too late. It was all over just as quickly as it had begun. "How could you?" Dualscar accused, his voice betrayed his emotions.
"I did tell you that it would be less painful for you if you just handed over the kingdom," Mindfang cackled. "I'll leave you to get your affairs in order. If you aren't ready to surrender by the time I return then he will be next," she pointed a sharp nailed finger at Eridan. The prince felt his heart drop into his stomach and he moved closer to his father. Dualscar glared at Mindfang in response. "Well I best be heading off. Until we meet again, Dualscar," she waved her fingers and turned to leave. Vriska cast one last look at the floating corpses and the clouds of bloody water around them before her eyes flickered to Eridan. Her lip curled up over her small fangs in a mischievous smirk at the young prince while he cowered behind his father. Eridan stared at her wide eyed as she looked at him then turned to follow her mother and the rest of the Southern Kingdom's entourage out of the crown block.
Everyone was still, unsure of what to do until the King spoke. When there was word that the Serkets were out of the castle Dualscar instructed everyone to leave and called for the priest to be sent for the dead. Eridan was sent to his room. The young prince didn't sleep much that night. Every time he closed his eyes he would see his cousin dying or the servant or Vriska's fangs under her curled lip. He was surprised when Equius came for him in the morning for their combat lesson.
"I'm too tired," Eridan mumbled. "I'm not in the mood."
"The King insists you continue," Equius insisted. Eridan sulked but went with the teenager to begin the lesson for the day. The two practiced for several hours until Eridan finally demanded that they take a break. The prince swam a fair distance away from where they had been practicing. He enjoyed the feeling of venturing as far out as he dared to go. It felt almost like he could just keep swimming until his fears and troubles were so far behind him they would only be distant memories.
He was so caught up in his thoughts he was jolted with fear when a small object floated down onto his head. He backed up and looked around for what had hit him and he saw a brightly colored object floating deeper into the water. He swam down to grab it and inspected it closely once it was in his hands. The material was foreign to him although he had felt something similar when he was playing action figures with Sollux. He noticed that the object had an indention around the middle that reminded him of an oyster shell. He pried it open like an oyster and inside he found several rocks. Once the rocks were discarded he found a tiny bee figurine. The child's heart began to race as he turned the bee over in his fingers. He looked up towards the surface and saw two more little treasures floating down into the water. He grabbed both and opened them hastily. Hidden among rocks were two more bee figures. Eridan felt his lips turn up into a smile despite himself and he clutched the bees in his fist as he sped towards the surface.
Eridan's head finally broke the surface and he looked around among the waves anxiously. All he could see was ocean around him. The ache of disappointment tugged at his heart until he noticed the sea gulls overhead. He followed where it seemed they were coming from and after a few minutes he saw shore in the distance. There were houses built right on the sand and a colorful floating object caught the sea dweller's eye. It was another plastic treasure floating within throwing distance of one of the houses. Eridan felt himself break into a full-on grin as he sank beneath the waves to swim back to where he knew Equius was waiting for him.