CHAPTER TEN:
SOMETHING FISHY
Morning fell upon Atlantica in hues of blue, green, and gold.
Everyone roused with a music in their swim and smiles on their faces. Then, they went about the palace to attend the day's activities. There was plenty of hustle and bustle to go around, for nobles and servants alike.
There was also plenty of gossip, particularly among the palace maids. The most common topics usually involved which of them was dating which merman, or which noble was the most irksome, or whose turn it was to help clean the seahorse stalls.
But today, there was a new topic of discussion.
It started when six young maids were brushing sea-grime off the palace decorations with their anemone dusters. Not long into their work, they heard soft humming coming down the hallway.
The girls all looked to see Princess Marinette swimming casually past them. She was holding a seaflower in her hand, and she had the deepest smile anyone had ever seen her wear.
The maids immediately dipped their heads with bright smiles.
"Good morning, Your Highness," the girl with a twisted brown bun said.
Marinette continued smiling, but she didn't look up to acknowledge the maid. "Isn't it?" she asked with a sigh. She stroked the seaflower's petals gently.
The maids exchanged curious glances. The young princess obviously seemed happy about something, but what? And why did she have that gleamy look in her aquamarine eyes?
Another girl with flowing blonde hair swam up to greet Marinette. "So! What are you planning on doing today, princess? Anything exciting?"
To everyone's surprise, Marinette let a hearty giggle, as though that was the funniest question she'd ever heard. Then, the princess swam off without so much as a goodbye.
The maids stared after her with blank expressions as she starting spinning and twirling away, singing that same tune she was humming earlier.
When Marinette vanished down the hall, a black-haired maid folded her arms with a contemplative frown. "There's something fishy about that girl," she said.
"What do you mean?" the twisted brunette asked.
"Haven't you all noticed that Princess Marinette been acting really weird over the past week? I mean... weirder than normal?"
"Yeah! Did you see her?" asked the maid with cropped, creamy hair. "It's like when you try to talk to her, there's no one home!"
"I'll say," the flowing blonde said. "And she giggled!"
"Not to mention she keeps singing the same song over and over and over again," a redhead with freckles noted.
The dark-skinned maid clicked her tongue and shook her head. "That girl is up to her gills in something, that's for sure."
"Is she sick?" asked the twisted brunette.
The creamy-haired girl blew out a stream of bubbles. "Maybe she's going crazy," she suggested.
Sadly, none of the girls could figure out a valid answer, so they went back to their chores in defeat.
But later that afternoon, they spotted Marinette again in the royal gardens. She was lying on top of a mossy rock and picking petals off another seaflower.
The maids quietly hid in the bushes and watched. They couldn't hear what the princess was saying, but when she got to the last petal, Marinette's face lit up with absolute delight and she jolted up cheering, "Yes! I knew it!" She collapsed back onto the rock in another fit of warm laughter.
The six maids eyed each other again... and grinned like barracudas finding a tasty morsel. Then, they slipped away without a word.
The next morning after breakfast, the black-haired maid rushed back to her friends with breathless excitement. The others swarmed up to her to hear the gossip.
"I saw her with the king and queen just now," she explained. "Marinette had made shell necklaces for both of them last night. The queen was so touched, and the king asked, "What's the occasion?". The princess said, and I quote..." The maid made her voice all melodic and dreamy. ""Oh, no reason. I just felt like it." Anyone else buying that?"
The redhead's jaw dropped. "Just felt like it?" she repeated. "Now she's giving away free gifts?"
"Maybe she is losing it," the twisted brunette said.
"No!" the black-haired girl exclaimed in the loudest whisper. "Don't you get it? The daydreaming? The singing? The giggling? Picking flowers? Making nice things? It all fits!"
The other five girls blinked at her. "What are you talking about?" they asked in perfect unison.
Their friend leaned in closer. "Princess Marinette is in L-O-V-E!" she squeaked.
The others gasped, their eyes bulging like a fish's. Then, they started blabbering amongst each other:
"Are you serious?!"
"Could it be?"
"I don't believe it!"
"Of course!"
"Hold it, hold it!" the dark-skinned girl called over everyone, waving her hands. "Let's not jump the trident, okay? We need more proof than a few sweet gestures and picking flowers."
"I agree," the flowing blonde said with a sly grin, "and we know just the mermaid to talk to, don't we?"
The agreement was sealed with muffled giggling.
Later that afternoon, Bridgette sat on her father's throne, going over a list with the palace chamberlain.
The purple swordfish remained stiff and straight as he always did while he waited for the crown princess to make her assessment.
Finally, Bridgette nodded and checked a few points off with her squid-ink pen. "Check these areas first," she said. "Maybe we missed something the last time we looked. Those missing merpeople had to have left some kind of clue behind." Bridgette rolled up the scroll and handed it to the chamberlain. "If all else fails, tell the captain to sweep the Undine Reefs and the outer coral shelves, but stay clear of the Deeps."
The chamberlain's pointed nose dipped downward. "Yes, Your Highness," he said. "Shall I inform the king and queen as well?"
Bridgette tried not to look guilty. Her parents had left earlier to visit an old family friend in the city, and they had asked Bridgette to remain in charge for the day. The princess remembered how serious the Sea King had been when he told her to leave the cases of the lost ones alone.
But Bridgette couldn't ignore this. Even though the disappearances had stopped, Lady Caquet's daughter, her lover, and all those other merpeople needed to be found and returned to their families.
Bridgette was the future queen of Atlantica, and she could be just as serious as her father.
"I will report to them myself once I have more information," the princess replied, "but you and the captain will report to me. Understood?"
The chamberlain bowed again. "As you wish, Your Highness."
As he zoomed out of the throne room, Bridgette propped her elbow on her armrest and placed in her head in her hand. She almost laughed. I'm becoming more like Marinette than I thought.
She was glad she didn't have to watch over her sister today. Not that there was anything to watch or worry about. Over the past week, Marinette had just been wandering in and around the palace, daydreaming and singing to herself. Even when she was with Tikki, she never went outside Atlantica to hunt for human stuff.
At first, Bridgette had been relieved. However, as the days went by, the older princess started to notice some odd behaviours in her little sister. The first few nights were the worst. Every few hours, Bridgette would wake up and see Marinette tossing and turning in her ocean bed, murmuring an inaudible word that sounded like "atrium".
Another time, during one of the sisters' music lessons, Marinette wouldn't pay attention to the crab conductor's instructions. Bridgette had stood up for her sister by saying she was ill and not sleeping very well.
And then there were the seashell necklaces Marinette made for Mother and Father this morning. "Just felt like it", my tail, Bridgette thought. She's hiding something.
"Princess Bridgette?"
She snapped up with a startled gasp, only to see six serving maids swimming over to her eagerly. Bridgette sighed. Time to go back to work. "Yes, ladies? What's the problem?" she asked respectfully.
The black-haired girl bowed before speaking, "Well... we're concerned about Princess Marinette, Your Highness."
Bridgette almost groaned. "What about her?"
"Oh, it's nothing serious," the mermaid with the twisted brown bun insisted.
"We just couldn't help but wonder –" the dark-skinned maid began.
"Who the lucky merman was!" the redhead blurted.
Bridgette blinked at each of the six girls. "Beg your pardon?"
The flowing blonde drew closer. "You know... The deep-sea hunk who won Princess Marinette's heart," she clarified. "Who is he?"
Just when Bridgette thought she had her fill of palace gossip, she always got reeled in by another snippet of juicy news.
She rose from her throne with a big, maniac grin. "Are you suggesting that my little sister... is in love?" she asked.
"Head-over-fin!" the creamy-haired girl squealed.
"It's so obvious!" said the twisted brunette, clasping her hands together. "She's all dizzy and dreamy and humming..."
"And we saw her picking petals off a seaflower," the black-haired girl said. "She got pretty excited at the end of it."
"Haven't you noticed, Your Highness?" the dark-skinned maid asked.
Bridgette let out a small laugh as she floated down to join them. "Actually, I have," she said with a hand on her chin. "She's moody and oblivious, and she has that deep blush in her cheeks. Not to mention she's constantly moaning in her sleep..."
The maids inhaled with excitement. "So it's true!" they all said together.
Bridgette giggled and shook her head. "I never would have guessed," she said almost to herself. "My little sister is in..."
She froze, and her insides turned to water.
Of course she never would have guessed. She had been babysitting Marinette for the past week. Aside from Tikki and her family, the little mermaid hadn't spoken to anyone since the night of that dreadful storm.
Except... that human boy she had rescued...
And the way she had sung to him while he was sleeping...
Bridgette's hands flew to her pale cheeks. No! No no no no no! That can't be true!
Princess Marinette Delphine Charybdis of Atlantica, the daughter of the Sea King, Guardian of the Ruby Miraculous... could NOT be in love with a human!
The same human who may or may not be the Guardian of the Emerald Miraculous!
Bridgette suddenly couldn't breathe, and a tidal wave of thoughts crashed into her. How could I not see this?! Does anyone else know?! Where is Marinette now?!
"Princess?" the black-haired maid asked. "What's the matter?"
Bridgette opened her mouth to speak, but she ended up squawking like a seagull. "I... I... I... agh..."
"She doesn't look so good," the flowing blonde whispered.
"Are you all right, honey?" the dark-skinned girl asked with a creased brow.
Bridgette didn't appear to hear them, or see them, or feel their presence. Her heart was pounding with a surge of panic, so hard she couldn't think straight.
The only thing that made sense to her now was that she needed to find Marinette. Fast.
"Pray, excuse me," Bridgette blubbered, "but I must... I need to... I have to go!"
Then, without warning, she burst out of the group circle and swam as fast as she could for the exit.
Behind her, she heard the maids scoffing with indignity.
"Well, that wasn't very princess-like."
"Did you see the look on her face?"
"She knows something! Maybe she knows who the boy is!"
"Ooh... I do hope it's nothing scandalous."
Giggling rang out from the throne room, and Bridgette hurried on.
The royal castle sat right on the edge of the human kingdom of Agreste, where the ocean merged with the land.
It looked like a prized jewel with its walls of marble-white and its roofs of amethyst-purple. The towers, each one different in size and shape, rose out of the sandy beach and up against the cliff that outlined the town. A large, stone staircase curved down from the castle and towards the sea, so anyone could literally walk down and go for a swim.
Those stairs were the one place Nino knew where to find Prince Adrien.
The first mate heard the sweet, flute music long before he arrived. He stood at the top of the stairs and stared down at Adrien.
The prince was sitting at the bottom step in his casual attire: a black shirt with stripes of yellow, green, and blue on the chest, a white short-sleeved jacket, and blue jeans rolled up to his knees. He wore no shoes, which he always did while coming down here.
Even though the castle had a front-row seat of the ocean, Adrien loved this spot the most. Here, he could touch the sea. Here, he could stare out along the horizon and daydream. Here, he could be himself.
Adrien played his flute as he watched the sun sink into the ocean. The tune was the same one the prince had played this morning. And the morning before that. And the morning before... well, you get the idea.
Nino sighed. He knew he should go down there and talk to his best friend, but he didn't know what he should say. That was a first for the tanned-skinned, goofy-eyed, comical orphan boy who was born and raised on a ship and went wherever the wind took him. Sailors always had something to say; some tidbit of wisdom or humour that kept everyone sane through a long voyage.
But ever since the shipwreck, everything that had come out of Nino's mouth was nothing but meaningless assurances...
You'll feel better soon, dude. Just give it some more time.
... which soon led to bitter talk-downs.
Stop playing around, Adrien! Mermaids are nothing but sailors' stories! You were just lucky – that's all!
That last statement had earned Nino a cold scowl from Adrien, and the prince had stormed off in silence. Neither boy had spoken to the other since then.
So now, of course, Nino felt guilty and wanted to apologize to Adrien. But how could you apologize to someone if you knew they were acting crazy?
Just then, a voice as smooth as caramel and spicy as hot peppers spoke behind Nino, "Are you just going to stand there all evening, or are you going to actually say something to him?"
Nino rolled his eyes with a grin and turned around.
Alya, one of the young maids who worked at the castle, looked absolutely vibrant and beautiful in the light of the setting sun. Her skin was golden-brown, her eyes gleamed like amber, and her wavy, auburn hair blew softly in the ocean breeze. She wore a dress of peach-orange, along with a creamy-white apron that was covered with puffs of chocolate powder and globs of tomato sauce.
Nino cracked at eyebrow at her. "Was Mrs. Mendeleiev working you senseless again?" he asked.
Alya grinned and shook her head. "You try working in the kitchens for a day and see if that pointy-nosed, old bat doesn't drive you nuts," she mused. Then she folded her arms. "You still haven't answered my question."
Nino knew that was coming. Next to Adrien, Alya was the only person who knew him best. She was like a piece of rigging – lifting him up when he was feeling down, or lowering him to the ground when he was acting silly. She was like the helm of a ship – steering him in the right direction, no matter the squall.
Nino turned around to look down at Adrien again. "I don't think he wants to talk to me," he admitted sadly. "We kinda... got into some rough waters the other day. Now he thinks that I think he's crazy.
"Do you?" Alya asked.
"Do I what?"
"Think he's crazy."
"Well... yes!" Nino exclaimed, though not so loud so as to draw Adrien's attention. "I mean, if I got thrown off a sunken ship and nearly drowned, only to wash up miraculously on a beach and still be alive, I'd think a mermaid saved me too!"
Alya came over to stand beside him, and she brushed her hand against his shoulder-blades. That made Nino relax.
"Oh, Nino," the redhead said with a warm grin that reminded him of a fox. "My sweet, confused, overprotective boy... Don't you think Adrien's had enough people telling him that he's insane without you butting in?"
Nino made a face. He had forgotten about that.
During the first day they were back, Lady Nathalie had summoned the court physician to take a look at Adrien. Big surprise: the prince was as healthy as a horse.
"He's most likely still in shock," the physician said while Adrien, Nino, and Nathalie were still in the room. "Surviving a disaster like that can have psychological effects. Hallucinations are the most common symptoms."
"I wasn't hallucinating!" Adrien had stated firmly as he stood up. "I heard that song as clear as day! I know I didn't imagine it!"
The physician had looked at the prince like he would a sick child. "I've had cases of people who've had near-death experiences where they hear voices upon losing consciousness. It's logical that you simply relived a memory from your past. A lullaby, perhaps, sung to you when you were a boy."
Nathalie had agreed. "Queen Emilie sang to you all the time," she told Adrien. "You were probably thinking of her when you fell overboard."
Adrien kept shaking his head. "I think I would recognize my own mother's voice, Nat," he snapped, "and that wasn't her! It was someone else; someone I had never heard before!"
The prince had looked over at Nino at that moment, as though waiting for his best friend to back him up. But when Nino just stood there dumbstruck, Adrien's face fell and he left the room in defeat.
"Mermaids and songs..." Nathalie grumbled. "That boy has spent far too much time on a ship. Some rest and recreation on land is just the cure he needs."
Sadly, the royal advisor's efforts to get Adrien back into social life had been in vain. The prince remained isolated and melancholy. He kept going down to the beach, staring blankly at the horizon. He kept playing that same, mesmerizing tune on his flute. The only company he preferred now was Plagg.
Strangely, the black-cat kwami hadn't joked or commented at all about Adrien's condition all week. Plagg just stayed in the prince's jacket pocket and shared some small talk here and there. Other than that, he took naps or ate some more of that smelly camembert.
Nino rubbed his temples and groaned. "I don't know what to do, Alya," he said. "Becoming a first mate was a stupid mistake. I couldn't help Adrien during the storm, and now I'm leaving him to the sharks." He hung his head down. "I'm as useless as a figurehead – just hanging from the front of the ship and doing absolutely nothing."
"I told you to stop being so hard on yourself." Alya became serious now, and she walked over to look up into her boyfriend's brown eyes. "What happened during the shipwreck was not your fault. And who cares what Adrien or anyone else says he heard or not? I'm just grateful that you're both home safe and sound, and that's good enough for me. That should be good enough for you too."
Nino eyed her confusedly. "So you're saying I should just... be okay with this?" He gestured to Adrien.
Alya smiled. "Even if he did get hit in the head, he deserves to have his first mate at his side, doesn't he?"
Nino blinked for a moment. Then he gazed back down at Adrien for a longer moment.
Then... he smiled genuinely for the first time that whole week.
Alya beamed with pride and kissed Nino on the cheek. "Step lively, sailor," she said with a wink. "Your captain needs you."
Nino winked back and gave her hand a soft squeeze. "Yes, ma'am."
He removed his boots and stepped down the stairs with soft, padded feet.
The smell of the sea greeted him, but Adrien didn't so much as turn his head; he just kept playing. Plagg noticed and simply waved before wolfing down more of his camembert.
Nino took a deep breath. Why am I sweating all of a sudden?
He stopped at the stair just behind his friend and cleared his throat.
Adrien paused and lowered his flute. The gentle rush of water at his feet was the only sound left now.
The prince glanced over his shoulder. He didn't seem angry, or sad. More like... curious. And tired.
Nino relaxed a little and rubbed the back of his neck. "Can I join you?" he asked.
After a long, agonizing second, Adrien smiled. "Of course."
Nino plopped beside him and rolled his pant legs up before dipping his feet into the sea. The cold tingled his toes, and he let out another deep sigh of relief.
Ahead of the boys, the horizon became a bursting flower of orange and gold. Seagulls dove up and down to catch fish, and the warmth of the setting sun made the chilly wind more bearable.
As he gazed at the magnificent sight, Nino finally said, "About what I said earlier... I'm sorry."
Adrien shrugged and leaned on his conjoined knees, holding his flute in both hands. "It's cool," he said.
"No, it's not definitely not cool," Nino insisted. He turned and placed a hand on the prince's shoulder. "I almost lost my best friend. And now that I have you back, I just..." He stopped and swallowed a hard lump. "I want to do better."
Adrien looked at him, in his green eyes filled with surprise.
Nino shrugged with an awkward grin. "What I'm trying to say is... I'm here for you, man. The next time someone calls you a nut-job, your first mate's got your back."
The prince straightened up, and his mouth slowly formed into a smile. "You mean it?" he asked.
"Cross my heart, dude. Would I lie to you?"
"Well, there was that one time in Lahiffe when you –"
"Okay, okay, I get it!" Nino waved his hands frantically, looking behind him before hissing, "Geez! Did you have to bring that up? Alya's watching."
Adrien burst out laughing, falling back upon the stairs.
It was the first genuine laugh Nino had heard all week. And the first mate was more than happy to join in.
LXP: Having two brothers who I love very much, I really enjoyed writing this last scene.
Some of the dialogue between Bridgette and the maids were inspired by the song "She's in Love" from the Broadway musical (Again, I don't own it). Also, none of the serving mermaids are from Miraculous. Some of Adrien and Marinette's classmates will make appearances later on.
The next chapter will have a couple more songs, and then there will be some more drama and inner conflict before the big transformation scene. Stay tuned!