Chapter 3
The light of the sun had just started to pour down into the water when the princesses arrived back at the palace. When they came into the main hall, the Mertriarch was floating there, waiting for them.
"So," she smiled down at her daughters, "how was your night?"
"Wonderful!" Misty said. She and her sisters began telling her all at once about the games they played and how much fun they had. As Cynthia listened, she noticed that May wasn't quite as vocal as her sisters. This was nothing new; many times, when she and her sisters were in one place, she was usually the one floating to the side.
"All right, now," Cynthia chuckled, calming them down. "Let's head to our rooms and get some sleep. We have a big night tomorrow."
"Yes ma'am!" the mermaids said in near-unison, and they swam off through the palace to their chambers.
"Well, tonight was fun, girls!" Serena said giddily. "See you in the evening!" With that, she pushed open the shelldoor to her room and swam inside, the door closing behind her.
"You think she'll get much sleep today?" Dawn asked jokingly.
"Probably not," May giggled. "I'm honestly surprised that she's gotten any sleep at all this week!" They giggled at that while Misty sighed softly, as though in relief.
"I'm just glad we saved her from getting in trouble," she said quietly. "I can't imagine how painful it would be for her to have to wait four more years because she couldn't keep her fins down for a few more hours."
"No kidding," Dawn shuddered. "Not to mention, that would mean four more years of pining for the world above."
"Yeah, cuz' we haven't been hearing that for the last ten years," May rolled her eyes. They chuckled a bit before her face fell slightly. "Though to be honest, I'm gonna miss nights like this: nights where we can swim and play like we don't have a care in the world."
"Who says they're gonna stop?" Misty grinned. "We're just gonna be spending our time at the surface now!"
"Yep," May muttered. "Hooray for the surface." She winced at the slightly bitter taste that word left in her mouth.
"AAAAHHHHHHH!" The sisters turned towards Serena's room on hearing her shriek, fearing the worst. Then Serena swam out in a frenzy, holding a familiar blue Pokemon in front of her. "You rotten little mutt!" she cried. "How many times have I told you to stay out of my room?!"
"Popplio!?" May exclaimed.
"UGH!" Serena growled, shoving Popplio away. The poor Pokemon flipped through the water for a moment before floating aimlessly, dazed. "May, get that ugly little monster out of my sight!"
May felt her face heat up at this, but she kept her cool and turned to Popplio. "Go to our room, now," she said. Her voice was stern, but her expression was soft. "I'll be in there in five minutes." As Popplio swam off, looking confused and hurt, May turned and faced Serena. "I don't appreciate you talking about her like that."
"Well I don't appreciate it swimming into my room uninvited!" Serena shot back. "Do you have any idea how terrifying it is to think you're alone in your room, only for some freakish Pokemon to swim around?!"
"No," May replied, clenching her fists, "I don't know how terrifying that is, because it's not! If you would just open the windows in your room and let the currents and Pokemon flow through, you wouldn't be scared scaleless when you see one suddenly swim around!"
"I don't need freaky fish Pokemon swimming in uninvited!" Serena snapped. "It's my room! Not theirs!"
"Serena, come on now," Misty said, coming forward. "I know that's how human rooms work at the surface, but we're not humans; we're mermaids. Things work differently down here, and it's perfectly natural for Pokemon to swim through our rooms as they please."
"Well if I'm gonna live on land one day, then I'm gonna start living like I'm on land right now," Serena muttered. "And that means no Pokemon sticking their unwanted ugly little nose where it doesn't –"
"Okay, THAT'S ENOUGH!" May shouted angrily, getting in Serena's face.
"Oh, don't tell me you're gonna defend that little creep just because you think she's cute! Tapu Fini, you've been doing this ever since you found that horrid little fish stuck in my doorway when we were mergirls!"
"That 'horrid little fish' was a Feebas who had lost part of her tailfin and couldn't get out! She was scared, so I took her in and helped her find her way home!"
"Not before she swam into my room uninvited twenty-six times!"
"Sixteen times, Serena. And yes, I know that freaked you out; I'm sorry about that, and I'm sorry about Popplio just now. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again. But I don't appreciate you hurting her feelings by calling her names like that! Don't you ever think about how they must feel hearing you say stuff like that?!"
"All right, that's enough!" Misty shouted. "Both of you are out of line! May, you need to discipline Popplio so that this doesn't happen again. Serena, you need to apologize to May and Popplio for what you said. Now everyone, go to your rooms and get to bed! We have a big night tomorrow, and I want everyone to be smiling when it's time for Serena's rite of passage. Understood?!" She didn't wait for an answer as she swam through her shelldoor, slamming it behind her. Serena and May followed suit into their own rooms, leaving Dawn floating there on her own.
"Okay then," she mumbled, shrugging as she started to swim for her door. "Good talk, everyone. See you in the evening." She pushed her door open and swam inside, closing it much more gently than the others had.
As May swam into her room, she looked at Popplio with a stern expression as she floated over to the little Pokemon. "Popplio," she said, her voice firm but gentle, "did you forget what I said earlier? I asked you to behave yourself while I was gone." She flipped her fins to push herself down and sat next to Popplio. "I know it gets boring when I'm not here, I really do, but that shouldn't be a big issue. I'm almost always around, so we get to spend a lot of time together." She stroked the whimpering sea lion Pokemon's head. "It shouldn't be too much to ask you to behave yourself on nights like this." Popplio looked up at her guiltily. May just sighed and flicked her fins lightly, floating up as she started to swim over to her shellbed. "Tomorrow's a very important day for Serena, so I expect you to be on your best behavior. If this happens again, there will be consequences. Is that clear?" Popplio nodded and curled up into her tiny bed. May smiled at this; she usually found it hard to stay mad at the tiny Pokemon for too long. As she flicked her fins and floated down into her bed, she gazed out her window, watching as the golden sunlight, filtered as it passed through the water, shone into her room. She curled up into a perfect sphere, much like a Clamperl's head, as the lid of her shellbed slowly came down, closing on her as she fell asleep.
"May! May, wake up!"
"Mmph," May mumbled in her sleep.
"May, come on! Up and at 'em! It's Serena's big night, and we gotta be ready to go before the moon reaches its apex!"
"Moon...apex...big night…" May mumbled again, her eyes opening slightly. Then they shot open as she realized what she was saying. "Oh gosh, tonight's the night!" Her shellbed sprang open as she practically leapt out of it. "Oh no, I didn't oversleep, did I?!"
"No no," Dawn laughed, raising her hand up to reassure her sister. "You're good. The other girls are waking up right now. I just wanted to make sure you would wake up too. I know you wouldn't wanna be late for your baby sister's rite of passage, right?"
"I heard that!" Serena's voice came from beyond the shelldoor, prompting the two sisters to giggle.
"No," May agreed, "I most certainly would not."
"All right then!" Dawn grinned, turning to swim out the door. "Come on out when you're ready!" She pushed the shelldoor open and swam out, closing it behind her.
"All right," May smiled softly to herself, gazing out the window briefly to admire the silver light of the moon shining down. "Time to get ready." With that, she swam over to a row of treasure chests resting in the corner of her room. She popped them open and floated over them, putting her hand on her chin as she pondered. "Now which scales would look the best for an occasion like this?" Each chest contained fish scales that she used to decorate her tail. She had quite the assortment of colors. "Ooh, I know! Let's go with pink. Serena loves that color!"
She pulled out a handful of pink scales and swam over to the other side of her room, pulling up a large mirror that allowed her to see her entire reflection. "Okay, now let's see here," she mused, looking intently at her tail as she held the scales in her hands. She spent the next fifteen minutes meticulously placing each of the scales into her tail. Occasionally, she would swim over to the window and swish her tail around to gauge how it looked in the moonlight, then swim back to her mirror to make adjustments as necessary.
"I don't know why my sisters always say this is a waste of time," she mused to herself as she fit a scale into her tail's midpoint. "A mermaid's tail is half of who she is, so half of her beauty is found there. It's our pride and joy, and it makes us unique." She sighed as she fit a scale at the end of her tail, where it split into her tailfins. She swam to the window to inspect it and smiled brightly when she saw it gleam in the moonlight. "Why shouldn't we take the time to make our tails look beautiful?" she giggled as she swam back to the mirror to put on some finishing touches. "It's not like we're just spending our lives trying to pull them off so legs will emerge, is it?" As she looked on her tail with satisfaction, her face fell slightly as she thought over her question. "Or...is it?"
"Hey May! You almost done in there?"
May snapped out of her thoughts and turned to the shelldoor. "Yeah, just about!" she called back. "Just putting on some finishing touches!"
"Okay," Misty said from the other side of the door. May took one more glance at the mirror to be absolutely sure her tail looked pristine. When she confirmed this, she turned and swam over to get Popplio some food. After finishing with that, she turned to the sea lion Pokemon.
"Now remember," she said firmly, "I want you on your best behavior tonight. If you cause any trouble, there will be consequences. Understood?" Popplio nodded as she ate her food. "Good girl," May smiled. She patted Popplio on the head before turning around and swimming to the shelldoor. She pushed it open and swam into the outer room, where her sisters were waiting for her.
"Ah, there she is," Dawn grinned. "The beautiful Princess May."
"Dawn," May giggled, blushing slightly.
"Oh, don't be so modest," Misty smiled at her younger sister. "You haven't done anything with your hair or your top, and you still look gorgeous!" The other girls had decorated their hair with extensive accessories, from brilliant diamonds to shining pearls, and the seashells they wore were fancier than usual.
"Thanks, Misty," May smiled. She turned to Serena, who was fiddling with her hands as her tail quivered. "And how is tonight's beautiful princess of honor feeling?"
"Like barfing," Serena admitted. "Gosh, I'm so nervous I feel like I'm gonna explode into sea foam!"
"For the last time, relax!" Misty said, swimming up to her and putting her hand on her shoulder. "You're gonna do great. Just stay calm, remember what we rehearsed, and everything will go fine. You got this."
"Yeah! No need to worry!" Dawn agreed. "And remember: even if something does go wrong, there's no way you're gonna screw as badly as May did."
"Dawn!" May protested, annoyed.
"Thanks, girls," Serena smiled.
"Well, we should probably get going!" Dawn said, nervously glancing at a glaring May. "The moon's gonna be at its apex any second now, and we need to show Mother that we're all ready for the ceremony!"
"Right!" Misty grinned. "Let's go!" With that, they swam out of the room and headed for the main hall. Once again, May swam behind them, her face falling slightly.
Of course they had to bring that up she thought, Why did I even hope that they wouldn't? And...did any of them even notice what I did with my tail? I made it look pristine, and yet...all they noticed was that I did nothing with my hair or top. She looked back at her tail sadly, watching as it moved up and down under the light of the moon. Now she saw just how beautiful she'd made it. It's perfect! she thought. The moonlight's reflecting off of it in seven different colors! She sighed as she looked forward, making sure to keep up with her sisters. Oh well. No reason to feel down, I guess. I should be proud of the work I did on my tail. It shouldn't matter that they don't notice, should it?
"Mother! We're here!"
May snapped out of her thoughts when Misty announced their presence and found that they had come to the royal hall. There, Cynthia sat on her throne. She floated up and swam down to meet her daughters.
"Oh, my dears," she said with a smile. "You all look so beautiful! Oh, where has the time gone? It seems like yesterday that you were all children playing tag in the hall. Now look at you all: you've grown into strong, beautiful mermaid princesses." She embraced each of them one at a time, coming to Serena last of all. "Are you ready for your big day?" she asked her.
"Yes," Serena said, steadying her shaking voice. "I am."
"Wonderful," Cynthia smiled. "Then wait here. I will summon all the merfolk in the kingdom to attend, and then we will commence with the ceremony." With that, she turned and swam out of the hall.
It didn't take long for her to assemble everyone. The seafloor villages extended far and wide from the palace, but all Cynthia had to do to summon them was swim up to the apex of the palace and shine a light, signalling that the ceremony was about to begin. The merfolk came swimming over in droves until the royal hall was completely full. Serena floated in the center of the hall, facing the throne, while her sisters floated by the side.
"Keep it cool, Serena," Misty whispered to herself. "You got this."
A few minutes later, the ceremony began. Cynthia welcomed the merfolk, providing opening remarks before beckoning Serena to float forward. Serena floated beside her, facing the crowd with a nervous smile.
"Serena," Cynthia proclaimed, "as of tonight, you have reached your twenty-first year. You have come of age as a mermaid princess. No longer will you be considered a child, but an adult. You shall accept all the duties and responsibilities becoming of a mermaid princess, and you shall be expected to be present when the princesses are summoned. Do you accept these duties and responsibilities?"
"Yes," Serena said, projecting her voice so everyone could hear.
"You have answered wisely," Cynthia said. "Now, the rite of passage shall begin. Bring me the ceremonial shells!" One of the royal servants came with a golden bag filled with shells and handed them to the Mertriarch, who then floated forward and began placing them into Serena's tail.
"Ah!" Serena squeaked, quiet enough so that no one could hear.
"You okay?" Cynthia asked, also quiet.
"It hurts," Serena said, wincing as she glanced down at the shell in her tail.
"Don't worry," her mother smiled. "Your sisters didn't like it either. You can take them off after the ceremony." She continued to place the shells into Serena's tail, prompting Serena to wince each time one of them attached itself to her scales. When Cynthia placed the last of them on her tail, she floated upright and presented her to the applauding crowd. "And now, for the part that everyone anticipates the most," she went on, looking to the roof of the palace. A crack appeared in the roof, splitting it halfway down the middle, and the two halves slowly floated to the side, letting the light of the moon pour down into the chamber, illuminating it with a silver glow.
May couldn't help but smile at the way the light reflected off of everyone and everything. There was something about the silvery color that always appealed to her eyes.
"Now, Princess Serena," Cynthia declared, "you are free to ascend to the surface: to see the world beyond our own. You shall see the world of the humans and all the wonders they have created. Now go! The surface is yours to explore!"
"Thank you, Mother," Serena said politely, barely staying still as her excitement began to overwhelm her. "I shall return before the sun rises over the sea." She turned to the crowd. "When I return, I will no longer be Serena the child, but rather Serena the Princess. I hope you will all be here to welcome me on my return. Farewell!"
"Farewell!" the crowd replied in unison. Then, at long last, Serena started swimming up towards the surface. As May watched her float light as a bubble to the world above, she couldn't help but smile, as she could tell that Serena was happier than she had ever been.
The next two hours were fairly low key, as everyone awaited Serena's return. The crowd floated around a bit, splintering into small groups conversing with one another, while the princesses sat to the side, rarely looking anywhere but up.
"You think she's okay?" Misty wondered.
"Hey, as long as she comes back in one piece, right?" Dawn winked at her.
"That's assuming she does come back," Misty giggled with her.
"I mean, she kinda has to," May said. "She's probably falling in love with the human world as we speak, but she's still a mermaid. And since she's only just now come of age, she'll have to wait four years before she can request the forbidden potion."
"We know, May," Misty nodded. "We know."
"Why do they call it that?" Dawn wondered. "I mean, it's not actually forbidden. Mother told us we were all allowed to request for it whenever we wanted."
"We call it the forbidden potion because it is forbidden to any mermaid who isn't old enough to request it," May reminded her, "and for good reason, too. The potion is extremely dangerous and must be handled with care."
"Yeah yeah, we've heard it before," Dawn rolled her eyes.
"Now now, Dawn," Misty said, "that doesn't mean May isn't right. That potion will literally change our lives one day." She looked up dreamily. "It will make us...human...and then we will live the rest of our lives in the world above."
"I'll finally be able to be with the man of my dreams," Dawn smiled dreamily as well.
"Yep," May mumbled, resting her face in her hand. "We'll all be human. Whoopee." She turned to face them. "Tell me again why you two have waited so long? You could request for the potion at any time, and I know you want it. Why wait?"
"Simple," Misty smiled. "We're all gonna be human one day, but I want us all to have that experience together. I would gladly request it right now and swim up there to begin my life as a human, but...I don't want to leave my sisters behind."
"So we're all gonna get it together when we're old enough," Dawn grinned.
May smiled softly at that. "I guess that makes sense," she said quietly, gazing up at the surface again. She was glad that her sisters cared enough about each other that they wouldn't leave each other behind, even if it meant putting their dream of being human on hold for several years. May always told herself not to worry about that day, but the years floated by faster than she anticipated. Soon, it would be time for them to leave their life in the ocean behind.
But Serena still has to wait four more years she reminded herself. They won't leave her behind, especially since she wants this more than any of us. We still have time together here. She sighed somberly. And I...still have time to tell them the truth…
"The princess is coming home!"
May snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the royal guard speak. She and her sisters floated up at attention, while the crowd returned to their places to watch for the princess's return. Sure enough, after a few seconds of waiting, Serena swam down, smiling brightly as she returned to the center of the chamber, doing a few excited flips for good measure as the crowd roared with applause.
"Welcome home, my dear," Cynthia smiled, floating forward and embracing her youngest daughter. "You seem to have had a wonderful time! Was the human world everything you dreamed it would be."
"No," she shook her head, still smiling. Everyone looked at her, confused, and she turned to face the crowd. "All my life," she declared, "I have heard stories of the world above our own: the surface, the human world. I have heard of the wonders of that world, how beautiful it is, and how amazing humans are." Her eyes sparkled with joy as she spoke. "But now, as I have seen this world with my own two eyes, I can say with confidence that the stories had not told even the tenth of how amazing it truly is!" The crowd roared with applause, while her sisters smiled brightly.
"Well spoken, Serena," Cynthia said, floating beside her. "The human world is truly a beautiful place." With that, she launched into a discourse all about the human world and its wonders: from the magnificence of the human person to the palaces they built of divine stone.
While Misty and Dawn listened with eager smiles on their faces, May rolled her eyes and floated back slightly. She'd heard it all before, and she was waiting for her mother to get to the much more interesting part of the ceremony: the history of how humans and mermaids put aside their differences and became friends. She loved that story; whether it was because she almost never heard it, or because it was a truly moving tale, she never grew tired of hearing it. It was a part of every rite of passage, even one that went as badly as her own. So she floated there, waiting for her mother to get to the best part.
But as the minutes floated on, she found her mother still speaking of the supposed magnificence of the human world. Just when it seemed like she had run out of things to praise, she would find something else to talk about. So May continued to float there, waiting for the part she wanted to hear. Five minutes passed, and Cynthia seemed to have scarcely begun. Ten minutes passed, and she was speaking of the supposed divine origins of the materials humans used to build their structures. Fifteen minutes passed, and she was speaking of the magic of human eye color. May heard this and finally realized the truth:
She's not going to tell the story.
Unseen by her sisters, her mother, or anyone in the crowd, her face fell. Slowly, seemingly indiscernibly, she floated into the shadows behind her and swam away. She didn't need to be there anymore anyway; her mother only required her to be present for the actual rite of passage, not the speeches or feasts that came after. It wasn't even like she was hungry, either.
"Why?" she whispered sadly as she swam through the network of corridors built throughout the palace, heading for her chamber. "Why would she skip talking about our history? It's such a beautiful story, and a reminder of how far mermaids and humans have come from the days when we hated each other. It's a story we all need to know and understand." She clenched her fists behind her as she swam. "I just don't understand! Why?!"