Upon entering the room, he noticed that it was humongous. It was an indoor Olympic sized pool that was deeper at one end. The normal ceiling covered one half of the pool while the other side had a glass ceiling that let the sun shine through, warming the water slightly. On the inside wall was a row of doors that led to a series of changing rooms. Prometheus and Charon were already by the pool, each wearing a pair of black swimming trunks.
Rena and Alex each took two of the remaining changing rooms and proceeded to disrobe. The other guys finished dressing and joined the other two by the pool. None of the guys entered the pool yet, seemingly having an unspoken agreement between them.
Alex finished dressing first and exited the changing room to find all the other guys just standing around. He didn't know what was going on but he soon found out when Deimos spoke up, "all right. Is everyone ready?"
Curious, Alex asked, "ready for what?"
Charon walked over to him and stood beside him as the others nodded in acceptance to Deimos. He then spoke, the first time Alex had ever heard the young man talk, "they have this silly contest. They throw each other into the pool and whoever is the last one dry, wins."
"Oh," Alex said, interested in seeing who would come out on top. He had never had friends to play around with like this and he was enjoying every moment.
Charon just smirked and made his way to the other side of the pool, the lighted side, and lay down in a chair to get some sun. He, being the oldest, couldn't see the point in such a flagrant disregard of pride.
As he watched, Alex wasn't known well enough to be included, Prometheus, being the smallest, was thrown in first by, surprisingly, the quiet Proteus, also in blue trunks. Unfortunately, given his distraction at his success, Puck, in his yellow shorts, managed to push Proteus in directly afterwards. Metis, wearing green trunks, managed to pick the petite Hermes, in his blue shorts, up and toss him in first, followed closely by Eros, wearing yellow trunks. Metis used his height and muscle to his great advantage and soon Deimos, in his red trunks joined them. At last it was down to Puck and Metis and Alex was chuckling quietly at the scene and so he didn't notice when Rena came up to stand beside him.
"Metis has won the last three time," he started at the sound of her voice and looked over to see her with a towel wrapped around her form.
Alex smiled at her and they looked back over just in time to see Puck's feet leave the ground as Metis promptly threw him into the water. He didn't notice Rena looking at his finely toned abs and admiring his physic. Puck came up sputtering and mildly cursing at his loss but Metis just stood at the edge of the pool and smirked at him saying, "I win again."
Rena then snuck up quietly behind him and gave him a playfully hard shove sending him head first into the water. "I win," she stated with a smirk of her own as he came up for air. He glared at her but his heart really wasn't in it and he laughed along with the rest.
The guys began trying to dunk each other and Rena walked over to the shallow end of the pool where the stairs were. Alex followed her over and admired her long slender legs as she gently dipped her toes in the water, testing the temperature. She took a few steps back and untied the towel from her form.
He couldn't be sure if he was drooling or not, but he definitely couldn't take his eyes off of her. She wore a pale pink, almost white, bathing suit that left absolutely nothing to the imagination. It would have been a bikini except for the two strips of cloth that connected it at the sides leaving a hole in the front going from just below the belly button to the bottom of the rib cage. The back had a hole just as big. What drew his attention most was that the front bit of cloth that covered her small yet well rounded breasts and drew them up and together, giving all and sundry a modest yet seductive display of cleavage that seemed all the more beguiling for it's innocent flare. He also noticed her rather long, shapely legs as she delicately stepped into the water.
Metis had stopped dunking people a little bit ago to see that Alex wasn't in the pool and the reason why. He wished that Rena would cover up more when they had company but he couldn't say anything because that would make her mad at him. He would just have to warn Alex to stay away from her.
Alex didn't notice the glare, as he was too busy watching the angel before him as she stepped into the pool. Once she was completely submerged he was finally snapped out of his daze and made his own way into the water, his silver trunks momentarily floating before he was completely submerged as well.
Metis wasn't the only one to notice Alex's interest in Rena and Puck was soon glaring at him as well. Hermes and Proteus soon noticed Metis and Puck's preoccupation with Alex and smiled at the two. They were the most protective of anyone with anything having to do with Rena and were often the cause of guys turning up with bloody noses and black eyes if they so much as even looked at Rena the wrong way.
They both had quite the tempers and were only calmed by either Hermes, in Metis' case, Proteus, in Puck's case, or Rena could calm them both with just a look. Hermes swam closer to Metis and gave him a gentle peck on the cheek saying, "You know, you can't beat up every guy that looks at her. She has grown into a beautiful young lady."
Hermes and Metis had been together for about a year now and everyone had proclaimed that it was about time when they had confessed. For the previous six months or so, they had been skirting around each other and the only ones that didn't know that they liked each other were themselves.
"She's still too young," Metis growled out but was somewhat calmed by his presence.
"She's almost sixteen and that is most definitely a teenager. We're her brothers and her guardians and we'll keep her safe but we have to let her grow up and find love sometime."
"But why now? She's not old enough and he's just a horny little teenager," Metis huffed, folding his arms across his chest.
"But, so am I," Hermes whispered into his ear which caused the ever stoic Metis to blush fiercely.
No one was paying any attention to them, like usual everyone just ignored the lovebirds. Proteus swam up to Puck and playfully punched him in the arm. "Come on bro, loosen up, have some fun."
Puck and Proteus had been born almost simultaneously and were often referred to as "the twins" when spoken about. They had been practically joined at the hip their entire lives and often knew what the other was thinking with just a look.
"Did you see the way he was looking at her?" He said, continuing to glower in Alex's direction.
"Did you see the way she was looking at him?" Proteus countered as he positioned himself in the path of Puck's glare, causing him to look his brother in the eye.
"What do you mean? She didn't look at him any way."
"Please! He's a handsome young man and she's a beautiful young girl. Think about it sensibly. What were you thinking about at his age?"
"Girls, sparring, girls, piano, and girls," Puck said, sighing in defeat. Proteus was right and there was nothing he could do to stop her from growing up but he could sure try to keep Alex away from her. He was pretty sure he could even get Metis to help.
Alex stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist and proceeded to dry his hair with another, smaller towel. After drying off, he dressed in white pants and a white, long sleeved dress shirt. Over that, he wore a long, dark blue overcoat that buttoned all the way up to his throat. His father often said that if he had dark hair, he would look very similar to his uncle Sapphire, whom he had never met.
After putting his shoes on, there was a knock. He walked over and opened the door to find the beautiful Rena standing there in her princess' gown.
"It's almost time for dinner, shall we go down?" Rena said, her voice sweet and her lovely eyes watching him for his reaction.
He smiled at her and said, "Yes, lets."
Alex stepped from the room, closing the door behind him, and extended his arm. She smiled back at him and linked her arm with his as they made their way to the dining room.
"I had fun today. I wanted to thank you," Alex remarked.
"Oh, you don't have to thank me. The guys and I do that kind of thing all the time. What do you do for fun back home?"
"I never really had anyone to play with growing up. Just the servants children, but they were never there for too long because their parents usually got better positions and they had to move."
"That's too bad. I guess I've been lucky to have all my brothers to play with."
"Yeah, but my parents would always play with me if I asked them to."
"That's nice. Well, to make up for all that, while you're here your going to have the most fun you've ever had in your entire life." Rena exclaimed in an exuberant voice.
Alex laughed and soon enough they entered the dining room chatting about all the fun things they would do. Serenity, Rini, Emerald, and Diamond, smiled at the sight of the two getting along so well. Endymion and Helios soon joined Metis and Puck in glaring at Alex who, upon entering, released Rena's arm and took his place near his parents.
The tables were set in a T with the main table seating the royalty and the perpendicular table seating the scouts and their families. The king's generals had just returned earlier that day and each of the boys were seated between their parents.
There was pleasant chatter while dinner was being served and soon after, Queen Serenity invited all who wished to come to join her and Endymion in the next room for coffee. The adults all agreed but the boys and Rena politely declined saying that they had other plans.
Alex, seeing an encouraging look from Rena, declined as well and followed Rena out of the room. Hermes, Metis, Prometheus, and Charon joined them. Soon they arrived at a large library with wall-to-wall, ceiling to floor shelves of books. There was a long table in the center with a smaller table off to one side at which Hermes and Metis sat at. They soon began a game of chess.
Prometheus and Charon ensconced two very comfortable looking chairs with large books in their laps. Rena sat at the long table, on which was a large book that she opened up and began reading. Alex wandered off into the throng of shelves, reading the titles of books that caught his attention. He soon found one that seemed interesting and he pulled it off of the shelf and took it to the table where he joined in the quiet time with only the occasional curse from Metis as Hermes proceeded to beat him at their game of chess.
Two weeks later, Alex couldn't believe how much fun he had been having during such a short amount of time. The concert the week before had been a huge success and many of the people thought that he and Rena had been great singing together. Unknown to them, many people also thought they made a cute couple and were hoping they would be more than just singing partners.
It was the day before Rena's sixteenth birthday ball and everyone was in a frenzy. The decorations were being put up and the cooks were so busy in the kitchens that for dinner, all they had were soup and sandwiches. No one really minded as it was still very good, but everyone was anxious for the next day to come.
Rena couldn't sit still all day and that night she didn't get to sleep until very late so she was late rising the next morning.
While she quickly brushed her long hair out, she thought of the past two weeks and how much she enjoyed Alex's company. He was a very handsome man and he would be accompanying her to the ball later that evening. Just thinking of him and the ball caused her stomach to flutter in excitement and she hurried to get ready.
She entered the dining room for breakfast to find that there were not many people left. Deimos and Eros were sitting together, heads bowed closely in some sort of whispered conspiracy while Lita and Mina were sitting on the other side of the table talking amongst themselves. Helios was talking with Zoisite up at the main table.
Rena skipped up to her father and gave him a peck on the cheek saying, "good morning father."
"Happy birthday darling," Helios replied, returning the kiss as he watched his daughter seat herself at the table.
Later that day, Rena, her mother, her grandmother, and all of the scouts were busy getting ready and helping Rena prepare for the ball. She was so excited that she couldn't sit still and almost had to be restrained to get her makeup on. They had gone shopping some weeks ago because Rena had wanted the perfect gown for the ball. It had taken nearly a week for her to find the one she wanted and then they had to have it altered by a tailor.
"Oh, you look so beautiful darling," her mother exclaimed while fixing up her hair.
Rena blushed, and then heard her grandmother say, "She's right. You are going to break a few hearts tonight I believe."
The scouts, all in their own gowns already, agreed wholeheartedly with the two of them causing Rena to redden even more.
"I don't think Alex will let anyone else get close enough to get their hearts broken anyway," Mina said in a teasing tone as she looked at the young princess in the mirror of the vanity she was currently seated at.
"Yes, my son is quite taken with you I've noticed," Queen Emerald said, teasing her even more and causing the flush in her cheeks to rise, covering her entire face.
The entire group chuckled at the young girl and soon, the queens and her mother had to leave to get themselves ready. The scouts followed soon after but not before Ami reminded Rena to be at the doors at eight o'clock sharp.
Left alone, Rena smiled to herself in the mirror, excitement never leaving her as she waited for the time when she would leave for her grand entrance into the ballroom.
Meanwhile, in a room nearby, Alex and his father, King Diamond, were getting themselves ready. Alex was struggling with the tie in front of a full-length mirror when his father came up behind him a yanked it from his grasp.
"Calm down son. This is just a ball; you've been to several. Just act like the prince you are and you'll do fine," Diamond said, and with a flick of his wrist, the bow tie was securely around Alex's neck and he was pulling the collar of his shirt down.
"Thank you father," he sighed, trying to tame his hair that seemed to not want to stay down no matter what he did to it.
Diamond finished dressing himself and walked over to a dresser, grabbing a comb from the top, and made his way over to his son. He handed him the comb and said, "She'll like you no matter what you look like. What is your present to her?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb. I know you like the princess. So, what did you get her?"
Alex flushed at the teasing tone in his father's voice. "A necklace and bracelet set."
"That's nice. I'm sure she'll love it," and with that, Diamond left the room, but not before saying, "don't forget to be at the doors at eight o'clock sharp."
Alex stood in front of the mirror for a few seconds more before raising the comb and attempting to tame his hair.
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