Nathaniel swam quietly through the area, his purple tail moving up and down as he glided through the water, his shadow casting down upon the shipwrecks littering the ocean's floor. He's seen all of them before and explored every bit of the interiors of the rotting wooden structures. His eyes scan the different ships until he spots a new sunken boat in the distance.
Nathaniel soon came to a stop and he rested his hands on a nearby mast as he just looked in awe at the undiscovered ship. It was resting on a huge rock and light from the surface was shining down onto the massive boat, slowly illuminating the gaping holes between wooden planks.
The merman suddenly heard a semi annoyed voice next to his ear.
"You couldn't wait for me huh?"
Nathaniel turned his gaze to the small mermaid next to him and sheepishly smiled.
"Sorry, Alix. I'm just really excited."
The spunky mermaid chuckled and shook her head.
"I know. Just remember that I can't swim as fast as you."
Nathaniel nodded and returned his attention to the drowned watercraft.
"There it is."
Nathaniel pointed out the vessel to Alix before continuing to talk in a fascinated tone.
"Isn't it amazing?"
Alix looked at the wreck with an unimpressed expression.
"Not the word that I would use. Now, can we get out of here?"
She questioned Nathaniel, her expression now one of boredom as she started to swim away, her black tail with pink speckles moving up and down quickly.
Nathaniel turned his gaze to her and reached out to lightly grip her arm.
"Just come check it out with me. There might be some cool things in there."
The red-headed merman attempted to persuade his smaller friend.
Alix stared at him for a few seconds before rolling her eyes.
"Alright. Let's go see this wonderful shipwreck."
The word 'wonderful' came out sarcastically as Alix began making her way over to the boat with Nathaniel swimming right beside her. As the two approached the wreck, Alix skeptically gazed at the looming ruin of the boat. She ignored the unsettling vibe she was feeling and continued swimming quietly.
Nathaniel approached the closest side of the ship and peered in through a porthole.
"I'm going to head inside."
The blue-eyed merman spoke with a slightly nervous edge to his voice and carefully glided through the porthole into the belly of the ship. Alix followed him and gazed around once she had passed through the circular opening. The pair of merfolk just went from area to area, looking at the unfamiliar objects scattered throughout the wreck.
In their captivation of everything they were seeing, they failed to notice the shadow pass over the portholes of the ship on the side that they had entered from. The darkness around them made it slightly hard to see and Nathaniel bumped into a beam. It snapped, having been rotting for so long, and collapsed which caused part of the wood above them to come crashing down.
Both Alix and Nathaniel quickly darted out of the way and avoided the falling debris. Nathaniel's heart was beating faster and he took a moment to settle it before continuing to make his way through the boat. Alix felt her bad vibe get stronger and felt like something was off. She immediately began looking around for anything suspicious.
Nathaniel looked up to the light emitting from a gaping hole above them and swam up towards it. He poked his head up through the hole and looked around before he spotted a small object gleaming. It was propped up on a heap of broken wood. He smiled and immediately swam over to the small shiny object before picking it up and looking at it closely.
Alix joined him and looked it over as well.
"That looks cool. What do you think it is though?"
The blue-eyed mermaid questioned with a curious look on her face. The object was cool to the touch and looked kinda like a miniature trident.
"I have no idea."
Nathaniel murmured his answer while opening the small pouch he had been carrying with him and placing the object in there. Suddenly, a shadow darted past the large glass window at the end of the area they were in. Nathaniel didn't notice anything, but Alix saw it out of the corner of her eye. She felt her previous sense of foreboding creeping back and looked around.
Nathaniel swam around the room, looking for more objects, not noticing his friend's apprehension. Alix started to quickly move around, paying attention to everything as she found herself unable to shake the feeling that something was wrong. Nathaniel picked up a wooden object and turned it over.
"I wonder what this one is."
Nathaniel uttered quietly to himself while placing that in his bag as well. Alix turned to Nathaniel, having decided to voice her concern.
"Nathaniel. I think we should get out here."
Alix spoke seriously, which made Nathaniel look up at her. Alix usually jokes around, so when she's serious about something, she's SERIOUS. As Nathaniel looked at her, a mass approached the glass that Alix's back was to and he froze. She noticed his reaction and slowly turned around.
As Alix did, however, the large shark quickly swam forward and crashed through the glass. Alix gasped and darted away as the shark lunged towards her while snapping its jaws shut. She fearfully swam away from it and swam through the hole they came up through with Nathaniel right behind her.
The pair headed towards the porthole where they entered and the shark suddenly came up through the floor and begin chasing them. While they were swimming away, Nathaniel's bag got snagged on a piece of wood jutting up from the floor. He stopped and looked back at it before gazing fearfully at the shark that was rapidly approaching.
Nathaniel bit his lip and made a split-second decision to go back for the pouch. He darted towards it as fast as he could and snatched it up before darting out of a porthole. He spotted Alix in the distance and quickly made his way towards her. But as he did, the shark burst through the ship's side and followed Nathaniel. He gazed down and quickly swam around a pole while going up higher.
The shark followed and Nathaniel noticed a large circular object down on the ocean floor and quickly formed an idea. He took a nosedive and swam towards the object as fast as he could, with the shark gaining on him. He swam through it and hoped that the shark was dumb enough to do the same. Nathaniel's hope was right and the shark started to go through the hoop only to end up stuck due to its size. Nathaniel swam away and met up with Alix.
They both started swimming away from there as they felt extremely relieved that they were able to survive that and escape in one piece. Alix started heading in the direction of their home, but Nathaniel started heading upwards. She sighed while giving a brief shake of her head and followed him.
Nathaniel kept heading upwards as the light from up above grew stronger. He suddenly breached the surface of the water and looked around before spotting a rock protruding out of the water. He swam over to it and pulled himself out of the water to take a seat on it. Alix did the same.
"You know we shouldn't be up here."
She spoke matter of factly while glancing at the merman beside her.
"Yeah, I know. But there are things up here that I want to know more about."
Nathaniel answered while digging through his bag to pull out his two newest additions. He found them and looked them over, noting all of their details. After doing so for a few minutes, he noticed the position of the sun and felt panicked as he put the items away.
"We've got to head back! I didn't realize that I was out for so long! I'm late to my class!"
Nathaniel pushed himself back into the water and Alix followed him as they raced back towards their home.
As they did, however, they failed to notice someone silently watching them from behind some rocks. The hidden figure smirked and swam all the way to a hidden cave nearby. They entered it and went into the main room before taking a seat inside a massive shell.
"Yes, you should hurry home, Prince. We wouldn't want mother dearest to be disappointed, now, would we?"
The person spoke sarcastically as they stayed in the shadow of the shell's interior.
"She'll always be disappointed in a loser like you though. I wouldn't be a disappointment. I would be the perfect person to take the throne if only she'd give me the chance."
The mermaid's anger rose and she spoke bitterly while leaving the shell and swimming down to the floor of the cave.
"I will have the throne, no matter what it takes. They'll all see that I'm the right one to rule. I'll have to keep an extra close watch on the darling prince. He will be my way of taking the throne."
The last part is said deviously with a smirk.
Alix awkwardly waited outside of the throne area as she heard voices filtering out, the most prominent one being the Queen's.
Queen Caline sighed as she gazed down at her only child. Marinette, a mermaid who was close to Nathaniel's age, was close to the queen's side since she was training to be her new advisor. Marinette watched quietly as Queen Caline spoke to her son.
"I honestly don't know what to do with you, Nathaniel."
Nathaniel sheepishly spoke up.
"I'm sorry. Time passed quickly and I didn't realize that it had gotten so late. It won't happen again."
His mother frowned slightly and she spoke softly, but sternly as soon as he finished.
"Your behavior was careless. It's not fitting of someone that is going to be the ruler of the kingdom. The classes are important so you can learn the things you need to know to be king."
Nathaniel anxiously gripped his arm as guilt began to come over him.
"I'm sorry."
The redhead simply apologized again. Alix hated hearing her best friend so defeated and swam into the room right up to where the queen was sat upon her throne.
"With all respect, your majesty, it wasn't his fault. We had an encounter with a shark and had to escape it. After that, we were just calming down from the experience and it was only when we noticed the sun's position that we realized how late in the day it had become."
The queen listened quietly to the entire explanation but spoke up after the last bit processed.
"The sun's position? Nathaniel, please tell me that you didn't go to the surface again."
Queen Caline had a disappointed look while she looked sternly down at her son. Nathaniel said nothing, which gave the queen the information she needed to know. His mother shook her head disapprovingly.
"Nathaniel, I've told you many times, the surface isn't a safe place. You could have been spotted by a human. You know that they're dangerous. I just don't want anything to happen to you. You're the person I care for most in this world and I don't know what I would do if something were to happen to you. Please promise me that you won't go up there again."
Nathaniel looked up at her and swallowed back his rising guilt before speaking quietly.
"I promise."
Queen Caline nodded, satisfied with the answer.
"Then you may go."
Nathaniel nodded and quickly swam out of the room with Alix right behind him. After he had left, Queen Caline felt some guilt at the downhearted expression that had manifested on her son's face as she had reprimanded him. She thought for a few minutes before addressing the young mermaid beside her.
"Marinette?"
"Yes, your majesty?"
The kind girl responded.
"I worry about Nathaniel often and I believe that more friends would be a good thing for him. I would like for you to spend time with him and be his friend."
"Of course, your majesty."
Marinette nodded as she voiced her acceptance of the task. The queen smiled at her and thanked her. Marinette smiled back and left the room to go find Nathaniel. As she looked around for him, she noticed a flash of red in the distance. She looked closely and saw that it was Nathaniel and his friend Alix.
Marinette watched them head off and decided to follow them. She followed them out past the outskirts of the city and wondered where they could possibly be going. The pair slowed down and Marinette did as well before hiding behind some nearby plants. She watched curiously as Nathaniel approached a large oval-shaped stone that was seemingly leaning against a rock wall.
The merman pulled it until it revealed a hidden tunnel. Nathaniel and Alix both quickly swam inside before the rock fell back into place and the tunnel was completely hidden from sight. After about a minute, Marinette approached the rock and pulled it aside before entering the tunnel. She quietly swam through it before it opened up into a large grotto filled with objects and stacks of rock slates that had perfect etchings of the objects on them.
Marinette looked around in wonder before noticing Nathaniel staring at her with shock and a hint of fear evident on his face. Alix was beside him and looked skeptically at Marinette while crossing her arms.
"What is all of this?"
Marinette found herself asking curiously.
Nathaniel nervously answered.
"It's, uh...It's my collection."
Marinette nodded and swam around, looking at the array of unknown objects.
"Please don't tell my mother about this. I don't think that she would understand."
Nathaniel pleaded with Marinette as Alix kept a watchful gaze on the mermaid.
Marinette looked over the etchings and the objects more before swimming to Nathaniel. She came to a stop in front of him and smiled reassuringly at him.
"I won't tell her. I promise."
Nathaniel gazed into her eyes and felt that he could trust her. He smiled back at Marinette. Right after he did, the light coming in from the top of the area was blocked momentarily and a strange rumbling was heard as something large crossed over the top of the grotto. All three merfolk looked up at the hole.
"What is that?"
Nathaniel asked out loud before swimming out of the grotto through the tunnel that he came in through. Alix and Marinette followed, the former curious while the latter was nervous. Nathaniel headed up towards the surface where something big was crossing the water. He slowly broke the surface and brushed his hair out of his face before gasping in wonder at the sight before him.
Light flashed across the merman's face as strange colors started appearing in the sky and were accompanied by a loud rumbling noise. The lights looked to be falling near the sea but never reached it. Water dripped down Nathaniel's face as he recognized the large object that was crossing as a ship. But one that's not sunk.
Nathaniel's curiosity heightened and he sneakily started swimming towards the ship, intent on getting a closer look. Alix and Marinette followed him, not wanting to let him go alone. Nathaniel glided beside the boat as the sounds of loud laughter and talking are heard easily from where the merman is.
The redhead immediately went to the side of the ship and carefully pulled himself up to peek over the edge. He stayed still and shadows moved across his face as humans danced joyously across the ship's deck. Nathaniel watched with interest, committing the sight to memory so he can etch it later.
Nathaniel watched as a creature released sharp, loud sounds as it ran happily through the group of humans on board. Suddenly it stopped dead in its tracks and began moving over to where Nathaniel was. The merman ducked a little, feeling nervous, but the creature spotted him and instantly licked his face. Nathaniel grimaced, not used to the sensation.
Suddenly a voice was heard and the creature ran over to a human. Nathaniel raised his head again and noticed the creature that licked him moving in circles around one human. It jumped up and licked the human's face just like it did to Nathaniel. The merman's gaze raised and stopped as he took in the human's appearance.
His hair was black and was tied in the back. His eyes were bright green. Much brighter than anything that Nathaniel has ever seen. The human also had pink lips which were forming a soft smile and he had a prettily shaped face. Nathaniel couldn't stop the smile that appeared on his face as he gazed at the very attractive human.
Nathaniel continued to observe the scene, just watching as the humans began to talk. From listening to what they were saying, the merman understood that the attractive human was a prince as well and that it was his birthday. The prince's gift was a rather large statue, that in Nathaniel's opinion, didn't do justice to the dark-haired boy. Suddenly the prince approached the spot right where Nathaniel was hiding and he ducked again.
Another human was speaking quietly to the green-eyed prince and was mentioning that the boy is approaching the age where he needed to start looking for a girl to marry. The pretty human just stuttered out that he wasn't interested in that. Nathaniel listened and wondered why the prince wouldn't be interested.
The prince, who Nathaniel overheard as being named Marc, leaned against the railing with his arms resting on it as he gazed out over the water with a forlorn expression. Suddenly lighting started to strike across the sky and loud thunderclaps were heard. Nathaniel shielded his face as rain started to come down hard and storm clouds built up overheard. He heard humans running around and yelling above him.
The waves around the ship started to rock the vessel violently as more lightning flashed and the wind started to howl as it blew strongly. Marinette and Alix fought the waves and tried to stay on the surface but the two mermaids were forced to retreat to under the water. Nathaniel held tightly to a rope with his hands as the wind pushed his whole body away from the ship.
After a few seconds, the merman let go and landed in the water with a hard splash. Nathaniel instantly began swimming alonside the length of the bottom of the boat before surfacing near the side of it. He watched with horror as a lightning bolt struck a top part of the ship and set it ablaze. The ship moved forward and stuck a large rock which caused the whole vessel to shake violently.
The merman noticed many humans fall overboard because of that but thankfully it seemed like all of them were able to get onto a small boat. Nathaniel felt relief as he noticed Prince Marc was on the small boat too. But for some reason, the prince leaped off and went back to the large ship that was almost fully on fire.
Nathaniel watched worriedly as the prince climbed up the side of the ship and went onto the deck. The merman kept watching, not knowing what was going on, but felt fear when a part of the ship broke and fell. Suddenly Nathaniel noticed the creature from before come flying off of the boat and land in the water.
The redhead kept watching for any since of the prince, but nothing. Abruptly, the ship had a massive cloud spread out as more fire appeared. Nathaniel feared the worst and immediately swam closer to the boat as he dodged all of the floating debris. He started turning in circles looking everywhere for Marc.
Nathaniel stopped and noticed the dark-haired human draped over a floating plank with his eyes closed. The human prince slipped off the board and slipped beneath the waves. The merman didn't hesitate and immediately dove to grab the prince and drag his unconscious body back up to the surface.
Nathaniel started making his way to the shore and arrived there right after the sun had risen. He struggled slightly but succeded in pulling the human onto the beach and laying him down. After laying the human onto his back, the merman simply laid beside the unconscious boy and gazed worriedly at him, not sure if he was alive.
The blue-eyed boy bit his lip nervously before laying his head down on the human's chest. He heard that the human's heart was still beating and felt relief go through him. He pulled his head back and just watched as Marc breathed evenly in his sleep. He moved some stray hair out of Marc's face and smiled fondly down at the sleeping human.
"He's so beautiful."
Nathaniel murmured quietly cupping the human's face. Unbeknownst to him, Alix and Marinette were watching from behind a nearby rock, surprise written on both of their faces. Nathaniel started gently caressing the dark-haired boy's face just as sunlight shone down upon the human's face.
Marc opened his eyes and was greeted with the sight of a bare-chested boy with shoulder-length red hair leaning over him, light completely surrounding the unknown blue-eyed boy. Suddenly the boy vanished from his field of vision. Marc sat up and tried to see where the handsome boy had gone, but saw no one except his bodyguard and friend Ivan approaching.
Ivan called his name and Marc shakily stood up before looking around one last time. He frowned a little and decided to keep what he saw to himself as his dog rushed over while barking loudly. Ivan immediately took one of Marc's arms and draped it over his shoulder before helping him walk home with Marc's dog following.
Nathaniel, Alix, and Marinette watched from a distance as the human prince was led away.
Alix spoke up.
"I vote that we don't mention this to Queen Caline."
Marinette spoke up next.
"I agree."
The two then looked over at Nathaniel who was watching the human with a loving look in his eyes. The same thought immediately crossed Marinette's and Alix's minds: 'This is trouble.'
While that was happening, the same figure from before was spying on Nathaniel once again. They felt glee at the new information they now had and chuckled wickedly.
"This is going to be so easy. He is in love with a human. And not just any human. A prince. His mother will be so happy with that. But, Nathaniel would make a nice addition to my garden."
They smirked and laughed evilly as their gaze drifted to all of the shriveled up creatures littering the tunnel leading into the secret cave.