Athena looked up at the clock, and gave a soft groan, burying her face in her hands. Where in Poseidon's waters could they be? She knew letting her two eldest daughters go to the market alone was a bad idea, she just knew it!
"They'll be fine, Athena, don't worry." Isn't that what her idiot husband had said hours ago to her?
'Fine indeed!' The Atlantican Queen growled to herself mentally. 'An eight and seven year old going to the market with Sebastian, an advisor, not a babysitter! A recipe for disaster!' Athena thought through gritted teeth. 'When Triton comes back, I swear…' The woman cursed mentally, promising herself to give her husband hell in the morning for letting their eight and seven year old daughters go off to the market place. Shaking her head and letting out everything in one heavy sigh, the Queen looked again towards the clock, for probably the millionth time.
She understood that someone had to stay behind with the rest of their girls; and she knew that it was easier for everyone if she was the one to do so. But it wasn't like she didn't wish she could be out there searching for her two daughters too. That way she could keep her mind from wandering off and thinking of the worst possible things that could have happened to her little girls and she could stop worrying about her husband being out there in the dead of night. Did he have a trident to protect him in worst case scenario? Yes. Was Athena convinced he knew how to properly use it without hurting anyone, or himself in such a scenario? Absolutely not.
Athena gave an impatient sigh, running her fingers through her knotted, long hair and grimacing. Patience was not one of her finer points, and right now, it was showing. With nearly half the guard out looking for the two young princesses, and her king, the woman knew that she should just sit down and relax, because it was only a matter of time until they found her girls…if they found her girls. The thought of it sent a shudder through the Queen, as she wrapped her arms around herself and gave another groan.
A sudden cry made Athena look up briefly, before she was bombarded by two bodies. Two, small bodies, to be exact. Blinking in surprise, it took the Queen a few good moments to realize who was hugging her, and for her to return the favor.
"Girls!" Had Athena's voice ever sounded so sweet, Attina wondered, holding tightly to her mother as she felt the woman hug her back just as tight. She could feel her face, every inch of it, being bombarded by kisses, and though she knew her mother was talking, her voice went over the girl's head as she just hugged the woman.
"I was really scared Momma, I was really scared, but I didn't cry at all. Not even a little bit! And I took care of Alana too! I was brave!" Her words came out in a rush, as Attina blearily looked up at her mother in the hope that the woman would say something about the girl's bravery.
"She was brave Momma. Really brave. When I lost my teeth, and I cried, Attina was really nice and she said—she said it was alright, and stuff." Alana clamored for her mother's attention as well as her sister, exhausted to the extreme, but still awake enough to let her mother know how brave her big sister had been throughout all of this.
"You lost your teeth? Let me see." Athena's smile faltered for a moment, as her gentle voice ordered her daughter to basically open her mouth. Alana did as she was told, and flashed…her gums.
"She lost her baby teeth." Triton explained tiredly with a chuckle, reaching down for a moment to lift up Attina in his arms. The eight year old gladly buried herself within her father's thick beard, her own words having worn herself out completely.
"So she did. So she did…" Athena's worn out voice said with a small laugh. Here she had been, on the edge of panic and worry for her little girls…and all Alana could care about was losing her two front teeth. Though her mouth was still a little bloody from whatever she had hit that had made her lose her teeth, Athena guessed that in the morning she'd clean the girl off and the child would have moved onto something more important. Looking over a moment at her oldest, who was already falling asleep in her father's big arms, Athena placed a gentle kiss on the girl's head.
"I'm proud of you, my big brave girl. You kept your little sister safe." The Queen murmured, before reaching down to lift up Alana, who was possibly falling asleep while standing up. Though the seven year old really was starting to get too heavy for this sort of thing…Athena didn't mind. She just pressed the child's head against her chest, praying she wouldn't break down into tears of relief that after hours of searching, they'd found her daughters safe.
"Goodnight girls." Triton's warm voice rumbled from his chest, making Attina curl herself even deep in her father's arms. In the distance, she could hear her mother saying something to her father…but she was too tired to comprehend what on earth the woman was talking about. And as the child started to drift off into dream land, her thoughts managed to arrange themselves in order, from the least important to the most important.
1. All boys had morrats.
2. She never wanted to see kelp again for as long as she lived.
3. Human floater thingy's were, quite possibly, the scariest things in sea.
4. When she was Queen, she'd do things her way. The fun way.
5. She would always protect her little sisters.
6. She really didn't want to ever see kelp again.
7. She wanted her Momma and Daddy to stay with her. Forever.
Well, this was originally supposed to be a one shot, but somehow it managed to blow up into a five-shot (if such a thing even exists)! I originally got the idea for this mini story when watching The Lion King, about four months ago (yeah, it's been in my computer collecting dust for that long). I was listening to the 'I Just Can't Wait to be King' song, and I started to wonder about Attina, because she IS the oldest; wouldn't she want to be Queen? And lo and behold, this story came out!
Alright, and with Athena in this chapter and the first chapter, I took a few liberties in developing her character further past the 'Mom who ends up dying' kind of thing. I wanted to make her seem like a real person, not just this Barbie doll who made a stupid mistake and got killed because of it in the future. :) Can you please review and tell me how you like her character? Because if you do...well, there aren't really alot of one shots about her...and I do like writing one shots...
Really though, this story is more or less to mark the anniversary of the first story I posted up on fanfiction. The anniversary was on the ninth, but I won't tell if you won't! Anyway, this is dedicated to all of you wonderful readers and reviewers for putting up with me for a year! Thank you all!
P.S. I know, I know, I'm wayyyy behind on my story Altered Reality! I'm wrapping up my current series story this week, so after that, I will be full Altered Reality all the time, okay? Sorry for the delay and please don't be too mad!