The servants of the underwater kingdom set to work preparing the concert as soon as Juvia returned home. It was to be held in honor of Juvia's seventeenth year and she would the center of the entire show. Her sisters primped her up the best they could and rehearsed their number one last time before going on, while Panther Lily set up the stage and the instruments. He was probably more excited about this event than anyone in the whole ocean. He was sure that this concert would be the pinnacle of his musical career, and his efforts really pleased the king.
"I'm really looking forward to this performance Lily." Gajeel told him.
"Your majesty." The sea cat replied. "This will be the finest concert I have ever conducted. Your sisters will be spectacular."
"Yes. Especially Juvia." He agreed.
"Indeed. She has the most beautiful voice."
Panther Lily then climbed the podium, and when he raised his baton, a curtain of bubbles rose up to reveal the five young mermaids. Meredy started by playing the calliope while Chelia played the flute and Sherry played the harp. Magnificent music filled the entire castle, as the four mermaids moved to the melody of their own songs and sang in sweet voices that were far sweeter than those of the dwellers on earth. However Juvia sang more harmoniously than any other for there was none on earth or in the sea who had a voice more beautiful than hers.
"Between the here, between the now
Between the North, between the South
Between the West, between the East
Between the time, between the place.
From the shell,
The song of the sea.
Neither quiet nor calm,
Searching for love again.
My love."
Juvia did love to sing, it was a special talent that helped her feel closer to her mother's spirit, and her singing was the only thing that made all other merfolk forget how strange they thought her to be, and look upon her like the true princess. Merpeople, fish, crabs, sharks, clams, all living things in the sea would stop to listen. Even the coral was said to sigh with pleasure at the sound of her singing.
"Between the winds, between the waves
Between the sands, between the shores.
From the shell,
The song of the sea.
Neither quiet nor calm,
Searching for love again.
Between the stones, between the storms
Between belief, between the seas.
I am in tune."
The merpeople clapped and cheered for her with great enthusiasm and joy. Praising the four sea princesses for their grand show, Gajeel himself was beaming pride for one of the few things that brought him great joy was to hear his sisters make music and fill his life with song.
"They really are wonderful dear." Levy said. "A pity though, you never perform with them."
"I just don't have it in me anymore honey."
"I don't know about that." She said. "After all, you taught them how to make music."
Gajeel sighed and a sad smile appeared on his face.
"It wouldn't be the same without Mom and Dad."
Levy gave him an understanding and loving look, then held his hand.
"Don't think of sad times now. Not today. It's your sister's birthday Gajeel. This should be a happy day." She kissed his cheek. "Come now, let's go start the party."
Gajeel nodded and followed his wife into the banquet hall where the royal family and their guests would dine, converse, and celebrate. Chelia and Meredy played games with merfolk their age or younger, Sherry spent the whole night at the side of her beloved fiancé Ren while eagerly discussing her wedding plans with her friends. As for Juvia, all she could do was sit and think about all the wonderful things that she had seen in the surface world. It was everything she ever dreamed of and more. She actually met a human who was capable of kindness, as opposed what everyone else thought. Oh if only she could tell her family about it.
Just then, Conlan appeared. He happily swam right into Juvia's lap, carrying something in his mouth.
"Hello Conlan." She greeted him. "What do you have there? A birthday present for me?"
The little water horse dropped another Red Sea flower into Juvia's hand, to add to her garden. She smiled and hugged him close.
"Thank you Conlan. You're always so sweet."
He then ushered her to play with him, since she had spent pretty much all day away from him. She obliged. She played chasing and fetching games with him, laughing with glee and unknowingly expressing her great beauty for the mermen to admire. Many of them asked her to go out with them for a swim but she politely turned down each offer. Now it wasn't that she didn't like the idea of one day falling in love with a nice young man and getting married, it's just that she wasn't sure they actually liked her. After all, a lot of them were among the crowds who would gossip about her.
"No merman is perfect." Sherry told her, after the party had ended. "Not even my darling Ren. But I have to admit, he is pretty close to it."
"I'm not looking for a perfect merman." Juvia said. "Just one that would like me for me, and not think that I was strange."
"Well strange or not, you're pretty enough to win them over and if you give them a chance, they'll look past your quirks."
"But I don't want him to look past my quirks. I like my quirks."
"Well love does require one to change some parts of themselves."
"How much would I have to change exactly?"
"Hard to say. It all depends on who you fall in love with. Or should I say, whoever you kiss first."
For those of you who are confused, a kiss was how merfolk found their one true love. As soon as a mermaid kissed someone for the first time, she would love that person and no other forever and always. Even if the other had perished, the love in her heart would still remain. When Gajeel and Levy kissed at age ten, and Ran and Sherry had kissed on the night of her sixteenth birthday, both couples knew that they had found their soulmate.
"Hopefully you won't fall for anyone who wants you to change so much, that you would have to see Aunt Selene." Chelia said.
Sherry shot Chelia a glare, Juvia and Meredy looked around nervously to make sure that Gajeel wasn't nearby.
"Chelia you goose!" Sherry scolded. "You know we're forbidden to speak of her. Just mentioning her name puts Gajeel in a foul mood."
"Oops. Sorry. I forgot." The youngest mermaid said. "But if I may ask, how come we're not allowed to talk about her?"
"I've wondered about that too." Meredy said.
"We know Gajeel banished her years ago." Juvia said. "But why? We were so young when it happened. You're the only one of us who probably still remembers."
"I do. But Gajeel made me swear I'd never tell. It was just too horrible. However I will say this, she wasn't anything like us or Father or Mother. And if you know what's good for you, you'll pretend that she was never a part of our family."
Selene was the younger sister of Metalicana, but while he was born a merman, she was born a cecaelia, half woman, half octopus. Her difference, much like Juvia's, made her a subject of ridicule among her kind. But unlike Juvia, Selene allowed the ridicule and the taunting of others to fill her with jealousy and hate. When she and Metalicana became students of Zeref, she excelled in magic, spells, and potions far better than her brother ever would. She was certain that she would be the one chosen to wield some of Zeref's power and rule the ocean. But despite her talent as a sensational sorceress, Zeref could see the darkness in her heart and he knew that she would only use his power to harm others. So he chose Metlicana to rule the seas instead.
Selene was furious and she could not understand why she had not been chosen. She could not see Zeref's reason for choosing the talentless yet kind Metalicana to rule instead of her, who possessed a gift for magic, but a soul of cruelty. In turn, she was one of the two traitors who caused the great war and she tried to steal her brother's trident during such an awful event. But her nephew, along with Zeref's other students overpowered and defeated her, banishing her to the deepest trench in the whole ocean, and that's where the evil sea witch has been ever since. Although she did managed to steal two important items before she was sent away, a magic shell which was the source of her witchcraft and Zeref's book of Ancient Spells, both she would use for her long awaited revenge.
"Oh yes my adorable little nieces." The sultry, statuesque, but dark sea witch chuckled as she spied on the girls through a magic, reflective surface. "Pretend that I don't exist and that none of you have anything to fear. That will just make my revenge all the more delightful."
She then turned to her henchman, a shape-shifting imp called Nebaru who at the moment, had taken the form of an eel.
"Just think of it Nebaru, soon I'll be picking off my goody-goody brother's children one by one. And that wretched nephew of mine will suffer the worst of it, I promise you that. Unbelievable, my own flesh and blood, and what does he do?"
"Toss you out on your suction cups." Nebaru said.
"But I must be patient. Vengeance is a dish best served cold. Soon I'll have the head of that overgrown brat on a platter, toasted with a lemon wedge."
"Just as you did to your brother and his wife."
"I didn't have to kill them, you know? If Metlicana had just given me the trident like I demanded him to do, I would have left him and his wife to live in peace. But no, he had to refuse because of my crimes. Because I had disgraced our family. Because I had killed innocents and sent young soldiers to die. Because I had ensured that his precious children would grow up in a world where harmony between our kind and the humans could never be. So melodramatic."
"Yes oh sorceress of the seas." Nebaru agreed.
"Gajeel is the only thing that stands in my way. If only I could find his Achilles heel. The soft, quivering underbelly beneath all the armor. But how? What can I do? Nebaru!"
"Yes?"
"Start giving me some suggestions or I'll turn you into a handbag!"
"Okay!" Nebaru said getting nervous. "Um...Poison?"
"Already tried that. He's immune."
"Blackmail?"
"Not good enough. It has to be something he'd forsake the entire kingdom for."
"His family?"
"Yes!" She declared getting excited. "Why didn't I think of it before? If he really is my brother's son then there's nothing he wouldn't do or rather give up for the good of his wife or his sisters. It's perfect! It's beyond cruel! It's almost too easy! Nebaru! I want you to keep close eye on those pretty mermaids of his! Surely, at least one of them can to be of use to me!"
"Yes your wretchedness. But first, I am needed in The Lazan City. Lord Zash has requested my presence."
"Very well. But when you're done with him, return here and find out whatever you can about Gajeel's wife and his sisters."
"Yes oh beauty of the brine."
Then Nebaru slithered on up to the ocean surface, leaping out from the water, and taking the form of parrot, now flying toward Lazan City to serve his other master.