Ocean Song Beneath the Waves
Chapter 23: Emissary of Peace

“I have come as an emissary of Mandara.” Prince Oceanus tenses as he eyes Prince Alankar cautiously with a blank look upon his face. “I have come to establish an alliance between Mandara and Aquaria...”

Prince Oceanus stares at him with a blank look on his face, clearly not believing his words. He’s quick to voice his thoughts in a sharp tone that is well-known in Aquaria. “Why would a kingdom from the Aqueous Alliance want to form one with a former member of the Ventus Alliance?” He asks skeptically as he regards Prince Alankar with a skeptic glare. Serena quietly awaits the Prince’s next words without interfering, seeing as she doesn’t wish to be thrust onto Prince Oceanus’s bad side once more.

Prince Alankar sighs in resignation as he crosses his arms over his chest with a troubled frown on his lips. “I should not be telling you this but I was instructed to do whatever it takes,” he murmurs softly before staring at the two with a serious look in his eyes that conveys a message of the gravity of what he is about to speak of. “Marella has become embroiled within its own affairs and is unable to provide Mandara any support.”

“And what of Vilmaris?” Prince Oceanus asks expectantly as he gives Prince Alankar a look that demands he tell him everything.

Once again, Prince Alankar sighs as he scratches his head with a distant look in his eyes. He opens his mouth with a measure of hesitation and proceeds to inform them of the situation with Vilmaris. “Vilmaris has always been a mysterious kingdom; that we knew. However, the kingdom has been closed off for nearly twenty years now.” At this, Prince Oceanus’s eyes widen.

“What do you mean it has been closed off?!” He asks urgently as a strange look passed through his eyes that Serena finds she can’t quite place but it does tell her that things have become much more grave than they were before.

“No one knows. All we know is that something has happened within, that has caused a great change to occur in the northern seas.”

“And why has no one bothered to go and look into it?” Prince Oceanus asks impatiently as Prince Alankar throws him an irritated look that lasts for only a second. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ ꜰindNʘvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“Need I remind you that Vilmaris is a kingdom of mystery?! Outsiders have not been allowed inside since before the Millennial Aquatic Wars and even then, only the royal families of the Aqueous Alliance were allowed inside,” he says with a slightly exaggerated tone laced in his words. “No one can even dare to approach Vilmaris at this point.” Finally, the two seem to be calming down as Serena and Prince Oceanus wait for the Mandaran prince to continue. “The Great Protectors have suddenly become violent, and attack anyone who gets too close, while the Sirenic Guard has undergone a similar change that has made them into fierce beasts unable to differentiate friend from foe.”

Prince Oceanus falls silent as he seems to have submerged himself within his thoughts. So Serena decides to ask her own questions while the Prince is preoccupied with his own thoughts. “So that would mean that not even Calder would be able to get inside?”

Prince Alankar nods as he turns a calm smile towards her. “The only one capable of getting into the kingdom would be his sister, Marina. She is one of the few outsiders trusted by the royal family.”

“So why has no one asked her to go look into things?” Serena asks curiously.

“Because she has disappeared. She had been within her home trying to determine Proteus’s whereabouts and then vanished without a trace.” Serena’s eyes widen at this. Last she saw Marina, she was deeply devoted to staring into her magic bowl in search of Proteus. Somehow she highly doubt that the woman would leave the bowl all of a sudden without any warning.

It is at this moment that Prince Oceanus finally decides to break his silence as he looks upon Prince Alankar with piercing sea green eyes. “So in response to Vilmaris’s sudden isolation, you come seeking the aid of your enemy because your only remaining ally is locked within its own internal conflicts,” he states with a devil-may-care attitude. And why should he care? Up until forty years ago they had been battling against Mandara fiercely in retaliation for their attempt to kidnap the young Princess when she was but 10 years-old.

“You need not seem so reluctant Oceanus. My mother was just as against the idea but she is doing this for the good of Mandara.”

Prince Oceanus sighs as he turns to Serena. “We shall be heading to the throne room to discuss this with my father. I would ask that you return to the palace in the meantime.” Sensing the gravity of the situation, Serena nods her head without a word of complaint which slightly shocks the Prince, considering he’s only known her to rebel against him and lash out at his orders to her.

“Saddened am I to see the fair one go but I do hope I shall see you again quite soon,” Prince Alankar says as he swims past Prince Oceanus and takes up Serena’s hand. She stares in surprise as the Mandaran Prince presses a chaste kiss to the backside of her hand.

“That is enough of that Alankar. Come,” Prince Oceanus says in a frigid tone as Prince Alankar chuckles with a carefree smile upon his face.

“Of course,” he says lightly, completely ignoring the tone in the Aquarian Prince’s words. With that, the two disappear into the palace and Serena returns as well after a few idle moments of staring blankly into space; contemplating on what just happened. These royals just very well may be the death of me...

It isn’t until later in the day, when Serena and Rodion are hanging around the library, that the two hear from Calder who remained behind in Nautica.

“Well I am glad to see that you two arrived in Aquaria safely,” he says through the magical orb of green mist that suddenly appeared before them.

“I wish you would stop doing that or at least give us proper warning before you abruptly send us to god knows where!” Rodion complains irately as he crosses his arms over his chest with a displeased look on his face. Serena simply chuckles at his behavior, before turning to Calder with a few questions on her mind.

“So what happened in Nerisia?” Calder suddenly develops a tired expression as he pinches the bridge of his nose.

“We managed to fend her off, though I will admit that I did not expect her to be as strong as she was. Unfortunately, we were unable to capture her so it would seem that we are completely on our own now with the sudden disappearance of my sister.”

“Ah, so you knew about that?” Serena asks with slightly widened eyes as Rodion stares between the two in bewilderment.

“Indeed. My sister and I have the ability to sense one another’s essence, but I no longer sense hers’ which is quite strange.”

“Hold on a second!” Rodion suddenly interjects as both Serena and Calder turn their attention to him. “What’s this about Marina disappearing?”

“I am not quite sure myself. She just suddenly upped and vanished without a trace. Unfortunately, I cannot actively seek her out without at least a small trace of her.” Calder shrugs with a helpless look on his face as Serena decides to move on to her next question.

“And what of Vilmaris?” Again, Rodion looks puzzled as he suddenly becomes aware of how out of the loop he is with everything.

“I see that puzzled look on your face, Rodion. After this conversation I would suggest you take up a history book and learn something of this new world you find yourself in.” Rodion grumbles as he briefly glares at Calder hotly before turning away from him with a scary look on his face. “Oh have I made him mad? Forgive me, that was not my intent.” Though he says that, he hardly looks remorseful; he rather looks pleased with himself actually. “Anyway, about Vilmaris...” His joking mood suddenly disappeared in place of a more somber attitude. “I have been observing the situation from afar and I cannot say for certain what is going on there but I have a theory...” He trails off, appearing thoughtful as he contemplates on his theories, most likely.

Serena, however, desires a direct answer because, obviously, she cannot read his mind. “And they are?”

“I sense an increasing flow of unstable magic in the surrounding area. This may be Proteus’s doing or...” Again, he trails off but this sudden stop isn’t because of a new thought or anything of the like. Rather, it’s more of a hesitant stop that suggests something worse may be lurking along the horizon.

“Just say it! I hate beating around the bush and we won’t know anything if you do not say what the damn problem is!” Rodion snaps, having grown tired of Calder’s pauses mid sentence.

Calder briefly throws a sharp glare Rodion’s way to indicate how serious the matter is whilst Serena sighs at her brother’s lack of patience, that he makes up for in his hot headed temper.

“...This may have something to do with Pisces,” he says slowly, as though not sure of this himself.

“Why would this be caused by Pisces?” Even though she’s been down here for a good while now, in all that time she’s never heard anything of a stone causing such trouble amongst a whole section of the world. Then again, there is still much she has yet to learn about this underwater world, which includes the Ocean’s Curse as well as how to break it because it’s been fun having fins and all but she isn’t too fond of the dangers that she’s been thrusted into in entering this world, that should be myth.

Calder’s voice breaks her from her momentary thoughts as she turns her attention to the explanation he has begun to give. “Pisces is a rather interesting thing. It is the last warrior and the keeper of the Spirit World where magical creatures dwell. Its stone is also known to be quite fickle but never to this magnitude. My assumption is that something has occurred in Vilmaris for the stone to react in such a way, only if it is the stone that is causing all of this trouble.”

“Great so not only do we have to deal with a power hungry merman hell-bent on world domination, but now there is the problem of a whole section of ocean spazzing out in freakish proportions,” Rodion mutters tiredly as he rubs his head and plops himself down in a nearby seat. Now he isn’t quite sure how much more of this world he could take. How the hell do I keep her safe in all this madness? He briefly glances at Serena as she regards Calder with a serious look on her face. A look that he’s become quite familiar with since his arrival down here.

“In any case, I think it best that all stay away from Vilmaris for the time being. For now I will continue my search for the remaining eleven warriors.”

“And what of us?” Serena asks after a moment of silence.

Calder regards her with a strange look in his eyes as he speaks to her his decision regarding the two of them. “I would have you remain in Aquaria. For now it seems to be the safest place for the two of you. With my sister having vanished, topped with the situation in Vilmaris and Proteus’s quest for the stones, I cannot effectively protect you from the dangers outside Aquaria. Until the time comes for me to return to Aquaria to search for Aquarius, I would prefer you remain inside Aquaria’s veil.” Serena wants to protest this idea given that she feels no safer in Aquaria than she did with Calder, but seeing he look he gives her, she decides against this and nods her head in resignation as Rodion readily agrees, clearly having had enough of everything outside Aquaria. After that the ball of mist dispersed, leaving Serena and Rodion alone in a tense silence as thoughts of what the future may bring invade their minds...

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