Making a Splash

Aquaria Invaded

The alarm echoing throughout the kingdom of Aquaria had brought a sudden halt to the fun of the festival. Everyone had been praying it was simply just a false alarm. But when they saw the cecaelia and mersharks emerge from the entrance, they saw the emergency was all too real.

Panic erupted as several merfolk began screaming and swimming as far away from the approaching force as possible. The mersharks began making their way into the city, eager to find straggling merfolk to eat.

Emma gasped at the sight in horror. "What's going on? How did mersharks get into the kingdom?"

Lily turned to Marie. "Can mersharks or cecaelias get through the entrance on their own?"

Marie shook her head. "No, that shouldn't be possible. Mersharks can't use magic. And even though cecaelias have magic, the seal at the entrance is designed to only activate from the magic of merfolk."

"This is a nightmare..." Liz said. "To think they would do this now of all times."

"I don't get it though." Cleo said. "There's only one cecaelia with them. Why would mersharks be working with a..." The rest of the sentence died on her tongue as she widened her eyes. "No... Please no..."

The other four mermaids turned to Cleo and saw her body trembling. "Cleo? What's wrong? What is it?" Lily asked.

"Th-That cecaelia..." Cleo muttered. "I think... I think it's Grimlur."

Lily, Marie, and Emma gasped in shock before looking back at the entrance. They squinted their eyes to try and see the far distance. It was tough to tell, but there was a slight resemblance to Grimlur. There was no way to tell for sure without getting closer, but none of them wanted to go anywhere near that cecaelia if it was indeed Grimlur.

Liz grit her teeth. "Get in the castle. Get in the castle right now."

"What?" Lily questioned. "But we-"

"Now!"

All of them could sense the seriousness in the princess's voice. They didn't put up any argument and swam back inside the way they came. Liz went in last, closing the door behind them and locking it.

"What about all the others outside?" Lily asked. "We can't just leave them to fend for themselves."

"There's emergency shelters for situations like these. The mersharks won't be able to breach them easily. The guards should be directing civilians and guests there now while they fend off the mersharks." Liz explained. "All windows and doors for the palace should be sealed by now, so it should be safe for us here. But I need to speak with my father and get an idea of the situation."

The five mermaids began swimming through the halls with Liz taking the lead. Liz took the shortest route she could to the throne room, but it would still take a couple minutes for them to get there. As they made their way through the castle, they saw a merman dressed in armor and wielding a spear. One of the guards of the kingdom.

"Your Highness?!" the guard exclaimed. "Thank Poseidon you're safe!"

"Forget about me. What's the situation?" Liz asked.

"I'm afraid it's quite dire, Your Highness." the guard explained. "Mersharks have invaded Aquaria. And we've spotted two cecaelias, one of which seems to be leading the invasion."

"There's two of them?!" Lily gasped. "This is getting really bad!"

"We're attempting to hold them off, but their numbers are far greater than ours." the guard told them. "At this rate, I'm afraid it's only a matter of time until-"

The guard was interrupted as a large crashing sound was heard from below. Whatever was happening, it didn't seem to be favoring Aquaria and its people.

"That was the front gate!" Liz gasped.