Into the Spotlight: A Little Mermaid Remix

Chapter 9

A/N: A base idea for Uriel Kestral^

"Kayden! Kayden, get up, it's time for school!"

Kayden groaned and buried his face into his pillow. School would have to wait. He was fairly sure he could make it on time if he only got five more minutes.

Until the pillow was brutally ripped away.

This time Erica and Yvonne were standing over him.

"Get up! Mom and Dad left for work, so if we're late they won't know. But Uriel refuses to be late."

Kayden sighed, getting up and throwing on all black.

If I'm a shadow boy, I might as well live up to it.

He didn't even consider that it would possibly tie him to Oceania Remembered. Nobody paid attention to both him and Rem. It wasn't feasibly possible.

He staggered downstairs, his brown eyes in place and glasses secure on his face. Uriel was stationed at the island like usual, a piece of half-eaten toast in his hand and his eyes buried in an E-book... the same E-book he'd been reading for the past four days.

Kayden had just put a toaster waffle in the toaster when the doorbell rang.

Uriel's head shot up from his phone so fast, that if he'd been human, he might have given himself whiplash... or vertigo. His hand flew to Kayden's forearm as though he was trying to steady himself, even though he was already sitting.

Kayden and Uriel stared at each other, shocked beyond belief, while Yvonne and Erica tripped over each other to open the door.

Excited, half horrified squeals resounded from the front door.

Kayden widened his eyes at Uriel, clearly saying without words.

I think we're in deep shit.

Uriel quirked an eyebrow, his way of replying "Now why would you think that?"

Uriel walked toward the front door, taking his orange juice with him and locking his phone, slipping it into his pocket. Kayden started after his brother in disbelief. Uriel was far too trusting... or calm. Would it physically kill him to display even a little bit of panic at a deviation from a schedule, that had so much importance to him?

The answer was yes. Yes, it would.

Kayden waited for his toaster waffle to pop before following Uriel, the stone floor of the entryway feeling cool under his feet.

He nearly dropped the cardboard tasting waffle when he saw who was standing in their entranceway.

Prince Liam of Alleba.

Prince Liam turned to him, and Kayden resisted the urge to shout Where were you last night?!

Such a deviation from routine had severely wrecked him.

But then he remembered he was a shadow boy. He'd even dressed in all black to look the part.

Uriel hadn't commented on it, and Erica and Yvonne hadn't noticed.

Liam eyed him curiously but didn't ask him about it. "Kayden, right? Can we talk outside?"

Erica and Yvonne gaped at each other, and him. Even Uriel's eyebrows were arched.

His older siblings ushered him after the prince, but not before Erica seized his arm.

"When you are done talking, you are going to tell us everything. Mom and Dad would have killed us all if this happened while they were home, so there had better be a good reason for this!"