Part of your world

A Tiny Spell

Seb wasn't sure how long they sat there amongst the wreckage, it felt like an age and seconds at once, the sun had stopped shining through the gap at the top of the cavern, though a part of that just felt like pathetic fallacy to Seb as they sat numbly clutching something he no longer even recognised.

At first he thought the noises coming from just beyond the still open doorway were his father or one of the guards coming to drag him back to the palace, it wouldn't matter if it was, Seb was still firm in his decision to not go back, there wasn't a force under the ocean that would change that.

Still, whoever it was that was lurking outside the doorway didn't seem to be coming in, rather they seemed to be lying in wait for Seb to come out.

The blonde scowled, "whoever that is, you can leave, I'm not going back" he called, sinking further into the cave.

"We're not here to take you back, little prince" a scratching voice replied from the shadows, Seb felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, he knew the voice, but couldn't seem to place it.

"We're simply here to help you" a second, equally grating voice added.

"Who's there?" Seb finally asked, shifting forwards slightly as two figures came into the low light of the cave.

They weren't merfolk, that was for sure, eels maybe, Seb thought or some variant on them as the two figures slithered closer.

"We are simply messengers" the first one said, finally making its way close enough for Seb to truly see who it was.

"You work for my Aunt" Seb realised with a start, as pieces slowly began to fall into place in their head.

"Ursula has a great many skills" the second said from his place, still half concealed in the shadows.

"That witch can't give me anything I need, her magic is evil" Seb protested

"Who told you that? Your father?"

"Maybe"

"And what do you think your father is saying about you these days, little prince?"

Seb didn't respond for a moment, thinking back to what his father had said earlier, 'a traitor to your own people'. Their whole childhood Seb had been fed tales of his Aunt Ursula and her cruelty, yet with how blinding his fathers hatred for humans had become, Seb realised sinkingly that these messengers were right, he had no way of knowing if what his father said was truth or just a product of that blind hatred. It was even possible that Ursula was like Seb, an outcast due to an innocent curiosity that no one else could understand.

"If I asked for her help, what would she offer?" Seb asked finally

The eel closest to them smirked, "Ursula deals in matters of the heart"

"But I don't-"

Both figures were already slithering away, back through the entrance of the cave, the second tossing something that had been wrapped in its tail towards Seb as they did so.

Seb frowned, catching the object as it floated towards him and found himself staring down at an all too familiar pair of glasses.

Carlos's glasses.

Seb remembered that in all the commotion of the boat crash they had fallen from the other teens face, and Sebs priority had been saving Carlos, not his glasses, so they had all but forgotten about them.

Thinking about Carlos, Seb felt a sensation that was frustratingly close to butterflies settle in his stomach.

Seb glanced back up at the two 'messengers' who were now loitering in the doorway of the cavern, one of them winked at him and Seb felt all the pieces fall into place.