A Mermaid Prince and A Warrior King

We Met On A Dark and Stormy Night Part 1

Macaque sighed and sat on the railing with one of his legs dangling off the railing of the ship he was abroad has he observed the party before him. He can see demons of various shape, size and different species conversing with one another has they drink and laughed loudly amongst each other while some dance to the rhythm of the music that had his ears and eye twitching in annoyance.

But what really annoyed him, were the women and some men on the ship giving him lustful leering looks has they whispered to each other about him, some of the bold ones had the audacity to shamelessly flirt with him, to try to get him in their beds.

And he had the pleasure of politely and innocently dismissing any of their attempts, humiliating them for anyone to hear and witnessed their embarrassment without even meaning to do so. He would have felt bad if it weren't for the fact that they all wanted him for only three things; his looks, wealth and power. And to make things worst, there were fireworks shooting across the night sky in different shades of colors at the middle of the party, already making his mood turn for the worst.

He sighed deeply has he turned his head away and stared across the open sea contemplating.

'Why did I come here again?'

[...]

The sun shone across the endless blue sky, has an island came into view. The island was vast, covered in lush greenery with plants and flowers, blooming and prospering as if time stood still, mountain ranges stood tall and proud throughout the vast island paradise, animals from the prowling tiger to the majesty of a phoenix roam around lush jungles and forests, and beyond them, a kingdom of anthropomorphic monkeys rest within the heart of the island but the crown jewel of this island paradise, lies within a cave hidden by a mystic waterfall in the tallest mountain in the island.

Within the waterfall, a path leads to a stone bridge that connects to a path further within the mountain, where it leads to a cavernous cavern. In the center of the cavern, lies a huge and beautiful plum blossom tree that seems to be in an eternal bloom, and across the cave, five paths can be seen spread across the cave; the first path, leads to a magnificent armory filled with weapons and armor of magical origins and properties while some do not. The second path, a huge library that reaches all the way to the ceiling filled with books and scrolls containing various topics ranging from common knowledge to battle tactics to philosophy to leisure as well as books about the magical arts. The third path leads to a beautiful garden filled with plants and flowers seen across the world and some haven't been discovered and a hole on the ceiling that allows sunlight and rain to enter. The fourth path, leads to a private training ground. And last, the fifth path leads to a glorious stone palace that reaches to the high ceiling of the cave and spreads to both sides of the cave.

Within the palace, two monkeys; one is a male gibbon and the other a macaque, clad in armor gathered in front of a closed door. They can hear voices behind the closed door as they pressed their ears against the door.

"What are they saying?"

"Shh! I can't hear them with you talking!"

"Hey, I just wanted to know if Macaque is finally going to get hitched or not!"

"Probably not, the king has high standards after all."

"Really high if you ask me."

"Liu? Beng? What are you two doing?"

Liu and Beng turned around to see a female macaque and a female gibbon, also clad in armor, walking towards them. They both stood up straight has they faced their female colleagues. The female gibbon stared at the door then at the two and sighed.

"Were you guys eavesdropping on the king?"

Beng chuckled sheepishly has he scratched his head while Liu looked away, embarrassed. The gibbon gave them a disapproving look while the female macaque shook her head. "The both of you are going to get in trouble for that, you know."