𝓢𝓲𝓻𝓮𝓷'𝓼 𝓒𝓪𝓵𝓵

⏳Home Sweet Home⏳

    As they swim to the castle, Seonghwa mentions that they will meet a group of guards halfway to escort them to the castle. They met the guards, and once they saw the unfamiliar sirens, they became very protective, grabbing Hwa and pulling him behind them. They aimed their tridents at the rest of the group, glaring at them. "They're with me!" Hwa said quickly before anything rash could be done. "Everything's fine, they're trusted." The guards kept guard for a second before lowering their tridents and letting Hwa through. "Are you all okay?" Hwa asked as he went to Hongjoong.
After the miscommunication was settled, the guards escorted them the rest of the way to the castle, and after a little bit, they got to the entrance of a cave. "The castle is in the cave," Hwa said. They looked in and were confused before turning back and saying they didn't see anything. "To protect the castle from humans, the entrance is an illusion to make it look like the cave doesn't go anywhere," Hwa explained. Hwa touches the illusion wall, and it dissolves. "Woah," Wooyoung said. "I thought you didn't know any Siren Magic," Hongjoong said. "The only one I know is the barrier," Hwa said. The guards went in front of them and led the way to the castle. They turned a corner and were amazed by the sight they saw. They saw the castle, the village, the purple, blue, and white colors, and sirens covering the village. Some sirens even looked lined up, creating a path to the castle. "HOLY SHIT," Hong said. Hwa hit his arm. "Language, you're on royal grounds." He mumbled. "Sorry" Hongjoong said. They swam to the entrance of the village. The guards then surrounded all of them and escorted them through the village.
    As they swam through the village, sirens cheered for the return of their prince. "They seem pretty happy to see you," Yunho said, a little confused because Hwa always said that they never listened to him, which made it seem like they didn't like him. "Oh yes, the village loves me. They see me as their ruler and follow my orders...it's the court that doesn't." "The court?" San said. "Yes, the court. They help run the castle and help make decisions, and kind of are like judges. They followed my dad's orders. When he died, I was too young to take control. So they took control." "And they never stopped," Yunho said. "Yes, they still see me as that 16-year-old kid who wasn't ready to be in charge...but that was 10 years ago."
    They reached the castle, its massive doors towering over them. The guards opened them, and they all swam in. The crew looked around in awe. The castle was gorgeous. Everything was blue, purple, and white and illuminated by bioluminescence. The guards started to escort them to the throne room. On their way there, they passed a picture of Hwa's family. This was their first time seeing his parents and his brother...and what Hwa looked like as a child. Hongjoong couldn't help but snicker at how adorable Hwa was as a child. He started to wonder to himself how their babies would've looked if they were able to have biological children.
    He shifted his focus back to the portrait. Seonghwa's father had the same colors as him. He looked strong and fearless. He wore a crown with a sapphire gem in the middle and had his hand on Seonghwa's shoulder. Hwa looked exactly like him, except he looked to be 9 in the photo. He had a baby face, which made him even more adorable. He then shifted his gaze to Hwa's mom. Her scales were golden. It made sense since she was the queen of the Golden Empire. She had long black hair and a necklace with a diamond in the middle. It was the same necklace Hwa wore, just with a sapphire gem. Her hands were on Hwa's brother's shoulders. He looked older and the more serious of the both of them. He had the same golden scales as his mother.
    Hongjoong looked at Hwa's brother for a bit, wondering what he would be like when they met. His nerves grew again. It felt fast, but he had to suck it up. This is something he couldn't avoid or have a say so in. Hwa looked back and could see that Hongjoong was lagging behind. Hwa swam to him and grabbed his hand. "You don't want to get lost in here." He said before they swam back to the group. Before they knew it, they were at the doors of the throne room. "Wait why did we need to come to the throne room?" Woo asked. "We will be meeting The Court." Hwa answered. A tense feeling fell onto the crew. They didn't know what to expect but they didn't expect anything good. The doors opened and they swam inside.
    Inside, they spotted five sirens. Four of them were Court members and one of them looked to be some sort of intern. Two of the sirens were girls and the other three were boys. One of the girls turned and spotted them. The expression on her face softened once she spotted Hwa. She swam over and embraced Hwa. "Where have you been? You had us worried sick. Are you hurt? Are you-" She paused when she took notice of the crew. "Who are they?" She asked Seonghwa in a hushed tone. "Those are my friends. They saved me." He said, the other members of the Court, plus the intern swimming towards Hwa. "Where's Raden?" Hwa asked. There were supposed to be five Court members but only four of them were present.
    "Raden is very busy right now." The little intern said. The siren that originally swam to Hwa swam over to the crew. "Thank you for saving him and bringing him home." She said with a bow. "Oh uh- you're welco-" Yunho was cut off by her speaking again. "Unfortunately, he no longer needs you so you will be leaving now." The crew panicked slightly. "What? No, we're not leaving him." Hongjoong said. Hwa quickly turned around. "No, stop." The Court ignored him. "If you don't leave now, I will have my guards escort you out." She said. The crew, yet again, refused. "Stop. Leave them alone." Hwa said again, and again he was ignored. The guards grabbed the crew, attempting to escort them out of the castle, to which they fought back. "Stop it all of you!" Hwa yelled, everyone freezing.
    Hwa swam to the crew. "These are my friends and my husband. You can't force them to leave. I forbid it." "Husband?" The other girl said. "Seonghwa, why have you gone and married a human? You know the rules." The other girl said. "I know, I have to marry a female to make an heir to the throne. Don't worry about all that, I have an heir. He's only two, I don't want him in the water right now, it's too dangerous." Hongjoon looked at Hwa with concern. The Court was silent. "Please," Hwa said. "Fine, they can stay...for now." The first girl said. Hwa let out a sigh of relief. "We will show you all to your rooms for now." The first girl said.
    Seonghwa took Hongjoong to his room where they would be alone. Hongjoong wanted to talk to Hwa in private and it seemed like Hwa already knew that. Hwa's room was a lot bigger than their room on the ship. He had a bed that looked to be made out of a seashell. It had an air pocket on where his head would be so he could breathe while sleeping. "Your room is nice." Hongjoong said. Hwa replied bluntly. "Yeah." His back was towards Joong. Hongjoong looked at him concerned. "Honey, let's talk please." He said, swimming to Hwa and putting his hand on the small of Hwa's back.
    "I'm sorry, I should have told you..." "Calm down, just explain." "For royals, it doesn't matter if you're gay or not, you have to marry the opposite sex of you so that you can make an heir. Even after that is done you can't separate. I didn't want to be told who I could and couldn't marry...I didn't want to have a loveless marriage. I wanted to be loved by someone and love someone myself." Hwa paused for a second. "I fell in love with you and I didn't want to lose you...So I was happy when you proposed...but I also knew that wasn't enough. They would have forced us apart. The thought of no longer being married to you scared me...I knew we had to have a child...so that's why I kept pushing you. I should have been honest." Hwa said, starting to break down as he ranted to him. Hongjoong held him tightly. "I love Anh and I did truly want a child...but I also knew that if we had one we would have a better chance of staying together...but since Anh is not blood-related to me...it might not work." Hwa added. He looked up at Hongjoong, Joong's face stern. "Please don't be disappointed in me..." "Hwa, love, I'm not disappointed nor am I angry with you. I'm furious with The Court." Hwa looked at Hongjoong's face sadly and Hongjoong met his gaze. "It's gonna be ok, hun. I promise. I won't let them separate us."
    Hwa looked down, unsure. "So that was The Court?" Hongjoong said. "Why are they so special?" "The Court makes up the five districts of the nation. Security, Justice, Mechanics, Medical, and Royal. First is Security. That's the Guards. The leader is the General. She was the one who came up to me first. Her name is Lara." Lara, the General, is a muscular woman with long brown hair. Her eyes are brown but due to scaring on one of them, that eye is white. She has multiple scars scattered across her body from training and battles. Her weapon is a golden trident and the armor color is red and gold. Her crown is red.
    "Next is Justice. The justice district deals with the law. Regular court and all. The leader is the Judge. She's the other girl. Her name is Lian." Lian is a very elegant young lady with ice-white hair. She has albinoism which makes her tail and other features very pale and pastel. Her clothing is scattered with various sapphire gems and chains, along with pastel rainbow ribbons of some sort. Her crown is a pastel rainbow.
    "After that is the Mechanic district. They create and fix all the technology here. Even the magic. The leader is the Engineer. His name is Alon." Alon is muscular and tanned. He has long black hair and gray eyes. His body is scattered with chains, armor of some sort, and gems. His crown is a deep dark blue.
    "Next is Medical. They deal with any type of medicine and health. They are doctors. The leader is the Physician. His name is Daisuke." Daisuke is a very slender boy with long black and green hair. He has brown eyes and almost overly accessorizes himself in green. His body is scattered with various types of jewelry from pearls and chains to sapphire gems. He has a pet octopus named Wiggles. His crown, of course, is green.
    "And finally is Royal. This district is the servants and anyone who works in the castle that is not a part of the other districts. The leader is the Royal Advisor. His name is Raden." Raden is a sophisticated gentleman who has short black hair and brown eyes. His scales, unlike Lian's, are scattered with black, not even he knows why. He is accessorized with golden jewelry with sapphire gems. His crown is purple. He wears a silly little cape and the other members of The Court often pick at him for it.
    "Right now Raden is training his intern, Yan." Yan is a boy with short brown hair and brown eyes. He wears various pearls across his body and a shell necklace. His scales are mostly white, but not fully pastel like Lian's. They already have his crown made, it is yellow, but he will not receive it until he inherits the role of Royal Advisor.
    "Raden was the one that I put in charge when I left. All together, they run the castle...but under the Emperor or Empress's rule." Hwa finished. "Wait. Emperor? But you're a prince." "Exactly. I never had my coronation, so I'm technically still just the prince. So they won't listen to me." Hongjoong had just witnessed that first-hand in the throne room. "That's not fair, that's has to change." "I don't think there is much you can do Joong." "Oh, I'll find a way. Technically I'm also a ruler here so whether they like it or not, they have to listen to us." Hongjoong said. Hwa laid his head on Joong's shoulder for a bit. "We'll deal with that later. All I know is that since my brother is coming, I have to get into my prince attire." "Prince attire? I wanna see." Hongjoong says. Hwa giggles a little. "Of course you do. You would want to see me in anything." "Damn, you're sure right about that." Hong said in a flirty tone, making Hwa blush. Hongjoong watched as Hwa changed into his attire. When he was done he turned around. "Darling...You look stunning." "I always look stunning to you." Hwa said, a little flustered. Joong swam to him. "And is that a bad thing?" He said, pinning Hwa against the wall. Hwa just blushed even more, his hands resting on Joong's chest. They were leaning in for a kiss before there was a knock on the door. They snapped back into reality and Seonghwa pushed Hongjoong off of him in embarrassment. "Yes?" He said as the door opened, a servant stepping in. "Your Highness, your brother has arrived."

THE CASTLE

HWA PRINCE ATTIRE