Creatures from the Ocean (Sciles)

1: Everything Changes

Stiles POV

I giggle as I swim past a school of fish in a swirl of bubbles. I flip my tail faster to chase down my friend, Ben. I tackle him to the ocean floor. "Got you!" I shout in triumph. He laughs as I roll off the top of him. I quickly speed away and hide in a forest of seaweed. I swim down to the sand to keep myself hidden in the seaweed as much as possible. I know that eventually my bright red tail will be a dead give away, no matter how much seaweed there is. I couldn't just wave my hand and turn myself invisible though, no matter how tempting it is. Our one rule for the game is to not turn invisible, as we would never be found. I want to play fairly, so I'm going to keep to that rule. I wait for a few more minutes, a smile creeping onto my face. Maybe Ben went in the opposite direction. I peak my head through the seaweed. All I see is fish swimming around. No Ben. Suddenly, something grabs me by the shoulder. I shriek in fear and turn around to see what grabbed me. Ben starts laughing uncontrollably. I roll my eyes. Of course. "That was priceless!" Ben comments in between his fits of laughter. "Yeah, yeah, very funny." I grumble, still getting over my mini heart attack. Ben finally calms down, so we swim out of the seaweed together and head towards the palace. We stop at the front entrance. "Welcome back, your highness." One of the guards bow in my direction. I nod politely and wait for the guards to open the doors for us. Once the doors are open far enough, Ben and I quickly swim into the castle. We look around the big entrance hall, but see no one here. "What is it like to live here all the time?" Ben asks me in awe as we swim down the hall to the throne room. I shrug casually. "I don't know any different, really. It's boring when I don't have any friends around and my parents have got business to take care of. I don't know what to do with myself. I usually sneak out and explore." I answer.

"I probably would too." Ben laughs. We slow down as we approach another huge set of doors. We stop right in front of them. "Should we knock?" I ask my friend quietly. He nods. I knock on the door four times.

"Come in." I hear my mom say. We quickly push open the doors and enter the throne room. I see my parents sitting on their thrones, crown on top of their heads. Mom is wearing a very pretty green top, matching her emerald green scales. Ben and I swim up to them. "Where have you two been?" Dad asks us.

"We were outside playing chasey, your Royal highness." Ben answers, bowing low.

"It's okay, Ben. You don't need to address us so formally. You're a friend of our son. You can treat us like you would with your other friends parents." Dad chuckles.

"Oh, okay." Ben says as he straightens up.

"What are you doing?" I ask my parents curiously. Up until then, I hadn't noticed most of the Royal Guard were floating around in the massive throne room. "Having a meeting." Mom smiles. Whoops, I didn't mean to interrupt something important. "I'm sorry, we didn't know..." I mumble, looking down at my fins.

"Don't worry, Stiles. It's fine." Mom laughs, patting my shoulder comfortingly.

"I was wondering, do you know where my parents are?" Ben asks my parents. His blonde hair swishes around in the ocean currents. "Well, I believe they said that they were going home for a while. How come?" Dad asks.

"Well, I was wondering if Stiles could come to my place for the night." Ben answers. I watch as my mom and dad look at each other and consider Ben's idea for a moment. "I don't see why he couldn't. As long as your parents are fine with it." Mom finally says. Ben and I grin at each other. "Go get your stuff then." Dad instructs me. I nod quickly before I hurry out of the throne room, Ben right behind me. "Did you just think of that on the spot?" I ask him as he swims to my side.

"Yeah, I kind of did." We both laugh as we swim up a couple of stories to my room. I open the door for Ben and I to enter. I quickly pick up any stuff that I think I'll need. I stuff it all into a little bag. "Ready." I tell Ben. We swim back down to the throne room. I can hear my parents having a serious discussion with the Royal Guards. I decide that we shouldn't eavesdrop, so we knock on the door again. "Enter." Dad calls out. Ben and I swim excitedly up to my parents.