A Merman's Tale

Seirra: Chapter Eighteen

We swam for several hours until I found a familiar gorge that was seemingly unsuspicious, but would actually lead to one of the most mystical kingdoms on earth. When we were somewhere in the middle I began to chant:

Gates of the seas, we come from beyond,

Lead us where water has dawned.

A current slowly began to envelop us and in an instant we had crossed the passage into the Aquanian territory. There wasn't any kind of welcome for us-which was totally unusual. For the past eight years, Aquanians had anticipated the day I would come back from land. A celebration was always held no matter the result of my search. The Celari leader's arrival from a mission was always enough cause for a feast. Today, however, nobody seemed to have realized that I was back-and just my luck, right when the princess had actually come with me.

"So all this time, my mistake was the chant. My mother told me all I had to do was reveal my powers. She said nothing about a password whatever," Marina announced, her voice filled with a mixture of annoyance and regret. She probably thought her mother had deliberately withheld the information from her-which was most likely the case.

"Nevertheless, princess. Welcome home," I told her in a solemn voice.

She merely smirked then began to look around.

"There are lots of sparkles here but it sure is creepy," Marina observed. She was probably expecting someone to give her an overwhelming welcome-long lost princess that she was.

"Something happened. It isn't usually like this," I answered, already looking for a merman or mermaid who could answer our questions.

Aquania was the most prosperous kingdom of the East Seas. It boasted of high-class, magical structures-almost like the palaces on land but made of corals and hardened sand, skilled swordsmen and a thriving economy of trade. Among all the kingdoms of the seas, it was the oldest and had retained a rich culture. Merpeople from alliances depend on Aquania to settle conflicts between kingdoms and provide aid should there be a need.

There were three smaller allied kingdoms that made up the forces of the East: Seinia, Orienta and Nymphus. Opposite us were the four kingdoms of the New Seas-most powerful of which were the Gurges of Marisia. Others were Nuvania, Ursulos and Karagas. Both sides had been at war long before I was born and it had always been known that the reason was a fight over a man who was to be king.

Several millennia ago, a queen was supposed to be selected between sisters and it turned out that the younger lady, Tethya, was chosen by the King's Trident. It hadn't become an issue until Medana's marriage was cancelled as her fiancé was chosen as king. It had caused extreme anguish for the older sister who was forced to give up her love and it turned into anger-which had started the war. The merpeople got divided as to who supported the elected royals and those who wanted the older sister to be queen.

Since then, the New Seas was formed and had slowly gained powers in their ability to create exact copies of the six most powerful Jewels of the Seas-the Crystal Key of Saol, the Trident, the Ardus Sword, Medana's Pendant (owned by the queen of Nymphus and copied by the king of Karagas), Tethya's scepter (owned by the king of Orienta and copied by the king of Ursulos), and the Aegean Ring (owned by the queen of Seinia and being copied by the queen of Nuvania). All of these jewels when combined with magic could cause destruction similar to a nuclear war. It had never happened yet but one wrong move from either side and there wouldn't be any questions asked.

As I continued to scan around, I found Doris, the oldest and wisest of the Aquanians. She was wandering around with a school of clownfish following her. Without hesitation, I pulled Marina and swam to where she was.