Mythical Short Stories

The Queen of Vanity

Long ago, there was a Kingdom called Atlantis. This Kingdom was advanced and beyond its time. They mastered and established things humanity wouldn't have even dreamt of for another millennia; they were by far the most advanced  civilization. One of the many things they had in their possession was The Fountain of Youth. The Royal Family drank from it once every one hundred years to maintain their looks and age. They refused to ever die.

   One day, a large earthquake and hurricane struck their beautiful, advanced Kingdom, causing the earth beneath them to crumble into the deep blue abyss of the ocean. Only one person from The Royal Family and a handful of her subjects survived. Desperate to find a safe haven, she traveled from place to place as a commoner for over ninety years, until she found it. A place she felt she could blend into well and belong. A Kingdom of high class individuals, full of riches and all of the necessities for a strong civilization that surely wouldn't perish! Though mediocre to Atlantis, it was the closest thing to home she found.

   She marched herself up to the high castle, demanding to speak to the King. The guards scoffed, they wouldn't let her in. She explained that she is Princess Althea of Atlantis, she told them of the fountain of youth and of her ninety years of wandering. Amused by her 'tall tale', they escorted her to the King.

"Your Imperial Majesty, you won't believe this!" One of the men shouted as he jerked Princess Althea forwards by her arm in a forceful manner.

"What is it?" The King asked as he turned around. His eyes met with Princess Althea's. "Who's this?" He smirked.

"Tell him who you are." The other guard said with a sharp grin.

"I'm Princess Althea, Your Imperial Majesty." She said as she slightly bowed.

"I've heard of you, yes. But from where?" He began to stroke his sleek black beard as he tried to conjure up an answer; he sighed at his lack of remembrance.

"I was the Princess of Atlantis, sir." She replied.

"H-how? You're so young... Atlantis sunk ninety years ago!" He remarked in disbelief. "I've heard many tales of what occurred as a small child." He added.

"That is has, but please listen to me. I shall explain!" She insisted as the guards began to laugh quite heartily.

"Do so now." He insisted. He paced the room stroking his beard again - What an odd thing to happen today. He thought.

"My people possessed The Fountain of Youth; once we discovered it, my family and I would drink from it every one hundred years to maintain our looks and age. Please let me prove it to you..." She begged.

"How?" He asked, narrowing his gaze into her eyes, seemingly, they traveled to the depths of her soul.

"This," she said as she pulled up her sleeve; it was a large, shiny green scale on the inside of her wrist. "All Atlanteans can adapt and breathe underwater so long as it isn't salt water. You can find it in any book about us! And to prove I am Princess Althea, I can show you the birthmark which the Royal Atlantean girls have." She pulled up the hem of her dress just enough to show her calf. The birthmark was a red-pink Trident.

   The King was still not fully convinced, so he had her submerged in a tank of ten feet of water (the one his father had used for torture during his reign of the Empire). Sitting at the bottom for over a minute, Princess Althea didn't take a breath yet, she wanted to wait, for her gills to come up and for her to adapt. Once she felt them open up, she took a deep breath. She turned to the side so they could see her gills.

   The guards fainted, but the King, he was impressed and horrified. He still couldn't wrap his mind around this. All of the Atlantean Fables he read as a child were true... He had the last Royal Family member of the Atlanteans present. He felt this was a dream, but it couldn't have been... It was real. It just was.