SERENA

PART I: Chapter 13 - Water

"I should get back to the palace." Serena tells Nolyn.

"Don't you want to try again?"

"No. It's better if I can't do it." She starts walking away from the bathroom and Nolyn follows her.

"Wait. You don't really mean that. It would be so cool if you could control three elements!"

Serena stops and looks at him. "It wouldn't be so cool if I controlled all four, though. Right?"

"Right, but three is not four. There are some people who are able to control three."

"I'd rather just control two." She doesn't really mean it, but she's angry. "And I should really get going." She starts walking again and tells the guard that she wants to get back to the palace.

Serena and Nolyn say goodbye to each other and she goes home.

Even though she knows it's safer to only control fire and earth she honestly wishes she could control water too. So, once she gets to the palace, she heads to the Water Room to try again.

She has only been in the water room a couple times, watching Rakon practice. The walls are lined with very light blue tiles all the way from the floor to the ceiling, which is white. There are fountains and water tanks, made of the same white stone as the ones in the Water Training Ground. The ones in this room are much smaller though.

Serena sits in front of the biggest water tank and tries to focus. She moves her hand above the water, almost touching it, trying to make it move. But, just like at Nolyn's house, nothing happens. She keeps trying for what feels like an eternity but the water doesn't seem to move.

She moves to another water tank and tries again. And again. And again. She has tried controlling the water in every single tank and fountain but nothing happened.

"Screw this!" She exclaims and gets up, heading to the door.

She leaves the Water Room and walks through the corridors of the palace in order to get to her bedroom. She's exhausted from focusing so hard on trying to make the water move and she feels like she needs to lie down.

"Serena." She hears her mother call from behind her. When she turns around she sees both her parents standing in the corridor.

"We've been looking everywhere for you." King Soky tells her.

You mean you made the servants look for me, Serena thinks but doesn't say anything.

"Where were you?" Queen Nami asks her daughter. "We know you have been back for a while."

Serena doesn't want to tell them what she was actually doing because she doesn't want to make them more concerned than they already are about the possibility of her being an Omni-Elemential.

"Well, I was in one of the gardens." She lies, but she knows that they probably looked for her there. "And then I went to the Water Room to look for Rakon but I didn't find him."

She's not sure whether her parents believe her or not, but they don't say anything.

"We were looking for you because we need to have a serious conversation." The Queen tells her.

"About what?" Serena asks.

"About you."

"About me? What did I do?"

"You didn't do anything, baby. But there's something we need to talk about."

"Okay... Then say it."

"Not here." King Soky says and looks around, trying to spot any servants listening to their conversation. "In the Throne Room."

The three of them head to the Throne Room and King Soky tells the servants and maids to leave them alone because this is a private conversation. However, Rafi enters the room and stays there with the Royal Family.

King Soky sits on his throne, but Queen Nami stands near the Water Symbol, on the right side of the thrones.

The Throne Room has four symbols representing the four elements. The Water Symbol consists on a small fountain, like the ones in the garden that the birds use to drink, only fancier. The Fire Symbol is a fire pit on top of a column the same size as the fountain, the Earth Symbol is a bonsai tree on top of another column and the Air Symbol is a clear empty cube on top of one more column.

Rafi is standing on the left side of the thrones and Serena is standing in front of her father.

No one is saying anything, they're all just looking at Serena, which is making her very nervous.

"Can someone please tell me what this is about?" She asks.

The King and the Queen take their eyes off of her to look at each other for a second and then look at her again.

"Serena, you're going to be Queen one day and you know how much responsibility that demands, right?" King Soky questions her.

"Yes..." She answers, still confused as to what the conversation is about.

"One important part of that responsibility is having a husband and, one day, have heirs. And we have found the perfect husband for you."

Serena is speechless for a couple seconds with the shock, before she can manage to speak.

"What?" It's the first thing that comes out of her mouth. "I'm fourteen years old! You want me to get married at fourteen?"

"Of course not, baby." Queen Nami tells her. "But these things need to be prepared in advance, because after your coronation, in four years, you will have to get married."

"Four years is a very long time! And why do you two get to choose my husband?"

"The three of us." King Soky says. "Rafi was a very important part of this process. And we get to choose your husband because he will be the King of Elementia and we want to make sure it will be in good hands."

"It will. It will be in my hands!" Serena yells. "Or don't you trust me to rule Elementia?"

"Of course we trust you." The Queen says. "But also need to trust your future husband."

"And you don't think I would choose to marry someone who's trustworthy?"

"That's not what we're saying..."

"Isn't it? If you want to choose for me it means that you don't think I'll be able to make a good choice on my own."

King Soky gets up and Serena gets closer to her mother. She doesn't like the expression on her father's face. He gets closer to them, near the Water Symbol, and looks Serena in the eyes.

"You're going to marry whoever I tell you to marry because you're my daughter and that's how it works." He tells Serena with a threatening tone, looking her in the eyes the whole time.

"No!" Serena exclaims and all the water in the Water Symbol is thrown into the King's face in that moment.