Chapter Text
Lizzie Delia Shadow was not truly a Pixandrian citizen.
Legally, she was nothing at all.
-
She woke to a wave splashing over her face and sat up, gasping at the cold water. Taking a moment to orient herself, she glanced around. Underneath her was wet sand, as the tide had begun to come in. Behind her were sandstone cliffs, and in front was a vast grey ocean.
She had no idea where she was.
“Hello?” A voice called. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before.”
She spun to face an elderly couple. Pixandrian, her mind supplied. She didn’t have a clue what that meant.
“What’s your name, sweetheart?” asked one of the women kindly, “Do you know where your parents are?”
Her parents? She wasn’t sure. A blurry figure in blue and pink flickered in her mind, but disappeared in an instant. She shrugged, and then frowned. What was her name? Everyone should have a name, she was sure.
(“Lizzie, stop!” giggled a girl with pointed ears and lilac blue hair, “That’s not funny!”)
“Lizzie. My name’s Lizzie.”
-
“Lizzie!” called her mother, “Leona says that you’ve been causing trouble in town.”
“I didn’t! She just doesn’t like me, Ari says that she’s been trying to stop me from being friends with him.” Lizzie replied earnestly. It wasn’t her fault that Ari’s mother was mean.
Lizzie’s adoptive mother sighed, “I believe you. Ignore her, but remember, Lizzie-”
“Don’t give them a reason.” Lizzie joined in. She’d never bothered anyone, or caused issues. And yet, the villagers hated her. It wasn’t difficult to see why- with her pink hair and pale skin, Lizzie couldn’t pass as Pixandrian. She just didn’t understand why it was such a problem.
-
Lizzie sat at her mother’s bedside as she finished a story.
“By the end, six spellcasters remained, but that was enough to finally banish the demon. And so ended the Battle of Wither’s Grove. The six spellcasters should have been praised, but two of them died, the ocean princess and crystal cliffs wizard vanished, and the remaining two- our rulers- refuse to mention the battle again. ” She coughed, and Lizzie rushed to hand her a glass of water. “Since then, many people have been lost, killed, or struck by amnesia. A last curse given by Exor’s champion.”
“Like me.” Lizzie smiled sadly, this was no surprise to her, she had heard this story many times before. “Mother, you should sleep, you’re unwell.”
“I love you, Lizzie. We were never able to have children of our own, but you gave us that.”
“I love you too, Mum.”
-
Three weeks later, both of her parents were dead. Lizzie was evicted the next day.
“It’s not your house.” said the man with a smirk, “Of course, you could buy it- right now if you wanted-”
“Yes! Please, it was my parents’. I have the money for it.”
“-If you can give me proof that you’re an adult. A birth certificate would do, you can’t buy property without it.”
-
Without papers, or anyone willing to help, there was nothing for her here. Seeing no other way, Lizzie hid on a fishing boat heading north. She managed to hide while they were at sea, but shortly after they started down the river, she was found. The sailors were angry, and the captain of the vessel- a guy she went to school with- decided to throw her off the boat, far away from any empire or settlement.
“What do you expect me to do? I’ll starve!”
“It’s not our problem.”
Lost, Lizzie closed her eyes and picked a random direction. It was all forest around her after all. She travelled through the trees, trusting that she would find something eventually. And so she did.
-
Lizzie caught her first glimpse of the ocean as the sun began to set. In front of her, waves rolled across the golden sand, glowing in the fading orange light. It felt like home.
Lizzie slowly stepped onto the beach, letting waves wash over her blue sandals as she explored. Behind her was the spruce wood, and to her left was a freshwater river that ran into the sea. Nearby was a silvery willow, leaves trailing in the water.
Lizzie brushed aside the thin branches and slipped inside. It was beautiful; soft moss carpeted the floor and small blue lights floated in the air. The sound of wind chimes could be heard, but there were none in sight.
By the river, a small boat made of silver wood sat beneath the curtain of willow branches. Lizzie wandered over and brushed her fingers across the wood. As she did, the sound of crashing waves echoed in her ears and she drew her hand away in surprise. She looked at the inscription.
The boat's name was written in swirling silver cursive.
Lliz'ila'ana
It felt oddly familiar.
-
Lizzie stood on the beach, watching waves wash gently across the shore. Her boat was grounded on the sands after she had paddled it down the river and Lizzie was preparing to set off. However stupid, Lizzie had a plan. She would sail the ocean and find the ruins of the ocean empire. According to her mothers’ stories, it had lain in ruins for decades. But Lizzie knew she could rebuild it, better than it ever was before.
However, she quickly became distracted by a loud squawk. Lizzie whipped around to see a small red-feathered parrot sitting on the soft grass near the jungle. She gasped and moved slowly towards it, drawing out some bright green seeds. Parrots were perfect companions for ocean-travelling vessels. The bird squawked in delight and shuffled closer.
Lizzie smiled as she fed it the seeds, laughing when the parrot fluttered onto her shoulder.
"Parrot, you are now proclaimed the first loyal subject of the new Empire." announced Lizzie in a serious tone. The parrot chirped happily in response and Lizzie laughed at herself. "I feel a bit like a pirate now!" Lizzie smiled at the red parrot, who chirped in agreement, "All I need is a ship..." she sighed, "I guess this pretty boat will have to do!"
Lizzie turned back to her discovered boat and led it to the water, being careful to not knock the parrot off her shoulder.
She climbed in and used an oar to push off from the beach. The boat rippled through the water and Lizzie began to paddle. Her oar slipped gracefully into the water and her boat was soon moving quickly across the waves.
Lizzie glanced back up at her parrot companion and began to speak to it. "Parrot, I think I'm looking for a big area of Ocean to settle down in." She was quickly distracted by the splashing of creatures around her. Dolphins whistled as they swam under and around the silver boat.
"Dolphins! I love it here already." The parrot chirped at her. "You're right, parrot. I should continue." She glanced back at the dolphins. "But just look at that. They're beautiful."
"And look!" she exclaimed, "Is that a turtle?"
The parrot stared at her almost disapprovingly.
Lizzie looked back at the parrot and sighed. She began to row again.
"Parrot? Are you always so responsible?"
-
When Lizzie reached the open Ocean, the parrot chirped.
"No, no. This isn't right just yet."
It squawked.
"I know what I said! Yes, this is a big area of ocean! But this isn't what I'm looking for."
It squawked more insistently.
“No. I need something incredible."
-
Lizzie continued searching until dawn arrived. That was when she found it. A rocky outcrop and ruins of quartz. It looked as if it had once been a grand tower.
"This is it, parrot."
Waves crashed into the base, running along grooves of quartz as it almost seemed to sing in agreement. Welcoming her. (home)
Lizzie turned the boat about. "Now don't worry, I'm just going to check the area to make sure there are no scary hazards nearby!" She looked around, staring deep into the water.
Lizzie caught a glimpse of a small creature darting beneath the waves. "What's that? Is that an axolotl? Oh. My. Gosh. You’re so cute!" she squealed.
Lizzie stood up and dived into the water, leaving the parrot fluttering about on the surface. She swam towards the axolotl. "You're goldennn!" she exclaimed joyfully, "Hello! What should I do with you?"
“You’re very pretty.” she told it seriously, as it swam over to join her. “Would you like to stay with me? I’m going to build a huge empire.”
The axolotl spun in the water and began to descend.
“Hello? Am I meant to follow you-”
She was cut off as she suddenly started choking, and realised that she was out of air. Her lungs burned, and she tried to rise to the surface, "Oh nonononono."
Grey spots flickered in her vision and she slowly blacked out, the last of her air bubbling up above her.
-
Lizzie gasped, drawing in air as she coughed, thrashing in the water.
She kept sinking under the waves, as she swam, panicked towards her boat. She climbed in and lay there, getting her breath back.
One moment she had been drowning underwater, the next she was floating, the waves still beneath her.
Lizzie decided she'd imagined it.
When she was feeling better, she stood up and looked around, sighing. "This time I'm staying in the boat." She fell asleep as night fell, when the stars began casting a silvery glow upon the water.
When she woke the parrot sat comfortably in the bottom of the first boat, so she let him be, and slipped back into the water.
She ducked underneath and looked around in dismay. “The axolotl has fled.” she told the parrot, upset.
When morning came, Lizzie and her parrot companion had been paddling around all night. She didn't want to start building by messing with the ruins. They felt important. She finally announced her decision to her feathered friend.
"Since I'm obviously not a fish person capable of breathing underwater, I should probably begin by situating my empire on some land. Therefore, Lilypads"
The parrot chirped.
"I'm glad you agree. I'm going to plant lilypads to build the base of my empire."
A squawk.
"Of course it'll be structurally sound, don’t be a hater."
Lizzie set down some small lily pads she had gathered from the swamps on her journey and waited. Somehow she knew that in the ocean, these lily pads would grow bigger than they could ever have grown in the swamplands!
-
She eventually decided to leave the lilypads in peace to grow. She ducked underneath to explore further, and was surprised to see the axolotl had returned. It swam over as soon as it noticed her, excitedly bumping into her hand before swimming deeper. Lizzie followed it, bemused, to an underwater ruin, reminiscent of the quartz tower. Inside were blue lanterns and carved pictures. The nearest one depicted some kind of axolotl-human hybrid wearing a crown, with a trident in one hand. She was surrounded by axolotls. The second showed a fierce battle, between land and sea, and the third was broken into rubble. Lizzie felt her throat begin to burn and she left rapidly, swimming back to the surface. When she arrived at her lilypads, she decided not to return just yet.
-
She took her willow boat and paddled away to visit the land. It seemed to travel much faster than any other boat she'd been on.
Lizzie ran aground by a spruce forest and looked around. There was a ravine right next to the beach, but it was too far below to jump down safely.
She paused for a moment and then smiled, "To make this easier for myself, I will harness the power of the sea!" She took a shovel and dug away the sand between the ravine and the sea, forming a channel. "This is something only the Queen of the Ocean could do." she added. "Ocean spirits, hear my call!"
With the next wave, water rushed through the channel and splashed into the ravine. Lizzie floated down into the large pool at the bottom. She stepped away from the water and smiled victoriously. "There. It's like magic, I'm so in tune with the water."
Lizzie drew out her pickaxe and began to mine.
-
She arrived back far later at the lilypads. Her empire now had two large lilypad islands, and many smaller lilypads dotted around for her to jump between. Somehow they were still in the water. "Take that." she muttered to the parrot.
On the first island Lizzie built a small campfire surrounded by logs, and a trapdoor down into a homely cave.
On the second island, she made her first farm, and it quickly grew full of wheat.
Finally, Lizzie could sit down on a bench after her long day was over. She took her parrot off of her shoulder, setting it down gently beside her.
Unfortunately, the parrot didn't seem to want that, and fluttered off the log onto the ground. Lizzie stood up and nudged the parrot back towards the log, accidentally pushing him onto the fire.
"No!"
Lizzie frantically attempted to save him, but to no avail. The parrot went up in flames, leaving behind its head and a single feather.
"Surely this is some kind of bad omen for my empire?"
Lizzie kneeled by the fire, cradling the feather in her hands, "Have I angered the gods of the sea already?!”
"To appease the gods, I will grow another little lily pad island, to make a small graveyard. I’ll honour you, my friend.”
She sat by the gravestone, staring at the engraved markings.
Parrot
Loyal Subject #1
~ Beginning ~
"Goodbye, my companion."