Chapter Text
Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, down in the deepest fathoms of the ocean, an opulent undersea kingdom flourished. The elegant mermaids thrived under the benevolent reign of the firm but beloved King Lightning, who had ruled as best he could since his parents’ untimely demise nearly fifteen years ago. But the one who most of the mermaids had their eye on was the youngest brother of the royal family, Prince Bowie.
At eighteen years of age, the young prince was beautiful, lively, self-assured, and it was said that he had a voice that was as clear as ice and as pure as water itself. Nearly all the kingdom adored him, and Bowie knew that fact and loved it. But even then, deep down within his heart, he still could not shake the feeling that something was missing. As he frolicked in the depths below, he couldn’t help but find himself dreaming of what lay above the surface of the ocean. Most of the other mermaids would’ve thought of it as strange, but Bowie paid them no mind. He loved nothing more than finding sunken ships and exploring them, eager to discover the different treasures each one might hold.
“Come on, Emma,” He beckoned to his closest friend since childhood, “I know that it has to be around here somewhere.”
“Bowie,” she shook her head as her shimmering orange and yellow tail flicked behind her, “I’m not so sure this is a good idea. We get caught again, and your brother’s going to lose it.”
“Oh come on, Emma,” he rolled his eyes playfully, “don’t be such a guppy, it’ll be fine. Have I ever led you astray before?”
“Um, yes.” she elbowed him jokingly, “Remember when you went looking in the wrong shipwreck and nearly got us turned into that tiger shark’s dinner?”
“Oh come on, that was one time. And we escaped.”
“Barely.” She held back a laugh, “But if you’re sure, then alright. Lead the way. If we get lost, don’t say I didn’t try to tell you.”
“Noted.” he smirked with a little nod, “Now follow me, we’re almost there.”
They swam a little further, looking around every few strokes to make sure that nothing was following them. Bowie stopped after a few more minutes, eyes lighting up once he did. He beckoned Emma closer, directing her gaze towards a shipwreck.
“Here it is. I told you I’d seen it. It must’ve crashed only a few days ago.”
“Wow,” Emma remarked, “this one is the biggest one I’ve seen in a while.”
“I know. Hopefully that means there’s more to find. What’re we waiting for? Let’s go!”
Finding an opening, Bowie and Emma swam one after the other into the sunken ship. After sifting through some of the driftwood and debris, ensuring they were careful not to accidentally cause a collapse, they spotted their first find.
“Bowie, look.” Emma called, holding something unusual in her hand. It seemed to be around a dozen pearls, but unlike the individual ones attached to oysters that Bowie was familiar with, these seemed to have been polished and neatly strung together somehow. He didn’t quite understand why humans would do that, but it was still beautiful nonetheless.
“Nice find, Emma. This one’s definitely a keeper.” He gently took it from her hands and placed it into his bag for safekeeping. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something glimmering from the back of the ship and turned around to investigate. Sure enough, his instincts were right.
“Wow, I’ve never seen anything like this before.” Bowie remarked in awe, picking up the small treasure, “It looks like my brother’s trident, just smaller. A lot smaller.”
“You think humans use it the same way?” Emma asked curiously, wondering how much power, if any, could possibly fit in a trident so small.
Bowie shook his head, “I don’t know, but I know who will.”
Emma quickly caught on, “Ah, I see what you’re saying.”
“You know me too well, Emma. Race you to the top!” He quickly took off, swimming straight up towards the surface.
“Hey! Wait up!” Emma called back, quickly following him. Next thing they knew, their heads had poked up through the water and there they were. It might’ve been only a short swim from the underwater domain that they knew, but it felt completely different. Though it certainly wasn’t Bowie’s first time above the water, he still felt that same sense of wonder.
Bowie loved the world above. It felt so foreign yet, at the same time, familiar. The sun was warm on his face, the light shining brightly on all that it touched. The town just across the shoreline bustled with activity, and from afar, he could hear the faint ongoings of the everyday life of humans. It was because he couldn’t go there that made Bowie want to be there even more.
“Oh, Emma, don’t you just love it? It’s so, so beautiful up here.”
“Yeah…it really is.” Emma nervously nodded her head, twirling a strand of her blonde hair, “Now can we please hurry up and do what we need to do so we can get back down? Somebody’s going to see we’re gone and the king won’t be too happy if he finds out. Remember how angry he got last time?”
Bowie didn’t know why his older brother was so strict about mermaids not going up to the surface or having any contact with the human realm. Lightning was a fairly lenient ruler, and was usually quite flexible provided the request was reasonable. But for some reason, even a single mention of the surface got him riled up to the point where he wouldn’t and couldn’t see any other perspective other than banning it completely. Bowie had tried asking him about it before, but whenever he even tried to broach the issue, Lightning would just wave him off and tell him that he’d understand when he was older. But even in present times, Bowie was still left wondering why.
“I know, I know, Emma. But don’t worry.” Bowie shook his head determinedly, “We’re really close and it won’t take too long. And besides, don’t you want to see just what it is that we’ve found?”
For as angry as Lightning would be if he found out Bowie was going to the surface in the first place, he knew his older brother would be ten times madder if he knew Bowie was talking to a human. But Bowie didn’t need to know much about humans to know that Zee was definitely not quite like the others. He was definitely a bit of an oddball, often wandering aimlessly around the beaches with only his pet raccoon as company. Bowie also knew Zee was probably stranger than most given that the sight of two mermaids on the regular didn’t elicit any questions from him, as he knew most humans thought of mermaids as nothing but a myth. But regardless, Zee was always willing to tell them about whatever human treasure they’d found and made for good company, so Bowie was always pleased to find him.
“Zee! Over here!” Bowie called. The lanky man turned to look around after hearing his name, smiling and giving a friendly wave when his sights landed on Bowie and Emma.
“Oh, hey you two, long time no see,” Zee greeted, pausing to adjust his leg before heading over to meet them at the shoreline, “Let me guess, you found some new stuff and want me to take a look?”
“That’s right,” Bowie nodded, “We found a new sunken ship, and there were some really interesting things inside.”
“You came to the right place, then. Come on, show me what you’ve got.”
Bowie handed Zee the string of pearls. Zee looked it over for a few seconds before laughing a little.
“Man, this is an easy one. I see these all the time. Humans wear these around their necks. It’s supposed to make you look fancy, you know what I mean? Here, give it a try.”
Zee put the pearls around Bowie’s neck. It was definitely an odd feeling, but glancing at his reflection in the water, Bowie did admit it looked pretty fashionable.
“Huh, I never would’ve thought it was used for that,” Emma mused, “Humans sure are interesting.”
“And that’s not all,” Bowie quickly dug in his bag for the silvery trinket from earlier, “There’s also this thing, I’m not sure what it is, but it’s really-”
“Uh, Bowie, we might not have time!” Emma quickly tapped on his shoulder before he could continue, pointing behind them, “Look! A ship! It’s headed this way.”
“Woah…” he whispered under his breath, having never seen a ship that wasn’t wrecked this close before. It was quite a sight to see. But he quickly snapped out of it, “You’re right, it is headed straight for us. We’d better go. Thank you, Zee.”
“Hey, no problem, man.” Zee smiled, “Come back anytime. You know where to find me.”
As he and Emma dove back down into the depths of their undersea world, Bowie wistfully glanced up at the surface. He already missed that strange, wonderful place. What he wouldn’t give to stay there for even just a little while longer.
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“Ah, don’t you just love it, Wayne?” Prince Raj asked as he stood on the edge of the ship, the wild sea breeze blowing his dark curls in all manner of directions as they sailed forward, “The salt on your skin, the wind in your hair, isn’t it great?”
“Oh yeah,” Wayne, the prince’s oldest friend and confidante, nodded, clearly green from the aftermath of seasickness as his blonde hair blew right into his face, “It’s uh…It’s really great. You’ve been out here a lot lately, eh?”
Raj gave a nod of affirmation, “I guess so. I’ve just had a lot on my mind lately.”
Wayne’s brow furrowed out of concern, “What do you mean? Like the coronation thing and all that?”
“You read my mind,” Raj sighed, “I know I turn eighteen tomorrow and I’m supposed to be ready to be king and all that but…I don’t know. What if I can’t?”
“Aw, come on, Rajie, don’t be like that,” Wayne gave a small smile, trying to be encouraging, “You’re going to be a great king. Besides, you don’t have to do it all by yourself. You’ve got your mother to help you out. And Dipti too. She’s really smart, she can definitely help you out. And don’t forget me! I’ll always be with you, okay?”
“I know, Wayne. I know. But it’s just…it feels like it’s a really, really big deal. I’m going to be in charge of the whole entire kingdom. I won’t be able to go out sailing anymore, I’ll have to stay at the palace all day. My mother even wants me to get married soon!”
“Married? Wow…” Wayne seemed surprised by that, “I guess I didn’t think that was going to happen so soon.”
“Me either, Wayne. I guess I always knew it was coming, but now that it’s here, I just don’t know…”
Raj gazed reflectively over the horizon. Suddenly, something caught his eye under the waves. It looked to be some sort of tail, but it certainly wasn’t like any fish he’d ever seen. It was lithe and graceful, iridescent purple green scales shimmering beneath the water. Raj blinked to see if he really was seeing what he thought, but to no avail. It was as gone as quickly as it had appeared.
“Wayne, did you see that?” Raj asked, curious eyes now even further fixated on the water.
“See what, Rajie?” Wayne looked confused, his gaze following to where Raj was staring, “I don’t really see anything. Except water, but we’re in the ocean, so that’s kind of a given.”
“It was right there, I could’ve sworn I saw it!
“Maybe it was a shark or a whale?”
Raj shook his head, “No, no, I’ve seen plenty of those before. This was…different.”
“Hmmmmm….” Wayne pondered, putting on the best “thinking face” he could before getting a mischievous glint in his green eyes, “Ohhhh, I know! What if it was a mermaid?”
Raj chuckled, “Oh yeah? You think it was a mermaid?”
“Sure, why not? It’s definitely something different, just like you said.”
“Aw, come on, Wayne, be serious.” he gave his best friend a playful eye roll, “Everyone knows mermaids aren’t really real, silly.”
“I don’t know, Rajie,” Wayne poked his shoulder playfully, “Who knows? Maybe they all live really, really deep in the ocean and have a kingdom just like ours.”
“Very funny, Wayne.” Raj remarked dryly, “But seriously, I really want to know what that could’ve been.”
“Well it’s not like this is going to be your last time sailing ever, eh? Maybe you’ll get really lucky and get to see it again.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Raj’s eyes wandered, as if still trying to find that mysterious sight, before realizing that the sun was getting lower and lower in the sky, “Oh wow, have we been out that long already?”
Wayne followed Raj’s glance into the sky, “You’re right, Rajie. It is getting pretty late. We’d better head back soon.”
As the ship turned around and slowly began the journey home, Raj found himself lost in his thoughts again. If only life were as simple as sailing with his best friend. He liked where he was now, why did it have to change? Why did he have to grow up so soon? How could he lead a kingdom if he barely even knew who he was?
Pulling himself together as the ship neared the docks once again, Raj took a deep, reflective sigh. He knew things would probably be fine, and that he was getting worked up over nothing, yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that what he was after wasn’t within the walls of the kingdom, but somewhere out there, beyond the horizon.