Beyond the Sea

The ocean is not only a mystery to humans. It is said that only five percent of the ocean has been explored, but this statement only accounts for what has been seen by people. Far below where any human’s eyes have all but gazed, deeper than the farthest any person has ever been able to reach, sits a place that would put any make-believe underwater city to shame.

Atlantica, manned by king Triton, has been home to merpeople for thousands of years. The particular race of human-fish hybrids that call Atlantica home are especially careful to make sure that their existence remains undiscovered by land-folk, for obvious fears.

King Triton, with his full white beard and pristine royal blue tail, was a noble merman, and the safety of the ocean was his first priority. Well, almost. Before his wife had passed away, Triton was blessed with six daughters and one son. ‘Proud’ was an understatement to describe how the King felt about his children. All of them were excellent, hard working students with bright futures ahead of them. On top of that, each child had a miraculous singing voice - especially Triton’s youngest, his son.

As the children aged, though, they became quite a lot for King Triton to handle on his own. Missing his wife more than ever, Triton appointed one of his best mermen, Sebastian, to look over his seven teens as he dealt with other manners. Although only in his late twenties, Sebastian was quite responsible, bright red tail helping him to flit around under the sea and follow the young royals whenever one of them seemed to be going astray.

Music was a large part of the King’s children’s lives, as their mother had instilled the importance of it when they were young. The young merpeople performed as often as possible, and this day was no different.

King Triton’s six daughters, Aquata, Andrina, Arista, Attina, Adella, and Alana, kept themselves busy all morning before their show. So occupied by their hair and makeup, in fact, that not one of them had noticed that their younger brother, Alex, was nowhere to be seen. That show, in fact, was meant to be Alex’s musical debut, but his sisters were so used to his disappearance acts that none of the girls batted an eye at it.

Sebastian, meanwhile, was having quite a fit. After swimming through the entire castle, he could still not find the sixteen-year-old boy, and eventually took his concerns to Triton.

“King Triton, your majesty,” Sebastian spoke nervously.

“What now, Sebastian?” The King asked with a small roll of his eyes, the incessant reports from the younger merman having gotten old quite a while ago.

“You see, I’ve looked everywhere, and I can’t possibly find Alex. My efforts have been proved useless.”

King Triton’s eyes blew wide at this, and he turned to face Sebastian with a snarl present on his face.

“You leave this castle right now, Sebastian,” Triton demanded, “And you find him. Right. Now.”

With that, Sebastian whisked away, swimming as fast as he could to not only locate Alex, but to escape the temper of the King, as well.

Not too far away, young Alex drifted along without a care, purple bag slung over his shoulders as he explored a ship wreckage with his best friend. Sparkling green scales glistening under the water, Alex guided the mermaid towards the sunken ship. Turning around when he felt the girl stop in place, Alex sighed, facing her.

“Felicity,” Alex whined, “Come on!”

Gracing towards Alex tentatively, Felicity plucked a piece of seaweed out of the boy’s pink and brown hair, frowning at her friend.

“I don’t think we should, Alex.” Felicity confessed, light blue tail flicking back and forth behind her as she looked at the merman pleadingly.

“And why not?” Alex asked with a laugh, crossing his arms and waiting for a reply.

“Well, what about the concert? And, besides that, he don’t know what could be hiding in there.” Felicity stressed, reaching her hand out to take Alex’s and pull him in the opposite direction.

With a smirk on his face, Alex quickly tugged the girl in the direction, her long, blonde, hair slicking back as he called, “Oh, Felicity. Let go!”

A small while later, Alex was beaming at the objects he had found left scattered around the large ship. With many new items to add to his collection, Alex and Felicity decided it was about time to head back to the castle. On their way out, though, a quiet noise struck fear in the nerves of both teens.

“Did you hear that?” Felicity whispered, adjusting her black top as Alex pushed her through the long hallways of the sunken ship.

“There’s no one here,” Alex remarked, focusing instead of finding a way out.

Turning around to face Alex, Felicity was about to let out another worry, before her face froze before the boy.

“What now,” Alex groaned, looking at the girl expectantly.

“Sh- Sha, Sha-” Felicity stuttered, eyes glued to a sight behind Alex. Confused with what she was going on about, Alex spun around, soon realizing what had got his friend in such a state.

A great white was speeding towards the two, and Alex and Felicity took no time in swimming away as fast as they could. Winding the halls of the wrecked ship, adrenaline fueled the teens as they faced away from the shark. After several minutes of fleeing with heavy lungs, the merpeople finally slowed down, looking at each other with the same fearful expressions on their faces. After only a couple of seconds, though, Alex cracked a smile smile, the action being mirrored on to Felicity’s face. Before they knew it, the two were in hysterics, finding the situation unbelievably funny.

“I should really get going now,” Felicity breathed, wispy tail moving behind her as we swam.

“Yeah, me too, I guess.” Alex sighed in agreement, heading back with his friend.

On his way home, Alex decided to swim to the surface to quickly visit another one of his friends. Scuttle, a yellow-tailed merman who often drifted dangerously close to mankind, was situated on a rock at the time of Alex’s visit.

“Well, well, well. Alex! What have you brought today?” Scuttle greeted the barely-younger boy. The two friends quite enjoyed discussing Alex’s rare finds, as the royal had quite a collection. Scuttle, meanwhile, as he lived his life way too close to the shore, had an extraordinary knowledge of human objects.

Smiling excitedly, Alex pulled the utensil out of his bag, showing it to Scuttle.

“Why, yes,” Scuttle stated thoughtfully. “This, this here is, uh, a dinglehopper! Yes, a dinglehopper.”

“What’s it used for?” Alex asked in awe.

“Human’s use it to comb through their hair,” Scuttle said matter of factly, demonstrating the object. Handing the object back to his friend, Alex eagerly tested out the contraption, coming it through his brightly coloured locks with excitement.

“So, what’re you doing up here?” Scuttle asked, making conversation, “Aren't you forbidden, or whatever, to be here until you’re eighteen? And isn’t the concert today?”

“The concert!” Alex gasped, stuffing his new item back into his back. “I’ve got to go, Scuttle! See you soon!”

Once he had entered the castle grounds, Alex was completely bombarded with questions from Sebastian.

“Where were you?!” The merman cried, circling the younger boy. “We’ve been looking everywhere! King Triton is not happy with you! You missed the entire show, you’re lucky your sisters were able to cover for you!”

“The show,” Alex grimaced, face losing all colour. He knew how important things like their concerts were to his father. “It completely slipped my mind. I’m sorry, Sebastian.”

“You better be. Now, go talk to your father.” Sebastian ordered, and Alex swam away, head down as he headed towards the inevitable.

“I can’t believe you’d defy me again! Not once, not twice, but countless times! What do I have to do, Alex, to keep you in line?” King Triton urged, pacing in front of his son.

“I’m sorry, father.” Alex bowed his head, truly feeling shameful for his forgetfulness.

“Sorry doesn’t cut it this time, Alex. From now on, Sebastian will watch your every move. Right, Sebastian?” The King asked the other man from across the room.

“But, your majesty,” Sebastian uttered, being cut off by King Triton’s muttering of, “Sebastian,”

“Fine, then,” Sebastian groaned, “Come along, Alex.”

Back in their room, Alex’s sisters flocked him with questions.

“Where were you?” Alana asked, before Adella cried, “How could you leave us to perform without you?!”

“I’m sorry,” Alex hummed, before he answered, “I was just swimming around with Felicity, and I lost track of time.

“Sure you were,” Arista muttered, as Attina finished with, “Because you totally weren’t swimming to the surface.

“Leave him alone, girls,” Aquata, the oldest of the siblings warned.

Smiling gratefully at his sister, Alex hesitantly questioned, “What’s it like up there, anyway?”

“Terrible,” Andrina responded. Only her, Aquata, Arista, Attina, and Adella were able to freely swim to the shore at their own will, having each been born one year after the next. “Sure it’s beautiful, but it sure is dangerous. Not even worth occasional visits, in my opinion. Besides, no mermaid is going to want you if you keep up with your interest in humans, Alex. It’s quite dishonourable and undesirable.”

Sighing glumly at his sister’s explanation, Alex flitted down to lay on his side. Hoping that tomorrow would hold more for him, he fell asleep soundly, his older sisters smiling at their oh-so-naive brother.