The Inside Story

It was after midnight when I was escorted to a seashell-covered carriage, glittering in the light of the stars. Aqua floated by the Queen's side as everyone from the front of the campus watched. Students teachers and plenty of parents came to see the shows of the classes. I stayed behind the queen a few steps, her bodyguards right behind me.

She stepped up into the stagecoach and sat. The coachmen ushered me in right after and closed the door behind me. Queen Serena's sparkling gown reminded me of the ocean floor. She took my hands. "We finally meet at last!"

"Um, nice to meet you," I blurted out the politest thing I could under so much sudden pressure. "Did you like the show?"

"Yes actually," she replied calmly. "It was a shorter verson of the retelling of the way my kingdom fell apart, but I'm sure you knew that."

The stagecoach started rolling and Aqua whispered something in her ear. My eyes widened at the news. "The way Aquasoa fell apart?"

"Oh, so you don't know anything, do you?" The Queen placed a hand over her mouth. "Not even about Atlanti?"

"Like the princess I played in the show?" I asked.

"Exactly, she was the heir to my kingdom before vanishing to another world," the Queen bowed her head in shame. "Her guard came back and told the story before his execution. Such a scandal has destroyed the kingdom of Aquasoa."

"Wait, it was all real?" I freaked out at the story the queen had shared. Even Aqua looked a bit depressed.

"Yes, dear child," she continued. "And as her child you are the heir and the key to saving the kingdom."

It was then that the world paused, and something in me changed. It was as if life had lied to me. "My mom is Atlanti? But she has never talked about it, or even given me a hint! How am supposed to-"

"If you are ready has yet to be discussed," she silenced me, her eyes narrowing. "First I must tell you of your fate of proceeding your mother. Aqua was the start of it all."

I looked to the cat, her half-lidded eyes looking back at me. "Yeah, it was me."

"But how did you even find me?" I questioned.

"It all started with Ms. Silvenda, and the war of the witches," the cat replied. "She needed help from a ruler who still valued the ability to enchant objects and stir potions. Your teacher found allyship in the queen."

"She promised if I saved her people she would restore my kingdom," Queen Serena explained. "Finding you would change everything."

"So that's why you look like a keychain in the normal world?" I asked and Aqua nodded.

"The queen sent me with Ms. Silvenda as an agent to bring you home," Aqua told me. "I waited for some kid that looked like Atlanti for five years before you came and bought me from that old toy shop."

"And you knew Kai would find me?" I asked.

"He happens to look like Atlanti's old bodyguard," shrugged Aqua. "I thought you might have that instinct of 'I met him in another life.'"

I gave Aqua the side-eye at her plan. The worst part was that she was right. Then I had a question, catching flame and burning inside me. "Will I ever go back to the real world if I become the heir?"

"Probably not," replied Queen Serena. "I don't mean to sound brash, but now that one princess has escaped, I can't take any chances."

My stomach flipped at the stagecoach ran over a rock, making me jump in my seat. "But I want to see mom again."

My voice quivered as Queen Serena spoke up. "If it's what allows you to stay, then maybe there is a way to bring her to this world."

"Really?" I smiled.

"If you could even convince her," sighed the queen. "I suppose there is always time to catch up with my daughter."

That's when I realized something critically important. "Then, that would make you my grandmother, right?"

"Ding-ding-ding," Aqua impersonated a bell. "It took you long enough to notice what heir meant."

"Sorry," I laughed nervously as I came up with a new question. "So, how could I possibly rule a kingdom in the ocean if I'm a human?"

"Well, it's as simple as taking a dive," Aqua started. "How do you think the queen has feet right now?"

Queen Serena slightly listed her dress to expose her human feet. "I own no shoes because I am a mermaid, and you soon won't need them either."

"So, I just become a mermaid when I though the water?" I questioned. "How did I not turn into a mermaid in the real world?"

"Magic doesn't exist there," replied the queen. "From what I know, that world is run purely man-made contraptions."

"Yeah, that about sums it up," I told her as I gazed out the window and into the moon. A simple sentence kept playing in my head, a cry of defiance.

'But I don't want to become the ocean.'