The Failed Ceremony

Back at the dorms… (Hope)

The lights in the main hall of the dorms had gone out, meaning it was time for everyone to go to sleep. Though, I crept out of my dorm and snuck down the girls' hallway, despite not wanting to break the rules. I really needed to use the restroom, ok? It wasn't really my fault.

Holding a candle, I quickly slid down the steps to use the restroom on the 2nd floor. When I went back up, I swore I could have heard something coming from the M-5 dorm room. Out of curiosity, I crept through the hallway to make sure everything was okay.

In the dim candlelight, I peered around the door into the dorm room of the class I assisted my mother in teaching sometimes. I was weirded out when I saw the entire class (not just the girls) sitting in a circle as if to preform some sort of weird ghost ritual.

Whisper-shouting, I told the entire class, "What are any of you doing up!? And half of you are in the wrong dorm room too!"

Camm's cheeks turned red while Laura's face went pale as if her soul left her body. Then Kayhari stood up and exclaimed, "Hope, you have fairy magic! That's the most powerful kind, which means you could help us!"

The entire group shushed her, hoping she hadn't woken up the class across from them. "Perfect? What could possibly be so important this late at night?"

Her explanation was about Lily, or more commonly known then as the long-lost heir of Aquasoa, the kingdom of mermaids. I knew little about Lily's situation, but I knew more than class M-5. Kayhari convinced me to spill all the information I had about Lily to the class.

To put it simply, after Lily was crowned, her life would never be the same. Every day was a test only a mermaid could endure. Every second was a trial of mental and/or physical strength tailored to teach and shape the upcoming royal to rule.

"Is there a chance we can ever see Lily ever again?" Kai, who had been nearly silent the entire time finally spoke up with major concern for his friend.

Such a comment really stuck me, making it harder and harder to answer. Kai's face was filled with a innocence that was as fragile as a twig at that point. He was like an oversized kid ready to cry his heart out. But what do anyone tell a kid when their friend moves to another kingdom across the west ocean? What could anyone do to comfort him, but give him a lollipop or cake?

There was a growing idea in the back of my head. It was a bad idea, but was I really just going to hand out free lollipops whenever I came to help mom teach class M-5? The answer was clearly the lollipops, but Kayhari was right about one thing; fairy magic is quite special.

"Maybe I'll pull some strings, but only if you all promise not to do something... unfortunate," I negotiated.

"And why exactly would we ever act 'unfortunate'?" Samm asked, as if he hadn't been the entire reason class M-5 ever got into trouble. Wouldn't he like to know?

"Well, if you promise to keep a secret, I could pull some strings," I smiled, the entire class silently trying to decipher my words. "Meaning we might be taking a field trip."

Kai's eyes lit up.

Aquasoa... (Lily)

The events following my abduction as the heir of the mermaid kingdom were nothing short of chaotic in the most strictly planned way chaos can be... if that makes any sense. It sure didn't make sense to me when I came 'home.'

As the carriage rode through the street, people cheered my name, as if I was a soldier held hostage in another country and had just returned home. There was something other worldly about being underwater and the waves not hitting me one after the next. It was almost like breathing air, except my lungs felt plugged, almost like how my ears became plugged whenever I took a trip somewhere with high elevation.

The ocean floor adorned underwater lily pad-type plants that glowed, and the streets of the kingdom were completely decorated with seaweed string banners and seashell lanterns. The entire kingdom was nestled into the walls of a steep continental shelf, with the castle halfway exposed from inside the shelf wall. I gazed in awe.

The transition from the peaceful night on land to the noise of the castle dining hall was rough to say the least. The many guests that had come from all over the magical world to watched me get crowned. And yes, I agreed to getting crowned and becoming the ruler. Why? Simply because it would be selfish run away from my problems again. It was selfish to all the people that went through to make this happen and all the friends I made along the way. I wanted Kayhari Lance and Kai to know I was safe and doing what was apparently my job.

Admittedly, all this heroic talk wasn't my first thought. It was the middle of the night and taking in more information than my brain would let me. I just agreed for the hope it would somehow lead me to a bed. As the night progressed, my quest for sleep only seemed more and more hopeless.

It was around sometime in the early morning when a ceremony was held as well as a ball. I was dressed the quickest I could and sent straight to a stage to make the announcement of if I was going to accept and kick off the 'real party.'

The ballroom glowed in the moon-reflected water, the lasting fragments cutting through the transparent waves to sine on me. "H-hi," if I were on land my eyes would have watered and my legs would have gave way. "I'm Lily..."

My voice trailed off, for I had barely anytime to think let alone prepare. The underwater world was spinning and my eyelids were trying to stay open. I would pry them if I needed to. Every mer-person in that room was the closest thing to silent since I had left school that night.

"I would like to say," everything hurt and I was too tired to form words in my brain. I just wanted to go home. "Thank you for-"

A yawn just escaped my lips as I was off to my dreams, in another realm, at the bottom of the ocean.