Ocean Song Beneath the Waves
*UPDATED* Chapter 20: High Tide

"What the hell’s going on Cas?!” Zale asks angrily as he, Arion, and Caspian stand upon the beach waiting for God knows what.

While Zale seems to be irritated with waiting around out here, Arion seems more concerned with the result of this meeting. “You said we’d be able to replace Serena, Rodion, and dad if we met this stranger. So where are they?” He asks impatiently as he glances around in search of this mysterious person who claims to know how to help them.

Caspian sighs as he scratches his head with a shrug. “They’ll get here when they get here. Besides, I don’t know how true their words are but it’s all we got right now,” he says tiredly as he crosses his arms over his chest.

Just as Zale is about to snap, another voice pierces the air. “I do hope I did not keep you waiting too long.” All three look to where the voice comes from only to replace a strange person garbed in a black cloak. Their face is shrouded in darkness and their voice is raspy with a slight echo to their tone. “Preparations had to be made,” they say lightly as the three brothers regard them with suspicion.

“Preparations for what?” Zale asks suspiciously as he eyes the stranger warily. Something didn’t feel quite right about them and he gets the feeling that they shouldn’t trust this stranger at all. However their proposal is too tempting to pass up. So far they haven’t had any luck with replaceing evidence surrounding their family members’ disappearance. Right now, this is all we got... He thinks a little begrudgingly as the stranger turns in his direction to answer his earlier question.

They seem almost amused with the whole situation as their tone possess a lightness with something akin to creepy laughter interlaced in every word they utter. “Follow me and I shall show you how to locate your missing family members.” Arion is hesitant and it shows clear on his face as he looks between both of his brothers with trepidation in his eyes.

Caspian is unsure as he looks towards his youngest brother and his next words are anything but confident. “Alright. Just show us how to get our family back,” he says after a moment of hesitation. Zale doesn’t appear too convinced of the stranger’s intentions and Arion isn’t too keen to discover what this stranger has in store for them. However, the fact of the matter remains that this person is the only one who knows anything regarding the location of those they lost to those accursed waves and so...they follow them to the place where all of this began...

“Foolish boys!” The person curses as they watch the three young men follow after the suspicious person garbed in black. Oh, how desperately they wish to call out and warn them against following this person but alas, they are but to observe this stranger’s movements on land until they finally return to the sea. “I knew I should have made direct contact earlier on. They are going to get themselves killed,” they groan as they watch the three near the edge of the cliff. “I cannot hear the words they speak from here...” They murmur as they hold out a hand and effortlessly summon forth a glowing silver conch. They bring it closer to their face as a group of voices pour forth from it like a radio.

“So, what now?” Asks the youngest one possessed of golden blond hair. His tone is impatient, and his stance is guarded as he turns his gaze back to their “companion” and away from what lies below them.

The one with silver hair, may hap the second eldest, runs a hand through his hair. Judging by his stance it is quite obvious that he is wary of this stranger—as he should be given that they’ve offered them no plausible reason to trust their words. “What’d you bring us up here for?” Clearly, he’s annoyed and most likely wishes to engage in his nightly activities that this person has witnessed once or twice.

A chuckle echoes forth from the shell as they take notice of the black tongue pouring forth from their lips. Their eyes widen in shock as the conch suddenly dissolves into a cloud of a black, tainted mist. They jump back quickly to avoid it as they swear under their breath. Clearly their subject of interest has noticed their presence and any cover they may have had is blown away like leaves on the wind. So with the element of surprise lost to them there is no longer any reason for them to hide and with that they sprint towards the cliff in the hopes of being able to save the oblivious boys at the very least.

“You must get away from him!” They shout but the boys don’t seem to hear as their eyes dull whilst they are wrapped up in that same black mist from earlier. It entices them to draw closer to the edge and they willingly comply as with each step they take, they lose more and more ground. “Damn it all! STOP!” But no matter how loudly they yell, those boys don’t hear them and just as they manage to get close enough to reach out and grab them...

“...Too little, too late,” he whispers sinisterly into their ear as their eyes widen in surprise at having been suddenly thrown backwards. How could they not have noticed him draw so close but that isn’t the main priority right now because after they were pulled away from the cliff...

SPLASH!

They stare in shocked silence. All three went over the edge and it was after they fell off that the screams were heard.

“My Lord shall be most pleased. I may have failed in acquiring the other two but I shall not make that mistake again!” He cackles as he goes running towards the cliff.

They recover quickly as they release an angry snarl. “The hell you will!” They shout as they easily catch up to him and grab him by his collar, quickly throwing him as far from the edge as possible.

“Gah! Insolent creature!” He yells in fury but they smirk as they leap off the cliff and dive down into the waiting depths below...

“Forgive me my Lord. It seems that my plans continue to be thwarted,” he says apologetically with a hiss in his tone at having his tasks interfered with.

“It matters not. All is exactly where it needs to be,” says a sinister voice as it echoes off the walls of the cavern.

“As you wish my Lord. What then is my next task that you would have me do in order to see you return to the height of your power?” He asks eagerly as the voice seems to chuckle in some kind of amusement over something unknown to him.

“Patience Axensus,” they say lightly as Axensus bows his head. “That will come in due time. For now I need you to replace Rusalka and revive her. Next I would have the both of you seek out my Sirens of the Deep and Beasts of Azrael.” Axensus nods his head in understanding as he places a hand over his heart and bows with a grin spread across his face.

“It shall be done my Lord and what would you have me do about our...accomplices?” He asks curiously as the voice surrounding him seems to hum in thought for a moment.

“For now I would have you maintain eyes on them. They still have their use and under no circumstances can they fail in their own individual missions,” they say seriously as the water surrounding Axensus grows darker. “And what of the stones Axensus?”

Axensus straightens himself as he closes his eyes with a smirk. “As for right now all stones remain dormant. However, Aquarius has begun to resonate and I have recently received intel that Aries is on the verge of awakening,” he inform seriously as the smirk falls from his face upon speaking of Aquarius and Aries.

They growl in irritation before addressing Axensus once again. “And what of Pisces?” The ask darkly as Axensus replaces himself shifting on his tail at the uncomfortable darkness of his master’s tone.

“Pisces remains dormant as far as I know. It is difficult to penetrate its defenses and even harder still to get into the kingdom in where it’s kept. All we can do is watch from afar but it seems to show no signs of awakening anytime soon,” he says with a regretful tone upon informing his master of his unsuccessful attempts at getting into the Kingdom of Pisces.

“I see. That is good then. Everything is falling into place and soon I shall have this world within the palm of my hand without anyone to stop me this time,” they say with a dark laughter that echoes about the entirety of the cavern…

She tenses as they move along the dark corridor. Something is wrong and it disturbs her very being as though something vile and dark has gripped her being in a vice grip.

“Something wrong?” Prince Kito asks, his African accent quickly breaking her from her daze. She looks up at him as he stares at her with bold dark eyes with a kind smile on his face which causes her to relax and return the smile.

“I am fine. Thank you for asking Prince Kito,” she says gratefully as he nods his head before turning back to a set of doors at the end of the corridor that appear to be made of splendid Diamond engraved with Egyptian designs.

“This will take us to the Diamond Hall where the stone of Aries sleeps,” Prince Kito says as he and Prince Azizi raise their hands towards the door.

They both begin to sing some kind of song in what sounds like a language similar to the African tongue. The doors pulse as they begin to glow a crimson color.

Calder stands as calm as can be while Serena and Rodion stare on in absolute awe. Sure they’ve seen magic done but nothing compared to what they’re witnessing right this second.

Their song carries power without hesitation and it offers a feeling of empowerment to those who listen, or at least that’s what Serena is feeling. As soon as the song comes to an end the door slowly open, the sheer weight causing a deep creaking noise to resound through the corridor like a door from an ancient temple or old castle from a vampire movie or something.

The doors give way to a beautiful room with scarlet walls and a golden floor that dips downward to give the room the appearance of being a dome. The ceiling appears to be made of glistening silver marble with gold etchings of what appear to be African carvings of Aries. At the center of it all is a wide bowl-like pedestal that remains in place due to magic. Floating just a bit above the bowl is a beautiful stone wrapped in a protective silver barrier.

The stone is a beautiful diamond of the clearest and brightest jewel that Serena has ever seen. A truly one of a kind stone... She thinks in awe as Rodion tries to keep his own awe from his face.

Meanwhile, Calder swims up to the stone while the two princes remain behind with his companions.

“Hm...” He hums as he stares at the diamond intently. Something that only he has noticed about it is the fact that the diamond is emitting a gentle pulse which means...

“What be the matter Lord Calder?” Prince Azizi asks curiously as he takes notice of the way that Calder stares at the diamond.

“It would appear that Aries is on the verge of awakening,” he says in a mystic tone of voice as four pairs of eyes widen in surprise.

Prince Kito is most eager to discover the identity of the awakening warrior as he swims a step forward. “Then who is it?!” He asks a bit impatiently as Calder turns to them with a look in his eyes, one that they can’t seem to identify.

“I need you to listen closely to my next words,” he says seriously as he crosses his arms over his chest. The others in the room hold their breaths as he opens his mouth to say whatever it is he needs to say. “Aries is...”