Ocean Song Beneath the Waves
*UPDATED* Chapter 6: The Prince

After Aaralyn shows Serena to her room, she promptly leaves right after only informing Serena to send for her if she is needed. Meanwhile, Princess Arcelia remains, and has made herself comfortable on the cushions in the spacious bay window.

She eagerly beckons Serena over, so she complies albeit a bit awkwardly. Serena knows next to nothing about having and keeping friends after being ostracized by the people at school. So, she has no idea how to even approach a conversation from this point.

Serena nervously settles herself amongst the various colorful pillows. Her mind pauses as she looks down at them. How is it that a pillow this comfortable exists? The pillows are so soft that they’re reminiscent of a soft fluffy cloud. Not that she’d even know what a cloud would feel like, but she’s certain it would feel like this. It makes her wonder if all royalty lived this way. Though they must for them to look as resplendent as they do. At least from what Serena has seen on TV and of the royals she’s met so far, mythical species aside.

“How are you liking things thus far?” Princess Arcelia asks after a moment of silence. Her expression is an eager one, and her eyes convey the sincere effort she’s making to befriend Serena.

So, Serena smiles softly. “Honestly? This is far too fine a lifestyle for me. That is to say,” she pauses thoughtfully. “I’m not quite used to these kinds of luxuries.”

Princess Arcelia smiles cheerfully. “I am certain that you shall grow accustomed to it given time. Admittedly, the life of royalty is cumbersome at best, and we are not quite free to do as we wish, but I hope you enjoy the benefits of it!”

Serena chuckles nervously. Of course, she knows how troublesome the royal life is going by history alone. Your life isn’t your own, and every move is watched, everything decided for you. It’s a life she fantasized about when she was a little girl, but it’s certainly not a life she would want now, knowing what it entails.

Princess Arcelia remains blissfully unaware of her new companion’s prolonged silence. The princess continues to chatter with a childish excitement that Serena replaces rather endearing in her.

Serena lightly shakes her head as she tunes into Princess Arcelia’s ceaseless chatter. It seems that the princess had been in the middle of a story about some mischief she got into when she was younger. Though Serena can hardly recall the conversation before that or how the princess had even reached this particular topic.

“Brother was so terribly angry that he saw fit to confiscate the entirety of my shell collection!” Princess Arcelia breaks out into a fit of giggles that sound musical to the ears. “After the fact, I had refused to speak to him for a week!”

A small smile slips onto Serena’s face as she continues to listen to the princess’s infectious laughter. The story dredges up some old memories that Serena, herself, has of her own older brothers.

A pang hits her heart right then. The thought of her brothers leaves a bitter feeling in her chest and she replaces herself thinking about them.

Princess Arcelia is quick to notice the small frown working at Serena’s lips as she ceases her animated chatter. “Do you have any siblings?”

Serena smiles then as she looks to her with a nod. “Yes, four older brothers as a matter of fact.”

Princess Arcelia’s eyes widen as an amused smile slips back onto her face. “Four older brothers? Good heavens! And here I thought myself to be having trouble with managing the one I have!”

Serena giggles as fond memories overtake the gloomy feelings from moments prior.

“Yes, growing up they were overbearingly protective,” Serena chuckles. Immediately she recalls an instant in her childhood where Rodion chased off some poor little boy wanting to play with her. There hadn’t been anything wrong with the boy, but Rodion simply stated that the boy had seemed too friendly.

Serena’s eyes light up as she continues. “Sometimes it felt as though they were suffocating me. There were many times where I would ask them to ease off.”

Princess Arcelia joins in Serena’s laughter. “And did they?”

Serena bursts into loud laughter. “Of course not! Why, once I had been playing ball with a group of kids outside and I missed the ball and fell. Caspian, my eldest brother, was at my side in seconds and yelling at the kids trying to discern what had happened!”

“Oh no! And you didn’t tell him yourself?”

Serena shakes her head as she clutches onto her stomach to calm the fits of laughter. “No! I had been crying so hard that I couldn’t even get the words out!”

“Admittedly, my brother wasn’t quite so overbearing growing up. There had been no children in the palace for me to play with and more often than not, I entertained myself with childish pranks.” A wistful expression crosses Princess Arcelia’s face then. “Brother would become most cross when some of my pranks directly affected him. He was so quick to reprimand me, but often he would just tolerate my pursuits of amusement.”

Briefly does Serena entertain the thought of that stern-faced prince and a young Princess Arcelia. However, no matter how hard she tries, she can’t really see Prince Oceanus having any patience for the whims of a child.

Princess Arcelia smiles slyly. “I see that look! My brother was not always the way he is now.” Serena sits up a little straighter upon detecting the hint of sadness in Princess Arcelia’s tone.

She’s hesitant at first but then asks, “What happened?”

Princess Arcelia sighs with a shake of the head. “That, I cannot specify. My brother would be cross with me if I spoke of his past interludes.”

So, Serena says no more on the topic, easily going along with the princess’s abrupt change in subject matter instead. Obviously, whatever happened to the prince long ago, isn’t something to be spoken of lightly. Least of all if it’s not coming from him, but Serena isn’t too quick to go and pester him about it. It’s not her business, and she really doesn’t want to get even further on his bad side than she already is.

This is a bad idea. There’s no way in hell they expect her to do this, do they?

Serena visibly shudders as she stares down the dark-eyed beast before her. Its massive size does little for her nerves as she takes note of the rows and rows of sharp teeth in its mouth.

She looks back to Princess Arcelia and Prince Oceanus. The former appears visibly concerned while the latter doesn’t appear to be the least bit bothered.

Princess Arcelia showed up at Serena’s bedroom door moments after she finished preparing for the day. They spent about an hour in her room partaking in rather tasty sea cakes for breakfast before the prince showed up. He promptly brought them out here where this monstrous great white awaited them. Apparently, the prince thought it a good idea to teach Serena to swim with some incentive.

Quite frankly, Serena doesn’t see this going well in the least. She’s grasped a basic understanding of how to move about, but it’s not easy to do so.

According to Princess Arcelia, Prince Oceanus has someplace that he wishes to take Serena. Although, the prince has no wish to be slowed down. Thus, she replaces herself here.

Naturally, Princess Arcelia did beseech her brother to pursue a different method, but Serena quickly learned that the prince is stubborn in addition to his sternness.

Serena eyes the shark warily as its beady black eyes stare soullessly back at her.

Now, she’s always gone to the ocean despite her family’s wishes, but she’s never entered it for one reason. And that reason is staring right back at her with rows of sharp teeth made for tearing her to pieces.

Her blood runs cold as her complexion pales considerably. Princess Arcelia dons a look of worry—torn between checking on Serena and leaving her be per her brother’s wishes.

“If you cannot outswim the shark, you die. Simple as that.”

Serena represses the urge to snap at the prince. “Simple” he says! He’s not the one staring imminent and painful death in the face! She begins to clench and unclench her fist without conscious thought as the gears start to turn in her head.

How the hell am I supposed to outswim that thing? The shark is unnaturally large—larger than normal sharks. But then, there’s nothing normal about the world she’s fallen into. And there’s the singular fact that eighty percent of the ocean remains undiscovered by humans.

And Serena’s quite certain that she’s looking as well as talking to the remaining eighty percent.

Prince Oceanus crosses his arms and gives a single click of his tongue. And as if a switch has been flipped, the shark goes into a frenzy—charging towards her with jaws open wide. A terrified shriek rips forth from Serena as she turns her body and tries to propel herself through the water with her arms and tail.

Her arms flail wildly about as she claws at the water to try and move her body. Meanwhile, her tail swishes about awkwardly in her panicked efforts of escape as the shark closes in.

Oh how she wants to scream and cry! Then give that prince utter hell. But her mind quickly turns away from those thoughts when the brushing of fangs against her tail fin alerts her to the shark’s proximity. Luckily she pushes herself forward just in time to avoid an untimely amputation of her tail.

Princess Arcelia’s fingers fly to her lips as she watches the scene with wide eyes. If it were possibly, she most likely would have broken out in a cold sweat by now. Her gaze remains on Serena, hoping to the gods that she manages to survive her brother’s brutal lesson.

Of course when she finally manages to gain a friend, her brother does something like this!

A couple of times, she comes close to squeezing her eyes shut in fear whenever the shark’s jaws clamp down.

Honestly, had she known that her brother would pull this then she would have found another way to teach Serena to swim properly. The last thing she wants, is for her first friend to wind up shark food.

Serena begins to lightly pant, the effort to swim through the water becoming too much. The pressure of the water coupled with her unfamiliar body is rapidly burning her stamina. She’s nearly resigned herself to the idea of dying. It’s not looking too bad now in the face of that demonic prince’s methods of teaching.

But then everything seems to go still. There’s a flash that temporarily blinds her, and then all falls silent for a brief moment in time.

Her body seems to move as if in slow motion. Thankfully the shark is also restricted by this strange occurrence.

Then a disembodied voice speaks—its words an echo resonating in her mind. “Calm your heart, my child. Listen to my voice…”

The voice is unmistakably female and soothing to the ear. Serena, strangely enough, replaces herself completely trusting the voice as a familiar song fills her mind and enshrouds her soul.

“Swayed by the waves that set you free,

Will the ocean carry you back to me?

Many long years I have waited,

To meet again is surely fated...

Through the waves and into the deep

’Tis my heart that you surely keep.

I’ll wait for centuries to go by

My love for you will never die.

Come, my child with me into the sea

We shall sing for eternity.

Hold your dreams so preciously,

And leave the nightmares to me.

I shall sing the song I sang long ago,

And beautiful dreams I shall watch you sow.

You will replace the song of the sea,

And we’ll sing in harmony.

Wild and free, you won’t be contained.

Never sealed nor ever chained.

The wounds they caused I shall mend,

And the song will never end.

Swayed by the waves that set you free,

Will the ocean carry you back to me?

Many long years I have waited,

To meet again is surely fated...”

A strange sensation overtakes her, and for a brief moment, it seems as though she knows what to do. Her body moves automatically as time seems to resume it normal pace.

She ceases the flailing of her arms and moves her tail in coordinated strokes that gracefully tear through the water.

There is no thought, no sound except that familiar lullaby. It’s almost like her body isn’t her own, and she feels like a passenger simply going along for the ride.

But it matters little. For now, she knows what to do as if she’s been capable of operating this tail all her life.