"Marina: Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it."
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YEAR: 1213, SOMEWHERE IN THE MONTH OF MARTIUS, OF MERIDITH'S LUNAR CALENDAR.
KINGDOM: ROARING
MARINA'S POV:
A FEW FLASHBACKS
"You are a princess."
"You must behave like one."
"You must use your powers, or they're gonna take away your throne"
"I see you are good for nothing, just like your mother. This must be why she left you. "
The sound echoed in my head. It always has.
"You must use your powers, that is how you shall win against them."
"Why can't you use all your powers at once? You must use them in the war, you must protect the kingdom. Roaring is your home now. You must repay the debts."
It again rang in my ears. It was disturbing my meditation.
How I hated it when he dictated all my life. He is cruel and selfish. I am still wondering how they claim he loved her real children so much. It was still a mystery to me. That man only knows how to hate. How to despise us? How to gain from us? Without returning anything. The heartless king of Roaring, Martin, sadly our father.
It was only the cool water of the Oceanus of Treant that gave me a bit of peace. It was said that goddess Ceto used to come to Meridith to seek peace from the universe's affairs.
Thus this was one of the calmest oceans of Meridth. This calm ocean was as deep as the universe. No one could ever measure the depth of this vast ocean yet. The waves were silent yet dangerous. No one could possibly come back if they lost their way.
And this is where I truly feel at home. My home. Serene and beautiful.
"How can you just stand there and watch us lose? Why did I bring you here? You are weak. You must save our home. This family who have protected you."
His words again rang in my head. All he did was damage us. All of us.
"This is your home. You must protect it."
All he did was engage us in the wars, using us against his battles. My brothers were enslaved in the same way. Sadly they do not have powers like me. So they are not of any use.
People say that Roaring is a wonderful kingdom that is ruled underwater, but it was only I who knew how badly polluted the water was. Roaring was situated in the southernmost part of Meridith. Separated from the land and by other oceans. Roaring is the only habitable place.
But it was a kingdom until our grandfather Aron was alive. Since his death, everything has changed. I became the only puppet of King Martin.
"Marina?"
"Marina? Are you there?"
"Marina?"
My distorted thoughts finally broke and I began to see things clearly. I was still soaking underwater. Surprisingly I could live in both parts of the world. That is why King Martin mostly used me in his battles. He wanted to use the land too...
I pushed myself up to reach the surface. Someone called me and that someone was none other than my dear friend Maia.
"There you are" Maia smiled looking at me.
"How do you always find me?" I asked as I swam near the coast. With a few swift pushes, I reached the beach and came out of the ocean.
"And how do you breathe underwater and above ground?" Maia asked with a smile on her face.
"'cuz I am a waterborne Maia. Just how can you fly and run with those beautiful legs?"
"That we do with the help of our wings, but you don't even have gills like a fish or tails and even can breathe in both parts?" She looked at me with awe and stars in her eyes. That is how she is, the little curious one.
Maia was an orphan just like me. Her mother died while giving birth, and since then she has been on her own. Sometimes I feel jealous of seeing how perfectly independent she is. She was originally a mixed breed of faun and a sylph. She has her father's faun leg as well as her mother's sylph wings. She was indeed a rare one. Her deep sea green eyes attracted the most male sylph of her species and even a few faeries.
But she wanted to be the King's guard. Thus she never fails to stick with me. She was brave, valiant and a good fighter too. And surprisingly she thought I could help her. She knew nobody could run as fast as her. That was her advantage. And if I could teach her how to survive in water so she can finally come to Roaring to appeal for the soldier position.
What a silly girl.
"Why do you look so down, Marina?" she asked looking at me.
"N-Nothing" I replied silently.
She came close and touched my shoulder. "You know you can talk to me right?"
"It was the same, Maia. Martin wants me to fight with him during the war with the people of the lands. He just wanted to use my powers. I don't feel good about it" I said honestly.
"Did you try to talk to your brothers?" She asked.
"Yes, but since my mother's and Grandfather's death Father Martin had become someone else, Someone I have never seen. I never knew he hated me so much." I sighed. "He abuses and tortures me to use my magic for his own benefit. I just want to run away from Maia."
I had broken down by now. I couldn't stand the torture I was going through. Till the day when my grandfather was there, he treated me like a family. Although I knew I was adopted, they never made me feel like an outsider. Our mother died a few years back and my brothers loved me as I was their only sister.
Although I have always felt I was different. I didn't have colourful tails like them or the gills. But I could breathe under and above water. My grandfather said I was special.
That is when one-day Father Martin found out about my abilities to manipulate water without the trident. And my powers were greater than Roarings' boundaries and law.
Soon after his death, I was captured as a slave. Waiting for his orders and commands.
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It took me 6 hours to finally get to sleep. But my mind was not resting at all.
I remembered when in the last battle, my powers never worked. I have no idea why, but they stopped suddenly. I guess I have to meet my godmother Lucy regarding this. She is the only one in front of whom my father couldn't do such abuses.
This had happened a few times before too. My powers flickered from time to time. I tried to find any possible answer to that, but nothing worked. The alchemy of our powers must also have a swindle in it. I must find it soon.
Thump
Thump
Thump
My ears peaked at a sudden noise. I looked outside and I could tell it had already passed midnight. Who could it be in the middle of the night? Somewhere I was feeling something perilous.
I looked around. It was dark and silent. My brothers are asleep in peace. Perhaps it is another attack?
As for gaining my powers, I'm still flickering, saturating myself in the Oceanus of Treant didn't really help me this time around.
"You cannot be a weak princess. Use your powers."
Someone has invaded my thoughts. I don't know who. Perhaps it was my inner self?
"It's the sirens!" Someone shouted, and I could not resist leaving. Sirens are the creatures of the darkest part of Roaring. Father told me how they wanted to kill us but I never knew they could be here!
I closed my eyes and thought I could not lose this time. The soldiers of Roaring already took their position. My brothers stood with me too. No matter what I would save my family.
I finally opened my eyes filled with the blue magic in me. Finally, I gained it back. My powers.
I looked at the door and waited for their arrival. But by this time, the sounds of footsteps already had stopped.
Have they left already? No, they can't. This was not the pattern.
I patiently waited for their arrival but nobody came. What is wrong this time? I sighed thinking that might this all be just in my head. I think I am going crazy. I turned around this time to go back but at that very moment, I could hear the sharp cries.
"The Sirens!" The mermaids and mermen shouted. I could see the dark distorted figures marching towards us. They looked... hungry?
The soldiers attacked them but they didn't stand back. I could see their eyes. They were not angry they were disappointed. What has happened?
I quickly raised my hands to put on a wall with my powers. Using all my powers, I held on to the water walls. They kept hitting the edge, but I never backed down. I need to protect my family. And that is when my powers started flickering once again.
Shit. What is wrong with me?
I tried to regain it back but it stopped working. The soldiers keep hitting them and I can see how painfully they are dying! No, I don't want them to die. I shouted but nobody heard me. They keep killing them one by one. I could see their painful and disappointing bodies getting sunk into deep water.
"Ahhhhhhh!" I used all my powers to focus on them and that is when my powers gathered and took them all at once. They were directly hit by it, resulting in cries that filled the area with sharp noises. No... I didn't want to kill them!
But that is when I noticed they were not dead rather they turned back into beautiful mermaids!
I stand there shockingly, thinking what power do I have in real?
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hey guys, how have you been? Thank you so much for reading this book. I hope you are enjoying it. This is kind of the 2nd phase of the book. Intro to Meridith after 23 years. When princesses were having their own differences and issues.
See you in the next chapter. Please, do not forget to vote and share. Love ya.