"The evidence is undeniable. Guilty and charged with the crime of assassinating the king and attempted assassination of the crown prince, Uriel Finele will be executed via Abyss in exactly three days." The crown prince spoke coldly, his eyes piercing into Uriel's shaky pupils.
The abyss was a place near the outskirts of the kingdom. A ravine dropping thousands of meters, where the light doesn't touch, and where many large and monstrous creatures call home. The pressure alone would kill whoever's dragged down there, but if they somehow survived, then the gargantuan creatures would have an easy meal.
Well, his execution isn't what bothered him, but the crimes he was charged with. They arrested Uriel without so much of a word as to why he was being detained—Imagine his surprise when he was brought to court for the assassination of the king, the one he was most loyal and subservient to.
"No, I couldn't have killed his majesty…That man is like a father to me. Something's wrong…This is wrong."
"There must be a mistake, I didn't-" He tried to defend himself desperately, but was silenced with a slap to his cheek. "Silence, Criminal!" Uriel had to grip the podium for support from the force of the blow. The guard did not show a shred of empathy at the sight of Uriel's heartbroken gaze, instead choosing to glare at him scornfully
"I'm innocent…" A look of betrayal crossed his face when he looked at the jury, spotting his sister in the crowd. Uriel could feel the bile rising in his throat, unable to look at her complex expression. "Orina would believe me, I'm her brother. Even the prince–we've known each other for years, this is surely a misunderstanding…"
"You're highness…!!" Uriel spoke up when the guard berated him again, hoping for the prince to call order to the court. his plea died in his throat when he saw the look on the prince's face.
His eyes widened at the slight upward quirk of the crown princeʻs lips, and a chill ran down his spine as it felt like his body was covered in ice.
"Oh…" He shivered as if something became clear at that moment. "Who is that man?" He was going to be sick. Uriel was not looking up at the man he had served under for years. This was not his long-time friend, but an imposter who replaced him.
"The verdict has been decided, drag the criminal away." Uriel stayed quiet as he was not-so-kindly escorted out of the courtroom. He tried to get a glimpse of not only the prince, but his sister before he was dragged out, but he was unable to see either.
In the hallway, his mind was reeling with this new revelation. He suddenly felt dizzy and tried to think of where his highness could have gone. He didn't know who that was, but it was not the man he grew up beside for fifteen years, he was sure of it. What happened to his best friend? Where is he?
"Uriel." He was snapped out of his thoughts when he saw his sister approach him, a blank expression on her face. "Orina…?" He called back. Hope rose in his chest when his sister swam closer, the sight of her causing Uriel to feel a little relieved despite the coldness of her stare. "She believes me, right?"
"You know I'm innocent, right? I would never do something to his ma-" "Shut your filthy mouth, traitor." Just like that, the calming feeling seemed like it was swept away by a strong current, and that sickly feeling from the courtroom came back.
"After all the royal family has done for us…." Her voice trembled with anger as she spoke under her breath. "I can't believe my brother is such an ungrateful wretch." Orina spat, and her icy glare pierced through Uriel's heart like an arrow when she looked at him with such disdain.
There it is again. The feeling of dread was so strong he could feel the acidic liquid make its way up his esophagus. "She's abandoning me—" He couldn't hold it anymore, placing a hand over his mouth to stop himself from dirtying the waters that flow through the palace corridors.
After a moment to recover, Uriel watched her retreating form with the disgusting taste of sorrow on his tongue. Uriel frowned when he saw her shoulders quiver and a sparkly jewel hit the floor "She cried…" Uriel's mood was further dampened by this realization, remaining silent on the way to his cell.
"Ugh!" He let out a groan when the guard roughly tossed him onto the cold floor of the dungeon. "His Majesty didn't deserve to die at the hands of scum like you." The scowling guard entered the cell with him, a malicious glare adorned his face when Uriel tried to back himself into the wall.
"I look pathetic right now…" He thought to himself. He was once one of the most prominent figures in the kingdom, the Finele house's loyalty and devotion to the kingdom going back generations, and he was no exception. Uriel happily devoted his life to the royal family, especially the crown prince. Now he would be rewarded for his loyalty by rotting in a cell for a few days before his execution.
His body would be chained to a lead ball and he would be thrown down the ravine to either suffer death under the water's crushing pressure or be met with the jaws of a leviathan monster. Still, he had to pull himself together. He was innocent, he would never betray the king, this is a fact.
Uriel turned his attention back to the guard that had him backed into a corner, his pride from serving the kingdom for so long not letting him remain silenced under the accusatory glower any longer. "My loyalty to his majesty is absolute, and I am innocent of the heinous crime I have been accused of until the king rises from his grave to condemn me himself," Uriel said boldly, looking up at the guard with an aura that exuded the dignity and grace befitting of a duke.
This only irked the guard further, making Uriel let out a wheeze in pain when the guard punched him in the stomach. "To still be able to act high and mighty after your crimes were exposed!" The guard roared. Uriel uselessly tried blocking the relentless beating, but his thin untrained body was nothing against the guard who was eager to let out his anger.
"I will find a way to clear my name, and bring justice for his majesty…" His thoughts of loyalty remained even when his consciousness was slipping after a particularly damaging attack from the guard made him cough out the bile he so desperately tried to keep in.
Uriel woke up with a jolt after the beating, his white hair hardened with dry blood. "I'll be executed in three…no, two days." He muttered as the dread started to set in. He needed to find a way to clear his name, fast.
Even with his determination, he couldn't help but feel helpless. "I've failed. Both as the Duke of this kingdom and the king's pupil." He let out a shaky breath as emotions from everything that was going on suddenly crashed into him. The hopelessness from the trial, his meeting with Orina, and the knowledge that the king, his godfather—was killed by his son, and Uriel's closest friend caused him to tear up.
The tear quickly crystallized in the corner of his eye, falling onto the floor with a klink. "I wonder what his majesty would've done if he were in my position." Uriel's lip trembled when turned his head to stare at the ball, the color making his breath hitch.
Pearls. A precious yet common gem of the sea. A mermaid's tears in physical form when the sea washes them away. The colors of the pearl vary based on the emotion felt when shedding said tear. There's a large variety of colors, but out of all of them, one stands out.
Black pearls, otherwise known as the tears of the damned. Black pearls are only shed when the mermaid crying feels the crushing weight of despair, losing everything they hold dear.
A rare pearl indeed, many humans on the surface believe such a color is a myth.
"Well, isn't this a heartbreaking scene?" A voice spoke with pity. Uriel looked up to see a woman floating above him. Not just any woman, but a cecaelian sea witch. "Black pearls aren't something to scoff at. You must be feeling pretty desperate, right?"
"Sea witch…No, the fugitive Yvonne Vent." Uriel's eyes widened when he saw the woman before him, staring at her confusedly. Her black hair matched the six void-like tentacles, which picked up the pearl beside him.
"Why are you here?" He asked with caution, slowly getting up from the ground with suspicion. "I imagine a wanted criminal wouldn't wander into the castle's dungeons so carelessly" The emphasizing of the word 'dungeons' caused her eye to twitch.
Yvonne sighed, wrapping her tentacles around the man before her as the cell went dark with the snap of her fingers. "..!!! If you do that, the guards will—" He struggled against her grasp, carefully whispering in a panicked and bewildered tone.
"Relax, your grace. It's my magic. To those outside, this cell will be as quiet as a mouse~" The witch reassured him, but Uriel didn't feel too convinced. "Not to worry, there's also an illusion, so feel free to speak and act freely!" The tentacles around Uriel slowly retracted, letting him swim to the cell corner with a glare on his face.
"It's all thanks to this little thing!" She ignored his glare, motioning to the pearl between her fingertips "…My tears? How..?" Uriel frowned, seeing the black pearl in the witch's grasp. "You used the life essence in the pearl to create a perfect illusion."The witch winked, crushing the pearl between her fingers as its color drained and crumbled away. "
Bingo! But we can't dilly-dally much longer, my illusion only lasts a couple of hours. Let's get to the point." She said, her voice suddenly getting serious. "You want to live, right? Clear your name…Get revenge for your precious majesty?"
She smirked with a certain knowing look that made Uriel shiver. "…So what if I do? I'm going to be executed, and there's nothing I can do against the thing that replaced the crown prince." He wanted to avenge himself and his king, but what could he do? The creature posing as the prince wasn't a simple mimic. It was intelligent. Surely it had a plan if Uriel somehow retaliated.
"What if I offered my help? Exposing the fake prince as the true criminal wouldn't be hard with my magic." Yvonne smiled wider as she saw Uriel perk up. "But could you help me find the real prince? The warrant out for your arrest doesn't include 'master of magic' in its description."
"Well, isn't it common for us criminals to keep a few tricks up our sleeves? I'll have the fake prince out and the real one back quicker than you can imagine" She waved her hand dismissively.
"Just do something for me, and I'll try my hardest to uphold my end of the deal!"
Uriel could hardly believe it, that a sea witch, who was a criminal and a cecaelian, a race who are known for making unfair deals—was offering to help him, for a trade that seemed to lean way too much in his favor.
"Cecaelians aren't known for doing charity, Yvonne. What exactly do you want me to do?" The woman pouted at his cautious stare. "Slow it down with the suspicion, alright? I just need you to get me something from the surface world!" She made sure to make the deal sound enticing because, in reality, Uriel would be sent to his death if he wasn't clever enough to survive on land. Still, he needed to live and get to the bottom of the prince's sudden personality shift.
"What do you want me to get?" Uriel was curious about the offer, but something still rubbed him the wrong way. "So you will?! I knew I could count on the young duke for such a task!" Yvonne seemed overjoyed at his reluctant agreement. "What strange attitude for a cecaelian…they normally wouldn't offer a deal this good."
"I've got a question." After some thought, he regained his bearings on the situation at hand. "I'm going to be executed by the Abyss in two days. They will notice if I'm gone. If I were to accept your deal, we need to make it seem like I'm already dead."
Yvonne stared at him for a moment, before a knowing smirk graced her lips. "Isn't it just wonderful that my magic specializes in transformation and illusion?" She laughed, holding her hand out. "Cough up a few more of those black pearls, and I might be able to create a pre—tty realistic doll of the duke."
"I can't…I don't feel so distressed anymore." The witch paused for a moment. "Did you seriously only shed a single black pearl?! What about gold pearls? Pink pearls?" As she listed off the many variants, Uriel just shook his head. "I'm not an easy crier…"
Yvonne let out a groan before leaning closer to Uriel. "Let's head back to my place first…Hopefully, I'll find something there." With the snap of her fingers, they were no longer in the cell, but in a cavern where the walls were lined with many different vials and jars full of rare plants.
Uriel felt nauseous from the sudden teleportation as his head spun. He barely managed to regain his bearings as the woman in front of him groaned. "C'mon…Ugh! Do I seriously not have any other black pearls?!" Yvonne looked as if she was about to tear her hair out as she frantically searched her cupboards.
"Instead of trying to create an illusion, why not just wait until they've tossed me into the abyss and come get me before I go too far down?" The rummaging stopped and she looked at him like he was her savior. "Oh my god, that is sooo much easier!" Uriel sighed, not knowing what to think of the childish witch in front of him. "Is this woman actually older than me..?"
"I'll whip up a potion right away, we can't waste even a second!" She excitedly rambled, messily grabbing a bunch of ingredients off of her shelves. Uriel watched in silence as she poured a bunch of random ingredients into her cauldron, his head finally beginning to clear.
"Give me a scale!" Yvonne approached Uriel with a knife, causing him to back away slightly "Put that away." He frowned as he peeled off one of his scales with a hiss. "I'm not letting you near me with such a hungry look in your eyes."
Cecaelias are carnivores, whose favorite food happens to be fish. And what a coincidence! A very tender and delicious fish was right in front of her, which had little muscle on its bones but was still large enough to not be too chewy. What a perfect snack.
The witch seemed to realize the sadistic look on her face, quickly setting aside the knife and putting on her most innocent look. "Sorry~ I haven't had the time to eat breakfast yet! Couldn't control myself there!" Uriel shivered as he passed the blue scale over to the woman, who seemed conflicted between licking off the blood and using it in a potion.
"Maybe I shouldn't have accepted her help…" He bit his lip. "One is enough, right?" He eyed the woman who seemed lost in thought. "Yep! I'll finish up this potion after I bring you back to your cell. I think seeing a dashing young merman such as yourself while I work might throw me off."
"Throw you off how…" He muttered as he inched farther and farther away. "C'mon now, your grace! Don't be so shy!" Uriel mentally prepared himself for the dizziness he was about to experience yet again. Right after he just got over it as well. "Please, have mercy on this poor merman soul…" Yvonne snapped her fingers again, and they were gone from her cavern and back in the dungeon.
Uriel fell to the floor, his body trembling as he felt nauseous. "Ooh…I guess you're not that used to this kind of magic yet, huh?" Yvonne would've received a glare if the man before her wasn't so focused on not throwing up. "It's understandable to feel this sick, it takes a while to get used to."
"Does it now…?" Uriel's voice was raspy as he swallowed the bitterness of his own saliva. "Should I expect to hear from you soon? Or will you come visit me as I'm falling into the abyss?"
"Of course, I'll visit you before then! I need to deliver your potion before you get thrown down there–How else are you supposed to escape execution?" Uriel just shrugged, not putting much faith into his new ally.
"Welp, someone's approaching your cell, so I better leave!" Yvonne smiled at him before she began to disappear into ink "Toodles~ I'll return when the potion is done!" And with that, she was gone.
"They're coming…" Uriel listened to the ocean currents changing as the sounds of a tail swishing through the water approached the metallic door. Uriel's stomach filled with dread just as it did in the courtroom, and he could almost instinctively tell who was at the door.
"Brother" A voice spoke coldly. "Orina…and your highness…" Uriel greeted them wistfully, sadness in his eyes as he looked at those closest to him.
"Execution isn't enough for the likes of you." Orina moved closer to her brother, an intense rage blurring her vision. "No…You deserve much worse for what you've done to the king after everything he sacrificed for us." Uriel shuddered at the aggression in her voice, mentally mourning the loss of his one and only sister…