Deep below the sea, a hidden city thrived in the depths of the ocean. A society of unique beings lived there. They were none other than the rarely seen mermaids. The leader of this city had a loving wife and a gorgeous daughter, who would someday take her fathers’ place as leader.
“Father…” The young girl whined. “I don’t want to get married to someone that you choose on your own. I want to find a nice man and fall in love by myself.”
“Unacceptable.” Her father argued. “You are of a royal blood line. I do not need you ruining our clean and pure reputation, Aqua.”
Aqua looked down and sighed as she brushed her long, light blue hair out of her face. Her crystal blue eyes reflected the sadness and pain that her father was pushing onto her. At this moment, her mother entered the run with golden hair flowing behind her.
“Don’t be so harsh on our little girl, Midas. She is our only child, we should allow her to do what she pleases.” Her mother said. Aqua looked from her mother to her father in agreement.
Midas pondered long and hard. It wasn’t enough that he was being argued with by his own daughter, but now his own wife. He sighed deeply. “I suppose… I can allow Aqua to abide by her own rules. But, I need to approve of them first.” He added, giving his daughter a stern look.
Aqua’s eyes lit up with hope. She always depended on her mother to get her through tough arguments with her father, and once again, she came to the rescue. “Don’t worry, Father. I will make sure to let you approve of things first.” She said with a smile.
Midas nodded, signaling that the discussion came to an end. He allowed Aqua to leave so he could have a quick word with his wife. “I hope this is the right thing to do, Aurora.”
Aurora smiled brightly at her husband. “I’m sure it is, my Prince. We should allow her to live the life she wants. Weren’t you just an average mermaid when we fell in love?” She took Midas’ hand in hers and kissed him on the cheek.
Midas looked at Aurora as he reminisced about the past, and how he was of lost royal blood, and he fell in love with the daughter of the past city’s ruler.
Aqua swam outside into the business of the streets. Little kids were playing with their pet fish, adults swam quickly as they returned to work from lunch breaks, and teenagers loitered and soaked up the rays of the sun that were reflecting from the surface. Heading towards the serene hideout of the park, she passed her best friend.
“Aqua!” The black haired mermaid called out as she rushed over to meet her friend. “How did it go with your father?”
“Sabrina…! It went… well. My mother came in and helped me out, and my father gave in.” Aqua smiled softly.
“Great!” Sabrina said, hugging her friend.
Sabrina was Aqua’s best friend. Being an only child and having lost both her parents after she was born, she had nowhere else to go but to stay as a servant to the leaders of the city. It’s been rumored that both her parents were evil, and were banished and turned into sea foam after their only daughter was born. Being cautious about the future, Sabrina was forced to live in solitude for the first five years of her life. It wasn’t until then that Aqua found her and wanted to become friends with her. Ever since that day, Aqua still hasn’t sensed any evil radiating from her black-haired friend.
They swam to their hideout in the park and talked about the latest gossip and the cutest boys. It was mostly Sabrina doing the talking. Midas rarely let his daughter socialize with “trouble-making hooligans”, so Aqua only had a few select friends.
While Sabrina was filling Aqua in on what she was missing, a childhood friend came up behind Aqua, surprising both girls.
“Trent.” Aqua gasped.
Trent is another childhood friend of Aqua’s. He left years ago with his brother. Both girls hadn’t seen him since.
Trent smiled a smile that Aqua hasn’t seen in ages. “Hey Aqua. Sabrina. It’s been a while.”
Tears of joy began to roll down Aqua’s cheeks. She quickly hurried over to Trent as he wrapped her in a tight hug.
Sabrina frowned at his return. Ever since they were kids, everyone liked Aqua the best. Especially all of the boys.
Aqua turned around with a wide smile to allow Sabrina to join in their hug, but paused with she thought that she saw a flash of darkness flash through the dark eyes. Without saying a word, Sabrina swam away in the opposite direction.
Trent and Aqua watched as she left. “Is Sabrina not happy to see me…?” Trent questioned, looking down at Aqua.
Aqua looked up at took in the brunette hair and amber colored eyes before she responded. “It couldn’t be that. I’m sure she was just so excited that she left to tell her friends.” She said, with an assuring smile.
Trent returned the smile. “I hope so.” He chuckled. “Before I forget, I need to visit my parents and tell them I’ve come home. I highly doubt my older brother would be nice enough to tell them for me.” He sighed and shook his head. Smiling again, he kissed Aqua on the forehead. “I’ll come find you later.” He said with a wink before he swam off.
Aqua froze, her cheeks heating up and turning pink. It wasn’t until a moment later that she realized that it was getting late. “Oh!” Gasping and regaining her sense, she quickly swam home in hopes that she wouldn’t get scolded.
Opening and closing the door silently, Midas was there to ‘greet’ his daughter. Aqua squeaked and looked up to see her father with his arms crossed and looking quite angry.
“Where have you been?” Midas said.
Aqua looked around quickly for her mother, but found no luck. Sighing, she looked her father in the eye. “I-I’m sorry I’m later, Father. It’s just… Trent returned a while ago and…”
“No excuses!” Midas boomed, cutting off Aqua. “When I give you a set time as your curfew, I expect you to follow it and return home when I want you to. Do you realize that you’re two hours late?”
Aqua nodded and bowed her head. “Yes Father… I won’t let it happen again.”
“I hope not. Or else I will make a servant escort you if you dare to come home late again.”
“I understand.”
“Good. Now head off to your room and prepare for bed.”
Aqua obediently headed off to her room. Shortly after closing her door and changing, a knock was heard.
“Aqua Marine, my dear, may I come in?” The voice of her mother flowed through the door.
“Come in, Mother.” Aqua said, sitting on the edge of her bed.
Her mother opened the door and joined her daughter on the bed next to her. “Your father told me your reasoning for being late.” She watched her daughter, but when she didn’t reply, she continued. “I think it is an excellent reason for your tardiness in returning home tonight. You haven’t seen Trent in seven years. I’m glad you got to spend time with him again today.” She smiled at her daughter.
Aqua looked up at her mother and returned the smile. “I’m glad, too. I haven’t seen him in so long.”
Aurora nodded. “I assumed. So I talked with your father and he’s lightening up on your punishment.
“Thank you, Mother.” Aqua could always count on her mother.
Aurora kissed her daughter’s forehead and began to leave the room. “Rest up well, my daughter. You will have another long day tomorrow.” Turning out the light, Aqua fell asleep as her mother hummed a lullaby before leaving.
Aqua woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and lively. She went along with her normal morning routine then went outside to find her friend. She looked everywhere, but Sabrina was nowhere to be found.
“Where could she be…?” Aqua asked, when just at that moment, she bumped into Trent. “S-sorry!” She said, looking up.
Trent smiled and laughed. “It’s quite alright, Aqua.” He ruffled Aqua’s hair, making her fluster and blush brightly.
Aqua shook herself out of her gaze. “H-have you seen Sabrina, Trent?”
Trent shook his head. “Not since she left without a word yesterday.”
“O-oh… That’s odd. Sabrina is almost always around somewhere.”
Just then, shouts and screams were heard from across the city as a dark aura filled the atmosphere.
“Wh-what’s going on?!” Aqua exclaimed as her and Trent looked out in the direction of the screams.
“I don’t know… but I have a feeling something dark has entered the city once again.” Trent said, leading Aqua towards the possible chaos.
The closer the two got to the chaos, the more crowded the streets got with fleeing citizens, and the darker the aura was turning.
In the heart of the city, lightning flashes were crashing against buildings. All this was coming from one source of a dark heart. Aqua gasped in shock when she saw her best friend as the cause of all of this.
“Sabrina!” Aqua shouted over her friend’s evil laughter. “What in Neptune are you doing?!”
Sabrina came to a halt and turned around to face her friend. Her dark eyes were filled with evil. Her lips curled into a smirk when she noticed her shocked friend.
“Aqua Marine, my dear friend. How nice of you to finally arrive to the show.” Sabrina said, laughing.
“What are you talking about?!” Aqua shouted. “This isn’t like you! What happened to my kind best friend who wouldn’t hurt even a fly?!”
Sabrina chuckled. “Don’t make me laugh! It was you that lead me to this state, Aqua!”
“Wh-what…?” Aqua quietly said.
“That’s right.” Sabrina said darkly. “It’s because of your stupidity that this is happening.”
“I… I don’t understand.”
“Of course you don’t! You’re too naïve.” Sabrina looked down as the dark aura around her calmed a bit. “It was that day eleven years ago… The day you came and seeked me out.”
Aqua’s eyes became clouded as her thoughts were bought back to the past.
Whispers smoothly flowed throughout the dungeon as the young princess made her way through.
“Princess.” Aqua’s personal servant said. “We have a new servant for you today. We hope you’ll approve of her.” He smiled. They came to a stop at a dark hallway. All the way down, a lone cell held the rumored spawn of the evil mermaid, trapped to live in solitude as a punishment to her parents. The guards of the dungeons also feared that she would become evil herself and follow in the footsteps of her parents.
The guard on duty unlocked the cell for the princess to enter. Aqua looked around a found the one she was looking for. A skinny, black haired child with eyes dark as the night. She was curled up in the darkest corner of her cell, hiding herself in shame.
Aqua approached the unnamed child and blinked. The child looked up at Aqua, her expression innocent and lonely. The princess smiled and held out her hand to the child. “Would you like to be my friend?”
“That was mistake number one, my friend!” Sabrina ripped Aqua away from the seemingly innocent flashback. “Ever since that day… I was plotting revenge, to get back at this city for what they did to me and my parents! All I needed was freedom and to be released from that cell. Thankfully, you were that one to release me. And that’s one thing I thanked you for.”
Aqua shook her head as tears shimmered in her eyes. “Sabrina, why did this happen? You were so happy after I let you out.”
“It’s true that you made me your playmate and not your servant.” Sabrina replied. “But everyone shunned me still even though I was always by your side.”
Sabrina waited for Aqua to respond. When she didn’t, she continued. “At every event and party you dragged me to, everyone ignored me. They pretended like I wasn’t even there because they were afraid of me. After we entered grade school, I was finally somewhat acknowledged. But everyone still liked you best!” Lightning cracked the ground beside Aqua. She was thrown off balance and tossed onto the ground with a scream.
Sabrina hovered over her friend. “I’m done playing in the shadows. And I’m through being ignored. It’s time that darkness had a chance to play!”
Aqua looked up with fearful eyes. Her friend that she once loved had turned into something ugly on the inside. “How did I let this happen…?” She said softly as tears streamed down her cheeks.
“You’re finished, Aqua Marine, Princess of the deep!” Sabrina exclaimed. She conjured a trident of lightning into her hand and raised it high above the frozen princess. “Say goodbye to the life you once knew.”
“HALT!”
The single word vibrated through Sabrina’s body and stopped her instantly. She looked behind her to where the voice came from. Trent revealed himself with a new look upon his face, as well.
“I will not allow you to go any further with this conquest, Sabrina.”
Sabrina smirked and faced him. “Quite bold for a kid who’s been gone for seven years.”
“I didn’t leave the city just so I could be with my brother. You don’t seem to understand my reasoning for leaving.”
“Oh ho? And what would that little ‘reasoning’ be, hm?”
“To seal the darkness of your heart of the day like this ever arrived. It hurts me to see that my coming back triggered that.” Trent’s expression softened quite a bit.
Sabrina scoffed. “You weren’t just the only trigger. You heard my story. Aqua was the beginning piece to this little puzzle of mine.”
Trent nodded. “That may be true. But didn’t Aqua ever tell you? You were her best and only friend.”
Sabrina twitched. “What?”
“She talked to me all the time before I left about how great you were and how you would never leave her. You were the only one who understood her.”
“He tells the truth, Sabrina.” Aqua said, getting up.
Sabrina glanced back and shot a look at Aqua. “Oh yeah?” She gritted her teeth. “Then why didn’t you ever stand up for me?!” She lashed out. Her hands began to tremble. “You always said you would protect me. Yet you let the darkness in my heart grow to this extent. Why?!”
Aqua was surprised to see tears start to roll down Sabrina’s cheeks. She looked down solemnly. “I never realized. So many people in my life were distracting me from what I cared about most.”
“I don’t believe you!” Sabrina shouted.
“But it’s true!” Aqua replied. “You were my only friend that my father never turned away! He believed that he could trust you since you were only just a kid. And since you never showed any darkness, he approved of you as we got older. I don’t know what I would do without you, Sabrina. You were so kind to me.” Tears started streaming down her cheeks again, too.
Sabrina lifted her lightning-made trident. “Enough from you! My mind and heart have been made up. Too many people have shunned me and ignored me, and now it’s my time for revenge! Goodbye, Aqua Marine.” Her voice wavered at the last sentence as she aimed the trident at Aqua.
“Aqua, no!” Trent cried. At this point, his only instinct told him to grab his knife and cast it into the direction of Sabrina’s heart. It hit the target just in time before she got to the princess, leaving nothing but a deep wound in her back leading to her front.
Sabrina stiffened and frozen immediately, dropping her trident and being just inches away from the princess. Tears began to trace over the dried trails on her cheeks as she fell to the ground. A pool of blood started to form.
“Oh!” Aqua gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. “Sabrina!” She hurried to her side and settled down next to her. “Sabrina… Sabrina… How could this have happened?” She cried. Trent joined her, rested a hand on her shoulder and attempted to calm down the crying princess.
Sabrina looked up at Aqua, her dark eyes becoming clouded. “Aqua… why? Why didn’t you save me?” She coughed into her hand, leaving spots of blood behind.
Not caring about the blood, Aqua took Sabrina’s hand in hers. “I wanted to save you, Sabrina!”
“Then why didn’t you? I always called out to you, but my voice never reached you.”
“I’m sorry. I regret everything if I made you more isolated. I just… I only wanted us to be friends.”
Sabrina was silent for a moment. “It seems that the darkness in my heart has now turned crimson. All my anger and hate washed away now by Trent’s blade.” Pain crossed over Trent’s face. Sabrina noticed and managed a smirk. “Don’t feel bad, Big Boy. You did what you trained to do. You released the evil in my heart. There’s nothing left in it anymore.” Trent nodded in understanding.
Aqua shook her head like a stubborn child. “You can’t leave me already! You’re my only friend!”
Sabrina freed her hand from Aqua’s and moved it slowly to her friend’s cheek. “Don’t cry for me, Aqua. If anything, you should hate me for trying to kill you and overtake your city.”
“But I don’t hate you. I can’t hate you, don’t you see?”
Sabrina laughed weakly. “Apparently not. The one thing that was never able to enter my heart of my understanding. Love.” She shook her head. “Living in solitude for the first five years of my life shut made me shut out anything good and pleasant for me. It made me cautious of others for the rest of my life.” She coughed violently, leaving behind more blood on her hand. She sighed and closed her eyes. “It appears it’s the end for this failed attempt of an evil mermaid.” A smile broke out across her lips. “Aqua.”
“Yes, Sabrina?”
“I understand now. The light of love has hit me at last. And the impression it leaves behind… is you. I realize now that you have a power to guide others to see the light.” She opened her eyes, the color of them having changed from dark to a bright and diamond clear blue. “Thank you.”
“Oh Sabrina…” Aqua cried. She leaned over and kissed her friend on the forehead. With that moment, Sabrina’s hair also changed from jet-black to pure white. Aqua’s eyes shimmered in fascination with the miracle that was happening.
“You saved me at last. Aqua. I want you to use your power with others that have a darkness forming in their hearts. Make them see the good.” Sabrina smiled. “And another last request before I’m gone… Meet new people, and allow yourself to make new friends. Your father will approve, just as long as you’re happy.”
Aqua nodded and smiled through her tears. “I will. For you.”
Sabrina nodded and closed her eyes for the last time. “Good.” She took her last breath. Slowly, the newly changed mermaid began to receive the same fate her parents had, she began to turn into sea foam. Aqua watched as her best friend died and disappeared in her arms.
Trent stayed with Aqua, he began to worry when she wouldn’t move. Finally, after a long while of letting her tears run, she finally got herself up and off the ground. Yet her eyes remained looking down.
“Aqu-…” Trent began.
“I have something that I need to tell you, Trent. I’m going to leave the city.”
“What?! Why? Where will you even go?”
Aqua looked up at Trent, her expression changed to something intent on change. “It’s my fault that this happened. My best friend just died in my arms. I can’t allow this to happen again.”
Trent frowned. “Then… where will you go if you won’t stay in the city?”
Aqua looked away from Trent and to the sky, closing in eyes. “I’ll go to the surface and live my life as a human. I’ll still live out my promise to Sabrina. But too many memories have been left behind here. I can’t live with that much strain on my heart.” She opened her eyes and stared at the orange shimmer of the surface. She could tell night was just around the corner, meaning she could make her depart in just a few hours.
Trent stared at her for a moment, and then sighed. “I support what you want to do with your life, Aqua. But… this is your home. There’s nothing for you on the surface.”
Aqua looked at Trent, his face pained more than when Sabrina was dying. “Trent, I love you. I do. But burdens here are too great now. I’ll start anew on the surface.” She began to turn away. “Please don’t say anything to my parents. I’ll leave a note behind and they can find it in the morning. If they knew I was leaving now, they’d find a way to lock me in my room and keep me there till I change my mind. But it’s made up, and I’m leaving.”
Trent opened his mouth to argue, but couldn’t find the words. “…Okay. I won’t say a word.”
“Thank you…”
“I love you, too, Aqua. I wish you luck on the surface.”
Aqua looked back at Trent and smiled. Without saying anything more, she left as the shadows of the night descended on them.
