Lyset i Havet | A Little Mermaid Fanfiction

Prologue | Unedited

Deep within the sea, where the waters were freed from the human eye and the curious of mind, there lay an ancient civilization. Far beyond the multicolored reefs, and just before a vast drop in the seabed, a society glowed with life and magic. However, on a dark, moonless night, all laughter and joy was drained out of the city of Atlantis. In its place welled a great evil that threatened the very fabrications of this empire that had remained in peace for centuries.

The walls shook, the earth croaked, everything was falling apart at the seams. The once great castle shivered and shook at a dark force lurking in the shadows, unwilling to make itself known. Inside this tumbling castle, servants and maids fled as fast as their fins could carry them, away from the chaos. Staying behind to face this threat were the king and queen of Atlantica, worried for only two things: Their son's safety, and the vanquishing of this great foe.

"Son, son, please wake. And do not waste another moment." The queen shook her son until his eyes fluttered open, clenching onto the edges of the shell bed in fright. He calmed as he became more awake, but soon began to panic once the gravity of the situation set in. The roof to his chambers was cracked, about to cave in at any moment. His regal parents had faces filled with anxiety.
"Wh-what has she done?" the young merman attempted to gain more knowledge of the situation, but the king shook his head.
"This is no time for questions. The castle is about to fall. We must leave at once!" The monarchs pulled their son away from the shell and away from the collapsing room. With a flick of his cerulean tail, the young prince managed to just barely keep up with his grown parents.

The walls of the castle were caving in around the three as they searched the halls for an opening of any sort into the vast ocean. It seemed as though the tumbling fortress purposefully destroyed any means of escape, cornering the royals into the heart of the structure: the throne room.

The space was completely untouched. The expanse was large enough for an audience of hundreds as a carved floor led to a high arching throne, intricate swirls engraved in the pearl seat, only made possible through years of collection. Sitting on that very chair was a maiden, her skin a faint grey, contrasting that of the golden walls. Her long, silver hair flowed in the water, gently grazing her arms as it ebbed.

The queen made the first move, kneeling and clasping her hands together. She hardly looked royal anymore as her normally wavy blonde hair looked kinked and frazzled in the chaos. And unfamiliar pleading expression was the only look left that she could give. No jewelry adorned her person, not even the royal pendant given in marriage. The king was just as homely. Greying hair knotted and scraggly, not a single ornament adorned his body apart from a simple pendant necklace. And yet, his expression was grim and unsure.

"Cora! Please! Haven't you done enough damage?" The queen's voice was desperate and wavering. The mermaid upon the throne paid no heed to the cries. A small, triumphant smile crept across her black lips.
"Nothing is done until I have the trident in my hands..." she murmured, her voice sultry, her tone calm. The young prince shuddered at the interaction, at Cora's hyacinth skin. Too much was going on for his young mind to process. Every action, every move his parents made seemed slow and dull. He was fully focused on the figure on the throne, her mauve tail swishing back and forth just waiting, daring the sovereigns to make a move.

Only, she had made the first move. A rush of water came flying right at him. Even the naive merman could tell it was strong enough to take out a grown male. His eyes shut tight, bracing for the impact, the pain, and true defining act of betrayal.

A scream filled his ears, sharp and tortured. It wasn't his own. The sound belonged to a sobbing queen, who was shaking the limp body of an old king. The prince's eyes widened, taking in the sight of someone he had admired defeated, red blood dissipating in the water from a gaping hole in his chest.
"Now...do you see I'm serious?" Cora's voice rang out against the creeping numbing depression, instilling a prickling liveliness into the young merman's body. Blood curdling anger.
"You killed him..." he whispered. An amused eyebrow rose on the dark mermaid's face. Using her arms to prop up her body out of the pearl throne, she slowly swam to the remaining two.

"I will take what's mine," she threatened, bending down to snatch the pendant from the dead king's body.
"Don't you touch him!" the queen shrieked, her tears crystallizing. Her words weren't all that rejected Cora at that moment, as a brilliant spark erupted from the chain, forcing the mermaid back. The prince and queen watched in shock as the oval piece clicked and opened, revealing a small blade...a trident! Compelled to pick it up, the prince did so, the weapon growing to fit his hand.
"No..." Cora muttered, staring furiously at him. The prince wasted no time in pointing the trident at her, the spear glowing with power, then dispersing all its energy on the target. The mermaid writhed under its force, her body being twisted into something. Bursting from the mermaid's pelvis came six writhing tentacles, looking as though they were gasping for air in this watery dimension. Cora looked down at her missing fins in horror.
"What..what have you done to me?!" The newly transformed octopid's cry laced with enmity shook the walls of the throne room, allowing the destruction to continue its path in destroying the palace.
"Swim, my son!" the queen turned to the prince, still determined to keep him alive.
"To the roof, and survive!" His body still fueled with the tingling sensation his father's murder left him, the young merman glided as fast as he could to the opening in the roof, the walls threatening to topple over him. It was just a little further. The open ocean was so near. The trident in his hand shrunk until the prince could easily grasp the tool in his fist, allowing him to swim just fast enough to escape a near watery grave. The prince raised both arms above his head in victory, turning around to celebrate further.
"Moth--!" No one had followed him. The young prince was all alone above the prior peak of the castle, while Queen Amphitrite faced her fate.