The great ocean is home to many creatures. Fishes that varies in size, color, and shape all live peacefully by the kingdom of O'Khasis ruled over by King Garte. A kingdom of gold and sapphires lined with bright coral. Mermaids and men swim joyfully behind it's walls under the waves. Emphasis on under. The King declared twenty-three years ago that all merfolk remain under the surface. After the disappearance of the Queen, he fears that his people are in danger if ever discovered. Most importantly though, he wanted to protect his two sons, Garroth and Zane. They were the only thing he had left and he feared that their safety would be tarnished if they ever ventured up above.

Unfortunately they got older.

"Come on Zane!", Garroth shouted back to his brother, his teal and gold tail behind him as he swam quickly through the city. It was dark and the city was lit only by the noctiluca scintillans, guiding the princes' way through the city.

"I'll remind you again that this was your idea. Not mine,", Zane shouted back, following his brother, his silver and black tail pushing him forward. "I don't need to rush."

"You're just scared that Dad will get angry at us,", The older one teased as he slowed down to swim by his brother's side.

"Exactly and I see nothing wrong with that. Remember when you were the one always following the rules when we were kids? Remember how easy to was back then?"

"I grew out of it,", Garroth shrugged.

"You don't grow out of maturity!", Zane called out as Garroth swam in front of him again.

The two raced to the wall where their escape route was. They built it when they were teens and always used it when they had a chance to see what it was like outside. All they had to do was remove the bars that acted as a door to make sure no one grew suspicious. Garroth quickly started tucking them out one by one, while Zane waited patiently by.

"Dad is gonna have our head,", Zane muttered, crossing his arms.

"You say that every time and nothing happens Zane,", Garroth insisted.

"What are you two doing?"

The two snapped their heads back to see Laurance, Blaze, and Lucinda floating there looking disappointed. The two men were the princes personal guards while Lucinda was the royal family's mage...well soon to be mage. Her mother holds the title at the moment.

"We are uh,", Garroth stammered, looking at the door and then back at his friends, "taking a evening swim."

"Outside of the walls?", Lucinda asked with a smirk on her face, crossing her arms.

Zane glared at his brother who got one right back from the blonde.

"Garroth, how many times do we have to tell you that going out there is dangerous?", Laurance asked.

"And how many times have I come back safely?"

The three of them didn't find it amusing. He decided to try and reason with them. "I have all the supplies I need. I have a map, my sword, and my glow coral if I can't see."

The three of them secretly sympathized with the two princes. The King basically saw them as children still even though they've both received high education and sword training from the best in the kingdom. They knew they could handle themselves. Yet, they didn't want to risk it either.

"Garthy-bro...please understand that you have to move on from this. You're the heir to the throne. It sucks but, you need to really focus on that. Not just for your father but, for the kingdom,", Blaze tried to break through with his bro.

"I know..."

"And Zane...think how Nana would feel that you keep sneaking out like this?", Lucinda asked, bringing up her friend and his girlfriend.

Zane knew that she would be heartbroken if something were to happen to him out there.

"Look, how about we all head back to the castle and talk this out some more? Maybe we can come up with an agreement for you two!", Laurance suggested, just really wanting his two close friends to be alright.

The two princes agreed and started following their friends back.

"Zane, I can't wait to show you what I found out today! My mother found this old book from the developmental years of O'Khasis,", Lucinda said, trying to cheer up the younger prince knowing he enjoyed things like that.

"Heh, thanks Lucinda. I can't wait to hear about it,", He smiled under his mask.

The two guards stayed by Garroth's side. The blonde wasn't truly happy with this outcome but, knew it wouldn't be his last time trying.

•••

Aphmau constantly kept thinking of this mermaid. It was already the next day and it was just chaotic as the one before. Since this possible discovery was so huge, word started whispering through the town. This morning, Vylad asked many questions about it to her while his parents began getting ready for opening.

"Have you seen it yet? What color is it tail? Does is sing like the myths say? Does it have a talking crab?", He spitted out, not allowing Aphmau to answer before he went to the next.

"Pea,", Zianna said, giving him a glance as if she wanted him to stop. "Let Aphmau rush off to work. I'm sure she'll tell you when she's allowed to."

Aphmau smiled brightly at her while her son frowned. He turned back to Aphmau and said; "Sorry Aph. I'm just really excited about this."

"Me too and I'll of course give you all the details the moment I can. I haven't seen it yet though so I can't confirm if it's real in the first place,", She giggled, while putting her sandwich in the bag.

"Oh they're real!", Jay exclaimed.

"Honey!", Zianna huffed.

"Oh come on Z! You can't deny you haven't seen any!"

She grumbled before taking some loaves of bread to the back. Aphmau has never seen her so agitated at her husband and son. She's usually super chill about this kind of stuff.

"Well, I should get going,", Aphmau sighed. "My step-sister is coming over for dinner tonight. Any tips for a nice meal?"

"Soup! Everyone loves soup!", Jay suggested, putting some cash in the cash register.

Aphmau thanked him before leaving.

•••

Aphmau and Aaron were called into the lab by their boss as well as everyone else on their research team. Everyone was buzzing with excitement knowing that this could be about the actual rumored mermaid.

"Thank you everyone for coming in such a hurry. It's truly appreciated,", The boss said. "The reason for the call is that we need all hands on deck. This discovery that was found on shore the other night refuses to eat and we need everyone to come up with ideas of what it might enjoy."

"Have you tried fish?", One of the jokesters shouted.

Everyone grumbled not really finding it funny.

"Yes we have but, it still didn't find it appetizing,", He informed. "Now it could be that we're trying to feed it particular fish and it just genuinely doesn't like that one. So, don't check it off as being a pescatarian quite yet."

"I say that this is the time to rely on cartoons,", Aaron whispered down to Aphmau to make her smile in return. She giggled and playfully nudged her friend.

"We will be going in smaller groups as well. This thing doesn't like big groups of people. So partner up."

Aphmau and Aaron gave each other a high five, partnering up as they always did. The boss caught eye of this and smiled saying; "Why don't you two go first? You make up a good team and I wouldn't be shocked if you found a way around this situation your first go. You have thirty minutes today so make it count."

The two excitedly agreed and followed him to the aquarium room where they kept various creatures for visitors. It was nothing harmful and some of them were rescued on top of that so, no one really complained about keeping them here. They walked into a separate room with a larger tank where you could even go above and view from the top, or even swim inside. Aphmau always found this one to be the most breathtaking one. It usually held the most important creatures the facility has ever seen.

"Okay you two,", The boss sighed. "Here's a list of the things we already tried to feed it. Start going from there."

With that, the boss left them to their work.

"Do you see it?", Aaron asked, peering into the tank. Aphmau saw a shadow of a figure in the corner of the tank. She couldn't identify it though.

"Maybe it's not a mermaid...Maybe it's a variation of a whale or shark or something."

As the two looked into the tank, they saw it move. It must've spotted them and began to swim over to them. As it got closer, more light hit it. Aphmau saw it's scales glow a bright teal and gold.

"I don't think it's a whale or shark Aph,", Aaron breathed out.

Soon, their mouths went agape, seeing the creature. It's skin was a perfect sun kissed tan, it's blonde hair matched the sand and it had eyes as blue as the ocean that hit the shore. It's tail like Aphmau predicted was a magnificent teal and gold that shined almost perfectly that made her lose her train of thought. It had fins on the side of it's tail and arms, matching the colors theme it seemed. Where a human's ears would be, Aphmau once again saw something like a fin. Finally, she noticed that he had blue glowing dots along his cheeks that resembled a human's freckles.

"I don't think it's a mermaid Aaron...it's a merman,", She gawked. She stepped closer to the glass and the creature swam up to her. Both of curiosities over took them and when he placed his hand on the glass, there was webbing between his fingers. Aphmau did the same and was in complete wonder of the creature.

"He's beautiful..."

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