Chapter 1 - Dawn
"I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking."
— The Lemurian poem "Sea Fever," by John Masefield
***
It started just like any other day.
A normal day. Well, not normal, exactly. It was better than normal, in fact. It was a perfect day. It was his favorite day of the year.
Prince Antaeus of Lemuria, more commonly known as Ant, was turning thirteen. He was old enough to rule without a regent if he had to and old enough to see the Ephemychron for the first time. He was basically an adult now, even if people didn't treat him like one. Still, as the waning moonlight of the early morning woke him up, he couldn't help but feel excited for the day ahead.
His pet fish Jeffery was looking at him expectantly when he blinked the sleep he was in away from his eyes. The tropical orange and purple fish waved his fins as if he was telling his owner Yay! It's your birthday!
Ant smiled once he remembered that fact and kicked off his blankets hurridly. He didn't wait for his nursemaid to wake him up because he still had an hour before she did so. He knew that she would just be waking up, though, and eating her breakfast two hours before the royal family did.
"Come on, Jeffery!" Ant said as he rummaged around in his dresser for something to wear. "We need to see the sign."
When And had finally scrounged something to wear, and when he had brushed his hair only a tiny bit, he grabbed Jeffery's fishbowl and turned the doorknob that led to the hall outside of his room.
He hesitated. Go out your window, his mind thought. The guards won't see you that way.
For safety measures, the royal family's bedrooms were protected by two guards that stood on either side of the door to their bedrooms. They made sure that no assassination attempts succeeded (or happened at all) and had backup if necessary in the guards that patrolled the courtyard and the perimeter.
Ant had snuck out a couple of times (as had his sister) and knew from experience that these guards were always on high alert. They knew that he was supposed to be going out this early, but he thought getting down his usual way would be way more fun.
He rushed to his window that overlooked the courtyard and opened the latch on it. It swung open, pouring cool early morning air into his spacious bedroom. He shivered. He took a breath, picked up Jeffery's bowl, and ever so gently lowered it down into the middle gap on the tree that grew from the cracks in the courtyard cobblestones. Ant shimmied onto the windowsill, reached for the bowl, and slid down the tree with a terrified "Eep!" one-handed.
He hit the ground with such force that the bones in his legs shook with the effects. He took a few steps to get the feeling back into his legs and then took off running out of the courtyard. He didn't need to sneak around in the shadows this time because the guards knew that he was allowed to be out at this hour. They waved to him and said things like "Good luck, Your Highness!" and "May the gods give you the sign, Your Majesty!" And waved back with a chorus of thank-yous, and opened the door that lead to one of the big hallways that ended in the palace gates.
He ran, adrenaline pumping through his veins so he could reach the Tower of the Morning in time. He paused for a brief moment to look at the woven family tree that spanned back thousands of years plastered horizontally across the hall's right wall. The newest parts were of the latest part of the royal family, Ant and his older sister. Princess Fontaine's woven face stared back at him, demure and delicate, everything that a Lemurian princess should be. Her green eyes glittered as a moonbeam hit her spot on the tapestry, silently mocking him that she was the one who would get to use the Ephemychron later in life.
Queen Kaiko and King William's headshots sparkled as another subsiding ray hit them. Ant gasped and looked up through the glass top of the hallway. He was late. "Come on, Jeffery," he said again, rushing towards the end of the hall.
Here, three massive hallways combined, leading to the palace's main gates. The two guards positioned on either side of the doors nodded at their prince and pushed open the doors, silently wishing him good luck.
Ant darted through the heavy doors, beelining for one of the sets of stairs that connected Lemuria's town to the hill that the palace was on. These steps had been built thousands of years ago, enchanted by a Lemurian king so that they would never break. A surge of giddiness bubbled its way in Ant's chest. Today he would get his powers! Yes! Thousands of years of royal Lemurian blood ran through his veins, and this morning, he would join his ancestors and family and receive the powers that they were so generously gifted from the gods.
He finally made it down the long flight of steps and ran as fast as he could while holding Jeffery's fishbowl to the Tower of the Morning. The tower, appropriately named after the early morning ritual that Lemurian princes and princesses partook in on their thirteenth birthdays, stood high and mighty over the city of Kefálaio. Thousands of years ago, when Queen Doreus ruled, the law was that royals who were turning fifteen would receive their powers. When her parents were killed a few months after her birthday, Doreus had changed the law to thirteen. The gods had complied with her, and princes and princesses were now able to get at least a few magic lessons unlike she had.
Ant didn't really pay attention in his history class, but he was pretty sure that the ancient Lemurian royal family had gotten their powers when Atlantis and Lemuria split. Back then, thousands of years ago, Atlantis didn't exist. But then, a group of Lemurians who exploited the ocean killed the current king, and the new one sent them off away in a boat, hoping they would never come back. Instead, they had created a flourishing civilization with technological marvels and wonders. They still couldn't compete with Lemuria, in Ant's opinion, though.
But it wasn't all bad. Years after the split happened, a group of Atlanteans left their home to create a paradise away from the treacherous people who hated the sea. They had founded Paralía, a tiny kingdom with tropical rainforests, rivers, and colorful birds. Lemuria and Paralía had been trading partners for years.
Because the Lemurians had given the sea respect, the gods gave them powers to help their people. A lot of it was little spells that they could say or a word they could use for an advantage, but other parts were big. Some spells could poison your enemies. Words could drown whoever you wanted to.
But Ant's father had been very clear that never, under any circumstance, should Ant and his sister ever use those spells. They could only use them if it was a dire emergency.
That was fine. Ant didn't have anyone that he wanted to poison or drown anyways. But he did know that the Atlanteans and Paralíans had somehow gotten powers as well, though he wasn't sure how. Nobody was, at least for the Atlanteans. The queen of Paralía had told Ant herself that they had just appeared in the royal bloodline one day.
He rushed up the many steps that led to the top of the Tower of the Morning. Once you were up all the way, you could see all of Kefálaio. It felt like you were floating over everything.
The first light of dawn spread across the city, and Ant skipped a few stairs, taking them three at a time. "Almost . . . there!" he wheezed, gasping for breath.
He finally made it up to the tippy top and slouched against the tower's base. Heavily breathing, he hoisted Jeffery's bowl up and waited for the sign.
A sign from the gods would give him his powers. The gods would also show him one event from his future. Whatever that event was, it would come true. Ant hoped for an epic scene of him with the trained dolphins that Lemurians had, or something to do with his powers. He steadied his breathing, still waiting.
He waited and waited. Nothing happened.
His heart began to race as anxiety filled his chest. Had he not gotten the sign? Was he not worthy of his family's powers? He sighed and turned away as another ray of the sun touched Lemuria. He had come so far, and only to find out that he wasn't worthy of the powers. He was upset and sad. What had he done so that the gods wouldn't trust him?
But then, something caught his vision out of the corner of his eye. He whipped back around to see that the dawn light had gone right through the middle of the tower's top, making a circular shadow on the cobblestones far down below.
Slowly, a shadow began to transform into a tentacle, then another, then another. Ant's family crest was clear as crystal in the middle of the Lemurian streets. He smiled as he felt a surge of energy rush through him, brightening his eyes and his mind.
He had magic. He could use his powers. He smiled wide.
"WAHOO!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, jumping up and down. He looked at the shadow again, waiting for his future to take shape.
Colors began to ripple on the shadowy tentacles, shaping a new image. Brown and gold and blue swirled together, almost looking like a painting that Ant's sister had made one time.
The vision showed him, not much older than he was now as he pointed ahead. It was a battle. Soldiers on horseback shot past him, riding to who knows what. The vision flickered, and then the color sunk into the cobblestones, slinking away from the image it had created.
His eyes widened. Him, at that age, on horseback? Unless it was a training exercise (and he didn't think it was), then why would he be in battle? His parents weren't going to send him to fight the Atlanteans, were they? His chest tightened with more anxiety, and he calmed himself by saying in his mind that they wouldn't until he was an adult.
Fontaine had seen her wedding day. Ant's father had seen his coronation. Their visions weren't bad . . .
So why was his?
***
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