Ocean Song Beneath the Waves

Bonus! Happy Holidays!

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“So? What’s this plan of yours’?” Serena asks impatiently whilst leaning back on her hands.

“I have something of a Plan B in effect that should be making itself known soon.”

“Plan B? What happened to Plan A?” She asks as she squints into the darkness, unsure of Pelagios’s plan already.

An embarrassed chuckle greets her ears. “I would rather not speak of that.” Yet, him saying that does nothing to dissuade her curiosity, but for now she won’t ask. She doesn’t have time to engage in a game of twenty questions when so much is at stake.

“Okay, so how much longer must we wait? We hardly have the luxury of time on our side,” she states unsurely as she becomes aware of a shuffling sound in the blackness of the room. “What are you doing?”

But before he can answer, the door above them opens, allowing in a flood of light. Serena is momentarily blinded as she rushes to cover her eyes. Hours of sitting in darkness has made a sudden pouring of light quite painful after being deprived of it for so long. Although the light is quite warm and makes her feel a little better. Unfortunately it’s short lived as Delmara’s taunting voice fills the silence.

“I must say that it is quite satisfying seeing you chained up like this,” she laughs as she comes closer to the bars. Despite her amusement, a sigh escapes her lips. “Your brother,” she states simply whilst Serena stares at her blankly. As if she’s supposed to know what that’s supposed to mean.

She waits a second longer before asking, “What about him?”

“Why will he not even look at me?” Delmara chews her plump red lips in frustration. Serena almost feels bad for her. Almost. Not even all of the frustration and sadness in her body could get Serena to feel bad for her after her father locked her up. Not to mention Delmara had been banking on her death by her father’s hands.

So she shrugs. “Rodion cares little for girls like you, and if he knew that you and your father had imprisoned me,” she trails off as a chilling smile forms on her lips. “Then he would absolutely despise you, and not even all the make up in the world would rectify that thought.” Delmara releases a high pitched gasp followed by an angry growl. For a minute it looks as though she’s about to rip Serena to shreds, but she must’ve thought about her father’s deal because she leaves instead of acting on her anger.

Well color me surprised. Usually at this point, in Raquel’s case, she’d find herself staring at the pavement. Though apparently there are some girls like Raquel that can exercise some manner of restraint.

Pelagios speaks, albeit his tone sounds worried. “Are you alright? She did not hurt you, did she?”

Serena shakes her head, and immediately berated herself for it. He can’t see her obviously. So she says, “I am alright. Surprisingly enough she opted to storm off instead of ripping me to shreds.”

Pelagios chuckles in amusement. “You are surprised? Most people would be relieved Lady Serena,” he says lightheartedly. For a brief moment, Serena forgets that they’re against the clock and in mortal peril. Only briefly.

She quickly remembers everything going on around them. “Oh, but how are we getting out of here?! You never told me!”

But Pelagios hardly seems worried as he calmly says, “Patience, my Lady, patience...”

“Where is my sister dammit!” Rodion cries out as yet another servant denies having ever seen her today. Honestly, he had told her to start telling him where she’ll go during the day, but it seems as though she’s forgotten already. The palace staff are hardly any help what with their flittering about to finish preparations for tomorrow’s royal wedding.

Big deal. It’s only a political marriage anyway. He rolls his eyes. His only concern is Serena, and right now he’s losing his head because he can’t find her.

It’s when he releases a particularly angry growl that Princess Arcelia’s voice registers in his ears. “Rodion?”

Glancing in her direction, he finds her staring at him strangely. No wonder, he’s growling and talking to himself with no one around. He can only imagine how that looks to people moving through the corridors.

And yet of all the people he could’ve run into, it had to be this one. When they first met he had not a single issue with Princess Arcelia. Though that changed with time. Now, he wasn’t used to Serena having friends since she chose to keep people at a distance when they were still human. Now all of a sudden she has one, and Rodion swears to whatever god exists that the woman is going to drive him absolutely insane. Usually for him, all it would take is a single glare or even an annoyed sound for him to send someone going in the other direction. But not her. Princess Arcelia has all of her bark to match his bite, and the princess is certainly a force to reckon with in her own right. Serena, at one point, had called the dialogue between them hilarious since usually their conversations seemed to consist of them being at odds with one another.

Although, right now she doesn’t seem to have the energy or the right mood to engage in any of their typical conversation. Her eyes shine clear with worry and her skin seems a bit pale to its usual fair complexion. And seeing her so worried did nothing for his own well-being. It gives him a sinking feeling in his chest that something is horribly wrong. Serena being M.I.A contributes greatly to that foreboding feeling.

Without missing a beat, she quickly says, “I cannot find Serena!”

No shit Sherlock. He rolls his eyes as he releases an exasperated sigh. “No one has seen her in case that was your next piece of big news Princess.” Her cheeks puff up just the slightest bit as her worried look is briefly replaced by a rather annoyed glare. Ah, there’s the princess I know and dread.

“And you have checked all over the palace for her then?” Her tone is accusatory and he almost feels insulted that she would think that he didn’t already do that.

So he crosses his arms over his chest and tosses an annoyed glare in her direction. “Of course I did!”

Her expression falls back into the one she arrived with once more as she begins to nervously play with her fingers. She appears to be racking her brain for answer for about a few minutes before she deflates in defeat.

“I have not a clue as to where she could be. I hope she is not in any trouble,” she mutters with deep concern evident in her tone. This causes his gaze to soften just a bit, and his stance loosens up. In all honesty, he’s glad that his sister has finally found someone to call a friend, and one that seems to care about her wholeheartedly. It gives him just the tiniest hint of relief until his thoughts turn to her whereabouts once more.

He runs an agitated hand through his hair as his eyes flash about the corridor as if she might suddenly appear out of nowhere.

“Could she have went into the city?” He asks after a moment, eyes darting to her face to gauge her reaction.

But he’s met with a crestfallen expression. “No. If she had went into the city then the guards would have reported it, and it is quite difficult to enter and exit the palace unnoticed.”

“But you are saying it can be done?” The tiniest shred of hope sparks within his chest, but quickly dies out when she shakes her head.

“To compensate for weak points, father has made it so that those areas are watched particularly closely. There is no way that Serena would have been able to exit without notice, no matter how subtle she may be.”

“For fuck’s sake, where could she have gone?!” He growls out angrily, letting his anger get the best of him to the point where he doesn’t fully mind his language. Princess Arcelia’s eyes widen at the vulgar sounding word, but Rodion doesn’t bother to excuse his language as he racks his brain for an answer as to how he’ll find his sister.

Princess Arcelia’s tone is soft as she pipes in. “Maybe we should inform my father and brother?” He whirls around on her then.

“And what the hell are they going to do?! Your brother is wrapped so far up in his work and wedding that he would not even be able to find his ass, let alone my sister! And your dad is just as preoccupied!”

She bites her tongue. Everything in her wants to shout and bite back at him, but the tortured expression on his face reminds her that he only acts this way because he is worried for his sister. Were their roles reversed, she’d probably be reacting the same way.

So no matter how crass his way of speaking, she cannot fault him for saying thus. With a sigh she says, “I do not know. I will speak to my father and see if we cannot have a few squadrons of guards go in search of her.”

That’s hardly a consolation, but he releases his own sigh. At least she’s trying. Looking at the situation logically, there really isn’t much else they can do. All this damned magic and not an ounce of it can help him find his sister. Then again, the only one most likely capable of using such magics would be Calder, and he has yet to crawl out from under whatever rock he finds himself. He doesn’t really expect King Neptune to be capable of using the kind of magic he’s expecting, given that the king seems the type to edge more towards the offensive aspects of it.

“You two are causing too much of a disturbance,” says Prince Oceanus as he appears from around a corner farther down to their left. His expression is one possessed of his typical levels of annoyance, and his gaze holds its usual frigidness. Well, at least it’s usual to Rodion considering he’s always on the receiving end of it and the feeling is neutral.

His gaze flickers back and forth between the two, before landing upon his sister with an expectant glint.

Princess Arcelia clears her throat. “Serena has gone missing. No one has seen her since she retired to her chambers last night.”

She catches a flash of something in his eyes. Were she not paying attention she wouldn’t have noticed it. It looked like just the tiniest glimmer of shock? Concern? Maybe even annoyance? Despite having lived with her brother for as long as she has, she still has something of a difficult time discerning his thoughts and emotions. He keeps them tightly under wraps where no one may see them, so it’s become something of a game for her to guess what lies beneath his hardened exterior. Yet now isn’t the time for such games. He is concerned with Serena’s disappearance. That much has been made apparent in the flash of emotion that had darted through his eyes.

Finally he asks, “What do you mean she has gone missing? Have you not checked to see if she has been nosing about in the library? Or sitting in the garden like a dazed idiot?”

His words made Rodion’s blood boil. Can this man do nothing else but insult us? His temper flares and what little patience he has is wearing thin. Though now isn’t the time for him to be losing his temper it does little to dissuade the venomous look he gives Prince Oceanus. Yet said prince isn’t concerned with his look in the least.

Princess Arcelia begins to play with her fingers again as she becomes an unwilling spectator to the tension between the two. Again she clears her throat to draw their attention away from each other as she answers, “We have checked every corner of the palace. Her presence has completely vanished from within the palace walls.”

His expression hardens, and a strange twinge of anger takes root within his chest. Something does not feel right about any of this. But the wedding’s tomorrow, and he can ill-afford to waste his time searching for one human.

“How troublesome,” he sighs before continuing, “I will have a squadron formed and sent out in search of her the day after tomorrow.”

Rodion’s eyes widened. “Why the day after tomorrow?! Why not right this second?!” Honestly, this man just infuriates him. He feels as though he loses a piece of his sanity with each encounter with him.

Prince Oceanus’s eyes go cold as his tone reaches chilling depths. “I do not have time to waste on one human girl. First and foremost, my duty is to Aquaria so everything must proceed as planned tomorrow.”

Princess Arcelia is quick to protest, “But brother! Surely we need not give up our freedom to look after our kingdom?!”

And yet his tone, usually a little softer for her alone, becomes bitingly colder than he would even deign to speak to her with. “Arcelia,” he begins as he stares at her head-on. “Ever has our duty been to the kingdom, and this marriage will keep it from collapsing within. The sooner you realize this fact, the better.” And with that, he swims away with the two quietly gazing after him.

She’s just one measly human. But why does he feel so unsettled about all of this?