Under the deep Atlantic ocean, deeper than any human has ever wandered, there existed the undiscovered Tidalonia kingdom, filled with millions of Mermaids and Mermen.
The kingdom was filled with many riches, Gold, Silver, diamonds, pears, Rubbies, and all sorts of other enchanted treasures that humans would kill to have.
The creatures of the kingdom lived happily amongst themselves, having everything they could ever need in abundance.
But, their ruler, King Nereus Aquaris, was aware that no one stayed content forever, so he made a deal with the sea witch, Nereida, to grant each underwater creature a one-time wish; whatever their wishes were, it was granted without delay.
This made the creatures love their King more and more; even though it was just a one-time wish, it still showed that he had their best interests at heart.
All but one was happy with the king.
Nixxia Aquaris, the second child and heir of the Tidalonia kingdom, was not pleased with whatever her father did, because she knew they were all for show.
At home, she was the black sheep of the family while her elder Sister, Maren, was the apple of their father's eyes because she obeyed and did everything she was told.
Unlike her, who disobeyed before the order was even given.
You might be wondering what caused such tension between a father and daughter; It's just one of those family feuds where a daughter is forced to marry the son of a friend for mutual benefit.
But, in Nixxia's case, it wasn't just about the marriage; she didn't care who she married because she didn't and will never believe in love. Courtesy of his father.
Her father was forcing her to marry Prince Valtor from the Abyssalia Kingdom, and his father, King Pelagius, was the cause of her mother's death.
She felt betrayed by her father and sister, how could they easily forgive the man who killed their mother?
She knew they wanted to force her to become the next Queen by marrying her off before her elder sister, and she knew why, they just wanted her to fill in the queen role and secure the alliance between the two kingdoms, and, while her dear sister takes her precious time to find her true love; and when she does, they'd throw her off the throne like the trash she was.
Nixxia swore never to let that happen.
That morning, Nixxia woke up at the right moment when the palace guards were switching shifts; she already knew how long it would take before the next set replaced the empty posts, so she quickly swam out of her room.
She wished she had dull skin scales like others did instead of her neon purple and silver scales. And her tail fin was so shiny as well, it always made it hard for her to sneak away without being caught. The color always attracted people to her.
But not today; she glided and swam past her father's room, swiftly propelling her tail side to side as she headed straight down the golden stairs with silver pillars that led to the huge living room, which was built with the strongest rocks.
The rocks of the walls were adorned with shimmering mother-of-pear tiles, reflecting blue and green hues against Nixxia's scales as she swam past it.
Nixxia stopped when she reached the round golden shell door, this was the tricky part. Her father was very sensitive to sound waves, and if she hurriedly opened the door, the waves would reach her father's ears in a matter of seconds, and her escape would be in vain.
She took a deep breath as she slowly held onto the silver-plated door handle and quietly opened the door, but what she saw next weakened her poor spirit.
How?! How was her father standing in front of her with the last person she wanted to set her eyes on?
"Going somewhere, Xia?" Her father asked.
Nixxia waved her tail fin anxiously behind her as she slowly swam back into the living room, not replying to her father, the frills behind her back stood in fear of what was going to happen next.
"You shall greet your in-law properly, Xia," King Nereus said in a threatening tone as he swam mightily into his home.
Nixxia shrank away from her huge father; she always felt intimidated by how tall and huge her father and sister were, while she just looked very ordinary.
"Let the girl be, Nereus, she'll come around," King Pelagius said as he swam into the house, heading over to lower himself onto the curved sofa that was made from coral and shells, upholstered in a glittering turquoise fabric.
Nixxia remained quiet, floating beside her mother's majestic sculpture which dominated one part of the wall, near the beautiful, shimmering curtain that was made from thousands of tiny shells that separated the living room from the rest of the underwater abode.
"She's being ungrateful, Pelagius," King Nereus's voice thundered across the room from his high throne at the center of the living room.
"I believe she'll-" King Pelagius was suddenly interrupted by his son's proud voice who was pompously swimming into the room.
"Oh, father, you won't believe it! Those low lives wanted to-"
"Ahem!" King Pelagius loudly cleared his throat, alerting him of his location.
Valtor immediately stopped in his movement and, to everyone's surprise, switched his personality instantly.
"Greetings, great King Nereus," Valtor majestically swam close to the King and courtesied, bringing his majestic red tail fin to to side.
"Welcome, Prince Valtor" King Nereus replied kindly.
"Please, Valtor is fine, my King; I'm going to become your son-in-law soon," Valtor spoke so calmly, his excessively long, silver hair, flowing around him with the water.
King Nereus chuckled, sending his daughter a condescending look, "At least, one of them is sensible," He said.
King Pelagius nodded in support.
Nixxia was still beside her mother's sculpture, observing with anger how they made fun of her and discussed her as if she wasn't even there.
Valtor was no doubt a beauty to behold, but that didn't mean anything to her because he already had his father's flamboyant, evil personality. She'd heard of Valtor's countless encounters with the lowercase mere people, and she knew how ill when they spoke of him.
"Come here, Xia," King Nereus called coldly.
Nixxia balled her fists beside her as she reluctantly swam over to her father.
"Yes, Father," She replied, bowing her head to her father.
She could feel Valtor's unblinking hungry eyes on her as she stopped beside him.
She was used to it, even though she struggled to understand why Mermen always got attracted to her. She believed she looked like an average mermaid, but she guessed it was because mermaids were extremely exotic creatures, so they didn't mind your looks as long as you mated them in the end.
But not her; she was never going to mate with this pompous long-tailed Prince, or any prince for that matter; love was something she had blacklisted and thrown into the dark vortex of the ocean.
"Take your fiancé to tour the castle while I and your father-in-law discuss your wedding preparations for tomorrow," King Nereus commanded.
The scales on Nixxia's skin suddenly started to change into a darker shade of their colors, showing her internal turmoil.
How could her father betray her like this? Planning her wedding without her consent, and to make it all worse, he chose her enemy to plan it with.
She felt so enraged and wronged.
"Did you hear me, Xia?" King Nereus' voice had a warning undertone to it.
He saw the color change in his daughter's scales and knew that she wasn't in agreement with the information he had just given her.
"I shall not marry him, Father," Nixxia said clearly, ignoring Valtor's shocked gasp beside her.
"You don't have a choice, Xia, it's been decided," King Nereus replied, his voice calmer than the water in his living room.
"Decided?!" Nixxia's voice was raised.
Valtor moved close to Nixxia and grabbed her arm, "Nixxia, we don't have a choice, we have to obey-"
"But I do! I do have a choice, Prince!" She snatched her hand away from his hold, repulsed by his touch.
"Behave, Xia, or else-"
"NO! Farther! You behave! I will never marry a son to a murderer!" Nixxia said, pointing her angry fingers at King Pelagius.
In the blink of an eye, King Nereus left a mini whirlpool behind as he left his throne and dived Nixxia, slapping her hard across the face, sending her flying against the polished pearl shelf, causing some decorative seashells, glittering jewels, and trinkets to fall onto the plush-covered floor.
Nixxia was still trying to get herself from colliding back into the hard shelf when she saw her father's dark shadow looming above her, his golden scepter glowing in his hand.
Nixxia quickly flapped her tail and met his father at eye level. Let the worst happen, she didn't care if she died.
"You have disgraced me," King Nereus said in a disappointed manner.
Nixxia was unapologetic, she saw the storm brewing in her father's eyes but she didn't care, she looked him in the eyes and said, "I see now that you never loved my mother, your queen, I won't be surprised if you had a hand in her death too - Argh!!!" Nixxia screamed as her father brutally pierced her shoulder with the sharp edge of his golden scepter.
Read Author's nite.