Since Seaviper is no longer royalty, I either may keep the story as an alternate universe or rework it with new characters in the future.
The story of Seaviper and her desire to get to the crown, but not without pain, suffering, regret, and yes, blood spilled.
Rounding a corner, she swam up to the two great doors, and pushed them open. Water rushed past her from the force of the doors opening, and she swam into the library, looking around. Shelves carved from stone housed many thin stone slates, words engraved in them as water-proof scrolls have not yet been made. She swam over to a shelf, filing through the slabs, and pulled out a few. There was SeaWings: Tales of the Past, The History of SeaWings Throughout the Ages, The Rise and Fall of Albatross, and Queens of the SeaWings-Updated Edition by Whirlpool. Hauling the pile of slabs into her claws, she swam over to a shelf she loved to visit often. Ever since she heard about animus magic, she had always been fascinated to see what they have enchanted or created using their magic. Of course, she had read and heard plenty about how using magic could suck up your soul, make you evil, that sort of stuff she didn’t have to worry about since she wasn’t one. Running her talons through the slabs, she found and pulled out one labeled A Dragon’s Guide to Enchanted Items, Seventh Edition. In this slab series, there were lists of objects that have been enchanted, and it tells the reader what the object was and what the enchantment is on it. One encantment she commonly saw was an enchantment to protect the user’s soul, so that they wouldn’t turn evil. She thouht that was a rather smart move, and if she were an animus, that would be her first enchantment.
As she swam around a shelf, she nearly bumped into her slightly older sister, Orca. Flaring her wings out in surprise and to stop herself, and her slabs slipped out of her grasp. Orca jumped back in surprise as well, and both stared at each other wide-eyed for a few awkward seconds, before Seaviper flashed a quick “Sorry! Didn’t see you there Orca!” She then proceeded to pick up her slabs that had drifted down to the floor when she dropped them. As she looked back up, she caught her sister scrutinizing her, before her expression quickly shifted to a neutral one. Orca then proceeded to turn back over to the self she had been previously looking through, as if nothing had happened.
Seaviper cast her sister a concerned glance, as Orca was usually friendly and loved to talk to her. However, Seaviper did notice that ever since Orca had heard that she could become queen but in order to do so would have to kill her mother, she changed. It had shaken Seaviper pretty badly, but while Orca seemed as badly shaken as her for awhile, she became more cold and distant from Seaviper. What was even more odd is that before they were told that, her and Orca were really close friends. Now, it was only an occasional short conversation that she could get out of her, and not even complementing her carvings and statues would have her open up. However, today she needed to get just one answer out of Orca.
“Hey.” She flashed, swimming a little closer to her sister. Orca stopped filing through the slabs, and turned her head a little, making eye contact. At least I got her attention. She thought, before quickly continuing before Orca lost interest. “How is the carving of you going?” She flashed, and Orca stared at her for a little bit, before flashing “I finished it.” She then started to turn back to the shelf, and Seaviper quickly flashed “Can I see it?” Orca paused again, before flashing “Follow me.” And then swam away. Seaviper quickly followed, or at least tried to, as the stack of slabs were slowing her down.
After swimming by her room and quickly dropping the slabs off, she followed Orca down the halls of the Deep Palace, which she had memorized by heart. They swam by many SeaWings, some scrubbing the coral, some tending to kelp gardens, others returning with sacks filled with oysters to cut open and look for pearls, and to be later cooked for dinner tonight. As they swam by, all of the surrounding SeaWings stopped and bowed, and Seaviper even spotted a younger school taking a field trip, and when the teacher saw them, she pointed at her, then turned to her students and flashed at them to bow. Some did it properly, others doubled over in the water, earning a smirk from Seaviper.
As they swam further into the palace, there were less and less normal SeaWings, and then it came to the point where the only SeaWings she saw was the occasional royal servent or guard swimming through the halls. Seaviper looked around to see where they were, and then lashed her tail to speed up and swim beside Orca. She then turned to her and flashed “Why are we heading to the Royal Hatchery?” as they approached the doors. A guard stood at the entrance, and bowed when the princesses swam up. Orca flashed “Seaviper wishes to see the statue.”, and the guard nodded and opened a door to the hatchery. As they swam in, Seaviper felt the warm water rush by her, and she then stopped to float. To the right of here were two female eggs, and to her left were three prince eggs. However, right in front of her was the statue, impossible to miss unless you were blind. They floated in front of it, and when Seaviper looked at Orca, she caught her with the same scrutinizing look as before, and now that she had a better look, it seemed like one of...disgust. Did Orca not like her upcoming younger sisters already? Deciding to divert her attention, Seaviper decided to complement it.
“Wow!” Seaviper flashed, looking over the statue. “It looks just like you! Save for the sapphire eyes and marbly appearance.” This earned a smirk from Orca, and both floated in front of the statue for a moment, looking at it. Seaviper had noticed Orca was more talkative and friendly than usual, despite her disapproving stares she caught earlier, and decided to take advantage of it. She had one question ever since they heard how they become queen, and now was the perfect moment to ask it.
“Orca.” She flashed, looking at her sister. “Why have you been so...cold, after we were told we had to kill mother in order to become queen?”
Orca paused, her smirk fading. She then turned around and swam towards the door.
“Please!” Seaviper flashed, swimming in front of Orca and spreading her wings wide in front of the door so Orca couldn’t pass. “It’s a question I’ve had for awhile, yet you’ve been too unfriendly to answer it. Please. If we’re still friends, you’d tell me.” They floated for a moment, and Orca let out a sigh, a stream of bubbles pouring out.
“Truth is, Seaviper, I’m going to challenge Coral. I was...worried...well, that you’d get in the way, or how you’d react to this. Tomorrow, I’m going to become queen. Just you see.” Orca flashed. Seaviper’s expression shifted from one of determination to one of shock.
“You-you’re going to kill Coral??” Seaviper flashed. “And you thought I’d what, stop you? Royal Tradition is Royal Tradition, I’m not going to kill you because you killed mother to become the new queen! Or did you think I was going to take the throne from you by killing you after you took the throne from Coral?! I’m your friend, and you were cold and distant to me because why?! Because the throne??! Did...did you...were you...” Seaviper’s flashes trailed off. Her expression darkened.
“Were you planning on killing me?” Seaviper flashed slowly. Tears began to well in her eyes, and her pleading face shifted to one of sorrow.
“What? No! Seaviper, I..” Orca flashed, but it was too late. Seaviper let out an upset cry, and whirled around. Barging the doors open to the Royal Hatchery, she swam out as fast as possible. The guard flashed “Princess Seaviper! Are you okay!” But she was going to fast to notice. Her vision was a little blurred from the tears that were streaming out of her eyes, and she shot through the halls, rounding corners and darting past SeaWings. She didn’t want to see her sister now, or ever.
Swimming out into th open sea, she caught a current and darted off through it. Her tail and legs were starting to become tired from swimming as fast as possible, so she angled herself upwards towards the surface of the ocean. It go brighter and brighter, and using all her strength to propel herself upwards, the surface got closer and closer, until..
Bursting out of the ocean, her legs and tail on the verge of giving up. However, her wings weren’t tired yet. Beating them, she rose higher. Now that she was going to run away, where to? Not to the Deep Sea Palace or the Summer Palace, Orca would kill her. And she needed to go fast, as it was a cloudy day and the winds were starting to pick up, carrying a strong scent of rain. If she was correct, a storm was fast approaching. Looking off to where the wind was coming from, she saw a large, dark grey cloud approaching. As she hovered, thinking, a memory came back to her.
It was a bright, sunny day at the Sea Kingdom. Seaviper stood on the beach, staring straight ahead. To her left stood Orca, in the same position, staring straight. Whirlpool was standing off to her right, just in her peripheral vision. He was holding two coconuts, one for her and one for her sister, Orca. On the beach a small sand crab scuttled across the shoreline, and Seaviper, distracted, looked down at the crab.
”Seaviper!” Whirlpool snapped. Seaviper quickly jumped back into position, wanting to continue to look at the crab. They stood in silence for a moment, and then their mother, Queen Coral, rose out of the water, spreading wide her wings draped with pearls. As far as she’s seen, Queen Coral never goes around without wearing pearls. Today she was wearing a pretty pink pair, along with some purple ones. Behind her came out her husband and their father, King Gill, and following him Shark’s daughter and Coral’s talon kisser, Moray. She followed Coral onto the shore, giving the princesses stares so cold it made her shiver a little. She has hardly talked to Moray, yet the daughter of Shark despises them both. She will admit, whenever she saw Moray complimenting her mother, it made her the tiniest bit jealous, as she loved (not in a romantic way) her mother. She wondered why Moray seems to adore Coral so much.
”Seaviper, Orca, daughters of Queen Coral and King Gill.” Whirlpool oozed, making Seaviper cringe a little, earning an annoyed look from Whirlpool. “Today is the first Talons of Power ceremony for you, and while normally you would do it alongside the other dragonets, Coral wished to have her first two daughters to do it alone.” He then gave each of them a coconut, and then lifted a wing and pointed it behind them.
”Behind you,” Whirlpool oozed as they both turned around, “Is the Island Palace, a place much like the Summer Palace now, and was used when important visitors from another tribe visited. However, around 2,000 years ago, when Lagoon was the Queen, they had Albatross, the first animus. Queen Lagoon had Albatross enchant many things, but his greatest gift to the Sea Kingdom was the Summer Palace, enchanted to grow into the shape it is now. However, it destroyed his soul, and on this very beach, Albatross murdered nine dragons, including Queen Lagoon and a visiting SkyWing before being killed by Indigo. The Island Palace was abandoned, believed to be haunted by the ghost of Albatross after the incident.
”Wow!” Orca exclaimed. “So they do the Talons of Power ceremony here because it was the resting place of the first animus?” “A little on point there, but otherwise yes.” Whirlpool oozed. Seaviper turned around, looking at the rotting decks and slightly visible stonework through the thick vegetation. It seemed to call her, something powerful lurking in the ruins. As much as she wanted to go in and explore, she stayed put.
”Now, time to begin the test!” Whirlpool exclaimed. “Orca, Seaviper, hold your coconuts and command them to hover up from your claws, above your head, then return to your claws. You may begin.” He stepped aside a little bit, and Seaviper turned to Orca, who was already commanding her coconut to hover. However, nothing happened, and she had a look of slight disappointment on her face, but a gleam in her eyes betrayed that disappointment, saying that it wasn’t quite right. Seaviper turned back to her own coconut and barked “Coconut! I command you to hover out of my claws, above my head, then return to them!” However, nothing happened. She sagged in disappointment, wings unfurling and settling against the sand, head drooping.
”Aww, don’t be disappointed, sister.” Orca said, coming over and hugging her. “Animuses are rare, and we both get to be without magic.” Seaviper looked up, and hugged Orca back. “Orca! Seaviper! Let’s go have dinner!” Coral announced, and headed back into the water, Gill following. Seaviper caught Moray saying about how the dinner was going to be perfect since Coral was going to be there, and Seaviper saw Orca roll her eyes, and Seaviper whispered “I know, right?” Back to her, and they giggled as they slipped in. As Orca headed in, Seaviper stopped and looked back at the island, the call urging her to explore it. However, Whirlpool came up behind her and oozed “Come along now, let’s not keep your mother waiting, and edged her into the water with a wing. She turned back, and dove into the water, following Coral, Moray, and Orca back to the Summer Palace.
Seaviper turned, looking in the direction to where the Summer Palace is. The call she felt five years ago came back, telling her to go and stay. Well, I’ve got no other place to go, and I’ve always wanted to explore it, so why not now? Let’s just hope that Orca won’t follow me. She thought, gazing back to make sure no one was following her. And the wind began to pick up, she flapped off east, away from the Deep Palace, away From the Summer Palace, and off to the Ruins of the Island Palace, her now home.
Check back later for Chapter One!
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