Shadows of the Sea

     King Kelpbeard, who floated before her with a menacing glare, whispered, "And I suppose you'll cause this as well, huh, Caylis?"

     Caylis shook her head, invisible tears forming in her eyes. "Please, sir, believe me!"

     The King forced his stubby index finger into her chest, causing a painful blow. "Now you listen to me. I don't want you causing any more trouble for Maraqua. What do you did before was absolutely unacceptable, and I plan to punish you terribly if such an events occurs once more."

     "But I swear, that wasn't me! The two Jetsams were the one who stole all that jewelry from the Durza household!" Caylis cried with hurt and rage weaving through her words.

     "Oh, sure. The invisible Jetsams did that while you predicted that such a massive loss of Neopoints would be stolen out of the blue."

     Caylis could fight no more for she knew she had lost her case. Her head hung low as King Kelpbeard yelled at her to get out of his sight. Her mind felt almost numb, as if something hard had slammed on to it until no more pain could be felt. Her entire life felt dizzy and confusing, and it seemed that no one could give her answers to questions that hurt her badly.

     She swam back into her crimson shell-shaped home, and closed the door behind her. She wanted to be left alone for good.

     "C-Caylis, are you all right?" a nervous voice asked. Caylis looked up and saw her sister's head peeking out of the edge of the kitchen. She had a very worried look on her face.

     "I don't know Isca," Caylis sighed. "Just…leave me alone." She slowly balled up her fists and pushed past Isca.

     "Are you sure you don't need any--"

     "I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!" Caylis yelled with sudden ferocity, which surprised even herself.

     Isca jumped back with shock, and quickly nodded. "O-okay." Terrified, she swam away.

     Caylis heaved another distressed sigh and made her way upstairs to her small yet secluded bedroom. This was only her only haven, the one place where her problems didn't matter at all and she could simply close her eyes and dream of good things, not those horrible nightmares that she had to go through every single night. King Kelpbeard and many others thought that it was all a joke, that she found it amusing. But they didn't realize how scared it made her, how she knew such devastation would occur and that there was no one there to help her stop it. She didn't quite know when the Looming King of the Dark Sea, a large rock monument standing on the edge of Maraqua, would fall, but she had a feeling it would be very soon.

     Caylis swam over to her bed and gently plopped down on it, closing her eyes. The nightmares soon came.

     **************

     "Caylis, Caylis, wake up!"

     "Huh?..." Caylis slowly forced her eyes open and rubbed them wearily, the sight before her growing less hazy by the second. She soon identified the voice to be Isca, who look panicked and worried sick.

     "Please, get up!" she cried. "A terrible thing has happened to Maraqua! The Looming King of the Dark Sea has fallen on almost all of the houses in the area!"

     Caylis almost instantly shot up, her eyes widening in horror. Oh no, it had happened way sooner then she had presumed!

     "King Kelpbeard needs to see you," added Isca, the loudness in her voice dropping considerably.

     A horrible feeling sunk in Caylis's stomach. She knew the worst was yet to come. King Kelpbeard had warned her about this, and it happened without one ounce of her participation. But she knew she would be punished for the calamity, even if it wasn't her fault.

     "Hurry, he said he needed to see you at once," pointed out Isca, pulling Caylis off of her bed.

     "Fine, I'm going. But is it really that bad?"

     Isca peered down at that ground, a thin layer of tears glazing over her eyes. "You should see for yourself," she whispered.

     Caylis shuddered from the response and quickly swam out of her home. Immediately, it felt like the air in her lungs had been completely sucked out. She floated in mid-air with eyes as wide as plates, motionless.

     An enormous portion of the rock monument had landed right on top of the small array of houses scattered very closely within each other. Many houses were completely destroyed, right down to the splinters of the wood from the tables, while others had damage to them from the wild flying debris.

     "Oh my gosh, i-it's horrible!" yelled Caylis, shielding her eyes with her hands. She couldn't bear to see such a tragedy unfolding right before her eyes.

     "I'm so sorry, Caylis," Isca said behind her, grief planted in her eyes as well. "I knew that you had a nightmare about it, and that you wanted to stop it, but couldn't."

     Caylis suddenly began sobbing and fell to her knees, her face digging deep in her palms. "I won't see you again, Isca," she wept, shaking uncontrollably. "King Kelpbeard said he would punish me horribly for this." She then looked up, her tear-stained face causing shivers to run down Isca's spine. "But I swear, I didn't do it."

     "Do not worry," Isca whispered, her voice quivering. "I will see you again."

     Caylis did not reply to this. She simply waved goodbye and swam away, the familiar motion of her fin sweeping up and down running through her body.

     Pangs of pain continually hit Caylis's heart as she slowly passed the ruins of her city. The sight was all too familiar; she had seen it only a few months ago. She could imagine the look on King Kelpbeard when she would plead her case and tell him that she was not guilty of such a horrible crime.

     The castle quickly came into view, with its large granite turrets rising high up, almost reaching the surface of the water, which was forbidden to pass. Caylis had never gone up, though she badly wanted to, for she had heard the amazing stories of creatures that could breathe without water and who lived in numerous worlds.

     Entering the castle, Caylis felt the feeling of doom linger around her, and her stomach churned with unstoppable nervousness. Slowly, she entered King Kelpbeard's royal court room.

     "THERE SHE IS! THE ONE THAT'S CAUSED THIS MESS ONCE AGAIN!"

     Caylis closed her eyes as tightly as she could, desperately trying to tune out the horrible words that were being yelled at her. She suddenly felt something pull her forward, and this caused her to open her eyes with fear.

     "Now you listen to me," the furious king whispered with hate expressed rather clearly. "You get out of Maraqua, and you get out right this second. Someone like you simply does not deserve to be part of Maraqua, or Neopia for that matter."

     Caylis couldn't believe what he was saying. Sure, he had threatened her with time in the kingdom's prison or having to work endless hours as a servant, but to exile her from Maraqua, which was the worst thing she could image, would leave her with nothing.

     "King, please understand what you are saying!" she cried, tears quickly rushing down her face.

     "I know perfectly well what I am saying, and I want you OUT OF HERE! NOW!"

     The Shoyru guard who was stationed alongside of the King quickly swam towards Caylis and grabbed her tightly by the arm. "Follow me," he said gruffly.

     Caylis didn't know what to do. She desperately shifted her eyes, looking for a way to escape, but the painful hold of the guard was too tight to get away from.

     The two passed by the houses, which were destroyed, and could perceive the cries of sorrow from habitants who had lost all that they had once treasured. For a moment, Caylis felt like it was her who caused all this grief, but the thought quickly escaped from her mind, and she thought of nothing.

     "May you have the worst luck in the pitiful thing that you call life," the guard spat without an ounce of sympathy. And then, right at the edge of Maraqua's border, which was made out of translucent bubble, he pushed her through it, leaving her to float there with a mouth wide open in shock.

     Caylis almost instantly tried to go back through, but the shield made her rebound back, and an excruciating pain shot through her body. No longer having the ability to move her muscles from the horrible pain, Caylis simply began falling down into the darkness of the quiet ocean.

     **************

     It had been exactly two months to this day since Isca had found out about her sister's exile from the city that she now hated. Each day, Isca reminded herself that she would never forgive King Kelpbeard for the pain that he had caused her all because of his stupidity.

     But the worst part about it was that Isca had promised Caylis that they would see each other again, and this had never happened.

     At the moment, the Maraquan Aisha was floating down an empty street with an array of seafood in two large bags. She was very near the border of the city, and this was intentional, for Isca always looked out to see if her sister was there. This time, Isca did not stop to stare, but continued on, feeling that if Caylis hadn't been there for two months, it was doubtful that she would be there now.

     But then, something made her stop in her tracks. At first, it was barely noticeable, but the sound began growing louder and more heart-wrenching. It was a song. A song of grief, a song of pain, a song of sorrow. It was a haunting melody, sung by a beautiful voice that was brought from an undeniable magic.

     Isca dropped her bags with a clatter, and peered through the border. And as she stared as closely as she could, the Aisha was certain that she had just seen a small shadow swim by. Isca waited for a moment, praying that the figure would return.

     But no one was there.

     And with tears in her eyes, Isca returned home.

The End

Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed the story. If you have any comments, feel free to neomail me. ;)