Chapter 6 Beneath a strange sky
946 Words
Daisy had never seen a horizon before.
The realization struck her as she floated upon the surface of the sea.
The world no longer ended a few hundred feet away in darkness.
Instead, it stretched endlessly in every direction.
Sea met sky.
Sky met stars.
And somewhere beyond both lay lands she had only heard about in stories.
For several moments, she could do nothing but stare.
The moon hung above her like a silver lantern.
Its reflection shimmered across the water.
Beautiful.
Mysterious.
Lonely.
Much like the ocean itself.
A sharp ache settled in her chest.
The sanctuary was gone.
The thought returned without warning.
Gone.
Destroyed.
Everything she had ever known now existed only in memory.
The coral gardens.
The crystal towers.
The shrine.
The Temple of Tides.
Even now, she could almost hear the creature's roar echoing through the depths.
Daisy wrapped her arms around herself.
The night suddenly felt colder.
Lyra floated beside her.
The sea spirit remained unusually quiet.
Neither of them seemed willing to break the silence.
At last, Lyra spoke.
"What are you thinking?"
Daisy looked toward the stars.
"Everything."
A sad smile touched Lyra's lips.
"That's not helpful."
"I know."
The truth was she didn't know where to begin.
Questions filled her mind.
Questions without answers.
Who was her mother?
Why had Morvana destroyed the mermaid kingdoms?
What was the Heart of the Ocean?
And who was the Immortal Prince?
The title alone sounded impossible.
Yet after everything she had witnessed inside the temple, impossible no longer felt impossible.
The world was larger than she had ever imagined.
Perhaps immortals truly existed.
Perhaps prophecies did as well.
A distant cry interrupted her thoughts.
Daisy straightened.
"What was that?"
Lyra listened carefully.
Another cry drifted across the night.
Strange.
Beautiful.
Melancholy.
It sounded almost like music.
"Birds," Lyra said.
Daisy blinked.
"Birds?"
"You've never heard them before."
The reminder stung more than it should have.
There were countless things she had never experienced.
Birds.
Wind.
Forests.
Mountains.
Cities.
People.
The surface world had always been a distant story.
Now it was her reality.
A cool breeze swept across the water.
Daisy gasped.
The sensation startled her.
The wind tangled her silver hair.
She laughed softly.
Despite everything that had happened, wonder flickered inside her.
The world felt alive in a completely different way.
She tilted her face upward.
The breeze brushed against her skin.
For a brief moment, she forgot her grief.
Forgot her fear.
Forgot the monster hunting her.
She simply existed.
A girl beneath a sky full of stars.
Then the sea stirred.
Daisy immediately became alert.
The water around them rippled.
Not naturally.
Something was moving beneath the surface.
Something large.
Fear surged through her.
The creature.
Had it followed them?
She prepared to dive.
But a moment later, several sleek silver shapes emerged nearby.
Dolphins.
Daisy relaxed.
The animals circled curiously.
One clicked softly before darting away.
Another followed.
Soon the entire pod disappeared into the moonlit sea.
A smile touched Daisy's lips.
At least some things in the world were still beautiful.
Lyra drifted closer.
"We should find land."
The words shattered the fragile peace.
Land.
The place she had never seen.
The place where humans lived.
The place where the prince might be.
Daisy swallowed nervously.
"What if they don't want me there?"
Lyra raised an eyebrow.
"Who?"
"The humans."
"How would they know you're a mermaid?"
Daisy hesitated.
That was a good question.
Most stories described humans as dangerous.
Unpredictable.
Cruel.
Yet stories could be wrong.
After all, the stories had also claimed mermaids were extinct.
Daisy glanced toward the horizon.
Far in the distance, tiny lights flickered.
At first she thought they were stars.
Then she realized they were moving.
Ships.
Her heart skipped.
Human ships.
The first she had ever seen.
A mixture of curiosity and fear twisted inside her.
The lights seemed impossibly small against the vastness of the sea.
Yet they represented an entirely different world.
A world she was now destined to enter.
Unknown to Daisy, one of those ships carried a prince.
A prince standing alone at the bow.
A prince staring across the moonlit ocean.
And for reasons he could not explain, Prince Cassian Aurelius felt as though someone was watching him.
The feeling had haunted him for hours.
A strange pull.
A distant call.
As though fate itself had shifted.
Cassian tightened his grip on the ship's railing.
The wind tugged at his dark hair.
Golden eyes scanned the darkness.
Nothing.
Only sea.
Yet the feeling remained.
Beside him, a tall warrior approached.
"My prince."
Cassian turned.
Rowan.
His oldest friend.
And perhaps the only person who spoke honestly to him.
"You should be resting," Rowan said.
Cassian smiled faintly.
"You sound like my tutors."
"Your tutors were usually right."
Cassian laughed.
The sound surprised even him.
Laughter had become rare in recent years.
Responsibilities had a way of stealing simple joys.
The crown prince of Aetheria did not belong to himself.
He belonged to the kingdom.
To duty.
To destiny.
And sometimes those burdens felt heavier than mountains.
"You feel it too, don't you?" Cassian asked quietly.
Rowan frowned.
"Feel what?"
Cassian looked toward the sea.
A strange unease settled in his chest.
Something was changing.
He could feel it.
The same instinct that had warned him of danger countless times before now whispered again.
The world was shifting.
Ancient forces were awakening.
And somewhere beyond the darkness, a story long forgotten had begun moving toward him.
For the first time in centuries, fate had stirred.
And neither the Last Mermaid nor the Immortal Prince yet understood how deeply their destinies were entwined.
- Writer
