Chapter 5
878 Words
Daisy remained on her knees.
The temple seemed quieter now.
Too quiet.
The revelation echoed through her mind.
My daughter.
The words felt impossible.
For nineteen years she had lived without answers.
Without family.
Without knowing where she came from.
Now, in the span of a few moments, everything had changed.
Her mother had been real.
Not merely a dream.
Not merely a hope she secretly carried in her heart.
A queen.
The last ruler of the mermaid kingdoms.
And she had died protecting her child.
Protecting Daisy.
Fresh tears blurred her vision.
She lowered her head.
For the first time since childhood, she allowed herself to grieve.
Not for the sanctuary.
Not for the life she had lost.
For the mother she had never known.
Lyra knelt beside her.
Neither of them spoke.
Words felt too small for a loss this large.
The silence stretched between them.
Then the pool stirred once more.
Daisy looked up.
The water glowed brighter than before.
Silver light rippled across the surface.
Ancient runes emerged from the depths.
Hundreds of them.
Thousands.
They circled the chamber like living stars.
A voice filled the temple.
Deep.
Powerful.
Older than memory.
Daughter of the Sea.
Daisy froze.
The voice was different from the vision.
Different from her mother's.
This voice felt ancient.
As though the ocean itself were speaking.
The blood of queens flows within you.
The runes accelerated.
Light filled the chamber.
The Heart of the Ocean remains hidden.
The darkness seeks it.
The darkness fears it.
Images flashed around her.
A crystal hidden within a forgotten city.
An island surrounded by storms.
A crown resting beneath the sea.
And a young man standing beneath a silver moon.
Golden eyes.
Dark hair.
A royal cloak billowing in the wind.
Daisy frowned.
She had never seen him before.
Yet the vision lingered.
The Immortal Prince.
The title echoed through the chamber.
When sea and sky stand together, the lost shall rise once more.
The vision vanished.
Daisy stared at the empty air.
"The prince," she whispered.
"The vision showed a prince."
Lyra's expression changed.
For the first time, uncertainty appeared in her eyes.
"I've heard stories."
"What stories?"
"Stories from old spirits."
Daisy waited.
"The Kingdom of Aetheria is ruled by immortals."
A chill ran down her spine.
"Immortals?"
Lyra nodded.
"Most believe they're myths. But spirits remember things mortals forget."
The temple shook violently.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
The creature had found them again.
A roar exploded outside.
The ancient doors trembled.
Cracks raced across the stone.
Fear returned immediately.
The sanctuary was still dying.
And they were running out of time.
"We have to leave," Lyra said.
Daisy nodded.
This time there was no argument.
The temple had given them what it could.
Answers.
Warnings.
A destination.
Nothing more.
Another impact struck the doors.
The stone groaned.
The monster was breaking through.
The pool suddenly surged upward.
A stream of glowing water spiraled into the air.
It moved toward the rear of the chamber.
Toward a hidden passage.
A path.
A guide.
"The temple is showing us the way," Daisy whispered.
The water-light hovered beside an ancient archway.
Without hesitation, Daisy followed.
Lyra stayed close behind.
The hidden corridor curved upward.
For what felt like hours they swam through darkness.
The passage was ancient.
Untouched.
Built long before the sanctuary itself.
As they climbed higher, the water grew warmer.
Different.
Lighter.
Daisy noticed something strange.
The pressure around her was changing.
The ocean no longer felt endless.
"We're close," Lyra said softly.
"Close to what?"
The sea spirit smiled.
"The surface."
Daisy stopped.
The word felt foreign.
The surface.
She had heard stories.
Of sunlight.
Of wind.
Of stars.
But stories were not reality.
She had never seen any of it.
No mermaid in generations had.
A mixture of fear and curiosity churned inside her.
Another tunnel opened ahead.
Silver light poured through it.
Unlike any light Daisy had ever seen.
It wasn't filtered through water.
It was direct.
Pure.
Beautiful.
Slowly, she emerged from the tunnel.
And entered a different world.
Daisy broke through the surface of the sea.
Cold air brushed against her skin.
She gasped.
The sensation startled her.
The sky stretched endlessly above her.
Dark.
Vast.
Covered in thousands of stars.
For several seconds she forgot how to breathe.
The sight stole every thought from her mind.
The stars looked like diamonds scattered across black velvet.
At the center of them all hung a glowing silver moon.
Larger than she had imagined.
More beautiful than any story had described.
Daisy stared upward.
Tears slipped silently down her cheeks.
Not tears of grief.
Not this time.
Wonder.
For nineteen years her world had been hidden beneath the sea.
Now she understood how small that world truly was.
The ocean stretched endlessly around her.
The heavens stretched even farther.
And somewhere beyond that horizon waited answers.
Somewhere beyond that horizon waited the Immortal Prince.
Far away, unseen by Daisy, a royal ship sailed across the moonlit waters.
At its bow stood a young man with dark hair and golden eyes.
Prince Cassian Aurelius.
A sudden unease settled over him.
As though destiny itself had stirred.
As though somewhere in the darkness, a story long forgotten had finally begun.
- Writer
