The ancient stone city of Atlantis began to thin out and stretch when they came to the palace. Multiple series of arches came first, each with a different pair of intricately carved statues guarding the entrance. Maggie was stunned. The statues must’ve been ancient, carved and molded and shined far before any of their time. But they remained there still, guarding the city no matter what changed from with it.
The closer they came to the palace, the more overwhelmed Maggie became with its otherworldly beauty. There was something odd about it, as though she wasn’t at all meant to be casting her eyes over something as alien and different andstartling and stunning. The words piled up behind her teeth but she kept them locked inside. The mermaid Princesses were on a mission, their attention remained straight forward as they plunged themselves towards the Palace’s guarded front gates. They'd simply returned home with a few land dwelling stragglers hitchhiking a ride along with them. Maggie could only imagine all the ways she could annoy them even further by mentioning how stunned she was by the palace’s unmistakable beauty.
They slowed as the palace stretched high into the waves above them. A few mermen guarded the front entrance, the tall silver doors studded with plucked rubies and emeralds. Matching armor covered their breasts and extended down their muted tails as they lingered in front of the doors in a slight flanking formation.
Maggie’s heart almost stopped at the idea of guards.Armoredguards.
“Leave them to me,” Coralyn suddenly said. She reached for her braids, pulling at the blue hair until it pooled out into a luxurious mess behind her back. Gorgeous even when she wasn’t trying to be.
Coralyn shut forward in a streak of blue. She had her long fingers caught in her hair, her head tilted almost horizontally as she spoke with a dazed voice to the unsuspecting guards. “Tell my father,” she droned on, “To get me another set of Shelly Hair Curlers and Moss Covered Chocolates from Barnie’s shop and –”
Selina snatched onto Peter and Maggie’s hands. “Let’s go!”
The Princess parried and weaved around the pillars, slipping into a side door that was a few feet away from the main entrance. The guards looked as though they were seconds away from ripping their ears out as Coralyn continued to list all the new things she wanted King Neptune to get for her.
Inside the palace, the walls were as bright as Maggie imagined them to be. Everything was a pearly shade of white,delicately muted by the murky water. Rubies and emeralds and sapphires decorated the walls, the jewels making distinct images and constellations in the surfaces. Maggie was beginning to reach out to them, her fingers just barely grazing the darling red rubies when –
“Hide!” Selina jerked them around a corner as a small school of mermaids came rushing down the hall. “Touring kids. Cute, aren’t they?”
Maggie’s heart ached as she watched the mermaid children swim by as their teacher explained the history behind each jewel on the walls. She almost wanted to stay with them, but Selina was quick to continue on their winding path. The Palace halls almost felt neverending as they swam through them, never once coming to their destination. The further they went, the more luxurious the halls became. Stone was long gone, the structures becoming carved out of molten gold itself. Maggie only assumed that they were getting closer to the King as things became more beautiful, though Selina wasn’t entirely quick to explain their path.
“Selina –” Maggie began.
The pink Princess jerked her finger out. “The Treasure Room is just up ahead.”
There was a pair of double doors at the end of the long winding hall. The archaic mermaid language was carved above the doors, possibly signifying the importance of the room but remaining obsolete to Maggie in spite of it. It was only a yard away from them, the golden halls glistening with importance. Maggie almost shot toward it without waiting, her determination and adrenaline pooling together until she could hardly remember her own cohesive thoughts.
Selina nodded her chin. “Let’s go –quick!”
The Princess’s tail snapped out as she swam forward, pulling Maggie and Peter along with her. They rushed down the hallwayas the bright shimmering colors of the walls flashed brilliantly by them. The guards must’ve been at another point in the hall when they reached the doors, Selina’s hands gripping it and yanking with all of her small body’s might. Peter slammed against the doors beside her, his shoulder barely letting them budge.
“Stop right there!”
Selina’s hands loosened around the handles before falling down entirely. The pinkish color she normally held on her cheeks quickly drained, her eyes wide as she slowly turned around. Maggie hadn’t seen who had shouted at them, but something told her that they weren’t having a run-in with an old friend. Maggie slowly turned to see a row of neatly armored mermaidian guards staring them down. They were armed with steel spears, the tips aimed directly at the three of them.
Selina lifted her shoulders. “Oops?”
11
Maggie
One guard, his weapon sharp and not daring to turn away, inched closer, his grandish helm marking him as the reigning superior. His steely blue eyes narrowed as he glanced between the three of them, holding suspiciously onto Peter and Maggie. One by one the guards had their attention entirely on them, not bothering to even ask Selina any questions. She said it before that the Treasure Room was strictly off limits – but it wasn’t at all odd to see the Princess wandering the halls.
“Who are you two?” the guard snapped. “Well?”
Maggie looked over at Peter, but he didn’t seem all too confident in what he should say. It looked like wielding the King of Neverland title wouldn’t go quite far under the waves. And who was she, if not a simple human plucked from a faraway land to simply cook? There wasn’t a guard in his right mind who’d believe such a thing. Maggie reached for Peter’s hand instead, intertwining around his fingers as a last pitch resort. If that was to be the end, at least she was still connected to him in some way.
The guard glowered. “I won’t ask another time. Who are you?”
Selina jolted forward, her rosy frame snapping to stand in front of Peter and Maggie. Immediately, the spears began to lower. “My apologies, fellas,” she called out, waving a dismissive hand in front of them. “But there’s no need for your pointy things anymore. Ta-ta! Head on home!”
“What is the meaning of this, Princess Selina?” the guard asked again, not daring to let his mermen leave. “You know more than anyone about howrestrictedthis area is. Outsiders areneverallowed near King Neptune’s Treasure Room.”
Selina gasped dramatically, one hand grazing her cheek. “Who at all said I was going to Father’s Treasure Room?”
He raised a brow, his spear pointing to the doors directly behind them. “ThatTreasure Room?”
“Silly,” she teased, hands twisting effortlessly behind her back. The Princess was ever so casual, rolling the situation off her shoulders. It was as frightening as it was impressive. Maggie tried to steal some of her nonchalant nature, but she hardly had a steady heart to begin with.
