Chapter Text
The palace of Syngorn was a beautiful structure, carved from sea-stone and coral, illuminated in the early morning by glowing bioluminescent lanterns. Both servants and nobles swam through the halls, preparing for the day ahead. One particular group, dressed in their finest, were making their way to the throne room when they heard someone shouting from inside.
The mermen stopped and looked at each other uncomfortably. A moment later, Vax swam out of the room angrily, with Vex following close behind.
“Vax, wait!”
The group of mermen exchanged glances with each other before just shrugging their shoulders and continuing on their way.
“This is so stupid!” Vax shouted as he barged into their bedroom, Vex trailing behind him. She sighed and sat her bag down on the dresser.
“Vax, just calm down.”
“Who does he think he is, going off on us!” He said, kicking up bubbles as he swam back and forth across the room, “It's not like we were doing anything wrong! We were just exploring!”
“Brother, please. It's way too early for this.” Vex pleaded.
Vax fell back onto his bed, his face stuck in a scowl. He grabbed a piece of human treasure -a long piece of chipped, painted pottery- and began playing with it absentmindedly. “I just don't understand,” he said, “Why do we have to respect him when he doesn't even respect us?”
“He is the king, Vax,” Vex replied, “Kinda goes with the job.”
“But we're his children! That should account for something, at least.”
Vex sighed as she sat down at the small vanity and began combing her hair. Their father, King Syldor, had taken the twins in shortly after the death of their mother, a poor but beautiful weaver, a commoner. Despite their connection, he acted more like a prison warden than a father figure, instilling harsh rules. The twins could never figure out why exactly he took them in instead of leaving them for the wild. The best they could figure was some sort of political act, as he had no trouble parading them around when they were younger. It was only when they got older and started questioning him that they began to drift apart. The divide had only grown bigger as the years went on, and now that they were adults, the chasm had grown too wide to measure. The final straw was the King declaring that Vex and Vax were not eligible to be heirs to the throne. Not that they ever wanted the crown, but to have it laid out so plainly felt like a final slap to the face.
After a long while, Vax suddenly sat up. “You know what? I'm done with him. To hell with Syldor and Syngorn and all of it!”
“Vax, what are you talking about?” Vex turned and saw Vax opening a bag and stuffing his belongings into it.
“We're leaving. For good this time.”
“Brother, we already tried that. We made it a day before the guards found us.”
“We were just kids then, sister. We're grown now, and it's not like he still has to have a reason to keep us around.”
He tied the bag closed and swam over to Vex. “Think about it. Just you and me, out in the open sea. No rules, no Father. Finally living life the way we want. Doesn't that sound great?”
Vex looked at Vax for a moment, biting her lip. In all honesty, she wasn't sure. Their father wasn't the greatest man, but he was still their father.
Vax seemed to sense her hesitation, and said, “What kind of life would we have if we stayed? Be honest with yourself.”
Vex sighed once again, turning back to the mirror and beginning to put her hair back in its usual braid. “I don't know, Vax. We've lived our whole life here. I don't think I can just leave.”
With a slight frown, Vax took over the braiding. She could tell he was getting frustrated with her, but she was scared. Yes, he had a point, but Syngorn was still their home. She stared at herself in the mirror, considering her options.
As Vax finished tying her hair with a piece of seaweed, Vex grit her teeth. “You're right. There's nothing for us here anymore. We'll leave tonight.”
Vax smiled and gave her a quick hug. “Yes! This is going to be great, Vex! I can feel it!”
He went over and grabbed another bag, filling it with his sister's possessions. Vex rolled her eyes and helped him, taking care to not squish anything. They made a plan to sneak off when the guard’s shift changed that night.
Once their bags were packed and they had their plan ready, they quickly made their way through the palace to find Grog and Pike. As they passed by the throne room, they heard several voices talking inside, one of them being their father. The twins vaguely recognized the other voices as members of the royal council.
“-in a month. There has to be some explanation for the sudden increase.”
Vex pulled her brother close before he could swim past and made a shushing gesture. He gave her a questioning look, but Vex just pointed at the room. She wanted to know what they were talking about.
“Does it really matter what is happening in the surface world?” They heard a man's voice say, “It's not like they even know about us. What's a few lost ships?”
“Their ‘few lost ships’ are sinking closer to our borders. What if they try to recover it and discover us?”
“That would be impossible. Humans don't have the gills for such an undertaking.”
“Enough.” They heard King Syldor's voice boom, “Celandir, increase the patrol on the city outskirts. Have them report any mysterious sinkings they find.”
“Yes sir.”
Vax pulled his arm away from Vex and made a let's go gesture. She was about to follow him when the next sentence stopped her.
“Next on the agenda, the marriage treaties for Vex’ahlia and Vax’ildan.”
The twins froze and stared at each other. The what?
“As you are aware, Prince Saundor has already claimed the daughter to be his, and is willing to give a mighty sum to curry your favor.”
Vex covered her mouth to prevent herself from vomiting. She had met the so-called prince a while ago, and the encounter made her feel so gross she had to scrub herself with a coral rock for hours afterward. And they wanted her to marry him?
“As for the son, the Duke's daughter is almost of age to be wed, and I believe that they could be a potential match.”
Vax clenched his fist tightly, but before he could storm in and scream at the council, Vex reached out and grabbed his hand. She shook her head violently.
“We're leaving, remember?” She whispered to him.
Vax still looked pissed off, but he relaxed his grip and took a deep breath. He nodded his head and together they swam off to find their friends.
---
Pike and Grog were in the courtyard near the infirmary, where Pike was singing to a soldier's wound and Grog was beating into a training dummy. As Pike's song filled the water, the large cut on the boy's arm grew smaller and smaller, until it vanished into nothing.
“Thank you, Miss Pike!” The boy said, giving her a quick bow before picking up his spear and going back to his squad.
Pike sighed deeply, her face a bit pale. Her face brightened when she saw the twins approaching, then she noticed their grim faces and her smile vanished.
“What happened?” She asked, swimming up to them and checking them for injuries. When she was satisfied that it wasn't physical pain, she crossed her arms and looked at them worriedly. “Was it your dad again?”
Vax looked at his sister, who still looked a bit green, and quietly told Pike a shortened version of what they overheard at the council meeting.
Grog joined them and looked pissed off on their behalf. “That's silly! Vex doesn't even like marriage!”
“It's not that,” she said quickly, “I just don't want to marry him. I'd rather kiss a barracuda.”
“What would be the point of these alliances anyway? Syngorn isn't doing that badly, is it?”
“It doesn't really matter.” Vax said, “It's probably just a way to get rid of us for good, without getting his hands dirty.”
Vex picked up a forgotten spear and lobbed it at the dummy with a grunt, stabbing it directly in the chest. “To hell with him, and to everything he stands for! I won't be pawned off like some prized meat!”
“That's the spirit!” Grog said loudly, then looked confused. “Uh, how are you going to stop getting married?”
“We run away, obviously.” Vax said, his voice low with conspiracy, “Go somewhere where no one will find us and make our own destiny.”
Pike stared at the twins in disbelief. “You're leaving?”
“Tonight, once the guards finish their rounds.” Vex whispered, “We're getting as far from Syngorn as possible.”
“We wanted to let you know because you're our friends,” Vax added, “And we didn't want you to worry or get into trouble.”
“Your dad isn't going to be happy once he finds out,” Grog started to say, but Vex interrupted him with a glare.
“By the time he finds out, we'll be too far for him to do anything. He wants us gone anyway, why does it matter how it happens?”
Pike and Grog looked conflicted for a brief moment, exchanging worried looks with each other, but then Pike pulled herself together and pulled the twins into a hug.
“You better take care of yourself out there,” she told them.
“Of course we will. You do the same.” Vex and Vax both gave a hug to Grog as well, then swam off to make final preparations, unaware of Pike whispering to the giant.
---
Later that night, as the bioluminescent lanterns glowed gently in the water, the two mermaids peeked through the archway. Vax scanned the area carefully, then whispered to his sister, “No guards. All clear.”
Vex nodded and swam ahead as quietly as she could, Vax following close behind. The way was silent, not a single living soul passing through. It was once they had safely passed the edge of the kingdom that they heard someone calling out. They quickly dove behind a boulder and kept quiet, waiting for whoever it was to pass over.
Vax quietly drew his dagger as Vex loaded an arrow. They didn't want to hurt anyone, but they couldn't let themselves go back. A minute later, they heard the voice calling out again, but it sounded more familiar now.
“Vax! Vex! Where did you go?”
The twins exchanged a look and peeked over the boulder, and what they saw shocked them. Pike's glittering tail shone even in the darkness, dimly illuminating both her and Grog as they swam through the water. Vax put his dagger away and swam up to greet them.
“What the hell are you guys doing here?” He asked.
“Did you really think that you could leave without us?” Pike said with a smile.
“Yeah! We're not gonna leave two of our friends to swim through the open ocean alone!” Grog added, “What if you need protecting from another kraken?”
Vex had joined at this point and looked between the two in disbelief.
“But what about your training, Pike?”
The little mermaid just shrugged. “I basically learned the important stuff anyway. Besides, experience is the best teacher, right? We're bound to get lots of experience out there!”
“You guys realize that we're not coming back, right?” Vex said carefully, “This is for good. Once we're gone, we're gone. No take backs.”
Grog looked serious for a moment. “Yeah, we know. But like I said, we're not leaving you alone. You're our friends. Friends stick with each other.”
“Especially if they're going out on some big adventure.”
The twins looked at each other, having a silent conversation. Finally they seemed to come to an agreement and turned back to face the other two.
“Strength in numbers, I guess.” Vex said with a smile.
Vax whooped quietly, doing a small flip in the water then making a big come on gesture. “What are we waiting for, then? We have a whole wide ocean to explore!”