From the Sea Beneath You

Chapter 3

Rapunzel swam over to the cave with all the human objects later that day.  She found Varian was already there, sitting on the rock, holding the snarfblatt. "Varian, are you okay?"

Her younger brother turned his head to her.  "Huh?  Oh, yeah.  I'm ok… it's just… I get that Dad's looking out for us, but I just wish he'd hear me out for once.  He lies to us so much too.  Why didn't he tell us we were singing for the siren's favor?  I feel like a tool.  I didn't give consent for that.  There's a difference between singing for pleasure than for whatever you would want to call that." Varian grabbed his hair as his sister sat next to him, quietly listening.  "Gah! I'm ranting again!"

"And that's ok.  I'm listening," Rapunzel said.

He passed her a small smile, before continuing.  "If only he would try to understand us, I think we could come to an agreement or a compromise.  He is right about one thing, we don't know the humans, but it's wrong to just assume they want to fry us for dinner."

"Yeah… to see what their world is like… that would be so neat.  Like a whole new world…"  Rapunzel laid down and gazed through the hole on top of the cave where sun was creeping in through the water.

Varian laid down next to her, but in the opposite direction.  He sighed.  "Yeah, I would like to be a part of their world…  I know I belong here, as the prince of Atlantica, but… I never felt right here… like something's missing.  Do you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I know exactly how you feel," Rapunzel admitted. 

"So is there where you two have been hiding?"

The two sat up upon hearing the voice.  "Hector!"  Varian gasped.

The man glanced around the room.  He snorted.  "Fredric would freak if he saw this."

"You're not going to tell him are you?"  Rapunzel asked.

The man chuckled.  "And be the one to tell him?  Nah, I'll take my chances.  Never seen or heard of this place," he said.

"Thank you," she said.

"For what?  I don't know what you're talking about."

Varian and Rapunzel grinned.  Hector glanced at the entrance.  "Look, you two stay put.  I have to check something out."  He swam off before the two could ask what was wrong.

Then, the sun disappeared.  The siblings looked up, finding a ship sailing over them.  "A human ship!"  Rapunzel gasped.

"Let's check it out!  I want to know how it works!"  Varian began to swim up.

Rapunzel grabbed his tail.  "You heard what father said.  We should at least wait a little while until we try to surface the water again. He's still mad at us."

"Rapunzel, you're nineteen.  You're an adult.  You make your own choices now, he treats you like you're still a child," Varian pointed out.

"Yeah, well you're sixteen.  You are still considered a child," she said.

"Yeah, a teen.  Going to the surface is exactly what's expected of me then.  Please," he said.  "You want to see it as much as I do."

She sighed.  "You're right about that.  Let's go."

"Yes!"

They swam up and leapt onto a ledge on the boat.  The two carefully peered into an opening.  "Jumpin' jellyfish!" Rapunzel exclaimed quietly.

"Max, I can lean against the edge of the boat.  I won't fall out this time," Eugene said to the white horse.

"Still talking to that horse… Why did we bring him on the boat again?"  A seventeen year old girl with black hair walked over to the prince.

"What, he likes the water," Eugene reported.  "I'm trying to figure out why we let you come, CassAndra."

"Oh, I don't know.  Maybe because it's rude to not invite your own sister to your birthday party."

He snorted.  "Oh, yeah, that's right.  We're related."

"I've never seen a human this close before," Varian whispered.

"He's kinda cute." Rapunzel pointed at Eugene.

"And you said that about Andrew.  Didn't he say he was a 'bibliophilic'?  He didn't even spell it right," Varian muttered.

"Well, he was a hot merman, but I was younger.  I know looks are looks, nothing more."

"He had a manbun," Varian teased.

She merely rolled her eyes.  They became quiet and watched as Nigel stepped up.  "Silence! Silence! It is now my honor and privilege to present our esteemed Prince Eugene with a very special, very expensive, very large birthday present."

Eugene chuckled.  "Ah, Nigel, ya old beanpole, you shouldn't have."

"I know,"  Nigel said.

Cassandra smirked.  "I helped him pick it out. Happy birthday, Eugene."  She grabbed the white tarp and pulled it off, revealing a statue of him.

"Oooh, looks good.  We displaying it at the front gate?"  Eugene asked.

Cassandra laughed.  "No, it's going in your bedroom, nitwit."

"Ah."