Maristella: Star of the Ocean

Prologue

When she opened her eyes fearfully, the little girl saw the most beautiful scene she had ever seen in her small life span of five years. The colour of what they called the ocean above her was as blue as her favourite chewy candy and it gradually faded into a shadowy white colour near the surface where the water hugs the sky above.
Yes, she liked sitting like this on the ocean floor where the water and the light played with her. Suddenly she heard those weird adults shouting her name, and within an instant she was dragged out of the water roughly by a strange pink man with an Orange balloon wrapped up across his upper body.
The man looked at her parents who were profusely thanking him as if he had done a great deed. When she was finally up on her father's arms, he kissed her head with a tearful expression while thanking the gods for saving her life. She never really understood why her parents always cried and hugged her tightly when they dragged her out from the water.
This had happed the last time too, when she sneaked out of their house in Sicily. She was peacefully sitting on the ocean floor and playing with a cute little turtle who introduced himself as Mr. Shellysnook, when they interrupted her reverie with their annoying wailing.

She never understood the concept of drowning either, why would she drown when she could breathe like a fish? No matter how many times she told this to her ma and baba, they never believed her. Hence the five-year-old little princess had arrived at the conclusion that the "big hoomans" are dumb! Silly people, why don't they understand that the Ocean calls her, the sea waves at her, and the waves speak to her?

Whenever she tries to say this to her mother, she mildly scolds her and says, "Now princess, don't you want to grow up and take care of all those who love you? Don't you want to be the best princess ever for your people? If you do, then must learn to separate your dreams and the reality. What would have happened if you would have left us forever? Thank God that this little brat was saved by Smith before her breath ran out."

But she knows that there's one "big" person who would believe her, and she loves her the most in the world after her ma and baba: her 'Bhalo ma'(Good mother). And she's finally going to meet her today after 5 months.

She was just trying to count all the complaints that she would put forward to her 'bhalo ma' when she heard her joyful voice, "Where is my little royal munchkin? How much has she grown since I last saw her?" The little girl jumped off her chair and ran towards the hallway from where the sound was coming. She ran as fast as her tiny little legs could carry her, steering down the staircase, crossing the white pillars, removing the heavy blue curtain of the hall, she saw her. Just as beautiful as an angel from her fairytale books, stood the Queen of the land of rising sun, surrounded by guards, clad in a pink and green silk kimono, her hair beautifully decorated by traditional hairpins and on her head was placed a sparkly crown made of jade and diamonds. The moment her highness' eyes laid on the child peeking from behind the curtains, her hands stretched out in an ever welcoming manner. The child jumped in her arms and their laughter rang through the halls of the Imabari Castle. It would have been really tough for an outsider to perceive that Trisha wasn't the Queen's own biological child. They were inseparable since the day Trisha uttered her first words.

After a lot of chitchats and serious discussions like which colour of dress must be worn by Trisha's favourite doll in her upcoming birthday celebration, the duo separated. The Queen proceeded to meet her old friends, Trisha's parents and her guests, the King and Queen of Bhabyanagar. She knew of their predicament regarding their daughter's apparent hallucinations underwater. They were on the verge of thinking that their child is mildly abnormal or even mad because of her oceanic adventures. But Queen Masako wanted to shout out to them that princess Trisha is no normal human child, she is someone special. Yet her hands and certainly her lips were tied for Mermaids are still a secret to the ignorant human world. And Trisha was yet to come to terms with her true identity, at least until she turned six.

Say hello to Mr. Shellysnook!