Traitor of the SeaWings

Chapter 12: Going to the Deep Palace

Two days passed. They finally made it to Diamond Spray Delta. 

"Two days, Glory must have noticed we're gone by now!" Waterscale to Tsunami. Tsunami shrugged.

"She's not my queen, and she won't do anything terrible to me." She yawned. "Let's sleep on it." Andromeda wanted to keep going, but she was very tired. She yawned and rested herself on the bank of Diamond Spray Delta. Waterscale laid down next to her, blushing for some reason. Yawning again, she watched the night sky. Millions of stars. Millions and millions. It looked like a NightWing wing stretched across the sky. NightWings. She thought. Rarest of all of the dragons, and yet she knew two. She yawned for the third time, the rested her head and slept. 

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She was swimming in the ocean. Behind her, Tsunami, Aquarius, and Torrent were swimming. Tsunami looked happier and Aquarius looked less worrisome. Since she didn't know what Torrent looked like, she imaged and sweet-faced SeaWing with her royal pattern flashing in the sea water. She stopped looking at her sisters and looked ahead of her to see Queen Coral in front of her. She just swam there, stunned. Andromeda stood there, and she saw some of Queen Coral's background, she realized Coral must see hers. The SeaWing queen was standing in a huge room, and she was underwater when Coral opened her mouth Andromeda was sure she would close it because you couldn't talk underwater. But she spoke, in a loving, soft voice. 

"Andromeda, my baby." The queen moved forward and gave Andromeda a hug. Even though she knew it was a dream, she felt as light as a feather. 

"Mother? Is that really you?" Andromeda whispered. 

"Why wouldn't it be?" Coral asked, letting go of her daughter. 

"The last time I 'saw' you, you were in the Summer Palace and you said you didn't want me." Andromeda spoke. 

"I-I never saw you before, I mean, if you count your egg I did, but- What do you mean?" Inquired Coral. 

"But, I did see you, In the Summer Palace!" Andromeda said again. And she told Queen Coral all about their meeting at the Summer Palace.

"Darling, your saying we met five days ago?" Coral whispered. "The Summer Palace was destroyed almost weeks ago. 

"Yes, that's what Tsunami told me," Andromeda answered quickly. 

"You've seen Tsunami?" Coral shrieked. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine," Andromeda said carelessly. "We're going on a quest to find our sisters, we already found Aquarius, we're looking for Torrent now," But Coral screamed again. 

"Aquarius? Oh, my poor, poor, poor baby! I thought she was mad when she left the Deep Palace!" Coral tapped her talons together. "Where did you find her?" 

"In the SkyWing palace," Andromeda said, getting annoyed. She had something important to tell her mother but she kept screaming. "She's fine too." After a while, Coral calmed down. She breathed deeply. 

"I know you have a question, so tell me before I ask you mine." 

"Okay!" Andromeda beamed. "I wanted to know why I thought I saw you when I actually didn't."

"Did you see anyone on the way to the palace?" 

"I saw Shark." 

"Shark?" 

"Yes, your brother, Shark." Andromeda's mother tapped her chin. 

"Shark... I was going to say you were cursed by an animus but Shark isn't one." 

"Are you sure?" 

"Pretty sure, I should ask him later." 

"What did you want to tell me?" Andromeda asked, feeling let down. The queen of SeaWing's stared at her sadly and then changed her expression back to normal. 

"I know you're at Diamond Spray Delta," Coral started. "I want you to come to the Deep Palace." 

"Why?"

"I'll tell you when you get there," Coral said, planting a kiss on Andromeda's forehead. 

"Can I bring anyone?" Andromeda begged. Coral cast a look at the Tsunami behind her, then the Torrent, then Aquarius. 

"You may bring, one dragon," Coral said. "Only one." Then she popped out of sight before Andromeda could ask any more questions.   

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"You want us to WHAT?" Tsunami exclaimed. Andromeda covered her ears. 

"I want you and Aquarius to go back to the rainforest without me and Waterscale," Andromeda said again. 

"And WHY would you want us to do THAT?" Tsunami asked her. 

"Because" Andromeda paused looking around the beach as if she was trying to find an answer. "Because I need to do something in the kingdom of the sea." 

"And why can't I come?" Inquired. "I'm a SeaWing TOO!" 

"I know, but it's, it's, personal," Andromeda stated. Tsunami snorted and rolled her eyes. 

"Fine! I don't care, but fine!" She motioned to Aquarius and they both flew off into the distance. 

"Can you at least tell me where we're going?" Waterscale asked quietly. 

"Of course," Andromeda replied. "We're going to see Queen Coral because she said she wanted to talk to me." 

"But why am I going?" 

"Because she said I could take someone with me and I chose you." 

"But why?" Andromeda stared at him.

"Well, I know you best and, I just feel safer with you." Waterscale blushed, for a meant it looked like his very scales were turning pink. Andromeda dipped her head underwater and came up for air again. "Are we going?" Waterscale nodded and slide into the water himself. Together, the swam down to the ocean. 

Three days passed, and Andromeda was getting hungry. As she lay by the fire, Waterscale came back with a pig for them to share. They were on in mud kingdom near the scavenger den. Andromeda had gone to investigate and it turned out the den looked like a small palace. Andromeda was bigger then the building and the entrace was smaller than her head. She had fight a talon through and withdrew it quickly because three scavengers came running out, bringing the pokey things they carried. They all had weird metal armor and were trying to stab at Andromeda's tail. She had picked them and placed them on the tower nearest and had walked away. 

Andromeda ate the pig with Waterscale and looking angrily at the flow of water in front of them. "What's wrong?" Waterscale asked as he picked a spot of the pig to eat. 

"I just wish we were there already when my mother came into my dream she looked really worried, so what she has to say must be important." Queen Coral had appeared in another dream the night before. This time she was more urgent. She had quickly asked Andromeda where she was and then told her to hurry. "If I had teleportation powers, I would teleport you here." Was the last thing she told Andromeda. 

After dinner, Waterscale slept in the shade of a large tree since it had been a hot day. Andromeda was still out, wondering if her mother would appear in her dream tonight and wondering what she had to tell Andromeda. She breathed in the air, and happily realized there was a tang of salt in the air. We must be close! Andromeda thought happily. She turned around and headed back to Waterscale. She curled up beside him and breathed in again. She had never thought she was going back to the ocean, but this time it was to meet her mother, really meet her! 

One day later...
They were standing outside the Deep Palace. The SeaWing guards who had meet them on the beach had taken them there. She wondered if she'd remember how to get there but then she was blindfolded. This was the first time the blindfold was taken off. Outside of the tall palace. The doors were thrown open and a large SeaWing with pearls around her horns, wings, and neck. A smaller dragonet trailed behind her. "Your here!" She yelled happily as she ran to hug Andromeda. "And just in time too!"