Gabriel had to close his eyes as he emerged under the dark belt due to light. Bright, undulating light. Had he slipped into the dark belt, been turned around, and resurfaced? He swam a little lower in the water and looked above, a hoof shielding his eyes. He was still under the surface, quite a bit under actually, and yet the sun bore down on him as if he were right under it.
"Careful!" Melody scolded him. The mare pulled his hoof away from his eyes and guided him down further, away from the underwater sun's glare. "You can easily blind yourself staring at it here as it is on the surface."
Gabriel's eyes opened wide as he stared down at the perfectly clear view of the Seabed Of Undercari. It was an enormous valley, filled with what looked to be homes, homes made of stone and coral. The houses were all cluttered together, though sometimes spaced apart, and had the most colorful palettes. How? Gabriel thought to himself, becoming more perplexed by the second. Wouldn't the paint just wash away? Just...just how?!
"Not when you have magic," Melody said with a giggle, reminding Gabriel that for the moment they were psychically linked.
"This is all very nice," Mariasha quipped in a bored tone. "I think it's wonderful that you found the sun, can we move on now?" Gabriel, Melody and the other seapony all agreed silently to the siren's inquiry, though all three found her to be completely unpleasant. Since she'd found that she couldn't seduce the pegasus in their group, she'd given up all pretenses of niceness and merely assumed her currently bitchy attitude.
Gabriel turned to look at the seapony. For the first time he noticed what type she was - she looked like a normal mare from the chest up, complete with forehooves. She wore half a small seashell for a necklace. From the waist down, she was all tail. She was magenta, grey-eyed, and her long mane was striped with a nearly white cream-ish color. Almost looks like a beta fish, he thought, frowning as he continued his downward spiral into confusion. But aren't beta fish fresh water...?
"Best not to think about it too much, Gabriel," Melody told him with a pat on his shoulder. "Trying to make sense of this place could give anypony a headache!" The pegasus frowned at this bit of advice, but he didn't have much time to complain or ponder the situation, as it appeared they would soon have company. From the tall citadel-like tower at the back of the valley, he could spot ten or more seaponies coming their way, and they would be arriving quickly.
It didn't take long for the platoon of seaponies to arrive. Melody gave Gabriel one glance, a warning look. Do as I do, and be quiet unless spoken to...these are the royal guards. On this day they will tolerate no unrest, so be polite, he heard in his head.
"Laria!" the guard at the front shouted. Gabriel's escort smiled and waved a greeting as the platoon approached.
"Hello, Choral Abyss! Fine day we're having, isn't it?" she responded as the soldiers approached, forming a vertical line in front of the quartet of travelers.
The orange and black captain of the guard stared long and hard at the four silently. Gabriel got the feeling that something was wrong - there was a look of uneasiness in the mare's eyes, a look that said she didn't like what she was seeing. He was itching to fidget a little, the captain's stare so distressing. Finally she nodded her head and her stare became much more relaxed. "Fine then. I assume that you," she pointed at Gabriel," are our pirate ambassador? Belonging to the Sea Pearl, if I'm not mistaken?"
Gabriel nodded. Almost inclined to offer his hoof in greeting, Melody caught the intention and cleared her throat. The pegasus took a breath to calm himself - it wouldn't do to mess up his first impression. "Yes, that's right. I represent my crew. We wish to offer our friendship to the new kingdom, as well as our solemn promise to support the kingdom and it's new queen, in all things."
"Hm," the captain murmured. She seemed to approve, but she also seemed very distracted. She passed Laria with no more than a cursory nod, stopping instead in front of Mariasha, a stern look in her eyes. Gabriel's knowledge of the world under the dark belt was limited, but he knew that sirens had a bad reputation, both for exposing themselves to the surface world, and for eating those on the surface. A siren's nature was as such, though, so the sirens in turn held a grudge against those trying to impose their laws on them.
After a long, awkward moment, Choral Abyss slowly backed up, giving the siren her space. "All right...We will escort you to the royal family so you can all pay your respects...but you," she gestured to the siren. "I want you in front with me. I don't trust you."
This situation perplexed Choral's soldiers - this wasn't protocol. Sirens weren't that out of control, plus she'd be easier to watch from the center. Still, these were the captain's words and could not be ignored. The soldiers took their place, forming a loose sphere around Laria, Gabriel and Melody, while Choral Abyss and Mariasha took point, slightly ahead of the group.
As Choral Abyss swam side by side with Mariasha, she tossed the siren a glare of disdain. It was returned with a small smirk of satisfaction. The siren loved seeing the underworlders' distaste for her kind; she didn't care either way, she just liked seeing the looks on their faces. Mariasha's confidence and derision were rocked, however, when the captain of the guard spoke. "You sirens are going to foil the plan if you keep nosing around before tonight..."
Mariasha was quiet for a moment, giving the captain a long, pointed stare until she finally decided to speak. "...You? You're...with 'us'?"
Choral Abyss nodded solemnly. "I am your contact at the palace. Everything is ready for tonight."
"Huh. Didn't peg you for the betraying type. But tell me, what did you mean, 'you sirens are going to foil the plan'...?"
Choral Abyss narrowed her eyes at the siren. Did she really not know? "Leucothia was sneaking around the city earlier," she said, watching Mariasha's reaction closely. The siren did not look happy.
"What?! Why-"
"Watch yourself," the captain warned, her eyes subtly darting to the group behind them. Some of the soldiers already looked suspicious, some of them looking anxious. Mariasha took the hint and lowered her voice and controlled her body language as she swam.
"Why? What happened?" she whispered quietly, though the tone in her voice was still harsh and angry.
"She said she'd received warning of Lusus, and that he possibly was planning an attack on the royal family tonight..."
Mariasha became deadly silent at this. If Leucothia messed this up, there would be all kinds of Tartarus to pay…
The spire could be a lonely place. The giant cone-like structures had many rooms, but were bare save for some paltry furniture. Leucothia had been taken to the lowest level of the spire, the widest part of the whole structure. In their spare time, the family had put together a small but impressive labyrinth of coral walls. While the walls did not reach to the ceiling of the first level, it was extensive enough to get lost in it. The first few weeks of occupying the spire had lead to great boredom, thus great inspiration.
Leucothia had been through the maze three times now, and was beginning to feel cramped so deep under the sea. The siren was almost always above the surface, like most of her kind. While she had occasionally been under the dark belt, she preferred the feeling of the wind on her skin. Also, Deep Surf was up there, but if asked she would of course deny this being a reason why she preferred the surface world. Leucothia, loafing atop one of the maze walls, had finally had it. She'd been waiting in the spire for the last hour. She flopped down to the floor, finding the dry atmosphere had run it's course. With anxious hooves she cantered to the magical field keeping the inside of the spire dry and promptly banged her head against what should've given way to water.
"Ow...what the...?" The siren frowned, casting her gaze up along the invisible field. There didn't seem to be anything different. She could see out into the bright water, lit up by the artificial sun's reflection at the bottom of the dark belt. Pressing a hoof against the barrier, she found that it did not give way as it was supposed to. Beginning to panic, the siren struck the invisible wall keeping her in. This wasn't right - the soldiers that brought her here told her to wait for the royal family to see her, they didn't say she was a prisoner! "Hey! Let me out of here!"
The sired had had enough of being jerked around for one day. Her eyes darkening as she sat down to transform, she opened her mouth and let out a high pitched tone. The spire itself reverberated with the sonic scream, the barriers themselves wobbling into visibility. Leucothia had transformed completely, her eyes shut tight with concentration as she continued to scream when the barriers let slip a form into the massive room. The siren was still screaming when she felt a hoof press against her chest. The scream ended and she opened her eyes to see an unimpressed princess standing before her. The fact that the princess' eardrums had not shattered upon entering caught Leucothia off guard. "That's...interesting. Why aren't you...?"
"Dead? Deaf?" Pearl Depth inquired coldly. "Magic. Your scream couldn't break the barriers of this room, same as it couldn't break the spell I put around my head so it wouldn't explode upon coming to see why you're throwing a tantrum."
"A...tantrum?" Leucothia sat up on her forehooves. As much as she'd been looking to get out into the water, she was already transformed. She wouldn't further her indignity by returning to her pegasus form just to see eye to eye with the princess. "Your soldiers put me in here and told me to wait for you. I waited for you, and then I found that I was a prisoner! They could've at least told me I wasn't to leave, or that you've be taking forever! I don't have to be here, you know. I could've just minded my own business and let Lusus-"
"I'm sorry."
Leucothia stared at the princess. Did she just apologize? The siren cast the princess a doubting look. There was little Pearl Depth could do to convince her she wasn't just trying to shut her up and shoo her out the door - if she was allowed to leave at all this point. But the princess surprised her when she got down on the floor and bowed her head. "I'm sorry," she repeated, "for your treatment today. Please understand that this day is very important and there are many issues to be seen to. I-"
"Yeah okay," Leucothia interrupted. The princess' bowing was making her very uncomfortable. She leaned close and, gently as she could (which meant roughly) got the princess to her hooves. "I get it, you're forgiven, stand up already."
Pearl Depth stood again, as requested. Leucothia, being so close, realized just how taller than her the princess was, so the humble look she was trying to give the siren didn't come off quite as well as she wished. The two regarded each other awkwardly for a moment. Leucothia began to feel her cheeks burn. This was embarrassing. After a good two minutes of either staring at each other or looking around the room, the princess blurted out, "So...Lusus?"
"Oh!" The siren had been so lost in her own thoughts that she'd completely forgotten why she'd come down here in the first place. "My boyfriend thinks that Lusus is going to attack you, or something."
The princess frowned. This wasn't going to do. The siren was being dismissive, she wasn't taking this seriously at all. "Would you mind elaborating, please?"
Leucothia scoffed and threw her mane back. Like she wasn't being generous enough already. "Fine...My boyfriend, thinks that something is going to go down tonight at your silly little celebration tonight."
"Involving Lusus."
"I guess."
Pearl Depth sighed as quietly as she could. Why must the siren be so difficult? "Do you have anything else to go on? Any specifics? Please. This is a very serious allegation. We know well how dangerous Lusus can be, but...if you have anything..."
Leucothia rolled her eyes and made a show of looking like a victim. Here she was, stuck in a prison, and being demanded to spew all her secrets - at least, that's what she wanted Pearl Depth to see. In reality, she just wanted to get back to the surface and - wait. There was something else. The princess could see that something had registered in the siren's eyes. "What is it?"
"Well...He - Deep Surf, that is...mentioned that he'd seen Lusus on the island..."
"What?!" Pearl Depth snapped. "Why didn't you mention this to begin with?" The fact that Lusus had been sighted on land was a very pressing matter. The great shark pony was a water creature. While he could change forms and assume the appearance of a land pony, he was almost always in the water and rarely went on land. The only reason he would have to go on land was either to threaten or to make deals, and both of these situations would have pertinence to tonight's coronation.
"Your high-uh, princess!" Both Pearl Depth and Leucothia turned to the far barrier as a soldier slipped through and plopped to the floor with a thud. "As per orders, I am here to inform you that captain Choral Abyss is on her way with guests. The surface ambassador, sent by surface pirates, will be arriving momentarily along with the siren Mariasha." With that, the soldier turned, and promptly ran his head into the barrier. "Ow! Oh no," he moaned. He planted his hooves against the barrier and pressed his head against it. "Am I...Am I in trouble for entering and speaking out of turn? I did it again!"
The soldier continued to pout and moan while Pearl Depth frowned. Something the soldier said was taking the forefront of her thoughts. Another siren? She turned to question Leucothia, but the siren before her had turned rigid and pale. Pearl Depth studied Leucothia's face. She looked scared, and she could almost hear adrenaline pumping through her veins. Her breathing had increased, and there was a sense of extreme urgency about her. "...They don't know you're here, do they?" the princess asked.
Leucothia gave no answer but for a stare. Her eyes were angry, but her body trembled. She was frightened to the point of snapping, like a feral creature. Pearl Depth smiled; there was no guilt in this siren. For whatever reasons she had, she had gone behind the other sirens and risked her safety. She knew the sirens had a close-knit community. If they knew she were here... The princess sighed and stomped upon the floor. Almost immediately the still-wailing guard fell through the barrier and into the water outside, letting out a grateful sigh as he swam off to other duties.
Leucothia snapped her head back to the barrier, and immediately jumped out headfirst. Released into the water, she paused, and turned to look back at the princess with questioning eyes. Pearl Depth nodded, as if to affirm she'd meant to release her. "Go on, get out of here before they see you. Thank you for coming to see me, now go." Leucothia frowned thoughtfully. Surely the princess knew that if she'd been caught messing about behind the other sirens' backs she'd be killed. Was the princess truly trustworthy?
There wasn't even time for that. She shot off through the water in the opposite direction that that guard had come from, and was gone in a moment's notice. Seeing that her 'guest' had fled, Pearl Depth sighed with some trepidation. If Leucothia's word were to be trusted, was it possible that the other sirens had something to do with Lusus and a possible attack on the crown tonight? If it were indeed possible, then she was about to have a meeting with the enemy. Was the pirate involved? Was it even safe to meet with them right now? These and a dozen other questions ran through her mind even as the four travelers came to a stop just outside the barrier. She put on a smile, ignored the screaming urge to flee, and stepped forth to greet her guests.