Chapter V: Songbird

S E L A D O N  A G E  
F O U R T E E N

"Angelita wait-"

"Don't you Angelita me you bloody baboon!" The elf Queen of Osa threw her arms back in a fit of rage, glaring at her husband with utter rage in her eyes, "Do you have any fucking idea what you have done?!"

Rayner's complexion paled, the man swallowed a lump in his throat as it clenched and tightened with nerves, "Look, my sweet calm down, let me explain-"

"No!" She flipped her silky brunette hair behind her shoulder, finding it rather irritating in this given situation, "Calm down? Let you explain? How the fuck am I supposed to do either of those things when you called a bloody war!"

"I understand your frustration but you're missing the point Angelita it's not what you think I-"

The Queen's fists clenched, her knuckles turning white and her teeth grinding against each other, causing a small headache. She could not believe the actions of her husband, she trusted him and for what? Him to call upon a war against the kingdom their daughter was supposed to marry into?

She couldn't believe him. The audacity he had, was his brain made to use the morning dog food? had he completely lost his head?

"Please!" The king swooped Angelita up from under her feet, holding her romantically in his arms causing her to gasp, her mouth immediately closed in response, "Please let me explain my love, it was an agreed declaration, we did it to protect our honour."

"Our honour?" Angelita's left eye twitched, she elbowed her betrothed in the chest, telling him to put her down as she wiggled out of his grasp.

She was astonished, dumbfounded and in awe at how stupid one man could be, "You said, if our daughter breaks off her engagement with their son we will go to war, are you trying to make me out to be a liar?"

Her voice pitch heightened, she forced her eyes to shut as she gripped the top of her head, ripping out strands of hair in displeasure, "I told her she can break off the engagement when she is old enough to make her own decision, have you realised what you have just done?!"
"If Seladon knew about this-"

"She will marry the prince of Lotia, she doesn't have a choice Angelita, just like we didn't have a choice in our marriage either, I want what's best for our kingdom, for our kind, why is she any special?"

Angelita's mouth hang agape, to say she was shocked would be an understatement. Her husband had blatantly told her he doesn't give a rats ass about his own flesh and blood, he doesn't care about her happiness just to fulfil his wants.

And he was willing to start a war to get what he wanted.

"I don't care if you tell Seladon about this, honestly I feel it's better if she knows. It'll encourage her to go through with the marriage."

What the King and Queen didn't realise during their argument was the figure outside their bedroom door.

Blue, tear-stained eyes were widened, a hand covering her mouth as she took deep, heavy breaths. Seladon had heard everything.

And she was pissed.

♡ ♡ ♡

"No, you have no idea how upset I am right now!" Seladon paced back and forth, hands behind her back as she grumbled curses under her breath, "I don't even want to marry the man! I haven't seen or heard from him since I was 11 for goodness sake!"

"H-Hey, it's okay..." The sound of water silently swishing and splashing echoed throughout the ears of the three people in the area, "I wish I wasn't stuck in this lake... I wish I could hug you." Alton sighed silently, the light in his eyes extinguished as he felt genuinely bad for the girl.

Seladon tensed when she felt arms around her, her eyes widened before they closed in an attempt to hide any tears from slipping out of her eyes, she wrapped her arms around the demon who was hugging her.

"Thank you, Tenebris and Alton, I really appreciate you guys..." She buried her face into Tenebris' chest for comfort, "Just thank you."

"That's what friends are for." Tenebris looked over toward Alton's direction and smirked, purposely aggravating the merman as he was doing the one thing Alton wanted to right now.
Hug Seladon.

"Yeah..." Alton replied with grit teeth, "What he said the tæve" He muttered the last word under his breath as he silently vented his frustration.

(Translation: Bitch)

Seladon eventually broke the hug and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt, "I'm sorry you guys had to see me like this," She let out a sigh, shuffling backward and leaning her back against a tree.

The Princess had been meeting up with her two friends at least twice a week for three years, they had become rather close but none of them had ever seen Seladon so upset, so, vulnerable.

They would be lying if they said they didn't like the way it made them feel.

"Anyways, I came up with a new song, would you like to hear it?" Changing the subject smoothly, Seladon removed an instrument she had strapped to her waist, it was a kalimba, an instrument she had begged her mother to get for her despite the struggle of traveling for several weeks in order to acquire it.

"I learned this myself, listen well." She let out a small breath and got to work, steadily playing her kalimba, providing a soothing, beautiful melody.
(Song above)

A smile graced the female's lips as she played, despite the small blisters forming on her fingertips. She loved to play music, not only did it sound beautiful but it made her and those around her happy.

Her smile resided on her face even when she had finished playing, "So, what do you guys think?"

"I loved it!" Alton clapped his hands, unintentionally splashing droplets of water everywhere with every clap, "It was beautiful my songbird."

Songbird, a nickname the merman had given the princess the day he first heard her play, Seladon didn't mind it one bit, after all, friends give each other nicknames all the time.

"It was pretty I guess," Tenebris rolled his eyes at the merman's nickname for Seladon, his response caused the elf to puff her cheeks out in semi-annoyance, the demon made a noise of displeasure as she elbowed him in the arm, "You guess?"

"I said it was pretty, what else do you want from me?" His red eyes narrowed at the girl, Tenebris took this time to really study her facial features. Yes, he knew in great detail what she looked like but he couldn't help himself, any opportunity he could come by he would always find a reason to stare at her.

He snapped his eyes away from Seladon and crossed his arms over his chest, small pink hue dusted his nose and he shook his head, 'No fucking way I'm catching feelings for an elf of all things, disgusting creatures they are.'

Tenebris clenched his teeth in an attempt to distract himself as Seladon and Alton spoke ever so casually as if they had known each other all their life.

The way Alton spoke to her made his blood boil and it irked him, he didn't want to see red, for his mind and thoughts to be corrupted with visions of the merman being killed by his own hand, he liked to tell himself he didn't know what was wrong with him but deep down. He knew.

And he had a plan to make her his.

A smirk itched its way onto his face as he thought of his plan. His plan was to massacre her kingdom, and her race entirely because where would she go without her beloved home and loved ones?

Crawling right to him.

He had followed her enough times to memorize where the magical barrier which protects the elves from the outside world was. That was the only problem as no other creature can see it. But now that he knows he can order the war at any given opportunity.

♡ ♡ ♡

Seladon tiptoed around the castle, entering a room where the knights of the kingdom train, with every tick of the grandfather clock her nerves began to rise, her heartbeat thumping against her ribcage as she picked up a bow, quiver, and some arrows to fill the said quiver.

Once she had acquired the items she wanted the princess snuck into her bedroom and out of her window. If she was caught wielding a weapon as a princess she would be in big trouble as 'princesses' aren't allowed to fight and hold weapons, it is not proper.'

She rolled her eyes at her mother's past words and ran off into the trees, smiling to herself Seladon threw the quiver on her back, the strap firmly around her shoulder. She plucked an arrow from the holder and aligned it into the bow, closing one eye she aimed at an apple in a tree.

Letting out a small, shaky breath Seladon released the arrow.
Only to miss the apple and hit nothing.

Rolling her blue eyes she ran off to retrieve the arrow, "Practice makes perfect I guess." 

She was determined to improve. 

She wouldn't usually be the type to fight or learn how to use weapons but the constant reminder of the war which would partake if she canceled the engagement with Markus, the prince of Lotia.

Yes, she could go through with it and everyone will live happily ever after but would she live happily? Seladon let out a sigh, she was fighting for her future, and her happiness and she was not going to let all her hard work be thrown away.

Crunch

The arrow had landed perfectly inside the apple, knocking it out of the tree and into the floor.
In her eyes, Seladon had mastered the way of the bow, her accuracy had improved drastically and she couldn't help but smile at herself.

Not only had she focused on improving her accuracy and the time it took to draw another arrow but she had been learning, reading, and researching as to where to shoot someone to temporarily or permanently immobilize someone. 
As a shot to kill was much easier.

Seladon had been learning the ways of the bow for several months now, still keeping up with her daily responsibilities and catching up with Alton and Tenebris when she had free time.

Instead of staying within her side of the protective barrier to practice, she wandered outside, her mind curious as she constantly wondered if it would be harder to perform in a different setting as she was so used to the apple trees she practiced on. 

Seladon stopped in her tracks, plucking an arrow from her quiver and lining up a shot at the sky, she wasn't aiming at anything until she kicked her left foot up, kicking an apple that was balancing on her foot in the air. She aimed and shot.

Hitting the apple from the sky.

"Impressive," Slow clapping came from behind the teenage girl, startling her, "But I have no idea how you managed to hit that, you see, your posture was way off."

Seladon jumped back in fright, looking around for a person as she had literally heard somebody speaking to her. However, her eyebrows furrowed when she hadn't seen a single person in sight.

'Am I imagining things...' She slowly stepped backward and picked up the apple, picking the arrow out of the fruit while still looking around cautiously.

"You look so lost, like a doe in headlights, how adorable."

Okay, what the actual hell is going on, a bead of sweat fell from her forehead, the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck standing up as she was on edge, "Where...Where are you?"

"Right in front of you."

No, because the only thing in front of her which was full of life was... Seladon flinched in slight fright upon noticing the large, black feline in front of her. A panther...

"Bwahaha! You should see your face!" The panther laughed before its skin morphed, decaying and transforming into something new. A teenage boy, "Yo, I'm Kenichi!" He greets, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

Slowly dropping the apple to the ground Seladon nodded slowly, her brain trying to comprehend and process what the hell just happened, "You're a..."

"A shapeshifter, yes amazing I know I am." Kenichi grinned, his golden eyes boring into the female's blue ones, "Go on, tell me how amazing I am. I'm waiting."

Seladon blinked a few hundred times before she felt she was ready to communicate with the unknown, "I don't think it would be good to let anything else get to your head... It's already big enough."

The boy scoffed, his mouth agape in disbelief, "Nobodys ever spoken to me like that," he huffed but didn't complain, "It wasn't unpleasant but rather amusing, you amuse me, I like you."

"Thanks? I like me too... By the way, I'm Seladon," The female introduced herself upon realizing she hadn't yet.

"Salad?"

"No, Seladon, repeat after me," The girl puffed out her cheeks in mild annoyance, "Sela-Don"

Kenichi smirked, a toothy grin exposing his sharp teeth, "I'll just call you Kiska." He had a smug look on his face but he didn't elaborate on the meaning of the nickname or why he chose it.

//End of Chapter//

A/n: Next chapter the main story starts, have fun~ :)