Aquata Cove Ch. 66

"O-Ok, bye Adam I love you!!" Jessica called back while a shirtless Adam jogs down the hall, and takes a left turn. He huffs as he leans his bare back against the stone-brick wall, letting out a stressed sigh.

"Jumpy one, ain't she..." He mumbled before he smiled. He looks down, and realized that he's not wearing a shirt, "Ah dammit..." He grumbled before walking away from the spot to let the other performers know what he wants to sing next to make the best-suited preparations.

~~~

Bertone whimpers as he looks down upon Arnaav, who is still sleeping in his arms, and also looking to the sea.

"Betone..." Rayette says as she gently feels his arm, "We must leave."

"But we cannot..." Bertone despairs, "Not again... He's too young... H-He has not awaken yet, I want him to see us again..."

"It will be alright," Samudra says, "He is in good hands. We all look out for each other, like any pod does. And as well..." They look to Merrick, who far from them, curled up on a soft patch, letting himself rest and settle from this whole ordeal, "You know what he is willing to do to protect him."

The big polar bear merman sniffles as he reluctantly holds Arnaav over to Samudra, who then gently takes the boy off from his mighty paws, "Goodbye... A-Arnaav..."

The otter Noita comes to him, and kisses the boy's head. "Please stay safe..." She says softly.

"Th-The Capricorn can bring him to us, yes??" Bertone asked, "I-If he wants to see us."

"As long as you are in the sea," Vanora said, "The Capricorn can find you, and he may come back for short visits, per the Laws."

"Thank you, thank you," Bertone sobs as he brushes his fingers on Arnaav's fur, "Goodbye... Son..." He whines before he and Noita Rayette turn, and swim away.

Samudra swims forth to Merrick, and smiles as he lowers down. Merrick is just barely awake, his eyes too weak to open completely as Sumdra slowly brings Arnaav down to him.

"Mmnn..." Merrick moans as he brings up his arm, before Samudra gently lifts it, and tucks the otter onto him.

"Rest easy... You have done much..." He mumbles. Merrick closes his eyes as his arm holds Arnaav tighter against him, the little otter turning and snuggling against Merrick's chest as he finally welcomes sleep again, and thus begins to dream...

()()()

The palace is adorned in spiral, glittering draperies of endless galaxy skies along the angelic marble pillars of the grand castle. Bells of pure platinum ring visible waterfalls of light and sparks, small in comparison to the enormous chandelier that shines with the breath-taking essence of the moon and sun combined in an eternal light.

Tonight is a very important night.

The royal Prince stands in front of the thrones of diamond before the mass of young, eligible people. His dark hair is groomed perfectly under his small, golden crown to match is suit of sunshine gold. His gloved hands hold behind him as he looks onto the crowd, all of them vying for even just a single glance from his magnificent eyes.

Father insists that His Highness, the Prince, finds the star-crossed lover that comes in every generation. Frankly, the Prince doesn't even think that this meteor shower has any decent stars to race across the sky floor with him tonight, but he has very little choice but to gaze at all of these stars, and pretend that they have a chance of impressing him to his chambers.

The Duchess of the Red Snows comes before the Prince. Her gown flows with sparkling ruby sashes tied around her arms and waist, giving the room a blaring glow of crimson as blood-red flakes sparkle from her tied-back hair. The Prince looks into her solid crystal eyes as her rosy lips stay a neutral expression.

She steps before the Prince and gives a formal bow to him to present herself to him. The Prince gives a curt bow to the Duchess, and politely acknowledges her before she takes her leave.

The Enchanter of the Dusk Cliffs waltzes down the aisle. True to his land, the chanter is decorated with rays of waning, orange sunlight in every stitch of his clothing - from his amber broach, down to his dazzling shoe-buckles, blinking specks of sunset light everywhere in the ballroom as he comes to court the younger Prince.

The Enchanter's back erects as he looks to the Prince, who is finding it difficult not to blink with the specks of orange light keep penetrating his eyes. Once presented, the king takes his leave.

The Regent of the Clash Bluffs is unusually calm tonight, wearing an elegant silver mask over eyes while the yellow bolts of electricity spark and resist her dark cloud dress, hiding the canary-colored silk of her body. Her golden eyes look to the Prince like an unsavory meal, as if courting him is any worthy of the time she just can't fathom to afford.

The Regent only gives a gives a curt-like nod to him, if only to acknowledge the fact that she may just be the wife the Kings and Queens between them are hoping to betroth, before stepping away, figuring the cider of eons will be more worthy of her attention.

The young Viscount of the Evergreen Skies strides down the carpet to present to the Prince. The sapling seems a bit too eager for such an elegant affair, what without even deciding what color flowers should bloom around his robes, or even organizing the leaves of his sash. He can barely manage the emerald clouds of his scarf.

The Viscount holds his hand out to shake the Prince's hand, only to have his shoe pull down on a lily from the hem of his robe, and fall over before the entire court! They smirk and chuckle as the Prince walks forth, and helps the Viscount to his feet, and indicate a nice spot for him to set his affairs in order.

The Lady of the Wings of Time drapes across the floor. Adorned with too many royal blue feathers for her gown, with some of the down falling from her garments quickly evaporate into invisible mists as the sapphires of her tiara glisten in the light. No heirs and no predecessors, the Lady comes once again to the courting affair, preferring if she can just return to her domain to address the next few decades.

The elderly Lady comes before the Prince, and gives a formal bow as she holds her feathered arms open in a humble curtsy to show her respect, and thus earning the same from the Prince, before she takes her leave.

The Commander of the Star Sands comes to grace the hall with his presence. His very suit is woven with the essence of the cosmos, dark with spirals of violet and white light, the stellar fabric trailing behind him as he walks purposely down the carpet to greet the Prince. Perhaps the ruler of the stars to infinity could dazzle the Prince, if he didn't already know that the Commander has quite the sizeable harem in his galactic chambers.

The Commander smiles nicely to the Prince, nodding to him as a few stray stars twinkle and sparkle from his nebula cuffs, before leaving to attend to a dance partner, already deducing that the Prince is not interested.

The Empress of Past Shadow looms forward to address the Prince. She wears a gown of pitch darkness, with only several large white diamonds to float in the endless black of her outfit, as well as a very fancy mask, gleaming in the light as she walks along the way of the carpet, looking unimpressed by the ball in its entirety. Honestly, the Prince is a bit scared of her, though as legitimate as any eligible person, her last three husbands have left her due to marital problems - though speculation persists that she never killed them, the court thinks she would be a much better subject of gossip and rumor if she did.

The monotone Empress reaches the Prince, and offers her intimidating yet humble bow of courtship, unchanging in her expression even as she wafts away, leaving the Prince in a single shiver.

The King and Queen look over their son from the balcony. The ball has just barely begun, but they still feel ill-at ease. While it's unheard of for any ruler to have found their mate, or mates, within their first few balls - this is the Prince's 4th ball - but it's like he won't even try. The Prince is young, naïve, he thinks he has too much time and so much to do before finding a suitable partner. He's far too busy riding the Spirals of Reality, or slaying the Belts of Spikes, and other such trivial activities. He just refuses to find someone that would have him settle down.

The Prince sees the Duke of Raving Spades start to walk, when a bright glint catches his eye. Behind the crowd of suitors, the Prince can only make out shimmering glimpse.

The King and Queen blink as the Prince starts to walk away from the thrones. Has the Duke grabbed his attention?

Wait, no, he only just walked around the Duke, much to the man's confusion and breach of etiquette. This is very unorthodox, but the Prince isn't ruining the ball at least, like the Queen did in her younger years. They watch as the Prince bids the guests to step aside, and stride forward. The King and Queen watch as the Prince walks quickly to one of the handful of guests who have arrived fashionably late, sadly outside of the mass of the other guests, usually having to wait until everyone else has made their appeal before gaining the chance to court the presenting royalty.

For the first time since tonight began, the Prince feels himself smiling, strange as it feels, as he comes to this suitor - the Priest of the Water Heavens. A young, fair male draped in beautiful waxen silk that shows his arms and his right leg, with wisps of shimmering white spinning from his fabric, tied around with a cyan sash that sparkles from the light as waves of refract the white coming from his robe-like garment. He wears a circlet of thin, silver crescent moons around his light yellow hair.

The Queen grins excitedly as they see the Prince holds his arm in front of his torso, and his fist behind his back as he bows to the young Priest. The Priest smiles as he holds his right hand flattened in front of his person, and bows back to the Prince, before taking the Prince's hand, and is escorted from the Priest to the main floor.

The King hastily signals for the orchestra and the minstrels to start playing the waltz music immediately. The other guests start to pair up as well as platforms begin to rise from the regal floor for the sake of presentation.

The Prince and the Priest dance elegantly at the center, with their hands holding each other and elevated, while the Prince's hand is placed upon the Priest's hip, and his hand is on the Prince's shoulder.

The music flows around the ballroom as the two young males gracefully circle and waltz about the floor, while the star-lit sky below the transparent floor began to show the racing meteors as the two of them grace the grand affair with the dawning of a new courtship.

The Priest's blue eyes shimmer as he looks into the warm eyes of the Prince as they twirl slowly around the freed area of the ballroom floor. The King and Queen smile with glees as they watch the Prince spin in a large circle before them, having found his mate.

The night play through before the song comes to a gentle stop. Still holding hands, the Prince and Priest bow to the guests, whom which give a gentle applause before the ball resume to its formal festivities. The Prince guides the Priest to the outside balcony to enjoy some fresh air.

Even in the evening dusk of the night, the Priest seems to give off this subtle, beautiful glow. The Prince has truly been charmed by this denizen of celestial tides; with just one waltz, the Prince can only think of the end of the night, where he may lay with the Priest in his soft, yearning bed of blue-moon silk and pillows of nimbus pillows.

He puts his hands onto the Priest's shoulders, gazing longingly into his eyes, before gently pressing his lips to the other. The Priest softly feels the back of the Prince's neck as he pushing his mouth against the other, welcoming him as his new lover.

()()()

"Mmnnn..." Adam slowly feels his eyes open as the last, waxy images from the surfaces of his imagination's memory linger lazily as he groans, turning onto his back.

He stretches on his back, his body feeling more tired for having gained a full night's sleep - which is to be expected after vivid dreams. Adam feels a strange trace of anticipation as he lies there, groaning as he dreads having to take himself out of bed.

"Some dream..." He mumbles, "Eeerrrhhh... Wish I can go back to sleep... I wanna know what happens next." He whines as he takes a couple of minutes to linger.

-EEH EEH EEH EEH-

The alarm of his phone starts blaring out, elating a disdainful growl from him as he reaches for it to shut it off. Adam then reluctantly gets up onto his feet to get ready for work.