Chapter 1

Under the deep Atlantic ocean, deeper than any human has ever wandered, there existed the undiscovered Tidalonia kingdom, filled with millions of Mermaids and Mermen.

The kingdom was filled with many riches, Gold, Silver, diamonds, pears, Rubbies, and all sorts of other enchanted treasures that humans would kill to have.

The creatures of the kingdom lived happily amongst themselves, having everything they could ever need in abundance.

But, their ruler, King Nereus Aquaris, was aware that no one stayed content forever, so he made a deal with the sea witch, Nereida, to grant each underwater creature a one-time wish; whatever their wishes were, it was granted without delay.

This made the creatures love their King more and more; even though it was just a one-time wish, it still showed that he had their best interests at heart.

All but one was happy with the king.

Nixxon Aquaris, the second child and heir of the Tidalonia kingdom, was not pleased with whatever his father did, because he knew they were all for show.

At home, he was the black sheep of the family while his elder brother, Maren, was the apple of their father's eyes because he obeyed and did everything he was told.

Unlike him, who disobeyed before the order was even given.

You might be wondering what caused such tension between a father and son; It's just one of those family feuds where a son is forced to marry the daughter of a friend for mutual benefit.

But, in Nixxon's case, it wasn't just about the marriage; he didn't care who he married because he didn't and would never believe in love. Courtesy of his father.

His father was forcing him to marry Princess Valtira from the Abyssalia Kingdom, and her father, King Pelagius, was the cause of his mother's death.

He felt betrayed by his father and brother, how could they easily forgive the man who killed their mother?

He knew they wanted to force him to become the next king by marrying him off before his elder brother, and he knew why, they just wanted him to fill in the King role and secure the alliance between the two kingdoms, while his dear brother takes his precious time to find his true love; and when he does, they'd throw him off the throne like the trash he was.

Nixxon swore never to let that happen.

That morning, Nixxon woke up at the right moment when the palace guards were switching shifts; he already knew how long it would take before the next set replaced the empty posts, so he quickly swam out of his room.

He wished he had dull skin scales like others did instead of his neon purple and silver scales. And his tail fin was so shiny as well, it always made it hard for him to sneak away without being caught. The color always attracted people to him.

But not today; he glided and swam past his father's room, swiftly propelling his tail side to side as he headed straight down the golden stairs with silver pillars that led to the huge living room, which was built with the strongest rocks.

The rocks of the walls were adorned with shimmering mother-of-pear tiles, reflecting blue and green hues against Nixxon's scales as he swam past it.

Nixxon stopped when he reached the round golden shell door; this was the tricky part. His father was very sensitive to sound waves, and if he hurriedly opened the door, the waves would reach his father's ears in a matter of seconds, and his escape would be in vain.

He took a deep breath as he slowly held onto the silver-plated door handle and quietly opened the door, but what he saw next weakened his poor spirit.

How?! How was his father standing in front of him with the last person he wanted to set his eyes on?

"Going somewhere, Xon?" His father asked.

Nixxon waved his tail fin anxiously behind him as he slowly swam back into the living room, not replying to his father; the frills behind his back stood in fear of what was going to happen next.

"You shall greet your in-law properly, Xon," King Nereus said in a threatening tone as he swam mightily into his home.

Nixxon shrank away from his huge father; he always felt intimidated by how tall and huge his father and brother were, while he just looked very ordinary.

"Let the boy be, Nereus, he'll come around," King Pelagius said as he swam into the house, heading over to lower himself onto the curved sofa that was made from coral and shells, upholstered in a glittering turquoise fabric.

Nixxon remained quiet, floating beside his mother's majestic sculpture, which dominated one part of the wall near the beautiful, shimmering curtain that was made from thousands of tiny shells that separated the living room from the rest of the underwater abode.

"He's being ungrateful, Pelagius," King Nereus's voice thundered across the room from his high throne at the center of the living room.

"I believe he'll-" King Pelagius was suddenly interrupted by his daughter's proud voice who was pompously swimming into the room.

"Oh, father, you won't believe it! Those low lives wanted to -"

"Ahem!" King Pelagius loudly cleared his throat, alerting her of her location.

Valtira immediately stopped in her movement and, to everyone's surprise, switched her personality instantly.

"Greetings, great King Nereus," Valtira majestically swam close to the King and courtesied, bringing her majestic red tail fin to to side.

"Welcome, Princess Valtira, " King Nereus replied kindly.

"Please, Valtira is fine, my King; I'm going to become your daughter-in-law soon," Valtira spoke so calmly, her excessively long, silver hair, flowing around her with the water.

King Nereus chuckled, sending his son a condescending look, "At least, one of them is sensible," He said.

King Pelagius nodded in support.

Nixxon was still beside his mother's sculpture, observing with anger how they made fun of him and discussed him as if he wasn't even there.

Valtira was no doubt a beauty to behold, but that didn't mean anything to him because she already had her father's flamboyant, evil personality. He'd heard of Valtira's countless encounters with the lowercase mere people, and he knew how ill when they spoke of her.

"Come here, Xon," King Nereus called coldly.

Nixxon balled his fists beside him as he reluctantly swam over to his father.

"Yes, Father," He replied, bowing his head to his father.

He could feel Valtira's unblinking hungry eyes on him as he stopped beside her.

He was used to it, even though he struggled to understand why most Mermen always got attracted to him. He believed he looked like an average mermen, but he guessed it was because mermen were extremely exotic creatures, so they didn't mind your looks or gender as long as you mated them in the end.

But not him; he was never going to mate with this pompous long-tailed Princess, or any princess for that matter; love was something he had blacklisted and thrown into the dark vortex of the ocean.

"Take your fiancée to tour the castle while I and your father-in-law discuss your wedding preparations for tomorrow," King Nereus commanded.

The scales on Nixxion's skin suddenly started to change into a darker shade of their colors, showing his internal turmoil.

How could his father betray him like this? Planning his wedding without his consent, and to make it all worse, he chose his enemy to plan it with.

He felt so enraged and wronged.

"Did you hear me, Xon?" King Nereus' voice had a warning undertone to it.

He saw the color change in his son's scales and knew that he wasn't in agreement with the information he had just given him.

"I shall not marry her, Father," Nixxon said clearly, ignoring Valtira's shocked gasp beside him.

"You don't have a choice, Xon, it's been decided," King Nereus replied, his voice calmer than the water in his living room.

"Decided?!" Nixxon's voice was raised.

Valtira moved close to Nixxon and grabbed his arm, "Nixxon, we don't have a choice, we have to obey-"

"But I do! I do have a choice, Princess!" He snatched his hand away from her hold, repulsed by her touch.

"Behave, Xon, or else-"

"NO! Farther! You behave! I will never marry a daughter to a murderer!" Nixxon said, pointing his angry fingers at King Pelagius.

In the blink of an eye, King Nereus left a mini whirlpool behind as he left his throne and dived Nixxon, slapping him hard across the face, sending him flying against the polished pearl shelf, causing some decorative seashells, glittering jewels, and trinkets to fall onto the plush-covered floor.

Nixxon was still trying to get himself from colliding back into the hard shelf when he saw his father's dark shadow looming above him, his golden scepter glowing in his hand.

Nixxon quickly flapped his tail and met his father at eye level. Let the worst happen, he didn't care if he died.

"You have disgraced me," King Nereus said in a disappointed manner.

Nixxon was unapologetic, he saw the storm brewing in his father's eyes but he didn't care, he looked him in the eyes and said, "I see now that you never loved my mother, your queen, I won't be surprised if you had a hand in her death too - Argh!!!" Nixxon screamed as his father brutally pierced his shoulder with the sharp edge of his golden scepter.