Silver and Blue, Part III

Today’s battle was brutal. Mermaids of the North fell in the slaughter, while those of the South perished one after another. Alahelea fought valiantly, ever watchful, searching for her ocean lover amid the chaos of the feud — but she didn’t catch sight of him. She refrained from killing anyone, choosing instead to disarm and incapacitate her opponents.

Azeathen fought with great force, yet as the day wore on, he noticed an increasing number of injured southern mermaids. He told his fellow warriors that he would tend to the wounded, and amid the frenzy of combat, they deemed his decision wise. From a distance, he watched the clash unfold, praying he wouldn’t see his ocean lover fighting — or worse, harmed. He wouldn’t know how to react, what to say or do, possibly exposing their secret. But then again, would it even matter?

The sun was sinking, and soon her fires would kiss the ocean, transforming the blue world into a realm of crimson light. Yet the waters were already steeped in blood, and Azeathen found himself growing ever more weary of the colour red.

He heard battle cries drawing nearer and saw the northern mermaids advancing. The outcome of today’s fight was clear: the southern mermaids had been defeated. But tomorrow would bring a new dawn — and with it, more bloodshed.

Azeathen felt relief washing through his inner ocean, turquoise waters rising within. Tonight, he would once more be in the arms of his ocean lover. He would hold her close, kiss her as if there were no tomorrow — and in such a cruel world, who could say what the next day might bring?

His gaze swept across the battlefield: clouds of red were dissipating, the southern mermaids retreating towards him, with the northerners giving chase but no longer attacking. They, too, were exhausted.

Among the retreating warriors, Azeathen spotted Alahelea. In the dusk light, her hair looked darker than night, yet her eyes and scales shimmered brighter than the moon. He realised it was part of his own magic — his light — that made her radiate so beautifully. Her silver sword hung low by her side; it wasn’t even raised anymore. He wondered whether she had fought at all today, or merely stood guard at the edge of the conflict. He would ask her later.

The southern mermaids turned back, once again facing the northern fighters. What was happening?

Alahelea didn’t understand — nor did Azeathen. Her eyes swept the battlefield until they found him. Their gazes locked, burning with passion, brimming with hope.

The southern mermaids raised their spears and hurled them at the northerners. Most conjured protective shields of starlight, deflecting the assault. But Alahelea reacted a moment too late. Azeathen hadn’t seen whose spear it was — he’d been too lost in her gaze.

A blue spear struck Alahelea square in the chest. She coughed blood, and her longing eyes found Azeathen’s once more, filled now with the devastating certainty that when the sun set tonight, she would not live to see it rise again.

She lifted her arms, reaching out to him — but he was too far away. His spear slipped from his hands. He let out a scream unlike anything he had ever voiced.

Every mermaid — North and South — turned to him. They froze in shock. None of them had ever heard a cry like that.

Azeathen didn’t hesitate. With a flick of his fin, he surged towards his ocean beloved. Alahelea’s strength was fading. Slowly, she drifted to the ground. Azeathen crossed into enemy lines — but no one tried to stop him. All eyes followed his movement, none quite grasping what was unfolding.

He reached her and held her gently, as if cradling the most precious thing in the world.

‘Do not leave me alone in this terrible world,’ he whispered, his words dissolving into song.

He drew upon the power of his inner ocean, upon the light of the stars and moon now dwelling deep within him. He began a song of healing, willing Alahelea’s bleeding to cease, her wound to close — striving to free her from death’s cold embrace.

Alahelea gazed into his silver-blue eyes. His song swelled, a magic neither the mermaids of the North nor the South had ever heard. It resonated with profound sorrow, echoing the futility of their war. And yet it carried hope — a desperate plea for her life, a cry to save the one he loved.

But some wounds run too deep. Some are too grave to be turned into scars. Alahelea’s heartbeat slowed. The life force of her inner ocean was ebbing away. With a trembling hand, she touched Azeathen’s cheek. Still, he sang on, refusing to surrender.

‘Kiss me one last time,’ she breathed.

Azeathen’s eyes brimmed with tears, vanishing into the vastness of the sea. Still humming his melody of healing — hoping against all hope — he leaned in and kissed his ocean beloved.

They did not hear the mermaids around them gasp in disbelief. And as their final kiss lingered, the sun kissed the horizon, the moon rose, and the stars began to sparkle in the night sky. But the ocean lovers no longer saw the heavens’ splendour. Their eyes were closed, their inner oceans spilling into one another — moonlight and starlight merging in the depths of their souls.

And with Alahelea’s final heartbeat, she cast a spell so powerful — and so full of sacrifice — that it would shape the fate of all mermaids and the ocean’s breaking waves. From her lips flowed her very life, her magic, the entirety of her inner ocean, reaching out to Azeathen — and he welcomed his beloved’s last enchantment, her final song.

Their bodies began to glow, silver and blue. The surrounding mermaids gasped once more — but this time in awe. Never had they witnessed anything so breathtaking, or so terrifying.

For a moment, time itself seemed to halt. No one moved. Even the waves above ceased their rise and fall. And the currents listened to the music of the dying mermaid.

Her song vibrated through the ocean, pulsing — just as, moments before, her heart had still beaten within her chest. But life had all but left her, and her life force had changed form. Her melody was woven with the magic of starlight and the glow of moonlight. Its rhythm was one with the sea, and it reached every mermaid, North and South alike, stirring their hearts — and the depths of their inner oceans.

Slowly, they began to understand. And above them, the moon and stars joined Alahelea’s song, carrying its melody to every corner of the northern and southern kingdoms. It was a beautiful, tragic echo of the coral’s song — the very one that had first united Alahelea and Azeathen. But now, through the sacrifice of her life, it grew stronger, resonating through the hearts of all mermaids.

Their war was meaningless. Every battle had been in vain. Moonlight and starlight were equal in their splendour and wonder. The ocean’s currents flowed freely through both North and South.

The lovers’ kiss came to an end. The song faded, the magical glow around them dissolved, and they looked into each other’s eyes one final time. Her heart had stilled. Her inner ocean was ebbing away. The silver light in her gaze flickered out. She died with a smile on her lips, her eyes on her ocean lover, feeling his arms around her — the only place she had ever wished to be. And Azeathen’s heart was breaking.

The ocean fell silent. After such a song, there was nothing more to say. Everyone had understood.

The first sound to return was Azeathen’s weeping for the one he had lost.

His brother came to him, holding him close, urging him to let go. But he would not listen. Cradling Alahelea in his arms, he rose from the ocean floor and swam toward the silver-blue coral — the place where everything had begun.

The mermaids of the North and South followed him, forming a silent procession of mourning, humming a song of grief and loss. Azeathen laid his ocean lover beneath the coral and began to sing — a song not of death, but of growth and life.

At first, the others did not understand. But when his melody reached the moon and the stars above, they responded with harmonies of hope and forgiveness.

The other mermaids circled Azeathen, the coral, and Alahelea. His song flowed gently through their inner oceans, and one by one, they joined him in song. The silver-blue coral began to glow; its branches reached out, cradling Alahelea, growing over her body. She became one with the coral, her fading life merging with its essence, its colours deepening and transforming.

Azeathen touched the coral’s branches and felt her presence within. He smiled.

Then he turned and swam away — weary, unable to fully grasp his loss. But he knew that Alahelea had found peace. And as long as the coral remained, he knew there could be a path for him too — to find peace, and perhaps, one day, happiness.

The other mermaids lingered by the coral for a while, North and South gently mingling. A wave of relief washed through their inner oceans as they realised that tomorrow, they would not meet on the battlefield — but would instead seek to understand the song they had heard, and begin to learn how to live in peace.

One by one, the mermaids departed, leaving behind the coral, still glowing silver and blue. Moonlight and starlight shone down from above, bathing the ocean in peaceful hues. Only they knew that Alahelea’s song was not yet complete. She had passed on more than just her melody, her music, her light. Azeathen — and the others — would discover the rest in time.

In the months that followed, the mermaids of North and South began to rebuild their war-torn kingdoms. Slowly but surely, they learned to understand one another, as the magic of Alahelea’s sacrifice continued to resonate within the depths of their inner oceans.

But few mermaids ever encountered Azeathen. He journeyed through the waters alone, spending most of his time by the coral, listening to its gentle, peaceful melody. The only moments he found solace were when he sang with the coral — and then, his body would once again begin to glow silver and blue.

Yet it was in those very moments that he missed Alahelea most. He could still feel the trace of her magic, the echo of her inner ocean — but her smile, the sound of her voice, the sparkle in her eyes, and the warmth of her touch were gone forever.

One night, as Azeathen sat beside the coral, reflecting on all that had happened — and on the horrors of the war — the coral’s song began to swell. A shift stirred in the currents. Something was changing.

It was an entirely new melody. The coral was singing of the future — of a new union that would unite the kingdoms.

Azeathen could hardly believe what he was hearing. All he had ever longed for was an end to the war. But the coral seemed to dream even further. Her echoes rippled through the blue expanse, and once again, mermaids from both North and South gathered around, drawn to the coral and her new song.

Azeathen saw the doubt in their eyes and chose to join the coral’s song, unsure of where it might lead — but determined to show he was not afraid of the future she envisioned. It was a music of courage, and as he sang, he felt his inner ocean swell with the vibrancy of blessed days to come.

One by one, the mermaids around him added their voices, until the song rose into a chorus a thousand strong.

Streams of silver and blue magic began to flow from Azeathen’s body. He didn’t understand what was happening, only that Alahelea’s presence within him had never felt stronger — and that a part of her was now leaving him. He wasn’t certain he wanted to let her go, but deep within, he sensed it was right.

The silver and blue magic swirled around the coral, and she added a final note to her melody. The streams of light rose high, breaking through the ocean’s surface, reaching toward the moon and stars. Far above, the celestial bodies responded, weaving their own harmonies into the coral’s song. Their magic poured down like rain, colours merging with silver and blue below.

Within the storm of shimmering hues above the coral, something began to take form — a tail, a fin, arms, a head. A body was taking shape. The surrounding mermaids gasped in wonder.

Azeathen could not comprehend what he was seeing. The coral’s song came to a close, the magic and light faded, and the moon and stars fell silent. It was as though the entire ocean — and the heavens above — were holding their breath.

All eyes turned to the coral, gazing in awe at the revelation born of her song. Floating just above her branches was a young mermaid, appearing as if from nowhere. Her hair was as black as Alahelea’s had once been — long as kelp, fading into the dark waters around her. But her fin shimmered with the brightness of turquoise, clear and radiant as the purest seas. And her eyes glowed silver and blue, shining with the magic of moonlight and starlight.

Azeathen looked at her once — and knew. This was his daughter. The daughter of Alahelea and himself. Her magic transformed to life again.

‘What is your name, my child?’ Azeathen whispered in wonder.

‘My name is Atlantareya,’ she said, her voice echoing with the gentleness of Alahelea’s.

Azeathen wept tears of joy, flipped his fin, and embraced his daughter. It was the strangest — yet most wondrous — magic he had ever witnessed. The mermaids of the North and South were every bit as awestruck as he was.

In the weeks that followed, the mermaids of the North welcomed Atlantareya into their kingdom — the homeland of her mother. It soon became clear that Atlantareya wielded starlight magic unlike any northern mermaid before her.

And Azeathen showed her the kingdom of the South. He noticed at once that Atlantareya could command the magic of moonlight like no southern mermaid ever had. Within her flowed the love of Azeathen and Alahelea — and from that love blossomed the full potency of both starlight and moonlight.

After weeks of travelling between North and South, Atlantareya began to grow weary of the constant journeying. Azeathen, who had accompanied her for most of the time, chose to settle near the silver-blue coral — the very place where he and Alahelea had first met, many moons ago. There, he founded a small coral farm, nestled on the border between the two kingdoms.

Atlantareya joined him there. Each day, mermaids from both North and South came to visit, still struggling to grasp the wonder of the love that had once united a northern and a southern mermaid — and how that ocean-born bond had given life to Atlantareya.

But in time, the tale that had once seemed like a dream became a new reality. And slowly, gently, they all began to heal.

One evening, Atlantareya sat beside the silver and blue coral. Moonlight and starlight glittered through the ocean realm, bathing the coral in hues of white and sapphire. Atlantareya began to sing a new song. At first, it echoed the melody of her birth — but soon it shifted, growing grander, more powerful than any song the ocean had ever known.

Azeathen joined her by the coral, listening in silence. Before long, mermaids from both North and South hurried to the glowing reef, drawn by the sound. They listened intently, for by now they understood: something important was happening once more.

Atlantareya didn’t know where her inspiration came from, but it felt as though moonlight and starlight were guiding her through this final song. Her inner ocean pulsed with celestial colour — sapphire waves churning, white foam rising, golden currents weaving through silver streams.

The heart of her melody spoke of unity, of discovering peace and prosperity within. Threads of starlight began to dance through the inner oceans of every mermaid who listened, stirring waves of hope. Vocals infused with moonlight joined them, flooding every corner of the northern and southern kingdoms with luminous warmth.

The song revealed a truth long forgotten: there were no borders. There was only one ocean, one kingdom — and both starlight and moonlight were essential to its life. A spark of understanding grew into deep, enduring wisdom. And in that moment, all mermaids raised their voices, joining the song of Atlantareya.

And above them, beyond the surface, the magic of moonlight and starlight began to rain down, blessing their new kingdom and adding the final line to Atlantareya’s song: that she would become Queen of all mermaids — North and South — uniting them as one, and ushering in an age of peace and freedom. A kingdom of moonlight and starlight. A realm of silver and blue.