Lionfish sighed, her claws digging into the sand. Why had she agreed to this? She was already three years old and still needed to go to school. She had spent the first few years of her life working for the queen. Her father had told her she needed to work for Angler to get a good job and have a 'worthy' life when she turned seven. Lionfish knew that wasn't true. Her cousin, Delta, had worked for the queen for five years and was sent to be a servant for a noble as soon as she turned seven. So yeah. Angler was a freaking HYPOCRITE. Lionfish stood up and walked into the water. As soon as her head was under she shot towards the ocean floor. Her wing caught on a current and she swam into it. She let the water take her to the Deep Palace. She thought to herself while swimming, looking around. She saw something in the corner of her eye. The dark SeaWing arched her neck and looked over her shoulder. A greenish, teal dragonet was swimming after her, lost in thought. Lionfish flashed /Hi/. The dragonet blinked, confused at the sudden light. She looked around and saw Lionfish. Her eyes widened. /Moons!/ Lionfish winced. /Hello./ The dragonet blinked and looked around, avoiding Lionfish's piercing blue eyes. Lionfish rolled her eyes and looked away from the other dragonet. She dived out of the current as a trench appeared before her. She looked over the edge, and a wave of light hit her. Dragons swam through an ocean city. Some stopped to flash "How are you" or "Hello". Luminescent lanterns marked the streets, were a few dragons performed for passing dragons. A few flashed their scales in intense, fast patterns, while others did short skits with their coworkers. Small caves with glowing algae at their entrance were housing the inhabitants of the underwater city. Lionfish gapped at the place before her. How could the dragons have built this place, especially during the Scorching? She looked over the trench again. A trail of lanterns followed a large street, leading to a gate made of coral. She leaped over the edge of the trench, swimming down to the streets below. A dark green dragon looked at her as if she was a blowfish that had turned into an octopus. /Are you lost?/ she flashed, clearly annoyed. Lionfish faltered. /No./ The SeaWing, not wanting to talk to her any longer, shrugged and continued on her way. Lionfish flicked her tail. 'She must be a noble,' the SeaWing dragonet thought. She followed the street, digging her claws into the pebble roads when she felt like she was about to drift off. A few dragons gave her odd looks, mainly ones who had enough jewelry to buy three homes and have money left over. Lionfish didn't care about their looks, however, and smiled as she reached the gates. She looked through the bars, seeing a courtyard of large jade statues. Most were of Angler, but one or two were of a historic queen or princess. /Wow,/ Lionfish flashed. /Eh!/ She looked up, seeing a SeaWing in coral armor diving down towards her. The flash he had given was bright enough to alert her, even when he was above the dragonet. Lionfish took a step back, letting the guard land where she had been standing. /What'ca doin' here?/ he flashed angerly. Lionfish shrugged. /Checking out the palace. I've never seen it before./ The guard sneered. /Bah! Outa' here, dragonet!/ Lionfish curled her lip but didn't say anything. She turned around, swimming away from the gates. She blinked as she swam away. Something seemed to hit her as she swam away. Something seemed to be dragged away. She looked at the edge of the trench and blinked. The dragonet from the current was at the edge of the trench, looking down. She dived down suddenly, and 'glided' towards a large building at the edge of the ocean city. 'The school?' Lionfish thought. Her father had shown her around the city the day before, and she had most of it covered. She swam towards the building, realizing she was almost late. She had left an hour before school had started, and she had taken a while to explore the city farther. As she approached the building, she saw a large, light blue dragon swimming near the door. He smiled as a group of SeaWing dragonets, who were younger than Lionfish, enter the building. The dragon handed them a waterproof scroll and waved to them as they entered the building. Lionfish swam forward and smiled. /Hello,/ she flashed, holding out her talon. /You must be Professor Fishscale./ Fishscale smiled, taking her talon in his own. /Please, call me Fishscale, the title isn't needed./ Lionfish smiled. 'So far so good,' she thought. Fishscale handed her the scroll, letting go of her talon as a new dragon approached. Lionfish turned toward the building, feeling minnows in her stomach. 'Three moons,' she thought. 'This won't end well, will it?' She closed her eyes and swam into the school, feeling a wave of regret attack her.
Epilogue Queen Angler growled, swimming around the palace. Two servants watched her from the door, along with a guard covered in scars. /Ya majesty?/ She turned toward the guard, barring her teeth. /Yes?/ she flashed, causing the guard to blink a few times to see again. /There was a dragon at the gate today./ Angler growled. She drifted to the floor of the palace, her claws touching down on the sandy jade floors. The queen opened her wings. /What did you do?/ The guard flicked his tail. /I told her to get away. Not da brightest tiny thing./ Angler hissed, causing small bubbles to rise to the top of the throne room. /What did she look like?/ she flashed. /Tiny little thing, with dark fins and scales. I didn't pay attention to what she looked like./ Angler stiffened. /Why not?/ /She didn't seem important./ Angler growled, pushing off the floor and swimming towards the guard at top speed. She reached out her talons and grabbed his neck, her claws piercing into his scales. /YOU STUPID DRAGON!/ she flashed. The guard blinked, waving his talons frantically. His eyes went pale, sure he was about to die. /Wa- ANGLER! NO!/ Angler growled, digging her claws deeper. /You stupid dragon,/ she flashed once more, then with a slow-motion, snapped his neck. He let out a scream, then it cut off as his eyes turned into white orbs. Angler turned towards the servants, waving the blood off her talons. /Clean this up,/ she flashed, flicking her tail at the dead guard. ~*~*~*~*~
