Something To Remember

owned by bookss
first fanfiction, so feedback and constructive criticism is appreciated!
__NOEDITSECTION__ __NOTOC__
info.
title: something to remember
author: bookss
major characters: neptune, cascan, queen pearl
genre: romance
pov: 3rd person
rating: g
summary: neptune really didn't think that the talkative servant with the mesmerising deep blue eyes and stupidly charming smile would mean so much to him.
but it's always the unexpected things that change our lives.
contents.
one 
two 
three 
four
five 
six
seven
eight
===one===
<tabber> |-|i.=
Whenever she yells at him, he doesn't run. Just stands there, letting the words seep into his scales. She keeps saying she's angry. 
What is angry? Was it another word for an illness?
Neptune didn't understand, so he just listens. Listens to his mother's tone, inspects her actions. There's a lot of yelling. There's a lot of thrashing. The constant repeating of, "I hate you. I hate me. I hate him."
What even is hate?
He decides that being angry wasn't good and he was going to try his best to not get angry at all.
|-|ii.=
Neptune decides that his mother doesn't like him. Doesn't like him at all. 
Nobody likes him. Nobody talkes to him.
The only person who likes him is Princess Zafria. Zafria is nice. Zafria is kind. Neptune likes his older sister, Zafria. 
"I think mother is angry. Angry is a bad synonym for sick."
Zafria laughs. "No, Neptune, you silly dragonet. Angry isn't a synonym for sick. Being angry is an emotion."
Emotion. Neptune remembers that word.
Is hate an emotion too?
|-|iii.=
When he tries to follow Zafria around, he is yelled at again. 
He cowers away. Zafria tries to defend him. She then often gets yelled at too.
Neptune doesn't like it when Zafria is being yelled at. Especially since it is usually his and her mother. 
So he stops following Zafria around.
|-|iv.=
He teaches himself to read. 
It is hard at first, but Neptune manages. Zafria helps too. No one else does, though.
The library is his new favourite place. He is the only one who regularly visits the library, along with another young SeaWing, with sky blue scales and deep blue eyes. 
Neptune loves the scrolls, he loves the scent of the ink. He reads stories, and legends, and facts, and poetry. He loves reading.
And reading makes him think. A lot.
Why is anger an emotion? Why does everybody not like him? Why can he see faint, misty dragons that no one else can see? 
Why does his mother hate him?
</tabber>
===two===
<tabber>|-|i.=
"How does it feel to be two?"
"Is there meant to be a difference?"
She laughs. "You're adorable. I love you, Neptune. You know that?"
"Huh." Neptune smiles. "I love you, too."
And he truly does. Zafria is always there, when no one else is. She is kind, she is friendly, she is approachable. He tells her everything. 
And Zafria truly loves Neptune. Neptune is different from her other brothers. Different in a good way. She knows other dragons don't pay much attention to him - because apparently he's a mistake. An accident. They say he's insane. He is only known for his beauty. 
But they don't know him at all. He is intelligent, sometimes even more intelligent than she is. He is funny, and not at all like Albatross. 
She wishes that they could see that he is as beautiful on the inside as the outside. 
"You want to go to the library? Are there any other scrolls you want to show me? Did you see anymore spirits?" She lifts her wing, the one with the small tear in the membrane.
Neptune's grey eyes brighten. "Yeah!" He grins, and stumbles as he got up. She laughs again and stands up as well. 
A voice stops them.
"Zafria."
|-|ii.=
"What are doing?" 
Neptune turns around. Zafria gives her mother a steely glare. Her voice is hard. "I was taking Neptune to the library."
Queen Pearl stares at her. "I don't get it. I've raised you become a princess, yet you hang around this dragon. You're a princess, Zafria. You're the heir." She lifts her head. "You shouldn't be hanging around dragons like him."
"Really, mother? In case you've forgotten, he's a prince. Prince. I don't know why I shouldn't be hanging around dragons with the same blood as me." 
"What's gotten into you? Don't you understand? He's mental - he's got those powers. Like Albatross. He's going to go insane."
"No, don't you understand?" Zafria is almost screaming. "He's nothing like him! He'll never be like them! He doesn't even have the same power as him! Maybe you would've known if you actually listened and paid attention to that son of yours!"
Pearl stares. She's silent, and observes as the anger in Zafria's eyes dilate to nothing. When she finally speaks again, her tone clearly states there is no point in arguing with her. "You're not to see him again. I don't care if he's your brother, or whatever. No seeing him."
Zafria opens her mouth to say something, but her voice is stiff. She manages to shoot her mother a glare instead. 
Neptune watches in the corner, and cowers away, his head dropping in shame. He is futile. Nobody likes him. Nobody ever would. 
His heart explodes into thousands of pieces, like shattering glass, as his mother walks away. "He's no son of mine."
|-|iii.=
Broken.
He feels broken. He is broken.
He doesn't bother to try and stop the tears from falling. He runs into the Summer Palace, not bothering to say goodbye. He doesn't see the looks other dragons give him. He doesn't see the dragon he is about to run into.
And he most certainly does not know how much this one dragon would change his life.
A yelp escapes from the dragon's mouth and Neptune finally looks up. It's the same dragonet from the library, except this time he was wearing a small white wristband. The dragonet stares at Neptune, seemingly mesmerised by his stormy grey eyes.
Servant. This dragonet is a servant. 
Neptune mumbles an apology, before rushing back to his room. He just wants to be alone. He locks himself in, hoping that would be sufficient enough to segregate himself from the others, before he lets the sobs escape from his throat. 
|-|iv.=
Yes, Neptune notices a lot of things. He notices how his mother acts around him. He notices when he is wanted, and when he isn't. He notices how other dragons seems to despise him. He notices how Zafria is the only one that is kind to him.
But that day, he doesn't notice how the young servant watches him disappear into his room. 
|-|v.=
"I hate mother."
"You shouldn't say that. She might hear."
"But you hate her too, don't you? After what she said about you?"
Neptune frowns. "Hate is a strong word. I . . . I don't know. I don't think I hate her. But I don't love her."
Zafria's mouth quirks into something that resembles a smirk. "You were always smarter than me, you know that? You still are."
Neptune gives her a shy smile. "You're smart too." He frowns again. "But you constantly coming to visit me? That's not smart. You could get into so much trouble."
"Well, I don't care. I hate her, anyway. She can't tell me what to do."
He just shakes his head. "Don't say that. You're going to regret it."
"No I won't. Besides, I like visiting you. You're cool, unlike those other idiots we have for brothers. And I won't get into trouble."
Neptune scrunchs up his face. "How?"
"Like this. See? I'm visiting you secretly." She emphasises the word and pulls a face. 
Neptune gives a small chuckle, before his expression turns serious again. "Do. . . do you promise to come and visit me? It doesn't have to be all the time. I, I just . . . when you're free or something. Then come. Promise?"
Zafria flashes him an exuberant grin. "Promise."
But some promises are harder to keep than others.
</tabber>
===three===
<tabber>|-|i.=
On the day of his third birthday, Neptune walks into the room of his and sees the dragonet reading a scroll from his shelf. 
The dragonet hasn't seemed to notice that Neptune had entered the room.
Neptune cocks his head and studies the dragonet before him. He seems to glow, his dodger blue scales gleaming, his wing membranes an azure hue and folded neatly as the dragonet read the scroll. The dragonet does not look like a servant at all.
Neptune clears his throat.
The dragonet flinches, looking up. He grins sheepishly and hurriedly puts the scroll back onto Neptune's shelf, making sure not to bend or fold any of the corners. Neptune likes that.
"Sorry about that. I really liked that scroll."
Neptune didn't know what to say. No one, no one, other than his mother and Zafria had ever spoken to him. "Uh. . ."
"Yeah, and I should probably get on with my job." The dragonet sighs dramatically, standing up and spreading his wings. "Though I would much rather be reading in the library. Scrolls are so interesting. Dusting bookshelves with hundreds of scrolls waiting to be read, not so much." 
Neptune blinks several times as words spill out of the other dragonet's mouth.
"And I'm Cascan, by the way." Cascan flashes Neptune a charming smile. "Apparently I'm meant to be your servant or something. I don't know, that's what MantaRay told me." He gestures towards the door.
MantaRay. Queen Pearl's cousin.
"I think I just have to clean your room. But that's going to be torture. How could I resist all those scrolls? This is, like, the best room ever."
Neptune still hasn't said anything intelligible. "Um, I'm Neptune."
"Oh yes I know." The stupid grin again. "Yep, I've heard about you everywhere. You know, dragons say that you're creepy or something. You have like some sort of power. That's so cool. I mean, knowing you for a few seconds, you're nothing like that. Creepy, I mean. You're like, the opposite. You don't talk much, do you?"
Neptune keeps staring. Cascan stares back, his eyes crinkling slightly, as if he was trying not to laugh. Finally Neptune finds his voice. "Aren't . . . servants not meant to talk so much?" 
Cascan cocks his head. "Huh. I thought you could talk to everybody." He shrugs. "You don't mind, do you? Mother always said I talked way too much." His voice seems to fall at the mention of his mother and he turns back to dusting the bookshelf.
Neptune shakes his head. There is an awkward amount of silence as Neptune watches Cascan work. "That, that was a good scroll. The one you were reading before."
"It was!" Cascan spins around almost immediately, before flushing slightly. "Sorry I may have done -"
"No it's fine." Neptune cuts him off before he could finish and glances outside. "You know I think it's lunch now. I mean, based on where the sun is in the sky." 
Cascan nods hurriedly and quickly packs up his stuff. "Yeah, you're probably right. Well, I'll see you later then." He waves as he flies out of Neptune's room. "See you around, Neptune."
Neptune likes the way his name sounded when it comes out of Cascan's mouth.
Really, really likes it.
|-|ii.=
The door to his room is suddenly kicked open and a crying dragon comes running through.
Neptune drops the scroll he was reading in surprise. "Zafria?" 
"I can't do this anymore." She sinks to the ground, voice cracking. Her wings droop down. "I can't."
"Can't what?" Neptune asks, folding his wings and sitting down next to her. 
"This." Zafria guests to herself. "Being a princess. It's not for me, okay?"
"Why not? You're good at it. Better than I am."
"That's not the point, Neptune!" She yells. "I just can't be a princess!"
Neptune looks down at his claws, before asking quietly again. "Why not, though? You're loved by everyone. You could challenge mother and you would win."
Zafria opens her mouth to speak, but shuts it quickly. 
"And mother likes you. Unlike me. She hates me, don't you understand? You have things that I wish I had. You shouldn't give up your role, Zaf. Don't."
She frowns and stays silent for a minute. "Neptune, I came to you because I thought you would understand. I guess I was wrong." She stands, tears spilling again.
"Zafria -"
She turns and bolts out of the room, leaving Neptune in his room by himself once again.
|-|iii.=
Zafria was gone the next day.
Neptune watched helplessly as Queen Pearl ordered the guards to search for her daughter. More and more troops fly away into the horizon.
This was all his fault, wasn't it?
If only he had agreed with Zafria. If only he hadn't said the stupid words that came out his mouth. If only.
It's okay, though. Because deep down, he knows that she will be back.
|-|iv.=
It's silent in the library and Neptune hates it when he has to put a scroll back on a shelf and ruin the quietude. He's pretty sure he's the only one that visits the library nowadays, which is kind of depressing. Scrolls are underrated. 
He's the only one in the library today. Suddenly there's a cough and Neptune spins around quickly. The usual librarian is whispering something to a dragon with a white wristband. 
A servant. Right.
But there's another dragon in the library, not including Neptune, the librarian or the servant. Neptune frowns and peers at the other dragon carefully. Faint blue scales, a green underbelly also quite pale. Overall the dragon looked like it was very anemic.
Neptune gives a small smile. He's pretty sure the dragon is dead.
But it's nothing to worry. There are plenty of dead dragons that Neptune has seen throughout his life. Neptune could go up to the dragon and try to talk to it, but it's best if he doesn't. Other dragons look at him weirdly when they see him talking to the air.
So he picks another scroll from the shelf and begins to read. It's good, about a dragon capable of giving prognostication and gives an ominous prophecy.
Then there's a crash and Neptune looks up again, slightly irritated at all the distractions in the library today.
The librarian glares at the servant, in which the servant just grins reassuringly back and quickly picks up the bundle of scrolls he had dropped. 
Neptune never understood the purpose of having servants. Were dragons just really lazy and not bothering to do their own jobs by themselves?
The servant turns back to stacking the scrolls in a neat pile in the corner before looking up at meeting Neptune's gaze.
Sky blue scales, pale blue underbelly, deep blue eyes. 
Cascan.
A huge smile spreads across Cascan's snout as he sees Neptune looking at him. His deep blue eyes are shining.
Neptune tentatively gives him a shy smile back.
</tabber>
===four===
<tabber>|-|i.=
Neptune looks around carefully, before stepping semi-confidently out of the Summer Palace. He is four today, and obviously nobody was going to celebrate his birthday with him, so he lifts his wings and takes off, without telling anyone where we was going to go. It's not like they cared. 
In complete honesty, Neptune has not idea where he's going. He circles the Summer Palace a few times, watching the waves dance under the sun, before deciding to go exploring.
He soars, so close to the waves that occasionally the cold water would hit his underbelly. Then he executes a perfect flip in mid-air, before ascending higher into the sky. He can't see the Summer Palace anymore, but that's okay. He'll find his way back somehow.
When he finally descends from above, he spots an island.
It's pretty much just blue.
Eyes wide with curiosity, he lowers himself carefully and folds his wings back as he lands on the golden sand. In front of him is a cave of substantial size, seemingly to be draped in a blanket of blue moss. Several abnormally large rocks are surrounding it, but other than that, there's really nothing on this island.
Neptune ducks down as he enters the small entrance of the cave. It's filled with tenebrosity, and he clumsily makes his way around, feeling the walls with his wings. Finally he feels the ceiling rise and he spreads his cramped wings, stepping into the clearing.
His eyes sparkle like kaleidoscopes as he takes in the sight in front of him.
A small opening in the roof of the cave lets the sunlight filter in through strands of moss, sprinkling the small underground lake with freckles of light. Exotic, prismatic fish bathe in the sparkling water and glowworms decorate the ceiling. Neon plants seem to sprout and blossom in the darkness, piercing the black with vibrant hues.
Wow.
Neptune grins. This place is beautiful. And - technically - it all belongs to him. 
And as greedy as it sounds, he's not sharing it. All at.
|-|ii.=
Zafria still isn't back. 
It's been 9 months, 2 weeks and 3 days.
And no, Neptune definitely has not been counting.
The guards have always come back with no idea where Zafria is. And sometimes, Neptune has to bite his tongue from screaming at his mother for not trying hard enough. Why not search the entire Pyrrhia, rather than just the Kingdom of the Sea? Wouldn't that be smarter?
Even without Zafria there, Neptune is doing fine. His life is pretty simple: rise and shine, library, the island, library, slumber. And with the food breaks in between some activities. His life is pretty boring, compared to his other brothers. Their days packed full of lessons with different teachers.
Sometimes he wishes he had teachers.
"Neptune!"
He looks up quickly. Cascan is standing in the door, a duster in one talon. "Hi!" Cascan says. "Is it a good time to clean your room now?"
"Uh." Neptune scans the room quickly. "Um, uh, sure." Three moons, why can't he even enunciate a proper sentence these days?
Cascan nods brightly. "Cool!" He enters the room and immediately starts dusting the shelf full of scrolls.
Neptune watches Cascan work awkwardly. "Um, I'll be in the library. You can, um, stay, because I mean it's your job, and uh, you don't have to lock up when you finish. And, yeah, I'll be going." Neptune bows awkwardly, flushing slightly, before hurrying out of the room.
Cascan blinks in mild confusion as the prince scampers out of the room, before shaking his head and continuing to dust the shelf.
|-|iii.=
The golden orb in the sky was setting when Neptune finally emerged from the cave of blue. 
He grips the scroll he was reading tightly and glides towards the Summer Palace. No one knows about the island, and he's happy. Happy that he has a place for himself, where no one will annoy him or anything. 
There's suddenly a shriek, accompanied with echoing screams as Neptune descends. He freezes in mid-air, his eyes taking in the scene.
A pale, blue dragon is curled on the white sand, wings outstretched. A gaping wound on her underbelly, blurring Neptune's vision with red and staining the bleached sand a dark crimson. Guards encircle the dragon's body, calling at one another for help. One guard gently lifts the dragon's wing for examination and Neptune's heart freezes.
A small tear in the dragon's left membrane.
He's then not flying anymore and there are screams of his name. Somehow he's the on the ground, his head whirling and palpitating. Deep breaths. Inhale, exhale. And it's not working because he's seeing double.
"Prince Neptune!"
Neptune shakes his head. Zafria was gone. Gone for good.
"Neptune!" A guard calls again. 
No, no, no. No. No. Zafria was still okay. He could explain the spirit of that dragon in the library to her and she would listen to his story. That's it. He could wake her up and she'll laugh and say that he fell for her trick and get up and everything would be okay. 
Neptune rushes to her body. "Zafria -" He crashes into the sand as a guard tackle him. "No! Stop!" He thrashes, kicking his legs and flapping his wings as best as he could. "Stop!" A guard hold him down, telling him in a serene tone that everything was going to be okay.
Doesn't he understand? Everything will not be okay.
"Zafria," he manages to choke out again as a guard seize him and drag him away. "Stop!" He yells again, baring his teeth and attempting to bite the dragon's arm.
And for the first time, a guard just shakes his head and looks at him in pity rather than hatred. "I'm so sorry," he says.
|-|iv.=
Neptune stares at the walls, his eyes dazed and unfocused. 
"Hi?"
He sits up suddenly and turns to the door. Cascan was standing there, except this time with no duster in claw. Cascan gives a small smile. "You okay?"
Neptune opens his mouth to speak but Cascan continues talking.
"I mean, you've been locked up in your room for days, maybe even weeks and you haven't been outside or in the water for like, forever, so I thought I might come and check on you," Cascan explains, rambling a bit. 
Neptune blinks.
"And also your mo- I mean Queen Pearl says that she's worried." He gives Neptune another hopeful smile.
Neptune scoffs. After all the years, and suddenly she's worried about him? Yeah, right. "You don't come in to clean anymore," he suddenly blurts.
"Oh, right." Cascan grins. "I got moved to full time in the library. And occasionally the Queen's bedroom, so I can't clean your room anymore. But it's great, I mean, I get to spend the entire day with even more scrolls."
Neptune just nods.
Cascan's grin widens even more. "Anyway, I decided to come because I thought I'd try to convince you to come out of your room. Why do you still lock yourself up in there anyway?"
No response.
"Wait, is it-" He cuts himself off, his face falling when he sees Neptune's expression. "Oh."
Neptune waits for the sympathetic I'm sorry that everyone gives him and sighs. It doesn't come.
Cascan just bites his lip. "Oh," he says again. "I get it. Are. . . are you feeling any better?" 
He shakes his head. "Not really," he murmurs.
"Well," Cascan begins, letting himself into Neptune's room. "She was a great sister to you, right? You know, talked to you even though Queen Pearl said she couldn't and took great care of you. And taught you how to read, right?"
"How do you know all this?"
"What?" Cascan blinks. "Oh. I just pay attention, I guess." He pulls a face. "And it gets boring when you kind of have finished doing everything you're meant to do, so."
"Anyway, she was a great sister. I wish I had one, but nope I was born an . . . only dragonet." His voice falters a bit. "And you know, I get it. I mean, I get it, losing someone that you really love."
Neptune doesn't say anything, just nods and hopes the conversation is over.
But Cascan takes a few steps forward, before he's almost wing to wing with Neptune. "You know," he starts. "My mother . . . exited the world when I was one. So I never really knew her, but apparently she had this illness. I've forgotten, but it was a really long name, and well, she passed away. And -" He chokes slightly. "I mean, it's silly, isn't it? I never even knew her that well yet I still get . . . upset talking about her." He sighs. "But yeah, I get how you feel. Losing someone you love."
Neptune gives him a blank look. "Why . . . why are you telling me this?"
He frowns. "I don't know. I just think, well, maybe you deserve to know." He shrugs it off. "But even if Zafria - your sister - is gone, you could still talk to her, right?"
"What?" He asks, slightly irritated.
"Don't you have those powers?" Cascan gestures wildly. "The one that pretty much every dragon is slightly terrified of?"
"You mean, mediumship?"
"Yes! Spirit communication - that's it. Why don't you just ask her what happened?"
Neptune freezes. What? "Why would I do that?"
Cascan jumps back at the tone of his voice. "I, I just thought that, well, you could ask her what happened so you wouldn't -"
"Just because I have these powers doesn't mean I get to go around asking dragons why they died, okay? My powers are frowned upon and that's pretty much why every dragon hates me. Why are you even here? To make fun of my powers like every other dragon already has?"
"What?" Cascan asks. "No, no, I came here by myself. I just thought that-"
"Please, just leave." Neptune's tone is quiet. "Just go."
"Wait, but-" 
"Just go. Please."
Cascan bites his lip, before managing a steely glare of anger and confusion at Neptune, before turning away and marching out the door.
|-|v.=
Why would a servant want to talk to him? And do dragons in general not have any empathy at all or something?
Neptune shakes his head, huffing in annoyance before turning back to face the wall to continue sulking and mourning.
|-|vi.=
It's been weeks since Neptune had talked to Cascan. Usually there would be the friendly greetings exchanged mostly by Cascan, but nowadays Cascan was no where.
And it's getting kind of boring. 
Neptune knows nothing much about Cascan at all, if you think about it (other than the fact that he has really nice deep blue eyes) and he wasn't even sure if they were friends. Acquaintances, maybe. And he really didn't want to admit the fact that yes, he was slightly missing Cascan's over-exaggerated greetings and talkative habits.
But he is.
And he's not going to run away from his problems like he usually does. He's going to find Cascan and apologise. The idea of finding Zafria and talking to her spirit was actually a pretty good idea, and three moons, he just didn't want to admit that as well.
And also-
"Cascan!"
The name comes tumbling out of Neptune's mouth and Cascan looks up from the tower of scrolls he's been stacking. Cascan flinches visibly and shrinks back. 
"I," Neptune pauses and takes a deep breath. "I, I'm sorry for snapping at you." He looks down at his claws. "I'm, three moons, I'm not very good at apologising? And I thought over what you said last time about talking to her and-"
"Hey." Cascan puts a claw on Neptune's shoulder. "You're rambling. And it's okay, I forgive you." He simpers slightly, his tail almost knocking over the stack of scrolls.
Neptune nods. "And, uh, I was wondering if you would like to come with me? To talk to her, I mean, my sister? Because you're better at talking than, uh, me and-" He stops himself before he starts vomiting words and looks up tentatively.
The grin on Cascan's face is enough to make up for both of their words.
</tabber>
===five===
<tabber>|-|i.=
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair."
Neptune shakes his head. "How many times have you recited that already?"
"But isn't it an amazing first sentence for a scroll?" Cascan plops himself down next to Neptune in the sand. "And, it's interesting to see what Pyrrhia was like thousands of years ago. I mean, can you believe it? Dragons were literally starving and wandering the kingdoms, and all the dragonets being sent to workhouses. And the leisure class treated the working class terribly. I mean, I'm still a servant today but the queen treats everybody well. Back then, it must've been horrible."
Neptune only nods.
Cascan's face suddenly falls. "What if we still lived like that now? I'd be in the working class, and you'd be in the leisure class, wouldn't you?"
Neptune frowns. "No, I'm sure -"
"Don't lie, Neptune." Cascan shakes his head. "Servants are in the working class, remember? But even though we would've been split, we would've still been friends, right?"
Friends. Neptune loved that word.
He was friends with Zafria and Cascan, the two best dragons in the entire world. That, was something to be proud of.
Neptune gives Cascan a shy smile, trying his best to hide his blush. "Of course."
|-|ii.=
Neptune squints in the direction of the blue cave, before turning back to Cascan. "Hey, can I show you something?"
Cascan replies with an enthusiastic nod and charming smile. "Of course."
"Meet me here at midnight."
|-|iii.=
Cascan still looks half-asleep when he arrives, performing a huge yawn. "Neptune?" He mumbles.
"Yeah," Neptune replies. "Come on." He lifts himself into the air, stretching his wings, before flying towards the island.
"Where are we going?" Cascan calls out from behind.
Neptune just shakes his head in response.
The island dawns into view and Neptune points to it. "That's where I usually spend my time when you're at the library." He crashes into the sand as he lands, rolling over, before scampering to the cave entrance. "Come."
Cascan blinks in bewilderment, stepping cautiously into the cave and tucking his wings neatly behind his body. He follows Neptune through the cave, before he suddenly stops and points to something in front of him. "There."
Cascan lifts his snout, trying to get a better view of whatever it was Neptune was fascinated by, until he sees it and, woah.
This place may as well as be synonymous to the word exquisite.
"You found this?"
Neptune hums in response, jumping into the water, his bioluminescent stripes shining.
"I," Cascan was suddenly lost for words. "I didn't think a place like this ever existed. It's, well, breath-taking." He breaks into a grin. "Is this why you're always so quiet? You're keeping huge secrets from me?"
"What? Of course not." Neptune shakes his head indignantly. 
"I'm kidding." Cascan stares at the water. "You should tell someone about this place though."
Neptune cocks his head to one side. "But I've told you. And shown you."
"Well, not including me. Someone who means a lot to you." Cascan pauses. "Because, well, beautiful things should be shared. Like kindness and happiness. And this place too." He gestures to the cave. "Because it's beautiful."
Neptune pauses, thinking over what Cascan had said. He was right, beautiful things should be shared. Especially love.
Because love is a beautiful thing. 
|-|iv.=
"Wait, you've never learnt Aquatic?"
The librarian at the desk glares at the two dragonets in the corner, shushing them.
"Sorry," Cascan calls back, before turning back to Neptune. "What? No Aquatic?"
"Well." Neptune shifts from one leg to the other. "I've never had to go to the Deep Palace so I figured there wasn't any point in me learning it."
"Still." Cascan sighs dramatically. "I mean, I could teach you, if you want."
"Really?"
"Sure. Just don't mind the fact that I'm actually terrible at it. Other than that I could definitely tutor you," Cascan says, with a wink.
"O-okay."
"Cool! I mean, I think the easiest would be to go the Deep Palace, because it's like really bright outside and you probably won't see your stripes very clearly, and there's also a board where I can write stuff down there so it'll be easy to explain. You know where the study hall is, right?"
"Actually," Neptune bites his lip. "I've never been to the Deep Palace so-"
"Get up."
"What are-" 
"We're going," Cascan announces, before annunciating a very loud: "Now."
The librarian looks up to glare at them, but the two dragonets were already out the door, a sky blue one pulling a midnight blue dragonet towards the ocean.
|-|v.=
Cascan finds Neptune in his room.
"Hey," Neptune says, putting the scroll he was reading down. "You finished early today."
Cascan doesn't say anything.
Neptune cocks his head. "Are you feeling okay? We can go to the island if it's-"
"Your mother says I need to go work in the Deep Palace."
"What?" Neptune asks. "That's okay. For like, a few days, right? Then you'll be back?" His tone is hopeful.
Cascan just shakes his head. "I'm sorry. I have to work there until someone else replaces me." He sits himself down next to Neptune.
He tries not to choke. "It's . . . okay. It's not your fault anyway." He tried not to let his irritation show through. His mother knows that he knows she hates him, but she still has to take away Cascan? And it was probably her fault too that Zafria ran away, then killed herself. Why?
There's an uncomfortable silence, before he breaks it.
"I went to the island today," Cascan says suddenly, straying away from the conversation they were just having. 
"How was it?"
"I love your island," he says, instead of answering.
Neptune shakes his head. "Not my island. Ours."
"Right." Cascan nods. "I love our island." He pauses. "And you."
The world freezes.
Neptune's throat is dry. "W-what?"
"The island, and you. Those are the two things I love the most."
Neptune looks down, swallowing. "You shouldn't say that."
"But it's the truth," Cascan says. 
"I didn't say it wasn't true." Neptune keeps his gaze on the floor. "I just said you shouldn't say it."
"But you should always speak the truth, shouldn't you? Because if you don't, then eventually someone else will tell it for you."
Neptune is silent for a very long time.
"Neptune?" Cascan's voice is quiet. Tentative. Vulnerable. "Do you hate me?"
He takes a deep breath. "No. I don't hate you."
"We'll still be friends when I get back, won't we?"
Neptune gives a small nod. "Of course."
Cascan takes Neptune's claw. "You promise?" 
And Neptune thinks of all the things they've done together: all the times Cascan was the only one who acknowledged him, all the times they mucked around in the cave, all the times they poured over scrolls together in the library, all the times Cascan attempted to teach him Aquatic which eventually turned out to be a huge flop. He couldn't give up on all that now.
"I promise."
</tabber>
===six===
<tabber>|-|i.=
Was it weird to visit someone's grave on your birthday?
Maybe. But not for Neptune.
The moon is held in the sky by a string of stars as Neptune makes his way to the stone.
The words are spoken softly as he drops the flower onto her grave. He didn't know what type of flower it was - he'd found it growing on the beach near the water.
Zafria's grave wasn't anywhere fancy. Just outside the Summer Palace, tucked behind some of the foliage. There were plenty of other members of royalty buried there too.
"Hey." His voice is timid as he tucks his wings back. "Haven't talked to you in a while."
He murmurs quietly to the open air, hoping that at least her spirit was listening somewhere.
And Zafria, she was listening. You can't see her, sure, but she's there in the dark, smiling as her younger brother talks.
She listens to him talk about a lot of things. About the scrolls he's been reading, about the island and the cave, about his mother, about all the things that mean something to him. But most of all, she listens to him talk about Cascan.
Neptune hasn't seen Cascan in months.
And he misses him, so much. The days are so boring and, three moons, he hates to admit the fact that he misses Cascan's stupid, constant recital of A Tale of Two Tribes. He misses the times they would stargaze on the island and Cascan would come up with the most ridiculous shapes in the sky by playing dot to dot with the stars.
"And," Neptune swallows, standing slowly. "I think that's it, Zaf. You know, um, thanks for listening." He stands awkwardly before staring at her grave for a while. 
I love you he says in his head, his heart thudding. Then he quickly turns away, rushing back towards the Palace.
He doesn't know if it's directed to Zafria or Cascan.
|-|ii.=
"Ouch."
Neptune stumbles, not realising he had run into someone in the dark on the way back to the Palace. "Oh, uh, I'm sorry I was just um -"
"Neptune?" 
And Neptune looks up at his name because he recognises. Only one dragon says his name like that.
And it's Cascan, in his sky blue scales, the white wristband still attached. His deep blue eyes bore into Neptune's stormy grey ones. Cascan flashes him that lopsided, charming smile, "Hi."
Suddenly he pounces onto Cascan, sending them both rolling into the sand laughing, until Neptune is on top of Cascan, his face twisted in unimaginable happiness. "What, how, why?" He manages to gasp out through his ecstasy. 
Cascan grins, sitting up and sending Neptune toppling over. "I told you I'd come back," he laughs. 
"How?" Neptune asks, looking at him in awe.
"Some - okay, a lot - of talking. But," he shrugs it off. "Does it really matter? I'm here now." He grins. 
Neptune stares at Cascan for a moment, not saying anything, before taking a step closer and wrapping his ultramarine wings around Cascan, burying his snout into Cascan's neck as a hug.
Initiating a hug was definitely not on Neptune's list of things to do every day. 
Cascan flinches at the act, his eyes wide. Impulsively and tentatively, he envelopes his wings around Neptune's, returning the hug.
|-|iii.=
"And now you jump."
"What do you mean?" Neptune peers down, ignoring the frantic thumping of his heart. "Oh. No, no, no. You can't."
Perched onto of the Summer Palace were the two dragons. Cascan rolls his eyes. "Of course I can't. We both have to do it so it's possible."
"Jumping? From the top of the Palace?" Neptune shakes his head. "Do you want to die?"
Cascan sighs, clearly fed up. "We're not going to die, okay? And I never said we were just jumping." He spreads his wings.
Neptune huffs, folding his wings back, opposing Cascan's idea. "Nope."
Irritated, Cascan stands. "Fine. I'll do it myself then." He walks confidently to the edge, inspecting the foamy blue waves far below him.
And just as he's about to take off, Neptune jumps up, his eyes wide. "Wait!" He reaches out to stop Cascan, but Cascan only grins and pulls him along as he leaps off the Palace.
A terrified scream escapes Neptune as he falls with Cascan, his wings struggling to open. The grey-blue sky passes in a blur and just before he hits the water, he manages to flap his wings and soar into the air.
Cascan follows him into the air, before Neptune turns around, wings still beating.
Cascan gives him a triumphant look. "So did you die?"
"Maybe a little on the inside," Neptune mumbles in defeat, looking away.
Cascan only laughs and Neptune can't express in words how much he loves that sound.
|-|iv.=
There's a tap on his left wing.
Neptune looks up from his scroll.
It's not Cascan.
The servant in front of him bows awkwardly. "Queen Pearl says she wants to speak with you." 
Neptune gives her a funny look, slotting the scroll into the gap in the shelf. "O-okay."
She nods, gives him a tight smile, before hurrying away.
|-|v.=
His mother is there when he enters the study.
Neptune freezes, watching Pearl warily. Pearl looks up, her eyes tired. 
The queen clears her throat before speaking. "Look, Neptune . . . I'm sorry."
And he just blinks. What? After all this time of neglecting, yelling and hating him, she's suddenly apologising?
"Apologising isn't going to fix anything," he says in a cold voice.
Pearl's eyes crinkle. "I know. I just thought I'd let you know that well, I'm sorry."
Neptune hears the sincerity in her voice, but still turns away. Is he meant to forgive her? But then she's done terrible things and he doesn't know if he can. Still, if he forgives her does that mean . . .
"Cascan told me everything."
At the mention of the other dragon's name, Neptune spins around quickly. "What?"
She bites her lip. "He told me about you. Lots of things about you that I didn't know. He told me that I didn't even know my own son. He told me that I should be grateful for having a son like you. He told me a lot of things, and well, now that I think about it, he was right."
Neptune doesn't say anything.
"And, I know I've been horrible to you." She pauses. "But maybe . . ." She doesn't finish the sentence, but Neptune knows where it's heading.
Maybe is a funny word. You see, it could mean both good, or bad. 
Maybe Zafria wouldn't have killed herself if he had empathised with her that day.
Maybe Cascan only pretends to be friends with him.
But maybe he and his mother will repair their relationship, though the possibilities are thin.
So he just gives Pearl a small nod. 
"Maybe," he whispers in response.
|-|vi.=
"You're nervous."
"I'm not," Neptune retorts back quickly. 
Cascan just rolls his eyes. "Whenever you say that, you definitely are." He sits down next to Neptune. "What's wrong?"
"Just . . . thinking."
Cascan shoots him a look.
Neptune sighs. "You told my mother, didn't you? About me. And she wants me to forgive her, and I want to forgive her but I just . . . can't." He shakes his head. "That doesn't even make sense."
"Yes it does," Cascan replies. "Keep going."
"Because if I want to fix our relationship, I have to forgive her. But she hurt me, Cascan, so much and I just can't." His wings droop slightly. "Why does life have to be so confusing?"
"Being confused is good, though. It means you can learn something new."
Neptune is quiet.
"But the decision you make in the end? It's going to be the right one." Cascan gives him that stupid smile again, draping his wing around Neptune and leaning against him. "I believe in you."
Neptune looks down, his snout heating up.
How much happiness can a dragon have?
If there was a limit, Neptune must have surely used all of his up after meeting Cascan.
</tabber>
===seven===
<tabber>|-|i.=
Cascan should have finished his hour in the library by now.
An hour had passed since Cascan had finished and he was nowhere to be seen. He had agreed to meet him in Neptune's room.
Neptune was pretty sure Cascan was 50 minutes late and he was getting tired of waiting. 
He exits his room quickly, flying outside to the beach. "Cascan?" he calls.
There's suddenly a loud laugh and Neptune could recognise it anywhere. He spins around and sees Cascan sitting on the rocks.
With another dragon.
She's petite, with purple scales and a pink underbelly. She giggles, her wings folded delicately behind her. 
They look happy together, laughing and talking. Neptune watches as Cascan playfully shoves her. They both look so engrossed in their conversation, so captivated by each other's presences and Cascan looks like the happiest dragon alive. Like someone had made him the happiest dragon alive. Neptune felt a sharp pang in his chest.
Oh.
He suddenly wanted to cry.
And something flips inside Neptune, twisting him in the worst way possible. He suddenly feels sick, his mind palpitating and he turns, fleeing back to his room.
Running away from your emotions was always so much easier than facing them.
|-|ii.=
He manages to evade Cascan at all costs for the next few days.
"Neptune?" Cascan would ask whenever he saw him, but Neptune would only look away quickly and continue walking.
Until Cascan manages to corner him one day in his room.
"Okay!" Cascan exclaims. "Why are you ignoring me? What have I done?"
Neptune just looks away like he always does.
Cascan sighs loudly. "You can't do this, Neptune. Maybe you should stop running away from your problems and try to actually fix them." He plops down on the ground. "You know, I miss hanging out with you."
He flinches at Cascan's words but glances up slightly.
"Why don't you go and hang out with her," Neptune mumbles.
"Who?" Cascan blinks, cocking his head. "Oh. You mean Waterlili? Why would I go to her?"
Neptune looks away. "You look liked you were having fun together."
Cascan looks confused. "What? You mean last week?" He shakes his head. "I found her crying after my shift at the library so I went to comfort her for a bit and after I was going to meet -" He realises what he said. "Oh."
Neptune stays quiet, before speaking. "No, it's alright." Neptune looks up, shaking his head. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed anything or stopped speaking to you. I . . . don't know what happened to me that day. I didn't have the right to be jealous or-"
"You were jealous?"
"What?" Neptune looks up quickly. 
"You were jealous of Waterlili?"
"Who? I didn't say anything."
"Why would you be jealous of her?"
"I'm not."
"But you just said you -"
"I didn't. You must be delusional."
A huge grin suddenly erupts onto Cascan's face and Neptune hurriedly looks away. "You were jealous!" Cascan laughs. 
Neptune is pretty sure his face is red.
"Anyway," Cascan continues. "You shouldn't be jealous, really. Especially when it comes to girls."
And Neptune looks up, his snout still flushed but this time with a glint of hope in his eyes. 
|-|iii.=
There's a small cough and both Neptune and Cascan look up quickly from the scroll they were reading.
Queen Pearl is standing there, wearing no jewelry. "Neptune," she starts. "Do you want to come to the Deep Palace today? I think the tutor has a new class for Aquatic, and maybe you'd like to join."
Neptune blinks stupidly. "Uh. . ."
Cascan nudges his shoulder, before quickly turning back to the scroll.
Pearl gives him a small, hopeful smile.
"Uh." Neptune quickly nods. "Uh, okay. Sure."
She smiles. "In that case, I'll leave you both to it." 
As soon as she's out of the room, Cascan speaks up. "See? She's trying."
"I guess."
"You're trying to forgive her though, right?"
Neptune just nods. 
"That's good." Cascan closes the scroll and slots it back onto Neptune's shelf. He turns back to Neptune and sits down. "I think the best gift you could give anyone is a second chance."
And Neptune thinks for a bit about it, before nodding in response again.
|-|iv.=
They were sprawled on the sand on the blue island, gazing up at the sky. There were three moons tonight, and the dark blue canvas was splashed with stars. 
Cascan points a claw at a suddenly blazing light. "Hey look. A meteor."
Neptune follows his line of sight. "Oh. A shooting star." He frowns. "Aren't you meant to make a wish?"
"Yeah. But you know what's kind of stupid?" Cascan sits up. "A shooting star is just a falling star. So when you make a wish upon a falling star, doesn't that just mean your wish isn't going to come true?" 
Neptune squints up at the sky. "I never thought about it that way."
"Huh. I mean, we can still make a wish." He points to the sky again. "Quick, before it disappears." 
So Neptune closes his eyes and wishes. He chants his wish in his mind, over and over again, before slowly opening his eyes and gazing at the star.
It was gone.
"What did you wish for?" Cascan immediately asks.
Neptune bites his lip. "For . . . someone to love me, I guess. For someone to see who I truly am."
"Oh." There's a hint of disappointment in Cascan's voice, but Neptune doesn't catch it. "Do you think you're going to get it?"
"Yeah," Neptune's voice is almost a whisper. "I think I already have."
Cascan is silent for a long time, staring at Neptune as if he's trying to read deeper into his words. 
"Did you make a wish?" Neptune asks after a while.
"Yeah."
"What did you wish for?" Neptune looks at him curiously, his stormy grey eyes meeting deep blue ones.
Cascan just looks away quickly, avoiding Neptune's gaze. "I can't tell you, can I?" He shakes his head slightly. "Otherwise it won't come true."
|-|v.=
"Imperfection is beautiful."
Cascan points to the words on the scroll as he reads them aloud. "I completely agree with that."
Neptune gives a small smile. "Yeah."
"And you know, nothing in the world is perfect. So you know what that means? That means everyone is imperfect, which means everyone is beautiful." A giddy smile erupts onto Cascan's face as he sits himself back down. 
Neptune smiles again. He liked that.
"Queen Pearl is beautiful. I'm beautiful." Cascan looks startled as he utters the words, as if he hadn't really thought about it before. 
"You are," Neptune says quietly.
"And," Cascan continues, dragging the word out longer than necessary. "You're beautiful, Neptune." He pauses, as if thinking it over, before saying it again and laughing. "You're beautiful, Neptune."
Neptune flushes and ducks his head.
He could listen to Cascan say that forever.
|-|vi.=
They were on the island again, gazing up at the star speckled sky. It was silent, except for occasional whines of the wind as it danced across the sea.
Cascan's body was pretty much pressed right up against Neptune's. "Do you want to know what I wished for?"
Neptune turns his head, looking over at Cascan. "I thought you wouldn't tell me."
"Oh right. Well," Cascan shifts awkwardly. "I thought about it and figured that if I wanted my wish to come true, I'd have to do something about it."
Neptune nods in agreement. "Uh huh." He squints at the sky. "So what did you wish for?"
Cascan's suddenly much closer to Neptune than before. He leans over, just the slightest bit. 
"This," he says and presses his mouth to Neptune's.
</tabber>
===eight===
<tabber>|-|i.=
For his eighth birthday, Cascan had kissed Neptune exactly eight times.
Neptune spent most of the day cooped up inside the library, occasionally looking up and watching Cascan work. He listens to Cascan humming to himself happily as he works and Neptune couldn't help but smile slightly.
He thinks that maybe - just maybe - he had loved Cascan all this time. 
And the fact that Cascan loves him back, well, that may be the best thing in the entire world.
"Neptune?" Cascan calls from the other side of the library, earning him another annoyed 
'shh' from the librarian. "Look what I just found!"
Neptune shakes his head, smiling slightly before hurrying over to his best friend.
|-|ii.=
The moon was strung in the air once again when they tiptoed out of the castle to the grave. They approach the grave, Neptune murmuring something to her, then stepping back. He rests his head on Cascan's shoulder.
"I think she would've liked you."
Cascan hums. "Maybe. But I couldn't replace her."
"What do you mean?" Neptune frowns. "I wasn't saying you were."
Cascan shakes his head. "No, I mean, she will always be first, you know?"
Neptune opens his mouth to object, but Cascan just kisses him. "It's okay. I understand."
There's suddenly rustling from behind them and the two dragons freeze. Neptune nudges Cascan. "Quick, let's go," he whispers in a hasty tone and pulls Cascan away.
A large blue-grey dragon emerges from the foliage and watches the two dragons hurry away.
|-|iii.=
</tabber>
===nine===
<tabber>|-|i.=
|-|ii.=
|-|iii.=
</tabber>
===ten===
<tabber>|-|i.=
|-|ii.=
|-|iii.=
</tabber>
wip wip wipppp
will add more lateerr :3
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Genre (Romance)
Category:Content (bookaholic.9488)