Secrets of the Sea

Hi!! This is a work in progress, so I only have a few chapters, but I wanted to put something up for now! This takes place in my headcanon AU, about 20 years after Darkstalker. In this universe Queen Pearl has become increasingly paranoid and cautious of animus magic, to the point where she's outlawed any mention of it, or Albatross, Fathom, the massacre, etc. She formed the Indigo Guard, in order to "maintain cultural heritage" of the Sea Kingdom. 
=== Chapter 1 : ===
Nothing was ever said in the Kingdom of Sea. The streets were stuffy with silence and secrecy. Even when dragons did speak to you, they’d flash their Aquatic slowly, as if specifically choosing which scales would be least likely to get them in trouble. People even started flashing their scales dimly at each other, like an underwater whisper, worried the Indigo Guard would notice the light from afar and inquire as to what they were talking about.
Really, it was them, the silence and paranoia. It followed the Indigo guards around like a suffocating cloud of black ink. Windows slammed shut and blinds closed as they patrolled the streets. When the armored guards showed up at the neighbor’s house, you knew there was a high possibility they’d be taking an impromptu “trip to the islands.” 
Which was why Grotto’s heart lurched, as she was swimming through the reef after work to find her apartment positively swarming with them. She backpaddled in the water and darted behind a fan of coral, eyeing the guard warily. 
Grotto had always had a deep mistrust of the Indigo Guard. She didn't know whether her sentiments were shared with many other members of the tribe; if they did, they would never dare to talk about it. The only dragon she really knew she could trust with that stuff was her roommate, Spadefish. 
Where was Spadefish? He was supposed to be home all day today. Knowing him, he probably fled as soon as he saw the guards enter our reef. She had to check that he was okay. Out of the two of them, Spade was way more likely to be the dragon the Indigo Guard was searching for.
But, should she go check out their apartment first? She thought of everything she had in there the guard might want to see. Worse, she thought of all of the things Spade had that they definitely would want to see.
Grotto picked nervously at the coral, watching a pair of guards rip off some shutters to gain access to a bedroom. Classy, thought Grotto, sighing a stream of bubbles.
Grotto made up her mind. She would have to catch up with Spade later. Between the two of them, only she was even slightly safe to enter the apartment. She was pretty sure Spade had like seven previous offenses. 
Grotto took a deep breath, her gills fluttering, attempting to soothe down her nerves. Nope. Didn’t work.
It’s fine, Grotto told herself. They’re looking for Spade, not you. Just swim in, get the map, and swim out.
Unless they are looking for me. 
Grotto shook that thought out of her head, pushing herself up into the current. Everything would be fine.
=== Chapter 2 : ===
It was a green, murky morning, and the guard at the door didn’t even look up as Grotto approached, writing busily on a clipboard. Slightly annoyed, Grotto flashed her scales politely for his attention. Equally annoyed, the guard looked up from his clipboard with a raised eyebrow.
Yes?
	This is my apartment? May I ask what the problem is?
Grotto always had a different way of talking when she was around one of the Indigo guards. Even her scales flashed differently, not too bright or fast, which could be conceived as yelling. Polite, nice, nothing they could use as an excuse. It was beyond frustrating and humiliating, but she had to grit her teeth and bear it.
That’s on a need-to-know basis, sorry, the dragon rolled his eyes and went back to his clipboard. Grotto looked the guard up and down, narrowing her eyes. He seemed young for a guard, only a year or two older than her. 
With her chin high, Grotto strode right past him and sailed through the door. He blew some bubbles and flashed some mild threats as she swam through the upper levels, but she knew he wasn’t the type to follow her. 
Grotto swam confidently past the dragons all around her, acting like she belonged there (which she did, this was her apartment) and no one glanced at her. As she swam down the hallway and reached hers and Spade’s apartment, she slowly opened the door and glanced inside. There was only a single dragon in there, an older dragon who seemed to be checking the bathroom for evidence.
Grotto’s heart swooped at the stroke of luck, as she swam quietly over to Spade’s room first. The guard didn’t look up, apparently too absorbed in her work.
The map. I have to get the map, first.
Opening Spade’s door was kind of shocking. It was like walking into a mad detective’s office. She hadn’t been in here in so long, she hadn’t known about his... redecorating.
One entire wall was littered with papers, little maps or book clippings, and drawings of dragons that looked like they could be police sketches. Lines of string connected certain ones together, with notes pinned onto each one. Queen Lagoon? Sapphire? SandWings involved? The price was what? The war? Who is Fathom?
Grotto sank back, astonished and defeated. She couldn’t bring all this. It was over, as soon as the guard finished up in the bathroom and came to inspect the bedrooms, both she and Spade would be done. This was definitely the kind of thing people got sent to “the islands” for.
Grotto closed her eyes and focused on her breathing, letting the cool water drift past her gills. She enjoyed the salty sting of the water for a moment, letting it cool her thoughts.
Right. She couldn’t take the entire thing, obviously. That would mean... well, for one thing, she and Spade shouldn’t be hanging around the apartment. Not for at least a couple of days. If they got caught, that would mean an immediate audience with Queen Pearl. Even thinking the name gave Grotto the chills. No, they had to go into hiding. Which meant she had to grab only the most important thing. 
She darted to Spade’s desk and started carefully searching the doors, searching every scrap of parchment. He wouldn’t hide it somewhere so openly, right? 
But then again, he had plastered his whole wall with highly incriminating evidence, so maybe he didn’t care about privacy after all. 
Grotto searched his entire desk, with no luck. Frustrated, Grotto slowly looked around the room, trying to get into Spade’s head. He would hide it somewhere he could get it quite easily, somewhere the setup wouldn’t take too much effort if she knew him.
Her eyes stopped on a painting, above his sleeping corner. It was of two dragonets, one of them which looked a lot like a younger Queen Pearl. The other dragonet was an emerald green one, with a slightly pained expression, as if he’d been posed that way. What a weird painting to have, of a queen who he hated and... some other dragonet? 
Grotto swung the painting up to reveal a paper attached to the back. It was fragile, and she had to work carefully to work it off, but finally, she rolled it up and stuffed it in her kelp bag, eager to leave and find Spade.
Her heart pounded as she reached for the door, but when she opened it the dragon inspecting had only moved on to the dining room. Grotto casually slid past her to the door. The dragon glanced at her but didn’t seem bothered enough to get up from her job. 
Grotto let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. Then, just as she was about the open the door and bolt, she noticed a pile of papers on the coffee table. She quickly glanced down the hall. The guard was around the corner.
Grotto rushed over to the papers and started checking through them. Most of them were just hers from school, or shopping lists. Her heart chilled though as she saw one note in big sloppy letters. The writer had clearly been rushed. 
Had to leave. Will explain later
Sea Lion’s Head. Meet me :)
Grotto stuffed the note in her bag with the map, leaving the rest of the papers as she’d found them. She left the building through a window, hoping in the morning haze they wouldn’t see her swimming off into the reef.
I’m coming, Spade. You’d better have some answers.
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Semi-Canon)
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Genre (Prophecy)
Category:Genre (Adventure)
Category:Content (FenTheMudwing)
Category:Genre (Mystery)