Parental Pursuit - The Abduction

IN THE DEPTHS of the North Atlantic Ocean, the birth of a mer-prince blessed an underwater kingdom.

Delighted by his birth, the king and his queen thought the best way to honor their son properly was to throw a grand party. The king ordered his staff to arrange the event and sent his messengers off to give out the announcement at once.

In a deep booming voice, the king demanded, "Invite every sea creature known to Neptune!"

The first day was delightful; royal family members and close friends filled the kingdom. They spent their time together swapping stories and took turns gawking at the newest member of the family. The day soon turned into night, and the king and queen put their new prince to bed. Finally, alone with their little prince, the king and queen gave him their gift, a pendant (the prince's first artifact), which was a precious family heirloom.

The party escalated as Sea creatures from across the globe began to arrive. In fact, the invitation was so popular that there were more guests appearing than there were leaving! Every one of the guests bore food, booze, and other various gifts like trinkets and lost treasures, which they used in ways we humans would not understand. Thus, the celebration continued with all the excitement and an egregious amount of sustenance.

At this point, those who had received the announcement either went home and passed out from exhaustion or were still partying like the night had just begun.

Unbeknownst to the king, there was one creature who had missed out on the invitation. This creature was known as Klepto. She was in the midst of a deep sleep in her lair, deep in the Puerto Rico Trench *, and one of the king's messengers did not dare disturb the large beast.

The days turned into weeks, and the party continued to accept guests, the headcount doubling in size. Due to the nature of large crowds, their festivities became obnoxiously loud.

Unfortunately, Klepto was a light sleeper. Although she could not hear well, she was extremely sensitive to vibrations that come from large movements and sounds which occur underwater, an ability similar to echolocation. Because of her heightened sense, she was susceptible to the noise-vibrations coming from the party.

Klepto was enjoying her mischievous dreams until she awoke to the irritating echoes of music and laughter. Enraged that her sleep had been disrupted, Klepto stormed towards the noisemakers to demand silence.

As Klepto drew nearer to the kingdom, she realized all the racket was coming from a party. Hurt from her lack of an invitation, she sought revenge.

When she arrived, everyone there was so inebriated and sleep-deprived that they did not recognize who she was, or that she was fueled with envious anger. If they had recognized her irrational state, every sea creature would have fled in fear, knowing that she could swallow at least fifty of them in one bite.

Annoyed by their ignorance, Klepto started to leave but noticed a light at the top of one of the towers. Driven by her curiosity, she slithered her way up the side of the tower and peeked through the window.

"Oh, a baby!" she exclaimed.

Carefully, Klepto grabbed one of her eggs and manipulated it into the form of an infant that was nearly identical to the prince. Then, she slipped one of her tentacles through the window, swapped the two children, swaddled the prince up, and brought him back to her lair.

On her way home, Klepto began to sing,

"What a fortunate encounter this is for me! I'll bet it's the last time they don't invite me! Taking this baby fills me with glee! They'll rue the day, I can't wait to see!"

The party at the kingdom roared on for eight more days, but the sound no longer bothered Klepto. She was too distracted by the thrill of knowing she had stolen one of the most valuable items that lie beneath the sea. When the party ended, Klepto anticipated the mother's blood-curdling scream upon realizing it was not her child in the crib, but the scream never came. No one was able to tell that the baby was not the prince. With that, Klepto knew that her heist was a success.

As time went on, Klepto became unsure of what to do with the now mer-toddler; he grew like kelp. Raising the prince as if he were her own, she became attached to him and eventually named him Octopian.

As Octopian grew, he became stronger, smarter, and more curious. It was no secret that Klepto was not his biological mother. Octopian began to ask questions about where he came from. Klepto did not want him to know the truth about her devious actions. So, she made up a story about how a frenzy of sharks jumped his birth parents over the mouth of the Trench. To prove it, she continued her story by giving Octopian a large shark's tooth (the prince's second artifact). Then she would recite her story,

"This fell from above, where the frenzy stole your love. Soon after, you fell. From a cloud of blood, the size of a whale. How frightened you must have been, I had no choice but to take you in. In my arms, you cried at night. I promised you then, I would never let you out of my sight."

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