#bell is that maid from a while back. bacm during Breaking the Cage. remember her?

[forthedancingandthethriving]

(@duckapus , I blame you for this /j. The fact that NO ONE in Lily's Zone remembers anything before The Wondering™️ has not left my mind. And I've been thinking about Diana lately, so I just vaguely mentioned her.)

She is the first of her name. She is the Sovereign Ruler of the Undersea Kingdom. She is Queen Sonata, ruler once Queen Storm abdicated the throne after her granddaughter's challenge.

She is Queen Sonata, and she will not tolerate threats to her kingdom. Especially from surface dwellers. So when Sonata gets word from her loyal soldiers stationed further out of some sort of ship approaching from the air, Sonata knows it must be dealt with.

So, of course, she summons her most trusted advisors, Admiral SMG3 and Bell, her attendant since she was but a merlet. (At least, she's pretty sure. That time is quite fuzzy.)

Admiral SMG3 and Bell had been handpicked by her grandmother, and she knew why. Admiral 3, as brash and hot-headed as he could be, knew what he was doing. He could lead and command the squads, and she would never doubt his judgement when it came to plans.

Bell had been an advisor to her grandmother, so Sonata really had no clue just how old Bell was. But it never really mattered, as she always found solace brushing her fingers against the green fur of the advisor even when her thoughts raged on.

So when the queen called upon them, the trio meeting in her throne room, neither her nor Belle were surprised to hear the Admiral say that the surface dwellers should be captured. What was surprising was Bell agreeing.

"I can not believe I am saying this," Bell exhales, running her paws down her face. "But.. I.. agree with the admiral."

"Hah! Finally!" SMG3 grins.

Sonata raises an eyebrow. "That's new. Why do you agree?"

"Because, your Majesty, the soldiers did say it came from beyond the walls. The one where lights flash too often." Bell frowns. "There have been so many who tried, but no merperson could ever get past those walls."

"I fear what they may do to the kingdom, what they may do to you, your Majesty." Bell places her paws over her chest, her silver tail gently curling.

Sonata falls quiet at that before she looks down at the small seed in her hand. She found it hard to ever part with it, its brown and purple a thing anyone hardly ever saw down in the depths.

She rolls it between her fingers to calm her scrambled mind before she exhales and sits up in her throne. She badly wished she could find her grandmother, maybe get her support. But she doubted she could find her at this rate..

"Okay!" Queen Sonata claps her hands together, though carefully not to break the object in her hand. "Admiral SMG3."

"Yes, your Majesty." The mentioned man nods.

"You will take Captain Heavy's squad, as they've down notable success as of late, and you will figure out where that ship is." She narrows her eyes. "You will capture the surface dwellers and bring them to me. Do not harm them, but if they resist, you have my royal permission to use force."

Admiral 3 nods, grinning sharply. "Of course, my queen."

As he turns and swims away, the queen hesitates before calling out. "And.. be careful, will you? I don't like the fact that they apparently were seen flying around before heading in a solid direction."

"I promise I'll be careful." 3 assures her with a gentle smile only Sonata has ever seen before he swims away.

Sonata exhales gently and slowly sinks into her throne. Bell smiles gently and swims over to the queen. "Headache, my queen?"

"Migrane, more like it." Sonata frowns. "It's just.. grandmother would know what to do!" She brings her tail up to her chest. "But she's not here, and I don't want to overwork you or the admiral, and I don't want anyone hurt, and-"

"Your Majesty." Bell gently cuts her off, swimming in front of the young queen's face. "I understand you are worried. These surface dwellers may have gotten past the wall, but you are Queen Sonata, the first of your name!" The advisor smiles, pride in her eyes. "You have brought this kingdom to prosperity we have never seen before! Hold your head high, my queen, for you have the loyalty of this kingdom. Nothing will ever happen when the people are together."

Sonata looks at Bell before smiling. "Thank you, Bell."

"Of course, your Majesty." Bell nods as she swims away from the queen's face. "Now, I'm sure we have a while before the capture of the surface dwellers. How about you tidy up a bit, yes? We can't have them thinking that you're an unkempt queen."

Sonata quickly swims away from her throne, and she nods. Bell smiles. That was always the way to get the queen's mind off of things.

"Make sure you put back that strange seed then," Bell reminds the queen as the two swim off further into the castle. "You can't go dropping it now."

"I will, I will." Sonata assures her with a smile. As she looks back down at the seed she held in her fingers, she swore she saw brown eyes glinting back at her.

But with a hum, Queen Sonata, Sovreign Ruler of the Undersea Kingdom, closes her hand around it and continues swimming.