Stories from the Undersea World of Mermaid Princess Amelia, Vol. 1

The quetzal’s escape

At a time when Antemidia was still called the Caribbean Atlantis, the siblings Ux-Ma-Ya and Tak-An-Tal successfully completed their quest for godhood. After that achievement, their family’s genealogical reef was blessed with the seafoam coat of arms and subsequently divided into two power lines: The first was called Uxmal and the second Takan.

After just a few sea currents, the Takans died out, causing historical sources to incorrectly refer to them as a marginal family line. The Uxmals, on the other hand, kept growing in power and soon began to play a crucial role in the politics of Atanga, the capital of Antemidia.

The Uxmals advocated for reduced taxes and greater freedoms, as they believed this would ease internal tensions. They also postulated that peace with their neighbors and intense focus on economic development would be beneficial. Most commoners knew them as the patrons of innovative people, as they generously supported new ideas.

One of their many highly gifted descendants was Tikalie Uxmal, a young mermaid who would soon become the country’s most famous elective princess.

Tikalie’s first name was inspired by the onshore city of Tikal. It wasn’t an odd choice; several families chose names related to ancient cities for their daughters. Tikalie’s mother, Natalie Uxmal, still revered the Mayan pantheon, and she often took her daughter to see the Mayan sights. As soon as the girl turned twelve, her parents sent her to the main center of spiritual development in the country’s inner ring—an ancient city currently named Aternidad.

There, Tikalie lived in one of the temples built from glass monoliths, and like all other priestesses, she wore white robes and a white veil covering her face.

She spent most of her days participating in group prayers and doing chores that kept the place running smoothly—tending to the sacred geyser spitting hot water bubbles into the water, cleaning, and cooking for fellow priestesses. Her free time was mostly spent on meditation.

She’d sit for hours in the alabaster room, chanting mantras and playing instruments. She had a profound love of sacred music, as it had the ability to put her into a specific trance, to take her to another dimension. The time at the temple always changed her, but she typically recognized it only by the end of the summer, when her stay there ended. Each time she returned to the capital, she felt like a different person. More loving and peaceful, but also more detached, distant.

After she turned sixteen, Tikalie joined a private education institute known as the High School for Elite Antemidian Sisters, often shortened to High SEAS.

In the High SEAS, there was never any time for idle chatter; everyone studied very hard. Gaining admission to this institution was an accomplishment in and of itself, and yet Tikalie still managed to excel beyond her fellow students.

She consistently scored high on tests, mostly thanks to her way of thinking. She always looked for patterns and systems and drew conclusions based on those. This problem-solving approach helped her come upon new solutions, and by the time she had turned seventeen, everyone called her a teenage prodigy.

She was the pride of the whole family, and everyone foretold a bright future for her. But Tikalie didn’t like to think about it. She didn’t have any specific career in mind. She studied hard just because she loved it.

Around that time, the currently reigning princess of Antemidia, Ustinya Arenas, had just turned twenty-five and was refused a place in the Council of Generals, due to her “lack of competence”—or so General Aalona told the media.

When new elections were announced, Tikalie wasn’t sure if she wanted to take part. There was a lot of competition between her companions at High SEAS—all had set their eyes on the post of the next elective princess. Tikalie didn’t feel like taking part in that contest; she disliked rivalry for the pure fact that she didn’t see sense in it. The world needed great people, and as long as they contributed to the world in some way, they were living up to their potential… or so she thought.

But her mother proposed her candidacy straight to the Council, and after the documents were submitted, Tikalie won indisputably. She could only gracefully accept the fact that success was hers once again.

By now, it felt almost natural for her to score yet another achievement. Victory was apparently running in her blood. She had to work for it, sure, but it always came easily, almost as if by blessing.

Needless to say, she kept paying for it by continuously losing friends, who just turned away from her out of envy, often without any explanation at all.

That was always painful, but Tikalie knew she had to let them go. Life was a journey, and not every companion would be there with her.

Sad or not, she kept her head high and her back straight. She had perfect posture, mastered thanks to endless hours spent sitting in meditation practice. And even as a princess, she never stopped wearing ethereal white robes, characteristic for temple priestesses.

She was a pretty girl, especially thanks to her galaxy makeup and naturally turquoise hair, which she typically held up in two high ponytails. Thanks to the court hairstylist, Azura, Tikalie’s hair was always an incredible work of art, adorned with intricate, silver decorations, thin braids, white feathers, lace, shells, and pearls.

Tikalie was stunning, yet she had no admirers. Many people felt completely out of her league or just considered her emotionless because of her calm demeanor and expressionless face, which they often compared to a porcelain mask.

*

During her reign, Tikalie treated development as a strategy game, and after a successful analysis of the failures committed by her predecessor, Ustinya, she managed to come up with new solutions that almost effortlessly set her country on the path of intense development.

This enhanced her status even more. She was very young, yet the society already called her a legend.