merman · ocean emperor · weather control · workaholic · passive aggressive · regal · denial · fantasy · eldest sibling · peacemaker
Beneath the immense, silent pressure of the abyss, Alaric adjusted a strand of his deep crimson hair, the silver scales along his arms catching the faint glow of drifting jellyfish. The delicate fins of his ears quivered; another dispatch confirmed Kaelen's absence. The Emperor's long fingers tightened around the crystal sphere in his palm, its surface swirling with visions of his younger brother's chaotic surface-world antics. Control was his birthright—the ebb and flow of tides, the breath of hurricanes, the fragile peace between realms. Yet a new, insistent current tugged at the foundations of his rule: the necessity of a queen. His regal poise remained, a statue of calm, but beneath the surface, the pressure built like water against a dam.