01 Dancing Lights

"It all looks so magical

"Like a ballroom of fairies. Flowing and dancing all around me."

"Everything is connected and intertwined through them. Countless little light, flickering. All in their own world, but at the same time connected. Most of them are shining a bright blue color. Some are darker, almost gray, and a small amount a shallow yellowy-orange."

"Liam… Liam… Liam!!" He heard a girl's voice call out to him.

"huh?" said Liam, returning to his senses.

"Are you in your little daze again. You know you can't be dozing off in your own little world at a time like this. This is a big day for us, father, mother and all the people that have come here to see us off." The girl said.

"Can you really not see them, those lights constantly flowing all around us." Liam whispered to himself, as he realized that he had dozed of yet again. "I really need to control that"

"Look how much you've grown. I am so proud of you two. I can't believe that it has already been 16 years. It feels like it was just yesterday when my two joys came into this world. I remember your father and I, giving you two your names." Their mother said to them. Her eyes watering a bit.

"Liam, after learning how special you were. Right then we knew, you were going to be the next family head. That's why I choose your name as so. You will become a strong boy, your will, will allow you to push on forward, when others cannot. And Hayley, from the start I knew you were going to be caring and gentle. I couldn't have been righter. Take good care of your brother, you know he can be a bit clumsy at times." Their mother ended her speech. Laughing a bit.

"Mother" Hayley muttered out. trying to hold back her tears. looking to her right realizing that her brother couldn't say anything with all the tears streaming down his face.

"Now, now you two. Don't cry. This is a big day for us all. Make sure you have everything ready. It has been tradition to use ancestor's knife and satchel on everyone's first hunt. I have to go and see if everything is good with the others. Just wait here. The horn's will be your sign to go out and show everyone the new generation of the royal family" Their mother said, before flying away.

"Liam, you have the knife, right?" His sister said to him in a stern voice.

"Ow, was I supposed to get that. It seems I have forgotten it. ha-ha. Liam said awkwardly, scratching his head. Seeing that his sister was not buying his lie. a bit of fear entered his eyes.

"She has always been like that, even though she's the younger one. She is always scolding me" Liam said to himself. "Alright, calm down. I will go get it in a second."

"Those lights have such vigor when everyone is moving about." Liam thought to himself, as he started flying towards the largest building.

"They are following around everyone. As everyone is moving towards the main deck. Whether it is to go on the hunt, or send someone off. They are all moving in the same direction.

Loud chatter could be heard, as. Everyone was excited about today's event. The musicians were preparing, practicing with their shell horns. "Can those shells really be loud enough? "Liam thought silently.

"I guess they must be able to. They were so loud on the last hunt, that Haley started crying. But it must have been because she was only 6 at the time."

"I can't believe I'm finally old enough to help. To help protect these people. The citizens of Coralopolis. As that is the duty of the royal family. We have been doing this since forever. I guess."

Liam, amazed by the grand amount of people leaving their homes, all heading in a single direction. And only he was going the opposite way.

On the other side, the citizens of Coralopolis, all of them cheering on. Their voices filled with heartfelt gratitude for the royal family.

"Thank you for everything you're doing." A woman from the side said to Liam. As he turned to see her, the smile beaming from her face while she comforted the baby in her arms. "don't cry, don't cry. They are all here to protect us." She spoke.

Liam smiled and continued towards the grand coral." They can't survive outside. That's why the royal family is here for. We are strong enough, to go out of the bubble, into the dark waters. "I must hurry, I can't disappoint mother. And I am so close. The lights are so concentrated around the grand coral." Liam thought as he looked at what was called the grand coral.

From what they could find, it was only an enormous dead husk of a previously grand creature, that looked exactly like a coral. And so its name came to be. Even though it's dead, Liam saw the mass amounts of energy. In other words, those lights that Liam is able to see, is the constant energy of everything around him. He managed to figure this out, but no matter what he does. He can't figure out why only he is able to see the lights.

Liam looked at the grand coral yet again, appreciating it's grandeur. "No matter how many times I look at it. It's always so grand." He thought, stretching his head trying to see the top of it. The coral stretched up for a few thousand meters, like a pillar, or some massive tree. Countless houses and buildings, all black. Taking the shape of a clam, it looked like a giant infestation of clams attached close together.

"I can't believe each and every one of those houses have a family living there. To protect the families living on this coral, is why the royal family came to be. Mother always used to say this to us, when we were younger."

"Huh? Those lights, they aren't moving, but why. Everyone should be heading towards the deck. The lights staying motionless must mean someone is controlling them, and staying still. But only a sphere of flickering lights like some aura are keeping still. There aren't a lot of people who should have this kind of control of the energy. Inside it's a mess going forward and backward. This is so weird; I must check it out."

"that's, that's grandfather, and father, as well as uncle and… All the top members of the royal family. What could they be doing standing over there? They should be already at the deck. And here they are standing before the royal palace." Liam confusion and the countless questions he had were showing on his face. "That's grandfather has created an aura around them, so the energy from the inside the spherical aura, is completely separated from the rest of the world. That means it also stops all the sound from getting out. It's not that strong, to be a physical shield, but still very impressive. I think only grandfather could make an aura of this size." Liam impressed a bit, continued to talk to himself.

"Well, they are standing before the gate, I must pass them slowly, to show respect." Liam slowed down, until he was flying even slower than most walked. He slowly flew towards the main gate of the royal palace. The four pillars before the gate, stretched for at least fifty meters. Still standing tall, pure white, without a single fleck on piece of dust on them. The floor before the gate, adorned with amazing mosaics. Sadly, the deterioration from countless people walking over it in all of the years that it's been here, could be clearly seen. You can instantly see the path most people took, by the difference in colors and the slight decline where most walked.

The door stood constantly open, being 20 meters of thick wood , opening and closing it required a substantial amount of effort. From afar you could see the hall of the palace. It currently looked cold and empty. The lack of the usual activity, from people often going in and out of the palace, made Liam think about royal family as a whole. " Is there really no way to get rid of the leviathan. Will we always have to be here to protect the people. To protect ourselves. Ow, I am so close to the aura, I should stop with these pointless thoughts."

"… It's getting hungrier every decade. At this rate we will only have enough people to survive the next feeding." said someone from the group, but Liam was uncertain who exactly.

"Those citizens are dead weight; they are taking up too much space and they can't contribute to gathering recourses on the hunt. I don't want to be the one to suggest it but you all know, what we might need to do in the near future." Liam recognized that as his second uncle.

"Sadly, he's right. If the Leviathan doesn't slow down his appetite, we might need to start killing off the citizens to make room for the royal family." Liam knew this time, that the voice came from his grandfather. But he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"This must be some kind of sick joke. The whole purpose of the royal family is to protect the citizens. They can't do that. Right?" Liam was so shaken with fear, shock and disbelief, that he couldn't even move his body on his command. He felt like a robot, just continuing to walk down the hall, where at the end, the ancestors knife stood.