Faded Rainbows

Flash back

Trollex yawned softly, sitting up in bed as he rubbed his eyes. He took a look around and spotted a nearby calendar. He grinned widely, throwing of the sheets and dashing over to take a closer look. He giggled, spinning in place. "Today's the day, todays the day!" He gave his single fin a flick and swam out the door of his room. "It's my birthday today! Mommy, daddy, it's my birthday!"

It didn't take long for the young prince to make it to his parents' bedroom, throwing himself into their bed in an attempt to wake them. According to his internal clock, it was still ridiculously early in the morning, but he was sure his parents wouldn't mind the wakeup call! After all, it wasn't every day that he turned 4!

He bounced on his parents' bed, but paused when he heard his mom give a small groan. "Darling, your son is awake..."

The king's only response was a loud, clearly fake snore. The queen sighed, slowly picking herself up to sit in bed, pulling her son into a hug. "Good morning, my little glow guppy. And how is our little birthday boy?"

His eyes went wide and he gasped sharply, pressing his hands to his cheeks. "You remembered...!"

She giggled softly. "Of course we did. After all, it's not every day our little guppy turns 4, right dear?" she gave her husband a sharp elbow in the back, causing him to let out a yelp and fall right out of the bed.

Trollex giggled as his dad picked himself off the floor, rubbing at the small of his back. "Ow ow ow... That's right, son. We may be old, but we don't forget things that easy yet!"

Trollex huffed, crossing his arms. "You guys aren't old, I'm just young!"

The queen covered her mouth in an attempt to supress her giggle. "Yes, that's right guppy, we're not old." She glared at her husband. "And I certainly hope your father isn't saying that I'm old...?"

The king visibly shrunk in on himself, shrugging his shoulders as he refused to look at his wife. "W-Wha? No, of course not! Never! I'm just saying that you've aged well...?" He already regretted those words.

Trollex watched as his mom gently sat him back on the bed before getting out of bed for herself. Her movements were slow and deliberate, and Trollex knew what was coming.

His mom turned to give the king a smile that never reached her eyes, her ear fins twitching slightly. "Aged well, have I...?"

The king gulped, turning to Trollex. "W-Why don't you go to the garden and wait for us, guppy, we'll be out in a little bit to start your birthday celebration!"

Trollex whooped, propelling himself out of the room and towards his mom's prized garden. His parents always had big plans for his birthday, and he wondered what this year would bring! He hoped he got to go to another of his parents shows; he loved to dance with them behind the booth, even if he couldn't make any music of his own yet.

He hummed as he swam through the garden, stopping to admire a rather bright batch of LED coral.
"Someday, I'm going to grow a DJ booth all my own...! It'll be huge! Way bigger than mum and dads, by a whole lot!" He spread his arms out in the water, giggling as the lights shone on him. "Grow nice 'n' big, coral!"

He always felt warm in the light, and had always asked his parents why they couldn't live closer to the surface. The few times his parents had brought him close enough to feel the light play off his scales, he'd end up with way more energy than usual. He much preferred the light to the darkness his people lived in.

He hated the darkness, no matter how often his parents told him the dark was safe. He always felt like it was a living thing, ready to steal him away should he ever let down his guard. He looked at the glowing coral, promising himself that someday, he'd make sure his tribe's life was always bright and flashy, shiny enough to chase away any nasty old darkness!