Long, long ago, when the world was divided into the spheres of good and evil, when creatures of diverse kinds did not live harmoniously, there was a serene kingdom full of love and kindness. The royals resided in an opulent, magnificent castle of golden statues and sparkling diamonds, frequently relishing lavish balls and parties. The king was a mighty ruler whose tales of indomitable exploits even the most foreign travelers
had heard of. Surrounded by a beautiful queen, precocious son, and immense wealth, the wise king was indeed the most respected monarch in the world. During nighttime, the queen and his son would peek behind the curtains and admire the beautiful night
sky from the castle’s balcony; she would then read the prince an ancient story and he would peacefully fall asleep, occasionally driveling as he dreamt. But their blissful days turned ephemeral when the king and his queen were brutally murdered during a sea
voyage by the gory hands of the Queen of Sirens. Despondent royal subjects mourned their deaths, and the news spread throughout the realm. Prince Chad was heartbroken in agony, but he knew soon he had a mission: I must avenge the tragedy of my dear
parents, Chad vowed, for they did not deserve to become the victims of the sinister Queen of Sirens! The young boy’s countenance turned cold, revealing his dark desire of
Retaliation.
“General: come, I have a task for you,” Prince Chad ordered.
“Yes, Prince.”
“On my 18th birthday, I ought to set out to seek for the wicked murderers of my
beloved parents. And you, my dear trusted general, will govern the kingdom and lead my people to prosperity. This is not an order, but a favor of mine.”
“But prince, the expedition is far too dangerous. You must not —”
“I understand you concern. However, it is something that I must do and nothing would stop me.” The general understood the resolved prince enough to fathom that anything he might say would be in vain.

“Yes...Prince Chad. I will do as you wish.”
The day came sooner than expected, and Prince Chad finally turned 18. He immediately ordered a great ship to be built with the kingdom’s most skillful shipwrights,the finest swords crafted with the most competent swordsmiths, and mustered the most
experienced crew members. There was nothing that could stop him now. Prince Chad sauntered to the seashore alone at sunset to say his last goodbye. I will begin my journey tomorrow, thought Prince Chad, but I will indeed miss my kingdom, for this
castle is filled with my happiest and sad moments with my loved ones.

The next day, Prince Chad embarked on his journey on his ship along with his recruits. As they sailed for months in search of the home of the sirens, a land finally
came into sight.
“We will sojourn on this land for a week,” ordered Prince Chad, “so that you can
gather food and supplies while resting as needed.”
At night, while the crew were sound asleep after countless days of labor at sea, the prince strolled to the sea shore in nostalgia, for the placid night sky reminded him of his mother. Reminiscing the times when the queen would read him stories at bedtime,
the sky and shimmering stars made his heart ache. As he pensively admired the beauty of the vast ocean, a girl emerged into his sight. She was indeed the most exquisite girl he had ever seen. Her dark brown hair cascaded in perfect waves as the night breeze
gently brushed the strands over her rosy cheeks. Her sparkling eyes were akin to shade of the ocean water behind her: a rich, deep emerald with a slight tint of midnight blue that added brilliant sparkles. And when their eyes met, a sudden rush of heat blushed
the prince. Prince Chad froze for a moment that felt like eternity before breaking the silence. He approached the girl, who offered him to sit on the rock next to her. Though
they had in fact just encountered, Prince Chad felt as if he had known this girl forever! She told him her name — Armelle and nothing else. They chattered endlessly into the
night, and neither of them felt the slightest fatigue. Prince Chad realized that he had not been this genuinely blissful since the deaths of his parents; the mysterious girl named Armelle kindled a light of warmth in his heart. As the night faded away and the sun rose above the ocean, the prince realized that he must go back to his crew.
“Armelle,” Prince Chad called, “I must leave for now, but can we meet again Tonight?” 

“I would love to. I’ll wait for you here, Chad!” Armelle responded with anticipation.
The prince winced at the sound of Armelle calling him by Chad, for no one else had dared to do so except his mother. Yet it was somehow pleasing to hear his name in Armelle’s tranquil voice. The prince turned away from his thoughts and devoted his last
glances to Armelle before leaving in a rush. So the prince and Armelle met night after night, even sometimes venturing out to
the forest to gather wild berries, and the two fell deeply in love. Two nights before his scheduled departure, the prince confessed to Armelle regarding his voyage to seek his revenge. To his surprise, he noticed fear on Armelle’s face for the slightest moment.
Appalled and speechless, Armelle fabricated excuses and ran away. The prince was confounded but could tell something was horribly wrong. Meanwhile, Armelle realized that her prince was planning to kill her very own mother, the Queen of Sirens, and the
most miserable yet, she did not tell him that she herself was a siren. Her dilemma was so perturbing that she struggled to avoid the reality, but her mind was set.
The next night, Armelle mustered all her courage and revealed to the prince that she was not a human but a siren, that she disguised herself as a human girl to explore the wonders of land, and that her mother was the Queen of Sirens. She implored the
prince to forgive her deceit for the sake of their love. Prince Chad was overwhelmed by a surge of rage, and his eyebrows furrowed, casting a shadow across his cheekbones.
“Please, Chad. I —”
“I trusted you,” Prince Chad exclaimed, “yet you fooled me all along! You are a siren, which means that you are an abominable enemy of mine, belonging to the same evil kind that brutally assassinated my parents.” His words tore Armelle’s heart apart
piece by piece. The prince gave her no more chance to speak as he tramped fiercely towards his awaiting ship. As he boarded the colossal ship, he thought, how despicable of me to have loved a siren whose mother killed my dear parents! I will certainly not let
my guard down again for anyone. He dismissed the thought of Armelle and concentrated on his journey ahead.In the meantime, Armelle did not give up on her love, nor would she ever. She
secretly followed her prince’s ship, all the way to her mother’s palace.
The prince arrived.
“Evil Queen of Sirens, reveal yourself!” Prince Chad proclaimed, as he wielded
his sword high pointing towards the sky.
“You little pompous human,” the queen sneered, “how dare you challenge my mighty power. Now let me teach you a lesson!”
The queen struck first, but Prince Chad was agile enough to dodge and fight back. I have been trained for years just for this day, he thought, I must not let my parents down. The queen started singing, echoing tunes of death.The echo tormented
the prince’s head as if his soul were being torn away from his physical form. An acute pain shot up and the prince was completely incapacitated; he let out a painful cry,
staggering for breaths as his eyes blurred with tears of anguish. All of a sudden, in the middle of chaos, the prince heard something. A voice, the tranquil voice that resembled his mother’s, and he knew exactly whom it belonged to. Prince Chad heeded every
word he heard, retaining his usual keen sense. The queen was too clever to give him a chance to recuperate, and she was ready for her final strike.
Armelle could not linger any longer to let her lover suffer, for she recognized the fire in her mother’s eyes. Without the slightest hesitation, Armelle spurted to the
direction of the prince. She embraced him just in time to block her mother’s flash of lighting at the prince with her fragile body. She collapsed in the arms of her prince, too feeble to let out a single word. Unbridled anger exploded in Prince Chad’s heart as his
pupils widened, as his girl was dying in his arms. He let out a monstrous shriek, so desperate as to stop all the animals in the realm to wonder whose cry it was, as if they themselves perceived the exact woe that the prince felt. But his tears became the
fodder to execute his ultimate mission; with one relentless strike of his sword, he stabbed the atrocious queen’s heart as she felt an excruciating burn of pain piercing through her evil soul. The prince pulled out his bloody sword and returned to Armelle’s
side with a pang of remorse. Oh, how could I have been so foolish, he regretted, I should have believed in your angelic soul. Deep inside, I knew that your love was the only thing that would save my troubled heart, but I was blinded by the wrath of my
parents’ deaths. How could I have forsaken you! Just as the prince became outright hopeless, Goddess Hera alighted from Mount Olympus.
“My dear child,” Hera consoled, “do not blame yourself, for it was destined to be a tragedy from the beginning. But there is still a chance, so do not give up just yet,
young prince.”
The prince looked up. Hera informed the prince that when sirens die, they dissolve and become one with the ocean. However, they eventually revive to transform back to their former physical forms in the vast ocean. Nobody knows how long it will
take though; only the emotional suffering they endured before their deaths will determine. As Hera comforted the prince with compassion, his eyes filled with a light of
Hope.
“Also my child, I have a prophecy for you,” smiled Hera, “your lover Armelle will one day return to you at the seashore -- where the sea and land meet. However, it might take a decade, a century, or even a millennium for her to recover from the distress of losing your love. Are you willing to wait?”
“Yes, indeed I am,” Prince Chad pledged with tears. And with that, he returned to the seashore and waited for Armelle.
The prince was waiting and waiting every day, looking out the ocean to recognize the glimpse of Armelle’s dark brown curly locks and deep emerald eyes with a tint of
midnight blue. He waited so long that, when he passed away, his body turned into a statue of rock. Nevertheless, his tenacious spirit left his mind still alert inside the statue,
enduring even the harshest winters with his invincible resilience. Hera watched from Mount Olympus as she pitied the tragic couple; she came down once again to transform the prince into a beacon on the seashore to alleviate his suffering while still waiting for
Armelle. Over time, the prince's illuminated love rescued so many stranded sailors and voyagers that people began referring to it as the lighthouse.