What Lies Within the Deep Blue

BRACE YOURSELVES

tw// forced captivity, drinking, swearing, vomiting, drowning

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Dream was miserable.

It had been days (though he wasn't sure how many) and he was stuck in this strange contraption that magically contained all the water around him and yet, was too small for him to fully submerge his tail in. The unfamiliar feeling of dry scales, considering he'd never been exposed to this much direct oxygen in his entire life, was making his skin crawl.

He longed for the waves that crashed against the sides of the room he was in or just anything that would allow him to properly stretch his limbs out.

That first day had been so long and he couldn't stop thinking about how terrifying the net had been when it came out of nowhere - just as the regret of leaving his clan behind (especially his living mom and sister) had laced his insides - and the more he moved the tighter the net around him became.

The Moon Goddess must have really had it out for him because, as if to top it all off, he'd even lost his obsidian earring at some point during the struggle.

Just the feeling of his bare earlobe only made his tear ducts sting - it was one of the only things the mer had left from his brilliant, adoptive mother, Minx, before she died. Dream had vowed to never forgive the traitor who'd led those pirates to their home.

The thought made him shudder and mouth dry up.

He had been surrounded by those monsters and yet the more he'd looked at them the less monstrous they seemed. It made Dream more angry than scared or even sad. He'd known leaving was a stupid choice but he just couldn't marry Fundy.

Despite growing up being told the clan always came first because he was the heir to the trident, he'd always wished that maybe he'd get to share the leadership with his life partner like his parents had - someone who actually loved him.

And Fundy was not that person.

He was a good actor... if that meant anything but Dream wasn't stupid - he could see the greed and lust for power behind his eyes. His childhood best-friends, Sapnap and Karl, had been the ones to confirm his suspicions.

But still, it would unite their clans and bring a time of peace and prosperity... at least that's what his mom, Puffy, had told him.

You see, his parents had announced their platonic relationship after discovering they were life partners which led to Puffy's coronation so they could rule alongside each other. Unfortunately, half a year later, Minx was killed.

His mom's mental wellbeing quickly deteriorated after that. No one else saw it but him and his sister.

She became more and more paranoid about being usurped by the people since none of them had royal blood, so she vowed to unite with a larger clan through an arranged marriage - and he was the oldest.

Uncle Sam had been the one to make him memorize all the important information on all the known clans so he knew the nearest one larger than theirs was the Egwardians. Drista had always been better with the different clan's family trees but he remembered that Sapnap, being Bad and Skeppy's heir to the trident, would have been the perfect choice (Dream wouldn't have been opposed) if the merman weren't already engaged to Karl.

Skeppy's sister, Sally, on the other hand, had two sons - Fundy and Ranboo. Both were in line for a trident if Sapnap and Karl didn't have an heir before passing away or stepping down. Of course, Ranboo, the clan's historian, was much too young to be eligible for marriage so that left Fundy, the eldest son.