Written In The Stars (Heathers/The Little Mermaid fanfic)

Chapter 3

3rd Person P.O.V

A few days later, Lyra and her sisters had gone to the location of the shipwreck to try and clear some of it off the coral reefs, which had been quite badly damaged.

"It's going to take years before the coral reef will regrow. Humans are so destructive." Athena complained, lifting one of the broken railings with help from Marina and Kailani.

"Be fair, Athena. I don't think they plan to get caught in violent storms most of the time." Morgan remarked, which surprised Lyra as she knew her sisters did not have the same fascination for the human world as she did, and were also not that fond of humans in general.

"This ship certainly took quite a beating for it to split in half before sinking." Kailani said, noting the burnt edges of the wood.

"They do have a lot of weird things on it though. I mean, have you seen some of this stuff? This thing is interesting though." Cordelia said, holding up a mirror. Lyra had to hold back her laughter as she swam through the wreckage of the ship, placing a few of the items she found into her woven seaweed bag. Then, something glinting on the ocean floor caught her eye, so she swam over to it, finding a ruby necklace lying in the sand. Lyra picked it up and studied it, wondering why it looked so familiar, before she realised that it was the same necklace that Chandler had been wearing that fateful night. Lyra quickly cast a preservation spell on it, before swimming up to where Cordelia was still inspecting the mirror.

"Can I borrow that a moment? I found this, and it looks pretty." Lyra said. Cordelia was confused, but still turned the mirror around, allowing Lyra to use it to put the necklace on.

"You can keep this too. I know you like collecting this stuff, although I don't understand why." Cordelia said, handing the mirror to Lyra, who happily took it and placed it into her bag.

"Thanks sis." Lyra said, though her thoughts were yet again drifting back to Chandler. She began humming quietly as she swam back through the shipwreck to collect a few more items before swimming away to add them to her grotto.Her sisters all noticed her change in behaviour, and all of them were highly confused. Even though Indigo was the only one who knew of Lyra's fascination, she was still confused as to why her older sister was acting this way.

"What's up with her? She's been acting weird the past few days." Marina said.

"Who has been acting weird?" A new voice spoke, causing the sisters to turn and see their parents nearby. Sarah had been the one to ask the question.

"Lyra. She's been distant and daydreaming more so than usual, ever since the Coral Moon." Cordelia answered.

"I wonder if this has anything to do with why Lyra has been going up to the surface recently. I saw her do it once, but since it wasn't my business, I didn't go after her to ask. Although, that night this ship sank during the storm, I could've sworn I saw Lyra saving a human." Kailani spoke. None of the sisters missed the way their father seemed to tense up at this. Sarah noticed it too and placed a hand on her husband's arm.

"Triton, do not do anything rash. You will end up regretting it." Sarah warned him. But Triton didn't seem to acknowledge her words as he swam off in search of Lyra.

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Unaware of what had just occurred, Lyra had reached her grotto and set about adding the new items to the shelves, still humming to herself as she did so. She was so distracted by what she was doing, that she didn't notice someone else entering the grotto.

"Lyra." Triton spoke, which made the brunette jump before she turned to see her father there.

"Father, what are you doing here?" Lyra questioned.

"Your sisters told me that you have been acting strange since the Coral Moon. And now I find you here, collecting human items. I also hear you've been going up to the surface, even though you know it is forbidden." Triton answered.

"You're acting like I go near the shore, when I don't. I stay a safe distance away and I only observe. Everything I've found has come from the shipwrecks." Lyra defended herself, crossing her arms. So maybe that wasn't the complete truth, since she'd gone close enough to the shore for JD to see her when they'd first met.

"I also hear you saved a human's life." Triton said, and Lyra could hear the anger in his voice. In turn, this made her angry at her father's hypocrisy, since she knew that he had been human prior to meeting her mother.

"She would have drowned if I hadn't. And Heather isn't like other humans, and not just because she's a princess. She's beautiful, caring, brave, and she has compassion for the people in her kingdom. I don't regret saving her. I would do it again if I could." Lyra retorted. Triton realised that his daughter was in love with the human princess, and his rage blinded him.

"Enough! This foolish fascination ends now!" With that, Triton raised his trident, which began to glow before a power beam of light shot from it, as he began to destroy everything in Lyra's grotto. Lyra's anger quickly turned to dismay as two years worth of collecting was destroyed in seconds.

"Daddy, no! Stop!" Lyra cried out, but to no avail as the last of the items were destroyed. The only item that had been spared from destruction was Chandler's necklace, which Lyra still wore around her neck.

"You will not leave Oceania unaccompanied from now on, and you will cease your trips to the surface permanently." Triton said. Lyra couldn't hold back her tears at what had just happened.

"You hypocrite! I hate you!" Lyra cried, before turning her back to her father and swimming down to the rock on the floor of what remained of her grotto. The sound of his daughter's crying caused Triton's anger to subside as he realised what he had done, but it was too late and he couldn't undo it. He quietly left the grotto, leaving Lyra alone. The brunette mermaid could only grieve the destruction, along with not knowing how to deal with the pain of knowing she might never see Chandler again.