Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (Male Ruby x OC!)

Chapter 15

"A stick snack? A stick snack?" Brill asked people at the party as he showed them a corn dog.

"Get your stick snack," Sam added, holding a tray of corn dogs.

"Can I offer you a stick snack? Stick snack for he? Stick snack for she?" Brill says shoving a corn dog inside two people's mouths.

"Hey, Gary. Make sure you check out the pool house," Agatha tells him as she walks away.

"Oh, Agatha, you were right. What was I ever worried about?" Carol tells her.

"I told you, Carol. There's no better place to raise a family. Now, if you'll excuse me," Agatha says as she tries to message Reuben.

"Hi, Mrs Gillman," Arista says happily as she appears in front of her.

"Oh, please, call me Agatha. And you, are?" she asks, shaking Arista's hand.

"Arista, Arista Maera," she says happily.

"Oh, so you're the Arista that Reuben's always talking about," she teases.

"All good things I hope," she says.

"Oh, definitely. Reuben never stops talking about how great and smart you are. I honestly think I have some competition," she jokes.

"He does?" she says.

"Yeah. Sorry, I hate to cut our conversation short..," she says.

"No, its okay. It was nice to meet you Mrs Gill...I mean Agatha," she says walking away.

"What a nice girl," Agatha says as she watches her walk away into the crowd, before walking to her husband.

"There she is. Aggie, I'm so proud of you. This is everything you've worked for all these years," Arthur says as he hugs Agatha.

"Well, I couldn't have done it without my... kraken crew. Say, have you heard from...," she says looking around, when she suddenly sees Reuben. 

"Reuben. Hey, stranger. I knew you'd make it," Agatha says as Reuben hugs her.

"Mom, I need to talk to you about something big," Reuben says happily.

"Is it about Arista? Because...," she tries to say but Reuben gives her a strange look.

"Arista? No. Well, yes. But no. Wait, how do you know Arista?" he asked.

"She tried to talk to me earlier. Really nice girl. I see why you like her," she teases.

"Mom! It's about something so much more than her. The ocean. Peace. Happiness. We want all the same stuff you wanted, and we have a plan. But we need your help," Reuben explains.

"We?" Agatha asks.

"I want you to meet my super sea bestie, Caspian," he says moving away, thinking Caspian was behind him, only for him to see no one.

"What is going on, Reuben?" Agatha asks.

"Before you freak out, he's a mermaid, and so is Arista, but you're gonna love him," Reuben says.

"Inside. Now," Agatha instructs as the two walk inside the house. 

"Reuben, you have to listen to me. You don't understand the danger you're in. We left the ocean because of a mermaid," Agatha tries to warn.

"Don't worry. Arista's not like them. Plus, you said you liked her. And Caspian's nothing like his dad," Reuben said picking up a cookie on a plate.

"His dad?" Agatha asks.

"The mermaid king," Reuben says nonchalantly.

"He's the mermaid king's son?" she asks in a bit of panic.

"Yeah, but he's my friend," Reuben says.

"They are not your friends. They are dangerous," Agatha says.

"You sound like Grandmamah," he groans.

"I'm sorry. I sound like who?" she asks angrily.

"Grandmamah. She's been training me. She told me why you left," he said looking down hurt.

"Training you? For what?" she asks.

"Mom, don't you see? This is our chance to fix everything," Reuben says.

"Reuben, you are in over your head. You do not know the whole story," Agatha says walking away.

"And whose fault is that?" Reuben retorts.

"Hey, I tried to talk to you. I wanted to tell you everything sooner, but I also needed to keep you safe and give you a normal life," Agatha explains.

"Normal? Normal isn't hiding in this fake town, living a fake life," Reuben angrily yells. 

"I sacrificed everything to give you this "fake life."," Agatha yells back. 

"I'm not gonna hide anymore!" he yells as the lights start to flicker around the house.

"Oh. No, no, no, no, no. Brill! Distraction," Arthur instructs as he shows Brill the situation.

"Hey, everybody. Um, watch how high I can throw my nephew," Brill says as he grabs Sam and throws him up into the air as high as he can.

Sam falls back down and smooshes Brill head, but Sam's head appears as Brill does a pose.

"We are gonna change the world with or without you," Reuben declares.

"Reuben, I get it. You're angry. You want to fight. So did I when I was your age. But trust me, this is the wrong fight. You're on the wrong side," she tries to explain.

"You can't tell me how to live my life," Reuben yells as he starts to grow bigger.

"Oh, yes, I can. I am still your mother. You are forbidden from going in the ocean again and seeing Arista. Now go home and calm down!" she yells as Reuben continues to grow.

Arthur looks up to see Reuben running away from the house and runs inside to see Agatha standing around the rubble of the destroyed house.

"Agatha, are you okay?" he asks as he runs towards her.

"What happened?" he asks.

"Reuben's made friends with Valdimar's son and Arista's a mermaid," she explains.

"Oh, no," he says.

"And my mother has been training her. 15 years, and she still has her tentacles around me," Agatha says sadly.

"What about Ruby?" he asks in concern.

"Oh, she hates me right now. Go find her. Make sure she's safe. I'm gonna deal with my mother," Agatha says as she leaves the building.

Reuben is seen speeding through the waters as Caspian appears next to him, trying to keep up.

"Reuben, wait. Are you okay? What happened back there?" he asks.

"My mom just wants things to stay the same. She wants me to stay the same. But this time, I'm not turning back," he says, determined, as swims faster towards the currents.

Meanwhile, Arista was following the two from a far. And what she didn't know, is that Brill was doing the same.