Forest of Imagination

Argument

"Who?" Katie asked, scared.

McKenzie mouthed to me that I could tell, but I had to hurry. Footsteps were coming down the hall.

"The Royal Killers go around killing Terra Meridian royal families, and I didn't know they could come to Earth to hunt Mack down, but if they do, we have to stay cautious," I explained. Katie still looked confused, however.

"Um, why is Mack royal again?" she sighed.

"Her mom is Queen Aster, you know, queen of the province of Mermaid Bay, but Mack calls her Ash for a nickname. The point is, she's kept her royalty a secret, living in a regular condo and stuff, but the Royal Killers somehow found out she was royal and they're tracking her down," I explained further, and just in time too. Right when I said "tracking," Katie nodded and the evil men surrounded us with swords and bows and arrows.

"Yeah, I think I got it," Katie whispered fearfully.

"Good," I replied, taking in my surroundings. There was a hole between the Killer Leader and his colonel...never mind, it closed up. There were no more exits as far as I was concerned, and I had 20/20 eyesight.

"Freeze, and don't move!" the leader ordered us.

"Um, I'm pretty sure they have the same meanings," McKenzie replied, crossing her arms and lying indignantly on the floor with her tail in a pretty mermaid pose. A smile grew big on my face when I thought about that, both McKenzie's sass and her ability to act like a classy, awesome mermaid when storing all her ugly responsibilities inside.

"Princess," the lieutenant sneered, "of the four seas, you will do well to be quiet and shut up."

"I'm pretty sure there are actually seven seas, at least on Earth--" Katie corrected, but McKenzie and I both shot her looks that encouraged her to "be quiet and shut up." That statement just was not helping.

"Why do you kill royal families?" I asked all of a sudden, feeling empathy for the Killers suddenly.

"None of your business, and to the hot girl--" The leader gasped, wondering if he'd just said that out loud. "And to the other girl, in Terra Meridian there are four seas, not seven, so now mind your own stuff."

"You think I'm hot, don't you?" Katie flirted, a blush creeping up her cheeks. Man, this girl changes crushes like a mermaid does tail strokes.

"Um, no," the colonel replied, helping his leader, who was speechless.

"Nope," the leader nodded, still a little dazed.

"Why?" I insisted stubbornly, and all of a sudden the Royal Killers went silent.

"Queen Aster," whispered the lieutenant hoarsely.

"Huh?" McKenzie wondered aloud, sitting up at the mention of her mom. By the looks on the Killers' faces, however, I could tell she was not going to get compliments on her mom's ruling skills or leadership.

"She was hot, just like Ms Know-It-All, and YES I just said that so deal with it, OK?!" the leader shouted, his face angry.

"So?" McKenzie encouraged them to continue.

"So I asked her out on a date, PRINCESS OF THE FOUR SEAS, and she agreed to go with me. Then she saw the restaurant we were going to was under the sea, and sweetly she offered to make an air bubble around me. So I agreed, and I led her to the seafood restaurant called 'Underseas Bar and Grill,' right next to Cornerstone store. Apparently, though, Queen Aster hated seafood because it meant fairies and/or whoever worked for the restaurant was abusing her subjects, and we had a big argument about the aspects of seafood and how the 'Underseas Bar and Grill' employees treated their fish. In the end, Queen Aster concluded that I was not her true love, and she broke the air bubble and almost killed me with that act! I somehow survived the swim to the surface, and tried hitting on another queen, Queen Brooke of the Fairies, and once again she said yes. We went to the restaurant, and everything went successfully until I ordered a chicken soup for her. She hated poultry like Queen Aster hated seafood, though, and once again thought I was trying to abuse her subjects, as well as rub into her face that she didn't yet have a perfect boyfriend. So she broke up with me, in horror, and I made a vow to kill the royal families when they'd broken my heart TWO times," Mr. Enrich (that was the leader's name, because it said on his many official Royal Killers badges) explained expansively, rambling out whatever was on his mind.