Love in Dangerous Waters

Chapter 6 - Drastic Measures

"I told you she'd be mad." Queen Melody told her husband as they swam through the Exit together. "She's never going to forgive us."

"But at least it's done and nobody in Antastica has to hide it anymore." The King reasoned, feeling the weight being taken from his shoulders. "And besides, maybe she could help us once she cools off…"

"Did you just see the way she reacted!?" She shot at him as they crossed into Antastica, waving to a couple merpeople they swam by. "She's never, ever going to forgive us."

"We'll worry about her later. The kingdom's gotta know what happened over there first." The King told his wife as they swam to their castle, approaching one of the guards. "Spread the word that I have an announcement that people wanna hear."

"Yes, your Highness." The guard replied as he swam over to the other guards and informed them, causing a chain reacting of horns to sound throughout the kingdom. The merpeople emerged from their homes of seaweed or anemone to witness his speech. They all swam and crowded around as King Triton stood on his balcony with the Queen, and once he was sure everyone was there, he raised his hand for their silence.

"Queen Nicole has been informed of Aqua." He stated, and it sent whispers through the whole area. "There will be no more need to hide the secret anymore."

"When is she coming back?" One of the merpeople yelled.

"Has anyone even seen her?" Another one called.

"Are you sure she's still in California?" A high voice shrieked from the back somewhere.

"I don't know where she is at the moment!" His voice boomed, making everyone shut up. "And I don't even know if Nicole will help us. She was pretty angry at us, but she'll come around… and once she does, Aqua will return back where she belongs."

The crowd cheered for the King as his wife brought him aside as they cheered. "Yeah, Nicole will help, but when will that be?"

"Will you stop? I have it under control." He stated as he placed his hand under his chin in a thinking gesture. "We'll get her to help us whether she wants to or not."

"But she still has that King of hers." The Queen countered.

"What, the stupid pixie?" King Triton mocked King Aaron with his words. "She can't hide behind him forever, I don't care how powerful he is."

"But he's still our son-in-law."

The King snapped there, slamming his fist down on the nearest table. "I don't care about the faeries or any other race but ours! They don't give a damn about us, so why should we care about them?" He lashed out at her, but turned away, calming himself. "I'm sorry, I know you're only trying to help. But what can we do until Nicole calms down?"

"Let's just get back to the crowd for now." The Queen suggested, and he nodded, turning back towards his people. They were all still there, waiting for anything to happen next.

"We can't bring her home until Nicole agrees to help us, so if any of you were friends with her and would like to go talk to her, be our guest."

"Oh please." A voice sounded throughout the crowd, followed by lightning and black smoke. "You really think she's going to listen to you ever again?" The figure laughed as she appeared in the middle of the crowd, sending the merpeople screaming and hiding. "Are you merpeople always this blind?"

But this wasn't just anybody. This was the somebody they haven't seen in sixteen years. The person who ruined their lives forever.

"Lucille!" The King screamed as he swam over the balcony and down to the ground where the merpeople have abandoned. "You no-good sea witch, why aren't you dead!?"

"That isn't a nice way to greet someone. Why aren't you dead?" She laughed back at him, her black tail flipping behind her. "I'm getting old, Triton, and so are you. Why haven't you brought your precious Aqua back yet?"

"That's kinda hard when she can't exactly breathe underwater!" He snapped back, swirling his hands in circular motions. "Seize her! Arrest her! Kill her!"

The guards all piled out and were ready for their attack, but Lucille only laughed at them. "You don't expect me to just go with you now, do you?" She asked them, twirling a strand of once-black now-dark-grey hair around her finger. "Besides, I only came to talk."

"The last time you came to talk you turned our daughter into a human!" The Queen cried, and the King held her back so she couldn't attack the sea witch.

"Oh please, that was a celebration! Now, I don't even know what this is." Lucille stated, breaking the circle of guards by pushing them aside with the current and swam forward. "Besides, your daughter is what I came to talk to you about."

"Why? You haven't seen Nicole, I doubt they even let you in Tanyela. She doesn't even know who you are." The Queen replied to her stupid-thinking.

"I wasn't talking about Nicole." Lucille replied to the Queen's stupid-thinking. "I've seen Aqua very recently."

"You've done what!?" The royals screamed together, and the guards all had their swords pointed at Lucille right in the face. "How have you seen her!? You have no magic to get yourself to Earth, let alone track her down! How did you find her!?"

"Please, she's living life in an orphanage by the name of Lily. They even changed her name, which proves she is no longer yours." Lucille stated, making the Queen emotionally cry, even if she couldn't physically in water.

"She will always be ours! And how would you know? How do you know you just didn't pick off some random girl off the street?" The Queen snapped at her, feeling the rage settle in.

"Because she swims every moment she gets, and dreams of the ocean." She replied, counting the evidence on her fingers. "She told me she wanted to be an oceanographer."

"You talked to her!?" The King fumed, forcing himself through the water and grasping Lucille's neck, choking her. "You stay away from my daughter." He growled, launching her across the water. She disappeared into black smoke before she hit anything.

"But see, you still do that to me." Lucille's voice laughed behind him as he whipped around, seeing her next to the Queen, where she swam behind the King.

"That could still be a random girl who loves the ocean." The King stated, and the Queen nodded in agreement.

"That's what I was thinking to, but then her eyes- oh, her eyes were the prettiest shade of bluish-green, well, the color of the sea, if you may, that I have ever seen. I know only and all mermaids have that eye color. So yes, I'm positive it's her." Lucille stated, concluding her evidence. The royals exchanged a look within each other.

"Stay away from her." The King ordered Lucille, but everyone knew she wouldn't listen. "Stay away from my daughter or I'll kill you."

"You haven't yet, so I'll believe it when I see it. Try and come up with a real threat for once." She laughed as she waved sweetly, and then was gone in a wall of thick black smoke, with only the evil, echoing laugh left. The merpeople all slowly crept back out once they saw she was gone, but the royals stood there, realizing that Lucille found her first.

"Something bad is gonna happen unless we get Aqua back now." The Queen stated, turning towards her husband. "Lucille's found her."

"I know." He replied, swimming fast back up to the balcony for his people to hear, and the Queen followed behind him. "Merpeople of Antastica." He called so everyone would shut up fast. "Due to today's events, the inevitable can't wait any longer. We're bringing the Princess home."

The crowd cheered for the royals, but as they swam back inside, they felt uneasy of the whole thing. Question was, when… or better yet, how?