Love in Dangerous Waters

Chapter 18 - The Thief

The Cordelia's made their way back into Antastica, but the moment they entered, they were bombarded with merpeople and royal guards, all shooting questions and information at once.

"Your Highness! There was a break-in!" One person called.

"There's a thief in this world!" Another shouted frantically.

"Somebody robbed the castle!" A shriek from the back.

"Wait, wait, calm down." The King ordered them, and they all floated in a half circle in front of him. "One person tell me; what's going on?"

"Somebody broke into the castle!" A guard shouted immediately. "There was a thief!"

"What!?" The Queen cried, looking in the direction of the castle. "How? When? Why?"

The guards kinda ducked their heads, hoping not to get yelled at. "We don't know, the thief somehow got in, but we saw her on the way out. Couldn't catch her, though."

The King turned furious, eyeing one guard dead on. "And you lazy, no-good swimmers with swords couldn't catch him!?" He asked lowly, snapping at the last words, but stopped himself. "Wait, did you say her?" He asked, eyeing the guard intensely.

"Well, it wasn't a he." He stated, and everyone's heads snapped in his direction.

"You don't think…?" Nicole started, letting her father finish it, but he didn't.

"What do you think?" The Queen asked, but he just stood- well, floated- in his place for a while before speaking.

"We're going to the castle." The King declared as he took the lead in front of everyone and swam the fastest, heading towards his home that just got robbed. The guards stood aside as he burst through the doors, heading down the hall and to the door where he kept all his “collections”. He grabbed the doorknob and yanked it as it turned a bright golden color, thrusting down the stairs and searching the aisles for anything missing. He stopped short in front of the last cabinet up against the wall where the empty spots were.

"What's wrong?" The Queen asked once they all caught up to him.

"No…" He trailed off, pounding his fist on the glass. "It can't be… that's impossible!" He screamed, yanking open the glass doors that flew open. "No one can get in here… not unless…"

"They're part of your blood." The Queen finished the sentence for him, touching the golden rails that lit up to her touch. Even if it wasn't her side of the family, she was granted that power, even though she never used it.

"What does that mean?" Nicole asked her parents, looking at the glowing railings on the doors.

"It means only someone of our family could've gotten into here, and especially into this case." The King replied, eyeing the empty holes where the bottles should've been. "That means…"

"It could've been somebody else! I mean, you were right; how could Aqua even get to Antastica, and especially in this castle?" Nicole questioned, because she didn't want to think that Aqua was here instead of Sacury shores. Then it would prove they kept looking in the wrong places at the wrong times.

The Queen shook her head. "Aqua was here." She whispered, gasping. "No, that can't be… how could that be!?"

"We keep just missing her." The King stated.

"She went missing two days ago…" Nicole added, looking up at both her parents. "I guess she could've come here…"

"But how!?" The King cut in, giving his daughter the death glare. "She couldn't have gotten here on her own, not unless she still had her Magic and she knew how to morph herself."

"Maybe she figured it out?" Nicole reasoned, earning a glare from both her parents. "Oh come on, it's not exactly that hard."

"To someone who's living as a human, it is." The Queen sighed, looking back at her husband. "So she's still gotta be around here."

"We would've figured out if she was in the ocean or not." The King shot back at her.

"But what if the curse didn't wear off yet?" Nicole shot back, glaring at her father. It wasn't really a curse, but it kept them from tracking her. "What if whatever it was still hasn't been lifted? What if Lucille is more powerful then we all think?"

 He looked back at the case as he shut it. "And, if she was here, she stole the Magic, only and specifically the Magic. Why?"

They all thought the same thing at the exact same time. "Lucille."

"Oh, that son of a bitch!" The Queen shrieked, pounding her fist on the glass. "How did she get Aqua on that side!? How could Aqua have turned evil and joined forces with the sea witch who morphed her into a human in the first place!?"

"I don't know…" Nicole muttered awkwardly, shifting in place. "But if she's not here, then where else could she be?"

"She could be anywhere if Lucille's helping her out." The King stated, swimming back up the stairs and into the main foyer. "Land or sea, there's no limits to that witch."

"There's one thing we really have to do then." The Queen growled, anger boiling up inside her and looking out over the vast ocean. "Find Lucille."

"We'll send out a search party for the oceans, and we'll notify other kingdoms around us." The King assured, waving one of his guards over, telling him about the plan, and then he passed it on to the others, sending a chain to the messengers, who swam off.

"Okay, but what if the kingdoms don't cooperate?" The Queen countered.

"Well then, we make them cooperate." The King growled, sick of his wife's negativeity.

"Um, guys?" Nicole started to get their attention, and they shut up for two seconds to listen. Yeah, okay, the ocean will be searched, but what if she's not in the ocean?" Nicole asked, searching her parents for any other clue. "Where would she go if she had legs?"

Both of her parents looked at her, back at each other, and back at her. "You tell me."

Nicole gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. She thought about Earth, not… not… that. "She can't be there. She's gonna get herself killed if she knows about me."

"Go, then." the King ordered, pointing to the front. "Go and make sure your kingdom is okay and see if your sister is there."

Nicole fled the castle and forced herself to swim as fast as she could to get to Tanyela. Aqua couldn't be here, there's no way. But with Magic and Lucille… anything was possible.

"Hold on, Aqua." Nicole whispered, stopping in front of the Entrance and opening the portal. "Hold on sis, I'm coming for ya." She stared at the glowing light and looked into the other side, her husband's world, the world she now lived in, and the one she guessed her living, lost sister was in. "Just please don't be with Lucille…"

She swam through, her parents looking for Aqua and Lucille at sea, Nicole in Tanyela. But the question still remained… where is Aqua?