Creatures from the Ocean (Sciles)

72: The Beginning of the End

Stiles POV

We only have to wait 10 minutes once we get to Ben's house for the others to arrive. They look a little tired and a few tiny scratches here and there, but other than that, they seem okay. "What happened?" I ask once everyone is in the living room. I'm still holding onto the trident, which everyone is looking at with fascination. "Oh, we just chased a few of the guards away from the palace. I guess Vanessa didn't have her brightest soldiers on guard at the time." Crystal laughs.

"Okay, so what's the plan now, Stiles?" Selena asks me seriously. Everyone looks to me for guidance. I feel nervous. I don't think I can do this. Suddenly, I feel someone's hand slip into mine. I look down to see that it's Scott's hand. I glance over at Scott, who looks over at me. I can't help but smile, feeling a lot more confident than I did a few seconds ago. I then turn to the rest of my friends. "We have to get to the underwater tunnels. We can't face Vanessa and her army alone. It doesn't matter how strong at fighting we are; we'd be heavily outnumbered and probably slaughtered within minutes. We need some help. We need to rally together as many merfolk as we can." I tell my land and oceanic friends.

"How are we going to do that?" Liam asks curiously.

"I'll talk to them." I say confidently. Everyone nods.

"Can you take us to where is everyone hiding?" I turn to Ben. He nods enthusiastically.

"Of course." He replies.

"Then let's go!" Malia cheers. I let Ben, Crystal, Selena and Max lead the rest of us out of the house and through the underwater kingdom known as Atlantia. I follow closely behind the merpeople, Scott's hand still intertwined with mine.

~~~

It doesn't take long to reach the tunnel. We quickly swim into the dark underwater cavern. At first, I can't see anyone. It's eerily quiet down here in the tunnels. I glance over my shoulder to see the pack swimming closely behind me, looking around with curiosity. I turn around again, not wanting to bump into anything or anyone by accident. "Is this the right tunnel?" I ask Ben curiously and quietly.

"Yes, Stiles. We can't exactly hide near the entrance, could we? It'd be too easy for us to be captured. Don't worry, we'll find everyone just up ahead." Ben replies. We continue to swim in silence. I feel my heart beating nervously, but I'm sure everyone is nervous right now. To be honest, I'm surprised at how calm I am right now. I'm planning to lead my friends as well as some of Atlantia's citizens into a freaking battle against Vanessa and her army. This is no game; people will probably die. Actually, people already have died for this cause, including my mother. My heart aches at the thought of her for a moment, but I quickly push the thought away, along with the memories. I need to focus. After a few more moments of swimming, we finally start to see groups of merpeople huddling together in the tunnels, their tails a huge variety of colors. The citizens look at us with curiosity and whisper as we swim past. I guess they realize that I must be the long lost Prince of Atlantia, considering I'm carrying a trident. Soon, the tunnels become very crowded. We almost have to push past merfolk. I have to let go of Scott's hand as we all swim in single file to get past the civilians. I feel shocked at the amount of merpeople hiding here, especially the little kids. I grip onto the trident tightly. My heart breaks seeing their terrified expressions or hearing them crying and whimpering into one of their parent's shoulders. Suddenly, one of the little girls swim up to me and grab onto my hand.

Scott POV

I come to a stop and watch in curiosity as one of the little girls grab onto Stiles' free hand. The rest of the pack stop as well and float either beside me or behind me. Stiles turns to look at the young mermaid in surprise. She couldn't be more than eight years old. My heart breaks for her. I can't imagine what it would be like to live in a war zone like this, cramped in here every day, not knowing if things will ever get better. I suddenly realize that this could have so easily been Stiles' life... I exchange a sad look with Kira, who is on my left.