In Too Deep

nineteen

"I want you to stay close to me." The king told Lance. "The depths are filled with dangerous people; some will kill others just for the fun of it."

Lance gave a meek thumbs up. "Don't wander off or else I could end up dead. Sounds easy enough. So... I have a question for you then. If it's so dangerous down here, why didn't we bring any guards for protection? Also, why are we dressed like regular mermen?"

"We'll be eaten alive if anyone finds out we're royalty."

"...good to know."

Their surroundings grew darker as they traveled further into the depths; it was very quiet and eerie and Lance reached over to grab onto his father's belt.

Then, there was light. And noise, music in fact. Soon enough, the two came into a large market area, thriving with all kinds of fish folk.

"Dad, what is this place?"

"This is where the creatures of the depths live."

"Really?" Lance looked at one merchant, who gave a friendly wave. "I thought the depths would be more... you know, scary and depth-y."

"Don't be fooled. This place is still crawling with thugs. Our best bet is to just get in and out of here as quickly as possible."

Seeing how River lowered his voice suddenly, Lance followed his example. "So how do we find this sea witch? On the way here, you said she's hard to reach."

"Because she's very secretive about her work. Many of these bandits would give their own limbs for her kind of power. Unless they'd try giving someone else's limbs first."

They passed another stand where someone offered Lance a two headed fish, which he kindly refused. "So why is she down here? I mean, this place isn't exactly the cleanliest?"

"Only the desperate will venture this far to see her. It's how she knows who truly needs her help."

"I've heard she wipes the memories of everyone she helps. How do people hear about her if no one remembers her?"

River suddenly grabbed Lance's elbow and guided him down an alleyway. "Sh." He told him.

"What is it-"

"Shh."

"Maybe you just heard wrong?" A feminine voice spoke, and Lance felt a chill crawl up his spine.

"The scrawny one said sea witch. I heard it with my own ears." Another, this time masculine, voice replied.

Lance scrunched his face into a pout. "Hey. I'm not scrawny-"

River slapped a hand over Lance's mouth. "Lance." He warned him again.

The two stopped right in front of the alley, so Lance could see what they looked like. His eyes grew wide when he saw their octopus halves; they were considered as dangerous as sharks, if not more.

The girl spoke again with a sigh. "Well, whoever they were, they're gone now. Come on Max, they're having a two for one special on doubled headed fish! Please let's go! I wanna make sure I get the biggest ones!"

"What's the matter with you, Kya? Wouldn't you rather find the sea witch than stuff your face with that nasty grub?"

"Call it what you want, but I'm hungry."

Max groaned. "You're always hungry."

"I got a fast metabolism, can you blame me?"

"Yes I can."