Nereus stayed with Seraphina for three days. She stayed by his side that entire time, making sure that his wounds did not become worse. At the end of the third day, Seraphina was staring into a magic pool in the farthest depths of her cave when she saw something that rattled her.

It was another merman, this one looked almost identical to Nereus, except angrier and he was in chains. The chained merman was floating before a throne in which sat a proud looking merman with a white beard and a crown upon his brow.

"Tritanus," The mer king was saying, "I charge you with the death of hundreds of people, the spilling of pollution into Earth's oceans, and the murder of your brother, Nereus." The king's voice broke on the name. Beside him, the mer queen and a young mermaid broke into tears, hugging each other tightly.

Breaking the connection with the magical vision, Seraphina turned away with thoughts raging in her head. Striding over to where Nereus lay in the shallow water, fast asleep, Serahina sat next to him silently. Twenty minutes later, Nereus blinked his eyes open and looked up to smile at her.

Frowning, Seraphina crossed her see-through arms. "You didn't tell me that you were a prince."

A panicked look crossed Nereus's face, "Whaaaat? How did you..."

"Magic window."

"Yeah," Nereus's shoulders slumped, "I am the crown prince."

"And your brother?"

"My twin. The one person who I really wanted to love me, but all Tritanus ever felt towards me was hatred."

"I'm sorry." Seraphina hugged him gently. "I saw in my magic window that your whole family thinks you are dead. Is that how you ended up on my beach? Did your brother try to kill you?"

"Yes." A tear ran down Nereus's cheek and Seraphina gently wiped it away.

"Listen," She sighed. "I don't like you leaving here so soon, especially since you are still so injured... But it is time for you to go back to your family. They need you right now, it's not right to keep them thinking you are dead."

"You are right."

A single tear ran down Seraphina's cheek as she gently picked Nereus up and carried him towards the shore.

"Seraphina?"

"Huh?" She grunted.

"Why don't you fly more often?"

Sighing, she beat her wings gently, remembering the way her wings once felt as they moved her through the sky. "I once had large, powerful wings. I am not a fairy, I am an avian. The curse I received faded my beautiful wings, now they can only hold me for very short distances before I drop like a stone. That is partially why this island is also my prison."

As she finished, they reached the water line and Seraphina hopped across a couple rocks to reach slightly deeper water where she could leave Nereus.

Laughing, he dived into the water, relishing the feeling of swimming again. "Seraphina," He pulled himself up onto the rock she was sitting on. "Come with me! I know I spell so that you can breath under water, you need not be trapped here anymore." As he finished, he reached out and grabbed her hands.

Yelping as his wet hands touched her dry ones, she yanked them out of his grip and he looked on with a startled, hurt expression. "I'm sorry Nereus," She stuttered. "I cannot go with you. I did not tell you the truth, the magic that hit me did more than just make me loose my form, it also made it so that I can no longer touch ocean water." Holding out her hands, she showed him the red welts that were forming on her wrists from where he had touched her.

"Seraphina!" He exclaimed and reached out as if to grasp her hands, thought better of it, and let his hands fall. Looking at her intently, he made her a promise, "I swear to you Seraphina! I WILL break this curse!"