Wooo! Hello, and Happy 10th Chapter! This one is pretty long, and it took FOREVER. I wrote like one paragraph a week so because of that to me it kind of feels like the flow is off, but eh. I wanted to share this with you guys now, before my weekend ended and schoolwork swamps me again. Lol. I hope you enjoy, and remember, review!

Zen wasn't sure what to think of the castle.

As they swam reluctantly forward, the massive structure came into view. It looked like a castle built out of a mountain, all the walls rocks and a light in every window. The intended effect was probably to make it seem like the entire structure was glowing. But instead, it just looked creepy and fuzzy in the dark. Guards swam this way and that, and occasionally Zen could see flashes of blue lights he assumed were more jellyfish tentacles.

He glanced at the ones behind Shirayuki and him. The guards held the curly lines a small distance away from their covered chests, and they held them with some sort of brown looking gloves. "What are the gloves made out of?" Zen whispered to Shirayuki.

The mermaid was intimidatingly beautiful in the low light, a murderous gleam in her eyes as she looked at everyone and everything. "Hardened mud. Ground doesn't conduct electricity."

Zen nodded. "I get it."

"Stop speaking English." A guard grumbled, glancing back at them.

Zen spread his hands, the best he could do in the seaweed wraps. He had been in a lot of handcuffs over the years, but none like this. Shirayuki had warned him that the more he struggled, the more they would grow. He didn't think he had moved all that much, but the itchy substance was almost over his elbows. It was disgusting and sticky, but he did his best to ignore it.

As they swam underneath a huge stone arch that looked like it had been carved centuries ago, Zen scanned his surroundings. The guards by the arch gave them a hard look. Two separate coral reefs sat on ether sides of them, but they had lost all their color. Instead, it just was a paradise of green and black edges curling around each other like they were frozen in the midst of a battle. A few mermaids and merman watched them warily from around the edge of the courtyard. He spotted a small little mermaid with a pink tail holding a silver platter to her chest hiding behind a pillar. When she caught his gaze, she ducked out of view.

They were headed towards a pair of massive brown doors, two more guards holding spears at attention as they passed. The doors opened and they swam through.

Inside, the castle was basked in a light green color. Zen glanced up and saw thousands of familiar crystals glowing high above them on the roof. "Shirayuki, what are those?" He asked.

Shirayuki glanced up. "You don't remember the Vidre?"

Zen shook his head.

"They're crystals that glow naturally. They're powered off emotions, and a lot of times they'll change based on the emotions around them." Shirayuki whispered.

Zen nodded, as if that was totally normal. Then he looked around again. The floor was just below them, a polished marble with two sharks swimming around each other carved out on it. Pillars towered up and held the massive room up. Very few mers were swimming around here, and when Zen saw who waited at the back wall, he knew why.

Two guards rushed ahead and bowed. Their tail fins went straight down and stilled as they did so. "Your Highnesses, these two mers were found on your territory."

Shirayuki looked down and tried to cover her eyes, but her red hair was too much of a giveaway.

Zen had no such worries of being recognized, so he lifted his eyes and met the King's glare evenly. The King did not look friendly in the least. Burly, with long gray hair and a mighty beard, he scowled at them. His eyes held a dark gleam that Zen always connected with corrupt leaders. He never did like meeting other royalty.

The Queen was no better. She looked ready to send them off to the execution block already, and they hadn't even say a word yet. She had ginger hair not too unlike Shirayuki's, but it was darker. It floated free around her head like a plume of blood. Her purple eyes gleamed murderously and she lashed her tail across the water.

The thrones they sat on where made of what looked like a mix between coral, seaweed, and small white pearls glittering eerily in the greenish light.

"You." The King snarled. "I thought that Sharkman told us you would be gone by now."

Shirayuki lifted her chin angrily. "The Sharkman told me to head home with him. We were on our way and we were attacked by your guards."

"You must have trespassed."

"We were on our way out!" Shirayuki then winced as a guard let an electric tendril just brush the tip of her fin. A whole shudder rushed through the mermaid and she moved forward on instinct.

"You will speak with respect." The guard growled.

Zen shot him a look then looked back to the King. He wanted to say something, but before he did the Queen cast her attention to him.

"And you. Who are you? I've never seen you before."

Zen tried to recall his made up story to the guard. "My name is Zin."

"Zin." The Queen repeated. She crossed her arms. It was obvious she didn't believe that was his name. "Well, Zin. You don't look familiar. The Sharkman may have excused her for the time being, but you are without an excuse."

"Please, I didn't know the law." Zen pleaded diplomatically.

"You should have been informed." The King glared at Shirayuki.

Shirayuki opened her mouth to respond, but before that the Queen stood. "Enough. Throw them into the dungeons."

"What?!" Shirayuki gurgled underwater with shock. "But you can't do that! We haven't done anything wrong!"

"You have offended us twice." The King offered.

Shirayuki clenched her fists. She had thrashed just enough to make the wrap grow up to her elbows, like Zen's. "Then at least let Ze-uh, Zin go. He didn't know better."

Zen stared at the mermaid in horror for at least three seconds. "What? No!" He made a conscious effort, then spoke in English to her. "You can't do that! I won't make it out there on my own."

"You can find some other mer to help you. Obi will find you and let me go later." Shirayuki murmured back, placating. She didn't meet his eyes.

"I won't let you sacrifice yourself like this." Zen swam towards her, but suddenly felt an electric tingle hit the top of his fin. He froze, clenching his teeth as what felt like a wave of sharp needles rushed across his body, ending just at the tip of his nose.

"We said no English. And await the King and Queen's orders." The guard grumbled.

Zen shot him a murderous glare, and was satisfied with the guard's slight jump.

The King was stroking his beard. "It matters very little to me."

"It matters to me!" The Queen snarled. Her tail lashed through the water again. "Suppose he goes and gets that Sharkman to free her. I will not have my authority questioned again."

Shirayuki heaved a sigh, but said nothing.

Zen bit his lip and looked up. The tips of the Vidre were turning a stormy purple, high above them.

"Your authority falls below mine, I remind you." The King murmured. At his wife's raised eyebrow, he winced and cleared his throat. "Very well, have it your way. Send both of them to the dungeon."

"For how long?" Zen demanded as the guards made a reach for his restraints. He swam upwards and flipped forward to avoid their hands. He landed just in front of the King and Queen. "Please, at least tell us that much."

The King glared at him, moving his tail away. The Queen didn't move, but instead rose from her seat. She stood and swam up to face him, lifting herself just a bit higher. "That is completely and totally up to me. You will learn your place in this ocean, stranger."

Zen pursed his lips to bit back a retort. He wanted to keep glaring at the Queen's dark eyes, but he glanced down at Shirayuki, who was surrounded by the guards and their jellyfish tentacles. She stared up at him in horror, and he knew he had to stand down.

He sagged and let his body sink. "Yes, your Majesty."

This, at least, seemed to please the Queen enough. She nodded once and swam back to her throne. "Away with them."

"Yes, your Highness." The guards mumbled. Zen was grabbed and pulled back next to Shirayuki. The guards swam upwards with them in tow. Zen looked around, confused as the room seemed to shake slightly.

"Look down." Shirayuki said softly.

Zen did, and he jumped so much his tail nearly hit a tentacle. Between the two sharks, the floor was opening downwards slowly. Below was only darkness. As the floor parted, the guards began to herd them downwards. As they swam, Zen cast another glance at the King and Queen. Both shared a knowing, relieved look. Then Shirayuki and Zen descended into the darkness.

They were blind until they found their cell. There was one small window, and it was letting in a gleam of bluish lighting. Shirayuki was pushed in first, then Zen. A guard followed them in, and two others stood ready with the flashing lights of the tentacles. He touched Shirayuki's bonds right below her wrist, then waved his hand over them. The goop melted into a silver and green putty-like substance. He scooped it out of the water with a small vase, then closed it. He let the vase float while he released Zen's bonds next. Again, he caught the substance with a new vase. Without a word, he grasped the vases and backed out of the cell. Zen watched as one guard pressed a small button.

For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Then, a long, slithering black creature appeared in his sight. It stayed back, but tendrils of blue electricity rushed down its body. A dead looking eye scanned him and Shirayuki, then slowly began making circles just in front of the guards, wall to wall.

"Is that a-"

"Electric eel." Shirayuki confirmed. "They guard the cells. It won't attack unless we try to escape."

The guards seemed satisfied that the eel would do its job, so they curled up the tentacles and swam down the hall into the murky blackness again.

Zen studied the cell. It wasn't large, with one bed made up of seaweed and stone. The seaweed was old and when he moved to touch it, it crumbled underneath his fingers. "Well, this place is charming." He scoffed. The window was just big enough to get through. Hopefully, he swam towards it. He stuck his head out cautiously. The entire ocean loomed out in front of him. "This could be-" Then he yelped as he turned his head and saw two dead eyes staring at him.

Another electric eel. Warningly, it raised its tail and sent sparks flying through the water.

Zen slowly pulled his head back in. The eel swam by the window, its shadow blocking the light for a moment. He sank downwards and looked around one more time. Besides the bed and the window, the cell was sparse. Just a hole in a cave wall. "Great." He murmured. He realized that when they were first swimming into the castle, what he had thought to be more guards with jellyfish tentacles must have actually been the electric eels.

Shirayuki floated for a while longer, before she lowered to the ground and sat down. Her tail curled around her and she pressed the palms of her hands to her face. "I hate the royal family." She mumbled.

Zen swam over and sat down next to her. He tried to copy how she was sitting, which took a few tries. The mermaid looked over to watch, and when he finally comfortably sat down, she snorted. "What?" Zen demanded.

"It's just…" She pulled her hair out of her face. "Generally, only mermaids sit like this."

Zen made a face. "I don't see why only girls. It's comfortable." He flared his fin, the silver scales catching the light.

Shirayuki shook her head and shrugged. She stared at her own fin as it rested on the ground. "The ocean is unmoving here."

"No. Is that a bad thing?"

"It's just weird." Shirayuki mumbled. She watched the eel make different shapes with his body, her eyes reflecting the occasional blue spark.

Zen wanted to say more, but he wasn't sure where to start. "Your royal family is…something."

"They're despicable." Shirayuki scowled. "I hate nobility."

"I'm nobility."

"I rest my fin."

"How rude."

Zen expected another fight to break out, but instead Shirayuki looked at him, and a small smile pulled at her lips. Both paused, then broke into giggles. "Ah, sorry." She said.

"No, it's fine. I've met more than enough royals to understand."

Shirayuki shifted slightly. The floor was cold under their scales. "This is the fear I mentioned they use. They've employed these eels to do their dirty work."

"And those tentacles. I'm assuming they don't just find them lying around at the bottom of the sea."

"You guessed it." Shirayuki scowled. "Disgusting."

Zen nodded. "I'm also going to bet that their prisoners don't get much better treatment."

Shirayuki just pursed her lips.

"More of a reason to get out of here, then." Zen scratched his head, trying to think.

Shirayuki scoffed. At his look, she explained. "No one has ever escaped these dungeons before."

"First time for everything, right?"

"No, Zen. Zen!" Shirayuki grabbed Zen's arm as he unwound his tail. "Listen to me! Our best bet is to just wait for Obi."

"I've never been the type to sit around and wait." Zen argued.

Shirayuki's fin flared out and her eyes flashed gold in annoyance. She pulled hard on his arm and made him come back down to her. She put her hands on top of his tail and got in his face. "You don't understand! Eels can outswim any mer in a heartbeat. One touch is fatal."

Zen studied her face, then sighed. "Alright, calm down."

"Thank you." Her gills lifted as she sighed.

Zen sat down again, right next to her this time. "Tell me something. Why did the King shy away from me like that?"

"Oh, I'm not sure. There is a rumor that he can't ever be touched, or else he'll turn to stone." She shrugged.

Zen snorted and looked at her. "You can't be serious."

"I didn't come up with the rumor. It's probably just some lie." Shirayuki's eyes were dark in the low light.

"Huh. I wonder."

"You believe it?"

"Shirayuki, I'm sitting thousands of leagues under the sea with a fish tail talking to a mermaid. I'll believe anything after this point." He laughed.

Shirayuki frowned at him. "You're a strange human."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Though I do wonder why the Queen was so vehement about you coming to jail with me. From everything I've seen and heard, she's normally the first to do as the King says."

"That was odd. I just assumed she didn't like me."

"I think that's apparent. My only question is why." Shirayuki put her finger against her lip, looking lost in thought. "When I was in the Bed of Light before Obi came and got you, the King and Queen said something about it not being part of their plan."

"Their plan?"

"Yeah. I know, it's odd. I'm not sure what they meant ether. Whatever it is, I can promise you it won't be good."

"Hey, what are their names? The King and Queen, I mean."

Shirayuki looked thoughtful. Her fin fluttered open and then closed again. The electric eel sparked silently. "I'm not too sure, honestly."

Zen frowned. "You don't know the name of your King and Queen?"

She shrugged. "Just another thing they do wrong."

Zen lifted from his sitting position and looked around again. "How long did Obi say he would take?"

"A day at the least, a week at the most." Shirayuki sighed.

"We can't wait that long." Zen frowned and turned upside down again. He began brushing his hands across the floor.

"What are you doing?" Shirayuki asked.

"Looking for any dirt." Zen answered.

"Dirt? Here?" Even though she said it with doubt in her voice, she began to twist around herself to look.

"I'm hoping that they'll live up to your expectations." Zen mumbled. He fluttered his fin just slightly to move himself. Sure enough, he swiped his fingers through a small bit of brown colored dust. He pinched his fingers together and pursed his lips, then looked at Shirayuki. "Help me gather some?"

Soon enough, Shirayuki and Zen had swept up a small pile of brown dirt. It floated around in the water, and the two were careful to keep it as together as possible. "This isn't enough for both of them." Shirayuki muttered, looking back at the eel still swimming in circles in front of them.

"Then we aim for the one outside the window." Zen looked out towards the small little hole of light.

"But the other one will come in after us if it sees us swim away." Shirayuki groaned.

Zen thought for a moment, then looked to the bed of seaweed. He swam over to it, careful not to disturb the floating pile of dirt. He reached down and touched the bed. Once again, the seaweed crumbled under his fingers. The Second Prince scooped up the remains and sifted them through his fingertips gently. He smiled and turned to Shirayuki. "Maybe not as potent, but this could still blind it."

"They can find you by smell." Shirayuki said, unimpressed.

"It'll just give us enough time to get out." Zen began gathering more seaweed dust. "You throw it at the eel outside."

"I'm a faster swimmer than you, human. You should throw it at the eel outside." Shirayuki argued.

Zen bit back an argument. "How's your aim?"

Shirayuki rolled her green eyes, her tail irritably kicking at the water. "I'm a magic user. I can aim pearls, dust is no-" Suddenly Shirayuki's eyes widened. "My pearls! We have to get my bag back."

Zen resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "One thing at a time. Let's get out of this cell before we worry about your pearls." He turned away to collect more dust.

Shirayuki let the dirt pile drop and swam over to him. "Zen, you don't understand. My pearls are magic. I have one that can make us invisible. If we want to escape the guards, we have to use that."

Zen raised his eyebrow. "Why didn't you use that when we first saw the guards, then?"

"I…" Shirayuki looked away for a second. "I wasn't sure I could. It's a high level of magic. But it's our best bet. If we want to make it to the current, the spell will help."

Zen wanted to argue again, but she grabbed his shoulder and looked into his eyes pleadingly. Her hand was warm, and her hair fanned out around her face like a cloud in the middle of a sunset. "Let's worry about it later." He insisted.

Shirayuki pouted. "Fine. But I'm going to find them, with or without you." She swam back to the dust.

Zen rolled his eyes and held the dust he gathered between two hands. "Alright, ready?" He swam towards the window.

Shirayuki gathered her dust between her hands and nodded. She moved towards the eel nervously. Its glassy, dead eye moved to watch her curiously.

Zen tried not to worry about her and looked out the window. He poked his head out and waited. "Ready? Set….." Zen waited until he heard the familiar sparking sound. "NOW!" He twisted around in a full 180 twist and tossed his dust all over the electric eel over his head. Without a second to even see what its reaction was, he darted out of the window and spread his fin. He kicked forward a bit, stopping and turning just in time to see Shirayuki explode out of the window and grab his arm to pull him forward.

Of course, however, instead of to the open ocean, Shirayuki pulled him downwards towards the bigger part of the castle. Zen groaned but looked up as he was pulled. He saw the eel getting smaller and smaller above them, shaking its head and coughing, lashing around madly in the clouded water.

Zen turned away and swam next to Shirayuki. She darted down the wall until she saw a small, somewhat ruined fence. As she ducked behind it and Zen followed, the Second Prince wondered what the stone fence once was. It was like another wall, but only reached up to his waist. And underwater, what use was that? But he didn't question it out loud.

The wall was cracked and old, but it gave enough shade to hide the flashes of light Shirayuki and Zen's tail gave off. "Why do all your tails so sparkly?" Zen hissed in annoyance, trying to bend his tail so he could cover it with his torso.

"I don't know. Now shush." Shirayuki looked around. To their left, the open ocean. To their right, the main body of the palace. It glowed eerily in the dark, a looming structure Zen was sure they couldn't break in.

"We need to get out of here." Zen said.

"We need to get my pearls."

Zen sighed. "Where would they even be?"

"With the guards, most likely." Shirayuki put her finger against her bottom lip as she thought. "This way." She swam to the right. Zen's hair followed the current she left. He sighed, but saw no choice but to follow her. The water was chilly as they swam along the curve of the prison tower.

Zen looked up. The surface was miles above them, a mass of moving water. He thought he would feel some sort of pressure, but he felt weightless. He was so preoccupied thinking about that, he didn't realize Shirayuki had stopped until he bumped into her.

She gasped softly and turned to glare at him.

"Sorry." He whispered. "Why'd you stop?"

"I thought I heard something."

He was about to open his mouth to answer, when she pressed her finger against his lips. She moved in closer to him and listened.

Zen closed his eyes to listen.

Sure enough, a soft, sweet voice drifted through the water towards him. The more he listened, the more he relaxed. Before he knew it, he was rocking back and forth to the melody. His fin flicked open and closed. A small pain grew in his chest. At first it was unbearable, but soon it grew until his entire torso burned mercifully. The voice seemed to tell him that he would never find warmth under the sea, but the voice could give him all the heat he did needed.

Shirayuki's hand tightened over his lips. She cursed under her breath, and Zen gabbed her shoulders. She gasped. "Zen?"

Zen opened his eyes. He couldn't make out her facial features, she was just a green and red blur. "I need to go." He whispered after she removed her hand.

"What? Go where? We need to get my pearls-"

"Shh, I can't hear the voice." Zen looked up, trying to find the source. He swam upwards. "Where did you go?" He asked the dark water.

In response, a single line reached his ears.

"Come into my hearth, into my warmth..."

"Yes." He responded. He started to swim forward, when a sharp tug on his tail stopped him. He looked down, and saw the mermaid holding him back.

"Zen, wait! You're hearing a calling spell, you have to fight it!"

"I don't want to. Let go." He told the mermaid. He yanked his tail free of her grasp and away from her outstretched hands before he could stop him. He heard the voice again, and chased it into the depths.