As the sun rose over the seventh kingdom, rays gently cut through the curtain of night to break the embrace of the sea and sky. Light sparkled across the ocean's waves, spreading over the shoreline to where the Prince knelt in the sand. Various attendants poured down the castle stairs like ants, all calling for their prince in panicked confusion.
His blue gaze, which had been compared to the sea and sky more times than he would care to admit, focused on the receding ripples that were fast disappearing as a new wave crested in the morning surf.
"Your highness!" squeaked Grimsby. He stumbled slightly in his elevated evening dress pumps as he tottered through the damp sand towards the tide. "What in –"
The Prince ignored them all, staring out at sea with a despairing expression that stilled even the usually proper Grimsby's chattering. "Eric?" he wavered, forgetting himself in his genuine concern for his young charge. He stooped down a bit to peer in his face before looking out towards the sea. "What is it?"
Eric did not answer. He continued to search the horizon, searching for either the red glint of a young woman's hair or the glistening green scales of the mermaid tail, which had broken the water surface moments after Ariel had dived in.
Under the waves and ignorant of the scene unfolding on the beach in the dawn's early light, Lacey struggled to escape the grip of her sea creature lover.
The chill of the ocean increased as she was dragged further down to the depths, her head going fuzzy as her eyesight blackened in the growing darkness. Her bare skin was pimpled with the cold everywhere but where she was pressed to the soft skin of Dylan's new form. His powerful, large body cut smoothly through the waves, pressing her to his side with his flipper as his large tail bore them forward in the current.
Lacey pushed against him again, feebler and feebler as her oxygen dwindled away. The sunlight from above now completely faded as they passed underneath a rocky projection, an underwater grotto of sorts. With a sudden movement of his great head, the creature looked over at her, whiskers tickling her cheek which quivered in her suffocating terror.
A sudden powerful slap of his tail upwards and Lacey found herself gasping in air as their heads broke the surface, emerging in a cavern of some sort, an underwater air pocket.
Lacey greedily gasped in air, coughing and wheezing as the even colder air of the cavern burned her throat. As she sucked in the precious albeit frigid air, Lacey numbly realized the usual heaviness of Emma's tiara was notably absent. Reaching up, she pushed her hair out of her eyes. The work of Charlotte and Priscilla having held up in the back marginally even without the anchor of the jeweled ornament.
She felt oddly naked without it, as if a part of her had disappeared in the waves. Which was silly, as she was actually stark naked. Lacey clasped her arms around her bare chest, using her legs to push away from the massive creature. It stared at her shrewdly, warm black eyes gazing at her in earnest adoration. The underwater space was cold, damp, and dark, but her eyes were adjusting enough to notice that meager light was coming from a softly glowing plant that seemed to grow on the walls of the cave.
She was shivering violently, a mixture of cold, rage and fear. "I am sick," Lacey hissed at the creature, splashing away towards the rim of the cavern that seemed to be wide enough to lie comfortably on, "sick," she repeated louder, "of being carried away in the night by crazy magical animals who want to drown me!"
Her shout echoed in the cave around them. The creature snorted loudly, tossing his head in irritation before moving towards her in the water. She turned and tried to get a better grip on the rocks to boost herself up, but her shivering made it all but impossible. A sudden, upward push from the huge creature underneath her propelled her ungracefully to the rocky platform, scratching her elbow and knee painfully.
She turned to lash out at him but as Dylan lumbered himself up on the platform himself, she got a good look at his new form.
He was more sea lion than seal, a massive head with a mane of fur with close-cropped ears laid flat on his skull in challenge. His black eyes were narrowed; long whiskers twitching fitfully and his dark brown skin the same color of Dylan's tan. He lumbered closer to her, head raised proudly with his large chest thrust out. Lacey hastily backed up a bit, thankful the platform was a bit larger than she had originally noted.
Her nudity was more annoying than embarrassing and she carefully got to her feet, realizing the beast was about her height, his eyes following her carefully.
She lowered her arm, feeling her chest pebble as that feeble warmth departed. "Look," Lacey started, careful to keep the gaze of the creature before her. "Dylan, I think you may have misunderstood-"
Het let out a loud growling bark, head flipping to the side in negation. Lacey stilled, catching a glimpse of the sharp teeth lining the very powerful jaw of the thing before her.
"You can't keep me here," she tried to explain before the reality of the situation hit her. She stood naked in an underwater oasis talking to a giant mystical seal which an hour before had been her lover. Somewhere The Imp was cackling with undisguised dark glee.
She shook the random thought of him out of her mind, trying to focus back on how she was going to get out of her current situation. The creature known formerly as Dylan was lumbering back to the water, flippers smacking comically on the stone as he awkwardly waddled away from her. "Hey," Lacey called, "Wait, you have to take me back!"
But he ignored her, diving gracefully into the water and disappearing under the ripples, back down to the cold depths of the dark, deep sea.
"Great," Lacey mumbled. She shook her head in disgust as she walked towards the edge. "You're just like every other male: walk away as soon as you don't want to hear-"
She was interrupted when a red head popped out of the water, startling a small scream out of Lacey who quickly fell backwards in alarm.
"Belle!" Ariel exhaled in relief, glancing down at the water before back at her. "There you are!"
"Dylan! He's a-"
"Selkie," Ariel concluded, nodding wisely.
Lacey stared at the young woman for a moment, glancing around her before back at the mermaid, "A what?"
Ariel let out an exasperated huff, which Lacey briefly recognized as something she must have learned from her the past few days. "He's a selkie. I noticed him as you were dancing but I didn't think you would be silly enough to go down to the shore with him! What in the depths were you thinking?"
"Are you yelling at me?" Lacey asked in astonishment as she got back on her feet.
Ariel looked down guiltily and Lacey noticed the girl's corset was water-logged but still against her pale skin. "I get a bit testy when I worry," Ariel admitted, toying with the strings. "It's just- I saw the selkie drag you under and I was worried his cave would be too far out at sea for you to survive the swim."
"But Eric…" Lacey interrupted, remembering the Prince's startled face as she disappeared under the waves.
Ariel's face fell, eyes dimming before she shook her head. A small sniffle broke through the following silence before Ariel replied, "He's safe on shore, but I need to get you out of here before the selkie returns from his hunt."
"Can we go back to what the hell a selkie is?"
Ariel cocked her head at her in confusion. "I thought you were from a sea kingdom?"
"I'm not from the coast," Lacey answered, mentally thanking Eric for his brief tutorial on the politics of kingdoms for the quick excuse.
Ariel shook her head, tail flicking the surface behind her in agitation. "Selkies are shape shifters. They can shed their skin to go on land, but they have to return to the sea at day or risk being stuck on shore forever in their human form…"
Dimly recalling Dylan's nighttime appearances and his eagerness for her to accompany him to the shore, Lacey realized she had once again been ignorant enough to almost get herself killed. The safety of the Imp's castle had been boring, but she was quickly realizing how right he and Emma had been about the dangers of this world.
"…brought you back here to be his bride," Ariel concluded, unaware Lacey had stopped listening. "So, we need to go before he comes back, because I'm not sure I can outswim an alpha selkie while towing you."
"Wait, bride?" Lacey turned, catching the first half of that. "That chauvinistic- I told him-!"
"Belle, we really need to go before-"
"Oh, but my dears, you just got here!"
Ariel squeaked in fear, as from the far darkness of the cave, a tentacle came slithering out, suction cups puckering and echoing as seven other long tentacles followed, carrying out a monster from the darkness.
"Ursula," Ariel whimpered, ducking her head in subservience. "We are honored by your presence."
"Are you?" As she came into the light, Lacey realized the creature was half octopus but had a woman's torso and head, dark skin with large sagging breasts pebbled with starfish and barnacles, her hair dirty gray twisted on her head like a conch shell, seaweed tangled in like highlights. "And yet she does not bow."
Lacey stared in open amazement at the thing, glancing back quickly to see Ariel shaking in the water, head bent down in worship, but eyes wide in terror. "Ariel?" Lacey questioned, looking back at the creature before her.
"But then she is not from our realm, is she?" Ursula cooed, raising a tentacle to her cheek in comic exaggerated confusion. "In fact, I don't think she's from this world."
Ariel glanced over at Lacey in confusion before back down at the water's surface in consternation. "She's from the second kingdom, my Goddess. She's from the inlands- she does not know-"
"Silence," Ursula hissed, wrenching her gaze from Lacey to the little mermaid. "I'll get to you in a moment, you little thief."
Ariel quailed, ducking her shoulders under the water level so only her eyes and hair showed in the darkness. The creature looked back at Lacey, moving forward again as her tentacles propelled her. "Now, human, tell me, what are you doing in my realm?"
Lacey opened her mouth to respond, but Ursula shook her head, eyes narrowing in challenge. "And don't lie to me. I'm not as gullible as that little guppy."
Lacey didn't look over at Ariel, feeling the questioning gaze on her face. She worried her lip before answering, careful to keep her eyes fixed on the rocks behind the octopus-woman. "I was brought here against my will by a Selkie. I did not mean to intrude in your kingdom."
"I'm aware of that," Ursula puttered, waving a thick arm in dismissal. "You cried tears into the ocean and called him forth from the depths–"
"Belle, you didn't!" Ariel moaned, bobbing out of the water. Ursula turned on her fiercely and the small girl disappeared back into the water, her eyes the only part of her visible under her floating red hair.
"Oh, but she did," Ursula nodded, glancing around the cave. "And he answered. I can smell him on you human. You mated with a selkie on land, and now he has brought you to the sea to be his bride. You'll of course be dead within a week from thirst, but they don't understand those things the dumb fools.
"But what I'm really interested in," the Goddess continued, swirling closer so she was merely feet from Lacey, "is why our little mermaid here has come to your rescue."
Lacey tried to appear bored as she raised her shoulders in a careless shrug, "Hero complex?" She drawled.
Ursula's eyes narrowed into slits and Lacey found herself looking into them unwittingly. They were filled with an intelligence, power, and age that she had only seen in one other set of eyes in her life, but while hers were black inky orbs, the others had been golden reptilian.
With a sudden laugh, Ursula twisted away from her, scuttling to the water's edge before slipping in and gliding smoothly to Ariel, who twisted away slightly. Ursula grabbed her arm from below and hoisted her up roughly.
"Hey!" Lacey snapped, stopping short as Ursula raised Ariel's right arm, showing off the golden bracelet still locked on her arm.
"What a pretty bauble," Ursula cooed, fingering it gently. "Quite rare. Wherever did you get it?"
"Belle gave it to me," Ariel answered, eyes downcast and filled with an unaccountable despair. "So, I might see what it was like to walk on the shore."
"A gift?" Ursula laughed, turning swiftly to Lacey, dragging Ariel with her to the edge of the water. "And she asked for nothing in return?"
"N-no, Ursula," Ariel stumbled, holding herself as best she could to alleviate the painful grip on her arm. "I saved her from the surf." Ariel's eyes met Lacey's brown ones and she smiled even as tears sprang to her eyes.
Lacey swallowed the lump in her throat as she saw Ursula's cruel smile slide across her round face. "Oh, so she just gave it to you as a reward- "
"Leave her alone," Lacey found herself ordering the creature. Despite the tiara long gone to the bottom of the sea, she stood tall, ignoring her nudity and staring down the odd monstrosity, which bobbed below her.
"You foolish girl," hissed Ursula, raising herself in the water as it rose up around her in a fountain spring propelling her and Ariel to Lacey's height, water rolling underneath them in a tempestuous fountain. "You dare order about the Goddess of the Sea?"
"Belle, don't," Ariel pleaded, arm pinned to her side.
"Tell her the truth," Ursula demanded, black eyes flashing in delight. "Tell her or I'll break her arm and then tell her myself."
Silence filled the cave. Lacey drew in a gulp of the stale air before she turned away her glare from Ursula, softening her eyes as she met Ariel's hurt gaze.
"Belle?"
"Ariel, I'm not an actual princess-"
"That's okay," Ariel replied, shaking her head. "I knew that-"
"Wait- how?" Lacey questioned sharply. She had rather thought she had been quite convincing.
"Well, one princess can usually tell another one-"
"You're a princess?" Lacey exclaimed in astonishment, raising her hand to stop Ariel. "You didn't tell me that!"
Ariel offered a sheepish grin, but Ursula squeezed her arm and Ariel's smile slid off her face in pain. "A thieving little codfish is what you are," Ursula admonished, flinging her up on the rocky beach beside Lacey. Ariel cried out as she skidded to a stop, Lacey quickly kneeling to her and helping her sit upwards.
"Ariel," Lacey started, but Ariel looked away in embarrassment.
"I'm sorry," Ariel murmured, gently touching the bracelet. "But I had to- I had no choice but to steal it."
"But I gave it to you," Lacey said in confusion, before the memory of the Imp's orders slipped into her mind. The one ingredient needed to activate the magic- "The squid ink?"
Ariel nodded miserably, biting her lip as tears sprang to her eyes.
"But you said-"
"The Giant Squid is in the northern sea sleeping. It would have taken days-"
"So you stole it," Lacey realized, looking up at Ursula. "You stole it from the Sea Witch?"
"Belle!" Ariel cried out in horror as Ursula roared in rage. Ariel pulled her down to her and clung to her in fear.
"You dare! You dare call me by that name!" The Sea Witch swelled, black ink tendrils turning the fountain blacker and blacker, the glow of the cavern moss dimming as darkness spilled from the monster before them, blackening the cave and stretching out to them, seeking them out. Ariel quivered but held tight to Lacey, vainly trying to protect her from the oncoming wrath.
"Only one dares defile me by speaking those words, you little tramp!" Ursula's eyes were glowing in the darkness, purple light spilling out around her in the black ink. "I should have known! Of course, he would send a pawn to do his dirty work!" Lacey turned in anger at this, the truth of it angering her as much as the words themselves. "Only Nix would dare-"
"Nix?" Ariel said in confusion, recoiling from Lacey. "You work for Nix?"
Laughter echoed in the cave as Lacey looked in confusion from the disgust on Ariel's face to the dark laughter of the Sea Witch which seemed to shrink the cave. "I don't even know who Nix is!" Lacey shouted over the laughter, "The Imp-"
"Has many names, you foolish child," Ursula replied. "His true name was lost generations ago, and now all know him by the names of their darkest fears. In the sea and in the coastal kingdoms, he is known as Nix. And he and his minions are not welcome here!"
"Belle, how could you? How could you work for that thing?" Lacey turned to see Ariel looking at her in betrayal, mouth open in disbelief. "I thought…I thought you were my friend."
"Ariel, I didn't-" Lacey tried, wondering at the horror that the mere name of her protector caused in the young girl.
"This ends now." Ursula commanded, reaching out her tentacles, suction cups opening and closing to ensnare the two of them. Lacey tried to scuttle backwards, but rock was at her back and she felt the world shrink away as the tentacles loomed before her.
A sudden roar interrupted the darkness as the selkie heaved upward from the depths of the water and launched himself at Ursula. Screaming in affront, the Sea Witch was taken by surprise and knocked down into the water, the massive creature following her down, roaring and bellowing in challenge.
Lacey watched in stunned amazement as the selkie bit and snarled at the tentacles that wrapped him in their grasp, his giant head butting the sea witch's stomach, causing her to loosen her grasp, allowing him to swim closer, knocking her into the shelf ledge and stunning her slightly.
"You'll pay for that you jumped up eel," Ursula growled, reaching out for him again with her tentacles as he roared back his response and bit the tentacle wrapping around his neck in retaliation.
"Come on," Ariel hissed, grabbing Lacey's arm and dragging her forward to the water's edge. "Come on!"
"But-" Lacey barely managed to get out before Ariel slipped back into the water, gravity and her strong pull dragging Lacey down into the depths with her. The waves and ink from the fight obliterated her vision so she squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath as the ice needles of the water jabbed back into her skin.
An iron grip on her wrist was the only way she knew Ariel was ahead of her. She kicked her legs and waved her free arm to help propel herself down, and then when Ariel pulled her forward, she pushed forward as well. The darkness of her eyelids the only thing she could see.
After what felt like an eternity in the darkness, Lacey felt a tug pulling her upwards. She went gratefully, another few long moments of darkness, and then she felt her hand break the surface and she kicked upward, joining Ariel in the light of the early afternoon sun.
"We have to get to shore," Ariel stated, not quite looking at her. "Ursula will be sending her minions after us as soon as she finishes with him."
"But he was holding his own," Lacey started but stopped as Ariel looked back at her in irritation.
"She's the Goddess of the Sea," Ariel said with finality that Lacey had yet to see in the young girl. "He never stood a chance, and he knew it. He died protecting his mate."
"But I wasn't his mate," Lacey choked, salt water spilling down from her hair and rising in choppy waves to fill her mouth.
"Don't," Ariel said curtly, twisting towards the sun. "You called for him, bonded with him, and then got him killed. He deserved better than that."
"Ariel," Lacey said weakly, feeling confusion and guilt spread in her chest. "I didn't mean-"
But Ariel ignored her, swimming off and dragging her roughly alongside her, not speaking another word as they let the current carry them through the surf. The waves carried them closer and closer to the shoreline of the nearing landmass.
It was early afternoon by the time the waves deposited them safely on the far side of town's shore. The castle was leagues away now, the sun glistening off the towers like a far away beacon.
Lacey laid motionless in the damp sand, letting the tide ebb and flow around her as Ariel lay beside her in the surf. Neither spoke as the sun continued its journey across the sky. Lacey's mind was filled with images of Dylan kneeling before her in the gardens, full mouth pressed against her mound, pleasure flowing through her veins in a familiar way.
And now he was dead. Because of her.
Lacey couldn't even summon the energy to defend herself from the voice inside her head which sounded remarkably like the teenager beside her. She had not idea when the teen's naivety had rubbed off her on her but she felt an unusual guilt clawing at her throat as she watched the sun move across the sky.
Beside her, Ariel prompted herself up on her elbows in the surf, letting the waves break around her.
When it became obvious that Ariel had nothing further to say, Lacey opted to go off in search of clothes, knowing better than to try to speak to the mermaid. As she climbed the unsettled hill, she looked down upon the empty fields between here and the town leagues away. Glancing back over her shoulder, Lacey briefly debated whether or not to explain to the mermaid where she was going, worried that she would disappear in the ocean before she could return.
But the stubborn set of the girl's chin warned her she would be ignored regardless. Lacey set off down the hill, a small huff of frustration escaping her lips and reminding her Ariel despite her attempts to put her out of her mind for the interim.
As Lacey made her way through the fields of Eric's kingdom, the afternoon grew warmer. She spotted what looked like a main road cutting through some woods but she avoided it. Last thing she needed to explain was why a Princess of the Kingdoms was wandering around in her birthday suit.
So, she continued through the empty fields. While mildly embarrassing at first, it soon became second nature. The soft soil under her soles was comforting and by the time she finally reached civilization, she had almost forgotten she was nude.
Fortunately, it appeared to be laundry day at one of the houses along the edge of town. No one was in sight, so Lacey grabbed the first two dresses she saw. A few hours later, she returned to the beach fully dressed in a light muslin white dress. She felt an embarrassing burst of relief when she saw Ariel still sat perfectly still, half buried in the sand and waves as low tide ebbed around her.
"Hey," she greeted nonchalantly, holding out the dress. "Found some old house a few miles from here- looked like it might be some kind of summer house for one of the nobles. They were airing some dresses so I grabbed us some-"
"I don't need one," Ariel answered curtly, not bothering to look back.
"'Course you do," Lacey said, seating herself on a boulder that had lodged itself in the beach. "Sun will be down soon, and we'll have to hurry but I think I saw a main road earlier. Eric was telling me the docks close at sunset, so we won't have a problem finding someone to take us to the palace-"
Ariel flicked her tail in annoyance, smacking the water with a loud crack. "I'm not going."
"Ariel, come on," Lacey growled, rubbing sand off her skin in annoyance. "I'm not going to just leave you here-"
"He saw," Ariel said softly, hair falling in her face. "He saw me change."
Lacey remembered seeing Eric rushing after them in the sand, his face confused but determined. "I'm sure he-"
Ariel laughed, broken angry music ringing against the surf. "Why won't you leave me alone?" Ariel asked in anger, turning to look at her. "I can't return to the sea, because she's waiting for me. And I can't leave the shore, because as soon as the sun rises in the morning, I'll be a mermaid again, with no voice, no hope, and no chance of making it home."
"We'll go to the Imp! He'll–"
"Do what?" Ariel snapped. "Descale me alive? Filet me for his dinner? Debone me to hang on his wall?"
"God, no," Lacey said in horror, dropping the extra dress to the rock as she stood and approached the mermaid. Her borrowed dress was dipping down in front since it had not been tied up properly and it was too short on her, her calves bare as she waded into the surf. "I wouldn't let him."
Ariel turned her green eyes, shining with salty tears to Lacey, her mouth pinched in a tight pout as she tried to hold the tears back. "I left my people at just the chance of seeing the Prince! I threw away my life, because you gave me hope, and all to learn-" She sniffed, tears rolling down her cheeks. "To learn I aided that leviathan and his underling by giving them the most powerful thing in the seas. I am disgusted with myself, and as soon as the sea grants me its peace I'll end my life here on the shore."
The cries of the gulls and the sails of the ships out at sea were the only thing beside Ariel that managed to penetrate Lacey's haze of shock. "You are telling me you are giving up? You're just going to sit here and die?"
Ariel turned away, ending the conversation as the sun dipped below the horizon and the flash of white light left a trembling, crying girl in the surf at Lacey's feet, naked legs sinking into the sand as day ended.
"No," Lacey murmured, watching the silent sobs of the girl before her. "No, that's not happening."
She reached down and pulled the girl up. Ariel tried to wrench away, but her unsteady balance caused her to pitch to the sand, stumbling towards the boulder as Lacey dragged her to up the beach toward the dress.
"You saved me from the sea," Lacey said, mouth drawn tight as she struggled with Ariel. "Now I'm going to save you from yourself. You are getting dressed, we are going to the castle, and you are going to kiss that prince and get your stupid happily ever after."
Ariel sank down on the boulder, covering her chest and crying pitifully as she dripped salt water over the dress, refusing to look at it or Lacey.
"God, you teenagers are just the absolute biggest dramatic pains in the ass-"
"Whatever did you do to it?" came the absolute last voice she wanted to hear at the moment. Ariel gasped, falling backwards behind the boulder and shaking in terror at the newcomer who stood beside the boulder grinning at her manically.
"God, can't you magical assholes just arrive like a normal person?" Lacey snapped, crossing her arms and staring him down. "All this popping in and out of existence is annoying as hell, you know that right?"
She turned to Ariel who was frantically staring at the Imp, who was glaring back at Lacey. She ignored him. "Ariel, I'll have him turn you into a sea shell, carry you up to the palace myself, and turn you back into a brat in front of the entire court - stark naked - unless you get dressed right now."
Ariel bobbed her head in affront, looking at him before back at her in a clear negative. "Oh, for pity's sake," he growled. "I won't peek."
Ariel wavered a moment before angrily huffing. The Imp glanced at her in a clear indication that the little mermaid had indeed learned that from Lacey in their time together. Ariel dragged the dress behind the rock and started to slip it on.
"Now, want to share what you're doing here? I doubt it has anything to do with us almost getting killed because of your little spat with the she-devil of the sea?"
"Oh, that?" He shrugged, smirking slightly. "I figured you had it under control."
"That and you're too scared to set foot or hoof in her realm?" Lacey shot back, watching his eyes narrow. Point scored.
"You're fine," he dismissed, whizzing a hand in the air at Ariel. "And you managed to save the little princess here, too. Now, let's get out of this dreadful kingdom before the Witch sends a storm to wash the city away-"
A startled squeak from Ariel caused Lacey to turn, Ariel had her dress half on and ribbons dangling open in the front as she stared in horrified anger at the Imp, mouth open in disbelief.
"I'm not taking her," the Imp continued in irritation, crossing his arms. "One of you annoying females in my home is more than enough-"
"Stop being so dramatic. She's not going to destroy a whole town just to get a mermaid and a princess back-" Lacey snarled, walking past him to help Ariel lace up her dress. "You just want me to go back and go bonkers in that damn pigsty of a castle you call home." Ariel patted her hand frantically, getting in the way of her lacing up the dress. "Ariel, stop it! Stay still so I can-" Ariel grabbed her hands, pushing her around so she faced the sea. Lacey stopped short as she saw the clouds and waves, black like ink spiraling towards them in the darkening sky. Ships with white sails rushed towards the docks, the lighthouse on the hill emitting the beacon light, shining feebly against the clouds that rushed towards it like an oncoming end of days.
"You were saying?" The Imp giggled, gesturing towards the wall that was quickly growing as it advanced.
Overwhelmed, realizing she was the cause of this end and that she could do nothing but stand there and watch it come. Lacey said the only thing that came to her mind as she stared at the obvious oncoming destruction of Eric's kingdom
"Fuck."
X
Special thanks to the ever wonderful Ramloth for her awesome beta skills- she really helped shape this chapter and I would be lost without her.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! You got the resolution to Dylan (and I must say I was surprised/pleased more people weren't DOWN WITH DYLAN- way to hang with Lacey on her adventures guys!) and the introduction of a cool "villain" as well as the return of the Imp! (AKA Nix- which I borrowed from this mythology:
wiki/Neck_(water_spirit)
And yes I do find myself terrible clever.
So, thoughts? I am rather fond of all the readers on The Gate because I find you guys constantly blow me away with your insights and reviews. This is such a different kind of story (affectionally termed dark lace) but I really think by the end of it- it's going to be a great adventure story.
Plus, we haven't even gotten to the good part yet.
Thanks again for reading everyone!