Sea shore, Underwater kingdom of Andross, Magix

'Dude you know, I can't breathe under water. Seems like you have to go in there alone, with this thing...' Richard said and tried to hand that particular thing over to his friend Zeo.

'No, you are going to hold that Richie, you said you will as you are a prince, though that was the 'lame'est excuse I've ever heard.' Zeo smirked.

'Well it is a royal asset you know, so I thought maybe a royal should hold this and hand this over to the company of light.' Richard tried his defence mechanism at its best.

'Not all the members of the company of light are royals Richie, groom your mind. But anyway, I'm not gonna hold it. Instead of that, I can cast a spell that can make you breathe under water.' Zeo replied.

'Cast a spell? Wow dude!' Richard was surprised.

'Richard! I belong to a wizard family for your information.' Zeo closed his eyes and started the spell.

It was Zeo who opened the box before Meduona, while she and her Aunt were busy fighting the others. Zeo was intelligent enough to solve the riddle. Richard took the trident and both of them got out of the room, waited at the roof of the museum. Soon the learnt that the others had left for some other destination, so they followed. Personally, Zeo was happy that he could trick down Meduona, the witch he hated the most for kidnapping his Ashlynn, creating chaos around unnecessarily and making life difficult around Magix. Zeo blushed a little at the occurrence of the thought of 'his Ashlynn'.

Zeo casted a spell on Richard, though Richard was hesitating a little bit before getting into the water. But he trusted his best friend more than himself. So he jumped into the ocean, followed by Zeo. After covering some distance they reached their destination, the palace of the underwater kingdom of Andross. It was an old one, like most other palaces of the dimension. The gate was being protected by two guards, they, obviously, stopped them from entering.

'Strangers! Who are you and what is the purpose of your visit to the underwater kingdom of Andross?' the older guard asked.

'Well I am the Crown Prince of Eraclyon and...' Richard started but Zeo cut him off.

'We're from Red Fountain School of Wizardry, Bravery and Heroics of Magix and we're on a mission. It's very important and we request you to let us go inside and meet king Nereus. Please!' Zeo said.

'What mission are you talking about?' Asked another guard.

'It is about some really important matter and for the sake of Magixs' future, it should get solved ASAP. We have something that we want to hand over to king Nereus.' Richard answered and Zeo face palmed.

'What do you have?' The guards were being impatient.

'here!..' Richard was taking the trident out while Zeo stopped him, 'what? you think they'll let us in just like that? We should show them this, that's the only way we can get in. You don't know Zeo because you aren't a prince; I am and I know these peoples' work and the orders they have to follow being a palace door keeper.' Richard took the Trident out.

'The... The Trident of Prince Tri... but this was kept in the Magix Museum!' the older one said with unreadable facial expressions.

'Did you guys steal it? ANSWER!' the other one was furious.

'Their motive seems questionable, we should just arrest them and present in front of the King!' the older one suggested and the younger one did it with the trident he had in his hands, before they could fight back.

'Great work Buddy!' Zeo mockingly muttered.

'Well at least we're going in now!' Richard replied.

Royal Court, Palace, Underwater Kingdom of Andross

King Nereus was tensed after knowing the whole story, presented by the Company of light. At first he couldn't believe in his eyes that he was seeing them together again. But after Princess Tressa's confirmation, he did believe. Though with Stella and Musa not talking to each other, it wasn't the same as before. At that particular moment, he and his sister were really worried about the future possibilities of their own brothers' resurrection. The world can be cruel sometimes.

The royal court was filled with the members of the CL. They were all discussing about the same old threat, their own Prince and rival, Tritanus.

'But now, friends, the most important question is- where is the Trident?' Nereus said.

'We must find it before it's too late, but one thing is for sure, the trix and their daughter didn't get it.' Sky said.

'Well, neither did we! I wonder where it has gone.' Tecna asked.

'Same question!' Stella said.

'I can't believe it's been stolen by someone, in front of our eyes. We should retire.' Riven said.

'Well we did, a long ago Riven. We came back from retirement you can say.' Bloom replied and everyone smiled. They didn't pull it longer as the situation was really tensed.

'Cousin Aisha! And everyone, I have something to tell you people.' Tressa finally said.

'Yes you were saying it when the Meduona attacked. What is it Cousin Tressa?' Aisha asked.

'Well you know,' Tressa took a deep breath, 'I should've told you way before, but...' But she couldn't finish as the guards entered with Richard and Zeo.

'Your majesties! We've found these thieves outside the castle door,' older guard said.

'Zeo! Richard! Where have you been all this while?' Riven was surprised, and everyone else was too.

'Professor I can explain! But first please tell these guards to free us. Zeo...' Richard looked at his best friend.

But Zeo wasn't quite listening to the conversation that was going on.

Zeo was feeling strange. An unfamiliar sensation was going on inside his body and mind. He has never felt this way before. As if he was too comfortable in this court room. As if, he's been here before. As if every pillar of that room could sense his presence. By the time he was sure he's familiar to this place.

'ZEO!' Richard shouted and Zeo came out of his thoughts.

'Yes? Oh yes. King Nereus, please order them to free us, we have something very worthy to tell you and the others.' Zeo bowed down in front of the King who was continuously looking at him in a strange manner ever since he has entered.

King Nereus was speechless. He didn't know what he was looking for in that young guy standing in front of him. He just looked very familiar, very close to him. His eyes were making him nostalgic and were reminding him of someone.

Awkward silence followed and soon Zeo discovered King Nereus was not the only one in the room who was looking at him strangely, his sister was there in the list too. The company of light looked at each others' faces being absolutely clueless.

'Your Majesty, these guys are thieves. They've stolen Prince Tritanus's Trident.' Younger guard said. (Underwater kingdom of Andross was still heirless, so it was mandatory to call Tritanus 'Prince' until the next Prince is born).

'WHAT?!' the CL said in unison.

'Free them and you shall leave. We'll take care of the matter.' King Nereus said and the guards left.

'oh Goodness! But how?' Bloom was relieved and curious too.

'Yes, how could you guys?' Musa asked.

'well it's all him,' Richard, probably for the first time in his life, gave all the credits to the deserving one. ' Zeo cracked the code while you were busy fighting Meduona.' He pulled the Trident out for everyone to see and relax.

'But how did you guys entered the underwater kingdom?' Riven asked.

'Professor it's Zeo again, it's his spell that we're in here with all the comfort of breathing properly.' Richard answered.

Everyone then started talking about how brave these kids are and how much safe is Magix's future in their hands, while Nereus and Tressa continuously looking at Zeo awkwardly and Zeo finally made everyone quiet.

'I...have been in here before...'

Everyone stopped talking and looked at Zeo together; he could feel pairs of eyes pointing at him all at the same time.

'Son, are you sure?' King Nereus asked, his eyes watery.

'He... does remember... Brother!' Tressa said while going forward to Zeo, holding his face in her hands. That made Zeo a bit uncomfortable, but the touch was feeling familiar.

'What's going on guys?' Aisha broke the silence from the CL's side.'Cousin Tressa? Nereus?'

'This is what I wanted to tell all of you,' Tressa looked up and everyone could see she was crying.

'What...is it, Tressa?' Bloom went to her and put one hand on her mermaid friend's shoulder. Tears started cascading from Nereus's eyes.

After some moment of suspense, Tressa finally opened her mouth to deliver some words, leaving the rest of the crowd speechless.

'The Underwater kingdom of Andross is not heirless. Prince Zeo is the next rightful owner of the throne.'

:Flashback:

It was a bright day in the underwater kingdom of Andross,17 years ago. King Nereus and Princess Tressa were relaxing after a tiring royal ceremony. Those days were kinda good. As the CL had just finished a war against the Trix and Tritanus and they lost. They were too weak to fight back so they found it better to hide themselves and prepare for the next battle. Their situation was too bad to even talk about. Though the company of light continuously tried to track them down and settle the battle with them, once and for all. It was a day of sunshine when Tressa came to know about an interesting news. That her wicked sister-in-law, Icy, was pregnant with her brother's child.

Tressa was intelligent and sensible. She didn't break the news to anyone as it was an important day for her kingdom. Her brother, King Nereus was getting married. Their father was no more and Tressa didn't want her mother to get all excited about the news. At the end, Tritanus was her son and he was going to be a father, and she a grandmother. So she decided to remain quiet for the next few days.

But the wedding didn't happen; the would-be bride disclosed a bitter truth about Nereus and eventually left the ceremony. Queen Ligea couldn't take that and she became seriously ill. Suddenly the happy environment turned into a tensed and sad one. At that situation, Tressa told her mother and brother that the heir of the throne is coming. They were happy and sad both at the same time, both for obvious reasons.

The unborn child was now worth more because it was proven that Nereus couldn't be a father. The reason why his bride left and mother got sick. And Tressa couldn't get married because her boyfriend left her saying he can't just spend the whole of his life under water, leaving her heartbroken. So Tritanus's child was the only way they could have a baby in the royal family.

But getting the child wasn't going to be easy. Tressa alone was not enough to fight even the weaker trix. She could ask for help from the Winx and help them by tracing the trix's location, but she didn't want to involve too many people. So she thought of a different way out. Tressa was friends with a well known wizard of Andross. That wizard and his family agreed to help her out. They waited for 9 months and then when Icy delivered the baby, she was already too weak. Tressa attacked them with the wizards silently and created an illusion. They took the baby and in place of that they kept an illusion of a dead child. They casted spells for making them feel dizzy so that the trix and Tritanus couldn't remember anything about their baby.

Tressa thought it was too easy and her decision of not involving too many people was just right. She took the baby boy in her arms for the first time and noticed he had crystal eyes and navy hair, just like his father. Tressa was so happy that she danced all around the palace holding the baby. Nereus named him- Prince Zeo of Underwater Andross. Queen Ligea was recovering after seeing the face of her grandson. Three of them decided they won't tell this to anyone. Not even to their Cousin Princess Aisha. They kept the baby hidden and baby Zeo was being brought up by his Uncle, Aunt and Grandmother.

But happiness didn't last for too long. Situation started changing way too sooner than they could imagine. The Trix started attacking all over again and Tressa and Nereus didn't feel it safe keeping Zeo with them. Though absolutely nobody knew about his existence, they couldn't be sure. Fighting within themselves, and after long discussions, they decided to hand him over to a good foster family. For a better future Zeo deserved, the Wizard Family that helped Tressa, agreed to adopt Zeo. On a good day with broken heart, Nereus handed 1 YO Zeo to his foster parents. And took a promise that He'd never know his identity any sooner.

:End of Flashback:

Royal court, Palace, UKA

Nobody could utter a single word after Tressa's visit to down memory lane. They couldn't identify the emotion they were going through.

Nereus and Tressa were the happiest people.

And Zeo, well now he knows how could he breath under water.

And also, He's a Prince, not just Zeo, but Prince Zeo of UKA.

Hi Everybody, huge apologies for not updating soon.

I had a visit to the north east India, and also, I got a job. So getting very little time to write.

Please have faith on me, I'm more excited to tell you guys the complete story.

Love the story like you do. You guys are the best.

Love

-SMG-