Chapter 20

Five days until the full moon

"You want to see if we can turn human?" Emma asked.

Aegeus gave a shrug as his acknowledgement.

"Rikki?" Emma prompted. In response, Rikki started to dry them off. Once they were dry, they stood up, once again on Aegeus' level.

"There you go, we're morphe-maids," Rikki said, crossing her arms. Aegeus had a semi-stunned look; it was almost as if he hadn't expected their transformation – particularly not the human clothes.

"Wow," he said. "Those definitely are not mer-style coverings,"

"No. Do you trust us now?" Cleo asked.

"To be honest, it wasn't really a matter of trust," Aegeus laughed. "I just really wanted to see your transformation; if you were lying, then that would have been revealed as well. I can never be completely certain about people's motives when it comes to me, and Zerailians in general,"

"Fair enough, I guess," Emma said. "But you really could have just asked for us to show you."

"I suppose so," Aegeus laughed. "Now, let's get what we came here for!"

The girls watched as Aegeus walked to the other side of the now-dry room, and chanted some kind of spell.

Bright blue and purple lights appeared against the far wall moving in a unique spiral pattern. Once the pattern was made, a door appeared. Aegeus put his hand against the spiral, palm flat, and the door opened.

"Welcome to my vault," he said as he walked inside. "Where did I leave those books?" he muttered to himself.

Cleo marvelled at the collection of dried plants or herbs inside the vault. They must have been for potions. Aegeus must have engineered the vault room to permanently be free of water.

"Ah, here they are," Aegeus exclaimed. "You ladies better get settled in – I have some reading to do,"

OoOoO

While he was waiting for the full moon, Will had been reading Lewis' notes on transformation and what they knew about mer kingdoms – specifically Arkaan. Some of Lewis' most recent notes detailed Arkaan – from Miss Chatham's experience and what she had heard from her past contacts. Will wanted to be as prepared as possible. He wouldn't have much time until it was too late to save Bella from the prince's plan.

Everything needed to work out. It just had to.

Will decided that he would not share his plan with the rest of the village. They might try to talk him out of becoming a merman. Or they might respect his choice. Will did not want to risk them trying to stop him. He knew he probably wasn't thinking too rationally, but he was a desperate man.

From Lewis' notes, Will gathered the general layout of Arkaan – assuming that not too much had changed in the many years since Louise was a mermaid. Will wondered how he would even find the place. Stupid invisible underwater kingdoms.

Will knew he would find a way.

Just as he had this thought, he came across an important note from Lewis – "mer-powers displayed near hidden mer-venues reveal the place to the user – reported by Louise Chatham."

Assuming he received powers during his metamorphosis, this would work perfectly.

Four days until the full moon.

OoOoO

Four days until the full moon.

Bella swam back and forth in her room. Pacing. Bella felt fortunate that she had not had to see much of Prince Azure in the past few days. She still had some meals with him, but he did not appear to be forcing his presence on her as much.

It was a welcome relief.

Ulfir had managed to provide Bella with a mer-instrument that resembled a harp – but with a flute section as well. Ulfir said that it was called a "Xylalyre". From Ulfir's demonstration, you played the harp part with one hand, and with the other hand you covered the holes on the flute part. It was a complex instrument, but as someone who loved music, Bella enjoyed the challenge. It actually provided Bella with some enjoyment during her days. She felt she was getting better and better at it. Bella found the flute part fascinating, as it worked with both water or air flowing through it to make sound.

Bella used reading, singing and playing the xylalyre as distractions from the pain of her reality. It worked for the most part.

When Bella was up to it, she would contact her friends. It took great effort to communicate via mindspeak over such distances, so she didn't feel up to it every day (particularly when feeling down). However, each time she did get to talk to Rikki, Cleo, Anna or Emma, it significantly lifted her spirits. And the girls were always happy to hear from her. That being said, Bella had had some very low days. One example was when she had stayed in bed all day, just alternating between sleeping and crying. The more recent low days had been triggered by not being able to reach her friends with mindspeak. She wondered if they were in some enchanted area, as she felt like she could get close to their minds, but there was some barrier she could not explain in the way. It was incredibly isolating.

Ulfir had been a godsend. He had validated her feelings throughout this whole ordeal, but also reminded her why she needed to keep going. She had a son. She had a husband. She could go back to them someday. She was strong, courageous and capable.

As Bella paced, she was considering her situation and the potential options – yet again.

Bella swam over to the door to her room.

"Ulfir, what has Azure been up to recently? He has been keeping his distance," she asked.

Ulfir opened the door and popped his head in.

"He's been busy planning something, but I am not exactly in his good books," Ulfir said quietly, "I haven't been close enough to know exactly,"

"Okay," Bella replied, "Thanks Ulfir,"

Bella went back over to the bed and lay down. Time moved so slow here.

OoOoO

That evening, someone knocked on Bella's door.

"Bella, his highness would like your presence in the grand hall," a guard announced.

Bella sighed. She was not in the mood to trigger one of Azure's rages tonight.

"I'll be there shortly," she replied.

Bella swam to the grand hall, accompanied by Ulfir and two other guards, Heki and Belen.

Bella felt many sets of eyes on her as she moved through the hall towards where Azure was.

The prince was talking heatedly with an advisor. As Bella moved closer, Azure looked up from the papers he was discussing.

"Ah, Bella," Azure acknowledged with a leering grin, "Thanks for joining us,"

Bella fought the urge to roll her eyes with disdain. She did not say anything.

"We have come to a decision," Azure said, moving his finger in a circle - gesturing to include the various advisors in the room in the 'we'.

Bella felt her heart start to race. This could be great news, or terrible news. She never knew with the prince.

"We will be getting married in five days. We will soon perform the bonding ceremony. I have decided that we do not need to drag this out any longer. It is already planned and the advertising is in motion. It is tradition that members of the royal family are bonded the day after the full moon. All of Arkaan will be notified and invited. You are the hope of the people, my dear," Azure said with a smirk.

Bella's stomach dropped. Less than a week. That was not much time at all.

OoOoO

Aegeus and the girls stayed overnight at his vault. It was particularly comfortable once Aegeus conjured bedding and food.

Aegeus spent most of the next day practicing spells, and the structure of the reversal spell. Of course, they would not know if it worked until in Arkaan, but it was good to be prepared. Cleo realised that she could not use mindspeak with any mer-family or friends outside of the vault. She worried what Bella might think if it was blocked both ways.

The next day, they planned to start travelling back towards Arkaan. They had hope that Aegeus would be able to do this for Bella.

It was now three days until the full moon.

OoOoO

As soon as they left Aegeus' vault the next day, the girls all grimaced as their minds were assaulted by a shout.

"Please hear me!" they heard Bella yelling at them.

"Bella! What's wrong?" Cleo replied.

Bella almost sobbed with joy. FINALLY!

"Azure has planned the wedding for in four days' time. Please tell me that you might have a solution,"

"We found Aegeus," Rikki reported. "He is coming to end the spell,"

A tear escaped Bella's eye as she felt a hopeful relief fill her body.

"That…that is good news," she managed into their minds.

"We should arrive in time Bella, just hang in there," Emma said. "It's a few days of swimming to get to Arkaan from where we are,"

"Thank you," Bella said earnestly. "I have missed you all so much,"

OoOoO

Bella picked up the xylalyre with a smile on her face.

There was hope.

A/N: Wow! Hi everyone! It has been a crazy long time since I updated this story last. 4.5years in fact lol. I actually wrote most of this chapter back in April but then forgot to finish it/post it. So sorry about that. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Please let me know what you think! I love reading your reviews (and seeing who is still paying attention to my updates on these stories after so many years).

Thanks so much to the following people for reviewing in those past 4 years:

CrazyHayniac, storyteller362, WannabeeAussie, Sammiloveschoc, ObsessedwReading, Hayashi Mikako, Wells lover 3, loveh2o, Roswellian1984, Makodragon, MoradaDrachen

Thanks so so so much - your comments are a big part of why I have returned to this story.

See you all next time! (yes I do plan to update in sooner than 4.5 years LOL)