Anduin was the first to recover his senses after the explosion rocked the room. He looked around and was rather disappointed to find that the afterlife looked inordinately similar to a dark room and was quite upset that his migraine from overusing his magic hadn't even gone away. I'd have thought that the least that could happen was that all the pain would go away, he thought to himself. Or that, if I am unfortunate enough to be in hell, that it would be a little more…I don't know, hellish?

"What happened?" someone called out, though no one was sure who it was. The voice sounded frightened and the fear had so changed its pitch, it was nigh on impossible to discern who the person was or even their gender. There was no reply; everyone was too afraid to reveal their whereabouts in case the enemy might kill them. Joshua was waiting for the smoke to clear, he was not at all anxious to see what Triton had done to Anduin, especially from such a big explosion.

A light flickered in the darkness, the cool green of mage fire that made all eyes turn towards it. "No one move," said a low voice.

"Who are you?" Triton demanded, knowing that the female voice could not be Joshua or his nephew.

"Who do you think, Triton?" Diana answered.

"I thought you had a put a block on her magic at the wedding?" the King yelped in surprise. Joshua began to laugh, partially from relief and partially from pride.

"Well," Diana said with a eerie smile, her face illuminated only by the mage light and giving it a mysterious look, "You see, I wasn't exactly at the wedding." She took a few steps forward and stood before Triton so that they were the only two visible in the entire room. "I let another take my place and it was her small magic that you've blocked."

"Who?" Triton asked through gritted teeth.

"Rose, of course," Diana answered.

Triton stared at her and she stared resolutely back. "You were very brave to defend Anduin like that," he said finally. "And I admire you, it's the sort of thing your father would have done." Diana chose to take that to mean she was as courageous as Joshua. "I don't want to have to kill you, Diana. It would be quite the waste."

"You think she's alone?" Joshua asked quietly. He was invisible, except for the hand that lay on his eldest daughter's shoulder.

Triton laughed. "All the power in the world won't be enough to stop me. All I need to do is take the spells off this part of the castle and you'll all be dead immediately. The water will come rushing in and I doubt Anduin can save all of you."

"What about me?" came Henry's voice from the other side of the room.

"If he had any brains, he'd drown you first," Diana snapped. Triton laughed.

"She has a point, the alliance with you was mostly to get to her."

"Great," Joshua groaned.

"Do most battles go like this?" Anduin groaned from somewhere on the floor "Or are we all dead?"

"We're not dead yet," Diana answered. "But if we keep talking…"

"Look, I don't want to kill you," Triton continued, "But I will if I have to."

"What are our other options?" Diana asked worriedly.

"A deal." Diana motioned for him to continue. "First of all, that you honor the pact made between me and Henry," Triton said. Diana stared at Triton, waiting for something else to happen. "That depends entirely on what is written in it," she said after a few moments. "May I see a copy?"

"May I remind you that your life is at stake?" Triton yelled. "I could just kill you all now and then go up and invade the human world."

Joshua started to laugh. Triton turned his glare on the spot where he thought the Duke's head was. "Why exactly are you laughing?"

"You've never met my wife, have you?" Joshua finally choked out.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Triton fumed.

"She killed Andrew when she was twenty-one," Joshua answered. There was a shocked silence. "So you'll have to face her and every other mage on earth. And while you might be able to flood things for a while, if anyone can work out how to stop you, it will be her."

"How touching," Triton sneered. "Your faith in her is overwhelming."

"How long can you keep him talking?" whispered a voice in Joshua's ear.

"Long enough," Joshua replied, keeping his voice just as low. He focused his attention back on Triton, to whom Diana was vigorously defending her mother.

"You have no idea how powerful she is," Diana retorted angrily, feeling the need to protect her mother all the more strongly because of the slander said against her the day before. "Believe me, you kidnapped the wrong Gilld woman. Although, I doubt my father would have reacted well to that."

"You know, we were debating kidnapping your mother at first," Triton answered. "But it was decided that it would be too difficult to woo her awa– well, I decided and managed to convince Henry that he had no chance against your father."

"True," Diana agreed. "You do know that you just referred to Joshua Gilld as my father," she said, grinning.

"I know," Triton replied. "I have nothing to gain from hurting you. After all, if this treaty goes through, it will benefit me. It's far easier to conquer the world with your help than without it."

"So we're not completely useless?" Diana queried. "At least some of us aren't."

Joshua smiled, proud of the young girl who was his daughter in every way. She was very good at this stalling thing and things were on their side, since Triton was in no rush.

"No," Triton conceded. "But this is getting boring. Do you mind if we get on with making this deal or killing the lot of you?"

"Not at all," Diana answered. "What's the second condition?"

"That you marry my nephew," Triton said promptly.

"Done," Diana said immediately. Joshua pulled a face.

"Since your cousin is, regrettably, already taken," Triton continued, not realizing that she had already agreed, "I would still like some other way to tie England to-" He stopped and cocked his head as if trying to re-listen to their conversation. "Did you say yes already?"

"Yes."

"Do I get a say in this?" Joshua growled softly.

"She's made her choice," Triton said gleefully. "The third condition is-" But he froze right then.

"Hello, Uncle," said Anduin softly, hidden behind the King. Joshua could not see him, but he knew that the boy was up to something.

"What are you doing, Anduin?" Triton demanded. The King felt a strange sensation on his back, like a small amount of slick, corrosive liquid was being pressed right on top of his heart.

"Can't you tell?" the young merman asked. "Don't you know a spell when you feel it?"

"Anduin, don't be an idiot," Triton hissed at the boy. "I saw you break the transformation spell, you don't have the magic to finish that spell you're in the middle of."

"What exactly are you saying?" Anduin asked, his voice still that same low timber that made him sound wonderfully powerful, at least to Diana.

"I think you're bluffing," Triton replied. He would have taught the boy a lesson, but that would have meant taking his attention away from the Duke and his daughter and possibly giving them the opportunity they needed to attack him. And if he had to defend himself, he wouldn't have the time or perhaps even the power to break the air spell. It would just be easier to call Anduin's bluff.

"Perhaps," Anduin agreed. "Perhaps I'm only hiding behind you because I don't want you to see how powerless I am, you catfish-faced idiot." Triton bristled in rage. "Although, maybe I do have the strength after all." And with a sudden rush of power, Anduin loosed the magic he had been building up into his uncle's body.

Triton screamed, one long heartrending sound, before he fell to the floor, unconscious.

"Did you kill him?" Diana asked in fear, her mage light now illuminating Anduin's tired face.

"No," Anduin answered, staring at her from under hooded eyes. "I couldn't." Their gaze met and Diana found herself quite unable to look away from those deep, hazel eyes.

Joshua sighed and, with a wave of his hand, the candelabra burst into flames and illuminated the room; ridding it of the oppressive darkness that had been there ever since Diana countered Triton's first spell.

There was a sudden shriek from behind them, making Joshua whirl around and even Diana and Anduin managed to tear their eyes away from one another to see what was going on.

The King of England lay crumpled on the floor of the room, his richly decorated clothes soaked through with blood. Standing above him and looking like he was about to be sick was Harry, arm in arm with Rose who had her face hidden in his shoulder so as not to see the dreadful sight anymore.

"Dare I ask?" Joshua said finally, unsure quite what to say.

"I killed him," Harry said finally, trembling. "I killed my own father." And he covered his mouth and ran to the window to be sick in the water outside.

"You get used to it," Joshua shouted after him. "Don't worry."

Diana couldn't help herself and laughed; the sight was so gory that she could do naught else.

"How can you be so callous?" Rose demanded.

"I was born that way," Joshua answered. "And I'm glad he's dead and that the man who killed him won't be charged with regicide." Harry heaved again and Anduin rolled his eyes. Rose glared at her uncle and went to go and make sure her new husband was all right.

"Anduin," Joshua said, turning away from the grisly sight of the erstwhile monarch, "Where did you get the power to do that to Triton, and what exactly did you do?"

"I stripped him of his power," Anduin answered quietly. "And he was right, I didn't have the power. So Ursula kindly lent me hers."

"I had forgotten about her," Diana said.

"I know," Anduin agreed. "We all did." There was silence in the room, other than Harry's attempts to regain his breath after that brief episode.

"So what happens now?" Diana asked finally, the question praying on everyone's minds.

"Well, Harry's going to have to explain how his father fell overboard during a pleasure cruise by the sea. We were all witnesses and though we tried hard to save him, wizardry just doesn't work in water."

"That sounds a little suspicious," Anduin said, laughing. "I think we'll need a few more witnesses."

"We could re-enact it with a simulacrum," Diana suggested. "Half aquatic, half aerial and we'll let everyone see him tip over and die."

"I hope you two never plot to take over the world," said Rose fervently, returning with Harry on her arm. "We wouldn't stand a chance."

Joshua laughed. "Very well, we'll be sailing out in the ocean and drown a simulacrum and no one will suspect it's wizardry because everyone knows magic doesn't work in water."

"Won't we be suspected of murder."

"Well, you'll be there and you'll say that he fell and you're King now," Diana said. "So whatever you say is the truth, right?"

"History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon," Joshua quoted, grinning. "So that's one problem solved. Now what do we do about Triton?"

"Leave him," Anduin answered. "He was a good king and we won't have to worry about him trying to kill us if he doesn't have any magic left."

"And you can stay and keep your eye on him," Harry said, finish with a grin.

"Oh no I'm not," Anduin shot back. "There is nothing for me here. I'm going back with you."

"Um, Anduin, you have a tail," Rose said, trying to be tactful and not quite sure how to be.

"Thanks, I hadn't noticed," he snapped.

Joshua looked at them and held his hand up for quiet. "Our first goal is to return to the surface," he said. "What Anduin chooses to do after that is up to him. Speaking for myself, I would like to be out of here before Triton reawakens."

"How?" Anduin asked, looking up at them from his seat on the floor. "You may not have noticed that I'm just about exhausted as far as magic is concerned."

"You are," Diana said, sensing what her father wanted. "The rest of us aren't. And you know what they say – those who cannot do, teach. You can teach me how to do aquatic magic."

"That will take quite a while," he protested. "You might as well wait for me to recover."

Diana sat down next to him and tucked her feet under her dress.

"I suppose I could do it," Joshua said, examining his fingernails. "But I am a little rusty."

Anduin looked up at him, shock written clearly on his face. "Do you mean to say that you can do aquatic magic?"

"Not well," Joshua answered. "But I was around when Andrew learned, so I picked up bits of it. Enough that, if you told me what to do, I could get us back to the surface."

"And when were you were planning on telling us about this?" Diana demanded.

"When it became relevant," Joshua replied in his typically infuriating fashion. "Are you all ready?"

They looked around the room, their eyes taking in the two bodies lying there, one alive but powerless, the other dead by his son's hand. It was not a happy ending by anyone's standard, but they were all glad just to have survived.

"Yes," said Anduin, speaking for them all. "Let's go home."

T.B.C

A/N – See, I didn't kill him. Honestly, when's the last time I've killed off a character I liked? See what I mean? Anyway, there's at least one more chapter, possibly two, before this story draws to a close. And before the last chapter of this goes up, the first chapter of my next story will be posted. Details to follow. Anyway, onto the wonderful reviewers.

Shortstef – Thank you for the loan, it was quite an incentive to keep fish-boy alive. Not that I needed it, but still, I like Bastian. I'm glad the loose ends have been tied up and that I've surprised you – I try. And perhaps I'll run off with your character if you try and steal mine.

Anarea Rose – Sad how predictable I can be about characters I like. I'm never done with cliffhangers, I just can't help it. And perhaps not a day or two, but if you give me long enough, I will finish this. Assuming I ever figure out calculus, which is iffy. And it makes me happy that you like the story for each idea – it'll give me a writing workout.

Leotabelle13 – What can I say, it had to be like that. But I hope this made it better. And don't werry, I don't yell at reviewers unless they really deserve it.

Trudirose – I actually hadn't thought about that, although I'm not sure if Henry would have let them get away with that sort of answer. He might have just taken Rose as a wife. But I'm glad you liked the twists.

FutureFamousMovieDirector – Me and cliffhangers, it's like peanut butter and jelly. I hope this is a good start for happily ever afters. And of course Diana saves him. Who else would?

So that's all for now. Update again soon, unless calculus strikes (can't do it, don't have a choice, grr)

Love you all anyway,

Levana (Damian)