There's a lot more worldbuilding in this chapter! I originally planned for this chapter to cover Harry's birthday and his resulting transformation, but it got too long for that since Iulia and Marius had stuff to say. The transformation and return to Lyonesse should be happening in the next chapter.

I hope you enjoy this chapter and the sneak peek at what's happening Below!

Thursday, August 1, 1996

1:00 p.m.

Harry was standing out on the balcony, staring out at the undulating waves of the ocean. This was the first time Harry had ever seen the ocean, if you didn't count that time Uncle Vernon had dragged them all to a hut in the middle of the sea, and he didn't. Harry had barely been there for a day and most of that day had been spent in a daze since he'd just found out that he was a wizard. Now, he could fully appreciate the wildness of the ocean for what it was.

Leaving the Dursleys' house had been almost too easy. Harry had packed all of his belongings in his school trunk in fifteen minutes. He'd then debated with himself about what to do with Hedwig. She could not follow him to Lyonesse, no matter how much he wished she could. In the end, he'd written a letter to Ron asking him to take Hedwig in for the rest of the summer and Hedwig had taken off with a doleful hoot in his direction.

When Uncle Vernon and Dudley had returned from their golfing session, Harry had told them and Aunt Petunia that he wouldn't darken their doorstep again if they let him go without a fuss. Of course, Aunt Petunia had shrieked about needing Harry there to maintain the protection Dumbledore had promised them. At that point, Marius and Iulia had entered the house through the back door. Marius proceeded to inform the Dursleys that Harry was leaving and there was nothing they could do about it.

In a rather stunning display of power, Iulia had removed a stone from her pocket — not the tracking stone she'd shown Harry — and bound the Dursleys to an oath of silence. The visible strands of magic swirling in the air had quieted everyone. The trio took their leave after that, not wishing to witness the fallout when the Dursleys regained their voices.

Marius had taken out a stone of his own then, told Harry and Iulia to hold on to his shoulders, and transported them all to a town near the coast called Brighton. It was remarkably similar to Apparating from what Harry had heard of it, but without the 'squeezed through a tube' feeling, which Harry was grateful for. The world had simply blurred around them and then they were standing in an alleyway. Iulia later told Harry that their method of travel was called porting.

The hotel room Marius had acquired for them had a balcony facing the ocean and as soon as Harry had stepped foot inside their rooms, he'd been drawn toward the deck. His first glimpse of the water had stirred up a feeling in his chest, an insistent tug calling him to the waves. The sea sang to him and a primal instinct within Harry urged him to sing back, but the words did not come.

The sting of the wind whipping against his cheeks brought Harry back to reality and his hands curled around the balustrade. There was so much he did not know, so much he needed to know. Much of his time at Hogwarts had been based on a bed of lies, and when they had crumbled away, Harry had been left flailing and unsure of which direction he should go.

"Harry," Iulia's voice suddenly rang out, accompanied by the screeching of the glass door as she pulled it shut. She joined him at the edge of the balcony, bracing her forearms against the railing.

"How are you?" she asked.

"Confused. Nervous. Scared. Excited. There's a lot going on and I'm not entirely sure how to make sense of it," Harry said.

"We don't expect you to, not right now. You've just had your life turned upside down," Iulia said.

Harry finally looked up at her, finding no more details to examine in his fingers. She was staring at the horizon with a melancholy look adorning her face.

"It's hard, isn't it?" she said abruptly. "Feeling the call and not being able to do anything about it?"

The wind had picked up stray wisps of hair that had escaped Iulia's braid and waved them about in a merry little dance. She reached up to tame some of them into submission, still looking away from Harry.

"The call comes for us all when we spend any amount of time on land. It's our own personal beacon, a light to guide us home. To remind us that we're not where we belong," she continued.

"Home," Harry repeated. Home. It was such an unfamiliar concept to him.

"Home," Iulia agreed.

All was quiet again as the siblings wandered in their thoughts, listening to the sound of the rushing waves drumming out their siren call as they pounded against the sand.

"Last night —" Harry said, faltering.

"Yes?" she prompted.

"Last night, I had a dream. I was very small and there was a woman standing over me, singing. My dreams are almost never just dreams, so I wondered if it meant anything to you."

"What was the song?"

Harry cleared his throat and waded through his hazy dream memories in search of the lyrics. The woman had had a lovely singing voice, a rich, high soprano. Her eyes, he was not likely to forget her eyes in a hurry. They were green, the same shade as his own.

"Hush now, my darling, close your eyes and sleep; waltzing the waves, diving in the deep," Harry sang. His voice trembled at the beginning, but gained strength as he went on.

"The stars are shining bright, the tide is on the rise; whispering words, of long-lost lullabies," Iulia had joined in now, her soprano wrapping around Harry's tenor and gifting the words with a lilt that carried them that much higher on the breeze.

They sang together, "Oh won't you come with me, where the streets are paved with gold; and in the morning sun, we'll be swimming free. I had a dream last night, and heard the sweetest sound; I saw a great white light, and dancers in the round. Oh won't you come with me, where the city meets the sea; and as the waves roll by, we'll sing the song of the sea."

The last words stole away upon the wind and Harry and Iulia were left staring at each other in wonder. Harry had never considered himself to be a particularly good singer but that performance had been, well, magical.

"Mum sang that lullaby every night to put us to sleep. I'm told that Trajan was difficult to put down for his naps as a baby, but if Mum sang that song he calmed right down," Iulia said.

Harry smiled, imagining a squalling baby with a tiny, vibrant red tail being quieted by the woman he remembered standing over him. She'd had her long hair tied back, as seemed to be the standard for those with hair longer than shoulder length, although he only had Iulia and Marius to go off of.

It was nice to have a memory of his mum that didn't involve a horrible empty void and a green light exploding into being, accompanied by Lily's screams.

Mum? Lily? Harry didn't know when he'd started calling Lily and James by their actual names, but it felt right. It felt natural that he call the people who gave him life his parents. He also didn't know how Lily and James had come to have him; for all he knew they were his kidnappers. It hurt slightly to think so ill of them, but he had no one to ask about how they'd ended up with him. Sirius was dead and Remus, Remus was off somewhere in the werewolf packs, last he heard. Peter was off sniveling at the feet of a wannabe Dark Lord, so Harry considered him indefinitely out of reach. Harry also considered Peter a dead man walking since he was likely to curse first and ask questions later whenever he laid eyes on Wormtail again.

"Mum will be happy that you remember her song. Her mum sang it to her, she sang it to us, and she hopes that we'll sing it to our kids. She keeps asking Marcus when he'll settle down and he keeps saying that he hasn't found the right person," Iulia said. "I think he's right, we've all hated his last few girlfriends. I think Mum's a bit biased, she had Marcus when she was nineteen after all."

"How old is Marcus now? Is that normal, having a kid so young?" Harry asked. He thought nineteen was quite young to be having a kid, but he was also very aware that Lyonesse might have some cultural differences that he was unaware of. Harry felt like he was at a distinct disadvantage, he knew nothing of the kingdom his family ruled, nothing of its history and culture. Harry was, as ever, desperate to learn what he could before his birthday so he wouldn't be a complete disappointment.

"By Elenta, no. It's quite unusual. Marcus is twenty-two by the way, he'll be twenty-three next month. Anyway, Mum and Dad grew up together, they were in the same class at school. By the time they were eighteen, she had decided that Dad was the one for her. They got married and Marcus came along a year later. At the time, no one expected Dad to ever have to take the crown, so our grandfather was okay with it. Then the shark attack happened and Dad ended up ruling a kingdom at twenty years old with a pregnant wife and a toddler on hand."

"Elenta? Shark attack?" Harry was already feeling like this conversation might lead to an information overload, but he had the next week to process it.

"Elenta is similar to your Merlin, I suppose. She was the first Mer, or at least the first documented one. She's often confused with Elena, who was the first Mer Queen and the one who brought us to Lyonesse once living Above became too dangerous. The story goes…" Iulia trailed off, her forehead furrowed in thought. "On second thought, I'll let Dad tell you that one. He loves telling it; it's always a spectacle when he goes down to the markets for a storytelling session."

"And the shark attack?"

"Right, the shark attack," Iulia said. "Do you want to sit down first?" she gestured toward the set of four lounge chairs crowded around a rickety, off-white table, protected from the sun by a canopy cover jutting out from the wall.

Harry agreed, privately relieved to be retreating into the shade. He was feeling the heat and his pale skin was showing it. Harry had surreptitiously compared his hand to Iulia's and Marius' last night. They were both the same sickly white shade, so Harry assumed it was another byproduct of him regaining his true appearance.

"Mum was pregnant with me at the time, so I don't have any first-hand knowledge," Iulia began. Harry stopped his mind from wandering down a different track and concentrated on his sister.

"Grandfather Caeso and Dad's older brother, Uncle Metus, went on a shark hunt with some Captains of the Guard. It was supposed to be an easy hunt, kill one shark and be back home in time for dinner. All the intel they had gotten from scouts said that this shark was alone, so they went in a group of four. They found the shark they were after and were about to attack when a second shark came up behind them. It killed the first Guardsman before they realized what was going on. The first shark bit into Uncle Metus while they were distracted and Grandfather Caeso got injured trying to free him. The second Guardsman got them both out of there and swam like hell for Lyonesse, hoping that the wards would stop the sharks tailing them once they crossed the border. The wards held, but Uncle Metus died during the trip back. Grandfather Caeso held on long enough to officially abdicate the throne and give his crown to the next in line, our father. Grandmother Galla was his first choice, but she wanted no part of the crown if he was gone. That's still her stance to this day."

"That's horrible," Harry said. He meant it too, he could imagine all too well how it felt to have your family ripped apart. He'd witnessed it happen to several Hogwarts students as the result of 'freak accidents' that Harry believed was the work of Voldemort. Ever since the Ministry fiasco, Voldemort had become much more open with his attacks. No one doubted he was back this time.

"Dad's a good king, but he's still a scholar at heart. He doesn't like politics and neither does Marcus," Iulia admitted.

"Can Marcus not give up his spot in the line of succession?"

"Not unless there's a legitimate reason disqualifying him from being able to govern."

"That doesn't seem fair," Harry protested.

"It's the way it works," Iulia shrugged. "Marcus has known for years that he'll be taking over from Dad when Dad steps down and he's prepared accordingly. He accepts it."

"I suppose," Harry said, fidgeting with the wristband on his watch. He looked down at the face, then at the bed in the hotel room where Marius was passed out, snoring loud enough to wake the dead.

"Why isn't Marius up yet? It's half past one."

"Hm?" Iulia leaned forward to catch a glimpse of the sleeping Marius. "Oh, he's just recharging. He might have overdone it yesterday with two ports and sending a message to Mum and Dad. Usually two ports and a single message wouldn't even make a dent in his power reserves, but everything changes when we're Above. It takes a lot more magic to do a lot less."

"When did he find time to send a message?" Harry asked, startled. Marius hadn't let Harry out of his sight ever since they had left the Dursleys.

"We have our ways," Iulia winked.

"Feel like letting me know what those ways are?"

Iulia laughed. "It'll be more fun to let him show you."

"Great. More surprises," Harry deadpanned.

"You'll like this one, I promise. It's fun, I wouldn't let him mess with you if it wasn't," Iulia assured him. "He's not the youngest Guard member for nothing, he earned his position fairly, but he still enjoys his moments of fun."

"I'll take your word for it," Harry said. It seemed like he was taking a lot on faith these days, but it wasn't like he could do much else.

"Can I continue with the interrogation then?" asked Harry.

Iulia laughed, sitting all the way back in her chair and tucking her hands behind her head. "Ask away, dear brother."

A chill went down Harry's spine at those words. Brother . He'd never been someone's brother. Friend, comrade, peer, but never brother. He didn't know how to be one. He didn't know if people expected something from him as the lost prince; for him to act a certain way or to know everything about Lyonesse as if he'd actually grown up there. Thankfully, Iulia didn't seem like she expected anything from Harry other than to just be there.

A beat of silence. Two. "What were those stones you and Marius used to cast magic?" Harry asked.

"This?" Iulia drew out a piece of stone roughly shaped like an oval that seemed to have a soft glow emanating from within. The stone had a faint purple hue running along the surface. "This is my focus stone. We each get one when we turn ten. I'll spare you the details of how they work and leave that for Elara. By the way, don't be surprised if she chucks your wand out the nearest window when you meet her."

"And Elara is?"

"I'm sorry, I keep forgetting that you don't know anyone from Lyonesse," she apologized. "Elara is the one who makes everyone's focus stones. She hates wands because everyone Above uses them as a crutch rather than a tool for their magic."

Harry removed his wand from his pocket, rolling it between his fingers. He was used to his holly wand, it had been there for him every time he was facing mortal peril. He didn't know how he felt about giving it up.

He had to ask, "Will she dislike me because I use a wand?"

Iulia shook her head in denial. "You've lived Above since you were one, you never knew any better. She'll just be glad that you're back, mostly because she loves making a new sale. She takes pride in her work. If you meet anyone Below who judges you based on what you know or don't know about us, point them to me or Marius. We'll sort them out." A feral grin unfolded on her face, making Iulia look more dangerous than Harry had ever seen her.

"Who are we sorting out?" Marius poked his head outside, his hair still mussed up from sleeping.

"Anyone who so much as looks at Harry the wrong way when we get back to Lyonesse," Iulia said.

"Ah, in that case, count me in," he said cheerfully, plopping himself down in the chair next to Harry. "Could use the practice."

"Why do you both call me Harry?" asked Harry, suddenly. Hearing Iulia say 'Harry' just sounded wrong. "I mean, you said Harry wasn't my birth name, right?" he directed to Iulia.

Surprised, Iulia and Marius made eye contact over Harry's head.

"Well," Iulia said slowly, "Your birthday isn't Harry, yes, it's Hadrian Valens Aurelius. Marcus called you Rian one day and it just stuck. We've referred to you as Rian when we talk about you, but you wouldn't know to respond to that name."

"We figured you would look at us like we were crazy if we walked up calling you Rian and spouting tales about an underwater city," Marius said. "To say we were surprised when we found out that our missing Rian was Harry Potter would be an understatement. As far as you knew, your name was Harry, therefore we used that."

Harry immediately groaned, "You mean to tell me you had heard of me before you started searching?"

"Yep," Marius grinned. "We keep tabs on the situation Above just in case there's ever a chance something would affect us. Nothing ever does, but back then we got regular reports from Alder about Voldemort's rise to power. Then one day he told Cal about this baby named Harry Potter who had managed to defeat him."

"No one ever thought you had defeated him on your own, Dad thought there were other forces in play. Your name is still fairly well known, though." Iulia said.

"Only a few people know that Rian and Harry Potter are one in the same," Marius said, seeing Harry's mood get worse and worse the longer they talked.

"They'll all find out when I get there, though," Harry said dejectedly. He didn't want his first impression Below to be the fact that he did something weird when he was a baby and ended up defeating a Dark Lord.

"Unless," Iulia said, worrying her bottom lip, "Unless we call you Rian. No one Below knows what Harry Potter looks like. They'll never put it together."

Harry perked up a bit at that. Rian. Rian Aurelius. He tested the name out in his head. It felt right, like he was accepting that he didn't belong to the wizarding world anymore. He had never fit in or really ever been a normal person to them, but perhaps in Lyonesse he could start over. He would still be a prince, but that was a small price to pay for a new beginning. A clean slate.

"I like that; Rian, it sounds nice."

"Ha!" Iulia exclaimed. "Thank you, Rian, Marius owes me a Galleon now."

"Laugh it up Princess, I've got you right where I want you," said Marius. He casually examined his fingernails and flicked a bit of dust off the table.

Iulia scowled at him and held out her hand. "One Galleon, Marius. We agreed."

"I guess we did," he grumbled. He pulled a money pouch out of his pocket and tossed a single Galleon over the table. Iulia deftly caught it and rolled it over her knuckles with a smug grin.

"You bet on my name?" asked Rian. Admittedly, hearing Iulia call him 'Rian' had eased the tugging in his chest pulling him toward the sea, but only slightly.

"We had to spend a lot of time together in planning meetings. Your mind wanders," Marius shrugged.

"We didn't mean anything by it. This Galleon has changed hands between us more times than I can count," Iulia stopped playing with it and placed it on the table. "I'm sorry, I just thought that once you found out you have a home with us, you'd like to use your birth name."

Rian picked up the Galleon, giving Iulia a sidelong glance. She looked genuinely concerned that she had offended Rian, something that pleased him. No one had ever apologized for speaking out of turn with him.

The Galleon in his hand felt weird and Rian bent his head to examine it. It was made of gold and was roughly the same size as a wizarding galleon, but that was where the similarities ended. One side of the coin held a raised profile of the head of a woman wearing a circlet, her hair unbound and flowing over her shoulders. Flipping the coin over, Rian saw that the back held another raised image, this time of a hippocampus with its forelegs raised and tail curved back. An unfamiliar script ran around the edges, only broken by the words 'One Galleon' centered above the head of the woman and the hippocampus.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," Rian said, giving the coin back to his sister. He would be a hypocrite if he judged them for betting.

"Thanks," Iulia said gratefully, taking the coin and poking it through the opening of her own money pouch.

"And now that Marius is finally awake, we can talk about the plan to get you back to Lyonesse in more detail," she said, waving at Marius to begin talking.

"Ah yes, that," said Marius, dropping his pretentious air. He leaned forward, getting serious. Rian recognized this Marius from last night, when they were leaving the Dursleys house. Marius had been unyielding, firm and harsh in his words. Seeing it again reminded Rian of the fact that Marius was technically the bodyguard for both him and Iulia.

"We would normally just port into Lyonesse from the shallows if this was a normal mission, but nothing about this is normal," Marius began. "For one, we don't know if the wards will let Rian in. We don't even know if the magical boost he'll get from turning seventeen will let him transform," he grimaced. Marius was clearly uncomfortable with so many unknowns, while Rian was just trying to keep up.

Rian was still struggling with the fact that he'd lost a year of his life in the span of a day. Iulia and Marius clearly hadn't expected that Rian didn't know his own birthday, so the fault could clearly be laid at the feet of whoever stole him from his parents.

Rian processed the rest of what Marius had just said. "Why wouldn't the wards let me in?" he asked.

"The wards cover the entire city and are configured to let in anyone who was born in Lyonesse and anyone who has a permanent residence in the city. The only reason that the second condition is there is in case a surprise birth happens when the mum is outside the city borders, which rarely happens. The kid has to be manually added to the wards in that case, but I digress," Iulia explained. She tapped her fingers on the table in a pattern, which Rian assumed was a nervous tic of hers.

Marius raised an eyebrow at her hand and took over the explanation, "You were born in Lyonesse, but you haven't been there for sixteen years. You've also had your Mer form bound for at least two years, probably longer. No one has ever been outside the wards for longer than a year, so we don't know if the wards will let you back in if we try to port in. We don't want to run the risk of you getting bounced off the wards and sent to who knows where."

"Why do you think my Mer form has been bound for at least two years?" asked Rian. That number seemed oddly specific.

"There was a tournament thing that happened two years ago, right?" Marius asked.

Rian's gut instinctively clenched. That blasted tournament. "Yes," he gritted out.

"Right, well, when we realized the person we were looking for was Harry Potter, Cal asked Alder to send him any information he had on you. Alder then asked his son for any extra knowledge he had about you since his son is apparently in your year. There was a whole section on the Triwizard Tournament in the papers Alder sent." Marius said.

"Mum ranted for a good hour when she got to the part with the dragon," Iulia added. "Good job with that, by the way."

"Alder said you spent more than an hour underwater for the second task, using Gillyweed to breathe. If your form hadn't been bound, you should have transformed after five minutes of being fully underwater, no matter what. But you didn't, so we know your form was bound by that point, but we don't know when the binding was originally placed," Marius continued, ignoring Iulia's interruption.

Rian was a little annoyed by the invasion of his privacy, but he understood the need for it. He was also slightly relieved that he wouldn't have to explain all of his adventures to his parents, and hopefully his Mum would have calmed down about the dragon by the time he met her.

"The point is, porting straight there is out," Marius summed up. "The best I can do is port us to the nearest sentry station. We can swim the rest of the way to the ward boundary, it's not too far away. We'll have to stop by Aren's station first since you can only port to a station from a station, security and all that."

"Sentry stations?"

"The Guard has a network of stations that are manned year-round to look out for threats to Lyonesse," Marius explained. "The closest one to us is Aren's. He's posted pretty close to the surface. We can't get to him from this beach though, I'll port us to Climping Beach for the transformation. It's secluded and pretty rocky, so I highly doubt any Muggles will be hanging out there at ten p.m."

"Will Alder be there?" asked Iulia.

"I sent him a message," Marius nodded, "I haven't heard back but I'm confident he'll be there. If he's not, I'll just leave our clothes in the usual spot and he will collect them later."

"Sounds like you guys have got this all worked out," Rian said weakly. It seemed like a solid plan on the surface, but he was still concerned about everything that could go wrong.

Iulia laughed, "If something goes wrong, that's why we have Marius with us. The man has backup plans for his backup plans, and contingency plans for his backup backup plans."

Rian swiveled his head to look at Marius, who grinned unrepentantly. He had divested himself of his shirt at some point during their conversation, which left him in just his jeans. Marius was clearly very fit, something Rian couldn't help but appreciate.

Rian quickly looked back down at his own hands, distracting himself by twiddling his thumbs. Marius was there for protection, not for him to ogle.

"I can't wait to get back home," Iulia sighed, undoing her braid and running her fingers through her thick black hair. "You feel it too, don't you Marius?"

"The call is getting stronger," said Marius. With that, he unceremoniously put his feet up on the table and leaned back, content to relax in the shade.

Rian unconsciously brought his hand up to chest. Now that he knew what the insistent tugging was, it made sense. It was a call leading him home.

Home at last.

Wednesday, August 1, 1996

10:15 pm

"Do you think they've reached him yet?" Lucia fretted. Her blue tail swished as she crossed from one side of the room to the other. It was late enough that she should have been in bed with Callum, but her worry instincts had gone into overdrive the minute she saw her daughter and Marius port away.

"We won't know until Marius contacts us. Please relax, they know what they're doing, I promise," Cal said, slipping out from the covers on their bed and joining his wife at the window. He slid his arms around her waist and she leaned back into his chest. They stood like that for a while, looking out upon their city and its gleaming streets.

"It's our little boy, Cal. Our Hadrian. How can I not worry?" she said quietly. "Sixteen years he's been Above. Sixteen years of danger! By Elenta, he fought a dragon at fifteen," Lucia buried her head in her husband's chest.

Callum held her close and looked around his room. The bed in the center that Trajan had jumped on so many times, the lantern in the corner that Iulia had broken multiple times, the books that Marcus borrowed for 'light reading', the jewelry pieces that Cassia loved to play with, all the things that Hadrian should have experienced as he grew up. Instead, there was a silent, darkened nursery with a door that hadn't been opened since he'd been stolen. Ripped from their arms in the middle of the night.

Callum bowed his head, his chin resting on his wife's head. They were so close to getting their child back, so close to healing the void his absence had left. He absentmindedly patted her head, squishing the brown curls that poked up.

Callum carried Lucia over to their bed, covering them both with the filmy material that made up their blankets. "They'll be okay. They'll all be okay," he said, mostly to himself.

"They'd better be, I'll throttle anyone who hurts them," Lucia said firmly, her voice muffled by Cal's chest.

Cal opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off by another voice ringing out in the quiet room. "Guardsman Marius Mercator to King Callum Aurelius and Queen Lucia Aurelius and no other."

Callum and Lucia both jolted, looking for the source. Lucia saw it first; a bubble was floating just before them, displaying a distorted image of Marius' head.

"This is it," Lucia said. She reached for Cal's hand and squeezed it hard. Cal's breath caught as he stared at the tiny bubble that represented the culmination of years of hopes and dreams.

Cal popped the bubble with a surprisingly steady hand and the royal couple steeled themselves as the popped bubble expanded to show Marius standing on a beach, dressed in the strange garments of the Above.

"Guardsman Marius Mercator to King Callum Aurelius and Queen Lucia Aurelius and no other," Marius repeated. "Everything is going to plan so far, Hadrian is currently in the hotel room with Iulia. We retrieved him from Privet Drive, where he was staying with some of the most unpleasant people I have ever had the misfortune to meet. Iulia used a binding spell on them, they won't be talking about him anytime soon. Hadrian's taking everything pretty well, he's got a lot of questions as expected. We are still on track to attempt a transformation and return to Lyonesse on August tenth."

At this point, Marius couldn't hold his serious demeanor any longer and grinned widely, bouncing on his heels. "He looks just like you, Lucia! Hair and eyes and everything. I can't wait to see his Mer form, it ought to be a thing of beauty. Have I mentioned I hate being on legs?" Marius frowned at his own legs, kicking at something just out of sight.

"I, er," he cleared his throat, "Apologize for my loss of composure. Expect our return on the tenth. Finite."

The screen dissolved without a trace when Marius ended the message.

"They have him. He's with them, he knows about us," Lucia said disbelievingly, still clutching Cal's hand.

"I told you everything would be fine. I said he'd be the spitting image of you; he took after you even as a baby," Cal said fondly, bringing his wife's hand up to his mouth to kiss.

"Nine days more, and he'll be with us again," said Lucia. She laughed giddily, overcome with emotion at the thought that she would be able to hold her baby boy again.

"That he will. Can we go to bed now, Luce? It's been a long day for us," Cal said.

"The result was well worth a long day, but I suppose we must sleep," Lucia said, lying back down on the bed and tugging Cal down with her.

"Good night, love."

It was nearing half past ten and Marcus still couldn't sleep. He threw his pen down beside his book with a sigh of disgust, glaring at the glow worms on his desk when they chittered in their cage.

He couldn't stop thinking about Rian. He'd pushed hard to be allowed to retrieve Rian from Above, but his Dad wouldn't budge. As the Heir, Marcus couldn't risk himself like that.

"Heir," he muttered darkly. He didn't care if he was the Heir or not, but Rian was his little brother. A brother he'd missed dearly.

Marcus gave up on finishing his book and swam over to the nightstand tucked into the corner of his room. The top drawer held various bits and bobs, things that he'd found lying around the city that had caught his interest, but the bottom drawer only held one thing.

Marcus sunk down to the floor, curled his tail under him, and gingerly opened the bottom drawer. He picked up the picture inside and flipped it over.

A young Marcus stared up at him, grinning toothily. In that Marcus' arms was a baby Rian, grabbing fistfuls of Marcus' hair and tugging. To his credit, the young Marcus didn't wince once.

What would Rian be like when he returned? Would he be quiet and studious like himself? Loud and outgoing like Trajan? Smart and fierce like Iulia? Energetic and bubbly like Cassia? He didn't know, but he would take Rian as he was.

Marcus leaned against the wall, staring at the small loop of time captured on the paper. He remembered that day well, it had been a week before his parents had taken Rian Above for the traditional trip all babies went on when they turned one. His Dad had banned the trips when Rian had been taken. The only people still allowed to travel Above were members of the Guard.

The months after Rian's kidnapping had been a dark time for him. Marcus had shut himself up in his room and hardly spoke to anyone. Even now, Marcus wasn't a very talkative person. Rian had been a happy baby, always wanting to be held by someone. If Lucia wasn't able to hold him, Rian cried until Marcus picked him up.

It had thrilled Marcus to take care of his baby brother, especially since Iulia hadn't wanted anything to do with him at the time. Trajan hadn't known any better and followed Iulia everywhere.

All Marcus had ever wanted was his brother back. He'd returned from a trip to see Elara to a palace in chaos. It hadn't taken long to discover what had everyone in an uproar. Marcus hadn't let himself believe it at first, but as more information trickled in, Marcus had gotten his hopes up that maybe, just maybe, Rian was coming home at last.

Marcus placed the picture face up on the nightstand. Maybe it was time to let go of the pain of the past.

"Good luck, Iulia," he said to the empty room.

Trajan was lying on his bed, throwing a ball back and forth between his hands. He'd seen Marius and Iulia off on their mission earlier in the day and he'd been unable to focus on anything else since.

Trajan didn't have many memories of his brother since he had only been three years old when Rian was taken. He remembered tickling Rian's belly and getting bright peals of laughter in return, carefully feeding his brother under his mum's supervision, and shock when Rian had once grabbed a fistful of his curls and pulled hard.

Not much else was clear in his memories, but the stories told every year on Rian's birthday helped to fill in some of the blanks. He sometimes felt guilty that he couldn't remember as much about his younger brother as Marcus or Iulia could. The one time he'd voiced that thought, they had both been quick to reassure him that it wasn't his fault.

He still missed Rian, it was hard not to. His family wasn't complete without Rian. He wasn't complete without Rian. Being a big brother was a job Trajan had taken seriously and maybe he'd overcompensated for Rian's loss by being incredibly overprotective of Cassia, and he didn't regret that.

Trajan might have been known as the joker in the family, but he could be serious when the situation called for it. This was one of those times. The next few days would be a waiting game, and hopefully at the end they could celebrate Rian's birthday with the birthday boy himself at the table.

Cassia smiled as she ran her fingers through Ebony's mane. Everyone in the castle had been distracted lately, so she'd taken advantage of that to sneak her pet hippocampus into her room.

She knew why they were distracted of course; Rian was coming home. Cassia had never met her older brother, but she'd seen the pictures in her mum's bedroom and the ones in Iulia's locket.

She didn't know what to expect from this new sibling, but she was excited to meet him. Cassia also knew how much it had hurt her family when Rian had been kidnapped and hoped that having him back could heal that void.

Cassia had chafed under all the restraints put on her 'for her own safety' during her childhood. She didn't blame her parents for doing it, nor did she blame Rian, but she still hated it every time she wanted to go out to the city alone and had to bring a Guard with her. Marius had been her favorite, but now he was Above and Cassia was stuck at home.

Ebony suddenly whinnied and Cassia quickly shushed her, not wanting to get caught. Ebony wiggled a bit in her lap and eventually settled in. Cassia leaned against the headboard of her bed and smiled, continuously petting Ebony's head.

Maybe having Rian back would convince her parents that she would be safe without some of their rules. Maybe Rian would stand up for her.

Or maybe Rian would just be there for her when she needed him. That was really all she could ask for. Trajan wasn't good with emotional females and Marcus was busy all the time. Iulia tried to make time for her, but she was always whisked away by Marius and Trajan during one of their schemes.

They all loved her in their own way, though. Nothing could beat Marcus' bear hugs. Trajan was always finding shiny things around the city and giving them to her. Iulia would always braid her hair whenever she asked. That was the way her family worked.

When he got back, Cassia was determined to ambush Rian the first chance he got and ask him about living Above. She had never been Above, not even on the trip all babies were supposed to get. She'd never been able to walk on her own legs.

Having Rian back could only be a good thing.

The lyrics in the lullaby that Harry (Rian) and Iulia sing are from Song of the Sea by Nolwenn Leroy. I made some minor changes so the lyrics would fit with an underwater city. I tried to write my own lullaby but it ended up being six stanzas long and it didn't flow nearly as well.

Deceased OCs
Elenta - The first documented Mer. Her name is used as a swear, like the way those Above use Merlin.
Elena - The first Mer Queen and founder of Lyonesse.
Caeso Aurelius - Father of Callum and grandfather of Harry. Killed in a shark attack during a hunt gone wrong.
Metus Aurelius - Brother of Callum and Uncle to Harry. Killed in a shark attack during a hunt gone wrong.

Living OCs
Galla Tatiana Aurelius
Age: 77
Birthday: April 29, 1919
Appearance: Silver hair, blue eyes, burnished red tail.
Mother of Callum and grandmother of Harry. Former Queen of Lyonesse. Dotes on her grandkids.

Elara Anluan - The crafter of focus stones for Mers.
Age: 56
Birthday: June 15, 1940
Appearance: Dark brown hair, green eyes, green tail.
The crafter of focus stones for Mers.

Aren Byron
Age: 28
Birthday: October 11, 1967
Appearance: Red hair, blue eyes, blue tail.
Member of the Guard currently posted as a sentry.

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