"Rise and shine…"

Maria groaned and waved her hand. "It's too early. A few more hours…" She didn't actually know what time it was, but it felt like it was too early.

She felt more movement next to her "No, c'mon. You need to get up. You have a busy day today, remember? The meetings? The ball?" Maria groaned again and tried to lightly shove him away. Being reminded of how much stuff she had on her plate didn't exactly make her eager to get out of bed. "Maria, you're on your way to a spanking."

The waterfolk woman groaned again and then looked up towards her husband. "Do you mean the fun kind, or the not so fun kind?" she asked, pushing herself up and out of bed. Astro barely ever had to sleep, so he was always up well before she was. And he tended to serve as her personal alarm clock.

Astro smirked towards her. "I'll decide later. We really should get going though. You know rounding up the kids is going to take a huge chunk of time already," he said.

Stretched her arms and then began making her way to the bathroom. "Yes, you're right I suppose. Getting Argo dressed up is going to take up half the day," she said.

Astro was about to say something, but then suddenly the door burst open. Four figures rush in, moving at a speed that was just too much to deal with for either Astro or Maria this early in the morning. The downside to their children being titans were that they were usually up just as early as he was.

"Mom, dad, she's trying to kill me! Help!" the first figure yelled.

"You stay still and take this ass whooping like a man you little shit!" said the second.

The third figure, a shark pup who was chasing after them, barked loudly. And the fourth, who was Sear, tried to catch and wrangle all three. He had attempted to stop them before the commotion had made it to his brother and his mate's room, but they were incredibly fast for two legged ones.

Maria sighed, and Astro scowled. "It is way too early, and there is far too much to do, to have to deal with this already," Maria said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Astro raised his foot and then stomped it, shaking the room. "Knock it off!"

Everyone slid to a stop, and then looked towards Astro. The first two figures both looked slightly concerned. When both of their parents were annoyed, it was never a good thing. "What's going on here? Why are both of you causing such a ruckus?" Maria asked.

The first figure, a boy who looked like he was around ten, pointed. "She's trying to kill me for something I didn't even do!" he said. His resemblance to Maria was very apparent. His blue skin, short fin-like tail, and his seafoam green eyes were features that had passed right onto him. Though there were hints of Astro in him. Namely the horns sticking from his head.

"Don't you lie to you little shit! You stole it and you know it!" The second figure was a girl who looked around fourteen, and had a bit more features from both sides of her family. Her long black hair resembles Rosetta's, but she let it flow rather than tie it up. She had her father's eyes and horns, but the set of teeth she had was clearly from her mother's side of the family. As was the tail, which resembles her granda Larry and uncle Hody's.

"I didn't steal anything!"

"Then where is it?!"

"I don't know, you probably lost it!"

"The hell I did! I've never misplace-!"

Astro stomped his foot again, and they both turned back towards him. Maria shook her head. "Okay lets settle down for a moment. Hydra, what's gone missing?" she asked.

"Ocean's Kiss! He took it!" the girl accused.

"Hydrus, did you take the sword. And don't you lie to me."

"I didn't… Chomper did," the boy answered. The shark pup barked, and Sear snorted and looked down at him annoyed.

"So you did know where it was! You little god damn liar!"

"Shut up! It's not like I sent him to take it!"

"But you still knew!"

Astro growled. "Stop! Stop it, now! Hydrus, go take Ocean's Kiss back to your sister, now! And keep Chomper under control! He needs to learn to stop stealing things!" he said sternly. The boy had practically begged for a shark pup, but he wasn't taking training him seriously. "And Hydra, stop trying to murder your brother! And stop cursing so much. It's unladylike."

"You curse all the time when you don't think we can hear you," Hydra challenged.

"Do as I say, not as I do."

"That's bullshit…"

Maria chimed in. "Okay, and okay, we'll talk about foul mouths later. The both of you need to start getting ready for later. We're going to be having lots of company and I want you on your best behavior. Not getting into any fights or causing any commotion. Your aunt Nia is going to be there so-"

"What about grandpa?" Hydra asked.

"...your grandfather Larry is-"

"That's not who I meant and you know it."

Astro grunted. "Typhon isn't coming."

"Then neither am I."

"Hydra…"

The girl glared back at him before turning around and storming out. Hydrus watched his sister leave, tempted to make a joke about it being her time of the month. He decided against it though. Not just because it would have been in poor taste, even for him, but because it wouldn't have made any sense. She was always like this.

Astro looked like he was about to walk after her, but Maria placed a hand on his shoulder. "Let her go. You two talking now is just going to lead to an argument. I'll talk to her later," she assured.

Astro grunted, but decided to let it go. "I'm going to go get Argo…"

Maria watched as he left, Sear following after him. Hydrus clicked his tongue before looking back up at his mother. "I still don't get her. What's she care about the monster kingdom anyway? She's gonna be Queen here, so why make such a big fuss?" he asked, confused.

Maria sighed. "It's a bit complicated, Hydrus…"

When Astro had refused to take the crown of the King of Monsters from his father, it had made things… tricky. His father never really could understand the decision to stay in the Waterfolk Kingdom with Maria. She may have been named Queen after her brother had decided to go down to Underworld with Topaz and her tribe, but that wasn't where he belonged. Not according to Typhon and many of the other monsters anyway.

Their eldest child seemed to agree with them, which had caused her and Astro to butt heads quite often. Despite being the heir to the Waterfolk kingdom, it seemed like her sights were set on Typhon's throne, not her mother's. And Maria… sort of understood why.

She was considered beloved by her people, and her marriage to Astro had been seen as a wise move by most since he had such close ties with Nia. It wasn't FOR those reasons of course, but it made things a bit less dramatic. Hydrus and Argo were also very well liked among the people and nobles of the Waterfolk kingdom, and as much as she would have liked to say it was because they were wonderful children (and they were) it more likely had to do with the fact that they looked like her.

Hydra looked more like her father. She didn't have blue skin, or fins, or even a pair of gills. The only signs of her waterfolk heritage were her tail and her teeth, which many could have confused for any other monster trait if they weren't familiar enough. There were those who saw her as an outsider, and had subtly hinted that perhaps the crown should go to someone who better represented their people.

Maria dismissed these concerns of course, but Hydra couldn't pretend all the mutterings about her, or the stares she would get from many passing by. So Maria could very much understand why she seemed to favor being around her grandfather and the other tribes so much. Whenever she was in the monster kingdom, he was treated… well, like a princess. No odd looks or mutterings. Just smiles and doting from her grandfather.

Astro hadn't like how much she seemed to be floating with the idea of relinquishing the crown, and for a while he had thought about telling her not to go there anymore, but Maria advised against it. Trying to keep her here would only end up pushing her away in the end. She knew the best move was to do their best to show her that the Waterfolk kingdom really was her home.

"You know, it wasn't as if I didn't invite you grandfather…" Hydra looked over her shoulder from her spot on the edge of the balcony, and then huffed when she saw her mother. She always came to try and play peacemaker when her and her father got into an argument. "I told him he was more than welcome to come. But he politely refused."

Hydra looked back out. "Lucky him. At least he has the option…"

Maria leaned against the balcony on a spot next to her daughter. "I'm not going to make you go if you don't want to Hydra. With how you and your father have been lately forcing you could very well end up in a shouting match, and I don't think anyone wants that," she said bluntly. "But I really wish you wanted to be there. If for no other reason than to spend time with us."

Hydra looked down, feeling a little guilty that she had sent the wrong message to her mother. "It's not spending time with you I have a problem with. It's everyone else. I just… I don't belong here," she said.

Maria reached out and wrapped an arm around her. "Sweetie, you're my daughter. You're a Waterfolk, even if some people have a hard time seeing that. You're the heir, and this is going to be your kingdom someday," she said.

"But what if I don't want it to be?" Hydra said, shaking her head. If Maria was surprised to hear the statement, she didn't show it. She had a feeling that Hydra had been thinking this for a while. This was just the first time she said it out loud. "This place doesn't feel like home. I like the monster kingdom better…"

Maria hugged her closer. "I know it might feel that way sometimes sweetie, but-"

"It's not sometimes, it's ALL the time," Hydra said. "I've never felt like a Waterfolk. I've never felt like the heir. I barely even feel like a princess. I'm not a princess, I'm a monster."

"You can be both…"

"I don't WANT to be both."

"Hydra, I know you're upset but-"

"Stop saying you know! You don't know!" Hydra snapped, glaring. Maria just stared back at her sternly, and for a moment they both sat in silence. Then Hydra let out a breath and looked down. "I'm sorry, but… you don't know. This isn't just a stupid teenage girl thing, this is a monster thing. You couldn't know."

Maria sighed. "I admit, I can't completely put myself in your shoes. I have some idea because of your father and my brother, but I don't know what it's like to be a monster. I have been in a position where I've felt lost however. What do you think it was like when I got the crown? I wasn't exactly prepared for it," she said.

"That's different…"

"Maybe the situation was, but I'm willing to bet I felt just as frustrated and lost as you do now. I'm not asking you to make a decision about Hydra. I just… I want you to try. Make an effort. And if you truly feel like your place isn't here when the time comes, we'll figure out what to do from there," Maria said.

Hydra looked down and grunted. "Fine… I'll go to the stupid party, but I'm not wearing that dress," she said crossing her arms.

"You don't have to," Maria said amused. She gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek. "I'm going to go find your father and start getting ready. Please try not to get into an argument or cause too much of a ruckus."

"I'm not going to make that promise…"

"How are you the least troubling one of the bunch…?"

Astro looked down towards Hydrus with a raised eyebrow. The king held his youngest, Argo, in his hands as he directed the staff who were setting up everything. The boy looked like he was around two years old, and had blue skin, green eyes, green hair, fin on his arms, a fin-like tail, and a pair of tiny little horns on his head.

Maybe it was the fact that he couldn't walk yet. More likely it was his laid back attitude. Unlike his older siblings Argo seemed to be far more interested in sleeping and relaxing than running around throughout the castle and shouting. Argo opened his mouth and yawned before reaching up and grabbing at one of his cheeks. He always seemed fascinated with the cheek marks of both his father and siblings.

"Still on babysitting duty huh?"

Astro looked up and then saw his sister making his way towards them. He looked more than a little surprised. "You're here early? Why?" he asked.

Nia opened her arms and then hugged him. "Because I wanted to give you a really hello and chat before we had to put on a show for everyone else," she explained.

Astro smiled and hugged her back. Whenever they were in front of others they had to act somewhat formal. Keep up royal appearances and whatnot. It had taken a while for both of them to get used to it. Especially Nia. "Oh, look at you little Argo. growing bigger every day," she said poking at the boy's cheeks.

Argo just grunted back in response. "Sorry, he just got up from his nap. He's still a bit dazy I think. I assume Jia and the kids will be here later?" he asked.

Nia nodded. "Yep, figures I'd give them a little time to relax before we get to the whole posh party thing. Not that this doesn't look amazing," she said looking around at everything. Astro seemed to have a knack for organizing gatherings like these.

"I got up pretty early today so I had a head start," he explained. "Anyway, how is everything going? Things are still hectic in the court or…?"

"Always," Nia said with a sigh. "Nevermind the noble houses always being at each other's throats, everyone is still worried about the rest of the tribes."

Astro frowned. "Fee still won't consider it?"

"I don't think he's ever going to. Which… I'm fine with really. As long as there's peace I don't see why he should have to make his tribe join the court. But people are giving Amber a hard time because of the other septarian tribes. They're not causing any racket, but noble houses are still worried about them not being in check."

Astro was silent for a moment. "Do you want me to talk with my father?" he asked.

Nia shook her head. "No. I know things are awkward enough between you two already. If I need to talk to him, I'll do it myself," she said. Astro was a little worried about that, but he knew it was probably for the best. Sending him on her behalf might come off as a sign of weakness or cowardice to his father. And it definitely would to his uncle.

Despite their best efforts many of the monster tribes hadn't made an effort to join the court as they had hoped. With his father still holding onto to his title as the king of monsters, and the Ten now released and backing him again, many of them didn't see a reason to. It had taken a lot of fighting, bloodshed, and negotiation for there to be some semblance of peace between everyone. But it was still shaky.

One battle, one incident, one little wrong thing said, and there was a very real chance that another war would break out. Thinking about it all, Astro had honestly felt like he had let his sister down. He had planned on at least coming close to uniting the monster and mewman population before Nia took the throne, but it still seemed unstable.

"I really wasn't able to accomplish much in the Queensguard, was I?"

Nia frowned. "Don't say that. You accomplished a lot. I'm the one who hasn't been able to pull things together. You did all the leg work and I'm just-"

"That's not true," Astro said sternly. "You're a great Queen. You've done just as much to smooth things over with monsters as mother ever did, if not more so. All of this is just… bad blood. Things that happened before either of us were even born."

Nia hummed, and grew a small smile. "I guess that's true. For both me and you," she said. "Why don't we stop the pity party and try to lighten up before the party, huh?"

Astro nodded in agreement, and then the two both saw Maria coming from the corner of their eyes. "Nia! You're early!" The Waterfolk Queen walked over towards her sister in law and then gave her a hug, which Nia quickly returned. "Here to see your brother before we have to put on the act?"

"My brother, and my favorite big sis," Nia said laughing. "And my little Nephew and Niece too. Where are they anyway?"

"They should be down soon. Provided that Hydra is finished throwing her temper tantrum," Astro said, crossing his arms.

Maria frowned. "Astro, please try not to irritate her. I barely got her to come along as it is. We need to be more understanding of her situation," she said.

"I understand her situation better than anyone, but still…"

"You have no idea how much you sound like her," Maria said. "Just try not to butt heads with her. Please? For me?"

Astro let out a sigh. "For you, my Queen." He grabbed and then kissed her hand, and Maria smiled back at him before Hydrus suddenly came running in. Nia was about to greet him, but the moment they saw him they knew something was wrong.

"Mom, dad! It's Hydra!" he yelled, panic clear in his voice. "S-she's hurt! And she's bleeding, like a lot! I don't know what happened! She just started-!"

The three adults all sped off before the boy could even finish. They rushed towards Hydra's room, and Maria gasped when she saw a puddle of blood spilling from the front door. "Hydra!" Astro yelled, bursting through the door. Maria followed after him, and Nia was already preparing to heal her niece.

What they saw though wasn't Hydra crumpled over on the floor or hunched over in pain, but her standing in the middle of the room trying to catch her breath. There was blood all around her, she looked tired. But what was most noticeable were the pair of large white feathery wings now sticking out of her back.

"Oh… shit," Astro muttered. Her wings had grown in? Already? He had expected that to happen in a few more years. He hadn't even gotten his until he was sixteen, and even that was in rather extreme circumstances. "Hydra, are you alright?"

The girl let out a breath before spreading her wings. They were stained with blood in some spots. "I'm not going out there…"

For a moment, all three adults just stood in confused silence. Then Maria realized what she was talking about. "To the party? Oh, dear of course not," she said, stepping towards her. "After what just happened we'd never expect you to. You must be in so much pain. Lie down, don't worry about tonight. We'll-"

"I'm not just talking about tonight," Hydra said, shaking her head. "I'm not going out there, like ever again. I'm done."

Maria could pick up on everything the girl was feeling right now. Anger, pain, frustration, weariness. She had already been stressed out earlier, and her wings just suddenly coming in like this were likely pushing her to a breaking point. "Hydra, please just sit down and let your aunt take a look at you. You're angry and exhausted and-"

"Do you have any idea what they're gonna think and say when they see these?" Hydra asked, gesturing towards her wings. "They already thought I wasn't waterfolk enough before, so what the hell are they gonna think now?!"

Astro stepped forward. "Hydra, you're hurting right now, and it's clouding your judgement. I've been there, I know. So let's just talk about this and-"

"Yeah, you do know. So you know why I'm not going out there, and I'm not staying here either," she said, taking a step back. She knocked the balcony doors open. "Sorry, but I don't belong here. I never have. Give the crown to Hydrus, or Argo, or… anybody but me. I don't want it."

Maria reached out towards her. "Hydra, wait! You don't have to just leave, this is your home! You do belong-"

"This isn't home. I hate it here," Hydra said, cutting her off. She then turned around and made her way off the balcony, spreading her wings and taking off.

For a second it looked like Nia was going to go after her, but Astro held his hand up. "Stop, just… just let her go," he said. "Even if we did catch up to her she wouldn't listen. We need to just give her some space for a bit."

Maria looked more than a little concerned, but she knew he was right. There was no way that Hydra was going to listen to her. She let out a sigh. "Right…"

"I shouldn't have let her keep talking to my father. He put ideas into her head."

Maria frowned as she looked up at her husband. The ball had been going on for a while now, and was no in full swing. It had been hard for either her or Astro to really mingle when the only thoughts on their mind were Hydra. The girl still hadn't returned, not that they thought she would anytime soon.

They were on the dance floor now, which was the only time they'd managed to get just to themselves. "What did you intend to do? Forbid her from seeing Typhon? It only would have made her want to talk to him even more. And… it's not hard to understand why she wants it so badly. Look at her situation," Maria said.

Astro grunted. "I know. I know her situation better than anyone, but-"

"But you got to hide it when you were younger," Maria said. "Obviously you had it hard, but nobody knew you were a monster. Everyone has known that she was since she was born. If you were in her position, which kingdom would be the more tempting place to stay?" she asked.

Astro didn't bother answering the question. They both remembered very well what had happened after he'd met his father. How he had wanted to stay at the monster kingdom, and the right between him and Nia that happened because of it. "I understand, but if she stays there it's not just going to be as a resident. She's going to be a potential heir."

"That's not necessarily true. What about Kitsune? Or his children. They could-"

"It'll be her," Astro said bluntly. "I know my father. He'll see how she feels and what she's going through, and he'll use that. And however heavy she thinks the burden of your crown is, she'll learn that the one for the monsters is much heavier."

Maria hummed. "Is that why you didn't take it?"

"I didn't take it because… well, a number of reasons really. The most important of which being that I was more needed at your side," he said, pulling her closer.

Maria smiled back at him. "That's sweet…" she said, leaning her head against his shoulder. "And it doesn't go unnoticed." Astro had worked every bit as hard helping her run the kingdom as he had his own mother and sister, and she always felt like with him there she had a little room to breathe where there otherwise would have been none.

"We'll figure out what to do about Hydra. We figured everything else out," Astro assured. "For now… we should at least try and enjoy the party. I put a lot of work into this after all. Then we can rush right after Hydra and figure this out."

"Yes, I suppose that's the best course of action… where do you think she went off at this time?" she asked.

Typhon yawned as she sat on his throne, a bored expression on his face. The rest of the Ten sat around at the table as Sting read off the list of info she had collected. He very much hated these boring little meetings of theirs. They made him every bit as drowsy as they had two thousand years ago.

"Typhon, are you listening?" He looked down towards Sting, who was scowling at him.

"Not really," he admitted.

Sting balled her fist up. "This is important information that I painstakingly went out of my way to collect! The least you could do is pay attention to it!"

Matrona let out a laugh as Gadfly raised his hand. "Since we're being honest, I'm really not paying attention either. So can I bound and-"

Scylla slapped him in the back of the head. "No."

"Your information is valuable, I have no concerns about that. But in my opinion it would be completely unnecessary if we just did what we're supposed to and-"

"We're not going to start a war," Typhon said, cutting his brother off. "I gave my word to my son and the girl. So long as they keep their end, I have no plans on breaking my oath. If the mewmans cross the line again however, well then…"

Kyu sighed and took a sip from her cup of sake. "I'm willing to give you a pass since your son and the girl do seem to be honest. Stupidly so in my opinion. But I don't like giving the rest of the kingdoms the chance to plot against us. Aside from the Waterfolk and Spiderbite, we can't truly take any of them at their word."

Before Typhon could answer, everyone felt a presence coming. For a moment they were all on guard, but then they seemed to recognize it. A figure came bursting through the window, landing right in the middle of the table.

Hydra rose up and spread her wings out, looking up at her grandfather. "Hydra?" he asked, confused. What was she doing here? He thought her parents had some event planned today. When he noticed her bloody wings however, he grew some ideas.

The rest of the Ten along with Sting all looked worried when they saw the state the girl was in. "Princess Hydra, what's happened?" Sting asked.

"Sweetie, you're wings," Kitsune said, moving over to check on her.

"So they've finally grown up, have they? You grew even quicker than your father," Python said, crossing his arms. He had thought her being so deluded with mewman blood might affect the rate of growth, but it seemed his worry was unwarranted.

Hydra kept looking up towards her grandfather. "I'm home…" Typhon saw the look in her eyes, and then smirked.

"Yes, yes you are…"

A/N: Fic of an AU where Maria becomes Queen of the Waterfolk Kingdom. Was an idea pitched by shortytori I thought would be interesting. Thinking about how things would go differently if Astro hadn't taken the throne of mewni or monsters opens up plenty of possibilities. Hope you guys enjoyed.