Chapter 5 - He's In Love

Over the next few days, Arron's brothers started noticing some, well, behavioural changes in their youngest companion. Recently, Arron had been acting totally different. He hadn't been whiny about getting up in the morning and hand't started any fights with his brothers, had been showing up to royal duties on time and was constantly humming to himself. Strangest of all, he seemed to actually be enjoying choir practice. When the brothers had seen Arron smiling during their latest rehearsal, Aquatis had thought that perhaps he was violently ill.

All six princes were beginning to connect the dots and give a diagnosis. After all, he had all the symptoms.

"Arron, buddy!" Alec called through the closed door, "Time to come out dude, you've been in there all morning!" he said.

When Arron swam out the door of the brother's bedroom, he was humming a tune to himself, and continued humming as he sat down in front of his desk and began fussing with his hair. The princes gathered around him in bewilderment. Arron almost never worried about his appearance, and even though each brother had their own desk, his was often left abandoned.

"Yep." said Averil.

"He checks all the boxes." said Atias.

"What?" Arron Questioned, raising a brow at his brothers with a smirk.

"Yep, he's in love!" Alec chimed in. Arron's face went as red as his hair.

"I am not!" he exclaimed in defence, not wanting to let anyone know that he was in deed in love... with a human person. "And what, my silent treatment is over, is it?" he questioned. Abbot snickered.

"This is just too good to ignore, little bro."

"What is?" the red-head snapped.

"Humming. Positive energy. Not ditching choir practice for once and somehow being even more distracted than before. I'm sure it's nothing at all." Abbot snickered.

"You all suck." Arron laughed as he swam away, taking a flower from the wall on his way out and bumping into Tritannia.

"Oh, morning Mom." he said as he placed the flower in her hair and swam off dreamily, doing little twirls as he went.

All six of the princes gathered in the doorway behind their mother, wondering wether or not their youngest companion was in love or on death's door.

"We were just saying, Mom. He's got it bad." said Averil.

Tritannia looked at her sons in confusion. "What? What has he got?" she asked.

"Isn't it obvious, Mom?" said Atias. "Arron's in love." all the brothers made cooing noises and imitated kissing sounds as Tritannia took the flower out of her hair and looked at it, turning it over in her hands.

"Arron?" she muttered to herself, "In love?"

The Queen was skeptical but also delighted at the news. It would explain her son's behavioural changes over the last couple of days. Not only that, her youngest son had always seemed so different from the rest of her children. He was always wanting to distance himself from them, would always defend himself when someone called him out on a mistake, pushing the others away.

She had come to assume that romance would never cross her youngest son's mind, but it finally had. Maybe now his heart would soften and he would see that his family truly loved him. Tritannia could see the hurting heart of a child in Arron, acting out as the family rebel and trouble-maker because he didn't know how else to act, and it pained her to know that he would never want to sit down and just talk about how he felt.

He had never been the same since his father died. Before that fateful day, Arron had been the sweetest, most loving child Tritannia had ever known. But she knew that his heart had hardened that day. But maybe that would now change. Maybe he had met someone who brought him comfort through his grief. All Tritannia knew is that whoever Arron had met who made him happy, she couldn't wait to meet them.

Stella was pacing back and forth in the palace gardens. "The Queen must never know..." she said to herself. "But it's gonna be hard keeping something like 'dis a secret for long…"

"Relax, Stella, everything will be fine. It's nothing that bad." Arron said, perched on a nearby rock, Stella on guard duty.

Her face flushed even redder with frustration as she turned to face the Prince. "Nothing 'dat bad?" she breathed. "NOTHING 'DAT BAD?! Are you kidding me, Arron?! You saved a human person! You spoke to her!"

"Technically, I sang..."

"Do I look like I care, you little smart-mouth? Good god, we've broken so many laws..." she wailed as she buried her face in her claws. "Arron, tell me you're not still thinking of 'dat girl?"

"Yeah, I am." said Arron. Stella was getting increasingly tired of Arron's childish behaviour. She expected more from a future King of the sea, even if he was last in line. How was she going to convince him that the ocean was where he belonged, how good he had things under the sea, where they weren't being hunted like the human races on land.

"Down here is your home!" she yelled at Arron. Stella was tired of this. She knew this was all just a silly crush. Inter-species relationships were destined not to work out, and the boy was still so young! How could he possibly know about love? Still, she thought he needed a little reminder about where his true heritage and loyalty should lie. Arron finally shut up, taken aback by such a big sound coming from such a small creature. "Arron, will you please get your head out of the clouds and back in da water where it belongs!"

He looked down at the crab. "I'm sorry Stella, its just that-" Stella held up a claw to silence him.

"Arron, de human world, it's a mess. One thing you gotta get straight about life my little friend, is 'dat you cannot have everything you want!" Arron sank back down onto the rock and crossed his arms. "Don't you look at me like that, young man. Your mother trusted me to keep you out of trouble, and-"

"What?" Arron exclaimed. "You're babysitting a 15 year old?" he almost laughed.

Stella sighed. She had tried to be patient with the youngest Prince, especially since his father had died, but boy did he try her patience sometimes. "Arron..." Stella began, placing a claw on the boy's shoulder. "I know you find it hard making it through each day down here, when everyday you're reminded of what you've lost. It's normal to want to get away from it, by any means. But 'dis whole human thing has gotta stop!" she said gently. Arron only looked at her with a cold stare, his pain evident. "Who knows what your mother would do if she found out? Believe me, child. The secret to happiness, is to never wish for impossible things."

She gave the Prince a small smile, but she knew that there were tears forming in Arron's eyes. He suddenly shrugged her off and swam away, leaving Stella alone.

Well, that failed... she thought.

"Somebody has got to nail that boy's fins to de' floor…" she mumbled to herself as he faded from view. Stella was just about to go find him again, wherever he had swam off to. Lord knows how much trouble he could get into while unsupervised. When suddenly, one of the Queen's royal seahorses came swimming at full speed up to the crustacean.

"Stella!" the little seahorse puffed, "The Queen has requested your presence immediately… something about Arron!"

Stella put her claws to her mouth in shock. "Agh! She knows!"

Stella scuttled into the throne room where the Queen sat talking to herself.

"Now, now..." said Tritannia, twirling the flower Arron had given her over in her hands. "Who could the lucky merson be? Oh, I just hope they make him happy…" just then, her eyes fell upon the shaking crab walking very slowly into the room. "Ah, Stella!" she greeted her.

Stella felt a huge gulp in her throat. "Yes, your majesty?" she replied in a voice about three octaves higher than usual.

"Yes, I was hoping to talk to you about Arron."

Stella was shaking violently. "Arron? Whatever about him?" Stella said, playing the dumb card.

"In love?" the Queen raised an eyebrow. Stella just stood there, smiling innocently. "I've noticed him day-dreaming, singing to himself. What, you haven't noticed him being a good student of yours for once?" she questioned. The crab simply smiled nervously in response, her heart skipping three beats at a time with every second. "Stella, I sent you to keep an eye on him recently and you haven't noticed anything? I know you've been keeping something from me…"

Stella gulped as she scuttled onto the edge of the Queen's throne. "Keeping something?" she said as a small clicking sound was heard as her knees knocked against each other. She covered her shaking limbs with her large claws.

"I want to know who they are, so I can formally meet them. I think we both know how angry Arron's been all these years, so if he's met someone that makes him happy, I-"

"I TRIED TO STOP HIM, YOUR GRACE!" Stella wailed, grabbing onto a strand of Tritannia's flowing hair and crying into it. In her hysteria, she didn't notice the extremely confused look on the mermaid's face. "I told him to stay away from humans! They are bad, they are trouble! They-"

Stella was suddenly interrupted by the Queen's bubbling anger. "Humans? WHAT ABOUT HUMANS?!" Stella froze.

Oh crap… she thought. She had just given away Arron's secret. That kid was never gonna forgive her after this.

"Humans?" said Stella, still trying to play the dumb card. "Who said anything about humans? Ha ha…" the Queen's usually delicate hand suddenly grabbed the crab and pulled her closer with a force so strong, it nearly squeezed the life out of her.

"Stella," said the Queen, her tone suddenly becoming quiet and serious, "Tell me everything."

Arron and Flora swam to their secret cave, Flora determined to get him there as soon as possible. She had found him after he had swam away from Stella, and saw that he was close to tears. Wanting to cheer up her friend, she saw her perfect opportunity.

"Flora, what's this all about?" he questioned. The fish had a cheeky grin on her face.

"You'll see!" she said as she led Arron into the grotto, and the merman pulled back the boulder.

"I really don't think there's anything you can do to make me feel better-" Arron stopped in his tracks. He put his hands to his mouth as Flora jumped in front of him with a big,

"Ta da!"

Right before him, in his very own grotto, was the marble statue of Erica.

"Holy Neptune…" Arron grabbed his fish friend and pulled her into a tight hug. "Oh Flora, you're the best!" Arron swam up to the figure, Flora beaming that she was able to cheer up her friend after all. "It's beautiful, but, I gotta say, I don't see Erica in this." he said. "She's so much more free spirited than the perfect face I see here. It's her face alright, but, it's not the carefree girl I saw. There's so much more to her, I know there is."

Flora looked saddened. "You don't like it?" she asked with a tiny pout. Arron immediately turned around.

"Of course I do! Flora, you're the best friend in the world! It's just... the way they made this just makes her look..." he searched for the right words. "Like Mom." Arron and Flora burst out laughing, but the fish was the first to stop when she saw Tritannia's furious face suddenly appear in the entranceway. "Flora, what is i-" Arron's heart fell to the bottom of his stomach as he turned to see his mother coming towards him. "Mom, I-" Tritannia put up a hand to silence him.

"Arron, I consider myself to be a reasonable mermaid." she started with a surprisingly calm tone.

Maybe this won't be so bad, Arron thought, though he knew he was screwed.

"I set certain rules..." she continued, her voice getting louder.

Yep, thought Arron. Totally screwed.

"And I expect those rules to be obeyed!" Arron wanted to move away, but he couldn't. He was backed up against the wall; literally. His mother was pointing her glowing trident right at his neck. "All this junk aside, just answer me this. Is it true that you saved a human from drowning?!" she asked, her anger fuming.

"Mom, I... I had too."

The Queen's face turned red. "Arron, how could you?! Have you forgotten the number one rule of our kingdom?!"

"She would have died!" he argued back.

"One less human to worry about!"

Arron was disgusted at his mother's words. "Mom, stop! You don't know what you're saying!" he snapped.

Tritannia scoffed. "I know perfectly well what I'm saying! Spineless, heartless savages incapable of any feeling, the lot of them! Have you forgotten what they did to your father?!"

Arron felt his heart drop and his anger rise. He wanted to scream, to yell, to lash out in a way that would tell his mother how he felt. But instead he kept calm, though he shot his queen a death-stare that would have killed a small creature. "Of course I haven't forgotten." he breathed. "You remind me everyday. Why do you think I wear this?" he held up the purple shell necklace. "Mom, you can't label an entire group of people based on the actions of a few wicked ones!"

"Yes. I. Can." Tritannia said through heavy breaths. "I meant what I said. By order of the Queen, you are hereby under house arrest for one year's time."

"Mom, wait-"

"During this time, you will not leave the castle grounds unless you have my strict permission."

"Mom, stop!"

"You will never so much as see the surface again, let alone see that barbarian you saved."

Arron couldn't help it. He just blurted it out, his emotions filling up to the brim and overflowing. Without thinking, he yelled, "But mom, I love her!"

Tritannia froze. "No…" she breathed. "Have you lost your senses completely?" Arron just turned away, folding his arms across his chest. "She's a human, you're a merman!"

Arron just looked down. "Do you think I care?"

Tritannia's trident glowed in her hands. "So help me, Arron, I am going to teach you a lesson. You are always the one getting in trouble, making my life more of a hell than it already is! You refuse to be civil towards me and your brothers, and I am out of patience. I have let you slip through the cracks way too many times. Poseidon help me, you will learn your place!" Arron slowly turned his head around, feeling the heat of the trident's glow on the back of his neck. "And if this is the only way, so be it!"

Tritannia raised the trident of elders, its hue now radiant, and began to destroy every single one of Arron's human treasures. The little merman, Flora and Stella watched in horror as the merman's life-long collection was destroyed piece-by-piece.

"No, Mom, stop!" Arron cried, but it was no use. The Queen ignored his pleas and continued to aim at object after object, causing clouds of rubble to fly everywhere. Now, the two items she had destroyed days ago seemed like nothing compared to the treasure trove she was now obliterating. By the time the last treasure was destroyed, Tritannia aimed for Erica's statue. Arron knew what was coming next and tried desperately to get his mother to stop, but to no avail.

"Mom, no! Don't!" in the next second, the only thing that remained as the rubble cleared was a clump of stone; Erica's face.

Tritannia finally took a deep breath, and a sudden pang of guilt came over her. Had that been a bit too much? She turned to her distraught son, who didn't speak. The two stood there in uncomfortable silence for what seemed like ages, until Arron finally broke the tension.

He turned and looked his mother right in the eye. "You know, there's something I've been wanting to say to you for a while," he narrowed his eyes, having no regard for his mother's feelings after what she had just done. With a spite he didn't know he possessed, he said, "I hate you."

Tritannia felt her heart break in two. That hadn't been what she had meant to do at all! She wanted to convey how hurt she was by his words, to show her son that she still loved him no matter what, but years of being the lone ruler of an entire kingdom had taught her to hide any sign of weakness or heartbreak, especially after the death of her husband. She gave her son an apologetic look, then turned to leave, a guilt as heavy as an anvil on her shoulders.

But she said before leaving, "I expect you home before dark."

Stella and Flora cautiously swam up to the Prince, who had now sank to the floor.

"Just get out…" Arron whispered when he sensed their presence.

"Arron, I'm so sorry-" Stella began, but he didn't listen.

"I can't believe you told her. Are you that desperate to follow the rules so bad? To just please everyone and punish all who step out of line? Well congratulations, Stella! You did it, and you have no friends. Just get out!"

Stella didn't know how to respond, but Flora tapped a fin on her shoulder that meant she shouldn't say anything. Reluctantly, the two left the little merman to his own emotions. They didn't want to leave him alone, but Stella owed it to him after what she had done. And deep down, his words had been right.

From the darkness, Flotsa and Jeena spotted their moment right then and there. They nodded and smiled to each other, then swam up to the little prince.

"Poor child…" said Flotsa.

"Poor, sweet child…" hissed Jeena. "He has a very serious problem…"

Arron looked up to find two black eels staring at him. "W-who are you?" he asked cautiously.

"Don't be afraid..." Jeena cooed. "We represent someone who can help you." she said, coiling herself around the Prince.

"What? What do you mean?" replied Arron, as Flotsa coiled herself around him alongside her sister. Arron backed away, the slimy touch of their skin a horrible sensation against his own.

"Ursulis!" hissed Flotsa. "That's what I mean! He has great power…"

"The sorcerer?" the red-head whispered in shock. Every young merman and mermaid was told at an early age never to toil with the sea sorcerer. Parents would frighten their children into behaving with stories about the violet coloured beast who would devour your soul as soon as look at you. Arron was terrified at the mention of his name, the creature who had nearly killed his father before the collision did.

"Just imagine..." Flotsa began.

"You and your princess..." Jeena entwined her tail with Flotsa. "Together, forever." The eel sisters said in unison.

Arron looked down. "What? That's… I couldn't possibly… no. No. Get out of here!"

Flotsa and Jeena smiled at each other. They knew that their plan couldn't fail. The boy was too stupid to see through it. "Suit yourself..." said Flotsa as they turned to leave, but Jeena used her tail to flick the marble face of Erica over to Arron. "It was only a suggestion..."

The little merman looked down at what was left of his only reminder of Erica. That little piece of stone was all the merman needed to make up his mind. If he didn't leave, it would be imprisonment in his own home for an entire year. His actions had finally caught up with him, he supposed. What what did he have now? His brothers who would never look at him the same way again. His mother who knew that he hated him. Having no way to ever see Erica again, and no secret place to go to where he could be surrounded by his human treasures. Whatever Ursulis had to offer, it had to be better than this.

"Wait!" he called after the eels.

They smiled and displayed a mouthful of fangs. "Yeeeeees?" they hissed as one.

Arron couldn't believe he was doing this. "I'm in."