Chapter Eleven- Exiled

Seto slipped out of the palace and headed in the direction of his boat. He had a little more than half the night to reach his boat and surface before dawn. If it's still dark when I surface, I could cling to the rope ladder and get some sleep.

He arrived at his boat, unhooked the anchor from the cluster of rocked it had hooked itself on before surfacing. He was unaware that he had been followed by Serenity who was wondering what Seto was planning to do with that small ship. It seems he is a troublemaker, however as I'm becoming a siren, I approve of his actions whatever those are.

She floated below the surface, watching Seto's tail while the sky above was starting to lighten. Then, as the sun rose, the gold tail glowed and split into a pair of human legs! Serenity gasped as the legs left the water and the anchor started to rise. Oh my gosh! Seto's no merman; he's a human! How did he gain a tail? It must be sorcery. He must have used a spell to become one of us. He probably even put a spell on Joey to get him to fall in love with him. Oh, I'm going to make him pay!

Seto felt his tail become legs before climbing the ladder. He swayed slightly as he stood on the deck. Whoa. Well, after not having legs for three days that's to be expected. He went over to the anchor crank and grunted as he turned it. The anchor wasn't as heavy as a big ship's, but it had sufficient weight nonetheless. Once it was raised and locked, Seto raised the sail and turned the ship around.

"Seto!" yelled a voice from the water.

He went to the starboard and saw Serenity, but she seemed different. Her face had sharp angles and yet she looked even more beautiful. He recalled that her voice was not harsher than he remembered. Did she just turn siren?

"I thought you had to be at least eighteen to surface alone," he said calmly, hoping he was wrong about the siren theory.

"That's minor compared to what I just saw," she snapped.

She's siren all right; all the sign are there. She never spoke like that during my visit. "Yes. I am human, but I do love your brother."

"I don't believe you. You used sorcery to become a merman and you probably put a spell on Joey." Her eyes narrowed and a cruel smirk appeared. "Perhaps the spell will break if you're dead."

"No!" he shouted, dashing to the wheel. He could not let Serenity sing him into crashing.

Serenity laughed at his actions. "You can't escape my song. There are some nearby underwater rocks with jagged edges. They'll tear your hull nicely." Serenity began to sing.

Seto heard the song and admitted that it was beautiful, but haunting as well. He kept the ship on course even as the siren sang. Wait a minute. Shouldn't I be blanking out and crashing? Heh, I'm immune to the song, just like all merpeople; probably because I'm at least part merman now.

"No!" Serenity screamed. "No human can resist!" She dipped back underwater as a large gust of wind caught the ship's sails and propelled it across the water.

Serenity sped for the palace, furious that her victim got away. Well, he'll know not to come back. I must tell Mother so she can keep Joey away from that human.

"What!?" Marina shouted. "Seto is a human?"

"Yes. I watched him surface and when the sun rose, I saw his tail become human legs. He must have used magic to become one of us. He probably used a love spell on Joey, too."

"Joey under a love spell. Yes, that makes sense." Marina's tail swished angrily. "So, Seto is a troublemaker and he was attempting to disrupt and possibly destroy our existence. Joey must stay away from that human. Where is he?"

"He said he was going for a swim," Serenity said. "I met him on the way to talk to you."

"Oh, Yug! My family loves Seto!" Joey said, his tail swishing with joy. "And Seto said we can rule our kingdoms separately and still get married."

Yugi chuckled at Joey's joy. "I'm happy things are working out for you. When will your mother perform the marriage?"

"It would be after Gozaburo weds Seto and me. Even so, I can head back and discuss details with Mother."

"Sure. I'll see you later." Yugi waved as Joey crawled back into deeper water before diving down.

The sound of a siren song was heard as Joey surfaced. He saw a ship crash and sink with at least six humans splashing on the surface. He turned to see a pink tail vanish: Serenity. He ducked down to see her giggling at the destruction she caused. He absolutely hated it when a mermaid turned siren and caused destruction and even death on occasion. Serenity opened her eyes, saw Joey, and smiled sweetly, her siren persona fading away.

"Hi, big brother. I was looking for you and then decided to sink a ship."

"I thought you needed someone eighteen or older to accompany you to the surface and why were you looking for me?"

"Mother changed the law so I don't need an escort and Mother also wants to see you."

"Really? Good, 'cause I want to talk to her." Joey swam off with Serenity following him.

"Oh, there you are Joseph," Marina said as her children came in.

"You wished to see me, Mother?"

"Yes. It's about Seto."

The coldness in Marina's voice made Joey apprehensive. "I thought you liked him," he said, confused.

"I did until Serenity saw him become human. It's clear he used magic on himself to gain a tail. I further believe as does your sister that he put a love spell on you."

"A love spell?" he repeated. "Seto doesn't know magic."

"Perhaps not, but he is human. Contact with humans is forbidden Joey. You will not see him again."

"But I love him and you can't stop me from seeing him."

"Yes, I can. I'm your mother and the queen."

"I won't stop seeing him," Joey stated firmly.

"Fine," Marina said icily. "Then you're no longer my son and Serenity will inherit the throne. Now as you are not my son, you are banished from the palace and exiled from the kingdom. Perhaps another village will accept you. Go!" She pointed out the door.

Joey floated in stunned silence before slowly turning and swimming out of the palace. He had been exiled and disowned. While exile was bad, disownment was worse. He felt tears well up and spill over. He swam faster; it was a long way to Seto's kingdom and he wanted to get there quickly. Time to tell the in-laws the truth. They'll have to wait until dawn after day three to see my tail, but hopefully they'll still love me before that happens. He increased his speed, wiping away his tears.