That evening, the ball went through as planned and the neighboring kingdom came to see the performance. His brothers and sisters sang a song for the kingdom and they were pleased for the moment, however, as Aqua started to come forth, Queen Tatiana called his name.

"Aqua, there you are."
"Hello mother."
"I know you want that you are going to go out there to sing your best, but I will let you know that our kingdom is in need of a king. Whomever you select, even if it is from the neighboring kingdom will be your bride to be."
"Mother. Look, there's something I need to tell-"
"Your majesty." Sebastian replied. "It is time."
"Good luck." the queen replied in joy as she swam towards her seat.

He had the chance to tell his mother, but his timing was not perfect. Sadly, he started to sing the lullaby that his father has sung before he died. As he sang, one of the daughters from the neighboring kingdom named Ariel noticed that he had the same beautiful voice as hers. She enjoyed his song so much, but she didn't think of him beautiful enough to marry. As King Triton noticed his daughter watching him from a distance, he then talked with his mother for a royal engagement.

Meanwhile, as Erica and her parents came back from their trip, Erica then walked towards the ocean to view the night sky and see the stars as normal. She then sigh as she sat at the sandy beach. Lots of things pondered her mind as she viewed the ocean. The merman that she encountered and the golden light between the two of them as the waters came towards them. She glanced at her book the book store clerk gave her and her sketch book she had when she was a child and started to sketch. She drew amazing images of the mermaids and mermen. As she finished the photo, she then sighed deeply. Would she give anything to see her dance in the sea as a mermaid? With an elegant tail and a talented voice to sing, she would have been perfect.

"Amazing art work." a voice replied.

Erica looked up and noticed a female warlock who was just passing through, looking at her photos.

"Th...thank you." Erica replied quietly as she walked away.

She knew from her parents that warlocks were dangerous and crazy. Entirely crazy, they would steal children from their beds and kill them without a trace of a butcher's knife. The town's warlock also lived just outside of town where the abandoned lighthouse roamed. At night, when the area was fogged, the lighthouse would be as bright as if she was casting spells or curses. Though there was no way for her to speak with the warlock, she started to leave the place.

"I sense a great future for you, young Erica." the warlock replied.

She then turned around and looked at the warlock.

"How did you-"
"I sense a love inside your heart that you will encounter again."
"What do you mean?"
"If you want to know more, come to my place. I will show you."
"I don't know. I really should be going home."
"And question yourself of my prediction?"
"Well..."
"Please come. Nothing bad is going to happen to you."
"I-I..."

Before she had the chance to speak, she felt a bit of a trance from the warlock's fingers possessing her. She shook her head and quickly fled as she could. Just when she was close to the door of her room, she felt scared entirely. Why did the warlock know about the love in her heart? Forgetting what it was, she stayed in her room for the remainder of the day and promised to go to her special place.

At the castle, later that night, Tatiana swam elegantly towards her son's room and requested his presence. As Aqua came towards the throne room of her mother, he bowed lightly toward the ground.

"You wish to see me, mother?"
"Of course, my son. As you know, today marks a celebration."
"A celebration?"
"Indeed. One of the daughters from the neighboring kingdom would like to be asked for your hand in marriage."
"But mother..."
"For the first time in centuries, we will produce the most fantastic wedding of them all."
"Mother..."
"And this kingdom will finally have a king!"
"Mother!"

He yelled loudly that his mother noticed his attitude had changed.

"What is it, darling?"
"I want to tell you something."
"What darling?"

He sighed deeply and looked at his mother straight in the face.

"I don't want to rule as king!"
"What?"
"Why do you want me to marry someone I never met before or whom I never loved, mother?"
"You already know. The law states that..."
"The youngest has the right to rule. I know, but I never even wanted the throne."
"What is wrong of taking the throne?"
"For one, I am too young and immature to take the throne at this time, plus my brothers and sisters have more knowledge of the throne than I do. And besides, I don't want to get married to someone that I never loved in the first place."
"Sadly, though, you cannot change the law. What has been stated must be done."
"I can't believe it! You want me to not only rule as king at a very young age, but also marry who I do not love! I don't want this!"

In frustration, he swam away from his mother.

"Aqua Marine, get back here right now!"

Just as soon as she was able to call out towards him, Prince Aqua was no where to be seen. Tatiana then sat down on her throne. She knew it was hard for him to marry whom he doesn't even know, let alone marry. However, she also knew that once married, they will be able to get to know each other by then. That is how she knew his father when they were married at his age. He didn't like her at first, but when they got to know another after the wedding, he fell in love with her and was always by her side until his death.

As Prince Aqua swam as far away from the castle as possible, he then went into a cave where he can be up in the surface without getting caught by any human. As he got up to the surface, he then sat on the rock to think. What will happen to him now when he is engaged to someone else? While he sat there to think, he noticed the sun was rising. It was the most beautiful thing he has ever seen in the surface. Trance by the beauty of nature, he never noticed a visitor who was coming nearby. A few move of pebbles snapped himself out of the spell and ducked under the rock. He looked carefully and noticed it was the same girl that touched him a few hours ago.

"What a beautiful morning." Erica stated.

He heard her speak and looked at her. He knew that she was his enemy, but he did noticed that she was carrying two items: a bag and a book full of mermaids.

"Why does this human want to know about my kind?" he asked in question to himself.

As she started to sit down, Erica noticed that someone else was here as well.

"Who goes there?" she asked. "I know someone's here."

Prince Aqua stopped for a moment and felt trapped. If he revealed himself to her, she may as well kill him on the spot. He then had an idea. If he wanted to prove if this human was not as evil as he thinks, he would talk, but make her believe he is a spirit of the cave.

"Why should a young human such as yourself enter into my domain?"

That shocked Erica to death.

"Who's there?"
"It is I, the spirit of these caverns."
"Spirit? You mean, ghosts?"
"Of course."
"Alright then. If you truly are a spirit, then can I ask why I haven't heard from you before?"
"You contain a book that only I can appear."
"You mean this mermaid book?"
"Indeed."
"Well, I actually am fascinated by them."
"How so?"
"I love their beauty and grace as if they were angels in the sea. Their delicate tails are a sight to behold. I even drew pictures about these creatures."
"Really?"
"Yes. I would give just about anything to be a mermaid."
"Why? A young human as yourself would be content for who you are."
"I am content as a human, don't get me wrong. It's just.."

She then sigh as she sat down.

"Do you sometimes think that there is more to life than just being where you are?"

Prince Aqua then understood what she meant. If you are content of who you are, but if there was more to life than just being what you are already, would there be more to go through as a human than as a mermaid.

"I actually agree." he replied.
"How would you know? You are a mere spirit."
"Did you know that there is a being like you who is being forced in marriage?"
"Really?"
"Yes, but this being that I know of wants more to life than being something he knows he isn't prepared for."
"That's sad. Is this being you speak of wanted to be free?"
"He does intentionally, but he knows that if he lets go, there would be no going back afterwards."
"I see."
"It's great to let a human speak to a great spirit such as myself of this matter."

As Erica was about to ask another question, she heard her mother calling for her.

"Well, I must be off."
"So soon?"
"It's breakfast time for me. I'll be back later in the afternoon if you aren't busy as a spirit."
"Not at all. It will be my honor to talk some more."
"Okay. Bye."

Erica then started to leave with her books and bag, but dropped a picture after she left. While she was out of sight, Aqua then came out of his hiding spot and went towards the picture which was close by the water and land. The picture he saw was a sunset picture with a dolphin doing a front flip from the water to the sky. He then noticed that she truly was talented of her gift as an artist. Never in his life has he ever seen a picture so elegant in his entire life. With no hesitation, he took the picture and swam back into his home to hide his precious gift from his mother. What he never noticed that in that cave, a person hidden in the shadows smiled evilly with a plan so dangerous that could change not only the merman, but the young girl's life forever.

"It's time. Time for revenge." the creature stated.

Just like that, the warlock who appeared for just a moment then disappeared back into the darkness.