As the sun started to set, Erica's mother started to worry about her daughter being out this long. She walked from her seat towards the door and called out her name.

"Erica! Erica!"

Nothing.

"Where could she be? If I hadn't been so hard to her, I would have had my daughter back."

Erica's mother then shut the door slowly as the warlock started to come towards her area. The warlock then transformed himself as a police officer for the mother to not fear him. Inside the house, her mother started to prepare for dinner as normal. As she had finished her cooking, she heard a knock at the door. Thinking that she was dreaming, she continued preparations while ignoring the sound. The door knocked again and her mother placed her items down as she went towards the window. When she looked, it was a police man and quickly opened the door.

"Yes?"
"Are you the mother of Miss Erica Germaine?"
"Yes?"
"I'm afraid I have some bad news of your daughter's whereabouts."
"Is she alright? What happened to her?"

"May I come in to explain?"

Based on the tone of his response, she allowed him to enter in her home and allowed him to sit on the living room couch. He removed his hat as he placed it down for a moment.

"Make yourself at home, officer."

"Thank you."

She quickly walked towards the kitchen to grab him a cup of coffee and a snack for him. She then placed the tray of snacks for him and handed him a cup of coffee.

"Here you go, sir."
"I appreciate it."

She then sat down and sigh.
"Now, what do you know about my daughter?"

"This."

He then grabbed what he had in his bag and showed her Erica's personal belonging that she carried with her always. From the looks of it, the bag was torn in pieces and papers in her favorite book destroyed. In tears, Erica's mother started to cry. The warlock in disguise patted the mother's shoulder in respect.

"I'm sorry. That's all we could find from her."

"Is there any evidence that she was kidnapped?"

"Kidnapped?"

"Yes, if she is kidnapped, I want her back home in one piece. Won't you please bring her back home?"
"You misunderstood me, ma'am. She wasn't taken hostage. She was killed."

"By whom? Not one of the people in this village, I hope?"
"In this village, no, but in the sea, yes."
"What do you mean, 'in the sea'?"

"Witnesses stated that they saw Ms. Erica swimming by the beach to find some sea shells nearby with her bag. As she started to swim back to shore, witnesses saw a shark fin go towards Ms. Erica in full speed. In a few moments, her body then was sunk to the bottom of the ocean. After that moment, blood started to spread in the ocean. Your daughter was murdered in the ocean by a ferocious shark, which people have believed that this attack was lead by a merman."

"You don't believe that those creatures even exist, do you?"
"I know they do exist. They barely see them on shore at all. It is very rare for a fisherman to see these creatures. If spotted, they consider those creatures good luck charms. It is said that they also control the weather of the sea. What happens when sailing will take them to places they have never experienced before."

"Foolish fishermen. They are demonic creatures that should never exist at all."

"What would you do if you found one, if I may ask, ma'am?"
"I would kill the creature."
"Why don't you?"
"What are you-"

Before she was able to ask, she was in full possession of the warlock's spell. He was using his power from his eyes. According to mermaids and mermen folktale, it is said that when one looks at the eyes of the sea witch for a long time, the exact creature would be possessed for all eternity until he no longer needs the creature anymore.

"If you really want to kill a mermaid, you can have the opportunity till now."
"How so, master?"

"Good thing you should ask,"

As he started to lead her to the lighthouse, he then gave the mother her husband's knife.

"Hold on to that precious item, my dear. When we're done here, I want you to prepare your death wish."

"Yes, master."

They were close to the Lake of Time and urged her to come close.

"Here's what you're going to do: you're going back to the day before the lost of your husband and kill the mermaid in a blue tail that you see. No exceptions."

"Yes, master."

"Now, go."

The mother with the knife in her hand went deep underwater as the warlock laughed evilly.

"This was too easy for me."

He walked towards the elevator and laughed loudly. The then pulled the lever up as the elevator went towards the top floor. All around that particular floor were potions he had conjured up, items from on land and on sea, the animals he used for experiments, a cloak he wore, and a special book he holds dear towards. He started to laugh lightly as he walked towards the view of the ocean.

"My dear, Erica, you should've known by your mother to not talk to strangers. Now, you will pay the price."

He then grabbed a few potions from his shelf he had created already and summon a view of the past through a waterfall. He then noticed in the past her and Prince Aqua were talking towards each other about her family. As he glanced carefully, a bright light started to blind him. For what he saw was a future vision in front of his eyes. He knew that the prophecy was coming true.

"What? Impossible?"

Then, two figures, which represented the creatures from different worlds, touch each other for their true power to come from within. The power was so strong that they were able to defeat the evil warlock and disappear without a trace. He knew the day was close at hand; it was only a matter of time. As the vision ended, the water disappeared. He walked straight towards the book and turned the pages to look for a portrait of the world map only sea creatures know of. When he had found the page, he then looked at the top of the world which was the North Pole. It showed the northern lights shining towards the sea and a picture of a beautiful white whale with a horn on its head. He then touched the picture with grace, but then smiled so evilly.

"Oh, I'm sorry dear, Oceana. You may be right of your prediction, but should I defeat your prediction long before it comes true. Everything is going according to plan. Once she cuts the hair of that devoted prince she truly loves, he will die and her mother will kill dear Erica also and will never have the chance to see her beloved child again. Demonic creature, she says? She doesn't know the meaning of it."

He then turned to the side and started to form potions of his own for preparations of his next plan. He then looked at his reflection and realized that his age was slowly dying from his facial skin. As he started to grab his antidote he used for anti-aging lotion, he then passed by his waterfall, looked at himself, trying to remind himself of the good old days. He showed his memories through the waterfall. From his past life, he was able to help various amounts of mermaids and mermen with their dreams and desires, making them coming true in their own eyes. He even saw the close relationship he had with the king, the queen and his entire family. From his eyes, the king was actually the sea witch's only cousin and closest friend anyone would ask for. At the day of his death, the king asked the sea witch to create a special gift for his beloved wife. When his precious gift was created, he mentioned to him to go to the surface to show the gift at sunset. After the death of the king, the queen mourned for him for a few months and blamed the sea witch for allowing him to go up to the surface. From then forward, every creature was never allowed to go out of the sea again. Ever since her blame, the sea witch then started to place various amounts of curses for each mermaid or merman whom he helped pursue their dreams. When the queen knew of his treacherous plans, she banished him from out of the sea and into dry land.

"Someday, I will return, Tatiana. Not as the warlock itself, but someone you will regret for all eternity."

As he smiled an evil smile, he then noticed two other creatures coming out of the darkness. They both were human creatures, a boy and a girl, with short black hair with one eye as gold as the sun, but the other black as night.

"What do you two want?"

"Master," spoke the first creature. "must we always hide in the darkness?"

"Do you have a problem with the way I customize my own home?"

"Not at all."

"Good. I don't want to hear any more complaints from any of you two."
"If we are purposed to work for you, then why let others do your work for you?"
"Do I need to remind both of you of our true purpose?"

"Not likely." the other stated.

"Then be patient. If you need to receive revenge, you need to wait for the right and proper moment."

"By the time you wait, sir, the prince will be married and you will have no opportunity to rule."
"Exactly my point. When he gets too close to the human, she will have the chance to cut his beautiful hair. According to legend, if a mermaid or merman has their hair cut from human tool, then the power starts to die within them and he will remain mortal. At that exact moment when that appears, his heart will be completely broken that he will command his mother to see her executed. When that appears, she will never have the opportunity to return back into the future ever again."

"Then why bring her mother?"
"If all else fails, her mother will have the opportunity to kill her only child: thinking that she is the monstrous creature she hates so much."

"Wouldn't that be murderous for her mother to do such a thing?"
"It would be, but she'll finally realize it too soon when she sees what she has done."

"Very well."

"Soon, we will rule over the kingdom and everyone will all pay for what they did to me!"

"And we will help you succeed to that path, Master."

"I'm sure you will. I need you to do me a favor."

"What will your request be?"

"Leave my presence at once, Coral and Jewel. Find the girl and remind her of her bargain."
"As you wish, master."

Both creatures bowed in respect, slowly started to disappear into the dark, and go towards the Lake of Time. He then turned towards the view of the ocean to see the sun fall slowly towards the water.

"Your time will be over soon, Ms. Erica Germaine."

As he walked away to plot his revenge, there laid an hourglass by his book. All you could see inside was small little pearls on top falling towards the bottom of the glass. They seem like bubbles at first, but for him, it was a timeline for each individual when encountering the Lake of Time. The bubble-formed hour glass was actually Erica's timeline. He knew that once the last bubble hits the bottom of the glass, her life as a mermaid will end as a dream.