One more mission. That was all that was left, supposedly, and Neil would be back to his own life on the shore. During their first days of adventures, Reine wished this day to come for both of their sakes. Now, Neil had gone to the Throne Room to give the Golden Book to her grandfather. The end to his missions was near.

Why wasn't she thrilled now?

"He makes a good merman," Viv quipped from her side.

Reine waved her finger. Don't.

"Don't what?" Viv challenged. "You lost your voice, so I will be that. You fell in love with a human. You love Neil."

No. Reine insisted.

"Then, why give up your voice and your power?"

He needed it. Reine replied. He had a life up there, and his family—

That moment, Reine realized that she was trying to lie. Not just to Viv, but to herself, too, since she knew Neil was an orphan and that he wasn't too fond of his on-the-shore life. And did she just use a past tense?

Viv snickered. "I'd never thought I'd see a day seeing you like this. You never lie to yourself, Reine… at least not until now."

Reine took a deep breath. This is not a fairytale… we have to be realistic, she told the pink dolphin. His tail… is not real.

"Doesn't mean that your feelings for him aren't real, either."

The door to her room was suddenly open. King Troanes and Neil stood from the other side. "Come take a swim with us. I will tell you the last mission."

Reine quietly swam to them, but when Viv followed her, the mermaid gestured to the dolphin to stay put. Viv pouted. All of her efforts couldn't be wasted!

But perhaps, she needs some time alone with him, Viv thought.

She knew it: today was the day.

She knew Morgana had approached the King but she couldn't make out what she was telling him and his reaction. She knew, however, that the King was taking a swim with Neil and Reine afterwards.

Were the two related? Of course.

The sister in her felt like she should intervene; Morgana was never trustworthy, after all. However, the Seeress in her—the previous Seeress—warned against interfering with the Fate.

She knew this was how a Seeress was supposed to operate: calm, detached, objective. However, thanks to a certain… disturbance, it was getting hard for her to operate in her normal.

Speaking of the 'disturbance', the redhead prince had been loitering around her chamber since morning. Of course she could roughly guess why; she had visions of him and Rod and some Tritoneans lately.

She didn't need the power of the Seeress to predict what would happen to her if what she was getting through her visions came to reality. And she knew that Allen didn't need to be a part of it; she didn't want him to be.

"Viserys," Gwen called calmly. "Please escort the guest out."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"We need to talk," Allen finally said.

"Ten hours of floating around and just now you say your purpose?" Gwen asked derisively. "Leave. You have nothing to do here."

"Don't try to instruct me," Allen warned. "You should be thankful I am doing this for you."

Gwen snickered behind her veil. "Don't think too highly of yourself, prince."

"I have my reasons," Allen insisted.

"Viserys," Gwen called again, this time her voice sounded harsher.

This time, the silver dolphin practically shoved Allen out from Gwen's working chamber. Allen knew better than to behave aggresively towards Gwen's personal guard; his life could be in danger.

"Her Highness had ordered me to leave my post in front of her chamber one hour before midnight."

Allen glanced at Viserys. "And you're telling me this… why?"

Viserys glared at Allen. "Because in whole of Atlantica… perhaps only you who can change Her Highness' vision."

With Viserys leaving his post to retire, the Princess-Seeress was completely alone in her private chamber. With all of her duties, complete silence was rare. Thus, the blue mermaid sat at the centre of her room, her eyes closed, enjoying the sound of silence. Who knows? This could be her last.

Ten…

Was this normal?

Nine…

Did all of the her predecessors feel this way, too?

Eight…

Death.

Seven…

She had thought about it these last few days.

Six…

She thought she would be scared when it came.

Five…

She wasn't.

Four…

Instead, she felt so calm she couldn't believe herself.

Three…

There was still something that bothered her a bit, though.

Two…

Allen.

One…

Maybe… she should've told him?

Zero.

Gwen opened her eyes and true enough, three mermen had surrounded her with their blades ready at their side. Gwen looked at them, but didn't offer her hand. They snickered. "What is this?" the man at the middle asked. "You're the Seeress yet you can't see your own death?"

Gwen kept still. She said nothing even though their arrogant laughter nauseated her.

They drew their blades and pointed them at her.

Gwen closed her eyes again. This time, it was not darkness that she saw. Instead, she saw her favorite color—his eyes.

Perhaps she should've at least said good bye.

The king led them to a cave near the surface with the moon as their source of light. The trident in the king's right hand glowed, although now Reine knew it was not for the reason she had thought it had been.

"Let us make haste," the king said.

It happened quickly—too quickly to comprehend properly. King Troanes shot a beam at Neil and it turned to shackles that pegged Neil to the wall of the cave. "What the heck?!"

"Relax, boy, those will disappear when your fake tail turned back into legs, which will happen when it touches a dry ground," the king informed him before turning towards Reine. "As for you, my granddaughter…"

Suddenly, the king thrusted the trident at Reine, piercing through her abdomen and stabbed the roof of the cave. Blood began to seep through the wound and mixed with the brine water. "Reine!" Neil called out desperately, but Reine's eyes were fixed at her grandfather.

"You want to know why?" the king asked. "I have heard it all from Morgana, about your little plan of rebellion."

What?!

"I made you a princess and that's how you repay me? Siding with the Tritoneans? Really, Reine?" the king swam up and gripped Reine's chin. "You should've known the limit of being rebellious. At least now I can keep you in place, now that you know that none of us can actually move the trident without the Tritonean blood."

"That a total bullshit!" Neil shouted.

"Shut up, human!" the king roared, shooting another beam that turned into a gag in Neil's mouth. "Do not think that you are one of us with your fake tail!"

The king let go of Reine and swam away to get a better look of the two young people. "Once the sun rises, the water in this cave will go down and you will get your legs back. As for my ungrateful granddaughter…"

"…let us see how long you can endure that."

The king then turned around and left.

Reine slumped in despair. Who would have thought that the king would believe Morgana to such an extent? If she still had her power, perhaps things would turn out differently—at least she could defend herself, with her own voice.

She turned to look at Neil, who was still struggling to free himself. Even without that, if the king had been honest, Neil would be free in six or seven hours. He would get his life—the one on the shore—back.

Viv's insistent voice came back to her:

You love Neil.

Reine didn't know what love was, to be honest. However, she knew that if this was really her last, she wanted to at least tell this human in front of her a proper good bye, sorry for dragging him into this mess… and thank you, for the time they had spent together.

Well, those, and perhaps… the fact that lately being near him made her feel like something was wrong in her chest—like it swelled, but in a good way.

Was that love?

What will happen next?

Stay tuned to find out!

Thanks for reading! Please rate and review! ^^

A/N: I know this doesn't sound like the usual Valentine's special (the shy-chocolate-kiss cycle whatever), but it still deals with love (as if there's not enough here, duh, this is a Disney's adaptation)... but anyway, Happy Valentine's! ^^