The revelation of his parentage shocked him, but he had something—no, someone—else to worry about for now. Neil gently put Reine down on the ground and took his shirt off. He held one of its sleeve and quickly rolled the other sleeve until his shirt turned into a twisted cloth and wrapped it on Reine's wound. "This should stop the bleeding for now," he said.

He then took a handful of haleweed from Reine's bag and swallowed it quickly. "We're heading to Mama Orca."

Reine chuckled. "Since when… you become dependable?"

"I guess you're still fine if you can talk like that," he replied while giving her the trident. "Hold this."

Reine took the trident and held it tightly. Neil then hoisted the mermaid on his arms and started swimming. Reine leaned her head on his shoulder as her eyes watched his face from the side. She knew that he was trying his best to focus on their journey. His mouth opened slightly.

"…you know?" he finally asked. "How…?"

He could feel Reine's head nodding on his shoulder, her hair caressing the side of his neck.

Prince Eric Jr. had had an affair with one of his maids. The King and Queen, unaware of the relationship, arranged for their son's marriage to a princess from another kingdom. Previously, the two kingdoms almost clashed blades—this marriage was seen as a peace settlement. The prince couldn't refuse and the maid, once she learned about the engagement, resigned from her post and gave birth in her hometown.

"Your father found the two of you… and begged… her to come back. With you."

Neil closed his eyes. Now that the Prince turned out to be his real father, he really didn't know how to feel. At least, he was grateful that the Blood of Triton in him had saved Reine. However, when he thought of the pain that his mother must have gone through…

"It was her choice, Neil… that's why I can see it," Reine murmured. "She chose to come back and brought you… to your father."

He regretted asking her. Now, her voice was barely above a whisper and her pauses became longer and longer. "That's quite enough," Neil took a deep breath. "You should save your breath."

Allen helped King Troanes to get up. "We will settle our score after this," the young prince said.

Morgana laughed at the unlikely alliance. "He has betrayed your ancestor! You're such a fool to believe him!"

Allen snickered. "I'll be the worse fool to believe in you instead."

Gwen watched the scene before her in trepidation. She should've known better; the scene slowly became more and more similar to the one she received, the one she desperately wanted to avoid. She held her breath.

Morgana stretched her arms out and a horde of carnivore fishes suddenly appeared. "Round One!" she announced in a wicked glee.

The orcas immediately surrounded Neil when they saw the barely conscious Reine in his arms. Some of them quickly gathered weeds and piled them on a flat boulder, with one or two younger orcas immediately called for their matriarch.

Mama Orca appeared just as Neil put Reine down on the weed-covered boulder. Reine turned her head to face the old orca and grinned wryly. "Gramps… couldn't take it anymore…"

Suddenly, Reine coughed violently and the water around her mouth turned dark red. Neil reached out to her, but the mermaid shoved the trident at him with the rest of her strength and kept him at a distance. The trident glowed brightly once it touched Neil's skin and it shocked some of the orcas.

"Go…!" she implored. "The palace…"

"What…? What are you saying?!"

Reine took several deep breaths to regain some of her energy. "Take… what's yours…" she told him.

"I heard Tritonean loyalists are rebelling against the throne right now," one of the orcas said. "I believed she wanted you to join them."

Reine beckoned at Neil to come closer. He leaned in and at that moment, Reine sat up and touched his lips with hers. It was a brief touch, more like a peck than a kiss, but it sent cold chill down his spine. Reine grinned. "No more… haleweed for you," she told him.

Spending the last of her energy, Reine slumped to the ground, only to be halted by the orcas surrounding them. Neil looked up at Mama Orca, who had been staring at him solemnly.

"Now you know who you are…" she said. "Go, Blood of Triton. Trust Reine to us."

Allen and Troanes had barely managed to dispatch all of the carnivorous fishes when they realized that Morgana had taken Gwen captive. The two men immediately pointed their blades at her, but Morgana showed them her steel nails—groomed specifically for this ocassion—and pressed it against Gwen's neck. Allen and Troanes froze.

"Good, be still and she will be unharmed."

Morgana pointer her fingers at Troanes suddenly a number of small projectiles dashed off and pierced the old king. He slumped to the ground wordlessly and the water around him turned dark.

Gwen held her breath as she heard Morgana's piercing laughter behind her. Allen took that opportunity to strike Morgana's arm and free Gwen, pulling her towards him.

"You son of a—"

Allen cut her off with another strike, this time he cut her arm off completely. Morgana shrieked in horror as her severed arm fell to the ground and turned into ashes.

Allen smirked. "Good. At least your body won't be some trash in the ground after I'm finished with you."

"Daaaaamn youuu!" Morgana raised her other arm, and with it several of her tentacles, ready to strike Allen. The prince prepared his guard, but suddenly a golden beam struck into the space between the two, forming a shield that separated them.

Both Allen and Morgana turned towards the origin of the beam and found Neil with the trident in his right hand, pointed at them. Allen saw the trident was glowing and he smiled knowingly.

"So, I guess we are real brothers, after all."

"We can talk about that later," Neil replied. "After we're finished with her."

"I'm good with that."

The two young men engaged Morgana in a frenzied battle. Surprisingly, she fought quite well against two people simultaneously, although that could also be attributed to the fact that neither Neil nor Allen was accustomed to fighting in water.

Meanwhile, Gwen slipped out from the fray and approached her grandfather. His eyes were half-opened. "…Gwen…" he groaned.

"You exiled Father who found out the truth about the bracelets," she stated coldly. "It was I that you should've gotten rid of. I told him of it—of the truth."

"You're… the Seeress…"

"A Seeress," she corrected him. "Reine, whom you have betrayed, has half of the Seeress' power."

The new information obviously shocked Troanes. "…What happens now?"

Gwen closed her eyes. "The throne will fall to its rightful heir," she said. "As for you… I see nothing."

Gwen felt the foam rose with the current, going away from her. Strangely, she felt almost nothing at her grandfather's passing; all had been written down on the stone table of Fate, after all. She opened her eyes, facing the now empty ground and turned to look at the fight.

Neil and Allen, both of them had their names written down on the Golden Book. However, there could only be one ruler of Atlantica.

Morgana slashed her nail across Allen's chest and struck him down. Seeing that, Gwen dashed towards Allen's side and grabbed him, intending to drag him out to safety. However, when their skins touched, her eyes turned dark and she was stunned.

That moment, Neil managed to pierced through Morgana's undefended neck using the trident and pegged her to a nearby wall. Looking at Neil's eyes, Morgana realized that her life was in grave danger.

"Mercy… prince…"

"I'm not a prince," he told her coldly. "But, consider this mercy,"

Neil violently swung the trident aside, slicing Morgana's neck in the process. Her loud scream filled the hallway as she turned to ashes. Neil turned his head as the current washed the ashes away. He swam towards Gwen and Allen.

"Is he alright?" he asked.

Gwen's eyes turned back to its usual color. She looked up, but said nothing.

"Is he?" Neil asked again.

"He will be…" she finally said.

Gwen put his body gently on the sand. She lied down beside him, on the warm sand, and she wiped his face gently. She swept his bangs, now stuck to his forehead. She turned to look at the night sky; it was a starry night, just like when they shared their first kiss. Now, she could only smile wryly at the memories.

She turned to face Allen again. She should leave soon, she knew.

She knew that Triton, who had been released by his followers soon after Morgana defeat, appointed Neil as his successor. Neil, who felt that he couldn't go back to the shore with the knowledge of his parentage, accepted it.

She knew that, as she spent the last of her moments with Allen, Neil was being turned again into merman—now with the power of the trident instead of black sea magic.

Gwen laid her head on Allen's chest, feeling its slight movement and the steady beating of his heart. The tears she had been holding inside finally broke free.

He didn't belong in the sea. She knew, because when they touched earlier, she saw him standing on a grand ship, waving at the sea.

Gwen closed her eyes, enjoying the last of this quiet moment as she murmured. "What would I give… to be part of your world?"

"Who's there?"

Gwen jerked up and she saw someone approaching with a lantern in her hand. A woman with red hair. Their eyes met for a moment before Gwen quickly turned back to the sea and disappeared.

"Wait!" Ariel dropped the lantern and intended to chase after the mermaid. However, she stopped when she noticed Allen's lying on the sand. She crouched down and propped her grandson up.

"Allen? Allen, dear?"

He slowly opened his eyes and in his hazy vision, he saw his grandmother's unfading red hair. "…Granny?" he called.

That moment, he realized that he was no longer in the sea. He jerked up, ignoring the shooting pain in his stomach due to his injury. "Where's Gwen?!"

"Gwen?" Ariel asked. The mermaid earlier?

"Gwen!" Allen called out at the sea's direction. "Guinevere Helenian!"

Allen stood up and he staggered towards the sea. "I know you can hear me! Guinevere!" he shouted. "What the heck are you doing?!"

He was already waist-deep in water when Ariel caught up to her grandson, wrapping her arms around his injured body. "Allen, calm down."

"Why am I here?! Where is she?!"

"She went back to the sea, Allen," Ariel finally replied.

"And why the heck she left me here…? How could she… ditch someone like me?"

His attempt to sound flippant utterly failed as Allen crumbled into Ariel's arms. "What is this…?"

Next chapter will be the last chapter :)

Stay tuned for it!

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