All right! Time for Courtney's answer. Thanks for reviewing, Elizabeth Fire Ice Heart, Bloodylilcorpse and the guest reviewer.

As the name of his youngest daughter left Chris' lips, Courtney's throat dried up. All she could think about was what Bridgette had been saying about Geoff. Had Chris found out?

Evidently, he hadn't. He said that the other girls had been saying that Bridgette was acting as if she was into someone, and he knew Courtney knew.

Finally, the brunette broke down. "I tried to tell her not to, Chris, and she says she won't, but I can tell it's too late! She's already too far gone. No matter how many times I tell her that it's illegal to speak to humans, she-"

"Humans?" Chris' eyes narrowed. "Courtney, did you just say she's been talking with humans?"

"No!" Courtney said, too quickly. She tried to backtrack, but she couldn't. Within ten minutes, she'd ended up telling Chris everything, from Bridgette's collection to her saving Geoff.

Meanwhile, Bridgette was blissfully unaware. She and DJ were back in her cavern, but on his command, she'd closed her eyes.

"Can I open them yet?" she was asking.

"Not until I tell you to!" DJ said firmly. "I took a lot to get this surprise set up for you in here, but I promise, you're gonna love it." They reached the open part of the cave. "Okay, you can open them now!"

Instantly, Bridgette's light green eyes spotted the surprise in the middle of the room. "How did it even survive?" She swam up to it, looking into its face. Finally, she smiled. "DJ, you are officially the best friend ever! The statue didn't look quite right, but its face...that's him! Even his eyes are perfect."

It was the statue of Geoff, the one that had been made for his birthday.

Bridgette couldn't help engaging in a little fantasy. "I'm pretty?" she whispered to the statue. "Really, you should see my sisters." She paused. "Oh, Geoff, really? That's such a sweet thing to say!" She didn't giggle, but her eyes lit up, as if everything that she was imagining had happened, as if it was the real Geoff she was with.

Suddenly, DJ froze, and disappeared into the shadows of the cavern. Bridgette snapped out of her fantasy, and turned to see what had scared him.

"...Chris?"

"Bridgette." Chris said, his tone devoid of any emotion. "I consider my rules fair and I expect them to be obeyed, especially by my own daughters."

Actually, Chris changed the rules whenever it suited him, but Bridgette knew what he was saying, and opened her mouth. But he didn't let her speak. "Did you or did you not save a human from drowning, the very day I told you that going up to the surface was forbidden?"

"But he's unaware of what I am, and he would have died if I hadn't-" Bridgette began to protest.

Chris cut her off. "It doesn't matter who dies! One less human! You shouldn't care!"

This sounded horribly unfair to Bridgette. To an extent, she cared about every living creature. "You don't know him!" she protested. "He's not just any human-"
"I don't need to know him to know that he's as dangerous as any of them! Fish eaters, oil spillers, killers who don't care what part of the sea they damage-"

Courtney was in the shadows, listening. She couldn't stop Chris from swimming off to the cavern to confront his daughter, but she followed, and the guilt hit her hard as Chris raised his voice. He rarely got this angry, unless his hair got messed up or if someone mentioned his age.

"I care about him!" she heard Bridgette cry out. "And I know he'd understand if we could just talk again-" She realized too late that she'd mentioned their encounter on the beach, and clapped a hand over her mouth.

Chris' eyes blazed. "You're a mermaid, he's a human! So Poisedon help me, Bridgette, I am going to get through to you on this. And I'm not going to enjoy it as much as usual. Keep that in mind."

And after that moment, Bridgette couldn't remember much clearly. She remembered Chris holding up his magic trident, but after that, it was all a blur. All she remembered was a feeling of destruction, like with every blast of the trident, something inside of her was killed with the objects. Chris destroyed everything, even when Bridgette began sobbing. At one point, Courtney actually tried to stop him, but Chris was too strong.

The last thing he smashed was the statue of Geoff. That was the last straw, and Bridgette slumped down on the single rock, the only thing left whole in the cavern. Chris left her there to cry.

Courtney approached. "Bridge-" she began. "I didn't mean to tell-"

"Leave me alone!" Bridgette muttered, not looking at her.

DJ knew that he'd get the same response, and there was nothing to do but leave her until she was ready to talk. Both merpeople were about to leave, when Courtney saw a flash of something red in the corner of her eye. She stopped DJ, and the two of them watched as an unfamiliar merman approached, followed by another.

"That was the most heartless display I have ever seen." the emerald-eyed merman said in a sympathetic tone, with a hint of shock. "I wish I could have stopped him. Can I help you in anyway, senorita?"

Bridgette raised her blonde head for a moment, but didn't reply.

"I think we can help you." the other merman said in velvety tones. "You see, we know someone who can give you another chance with her powers..."

"Another life, one on land..." added the first, injecting an almost irresistible amount of persuasion into his voice. "And you can finally get to know your human."

Bridgette stared at them. "Who are you? And who can do that?"

"We'll take you to her." the second merman offered. "Would you-"

"Justin, manners!" the other merman admonished. "We haven't introduced ourselves yet." He told the mermaid that his name was Alejandro, and of course, he'd already mentioned his partner's name. "Would you like to talk to Blaineley? I'm sure she'll help you."

Bridgette felt a tug at her memory, but wasn't sure where she'd heard the name before. Nevertheless, she shook her head. "I don't want help. Just leave me alone."

Justin was ready to give up. But Alejandro wasn't as lazy, and no woman had slipped through his web before. He wasn't letting any girl, let alone a princess, remain unaffected. He looked around, trying to find something to convince Bridgette, and his eyes fell on the biggest part of the shattered statue – Geoff's face.

He picked it up and took it to Bridgette. She looked at it for a long time – the bright eyes, the carefree smile – and her thoughts changed. She turned back to the mermen. "All right. I'll go with you."

DJ and Courtney followed, and Courtney swam up to her. "Bridgette! What are you doing?"

"Seeing someone who wants to help me." Bridgette said, her voice neutral and formal. She was still upset, and her unusual coldness struck Courtney to the core. The brunette remembered Blaineley, and knew why she had been exiled.

"You can't go to her!" she tried to protest. "Blaineley is-"

Bridgette wouldn't listen to her. "Go tell Chris or something, if you're so worried. That seemed to work out for you last time."

DJ looked over at Courtney as the two merman led the blonde away. "We have to go after her." he said firmly. "There's got to be a way to make sure she doesn't do anything dangerous."

"I know." Courtney nodded. "I remember why Blaineley was exiled in the first place. No doubt she'll still be trying to exact revenge."

You know what's coming next.