A/N Here it is finally! I worked out the kinks and now I have a really good idea of where this plot is heading and don't worry, we are making great progress! Thank you to all you faithful readers, especially those who reviewed on the last chapter (to whom I will reply here since most don't have an account and this is easier): Natalia (I would love to be able to write more :P), chinaluv (thanks! That's the kind of reaction I was going for :), H20 lover 17 (I know, but there has just been like no time to write this year school year and I have been dividing my time between this story and my other one, iHave a Twin. Poor excuse I know, but thanks for reading and reviewing), Maddy364 (Thank you! I tried my best and I am glad you like it :), and abby 248 (Thank you so much! I am really glad you like it! :D). All of the reviews really mean a lot to me! Now, on with the real reason you are all here ;) :

Chapter 9: The Seer

When Lewis finally returned, he hardly resembled the boy I've known my entire life. I noticed now how he had cut his hair, how he had grown taller and filled out with more muscle, and how he now walked with a new confidence and I sensed a sort of greater power radiating off of him. It was so shocking, I could hardly believe I hadn't noted this before, guess I was a bit preoccupied.

It was a bit of a surprise however, that he brought Larry with. And an even greater surprise that Larry, upon re-entering the Juicenet Café, walked right up to face me, got down on one knee, bowed his head, and said with the tone of a soldier, "I am at your service Princess. Please forgive me for my prior ignorance, I deserve any punishment you give me."

"I-I uh," I stuttered confused, not sure how to react to this sudden turn of events and looked to Lewis for help, but he just smiled and crossed his arms waiting to watch me mess this up. I gave him a smirk in return, now determined to not give him any satisfaction.

"Please, call me Emma for now, and there will be no need for punishment," I replied, and offered my hand to help him back to his feet. He took it, from what I understand it would probably be disrespectful not to.

"Thank you your benevolent majesty," He kissed my hand before finally rising to his feet.

"Felix, would you please give me and my sister some privacy," Lewis said, for the second time that evening gesturing to a table in the back of the Juicenet while we remained near the counter.

"What was that all about, I thought his name was Larry," I asked when I knew Felix had gone out of earshot.

"No, that it his cover name, that's Felix, one of our many palace guardians," Lewis explained taking a seat at one of the tables, and gesturing for me to take the opposite seat.

"Then what is he doing here?" I asked taking the offered seat and crossing my legs nervously.

"He is here to protect me, isn't it obvious?" Lewis looked at me questioningly, but then understandingly, cutting me off before I could ask any questions, "You must be really confused right now, so I will fill you in on everything, starting from the very beginning of this mess. Please hold all questions until the end, okay?"

"Okay," I conceded.

"It was realized by the end of the night of our third birthday that you had gone missing. The entire castle was searched top to bottom, then the island as well. I was kept under lock and key, under constant watch in our room, though I had no idea what was happening at the time. By the next day it was realized that the culprit must be Sergeant Hennings, a once well respected military agent who too could not be found, also one of the few people on the island who were taught how to fly l'aerao, or the airplane, which consequently was missing too," Lewis remarked sarcastically, obviously wondering how no one could have noticed all these events taking place together before it was too late, "There was rumor before that a rebellion was forming, but nothing was concrete until now. It was the perfect plan too I suppose, because at that point it had been a very long time since anyone from Sirenthia had left the island, it was so out of touch with the modern world. They didn't even know where to begin searching.

"They could have sent all the armed guards of Sirenthia out to the world and would've found you probably within a year, I know mum would've like that," Lewis chuckled, giving me knowing look like he thought I would understand, but while I didn't comprehend the deeper meaning, the implication did make me smile, "But they had other things to consider. For one, the kingdom, can't leave everyone else unprotected. We needed to keep at least half the soldiers on the island to run the barrier, keep outsiders at bay, act as a sort of police force on the island, and guard the castle against greater attacks. There was the fact that we knew nothing about the world and didn't want to come off as brutish and provoking by sending our troops through. Then there was me to consider, I was the next heir to the throne, likely the next target.

"It was decided that because it was hard for us to find you off the island, it would be hard for the rebellion to find me as well. I was forced to leave the kingdom with a set of our best personal guards to act as my "family," that's why I have so many older "brothers." A temporary memory spell was placed on me by father to make me forget about Sirenthia and magic, and to believe the guardians were my real family for ten years. Harsh, but necessary," Lewis stated, though it was evident he didn't like the thought of someone playing with his memories, and was probably regretting the years he didn't know his own real parents, I could relate, "And ever since we moved out here, every summer we would travel to some part of the world and look for you, and every time we turned up blank. When I turned thirteen my memories returned and I joined the search, but I was also old enough to keep such a great and dangerous secret, even from you and Cleo. Though, in retrospect, it probably would have been better if I did tell you.

"Anyway, this summer was our seventeenth birthday, our seventeenth anniversary of our initiation following not long after, within the time that I was away. That is when the royal mark appears upon the back of your neck, marking you as an heir to the throne. This is when discovering your location became ever more important. It is at this time when magical abilities begin to show themselves in our family, and without any form of proper training it was evident you would be a target of many possible evils in this mundane world and we couldn't risk being discovered. Or the power could become too much for you, causing you to do more harm than good without control," Lewis looked over to me, as if I should know what he was talking about, but I hadn't felt any different magically recently, "But of course that hasn't been a problem. If I had to guess, I'd say it's because you've grown accustomed to magic already."

"Now can I ask questions?" I asked after a few moments of silence, listing in my mind all the questions that had come to my mind during his very enlightening speech.

"Yes, of course," Lewis smiled.

"Why did you keep looking?" I choked out after a bit of silence and inner debate, "How did you know they hadn't killed me off already?"

"That would be because of the Pod," Lewis explained, "It is a magical stone that can only be wielded by the King or Queen. When asked, it reveals to its holder information on any given person, but it is a bit temperamental. There are only a few general questions you can really ask it, and even sometimes it won't answer if that would mess with order of the universe or something. All they could get from it was that you were alive, and that was enough to keep the search on."

I reflected on that for a bit before I asked my next question. It was nice to know they hadn't actually given up, they just hadn't seen what was right under their nose, but isn't that always the case?

"What is the rebellion about? What is their motive?" I asked, remembering from history class how certain rebellions started because of oppressive rulers, I really hoped that wasn't the case though.

"The Anderville family has been the royal family of Sirenthia since its beginning, the reason being that it is a long line of powerful sorcerers. We are pretty much the last family to wield such powerful magic. When the time came that the general public were turning from magic, our ancestors sought out a place where they could practice their magic freely, and other people followed, becoming our subjects. Now I know what you may be thinking, but Sirenthia is really a land like no other. There is no oppression despite the ruling monarchy, the rulers have always been very benevolent, and there are no rich or poor, not really," Lewis did his best to explain, "What the rebellion wants is the power, the magic, magic that in the hands of the wrong person, someone with evil intentions or even just a person who is inexperienced, can be really dangerous. The current leader is the son of your kidnapper, Hennings."

"Garry Hennings?" I asked curiously.

"Yes," Lewis grunted, his hatred of the man clear on his face, "He was exiled from the island when it was found he was following in his father's footsteps, but it appears he still has some sort of link. Also you must be warned, I have seen him in here just this morning, and he is probably looking for you as well. But wait …. How did you know his name?"

Lewis gave me a look that told me he knew what I was going to say, and he did not like it one bit. I couldn't meet his glare so I just stared down at the table as I quietly replied, "Because we've already met."

"What!?" Lewis cried alarmed.

"Well, it was the day I got the mark, I was running along the beach and I saw him and he recognized me. This was after I knew I was adopted, but before I knew anything about my birth parents and he offered me the information," I replied earnestly, "I was reluctant to believe him at first, it all sounded really crazy, but he had proof. Even now though I was still doubtful."

"What did he tell you? What did he try to do?" Lewis asked, his anger evident in his voice.

"He did tell me all about how I was the heir to some island kingdom, but well, he also basically told me that my parents hated me and that I should sign over the kingdom to him," I summed up, and immediately added before Lewis could interject, "I didn't do it of course, but if our parents are so powerful then what would one piece of signed paper matter?"

"It's not just a signed piece of paper, he's smart. He gave you his own pen right? It had Sirenthia written on it? And the paper had the Sirenthian watermark," He asked.

"Yeah, why?" I replied.

"Because that is a magically enchanted pen. It is used to sign royal decrees and other documents, whatever is signed might as well be written in stone. It has to be followed, or something bad could happen," Lewis explained, "It actually doesn't surprise me that he was able to get hold of that stationary and pen. Like I said, he has some sort of connections still."

"That can't be good," I said, not really knowing how I should respond, "Well at least I didn't sign it."

"This is dangerous, he isn't one to give in so easily," Lewis stated, mostly to himself.

"On the day we met I told him I had to think about it, and he gave me three days. I'm meant to meet him tomorrow morning," I explained, "I'll just tell him I won't sign them, then what can he do?"

"He is dangerous, he will do anything to get what he wants," Lewis muttered.

"Well then what do you suggest?" I asked angrily, though I was really curious as to what he thought because I had no idea.

Lewis sat deep in thought and silence for five minutes straight.

"You could … well, no, never mind… Maybe we could use a … no, that wouldn't work either," Lewis contemplated, "Where are you going to meet?"

"The Juicenet Café, that is where I brought him the first time," I replied.

"Okay no, that will not do," Lewis said and I could see a plan forming in his head, "Take him to the beach, around my secret fishing spot. Only when you get there will you say anything about not signing the contract. I know a lot of good hiding spots among the rocks there, some of the guards and I will hide there and once he is in place we can surround him. You don't know how much his capture would mean for the kingdom."

"Why does this have to be at the beach though? I'm sure there are plenty of good spots in the café," I asked, not sure how I could lure such an apparently dangerous man to the beach."

"So you can make a quick getaway of course," Lewis stated matter-of-factly, "If he makes any aggressive move toward you or when the capture begins, whichever comes first, you jump into that ocean and get the hell out of there. We can't risk losing you again."

"I'm not as defenseless as I was when I was three you know, I do have my own magic now remember? I can help," I reminded him.

"But has only been a couple days since your Marking, the seventeenth anniversary since your initiation, and without the proper training your magic is probably all out of whack. Have you even tried to use your mermaid powers recently?" He asked curiously.

"Of course I have!" I stated, sure I would know if my powers had gone out of control … again.

"Really? Are you positive?" Lewis asked, looking at me doubtfully.

I thought back, it has been about two days since the mark appeared and I met Garry Hennings. I must have used my powers in all that time, right? I used them to … well probably to … no, that was last week. Maybe I actually haven't tried using my powers, weird. Guess I just never thought about it.

"No, I guess not," I said confused, as I searched my memory.

"Then try them now," Lewis said getting up, he quickly, and when I say quickly I mean like in the blink of an eye, came back with a glass of water which he set on the counter, "Freeze this water."

I stood up to face the counter, sure as ever that I can complete the simple task of freezing water. I mastered this power about two years ago.

"Slowly now, be careful," Lewis stated backing up just a bit.

"Oh come on, it won't be that bad," I said extending my arm, holding my hand palm up, and focusing on the glass. In just one second it was frozen.

"See, told ya," I said smiling and looking back at Lewis. But when I turned back, the entire counter was frozen and then, I could suddenly hear rain rapidly battering against the window outside along with a loud crash of thunder.

"Stop it!" Lewis yelled above the roar of the wind. It was only then that I realized I still had my hand raised. So, against some surprisingly powerful, magical, resistance, I pulled my hand down. The storm stopped raging outside, I could actually hear my thoughts, and the counter and everything behind it was frozen solid.

"Ash is going to kill me," I joked, and turned to Lewis, laughing, "Did I really just do that?"

"Yes, of course," Lewis smiled, "I told you your powers have increased."

I could feel the adrenaline and the power pumping through me now, I felt like I could do anything.

"This is just … wow …. How come I didn't know this before? Why didn't I feel anything on the day I got the mark?" I asked incredulously as we both retook our seats.

"I can't exactly explain why you didn't feel anything, because with all the power it is sure you would have felt something. Some control could have come from your control over your mermaid magic, but it must have shown itself somehow," Lewis contemplated, "Tell me again, when did your memories start returning?"

"The same day I got the mark!" I realized, "That must have been it! I thought it was just triggered by seeing Garry Hennings, but if that was the case it wouldn't make sense that nothing was triggered by meeting you."

"Explain to me again, how did your memories return to you? I think you called them flashbacks earlier? What do you mean?" Lewis asked.

"Well, the first time I was just out for a morning run and when I saw Garry Hennings sitting on a bench I kind of just blacked out. The others were triggered like that too, the dress I was found in … the corpse of my captor. It felt like a dream sort of, I was myself at three years old and I relived the events, and after I remembered every detail," I explained as best I could.

"The corpse of your captor?" He asked curiously.

"Long story short we checked out the plane wreck and yeah he is very much dead," I said looking away as just talking about it brought the gruesome image back to mind.

"Oh, well that's good," Lewis said, "But as for the memories, you are saying you actually relived them in a way? Weird."

"How is that weird? There are stories of people with amnesia regaining their memories, and maybe I just needed some magic to boost up the process," I suggested.

"But normally memories don't come so vividly like that. I mean, you were three, even I hardly remember the day I lost my twin sister. At this point memories like that would I think be count as lost forever," Lewis contemplated, "What it seems like you are describing is actually seeing the past. If that's the case, that is a very rare form of specialized magic. A Seer only comes once every hundred years or so. Now I'm jealous."

"What is so great about me simply remembering my own past?" I responded to Lewis' smirk.

"The magic of a Seer is a different type of magic in that it doesn't come all at once and then require control. Instead, it comes and expands quite gradually. I think it would grow from just seeing your pasts, to seeing your future, to seeing other people's pasts and futures. Now I can't be sure if this is particularly just due to your amnesia, but I would say this is the direction you are heading in. You're very lucky."

"I don't feel lucky," I sighed.

"It will get better," Lewis sympathized, "Hey, as soon as we get this business settled we will find some excuse for the guys and go to Sirenthia, and you can meet our parents. I'm positive they will be absolutely thrilled to find out you are okay. You can see in person how much they really love and missed you. What do you think about that?"

"I like that," I replied returning his smile, "I like that a lot."

A/N So there it is, and next we will have the big meeting with Garry, and we will see just how well that goes. So please read and review! Also, tell me what you think about what I did in the beginning of this chapter, responding to your reviews. Do you like it? Hate it? Want me to go back to just giving thanks for all reviews in general?

Anyway, please review and tell me what you think is going to happen next? Or just tell me what you think so far of the story? Anything you want me to work on in this story