A/N Here it is! Finally I know, but I got it out eventually! I'm trying to get better at this but life and writer's block keep getting in the way … also I've been working on this and my other story, which is now mostly done and should be posted sometime tomorrow or Monday. Sorry I thought I could make this chapter better but it came out okay. Just be aware all the speaking is technically in Sirenthian when we get to Emma's point of view, but I'm keep all the writing to English. Enjoy!
Thank you to everyone who has been still reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following! You guys are the reason I keep this story going! So here we go …

Chapter 12: Sirenthia

Lewis' P.O.V.

I yawned widely, having had a sleepless night, as I aided Cleo and Rikki in putting the house back together after last night's full moon. When Rikki became moonstruck she basically turned into a hyperactive five year old with fire powers and destroyed the whole house. So, so many fire hazards. She would stop them before doing too much damage but that still meant we had to make a quick run to the store to get new bed sheets, curtains, pillows, as well as a few other things. We went as early as we could, pretty much the minute the moon settled, because it was still unknown what time Cleo's parents would return.

"Sorry I got so bad last night, that was really weird," Rikki apologized to me. Let's just say I took care of things alone since Cleo basically slept through the whole thing. For one, she's a heavy sleeper, for another, I didn't want to bother her, and finally, I would prefer only one crazy moonstruck mermaid on my hands at a time. Currently I was working with Rikki at hanging the final curtain in the bedroom.

"No, what's weird is you apologizing," I joked.

"Oh shut up," she replied lightly.

"My parents just called, they are on their way home, I threw all the burned stuff in the dumpster, is everything in place?" Cleo asked coming into the room, cell phone in hand.

I hesitated in answering Cleo's question because, in all honesty, no, not everything was in place. There was someone missing. The one person on all of our minds though neither of us dared to bring up the dreaded unanswerable question: Where is Emma?

Emma's P.O.V.

I woke up dry and alone on a sandy beach, the waves currently at low tide, with no memory of how I had gotten there. When I forced myself to get up, I found my body was extremely sore.

'It must have been the damn full moon,' I thought bitterly to myself, 'What the hell did I do last night?'

I looked off towards the water, and found there was nothing to see but waves and the still gradually rising sun, it was pretty early. Then I turned around, hoping I could figure out where I ended up.I had to stifle a gasp as my gaze followed over the nearby hill to find the top of a pretty big looking castle in the distance. Yeah, I definitely wasn't in Australia anymore ...

I found a part of the hill that didn't look too steep and slowly made my way up. My legs where especially sore, and now I think its because of that long swim it must've took me to get this far from Australia ... however far that was. I was glad though that when I got to the top I was able to find a somewhat paved and level road, which I in turn began to follow in the direction that headed toward the castle, hoping to find a sort of town with people who I could talk to. I was really glad when I saw a middle-aged looking woman in a field not too far ahead, her clothes though seemed really out of the past century, a dress with short sleeves and a skirt that fell at her feet. I was going to approach her when she spotted me and immediately picked up her skirt and ran over to me herself.

"Hello, my name is Mayra,did you just come in? Are you alone?" She asked, glancing over my clothes, which now seemed entirely out of place. I was expecting her to speak a different language, considering I have no idea where I am but the land seemed somewhat tropical, so I recognized that what she spoke was not English, but I was surprised I completely understood her question.

"Yes, I'm Emma, where am I exactly?" I asked,surprisingly easily finding the right words in this language, I guess I now know what Ash was talking about. But that means this place must be ...

"Sirenthia," she replied apparently a bit baffled that I could be here and so fluent in the language and still not know where I am, "come, all visitors must see the queen."

She offered her arm out the same way Garry had just yesterday, but this time I wasn't home in Australia, nor did I feel any threat from this woman, so I felt obligated to follow their customs and took her offered arm. She then led me further on the road, assumingly toward the castle I saw earlier. After about 10 minutes of walking we came upon a village. It was very nice, the streets were clean, the buildings kept up, and everyone was out on their lawns talking and mingling, and there were children playing in the streets with what appeared to be balls and frisbees and such. As we walked through almost everyone took the time to stop and say hello and at least 20 people, adults and children, approached us as Mayra introduced me to everyone. There were so many names I don't think I'll ever be able to remember them all. I got a few question about my clothes by the children, which I wasn't sure how to answer, but their parents shushed them telling them it was rude. Still many continued to ask where I was from, how I got here, what I was doing here, and more, all questions I had no idea how to answer.

"Come now, I must take her to our Queen, you know how she loves to greet all newcomers," Mayra stated by way to excuse us so we can move on and I was really relieved.

"Can I come too!" A little girl, about five or six, with short curly blonde hair jumped up and asked.

"Of course Clarissa, if it is okay with your mother," she stated, and when her mother nodded her consent, Clarissa skipped up to my other side and took my hand.

"You know, I've only been to the castle twice," Clarissa told me, holding up two fingers with her other hand, "Once for my initiation, and once for my little brother Eric's initiation. It was amazing!"

I smiled at her but it was Mayra who responded, "I remember when I was younger, the castle gates were always open. I would go there every day to greet the queen."

"What happened?" I asked, genuinely curious, "Why are they closed now."

"A terrible event, ever since the security around the castle has gotten much greater and the king and queen, well, they've been in a sort of … well a depression," Mayra sighed as she tried to find the right word, "You must know what happened to the princess."

Emma's heart sank at this news about her her step faltered a bit, but it was unnoticeable. She did notice though that Clarissa's hyperactive excitement had gone down a bit as she strolled instead of skipping.

"I've been gone a long time," I stated sadly.

"The poor dear was only three years old when she was kidnapped from the island, they are still doing much to look for her but she has yet to turn up. In fear of his safety the queen and king sent their own son abroad. They haven't even seen their children in years though they have kept in contact with their son and his personal guards," Mayra sighed, "Nothing has happened since but still the event had taken its toll on our whole kingdom, especially the Queen and King. They haven't open the gates without specific occasion since, nothing has been as bright and cheerful as it used to be."

"That's going to change soon," I stated, finding my courage, knowing the moment I met my parents would change everything, for me, my parents, and our subjects.

"How do you know?" Clarissa asked, gazing up at me with curious eyes.

"Magic," I replied simply, moving my arm to twirl her around. She smiled and giggled in delight, back to her excited state. Mayra gave me a curious stare but didn't say a word to me as the castle gates came in view.

Together we approached one of the guards on duty.

"What business do you seek?" The guard asked in a vaguely familiar voice. I got a slight look at his face beneath his helmet, he had a young looking face, as if maybe he was in his late twenties, and his face too seemed rather familiar. My mind flashed back to a party or ball, different from my third birthday party, and the boy, at that time only about ten, bowed to me before offering his hand to dance with me, twirling me around the dance floor. Suddenly his name came to me.

"Tobias," I whispered to myself, surprised that the memory brought that specific fact to surface and I smiled, as I remembered how kind he was to me.

"How do you know my name?" Tobias asked in response as his confused and curious eyes met mine. I looked down immediately.

"A guest has come, we must bring her to the Queen," Mayra stated to regain Tobias' attention when she saw my reaction.

"Of course," Tobias said returning his gaze to the woman, "I will lead you to her."

Tobias called out to another guard to watch his post before opening the gates to allow us to enter.

I gazed up in amazement as we entered the castle grounds. The wide green front courtyard, the great trees, giant fountain with a stone mermaid at its center, and the ancient-looking statues surrounding us were amazing. The stone castle itself stood high against the sky, with towering turrets and great, big, stain glass windows to let light in. It seemed to come out of a fairytale book. Emma remembered seeing this castle, though it looked much brighter in her memory, more full of life. Tobias led us through the big, wooden, engraved front doors and into the castle. Nodding respectfully to each guard we passed, which was quite a few. He led us through many halls and corridors until we reached what he introduced as the throne room. I wasn't sure what to expect when he threw open the door and led us inside.

The room was a wide oval shape with lots of empty room, but in the center, right across from the door, stood two thrones. One was occupied by the woman from my birthday memory, though she appeared a bit older. She wore an elegant yet simply adorned sky blue dress. When she saw us enter she put down the book she was reading on a small table nearby and straightened her posture.

"What is it Tobias," She asked, addressing the guard while I gazed up at her in amazement at how regal she sounded and appeared as the light danced off her shining silver tiara.

"Mayra has brought someone to see you," Tobias directed the queen's attention to the woman.

"How can I help you Mayra," the Queen asked gently with a warm smile, though with sadness and exhaustion evident in her eyes.

"It seems as though we have a guest your majesty, just arrived last night," Mayra said after a respectful curtsy.

"A guest? But how ..." Then the queen turned her eyes on me, and her forced smile faltered, "How did you get here?"

"The moon showed me the way," I replied in as best explanation as I could as I watched her look me over and from what I could see she seemed to recognized me, but I can only assume she didn't want to bring up her hope just for it to be crushed if she were wrong. She was silent for a while.

"I see," the Queen replied standing up, "Tobias, Mayra, Clarissa, would you mind leaving us alone for a bit?"

Tobias nodded, guiding Mayra and Clarissa, who had been surprisingly quiet and respectful, from the room so we were alone. Then she descended the thrown to stand by me and the closer she got, the more I could see tears were starting to form in her eyes.

"Who are you," she asked, looking at me earnestly.

"Don't you recognize me?" I smiled with a little laugh as my eyes watered a bit with happy tears. She was my mother. I was meeting my mother for the first time in 14 years.

"I … " She began, at a lost for words, not believing her own eyes.

"It's me mama," I replied taking a step closer to her, closing the gap between us, "It's me, Lydia." I turned around briefly to show her the marking, to confirm my story. It was at this point the only true evidence I had to my identity.

She looked me over one more time, then straight into my eyes before suddenly wrapping me in a tight, warm, loving hug.

"My dear Lydia, is it really you?" She sobbed holding me tight.

"Yes mama," I responded.

It was a few minutes before she released me so she could look at me again.

"You've grown so much!" she smiled with tear streaks down her face, "So much time has passed, you have to tell me everything! Come, we will have tea, it is about time for that anyway. Oh, and you must see your father! He will be overjoyed you have returned home safely after so long! And of course we will have to have a ball this evening! Tobias!"

"Yes my Queen?" Tobias asked upon reopen ing the door to the throne room. His eyes alert when he noticed she had been crying.

"Send out a messenger with the wonderful news, my daughter, our princess, has returned!" She declared, with her arms still wrapped around mine.

"Lydia?" Tobias returned, his face shocked as he gazed back at me, I smiled and waved, and his grin grew.

"You're the long lost princess?" Clarissa asked, her eyes wide in amazement.

"Your majesty," I could see tears forming in Mayra's eyes as she gave a formal curtsy to me, "I should have known."

"It's my fault, I presented myself as Emma when I didn't know where I had landed," I assured her.

"Come we must catch up! And you two must get ready for the ball this evening," the Queen declared, "For bringing my daughter back to me you shall be the guests of honor!"

Clarissa jumped excitedly as she was led with Mayra by Tobias from the castle.

"We must first head to the study, your father spends all his time there with his books, sometimes even all night if he finds something good," mother joked lightly, "Then we shall go to the dining room for food, you must be starving!"

She hugged me once more before offering her arm to me, which I gratefully took, and leading me down the various halls of the castle.

I gazed around in awe at all the beautiful decoration and architecture as everything seemed new and yet familiar and warm at the same time.

I also looked back to my mother, happy to see that, compared to when I first saw her, a certain light and happiness had seemed to return to her features. I could tell she was overwhelmed with joy at my return, she really loved me. It made me feel bad that at one point I had considered she had abused and abandoned me.

When we got to the study the door was closed, and my mother knocked politely, "Dear you must open up, I bring wonderful news."

"Not now dear, I'm in the middle of something," Came the reply.

"Oh no you don't, I'm sure you can set down those dusty old books for this, you will never believe who has come back to us," she said opening the door to reveal the study, a rather medium sized room, the walls covered with book shelves and a desk at the center, which was covered in piles of books as well. I didn't see the man at the desk until a small pile of about 5 books rose magically and returned to apparently appropriate positions in the bookshelves. The man had dirty blonde hair, kinda of shaggy like Lewis', with blue eyes . He wore a sort of suit, black but trimmed blue, his face looked surprised as his eyes met his wife's

"Returned? Who?" He asked, before turning his now curious gaze to me.

"Don't you recognize her dear? It's our Lydia," My mother said, tears once again forming in her eyes as her voice cracked slightly, "It's our daughter, she found her way back home."

She rushed forward to the desk, pulling me with her, but we met him halfway as he got up to greet us.

His face had fallen and I could see doubt in his eyes as he approached me, standing considerably taller than me. For a few moments he just searched deep into my eyes as if trying to discover some hint of a ruse, then he caressed my cheek, whispering, "Is it really you?"

"Yes papa," I said initiating the hug, letting my tears fall onto his clothes, feeling secure in his arms as he returned the hug soon after. I felt his hand on my neck as removed my hair to find my marking.

"How is this even possible, its been so long," he replied, I could hear the sadness in his voice and felt him hug tighter, rubbing my back soothingly.

"I'll explain everything," I promised, and the growling of my stomach is the only thing that disrupted the moment.

"Oh dear you must be starved, when was last you ate?" He asked releasing me from the hug.

"Last night," I replied. It didn't seem like that much time has passed, but I was famished, and the more time I spent on my legs the more they ached to the point where I feared they might buckle, "Is there anywhere I could sit down for now? My legs are terribly sore."

"Of course love," my father replied, using magic to move the chair from behind the desk around to me, and I all but fell into it's smooth, satiny and comfy embrace.

"Ricardo?" The Queen called out to the guard standing by the door.

"Yes m'lady?" Ricardo asked, becoming visible in the doorway.

"Could you please request Antoinette prepare tea for three and her best pastries," She stated.

"So it is true, our princess has returned?" He asked.

"Dear Ricardo, how could you not notice?" She responded gesturing towards me. He turned his gaze and I quickly sat up straight attempting to look at least semi-respectable, despite my ragged appearance, and waved awkwardly.

"Pardon me your highness," he said bowing in my direction, a confused look on his face, "It's been so long."

"That's alright Ricardo," I replied.

"I will go now your majesty, they should be ready shortly," Ricardo stated to the queen before heading out the door.

"Now," the King said, waving his hand making two chairs appear, one for him and the other for his wife, "Please tell us how in the world you returned here after so long without a guide. It astounds me."

"The moon told me the way, the full moon last night," I tried my best to explain, "I don't remember much, but I woke up on the shore here."

"How peculiar," the king replied looking curious

"Oh dear, has that happened before?" The Queen in turn responded with concern.

"Well yeah, many full moons since I -" I hesitated, so used to covering up the secret that it felt wrong to just blurt it out, but I assured myself that my magical parents probably wouldn't be so surprised about me being a mythical creature, "Well, since I became a mermaid, a little over a year ago."

"Oh dear that's wonderful! I bet the underwater life is just fantastic, and I remember how you loved to swim, even as just a tot," mom smiled fondly and thought a moment before saying, " Now I understand why you're so tired, did you swim all the way here?"

"Well yeah, but I don't remember, like I said, the moon led me here," I restated.

"You know it's quite a coincidence, your brother mentioned he was quite good friends with a few mermaids," dad replied.

"Yeah, I'm one of them," I replied with a slight smirk, it was still hard to believe we have been so close for so long without even recognizing each other, "I've actually been pretty good friends with Lewis for quite some time, but we only realized we were related a couple days ago."

"How is that possible?" my mother asked and I could see the question was on both their minds.

"We didn't recognize each other," I sighed and I could see guilt cross my father's face, as I assumed he realized Lewis wouldn't recognize me until he turned 13, when the spell wore off, "Lewis told me about the spell, but that wasn't it. I've had amnesia since a day or so after I was kidnapped. The man who took me, well he brought me to a plane and attempted to fly it but he crashed by this island called Mako island. He died on impact, but I swam to the surface and made it to land. The island itself is deserted and while traveling through it I fell and hit my head on a rock … I only started regaining my memories recently."

"And you remember all that!" Father asked astounded.

"How did you survive," mother inquired concerned.

"Well, a couple came to the beach for a picnic; they found me and pretty much adopted me," I smiled sheepishly, realizing more and more how grateful I really am for them, "I had amnesia and I didn't speed English, the language spoken there, so they took me to the police there but no one had reported me missing, so they took me in as their own, and named me Emma. I learned the language eventually and socialized with other kids. I met Lewis when we attended the same school, and him, Cleo, and I became fast friends. For the longest time I didn't even think I was even adopted, I didn't remember, until my adopted mother revealed it to me. Then I got the mark and my memories started returning in visions and I recognized Lewis."

"Oh thank heavens! I must meet these wonderful people, I cannot thank them enough for what they have done to help you," my mother smiled, "I only wish we could have found you sooner."

I could tell my father was just as grateful that I was able to find a home rather than possiby having been living with my kidnapper all this time, but there was something else about my statement that intrigued him more, "Did you say your memories came back as visions?"

"Yes, the first time it happened my vision blurred and I felt as if I had been transported back to that very moment, though I woke up on the ground," I explained, recalling the reason I had had that first vision.

"That is remarkable power," my father considered.

"So I've been told, Lewis said it was possible that I'm the next Seer, but I don't know, it could just be due to my amnesia," I blushed slightly, but then turned serious, "There is something else I have to tell you."

"Go ahead Lydia, you can tell us anything," my mother encouraged.

"When I first got my mark, the first person to recognize me was Garry Hennings," I sighed and turned my gaze down as I saw the worry cross their features, "It was before my memories had returned, and he told me I was a princess from an island kingdom, though I had trouble believing him. He also told me that my parents were abusive, and that the reason I came so far was because I ran away and you never tried to look for me. He wanted me to sign some documents to hand over the kingdom to him, saying he would give my parents the punishment they deserve and I could keep going on with my normal life... And I'm sorry to say that I seriously considered it, but something about him made me think twice and I didn't. Lewis and I tried to trap him but he has something, like a magical rock that allowed him to create a force field and teleport. He got away."

"How strange,"mother said concerned, "I'm just glad you're okay, did anybody get hurt?"

"No, he tried to take me with him, but my Mark shocked his hand away and I was able to run to the ocean," I explained, rubbing my neck where I could still feel his tight grip though it was only a second or so later that it was shocked off.

"Ah, the natural protection spell is working, your powers must be coming in nicely which reminds me, we must get started on your training as soon as possible," mother replied, with a small smile though her voice was laced with concern and she looked me up and down, as if making sure I really was okay after such an encounter.

"The stone he possessed, can you describe it?" my father asked, he had been silent in deep concentration since I spoke of Garry's tool to wield magic.

"I didn't get a good look at it," I admitted, "But from what I could tell it was pretty smooth … and a sort of purple and blue color."

He nodded, "I believe I've seen something like that before in one of my books…"

At that moment a knock came from the door, "Your majesties, your tea is ready."

"Thank you Ricardo," mother replied, and I have to admit I was surprised and slightly disappointed when he left, thinking we'd have to get up and go somewhere to eat, but it was a silly thought as a minute later, with a flick of my father's wrist, the tea and pastries appeared on a try now on an empty spot of the desk. I will admit I didn't recognize any of it, but it smelled amazing … it smelled like home, my real home.

A/N So yeah this took forever … and I was going to make it longer but decided 8 pages was enough so I hope you weren't too disappointed. I think it could've been more emotional with everything especially seeing her parents for the first time in 14 years, but I hope it didn't turn out too bad.

Just to clarify once again all the speaking is in Sirenthian, and now Emma is actually aware of the separate language (before it was just instinct she didn't question). Next chapter will deal with the ball and maybe some of the happenings back in Australia.