Senna's heart was pounding crazily in her chest when she approached the throne room and peeked nervously inside to see Daisy sitting on her elaborately decorated shell throne, chuckling to herself and messing with the flower that Lily had put in her hair earlier that morning, while she said,

'Well, this is certainly unexpected, my little Lily finding love. She seems to have taken a leaf out of Violet's book but I hope that the lucky merman who has won her heart is far more appropriate than the ones that Violet chooses. I wonder who he is..'

Seeing the queen in a good mood made Senna feel a little less nervous, but the crab would be fooling herself thinking that it would last, for it was merely the calm before the storm when she would ask Senna who Lily was in love with and she would have no option but to tell her the truth.

'Just keep calm, Senna, old girl and don't overreact. Keep a cool head and hope that the queen doesn't ask too many questions.' Senna said, before the queen noticed her lurking in the doorway and ushered her to come in.

'Is that you, Senna?' Daisy said, 'please stop lurking in the doorway and do come in, I'm not going to bite your head off!'

Well, not yet, but you will soon, Senna thought miserably as she entered the throne room, trying to remain calm but her voice betrayed her nervousness, as she said,

'Yes it is!' her voice high-pitched and squeakier than normal as she scurried promptly towards the queen but she quickly cleared her throat when she was at the foot of the throne and said in her normal proper tone,

'Yes, Your Majesty, I came as soon as possible and I would just like to say that I have been doing a tip-top job of watching Lily and have managed to keep her out of trouble!' hoping to appease Daisy, although the crab knew that it was a complete lie and the queen seemed to know it, by raising an eyebrow at her.

'That may be but I am very concerned about Lily and I'm not sure that you have noticed this, but she has been acting very peculiar lately. Do you know the reason why? I promise that I won't get angry if you tell me.'

That's complete bollocks; you'll go back on your promise and explode like an underwater volcano if I told you that your daughter was in love with a human! Senna thought and she almost said out loud but thought better of it and was trying to remain calm, but she felt like Daisy was pushing her against the wall and she couldn't escape.

'What do you mean she's been acting peculiar, Your Majesty?' Senna said, acting like she didn't know what Daisy was talking about but the queen wasn't buying it and kept persisting with her questioning, knowing that the crab would soon confess.

'You know, mooning about, daydreaming, singing to herself and having a dazed look in her eyes. It's like she's in her own little world and you honestly haven't noticed this?' Daisy said, looking at Senna quizzically.

'Well, you know what teenagers are like, Your Majesty, they go through this phrase where they see something that excites them and they go bonkers so they don't think straight and keep it to themselves so as not to arouse any suspicions.' Senna said.

'Senna,' Daisy then said, face to face with the crab that was now hovering in front of her, not at all convinced by her answer and stared at her, remaining calm as usual and smiled,

'Is there something that you're not telling me? Because I can see that you are hiding something and it's best that you tell me now, because I will find out eventually and you know that I have zero tolerance for lying.'

'Oh, Your Majesty, why would I do that?' Senna said, chuckling nervously, 'you know that I always tell you everything that is happening in the kingdom, so why would I keep something as big as this from you?'

'Yes, Senna, why would you keep something like Lily being in love from me, her mother?' Daisy said softly and she smiled at Senna,

'It's nothing too major, I just want to know who the merman she has fallen in love with is and that she won't be following in Violet's fins by choosing inappropriate boys..'

That was it for Senna. She was unable to keep Lily's secret any longer and like her shell that she moulted every year; she cracked and blurted out,

'I'm so sorry, Your Majesty! I tried everything to stop her, but she wouldn't listen! I told her that humans were nothing but trouble and they are indeed bad and dangerous but oh no, she just ignored me and…'

'HUMANS?!' Daisy practically roared, 'WHAT ABOUT HUMANS?!'

She ended up going back on her promise which Senna had predicted correctly and her blue eyes were clouded over as her inner fury and rage was erupting which frightened the poor crab as she realised what she had done and had practically betrayed Lily by revealing her secret.

'Humans?' she chuckled nervously, 'who said anything about humans?'

'DON'T PLAY DUMB WITH ME!' Daisy roared again, grabbing the hapless crab in one hand as she yelped.

'Aurora, why can't you tell me what the surprise is?' Lily asked as she followed Aurora to her grotto, blissfully unaware that Senna had told her mother her secret and that Daisy was bellowing like a sea beast at this very moment she was heading to her special place.

'Do you want to ruin it?' said Aurora, 'I want it to be special, considering it was such a heavy object that I lugged across the ocean.. well, just wait and see! I know that you're going to love it!'

'Aw, come on Aurora, tell me!' Lily said but the fish remained silent although her tail fin was wiggling in anticipation as Lily pushed away the rock and gasped in delight at the wonderful surprise that Aurora had for her, while the little fish giggled and swam in front of it.

'Surprise!' Aurora said, wiggling her fin towards the large object that she had managed to drag across the ocean in spite of being a little fish, but she did it for her best friend.

Standing in the middle of the grotto was the portrait of Ben that had sunk to the bottom of the ocean on the night of the storm but it was still in pristine condition, having hardly been affected by the salt water and not a single smudge or water mark could be seen on it.

'Oh, Aurora,' Lily said, happy tears streaming down her face and she gave her best friend a huge hug, 'thank you so much, you're the best friend ever, but how on earth did you manage to..

Oh, it doesn't matter, you truly are an angel, Aurora and it looks just like him!' Lily said, giggling happily as she leaned against the portrait and pretended that Ben was in the grotto with her as she planted a kiss on it.

'Hi, Ben, I'm Lily,' she said, 'do you remember me, I'm the girl who rescued you from drowning and sang to you!' which were the exact words she had said in her dream last night and she laughed out loud as she spun and twirled around the grotto in a happy daze.

So much that she didn't notice her mother standing in the doorway, with an angry look on her face but was remaining calm and holding her sceptre firmly in her hand, which was glowing and Lily gasped at seeing her there.

'Mum!' she said breathlessly, wondering what she was doing in the grotto or how she found out about it, since it was filled with the human things she despised.

And she was indeed scowling as she was trying to fight back the urge to destroy them but the answer to Lily's question was in the form of the little crab that was hiding behind a rock.

'Senna,' Lily whispered, giving the crab a dirty look for her betrayal, 'You ratted us out! How could you do that when you promised not to?'

Senna had an apologetic and guilty look on her face and was dreading the consequences of her actions as Daisy took a deep breath, trying to retain her queenly composure and calmly said,

'I consider myself a reasonable mermaid and that I show great care and concern about the welfare of my daughters, subjects and my kingdom. I set certain and fair rules and I expect them to be obeyed at all times to ensure the safety of the kingdom and all those who inhabit it.

I also have a tendency to remain calm even in the worst of crises but there are certain exceptions that I have to make sometimes and it looks like that this is one of them.'

'Mum, I..' Lily tried to explain, but Daisy was having none of it.

'Is what Senna has told me true, that you rescued a human from drowning?' Daisy said.

'I had to Mum, otherwise he..' Lily said, before Daisy interrupted her again

'Lily, I have already made it clear that contact between the human world and the merworld is STRICTLY FORBIDDEN and you should know this by now, as does every merperson in Aquaria!'

'Mum, he would've died if it wasn't for me!' Lily said.

'Then you should've let him!' Daisy shouted, 'it would've have been one less human to worry about!'

'That's a horrible thing to say, Mum!' Lily replied as she swam in front of the portrait, like she was defending Ben, 'how can you jump to conclusions like that when you don't even know him!'

'I don't need to; he's just like the others of his loathsome kind!' Daisy yelled.

'They're all the same and they're nothing more than spineless, savage, ocean-polluting, harpooning fish-eaters who are incapable of any feeling other than hatred, like the ones that took your father away from me…'

'Mum, I love him!' Lily cried, having had enough of her mother talking about her love in a cruel manner only to realise what she had just said and that added fuel to the fire.

'No, it can't be!' Daisy gasped in horror and stared at her daughter, unable to comprehend what she had just heard.

'Have you lost your senses completely, Lily? HE'S A HUMAN, YOU'RE A MERMAID!' she bellowed and she was angrier than she had ever been before which made her displeasure about the concert pale in comparison as Senna and Aurora cowered in fear but Lily remained defiant.

'I don't care!' Lily said, firmly.

'Poseidon help me, Lily, I will get through to you and if I have to resort to drastic measures…SO BE IT!' Daisy roared, lifting up her sceptre which was shining brighter than it been before and Lily was afraid that her mother would be aiming it at her but it was solely aimed at her treasures.

Sceptre raised, Daisy pointed it at one of the shelves as a glowing beam of light flew towards it, destroying the treasures on it that Lily had worked so hard to collect and were now reduced to rubble, as Lily looked on helplessly with tears streaming down her face.

'Mum! No, please stop! Please don't do this!' Lily screamed as each and every one of her treasures were destroyed in Daisy's pure rage and she had the most vicious look on her face, as if she was destroying the humans herself.

'Your Majesty!' Senna shouted, swimming over to the enraged queen, 'don't you think you're taking this too far? You need to calm down! Don't you see that you're hurting your daughter?'

But there was no stopping Daisy now, not while she was in this mood, as her anger and fury were getting the best of her and that made her deaf to her daughter's and Senna's desperate pleas as everything in the grotto was turned into a pile of rubble.

'You monster!' Lily screamed at her mother, which was something that she had never said to her before, but she was too distraught to care.

She then swam in front of Daisy to stop her, but she pushed her distraught daughter out of her way, as the musical statue was blasted into pieces which made Lily cry out for one of her most favourite things, as the statue played a distorted melody before being scatted onto the floor in pieces.

Then Daisy focused on the portrait of Ben, which made Lily gasp in horror as her new favourite treasure which she had for only a few minutes was shredded to pieces in spite of her best efforts to defend it and to plead her mother not to destroy it.

But it was in vain as Daisy blasted the portrait with all her might and Ben's face soon disappeared under all the rips and bubbles from the sceptre and water, as the last of the treasures was completed destroyed, leaving nothing more than empty shelves and an inconsolable mermaid who slumped over a rock in tears.

Once the water had been cleared, Lily looked up from where she was lying on the rock and saw nothing but empty shelves in the grotto that had once been filled with wonderful human treasures and the portrait of her beloved Ben and were now rubble that was created in a moment of pure rage by her mother.

Lily then looked at her mother, who had calmed down and instantly regretted her actions by letting her temper get the better of her again and Daisy saw the hurt in her baby's eyes, as Lily stared at the woman who she once admired and thought the world of and had received extra love and attention from her but now saw her as a vicious monster who had destroyed not only her grotto but her happiness.

And Daisy felt that she deserved to be called that.

Lily collapsed on the rock again and sobbed loudly, which made Daisy soften at hearing the sound of her daughter's tears and tried to reach out to her, but the mermaid turned away.

'Lily, I..' Daisy said but then realised that she would only cause more harm if she stayed and silently swam out of the grotto as Lily continued sobbing and Aurora and Senna swam over to try and comfort her.

'Lily, are you okay?' Aurora said, in tears herself as she nuzzled against her best friend, but the mermaid was too upset to notice.

'Oh, Lily, I am so sorry, child, I didn't think that it would come to this,' Senna said, soothingly as she stroked her hair gently with her claw, hoping to make everything right after what she had done and that made Lily look at the crab, still stinging from her betrayal as she stared at her with teary eyes.

'Please, just leave me alone, Senna,' Lily whispered, 'you've done enough already,'

'But, Lily, listen to me,' said Senna, 'you have to understand that..'

'LEAVE ME ALONE, YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!' Lily screamed and her voice was hoarse from crying and screaming, 'I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN, NOW GO AWAY!'

'Come on, Senna, let's go, I don't think that Lily wants us here,' said Aurora, sadly and she and Senna swam out of the grotto, leaving the distraught little mermaid sobbing her heart out, surrounded by the rubble that used to be her treasures.

Having seen the drama unfold from the shadows of the grotto, Teale and Neale saw this as their moment to shine and slithered through the door towards the mermaid, who looked up at them in confusion and fear at the two eerie looking eels that wrapped themselves around her like a feather boa.

'Poor child, poor sweet child,' Teale cooed, 'it looks like she has a very serious problem. But that's typical of Queen Daisy, she acts like she's in control but always loses her temper at the slightest things and look what it has led to!'

'Oh, Teale, if only there was something we can do for this sweet child, something to make her happy again.' Neale said, rather stupidly.

'But, Neale, there is something we can do!' said Teale, 'that's why we're here, you idiot!'

'Oh, that's right, I forgot about that,' Neale said, while Lily looked nervously at the eels that were still wrapped around her and Neale flicked his tail against her face, which made her flinch.

'Who…who are you and what do you want with me?' Lily stammered.

'Oh, don't be scared of us, my dear, we won't hurt you..yet,' Teale said, 'we just happened to be lurking in the kelp bushes nearby and we saw what happened to you and we know what you desire most in the world.'

'And we represent someone that can help you,' Neale said, 'someone that can make all your dreams come true. Just imagine you and your man…'

'Together forever,' both eels chorused.

'But how can you do that?' Lily said, doubtful that two eels would be capable of doing such a thing.

'Our mistress Sharla has great powers,' Teale hissed, 'powers that your mother can only dream of possessing for they are far greater than her sceptre.'

Lily shuddered at hearing the name of the woman that appeared in every merchild's nightmares, including her own and had been warned to keep well away from, as she was nothing more than a sneaky, spiteful and manipulative sea witch and she was not to be trusted.

'You mean the sea witch?' Lily said, 'why that's… no, I can't! She's evil and I can't trust her! I won't do it, so go away and leave me alone! I don't want to associate myself with her!'

'Suit yourself, little princess,' Neale replied as he and his brother turned to exit out of the grotto, hurt by Lily's refusal of their help.

'It was only a helpful suggestion and a way for you to be with your man, but, too bad, he'll move on and find some other girl.' Teale said, using his tail to flick the shredded portrait of Ben towards Lily, as it fell flat on the floor.

Seeing the shredded image of Ben's face, Lily then knew what she really wanted. There was nothing left for her in the sea and Senna's betrayal and her mother's destruction of her grotto sealed the deal for her.

She wanted to be with Ben and she had vowed to do so, no matter what it took, even if she had to…get Sharla to help her and she hoped that she hadn't blown her last chance to make it happen. It may be risky and she would face many dangers but she was prepared to do it.

'Wait!' Lily called out to the eels, who then turned around and smiled at her.

'Yes?' they said.

'I'll do it,' she then said, hoping that she wouldn't be regretting it later on.

'Smart girl,' the eels said and Lily followed them out of the grotto and into the darkest depths of the ocean.

*gulp* Uh oh, now we're REALLY heading into trouble and sheesh, Daisy, don't let your temper get the better of you! Now your daughter is about to make a dangerous deal with the sea witch you banished from your kingdom and it is coming back to bite you!

Read and review and happy Thanksgiving to my American readers! A little treat for you to read today! :)