Chapter 36: The Tale of Lara Anclagon

It took the better part of two hours to find everyone, but eventually the persons of interest were found and given instructions to meet in the dining hall. Eric wanted to bring in the entire palace seeing as Lara was living there. They might as well inform everyone so as not to cause a panic if Lara used her magic in the open. But Lara and Ariel insisted on only having her sisters present in addition to Melody, Eric, and Sarah. That, and a bath and clean clothes. This was not to be a public announcement. Not yet, anyway. Just information privy to a few ears they could trust to be discrete. Hence why Sebastian and Grimsby were conveniently tasked with keeping the children amused. Those two would need to be handled with care. Even the princess' husbands were not invited.

That was how Melody found herself in the dining hall with her aunts, her parents, and Sarah seated around the table as she stood in front of Lara by the window. The brunette was dressed in her faded black pants, which had been washed and "somehow" dried despite the rain. She wore no shirt or shredded top, but instead a long length of black cloth as a breast wrap. She had one hand on Melody's forehead while the other held her now quite swollen right hand. She truly may have broken it.

"What do you mean you 'sortof'know what you're doing?" asked Melody worriedly.

"I haven't had many chances to use this," said Lara. "So, I might be a little rusty."

"R-rusty?" Melody gulped, suddenly nervous. That was not a word she wanted to hear from someone saying they were going to use magic to fix her hand and face.

"It'll be fine. You're not gonna turn into a toad or anything…I think. Maybe a newt."

"A what!?"

"And your hair will grow back eventually," added Lara, giving a dismissive shrug!"

Melody's eyes widened, her face going a shade paler.

"I'm joking!" said Lara. "You think I'd try this if that was even a possibility!? You won't turn into anything, I swear!"

Melody frowned. "That was not funny!"

Lara flashed one of her lopsided grins. "It was a little funny."

"Would someone please tell us what's going on?" asked Attina, frustrated by the lack of clarification for her being there. "What's this about? All I got was a request from Grimsby to come as soon as I could."

"Same here," said Adella. "He just said it was important."

"And what happened your face, Melody?" asked Arista. "And your hand?"

"We'll get to that in a bit," said Ariel. "As for why you're all here…it's easier to show you than tell you." She looked to Lara and Melody. "Whenever you're ready."

Lara nodded. "Just relax, princess. This shouldn't hurt."

"You really know how to put someone at ease, Lara," said Melody sarcastically.

"I've heard that one before." Lara took a breath and closed her eyes. "Commuto."

White flames burst to life on Lara's hands. Arista, Alana, and Attina bolted to their feet, knocking their chairs back as the flames leapt off Lara, racing to Melody's cheeks and down her arm to her wounded hand. The rest of the mermaid sisters settled for wide eyes and gaping mouths. Sarah visibly tensed, eyes wide and fixated on the two women. Ariel and Eric flinched, but were otherwise the least responsive of the spectators.

Melody cringed. The flames did not burn her. What she felt was not pain, but neither was it pleasant. She had no words to describe what it felt like, but it was extremely weird and a bit uncomfortable. It felt like something was extracting the damage from her.

"Ah…ah!" Melody winced at the sensation but held still.

"Hold on," said Lara, her face screwed up in concentration. "Almost done."

"Melody, get away from her!" shouted Attina as she bolted from her seat.

Lara released Melody and darted back as Attina grabbed her burning niece. All at once the flames jumped off Melody to Lara, engulfing her cheeks and right hand. Lara hissed and cringed as they burned on her and then went out.

Melody gasped. Suddenly Lara's cheeks were swollen and dark purple with bruises. Her right hand looked as though it had been slammed in a door. She touched her own cheeks. They were normal and painless. So was her right hand. She moved her fingers and wrist without any discomfort. Lara did not fix her injuries. She moved them onto her!

"Yeow!" exclaimed Lara, gingerly touching her face before giving her hand a shake. "I should've let you hit me three times! These really hurt!"

"Sorcery!" shrieked Arista, pointing at Lara. "You…you're a witch!"

"Sorceress!" shouted Lara and Ariel together, followed by Lara cringing as she aggravated her new wounds.

"It's sorceress!" added Lara, rubbing her cheek gingerly. "Don't call me a witch, because I'm not!"

"It's the same thing!" said Arista.

"Trust me, it isn't!"

"Lara, those look terrible!" said Ariel as Melody extricated herself from her aunt.

"Well, better on me than her," said Lara, wincing as she poked her cheek again. "But don't get worked up. They'll be gone in a second."

Ariel's brow furrowed in confusion. "Gone?"

Lara nodded. "Just watch."

Before everyone's eyes the bruises begin to lighten and shrink. Dark purple turned to paler colors as the marks receded. The swelling in Lara's hand and face quickly disappeared. In mere moments she was completely unmarked, the injuries she took from Melody only a memory.

"Now you see them…" Lara grinned, giving her cheek a few pats. "And now you don't."

Sarah rose from her chair and quick marched over. She took Lara's face in her hands, examining once side and then the other before moving to her hand. She felt all around the bones, moving her joints in various directions. Her mouth fell open as she continued looking Lara over. She did not look frightened or angry, but amazed.

"Accelerated regenerative healing!" Sarah took Lara's other hand and flipped it over, looking at her palms. "I knew it! I knew there was something different about you!"

"You did?" said Lara, sounding genuinely surprised. "But how?"

"The tournament," said Sarah, releasing Lara's hands. "I knew something was off watching you and Richard fight. I know what human bodies can do. You have to when you're a doctor. That strength and speed you showed isn't possible, even with rigorous training. Normal muscles and bones won't take that sort of strain. And when you grabbed his sword, too. That had to cut your tendons. You shouldn't have been able to close your hand at all. And you don't even have a scar!"

"Sorry for not telling," said Lara apologetically.

Sarah smiled and shook her head. "Don't be! It doesn't change what you did for us, or how I think of you! And I know it won't change anything father or the kids either! We have our lives back thanks to you! Magic or none, you're still our friend!"

Lara gulped, astonished and touched Sarah was taking this so well. Everyone could tell she was not used to this sort of response to her magic. "Th-Thank you."

Attina stormed over to her youngest sister, not taking the revelation as well as Sarah did. "How long have you known about this, Ariel!?"

"Since this morning," said Ariel. Melody could hear the unhappy edge in her tone, no doubt caused by her sister's indelicate reaction. "And there's more. Lara knows about the merfolk and Atlantica now. I told her."

"You what!?" exclaimed Attina, Arista, and Adella together.

"Ariel, we swore to keep that a secret!" cried Arista. "You promised!"

Attina took her youngest sister by the shoulders. "Did she force you to talk!? Did she use some sort of spell on you!? What did she do!?"

Lara's hair started to bristle at the accusation. "Hey, I didn't lay a hand on Ariel! And I didn't force her to tell me anything! She saved me from drowning! That's how I found out, got it!? She broke your promise to save me!"

Attina scowled at Lara. "You expect me to believe–?"

"It's the truth," said Ariel, cutting her off. The calm honesty in her voice rendered Attina quiet, as well as any other protest from her sisters. "I pulled Lara out of the ocean during the storm this morning."

"How did she end up in the ocean?" asked Aquata.

"Because we got into a fight," said Melody. She looked at her feet in embarrassed shame as all eyes turned to her. "I tried to run away to Atlantica while everyone was asleep. Lara came to stop me and we…said and did some things we shouldn't have."

Lara cringed. "Yeah. That's…one way of putting it. I lost my temper and hit her. That's where the bruises came from."

"You did what!?" exclaimed Arista. She got to her feet and started towards Lara. "You hit Melody!? Why, I ought to…!"

"Arista, think of the baby…!" cautioned Alana as she tried to get up to stop her, only to snag her dress on the chair.

"I let her hit me back!" added Lara, backing away from the approaching princess.

"Aunt Ari, it's fine!" said Melody, moving to intercept her aunt. "I'm fine! We sorted it out! Just please listen, all of you!"

Hesitantly Melody's aunts withheld whatever statements they were about to make, giving their niece the benefit of the doubt. Arista glared at Lara, but then turned with a huff and went back to her seat.

"After our spat, I told Melody I was done guarding her and ran off," continued Lara. "I didn't think about where I was going and wound up on a rock out in the sea. It was slippery, and between that and the wind I got blown off. Lucky for me, Ariel came to bring me back, because she found me right when it happened."

Attina narrowed her eyes at her. "Why didn't you just swim?"

"I…can't swim," admitted Lara. "And I hit my head."

Narrow suspicious eyes widened in surprise. "You can't swim?" the princesses all asked in unison.

"Told you," said Eric, nudging Ariel's arm. She rolled her eyes and discretely passed a gold coin to him.

Lara frowned. "I grew up near the ocean! Not in it like you lot! Sorry if it's not second nature to me!"

"Even if she knew how to swim, it wouldn't have helped," said Ariel. "The sea was too rough. If I hadn't used the ring, I wouldn't have made it in time." She rose and went to stand beside Lara, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Right after I got her to shore a rogue wave came in. I didn't have my legs back so I couldn't run. Lara woke up and put a magic barrier around us. If she hadn't, neither of us would be standing here right now. That's the third time she's saved my life. I'd say she's more than earned my trust."

There was quiet in the room. Melody could have sworn she heard the thoughts physically moving about in her aunt's heads as they let this new information sink in.

Alana rose from her seat. "Ariel's not the only one you've protected, Lara. You and I didn't start on friendly terms either. But you still rescued me from those pirates, and you kept us safe from the seaclops and the…other thing. I'm grateful for it, and I'll never forget it. If Ariel trusts you, then I do too."

"So do I," added Aquata as she stood. "Witch–sorry, sorceress or not, you're fine by me. Sounds kind of cool, actually, having a magic swordsman in the palace–er, swordswoman!"

"Aquata!" exclaimed Arista. "Are you serious!? She's–!"

"Saved your life as well, Arista," added Andrina from her seat. "And yours too, Adella, Attina. Did you forget that sk–…"

Lara made urgent cutting motions across her neck and shook her head before nodding towards a shadow, signaling Andrina not to use the word she was about to say.

"That creature wanted to flay us?" continued Andrina, taking the hint. Lara breathed a sigh of relief. "Lara fought it alone so we could escape. Alone. Do you think any of you would be here if she hadn't? I don't know about you, but I honestly don't care if she has magic. If anything I'm glad, because it means Cora and Nora are that much safer."

Aquata glanced at her younger sister's stomach. "And that goes for your baby too, Arista. If I were you, I'd care more about who Lara is than what she is. That 'witch' saved both your lives."

Adella looked to Eric. "Where do you stand on all this?"

"With Ariel," Eric said. "I promised Lara she would have our support, and she will. I'll stand by that, regardless of what you or even Triton says."

Melody had never seen someone look as awestruck or genuinely touched as Lara looked at that moment. She looked like she might cry from gratitude. She looked to her, eyes asking if this was really happening. Melody gave her a thumbs up and a smile.

Adella looked like she wanted to say something, but she chose not to. Arista laid a hand over her belly, clearly reflecting on her sister's words.

"Father is not going to be happy about this, Ariel," said Attina, purposefully ambiguous to whether she meant Lara's magic or revealing the truth about their aquatic origin.

"She was going to find out sooner or later," said Ariel. "After everything she's done, she deserves to know the truth. I'm the one who told her, so I'll deal with daddy. Now…Lara, are you ready?"

Lara swallowed and nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

Melody followed Lara back to her seat. She saw Attina and Adella's eyes following her like seals watching a shark swim by, neither fleeing but not lowering their guard as Lara took the chair at the head of the table. For two siblings that had been raised around magic their entire lives, she could not understand their fear of Lara's. Still, it should not have been terribly surprising that at least some of her aunts would not be so open to the idea of a mage in the palace with them. Their history with female magic users was not exactly pleasant. Melody took the seat next to Lara, hoping if she showed them she was not afraid it would ease their skepticism–and her own.

Lara did not talk right away. She sat there for a little while, hands folded and resting against her chin. She looked nervous, more than Melody had ever seen. Seeing someone who ran with a sword in hand towards dangers brave men fled from looking nervous was somewhat unsettling.

Finally, Lara lowered her hands from her face. "I know your story now. And like I told Ariel and Melody, it's safe with me. It's only fair I tell you mine. But before I start, I'll warn you…my past isn't pretty. There's a lot of things I'd rather not remember. And there are some things I'm still not ready to talk about. So, bear with me if I have to take my time."

Melody leaned forward as Lara took a breath and started.

"I'm not sure where I was born exactly. I do know it was on the coast. A small fishing town in some kingdom. Sort of like Seahaven but not so well kept or sunny. And the water was a lot colder. It wasn't a half bad place to grow up. The people were fine, if a bit gruff. And the town itself was decent. Our house was small and kind of old, but it was home to the two of us."

"The two of you?" said Melody.

"My mom and I," said Lara.

"What about your father?" asked Ariel. "He was a mercenary, right? He's the one who taught you to use a sword."

"That's my adoptive dad," said Lara. "And I'll get to him later. As for my birth father, I never knew him, and I don't know anything about him. I don't know if he died or left mom, or she left him. She never said anything about him. Point is he was never in the picture."

Ariel's face fell. "Oh…I'm sorry."

Lara shook her head. "Don't be! Mom did fine raising me by herself! Though, it had to be hard on her sometimes. We weren't rich or always well off. She had to work hard so we could eat. I wasn't the healthiest kid either, so that didn't make it any easier. I got sick a lot. Weak body is what the doctor said. All you had to do was sneeze around me and I'd be in bed with some bug. I wore out easily too, so I didn't spend as much time out with the other kids as I would've liked."

"What was your mother like?" asked Ariel.

A small yet sad smile appeared Lara's lips, her eyes becoming distant with memory. "Actually, she kinda looked like you, Ariel. Except for the hair and eyes. Hers were brown. She was caring, kind, funny, smart, loving…she was just a great person. You all would've liked her. Everyone in town did. She just made people feel happy. But make her angry and she could have a grown man crying on the floor. I got my ear twisted and a hard talking to from her a few times. Definitely deserved it, too, for some of the stunts I pulled."

Lara's eyes suddenly brightened. "Oh, and she could cook! You should've come by our house when she was cooking! You've never smelled anything so good! She used to sing while she did it." Her smile faded slightly. "Mom used to sing all the time. She said it made her happy, even when she was sad or angry. I sort of learned by copying, and once I got good enough, I would sing for her."

"You can sing?" asked Aquata. "Why have we never heard you?"

"I don't like to sing for other people," said Lara. "I'd only sing for my mom. It was the least I could do given all she did for me. Maybe we didn't have the perfect life, and it wasn't always comfortable. But we were happy because we had each other. I loved her and she loved me. That was more than enough. It was all we needed."

Something occurred to Melody as she listened. Lara kept using past tense to refer to her mother. She hoped she was wrong about the reason. "Lara, you keep saying your mom was. Is she…?"

"Dead?" Lara nodded solemnly. "Yeah. A long time now."

A lump formed in everyone's throats. The atmosphere was suddenly much more somber, tainted by the grim information. Melody felt that leaden guilt returning to her gut as she remembered her words from that morning. "Lara, I'm so sorry! What I said earlier, I…I didn't–!"

"You didn't know," interrupted Lara. "You couldn't have known."

"What happened?" asked Melody.

Lara folded her arms over her chest, her sad expression turning angry. "Pirates happened."

Already Melody could tell this story was about to become very painful for Lara. The edge in her voice held anger, sorrow, and no shortage of pain. It was how her own voice sounded when she talked about William. She had a feeling she was about to find out the origin of Lara's hatred of pirates.

"They came at night," continued Lara. "I don't think anyone heard them till the cannons started. They set fire to the town and looted it. Anyone who got in their way was killed. Everyone who surrendered or couldn't fight back was taken prisoner. Mom and I tried to hide, but they found us. We were taken to the ship with everyone else and thrown in cages. They were going to sell us as slaves somewhere. Sable was the captain's name. Charybdis was the ship. You think the pirates at the marina were bad? They were civil compared to this bunch. You can't imagine a viler pack of sea rats with blacker souls than Sable's crew. Genuine cuthroats. Other pirates feared them they were so vicious. If it was them at the docks the other day, they would've cut both Alana's ears off before negotiating, then started on the bones in her fingers for each minute after."

Alana touched a hand to her ear as she gulped, grateful to still have fingers to feel them.

"First thing they did when they got out to sea was bring us all up on deck. Anyone who looked sick or old got picked out. Sable put them all on a chain and…" Lara swallowed hard, her hands trembling as they tightened. "Tied it to the anchor and dropped it."

Everyone gasped loudly. Melody covered her mouth in horror. "You mean–!?

"Killed them all," confirmed Lara. "Right in front of us. They wouldn't make good slaves, and anything less than that wouldn't make him money. So, they were thrown over like garbage. That, and to scare the rest of us into submission. Mom kept me from seeing, but I heard them." Lara shuddered. "I'll never get the sound of them screaming or the rattle of that chain out of my head. But it wasn't over. Sable started looking for someone to 'make another example of'so the rest of us wouldn't get ideas about escaping or fighting back. Guess who got chosen? Me."

"He would kill a child!?" exclaimed Ariel.

"He would've done it with his bare hands if it wasn't easier to just shoot me!" said Lara, her voice rising slightly. She realized her anger was slipping out and reined it in. Her voice was quieter when she spoke again. "He tried to drag me out, but mom wouldn't let him. She held onto me, even when more pirates tried to pry her off. I kept my eyes closed, but I could hear them hitting her again and again. Sable tried to grab my hair, but she bit his hand so hard she took two of his fingers off. I saw his hand bleeding and mom with blood on her face as she was pulled off me."

Melody saw the tremble in Lara's arms spread to her body, her golden eyes glassing with moisture. She was clearly struggling to say what came next. "Sable, he…he threw mom against the rail and made me watch as he shot her. He shot her limbs. Then her stomach. Then her chest. And then her head. The last time I saw my mom was when Sable threw her body over the side of the ship."

Melody felt sick. Not just at the horror of what Lara said, but remembering what she said to her once more. Nobody could love a freak like you? She said that to someone whose mother died trying to protect her. Lara saw her mother murdered in front of her eyes when she was only a child. Melody was starting to think Lara should have left the bruises on her.

"Sable didn't kill me," continued Lara. "And he didn't sell me like everyone else. I was the kid of the woman who crippled his right hand, so he was gonna get payback using me in her place. I became the ship's private slave-girl-slash-punching-bag. My job was anything and everything they said. And if they didn't like how I did something, I got beaten for it. And they found plenty of reasons. I didn't get their food fast enough–beating. I got it too fast–beating. A rope was loose–beating. I was sick–beating. They got bored–beating. It was raining–beating. You name it, I got bruises and busted lips for it. No one was gonna help me or show mercy, no matter how much I cried and pleaded. I stopped asking for both after the first three months. Fighting back didn't do much better, but at least I got bites and scratches in on them. When Sable was in a really depraved mood, they'd stick me in a metal cage and tie meat to it. They'd chum the water and then drop me in with the sharks. They'd come after the meat, and once that was gone, they'd come after me. Or sometimes they'd hang me off the front of the ship just to tease them. Shark baiting, they called it. They found all sorts of ways to hurt me. They would torture me to the point I could barely move, but Sable never let them kill me. He wanted me alive, and he made sure I stayed that way."

She turned to Melody. Her eyes were glazed over with pain and memory, yet there was a deadness to them as well. Something cultivated from withstanding so much pain and despair. It was a dark that made Melody's hair stand on end. "You asked me how anyone could hate the ocean. It's because all it ever brought me was pain and fear, whether I was sailing on it or drowning in it. It's left scars on me, and I don't just mean physical ones. I'm still terrified of the sea because of what happened. I didn't want you to go too far from shore because I wouldn't be able to get you. Even if I could swim, I'd start panicking the moment I got past my waist. I've tried to get over it, but I…" Lara sighed sadly, closing her eyes as her head and shoulders hung. "I just can't."

"Why didn't you try to escape?" asked Attina, her suspicions softened slightly by sympathy.

Lara opened her eyes. "Because I wanted revenge."

Now Melody knew what that darkness in Lara's eyes was. It was the hunger for vengeance. She should have recognized it earlier. She had seen it in her own eyes, too.

"Sable killed my mom," said Lara, a dangerous edge in her voice as she gripped the arm of her chair so hard the wood creaked. "I wanted him dead. I wanted to hurt and kill him more than anything else. And I tried, too. I stole knives, set traps, and even used poison. Sometimes I just went right at him. But I never got him. I was a little kid. He was a hardened killer with a whole crew at his disposal. He thought it was amusing so he put up with it. I got plenty of beatings for it too."

Lara sensed her tone was upsetting her audience almost as much as her story. She drew a deep breath, calming her anger once more. "That was my life for four years. Hungry, battered, sick, miserable, angry, and without anyone I could turn to for help. And while I was busy getting kicked around the ship, Sable and his crew only got more violent and infamous. Everywhere they went they slaughtered, looted, and burned. They weren't looking to store up a huge pile and then retire, either. They enjoyed piracy. They spent their gold as fast as they stole it. I saw a lot of terrible things because of that ship. Raiding, killing, raping, torture, executions, and people bought and sold like property. It was a bad place for a kid to be. The bloodier and more horrid their crimes got, the higher their reward went and the fewer people were willing to go after them."

Lara stood up and walked back to the window, staring out over the sea. "Then Sable caught word about a treasure ship setting sail. They tracked the ship down, killed the entire crew and took everything, right down to the gold buttons on the captain's jacket. It was the biggest haul I'd seen them take. Turned out two of the men on that ship were princes. Sable killed them as well, and then tied their bodies to the prow and set the ship adrift. Clearly someone found it, because it didn't take long for word to get out. Killing royalty was the last straw, both for the law and other pirates. Whole naval fleets set out to find them. They raided every pirate port they could searching for them. Not that they needed to. Sable was already on shaky ground for hunting his own kind. The pirates were more than willing to offer up their info if it meant putting an end to him. The kingdom the princes belonged to also doubled the reward, and sweetened it by offering a privateer's commission and full pardon to any pirate crew that could capture Sable and his crew. That's how badly they wanted them. Within a month the ocean was crawling with ships hunting for the Charybdis. Newer and faster ships as well, and not overfilled with treasure. It didn't take long for a dozen sails to find the trail and run us down. Sable tried to lose them in a storm, but it didn't work. So Sable ordered the Charybdis into a fog bank and had every light doused and every noise silenced. The ships started going right by thinking the Charybdis was still in front of them."

Lara grit her teeth, hands clenched tight in anger. "But I wasn't gonna let them escape. Not this time. This time, I was gonna make them pay for what they'd done. Not just to my mom and me, but everyone they killed. I was gonna drag them down to the Pit if it was the last…"

Melody must have let her fright at the anger in Lara's voice show on her face, because she stopped when she saw her. Her expression quickly softened, almost apologetic. "Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you…again. This isn't the easiest stuff for me to talk about."

Melody gave what she hoped was a forgiving smile. "It…it's all right."

Lara walked back to her chair. "Since everyone was trying to be quiet it was easy for me to sneak around. I stuffed as much gunpowder into my pockets as I could, stole some flint and an oil lantern, and climbed up to the sails. I dumped the oil on the lowest sail, spread the powder on it, and lit it. Lit the ship up like a sun. Problem was, I didn't think past that. The sail caught fire way faster than I anticipated. I was barely starting down before it jumped to the other sails. The crew tried to get the fires out, but they couldn't because the flames were too high up. The ship was burning out of control by the time the other ships got in range. They didn't ask for surrender or give a warning shot. They just threw everything they had at the Charybdis at once. One of their shots must've set off the powder magazine, because suddenly the whole front of the ship blew up. It threw their treasure out like bullets and killed a lot of them. The main mast protected me, but something still grazed my eye." She drew a finger along the scar over her face. "That's how I got this."

Lara turned away from them and started unwinding her breast wrap. "Sable must have heard me scream after my face got cut, because he spotted me."

Eric shifted uncomfortably in his seat as Lara continued to disrobe. Arista and Attina looked around nervously, as though asking if anyone were going to say something about what they were all seeing. An embarrassed blush came to Melody's cheeks. "Lara? What are you doing?"

"I just needed one look to know that he knew I started the fire," continued Lara, ignoring her. "I tried to run for the water, hoping I could float on some of the debris and make it to one of the other ships. He got my legs with grapeshot from a swivel cannon before I could make it."

Eric's eyes widened. "The scars on your legs…those aren't from that 'girl,' are they?"

Lara shook her head. She covered herself with an arm as the last of the wrap came free, using her other hand to flip her brunette hair behind her. It cascaded down her naked back all the way to her hips. "I was using them to make a point about how dangerous she is. Sorry. Anyway, the cannon crippled me. All I could do was drag myself over the deck. Rev'aln."

A streak of white flames raced over Lara's back under her hair and then quickly went out. If it caused Lara any pain, she did not show it, though it made everyone flinch.

"I nearly made it to the water, but Sable got me first. He dragged me away, grabbed a broken knife…" Slowly Lara reached behind and pulled her hair aside. "And did this."

Melody could not contain the horrified scream that came forth, nor could Ariel or any of her sisters. Eric's face paled white as a sheet, and Sarah covered her mouth as she gasped.

It looked as though someone tried to carve out Lara's spine. Multiple long scars ran from the middle of her neck down the entire length of her back, disappearing below the waist of her pants. They were misshapen and pale, raised above the rest of her skin. Their edges were jagged and rough, indicating the knife had not cut but ripped into her.

"Now you know why I keep this hidden," said Lara, not looking back to them. "I was hurt by that beast and his crew almost every day for four years. I've felt pain again and again since then. Nothing has even come close to the agony that knife caused me. I stopped screaming when I lost my voice. I wanted him to stab me and end it, but he just kept going."

Melody shakily stood up, causing Lara to glance back to her as she approached. "He…he did this to you?" she asked, her voice wavering with shock.

Lara only nodded.

For some reason Melody felt compelled to touch the scars. Maybe to confirm her fear that it was real. Or her hope that it was not. She looked to Lara, her expression asking wordless permission. Lara waited a moment, and then slowly nodded. Melody brought her hand to Lara's neck and gently touched the highest scar. Lara flinched but said nothing, nor retreated from her touch. Slowly Melody traced her fingers down, following the disturbing marks along her spine. She could feel every bump, ridge, and divot overlying her spine as she traced to the small of her back before stopping, eyes following it the rest of the way down.

Melody felt her eyes watering as she imagined a young Lara lying defenseless and screaming as a man lay into her again and again with a shattered blade. How could anyone do this to another human being? To a child no less! It was unconscionable! Beyond barbaric! It was evil! Just outright evil! She stepped away, having to lean on the table as her legs started feeling weak and her head became dizzy.

Sarah stepped up, examining Lara's back with more trained hands. The more she felt the more alarmed she looked, as though not wanting to believe what her medical knowledge and senses were telling her. "In the name of…he did this with a knife!? Lara, he must've cut clear through your vertebrae! He had to have hit your spinal cord!"

"That would explain why I couldn't move afterwards," said Lara.

"Move!? It's a miracle you're still alive!" Sarah stepped back, taking a deep breath as she held a hand to her forehead in astonishment. "How did you not bleed to death!?"

Lara stepped away and quickly wound her wrap around herself before turning to address the table. "I don't know how I got away from him. Maybe Sable was killed before he could finish. Maybe the ship blew up again. Maybe I managed to crawl away and don't remember it. I woke up lying on part of the deck floating in the middle of the ocean. No Charybdis, no Sable, no ships, and no land. Don't ask me how long I was out there or how I didn't die, because I really don't know. I kept going in and out of consciousness, sometimes at night and other times in the day. I wanted to stay knocked out because of how horrible the pain was. Eventually I started wishing I could die so it would stop."

Melody tried to wrap her head around the idea of a pain so terrible she wished she would die as she sat heavily in her chair. Actually, she had a pretty good grasp of how terrible that pain could be. Emotional torments could be just as unbearable as physical pain.

Lara pulled her chair out and sat down again. "Eventually the currents brought me to a shore somewhere."

Lara suddenly smiled. It was such a genuine heartfelt smile Melody forgot her shock at Lara's disfigured back. She looked like she was remembering something truly happy, not a nightmare of pain and loss. It must have been a very warm and pleasant memory to make her smile after the dark and terrible tale she just told.

"That's where my dad found me," said Lara.

"You mean your adoptive dad, right?" asked Eric.

Lara glanced up and frowned at him. "As far as I'm concerned, he was my real dad."

Another lump formed in Melody's throat. That word again. "Was?"

Lara's face became pained for a moment, but then she shook her head. "He found me on the beach. He thought I was dead until I opened my eyes. He brought me back to his home. He tried to fix my spine with just medicine, but Sable really did a number on me. The damage was just too much. So, he turned to magic." Lara looked up, reading the question on everyone's faces. "Yeah, my father wasn't a mercenary. He was a sorcerer. And a very, very powerful one."

Lara pointed to her eyes. "There were some side effects from what he did. I wasn't born with these. I had brown ones like mom. I still took a while to heal, but without magic and someone as skilled as him I'd probably be paralyzed or dead. Thanks to him, and a lot of care and food, soon I was completely healed. I wasn't as strong or fast as I am now. But I was stronger, faster, and tougher than I'd ever been."

Lara looked at her hand, opening and closing it a few times. "I can't tell you how amazing it felt. To not only run and jump around without feeling like I could pass out at any moment, but to be free of those pirates and that ship. I didn't have to scavenge food scraps or find places to hide for the night. I didn't have to live in fear every day. I didn't listen to screaming or gunfire at night anymore. I was somewhere safe with someone who wanted to help me. When I healed completely, he offered to let me stay with him."

Melody did not need to ask it, but she did anyway. "Did you?"

Lara laughed. "Of course I did! How could I say no? He saved my life! I couldn't leave without finding some way to repay him! And where was I gonna go anyway? My old home was nothing but ash. And I didn't want to get dropped off in some random place with strangers. He was the first to show me any kindness in a long time. I had to stay. I wanted to stay! To be honest, I think he wanted me to as well. He seemed lonely. Not many visitors where we lived."

She tilted her head back and smiled at the ceiling. "It wasn't the same as with mom. I never had a dad, and he never had a daughter. It was a learning process for both of us. It wasn't till a year later that I started calling him that, but he was happy when I did. He did the best he could, and I love him for that. He was as good a parent as mom was. Thanks to him I had a home, and food, and mile after mile of mountains, rivers, plains, and forests to roam in. He gave me everything I needed, even if sometimes I didn't want it."

Melody did not notice the little knowing grin Ariel sent her.

Lara reached into her pocket, pulling out a red marble on a chord. "He gave me this for my sixth birthday."

Melody leaned closer to see what it was. Her eyes widened when she saw the red was actually a flame. A burning, living flame was inside the pendant. It was enchanting to watch the oranges, reds, and yellows dance within the glass, more dazzling than any sunlit jewel.

"It's so pretty!" Melody breathed, the light reflected in her eyes.

"He gave me these too when I was ten," said Lara, touching the piercings in her face and then running her finger over the spikes in her left ear down to the rings. "I got the tattoos when I turned twelve."

"Your father gave you piercings and tattoos?" said Adella, who sounded like she wanted to have a very stern talk with Lara's father about what were appropriate gifts to one's child.

"Wasn't that painful?" asked Melody.

"A bit, but they were worth it." Lara grinned as she tied her pendant around her neck. "It's a way of being closer to him. And I think they look good."

"She's not the only one," whispered Andrina, glancing out the corner of her eye at Aquata. Her sister blushed, fidgeting as she glued her eyes to the table.

"But dad wasn't a big softie with me," continued Lara. "He could get pretty strict, and his lessons could be a bit…rough. Made him angry once. Never did it again! And he definitely didn't know how to sing! Talk about being tone deaf…yikes! I'd never been to school either, so he became my teacher as well. He had a huge library for me to learn from. More books than I ever thought possible. He taught me how to read and write, and how to fight and use a sword. He taught me his magic too, so I'd never be a victim to someone like Sable again. But he also taught me not to become one of the villains, when to run and when to fight, and when it was best no to do anything at all. He steered me away from revenge. Told me to use what I'd learned for what I knew was right. He didn't just teach me how to use a sword and magic, but when to use them. Doesn't mean I always listened to him, but I didn't disappoint him either. At least, I hope I never did. And he told the best stories."

Lara gently touched her pendant, smiling nostalgically. "Like I said, as far as I'm concerned, he was my real father. I can't imagine having a better one."

"What happened to him?" asked Melody.

Lara's expression fell along with her hand. "I don't know."

Melody's brow furrowed in confusion. That was not the response she was expecting. "You don't know?"

Lara shook her head. "It happened five years ago. One night I went to sleep like I always did. When I woke up, I was in the middle of a camp with a bunch of thugs debating how much they could get if they sold me as a slave. That, and some pretty large crystals scattered around me. I knocked them out, took what I could off them, and ran. The only things I had from home were my clothes, my sword, and my pendant. I don't know what happened to dad or how I got there, but I'm certain he's dead."

"But you said you don't know what happened," said Alana. "How can you know for sure?"

Lara looked sadly out the window. "Because he would've found me by now if he was. With his power it'd be easy. He promised that if I ever needed his help he would come. In five years, I've never found a trace of anything to suggest he's still alive, so…yeah." Lara traced the tattoo on her left arm as she turned back to the table. "And even if our home's still out there, I can't find it because I can't remember where it is. I've searched my memories again and again. Poured over every map I could get my hands on. Hunted down one memory potion and magical relic after the other looking for answers. It's no good. I remember home itself. I remember what the mountains looked like in each season. I remember sledding down the hills and watching the snowfall beside our campfires when we were out. I remember the aspen glade in fall when dad gave me my sword. I remember the wolf pack that denned up in a boulder cave ten miles away, and the eagles that nested in the lighting-struck tree to the south. But I can't remember where any of that is. I couldn't even tell you where to start looking. It's just a giant blank, like I never knew in the first place."

"Did you know where you were?" asked Andrina. "When you woke up, I mean."

"No…"

There it was again. That tone in Lara's voice and the look in her eyes that told Melody her guardian was about to go through more memories she did not want to relive.

"But I found out soon enough," said Lara. "I was in a province called Hun Rao, part of the eastern kingdoms."

"I've never heard of Hun Rao, or the eastern kingdoms," said Eric.

"I'm not surprised. You know that desert on the other side of the mountains?" asked Lara.

"The Sand Ocean? Of course. It's supposed to be endless."

"It's not. On the other side they call it the Devil's Steppe. I crossed it to get here."

Melody's eyes widened in astonishment. She did not know a lot about the Sand Ocean, but she knew its name came from its sheer size. It was a literal ocean's worth of barren sand. The accounts she read and heard described an infinite plane of it stretching for many horizons. It was inhospitable and uncrossable in the extreme. Just getting to it meant going through the White Iron Mountains, which were notorious for their sudden blizzards and treacherous paths. Only the ambitious and the foolish dared to venture beyond them into that natural furnace, quickly driven back to the comforts of home by the blistering dry air and absolute vacancy of water.

"On the other…you mean the eastern kingdoms are on the other side of that?" exclaimed Eric. Lara nodded. "You crossedthat on your own? How?"

"Magic, remember?" said Lara, tapping her left temple. "Otherwise I wouldn't have made it."

"What's it like in the eastern kingdoms?" asked Ariel, her adventurous curiosity piqued.

The air around Lara changed as though Ariel flipped a switch. Melody had never seen Lara look so haunted. That distant glazed look came back to her eyes, but now there was hollowness in them. She saw a quiver come to Lara's hands as her face got paler. She had a bad feeling about this.

"It's horrible," Lara said. "In every way you can imagine. People are hungry, and poor, and dirty, and desperate. Orphans are everywhere because their parents abandoned them or died. People do whatever they have to in order to survive or escape their misery, whether it's begging, crime, alcohol, or drugs. The worst sorts of criminals run free because no one's either strong enough or cares enough to stop them. The rulers…they're all a disgrace compared to you. They're tyrants and thieves. They hoard up wealth so they can get fat and spoiled while everyone else starves in the dirt and mud. The towns are ruins. And the wars…the wars never stop. If it's not between gangs, it's between towns. If not towns then kingdoms, and if not them then empires. Just non-stop fighting as they find more destructive and creative ways to kill each other. Entire forests have been stripped bare and whole kingdoms left in ruin. And magic…magic is considered the worst form of heresy. Religions call it an offense to whatever god or gods they follow, while everyone else calls it evil. You wondered why I was so reluctant to tell you all I had magic? Because it doesn't matter if you use it for good or evil over there. You can be the most generous and kindhearted person the world's ever seen. But if you have magic, you're evil to them by default. You're not even human anymore. Anyone who practices it ends up dead or a target for bounty hunters, and there are big rewards for it. The ones that do survive are the worst. Dark witches and warlocks who practice black magic and use it to terrorize the masses. That, or secretly work with kingdoms to craft machines and weapons for their wars."

Lara looked up over the table, not noticing her voice growing louder and her trembling more prominent. "I spent my first two years there trying to find a way home, but the last three I was just trying to survive. I wasn't a woman to them, or an 'exotic'as the slavers called me. I had magic, and that was enough to validate whatever anyone wanted do to me! If they didn't want to rape or rob or enslave me, then they wanted to kill me for the reward they'd get! Almost every day I had someone after my head! And day after day I fought just to keep them off my back! The more hunters I put down the higher my bounty went, and the more they came after me! And the more that came the more I had to…I had to…!"

Melody knew something was wrong. Lara had gone frighteningly pale. Beads of sweat started forming on her face. Her breathing was fast and sharp with panic, as though she were running for her life. Now it was not just her arms, but her whole body that was shaking. Her hands kept clenching and unclenching over and over, as though trying to grab something. Her eyes were even wider, staring down at nothing but clearly seeing something terrible. Her mouth hung open, making quiet sounds somewhere between a cry and choking.

"Lara?" Melody stood up when Lara did not respond. "Lara?"


Lara was not aware it happened, but suddenly she was no longer in the dining hall. She was not even in Seahaven. She was back in the eastern kingdoms on some burning battlefield. Screams filled the air with songs of fear and agony. She smelled the acrid stench of burned corpses and gun smoke. Fires blazed with the colors of chemical fuels, dark towers of smoke rising to the blood red sun. Distant gunfire and the thunder of cannons sounded. The corpses were crawling towards her now, dark unseeing sockets fixed on her as they dragged themselves. They moaned and screamed as they closed in, encircling her from all sides.

"Murderer!"

"Witch!"

"Monster!"

"Killer!"

Lara backed away, only to feel hands grab her ankles. She spun around to see a pair of the dead had ahold of her, their cloudy eyes glaring up at her. Even dead and rotting she recognized them. They were a pair of bandits she once crossed paths with. They tried to kill her for her sword. So, she killed them first.

"You killed us!" they shrieked, clawing their way up her legs. "You killed us!"

"No! Get away!" screamed Lara, wrenching out of their grip. The corpses fell to the ground, immediately crumbling to pieces like flakes of burned paper, blowing away in the wind. Her heel caught on an arrow and she tripped back. She needed her sword. Where was her sword? Her knives? Any sort of weapon! Without one she would be–!


"Lara!"

Suddenly the battlefield and dead vanished. Lara was in Seahaven's palace again. She was on the floor, her chair knocked over and skin damp with terrified perspiration. She felt cold, as though left in night's chill with nothing to warm herself. The panic-induced adrenaline was making her breaths as hard and fast as her racing heart, eyes darting about the blurry room.

She flinched as a hand clutched her arm. She screamed as a pale dead face appeared before her. They followed her! The dead followed her out of that hellscape into reality! They had her now! They had come for their revenge! She could feel its cold dead grip on her as it prepared to lunge for her throat. She grabbed its wrist and wrenched its hand free.

"Ow! Lara! Let go!"

Lara blinked, bringing the world back to full clarity. No, not a dead face. Sarah's face, very much alive and looking as concerned as Melody beside her. She was trying to pry Lara's hand off her wrist.

"Lara! Snap out of it!" said Sarah. "It's me!"

"S-Sarah?" Lara quickly released her. "But you were…I thought you…"

Sarah rubbed her wrist, the cuff red from how hard Lara gripped her. She quickly put a hand on Lara's forehead then took her wrist and lightly pressed two fingers to it. Ever the doctor, even after her "patient" almost crushed her wrist like glass.

"Are you all right, Lara?" asked Ariel as she rushed over, Eric indicating to her sisters that they should remain where they were as he followed.

"What happened to you?" asked Melody. "You were talking and then you just froze up and started screaming! You looked like you'd seen a ghost!"

"It's nothing," lied Lara as she shakily got to her feet. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not!" said Sarah firmly as she stood. "You're chilled, your whole body's shaking, and your heart's going faster than I thought hearts could! If I didn't know any better, I'd say you had a full-blown panic attack! You're definitely not all right!"

Lara looked down at her hands. They were indeed shaking, just like the rest of her. She could feel her heart hammering away in her chest, slowly winding down its frantic pace.

Fine? The only one she was fooling here was herself. She barely started talking about the eastern kingdoms and she got dragged into her traumatic memories. She could deny it all she wanted, but she was definitely not okay. In the last twelve hours she had a terrifying nightmare, attacked Melody, almost drowned, revealed her identity as a mage, and just spilled out most of her life story and caused herself to have another flashback.

She bit the inside of her lip. This was so frustrating. Kodama said the answer to getting rid of these episodes would come from herself. What was that supposed to mean? And now that her medicine was losing its efficacy, she felt even more pressured to find a solution. But how was she supposed to find an answer when a hundred different terrors were waiting inside her head, all of which the nature spirit's medicine was struggling to keep at bay?

Sarah turned to Ariel and Eric. "Your majesties, forgive me if I speak out of line. But as Lara's friend and a doctor–I mean, future doctor–I can't recommend continuing. It's just a guess, but I think her memories are what triggered this. If you please, end this here. At least for now."

Lara suddenly felt very small and embarrassed. Of all the times for this to happen, it had to be now. Right in front of everyone. She thought she might have the mental fortitude to go wading back through those last five years, but it seemed those were still too much for her to overcome.

"Agreed," said Ariel. "And please, Sarah, you don't have to be so formal. Just Ariel is fine."

Sarah gulped, astounded at the queen's request to be on a first name basis. "Uh…as you wish, your maj–I mean, Ariel."

Ariel smiled then turned her focus to Lara. "That's enough for today, Lara. I'm grateful you shared all this with us, but I don't want you to force yourself. Not if it puts you through something like that again. Why don't you and Melody have a quiet day in? It'll be lunch soon anyways."

"That's okay with me," said Melody. "And we…still have a lot to talk about."

As though on cue Lara's stomach growled loudly. She blushed, embarrassed as giggles broke out from some of the princesses.

"Her stomach heard the 'L' word," said Andrina teasingly.

"Shut up," mumbled Lara.

Melody giggled and headed for the door, beckoning for Lara to follow. "Mom, we'll take lunch in my room."

Lara quickly said goodbye to Sarah and followed after her. This all felt so strange still, as though she was walking through a waking dream. Mere hours ago, she threatened to crack Melody's head open because of something spoken in a moment of anger. Now she just spilled most of her life's story to her and her family, entrusting them with the secret of her magic and the knowledge of her past. Most of it, at least. In return, they entrusted her with the secret of Ariel and Melody's mermaid heritage. It made sense to exchange such secrets, though. Now they both had leverage on each other to prevent someone ratting them out.

Lara shook her head. That was how life worked in the eastern kingdoms. It was not how life worked in Seahaven. Ariel did not want her story for leverage, nor did Lara want hers for such purposes. Ariel genuinely trusted her, as did Eric, Aquata, Alana, and Andrina. Even after learning about her magic, something that once made her a target for persecution and bounty hunters, they openly affirmed their confidence in her. They said they trusted her with their lives. It felt strange to have someone defend her for once after so many years of people trying to destroy her. Maybe the other princesses were not so keen, but Lara doubted Ariel would have brought them in if she thought they could not be trusted, or at least reasoned with.

As for Melody, it was too early to tell how things would go now they had agreed to start over. Their issues were not going to resolve in the matter of a day or even a week. And just saying they were starting with a blank slate did not mean they could ignore the past. But Lara had to admit that whatever thinking Melody did after their confrontation had caused a significant change in the girl. The Melody she decked earlier hardly cared one way or another about Lara, until she got in her way that is. She was distant and sorrowful, always forcing smiles and snapping at her. These smiles she was showing now were not forced, and she seemed sincere. She moved and spoke lighter, as though a small bit of her burden had been lifted. The Melody walking in front of her was like a different person. Was this the Melody that Ariel had talked about? The spirited, tomboyish, adventurous, if sometimes stubborn princess who dreamed of the sea as her mother once dreamed of the land?

The corner of Lara's mouth lifted in a faint smile, the tremble in her body fading. If it was this Melody, maybe things could be different this time around.


"What are you getting?" asked Melody, watching from the alcove seat as Lara fished around in her pack. The brunette made a comical picture with her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth as she dug around, trying to see inside the pack with her hand. Her sword was propped nearby, the shadowsilk cloak folded atop the bed. Lara was back to herself, not the frightened and traumatized survivor of pirates and the eastern kingdoms she witnessed in the dining hall.

"You remember that friendI went to get my sword from?" asked Lara.

"The one you took the tree branches and blossoms to?" said Melody.

"That's the one. A-ha!" Lara withdrew her hand, opening it to reveal two small dark pellets. "He made these for me."

Melody leaned closer. They looked completely unremarkable, almost like flecks of dirt. "What are they?"

"They keep me from having… 'episodes' like downstairs." Lara popped them into her mouth and quickly swallowed. Not fast enough if the sour look she made was an indication. "Bleugh! Taste awful though."

"By chance, is this friend of yours magical as well?" asked Melody

"I don't know if I'd call him magical, but he has magic," said Lara. "And he's cryptic. And old. He talks with this really ancient-sounding speech. It's all 'thou art' and 'come thee hither' stuff. It takes some getting used to, but he's always honest at least. Keeps to himself, too. Not a big fan of people."

"Sounds like quite a person."

Lara rolled her eyes. "You have no idea. Abdos."

White flames ran down Lara's back, causing Melody to jump. They waved and burned for a moment before disappearing, hiding her scar beneath flawless skin once more.

"Doesn't that hurt?" asked Melody.

"Not the least," said Lara. She scratched behind her ear. "You know, this is kind of weird."

"What is?" asked Melody.

"You talking to me and all." Lara grinned sheepishly. "Yesterday we barely exchanged a dozen words. Now we're trying to start over with all that behind us. Never thought we'd be here, you know?"

Though it stung a little, Melody understood. She had to admit this was strange to her as well. She felt as though she had woken up from a dream, now adjusting from one reality to another. She knew they could not repair their relationship overnight. There were bad habits she would have to break, and she was bound to slip up along the way. But at least the two of them were talking. It was a start.

She was still letting Lara's story sink in as well. It was hard to imagine a person could endure that much suffering and still smile. To have her mother murdered before her eyes. To spend years being abused at the hands of ruthless, cold-hearted criminals like this Sable she spoke of. To gain a new home and a father she never had, only to wake up one day and find them both gone. And she still knew nothing definitive about what Lara endured in the east, but she was sure it was no less tragic or terrible. And yet Lara was still Lara. She laughed. She smiled. She joked. She lived. She was not broken and hiding away in self-pity and sorrow, though neither was she unfazed by her ordeals. Clearly she had been cracked and scarred by her own traumas, but she was not about to shatter to pieces.

Melody shifted so her back was resting against the wall. "Lara, why didn't you leave the eastern kingdoms earlier? They sound terrible. Why would you stay there for so long?"

"I wanted to leave," said Lara, adjusting her wrap and goggles. "But I didn't know where else to go since I can't remember where home is. And if leaving the east was easy, I think most people would've done it already. Farther east is the sea, and that's swarming with pirates and all sorts of monsters further out. South is more desert, and the north is 'cursed.'"

Melody straightened up slightly. "Cursed? What do you mean?"

Lara sat on the edge of Melody's bed to face her. "Apparently there was a technologically advanced empire up there a long time ago, but they were toying with some sort of weapon and it blew up in their faces. It poisoned the water, the air, the earth–everything. Whatever it is, it's made the land completely dead. People have gone in and come back perfectly healthy, then literally rot apart and die weeks later. I didn't want to risk it even with my healing. Things finally got so bad over there I decided to risk the desert and…well, here I am." Lara lay back on the bed and sighed. "Look, can we talk about something else? Please?"

"Sure," Melody went and hopped onto the bed, sitting cross-legged. So far, so good. A few days ago, this was more conversation than they would have in a week. "So, uh…your dad gave you your piercings? And your tattoos?"

Lara nodded. She offered an arm to Melody, allowing her to see the markings up close. She leaned in, reading over the strange writing under her skin. "What does it say?"

"Not actually sure," said Lara. "Dad just said they were the marks of a sorceress. It was to signify I'd become his full-fledged apprentice."

"How painful was it?"

"You mean getting tattooed? Not as bad as you'd think, but I wouldn't call it painless. It was really irritating more than anything." Lara sat up, brushing her hair back to give Melody a better view of one of her spiked ears. "These hurt more."

Melody remembered how it felt to get her own ears pierced. The thought of having those spikes put in made her wince. "I bet!"

"Would've hurt even more if dad didn't use magic on them afterwards!" Lara scratched her chin thoughtfully. "Though, he also could've written them onto me like a pen on paper if he wanted to."

A stab of gloom came to Melody, remembering the letter from Elaine that came last night. Just like the many others she received over the past few weeks from her friends. She looked over to her vanity table, seeing the letter next to the now useless runaway note.

Lara followed her eyes to the table. "I take it your friend's letter was the same as the others?"

Melody sighed, falling over into her pillows. "I invited Elaine here just to spend an afternoon together. Same response–I'd love to, but I can't because insert-new-reason-here. This time it's relatives visiting from Glowerhaven."

Lara rolled herself backwards off the bed, walking over to the vanity to see the letter for herself. "Seems like they've always got an excuse…it's not me, is it?"

Melody shook her head. "No, I rarely mention you. It's just been one thing after another with them. First Gregory has a cold. Then Elaine needs more tutoring because she's fallen behind. And then Rupert…you get the idea." She sighed again. She seemed to be doing that a lot today. "I know I haven't been myself recently."

"No, really?" said Lara sarcastically. "I thought you were Princess of Groucherhaven!"

Melody arched an eyebrow at Lara, not sure if she wanted to groan or laugh at the joke. "Princess of Groucherhaven?"

Lara shrugged. "Hey, it's what I came up with."

Melody rolled her eyes, staring up at the ceiling. "Okay, I'll admit I wasn't just unfriendly with you. I was pretty cold to them for a while, too. But I'm starting to think I'm pounding on locked doors. It's just been one excuse after another not to see me. Not just Elaine, but all of them. It's like we're not friends anymore."

"Hey, Melody?"

Melody turned her head to Lara. She was reading the letter with a rather intense expression on her face. "What?"

"Do you have any older letters from Elaine lying around?" asked Lara.

"Older?" asked Melody, confused by the question. "You mean like the one from last week?"

"No, I mean way older. Like before your birthday older."

"I have a few. Why?"

"Can I see them?" asked Lara.

"Why?" asked Melody as she left the bed.

Lara turned the page sideways. "There's something bugging me about this letter."

Melody went to Lara's side, her curiosity piqued as she looked the letter over. She did not see anything odd about it. It was normal ink on normal paper in Elaine's normal hand. "What's bugging you?"

"That's the thing," said Lara. "I'm not sure. I need something to compare it with."

"Uh, okay. Hold on…" Melody went to her wardrobe, Lara following and still looking over the letter. She pulled out a drawer in the bottom, revealing papers stacked willy-nilly on top of each other. Their authors varied from friends to family, all kept for sentiment rather than content. No small number were from William. She needed to sort through them one day.

Melody pulled out a handful, quickly rifling through until she had five with Elaine's signature. "Here's a few."

Lara wordlessly accepted them as she knelt, laying them out in a row on the floor.

"What you're looking for?" asked Melody.

"Just a minute." Lara was silent as she read, golden eyes scanning each letter while glancing back and forth to the one in her hand. She continually muttered to herself, not in words but sounds that had some meaning only she was privy to. Melody read the letters for herself as she waited. There was nothing unique about them except perhaps their content, hence why they had been saved instead of eventually discarded.

Finally, Lara collected the letters together and stood. "And all the letters they've sent since your birthday have turned you down?"

"Not abruptly after," said Melody as she rose. "I wasn't very willing to meet with them for a while. Or anyone, really. But it's been almost the same for weeks now. Lara, mind telling me what's going on?"

Lara held up the letter. "I think this is a forgery."

Melody thought Lara had no more surprises for her today. Apparently she was dead wrong, because she succeeded in giving her a brand new one. "A fake!? You mean it's not real!?"

"Well, that's sort of the definition of…" Lara stopped at the wilting look Melody gave her. "I mean, yeah. I don't think it's genuine."

Melody grabbed Elaine's letter, scanning over it with as much scrutiny and speed as she could combine. She scanned through once and then twice. She saw nothing wrong with it. Normal ink, normal page, and normal words. There was nothing to remotely suggest a forgery.

"But it looks normal!" Melody said.

"It's the writing." Lara picked out one of the older letters and held it next to the one Melody had. "Yeah, something looks off. See here? And here?"

Melody followed Lara's finger, pointing to certain letters in the script. Whatever Lara was seeing, she was the only one who saw it. They looked the same to her. It was Elaine's writing; she was sure of it. She had read it many times before. She could not see any difference between them.

"I don't see it," Melody said. "How can you tell it's a fake?"

Lara grinned awkwardly. "Uh…well, to be honest I'm not a hundred percent sure it is."

"How sure are you?"

"Maybe fifty-fifty? Forty-sixty? Thirty…seventy?"

Melody glowered at Lara. She suddenly had an urge to tweak her nose. She dropped a shock like that on her, and she was not even sure herself about it. "This better not be one of your jokes, Lara! Because it's not funny!"

"No joke, I swear!" said Lara, holding up her hands disarmingly. "I'm not pulling your fin! I mean, leg! Wait…which one is it?"

"You just said it's a fake!"

"I said I think it's a fake!" clarified Lara. "If I was certain I would've said it is a fake!"

Melody frowned at her. "So, you have no idea?"

Lara opened her mouth to speak but stopped. She looked as though three candles had just lit in her head at once. She darted to her patchwork cloak, slinging it around her shoulders before grabbing her boots.

"Where are you going?" asked Melody, confused by Lara's sudden excitement.

"We are going into town for lunch!" Lara said as she tied off one boot. "Get something on your feet and grab a rain cloak! And bring those letters!"

"Wait, what–?" Melody darted aside as Lara zipped around the room, finding Melody's own shoes and rain cloak in record time. "What's gotten into you? Why are we going into town for lunch?"

"Because I can't tell if that letter's real or not!" said Lara as she quickly wrapped her shemagh on and adjusted her goggles on her head. "But I know someone who can!"

Melody found herself feeling as excited as Lara did. She set her letters down and quickly started putting on her shoes. "You do!? Who!?"

"Big Teddy's an expert with this sort of stuff! If anyone can spot a forgery, it's definitely him!"

"Big Teddy? Who's that?"

"You'll see when we find him!" Lara strapped her belt on and quickly tied her sword to it. "Come on! I know where he'll be!"

"Lara, wait!" Melody scrambled after Lara, clutching the letters in her teeth as she tied off her other shoe. "Where are we going?"

Lara flung the door open, turning back to grin lopsidedly at her. She looked like a kid about to start a treasure hunt. "To the best tavern in all of Seahaven!"


A/N: The roads we travel in life will inevitably cross through hardship, loss, and pain. For Lara, her path has taken her through pain few can imagine, and she bears the scars of the thorns she had been bled by. Though she and Melody have much to reconcile, and the trails they have tread are far and distant from each other, they can now take the road before them together. Not as enemies, but as friends.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own "The Little Mermaid," Disney, or any of its associated characters and intellectual property. Everything else, however, is mine =)