Chapter 52: Poseidon

Triton sat on a rock in Athena's memorial garden, watching the sea flowers and grasses sway in the current. The first traces of dawn appeared at the surface far overhead, the morning's glow rising and falling with the waves. Triton dragged his hands across his face, the trident resting against a rock nearby. He was as tired as he looked, both physically and mentally. He tried to sleep, for he desperately needed it. He had not shut his eyes for almost a day and a half now. But his thoughts were so turbulent he was unable to even approach so much as a snooze. He abandoned his bed in the dead of night, wishing to be alone with his thoughts.

Four days had passed since Triton's violent reunion with Lara, and the subsequent attack on Seahaven by Maelstrom. Triton returned to Atlantica immediately following his debate with Melody and Eric in the pavilion. He sent word to his daughters the next day, all but ordering them and their families to return to Atlantica. He knew it was an empty command. He could no more force them to come home than he could halt the passage of the sun and moon.

A day passed. And then another. Triton first assumed they were refusing his order, but the silence unsettled him. He should have at least received a refusal. He was almost ready to swim to Seahaven to collect them in person when Attina and her family came swimming home the morning of the third day. The news they brought him was not good. Not long after he left Seahaven, a fire started at the new hospital. A cursed blue blaze set by Maelstrom that burned hotter and faster than any natural fire. Over a hundred people died as the flames chased ten times as many to the top floor, trapping them in a burning coffin. Arista and baby Aria were among those threatened by the flames.

And then that creature saved them. Lara Anclagon, the daughter of that monstrous dragon Bel'al, who Melody senselessly defended and Eric so foolishly decided to keep caged in the dungeons, broke out and saved them. No, not broke out. Eric released it, and willingly! He set it free! But instead of flying away to escape, it went straight to the fire. It pulled his daughter and newborn granddaughter out of the flames. And then it came perilously close to dying in order to quell the blaze. Its life was spared only by the intervention of that terrifying Hive Queen creature. Now it had revealed the truth of its whereabouts and actions between when it killed his father and then reappeared before him. It slumbered for decades before waking up in a war-torn land far to the east. It made a living out of hunting humans, both for money and to sate its unquenchable anger as it searched for a way back to whatever hole it and that dragon considered home. It entered the service of another princess, only to destroy her entire kingdom and its populace in a blind rage after she was killed in a surprise attack. It fled the eastern kingdoms more hated, feared, and hunted than any individual in those lands. The wanted poster Eric produced was a testament to that.

Yet, it saved his family once again. The demon who murdered his father and hundreds of thousands of others was the same one who protected his daughters. But why? It…she was their enemy! Not just of him, but the entire royal bloodline! Arista, her baby Aria, and all the rest of them were descendants of the merman who slew that beast she called father. She could have fled and let them burn. She could have maimed or killed his family in the chaos of the fire. She could have joined the enemy and exacted her revenge alongside them. Instead she risked her life to protect them and the people of Seahaven. She ran through fire and pain to the brink of death for their sakes. And for the life of him, Triton could not understand why. What would motivate a being like that to risk death in order to save her enemy? Why would she put her life on the line for people who imprisoned her, turned their backs on her, called her a demon, and threw rocks at her? Why would she do anything for any of them? Why?

"You don't know anything about her!" Melody vented. "What she's been through! What she's done for us! She almost died trying to save us! If it wasn't for her, I'd be dead! Mom would be dead! We'd all be dead!"

"You know why we don't have to go to the basement?" said Eric. "Or wait outside a hospital room? Because Lara was there. Lara protected them. Not you. Not me. Not the soldiers. Not the trident. It was Lara. She didn't save everyone, and she couldn't have. But because of her we get to see our families, and a lot of people get to see tomorrow…something you should think about if you see her again, Triton."

Triton ruminated long and hard on Melody and Eric's parting words. He hated to admit it, but they were right. Lara protected his family several times over long before their fateful reunion at the marina. She protected them from the pirates. She protected them from the seaclops. She protected them from the skinner. She protected them and the people of Glowerhaven from that machine man. She protected them in the marina while he fought Ursula. And when the enemy offered her the chance to change sides, to get revenge on Triton and his daughters in place of Poseidon, she spat it back in their face, knowing she could be killed for her insolence. She almost was. He owed her as much of a debt as anyone else. More, even. Without Lara, he would have no family. He would be alone, king of a seemingly vast and empty ocean.

Melody started towards the stairs again but stopped halfway there and turned back to her grandfather. "You know, mom told me about how you were before she and dad got married. About what you thought of humans. How you acted towards them and anything that was 'different.' Mom said you turned over a new leaf after I was born…if you ask me, you didn't change as much as she hoped."

Triton sighed, taking off his crown to run a large hand through his white hair. Then he set it back on his head and rose, swimming over to Athena's statue. Even after so many years it both warmed and pained his heart to see her beautiful smile and those large, wondering eyes. He saw those same eyes in his daughters every time he looked at them. Especially in Ariel.

He reached up and cupped the statue's face. "It's times like these when I miss your guidance, Athena. I could surely use it now." He withdrew his hand and swam back. "I know what that creature did. I was there! I saw it! It killed my father! I don't know what sort of magic or miracle allowed it to survive this long, but I know it's the same one! It has to be!"

He stared at his hand as he formed a clenched fist. "I want justice for my father! I want it punished for what it and that dragon did! He's dead because of them! He never got to see me crowned king! Or be with us at our wedding! Or meet his grandchildren or great-grandchildren! They didn't just take him from me! They took him from our entire family! From all of Atlantica!"

He squeezed his fist tight and then released it, his shoulders sinking low. "But Melody is right. So is Eric. Without that creature, I would have lost our family months ago. I sent them to land thinking I was keeping them safe. All I did was put them in harm's way, and somewhere I couldn't help them."

Triton shook his head. "It wasn't me who protected them at the marina, or from those monsters and pirates before. It was that thing! I don't want to admit it, but…they're all alive because of it! If it were anyone else, we'd be throwing parades in their name right now! We'd be hailing them as a hero, and rightly so! I owe it a debt I can't begin to repay, but…!" He grimaced, jaw clenching tight. "I can't forgive it! I can never forgive it! It's a criminal and a murderer! It's taken countless lives on top of my father's! It's a monster in every way imaginable!"

Triton looked up at the statue, his grimace fading into a frown. "How am I supposed to reconcile this? How am I supposed to do right by my father and the lives it has taken, but also honor the ones it saved?"

He waited for the metal face to give him an answer. When none came, he turned and sat at the base of the statue. He reached down and plucked a sea flower, twirling it between his thumb and finger. "What am I to do, Athena? What am I to do?"

"What I failed to do–the right thing."

Triton leapt off his seat, reaching his hand out to the trident. It glowed and came flying to him, landing securely in his grasp as the forks came to life. The abandoned sea flower drifted in the water, slowly sinking to the ground.

"Who goes there!?" shouted Triton, trident hefted as he searched for the speaker.

There was no answer to his demand. Triton turned in a circle scanning for the intruder, but the garden was empty save himself. He was alone. Yet he did not feel alone. He could tell someone else was with him. He felt eyes on him from somewhere. And that voice…it was familiar. He knew that deep, growling tone like a thunderstorm speaking.

"I know you're there!" said Triton. "Show yourself!"

"That would be a problem."

Triton spun around. Before his eyes, his and Athena's statues began to come alive. Their eyes glowed with orange light as an orange ring with a vertical line through it adorned their foreheads. Their limbs slowly started to move, the metal groaning as the strange magic spread through the figures. Then they broke free of their pedestal, swimming up into the water before glowing orange lines enveloped their bodies. Suddenly the statues merged together, becoming a glowing humanoid figure descending towards Triton. Their fins split into legs as wings and a tail grew from their backs. Triton trained the trident on the figure as it settled on the sea floor in front of him, rapidly cooling as the glow faded. The statues were gone. Standing before Triton now was the gold-cast visage of that demonic form Lara assumed.

Except it was not. This was different from Lara. The humanoid figure stood just as tall as Triton, clawed feet sinking into the silty earth. There was no plating on its golden body. There was visible powerful musculature to it, but not that of any human. A long skeletally segmented tail swayed through the water behind it, the bladed tip leaving a trail of bubbles in its wake. A pair of large powerful wings like a bat spread out and then folded in. The figure had six backwards swept horns ringing a mane of long sharp quills extending behind its head. The neck was short, much like its rounded snout that resembled the prow of an overturned ship–intended for sailing through air as a boat does through water.

Triton's eyes widened as four burning orange eyes with black ring and slit pupils stared back at him. He knew this monster. It looked just like the one that invaded his father's court sixty years ago. The same one his father battled on that distant shore after it stole him from Atlantica.

"My avatars do not perform well underwater," said the figure. Triton could see the many sharp teeth in its mouth as it spoke. "Not with my current power. This will have to do."

"Your voice…!" Triton pointed the trident at the figure, the forks glowing brightly. "I know you! You're that dragon! Bel'al!"

Bel'al gave a short bow and nod. "It has been a long time, King Triton. Last we met, you were Prince Triton, son of King Poseidon."

"You're dead!" shouted Triton, his hands shaking with both anger and disbelief. "I saw my father drown you!"

"You saw me cursed and submerged," said Bel'al. "I am far from dead…though, I would not call my current state living, either."

Triton aimed the trident at the dragon statue's head as the forks began to glow. "Trident…!"

"Stay your magic!" said Bel'al quickly, holding up a disarming clawed hand. "I am not here for a fight, much less your life."

"I find that hard to believe!" said Triton, keeping the trident aimed at him with electricity arcing over the forks in preparation.

"I speak the truth, Triton. You of all merfolk should understand that if I wished to harm you or your people…" Bel'al stepped towards Triton, stopping with the trident inches from his face. His eyes glowed brighter, their color turning a menacing red as his lips curled back in a snarl. "I would have done so already."

A terrible pressure descended on Triton as he found his eyes locked onto the statue's own. He wanted to look away, but he could not. He was frozen in place just by their gaze. Even if this was only an avatar for the supposedly deceased dragon, the menace and power in that voice and those eyes frightened him. He felt tiny and powerless before it. As if Bel'al could reach out and destroy him with just a touch.

"And who's to say you haven't already!?" said Triton, trying to make his voice as firm and commanding as possible.

The pressure coming off the statue abated, Bel'al's eyes regaining their orange glow. "That you will have to trust me on."

"Trust you!?" The tremors left Triton's hands as he jabbed the trident under Bel'al's chin. "Never! Not after what you and your spawn did!"

Bel'al let out an angry growl, a tinge of red returning to his eyes as the water around him undulated with heat. His tail swung up and batted the trident aside. "I'll not have you call my daughter the 'spawn' of anything in my presence! Not after all she's done for your kin!"

"She deserves worse for what she's done to my kin! Namely, my father!" said Triton, aiming the trident at Bel'al again. "As do you! Now answer me! Why are you here!?"

"As I said, I did not come for a fight," said Bel'al. "I am only here to talk. I would not have invested so much into protecting you all if I intended to harm you."

Triton lowered the trident slightly. "Protecting? What do you mean protecting?"

"Did you not think it was odd, Triton?"

"Think what was?"

Bel'al took a step back and began walking a slow circle around Triton. The merking turned with him, keeping the trident pointed at him at all times. "That Melody has not endured another nightmare since the death of her beloved? That despite having a makeshift bomb set off above her, Alana was rescued from the pirates with only a scratch to show for it? That Melody miraculously survived her heart being pierced by ice? That Lara did not once turn her fires on Seahaven in the depths of her rage?" Bel'al stopped and glanced at Triton. "Or that Nerida, whose desecrated body barely allowed her to float, was suddenly able to vanish from Atlantica?"

Triton gripped the trident harder at that last one. No one in Atlantica could explain Nerida's sudden disappearance, or why they had been unable to locate her since. "Are you saying those were your doing?"

Bel'al's response was a simple nod. Triton frowned. "For someone claiming to help us, you've done little! And you weren't quick to stop your so-called 'child' from trying to kill me!"

"Had I left Lara unrestrained, she would have annihilated you along with everything in sight. Consider yourself fortunate I kept her from handling you any rougher than she did. As for my helping your people…" Bel'al walked away from Triton to the now empty pedestal. "My efforts may be furtive and hindered by my entrapment. But they are by no means meager. While you've been scouring the ocean for Maelstrom, I have been making preparations for their final assault."

"What assault?" demanded Triton, the trident's forks glowing as he watched Bel'al carefully. "And what preparations?"

Bel'al lay a hand upon the pedestal, causing threads of orange light to travel down his limb and into the metal. "These preparations."

Suddenly a ray of orange light shot up from the pedestal, gathering into a small orange ball five feet above it. Then the ball spread out into a glowing ring, roiling bubbles rising from the edges.

Triton gasped loudly when he saw what lay within the ring. Beyond it was an ocean, but not one he recognized. The rocks, the fish, the plants–they were nothing like what was found in Atlantica! Even the water was different! Triton could feel how cool it was as it came streaming through the ring. This was no image! He was looking at a portal!

"That's…an entirely different ocean!" exclaimed Triton.

Bel'al removed his hand and the ring collapsed back into a ball and fell into the pedestal, scattering across it as fleeing flickering lines. "My associates scattered many more of these across Atlantica. Just as I have scattered them across the land."

"Associates!? What associates?! Who are they!?" demanded Triton.

Bel'al's tail swung around in front, wagging the curved blade-like tip at him. "I wouldn't be doing my duty to protect them if I revealed their identities, now would I?"

Triton scowled angrily. "Then tell me where those portals go to! And why you've placed them!"

Bel'al folded his arms behind him. "A secret is not meant to be shared with others. Where I send them is best left unknown, both to you and your enemy. As to why, that goes without saying."

"Say it anyway, dragon!" ordered Triton.

"I told you, Triton. I would not have invested so much into helping your people if I intended to harm them. These portals are to ensure the people of the Alliance have some manner of survival."

"Survival? Survival of what?" asked Triton.

Bel'al did not answer. He looked at Triton with his glowing eyes. It was chilling to see those eyes again, even if it was on a much smaller form. "What do you think?"

Triton stared hard at Bel'al for a minute. Then he tensed as he realized there was only one possible answer. "Maelstrom."

Bel'al nodded. "All great calamities are preceded by a quiet moment. Earthquake. Hurricane. Plague. War is no exception. Maelstrom has no doubt been building their strength during the quiet months. What happened in Seahaven is only the tip of a far larger spear. I prepared these portals so that some of your people might escape what is to come. It is what little I am capable of offering." His eyes wandered to the trident in the king's hand, and he gave a soft growl. "I would be able to offer far more had your father not been obstinate about keeping that weapon you're holding."

Triton's anger bristled again, and it showed in the lightning that arced down the trident. "Obstinate!? How dare you!? You are the one who tried to take it from him!"

"And I wouldn't have been forced to had he merely listened to me!" Bel'al replied, his own tone slightly angered.

"Listened to what!?" Triton yelled loudly, swinging the trident to the side. "You barged into our court and demanded he hand it over!"

"I did no such thing!" snapped Bel'al. "I gave your father three chances to hand it over, and three times refused! Which is three more than I should have offered him at all! Poseidon had no right to the trident, much less the ability to wield it!"

"The trident belongs to the king of Atlantica!" yelled Triton, holding the trident in front of him. "It has always answered to them! It answers to me just as it answered him and my grandfather, all the way back to the first king!" He pointed the trident at Bel'al again. "You? You're no different from every other would-be tyrant who's tried to claim it for themselves!"

Bel'al growled angrily. "Do not speak to me of tyranny, merman! Poseidon more than qualified after the crimes he committed!"

"My father committed no crimes!" exclaimed Triton with outrage, surprise, and confusion.

"That is a lie!" snarled Bel'al, his eyes brightening briefly as his tail twitched in agitation. "The legacy of your father is one of death and suffering!"

"You're the one who's lying!" shouted Triton. "My father was a good king! A beloved king! Adored by our people! Respected by our allies and even our enemies!"

"Good!? Respected!?" interrupted Bel'al, the water around him growing hot. "Your father was called many things, Triton! Corrupt! Despotic! Bigoted! Feared! But 'good' and 'respected' were not among them!"

"He was an honorable and just merman!"

"He might have been! But that is not who he became!" Bel'al pointed at the trident. "All because of that abomination in your hand!"

Triton looked down at the trident. "This!?"

Bel'al scowled angrily at the trident. "It's nothing short of extraordinary and a twisted irony that your kingdom–no, your species survived this long in its presence! Especially considering what it did to your father!"

"The trident is why our kingdom has survived!" said Triton. "It's been nothing short of a blessing to us since Atlantica's founding! It's seen my people through countless trials, including you! Just as it will see us through this one!"

"Had your father surrendered it to me, your people would not be suffering this trail at all!" snapped Bel'al.

"Says the one who wanted it for himself!"

Bel'al narrowed his four eyes, growling low in his throat. "I never wanted the trident for myself!"

"Liar! You stole me so that you could force my father to hand it to you!" yelled Triton. "No doubt so you could use it to rule the world!"

Bel'al's eyes glowed bright as stars as orange lines flared across his body. "I took you so that I could destroy it!"

A silence fell over the garden in the wake of Bel'al's roaring voice. It swept over Triton like a wave, forcing him backwards as it stirred up sand from the ground. Bel'al's chest heaved as though his metal doppelgänger were breathing, his eyes continuing to glow as the luminous lines flickered on his body. How no one came swimming at the sound of their raised voices Triton could not understand.

"You…you what?" said Triton, not believing he heard the dragon correctly.

"I have never desired trident's power any more than I've desired this world for my kingdom!" said Bel'al, the glow fading from his eyes. "Not once! Not ever! Even if the Heavens and Pit were to resume their war, I would sooner die than turn to its magic! I have only ever intended to annihilate that thing the moment it was in my possession!"

"But why!?" asked Triton. "Why would you do such a thing!?"

"So that its power can never be used again!" said Bel'al. "So that the death and destruction it once caused could never be repeated! You saw it yourself, Triton! In Abyssum, when you confronted that black sorcerer! I felt you unleash it!"

Triton looked at the trident. He remembered that day clearly. The rage he felt as the Master goaded him with the mass murder of the prisoners, the kidnapping of his people, and then Urchin's battered bracers. The trident had always been especially responsive to his anger. But the way it answered his berserk hatred was unlike anything Triton experienced before. It invigorated him in a way he never knew possible. Filled his body with power and strength. But it also drained him completely, and not just physically. In those brief moments, he forgot about the world and himself. All he thought of was destruction, both of the Master and anything that kept him from accomplishing that goal.

"That thing in your hand…!" said Bel'al, nodding sharply at the trident. "It's the single greatest threat to your kingdom next to Maelstrom itself! It answers to the king? Nonsense! There is only one the trident has ever called its master…"

Bel'al pointed directly at Triton. "And it is not you!"

"What master!?" demanded Triton. "Who is he!?"

"I refuse to speak his name!" snarled Bel'al, slashing his arm across as though he were cutting Triton's very inquiry in half. "I went to great lengths to ensure the very knowledge of his existence was expunged from this world! It's barely a fraction of what he deserved after the atrocities he and his armies committed with that trident! He drove hundreds of mortal races to extinction! Your people were almost among them!"

"This is another of your lies!" said Triton.

"The truth swims around you every day, Triton!" Bel'al spread his left wing as he swept his arm out, gesturing to the distant ocean. "There was a time when the oceans teemed with merfolk of every form imaginable! When you were as bountiful and varied as the very fish you live amongst! Your songs and laughter filled the seas from one horizon to the other! You did not fear the surface or your earth-bound brethren! You lived and worked beside them! Your kingdoms flourished just as those on land once did!"

Bel'al's face set into a scowl. "Now the seas are empty and quiet! There are barely a handful of you left, and even those are dwindling away! Your own people are no exception!"

"Our people are thriving!" said Triton defiantly. "They always have been!"

Bel'al growled at him. "Thriving and alone! Thanks in no small part to Poseidon!"

One of Bel'al's wings sunk into his body. Then a formless mass of liquid metal rose from his palm, twisting and contorting until it took the shape of a small male sharkanian holding a spear. "The sharkanians are more than gone from Atlantica! They are all but erased from the ocean! Sharkania was their last population! One your father shrank significantly with his war against their species! Now they will likely vanish once Maelstrom is done with them!"

The sharkanian became formless before its features shifted into a female humanoid with six tentacles for legs. "The cecaelians' magic and healing were all but lost thanks to your father's persecution, which is more than I can say for their lands! Land you now call your own! They are a mere handful of tribes left struggling to survive in the uncharted seas! They are in no less danger of dying out than the sharkanians!"

Now the cecaelian transformed, becoming what appeared to be a beautiful mermaid with long flowing hair. But it was not one Triton was familiar with. Her fins were longer and ragged at the tips. Lateral fins ran down the sides of her tail, and there was no fin ringing the union of scales and skin at her hips. There were traces of scales on her human skin as well. The mermaid suddenly released a silent scream, exposing sharp teeth as her nails became claws and webbing sprouted between her fingers.

"The sirens, your closest kin, were hunted to extinction in these waters four hundred years before Poseidon had the chance!" said Bel'al. "All for the sake of their tears and a cruel form of immortality! Their last shoals are barely clinging to life on the same eastern shores Lara once hunted!"

The siren figure shifted, becoming an imitation of what could only be Triton himself. "And your own race fares little better! Nowhere else in the world is your species so plentiful! The rest of your kind struggle to survive in small groups against an unforgiving ocean!"

The figure shrank and lost form as the gold was resorbed into Bel'al, returning his wing. "Atlantica is not your stronghold, Triton! It's your last refuge! And because of your father, Maelstrom is now poised to eradicate it!"

"Enough!" shouted Triton, pointing the crackling Trident directly at Bel'al. "I'll not have you slander my father any further! I don't believe any of this! Not one word of it! This is you trying to justify his murder! My father was no criminal! He was a king! A good merman! Not an underhanded murderer like you and your…your child!"

Bel'al stared intensely at Triton, his eyes narrowing. "Something is not right. You speak as though you don't have any memory of any of this. Yet you remembered Lara when you saw her. So why…?"

Triton saw Bel'al's eyes widen, and then he scowled as his clawed hands clenched into fists. "I see…the seal didn't break completely! You still don't know the truth! That, or it's still sealed off because you refuse to accept it!"

Triton thought himself at the ready for any surprise attack Bel'al's avatar might launch against him. But Bel'al proved him wrong when he suddenly sprang at Triton and seized his wrists in both hands. Even for a statue, Bel'al's avatar was incredibly fast and strong. Triton found himself unable to get free, much less turn the trident on him.

"Unhand me, you monster!" yelled Triton.

Bel'al's tail snaked around, white fire bursting off the bladed tip. "Not till I pull the veil off your eyes!"

Before Triton could react, Bel'al's tail shot forward like a scorpion's stinger and struck him right between the eyes. Triton's vision was filled with blinding white, and then he felt himself slipping away from the waking world. He felt as if he were falling through the sky, tumbling without sense of self or direction through a void.


"It's a boy!"

Triton opened his eyes to a throbbing headache. He saw shapes and colors before his eyes, but everything was out of focus. He tried to bring everything to clarity, but his eyes could not do it. Then they closed, enveloping him in darkness. He willed them to open, but they would not. In fact, his entire body refused to obey him. He felt it moving and squirming, and the sensations against his skin and the movement of water in and out of his chest as he breathed. Yet he was no more than an observer, unable to command the vessel he now occupied.

He heard sounds and voices, but they were far away and muted. He felt someone carrying him securely, hands grasping under his arms and fins. Then something soft wrapped around his body. Fabric of some kind. He was enveloped so snuggly he could barely move. Then the embrace returned, and he felt himself moving as he was carried in someone's arms like a swaddled newborn.

"What is it?"

Triton would have flung his eyes wide with shock, but they would not obey him. That was his father's voice! It had been decades since he heard it, but he could never forget it! That masculine, commanding voice could belong to no one else!

"It's a boy!" said the female holding him. "And healthy as well!"

Triton felt himself being handed to someone new. He opened his eyes to see a blurry face looming above him. Even with his struggling eyes, Triton knew who it was immediately. Those dark brown eyes. Those broad shoulders and stout musculature. And that warm, broad smile beneath his thick red hair and beard. The same red color Ariel inherited from him.

This was Triton's father, King Poseidon.

"A son!" said Poseidon, beaming down at him. "I have a son! My son! My boy!"

Triton's confusion mounted. Of course Poseidon had a son! It was him! So why did he act so astonished by that fact? And for that matter, why did Triton feel so weak and helpless? He felt no strength in his body at all. If anything, he felt exhausted and frail.

A female figure with ash gray skin and long flowing white hair appeared beside Poseidon, looking down over his shoulder at Triton. "Congratulations, your majesty!"

Triton's confusion turned to horror when a pair of black octopus tentacles appeared in his vision as the woman's face leaned down to him. Even if she was just as blurry as his father, there was no mistaking the face or voice of Morgana. What was she doing in the palace!? And with his father, no less!?

The cecaelian smiled at him, revealing pearly white teeth. "He has the queen's eyes!"

Poseidon laughed as Triton found himself involuntarily reaching up to play with one of the tentacles. Why were his hands so small? They looked like…a baby's hands? Wait…was he a baby!?

What was going on!?

"Well spotted, Amanda!" said Poseidon. "Looks like he'll have my hair, if those little wisps are any indication!"

Triton's horror went back to confusion. Amanda? Why was that name familiar to him? He heard her voice and saw her face before, but it was so long ago he struggled to put the two together. And her smile and voice…they were similar to Morgana's, as well as Ursula's. But there was not a shred of malevolence in them. This cecaelian genuinely held no ill intentions against him or his father.

"Amanda's" smile turned into a smirk. "I'll bet you a hundred shells he grows your beard, too!"

Poseidon laughed again. "Hasn't skipped an Atlantican king yet!"

Suddenly Triton heard a commotion nearby. Anxious voices. Fins moving hurriedly.

"Amanda, we need you!" called someone nearby.

The cecaelian looked up from Triton. "What is it?"

"It's the queen! Something's wrong! She just lost consciousness!"

Poseidon's smile disappeared. Triton felt his father's hands tense. "Amphira? What's happening to her? What's happening to my wife?"

Triton's shock escalated even further. Amphira was his mother! She was here, too!? What manner of dream was this!? What did that dragon do to him!?

"Sire, wait here!" said Amanda before she swam out of Triton's vision. Triton heard some sort of fabric being moved. "What happened!?"

"We don't know!" said a mermaid. "She was awake right after the prince was born, and then she…!"

"Your majesty?" came Amanda's voice, her tone growing more urgent. "Your majesty? Can you hear me!?"

"She's not breathing!" said someone in alarm. "Her heart's slowing!"

Triton heard more commotion, as well as the sound of glass and stone being shoved around.

"Someone start compressions!" came Amanda's voice as the tinkling of bottles continued. "Where is it!? It's gotta be…found it! Move back!" Triton heard a stopper being pulled out of something, and then a hissing noise like a snake. "Come on, Amphira! Don't do this to us! You made it nine months! You can't give up now! You've barely even met your son!"

Triton watched his father's blurry face become increasingly worried, and now he saw it turn fearful. The forks of the trident came into view as Poseidon lifted it.

"Hold him!" Poseidon ordered, quickly handing Triton over to a black-haired mermaid and then swimming away. The mermaid cradled Triton close, tilting him just enough so that Triton could see his father's purple fins disappear behind a curtained door. "Amphira! Amphira, what's wrong!?"

"Sire, you can't be in here!" said Amanda.

"That's my wife, Amanda! I'm not leaving her! Now tell me what's happening!"

"We don't know! She was strong through the delivery, but now she's–!"

"Her heart stopped!" someone shouted.

Triton saw the golden glow of the trident from behind the curtains. "Move aside! All of you!"

"No, don't!" said Amanda in alarm. "We have no idea what the trident will do to her in this condition!"

"She'll die if I don't do something!" said Poseidon. "Now move!"

There was a yellow flash and a crackle of electricity from the room. Triton briefly saw his father and Amanda's figures illuminated against the curtain.

"Again, trident!" shouted Poseidon. Another flash and crackle of lightning, and another momentary glimpse of the king and the cecaelian. "Please, Amphira! Stay with me! Trident, again!"

Another flash went off.

"Again!"

Another flash.

"Again!"

Another flash.

"Again!" The flashes came repeatedly now, the desperation growing in Poseidon's voice after each one. "Amphira, wake up! Please wake up!"

Then it came to Triton. This was no dream or illusion. This was a memory. This was the day of his birth. The day he came into the world. Somehow Bel'al was making him relive it. But if this was his birthday, that also meant…

Triton never met his mother. All he had of Amphira were pictures and stories. He remembered hearing how she was always of a delicate constitution ever since she was young. She became ill easily and struggled to live a normal life. That did not stop her and Poseidon from falling in love with each other. They were married shortly after his grandfather stepped down and allowed Poseidon to assume the throne. Amphira became pregnant with him soon after, but the celebration was short-lived. There was immense concern she and the child would not survive the pregnancy. By no shortage of meticulous care and miraculous luck she persevered long enough to deliver him. But only till then.

This was not only Triton's birthday. It was also the day his mother died.

"That's enough!" came Amanda's voice. Triton saw her shadow rush to Poseidon, trying to draw him away. He roughly shoved her off him.

"No! She can't be gone!" shouted Poseidon as the flashes resumed. "I won't let her go!"

"There's nothing more you can do!"

"Yes there is! I can bring her back! I can do it! Trident, again!"

"Please, your majesty!" begged Amanda. "She's gone! I'm sorry, but she's gone!"

"Get out! All of you get out!"

"Poseidon!"

"Get out!" Poseidon yelled at the top of his lungs.

Triton saw the cecaelian and several mermaids and mermen abruptly flee through the curtain. They backed away, watching the king's shadow as the trident's golden light lit the room again and again and again.

With each flash, the golden glow began to turn white.


Triton reeled back from Bel'al, falling down to the sand. He clutched the side of his head as he felt it spin violently. What was that? It felt like a dream, and yet it also had the distinct semblance of reality. Was that really a memory? It had to be. It was too vivid to be anything else. But from when he was just born? How was that possible? Triton could barely remember anything from before he was three.

"What…what did you do to me?" Triton asked, struggling just to keep himself upright as his head continued to spin.

"It's not what I'm doing," said Bel'al as he walked towards Triton. "It's what I am undoing!"

"What did you do to me!?" demanded Triton angrily. He tried to swim up, but a violent dizzy spell sent him back to the ground.

"I showed you where this all began," said Bel'al. "Your mother's death was the catalyst for everything."

"My mother's…my mother had nothing to do with this!" shouted Triton, leaning heavily on the trident as he pushed himself up. "Or with you!"

"Oh, but she did!" said Bel'al. He stopped in front of Triton. "Her death was what started your father's descent into madness. Just as with you and Athena, Amphira was more than Poseidon's queen. She was his dearest friend, and the one voice he valued above all others. She was the one who could keep him from steering off the straight and narrow. She was his conscience as much as his confidant. When she passed, he was sick with grief. He mourned longer and deeper than anyone else, and that sorrow never left him."

More white flames ignited on Bel'al's tail. "But in the midst of his mourning, something else took hold. The cracks Amphira's death left in Poseidon's heart invited a dark, corrosive will sleeping within the trident. It waited eons for someone like him to appear. Someone vulnerable. Someone it could use. Someone it could deceive and manipulate. Slowly it overtook your father like a cancer, infecting him with its malignant whispers."

"Shut up!" said Triton, clutching a hand to the side of his head. Bel'al bent over, bringing his mouth next to Triton's ear. The sea king tried to lift the trident to defend himself, but he was so dizzy and weakened the dragon was easily able to push his arm away with his tail.

"Your father wasn't the trident's master," said Bel'al quietly. "He was its slave."

Triton lost the ability to move for a moment. Bel'al's words were just that–only words. Yet the way he spoke endowed such strength into them that Triton felt as though they were being implanted in his mind. He felt hot breath against his ear as the dragon's voice repeated over and over in his head. For a brief while there was no ocean, no earth, and no Atlantica. There was only Bel'al's words resonating inside him like the ringing of a bell before slowly fading away.

Bel'al drew back from Triton. "Every moment of every day your father held the trident, it drove him further into madness. It turned his grief into fear. That fear became paranoia. Became anger. And then became hatred. Hatred of himself. Of his frailty. Of his failure to save his wife. Of his inability to even look at you without being reminded of her. He sought to quench that hatred with strength. But the pursuit of power only feeds the lust for even greater power. And the trident soon turned his hatred against anything it saw as standing in the way of his quest for it. Including those he called friends."

Triton shook his head as he shakily swam up off the ground. "No…no, you're wrong!"

"See for yourself."

Before Triton could stop him, Bel'al's tail reached out and tapped Triton's forehead, sending him back into his lost memories.


"Poseidon, please!"

"Get out, Amanda!"

"You can't keep doing this!"

Triton found himself sitting on the floor of the hallway outside his father's private study. He was older now. Going by the size of his arms, hands, and fins, he was at least three if not four. He was playing with his favorite stuffed turtle doll. What did he name it? Oh yes! Sir Hector! Sir Hector the Swift! He adored that doll as a merchild! He literally loved it to pieces! How many times had it been repaired before it finally came apart?

"I said leave me alone! That's an order!" said Poseidon's voice. Triton wanted to turn to see his father, but he just kept playing with his turtle. His body moved with a will of its own. This was another memory, even if it was completely new to him.

"Atlantica needs you!" said Amanda. There was the sound of fins in the water, and then the faint "pop-pop" of suckered tentacles pulling Amanda across the stone floor. "You can't keep hiding in here or your chambers! You haven't sat with the council in months! They can't act on the sharkanian treaty without your approval! They barely have enough authority to keep the kingdom in order!"

"I don't care about the council! Or the blasted treaty!" yelled Poseidon angrily. "Now get out!"

Triton stopped playing with his doll and turned around. He saw shadowy outlines moving in the light inside the study. One was clearly his father. The other was that cecaelian Amanda. Why was his father so angry at her?

"At least see Triton!" said Amanda. "When was the last time you held him? Or talked to him? Or even looked at him?"

"I have more important things to worry about!"

Triton balked inwardly. That could not be real. This had to be some trick Bel'al was playing. His father would never say something like that. His father adored him no less than Triton adored his own daughters. If anything, his love and sometimes overbearing protectiveness for them stemmed from his memory of his father's feelings for him. For Poseidon to say he had more important things than Triton had to be the purest form of deception.

And yet, in his gut, Triton had a gnawing sensation there was no falsehood to what he was hearing.

"He's your son, Poseidon!" said Amanda, as though she had as much difficulty comprehending the king's words as Triton did. "What could possibly be–!?"

"That's King Poseidon to you, Amanda!" interrupted Poseidon, swimming at Amanda and jabbing a finger in her face. Amanda backed away, hands up defensively. "And don't you forget it!"

Triton saw his father's shadow swim sharply out of sight, followed by a rustle of parchment. He saw Amanda's shadow bend down to pick up a paper.

"What is…wait." Triton heard Amanda gasp loudly in alarm, clapping a hand to her mouth as she held the sheet of paper in the other one. "Why do you have this!?"

"That's none of your concern!" snapped Poseidon, his shadow swimming back and snatching the paper out of her hand before disappearing.

"These can't be…!" Triton saw Amanda pick up a stack of papers, quickly leafing through them. "Tell me these aren't what I think they are!"

"I said it's none of your concern! Now get out before I make you!"

"It is my concern when it looks like the king of Atlantica is researching black magic!"

Triton would have gasped if he could. Black magic? There had to be some mistake! His father was strictly against all forms of witchcraft and dark sorcery! He would never indulge in that sort of magic, much less research into it!

Amanda clutched the papers tightly, shaking them in front of her. "Do you have any idea what this does!? There's a reason this magic is forbidden!"

"I don't care what it does!" shouted Poseidon. "So long as it works, and I get what I want! You're a witch yourself! You of all folk should understand that all magic has a price!"

"I'm an enchantress! Not a witch! And we're not talking about a few ingredients for a healing potion! We're talking about lives!" shouted Amanda even louder, smacking the papers with a tentacle. "This!? This isn't a summoning! It's a trade! A life for a life! A soul for a soul! And only temporarily! Even if you got it to work, it'll never last!"

"Then I'll do it as many times as needed till it's permanent!"

Amanda clutched her hair with her tentacles. "Are you hearing yourself!? You're talking about sacrificing innocent lives! And there's no guarantee it'll be Amphira who comes back!"

"Who said anything about bringing Amphira back?" said Poseidon. "Or 'innocent' lives?"

A dreadful silence fell as Triton saw Amanda's shadow stiffen. "Wh-what?"

"My wife is dead," said Poseidon with unnerving calm. "Nothing can change that. I admit, I grieved a long time for her. Too long. I let it cripple me. It made me weak. But no longer. I'm not held down by the past. Now I look to the future. A bright, shining, brilliant future for Atlantica! One where we finally bring order to a wild and dangerous sea! And for that, my people need a king strong enough to lead them! One who isn't afraid to do what's needed to secure his power, no matter the cost!"

Amanda backed away, shaking her head. "No…no, no, no! You wouldn't! You didn't! Don't tell me you…not the prisoners! Please tell me you didn't use the prisoners to…!"

"I'm strong now! Stronger than I've ever been!" said Poseidon. What was that disturbing hunger Triton heard in his voice? "You have no idea how good this feels! But I can still go farther! I won't be weak ever again!"

A faint white glow came from the room. It was the same one Triton saw when Poseidon failed to revive his mother. "Not as long as I have this! That, and a steady stream of materials!"

Amanda dropped the papers. "You…you were never going to sign the treaty at all! You want a war with the sharkanians! You want to fight them so you…oh…oh gods! I think I'm gonna be sick!" Triton saw Amanda make a gagging noise as she clapped a hand to her mouth, her body heaving as she dry-retched.

"Quit your whinging," said Poseidon disdainfully. "It's unbecoming of a court physician. Besides, what's a few less savage gill-necks dirtying my ocean?"

"They're not savages!" said Amanda. "They're merfolk, same as us! You know that well as I do!"

"They're no better than those fish-eating humans! Were it up to me, I would kill every last one of those air-breathers before I started on them!"

"You can't do this!" Amanda interrupted, her voice both terrified and pleading.

"I'm the king of Atlantica!" Poseidon suddenly shouted, the white glow intensifying. "I can do whatever I desire so long as I have the throne and the trident!"

"Poseidon, please!" said Amanda, her shadow moving out of sight.

"I told you not to call me that!"

"I know you're hurting! I know you miss her! I do, too! There's not a day that goes by I don't think of her! But what you're doing, it…it's madness! I'm begging you! Don't go through with this! Atlantica needs a king who'll prevent a war with the sharkanians, not start one! Your son needs a father to show him how to lead! And I need my best friend back! Please! You know as well as I do this isn't what she would want! Amphira wouldn't want you to…what are you–!?"

There was a sharp crack and then a flash, followed by a scream. Triton flinched away as Amanda came sailing out of the study. She hit the ground and rolled across the hall, striking the bottom of a pillar. Her entire body was smoking.

"Don't you dare utter her name!" bellowed Poseidon from within his study. "If you cared for Amphira so much, then why didn't you save her!? Why isn't she here if she meant that much to you!? If your potions and spells are so mighty, then why couldn't you stop her from dying!? Unless…"

Triton quickly swam away, hiding behind a pillar as his father emerged from the study. His crimson hair was disheveled, and his face was gaunt under his beard. There were faint dark half-moons under his eyes. His body was unusually muscular. The trident was coated by a strange white aura as Poseidon clutched it in his hands. Triton had never seen that color from the trident before. And was he seeing things, or was that same aura spreading onto Poseidon? And were his eyes turning darker, too?

"Yes…yes, of course!" Poseidon pointed the trident at the downed cecaelian, the tips shaking. "That's it! It was you! You killed her! You killed Amphira!"

Amanda propped herself up on one arm, lifting her face to Poseidon and giving Triton a full view of her. Her oval face was young, at least the same age as Poseidon. Her flowing white hair was long, extending down to her slender waist. Her eyes were a strange lavender color and fearful as she looked up at Poseidon. Her six black tentacles were the same color as the inky blood that swirled into the water from a cut across her forehead and a gash on her arm. She twitched as she pushed herself back against the pillar, white electricity arcing on her tentacles.

Suddenly Triton remembered. Back when he was a child, there were still cecaelians in Atlantica. They lived, worked, ate, laughed, and raised their families alongside the merfolk. There were even several in the palace. One of them was named Amanda, and she was particularly close to his mother and father. Though she did not come from any sort of royalty or status, she was friends with them since they were children themselves. They were more like brothers and sisters they were so close. She was a prodigy of her race's unique forms of magic and healing, resulting in her being appointed as the palace physician at a young age. After Amphira died, she became a sort of surrogate mother to Triton. She taught him. Played with him. Watched over him. Sang for him. Told him stories about his birth mother. Cared for him like one of her own two children. They were both girls.

One day Amanda and her girls disappeared from Atlantica, along with the rest of the cecaelians. He never learned what happened to them. His grandfather only said it was caused by a dispute with his father. Eventually the elder sister returned to Atlantica, and Triton offered her Amanda's former position in the court as a gesture of goodwill. But time and pain turned Amanda's daughter deceitful, cruel, and manipulative. Triton was forced to banish her after she used her spells to effectively enslave several of his subjects. Her younger sister appeared shortly after. Unlike her sibling, she was consumed by hatred and anger. She tried to attack Triton and steal the trident, but he drove her off with ease.

Amanda was not just another cecaelian–she was Ursula and Morgana's mother!

"Poseidon, what…what are you saying!?" gasped out Amanda. "I would never–!"

"Why didn't I see it before!?" Poseidon said, the trident trembling in his hands. "You…you must have used some spell or potion on me! Something to make me forget it! But now I know! I'm strong enough to overcome your spells and tricks! It had to be you! You were there with her! The entire time! You could have slipped her anything! Anything at all, right under our noses! No one would be the wiser! Not even Amphira! She always trusted you too much!"

"That's insane!" yelled Amanda, pushing herself upright. "I could never hurt Amphira! She was like a sister to me! I loved her!"

"Did you!?" Poseidon shouted madly. The glow from the trident intensified. "You were always jealous of her! Jealous of what she had! Jealous I chose her over you! That she became my queen, and you just a lowly doctor! That our child would one day be king, and not yours! That your magic could never compete with my trident! That the merfolk rule Atlantica instead of you!"

"We are merfolk!" said Amanda. "All of us!"

"You're nothing of the sort!" Poseidon snapped. "You're a liar and a traitor! Was that your game all along!? To get close to us so no one would suspect you!? To get us out of the way so you and your people could take over Atlantica!? Is Triton next on your list!? Are you planning to kill him, too!?"

"No! I'd never hurt him! He's like a son to me! You know that!"

Poseidon loomed over her. "It doesn't matter what you say now! I won't fall for your lies anymore! Now I'll finally avenge Amphira! I'll make you pay for her death! And after I'm done with you, I'll start on your entire race! I'll make sure you never threaten me or Atlantica again!"

Amanda slowly shook her head as despairing and frightened tears mixed with the water before they could form. "You're…you're insane! I don't even know you anymore! You're not Poseidon! You're not my friend! You're not even the merman Amphira loved!"

White lightning crackled over Poseidon's body as he aimed the trident at Amanda, his eyes filling with light. "I told you not to say her name! Trident…!"

Triton saw Amanda's eyes widen in terror, the light of the trident reflected in them. Before he realized what he was doing, Triton swam out from the pillar, arms outstretched to his father.

"Shoot!" yelled Poseidon right as Triton seized hold of his father's hair and pulled back as hard as he could. The trident swung wide, shooting off a dense beam of white lighting right by the left side of Amanda's face. It boiled the water around it, scalding her skin. She fell down screaming, clutching half her face. The beam struck a wall and bored through it, sailing out into the ocean and then vanishing into the distance.

Amanda looked up at Triton, the left side of her face covered by one hand. "Triton!? What are you–!?"

"Pesky brat!" snarled Poseidon, grasping behind him for Triton's arms. He found one of his wrists and clamped down hard. Triton cried out as he felt his father's grip threatening to break his bones. "Get off me!"

"Let him go!" Amanda shouted. She bolted up and threw herself at Poseidon, burying her shoulder into his gut, driving him back against one of the pillars. Poseidon released Triton as the wind was knocked out of him. Then Amanda wrapped her tentacles around Poseidon's neck and swung him down hard into the floor. His head struck the stones and he went limp for a moment. Then he pushed himself up, glaring angrily at Amanda as she stuck her thumb into her mouth and bit down.

"You dare to strike the king!?" he snarled, pointing the trident at her again. The light was gone from his eyes. Crimson blood leaked off the side of his head. "You can die right now!"

Before Poseidon could fire the trident again, Amanda opened her mouth and screamed. A piercing shriek came out along with a torrent of black ink. Triton covered his ears at the noise as he saw his father disappear in the black. He heard the sound of the trident firing, and then a blast shot straight for the ceiling. Amanda backed away as Poseidon yelled and cursed angrily, shooting off bolts at random. The king tried to rise but found he could not. The ink cloud blew away, revealing his upper half was coated with sticky black ooze that kept him glued to the floor. Some of it was over his eyes, preventing him from seeing.

"Amanda! Where are you!?" bellowed Poseidon angrily as he clawed at the ooze. "Answer me, you witch!" He swung the trident and fired off another lightning bolt, sending it whizzing dangerously close to Triton's head.

"Triton!" exclaimed Amanda. Poseidon heard her voice and fired in her direction, but his shot went wide and flew out into the ocean. Amanda swam to Triton and grabbed his arm with a tentacle, pulling him along. She swam down the hall before ducking behind a pillar. She ran a hand through his hair as she looked him over. "Are you okay?"

"Auntie Manda, what's going on?" asked Triton fearfully. He looked up at Amanda's face. The skin of the left half was peeling and angry red, her eye barely able to open. She would be scarred for life without magic to heal her. "Why did daddy hurt you?"

Amanda smiled at him despite the pain it must have caused her. "Your father…he's not himself, Triton. He's not thinking right. He's sick."

"Where are you!?" Poseidon yelled as he started firing more lightning.

Amanda covered Triton's head as one of the bolts exploded near them, flinging stone shrapnel around. "Triton, I have to leave now. And Urs and Morgie have to come with me."

"Where are you going?" asked Triton.

"Somewhere far away."

"Far far away?"

Amanda nodded. "Very far, far away."

"Can I come see you soon?"

Triton saw Amanda stiffen as she bit her lower lip for a moment. "Maybe someday. But not for a while. Not until your father feels better."

"I know you're here!" Poseidon yelled. "Come out and face me, you backstabbing squid!"

Amanda clenched her eyes shut for a moment as she grimaced. Black blood was starting to leak from her face. Then she opened her eyes and lifted Triton in front of her. "You be good for me while I'm gone. Okay? Promise me."

Triton felt his eyes start to water. "I promise."

Amanda smiled sadly at him. Then she pulled Triton into a tight embrace. "I love you."

Triton breathed in her scent. It was warm and comforting and motherly, stirring up a hundred other warm and comforting memories of her. Each one made his heart ache as though it were being squeezed. This too was not just another memory. This was the day Amanda disappeared. He did not know how, but somehow he knew this was his very last memory of her. He would never see her again after this. How did he forget her? How did he forget her voice or her face or her smile? How did he ever forget the closest thing he had to a mother? He wanted to hold onto her forever so she could never go.

"I love you too, Auntie Manda," Triton said.

Then, against all of Triton's most pleading wishes and desires, Amanda released him. She gave him one last mournful smile, and then she drew her bleeding thumb through the water as she began muttering words in a language he did not understand. A cloud of ink grew from the streaks of blood, billowing outwards. Amanda swam into it and vanished, the cloud shrinking down and then disappearing.

"I'll get you for this, Amanda!" Poseidon bellowed. Triton turned and saw his father stagger out into the hallway. He had freed himself from the floor, the ooze still clinging to his body. There was a glow from the trident, and suddenly the ink was sucked off him and into trident's forks. Poseidon spun around as he blinked, looking for the cecaelian. "Where are you!? Where did you go, you rotten witch!?"

Poseidon swam about furiously, his eyes scanning all over for her. He yelled angrily as he began firing lightning bolts from the trident at random. "You think you can escape me!? I'll find you! I'll hunt you, your daughters, and every last one of your kind to the edge of the ocean! I'll make sure there's not one of you left! You hear me!? I will find you!"

Triton backed away from his father, hitting one of the other columns. The sound caused Poseidon to spin around to look at him. "You…she escaped because of you! How dare you!? How dare you help that witch!?"

Triton wanted to swim away, but his fins were frozen with fear as his father advanced on him. This was all wrong! This was not his father! He was a decent, honest, noble merman! Not this madman stalking towards him! Not this crazed king who drove away the only mother figure he ever had, sending her and her people fleeing to who knows where with pledges of genocide! What was happening!? Why was he seeing this!? Why was he now remembering this!?

Poseidon drew his hand back just before he reached Triton. Then he swung it at his face, and everything went black.


Triton came out of his daze to find himself leaning on his arms in front of Bel'al's avatar, the trident still in his grasp. The dragon folded his own arms as he looked down on him. Why had he not tried to take the trident? Triton was all but defenseless inside these "memories." Why was Bel'al not taking advantage of that?

"Amanda…that was her name," said Bel'al. "She was your father's oldest and closest friend next to Amphira. The only one besides her who stood a chance of reaching your father through his madness. But the influence of the trident proved too strong for her to overcome. It tricked your father into driving her away, along with the rest of her race. Without her, there was no one to turn him back to the light. Without her, he was doomed."

"Stop this!" yelled Triton as he sat up. "Stop these lies!"

"Poseidon was not just researching dark magic," continued Bel'al. "He discovered a way to empower himself with mortal souls. A way to use the trident to add their life force to his own, just as its master did. That strength gave him access to even greater depths of the trident's power. But the more he consumed, the more depraved he became. And the further he isolated himself from those around him."

Bel'al's tail ignited with white flame again. A touch of the sharp tip to Triton's forehead, and he was thrust into yet another memory.


Triton blinked. He was in Atlantica's throne room as evening fell. It had changed little since his father's time. The same stone shell throne stood above all, though not as Triton remembered it. The design was different from his current throne. Triton found himself watching the scene before him from behind one of the room's many pillars.

It was a council meeting. Over a dozen mermen and mermaids were seated on large sponge cushions in a circle around the room. Triton knew most of them. They served on his own council when he first took the throne. All were long gone now, but several of their descendants still served him faithfully. Guards stood by every pillar, keeping a weather eye out for the first sign of trouble. Why so many? Atlantica was supposed to be a peaceful place during his father's rule. Why did they look like they were expecting an attack?

One face among the council immediately jumped out to Triton. It was his grandfather, King Neptune! He was almost Triton's spitting image! The same long flowing white hair and beard. The same muscular build. The same dark blue fins. People always said he took after his grandfather. Seeing him again, Triton realized just how much. They could be mistaken for brothers, if not twins!

Poseidon, however, looked nothing like Triton. Nor did he look like Triton remembered when he attacked Amanda out of paranoia. His red beard and hair were streaked with white, the strands swaying in the water. The circles under his eyes had grown into dark rings around the orbits, as though someone smeared heavy mascara on him. His muscles were even larger, veins standing out against the skin. Triton would go so far as to call him too muscular. His purple tail was lighter and had lost its luster, the tips of his fins twitching with agitation. The trident hummed audibly in his hands as he swam back and forth in clear agitation. There was an air of unpredictable aggression about him, as though he might strike the first person who dared to speak like an uncontrollably aggressive shark. Triton could read the anxiety on the council members' faces as they watched their king.

"Sire, please!" said one of the mermaids finally. "At least hear their offer!"

"It's a trick!" Poseidon said sharply, his hold of the trident tightening. "It must be!"

"They're offering a full surrender!" said one of the mermen.

"Don't be fooled!" said Poseidon. "They'd never do such a thing!"

"They don't have a choice, your highness!" said another merman. "The plague devastated them even more than us and the sharkanians! They don't have enough food left to survive the season! They're desperate!"

"That's just what they want you to think! They're not starving in the least! I bet they're stowing food away somewhere! Along with a cache of weapons and magic, no doubt!"

"Poseidon, be reasonable!" said Neptune. He even sounded like Triton. "This cannot go on! We've been at war for over two years now! Atlantica is drained from fighting the sharkanians! The army is exhausted!"

Poseidon scowled at his father. "What would you have me do, then? Let them go!?"

"They aren't a threat to us!" said Neptune. "They've retreated far beyond our borders! This is a chance for peace! The cecaelians used to be our allies! For the sake of Amanda, at least–!"

Instantly a white aura sprang to life around Poseidon. "Do not say her name! I won't have that murdering witch's name uttered in my kingdom!"

Triton hid further behind the pillar, alarmed by the anger and volume of his father's voice. This was not what he remembered of Poseidon at all. His father never once raised his voice in anger to the council, much less his grandfather! Yet he did it so freely! And why did that white aura keep appearing from the trident?

"They're traitors!" yelled Poseidon as the aura faded. "The whole lot of them! Slimy, slinking cephalopods just waiting to get their tentacles around our throats or poison us when our backs are turned! They don't want peace! This is another of their traps! They're trying to draw us in! To get us to lower our guard! Well, they won't get the upper fin on me! I'll show those sneaking squids what happens when you try to deceive the king!"

Poseidon spun to the guards. "Rouse the army! We'll strike them with our full force!"

"Full force!? My king, that's too much!" cried an elderly mermaid in alarm.

"They don't even have an army anymore!" added another merman.

"We swim at dawn!" declared Poseidon as he turned to leave. Neptune swam off his seat and moved into his path, spreading his arms wide. "Get out of my way, you old fish!"

"Son, please! I beg of you! Listen to me!" pleaded Neptune. "This war has to stop! The sharkanians are done fighting! There hasn't been an attack in months! They're nowhere near our kingdom anymore!"

"My kingdom!" said Poseidon sharply.

"The cecaelians are even further away! They barely number two thousand now!"

"That's still two thousand too many!"

"This isn't an army you're attacking! It's families! Men, women, and children! They can't fight back, or even protect themselves!"

"I don't care if they're infants!" shouted Poseidon, the trident crackling angrily in his hands. There was that white aura again. "I won't stop till every last one of them is gone from my ocean, even if I have to do it myself!"

"Is this the king Amphira would want you to be!?" shouted Neptune, grasping Poseidon by the shoulders. "Is this the father she would want for Triton!? One who uses our army and the trident to slaughter innocents and–!?"

Suddenly lightning arced off the trident, striking Neptune. He howled as he was blasted backwards and struck a column before falling on the floor in convulsions.

"Your majesty!" exclaimed the mermen and mermaids of the council, all leaping off their seats. The guards followed suit, worried Poseidon had seriously injured their former monarch.

"Stay where you are!" barked Poseidon angrily, sweeping the trident at them. "All of you!"

The merfolk froze in the water. Triton thought it was voluntary, but then he saw threads of white light on their bodies. That was magic! His father was using the trident to restrain them! This was absurd! His father would never turn the magic of the trident on his own people, much less talk to his council this way!

"I am king of Atlantica!" Poseidon shouted, turning back to his father. "Not you! Don't lecture me because I'm willing to do what you never had the stomach for! You and grandfather and all those old kings were content to let those gill-necks and squid swim free in our kingdom! You even let them marry us! And how did they reward your kindness? By killing my queen, and then joining the sharkanians to wage war against us!"

Neptune shakily lifted his face to him, the electricity still crippling him. "Because you attacked them…without provocation! And drove them…from their waters! Just like…you drove away…Amanda!"

"I will not hear that name!" screamed Poseidon. The lightning on Neptune surged for a moment and then disappeared. "This is my kingdom! My ocean! All of it! I am the commander of the seven seas! And it's high time someone cleaned the scum out of it! Scum you turned a blind eye to!"

Poseidon spun around, swimming past each council member as he kept ranting. "You're weak and soft! All of you! You gave them mercy! You let them into your homes! You thought of them as your friends and family! That's why that witch was able to kill Amphira! That's why you've all failed to protect our people! But I won't make that mistake! I will make Atlantica strong again! Just you wait and see! I'll make our people mightier than you ever thought possible, and become the strongest king Atlantica has ever known! We will no longer be a kingdom! We will become an empire that spans all the oceans! One the sun never sets on! So long as you all remember your place and stay out of my way!"

Triton shrunk behind the pillar as Poseidon swam over Neptune and out of the throne room, the magic releasing the council and guards as he left. He watched as they swam to his grandfather, helping the former king off the floor.

"Are you injured, your majesty?" asked one of the guards as he helped Neptune up.

"I'm all right," said Neptune, brushing himself off. "Just a bit singed. Now go ready my seahorse at once!"

"Sire?"

"Poseidon is going to massacre those people!" said Neptune as he began to leave. "I have to warn them before it's too late!"

"They'll kill you on sight!" exclaimed one of the guards as Neptune swam away. "So will Poseidon if he catches you!"

"Better I die than my son reaches them first!" Neptune shouted back.


Triton leaned heavily on his arms again, gasping for breath. He did not understand this. He now had two sets of memories of his father. One of a doting, admirable merman who brought prosperity and happiness to Atlantica while trying to avoid war with the sharkanians and cecaelians. All while raising him as a single father. He would have continued to do so had he not been struck down by a terrible sickness while Triton was still a child, leaving his grandfather Neptune to raise him. His grandfather told him many stories about his parents. They gave Triton a role model to strive after. Someone he could look up to, even if they were no longer with him.

But this…this was not that merman. This was no role model. This was a vindictive, megalomaniacal tyrant of a king. One who drove away the closest thing Triton ever had to a mother. One who attacked his own family out of anger. One who waged war to sate his hatred and xenophobia. One consumed by his hunger for strength in all its forms. This was not at all the merman Neptune told him stories of. This had to be a lie. A fabrication woven by that dragon to cloud his mind and judgement.

And yet, Triton could not shake this terrible feeling it was all true. That these were his real memories of his father–once locked away in the recesses of his mind, now dusted off and brought into the light.

"Your grandfather was a brave merman," said Bel'al, his tail swaying gently through the water. "His actions cost him what remained of his bond with Poseidon. Your father never spoke to him again after that. He was banned from all council affairs and imprisoned in his quarters. But were it not for him, thousands of cecaelians would have been wiped out. They survived because of King Neptune's courage."

Bel'al looked to the open sea. "And because of him, I came to learn of the trident."

Triton pushed himself up, kneeling in the sand as he leaned on the trident. "What…what are you talking about?"

"The cecaelians came to my waters," said Bel'al. "A few dozen at first. Then by the hundreds. Scared, tired, starved, and sick, they found their way to Arcania by following an old story about a magic island at the edge of the ocean. It was from them I learned of the weapon your father wielded, and the tyranny he used it for. It was thanks to them I knew where to find you."

Bel'al's eyes glowed white, and Triton found himself thrust back into another lost memory.


"Halt! I order you to halt!"

"It's not stopping!"

"In the name of King Poseidon, I order you to–!"

BOOM!

Triton flinched back as a blinding flash of light assaulted his eyes. Then a blast of heat and water burst through the entrance to the throne room, the guards caught up in the current and swept away. Triton shielded himself with one arm as he gripped the edge of his father's throne, the rushing water threatening to pull him off. Poseidon snatched the trident off its pedestal and pointed it at the entrance. The heated waters flowed around him and Triton, while everyone else sought cover behind the pillars. The king's hair and beard were almost completely white now, flapping wildly in the current. Dark throbbing veins stood out on his muscle-bound body, and the dark circles around his eyes were even more pronounced. His fins were now a pale cyanotic blue, a trace of their original gleaming tanzanite color still clinging to single scales.

"Who dares to attack my court!?" shouted Poseidon as the waters calmed. Triton used the opportunity to hide behind the throne.

"Is that what you call this? An attack?"

Triton peeked out from behind the throne and saw a human-sized version of Bel'al walk into the room. He looked just like the one created from the statues, but this one was black instead of gold. Triton could see the heat Bel'al was giving off, causing the water around him to shimmer. Hot bubbles trickled off his body. Yet Triton somehow knew this was not Bel'al himself. This was another avatar sent in his place. And far more powerful than the golden one created from his and Athena's statues.

"This is more an intrusion than an invasion," said Bel'al as he approached.

Poseidon rose from his throne, aiming the trident right at the intruder. "Trident, shoot!"

A bolt of lightning flew from the trident straight for Bel'al's chest. He made no effort to evade or block it. The bolt struck his chest and dissipated across his body without slowing him an inch. His four glowing eyes never strayed from Poseidon.

Poseidon's eyes widened in alarm. "That's…that's impossible!"

Triton had to agree. Even if this was just an avatar, for it to withstand a direct blast from the trident was nothing short of inconceivable.

Bel'al walked his avatar into the middle of the throne room, then stopped. "Hail, King Poseidon of Atlantica. I am–."

"Trident, shoot!"

An even larger bolt of lightning shot from the trident. Bel'al thrust his hand out and caught it with his palm. The bolt gathered and coiled into his hand like a snake trapped in a ball. Then Bel'al swung his hand out, sending the bolt flying out harmlessly into the open sea.

"Seems your lack of hospitality was not exaggerated," said Bel'al, his tone both unimpressed and unamused.

"Seize him!" ordered Poseidon, pointing the trident at him.

Immediately the merguards swam out to restrain him. Bel'al merely glanced at them and suddenly the mermen collapsed unconscious to the floor. He reached out with his wing to brush a guard aside as he drifted towards him.

Poseidon clenched his jaw angrily, his face turning red as he kept the trident trained on Bel'al. "Who are you!?"

Bel'al draped an arm and wing across his middle and bowed. "My name is Bel'al, last dragon of the clan of Anclagon. Also known as the Solar King."

Hushed whispers went up around the throne room. Triton heard the word "dragon" repeated several times, and with reason. The last great sea dragons and leviathans supposedly died out shortly after Atlantica was built. What dragons remained were thought to be land-dwelling creatures. And dragons were said to be powerful, but not magical or intelligent. Not unless you believed the old legend about god-like dragons that ended a war between demons and deities. But how else could this figure withstand and then negate one of the trident's lightning bolts? Triton remembered being just as confused and scared as everyone else in the throne room, and this time was no exception. They all probably would have fainted with fright if they knew who that avatar belonged to.

Poseidon threw back his head and laughed derisively. "A dragon!? Don't be ridiculous! There are no dragons!"

"According to the humans, there are no merfolk either," said Bel'al, spreading his arms and wings wide. "And yet, here we are."

Triton found himself leaning out from behind the throne. "If…if you really are a dragon, then why are you here?"

Poseidon glanced sharply at his son, then turned his gaze back to Bel'al as he sat back in his throne. "Answer him, so-called dragon. Why did you come here?"

"I am here…" Bel'al raised one of his arms, pointing at the trident. "For that."

Triton saw his father's hands tighten immediately as the white aura appeared around him stronger than ever before. "I knew it…I knew it! You're working with the cecaelians, aren't you!? That witch sent you to kill me and take this, didn't she!? Didn't she!?"

"I don't know what witch you speak of. But if by 'working with' you mean I am providing shelter to what remains of a people who swam halfway across the world to escape your wrath…" Bel'al lowered his arm. "Then yes, I am working with them. They have been trickling into my waters over the past six moons."

"You're harboring them!?" snarled Poseidon.

Bel'al's four eyes narrowed, their glow brightening slightly. "I am a descendant of the first knights."

"Liar!" barked Poseidon. "There's no such thing!"

"I would offer safety to any who seek freedom from the oppression of a tyrant," continued Bel'al, his eyes shifting to the trident. "Or a madman tainted by his own weapon."

"Why you insolent…!" Poseidon aimed the trident at Bel'al again. "Trident, freeze him!"

A blast of orange light burst from the trident. Bel'al simply raised his hand to it, intercepting the beam. It gathered into his palm in a swirling orange ball, and then Bel'al clamped down on it. The ball shattered like glass, the magic dissipating. Poseidon drew the trident back and then swung it towards Bel'al, sending a visible current of rampaging water towards him. Bel'al drew his tail back and then suddenly swung it up like a sword. A visible crescent of air shot forth, cutting the current in half and then blasting through the ceiling. Poseidon swung the trident again as stones came raining down, the water catching them and flinging them out of the palace.

"There's no mistaking it," said Bel'al, more to himself than anyone else. "That's his trident! At last! After thousands of years of searching, I've found it!"

Poseidon pointed the trident back at Bel'al. "The only thing you've found is your death, monster!"

Bel'al gave an amused snort. "You, of all beings, calling me a monster? What is the phrase the humans use? The pot calling the kettle black? If we are drawing comparisons, Poseidon, I am a monster who acts as a king. You, on the other hand, are a king who behaves as a monster."

Triton could see his father did not appreciate the implication or the mention of humans. "Silence! You dare to walk in here unannounced! You threaten me before my subjects!"

"I have not threatened anyone," interjected Bel'al.

"I said silence!" Poseidon shouted. "You insult and attack me, and then you demand I hand over the trident!"

"Nor have I done more than defend myself," added Bel'al.

"Working with the squids or not, you are not welcome here, beast!" A white glow came to the trident's forks as lightning began arcing on the forks. "Get out of my kingdom and my ocean before I destroy you!"

Bel'al frowned angrily, a growl coming from him as his eyes glowed again. "This is not your ocean! The waters of this world no more belong to you than the light of the stars belongs to me! Nor does the trident belong to you, much less with you! It's clear it cannot remain in the hands of one as fallen as you!"

"You talk as if you have the power to take it!" Poseidon yelled down at him.

Bel'al's lip started to curl in a snarl, but then he composed himself. "I am more than capable of it. But I am of the old ways, and I keep to them. So, here is my bargain. Hand me the trident peacefully. In return, you have my word that I will see to the protection of your people and all who would call the ocean their home. Refuse, and I will not be so diplomatic when next we meet."

The dragon avatar's tail swung around, its tip glowing as he carved three lines into the floor of the throne room. Poseidon glanced briefly down at the marks. "What's this?"

"Your deadline," said Bel'al. "Three days. That is how long I will give you to consider my offer. Have your answer by the time I return."

"You can have it now!" shouted Poseidon as he leapt off his throne and aimed the trident at Bel'al again. "Trident, destroy him!"

Bel'al closed his eyes as the trident fired. Before the lightning struck, his form burst apart into a cloud of ash and soot. The lightning flew through it and blasted apart the floor, spraying debris across the room. Triton shielded his face again as shards of rock peppered his skin.

"Where is it!?" yelled Poseidon. He swam down to where Bel'al once stood, looking about for him. "Where is that beast!?"

"It's gone, sire!" said one of the merguards. "There's no sign of it!"

"Find it!" Poseidon yelled. He pulled the trident back and then thrust it into the floor, cracking through the three marks. "I want that demon and every squid in its care found and destroyed!"


Triton lay gasping on the ground as Bel'al stood over him. His head was pounding as though someone were striking it with a hammer. "No more! Please…no more!"

"We are not done," said Bel'al. "Not yet. I gave your father a chance, and time to consider his decision. But he kept his word. And when I returned, I was forced to keep mine."

Bel'al reached for Triton, pressing a tail bathed in white flames to his forehead.


"It's here!" shouted the panicked merman as he came swimming into the throne room. "The demon is here!"

Triton hid behind his father's throne once more as Bel'al's avatar walked into the entryway of the throne room. There were those eyes again. Those four burning eyes that pierced right through everything with their gaze. It had been three days to the very hour he first appeared. Despite the tripled guard and dozens of lookouts, he appeared inside of Atlantica right under their noses. Nor were any of the guards able to prevent him from entering the palace. They were either incapacitated or swept aside as if they were no more than a swarm of gnats.

Poseidon pushed himself out of his seat. "Don't just swim there, you fools! Attack it! Don't let it in!"

The merguards ringing the throne room descended on Bel'al as one. The dragon merely spread his wings and then flapped them firmly. A great rush of water came forth, blasting the mermen backwards and out of the throne room as though they were leaves in the wind.

"Useless! All of you!" Poseidon aimed the trident at Bel'al. "Trident, shoot!"

A lightning bolt leapt from the trident's forks. Bel'al caught it in his hand, grasping it like a wriggling electric snake as Poseidon prepared to shoot again. Before the king could give the command, Bel'al sent the lightning bolt back at Poseidon. It struck the trident's forks, causing the weapon to vibrate violently as electricity went racing through it. Poseidon clung to it, gritting his teeth as he held on.

"Your time is up, 'King' of Atlantica" said Bel'al, his tone making it clear he did not consider Poseidon worthy of the title. "What is your decision? Will you hand the trident over peacefully?"

Poseidon snarled furiously at Bel'al, clutching the trident close. "Never! I'll never give you the trident!"

Bel'al sighed disappointedly and closed his eyes. "I see…" His eyes snapped open. "Then I'll take it!"

Poseidon aimed at him. "You'll die trying! Trident, ki–!"

Bel'al moved faster than Triton had ever seen anything move in his life. Before Poseidon could finish, the dragon's avatar darted across the throne room to him. Poseidon flinched backwards, alarmed by the speed his opponent moved through the water with. Bel'al's tail swung around and belted Poseidon across the middle, knocking the wind out of the king and slamming him back against his throne hard enough to crack the stone. Poseidon doubled over as Bel'al seized the trident's shaft with his right hand.

Suddenly the trident let out a piercing screaming noise as it turned bright white and then bloody red, causing everyone to cover their ears. There was a loud booming as a shockwave erupted forth from it. Bel'al's right arm was shattered as he was blown across the throne room, cracking one of the pillars when he struck it. Triton was thrown backwards, tumbling through the water till he came to a stop. He saw his father's sitting on a shattered throne, the king groaning as he clutched his head. The trident was still in his grasp.

"Father!" shouted Triton as the current subsided. "Father, are you okay!?"

Bel'al looked at the stump of his right arm, angry hot bubbles pouring forth from it. His eyes narrowed as he frowned. "This complicates things."

Triton swam to Poseidon. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine!" snapped Poseidon, shoving Triton back before he swam off his ruined throne. "Where is that creature!?"

Bel'al stood up. "Seems I underestimated your bond with that thing, Poseidon. If I cannot take it from you, I'll have you surrender it to me."

Poseidon glared at Bel'al. "You won't have the chance! Trident…!" He aimed the weapon at Bel'al. "Destroy!"

Bel'al darted aside as the trident fired, blowing apart the column behind him and the wall behind it. He moved through the water as if it were air, too fast for Poseidon or Triton to follow. The next thing Triton realized, Bel'al had his tail curled around his middle, trapping his arms against him.

"Father!" Triton cried out in alarm as he was pulled away. Screams of alarm and fright came from the other merfolk.

"It's taken the prince!"

"It has Prince Triton!"

Poseidon snarled again as he pointed the trident at Bel'al. "Let him go, monster!"

Bel'al moved Triton directly in front of him. "This is not what I wanted, Poseidon! But you've left me no choice!"

"Father, help!" Triton pleaded as he fought against Bel'al's hold. It was like trying to break free of a rock.

Bel'al reached out with his left hand as it glowed red hot. Then he clawed the water as though he were trying to cut through something. A burning tear appeared in the water, boiling bubbles rising from the edges as it expanded. Triton looked through and saw dark blue waters of an ocean he did not recognize. Bel'al had opened up a portal.

"The trident for your son!" said Bel'al. "That is my new bargain! Follow the red star if you wish to see him again!"

"You're not going anywhere!" shouted Poseidon as he aimed at Bel'al.

Bel'al's eyes flashed as he breathed in and then roared. The bellowing thunderous sound that came forth caused Triton's ears to ring. A shockwave issued forth from Bel'al's mouth and struck Poseidon squarely, blowing him backwards. Then Bel'al turned and dove through the portal, pulling Triton with him. The last Triton saw of his father was the king aiming the trident after them before the portal snapped shut.

In that brief moment, he saw Poseidon's eyes turn black.


"I fully intended to take the trident by force if your father refused me again," said Bel'al as Triton awoke. He felt exhausted, as if he had swum to shore and back. "But like a leech sucking blood, I hadn't counted on its attachment to its host. That, or its master's lingering desire to destroy me. I realized the only way I would get it from him was if he willingly gave it to me. I thought taking you would be the fastest and most effective way to force his hand."

Bel'al pressed his palm to Triton's forehead. "But I underestimated three things. I underestimated the true power of the trident. I underestimated the depths your father had sunk to."

Triton met Bel'al's eyes as they turned white. "And I underestimated the trident's creator…one final time."


Triton blinked again. Bel'al's golden avatar was gone, and so was the garden. He was back in another memory. But he was not in Atlantica this time. He was not even in the water. He was on top of an exposed ocean rock surrounded by…fire!?

He wanted to look around, but he was not in control of his head, much less his eyes. The rock he was sitting on was surrounded by a ring of fire ten feet wide. It burned on top of the water like oil set to flame. Before him stretched a vast ocean, waves reaching clear to the horizon. The sky was clear of a single cloud, leaving it one perfect pane of blue. The air was chilly and sharp, causing him to shiver.

He saw his father. Poseidon was floating on a high pillar of water above the waves. His shoulders, arms, and torso were covered by white coral armor secured with straps of woven seagrass. There was even less red in his hair and beard now. The trident was clutched tightly in his hands, knuckles white and teeth set hard. Behind him floated the entire Atlantican army–at least, it looked like the entire army. Triton could not even begin to count the number of mermen, but it had to be in the thousands. They were all armed with coral swords and armor, their shell helmets glistening wet.

"YOU'VE COME AT LAST, POSEIDON."

Triton clapped his hands over his ears at the voice. It was so loud he could not hear himself think. He looked to the side, finding himself staring open-mouthed at Bel'al as he truly was. He was at least two hundred yards away, yet his size was so immense Triton might as well have been sitting right next to him. He was enormous! Taller than the rocky cliffs and mountains that lined the shore behind him! Easily larger than any sea creature Triton had ever seen, much less heard of! That sea serpent Riptide would not even reach up to his knee! Triton had to look straight up just to see his face. Bel'al's horns seemed to scrape the sky. His tail lay along the beach like a stretch of small black mountains. He radiated heat like a hot summer's day, arms folded as he looked down on the water. How had Triton ever forgotten about this creature?

Triton looked back out to sea. Poseidon was miniscule compared to Bel'al, like a tiny flea. So were the mermen accompanying him. But even from so far away, Triton could tell they did not share the king's bravery before the dragon. Poseidon stared up at him, scowling and steady without a single tremor in his body. The soldiers looked nothing so steadfast. They were absolutely terrified of the colossal beast looming over them. Some of them were visibly shaking.

Bel'al nodded towards the rock Triton was on. "YOUR SON IS HERE, MERKING. AND UNHARMED."

Triton waved his arms overhead. "Father! Father, I'm over here!"

If Poseidon saw or heard him, he gave no indication of it.

"Father!" Triton yelled louder, desperate to get his attention. "Hey, father!"

"THE TRIDENT OR THE YOUNG PRINCE," said Bel'al. "YOU MAY LEAVE HERE WITH ONLY ONE. SO CHOOSE."

Poseidon stared at Bel'al for a moment, then at the trident. Then he abruptly raised the trident and aimed it at the dragon's face. "Trident, destroy!"

The white lightning bolt that came forth from the trident was large, stretching almost ten feet across. It blasted up from the waves with and angry crackling sound and struck Bel'al right in his face. There was a clap of thunder and a flash, but it caused not the slightest harm to Bel'al. He did not even blink.

The dragon's eyes narrowed. "YOU INTEND TO FIGHT ME?"

"I intend to kill you!" shouted Poseidon. He thrust the trident towards the sea as the forks glowed. The water beneath him began to spiral and churn. Then Poseidon thrust the trident up at Bel'al, sending beams of water shooting up even faster than the lightning bolt. They hit Bel'al's chest and arms, spraying apart harmlessly. One of the beams swung down, slashing across the peak of one of the distant mountain faces. The water cut through the rock like a knife. The mountain was still for a moment, and then the top began to slide free. It slid slowly down with a low rumbling noise, and then it tumbled off the side and broke apart into a rockslide. It roared and rumbled as it chewed the side of the mountain apart before crashing into the earth. Another of the water beams slashed wide, coming straight at Triton. He rolled back off his rock to avoid the beam, but suddenly the fire around him sprang up and intercepted it. The water sprayed against the flames with a momentary but loud, angry hiss before it passed by, cutting into the shore behind him.

Bel'al growled as he watched Triton climb back onto his rock. "YOU ALMOST KILLED YOUR OWN CHILD, POSEIDON! DO YOU CARE NOTHING FOR HIS LIFE!?"

Poseidon swung the trident at Bel'al, unleashing a freezing orange beam. The dragon made no move to protect himself, allowing the beam to strike him in the chest. Ice blossomed on his hide, only to immediately melt and then vaporize harmlessly. Poseidon unleashed another freezing beam at one of Bel'al's legs, but it had no more effect than the last one. It did, however, send ice racing towards Triton, forcing the fire ring to defend him once again as the magics collided.

"I'm not here for him, dragon!" shouted Poseidon. "I'm here to destroy you!"

Bel'al scowled angrily, his enormous hands clenching. "YOU WOULD ABANDON YOUR OWN SON!?"

"What use do I have for a son who can't even keep himself from getting kidnapped!?" shouted Poseidon before shooting another lightning bolt at Bel'al.

Triton felt his chest constrict as he watched Bel'al shrug off one attack after another from his father. This had to be another trick! Poseidon would never say that about him! He was his only son! He loved Triton! He would never endanger him! He would part the very oceans if it meant keeping Triton safe! Yet attack after attack from the trident was sent at Bel'al, and attack after attack endangered Triton with its collateral damage.

Triton remembered this moment so clearly now. How confused he was by his father's words as the fire protected him from the wayward trident spells. How he was unable to accept what he heard. How he convinced himself his father was too caught up in fighting Bel'al to think clearly. That, or it was some clever deception to keep the dragon focused on him till he found a chance to save Triton. But now, looking at the deranged hatred on Poseidon's face as he tried with futility to land a damaging blow on Bel'al, Triton realized a truth he never wanted to admit–not then, and not now.

Years of long-hidden childhood memories flew by in a flash. Memories Triton had forgotten, and now wished he could do so again. Poseidon never gave Triton a second thought except for when he angered or hindered him. He never played with him. Never inquired about him. Scarcely spoke to him. And never said he loved him. All attempts Triton made to interact with him were met with dismissal or loud and angry rejection, as if he were an aggravating mosquito trying to sneak a blood meal. He treated Triton as something to be seen and heard as little as possible. Neptune, Amanda, and the palace staff gave more time, attention, guidance, and affection to Triton than his father ever had. The only thing his father truly cared about was power and accumulating more of it. That, and driving anything that was not fish or merfolk out of the ocean.

Beyond those first moments following Triton's birth, when his father held him for the first time, Poseidon never loved him. And here was the final proof, made repeatedly clear as the fire protected him from one fatal spell after another.

"Soldiers, charge!" ordered Poseidon as his latest trident blast failed to so much as faze Bel'al. "Kill this monstrosity!"

The mermen behind Poseidon looked nervously at Bel'al, and then at each other. Bel'al looked down at them and growled, exposing some of his monolithic teeth. The noise of his growl was like thunder. None of the mermen moved unless it was to back away in fear.

"Why are you all just swimming there!?" yelled Poseidon. "I order you to charge!"

"But…that's crazy, sire!" protested one of the soldiers. "We can't possibly fight that–!"

"I don't care what you can and can't do!" shouted Poseidon. "I'm your king! I gave you an order! Now charge, or I swear that beast will be the least of your fears!"

"ENOUGH OF THIS." Bel'al looked to the mermen as he unfolded his arms. "LEAVE US."

He flicked a finger. Suddenly the merguards were ripped from the water and sent hurtling through the air. Triton watched awestruck as two thousand mermen sailed screaming miles away, becoming specks and then vanishing completely. Poseidon looked around for any remnant of his forces, but he was alone. A solitary merman facing down a sorcerer like no other.

"THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE, POSEIDON!" said Bel'al. "YOU HAVE NO SOLDIERS HERE! NO KINGDOM! AND NO CHANCE OF VICTORY! SURRENDER THE TRIDENT TO ME, AND I SHALL RETURN YOU AND YOUR SON TO ATLANTICA UNHARMED!"

Poseidon gripped the trident angrily, lightning crackling over his body as the white aura returned. "Never! I'll never give up the trident! Not to you or anyone! I'll die before I do!"

The white aura grew continually brighter as Poseidon ranted. "The trident is mine! Just like these oceans and every fish and merfolk in it! They're all mine! Mine to rule as I see fit! I won't rest until I've purged every last slimy wretch from the sea and brought every wave on every shore under my control!"

Bel'al's scowl deepened. "AND THEN WHAT? WHAT WILL YOU DO ONCE YOU HAVE THE SEA AT YOUR COMMAND?"

"Then I will take the land!" Poseidon spouted, a mad smile on his face as he wrung the trident in his hands. Was Triton seeing things, or was his father's hair turning whiter? "I'll turn the ocean itself against the land! I'll drown every last thing that dares walk on legs, and you will be no exception! I'll make this world my watery dominion! It will be mine! You hear me!? It will all be mine! All of it! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mi–GAH!"

Suddenly Poseidon doubled over, clutching his head as the white aura pulsed brightly. Three lights appeared in the shaft of the trident–one blue, one white, and one yellow. The white aura pulsed again, and a shockwave raced out over the ocean. But instead of driving the water back, it flattened it completely. The once rising and falling waters became flat across as glass. The sky above began to darken as heavy storm clouds brewed from nowhere, growling with thunder and flashes of lightning. The pillar of water holding Poseidon froze solid, trapping him in place.

Bel'al tensed immediately, his left foot sliding half a giant step back. "ALL THREE!?"

"What…what is this!?" screamed Poseidon as the aura pulsed again. Jagged lines of blue, white, and yellow light grew off the trident and spread up Poseidon's arm. He screamed as if they were cutting into him. Suddenly he coughed, hacking up what could only be blood. The trident turned brilliant white. A vacuum wind began pulling at Poseidon from the weapon, drawing him towards it. Poseidon tried to pull his hands off, but they were anchored onto it.

"Trident, stop!" he shouted, jerking away from the weapon in a panic. "Stop this! Obey me! I order you to obey! I am your master!"

"WRONG!" came a thunderous voice from the trident. Poseidon froze, staring at the forks.

Bel'al took another half step back, causing the ground to shake. "THAT'S…!"

"I…AM…YOURS!" roared the trident.

White light poured out across Poseidon, erasing his features as it went. Poseidon kept screaming till he was nothing but a dazzling white silhouette. Then his form collapsed into the trident, melding with it before a blast of blinding white light erupted from the forks, forcing Triton to shield his eyes. Another shockwave raced out, creating a vast tsunami over a hundred feet high. It raced towards Triton, but at the last moment the fires around him swirled upwards to create a protective dome. The waters pounded against it as they surged towards the shore, but the fire held it at bay. Triton saw a streak of white as the trident flew out into the ocean, and then a flash burst forth as the water receded. When the water fully withdrew, Triton saw a pillar of white light reaching impossibly high into the sky. The storm clouds swelled rapidly, thunder and lightning flashing all around as they spilled out of the pillar. A hurricane wind rushed forth, snuffing out the fires around Triton and threatening to rip him from the rock. His small hands clung desperately to it. Bel'al's eyes narrowed as he watched the pillar of light. Triton could scarcely believe it, but the dragon looked…afraid.

Suddenly the light snapped back down to earth and then flashed, blinding Triton again. He blinked rapidly as the light faded, seeing something standing out in the ocean.

An enormous white titan just as large as Bel'al stood in the sea. Its entire body glowed like a fallen star, shining against the water. Its arms and legs were humanoid, but the long slender tail that sprouted from its seat was not. Nor were the antler-like horns that protruded from the top of its long dog-shaped head, vast interlocking teeth the size of ships filling its mouth. The trident was equally enormous now, just as tall as the creature holding it. It glowed the same white as the figure and fit comfortably in one of its titanic hands. The titan slowly opened its two eyes. They were jet black except for the white slit crosses that served as its pupils. It looked around a moment, and then its gaze settled on Bel'al.

"WELL, WELL, WELL…" said the white titan in a rumbling voice. "IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME…BEL'AL."

"YOU!" Bel'al's lips curled back in an angry snarl, exposing his teeth as his eyes glowed. His tail swung to the side angrily, tearing the air with loud cracks. "YOU WERE IN THERE ALL ALONG!?"

The white titan chuckled like rolling thunder. "DID YOU THINK I WOULD DIE SO EASILY? MUCH LESS LET YOU FIND MY CREATION?"

"WHERE IS POSEIDON?" demanded Bel'al.

"I AM POSEIDON," said the white titan, holding the luminous trident out before it. Those colored lights Triton saw before were now in the forks. He saw them glow for a moment. "AND POSEIDON IS ME. I INTENDED TO LET HIM CONTINUE UNDER MY 'GUIDANCE' A WHILE LONGER. IT WAS EASY ENOUGH TO GET HIM TO FEED THOSE SOULS TO ME. FOOL THOUGHT HE WAS EMPOWERING HIMSELF. I BARELY GAVE HIM A TASTE OF THE SCRAPS. BUT HIS USEFULLNESS ENDED ONCE YOU APPEARED."

The white titan pointed the trident at Bel'al. "NOW I WILL DESTROY YOU, AND BE RID OF THE LAST OBSTACLE TO MY GLORIOUS DESIGNS FOR THIS REALM!"

"YOUR DESIGNS DIED WITH YOU!" snarled Bel'al, a red-orange aura appearing around his body. The light was reflected in the ocean, making the water appear as if it were on fire. "AS DID HUNDREDS OF INNOCENT RACES!"

The titan snorted dismissively. "RACES YOU AND YOUR COMRADES SO FOOLISHLY FOUGHT TO DEFEND!"

"AND I WILL DO SO AGAIN, UNFORGIVABLE ONE!" Bel'al clapped his hands together and drew them apart. An enormous sword of fire grew from his palms, large enough to rival the trident. He grasped it in one hand, giving the weapon a swing. The air from it split the sea in half as the sky above began to roil. "I'LL NOT ALLOW YOU TO RAZE THIS WORLD A SECOND TIME!"

The white titan chuckled again. "YOU BARELY SNATCHED VICTORY FROM ME IN OUR LAST BATTLE! WHAT CONTINENT WILL YOU RUIN TO CLAIM IT THIS TIME? AND WITHOUT THE FIREBRAND TO AID YOU?"

Bel'al took the sword in both hands. "YOU WILL FIND I'VE NOT BEEN LAX IN YOUR ABSENCE! I WON'T NEED TO LIVE UP TO MY NAMESAKE TO SMITE YOU AGAIN!"

The white titan grasped the trident in both its hands, causing its glow to intensify. "WE SHALL SEE!"

The dragon and titan suddenly roared loud enough to knock Triton off his rock. The dragon ran out into the sea, kicking up tidal waves and shaking down mountains with his steps. The white titan ran to meet him, the two swinging their weapons at each other. They collided with a blinding flash, and the world disappeared in a screen of white light and a roar of calamity.


Triton awoke to find himself laying down in the silt. He pushed himself upright, groaning as he clutched his head. He felt as though it were about to split open. Bel'al knelt before him, watching patiently as Triton's headache subsided.

"What…what was that thing?" asked Triton.

"That…" said Bel'al as he stood and stepped back, allowing Triton to rise. "Is your father's true killer. The one who created the trident, and its sole master. A master I defeated long ago at the end of the Lost Age. One I would have remain nameless."

Triton looked at the trident. "The one who created it?"

Bel'al nodded. "After I defeated him the first time, I thought he was vanquished. But he was always as crafty as he was powerful. And dangerous. I destroyed his body, but he embedded his will into the trident in his last moments. Even if it was only a fragment of his existence, it was strong enough to hide the trident from my search. I scoured the earth for millennia looking for it, yet I was never able to find it. Eventually one of your race discovered it, and used its power to build Atlantica. Thus was the trident passed through your family, none ever realizing what they were holding in their hands. For generations that presence slumbered, hiding itself from me as it waited for the perfect host–which it found in your father."

"My father was no such thing!" shouted Triton. He tried to lift the trident at Bel'al, but he did not have his strength back yet.

"Not at first, he wasn't." Bel'al walked around Triton. "But Amphira's death changed that. Losing her weakened Poseidon's heart enough for him to plant the seeds of rot. The longer he held the trident, the faster and deeper it grew into him. Deceiving him. Blinding him. Driving him on. He turned your father into his puppet, strengthening him for his own ends. And he may have succeeded had the cecaelians not found their way to Arcania. But when your father confronted me on the shores of my home, his utility had expired. He did not have the mind or will needed to wield the trident's full might against me. So he used the trident to devour him. Like a parasitic wasp consuming its caterpillar host, he consumed Poseidon and took his body for himself."

Bel'al came to a stop and turned to face Triton. "Your father was dead well before I fought him."

"That's a lie!" shouted Triton, his fists shaking angrily. "Lara killed him! I saw it!"

Bel'al blinked slowly at Triton as his eyes turned white. "See for yourself."


A strong force seized Triton around the middle. He no longer felt the rocky beach beneath his scales. It was no longer the wave roaring in his ears but the wind. He felt his organs pushed down as he suddenly accelerated, blood rushing out of his head. He opened his eyes to see the wave crash onto the beach far below, expending its energy as it surged up against the cliffs like ravenous hands of water clawing after him as he miraculously escaped.

"What are you doing out here!?"

Triton looked up. The wind was harsh against his eyes, causing them to water as he squinted, and his head was dizzy. Blurry as he was in sight and sense, he could clearly make out the blazing eyes and hair of the black-plated winged demon now carrying him through the sky.

No, not a demon. It was Lara in her armored form!

"This is no place for kids!" said Lara through her igneous mouth as she flew Triton through the sky.

"Let me go!" shouted Triton, beating his fists against Lara's head.

"Ow! Hey! Ow! I'm–ow!–trying to save your life!" Lara said, struggling to keep Triton from hitting her directly in the face.

One of Triton's hits struck the corner of Lara's eye. She lost her hold of him momentarily, and Triton slipped out of her grasp. He fell through the air, suddenly realizing they were hundreds of feet above the sea. He screamed as he fell, tumbling wildly. Suddenly a pair of hands seized him under his arms, and he found himself flying above the water again. He looked up and saw Lara had hold of him once more.

"Quit squirming or you're gonna end up dead!" snapped Lara as she carried Triton away from the battle.

Triton looked behind him. The white titan and Bel'al were still locked in combat. Their hands had hold of the gigantic trident, lightning and ice flying off the forks as they tried to rip it from the other's grasp. Each of their steps shook the earth and sent giant waves rushing outwards. The clouds above churned with the wind generated by Bel'al's wings. He pushed against the white titan, causing its feet to skid as it was driven backwards. The water they displaced sent waves over a hundred feet tall slamming against the shores.

"HOW ARE YOU ABLE TO OPPOSE ME!?" roared the white titan. "YOU HAVE NO FIREBRAND TO AID YOU! I HAVE THE TRIDENT AT MY COMMAND! YET YOU STAND EQUAL WITH ME!?"

"AS I SAID, I HAVE NOT BEEN LAX IN YOUR ABSENCE!" said Bel'al. "MY STRENGTH HAS NOT WANED!"

Suddenly Bel'al's wings glowed orange and collapsed down to become a second pair of arms on his body. Bel'al grabbed the trident's shaft with one of them and jerked the white titan towards him. He then used the fourth arm to deliver a colossal uppercut directly to the white titan's jaw. The monster's head snapped back with a sound like cracking lightning, a visible shockwave bursting upwards and causing the clouds to swirl. Then Bel'al roared as he drew both his left arms back, both fists becoming encased in fire as he swung hard into the white titan's side and face. His fists exploded on contact, knocking the white titan down into the sea. The earth heaved upwards from the force of his fall. The pebbles of the beach hovered in the air for a moment before they came crashing back down. Rockslides came ripping down as mountains collapsed. The sea churned even more violently from the impact. Still the white titan did not release the trident.

"AND I AM NOT YOUR EQUAL ANYMORE!" added Bel'al as he stood over the white titan, drawing an enormous foot up to stomp him.

The white titan snarled. Suddenly it pulled both its legs in and shot them straight up at Bel'al with surprising speed. Bel'al seized its legs with his spare arms. Then the white titan roared, releasing a beam of white light straight at Bel'al. It struck him point blank in the chest, knocking him free of the trident and backwards. Bel'al roared as he crashed down into the sea, rocking the earth once more. The shockwave hit Lara and Triton, sending them rolling through the sky. Lara quickly righted herself and turned back, keeping herself and Triton airborne as they watched the white titan stand.

"THE ONLY THING THAT HAS GROWN MORE THAN YOUR SIZE IS YOUR OVERCONFIDENCE!" said the white titan. "AND YOUR FOOLISH LOYALTY TO THESE MORTAL MONGRELS!"

Bel'al quickly stood, his tail sweeping the sea away from him as his wings reformed. A large burn mark adorned his chest. "MORTALS YOU SOUGHT TO ERADICATE!"

Lara's eyes widened. "That…that hurt dad! How did that hurt him!?"

The white titan brandished the trident at Bel'al. "RIGHTLY SO! THEY DO NOT DESERVE THIS REALM!"

Bel'al snarled, fire billowing out his mouth. Flames burst out of the wound in his chest, and then quickly disappeared to reveal unblemished black hide. "THAT WAS NEVER FOR YOU TO DECIDE!"

Lara quickly turned and flew away even faster than before. "What is that thing!?"

"That's my father!" said Triton as he started struggling against her again.

"That thing is your father!? As in Poseidon!?"

"Yeah! King Poseidon! And he's here to rescue me!" Triton tried to get an arm free to hit Lara, but he could not reach around to hit her. "Now put me down!"

"Not here I won't!" said Lara, as she banked hard and flew towards open water. "Not unless you wanna get flattened!"

The white titan thrust the trident at Bel'al. The dragon quickly summoned a sword of fire into his hand and used it to parry the trident away. The wind off the trident shot forth, knocking into Lara and Triton like a physical blow. Triton felt as if he were punched in the gut. He struggled to breathe again, only able to take shallow rapid gasps.

Lara suddenly dove towards the water. She stopped in a hover just above the waves and dropped Triton into the sea. "Go deep, and then swim as far and fast as you can! It's not safe at the surface!"

Before Triton could say anything, Lara turned and whistled loudly as she flew back towards the fighting giants. A silver glint from one of the mountains caught Triton's eyes, and he saw a sword go flying through the air towards Lara. She caught it in her hand and the sword immediately ignited, transforming into a long black claymore.

"Hang on, dad!" Lara shouted as she flew towards the dragon and his enemy.

Bel'al glanced back over his shoulder. "STAY BACK, LARA! YOU CANNOT FACE HIM!"

The white titan looked past Bel'al to Lara, his eyes narrowing at her. "WHAT IS THAT THING?"

There was a flash from the white titan that caused Triton to squint. It swung its tail up, sending a gust of wind straight at Lara. She was blown backwards as though she were a scrap of paper in a hurricane, but then she quickly righted herself and flew at it once more.

"I SAID STAY BACK!" Bel'al repeated. "THAT'S AN ORDER!"

"Screw your order!" shouted back Lara. "I'm not letting you fight him alone!"

The white titan's eyes narrowed as it looked at Lara. "THAT FORM…AND DID IT JUST CALL YOU FATHER?"

The white titan looked at Lara for a moment longer, and then its eyes widened. The light on its body intensified as it roared angrily. It moved to stab Bel'al in the chest, but Bel'al locked his sword between the forks, holding it back. There was a sound like tearing metal and the plucking of overwound guitar strings as the magic in the weapons clashed against each other.

"YOU TRAITOR!" roared the white titan. "YOU DARED MERGE OUR SACRED BLOOD WITH ONE OF THOSE VERMINOUS HUMANS!?"

"SHE IS WORTHY OF IT!" shouted Bel'al. "MORE THAN YOU EVER WERE!"

"IT'S WORTHY OF NOTHNG!" bellowed back the white titan. "I'LL KILL YOU FOR THIS ALONE!"

"Hey Poseidon!" Lara flew straight towards Bel'al, zipping past his shoulder to fly at the white titan's face. The white titan looked straight at her. "Watch the birdie! Claymore…!"

The white titan snarled at her as Lara swung her sword at it. "Flash!"

A blinding white light erupted from Lara's sword. The white titan merely narrowed its eyes and the flash quickly died out. Lara looked in shock at her sword as it went dormant, leaving her exposed between the two colossi.

"BEGONE FROM MY SIGHT, MONGREL!" snarled the white titan as it threw its head, aiming for Lara with one of its antler horns.

Lara beat her wings to evade, but the white titan did not have to hit her. The wind it created sent Lara hurtling away towards the open ocean. Then the white titan's eyes flashed, and a ball of lightning shot off the end of its snout and struck Lara. It exploded like a storm when it hit her, shattering Lara's armor and sending her splashing down into the ocean.

"LARA!" exclaimed Bel'al, watching the water settle where she went in.

"THAT TAKES CARE OF ONE MONGREL!" sneered the white titan.

Bel'al's eyes glowed angry red as he shoved the white titan, knocking it back. The white titan found its footing and swung the trident at Bel'al, the forks bristling with lightning. Bel'al parried it aside with his sword before abandoning it, lunging in and biting down hard on the white titan's shoulder. The white titan roared in pain as Bel'al's teeth broke through its luminous hide, spilling out glowing red and golden blood. Bel'al shook his head like a shark trying to tear its prey apart, and then shoved the white titan back as he drew a deep breath. Then he leaned forward and roared, releasing a massive beam of concentrated fire directly at the white titan. It struck it squarely in the chest and exploded with such force it cleared the clouds from the sky above it and sent the ocean racing back, as though the sea itself were terrified of his power. The white titan went flying backwards through the air and then crashed down in the sea.

"YOU WILL NOT TOUCH HER!" Bel'al bellowed angrily, fire spilling between his teeth. "YOUR FIGHT IS WITH ME!"

Triton quickly swam up to ride the giant swell that came racing towards him. It was like ascending and descending a mountain of water. He saw the white titan rise, touching a hand to the deep wound in its shoulder. Rivers of crimson and gold blood spilled into the ocean below, causing the water to boil and roil when it touched it.

The white titan looked at the blood on its fingers, and then scowled at Bel'al as the wound closed over. "I SEE…YOU THINK THAT CREATURE IS YOUR OFFSPRING, DO YOU?"

"I DO NOT THINK!" said Bel'al, his eyes glowing with heat. "SHE IS! LARA IS MY DAUGHTER!"

Lara burst out of the sea far away from the fight, sputtering and coughing as water evaporated off what remained of her black armor in hissing strands of steam. "Note to *cough* self! Poseidon *cough cough* hits hard!"

The white titan's lip curled in an angry snarl. "STILL ALIVE AFTER THAT?"

It pointed the trident at Bel'al, the colored lights glowing even brighter in its forks. Streams of white, blue, and yellow magic swirled through the air around it as immense power built in the weapon. "IF YOU THINK YOURSELF A FATHER…!"

The white titan suddenly opened its maw wide, spitting forth a scattered spray of brilliant white lights. They struck Bel'al all over, each one detonating with enough force to bring down a mountain and leaving craterous wounds in his hide. Glowing red-orange blood spilled out, hissing and spitting like water on scalding metal when it touched the ocean. Bel'al crossed his arms in front of his face as the attack caused him to step backwards.

"THEN YOU CAN DIE FOR YOUR SO-CALLED CHILD! TRIDENT…!" The white titan swung the trident towards Lara, aiming the building spell directly at her. "CURSE THAT MONGREL TO DIE BY THE FURY OF STORMS! LET OCEAN, WINTER, AND LIGHTNING UNITE TO BURY HER BENEATH THE SEA!"

The white titan smeared the blood on its fingers along the trident's shaft. "BY BLOOD I COMMAND IT!"

Bel'al lowered his arms at the white titan's words. "NO!"

The spell on the trident suddenly swelled with power. Triton could no longer hear anything except the resonant hum of the incalculable magic the weapon held at the ready. It made the ocean itself vibrate. Then the spell erupted off the trident with a roar like a volcano, streaking towards Lara as a spiraling vast beam of sapphire, gold, and white light.

Bel'al's eyes widened. "LARA!"

Lara's own eyes widened in terror as she saw the magic coming for her. There was not a single spell or ability in her arsenal that could do anything against that. It would kill her instantly. She turned and flew away, but it was gaining fast on her. She would never evade it in time.

Suddenly Bel'al's entire body collapsed into fire. It went streaking across the ocean towards Lara even faster than the magic chasing her. It enveloped her and then cast her high into the sky as Bel'al took form again in the magic's path. It struck him directly in the chest, the spell winding itself all across his body. Bel'al roared as the magic assaulted him, inflicting him with the curse.

"Dad!" Lara screamed from above.

"NOT WHAT I INTENDED…" said the white titan. "BUT THAT WILL DO!"

The white titan thrust the trident at Bel'al as the white, yellow, and blue lights glowed brighter. "DROWN HIM!"

The waves around Bel'al surged up against him. Dozens of lightning bolts fell down from the sky and struck him in the span of a second, and then repeated every second after. The waters of the sea rose and then enveloped him like ravenous pythons, winding around his limbs and torso. Ice formed thick on his hide as ocean, storm, and wind attacked him. Bel'al fought against the elements, but he found himself rapidly overtaken. A large wave of water rose up behind him and seized his wings and neck like hands, dragging him backwards. Bel'al roared as he was pulled down into the ocean, the waters parting to form a liquid grave as lightning and ice continued to assault him. Then the sea crashed back together over the top of him. A single enormous clawed hand remained grasping above the surface, and then that too was dragged under.

"No!" cried Lara. Triton saw her dive down to the water, flying back and forth across it like a distressed hummingbird. "Dad, no! Get out of there! Dad! Dad!"

No answer came from the sea except the rise and fall of the waves. There was no sign of Bel'al. Just deep, dark, silent water.

Lara shook her head in disbelief, not wanting to believe what she just saw. "He can't…he can't be…he can't be dead! Not dad!"

The white titan stared at where Bel'al disappeared, and then it threw its head back and laughed loudly. The trident glowed brightly in his hands as he hefted it triumphantly overhead. "SO ENDS BEL'AL, THE MIGHTY SOLAR KING! THUS BEGINS THE REIGN OF…OH?"

The white titan looked at its wounded shoulder. The blood was flaking off as gold and red dust as his shoulder began to come apart in crumbling white pieces. "SEEMS I USED MORE AGAINST HIM THAN I EXPECTED. I CANNOT MAINTAIN THIS FORM ANY LONGER. NOT PERMANENTLY, AT LEAST. NO MATTER."

The white titan closed its eyes. It glowed brightly and then began to shrink. Triton saw it grow smaller and smaller till it was just a speck on the sea. Then there was a flash that made Triton shield his eyes again. When he lowered his hands, he saw a lone glowing figure floating in the swells.

"Father!" Triton swam towards the figure as fast as he could, leaping out of the water as he went. That had to be his father. He survived. He defeated the dragon. Now he was safe. Now they could go back to Atlantica. His father grew closer with every beat of his fins. "Father, are you okay!?"

Triton would have gone closer had he not finally gotten a clear view of his "father." He was a merman, but not the one Triton remembered. If anything, he looked more like Triton now. He was still muscular, but leaner than before. His skin was pale, as if he never spent a day in the sun. His hair and beard were pure white as well. His fins were an electric blue that seemed to shimmer like tropical water. His eyes were completely black save the white cross pupils in them, and there were a pair of horn-like bumps on his forehead. He glowed with the same white light as the trident.

"Hmm…his body is smaller than I'm used to," said "Poseidon" as he held his hand up before his face, opening and closing his fingers. "But it will suffice."

"F-father?" Triton stammered nervously.

Poseidon turned to him, giving a smirk beneath his beard that was not friendly in the least. "Ah…you are the prince. Triton, was it? Come to see how your father fared?"

Triton backed away from him. Poseidon chuckled at his reaction. He pointed the trident straight at Triton's face. "Here…I'll let you join him."

The hair on Triton's neck stood up as he felt himself being drawn towards the trident. He failed to realize it back then, but now it was clear as day. What he saw before him looked like Poseidon, and it sounded like him. But that was not his father in any way. This thing speaking to him…this was what Bel'al was talking about. This was whatever corrupted his father from within the trident. This was the evil that slept inside it. This was the trident's master that dragon spoke of, stealing his father's body for his own.

"Poseidon!"

Suddenly a blast of fire came tearing across the water at Poseidon. He saw it in the corner of his eye and turned to fire one of the trident's lightning bolts straight at it. The two magics collided and exploded with deafening force, a cloud of smoke filling the air. A fully armored Lara came flying straight at Poseidon out of the smoke, vapor ringing her and blazing black sword clutched tight in her hands. Her eyes were ablaze with red light and fury, and a bright orange aura enveloped her body.

"I'll kill you!" she screamed, drawing the sword back to her side as she prepared to cut him down.

"Like father, like daughter!" said Poseidon, grinning as he turned to face her directly. He lifted the trident, the three lights returning to the shaft as he aimed at her. "Come, mongrel! Let me send you to him!"

Suddenly a beam of orange light came flying out of the water from under Lara, shooting straight at Poseidon. It knocked the trident aside as he fired, sending the magic sailing off into the clouds. Moments later Bel'al's head burst above the waves as he roared, steam billowing off his burning hide. The sea rushed up, clawing as it tried to drag him back below.

"What!?" exclaimed Poseidon. "How are you–!?"

"YOU WILL NOT WALK UPON THIS EARTH AGAIN!" bellowed Bel'al.

One of Bel'al's massive eyes flashed, and another searing orange beam shot forth from it like a laser. Poseidon swung the trident to deflect it, but instead it exploded just before striking him. Poseidon and Triton were sent skipping backwards across the ocean like rocks over a pond, Triton finally stopping after he went through a wave. His ears were ringing and his front was numb as he looked up to see Lara still coming after Poseidon as the merman started to right himself. Lara roared as she closed in, skimming just above the water. She swung up as she reached Poseidon, striking the trident as hard as she could while she had her opening. There was a flash and a loud shriek as the two magics and weapons collided, and then the trident was ripped out of Poseidon's hands. It went flying through the air and out into the ocean. Its luminous glow vanished immediately, having lost its connection with its master.

"No!" yelled Poseidon as his own glow faded.

Lara skidded past Poseidon and landed on the ocean, the boiling heat from her feet keeping her above the water. She spun around as she came to a halt, pulling her sword back by her shoulder. Then she darted back at Poseidon and thrust for his chest as hard as she could with a yell. The merking spun around clapped his hands together on her sword, stopping it with just the tip breaking the skin of his chest.

"Arrogant mongrel!" shouted Poseidon, struggling to keep her sword from running him through as red and gold blood trickled down his chest. "You dare strike me!? Do you realize who you draw your sword against!?"

"I don't care if you're king of Atlantica or king of the universe, Poseidon!" Suddenly Lara yelled at the top of her lungs as she ripped her sword out of his hands. "All I know is I'm gonna kill you!"

"You won't have the chance!" snapped Poseidon as he held his right hand out. "Trident, come!"

The trident came flying out of the ocean towards Poseidon. It seemed it would reach him until tendrils of fire suddenly broke through the waves and snared it. The trident came to a halt well out of Poseidon's reach.

"No!" shouted Poseidon. He glanced at Bel'al, the dragon's head still above the sea. "You meddling…just die already!"

"DO IT NOW, LARA!" bellowed Bel'al as the ocean wrapped itself around his head with renewed vigor. "FINISH HIM!"

The fire pendant around Lara's neck shone with an orange light as she drew back to thrust again. "Claymore…!"

Poseidon's eyes widened as he saw the glowing pendant. "That's…why do you have–!?"

"Blast!" Lara shouted as she thrust forward. Poseidon moved to catch her sword again, when all of a sudden fire burst out the hilt of Lara's sword. It rocketed forward faster than Poseidon anticipated, piercing clear through his chest in one go. He screamed as he was run through, catching the sword far too late.

Triton felt his heart skip several beats as his breath hitched. This was what he remembered when he saw Lara. This was the moment forever seared into his memories, uncovered when he saw her face again. This was the moment his father died. The moment Lara killed him.

"Father!" cried Triton, reaching out to him. "Father, no!"

Poseidon grunted with pain as he shakily reached for Lara's throat. A mix of gold and red blood leaked out his grimacing mouth. He clasped her neck, but he had no strength to choke her with. "You…wretched…mongrel! How…did you…!?"

Lara cut him off when she pushed the sword deeper into his chest, causing him to cry out. "Burn to nothing, you bastard!"

Flames burst off the sword, devouring Poseidon instantly. He screamed at the top of his lungs as he was burned away, turned into a dark silhouette inside the flames. Then his screaming faded along with the rest of him, his body crumbling to ash. Lara stood panting on the ocean surface, smoke rising off her sword as the ash was blown away. A ghostly white humanoid shadow lingered for a moment on her sword, its black eyes glaring at Lara as it reached towards her with a clawed hand. Then it fell apart like mist in the wind, dissolving into the air.

As though finally having enough of its prisoner trying to escape, the sea rose up in an immense swell and crashed down on Bel'al as more lightning struck him from the sky. He roared as it tried to suppress him, the dragon fighting back with all he had. The fires holding the trident vanished, dropping the weapon into the water.

"Dad!" exclaimed Lara. She spread her wings and flew towards him. "Dad, hang on!"

Triton looked to where the trident fell, and then at Lara. There was the anger. There was the spark of hatred he felt for her. First today, and then again in Seahaven. He remembered how furious and vengeful he felt in that moment, watching her fly off towards that dragon as it tried to stay above the water. He swam for the trident as fast as he could. He seized it in his small hands, arms straining to turn and point it at Lara. It was so much heavier than he imagined it would be.

"Trident!" he shouted. The forks of the trident flickered weakly. "Shoot!"

Instead of a bolt of lightning, a thin arc of electricity jumped between the forks amidst a few sparks.

"Shoot!" shouted Triton, his anger now turning on the trident itself as it refused to fire. "I order you to shoot! Kill that thing! Kill it!"

"There he is! Prince Triton! Prince Triton!"

Triton spun around to see a group of mermen swim towards him. Before he could say anything, one of the mermen seized him around the middle, draping him across his shoulder before turning and swimming off. Another quickly took the trident out of his hands.

"No!" shouted Triton, grasping for the trident. "Give it back!"

"We have the prince!" shouted the merman holding him. "And the trident!"

"What now?" asked another merman.

"What do you think!?" said a third. "We go back to Atlantica fast as we can!"

"No!" shouted Triton. "What about my father!?"

"King Poseidon is dead!" said the soldier. "You aren't! And neither is that dragon or demon! We can't fight them!"

"We have to!" protested Triton, flailing against the soldier holding him. "They killed my father!"

Suddenly a lightning bolt flashed down from the clouds above, striking within a hundred yards of the mermen. They all shielded their eyes as the light and noise assaulted them. Triton felt an intense pins and needles sensation wash over him for a moment as the electricity conducted through the water. Instead of dwindling, the storm was becoming even more violent. Ice formed and broke in the waves as the swells grew perpetually larger. The wind began to howl as lightning fell rapidly and randomly around them.

"They'll kill us if this storm doesn't do it for them!" said one of the guards. He reached into a pouch secured around his waist and pulled out a glass vial filled with black liquid.

"Where did you get that!?" asked another guard.

"Got it from a cecaelian before the war started!" The guard popped the top off with his thumb and then upended the vial's contents into the water. Immediately it spread out, starting to create a black whirlpool. "Take us back to Atlantica!"

"No!" Triton struggled furiously against the merman as they turned and dove into the whirlpool. He briefly saw Bel'al's giant form in the water, visible currents of bubbling water swirling around his body as the sea tried to drag him into the deep. Then the water turned black. "They murdered my father! Attack them! I order you to attack them! Do it, or I'll–!"

"Forgive me, your majesty!" said a voice behind Triton.

Triton just started to turn his head when something hard struck the back of his skull. There was brief blinding pain that sent colors flashing over his vision. Then his eyes rolled up as everything went black.


Triton opened his eyes. He was lying on his back this time, staring straight up at the surface. Slowly he sat up, rubbing his head as dizziness took him. The trident was lying beside him. He looked around and saw Bel'al leaning against the empty pedestal. His tail swayed lazily back and forth, fiery eyes patiently watching him.

"It was her…it was her!" Triton snatched the trident and pushed himself upright. Immediately his dizziness left him, the trident's magic returning strength to his body as the forks sparked with electricity. "Lara killed him! She killed my father!"

Bel'al shook his head. "No."

"She stabbed him through the heart!" Triton shouted, aiming the trident at Bel'al. "She burned him to nothing! I saw it happen! Right in front of my eyes!"

"No," repeated Bel'al.

"I know what I saw!" said Triton angrily, the trident shaking along with the rest of him.

Bel'al sighed and pushed off the pedestal to walk up to him. "No. You know what you want to see. But what is true and what you want to be true are not the same. Continuing to deny it will not make it so."

"I don't believe it!" Triton shouted. "I won't believe it! I won't believe anything you've shown me! Do you hear me!? It's all a lie!"

"The only lie is the one you keep telling yourself." Bel'al stopped within inches of the trident, arcs of electricity jumping to his metal avatar without effect. "You did not see a loving and devoted father swim across oceans to rescue his only son from a vile monster. You saw a merman who craved power above all else come to destroy what he saw as a threat. You did not see a great king wielding righteous strength against a wicked dragon. You saw a tyrant consumed by the thing he mistakenly drew his might from, transformed into the very evil that once tried to purge you and all the mortal races from this world. And you did not see Lara slay your father in cold-blood."

Bel'al stopped within inches of Triton, staring into his eyes. "You saw my daughter, gripped by anger and grief over the loss of a second parent and the only father she's ever known, bring an end to the same being that murdered Poseidon and many more to fulfill his rebirth."

Triton glared angrily back at Bel'al, the creak of wood against skin audible as he wrung the trident.

"Your father was gone long before Lara struck him," said Bel'al. "What she destroyed was a stolen body. One taken over by the same unforgivable monster I once slew to ensure a future for all who live in this realm–including you."

Triton continued his furious glare, the trident still shaking in his grasp. Then he grimaced as he turned away, clenching his jaw and eyes tightly. He did not want to accept it, but he could not deny what Bel'al had revealed to him. He knew deep down this was not some elaborate hoax engineered to deceive him. These memories were his own. He did not remember them at first because he did not want to. He wanted to keep them buried where they could cause him no pain, allowing him to believe a fantasy that never was and cling to a revenge that was never his to take. Now he remembered all of it clearly–from the day Amanda fled Atlantica and his life, to the day he lost a father who never treated him as a son. This was what really happened. This was the forgotten history he, Lara, Poseidon, and Bel'al shared. One of monsters, old magic, lost fathers, and misplaced vengeance.

Triton stopped his trembling and opened his eyes. "Then explain this to me. Why did I not remembered any of this till I saw her? Why are the memories I had of my father nothing like what you've shown me?"

"You have your grandfather and I to blame for that," said Bel'al.

Triton quickly turned around to face him. "What did you do!?"

"A month after you returned to Atlantica, I was able to spare enough magic to contact your grandfather." Bel'al's eyes glowed white again. Triton already knew what was coming, and he made no effort to defend against it. "I told him of what happened…and what remained to be done."


Triton immediately knew this was not one of his memories. This was not from his childhood perspective. He was like a barnacle on a rock– a silent unknown observer to the events unfolding before him. It was the dead of night in Atlantica. He was in his grandfather Neptune's private chambers. But Neptune was not asleep. The old king was swimming back and forth before the mirror on his wall. The reflective surface of it was black, four luminous orange eyes peering out from the dark. The trident leaned next to it, silent and still.

Triton watched as Neptune kept swimming for several more minutes. Then he stopped, his hands visibly tightening as he stared at the floor. "I believe you, Bel'al. I don't want to, but…I know I must."

The eyes in the mirror blinked as Neptune sighed sadly. "I knew something was wrong with my son. He was never like this before he became king. He was always fair, generous, and kind. Ever since he was a merboy. He never cared for power. And he never would've blamed Amanda for Amphira's death. Who he became after she died…that wasn't Poseidon. That wasn't my son. And yet…"

"It does not make your loss any easier to bear," said Bel'al from the mirror.

Neptune drew a hand down his face. "I should've been there for him. I should've intervened at the start. When there was still a chance. Maybe if I hadn't given him the crown so soon. Or been so insistent on he and Amphira starting a family. Maybe he would still–."

"You must not blame yourself, King Neptune," interrupted Bel'al. "You could not have known of the trident's origins any more than I knew what resided within it. If I had, I never would have ceased my search…no. Even then, I should not have given up. The trident is too dangerous to leave lost."

Neptune swam over to the window, looking out on Atlantica in the night. "I don't blame you for this, Bel'al. It was not your fault my son became who he was. And I understand why you did it, even if I cannot accept the consequences. Much as I want to believe otherwise, Poseidon was beyond my ability to help. He had to be stopped. I just couldn't do it myself. I couldn't harm my own child. But…"

Neptune turned to the mirror. "I can't forgive you, either. Corrupted or not, Poseidon was my son. And Triton's father. You've made him an orphan. We don't even have a body for him to say goodbye to."

Bel'al's eyes closed as he nodded from the darkness. "Your anger against me is justified. As is Triton's. I make no apology for destroying the abomination that devoured your son. Had I not, far more than Atlantica would've been imperiled. But that does not mean I don't feel regret for it. Your son was a victim of my failure. Now we have all lost and suffered for it…some more than others."

Neptune swam back to the mirror. "What will happen to you now?"

"The curse of the trident continues to assault me," said Bel'al. "Even now, it seeks to carry out its master's final command to kill me. It and I are in a stalemate. I can hold it at bay, but neither can I overcome it."

"How long can you withstand it?"

"As long as necessary."

"What of your daughter?" said Neptune. "Lara, wasn't it? Where is she?"

A growl came from the mirror for a moment, and then it quieted. "I do not know."

Neptune's eyes widened as his body tensed. "You don't know?"

"Before I was forced under, I used what magic I could spare to put Lara into slumber and protect her from detection and the passage of time. I intended to send her into Arcania. That way, I could recover her once I find a way to break this curse. But the curse interfered with my magic and flung her much farther than I intended. I have no idea where she is now. And unless she awakens on her own, I have no way to find her."

Neptune looked to the trident. "What if I break the curse?"

"You cannot," said Bel'al. "This curse was cast in blood. Magic cast in blood must be undone by blood. At least, by someone who shares it with the caster."

"I am Poseidon's father," said Neptune. "Surely I could undo it."

The eyes in the mirror moved side to side as Bel'al shook his head. "Poseidon was the product of you and your wife. Half of his being comes from each of you. Even then, a child is more than a mere sum of their parents. Triton is now the only one who carries Poseidon's blood. As such, he is the only one capable of releasing the curse. But even if he was willing, he cannot wield the necessary power. Not without it destroying him."

"Then…" Neptune hesitated for a moment. "What if I destroy the trident?"

Bel'al's eyes widened. "You would destroy it?"

Neptune reached out and took the trident. He held it before himself, rolling it in his hands. "This has been passed down from one Atlantican king to the next. It's been used to accomplish great things. But I'd be both ignorant and mistaken to say all of them were good. Or that Atlantica's history isn't without its blemishes. When I was crowned king, my father gave this to me. Before he did, he told me that a good king will know how and when to use it. But a great king will know how and when not to. And throughout my rule, I tried to keep from using this as much as possible. I hoped I'd set an example for Poseidon to follow. That our problems were best solved without relying on magic or force. Now this will go to his son…and I fear the example his father left for him."

Neptune held out the trident to the mirror. "I can't allow Triton to become like Poseidon. Both for his sake and our kingdom's. If destroying this will prevent even the smallest chance of that, I'll gladly do it."

Bel'al stared silently at the trident for a long minute. Then his eyes closed. "You are a merman wise beyond your years, King Neptune. I see now why the trident was unable to corrupt you. And why your people still value your guidance." The dragon opened his eyes. "But destroying the trident is now beyond both of us. I do not have the strength or freedom for it. You lack the means entirely."

"But…then what am I to do with it?"

"Use it as you did before. With discipline and wisdom."

"Even if I do, Triton will become king one day!" said Neptune, his anxiety plain in his voice. "I can't let him wield this! He's too much like his father! He inherited his stubbornness and temper! And right now, he's obsessed with destroying you and your daughter! Three times already he's tried to take this to go find you! I caught him stabbing one of his dolls with a coral knife the other day! Said he was practicing for when he avenged his father! That hatred doesn't belong in a merboy barely into his sixth year! It doesn't belong in anyone! If he holds onto that till he's king, then the trident could…!"

"The corruption that took your son is gone," said Bel'al. "He died when my daugher destroyed your son's body. He'll never again threaten this world. That said, I understand and share your concern. It does not take an ancient evil in a trident to make someone a tyrant. But his hatred surely could. Hatred can fester for a lifetime. And power and hatred are a dangerous combination."

Neptune's hold of the trident tightened. "What would you have me do?"

"Change his memories."

Neptune's eyes widened. "What?"

"Not only him," said Bel'al. "All who ever knew Poseidon, from Atlantica and beyond, friend and foe. Let them remember the king you wished your son to be. An honest, just, and good merman, if flawed in places. Let them remember times of tension instead of war and bloodshed. And let Poseidon be a king who tried to stop it. Let that be who they mourn."

Neptune's knuckles went white as he gripped the trident harder. "You'd really hide the truth? Not just from Triton, but everyone? This doesn't fix anything, Bel'al! It just covers it up! It's a lie!"

"I know," said Bel'al. "I do not wish for this any more than you. But it's a lie that must be told. As I am now, I am vulnerable. I have some defenses to keep any would-be enemies from reaching me, but they are not impenetrable. And with Poseidon gone, your kingdom is on the brink of a new war with the sharkanians. If you wish to end the killing, and keep Triton from following his father, this must be done."

Neptune grimaced, staring hard at the trident's forks as he wracked his brain for an alternative. "Is there no other way?"

Bel'al paused for a moment. "No."

Neptune drew a breath and then let it go in reluctant acceptance. "All right. But let me remember the truth. And you. Without that, I cannot steer Triton onto the correct path."

"As you wish," said Bel'al. "Now come. This will require both of us."

Suddenly a clawed black hand and arm wreathed in orange light emerged from the mirror, followed shortly after by the head, wings, and upper half of a human-sized Bel'al. The water boiled around him as it tried to suppress his heat. Neptune backed away, alarmed by what he saw manifesting.

"Hurry!" said Bel'al as cracks began spreading through his body, reaching out to Neptune. "I cannot maintain this form for long!"

Neptune quickly swam up and held out the trident to Bel'al. He grasped it firmly alongside the merman. Immediately the forks glowed red, releasing a piercing scream that made Neptune wince.

"Concentrate on your fondest memories of your son!" shouted Bel'al as a crack ran across his face. "Leave the rest to me! Oh, and one more thing!"

"What is it!?" shouted Neptune over the scream.

"This will use every last bit of magic I can spare!" said Bel'al. "After this, I will be forced into slumber! I don't know for how long, but I doubt we shall meet again! But I swear this to you–cursed or not, I will not abandon this world! I will continue to watch over it, and your people!"

Neptune held tightly to the trident as it began to shake. "And I swear I will keep your existence a secret! And I will raise Triton to be the king his father should've been!"

Bel'al shook his head as his wings fell apart. "No! Don't raise a king! Raise a good merman! That is worth a hundred kings!"

With that, a blinding orange light burst forth from the trident. It spread out across Atlantica in an inescapable wave. It washed over every inch of water and earth as it spread silently. It swept through houses, burrows, caverns, and dens, touching all in its path equally. Those who slept remained so, unaware of what was happening. Those who were awake tried to escape but were quickly put to sleep as the wave washed over them. As the light continued forth, it took all memory of the tyranny of Poseidon's tainted rule with it. In its place was left a comparably pleasant fairy tale, forever hiding the truth. Outward it spread, gaining speed the further it went. Soon it reached the borders of Atlantica, and still it carried on. It passed through Sharkania and beyond, reaching past one horizon after another. Finally, when it had gone far into the vast emptiness of the open ocean, far beyond where any undersea dweller had ventured, the wave died out.

The light touched Triton as it did any other. The merboy slept fitfully, groaning and tossing as he dreamed of the sorceress who slew his father. The light passed over him, leaving a ring of white light around his head. Then the ring scattered into dozens of white lines that raced across Triton's body and then faded. Triton's expression relaxed as the tension left his body, finally sleeping peacefully.

Neptune blinked as he looked upon his own reflection in the broken mirror. Bel'al was gone. There was no trace of the dragon anywhere. All that remained was the shattered mirror and a set of memories Neptune knew were not real.


"That is what happened," said Bel'al as Triton opened his eyes, for once finding himself upright. "That is why you have those memories."

Triton scowled, baring his teeth as he gripped the trident angrily. "Grandfather…how could you? Why would you ever agree to that!?"

"Because he cared for you," said Bel'al. "Neptune did not want you to stray down the path your father did. And with Poseidon dead, Atlantica was on the verge of another war. The memories your grandfather and I created brought some semblance of peace back to these seas."

"It was still a lie!" snapped Triton. "He all but betrayed me!"

"And you would have blindly pursued your revenge had we not done it," said Bel'al.

Triton swam back from Bel'al, keeping the trident pointed at him. "I've had enough of this, Bel'al! And of you! Tell me why you're here and begone, or I swear I'll blast you apart right now!"

"Very well," said Bel'al. "But before I do, there is one more memory you must see."

"No!" said Triton forcefully. "No more memories! No more magic! I'm done with you forcing me to relive my past!"

"Then I won't force you," said Bel'al. "Not this time. This one will be of your own choosing. See it if you wish, or do not. But before you decide, know this memory is not of your father."

"Then who?" demanded Triton.

"Lara."

Triton was unprepared for that answer. He lowered the trident slightly. "Lara?"

Bel'al only nodded. "After she found you in our home."

The dragon held out a golden hand to Triton as white flames ignited on it. He kept it there, waiting for Triton to decide. Triton looked at his hand, then at the dragon's face. A part of him wanted to turn away and be done with him. Bel'al had put him through enough already. But, much like his Ariel and her fascination with the surface, there was a part of Triton that wanted to know. And so he slowly reached out and took Bel'al's hand.


Triton could not tell where he was. His eyes were closed, and his face was buried in his arms as he hugged his fins close. What he could immediately tell was that he was not underwater. He was on land. The air he breathed was warm and humid. His scales felt dry and stiff as he moved his fins. He had been out of water for a long while now. His back was pressed against a rocky wall, the small points pressing against the woven blanket wrapped around him. He was sniffling and crying, tears running down his face to drip onto his fins.

"Take him back!"

Triton snapped his head up, opening his eyes. It was dark, but there was a faint light coming from somewhere off to his right. He looked around and saw the dim outlines of a cave. It was small, barely twenty feet long and eight feet high and wide. The walls were black volcanic stone. The light he saw was coming from some sort of entrance covered by a cloth, slipping in around the edges.

"I cannot," replied a deep rumbling voice that could only belong to Bel'al.

"That wasn't a request! Take him back right now!"

Triton wanted to scramble for the light as fast as he could, but he had to settle for his past self shakily wiping his eyes and nose before pulling himself slowly across the floor. That was Lara's voice! She was here, wherever here was! He had to get to the entrance! He had to see what was going on! Foot by foot he went forward till he was at the blanket.

"This is not up for discussion, Lara," said Bel'al as Triton peeked below the bottom of the cloth.

What he saw took his breath away. He was peering out onto an enormous underground cave. Abyssum's yard was a closet compared to the size of this. Its width had to be more than a mile across, and its height was no less vast. It stretched on almost endlessly in both directions. Veins of glowing yellow, white, and orange crystal ran through its black rocky walls, providing as much illumination as daylight. Holes of various sizes lined the walls, leading to other caverns. Some were barely large enough for a person. Others were vast enough to sail an armada through. Triton's small hollow was over two hundred feet up, a near vertical wall of smooth stone below him. There was no way he could climb down it.

Nearby was Bel'al. The dragon was a fraction of his former size, but at over three times the length of a blue whale, he was still a massively imposing creature. He was not in his anthropomorphic form, either. His body had changed into that of a true quadruped, allowing him to lay on the cave floor as a cat would lay in a sunny spot, tail curled around him. His neck was longer and his mane shorter, but those four eyes and that obsidian black hide had not changed. His vast wings were pulled in tight against him. He held an enormous long pipe in one hand. He brought it to his mouth and breathed in, causing the coals in the carriage-sized bowl to glow.

"The merboy will stay," said Bel'al, exhaling a cloud of smoke as he spoke. "At least till his purpose is fulfilled."

"His purpose? Or your plan!?"

Triton's eyes widened as he saw Lara standing down in front of the dragon, her orange hair bristling and tail swishing back and forth angrily. She looked the same back then as she did now, wearing her bright red breast wrap and ragged black pants with goggles seated on her head. She had not aged a day. Same hair. Same eyes. And that same ferocious look on her face as she glared up at her father.

"Yes," said Bel'al before taking another breath off his pipe.

"He's a kid!" Lara shouted angrily, not liking his answer one bit. "He's barely younger than I was when you found me!"

"I'll not harm the boy," said Bel'al. "And so long as his father does as I ask, he will not be staying long."

Lara slashed an arm angrily across. "Harm's got nothing to do with it! And he's plenty harmed already! The whole reason I found him was because I heard him crying his eyes out in the corner of that hollow you stuffed him into! I thought he was gonna die of fright with how loud he screamed when he saw me! He thought I was gonna eat him!"

"His fear is understandable," said Bel'al. "I was a tad rough while bringing him here."

"Rough!?" Lara yelled. She spread her wings and took off, flying straight up to land on Bel'al's snout. "You kidnapped him! You stole him from his home! He shouldn't be here! He belongs in the sea! With his dad in that Atlantica place!"

"He would not be here had Poseidon not been so stubborn," said Bel'al. "Unfortunately for him, his father and the trident forced my hand."

"And there's that, too! What's this about a trident?! Red said the whole reason you took him was to make his dad hand it over to you! Why do you want it so bad!? What's so important about that trident that you'd do this to get it!?"

Bel'al said nothing, taking another breath off his pipe.

"Answer me, dad!" Lara yelled, stomping on his head. "What do you want with Poseidon's trident!?"

"That is not your concern," said Bel'al, a twinge of growling anger in his voice.

Lara leapt off his head, flapping her wings to hover in front of his left eyes. "It is when my dad is holding merkids for ransom!"

Bel'al dismissed his pipe with a wave of his hand, causing it to turn to smoke. "I've told you many times that there are things in this world you are better off not knowing."

"Do not pull that crap on me!" snapped Lara.

"Trust me when I tell you this is one of them," Bel'al continued.

"Yeah, and you also told me the line between good and evil is a lot narrower and steeper than people think! One wrong step and there's no telling how far you'll fall! Well this is you falling right off the wrong side, and I don't see you trying to fly out with those damn wings you're so proud of!"

Bel'al growled, his eyes glowing slightly. "I'll not have that language from you!"

"And I'm not gonna drop this till I get an answer for why you're trying to trade a terrified merboy for some magic fork!" Lara snarled back, her own eyes glowing. "You taught me about right and wrong when it comes to our magic! You drilled it into me time and again! I don't know how you see this, but from where I'm flying there isn't anything right about it! This is wrong and you know it!"

"Watch your tone!" said Bel'al sharply as he stood up on all fours. "Do not think I am enjoying this! But it must be done! I must have that trident!"

"So the ends justify the means!?" said Lara. "One merboy doesn't matter as long as you get what you want!? Then why not take two!? Or three!? How about a dozen!? Just nab them all, why don't you!? Doesn't matter who gets hurt so long as the mighty Solar King gets his stupid fork!"

Bel'al's eyes flared with light as he suddenly roared right at Lara. The sound would have been deafening outside, which made it even more overpowering when done inside what was essentially a giant echo chamber. Triton clapped his hands tight over his ears as the whole cavern shook. Lara was blasted backwards by the roar, the force pinning her against the wall till he stopped.

"ENOUGH, LARA!" Bel'al roared, causing the entire cavern to shake again as Lara clung to the wall. "I'LL NOT LEAVE THE TRIDENT IN THE CLUTCHES OF THAT MADMAN! I WILL HAVE IT, EVEN IF I HAVE TO CLAIM IT BY FORCE!"

Lara scowled angrily at her father. "And I won't leave that kid in the clutches of a dragon who's a liar and a hypocrite! So if you won't take him home, then I will!"

She leapt off the wall and quickly circled back towards Triton's hollow. She was almost there when fire suddenly sprouted over the entrance to it. Triton shielded his face as he scrambled backwards, the heat almost scalding him.

"Hey!" Lara flew up to the flames, flapping her wings to hover in front of them. She drew her fist back and punched at it, but the fire resisted her as if they were made of steel. Lara beat on the barrier as hard as she could, but the flames would not let her through.

"You will do no such thing!" said Bel'al.

Lara spun around to glare at Bel'al. "Let him go! You have no right to do this!"

"There are greater things at stake than a single merboy!" said Bel'al. "Greater things than you understand!"

"I don't care! Let him go, or I swear you'll never see me again!" Lara shouted.

Bel'al narrowed his eyes, staring hard at Lara as he bared his teeth. "You wouldn't dare!"

Lara stared right back at him. "I would! Because up till today, I didn't think my dad would dare stoop to something like this!"

Lara and Bel'al stared at each other for what felt like hours to Triton, neither one so much as blinking. Then Bel'al gave an angry snort and turned away, walking into the cave. "Then go! Leave! Do as you wish! But he stays!"

Triton saw Lara drop slightly as her wings slowed. She clearly was having trouble believing what he just said to her. But when Bel'al kept walking away, she clenched her hands hard as she shook with anger.

"FINE!" Lara all but screamed at him. "Take your damn trident if that's what you want! Me!? I never want to see you again! You hear me!? Ever again! Go and die for all I care! I lost one parent and home already! What's one more!? You're not even my real father!"

With that Lara turned and flew off in the opposite direction of Bel'al. She gave three sharp whistles, and a moment later her sword and two knives came flying out of the far side of the cavern to her. She intercepted them in midair and kept going, disappearing from Triton's sight.

Bel'al kept walking into the cave, growling angrily as he went. The stones heated red hot under his feet, and the temperature of the cavern climbed. Then he stopped and glanced behind him. Triton saw his four eyes watch Lara leave. A sound of cracking stone reached Triton's ears, and he looked down and saw Bel'al digging his clawed fingers into the solid stone as though it were sand. Suddenly he roared and reared up on his hind legs, clenching his hands into fists before slamming them down on the cavern floor, sending cracks racing through the stone like shattered glass.


Triton opened his eyes to see Bel'al still standing in front of him. He released Triton's hand and stepped back.

"Lara was many things back then," said Bel'al. "Stubborn. Brash. Impudent. Quick to anger. Still learning of her magic and herself. But she was also correct. There is a line between what is right and what is wrong. And she knew I crossed it when I took you. You were a child. An innocent who deserved no part in this. In my arrogance and haste, I turned you into a bargaining chip against your father. I thought his bond with you would be enough to overcome the darkness in his heart. Instead, I brought about his death as well as my own defeat. You lost your father…"

Triton saw Bel'al's hands tighten as he grit his teeth. "And I lost my daughter. Because of me, she spent five years struggling to survive in the last place I ever wished to send her. Because of me, she endured more pain and hardship than anyone should have to. And because of me, she now despises who and what she is."

Triton scowled as he took the trident in both hands. "And you think your guilt excuses what you two did?"

Bel'al shook his head. "I make no excuses for myself, King Triton. I know Lara feels the same. We take no pride in the lives we ended. All we can do now is what's right. And for me, that starts by asking you to show mercy to Lara."

The trident shook in Triton's hands as his anger returned. "Why!? Why should I show mercy to someone who never showed it to my father!? She killed him!"

"You know that is not what happened!" said Bel'al firmly. "She has the blood of hundreds of thousands of innocents on her hands, but your father's is not among them! If anything, you owe her your life just as much as your daughters do!"

"I owe her nothing!"

"You saw him, Triton! You saw his eyes in your father's face! You and I both know that wasn't Poseidon she killed! He would've fed you to the trident without a second thought had Lara not intervened! She deserves many things from you! But not your hate! Not from stopping him when I could not!"

Triton grimaced as he turned away, holding up the trident as he stared at its forks. He could see his angry reflection in it. Small wonder Lara thought he was his father. Between the white hair and his blue fins, he looked like his father did after Bel'al was supposedly drowned.

"Then what am I supposed to do with all this anger!?" said Triton. "From the moment I remembered, that's all I've felt! Just unyielding, burning anger! How am I supposed to let that go!? How am I supposed to avenge my father!? Or the people she's killed!?"

"I know you want revenge," said Bel'al. "And if anyone can understand why, it's Lara. The anger of loss is what drove her to become Kaida Blackjaw, and to destroy Lao Xan after her beloved's death. But, as I said, she is not the one who deserves your vengeance."

Triton spun around to face him. "Then who does!? That thing I saw you fighting!?"

Bel'al spread his wings and arms. "I do."

Triton was at a loss for words for a moment. Bel'al used that time to speak again. "Lara may have destroyed your father's body. And he may have corrupted his mind. But if anyone is to blame for what you both lost, it's me. It was my actions that brought us to where we are now. It is the consequences of my decisions that have left me trapped by your father's curse, and the Alliance vulnerable to Maelstrom's wrath. I cannot save you all from them. Nor can I defeat their coming army. Even then, I doubt it would appease your anger. Therefore, I will give you the only thing I can."

Triton scowled at him. "And what is that?"

"Myself." Bel'al stepped towards Triton. "If Maelstrom is defeated, and after the battles are done, I will hand myself over to you. I will place my fate in your hands, whether I remain imprisoned or am freed. Have me stand trial for your father's death, or execute me on the spot if you so wish. I will leave that decision to you."

Then Bel'al knelt on one knee in front of Triton, bowing his head down. "But do not let Lara suffer for my errors. Do not burden her with my sins. If my daughter is able to live free of your hatred, my life is a small sacrifice to make. Let your revenge end with me."

Triton stared down at Bel'al's kneeling form. A part of him wanted to skewer Bel'al on the trident as hard as he could, even if it was only a statue acting as his avatar. His anger yearned for it. He wanted his revenge so badly he could taste it. He started to draw the trident back, but then he stopped. Memories of his father flashed before his eyes–his real memories. He saw what anger and hate did to him. What it allowed into his heart. What it drove him to become. It cost Poseidon everything that Triton valued. He brought misery to countless lives, including his own people. He made enemies out of what had once been allies. He drove away those who cared about him most. In the end, Poseidon died alone.

And Triton knew that if he killed Lara, he would too. Melody would never forgive him for it. Neither would his daughters or Eric. He would turn his entire family against him. Without them, his world would be lonely and cold. Without them, he would become just as bitter and empty as Poseidon.

"Attina told me something," said Triton, keeping the trident raised. "Something Melody said to her in the hospital before that fire started. Killing Lara might get me my revenge, but it won't make anything right. And it won't change anything. Nothing you, me, or Lara do can change what happened to my father. I can't forgive her, Bel'al. Or you, for that matter. Not after what you both took from me"

Then Triton drew a breath and sighed, slowly lowering the trident. "But whatever punishment she receives at her trial, you have my word it won't be death. Either by execution, or by rotting in a cell."

Bel'al slowly lifted his head. "You have my eternal grat–."

"But…!" Triton cut in sharply, pointing the trident at him. "When Maelstrom is defeated, I will come for you! And one way or another, you will pay for what you did! I swear it!"

Bel'al looked at the trident, and then up at Triton before nodding. "I understand. You have my word as well that I shall not resist you when that time comes. And that I shall continue to aid your people till then."

Triton frowned at Bel'al. "You just swore to offer your life to me. Yet you still intend to help us?"

"I am Bel'al the Solar King," said Bel'al as he stood. "Descendant of the clan of Anclagon of the first knights. I may be a king in name only, but that does not mean I shirk my duty to safeguard this world from those who would destroy it. Or go back on my oath to you or your grandfather. Provided, that is, you do not speak of me to anyone."

An orange aura appeared around Bel'al as his eyes glowed. "Do, and our agreement is void, as is my aid against Maelstrom."

Bel'al levitated in the water and drifted back to the statue's pedestal, landing silently on it. "Lara's trial is in seven days, King Triton. I recommend you use them to consider your words to her carefully."

With that Bel'al closed his eyes. His body became molten and liquid as it lost its form, becoming a sinuating blob. Then the gold separated, rapidly reforming the statues of Triton and Athena atop the pedestal. A glowing orange light lingered in one of Athena's eyes for a moment, and then it faded away.

Triton stared at the statues, looking for any trace of Bel'al's presence. All he saw was lifeless gold. Wherever the dragon was, he was long gone. Triton was alone once more. He drew a deep breath and then swam back towards the palace. He truly did have much to consider.


A/N: The truth is revealed. Lara is not the murderer Triton believed her to be. The death of his father falls upon a far darker, violent, and more powerful evil. One the Solar King knows all too well, and whose entrapping curse he now endures. A bargain is struck for her life. But even if Triton shows mercy, what of Seahaven? Will the people Lara has repeatedly protected stand by her, or cast her out as a monster? Even then, Lara may yet prove to be her own worst enemy. Can her friends find a way to help Lara move on from her guilt? Or is Lara determined to destroy herself?

Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter! It'll be a little while before the next one, so stay tuned! Till next time!

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