It was morning. Queen Coral knelt down in front of the statue she had made for Gill in his honor. Her head was lowered, hands against the statue, somewhat praying to him. Earlier that day, she had sent a messenger to Jade Mountain for an important notice that one of the Dragonets must come and meet her at once. The queen awaited for her arrival . . . trying to come up with a way to kill her.

"Mom?" Tsunami's voice echoed throughout the castle halls. "You . . . wanted to see me?"

" . . . Yes," Coral said, barely containing the ever rising anger in her blood, " . . . come sit by me, sweetheart."

Tsunami walked up to her mother, gazing up at the statue of her father, then knelt down beside her. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

" . . . Nothing . . . I only wanted to see you." Coral stared straight ahead, straight into the wall, not daring to even blink.

" . . . Are you alright?"

"Of course. . . . Why wouldn't I be?"

"You seem a little . . . on edge."

"No, no . . . everything is alright . . . you don't have to worry about me . . . ."

Tsunami stared at her with a concerned expression, then turned back to the statue. "Sometimes I wish I could see him . . . spend at least one second with him."

You little toad, Coral thought maliciously, I'm going to tear out your heart and feed it to the fish. " . . . If he could see you now . . . if he were here now . . . he would want to spend every second of the day with you . . . to see his daughter for the first time." A moment of silence. " . . . How is the school coming along?"

"Jade Mountain? We're almost done, we just need to get all the supplies and other things for the school year."

" . . . That sounds lovely, dear. . . . I think your father would love to see it . . . ."

"What was he like?"

Perfect . . . unlike you. "He was a great king . . . and a good father. . . . He always took care of every one of your siblings no matter what."

"Do you think he would care for me?"

He would rather kill you instead after what you did to him. " . . . Of course he would, darling. If he were still here . . . if he were still alive . . . he would rejoice because his lost princess is finally here."

Tsunami could not help but smile at that thought. The chance to know her father . . . a chance to be a real family . . . something she always wanted. "I just wish I could see him now."

" . . . Me too, sweetheart," Coral placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder, " . . . me too . . . ."

Tsunami, in a long while, felt affection from her own blood . . . until she felt pain in her shoulder. Coral's eyes were edged far to the left, staring right at her daughter.

"Mom?" Tsunami said, confused. "Mom, let go." She tried to free herself, but Coral growled at her. "MOM!" Tsunami lashed her mother's hand off, taking a few steps away from her.

Coral's head lowered, and she started to laugh. "I loved him, you know that? I loved him with all my heart . . . with all my soul. He was perfect. He was my king . . . my husband." She slammed her fist against the statue, her voice a mixture of laughter and wailing. "Without him . . . we can't have any eggs. So . . . who should be queen?" She stood up, spinning around to face her daughter. "NO ONE. NO ONE I TELL YOU. NO ONE BUT ME. I am queen . . . I am the heir . . . I am perfect."

"Mom!" Tsunami said, backing away from her. "Stop, this isn't you."

"Isn't ME!? Oh . . . sweet daughter . . . my missing princess . . . a mother must do what has to be done . . . even as queen." Coral walked towards Tsunami, her face covered in madness and lunacy. "Why . . . would you even think, that your father would ever love you after what you did to him?"

"What are you talking about?"

"DON'T LIE TO ME. I know what you did. . . . I know you were lying to me when you said a SkyWing killed your father."

Then it all made sense. Tsunami's eyes went wide, remembering the arena from five years ago. " . . . Mom, please . . . I didn't know that was my father. I didn't know I was related to Gill. . . . I-I'm sorry."

"You're sorry!?" Coral spat. "You think I would forgive you. Of all dragons?" She scoffed, laughing as she did so. "You, are a mistake. Nothing, but a dead carcass for the sharks. After what you did . . . out of all the dragonets I had . . . you, are the worst child I ever had. No one wants you, no one needs you. . . . I will kill you myself . . . I will kill you the way you should have died in that arena."

"Arena? H-How do you-"

"You think you can lie to me and expect me to love you? . . . No . . . not anymore. . . . I am perfect . . . and you . . . are a pathetic, waste, of life."

Coral lunged at her, but Tsunami took flight. The queen turned and thrashed at her as hard as she possibly could, eyes filled with rage.

"Mom, stop!" Tsunami cried, but Coral grabbed her by the tail, slamming her against the ground, and throwing her to the wall.

The queen charged, letting out a roar, ramming into her. She thrashed, attempting to draw blood with every blow. Tsunami kicked her in the stomach, knocking her to the ground.

"I don't want to fight you," Tsunami screamed.

Coral took flight, throwing herself at her daughter, grabbing her by the throat and flying through the castle halls.

The queen dragged Tsunami against the walls, then the ground, throwing dust, and blood. Tsunami saw no other choice but to try and fight back, except Coral was twice her size. She had to fight somehow. The wind slammed against their heads, and the queen's glare grew harder as she flew faster. Tsunami lashed, attempting to free herself from her mother's grasp, trying to breathe.

Eventually, the lack of air made Tsunami's strikes futile, but that was when they reached a room leading to the ocean. With a powerful roar, Coral threw her daughter into the water, diving after her. She lashed claw after claw multiple times, not giving Tsunami the chance to fight back. She once again grabbed her by the throat, and proceeded to thrash at her stomach. Tsunami knew what she had to do, but for some reason could not bring herself to do it. Was it affection towards her mother that made her hold back the strikes? No, she had to fight back to save her own life.

Tsunami kicked her mother in the stomach, forcing her to back off. At that quick second, Tsunami threw a claw at her face, then again across her stomach and side. She spun around, lashing her tail right at Coral's face. The queen was in a daze, and Tsunami took the chance to strike. She bit at her face, and kicked her again. Coral, in that last second, grabbed her daughter by the legs, pulled her down, and threw a claw as hard as she could. Tsunami quickly flashed her wings, blinding her adversary, giving her the opportunity and fought back.

Finally, Queen Coral had enough. She flapped her wings hard, grabbing her daughter by the torso, and flying to the surface. They burst through the water, and Coral threw Tsunami to the ground. She dove at her, slamming her body against hers. Tsunami clenched her teeth from the pain.

Coral stood back up, lifting her daughter off the floor, and with her eyes bulging out of her head, growled the words: " . . . You . . . you, little, pathetic, piranha . . . I should have smashed your egg. . . . Gill should have smashed your egg. Except, that would mean I would have to kill him . . . but, at least, I wouldn't have to see you."

She drove her claw at Tsunami's face, but she caught her arm, and struggled to keep the claws away from her. Coral growled, and managed to inch her arm only a few centimeters away from her daughter's eye.

"I guess I could say the same thing about all of you," Coral snarled. "You would all try to kill me anyway, why shouldn't have I killed you in the first place? Why didn't I kill you all when you hatched?" She chuckled. "Maybe I just wanted to see your little faces . . . I just wanted to hold you in my arms . . . I thought I could be a good mother . . . I wanted to see you grow up. Or . . . maybe I just wanted to kill you all for the pleasure. Why would any of you think you could challenge me!?" She laughed again. "You are all ignorant little toads. I should have killed Gill and every one of my children so I wouldn't have to live like this because of you."

"You're crazy," Tsunami growled.

"CRAZY!? You and all my children are the ones who made my life horrible. After I end your useless life . . . I will kill all your siblings. Turtle, Anemone, Auklet, and all your brothers, because there never has been any reason for any of you to be hatched. Why . . . why did I try to keep you alive? . . . Why did I try to find you?"

In the midst of what was happening, Tsunami, for the first time in a long time, began to cry. "I just wanted you to love me . . . ."

Coral paused, stared. Tsunami could feel and watch as pure rage built up inside her mother. After a moment, Coral screamed and backed away. She roared higher than the top of her lungs in the most vengeful rage Tsunami had ever heard in her life. Coral's roar was heard throughout the corridors, reaching the ears of the residents. The queen slammed her fists, claws, tail, and head against the ground, releasing all of the anger she had bottled up inside of her for so long. She continued to ram her fists against the ground until blood flew, then jerked her head back towards her daughter, pure insanity painted on her face, and she charged.

The queen rammed Tsunami against the wall, thrashing so hard it hurt her arm to do so. Tsunami did not have the strength to fight anymore. She slumped to the ground. Coral raised her claw, eyes filled with utter madness, and with one last roar, threw the strike.

Then, a spear was driven through the queen's stomach. Blood fell on Tsunami's face. She looked up, utterly confused as to what had happened. Coral looked down at the weapon, looked at her daughter, and as the anger drained from her face, she fell backwards. Tsunami looked to her right . . . and there stood Anemone.

Filled with fear, Tsunami stood up slowly, looked down at her mother, then ran to her sister. They embraced.

They backed away, and Anemone said: "I saw everything . . . I heard everything. Are you alright?"

Tsunami stared at her, not knowing what to say.

" . . . Tsunami," said Coral. The two sisters turned towards her. The queen lifted a claw, the rage masked by sorrow and grief. "Come to me . . . please. Take my hand. Sweetheart . . . don't let your mother die alone. I-I didn't mean those things. I would never think that about you." The sisters glared. "Tsunami . . . please. I-I love you . . . I always have." Tears began to fall. "My daughter, my little princess . . . my . . . lost . . . dragonet . . . ." Her arm fell. Without closing her eyes, the queen lie motionless, and the rage returned with her final breath.

The sisters looked at one another. They hugged again for a long moment.

Needless to say, Anemone became the new SeaWing Queen. She had told everyone everything that had happened in the castle between Tsunami and Coral. Almost everyone in the Kingdom of the Sea attended the ceremony. Anemone sat on the throne, Auklet on her lap.

Anemone and Tsunami had agreed to not tell their little sister the truth about their mother - at least not now, not at this age. That was the mistake Tsunami had made - she realized that. But, at the same time, she thought she was, in some way, no different than Coral.

She was horrible, a terrible mother, and a tyrant of a queen, who manipulated her people into trusting her, to admit she was perfect in every way . . . but that was also her downfall. Rage, insanity, and madness took over her emotions, and turned her personality into a psychopath.

Tsunami, and all of her siblings felt that same madness flow within their veins, within their blood . . . within their souls. Because of their mother, and what she had done. Either way, they all shared a love they all had in common. They were together. They were siblings, they were family, no matter what.

As the residents bowed to their new queen, Anemone and Tsunami exchanged glances, silently promising to never be divided, and never become what their mother had been for so long . . . .