Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Well do we have a deal" The client in front of Azul was staring at the golden contract Azul laid out then signed. "Excellent, now I'll make sure to get your end by Tuesday, I'm sure you'll remember to get my end by then too" the client looked scared but then got up and left the VIP room.

Azul took the contract and put it in his safe. He was proud of his contracts, especially since Leona turned it all to dust last year. He was able to do a lot since then and got lots of magic from his fellow students of NRC. Keeping it as legal as he could without it being illegal, much to the principal's dismay because of complaints from people who couldn't pay the price.

Some things took a little longer than he preferred, but Jade and Floyd were always there. Well... They were always there, but looked more doubtful as time went on. Azul loved Jade and Floyd, he wouldn't always show it but he loved them more then he would ever admit, even to himself.

Floyd came around Azul then sat on the couch to the left of Azul's side. He started pouting his face then played with his pen. "That client was soooo boring Azul" Floyd remarked as he threw the pen loosely on the table then slouched back.

He never really found interest in the recent clients. They realized that they should not try to ask for much or else more will get taken from them, but Azul's offers were never less than tempting. But Floyd finding less and less interest is not something to worry about right...right?

" Yes quite like you" Jade added on to Floyd then sat on the other couch. He stared at Azul though looked very uninterested. He watched as the octopus's eyes widened and could see the moment Azul realized what he just said.

" Wh-what do you mean?!!" He panicked but didn't care to hide it." What do you mean boring" Azul always knew since they were in middle school that the twins would leave him, but didn't expect it to be in their third year at NRC.

The octopus was stunned. He didn't want to believe it, he wanted to stay with Jade and Floyd forever so why did they want to leave him. He wanted to keep them close to him forever, but he knew they had an expiration date. Or more accurately he did.

****************

"Ahhh you guys look so cute together, you're like an undetachable school, well you're less than a school, but you get the point" The coral teacher at Neptune's Middle School said as she watched Azul and the twins playing one of Coral Seas' more traditional games at recess (Blackjack with Seashells). The seahorse mer had been watching their games and was interested in the unusual trio.

"Oh please Ms. Havhest we'll leave him the moment he's no longer interesting" Floyd remarked as he swayed his seashells around the big orange seahorse mer. "He's cute right now and very interesting right now, but when he's boring we'll eat him like sharks to the smaller fish".

"He is the most interesting thing me and my brother have seen in our short lives, but we are in for entertainment, not relationships" Jade joined as he shuffled the shells next to him and readjusted his tail.

Azul stared in disbelief as he heard that. He had been with Floyd and Jade for the past two years and had grown quite attached to the morays. But it didn't seem like they felt the same at this moment.

"We-well I don't really know about the mer from the depths so I can't really judge, but ummm.... I hope he... stays... interesting..." The seahorse mer slowly swam back and went to check on the other mer. She was obviously watching them every few seconds but she didn't come back to them.

"You'll both leave me... when I'm no longer interesting .." It was the first time he heard that but not the last. The octopus retracted his tentacles and looked down at his closest shell. The queen of hearts and a three of hearts, he heard that the queen was heartless in the tales he read. He wondered if it meant that she was heartless because she had a heart of stone hatred or she was just heartbroken.

The three of hearts could also mean the trio, Azul, Jade, and Floyd. Or it might mean how octopuses have three hearts. He was sure it is the second, but he considers one heart for each of the twins. He might as well have gotten an ace to make a one, or a two for the twins.

"Of course we'll leave you when your boring, you think that we will stick around if you just sleep all day doing nothing, that's boring" Floyd said as if it was the most simple thing to understand in the entire ocean." You're already a little less interesting because you refuse to eat and you're getting thinner".

"We will try to stay around if we can but if we know that you should go then you will go" The other moray once again added to his brother as he held out a shell. "Draw?" He asked Azul knowing the shell in both will make Azul win.

Azul didn't want to think about how Jade phrased that because he didn't want to think about him going. He just decided to continue the game and move on. He didn't want to worry about that right now.

"Hit" The octopus said determined to win. He got the 8 of hearts, which means that he got 21. The octopus won but victory didn't feel good. Maybe the 8 meant for his tentacles, every one. It wasn't about his heart but it was about him. What a very interesting game, if he didn't know better then he would say that the great sea witch herself was controlling the game.

****************

"Me and Floyd are sad to announce that you are boring, but we took a long time to come to this decision and you unfortunately can't meet our interests". Jade put his hand on his heart for that speech and used his "I am the victim method" but he knew that he didn't mean it one bit about being sad to announce it.

It probably didn't take them long to come to that decision, it probably took 10 minutes at best. He didn't even phrase it as "We no longer find you interesting" instead it's "you are boring". Azul wanted to cry right there and go back into his octopus pot, but he rather not show the twins that. If they were going to call him boring then they wouldn't have the satisfaction of seeing him cry because of them.

"So I'm no longer INTERESTING ENOUGH for you, after all we have been through, after all we have done together!!" Azul screamed through the VIP room, he was loud enough so that someone close outside could hear him, but he didn't care. He pulled at his hair and stood up to feel any other pain but that, he wanted to stop the pain in his heart.

"Azul don't hurt yourself again, the scars you put on yourself last and first year are barely there now, you'd lose all your progress" Azul had done self harm in his first year and after his overblot, but had stopped because of the twins. To hear Floyd just bring it up so casually really hit him in the wrong spot in his heart.

He released the death grip on his hair and sat back down. "What do you two WANT? If it's just to tell me then please leave" Azul barely made that out without crying. He wanted them to leave, but also hug him tightly at the same time.

"We want to run the dorm. I will take your spot as housewarden and Floyd will vice housewarden '' The moray to Azul's right stated to Azul's question. Floyd could barely be in the mood to do work most of the time and now Jade wants him as vice housewarden. And Jade could never be better than Azul as a housewarden, Jade has no passion for it, and he doesn't care for the lounge.

"You can have the lounge, we don't want it, but we want 69% of the profits" Floyd added cheekily and took the pen off the table to draw a moray to his backhand.

"Floyd we said 75% and who taught you the meaning of that number?" Jade asked with the most interest he showed all night. It was most likely Ruggie who told him since they were in the same class this year. And 75%?!?? It's not even 33% for him, not even split three ways down.

"Ruggie told me" Knew it, those two became dynamite at times this year. Interestingly enough Azul, Riddle, Silver and Kalim were in the same class so it was easier to teach Kalim and Silver now too since he somehow slept more this year?, for their study sessions. Jamil was with Jade and Jamil was more or less weary of Jade but nothing bad.

"Why can't I have 33%? We would be splitting it three ways'' He knew that they both knew math, even if Floyd pretended not to. If they wanted 8% more than they might as well take his heart. It was petty in the eyes of others, but 8% was a lot of money at times.

"We could but why should we? Well I guess that you do love money so maybe we could give you that" Jade went to get up from the couch with Floyd slowly following." And one more thing, Azul"

"What?" Jade was testing his patience and he knew it. Azul just wanted them out, he didn't need to hear Jade's voice explain anything, but his heart wanted to.

"The duel will be in two days at noon, Saturday" Jade said as he and Floyd left the housewarden of Octavinelle in the VIP room to be alone. He didn't even spare a passing glance at Azul and shut the door.

Azul balled his left hand and banged it on the table, his mind refused to process what happened so he just kept banging it until it bled, a healing spell could be put and no one would know. He could do the same with the scars on his arms but he kept it as reminders to not do it again because he hated the way it looked on his arms.

He cleaned the blood up and left the VIP room. He went to his room and cried himself to sleep wishing that the twins were there to comfort him, even though they were the ones who caused it.

Chapter Text

It was the next day in Octavinelle. The people were waking up, the fish were swimming, and the sea was... seaing?

It was 5:30 am. The alarm clock Azul owned made the most annoying sound he had ever heard, but he kept it because Floyd got it for him. The octopus threw the clock as far as he could and hit the ground very loudly. "I need a new alarm clock".

The octopus wished he was back in the sea, in the sea he felt weightless. The moment he stepped off the bed he felt every single weight in his body. He might have been underweight because he refused to be that chubby octopus again, but he thought of possibly getting chubby again just to catch the twin's attention.

"Maybe I could finally taste Trey's baking, if I was in Heartslabyul I would be ruined in less than two weeks tops' he speaks to himself. He got his pen and used a clothing spell to put on his school uniform. He got his bag and left for the library.

******************

"Azul! Azul! Here!" The house warden of Scrabia yelled at him while Riddle embarrassingly ducked his head while Silver continued sleeping. The octopus walked over to them and laid his books out. "Hey Azul, why are you so late? It's 6:30".

He didn't even notice the time, they always met at 6:15. He walked slowly, even for him, that's usually saying something. The school library and the dorms were a long distance away, but they always managed to get there on time.

"Oh, my alarm clock let me down, I am getting used to the sound, so it didn't work on me today". A lie, but a reasonable one. People can sleep through their alarms, but only if they sleep late.

"Azul, I've heard your alarm clock. If you somehow slept through it, then I'm impressed" Riddle started to shake Silver, getting progressively harder. "Silver, as the house warden of Diasomnia you shouldn't be asleep all the time!". Silver followed after Malleus left the school, but he wasn't the most conscious house warden.

"Oh hey, Azul, when did you get here?" Silver opened his book and went to a random page, then tried to flip to the right one, taking a while as he just came about.

"Just now, my alarm clock didn't work on me today" If anyone knew about sleep then it would be Silver, he sleeps more than Leona did this year.

"That usually happens only when you sleep late. If you go to sleep at 3 and have an alarm for 6, then your alarm clock probably won't work" Damn it! The only one who could beat Leona in sleeping had to figure him out. If he didn't know better, he would say he was going to over-blot again.

"Oh you know how things are, you go to sleep late because you're on your phone, watching television, playing games, crying all night because your friends left you, insomnia, you know the usual". He didn't have enough energy to hide anything. It was gonna get out, so he might as well have a say on who heard it first.

"What was the last one?!?" The usually preppy house warden of Scarabia asked very concernedly.

"Insomnia". He wasn't wrong, the last one was insomnia.

"The one before that," Silver asked, more awake than he'd seen all month.

"Playing games" Also wasn't wrong, that was before insomnia.

"Azul, the one after Playing games and before insomnia, or else I'll take your head!" The house warden of Heartslabyul never missed an opportunity to take someone's head, no matter how much blot was made.

"Oh, crying all night because your friends left you bit? that? It's nothing to worry about" Play it as if nothing happened, and maybe it could come true.

"Are you talking about Jade and Floyd?" Kalim asks the obvious, he jumped out of his seat at what he just heard.

The Octavinelle trio was infamous in NRC, so hearing that they disbanded was news to all. They were like pearls in a clam, but that doesn't mean the pearls are permanently attached to the clam.

"Yes, it was quite unfortunate, but it was inevitable" He was amazed that he didn't cry right then and there, but he was focused more on their reactions to what he said.

Silver, wide-eyed to show he was shocked. Riddle, mouth in a perfect ‘o’ to show for his surprise. And Kalim's wide eyes were like teacups with a chip in them and mouth in a perfect ‘o’.

"I can't believe it, but what does that mean for Octavinelle? And the lounge?" The Riddle was riddled. If anyone was going to be together through NRC and after, it would most likely be them.

"I'll battle Jade for house warden tomorrow at noon, and I will continue to run the lounge, but I will either get 25% or 33% of its income". The octopus wished that he would get more, but he knows that the house warden rules all if Jade wins. The twins did help him start the Mostro Lounge and run it so they deserved something, but the number still felt outrageous.

"Can we watch?" Leave it to Kalim to change the mood in any situation.

"Kalim, that's rude, but can we?". It seems like Kalim has rubbed off on Silver…unfortunately.

"Yes I have no intention of hiding it, but please don't go telling everyone. Now let's get back to studying, school starts at 8 and we have not a minute to spare" The octopus was probably safe for now.

"For now"

******************

"Hey, Floyd," The sinister hyena said to Floyd as they arrived at potions class.

"Hey Sharksucker, hey how is it being house warden, Jade is gonna be house warden soon so we want to know what it's like from a different perspective" The cheeky eel asked as if there was nothing wrong with what he just said.

"What!?! What do you mean "Jade is gonna be house warden soon" isn't Azul house warden? Is he dying or something and so Jade is next in line?!?" He nearly dropped his vial trying to figure out what he was hearing and saying.

"Yeah, I and Jade no longer find Azul interesting so Jade is gonna take his spot as house warden and I will be vice" Floyd poured the mixture of ingredients into the cauldron and started to hum (under the sea).

"Why don't you find him interesting anymore? You guys were like three peas in a pod" He poured his vial into the cauldron and stepped back from the gasses it was releasing.

"The days started to merge and I and Jade realized that it was because of him. Same contracts, different clients. His schemes were nothing different from last year and as a freshman" Floyd leaned into the cauldron and continued humming.

"So you guys are no longer dating and aren't even friends?" Ruggie pulled him back and put a palm tree leaf in the cauldron, amazed that it even fits inside the cauldron.

"Wait, I and Jade were dating Azul? I guess that we never really announced it, we just did "a couple of things". You have a good memory, Sharksucker" The eel laughed at the hyena's expression at what he said, completely unaware and in his world.

"Floyd I realized that I don't have to be a Sharksucker, I can be the shark. With that, I know that I can start to plan my schemes. I will take the path of time and get to the bottom of this" The hyena stated while stirring the ingredients in the cauldron.

"Under the sea, under the sea, darling it's better, down where it's wetter, under the sea" Still off in his world completely oblivious.

******************

Jade walked into flight with a suspicious smile on his face. Jamil liked to avoid Jade in class, but he noticed that the smile on the eel's face was too sinister even for him.

"IT'S PAIRS EVERYONE, YOU CAN CHOOSE WHO YOU PAIR WITH, I DON'T CARE, JUST FLY LIKE BIRDS. I’M LOOKING AT YOU LEECH" Vargus never failed to be as loud as possible. How did he have lung capacity? And why is he shouting, lunch is next and they just want to eat.

"Ok, I'll pair with Jade!" The Scarabia house warden announced and ran to the eel with his broom.

"Well, I never thought that you would want to pair with me Jamil, what's the occasion?" Jade could be mistaken for a relative of the Cheshire cat with that grin.

"You're planning something. I don't know what, but I know it concerns me" Jamil hopped on his broom and lifted his feet to be at Jade's head.

"Yes I am, I'm battling Azul for the title of house warden of Octavinelle tomorrow at noon. You are welcome to see if you wish" The eel steadily got on his broom and slowly lifted to the same height as Jamil.

It's truly a skill to say something like that so casually. Jade could say "I just killed someone then skinned them" and make it sound like he was talking about the weather.

"What!?! What do you mean "battle Azul for house warden" You can't just do that!" He didn't fall off his broom, but he did drop a foot. Jamil couldn't believe his ears, why would Jade take Azul for house warden?

This was new information. Jamil never thought he would see the day. Jade is gonna try to overtake Azul. And he might even win.

"Yes I can, it's in the rules. A vice can battle to be a house warden. You could battle Kalim for house warden if you pleased". Jade lifted half a foot more and grinned and Jamil from ear to ear.

While Jamil would never hear the end of battling Kalim for house warden it was possible. Jade was not wrong, but that doesn't make this situation right. Jade’s obviously planning something else, he might as well have written on his forehead "I'm planning something sinister".

"I don't know what you're planning Leech, but I don't like it" He raised himself to go over Jade by two feet then started to fly towards the school, away from Jade.

******************

"Please tell me I'm not the only one who heard of the twins and Azul breaking up!" Ruggie all but shouted across the cafeteria table to the other third years. "I can't believe it, Floyd told me in potions first period and it's been on my mind all day".

"Azul told me, Kalim, and Silver in our morning study session. He just wanted to brush it off but he was barely able to turn the pages effectively" Riddle stated as he bit down on the strawberry tart that he made yesterday.

"Jade told me about him fighting Azul for the title of house warden tomorrow at noon," Jamil said as he sat down with his food.

"Azul said that we are invited, but I'm not sure if I should go now" Kalim sighed as he poked at the food Jamil made him.

"Listen Kalim, we must go to watch the battle. The students of Octavinelle are on the line for who wins". Ruggie said as he slowly took Kalims food off his plate with Jamil glaring at him.

"Well, Ruggie the students are already on the line. They disbanded which means that students will 1. Make fewer contracts with Azul, though not a bad thing. And 2. If they fail their contact then… let's just say that they won't throw the idea of violence out the window" Jamil poked at Ruggies hand with his fork and started to eat trying not to think about the cons.

"Wait, are you saying that if a client fails a contract and they aren't willing to pay the price they will take it out on Azul?" Silver sounded worried, which was reasonable. He and Azul became friends and he didn't want to see him hurt

The twins were Azul's "guard dogs". They would always deal with a client. If someone tried to take a hit to Azul then they would be the ones to deal with it.

"Well, it seems that we have a mystery on our hands". The hyena stated with a grin.

"No we don't" Riddle replied with an annoyed expression.

"Why yes, we do" The hyena retorted.

"Yay a mystery" The sunshine of Scrabia all but announced.

"Yes, the Octavinelle Mystery" Ruggie had a big grin with that. Maybe the Sharksucker was finally becoming a shark. Leona would be so proud.

Chapter Text

(Same day, same lunch period, just Octavinelle)

There were many things Azul knew. How to do math in his head. How to worm most people into a contract. How long it takes for his tentacles to grow back if they got chopped off (he learned quite painfully when the twins tugged on them when they tried and forcefully coaxed him out of his octopus pot, totally by accident but it was painful)

There were many things he didn’t know. Whether or not Jamil still had a grudge since last year's winter break. How did his mother's ex-husband still have the nerve to show up to her restaurant as if nothing happened, and how was he going to win back the favor of the twins.

He could probably ask for the first two, but there probably aren’t any hints available for the last one. It seems like Ortho has run off on him since the child or NRC got into gaming like his older brother.

The twins were unpredictable at times. Jade is evil in his planning. Floyd is the wild card, only two people are hurt or confused on a good day. If those people didn’t include him or Jade.

“Listen Azul, do you want the twins back or do you want your octopus pot!” He took a moment to think about that. “Both seem pretty good”… “No Azul, you need the twins!”.

****************

“Hey Jade, I wonder what Azul’s doing now that we can’t help him” Floyd was spread out like a starfish on one of the Mostro Lounge tables, absolutely careless for any sanitary violation. “If anything he’s probably going off in his room about any way to win us over”.

“Still thinking about the octopus Floyd. It has only been a day, but you know what mom and dad said” Jade replied sitting at the same booth as Floyd.

“If you two ever want a chance of taking over the family business then you must drop that octopus. No unnecessary personal connections will be tolerated. I remember Jade, but why so soon?”

“I don’t know Floyd, but we always told Azul that we would leave him. It was gonna happen someday. It was inevitable"

"I guess. Hey Jade, what will we do about the lounge?"

"It will still be running, but we get 33%. I lowered the number because the lounge money won't matter after we take the business"

"I bet he'd appreciate every scent we give him". Floyd snickered and got off the table. "What a poor unfortunate soul we have".

“Oh Floyd you're being mean. You can’t use a poor unfortunate soul on him, he’s practically the next sea witch”.

“I'm not being mean, I'm being a mental arithmetic”. Great seven please stop Jade from slapping this fool.

“Mental arithmetic means you can do complicated math in your head”. What did Floyd think that meant? Fair? Kind? Eel?!?

“Oh, I heard Azul say that to a client with the word fair, I assumed it meant fair”. Jade was there, and Azul said those things completely unrelated to each other.

“You’re a special case, Floyd”. It was a herculean task to not grit his teeth.

“Yay, I'm a special case!”

"Indeed”

****************

(After school at 8 pm)

Knock knock!! "Jade, Floyd! I know you're in there, that's not even your room! I have something to ask you!". Azul used the knock that he and the twins shared to know that it was each other. Unfortunately, he got more desperate with each knock.

Jade tried to open the door slowly but Floyd just threw it open. "Hey Azul, what brings you to the house warden's room?" Floyd was leaning heavily against the doorframe swaying his head back and forth.

"This is my room Floyd! Even if you win tomorrow, it's my room tonight!". He barely had the capacity for this nonsense, but he shouldn't yell at them if he wants them back.

"Oh Floyd he's right we shouldn't be rude. Let him have the room for tonight. I'll own it tomorrow anyway". Azul wanted to slap the smug grin off of Jade's face.

"Wait, I won't own the room?" Did Floyd go blind in a couple of hours? There is only one bed and they hate sharing a space for too long.

"You can have my room, Floyd". Jade stood taller before he addressed Azul again. "Anything else, little octopus?".

Even if Azul was bigger than them by three times wide (because octo mer grow at a ridiculous pace in teen years). The twins would never let him live it down on how he was half their size during middle school.

"I have a proposal" He was great at math, but he forgot to add Floyd to his math equation.

"No, Azul we won't marry you". That is a way to take that, but Floyd knew the intention.

"I know a way to have different contracts. Different schemes. We can even change the lounge menu to have a mushroom option". He hated the last one, and Floyd did too, but Jade is harder to please.

Jade's mushroom obsession was the prime reason he wasn’t allowed to cook in the Mostro Lounge. He tried 87 times to add mushrooms to a dish after his mushroom dish was canceled, and got caught every time.

“Oh my, what an enticing offer,” jade began. “I want five dishes though”. Azul wished he could curse whoever got Jade interested in mushrooms. Sadly Trey left this year, and Riddle would have taken his head.

“Fine, I'll let you use mushrooms. How do you have any left? Know what, don’t answer that”. Jade either finds lots of mushrooms in the mountains, or he does secret illegal trade to get them and raise them. Probably the second one.

“Okay great. I'm glad I recorded this so you can’t argue with letting me have them on the menu”. Jade was recording this. How dare he! Azul taught him that!

Jade took out his phone and stopped recording. Floyd then took Azul by his shoulders and threw him in the room with him and Jade walking out. The door slam was deafening.

****************

Azul went to the kitchen. There was food that he had to throw away since no one ordered it for too long. “What a waste of food”.

“But it does look pretty delicious…No Azul, you can’t!”. He slapped himself to lose the train of thought, but the food looked too good.

But no one would notice if it was gone right? It wasn’t going to be served so it’s fine right?

Maybe he could snag a bite, or two, or ten.

Before he knew it he ate everything. It was a considerable amount of food, someone could eat it…if they were fasting. Azul didn’t eat much, always being picky and was on a strict diet. He was abnormally thin for an octo mer, his mom wanted him to eat because she thought he would waste away to nothing. She would be leaping for joy if octo mer could leap.

If Jade and Floyd saw him they would laugh at him for pigging out. They loved his body when it was chubby. They would yell from the rooftops about it for a nickel, not even a dime. They would always touch the parts where he had some fat, much to his displeasure.

“You idiot, you ate everything!” He could only blame himself. It was his stomach's idea, but his mind and heart followed. “I'll probably have to get everything in a bigger size”. If anything he would hate it if he gained enough to go up in size and the people of NRC noticed. If the people of Octavinelle noticed. If the twins noticed….. ‘Stop it Ashengrotto, shut up, you're a known figure in this school, just suck it up,’ he slaps both of his cheeks together before making his way out of the kitchen.

He didn’t need to get anything in a bigger size…yet.

****************

(Next day 11:30)

“Hey, Azul”. Ruggie says as he walks toward Azul with the other third years.

He and the twins did invite them so why couldn’t they come? They couldn’t come because Azul would rather not let them see how he was barely able to hit Jade. He knew that even with his power and staff, he couldn’t lay a finger on Jade now, he longed for him to be closer, not farther.

“Hey Azul, have you gained some weight? Your cheeks are softer and your stomach is poking a little”. Azul couldn’t tell if he wanted to kill the Al-Asim heir or evaporate himself.

Jamil hid behind Silver who was holding a pizza box, refusing to be associated with Kalim. Riddle's face rivaled his hair and hid his face with his hands. Ruggie’s ears went straight to his head, and ducked behind Riddle, wanting to hide as well. Silver just put his hands over Kalim’s mouth.

“Kalim, don’t ever tell that to someone, no matter the intention”. The worst part is that Kalim only had good intentions, he was only curious.

“I want to run away”. The hyena said as he got impossibly smaller.

“Get in line Bucchi!”. Jamil silently screamed towards him.

“Guys it’s fine, he’s just pointing something out”. The understatement of the year award goes to Azul Ashengrotto.

“Sorry Azul, I should think before I speak. We’ll make it up to you!”. Kalim was too happy about that last bit. What does he mean by “we”?

“Anyway”. Riddle stepped from Ruggie and closer to Azul. “We came to cheer you on. I can give you some tips”.

“No thanks, Riddle, I battled my house warden. I know what to expect from Jade especially”. He lied he didn’t know what Jade would do. For all that he knew, Floyd would randomly jump in and fight both of them.

“Wanna get some pizza before you go?”. Silver opened the box and handed a slice on a plate to Azul.

“No thanks, I might just eat the whole pizza”. He would, he knew it. If he didn’t eat the whole pizza, then everyone finished it before him.

“What’s wrong with that? Eat!”. Kalim shoved the pizza in Azuls face while Azul backed away fastly. His previous actions are still present.

“I’ll go get ready for the fight. If I lose track of time, then get me in the lounge”. He quickly left in a beeline to his bathroom. Praying silently the twins wouldn’t be there.

Chapter Text

“Azul, get out of your room! We know you’re in there and the fight starts in ten minutes!”. Riddle was banging his hand against the door with no mercy (poor door) to make sure Azul heard him. “I will have your head!”.

Riddle put a heat spell on the lock to melt it then pushed the door open.

“He’s not here?”. Riddle entered after and saw no sign of Azul.

"Oh, I haven't checked the bathroom”. Riddle went to the bathroom and opened the door.

Azul was in the bathtub. He had a knife in his hand and about three bleeding cuts on his arm. He looked as if shocked about what he just did. He was staring at his cuts then slowly turned his head to Riddle. “I can’t fight Jade, not today, not ever”.

Riddle slowly approached and took the knife out of his hand. “Azul please don’t do this to yourself”. He took Azul by the hand and led him out of the bathtub to his bed

“I’m so sorry Riddle, I couldn’t help myself”. He started crying ink-filled tears into a pillow refusing to look at the red-haired male. Riddle got a tissue and swiped the tears off his face

“It’s okay Azul. It's not your fault they left you, But you need to get ready and fight Jade”. Riddle put the tissue in the garbage and went for another. "I will bandage you up and get you dressed. But after that you have to tell me what happened”. Riddle said in a stern voice to not break character. He didn’t know what to do in this situation, so it was the only option.

Riddle bandaged him up and used a clothing spell on him. He was as good as every day if you didn’t look into his eyes.

“You have this Azul, victory will be yours

Azul didn’t “have this”. He doesn't have anything right now. He would rather cry in his room than go out there to fight the vice house warden. Jade was going to win against him in every definition if he fought Jade. Well almost every definition

“Thanks, Riddle”. He wished that even Riddle would fight Jade for him, though if he had to choose anyone to send in. It would be Jamil.

****************

“You’re late”. Jade was standing straight already looking bored at the incoming dispute.

“We have 17 seconds left!”. The redhead replied and took a spot with the others at the front to see the fight better.

“Well, now that both competitors are here, let me explain the rules”. To no one's surprise, Crowley magically appeared from the shadows to monitor the fight. “I prefer you don’t annihilate each other to give me less of a headache. You can use magic and signature spells for this battle. You can also fight physically if you prefer, yet I advised you probably shouldn’t. No one is allowed to join in the fight for either side, I'm looking at you, Floyd. You also can’t hit anyone else but your opponent. People are allowed to cheer for you but you can’t talk to them. When I blow my whistle then you may start”.

“Ten paces then turn back when the whistle blows!”.Riddle shouted to Azul and Jade who went and followed. “Let it be a proper duel”.

Each step felt heavier than the last. When he got to ten he stopped and it felt like years until Crowley blew the whistle. The high-pitched sound of the whistle was made, probably too loud.

Azul turned back and shot a floral spell. Unluckily Jade shot a fire spell and it burned Azuls spell down. Jade shot another fire spell, but Azul shot a water spell to burn it out and went around the Mostro Lounge booth.

“Why are they allowed to use the whole dorm?”. Riddle asked Crowley as Jade was walking towards Azul with a smirk on his face.

“Why not? It makes things more interesting, plus Azul will have to pay for the damages anyway”. The headmaster replied as he swayed his head side to side at the fight.

Jade went to point his wand at Azul, but he quickly got up and cast an ice wall for protection.

"Quick to cast a protection spell I see. Never willing to get into an actual fight". Jade went and cast a big fire spell that melted the wall in seconds. "Then again you never really put up a fight to yourself. Your downstream depression was a bad thing to witness and try to fix".

He shot a floral spell at Azul which covered him in vines. Azul tried to untangle himself but Jade kept shooting it.

Aware of everyone watching, Azul found himself to reply. "I don't know what you're talking about".

Jade went to cast more vines then crouched down to Azul. "Oh don't you?". Jade went to lift Azul's sleeve. "Then what is this Azuls?". Jade had an all too-happy smile on his face after that.

"How dare you, Jade". Azul stopped trying to get out of the vines because he just didn't care at this point. "I valued you and Floyd, yet you let me go like a bad habit. Guess what, bad habits are hard to get rid of".

"You shouldn't talk with your mouth full". Jade opened Azuls mouth and cast a water spell inside it. Azul was left choking and gagging trying to get the water out.

Azul was born in the ocean. Lived among the waves. He drank more than the average person and loved being in the water or the feeling of it. Despite his hatred for his octopus form. Yet now he wanted all the water in his mouth gone. He didn't want any more water for years to come now.

When Azul finally spat out all the water he looked up at Jade who was smiling watching Azul fight for his life.

"I renounce the dorm leader title to Jade". Azul went to finally untangle the vines and stood up. "You can have it, I want the satisfaction of seeing the dorm fall because of you and Jade. You'll come crawling, begging me. They always do". Azul got up and left for his room (which was Jade's now). "I'll pack my things, and will be ready to move to Floyd's old room at 7".

"Congrats to Jade Leech. The now house warden of Octavinelle". Crowley walked towards Jade and handed him Azul's dropped staff. "Moving up the ranks huh?".

Jade grabbed the staff and gave his wand to Crowley. "You'll want to give this to Azul or else he won't have a pen". Jade went to Floyd with the staff and joined his brother for smirks. "Part 1 completed".

"How many parts are there?". Floyd joined his brother in a walk to the dorms, skipping the whole way through.

"You won't remember anyway". Jade was right. He told Floyd the whole plan many times over, yet he never remembered.

"Fair enough". He happily skipped and went off to his world again.

****************

"Azul we already went through this! Let me in!". Riddle was banging on Azuls door again. Azul opened the door again and Riddle ended up knocking on his face.

"Firstly, ouch. Second, it was never locked. You melted off my handle, I'm surprised that no one robbed me. At least noticeably". Azul led Riddle towards his bed.

Azul prepared tea for Riddle from the tea set he had in his closet if he didn't feel like going out for it. (He boiled the water with magic. He's not a monster, he's just evil).

"Thanks, I love tea". Riddle took the tea to his lips and sipped a generous amount. "I suddenly feel…sleepy…". Riddle passed out.

Azul cast a memory blocker spell on the tea. Riddle would only forget the past hour. It was 12:40 so just in time too. "I'm sorry".

Riddle woke up badly 5 minutes later. "Why am I here?". He looked around the room trying to find the answer to his question.

"You came here after the fight with me and Jade to comfort me since I lost". Azul had already switched Riddle's tea so he didn't lose any more memory. "You were sleepy and just fell asleep on my bed. Don't worry, it's only 12:45".

"Oh, I'm sorry". Good Riddle wasn't focusing on himself, so he had until Riddle left to be in the clear.

"Don't be. I surrendered. I prefer to see them crawl back to me begging for help". Azul had a smirk on his face.

He tried, and he did. But if Jade and Floyd can't see a pearl for its worth, then the clam will chop down whoever tried to get the pearl just for the fun of it. Azul always had a scheme for most people. He just didn't think that most people would include the twins.

"Well I can't offer you much comfort by myself it seems. Let us join the others". Riddle went to get up and walked to the door. "Well?".

"I need to pack my room so I can move to Floyd's". Riddle showed a confused look at him. "Vice dorm head has some level of a bathroom, I'm surprised you didn't know that".

"Trey never told me, and neither did Deuce". Riddle decided on giving the vice dorm head to Ace or Deuce in a game of blackjack. Deuce won by pure luck, much to Ace's dismay.

"It's not that big to mention, we all use the shower and bathroom". Azul missed a private bathroom already. But hey you win some you lose a lot.

"I can ask the others to help you pack, no charge… I insist, I'll put it in my depth if so". Azul smiled at Riddle's offer. No charge, that's a first.

"Thanks". Azul watched Riddle leave the room, probably going to text and get everyone, even the (now) second years to help.

****************

Riddle somehow got Kalim, Jamil, Silver, Ruggie, Ortho, Deuce, Ace, Jack, Epel, and Sebek to help pack the room and move his stuff to Floyd's.

It was fun. Everyone pitied Azul, a terrible feeling for him. Yet after they got past that, they all laughed together. They made jokes and told stories about their past, thankfully leaving Azul alone for choosing to not share.

It was good, he didn't even feel sad when he saw the twins. It was like they were non-existent to him, thanks to the help of everyone taking the role of a human wall and sharing glares at the twins.

It was good until they left. Azul checked his phone, a text from his mom:

| Mama: Azul my sweet treasure, I
| can't wait for you to come home
| for spring break!

He forgot entirely about spring break, he's no longer house warden. What will his mom say? What will Kai think?

Kai is his adopted brother. He's a shark mer who got separated from his parents after they were taken away. He had to be held back once since he missed too much school during the whole ordeal. Azul and his mom loved him like he was blood.

Azul decided thinking is too much already, he turned his phone off and went to sleep, it's been one heck of a day.

Chapter Text

(Wednesday at lunch)

"Guys did you hear what happened to Azul!". Ruggie all but shouted at the other third-years at lunch when he arrived.

"He died?". Jamil asked.

"He's not dead, we would know about it. He dropped out?". The redhead asked Ruggie as if he wouldn’t know about that either.

"No, he ended up in the infirmary". Ruggie took a donut from Kalim and put it on his tray. "Jamil, you were right. After someone got the punishment for not holding up their end of the deal, they pulled out a knife and stabbed Azul in the thigh".

"I got stabbed in the thigh when I got kidnapped for the twenty-third time, it hurts a lot". Kalim replied to Ruggie with pity for Azul. "We should send him some food, he has been eating more lately".

"And that is the part where you stop talking". Jamil put his hand over Kalims mouth. "He is one son of a b*tch, but he isn't wrong in terms of his contracts. He holds up his end of the deal, I can give him that".

“Why would someone stab him?”. Riddle wondered out loud. “He is a house warden, it would be a very big situation”.

“How would I know?”. Ruggie took another donut. “He did tell me what happened the night of the incident though”.

****************

(Tuesday night)

"Here you go, your finished history report". Azul had a popular deal with people that he would forge their history homework. "Now could you give me my payment of Wolfsbane"

"I don't have it, and I don't have to give it to you". It was a Heartslabyul student, Azul believed that they had more class. "I don't see those twins of yours".

"We disbanded for reasons. But you have to pay the price". The same anemone from book three appeared on the student's head. "You will work in the lounge tomorrow and Wednesday after school from 4-8".

"Oh, I don't think about that". The student grabbed a knife. He yanked Azul from his seat and stabbed him in his left thigh.

The pain was terrible. He went through his tentacles being ripped off him before. He knew that a limb being ripped off hurt more than a stab to the thigh, but he did have more pain tolerance in his octopus form.

Azul never got hurt on the job before. If someone tried at him then the twins would deal with them. People were scared of the twins, not Azul.

The twins were like a second octopus pot to him. He always felt comfortable around them, no matter when. But now he would stab himself than ever admit that to them.

The Heartslaybul student ran out of the VIP room and closed the door. Azul got his phone and called the school infirmary. The headmaster told everyone to have the number saved in case of an emergency.

****************

(Back to Wednesday at lunch)

“That’s what he said happened last night”. After stealing another of Kalim's donuts, Ruggie finished.

“What happened this morning when you met him?”. The redhead asked

“Nothing much, I was just dropping off a student and saw him”. The hyena replied.

****************

(Wednesday morning)

"Be careful in Spelldrive you idiot". Ruggie was bringing a freshman over to the infirmary from a spellrive incident.

"Sorry house warden. The third years were ruthless today, they kept targeting me for no reason". The Savanaclaw kid went to lie on the bed and waited for the nurse.

"Well, I got to go now, get better". Ruggie was about to go, but then he saw Azul. "Azul, what are you doing here?".

"I got stabbed in the thighs by a Heartslabyul student, tell that to Riddle". Azul went to his side away from Ruggie. "It was (insert student name)"

"Will tell". Ruggie slowly walked to Azul. “Need anything?”

“I didn’t know you became the school nurse”. Azul went to face Ruggie.

“I'm not, but I am worried”

“Well then stop”

A grumble could be heard just now.

“Your stomach, don’t worry I know the feeling of hunger”

“I shouldn’t eat. I’ve already gained 5 pounds. The great seven probably don’t even know how Kalim can tell if a gain an ounce”

“Suit yourself”. With that, Ruggie left the infirmary.

****************

(Back to Wednesday lunch)

"That's what happened this morning". Ruggie kept on with the ongoing theft of Kalim’s donuts. "You probably should take that student's head".

"I wish I could decapitate students sometimes". Riddle took his tart and pointed it towards everyone. "Sadly enough it's illegal".

“It’s only illegal if you get caught”. Jamil retorted

"Let's get some food for Azul". Silver didn't want to stay on the subject of decapitation so he changed the subject. "He has a skilled pallet, so something like chips probably won't work".

"I heard from Floyd once that Azul loves fried chicken". Ruggie fished all the donuts on Kalims plate by now. "We can get him that".

Everyone agreed on that. They went to get fried chicken for Azul then left for the infirmary.

****************

"If that fried chicken is for me then I'm killing you all slowly". Azul could smell the chicken from the moment they entered the room. "I'm not eating".

"Yes you are, we'll force it down if we have to". Jamil sat on the bed next to Azul and showed the plate to Azul.

"I see you want to go for round two". Azul wouldn't give up the chance to fight Jamil again. In the third year, any affection for Jamil was turned off like a light switch but then switched with hatred.

"Jamil, Azul, stop it". Riddle sat between them to ease the tension. "Azul we won't force you, but please eat something".

"I've already eaten way more than I should have lately. I gain weight three times more since I have three hearts in my merfolk form". Azul turned away from them.

“What’s wrong with eating? You need to eat to survive, don’t you?”. Kalim all but yelled. “You already gained five pounds, which is a good thing. You were underweight. Eating is healthy”. Azul used a scale to know he gained five pounds. How did Kalim just eyeball it?!?!

"Just try it Azul". Silver sat on the bed with Kalim and accidentally hit the leg Azul got stabbed in.

"Hey, be careful!". The leg didn’t hurt as much because of anesthetics, but he rather has some space for himself. "I will try the chicken, but you guys have to eat too".

Azul shuffled in the bed for everyone to make room. He was only wearing a hospital gown and bandages for the stab wound. He didn’t want to accidentally flash anyone.

Azul got the chicken and ate it. It was very good, he ate more than he would have liked to admit though. The others did eat some so thankfully he wasn't alone. They gossiped about everyone and talked badly about the twins.

"There will be no going back after I go home for spring break". They got to the point of spring break and Azul was the first to talk. "She will be overjoyed to feed me. I think that I won't mind it for once in years".

The others looked at each other while Azul was reaching for water. They knew that things were deeper between what Azul and the twins let on.

****************

(Wednesday last period)

"Yeah, Jade and I will be going home for spring break. Our parents will be happy to see us". Floyd met Ruggie at the gym.

"That's nice, what do your parents do?". Ruggie started their five-mile run with Floyd following.

"You sure you want to know?~". Floyd asked with a stupid grin at Ruggie. "There's no going back".

"You know what, no". Ruggie learned that it was better to not know some things.

"They are the most powerful mafia in the ocean". Floyd wasn't lying. The Leech family was the most powerful.

Throughout it, all their parents still had a great relationship with them and each other. Their mom could stab their dad with a trident and he would still love her. He might even love her more because of it.

“And I just got told that. You never told that to me, got it?”. The hyena had no idea how to process that.

“Sure thing sharksucker”. Floyd ran past Ruggie to finish the lap.

****************

(Wednesday night, Heartslaybul lounge)

“Floyd is crazy, and murderous. Though murderous is a genetic trait”. Ruggie all but screamed at the other second and third years.

“It took you that long to figure it out”. Riddle had to deal with Floyd daily last year, he knew.

“What are we to do about that?”. Deuce asked his upperclassmen.

“Burn him, we can have fried fish”. Ace suggested.

“I say we give him the old spit”. Epel all but yelled in his country accent.

With Vil and Rook went, and with Epel being house warden. There was no one to stop him from using his country accent. It was a miracle he said a coherent sentence that time.

“How is Jade included in that?”. Ortho asked.

“How is he not?”. Jamil replied. “If under the right circumstance, he could be more crazy and murderous than Floyd”.

“I say we spy on them”. Sebek suggested.

After Sebek lost his voice over the summer, he no longer shouted unless necessary. The necessary being to make Silver wake up. Being a vice houseward to someone who sleeps more than a housecat is hard.

“That’s a good idea, Sebek!”. Riddle jumped up at the thought. “You and the other second years will spy on them, while the rest of us use that data for the research”.

“But spring break is barely two weeks away?”. Jack asked.

“Jack my dear vice Housewarden, that's more than enough”. The smirk Ruggie had was unmistakable. It was his scheming face.

“May I ask what you are thinking?”. Jamil didn’t want to ask, but he had to.

“The second year spy on the twins. Us third years will collect the data. At spring break I and whoever else volunteers will follow the twins and Azul into the ocean”. Ruggie didn’t plan the plan in his head. But hey, can’t knock it until you try it.

“I’ll go!”. Kalim yelled excitedly.

“I’ll go too, but finding an excuse for his parents will be hard”. Jamil added.

“Count me in. Father will think of it as an excellent opportunity”. Silver got up just in time for that.

“I won’t be able to come. But I think I could convince Trein to give us the contact mirror for us to communicate. If you die, we need to know your final words”. Riddle whispered the last part, but it was already clear why he couldn’t come. How rich and pretty must his mother be for someone to willingly marry her?

“Then that is it. Second year’s, we will report back the day before break, at the same time”. Ruggie stated then motioned for Jack to leave with him.

Everyone eventually left for bed. It was going to be an interesting two weeks.

****************

| Mama: How’s the school my treasure?
|
|Azul: Great, couldn’t be better
|
| Mama: Tell the twins I said hi
|
|Azul: Will do mom
|
| Mama: Have a good night
|
|Azul: You too

Azul wouldn’t tell the twins, he wouldn’t have a good night. Azul turned his phone off and set it on the nightstand with his glasses. The doctors finally released him after he all but begged them to. The night at the Mostro Lounge was bad since the twins weren’t there. Saturday was going to be a nightmare.

Who was he kidding, what was he going to tell his mom? “Hey mom, the twins broke my heart, Jade took the title of Housewarden from me, I can barely manage the Mostro Lounge without them, I got stabbed in the thigh, but don’t worry I got a hundred on my history test”.

He couldn’t beg the twins for forgiveness, they would never accept that. If he tried to be petty and try to get back at them, they would just laugh in his face.

He had two options. Cry to sleep and soak in his octopus pot because he missed the twins. Or he could act confident and not let the twins get a reaction out of him. The twins would probably know that he could barely last ten minutes without thinking about them anyway.

Azul tried to go to sleep. Time, 11:29. Tried again, 12:35. Tried again: 1:12. He tried more and more, but he couldn’t sleep. Last check on the clock, 3 am. He was probably going to miss another study session, he thinks deeply… he walks to his desk taking out his books and notebooks he decided to write notes, getting his phone to add more information, he writes and writes and writes until he lifts his head "oh the sun how I've missed you".

The water under the sea suddenly became so bright. He spent so long writing that he didn't even realize. He was probably going to sleep in the middle of gym in that rate.

Chapter Text

(Thursday)

Potionology was dizzying, to say the least. He was getting a headache from all the colors. He tried to measure the potions, but he got all the measurements wrong and made a terrible-quality explosion.

It was until he almost fell into the cauldron from almost passing out, did Crewel let him sit out. When class ended, Crewel had to put a terrible-smelling potion under his nose to finally wake him up.

“That always works”. Crewel put the potion back on the shelf and sat next to Azul. “What happened Ashengrotto? you’re always the best pup”.

Lots of things happened. Did Crewel not know that he’s no longer Housewarden? That he’s no longer associated with Jade and Floyd? He was a broken man inside and outside. He wondered if Crewel saw his eyebags but decided not to comment on it.

“I had trouble sleeping, new bed recently so I'm getting used to it”. A lie again, but again a believable one. “Had to switch rooms due to certain ‘events’ recently”

“I know that you are no longer Housewarden, but you can’t accuse that to be the reason for all your problems”. Crewel was right, but it hurt. “So get up for your next class and be a good pup”.

“What would you do in this situation? Think about that”. Azul was looking at Crewel who was looking at the different potions thinking of a reply. “This is what I’m doing and what's happening in this situation”.

Azul went to leave. He stopped at the doorway and looked back at Crewel. Crewel went to turn his head back to Azul.

“I haven’t lived your life. I don’t know about your experiences. People say they would make different decisions, but they didn’t live the same life. Everyone views the world differently because of experiences. If we all had the same experiences then we would all make the same choices”. Crewel went to look away from Azul to the potions. “I would lose sleep too, but as Crewel I wouldn’t let anyone know”.

Azul left the Potions room and shut the door. Crewel was right. If people have the same experiences with even the smallest things. Everyone would make the same choices.

****************

Flight class was even worse.

“WAKE UP ASHENGROTTO”. Why does Vargas live on caps lock? And how was he supposed to wake up if he never had the courtesy of going to sleep?

“Okay!”. Azul kept on with the 5-mile ‘run’ he assigned them. If anything Vargas was being generous with 5 miles. That man once expected them to run 20 miles in 1 hour. Azul barely made a mile in 30 minutes.

When he came to the part of the track that wasn’t hidden under the shade, he just gave up. He fell on the track, he was thirsty and was burning.

“Azul, do you need water?”. The curious hyena asked. He was already on his fourth lap but stopped for Azul.

“No, I need a sauna”. Azul could have laughed at Ruggie’s annoyed expression if he had the energy.

“I’ll get the water when I pass your things after going on another lap”. Ruggie kept on running, but a little faster so Azul could suffer less.

Azul could see Silver coming up. "Need some shade? I already finished my laps". Silver stood over Azul. He was bent over in what looked uncomfortable to do for long. It gave a shadow over Azuls face.

"How did you already finish your laps?". Azul wondered how Ruggie wasn't finished yet Silver was.

"I'm a knight…plus Ruggie was slacking… a little". Silver started to blink slowly. It was a clear sign that he was going to fall asleep. If Silver was going to be a knight then he better learn how to sleep while standing.

"Silver no!". Before Azul could move out of the way, Silver fell onto him. If he was in his octopus form then he would set Silver to sleep next to him. Sadly they were not under the ocean right now.

"Why is Silver on top of you?". The Al-Asim heir and his servant were the last people Azul wanted to see.

"Why does the world have to be so cruel and make Silver a living zombie". Azul tried to push Silver off of him, yet was unsuccessful. "He has the qualities. Can be very strong. Not really there. Just asleep. If Silver could sleepwalk then we would never notice if he was sleeping".

"Need help?". That snake, Azul knew that he wouldn't lend him a pen for all the money in the world.

"No thanks, I'll just stay here". The octopus would rather suffer by his hand than Jamil.

"Let me drag him off of you". Kalim was able to do it surprisingly. Silver then woke up when Kalim dropped him on the track.

"What happened?". Silver sat up and then went to look at Azul.

"You fell asleep on top of me. At an angle too, so it was harder to push you off". Azul sat up with Silver.

"Well we better get going, it's only our third lap. let's go Kalim ''. Jamil started to run with Kalim following close behind.

"So how are things going?". Silver helped Azul up and they started to jog.

"As well as you might expect ". Azul didn't know what Silver would have expected.

"So absolutely terrible". Bingo, right on the money.

"I won't confirm or deny that".

"Here's your water!". Ruggie came up from behind and handed Azul two bottles of water.

"Thanks, Ruggie". Azul grabbed that first bottle and started drinking.

He took back everything he said about not wanting water anymore in his life. He needed water so badly right now. By the time he felt he had enough, half the water from the bottle was gone.

"Let's go back to running". Silver gently put his hand on Azuls shoulder and they went running together.

****************

By history, he just fell asleep, many times. Riddle woke him up every time, and Azul would have to give him something later.

By the end of class, he had no notes. "Do you want my notes?". Riddle went to leave and tried to drag Azul along with him.

"No thanks, it would put me in your depth more". Azul went along with Riddle, they were going to lunch. "I don't accept one-sided gifts".

"We didn't see you at the library this morning". If Silver or Kalim wouldn't bring it up, then Riddle would.

"What do you need me for? I'm worth as much as a common octopus now". Riddle stopped and went to face Azul after that comment.

"No, you're not, you're the sea witch". Riddle went and slapped him. "If I wasn't Housewarden then fine. I still achieved much and will continue to do so".

"How would you know, you were barely a regular student for a week, plus not everything in my life was handed to me on a silver platter". Azul went back to walking, he didn't even bother going to the lunchroom.

"What is that supposed to mean?". Riddle followed Azul and tugged on him to go to the lunchroom. "Also we will be going to the lunchroom".

"You got everything prepared and waiting for you graciously since you were in your mother's womb". Azul went and turned to Riddle. It's weird how someone shorter could look down on you. "My mother's restaurant wasn't always popular. She had to work every day, deal with a divorce, and raise two kids. I was bullied in school until middle school, no amount of money would make me relive that''.

"I-I didn't know". Riddle let go of Azul and looked down.

"Go to the lunchroom and leave me alone Riddle".

"That's no way to speak to the Heartslaybul Housewarden". The eel from the depths. He probably was listening to the whole conversation. "You put a bad image on Octavinelle. I won't allow that as Housewarden".

Riddle and Azul couldn't turn their heads faster. They stood there in shock. The timing was either impeccable or terrible.

"I'm sorry Riddle, now I must be off". Azul went to leave but was blocked by Jade. "I'm sorry Housewarden but I have a Lounge to manage, we are understaffed".

Azul sprinted away, well as fast as he could run. Jade and Riddle just stood there, watching him go.

"I'll see you at the House warden meeting after school Riddle". Jade went and left.

The redhead saw his other half at the end of the hallway. He wanted to take their heads and hang them up nicely.

****************

The lounge was a mess, to say the least.

Floyd was a fast and efficient cook. The orders took longer so more customers were complaining.

Jade could memorize anyone's orders. Azul tried to remember everyone's, but with all the chaos he forgot a few.

When the Lounge finally closed up lunch, he thanked the seven. It was a miracle that he didn't just break down right there.

Everyone pitied him because he was no longer Housewarden. Or because he 'lost' the title of Housewarden since he couldn't fight hard enough. Azul would argue that he gave Jade the title, just not the qualities.

After the shift, his workers were yelling at him because things weren't as efficient as they were used to. Azul apologized and put a post on the Lounges Magicam, "NOW HIRING".

The rest of the classes were manageable but managing the Lounge after that was a nightmare. Things were pushed onto him to the max.

A few people did come for the job and Azul hired 4 people. They started work immediately, things were finally manageable.

****************

Azul lay in his office to count the money and look at his profits. He loved numbers, he could do complicated math problems in his head. He could even read two books at once if he tried.

When he finally finished, he looked at the contract paper in front of him. Blank. He knew what to put. He knew what to write.

He could have written anything, but he just held his pen in hand looking at the blank paper. The golden glow was haunting him. He knew what to write, he knew what to put. He repeated his thoughts.

He started to stab the paper with the pen repeatedly. Lots of ink was coming out of the pen all over the paper.

He wasn't looking and just kept going until he felt the ink between his pointer and middle finger. He looked down at it.

"Almost chopped my finger off". He got his Swiss army knife and cut the bottom half of his ring finger.

"That's where a ring would go". He made another cut on top of the previous one. "Oh, how wonderful if it would've been two".

He got a tissue and cleaned the ink and blood off his fingers to the best of his abilities. He wasn't able to take all of the ink off, of course, but he wore gloves in most classes anyway. Plus even in gym/flight, no one would notice since they were focusing on themselves.

"I should probably stop doing that". A ring came from his phone.

It was Kai, his adoptive brother. Azul loved his brother, but he never calls. Plus why so late at night?

He answered the phone and held it to his ear. "Hello Kai".

Azul heard the confused sound from the end of the other line. He forgot that humans and merfolk speak different languages. It was hard to speak Oceanogrotto (the language of the sea) above water, but he managed.

Kai never had the chance to learn English since he never came to the surface. Azul took a minute to remember the language then spoke again.

"Sorry Kai, I forgot you can't speak any surface languages". Azul started to pace around his room, it was a habit so he could exercise more.

"Azul, I'm sorry to tell you. But I couldn't let this wait". Azul went to sit down in his chair. "Mimi's dead".

Kai called Azul's mom Mimi, well he was her adopted son. He had every right to. But that wasn't the main focus.

Mama was dead. He couldn't believe it, his mother was gone. "How? Why? She can't be dead!".

Azul loved his mother. She always cared for him. She would feed him, listen to him, and spend time with him when she could. His mother lived through tough times, but never let them affect him.

He witnessed what his biological father did to his mother when he was very young. He got his money from the black market, he would rip his mother's tentacles off and sell them. He never supported his mother in the restaurant, always making her want to rip it off from all the work.

When she finally left him, thanks to Azuls grandma. Kai calls her Grandmimi. Grandma Ursula made him swim to the curb, she then moved in with them after her retirement. Though she had been traveling the seven seas recently. Grandma Ursula is the definition of a cool grandma, and body confidence. If body confidence was a gene then Azul missed it.

When Azuls moms business started getting more popular, she got a lawsuit from someone trying to get money from 'unfortunate souls'. She got a lawyer, a mer shark who she fell in love with. He was the only father Auzl ever knew. He was the most gentle man Azul ever met. He always said that "A room with one angry female mer is bad. A room with three or more is equivalent to the Kraken".

Yet looking at his family, Azul couldn't believe that his mother died. He didn't even get to see her before that, hear her last words, have one last good memory.

Azul started sobbing, it was no use not letting the waterworks go. He would cry all night, he was going to mourn for years and probably the rest of his life

"She got eaten by a catfish".….. In that moment of silence he heard his brother laughing, that bastard, Kai pranked him. "It was Grandmimi's idea". Of course, it was, that meant Azul had to deal with telling her too.

"I'm going to rip you apart when I get back". Azul could. Kai was tough, but he couldn't win against Azul. "Slowly and painfully".

"We will see Azul. We will see". Azul hung up on his brother. He didn't want to deal with more nonsense. How was he going to deal with him and Grandma for a week, he could barely deal with a five-minute phone call.

****************

Azul changed into his pj's after he left the VIP room. He schemed revenge for his brother and Grandma Ursula. He always got back at his brother after a prank, but now he had to add the "Grandma factor" to the equation.

He slept relatively well that night. The first night he didn't think about the twins since the night him being told he wasn't "interesting".

He set the alarm for 6. He fell asleep at 10 but woke up at 4. He didn't even try to fall asleep, he just took care of his hair, did his makeup, and got ready for the study session. It was only 4:30 by then.

He reorganized his clothes, cleaned his room, and did all his homework. It was finally 6. He left for the study session.

It was a good week for him after that. He kept up the good grades, made the study sessions, managed the Lounge, and no more contract incidents.

Wait, why haven't the twins bothered him about the VIP room? They should have taken it by now. What were they planning? Azul decided to not bother himself about it. They probably didn't find that they would need it for anything.

Chapter Text

"You idiots!". The now second years were reporting back with nothing. The rose-red tyrant couldn't stand for it. "I'll have your heads! It can't be that hard!".

"You haven't met the twins". Ace was already fed up. "It's hard to follow them".

"All of us except Ace and Jack, are house wardens, we wouldn't lie". Ortho went to calm Riddle down. The android knew ways to calm people down in moments of anger.

"Fine, but get something by the end of the week. There is no way that those eels aren't planning something". Riddle was rubbing his temples trying to calm his headache. "It involves this school in some twisted way, I just know it".

"Then the continuation of the "Octavinelle Mystery". Ruggie was all too proud of that name.

"We'll get something by the end of the week, house warden". Jack is ever ready for a task. "You can hold us to it".

"Us? Who's "us"? I have homework to do". Ace ever to avoid responsibility.

"Ace, I will have your head! Now be off". Riddle went at a weak attempt to shove his second years out of the room.

The others quickly followed them. They now had the task of trying to get some information from the twins. At least tomorrow started the weekend; they had all day then.

****************

(Next day)

"Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous What do they think they’re doing?". Ace was watching the twins like a hawk; Or more accurately, a Segall.

They caught the eels at lunch. The school still offered lunch on weekends for broke students. Not everyone could afford to go to the Mostro Lounge every day.

"Drinking juice". Ortho, ever making observations. "What's so ridiculous?".

"What's ridiculous is that they're acting completely normal". Heartslabyul's second favorite redhead went to the table closest to the twins; then motioned for everyone to follow.

"Ah yes, the most awful thing in history. People acting like they do every day". Epel had sarcasm in his voice, along with an accent.

"That's the thing, that isn't their normal". Heartslabyuls vice warden got everyone their food. "We have been watching them for the past two weeks. They always eat in their rooms".

"Yes, and with the data collected, they also eat meat with their meals. Not just juice, apple to be precise". Ortho was running calculations. "I can pick up on what they are saying and write it in real time for you guys".

Ortho got a piece of paper and started to write their conversation.

"You got some notes, Jade?"

"Yes Floyd, but my class is ahead. You.
wouldn't understand the material"

"If I read it now then when class happens I
will understand it then"

"Fine here you go"

Jade reaches into his bag and gets his
notebook to give to Floyd.

"How did you pick that up, Ortho?". Ace was confused about how Ortho picked up the movement from the sound.

"So what time are we going to his
office Jade?"

"8:15. With that timestamp, we will be.
the last ones there"

"Why not something sensible? Like 8:13
or 8:17?"

"I need to pick up some headache.
medication"

"Because why?"

"Because of you!"

Jade glares at Floyd and finishes his
juice

"How do you pick that up Ortho?!? Your back is to Jade". Ever baffled, Ace tried to look at any cameras around Ortho.

"Well that's it. We got to head down to Octavinelle at 20 sharp". The apple of Pomfiore finished his carving of two eels in an apple; then ate it.

"I don't know the military time". Confused, the spade looked distressed.

"8 o'clock. Minus twelve to find the regular time. Add twelve to make military time". Jack pointed to his watch. "It's 11 in regular time, so in military time it's 23 o'clock".

"Well putting aside military time. We need to go to Octavinelle to put a listening device in the VIP room". Sebek pointed to Ortho. "Got any android?".

****************

"Well do we have a deal?" Even after the incident, Azul was still making contact with people. Much to the second year's surprise.

"Yes". Deuce signed the golden contract in front of him.

It was a simple thing. Azul just has to do his history report for twenty Heartslabyul roses.

"Well then, it is 8:05. I will have it first thing in the morning. Now please go off". The octopus pointed to his watch and gestured to them to leave.

The second years all went and left. It puzzled Azul why they were all there. But he just assumed that they wanted to make sure Azul didn't try anything sneaky on Deuce. The spade is gullible in most instances.

"Did you plant it?". Ace asked as soon as they left the room.

"Right behind the left couch". Ortho showed his hand to display a holograph of sound waves. "Any sound will be heard, we just need to wait".

"We'll listen here, in case we need to step in. I will try to get 20 roses without Riddle knowing tomorrow". Deuce was going to do a suicidal job. Maybe Riddle would understand?

*****************

The door of the VIP room was opened. Not too slow or fast. Azul could hear two people going to sit down, but didn't look up to finish a contract.

"Well, what deal shall we make for your desires". Azul finally looked up, almost jumping up from the shock. "What are you two doing here?".

"We came for a deal". Floyd's grin showed way too many teeth for comfort. "We let you keep this room for a reason you know".

"I don't wish to make a deal with you two". Azul sat straight and tried his best to glare at them. "Now please leave here".

"Did you already forget Azul? We were your guards, and we are in a higher position of power than you". Jade stood up and leaned down to Azuls level. "This room is technically ours".

"What do you two want?". Azul leaned back from Jade, who didn't even flinch. "I'm a busy man".

Jade took hold of Azuls jaw and leaned closer. "We know that you don't take anyone past 8:30. Now listen to what we want".

"We want to change our appearances at will". Floyd acted like that was completely normal.

"Who do you think I am?". That sounded ridiculous to Azul. It would be impossible to change one's appearance at will. "It's near impossible".

"Near impossible. Not impossible". Jade corrected. "We will be able to change appearance at will and you will live".

"Are you threatening my life?!". Azul knew that the twins would want him out of the world when he got bored. He just assumed that they would do it immediately; courtesy of Floyd's short attention span.

"Yeah. Now make the potion or find the spell". Floyd got a napkin out of his pocket. Why would Floyd have a napkin? "Jade always complains about me not cleaning up after myself".

That makes less sense. What is Floyd talking about?

"Never mind that. Now are you going to poof up a magical contract or be tomorrow's breakfast?". Jade used his pointer finger to raise Azuls head. His grin was menacing, like a shark seeing its next meal.

"It's a deal". The contract appeared on the desk. "Let me write the terms and conditions".

"Go ahead". Jade let go of Azul and sat back on the couch.

Azul was a master with words. He could write things terrible to the customer, but they would never know until it was too late. Azul knew that Jade could find any hidden meaning in his contract, from the tiniest detail.

Azul wrote painfully fast. His hand was burning by the end of it. He didn’t know why he wrote so fast, especially since he has lots of time. He dared to look up at the twins, and immediately regretted it.

Jade and Floyd looked hungry, why? They must have had something for at least lunch, right?

“Done”. Azul handed the contract to Floyd. Floyd would just sign it right away and then pass it on to Jade, who would have no choice but to sign also. He was right, Floyd signed it right away then passed it to Jade. Jade took a minute to read and then signed it also.

“Got your wolfsbane?”. Jade put the contract on his lap. “I remember that you needed the poison. But I never found out what for”.

“Nothing you need to worry about, now go”. Azul gestured to them off.

“Ahhh, we expected you to deny the contract. I was saving my stomach”. Floyd was pouting and lounged back onto the small couch. Poor couch, it barely held his stomach.

“You guys were planning to eat me?!”. Azul always knew that they had cannibalistic tendencies, but he was never really in a situation where they would eat him. He should have been wary about their favorite food being an octopus.

“We would eat you in octopus form. It would be less painful than as a human”. Jade looked sympathetic, but there was no sympathy in his eyes.

“You know what, let's put cannibalism aside. Leave now”. Azul strongly gestured for them to leave the room. He was afraid that they might eat him.

“Thanks for letting us take the contact”. Floyd took the contract from Jade and ran out the door. He knew that Azul would never allow them to keep the contract, unfortunately, Jade also left before he could say anything.

“If they destroy that contract then they won’t have that power”. Azul left his desk and went to shut the door. “Always read the fine print”.

*****************

“Upperclassmen!”. The second years were running into Heartslabyul. It was every other-day tea meeting that they held in the gardens.

“You got something?”. Riddle stood up and approached them.

“They convinced Azul to sign a contract where he would find a spell or potion that would let them change their appearance at will!”. Ace was the first to speak about it.

“They said that if he didn’t sign the contract then he could say howdy to the undead”. Epel took a seat and leaned back. “I can finally sit down".

“We didn’t run that far”. Jack took a seat next to Epel.

“I was trying to outrun you. You are very fast”. Epel leaned into Jack's arm.

“Wait, getting back on topic here. The twins are making Azul find a spell or potion where he could change appearance at will?”. Ruggie’s ears were practically glued to his head.

“Yep!”. Ortho stood next to Silver. “Just like in the Sea Witch and Evil Queen’s stories”.

“Then what are they trying to do? Repeat the original story? We already have Riddle repeating the Queen of Hearts rules” Jamil set down his tea. It was on the edge of the table, hanging on for dear life.

“You will find that out when you go to the sea. I hope you like cold temperatures”. Riddle took Jamil’s tea and set it in the middle so it wouldn’t spill.

“Well Riddle, do you know where we could find a potion for that?”. Jamil took his tea and sipped it.

“Sam’s of course, you could ask for blood and he would give it for a price. But it is questionable where he got it from”. Riddle took a seat of his own. “Knowing that, get a potion from him tomorrow”.

Adeuce nodded their head and went off, followed by the other second years.

****************

(Tomorrow morning)

“What will you guys like today little imps, and big imps”. Sam greeted them as soon as they entered the door. “You’re my first customers today. You have my attention”.

“Do you have any potions to make people breathe underwater, or become mermaids?”. Ace approached Sam, wallet in his hand.

“In stock”. Sam went to the back of the store and rummaged through everything for a minute before coming back. “This will make you become merfolk”.

“Where did you get this?”. Sebek took the bottle and examined it with everyone.

“It came recently. It also had the Sea Witches' famous shell necklace on a tag”. Sam then got four more. “Need five?”.

“Only four”. Ace opened his wallet and scrambled for his money. “I can’t believe that I lost the rock paper scissors and have to pay”.

“It was your idea”. Jack looked down, Ace's eyes rolling

“Yeah yeah, how much?”. Ace looked up at Sam who was holding four potions like children.

“Forty madols”. Sam handed the potions to Sebek and Jack so he could collect the money Ace gave him.

“Thanks, Mr. Sam!”. Ortho shouted as they left the store.

“Shop anytime my imps!”. Sam went around the desk to put the money in the cash register. “Ursula’s always on time when it comes to potions”.

Sam's shadow gasped at the remark Sam made. “Why are you acting so shocked? You are the one who told me she was the seller and gave proof”. Sam waved it away and greeted the next customers.

****************

(Day before break)

“Here's the spell”. Azul handed a paper to Jade.

Floyd went around Azul and checked the back of his shirt. “I knew it! You did go up a size!”.

“Floyd, how dare you!”. Azul turned around to Floyd's playful smile. Acting as if he didn’t do anything wrong.

Jade stood up and leaned down to Azul. “It’s a good thing Azul. You were underweight. You’re more healthy now”.

“You guys would tell the world that you liked my chubby body if you had the chance”. Azul leaned back into the chair. He hated that no matter where he looked there was an eel.

“We would. But the world is cruel so we haven't had the chance, ahhhh”. Floyd once again slouched back onto the unfortunate couch.

“Will it work on everyone?”. Jade asked.

“Everyone except people who use mind control magic. So it won’t work on Jamil, for example. But everyone else is fine”. Azul swayed his head to his left to try and create some distance.

Jade leaned into Azul near his left ear. Followed by Floyd leaning onto his right.

“Good enough”. Floyd took a bite of Azuls earlobe. Followed by Jade.

It all happened so fast. Floyd and Jade were chewing on the piece they bit off. How would Azul hide this? You don’t see someone with both of their earlobes missing every day. They swallowed at the same time, they looked like it was the best meal ever.

“Out of this office!”. Azul held many tissues to his earlobes. Jade and Floyd left, but at a sea snail's pace.

Azul could never wear earrings again. Well, he could get piercings on the upper part of his ears, but that’s beside the point.

Azul got his pen and put a lot of healing spells on his earlobes. It wasn’t exactly like before, but the skin regrew to cover the part they bit off, and it was much less noticeable than before.

****************

Azul packed the satchel he would need for the trip. He was going underwater so he didn’t need to pack much. Most things would get ruined underwater anyway.

Azul remembered that his mother once asked him to bring photos of his human form. Azul looked through his scrapbook for any photos without the twins. He had 27 photos without them, out of 89. Azul wanted to burn all the rest off his photos, but he didn’t want to get pyromania (the urge to set things on fire) if he was going to the ocean.

When Azul finished packing he remembered something about the spell. It doesn't work on mirrors of any kind.

Maybe it was for the best. If he was going to get close to someone or do a check, he could just use a mirror to see if it was one of the twins.

Azul looked at his dorm uniform shirt. He hated that he had to go up a size. Sure he was underweight but he didn't want to be fat. He could practically hear his Grandma say "You are finally eating again, I'm so proud!".

Azul folded the shirt and put it in the closet. He went to the light switch and turned it off. He knew how to get to his new bed by now in the dark. But he did miss his old one.

He slept eventually, not too late, but not so soon. He was getting used to the feeling in his ears so it was uncomfortable to sleep on either side, which he liked best.

Tomorrow will be an interesting day.

Chapter Text

(Tomorrow)

"Okay everyone please wait in line for your turn at the magic mirror". Trein was put on duty this year to control the students visiting home.

Azul had been thinking about what would happen when he got home all day. He planned it in his head a hundred times, yet it never sounded right.

Azul felt a hand on his left shoulder. "We might as well go together, we all live in the Coral Sea". Floyd was the offender, with his smug grin.

"No thanks". Azul went off to the mirror, away from Floyd.

“Oh, but it would be so fun. Wouldn’t it?”. Jade appeared in front of Azul.

“Why are you two doing this? You want me to rot, but you also want my company”. Azul went around Jade and stepped up to the mirror.

"Next, Ashengrotto". Trien called as his name is next on the list.

"Yes Professor Trien". Azul went to the magic mirror with his satchel. "The Coral Sea, my mother's restaurant".

“Because we never wanted to leave your company”. Jade says quietly, he went to Floyd and got in line.

Azul got transported immediately. The others were lucky to pick up on that.

"Okay, now you all will say the Coral Sea". Riddle was leading the group, though he wasn't going. "You all have the mirror communication devices I had to haggle Professor Trien out off".

"Yes". They all said in unison.

"How did you get these from Trien?". Jamil had both his and Kalims things in hand.

"I told him our plans. Surprisingly enough, he believed me". Riddle got his suitcase and started walking towards the mirror.

"Next!". Trien came up to the group. The look he gave them showed that he knew what they were up to.

"Coral Sea". The third years (except Riddle) got transported out of the Mirror hall immediately.

Maybe they should have specified where in the Coral Sea.

"Pops gonna be on our tails this entire trip". Floyd was annoyed with the thought of getting yelled at by his dad, again.

"Coral Sea, the Black Tail". Jade and Floyd stepped up to the mirror, they carried only one satchel. It was weird as it was two of them, but you can't pack much when going in the ocean.

****************

Jade and Floyd transformed into their mer forms the moment they hit the water. It had been a while since they were in those forms, so they had to stretch and swim for a bit. They also practiced their home language for a while, to make sure they didn't seem like fools. After a while, they started to take the route back home.

It was long. It took at least three hours until they were near the entrance. When they found the familiar path that led them to their home, they practically dived in. It was fantastically hidden within the terrain, but the twins used that entrance more than they could count.

When they swam around the place to find their parents. They came across many in the family, some old and some new. Mom and Dad always had to get new recruits.

They finally came to a room where they could hear their parent's muffled voices. It wasn't blocked off so you couldn't hear them because it was THE room to stay clear of, it wasn't really for the public. It gave them the opportunity to know if anyone wasn't being torchered or slacking off.

They went through the seaweed that was a makeshift door to find their mom trying to stab their father with a lance. It was probably something that fell into the ocean and mom got into her possession.

While their mom was still trying to stab their father, she noticed that Jade and Floyd had entered. She looked up for a second then continued to try and stab their dad. "Not now kids, I'm trying to stab your father".

It took both parents a second to register what their mother just said. She stopped chasing him and he stopped swimming away. "Kids!". They said in unison.

"Hey mom, hey dad". Floyd was the first to be tackled by their mom. Then followed by Jade being tackled by their father.

Their mother had multiple black streaks of hair on her head, contrast to the others who only had one. All eel mers had one yellow and one brown eye. Her eye shape and which eyes were brown or yellow were the same as Floyd's. Indicating who Floyd got it from, though he and Jade were twins. She was wearing a seaweed bra which served no purpose other than modesty (she is not a mammal so there are no nipples, but since she is a woman she had to cover her chest).

She was twice their size (since female morays are bigger than their male counterparts) so it was unlucky for Floyd to get tackled. She is the strongest when it comes to squeezing someone or something. Unfortunately to everyone else, she loved squeezing things. Also something Floyd got.

While Floyd had bad mood swings, hers was worse. They heard stories where if something didn't spark interest in 5 minutes, then she would just let it go, no matter what. They even heard that she once tried to kill herself so she didn't have to deal with carrying eggs. Or trying to kill the twins when they were just born because she didn't want to deal with fry.

The twins loved their mother very much now. She was joyful most of the time and very adventurous. She would show them all the great shipwrecks and bring them along on missions. Sure if something ticked her off then she wouldn't be the kindest mother, she tried to be happy with them around.

Then there was their father. His black streak was like Jades. He said that he wanted Jade to have a similar hair to him. And with Floyd following Jade, his streak was on the other side. He also gave Jade his eyes, brown on the right and yellow on the left (his point of view). He was more muscular than the twins because he had to do more exercise and heavy lifting. He was also bigger than them, but nothing compared to their mother.

He was always stern with the twins, but specifically Jade. Their mother would find ways to make him react to anything. It was always a mystery how he landed her, yet they never told them.

Their father was always encouraging them (especially Jade) to take over the family business. It took Jade until he was on land to realize that their father was grooming him into taking it over. Unfortunately it worked and Jade wanted nothing but that, no matter what had to happen. He always used any tactic to get Jade to see the good in it. Floyd was less interested in it, but wanted it too nonetheless.

"Why were you trying to stab father?". Jade got out of his father's embrace and swam to his mother, who still had the lance in hand.

"Well SULLIVAN, care to explain what you did?". Their mother was using their mocking tons, indicating that she was ready for violence. Not that it mattered, she was always ready for violence.

"I tried to take the lance for myself to use". Their father slumped down, but then swam back up. "But it's not fair! You have many sharp objects, why can't I have one?".

"I always wanted a lance, you could have the second lance you find. But if anyone else finds it, it's mine". Their mother held the lance proudly as she set it straight.

"Boys, do you hear this ridiculousness?!?". Their father all but begged for them to say yes.

"No can do pops, sharp objects are moms thing. You know that". Floyd swam to his mother and tried a tug at the lance, only for it to get a harder tug back.

"Yes father. Mom is very fond of sharp things. I recall you wanting not sharp weapons, to not attract as much blood. Correct?". Jade used his simple gestures to indicate that he was having fun.

"Look at this. My son's ganging up on me! How dare you use our children against us Melania!". Their father swam off outside the room, probably going to his office room.

"He's just angry for now. You know your father, angry for two minutes but fine the next". Their mother started to swim off. "I'll put this away, and remember to join us for dinner soon".

It was never just two minutes. Their father would yell at them for hours. They remember their father and mother yelling at each other for hours at night. Then the next morning when she was injured at her tail. They snuck in their room one night to see that he would do it while she was asleep.

The twins never knew if it was good or bad that their mother was always off in her own world to forget it or not care. They could yell for hours and she would think that it was only two minutes. The only reason she wasn't harmed about this lance incident was because she had the weapon. She has every capability to kill their father, it's just that she loves him too much and her mind isn't always there.

They twins always received verbal backlash, never anything physical. Their father would only act like a loving one if he was in control of the situation. They were a loving family most days, but days that weren't 'most days' were bad.

The twins went to swim towards their old room. It was a little ruffled up, but the same nonetheless. Jade put down the satchel they brought onto the bed.

"Is everything in there?". Floyd sprawled out across his bed.

"The photos, knives, and random human junk to show mom. All there". Jade showed Floyd the bag and took some things out.

He first took out the collection of photos they took of the year so far at Night Raven. Floyd was left in charge of that, which meant that he probably just threw it in there without checking any photo. Floyd was supposed to make it that it was only pictures of him and Floyd.

After looking at all the photos, Jade found one that he had forgotten entirely until now. It was a collection of photo booth pictures. There was one where he and Floyd were each kissing Azul on his cheeks, with the octopus very flustered. It happened during Halloween, explaining why they were dressed like mummies.

"What's that?". Floyd snatched it out of Jades hand and examined it. "Good times". Floyd put the image in his makeshift drawer.

"Time to eat!". Their mother moved the surfboards they tied together for a door to announce dinner. If she was going to do something, it had to be in the most extra way possible. She had a stop sign and pointed to it. She didn't understand any surface languages, so someone probably told her it meant "eat" and she believed it. "Eat, like it says on the sign"

"Coming ma!". Floyd took the photo album and tried to put it in the satchel, but their mother caught a glimpse of it.

She rushed over to the photo album (dropping the stop sign) and flipped through the pages. "Who's that Silver haired boy you guys are kissing in these? With some kisses more intimate than others, ahem". They found a picture where they were cutely kissing to hide from their mother, but not one where they could be full on making out with Azul. "You guys look like you love him in these".

"Azul, the one you told us to leave". Jade cleared his voice and took the photo album from his mother's hands.

"Oh, then don't love him". She picked up the stop sign and went to leave. "I should probably pick up my old photo album".

****************

When the twins entered the dining room they were welcomed to the sight of their parents already eating while their food was waiting. Their father was calmly eating his meal and took a glance at the twins. While their mother was eating like it was her last meal, as she always does.

"Hey boys, why don't you join us to eat". Their father geustered them over. The twins went around the table to find a place where they would fit (they have no chairs, but a very big table).

No one started a conversation. Floyd obviously didn't like the silence but focused on eating. Jade liked it however, but felt his father's gaze on him; yet he never caught him in the act.

When their mother finished eating her fill (down to just bone) she dared to break the silence. "So boys, something bad happened. I can see it in your eyes". Their mom could tell anyone's emotion just by looking in their eyes. The twins always suspected that it was her unique magic, where she could tell how someone was feeling by looking in their eyes, I mean eyes are the windows to your soul. Or was it a gate? If so then she did a good job of hiding it. She might have even said the incantation when she was eating so no one could hear it.

"On that account mother, you're wrong. I became a Housewarden as you and father wished. With Floyd being my vice". Jade finished the meat he was given and set it on the table. He finished close to his mom because he and Floyd had smaller portions.

"Azul". Their mother all but whispered, it was like she was a schoolgirl telling her friends a secret. "You love him, yet are forced to leave him. Such a tragic tale".

"I don't know what you mean". Jade lied, he knew exactly what she meant.

"LIES, I could tell by the photos alone that you guys loved him". She hissed at them and lowered under the table, smiling.

"What photos?". Their father was the last person who either twin wanted to see the photos.

"It's nothing pops". Floyd interjected into the conversation.

"If it involves Azul, then it's not nothing". Their dad swam up to be higher.

"Why do you hate him? You've never even met him!". Jade swam up to level with his father.

"I know his lineage!". Their father grabbed the knife off the table. "Now go to your rooms and don't mention his name. You two are better off without him".

The twins left immediately and went to their room.

Sullivan floated back down to the bottom of the seafloor. "Melania, what will we ever do about them? We know that we have cut all ties to the Ashengrotto family. Also why are you under the table? And how are you able to fit there?".

Melania was lounging on her back under the table. Happy as a clam with her smile. "Got bored of swimming up. Now cuddle!". She struck her husband and squeezed him into a tight hug, suffocating him.

After a few minutes of squeezing he passed out from lack of air. "Now let mommy talk to her baby's".

****************

The third year's who came appeared in a random part of the Coral Sea. They took a potion so they could have a regular mermaid tail, with their complementary colors.

"Where are we?". Ruggie started to test his tail. It wasn't anywhere near his old one, but he had to adapt.

"Coral Sea". Jamil tried to swim too, only to find that it was very hard.

"This swimming thing is hard". Kalim tried to act like he had two legs, but it looked like he was just swaying his tail awkwardly.

"It's easy for me". Silver was swimming like an actual mermaid. "My father taught me to swim like a mermaid. He said that if I ever became one then it would come naturally".

"Is your dad psychic?". Ruggie tried to swim like Silver, finding that it was easier.

"Possibly". Silver swam to Kalim to try and teach him. Jamil picked up from observation.

It took them a while, but they got it down. After some time they heard a voice from their mirror pendants.

"Are you guys still alive?". Riddle's voice could be heard simultaneously through all their pendants. Jamil used a gesture telling them to not say anything. "They died. That will be a tough talk with their family's".

"I'm sad to know that you wouldn't mourn us Riddle". Ruggie pouted.

Riddles surprised yelp could be heard from their pendants. "Don't do that!".

"Sorry Riddle". Kalim apologized.

"Forgiven, now are you guys in the Coral Sea?". Riddle asked.

"No, we're at the Big Burger". Jamil had obvious sarcasm in his voice.

You could practically hear Riddle roll his eyes through the pendant. "Did the potions work?".

"Yes we are mermaids, or mermen more accurately". Silver answered.

"Okay good. The merfolk here don't speak any surface languages. Use the language identification spell we were taught last year when someone says something to you". Riddle repeated the spell so they could remember.

"Okay we will start heading to Azul's mom's restaurant. We'll report back when we get there". Silver said as he motioned for everyone to follow him.

It took hours until they finally met a mer. They couldn't understand what he was saying at first but they used the spell. He was only wondering if they were new. They asked for directions to the restaurant which he happily gave. It seemed like he was fond of the place.

When they got to the restaurant they found a mer shrimp who led them to their dining area (most mers can't fit in human seats so they use areas with a table instead).

The team waited for the waiter. They checked out the food but nothing appealed to them. They commed Riddle to let him know that they made it.

After about ten minutes the waiter came. It was a mer shark who was probably considered small to others. "What is your order here today at the Shiny Pearl?".

The "Octavinelle Mystery" is finally in motion.

Chapter Text

Azul got teleported to right outside his mother's restaurant, 'The Shiny Pearl'. Azul doesn’t know why she named it that, but he liked it.

Azul held his hands firm on his satchel and used his tentacles to sway the makeshift seaweed door. It was a busy house, but Azul went around the line anyway. He was the owner's son, after all.

The regulars that Azul recognized welcomed him back to the Coral Sea. Some old dolphin mer yelled for his mother to come over. Azul could hear the kitchen rattling differently than before, she was probably handing things over to the other mers to deal with.

Azul saw the black tentacles of his mother sways the seaweed away, then the rest that followed. After most of his mother's tentacles came out, her head did also. She was smiling so big and brightly at the sight of Azul. She immediately went to hug him, all her tentacles hugging him.

“I missed you, my sweet boy”. Her hug was suffocating, but Azul allowed it. He missed his mother and knew that she missed him just as much.

“I missed you too”. He hugged her back, though he had to sway the hair from his face. His mother's hair seemed to have grown over his time at NRC, from a pixie cut to shoulder length.

His mother was a big and beautiful woman. She had always eaten well and was not ashamed of it. She normally had a pixie cut to not let the hair get in the way of her cooking. She seems to have let it grow recently, though she would probably cut it when she deemed it an annoyance. And much like him, she had a mole near her mouth, but on her right side.

She is a very caring woman. She took Kai under her care when she found him by himself in a cave. She treated both equally and never chose sides without reason. She was excellent at potions, she said that she got it from Grandmimi and that she was a natural. She always was willing to tell stories about herself but when high school came into it, she wouldn't say a word.

“Where are Grandmimi’s hugs? Hmmm?" Azul and his mother broke the hug to look at his Grandmother. “Cece, how dare you deny me, my grandchild”.

“I'm not denying you, anything mom, I was hugging him”. His mother moved from him and went to his grandma with a frown.

“Why did you choose his version? Why Grandmimi?”. Azul went to his Grandmimi and hugged her. “Better now?”.

She hugged him back. “Yes”.

“Where're my hugs?”. Kai, that bastard expecting hugs after that prank! Wait, why was he hugging Grandmimi? She was in on it!

Azul pushed his Grandmimi off of him and used his tentacles to wrap around Kai. Azul squeezed him tighter until his mother had to slap his tentacles so he would stop. Azul let him go, but very slowly. “That's for the prank, and don’t think I won’t get my revenge, Grandma!”.

“Now hug me, you poor excuse for an octopus mer!”. Kai went to hug him, but Azul pushed him off. “How dare you! I gave you a seashell!”.

Kai was a mer shark. His full name now was Kai Caspian S. Ashengrotto since his mother took full custody of him, thanks to the help of his stepfather. He has messy gray hair with black strands. It is very messy so he ties a portion of it to match his dorsal fin. He has a scar on both his face and hands, from the time when his parents got captured. He has very sharp teeth, even sharper than Floyd's.

His parents were taken away from him when he was young but young enough to remember it. He gained his scars from his parents trying to protect him from the captures. He even built a shrine of them in his room to always remember them. He has the daily routine of asking for good luck before he starts his day.

He loves collecting human bottles, as he heard from his birth parents that humans communicated with them. He has a big collection of them along with seashells. He gives the people he’s close to some seashells which he thinks matches their personality.

He loves helping Grandmimi clean the ocean since he loves her company and the ocean isn’t always the cleanest with pollution. He loves watching her potions and seeing his Mimi (Azul and his mom) do potions which he knows is a genetic trait.

“Boys, stop!”. Their mother pulled them as far as she could with her tentacles and moved them out of the restaurant. “Nothing to see here folks, please continue your meals!”.

Buildings underwater aren’t considered buildings. They’re mostly caves, coral, and old shipwrecks. The restaurant uses a big pink coral to make the layout, and the top is their home. The layout was almost perfect, it was hard to imagine what magic someone used to make it. They lived in a considerably nice neighborhood, but they did use surfboard doors for the home and entrance to the restaurant at night.

Their mother led them up to the top of the coral that led to their home. She let them go when they were in the living area. “What prank?”.

“Grandmimi made me do it!”. Kai answered the question almost immediately and sank to the floor like a girl in a drama might. Over dramatic with his hand over his head and looking back.

“Grandmimi may have made you do it, but you went along with it!”. Azul lifted him and set him straight.

“Ha! You used Grandmimi!”. Kai had a smug grin on his face.

“What happened?!”. Their mother hit her tentacle by accident. It was a bad habit of hers to hit her tentacle when she was angry.

“Kai and GRANDMA tricked me into thinking that you died by being eaten by a catfish”. Azul answered.

“You think I would die by catfish?”. Their mother sank to the floor.

Their Grandmimi came up and shook her shoulder. “We all die somehow. Some ways are just more embarrassing than others”.

Their mother lifted and left for the surfboard door. “I’ll continue working. Kai come and serve the mers”. She left with Kai following her.

“Don’t know what's her problem. A catfish could kill a whale if they attempted to swallow one. Whales can barely swallow more than a fistful”. Grandmimi went to her room, probably going to her seaweed bed. “Also your step-father isn’t here. He’s out on a case”

Azul went to his room. He laid his satchel on his seaweed bed and made sure he had everything. Photos, his pen, an old contract to show Grandmimi, bottles for Kai, Wolfsbane in a bottle, and a bottle to show them fire.

He went through the photos. He only chose 15, they should be happy with that number. None of them had anyone but Azul. He realized that they would ask where Jade and Floyd were. Why they weren’t in any of the pictures.

That would lead to the discussion about the twins leaving him. The discussion about him no longer being a Housewarden. The discussion about him being stabbed in the thigh (not that they would know what a thigh is). The discussion about his being in a depressed state and losing sleep. The discussion about his self-harm.

“They can’t know”. Azul didn’t want to face it. He was confident with total strangers but with people he loved all confidence faded.

“Can’t know what?”. He saw the big octopus they call Grandmimi come from the seaweed door. She went around to him and sat on the seaweed bed.

“Nothing Grandma”. Azul went to leave but his Grandmimi used half her tentacles to bring him back down. (Ursula had only six tentacles, so half would be three).

“It’s not nothing. You should have seen the look on your face. If you think that your world is ending, it’s not”. She leaned in and put her head on his shoulder. “Now tell Grandmimi Ursula what's wrong. If you tell me then it will be easier to tell them”.

Azul just stayed still for a few minutes. He was thinking about whether he should tell her now or later. He decided that he should, it would be better to tell someone now than hold it in any longer. He decided to tell her the least worst thing to the most worst thing.

“I'm no longer Housewarden, Jade took it from me”. He leaned into his Grandmimi.

“Why did Jade take it from you?”.

“Because he left me. He and Floyd left me to rot. We aren’t dating and aren’t even friends”.

“I lost my eels too”

Azul squeezed his Grandmimi’s tentacles. “But they didn’t care! You lost them in a flash, I lost them but have to see their faces every day. It reminds me that they're not mine and I’m not theirs”.

Ursula lowered their tentacles and shook him back and forth. “There isn’t a day where I don’t think of them, but I continue on because I can’t spend all my time thinking about them”.

“Okay Grandmimi”. Azul let her tentacles go.

“What's next?”. She picked his tentacles back up.

“I got stabbed in the thigh. A student couldn’t pick up their end of the deal so they attacked me”. He leaned back into her.

“Is it healed and was that the only incident?”. She asked

“Yes and yes”.

“Now, is there anything else you want me or them to know?”. She put his face to hers.

“No”. He was honest. It wasn’t something he wanted them to know, just something they needed to know.

“Okay, I will just lay here with you until Cece announces dinner, then we will tell them what you just told me”.

“Yes Grandmimi”. Azul sank down so they were both comfortable.

“And don’t think that I didn’t notice your weight gain, I’m so proud”. She squeezed into him.

At least she lasted 5-10 minutes without telling him about any weight gain. A new personal record.

She fell asleep after a while. She was a heavy sleeper so he knew that if he left her embrace then she wouldn’t wake up. He left for the bathroom (don’t ask how bathrooms work underwater, you don’t want to know).

He looked at the mirror (something that sunk down). He looked at himself. For someone who was so focused on his looks, he didn’t notice that his hair became more messy. It definitely wasn’t from being underwater. He then looked at his body, he knew that he became chubbier, just didn’t think so much.

He saw the scissors that they used to cut their hair every once a while. He picked it up and cut at his belly. Lots of blood came out. “Why do you have to be there? Why must all this fat be there?”.

Azul put down the scissors and licked up all the blood in the water and used a healing spell on himself to make it easier to hide. It was more noticeable than his earlobes as it left a very big scar, but he could hide it with his tentacles.

He returned to his Grandmimi and went to as much as the original position as he could. When she woke up she would just think that he moved them in his sleep. She is still as stone when sleeping.

****************

"Ummmmm". Kalim looked at everyone's faces. "What would we like to eat?".

"We will have the seaweed salad". Jamil answered Kalim.

"Ugh, seaweed?". Ruggie retorted.

Kai was confused. He was working here for years and never saw a mer who disliked seaweed. Sure it wasn't for every mer, especially predator mers, but these were common mers. They should love seaweed.

"Don't mind him, how many Madols?". Silver asked.

"We use Adar currency". Kai answered. What are Madols? What were these common mers talking about? "It's 5 Adar".

Kalim put a piece of beige paper on the table. "This enough?"

"Ummm…no". Kai started to swim back slowly. "Will be right back".

"Do you guys think Azul is here". Silver asked.

"Probably". Ruggie answered.

"What happens when he finds us here?". Kalim asked as he put the Madol back in his satchel.

"Probably kill us for sneaking here". Ruggie answered as he took the Madol from Kalims Satchel.

"What will happen if we go to Jade and Floyd?". Kalim asked.

"Probably turn us into the fish Mafia". Ruggie answered again.

"If Azul discovers us, he'll kill us". Silver said.

"If the twins discover us, we'll be turned over to the Mafia". Ruggie replied.

They all look at each other and nod

"Azul it is". Jamil said.

Kai swam to the kitchen so he could tell his Mimi what happened. "Mimi! There are common mers who are being weird!".

"What do you mean?". She didn't stop what she was doing but looked towards him.

"They use a different currency, they don't like seaweed, and I don't recognize them".

"They are probably new to this area".

"They could be, or they could be humans who took a potion!".

She set something down and used her tentacle to hug him slightly. "If they bother you too much, then come to me".

He nodded and left the kitchen. He was upset about having to talk to them again, but someone had to do it. He rather do it himself than leave it to some poor mer.

"Seaweed, right?". Kai asked the group.

"Yes…". Silver replied though he had already started to fall asleep.

"So a seaweed salad for each mer?". Kai asked.

"No, just one…for all of us". Jamil answered then shrugged. "We have small stomachs".

"Okay, I'll have it for you in a minute". Kai left for the kitchen.

"Seaweed salad Kai?". His mother gave him the seaweed salad with one of her tentacles.

"You couldn't even give me a break from them for a minute?". Kia slouched then got the seaweed salad from her.

Kai returned from the kitchen and went back to the group. "Here's your salad".

Kai went to other tables to take their orders.

"Should we eat this?". Jamil poked at it.

"I will". Ruggie started to dig in. He took the end of the seaweed and started to eat from there.

After a while Kai passed the table and saw that the bowl was empty. "Okay are you guys done?".

"Yes". Kalim answered and gave the bowl to Kai.

"Okay 5 Adar". Kai led his hand out, only to be met with no one moving.

Kalim went to his satchel and brought out a shiny gold coin. It was the shiniest thing that Kai had ever seen and the size of his palm. Compared to Adar, this was amazing. Adar was gold, but very tinted and small compared to what Kalim had.

"I'll have to check with my Mimi, she owns this place". Kai took the coin and left for the kitchen.

"Hey Mimi, will this coin amount to 5 Adar?". Kai put the coin in his mom's face.

Cece had shown the same eyes every mer shows when they see something valuable. If it was shiny also then they basically had the same eyes just different faces.

"Yes! This could account to 100 Adar! Put it in the living area table!". His mom pushed him out of the kitchen.

Kai swam back to the group. "This will cover many more seaweeds. My Mimi says that this covers 100 Adar". Kai bowed to the group.

"Hey do you know where Azul Ashengrotto is?". Jamil asked before Kai left.

"Yes he is my brother, why?". Kai leaned into the table.

"We need to see him". Jamil leaned towards Kai. "It's urgent".

"I'll see". Kai left the restaurant and went to the home area. He searched to find that Azul was sleeping with Grandmimi.

He poked Azul awake. Azul took a minute to stretch then looked at Kai. "Is it already time for dinner?".

"No, but there are some common mer asking about you". Kai went to tug at his brother's tentacle. "I don't want to deal with them by myself, come".

Azul followed Kai out the home area to the restaurant. Kai directed him to where the group was.

The moment Azul saw the group, he knew it was the other third year's. He was already angry, why would they come here? And why wouldn't they tell him?

"What are you guys doing here?". Azul went to the group and asked sternly.

The group took a minute to look at Azul. They never saw Azul in this form (save Ruggie). They turned their heads to look around him.

"Friends?". Kai asked.

"Friends who took a potion to become mer so they could follow me for whatever reason". Azul crossed his arms.

"That answers my question". Kai slowly backed away and went to serve other tables.

"What are you guys doing here?!?". Azul slammed his fists on the table.

"We came to warn you about the twins". Jamil leaned to Azul's ear. "They are part of the Mafia Family".

"I know". Azul leaned away from Jamil. "I've known for about a few years now. They don't plan anything to do with the school. So I don't know why you came all the way here".

"But they do! Riddle had a suspicion of them doing something that involves the school". Kalim grabbed one of Azul's tentacles to get his attention.

"Where is Riddle now?". Azul patted Kalims hands away.

Kalim showed his pendant to Azul. "Show Riddle".

Riddle appeared in the mirror. "Azul?". Riddle did not bother to hide that he was looking intensely at first. But he looked away when he realized that it was rude to stare.

"What do you think the twins are planning?". Azul took the necklace pendant off of Kalim.

"Something that involves the school in a bad way. I left the others to do the hard work". Riddle answered.

Jamil scoffed. "Knew it".

"Jamil, don't lie. You would do the same thing". Azul focused his attention back to Riddle. "I don't know where the twins live. And I have no clue of any plan they have".

"But you must!". Riddle screamed through the pendent.

"No I mustn't. Now please go home for Spring break. Do you know when the potions will come off?". Azul gave the pendant back to Kalim.

"Father says that all mermaid potions last for only a week. Even if you drink a drop or a bathtubs worth". Silver woke up just in time to add to the conversation.

"Ugh. You guys can stay here with my moms permission, but you must help the restaurant. I will teach you how things work down here. And you will not go anywhere without me or my permission". Azul all but shouted at them.

"Yessir". They said to Azul in unison. After Azul turned around, they shared a look saying that they wouldn't do that.

Azul left for the kitchen to tell his mother. "Mom, 4 people from school followed me here and their common mer potions only last a week".

His mom put everything down and slowly turned her head to him. "What?".

"We have to keep them here until the break is over. I'll teach them everything and they will help in the restaurant. They are my responsibility". Azul picked up a random pan.

She thought that these were the same people that Kai was talking about. She trusted Azul, so if he said that there was no harm with them; then she would believe it. "Fine, but for dinner they must clean the restaurant. It will shape my opinion of them for the rest of the week".

Azul nodded and left.

****************

Azul taught everyone how to clean the restaurant and what to use. After some demonstration and after watching them do it, he left for dinner.

He went to the home area to see his Grandmimi and Kai inspecting a coin that he saw in Kalims treserary. Kalim probably gave it to him for whatever they ordered.

"I recognize this coin. It's from the Scandaling Sands, an old friend had lots of these. It's worth 100 Adar indeed Kai". Grandmimi put the coin in Kai's hand.

"And the person who gave it to you has millions more". Azul picked up the coin from Kai's hand.

"You left me while I was sleeping". Grandmimi was obviously upset at him.

"I didn't want to wake you up, you were so peaceful". Azul joined them on the makeshift seaweed couch. Kai was obviously a little squished, but if he minded then he didn't show it.

"I've heard many things about me sleeping, peaceful is not one". She took the coin from him. "Now does your friend have any more of these?".

"Dinners ready!". Cece screamed from the kitchen. She then brought the food to the living area (it was the only area that could hold them other than the restaurant). It was salmon, and a lot of it.

They all dug in. Azul forgot how much he missed eating. He always yelled at himself internally for everything he ate. He didn't feel that way now while he was eating his mother's delicious food.

But the moment he finished eating he noted how much he ate. His mind forgot that he was in a bigger form so he had to eat more. His mind forgot that it is healthy to eat as much as you need to. His mind forgot that this was an average meal for an octopus mer and that his mother, brother and Grandmimi ate the same thing.

He just stared at the plate. He didn't like that he finished first, it made him feel like he was a slug for finishing the meal first. Especially since they all had the same meal with the same serving. Especially since he still wanted more, yet didn't have the courage to ask.

Ursula saw how Azul looked distressed at the empty plate. "Want anymore? I'm sure there's plenty, it would be a waste to not eat everything".

"I'm good". Azul started to get up from the dining area.

Ursula tugged at his tentacles for him to come back down. "Well if you don't want anything to eat, why don't you tell us about your time at school?"

Azul now regretted telling her about it. He knew that she would bring it up, but he wasn't ready to face them.

"Ah yes…". He sank down.

"How was being a Housewarden?". Grandmimi asked.

Azul tried to cover himself with his tentacles, but unfortunately they could still see him. "It was good while it lasted but…I'm no longer Housewarden of Octavinelle".

"How?". Grandmimi asked as if she didn't already know the question. Hearing stories about the Sea Witch, he always thought that when his Grandmimi acted this way. It was the same way that the Sea Witch acted with her clients.

"Jade took it from me". He hated being interrogated by his Grandmimi.

"Why would Jade take being Housewarden from you?". His mother asked.

"He and Floyd left me. They are no longer acquainted with me. Left me to rot". Azul squeezed his own tentacles so as to not cry.

"I knew that they were bad news!". Kai leaped up from the table.

Kai doesn't like eels in general. When he met the twins he hated them, but they promised to take care of Azul so he warmed up to them. The news that they hurt his brother would make him mad and into "I told you they were no good" fit.

"Yes yes". Azul lowered him down. "And because they left me, some idiot had the confidence to stab me in the thigh".

"What's a thigh?". Kai asked.

"The upper part of a humans legs". Azul answered.

"Wait, you got STABBED". His mother was shaken at this information. How do you take that your son just got stabbed calmly?

"Yes, but that's the end of it". Azul tucked his tentacles in on himself.

"What's that scar on the bottom of your tummy?". Grandmimi asked. Why must she notice every detail about him? And why use the word tummy?

"It was from an incident in gym, just an accident really". A lie, but they couldn't know the truth.

"I didn't see you with it before". Grandmimi always had great attention to detail.

"You weren't paying close enough attention then". He hated arguing with his Grandmimi.

"I always pay attention to every small thing". She retorted.

"Maybe not this small thing". He put his tentacles up to show that he was ready to attack.

"It's every small thing. Now what are you hiding!". She slammed her first on the table.

"ENOUGH!". Cece grabbed both their tentacles harshly and hit them with another set. "Mom, if he says it's a gym accident then it is a gym accident. And Azul don't argue so harshly with your Grandmimi".

Azul went to leave the table. "I need to rest. The others should still be cleaning the restaurant".

Azul could feel their gazes on him. His mother's worried one, his brothers concerned gaze, and his Grandmimi's "I was right gaze".

*****************

Azul heard the noises of everyone cleaning from the ocean floor. Along with his mother getting them to sleep in the extra room.

He couldn't sleep. Why was he so sloppy? Why must he do something so sloppy? Why did he give them the chance to figure it all out? He went to bang his head against the coral wall.

It hurt by the end of it of course. He went to try and sleep immediately after. It took a while, especially since he has to get used to his old form again and his sleeping position.

After some time, Ursula came into his room. She looked through his satchel to find anything. Nothing specific, just anything interesting.

She looked through it to find a bottle of Wolfsbane. "It's been a while since I got to use Wolfsbane". She took the bottle and left the room.

What an eventful day for both the group and Azul.

Chapter Text

Melania left from the dining area to her son's room. She did not regret putting her husband to sleep. Did he have to hold hundreds of thousands of eels at a time in his stomach? I don’t think so.

She put the surfboard door to the side to the sight of her sons. They were both on Jade's seaweed bed, looking at the same photo album that she saw earlier.

“You look terrible in this picture”. Floyd pointed to the corner of the photo album. Probably pointing out a picture where Jade was caught off guard.

She turned her head upside down while residing on Floyds seaweed bed. The twins noticed her then.

“Why are you upside down ma?”. Floyd tried to turn her head right side up, but she was as stubborn as a clam.

“Why do you guys like that boy so much? I knew his mother and she almost ruined this family. You guys might not be alive because of what she did”. She took the photo album, which she kept right side up.

“What do you mean mom?”. Jade turned his head to the side in curiosity.

“In high school, I was best friends with his mom. Cece was her name”. She flipped through the pages. “We were like a clam and its pearls. A starfish and its rock. A whale and its barnacles”.

Floyd cringed as his mother listed progressively worse pairs.

“So you two were close, get on with it!”. Floyd all but shouted.

“One day in our second year, I was paired up with this eel mer you call dad. I welcomed him into our group and we had a fun time…until our last two months in a senior year”. She lowered the book.

“Is this the story of how you met our father?”. Jade asked.

“No, I met him in gym class, very boring. I'm telling the story of why I stayed with him”. She continued to flip the pages.

“Why did you stay with him?”. Floyd leaned in.

“Hold on, I'm getting there”. She threw the photo album to the side. “One day, he told us that he was part of the mafia, this family. Leech crime family”.

****************

“Hey, babes! I got something to tell you!”. Sullivan swam to Cece and Melania.

Cece seemed to be working on a seashell necklace. Melania was telling her what seashells to use while throwing them at her.

He swam around them until they noticed the change in water.

“Hey Sull’s, want a seashell necklace next? C’s making one for me”. Melania got a handful of seashells to show him.

“No, it's about something else. Something we need to discuss in private”. Sullivan mentioned for them to follow him.

They took the time to put all the seashells in Cece’s satchel before they went to follow him. They swam for a while until they were in a cave that Sullivan knew housed no one. He led them to the back of the cave so there was no light, but they could all see without light perfectly fine anyway.

Cece got the seashells out again and continued the necklace. It looked almost done so it probably wouldn’t have her attention for long.

“Why do you call us for somewhere “private” Sull?”. Melania sank to the bottom, curling around Cece’s tentacles.

“I must first have you two vow to not tell the living nor dead”. Sullivan held his hand to his heart.

“I vow”. The girls said in unison. Cece was obviously more hesitant, but if Melania was also then she didn’t show it.

“I’m the sole heir for the most powerful mafia family in the world”. He waited for a response. A reaction. Anything.

“That’s so cool!”. The preppy eel swam up around him. “Do you use sharp things? Hunt and kill mers? Have lots of treasure?”.

She would have swam for ages if Cece didn’t use a tentacle to stop her. “You run a mafia?”. Cece was shaken at this information. How do you take one of your best friends being in a mafia kindly?

“No, I'm the sole heir. I don’t run the mafia…yet”. He swam impossibly lower.

“I need time to process this information. Mel, I’ll have your necklace ready tomorrow”. It took a while but Cece left.

“So do you have any sharp things?”. Melania asked.

****************

“Wait, so Cece knows about the family?”. Floyd asked.

“Yes, and I know that you guys told him too”. The twins looked down at their mother's remark.

“But what did she do with that information? And why did it take you guys so long to realize he was Cece’s son”. Jade asked.

“1. I’ll get there. 2. You guys never told me his last name until the phone call before the one we told you to leave him”. She responded as she went right side up again. “Blood rush”.

It was that easy. If Jade and Floyd just never told their parents Azuls last name, they would still have their octopus. Jade and Floyd always joked about leaving Azul, though they would never do so if they had a choice. They can’t even imagine how Azul felt, they just always thought that he knew they were joking.

They wanted their octopus, but they also wanted to inherit the family business. They thought that if they chose the family then Azul or them wouldn’t be affected. They were wrong. How could they be so stupid, they didn’t even fight their parents about it, they just accepted it.

“Now back to the story, this is the next day”. Their mother started.

****************

“I’ve got the seashell necklace”. Cece and Melania had their first class together today.

“Cool!”. Melania took the necklace and put it around her neck. She looked at it from that perspective and noticed something. “Are those shiny blue things in some of them mermaid tears”?

“Yes, but don’t worry! They are tears of joy I collected from our time together”. Cece held Melania’s hands.

“Awesome! We should show this to Sull!”. She squeezed Cece’s hands and dragged her to the exit.

“When we have a class Mel!”. Cece used her tentacles to stop her. “But I don’t think that we should hang out with him anymore. You should break up with him”.

“Who says you can give dating advice, especially with that barnacle of a brain boyfriend you have!”. Melania swam out of Cece’s tentacles.

“Don’t change the topic! You have a future, you can’t associate yourself with someone in the mafia”. Cece grabbed her again.

“You mean that you have a future! I get bad grades and everyone knows that I'm crazy. You get good grades, everyone loves you, and your mom is well known. You’ll get somewhere good”. Melania slapped Cece’s tentacles away.

“You don’t have to just join the mafia, and what if he doesn't take you?”. Cece asked.

“I have no choice, violence is the one thing I am good at. And he will”. Melania left the classroom.

“We still have class Mel!”. Cece shouted.

****************

“What does it have to do with anything?”. Floyd asked.

“After that, I told him what happened and asked him if I could join the family”. She answered.

“So you joined, then got married. Still, what did Cece do?”. Jade got the photo album back from where his mom threw it.

“No, he said that we couldn’t be together if I joined. We would have to get married then I would be equal ranking to him. Godmother”. She went back to being upside down.

"That's how you guys STAYED together". Floyd joined his mom to be upside down. "Still didn't answer the second question ma".

"She tried to report us to the popo, or more accurately your father". She sank to the ocean floor. Her head made a big THUMP. "One of the popo snapped my seashell necklace and all the seashells were found at the old location. The same necklace Cece made me".

"Did they use the seashells to find you?". Jade joined in with them. On the other side of mom.

"Yeah, we were still in school. The popo showed her the seashells and she realized that it was mine. We made up the next day, so I never suspected she would tell the popo. She followed me to the second location and told the popo, that was when I realized that she was the one who told them.

****************

Melania was swimming to the exit. She tried to go against the policemen, but she wasn't experienced enough. When she got to the exit she noticed an octopus mer with a mole on the right under her lip.

"What are you doing here C? There are popo here, they might think you're with us". Melania went to Cece's tentacles to tug her away from the exit.

"I'm the one who alerted them here". Cece pulled her tentacles back.

Melania was paralyzed. She just hung to Cece's tentacles as Cece pulled it back.

"YOU WHAT!". Melania charged Cece.

She was swiping at her face, making all these scratches that stained the water. Cece used her tentacles to grab her away from her face. Melania swam out of her grasp.

Melania went behind some seaweed so Cece couldn't see her. Cece looked around to where Melania could be, Melania was not small so she couldn't be hiding somewhere close without being visible.

Melania aimed her hands at Cece's shoulders. She hung on while her long tail wrapped around the octopus. Melania kept wrapping it tighter and tighter around Cece's torso. Melania went with her sharp teeth to bite down on Cece's neck but was pulled back.

Sullivan had grabbed Melania by her arms off of Cece's shoulders; her tail was still on her torso, but looser. "Mel what are you doing?!".

"She's the one who told the popo!". Melania tried to escape from Sullivan's death grip. "She ruined our lives!".

"You're the one who told them?! You vowed!". He let Melania go. Melania went to squeeze Cece's neck.

"At least I get to squeeze one more thing before they get me". Melania tightened her tail and her grip on Cece.

Cece had used all the strength in her tentacles to get Melania off of her. Melania was a good competitor, but Cece was bigger and stronger than her. She threw Melania across the ocean floor.

"I won't tell the cops where you guys go now, give them a fake tip. I'll leave you guys alone for the rest of our days. Just please stop attacking me!". Cece yelled as she wrapped her tentacles around herself.

"I don't want anything to do with you or any spawn you have! Leave now!". Melania tried to push Cece away with her tail.

"I'm going, I'm going". Cece went to leave. "I'll give them a fake tip next time".

Cece left.

*****************

"That was the last time I ever saw her". Melania went to move from the seaweed bed. "From what you said about her, without me knowing it was her. She seems well".

"But why do you have a vendetta against someone you never met!". Floyd went to grab his mother's tail.

"If you guys got married, I would be her step-sister. I would have loved that once, but not anymore". She swiped her tail from Floyd.

The twins looked at each other trying to figure out if that's how it worked.

"Is that how it works?". Jade asked.

"Don't care. You guys ain't mating with her offspring". She got the photo album from Jade.

"Would you consider us your offspring?". Floyd asked.

She turned the photo album upside down. "No, I consider you my offsprig's".

"Well as your lovely offsprig's could you please let us choose things for ourselves ma?". Floyd went to his mother and used the "big eye stare".

She started to laugh and sank to the ocean floor. "I'm losing air! I know a bad thing when I see one. I was able to tell that Cece and her ex-husband weren't going to work out".

The twins looked at each other. She's smart enough to see bad pairs for other people, yet not herself?

She left the room.

Floyd went to Jade's seaweed bed and looked at the sealing.

"What are you thinking about now Floyd?". Jade went to his brother.

"Ever noticed how ma is always speaking sane and clear when telling a story. Yet the moment she stops she is crazy again". Floyd swam to his bed. "Remember the conversation over the phone when she told us to leave Azul?".

"How could I forget?". Jade lay down on his bed.

****************

(Back before the no longer interesting incident, Jade's room)

"Jade, ma's calling!". Floyd ran to Jade with the phone in hand.

"Answer it". Jade said.

Floyd answered the phone for his mom. "Hey, boys! I've got the news".

"Hey, mom/ma". Jade and Floyd said in unison.

"What type of news?". Jade asked, leaning in on the phone.

"Pretty". She said on the phone.

Jade and Floyd looked at each other, wanting to know what she meant. What does "pretty" mean when talking about good or bad news?

"Banish Azul from your minds". She said it like whispering a potion to her cauldron.

Jade and Floyd looked at each other concerningly. What did she mean by "banish Azul from your minds?".

"What do you mean ma?". Floyd asked towards the phone.

"His banishment from you's". She replied.

Jade grabbed the phone from Floyd. "Define banishment".

"No chittering. no togetherness. no seeing him!" She whispered the first two, yet all but screamed the last one.

"We couldn't possibly do that mom". Jade said.

"Okay". They could sense that she was about to hang up.

"Forget the last thing she said. You guys will leave him if you want the family business". Their father had come on the line, replacing their mother to deliver the news.

"Five minutes pop's". Floyd hung up.

It took them almost 2 hours to decide. Leave the best person they ever met and get the family business. Or get the family business, but leave the best person they ever met.

They weighed every option. Maybe it would be best to choose the family business, Azul probably wouldn't want anything to do with them if they pursued it anyway.

“It’s been 2 hours and we have gotten nowhere Jade!”. Floyd screamed at his brother as he fell on the floor.

“We should choose the family. Everyone says that we are like a mafia, but Azul would never live in a mafia family”. Jade went to the floor with his brother.

“How do you know that?”. Floyd turned to his brother.

“He denies it every time someone mentions it”. Jade turned away from Floyd.

“So? He loves us, that’s for sure!”. Floyd lightly punched Jade’s back.

“That doesn’t matter. He deserves better than having to live a life of crime and always fearing for his life every minute”. Jade turned towards the ceiling.

“No one does, yet we were born into it”. Floyd also turned to the ceiling.

“He wasn’t. We shouldn’t subject him to that”. Jade put his hands on his stomach.

“Fine you’re right, but what if he doesn’t understand. We always joked about leaving him, yet he could still not accept it”. Floyd put his hands behind his back.

Jade looked at the ceiling for a few minutes. What could they do to make Azul hate them so he won’t have to join the family? Wait, didn't the twins always joke about eating Azul?

“Floyd, are you hungry?”. Jade turned to his brother.

“What does tha-”. Floyd’s eyes widened when he realized what jade meant. “We are gonna eat him? He can’t cry if he can’t cry”.

“Not eat the entirety of him, just something small. Like his earlobes”. Jade replied.

“So we just say that we are leaving him then eat his earlobes?”. Floyd sat up.

“No, that just cements it. We do other things like belittle him”. Jade sat up with Floyd.

“Wait, so it’s decided. We are gonna leave him?”. Floyd put his head to his knees and wrapped his arms around himself.

“Yes”.

"I'll call ma back". Floyd went for the phone that they left on the bed.

Floyd dialed his mom's number and she answered almost immediately. "Leaving?".

"Yes, mom". Jade answered.

"Pretty!". They could hear her banging her tail against the ocean floor (predator clapping, or if you have no hands but a tail).

"Whatcha mean by pretty ma?". Floyd asked.

"You boys will be so pretty without that octo in the picture". She replied.

"Bye mom/ma". Jade and Floyd said in unison. They then hung up the phone.

They just laid the rest of the night. They couldn't sleep or think of anything to do. They had to go to class and manage the lounge without sleep, but they've been through worse.

****************

Jade went to take out the paper that had the spell which let one change their appearance at will (put a waterproof spell on it). “I wonder why Azul didn’t bother using this for himself”.

“Probably since it wouldn’t work on every single person in this school. It doesn’t work on people with mind control magic like Jamil, right?”. Floyd said.

“Probably”. Jade replied.

“Remember when dad also made that call to get something like that?”.

“Of course. At least it gave us a better opportunity to get farther from Azul and get a snack”.

“Yep. Where did pops find out about something like that?”.

“I don’t know, but I doubt he just wanted to impress mom”.

***************

Sullivan was reading a historical book (It’s waterproof). It was talking about the Sea Witch, and how she changed her appearance on land. “I wonder how she did that. It sure would be useful”.

He was suddenly attacked by his wife. “Whatcha reading?”. She looked at the book.

“It’s about the Sea Witch. I got to the point where she turns human with magic". Sullivan said.

"Magic, like what the boys have?". She put the book upside down.

They had no magic themselves so it was always a matter of discussion on how their sons had. Sullivan used to accuse her of cheating, but they found out that they got magic from Melania's side. It just skipped a couple of generations. It was from her great-great-great-great grandmother who was an excellent mage of her time, not that predator mer were respected if they had magic.

"Yes, just like our boys have". Sullivan realized what this meant. "Melania, do you know what this means?".

"I was part of an unlucky generation?". She tossed the book to the side.

"No, we can have something that could change our appearances!". He took her hands in his.

"No, I think you're fine, you could have better hair but that's it". She went to touch his hair.

He put a frown on his face. "We will be the most powerful in the ocean".

"We're the most powerful Mafia in the ocean already ya dumb clam". She knocked him on the head.

"Mafia, only in the Mafia. Not more powerful than the royal family". He put on a sinister smile.

Melania gagged at the thought of the royal family. If you weren't connected or benefited from the royal family in any way, you hated them. The royal family only has time for themselves, they never go out of their pretty kingdom.

The royal's only power was their pretty little trident. The king and queen only worry about the affairs of those who are close to them. It was always drilled into fry's mind to respect the royal family as they try to make the kingdom better.

There was a time where they cared more about the outer sectors and about mers they never even met. But as the years passed, they stopped leaving the palace and were willing to interact with anyone outside it.

Melania always had a grudge against the royal family because when she was 12 she found the king when he was only a prince. She was struggling to get food since her mother was dying and her tail was very injured because of a hunting incident. She pleaded for help, yet he barely gave her a passing glance. She vowed to never show weakness again. If a king wouldn't help, why should she beg a peasant?

"I'll do anything to be higher than them". She went to shake his hand. "Call the boys".

***************

Jade and Floyd were looking through the pictures again. They tried to flip it together, but they failed.

"Do you think we made the right decision Jade". Floyd closed the photo album.

"When love goes wrong, nothing goes right". Jade opened the photo album again. "No, but we've gone too far. We have to suck it up".

"Where did you hear that?". Floyd flipped the page.

"I can't remember". Jade flipped to the next page.

They saw a picture of them kissing Azul's cheeks again. They stared at it for a minute. That was the first time they closed the photo album together.

"If we are gonna feel all guilty, then we should just burn the photos when we're on land". Floyd threw the photo album.

"I'll take you on that offer". Jade took the photo album and put it back.

They eventually fell asleep. They passed the first day here. At least their dad didn't ask about the spell. They probably wouldn't tell him about it anyway.

Chapter Text

Ruggie threw the sea sponge he was using to shine the tables to the side. "If I don't get paid then I don't clean".

"We'll clean tonight, tomorrow we will leave". Jamil picked up the sea sponge for Ruggie to use.

"Fine". He resumed his cleaning.

"We should call Riddle again". Kalim suggested.

"Sure". Silver held up his pendant to his mouth. "Call Riddle".

Riddle appeared through the mirror pendant. "Anything new?".

"Azul is very very big. He let us stay the night. And he is probably on to us, but we will be one step ahead". Jamil answered.

"What are you guys planning?".

"Nothing to worry your pretty little redhead about". Jamil shook the pendant to disconnect from Riddle.

"That was mean, say goodbye". Kalim tried to stare angrily at Jamil.

"No".

"So what's the plan? We don't have one". Ruggie swam to the conversation.

"We will leave tomorrow night in search of those eels. We will replenish here then leave". Jamil stopped cleaning the table.

"Anything after that?". Ruggie asked.

"Well, I-". Jamil started.

"Dinner!". Cece came to the boys with some food. "I'm sorry to ask but please eat here. I don't want to wake anyone or disturb them".

"Thank you for the food!". Kalim went to the salmon she had and got some for himself. "Wait, Jamil".

Kailm handed the salmon to Jamil. Jamil took a while to inspect it, and even with magic. He found that the salmon had no poison. "All good".

Kalim took the salmon back and dug in.

They all quickly followed. By the time they were finished, there was no salmon left. It was a reasonable amount so they needn't worry.

"All done?". Cece came back to check on them. She took a minute to inspect the restaurant. "You boys did a good job!".

"Thanks, Miss Ashengrotto". Silver went to hand the plates to her.

"Call me Cece". She took the plates and put her tentacles behind their backs to make them move with her. "Come, time to sleep".

They all followed. She showed them the guest room. The seaweed bed was massive, even if they all had to share it. She said that it was a little small for her, and they could see why she was huge of course in a good way.

They went to try to sleep on the seaweed bed. They tried a few different positions, with the only one who fell asleep being Silver. The man could fall asleep on a floor of needles.

"If you need blankets then I don't have any to spare for you guys. It's not really normalized, and with ocean physics, the royals are the only ones who have a surplus of it". Cece fixed the seaweed bed from their moving.

"You have a successful restaurant and can't afford blankets?". Jamil finally got into a comfortable position.

"It doesn't matter, octo and predators don't really need it". She went out of the room.

"So what's the plan? How will we find the twins?". Ruggie went to Jamil.

"Riddle told me how Jade pestered him and Azul in the hallway". Jamil answered.

"What does that have to do with anything?".

"He talked to Azul. He made interactions. If he doesn't care, then why go to him? Why make the trouble?".

"Are you saying that he will come to the restaurant?".

"No, I'm saying that he will come close enough, Floyd too probably".

"But where?". Kalim interjected.

"Somewhere hidden in plain sight probably. Silver has forest animals doing his bidding, how different can ocean animals be?". Jamil answered.

"I have what?". Silver just woke up.

"Go to sleep". Ruggie lowered Silver's head back down.

They all went to sleep eventually. They didn't like the feel of the seaweed but it was better than nothing.

****************

"WAKE UP!". Azul screamed to the others.

They all jolted awake. The aftereffects of that left them feeling dizzy Azul’s voice still slightly ringing in their heads.

"It's dark out!". Jamil shouted.

"That's how we operate. We are nocturnal". Azul picked them up by the tail using his tentacles to help them get up. "Plus I bet you can see fine".

They hadn't focused on it but when they came, when it was bright outside, didn't find many mers. When it became dark, then that is when they met the old mer fish. Dark is actually when they found the restaurant bright and running.

"The restaurant works for long hours. It runs from the beginning of morning into the late morning". Azul hurried with his tentacles for them to move. "They ran it later yesterday because they have more common mer come in, and because my mom likes running the restaurant for as long as she can".

"Do we have to work in the dimness?". Silver asked.

"Yes, don't worry I have something for you guys to do". Azul replied.

The group all ate breakfast with the Ashengrottos. The only thing said was when Azul was introducing them to his family. It went well, with no comments from Kalim, no fighting, and no attempted murder. It was perfect. Well except that Azul and his Grandmimi kept sharing glares.

"So what is this "something" you want us to do?". Jamil asked.

"You guys are going to take care of our garden". Grandmimi answered.

"How will we do that, miss…?". Kalim tried to remember her name.

"Ursula and I will help you guys take care of the garden. It's really simple so don't worry". She went to leave the table. "Come now".

The gang followed. She led them to the back of the building.

The garden was full of white coral. They all looked around to see no other color than bleach-white coral.

Ursula rushed to the coral as fast as she could. "No, no, no, this isn't good. I was only gone for a month". The gang showed confused looks. "This is known as bleached coral. It means that the coral is unhealthy".

"What happened to make it unhealthy?". Kalim tried poking at the coral.

Ursula went around the coral and she seemed to find something. "What's this?".

She picked up on what seemed to be a ball. It was a dark blue, probably so you couldn't notice it.

Ruggie went to touch the ball. "It's warm. Nice".

"No, not nice". She put the ball in her tentacle and squeezed it to flatten it. "Even a little rise in temperature can bleach a coral. Check to see if there is any more. We are lucky that this coral was the only victim".

Jamil went to take the ball out and found that it was made of metal. He was scared at the thought of Ursula flattening it so easily.

They all searched the coral garden. There were about 10 more heat balls around the corals. They all set it off with magic.

"Silver wake up!". Silver fell asleep on one of the corals and Ruggie was trying to wake him.

Silver woke up and then continued to check the garden. He fell asleep again, many times, but they still got the job done.

"All good Ursula!". Jamil finished checking his portion, and everyone else's.

"Great. Now we have to get some crustaceans". Ursula said.

"How do we get some crabs? Is there a shop?". Kalim asked.

"Of course not. Just try searching to find any. I will try to restore the coral". She shooed them off with her tentacles.

They all left to find any crustaceans.

****************

It took all day, or was it night? It took very long for them to find many that they could get. There were plenty of them, it's just that they didn't know how to hold them properly or keep many at once while swimming.

Silver was the best swimmer, but he kept dozing off so the crustaceans kept running off. The others tried to get many, but they kept letting them go because the crustaceans kept using their claws.

In the end, they all took one, it felt uncomfortable but it was better than nothing.

They all arrived back at the garden. They caught a glimpse of Azul and Kai serving people. Or Kai swimming around for orders and Azul giving everyone their food with his tentacles. The octopus didn't even move much.

"We're back, Miss Ursula!". Silver went to give the crap he caught to Ursula but paused.

The coral was in many colors, much different than the bleach white. There were pink, orange, purple, red, and pops of green. It was nothing like before. They were left in awe of how she managed to do that in less than a day.

"Great, crustaceans for the coral!". She swam to them. "Put them on the coral. There are already some fish coming here".

They all put the crustacean to the nearest coral. They didn't say it, but they were glad to let the crustaceans go.

"How did you do this?". Jamil inspected the coral, amazed by the vibrancy.

"Oh a little flora magic. It was nothing. Everyone will tell you I'm the greatest around, but I'm just the only one with magic in general. Excluding Cece and Azul".

Kalim went swimming around all the corals. He brushed his tail against it and poked at a few fish. He was having the time of his life.

Silver joined him in checking out the coral and poking a few fish. After a few minutes, he found a piece of coral that was surprisingly comfortable. He fell asleep naturally.

"When's dinner? I'm starving". Ruggie went to ask Ursula.

"Soon, don't worry. Cece just likes to cook a lot so she runs the restaurant for a long time". Ursula went to the outer part of the garden.

"How are you related to Azul? He's stubborn, arrogant, and always does shady dealings". Jamil went to join Ursula in the outer part.

"Firstly, DON'T talk about my grandson like that. Secondly, most of the things he has, he has gotten from me. I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse". Ursula didn't bother to mention that all the traits Jamil listed were traits she has.

"Sorry. But I don't see it, you're like polar opposites". Jamil swam back to check on Kalim. He found that he and Kalim were in a race.

"I am very stubborn, and it is unfortunate that Azul is just as stubborn". She sank back into the coral to take a nap.

****************

"Dinner!". Cece came to them to alert them of it being time to eat.

They all went to nudge Ursula awake, and Silver too. They woke Silver easily enough, but Cece had to slap her mother awake. Cece was met with a tight squeeze until Ursula saw that it was her.

They all came to dinner to find that Azul and Kai were already there.

"Hello humans". Kai greeted them when they went to the table.

"Kai, my brother, my step-brother, my closest unrelated companion, my younger housemate, the shark I share a house with, sakit ng ulo ko (a headache)". Azul progressively listed off worse things to relate him to Kai. "Greeting a human like that is the same as saying "I'm not a human" what's that?".

"What am I supposed to say?". Kai asked.

"Hello, end of story". Azul was beginning to get annoyed.

"Let me try again". Kai readjusted his sitting position. "Hello, end of story".

Azul smacked his own face at Kai. The shark clearly looked like he didn't regret anything.

"Dinner!". Cece came in with many crabs, wait how the hell did she get those? The gang went to try and find somewhere to sit. They tried to avoid all the tentacles, but it was like they had a mind of their own.

Ursula saw their discomfort and found herself addressing it. "Our tentacles each have a brain inside it. Smaller than the one in our heads, but a brain nonetheless".

It took a minute, but they all got comfortable. The gang was situated across from everyone else. Jamil wanted to do a poison check but knew that Cece wouldn't risk poisoning her own family.

"Why did you make your own restaurant Cece". Kalim felt like he should start up a conversation.

"When I was growing up, my mom and I were the infamous "magic family" around here. Yet despite that, we always struggled to have food to eat. When I found out what cooking was, it was all I wanted to do. The only thing I found joy in. I never really liked magic, though I am good at it and I use it to make meals quicker on some days". Cece went to eat her crab.

"I remember when I came home with the ingredients for our first full meal. You read the waterproof cookbook we had for the ingredients. You were so focused on that meal and wanted nothing to go wrong. It was delicious and you were so proud. You then tried to find any ingredients to cook more things and any substitutes". Ursula added in.

"If you guys were so well known, why didn't you guys have much?". Kalim interjected.

"Kalim, just because someone is well known around a community doesn't mean that they are rich. My Grandma is well known in my town, yet we were still poor. Just because everyone knows you don't mean they are going to give you money". Ruggie pointed to the crab he was eating at Kalim.

"The restaurant is well known now and we make good money, but that's because mer come from very far just for our food. The community around here isn't the richest of course. That is why I only hire mers from around here to let them get the money they need". Cece was looking at the gold coin Kalim gave Kai. It was framed too, the frame probably fell into the ocean.

"What about you Kai?". Kalim pointed to Kai.

Kai was surprised at the conversation being directed at him but only took a minute to collect his thoughts. "Hala bat ako? Joke, (why me? joke) When I was young, my parents were taken. They tried to take me too, that's how I ended up with my scars but failed. I missed a year of school because I was held back a year and never knew why. One day when I was trying to search for my parents again, Cece found me and took me in. I met Azul the next day, hidden in his octopus pot. We didn't talk until a month later, I only saw his black tentacles leaving the octopus pot for food. And I met Ursula a year later. I was afraid of her though at first".

"Don't reveal things about my younger years to anyone". Azul hissed at Kai.

"And what have I done to make you fear me?". Ursula looked like an overdramatic actress.

"1, I make no promises. 2, You were very loud when you were greeting mom and dad". Kai used a matter-of-fact tone.

Cece smirked at that mini-argument. She probably enjoyed it since it didn't involve her, or affected her mom negatively.

"How about you Kalim, what's your life like?". Cece asked.

"I'm the heir of a very rich family from the Scandaling Sands. I have gotten kidnapped exactly 78 times because of that. I live a good life, have fun, and like to party. Jamil is my servant and best friend. He has been looking after me his whole life, I can't imagine what it would be like without him". Kalim dug into his crab.

"Yes, that is all true, except that he are not best friends. And it was 89 times". Jamil broke off one of the crab legs.

Everyone else looked at each other in shock. Kidnapped 89 times!? That has to be a world record.

"Uhhh, Silver how about you?". Cece tried to change the conversation.

"Oh, I have a relatively peaceful life. Father was always coming up with shenanigans and teaching me things. I was also raised by a half fae and full. I am training to be a guard to the fae prince. And lastly, I fall asleep really easily and can't control it".

They didn't find anything weird about what Silver said. They were wondering about how his sleeping habits came about, but nothing bad.

With the exception of Azul and Ursula glaring at Kai, even in the same way. Things were calm, no more conversation. No one bothered to spark up another conversation until they finished.

When they all finished, they all left for their respective rooms.

****************

After about an hour, Jamil checked on everyone to make sure they were sleeping. "All clear".

Everyone moved to the entrance so they could leave. Kalim accidentally knocked into the wall but wasn't hurt.

Kai woke up from the noise of the wall being hit. He swam out to find the cause of the problem. He found Kalims tail leaving the entryway.

Kai went to wake his mother up. "Mom, mom".

Cece woke up to the sound of Kai's voice. "What?".

"The humans are leaving". Kai shook her tentacle.

"Follow them".

"Why can't Azul?".

"He's sleeping. Plus they are probably chasing some curiosity. Tell them to come back inside". She went back to sleep.

Kai left to go after them. They hadn't gotten far so he was able to follow up easily.

"What are you guys doing?". Kai swam in front of the group to stop them.

"Nothing for you to worry about". Jamil swam around him.

Kai grabbed Jamil's tail. "What are you guys doing?". Kai was clearly aggravated.

"We have something to deal with. Thanks for the food, but we must be off". Jamil took his tail back.

"Fine, be my guest". Kai left back for his home.

When Kai arrived he came back to Cece. "They want to do their own thing".

"Just go get them. Drag them back if you have to. They'll get killed out there". Cece pushed him out the door frame with her tentacle.

Kai went back out to find the others. He found them after a few minutes. He chose not to go up to them this time. He had been incredibly rusty in his predator skills, spying and waiting for the right moment in this case. It would be good to get some practice.

He followed them into the night, day? He just followed his curiosity, also bubbling up inside him.

‘A metal rod? Putangina, they haven’t been this far’ he thinks, he grabs it and places it on his little satchel, he plans to show the guys as a warning.

Chapter Text

It had been for what Kai thought was hours. From small talk and judging by what they were doing, they were going nowhere in particular. He thought to just swim to them, show them the metal rod, and make them tell him where they were going.

"This is going nowhere". The hyena moaned.

"It's the ocean, what do you expect? It's big". Silver scratched Ruggie’s ear to calm him.

"Maybe we should contact Riddle. It could pass the time". Kalim suggested.

"That seems like a good idea". Said Silver.

"Call Riddle". Kalim held the pendant so he could contact Riddle.

Riddle showed on the pendant like all the other times. "I gave you guys a fair amount of time. Anything new?".

"We helped Azul's grandma with the coral garden. It was bleach white, she said that it was unhealthy. There were like 11 hot metal balls that changed the temperature which made it turn bleach white. After we got rid of it, she sent us to get crustaceans for the garden. When we returned she put the garden back to its colourful glory using a little flora magic she said. Then after that, we ate dinner then snuck out to search for the twins". Kalim talked very fast but explained everything nonetheless.

Riddle was silent for a minute. He was trying to grasp everything Kalim said. "Was it a big garden?".

"Yes! It was enjoyable!". Kalim squeaked up."There was an abundance of different corals!".

"She couldn't have used a little flora magic. It can take a month or less to be bleached. But it should have taken a decade to return the coral to its natural colour, at least without magic. That is definitely not a "little" magic". It sounded like Riddle was flipping through pages of a book.

"What does that mean then? She said that she had magic but wasn't the strongest at it". Ruggie intercepted.

"That can't be a little magic. It could speed up the process, but it would still take at least 7 years at our skill". They heard the sound of Riddle slamming a book on his desk. "She must be more powerful than she's letting on to cure the coral in less than a day".

"Why do you know so much about coral?". Kalim asked.

"My mother once got hyper-fixated on the ocean because she heard about a drowning incident. She made me search up everything about the ocean and I learned a lot about coral". Riddle frantically was now flipping through pages, then stopped.

"What are you doing?". Jamil couldn't take the sound of the book pages. "What's that book about?".

"It's about the Great Seven. One of them was a resident of the ocean. The Sea Witch". Riddle was reading the first page of the Sea Witch.

It said the most common knowledge of the Sea Witch at first. She was very powerful and in control of the ocean. She struck deals with unfortunate souls and was known for her benevolence because of it.

Yet there was this one section about her relationship with Triton that just didn't sit right with Riddle.

○The infamous Sea Witch was known to be the most powerful in the ocean, even more, powerful than the Triton (if you didn't include the Trident). It was always rumoured that once a soul whose coral reef was bleached had come to her for help. The Sea Witch was asked to bring the reef back to its former glory.

○The powerful Triton wanted to fix it so the soul didn't have to sign with the Sea Witch, but she mocked his magic. They bantered and she convinced him that whoever could cure the garden without the Trident was superior.

○They both had a side of the reef they had to cure. After the signal to start was called, they both worked on fixing the reef. Triton had tried to help his side, but there was barely anything more than tinted pastels. Coral was bright and colourful so it wasn't good for him. Yet the great Sea Witch was able to fix her side in an hour, and Tritons too. Triton refused to accept defeat, so he got his Trident and banished her back to her cave.

○The creatures of the reef were sworn by Triton to never tell a living soul about him losing to Ursula. They didn't tell a "Living" soul, they told ghosts. Those ghosts had told fish, which told mers, which told us this tale. Despite that he would never admit it, the Sea Witch was the most powerful.

"Why are you searching up the Sea Witch? We already covered her towards the end of last year". Ruggie asked.

"Was there anything bad or wrong you said to Azuls grandma?". Riddle sounded worried.

"Well, I did insult Azul in front of her". Jamil said ashamed.

"You are so lucky she didn't smite you". Riddle could be heard slapping his forehead. "I'm pretty sure she's the Sea Witch…".

"1. The Sea Witch is most probably dead. 2. There's no way that the great Sea Witch is related to Azul. 3. What makes you think that she would just be lounging around in common day?". Jamil stated.

Riddle paused for a minute then answered. "They are both octopus mer. They are both great magic users. They both make or made shady deals with a golden contract for unfortunate souls. Both are great in alchemy. Both had two eels. Both have a mole on their chins, though on opposite sides".

Everyone considered it for a moment.

Kai was shooketh. His Grandmimi, being one of the Great Seven? The Sea Witch he admired? Cece and Azul being blood-related to her?! He was thinking about anything wrong he said to her or while in her presence. Unfortunately, that was a long list.

“Putek ina anong pinang sasabi mo? (What the fuck, what are u saying?) there is no way that my Grandmimi is the great Sea Witch! You're probably wrong. She never admitted to being the Sea Witch! She would have told us!". Kai came out from the seaweed, he couldn’t stop himself anymore.

Everyone tried to jump, then realized that they can't do that in these forms.

"Who's that?". Riddle asked.

"Kai Ashengrotto, kapatid ni Azul at wag mo ako ganyanin ako ang magtatanong". Kai came to Silver and took the pendant off of him for his use.

Everyone fairly understood it as they have their translating magic on he said “Kai Ashengrotto, Brother of Azul, and don’t do me like that, I’m the one asking the questions”

"Azul has a brother?".

Kai calms down a little, speaking back to normal fish language

"Step, I'm a mer shark, but still". Kai shrugged. "What evidence do you have about my Grandmimi being the Sea Witch?".

"Okay, I can see that this is new for you. You need to understand that this is a strongly evidenced theory". Riddle calmly stated.

"Maybe she's not THE Sea Witch, but a descendant of hers". Kai suggested.

"There's no way. Unless the Sea Witch found a mate who was also a god and her children for god mates too. The magic would only be a portion of hers, if your grandma could do that then she's THE Sea Witch".

"A god?".

"You didn't know? The Sea Witch was the sister of Triton. Who was technically a god". Riddle was concerned about how Kai didn't piece it together.

"That makes sense for the god part, but still". Kai was scratching his head at all this information. "Wait, would that make Azul one-third god or something?".

"Wait Kai what are you doing here? Didn't you say 'be my guest' when we left". Jamil had his usual smug grin.

"Mimi's orders". Kai replied. "Plus, what are you guys doing here? You didn't say why you were in the Coral Sea either".

"We have a suspicion that the eels Azul called companions are trying to ruin something". Said, Jamil.

"Do you know where they are actually?". Kalim excitedly asked. "It would be a big help".

"Ugh no, I hate eels. I tolerated the twins because they were close to Azul, I didn't want to be their friends". Kai stuck his tongue out at the thoughts of the twins. Especially with the information of them leaving his brother to rot. If he needed to lie, lie he shall

"Well if you can't answer that, can you answer why you have a metal rod?". Ruggie poked the rod.

Kai realised that he was still holding the rod. He was going to use it as a warning in case they wanted to try something, but he can't tell them that. Maybe he wanted a way of self-defence? No, they would think of him as wimpy since he's a predator mer. Maybe it was to help move things? No, he's quite strong already. Maybe to help them? He can’t reveal that such metal only ever landed on the Leech’s territory.

"I was going to give it to you guys. In case we encountered something dangerous. I can take care of myself, but I'm not sure about you guys, especially since you're in a new habitat". Kai saw that Jamil and Ruggie knew he was lying.

"May I use it? I work better in combat when I have a weapon in hand. Hand-to-hand combat isn't my style". Silver reached his hand to Kai.

Kai hesitated but gave Silver the metal rod. Silver tried swinging it around, or just getting a feel of how it works underwater. Silver then spent a good minute inspecting the whole rod.

"Notice anything?". Kai asked. Prayed that the mud hides such important stuff

"Yeah, there's an engraving on this that says, Leech". Silver then realized after saying what it meant.

"Silver, please tell me that the metal rod Kai supposedly had isn't custody of the eels". Riddle was begging that they hadn't picked up a weapon from the twins.

"There's also a map on here". Silver brought it to the group.

Everyone looked at the metal rod to see Silver's map (even Riddle. Kalim had to position the pendant so the redhead could see it).

Jamil put an annoyed face on and slowly turned his head to Silver. "What map? These are just a bunch of lines".

"No, the rod is a map. You see all those marked squares, that's a grid. And where it seems to be chuffed is supposed to resemble certain areas. There are even bits that resemble things we could probably see if we followed this". Silver was pointing to a chuffed towards the bottom of the rod. "This is where we are. It has a small scratch next to the big one. Resembling the seaweed patch where Kai was".

Everyone was staring at Silver as the man had just found a way to travel to Mars in the most obscure way possible. Silver was either taking a lot of drugs and this was nonsense, or the man was really a genius in disguise. Knowing how often he sleeps, it could be either or.

"Silver you genius!". Kailm went to hug Silver very tightly. Silver obviously wasn't used to it, but didn't try to move out of it.

When Kalim finally let Silver go, the silver-haired man pointed to a big rusted spot at the top, which had the words 'LEECH' in the middle. "That is probably where they are".

"Great, we have a map. Let's get going". Ruggie started to swim.

Kai grabbed him by the tail. "I don't know much about the twins, but I know that they are a Mafia family. You guys can't just swim up in there and expect to not be killed".

"Then come with us". Kalim suggested.

"I don't have a death wish, they have their side we have ours". Kai started to swim back.

"You don't know what might await you. It's probably the only time you could ever have a chance like this". Kalim used his big-eyed stare.

Kai thought about it. He doesn't have a death wish. He does want to know about the world, even if it's still in the ocean. "I'm in". ‘Great sea witch ayoko na po’ He thinks (Great sea witch, I don’t wanna do this anymore)

"Great, let's go". Kalim took Kai's hand and swam ahead.

"Disconnect". It was Riddle this time who ended the call. The redhead has disappeared from the glass of the pendants.

Silver led the group since he was the only one who could understand the map. They all left for the twins, and what might await.

*****************

"Hey, Cece, where's Kai? Did you send him to do something? I don't see him". Ursula was searching the house but saw no sign of the shark mer.

"I think I set him out to get the humans". Cece was trying to recall last night. "I was exhausted, so I don't 100% remember".

"Where were the kids going?".

"I don't know, I just sent him out to go get them".

"Then shouldn't they be back already?".

"Yeah they should…". Cece realized the mistake she made by making Kai get them instead of just getting them herself.

"You shouldn't make decisions when you're sleepy".

"I know, I know! I didn't think much of it. They aren't nocturnal so they probably used the sunlight to properly search the ocean".

"It's dark now though. They should be heading back". Ursula patted Cece on the back. "I'll go wake up Azul. We still have one boy".

Ursula left for Azul's room. The younger octopus was soundly asleep on his seaweed bed. He was curled up, of course, so he didn't take up much of the room he probably could have.

Ursula leaned into Azul, then poked his belly repeatedly, grinning.

Azul tried to move Ursula's hand but was still very sleepy. "Stop".

"Wake up my chubby grandson".

"What does that make you Grandmimi?".

"Trying to be smart. You should be kind to people you want or need to make a deal with".

"Why would I need to make a deal with you?". Azul started to get up.

Ursula thought about it for a second. She knew that Azul was taking every genetic trait he could from her. She also knew that Azul probably found out that something was missing from his bag.

"Well, it's manners. One might question your upbringing with rude manners". Ursula started to make her way to leave the room. "Now get ready for breakfast and work. Oh and Kai and your friends have been missing since last night. We'll discuss it over breakfast".

"Okay". Azul lazily rubbed his eye, then realized what his Grandmimi just said. "What?!".

****************

Cece had explained how Kai had seen the group leave. And how she sent him to follow them and bring them back.

"Shouldn't they be back?". Azul asked.

"That's what I'm wondering". Ursula added.

"I just sent him to get them. If he didn't do that then it's his fault". Cece brought more food from the kitchen. "If they can't eat this, then you guys have to".

Azul cursed under his breath. He didn't want to eat much, especially with his increasing weight. "I still want to fit my clothes when I come back to school".

"Then just get a bigger size". Ursula put some of the food on Azul's plate. "Eat".

"I'd rather just eat my original portion".

"I'd rather that you eat what is given to you".

It was a staring contest. Except in a staring contest, you can move your eyes or any part of your body as long as you don't blink. This was a personal contest, grandmother vs grandson. If Azul wins then he only eats a little, but if Ursula wins then he eats as much as he can take. If one of them moved, then it was game over.

Cece was tempted to just poke their eyes to stop this nonsense and make them blink. Cece swore that Azul got everything from her mother. Azul had done things as a child that her mother did to her, even before he met her for when he could remember things.

Cece remembered the time when Azul was 5 and didn't want to go to sleep despite her pleading. He used the glaring thing that he is doing with Ursula now. Ursula hadn't even done that in front of him, or more accurately what Cece believed. For all she knew, her mom did that with Azul when he was 3 or something.

The impulse to do it was too strong, she smacked their heads from behind for their foreheads to each other. They both probably had a headache from it, but she didn't care.

"Mom!".

"Cece".

"Yell at me later. The restaurant opens in a little while. Just eat however much you want. The extra can be given to neighbours". Cece continued to eat her portion of food.

Azul and Ursula kept sharing minor glances, but Cece didn't mind. As long as they weren't mentally challenging each other, at least visibly. Cece heard of Morse code by tapping. She would be doomed to a life of angry tapping if they learned it.

Cece thought about how when she was little, she didn't want to become her mom. She loved her mom, but her mother was adventurous and wasn't hesitant to do shady things. Cece wanted a simple life in her restaurant and not have to worry much about bad mers.

'Bad Mers'. She remembered dropping her twins because they wanted to run a Mafia. She always thought of where they were now. She never told her mom of it, it wasn't something for her to judge. She would apologize for her actions if she had the chance.

She never meant to hurt Sullivan and Melania, but she had morals and a good conscience if you asked her. It would be wrong to just let a Mafia-run free and kill mers, but what she did probably did more harm than good.

"Mom?".

Cece realized that she zoned out. She almost hit her head against the wall when she hopped up. "Yes?".

"You zoned out for a minute there".

"There's nothing to worry about Azul". Cece continued eating, but a question popped up in her mind.

There was no way though. They could have died, but Sullivan was experienced and took care of himself. And Melania could be strong enough to take many in a fight.

"What are Jade and Floyd's parents' names?". Cece regretted asking the question the moment it came out.

Azul was taken aback by the conversation going to the twins. He tried to think of what their names could be. "The twins probably mentioned it only once, but I think it's…Sullivan and Melania. Or something like that".

Cece hit her head against the wall in the realization. Her son dated the sons of her high school best friends on whom she turned her back on. "Putangina". She was thought by her son, well not directly but she has heard it and found herself copying it, it's how the word rolls off her tongue

"Why are you interested in the twins' parents?". Azul asked.

"Oh would you look at the time, I better start the restaurant". Cece went to leave the coral house.

Azul turned to Ursula.

"I can't read minds, I don't know. We'll ask her later". Ursula continued with her breakfast.

***************

"Who's the idiot that lost our map!". Melania was interrogating every mer that came into her sight.

Jade and Floyd were playing a game of tic tac toe but went to see what the trouble was.

"What's got ma's tail in a twist?". Floyd came to the mer shark who was the most recent in the interrogations.

"You know those metal rods we use as maps. Well someone lost one and she's worried that someone could use it to find out where we are". The mer shark said.

"From what mom told us, she must still have the fear of losing her home". Jade turned to Floyd and gestured to him to go follow their mother with him.

"Did you lose it?". Melania was holding a hammerhead mer by the throat.

"No, but I know who did it". He tried to escape her grasp, but she had a vice-like grip.

"Who?". She squeezed his neck tighter. "Please hurry, I like squeezing".

He whispered someone's name to her, the twins couldn't pick up who it was, but they were dead. She immediately let the hammerhead go and turned in the twins' direction.

She moved her head so the twins weren't blocking the way for her. "YOU".

She pointed to this stingray mer. She was presentably new, but she knew that she was done for.

"No one told me that it was a map. The group left me and in a fit of rage I threw the metal rod towards the sand. I didn't think much of it. I'm new, I just came two days ago". She was pleading for her life to be saved from Melania's wrath.

"I won't kill you since you're new, but here's a lesson. Don't leave any weapons or anything you are given by higher ranks unless told to. and that if you mess up then you face my wrath if lucky. Unlike my husband, I like to make it quick".

Melania grabbed the poor stingray's jaw with one hand, and then with her other, she took the girl's left eye out. It only required two fingers and it was easier since she had sharp nails. There was lots of blood in the water, but Melania licked it all up.

Melania let the girl go and went back to the twins. "I'm sure she learned her lesson. Now why don't you help me make a new map".

"You just took that girl's eye out ma". Floyd didn't know if to be impressed or terrified of his mom. Both probably.

"That's not the worst thing you guys have seen me done, or that I have done". Melania was leading them to the supply-making room.

She's not lying, she has done much worse. They have seen her pluck the scales off of mers like people do to chickens above the surface. She didn't mind torturing mers, she tried to torture anyone at every opportunity. It was something that didn't bore her, no matter how many times she did it.

"What are we doing here mom?". Jade saw that there were a handful of mers who were working on some spears. Probably from their mom's request.

"We are making a map, due to recent events".

"You are never interested in making anything. You just use what others give you to do something". Floyd was looking around the room, scanning it.

"We make things in our everyday life. When you write then you have made a word in a space that wasn't there before. In visual arts, you've made some art that no one else could have made. Even in eating you've filled a room in your stomach that was less full before that meal". Melania went to get a metal rod. "I just make crime scenes that wouldn't have been there if it wasn't for me".

"Show us how to do it, mom". Jade grabbed a metal rod, which was followed by Floyd.

She showed them how to lay out the grid, where to make the chuffs and scratches, and where everything was in the ocean.

"I would think that something like this would bore you, mom". Jade showed his metal rod to get mom approved.

"Well, I don't like losing my home. This is the fifth home ‘thing’ the Mafia family has been in, thanks to her who must not be named". Melania checked the metal rod and approved it.

"It's not like anyone would look at this and think that it's a map. Even if our name is on it". Floyd also gave his metal rod to her to get mom approval.

"I don't take risks on where it matters. I've learned to control my moods… sometimes". Melania checked Floyd's rod and approved it too. "Now let's eat, I'm starving".

She went to leave the room. Jade and Floyd shared a knowing nod. She was obviously uncomfortable with where the conversation was going. They then went to follow her.

While in the middle of eating, they saw Sullivan coming to them.

"Come, we need to speak in private". He then left, expecting them to follow him.

They went to get one last bite, then followed him to where he was leading them. He led them to his study, the most important room in the whole place.

"What do you call us out in the middle of eating for Sullivan?". Melania was still famished and was upset about having to stop.

"Boys, do you have the potion or spell about changing appearances?". Sullivan asked

Chapter Text

"Shush Floyd, they might find us". Jade was trying to keep his brother quiet in their hiding spot.

"No they won't, we're in the best hiding spot ever". Floyd examined the treasure chest they were hiding in.

They heard the surfboard door move, indicating that someone was coming in.

"Wow, my boys hid so well, I can't possibly imagine where they are hiding". Melania was searching everywhere in the room, except the treasure chest.

"I don't know where they could be either".

The twins covered each other's mouths. Floyd started to giggle thinking that they couldn't find them. Jade couldn't help but join him, and they ended up giggling together.

"Oh Sullivan, I wonder where that giggling is coming from?". Melania moved to the treasure chest. "Maybe it's in here?".

Melania quickly lifted the treasure chest to find the twins hiding there.

Sullivan checked the treasure chest to see the twins hiding there too. "Real life treasure! And I thought it was only in tales!". Sullivan lifted Jade from the chest and held him like a baby.

Melania followed with picking up Floyd. "Let me keep this treasure! It has a good smile!".

"Let us go!". Floyd tried to escape from his mother's embrace, but she just kept squeezing tighter.

"Oh no, my treasure doesn't want me. Well I better put it back then". Melania went to put Floyd back in the chest, but he kept going to her.

"No, I want you ma!". Floyd went to hug his mom.

"I want mom's hugs!". Jade tried to escape his father to hug his mom.

Sullivan tried to keep Jade close to him but failed. Jade went to hug his mom along with Floyd. "I'm hurt".

"Mom gives good hugs!". Jade hugged his mom tighter.

"Well I can give good hugs too. Hug me to see". Sullivan held his arms out.

Jade hesitated at first but went to hug his father. Sullivan squeezed him tight so Jade couldn't escape this time.

"I wanna hug pops too now". Floyd left his mother's embrace to join his dad.

"You took my children away from me!". Melania didn't like the sight of BOTH her children hugging their father. Leave one to hug her at least.

"After you took them from me Melania". Sullivan squeezed them tighter to prove his point.

"I'll hug ya ma". Floyd left his father to go back to his mom. "Good".

"Yep". Melania squeezed him tight.

****************

Jade and Floyd were still as stone, silent. They did find it. They had the spell in their satchel. Should they tell their father that though?

"No, unfortunately we didn't. We sent someone to find it and we tried to search for it ourselves, but we were unsuccessful". Jade used the same tone he used on clients for if he needed to lie. It was a pure habit to use it now.

Melania went to Jade and stretched his mouth to the farther of his face. "He's lying".

No one understood how she could tell how someone was lying by doing that. They didn't even know where she learned from. It never failed her though.

"You boys know better than to lie to me. Now where is it?". Sullivan grabbed Jade by his black hair streak.

"Why should we tell you?". Jade tried to move, but didn't want to lose his hair to his father's vice-like grip.

Sullivan wrapped Jade's hair around his hand. "Because my word is law around here, and I am your father, so you better tell me".

"Or what. Enlighten me, old man". Jade was ready for anything his father had planned.

"Jade finally lost it". Floyd couldn't help but mutter to himself.

"You want him alive?". Sullivan smirked at Jade.

Jade knew who he meant. It was Azul, their once beloved octopus. Jade knew that he would be able to find Azul and kill him in a week tops.

"You wouldn't".

"I would. Now where is it?".

Oh how Jade wished he could take Azuls unique magic. He wished that he could use his unique magic on his dad to see if he was telling the truth.

"What if we still refuse even if you do kill him?". Floyd went to his father's arm, trying to free his brother.

"I'd kill one of you. The youngest, I know who it is". Sullivan grabbed Floyd black hair stand in his other hand.

The twins didn't know who was older or younger. Their parents never said who was older, no matter how much pestering. Father claimed that it wasn't important until it was time to take the family business. Mom claimed that she didn't know, though she obviously did.

"No you aren't going to kill one of our sons". Melania used her sharp nails and struck Sullivan in the arms. He let the twins' hair go.

Jade and Floyd went back to make sure he wouldn't have a grip on it again. They checked to make sure their hair was okay after the mistreatment.

"Get it if you don't want any consequences". Sullivan held his hand out to shake.

"Only if Azul isn't harmed". Jade put his hand in his father's.

"Deal". Sullivan shaked his hand with Jades.

"Boys, have you tested the spell?". Melania checked her son's hair. "I don't wanna turn pink if it goes wrong".

"No". Jade realized that they hadn't checked it. They just took Azul’s word for it. They were so used to it so it made sense. "We'll get it now. Come Floyd".

Jade and Floyd left their father's office.

"We missed something in raising them". Sullivan pouted.

"Whatever?". Melania asked.

"They can't tell if someone had their fingers crossed".

After they were a moderate distance away from the office, Jade pitched his plan to Floyd. "I have a plan".

"It better be good".

"We perform the spell wrong purposely. That way, father can't use it to his advantage".

"Why don't you want pops to use it? Plus he couldn't use it without us anyway. We have magic".

"Floyd, imagine the possibility that we have to get pulled from school to do this with our father". Jade held Floyd's head to make sure he was paying attention.

"Yeah, that sounds terrible".

"Exactly, so we will perform the spell, but miss a small part of it".

"That sounds good".

The twins left for their room. Unbeknownst to them that there was a certain stingray mer wanting to earn some respect.

****************

"I'm going to kill you all!". Jamil was tired of everything that had happened in the past few hours from them following the metal rod map.

After 30 minutes, they needed food. Kai said that they could only take sardines or kelp for where they were currently. They took the sardines, but it wasn't enough to satisfy their stomachs. Though Ruggie did eat it like it was his last meal, savoring every bite.

About an hour 30 in, they encountered a great white. While trying to swim away, Kalim accidentally hit his arm against a fallen wooden plank. It bled a little bit, but it was enough for the sharks to go straight at them.

They would have died if they didn't remember to use their magic. Silver had the idea to freeze the water the sharks were in, which was successful. Though Kai had to endure the backlash from Jamil because he was a shark mer. How is a Shark afraid of a shark?

Though Kai did offer to lick up Kalims injury. Jamil saw that he was going to take a bite. Kai was a shark mer, so he had shark instincts. Actually tasting the blood must have set something in him. Jamil had to smack him with the rod so he didn't literally eat Kalim. Cursing in the process.

Kai did talk to the shark, Asking for shortcuts around here, everyone behind him so they won’t get eaten.

When they hit 3 hours (where they are now), they were all tired. They went to sleep and kept a routine for someone to keep watch for any dangers. Unfortunately, Silver fell asleep when it was his turn.

There was this crab mer who was trying to steal the map. If Kai didn't wake up from the change of water, then they would have been successful. Kai had to bite them on the arm so they would leave them and the map. The crab mer left after the bite and was cursing that he was only there because of an arrogant stingray.

Jamil woke up after the bite because the crab accidentally hit him. He saw the blood in the water and had one thing in mind, sharks.

He tried to sway it away, but Kai was already licking it up. Kai was savoring every drop, he was in a frenzy. Jamil hit him with the metal rod again.

"I'm going to kill you all!". Jamil facepalmed at the past predicaments.

Kalim, Silver, and Ruggie all woke up from Jamil shoutings.

"Hey don't blame me, it's not something that I can control". Kai argued.

"Can't you just hold your nose?"

"I will smell it before I even have the chance to. You try to deal with it!".

"How much blood do you think you need to lick up for you to go on a murder rampage?” the hyena amused.

"Did you forget the past events?". Jamil asked.

"No, but it's not the worst thing ever".

Jamil came to Ruggie and held the hyena's head in his hands. "It has barely been 10 hours since we started. We are fucked".

"If my calculations are correct, then it should only be 5 hours until we reach the end". Silver showed them the map, and where they were.

"What are we going to do when we actually get there?". The mer shark asked.

"We are powerful magical users, excluding Kai. We can probably take them on". Jamil suggested.

"I can use magic. I just don't have a unique spell". Kai interjected.

"That helps. We might have a chance if we keep a balance for both, defence, and offence and if we don't give Floyd a chance to use his unique magic". Jamil added.

"Do you guys have spells to prevent that? Or is it your unique magic?". Kai asked.

"This is everyone's unique magic". Ruggie came to answer. "Me: Laugh with me. I can make people mimic my movements.
Jamil: Snake Whisper. Can hypnotize someone if they look in his eyes.
Kalim: Oasis Maker. Makes lots of water with little magic. Though lots of water won't be useful if we are in the ocean".

"What about Silver's unique magic?".

"I don't have one either".

"At least I'm not alone. What about Riddle?".

"His is Off With Your Head. Can block off someone's magic". The hyena considered something. "Could be really useful here".

"Yeah, more useful than mine. I make it rain a lot, not useful". Kalim slouched at him bringing nothing to the table.

"I remember that the twins' unique magic is: “Shock The Heart” for Jade, can make someone tell the truth if they are distressed, dumb, and can only be used once per person. And Floyd is “Bind the heart”, interferes with someone's magic and bounces it back". The mer shark added. "I always thought that it should be the other way around.

"I think the names fit it". Silver added.

"Battle plan?". The mer shark asked again.

"Sneak in there until we find the twins. We will try to avoid as much trouble as possible". The snake of Scrabia answered.

"It's a Mafia family…eh, you live once". Kai came to Silver. "Lead the way".

****************

"I'll have the seaweed spaghetti".

"I'll get the lobster".

"I want the sardine plate".

Orders and orders were coming from everywhere. Azul could handle it of course but it was easier with Kai. The mer shark took orders, gave it to the kitchen, then Azul took the food from the kitchen to give to everyone, from which Kai told him which table belonged to which.

The betafish mer that could have covered for Kai was taking a sick day. She had plenty of sick days left for the year and she was an excellent worker so she had every right to. But it would have still been easier with another mer.

He ran a business so he knew how important lots of people were, even if that meant he got less money. After about 3 hours (with a 30 min break of course) he met with an insulting customer.

"Where's my food?". The catfish Azul had the unpleasure of dealing with asked.

"Sir, I only took your food not even 3 minutes ago, and we are a little understaffed".

"It's only seaweed spaghetti, it should barely take a minute".

"Please wait about 10 minutes". Azul went to the other customers.

Azul took a quick order from 5 mers in 3 minutes, all from the same table. He was about to go to the next one until the catfish yelled for his food again.

"Where's my food?!".

"Please wait a few more minutes sir". Azul was losing patience.

Took the orders of a couple here for a date, 2 minutes.

"Where's my food?!".

"Sir I ask that you wait another 5 minutes, let me take the others orders please".

Was barely able to take one mers order, 25 seconds.

"Where is my food, you fat octo?!" The catfish yelled loud enough to alert the whole restaurant.

Azul turned around slowly to the catfish. He had war flashbacks from when he was a kid getting bullied for his weight.

"Oh please, you fat catfish. What are you talking about? You can't fat shame someone when you're fatter than them. Now get out of here before I drag you out for insulting my grandson!". Ursula had interjected into the ordeal before anyone could react.

Azul saw everyone who entered the restaurant, yet never saw his Grandmimi enter the restaurant. She always managed to be in the restaurant at either the best time or the worst time. This was the worst time.

He heard a few whispers of mers who thought it was embarrassing for his grandma to stick up for him.

The catfish went up and slowly left. Having to deal with the embarrassment of everyone looking at him and whispering. There was this one mer who insulted the guy, but Azul couldn't catch who unfortunately. He would have given them a discount.

Azul decided to look towards his Grandmimi. She gave him a 'sweet' smile. He wanted to tell her to never do that again and that he could have dealt with it, but he had work to do.

*****************

After the restaurant officially closed they went back home. It closed earlier than usual, probably because of today's events.

"Mom". Cece didn't know how to start what she was going to say.

"Cece". Ursula smirked.

"Grandmimi". Azul pleaded.

"Grandson".

"Mom". Azul pleaded to his mom this time.

"Son".

"I think that's enough for introductions. Let's have dinner, I'll be waiting in my room". Ursula went to leave but Cece and Azul held her back.

"Mom, you can't interject into everything". Cece pleaded to Ursula.

"Whatever do you mean?". Ursula 'innocently' asked.

"Grandmimi Ursula, I should have dealt with that catfish myself".

Ursula's eyes widened at the formalities. 'Grandmimi Ursula', that was step-down. She was hurt at that comment.

"He should have dealt with it mom. He's not little anymore". Cece sat her mother down on the coral floor. "We discussed this the day before Azul came for the break. He's not a little kid anymore".

"I've got this mom". Azul patted his mom's shoulder, indicating for her to leave.

"Ok". Cece went to the kitchen to cook, obviously eavesdropping on them.

"I SHOULD have dealt with it, Ursula!". Azul screamed at her.

"What was so wrong with me interjecting?".

"Everything!". Azul grabbed the hair on his head. "I should have told him to leave the restaurant. I should have told him off. You shouldn't have acted on anything".

"It's not like it made anything worse? What did I do that made everything worse?".

"It's embarrassing that my grandma had to step in to deal with someone for me when I'm an adult!". Azul went to squeeze his own tentacles.

"You think I haven't been embarrassed, oh I've been embarrassed. This is just one minor incident, Azul". Ursula threw her hands in her hair mockingly.

"I've been bullied for years in elementary school, Ursula. I finally have enough confidence to do things like: give a speech, talk to a crowd, not think about every single sentence when talking comfortably with someone".

Ursula just stood in silence. "I get that you must have had traumatic memories of when I did that. I'm sorry sweetie". Ursula went to hug Azul. "I should probably allow you to poison him if you wanted too". Ursula chuckled.

Azul sprang out of his Grandmimi's embrace. "You took the Wolfsbane".

"What do you mean?".

"Why did you take the Wolfsbane? Why do you need it?".

"I don't even know what Wolfsbane is". Ursula started to go to her room.

Azul held her back with his tentacles. "I wanted to use it in case there were any unwanted sea creatures in the garden. I wanted to give it as a coming home present actually".

"I made one comment about poison and you think I took your 'Wolfsbane' . It's ridiculous.

"I can tell you took it. I know it!".

"You know nothing Azul". Ursula started to have electric shots running through her fingers.

"Maybe I don't know anything because you won't tell me! Just tell me where it is and I'll leave this alone".

"I didn't take it". Ursula shook Azul by the shoulders.

All the electricity that was in her hands went into Azul. He was now unconscious, because of her. Ursula didn't know what to do.

"What did you do mom?!". Cece came rushing to Azul's side. "What did you do…?". Cece started to cry softly.

"He will be fine Cece. Let's put him back on his bed. We will check on him later".

"I'll put him back and check him. You have done enough mom". Cece took Azul with her tentacles and started to move to his room.

"I didn't mean for this to happen". Ursula sunk down impossibly low.

"You never mean for anything bad to happen do you?". Cece tried to hold some tears back. "No food tonight. I'm going to look after my son".

Cece put Azul down on his bed and stayed by his side. Ursula wanted to be by his side too and see what she could do to wake him. She had cast that before, it would only last about a few hours. But Cece didn't know that.

****************

Ursula felt mad at herself. She didn't even have a good enough reason for keeping the Wolfsbane for herself. Much less not telling Azul that she had it.

When she found it. She thought it might come in handy for later. She found herself looking at it a lot when she was in her room. Took every excuse in her head to take even a glimpse of it.

She remembered that she once used Wolfsbane to poison an old 'lover' from when she was in her human form. She wanted the money so she poisoned him with Wolfsbane and never got caught. She always found it as an enticing poison after that.

She had poisoned a total of 19 people using it. On the 19th time, someone caught on to her using the poison. She had to go to court for it. She denied everything about the poison. She always denied everything about anything bad she did if it was going to be used against her.

She knew that because of her wanting to deny it, she injured her grandson. She didn't want him to see her as anything worse than this amazing woman. That's why she told off the catfish, why she denied taking the poison.

She would tell Azul the truth, she swore herself to it on the Seven Seas.

****************

"I'm so sorry for what my mother did, Azul". Cece rubbed at Azul's stomach. She kept rubbing more until it became strokes. She was stroking at a spot in which she thought felt weird.

She went to look at the spot. "It can't be. How could he have been cut there? He never mentioned it, plus it looks pretty straight…".

The cut was obviously deep, or else it would have faded with healing magic. It was very straight, so it was done slowly and painfully too. How would someone get the chance to do that to him? He has better self defense than that. Unless…

Cece shook her head. "Get those thoughts out of your head you silly octopus". Cece hit her head with her tentacle. "There's no way your son would harm himself".

Cece laughed it off a little too aggressively. She realized that no one could hear her anyway so it didn't matter anyway.

"Wake up Azul, please".

Chapter Text

"May I come in?". Ursula slowly swayed the seaweed to the side.

Cece was stuck to Azul like glue, but she didn't fall asleep. "Go away, we're sleeping".

"Cece, it was an impulse decision. I didn't know what I was doing at the moment".

"He's in this state because of you mom. I know that you are better at magic than you say, but if it endangers someone I care about then it’s time that you better tell me". Cece hugged Azul tighter.

"I'm the Sea Witch". Ursula waited for a reply.

Cece blinked twice to process the information. She then went into a laughing fit. "I'm also a sea witch mom. Sea Witches are mers who know magic".

"No, not A sea witch. THE Sea Witch".

"No way". Cece was smiling a little too much. Her mom, THE Sea Witch? Ha! No way.

"Cece, my dear daughter, my child, my offspring, the hatchling from the eggs I laid, my second greatest headache". Ursula held Cece's shoulders then violently shook her.

"Yessss?". Cece stopped Ursula’s shaking.

"I'm THE Sea Witch, I have proof and can show you".

"Show us". Cece was talking about her, Azul, Kai, and her husband too probably.

"I will, I promise. But first let me show you something, I'll show you Kai".

"You could have shown me where Kai was all this time? All that worrying for nothing!". Cece got up from the seaweed bed to join her mom.

"If he was in a near death situation then I would know about it". Ursula shook her off.

"Well just show me where he is. I just want to know if at least one of my sons is okay".

"The shock will only work for another three hours or so".

Ursula led Cece to the garden. It especially looked better after she fixed it with her magic. She remembered that the last time she fixed a coral reef was when she did that contest with Triton. She won it fair and square, but he's a sore loser.

****************

"Mom, it has been half an hour. What are you looking for?". Cece watched as Ursula was searching every inch of the garden for something. Ursula said that she didn't need help, but evidence proved otherwise.

"Here!". Ursula finally found it.

It was a big glass ball. It shined in the water like nothing Cece has ever seen. Ursula set it on some sturdy coral and went back to the house.

"Why is there a glass ball in my garden?". Cece followed her mom inside.

Ursula led her back to her room. "I always keep some potions in my room, come".

Why would Cece expect any different? Of course her mom was THE Sea Witch, had her glass ball in Cece’s own garden, and kept secret potions from her.

Ursula led her back to the garden where the glass ball was patiently waiting for them.

"Why are you only doing this now?". Cece looked around the glass ball, examining it.

"Well previously, I hadn't harmed my daughter or grandsons. It seems like now is the time for everyone to know".

"From the moment I could remember, should have been the time for me to know".

Ursula gave her an annoyed glare. "Let me perform the spell". Ursula cracked her knuckles. "It would be much easier if I still had my eels".

Ursula got all her ingredients and started pouring it on the ball. A red potion, then a purple one. A clam, then a piece of coral. "Unitre drefty of I see. Show my grandson Kai to me".

Kai appeared through the glass ball. He seemed to be hunting sardines, with the human gang. He caught the most naturally, but why was he catching sardines in the first place?

"Can you hear anything from it?". Cece tried to touch the ball, but her mother didn't let her.

"I need an extra ingredient for that, which I don't have". Ursula swayed her hands around the ball to change the perspective on where they saw Kai.

"At least he's safe. But why hasn't he come home yet?".

"I don't know that my child. It shows me the present, not the past".

"Why is Kai in a glass ball?". Azul somehow woke up early and went to the garden.

The mother octopuses couldn't have turned their heads faster. He was awake, he was witnessing what was happening, he probably had a lot of questions.

"Well mother?". Cece looked to her mom, who gave her an annoyed expression.

"When he eats something, then I'll tell him". Ursula took Azul, who seemed very tired and could barely stay up, “inside”.

****************

Cece cooked the food she originally planned on making. It was giant lobsters. She worked on it while eavesdropping on her mother and son, again.

"Ugh, I have a really bad headache". Azul tried to rub his head a little to ease it. He has no bones so he has no temple to rub.

"Let me". Ursula casted a quick spell to take Azuls headache away. Thankfully, it worked.

It didn't make sense though, how was he awake? It should have lasted for at least another three hours. Well she did normally use it on mers without magic or fish, so that could be the reason. Since Azul was an octo mer with powerful magical abilities, then it would be a shorter time span for him naturally.

"Thanks". Azul looked at the table, not wanting to make eye contact.

"I'm sorry, it was an impulse decision that I should have controlled. I did take the wolfsbane just to have it, you were right. I'll give it back after you eat and I'll even give you a few new spells to try out". Ursula waited for anything to signify that Azul heard her.

"Why was Kai in that ball?". Azul turned to her finally. He was still a little delirious after the shock, that was something that he couldn't avoid.

Ursula gently held his head. "He wasn't 'in' the ball honey. I did a special potion that showed us Kai. We were just seeing where he was and if he was okay. In which he is".

Azul blinked slowly. It was obvious that he still couldn't grasp everything. Where was that food?

Ursula gently combed his hair with her fingers. She was the one who cut it and always liked the detail of the curl framing the left of his face looking like a tentacle. It couldn't have been perfect since they were underwater, but it was better than before.

"Lobsters ready!". Cece laid the lobsters on the table for them to eat. She put the most lobsters on Azuls side.

Azul slowly picked up the food. He ate slower than he normally would, but he was eating nonetheless.

While Ursula and Cece were looking at him eating (while eating their own food of course) they noticed that he was slowly eating a little faster. After a while it seemed like he was able to give full taste to the food instead of just eating.

There were no words spoken at dinner that time. When everyone was done, Cece took any leftovers to the garden so it can be eaten or properly taken care of.

Ursula realized that Azul wasn't going to start a conversation, so she thought to give it a try. "Do you remember everything?".

"Yes, I remember how you were the reason I passed out because you decided to take the poison without telling me for no reason". He was obviously still bitter, but he had every right to be.

"You have every right to be angry. I'll do anything for your apology". She took his hands in hers.

"I want a contract".

The last time she had a contract was with Triton's youngest daughter, Ariel. But she had never been in a contract in which she wasn't the one handing it out. Someone else offering her a contract, and her own grandson no less, of it should be in the history books.

Nonetheless, she couldn't help but smirk. She couldn't have been more proud, well unless he took over Atlantica, but this was the proudest she's been of him.

"Whatever for". She squeezed his hands. She was naturally excited, it was the first time she hadn't known the terms of a contract.

"I want you to teach me every spell and potion you know. Unless I specifically tell you not to teach me it, then you must. If you don't teach me any spells and potions I wish to know then the contract will be terminated and I will get most of your magic". Azul took his hands from hers. "It's A Deal".

The golden contract appeared. It was blank, but Azul had his fishbone pen to write with.

"Where do I benefit in this contract?". Ursula watched as Azul was writing out the contract. If she signed then the first thing she would teach him was to make a full contract without having to write it out.

"You benefit where I benefit. We both know that you have always wanted to teach me everything". Azul started on the next paragraph already. "And I'll use the Wolfsbane on whoever you want".

He was right. Ursula always wanted to teach him all the spells and potions she knew, but just never had the opportunity to teach him EVERYTHING.

But that wasn't the kicker. Her grandson is willing to poison anyone she wants. Only in rare instances did she need to kill someone, why the last one four years ago.

Yet she couldn't spot the reason why she needed him to do the dirty work for her. Sure Flotsam and Jetsam would go about in the ocean for clients and spying for her, but she got her hands dirty too.

"Why would I need you to poison someone for me?".

"It will save you the trouble of course. Plus, no one can kill EVERYONE". He chuckled at his own remark.

"I'll sign it, but you only get one quarter of my power".

"Do you intend to break it?". Azul stopped writing.

"No, I intend to benefit you, and keep you safe. Even from yourself". She saw how he wiped away the part of her losing most of her magic to only 25 percent of it.

After a minute, he finished writing. "Is it a deal? I don't have all day Grandmimi". Oh he was a copy of her.

∆Ursula must teach Azul every spell and potion that she remembers. She will teach him a spell and potion when he asks, unless he specifically asks her not to teach him that. If she remembers a spell or potion, then she must tell him about it within a 24 hour time period of him asking.

∆Ursula will not have the option to stop teaching it unless he tells her to stop. If he fails to learn it after a week, then she is allowed to offer a new spell for him to learn.

∆If she refuses to teach him a spell or potion then the contract is breached and she loses 25% of her power to him.

∆Azul will have Wolfsbane on hand to use on whoever Ursula requests. He will use it on a max of two people or anything. If he refuses to use it on one, if not both of them. Then the contact is breached and Ursula will keep all her power.

∆The contract will continue until either of them dies or Azul rips the contract. If Azul rips it then neither of them are affected. Ursula will still keep her power and he will not be in breach of the Wolfsbane use.

Ursula read the contract word by word. She found nothing that she was against. Sure it was a little one sided because she could kill someone as well, if not better than him. She wanted to sign it just to know how her grandson might take a contract, especially with her.

"Do we have a deal?". Azul held out the fishbone pen for her to sign with.

"Yes, yes we do". Ursula took the fishbone pen and signed her name.

URSULA

It glowed in the same way her contacts glowed when someone signed their name. When she finished, he took the contract and rolled it up and gave it to one of his tentacles.

"Effective tomorrow after the restaurant closes down. Have a…potion ready by then". He thought that a potion would work best for the first of the contract.

"I know the perfect one. It's fresh in my mind". She chuckled since it was the one Azul saw earlier.

"Hey family, can you believe that there was a sea snake? That was a hassle, but…". Cece saw the contract Azul had in his tentacles. "MOM!".

"He was the one that wanted a contract!". Ursula pleaded her innocence.

"And you signed it!". Cece was in disbelief.

"How am I the one in the wrong?".

"Because you entertained the idea! You encouraged it!". Cece got a Dinglehopper to hit her mom on the head with.

"How dare you, I'm hurt". Ursula acted overdramatic while getting a Dinglehopper to hit Cece with.

They started to playfully hit each other with the Dinglehoppers using their tentacles. After a minute they started a sword fight, by using the Dinglehoppers of course.

Azul was losing his breath laughing. His mom and Grandmimi were sword fighting with the shiny utensils. There are some things that you don't see everyday with your family. He would have to tell Kai about this when the mer shark came back.

"Oh you're laughing now?". Ursula got two Dinglehoppers. Gave one to her tentacle nearest to Azul, and the other to Azul. "En garde".

Azul put the Dinglehopper in his tentacle and started the 'sword fight' with his Grandmimi. She was surprisingly good, she seemed to be winning against both of them.

After a few minutes she knocked the Dinglehoppers out of both of their tentacles at the same time. "Checkmate".

"Wrong game Grandmimi". Azul got the Dinglehopper back and put it away.

"Eh, I still won". She put her utensils away.

"If I knew you were that good mom, I would have prepared". Cece was about to put her Dinglehopper away, but thought of a better idea. "Wanna do a mom vs son Azul?".

He got 15 Dinglehoppers. "Every tentacle vs every tentacle". He gave seven Dinglehoppers to his mom. "En garde".

They started the fight. It took five minutes until it was a one v one. While it was close, Azul won.

"Ah damn, I'm a loser". Cece wept.

"It's probably because you didn't get any rest. There is plenty of time to sleep until the restaurant opens Cece". Ursula led Cece to her room to rest.

"Well if she's sleeping then I should too". Azul started the track to his room.

"I thought that you would want a rematch, how disappointing". Ursula examined the shiny utensils.

"I thought you'd never ask". Azul picked it up again with each tentacle. "En garde".

They played about eight rounds. Azul lost the first seven, but won the last one. He was proud of the small victory. And Ursula was proud that her Azul was able to win against her. A win against the Sea Witch, ain't that something.

*****************

‘Huh what’s this feeling?’ Kai swims around in circles trying to shake the feeling off.

“Kai, what’s wrong?” Kalim swims towards him, leaving his sardine for Silver to hold, “Kai? Hello?” He swims in front of him to stop the shark from moving.

“A- I feel like someone’s watching me”, Kai looks at his hands then feels his dorsal fin.

“It’s probably your ‘Grandmimi’?” Silver joins them, the other two looking at him

“wha- how?”.

“Remember what Riddle said about your Grandmimi, her having the probability of being THE sea witch”, Kai stares at him, slowly believing him…‘Nah it can’t be’

“GUYS COME ON”, Jamil calls them

Chapter Text

"1000 bottles of soda on the wall, 1000 bottles of soda". Ruggie wanted to pass the time and found this to be the best way to do so. "Take one down, toss it around, 999 bottles of soda on the wall".

"No no no, you are not doing that". Jamil didn't want to risk his sanity. Though he already had.

"What's a soda?". Kai asked.

"It's like a flavored drink that people drink. It's pretty unhealthy, but they don't care". The hyena answered.

"Why do you have 1000 bottles of soda? And why are you taking it down and tossing it around?". The mer shark was pondering what that meant.

"It's a saying. People usually use that to pass the time when they are waiting".

"But wouldn't that make time go slower since you're pondering around each bottle?".

"Well…yes, but it can also be fun if people join in with you".

That sparked a light bulb for Kalim. "999 bottles of soda on the wall, 999 bottles of soda. You take one down, you toss it around, 998 bottles of soda on the wall".

Jamil was mortified.

The others decided to join in. "998 bottles-"

"947 bottles".

"862 bottles".

"793 bottles".

Silver was about to fall asleep.

"621 bottles".

He did, but they had to wake him up to lead them.

585 bottles".

Jamil was about to go crazy or maybe kill someone, probably both.

"439 bottles".

"340 bottles".

"217 bottles".

"108 bottles".

"58 bottles".

"1 bottle on the wall, only 1 bottle of soda on the wall. You take one down, you pass it around, 0 bottles of soda on the wall". They finally finished.

“The torture is finally done!”. Jamil could cry tears of happiness.

“99-”. The hyena tried to start Jamil's suffering once more

“Don’t even think about it, Ruggie!”. Jamil went to shut the hyena's mouth. Hoping that it wouldn’t open again.

“It was a fun way to pass the time though!”. Kalim pleaded.

“I'm sure it was! But unfortunately I have condemned us to find those bastard twins and kill them”.

“I thought the plan was to stop them from doing anything against the school?”. The sleepy silver boy asked.

“Yes, but killing them is a bonus”. Kai answered.

“Anyway, how much farther do you think we are from the Leeches?”. Jamil asked to change the subject.

“By how long it took us…to where we are now…and with breaks…”. Silver considered all the factors for a minute. “2 hours left”.

Jamil, Kai, and Ruggie all started to choke on…water? Nothing?

“That close? It does pass the time!”. Ruggie was doing a little celebration.

“Let's go!”. Jamil gestured for Silver to lead them there.

****************

“Well, show us”. Sullivan was beginning to grow impatient.

“Magic takes time pops, but you wouldn’t know”. Floyd was swimming to the krakens trench.

“You two never really showed us magic now that I’m thinking about it”. Melania realized.

“Ma, why you on the ceiling?”.

Melaina was on the ceiling. In truth, she was ‘fixing’ the ceiling because she never liked the shape. She always reasoned against the inward curve, always thought that he should use it as storage if he was going to have it. She never had the opportunity to do so until now, he was focused on the twins, and she could blame it on a crazy episode. She was lucky that the twins were gone long enough for her to get a knife.

Was she going to tell him that though? No, she wasn’t. “I was cleaning the knife with my arms”. That was the most ridiculous excuse she had ever used. Well the most ridiculous was when she and Cece claimed ‘Cece was cleaning my scales with her suckers. That's why we were late to Ocean History’. Good times.

“Nevermind your mother, show me the spell”. Wow, Sullivan was so focused on the twins that he didn’t pay attention to a nominee to the worst excuse this year.

“Okay let us review the spell, we never used it before”. Jade pulled Floyd over for them to look over the spell.

They rehearsed it. Floyd would try first, get the beginning right, skip the middle, and the end wrong. Jade would try next, but get the beginning right, the middle wrong, and the rest right.

“Go on”.

“Change the appearance of this spell caster”. Floyd looked towards Jade . “I ask for a difference”.

Nothing happened. Normally a mage would be upset if their spell didn’t work, but that wasn’t the case.

“Let me try Floyd, you forgot a part”. Jade got ready to fail the spell. “Change the appearance of this spell caster. Change the looks of what was given to me. I ask for a difference”.

Nothing happened again. The actual middle of the spell was ‘Make me fit into my own design’. He found the spell's incantation to be weird, but he guessed that it was changed to fit more people.

“Give me the paper”. Sullivan held his hand out.

Jade kept it close to his chest. “There’s no need, it was probably a fake. Me and Floyd will deal with the person who gave it to me when we get back to school”.

“Give me the paper”.

“There's no ne-”.

“GIVE ME THE PAPER JADE”. Sullivan banged his hand on his desk.

“Sullivan! Enough, if the boys say it’s a fake, then it is a fake”. Melaina stopped her ‘office renovation project’.

“Fine, go to your rooms, or at least out of the house”. Sullivan shooed them off.

“Control your damn temper Sullivan”.

“I don’t need to control my temper. I was in the right, why didn't Jade give me the paper? He has something he doesn't want us to Know, hmmm Melania?”.

“You’re acting as if you could read it anyway. The humans up there speak a completely different language”. The better Leech parent continued her project.

“He could have performed a language understanding spell”.

“So what? That would have changed nothing!”.

“Why do you always choose your son's side? Why can't you choose mine for once?”. Sullivan picked at his desk.

‘Why do you always choose our son’s side,’ oh she had many reasons for that, many. Sometimes Melaina wondered what it would be like if she listened to Cece about leaving Sullivan. ‘But I don’t think that we should hang out with him anymore. You should break up with him’. Oh if she listened to that.

But she wouldn’t have Floyd and Jade, wouldn’t have her sons, her twins, her pride and joys, the things she would dry the ocean to protect. She may not always be on her husband's side, but was always on her sons.

“Because I actually love my sons. Whenever I was with you, I was in an episode, a season, a series”. Melaina started to attack the wall harder with the knife. “You acted as if you were the greatest thing ever when we were in highschool. In highschool was when those episodes were the strongest, and I was only able to recognize how you really are when those episodes were finished”.

“I am great to you!”. Sullivan banged his hand against the desk.

“You are worse than the crustaceans who take the leftovers”. Melaina kept on hitting the wall. “I can’t control when my episodes happen or how strongly it hits. It pains me to know that Floyd inherited it, yet I knew that he only sticks with people if he finds them interesting both in and out of episodes. I watched him light up talking about that boy, then just because of a grudge and our selfishness, we made the twins push him away”.

“We told them to do what was necessary”.

“Sullivan, I was proud today because the twins didn’t actually listen to you. I know that you groomed them to do what WE say without question, yet I ignored it because of my own selfish benefit. The boys knew that you would never allow them to keep him if they wanted their lives. I think our sons are afraid of you Sullivan…”. Melaina hit her head against the wall.

She and Sullivan go into fights on the biweekly (twice a week) or more, but she never got this out, and she was usually in episodes. Mainly because he would only look for her in episodes since she was ‘more fun’ that way.

She hated her episodic life. If she wasn’t in an episode then she would just go to sleep because everything seemed boring if she wasn’t in an episode. When the twins were first born, she didn’t like them, mainly because they really couldn’t do anything, and she was in an episode, but when the episode was finished, she visited their room and fell in love.

“You know what Melaina, you're right”. Sullivan got something from under the desk. “I wish that I could change the past so I could raise my sons differently”. He went to Melaina. “So that they would be more obedient!”. Sullivan hit Melaina with a metal rod. “Sleep tight Mel”.

****************

“I’m starving”. Serena was banging her head against the wall.

“I know sweetie, but we are lucky that we are alive in general”. Onda gently rubbed her wife's head.

“What’s the point of living if we have to live like this!”.

“For our son, we live for our son!”.

"We are here because we neglected our son for a day and he managed to swim off to here somehow. We are lucky that we were able to find him and he was able to escape, yet they took us instead".

“We are sharks, we need to get humbled sooner or later”.

“We are way past the point of ‘humbled’, I’m tired”.

"So am I, but this is our fault. We left our son when he was very young and now we paid the price for him to live. I wish nothing more than to see him again". Onda held her wife.

"Onda I love you, but us waiting for our son is a lost cause. I would gladly die for him if I could see him for even 5 minutes, but he's probably dead".

"We've been listening to the Mafia for years. We are bound to escape with that information we hold sooner or later".

Serena went to Onda and grabbed her shoulders. "We have never gotten more than death threats and some extra food. We aren't getting out of here".

"Please have hope Serena".

"What hope can someone bring in a world full of despair".

****************

“We are here”. Silver found that they reached the end of the map.

“Where is it?”. Kalim was searching the premises but found nothing.

“They probably hid it so it’s in plain sight”. Kai started to carefully check the boulders for any cracks. "This place feels familiar…".

“Have your pens ready everyone, well excluding Kai”. Ruggie got his pen ready, and watched as everyone else did also.

Silver’s stance made him look like an actual knight, and Kalim thought so too. “Wow! You look like an actual knight Silver!”.

SIlver immediately got out of the stance, because of embarrassment? He had nothing to be embarrassed about, it was a complement. “Uhh, thanks”. Silver got back into stance.

“I found something”. Kai whispered.

They all went to Kai. He was in what seemed like a regular piece of coral trying to shake it around. He kept it on for a minute, until he knocked it onto a piece of seaweed, which revealed a small entrance.

They all knew that this was the drill to go in, carefully of course.

They slowly searched around to find anything. They swam for a little before they found some bioluminescent jellyfish.

"Are those poisonous?". Kalim of course went to touch one.

"1. Venomous. 2. It probably won't kill you, but don't let it sting you". Kai took Kalim by the tail and dragged him away.

"Is it just me or are those jellyfish not moving an inch?". Jamil studied the jellyfish, from a distance.

"Yeah, it's like they are frozen in time… also is it just me or is it colder?". Silver also studied the jellyfish.

"That's because they are well frozen". Using the bioluminescent light from the jellyfish, they saw a lobster mer.

They all knew that it was the twins who probably froze the jellyfish. How could it be anyone else?

"I'll deal with them, everyone else go!". Jamil had his wand in ready position. "Freeze!".

With the spell, there was a line of ice coming from his wand to the lobster mer. The thickest part of the ice was at the lobster, while the thinnest, the size of a string, was from his wand. He kept shooting it, so after a while it completely froze the lobster.

"Nice job Jamil!". Kalim went to congratulate Jamil for freezing the lobster.

"I told you guys to go!".

"And leave you to potentially die? I'm not putting my responsibility for your death on my conscience". Kai patted Jamil on the head.

"Let's just go". Jamil went to leave the gang. Silver's job as leader was finished for now since they got to their destination.

They all started to swim together in the small areas where the jellyfish's light didn't hit. It was hard since there were a lot of jellyfish, but they managed.

A cuttlefish mer was coming in their direction so they huddled in a small corner. Unfortunately for them, the cuttlefish mer noticed the change in water and went to them.

"What's in here?". She started to move to them and had a spear pointed towards them.

"Freeze!". Jamil used the same spell as the previous with the lobster on her. He used it again and again to finally freeze her. Luckily she was smaller than the lobster so it took less magic and time.

"That's the second time that I used that spell repeatedly. I need the rest and eat, while someone else uses it so I don't contact too much blot".

"Do you guys know an invisibility spell?". Kai was wondering if invisibility spells were included in the NRC curriculum.

"No…wait, my father taught me a chameleon spell. I think I remember how to cast it on others at the same time". Silver held out his pen and tried to remember the spell.

"What's a cha-mel-eon?". Kai was confused about what Silver was talking about. It sounded like a funny word. Babbled by babies

"It's an animal on the surface world that can change colors to its surroundings". Silver explained.

"Oh, like the mimic octopus?".

Silver didn't know what a mimic octopus was. He presumed that it was the type that can blend in with its surroundings. He just never heard the official name. "Yes".

"Go on with the spell Silver". Jamil nudged at Silver to perform the spell.

"Camouflage". Silver waved his pen around everyone and they all 'disappeared', but they just blended in.

They all held each other's hands to make a chain so they wouldn't lose each other. Jamil led them so he pulled the hardest. He led them left, right, left, left, down, down, up.

They ended up at a place where there were different types of mers stuck in what looked like jail cells, but with coral. There were even shark mers stuck in there, they wondered why they didn't just break the coral.

Jamil led them to a random cage with two female mer sharks. They looked to be the same type of shark as Kai, so Jamil hoped that they would be less hostile if they saw Kai.

"Take off the spell Silver". Jamil nudged Silver, since he was holding hands with him.

"Regular colors". The camouflage was taken off of them.

The two shark mers looked up at them. They bared their claws and teeth. Kai returned the gesture. They looked at him for a minute confused, then shared a glance.

"What's your name pup?". The one on the right asked. She must have been older and knew Kai was young to call him 'pup'. It was the term for baby sharks after all.

"Kai Caspian S. We are wondering if you could help us out. We need to find the Leech twins".

They looked at him with their eyes as big as they could make it. They looked like they were about to explode from shock.

"Kai-!". The one on the right tried to start, but her mouth was covered by the one on the left. The one on the left shook her head at the one on the right.

"We will gladly help. We have learned a lot from staying here for years. I'm Serena and my wife here is Onda". Onda gave Serena a look.

"And you thought the information was pointless. Ha".

"As much as I would love to save your ego, we have bigger issues to deal with".

"What do you guys have?". Kai asked.

"Well first things first I know you guys aren't supposed to be here. If you could be invisible again then that would be great". Serena started. "And splitting up is better than it may look. You don't want them to use anyone against you, it's better for one to lose one than all".

"Stay in one of the unoccupied cells and be invisible again, those cells are always unlocked. Don't worry about the others who were taken here wanting to harm you. We all know each other and they would never hurt kids, mean teens and adults, yes. Just be kind to them". Onda pointed to a cell near them that was unoccupied. "They shouldn't load anyone in another cell for another 3 weeks".

"Thanks Serena and Onda". Kai led them to the cell Onda showed them. They looked at the right angle and were in the right position, they could see each other.

They went to the cell, left the door as was, and camouflaged with Silver's spell. They needed to be touching each other because of Silver's skill of the spell, so they huddled in a corner touching their tails. Or more accurately, everyone touching Kai's tail since it was the longest.

"Thanks mom and mama". Onda did a dramatic fall with her hand curved away from her head. Serena catches her of course, and starts chuckling from the nonsense.

"Let's call Riddle". Kalim held out his pendant. "Show Riddle".

Riddle appeared in the pendant. He seemed to be sleeping, but not for long.

"Wake up…wake up". The redhead didn't budge. "WAKE UP". Kalims shouting finally woke Riddle.

Riddle nearly jumped out of bed. He seemed to look at a clock next. "It is the crack of dawn. This better be good".

"We are at the Mafia's house and are currently making camp. We will continue with help tomorrow". Jamil explained.

"Oh that's good. Umm, while we are on the line we should get your wills in check". Riddle seemed to get a pencil and paper. "Anyone who doesn't have it submitted?".

"Your little faith in us hurts Riddle. Anyway I want all my money to go to my Grandma, and my belongings split between Leona and Jack". Ruggie started his will.

Kai didn't know what a will was, and the rest had their ready.

When Ruggie finished with Riddle, they hung up. They went to sleep after the call. Silver was already asleep so they knew that the spell worked even if Silver was asleep. They all followed and gave into the sandman.

Serena and Onda watched them though the coral bars. They don't really see them clearly, but their senses were heightened ready to call them awake when they see the mafia.

Chapter Text

“Miss Leech, the mers have missed your loss from yesterday”. A stingray mer with only one of her eyes left came to Melania.

Melania was obviously tired. “That's a weird taste in my mouth”. She looked up at the stingray. “You're the one who lost our map? The idiot I had to take an eye from?”. Melania seemed interested in taking her other eye.

“I have a snitch, or two”.

“I'm listening”.

“Let’s discuss it with Mister Leech, I trust it will be worth his time”.

Melania took the stingray by the braid in her hair. “It better be”.

As much as the stingray wanted to resist, she was glad to still have some vision left.

Melaina guided her to Sullivan's office. Just even being outside the room, she could feel it in the water that it was off limits. That didn’t stop Melania from just barging in like the office was hers.

“Sull, I have 2 problems and I expect you to fix them both”. Melaina swayed the stingray mer to be right in front of Sullivan. “1. I have a weird taste in my mouth. 2. This stingray wants to snitch on someone and says it’s worth both of our times”.

“If it ain’t worth our time then say bye to your other eye”. Sullivan focused his attention on her. “Name and status”.

“Astelrai Pastinaca, and common soldier”. She had served in the Atlantic military so she became a soldier right away when she was scouted for her crimes. She knew what to do to stay safe and how to fight, but she lost the map because her team didn’t like rookies and she was ambushed by a great white. “Call me Astel for short please Mister Leech”.

“What do you have for us? I’m a very busy man”.

“I caught 2 snitches who you know more than most mers”.

“Everyone who I know personally is loyal to me”. Sullivan wanted Melania to take the girls other eye already.

“Even your own sons? Sorry for making the assumption that your sons carried out the spell successfully instead of flunking it like they planned on”. Astel made the risky move of turning around, but she knew she was safe.

Melania grabbed Astels braid. It was hard to miss, especially since it went down to the bottom of her tail. “Don’t you leave just yet”.

“Do you know what spell?”. Sullivan knew the twins flunked the spell, and she was proof. She was in need of a promotion.

“No, but I do remember them mentioning that they didn’t want you to take over their life. I won’t intrude on you, but if it sounds likely then I personally would take it into consideration”. She had him right where she wanted him. What a good feeling.

“How did you end up here?”. Melania was examining Astel’s face. She was a darker spotted brown stingray, so she was home to more rocky areas. She had yellow pupils with a black iris and black where you would normally find the white of someone's eye. Melania noticed something move on the top of Astel’s head. She moved the hair to see that the stingray mer had a whole other set of eyes on top of her head. “Fun”. Melaina poked the left eye.

Astel got out of Melaina’s grip to care for her eye. “I don’t really pay attention to that set unless I need to. It may have helped in the military, but not in everyday life”.

“Oh it can be very useful Astel”. Melania tried to poke at it again.

Astel went around the room to make sure Melaina couldn’t do that again (While holding her braid so Melaina doesn’t grab it). They played shark and guppy for a few minutes.

“Keep on swimming. I like those who play hard to get~. That's how I got Sull”.

“I told you not to take that out of context Melania!”. Sullivan straightened his back. “Anyway, stop that game. I have a task for you, Astel. Finish it and you get a rank up, and will still have 3 working eyes”.

Astel make way to Sullivan, but unfortunately let go of her braid, so Melaina grabbed hold of it. “What’s the task?”.

“I need you to spy on my sons. If anything useful or relatively important happens then you report to me or Melania. You have full authority to come to my office”. Sullivan held out his hand for her to shake. “Do you understand?”.

Astel shook his hand with every fiber in her being. “Yes Mister Leech”.

“Good, you start now”.

The stingray immediately went to leave the room, with Mel too since the eel refused to let go of her hair.

“Uhh, Miss Leech, with all due respect, let go of my braid”. The stingray tried pulling her braid away from the eel, but that eel wasn’t budging.

“You know, the sad thing about having twin boys with short hair, is that I can’t do their hair. You have lots of hair and I’m sure the boys are doing some homework in their room, let's go to my room and let me do your hair”. Melania tugged on Astel’s braid to follow her, so the stingray followed.

****************

Melania led Astel to her room. While she and Sullivan shared a room, they still had a room for themselves. Mel was leading her to her private room. Astel wasn’t even sure if Sullivan was allowed in there.

“It has been so long since I was able to do a ‘friends’ hair. You wanna be my friend, don’t ya~”. Mel set her down on her seaweed bed. It was made to fit two Mels, so since Astel was around Mel’s size, they took up almost the entire bed.

Melaina took off the little tied band that was tying the stingrays braid together. It looked like the same material that some mers used for their seashell bras. Melaina swayed Astel's braid on either side to find that the stingray took the band from the left side over her shoulder to use for tying her hair. Taking apart your own clothes? It was black so it kind of fitted anyway.

“They don’t offer anything to tie your hair with in the Atlantean military?”.

“How did you-?!”

“I can see it in your eyes. You have the same look as those here who were in the military but left.

Melania started to take out the braid. It was long, but she didn’t find a bone in her body that minded. Her hair was a little knotty, but Mel liked combing it out with her fins.

“I always felt that I deserved more than what they gave me. I always carried out missions and I toughed it out through everything. Everyone knew that I deserved to lead, but they rejected me even after two decades of loyal service. I always wanted to be in a higher rank than what they gave me, but it was ‘reserved for sharks and common mers’ ridiculous”. Astel put her hands in a position similar to when she held the trident they gave her. It wasn’t magical, but she loved it just the same.

“Sometimes I think about what my life could have been. I could be working in a restaurant with my best friend, slaving away everyday cooking, cleaning, waiting tables. I like this life better, it’s more fun”. Melania sectioned out Astel’s hair.

“Maybe fun, but not peaceful. Everyone needs peace. You wouldn’t have to worry about your life every second and you could have fun with your best friend. You might have even found a different love and have kids then”. Astel played with her hand-like-fins.

“Ahhh…peace. I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting her in so long”. Mel started the first braid.

“She may not visit often, but she makes sure to make sure the times she does are worth it. Whether it’s a long or short visit”.

“I like you, Astel. Remind me of your full name again”. Mel already finished the first braid.

“Astelrai Pastinaca. That's my name Miss Leech”.

“Call me Mel or whatever nickname you can muster”. Melaina leaned to Astels right. Thinking that she was probably whispering to her ear. Astel’s ears were also on her head, but she wasn't ruining the mood. “I don’t really find formal names interesting. I like ‘fun’ nicknames better, wouldn’t you agree~?”.

“Uhh, ummm…yes Miss-”. Astel caught herself. “Meli”.

“Ooooo, something new for little old me”. Astel wouldn’t call Meli small by any standards of hers, but she knew the tone in the room.

Meli finished the other braid, but didn’t have anything to tie it with. She went to rip off the band on the other shoulder of Astels bra. Astel immediately went to keep the seashells in place. “Meli!”.

“Got a problem, 3 eyes~?”. So that was her new nickname? She heard worse for others. “Don’t dry yourself out, I'll lend you the seaweed I use to cover my chest”.

Meli tied the braid then went to get the seaweed for 3 eyes. She always kept extras, you would be surprised how often she needed to change it out since joining the mafia.

Meli went in front of 3 eyes. “I don’t know how to put one on…”.

“No probs. I would have put it on you even if you did~”. Meli watched as 3 eyes just pulled her bra off like it was nothing. She had nips, but it served no purpose, it was just there because hypothetically she could give birth. Meli went to wrap her chest with the seaweed. She was a little out of practice on doing it for others, but managed.

It barely took more than a minute. It wasn’t the strongest thing in the sea, but it would manage for a good month.

"Thanks Meli~". Did Astel have a crush on the same person who took one of her eyes, yes. Does that mean she will let you judge her on it, no. She may not have gotten the best catch, but hey, Meli was hot.

"No probs 3 eyes. Now get spying. It's less weird if a friend of the children's mom spys on the kids instead of the actual mom". Melania went to push Astel out. Astel knew that Melania was probably wrong, but didn't have the chance to comment on it.

Astel was left out of Melania's room. She knew that she had a job to do so she went to find where the twins' rooms could be.

****************

"I win". Jade announced. He and Floyd were playing blackjack with some seashells like when they were younger.

"I feel that you're cheating". Floyd examined Jade's seashells. "What are you hiding up your sleeve?".

"Nothing, I have no sleeves, or clothes". Floyd was angrier just because Jade was right.

"You've always been in control of who won the game. If I was in a bad mood then I would win. If Azul was upset then he would win, or if you wanted to see him happy. And then you would win just because you wanted to". Floyd shuffled the deck to make sure Jade couldn't mess with it.

"Well running by that logic, shouldn't you have won by now? It is your 19th loss after all". Jade put in no effort to hide his smirk.

"Oh shut up you overgrown eel".

"What does that make you?".

"A superior eel with a bigger size". Floyd acted all posh. "I don't consult with the lower class".

"We are twins. If I'm lower class, you're lower class".

Floyd was thinking about it. Technically after NRC they could live different lives and make different amounts. "Not necessarily, but I don't wanna dive into all that".

"Round 20 then?". Jade picked up the deck.

"Sure thing Googly Eyes". The twins' father somehow came at the start of the next round.

Unfortunately for Jade, he used the childhood nickname that he hated with a passion. His father says it's because once they found some googly eyes as a human expect mer called it. Jade had tried to copy how the eyes moved because he was interested in it. The name stuck with him for years after that, but he thought he was finally free from it.

"I forgot about your childhood nickname!". Floyd was in hysterics. He was crying and laughing at it.

"Don't bully your brother Sock". Sock was Floyd's nickname because he once ate a sock ONE TIME when he was younger. The same human expert also told them it was a sock. He didn't like the nickname either, but it wasn't worse than Jade's.

"Are you playing or making fun of us?". Floyd was willing to shut the surfboard in his father's face.

"Both". Sullivan went to the middle of them. "What's the game?". Of course he would join before even knowing what the game was.

"It's a classic". Jade knew that his father knew what he meant. Sullivan was the one who taught it to them in the first place.

"Get ready to lose Googly Eyes and Sock". He got into his 'game stance'.

Jade shuffled the seashells. He passed a seashell to himself and the other eels in the room.

Floyd: Ace of Hearts, can be a 1 or 11
Sullivan: 5 of Spades.
Jade: Queen of Hearts, 10

"I'll make this a 11 for now". Floyd set his seashell down to the floor.

"Playing it risky? I knew I raised you right". Sullivan hit Floyd's back, but Floyd did not appreciate the gesture.

Jade passed out the next round. Floyd and Sullivan would each get their seashells face up, but Jade would have his seashell face down.

Floyd: 9 of Clubs.
Sullivan: 2 of Hearts.
Jade: ?

"Keeping it at 11?". Floyd was at 20 and had a very slim chance of another Ace.

"I'm no wimp, hit". Jade passed a seashell to Floyd. 4 of Clubs. It's a bust.

"Ughhh". Floyd was obviously upset at losing 20 times in a row.

"Hit or miss?".

"Hit me". Jade gave Sullivan a King of Spades. "17".

"Going to hit or do you want to see my precious cards?". Jade wanted to see his seashell, it was eating him up inside.

"Hit". Jade handed Sullivan a 7 of hearts.

"Ha, you lost pops". Losing was better if you weren't the only one who lost.

"Oh sush, anyway what was your 'secret card' Jade?".

Jade flipped over the seashell. It was a 3 of hearts. It felt familiar to him. He went to flip over the next seashell in the deck, a 8 of hearts. He just froze at the sight. He remembered the game.

It was the first time he and Floyd told Azul that they would leave him. He felt like an ass for that.

"Ughhh, Jade? You good?". Floyd shook his brother a little. He looked over to see the cards and immediately realized it.

"Just some déjà vu. Nothing to worry about". Jade put the seashells together. "That's enough for today".

"Hey, but I still want to play?!". Sullivan wanted to play until he won.

"We were on round 20, let us rest father". Jade put the seashells away.

"Okay if you can't play, answer why you flunked the transformation spell on purpose". Sullivan knew. He knew. He knew. He knew. He knew…

"Whatever do you mean?". Jade put up the same act as he normally did to act 'innocently'.

“Don’t act so innocent Jade. You take after me after all”. Jade did not have a single clue as to why his father was so proud of that. “There was someone who stitched you out. I thought that I taught you better than to talk about private affairs in public”.

The twins thought that mers knew better than to snitch on them, but they were wrong. They wish that they could learn who they were and make them ‘float’. (The term “float” is used as a metaphor for killing a mer under the sea).

“They were lying then. We would never do that”.

“If you want to run a mafia, you better develop your acting skills Jade”. Sullivan went to attack Jade with his claws.

Jade swam back just fast enough to avoid it. Floyd immediately went to Jade to see if he was hurt. Floyd barred his sharp teeth at their father, but Jade knew Floyd would lose that fight. They have fought with their father a number of times, but this wasn’t play fighting. That didn’t matter to Floyd though, if you hurt his brother then you were in for something from him.

“Don’t try this with me Floyd, I’m only after Jade. You’re obviously not the brains of this operation. You take after your mother after all”. It’s one thing to insult him, but insulting his mother too is going too far.

Floyd charged at his father with his claws aiming at his fathers torso. Eels had 4 hearts, they may not know if they would survive with 3 or less, but Floyd seemed interested in testing that out. He kept aiming for the torso, but Sullivan was able to back away at each hit.

Sullivan finally hit the wall, and Floyd was ready to finally hit his father. Sullivan was able to move in the opposite direction of the way Floyd would swing. Sullivan was able to get behind Floyd and grabbed him by the black stand at his head

Sullivan pulled Floyd back, nearly ripping the black strand from his head. Sullivan pulled Floyd so that the younger mers back was to his fathers stomach. Sullivan was about to hit him in the stomach, but Jade clawed at his fathers back just in time. Sullivan let Floyd go and gave a minute to care for his back.

There was blood in the water. There were shark mers working here, and they could smell blood for around a quarter of a mile. The sharks could tell what direction the blood was coming from, but they should know better than to come to this room. But then again that mer should have known better than to snitch them out.

Sullivan turned around and grabbed Jade's arm. Jade tried to wriggle free, but Sullivan had a vice-like grip. The older eel grabbed Jade by the neck, attempting to strangle him.

Floyd immediately went to claw at his father's back. There was so much blood that it was suffocating everyone's noses. Floyd gave up on that method to try and strangle his father with both of his hand-like-fins.

Sullivan let go of Jade to deal with the other twin. He grabbed Floyd's arms and dug his nails in as far as he could in it. Jade wanted to help his brother, but he had to deal with getting air to his gills and nose to an equilibrium.

Floyd didn't want to lose the fight, so he clawed at his father's neck. He kept scratching the older eels neck in a back and forth motion as a warning. Floyd couldn't take the pain anymore so he attempted to dig right in his father's neck with his nails.

Sullivan knew Floyd was going to dig in so he let go of Floyd and swam to go behind him. He squeezed Floyd's neck with one hand-like-fin and used the other to bring Floyd to him. Floyd was grabbed tightly at the stomach so the gills there had a great struggle to bring in water.

Jade didn't feel ready, but loved his brother too much to let him die. Jade didn't know what to do but he couldn't do nothing and not help his brother. He went to his father's back to claw at it again. It was useless because Sullivan barely flinched.

"Hahahahah". Everyone stopped, even Sullivan, to see who was cackling. It was Melania. "Thanks Pahe, I'm grateful for sharks sense of smell. I wouldn't have found my HUSBAND trying to KILL my SONS". Melania then took the spear the shark mer was holding. The shark mer started to swim away, but not before giving a look saying 'your done for'.

The boys all separated into a lineup. Sullivan was in the middle with the twins at either side. The twins had nervous looks on their faces, but Sullivan was as calm as a clam. It should be the other way around.

"Any explanation for this?". Melania pointed the spears 'fun' side straight at Sullivan's neck.

"Your boys refused to admit the truth, despite what the snitch told us". Sullivan tried to swim at least an inch away, but Melania only brought the spear closer.

"Oh I like that snitch very much, but you don't get to hurt my son's and get away with it". Melania went for a slash at Sullivan's stomach. It was a big gash which only added to the blood assault on everyone's noses. "Come on, little-er boys, to the infirmary!". With her spear in hand Melania took the twins to the infirmary.

Sullivan was left in the twins room. He cleaned up all the blood in the water. He wasn't going to try to clean the wounds at his back, so he went to his mistress for her to deal with it

****************

“You only have yourself to blame for the choosing of your first husband. You don’t get a first try in men to be in terrible taste from me”. Ursula was arguing her point to her daughter.

Cece’s first husband had visited the restaurant today and Cece complained that her FIRST taste in men was horrible. Cece also complained that it had passed to Azul.

“There is no way I started some curse on my family for something, especially when the top contender is you”. Ursula wasn’t actually the top contender but it hadn’t crossed Cece’s mind that she was a demigod yet and she wasn’t ready to deliver that blow.

“If you're talking about any ‘father’ that was formed in your head, you don’t have one. Also, we have different definitions of ‘lovers’, but if we go by mine, I’ve had several”. Ursula raised her eyebrows twice in the ‘if you get what I’m putting down’ way.

“What do you mean I don’t have one? I know that male octo mers die while mating, but I can tell you aren’t talking about that”.

Ursula took Cece’s hands in hers. “Cece…you were formed”.

Cece was giving her mother the ‘this bitch for real’ face. “Of what? Your love?”.

“Rocks, seafoam, one of my tentacles, lots of potions, and a big spell”.

“You know what, I’d rather take your love”. Cece thought about it for a minute. “How the fuck did I lay 50,000 eggs and the one Azul hatched from then?”.

“I do not know…I was going to tell you about it when you wanted a kid, but you just came to me saying you laid eggs. I think that you not being ‘naturally’ made is how your bastard ex husband survived the experience”.

“I always wondered how he survived it. Wait, do me and Azul have anything that should or shouldn’t be there?”. Cece poked her stomach.

“You’re all fine Cece, and so is Azul”. Ursula made Cece put her hands down.

“Anything else you're not telling me?”. Cece took at her mother trying to unravel her secrets.

“You’re a demigod and Azul is considered a legacy”.

“Wait, aren't demigods made when a mortal and a god get together? I was ‘made’ so am I a god or demigod?”.

“Still a demigod sweetie”.

“Okay…when are we telling Azul about this?”. Cece waited for a reply.

“It’s only Thursday, I have until Sunday”. Ursula started to leave.

Cece knew that this was her mothers typical behavior, so she just let her go off to her room.

Cece looked at her hands. She was ‘made’ from whatever it took to ‘make’ someone. “Weird”.

Azul came out right after Ursula went back. "Hey mom, how was your nap?".

"It was good honey, are you all good? My mom gave you a good shock. Let me look at you".

Azul went to Cece and she examined his shoulders. Azul was hit in the shoulders so it was the most critical part.

"My shoulders feel fine mom".

"What about your eyes? You seemed to be in a daze". Cece held Azul's face and looked in his eyes. "Ahhh just as I suspected". Cece smiled.

"Suspected what?". Azul was concerned.

"You have beautiful blue eyes". Cece went to the corners of Azul's mouth and put his face into a smile. "And a great smile to go with it".

"I know your kind, but you're overdoing it". He took her hands away.

"I can't appreciate my son, I'm hurt Azul". Cece fell back dramatically.

Azul pulled his mom back up. "I'll take compliments for my work".

"Speaking of work, we better start up the restaurant soon. Oh and make sure my mom doesn't leave her room". Cece started to leave for the exit.

Azul went to Ursula's room. "Mom doesn't want you to leave your room!". Azul quickly went back to follow his mom after that.

It took Ursula a second to register that. "Oh Cece, you're what we call a very kind asshole".

Chapter Text

Melania and Astel were in the cafeteria eating some breakfast. Astel was eating her shrimp peacefully, while Melania was eating hers like she was sent to death row and this was her last meal, which she wasn't. She just felt that way.

“Hey Astel aren’t brown stingrays freshwater? Got into the salt from some cross breeding?”.

“Yeah my mami said that I was cross-bread but never specified on who with. I was lucky though, since the only thing that is different about me is that I can be in both salt and freshwater. I had lived in freshwater for early childhood, but my mami realized that it irritated me so during the school year I stayed in the saltwater with a family friend”. She took another shrimp. “And stayed in freshwater during the summer, but it wasn’t that much fun since the freshwater irritated me but I survived. I’m also way bigger than a regular freshwater brown stingray, I was bigger than my mom when I was 10!”.

“Talk about irritations, when I had to go off of my medication, the headaches”. Melania swayed the shrimp around but stopped to look at a wide eyed Astel. “Why are you looking like that for 3 eyes?”.

Astel was recounting everything her roommates said about Meli being crazy and her mood swings. It all made sense, she WASN’T ON HER MEDICATION! “What was your medication? Why did you stop? Are you willing to go back? Where's the nearest pharmacy?Can we go now?".

3 eyes were asking questions faster than Meli could answer them. Meli threw a shrimp at 3 eyes to get her to stop. She loved how even with one of her eyes missing, she still did a wide eyed stare like she could see out of her left socket, how cute.

“I took them when I needed to, then one day it disappeared. POOF! Now how irritating was the freshwater for you? That eel was really trying to change the conversation about her being medicated.

“What's the name of it?”.

“The place you stayed when you were in freshwater? How should I know?”.

“The name of your medication Meli!”. Astel was ashamed of herself for being interested in rocks instead of chemistry lessons in school. Though rocks did give her the happiest moments of her childhood in the freshwater at least.

“Why? I would take it if I knew the name, but I made it a job to forget”.

“Melania Leech!”. Everyone and their grandmother's heads turned at Astel using Mels name like that. Astel was a soldier and already had her eye taken out by Mel, so they were sure she was as good as dead.

“Ooooh, almost full namin’ me. Feisty, I like”. Everyone looked at Astel like she had just defused a bomb that was about to go off in less than 5 seconds.

Astel realized the stares so she thought it was time to go. “I better feed the workers. Don’t want them slacking from starvation”.

“Have fun, cutie~”. Meli waved her goodbye.

A tigerfish mer woman came to Astel as soon as the stingray was a safe distance from Mel. “How are you not dead yet?”.

“I honestly don’t even know. The Atlantean military doesn’t even compare to the dangers here”. The tigerfish shook her head and swam off.

****************

Astel got the food needed to feed everyone there. She went to the ones nearest first then went back to the starting point to get more food. There were two shark women who Astel found to make a hammerhead and a great white.

They were suspiciously eyeing a cage with nothing in it at the other side further down. Astel wanted to see what they were staring at, but it was empty so they were probably just crazy. “Here’s your food”.

“We would like more food”. The hammerhead stated. She may not be as dangerous as her great white cellmate, but she meant business.

“I’m sure you would”. Astel gave them the food.

“We can make potions”. The great white somehow knew that she needed someone who could do that.

“Can you make medication, medicine?”. If they could then they could make Meli’s medication. There was hope, oh they would definitely get more food.

“Oh course, but only if you give us enough food for ten of her. I mean the normal portion, not the slave portion”. The hammerhead pointed with her thumb to the great white at her side.

“Name’s Astel for short, what’s yours?”.

“Onda”. The hammerhead answered.

“Serene”. The great white added.

“What medication do you want? We’ll tell you the ingredients we need and tools for it”. Serene’s eyes lit up at Onda. She was probably happy to be brewing again.

“It’s for Melania Leech. It’s her medication for her ‘craziness’ to put it as”. Astel must have grown a pair of legs from the look of the shark's faces.

The sharks whispered to each other for a minute before the great white answered. “We’ll do it, but food first”.

“Great!”. Astel left to get all the food. They were given lots of fish. It was definitely enough to fill 10 of Serenes' stomachs.

“We will tell you ingredients and what we need later, Astel. Let us eat and think about what we need”. The hammerhead gestured the stingray off.

When Astel was finally gone from the scene, the shark moms knew that the gang could come out.

“Come here kids!”. Serene yelled for the gang to come and get their food.

It seemed like they were sleeping the entire time. They got up from their slumber slowly, but immediately noticed the smell of food. They raced out of the cage to try and get the food the mamas got.

Onda handed them the fish through the bars so they could have their fill. They all ended up eating all the food by the time everyone was full.

Kai noticed that the great white was watching him intensely, until the hammerhead elbowed her to stop. He thought that they were probably crazy and wanted another shark to talk to.

“We need a plan”. Jamil once again stated the obvious.

“While you guys were sleeping off, we made a deal with a stingray”. Azul was the first thing they thought of when they heard of the word ‘deal’. “For all this food, we will make medication for the second in command in this place. Melania Leech”. The great white was obviously someone who liked gesturing while talking.

“By any chance, does she have twin sons named Jade and Floyd?”. If it was then they hit the lottery.

“Yeah actually, why?”. Serene cocked her head to the side in confusion. “Know them?”.

Yeah they know them, they know them all right…

“Well that makes this easier, probably”. Jamil considered it. “We still need a plan though”.

****************

Ursula swore than she would kill Maleficent if the damn lizard wasn’t the most powerful in the room. For what had to be at least a century, she was stuck with The Queen of Hearts, Scar, Jafar, The Evil Queen, Hades, and Maleficent. She got along with Jafar and Hades really well, hit or miss with the Queens, neutral with Scar, and wished the worst for Maleficent.

She was there because they all shared one goal: They wanted to be in a world where they would be the heroes of their respective story. It was Maleficent's idea and that lizard was the one who brought them all, but for the past century, they had gotten a little more than nowhere.

At least until today. Maleficent said that she could potentially find the spell and cast it, but she needed help from everyone else. Everyone’s power was in this scale of least powerful to most: Scar, Queen of Hearts, Evil Queen, Jafar, Ursula, Maleficent, Hades. Even if Hades was the most powerful, Maleficent was still in charge. If you left it to Ursula to judge how hard Hades fell, she would say the highest spot possible to not float, to the bottom of the Underworld.

“It’s here! The spell to the spell to our victories!”. She could see everyone's heads turn to Maleficent. The lizard had a scroll that looked very very worn. “Everyone come! We can finally be claimed as heroes!”.

“You aren’t messing with us Maleficent? Don’t get our hopes up”. The Evil Queen moved to her respective place. They all had one for any spell casting that involved two or more of them.

“Don’t be ridiculous Grimhilde! I admit that I’ve gotten the wrong thing before, but this isn’t the case!”. Maleficent opened the scroll for only her viewing pleasure. “Positions please!”.

Everyone got in positions. They knew where to stand by heart, as they had done this a million times before by now. They knew not to be optimistic for any spell, as any spell rarely worked in their current predicament.

“Well lizard? Let’s begin”. Maleficent didn’t have to move her head for Ursula to feel her anger at that comment.

“Well octopus, I need to read the spell first”. Ursula returned the same anger to Maleficent.

“You didn’t read it first?”. Jafar asked.

“Didn’t have time”.

“How didn’t you have time? Did you have too much and waste it? Or had too little given to you at the time? I've had both many times, or time just stopping, or time going forward, or backwards". Did they understand the Queen of Hearts most of the time? Were things frustrating a lot with her short temper? Yes and yes. She did get along with them to a degree and became best friends with Grimhilde though. (They complement each other a little too much to be considered "just friends").

"Just let Maleficent lead the way Elizabeth". Grimhilde patted Elizabeth on the shoulder (and had to stand on her tippy toes to do so) (and was also already wearing heels).

"Let this begin!". Maleficent started to mumble the spell so low no one could hear her no matter how close they were to her. There were multiple colors of smoke around them: Red, orange, lavender, dark red, royal blue, light blue, and green.

Before Ursula knew it, she was back into the dark abyss of the ocean. She felt drained though, it was like someone drained her of her magic.

She went…anywhere. She didn't know where to go, so he just went in a direction. She had learned that now she was seen as the hero of the story from schools she encountered.

She had been the helper of Atlantica, the benevolent one. She had helped the king till her death from a sea monster. She could kill one easily, it must have been Maleficent's design flaw in this, but Ursula didn't know what Maleficent did. She would have to consider thanking Maleficent for this spell though, keyword on "consider".

Now with her newfound freedom, she could finally go out to at least general waters. The journey took her a few weeks, but she was finally in Atlantica. She wondered if the place had finally gotten better over a century, but it could be in flames, even if it is underwater

You can imagine her shock at finding out that Triton's eldest Attina now ruled Atlantica. There was now a program where mermaids could join the human world if they chose to, something her father could never do for his life. But the Kingdom was more closed off and she didn’t see many commoners thriving.

The other sisters got married and even made kids, which made kids, which made kids. She even heard that Ariel's daughter had joined the Ocean after discovering the wonders from Ursula’s own sister, Morgana.

Morgana, Ursula’s younger sister who was magical, but never as strong as even Triton without the trident. Morgana always was jealous and was banished even before Ursula, but stayed in the calm waters refusing to act, yet Morgana could have died since she was only a demigod, so the news of her death was sad news since she was definitely dead.

There was only one problem in her way to a peaceful life, for now. Money, a job, evidence of identification, and proof that she wasn’t the random octopus that appeared. It took time for her to finally get somewhere to live, but she got a home. She got a job helping clean the Ocean for minimum wage, or less by what they were giving her. There was only one problem…

She was lonely, sure she has friends, but those friends have lives and will eventually die. She had her eels, Flotsam and Jetsam to keep her company before, then the creatures of the dark with nothing better to do, but now she was lonely a lot.

She refused to mate, so that was out of the question. Maybe she could create a child…a girl. A girl she could raise, a demigod to live longer because of their creation. There was one problem…how does one create a daughter? She definitely didn’t know how to do that, but she could try it. Oh she could hear Flotsam’s and Jetsam’s voices telling her that she should create a child or learn the spell for later.

“It’s boring here, make a daughter, or son!”. The first instance with Flotsam

“We need someone else here, make a child Ursula. We would be good uncle eels”. Jetsam pleading.

“You’ll want a child one day, Ursula, why not make one now?”.

“When you make her, make her name Cece!”.

“No, name her Paling!”

“Cece!”.

“Paling!”.

Now here she was, making a damn child. How did they know? How did they know? How did they know…?

It took a while and most of her will to live, but she got the ingredients. The only thing left was to give her daughter an important part of her. She knew that there was only one thing that would suffice: One of her tentacles. It was painful to cut off, since she never had less than 6, it was hard to get used to.

Her friends would ask a lot of questions of how she had a daughter and why she was missing an arm, but she already had a cover story. She forgot she laid eggs and it was a shark incident, believable right?

Now she could make her daughter. It was an easier process to make the world see her as good. Who knew it was easier to change the minds of people than to make a new one?

It took all of her day off, but it was done. She had a daughter. Her daughter was beautiful in Ursula’s eyes, everything in her child she loved already. Now was to give her a name. Cece Paling Ashengrotto would be her full name, oh how she found it beautiful.

Raising her was a challenge at times naturally. Cece was always the quiet kid in school, yet at home she was a menace to Ursula. She wasn’t bad but her mouth could be faster than her speed, and 7 Seas help her when Cece got into cooking. Cece would cook using anything she could find, normally crustaceans or fish, but she once found Cece talking about cooking an octopus.

It was even more frustrating when Cece made friends with two eels. It reminded Ursula of Flotsam and Jetsam, an octopus befriending two eels. Just a coincidence. She didn’t regret making Cece though.

Cece had gotten married to someone who Ursula didn’t approve of, but she seemed happy, for now. Cece even had the chance to start her own restaurant and took the chance. It wasn’t that successful, but it paid better than Ursula’s job.

Her daughter was made, yes. So how was her daughter able to make eggs and actually have a child from one of them? It didn’t make sense at all, but her daughter somehow did it. She named her son “Azul Geld Ashengrotto”, Ursula found no problem with it.

When the boy was young, a toddler, Cece’s husband became abusive to her. Cece didn't deserve it at all, and it was a tough process for Cece to keep Azul during the divorce. Thankfully Cece had gotten all rights to him.

After that, Cece had gotten a lawsuit. She needed a lawyer and Ursula was out to one of the other Seas at the time. She had to get a lawyer, which she somehow fell in love with and got married to. He treats her well and he's very good to Azul.

One day Cece came home with a baby mer shark. Ursula wasn't actually home when she did, but she welcomed him to the family anyway. He was named Kai, a sweet boy really, just had an unfortunate event.

Ursula got along with both of the boys splendidly, they both loved her. She would sometimes teach them a beginner potion, very seriously might she add. She had her trips where she was away from family, but always brought things to remind her of them all.

Both boys had helped with the restaurant, and Ursula was at the restaurant "observing" so they were together a lot. They had their respective friends, but always had time to chat with her at home.

She was both proud and sad to see Azul go to NRC. She loved that he was going to a school that would help him with his magic (and one that worshiped her she might add), but it was sad to see him leave for the year and only come back for summer and school breaks (excluding winter break).

Kai helped Cece with the restaurant and was able to keep up in school. He may have missed too much school so he had to repeat the grade once, but he was all good now.

Ursula thought it would be a good idea to come back home when Azul was also coming back for his spring break of third year. He was almost reaching internships, as he told her. So it would be nice to meet up before the summer where he would be worrying about that.

Little did she know that in that week she would:
Her step grandchild went away with some of Azul's human friends
She harmed Azul
She told Cece about her being the Sea Witch
She was in a deal with Azul where she could potentially lose magic
Back to 4, she was in a contract she didn't create for the first time in her life
It wasn't even the weekend yet…

****************

Cece was cooking the meals that needed to be done. She had been doing this for a long time so that no dish was a problem for her, but she did have to remind herself to check on what she was cooking to not mess it up this time.

She was overthinking, as usual. Azul's stomach scar was all that was on her mind, she even had named the scar "Jeremy" to make things easier for her. She forgot about Jeremy when Azul was under her mom's shock so when she felt it her mind went to the worst.

She was so in shock and was depressed at the moment, that she forgot that the scar was from a gym accident as he stated. It was from a gym accident…right? Her mom did say that she didn't notice it before, and her attention to detail was the best Cece ever saw.

He was also very defensive, and he only does that when he is the one in the wrong or lying. The habit could have grown to be more common in anything while he was in school.

Cece was probably overthinking this, especially since she almost messed up the food. He got it in the gym and she was going to remember that, though she would probably forget again. She was going to leave it alone and just continue on. She had a restaurant to run and food to cook.

The food could wait 5 minutes though, right? Cece left the kitchen in the hands of her sous chefs to “take a break”. She went above to her home to check on her son, just to confirm her suspension is wrong.

“Hey honey!”. Cece went to greet her son while he was on break. “I’m taking my 5, what are you, OH GREAT 7!”. Azul and her mother were covered in something yellow.

“I was teaching him a potion, but I accidentally added an extra ingredient”. Of course it was her mom, why wouldn’t it be?

“I’ll clean up then get back to work”. Cece didn’t know why Azul wanted to learn a spell from his grandma in his 30 minute break, but she had other things to focus on.

“Actually Azul, I’d like to ask you something”. Cece grabbed him to her room before he had time to answer.

“Yes mom?”. Azul was cleaning off the yellow stuff from himself. She hoped that it wasn’t toxic.

“Remember when you first came here and my mom noticed Jer-, I mean the scar on your stomach? You said that the scar was because of a gym accident, and I just want to confirm that''. She saw Azul’s shocked face at her question. He fixed his face, but he still seemed to be anxious at the question.

"It was a gym accident, mom. Someone accidentally aimed the disc too low and it hit me there, I was able to slow it down, but not stop the impact". Azul started to leave, but Cece grabbed him.

"Why were you so anxious about it? And why didn't you mention it initially like you did with the thigh thing?". Cece made valid points, much to Azul's dismay. He should have been more cautious.

"I'd rather not talk about scars". He had plenty of hard conversations with the twins about it, and didn't want his mom to get involved.

He remembers when he and the twins were doing homework together in his room when they first found out. Their classes were at the same level for once and it was a good way to make sure they wouldn't get bored. They all went to Azul's room since it had a bathroom.

The room was suspiciously hot, but he refused to take off his jacket. Floyd had to rip it off him so Azul wouldn't die from the heat. Floyd also went to roll up Azul's sleeves, and that's when the twins found out. Azul could remember the looks on their faces like it was yesterday. He would have run away if Floyd wasn't holding his arm in a vice like grip.

The conversation was hard with the twins, especially since the twins kept blaming themselves. He admitted that it was because of his weight issues and guess what the twins did: Cooked him fried chicken. He didn't know why they thought it would help, but it did make him feel better.

They tried different methods to get him to stop, but the one that worked was that he would have to pay a ridiculous sum for every time he did it. Yes money, it's what drives him. It was still hard but he got through it, until they left him.

"Okay…". Cece didn't want to press right now since they were on a time thing, but she was still suspicious. "Let's get back to work".

"I still have 10 minutes".

"I said let's get back to work. Also clean that yellow stuff off of you. Don't want it on the food".

******************

"Hey Jade, why were you so mean to Azul during the fight?". Floyd and Jade were in their rooms healing from their fight with their dad.

"I thought I should make it believable if we wanted to sell it. I regret it of course. Our fathers an ass, something I wish I realized then". Jade cursed, something rarer than seeing Trey Clover getting collared by Riddle last year.

"Remind me not to get on your bad side". Floyd tried to turn around, but winced in pain.

"Don't know why you would Floyd". Jade looked at the seashells still scattered around from the fight. "Do you think Azul did 'it' Floyd?".

Floyd turned towards Jade so fast he caused pain to everything all at once. The "it" in question was Azul's self harm, but they would never call it that.

"Don't be ridiculous, he would have to pay us 100 Madols".

"We aren't with him anymore. I don't think it applies anymore".

"...Oh Great Sea Witch, damn".

"It's just a question".

"One we know the answer too!". Floyd went to his brother and slapped him. "We didn't think this through!".

"We thought about what was best at the time and came to the realization that we were wrong". Jade blocked his brother from slapping him this time. "Opinions change after seeing the outcome of something. A character can't stay the same after something".

"Ugh, we will go broke making it up to him". Floyd slouched to the ocean floor.

"Whyeverso brother?". Jade couldn't help chuckling at Floyd overreacting.

"He could sense a diamond in someone's pocket with a bright light in his face". Floyd wasn't exaggerating, Azul has.

"Let's focus on imaginary money problems later. First we need to apologize".

"With money! He'll milk us dry!".

"Don't be ridiculous, we aren't mammals". Floyd facepalmed at Jade's remark.

Chapter Text

"Cece please tell me it's the weekend". Ursula knew that these days have been going too slow for anyone's good.

"Friday mom, just a day away from the weekend".

"Woe is me!". As usual Ursula was acting as dramatic and an opera singer.

"Mom if you need something to do to pass the time you can help Azul clean". Cece tried to put a tissue in her mother's tentacles.

"Ah yes Azul, I can teach him some spells!". Ursula went immediately to the restaurant, looking for Azul, without the tissue.

"Can you teach him cleaning spells!". Yelling to her mother was useless, and she knew that. Better to hope and try than not.

****************

"Azul!". Ursula nearly made Azul jump out of the water.

"Hey Grandmimi". He stopped his cleaning and set the rag down.

"Do you want to learn a new potion?".

"Tomorrow please, I'd like a rest".

"From what? The restaurant wasn't that busy today". She grabbed his arm and tugged him over to the house.

He tried to resist but it served no use. He was strong, but she was and always will be stronger.

"That cleaning spell was fast. I expect the restaurant to be spotless". Cece tried to leave to check the restaurant but was stopped by Ursula.

"Didn't I teach you a cleaning spell before?".

"No, I would use that if you did".

"Oh…oh well".

Cece gave an annoyed look to her mom then was about to leave to her room, but the clam started screaming.

Clams were basically the telephones of the sea. You told something to a clam to send to another, then it would get to the intended recipient. The clams would keep telling it to each other until the other gets the message so they don't forget it.

There were mers who tried to listen in on the clams for top secret information, but it didn't work because the clams have a special language they were taught. Only the receiver and delivery clams at the end of each line know which language the mers use and clam speak. They were taught the special language by the royals or officials of course to preserve information.

"What's the message Lemon?". Cece went over to the clam, with her family following.

"Message from Jamil Viper: Azul, get here right now! We have a situation on our hands that only you can fix!

Hey it's Kai now, we need your help. We're at the Leeches place and are in trouble.

It's Ruggie, we made a bet with Melania Leech and her worker-friend-partner-mer won't let us leave unless we somehow win the bet.

Kai on call now, these idiots made a stupid bet. They made a bet where if you don't come here before the break ends, we die. They accidentally mentioned you and she has heard of you and wants you to come here.

Ruggie again, I know the bet was stupid but she made the terms and I think she's on something illegal.

Worker-friend-partner-mer here, she's actually not on what she's supposed to be on, so that's why she's crazy.

It's Kalim now, we got caught by her and Jamil thought a bet was the best way. She won't negotiate for anything else to bet on.

Kai again, Jamil is an idiot. We have tried everything to convince her to make different terms, but she won't budge.

Silver, we are on a time crunch as we only have until break is over.

Kai, we have a map somewhere in the house to the place. Find it!

Jade speaking, it was fun to see them, but they are very boring.

Floyd here, come Azul please. We couldn't stop my ma even if we tried. Plus we really wanna see ya Azul.

Jamil, give us the clam! Anyway Azul, help us!

The clam stopped speaking.

Cece and Ursula slowly turned their heads to Azul. Azul just stared at the clam refusing to address the what-the-fuckery in the room.

"Soooooo…". Cece went the the kitchen and got some lobsters to put in the satchel. "Take this food so you don't get too hungry".

"What?!". Azul didn't want to leave but Cece was already pushing him through the door.

"Oh you need the map, mom go find it, we'll help you". Cece went to Azul's room searching for it. "By the way, do you know what it looks like?".

Azul followed his mom and saw her literally pickup the map but then put it down. "You just had it". She picked the map back up.

"This rusty pipe? I guess you wouldn't keep it if it wasn't important in some way". She quickly gave him the map so she didn't have to hold it for long.

"Why is he going to that place? It's a suicide mission Cece". Ursula forcibly removed the map from Azul and the satchel from Cece.

"1. Kai is there. 2. Azul is both young and a powerful magic user. 3. Azul needs to get there for them to survive anyway. 4. I refuse to go there and I need to watch the restaurant. 5.-".

"Calm down Cece, I get it. Don't make a reason for every tentacle. Azul, get going, it will take a while for you to get there". Ursula took the satchel from Cece to hand to Azul.

"Do I get a say in this?". Azul was already being rushed out by them.

"Not this time dear". Cece replied.

"Let me get my pen at least!". Azul squeezed through them to his room to get his pen.

"We wish you well on your endeavor Azul". Ursula quickly hugged him then rushed him out the house.

"Bye-". The door was already shut before he could say a proper goodbye.

"Well…I'm going to kill them after I save them".

****************

"Wait wait wait, repeat the plan to me Jamil". The hyena wanted to make sure he heard everything correctly.

"I find someone to use my Unique magic on that will lead us to the twins".

"Considering what your unique magic is, it is sure to work". Silver stated.

"Food!". The stingray came yelling with the food so suddenly the group barely had a chance to turn invisible. "I wish I had this food for myself, it's actually something I wouldn't have to force down my stomach".

"Thank you…Astel?". Onda took all the food from Astel.

"Yep, Astel. I have everything I could think of for potion making, just let me get it". Astel quickly went to get it. When she came back she was carefully carrying it in her fins so it wouldn't be destroyed. "I got what I could".

It was an impressive display. While it certainly wasn't the best they have ever seen, it was surprising how many materials she got in such a short time.

"Don't mean to push but how long will it take?". It was interesting to Astel of how they looked at everything she brought.

"Well we have the setup for the medicine, but we are missing a lot of ingredients". Serene had already started to set everything up.

"Well that sounds good. Tell me what you need and you'll have it first thing tomorrow after I wake up".

"We need lots of pink coral. A few red algae. A LOT of seagrass. And some green anemones". Astel knew what that was, but hearing it from Onda in that context was confusing.

"I'll try to remember…heh…". Astel went out of sight and space.

"Out kids!". Serene calls for the group.

They all came out of hiding.

They ate their fill then the mamas waved a quick goodbye for them. The group went to leave with Silver's invisibility spell on them.

There was a moray eel like the twins close by with an electric eel. They seemed to be in a conversation that would end soon. The electric eel flinched for a second with the Jamil somehow flinching after him. The lingering of the electricity on Jamil was weird.

Nevertheless, Jamil led the group to the moray after the electric left her to be. She immediately noticed the change in water and looked in their direction.

"Snake Whisper". Jamil tried to use his unique magic on her, but nothing happened, well except him getting shocked, wait. The electric eel must have done something to interfere with his magic.

"Magic? Heh, I guess that electric had good instincts to use his unique magic on. What does yours do?". They were in REALLY deep water.

Out of shock Silver accidentally took off the invisibility spell. They were all visible to her.

"Shit". Jamil was the one to curse. With her nails and teeth, flora magic probably wouldn't do good. Especially with others probably coming to help.

"ASTEL! COME HELP ME RING THEM UP!".

The same stingray from before who gave the sharks the food came swimming up. She looked very surprised to see them, well they were just random teenages in her eyes, wait eye.

"Been a while since I had to restrain someone. Glad the military taught me how to".

She came in faster than they thought. She grabbed Silver, Kalim, and Jamil in her "arm blankets". The moray grabbed Ruggie and Kai by their throats so they couldn't move unless they wanted her to stab their throats.

It was surprisingly hard for the 3 to move in the stingrays arms. She squeezed so tightly that their bodies were smushed together like sardines.

The moray used her hands to squeeze Kai and Ruggie not so tight that they lose oxygen, but tight enough that they can't leave. They shouldn't take the risk of moving since she had very sharp nails and a strong grip.

"Follow me 3 eyes". The moray swam ahead to the same place they came from: With Onda and Serene. Also if she was talking about the stingray, where did the other 2 eyes come from? She was only obviously missing one.

They were literally taken to the same cell they hid in. Onda and Serene could barely believe their eyes when they saw the group.

They put the group in the cell and locked it.

The moray looked at Onda and Serene questionly. "Why do they have 'that', Astel?".

"It's no biggie. Nothing to worry about now. It's a surprise". From how she talked to the moray, the moray could be the one in need of the medicine.

"Ooo, I love surprises!". The moray quickly clapped her hands then turned to the group. "Oh, I forgot to make an introduction. Melania Leech, you're at my service! What's your Atlantean assigned name?".

The group looked at each other. Naturally she thought they were actual mers and not humans who took a potion.

Wait, she was Melania Leech! She was who Onda and Serene were making the medicine for! Wait, she was also the second in command for this place, which means that she could probably kill them in seconds…But she is the twins mother, well probably at least.

She could take them to the twins, or bring the twins to them. Well if they were lucky.

"I'm Kai, here is Jamil, Kalim, Silver, and Ruggie". Kai pointed to the person as he said their name. "We want to speak with Jade and Floyd Leech".

That had seemed to catch her attention more than anything. "You wanna talk and talk to my son's? Never knew they were ones for chatter and chattering". So she WAS their mom.

If they were lucky with the twins being mamas boys, then they would listen to anything she had to say. She could also be defensive of them and not allow them to meet the twins.

"It's a personal matter between us and them, so please let us meet them". Jamil didn't know if he was going to die or meet the twins in the next 5 minutes.

"Have anyone back for you?". What does that mean Melania?

"Azul". Kalim decided that mentioning Azul's name was best for whatever reason.

"Ashengrotto?".

"Yes!". Jamil shut Kalims mouth by then, but it was too late.

"Hmmm, I see. Ways he can come here?". How did she know who he was? And what does she want with him?

"Heck, even if he did he'll try to kill us after. Not worth trying". Ruggie replied.

"Then it looks like we have extra food for tonight. And here I was watching my weight, oh well I can't refuse extra food". She has nothing to worry about with weight if she's like the twins, but she plans to eat them?!

"Shall I bring a spear?". Astel, they remember, offered.

"Bring the big fancy one. Don't want this to take too long, they are only teens".

"Wait, how about we make a bet?". Jamil knew that it was a bad idea but he didn't have much of a choice.

"Okidoki, but I'm making the terms buster". She stared in every direction and everyone for about 3-5 seconds each. "Have Azul come here before the twins break ends and I'll spare you. Ooo, I forgot I like the word spare. It's like spear, oh, but spore is wayyy more fun".

"Anything else!". Kai knew that with the long journey and Azul being slow, he'd never get there in time.

"No".

"Servitude to the twins until the breaks over". Silver offered.

"Nah".

"Servitude to you?". Jamil asked.

"Tempting, but no".

"We will literally agree to anything else!". Jamil begged.

"Will you do some torchering for me? Screams haven't been the same lately".

"Anything other than that!". Kai replied.

"Yeah, no deal buster".

"Well if that's the term, we need a way to contact Azul". Jamil stated.

"Should we allow them to tell a clam?". What did Astel mean by 'tell a clam'?.

"I'll get it, along with the boys". Melania left the space to get the clam and seemingly the twins.

"I want to leave". Kai sighed.

"And I wanted to lead so an idiot with a fancy title wouldn't lead my friends to their deaths. We both can't get what we want". Too much info Astel, too much info.

****************

"Offsprings! You have company! Also get me a clam!". Melania screamed at the twins after entering their room.

"What company? Who?". Jade put his waterproof book down.

"Jamkikl, Halim, Saliva, Muggy, and Kite". The twins knew that their mom couldn't remember a name unless you said it twice, so it probably their friends. It must be Jamil, Kalim, Silver, Ruggie, and Kai. Wait, what were they there for?

"What are they here for?". Floyd left his bad to go to ma.

"Clue is absent". She shrugged and started to leave. "Get clam line!".

The twins got a clam and a line to connect it with, then followed their mom. She led them to the cells where at the end of the prisoners line were the same people they guessed.

Everyone except Kai were surprised to see the twins in their mer forms. They even seemed to compare their mom with the twins to see similarities and differences. Their mom said that Floyd was the male version of her, and Jade was also her but with many more differences.

"What are our dear schoolmates and Kai doing here". Jade commented.

Kai turned his head in a 'is he for real?' way when Jade said 'and Kai'.

"We know your planning something!". Jamil stated.

"I believe we were, but not anymore. We've got other problems". Floyd shrugged the question off.

"No scheming? Ain't that making a disappointed father". She knew that they didn't want any part of his plans, but she probably wouldn't do anything about it and swim with the stream. "I'm swimming out".

She signaled for Astel to not let them leave while she left.

"Here is the clam line, but why do you need it?". Jade handed the clam to Jamil who immediately snatched it from him.

The clam woke up. "Who is the one delivering this message?".

"Jamil Viper".

"Please now state your message".

This 'message' was chaos to say the least. Jamil started it, but then everyone kept taking it. Even those who were outside the cell somehow managed to get the clam. Poor clam.

Jamil didn't know much about mer-life but he assumed that to end the call was shutting the clam.

For all he knew by the time Azul got the message, it would be next week and they would be sitting in Melania's stomach.

"1. I have a name you know. 2. Clam lines are actually pretty fast nowadays so don't worry about him not getting it soon". Astel stated.

While Serene was getting the medicine setup ready, Onda was focusing on the group. She gave them a state that said 'it wasn't even 5 minutes before you guys got caught by the damn second in command!'.

Onda then turned to Serene and whispered in her ear. "Our son is an idiot".

"At least he doesn't know we are his parents so we don't have to claim him". Serene whispered back trying to lighten the mood.

"Well if we are gonna die, we must let our deaths be known. Call Riddle". Ruggie summoned the redhead.

Riddle appeared in the pendant. "Any news?".

"You're going to want to sit down for this". Kalim said.

"I'm already sitting".

"Okay then. We had a plan to get to the twins by hypnotizing someone. That plan failed though because an electric eel did something that made our magic stop working for a little. It was enough though for the twins mom and her worker-friend-partner-mer to capture us and put us in a cell. We made a bet where unless Azul came before break was over, we would die. Their mom got the twins and a clam-phone thing we used to call Azul. The worker-friend-partner-mer is guarding us along with the twins".

Jamil paused for a minute wondering why they weren't stopping him. He realized that she probably wanted to stop him, but she was stopped by the twins.

"Well I'll start planning the funerals. Want any specific song or flowers?". Riddle as usual talked about their death.

"I want a song about living". Ruggie of course hopping on the train.

If they weren't in deep waters before, they are now.

Chapter Text

He was going to kill them after he saved them. You know that thing people say, “If you die, I’ll kill you”, It’s like that. Those bastards somehow got in the deepest waters and expected him to solve their problem.

It would take him a damn week to get there. There would be no reason for him to go anyway with that time. At least the Magic Mirror would teleport him back when break ends…wait.

The Magic Mirror would teleport him back anyway! He didn’t need to do this, he would just be wasting. He should just clam them and tell them to wait. They could die by then, oh well, they knew what they were getting into. Actually he didn’t want Kai to die, eh, he’s a fighter, he can care for himself.

The octopus turned around and went back home. He would explain it to his mom and Grandmimi, they would get it. Right?

******************

“Floyd, stop humming or when Melania kills me, I’m taking you down with me!”. Jamil was tired. Floyds humming had gotten to an annoying point. Astel left so the only faces he had to see were the ones he knew for years. Excluding Kai, but Jamil didn’t like him that much.

Floyd hums louder just to annoy Jamil.

“What are you humming to anyway?”. Ruggie asked.

“Kiss The Girl”, Jade replied.

“Is it about Azul?”, Kalim asked like a sad 5 year old.

“Yeah he’s humming about the boy he can’t kiss. Humming about kissing the boy that he can’t kiss, lonely, single, eel”. Ruggie teased.

“Watch your mouth”, Floyd threatened.

“Watch what you hum”, Ruggie replied.

They had a stare off for a minute.

Everyone else watched to see if anything would happen.

Jamil gave Ruggie a look saying “If he opens the door, we swim”.

“Let’s play a game”. Damn it Jade! “Familiar with Blackjack?”.

“Oh course”, Jamil and Ruggie said in unison.

"Then we'll play a couple games with everyone here. If anyone on your side wins, you guys can ask something of me and Floyd. If me or Floyd win, we can ask something of you all."

Ruggie looked skeptical at Jade. He must be experienced to do 4 against 2, or 5 against 2.

Ruggie calls Riddle from the Mirror Pendant.

"Yes?," Riddle asks.

"Want to play Blackjack? We can find a way for you to play." Ruggie says.

"Who am I playing with?"

Ruggie explains who's playing and how Riddle can join in, Riddle agrees. During that, Jade went to get the clams.

Jade comes back, already shuffling the clams. "I'll deal."

"No way! We need a third party to deal. How 'bout the two sharks there?" Ruggie points to Serene and Onda, they would definitely help them.

They get Serene from the cage to deal the clams. Serene is moved to the cage with the group instead.

"I just have to distribute the cards? That's all?"

"Yes Miss Serene, that's all." Kai replies.

Serene resists the urge to tell Kai to call her mom. This is a terrible situation to say anything. He probably already moved on to his next family and has his own life by now.

"Okay… how do I shuffle and deal clams?"

"Let me do it!" Onda screams from her cage.

"No can do!" Floyd yells back at Onda.

Jamil explains what to do to Serene. He then has to explain how to play Blackjack to her, Kalim, and Kai.

Heracles had to defeat a Hydra for one of his original 10 labors, right? A big monster that grew back 2 heads every time it lost one? Where you literally had to deal with fire to close their necks before the heads grew back? That somehow sounds easier than whatever the fuck Blackjack games they just went through to Jamil.

First off, Serene couldn't shuffle or hand out clams effectively for her life. The clams kept falling out of hands so everyone could see the cards. It took forever for everyone to get their first cards.

When they did get to playing, Kalim literally had so little in total, but refused to hit, even if there was no way for him to lose. Kai was the exact opposite, he kept hitting, even if he shouldn't.

Floyd got an Ace a few times, and always put it to 11, never 1. We don't know why, but he did it anyway. It was hard for Riddle to see everything so Serene had to go through him constantly screaming so he could see what's going on, poor shark. It didn't really help because Riddle wasn't that good in general.

Everyone else were fantastic players. It was narrowed down to Jamil, Ruggie, and Jade in the end. They were neck and neck with each other.

In the semi-final round, Ruggie lost.

While Jamil knew that the only games he ever played Blackjack in previously were ones he lost, because Kalim had to win, he was confident. He knew Jade's tactics, he was carefully watching from the beginning. Jade wanted to play against only Jamil from the beginning, he was sure of it.

“How do you feel, Viper?”

“Don’t act innocent. I know you,” Jamil scoffed.

Serene took extra time to shuffle the clams; it was the last round so it made sense.

When Serene gave a clam from the bottom of the stack to them this time.

Jamil: 2 of Spades
Jade: 9 of Diamonds

“Hit?” The great white asked.

Jamil and Jade nodded their heads at the same time so she each gave them a clam.

Jamil: 2 of Spades and King of Diamonds = 12
Jade: 9 of Diamonds and 5 of Hearts = 14

“Hit?” They could both lose at this point, but they took the risk.

Jamil: 2 of Spades, King of Diamonds and 8 of Hearts = 20
Jade: 9 of Diamonds, 5 of Hearts and 6 of Clubs = 20

“Tied at 20?!” Ruggie kept looking at the clams, believing his eyes were deceiving him.

“The only way to win would be to get an Ace. What are the chances of one of them getting it?” Kai asked.

“I don’t know the chances of them getting in this situation, but the chances of getting an Ace…” Jamil thought about it for a minute. “With the remaining cards, a 2/23 chance.”

“So it’s impossible?”

“Basically.”

“New game?” Serene offered, already shuffling the clams.

“I’ll hit.” All eyes were on Jade.

“You crazy?!” Floyd was resisting the urge to smack Jade upside the head.

Serene held out two clams down, weighed them, then gave Jade one.

Jade: 9 of Diamonds, 5 of Hearts, 6 of Clubs, and Ace of Hearts

“Would you mind making that 11?” Kalim batted his eyelashes at Jade like a stereotypic pretty girl.

“No~” Oh how Jamil wished he could wipe that smug grin off of Jade's face.

“2/23 chance… 2/23 chance… 2/23 chance…” Ruggie refused to believe this.

Ruggie hadn’t come here for spring break. He was with his grandma instead. He was working a week job to get extra money. He was cooking with and for his grandma, and his grandma was cooking for him. He was safely in his small home, in the Sunset Savanna. He wasn’t in the deep ocean, probably going to be eaten. Or at least that's what he liked to believe.

“4/46 chance if you don’t simplify it.” Silver added.

“That’s the same thing!” Ruggie wished that he could at least go back 3 minutes to tell Jamil to hit before Jade.

“What do you want, Leeches?” They forgot Riddle was there, but at least there would be a witness to their deaths.

“Floyd, go get it.” They all watched Floyd leave from his twin's command.

While they were waiting for Floyd, Serene went back to her cage with Onda. To say that she was just slapped and screamed at, would be generous. For a fish, Onda curses worse than a sailor.

When Floyd came back, he was carrying something in his hands.

“Keep this.”

Floyd handed Jamil a scroll that was tied up.

“Don’t read it. Do so and we’ll convince our ma to eat you sooner.” Everyone nodded their heads to show they understood. That woman was scary, admittedly. They would never survive if NRC wasn’t an all boys school.

*****************

“You can’t spell the King’s name wrong!”

“Why not?! That bastard deserves to have his name misspelled!”

Sullivan had been watching Astel and Melania fight over whether they should spell the King’s name on purpose. It was for a letter to a different Mafia who also hates the King, they wanted to be allies. Sullivan didn’t care, they hated the King too, and they would fight the other Mafia anyway. He was just there for a good Betta fish fight.

The only problem was that there were no actual acts of violence. 37 minutes, and 21 seconds, yet no fighting. They were just playfully arguing throughout making the whole letter. He’d write the letter himself at this point, but always had someone else to do it, and failed literature. Cece almost pulled out her own tentacles at the fact that he couldn’t beat a 3rd grader in literature.

“What if they mistake the King for someone else?”

“The King's name is Dertinaek! Who can have a name like that?! D-E-R-T-I-N-A-E-K! Let me replace the first E with a I!

“So you DO know how to spell his name! Melania!”

“Sue me.”

Astel lightly punched Melania, then they ended up playfully laughing and hugging. Who do they think they are, high school girls?!

Well actually, Sullivan knew Melania in high school, she acted exactly like this with Cece. She acted like this with him and others every now and then… but he still wanted a good betta fight!

“Why aren’t you two fighting?!” The girls immediately froze and turned to Sullivan.

"You want a fight? We'll give you a fight! Come help me, Astel!"

Finally a be- wait… Melania was planning to fight him… fuck

"Not me!" He wasn't in the mood to fight. And Melania would sneak in something sharp, somehow.

"You said you wanted a fight!" Great, old wifey wants to fight him.

"A betta fight. Girl on girl."

"Why would I fight Astel?" Why does her 'dear' husband want her to fight right now? She does that enough already.

"You literally pulled out her eye."

"I'll give him that." Astel had to admit. She was a fictional female character in a book, and Melania's the bad man the readers love anyway.

Melania gave a damn good death stare, when she was angry, but she was still playful.

"Betta males can fight too. Find a guy to fight with." Melania started to usher her husband out. It wasn't that hard, considering the size difference.

"What goes on in his head?"

"Been married to him for… I want to say 20 years or something around there… I don't know." Melania shrugged.

They went to continue the letter.

******************

How did he end up here? His wife doesn't respect him. His kids don't respect him.

He decided to go around to see what everyone was doing. It was surprisingly boring. Wasn't his day.

"I think I'm going to visit my parents soon."

"Wanna join us for some gambling?"

"I'm going to take a nap."

He couldn't even go to his mistress on account of a "family emergency". So what if her mom was in trouble, he was dying of boredom.

He saw a betta pass, what a funny coincidence. Maybe she could be entertaining.

"Hey miss, got anything to cure my boredom?"

"Your son's seem to be playing blackjack with some friends. Kids." She started to swim off, but he caught her by the tail.

"You mean that my son's are the only kids? What friends?"

"Ummm, your son's and some other teens, along with a prisoner, were all playing blackjack. It definitely wasn't the most professional game, but it was fun to them, or at least some of them."

"So where was this?"

"At the cell area. With all the prisoners. It was the last bunch of people at their respective end. It's hard to miss them. I was there to feed some of the prisoners."

"Thank you." Sullivan swam off and left the betta curious.

He had so many questions. Why are your friends here? Why are you guys playing games? Why are they in the cells? Why didn't I know about this? And more.

A good father would check up on them without letting them know he did so, just to see if everything was well. A better father would accept that his kids were adults and know what they are doing. He was neither. He was getting answers to his questions.

Chapter Text

It was despicable really. If he hadn't seen worse things, he would say this is the worst thing he's ever seen. How can they just do that? Who do they think they are?

"Why is there a jester? Why can't there be a prince and princess?" Kai argued.

"What difference would it make if there was a prince and princess?" Jamil asked.

"It would show that there are heirs! Without an heir to take over, the kingdom would fall apart!"

"But without a jester, how would they have fun?" Kalim interjected.

"There are plenty of ways to have fun without a jester! Like this!" Floyd squeezes his ear fins and sticks his tongue out like they are children to prove his point.

Where did he go wrong? Maybe his life would be different if he went to another highschool. Maybe if he chose another moray eel to become his wife.

What would've happened if he kicked Melania out and made her take one of the kids. What if she took Floyd? Jade? What would it be like raising one son without her?

What if Melania died of some disease or wasn't cut out for this life? What if she said no? What if the twins decided to just elope with that octopus instead?

"Maybe the queen had a secret intimate relationship with the jester? Maybe the king had a secret intimate relationship with the jester?" Jade knew that the conversation was pointless, but making theories that make no sense is fun.

Actually, if the twins did decide to elope with the octopus, he would send them money for the elopement and honeymoon. And send the octopus an apology card.

"Maybe the jester was secretly a step sibling?" Was the theory Kai had chosen.

Sullivan decided to swim a little closer to the group. He knew how to make sure others couldn't detect his movement in the water. He was close enough for him to see them perfectly, but they can't see him and he can't see them.

"Maybe the prince and princess didn't want to be a part of the clams. They could be teenagers rebelling against their parents." Ruggies theory.

"I'd say that the jester is actually the kids in disguise." Bless Kalim, he was the only one who didn’t nearly jump out of their tail from Sullivan speaking up.

“If that was true, that would mean there would be 2 jesters. And how would the parents not recognize their own child?” Was what Kalim blurted before Jamil promptly shut the heirs mouth.

Everyone stared at Sullivan for a good minute after the older moray came around to reveal himself to them. Only the twins knew who he was, everyone else thought he was trouble, they were right.

"Hey pops..."

"What game were you guys playing? I'm a bit of a gambler so I should be an expert on anything you throw at me."

The group looked at each other. Why is the twins dad here? Why is he nonchalant about this? Is this part of his little plan? Is he working with the twins' mother?

"Moonside." It was a game Jade and Floyd made when they were younger, so young that Jade was amazed Floyd remembered. And they only ever played it with each other and their mom once.

With the game, each person was dealt 3 clams. If one of those clams was a diamond clam, you'd keep taking clams from the stack until you get another diamond clam. It didn't matter what diamond clams, any. If no one got any diamond clams, they'd get dealt another set until someone does.

If more than one person gets a diamond clams, they'd take turns one by one taking a clam from the stack, following the same rules. Starting with the one who pointed out they had a diamond clam at first.

After the person(s) get their second diamond clam, everyone gets dealt another set. If you start out with 2 diamond clams then get your 3rd diamond clam in the first round, good for you

The whole thing is to get 3 diamond clams. If you start with 3 diamond clams, then you've already won.

After the twins explained that to everyone and their father agreed to play, Jamil started shuffling.

Kai swore that Serene almost died at the thought of having to shuffle anything again.

Sullivan, the twins, Ruggie, and Kai were playing. After Jamil dealt the cards to everyone, they all went to check their cards for any diamonds.

"Diamond!" Ruggie and Jade shouted. Oh how Ruggie wished he had a diamond, could probably make good money on the black market.

"Ruggie came a little bit sooner." By Jamil's command, Ruggie took a clam from the stack, then Jade, then Ruggie, then Jade, then Ruggie, then Jade, who got a diamond. Then Ruggie went again and got a diamond after that.

Kai won that round, shockingly. Ruggie and Jade were unable to get any more diamonds, but Kai was more fortunate than the others in the other rounds.

They played 10 rounds, Silver and Kalim played for a few. In order of who won rounds 1 to 10: Kai, Ruggie, Ruggie, Sullivan, Floyd, Silver, Jade, Kalim, Kalim, and Kalim.

They had no idea how Kalim managed to win the last 3 rounds, he had some amazing luck.

"Another round? Lucky 11?"

"Is the number lucky for you or us father?" Who would win in a stare off? Jade or Sullivan? It seems like they are testing it right now.

They continued playing. Was it weird that a middle aged man was playing a clam game with a bunch of young adults? He was the father of two of those kids and he wasn't being creepy (mostly), didn't start conflict, and was just there to play. So he gets away with it, for now.

*****************

"A-n-a-g-a-p-e-s-i-s. That's how you spell anagapesis."

*Correct Mr. Ashengrotto. You have won the 7th grade spelling bee."

With the exception of his competitivers and their parents, everyone was clapping for Azul. Azul thought it was an easy win, the word was fairly easy to spell even if you never heard of it before.

He wondered what the common mer folk parents were teaching their kids, they obviously weren't the brightest. At least they weren't the brightest on the inside, those idiots always had the shiniest tails.

After they gave him his fake gold medal, Azul got off the coral stage and went to his parents who came. If the twins came, Floyd would get bored and try to spell the words out himself out loud. His grandma was out traveling again. And Kai was on bed-rest because his tail accident got stabbed when he was going to a shipwreck with his friends and is healing.

"Good job sweetie! I'll make you your favorite foods to celebrate!"

"You already made all his favorites, what else is there to make?"

Cece nudged her husband. She didn't want to seem rude for knowing her son would win and already making him the celebratory food.

"You shouldn't have mom. I won't eat it all, I'm on a diet, I have been for a year." Azul was already swimming away to get out but was blocked by his mom's tentacles.

"Can't you have a cheat day?"

"You know how fast we gain weight."

Cece shrugged him off. It wasn't worth fighting with him – She had done plenty of that when he first talked about becoming "skinny". Octo-mermaids are big and he should be proud of that.

When they got back home, Kai was arguing with the twins.

"Get out of this house, mga gago!"

"Make us, oh, but you can't. You can't swim because you didn't know the basic rules of exploring shipwrecks." Floyd was making faces at Kai, and the latter was trying to reach his hands far enough to strangle the former, muttering foreign curses along the way, just a little more he kept telling himself.

"Kai, put your hands down. You don't strangle guests." Kai looked in disbelief at his step-mom.

"They just barged in and started touching stuff!"

Cece just gave Kai a little pat on the head before going to the kitchen to bring out the food she previously made.

"They're Azul's best friends Kiwi." Kiwi, that's what Pulpo thought Kai's name was at first because the clam lines got mixed up. Kai hates that nickname, but It's prime brother bullying material.

"Yeah Kiwi, they're my best friends." Azul smirked at Kai before joining the twins, and the latter arguing with his brother now.

A little bit later at dinner, someone could have mistaken them for a nuclear family. Cece and Pulpo as the mom and dad, married. And with Azul, Kai, and the twins being the kids – They look like a nuclear family.

They could never be one of course. Jade and Floyd have different parents, but even then, no. Azul and his parents have his grandma live with them more often than not too. But there's nothing wrong with that, it doesn't matter what family they are, as long as they love each other.

As long as they always love each other…

****************

"Why can't we be a gay family anymore?"

"That's not what the word means anymore mom!"

"It's ridiculous that they would completely change the meaning of a word!"

Cece was done with her mom. She should have sent her to a nursing home when she had the chance, but it's too late – maybe.

"Fine, why can't we be a happy family anymore?"

"We are a happy family."

"Kai ran off with Azul's friends, who are strangers to him, to what's a suicide mission. Azul lost the twins and got stabbed right before he came here, and he's going to lose his other friends because of their suicide mission. Even though he's going to save Kai, he probably won't make it in time. And our relationship has never been farther."

Damn it, her mom was right. Her mom being right was the last thing she needed.

A series of knocks followed that. Cece opened the door to Azul before shutting it

"Who was it?"

"Azul."

Ursula watched her daughter go back to her position next to her, acting like everything was fine.

A louder series of knocks came.

"Are you going to answer that?"

"You answer it mom. I need to find out if octo-mer can get drunk or not."

"They can." Cece looked at her mom suspiciously. 'How the fuck did you know that mother?!'

Ursula just went up to the door and opened it. She looked at Azul and around him; no sign of Kai.

"They'll survive, I'm 100% sure of it. My 'friends' would get teleported back to school, and Kai is old enough to fend for himself." Azul was being fairly reasonable with that, she couldn't argue. But she had Flotsam and Jetsam as her henchmen; she knows how to get someone to do something even when they make a reasonable argument.

"No~" Ursula shut the door to Azul and went back to a laughing Cece, causing her to laugh too.

Azul didn't know what to do now. What could he do? He'll just wait until his mom opens the restaurant. He is hungry even though he already ate the food his mom gave him. He can handle it, he's used to starving, or was used to starving.

He just layed next to the door, waiting. He knew they wanted him to go back to getting Kai, but he didn't want to. They would get out of it themselves and be fine, they got main character energy.

Could he be considered selfish, yes. But hey, it's nothing new.

Chapter Text

"Oh Cece, you don't understand. I got all the chicks, octopi too~"

"You said octopi can get drunk, right? Then I'm too sober for this."

Cece leaves her spot. She then moves outside. As her tentacles move unconsciously around, she feels something weird. She turns to her right.

He waves his hand. "Hey mom."

Seven help her. Actually, one of the Great Seven is her mom. May six of the Great Seven help her.

"I'll say this for the last time. You better go out there and at least try or so help me-"

"I'm going! I'm going!"

He did in fact get going. He could feel his mother's glare. With the map and some food, he was going to do both a Herculean task and a useless task.

****************

Before the cards were dealt for the next round, he was suddenly shoved away.

"That game seems boring. Let me educate you kids. You can go, Sullivan."

He reluctantly swam away as his wife instructed. It looked like the kids were getting bored and he had stuff to do anyway. Though he did wish she came a little later.

"Lesson one, physical signs. If it looks like they are yawning but not actually yawning, that's a sign."

The group had not a clue what she was talking about. But the twins did. It took them a minute, but they realized that for some unknown reason, she was giving the group, "the talk". They already went through that torture, they didn't need to do it another time.

"Ummm, ma, how about you talk about something else?"

She just gestured for him to leave while turning back to the group. "Moray eel sex ed. Write down the notes, but you don't have to because I don't have the energy to give you a test for this."

"I'm sorry?"

"No need to apologize. Anyway, like I said, it's basically us opening our mouths really wide. The other opens their mouth really wide, then it's like a graceful slow dance. The only time you'll catch a moray being graceful."

Oh no, she started the torture already. She made it sound like two ballet dancers yawing in each other's faces during a graceful dance. Jamil was already rubbing his temples.

"With all due respect, we don't wanna learn about that." Everyone turned to Kalim, internally thanking him — First time Jamil has ever thanked Kalim.

"Then learn about the boring octopus mating thing. They act like it's a business meeting, the male pulls out his "special" tentacle to the female so he lives, when he's really just afraid, the female doesn't eat, they both die."

Wait, this might be good blackmail. Ruggie and Jamil grin at each other, great minds think alike.

"Elaborate~" Ruggie would like a raise when he gets back.

"Like I said, it's very formal. It's like they are at a business meeting and at the end they both die. The male usually pulls out his "special" tentacle and throws it to the female so he can live. He's basically being a scaredy catfish because the female is very aggressive, softy. To only die anyway too. And then after the female lays her eggs, she watches it so closely that she dies from starvation. They both die in the end basically. It's very boring."

How could this woman call this blackmail boring?! Does she not understand how they can use this against Azul? They could ask Azul anything, they doubt Azul would like the school to know about his being a scaredy catfish during mating.

"So the male is so scared that he just gives it to the female?" Jamil needs the details, more blackmail the better~

"Yep! Unless he wants a quicker death, he just gives it to her. It's pretty pathetic. He dies soon anyway so he might end it there."

She looks at them. Jamil and Ruggie look oddly invested. And after they treated her eel mating explanation! How dare they!

"Explain a little more about him being "pathetic" please."

She definitely didn't like the one with the weird ears. "Let's talk about something more interesting. Wanna know about my highschool life?"

"Why would we-"

"Yes please!" Damn it Kalim.

"I had a best friend who I was inseparable with. I met my husband there. I'm part dolphin so I got high on pufferfish all the time. Let's see… What else?"

The twins looked at each other. They're part dolphin? They would potentially get high? It does make sense when you compare how light they are compared to their father, he's a darker green. They do take after their mother mostly… So…

"So you're saying we could get high, ma?"

She side eyes him. "See for yourself."

She was definitely threatening him, but Floyd grabbed Jade by the arm and swam out of there.

"Our old school always had pufferfish around there. Wanna race there?"

"I thought you'd never ask~"

*****************

It was neck and neck, it was also nostalgic. Racing to school — after they were old enough to, their mother carried them there previously.

It would take them an hour to get there, but they always made it there, whether they were late or not is another thing.

They were confused on how most mers would take days to get there from their point. They were probably too slow, the twins were very fast. But they were much faster now.

After about 30 minutes, without looking they knock into something… Squishy?

"Watch where you're going! Wait… Out of all eels…"

That voice was familiar. It was Azul's voice! The twins immediately went to kiss Azul's cheeks repeatedly— Making the latter blush blue.

"We missed you so much! Please never leave us again! We'll pay you!"

Being paid sounded good… Wait!

Azul tried to use his tentacles to take the twins off of him, which was unsuccessful. He then tried to squeeze out of them, but they were wrapped around him in every which way. "Unhand me!"

"Oh no, Azul, did you spend too much time in Heartslaybyul when we weren't with you. Don't worry, we'll turn you back to our side."

He would slap Floyd if he could actually move.

"I'm still mad at you two you know!"

They then start apologizing like someone was holding them at gunpoint. But he was still mad.

"Get on the floor and beg."

The twins immediately left his side and went to the ocean floor and started begging. With their position, it looked like they were begging on their hands and knees (if they were in their human forms of course).

"We are worms! Worthless worms!"

"What Jade said."

Jade glares at him.

"We are worms! Worthless worms!"

Dear 7, none of the people he has ever held grudges against have been this funny! How long might he be able to keep this up~?

"Is that all you can beg?"

The twins looked up at Azul. From this angle, the latter looked like an all mighty god looking down on these poor unfortunate souls.

"How long do you want the apology and how much begging, dear?"

Azul glares at Jade. "At LEAST an essay, each. And beg until I get bored of it."

The twins immediately start begging for Azul's forgiveness, internally thinking about their long apologies.

After about 10 minutes of begging, Jade is ready for his essay. He just needs to use his usual demeanor and tone, he doesn't want to get emotional in front of Azul.

"Dear Azul. I am terribly sorry. We did it because we weren't thinking clearly and we're idiots. We didn't know how to stand up to a certain someone. I should have taken charge. I should have explained the situation to you. I know that you're terribly angry-"

"I am angry. I'm angry about everything. Your "apology" feels fake. I know that's how you usually speak, but can't I feel like I'm talking to a living being when I'm with you! There's a time and place! Why do you never act sincere? I swear that you show more affection to mushrooms and mountains! I just-"

He cracked. He just kept on going. He started crying ink. The vase was filled so much that it cracked.

"Why must everything go wrong?! Why can't I feel like I'm actually having a conversation anymore?! When did things start getting blocked out? When did I start getting blocked out? Am I just overreacting? Why does it feel like I can't depend on anyone? Or is it just that I can't talk to them? I-I."

He sinks into the ocean floor and starts sobbing. He just lets it all out. With his new figure, he looks like the crybaby he once was, bigger of course, and he realizes it.

"And, and… And why did everything have to go wrong? Ever since that night in my office, I felt that I was going to overblot again if I used magic. I didn't lose all my contracts, I lost something much worse… I lost lots of things."

"You didn't lose us. We're still with you. We just did those things to try and make it easier for us to move on and for you to miss us less."

"Well you failed. I'm upset, I'm mad, and, and… I'm a crybaby again… I'm an octo-twerp… I'm an octo-twerp. I'm an-"

And he just keeps repeating it. Keeps repeating the same three words, keeps lying to himself yet he believes he's telling the truth.

The twins rush to hug him. "No you're not. Stop lying to yourself," Jade softly strokes his hair.

"Please stop crying, Azul."

Why is it so hard to hate them for some reason right now? He just wants to use all his tentacles to wrap around them. No, he can't forgive them just yet, he shouldn't.

"Get off of me and leave."

They looked at the octopus with pleading eyes. They only hugged him tighter.

"Let's just stay here for a while," Floyd joined Jade in stroking Azul's hair.

He cried into them. Of course, the next time he sees them he breaks down in front of them. Why couldn't he be stronger? He had the upper hand this time. How dare they make him love them.

*****************

"May I ask?"

"You may but I don't know the answer either."

Randomly swimming in and seeing Melania talk about the things she did in highschool (Mostly illegal, violent, and bad) was not an everyday occurrence.

The stingray was just there to drop off the rest of the stuff to the shark women so they could make Mel's medicine. Onda collected it since Serene was sleeping.

"Anyway, here's all the stuff. Do you need anything else?"

"Can you make sure she doesn't notice us?"

"I could give her a conch shell and there's a 50/50 chance she'll be entertained for the rest of the day. A good week if you're lucky."

"Do you have one?"

"No, that's why you should probably hurry."

Onda tapped her sleeping wife on the shoulder. "Wake up Serene, we got work to do."

The great white slowly woke up. She stretched a little before opening her eyes to her wife. "Hey cutie~"

Onda was half tempted to knock out her wife. Did she love that nickname with every fiber in her being? Yes. Would she ever consciously so much as give a small hint that she even liked it? No.

She shooed her wife away and went to start on the medicine. With the recent news that the moray was part dolphin was something. But the medicine should work just fine. Emphasize on "should."

"Remember that time Ka- our son, ate my hair?"

"You remember that of all times?"

Serene just smiled cutely at her wife while helping her with the medicine.

"What about when he kept stealing your jewelry and kept trying to eat it because he thought the gold would be tasty?"

"Oh my, did you have to remind me?"

The hammerhead chuckled at the memory that was both fond and anxiety inducing.

"What about the time he got in a fight with another kid and won?"

"I- wait, that never happened. You must be making up fake memories again. Also, why are you imagining him beating someone up?!"

The great white shrugged. She just helped out with the medicine.

Chapter Text

"You two are parasites."

"We are YOUR parasites!"

Azul glares at the twins. After he collected himself, he regained his anger.

"You two bit off the bottom of my ears. Took the Housewarden seat from me. Made me cry myself to sleep. Cut myself. Have to drug Riddle. Have me do this-"

"You drugged Goldfishie?"

"...Not important… You can't just change the subject. I'm mad at you two," He turned away, in the direction opposite of them.

The twins looked at each other and nodded. They swam to the silver haired fellow.

"You swam here for a reason. What's the reason? Maybe we can help~"

Azul turned to Jade. He was literally going to their home. Wait, was this moray trying to strike a deal?

"What do you want in return?"

"Your time~"

"Rich. What do you actually want?" Skeptical, fair enough.

The twins huddled together. "A free meal from his moms restaurant?" Floyd asked.

"How about a coin from his collection? More believable." The twins nodded before turning back to Azul.

"Well?"

"A coin from your precious collection~"

Azul was gonna kill Floyd first. He reluctantly held his hand out for the moray to shake, which he did.

"Lead the way."

The twins grabbed Azul by his (human) arms respectively as they started swimming. The poor octopus had no warning before they started swimming at full speed, him basically being luggage.

"Slow down!"

"Do you want to get there quickly? Just enjoy the ride~"

********************

"Stop calling me! I don't want to listen to this!" Riddle was ready to throw the damned pendant out the window. The only thing stopping him was the lecture Trein would give him.

"You have to suffer with us. Housewadens stick together."

"You're only a vice Housewarden!"

Flashbacks from the winter break last year sent a shiver down his spine, in the already freezing water. "Still counts. If this woman was on land during her teenage years, she wouldn't have had the twins because she would have been in juvie!"

The sharks used Melania as background noise. It's free true crime stories.

"Just a pinch of that… A sprinkle of this…"

"Serene, you can't put that in it. It'll cause her hair loss."

"Exactly…"

The shark women were, while out of practice, very efficient in medicine. They didn't just sit around, they spent their days reviewing everything about medicine and potions as a hobby.

Onda added something that will cancel out what Serene put it and won't negatively affect Melania.

"You're no fun."

"A noble sacrifice~"

Serene stuck her tongue out at her wife while finishing up the medicine. It should help Melania be able to focus on the task instead of doing whatever she has interest in at the moment.

"Well I'm dried up. How long has it been?"

"An hour! Now hang me up!"

Jamil wiped Riddle front he pendant so they were no longer connected. He then went to stare at the heir.

Kalim was staring out into space.

"Kalim?"

"Something feels off…"

That's totally not ominous at all. Everyone stared at Kalim.

"Does anyone else hear screaming?" The hyena could hear faint screaming. And the voice sounded a little familiar.

The group looked out of the cage, even the adults looked over too.

They saw the tentacles first. Trying to slow down the movement. They then saw the faces of the twins, cheshire grins. The twins were all but pulling Azul over while swimming at top speed.

When they slowed down, suddenly stopped really, they let go of Azul. He slumped down, out of energy somehow out of the three. His hair was all messed up, more than what water does naturally. He looked out of it, like he was seeing birds, no stars.

The eel mom immediately grabbed the octopus's face.

"I recognize that beauty mark from anywhere. Cece's daughter!"

"Cece's son."

"You look like a girl. And a boy too? I can see those eyelashes from land. Is it a pleasure to meet you? It's a pleasure for you to meet me~"

She let him go. She examines him. Chubby, more limbs than she can keep count of, son of her ex-best friend, hmmm.

"How did you manage to get here in less than a day and it took us a few days?!" Kai wanted to get out of the cell and shake his brother for information.

"Can't you see the grins on the proud culprits?"

He pointed to the twins, who did have proud grins.

"Wait… We won the bet! Let us out!"

Ruggie shook on the coral bars.

"What bet?"

This b- "... If Azul got here before break ends, you would let us out and not eat us!"

"Oh, OH," She went and got the key to open the cell. She didn't wait for them to leave, she pulled them out.

The group looked at the shark women. When did they get all that stuff?!

Onda shooed them away. They were making multiples of it. 'Never waste an ingredient' was their motto.

"Everyone that isn't related to Cece Ashengrotto, leave with my sons."

The twins pushed the group out of the area. Azul tried to follow too, but was blocked by who he assumed was the Worker-friend-partner-mer.

"Follow me~"

He was sure that that was the last thing some mers heard before they died. Specifically from her. He was still weirded out on how she knew his mom, but his mom never mentioned this moray.

Melania started swimming, in the same direction of the group, but took a different turn. The stingray stayed. She led him inside a room that looked to be an office. The ceiling looked like it was in the middle of renovation, or something happened to it.

She took a seat at the desk. "I never get to sit here~" She looked very happy, but was this not her office?

"Tell me your name."

"Tell me yours first."

She glares daggers at him. This is gonna be interesting. "Melania. Melania Leech."

He was shocked. But she did call the twins her sons. She must be their mother. "Azul Ashengrotto."

"Can't say you look like your mom that much. She's more lavender and less… Grey. At least where there's not the pitch black. But who knows, she could have changed a lot since I last saw her."

She then immediately gets up and swims over to Azul. She plays with Azul's hair.

"Yes?"

Her smile fades. She looks away. "How's that…" Can't curse in place of her name in front of her son. "How's Cece?"

"Mom of two. Wife. Runs a famous restaurant. Healthy. Takes-"

"That's enough… It seems like she's doing good…" She should be more upset? Angry? About that…

"You know your relationship with my sons. That was my relationship with your mom."

"You dated my mom?!"

"I wish. You dated my sons?!"

They were both confused. Looking respectively shocked. She wished?!

He dated her sons?! Wait… She already knew that.

"Nevermind that. Why hasn't she ever mentioned you?!"

"She stabbed me in the back! Metaphorically. She's never hurt anything she's not cooking."

The fact that she had to specify. "I see…"

"Fortunately for you, it seemed like the tables had turned and my son's would hate for you to get hurt. Tell me, is there anyone else who's in her life?"

She moves back to her seat. She looks up at the ceiling.

"Her other kid, son, is the shark in the group you held in your prison. His name is Kai."

She didn't even need to even get Azul here! She could have interrogated that shark instead! Wait… How is a shark one of her son's? Who did she marry? How did that work?

"Stay here," She left the office. She went to the boys room. She decided to not focus on why it looked like they were plotting world domination.
"Come with me, Kate."

"It's Kai. Wait, why?!"

"Come. With. Me."

She did that finger thing for someone to come closer. Everyone else waved him off, not risking to stop her.

He was panicking, fair enough. She led him to the office. He was happy to see that Azul was still intact, not missing any limbs.

Kai didn’t really wanna be there, what was he in for anyway? Stealing? I mean not that he steals but- a loud thud made his train of thought stop.

She went between the desk and sat down.

"Why are we here?"

Azul stares. Kai well he looked at his brother then at the eel and doing this a few more times until he confirms his brother is with him, Like actually.

"Funny, I was about to ask the same thing. I need you two to do something for me."

She gets a sheet of paper and starts writing. Azul brings Kai very close to him and whispers. "Mom and Grandmimi have been worried sick. I'm gonna kill you, resurrect you, then kill you again when we get home."

"I missed you too. Moms the one who told me to follow them."

"I don't think she'd tell you to go here!"

She hits the desk to get their attention. They look at her. She has rolled up paper.

"Give this to your mom. Don't open it. And go with my sons, they'll make the journey quicker."

Azul took the rolled up paper. She then shooed them out of the room. On the journey to the twins room

“I feel weird”, Kai suddenly speaks, Azul stares not saying anything to encourage his brother to speak,

“I feel fuzzy and tingly then sad when we left those sharks at the cell site, like-” He stops, hesitating he doesn’t know how to describe something so heavy-weighing.

Azul places his hand on his shoulder, It's gonna be okay. Maybe we can ask ‘Ma to ask the eel’s mom to release them? If that's whatever that feeling wants. Kai smiles

They enter the room, everyone stares before Azul speaks.

"Who wants to go have something to eat at my mom's restaurant?"

"Well we just found out that we came here for nothing, so let's go," Jamil swam up first, everyone following behind.

It's kinda weird how they just fell into silence and calmness after everything that happened.

Halfway through the way there, while Jamil was catching Kai up, the twins swam up to Azul.

"Ever gonna forgive us?"

It was new to hear Jade honestly beg, even just a little, while serious. "One day. You know I'm petty."

Floyd gave a hard pat to Azul on the back, making the octopus have one of his tentacles instinctively wrap around Floyd's wrists. The eel laughed it off while Azul glared at him.

Truth was, he was used to the twins. He spent every day with them, more than he didn't. Forgive, don't forget? Nah. He'd rather forget, but not forgive. He probably won't be able to do either, but oh well.

"What should we get first?"

"A Trident to fend off my mom and Grandma when they come at you two."

Floyd stuck his tongue out at Azul. Azul would chuckle, but he has a point to make. Damn them. He swatted the twins away, annoying parasites.

His parasites.