This is part 2 of the last cut chapter. It was cut because it gave away too much from the 2nd and 3rd books. Part 3 will be coming in December. REMEMBER: this is rough and was never polished or edited. This chapter was cut.
As the sun began to shine through the window, Kelley’s eyes began to open. He tried to move his arm, but it had fallen asleep under Gemma’s back. He couldn’t help but let out a quiet snicker at her appearance. She was sprawled across him and the bed, taking over more than her half of the bed. She had a pillow over her head to keep the light out, covering the mess her hair had become. He pulled the pillow off her head, pushed the hair out of her face and kissed her forehead.
“Aquaria, its time to wake up beautiful. We need to get going.” She rolled over pressing her face into the mattress grumbling. “I can’t understand you with your face in the bed.”
She turned her head towards him so he could understand her. “I said, five more minutes.”
“Fine, you sleep for five more minutes, I’m going to get dressed and pack a bag for us. I’ll leave Shannon and William a note.”
“You do that and they will find us.”
“Not if I just say that we took some clothes and we are sorry. They will understand.”
She rolled back over, pulling the blankets over her head. Kelley started getting dressed, as he was putting his shirt back on, he noticed the trident was gone. He started shaking Gemma awake.
“Wake up, seriously, wake up now!”
“I said five more minutes” she grumbled.
“The trident is gone.”
She jumped up, eyes wide and darting to the corner where she left it. She jumped out of bed and began searching the entire room. “Are you sure we left it in here?”
“Yes, you put it in that corner.”
They ran out of the room, Gemma in only a partially buttoned shirt. They stopped in their tracks when they saw Nik and Poseidon sitting by the fire in the fireplace, trident in hand.
“Well, I hope you enjoyed your night of freedom, because its over now. Get dressed, we’re taking you home and wiping all of this from your memories.” Nik got up and threw Gemma’s clothes at her.
“No! I’m done following your demands. Done being what you want me to be. I’m done with you! I want to have a life of my own, not be another pawn in your master plan. We’re leaving and you can’t stop us.” She grabbed Kelley’s hand and extended her other hand to catch the trident. “Revenio,” nothing happened, Poseidon just smirked. “Revenio!” still nothing. Her hair turned a glowing red, the room began to quake, as the storm outside grew stronger. “Why isn’t it working?”
“Are you done acting like a child?” Poseidon grumbled.
Her eyes darted to the door, she ran to it, pulling Kelley along. Nik and Poseidon didn’t flinch, they sat back, and watched the two of them try to escape. She opened the door but couldn’t leave. Poseidon had set a magical shield around the cabin, rendering them completely trapped until he decided to let them go. Her chest tightened as she pounded her fists into the shield, screaming. It shook, but there was no breaking through it. She dropped to her knees, tears filling her eyes as she continued to pound her fists into the shield. Kelley dropped to his knees, wrapping his arms around her tightly. She tossed her arms around his neck crying into his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head as she continued to cry. Trying to comfort her any way he could, when he was feeling as crushed as she was. When her crying finally stopped, he picked her up and carried her to the sofa that was across from the chairs Poseidon and Nik were sitting in. She remained curled up, gripping tight to Kelley, refusing to let go of him.
“Time to have this little chat, for the last time. You two will sit, you will listen, and you will do as we say. I’m done having this damn fight with you two.”
“We have every right to try to run, to be angry, to lose our minds when we get our memories back! You stole them from us! Every single time we ever met, you stole those memories, starting when I was five! I’m sick of it! Sick of you stealing my memories, making me believe that I’m weaker than I am. I know that I’m more powerful than all my siblings, and I’m not even sixteen yet. You keep stealing my mind away from me, trying to keep me from realizing the truth. That I don’t have to follow your plan, and you hate that.”
“Tritonia! That is enough! Shut your mouth before I make you.”
“You can’t control me anymore! I won’t do what you want. I’ll keep running. I’ll keep trying to get free from you! I’m done being another pawn-”
Poseidon clenched his fist and gripped tighter to the trident, pointing it at her throat. “That’s enough!”
She tried to speak but couldn’t, he locked her up again. Voice, powers, everything, she was trapped in his prison again.
“What did you do to her?” Kelley shouted as she fell into his chest, crying a soundless cry. Tears soaking his shirt, he kept his arms around her, trying to find anyway to fix this. “Stop this, whatever your doing to her, stop it! Can’t you see that your making things worse? Do you want her to continue to hate you?”
“She needs to learn to listen.”
“This isn’t how you teach someone anything. This is forcing what you want on her. Your stealing her life away from her, forcing her to be something she doesn’t want to be! Just let her be herself.”
“She’ll get her voice back, when she stops acting like a child and listens for once. She will get some of her powers back when we wipe your memories, as for the rest, they will remain locked until she is 16, like they are supposed to be. Yours will be locked away again until she is 16 as well. I can’t keep doing this every 6 months!”
“How many damn times have you wiped our memories?”
“Twenty so far. That we remember. We probably wiped our memories a few times as well. How many land and sea weddings do you remember going to?”
He noticed the confused look on her face, she didn’t remember Kelley being at any of the land and sea weddings she had been to.
“One. Five years ago.”
She tried thinking as hard as she could, trying to replay that memory, but it was fuzzy and jumping all around.
“You have been to two. Aquaria was at those weddings with you. And every time it was time to leave, it was like trying to force the kraken back into its realm. Theia and I gave up when Penella’s wedding came along, we thought there was no point because you would be back together that following summer.”
“Why keep this from us? Why torture us all these years? Why couldn’t you just let us keep our memories?”
“Because every damn time you two would get together, something like last night would happen. Your parents don’t know about what you can do. You’re a damn anomaly, created by ancient gods, like my father. Your not supposed to have magic. But you have it, and its as strong as hers. That is why I locked your powers. You’ll get them back when you touch her trident, just as she will get the rest of hers when she touches HER trident! Not mine. Mine will not give you back your magic.”
“What do you mean her trident?”
“All of my children get their own trident when they turn 16. They have to be able to rule their region somehow.”
“Please don’t take this from us. Just let us have these back. We wont tell anyone.”
“Kelley, I can’t let you have these memories yet. You will have to wait. I promise you will get them back. I have kept every promise I have made you, haven’t I?”
“Yes, but-”
“Don’t make me silence you too. We can be civil, Aquaria and I on the other hand, it would only get worse if I hadn’t locked her magic again.”
Aquaria picked up a cup off the coffee table and threw it at him, screaming in silence at him. Mouthing obscenities that would make her mother’s fins curl.
“Your mother would be furious if she saw what you just said. Now sit down.”
“Where is Theia? Doesn’t she have a say in all this?”
“You haven’t told him yet?”
Aquaria shook her head as her eyes filled with tears again.
“Theia and Aquaria were in an accident two months before she came here. Aquaria was in a coma for three months, Theia…”
“I understand.”
She stomped her foot and stormed into the other room. Kelley chased after her, when he caught up to her, she was curled up in bed again, hiding under the covers. He lifted the covers and peered in as she cried.
“Can I join you?” She nodded and reached for him as he curled up with her. “I’m so sorry, if I hadn’t told you about the sparks, then this might not have happen-”
She placed her finger over his lips, stopping him from continuing. She held up her hand, she made an X with her arms then quickly pulling them apart and pointing at him. She then pointed towards the other room, with a harsh glare. She took his hand and placed it on her heart, letting a few tears fall from her eyes to his hand.
“I know, I feel the same way. But we have no other option right now. We can either do as they say, or they will force us. He’s already taken our magic, and your voice. He has the upper hand here, not us. This time it’s different, your not losing me, just this memory. We will go back to the house just as it was before we went to the underground.”
She looked into his eyes, hers still full of tears. She pointed to her lips, heart broken about losing another first kiss with him. Each loss was harder than the previous one, feeling the emotions from each time all at once.
“I promise I will kiss you again. And I will do it a million times over. We will find a way to get our memories back again. We won’t let them keep tearing us apart.” She curled up in his arms as he held her tighter. “We’ll figure it out, we will remember again, and we won’t tell them.” He softly kissed her lips, caressing her cheek in his hand. “We will find a way to be together, I promise.”
Nik knocked on the open door, “are you two decent?”
Kelley pulled the cover off their heads and glared at Nik, “are we not allowed to talk in private anymore? It’s not like we can run off somewhere.”
“Kelley, listen I know-“
“You don’t know! You may have been here for every time we have had our memories forcefully taken from us. Been there for us our entire lives, but guess what, you’re not the one losing part of your life. Your not the one that has to constantly be taken from the one you love. So until you can prove that you’ve gone through what we’re going through, I don’t want to hear it. Leave us alone, we need time to talk and process all of this, again. It’s not like we can go anywhere.”
Nik left the room, closing the door behind him, he could hear Kelley talking to her, trying to calm her down like he always did. He sat back down in the chair next to Poseidon, waiting for them to come out. They stayed in there for hours, Nik was afraid to know what they were doing, but was told to check on them. He opened the door and walked into the bedroom. Kelley wasn’t saying anything, and there was hardly any movement in the bed. Nik pulled back the blanket to find them sound asleep again, wrapped tightly in each others arms. Her eyes and nose, were still red from the crying. He left them to sleep, and went to speak to Poseidon.
“We need to figure out something other than constantly wiping their memories. They get their memories back every time they release one of those damn pink bursts. We need something else.”
“Why do you think I locked Kelley’s powers as well? It’s the only thing I can think of right now.”
“And after her birthday, when they get them back?”
“I will hopefully have figured out something else. If anyone finds out what the plan is, everything will be ruined.”
“Maybe we should just tell them. It might make this whole thing easier.”
“We will tell Kelley when he gets his powers back. only because he will be out at sea when everything happens. Aquaria is to know nothing until it is done. If she knows, it could change everything. You saw what happened last night. When she gets her full powers, she will be stronger than me. Delanson and Fjord will try to use her to defeat me. We can’t let that happen.”
“I know, but if she knows-”
“That’s enough Nikoli. She will know nothing until the plan is complete. It is the only way to keep her safe. Keep all of us safe. You know the prophecy, you know it has to go perfectly to keep her from going on the other path.”
“I know, but I also know her. I know her better than anyone, I know she will start to rebel as soon as Kelley is sent away, even if she doesn’t remember their past. We both know that their relationship will continue, and they will take things further.” Then Nik muttered under his breath, a statement that he knew would throw Poseidon into a fit. “We will be lucky if he doesn’t get her pregnant before he leaves.”
Poseidon heard the comment and glared at Nik, he knew Nik was right, especially after seeing her in bed with Kelley in nothing but a mans shirt. “She can’t know, and that is final. Go wake them up, I will give her, her voice back so we can clean up this mess again.”
Nik got back up and left the room, he knocked on the door, expecting no one to answer, only to find Kelley answering the door.
“What?” He growled.
“We need to speak with you both, he will give Aquaria her voice back, but only if she agrees to listen to him before exploding again.”
Aquaria walked up from behind Kelley, still in only a shirt. She pulled Kelley away from the door, trying to tell him what she wanted. He went back to the door to speak with Nik. He scratched the back of his head, not wanting to say what she really said. “You don’t want to know what she said, let’s just say it’s a no.”
“Damn it Aquaria! You think I want this for you? You think I like that we have to do this?” She crossed her arms and glared at him. “I don’t. I would rather you know everything, but for your safety it has to be this way. It’s the only way for them to not find you. What if Kelley slips up, calls you Aquaria and someone heard you? What if someone catches you two together, and uses Kelley to get to you? What if someone found out that you are the one that Kelley is seeing, and they kill him while he’s on a ship? Do you really want any of that to happen? This is the best thing for your safety. That is why it has to be done this way. Now please get dressed and come out here so we can talk about this. I don’t want him to have to force you to do even more things you don’t want to do.”
She glared hard at him, slammed the door in his face and got dressed. He could hear Kelley talking to her. He knew he struck a chord when he mentioned Kelley’s life at risk. Nik waited by the door, listening to Kelley trying to calm her down. He could hear her stomp her foot occasionally, and throw something at a wall or the floor. When she finally opened the door, she pushed Nik out of the way, stormed into the other room, dropped into the couch, refusing to even look at her father. Kelley sat next to her, pulling her in close to him.
“Aquaria-“
“No,” Kelley glared at Poseidon, he didn’t care that he was a god, the king or her father, he was pissed. “Neither of us will listen to anything you have to say until she has her voice and magic back.”
Poseidon looked up at Nik who was also glaring at him. “I will give her, her voice back. Her magic she will get back when we get you two back and your memories are wiped.”
“No deal,” he stood up, grabbed her hand, they started to go back into the other room.
“Fine. She has to promise she will not use it on any of us.”
She gave Kelley a small nod. He walked them back to the couch, she still refused to look at her father. She wanted to throw daggers at him for what he did. She knew it wouldn’t kill him being immortal and all, but it would piss him off and show him how she felt. Poseidon pointed his trident at her, a golden bolt shot out at her, hitting her chest, nearly knocking the wind out of her. She gasped for air, trying to catch her breath.
“Darling, are you alright?”
She took a deep breath, “yeah, I’m fine… my throat and head hurt though.” Nik handed her a cup of tea with honey, she took it without looking at him, muttering an unenthusiastic “Thanks.”
“Are you going to listen to us now?”
“I don’t have a choice.”
“No you don’t. So remain quiet and listen. You two will get these memories back later, all of the ones I have taken, will be given back. Once everything has played out how it is supposed to.”
“I don’t care about your master plan! I don’t want any part of it! Pick someone else for it. Just leave us alone!”
“I can’t pick anyone else, you are the damn key to everything! There is a prophecy that-“
“I don’t give a damn about some prophecy from hundreds or thousands of years ago. I don’t care. I want no part of this.”
“You have no choice. This prophecy is all about you. It has been around for a thousand years, but every hundred years she would find something new.”
“I told you I don’t care. Find someone else to replace me.”
“Damn it Aquaria! None of us have a choice in this matter. This is the only way to keep you from going down a dark path like Delanson & Fjord. Do you want to be like them?”
“Of course not, but-“
“No. There is no but in this. You two have to do exactly as we planned or everything we have done over the years will have been for nothing, and your brothers will try to use you.”
“I’d like to see them try,” she muttered under her breath.
A harsh glare fell on her. Poseidon was about ready to lock up her voice again, and force them to sit and listen. Nik stepped in, knowing a way to calm her down. “Your mother knew about all of this. Parts of it were her idea, like you moving in with Kelley. It killed her every time we had to wipe your memory, but it’s necessary.”
“No it’s not! You could let us keep them and still go through with your plan.”
“No we can’t. There are things from your past that we stole not just from you, but from others as well, that are crucial information as to what is happening. If a rouge siren was to try to read your mind, she could tell your brothers everything. Which would get Kelley killed.”
“What do I have to do with it?”
“When I said you’re the key to all this, I meant both of you. This will not work without you both. You remember what Theia said about why your hair turns pink?”
“I do right now because I have my memories! I won’t when you take them away again.” The room began to quake as her hair turned particularly dark shade of crimson. Kelley grabbed her hand, calming her down enough to stop the quaking.
“That is why you are not allowed to remember. We have to keep this whole thing a secret to keep you both alive! Unless you want to risk Kelley’s life, this is how it has to be.”
“His life is already at risk being sent to the Crimson Cutlass! That is the worst ship on the seas!”
“That ship is part of the plan. For once trust what I am telling you! You have sat in how many meetings in the war room and battle strategy lessons? You know I plan everything exactly. We had to change a few things due to your mother’s death, but everything will work perfectly if you know nothing and just do what your instincts tell you. Trust us and yourselves.”
“No. That requires that I have to marry a cruel man who I have never met.”
“Aquaria remember what your mother told you last time.”
“Exactly my reason for not wanting to do this. Your ripping us apart again!”
Kelley placed his hand on hers, he remembered what Theia said. “Aquaria, we have to listen to them. I remember word for word what she said. We have to trust them on this one. Every time he wiped our memories, he made different promises. And he has made good on every promise he has made to the two of us. We need to listen to him. Trust ourselves, trust our instincts and most of all, trust each other.” He met her gaze, “it will all work out. For once trust him. If you can’t, then trust me. Because I love you with everything I have.”
“I don’t want to forget again. I don’t want to feel weak and confused again.”
“I promise, I won’t let you feel weak again. I will help remind you that you are strong. It will be alright.”
She dropped her head giving him a small nod. A tightness encased her chest. She couldn’t sit there any longer. She got up and left the room. Kelley remained seated knowing to give her a minute and give him a chance to speak with Poseidon alone. He adjusted his position. He sat up tall. Extending his arm across the back of the sofa. Tossing his ankle on his knee.
“Nik, step out of the room for a minute. I need to speak with my future father-in-law… alone.” A smirk grew across his face as his voice rang with a confidence that Nik had never heard before.
Poseidon’s right brow raised, as he gave Nik a small nod to leave. “Well… it seems like your back to your real self. No longer hiding that confidence you’ve always had.”
“Feels great to be myself again. Why did we have to remove that part of me? I could really use it against my own father.”
“Because confident you is reckless and keeps getting into trouble. When we removed your confidence it kept you from running away sooner.”
“And when does Aquaria get ruthlessness back?”
“Her birthday.”
“Good, cause she’s going to need it.”
“When did you figured it all out?”
“When I woke up a few minutes ago, I remembered everything. Even a particular conversation we had at a land and sea wedding five years ago.”
“And you didn’t tell her?”
“No. Because I remember why we’re doing this. As well as agreeing to the plan.”
“You’ve grown up quite a bit since then. Do you still agree to the plan?”
“Under one condition. You tell me about the plan before I leave. I need to know what is going on, why I am being sent there, what the plan is once I get there. I need to know.”
“You will find out on her birthday.”
“Why her birthday?”
Poseidon let out a sigh as he rubbed his temples with his thumb and forefinger. “Because you will get your powers back, she will get her full powers… your memories will be impossible to keep completely hidden from the two of you. They will keep coming back. I’m trying to find a way to keep Aquaria’s locked up so I don’t have to keep wiping her memory. Yours… well you need to know all of this before she does.”
“Can you explain something to me…” he looked down at his hands before looking back up. “How is it possible I have magic? I’m not half, I’m not anything except human… so how is it possible?”
“To be honest, I have no idea. Your part moon chaser, but That wouldn’t give you magic. Only a heightened senses to be able to find merpeople.”
“Do you know why siren magic doesn’t work on me?”
“What do you mean it doesn’t work on you? It only doesn’t work on other sirens.”
“Ask Aquaria, it doesn’t work on me. Even Nik and the other mermaids that stayed with us knew that it doesn’t work on me. Aquaria couldn’t even get a read on me.”
Poseidon quickly reached his arm out, placing his hand on Kelley’s heart, trying to read him. He got nothing. It completely cleared his own mind trying to read him.
“That’s impossible” he muttered under his breath before trying again. This time he tapped Kelley’s chest with the trident. A gold burst exploded from the spot the trident touched Kelley’s chest. Throwing Poseidon across the room, ripping the trident from Poseidon’s hand and into Kelley’s. Gemma and Nik ran back into the room, only to find Poseidon clutching his head, using the arm of the chair to help himself off the ground. Their eyes darted to Kelley, his face said it all. He was terrified and unsure of what happened.
“Revino” Poseidon grumbled as he stood up.
But the trident didn’t move from Kelley’s hand. He tried again, but still nothing. Gemma tried next and it wouldn’t budge. Poseidon was now filled with a fearful rage.
“Kelley, hand the trident over.”
“I can’t… I’ve been trying to let go since it flew into my hand… it won’t let me.”
They looked at Kelley’s hand. The gold seaweed vines that were carved into the trident had come to life and wrapped themselves tightly to Kelley’s hand and wrist. Kelley let out a cry of agony as the gold melted into his skin. Leaving nothing more than the marks of the seaweed in a burn. Once the pain subsided he could finally release his hand from the trident. Gemma ran to his side, checking over his hand and wrist. A faint shimmer was all that remained in the burns, as they began to scar. He was healing faster than naturally possible for a human. She looked over her shoulder glaring at her father releasing a low growl.
“What did you do to him?”
“I tried to get a read on him…”
“I could have told you it doesn’t work on him. That kind of thing doesn’t work on him.”
“I tried to dig deeper by tapping his chest with the trident. The rest… it was the trident… it… it did it too early.”
“Did what too early.” They all replied.
“Claimed Kelley as the rightful owner of the trident… as the next King.”
“What?!” Kelley and Aquaria shouted.
“Sharks… that wasn’t supposed to happen for three years!” Nik snapped. “What in the oceans are we supposed to do now?”
“Call him. We need his help to mask this.” Poseidon snapped.
Nik grabbed a piece of paper off the desk in the corner, quickly wrote something down, shoved it into a shell that was in his pocket, and threw it into the fire. A bright blue flame absorbed the shell, vanishing in the flames.
“Who did you just call?” Kelley’s voice shook as he watched the shell disappear in the flames.
“My uncle… Hades, god of the underworld and afterlife.”