He could hear the screams of his people, many of them fleeing their homes. But he could see the warriors rising up and bearing their arms, a particular red head guiding them with authority. Rubyn's lips quirked, he recognized the spear the merman wielded. 

"Come on Raine, we got a battle to fight," Rubyn said.

Raine slugged the amethyst prince over his shoulder, "What about the kid?"

The crowned prince frowned for a moment, his eyes trained on the battle ahead,  "Take him to the suite and lock him there. Can't have our prisoner escaping during battle."

Raine gave a slight nod before swimming away with the protesting prince.  

Rubyn clenched his teeth and swam towards the Emeraldean prince, slicing away a tentacle that threatened to wrap around Atlantis's neck. 

"Hey kid, watch your back," Rubyn growled, turning his back to Atlantis, their shoulder blades touching as they fought the endless tentacles that seemed to multiply with each slice of their blades.

Atlantis huffed, blocking the blows of the beasts, "About time young lord, any longer and maybe I would've taken your place as the Ruby prince."

Rubyn chuckled,  "You know I would always come back."

Atlantis growled as he dodged another attack,  "We have to close in, close to the eyes. "

Rubyn set his lips into a thin line, "You and soldiers distract the creature, I'll aim for the eyes."

Atlantis nodded and shouted orders for the other warriors, guiding the tentacles away from Rubyn . 

The prince stealthily swam near the creature's large red eyes. It had barely taken notice of Rubyn and cried out in pain when the prince ran his sword through.  

"Rubyn!" he heard a deep, gravely voice cry out, a pair of hands grabbing the prince's shoulders and tossing him across, Rubyn's back colliding against the wall of a spiraled building. 

"Who dare-" Rubyn froze, upon seeing his father a few meters ahead of him, hands outstretched as a tentacle closed itself around the king's body. Blisters had formed across his father's skin, but the king refused to scream.

"Son," he mouthed before he was swallowed by the black ink, along with a few warriors who had rushed to the King's aid. 

"Father!" he cried out, rearing his tail to send him him towards his father but a pair of strong arms kept him from going further. 

"Rubyn no!" Atlantis cried, holding back the agonized prince from diving head first into the cloud of black acid. 

"Release me!" the prince growled, finally escaping Atlantis's godly strength. Rage boiled his blood, feeding the adrenaline that allowed him to reach the eyes of the second beast and plunging his spear into one of the red eyes. The creature let out a shriek of pain before exploding into black dust.

His chest rose and fell rapidly from the exertion, but the pain inside his chest still remained.

"Your Maje-," a soldier began but Rubyn cut him off.

"Grab the wounded and take them to the healing ward." The soldier nodded, crossing his arms over his chest and bowing before swimming away.

"We must hurry," Atlantis said, glancing at the tower above, the flickering lights of magic flashing within in.

"Scarlet!" Rubyn exclaimed.

"Don't worry. She is well, the goddess manifested herself when you were away," Atlantis spoke calmly.

Rubyn inhaled, his heart beating rapidly inside his chest at the thought of seeing his beloved awake once more.

Perhaps there could be light at the end of the tunnel after all. 

********

Merlin's lips curled into a sneer,  his hands summoning another ball of magic just as Morgan threw another. 

"We must end this quickly," Morgan murmured to Scarlet when their backs met as they faced their opponents.  

"I am trying," Scarlet seethed threw her teeth as the reds swirls formed a shield at her forearm, blocking a blow from the witch. Morgan was surprised that Lilith hadn't released her aura, but he did not wish to give her the idea. They were barely holding their own against two dark magic wielders, both who wielded such raw magic.

"Surely you have the goddess speaking to you," Morgan growled, grinding his teeth as a hot magic grazed his side, barely missing Scarlet's arm. 

"She's being very silent," Scarlet huffed, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

To your left! No! Your other left! Yes their you go, now release the pressure!

Scarlet seethed through her teeth, the dull throb of a head pounding against her temples. The goddess was merciless in battle. In the short time Scarlet had known her,  Themis was patient and kind but when it came to combat, she was like a army captain, drilling orders into her head and constantly badgering her for her mishaps. 

Surely their must be some way to defeat her, Scarlet spoke to Themis as she watched Merlin join Lilith, their shoulders touching.

She could hear the soft his of a spear going past her ear and pinning Merlin's shoulder against the wall.

The creature cried out in pain but Lilith swam in font of Merlin as if to protect him of any further damage.

Scarlet turned, her eyes landing on the man who's red hair framed his large body like a halo, the golden jewelry clinging to him as it were part of his skin. But it was his eyes that captured her the most. Rust colored eyes landed on her, relief and worry swirling within them.

Beside him was Atlantis, his hand retreating back to his body, signaling he was the one who had thrown the spear.

"Atlantis," Morgan sighed with relief, "You're well."

Atlantis smirked, "Surely you know that I don't die so easily."

"But today is your lucky day," Lilith said from behind. Scarlet had barely turned her head when she saw the creature rearing her ugly head as she unfurled her chain from her arm, throwing it at Scarlet. The woman barely dodged the attack, the spiked chain grazing her shoulder. 

"No Atlantis!" she heard Morgan screamed from behind her.  

What she saw next was a blur. 

She could only see as the chain retracted, pulling a body with it. She inhaled sharply, finally seeing who the chain had caught. Spikes dug into Atlantis's skin, tiny swirls of blood rising from the wounds.  The prince winced when the witched tightened it further, binding Atlantis's arms to his his torso and wrapping around his neck. 

Atlantis tried to speak but the movement of his throat would cause the spikes to dig into his gills, cutting off his air supply.

"No!" Morgan cried.

Merlin had pulled the spear from the wall and broken the handle, leaving part of it embedded into his shoulder.

"I think this gem will do," Merlin said, just as Lilith's claws grew and pierced Atlantis's chest.

*********

Atlantis should've have seen it coming.  He should've have seen the consequences for trying to fight a fight he couldn't win, and now he  was staring at the horrifed face of his lover.

He felt that the air had been kicked out of his chest and when he looked down, he could see a clawed hand protruding from his torso, holding a red gem. He could see his own blood swirl around it before being absorbed back into the stone as Lilith pulled her hand out of his chest, leaving behind a string of pain before fading away into numbness. He could feel the chains release him, Lilith's laughter fading away as the two sorcerer's faded away into a black cloud as  Atlantis fell. 

He could hear voices but his gaze could only focus of Morgan's.  Dark hair framed his exotic features, greenish blue scales on his temples and fading away on his cheek bones. Dark lashes framed his green, serpent eyes, sadness and agony swirling with in them.

"A-Atlantis," Morgan said, his eyes brimming with tears, "Just hold on okay? We'll get you to the healer's. I'm sure they can do something. There has to be something they can do I'm sure of it. Right Rubyn?" He glanced at the ruby prince but the man's expression told Atlantis otherwise.

Atlantis could only smile. He knew his final moment's were near and he intended to make the most of it while he could.

The prince gasped, trying to grasp the little air he could as he spoke, "M-Morgan, I... love... y..ou..." and with his final words, he exhaled his final breath before he still.

A/N: So yeah.... That happened. Tell me your thoughts! :)