"This cell is absolutely awful," Morgan said with distaste, his finger sliding down the cold wall, black slime sticking to his finger as he pulled it away, the odd looking goo snapping back to the wall.

"It looks like this place hasn't been cleaned in centuries," Atlantis murmured.

Scarlet frowned and pinched the sticky slime between her fingers, "I believe cells are not meant to be clean."

"Can't you break us out of here?" Atlantis spoke to Morgan while staring out of the barnacle covered bars, picking at the crustacean.

Scarlet watched the witch snort and roll his eyes, "I would but wouldn't it make the situation worse? "Brother of Emerald king and Ambassador break out of Ruby prison". The old maids would have a  with that gossip rolling through the kingdoms. Besides, I'm sure Rubyn would attend to us quickly."

Scarlet furrowed her brows as she pondered Morgan's words. How come the witch had such faith in that merman? A merman who was a total mystery to her. She even found it difficult to trust someone as big and well defined like that man, a man who seemed so similar like Will.

"How long will it take him to save us?" she said, her eyes drifting over the two, zooming in on a rather particular gesture that made her heart clench with pain and jealousy. The pair's hands pressed against together, finger's intertwined with one another, a physical gesture of the closeness between the two.

"I'm sure soon," the witch said with a smile that did not quite reach his green eyes.

Scarlet let out a soft sigh, her body slumping against the wall, the good providing some type of cushion against the hard rock. So much for exploring the ocean. Everything seemed too good to be true. She only experienced a few hours of freedom, the fear of looking over her shoulder vanishing after escaping her husband's grip. But it seemed that fear had returned, with Scarlet looking over her shoulder every time she watched a guard pass by. 

"My, my, what a pretty bunch we have," a sickly sweet voice said, making Scarlet wince at the hypocrisy in the feminine tone. Scarlet looked up, her eyes falling on a rather odd creature. The woman had mocha skin, hair hidden beneath a purple cloth that wrapped around her head. Purple eyes glowed through the metalbars, gleaming with what she could only describe as victory mixed with utter glee.  Scarlet watched as her hands reached out and curled,  into a tight fist. At first, she thought nothing of it until she felt the slime move beneath her, swallowing her skin.

"What are you doing?" Morgan cried, his green eyes wide, arms tuggibg against the black slime. Atlantis struggled, his golden eyes wide as he tried pushing against the hard wall to break free from the confines.

"I order you to stop this!" Atlantis growled, his eyes flashing angerly at the strange creature. Scarlet could feel her own heart scream inside her chest, fear paralyzing her body as the slime covered her mouth.

Was this her death?

Her eyes darted towards her companions, Morgan's wide green eyes slowly being covered by the dark slime, screams muffled as his hands became bound.

Even Atlantis was forced into submission when the darkness left only his nose and the gills on his throat exposed.

Scarlet glanced at the mermaid and the last thing she say before she was blindfolded was the scarf the fell away to reveal a headfull of snakes.

*****

Rubyn rubbed his chin as he looked over the maps for the billionth time, searching for any flaws he might've missed through the carefully laid out plan he had created. A plan that he was planning to set forth the following sunset before he was forced into the prison of his own room. Just when he was sure that he had everything perfect, a loud knock sounded against the door, causing Rubyn to clench the handle of the blade that rested on his desk.

"Who is it?" he spoke with a low growl.

"It is Ra, my lord," the voice said through the door, "I come with an urgent matter."

Pain echoed through his head, fingers reaching out to rub the bridge of his nose, the presence of the merman outside his door making him rather annoyed. He would've turned the man away if it weren't for another bout of urgent knocking. But the small corner of the map of his plans made him uneasy, grabbing other documents from different parts of his desk and placing them on his map, "Come in," Rubyn said, crossing his arms overs his desk to keep the papers from fluttering about.

The merman entered, hazel eyes wide with alarm, chest heaving from exertion, "Your Royal Highness, there is something you must know."

Rubyn frowned, never seeing the young mer this alarmed, "Well what is it? I'm all ears," he spoke, fingers tugging a paper to cover his the lettering that was drawn over the seaweed paper.

"The guards have taken in three prisoners," Ra gasped, his chest expanding every time he inhaled, "An Emerald Lord with blood hair, a monstrous creature and young mermaid," he said, "The guards believed that they were spies and they refuse to listen. The worst part is that I saw her in the prison ward."

Rubyn felt something click. The familiar descriptions forcing him out of his chair, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?!"

Ra winced, "We must hurry Your Royal Highness, before words gets out that we've imprisoned a royal from one of the most peaceful kingdoms in the Seven Seas."          

"Which cell did my guards take them to?" Rubyn growled.

Ra's lips parted, his body bracing for any attack that was to come after he had revealed to the prince of the trio's fate, "The torture chamber Your Highness."                                                   

******
Atlantis could feel the nightmare creep up in his mind, the screams muffled by a bind that had sown his mouth shut. His entire body paralyzed as the darkness consumed his mind, the haunting voices whispering.

You are not your father's son.

The phrase that seemed to echo in his mind ever since the Sapphire god had revealed it to him. He could feel the pain lash at him as he watched himself become ridiculed by his brother's subjects, their whispers mixing with the glares and ridicules from their accusing gaze.

But what broke his soul was Morgan, his hand clutching Atlantis', a tender smile on a his lips, one that never quite reached his eyes. Green orbs swirled with pain, each insult that was thrown at Atlantis, quickly thrown at Morgan.

No, he thought,  Do not hurt him. Please. I beg of you.

A/N: Sorry for the long absence. Life is crazy and to top it off the inspiration for these series is running thin. I'm trying my best to keep my creative juices flowing but up to this point its a little trickle. Hopefully I haven't disappointed my dear readers. I'll try to update soon.