Nathan turned the blade over in his hand as more tears ran down his cheeks. Could he kill Sean? Killing a human should come easy to him. His mother had killed the pirates without a second thought. His heart was starting to hurt as badly as his legs. Closing his eyes, he tried to think this through. He wished Mark was here. Behind him, Jetsam held onto his shoulders and purred into his ear. "Dear child... What choice do you have? You'll be disgraced. Debased. Reviled. Your only hope is to salvage what you can. Do you think your dad will be happy that you just let him go? I don't think so." Nathan sniffled, glancing at the door and away from Jetsam. Jetsam switched shoulders slowly, locking his eyes on him like a sea snake. Jetsam's voice turned even more soothing as he told him. "You have this one chance to make this all go away. If you kill him, your pain will go away. You'll get your tail back. With his death, everyone will forgive you. Your love for him, will die with him." Nathan shook his head meekly.

Jetsam cupped Nathan's face, whispering to him. "Poor child. Growing up hurts... but it doesn't have to stay that way. This isn't you... You are a merman. He thinks you are a monster. He'd kill you if he had the chance." Nathan's fingers tightened on the dagger as his words sank in. Jetsam then added coolly. "Why should he live happily ever after? He played with your heart... He made you believe that he loved you. We drown men like him. Now, you poor sweet child... Are you going to let him treat a beautiful creature like you that way? Or are you going to show him what happens when he hurts you?" Nathan felt a spark of anger flood him, but it suffocated out just as fast in his grief. Jetsam looked to Ursel, before Ursel took Nathan's arm and told him in his motherly tone. "Tell you what. You can think about it along the way. Ok?" Nathan limped and whined. Blood was streaking under his feet as he walked. Both Ursel and Jetsam kept him upright, walking him out of the room and down the hallway.

Nathan just didn't know what to do. He didn't want to trust Ursel but letting go of his pain just sounded so good. However, even with the mean things Sean had said... he just didn't have the strength to kill Sean. He loved him. Reaching another room at the end of the hallway, Ursel opened the door slowly. The door slowly swung open to reveal Sean kissing Verlaine. He was holding her in a close embrace and kissing her so passionately that Nathan stopped breathing. Sean's words had hurt but seeing him kiss her was unbearable. Everything went numb. He no longer felt pain or love. Pulling from Jetsam and Ursel, he moved up behind Sean. His grip tightened on the dagger as he raised it. He wanted to stab him in the back and make that kiss his last. Positioning his arm to stab him, Nathan's hand shook as his anger started to fade. Mark's words suddenly coming to mind. "I know the person you are. Just like I know that you act out when you're scared..." Looking at the mirror on the vanity, Nathan saw his reflection and didn't like what he saw. Stepping back, he dropped the dagger.

The dagger clattered to the floor, causing Sean to jump in surprise. Nathan kept backing up. He couldn't believe what he had almost done. He didn't care how much Sean had hurt him; he'd get over it. If Sean wasn't his happily ever after, then he'd just have to keep looking. He was stronger than this. Sean whirled around to face him with wide eyes. Locking his fragile eyes with him, Nathan signed out to him with teary eyes. "I forgive you." Tears ran down his face as he turned and ran. Ursel and Jetsam shared shocked looks but let him run past them. Nathan squealed in pain as his legs protested, but his adrenaline kept him going. The cuts opened to the bone, forcing Nathan to let out a bloodcurdling scream as he leapt over the railing of the ship. Guests gasped and screamed, watching the flesh of his legs merge before the skin peeled away to reveal his glittering purple tail. The final rays of the sun were sinking over the water. Closing his eyes, Nathan didn't even brace himself as he splashed into the sea. Nathan hit the water so hard that it stunned him, causing him to just slowly sink to the bottom unconscious.

Back on the ship, Ursel ran across the ship to follow Nathan. Upon seeing the sun fade beneath the watery surface, Ursel began to laugh heartily over the gasps of the nobles. Ursel heard the thunder of footsteps rush up the steps and turned as he continued to laugh. Both Jetsam and Prince Sean were running up the steps. Jetsam grabbed Sean's arms to stop him, while Sean screamed out hysterically. "NATHAN!" Ursel pointed to Sean, chuckling out. "You're too late! HE'S MINE!" Ursel raised his hands, his human body melting away to reveal his true form. His long black tentacles sliding out from under his dress. The dress tore as his broad grey shoulders and body busted the seams. Then shaking out his long silvery white hair, he climbed up onto the banister and hissed out back out at Sean. "Oh... And don't think I didn't forget about you, Highness. Consider HIM my parting gift to YOU!" Ursel pointed out to the water, where a large shark fin was rising to cut through the surface of the dark water.

Ursel dived off the ship, splashing into the water and swimming to the depths to find Nathan. Finding him unconscious across the sandy bottom, he swam up to him and scooped him up into his arms. Ursel grinned, but his smile faded as Nathan's mother rushed up to him and screamed out. "URSEL! Let him go!" Glaring at her with pure hatred, he snapped out. "Not a chance, Sweetheart! And by the way... you gave your hair up for nothing! I might have convinced him that he needed to kill Sean in order to get the blood he needed to relieve his pain. So, he didn't do it. Oops!" Lorelei grabbed one of Ursel's tentacles, tugging on him desperately as she pleaded out. "PLEASE?! Take me! You want to punish ME!" Ursel yanked his tentacle from her, snapping back. "Don't worry, Darling. When I use your hair to absorb your power into the Nautilus shell, you'll die just like my sisters." Lorelei swam out to cut him off, desperately wailing out. "Then you have what you want! Please! Let him go!"

Ursel rolled his eyes, telling her darkly. "You think too small. I didn't just get him to get what I wanted from you. I plan on getting EVERYTHING from his father too." Lorelei gasped in horror. Ursel started to swim quickly through the water with Lorelei chasing after him. Growing frustrated, Ursel spun around to snap out at Lorelei. "Oh, quit your whining, wench! I have a much bigger fish to fry! And you're not going to change my-" Ursel was suddenly cut off by a familiar male voice, belting out. "Ursel! STOP!" Ursel rolled his eyes, turning to look fearlessly at the glowing trident that his baby brother pointed at him. "Oh, brother darling... You're right on cue." One of Ursel's tentacles pushed the trident away from him to aim it at Lorelei as he added flatly. "Point that elsewhere, unless you want to obliterate your only son." Triton glared at Ursel, but his eyes briefly moved to look at the mermaid standing behind him. Doing a double take, Triton's jaw dropped as he uttered out in sudden disbelief. "Lorelei? Is that you...?"

Lorelei lifted her chin, giving Triton a small smile as she nodded. Ursel rolled his eyes with a disgusted exhale, stating out. "Not that I'm moved by this touching reunion... but I've got better things to do." Ursel started to move away, until Mark moved into his path. Tensing, Ursel hissed out. "A touching reunion indeed. Still alive?" Mark stiffened up for a fight, hissing back. "Give Nathan to me. NOW!" Triton pointed his trident back on Ursel, prompting Ursel to calmly state aloud. "Not on your life, Boys. Have you forgotten, Mark?" Ursel looked over his shoulder to Triton, stating out loud and clear. "It just so happens that your son signed a contract with me. It's legal, binding, and completely unbreakable. Even for YOU, my little brother." Ursel removed the contract from among his tentacles, rolling it out for Triton to see for himself. Pointing to the contract, Ursel told Triton. "As you can see. It is written by him and signed in his blood." Mark turned hopeful eyes on Triton, asking anxiously. "You can break it though, right?" Triton grimly shook his head, answering reluctantly. "It's forged with the power of the Nautilus shell. By the laws of the ocean... it is legally binding. I couldn't destroy it if I tried."

Ursel smirked, rolling up the contract while he said coolly. "Exactly. But you don't have to take my word for it. Your mate knows all about my contracts. Don't you, Angelfish?" All eyes turned to Lorelei, who looked both startled and guilty. Triton's expression asked her a question without words, but Ursel simply interjected. "Oh? She never told you? Well, allow me to fill in the blanks." Lorelei pleaded to Ursel, but his tentacle flicked out near her to shut her up. Staring only at Triton, Ursel snapped out bitterly. "Your mate can only bare female children. She had heard from your best healer that I might be able to help her. So, our sisters told her where she might find me. She sought me out and caught me with James. I offered a deal. Her silence about James... for a son." Ursel's dark eyes turned to Lorelei, before he continued. "Something strange happened though. I told her to take the potion above the surface. Where she shared it with a woman who was having the same problem as her. And to cover THAT lie. She broke OUR deal. Something I have regretted not making a binding contract on ever since. A mistake, I NEVER will make again."

Lorelei whimpered a little, while Ursel finished off smugly. "I was pregnant. I lost my children and had to save their souls by putting them into bodies that weren't normal for them. I've spent YEARS trying to restore them. Now, you're going to know what that felt like." Lorelei let out a distressed squeal, snapping out. "NO! Ursel, I beg you!" Ursel pointed a threatening tentacle at her to keep her back but said rather calmly. "I don't do anything for free. But I've always been a sucker for a bargain... perhaps we could arrange a sort of trade?" Lorelei shook her head, but Triton asked nervously. "What do you want, Ursel?" Ursel's eyes darted to Triton, answering curtly. "The only son of the great sea king is a VERY precious commodity..." Ursel's fingers stroked Nathan's arm and tail, causing his body to glow as a swirl of yellow magic began to rapidly encase him. Mark tensed, watching in horror as Nathan seemed to shrink and shrivel in Ursel's arms. All three of them started to lunge for Nathan and Ursel, but Ursel's tentacles shot up to push them back. Instantly, his magic stopped shrinking Nathan, when he added out a bit menacingly. "BUT... I might be willing to make an exchange for someone even better."

Triton jerked his head up like he was going to yell something. Only to have Ursel inform him without flinching. "This is a one time offer, Triton. Sign my scroll and set him free. Or else, he's coming with me. To suffer through eternity alone. In pain and in need... Such a poor sweet child, drowning in his own sorrow with not even a voice to cry out your name." Triton hesitated, backing up from Ursel. Mark felt just as torn between Nathan and the fear of what Ursel would do to the Trench kingdom. Lorelei looked to Triton; her voice broken when she told him. "Triton...?!" Triton bowed his head, his face torn between his raging emotions as he squeezed the handle of the trident. Ursel didn't move an inch, his eyes locked on Triton mercilessly as he told him sternly. "Well? I'm waiting, little brother... What means more to you? Your son or your own life?" Triton finally glared at Ursel, snapping out. "It's not my life you are after! It's my power!" Ursel raised his voice, yelling out impatiently. "Which would you rather be?! The king of the seven seas? Or a father to his little boy?"

Ursel slowly removed a small glowing contract from the glowing shell around his neck. In his palm, the contract grew into a large scroll that he handled off to a tentacle. The tentacle flicked it out for Triton to look at. At the very bottom was a blank line where he could sign his name. It broke both Mark and Lorelei's hearts, but they pleaded with him. "No... You can't! There has to be another way!" Triton looked up at the surface of the water, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself. Triton's hand shook on the trident, but he said under his breath. "I'm sorry, Dad... Family is everything." Exhaling, Triton raised the trident and zapped his name across the line. Lorelei and Mark called out his name in shock. Ursel started laughing with excited disbelief. He'd won. Nathan's body returned to its normal state and Ursel dropped him to the sand without a care. Mark rushed forward to catch Nathan in his arms. While Triton's body became encased in a swirl of yellow magic that shrank him down and shriveled him up. Until Triton was just a little polyp sitting within his coral crown beside his trident.

Picking up the crown and trident, Ursel teased Triton's polyp form through fits of giggles. "Oooh, you poor unfortunate soul. Now see for yourself how banishment feels. I hope you enjoy my garden as much as I'll enjoy the palace!" Mark cradled Nathan close to his chest as Ursel slipped on the crown and excitedly yelled out. "At last! The seven seas belong to me! Now with the power of Poseidon once again made whole! I can take my vengeance out on every man who dares to cross over ocean, sea, and shoal!" To Be Continued...