Being the Prince of Atlantis wasn't easy, especially when my father forbade me to leave the castle. I had no one to talk to about my problems, and I couldn't talk to my father about it, fearing that he would quickly become a raging tempest. After Delphine snapped at me, I decided that it would be best to leave her alone because I knew deep inside something was wrong, and she wasn't comfortable with talking about it.

I woke up to a large amount of noise coming from the throne room. Probably another one of my father's heated debates with the commander again. I had heard my father get into heated debates with the commander before, and even though I was beginning to grow tired of the arguments he had, I found it quite fascinating to watch.

I poked my head out into the hall and waited to see if Delphine would come out of her room, but she never did. Maybe she slept in a little later? I gently knocked on the door of her chambers and carefully opened the door, hoping that I wouldn't disturb her. "Delphine? Are you in here?" I whispered. I poked my head into the room, but I was surprised to discover that she wasn't in there.

Where is she? It wasn't like Delphine to disappear unexpectedly, and I had no idea where she could be, so I thought maybe my father would know where she was. But the moment I swam into the throne room, I was greeted with yelling from my father and seven mermaids. "What the shell is going on in here?" I asked in a loud tone. All eyes fell upon me, and I saw that the people my father was arguing with were Delphine's friends.

"Prince Arthuas, you're here! Something terrible has happened!" Veronica said frantically. From the look on her face, it looked like she was on the verge of tears. "Well, out with it!" I sighed. The others looked at each other, and I had a bad feeling that whatever happened had pained them terribly. "It's Delphine. S-she's b-been kidnapped by the s-s-sirens," Veronica answered before bursting into tears.

My surroundings quickly became cloudy, and the voices of her friends became slower and sounded like they were in the distance. My heart felt like it could pop out of my chest, and I felt myself slip into darkness.

******

When I woke up, I saw that I was lying back in my bed. And I was surrounded by Delphine's friends. "He's awake," Violet said to the others as I sat up in the bed. "Is it true? Delphine has been kidnapped?" I asked. The others nodded slightly, and I couldn't believe what they had said before I passed out was true. But, at the same time, I wondered how she got kidnapped. The walls surrounding Atlantis were restricted to outsiders, so it would be nearly impossible for them to get through unless you went outside the city walls.

"But how? What was she doing outside the walls alone?" I asked. "Well, your highness, Delphine wasn't alone. We were outside with her," Klaus clarified. Now, things were getting confusing. There's nothing out there but a lot of sand and sea life. "Okay, but you didn't answer my question. Why were you out there?" I asked. Delphine's friends looked at each other, and the youngest mermaid pulled something out from behind her brother. My eyes grew wide when I saw that she was holding the trident of Poseidon in her hands.

"Are you serious? You went out to the border to find the trident?" I asked as I swam closer to examine it. Sure enough, it looked exactly like the sketches I had seen in the book I gave to Delphine when she asked to know about what happened to Atlantis. "Do you realize that you have put us in danger by taking the trident out of its hiding spot? Queen Esme wants to get her hands on this trident, and if she does, it's game over for everyone!" I shouted.

"We understand, your highness, but we had good reason to take the trident from its hiding spot. This may be difficult to understand, but we are not mermaids. We are humans from the mainland. Delphine is one of us. We turned into mermaids on the full moon," Veronica explained. I was in shock once again. Not only had Delphine been kidnapped by the sirens, but she and her friends were humans.

Why didn't she tell me she was a human? Was that why she was so upset the last time I saw her?