Growing up it had always been her, Grian, and their parents.

For eight years, she had ran around the palace with Grian, chasing him and playing to her heart's content. Often times, her parents would join as well. For eight years she and Grian were two peas in a pod.

She used to think she hated Grian for always being there. He was a nonstop nuisance, commanding and a prankster. There was no limits to what antics he would come up with. It was often times just times of opening a door and a bucket of water would fall over her, drenching Lizzie. It never bothered her, she was born for the water. It was just annoying and inconvenient when it ruined her clothes.

Lizzie remembered the grand pool the most.

There was a large gymnasium styled room that was wall to wall, filled with water. Part of it was sectioned off, a hot spring in the center while the rest was similar to a normal human pool, except with more magical elements.

For starters, seaweed and algae coated the floors. Lizzie loved the way the seaweed would tangle and intertwine with her legs and the ways both her and Grian would hide in it to play hide and seek. Coral was in the deepest section of the pool, providing color to contrast with the blue shades.

Another magical element was the depth of the pool. It wasn't a constant depth, it changed and fluctuated. Lizzie never understood how it worked but Grian tried his best to explain to her. All she knew was that at one side, it was a constant shallow depth and at the other, it could span hundreds of feet down until you couldn't see anything but an abyss. Lizzie had only seen it one time like that, they always opted for a comfortable range within twenty feet or more.

She remembered basking in the water, letting it hydrate her skin. She loved the way her hair felt after getting out of the water, it always felt dry and the water seemed to rejuvenate it every time.

Lizzie always laughed as she recalled when Joel had first seen the pool. His eyes were the sizes of saucers as he looked at it. It always gave him a heart attack when Lizzie went under for five minutes.

Slowly, Joel had become used to the pool, even joining them briefly or getting out. She always thought it was strange how his hands would become all wavy, he called it 'wrinkles.' Lizzie could stay all day in the water, in fact, sometimes she could sleep in it if she wanted but Joel couldn't be in the water for a measly ten minutes. Humans were weird.

Regardless, they would have their own fun. She loved when the seaweed would brush against Joel and how he would shriek, voice echoing around the room. She used to grab a bunch and dive under water, just brushing it against his legs and watching him squirm. Joel said it was 'unnatural' but she just thought he was being a wimp.

One of their favorite activities though had to be when Joel tossed a bunch of things in the water and both the siblings would race to retrieve the items. It was especially a joy when the depths spanned fifty meters, both trying to swim as fast as they could. Grian was older, he had the advantage of being a stronger swimmer. Lizzie, however, was an axolotl, making her the faster swimmer. Their races would be incredibly close, fighting for the item. They would both argue once the other had the item before swimming up, continuing until they breached the surface. Joel always said that humans can't speak under water like they could. In fact, they would do competitions to see who could understand the other better. Both siblings would speak under water and have Joel guess and then they would switch. It was always funny to Lizzie, hearing the gargling sound as Joel tried to speak.

But once she reached eight years old, it was strange.

After her little brother was born, the pool was locked more often, guards standing outside and telling both siblings that they wouldn't be able to swim without their parents present.

It was hard for her to comprehend the concept of drowning.

She grew up believing that everybody could breathe underwater, she thought that everybody could see and stay under for hours until they needed to go up.

But Grian tried to explain, again.

He seemed to grasp it better than her, looking upset but not sad. More angry or frustrated than anything.

It was years later that Lizzie found out why the pool was locked for a solid year and a half.

Supposedly, a midwife had the idea to submerge Jimmy in the water as a way to treat his non-stop crying. But he never made it more than a minute before drowning.

A fish hybrid... with both genes of an axolotl and cod had drowned. Lizzie knows that she and Grian had both been introduced to water early on, it was necessary due to the hydration required. Both had been few hours old before being brought to the water by their father.

So Lizzie found it hard to like Jimmy.

Why couldn't he just breathe underwater? It didn't make sense to her, he just needs to breathe and he won't drown, it is that simple!

It started as a rumor around the palace that Jimmy was illegitimate.

Despite the physical reminders of his heritage and genes, it didn't stop the gossip. He had webbed fingers, gills on his neck, and he was larger than normal cod babies would be, more so the size of an axolotl baby. He just couldn't breathe.

Eventually, once they treated whatever was wrong with Jimmy, he did start to breathe underwater. Before that, he was forced to lay in a plastic tub with wet cloths on his skin, being replaced often by caretakers.

The first time Lizzie remembered Jimmy in the water was when she was around ten. Jimmy was on the verge of turning two when he was finally in the water, the king hovering close by within inches. They knew that he had started breathing naturally but they were cautious.

It took her by surprise when a week later, Jimmy was swimming like a pro.

It wasn't unnatural but it was weird to her. He was swimming at the speeds of young axolotl but his form was off and wrong in all the ways only a hybrid would know. He just looked wrong in all the ways that made Lizzie hate him more.

So when she was twelve and swimming at her top speeds, she couldn't help but glare whenever he passed her in the pool. He was only four and he was passing her, an almost full axolotl hybrid? It didn't make any sense and it made her incredibly upset. Grian would tease her, already given up on that race a long time ago.

It was all the more reason for her to despise her younger brother despite Jimmy never realizing it was a competition. He just thought they were having fun and playing.

She only started liking the pool again when Jimmy would stop joining her when he was seven.

It was only now when she realized why.

Two days left.