"I'm home!" Lance called as he entered his family's cove. He placed his satchel on the rack and swam through the cove to the dining room, where people were talking loudly. As he entered, he immediately noticed the two mers out of place.

"Ulaz! Thace!" Lance bolted to their chairs and slung his arms around each of their shoulders. Thace chuckled warmly, ruffling Lance's hair.

"Hello, Lance. Long time no see, eh?" Lance grinned at him. Ulaz and Thace, husbands of the Northern clan up near the border of Canada and the States, were close friends of the family via connection to Lance's mom and the council, and they always had stories and laughs to share with the Mcclain cove. Lance thought of them as uncles, extended family, and admired their strong marriage despite original distaste from the elders of their community. Apparently, they were more strict up North.

"Ah, mi hijo, sit down, we can talk while we eat, por favor." Lance nodded at his mom as she came from the kitchen, holding long metal skewers with shrimp, fish, and other assorted food kebab-ed onto them.

"Hola, padre," Lance told his father as he passed to go back to his seat, and waved goofily to the twins who sat across the table.

"How's the surface, Lance?" Carlos responded, looking pointedly at his son. Lance knew his father's distaste for the human world after the incident with his brother, but that didn't disturb Lance's daily visits. Carlos was forever curious though as if wanting Lance to screw up somehow so that he could have an excuse to keep his son safe in the deep. Lance's relationship with his father was complex. They loved each other as a son and a father should, but Carlos had been distant, maybe colder, since his brother was exiled, and Lance's adventures only stressed him out more.

Added to the fact that, while Carlos supported Lance in almost every way possible, he came from a traditional family with traditional values, and bisexual wasn't necessarily one of them. So, as expected, the mer was on edge with Ulaz and Thace visiting. Lance didn't mind. He knew that whoever he chose to spend the rest of his life with, it would be his decision and not his father's.

As soon as they began eating, the twins launched into stories of their days, and Lance knew that once they had started, they wouldn't stop until the end of dinner, so he waited patiently until the end of dinner to talk with Ulaz and Thace. As the twins got ready for bed by an ushering mother, and Carlos disappeared into his room to unwind, Lance and Ulaz and Thace slipped out of the cove and swam up past the school to the coral coves, a large, open area where they could see from the light of the fleeting sunset and soon, the moon. Plus, some of the coral was bioluminescent, so they stuck by those patches in order to see better. Finding seats on the floor of the cove, they settle, Ulaz leaning up against Thace comfortably. Lance perched on a rock slab.

Since the last time that Lance had seen them, the husbands had pretty much stayed the same. Because of their hardcore warrior tribe, the Marmora, their tales had been dyed deep indigo with two fluorescent stripes that were a staple of the community. The two also had a strange tribal tattoo on their bulging biceps, symbolizing their high ranks. Even though they had their tails colored, their fins were still unique. While Ulaz's was feathery at the end, whispy even, Thace's was strong and sharp, a more classic fishtail look. Their spines were retracted for now, but their sails were larger than most, even if they weren't native to the rougher waters on the other side of the country. Apparently, they sharpened the spines and used them as blades in battle. Their deadly combat skills gave their tribe the name 'the blades of Marmora'. Badass as fuck.

What was even more amazing about their appearances were their battle scars. The last sheath of webbing connecting Ulaz's last two spines was ripped raggedly, the result of a dangerous mer with fishhook nails. Ulaz also had a very thin waist with scars of lacerations down his ribs, the result of rapid weight and muscle loss when he was captured and kept captive when he was younger. Because of mermaid anatomy and the fact that his structure was still developing when he was jailed, it was hard to gain back weight after losing it- there weren't many fatty foods under the sea and being starved to near death was basically a death wish if a mer was to live in society- it was hard enough to find enough food to fuel their hard-working bodies, let alone catch up after a year in captivity. Under Ulaz's special circumstances, he'd been sent to live on land for several months to regain a better diet, consuming fatty foods one after the other until he was fit to return to a normal diet in the sea. His broad chest was strong though, and his frail torso didn't stop him from kicking ass in combat.

Thace was healthy, he'd been born in an elder's family so he'd been protected and given more food than he could eat as a child, just so that he'd be prepared to go to a special mer combat school by Russia in his teen years. When he returned, he was named second-in-command in the Marmora tribe, and for good reason too. Thace was not only incredibly intelligent and a stunning fighter, he had the stealth of a shadow and could easily intercept an enemy (such as the Dark Kingdom) as a spy. He'd gone on missions into the Dark Kingdom before but had never told Lance much because the Marmora were so secretive. He had a long, deep scar on his shoulder from a skirmish years ago, but he didn't really talk about that one either.

"Now, Lance..." Thace started, absent-mindedly rubbing Ulaz's bicep with the pad of his thumb, "How long has it actually been? More than 6 months, right? And I can only guess that you're still just as interested in our tribe, yes?"

Lance knew that it was impossible to become a Blade, and he didn't even think that he wanted to become such a fierce warrior, but the husbands' stories of their battles and liberation of captives in the Dark Kingdom still interested Lance. "Of course! What else? You'll have to tell me someday about it. I'm family." Lance leaned back, clasping his hands together. He knew he was preaching to the choir, but there was always a chance that Thace would break.

It turned out that today was that day.

"That's true..." Thace mused, pretending to think to himself. Ulaz smiled at Lance, something rare, and Lance perked up enthusiastically. "I mean, you are old enough to know, no longer the tiny shrimp that you used to be..."

Lance pouted, offended, "Hey! I wasn't that small!" he huffed indignantly.

"Thace, stop torturing the poor boy. Go on, I know you're excited." Ulaz's voice was deep and gravely, the kind that you would expect to be giving orders or commanding things. Lance wondered what he was like in his tribe, his hard eyes drawn into focus.

"There isn't really much to tell, Lance. Just history and stuff."

"I don't mind," Lance replied, flicking his tail impatiently.

Thace started, rolling his eyes.

"If you draw a line from Argentina to South Africa, the Dark Kingdom is located right in the middle. The currents are so bad there that most mers instinctively avoid it. It's also at the bottom, on the floor of the ocean, so mers accustomed to low-pressure waters usually can't make it very far down before they can't handle the pressure. That's why our tribe's quarters are so far underwater, we have to train to withstand the pressure down there.

"The Dark Kingdom is run by a powerful mer, Zarkon, and the witch that you always hear about that turns mers to humans? That's Zarkon's son, Lotor." Thace wrinkled his nose, "There's always been suspicion about Lotor. People say he's planning the downfall of his father and wants to bring rebel alliances into the Kingdom to decimate his father's ways. Everyone down there wants power, more and more, so they'll follow Zarkon anywhere as long as there's something in it for them.

"Zarkon's been more and more active recently, kidnapping mers who swim alone and taking their luminescence." Thace lit up all of his patterns and motioned to the glowing spots. "Zarkon has discovered a way to harvest the luminescence in our markings, which he calls 'Quintessence'. It's extremely powerful, and the reason why he has some of the traits he does. He harvested so much that he's gotten poisoned."

"Too much is bad. 'Everything in moderation'." Ulaz added, pulsing the patterns on his cheeks.

"We believe that it's the reason he's ruled for so long, why he's so powerful. Zarkon's been ruling for decades upon decades, Lance." Thace shivered. "He used to be good, you know. He and Alfor used to be best friends. The Dark Kingdom wasn't always Dark." Lance's eyes widened. "But exposure to too much of this can make you forget your morals, forget the good side. Now Zarkon is as powerful as ever, and he's posing a real threat to the communities.

"We're gonna need a lotta mers to take his ass down, not to mention his witch of a wife, Haggar, and the rest of the Kingdom. That's why we're hopeful that Lotor is on our side. He's incredibly powerful and could be a serious ally with his inside information. The next mission Ulaz and I are going on is in two weeks. We're going to the Dark Kingdom to talk with Lotor." Thace finished, leaning back as Lance absorbed the information. Looking down at his hand, Lance turned on his luminescence, watching the glow of the constellation of blue sparks on his hands. This was what Zarkon wanted.

"Wait... I have more markings than most people," Lance said, remembering back to his primary school days when he was teased for having bolder, larger markings.

Ulaz nodded. "It's why you're the fastest in school Lance. It's why you can transform so easily. Zarkon is looking for mers like you, so please be careful." Lance had never really talked about his transformations, but Allura always complained about how tired she felt afterward, and Hunk got stomach aches if he changed back and forth too often.

"Wow... that's a lot," Lance said, swishing his hair out of his eyes.

"Sorry, too much? I should've toned it down-,"

"Nonono! You're fine, Thace. I'm glad I know. This just isn't the stuff I learn in history, you know? But now that I do, I wanna help. What can I do?" Lance said determinedly.

Ulaz frowned slightly. "Your tribe does not have an artillery. I suppose the best thing you could do was become a part of the council with Alfor."

Lance groaned, crossing his arms, "You both know that takes years, I want to be a part-"

"Lance! Shut up!" Thace was suddenly alert, stiff. Lance's sail flared up on instinct. Thace looked around, eyes searching. "Divers," he whispered. Lance froze.

"Thace, we have to-," Ulaz started, but then the searchlight of the humans was sweeping over the entrance of the cove.

"No time. Lance, get over here," Thace breathed, and Lance darted over, terrified. If they were discovered, Lance's whole life would be uprooted. He'd have human's blood on his hands for letting himself be discovered, he'd be separated from his family and would be cast into a new community, scorned and alone. He forced himself to keep his luminescence off, even though it was an instinct to keep it on when he felt threatened. The three dove to the farthest corner of the cave and Thace spread his sail as far as it could go to cover them. As long as the humans didn't flash their lights at them, they'd remain undiscovered.

Lance was smushed between Ulaz and Thace, and he could feel Ulaz's heart beating where his hand lay on his uncle's sinewy chest. It fluttered, afraid, and Lance squeezed his eyes closed, body rigid. Dazedly, Lance thought about the rain. As soon as the storm came, rich fresh water would flood through the salt water and fill Lance's gills with oxygenated, clean water that tasted like clouds and allowed him to swim faster than ever, supplying his body with more oxygen than normal so his endurance skyrocketed. Lance's tail twitched at the thought.

They stayed like that for what seemed like hours, long after the lights of the humans had faded away. 'Just to be safe', Lance thought to himself, but he was shaking so badly that he thought the humans could sense his fear from miles away. Never before had he been so terrified.

After an uncertain amount of time, Thace eased on the lights of his cheeks and uncurled his body from around Lance and Ulaz. He motioned for them to follow him, then darted out of the cove. They hugged the floor of the ocean as they caught a current, diving deep into the black ocean, not daring to turn on their bright stripes. Lance's eyes adjusted to the pitch black darkness, but as they approached the neighborhood, he couldn't see a single anglerfish lit outside the coves. This was worse than he thought. If the lights were all out, then the neighborhood had been put on lockdown due to the human threat. This wasn't a shark attack, it would be chaotic fighting if it were, this was the alarm that humans had come.

Thace zig-zagged through the caves, navigating expertly in the dark as he skimmed so close to the sand that his tail brushed the particles. Lance's feeling of dread settled down on him as they approached his family's cove- his parents were going to kill Thace, Ulaz, and then him.

He was pretty much right on point. As soon as Thace entered the cove, and unknown force slammed him into the back wall, pining him fairly well for about 2 seconds before Thace smacked the attackers tail aside and, in a flash of silver, drew his dagger, seething with anger. Lance smelled something as it filtered through his gills, and looked to Thace in horror to see that he was bleeding from where his upper back had been slammed into the rocky wall.

"No! Stop! It's only us!" Lance turned around and his mother was floating on the far side of the room, the twins under her arms protectively. They looked terrified, luminescence muted in fear. A mers first instinct upon a threat is to alert and defend, which was why their sails flared up and their markings pulsed. But when their fear overcame them, their scales literally darkened and their bright spots flicked out, trying to camouflage into the water. Some mers were even able to involuntarily lower their body temperature to avert the senses of sharks.

Lance looked back over to Thace. He now recognized his uncle's attacker as his own father. "Carlos, knock it off. ¿Donde esta tu cabeza? Calm down," Lance's mom hissed, and Carlos, breathing heavily, threw Thace off him and turned on Lance.

The anger in his eyes was crazed, signaling he'd been drinking. "You maggot! Do you have any idea how worried we were? Sneaking off like that?!"

Ulaz swam forward, voice low and gentle. "Carlos, it's not his fault. We were the ones to bring him out."

"Enough!" Carlos snapped at Ulaz, his tail stirring up the water beneath him. "I've had enough of this. Going up every day, what's wrong with you, huh? ¿Eres estúpido? ¿Quieres morir?" Lance, stunned, stared at his father straight-on, watching his eyes that were so dark they were nearly black. Carlos only drank when he was distressed, and even this was more than usual. The combined events of Ulaz and Thace's arrival and the lockdown must've pushed him over the edge.

"Papa-" he started, lighting the friendly marks on his cheeks to illuminate his eyes.

"Don't 'Papa' me, Lance," Carlos snarled, and Lance felt a deep shooting pain of hurt ram through his heart.

"Carlos, that's enough. The twins are here! Think about what you're saying. Lance didn't do anyth-" Elena started, pushing the twins towards their bedroom.

"'Lance didn't do anything', my ass! Time and time again you've had close calls."

"What?! No I haven't!" Lance fumed, glaring at his father.

"Listen to me, hijo. I will not lose you like I lost Federico. From now on, you're not allowed to the surface. I forbid it, do you hear me?"

Lance was still for only seconds, taking a few precious moments to think about his choices before turning tail and rocketing outside.