Chapter 2
3rd Person P.O.V
Later that night, after the Coral Moon gathering, Lyra had gone back to her grotto to rearrange some of the items there, as she would felt it would look a little better. Once she was done, a flash of light and strange noises caught her attention. She looked up and saw that these were coming from the surface. Lyra's curiosity got the better of her, so she swam out of her grotto and up to the surface. Once she was there, she could see several bursts of colourful light appearing in the air, each one making a loud noise when it appeared. The sound of laughter and music then caught her attention, and she turned to see a large ship nearby. Lyra swam over and managed to climb into the rowboat on the side of the ship, carefully peering through the railings to try and see what's going on. Unknown to Lyra, this was a birthday celebration being held for Heather Chandler, the daughter of King Joseph and Queen Susan Chandler, and the heiress to the throne of Ruby Haven.
"I'll say this, having a party on a ship is one heck of a way to celebrate your birthday, Heather." A female voice spoke.
"Oh, shove off, Veronica. This was yours and JD's idea, and you know it. You two, along with Heather and Heather, were the ones who planned this whole thing." A second female voice spoke. Lyra looked over to try and see the source of the voices, and saw a group of four girls and, to her surprise, JD, standing near the wheel of the ship. Though her attention was immediately caught by the second girl who had spoken, Heather Chandler. Lyra felt her breath get caught in her throat when she saw how beautiful Chandler was, dressed in a red dress that suited her perfectly, with her blonde hair done up nicely. An unknown feeling began to stir within Lyra, and she wasn't entirely sure how to feel about it, but pushed it down for now as she continued to watch. Little did she know that JD had seen her watching, until she saw the four girls head down the steps to join the party before a shadow fell over her.
"Enjoying the view?" Lyra jumped at the voice and looked up, but sighed in relief when she saw that it was only JD sitting next to the railing.
"You scared me." Lyra complained, crossing her arms.
"My apologies, Lyra. But you're lucky it was me who saw you and not one of those superstitious old sailors down there." JD said.
"Those four girls you were with, who are they?" Lyra asked.
"The one in blue is Veronica Sawyer, heiress to the region of Sapphire Vale and also my girlfriend; the one is yellow is Heather McNamara, heiress to the region of Topaz Heights; the one in green is Heather Duke, heiress to the region of Emeraude; and the one in red is Heather Chandler, heiress to the throne of Ruby Haven, and also the one who seems to have caught your eye." JD answered, though ended his answer with a teasing note to his voice, causing Lyra to blush.
"Oh, shut up. I've not even met her, so there's no way I could like her like that." Lyra said.
"The blush on your face tells me otherwise." JD said, earning further blushing from Lyra.
"I don't like you anymore. You're being mean." Lyra said, but in a joking manner.
"Oh, that smarts, your highness. But I guess I know my place." JD laughed, causing Lyra to laugh as well. The two probably would have continued their conversation, but a loud rumble caught their attention, as well as the attention of everyone aboard the ship.
"Storm approaching! Man the sails!" The two heard Chandler shout, and the crew rushed to obey. JD hurriedly got up and went to help just as the storm hit the area they were in, and heavy rain began lashing down as the ocean waves rapidly grew in size. Lyra dived off the rowboat and back into the safety of the ocean. Well, safe for her at least. She could only watch in horror as waves pushed the ship closer towards the treacherous reefs that were in the vicinity. A strong blast of wind caught one of the lanterns on the ship, causing it to fall and smash, which in turn set the ship alight.
"Abandon ship! Get to the rowboats!" Chandler shouted, seeing how close they were getting to the reefs, not to mention the rapidly-spreading flames. Veronica, JD, Duke and Mac were barely able to keep themselves steady as they made their way to one of the rowboats that hung from the side of the ship, releasing it so that it dropped safely to the water. Chandler remained onboard to ensure that none of the crew were left behind, with many of them being forced to jump off and swim for the rowboats. Seconds later, the ship hit the reef with a sickening crunch. Seeing that everyone else had safely evacuated, Chandler headed towards the railing in order to get off the ship herself. But before she could, her eyes widened as she caught sight of an enormous wave heading right for the ship. The wave crashed down on the ship and knocked Chandler overboard. The blonde was knocked unconscious upon impact with the water, and began to sink towards the bottom of the ocean. Fortunately for Chandler, Lyra was close by and had seen what had happened. Lyra dived down and spotted Chandler, quickly swimming after her and catching her, before pulling her back up to the surface. Not seeing any of the rowboats in sight, Lyra began swimming towards the shore, making sure Chandler stayed above the water as she did so. Lyra never noticed that Chandler's necklace had been knocked off her by the wave and was still sinking toward the bottom of the ocean.
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Some time later, the storm had finally passed, and Lyra had managed to get Chandler safely to the beach near the spot where she had first met JD. She pulled Chandler up onto the sand so that she was out of the water. Now that there was no further danger, Lyra was able to get a proper look at Chandler, and was awestruck by her beauty. Even though Lyra knew what she was about to do next was risky, she began to use her siren song to revive Chandler and ensure she would live.
"What would I give to live where you are? What would I pay to stay here beside you. What would I do to see you smiling at me? Where would we walk, where would we run, if we could stay all day in the sun? Just you and me, and I could be part of your world." Lyra softly sang. Her siren song seemed to work as Chandler began to stir and then coughed to expel the remaining water from her lungs. Chandler's eyes flickered open, and she saw the blurry outline of a figure above her, but couldn't make out much other than beautiful brown eyes looking down at her. But then, the sound of voices startled Lyra and caused her to quickly retreat back into the ocean once more. Veronica, JD, Duke and Mac all appeared on the beach, having been frantically searching all night for their missing friend.
"There she is!" Mac shouted, pointing to where Chandler lay on the sand. The four rushed over to the blonde, who was rather disoriented as the others helped her sit up.
"Are you alright?" Duke asked, concern written all over her face.
"I think so? I don't remember much. But someone saved my life by pulling me from the water. It was definitely a girl, judging from the voice I heard, and she had the most beautiful brown eyes." Chandler said, as Duke and Mac helped her to stand up. The group began to walk back to the castle, but JD turned back to the beach, and saw Lyra on the rock near the shore. Seeing her nod, he knew that Lyra had been the one to save Chandler, so he turned back and followed his friends back up to the castle. He quickly lifted Chandler into his arms after her legs buckled beneath her and carried her back to the castle. Lyra watched the group make it to the top of the hill before they vanished from sight, before turning and diving into the water to swim back to Oceania. But as she did, she found her thoughts already drifting back to Chandler. With a start, Lyra realised that she had indeed fallen hard for Chandler, and could only hope that she could one day be with her. But the pesky fact remained was that she was a mermaid while Chandler was human. Unknown to her, two people had been watching everything that had happened, but only one of them had good intentions for the teenager over the coming days.
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In a cave in the rocks not too far from Oceania, Ursula the Sea Witch had been watching what had happened on the beach through the use of her viewing crystal, and she knew that Lyra had fallen in love with Chandler. In a lot of ways, it reminded her of when Sarah had fallen in love with Triton after rescuing him from a very similar situation. However, she knew the Sea King's pride, as well as his dislike for his former world, often clouded his judgement, which would not end well if he learned of this. Ursula couldn't help but feel pity for her granddaughter, and decided that she would create a potion that would enable to teen to live on land in order to be with the girl she loved. However, in another much darker cave far from the kingdom and deeper underwater, another Sea Witch resided. This was Ursula's younger sister, Morgana, and she was much more conniving and manipulative than Ursula was. Morgana had been banished from Oceania many years ago due to practicing dark magic and attempting to take over the kingdom. Morgana had also been spying on the situation, but the plan she was forming was far more sinister than older sister's plan.
"Soon, Triton, I will have my revenge. And your darling daughter will be your downfall, whether she knows it or not." Morgana said, before giving an evil laugh as she vanished the scene on her own viewing crystal and continued to plot her revenge.
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