The Undersea Realm

They took her back to the Undersea realm, an unsettled and unspoken air swimming along with the currents between them.

A perfectly reasonable explanation, Sophia thought to herself. That’s why they brought her here.

Neither Andromeda nor Aphrodite said a word until they entered the cave.

In front of her sat a table. And in each seat, a creature turned to face their new arrival. Sophia gulped. Wings fluttered, snouts huffed, long nails tapped against the oak.

“What am I doing here?” Sophia asked.

Aphrodite gestured to a seat adjacent to the one at the head of the table. She and Andromeda took seats at opposite ends.

“We’ve gathered all of you from the Fantasy Council here today for a very important purpose,” Aphrodite said, clasping her hands in front of her. Her voice floated over them, commanding and silky in tone, drawing each bit of attention toward her. “Sophia is here as a neutral representative.”

One of the creatures snorted. “How is the girl a neutral representative when she is an Aquarid and loves a Syfire?”

“Silence,” Andromeda snapped.

Sophia raised a tentative finger. “Um, what am I a representative for exactly?”

All eyes in the room turned in her direction.

“War is upon us,” Andromeda replied. “Every time we take—”

“You,” Aphrodite interrupted. “Every time you take Sophia and Thomas away from each other.

Andromeda rolled her eyes. “Fine. Every time I separate our modern day Romeo and Juliet, we fall a little further from war. But any time they get back together, that threat returns. And it’s beyond a silly game of ‘keepaway’. No, this threat is fueled by a lot more than a sisterly animosity to keep our Mer clans separate.”

Sophia’s brain reeled. “Wait a minute. Andromeda, are you telling me that you’re responsible for every time I’ve had to hop realms and identities? That night in the Elemental realm when you took me to your chambers”—she paused, heat rushing to her cheeks as she remembered they were not alone in this moment—“was that why you were trying to get me to turn sides?” Another thought hit her that churned her stomach. “Would that have changed the outcome for the chances of this war happening.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“No, that was just Andromeda being…well, Andromeda.” Aphrodite glared across the table at her sister.

“So, what? I’m the key to all of this?” Sophia frowned.

“It’s too dangerous,” Aphrodite said. “We can’t keep risking your life or Thomas’ life like this. Bringing you to the site of the Titanic was already too far.”

“And I told you it was necessary to do that,” Andromeda argued. “Sophia needed to see—to feel—the level of power beneath the waves at that spot.”

Sophia’s gaze flipped between the two goddesses. She didn’t know who to trust. The amount of pure hatred and manipulation that flowed through the room overwhelmed her.

“What do we have to do?” she asked. “To stop this war. Tell me and I’ll…I’ll do it. Whatever you want.”

Aphrodite’s eyes widened. “Don’t make promises you’ll later regret.”

Andromeda laughed, the sound tinkling like a thousand tiny bells. “Oh, dear sister. Let Sophia find that out on her own.”

Maybe this was a mistake.

“I want to help. I have to. No matter the cost.” Sophia slammed her hands down on the table. “What exactly does this entail?”

Aphrodite teepeed her fingers together, leaning forward on her elbows. “If you agree to this, Sophia, there are risks you must be aware of.” She paused as if waiting for Sophia to give her confirmation to continue. After a minute of silence, she said, “We can put you back at the moment when the Titanic went down. You will have no memory of me or Andromeda ever interfering in your life. You will be saved by the Silver Coven just as you were the first time but you’ll have no recollection of any of it.”

Sophia gulped and looked down the table at Andromeda. “And what about Thomas? What will you do to him?”

“The fates have yet to decide his…fate,” she replied. “But regardless of what happens, he shall remain unknowledgeable about your whereabouts and you of his. That is the only way to keep the Darkness from taking over.”

“The what?” Sophia asked.

Aphrodite raised an eyebrow, a smug expression painted across her pretty face. Her soft, hazel eyes twinkled. She glanced at her sister. “This is all on you, Andromeda. Do you want to tell the girl what you’re getting her into?”

Andromeda pursed her lips. “The Darkness, Sophia, is an entity that can only be controlled if you and Thomas are forbidden from each other.”

“And what exactly is the extent of that forbidden nature?”

“That is only for us to know.” Andromeda’s gaze narrowed on Sophia. “Soon, you won’t remember this conversation.”

Sophia glanced at Aphrodite. “And there’s no other way to do this?”

The goddess smiled sadly. “If you and Thomas are meant to be, you will find your way back to one another once more. If it is meant to be, you will find a way to break him out of the curse. Because while he is still bound to a Syfire’s soul, there can be no room for another in his heart lest the Darkness takes over and consumes us all.” Her last words sounded like an echo in Sophia’s head.

Sophia blinked, the room spinning around her. She placed her fingers against her head, the pressure building up.

“Wh-what did you do to me?” she slurred. She could see wisps of magic floating off the ends of Andromeda’s fingers across the table.

“What I should’ve done from the beginning.” Andromeda’s voice hit her like a slab of ice. What was beneath the surface, now rose above, and it was breaking apart Sophia’s mind like a shipwreck. “You’ve made your choice, Sophia de la Reue.”

And just like that, everything changed.