Archive of Our Own ^beta

The sea breeze sweeps across the deck and Wally takes a deep breath. The crisp air clears his mind and as he looks out at the open ocean, a grin stretches across his face. This is exactly what he needed.

"Isn’t this the life, Dick?" Wally asks, jumping down from his perch above the cabin and startling his best friend. "Wind in your face, sun in the sky- it feels like the whole world is just waiting to see what we’re going to do next."

Dick adjusts the buttons on his shirt as the boat rocks. “If you say so, Prince Wally.”

"I know what you mean, Your Highness! It’s a perfect day to be at sea," Tim, one of the youngest deckhands, chirps as he pulls a rope. Wally helps him tie it around a hook and Tim nods as he looks out over the ocean. "King Oliver must be in a good mood today."

"King Oliver?" Wally asks, and Mal, a more experienced deckhand, laughs from across the ship.

"Don’t you know about King Oliver? He’s the ruler of the merpeople. All good sailors know about him,” Mal chides. Wally holds back a pout. “He controls the ocean and when he’s mad, he takes out his anger on us poor sailors.”

Dick groans when Brucely comes running out of the cabin with one of his shoes in his mouth, and as he chases the dog, he manages to say, "Don’t listen to them, Wally. These guys are out at sea so long, they start making up stories to pass the time.”

"Better than being wound up like you, Dick," Mal shrugs, picking up a crate and moving it on top of a barrel.

Tim turns around swiftly as Dick runs past him on Brucely’s heels. “We’re not making it up.”

Wally places a hand on the deckhand’s shoulder and says, “I know you’re not, Tim. C’mon, Dick, don’t be such a downer. I mean, merpeople? They’re not real- I’ve never seen one, and no one has any proof. They can’t possibly be real, but that doesn’t mean you have to step on this guys'hopes and dreams.”

Tim shrugs Wally’s hand off his shoulder. “Yeah, Dick, let us dream. And Prince Wally, just because no one’s got a mermaid in a cage or in an exhibit someplace, doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”

Wally raises a brow as he smiles and declares, “Tim-boy, point out a mermaid to me one of these days, and I’ll get you a ship of your own. Until then- I’m not going to put stock in these fish tales.”

Dick finally manages to get Brucely to stop running, but the shaggy dog refuses to release his prize. For every tug the man makes, the dog growls and pulls back. “Wally, your dog has abandonment issues- he won’t- let- go-”

Brucely moves forward suddenly and Dick falls back, still gripping the shoe.  

Wally looks over at his fallen comrade and laughs, calling out, “Hey! Let’s go up to the crow’s nest. I know you’ve been dying to get up there all day.”

Dick pulls his shoe out of a distracted Brucely’s mouth, and sighs, “As you wish, Prince Wally.”

Wally rolls his eyes, yanks the shoe from his best friend’s hand when he helps him up, then throws it back to Brucely and gets a running start towards the ladder.

“Race you!”

-o-

"You’ve really outdone yourself, Roy," King Oliver commends his right hand crab as they take a lap around the palace. Decorations line the halls and merpeople and fish swim around them in a frenzy, putting last minute details on the walls and tables. Starfish fly through the water, affixing themselves to banners and laughing at the ones who get stuck with bad spots. Everyone in Atlantica will be pushing and shoving to get a good view tonight.

"I try, Your Majesty," Roy preens himself as they continue their swim, "Only the best for Princess Artemis’ debut."

"I can’t believe she’s already sixteen." King Oliver catches himself smiling at the thought of his only daughter. Artemis is like the sea, full of life and strength and wonder. She looks and acts so much like her mother did at that age. His smile crumbles. Oh Dinah… if only you could see her now. The king and his attendant round a corner and come upon the giant clam Artemis will come out of when she’s debuted to the kingdom of Atlantica. Oliver pats Roy on the head. “Has she seen the setup yet?”

"Not the final one," Roy taps his claws together, "but we’ve rehearsed her speech over and over and over again. She’s ready. I hope…"

"What was that last part?"

“I know. I know she’s ready, Sire.” Roy nods quickly, not looking at Oliver.

The King shrugs. They pass by the giant clam and a tiny seahorse slams into the King’s chest. He helps the creature right itself. She shakes her head and straightens up.

"What’s the hurry, Cassie?"

"Y-Your Majesty!" The yellow seahorse catches her breath. "It’s almost time for our guests to start arriving-"

Roy’s smug smile instantly drops at her worried tone.

"And we can’t find Princess Artemis anywhere! She’s not in the palace, or on the grounds, or in the city-”

Oliver’s grip on his trident doubles as he grimaces. Artemis…

Roy swims up to the king’s face, “Don’t you worry, Sire! I’ll find Artemis, and the party will go on just as planned. Cassie, find me a tuna- fast!”

-o-

"Come on, Kaldur, I’ve been waiting to see this wreck for days." Artemis pulls her friend by his fins and swims closer to the wreckage.

"Artemis, if your father knew where we were-"

Artemis rolls her eyes and swims off towards the ship. “Kaldur, stop being such a guppy. What Dad doesn’t know won’t hurt him, or us. Now get over here before a shark gets you.”

The sunken ship has a few entrances, but she spots something shining just inside the lower levels. She pushes a board and slips inside, Kaldur at her tail.

"Artemis," Kaldur follows her as she picks up shiny things from the floor, "You don’t really think there are sharks nearby, do you?"

She puts a hand on her waist and gives him a look. “In the ocean? Sharks? Nope.”

Kaldur swims around her anxiously and whispers, “I’m serious.”

Artemis picks up a long, pokey thingy from the ground and shows it to her best friend, “Look at this! Isn’t it amazing?”

"It’s pretty neat. What do you think it is?"

She twirls it between her fingers and cheerfully chirps, “I have no idea.”

A crunching sound echoes from within the wreck.

Kaldur whispers, “Artemis-“

"Time to go!" She grips her bag of treasures with one hand and grabs Kaldur’s fin with the other before she hightails it towards the exit. Behind them, the floor of the ship breaks apart and a giant shark emerges from the dirty darkness. Artemis bites her lip as they slip through a doorway and up to the ship's mast. This is perfect, she groans mentally. The shark stays on their tailfins, snapping at them with its massive jaws. She takes a quick turn and the shark zooms past them. Pushing the strap of her bag into Kaldur’s mouth (Ar-em-s!), she throws him down towards the ship and away from danger.

She clamps her eyes shut. She balls her fists as the shark turns back towards her. Breathe in deep, Artemis. Hold it. The familiar rush builds within her chest. And then-

Her eyes snap open just as the shark opens its jaws.

Let go.

Her sonic screech sends the shark crashing into the mast of the wreck. It swims away in fear once it rights itself. Good riddance, Artemis thinks as she pushes her hair out of her face.

"Artemis, are you alright?" Kaldur asks worriedly with the ties of her bag still stuffed in his mouth. He swims to her side and she takes the bag from his mouth with a huff.

"I’m fine," she says quickly. "You were right to be worried about the shark though… I got us into that mess."

Kaldur shakes his head, “It’s okay. We’re alive. And King Oliver hasn’t caught us, so that’s good.”

“Let’s not make this for nothing,” she sighs as she holds up her bag. “Jade’s got some explaining to do.”

They agree to hassle the occasionally-amicable bird. Artemis catches her breath as they swim up towards the surface. The cry is a gift from her mother, but she only uses it in emergencies. Its been awhile since she’s had to use it. It’s not everyday she almost gets eaten by a sea creature. It’s more like every other week.

She takes the pokey, shiny thing out of her bag as they near the shimmering surface. “I hope Jade can tell us what this is. It looks a little like Dad’s trident.”

Kaldur swims around her, asking, "What if the humans have miniature tridents?"

"That’s pretty silly, Kal,” she laughs at his suggestion. “What’re they going to do with this tiny thing? Poke a prawn?”

-o-

Jade’s normal hangout is deserted when they show up unannounced, so they swim closer to land in search of the seagull. Artemis and Kaldur linger at the surface with their haul, waiting for any sign of their seagull informant and the mermaid pulls her prize from her bag, along with a weirdly colored fabric she found floating around two days ago.

"Hey, Fish-head,” Jade swoops out of the sky and startles the sea-dwellers. “Back so soon?”

She ruffles her feathers and smirks at them. Kaldur rolls his eyes and sinks a little deeper into the water.

Artemis smiles as she pushes her bag towards Jade and climbs against the rock. “What can I say? I’ve been busy.”

“Oooh,” Jade says in awe as her eyes lock onto the shiny thing. “I see you’ve found a real treasure. Can I keep it?”

“Tell me what it is,” Artemis swims around the rock in excitement. “And no.”

"This," Jade plucks her prize from Artemis’ hand and points the prongs at her, "is a dinglehopper."

Kaldur quickly asks, “A dinglehopper?”

Jade nods and drags the prongs over her feathers, “Humans use it to make their hair pretty. You should try it, Fish-head.”

Artemis snatches the dinglehopper back from her feathered friend, “Maybe I will, considering it’s mine. What about this?”

She puts the dinglehopper back in the bag and pulls out the scrap of fabric. Jade takes it and stretches it out along the rock, revealing the black square and circle on the orange fabric. Artemis is sure she’s seen it before, but she can’t place it in her memories.

"Oh, I’ve seen things like this before," Jade nods as she waves it around, "It’s like a flag. Humans use them for all sorts of things: signals, decorations, parties-"

Artemis’ smile falls. She gasps and yanks the flag from Jade’s grip, “Parties. Oh no, Kaldur-“

"The debut-" Kaldur groans. "It’s today, isn’t it?"

Artemis nods and stuffs the flag in her bag before she waves at Jade, “Sorry, Jade, gotta go- Thank you!”

"Bring me some fresh seaweed next time, Fish-head," Jade calls out. “You know what I like.”

Artemis mentally berates herself for forgetting about her own flippin’ party. The one Roy’s been planning for months. He’s going to pin her fin to the palace floor for sure this time. She swims faster and Kaldur struggles to keep up-

"Sorry, Kal, but Roy’s going to kill me if I’m not there on time- I’ll see you later!” Her long blonde hair stretches out over her sea-green tail as she races back towards home. Kaldur gets caught in her bubbles, but she hears him wishing her luck.

She’s going to need it.

-o-

She makes it back to the palace unseen, having dodged the guards by cutting through the garden. A tiny sigh of relief escapes her lips. Just as her hand slips under the latch of her window, a cough sounds from above. She winces. So close… Artemis opens her window quickly, tossing her bag into the room and then swimming up to meet her doom.

Her father raises a brow when she finally meets his eyes. “Artemis. Where have you been?”

"I was just, um, looking for a flower. To wear. For the party," her voice rises throughout her explanation and she wrings her hands behind her back.

King Oliver examines her. She really regrets not grabbing an actual flower in the garden. He runs a hand down his goatee and clips, ”The party’s been postponed.”

Oh carp. "But why?"

"Roy went looking all over the kingdom for you, and when it became apparent you weren’t in Atlantica, I called him back to the palace. Your official debut will be one week from today.” He gives her a firm look, “And you will be there on time.”

"Of course…" she glances around his shoulders, "Where is Roy?"

The king shrugs, “Sulking in the gardens, most likely. I don’t have to tell you what you should do.“

"I’ll apologize."

"Good, but before you do that," Oliver folds his arms over his chest, "Would you care to tell me where you’ve really been all day?”

"Uh-" her eyes flit upwards- and she immediately regrets not taking the front door. She can see the storm brewing in her father’s eyes.

He uncrosses his arms and holds his trident at length. “You went up to the surface again- didn’t you?!”

Uh-oh.

“Daddy, of course I didn-“

"Don’t lie to me!" He throws his hands up and the sea seems to get a little darker.

She balls her fists and glares, giving up her act. “Nothing happened.”

Oliver groans, “Artemis, how many times do we have to do this? You could’ve been seen by one of those monsters- those-” he forces himself to spit out the word, “Humans!”

“They’re not monsters!” she shouts, swimming closer to her father’s face.

Oliver glowers down at her, “Yes, they are! I let you get away with a lot of things, Artemis, but this- this is the one thing I will not budge on!”

"But Daddy-” She pouts angrily, feeling every bit the child her father pictures her as. Behind him, she can see Roy swimming around the corner.

"No buts! You will never go to the surface again- Not as long as I’m king!” Oliver growls as he turns his back on her, and then he declares, “I won’t lose you too.”

Artemis feels her pout begin to shake. It always ends this way. She does something he doesn’t approve of, he gets upset, she tries to plead her case- and then he brings up her mother and that’s the end of it.

Without giving her father a second glance, Artemis swims towards her hideaway. She wants to cry and her heart hurts and the only thing keeping her from breaking down is the rush of the water moving around her. He doesn’t understand. He’ll never understand.

The only one who had ever understood her desire to be with the humans was her mother.

And she was long gone.

-o-

She reaches her hidden collection in minutes and isn’t surprised to find Kaldur there waiting for her. She shuts the rock over the entrance with a half-hearted shove. Her best friend takes notice of her slumped shoulders.

"That bad?" he asks, swimming at her elbow.

"Worse," she lies across the flat rock in the middle of the room. Her hair plumes above her. She continues, "He found out we went to the surface."

Kaldur winces, “That’s bad.”

Artemis flips over onto her stomach and sighs, “He’ll never understand. He blames all the humans for what happened to my Mom. He can’t see what I see in them. What she showed me.”

"Your mother sounds like she was quite an adventurous mermaid." Kaldur comforts her by tossing her a trinket from her ‘favorite’ shelf.

Artemis closes her eyes, holds the thingamabob tightly, and smiles at the memories of her mother swimming through her mind, “She was. Mom used to take me up to the surface and we’d watch the ships sail by and listen to the sailors laugh and play music. Oh Kal, it was amazing. They’re a lot like us... not monsters like my father says.”

"Don’t be too sad, Artemis. Maybe your father just needs more time to see what you do. Until then, we can still explore and I’ll go to the surface to ask Jade about the things we find."

Before she can plan her imminent rule breaking, a voice cuts through the water.

“I don’t think so.”

Artemis’ eyes snap open, “Roy?!”

The red crab floats down from his perch at the top of her hideaway, looking every which way in disgust. “What in Poseidon’s name is this place, Artemis?”

She sits up on the rock, “It’s- um- I just found it here-”

Roy scoffs, “You just found it? That’s your story? Could you be any more suspicious? I- oh, if your father knew about this place, he’d-“

"He’d never understand!" She picks him up and pleads, "Roy, don’t tell him! I’m sorry about the party- but please don’t tell!"

Roy loses his ‘I’m-about-to-enforce-the-rules’ expression. “Fine. But you need to get your head out of the bubbles, young lady. There’s no way you can hide all this forever-“

After he agrees not to tell, the rest of his words turn to bubbles in her ears. Artemis tunes his lecture out and watches a shadow pass over their heads. It’s a ship. It has to be. With her interest properly piqued, Artemis nods at her best friend. Kaldur nods back and swims towards Roy’s side, making the crab spin around and turn his lecture onto him.

“And you! Enabling her! Encouraging this outlandish behavior! I thought we had an agreement after the last time, but apparent-”

Artemis smothers her snickers as she slips out of the grotto, swimming at full speed towards the ship.

Only moments later, Roy’s shout for her to stop echoes in her direction- but after years of hearing that from him, she’s gotten pretty good at feigning deafness. One more time won’t hurt, she thinks as she swims up to the surface.

Following the boat, Artemis listens to the cheerful music playing from the deck. The sailors laugh and heckle each other. She swims along the side of the ship, happy to observe, but yearning to be part of the celebration. A rope hangs off the side of the ship from the main deck. She only has to think about it for a second. It might be the last chance I get, she reasons, My only chance to see real live humans up close. The consequences of her actions get pushed to the back of her mind as she climbs. Her arms ache by the time she reaches a platform to sit and hide behind. The laughs of the sailors are louder now and she can hear an animal barking like a playful seal.

"Heya, Fish-head, where’s my seaweed?"

Artemis nearly loses grip of the ship. She twists around, glares, and warns, “Jade! Be quiet.”

The seagull lands on the platform and watches the humans through a gap in the bottom of the side-railing. “Quite the party. I’m assuming you weren’t invited.”

“Neither were you,” Artemis clips. She waves her tail at the bird and focuses on getting a glimpse of the world she wants to understand. What she sees amazes her. It’s better than she imagined. Mom would have loved this.  

The humans are dancing, spinning around in various states of joy. Others play music on strange looking instruments. They all look so happy. Artemis can’t help but grin with them. There are bright colors in the sky and the booming sounds that follow their paths make her heart pound faster. The humans’ lights burn out in the sky as they fall.  One booming laugh catches her attention, and when she stretches to get a glimpse of the human, a hairy face greets her. She sticks her hand through the gap and touches the animal carefully, and it rewards her with a long lick. Her eyes light up and she pats it again. So cute! I want it.

"Brucely! Come ‘ere, boy!"

She pulls her hand back and ducks as the animal runs back to its owner. Slowly, Artemis raises her head again, and watches the brucely jump on a human with deep red hair. She’s never been so close to humans before. The two start to dance and it looks absolutely ridiculous, and Artemis can’t help but think, oh no. He’s cute too.

Some… feet.. -yeah, those are feet- block her view of the dancing. The sailors stand in a circle and clap for the human and his brucely.

"Mal!" The dark haired man blocking her view shouts over the crowd. "Bring it out!"

Artemis glances at Jade when something in the air changes. The humans don’t seem to notice, rolling some giant thing out onto the deck, but when Jade looks to the sky with a sharp eye, Artemis is sure she’s not imagining it. She peers under the railing again, anxiously waving her fin next to Jade. Don’t they feel it? Dad is angry.

"Everyone quiet down!" One of the men takes charge of the crew. Finally, Artemis sighs in relief, they’ll see it now. She watches the crew sit down on crates as they wait for the redhead to stop playing with his brucely and stand next to the man with the dark hair from earlier. Surely they’ll realize what kind of danger they’re in.

He puts his hand on the other man’s shoulder. “It is my pleasure and privilege to present Prince Wally with a very special, very expensive, very large birthday present!”

Wally laughs, and she recognizes it as the one from before. “Ah, Dick, what a surprise! You shouldn’t have! “

"I know," he preens. "Happy Birthday, Wally."

Artemis has to stretch her neck to see past the people on board. The sailors cheer, but her eyes are on the prince, who is rubbing the back of his neck and laughing- she likes that. The statue of himself looks sort of like him, but his pose looks so unnatural, she has to cover her mouth to stop from giggling.

"Uh, thanks, Dick,” Wally examines the statue. “It’s really something.”

His friend smirks. “I commissioned it myself. Of course, it was supposed to be a wedding present.”

Wally’s smile falls and he groans. “C’mon, man- You’re not still sore because I didn’t fall for the princess of Kasnia, are you?”

Dick shrugs. "There may or may not be a betting pool I’m part of. You may or may not be draining my savings. The entire kingdom is waiting on bated breath for you to get married to the right girl.”

As the crew dissipates to do their duties, Wally walks over to the railing where Artemis is hiding and he leans against it as he looks out to the sea. She ducks. A small part of her hopes he glances down and sees her.

"She’s out there somewhere, Dick," he says wistfully. "I just haven’t found her yet."

"Maybe you aren’t looking hard enough."

Wally shakes his head and turns back to his friend, “Grandfather always said to find myself a spitfire, someone who wouldn’t let me get away with nothing. When I find her- I’ll know, without a doubt. It’ll hit me- bam!- like lightning.”

The ship lurches in the water and he nearly loses his balance. Artemis holds onto the platform she’s sitting on. What’s wrong, Dad? She scans the storm and the waves just get larger and larger as the crew struggles to gain control of the ship. Do you know? Oh carp, he totally knows-

"It’s been fun, Fishy, but this is no place for a bird like me." Jade pecks her head on her way into the air. "Be careful, Artemis."

The ship gets hit by a large wave, and she grips the platform harder. Her heart is racing and memories of her mother’s death hit her harder than the waves that crash over her. Unwanted images of Dinah swimming to help the shipwrecked humans fill her vision and she lets go of the ship the next time a wave hits. She lets herself sink as she watches the ship sail out of control. It’s hard to breathe. It’s dangerous now, we can’t get close. Artemis sinks deeper into the sea, but she can still make out the outline of the ship heading straight into a rock formation. They hit the rocks.. They’ll drown, Momma! The ship breaks, and she can see sailors swimming now- towards smaller boats. Stay here, Artemis, I’ll be right back. There’s light at the surface, unnatural, orange, and bright- she can’t move- Stay here- it’s just like- Artemis cries out when the ship breaks apart and the ‘boom’ sends her ten years into the past. She’s trapped in her mind, forced to imagine her mother getting caught in the blast over and over again. But this time, she’s still conscious and Daddy’s not coming- She said to stay here- and she can’t do nothing again. She’s awake. She can help. She has to help. Artemis grits her teeth as she swims towards the wreckage.

Pieces of the ship sink all around her, but it’s the body, slowly drifting down, that has her full attention. Wally! Wrapping her arms around his waist, Artemis swims upwards as fast as she can. Pieces of wood hit them both but she pushes forward. When they break the surface, his head lolls to the side. Artemis bites her lip hard and scans the rough sea. She has to get him out of this storm and to the shore.

She won’t let him die that easily.

-o-

"Is he dead?" Jade asks, peeking over Artemis’ shoulder. Roy and Kaldur watch from the water. The mermaid strokes the prince’s face. He’s so warm, at least much warmer than herself. She wonders if that’s how all humans are. They do live in the sunlight. Do they need the sun? Can they live in caves? Focus, Artemis. She’s pretty sure he’s alive, but he hasn’t twitched in a while.

"I don’t know," Artemis sighs. She examines his face. "He isn’t moving."

Jade pecks at his hand and Artemis waves her away. The seagull moves back before she suggests, “Why don’t you try your yelling thing? That should wake him up.”

It’s a long shot, but at this point, she’s willing to try anything to save him. Breathe deep- Artemis, stay here. The cry dies in her throat. She swallows it down, along with the guilt. This always happens.

"I- can’t." She frowns and looks to the sand, avoiding Jade’s curious stare. He’s going to die-

"Artemis," Jade walks closer and nudges the princess, "Yes, you can."

She takes a deep breath to steel herself. I have to do this. She pushes her mother’s voice out of her head. The guilt that eats at her inside gets ignored for the millionth time. She lets her cry build up in her throat. And then she lets go.

It sounds completely different above water, more a song than a scream, more healing than destructive. When the prince’s eyelids begin to move, her cry comes to an end. Artemis laughs gratefully before she sweeps a shaky hand across his forehead. He starts to groan, and no matter how much she wants to stay and talk to him, she knows she has to return to the sea- her father will be looking for her soon. She scoots back into the surf. Kaldur, Roy, and Jade meet her behind a rock, and they all watch the prince wake up on the shore. Artemis smiles when his brucely comes barking around the corner. It jumps on him and licks him happily, and another man comes running to help Prince Wally up.

He’ll be fine.

She slips into the water with a stupid grin on her face, and not even Roy’s lecture can tear her away from her thoughts of dancing and talking and laughing on land- her usual daydream- with the addition of a redheaded prince.

-o-

"Roy?" Cassie pants tiredly as she comes to a bubble-filled halt in front of her boss. Roy makes a mental note that she needs a vacation, or an assistant. An assistant for his assistant.  "King Oliver is requesting your presence in the throne room. He says he needs to discuss something urgent."

Oh carp. There is no way the king knows about Artemis’ little excursion, but why else would he be calling Roy urgently? They weren’t under attack. He’d know by now. There have been rumors of the sea witch gathering followers, but she hasn’t acted out against them since her banishment. She’s harmless as long as the king is in power. Their other antagonists choose to work in the shadows. Dark, deep, mostly out of the way shadows.

Roy makes his way to the throne room slowly, thinking of ways he can try to diffuse the situation. Oliver is going to zap him out of existence. He was supposed to watch Artemis- not let her go to the surface and rescue humans. That was probably rule number one. Do not let Artemis try to rescue any humans. Then there’s the fact that she’s been acting so strangely ever since that day, always humming around the palace, doing loop-de-loops in the gardens, being unusually pleasant. It’s no wonder King Oliver found out about her forbidden adventure.

"Roy," King Oliver calls as soon as he enters the room., "I have something important to discuss with you."

Be cool. “Y-Yes, Your Majesty?”

"I’m worried about Artemis," Oliver starts cautiously. "She’s been acting strangely lately."

"Strangely?" Roy forces a laugh. "I haven’t noticed."

"I have… Roy,” Oliver gives him a knowing look, "I know you’ve been keeping something from me.”

Be cool. Be cool. “What I-“

"About Artemis." Oliver is smiling and Roy cannot fathom why.

Be cool. Be cool. Be cool.

”The Princess,“ Oliver leans in close and continues, “in love?”

Roy covers his face with his claws. “I tried to stop her, sir, but she wouldn’t listen! I told her to stay away from the humans- they’re terrible- horrible- nothing but trouble-“

“Humans?” King Oliver rises from his throne, and Roy realizes he should have just kept his mouth shut. Now he has something else to worry about besides Oliver. He just broke his promise to Artemis. The King grabs his trident. “What’s this about humans?!”

Oh carp. This is the end. Artemis is going to kill him.

Roy swallows. “Uh- Who said anything about humans?”

“Roy. Tell me everything.”

-o-

"Where are we going?" Artemis laughs, as her fish friend drags her along. Her blindfold is beginning to slip and she’s not so inclined to fix it.

"I told you it’s a surprise. Duck down a little.”

She does as she’s told. When he came knocking at her bedroom window that morning, she had been surprised- mostly because she had been daydreaming. She’d been doing that a lot lately. She nearly broke the ice sculptures at her debut, trying to dance with an imaginary partner. Roy had thrown such a fit. Whatever. It was more his party than her own. She hadn’t been in the mood for it anyways.

Her little crush on the prince from the surface hurt. There was no way they’d ever be together. He has feet, she has fins. That’s the end of it. But her imagination just won’t let it go. Kaldur tugs her hand again and she ducks down a little more.

"Are we there yet?"

They’re definitely not in the open ocean anymore. She can feel that. They’re inside- somewhere.

Kaldur lets go of her hand and a moment later he says, “Okay, take off the blindfold.”

She yanks the folded orange flag out of her eyes. “Oh, Kal… How?”

She swims up to the face that’s been stuck in her mind for weeks. Her hand drags along his cheek and it’s so cold, and it still looks kind of goofy, but she’s just so happy. Kaldur smiles.

“Remember that whale we rescued a few months ago?”

"Darleen?" Artemis tears her eyes away from the sunken statue of Prince Wally.

Kaldur nods. “I found the statue and she helped me get it here. I thought you’d like it.”

Artemis laughs, takes her friend by the the fins, and spins. “Like it? I love it! You’re the best!”

She lets go of Kaldur and they swim around the statue. The details are amazing up close. Her hands trace over the name on the front of the heroic statue. Wally West. A sly grin stretches across her face. She darts to her shelf and pulls out a warped mask from under a doohickey. She holds the mask over her face and stretches her free hand towards the statue.

"Oh, Prince Wally, you want to dance with me?" She flutters her eyelashes and Kaldur laughs when she waves her hair so that it billows around her. She pulls her hand away slightly before she runs it over the statue’s cheek. "I’m afraid you’ll have to get in line."

She snatches her hand back and tosses the mask onto a low shelf before she ambushes her best friend. She holds his fins and they twirl and laugh and twirl some more, surrounded by her collection of human things. Artemis closes her eyes and wishes there was music.

"I consider myself a reasonable merman," a booming voice echoes in the cavern. Artemis’ eyes fly open, and she releases Kaldur so quickly, he goes crashing into a pile of thingamabobs. Her father swims slowly towards her and she makes sure she’s between him and the statue.  "I set certain rules, and I expect those rules to be obeyed."

"Daddy, I-"

"Is it true?" Oliver glowers. "You rescued a human from drowning?”

Her tone rises, “I had to-“

“Artemis,” she flinches when he continues, “you know contact between the merworld and the human world is strictly forbidden! And I had just got through telling you not to return to the surface!”

She faces her father with righteous fury in her eyes. “He would have died!”

"One less human to worry about!"

Her fists clench. “You don’t even know him!”

"I don’t have to know him!" He turns away from her and growls, "You don’t know him! They’re all the same. They hunt our fish, pollute our oceans— they killed your mother!"

The tension in the grotto peaks and Artemis struggles to hold her tongue. No. Not this time. He doesn’t get to throw that at her anymore. Her guilt can’t be her anchor forever.

"No, they didn’t!” She cries out, startling everyone. “Mom knew what she was doing! She was trying to save them!"

Oliver spins around in shock and stares down his daughter. “Artemis-”

"She was trying to do the right thing," she shouts. "I’m not sorry for what I did! And I’ll never be sorry for being like her!”

“ARTEMIS!" Oliver pulls his trident from the ground and scowls. "Don’t you see? You can’t be like her! I won’t lose you to those barbarians! I won’t allow you to indulge in this-” he gestures to the walls of her collection, “-ridiculous fantasy any longer! You’re a mermaid- not a human!”

"Daddy-"

"So help me, Artemis- I am going to get through to you," he brings up the trident before she can blink. "And if this is the only way, so be it.”

Artemis’ eyes widen as his trident lights up the shadowy grotto. He fires a bright green blast at one of her figurines and it dissolves into bubbles right in front of her eyes.

“Daddy, don’t!” She swims forward to grab his arm, but he pushes her away and fires at more trinkets she has on a high shelf. She pleads with him to stop, but he continues to fire bolt after bolt of green energy at her things. Her breath catches in her throat when he points his trident at the statue of Prince Wally. No.

She watches the green light begin to gather at the end of the weapon, and before she can think it through, her pent up breath breaks free. Her anguished cry knocks the trident right out of her father’s hands-

And shatters the statue.

It’s awfully quiet in the grotto after that. Artemis drifts down to the pile of stone, hands over her mouth in horror. Nonono- She reaches down and pulls a piece of the prince’s hand from the rubble. It breaks into pebbles. She stares at the wreckage in silent agony, and she barely registers when her father picks up his trident and leaves. She covers her face with her hands and sobs as soon as he’s gone. She knows Kaldur and Roy are still watching her.

"Artemis, I-" Roy starts, but she whirls around and silences him with a look.

"Just-" she turns back to the broken statue angrily, "Go away."

She waits for them to leave before she starts to cry again. Her heart hurts as she takes in the sight of her ruined hideaway. It took her years to gather everything- all her treasures, all her wonders- and her father destroyed it all in less than five minutes. She pushes the broken pieces of the prince around with her tail and frowns.

She destroyed it all.

”Poor, poor child,” a dark voice tuts from the shadows. “Poor, sweet child. She has a very serious problem, right, Tommy?”

Artemis picks up a piece of the statue before she spins around. Two long, dark eels lurk in the darkness.

One shoots forward to swim in a circle around her, and says, “if only there was something we could do, Tuppy.”

"But brother, there is something we can do.”

"Who are you?" Artemis’ grip on a piece of rubble doubles and she readies herself to use it against the eels if need be.

"Don’t be scared." The eels spin around each other, and Artemis feels awfully tempted to take her emotions out on the two annoyances.

"We represent someone who can help you.”

"Someone who can make all your dreams come true.”

"Just imagine," the eels swim around her faster and Artemis shivers, "you and your prince."

What-

"Together."

How-

“Forever.”

Artemis points the shard of rock at the two and asks, “What the heck are you two talking about?”

"Queen Bee has great powers.”

Artemis’ eyes narrow, “The sea witch? I would never- I couldn’t possibly- No! Get out! Leave me alone, and tell Queen Bee she’d better stay out of Atlantica!”

The eels look at each other before they start to swim out. One flippantly mutters, “It was only a suggestion.”  

Yeah, a dumb one. The sea witch! Ha! Dad would- Artemis scowls as she scans the ruined grotto. Dad would hate it if I went. 

The rock clatters to the ground.

"Wait!" Artemis shouts, swimming after the eels. "Take me to the sea witch- and if you try to trick me, I’ll blast you both to the bottom of the Trench.”

"Wouldn’t dream of it, Princess,” an eel hisses as it swims ahead to lead. Artemis follows them out of the grotto, and they make a sharp turn away from Atlantica. Her heart pounds in her ears. Queen Bee wasn’t exiled for being too altruistic. King Oliver cast her out of the kingdom before Artemis was even born. She’s dangerous. Artemis has heard the stories surrounding the witch. People who turn to her don’t come back.

"Artemis?"

Ugh. She turns her face away from Roy as he struggles to catch up to her.

He manages to get close to her face and ask, “Where are you going with these goons?”

"I’m going to see Queen Bee," she says quickly, before she shoos him away. He grabs onto her tail before she can get any further.

“The sea witch? Artemis, no, she’s a power-hungry monster!”

"Why don’t you go tell my father?" Artemis angrily flicks her tail, "You’re good at that."

Roy loses his grasp on her tail and she swims faster, driven by his disapproval. Roy’s been watching out for her since forever, but she’s done. He showed her father where to find her. He told her father everything even though he promised he wouldn’t tell.

At least she knows which side Queen Bee is on.

-o-

The sea witch’s cove is filled with strange vials that Artemis can’t help but stare at as the eels lead her deeper inside. She puts on a brave face, which isn’t too far from her normal expression. Queen Bee isn’t a fan of the royal family. The eels stop in a great cavern and Artemis makes sure to keep an eye on them as she swims towards the occupied chair at the end of the room. On her way, she slows to examine an intricate shell-piece portrait on the wall. A mermaid pulls at the chains that hold her to the seafloor. She looks awfully sad and strangely familiar. Artemis moves forward again, this time with a heavy weight building in her stomach. I need better impulse control.

"It’s awfully rude to sneak up on someone, child," Queen Bee spins around in her seat and her long, dark hair billows behind her. Artemis is taken aback by how normal she looks. The princess had been expecting a monstrous merperson, with tangled hair and sharp teeth and a really high pitched laugh. The figure in front of her is lithe, strong, beautiful, and it throws her off big time. The witch gives Artemis a calculating glance. “I assumed your father would have taught you better manners.”

Artemis scowls. “You sent your lackeys to me. Why?”

Queen Bee smirks as she rises from her chair. “Because you have a thing for this human, this prince fellow. And I have a solution to your little problem. It’s quite simple, really. The only way to get what you want is to become a human yourself.”

Artemis’ scowl softens. “You can do that?”

"Of course I can," the sea witch haughtily scoffs, "I wouldn’t have sent the twins to you if I couldn’t."

The princess shivers as the witch swims around her. “Why would you help me? I’m-“

"I know who you are, dear," Queen Bee cuts her off and traces a hand down her cheek, "And I won’t hold it against you. I am not one to stand in the way of true love over old grudges. Besides, I am a new woman. My exile has given me plenty of time to atone for my wrongdoings."

That’s not what I’ve heard, Artemis thinks skeptically, but she allows the witch to pull her towards a strange bowl in the cave.

"I know a fair share of magic that could help you," Queen Bee starts to drop different vials into the bowl, "I can turn you into a human. You can have your happy ending with your prince. But- as you must know by now, magic always has a price.”

Artemis crosses her arms. The whole thing sounds too good to be true. She can be human. She can walk on land with legs and dance and run and play with Brucely and talk to Prince Wally.

She looks the sea witch in the eye when she asks, “What exactly do you want?”

The sea witch sends her an unsettling smile and replies, “Nothing major… just your voice.”

Artemis’ hand moves up to her neck. “My voice?”

"A small price to pay for your dreams to come true, if you ask me." The witch swims around the bowl and throws in a starfish. Pink bubbles begin to float out. Queen Bee turns back to Artemis and sighs, "Honestly, dear, I’ve seen many pay higher prices with less hesitation: pets, life savings, firstborn children- the list goes on. All I need to turn you human is your voice.”

Queen Bee is asking for a lot more than that. Her voice is- it’s special. Her powers would be taken away and she’d lose another piece of her mother’s legacy. Artemis bites her cheek as she stares at the bubbling cauldron. Is it worth it?

“I don’t know…”

“Princess,” Queen Bee soothes, “Let’s make this easy. I’ll make you a deal. You want to become a human to be with your prince?”

I have other reasons too, she thinks, as the witch places a hand on her shoulder and turns her toward a floating piece of parchment.

“I’m not sure…”

The witch continues, “You give me your voice and I’ll turn you into a human for three days. If the prince falls in love with you and kisses you before sunset on the third day, you get to stay human and your voice will be returned to you. If he doesn’t kiss you, you will turn back into a mermaid, your voice will be yours, but- you will belong to me.”

"If I become human, I’ll never go home again. And my father would never come to the surface…" Artemis wrings her hands together, "And how am I supposed to make the prince fall in love with me if I can’t talk to him? I don’t think I-"

“Please, listen to yourself,” Queen Bee shakes her head, “You’re thinking too hard. Isn’t this what you’ve always wanted? To be human? To see how the other half lives? This is your chance, Artemis- your only chance.”

Artemis swims backwards, away from the glowing parchment, “My voice-“

"You don’t need it,” the sea witch rolls her eyes and grabs Artemis’ wrist, “Men up there don’t like a lot of blabber. They think a girl who gossips is a bore. Without your voice, you won’t have to worry about saying the wrong thing and offending anyone. And you’ve got a pretty face, Princess, don’t forget that. A few nudges in the right direction and you’ll have him eating out of your palm.”

She shoves an octopus ink-dipped feather into Artemis’ hand, “All you have to do, is sign- and all of it’s yours.”

“No, Artemis!” An out of breath voice calls out from the entrance of the cavern. Roy. Artemis scowls and grips the feather in her hand. She’s done- Queen Bee is right. This is her only chance. She brings the tip of the feather up to the scroll. She’ll get the prince to fall in love with her. She’ll get her voice back. She’ll be human and free from the sea.

A-r-t-e-m- maybe I shouldn’t-i-s.

It happens all at once. Queen Bee rolls up the scroll and it turns into an empty shell. The potion in the cauldron rises on its own and covers her in pink bubbles from head to tailfin. The sensation is strange and frightening but when she starts to scream, the cry in her throat goes quiet, and it feels like a bright ghost is being pulled out of her open mouth. It gets sucked into the shell held by the sea witch. Their agreement is sealed. Artemis swishes around in the water, waving her arms to ward off the bubbles. It’s then that she feels the sensation of her tail splitting into two. Oh, I’m going to be sick. She kicks in the water and starts swimming toward the exit-

Kaldur swims under her arm and helps pull her towards the surface, with Roy hanging onto his dorsal fin for dear life.

Hello, surface. She smiles as soon as she can see the sunlight. I’m Artemis.

-o-

"That was harder than I expected," Queen Bee runs her hand over Tuppence’s scales as she watches the princess use her new legs to get to the surface, "But the little princess is finally out of my way.”

"You were right, Mistress," Tommy hisses from below, "It was smart of us to wait for the perfect chance to convince her."

Queen Bee nods, “And now, we’ve been presented another perfect opportunity. Tuppy, Tommy, scour the seas. Inform our allies. Gather our forces out of the Trench.”

She examines the glowing shell in her hands with a smug smirk, “We invade Atlantica in three days time. Now go.”

As the eels leave her presence, Queen Bee waves her hand over the shell-piece portrait on the wall. The pieces begin to rearrange themselves into a moving picture. The captive mermaid looks up from her chains and glowers at the witch.

“Enjoy the show?” Queen Bee goads. “You should be happy. I gave you a front row seat.”

“You won’t get away with this,” the mermaid growls, straining against her chains. The clinks and clangs are music to Queen Bee’s ears.

The sea witch waves the glowing shell in the air and smirks.

“Of course I will,” she says. “You’ll make sure of that.”

-o-

"So, how long until Daddy-dearest comes for your shell on a platter, Red?" Jade coos as she examines Artemis’ new legs. Artemis would laugh- if she could. For now, she contents herself with smiling and waving her feet around in the tidewater. Legs! Feet!

Roy groans and scuttles to a higher rock. “Don’t make this worse, Bird. I can hardly think. I’m still recovering from all the residual stupid I felt when this girl signed away her life for…” he gestures at Artemis’ lower half in disgust, “this.”

Artemis sends him a smug smile and splashes more. This is fantastic, but I’m on a tight schedule. She bends her legs and uses a rock as leverage to pull herself up. Her legs wobble underneath her but once she puts her feet flat on the sand, the world seems to right itself. She leans against the rock dramatically and winks at Kaldur, who smothers his laughs with his fin. Even Jade chuckles.

Roy doesn’t look amused.

"Oh yes, very funny, Artemis,” Roy deadpans. “Nice to see you still have that demented sense of humor as a human.”

"Oh, calm down, Red," Jade swats at him with her wing. "Let the girl have her fun. From what you’ve told me, she doesn’t have long."

"She only has three days to find this prince, fall in love, and kiss- or else Queen Bee is going to make her a slave. I am not going to calm down. If there’s anything I should be doing right now, it’s marching straight back to Atlantica and getting the King to put an end to this madness.”

Artemis shakily walks over to the crab and picks him up in her hands, pouting. He glares. Bigger pouty eyes, Artemis.

“Oh no.” Roy shakes his head. “Your father will solve this whole thing. He’ll make the witch give you back your voice and you can go back to being normal with all the others.”

She shakes her head.

"I’m going."

She mouths ‘No’.

"Yes, I am. Put me down."

She tilts her head sadly.

Roy falters, “Don’t-“

Her lip wobbles.

"Artemis-"

There’s water in her eyes.

“Fine,” Roy throws up his claws. ”I won’t tell your father.”

Artemis grins. Victory. She sets Roy back on a rock.

"But we need to find that prince as soon as possible." Roy paces, dragging his claws along the rock. "We need a plan. We need to-"

"Give her clothes." Jade waddles over to a torn sail that had washed up on the beach. "If she’s going to interact with humans, she needs to dress like one."

Artemis follows the seagull and picks up the sail. She ties it around herself as Jade instructs, but it looks nothing like the kind of clothes the tiny sculpted humans wore in her collection. Artemis shrugs and it falls a little. Oh well. She spins in the damp sand and the fabric floats around her.

"You look like a human.” Roy moans sadly. Artemis smirks and twirls again. Her feet fly out from under her and she ends up sitting in the sand, laughing- but no sounds escape her. A familiar bark sends Jade and Roy running away from her in a messy rush. Artemis perks at the sound and turns around just in time to see a Brucely running toward her. She puts her arms over her face just before it decides to jump on top of her. She twists and pushes the beast away as it tries to lick her face. She giggles silently until the Brucely gets off of her to jump playfully by her side.

"Brucely! Where’d you go, boy?"

The animal barks happily.

That voice… Artemis stands quickly and nearly loses her balance, but she catches herself right as the prince comes running around the corner. Oh kelp… She runs a hand through her messy hair, and hopes for the best. She’s only got three days. Get the boy, get the legs, stay free.

"Oh, wow," Prince Wally rubs the back of his neck as he approaches with his Brucely in tow. "Are you alright, miss? I- uh, I’m sorry about my dog. He’s harmless, really-"

Dog? Artemis tilts her head and connects the dots in her mind. Oh, whoops.

She shakes her head side to side and smiles at him. He stares at her strangely. Her smile drops.

It’s the clothes, it has to be the clothes, oh no. Artemis fists the fabric in her left hand anxiously. I’m already messing this up.

"You- look kind of familiar. Have we met?" The prince asks carefully.

Artemis’ smile returns and she nods quickly.

"We have met. I knew it!” His eyes light up and he takes her right hand, “You’re the girl. The one I’ve been looking for! What’s your name?”

He remembers me!

Artemi- She mouths, and she watches the glint in his eye fade as she gestures at her mute mouth. His shoulders droop.

"Oh.. you can’t speak?"

She pouts, but nods.

He sighs, “Then you couldn’t be who I thought.”

She narrows her eyes and pulls her hand out of his loose grip. She makes wave-like motions.

"What?"

She fakes a scream coming out of her mouth.

"What are you- Are you hurt?"

She shakes her head, frustrated, and makes a quick motion to the ocean beside them. It throws off her poor balance, but before she can fall, Prince Wally catches her. She hangs onto his neck to stay upright. When she looks back at him, their faces are much closer than she expected. He has tiny dots along his nose and cheeks and his green eyes watch her curiously. Cute.

He clears his throat, “Gee, you must’ve really been through something, huh?”

She nods, slowly and carefully, maintaining eye contact. His cheeks redden as he straightens and puts an arm around her shoulder.

"Well, don’t worry. I’ll help you." He leads her toward the end of the beach. "It’ll be okay."

She twists her head around and catches Jade, Roy, and Kaldur watching. She sends her friends a quick thumbs up before she turns and listens to the prince stumble over his words some more.

-o-

Jade’s fashion sense leaves much to be desired, Artemis discovers, as Prince Wally leads her through his kingdom. The girls they pass wear many colors and they give her makeshift dress strange looks all the way up to the palace. If I had my tail, they’d be looking at me even weirder.

The most obvious stare comes from one of the servants. A redhead with a blue headband, who after speaking to Prince Wally in hushed tones, immediately ushers Artemis up some stairs.

"C’mon, you poor thing," she says, and helps Artemis walk up the tricky steps. "I’m Megan. I’ll get you fixed up in no time. You must have been so scared."

They reach the top step and Artemis releases her hold on the bannister. Scared of what?

Megan leads her through the halls of the extravagant palace, talking about boats and the sea, but Artemis pays more attention to the feel of the dry walls and the giant paintings strung along them. It’s not as big as ours, she thinks with a hidden smile, but I like it. They don’t have much space for a bigger palace on land. People live so close to each other.  

“You were shipwrecked?” Megan asks, just before they reach two, tall double doors. Artemis nods and fakes a frown; there’s no way she could or would explain her actual situation to this girl. Megan clicks her tongue, “That’s terrible.”

She opens the great doors and Artemis’ mouth drops open. The entire room glows orange and pink, reflecting the colors of the sunset beginning outside the windows. A lavishly structured pool of water rests in the middle of the room, filled with sweet-smelling bubbles that seem to have absorbed the pastel colors of the walls. She snaps out of her reverie when Megan tugs her into the room and starts taking off her sail-dress. Artemis raises her arms and the sail falls to the ground in a puddle at her feet. She steps out of it and Megan wraps it in her arms.

"Go on, get in slowly. The water should be ready by now." Megan walks over to a barrel and tosses the sail in, "I’ll… get this washed for you."

Artemis slips into the water carefully, but as soon as her knees disappear beneath the bubbles, she splashes the rest of her body underneath. When she resurfaces, she catches Megan’s incredulous stare and waves sheepishly from behind the bubbles. Oh kelp. Way to be weirder, Weirdo.

Megan pulls a bucket out of a cabinet and casually remarks, “Your hair is very pretty. It’s like it has a life of its own.”

Artemis holds onto her blonde locks and uses the tips to trace lines on the surface of the water. Megan fills the bucket and surprises Artemis by dumping the water on top of her head. Artemis spits out some stray strands of hair caught in her mouth. Well, this is great. Get out of water, get put back in. Is this a sign? Does she know?

Megan pulls it all out of her face and starts kneading her head with careful fingers. Artemis listens to her as she goes on about how things work at the palace, the people who work there, and, of course, Prince Wally. She nods or shakes her head in all the right places until Megan pulls her from the bath, wraps a towel around her body, and leads her into a smaller room filled with gowns. Artemis bites the inside of her cheek as Megan searches for a dress in her size. She’s supposed to have dinner with Prince Wally tonight. She tries not to think about it too hard, but the daunting time limit on her adventure above the surface is really putting some stress on the whole ‘fall in love’ thing. She put a lot of faith in a boy she barely knows. Her freedom rides on this all working out. She closes her eyes and thinks about the way Price Wally danced with his dog on the ship, and his laugh, and how happy he looked when he said he remembered her (even though he only remembers her voice), and the way he guided her through his kingdom with no qualms about her sail-dress, and how scared she felt when she saw him drowning. She thinks about the honesty ever-present in his eyes.

She opens her own eyes, takes a deep breath, and pulls the deep green dress from Megan’s hands.

She put a lot of faith in a boy she barely knows, but she trusts her instincts.

He’s not going to let her down, and she’ll try her hardest to return the favor.

-o-

Artemis puts down her dinglehopper slowly, avoiding eye contact with Prince Wally and Sir Richard. There’s an awkward silence growing between them. She probably shouldn’t have put the thing in her hair at the table. But why did they have it there if I wasn’t supposed to use it? She pouts and stares down at the table.

Thanks for nothing, Jade.

She fidgets in her seat, and half-listens to Richard prattle on about Prince Wally’s new ship that is being built. She sneaks a glance at the prince, but she’s caught. He makes a show of looking from her to Richard, then back to her, rolling his eyes at his friend’s detailed description of the new mast. Artemis laughs silently before nodding at the Prince.

"So," Prince Wally clears his throat, "do you like the castle?"

She nods quickly and waves her hand in a circle.

He watches her keep motioning for a moment before he asks, “Is that ‘Yes, and… it’s big’?”

She nods a little slower this time.

"Oh good," he sends her a small smile before his expression turns curious. "This might be really invasive and you don’t have to answer, but have you always been unable to speak, or is this new?"

Artemis holds up two fingers. Finally, he’s asking the right questions.

The prince sighs in relief. “I see.. And you said we met before. When we met before, were you able to talk?”

Before she can answer, Megan opens the doors to the dining room, carrying a glass full of water. Artemis’ shoulders slump. So close.

"Sorry about the wait. Chef Conner is causing a bit a of a ruckus, isn’t he?" Megan comments as she pours them all a drink. Artemis listens hard, and sure enough a loud, echoing crash sounds from the hall. Megan sighs, "I’ll go see what’s taking so long."

When Artemis turns back to the conversation, she catches him watching her. He looks up at the giant light above the table to avoid her gaze. The same blush from earlier appears on his face.

Richard leans towards the prince and in a false whisper, he suggests, “You should take her on a tour of the kingdom tomorrow. I’ll clear your schedule.”

Wally rolls his eyes, “Well, thanks.”

"You’re welcome."

The redhead turns to Artemis and puts on a brave face, “What do you say? Would you like to join me on a tour of my kingdom tomorrow?”

She can’t nod fast enough.

"Then it’s settled," Wally grins, "We’ll have a carriage waiting for us in the morning. I know all the best sights-"

As he talks about the harbor and the marketplace, Megan returns with their dinner. Artemis smiles at her as she passes, but her smile drops the instant she sees a red claw crawling out from under Richard’s plate.

Oh carp. She bites her lip to keep from panicking. Roy... You just can’t mind your own, can you?

The little red crab looks up to her for assistance, but the most she can do is stand abruptly and point at the setting sun. Richard and Wally look to where she points, and the distraction gives Roy just enough time to scuttle across the table and dive into the folds of her dress.

"Yeah," Wally smiles, as she sits back down, "The sunsets here are pretty amazing. Do you like to watch them?"

When I can sneak to the surface- yeah. She shrugs and tilts her head.

Wally takes it as a yes, "Then I know just the place to take you tomorrow. The view is even better than from here, and that's saying something."

"If you're talking about that treehouse you had built when you were ten, you'd better stop right there." Richard rolls his eyes.

Wally holds a hand over his chest and acts wounded, "It's the best-"

"It's a nest-" Richard interrupts. Artemis listens to the boys' banter and carefully hides Roy in her hands under the table.

Mom was right. Humans are just like us. Artemis shares a glance with Megan, who slumps her shoulders dramatically in response to the boys' behavior. I could get used to this.

-o-

After dinner, Megan shows her to where she’s supposed to stay for the night and gives her a nightdress to wear. Artemis likes this one better than the one she wore to dinner. It is looser and only one layer instead of five. Thank Poseidon. She says goodnight to Megan (in a vague, slightly uncomfortable hug). When the other girl leaves, Artemis makes a beeline for the enormous bed in the room. She jumps straight onto the bed and laughs gleefully. Roy watches her from the nightstand drawer.

"At least you’re having fun. I was almost dinner.”

She flips onto her stomach and smiles at him with her hands folded under her chin.

Roy crawls onto the nightstand and says, “You’ve made progress today, Princess. I’ll give you that. Tomorrow is a big day. You need to be ready for anything.”

Artemis rolls her eyes at the crabby crab and mock salutes him before she flips over on the bed again. The soft bedding engulfs her and she pulls a pillow close.

Roy paces on the nightstand and continues, “I’ve been thinking about your contract- and there’s nothing in it that says you have to stay with him to continue being a human. If this works out, it works out, but if he turns out to be anything less than you deserve, you can leave him and still do all the exploring you want.”

Artemis shakes her head on a fluffy pillow. Roy’s such a downer.

"I just don’t want you feeling trapped or getting hurt." Roy sighs and hops onto her pillow, "You’ve gotten yourself in a number of sticky situations over the years, but I’m taking responsibility for this one. If I hadn’t told your father- If I had just stuck closer, paid more attention… I’m sorry, about everything, Artemis. I really dropped the pearl on this one."

Artemis opens her eyes and watches Roy sulk. She sighs lightly. I’m sorry too, Roy. Her fingers pat the top of his head reassuringly before she tucks herself under the blankets and closes her eyes.

She’ll thank him, for everything, when she gets her voice back.

-o-

In the morning, Megan twists part of her hair up and it refuses to stay in the clip. She tries three different twists before she gives up entirely.

"Okay, new plan." Megan pulls a green ribbon out of her apron and pulls all of Artemis’ hair back. She carefully and quickly wraps the ribbon around her hair, securing it away from her face. Megan nods in the mirror, happily admiring her bow-tying skills. "Much better. A ponytail suits you."

Artemis likes it too. She stands up in the simple dress Megan chose for her. She twirls a little. Humans have a lot of clothes.

"Oh," Megan squeals, "You look so pretty. You and Prince Wally make a very cute couple."

Artemis sighs. Her nerves catch up to her as she examines herself in the mirror. Body language can only say so much before messages get mixed.

"What's wrong?" Megan puts a hand on her shoulder, "Was it something I said?"

Artemis shakes her head.

"Nervous?"

She nods, and Megan squeezes her shoulder.

"It's okay to be nervous. I can tell you really like him," Megan sends her a sly smile before she continues, "and he really likes you, too."

Artemis lets out another sigh, and Megan takes it as one of relief. They take their time going down the stairs to meet Wally outside. There's just so much at stake. I wish things could be different… Why did I do this?

She grips the end of the bannister when they reach the bottom step. Okay, Artemis, get it together. She spots Prince Wally playing with the hem of his shirt near the doorway to the carriage. You’re not the only one who’s nervous.

"Go on, dear," Megan nudges her. "He’s waiting for you."

She takes exactly six steps before she spots Jade hoisting a little red ball into the waiting carriage. Artemis rolls her eyes. Really, Roy?

Prince Wally spots her and straightens his posture. He meets her halfway and takes her hand.

"Good morning," he leads her to a well-kept carriage, "You look a little surprised. Have you seen horses before?"

 She nods as she scoots closer to the horse. Her hand strokes the giant animal and she smiles when it doesn’t even notice her. Much nicer than the last seahorse I pet.

"Ready, Beautiful?" Prince Wally tilts his head towards the carriage. "We’ve got a lot of land to cover."

Beautiful? Artemis bites her lip to keep from smiling. She lets him help her up onto the seats of their ride. Her legs bounce with excitement and Roy hops into her lap before Wally can get into the carriage.

The crab whispers, “Pet names? Good sign.”

She stuffs him in a fold of her dress and ignores his grumbling as Wally takes the reins.

"You’ll want to hold on. The ride gets a little bumpy near the square. When we get there, I’ll show you the shops and we can meet some people. This might sound a little strange," he tilts his head and laughs nervously, "but word travels fast here. A lot of the townsfolk want to meet you. If you’re not comfortable with that, you don’t have to-"

I hope that’s a good sign. She nods, smiles at him for a moment, and turns to watch the scenery passing by. The greenery blurs as they go downhill. She glances at Wally’s hand’s as they snap the reins and the horses go faster. Her heart is pounding in her ears and she loves the caress of the wind on her face. The air is crisp and fresh and she feels like she’s flying. This is what she wants- what she’s always wanted. Everything is new and bright and waiting for her.

She relishes the feeling until they arrive at the marketplace; almost instantly, she’s overwhelmed by amount of activity. Prince Wally helps her out of the carriage (she accidentally squishes Roy as she climbs down) and he holds onto her hand as they walk. He talks about the tailor’s bad eyesight and the baker’s three kids who always seem to be coated in sugar and flour. When he starts to go into detail about the recent pirate play put on by the orphanage, Artemis stops walking. Her nose twitches and her eyes widen.

What is that amazing smell? She scans the area around her, stopping Wally with a strong tug.

"What?" He asks, and she taps her nose with her free hand. "The smell?"

She nods quickly, as though he’d move on if she didn’t react fast enough.

He grins, “That’s the bakery. Do you want to go inside?”

Yes, she mouths, and she takes the lead all the way into the sweet smelling shop.

"Welco- Oh! Prince Wally!" A woman with flour on her hands gasps behind the counter. "I- Welcome to our bakery. Is there anything I can do for you?"

Artemis lets go of his hand and wanders over to the display. She breathes in and the same scent that had caught her attention out on the street washes over her. It smells like... warmth, and sweetness, and if hugs were converted into a scent, then that’s exactly what they’d smell like. She locates the hug-buns steaming on top of the display, clearly just out of the oven. Her mouth waters and she spins around to find Wally watching her with an amused smirk.

"Those are one of my many favorites," he nods to the hug-buns, "Wendy, if we could get three in a box, please?"

"Of course, your Highness."

Artemis grins and bounces on her feet, thinking back to the sweetness of the ‘ice cream’ Megan gave her after dinner. Humans really know how to do sweets.

Wally leads her back into the street, box of sweets in hand, and they dodge through the crowd to get to a wide, tidy alleyway. Vines grow out of window-boxes and hang down against the stone walls. A few chairs surround an empty wobbly table and a group of children are playing pirates further down.

"I like to come here occasionally," Wally puts the box on the table before he pulls out her chair, "It's a nice spot to people watch. Also a nice spot for a snack."

Artemis agrees. It’s out of the way, but not completely secluded. She likes the background noise of children laughing and vendors trying to sell their wares. Wally takes a seat across from her and opens up the box. He peers at her for a second before he rips a piece off and hands it to her. She holds the warm, gooey bread between her fingers for all of two seconds before she stuffs it in her mouth.

Her eyes close and she mentally moans. The hug-bun bit melts on her tongue and the icing tastes like happiness. It’s completely different from ice-cream. She looks up and gives the waiting prince a wide smile.

Wally laughs. "Like it?"

Love it. Artemis nods and reaches for another piece on her own. They spend their time picking off pieces of the hug-buns and studying each other when they think the other isn't looking. Wally mentions how his mother used to keep him on a short leash (No, not a real one, he reassures when her eyes go wide) to keep him out of the bakery. When only one hug-bun remains, the laughs of the children turn to unruly shouts. Artemis stops mid-reach and turns just in time to see a boy take a swing at an older boy. The older boy leans back and the smaller one goes spinning into the dirt. Artemis stands abruptly, watching the way the older boy brings back his leg to kick the little one while he's down. She frowns. No honor.

Her hand wraps around the blond child's collar just before his foot can make contact with the other boy. She yanks him back with necessary force and stares him down. He gives her a frightened look until Wally puts a hand on her shoulder and she releases him. She lets Wally talk to him while she turns to the little boy in the dirt. He pushes away her outstretched hands and gets up on his own.

Artemis rolls her eyes and grabs his sleeve before he can run away, like all the other kids have done. Wally releases the blond and he runs off after his friends. The dark haired boy grumbles at her to let him go, but she's not about to let him get into more trouble.

She drags him all the way back to the table and points at a chair. He sits down, crosses his arms and refuses to look at her (which he kind of needs to do, if she's going to 'talk' to him). She taps the table as she sits next to the boy. Wally returns to his own seat, looking quite confused. Artemis gestures from Wally to the boy. The prince blinks. She sighs and makes a talking motion with her hand. C’mon genius.

Wally opens up the bakery box and tears the last hug-bun in half. He offers it to the kid, “Want a piece?”

The boy glances at the sticky sweet, “Did Miss Wendy make that?”

Wally nods. The boy takes the bread. Wally looks to Artemis and she motions for him to continue.

“So,” Wally starts, “You and Cyrus didn’t look like you were getting along back there. In fact, I saw you try to punch him. What happened?”

The boy scowls, “They were making fun of my brother. I asked him to stop and he wouldn’t.”

Wally nods slowly, “And what were they saying?”

The boy sighs, “They said he was crazy ‘cause he believes in mermaids and sirens and tells sea stories to the kids at the park. But my brother’s not crazy!”

"Wait a second," Wally gasps, "You're Tim Drake's little brother, aren't you? Damian?"

Damian nods suspiciously, but takes a bite of his hug-bun.

Artemis watches the prince bite his lip before he says, "You know, your brother's one of my best men. I always make sure Tim's with me on my trips. He knows a lot about navigating rough seas and staying on course. We'd have been lost at least ten times without him. He's far from crazy."

Damian grumbles, "Tell that to the other kids."

"I'll do better than that." Wally smiles and winks at her.

What? What did he just-

"Next time we go out, I'll try my best to get proof. Then you can tell the other kids how your brother and the prince discovered mermaids."

Artemis' heart nearly stops. He wants to meet mermaids? She's a mermaid- or, well, she used to be. Damian stops looking cross and perks at the thought of showing off to his friends. He stands and stuffs the rest of the treat in his mouth.

"I can't wait. Thank you, Prince Wally, Miss." Damian grimaces when Wally ruffles his hair. "Good luck finding the mermaids!"

"We'll need it," Wally whispers so only she can hear, "Considering they don't exist."

Oh... he's lying. Artemis pouts and takes a piece of the last half of the hug-bun. Mermaid's don't exist- pfft. A mermaid saved your life. This mermaid saved your life. After Damian thanks them for cheering him up and sharing with him, Artemis scowls and the hug-bun in her mouth tastes just a little less sweet.

“Mermaids,” Wally scoffs. “Kid probably believes in magic, too.”

Artemis rolls her eyes. How could you be so close-minded? If only I could show you.

Wally must notice her change in mood, because he reaches across the table and takes her hand before he asks, “Are you alright?”

In spite of herself, she nods. As soon as I get my voice back, you’re getting an earful.

With their mid-day snack finished, they leave the alleyway and head back towards their waiting carriage. Artemis lets him lead until fast paced music fills her ears next to a fruit vendor’s stall. She tugs his arm and drags him across the busy street to get closer to the cheerful sounds. A group of people form a circle around three musicians playing their instruments on the ground. Artemis’ bad mood begins to crumble. She taps her foot along with the beat and laughs silently when an older couple begins to dance with strange coordinated movements. It’s nothing like the box she had in her grotto, the one where the teeny-tiny couple spun in circles around each other, but she likes it just the same.

"May I have this dance?"

Artemis gasps as Wally pulls her into the circle. I don’t actually know how to dance on feet. What was I thinking?

Her fears are quelled when Wally spins her and her feet move on their own to stay upright. The people around them clap with the beat of the music and a smile stretches across her face. Wally laughs as he picks her up and spins her in the air. She wishes she could laugh along with him. Though she wants nothing more than to enjoy this moment, the daunting time limit set by Queen Bee dampens her spirits. This could be permanent, she thinks as she holds onto his hands. We could have this forever.

He twirls her one more time. As the music fades, she holds onto the tune in her mind, willing the memory to stay as perfect as the moment is.

-o-

“Would you like to steer?” Wally asks, as they cross a bridge. Roy pinches her out of her sightseeing so she can actually acknowledge the prince. It isn’t her fault the kingdom is so different, yet so similar to her own. While they might be in closer quarters, the daily activities performed by the people are much like the ones in Atlantica. Wally gives her the reins, and for a moment she holds them loosely in her hands. Then she snaps them. Hard.

Her eyes water as the wind blows into her face. Wally hangs onto the carriage with both hands. Roy’s screaming from the inside of her dress.

This is amazing! She snaps the reins again as they hurtle towards a gap in the road where a small bridge used to stand. We can make it.

“You’re insane!” Wally shouts as he ducks to dodge a tree branch.

Thank you. The horses take the leap and Artemis silently screams as the carriage goes hurdling over to the other side of the gap. The cart bounces and Artemis grins. There’s a twig in her ponytail, her heart is pounding in her chest, she’s gasping for air, and Roy’s probably passed out in her pocket, but she can easily say she’s having the best time of her life.

Wally gapes at her and gets back into his seat. “I-I take it back. You’re fearless.”

She nods happily and they continue down a grassy hill. He doesn’t speak for a while, and she pretends not to notice his contemplative stare.

When they reach a split in the dirt road, he holds out his hands for the reins. “Since you sort of… made your own shortcut, we’re almost to the boat. I’ll take it from here.”

A little reluctantly, she hands him the ropes and sits back in her seat. A seagull dives at them from above and Artemis jumps a little closer to Wally to avoid being pecked. Very subtle, Jade, she thinks, but she makes no moves to scoot away from him. He pretends not to notice, and does a very poor job of it.

They reach a small dock in no time at all, and as Wally unties their boat, Artemis watches the way the water laps at the shore. She leans down and touches the water with the tips of her fingers. Her mind flits to her father.

Dad… I hope I can explain this all to you someday.

She’s never been away from the palace for more than a day without him knowing where she was. He must be worried. She’s all he has- No. Guilt builds in her shoulders and she tries to shrug it off by paying attention to the way Wally helps her into the boat (which nearly topples over because her shoe gets caught on the dock on her way down).

For a while, Wally rows the boat around the lagoon and Artemis tries not to acknowledge the setting sun or the deadline that’s creeping up on her. Only one day left.

As if reading her mind, Roy scuttles up her back and hides beneath her ponytail to whisper, “This is your chance. Please don’t screw it up.”

Thanks for the confidence boost, Roy. She shrugs hard and smirks when the crab falls to the floor of the boat.

When Wally stops rowing, she glances up from fiddling with the ends of her hair and catches him staring at her. She smiles. He smiles back.

This is it. Her breath catches in her throat as she leans towards him. She watches his eyes soften as they flit from her eyes to her lips. So much pressure. He leans in a little and she closes her eyes. It’s really happening.

The boat lurches and she opens her eyes just in time to catch him looking everywhere but at her.

Guess not.

A blush is visible on his cheeks, even in the dimming light. The sunset turns the surface of the water gold and pink but Artemis wishes the sun would set already so he wouldn’t be able to see the disappointment painted across her face.

He rows the boat in a large circle a few times before he gathers the courage to look at her again.

"You know, I feel bad not knowing your name. Think I can guess it?"

She nods and he stops rowing in order to bring his hand to his chin in thought.

"Mildred?" He asks, half-seriously.

She wrinkles her nose. Nope.

“Okay, definitely not Mildred,” he looks around the lagoon, “Jessica?”

She shakes her head. He’ll never get it.

"Diana?"

Nope. She pouts, dimly thinking of the kind, warrior Princess of Paradise Cove. Not her. She gets an idea. She points to herself over and over until he understands.

"You’re going to show me?" He asks.

She nods. Okay, let’s see.. She holds up her right hand and makes a hook with her index finger, while her left hand covers her eye.

"Pirate?"

She shakes her head quickly and mouths a catchphrase the kids kept saying earlier.

"Arr?"

She nods happily and he looks as though he’s just won a prize.

"Your name is Arr?"

No- She sighs, and taps her finger on the side of the boat.

"Arr-tap?" Wally’s face screams confusion. She reaches over the edge of the boat and pulls a reed from the lagoon. She points at the stem.

"Arr-stem? Arrstem? Arstem?" Wally guesses slowly. She points at him at his last guess and nods. "Artem?"

She rolls her hands and motions for him to continue.

"Artem- Arte-" Wally struggles for a long moment (she can feel Roy banging his head against her ankle), before he looks at her and asks, "Artemis?"

She smiles and nods and he takes her hands when he repeats, “Artemis… That’s a pretty name.”

She bites her lip to keep from giving him too much satisfaction. Their boat floats with no direction and Artemis holds his hands a little tighter. She really hopes she got all the twigs out of her hair. Should she lean in now? What if he pulls away again? She can feel Roy pushing her foot forward. Might as well just go for it.

Wally’s hand lets go of hers in order to cup her face. Or he can go for it, she thinks as she closes her eyes and allows him to pull her closer, I don’t mind this time.

She feels his breath on her lips at the same moment their boat hits a sunken tree. The impact throws her back and the boat tips over with them both in it.

As he helps her out of the water, Artemis only has one thought.

-o-

Artemis pulls the dinglehopper through her hair one more time before she sets it down on the vanity in front of her. Megan had been quick to help her get the muck from the lagoon off her body. The moment she had walked back into the palace, arm-in-arm with Wally, Megan had sprung into action (‘your hair!’). Being clean made dinner a more enjoyable affair, but the tension at the table ate at her.

Artemis sighs at her reflection in the mirror. I was so close. She doesn’t give Roy a second glance after she almost steps on him on her way to the balcony. I’ve had so many chances.

She leans against the railing of the balcony and stares out at the sea. Looks like Queen Bee’s going to get her way. I’m so stupid. She kicks the railing and pouts. When she looks out into the courtyard, her frown softens.

Prince Wally and Richard are sitting together, talking, and though she can’t hear what they’re saying from this distance, she can tell Wally is upset by the slump of his shoulders and the hand in his hair. She watches them talk until they stand up in the grass and look at the stars. Wally looks more at peace and Richard pats his shoulder.

Her eyes flit to the ocean. She misses her own best friend. I wish I could talk to you, Kal. Roy’s no help. He yells too much and I can’t yell back... You’d know what to say. You always know what to say.

Wally looks up at the balcony and she forces herself to pretend not to have noticed his gaze. It’s harder to ignore him when he starts walking through the courtyard towards the balcony.

The world lights up before her eyes; a great booming sound shakes the balcony seconds later.

Great Poseidon, Artemis braces herself when another explosion goes off in the distance, Are they under attack?!

She looks over the balcony and locks eyes with the prince. He mouths something she can’t hear, and then the two men make a break for the palace doors.

Another smaller blast lights up the harbor. She thinks of the kind sailors she met earlier in the day, of their families, of Tim and Damian. She grits her teeth and grips the railing when another explosion tears through the night. I can help. I need to help.

"Don’t you dare!" Roy shouts from the ground, “I know that look! You need to stay here, where it’s safe. Don’t you think you’re in enough danger as it is? Artemis-“

She lets go of the railing and runs. Her door flies open and she passes a harried Megan on her way down the staircase. Her nightgown flutters and she almost falls in her haste. I can help.

The palace staff crowds in the entryway and she pushes her way through to the doors. Need a ride.

Artemis tries to recall which way the stables were. Should have paid more attention to my surroundings instead of sulking.

The sound of hooves clicking against stone breaks her concentration. Wally and Richard stop their horses in front of the doors to gather the staff and guards. She waves at the prince and he turns to his best friend for a second before he hops off of his horse and runs to her. He holds her at arms length.

"I don't know what's going on, but you need to go back to your room. It's safest here."

She shakes her head. I can help-

"Please, stay."

But you- She pokes him in the chest and continues shaking her head.

"I'll be back as soon as I can, but I-" Wally loosens his grip on her arms, "I need you to be safe. So stay here, Artemis."

Stay here, Artemis. Her eyes widen and another explosion sounds. Not this time, buddy. She slaps his arm and glares as he frowns down at her. You don't tell me what to do. I need to help.

"Wally, let's go!" Richard calls out over the crowd.

Artemis pushes him toward his horse and ignores his hurt face as she crosses her arms.

He reaches out towards her but stops himself.

He sighs, more frustrated with her than ever, and turns back to his horse before he whispers, "Please, Artemis."

She makes no moves as he remounts his horse and takes off towards the billowing smoke at the harbor. As soon as his head disappears in the distance, she takes off at a run in the opposite direction. I knew it was to the left. Hopefully there's a horse ready for me.

When she reaches the stables, another explosion goes off at the docks. I need to hurry. Her hand fumbles with the lock on the doorand when she finally gets it open, she runs into a new problem.

I hope they're easier to ride than dolphins.

She spots one of the horses from her earlier adventure and opens their stall door. It takes a few well-placed jumps and a bucket to actually get on the horse. She hangs onto its hair with both hands. This is it.

Artemis kicks.

And they take off into the night.

-o-

Roy dodges another falling foot. He slides down a fallen banner to get to the ground level of the palace. By the time he makes it to the ocean, three more explosions have taken place. That girl has gone too far. This place is dangerous.

He makes up his mind when he spots Jade and Kaldur watching the sea burn from their meeting place. King Oliver needs to step in. This has gotten way out of hand. Sorry, Artemis.

“Kaldur,” Roy swims over to the rock Jade stands on. “Jade. Artemis went down to the docks.”

Jade ruffles her feathers and ash falls on Roy’s head. “You let her go down there? I just came from the lighthouse. I could barely see through all the smoke!”

He brushes the black dust off his face. “How could I have stopped her? She’s a wild child. I should’ve stopped this when I had the chance-”

Kaldur speaks up. “We need to help her.”

“The three of us won’t be much help down there.” Jade scoffs.

“We can help her,” Roy sighs before he turns to the fish. “Return to Atlantica. Tell the King what has happened. About Queen Bee and this mess... He’s the only one with the power to save her now.”

Kaldur feels conflicted, until the waves start carrying floating debris past their rock. A sailor hat floats along the surface. He nods at Roy and jumps towards deep ocean.

“She’ll understand.” Roy whispers to himself before he turns to Jade. “Can you get me close?”

Jade watches him for a moment before she relents. “I can get you to town, and then I’ll try to find her. Fish-for-Brains will be around there somewhere.”

He hangs onto Jade’s leg and they soar over the panicking humans. Roy stares down at the land grimly as he takes in the destruction of the docks. People are yelling, running, and making every attempt to douse the flames engulfing their precious ships. They’ll never be able to salvage all of those vessels.

He admires their determination though.

-o-

Artemis squints at the red, rising sun and yawns before she wipes another streak of ash off of Tim’s face. Her bones ache, but her long night is far from over and there is no resting until she’s satisfied she’s done everything she can. Most of the ships in the harbor didn’t stay afloat. A chain reaction. Tim winces when she moves the cloth over his forehead. He had been close to one of the last explosions.

One of the merchant ships had somehow caught fire and the flames spread from ship to ship with ease, until the entire sea seemed to be ablaze. Over the course of the night, Wally’s kingdom lost its main source of income. Still, they were lucky no one had died. Artemis pats Tim’s cheek and wordlessly sends him off to his brother. She stands and stretches. Her back cracks and another silent yawn makes it way past her lips. She needs sleep. She needs to change clothes. Her nightgown is tattered, torn, and covered in ashes and dirt. Her feet are even dirtier. She doesn’t want to think about how she might look, as she takes a familiar turn down a dark alley.

She stops abruptly when she spots another person in the alley. He’s sitting at a table, holding his head in his blackened hands. She bites her cheek and tiptoes closer. His shoulders shake and her feet move faster.

Her hand carefully strokes some soot off his ruined shirt. He looks over his shoulder and stands when he realizes it’s her.

“Artemis, you’re-” he gestures at her. “You shouldn’t have-”

She places her finger on his lips. Shut up. I’m not sorry.

He removes her hand slowly and doesn’t let go. “Are you alright?”

She nods and pokes him with her free hand. Are you?

He gets the message and replies, “I’m okay.”

She pokes him again and narrows her tired eyes.

“Okay, fine,” he says, leading her to a chair where they sit together in the dark. “I’m exhausted. I’m not even sure how this happened. Mal said he saw a weird light in the water while he was walking before the first ship exploded. I think he might’ve hit his head or something. I should probably go check on him. I left him with Dick at the tailor’s place... Gosh, it’s going to take months to get back on our feet after this. A lot of people are hurting right now, and they’re all looking at me for help and hope. I can give them both. I don’t mind that at all. I’m here for them. But, right now, there’s not much I can do besides be out here. I can’t instantly fix these ships and the docks and clear the smoke, no matter how much I want to. I came over here to catch my breath but then I started thinking about everything this means and I kind of lost track of reality-.. I’m sorry. I’m rambling...”

He takes her hand over the table and laughs tiredly as he says, “You’re just such a good listener.”

She swats his hand softly and smiles before she stands and pulls him up with her. You’re a good person, Wally, she thinks with a gleam in her eye. I spent my night helping your people. I’ll find a way to help you too.

She walks to the edge of the alleyway and he stands behind her, placing his head on her shoulder. Artemis yawns again and leans her head against his, and together they watch the sun rise in the smoke-filled sky.

Both wish for yesterday.

-o-

The ocean is quiet. Kaldur doesn’t like it. Swimming the open sea is a lonely journey for a fish on his own, but never this lonely. He’s been swimming for a while and he hasn’t bumped into any other fish- not even a single shrimp. The reef dwellers are nowhere to be found either.  Something isn’t right.

He stops to rest between two rock pillars after his fins start to ache. He huffs. Just a few minutes. Then I find King Oliver and we save Artemis.

The stillness of the sea is broken when two familiar eels slither their way over his head. Those are Queen Bee’s associates. What are they- Kaldur hides behind the pillar and floats higher so he can hear them. They’re laughing.

“Enough chuckles- Queen’s about ready to storm Atlantica all by herself. We need to get a move on before she leaves without us.” One of the eels complains.

The other nods. “Tonight’s the night. After all these years...”

“We were right to keep looking after that princess. Blowin’ up them ships was a nice touch. That’ll keep ‘em busy. Remind me to thank Bee for the idea when we see her... Swim faster, sis. Our friends from the Trench are already on their way to the meetin’ place.”

“King Oliver’s in for a beatin’, don’tcha think, Tommy?”

Kaldur catches what the other eel says (One that’s long overdue, Tup.), but he doesn’t dwell on it. He’s too busy retracing his way back towards help. He cuts through the water at a speed he didn’t even know he possessed.

I was mistaken. Now, I find Artemis- and we save King Oliver.

-o-

The cheerful atmosphere she’s become accustomed to in the palace is missing when they return in the early hours of the day. Artemis, half-asleep, nearly falls off her horse at the entrance, but the stable master helps her down. She forgets she can’t talk for a moment and thanks him before Megan rushes her into the palace.

“You’re covered in ash. Your feet are bleeding.” Megan helps her up the stairs, even though Artemis just wants to go straight to bed. “There’s no way I’m letting you go to sleep without taking care of you first.”

Artemis shrugs out of the other girl’s grasp and shakes her head. Sleep. Need sleep.

“You took care of all those people. Now, let me take care of you.” Megan doesn’t give in. Instead, she pulls Artemis by the arm all the way to the bathroom. “The more you work with me, the faster we’ll be done and you can sleep.”

Artemis stops fighting and Megan is true to her word. Her body is ash free and her feet are bandaged in no time. She twists her hair in her hands to rid it of excess water before Megan hands her a new nightgown to put on. She slips it on over her head and the feel of soft, clean fabric against her skin makes her sigh in relief.

“Now go to sleep.” Megan hugs her and sends her away before she picks up the pieces of Artemis’ old nightgown. Artemis moves through the empty halls of the palace with ease, but she does slow down once she notices who is knocking at her door. He’s still dusted with ash and his sleeves are stained with spots of blood that don’t belong to him.

She approaches carefully, pushing her damp hair away from her face before she taps his shoulder. He jumps at her touch and turns around.

“Oh,” he sighs as his hand drifts down from the door. “You’re not in there. Of course.”

Artemis points from her clean clothes to his messy attire. Wally scratches the side of his nose and it smudges the ash on his face, adding to his disheveled appearance. She tilts her head and pokes his chest softly. You okay?

“I, uh-” Wally rubs his cheek as he yawns. She wonders how either of them are still standing. “I just wanted to thank you.”

She bobs her head. He’s swaying a little, but she’s not sure if that’s him or if her eyes are playing tricks on her. She pulls his arm up by looping her finger through a charred hole in his sleeve. She gives him a firm look. Take care of yourself.

He pulls his arm away from her and softly groans as he examines the state of his shirt. “Oops. I’ll take care of it.”

Kiss him, her sleep-deprived mind whispers. Artemis frowns and moves around him to get to her door. Before she can open it, he places a hand on her shoulder and turns her around.

“I, uh, I’d like to talk to you later. After some sleep- Is that alright?” Wally asks hopefully.

Her frown saddens as she watches his face light up when she nods. Even though there might not be a later.

She stuns him when she wraps her arms around his abdomen and buries her face in his chest. She takes a shuddering breath, grips him tightly, and hopes to hold onto the moment and stop time with her bare hands. When he leans into her embrace and threads his fingers behind her back, she gets a taste of what’s at stake and the bittersweet feeling sweeps through her bones faster than the flames had engulfed the harbor.

Wally’s chest rumbles when he murmurs, “Are you alright?”

Her lips tighten into a forced smile and she slowly pulls herself out of his grasp. Her hand reaches back to open the bedroom door and she nods at him.

“You sure?” He isn’t convinced, but before he can argue, she slips into the room and shuts the door between them. She sighs heavily and slumps against the door, wondering how she’ll ever get some rest with the deadline looming in her mind. Why am I torturing myself? I should just jump back into the ocean and get a head start on scrubbing Queen Bee’s floors.

She looks around the room with swollen eyes. Where the heck is Roy?

When she sees no sign of the crustacean, she slumps into the half-made bed and throws half of the pillows to the floor. Oh well. He’ll turn up. Most likely at the worst possible moment. Classic Roy...

Strips of sunshine break through the thick curtains in the room and Artemis stares at the shadows they leave until her heavy eyes close of their own accord.

“Miss Artemis? Artemis? Wake up-”

Five more minutes. She rolls over in the bed. I just fell asleep. The covers slip further and further away from her until their warmth leaves her completely. Ugh.  

“It’s five in the afternoon. You must be starving.”

Five in the- Artemis sits up in an instant. The curtains have been opened and sure enough, the sun is low in the sky. What?!

Carp! Artemis swings her legs over the side of the bed and nearly kicks Megan in the stomach.                          

“Woah-” Megan steps back and watches as Artemis takes off at a run towards the closet.

Nononononono- Artemis pulls the first dress she sees out of the closet and rushes to change. This is not happening. I still have time.

“Artemis, let me help.” Megan pulls her out of the closet while Artemis struggles to put on the new dress. “You’re going to tear it.”

Faster! Artemis bites her lip and lets Megan secure the back of the dress.

“You’re sure in a hurry.” Megan pulls a basket onto the vanity and makes Artemis sit down. “But you’re not going anywhere until I change the bandages on your feet.”

Won’t matter. They’ll be back to being fins soon enough, Artemis thinks glumy.

“Don’t look so sad,” Megan pats her leg. “I packed you and Prince Wally a nice picnic. He said you were going to go out to the beach to ‘clear your heads’ after what happened this morning?”

Artemis nods, although she hadn’t known about the beach plan. Better for me. I’ll need to be close to the water if I turn back into a mermaid.

She peeks at herself in the mirror, and what she sees doesn’t impress her. Who are you?

Her reflection doesn’t answer, but it might as well have. This isn’t me. Artemis clenches her fists in her lap as Megan braids her hair. I’m better than this. I’m a princess. I’m the daughter of Dinah, Siren of the Seven Seas, and Oliver, King of the Ocean, and it’s about damn time I start acting like it. Artemis narrows her eyes at the girl in the mirror as Megan ties off the end of her braid and hands her some soft shoes.

“I don’t think your feet will hurt much, even if you do walk the beach,” Megan pats her shoulder and Artemis stands, spins around, and gives the other girl a strong hug.

She feels a lot more like herself, once she finishes hugging Megan for what might be the last time. The stairs don’t trip her on her way down, and for that she is grateful. Her eyes study the shell detailing on the walls, the waves in the tiles on the floor, the fish engraved in the doorways; this kingdom might be on land, but it’s surrounded by home. She wishes she could memorize it all, discover all the things she’s never seen, know all the things she never knew about humans and the surface world.

But right now, she has a prince waiting for her just outside the door. And there’s no time to spare.

When she steps through the open doorway, the first thing she notices is the still-rising smoke in the direction of the harbor. She pushes forward, aiming her gaze lower and lower until it falls on a head of red hair and anxious green eyes. Artemis swallows and holds her head high. Now or never.

Their walk down the stone-laden path to the beach is a relatively quiet one, save for Brucely yipping at their knees and nearly tripping Wally more than once. Artemis takes the time to examine the feel of the plants she passes, tracing the flower petals with her fingertips, and she pulls a few from their vines to keep with her. When they arrive to the private beach, she tosses the handful of flowers onto the blanket Wally lays out on the sand. While he examines the contents of the picnic basket, Artemis walks over to the damp sand and Brucely bounds up to her side. The dog nuzzles her hand as she tries to pet his head. He’s too cute. She still wants one.

Her gaze shifts to Wally, who’s pulling out dinglehoppers and thingamajigs from the basket with precise movements and her mouth forms the words, I still want you, too.

She sighs, gathers the skirt of her dress in her hand, and walks back up the beach to him.

“Conner wasn’t sure what you would like,” he gestures to the variety of foods laid out beside him. “So he made a little of everything.”

She bobs her head and takes a seat next to him on the blanket. He’s distant and silent for a long while, and Artemis tries to convince herself that it’s because his mouth is always full, but there’s a lingering tension in the air that makes her take a breath and tap his arm. He swallows his last bite of food before he smiles at her. There is a weight in his smile that she’s never seen before, and it shouldn’t make her nervous but it does, so she raises her hands from her lap.

She points at him, makes a talking motion with her hand, and then points to herself. You wanted to talk to me. So talk.

“Right,” he moves so he can face her fully. The crease in between his eyebrows deepens as he stares at her hands. “Look, I am- I wanted to say- There’s something you should know- I just need to think of how to say it. This is kind of new to me-”

Artemis raises a brow at his stumbling sentences. C’mon, Princey, spit it out. We’re on borrowed time. She places her hand on top of his and he finally moves his gaze to her face. Her throat tightens. His eyes say it all, really- but when he clears his throat and holds her hand, she can’t help but tune out the sounds of the ocean around them to listen to what he has to say.

“Artemis, I’ve never met anyone like you. It’s like you’re from an entirely different world. And ever since I found you on the beach, I’ve wanted nothing more than to understand you,” he pauses at her mildly confused expression, but presses on. He gains more confidence in his words. “I’m a details kind of guy. I take things apart and figure out how they work and then put them back together. I like making sense of things. But you don’t make sense. Any. At all. You’re one surprise after another and every time I think I’m close to figuring you out, you throw something new at me. When I met you, you gave off this aura of...” he squeezes her hand as he searches for the right word, “Happiness? Excitement? Superiority? Anyway, you were really happy. Yesterday, I thought our tour was going to be pretty straightforward and I was so wrong. You’re stubborn, and fearless, and a little scary.”

Artemis fights a smile and shrugs, a bit proud of herself.

Wally smothers a laugh, “I’ve lived here all my life and I’ve never feared for my safety so many times in one day. You, on the other hand, seemed like you were really enjoying yourself. Perfect day- mostly. I know it ended a little... wetter than expected, but when we got back to the palace, you seemed sad, and I wasn’t sure why. I feel like something’s hurting you.”

Artemis glances down at their joined hands to avoid his eyes. There is.. She looks over at the ocean, and the sight of the sun falling lower and lower makes her clench her empty fist.

“Look, this morning was a disaster, heavy on the dis, but you put on a smile to help all those people. To help me. I was about ready to stay in that alley until Dick found me, but you dragged me out and I feel a lot better about the whole thing. I felt a lot better once you were there.”

His free hand rises and tilts her chin up so she has to look him in the eye. After that, she can’t look away.

The sincerity in his eyes is reflected in his words, and he tilts her face a little closer when he says, “I’m trying to figure out why that is. I have a few theories. But first, you’ve got to help me understand.”

Artemis bites her lip when his fingers move from her chin to her cheek. When did they get so close- “Tell me what’s wrong. Whatever’s bothering you, I’ll fix it. I promise. Artemis, let me help you.”

You’re the only one who can, at this point. She slips her hand out of his, only to bring it up to the nape of his neck. Warm...

Her gaze flickers down before she shuts her eyes and starts pulling him closer. She can feel his warmth radiating just above her lips, finally-finally-finally- she can’t help but smile as he starts to close the gap.

“Squaaaak! Not so fast, Fish-head!” A bird-yell breaks her focus.

There’s a tight pull on the back of her hair and Artemis silently yelps when Jade’s feet pull her head backwards. Artemis grits her teeth and rushes to stand as the seagull swoops around and lands a few feet away. Jade! She silently shouts and stomps over to the bird. What is wrong with you?!

“Oh, you look scary. You’d be a lot more frightening with your voice back. Listen,” Jade dodges Artemis’ sand-filled kick, “You can’t kiss him. Queen Bee’s about to-”

Artemis kicks more sand at the bird and mouths, Queen Bee’s about to win because of you!

“Artemis! Listen to me! Kaldur needs to talk to you, now!” Jade ruffles her feathers.

Kaldur? She puts down her foot and glares at Jade until the bird starts walking towards the tide. She follows, pretending not to hear Wally’s ‘Uh... Artemis? Why are you talking to a bird? Is this a normal thing for you?’

The water feels colder than she remembers, but she steps in until it reaches her knees, soaking her dress and shoes. Kaldur swims up to her and she leans down to run her fingers over his scales. Her brow pinches. What’s wrong, Kal?

“I overheard Queen Bee’s associates. They’re on their way to Atlantica right now, with an army. They’re going to attack the palace.” Kaldur takes a breath. “They’re going after your father.”

Daddy? Artemis steps further into the water and mouths words at Kaldur, We have to do something. She puts more emphasis on her question, Where’s Roy?

“Roy went ahead to try and find allies, and to warn the king, but I fear he will be too late. The best we can do is hope we can get there before any harm comes to your father...” Kaldur swims a bit deeper before he turns and asks, “You are coming, right?”

Artemis watches the horizon and holds her breath as the sun dips below it more and more. She has minutes before it disappears completely. She doesn’t have a choice, really. Her time on the surface is up, and she’d never- no matter how angry she was at him- leave her father knowing he was in grave danger. She’s going to have words with Queen Bee- preferably only one, one that is less of a word and more of a sonic screech to the face. That’s not in the contract, a voice inside her head coos, but she couldn’t care any less. Invading Atlantica was never part of the deal, either.

“What are you doing?” Wally calls from the shore, and when she turns around, he’s pulling his shoes off and rolling his pant legs up. She motions for Kaldur to wait before she trudges up to the sand and stops Wally.

She puts her hands on his shoulders and holds him at arms length.

“Artemis?” He waits for some sort of explanation, but there’s nothing she can say- yet.

It’s okay. She mouths, but her glassy eyes betray her words. She’s always been a terrible liar. Behind her, the sky dims. Just a minute more-

She trails his hands down his arms to take his hands. Her legs stiffen as she walks backwards and pulls him into the surf. The water comes up to her calf when he stops her.

He shakes his head and pleads, “C’mon, Beautiful, tell me what’s going on.”

I’m sorry about this. She reaches for his face one last time, but before her hand can make contact, the sun slips below the horizon and the spirit of the sea calls out to her. In an instant, she’s waist deep in the water, and her legs are gone; replaced by the green tail she grew up with. A yellow light races towards her from the sea and she feels a warmth in her throat the moment it makes contact. She flips her tail a few times before she dares glance up at the prince.

In any other situation, she’d probably laugh at his stunned expression, but now is not the time.

“I-,” She gasps. Her voice is back- “I have to go.”

Wally doesn’t hear her, still staring at her tail. Artemis moves deeper into the ocean and the movement snaps him out of his stupor.

“Y-You’re a- a-”

She doesn’t have time for long explanations. “Mermaid- yes, I’m a mermaid. My father’s in trouble, I have to go-”

Wally follows her, pushing against the waves. “You’re talking. I have heard your voice before. You’re the one who rescued me-”

“Yeah, that was me, you’re welcome,” she speaks quickly. “I’d explain everything but right now I have to go fight a witch and save my kingdom-”

“What? Wait!”

“Can’t!” She scoots back.

Wally takes another step forward. “Let me help!”

“You can’t!” She shakes her head and bites her lip. You really can’t... I caused this. I have to clean up my own mess. Sorry I got you involved.

“Don’t go.”

Artemis swims further out to sea, but stops to turn around and promise, “If I win, I’ll come back.”

Wally stops trying to follow her and cups his hands around his mouth. Artemis swims above the surface, Kaldur and Jade leading the way to Atlantica. Over the sounds of the sea, she hears a shout from the shore.

“Artemis! I still want to know you! I still want to understand!”

She dives into the sea and she can’t help but smile when she hears an echo of his final words.

“Human or not, you’d better come back!”

-o-

Come back... Wally smashes his hands against the surface of the water. Did I just get dumped by a mermaid? He splashes angrily as he wades back to the shore. This is just my luck. Find the perfect girl- and it turns out she’s a fish. A mermaid-Tim’s going to lose his mind when he finds out. I’m losing my mind.

Brucely meets him at the shoreline, running between his legs in search of Artemis.

“She, uh, went away, buddy.” Wally pets his dog distractedly, the last ten minutes of his life replaying in his mind. He sits on the sand and tries to process it all. Dream girl is actually a mermaid, who talks to birds, who has gone back to the sea to... fight a witch... and help her dad? He groans and puts his head in his hands. This goes against everything he’s ever known. The only people he knew who talked to birds were the lonely elderly and Megan’s little brother. Mermaids weren’t real until ten minutes ago. Witches- maybe- but he’s going to deny that until he sees one performing actual magic (which still isn’t really real in his mind yet). He peeks through his fingers and stares in the direction Artemis took off swimming. Rrom here, he can see the dark clouds growing over the sea. He stands up and dusts off the sand stuck to his hands.

He’s not a patient guy, and judging by the look on Artemis’ face when she dove into the deep, she’s not too confident about coming back.

He’s going to help her, somehow.

He promised.

But first, he needs to see a man about a boat. Considering their biggest, fastest ships were blown up this morning, he’s going to have to get creative. Wally runs down the length of the beach as fast as he can, and Brucely eventually gives up following after him. He’ll go home, Wally reasons as he huffs. The closest marina is a ten minute jog, and the sailors with small fishing boats tend to frequently dock there. He’s just going to borrow one. It’s for a good cause and he can always replace it.

When he arrives at the rocks next to the marina, he has to catch his breath. His hands fall to his knees as he pants.

“What’re you doing here, Prince Wally?”

He looks up, startled and maybe a little embarrassed.

Tim points to his pants, “And why are you all wet?”

“Uh,” he glances around the marina, looking for a good boat without much luck, considering it was nearly empty, “I need to borrow a boat. Something fast.”

Tim shrugs and gestures for the prince to follow him down to the dock, “Well, that answers one question.”

He leads Wally to a small boat. “This’ll go pretty fast, if you catch the right current. Not too hard to steer. The sail is a little old, but it’s reliable.”

There’s a fondness in his voice that makes Wally hesitate, “It’s yours, isn’t it?”

Tim nods. “Yeah. I use it for some smaller jobs. Damian almost destroyed it fishing last week, but I managed to keep it afloat.”

Wally puts his hand on Tim’s shoulder. “I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”

“I know.” Tim unties the boat from the dock and hands Wally the rope.

Wally lets out a breath, leaping onto the unsteady boat. He waves at his deckhand as he pushes off from the dock. “Thanks, Tim. I owe you one.”

“Just try to bring her back in one piece.”

After he unravels the sail and sets off, he turns back to Tim, “No, I seriously owe you a ship. Mermaids are real. Who knew?”

He’s out of the marina in no time, and it’s then that he realizes he doesn’t really have a plan past finding a boat and following Artemis. Part one complete, he thinks as he drifts further out to sea, Now to figure out part two...

“Where’d you go, Artemis?”

The bright moon in the sky is his only source of light and when he looks out at the vast, shimmering ocean in front of him, he feels more than a little lost. Maybe I can wing it...

A crash at the back of Tim’s boat startles him, but he hangs onto the ropes that guide the boat.

“What-” He turns his head to see whatever made the noise, and at first, he doesn’t notice anything, but once he turns back around, a quiet squaaaak-ing sounds behind him.

A seagull picks itself off the floor of the boat and steps around him all the way to the front. It looks at him, and Wally feels incredibly judged and a little scared. What the hell is going on?

The bird caws at him and- oh, no way.

“Are you pointing?” He asks incredulously, but then he remembers his crush just turned into a mermaid and thinks that maybe a bird giving him directions isn’t too far fetched considering the kind of day he’s had.

Still, he feels silly asking, “You’ll show me where Artemis is?”

He feels plain stupid when the bird flaps its wing in the same direction and nods.

-o-

Artemis’ blood boils as soon as Atlantica comes into view. She swims to two trench-dwellers and hits them with her tail in a rage, sending them hurdling into what was left the city wall. No mercy. They get what’s coming to them.

She watches as mermen and mermaids and friendly sea creatures scatter to defend their homes from the monsters from the depths (the ones with the deep eyes and the sharp teeth and the taste for merpeople). She hears the cries of children, feels the panic in the water, and all she wants to do is make it disappear. These are my people- my family- Artemis curls her fingers into fists. I did this to them.

She glances at her best friend helping a young mermaid from under a rock. “I’m going to the palace! Be safe, Kaldur!”

Her nose twitches and her face pinches. There’s blood in the water. Lots.

The anger inside her builds. How could I have unleashed this on them? She takes a deep breath. She won’t allow her people to be hurt anymore. She swats trenchies out of her way with swift punches as she makes a beeline for the palace, and she swims faster when flashing lights engulf the building. All around her, the royal guards fight with spears and swords and strong tails trying to defend their kingdom. She swims high above to survey the damage, but when she turns around, she finds a mass of trenchies moving in on a sector of the city. Not happening. She balls her fists by her sides and builds up every bit of feeling she has in her. Not while I’m here.

When Artemis opens her mouth, a hush falls over the entire kingdom, as the fighting pauses as everyone listens to the piercing cry tear through the enemy. As her voice fades, the entire city rallies behind her battle cry. It’s hard to stay afloat after using so much power. She catches her breath, and she can only do so because a quick dolphin swims beside her, helpfully towing her towards the palace. I’m coming, Dad. Artemis pants, blanching at the sight of more lights blasting around her home. I’ll fix this.

“Artemis!” A familiar yell catches her attention and she tilts her head to catch a glimpse of Roy on the back of a swordfish. “Your father!”

She nods and thanks the dolphin before she swims alongside Roy. She breathlessly mentions, “You disappeared.”

“You came back.” Roy hangs onto his ride.

Artemis asks, hurt, “Did you doubt me?”

“Not for a minute.” He speeds ahead of her and slips through one of the crumpled doorways into the palace. Artemis glares at the tiny openingbefore she swims to the one around the corner.

Queen Bee’s deal was rotten from the start and she should have known- she shouldn’t have let her anger blind her to what was really going on. The witch wanted Artemis away so her father would thin his fleet trying to find her, Artemis realizes. They’d never go to the surface, so what a perfect place to hide her and drive her father crazy. Atlantica’s defenses would be down, giving the sea witch a perfect opportunity to attack- which she obviously took advantage of. All because of a stupid, selfish, childish agreement made in anger and hurt and Great Poseidon, what would Mom say? She swims through her home, body shaking in rage, dodging trenchies and merpeople in her haste to get to the throne room. She scowls at the guarded doors blocking her entrance.

“Looks like the little princess didn’t get her dream come true, huh, Tommy?”

The eel laughs and swims around the door again. “Should’ve just stayed up on land, Tuppy. Either way, she’ll be dead by morning.”

Artemis does not like being played.

She glares at the eels but holds her tongue. Three... two.. one.

Her cry throws the eels into the doors and knocks the doors off their hinges and she swims straight into the room with her teeth bared and her throat tight, and she’d like nothing more than to dig her fist into Queen Bee’s smug face.

“Artemis! Get out of here!”

Her father’s voice cuts through her blinding rage and she ducks just in time to avoid a bolt of light from Queen Bee’s hand. Oliver hangs onto his trident and fires rapid shots at the slippery witch. Artemis holds her ground and takes a breath, readying a strong cry. Queen Bee swims above them and the bright blue light in her hand begins to fade.

“Give up, Oliver. My forces are gutting your kingdom, but you can still save your people,” Her dark eyes gleam when she takes full notice of Artemis watching her, “and your daughter.”

She pulls the glowing shell necklace off of her neck and holds it in her hand. As she opens her fingers, the shell begins to glow a bright blue. That looks like bad news, Artemis thinks quickly and releases her cry, not caring that the hanging crystals Roy ordered for her party shatter. She screams louder in the hopes that the shards will hit the witch. Her cry does nothing and she tries to get closer. What’s going on?

The blue shell doesn’t do anything special until Queen Bee brings her hands together. A glowing barrier forms between King Oliver and the mermaids. Artemis’ screech dies in her throat but before she can take another shot, her body starts to ache- deep in her bones. The pain increases until she’s doubled over and sinking. The walls of the palace begin to blend together before she screws her eyes shut.

“Stop!” She can hear her father shouting from the other end of the barrier. The blasts from his trident do little to damage it. “Stop hurting her!”

“She belongs to me, Oliver,” Queen Bee smirks and Artemis can’t bring her hands up to stop the witch from grabbing her hair and throwing her to the palace floor. “I can treat her however I please- unless you’d be willing to make a trade- Atlantica for Artemis.”

Artemis writhes and tries to channel her pain. I’m not your pawn. She forces her eyes to open. She stretches her neck to get a better view of her father, which is a mistake, because the second they make eye contact, the fight in his eyes is replaced by defeat.

“D-Dad- No-” Not for me, she wants to shout. She shakes her head and grits her teeth just to bear the hot pain in her bones. Not for me.

“I thought about keeping you as a pet, at least for a little while,” Queen Bee flips her over with her tail, so that Artemis can only see her face. And a slip of red hiding in her dark hair. Roy- The witch leans close to her face and whispers, “But even if Daddy surrenders, I think I’ll have to go back to the original plan. You two are liabilities that need to be dealt with.”

Hell no. She lashes out and headbutts the witch, sending her backwards. Artemis’ swimming vision refuses to clear up, but she’s able to push her pain away just enough to snatch the glowing blue shell right out of the disoriented witch’s hand. It vibrates in her grasp.

She bares her teeth and sneers at the witch as she holds the shell up.

“Deal with this.”

Artemis crushes the shell against the floor and the blue light dissipates into the water. Her aching body protests as she rights herself to face the sea witch.

“No,” Queen Bee’s whisper grows in volume as the glowing barrier weakens. “No!”

Her father fires another blast at the remaining layer of the barrier and it shatters before it turns to dust.

“No!” Queen Bee’s eyes glow blue and Artemis swims to her father with a few flicks of her sore tail.

“Daddy, I’m sorry- This is all my fault- I never meant-” Her apology gets smothered in his arm when he pulls her close. Her racing heart slows just a bit.

His voice is tight when he finally says, “I’m just glad you’re safe.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Queen Bee startles them with a roar. “I’m not finished! I have more power over you two than you realize! I can still destroy your pathetic-”

The water begins to swirl around her and the royals swim further from the sudden current.

“Little-”

Queen Bee rises and the whirlpool around her grows, throwing things around the room, until she makes a break for the outside. In the whirling current, her hair rises up and Roy hangs on to one of her massive shell earrings, trying to get close enough to distract her. Oliver tries to land a hit with his trident, but it takes all his strength to hang onto Artemis and fight the surging waters.

“Kingdom!”

The entire palace starts to rumble when Queen Bee manages to get outside and her whirlpool grows.

Oliver’s trident glows as he turns to his daughter and says, “She must be stopped.”

“Wait-,” Artemis shakes her head, “you aren’t leaving me here. This is our fight."

“I know,” Oliver nods, waiting for her to follow. “Let’s go.”

Artemis follows him in a bit of a daze. He trusts me? After all that? She shakes the thoughts from her mind and focuses. She can figure out her dad’s weirdness later, when there isn’t an unnatural amount of debris floating around. Queen Bee’s whirlpool continues to stretch upwards-

“She’s headed toward the surface.” Oliver tries to stop the current with his trident, but the only effect it has is raising the bottom of the whirlpool above the palace. It slows, but Queen Bee’s rage fuels her power, and it’s too much for her father to face on his own. Artemis prepares herself, watching as people peek out of their homes to see if their royalty will succeed. They shouldn’t be outside. There are still trench dwellers lurking, the fight isn’t even close to being finished; there are loose ends to tie up and send back to the darkest depths where they belong.

“Stay inside,” Artemis warns them just as a part of the palace tower breaks off and gets caught in the whirlpool. She turns to her father. “Keep the debris from hurting anyone. I’ll attack her from above-”

“And I’ll catch her from below,” Oliver nods, straining to contain the twisting waters. “Go.”

Finally. She swims away from the vortex, propelling herself towards the surface at a steady pace. Queen Bee’s glowing figure is barely visible from where she is, but Artemis knows she has to be careful now. She’s a monster. Artemis glances down at the wreckage that is her kingdom. She holds back a heavy sob. Her heart aches as she takes in the devastation partially-wrought by her rash decision. I’m a monster. She’d like nothing more than to travel back in time- stop herself from being so selfish and angry- but her mother always said, ‘You can’t change what you’ve already done, but you can change what you do next.’ So she will. She’ll fix everything, no matter how hard it is or how long it takes. Her strokes become more coordinated as she speeds upwards. The surface nears and the blue glow that is Queen Bee is clear, hovering alongside her destructive creation. Roy catches her eye from the witch’s back and nods before he releases and drops down into the relative safety of the whirlpool.

Now I don’t have to hold back.

Artemis smirks as the upper half of her face breaks through the misty surface, a safe distance behind Queen Bee. Perfect.

She inhales-

“Artemis?”

What-

She has a split second to duck beneath the water and avoid Queen Bee’s blue beam. Her screech sends the witch into the whirlpool- and for a moment, Queen Bee gets caught in her own weapon.

It gives Artemis enough time to choose between berating the boy in the boat for following her into a watery death trap, or hitting the witch again. She can probably berate the boy better if he’s alive and not at the bottom of the ocean, so she takes another shot at Queen Bee.

Artemis releases her cry and it hits Queen Bee’s side hard enough to send her spiraling out of control. The glow around the witch flickers and Artemis watches her spin around and around in the swirling waters. She also notices how close Wally’s boat is getting. Beneath the surface, her eyes dart from the bottom of the boat to the spinning witch. If he gets caught, there’s no way he’ll be able to get out on his own. Why is he even here? She groans mentally, as she swims back to the surface. He’s got some nerve- She rises out of the water and pulls herself up at the front of his boat. Ignoring his surprised yelp, she uses her tail to help push the boat away from the out of control vortex. Finally, she looks up at him in the moonlight and her eyes narrow as he kneels to see her better. As soon as he’s down to her level, she clears her throat.

And then her hand flies out to swat the stupid grin off his face.

“You idiot! What do you think you’re doing here?”

He rubs at the side of his head. “I came to help you.”

“You being here- does not help me- at all,” she pants, swimming harder to pull away from the out of control current. It’s expanding- We have to move now. “You’re going to drown. I cannot believe you-”

“Do you always complain when someone tries to help you?”

She feels the boat begin to push against her, and the current continues to get wider. They aren’t moving fast enough. Artemis points to the rolled up sail and clips, “Less talking. More-”

Her command gets cut off when two cold hands wrap around her tail fin and drag her into the churning water.

-o-

One second, Artemis is yelling at him- the next, she’s gone. Sounds about right. Wally looks over the side of the boat, but she’s definitely not there anymore. What just happened?

“Artemis?!” He calls out her name, but the only reply he gets is the sound of the tiny boat creaking as it gets pulled into the current. This is bad. His eyes flit about the boat in search of anything that could be useful. Tim has a knack of always having the right tool for the job, and his boat is no different. A small fishing spear and a net are tucked neatly underneath the seat. As soon as he bends down to pull out the net, the boat jerks and he topples to the floor, hands flying out to steady himself.

“What was that?” he asks himself, turning to sit up and look over the edge of the boat. Just beneath the surface, he can make out a plume of blonde hair swishing wildly back and forth.

“Artemis!” he shouts, watching her struggle with a glittery blue shape. One of her hands pops out to the surface, and Wally wastes no time grabbing it and pulling her up. He glares at the thing hurting her and shouts, “Leave her alone!”

Artemis’s hand jerks in his grasp once, using his hold as leverage, and the shape gets swept away from her. Her other hand comes out of the water and it takes a bit of effort on both of their ends to get her out of the water and into the creaking boat. Her tail flops over his legs as they collapse to the floor, and it only hurts a little, so he doesn’t make a sound. He looks over at her in the moonlight. She struggles to catch her breath. Carp.

He sits up slowly, pulling the net into his hand before he asks, “Are you alright?”

“She cut me,” Artemis breathes out incredulously. She moves her arm away from her body, and sure enough, there’s a bleeding wound across the skin of her stomach. “It kind of hurts.”

“Ouch.” Wally sympathizes and tries to get a better look, but she lays back before he can.

She nods in a daze, gazing up at the stars. “Yeah. Ouch.”

He glances from the net in his hand to the glowing blue shape moving with the current to get back to the boat. That could work. Wally moves the spear closer to him, but he puts it down along with the net. He turns to Artemis and quietly asks, “Do you trust me?”

Artemis leans up on her elbows, cringing in pain, before she asks, “Do you trust me?”

His brow furrows. “Of course-”

“Then why did you follow me?” she snaps, pulling herself into a seated position. The boat rocks as the whirlpool spins them around. The blue glow gets closer. “I said I would come back.”

“I just wanted to help,” Wally says quickly, grabbing the net and the spear before he continues, “And I’m going to. Right now. Just- tell me you trust me.”

“Why?”

Wally watches the blue light get faster and whines, “Artemis-”

She grits her teeth as she relents, “Fine. I trust you.”

“Okay, good,” Wally smiles as he stands at the edge of the boat. “Remember that.”

I really hope this works.

He takes a deep breath-

“Wait! What are you-”

And plunges into the water.

The chill of the ocean doesn’t slow him down as he unravels the net and hangs on tight. The glowing witch hits the net, just as planned, but maybe he should’ve factored in her speed during his planning. The net jerks as soon as he closes the ends, but the witch keeps moving and he gets pulled under the boat and into the current. He doesn’t let go of his grip on the net, even as the disoriented witch tries to free herself and fight the current. It’s hard to tell, but he’s sure it’s moving slower than before. Do something, Artemis. He’s able to surface for a gasp of air just before the witch drags him down again. It takes all of his focus to keep the net closed without losing hold. He tries to ignore the fiery pressure building in his lungs, but when the witch pulls him deeper, it becomes impossible. Don’t breathe. Don’t breathe. Don’t breathe.

If this is how he dies, he’ll be disappointed. So will Dick. And Artemis. And Megan and Conner and Garfield and the rest of his kingdom. He can’t disappoint any of them again.

But it’s getting pretty damn hard to stay alive.

His eyes are clenched shut when a hand slips over his mouth, holding it closed. Before he can panic, a strong arm wraps around his torso and pulls him up, or at least in the direction he assumes is up. Artemis.

He gasps for air the moment his head breaks through the surface. Artemis’ hand goes reaching past him.

“Give me the net,” Artemis shouts in his ear. Her fingers wrap around the spear. “Let go!”

His grip on the closure loosens. The second she takes control of the netting, she turns to him and slowly releases her hold on him until the only thing keeping them linked together are their intertwined hands..

As the waters slow down even more, Artemis nods toward Tim’s slowly spinning boat. “Can you make it?”

“I think so,” he guesses. There are doubts. He’s a strong swimmer, but a current like this is nothing to take lightly. Who’s to say Tim’s boat will still be floating in a moment? And he doesn’t want to leave her.

“Don’t count on me saving your life again,” she warns with a tight voice, half-serious. She starts to let go of his hand. “You stay in the boat this time.”

Wally squeezes her fingers as they slip away.

Despite his doubts, he assures her, “I can do that.”

-o-

Artemis yanks the netting down, hard, jostling the witch.

“You wouldn’t dare!” Queen Bee snarls.

Artemis doesn’t flinch. “I so would.”

She gathers a cry in her throat and releases it directly into Queen Bee’s face. When the witch stops fighting the net, she stops screeching and gives the dazed mermaid a good punch to the nose that knocks her unconscious. That felt good. Really good.

It’s finally over, Artemis thinks as she swims down the slowing whirlpool with her dazed prisoner in tow.

Residual magic dissolves around them, leaving an eerie shade of blue trailing in their wake. The whirlpool’s force serves no master other than her father now, and he pulls them in from where he waits. We won. She grits her teeth as water rushes over her laceration. The light from her father’s trident gets steadily closer and she’s so tired but she can’t even think of slowing down. She makes sure to jostle the netting around more than necessary. When she absorbs the image of war torn Atlantica sitting just below her, all feelings of victory vanish. We won, but at what cost?

“Dad,” Artemis calls, stopping just above him. “I have her but this net won’t-”

“Hold? Back up,” Oliver says as he sweeps his trident in a wide arch, absorbing the whirlpool’s energy and casting the power back at the spear still embedded in the net. “Now it’ll will.”

Artemis takes hold of the spear and throws the captured sea witch down to her father. As soon as the metal leaves her hand, she doubles over, clutching her stomach. Yeah, that still hurts. She feels herself sinking, until a familiar fin fits under her arm and keeps her in place.

“Kaldur, you’re alright,” she sighs breathily. “I’m glad.”

Her best friend helps her to her father, and says, “You beat Queen Bee.”

“I had help,” she mumbles, glancing at the lightly glowing net and spear in her father’s hands. Queen Bee groggily struggles against her confines, confused. Artemis asks, “What are you going to do with her?”

Oliver jostles the net, debating his answer. Artemis doesn’t see why he has to think about it. She knows what she’d do. For crimes against the throne, murder, attempted murder, and a slew of other terrible misdeeds, Artemis would give Queen Bee exactly what she deserved.

“Something I should’ve done a long time ago,” Oliver says solemnly. “I’m handing her over to Diana.”

Artemis scraps her ideas because her father’s punishment is far worse than what she’d been thinking. Diana, Princess of Paradise Cove, does not allow injustice to go unpunished, and Queen Bee’s reputation is known in every ocean. The details are always kept vague whenever Oliver mentions Diana’s grievance against the sea witch, but Artemis knows enough to be sure Queen Bee will never hurt anyone again. Her eyes flit down and catch a few straggling citizens peeking out of their half ruined home and she wants nothing more than to assure them that everything is going to be okay, but until she knows- until the trenchies are driven away and order is restored, she won’t make promises she can’t keep. The moment of quiet is destroyed when Roy swims up to them with a crowd of palace guards and medics in tow. Her hold on her best friend tightens as merpeople start prodding her and asking questions and getting way too close. Kaldur notices her discomfort and wiggles enough to swat away the hands that reach towards her.

“Back up. She needs space,” he warns. “It’s a superficial wound and we’ll handle it.”

The merpeople grumble over taking orders from a little fish like Kaldur, but they back off anyways. Artemis bites at her lip as Oliver cuts through the crowd to get to her, sea witch still in his control. Her enraged expression tells her she’s starting to recover from the screech. Should have hit her harder.

“You’re hurt,” he points out.

“I’m okay,” she says with a shrug. Her finger points to the city below. “We need to get down there. Tell them it’s over.”

“Don’t you worry about that,” Oliver sighs. His trident glows, sending a thin green line over the cut on her stomach. It stops stinging. She smiles, until the past few days catch up to her and she remembers that nothing makes sense.

She asks, guilt bubbling in her chest, “How are you not mad at me right now? I-I ran away. I went to the surface. I did everything you’ve always told me not to do-”

He cuts her off, pulling her into a one-armed hug. “While I’m not particularly happy with the choices you’ve made, I am proud of how you’ve handled their repercussions. Ever since your mother died, I haven’t been fair to you. I kept you close because I couldn’t survive losing someone so precious to me again. I never truly listened when you tried to tell me I was smothering you. It was selfish and I’m so sorry, Artemis. I drove you away. Took away what made you happy-”

“Dad-”

“I won’t do that again,” he finishes with a rueful smile. Artemis relaxes into the hug, thinking if her father was being so damn sappy, she was truly forgiven.

“Your Majesty,” Roy cuts in carefully. “Cassie is retrieving Princess Diana and the Trench dwellers are fleeing our forces, but there are still many subjects in need of reassurance.”

Queen Bee laughs once, twice, three times, before she dissolves into the high pitched kind of laughter Artemis always knew she had inside of her.

Artemis glowers at her and growls, “What’s so funny, witch? Diana is going to turn you inside out when she learns about what you’ve done.”

“Diana won’t touch a hair on my head,” the witch laughs. “Not as long as I have Dinah.”

It’s as if the entire ocean freezes over.

Oliver pulls the witch to eye level and points his trident at her face; his eyes blazing as bright as the tip of the weapon. “How dare you speak her name! Your lies won’t save you-”

“What?!” Artemis shouts over her father. “What the hell did you just say?!”

Queen Bee smirks, eyes unfocused. “Exactly what you heard, Princess. Ever since your little accident, Dinah’s been great company. She makes such a pretty picture.”

“What are you talking about?”

Queen Bee turns her head away from them and shrugs, “I’m afraid I’ve already said too much. You’ll have to set me free to find out the truth.”

I broke her brain, Artemis thinks angrily. Maybe I should break it some more.

“No, they won’t,” a cold voice cuts in from below. Tiny, tired seahorse in hand, Diana of Paradise Cove rises to meet the three. Artemis takes Cassie from the older Princess and sends the seahorse away with Kaldur and Roy. “Sorry I’m late, King Oliver. We had our own invasion to stop. It turned out to be a distraction so we would be unable to help you. My Amazons are here now, helping down below.”

“Thank you,” Oliver shakes her hand gratefully.

“I wish we could have been here sooner,” Diana sighs. She turns to Artemis and hands her the glowing coil of rope from her belt. The rope is warm between her fingers. She spins it around the netting and Queen Bee, who has gotten awfully quiet since Diana’s arrival. All talk. She’s lying. She has to be lying.

“The lasso will compel her to tell the truth. All you need do is ask.”

Artemis tightens the lasso around the witch and takes a long breath before asking, “What did you mean about ‘having’ my mother? She’s dead.”

Queen Bee fights to keep her mouth shut, but the words tumble out so quickly, Artemis has to strain to keep up.

“Dinah isn’t dead. She’s my prisoner. Years ago, when Queen Dinah and Artemis were out on one of their surface outings, I followed them into the open ocean. There was a human ship that got caught in a storm, and when Dinah went to save those pitiful beings, Artemis followed against her mother’s wishes. The ship exploded, and Artemis was gravely injured. Dinah didn’t know what to do and I saw it as a perfect opportunity to get back at Oliver for banishing me. I offered Dinah a trade: her freedom in exchange for me saving her daughter’s life. She accepted.”

Artemis pulls the lasso tighter, straining against her raging emotions. “What are you talking about? I saw the ship explode! I saw her die! I wasn’t hurt! Dad found me just fine-“

“Dinah only agreed on the condition that your memory be modified to include her ‘death’. I saved your life, and she became a portrait on my wall, to be preserved in chains for all of eternity.”

Artemis can’t breathe. She can’t move. The only thought racing through her mind is: The mermaid in the shell-piece portrait is my mother. She didn’t die.

With a wobbly voice, Oliver takes a piece of the lasso and asks, “How do we bring Dinah back?”

Queen Bee thrashes in the hold, fighting to keep her last piece of leverage, but the lasso and the emotion behind the question is stronger than she could ever hope to be.

“The green bottle on the top shelf, straight across from the portrait. Smash it, and the contract within it, and the spell will be broken. Dinah will return.”

Diana takes the rope from Oliver’s limp hand and coldly asks, “How many others have you captured, and do we free them in the same way?”

“At least twelve, and yes. Now, let me go!”

Diana wraps the remainder of the lasso around Queen Bee and takes up the glowing spear from Oliver.

“Not on your life, witch,” Diana glowers. She changes her expression when she looks between Artemis and Oliver, both of whom are too stunned and lost to act. “I will personally take her to my mother for judgment. She won’t bother you ever again.”

“Wait!” Artemis snaps, looking straight at Queen Bee. “My memories. Will I get them back when the spell is broken?”

Diana repeats, “Will they?”

“Yes,” is all Queen Bee has time to say before Artemis grabs her father’s hand and pulls him aside.

“Dad?”

“Dinah’s alive,” he tells her. Artemis nods and pulls his hand again.

“Dad, let’s go get her.”

“Go, Oliver,” Diana nudges him. “We have everything under control now. Bring her back.”

He hesitates. “The people-”

“They will understand,” Diana dismisses his fear. “Dinah was adored by everyone. What the people need now is hope, and that’s her.”

He takes Artemis’ hand and turns to Diana. “You’re one hell of a mermaid, Diana. Thank you. For everything. We’ll never be able to repay you. Roy’s in charge until we return. Cassie’s in charge of making sure it doesn’t get to his head.”

He smiles at Artemis, with a light in his eyes she hasn’t seen in years. “You ready to get your Mom back, kiddo?”

She’s about to say yes, when a thought strikes her.

Oh carp.

“One little thing.” Artemis takes a long breath before she points up and says, “I need to get him back home.” Before he dies at sea.

For a moment, neither of them knows what to do besides stare at each other. Come on, Dad, Mom’s waiting.

Oliver weighs his trident in his hand before he unexpectedly says, “Alright.”

Artemis barely has time to register what’s happening before he takes her hand propels them towards the surface. She purses her lips and tries to keep her eyes wide open.

Her heart hurts, knowing her mother has been trapped for years because of her. She needs her memories back. She needs to know what really happened that day. But before she can get any of those answers, she has to keep a promise. Dinah would want her to. (Plus, if she ever wants her suddenly-not-as-dead-as-she-thought-Mom to meet this guy, he has to be alive and not frozen.)

The surface is almost within reach. Her father slows to a stop, just before they can touch the bottom of the boat. She’s rather amazed at how it held together.

“I should go up first to explain things,” Artemis says quickly, as she trails her hand over some deep scratches on the wood. “He’s probably confused and you might scare him.”

“Just- tell me one thing,” Oliver sighs. “This human... Can he be trusted?”

She doesn’t hesitate when she says, “Absolutely.”

“Be quick about it then.” At her father’s nod, she breaks through the surface, taking care to make no noise. She listens to the prince’s teeth chatter as he mutters to himself.

“-ew I sh-sh-should’ve stopped to get a coat... What t-t-time is it?... What d-day is it? Is this even real? Or is this all one giant, horrif-f-fyingly life-like hallucination?”

“Probably,” Artemis whispers nonchalantly. She pulls herself up against the side of the boat. “After all, mermaids don’t exist.”

Wally sits up with a start, shakes out his dripping hair, and searches for her face in the darkness. She rests her head on her arms and waits. When he finally meets her eyes, he grins and moves closer, careful to keep the battered boat in balance.

He clears his throat before saying, “You are real.”

“I know.” Artemis lifts her head from her arms and smiles. When they make eye contact again, neither can keep themselves from bursting into near-silent, disbelieving laughter.

Wally wipes at his eyes, still breathless when he asks, “I’m assuming we won?”

Artemis nods. “Yes, it’s over. The witch has been taken care of.”

“And you’re alright?” He sits up to get a better look at her.

She pushes away from the boat, showing off her glowing magical bandage, and says, “I’ll be fine. Better than fine, actually.”

“Good,” Wally sighs, and he slumps against the railing until his face skims the top of her fingers. She nearly lets go of the boat.

“You’re already cold!” Her hand flies to his face, and she knows there is an issue when he leans into her touch. Humans shouldn’t be that could. She would know. She was human for a few days.

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ll make a habit out of jumping into the ocean in the middle of the night,” Wally says with another sigh, closing his eyes. “Unless it’s for you.”

The boat rocks when something gives it a good bump from below the surface.

Wally’s eyes snap open and he pales. He inches closer to her, whispering, “I thought you said you took care of her.”

Artemis palms his face and makes him sit up. “That’s my father. He probably wants to kill you.”

“What?”

“Kidding. Stay awake,” she laughs shortly, patting his arm. The adrenaline rush from the discovery of her mother’s whereabouts is hitting her hard. Everything is high energy. “He just wants to leave. It’s time we go home.”

Before she can return to the water to call up her father, he grabs her hand.

“Wait,” he pleads, hope shining in his eyes. “You want to stay with me?”

Her throat tightens. Is that an option? She shakes her head sadly, heart breaking at the sight of his falling smile. No, it isn’t. Not when I just get Mom back. Not when Atlantica is in pieces. I’m needed here. She’s torn, because the look on his face tells her she’s needed above sea level too.

“I meant I’d make sure you made it home safely. I... can’t stay,” she finishes, unsure.

It wouldn’t work, she reminds herself as she slowly sinks into the water. I want my parents back together. I want my Mom in my life again. I’m a mermaid princess, with a mermaid princess life and mermaid princess responsibilities. I don’t get to live in my fantasy world anymore. It was nice while it lasted.

“Oh,” Wally tries to swallow down his obvious disappointment as he leans over the side of the boat. “I, uh, guess I shouldn’t have assumed.”

She shrugs, and slips under the surface before she does something stupid, like tell him she loves him.  

“What’s wrong?” Oliver asks when she returns. “Did he die?”

“No, Dad,” Artemis clips, turning away from him. “He didn’t die. Send him home with a quick current. We need to find Mom as soon as possible.”

Oliver makes a thoughtful noise before he puts a hand on her shoulder and says, “You sure he isn’t dead? Because that’s how you’re acting right now.”

The rush is hitting him, too.

Artemis spins around and snaps, “I live in the sea and he belongs on land. Atlantica needs me just as much as his people need him. I can’t go back. He can’t stay. We have no choice but to say goodbye today and then... then I can’t see him anymore. So, yes, I am kind of upset at the moment, even though I should be swimming circles because of Mom.”

She turns again and crosses her arms, hoping to hold in the rest of her churning emotions. Get a hold of yourself. This isn’t the end of the world. You get a new start. Mom will fix things.

“Artemis,” Oliver calls her name after a long moment. “What if I told you you did have a choice?”

She can’t be hearing him correctly. Her heart pounds in her ears and she faces him again. “What?”

“You have options,” he reiterates seriously. “You can stay- or I can turn you back into a human. I have things handled here-”

“You can do that?” Her voice breaks in disbelief and her eyes flit to the trident in his hand. He can do that?!

“I’ve never done it before,” he warns her, “but I wouldn’t offer unless I knew it was possible.”

“No,” Artemis shakes her head furiously, her thoughts flipping to the last decision she made about this. “You won’t make me choose. I choose not to choose.”

“Let me finish,” he says. “You can go, stay, whatever you want. And the-”

“There’s too much to do right now,” Artemis cuts him off. “Mom is still a bunch of shell pieces stuck to a wall. His port was attacked. We just fought a war. I could never ask him to abandon his life, and I don’t want to leave you or Mom or Atlantica behind forever- I won’t choose.”

“Artemis, listen to me,” Oliver reaches over and shakes her shoulder lightly. “You don’t have to.”

She bites her cheek and waits for him to continue.

“We can hammer out the details later, but I can see how important this human is to you. You’d never forgive me if I took him out to keep our secret-“

“Dad-“

“So you can have both. Come and go as you please. I’ll figure out the specifics behind the magic and you get your dream world and I- we’ll still get you,” Oliver hugs his daughter. “You deserve everything, Artemis. Let me finally give it to you.”

She can hardly speak, so instead of giving him an answer, she slowly suggests, “Let’s go get Mom first.”

-o-

Queen Bee’s cave is exactly how she remembers it, creepy spinning clam chair and all. Artemis doesn’t care about anything but the shell-pieces on the wall and the green bottle on the top shelf. As they approach the main cavern, they split up. Oliver heads straight for the portrait, while Artemis makes a beeline for the green bottle. It’s right where Queen Bee said it would be, and it holds a glowing piece of parchment inside. Not for long.

Artemis looks from bottle to the portrait to her father, then back to the bottle. As she spins the bottle around, she hears her father gasp. When the bottle flies from her hand, she hears him say her name. When the bottle hits the ground, she hears her name again, being said by someone far, far away.

“Artemis, stay here! I’ll be right back.” Dinah places both hands on her daughter’s shoulders and nods. “Stay where it’s safe.”

As her mother’s tailfin swishes away from her, Artemis twists her hair in her hands anxiously. Her heart pounds in her ears. There’s a monster out here. She saw it. It was scary, and she didn’t want her Momma to leave her, but she also didn’t want those humans to drown. She has to be brave. Beneath her, a shadow moves and Artemis’ keen eyes catch it before she can dismiss it as her imagination.

“Momma!” she cries out, swimming as fast as she can towards the Queen of Atlantica. “Momma, the rocks!”

Dinah’s pulling one of the men up in the water when she spots her daughter nearing. “Artemis, no, go back!”

The little mermaid shakes her head and points behind her. “The monster’s in the-“

The sea gets blown away with the explosion. All she can see is blue and red and the green of her mother’s fin. The monster is coming. She can feel it. She has to move, save her Momma, but she can’t. Everything hurts. Her eyes won’t stay open. She can’t hear her Momma shouting at her, can’t feel her holding her. Why is she shouting? Why is the world so blurry?

“Artemis. Artemis, wake up!”

Distant voices call out for her, and she reaches out of the memory, beyond the shards of glass, and grasps the present. She opens her eyes. A smooth hand brushes her hair back away from her face. It feels exactly how she remembers it.

Dinah hasn’t changed one bit.

“There you are, my little spitfire.”

-o-

The sea breeze sweeps across the deck and Artemis takes a deep breath. She closes her eyes, curls her toes against the wood, and leans backward, allowing the strong wind to hold her upright at the bow of the ship. The skies are clear and the ship cuts through the water with ease. This is living, she thinks with a small smile. She opens her eyes when the wind suddenly stops holding her up and instead of falling, she sinks into a warm embrace.

“I hate this part,” Wally sighs dramatically. She turns in his grasp to face him. “Can’t you stay a little longer?”

“I’ve been here all week,” she laughs, swatting his arm, “and my skills are needed elsewhere. We’re almost done rebuilding the palace and that-”

“And that’s the last of it, I know,” he cuts her off and rolls his eyes. “You’ve been telling me every ten minutes, all week long.”

“Have not.” She slips her arm around his waist as she turns back to face the bow. They lean against the railing together, watching the horizon. Their small crew, made up of Wally’s most trusted friends, knows not to interrupt their time together as they sail towards the drop off point. They’ll hassle Wally about it as soon as she leaves, but they’re polite enough to hold off until then. She likes them.

Artemis leans against the man beside her and smiles. For the time being, she’ll split her time between Atlantica and the surface fairly evenly, with the help of her father’s magic. Someday, they’ll figure it all out (the double life she leads is temporary) but until that day, they’ll enjoy this. The merpeople are getting more and more accustomed to her living between worlds, but the humans never fail to ask curious questions about her trips to her ‘homeland’.

Eventually, when she’s ready and they can handle it, she’ll tell them the truth. Only a handful of humans know about the deal she made with her father after the battle only two months ago. She is to be the bridge bringing humans and the merpeople of Atlantica together. With her help and when the time is right, the two kingdoms will be able to coexist in peace and learn from each other. She’ll be able to live on land without giving up her people and her friends. Her mother is proud and alive and encouraging and drives her to do her best in her position. Atlantica is an entirely different place with Dinah back. Cassie got her vacation. Roy got off babysitting duty. Kaldur gets to visit often. Jade steals food from Conner almost every day. It’s normal. Her life is falling into a place she could have never imagined in her wildest dreams. It’s everything she’s ever wanted and more.

When she drags her gaze away from the sea, she catches Wally watching her. They both smile, despite her drop-off being only minutes away. Artemis moves her arms to wrap them around his neck and pulls him closer. The scattered freckles on his cheeks begin to blend in with his blush. She smirks softly.

“Almost time,” he says as he threads his fingers through the tips of her hair.

“You’ll stay in the boat this time?” she asks in a tiny breath, her lips hovering over his.

He kisses her softly, quickly, and assures her, “Yeah, I can do that.”

THE END.