Reunion at Sea

The Return of the King

"Gothel." Frederic whispered.

"Yes, Gothel was one of us." Lucas confirmed. "But, she betrayed us. Even in death, she uses her powers, powers given by our Mistress to aid us, to get in our way just as Regulus is doing." He chuckled a bit. "Turns out, she and Varian have a...close relationship. I wonder if he knew all along where your daughter was and was laughing behind your back while you searched for her?"

Frederic growled. "I would not be surprised at all."

Lucas nodded. "Well, now that you're awake, we have a feast prepared! Let's have a good time tonight and, tomorrow, we'll get start on training you in your new powers."

"Powers?" He looked at his hand.

"Yes." Lucas grinned. "You have powers now. Powers to rival Varian's. Powers to take your daughter, your Kingdom, back from him."

Frederic's lips curled into a shark-like grin. Lucas took a moment to appreciate his new sharp teeth and then turned to go. "Come on, let's go party!"

Frederic walked out with the rest of them, moving a hand up to shield his eyes from the bright light. Tromus snapped his fingers and the lanterns dimmed so it wasn't as bright. "You'll have to adjust to your new eyes." He told him. "Now you can see in the dark, by the way."

"That's useful." Frederic nodded.

–

Though there were only a few of them left, they still managed to consume the entire feast just by themselves. Magic, Frederic learned, apparently consumed a lot of energy and made one very, very hungry.

He'd caught sight of himself in a mirror and was examining his reflection thoughtfully. Lucas walked over and pulled him back a bit gently. "Careful there, Fred. The mirrors here tend to be a bit...grabby."

"I look so...inhuman." Frederic reached up to touch his pointed ears, opening his mouth to examine his sharp teeth, widening his eyes to see the slit pupils better. Even his nails had sharpened, everything looked so...demonic.

"Don't worry, part of your training is learning how to regain your 'human' appearance." Lucas assured him as they walked away from the mirror. "For now, just relax, talk, have fun! We've got a chess set here."

"I would like to start my training now." Frederic said, examining his sharp nails.

"Training will start tomorrow. You just woke up, you need time to adjust. You're trying to go for a swim when you've just been born." Lucas chuckled.

Frederic pouted but agreed that he had a point and let him steer him away to where the other three were in what looked like a lounge/recreation room. Tromus was playing darts while Selina had a book in her hands and Melina was sneaking up to Tromus with a teddy bear – scratch that, a real, live baby bear.

"Gah!" Tromus yelled as the bear was put on his back. "Melina!"

She giggled and stepped back while he tried to dislodge the bear without being scratched up or dropping the creature.

"Melina, why did you separate the cub from its mother?" Lucas asked.

"Who said I did?" She pointed behind them and Frederic looked back and jumped in alarm as a bear charged at them. Lucas calmly moved him out of the way and they watched as the bear charged at Tromus, roaring. Melina moved between them and held out a hand. "Shhh." She soothed, and the bear slowly calmed down and lowered her head. Melina placed her hand against the bear's head and hummed softly. "Hey, can you do me a favor?"

The bear moaned softly and Melina giggled before placing both hands on the bear's head. "Go to Corona...and make a mess. 'Kay?"

The bear roared and then turned and ran off. Melina waved as she left and then turned back to where Tromus had safely dislodged the baby. "As for you, why don't you go to Old Corona?" She tapped his nose and set him down and the baby left the same way his mother did.