Harry knows. He knows that he is still on a bit of a probational period with this place and that this behavior could get him in a lot of trouble, but he just can't help it. Louis is too tempting.
How can Harry help it that whenever he is out for warrior training, Louis sneaks along and whisks him away? He can't that's how.
Two years Harry has been in this body and in warrior training and yet Louis' parents still feel hesitant about trusting him and Louis together. They gave Harry his own room on one of the lower levels of the castle and are constantly giving Louis "royal tasks" that keep him too busy for Harry. Sometimes Harry feels like he's being banished just without the having to leave Atlantis part.
But Harry also knows that this isn't even the Queen's choice. The King is the one who is having trouble with the whole "Harry was a human who Louis saved by turning him into one of them" thing. It wasn't a secret that the King wasn't very proud of how Louis sent his life. Granted he did love his son, but he wished that Louis would be more like Liam and less like his gentle mother. When he had a second son the King expected to have another strong warrior that could fight at his brother's side, but Louis cried when he was pushed into early training and hid away from the weapons.
He was his mother's favorite though. She liked the fact that her little boy wouldn't grow up to be some brutish fighter. Not that she thought that of Liam, but it seemed like that was how so many warriors ended up. She liked that Louis always wanted to be by her side and join her in getting to know their subjects.
Harry liked that too. It was oddly endearing how Louis never wanted to fight with anyone. And maybe subconsciously Louis was really distracting Harry because he didn't want him to fight either. Like right now for instance, Louis once again snuck away from his duties and snatched Harry away from field training. It was hard to get away from this part of training though, considering it mainly consisted of swimming among the reefs and staying in stealth mode.
"Louis! One of these days you are going to get me in so much trouble!" Harry giggled as he pushed his lover against a cave wall and kissed him.
Louis only laughed with him. "It's not my fault that this is the only way to see you anymore!"
"If we get caught your parents will probably banish me, you know." Harry said seriously.
Louis rolled his eyes. Harry always brought this up whenever they snuck around. "How many times do i have to tell you? Mother will never let that happen."
Louis went back in for a kiss but Harry held him back. "I know you say that Louis, but one day your father could put his foot down and not listen to her. I'm almost done with training okay? And then I will be your personal guard and we won't have to worry about this."
Louis sighed but nodded in agreement. Then he looked around nervously and pulled Harry further into Speaking of my father... there was something I overheard him and Liam talking about and... I don't think they will make you my guard until the problem is solved."
Harry looked at him, concerned. Louis hardly got nervous about anything so this behavior scared Harry. "What were they talking about?"
Louis bit his lip. "They think some Sea Witch... Eris or something... has returned. I don't really know much about her, but everyone is really scared. Even my father sounded off about it. Harry Sea Witches are really dangerous, what if... what if they make you fight against her?"
Harry shook his head and scooped Louis into his arms. "Louis I told you. If anyone tries to hurt you I will destroy them. That goes for this Eris person. I'm not scared of her."
Louis rests his forehead on Harry's and wraps his arms around his neck. "You really should be though. I know I am."
"Don't be. I will keep you safe, I promise." Harry whispered before kissing Louis once again. "But for now I have to get back to training."
Louis huffed and reluctantly let go of Harry, letting him swim away and back to what he was supposed to be doing. However, Louis just couldn't shake this feeling that Harry's promise wouldn't be kept.
~ ~ ~
Ever since the whole Niall incident, Louis' parents thought it would be best for him to have more guards watching him. They just wanted to make sure he didn't get into trouble. Obviously it wasn't really working because he was able to sneak out to see Harry almost every day, but that wasn't all Louis snuck out for.
He always loved to swim out to this hidden seaweed fields that only a handful of people knew about. Those people being Louis, Harry, and Niall. It was a long stretch of 30 foot shallow water that was covered in seaweed and was a favorite place for fish to hide their eggs. Louis liked to watch the little schools being born and welcome them to their lives.
Today was Harry's test for training so Louis knew he couldn't very well distract him and have Harry fail, so he went to his field. It wasn't the right time of year for fish to be born but he could at least check up on the eggs. He swam about the field, weaving in and out of the stalks of seaweed and grass. Other fish were there as well and they seemed to be following Louis, but he was used to it; he always had that effect on animals.
But then the water around him grew cold, the sun above him dimmed, and the fish dashed into hiding places. Louis looked around frantically, regretting his choice to sneak out for the first time. There didn't seem to be anyone there, but something was definitely wrong. He turned to swim back but stopped immediately at that he saw.
Sharks. There were four sharks circling the field, trapping Louis inside. He backed further into the plants to try and hide but he knew it would make them leave. Not until they got what they wanted.
But Louis' attempts to hide were for not, because as he was backing up he hit something. A very tall something that laughed darkly at their contact. Louis turned and gasped at the sight in front of him. A very tall woman with a set of black tentacles. She sneered at him with sharpened teeth, grey skin, and it looked like she had serpents for hair. Her arms were crossed and Louis could see sharp black claws at the end of her fingers. He knew exactly who she was.
"Eris?" Louis asked, trembling at the icy cold water surrounding him.
She chuckled again and smirked down at him, her tentacles coming up and circling the paralyzed boy's body. He wanted to swim away, but he knew the sharks would just get him. He wanted to scream, but there was nobody close enough to save him. He wanted Harry.
"Oh sweetheart, don't look so scared." Her voice was deep and cold and Louis knew a spell was being cast from her every word. "I'm surprised you know who I am, did your darling mother talk about me?"
Louis tensed up even more at the mention of his mother. "N-No I- my brother..."
"Ah yes, I've heard about your brother. A great warrior, future king, but I'm afraid not even he will be able to save you when I'm finished." Suddenly her tentacles grabbed Louis' tiny body and She yanked him close. "I'm really going to enjoy this revenge."
Louis wanted to ask what the fuck she was talking about but then he looked into her glowing eyes and he couldn't breathe. His tail started to burn and lightning struck down on them. Eris laughed maniacally and swam them up to the surface. Louis struggled in her grasp and was close to passing out, before they burst out of the water and he could breathe again.
Eris grabbed Louis by the throat and the glowing in her eyes went down, but Louis was still in pain. "Don't worry little prince, I'll be sure to tell your little family exactly where you are."
He wanted to ask why she was doing this but she threw him to the side and he thrashed about the water, struggling to stay above. "Please! Please don't leave me here! Let me go home!"
Eris smirked at him, but picked him up once again with one of her tentacles. "Oh little prince, I won't leave you here. But I'm certainly not letting you go home." She squeezed him tightly with the tentacle. So tightly that Louis went light headed and blacked out. The last image he saw was of Eris's sharks surrounding him.
~ ~ ~
"Zayn! Zayn look over here!" Niall called out to his captain. He could see someone floating in the water on a small wood board, but he couldn't make out much more.
Zayn ran over quickly, glaring at anyone else in the crew that so much a smiled at them. "Niall, you have to call me captain when we're on deck."
"Sorry Zee, but look out there! I think that's a person!" Niall told him.
Zayn squinted out and nodded in agreement. "Yeah I think it is. Crew! Man overboard! Off the port side!"
The ship was turned off its course and toward the floating body and the boy was pulled onto the ship. Niall stayed back for as long as he could, but eventually his curiosity got the better of him. He ran down the ship and pushed past the crew to look at Zayn resuscitating the last person he ever thought he would see again.
"Louis?" Niall gasped as his friend spit up some water and looked around frantically. He was completely naked so someone threw him a blanket to cover up and Zayn helped him to his feet. But Louis just stumbled forward and hit the ground again. "Louis!"
Niall ran over and caught Louis on the ground. "Niall?"
"Louis what's going on?" Niall asked quickly.
The rest of the crew were looking at them with puzzled faces and Zayn figured out what must have been going on so he knelt down next to them. "Ni, maybe we should take this back to my quarters. Back to your posts crew!"
Zayn picked Louis up and walked them to his quarters, the crew running back to their places. Zayn was a good captain and generally nice, but he was fucking scary if you disobeyed orders. He gently set Louis down on his bed and opened a trunk to get him some clothes. Niall just sat next Louis and held his hand to keep him from having a panic attack.
"Louis, how did this happen? And where's Harry?" the blonde haired boy asked quietly.
But Louis couldn't speak. He was having trouble processing what was even going on, until he looked down. He didn't even notice it before, but he had legs and feet. He was human. "Eris... Sea Witch... I-I'm human."
~ ~ ~
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE IS MISSING?"
Harry stopped at the end of the hall to the throne room at the sound of the King's voice bellowing through the hall. He saw Liam and Danielle waiting outside the door with worried looks. Liam was pacing and Danielle seemed to be trying to calm him down, but it clearly wasn't working.
"Liam, please it's going to be okay." Danielle pleaded with him.
Liam sighed and turned back to her. "How do you know? We have a fucking Sea Witch on the loose and my brother is missing and—"
"Louis is missing?"
Liam and Danielle turned to see Harry swimming toward them. "Oh Harry. I-I'm sorry, we were going to get you but you were in your test and—"
"LOUIS IS MISSING?" Harry yelled at them. He glanced at the door and heard more yelling coming through so he tried to go in, but Liam stopped him.
"Yes! Y-yes Louis was supposed to be in his room, but when father went in... Louis was gone." Liam said as he held Harry back.
Harry growled into Liam's shoulder and pushed him away. "It was Eris, wasn't it?"
Liam and Danielle shared a look. "How do you know about her?"
"Louis heard you talking about her and told me." Harry sighed. "Let me through that door. I have to speak to your father."
Liam didn't stop him this time though, just turned away and let Harry burst through the door. There was a crowd of guards around the King and Queen and all of them turned to look at him.
"Where is he?" Harry asked darkly.
But before anyone could answer the walls grew dark and the water around them became freezing cold. The queen gasped and clutched onto her husband's arms. The guards stood at the ready and Liam flew into the room to join them. Sharks swam through the windows and Harry pulled out his sword. Then an eerie voice echoed into everyone's ears.
"Hello your majesties. Remember me? I'm assuming you do since your darling son was so brave as to address me by name. He looks so much like you Amphitrite. Same blue eyes, same soft voice. A voice you won't be hearing ever again."
The queen gasped with a hand to her mouth. "Where is Louis? Don't you dare hurt my son!"
"Hurt? I would never. I simply took something you cared about away from you. Just like you took away all I cared about from me."
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SON?" The queen yelled. Nobody was even sure she was yelling at someone; they could only hear Eris's voice, not see her. The sharks started to swim closer but they weren't attacking.
"Just the one thing you fear most. I sent him to a place he can never come back from. A form he can never reverse out of."
"No!"
"That's right. I turned your favorite son into a human. And you will never get him back."
Her laughter filled the halls of the castle and then the sharks retreated out of the windows. The sun came back in and the water warmed back up, but the queen collapsed to the ground. A rush of guards came to her aid and another group followed the sharks to try and find the witch.
"W-we have to find him, we have to find my Louis!" Amphitrite cried. She pushed the guards away and swam to Harry and Liam. "Harry, y-you know humans don't you? There must be someone who found him, h-he could still be alive couldn't he?"
Harry looked around at all of the nervous and expectant faces staring back at him, but his eyes settled on the King. The King was practically glaring at him, like Eris taking Louis was his fault. He looked back at the Queen and sneered at her. "What did you do? What on earth could you have done that caused this."
"Don't you dare speak that way to your Queen!" Amphitrite yelled. But Harry didn't calm down, he wouldn't until he knew why some witch took the love of his life. And the Queen knew this, and she also knew that everyone else around would want an explanation as well. "W-we were childhood friends. And both of us fell in love with Triton, but I was chosen by his parents to be his bride. Eris... didn't take it well and she got involved with black magic. She accidentally killed her whole family, but she blamed it all on me, still blames it all on me. We banished her and haven't heard a word for two thousand years. Please Harry, just help me get my son back."
Harry looked at the Queen with pity and took her hands. "Your majesty, I am sorry for your story, and I-I can't promise you anything, but I will do everything I can to find him. Louis is everything to me and I won't rest until I know what happened to him."
Liam put his hand on Harry's shoulder to get his attention. "But Harry there's just one more problem; if we find Louis and he is alive, he will be human. Father and I can't reverse the dark magic used by a witch."
Harry groaned, frustrated, and swam to the King. "There must be something that can work. You are this all powerful king of a species that I didn't even know was real until two years ago and yet you can't undo a simple spell?"
"Stand down boy." The King growled. "Believe it or not that magic is very rare to come by. You were fed a very rare angel fish in order to become this way, there are only a hundred of those in the entire world. Did you know that? Our magic is not as uncomplicated as you want it to be."
Harry probably should have stood down, this King could have him locked up for this behavior after all, but he didn't. He wouldn't. Not when Louis was lost in the world. "I know there must be something you can do."
Triton backed up and calmed some of the guards that had approached at Harry's aggressive words. He glanced at his trident and then at his wife and then back at Harry. "There is something. A witch's power is controlled by her very life, the stronger she feels, the stronger the spell. But if there is no life, then there is no spell."
Harry thought about it and then unsheathed his sword. "Then I'll have to kill her."
~ ~ ~
Louis felt sick. The undulating movement of the boat was upsetting his empty stomach, and he could barely turn over in his bed. Not to mention he couldn't get comfortable with his extra limbs. Legs were ridiculous and they bent weirdly and Louis missed his tail. He missed the way it matched his eyes and his nails, which were now a boring pale pink like his skin, and the way it naturally swished in the water.
Humans were fucking strange. Not to mention he had this other... thing... that he didn't even want to think about. Of course Harry had told him about it, but Louis just wasn't used to it. He wasn't used to this body, and he didn't want to be.
But after being in this body for a week with no sign of Harry or Liam or anyone from his own world coming to save him, Louis was starting think he might have to. Niall was really supportive of him though. He was teaching him everything there was to know about being a human and making sure none of the crew picked up on what was actually going on.
Zayn knew of course, Niall had told him everything when Zayn rescued him. He knew about mermaids and Louis' family and pretty much everything about Niall's old life. He was a bit scared at first, but he really couldn't stop himself from falling for the adorable blonde, so Zayn accepted it. Still they decided it would all be a little hard to explain to the crew, so the mermaid world was kept a secret.
"Louis?" Niall's soft voice came through the door. "Are you feeling any better?"
Louis grunted as a response and rolled over on the bed. "Not at all Ni. Not at all."
Niall sighed and sat on the bed next to him. "I know it's hard Lou, but you can't just waste away in here. Harry is looking for you, I just know it."
"It's been a week Niall. Seven days. Shouldn't he have found me by now? Are the ocean's really this big to humans?" Louis asked.
Niall rubbed his back to comfort him. "Lou you said you were alone when Eris got you, that means Harry has no idea where you are. These oceans are very big and without a clue of where you are? He could be going days in the completely wrong direction."
"That makes me feel loads better Niall, thank you." Louis groaned, pushing his face into the pillow.
Before Niall could say anything else, Zayn came bursting through the door with a panicked expression on his face. "Niall Louis! You two might want to get out here!"
He ran back out the door, sword in hand, and Niall helped Louis get out of the bed. They stumbled through the door together, Louis was still having troubles walking, and followed Zayn to the back end of the ship.
"What is it Zee?" Niall asked tiredly. Zayn didn't answer though, just motioned to the waters bellow them and Louis almost jumped right in.
There were mermen swimming all around the ship, circling it and not coming above water. And Louis just knew they were his father's warriors. He looked around frantically between them until his eyes settled on exactly what he wanted to find.
Harry's green, shiny tail poked out of the water at the head of the warriors and Louis could have cried with happiness. Instead he shouted to him.
"Harry! Harry I'm here!" Louis called out to him, but Harry didn't come above water. He swam around the boat and didn't even look up at them. "Harry please! I'm up here, you found me!"
Louis climbed up on the rail of the boat, but Niall was quick to grab him before he could jump. "Louis! He can't understand you! You're not speaking fish anymore."
"Well then someone has to get his attention!" Louis yelled and grabbed a bottle from the map table next to them and chucked it into the water, hitting Harry directly in the back. The merman jumped out of the water and his jaw dropped when he saw Louis. He shouted something, but it came out gargled and Louis knew that Niall was right, they couldn't understand each other.
Still Louis struggled against Niall's grip and then jumped into the water to Harry. They swam to each other and Harry lifted Louis into a passionate kiss. When they pulled apart Harry held Louis' cheeks in his large hands and kissed his forehead. He tried to say something but Louis still couldn't understand him, although he had a feeling it was something along the lines of I love you so much.
"I love you too Harry, I love you too!" Louis said desperately, a few tears slipping down his cheeks. The first time he cried above water Louis was completely freaked out. He thought something was seriously wrong, but Niall explained that it was a perfectly natural human reaction.
Harry smiled widely like he sort of understood as well, but he turned to one of the guards. They exchanged a few gargles and the guard dipped into the water. After a few moments, Liam came up from the water and his eyes widened when he saw his now human brother. He pulled him out of Harry's arms and into his own tight embrace. Liam started gargling as well, but Louis just shook his head and Liam understood as well.
But then Harry was looking up at the ship and they all three stared at the ship and saw Zayn's crew staring wide eyed at all of the mermen that surrounded them. Zayn and Niall, however, were getting a small life boat together and dropping down in the water with them. They paddled over and helped Louis onto the boat.
Zayn cocked an eyebrow at Harry, thinking he was dead for a long time and then just to see him like this, let's just say he finally believed everything Niall had ever told him. He held out his hand and Harry shook, then after a moment of apprehension, Liam shook it as well. They were all silent, they didn't know how to communicate, but Harry was growing frustrated so he pulled Lima under the water for a few moments.
"Liam, is there any way we can talk to them? You must have some magical way for them to understand fish language!" Harry exclaimed.
Liam started to shake his head, but then he stopped himself. "Well, there might be this one thing, but I've never tried it before."
"Just do anything Liam! We won't get anywhere until we can talk to them."
"Okay! Okay! Come with me!" Liam groaned as he pulled Harry back up to the surface. The other boys were murmuring about something and didn't look over until Liam held up his trident at them. He whispered something that Louis couldn't hear and a bright light shot out of the middle blade.
The three boys in the boat were hit and knocked back but when they came to, Zayn was shouting and Harry could understand him. "What the bloody hell was that?"
"I can hear you!"
"And we can understand you!" Louis cried, "Oh Harry! I missed you so much!" Louis bent over the boat to kiss Harry again, but he pulled away immediately. "Wait! I have to tell you! It was—"
"Eris we know," Liam cut him off. "And we know how to change you back, but we need Zayn's help."
Zayn was sitting wide-eyed and slack jawed staring at them. He couldn't actually believe all of this was happening, and now he could understand their fish language. When he looked at Niall, however, he knew that he would most certainly help them. "What do you need?"
"This Sea Witch, she has an army of sharks and a vast knowledge of black magic. I've heard stories of witches destroying entire islands before, and we have to kill her if Louis is going to be turned back." Liam explained. "If you are willing, we will need your crew to help fight against her, in an way that you can."
Zayn smirked. "My ship has the most powerful canons and fearsome crew in the Atlantic ocean, we can take on any old Sea Witch you throw at us."
"I sure hope so." Harry said. He glanced over at Louis, who was biting his lip and looking out at the long horizon. "What's wrong Lou? We're here to save you and everything will be okay again."
Louis only sighed. "You just finished training Harry. I'm just scared I'm going to lose you to her. I can't stand the thought of you fighting and then dying in battle."
Harry smiled reassuringly, or at least he hoped that was what came across. "It will all be okay Louis. I promised you that I would only fight to protect you and that's what I'm going to do."
"But lads," Niall chimed in. "How are you even going to find Eris? I mean, I'm pretty sure she's smart enough to have a very remote hideaway."
Harry and Liam exchanged worried looks, but then Liam's eyes brightened up. "We're not going to find her! She must have some sort of spies in the sea keeping watch on Louis, so she probably already knows we found him. All we have to do is go to the waters above Atlantis to rejoin with the rest of the King's guard and Warriors and then wait. I'm confident she will be coming to us."
They all looked at Zayn, who was turned back to survey his crew. He shrugged but ultimately thought it was doable. "Alright, just lead the way then."
~ ~ ~
When they arrived back close to Atlantis, Liam left Harry with the guards and the ship to inform his father of their plan. The Warriors and remaining Guards followed Liam and the King to the surface and they waited for the battle to begin.
Zayn's crew didn't take much convincing after the initial sightings of the mermen, so it was pretty easy for him to get them to agree to fight with them. Niall and Louis, however, were going to stay out of the fighting and hideaway in the captain's quarters. Louis didn't want to get involved in the battle and Niall didn't want him to be alone.
Sure enough though, late that night the waters around them started to freeze and turn black and everyone just knew that Eris was approaching. Harry took one last look up in the direction of Louis and made a silent promise that he would fix everything, before taking out his sword.
The air around is icy and eerily silent as the men wait for some sort of sign of attack. They get it in the form of a killer whale jumping out of the water and swimming directly for Liam. He avoids it easily, but then the onslaught of sharks and eels follow and it is time to fight.
The attack calls are sounded from Liam, the King, and from Zayn on his ship, and the battle begins. Harry stabs his sword into a bull shark and pushes it away when it darts towards him. He hears canon fire at the water but he knows he has to stay focus on the task at hand. But nobody had any idea where Eris was.
Then Harry was starting to see the fatalities around him and he was brought back to that fateful day when his ship was attacked and sunk. He almost couldn't breathe with the memories flowing through him like knives, until he remembered that was the reason he had Louis. He was fighting for his Louis
So Harry yelled the war cry and charged at a group of Lemon sharks swimming to Liam. He beheaded them just before they could get a bite into the future king and the two boys floated back to back to continue fighting.
Soon though that same dark voice appeared in his ear, and he knew that she was here. Eris was close.
Oh you stupid little boy. Did you really think it would be that easy to get your precious Louis back?
Harry growled and cut into an eel that was threatening to wrap around him. He tried not to listen to her poisonous words, but she was too loud in his ear.
Come on Harry Styles, do you really want to die for that spoiled prince? Do you think he loves you? Because I can tell you a thing about those princes of the Sea. They do not love anyone.
"Just because Triton didn't love you, does not mean they are not capable of it!" Harry shouted at nothing. He killed yet another shark before he saw a long, feminine glide towards them through the dark water.
At first it started out normal sized, but the closer she got, the bigger Eris became. By the time Harry could see the white in her malicious eyes she must have been three hundred feet tall. Zayn's canons were now directed at her, but with every shot she only chuckled and ignored him.
Eris grabbed Harry's tiny, compared to hers anyway, body and lifted him out of the ocean, hands trapped in her grip. "Foolish boy! There is nothing you can do to get him back! Nothing!"
With her other hand she shot a wave at Zayn's ship, not knocking it over but sending it further away out to the sea, Louis along with it. Harry yelled for him, but it was no use while she held him.
"Why can't you just let it go! What happened to you, happened thousands of years ago! Why can't you just move on?" Harry barked at her. He felt around in his belt for his extra knife, only really yelling at her to stall time.
"We live for much longer than two thousand years, insolent boy! I have banished, weak, only just gaining enough strength and forces to exact my revenge, and I will have it!" She yelled back, her voice booming enough for the water below to crash in waves on the battle around them.
"Like hell you will!" Harry hissed and he stabbed her palm with his knife. It wasn't enough to wound, but it was enough for Eris to howl and open her hand long enough for Harry to escape. He jumped out and raised his sword as he fell, stabbing it into her chest, directly into her heart.
He was shot back with a lightening force and fell back into the water as Eris cried in pain. Her whole body began to burst into light and crack as she shrank back to a normal size. With one last shriek her body folded in on its self and exploded into bits of sand.
Eris's army of creatures began to scream at her death and retreat back into the depths of the ocean they came from. The warriors cried their victory chants while Liam and Triton swam over to help Harry.
"Are you okay Harry? That was a nasty fall." Liam asked, concerned,
Harry nodded his head but looked at the King before realizing they still needed to check on Louis. Triton seemed to understand and all three of them turned to the direction if Zayn's ship and they could see a shining blue light coming from the windows of the captain's quarters.
Harry struggled to swim over but when he did he could hear Louis screaming in pain and gasping for air. "Niall! Send him over board!"
Niall seemed to hear, because the next second he was running out with one of the other crew members, carrying Louis to the side of the boat. They waited until Harry was close enough before tossing Louis over to him. He landed gracefully in the water =, but when Harry caught him, he was unconscious and still returning from his human form.
"Louis?" Harry whispered. "Come on love, wake up for me. You're back Lou, you're a merman again."
Louis' body stopped glowing and his beautiful blue and gold tail returned. He coughed a couple of times and breathed deeply before cracking his eyes open and looking up at Harry. "Harry? Did you do it?"
Harry laughed breathlessly and he could feel a tear well up in one of his eyes. "Yes Lou, you're back to normal."
Louis laughed with him and pulled him into a tight hug, his arms gripping around Harry's neck, and Harry's own arms went around Louis' waist. Harry kissed his temple and squeezed his eyes shut to just focus on having his Louis back.
"Don't ever let me go again Harry." Louis whimpered and pulled back to look in his lover's eyes.
"Never."
~ ~ ~
Louis was reunited with his family not long after and some spare warriors were sent out to make sure that Eris was in fact completely dead. Triton didn't want to risk her rising and causing trouble for them again.
Zayn and his crew were sworn to secrecy about the mer-people's existence and he agreed to help protect them when the time came. Liam even convinced the king to give Zayn a captain's title for their royal guard. Niall couldn't be happier to have both of worlds combined, even if he and Zayn were the only ones who could talk to them.
When they returned back to Atlantis, Harry and Liam were given a hero's welcome by the citizens and the Queen cried when she embraced her darling boy once again. She apologized to everyone for the trouble her old friend caused, but to be honest nobody could be mad at the Queen.
The King and Queen also finally gave Harry their official blessing to be with Louis. And a week later Harry decided to use that blessing.
He and Louis were in Louis' secret field, the same one Eris had taken him from, just wandering amongst the brush before Harry called Louis aside.
"Louis, um... there was something that I wanted to ask you, way before your parents even approved of me." he said nervously.
Louis' heart raced, because of course he knew what was coming next, but he wanted to hear Harry say it. "Okay, go ahead."
"Right, err, I... could we... I mean, um, you... Oh gosh." Harry was blushing a dark shade of red but he knew he just had to calm down and fucking ask already. "Prince Louis Tomlinson of Atlantis, it would be my honor to marry you, and remain by your side until eternity."
Louis tackled Harry into a kiss, sending them floating into the sea weed around them. "Yes of course Harry! I will marry you!"
They laughed together and kissed until it was finally time to go back to the castle, but Harry didn't care, because his wonderful knew adventure was at last going exactly how he wanted it to.
FIN