"I'm telling you, we searched the whole ocean. Lucille isn't anywhere." The small guard told the King, who looked very unimpressed. "Your Highness, we would've found Lucille by now if she was anywhere in the ocean."
"Then do you think she's back on land?" The King shot back, now on the border of Antastica. "Or do you think she's hiding out in another merkingdom?"
"We'd like to think she's dead-"
"She's not dead! Because if she was dead, then Aqua would never have stolen the Magic and given it to her in the first place!" The King boomed, and they all swam a little faster and continued their search. "I would like to believe she's dead too, but we can't assume anything right now. This is Lucille we're talking about."
"And what if she shows back up at the castle? What will happen then?" The guard questioned, and staying back with him while the others worked.
"The Queen has guards there. They'll be ready to kill her if Lucille decides to show her face." He stated, but was still uncomfortable that his wife decided to split up for the search. If there was a choice to attack either the King or Queen, everyone would pick Queen. But then again, everyone underestimates her as well…
The Queen, in a word, was bored. She hoped her husband would find Lucille and kill her so she didn't have to wait any longer. The reunion of mother and daughter had been put off long enough. The real chance to be a family had been put off long enough.
So she didn't hesitate to grab the sword when the black smoke appeared in the foyer.
"Well, well, well." Lucille laughed, and the Queen held the long sword straight out in front of her. "Aw, did your precious King leave you? What a pity."
"He's out looking for you. I suggest you find him." She stated, drawing in a deep breath and ready to scream, but Lucille covered a hand over her mouth, preventing her from doing it.
"Shush, your Highness. You don't want the guards to know where I am." She laughed, grabbing the sword and prying it from her hands, throwing it aside. "Now, I'm going to make you a deal, and if you scream, you die." She told her, throwing her from her arms.
"What could you do to make me possibly think that I can make any form of deal with you?" She shot at her, backing up to the door and ready to scream.
"I suggest you give up your kingdom unless you want Aqua and Nicole to suffer the same fate Ocea did." She stated, and the Queen froze in place. "Oh, and maybe you too."
"Why would you be doing this to us, Lucille?" The Queen asked, her tone down to a whimpering whisper. "Why would you want our kingdom?"
"To bring the Magic back so everything could go back to the way it was." She replied, eyeing the door down to the cellar, the one filled with Magic. "Back before this world was in the worst state ever."
"What, peaceful?" The Queen shot at her, coming closer, but still kept her distance, eyeing the sword. "When there was Magic, this world was so chaotic. How could you want a world like that?"
"Because that was the world my son lived in before he started going to school, and then disowned me, leaving me with nothing but isolation. His isolation was gone." She growled as the Queen inched closer and closer to the sword. "Before everything in my life went chaotic."
"But everyone else's did!" She shrieked, and she jerked for the sword, tightening her hand around it. "You are going to die for what you have done!"
"Sorry to disappoint." She replied as the guards busted through the doors. "Remember what I said, your Highness." She smirked before disappearing into the black smoke, leaving no trace. The Queen breathed in deeply, realizing she was gone… for now.
"Should I get the King, your Highness?" The guard in front asked, and she nodded.
"And someone go warn Nicole. Lucille's hunting everybody." She stated, swimming out into the ocean, stopping right outside. "Dillon, you better be doing your job…" She trailed, feeling helpless as she looked up at the sky, past the sea. "Because Antastica is in a world of trouble."
----------
I woke up to somebody shaking me. I groaned as I turned over, and realized I had a blanket over me.
"Come on, Aqua. You gotta get up, we have school today." I heard Dillon's voice, but mumbled sleepily, turning over and ignoring him. I shrieked once his arms were under me, picking me up and throwing me onto the bed. "When I say get up, you get up!"
"Shut up!" I growled as I stood up, walking to the drawer and finding something to wear. "Can you leave while I get changed?"
I'll be outside." He muttered as he headed that way, shutting the door behind him. I changed quickly and headed to the balcony, seeing if Danny was there, which he wasn't.
"Danny!" I whispered loudly, trying to reach the other balcony railing, but I couldn't. "Danny!"
But like that I had arms around my waist, dragging me back into the room. "What are you doing?" Dillon shot at me, letting go and closing the balcony door. "You can't be sneaking to his room on my watch."
"I'm not your "watch". That sounds stupid." I stated, but he shrugged.
"Well, your parents left me in charge of you. So I will call you my watch." He replied, heading to the door and waving me along. "Come on, we're getting on the bus."
"I'm going to wait for Danny." I told him, respectively declining him.
"You're coming to the bus with me." He growled, grabbing my arm, making me shriek.
"Hey!" I heard Danny's voice as he pinned Dillon at the wall, leaving me aside. "Back off."
"Or what?" He shot back, breaking free of his arms. "We're going, Lily."
"Or what?" I asked, mocking his tone and standing behind Danny. "What the hell could you possibly do to me?"
"Nothing while I'm here." Danny growled, making Dillon cross his arms.
"Know what? Fine. See if I care. But when those people come back for you, I'm going to tell everybody that you wouldn't let me do my job, and they're going to believe me." He snapped, storming off, sliding down the staircase railing.
"He needs to back the hell off." Danny stated, and I couldn't have agreed more. "Come on, we'll get breakfast and head to the bus, and we'll sit far away from him." He assured me, so he held my hand as I followed him down the stairs and into the dining hall, where everyone else was getting served breakfast. We ate pancakes and then headed out to the bus, where he stood only half a foot away from me the whole time. He really meant it when he said I wasn't leaving his sight.
I sat down by the window and looked out over the ocean, wondering if my parents found Lucille and killed her yet. Although, I highly doubted it. If they've been searching for her for sixteen years, I don't think they'll be finding her anytime soon.
"Has school changed much since I've been gone?" I asked Danny, but kept my eyes on the ocean.
"You haven't even been gone a week. I'd be asking the cast of Into the Woods that question." He replied, and I nodded. We probably had rehearsal today, and it would be good, considering next Friday is opening night. I had to stay here for just until next weekend. Then I can go back to Antastica and live like I want to. "But we're all going to the director because your understudy sucks."
"I believe it." I muttered as everyone else got on the bus and it started rolling, and we headed off to school. I hoped they wouldn't freak out too much. I wasn't gone that long…
Once we got to school, the bus stopped and we all got off, with Danny holding my hand and Dillon about ten feet behind me, watching me. But I had first period with Danny, so I only hoped that Dillon wouldn't be the same…
People were staring. Students, teachers, custodians, even the principal stopped to acknowledge I was here. But Danny trudged through all the crowds to get to Theatre, where the students there also stopped and stared. I hid my face behind my hair as he dragged me to the back of the room, but everyone just turned around, looking back at us. This was going to be a long class... the only thing that could've made it worse was Dillon.
And like a queue, he just happened to walk in.
"You've got to be kidding me." Danny and I muttered as he came and sat by us, and all the girls in my class started gawking at him.
"You can't get rid of me that easily, Lily." Dillon smirked as Danny stood up, approaching him quickly.
"Why do you feel content to follow us? You're a creep and a stalker and you need to back off from Lily. She obviously doesn't want you around."
"Well, I'm sorry, but you're just going to have to deal with me. I have orders." He stated, glaring at me. "And you should know your place, Aqua ."
"Her name isn't Aqua." Danny stated, looking back at me. "She never had a real name, so it's Lily."
"Obviously you don't know her that well." Dillon growled, giving him the death glare. "Her real name is Aqua. It's the name her parents gave her."
"You don't know that." He shot back, and I found myself inching to the back of the room. "I've known her much longer and you have no reason to even be here. Now I suggest you get the hell away from her before all hell breaks loose." Danny flung his fist at Dillon, but he caught it instantly, covering Danny's fist with his huge hand, keeping it in the air.
"I wouldn't underestimate me if I were you." He growled, twisting his arm in a direction it shouldn't have, making Danny scream and hit the floor, making other students scream and back up to the walls of the room, or just run out of the room. Dillon had pinned Danny down by this point, hands down on his shoulders as he squirmed around, but I think Dillon was stronger than him, even if he was a little shorter. But then again, Danny never had learned how to put up a real fight. Not like this anyway, especially from someone who's been trained.
"Dillon! Stop, you're hurting him!" I pleaded, dropping to my knees and wrapping my arms around his waist, attempting to pry Dillon off of him. He threw me off of him as he lifted Danny up by the shirt collar, slamming him against the wall and letting him hang there by one hand.
"Good." He growled, holding him tighter as Danny struggled to breathe.
"Stop it right now." I ordered, and he dropped him, crumpling to the ground as he breathed heavily. "What the hell, Dillon?"
"Well, I'm sorry, Aqua." He said sarcastically, snapping his head to face me. "But it seems like he was getting just a little bit obsessive with you."
"You think he's the one being obsessive?" He questioned, pointing at Danny who was still on the ground. "Well, maybe I just don't need you around me then. And stop calling me Aqua! Call me Lily here, please."
"Fine, but you know I can't just leave you." He smirked, and I clenched my hands into fists.
"Hey, you wanna go back to the other life, no one's stopping you." I stated, leaning in and finishing in a whisper. "Not like I exactly asked for you to come back with me."
"But you can't exactly get rid of me." He teased, mocking my tone, and I scoffed as I bent down by Danny, helping him stand.
"Are you okay? I'm sorry for him." I apologized, truly meaning it.
"Yeah, I'm okay." He assured me, wiping under his nose, checking for blood. "Come on, let's go find somebody to get rid of him."
"Wait." I ordered, and he froze by the door. "Don't. He won't leave, anyway."
"What are you saying? He's crazy!" He stated, laying a flat hand out in front of him. "Look, I don't know what the hell you two did, but you weren't like this before you were gone."
"Things happened while I was gone, Danny." I stated, walking back over to Dillon. "So many things have changed."
"Then what do you want to do about it?" He questioned, glaring at Dillon. "You just show up with a stranger who claims he knows more about you then me, your own older brother, and you think I'm not going to do anything about it?"
"You're not her brother." Dillon stated, approaching him again, standing a foot away from him. "You know nothing about her family or her life."
"Hey." I warned, grabbing Dillon's wrist and making him take a couple steps back. "Dillon-"
"Oh really?" Danny shot back, waving one finger at him. "Then what do you know about her that I don't?"
"Danny." I warned, trying to shut him up.
"I don't need to share that with you." Dillon said simply, perching himself on a table. "But to let you know, you don't own Lily. Nobody does."
"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked, feeling confused.
"Actually, I think the orphanage technically does." Danny countered, and I stepped in the middle between of them.
"Stop it." I growled, glaring at both of them. "Stop it or I swear to God I'm going to drop out of both of your lives." I threatened, pointing at both of them, standing sideways so I could see them with only turning my head.
Danny grew wide-eyed, staring at me but otherwise keeping still. "But-"
"You wouldn't." Dillon said lowly, starting to approach me, but stopped once I snapped my head in his direction. "You wouldn't even know how."
"Do you really think I care at this point?" I shot back as Ms. Williams entered, followed by the other students.
"What did you two do?" She asked both of us, clipboard to the side of her hand and tapping a foot on the ground. "I've been told there was a fight."
"Oh no, not a fight." I lied, but I had to make it sound assuring. I was in Theatre, after all. "There was just an… argument… about something that doesn't involve anybody but me."
"That's not what the other students said." She protested, and of course, only she would catch my lies. "I was this close-" She cut herself off, holding her thumb and her index finger half an inch apart. "-to getting the principal, but I had to see this for myself."
"Well, nobody's bleeding so we're all good here." I smiled, jerking my head into a nod as the guys followed me to the back table.
"Oh, and I never caught your name." Ms. Williams said as she looked at Dillon. "Are you new here?"
"Yes, and my name is Dillon." He answered as he sat down next to me. "Oh my God, I hate human schools." He whispered as the other kids sat down and chatting among each other. "So dramatic."
"No, that's just Theatre in general." I assured him, and began to hope the most dramatic part of the day had passed…