Ruby Gillman: Call of the Sea

by OmegusXIII

Summary:

Ruby Gillman thinks she had enough to worry about as a normal teenager. But when a tragic accident forces her to act and save her friend, she hears something she's never heard before in her life: the Call of the Sea. As she learns her destiny, will she answer the call and save both land and sea? (To point out, this is also a Chelsea x OC fanfic.)

Chapter 1

Prologue: The Krakens' Calling

It began at the bottom of the sea. There was a massive school of bright blue jellyfish, swimming across what would otherwise be an empty abyss. As they swam near a wrecked ship, their light shone on it, displaying the tarnished, rusted state it had endured. Wrecked, sunken ships are rare, but unfortunately not uncommon in the world. However, the same cannot be said for what lurked within.

There was a gigantic creature, which wagged its tentacles behind the sunken ship before zooming around it. After a moment, it opened a big blue eye, peeking inside of it. The glow of its gaze illuminated the hull of the ship before it went away. When the eye was gone, a small creature swam just outside. It was a little creature, much more so than the one that swam near the ship.

It had purple tentacles on top of its head, with two of them in the front at shoulder-level, and the ones behind it at back level, and the entire base of the body was bright pink. And it had little small stubs for ears on the sides of its head. It had a small smile on its face, trying to contain the laughter with its blubbery hands.

The small pink creature swam out of the ship and paddled along. It kept the smirk as it swam away. But moments later, it was met with a giant green hand, hitting smack-dab right into it! The same hand clutched the small creature and pulled her up to its large face. It had lime green skin, shoulder pads, and 8 tentacles, with two of them acting as arms and six being the legs. The "hair" was sticking up as though it was meant to be spiky. The bigger creature looked as though it was about to attack when suddenly…

"Got you."

The bigger creature had an older feminine voice, like it belonged to a wise sage brittles with battle. It used one of its arms to tickle the smaller creature, getting a giggle of a girl out if it. The size of its finger covered the whole body and pressed down on the small creature. It must've been very ticklish, because it was laughing so much so hard. The little creature was finally able to speak when the tickling stopped.

"Come on, Grandmamah! It's not fair! You knew I was hiding."

Grandmamah had a gentle smile towards the little one.

"Of course I did, Pearl. It's the name of the game, isn't it? If you weren't hiding, what would be the point?"

Grandmamah placed Pearl on one of her shoulder pads, and Pearl held tight onto it with her blubbery hands. She swam away from the sunken ship and deeper in the ocean as Pearl complained.

"You know what I mean! Sometimes, I wish you'd let me win…"

Her Grandmamah gave her a slight noogie with the tap of her finger.

"Ah, but failure is just as effective a teacher. It's how you learn things, Pearl. You learn what you did wrong, and you improve on that. So you never, ever, make those mistakes in your life again!"

Grandmamah went tense at that last part, like she was ready to attack anything that came near her. Pearl went nervous as she crouched down on the shoulder pad. She caught on to the girl's panic and tried to calm herself down. She took a deep breath and spoke softly.

"Sorry about that, dear. Away, rage. But you know what I mean, right?"

Pearl sadly sighed in defeat.

"Yeah…"

They continued their swim as Pearl looked ahead to see a castle up ahead. It was glowing bright blue with many towers arching up with a gate in the middle while there were tentacle-like pillars at the bottom that supported it. The gate had tentacle motifs around it, like it was a mouth The duo went up to the gate, and it glowed bright green, opening up for them. Upon entering, they ended up in a large, blue room with many other gates surrounding it, and there was also a throne at the center of it. While Grandmamah sat on the throne, Pearl floated down onto her lap and looked at her with her curious sapphire eyes.

"But how come the Krakens can't go to the surface?"

Grandmamah looked down at her young child with puzzlement.

"Now, why would you want anything to do with those crust-dwellers?"

Pearl held onto her hands a bit anxiously as she tried to come forward.

"Well… I just wanted to see the princess."

Pearl's answer clicked for her Grandmamah, and a look of realization showed up on her face.

"Oh. Well, it's not that simple, Pearl. The choice is up to her to answer the call."

"But who's calling her?"

Grandmamah chuckled at her sweet, innocent question and held her hand down to her for her to climb onto it.

"Oh, my sweet little guppy granddaughter. Let me explain to you… the Calling of the Kraken."

Pearl climbed onto Grandmamah's oversized hand as she regaled the tale.

"The ocean is a mysterious world, one that land-dwellers can only begin to imagine. They would think that they knew what lies beyond the surface. And even then, humans knew more about the surface of Mars than the floor of the ocean."

Pearl tilted her head.

"What's Mars?"

"That's… another story. But they don't quite know this one. For instance, the sea creatures that live there. Despite the many textbooks and dictionaries that showcased many of them, there was still a lot to learn, especially when it came to the very creatures they imagined. The truth was, they imagined them wrong. Take the mythical, mighty, giant Kraken. It's been often portrayed as the villain, the monster in every story; bloodthirsty monster, sinker of ships, drowner of sailors, you name it."

Pearl had a confused and horrified look on her when she heard the examples.

"But we don't do those things!"

Grandmamah had to pause the story to give her two cents, a look of disbelief on her own as well.

"Right?! Where are they even getting this?!"

Grandmamah cleared her throat before she went on.

"Anyway, in real life, the Krakens are majestic creatures, noble protectors of the sea."

Pearl's eyes widen in intrigue.

"Really?"

"Yes. But those humans don't know anything about that. I mean, if somebody figured it out, they would've been called mad!"

She chuckled at that with a laugh before she had a solemn frown on her face.

"Then again… it's happened before."

Pearl took note of her sad look. She couldn't understand how her, the Warrior Queen, the Ruler of the Seven Seas, could be sad.

"You see, Pearl, even the Kraken had their first fight. And like many others, it made our moment. And they're often the most personal. That first fight was against.. Cthulhu."

Pearl gasped at the very mention of his name. She seemed too familiar with it.

"You mean… the Boogeykraken?"

"Oh, yes. The very same…"

As Grandmamah went on, her blue eyes turned into fierce red eyes. And eventually, she became the very monster she spoke of. His whole frame was covered in shadow, but the red gaze of his eyes showed much of his tentacles, which hung from his mouth. It was sweeping in a cave, placed at the center of what looked like an underwater city.

"He was as old as the sea itself, a vile god that drove humans mad if they so much as took a look at that ugly geezer in the face. But that's not the worst of it. He used to command all of the sea creatures we face today. And he did it all in the mysterious place called R'lyeh."

With a deafening roar, the alleged Boogeykraken rallied all of the creatures into war, urging them to swim to the surface with a simple command. Examples have varied from a dark purple eel-looking creature with sharp teeth and horns sticking it from its chin on the sides, followed by a strange creature that looked like a sea monster from an old 40's movie.

"That includes the Leviathans and the Umibozu, among others."

And up above the water on a stormy day, there was also an emergence from above water where a tidal wave seemed to rise up. But that "wave" turned out to be a waterfall. And just on top of it was a being with hard yellow skin with glowing markings on her, along with glowing red eyes.

"And let's not forget the worst of them all: the Mermaids."

The mermaid kept a vigil with a deranged smile as the Leviathan and the Umibozu surfaced up beside her. The former of the two creatures took notice of a boat sailing up ahead.

"Together, their brand of chaos created what is commonly known as the Devil's Triangle."

The Leviathan smirked, flashing its fangs as it submerged itself back into the water and went close to the ship faster than a speeding bullet. Once it was within range, the Leviathan lashed out at the ship's hull, its claws tearing straight through.

On the surface, the captain and his crew barely withstood the resulting shockwave, though many men ended up overboard as a result. His first mate looked upon him with worry. He had a long-sleeved white tunic with light brown trousers.

"Captain Thursten! We have men overboard! And the boat's hull has been breached! We're taking in water fast!"

The captain turned to his first mate, his determination unfazed. He was wearing a dark navy blue coat with a brown shirt over it and dark blue trousers.

"Something must've attacked us. Tell the men below to man the cannons and stay frosty until the water gets to their ankles. If they find anything monstrous, shoot it down!"

While the First Mate, although timid, went to relay the orders to his men, they remained unaware that the Umibozu was making its move. It was taking advantage of the opening the Leviathan created on the hull. It was a sizable enough hole for it to slip through. At the hull, the first mate went to the men at the bottom and relayed the captain's orders to them.

"The captain says, 'man the cannons and stay frosty!' If you find anything monstrous, shoot it down until the water gets to your ankles!"

Given their odds, one of the crewmen didn't think it wise.

"Yeah, and why shouldn't we just abandon ship?"

The first mate and the crewmen all looked at the naysayer with a mortified expression. He was the only one oblivious to the creature behind him!

"What?"

Suddenly, the Umibozu dragged him from behind, dragging him through the crack and into the sea along with him. The crewmen were easily frightened by this maneuver and rushed up ahead to the upper deck. The first mate was paralyzed by the sight of the creature, so he ended up being dragged out of the ship. And it was just in time, too. As it turned out, there were several more where the Umibozu came from.

Up above the deck, the captain was perplexed to see most of his crew desperately trying to man the lifeboats. He looked to his first mate and tried to get a report.

"Lighthouse, what's going on?!"

Lighthouse, still having a frightful daze, tried to speak up.

"M-M-Monster… we saw a monster, Captain!"

Thursten had a very weary look on him. Whatever it meant? He didn't wish for it to harm his crew.

"Monster…? Everyone, man the lifeboats!"

At that moment, one of the crewmen was already ahead of him. He was pulling the ropes up desperately to jump on the lifeboat and paddle away to freedom. When the boat was level with the deck, he jumped into it along with many others and lowered it to the ocean before he swam away. The only ones left behind are Thursten, Lighthouse, and a few of his crewmen that couldn't make it to the lifeboats. But as they were swimming away from the apparently doomed ship, the sailors noticed the mermaid. It had flowing blonde hair and a fishlike tail. And there were two more beside her: one with purple hair, and another with an orange color.

"Ahoy, sailors~"

If it were possible for the sailors' eyes to turn into hearts, they would've done so already.

"Shiver my Timbers…"

The other two mermaids got their attention next.

"We can save you from the monsters~"

"Just swim over here~"

The crewman that was paddling the boat swam towards it without hesitation. With safe, reassuring voices like hers, why wouldn't anybody?

"Aye, aye, maladies~"

Confused, Thursten looked to where his crew were swimming to. His eyes widened when he saw what was actually on the rocks.

"Men! Swim back right now! Swim back!"

Unfortunately, his warning came too late. By the time they heard it, they were already near the Mermaids. One of the crew turned back and mocked the captain.

"What should we go back on the sinking ship for, dear captain? These beautiful ladies might-"

He turned back around, only to be met with a much scarier appearance of the three of them. They had sharp teeth, and their eyes were completely red. They let out a scream before the mermaids pounced on them and dragged the crew down to the ocean below, completely helpless at their mercy. Thursten and Lighthouse were utterly terrified to witness the drowning. Save for a few of their men that stayed, they were on their own. The first mate looked to his captain with a fearful gaze.

"What do we do now, Captain?"

Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do. They were likely to drown eventually. And the only support they had was sinking fast. And as if things weren't bad enough, the crew discovered that several Umibozu burst out onto the deck, ready to grab their prey. Even the Captain was becoming afraid of what would happen…

Down below in the ocean, the Leviathan eyed hungrily on the ship, and it was about to deal one more blow.

"The Devil's Triangle was an unbreakable maneuver that none of their prey could escape. That's where we came in."

Suddenly, before the Leviathan could attack, it was hit in the undercarriage, making it sent flying away from the ship. The Umibozu that were outside the ship noticed this and became puzzled. Suddenly, the Umibozu were shot down like birds at a shooting range from a sudden blast of light from their eyes. Then, the silhouette took notice of the mermaids that were drowning the sailors. It obviously couldn't risk hitting their victims, too. So, it went with a more direct approach.

The figure went barreling right at the mermaids and shoved them off like bowling pins. Then, it carried the sailors in its massive arms, twirling its tentacles to rise up before clamping them together to lurch itself upwards.

On the surface, the ship's crew felt a tremor through the ocean. Pearl can make a guess about what happened.

"Was it us, Grandmamah?"

"Yes, Pearl! It was the Mighty Kraken!"

Suddenly, the Kraken rose up, splashing water with its massive entrance. The Kraken roared as it lurched the tentacles near the ship and latched onto it, forcing the crewmen and the Umibozu to back away to avoid being hit. And then, the tentacles recoiled, slapping the Umibozu off of the ship and into the water. Thursten looked at the Kraken with awe when he saw what it did to the creatures. He was perplexed even further when its tentacles dragged the ship closer to it.

He looked up at the Kraken, seeing its massive size for himself. It was colored dark blue with blue eyes. And its hair had two locks near the face, one each going over the stubs, and it had a ponytail as well. The Kraken set the sailors onto the ship gently, all of them coughing out the seawater that got into them. Lighthouse widened his eyes.

"What kind of creature is that…?"

The Kraken simply lowered its head to answer in a soft, yet powerful feminine voice.

"I'm a Kraken. It's nice to meet you."

Thursten gasped softly as he approached the Kraken, overcome with an overwhelming sense of relief. It looked close to the captain as he tried to think of the words.

"I… words can't describe how I'm feeling. Even I can't at the moment. But… Thank you. For what you've done for my crew."

She smiled back at the captain and gently closed its eyes as the human placed his hand on its face.

"At that moment, it actually seemed like it would be possible for humans and krakens to work together. Eh, not that we needed to. We were perfectly fine on our own. But then… he came."

Suddenly, there was a massive thunderstorm, the sound of cracking thunder filling the air as rain struck upon them. The Kraken had a frightened look as an ominous chanting came. The captain and his crew saw how frightened it was and grew worried.

"What's wrong?"

Before the Kraken could answer, there was a sudden gust of wind that blew over them. And along with it came a booming voice.

"You have gone too far this time, Tritania."

Instinctively, the Kraken named Tritania turned around and held her arms out, as if to shield them, and just in time. They were suddenly showered by two red lights that glared upon them. She turned to the humans and tried to warn them.

"Whatever you do, don't look! Just keep your head down, close your eyes, whatever you need to do! Just don't look at him!"

Thursten had never seen the Kraken in such panic. It made him wonder what could possibly invoke such fear out of it. Unfortunately, two of his crew didn't listen.

"Look at what?"

"Yeah, what got you so…?"

The moment they stared into it, they saw exactly what she told them not to look at. They saw the gaze of his red eyes meeting them. And there was only a brief flash of lightning that exposed the whole body, which was composed of a human caricature with two draconian bone-like wings on its back. Their eyes turned bright red, and they started screaming at the top of their lungs, completely out of their minds.

They even acted pretty loony. Thursten, Lighthouse, and the only crewman who didn't look were completely aghast at the result. And it got worse when they started to convulse unnaturally. Eventually, they both perished, fixing out their last screaming breath before they fell dead. Thursten gasped with utter terror in his breath.

"Cover your eyes! All of you!"

As the humans covered their eyes from looking at Cthulhu, he glanced down at the rebellious Kraken.

"I have allowed your kind's foolishness long enough, Kraken. Swear your fealty to me, and I might be willing to forego your punishment."

But Tritania stared daggers at Cthulhu, not willing to back down.

"But your Great-Great Grandmamah told him we would never kneel to a tyrant. Her exact words, actually."

"We would never kneel to a tyrant!"

"Then it is war."

Cthulhu swung one of his massive tentacles from his mouth right at Tritania, knocking her aside from the ship. Left without any protection but to spare themselves from the madness, Thursten and his crew had no way of knowing what to do, especially when the ship was starting to sink again.

Tritania saw Cthulhu getting ready to strike down on the ship, his red eyes glowing brighter. And unfortunately, she couldn't stop him from tearing the boat in half with one strike of his tentacles!

Pieces of the ship were strewn about all over the ocean, and Thursten, Lighthouse, and the only crew member they had were sent flying as the bottom half of the ship sank to the depths below. And unfortunately, they had a brief glimpse of Cthulhu's tentacles before going into the water. Thinking quickly, Tritania swam under the ocean, zipping past Cthulhu's pitch black legs to grab the top half of the ship and began to act as a custom motor with her lower tentacles moving it.

She noticed Lighthouse and Thursten floating above the water. She managed to scoop them up with her arm and set them on the captain's deck near the steering wheel. Tritania was making sure they didn't fall off of it. Then, she stared right at Cthulhu and her blue eyes glowed bright with rage as she stared at him.

"This war… is over!"

Tritania put her pedal to the medal so to speak, going faster and faster until a heavy sound of impact can be heard throughout the ocean, along with the roar of the demon that would normally sound like a death knell.

"Then, like a guided missile of rage, Tritania impaled the sunken ship right through Cthulhu!"

Pearl grew a wide smile, believing she knew what came next.

"She actually killed the Boogeykraken?!"

Grandmamah chuckled sadly as she continued.

"Ah, if only it were that simple… no. He's the one thing that can never be killed. But, it did put that ugly mug to a couple centuries' worth of sleep."

Cthulhu groaned in pain as he went down along with the sunken ship as Thursten and Lighthouse were in Tritania's palms. The Deep One glared at the Kraken with a livid fury despite his eerie chuckle.

"You've fought bravely, Kraken. But this world… is already mine."

With that, Cthulhu was completely submerged, and the humans she rescued were unconscious. Whatever passes for the Kraken's heart sank when she feared what he'd done to them. As luck would have it, the storm cleared up away. And with it came salvation in the form of shore.

"Tritania had won the first major fight any Kraken has ever had. It was our moment! But… we weren't able to stop him in time."

"How, Grandmamah?"

Tritania set Lighthouse and Thursten on the sandy shore. But a moment after she put them down, Lighthouse woke up and saw the Kraken again. But he wasn't awestruck like before. He seemed positively frightened.

"Remember what I said about him driving humans insane? Well… it worked too well."

"AGH! Monster! Get away from me!"

Tritania looked positively stunned when his first mate shouted at her, the one who saved their lives with such contempt.

"Hey, calm down. I saved your life, remember? You can tell him, right, Captain?"

She looked down at Thursten, hoping that he'd convince his first mate. But he didn't appear to move at all. Was she too late to save him after all?

"Captain…?"

Tritania became very afraid of what had happened. Did Cthulhu kill him with madness like he did the others…? Lighthouse noticed his condition, too. But his fear turned into hatred. And he took it out on the one who tried to protect them… and failed.

"You…! You killed our crew! And you killed my captain! You'll pay for this, Kraken! I swear on my family name, we'll have your head for this!"

Hurt by Lighthouse's words, Tritania fled from them heartbroken. She submerged herself into the water and went as deep into the ocean as she could.

"As punishment for our defiance, Cthulhu made the Krakens look like monsters to them. That's how it all started. And we've never been up to the surface ever since."

Pearl's face saddened at the thought.

"That's really awful, Grandmamah…"

Grandmamah gently stroked her head with her finger as she nodded sadly.

"Yeah, I know. People will fall for anything these days…"

Then, Grandmamah beamed a confident smile to lighten the mood up again.

"…but, it was also the day we realized our destiny, Pearl."

Pearl looked up at her with a sad, doubtful look.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah! With Cthulhu gone for a nap, his minions tried to take the throne for themselves and have all the power. And we couldn't let them have their way with the creatures in the sea or the humans. So, what do you think Tritania did about it?"

Pearl widened her eyes in realization, and she had a hopeful smile again.

"She created the Kraken Kingdom!"

"Yes, Pearl! She took a huge responsibility that was passed down to every royal, to heed the call of the Sea and to protect its wonderful creatures. No matter what the challenge, the sea will always need a Kraken, and a Kraken will always answer the call."

Pearl gazed up at the skylight with awe as her Grandmamah rose up to it. Then, she floated down to her granddaughter and looked upon her.

"And someday, Pearl, maybe you can answer the call, too."

Pearl gasped at the thought of it. Being there with the princess and being by her side, helping her protect the sea creatures. It sounded like the best thing to ever happen to her. She looked up at the skylight with hope.

"Someday…"

Little did any of the Krakens know that outside, there was a Leviathan, glaring at the castle from afar. The sea beast snarled before it swam away from the kingdom under the cover of darkness.

After what felt like hours, the spy found his way to the underwater city of R'lyeh. In opposition to its heyday, it looked more like an aquatic ghost town. That said, it wasn't entirely dismal. Even with the large, dank cave in the center, the light shining on it provided it some beauty.

The Leviathan swam towards the shadowy cave, stopping just at the entrance. The spy was admittedly timid to confront his master. He knew all too well what the Deep One was capable of.

"Master Cthulhu, I have news."

In response, two glowing red eyes opened and shone down on the spy. A low growl could be heard from the cave, sending chills through his vertebrate.

"I take it you've found the Trident of Oceanus, Mythos?"

Mythos took a nervous breath before he answered.

"Yes, Deep One. The Leviathans have located it with the Mermaids. It is trapped in the Well of Seas. But thus far… there has been no success in retrieving it."

Cthulhu's growl grew louder and angrier before he was suddenly grabbed by one of the tentacles, crushing him with it! The creature groaned and gagged from the pressure.

"Once again, you have failed. And I must contemplate how to exact pain for your disservice…"

Mythos strained under the pressure, trying to think of some way to convince Cthulhu not to torture him.

"F-Forgive me, Deep One. But why is this Princess creature so important? And those Mermaid narcissists, they're nothing but a trifle…"

Cthulhu slammed Mythos to the floor before releasing him.

"You have no idea how important they both are."

Mythos groaned, trying to recover from the harsh blow Cthulhu dealt to him. But even in the shadows, he wasn't entirely displeased.

"The mermaids have a debt they've owed me for 15 years. If they should choose to disregard it, then they're a trifle… But maybe this princess, this… Kraken, can still be of service…"

Mythos tried to get back on his good side, feeling as though he may be replaced.

"I-I have it handled, Great One. I assure you."

"Yes… but if you fail…"

Cthulhu started to laugh demonically as his eyes glowed bright enough to display his full form again, stretching out his bone-like wings.

"Mwa ha ha ha ha ha! I can still get what I want!"

There was no mistake. Cthulhu is certain of it. And one way or another, this Kraken Princess is the key to it all. And she may not have a clue what her future held…

Chapter 2: The Life and Times of Ruby Gillman

RING-RING! That was the first thing she heard in the morning. A loud grumbling could be heard from the girl. When her arm was raised up, the sheets fell behind it. Her bright blue arm with frog-like fingers moved to and fro in the sunlight reaching for something.

RING-RING! It rang again. The arm moved over to its direction. Leaning over to it, it bent over and flopped down onto a nearby green chair. On it was a purple jacket and a vibrating phone. The fingers tried to search for the phone as it shook. On it was a picture of a girl with brown skin, white glasses, and chin-length pink/peach colored hair with a small bun on the top. The girl was apparently wearing a long-sleeved red jacket with a strap of a polka-dot backpack going over her.

RING-RING! The hand finally picked up the phone and brought it over to its owner. She had light blue skin, long dark blue, tentacle-like hair that went a little past her chin but dangling just above her shoulders. She also had bright green eyes, two gill-like stubs for ears, and a white shirt with a boat on it. It had "GILLMAN ESTATES" on it. The girl yawned loudly as she answered the call, stopping the ringing. Someone spoke to her on the other side.

"Ruby-doo!"

Ruby dug into her mouth and pulled out a retainer, setting it in a cup of water next to her on the desk before she replied back.

"Hey, Margot."

"I'm dying of suspense! What did your mom say?"

Ruby turned her legs over the bed, setting her "feet" on the floor. They were just as froglike as her hands.

"Well, I chickened out last night, but I'm gonna ask her now. Right now, this second."

Ruby got up off the bed and walked over to her closet. While doing so, an axolotl-like creature popped up from her dirty laundry on the floor and looked at her with a big smile on its face as Margot checked up on her. Considering the fact that Ruby chickened out, she wanted to be sure it wouldn't happen again.

"Did you do that confidence-building exercise I taught you?"

Ruby reassured her, picking out a long-sleeved green felt shirt and purple pants.

"I did something even better."

After getting dressed, she looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. Whatever she had planned, Ruby had a good feeling about today. But upon closer examination, she noticed that her marks near the top of her neck were showing. Ruby seemed pensive just thinking of anyone who'd notice them. She pulled her turtleneck up to cover them.

From there, she tied her shoes, closed her laptop, and sat down on her rolling chair. She kicked it over to the other side of the room, using her momentum to spin and place her feet on the headrest with her head on the seat. She used her arms to grab her orange sling pack.

She picked up her phone from the bed and snaked her hand over to a nearby book, snatching it from the top of the stack as her pet crawled all over the large, round, golden window near Ruby's bed. The way it looked, it was like a window on a boat. It landed on Ruby's rolling chair and had a little device in its mouth. She gave her pet a grin while taking it from the axolotl before heading out of the room, eager to pull off what she had planned.

Ruby walked down the stairs and went to the family room. It was actually just next door to the kitchen just behind it, and it had a small couch and chair with a coffee table next to them. And on the other side adjacent, there was a small table with four chairs beside a window. In between both of those rooms was a door.

The first person Ruby saw was her mother. She had purple hair with a bun tied up. Just like her daughter, she had light blue skin, but she was also wearing a tan-colored suit and pants, along with glasses.

"Morning, mom!"

Her mother took notice of Ruby and beamed brightly.

"Hey, Ruby!"

The two hugged each other gently with their long arms. Once they've finished the hug, Ruby's mom noticed what she had in her hands.

"So, what did you want to show me?"

Ruby became anxious at first, but little by little, her confidence was building up.

"Well, I… was wondering about something, actually."

Her mother crossed her arms, making a face that suggested her curiosity was piqued.

"About what?"

Ruby paused for a short moment before she got to the point.

"Um… I think I'll just let my phone do the talking."

With that, Ruby started her video and showed it to her mother. She spent quite some time refining it to convince her mother, and the girl hoped it would pay off. Her presentation video started off with Ruby holding a small microphone. As the video went on, several backgrounds changed to suit her explanations, and in quite a sense of style, too.

"Oh, hi! Junior prom is the sacred rite of every human teenager. And as a Kraken who's barely pulling off this whole 'human' thing, I need to be there, so that I can blend in. And as a prime Mathlete, I know that to find a potential solution, I have to evaluate the problem. Now, I know the rules. Our family is not allowed in the ocean, ever. For any reason. And I love rules. I do! I really, really do… But! The prom boat is on the water, not in the water. 'But what if there's a storm?!' you might ask. Well, I've analyzed weather trend data, and my trusty friend, the internet, has assured me that it will be smooth sailing on Prom Night. And lastly, this is the captain of said Prom Boat: Brian Thursten."

In the last part of Ruby's presentation, she was gesturing to a man in a captain's outfit with a white hat on his head. He had algae-green eyes along with short raven hair on his white skin.

"His family's got an impressively long history of sailing experience. And if that's not enough, look into his eyes. Tell me he hasn't seen it all. I trust him with my life, and so should you. And that is why I, Ruby Gillman, should go to Prom. Thank you."

On that note, her video ended. Her mother pulled away the phone just in time to see Ruby holding her hands together and pleading.

"Please, please, please, please, pleeeeeeeeease?"

Her mother had to admit, she did make a lot of points. But her answer didn't change.

"Strong presentation. I liked the energy, but it's still a no, honey."

Ruby followed her to the kitchen where she saw her father at the stove. From behind, he was wearing dark gray overalls over his black and white striped shirt with an orange beanie cap on his head, and he appeared overweight. Even so, Ruby tried her best to convince her mom.

"But mom, evidence. Science. Internet!"

Her mother didn't budge. She explained herself while pouring herself a cup of coffee.

"Trust me, Ruby. I know what's best for you. And what's best is to always stay on land. That's why we moved here. It's much safer for us."

"Mom, we literally live right next to the ocean, and you think it's safe?"

Agatha chided Ruby for her argument with a counterpoint.

"Hey, we need to stay moist."

Ruby got the shivers just hearing that.

"Don't say it like that…"

Her father was in agreement. When he turned around, he had clear glasses over his face, showing his green eyes. His face had a long dark blue "beard" to go with it, and like his wife and daughter, his ears looked like pectoral fins.

"Sorry, tadpole. Mom's right."

Ruby's father looked up to the ceiling and got ready to chuck a bowl of greens towards its direction as his wife called out.

"Sam, breakfast!"

When he chucked the bowl, Sam suddenly sprang down from the ceiling to catch it. He had light blue skin with freckles, dark-blue eye-length tentacle hair, and turquoise eyes. He had an additional cap worn backwards, along with a red hoodie with a big '17' put on the front, red sport pants, and red shoes. Sam sat down on the stool and turned around to face the nook. He had his own take of her own desire to go to prom.

"Hey, didn't you say going to prom was a post balonial—?"

"Post-colonial patriarchal construct. It is. But we would go as a group, as a form of protest."

Sam failed to make any sense of Ruby's logic and rolled his eyes sarcastically.

"Wow. So brave."

Ruby rolled her eyes away from him and looked at her phone to ignore him. Almost immediately since he was able to talk, her now 7-Year-Old brother had a penchant of annoying her, and he usually took pride in it. So, she made it a point to brush him off when she could. Her mother brought up a sales banner to commemorate the occasion.

"What do you think? I had these printed for my big lodge party."

It was an easy answer for her husband.

"I think I'm in love~"

He dipped her over and gave her a small peck on the lips. Just watching the scene was enough for Sam to retch, sticking his tongue out and setting his breakfast right back onto the plate as if he'd never eaten it. Ruby's pet came up next to Sam and eyed the piece he dropped while Ruby looked at her mother with a slight frown herself.

"You still need me to be there?"

"Yes. This is a make-or-break moment. I'm selling an entire development."

"But, mom. You are Agatha Gillman, Real Estate Warrior. This whole thing is a breeze for you."

Ruby showed her mother a commercial on her phone. She was giving a couple the keys to their new home. In the commercial, though, she'd taken on an entirely new appearance. Her fins were actual human ears, her skin color was light tan, and even her hair looked a bit brighter.

"Agatha Gillman, and I slay the competition."

The static changed to change the scenery. The couple was labeled as actual clients as the woman replied.

"She got us our dream home! And I'm not asking how…"

All the same, Agatha still felt it was necessary for Ruby to be present.

"Well, I just want to show potential buyers what a happy Oceanside family looks like."

Agatha's husband added to the conversation as he finished moving the food from the pan to the plate with his spatula.

"I'll be closing my shop for the day, so I can man the grill. From Chill Man to Grill Man."

Sam groaned at his Dad joke and slammed his face into his plate in a vain effort to make it stop. Dad jokes aside, Agatha pioted a suggestion to him.

"Oh, Arthur, you should think about hiring someone to help you. Business has been booming since you started 'Bottled Up.'"

Bottled Up, evidently, was Arthur's personal streaming series. Basically, it showed him making ships in bottles. Ruby personally found it odd how everybody was into it, but she wasn't one to argue, either; she was just more into the Prom Boat that she wanted to go on.

"Wow. You two are quite the power couple."

Sam hardly found it impressive in his view.

"You think that's great? You're looking at the undefeated Dodgeball champ."

Ruby wouldn't exactly call it his idea of blending in, but apparently, he's been using his kraken flexibility to win several dodgeball games. He'd won so many times, Ruby didn't even bother to keep count. According to the humans, he was a legend. Good for him, she thought.

"Yeah, yeah. You guys are all crushing it."

Agatha tried to give Ruby some encouragement as she put her stuff in her sling pack. She had a feeling that her daughter was feeling minuscule compared to them.

"Oh, Ruby. Don't sell yourself short. You're amazing at Math."

Ruby held the math textbook close to her chest.

"I am the reason Connor's passing Algebra."

Sam saw that look on her face plenty of times to know she was crushing hard on him again. So, naturally, he also saw an opportunity to poke fun at her for it. He wrapped his arms around himself and turned his back, as if to show that he was making out with someone.

"Oh, Connor! So dreamy…~"

Agatha wasn't impressed with his scorn, and neither was Ruby.

"Sam!"

While Agatha scolded him, Ruby stretched her arm behind her mother's head and slapped Sam upside his head.

"Ow!"

Sam quickly retaliated with a bop to her face.

"You're the one in love with him!"

Ruby got ready to attack again, only for Agatha to break them both up.

"Hey, hey, hey, stop! You each landed one."

Ruby groaned in defeat while Sam looked unamused. At the same time, Agatha noticed what was in front of Ruby. She didn't look too pleased.

"'Marine Biologist Quarterly?' Oh, Ruby! You're still reading this trash? Humans don't know everything about the ocean."

Ruby took the magazine back from Agatha and gave her two cents about it. Her mother spoke at the same time on the last two words of her sentence.

"At least they knew something. Like Dr. Richards. His team once found a fossil of a prehistoric Piranha!"

"Prehistoric Piranha. I know."

"And besides, there's a whole world down there I've never seen. Jellyfish, Plankton, coral reefs."

Agatha brought up another thing to add to the list.

"And, what else lives there?"

Ruby rolled her eyes at the mention.

"I know. Monsters."

Sam had to admit, he was very curious about said monsters.

"What kind of monsters even live down there, anyway?"

Agatha looked close to Sam, looking quite deadly serious.

"Sharks. The aforementioned Piranhas. Barracuda. Viperfish. Anglerfish. The Roch Ness Monster. Just to name a few."

That was something Ruby hadn't heard before.

"Roch Ness? Don't you mean Loch?"

"No, Ruby. It's a different kind of monster. There was a sighting of one of these things in England."

Agatha pulled up a picture of the creature. It looked like a dried-up eel on land with a huge jaw and razor sharp teeth underneath it. Instead of being scared, Sam actually found himself intrigued.

"Whoa…"

Agatha sighed and got back to the point.

"Anyway, the point is, those monsters want to hurt Krakens like us. This is where we belong. Oceanside is our home."

Ruby saw it as an opportunity to try one last time to convince her mother.

"Then help me fit in by letting me go to Prom."

But Agatha's decision was made clear.

"Ruby, the answer is no."

Ruby's face frowned immediately. It was over. Her hopes of going to Prom and fitting in, completely dashed by her rules. She was hoping to go along with her friends after a strong presentation like hers. But it didn't do anything to change her mind. It's official. Her life was over, she thought. Her pet barked eagerly, moving the skateboard on the floor by inches.

"Time to go."

Ruby groaned as Arthur and Sam put away the dishes. His son was sliding the dishes over to him while he set them in the sink.

"Gillman dishes to Gillman!"

"The fadeaway at the buzzer! And…"

Sam did a whisper-cheer as Arthur shouted.

"It's good!"

He and Sam did a chest bump, sending him bouncing across the room to near the door. When he landed, Sam looked much different than before. He had light brown hair sticking out from his cap, and his skin was a light tan color. When Arthur went close to Agatha, his skin turned from aquamarine blue to a brown color, and his beard turned white. As for Ruby, her skin turned from blue to tan, her hands and feet turned to a human's, and her dark blue hair turned dark chocolate brown with her light blue tips at the end. Agatha and Arthur stood by their children and sounded off.

"Groom up, everyone!"

"Let's all have a very human day."

Ruby hardly saw the point in the charade they were playing.

"Doesn't it bother you guys that we lie to everyone all the time?"

Agatha didn't see it that way.

"Oh, we're not lying. We're just… omitting."

"Yeah, okay."

Ruby knew better than to accept it. In her book, the omission was still lying. But the truth was, it managed to help her blend in, so she didn't say any more than that. Arthur closed with a motto.

"And remember…"

Agatha, Ruby, and Sam spoke simultaneously to answer him.

"If anyone asks, we're from Canada."

That "motto" was an anchor in a long list of omissions they've had to make over the years. The Gillmans weren't your average, ordinary family, though they tried to be. They've lived in Oceanside for 15 years, and coincidentally, that was the same length of time Agatha raised Ruby with Arthur. And for 15 years, Ruby's lived with the rules. But after her refusal, she's beginning to reconsider them.

Still, she didn't want to outright disrespect her. She had a plan to prepare for that. Ruby carried on with her day, putting her headphones on her head. She was about to walk out when suddenly, Sam cut in front of her on his skateboard. Nevertheless, she carried on with a smile. As she left, Agatha gave Arthur a kiss, and the two of them walked out of the house with her husband closing the door. But before Agatha could go on, Arthur began to have concerns and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Aggie, you're going to tell her at some point, right?"

Agatha assumed he was talking of a private matter.

"Arthur, if you're worried about her first period, I came prepared."

"No. About… the thing."

Arthur's voice sounded drastically dire as he whispered. Agatha frowned with worry. She knew what he meant by "the thing".

"I don't know, Arthur. I understand why she wants to go, but she doesn't understand why she shouldn't."

Arthur tried to offer her a suggestion.

"Well, maybe you could help her understand."

Agatha caught on to what he was getting at. But she became frazzled.

"Arthur, it's too soon. I don't just drop something like that on top of my daughter. She's got enough to worry about already…"

Agatha looked on from the patio entrance to look upon Ruby, who was casually walking down the street with her headphones. Arthur saw the anxiety on his wife's face. He couldn't bear to see her so downtrodden. He held onto her hand and spoke softly.

"Aggie, you know more than anyone that I have your back on this. But one way or another, Ruby's got to know the truth. Don't let it be the hard way."

Agatha stared into her husband's eyes. His genuine empathy was staring right back at her. How could she turn that down? Agatha took a deep breath and looked out.

"I'll tell her, but not right now. After work, we'll tell her the truth."

Whatever the truth was, Ruby seemed convinced it was the monsters. But what did she have to worry about? The prom boat is on the water for a reason. That argument should've been able to convince her. So why didn't it…? Ruby was busy thinking about what could've possibly went wrong with her presentation when suddenly… HONK-HONK! Ruby shrieked and backed away from what looked like a mermaid statue.

It was staring at her right on the face with its wood-carved face and picketed lips. Ruby looked past the wooden exterior and saw a group of people inside it. The boat that nearly ran over Ruby was on wheels, and the one driving it was an old, white-bearded man dressed in a navy blue jacket, and a captain's hat. He had a crab on his shoulder by his side. The captain grabbed a speaker and spoke into it and stared at Ruby.

"Apologies for the unplanned interruption, folks. Well, look what the tide dragged in, Davey."

Ruby tried to salute the captain to throw off any suspicion.

"Ahoy, Mr.— Captain Gordon Lighthouse, sir…"

Ruby tried to leave, but Captain Lighthouse recognized her.

"Aren't you one of them Gillmans?"

"Guilty."

That wasn't a good response on her part in hindsight. The answer got the whole bus leaning down on her in suspicion.

"Just kidding. Not guilty. Totally normal."

One of the tourists pointed at her, noticing how blue she was beginning to look.

"Is she blue?"

Ruby looked at her skin and noticed that her disguise was fading. Panicked, she tried to divert their attention away from her skin. She turned around and showed a Canadian Flag badge on her backpack.

"I'm from Canada, eh?"

Thankfully, her answer proved to be enough for them.

"Oh! That totally makes sense."

With the stress off of her, her skin turned back to its human color. Ruby drew a mental sigh of relief, but Captain Lighthouse wasn't entirely convinced.

"I've got my eye on you, Gillman girl. And my other eye, too!"

Davey put his claw on one of his eyestalks and opened it wide to mimic the captain. With his message clear, he went on with the tour, talking into the speaker as the bus drove away.

"Our tour begins where, 15 years ago, I swear I saw the monstrous giant Kraken! And to your right, Oceanside's best saltwater taffy! Ask for the Gordon Lighthouse discount."

Ruby was able to relax when it was out of sight. Just then, she heard an elderly voice behind her.

"Very impressive."

Ruby nearly flinched when she heard him speak behind her. When Ruby saw who was talking to her, she went into panic mode again. The old man who spoke to her had long white hair on the top and sides of his head, and blue eyes. He had long, brittle arms, nearly stiff legs, and a bright blue tunic that gave him the appearance of an underwater pope, especially with his golden cane that adorned a sapphire gem in it.

"Uh, me? Impressive? No. I'm just Ruby Gillman, normal teenager."

The old man walked towards her and analyzed her. The girl was rather uncomfortable with the length of time he looked her over.

"So I can well believe it. But you are… not quite normal, are you?"

Ruby tensed in a panic and tried to leave.

"Uh, I'm, uh, really gonna be late for school, so…"

The old man backed away, becoming embarrassed.

"Oh, my apologies. It's just that I haven't seen anyone as intriguing as you in this city before. Do carry on. I'll be alright."

But as the old man walked, his legs nearly stumbled, and he fell to the floor. But just before he could hit the ground, Ruby got to him and wrapped her arms around him, helping him up on his feet and picking up his cane that he dropped in the process.

"Are you okay, mister?"

The old man took his cane back and used it to prop himself up again.

"Quite fine, 'normal teenager'. But I daresay that either this ground is too slippery for its own good, or my bones are. To think this is how my first day in Oceanside would turn out…"

Ruby mused over his words as she helped him across the street.

"Wait. This is your first day here?"

"Yes, quite. My granddaughter and I have traveled from the Netherlands. I'm already ahead of me by now. She elected to take a more… scenic route."

Ruby had a puzzled expression. Normally, nobody would let their children or grandchildren off by themselves. This was something new to her entirely.

"And you're okay with her being on her own like that?"

"I've learned to let her make her own choices a long time ago. More often than not, the best lessons in life are ones they learn for themselves."

Ruby found herself enamored by his wisdom. Whatever word came out of his mouth, it was like he was teaching her.

"Wow… that's so wise. Thanks, Mr…"

The old man chuckled warmly.

"Ah, yes. My name is Timothy. But call me Tim."

Ruby and Tim crossed the street, and he brushed his hand across his tunic to smooth it out. The "normal teenager" didn't quite know what to say as she'd already introduced herself. And as much as she wanted to get to know him, she didn't want to risk being late for School.

"Well, uh… Tim. I gotta get going now. I don't want to be late. But I hope we'll talk again soon."

"Oh, don't let me stop you, then. Just one thing. When you see my granddaughter, tell her I expect her to be back by dinner. She's the new girl. You can't miss her; she always goes big."

Tim walked away with a hearty chortle that rivaled his brittle figure. Ruby ended up staring at Tim as he walked away with his cane in hand. She would've ended up doing so for a longer time if her phone didn't ring. Ruby got her train of thought back, and she looked into her phone again, getting back to walking to school as she answered Margot's call. It turned out to be a group chat.

"Hey, guys."

Along with Margot, two more people answered. One of them had dark green hair with one green eye and one Amber while the other had dark violet hair going over his eyes, leaving only his nose and mouth exposed due to the side-swept style he had.

"Yo."

"Greetings."

"So, how did it go?"

The green-haired girl was practically overcome with suspense. And the young man was handling said suspense in a different way.

"Yes. I'm dying to find out."

"Same. I've been stress-gaming."

Ruby gave them the bad news.

"Well, it's official. Mom won't let me go to prom. And I know it's not what we wanted, but we still have Plan B: our very cool anti-prom party. And what is the most liberated food out there? Guys, I'm talking fondue."

Margot and her friends had awkward looks on their faces. It was evident that they didn't know how to feel about it. Eventually, Margot broke the silence.

"Ruby, um, I'm just gonna come out and say it. Kayla asked me to the prom."

Ruby was surprised. But she tried to hear her out to get to the end of the story.

"Oh."

"And, uh, I said, 'carpe diem!' A.K.A, I said yes."

Ruby was stricken with surprise.

"What?"

"I said yes."

"No, I got that. Loud and clear…"

This wasn't a part of Ruby's plan. Of all the things to plan for, it certainly wasn't that. Regardless, she tried to find a workaround as she'd finally reached school and walked to the building.

"Okay, Margot has torn our hearts into a million tiny pieces, and that's fine. More fondue for the rest of us, right, guys?"

The dark-green haired girl was hesitant at first, but she had to say something to her.

"Yeah, uh, once Margot was going with Kayla, Trevin said, 'oh, we'll, should we just go together?' And I agreed. So, Trevin and I are going to the prom together. As friends."

Trevin added to her comment with a nervous chuckle.

"Yeah, only as friends."

That was the last straw for Ruby. She'd gone to their usual spot before School, a parking lot that overlooked the whole ocean. Ruby put her phone down and saw her trio of friends at their spot, looking at her nervously.

"What? What?!"

Margot tried to apologize, but Ruby was still aggravated and struck with disbelief by the news.

"Sorry, Ruby."

"We promised to always stick together! Does Squad Solidarity mean nothing to you?!"

"Well, of course it does. Which is why you should come with us. You'll be on a boat. You'll be completely safe."

The green-haired girl interjected with an ominous take.

"Unless there's a tragic accident."

Margot cut her off before she could continue.

"Bliss! No catastrophizing."

"Sorry."

Ruby didn't think it was a good idea to upset her mother. She'd hoped that Agatha would see reason, but she also didn't want to invoke her wrath.

"You guys know my mom, and that is why we made Plan B. Margot, just bring Kayla to our anti-prom party. We will watch bad movies. We'll dip Swiss."

Margot wasn't going to be on board with it anymore. She'd had enough.

"Enough with the fondue! We eat. A lot. Of cheese…!"

Trevin added to her complaint for emphasis.

"Wheels of it."

"Think about how many events we've missed in Squad Solidarity because of your mom's irrational anti-ocean rule."

Ruby tried to look back on those moments, but she was hesitant.

"I guess a few?"

"What?! There was the field trip to the submarine museum. The school beach day."

Bliss and Trevin chimed in, adding in more examples of all they'd missed.

"All-county surf contest."

"The Grunion Fun Run."

"The Oceanside Festival of the Bard."

"My grandmother's beach birthday party."

"Kayla's beach birthday party!"

"Any birthday party but Bliss's."

Bliss spoke softly with a smile.

"You're always welcome at the graveyard."

Margot drove it home with her selling point.

"But this isn't just any party. This is Prom. And I really want to be a part of it. We… all do."

Ruby's disbelief had diminished by the time Margot was done. She couldn't blame her for wanting to go. If she were in her position, odds were, she would've said the same thing.

"Yeah. No, I get it. You guys should go without me. It's one thing for my mom to ruin my life. She doesn't have to ruin yours."

But Trevin had an idea about how to solve the problem.

"Uh, what if you don't tell her?"

Margot already guessed what he thought. And frankly, she and Bliss were thinking the same thing.

"Gasp of exclamation! Trevin's right. Your mom doesn't have to know."

"Deception. I'm on board."

Trevin began to encourage her next along with Bliss.

"Come on, Ruby. Do it."

"Do it."

Ruby was in a bind. On one hand, she really wanted to go to Prom. But on the other, she didn't want to make her mad. But Margot was more than willing to solve that problem

"I want to, but if my mom finds out, uh…"

"Oh, life is not a dress rehearsal! It's time for you to go big, and go! To! Prom!"

Margot throttled Ruby as she tried to make her point. But as she tried to get her point across, Ruby lingered on the words: Go big. Those words echoed all over in her mind like a hollow cave. She immediately recalled what Tim told her.

"The best lessons in life are ones they learn for themselves."

Ruby felt herself empowered by Tim's wisdom all over again. She didn't know why, but they helped her be more sure of her decision. Maybe it might be the wrong decision, she wasn't a little girl anymore. And she couldn't let the rules dictate her life. Not if she was to go big.

"You're right. Okay, I'll do it. I'll go to prom."

Margot pumped her fists in the air excitedly.

"Yes!"

"And I'm gonna ask Connor."

Margot paused in surprise for a moment.

"Connor? Okay, that's a… that's a big swing there. Whoo. But we are here for it."

Ruby and her squad walked away from the parking spot and headed into the school building to discuss their plan.

Meanwhile, a young man was out on the deck beside his father. The son had a chiseled chin and green eyes, just like the captain Ruby showed Agatha, but his dirty blonde hair was out in the open, and he was wearing a red polo shirt with a blue stripe, and light gray jeans and blue sneakers to go with it. And his father appeared a more strict type, wearing a navy blue jacket with a white shirt inside and a red handkerchief in his pocket. He had snow white hair and a near-balding complexion despite the chocolate brown hair on the sides of his head, holding a golden staff in one hand while holding a book in another. He seemed to be practicing a speech.

"Greetings, ladies and gentlemen. I, Mayor Thursten, would like to officially invite you all to–!"

Before he went on any further, he stopped.

"No, not 'invite'. There weren't any invitations… 'I would like to welcome you all!' Yes, that's more like it! Greetings, ladies and gentlemen! I, Mayor Thursten, would like to officially welcome you all to Oceanside City!"

Brian frowned from his father's gestures. He didn't seem to like the way he went on and on.

"Is that really necessary dad?"

His father nudged him in the arm.

"Of course it's necessary, son. The author of Marine Biologist Quarterly is attending this week. And as the mayor of Oceanside City, I must be the first to welcome him and his team, and help them feel comfortable. It's the principle of the thing!"

"Well, I'm sure your principle would make my principal miffed if I end up late. Again."

"Oh, your principal never complained when it came to matters of the city. Besides, we're as close to your school as we can get, son. There's plenty of time."

"Yeah, I'd rather not cut it that close, dad."

Brian took a closer look at his old man. He looked as though he had third degree burns on his head, especially his bald spot.

"Besides, you look like a baked clam. Especially your head."

Brian tapped on his head, making him howl.

"OW!"

The pain lingered for a moment, but his father began to see the point.

"I suppose you have a point."

Brian gave him a nudge of his own.

"Dad, it's okay. I know you're the mayor, but you don't have to be the best."

His father sighed solemnly, albeit with a sincere smile.

"Oh, what else can I do, son? Our family has watched over this city for centuries. And I can't help it if it's full of monsters. Like 15 years ago, when your mother left…"

Brian patted him on the back to bring him out of it.

"Dad. You know she's still alive, right?"

"My point still stands. I've a responsibility to live up to. And one day, so will you…"

Brian sighed softly. In a way, he understood where he was coming from.

"I know. I… I just wish that you'd–"

However, the watch on Brian's right arm went off. He looked at the time: 7:55.

"Oh, fronds. Looks like I better get going to class."

His father sighed in defeat.

"Alright. Yet another point you've made. Not much of a future if I'd kept you from graduating. Go on, then."

Brian ran off and hauled his blue backpack along with him. But before he went on, his father called out.

"One more thing!"

Brian stopped short and turned to him.

"Keep your eyes on that Gillman girl. There's something about that child that I don't trust."

Brian shrugged his shoulders.

"Uh, sure. But, to be fair, dad, you never trust anybody except me. Just saying."

Brian ran off up the ledge to get to school as his father kept a close eye on him, speaking under his breath with a weary tone.

"And for good reason…"

But little did he know that something in the ocean was stirring. Far away, something rose up with a faraway glance, sneering at someone. It had two cat-slit eyes that narrowed down as it snarled. It then sank into the depths below as a boat came by, oblivious to the creature underneath it.

In the school, Margot was giving Ruby some advice about how to find her prom date. She always tended to be eccentric about the things she did. And more often than not, they usually get her in trouble. But she had her own motto: "Go big, or go home". And the last thing she wanted was for Ruby to go home alone.

"Step one, you're going to need a prom-posal. Blue-sky with me, people. Any ideas?"

Ruby, being Ruby, had an idea to do her own invitation.

"Maybe I can ask him with something epic, like an advanced quadratic equation. And when I solve it, the answer is…"

Ruby was putting in an equation on her smart calculator. And when she pushed equal, the answer spelled out…

"…prom."

Ruby seemed proud of it, but alas, her friends did not, least of all Margot.

"Ruby, my sweet, wide-eyed, dumbest smart person ever, you cannot ask Connor to prom with homework!"

"But look how it graphs! It's cool!"

Despite Ruby's protest, Margot was adamant that Ruby tried another approach.

"It is not cool. A good prom-posal is art"

In comparison to Ruby's proposal, Margot showed her the more exciting ways people asked their dates to prom. It started out with something simple: a teenage boy passing a teen girl a rose. The next example went to a bouquet of flowers. And to top it off, there was a literal GARDEN of roses tied up together before that person popped out of the middle of them.

"Showmanship is the name of the game in this hormone-fueled benchmark of adolescence. A ritual that embodies the ultimate in high risk, high reward. Now, you get one shot at prom and one shot at persuading your Romeo that you are his Juliet. With stakes this high, the only option is to go big."

Ruby began to feel small after being presented with such huge gestures. Everyone else's was more impressive than hers by far. She started to wonder what she was thinking by using a quadratic equation to ask Connor.

"I almost asked Connor to prom with homework."

Luckily, Margot was here to lend her friend a hand. She was digging through her locker to look for items to help Ruby propose to Connor for prom.

"We got you, Ruby. There are so many other options."

Margot handed Ruby a prepared script in her hands and rode on a unicycle.

"Here, this is the first draft, but with this script and my favorite prop from clown school…"

The blue-tipped brunette found the idea totally ridiculous, even more so than her own idea of a proposal.

"Mm, I don't know. Do you have something a little smaller? Like something from the heart?"

Margot interpreted it as something to cut to the chase.

"Tone down the drama, you say? I know just the thing."

"What's that?"

To Ruby's nervousness, she pulled out a small rainbow-colored cannon from her locker.

"A commercial-grade DJ confetti cannon. You just ask Connor to prom, push this button, and the confetti will rain down like closing night on Broadway!"

Margot did jazz hands in her excitement. But Ruby was beginning to have doubts that any of it felt right for her. She was doubting that she had a place in prom, period. Unlike her plan, they were meaningful, thoughtful, and/or huge. What chance did a girl like her have with getting Connor, much less anyone, to go to prom with her?

"Uh, maybe I abandon this whole 'ask your dream guy to prom' thing…"

Just then, a familiar sound of a skateboard echoed through the halls. Someone shouted to him as he zipped by.

"There you are, Connor! Thought you'd be late!"

The person riding on the skateboard stopped and kicked it up.

"No, Brian. Just making a dramatic entrance."

Ruby gasped when she saw who it was. He had twisted purple hair in an afro-style, dark skin, and a yellow/blue jacket and jeans with a blue backpack. But Ruby's eyes were on someone she wanted to go to prom with.

"Connor~"

When she first came to High School, back when she first laid eyes on him, Ruby wanted to spend some time with him. Being the math genius that she was, Ruby volunteered to help him when he was told that he needed to improve his grades on math. But it wasn't just the math grades she was there for. She also wanted to spend more time with him. And it was certainly working.

They didn't have a lot of progress at first, but the more time they spent together, the more it clicked for him. And soon enough, Ruby's feelings were in an exponential growth, so to speak. It didn't take long for Connor to notice her, either. He began to run over to her, and before Ruby knew it, the ground broke apart underneath him, and he swam over to her. Ruby caught him under his arms and lifted him up.

"Connor, would you do me the honor of going to human prom with me?"

"Oh, Ruby, yes. Oh, you've made me the happiest guy on dry land, Ruby."

The two embraced in a loving hug as Ruby swooned.

"Connor~"

"Ruby."

Ruby closed her eyes sweetly before he spoke again.

"Ruby?"

In reality, Ruby was holding tight onto Brian's blue backpack behind him. Brian didn't know whether to stop her or laugh. Either way, he found it adorable to watch Ruby get all lovestruck. Connor, on the other hand, was confused.

"Hi."

Ruby looked as if she had her wisdom tooth removed and got all loopy.

"Connor's here~"

"Uh, yeah. Connor's here."

Finally, Brian spoke up to Ruby, crashing her train of thought.

"And so am I."

Ruby snapped out of her daydreaming and realized what was going on.

"Oh! Oh. Hi. Hi, hi, hi. Sorry about that…"

Ruby stopped her hugging and brushed her hands down on Brians' backpack to dust it off as she nervously replied to him. Brian reassured her with a smile.

"Don't worry about it. Happens all the time."

Moving on, Connor tried to check up on Ruby.

"Uh… we're still on for our tutoring sesh later, right?"

Brian stood back and watched the interaction between the two on the other side of the wall. He was trying to give the two of them as much space as they needed.

"Oh, yeah, Connor. We are on like polygons."

Connor was relieved to hear it.

"All right. Team math. I'll see you later."

"You know it. Anything for my alge-bae~"

This was a first for Connor. He'd never been called that before, even when they first learned Algebra together.

"Your what now?"

"I mean bro! A-Alge-bro. Like you're my brother. You're my math brother.."

Ruby hoped he'd forget about what came out of her mouth, wrapping her leg around her other one. It was surprisingly flexible, almost superhuman flexible. Brian noticed it and rubbed his eyes. He wanted to be sure he wasn't imagining things. Connor didn't notice it, but he wasn't really offended by what ruby said before.

"You know, I think I liked the first one better."

Ruby watched as Connor skated off with buggy eyes. Her heart, wherever it was, was pounding from the one positive thing Connor told her today. Brian saw the lovesick look and reinforced it.

"He really likes you. You know that, right?"

Ruby blushed intensely when Brian brought up the point.

"What? H-He does? Really?"

"Yeah. Honestly, it's a nice thing to see. It was a bit of a rocky start when you started tutoring him."

He wasn't wrong. Back when they started in September, Connor didn't know the first thing about Math. Addition and multiplication was one thing, but quadratic equations were another. The whole thing was hard for him to understand in the first lesson, even when Ruby tried to help.

"Uh, that's… not what you're supposed to do, Connor. They want us to do it this way."

"But I don't know that way. Why would they change math?"

Ruby tried to calm Connor down to no avail as his frustration boiled up.

"Uh, it's okay, Connor."

"Math is math! MATH IS MATH!"

Back in the present, Brian continued.

"But you guys really pulled through after that. I think you guys make a good team together. You know what I mean?"

Ruby smiled sweetly from his kind words. Going by appearance, Brian would be a jock, but the truth was, he was more than that. He was a kind junior and a good captain. That's how she knew she could trust him with her life.

"Uh, yeah… We do go well together."

Brian glanced to the stairs where Connor had walked up to before going there himself. Still, he didn't leave Ruby without giving her words of encouragement.

"Go big or go home, right?"

Ruby felt even more encouraged than ever as Brian walked up the stairs. A minute ago, she wasn't sure that Margot's idea of a proposal was the best option, but now, she's never been more sure of anything in her life. She held her hand out, awaiting Margot's item.

"Give me that confetti cannon."

"Yes!"

Ruby was sure this time. She knew she had a place in prom with her and her prom date. She can't let anybody tell her otherwise. Nothing would stop her now.

But at lunchtime, things took a turn for the worse. Ruby's courage was gone almost instantly, and she was left hyperventilating in the middle of campus, holding Margot's confetti cannon. Her heart was beating so hard, she's almost certain Connor could hear it. He was giving someone advice on how to skateboard right. She could barely make out what he was saying to him.

"You gotta practice. The trick is to reject the concept of gravity. It doesn't exist. It's not real."

While Connor finished, she looked from the confetti cannon to her crush just in time to see his protege skate away from him.

"All right. Peace out."

"Yo, hit me up later."

Ruby was beginning to reconsider the use of Margot's confetti cannon as a whole. She wasn't like Margot, and she didn't feel as though Margot would know what Connor would want. Come to think of it, she wouldn't know either. But she wasn't going to find out just standing there. She took a deep breath and walked towards her crush, hiding the cannon behind her back.

"Hey, Connor."

Connor noticed Ruby and beamed up.

"Hey, Ruby. What's up?"

Ruby's nervousness was at an all-time high, but she knew that she had to go big or go home. That said, she felt like there was a limit to how big she should go to win over Connor. To find out, she tried to talk to him.

"Um, hey. So, I was wondering, did you see, like, all those prom-posals around school this morning?"

"Yes."

"Hmm."

"They kind of weird me out."

Ruby knew it. Turns out, she dodged a bullet with hiding the confetti cannon. If she went through with Margot's plan, how would he have felt about her?

"Just ask someone. It doesn't have to be this big proposal. It's crazy, right?"

"Oh, yeah, I hear that."

Connor set down his skateboard and walked to Ruby.

"And besides, prom is a postcolonial…"

Ruby knew exactly where it was going, and she said it along with him, both speaking simultaneously.

"Patriarchal construct."

"Exactly!"

"Exactly!"

Ruby and Connor shared a good laugh with each other. They gave each other loving looks while he rubbed the back of his head.

"It could be fun to go with the right person, though."

Ruby was stiff. She had no idea that Connor was going to ask her out. It was what she wanted more than anything, to go to prom with her crush.

"Oh. Yeah. Totally."

This time, this made the duo blush altogether. After a good amount of uncomfortable silence that followed, they spoke to each other at the same time.

"Ruby… Oh."

"Connor… Oh, sorry."

They tried to speak again, with less than ideal results. But they weren't bothered by it as they laughed together.

"Ruby… Oh, hey."

"Connor… Oh, you go."

"No, you go."

"No. You go."

"Yeah, no, you go. I go."

Ruby and Connor laughed together after the exchange. Then, Connor got straight to the point, cutting off the laughter entirely.

"Wait. Okay, no. But seriously, what-what did you want to say?"

"Um, Connor, I…"

She wanted to ask him. All she had to do was open her mouth and ask him out to her mind circled back to what her mother told her. What if the next tutoring session, Agatha caught on, and she split them up? Or worse? Both of them would be grounded! AND FOR WHAT?!

"I… think I'm gonna be sick…!"

Connor noticed how tense Ruby was becoming as she walked away, holding her hand in her mouth.

"Whoa. Hey. Are-are you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I get seasick sometimes when I'm next to the ocean. It's genetic."

Genetic?! What's wrong with you, Ruby?! Why don't you just tell him…?!

"You know, my sisters do this grounding technique thing."

As Ruby mentally cursed herself and Connor tried to offer some help, he noticed something fall out of her backpack.

"Ooh. Whoops. Wait, what's this?"

Ruby's eyes went as big as lollipops when she saw what he had in his hands. It was the confetti cannon that apparently fell out of her backpack. Her panic was on overdrive.

"Hah. Oh. That? Never seen that before."

"Whoa. Is this a kaleidoscope?"

"Maybe put it down."

Ruby tried to take it from Connor, but in doing so, her hand pushed on the button, making her gasp as Connor looked into it. The cannon was getting ready to fire.

"It's party time!"

Before Ruby and Connor knew it, the confetti cannon exploded point blank on his face with a powerful enough force to blind him with an atomic bomb of confetti! Ruby screamed as Connor staggered back. He stepped on a skateboard and went backwards, falling off of the ledge behind him!

"Connor! Connor, are you okay?!"

Peering over the ledge, she'd hoped that Connor would float upward and let her know. But all she saw was his skateboard which began to sink. And as if things couldn't be any worse, it didn't go unnoticed.

"Ruby?"

Ruby looked over to the boardwalk and saw Brian looking at her in surprise.

"What just happened?"

Ruby was put under intense pressure. She could practically feel the whole school gazing at her, judging her…

"I-I can fix this, Brian!"

In a desperate act not just to save Connor, but to clear her name, Ruby noticed a nearby lifesaver and grabbed it before chucking it over the ocean. Regrettably, she forgot to untie it, and it just dangled over the side of the ledge.

"Son of an anglerfish!"

Brian looked down at the water. She knew where Ruby was going with this.

"Don't worry, Ruby! I'll get him out!"

Without hesitation, Brian leapt into the water. Ruby felt some relief knowing that somebody else was able to help her. If it works, she wouldn't have to jump in to save him. Then, she'll just have to tell Connor about the cannon that blasted him in the face full of confetti. But even that was stressful as is.

"Great. Good news, Connor will be okay. Bad news, he's probably going to hate me for the confetti cannon…! Ugh, why did I let you talk me into this, Margot…?!"

Ruby looked over the ocean for any sign of Connor and Brian. But ten seconds later, neither of them came out. Ruby was becoming more and more uncertain of them being able to swim up safely. She whimpered, beginning to reconsider her option of staying on dry land.

"Connor! Brian!"

Ruby tried to go on the ledge to jump in, but the ocean seemed to get bigger and bigger to her. She wrapped her arms and legs around the poles to keep herself from falling. Little by little, she tried to position herself to jump in and save them both.

"Okay. Okay. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay."

While adjusting herself, her shoe squeaked with a slip, making her fall into the ocean with a scream. But it was of no consequence, as she managed to get into the water, and surprisingly, the landing was softer than she expected.

Under the water, Ruby looked at her skin. It was turning back to its blue color, and her five fingers were turning into four and growing longer. She was turning back to how she was before. Ruby knew the timing was bad, but she couldn't worry about it, not with her friends' lives at stake. She looked further down to see that Brian was trying to swim over to Connor, reaching out to him. But before he could get to him, the tide pushed the current, and it shuffled Connor away from him, only to swirl Brian along with him, followed by Ruby.

She tried to hang onto a large stalk of kelp to resist it, but the current was too strong. When it was over, Brian, who was caught in the raging tide, ended up unable to hold his breath and succumbed to the water. Ruby saw that from up ahead and tried to swim toward him and Connor. She reached her hands out to them and tried to grab them, but before she could, the current struck again, pushing her away from Connor and Brian and into a vine of kelp. Ruby struggled to break out of it, but to no avail.

How could this happen? How did it all turn out so wrong…? All she wanted was to go to prom with Connor. And now, it looked like she was going to die for it. Ruby could not hold her breath any longer; she had never had any experience in swimming before today. She let water fill her lungs, and her body fell limp, her arms drifting beside her. But at the last moment, when it seemed like she was done for, the palms of her hands started to glow bright blue, even from her suction cups. The light trailed up her arms, glowing through her green sweater, and went up to the marks on her neck.

She felt something else, too. Ruby didn't feel as heavy anymore. And the water that filled up in her… it wasn't choking her, either. Could she breathe underwater now? Could she have been able to all along? Ruby tried to work out the mystery when she felt something surging within her. It was rising deep within, like a lantern finding its flame. Ruby opened her eyes.

She didn't realize it, but they were glowing bright purple. And suddenly, before she could figure out what was going on, Ruby's whole body burst out in a bright purple light that sent a shockwave throughout the whole ocean.

The whiplash pushed the kelp off of her, along with the other stalks of seaweed. It also moved the other boats away like a tidal wave. Underwater, the jellyfish resonated with that light with a brief bioluminescent glow. But the bigger surprise was who else could feel it.

At the Kraken Kingdom, Grandmama's eyes widened, glowing a bright green as the pulse struck her. She let out a loud gasp of shock, puzzling Pearl. She was sitting on her Grandmother's lap, wondering what it was about.

"Grandmamah? What is it?"

Grandmamah was in disbelief. It had been a long time since she felt such a pulse like this. It brought out feelings of pride and joy, mixed in with sadness.

"The pulse… The princess has answered the call…!"

Pearl overheard her and gasped with wonder.

"Does that mean… we can see the princess now?!"

Grandmamah smiled at the little Kraken girl and eagerly nodded.

"Yes, Pearl! The day has finally come! Brill! Find the Princess and bring her home."

Meanwhile, Connor and Brian were left to drift to the bottom of the ocean when suddenly, Ruby snatched them out of the water and went up in breakneck speed she didn't realize she had. At the surface, Ruby dropped Connor and Brian off at the deck, leaving them out. A few seconds later, Connor suddenly snapped into consciousness with a heavy gasp.

He let out harsh coughs as he tried to recover. The young man looked up to see Brian beside him. But unlike him, he wasn't awake. He laid there unmoving. And he looked pale.

"Brian…? Brian?!"

Connor tried to go over to him, but just before he could begin to try, he heard someone's voice behind him.

"What happened? Do you need any help?"

Connor turned around to see someone standing behind him. He was out of the loop for a moment, but he wasn't completely at a loss for words.

"Uh.. yeah. He needs some CPR!"

"I got this."

The girl who spoke to him knelt down beside Brian and placed her hands on his chest and pushed down on them three times as Connor looked on. Then, she put her mouth on his own, breathing some air into him. The second he got the kiss, Brian's eyes opened wide and gasped harshly. The girl backed away as he spat out the water that filled up in him to breathe again. The boy took deep breaths, holding his hand over his heart.

"Are you okay? That was really close."

Brian blinked his eyes, puzzled by the sight of the girl, the image of which was obscured by the light of the sun behind her.

"Uh… yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for the save. But, uh… what's your name?"

The girl knelt down and held her hand out to him, letting her image show itself. She had fair skin, wavy knee-length red hair, and pale blue eyes. For clothing, she wore a navy-blue zigzag choker around her neck, hoop earrings, a sleeveless, aquamarine blue ruffle crop-top, sparkling dark blue bell-bottom jeans, and a pair of white sneakers. She also had light blue nail polish.

"My name's Chelsea. Chelsea Van Der Zee."

Notes:

A/N: And that was the first official chapter of Ruby Gillman, Call of the Sea! :)

One of the first things I realized about the Gillmans was that they weren't exactly trying hard enough to fit in, well apart from Ruby, circumstances considered. I kept trying to think of a way to fix that. Then I remembered in the first trailer that one of Grandmamah's powers was camouflage. So, I decided to make the camouflage something the Krakens used to help them blend in a more human-like form. Convenient, right? But there are limits, like when you're stressed out. So it was especially difficult for Ruby not to worry so much when everyone is suspicious of her as is.

And I added a couple of new characters in this chapter, Brian Thursten (based on Captain Thurston from H.P. Lovecraft's short story about Cthulhu), and his father. I added as much background as I could without taking away from Ruby's story here. It is called the Life and Times of Ruby Gillman for a reason. But after this, one can only wonder how long her "normal" life will last... The answer to that is just one of many things to look forward to in this story, so be sure to follow and favorite it if you wish to learn more. ;)

Chapter 3: Kraken It Wide Open

Notes:

A/N: And here we are with Chapter 2. Before we begin, I would just like to tell you that if you plan to send a review, as much as I really, really, REALLY appreciate them, please don't use them as a form of PM's. Also, starting from my last recently posted chapter for my Naruto fanfic, Perception, I will be undertaking a new writing style, and it will not be reflected in all of my past projects. But moving forward, it will be the norm. After this, there will be a new chapter for Regular Show: A Cloud in the Sky in the works. And hopefully, either this same month or the next, I will also post up a new chapter for Infinity Train Book 2: Emma's Story as it is long overdue. Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy this next chapter. :)

"KRAKEN…"

Ruby moaned and slowly lifted her eyes open. "Hmm…? What… happened?" Ruby muttered. She was barely awake trying to process what happened. But how could she be? She should've died, right? She certainly remembered dying in a watery grave with Connor and Brian… But then, what happened?

She looked down at her hands, seeing that her skin was pale blue. Ruby wasn't sure what to think. She must've dropped the illusion when she went in the water. She flipped her hands over to see her palms were glowing bright blue. "My hands…" Ruby spoke in awe. "What's going on…?"

"KRAKEN."

The 2nd time she heard it, Ruby snapped awake and looked around. She looked for any sign of the people she hoped to save. She even started to hyperventilate.

"Brian! CONNOR!" Ruby shouted. Then, it dawned on her. She was breathing. So she didn't drown after all. Ruby was becoming more and more dumbfounded by these turn of events. But before she had a chance to think through any of them, the booming voice called out again.

"KRAKEN."

Ruby flinched to the voice's direction, her eyes widening when she saw glowing red eyes in the shadows. The poor girl would be more pale than she already was if it were possible. This must be one of the monsters her mother warned her about. And she had to go into the ocean…

"W-Who are you?" Ruby questioned with fear in her voice.

"YOU CANNOT HIDE FROM ME. YOU ARE MINE."

Out of the shadows, two large-pronged tentacles moved towards Ruby like water snakes. She wanted to move, but found that she couldn't. She was trapped in his fiery gaze, and all she could do was whimper and cower as the monster seized her with its appendages and crushed her in his grip. Ruby moaned as her vision once again faded. The last thing she saw was red…

Suddenly, Ruby woke up with a violent gasp. She coughed out as much water as she could onto the ground beneath her. Ground… she looked up from it to a rocky underside of the school to how did she end up there?

"What just happened?" Ruby wondered. And it was indeed a good question. A minute ago she was drowning. Did her dream have anything to do with it? She looked at her hands, still blue from her trip under the water. She tried to find something to dry it off, but there was nothing to hide it. Eventually, though, Ruby resumed her human disguise. It didn't matter how wet she was, she couldn't let anyone see her like this. Then, she remembered who else was at the bottom of the ocean with her. She gasped in horror, horrified to think of what could happen to them.

"Brian! Connor!" Ruby shouted in realization. She ran out of the rocky underpass beneath the school and tried to understand what was going on. But as she left, she didn't notice that a set of cat-slit eyes were watching her. The eyes narrowed, as if smiling at its prey…

Once she got up on the school level, she saw a whole crowd of students swarming near the bell statue. Ruby had a very bad feeling in her… whatever counts for a stomach that Brian and Connor were involved somehow.

"Connor? Brian?" Ruby spoke up, hoping they could hear her. Suddenly, before Ruby knew it, a pair of hands moved away two people in front of her. Margot looked very worried for Ruby.

"Ruby, there you are." Margot spoke in alarm. "You missed the story of the year, girl. Brian and Connor almost drowned!"

After what she went through herself, Ruby quickly got defensive. "I didn't mean to! I-I mean, I didn't do it. Gosh, that's crazy! And surprising. Because it definitely didn't have anything to do with me. Ha-ha…"

But as much as Ruby tried to hide it, Margot noticed that she wasn't acting right.

"Are you feeling alright? Why are you wet?" Margot questioned in confusion. Ruby looked all over the crowd and sees that none of them are looking at her. She took this possibly small window to explain things. The Kraken girl went close to her ear and tried to explain.

"I tried to ask Connor to Prom." Ruby began in a fearful whisper. "I did what you said and tried to go big. And I… may have shot him into the ocean…!"

Even Margot was plenty surprised to hear that. She never expected to hear that out of Ruby.

"You what?" Margot whispered in shock.

"I didn't mean to…!" Ruby whisper-shouted. "After that, I tried to jump in and–!"

Before Ruby could finish her explanation, she saw Connor out of the corner of her eyes, along with Brian. She gasped upon seeing them safe and sound. The self-proclaimed "normal teenager" had no idea how they were still alive, but it brought her great relief to see it for herself. Both of the boys were wearing towels to dry them off with Brian mostly dry already.

"Guys! Are you okay?" Ruby worriedly asked the boys. For all she knew, they could've been her victims.

With Brian patting his back to help him with the water in his mouth, Connor coughed before he answered.

"Yeah. It was crazy." Connor answered. "I just remember there was smoke and glitter. And then the next thing I knew, Brian and I were saved by the new girl."

Little did Connor realize that his answer gave Ruby a surprise. She remembered what Timothy told her on the road before Margot called her about her mother's answer.

"When you see my granddaughter, tell her I expect her to be back by dinner. She's the new girl. You can't miss her; she always goes big."

"Wait. Did you say the new girl?" Ruby repeated curiously. Just then, she heard a large cheering from the other side of the crowd to answer her. The girl she saw standing in the midst of it was the same one that rescued Brian and Connor. She turned around to show her blue eyes and confident smile.

"That's right. The new girl." Chelsea spoke with pride. Ruby furrowed her eyes in confusion alongside Connor. As for Brian, he found himself attracted to her. He saw their puzzled looks and tried to reassure them.

"You have to give Chelsea credit: she knows how to go big. Especially with CPR…" Brian stated, still remembering the soft, delicate touch of her lips. Ruby and Connor looked at him puzzlingly.

"Chelsea?" Ruby blurted out with puzzlement.

"That's her name." Connor explained as Chelsea showed the crowd her gratitude with her hands against each other's palms.

"Thank you. Thank you." said Chelsea with a bow. Eventually, the crowd quieted down. When they did, Chelsea took the opportunity to tell them what happened.

"Picture this: me, stunning but approachable, on my first day of school." Chelsea began, walking past the crowd as she went closer to the statue with Ruby looking more and more baffled than ever. "I'm lost and confused, struggling to find my first class. When suddenly, I spot these two boys barely above water."

Chelsea said it in a cutesy kind of way as she poked Brian in the nose, making him blush.

"W-We're just lucky that we got out okay." Connor added.

"You don't have to worry about us, Chelsea. You made sure of that." Brian assured.

Chelsea smiled at the two of them as she went on, especially to Brian. She didn't know why, but looking at him, she began to blush mildly. She did it as CPR, but she could feel the warmth of his lips all over again.

"Yeah, I… I did…~" Chelsea said, almost bashfully. A few seconds later, she continued on with the story. She continued going around the statue, going on top of it by the end of it. "Anyway, I'm not much of a swimmer. But in that moment, I remembered what my mother always told me: 'You are gorgeous.' Also, 'Big risk, big reward. Always go big'. And what is bigger than saving a life?"

The whole student body went positively ga-ga over Chelsea, cheering at the top of their lungs and chucking their roses for her to catch. Ruby was staring at Chelsea, still not sure what to make of her as a rose fell on top of her. Unconsciously, she grabbed onto it when it fell near her. She took a look at the rose that landed in her hand, but the moment she did, she noticed the strange blue glow returning on her palm. And unfortunately, it was turning her disguise off, starting with her hand.

"Oh, no. What's happening…?" Ruby panicked. She backed away, trying to get away from the crowd, only to bump into someone behind her. She was pretty upset at that.

"Watch it!" the student yelled at her.

"Ah! Excuse me." Ruby backed away, trying to defuse the situation before it got worse. As it happened, Chelsea noticed Ruby trying to get out and tried to talk to her.

"Wait." Chelsea spoke. Ruby turned around slowly, fearing that if she stayed any longer, everybody would know what's going on with her. She covered her hand's palm to give herself a better chance of going unnoticed.

"We haven't met. I'm Chelsea, Chelsea Van Der Zee. It's Dutch." Chelsea introduced as she went closer to her and stepped down from the statue. "And you are?"

"I'm, um…" Ruby tried to answer, but the anxiety was slowly getting the better of her. "I'm Ruby Gillman. It's Canadian… eh."

Chelsea extended the conversation with a friendly smile. "Okay, maybe it's the whole 'don't look at me' vibe, but there's something different about you."

Ruby was becoming more nervous than ever, and tried to back up. "I– I really gotta go now." Ruby said. But as she tried to wave her off, her right hand started to grow big, and her disguise was wearing off. Before Ruby knew it, she saw everyone staring at her. She tried to hide her hand to keep them from seeing the disguise wear off. Brian and Chelsea saw Ruby's distress and grew worried as everyone else started talking about her, as far as she could tell. Her vision was getting blurry, and their voices were getting too loud to let her think straight.

"Are you okay?" Chelsea asked Ruby with concern. "You really look like you've been through something."

Truer words could never have been spoken. But that something might be too much for even her to comprehend. As such, Ruby tried to distance herself.

"Yeah. I really got to go. Now." Ruby answered before dashing off. But as she ran, she remembered what Timothy told her. "Oh, and your grandpa said to be back before dinner!"

Ruby took off once again from the crowd, leaving Chelsea, Brian, and Connor by themselves near the statue. Margot was concerned for her especially. Not that it bothered anybody else too much. "Alright, everyone. Show's over. Let's get back to class." the PA announcer spoke.

But as everyone went back, Chelsea couldn't help but look at Ruby fondly. Brian went beside her, showing the same level of concern.

"What got into her…? And how did she know about my grandpa?" Chelsea puzzled. Brian turned to the new girl, just as flummoxed.

"I wish I knew." Brian replied. "Ruby's usually shy, but not like this."

He turned to Connor to check with him. If anyone would know how Ruby felt, he would.

"Do you have some ideas, Connor?" Brian asked.

"I don't know." Connor answered, worried over Ruby's behavior as well. "She seemed like she wanted to say something, but then she told me she was sick."

Connor raised his eyebrows. He found it hard to believe that it was entirely the case. Otherwise, the accident wouldn't have happened the way it did.

"Hold up. Did she seem… nervous to you?" Brian interviewed Connor, hoping that his answer would offer a clear picture.

"Kind of. She looked like she saw a ghost." Connor replied. Brian put two and two together quickly. But he knew better than to intrude on Ruby and Connor's business. There were some things that should be between them, he thought.

"Connor, I think you should try to talk to Ruby." Brian responded.

"What?" Connor inquired, confused about where he was going with this.

"She clearly wants to say something, but she doesn't look like she could handle it." Brian explained. He looked to the direction Ruby took off. And he knew there was only one place she'd be desperate enough to go to be alone. "Ruby must've headed for the library. We'll talk to her there."

For her part, Chelsea seemed concerned. She was starting to think her "don't-look-at-me vibe" was for something serious.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Chelsea asked with concern.

"At this point, what could be worse than what happened?" Brian answered. But alas, for it was a question that no mortal should ever ask. Unbeknownst to the trio, there was a shadow of the creature that spied on Ruby near the school's building. The shadow growled and the shape of it scurried off from its hiding place and into a nearby bush. While it hid itself, Chelsea saw his point.

"Okay. But I think we should check on her in person first." Chelsea suggested. "I don't think they allow cell phones in libraries."

"They usually don't, but you'd be surprised how often they overlook it." Brian stated. The trio all set off for Ruby. The redhead found his wisdom fascinating to say the least, even if that wasn't intentional.

"Oh. Well, that's good to know on my first day." Chelsea responded with a faint smile. While the trio headed for Ruby, the mysterious creature that stalked them peeked its eyes through the underbrush and narrowed into a scowl with an unearthly grumble…

Meanwhile, Agatha was about to close a deal with her clients. They'd just arrived in their new house shaped exactly like a boat. It was an open house kind of meeting that she was certain would help the sales. She opened the door to see a newlywed couple just outside the driveway walking up to the porch.

"Doug! Janice! Welcome to your new home, if I may be so bold." Agatha welcomed. Janice was a brown-skinned woman with her brown hair in a bun, wearing a white-teal dress and having a bun in her oven as well, so to speak. And her husband had a navy green denim jacket over his white shirt with waves and jeans. Once they stepped into the living room, they were completely in awe.

"Ooh." Janice ooh'd.

"This is incredible." Doug aw'd. Agatha showed them around to the backyard door, the glass door of which showed a pool with an especially impressive view of Oceanside.

"Oh, you've picked a great place to raise a kid." Agatha complimented. "It's so safe here in Oceanside. Moving my family here was the best decision I ever made."

"Doug actually grew up here." Janice added a bit of interesting trivia about themselves. "We're moving back so that we can be closer to his folks when the little one comes."

"And so that my cousin Connor can get to know the little one, too. Hello, free babysitting." Doug added with an enthusiastic smile.

"How nice. Just be careful they don't tell you how you should live your life and raise your children."

The last comment threw Doug and Janice for a loop for a few seconds. Agatha caught what she said and tried to move on.

"I mean, it'll be so nice to have family nearby. You're very lucky." Agatha spoke with a friendly smile. But while Agatha was winning her clients over, she didn't notice that there was someone climbing on the rocks that rested on a small beach near the school. It was Pearl.

She was practically dragging herself on one of the boulders, not to mention she looked tired.

"My legs are tired…" Pearl whined to herself. She could barely pull herself together, it seemed. "How do they… deal with this… gravity?"

Fortunately, her struggle proved to be worthwhile. Far away, she caught a glimpse of Ruby running in her panic, hyperventilating along the way.

"Come on, come on, come on…!" Ruby spoke frantically as her disguise malfunctioned, exposing her kraken side. Pearl gasped with interest as she saw her run. Pearl knew exactly who she was from the look of her.

"There's a kraken here, too…?" Pearl asked herself with wonder. A few seconds later, she had an idea.

"Maybe she can help me find the princess." Pearl hypothesized. The little kraken chased after Ruby, hoping that she could lead her to the princess she was looking for.

Meanwhile, Ruby was rushing over to the library, only to find out that the door was closed. She tried to open the left door with no success. Grunting heavily, Ruby gave up on the left and pulled on the right, nearly tripling herself in the process. With the door opened, Ruby made no hesitation to hide herself inside it.

On the way in, Ruby tried to move past the red velvet rope and the balloons, as well as a left-out box full of prom decorations, but after narrowly moving past them, she fell to the floor. But it was of no consequence; she just wanted to find someplace to lay low until whatever was happening to her had gone away, preferably for good.

Ruby looked at the corner of the bookshelves and saw just the place for her to hide. She scurried off to the end of the shelf in-between the other shelves and started to pile books onto her glowing hand, desperate to hide the glow.

"Oh, why am I glowing? Glowing is not good. I will never go into the ocean again. Lesson learned!" Ruby self-reprimanded. In her hyperventilation, she didn't notice that someone else had already snuck inside. The poor girl tried to find someone she could trust so that she could find a way out of this mess, however it happened. And the first person that came to mind… was her mother.

"Call Mom." Ruby commanded her phone. But it interpreted a different person.

"Video call Connor."

"What? I didn't say that!" Ruby panicked, looking more bashful than ever. "Call Mom!"

However, the phone didn't register in time, and she ended up talking to Connor!

"Ruby, where'd you go?" Connor asked on the phone.

Ruby was nervous, and tried to play it cool.

"Whoa. Hey." Ruby replied with a smile. But her facade failed quickly as she pressed her thumb on the button desperately.

"End call, end call, end call….!" Ruby spoke in a whisper to her phone with less than success.

"Wait, I wanted to ask you something." Connor tried to talk to Ruby on the other end of the phone, but he was unable to get through to her.

"I'm going through a tunnel!" Ruby shouted before her phone turned off. Outside, Connor tried to answer back.

"Ruby?" Connor tried to get her back, but the call had already ended. He sighed in defeat, clearly confused about what was going on with her.

"She just ended the call." Connor relayed the result to Brian and Chelsea.

"But why would she call in the first place?" Chelsea asked, equally stunted by the spiraling series of events that occurred. Brian looked at the library door that was forced open and took a deep breath.

"Only one way to find out…" Brian replied.

In the library, Ruby was still trying to get some help.

"Call Mom!" Ruby barked at her phone. But the Gillman girl stopped and thought ahead of time. If she were to drive up here that instant, her mother would scold her for being in the ocean, or worse, she'd be grounded for life!

"No, I can't call Mom." Ruby dreaded, haunted by the thought of her angry gaze. "She's gonna kill me."

While Ruby was in difficulties with her situation, she heard a pit-pat up ahead of her. She could hardly tell without the glow, but it looked like a little girl.

"What's wrong?" The silhouette asked her.

Ruby didn't know who that girl was or how she got in here, but she didn't want her to get wrapped up in her Kraken craziness.

"Uh, n-nothing! I'm just, uh… seeing how many books I can use to cover my hand!" Ruby answered with a nervous laugh. The girl approached her innocently.

"Can I help?" She offered. But Ruby was adamant that she do it herself.

"No! Er, I mean, no thanks! I'm… I'm all good here…!" Ruby refused politely. But it did nothing to make the girl go away. However, once the girl got close enough, Ruby's whole expression changed.

"It's okay. I can help." The girl answered as her true form was revealed. It was Pearl talking to her. Ruby had no words to express how baffled she was to see her.

"Um…" was all Ruby could mutter before Pearl went down to her hand. She saw the blue glow and marveled at it. But she meant what she said about helping her. Methodically, she rearranged the books Ruby scattered all over her hand in desperation. Ruby watched with interest when she saw that very few cracks could escape from Pearl's makeshift pyramid.

"All done." Pearl spoke with an innocent smile. Ruby stared at her, her mind boggled by the symmetry of the books. It was almost like an igloo!

"How did you do that?" Ruby finally asked, breaking the brief silence.

"I took classes. My Grandmamah taught me how to stack stuff for stress relief." Pearl grinned. Ruby blinked her eyes, completely puzzled and trying not to laugh at how she innocently said Grandmamah.

"That's a weird way to say Grandma." Ruby replied.

"She likes it." Pearl responded. "My name's Pearl."

She held her hand out to Ruby, waiting for her to shake it.

"I'm Ruby." Ruby introduced herself, for once feeling comfortable talking to someone today. She didn't know how or why she was here, but at this point, it wouldn't hurt to talk to someone who was like her after the stress she endured today. Ruby and Pearl shook each other's hand with good greetings. Still, Ruby had to know where she came from.

"So… what are you doing here?" Ruby asked, more puzzled than afraid.

"I came here looking for the princess." Pearl answered nonchalantly. "Can you help me look for her?"

Ruby didn't know what to say to an answer like that.

"Wait. A princess?" The shy Kraken asked.

"Yep. My dad and I split up looking for her because of these mean monsters…" Pearl replied, her second sentence taking a fearful tone, albeit with a pout.

"What monsters?" Ruby was afraid to ask. Before Pearl could answer, they heard footsteps walk inside. Pearl gasped and crouched down to hide herself, suddenly vanishing into the environment. Ruby was beginning to get very anxious.

"No, no, no, no…! Don't go…!" Ruby whispered fearfully. But Pearl raised her head up, dropping part of her disguise to shush her.

"Shh! We can't let them find us. Blend in." Pearl whispered.

Ruby recognized her ability right then and there. She was using camouflage. Thinking quickly, she tried to blend in along with her. She seemed like she had a good start, but unfortunately, there were two factors she didn't account for. One, her clothes weren't able to blend in. And second, the glowing didn't go away, either.

"Come on. This? I can't hide this…!" Ruby complained, but was interrupted by the sound of Brian's voice.

"Ruby? Are you alright?" Brian called out. She heard the direction of his voice and gasped softly. She peeked through the bookshelf to see that he, Connor, and Chelsea were looking all around. Somehow, this was even worse than the monsters Pearl talked about.

"We just want to check up on you." Connor added. Ruby's attempt at camouflage went away and she blushed a deep shade of red, more flustered than before.

"Connor…!" Ruby panicked, feeling her fight-or-flight response kicking in. Pearl peeked out of her disguise to see Ruby's bashful look.

"Are those your friends? And why is your face red?" Pearl whispered.

"I don't know…!" Ruby whisper-shouted.

As Ruby tried (and failed) to hide herself, Brian looked left and right through the other bookshelves.

"Ruby, this isn't something that can be fixed by hiding away. We're here for you, okay?" Brian tried to reassure her. Having received no answer, he sighed to himself and sat on a nearby chair. He put his hand on his head and tried to think. Chelsea was puzzled by the expression he made

"Uh, I thought we were…?" Chelsea began puzzled.

"We are. It's just…. I'm starting to think she's hiding from us because of what happened up there." Brian explained.

"You mean when you were… belly-up?" Chelsea asked in a way that sounded like she had something to hide as well. But Brian and Connor were already dealing with a runaway. They'll get to that part later, he thought.

"Yeah. That." Brian bluntly answered. "She must've felt like she doesn't deserve us."

"Are you sure?" Connor asked, frightened of what that could mean. "I know Ruby. She may be clumsy, and honestly, really cute…"

Chelsea and Brian all look at Connor, the latter smiling at him with a smirk. In any situation, he found it adorable that Connor would call her cute. One of the things he admired about their friendship. Little did he realize that Ruby had heard what he thought about her.

"Aw, he thinks I'm cute…" Ruby swooned quietly with a smile.

"A-Anyway, she'd never do something like that on purpose." Connor continued.

"I know. But for all we know, she doesn't feel any less responsible for… whatever happened. That's why we're here. To help her understand that." Brian explained, placing his hand on his shoulder. Chelsea didn't realize it, but she ended up staring at him for a little longer than she thought. She swore she could feel her heart skipping a beat and a half. Brian turned to Chelsea, noticing how far off she appeared.

"Uh, Chelsea? Are you okay?" Brian tried to get her attention. The redhead shook her noggin and snapped back to reality.

"Uh, yeah. It was… really nice what you said." Chelsea answered, a little shyly. Almost as shy as Ruby was… Speaking of, she was watching the whole dialogue from far away.

Ruby was still hiding among the bookshelves, looking at her friends (plus the new girl) on one end before glancing at her glowing hand.

"I really can't let them see me like this…" Ruby spoke to herself fearfully as well as softly.

"Why? Aren't you a Kraken?" Pearl asked curiously.

"Uh… yeah. That's why I have to hide myself. If they found out what I really am, they really won't want anything to do with me. I don't… I just don't want to be alone here…" Ruby answered sadly. She looked as though she was about to cry. Pearl saw how sad she was. The little girl didn't much like to see her that way. Before Ruby knew it, Pearl wrapped her arms around her to hug her.

"I'll be here for you, Ruby. I wouldn't want to be alone either…" Pearl reassured her. Ruby looked at the little guppy of a Kraken and lightly chuckled before she rubbed her hand on her head gently. Pearl nestled against her like she was curling up in bed. But suddenly, just when things couldn't get any worse, Ruby and Pearl heard a growl close by. Pearl especially twinged at the fearful noise, almost distorting her camouflage. Ruby glanced up ahead to see the monster Pearl was telling her about. On the opposite end of the hall was a fishlike monster lurking in the shadows.

Based on the silhouette, it looked just like the monster Agatha pulled up on her phone to show Sam earlier this morning. Only this one was different, and for good reason: it had legs!

"The Roch Ness…?! That's the monster you told me about?!" Ruby breathed out in disbelief.

"I thought they didn't have legs…!" Pearl answered in fear of the creature.

"Well, look who's wrong…!" Ruby whisper-shouted in just as much panic. But even that monster was the least of her worries; her legs started to tingle. Before Ruby knew it, her legs moved on their own and expanded themselves past her pants' limits, splitting them open as they snakes right towards the monster that stalked them. Pearl looked on in amazement as Ruby's legs began to grow larger than normal.

"There's three of them?!" Ruby asked in shock. Her legs went right towards the Roch Ness, making it widen its eyes as if it realized it made a mistake. Thinking quickly, it barreled out of the way before the legs could smack it. As a result, Connor, Brian, and Chelsea saw the commotion up ahead, as well as the beast.

"What the…?!" Connor was taken aback by the Roch that lurched itself out of the way. "What's a Roch Ness Monster doing here?"

Chelsea turned to him in surprise, baffled by his knowledge of the creature.

"You know about those things?" Chelsea asked in surprise.

"I saw it online once." Connor explained.

The Roch Ness snarled at the trio and scraped its paws on the floor, leaving scratch marks that penetrated deep enough to expose what laid beyond the carpeting: a hidden layer of insulated rubber that also got scratched. On top of that, its legs began to bulk up, making it appear more like a Sea Lizard.

"I don't think we've seen that!" Brian shouted as he pointed at the legs underneath it. The creature roared and forced the students to run outside for their lives as it gave chase. Pearl saw the monster run after them and gasped worriedly. Then, she looked up at the continuously growing Ruby.

"Oh, this is a nightmare!" Ruby tried to hide herself with her hands, but they were growing just as large as the rest of herself! It was bad enough that monsters were coming after her, but her friends were seeing this terrifying transformation, too! What were they going to think of her after this?!

Meanwhile, Pearl herself was stuck in a dilemma. If it was her Grandmamah, she'd focus on Ruby first; Krakens were naturally the top priority for her. But at the same time, a Kraken's duty is to protect. What good was being a Kraken if she couldn't live up to the name? But she didn't have the time to think it through.

During her growth spurt, Pearl dropped her disguise and slid out of the bookshelves to the other side to avoid being crushed. All the while, poor Ruby tried in vain to stop her transformation as her green sweater broke off, her clothes scattered on the floor beneath her.

"No! Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no." Ruby was way past panicking. She even started to scream. But after a moment, it stopped. Ruby took quick breaths, hoping she didn't hurt Pearl in her transformation.

"Pearl? Pearl, are you still there?" Ruby asked with dread. But the girl's answer didn't provide any good news.

"I'm fine!" Pearl replied. "But the monster went after those people!"

"What?! I have to do something!" Ruby declared, and she tried to get up, but unfortunately, she was wedged in-between the bookshelves. But there was another problem.

"Wait. T-They can't see me like this…!" Ruby was torn. Either she gets out of here and saves her friends from the Roch Ness, only to expose herself as a monster, or she stays here and hides, only to let her friends get eaten. Pearl saw the conflict on her face and tried to make it go easier on her. As an added benefactor, it may be her chance to prove herself, to answer the call her Grandmamah told her about. Besides, she knew how big of a deal this was to Ruby, and she didn't want to force her to choose.

"It's okay! I'll go save them for you!" Pearl assured Ruby. "Just stay here, and try to blend in!"

Ruby wasn't sure about putting her faith in the hands of a child that just suddenly came into her life, but given her situation, it wasn't like she had any better ideas.

"O-Okay. Just please hurry!" Ruby pleaded. Pearl wasn't going to let her down, not today, not ever. She had as much at stake in this as she did. Pearl started to take off, and she ran for a few steps, only to plummet to the floor flat on her face. Ruby gasped at the scene, worried she got herself hurt. But Pearl lifted herself up, her skin getting slightly droopy as she grumbled.

"Stupid land gravity…" Pearl muttered. She tried to lift herself up again, and strolled to the door, only to fall into a stray box just beside it. After falling in, though, Pearl looked at the contents with fascination.

"Ooh, nice clothes." Pearl complimented, albeit with Ruby facepalming herself. Then again, she took into context what they would end up seeing if she was somehow discovered.

"Y-You know what? You're gonna need those to blend in, anyway." Ruby said, trying to calm herself down as best she could; she already has enough to deal with already. "You do know how to blend in, right…?"

Pearl nodded with a confident smile. "Of course I do…"

Outside, the trio of students were dashing helter-skelter from the creature. They headed out to the campus where the bell resided. Connor, Chelsea, and Brian were almost out of breath at this point, but one look behind at the creature was enough for Connor to know that it wasn't the case with the Roch Ness.

"How are these things even breathing on land?! They're supposed to be aquatic creatures!" Connor shouted in panic.

"I'm more worried about staying alive long enough to figure that out!" Brian replied. Chelsea looked at the bell. She looked at the two boys beside her and then the fish monster that pursued them. Thinking quickly, the redhead tried to let them know.

"Don't worry! I've got a plan! Split up!" Chelsea yelled out. She ran farther ahead as Connor and Brian broke away from Chelsea. But even though they broke away, Brian noticed that it was still chasing after Chelsea. He wasn't sure if this was part of her plan, but it made him especially worried.

"Chelsea, behind you!" Brian shouted in fear to warn her. She turned around just in time to see the Roch Ness pounce on her! She squealed as she ducked under it with a leap to the fountain. In the process, the Roch Ness slammed facefirst into the bell and rang it loudly, forcing the group to cover their ears as the sounds made the monster squeal in panic and agony, using its large hands to try to block out the noise in vain. Brian and Connor saw the creature writhe as Chelsea backed away to recover.

"The bell… It hates loud noises!" Connor realized as the Roch Ness stumbled on the floor in the process.

Meanwhile, back at the library, Ruby was still stuck in the library, overhearing the bell from far away.

"What in the name of Cod is going on out there…?!" Ruby asked herself worriedly. But whatever was going on out there was the least of her problems. She heard a door open from outside, along with a faint voice.

"Hello?" The librarian asked. Ruby got a peek of her through the space in the bookshelves, and she started to panic.

"Oh, no…" Ruby tensed in her fear. She knew this was not going to end well…

Back at the campus, the Roch Ness was getting very irritated by the loud noise, and so, decided to solve that problem. With a swing of its long tail, it slammed the bell away from the creature and caused it to break the statue apart, launching it off to the side and onto the street. The Roch Ness recovered from the assault on whatever passed for eardrums to it. It approached Chelsea with a fierce look in its red eyes. Baring its fangs, it prepared to lunge at Chelsea.

"Look out!" Brian shouted, shoving her aside just in time to take the scratch himself, slashed across his arm like paper! He yelled in agony as blood seeped out of the wound. Chelsea and Connor watched in horror as the Roch Ness prepared to chow down.

"Brian!" Connor shouted. He tried to charge in to help him out. But the voice of a little girl stopped them.

"Hey!" Pearl shouted from afar. Connor, Chelsea, and Brian all looked to where the shouting came from. Pearl was barely human in her disguise, but the shirt and shorts helped sell the illusion. The shirt consisted of a blue navy shirt with the logo of Oceanside High, and her shorts were black with blue stripes going down to what would be her ankles. And as for her disguise, she had a dark tan color for her skin, along with purple chin-length hair and blue eyes.

"I'm giving you one warning! Leave them alone, you big meanie!" Pearl shouted to the beast. After a few seconds of stunned silence, the creature laughed and mocked her. Pearl grumbled from the creature's mocking laughter and marched up to it. The creature did the same and walked away from Brian much to the concerns of him, Connor, and Chelsea, who took the opportunity to sit by his side.

"Uh, you might wanna get out of here…" Connor warned with fright in his voice.

"Seriously! That thing would tear you to shreds!" Chelsea spoke with alarm as she tended to Brian.

Pearl didn't heed their cautious advice; she needed to prove herself, right here, right now.

"You can do this, Pearl… You're a kraken…" Pearl spoke to herself, trying to steel her wills as the monster approached her with bared fangs. As they gleamed in the light, Pearl started to become very nervous. "A dead Kraken…"

Ruby was no better. She tried her best to blend in, but with the panic going on today, she couldn't camouflage herself properly. Her only hope was to stay silent and hope the librarian didn't notice her. She had chin-length white hair with glasses on her face, a purple shirt with a key tied around her necklace, and a green skirt to go with her socks and shoes. She noticed one of the books laying on the floor and picked it up.

"Pride and Prejudice?" the librarian asked curiously before she smiled. "You're a long way from home. What are you doing in True Crime?"

She went to put the book back, but in doing so, the bookshelf shook up, knocking the book loose off of it. The librarian looked into the crevice left between the space of books and saw one of Ruby's glowing tentacles, her eyes growing wide with alarm.

Outside, Pearl was still walking up to the Roch Ness, the latter of which was ready to clamp its jaws on her body. She looked past the creature to see the damage it had done to them. It only managed to scratch its claws on Brian, but Chelsea was hesitant to leave his side after what he did for her. Pearl saw that moment and took a deep breath.

"You can do this. You can do this…" Pearl tried to convince herself. She held her hands tightly and stared at the creature viciously as she took her breath.

"Laser eyes… GO!" Pearl shouted, shooting a glare at the Roch Ness, making it flinch and duck to the ground. Connor, Brian, and Chelsea noticed its behavior and were puzzled. It waited for a few seconds, but nothing happened. It opened one of its eyes to see that Pearl was still standing there. It didn't take long for her to notice it had no effect.

"Uh… Laser eyes, go!" Pearl tried again, but to no avail. "Laser eyes, go! Aw, come on…!"

The Roch Ness wasn't sure what was going on with her, but as long as its prey was having trouble, it decided to carry on. The monster approached her, ready to tear her flesh when suddenly, they heard a quake in the distance. Pearl, Connor, Chelsea, and Brian were very puzzled by the chain of events, along with the creature that pursued them. In a matter of a few seconds, the library suddenly burst into pieces as a giant Kraken emerged, scattering debris and balloons into the air with a roar.

At the same time this happened, Captain Gordon was doing his tour on a boat this time around. And as it happened, the giant Kraken's appearance was right in the background.

"A lot of you have been asking about my beard regimen." Gordon began, stroking his white beard. But the attention wasn't on him. The tourist was recording the appearance of a Kraken live on the phone!

"Do you see that?" the tourist asked in fear.

Gordon heard their gasps of terror, and turned around to see what they were looking at. In an instant, he immediately knew what it was.

"KRAKEN! Kraken ahoy! She's back! Oh, she's coming for me!" Gordon shouted in fear.

At the school grounds, Ruby "roared" as she burst out of the library. The Roch Ness grew very terrified of Ruby's new form and ran away with a whimper. Pearl saw its panic, and took it as a victory.

"Yeah! You better run, you freaky fish!" Pearl shouted with a smirk. But the moment of relief was short-lived. Connor tried to let her know as he tapped on her shoulder.

"I don't think that was you." Connor stated, pointing to the librarian who was screaming for her life as she ran out with a cart full of her books. The group of four looked up and saw Ruby trying to move herself gently out of the inadvertently demolished library and into the wood clearing nearby. From the cover of the trees, she saw the results of her transformation: the golden and black balloons floating up into the sky, along with the letter balloons that spelled "prom". She looked to the ground and saw Connor, Brian, Chelsea, and Pearl all staring at her.

Connor had wide eyes, Pearl had hands over her mouth, going just as wide. As for Chelsea, she wasn't sure what to think. For that matter, neither was Brian. The way he stared at her, it looked as though he was trying to find the words to speak to it. His eyes were full of wonder where the rest had fear and uncertainty. Ruby took it as a very bad sign and ducked under the trees, hoping they didn't see her. Unfortunately, she found that it was in vain.

"Whoa, did you see that?" Connor said in shock.

"Uh… Yeah! It was huge! So cool, right?" Pearl spoke, trying to blend in with the others to keep her own identity from being discovered.

"Cool? It destroyed the library!" Connor vehemently responded, puzzling Pearl.

"And it scared the monster off for us, too! What's wrong with that?" Pearl defended, personally at a loss that he would be quick to blame Ruby after she saved their skins.

"I mean… yeah, but what if that was a sign? What if that thing's worse than the one that chased after us?! That thing is legit a monster!" Connor replied, countering Pearl's argument. And it worked to devastating effect. Ruby hunched over, feeling as though her heart was shattered to pieces. Brian spoke up next to Connor.

"Hey! We don't know that, Connor." Brian suddenly snapped (possibly from the pain on his arm), getting the group's attention. But by that point, it was too late. Both Pearl and Ruby felt heartbroken by his words, even if they were justified at the moment present; he didn't really have a clue about the whole situation as a whole. Frankly, neither did Brian, but even he could tell there was more to the story.

"That thing didn't try to attack us." Brian responded. "It looked just as scared of us to me."

Chelsea looked back to where the "monster" hid. She was the first one to see his point.

"I think he might be right. It didn't look like it wanted to hurt us." Chelsea concurred.

"And what about Ruby? Where was she in all this?" Connor asked with worry. "What if…?! What if she was…?!"

In an attempt to calm him down, Brian hugged him with his one arm.

"She'll be okay. If we didn't find her in here, she's out there somewhere. And we're gonna find her. Right, little girl?"

Brian tried to get Pearl's opinion. But she was already gone. It was almost like she vanished to thin air.

"Uh… little girl?" Brian spoke aloud, hoping she didn't go too far away. "Where did she go?"

About a mile away, Pearl was running through the wood clearing, feeling her heart ache over what Connor said in his fear-induced state. Her Grandmamah warned her that Cthulhu's influence from history had been seeded too well into their heads, but she didn't think it would hurt that badly. Truly, the only one she could afford to be with was the one who conversely saved her from the monster.

She popped out of the other side of the clearing to see Ruby trying to run away on the water with her three large legs. Upon closer inspection, or rather as close as they could get, Pearl realized who Ruby really was. She could feel it as she stared at her.

"I've found the princess…" Pearl gasped in awe. "I've found the princess! Don't worry, Ruby! I'm coming!"

Without hesitation, Pearl jumped over the edge of the clearing and into the ocean, swimming at a much faster speed than land had previously allowed her to. No matter what, she was going to make sure Ruby was back home where she truly belonged…

Chapter 4: Inheritance

As Pearl tried to catch up to the runaway Kraken Princess, Agatha was showing her clients the back view of their new house. Janice and Doug were breathtaken by not only the backyard pool with a wooden bench at the end of the lounge, but also the pool deck chairs that came with it, as well as a grill on the left end of the lounge. But most spectacular of all was the massive view of Oceanside and the waves it inhabited.

"Oh. Look at this view." Janice spoke with astonishment.

"Wow. Holy migoli, this is amazing." Doug agreed. Their house was beautiful and much more. But in his experience, it was usually the wife who had the final say. "What do you think, boo?"

Janice put her hand on her husband's left pec as she gave her answer.

"I think... we're sold!" she answered with glee. Agatha was very pleased to hear it.

"Oh. Fantastic." she said, walking up to the expectant couple. "Well, I'll get the paperwork started, and we'll make this quick and easy so you can focus on your little one."

But before Agatha could do so, she caught notice of something alarming. She saw a giant and frightened Ruby leaving the scene of the destroyed library. Its wreckage was left behind for her to see. And even worse, she saw something swimming in the water around the shore of it… and right towards Ruby. Thankfully, Janice and Doug didn't see it as they were already excitedly talking about their new home.

"I can't believe this is ours. Look at this house." Janice elated.

"I know! This is beautiful." Doug concurred.

"Honey," she added, "you were saying you wanted a built-in grill, and that is built-in."

"Oh, man, I get to be grillmaster again." Doug spoke up, feeling rather excited to see himself behind the grill once more. But Agatha had to make sure her clients didn't see what was happening, and it wasn't just about her sale. Who knows how they would react if they saw a giant Kraken? They'd try to hurt her, or worse… She had an awkward laugh before she gently urged them back into the house.

"You make sure you enjoy every minute of quiet you have left because once the baby comes, it is going to blow up your whole life." Agatha suggested with an awkward laugh in her voice. Once they were back in the house, Agatha decided to take her leave and go after Ruby. But she couldn't go without letting her clients know what to do now that they own the house.

"Look around. Get a feel for the place." Agatha urged as she pulled out of the driveway to speak to Janice and Doug. "Just leave the key in the lockbox when you're done. Or-or keep it. Whatever. Talk soon."

As she drove off, she threw the key over to the couple, out of whom Doug caught the key. Once she was down on the road, they looked at each other with a puzzled look.

"What do you think that was about…?" Doug asked.

Little did he know that she had a family matter of her own to deal with. Agatha was very, very frightened over what happened to her. She had no idea what happened to the library or what she'd been through. But one thing was clear: she went into the ocean. And they're coming for her… desperate to contact her, Agatha dialed her on her phone as she drove, trying ot get a hold of her.

"Pick up, Ruby. Pick up. Oh, pick up, Ruby. Pick up!" Alas, there was no answer yet, but since it was still calling, she took a deep breath. No matter how tense the situation was, she, of all people, knew that panicking wouldn't help matters at all. "Okay. Agatha, you can figure this out. Everything is gonna be fine."

But a sudden crash of a Roch Ness on her window proved otherwise. It bared its fangs, ready to tear into it, roaring at the top of whatever counted for its lungs, forcing her to slam her foot on the brake.

"Son of an anglerfish!" Agatha cursed as she skidded the car to a stop, launching the Roch Ness off of the car and onto a pile of leaves in the middle of the road. But instead of landing in the pile, it bounced off of the leaves and rolled downhill in the clearing, its squeals dimming as they faded from earshot. Agatha thought it peculiar, though grateful that she managed to get the creature away from her only transportation to Ruby. On closer inspection, though, it looked like… a body. Could the Roch Ness have feasted on it…? No. The creature only showed up recently. Otherwise, it would've had blood on its razors.

"It's probably just a traffic cone…" Agatha hoped. She cautiously stepped toward the pile. And suddenly, the pile rose up. Little by little, the leaves shed themselves from his body all at once to reveal a teal, gelatinous-like being within it. The leaves fell from his face to show a distorted set of eyeballs with green irises and a mouth, along with what passed for a beard under his face. That's when Agatha realized who it was. It was only confirmed when he shook his face and spoke to her with joy.

"Heya, sis!" he said, leaning against her to hug her with a slouch. "Good old Uncle Brill's here to save his favorite niece, Ruby." Agatha's eyes widened as the sudden jolt of memory overflowed in her mind. It was her brother. Brill.

"What?! Brill?" Agatha held Brill up to help stand him up. But his face was still sunken low below his shoulders. "Heya." he simply said. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" Brill answered, holding his face up with his hands, still adjusting himself.

"I just launched a Sea Drake at you with a car." Agatha said with concern.

"How do you guys deal with the gravity here on land? It's crazy, right?" Brill said, brushing off what had happened. But then, he cleared his throat and got down to business. "But seriously, the whole ocean is going nuts. We were on our way to congratulate her when suddenly, Sea Drakes were swarming all over the place. Me and Pearl had to split before they could get us both."

"Pearl?" Agatha asked, puzzled about her name drop.

"Oh, yeah. I had a kid while you were gone. Surprise!" Brill said with a big smile.

"And you left her alone?!" Agatha snapped, already beginning to question whether he was a father at all.

"Hey, I got the Sea Drakes away from her. Got most of them, too. Plus, you got the last one. So she should be safe. I hope…" Brill said, showing worry on his face. Agatha hadn't seen Brill look so… concerned before. How long had she been away from her brother? From her family…?

"I'm… I'm sorry, Brill. I had no idea…" Agatha tried to apologize. But Brill had a firm smile towards her.

"It's fine, Agatha," he insisted. "Pearl's tougher than she looks. Like you. Plus, knowing her, she's probably found Ruby by now. Oh, I can just picture her all grown-up and turned into a giant…!"

But before Brill could divulge any further, Agatha shushed him, putting both her hands on his lips. Father or no, it appeared some things hadn't changed.

"Not so loud." she urged. "Come on."

She dragged Brill along with her. He would've been dragged literally across the asphalt if he hadn't adjusted himself. But he was nonetheless impressed.

"Whoa. I see you still got that upper body strength, huh?"

Agatha chucked him into her car and pushed him in, starting the car up again to track down her daughter.

"I thought I'd be ready for this…" Agatha said to herself with fear and worry.

---

Meanwhile, Ruby was hiding herself in the woods, trying to mask her gigantic form from as much of the world as she could. Once she was certain no one was around, she peeked her head out of the trees and tried to step forward, only to step on something that made her yelp in pain.

"Ow!" she said. When Ruby looked down, she picked up something that she stepped on. It was a broken billboard of Captain Gordon's Tour Bus. The two light poles under it were exposed. Even if she wasn't a giant, Ruby was certain it was hazardous. "Are you kidding me?" Ruby plucked the billboard off of her massive "foot" and dropped it to the ground. But she only had little time to notice two cars on the road driving up in front of her on the road. Ruby ducked down to make sure they didn't spot her.

Her form was barely hidden, but it worked for the moment. However, she didn't want to risk them seeing her the next time. Ruby went on the move once again, carrying two trees with her as if they were bushes to hide herself in spite of the massive footprints she left in her wake. But while Ruby was desperately trying to get away, Pearl was popping in and out of the ocean's waves like a dolphin, tailing the princess.

"Princess!" She called out. Unfortunately, her voice fell on deaf ears, because Ruby was running away from her and along the freeway. Pearl put the pedal to the metal on her legs to follow her. And she wasn't the only one in pursuit.

---

On the freeway, Agatha and the hunched-over Brill were driving down the road and deep into a fog. On the way, she wanted answers.

"What are you doing here, Brill? And why was it so important that you had to bring your daughter with you?" Agatha questioned.

"We felt the pulse." he answered with a smile, but afterwards, he had a timid look. "And so did the Sea Drakes."

"So Mom knows?" Agatha asked, her face clearly showing worry and fear.

"Uh, yeah." Brill replied. "That's probably what stirred up those Sea Drakes. That's why she sent us to get Ruby."

Although Brill had a positive outlook, Agatha was livid.

"This is exactly why she wasn't supposed to go into the ocean." She scolded.

"Uh, then why would you live next to it?" He asked, questioning her logic.

"We needed to stay moist." she countered.

"Ew. Moist." He shuddered with disgust. As she drove on the road, Agatha looked left and right for any sign of her daughter, but with no such luck.

"Where is she? Where is she? I need to hide her." Agatha spoke with a climbing tension of nervousness in her. But Brill looked above to see a towering Ruby above them.

"Whoa. Good luck hiding that." he said. He stuck his head out the window to get a good view of her. All Agatha could do is tilt her head to watch as Ruby's long leg arched past them. She was headed to the lighthouse up along the road. Agatha fiercely turned the wheel to the right. But unfortunately for Brill, who didn't have his seat belt on, he ended up bouncing inside the car.

"Ow!" he cried out. And as Agatha drove up the sidewinding road to the lighthouse, Pearl popped out of the ocean's waves and onto a rock to climb up to the lighthouse. But with how high up it was, Pearl knew it was going to be a long climb up.

"Ugh…" she moaned. However, an idea dawned on her. With how massive the Princess was, she shouldn't need to climb up all the way to her at all. "Ruby! I'm down here!"

Ruby heard Pearl call down to her from below. She cautiously looked down beneath the edge to see a small pink blob at first glance. Looking closely, she saw who it was.

"Pearl?!" Ruby exclaimed. She reached her hand down to her, and she jumped up onto her giant palm, on which she laid her back on as she caught her breath. Ruby lifted her up to her face as the little girl relaxed.

"Finally…!" Pearl spoke in exhaustion. "Why were you running so far…?"

"How did you catch up that fast?" Ruby asked in fascination.

"I followed you… after you left." Pearl panted out of breath amidst her answer. Just then, Ruby heard the car pull up and a door open. Ruby hunched herself against the lighthouse to hide herself better than before.

"Oh, no." she moaned.

"What's wrong…?" Pearl asked.

"It's my mom…"

Agatha got out of the car and saw her titan-sized daughter holding Pearl in her one gigantic palm. Her eyes widened when she saw this. What's Ruby going to wonder now that she'd met another Kraken? Brill got out of the car next to her, and his eyes widened in relief when he saw his daughter in her palm.

"Hey, Pearl!" Brill called out. Ruby turned her head cautiously. She didn't expect to hear another voice besides her mother's. Pearl looked down to the car and saw her father there. Her blue eyes lit up as she gasped.

"Dad!" Pearl shouted with joy. "Ruby saved my life!"

"Wait. He's your dad?" Ruby asked, to which Pearl nodded. She looked down to see the large, flabby build he had overall. He had aquamarine skin, blue tentacle hair, and a "beard". "Wow. I can… see the resemblance."

Brill went up to the giant Ruby, who set her hand down hesitantly on the ground. Pearl got to the edge of her hand and slid off of it, landing next to Brill.

"There you are, baby girl!" Brill said as he hugged his little tadpole. "Oh, I am so glad you're safe!"

Agatha, however, was none too pleased.

"Brill." She coldly spoke. Brill and Pearl turned to see her disapproving, silently furious stare. Brill's aquamarine color turned as pale as the fog. He may be a meathead at times, but even he knew how to read the room.

"Uh… let's give your Aunt Aggie and Ruby some, uh, time alone, Pearl." Brill suggested, walking to the car with her. But Pearl looked up at Agatha with a fearful look. She's worried she may get mad at Ruby for something that was beyond her control. Especially when her friends were in danger.

"You're not mad at her, are you?" Pearl asked timidly. Agatha's face softened when she saw the little girl's concerned and worried face. She looked up at Ruby, who moved her head away in shame. She gave her a soft sigh and answered.

"No, sweetie. I just need to have a moment with my daughter." Agatha said in a soft, assuring way that held no malice in her tone. Pearl and Brill could only watch as Agatha tried to talk to her.

"Ruby, I know you're scared." She said. "But we need to get you home."

Despite her words, Ruby looked at herself, her giant hands trembling. What was she supposed to do now that she's turned this way? For all she knew, she can't go back to how she was. She might as well be stuck that way forever. Even worse, she could still remember what Connor told Pearl, what she heard him say.

What if that thing's worse than the one that chased after us?! That thing is legit a monster!

"But... I'm a... a monster." Ruby said, feeling as though he may have been right. Agatha felt her heart ache when she saw her miserable her daughter was.

"Oh, honey, you're not a monster. Not even close." she said, trying to cheer her up. Ruby turned her head to her, but with doubt in her eyes. "I don't want to yell. Can we just talk? Please, just... just talk to me."

For a moment, she didn't answer, but Ruby eventually put her hand back down on the ground to open it up. Agatha walked on the large palm before Ruby pulled it up to her face. Her face was full of confusion, and she was scared. Agatha smiled at her, giving her a warm smile to let her know everything was okay.

"Hey, there's my girl." she said with a gentle voice. Ruby's first instinct was to apologize profusely, but how much would any of it matter at this point?

"Please don't be mad." Ruby begged. "I should have listened to you. But I kind of…"

"Went into the ocean?" Agatha added just as Ruby spoke these same words. "I know. But right now, I just want to keep you safe, honey, and that means getting you home." But how could she? For one thing, everyone and their mother saw the "Kraken" of the sea. That means the whole town's going to be after her. And to make matters worse, she can't even be able to hide herself as she is now.

"Mom, look at me." Ruby started to weep, struggling not to let her voice break too much. I won't even fit inside our house anymore…!"

Before Ruby knew it, she started to cry raindrops. Agatha walked up to her to calm her down.

"Hey. Hey, hey. Shh. You'll get small again." Agatha said. "It just takes a little time. I'm here. I'll wait with you. I'm not going anywhere."

Ruby sniffled, feeling her fear and worries fade away as she talked more with Agatha.

"I'm really glad you're here, Mom…" Ruby said softly. Her mother rubbed the suction cup she was sitting on as she recounted one of her adventures.

"Do you remember when you found that whale on the beach?" Agatha asked.

"You mean Clarence J. Whifferton?" she inquired. "How could I forget? Clarence J. Whifferton. You stood next to him with a hose for seven hours until the tide came back in."

"Oh, yeah." Ruby said, starting to laugh at that fond memory. "I asked you if I could keep him."

"Where would we even have put him?" Agatha asked with a chuckle. Little by little, as they talked, Ruby's size began to shrink down. She was going back to normal.

"We had a hose. A garage. Come on. I would have taken care of him." Ruby said with a chuckle of her own.

"I know you would have." Ruby's form began to shrink deeper and deeper into the fog, setting her mother down gently on the ground as her hand reached it before pulling it into the fog with her. When it was gone, Ruby was back to normal. Though, there was one thing to account for: she had long since lost her clothes, and her skin was now aquamarine with blue tentacles for her hair, and she now had three legs. Her human disguise was gone.

"Yes. I'm normal." Ruby said in relief. Then, it turned into embarrassment when she realized that her clothes were gone, forcing her to use her arms to cover her body where her extremities would've been. "Well, almost normal, he-he… You, uh, didn't happen to have a change of clothes, did you?" Agatha leaned close to her daughter to hug her.

"Trust me, it's gonna be okay." she warmly said. But just then, they heard a loud rumbling from far away. And it came from the ocean. Brill gulped as he and Pearl looked out towards it.

"Uh, might wanna save that for later, Agatha…" Brill said nervously. Agatha and Ruby looked out to the ocean as well. There seemed to be a massive whirlpool happening in the water, drawing every current and wave into it. Within its center were two red eyes with a low growl that could be heard underneath the ocean itself. Ruby was becoming very, very nervous, feeling chills as the growl echoed in her brain.

"Mom… what's happening?" Ruby asked, hoping she'd have an answer. But Agatha simply turned to her daughter and put her hands on her shoulder.

"Ruby, listen." she urged. "I promise, I'll explain everything, but just get in the car and buckle up real quick, okay?" Agatha quietly asked. Ruby nodded before she did so. And not a moment too soon. Once she got inside the car and buckled up, the car sped up at breakneck speed with Pearl sitting beside Ruby and looking behind her.

"Pearl!" Ruby shouted with worry. She grabbed the belt buckle and wrapped it around her before plugging it on. "You're supposed to wear a seat belt!" But Ruby had bigger things to worry about than seat belts. Just then, a gigantic arm with claws on its fingers burst out of the ocean near the freeway as the creature bellowed. When Agatha saw the claw about to land on them, she immediately hit the brakes, making the car skid to a stop.

Agatha, Brill, Pearl, and Ruby looked up at the clawed arm in horror as it descended, smashing the asphalt under its weight. It wasn't long before the full weight of the creature lifted itself up from the sea and towered over them. It reminded Ruby of the Roch Ness she encountered, but in comparison, its hide was scaled, and its snout was so long, opening wide would've taken a bite out of a Great White Shark like it was a drumstick!

"W-What is that thing, Pearl…?" Ruby fearfully asked.

"It's the Drake King…" Pearl whispered fearfully. "One of the Kraken's enemies…!" She hugged close to Ruby as Agatha whispered to herself.

"Please go away, please go away…!" Agatha quietly spoke. The Drake King growled as water fell from its snout like rain. Then, it glanced at the car near its hand and roared as lightning struck the sky. The cacophony of its powerful vocal outburst forced them to cover their ears. It's snout looked likely to swallow the car whole.

That is, until a loud ringing rang out in the distance. It came from the lighthouse where Ruby hid herself. Suddenly, the Drake pulled away from the car and reeled back in pain, its claw slipping off of the road, leaving a massive imprint of destruction where its print laid. The Drake King retreated to the ocean in pain as Ruby and Pearl looked out the window to see it retreating.

"It's gone…" Pearl sighed with relief, feeling the panic leaving her all at once.

"Yeah. But who rang that bell? And… why was that thing here…?" Ruby asked herself. But there wasn't enough time to answer these questions just yet. Agatha wasted no time getting the car to full speed again before they headed down the freeway again. But as they left, they didn't realize that they were being watched. Timothy was glancing upon them from the lighthouse with his telescope. He set it aside, holding a rather forlorn look on his face.

"So, the princess has answered the call at last." Timothy said to himself. He glanced his eyes out to the crater left by the Drake King's hand. "But this was only the first of many trials to come. How can she endure on her own?" Suddenly, Timothy's phone rang in his tunic. He dug into its pocket and grabbed it. He saw on the phone's icon that it was Chelsea calling him. His eyes lit up in concern before answering it.

"Chelsea? What has happened?" Timothy asked.

"Gramps, something really big happened at school." Chelsea spoke with concern. "There was a Kraken!"

Timothy's face did not change when Chelsea brought it up. In fact, he was rather musing the fact.

"Is that so?" Timothy asked.

"Uh, you don't sound so shocked." Chelsea asked.

"Chelsea, it's best that you hurry home. To the lighthouse." He urged. "I fear there may be much you fail to understand…"

---

Back at Oceanside High, Chelsea was sitting at the front of the bell with the bandaged Brian. She could tell it was dead serious.

"O-Okay, gramps. I'll be there asap." Chelsea finished the call quickly and set her phone in her pocket. Brian had a puzzled demeanor.

"What's that about?" He asked. "Is he just worried about you?"

"Yeah, something like that." Chelsea answered. "So much for my first day, huh?"

"Yeah… sorry things happened like this." Brian apologized. "Our school days aren't really like that." Chelsea laughed warmly from his response.

"That makes me feel a little better." She admitted. But she still couldn't shake the feeling of dread about Ruby's fate.

"Still… what do you think happened to Ruby?" Chelsea asked, cautious about bringing it up. Brian took a deep breath, hoping it didn't come to what he feared it did.

"Well… considering that all we found were shreds of her clothes, and her phone was left behind… I don't want to say it, but I think she might have been…" But before Brian could finish it, his father spoke up in the distance.

"Son!" He called out. Brian and Chelsea turned to see the Mayor rushing to them. "Oh, son. Thank Triton, you're safe." He immediately hugged him, making Brian tense up a bit from how strong this sudden hug was..

"Laying it on thick, dad…" Brian spoke awkwardly. He finished the hug and turned to the girl.

"And who might you be?" He asked, not familiar with her face at all.

"It's Chelsea." She introduced. "Chelsea Van Der Zee."

"She helped save my skin against that Roch Ness." Brian explained. The Mayor's eyes went large with fear when he mentioned the creature's given name.

"The Roch Ness?" He asked tentatively.

"Uh, yeah." He answered. "Then, there was a little girl who stood up to that thing. Kinda crazy. And even crazier, there was a… There was…"

"A giant kraken." The Mayor answered in a cold, dark tone. Brian and Chelsea looked at each other with complete stupefaction.

"How did you know…?" Brian asked. The Mayor held his hand on his shoulder as he knelt down.

"Son, I promise I will explain everything to you once you're home safe. For now, let's go home. Alright?" He asked gently. Brian softly nodded before he stood up. But before he left, the young man stopped and turned to Chelsea.

"Wait. Uh, Chelsea… thanks for saving me back there. Twice." He said warmly.

"Well, sure. Someone had to answer the call." Chelsea said with a smile. Brian grinned at her before he spoke softly. "I hope we can find Ruby soon. Connor's taking it really hard…" Brian's and Chelsea looked past the crowd to the ruined library where Connor was holding onto her phone. Margot, Bliss, and Trevin were there, too. For all they knew, they felt just as bad as he did. She couldn't help but feel bad for Connor.

"I'll try to see what we can do." Chelsea offered. "But I gotta head back for now. I'll, uh… see you again soon."

"Yeah. Me, too." Brian said. With that, the father and son went away from the school grounds, leaving Chelsea by herself. But as the fog covered the school, she couldn't help but think back to the giant kraken that burst out of the library. Brian wasn't wrong. It looked scared of them, as opposed to that Roch Ness that lunged at him and scratched his skin. More than that, she was… familiar… Her eyes went big with realization as it dawned on her.

"I know that vibe from anywhere…" Chelsea turned her head to the ocean behind the school. If she was right, she'll find Ruby… in the ocean.

---

Meanwhile, Agatha, Brill, Ruby, and Pearl just arrived back at the Gillman's shack. Ruby was now wearing her Gillman Estate shirt that was in the back of her mother's car. She was the first to walk in the house, but because she was dealing with the fact that she turned into a giant monster, and then encountered yet another one that was hiding in the ocean, Ruby couldn't think of showing Pearl around the house. As she walked inside, Sam was playing a game, sitting on the stand next to the register between him and Arthur, who noticed that Ruby was looking quite frazzled.

"Hey, Tadpole. What's up?" He asked, trying to check on her.

"How would I know? No one tells me anything." Ruby snapped as she walked past him. Even Sam was a little worried for her. To sum things up, Agatha explained what happened.

"Ruby went into the ocean, Arthur." Agatha explained. Her husband immediately became terrified.

"Oh, no!" he gasped.

"And you didn't die?" Sam asked. Though it seemed insensitive, he was actually just as surprised as his father was.

"And worse? Ruby was attacked by a Sea Drake." Agatha continued.

"A Sea Drake?!" Arthur exclaimed in further shock.

"And we were almost eaten by the Drake King!" Pearl piped up, adding to the suspense.

Sam turned his head to see Pearl just behind Arthur, who turned around to see the little Kraken girl just under where his kneecaps were.

"Oh, no…" he grumbled in worry, knowing that another Kraken had come for the "Princess". Pearl also took notice of Sam, puzzled by his appearance.

"Who's this guy?" Pearl asked.

"Who's this girl?" Sam asked likewise in unison with her.

"That's my kid." Brill said with a cheerful expression.

"Oh, no…" Arthur said in annoyance. Brill initiated the same dialogue with Sam very quickly.

"Who's this kid?" Brill asked in confusion.

"Who's this guy?" Sam asked.

"That's my dad." Pearl answered. "He's a good sort. But he's dopey…"

"I believe it…" Arthur said to himself. Pearl looked up at him in puzzlement, wondering what he said under his breath, only for him to move on with the introductions.

"Uh, that's our son, Sam." Arthur explained to Brill and Pearl. The news made Brill so excited, he held Sam in his arms before holding him up by his leg.

"Son? As in, I'm an uncle? Again?!" Brill said with pure joy.

"I've never had an uncle before." Sam stated, his mind blown by his relations.

"And I've never had a nephew before!" Brill eagerly said, holding his finger near Sam's nose.

"And I've never had cousins before!" Pearl added. Suddenly, Nessie went up near Pearl's legs with a bark. She looked down to see him, her eyes going wide at the adorable creature. "You guys have a dog, too?! It's so cute!" But despite the trio being happy with knowing one another, especially Pearl, who petted Nessie so lovingly, Agatha was hard at work keeping the whole thing under wraps. With two new arrivals, along with the sudden appearances of two monsters, people will be asking questions. Ruby certainly has plenty of them. And they're the only ones Agatha was willing to answer. She shut the blinds and closed the windows. She even took Nessie's dog bowl into the house before promptly shutting the back door.

Play TRON Legacy Music: "Adagio For Tron"

With everything in the house closed and shut, Agatha turned to everyone in the house with a soft look.

"Everyone… Can you please give me and Ruby some space, please?" Agatha asked. Arthur read the room in her words, and he nodded.

"Okay. Let's huddle in the living room." Arthur urged. He ushered everyone in the living room near the kitchen as Agatha helped sit Ruby down on the chair. Pearl looked at Ruby with a soft smile as Brill tried to butt in.

"But I can't help explain it?" Brill moaned.

"Nope. This is between mother and daughter, Brill." Arthur urged as he lugged him away. But Pearl stayed behind only to speak softly.

"It'll be okay, Ruby. I promise." Pearl said with a gentle smile.

"Ruby, take a deep breath." Agatha softly spoke. Ruby did as she asked while she sat down before she went on. "Listen. Before we talk about what's next… how did you end up in the ocean?"

Ruby felt pretty awkward about telling her now, especially after what had happened to her, along with the giant monster that came close to eating them alive. But then again, how could it get any worse, she thought. She took another deep breath before she came clean.

"There was… an accident." Ruby said. "A horrible accident. Connor fell in the ocean, and Brian dove in to help get him, but neither of them came back out. And… I was scared of him dying. I didn't want him to drown, so… I jumped in. I tried, but I was drowning with them, and the next thing I knew… this happened." Ruby gestured to her now larger right hand, her glowing suction cups still remaining. Agatha sighed softly. How could she be mad at her for trying to save the people she called her friends? She had a heart to a fault, just like with Clarence J. Whifferton.

"Ruby… what you've done today was very brave of you. And it's not your fault for what happened since." Agatha said with a soothing tone of her motherly voice. "That said… What I told you about the monsters hiding in the ocean, how we needed to stay safe, it's all true. But… until today, you didn't fully understand why. So, it's time that you knew. You see, when you went in the ocean, it triggered... Uh, it released… a powerful force inside you. It turned you into a giant kraken. That's why that Roch Ness creature appeared. And why that Drake King was after you on the freeway. They're all seeking the Kraken Princess." Ruby's eyes grew when she heard her words. She recalled that Pearl and Brill were both looking for the Princess. And the Sea Drakes attacked them for it. Were they hunting her, too…?

"I know this is a lot to process, Ruby, but you're not alone." Agatha assured. Ruby didn't feel any better knowing the stakes. She looked at her giant hand, staring at her glowing blue suction cups. Agatha held onto her hand with both of her hands.

"And I should know…" Agatha continued. Then, she opened her hand up, showing that her hand was glowing just as brightly as Ruby's. "I turn into a giant kraken, too."

"What…? What?" Ruby asked. Her mind was blown pretty quickly. "You knew?" Agatha saddened from her accusing tone.

"I was hoping to be able to tell you before… all this, Ruby." Agatha sadly answered. But Ruby was still distraught by this knowledge.

"So, I'm this?" she asked, holding onto a model ship in a bottle with the Kraken destroying the ship inside it. "The horrible stereotype of krakens that you said humans made up. So what else is true about me, Mom? Do I sink ships now? Do I terrorize sailors?"

"No, Ruby. Far from that." Agatha adamantly shook her head against that point.

"All this time, you told me we were hiding from monsters, and it turns out I'm the monster. You lied to me!" Ruby shouted, feeling more outraged by the second.

"Ruby! Listen." Agatha snapped, calling her daughter's attention back on her. She had a stern look on her face, and yet it wasn't out of anger. She was hurt by these words. "This is no tiny omission. I know that. But what I'm telling you is true: we're not monsters. Okay? Neither of us are. I promise you we're not…" Ruby never saw her mother look that sad before. She looked down at her giant hand, which shook with fear, forcing her to clench it.

"How can you be so sure?" Ruby asked sadly. "What if I can't hide this?"

"Ruby, you can. I can help you." Agatha said softly. But Ruby didn't want her help for today.

"You don't get it, Mom." Ruby said with a slightly raised tone. "Every single day, I make sure no one notices all the ways that I am different. Even with the camouflage, I push my hair in front of my gills, and I stand like I have a spine. It's hard, but this is impossible."

"No, because you can control it, Ruby." Agatha assured her. "Just like I have for all these years."

"Yeah, but you didn't have to go to high school with tentacles." Ruby retorted.

"No…" Agatha said sadly. "But that doesn't mean I don't know what it's like to struggle alone. To feel like the whole world's against you. That's the last thing I ever want you to feel Ruby. That you have to deal with things on your own." Agatha knelt down to Ruby and held onto her large hand once more. "I can help, Ruby. Can you let me?"

Ruby paused for a moment and stared at her hand. She took a deep breath and gently pulled her hand away from her.

"I'm sorry, mom…" Ruby replied softly, still hurt that she'd been lied to about her being a giant kraken. "I can't. I just can't right now… I need to think." Ruby sadly walked up the stairs by herself, holding her hands on her shoulders with her arms crossed. All Agatha could do was watch as her daughter slowly walked up to her room.

End Daft Punk Music: "Adagio For Tron" (2:19)

Meanwhile, in the living room, Sam overheard their conversation. And needless to say, it sparked interest in him.

"Do I get to have tentacles, too?" Sam asked with an excited look. But Arthur and Brill had to break the bad news to him.

"Sorry, son. Only the women in our family turn giant." Arthur said.

"The men just become older, rounder versions of ourselves. It's not great." Brill added as he strutted his stuff. Sam moaned, especially where Pearl was concerned.

"Aw! Pearl gets to turn giant…" Sam complained.

"Actually," Pearl said, "I'm still trying to work on that."

"Wait, you are?" Sam asked.

"I wanted to turn giant and fight for my kingdom with the princess. I'm a royal kraken, but I can't even shoot laser eyes yet. I'm too little…" Pearl moaned.

"Well, being little's not such a bad thing." Arthur said.

"Yes, it is." Pearl countered.

"No, it's not."

"Is too!"

"Is not."

"Is too!"

"Is not."

"Is too, is too, is too!"

"Alright!" Arthur raised his voice, cutting the pointless back and forth off entirely. "Look. It won't happen right away. It could take days, weeks, even years for the women in our family to become giant kraken. And when they do, they'll go through some changes. Think of it as blossoming. But you're still not fully grown for that yet. You're still a seed."

Pearl understood what he was getting at, but it didn't make her feel any better. "Okay…" Pearl said sadly. Just then, Pearl heard faint crying from above. It was coming from Ruby. She peeked out of the corner to see that her bedroom door was left open, and from what she could make out, Ruby was crying to herself in her bed. Pearl lowered her head, feeling sorry for Ruby. Pearl couldn't bear to see her this sad. But before she could attempt to go up, Agatha walked in the living room, getting in front of her. Pearl stopped herself from bumping into her as she spoke out to her father.

"Brill," Agatha sharply said, "I thank you for trying to help Ruby out with the Sea Drakes, but you need to get going. Now." she said so in a dead serious tone, sounding as though she hated him. At least, that's how Pearl heard it. But Agatha was worried about not just Ruby, but him and the girl, both.

"What? Why?" Brill asked, feeling stunted by her adamant response.

"Because Ruby doesn't need anyone who'd put any more targets on her back than there already are." she replied. That was a cold burn on her part. The way she put it, it sounded like he'd just attract more trouble for Ruby.

"Well, why don't we just talk about this, then?" Brill asked, trying to convince her, even as he walked to the door with her.

"Because it doesn't matter." Agatha said in a whispered voice.

"Sis, if the Sea Drakes could find her, then it's only a matter of time before the rest of the ocean can, too." Brill warned.

"Let me worry about the Drakes, Brill." Agatha insisted as she opened the door. "I can handle this on my own."

"For how long?" Brill asked. "It's not just them you're up against. Just come home and talk to her. She wants to help Ruby. And you, too." As they talked, Pearl sneaked to the stairs, watching their conversation as it played out.

"She never just helps, though, does she?" Agatha reminded with venom. "Before you know it, it's all about what she wants." Brill sighed from her response.

"At least tell Ruby the whole truth." Brill said, hoping she'd at least acknowledge that. Agatha paused and glanced at her hands, both of which were glowing bright blue before a sudden flash of blood appeared on her hands, making her gasp to herself before she staggered in her breathing, clenching her hands to fists.

"Ruby's life is on land now, Brill." She firmly said. "I know you mean well, But you need to stop, go home, and let me take care of my daughter."

Play Final Fantasy VII Remake Music: "Anxiety"

Agatha grabbed the door, and she was about to slam it, but Brill's foot stopped it from closing all the way, and Brill pushed it open.

"I will. As long as you let me take care of mine." Brill said with a dead serious tone she never expected from him. "It's not just your daughter that's in danger. My Pearl almost got killed by a Sea Drake, and if it hadn't been for Ruby, she would've been dead. And I would've drawn them away for nothing. Hiding the truth from her isn't going to keep her safe anymore, Aggie. As far as we know, the Kraken Kingdom might be the only safe place there is for her. You don't have to be happy with that, but it won't change that. So if you want me to leave, I'll only do it with you, Pearl, and Ruby." Agatha was completely stunned by his resolve. She had to wonder where it came from. Did it come with raising her as a father? Or was it because he resented her for abandoning him 15 years ago…? All the same, Agatha began to feel awful for what Brill must've gone through for him to hate her that much…

"Okay… you can stay. For now." Agatha sadly replied, though trying to maintain her standing. "But don't bother Ruby about being the kraken. I have to be the one to tell her. Okay? That's my only condition."

"...Okay." Brill said with a soft, low tone in his voice. Brill walked back inside the house before closing the door gently. By that point, Pearl had already snuck into Ruby's room.

The little kraken was completely amazed by the tranquility and coziness of her bedroom. The room was small, but so was she. In fact, it may have been perfect for her if Ruby wasn't already living in it. The poor girl was wrapped up in a ball of her arms and legs to hide herself.

"I don't want to be a monster… I don't…!" Ruby sniffled sadly. She couldn't believe what her mother told her. Not anymore. How could she trust her after keeping something like this from her her whole life? What were her friends supposed to think? What's Connor supposed to think? All she could hear was his voice ringing in her head, calling her a monster. He might as well be right.

Pearl walked up to Ruby and held her arms around her to comfort her. Ruby stopped her sniffling when she felt her little arms on her body.

"It's okay. You're not a monster." Pearl spoke softly. "And I promise… I-I'll be a giant kraken just like you. So you don't have to fight. You don't have to be scared. I want to be there for you. Can you let me?" Ruby's body shuddered, trying to keep from breaking down again. She hugged Pearl tightly to her, trying to smile.

Ever since she fell in the ocean, Pearl was always trying to help her, whether it was to hide or to help her friends. Not once did she ever think she was better off without her. And she wasn't even her princess. As if she could ever believe she might be royalty. But Pearl believed in her, all the same. She was like the sister she never knew she needed. Ruby softly sobbed to herself amidst her sad smile as Pearl snuggled against her.

"I like your room, by the way…" Pearl whispered gently. Ruby laughed softly from her kind words.

"Thank you, Pearl…" Ruby replied. Unbeknownst to her, Agatha was watching the scene from beyond the door's crack. Ruby's still trying to come to terms with all of what had happened. Telling her now seemed too soon to do. She's still not ready for it all… Without another word, Agatha left the stairs, leaving her daughter and her niece be, to share this tender moment with themselves. If only things could be so simple again…

End Final Fantasy VII Remake Music: "Anxiety"

Chapter 5: Hunted

"I can't believe this…" That was the first reaction Brian had to say about it all. He and his father were in a house close to the sea, much like the houses Agatha successfully sold. The mayor even endorsed her because of her excellent sales record. On the inside, though, the living room had a warm fireplace with a round velvet red couch on the white marble floor. It even had a bar with a minifridge underneath it.

"You're telling me that the Thurstens, the ones who founded Oceanside, knew about the Krakens for decades?!" Brian said with shock.

"Yes. We have. It's… a lot to take in, I know." Mayor Thursten told him. "And I was hoping it wouldn't have to happen in your lifetime, but… it seems the Kraken has returned. After 15 years, no less…"

"15 years? But why did it wait until now?" Brian questioned.

"That's what we're going to find out. Provided Gordon Lighthouse doesn't go off the rails like usual…" Mayor Thursten told him softly and sternly. "He was the one who alerted the city of the Kraken's presence. Before I make any statement towards it, we need to know why it's come back and what it wants. That's why I'm starting this expedition to the outskirts of the coast near Oceanside. And… I'll need your help on this, my son."

"To do what?" Brian asked, wondering what he had in mind.

"To determine whether or not this Kraken is a force of nature to be feared and if it means any harm. If it falls to the latter… then it must be destroyed." Thursten told his son with a dark tone. "Do you understand?" Brian was hesitant to go on board with it. The Kraken looked scared of them like they were. There's no way it meant any harm. But like he said, they had to be sure. There had to be no shadow of a doubt.

"I do, dad." Brian nodded. "I just hope Ruby's okay. Wherever she is…"

---

Meanwhile, Ruby and Pearl had spent what felt like a day inside the former's room. But in truth, it had only been a few hours. During that time, Pearl grew curious about how the human world worked as opposed to the Kraken's. So, Ruby showed Pearl a lot about the human world, most of which she saw from her phone. Ruby kept it simple and showed her how she lived as a human.

She was first shown pictures of her in Kindergarten. She looked a little shorter than Pearl was now. And her blue hair was chin-length. Then she was shown how Ruby looked in Elementary School. She had an optimistic look on her face with her friends, Margot, Trevin, and Bliss. They were all dressed in overalls with white shirts. And then, she saw their middle school photos, where they found their own identities, bringing her up to date on their High School selves. What intrigued her the most was how she was able to blend in.

"Whoa…!" Pearl said with awe. "How do you do that?"

"Pearl, I get you're excited about learning how to do technology, but–" Ruby tried to say, but Pearl interjected.

"Not that. I mean, how do you grow?" Pearl asked. Ruby was puzzled about her question.

"I… don't get what you mean? Like grow big?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah. You were able to grow big in those pictures, like your human friends did." Pearl pointed out. She especially took into account how she turned into a giant Kraken earlier today. "And then you turned into a giant Kraken. How do I do that?" Pearl asked her. Ruby noticed the hyper-fixated look on Pearl's mug. Ruby could guess what she had in mind.

"You mean turn giant?" Ruby asked, making sure that she understood her question.

"Yeah!" Pearl nodded, feeling like she couldn't have made it any more clear. Ruby groaned as she laid down face first on her soft bean bag. Pearl saw her discontent, and she started to feel bad. "Sorry. I am bugging you?" When she apologized, Ruby heard her soft and sad tone. She flipped herself around so her face was looking up. She felt like she may not have reacted properly to her.

"Sorry, Pearl. It's not you. I just… I really don't know the first thing about being a giant Kraken. My mom never told me anything about being one until today. And if she kept it from me for this long, who knows what else she could be lying to me about? What if I can't trust her anymore?" Ruby explained, clearly upset over what she'd learned. Pearl went up close to her as she continued. "Did your mom ever lie, Pearl?"

"No." Pearl answered honestly. "My mom did say that people do it when they're scared, though."

"Why would my mom be scared of me?" Ruby asked, having her doubts about that.

"Not of you. We got attacked by Sea Drakes, remember?" Pearl reminded her. "I bet if you did know about it sooner, though, you would've been like– bam!" Pearl used her hand to bang it against the bean bag, making the fluff inside it poof the bag up around her impact. "And then stomp! And then boom!" Pearl used her eyes to enunciate it, acting as if her eyes shot laser vision. Ruby giggled from Pearl's sound effects and smiled.

"Why can't more people be honest like you, Pearl?" Ruby asked as she patted her head gently. In a way, she felt more like a little sister than her cousin.

"I dunno. I'm not other people." Pearl answered innocently, making Ruby laugh with a smile. After it died down, though, Ruby looked out of her window to see the overcast weather all over Oceanside. Hopefully, it'd be enough to block out the horrific incident from earlier today, she hoped. Unfortunately, Ruby had no such hope. Her phone was immediately ringing nonstop, which made Pearl curious.

"Uh, Ruby? What's your phone doing? Is it mad at me?" She asked a bit cautiously. Ruby picked it up and opened it up to show her pictures of today's earlier events. Not only did it show her the Sea Drake that attacked, but it also showed her bursting out of the library's roof! It didn't show her face, however, but the body of evidence was damning in and of itself.

"Great. Just– just great, you know? It's cool. Everyone at school is talking about the monster that destroyed the library." Ruby moped.

"How was that great? You were scared." Pearl asked.

"That was sarcasm, Pearl." Ruby told her, more peeved than normal.

"What's sarcasm?" Pearl asked good-naturedly. Ruby took in a big breath and let it out. She already screamed in her bean bag to herself. She can't take it out on Pearl for being a curious kid. At least she was more honest than almost everyone else in the house.

"We'll get to that later." Ruby said. "Right now, I need to find out the truth. And I can't ask mom to tell me. Not if I can't trust her not to hide anything else from me…" Ruby sighed sadly.

"But you can talk to me. Right?" Pearl asked. Ruby looked at Pearl with a soft expression. She wanted to give her a try, but at the end of the day, she's still a kid. And she didn't want to put any pressure on her if she didn't need to. Although… she did help her friends be safe from the Sea Drake, and she did help her out with trying to hide, even if only initially. What possible harm could there be in trying, she thought.

"Well… would you be able to tell me about the Krakens?" Ruby asked, as hopeful as well as sincere.

"Well… some things. Like our big three enemies… Oh! And my favorite story: the Calling of the Kraken…" Pearl replied, adding a soft echo to the Kraken part.

"Calling of the Kraken?" Ruby asked. She hadn't heard of that story before.

"Yeah. It's really good. But, I think Grandmamah can explain it better than I can." Pearl said with a soft sigh. Ruby's eyes went up with interest when she mentioned her.

"Grandmamah? You mean Grandma?" Ruby asked.

"She likes Grandmamah better." Pearl said.

"Wait… I have a Grandmother?" Ruby said, her eyes going wider with surprise and shock. Pearl, for one, was puzzled that Ruby had no idea that she had a Grandmother before now.

"Whoa… you really don't know anything about the Krakens, do you?" Pearl asked, starting to understand her point about her mother's secrets. Ruby started to think of something else as she got up out of her bean bag chair and paced around.

"If only the women in our family turn into giant Krakens, then she's a giant Kraken, too!" Ruby realized. "Pearl, is she here?"

"No. Grandmamah never leaves the ocean. Neither did I. Well… until today." Pearl told her. Then, her own eyes went big next, realizing what she came here for in the first place. "...When she told me to go look for you! OH! I forgot!"

"Wait. Grandmamah, whoever she is… she wanted to see me?" Ruby asked. "Why? Is that what you meant by princess? Is there actually a Kingdom of Krakens?"

"Yeah. But your mom seems kinda…" Pearl hesitated to say any further, no matter how scary she was at first to her.

"I'm going with you." Ruby cut her off with an adamant look.

"Huh?" Pearl responded.

"I told you before. I don't know the first thing about being a giant kraken. And it's not fair to keep me in the dark." Ruby told her as she knelt down to her as Pearl sat up on the bean bag chair. "I can't keep waiting for answers."

"So, what do we do?" Pearl asked her. Not a word was said to answer her. Ruby was getting an idea as the lampposts outside grew brighter, illuminating the streets as she looked out the window. That was when she hatched a plan.

"I need to take control of my own life." Ruby said gently, but not without ferocity. "I'm a kraken. And if I want answers, then there's only one person who can help me: our Grandmother."

"Grandmamah." Pearl reminded her.

"Right. Grandmamah." Ruby said before she sighed with a smile to her. "Pearl… you have been more helpful than you can imagine."

"I had good parents." Pearl said with a gentle grin before the girls hugged each other. With that, Ruby and Pearl resolved to meet Grandmamah, no matter what.

"But… how are we gonna convince mom that I'm still here?" Ruby asked.

"Why? Shouldn't she come, too?" Pearl asked.

"Pearl, you sweet, innocent little Kraken." Ruby began. "If mom lied to me about being a giant kraken, who knows what she could be lying about? I didn't even know I had a Grandmother! No… I can't trust her to be honest with me."

"But I think we should…" Pearl began, only for Ruby to show her a soft look on her face, pleasing her not to. It was no puppy dog eyes, but it got to Pearl just as well. Besides, she was the one who said it herself: Agatha was scary.

"Well… she is pretty scary." Pearl sighed softly. "But how do we convince her?" Just then, Nessie entered the room, pitter-pattering up to bed. It stuck its tongue out of its mouth, just dangling over its lip with a friendly smile.

"Nessie?" Ruby wondered what Nessie had in mind. The girls watched as Nessie climbed up onto the bed and snuggled in under the blanket and slowed its breathing to simulate the sleeping. That was when Ruby and Pearl understood what Nessie planned to do.

"Nessie, you tiny genius!" Ruby said with a big grin. "Thanks so much for helping us out." Nessie responded with a lick on her and Pearl's faces as they giggled.

---

Meanwhile, Timothy was standing guard at the Lighthouse. He'd previously stopped the Drake King from eating and/or capturing Ruby and Pearl. And with the sunset getting started, he was getting antsy waiting for Chelsea to arrive, his fingers tapping on the sapphire gem on his cane. He'd learned to let Chelsea make her own choices a long time ago, but that didn't mean he wasn't anxious.

"Oh, for the love of Poseidon… where are you?" Timothy said to himself. He'd kept in mind how lengthy it was to get from Oceanside to the Lighthouse with how high the road was, not to mention the houses nearby. A few short seconds later, Chelsea was walking up to him, quite unsure about how things went down at School.

"Gramps." Chelsea said behind him. The old man turned around to see Chelsea.

"Oh, thank the fronds, you're safe." Timothy sighed with relief.

"I'm okay, really. But what exactly is going on?" Chelsea asked him.

"You surely must have felt it, Chelsea. The pulse. It reverberated throughout the entire ocean." Timothy told her. "With today's sighting of the Kraken, that can only mean one thing. And we both know what that is."

"Yeah…" Chelsea told him. Her eyes widened with excitement when a new thought popped up in her head. "I have a new super sea-girl bestie!" Timothy's eyes went big as well, though it was more out of shock from the absurdity than any excitement.

"No! It means the creatures of the sea are hunting the Kraken Princess." Timothy warned her. "If anyone spots you aiding the princess, you'll be in grave danger."

"So, I just won't let them spot me." Chelsea told him, as if she'd already figured it out. She tried to go to the edge, only for Timothy to hold her back with his cane.

"That won't work. The Sea Drakes will track you down from leagues away. And that's not even going into how they track your scent from even farther." Timothy countered. Chelsea winced. She'd already encountered a Sea Drake before it ran away. And it would've torn them to pieces if Ruby hadn't burst out of the library. "And even if the Princess could scare them off, they won't be scared of you."

"But Gramps, Ruby might be the only person I could relate to." Chelsea protested.

"Ruby?" Timothy asked. He'd met the girl earlier today. And he even told her about his Granddaughter in advance. But even with his watchful eye, he never imagined she would turn out to be of such importance. Although, it did explain a few things to him. "She's the Kraken Princess?"

"I don't know. That kraken looked a lot like her, though. I could tell by the vibe." Chelsea replied.

"Then you must hurry. Find the Kraken Princess and protect her at all costs, but be careful. I fear those Sea Drakes may be only the beginning of a worse, much greater threat…" Timothy said with a grave tone.

---

Shortly, Ruby and Pearl snuck out of the window, which admittedly Ruby hadn't ever done before. Nevertheless, she slipped out the window and held her arms out for Pearl to catch her. After making sure she had a good landing, Ruby held Pearl's hand. They walked around the house, leading Ruby out to the streets. By that point, they were empty. It was quasi-comforting for Ruby, considering that news of a giant Kraken was spreading like wildfire.

"We'll go to the pier." Ruby told her. She brought Pearl along with her, going down the streets to get there. But on the way, she was wondering about her father. Grandmamah would be expecting him to tag along, too.

"What about dad? Shouldn't he come, too?" Pearl asked her. But the moment Pearl asked about him, they heard his voice out in the distance. It sounded like a scream.

"Dad…!" Pearl gasped, hoping to Poseidon that the Sea Drakes didn't come back to eat him. Pearl rushed along the sidewalks and let go of Ruby's hand to help him.

"Hey, wait!" Ruby shouted as she chased after her. Fortunately, when they arrived, it was at the docks. And it wasn't Sea Drakes that were attacking him: it was a bunch of Seagulls. Brill was holding up a corn dog in his blubbery hand. "Get off me, you feathery demons! Ow! You winged dopes!"

"Dad!" Pearl shouted to him.

"Pearl? Ow!" Brill said, among the unholy mass of Seagulls landing on him just to get his one corn dog. "Save yourself! It's too late for me!"

"Get off my dad, you stupid… rats!" Pearl shouted, trying to shoo them off. But some of them that flew up at him landed on her head to either peck at her or to rebound on her father. But Ruby had another idea. She grabbed Brill's corn dog quickly from his grasp.

"Hey!" Brill shouted.

"Forget the corn dog!" Ruby shouted as she tossed it out to the ocean, making the Seagulls chase after it, freeing Bril from the onslaught of Seagulls. But the rescue was disheartening for him.

"Did you see that? They took my stick snack!" Brill said sadly. "I wanted to give it to… Pearl?" Brill noticed his daughter with Ruby.

"Hey, dad." Pearl said with a wave.

"Oh, hey girls. Are you getting a look around the place?" Brill asked. "'Cause I gotta tell you. Land is not built for a giant kraken."

"Ruby and I are going to meet back with Grandmamah. You gotta come, too, dad." Pearl told him. Stick snack aside, Brill hadn't forgotten about that.

"Oh. You're right. I gotta come. And I will." Brill said.

"Yes!" Ruby and Pearl said excitedly, the latter especially.

"...Right after I get your mom, Ruby." Brill said, but Ruby immediately piped up.

"Wait! Don't do that! Please, don't do that." Ruby said, holding her hands up as she got in front of him.

"Why?" Brill asked her. "She's your mom. Don't you think she should come with?"

"No. Yes. Maybe? I don't know. Mom won't tell me anything." Ruby said sadly. "I'm just tired of her lying to my face."

"I get it. I really do. But who knows? If you let her come over, maybe she can explain everything." Brill tried to convince her of it. "Right, Pearl?"

"Well… she's kinda scary." Pearl said, giving her honest opinion about Agatha.

"So was Grandmamah, but you like her. Right?" Brill told her with a silly grin as he rubbed her head, making her giggle.

"Yeah, I do…" Pearl admitted with a chuckle.

"So, we're going to tell Agatha, and she's coming with us, and that's–" Before Brill could finish, he heard a loud splash on the adjacent dock. Ruby, Pearl, and Brill spun their heads around to the dock, just in time to see the latest unwelcome guest on Oceanside. Brill immediately took the girls and ducked down from a nearby crate to hide them.

"Uncle Brill, what's going–?" Ruby began, only to be shushed promptly. He peeked his head out to see the figure rising from the ocean. Ruby and Pearl peeked out from the sides of the crate to notice him, too. He was a muscular male with pointy ears, a mane of red hair, a scar over his left eye, and six-pack abs with a pitch black tunic that covered his legs. It looked almost scaly, too. And rising up along with him was a Sea Drake, but this one was more fierce than the one that Ruby scared away earlier that day.

It had a dark blue scaly skin with dominant traces of black on it. It also had spikes on its spine and a long snout with large fangs.

"Oh, no… not him…!" Brill shuddered with anxiety.

"Who is that…?" Ruby asked while thinking, "And why is he so hot…?"

"That, Ruby, is one of the nastiest creatures of the sea, Triton. The Commander of the Mermen." Brill said with utter fear.

"Mermen?" Ruby asked.

"Basically, guy mermaids." Pearl whispered. "But they're meaner. And they don't care as much about how they look."

"But why does he have six-pack abs…?!" Ruby inquired to her.

"Outside that, there hasn't been any info about them. Only that they followed Oceanus. And that's another story to explain entirely." Brill said as quietly as he did fearfully. "And we need to go, now…!" But Ruby wasn't willing to leave just yet.

"Hold on. I want to know what he's after…" Ruby said. This was definitely part of the answers she needed to look for, not that she'd just go up and ask them. She simply stayed near the crate and watched from afar as Neptune and his partner walked along the dock. They looked left and right as Neptune asked his partner.

"And you're sure the Kraken Princess was here?" Triton asked, to which the Sea Drake growled in affirmation. To prove it, the Sea Drake sniffed at the ground to locate her scent. "Good. The princess should be around here somewhere in this… Oceanside. Either that, or she's bound to be headed for the Kraken Kingdom by now. In any case, Neptune wants her alive. Do not forget that."

"Neptune…?" Ruby asked softly.

"King of the Mermen. Maybe Mermaids, too? I don't know…!" Brill replied.

"I'd hate to think we traveled all this way to the surface world for nothing." Triton coldly told his pet with a clench of his fist, giving it a clear message. The Sea Drake understood, but it wasn't fearful. It simply bowed its head before continuing. It took a big sniff on the dock before it snarled as Triton eyed it. "She's close by, then? Well, well, well… how about that?" Triton said with a grin, making Ruby shiver with fear as Brill and Pearl huddled close to her.

"What are we gonna do…?" Ruby said fearfully. Then, Brill had an idea. He glanced at Ruby with a determined look as the Sea Drake was walking closer towards the group.

"Ruby, take Pearl and hide under the dock, quick." Brill told her.

"What? How would that help–?" Ruby began to ask.

"Just trust me. I'm onto something." Brill held his arm close to Ruby's as his skin slowly changed to a brown color.

"You guys go. I'll keep them busy…!" Brill told them.

"But Uncle Brill…!" Ruby said with worry.

"Just do it…!" Brill said sternly despite his whisper.

By that point, Triton, and his Sea Drake Bloodhound were getting closer and closer. A few more seconds, and they'd be right on top of them! It seemed as though their fates were sealed. That is, until Brill popped out. His human form was dark brown, and he had brown hair on his head. Though even while human, he kept the round body shape he had normally.

"Hey, there!" Brill said, catching Triton by surprise. And it already made him weary, especially when his Sea Drake picked up on Ruby's scent.

"You! Who are you? What are you doing here?!" Triton demanded.

"Oh, uh, I was just getting a good look at the docks. Taking in the sights. You know, of the ocean…" Brill said nervously. "And, uh, who are you?"

"Someone who's on the hunt." Triton bluntly said. "My… bloodhound has been tracking a, shall we say, dangerous creature. And if you're getting in the way of that–!"

"Oh, no, not at all! I'd be more than happy to help." Brill said, diverting Triton's attention away as Ruby hung from the edge of the dock with Pearl on her back.

"I really can't believe I'm doing this…!" Ruby said to herself as she hung onto the dock while Pearl's arms were wrapped around Ruby like a scarf. Up above, the Sea Drake began to sniff again, snarling especially closer to the dock's edge, making the girls and Brill very worried.

"Oh, really? Do you even know what we're hunting down?" Triton asked.

"Uh, yeah! It popped up recently on the, uh… news! A Kraken! A giant kraken! Right? Who wouldn't be hunting for it?" Brill said anxiously. That made Triton interested to say the least.

"I see. It seems the crust-dwellers know about the Krakens, too…" Triton said to himself. He didn't buy it entirely, but Brill's words gave him information about the extent of how the people above water came to know of them. "And did you happen to see where it went?"

As Triton questioned Brill, Ruby looked down at the sea, watching the waves crash down beneath her, and then to the sounds of water splashing as they crashed against the docks. "Ruby?" Pearl wondered what was going on in her head. She closed her eyes and took in a big breath before she turned her head to the girl.

"Get ready, Pearl…" Ruby said in a whisper. Then, she let her fingers slip, and the girls fell into the ocean beneath them, timing the splash right with the rush of the tides.

"Uh, yeah. It burst out of the library." Brill said nervously. "And then, it fled, uh… that way!" Brill pointed to the lighthouse tower far away. Triton glanced at it with interest and suspicion. "And, I'd like to get back to sightseeing, so I'll just get out of your hair…"

"Hmm… See that you do. And quickly! I'll be watching." Triton said as he walked away, making Brill gulp.

"Uh, right! You have a good night now." Brill waved as Triton walked away with his Sea Drake.

"I never do." Triton coldly told him, making Brill sigh in relief once he was out of eyesight.

"Wow… that guy really needs to chill." Brill said to himself. At the same time, however, Triton turned back to his Sea Drake and spoke to it softly.

"That crust-dweller… he looked too familiar. Double back when I give the word. That oaf is hiding more than he's letting on, and I want to know what." Triton told it. The Sea Drake growled in compliance.

With Brill assuming they were safe, he looked down at the edge, only to find that Ruby and Pearl were gone! He didn't know whether to be relieved or panicked. They probably had to go down there to avoid being tracked by the Sea Drake. He jumped off the dock with a cannonball, unaware that Triton's Sea Drake had witnessed it, baring its fangs. By his side was Triton.

"It seems I was right to be suspicious…" Triton said to himself. "Tail the oaf, but don't let yourself be seen until you find the princess and have her alone. Once you capture her, bring her to me. I'll be back later…" Triton turned his gaze to the lighthouse that Brill pointed to.

---

Under the sea, Brill was transforming back into his Kraken form, though he did away with his human clothes to avoid being dragged down. He looked around the vines of kelp to look for Pearl and Ruby.

"Ruby! Pearl! Triton's gone! You can come out now!" Brill shouted, hoping they heard him. What he got in response was a brilliant glow of purple just behind him. Brill turned around to see that light as within the kelp, Ruby looked in awe as her hands glowed bright purple with Pearl gasping in wonder herself. Ruby spun up above the kelp with Pearl on top of her shoulder as she gasped in astonishment. As her body glowed, she began to fear her giant form less and less. It was almost enough to make her forget why she jumped into the water with Pearl in the first place.

"Whoa," was all Brill could find in himself to say.

"You look so cool, Ruby!" Pearl said excitedly.

"Yeah! It's kinda amazing." Ruby said with awe.

"Well, I'm glad you like it." Brill said with a smile. Then he put on a serious look. "But Triton isn't that stupid. He's bound to figure it out sooner or later. Hopefully, the trail will go cold by the time we get there, and he'll go back where he came from. Wherever that is."

"What about bringing Aunt Aggie?" Pearl asked.

"A bit late for that. If I tried that now, Triton would go after her, too." Brill said worriedly. "I mean, your mom can take care of him. But still…"

"Uncle Brill…? Should we be worried?" Ruby asked with fear. While she can't be able to trust her just yet, she still cared for her mother being okay. Brill, though, gave her a confident smile. He knew who his sister was and what she was capable of.

"Nah. I think she's got this." Brill said confidently. "Come on. Follow me." Brill said as he floated away from the kelp.

"Wait! Uncle Brill!" Ruby shouted before she tripped on the kelp, making her topple over before she got up and tried to go after him as Pearl hung onto her with a giggle before launching herself toward her dad. And so began their journey to the Kraken Kingdom.

---

Out at sea, Gordon, Brian, and Mayor Thursten were out at the boat. Gordon's crab, Davey, was on lookout as he and the Thurstens were in the control area. As they waited, Gordon was keeping an especially close eye out as the Mayor turned to him.

"Remember, Gordon, the goal of this expedition is to determine what this Kraken is really after." Mayor Thursten told him.

"It's obvious what it's after, Mr. Mayor! It wants to destroy us all!" Gordon reacted as he got up to his face. But Mayor Thursten pushed him away from his face before turning out to the sea.

"If that was what it wanted, Gordon, the Kraken wouldn't have retreated the way it did. The question is why." He said with a cold stare out to sea.

"Uh, with all due respect, have you ever actually seen a Kraken 15 years ago?" Gordon asked, hoping to take him down a peg in the argument.

"Of course, I have." Mayor Thursten said sternly, baffling Gordon. And it intrigued Brian, too. "I will never forget the face it made as it left. Like it had nowhere to run. I wasn't sure if it was real or a mere dream, but… I still remember every detail. All of it."

"Dad… I had no idea." Brian said, surprised that he, a man who had no trust over anyone besides his son, would be sentimental about a Kraken.

"But the Kraken we saw today… it was familiar alright, but it wasn't the same one as 15 years ago." Mayor Thursten continued.

"You're sure? But that means– Wait. So, you're saying there could be… more than one?" Gordon gulped with fear.

"Possibly. But even if it resembled the one I saw back then, I'm not willing to trust it just yet. Not until we know for certainty what it truly wants." Mayor Thursten finished. At that point, Davey was clicking his claws like crazy. The crew turned to the crab's direction to see the purple glow beneath them. It swam directly under the ship as Gordon and the Thurstens watched the lights go below them before going upward.

"We've found it… Lighthouse, make the reciprocal course and follow that glow!" Mayor Thursten commanded.

"Hold on, Mayor. I'm the captain of this vessel, here! And I say hold on while I make the reciprocal course and follow that glow!" Lighthouse countered as he headed to the steering wheel.

---

Back in the ocean, Ruby was swimming around, admiring the water around her. Pearl was swimming around her, zipping about as the girls laughed together, swimming through big bubbles. To Ruby's surprise, they found an old friend of hers. He was in the pod of whales that swam around her.

"Clarence? Clarence J. Whifferton!" Ruby said excitedly. Pearl recalled the name from back at the lighthouse.

"That's Clarence?" Pearl asked. Clarence was bigger than her, but Ruby was a lot bigger than Clarence. She was big enough to even scratch him under the chin affectionately.

"I'm so glad you made it! You look great!" Ruby told him as Clarence vocalized a pleasant melody.

"Thank yooooou!" Clarence told them.

"You're welcome!" Ruby replied. "Wait, how did I understand that?"

"One of the perks of being a Kraken." Pearl grinned.

Next, they swam around crystal jellyfish, Ruby being more visibly excited about seeing them in-person. She only ever saw them in Marine's Biologist Quarterly back at home. It was an entirely new experience to see it for herself. Brill swam next to them as Ruby noticed him.

"Uncle Brill, being in the ocean is more wonderful than anything I could imagine." Ruby said with an excited look on her face.

"It only gets better from here." Brill said with a laugh.

Brill swam down toward a trench as Ruby followed with Pearl hanging onto her shoulder. As they descended into the otherwise dark depths, Ruby spotted an ocean current. She was mystified at the sight of it.

"Do it." Pearl told her. "Put your hand through it."

As per her suggestion, Ruby ran her hand through it, causing her bioluminescence inside it to glow brighter. Ruby laughed with glee, as did Pearl as they swam near the current. After a while, though, they went inside it, feeling a powerful rush of wind blowing past them. The deeper they went, however, the more the current's flow made them lose control. They started to shift and spin until finally, the flow sent her flying outside of the current. As they recovered from the spiral vertigo of the current, Ruby and Pearl laughed together.

"Wow! That was wild." Ruby said.

"I know, right! This is so fun!" Pearl added. "And look! We're here!" At that moment, Brill swam in between them after his daughter pointed to the kingdom.

"Welcome to the Kingdom of the Krakens." Brill paddled gracefully to the Kingdom as Ruby and Pearl swam over to the giant building with awe. While they approached the entrance, Pearl pointed to the gate.

"Look at the gate, look at the gate…" Pearl told her, as excited as a puppy. The gate glowed a brilliantly purple glow, just like Ruby was. Then, the gate opened up as Ruby was left speechless.

"Cool, right?" Pearl told her.

"Just wait until she sees what's inside, Pearl." Brill told her. And he was right to say so. The interior was just as magnificent as the exterior. Though, it's not anything Pearl wasn't used to, but even so, she couldn't get enough of it.

"Whoa." Ruby said with awe.

"Yeah, I know what you're thinking. It's a little over the top. But, you know royals." Brill told her.

"Royals?" Ruby asked.

"Duh. You're the Princess." Pearl reminded her.

"You mean my grandmother's a…" Ruby just began to ask before–

"A queen!" Grandmamah's voice echoed through the whole chamber as Pearl and Ruby looked up at her. She swam down towards the three of them as her legs spun around in a beautiful and stunning fashion. "A warrior queen. Ultimate Lordess, Ruler of the Seven Seas, et cetera, et cetera. Give me a hug." Grandmamah gave Ruby a big hug, squeezing her tightly.

"So tight…" Ruby groaned, feeling as though that if she had bones, her entire skeleton would've been broken.

"Oh!" Brill tried to join in on the hug, along with Pearl, only for Grandmamah to cut him off.

"Not now, Brill." Grandmamah sharply spoke before trying to soothe it over. "It's Ruby's time now. You said you'd be okay with it, huh?"

"Of course, Mamah. I'm not that needy, so…" Brill said with a feigned smile as he crossed his legs and sank down.

"Grandmamah, you said he could have a hug, too…" Pearl griped.

"And he will. Just give it a bit more time, okay, Pearl?" Grandmamah spoke gently towards her. Pearl only sighed as she swam down to her father.

"Okay…" Pearl said, still a little fussy with how she brushed aside her dad. Ruby was puzzled by Pearl's reaction.

"Oh, she's a sweet kid. Always thinking of others." Grandmamah said with a big smile.

"I can't believe you're my grandmother." Ruby said with wonder.

"Please, call me Grandmamah!" She said as she rose up above to put more enthusiasm into it as Ruby watched with amazement. "You seem surprised by the level of general majesty and royal splendor."

"I definitely wasn't expecting the whole queen thing." Ruby said to her honestly.

"Your mother never told you you were royalty?" Grandmamah asked, more puzzled and confused about how she wouldn't know about it.

"Pearl told me earlier, actually. As far as my mom goes, I guess it was another tiny omission." Ruby said the last two words with a roll of her eyes.

"Tiny omission?!" In response, Grandmamah's bioluminescence activated as she bellowed: "Agatha!"

Ruby gasped as the charge interfered with all the lights like a power outage! The whole castle glowed a dark green color as it sent out a pulse that made the stalagmites around it blow out bubbles. Ruby looked at Grandmamah, who gently floated down with a deep breath.

"Don't worry, I go to therapy now." Grandmamah explained to calm Ruby a little, seeing how surprised she was by what happened. "I see a wise hammerhead shark on Wednesdays and Fridays and I've let my rage go. Away rage." Just then, a pink crystal jellyfish brought up a plate of cookies.

"Ah. Cookies!" Grandmamah was especially excited to show her them. She spun the plate over to Ruby as she looked them over. "Help yourself, Ruby." She took one of the cookies for herself and ate one. It tasted surprisingly good considering they were under seawater.

"Mm. They're really- They're really good. A little mushy." Ruby said, enjoying the cookie despite the mushiness.

"I made someone make them myself." Grandmamah told her. "Now, talk to your grandmamah. Tell me everything." And Ruby was happy to. The two of them began to make up for lost time. 15 years of lost time to make up for…

---

Back at the Gillman's residence, Agatha was sitting alone on the kitchen table watching sadly at her laptop. She was still thinking about how to explain the truth to Ruby. She looked like she wouldn't be able to take any more of it. Was she still not ready? Or did she feel like she can't be trusted anymore? Either way, it was eating her soul up.

And then there was how Brill stood up to her at the doorway. He had a lot to unpack, and there was so much that she missed out on. Did he resent her all this time for being away from him? She didn't know where to even begin to apologize. Come to think of it… how long was it taking him to get back? She looked up near the stairs, wondering how Ruby and Pearl were getting along.

Agatha walked up the stairs and went to her bedroom. She slowly opened the door slightly and took a look inside it. Closely looking in, she saw something resting on Ruby's bed, but covered by the blanket. It had two bumps, so to Agatha, it seemed like Ruby and Pearl were sleeping under the blanket. She sighed in relief, and left as she closed the door. She had a soft smile on her face, happy that she had a better start with their relationship than her and Brill. But as Agatha walked back down, she didn't notice Nessie hiding under the blanket with a cute smile.

---

Back at the Kraken Kingdom, Grandmamah was caught up on everything that happened to Ruby just today. She had no words for the attempted attacks that happened, let alone Triton's involvement.

"The Sea Drakes were after you?" Grandmamah asked with shock.

"Yeah. And there was a giant one that was about to eat me whole! But a giant bell scared it off. Still don't know who set it off, though…" Ruby explained.

"And Triton?" Grandmamah asked.

"Well, Brill thought of a plan to throw him off, and it helped me and Pearl get here safely." Ruby told her.

"Brill did all that?" Grandmamah asked her. She looked evidently surprised that Brill was able to do all that.

"Yeah. Truth is… I don't know that I'd be here if it wasn't for them." Ruby said softly. Grandmamah's whole face went soft. Were the stakes really that dangerous? She didn't imagine that the ocean would respond this fast. This added to the relief that Ruby is here and not who-knows-where before she'd ever gotten the chance to meet her after all that time.

"I… I am so glad they helped you get here safely, Ruby." Grandmamah told her. "Brill especially. I mean, whoo! Who knew he had it in him? It sounds like I really owe him that hug." Ruby smiled gently to her grandmother before she moved on to her living style.

"So, how was it being up on the surface? Was it horrible living among the hairy crust dwellers?" Grandmamah asked her.

"You mean people?"

"Oh. Even the word makes my tentacles squirm." Grandmamah said with a chuckle.

"People are kinda nice, actually." Ruby answered her. "I have a couple of friends, I asked a boy to prom, but, you know, it… it did not go great." Ruby became anxious at the last part, holding her hand to her elbow. She highly doubted that Connor would want anything to do with her after that disaster.

"Well, deary, you can put all that behind you. You're made for bigger things. Come with me." Grandmamah swam to the tunnel as Ruby followed her.

"So, where are we going?" Ruby asked her.

"Where do you think?" Grandmamah raised one eyebrow with a grin. "I'm going to show you our people."

"Our people?" Ruby asked, wondering what she meant. She found her answer quickly after they made it to the end of the tunnel. They found themselves in a bright room with light blue jellyfish lamps. And to Ruby's surprise, she saw a ton of Krakens chattering excitedly. They were all so small, and yet there were so many, they might as well be fish themselves to her at her size!

"I see her. It's Ruby." One male kraken said among the crowd.

"Woah, it's Ruby!" A boy added.

"It's her." The mother said before the girl cried out, "Look, it's the princess."

As they all fawned over Ruby in admiration, a child came up to Ruby to present her with a gift. It was a small bouquet of flowers. Or rather, bioluminescent algae on seaweed, but it was somehow just as beautiful.

"Aw, thank you." Ruby said gratefully. Then, a familiar pink Kraken child swam up to Ruby and waved to her.

"Hi, Ruby." Pearl called out, with Ruby waving to her right back as she went to her father, who was floating beside another Kraken. She had red skin as opposed to his blue color, with her "hair" standing up at the middle while the rest went down along her cheeks. "I helped find her mom!"

"You sure did, sweetie." She said as she brought Pearl and Brill in a group hug.

"Oh, hi! You must be her mother." Ruby spoke up to them. "Hello."

"And you must be Princess Ruby. I'm Brine." She introduced herself. "I know I'm not a royal, but these two always made me feel like one."

"That's really great." Ruby said with a grin. The excited chattering continued until most of them were all down below with Brill, Pearl, and Brine joining them as Pearl gave her a thumbs-up.

"Fellow krakens." Grandmamah began. "Here, at last, is my granddaughter. After 15 years, Princess Ruby has finally returned home to be my successor."

Ruby sat down on a throne, confusedly throwing a glance at her Grandmamah. She was aware of her being a princess, but she didn't think she'd have to take her place so soon. Regardless, the crowd of krakens cheered. Ruby started to stumble over her words as she jolted back in her seat.

"Wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait." Ruby laughed nervously. "I'm gonna be a, a what now?"

"Pearl told you this before, Ruby, you're a princess. So that means, you're next in line for the throne!" Grandmamah told her with pride. But all Ruby felt was an immense pressure coming over her. She whimpered, feeling as though it would crush her.

"Address the crowd." Grandmamah told her, putting her hand behind her back with a big smile as Ruby hyperventilated. The crowd looked on in promise, though Pearl noticed she looked very worried. Brill saw it, too, but he tried to help out with a nod and a smile to ease her. Unfortunately, it didn't work.

"I think… I am having a panic attack!" Ruby shouted.

The crowd cheered as one of them shouted "Panic attack!", but Grandmamah gave him an annoyed look. Then, she glanced back at Ruby, who was being very serious about the panic attack.

"Ruby?" She asked, trying to check on her. "What's wrong?" She couldn't answer right away. But Pearl swam up from the crowd and right up to her throne. Pearl sat down on her lap and put her arms around her. Pearl felt her hug from beneath her and looked down to see her. Her panicked breathing slowed down more and more as she focused on Pearl's comfort. It became easier for Ruby to breathe and feel comfortable.

"Thanks, Pearl. I really needed that…" Ruby told her.

"What are friends for?" Pearl asked her gently.

---

Meanwhile, Timothy was at the lighthouse, staring out at the sea near the edge as he held onto his cane. He'd been used to Chelsea making her own choices, but that was before the Kraken Princess ended up exposed. With the Sea Drakes bound to track her down, he feared for what could happen if Chelsea was caught in the middle of it all. But he wasn't aware yet that he had far greater concerns.

He heard footsteps approaching the lighthouse. And he could also smell the foul saltwater approaching him even if he didn't try to. Not even the rolling thunder could deter him from keeping a lookout, though. The storm was only just beginning…

"Well, well…" Triton spoke behind him. "If it isn't the old man." Timothy turned around to see Triton walking up to him. He simply put on a senile smile and the act.

"Ah. Hello, stranger. My name is Timothy. May I help…?" He introduced. But Triton cut it short by going up to his face.

"You look like a reasonably smart man. I want information. Where is the Kraken Princess?!" Triton demanded. Not that it deterred him in the slightest.

"Well, my angry young friend," he replied, "if you're referring to that monster that came to the lighthouse, I'm afraid I've already scared it off to the ocean." Triton growled in response, not too pleased with the news. However, he kept in mind that his Sea Drake was tailing the strange oaf who had jumped into the ocean for whatever bizarre reason.

"You scared off the kraken? Look at you. I'd say you're the one who should be scared." Triton made his doubts clear with a cold look. But when he got close to him, he smelled the salt, and he gagged. "Ugh! What? Did you sleep in the ocean last night?!"

"Oh, no. I'm all clean." Timothy told him. "I think that smell must have been you." This angered Triton to no end. He pinned Timothy to the wall of the lighthouse in anger.

"In a hurry to die, old man?" Triton snarled. "Well, we don't have to wait for the Kraken to make it happen." Timothy was stuck. He had to shake him off somehow.

"Oh, please. I meant no offense. Perhaps a snack might lighten your mood?" Timothy eyed the nearby trash can and picked out a corn dog from it, holding it in his hand in exchange. Triton shoved him aside and grabbed the corn dog.

"It's going to take a lot more than…! …What is that?" Triton asked him.

"It's a corn dog." Timothy told him. "And around here, it has another name."

"And what might that be?" Triton asked with a glare. In response, a Seagull suddenly rose up on top of his head, followed by a few more on his shoulders, all looking at him like vultures.

"Seagull bait." Timothy told him. Suddenly, Triton found himself being overwhelmed by the Seagulls, all of them cawing at him as if to say, "Mine, mine, mine!" as they tried to take the corn dog from him.

"AGH! Get off me, blast you!" Triton demanded in vain as more and more seagulls swarmed after the corn dog in his grasp. "OFF, YOU DAMNED WHITE RATS WITH WINGS!" Timothy took advantage of his confusion and tripped him off the edge of the ledge and into the ocean.

Triton screamed as he fell down right into the ocean as the Seagulls fled from him and the corn dog he took down with him. The Seagulls flew up to the surface as thunder echoed in the atmosphere again. Timothy looked back out to the ocean with a soft grin.

"The ignorance of youth never ceases to amuse me." Timothy said with an almost dark look in his eyes. Perhaps too dark…

---

Down below in the ocean, Triton's tunic turned into a black fin, and his legs fused into a tailfin with red webbing.

"Oceanus, curse them all…!" Triton snarled as he brushed the feathers off of his arms. But before he could go berserk, Triton once again recalled his Sea Drake that he tasked to follow Brill after he jumped into the ocean. His hunch was that it was no coincidence. "No matter… My Sea Drake had been tailing that oaf since I left. Failure is not an option."

---

Back at the Kraken Kingdom, Ruby was still getting used to the idea of being Grandmamah's successor. And she tried to tell her how she truly felt, especially since Pearl helped her calm down. In fact, Pearl was still on her shoulder for her support. She noticed the krakens bringing down a tiara for her to wear, but she abruptly dodged them.

"So, Grandma…" Ruby spoke up while dodging the tiara. The krakens took the hint and moved it away.

"Uh, 'Grandma-mah'. It goes up on the second 'mah'." She told Ruby.

"Oh, sorry. Um, Grandma-mah, um, you have the wrong person." Ruby said with worry as Grandmamah looked over a small treaty on a literal platter with her staff, which had a magnifying glass feature. She gave the kraken a nod before the kraken servant moved up the treaty out of sight. "I'm just Ruby Gillman, normal teenager." When Grandmamah heard her say it, she felt a little crushed. How could she have that little faith in herself?

"Normal according to who?" She asked her as she spun around. "The women in our family have been gifted the mighty power to turn into giant kraken. You are only one of three giant krakens on this Earth, Ruby. We must protect the ocean and its creatures."

"Protect them from what?" Ruby asked, wondering if Triton was one of those threats.

"Many threats, Ruby. And those Sea Drakes… they're small potatoes compared to what we faced." Grandmamah told her as she swam up another tunnel.

"Even that giant one...?" Ruby gulped.

"Especially the giant one." Grandmamah answered. Ruby followed her up as Pearl became intrigued.

"Grandmamah… I haven't been up this far before." Pearl told her.

"Well, Pearl, you were attacked by those Sea Drakes trying to bring her back." Grandmamah told her with an air of concern. "And you know most of our enemies by now. So, I think it's time you got more visual aid."

"Visual aid?" Ruby asked her.

"Many monsters have coveted our position, and have tried to seize the throne for themselves. Brag alert! They never succeeded." Grandmamah said. When they came up into the room, above, they saw a rogues' gallery of monsters surrounding them, making Pearl gasp as she saw every single one of them. They were much bigger than she was. And it made her scared to see them. So much so that she hid behind Ruby's head.

"Grandmamah… what are they?" Ruby asked, a little worried for Pearl.

"The descendants of Cthulhu." Grandmamah told her with a grave tone as the mural showed a towering mural of Cthulhu overlooking all the others as Ruby stared into its fierce red eyes. Then, suddenly, Ruby felt an incredible headache as she held her hand onto her head and received flashes of the same being that she had before waking up after her rescue of Connor and Brian. Those piercing, red eyes, the haunting voice that called out to her...

KRAKEN...

"The commander of all sea creatures, and the source of every single one on this Earth… including us." Grandmamah finished with a solemn look.

"Us?" Ruby asked.

"The Krakens used to be slaves to Cthulhu. But our ancestor, Tritania, decided to fight back against Cthulhu and won us our kind's freedom from his control." Grandmamah sounded especially proud. "But the sore loser didn't like that. So, before he was trapped, he made every crust dweller think we were the monsters, and none of us have gone above the surface ever since." Ruby felt bad to hear that part of the story. "Well, not that I would've cared about it either way. Still, he made sure we had our fair share of enemies for centuries. For example: The Leviathan,"

Grandmamah pointed to a large eel-like creature with horns on its head and purple eyes and sharp teeth. "Umibozu," Grandmamah continued, pointing at a Creature-from-the-lake like monster with dark green skin and wide eyes which held a black staff. "...and Mythos, his second-in-command." The mural showed a large creature with two dark purple cat-slit eyes, a dreadlocked beard, antlers on its head and dark purple skin, carrying a large trident with four pointed ends on it, two on each side. "I really hate to think what that freak is up to now… But as bad as that guy was, the greater threat was among the most power-hungry and dangerous of them all…" Ruby recognized the silhouette of what Grandmamah was talking about. She saw the familiar bra and the tailfin to go with it.

"The mermaid?" Ruby asked in confusion.

"Yes, the mermaid!" Grandmamah said with venom as the silhouette glowed brightly, showing them with sharp teeth, and wavy hair.

"But people love mermaids." Ruby pointed out, wondering how this could be true.

"Of course they do. People are stupid." Grandmamah countered with a not-too-pleased look.

"They used to lure sailors to their deaths with their siren voices…" Pearl whispered.

"Oh. People's history did mention that, too…" Ruby said, feeling a little sheepish.

"Well, kudos to them for getting one thing right." Grandmamah said, still not impressed. "Mermaids are selfish, vain narcissists, with mediocre hair, and their queen, Nerissa, the worst of them all. In Cthulhu's age, she led the trifecta with the Leviathans and the Umibozu known as the Devil's Triangle. But after Cthulhu fell, and Mythos disappeared, she wanted to control the ocean and force its creatures to serve her and her alone."

Grandmamah, Ruby, and Pearl swam up to the next room to continue the story. This room showed a mural of a giant mermaid with dark blue hair and red skin, along with a large tailfin.

"Normally, mermaids would be no match for us giant kraken– much too puny– but their queen sought out the help of someone we didn't even know existed. The Mermen."

As Grandmamah continued, the mural showed the giant kraken overwhelming the mermaids before it showed Nerissa's mural swimming towards a tall, muscular being with a red mane of hair and a scar over his right eye.

"Hey, he looks like Triton…" Ruby realized as she got a closer look.

"That, Ruby, is Neptune, their leader." Grandmamah corrected her. "And with his help, Nerissa found an ancient weapon, the Trident of Oceanus. The only weapon powerful enough to defeat a giant kraken." The mural then showed the krakens going to a war against the Merpeople, only to be met with bloody chaos.

"We formed the front lines against them, and for that…" Grandmamah said as the mural next showed Nerissa piercing through the kraken, the trident-shaped hole on their sides as they fell. And even worse, the Mermen commanded the Sea Drakes to go after the defenseless kraken citizens as the mural showed them screaming. Pearl held her hand over her mouth as she gasped with fear. "...we paid a terrible price." Grandmamah swam toward another mural of a familiar face as Ruby looked on sadly.

"Frankly, I suppose, we'd all be kelp toast if it wasn't for… your mother." Grandmamah pointed to the mural as it glowed brightly, showing a face that Ruby recognized.

"No way. That's my mom? Was she actually cool?" Ruby asked in surprise, and a little in doubt.

"She was our greatest warrior. I mean, of course she was. I taught her everything I know." Grandmamah proudly spoke as the mural showed her charging at Neptune and Nerissa. "She engaged in a great battle with the tyrants, and wrested away the trident. I called it her 'queen-making' moment. It was glorious. Nerissa fled in disgrace."

The mural showed Agatha holding the trident with a smile as Nerissa ran away while Grandmamah chuckled. However, her face turned stoic as the mural showed Neptune next with a vivid and angry look, all before he left the mermaids, who slumped down and were saddened. "But Neptune? Boy, was he pissed. After losing the trident, he swore revenge on the Krakens and cut his losses with the mermaids. They were helpless. We had a chance to crush the mermaids forever. But your mother did the unfathomable."

The mural showed Agatha holding onto a small kraken baby wrapped in a swaddled blanket as the mural of her Grandmamah looked saddened.

"She hid the trident away, left her kingdom, left her kind, ALL TO PLAY HUMAN!" Grandmamah shouted with her eyes shooting out a powerful green light that scattered around the mural room before Ruby dodged the blast that would've hit her and Pearl. A short moment later, however, her look of shock turned into surprise.

"Whoa. You have laser eyes?" Ruby asked her.

"Well, it's electrically charged bioluminescence, but yeah, they do pack a wallop." Grandmamah answered with a grin, happy that she was taking an interest. "You have those powers, too, you know. And you're going to need them if you're going to face Cthulhu's minions."

"Besides growing big at super awkward moments?" Ruby asked anxiously. "And even if I got past that, what could I do against all this?"

"You're special, Ruby." Grandmamah told her with a soft and comforting tone. "You feel it in the core of your being." Even so, Ruby had her head turned away sadly. Grandmamah gently brushed her hair behind her ear. "Let me teach you."

"But, my mom told me that if I stay out of the ocean, they won't be able to find me, and I won't turn into a…" Ruby tried to say.

"A giant kraken?" Grandmamah interjected. "You are not a human who turns into a kraken. You're a kraken hiding as a human. Once you know what you're capable of, you'll want to be the next kraken queen. It's your birthright. And fight as you might, fight as you will, you can never outswim your destiny." But despite her reassurance, Ruby still didn't feel like she was ready.

"I don't know, Grandmamah. I like my friends and Connor. And math. You know, teen stuff. I just don't know if I'm ready for any of this…" Ruby said anxiously. At the same time, Grandmamah looked at the mural behind Ruby, seeing herself in her furious state. Comparing that to Ruby, she had a gentle look of realization on her. Pearl peeked out from her hair with a soft look. She may be young, but she wasn't blind to her words.

"Ruby…" Pearl began, but Grandmamah spoke up gently.

"Hold on, Pearl." Grandmamah told her, confusing the girls. "If she wants to go, she's allowed to. I loved spending this time with you, Ruby." She had a big smile on her face, like she was sure that everything would work out. Ruby felt the pressure lifted off of her with her response.

"Me, too." Ruby said gently. It definitely made it easier for her to talk to her Grandmamah. "Thank you for telling me the truth."

"Until we meet again." Grandmamah replied warmly. Ruby was about to leave, but Pearl spoke up.

"Grandmamah… Can I come with Ruby?" Pearl asked her.

"But why? I thought you would've wanted to be a giant kraken." Grandmamah asked her, genuinely curious.

"I do." Pearl nodded. "But… I want to be able to protect Ruby, in case anything happens to her." Grandmamah couldn't help but fawn over her look of determination. It looked so adorable on her.

"Of course, dear. Just be careful with the crust-dwellers." Grandmamah accepted her request, going to Pearl to pat her gently with her finger, making her giggle.

"Okay, Grandmamah." Pearl chuckled in response as she looked at Ruby with a soft grin. Ruby felt a little better knowing she'd come along with her. She swam down the room with Pearl in tow while Brill looked at her with puzzlement. He'd been around for a good while, and he really wasn't expecting that.

"Wait. You're just gonna let her go?" Brill asked. Grandmamah simply swam a little ways away from the mural room.

"She'll be back. A kraken always answers the call." Grandmamah simply said.

"That's what you said about Agatha…" Brill said to himself a little sadly. But suddenly, Grandmamah went right up to Brill, a look of heartbroken anger on her face.

"DON'T. EVER. SAY IT. AGAIN." Grandmamah said with a cold tone that would've sent chills down Brill's spine so many times, he would've frozen over. She turned away before Brill spoke up softly.

"I get it, you know. I miss her, too. More than almost anyone. Before Triton came along and complicated things… I wanted to bring Agatha back home." Brill said sadly. "So, if that's not good enough for you, I'm sorry. I guess I'll just never be enough for you… But all I know is I love my daughter as much as you love yours. Why is it so hard for you to show it?" Grandmamah turned her head softly to Brill, feeling sorry for the way she just snapped at him.

"Brill… I don't know what to do anymore." She said sadly. "I've doubled down on the responsibilities. I made sure that no one would attack us. I even made peace treaties! Peace! Treaties! I just… I've tried everything to get her to come back…"

"Everything?" Brill asked with sincere doubt as he swam up to her. "You've tried everything?"

"What are you saying?" Grandmamah asked him.

"I'm saying you have to tell Agatha how you really feel. That you miss her." Brill suggested. Grandmamah's face softened. "I don't think I can do that, Brill. It's too late to take back the past… What's Agatha even going to think of me if we saw each other again?" Brill held his head down gently.

"I don't know…" He answered honestly. "But if you don't tell her… we could lose her, Mamah." Brill simply said. Then, he swam down and out of the mural room, leaving Grandmamah to stare at her own mural with a sad look on her face. She glanced next at her staff, holding it in both hands as she spoke sadly, "Where did I go wrong, Agatha…?"

---

Meanwhile, Gordon and the Thurstens were setting up small buoys around the ship. After several minutes of chasing the Kraken, Mayor Thursten suggested that they set up bait to capture the beast. If even one of them were to get snagged, they'd surely have their prey. Gordon was all in for the idea.

"Dad, are you sure this is a good idea?" Brian asked him. He was more concerned for the wildlife in the ocean, for he feared that they might get caught in it instead.

"It's the best one we have, son." Mayor Thursten told him as he put his hand on his back. "Besides, it triggers pulse frequencies that repel the common fish."

"Where did you even get those?" Brian asked, surprised his father had those along for the trip at all.

"They were made by an old friend of mine in the navy." Mayor Thursten answered him.

"And the bomb?" Brian asked.

"Bomb? What bomb?" The mayor asked in alarm. To answer him, Gordon held up the bomb in his possession.

"This one!" Gordon answered really proudly. "Kinda proud of this beauty."

"You idiot!" Mayor Thursten snapped. "I told you, this is an expedition, not a kill mission!"

"Everything's a kill mission with krakens involved, Mr. Mayor! Just doing my duty as a concerned citizen!" Gordon retorted. As his dad and Gordon screamed at each other, Brian moaned, feeling as though it would be a long night before he'd get any sleep at all.

"Why did I have to come along…?" Brian moaned. But as he looked out at the water, he saw a small glow in the water. It wasn't as powerful and bright as the Kraken's, but it was small and blue. And it was swimming just past him. He was baffled and confused for a moment. Afterwards, though, he sighed to himself.

"I'm probably going sea-crazy…" Brian said to himself.

---

Meanwhile, under the sea, Ruby and Pearl were swimming by themselves to go back to Ruby's house. While they swam, Ruby felt anxious. Probably more than she was earlier when she first transformed. Pearl sensed her anxiety when she gazed upon her face.

"Do you think Triton's gone by now, Pearl?" Ruby asked her.

"Dad said he'd be gone after a while. Why? Are you okay, Ruby?" Pearl asked her.

"I don't know…" Ruby said with a sad look. "Finding out I was royalty was bad enough. But knowing I have to actually fight all those monsters? I just don't think I'm cut out for that."

"At least you've got a better chance than I do. I'm still too little to make any difference…" Pearl said sadly. Ruby didn't like to see Pearl so upset about her size. So, she tried to cheer her up.

"Pearl, I–" Suddenly, Ruby exclaimed when her leg was tangled up on a metal wire! The sudden stop launched Pearl off of Ruby before she righted herself. Pearl gasped when she saw that her giant foot was stuck.

Above the sea, the buoy tipped over, and the cables pulled tightly against Grodon's ship, ringing its bells as an alarm. Gordon knew what it meant.

"Kraken ahoy!" Gordon shouted. The Thurstens all huddled to the edge of the deck near Gordon to see for themselves as Davey jumped off the handlebars and scuttled to the steering wheel.

"Son of an Anglerfish…!" Mayor Thursten breathed out in surprise.

"Davey, hard to port. Full power!" Gordon commanded his crab. The crab followed his captain's command as it jumped on a lever, pushing it down before it hopped onto and waddled on the steering wheel, making the boat accelerate. Mayor Thursten, for one, was surprised.

"How sail-savy is that crab?" The Mayor asked as Gordon pulled out a case, opening it to show a harpoon-like weapon.

"Captain Lighthouse, what is that?" Brian asked, worried that Gordon is going off the rails again.

"Don't worry, sonny. It's a tranq harpoon." Gordon said as he loaded the harpoon gun with it.

"Since when is there a tranq harpoon?!" He asked with a shout.

"Since now-ish!" Gordon replied as he aimed right at the purple glow underwater.

As Gordon prepared to fire, Ruby struggled to break free as pushed with all her might, only to get tangled even further. Pearl went right on one of her legs to help get her loose.

"Stay still! I'll get it off!" Pearl told her. But she was running out of time.

"Fly! Fly, me beauties!" Gordon yelled out with eagerness. Mayor Thursten saw where he was aiming, and he immediately rushed to stop it.

"No!" He cried, moving the gun just inches away as it shot out at Ruby. Thanks to his quick-thinking, though, it zipped past Ruby and Pearl. But it made Pearl really afraid. The metal spear nearly killed them! But it was getting even worse. The ship started to turn around, shining its light on them.

"Oh, no…" Ruby said with worry. "Pearl, forget about me! Just head back to my house!"

"No! I'm not leaving you!" Pearl cried out, trying hard to free her.

Above the water, Mayor Thursten was glaring at him.

"I told you before, we are not killing the kraken!" Mayor Thursten shouted.

"What else are we here for, then?!" Gordon retorted.

"Uh, guys! The searchlight's getting close to the kraken!" Brian called out to them. Gordon looked out to the sea, seeing the searchlights inching closer to Ruby. He looked out near the edge of his ship with a grin. "Let's get a closer look at ya."

Ruby tried to move away, only to be put quite literally between a rock and a hard place. And Pearl wasn't put anywhere better. Try as she might to unravel the wire, Pearl wasn't strong enough to pry them off. She tried to lift it up, but it clamped down harder on Ruby, pinning Pearl to her as well.

"Ah! How could this get any worse?!" Pearl groaned. As if to answer, Pearl and Ruby heard an unearthly roar headed straight toward them! They looked behind them to see a familiar black-scclaaed Sea Drake swimming right to them!

"Pearl, for future reference, if we survive this, NEVER say that out loud!" Ruby shouted in her panic. Left with no alternative, Ruby tried to do what she saw Grandmamah do in the mural room.

"Laser eyes, go!" Ruby shouted. Her eyes did glow for a moment, but they flickered out. "Laser eyes, go! Laser eyes, go! Laser eyes?" She started to panic. Surrounded by Gordon and the Sea Drake, it seemed as though they were good as done for. What could possibly save them now?

"Hold her steady, Davey." Gordon commanded his crab. Davey started to go in the opposite direction, making the wheel go backwards. Brian ran up the stairs to get to Gordon as Mayor Thursten wrested the harpoon away from him.

"I will not let you kill it before we find out what it wants!" Mayor Thursten commanded.

"You may be the Mayor, Mayor, but I am the captain!" Gordon shouted, pushing the Mayor backward before he kissed the harpoon and put it in his gun. "This one's for my ancestors, Kraken freak!"

"STOP!" Brian shouted as he jumped at Gordon and the gun, but it was too late. Gordon had already fired it just milliseconds before Brian got to him. And the harpoon was going to strike hard at Ruby right in the heart! CLANG! The sound of impact was heard, both girls afraid to look. But Ruby didn't feel anything hitting her. One by one, the rope started to come loose. And before Ruby knew it, she and Pearl were free to swim again!And just in time, too, for…

"Look out!" Pearl cried out. The Sea Drake was barreling right at them at breakneck speed. And unlike the one she faced before, it wasn't running. Ruby prepared to engage it, only for a sudden blur to come along and scratch it, making it howl. Its gash could be seen on its otherwise black-scaled hide. The blur attacked again, making several more scars upon it. Having been severely damaged, the Sea Drake glanced around for its attacker, only to be suddenly uppercutted it gone, Pearl cheered.

"Woo-hoo! You did it, Ruby!" Pearl said with a grin.

"Pearl, that wasn't me." Ruby corrected her.

"Who did, then?" Pearl asked. As an answer, they looked up and saw a silhouette above them. "Wait… is that–?"

"The new girl." A familiar voice called out. "Oh, my gosh. Hey." When she swam down toward them, Ruby's eyes widened. She knew her from earlier today.

"Chelsea?" Ruby said with surprise. "H-How are you even down here?"

"Because I'm a motherflippin' mermaid!" Chelsea said as she did a flip, revealing her light teal tail fin with red webbing. Pearl gasped when she said that.

"A mermaid?!" Pearl exclaimed fearfully. She took to heart what Grandmamah said about them. And it made her very weary of Chelsea.

"And you helped us? Why?" Ruby asked.

"I figured I owed you an underwater rescue since I kinda, sorta, 100% got credit for yours." Chelsea answered.

Above the water, the Thurstens looked down at the water. They were hoping that Gordon didn't hurt it.

"What were you thinking, man?!" Mayor Thursten scolded him.

"Eh, Kraken hunting time?" He replied. Brian looked down at the ocean. He could barely make out the glow, but the fact that it was still shining made him feel relieved that the Kraken was still alive.

"It's okay, dad!" Brian shouted.

"Good. Pull up the kraken above water. I need to see it for myself." He insisted. But Gordon had other plans. He picked up the bomb he hauled over and held it high over his head.

"Time for the Gordon special. Surprise. It's a bomb!" Gordon threw the bomb right into the ocean. Pearl, Ruby, and Chelsea looked up to see his bomb floating down toward them.

"What is that…?" Pearl asked nervously.

"Nothing good…!" Ruby said anxiously. But Chelsea didn't seem too worried.

"We should get going. Or, like, die. Your call." Chelsea said.

"Uh, I vote not dying…!" Pearl said, with Ruby nodding to her and Chelsea. The trio went away from the bomb, dashing away from it before… KABOOM!

The blast impact went upward under the ship, and it catapulted Gordon, Davey, and the Thurstens up into the air. As they hung in the air, Mayor Thursten glared at Gordon, as did Davey while he held onto his captain's hat. After a couple seconds, they landed back on the deck with a loud crash. Davey, on the other hand, landed back on the captain's hat. In the end, Gordon and Davey watched as Ruby swam away, evident by the fading color.

As Mayor Thursten recovered, he growled under his breath, placed his hand on the handlebar, and lifted himself up to stare daggers at Gordon. Even Davey wasn't too pleased with his rash actions.

"Don't say it, Davey." Gordon simply said. The crab angrily clattered its claws to tell him it was his fault. "You're such a naysayer."

"And you… are a GLORIFIED IDIOT!" Mayor Thursten snapped at Gordon, stunting the captain with his outburst. He grabbed Gordon by his coat and held him close to his face. "I told you, first of all, that this is an expedition, not, AND I REPEAT, NOT A KILL MISSION!" The Mayor threw the captain to the deck. Gordon backed away in frightful anger. He'd never seen the mayor that angry before tonight. "And secondly! Your Gordon Surprise nearly killed us all along with the Kraken! Is your petty vengeance all you care about, Captain?! Because if so, I immediately regret asking for your so-called help!" Mayor Thursten growled as he stomped down the stairs, trying very hard to get his cool back.

"I just hope you made it out okay, Brian…" He sighed. But when he looked around, there wasn't any sign of him. "Brian?" He walked into the cabin to look for him, but there was no such luck. "Brian?!" Realizing that his son was knocked out overboard, he started to panic. "BRIAN!"

---

Under the water, Chelsea heard Mayor Thursten's anguished cry of fear from above. She stopped swimming for a moment, puzzling Ruby and Pearl. Chelsea felt a terrible chill in his voice, and for him to shout that badly… Something awful must have happened above water.

"Chelsea?" Ruby saw the distracted look on her face.

"Uh… yeah, hang on, give me a minute? I'll be back in a sec." Chelsea told them before she swam away. The Krakens watched as Chelsea went off in the distance. What they saw, however, was unexpected. In the dim light of the ocean, partially illuminated by Gordon's searchlight, Brian's body was in the water again. And it wasn't moving… She gasped when she saw Brian, and she swam fast, trying to catch him before he fully drowned. She got him in her arms, and she swam back to the boat as fast as she could with Brian in her arms once again.

"Brian! Are you out there?! Please! Answer me!" He cried out.

"Sonny! Give us a sign, boy!" Gordon shouted, just as worried for his son, if only because he didn't want to receive his father's wrath. While Mayor Thursten and Gordon looked desperately for his son, the mermaid snuck Brian back onto the ship's dock. She placed her ear on his chest to listen for a pulse.

"Come on…" Chelsea said quietly. She hoped that he had a heartbeat. Just when she started to fear the worst, Chelsea heard it, and Brian suddenly gasped loudly. Then, he coughed out loud. Chelsea sighed with relief to herself.

"He's okay…" Chelsea spoke softly.

"Brian?" Mayor Thursten said with a gasp, realizing he was close by. Chelsea took that as a cue to get going, jumping from the boat to dive into the water and swim away. Brian and Gordon came to the dock to see Brian moaning as he sat up.

"Son!" The Mayor rushed to his son and held him close as Gordon came by, relieved to see that he was still alive.

"Ugh… Dad, what just happened?" Brian asked, wondering what had transpired.

"Don't you remember? My bomb blasted you sky-high!" Gordon reminded him, much to the bitter glare of the Mayor, making him feel sheepish. Then, he caved.

"Okay, I'm sorry I tried to kill the kraken. And us…" Gordon apologized.

"And…?" Mayor Thursten glared harder at him.

"And I'll follow your lead this time…" Gordon said dejectedly. He was really looking forward to having payback on the kraken. But with what could've been a disastrous attempt, he had no choice but to play along.

"And, from now on, I'll be commanding this vessel. For your own good." Mayor Thursten strictly added.

"What?! But she's my baby…!" Gordon whimpered.

"Then you should've known better than to blow it up!" Thursten snapped, having had enough of his obsession for one night, especially when it could've cost him his son's life. "End. Of. Discussion." He went to the steering wheel and clutched his hands onto it bitterly. Davey clattered his claws in morse code, telling him he did have a point.

"Oh, shut it, Davey…" Gordon scoffed. As Gordon wallowed in his punishment, Brian was looking out to the sea. He was rescued a second time already. And he still doesn't know how or who did it for him. At this point, he can't decide if he was lucky or unlucky. Either way, one thing was certain: Gordon isn't going to be off-leash for a long while.

---

Under the sea, Chelsea was swimming back to the confused, if not weary Krakens. They'd just barely survived the attempt on their lives from both land and sea, and she swooped in to save them. The timing was rather suspect, if anything.

"That was close… just saved Brian again. That bomb packed a bigger wallop than I thought." Chelsea said, catching her breath.

"Okay… first of all, thank you..." Ruby said.

"You're welcome." Chelsea quickly replied.

"And second, I still can't believe that you're a…" Ruby tried to say.

"A ten with a fin? A fish come true? A mermaid?" Chelsea asked, getting all giddy.

"Yes! A mermaid!" Pearl shouted, very weary about her. "Ruby, you know what Grandmamah said about them…!"

"I do. But she also saved our lives when she didn't have to. That, and she also saved Brian, twice apparently." Ruby told her.

"Again, you're welcome." Chelsea added.

"Besides, if she wanted us dead, don't you think she would've let us, you know, die from that bomb explosion?" Ruby asked her. Pearl was about to answer, but she stopped, realizing she had a point.

"Oh." She simply said as Chelsea started to get giddy all over again. "Ooh, I can't believe I can finally have a friend to share things with. A super sea-girl bestie."

"Bestie?" Pearl asked, confused on the term.

"It's slang for best friend." Ruby said. "Listen, Chelsea, thanks for what you did back there, but I started this day thinking my biggest issue was prom. And now, we have a whole lot more going on."

"We almost got eaten by a Sea Drake." Pearl added.

"Yes! Thank you, Pearl!" Ruby said. As Ruby finished, Chelsea slowed her swimming down to look at them. "So, we just need to go home, get some sleep and pretend this day never happened. If I can…" Ruby moved on, swimming past Chelsea, who looked at the two of them with a sad look.

"Look, I just thought we had a lot in common, but if you're gonna be salty about it, then… bye-bye." Chelsea said sadly before swimming away. Pearl had a smirk at first, but when she saw her sad look, she somehow started to feel bad. And so did Ruby. She didn't mean to come off the way she did. But she'd been through a lot today, and she just needed to get it all figured out. Maybe she would be able to thank her properly the next time she saw her…

---

It wasn't much longer until they found their way back to Oceanside. Ruby was dressed back in her Oceanside shirt with her pajama pants. She and Pearl snuck back inside her room and laid down on the bed together. As they did, Nessie curled up near them. The girls immediately wrapped their arms around Nessie and huddled close to him.

"You met Chelsea earlier today, right?" Pearl asked her.

"Yeah. I didn't know she was… you know, before the boat." Ruby explained.

"Okay." Pearl said softly. "Maybe telling Aunt Aggie won't be the best idea."

"Yeah, no." Ruby shook her head adamantly.

"But you know? She's not so bad. For a mermaid…" Pearl said with a soft whisper.

---

Back at the Lighthouse, Chelsea had made it back safely, and she was walking by herself, a little dejected. Timothy walked down to greet her, only to see the sad look on her face.

"Chelsea. What has happened? Is the princess alright?" Timothy asked her.

"Yeah, she's safe. But… she didn't want anything to do with me." Chelsea said solemnly.

"Did she try to attack you?" Timothy worried.

"No. But… she just wanted to pretend this day never happened…" Chelsea told him. It was clear she was a little hurt by her words.

"I don't think we can blame her, the poor thing." Timothy said as he looked out at the clouds. "She'd been through two attempts on her life by now. That is, assuming Triton had a hand in it…"

"Triton? Where did that come from?" Chelsea grew curious. What did she miss while she was out at sea?

"Let's just say he tried to find the kraken princess, only to discover the price of the stick snack." Timothy said with a light chuckle. "I dealt with him, but I doubt it'd be enough to keep him away forever. He will return. And where Triton is involved, he is, too."

"Who is?" Chelsea asked, starting to get worried by his tone.

"Neptune. King of the Mermen. And… your father." Timothy said with a grave look as lightning struck the sky.

---

Under the sea, the Sea Drake assaulted by Chelsea's harpoon was covered in scars and wounds. But even so, it tried to swim back to its master. Speaking of, Triton was on the hunt as well when he saw his pet.

"You there. What happened to you? You were supposed to capture the princess. What went wrong?" Triton demanded. When his pet approached, Triton saw for himself why. It was struck severely in almost every place on its body! And the seeping blood from the cuts was proof it was quite fresh.

"It appears this kraken princess was more fierce than I thought…" Triton guessed with a chill in his voice, completely appalled by this savagery.

"A clean kill would've been more honorable." A dark, gravely, older voice spoke from behind him. Triton turned around with a reverant gasp. It was Neptune staring him down. And with a look none too satisfied.

"Lord Neptune! Forgive this setback, sire." Triton bowed his head to pay respect to him. But Neptune glanced around for any sign of the Kraken Princess, but with no such presence of said princess thereof.

"Nothing… I was informed that this one might be different!" Neptune barked, pointing at his wounded Sea Drake.

"Whatever attacked it was… surprisingly agile and precise, Lord Neptune. I'm afraid our plan to capture the princess has failed." Neptune growled into a fit of rage, which he used to grab it and dig his claws into its scales, making it shriek in pain.

"You should at least be dead with the wounds you've sustained!" Neptune released the Sea Drake in frustration as Triton moved on to more pressing matters.

"What now? Our only bargaining chip is out of our grasp. Without a new weapon, my men can't hold them off forever." Triton reminded him. Neptune was not one to give up easily. That said, if any army he recruits fell short of his expectations, it was always best to cut off any weakness before it spread. Like he was forced to, all those years ago…

"I will not be remembered as the man who lost his kingdom to those vile creatures!" Neptune shouted. "Move forward with the final plan!" Neptune was about to swim back, only to turn to the aching Sea Drake with contempt. "And finish off this failure. It's no longer useful."

"As you wish." Triton bowed as the Sea Drake watched with horror. The commander held his clawed hand out and he clenched it on both gills, blocking out the water from flowing in. It can breathe the air, but it won't work well if it can't breathe any air underwater.

"To think you were the best of my Sea Drakes…" These were Triton's last words to it… before a harsh crack was made. Triton released the Sea Drake, only for it to go belly-up, slowly rising to the surface under the cloudy sky. To Triton, to the Mermen, this was only an inconvenient setback, nothing more. They were only getting started…

"You will pay for this humiliation, Kraken...!" Triton growled, clenching his hand.

Notes:

A/N: Hello! It's been a long while, but it felt great to work on Ruby Gillman again. And as you can see, things are getting more intriguing from here. Here's what I have in mind for the voices of the new characters recently introduced, in case you were wondering.

Clancy Brown - Neptune

David Herman - Triton

Hope you can look forward to the next chapter for Call of the Sea. :)

Chapter 6: Aftermath

The next morning, Ruby and Pearl were sleeping together. Nessie was curled up against them, soothing them with his skin and his gentle purrs. The self-proclaimed "normal teenager" thought a good-night's sleep would help shake her mind off of what had happened yesterday. Even when the alarm startled her awake, she had a personal goal in mind: to pretend it all never happened.

The first thing she did was to turn off the alarm. After that, she got dressed in her green shirt and multicolored jeans. Then, she put on her purple hooded jacket and her earphones. At the same time, Pearl was waking up with a yawn just in time to see her getting her hood on.

"Okay, Ruby, you got this." She told herself. "You just need to make it to school and have a completely, totally ordinary day."

"But why would you want to be ordinary?" Pearl asked, still waking up. Ruby turned around to see Pearl with Nessie in her lap. Nessie looked especially anxious.

"Pearl, you have no idea how lucky you are that you're still a kid…" Ruby sighed to herself. "Did you forget what happened with the Sea Drakes? What my friends thought about me?"

"They didn't know you were the kraken, though." Pearl reasoned. She believed they'd feel differently if they knew the truth. But Ruby was on the contrary.

"And I'd like to keep it that way." Ruby said. "Besides, I can't just go train to be the next queen of the krakens. I'm not cut out for that kind of life."

"But… what about Chelsea?" Pearl asked. Ruby had no idea how to feel. She told Pearl that she helped save them from being skewered and from being eaten by the Sea Drake that attacked them. And she didn't exactly part with her on the best terms. "Do you think mermaids can be good?"

"I don't… I don't know, Pearl." Ruby answered honestly. She was told that mermaids were the worst enemies of the kraken, and yet, a mermaid saved them both. What would it say about them, then? "But I hope so. I really hope so…" Nessie began to fuss before Ruby could walk out. And he stuck out his tongue, breathing out the air. Ruby wondered if it was about her breath. She breathed out to check, and to her surprise, she could smell seawater. To get rid of it, she took out an air freshener from her jacket pocket and sprayed it in her mouth.

"Come on, Pearl. You, too." Ruby said.

"Why?" Pearl shrugged.

"To get rid of the seawater smell." Ruby.

"Okay…" Pearl said with a sigh.

---

Meanwhile, downstairs, Agatha was still on her laptop. She was looking at her old family photos. It showed the whole family at the lighthouse, long before Timothy chose to live near it, then it showed her and her mother laying down at the couch as they hugged each other. And finally, it showed her when they first moved in, holding the infant Ruby in her arms, still in the blanket. It drove the most tears out of Agatha when Arthur noticed her. He was bringing in two mugs of hot chocolate, one especially for his wife, to cheer her up.

"Honey, you've gotta stop beating yourself up." Arthur advised, setting his mug down next to her.

"Oh, Arthur. I can't believe I didn't tell her any of this sooner." Agatha bemoaned. "I mean, what was I thinking?"

"You were thinking about protecting her, like you always have." Arthur answered, resting his hand on her back. But she still wasn't convinced.

"What if she drops out of school?" Agatha worried. "I mean, what if she doesn't get a job and runs away, like I did? What if she gets attacked by the Sea Drakes again?! Or worse! What if she hates me, like I hate my mom?! It's a slippery slope, Arthur!" While Agatha was counting the reasons it could all go wrong, Ruby was overhearing what Agatha was telling him.

She and Pearl were walking down the stairs. While Ruby added shades over her eyes, Pearl was now dressed in a pink long-sleeved shirt with bedazzled gems all over it, along with small jeans.

"Hate's a strong word." Arthur told her as he comforted her with a hug. "And she loves you. She'll never run away."

"I hope you're right…" Agatha said softly. "But there's only one way to know for sure: I have to tell her everything."

"Oh, now you're being honest? After I almost died yesterday? Oh, that makes total sense…" Ruby said under her breath. Pearl overheard her words and grumbled. She didn't like how Ruby was brushing her off, even if Grandmamah did tell them the truth already. And after seeing Agatha so sad, Pearl felt bad for her.

"Ruby…" Pearl said in a hushed tone. "At least let her try."

"Okay…" Ruby moaned similar to how Pearl did not too long ago. The girls walked down to the bottom of the stairs before Ruby spoke up awkwardly. "Uh… hey, mom." Agatha and Arthur turned around to see the girls. "Hi." Pearl waved, feeling awkward about their stares.

"Huh. This doesn't help my case." Arthur said flatly. But on the contrary, Agatha was more than happy to see the girls.

"Girls, hey." Agatha said, slipping out from Arthur's hug to walk up to them. "How are you feeling? Did you sleep okay? Everything back to normal?"

"Well… sort of." Ruby answered.

"Ruby was showing me what it's like up on the surface on her phone. And I wanted to know what it's like outside." Pearl answered. That made Agatha interested.

"Oh, really? That's so sweet." Agatha said, patting Pearl on the head as the young kraken smiled. "But… would you be okay if you could let me and Ruby talk alone?"

"Really? Now?" Ruby asked. She was nervous, alright, but not for the truth. It was more the fact that Grandmamah already told her. "But, I might end up being late, and–" Ruby tried to protest, but Ruby held her hand on hers.

"Ruby. It'll be okay. I promise." Pearl told her with a sincere smile. Ruby wasn't sure if she could take the word of a kraken child. But there was something about her assuring smile and her innocent eyes that made her feel safe. Ruby sighed gently, accepting Pearl's word, for the moment.

"Okay." Ruby nodded. "You'll wait outside, yeah?" Pearl nodded to her.

"I'll be right outside. I like the rain, anyway." Pearl said.

"Oh, you do?" Agatha asked.

"Yeah. Free water." Pearl innocently replied before she walked to the door and went out. Agatha was honestly at a loss for words as to how someone as innocent as Pearl was able to help Ruby calm down. She was almost like a second Nessie. She wondered what her mother was like for her and Brill to be so caring and mature. A question she'd have to ask another time. For now, her priority was making sure Ruby knew the truth.

"Ruby… you remember what I've told you before, right?" Agatha asked softly. "About not having to deal with things on your own?"

"Yeah. I do." Ruby nodded. "I also remember you saying that they were hunting for the Kraken Princess. Those Sea Drakes, and the Drake King… Is that what I am, mom? A princess?" She did tell her that before, but she never disclosed that the princess was her. It took Pearl to figure out that was what she was. But she had to feign ignorance if only to keep her mother from being suspicious.

Agatha looked at her with a soft glance before she answered, "Yes, Ruby. You are the kraken princess."

"But why would they go after me? I never did anything to them." Ruby said fearfully. That time, she wasn't faking. She had no part in the interspecies vendetta Cthulhu triggered. Why did she have to get caught in the middle of it all? Agatha and Ruby sat down on the couch together as the former tried to put her at ease.

"Ruby… before I had you, before I left with Arthur, I used to be the princess. A warrior." Agatha began. "I know that's hard to believe, but… I was caught up in the war, too. At first, I thought that by training to be the best warrior, by somehow ending this pointless war, I could… I thought I could make my mom proud." Ruby's face softened.

"Your mom…?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah. That was all I wanted at the end of the day." Agatha continued, her face softly smiling at the notion. Then, it turned into a frown. "But then… the Battle of the Trident happened. The Mermaids and the Mermen, both our sworn enemies, found the Trident of Oceanus. They did something together nobody else was able to do before: kill the krakens. Next thing I knew, I ended up seeing red, and I… I wanted to fight. For the first time… I wanted to kill them." Agatha's voice started to break as she stared at her hands before clenching them. Ruby could feel the pressure that was being put on her mother.

"The worst part of that… is that she loved it." Agatha sadly spoke. "That's when I realized that she only cared about her idea of me… but not the real me. I was called the Siren Slayer that day. And that kind of life… was the last thing I ever wanted for you, Ruby." Ruby's heart felt heavy. No wonder she didn't want to tell her.

"I am so sorry that you have to deal with all this, Ruby… none of this is fair, I know. If I could just make them all focus on me instead of you, I would." Agatha told her daughter sadly. Ruby didn't say anything. She was trying to process all of it. As if discovering that she had to fight all of Cthulhu's descendants was bad enough, now this only added more stress to her. Agatha tried to reach her hand onto her shoulder. Before her hand could touch her shoulder, Ruby suddenly hugged her, sobbing softly into her.

Agatha's natural response was to hug her back, holding Ruby close in her arms as she wept. This made Agatha more afraid to let her go. She didn't want Ruby to get hurt by those Sea Drakes, or anything else that would pop up out of the ocean. Or worse… she didn't want her to be forced into a life she didn't want.

"Ruby, please listen. Who I was back then is not who you will be." Agatha softly spoke as she brushed her hair down. "You get to make your own life. Your own choices. That's all I want for you, Ruby. Understand?" Ruby replied with a sniffled and meek, "Mm-hmm".

"Good." Agatha sighed with a smile. "Well, if there's anything else you want to talk about, I'll be right here. I just… I just really want you to know that you never have to hide things from me."

Hm, like you? Ruby wanted to say that to her. But after the bombshell Agatha just dropped, she realized it was for good reason. Still… It felt like she was told two different stories. One that her Grandmamah explained to her, and another from Agatha's perspective. Either way, fighting against Cthulhu wasn't in her plan. She just wanted to be a normal teenager. Why did it have to be so hard to ask?

"Good to know, mom." Ruby said softly. "Thank you for telling me the truth."

"Of course, honey." Agatha said, giving her one last hug before she went for the door.

"Bye, mom." Ruby waved to her with a gentle smile.

"Love you. Make good choices." Agatha said with a wave of her own. Ruby closed the door as she met outside with Pearl. As it turned out, she was peeking through the window to look at the conversation between her and her mother, though camouflaged.

"So, how did it go?" Pearl asked, dropping out of her invisible state to her human form. She had a dark tan skin color with purple-chin length hair and blue eyes, just like her disguise from yesterday.

"I don't know…" Ruby said softly. "How do you think it went?"

"I dunno." Pearl answered. "I couldn't hear anything you guys were saying back there."

"Oh, thank Cod…" Ruby sighed in relief.

"So, where do we go first?" Pearl asked.

"I wanna see if I can go to school and show you around. But, I doubt it'd still be open after what happened." Ruby awkwardly spoke.

"At least no one died." Pearl said, trying to put a positive spin on that. But as the girls walked away from the house, Ruby donned her human disguise with a sad expression as her hair turned black with blue tips at the end.

"Pearl, when you're my age, you'll see there are fates worse than death…" Ruby said, putting on her hood afterward as she moved forward, though Pearl was still confused.

"But what's worse than death?" Pearl asked, genuinely trying to figure out the answer.

---

Ruby didn't answer her. She and Pearl walked down through the town to get to school. But as they walked, amidst the cloudy weather that started to rain down, Ruby couldn't ignore the signs around her. The signs that she's not as safe as she could be anymore…

Walking down the cobbled streets, she saw scratch marks on the docks, left over from Triton's Sea Drake when they tried to hide. Pearl gasped with awe when she saw that. But Ruby kept moving, not wanting Pearl to be reminded of when she nearly died. Yet, her phone rang, showing her a message of the large handprint left by the Drake King on the freeway when her mom picked them both up. She wondered if it was a blessing or a curse that Nessie knew how to get around town long enough to find her phone, let alone bring it back.

Great. More evidence of a kraken attack. As if Ruby didn't have enough problems already… That's when she remembered: when she first transformed, she'd inadvertently destroyed the library. And she was right to suspect it wouldn't be open. Her face sunk down sadly when they saw that there was a large crowd of students and teachers alike… closing the school.

Pearl was in awe over the amount of people that were outside en masse, all abuzz about yesterday's kraken "attack". But there was also evidence of something else: the bell was torn right out from the statue. Pearl would confirm that it was the Sea Drake that did it trying to save its eardrums from the loud noise. But all Ruby could see was the destruction that she caused. She passed by the site of the destroyed library, looking more ashamed than ever as the librarian was talking to a reporter. He was dressed in a black suit with a red tie and pants. He'd also been smart enough to bring an umbrella, holding it over himself and the traumatized librarian.

"This is Hawking Hawkins, live at the first site of the first-ever kraken attack in 15 years." The reporter told the cameraman in front of him. "Do you have any comment to the folks at home about the alleged kraken at large?"

"It destroyed the YA Zombie Romance section. The YA Zombie Romance section!" The librarian said sadly, holding onto her copy of the book of such genre.

"Ooh… How heartless can you get?" The reporter said.

Ruby tried walking past the crowd to brush off what they were saying. But the chatter was too frequent.

"Mom, I changed my mind. I want to be homeschooled again!" One girl said with fear in her voice.

"I never liked that library anyway." Another teen girl said, less impacted than others.

"We have a library?" A boy said with confusion. Ruby didn't know what hurt worse. That they know about the kraken now, or that they cared so little about the library to begin with.

"Godzilla could not beat that thing in a fight." A boy said near Pearl, talking to another boy.

"Who's Godzilla?" Pearl asked Ruby, who told her quietly, "I'll show you later."

"A tentacled freak from the deep shows up, and I'm supposed to learn math?" A skeptical student asked. Good thing for him, the school was cancelled today. But even so, Ruby couldn't take any of their words anymore. Ruby was about to run when suddenly…

"There you are!" Margo shouted, causing Ruby to shout in surprise. She, Bliss, and Trevin were at the front of the school, where Ruby unintentionally walked to. "Why'd you stop answering our texts last night? I was worried that monster got to you."

"You mean the Roch Ness?" Pearl asked. She was there that day when it attacked her and Ruby. Margo at least was aware of that freak after yesterday's incident that she happened to oversee.

"Who's this, Ruby? She's so cute." Margo said, fawning over Pearl.

"Guys, this is Pearl. My cousin." Ruby introduced, hoping that conversation would change the subject.

"Hello." Pearl replied.

"Pearl, this is Margo…" Ruby continued the introductions.

"Hey, there." Margo replied with a smile.

"And this is Bliss…" Ruby gestured to her.

"It's nice to meet you." Bliss nodded.

"And finally, Trevin." Ruby finished up.

"'Sup." Trevin said with a smile, lifting up his head a bit to look at Pearl before he went back to playing on his handheld console.

"So, how come school's closed?" Ruby asked. "Was it that bad?"

"Rubes, I saw a Roch Ness chasing after the new girl, Brian, and Connor outside the class window yesterday. What do you think, girl?" Margo asked with worry.

"It's a Sea Drake." Pearl corrected, making everyone turn their heads to her. "What? I actually fought those things before. Well, more like distracted it so they could be safe, but…"

"Whoa. You're that kid Brian was talking about. That's pretty sick." Trevin said, impressed that she got the guts to go up against it.

"Wait, Brian? Chelsea? Connor? What happened to them?" Ruby asked, worried about what they'd been through, mainly Connor and Brian.

"They went out to look for you after you bolted when they got attacked by that Roch Ness. And not long after: surprise! A Giant kraken appeared out of nowhere and destroyed the library!" Margo shouted dramatically.

"Yeah, but it scared the Sea Drake away. Or so I've been told, anyway…" Ruby said, trying to put a positive side to it. "And it didn't hurt anyone."

"Yet…" Bliss said with suspicion. "But don't worry. I carved us each a whistle out of Juniper Wood. Blowing it could give you precious seconds to abscond with your lives."

"Oh, yeah! Because Sea Drakes hate loud noises, right?" Pearl asked.

"Sick! Juniper Wood has been known to have kraken-defeating powers." Trevin said with enthusiasm.

"It is?" Pearl asked, genuinely wondering if it was true.

"What?" Ruby said anxiously. "Kraken? Wh-what's with the kraken talk? Ev-Everyone knows that krakens aren't real, so…"

"Behold, a plot twist!" Margo tapped on her phone and held it up to Ruby and Pearl's faces as Mayor Thursten was on camera with Gordon and Brian beside him.

"Wait… The Mayor?" Ruby asked, surprised that he would be in on it.

"I'm sure all of you have been aware of this since yesterday. But the rumors are true: the kraken has emerged at Oceanside." Mayor Thursten told the crowd, making them gasp in horror. "And, for better or worse, my close… acquaintance… Gordon Lighthouse has caught the Kraken live as proof."

Ruby's eyes widened with horror as the Mayor played the footage of Gordon on another of his boat tours when Ruby's emergence appeared in the background.

"Kraken! Kraken ahoy! She's back!" Gordon panicked as he went to the camera. "Oh, she's coming for me. Davey! Get the picturephone!" Gordon then went overboard on his ship in his panicked frenzy.

"However, that is only one piece of evidence we've found." Mayor Thursten continued. "We also found others that suggest the kraken itself may be hunted as well."

"Yeah, by us!" Gordon shouted. "With your help, we will drag this abomination out into the light and reveal what it truly is!"

"Mr. Lighthouse!" Mayor Thursten scolded, making him back down. "Please…"

"Sorry, mayor." He apologized sadly, recalling what happened the last time he let his obsession go wild.

"Ahem. Anyway, there are many details we don't know about the kraken itself." Mayor Thursten continued. "That is why pending the investigation, along with the efforts to rebuild it, the school will not be open for some time."

This made the students in the crowd rather anxious. But as they chattered amongst themselves, he continued. "However. If all goes well, this investigation will have no negative impact on the coming prom night that many of Oceanside High's bright academic students, such as my son, are looking forward to, and it will proceed as planned." That got the crowd cheering wildly for him. "So, as Captain Lighthouse proposed, we are relying on you to help us discover the kraken's true origin, and where it stands: with us, or against us. This answer, we can only find out together!"

"Can't help but root for that guy." Trevin said with a smile. Ruby, on the other hand, was mortified. Even if Mayor Thursten meant well in his approach, odds were, Captain Lighthouse would take advantage of people's fears and stir them up against her anyway.

"Which one?" Pearl asked.

"The mayor." Trevin said.

"Oh… Yeah. He is a good guy." Pearl said.

"A great darkness has risen from the depths to claim us all." Bliss said ominously.

"And this time, she is not catastrophizing." Margo added.

"Ca–catatas…" Pearl tried to say the word, but it was jumbled and confusing for her.

"Catastrophizing." Ruby corrected.

"Catastropheing!" Pearl said with a grin.

"...Close enough. It means bringing up the worst of a worst-case scenario." Ruby explained.

"Oh. Wait, what's a worst-case scenario?" Pearl asked, making Ruby sigh before she moved on.

"Guys, this is Wacky Gordon. You can't take him seriously. He only has, like, ten subscribers." Ruby tried to downplay Gordon's take on the situation.

"For now." Trevin said.

"Huh?" Ruby asked with worry.

"Trevin is sharing it across all his socials." Bliss explained.

"He's what?" Ruby panicked.

"What's a social?" Pearl asked.

"Social networking site. What? You've never heard of my channel?" Trevin asked. "A lot of people watch my gaming live streams."

"About how many is a lot?" Ruby asked fearfully.

"About a hundred and forty…" Trevin said, making Ruby sigh in relief. "...thousand."

Ruby gasped even bigger before Pearl spoke up, trying to keep the worst-case scenario from happening, even if she didn't understand the term properly.

"But you heard the mayor. How do you know the real monster isn't something worse than… you-know-what?" Pearl asked, trying to be more sensitive with Ruby's nervousness in mind. "There was a Roch Ness."

"But what if the kraken commanded the Roch Ness creatures?" Bliss asked.

"Uh, if it did, then why would a Drake King try to eat the kraken?!" Pearl added. Ruby saw where Pearl was getting at. And she played along, if only to get the attention off of the kraken in the room.

"Yeah, she's right!" Ruby added. "The mayor did say it may be hunted. Also, there's this picture. Almost got flattened by that one." Ruby showed Bliss, Trevin, and Margo the picture of the Drake King's footprint on the freeway.

"Whoa! No wonder you couldn't answer us. You must've been so traumatized, Rubes." Margo said.

"Traumatized is… actually looking pretty weak right now." Ruby said anxiously.

"That's where I come in." Pearl said. "I will support and protect her with my life."

"Respect." Trevin said, holding his fist near Pearl. The girl was confused until Ruby pointed it out to her.

"Oh. It's a fist bump. Like this." Ruby made her own hand into a fist to do a fist bump with Trevin as an example.

"Cool." Pearl did a fist bump with Trevin as she giggled. "So you'll share that one, too, right?"

"Sure, little G." Trevin said. "And… content posted. There, it's out there forever now."

"Wait. What content…?" Ruby asked nervously. Suddenly, everyone's phone started to pop up with not just the picture Ruby showed him, but also the Mayor's speech. And unfortunately, that also included Gordon's "proof".

"Kraken! Kraken! Kraken ahoy!" Many of the phones went off, and everyone everywhere all looked at the content. They weren't just aware of the Kraken's existence, but now, they're also clued in on something that threatened it. As expected, the crowd was stirred with worry and fear. Thankfully, the Mayor's speech of reason also played back. "With us or against us?"

That should've been an easy thing for Ruby to say. Of course she was with them. But how could she say it without giving herself away? Ruby started to hyperventilate, feeling more like a freak than a princess. At that moment, she saw Connor and Brian up ahead. "Dude, can you believe it? That old boat dude was right."

"Yeah. But that doesn't make it a monster." Brian told him with a fierce look. "We've seen the Sea Drake that attacked us before. Maybe the kraken didn't have much choice back then."

"But what about–?" Connor was about to finish his question, only to see Ruby staring up at them. "Ruby!" Connor ran right up to her to hug her. That hug was all it took for Ruby to be shook out of her fear and anxiety, if only briefly.

"Are you okay?" Connor asked her.

"Uh… Y-yeah. Mm-hmm. Totally fine." Ruby said, trying to play it cool.

"We haven't seen you since yesterday, Ruby." Brian told her. "Can you tell us what happened back there?" Ruby didn't know where to start, even if she did want to tell them. She tried to think of something, anything to throw their suspicions off her. But she was about to have far worse things to worry about.

KRAKEN

Ruby turned her head left and right, looking for anyone who'd just said that aloud that wasn't Gordon's proof video. Her hyperventilating got worse the harder she tried to look. Pearl saw the look on her face getting more and more terrified.

"Ruby?" Pearl spoke aloud, worried for her older cousin.

KRAKEN

Ruby looked right back to the direction she heard the voice. No. His voice… She could still hear the guttural echoes, feel his tentacles wrapped around her and crushing the life out of her. But this? This was far from worse… Catastrophizing in itself is a weak word by now. Cthulhu was staring at her, wearing a black robe, the hood hiding all but his red eyes. The eyes of madness. All other colors were taken away, and Ruby found herself staring back at them again…

YOU CAN NEVER BE ONE OF THEM. YOU ARE NO HUMAN. YOU… ARE A MONSTER.

"Ruby? Cue Ruby?" Margo waved her hand in front of her to get her attention. But Ruby was frozen as still as a deer caught in headlights. Not even Pearl could be able to snap her out of it.

"Ruby? I'm here, okay? I'm here." Pearl said, trying to get her out of it. But she wasn't moving.

"Bliss, get the smelling salts." Margo suggested. But Ruby didn't need those. She needed to get away. From the Sea Drakes, the Mermen, the public. All of it. She needed to be alone… Ruby ran off from the crowd, her friends, from Connor, and… and from Pearl.

"Where are you going?" Margo called out.

"Ruby?" Connor asked, speechless about her panic.

"Wait!" Pearl cried out, running toward her.

Ruby was running out of the school area and back into the town. And wherever she passed by the people, they were glued to their phones either hearing "Kraken!" or "With us or against us?". It was like the whole universe was forcing her to choose a side. She'd already made her choice a long time ago: to be a normal teenager. Why can't the universe just accept it already?! In her panicked retreat, Ruby didn't notice that Pearl was chasing her through the town.

"Ruby!" Pearl shouted to her.

The whole time, Ruby just kept running and running, never once looking back. Ruby must have thought at least once how shocking it was that she hadn't gotten tired yet. Perhaps it was adrenaline from how afraid she was for her future. But her attempt to run away had led her far outside of town. Yet she couldn't afford to care. She just wanted to be alone…

But it didn't stop Pearl from running all the way to her. The chase led them both back to the freeway, where the gigantic crater left by the Drake King remained. Ruby jumped over the sizable chasm left behind by it to get away. But when Pearl jumped, she couldn't get far enough to get to her. But she could grab onto the edge. Pearl pulled herself up, just in time to see Ruby getting farther and farther away from her.

"Wait…! Ruby…!" Pearl shouted out, starting to get very tired. "Ugh… stupid surface gravity…!" But even so, she kept going. She made a vow to protect her. And she meant every word. While beginning her second lap, Pearl saw where she was running away to: the lighthouse.

Her running away eventually came to an end. By the time it did, she'd found her way back to the lighthouse that she previously ran away to, back when she was a giant kraken. But now that she was normal-sized, Ruby took advantage of it. She slowed herself down to look over the edge of the ocean, holding onto the metal bars as she caught her breath and stared solemnly out to the ever-expanding sea.

Eventually, after a short moment, Ruby started to break down. Her tears fell down over the edge to the ocean below her. As she released the tears she'd held inside, she didn't hear footsteps approaching her from behind.

"I just wanted to be normal…" Ruby said sadly. "Why can't the universe just listen to me…?" Ruby sniffled, expecting no answer to come to her. To her surprise, she got one.

"Perhaps it's you that should listen to the universe."

Ruby turned her head around with a gasp. She knew that elderly voice from anywhere.

"Tim!" Ruby said with a soft smile. She had been wondering where he went since they last met. And yet, she can't help but feel embarrassed about how she broke down. "Uh… how much of that did you see?"

"Oh, don't be ashamed." Timothy assured Ruby, holding his hand up with a gentle look. "With all that pressure on you, I don't envy you one bit. I imagine you must be overwhelmed."

"Overwhelmed wouldn't begin to describe it, that's for sure…" Ruby sadly said.

"Come inside. I can take the pressure off you, if you'd like." Timothy offered, holding out his hand toward her. While Ruby isn't normally one to look a gift horse in the mouth, she had her doubts that he could take it all.

"Tim, I'd love to, but… you have no idea what kind of pressure I have." Ruby politely told him.

"Oh, no? I raised a mermaid for 15 years." Timothy said with a chuckle. That made Ruby surprised.

"Wait… you knew Chelsea was a mermaid? Then, that means you're–" Ruby began to suspect.

"A merman? Afraid not. But I have met a mermaid before." Timothy replied.

"Whoa…" Ruby said, further flabbergasted by the things she didn't know. "That is a lot to process."

"Fortunately, you will have the time you need to do just that." Timothy told her. Just then, they heard panting behind them. Ruby and Timothy turned around to see Pearl running up to them, tired and out of breath.

"Pearl!" Ruby exclaimed, surprised that she had followed her all the way here.

"Why did you…? Why did you just… run…?!" Pearl asked, almost exhausted by her sudden departure.

"Just breathe, Pearl, okay? Just breathe." Ruby told her, putting her hands on Pearl's shoulders. As the girl caught her breath, Timothy walked up to her.

"Interesting. I've never seen you around before." Timothy said.

"I'm her… her cousin." Pearl replied, starting to recover her stamina. "And I'm her bodyguard, too…"

"Oh. A bit young for that, aren't you?" Timothy asked with surprise.

"Yes. Yes, she is. But Pearl's actually got me through some… stuff in the last few hours." Ruby explained. "Can she come in, too?"

"Of course." Timothy nodded warmly. "The more, the merrier." Timothy walked to the entrance of the lighthouse with Ruby and Pearl following him. On the way, he made a brief side glance toward Pearl. The old man opened the door with the turn of the latch and pulled on the door. What they saw was a spiral staircase going upward, with a large metal pillar erected in the exact center of it.

"Wow… it's so big." Pearl said with awe.

"I know. We always went to the lighthouse on weekends." Ruby told Pearl. "But Timothy being here is… kinda surprising. Weren't you just moving in?"

"Of course. I merely selected a home closest to the lighthouse." Timothy explained. "The lighthouse itself, however, happens to be my granddaughter's living quarters."

"Chelsea lives here?" Ruby asked in intrigue.

"Wait, Chelsea's here?" Pearl asked.

"I do hope you're not opposed to seeing her in person." Timothy said with a sincere tone, especially toward Pearl.

"She did kinda save our lives. So… no?" Pearl replied, sounding more like a question than an answer.

"Perfect. Then it shouldn't be a problem for you." Timothy found a hatch on the ceiling, and he pressed his hand against it. He pushed the hatch up, revealing a second floor of the lighthouse. The center pillar still continued up beyond the floor, but that wasn't what got Ruby's attention. There were several windows that let plenty of light in. And on top of that, the particular floor was decorated with little glow-in-the-dark stars, a simple rack with her outfits, as well as a mirror, and a hairbrush. And there was also a queen-sized mattress next to a window, too, along with a certain sleeping super sea-girl bestie.

"Chelsea." Timothy called out. "It's time to wake up."

"Come on, gramps…" Chelsea moaned, tossing in her bed. Her flowing red hair was a jumbled mess, like she'd been rolling around in a trampoline. "Just five more minutes…"

"Very well. But Ruby may not have five minutes." Timothy said with a soft chuckle.

"Ruby's here?!" Chelsea's eyes suddenly shot out awake and she shot up out of bed, looking left and right for her. "Where is she?!" When she turned her head to Timothy, she saw Ruby and Pearl behind him. Ruby waved gently, not sure where to begin.

"Uh… hi." Ruby waved. Chelsea nearly fell out of bed from the shock of seeing her in her bed-head state. "Oh, fronds…!" Chelsea panicked, leaping out of her bed to rush to the mirror while grabbing at her hairbrush near one of the windows. "Don't look!" Ruby held her hands over her eyes to block out her vision while Timothy just turned his head away. But Pearl was confused.

"Why?" Pearl shrugged. As far as she was concerned, it's just hair. Timothy held his hand over her eyes for Chelsea's sake.

"Just humor her, mind you. She prefers to be seen at her best." Timothy told them. After a short awkward moment, Chelsea's hair was long and flowing again, her crisis averted.

"Phew…! All done. You can look now." Chelsea told them. The trio looked at her once again, though Ruby felt herself getting anxious again. She, on the other hand, was excited to see her again.

"Hey, Ruby." Chelsea waved. "Sorry you had to see that. My hair is not the best when I sleep. So, uh… what brings you two here?"

"About that… Chelsea, can I talk to you?" Ruby asked timidly. Pearl could feel Ruby getting worried. She felt the impression to stay by her side, but Timothy put his hand on her shoulder.

"It's best to let them talk amongst themselves, Pearl. After all, they are 'besties'." Timothy said with a smile toward Chelsea.

"Gramps…!" Chelsea moaned, feeling a little embarrassed with how he coined the phrase as Ruby chuckled a bit. It was nice to know that she can get embarrassed at times.

"Thanks, Tim." Ruby said gratefully. Timothy nodded to her before he and Pearl walked down the stairs as the latter asked him, "Are you a merman?"

"No. But I've had many experiences with the seven seas' creatures." Timothy told her.

"Cool…" Pearl said with awe as he closed the hatch. Once Ruby and Chelsea had the floor to themselves, Chelsea sat down on her bed, dangling her legs as she waited for Ruby to talk to her.

"So, what's up?" Chelsea asked Ruby. The poor kraken felt ashamed for how she brushed her off the night before, especially after all that had happened.

"Chelsea, about last night, I am sorry that I ran…" Ruby started to apologize, only for Chelsea to hold her finger up to her mouth.

"Oh. Apologies are so corny. Just skip to the part where you tell me everything." Chelsea interjected with a smile. It was comforting for Ruby to know that she had nothing to feel sorry about.

"Look, I… You are here on land one day, and you already fit in. I've been here all of my life, and I still feel like a freak." Ruby sadly told her. But as Ruby told Chelsea, the mermaid's face went soft with a frown. "I just want to be Ruby Gillman, normal teenager."

"Oh, boo. Where's the fun in that?" Chelsea asked her rhetorically. She got off of her bed and led Ruby to the mirror, showing the both of them together.

"Ruby, you're a giant kraken. Don't you think you could aim a little higher than normal teenager?" Chelsea asked her. But Ruby doubted that she ever could. And even if she did, she didn't want to be seen as a monster or a slayer, or even a princess. Chelsea saw the anxiety on her face and tried to cheer her up.

"Oh, my cute, little, floppy baby guppy girl." Chelsea softly teased as she gently played with her cheeks. "You know what you need?"

"Great hair and a mermaid tail?" Ruby asked solemnly.

"No, but it would help." Chelsea told her. "What you need, Ruby Gillman, is to see how great your life could be."

"Okay. And how do I do that?" Ruby asked, wondering what she had in mind.

"You need… a super sea-girl swim day!" Chelsea said excitedly. Ruby had nothing to fear from the ocean anymore. There were a lot of things that were great about it, so much she could still learn. And it also provided a good do-over for Ruby to connect better with Chelsea. How could she say no?

"Okay. Let's do it." Ruby nodded in agreement.

"Yay!" Chelsea giggled as Ruby laughed with her, eager to get to know Chelsea for real.

---

Outside the lighthouse, Timothy and Pearl were staring out at the sea. The latter was looking out at the ever-expansive sea.

"Whoa… the sea looks so different from up here." Pearl spoke with awe.

"Yes. Besides signaling ships and keeping a lookout for certain creatures, it also makes for good sightseeing." Timothy told her.

"Wow…" Pearl said.

"Yes. It's almost enough to make one forget that the ocean below is full of creatures ready to tear one another apart limb from limb." Timothy said almost nostalgically. Meanwhile, Pearl was bugged by the way he spoke of it.

"...You're dark." Pearl said with a worried look. Just then, Pearl heard the girls laughing together behind them. She turned around to see Ruby and Chelsea going out to Timothy.

"Hey, Gramps. Me and Rubes are gonna go out to the sea." Chelsea told him enthusiastically.

"Ah, yes. Do be careful. And remember:" Timothy began.

"Don't get caught with your tail down." He and Chelsea said together.

"I know." Chelsea said, a little annoyed that she had to go through this every time.

"Can I come with you?" Pearl asked, walking over to Ruby. However, Chelsea winced at the idea of it.

"Ooh, here's the thing, Pearl." Chelsea began. "Love you. Really do, but it's more between me and Ruby. With you around, you'll just be like… a third wheel."

"Yeah. A third wheel for your tricycle." Pearl said with a grin. "Tim told me about them."

"She is rather serious about being her bodyguard, Chelsea." Timothy told her. "Surely, it won't hurt to have her around, would it? It's not as though you're going on a date."

"Gramps…" Chelsea whined.

"It's fine, Chelsea. Pearl can handle anything. Right?" Ruby asked her.

"Yeah! Of course I can!" Pearl said with enthusiasm. Chelsea really couldn't talk her way out of it, and she couldn't afford to say no.

"Okay. She'll have to keep up, though." Chelsea suddenly sprinted to the edge after her tease, jumping right into the water with a dive, surprising Ruby and Pearl. The kraken girls gasped with shock and awe. But Timothy's smile was the same as ever.

"Well? Aren't you going to join her?" Timothy urged with the point of his cane. Ruby and Pearl were surprised for the moment, but the kraken princess steeled herself, picked up Pearl, and ran out to the edge before jumping off of it to dive into the water. With the girls in the water, Timothy looked down with a soft grin on his face.

Chapter 7: Secrets Hidden Under the Sea

Ruby, Pearl, and Chelsea had the time of their lives since they jumped into the ocean the second time. They first went to the Arctic, where Chelsea popped up out of the ocean and did a backflip. Pearl, being tiny as she was, spun around before landing in the water while Ruby was… less than graceful. It was a good thing that belly flops didn't affect krakens nearly as badly. Next, they went to an underwater cave expedition with Pearl and Chelsea riding on Ruby's hands to look at the beautiful jellyfish around them. Ruby swam around them to avoid being stung, but it didn't take away from the beauty of them one bit.

Later on, the girls ended up near an island where Chelsea jumped out of the water just to dive back in. Pearl did the same, though she made a pose where she was laying down, even as she fell into the water. And Ruby? Her diving has improved over the hours they'd spent. She ended up putting her hands behind her back with a carefree expression as she gracefully landed back in the water. To cap off their time swimming, Ruby, Pearl, and Chelsea went to a part of the world where it was already night time so they could look at the stars.

"This day's been amazing! I mean, seven seas in seven hours?" Ruby spoke, elated with the time they'd spent together.

"It felt like only two hours." Pearl added.

"Oh, time zones. Right." Ruby concurred, reminded of the fact that time zones existed. To know that she could transcend them came as a marvel to her. "And don't get me started about how wrong they got the crystal jellyfish in the Marine Biologist Quarterly."

"The Marine Bio… what?" Pearl asked, trying to understand what she said.

"Sorry. Am I geeking out too much?" Ruby asked, feeling like she was being a little weird with it.

"No." Chelsea replied with a dismissive wave of her hand before the girls laughed together and looked at the stars above. It was the most beautiful thing Ruby had ever seen in… well, ever. Even in Oceanside, the view wasn't nearly as astounding.

"It's so pretty out there." Pearl said. "Grandmamah never let me sleep outside before. I should look up more often."

"Ditto." Chelsea said in agreement. Then, she looked at her super sea girl bestie. "I still can't believe your mom hid all of this from you."

"'Hiding is surviving.' That's the Gillman family motto." Ruby said with a sigh. She was grateful her mother told her the truth, but she didn't like the idea of hiding, even if it was to keep her safe from the Mermen and the Sea Drakes.

"Mottos are stupid. That's my motto. I hate hiding." Chelsea said with a pout.

"But why? You're really popular at school." Pearl said.

"Yeah. You're really crushing it. Everyone loves you." Ruby added.

"Me, too. And you were supposed to be my enemy." Pearl said.

"You really do have everything." Ruby sighed with a smile. But Chelsea didn't look any better.

"No, I don't." Chelsea scoffed as she turned her head away glumly.

"Huh? Why not?" Pearl asked curiously.

"Ever since the Battle of the Trident, all us mermaids have been in hiding." Chelsea answered, bringing her tail close to her as she held her hands over them like they were her legs. "The Mermen haven't forgiven us for losing the trident in the first place, and without that, we were defenseless. Just living in a constant state of fear? I couldn't take it anymore. I felt trapped, so I ran away. That's when I met him."

"You mean Tim?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah. I thought he was weird at first, but… for some reason, I always found myself swimming back to him." Chelsea said. "Maybe it was because of how understanding he was. Or probably because he had a great conditioner. But eventually, he took me in. And I didn't feel as alone anymore. Still… having a guardian is one thing. But what I really wanted was…"

"A super sea girl bestie?" Pearl asked.

"Yeah. You get it." Chelsea said, patting her on the head as she giggled. "It wasn't like I didn't try. But it didn't exactly help me get a lot of friends."

"But how? I thought people liked mermaids." Ruby asked, personally shocked at the thought of how they would react to her negatively.

"Oh, they did. And that's the problem." Chelsea said. "They just wanted to be famous with proof of a mermaid's existence. And I may have ran away, but I didn't want to drag the mermaids into that mess. And when I ended up at Oceanside, I was alone. No one could see the real me. And then I found you, my super sea-girl besties! And now, everything is right in the world."

"What about Brian? He was willing to help you out." Ruby told her. "And you did help him out, too."

"Yeah, but it's not like he actually saw me. He was unconscious." Chelsea reminded her.

"Oh. Right. The bomb." Ruby recalled. They did try to escape the bomb in the first place, and it must've flung him high in the air before splashing down to the water. "But I bet if you talked to him, he'd understand. He always did try to understand the kraken. And the mayor, too. In fact, if it wasn't for this whole mermaid versus kraken war, you and I could be this free all the time."

"Oh, sure. Yeah. But, I mean, two teenage girls and a little girl can't fix history." Chelsea said, having her own doubts. "At least, that's what Gramps always said. Nothing's ever that simple, according to him…" This gave Ruby an idea.

"Wait! What's the first rule of being a mathlete?" Ruby asked.

"Hmm. Never talk about being a mathlete?" Chelsea asked, assuming it was similar to fight club.

"No. We have to evaluate the problem." Ruby answered. "Chelsea, come on. There must be some way to end this war so you won't have to hide from the krakens, and I won't have to become a prophesied princess warrior for an interspecies vendetta."

"Well, there is one way." Chelsea began. But at that point, Pearl noticed something far away and gasped.

"Look!" Pearl pointed. Ruby and Chelsea took notice of something up ahead. Or rather, someone. He may have been small far away, but Ruby recognized his face from anywhere. It was Triton. And unfortunately, he had a new Sea Drake, one more fearsome than the last. And Chelsea won't be able to take it out this time. Its hide looked like it had body armor of its own, one that a simple harpoon can't cut through.

"Triton…!" Ruby gasped fearfully. "Chelsea, get behind me and Pearl, quick."

"Uh, didn't you hear how I said that I hated hiding?" Chelsea asked.

"I know, me, too. But we can't let Triton see us…!" Ruby whispered through gritted teeth. Chelsea saw Triton and got the gist.

"Then again, I'll deal." Chelsea said softly. Ruby got both her and Pearl in her massive hands before using camouflage to hide themselves. Just in time, too, for Triton was swimming at an almost frantic pace, much to his annoyance it seemed. He was talking into a conch shell, almost as if it were a communicator.

"Commander, report! I want every trace of the princess you can find! Time is short!" A reply came on the conch phone, making him growl in frustration. "If you lost that trail, and you're still alive, I'll kill you myself…" Triton growled fiercely, ending the call as he swam forward. Once he was out of sight, Ruby dropped her camouflage, and Pearl and Chelsea peeked out from her hands.

"He really needs to chill out." Chelsea whispered.

"Right?" Pearl concurred. The girls looked back at Triton. Looking at the conch shell, Pearl couldn't help but feel that something odd was at work.

"Should we follow him…?" Pearl asked Ruby. She cautiously looked toward Triton as he swam away. While she is proficient with the use of camouflage, she hadn't forgotten about the Sea Drake that attacked them the night before. While Chelsea could fight them off, it would draw too much attention to them. And she didn't want to make her mom any more worried for her than she already was. So, she decided she was going to play it safe.

"No… let's head back to Tim." Ruby suggested. "If he's out there, I don't want to imagine what Neptune would be like."

"But Rubes…!" Chelsea moaned.

"I know. But I don't want anything to happen to you." Ruby said gently. Chelsea gasped softly. She was touched by her earnest words. The mermaid nodded to Ruby, and she tagged along with her and Pearl, heading back to Oceanside's Lighthouse with Triton none the wiser. On the way, Pearl, who rode on top of Ruby's hair, grew curious about her plan.

"Chelsea? You said there was a way to end the war peacefully, right? How do we do that?" Pearl asked.

"Picture this," Chelsea began. "Chelsea Van Der Zee, Pearl, and Ruby Gillman save the seas by finding the Trident of Oceanus."

"The one Neptune banished your mother for?" Ruby asked.

"Yes. The Trident. Stay with me." Chelsea advised. "Once we have the trident, we can show that there doesn't have to be a war anymore. It can be a… symbol of peace!"

"Then, my grandmother wouldn't have to train me for battle." Ruby said. "I can live in the ocean and on land as the real me. No more fighting!"

"And the mermaids wouldn't have to live in fear anymore. No more hiding." Chelsea added.

"No fighting." Ruby began.

"No hiding." Chelsea added.

"No fighting! No hiding! No fighting! No hiding!" The girls said together.

---

"Absolutely not!" Tim countered. They were already back up at the lighthouse in Chelsea's "room". Ruby and Chelsea were immediately shocked by his objection. Meanwhile, Pearl had a kind of look that showed she saw it coming. While she did want to hope it would help, Pearl knew better than to let the mermaids attack the Krakens, even if Chelsea meant well with what she had planned.

"What?!" Ruby and Chelsea said in unison.

"But… why?" Chelsea wanted to know.

"Expecting the trident to answer every problem in the Seven Seas is folly." Tim sternly replied. "It was created as a weapon of war. To use it otherwise is out of the question entirely! Once either side sees a weapon, they will have every intent to use it."

"But what else could we do?" Ruby asked. "There has to be a way to let this end peacefully." Tim turned to see the worried look on her face. He could sympathize with her about that dream, he'd say that much. His face softened with a sigh.

"Ruby… I understand your desire for peace more than anyone, but I'm afraid that's not possible. Neither side wants anything to do with peace." Tim told her with a compassionate yet sullen look. "Not with their history of bad blood between them. If they had a common enemy, there is a chance. But even that won't last."

"Yeah… they do hate each other." Pearl added. "Almost as much as the mermen seem to hate the mermaids." Pearl's words gave Ruby an idea as her eyes opened up more. She recalled Grandmamah's story about how the Mermen were quick to abandon the Mermaids after the trident went missing. And the trident did come from them. If it could be used against them, prevent them from hurting anyone else, maybe they'd stop the mermen. And maybe the mermaids and krakens would come to an agreement afterward to honor their alliance.

"What if it did last…?" Ruby asked aloud. Chelsea overheard her words and became interested. Ruby started getting visibly more upset just speaking those words aloud. "The Mermen… all of this started because the Mermen helped the Mermaids find the trident! And then, they left the mermaids to die just because they lost it! They never–! They never asked for any of this…" Chelsea was once again touched by her earnestness. How could a Kraken care so much about her biological enemy the way she did?

"So… you intend to speak to the mermaids yourself. To fight on their behalf." Tim guessed. Ruby nodded to him softly. "I want to fight for peace. So nobody has to fight anymore. At least not each other."

"But… is it even possible, Ruby?" Pearl asked. She'd spent so much time trying to make herself turn giant and be like the princess, she never stopped to consider that possibility, or even if it could work. But Ruby, she wanted that more than anything else at this moment.

"I hope it is." Ruby answered gently. "Mom didn't want to fight back then, either. So I'm doing this for everyone's sake. Not just me and Chelsea's." But Tim was stuck on the first part of Ruby's sentence.

"...Agatha." Tim said softly to himself, as if it were a fond remembrance. His gaze turned towards Ruby and he stroked his beard softly.

"Wait… you know my mom?" Ruby asked him.

"Let's just say for now that we have… history." Tim nodded. "...Very well. If you believe you can unite the seas…" His gaze shifted to Chelsea, who looked at him with a soft smile. "Chelsea. Show her to the most precious secret we have between us."

Chelsea grinned with glee as she got excited.

"Yes! Thanks, Tim!" Chelsea said.

"Wait… where are we going?" Ruby asked.

"...The Well of Seas." He answered.

---

Meanwhile, Agatha was pulling something out of the printer. It was a pamphlet from her business. She was currently on a call with her client.

"I'm nervous about the barbecue." she told her.

"Oh, Carol, come on. No one knows exactly what happened at the library." Agatha assured her. At the same time, Sam was watching his phone with headphones on.

"Sam, no headphones at the table." Arthur told his son. He was helping with making dinner (until he noticed his headphones and tried to shake them off his head) while Carol, Agatha's client, showed her worries.

"It's completely gone." Carol told her.

"It could have been a gas leak." Agatha told her. "Trust me, your buyers are gonna love Oceanside's tranquility." Unfortunately, what Sam was listening to got him, Arthur, and Agatha by surprise.

"Tranquility has turned to terror as more and more witnesses report having seen the giant kraken for themselves." Hawking Hawkins reported. "And further evidence states that there may be more to the story than meets the eye." The camera showed the concerned citizens, as well as prints of the Drake King on the street was shown, along with amateur footage of the Sea Drake attacking the students prior to the Kraken's awakening. "Is it predator? Is it prey? Or is it in command of these terrible creatures?"

As if it couldn't get any worse, the door suddenly popped open with Brill walking in. And he wasn't alone. Brine was with him, too. She took after Brill's camouflage and made herself human with dark brown skin, her black hair was at shoulder length, and she wore a red Hawaiian shirt with red leaves and shorts that accentuated her booty. She wasn't as round as Brill, but her bust and bottom were quite thick, to say the least. She nearly fell over, but Brill caught her, both landing on the ground hard.

"Oof! Thanks, honey." Brine said to his smiling face.

"Any landing you can walk away from, am I right?" Brill said with a grin.

"Brill? Who's that?" Arthur asked.

"Oh, hey, guys! Since I got to know your family, I figured you should get to know mine. You know, the less crazy side. This is my lovely wife, Brine." Brill introduced.

"Oh, hey…" was all Agatha could say. While she was worried that there may be two of them now, she was more concerned over what it truly meant. "Just one second, Carol." Agatha went to her brother and his wife.

"Brill, what are you two doing here?" Agatha asked in a whispered tone.

"When I came back empty-handed, Mom hit the roof." Brill answered. He obviously omitted the part where he didn't come back empty-handed and how Ruby now knew all about the history of the krakens. "I need a place to crash till she cools down. A couple of months. Eh, a few years. Eh, century, tops."

"The point is, Brill offered to show me a visit topside so I can surprise my little Pearl. And I have to say. It is… amazing. Except for the gravity. How did you deal with all this?" Brine asked.

"That's a long story…" Agatha said with a look of uncertainty. She did seem like the type to have a good head on her shoulders. More so than Brill did, and he surprised her with how bold he was the day before. Maybe that was why they ended up together. But the bad news kept on coming.

"Um, hon, uh, this isn't good." Arthur spoke up.

"What? What's going on?" Agatha and Brine asked at the same time. They, Brill, Arthur, and Sam watched the phone as Hawking Hawkins made a news report with Gordon Lighthouse.

" Now, I'm here with Captain Gordon Lighthouse." Hawking Hawkins said as he stood next to the residential boat captain. "So, Mr. Lighthouse. You claim that you have seen–"

"The face of death!" Gordon shouted dramatically with his hands clenched.

"Allegedly." Hawkins added. Gordon signaled his crab, Davey, who shimmied over his shoulders to hop on the Reporter's face, forcing him to focus on getting the crab off of him! Gordon used the opportunity to snatch the microphone and camera to get close to it.

"You out there, I need every able-bodied man, woman, or child to help crew my vessel, and capture the kraken!" Gordon shouted. However, the camera was quickly snatched back by Hawkins, who had a very angry look as he held Davey in his hands. The crab was quite surprised.

"You know, ha-ha-ha, I've been covering this channel for decades." Hawkins told him with a fierce glare. "Do you HONESTLY think you can come onto MY *BLEEP* show, and make me look like a *BEEP* fool?! Well, *BLEEP* YOU!" The reporter proceeded to swear his mouth off at Gordon as Brill dropped the phone in surprise and panic.

"That guy is terrifying... and I live with a warlord." Brill told Arthur.

"Which one? The reporter, or the pirate?" Brine asked.

"Both." Arthur and Brill replied in unison. However, what scared them more was the situation at hand.

"Aggie, he's got her on video." Arthur whispered to Agatha.

"Agatha, are you still there? What's going on?" Carol asked her. Agatha was feeling a lot of pressure on her. This is nothing any tiny omission would fix anymore. First, the Sea Drake attack, then Ruby's Giant Kraken transformation, and now this. But Agatha wasn't going to let Ruby's life get ruined because of her past. She won't let it.

"No, it's nothing. Bring your buyers Saturday." Agatha then ended the call before smirking to Arthur, Brill, and Sam. They all knew it too well. That is ,except for Brine, who came here recently.

"Uh-oh." Arthur said.

"What? What's with the look?" Brine asked.

"She's got that look." Arthur said dreadfully.

"The one where she wants us to do something we don't want to do." Brill finished.

---

Meanwhile, Ruby, Pearl, and Chelsea were underwater, swimming toward an underwater volcano. It had seven brightly shining currents surging out of it and onto the ground. The krakens of the group gasped in awe over the spectacle. Each one of the currents seemed to represent the seven seas themselves as they all emanated a faint glow of every color amongst the whiteness.

"Whoa." Ruby said aloud.

"Double whoa." Pearl seconded. "What is this place?"

"The Well of Seas. The source of all the ocean's energy." Chelsea told them. "That's where your mother hid the Trident of Oceanus."

"She did? How did you know that?" Ruby asked.

"Because she took it from my mother, the Mermaid Queen, and hid it in there." Chelsea told them.

"Did Tim tell you about that?" Pearl asked next. Chelsea had a crestfallen look fall on her as she softly answered.

"No… I was there. Just a little older than Ruby when it happened." Chelsea replied.

---

Play Evanescence Music: "Afterlife (Alternate Version - The First Circle)"

As Chelsea narrated, she recalled a memory of herself as a little mermaid, about the size of Pearl as opposed to her later years. She still had her red, flowing hair, but she was wearing a toddler-sized teal shirt as her tail flapped. She was swimming near what looked like a large pale hand. It belonged to a larger mermaid. She had dark bronze armbands and bracelets on her arms, and her hair was a darker shade of crimson, and her tail was a dark green color.

"We were running away. Our people went into hiding since Neptune cast us out for losing the trident. But my mom didn't want us to hide. She had to get the Trident back for us. Her name… was Nerissa."

Chelsea was holding tight to Nerissa's finger so she wouldn't be left behind. She couldn't see the look on her mother's face. But she could clearly see for herself how desperate Nerissa was. How… sacred she was.

"Mom, where are we going?" Chelsea had asked.

"Just be quiet. Please." Nerissa sharply told her. Chelsea sensed no hostility in her voice, so she did as she asked. Hopefully, she'd be able to explain why she sounded so distant, she thought. But she had no idea that hope was gonna be taken away. Almost a mile behind them was a Sea Drake. A big one, much like the one that tried to devour Ruby and Pearl the night before. And it wasn't alone. There was a whole pack of them giving chase.

Hide before the floodgates open

Can we just lie here till it's all over?

I hear the violence coming, turn and run inside

"Mama… what are those things?" Chelsea asked. She'd turned her head behind her to see them barreling at her. Nerissa turned her head to see them, too. She let out a sharp gasp when she saw them.

"The Sea Drakes…!" Nerissa said with worry and looked below her to try to find something, anything that could hide her daughter. Luckily, she saw a small cave opening for her in a grotto. Nerissa swam down toward it and placed her gently down in it.

"Mom…!" Chelsea spoke softly.

"Chelsea…" Nerissa began. "Mommy has to protect you."

"What?" Chelsea asked.

"Don't cry, sweetie. I'll always be with you. Always and forever." Nerissa told her.

"But you can't go! You can't!" Chelsea begged her.

"I have to…" Nerissa softly spoke, her tears flowing out of her eyes. Then, she tightened her hand into fists before turning back to the Sea Drakes. She held her bronze harpoon by her side. It was no Trident of Oceanus, but for these creatures, it was enough. "I don't want anything to happen to you. I won't let it…!" Nerissa swam toward the Sea Drakes to challenge them, her tail flap pushing a current that forced Chelsea back against the cave.

"Mom!" Chelsea called out.

You build your walls, but can't forget the hate you hide

Damned to finally meet you in the Afterlife

Nerissa roared as she drew out her weapon. With speed and ferocity on her side, Nerissa slashed her harpoon at one of the Sea Drakes, moving too fast for it to react. She had to act quickly, or they would've chowed down on Chelsea. Zipping by them like lightning, Nerissa had dispatched one of them, sending it up with an uppercut that smacked it from below. As it was launched into the air, the two remaining Sea Drake Alphas attempted to tear her apart, but Nerissa used her tail to smack one away while using her harpoon to hack at another. But what she didn't count on was that someone was waiting for an opportunity. It was Neptune. He had a trident of his own, but it was small-scale compared to what he'd lost. And the look on his face showed no forgiveness.

Meanwhile, Nerissa used her harpoon to slash it across the side, the force of it knocking it to the cave nearby the hidden Chelsea. What she saw was her mother at her worst, fighting hard as she could to protect her. There was one Drake left now, and it was putting up a bigger fight than the others. Nerissa used her harpoon to hold it at bay when it would've devoured her flesh. Taking advantage of it, Nerissa flipped herself over it and pulled the harpoon from its grip, the blade slicing over its mouth to push it away. But she noticed too late that Neptune was approaching her from behind. However, Chelsea did.

"Mommy!" Chelsea cried out, telling Nerissa that she wasn't safe yet. But it didn't matter. She knew it was too late to react. In the brief second that was left, Nerissa gave her daughter a comforting smile. Then, to Chelsea's horror, Neptune had done the deed.

Save me from this pain and fill the hole inside

You wonder why I'm all out of tears to cry

Today I'm not, not afraid to die

Chelsea couldn't find it in herself to scream, watching as Neptune stabbed his trident into her back, pushing her down to the ground. Chelsea dared to look down to see how bad it looked. She didn't even pay any attention to the gruesome injury. Either way, she would still be scarred for life. Without another thought, Chelsea swam down towards her mother as Neptune raised his trident, having a fierce look as if he was about to put down a great threat. But it wasn't what Chelsea saw. What she saw was someone about to put down her mother's life.

"MOMMY!" Chelsea cried out. Neptune noticed her and flinched for a moment. However, that moment was brief for him. He seemed like he was in a hurry. He roared as he brought the trident to the air to thrust it down.

"DON'T HURT MY MOMMY!" Chelsea cried out before a powerful bright light overcame the whole area, blinding them both.

You wonder why I'm all out of tears to cry

Today I'm not, not afraid to die

When the light faded, Chelsea woke up, and she looked around. The first thing she noticed was that Neptune was gone. However, she looked down, and she saw her mother's body unmoving. Chelsea immediately burst into tears and sobbed over her mother's body. She didn't notice the smile left on Nerissa's face. It seemed almost… sinister.

End Evanescence Music: "Afterlife (Alternate Version - The First Circle)"

---

"Whatever he did, I couldn't see anything. When I woke up again… I saw her, lying on the floor. When I told Tim, he guessed what she was trying to do. She was trying to win his favor back with the trident, but he couldn't forgive her. My mom died trying to get it back… and protecting me, too." Ruby and Pearl were both stricken with shock and sadness. They had no words to describe how… horrible it sounded! Her father killing her own mother…! It was unthinkable!

"Chelsea… I am so sorry." Ruby apologized with a heavy heart.

"It's not your fault. They were enemies." Chelsea assured her. "Or… maybe there was something I missed…? I don't know…" Ruby pulled Chelsea into a hug, trying to give her the comfort she needed. Chelsea was again taken aback by her kindness. Not to mention the hug itself was familiar.

She suddenly felt small again, as small as Pearl did. And she felt like she was with her mother again. Chelsea hugged her mother closely, afraid to let her go.

In reality, Chelsea was hugging her Super Sea-Girl Bestie, finding her comfort again after so long. Pearl thought it was a tender moment. But there was still the matter of getting the Trident.

"So, how are we supposed to get it?" Ruby asked. Chelsea took a deep breath and finished the hug before glancing back at the Well.

"Each current has its own force, its own power. And every one of them comes from the Seven Seas." Chelsea explained. "You have to swim through all of the currents to get to the center, where the Trident is hidden. My mom must've been trying to take me there when I was little."

"But why would she do that?" Pearl asked.

"Maybe she was trying to get it for you." Ruby realized, knowing the lengths Nerissa went to in order to keep her safe. Enemy of the krakens or no, she was still a mother. And her own mother seemed very ashamed of what she'd done back then, too. Maybe there was a chance Nerissa had that same regret…

"Whatever she had planned, only a giant Kraken can survive it." Chelsea told them.

"Which means…" Pearl realized before Chelsea finished, "It has to be you, Ruby."

Ruby stood dumbfounded. She felt close to having another panic attack at the thought of it. Not immediately, but she felt it coming on.

"Okay. It's just an underwater volcano of death." Ruby said with an anxious gulp. "So, step one: evaluate the problem."

"But how do we do that?" Pearl asked. Ruby looked at the bottom of the well, finding a downed ship below her. Ruby went to the sunken ship, picked it up like a rock, and hurtled it right at the currents. Suddenly, it shot up like a cannon, making Ruby, Pearl, and Chelsea gasp.

The ship bounced on the other debris around the current like high-speed tennis. Chelsea held her hands over her mouth as Ruby and Pearl winced. At the end of it, the sunken ship barreled right at them, forcing Ruby to side weave her body to avoid being hit by it. Once it landed, the sunken ship was reduced to a crushed ball of metal, covered in glowing bioluminescence from the currents. And even worse, it disintegrated into dust when Ruby picked it up.

"Okay. The problem is bad. It's really bad." Ruby replied.

"Uh, we might need some help." Chelsea suggested.

"Yeah, but how? I don't think Grandmamah can train us for that." Pearl said. This made Ruby widen her eyes with interest as an idea came over her. She gave Pearl a smirk.

"What?" Pearl asked with confusion.

"Just having an idea." Ruby said with a grin. Then, the trio looked up, seeing that the sun was already going down. "But we better head back home before Mom gets any more anxious."

---

At the Lighthouse, Tim was waiting for Ruby, Pearl, and Chelsea, tapping his fingers on his cane as he looked at the horizon, glancing at the sunset. Just then, he saw Ruby going up to the lighthouse, walking toward it with Chelsea and Pearl. She set them down next to him as she shrunk back down to the ground to their level. She saw her clothes folded neatly on the floor and put them on.

"So, I take it you've found the Well of Seas." Tim guessed, already seeing the ecstatic look on her face.

"Oh, yeah. Yeah." Ruby answered him, putting her shirt over herself before having a sad look. "And… she also told me about what happened. What Neptune did to her mom."

"Hmm... I'm surprised that a Kraken would feel remorse for their enemy." Tim said, making Ruby anxious.

"Well, uh… I mean, obviously, she was still the Mermaid Queen, and she hurt… so many of our people, but… she was also a mother."

"And because of this, you presume she is innocent?" Tim asked sternly, puzzling Ruby as to why he came across a bit… resentful.

"I… I can't really say for sure who Nerissa was, but–" Ruby tried to explain, only to be cut off.

"Then put it out of your mind." Tim urged Ruby, then turning his gaze to Chelsea with a soft glance. "Both of you." Chelsea held her head down softly before he cleared his throat. "Nerissa sought nothing else but the destruction of her enemies, and in turn, she destroyed herself. If she had only been able to let go of that hatred, these circumstances would not have happened the way they have. It is tragic, yes. And even now, I wished there were better circumstances, but her fate was her own. And that is in the past, where it should be. What's important now is that the trident is secure, safe from the Mermen's grasp. And right now, that is more than enough. Do I make myself clear to you both?"

The girls nodded, albeit solemnly. But Ruby gave Chelsea a wink and a smile, letting her know that it wasn't over. Chelsea's face softened to a smile.

"Good. Now, you two had better run along home. You wouldn't want your mother to worry, now, would you?" Tim said with a grin.

"Oh, right! It's probably past dinnertime by now!" Ruby realized. "Thanks for letting us hang out with Chelsea!" She and Pearl took off in a rush as Tim chuckled, seeing them run down the stairs.

"Ah, the beauty of youth. I miss those days." Tim said softly. Chelsea couldn't help but grin as she stared out at Ruby. She would love nothing more than to spend more time with her. To be free with her all the time. Maybe even… Chelsea's face blushed at the thought of it. A kraken and a mermaid together? That would be ridiculous. And yet, so much more…

"Now, Chelsea." Tim spoke up, making his surrogate granddaughter turn to him with a puzzled look.

"Hmm?" She pondered.

"I caught wind of Lighthouse's exploits on the Kraken Hunt." Tim told her, showing him the news footage on his own handheld device where he saw Hawkins going up at Lighthouse with a not-so-friendly demeanor, his whole mouth bleeped out as he was ironically swearing more than the sailor. "I think it would be kind if you could volunteer and steer them clear of the princess' trail until it all blows over."

"Really?" Chelsea asked with interest, more than willing to give Ruby a hand.

"Ruby still needs her freedom on land, after all. And she can't tackle both at once. Not without you." Tim told her. Chelsea smiled fondly at him before she nodded.

"Okay… this'll be fun!" Chelsea said, feeling butterflies building up in her stomach. But it wasn't out of anxiety or nervousness… or even bashfulness about the condition of her hair. This was… excitement. And she had no idea that she was going to get more than she bargained for.

Chapter 8: Hunt for the Kraken

A/N: Small note since I forgot to mention it the past two chapters. Brine would be portrayed by Queen Latifah. That is all.

While Ruby and Pearl were on their way back home, Agatha was getting to know Brine, for better or worse. For the most part, they were just talking with each other, getting to know how they lived. It made her wonder, though, what it meant for her to be above the surface to begin with. She wasn't fully convinced that she wanted to pay Pearl a visit above water, at least not entirely.

"So, what got you so interested in Oceanside?" Agatha asked.

"I've heard about it from Brill. He warned me it would feel a little heavy. Turns out he was right." Brine said with a soft chuckle, with Agatha awkwardly joining in. After the small laugh, her face softened. "But, honestly… he also told me a lot about you." Agatha's face went soft when she said this.

"He has? …What did he say?" Agatha asked, worried about what she'd think of her. She didn't exactly have a good first impression with him.

"Only that you're like how you were 15 years ago. Headstrong, fierce, and confident. But also, a little overprotective." Brine said with little hesitancy.

"Hey, it's my job to be overprotective." Agatha rebuffed defensively.

"Don't worry. I hear you. It's what parents do." Brine assured her. "Especially Brill. Ever since she came into our lives, he swore that he'd keep an eye on her like a barnacle."

"He said that?" Agatha asked.

"Yes. And when he wasn't, it's usually because her Grandmamah has an eye on her." Brine explained. Agatha rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe that she'd want anything other than to make her a weapon of war.

"Trying to turn her into a war machine, no doubt…" Agatha said flatly.

"Actually, you'd be surprised." Brine said with a smile.

"Surprised how?" Agatha asked in disbelief.

"She started having therapy for one." Brine said with a chuckle. "But more to the point, the Queen's done things we never thought she'd agree to." Brine added. "She started making peace treaties." Agatha's eyes widened in shock.

"Peace treaties?" Agatha in disbelief.

"And signing them." Brine added. "I know. I couldn't believe it either."

"If this is some plot to get me to come back—!" Agatha started to raise her voice, believing that she was sent to get Agatha to come home.

"It's not. Brill respected your decision more than anyone." Brine interjected with an assertive tone. "He had no idea why you left him, but he still stood by your decision. And now, he knows why. Because you care about your daughter, like he cares about ours." Agatha's eyes softened from the momentary fury. Brine brought herself closer to Agatha and held onto her hands. "But we can't stop them from growing. No matter how much we want to."

"Did Brill even tell you about what happened just yesterday?" Agatha asked, having doubts that as a mother, she'd accept that.

"Yes. He told me everything." Brine answered. "And yes, I was scared to death. I almost had a heart attack. That's part of why I'm here, for my daughter." Agatha's face softened, her doubts shrinking down the more she thought about it.

"It… it is?" Agatha asked, stunned that she'd go this far just to be with her daughter.

"But at the end of the day, I'm proud of my little guppy for being as brave as she is." Brine said gently. "Besides, he's my husband. We never keep secrets from each other." Agatha chuckled quietly to herself, recalling how she'd told Ruby about her family's history. She knew Ruby looked so distraught when she left. And it made her worry.

"I just hope Ruby's okay." Agatha said sadly. "What if she's not ready?"

"Then help her be ready." Brine told her. "It's what any mother would do." Agatha's face softened into a smile when they heard the door open. Agatha turned her head to see Ruby and Pearl by the door.

"Hey, mom! Sorry we're late for dinner. Pearl wanted to look around, and— whoa…" Ruby started to panic, until she saw Brine talking with Agatha. She didn't know whether to scream or panic. Pearl, on the other hand…

"Mom!" Pearl said giddily as she ran over to her and hugged her tightly as she giggled.

"Oh, there you are, my cute, little guppy~!" Brine said in a cutesy voice as she held Pearl in her arms. "How's your day with Ruby?"

"It was great, mom! I got to meet her friends at school!" Pearl told her excitedly. "They're really weird, but in the best way."

"Really? That's so sweet. Thank you so much for showing her around, Ruby." Brine said sweetly to her.

"Sure. She practically saved my social life back at school. It's the least I could do." Ruby said a bit awkwardly with a smile. "Plus, she's really great to be around."

"Well, I'm glad you two are getting along so nicely with each other." Brine complimented as she pinched Ruby's cheek gently. "Oh, that reminds me. Aggie, didn't you have something you wanted to say to Ruby?"

Agatha was caught by surprise. She wasn't expecting Brine of all people to rope her into it. After their talk, it was easy for her to figure out what it must be about.

"Oh. Right…" She replied awkwardly. "Ruby… are you okay? Was it… scary for you to hear it all?" Ruby's face softened. She knew what she was talking about: the truth that made her a bit afraid to go back in the water.

"Yeah. It was…" Ruby said softly. "But I understand a little better about everything now. And… I also understand why you couldn't tell me all about it before." Ruby was making a "tiny omission" about what she saw next after running off from school in a breakdown. About how Nerissa was attacked by her own husband and left poor Chelsea alone. She couldn't tell her mom about Chelsea. Not yet.

"That's good. But they're still going to come after you. So…" Agatha continued, only for Ruby to interject, seeing where it was going.

"I know. From now on, you want me to stay away from the ocean." Ruby said with a sad look.

"Not quite." Agatha told her. Ruby was stunned. What else could she suggest? "I mean, it seems a little silly at this point. At this point, I don't think we can afford to hide anymore. Not with the Merfolk going after you. You need to be prepared. So… I'm taking you training with me."

"Training? With you?" Ruby asked, her eyes going wide with surprise and awe.

"Only so that you can be able to defend yourself, okay?" Agatha said with a smile, making Ruby the most elated she's ever been. With this, she'll be able to help Chelsea set things right in no time. Suddenly, she hugged Agatha, surprising her with how instant it was. All the same, Agatha hugged her back gently as Pearl and Brine watched with warm smiles. After the hug, Ruby felt a little better.

"That's great, mom. But… where are dad and Sam?" Ruby asked, noticing the lack of presence thereof. Pearl began to realize it, too, looking around the room.

"Oh, yeah. Where did they go?" Pearl asked.

"Oh, let's just say they had to do some bonding with Uncle Brill." Agatha said with a soft smile.

---

Their "bonding" turned out to be at Thursten Manor, where they were met with Captain Gordon Lighthouse, the one who sent word out for every able-bodied recruit to help him "capture the Kraken". His word naturally attracted Margo, Bliss, and Trevor, along with Connor and Brian, who made sure they were all able to swim before even thinking of helping. And the Mayor, of course, was at odds with the captain ever since the incident the other night. So when Gordon tried to make a speech about him, it aggravated him easily.

"I've been searching for Kraken me entire life. Passed on as tradition from my father to me, like his father to him. And it cost me dearly." Gordon said dramatically.

"You do realize you're the one who paid for the boat?" the Mayor reminded him.

"Oh, fine, yes. But if it wasn't for the kraken, I wouldn't have bought the boat, and without the boat, I wouldn't have mortgaged my house, and if I didn't mortgage my house, Tammy wouldn't have left me." Gordon countered.

"Huh. Been there." Brill simply said. Then, he leaned in to whisper to Arthur. "Are we still talking about krakens…?" Just then, a knock on the door rang loud in the hall. "Ah. It seems we have one more guest."

"I'll get it, dad." Brian told him before hurrying to the door. When he got there and opened it, he was surprised to see Chelsea on the other side.

"Hey." Chelsea said with a flirtatious smile, making Brian blush redder than a tomato.

"Chelsea…? W-What are you doing over here?" Brian stammered, surprised to see Chelsea willing to contribute to what's likely a wild kraken chase.

"I heard you guys are looking for the kraken. And I wanted to help. So, here I am." Chelsea said with a smile. While Brian was happy that Chelsea had come along to lend a hand, he had to be sure about a few things.

"You do know we might end up dealing with Sea Drakes, right?" Brian asked.

"Oh, yeah." Chelsea affirmatively nodded.

"And can you swim?" Brian asked.

"I happen to be a graceful swimmer~!" Chelsea said dramatically before she went back to her normal speech. "But seriously, I'm like an expert."

"Well, if you're sure… But Gordon can be a bit… much." Brian said, leaning closely to her in a whisper.

"Wouldn't be the first time I've dealt with weirdos." Chelsea said with a soft whisper back, making Brian start to laugh in reply before clearing his throat.

"Okay, you're in." Brian told her. "Just one more thing: you haven't seen Ruby, have you?" This was where Chelsea felt a bit awkward about telling him. If she told him about Ruby's secret, she may not be able to enjoy land or sea without having to look over her shoulder.

"Well… only in passing. And I think a little girl was with her, too. Why?" Chelsea asked after answering cautiously.

"She seemed really nervous. More than usual. If you see her, can you make sure she's doing okay?" Brian asked softly.

"Yeah. Of course." Chelsea nodded in understanding before she walked in the house with Brian by her side. She couldn't tell him about Ruby being a kraken. It would defeat the whole purpose of her being here in the first place. "It's Chelsea, dad." The Mayor looked toward Chelsea, a little surprised she'd want to participate in the search party.

"Oh, yes. Ms. Van Der Zee." Mayor Thursten said, keeping composure. "I'm surprised you'd want to come all this way, but we are grateful all the same."

"What can I say? We did fight off a Sea Drake." Chelsea said casually.

"Whoa! Really?" Sam asked with excitement. He hadn't seen one up close, but he wanted to learn more about it. "How many teeth did it have? How sharp were they? Could they rip through your flesh in seconds?" Arthur tried to pull him back and keep him from frightening the other volunteers, but Chelsea answered for him.

"Hmm… didn't count, very sharp, and it's the claws you got to watch out for." Chelsea told him. "They can walk on land."

"No way…!" Sam said with awe.

"Way, little dude." Trevor said with a nod. "The whole school's talking about those things."

"They emerged without warning, seeking to claim our souls and drag them to the abyss." Bliss added with an almost eerie look, only for Margot to cut her off.

"Bup-bup-bup. Easy on the catastrophizing, girl." Margot insisted.

"Ahem! I couldn't agree with you more." Mayor Thursten cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention. "Now that I have your full attention, I feel it prudent to remind you all, especially you, Gordon, of the whole purpose of this enterprise. To identify where this Kraken stands with Oceanside. Sources argue that it's the same 'bloodthirsty' Kraken from 15 years ago. But I know different. And I intend to prove that. Once and for all. Can I count you all?"

Things just got a bit more complicated for Arthur, Sam, and Brill. The whole point of the intrusion is to stop Oceanside from tracking down Ruby and viewing her as the monster, or at very least get the cameras off her. But with genuine intentions to understand the Kraken like his, they're not sure what to do anymore. Still, Arthur knew he had to play along.

"Mayor, if it's from the ocean, I'm your man." Arthur told him.

"And I can wield this baby, no problem." Sam took a nearby harpoon gun and held it up, worrying his father. He snatched it off his hands and laughed nervously.

"He knows this should only be handled by a responsible adult." Arthur insisted, only for Brill to take it and hold it dangerously close to his eye.

"Ooh, pointy." Brill said with fascination. However, Gordon immediately had his suspicions as he stared at him.

"And who might you be?" Gordon asked suspiciously, making Brill panic as he held the harpoon gun in a panicked motion.

"Name's Brill. Born of the dirt, live in the dirt, will be buried in the dirt. Don't like water." Brill said nervously, pulling the trigger and shooting the Harpoon straight into the ceiling. With it lodged in the cemented ceiling, the group all looked at the harpoon first before they all glanced at Brill. To cover for him, Arthur took a bucket and put it on top of his head.

"We call him Buckethead. He's not too bright, but he can take a lot of punishment." Arthur explained. Suddenly, the door burst open from behind him.

"Mr. Lighthouse!" The voice called in a vicious undertone. It sounded very gravelly and displeased, not to mention furious. Frighteningly more so than even Lighthouse. He staggered back, shaken by the booming voice. He was dressed in what looked like a captain's suit, with a navy black jacket and black pants. But he also had a scar over his right eye.

"Speaking of punishments…" Mayor Thursten sighed softly. Chelsea looked at him with a perplexed stare.

"Who's that guy?" Chelsea asked.

"That, Chelsea, is Captain North. He's more of a Sealord." Brian explained, a little freaked out by him.

"A Sealord?" Chelsea asked.

"Typically a Landlord, but Captain Lighthouse lives in the boat." Brian elaborated.

"Oh… Wait, what?" Chelsea was still baffled over how he would live in a boat over an actual house.

"How did I know you'd be here?" He said to him. "You have been absent from your duties for over a day and a half now. I demand an explanation."

"Well, y-you know the explanation, Mr. North! There's a Kraken on the loose!" Lighthouse nervously and frantically tried to tell him, only to have his beard pulled down firmly by his cold hand.

"Yes, so you kept saying. For 15 years too long..." He growled, releasing his beard from him. "That's three tours you've failed on this week, all because of your obsession."

"Tours?" Chelsea asked Brian in a soft whisper.

"Before the Kraken, Captain Lighthouse was doing tours of Oceanside." Brian answered quietly.

"And on top of that, you still haven't paid your debt! Keep it up, and your boat will be mine!" North barked, having no patience for him whatsoever. However, Thursten went in-between him and Lighthouse with a stern expression.

"You will excuse him. He is needed for this expedition." Mayor Thursten insisted. He kept a strong composure, which did little to faze North at all.

"And I suppose these… children would be needed, too?" North scorned, having more than enough doubts about their capabilities. Sam and Chelsea, of course, took offense to that.

"Yes." Mayor Thursten said. "In case you've forgotten, the Thurstens have been in Oceanside for generations. The founder of this place, Gordon's ancestor, has worked his fingers to the bone to make this place what it is. He even gave my own ancestor the honor of watching over this land. And that honor has been extended from generation to generation. Gordon may have been out of bounds, but his dedication to Oceanside and its people shows as plainly as day. There is no one more dedicated to Oceanside than Gordon Lighthouse."

Lighthouse was in awe of how he stood up for him despite the disastrous turn from the last expedition. He thought he'd burn that bridge down when he'd put Brian in danger. But North wasn't in the mood to forgive or forget.

"Yes. I'm sure he's very proud." North said coldly, turning his gaze to Lighthouse. "I promise you, Lighthouse, I will eventually run you out of town! You'll be shark bait soon enough!" He stormed out of the manor as everyone stared at him with displeased looks, Brian's the most displeased. With that, he slammed the door shut, causing the harpoon to fall from the ceiling and right on top of Brill's head! Everyone gasped in shock as it lodged itself into his skull.

"Audible gasp!" Margot said with her hands on her cheeks. But Brill trembled, feeling tingly as a result.

"Huh." Brill reacted. Thursten raised his eyebrow in surprise while Arthur reminded them of his earlier point.

"See? Sturdier than he looks." Arthur complimented as he took the harpoon off of Brill's head. Most of the group went along with the explanation, including Lighthouse who thought it was, "Impressive. You're hired! Buckethead, you're with me." But there were those who didn't completely buy the story, namely Thursten, Brian, and Chelsea. Davey was suspicious, too, chittering like crazy as it was pointing at his eyes, like it had its eyes on him. "Ah, now, don't be jelly, Davey." Lighthouse said as he tended to his first mate crab.

---

Outside, Ruby and Agatha were walking closer to the edge of the docks. Pearl was spending time with Brine in the Gillman household. Pearl really wanted to come along, but Brine insisted that it was between a mother and a daughter, between them. So, she respectfully stayed with Brine, no matter how much she wanted to come along. Ruby was still slightly overwhelmed with the truth that she told her, especially about Grandmamah. Agatha saw it on her face. While it was nice to know that she was getting a little better, she knew it still haunted her. After all, her own past was haunting her, too.

"Ruby… if you're still weighed down by all this, just take your time. Let it all sink in." Agatha advised. She did try to practice what she preached, and she's still trying, even now.

"Kinda hard to do that with all that's happening…" Ruby softly spoke. Agatha had a hunch about why that was. She figured everyone might still view her as a monster over a freak accident she had no control over. Mayor Thursten proposed that they try to understand the Kraken, but with Gordon Lighthouse in the mix, it's likely they'll try to kill the kraken first and ask questions later.

"Just focus on me, okay?" Agatha told her gently, looking at her with a soft glance in her eyes. "We're not fighting anyone. No Sea Drakes. No mermaids. No mermen. Not today. It's just the two of us. Spending time together." Ruby felt her worries vanishing as Agatha was speaking to her. It was like talking to her was helping her burden become lighter.

"Yeah… I like that a lot better." Ruby said with a twinkling smile. Agatha hugged her daughter as they took it all in. The sound of the waves, the cries of the birds. All of it were the sounds of nature, the sounds that were taken for granted. But listening to them filled Ruby with peace, giving her the sense that nothing could go wrong, not that she dared to jinx it by saying it aloud. After the hug, Ruby walked to the dock and looked down.

Before today, she never got the chance to actually look down and stare at the sea. But now, there was no mermen after her, no Sea Drake ready to devour her. It made the moment all the more precious because of the peace she had this time. She took in the beautiful sounds of nature, let them resonate in her heart, and then, she jumped into the ocean, without ever looking back. Agatha felt like a proud mother all over again. Somehow, it made her happier than ever to see her grow into the Kraken woman she is now. There was no way she was going to let it end there.

Under the water, Ruby had turned into a Giant Kraken and looked around, amazed by the glow of the world under the ocean as the sunset's light was shining on the algae she used to be tangled in. She also saw the algae going dark when the sun was fading away from view. However, a powerful glowing light also began to resonate, something akin to the glow in her own skin. Ruby turned around, only to be struck with awe and astonishment when she saw where it came from. It was her mother.

Her Giant Kraken state was a great contrast to her normal form. Agatha had 6 tentacles (2 arms and 4 legs) with 4 fingers on each, pink glowing skin, and small spots all around her body to resemble a symmetrical design, small spiky shoulder pads and longer hair, which was now loose and wild while her ponytail remained intact.

"Whoa, mom… you look amazing!" Ruby said with awe. Agatha smiled, touched by her daughter's words.

"Aw, thanks." Agatha replied gently. "So, is there anything you want to do before we get started?" Ruby had quite the list, basically learning everything Grandmamah showed her to help Chelsea get the Trident of Oceanus out. But she couldn't tell her that. Not yet. She wasn't sure how much she even knew herself with how adamant Tim was about keeping it in the Well of Seas. Even so, Ruby smiled softly, happy that her mother would be willing to be honest with her, and to help her get ready for what's ahead.

"Yeah. I do." Ruby nodded.

---

Shortly, Ruby and Agatha were swimming together, exploring the ocean as mother and daughter. For Ruby, it felt natural for her, having been in the ocean a couple of times already by now. With Agatha, however, she was… in awe.

The mother was staring at the marvel of the sea, the moonlight shining down on them and a nearby school of fish that swam around, sparkling in its glow. She'd forgotten how beautiful the ocean was underneath it all. To think that she hadn't been able to be underwater for 15 years. It was hardly comparable to staying moist.

"Wow. I can't believe I've missed out on… all of this. For 15 years…" Agatha said softly. Ruby glanced at her mother, seeing her so… joyful. It wasn't like she was never happy for 15 years. But she could tell she missed the ocean, deep down.

"You really missed that, huh?" Ruby softly spoke.

"Yeah. I really wanted to be able to show you the ocean, Ruby." Agatha softly said. "But I also didn't want you in danger. Between the Sea Drakes and the Merfolk, I didn't want you to have to fight at all. You never asked for this…" Ruby's face softened with a solemn look.

"It's okay, mom. I get it. But it's not just me we need to protect." Ruby assured her, her face holding that of determination. Agatha was curious about why she'd brought up the second sentence the way she has. "My friends were in danger because of the Sea Drakes. I don't want anything bad to happen to them, either."

"I know. They didn't ask for it all to happen, either." Agatha said gently, cradling her cheek with her hand. "That's why we stayed on land for this long up until now. But now? We need to be ready. So…" Agatha focused her eyes on a nearby spout of bubbles that rose up from the coral. Focusing her gaze, her eyes glowed bright pink before shooting the pink bioluminescence at the bubbles, shooting right through them, making Ruby wide-eyed. Ruby knew exactly what she was going to learn, and it made her all the more excited. "...let's get started."

---

Meanwhile, above the sea, Arthur was sailing in Gordon's ship as he sang a merry tune.

"There once was a ship that put to sea.

The name of the ship was Billy of Tea."

While he sang, Sam was bouncing around in the ship's hull behind him, enjoying the rockiness of the ship. Bliss, Margo, Trevor, and Mayor Thursten, however, were greatly worried over the boat rocking to and fro.

"Uh, can you take it easy, Mr. Gillman?" Trevor asked worriedly.

"For the love of Cod, please steady the ship, man!" Thursten shouted.

"Oh, aye-aye, captain." Arthur said. He timed the rocking of the boat with the turn of his wheel, trying to find the balance to steady his vessel. Above the deck, Lighthouse was in the same predicament.

"Argh! What is going on down there?" Gordon shouted in annoyance, his First Mate Davey clinging onto a metal pipe to keep himself from going into the sea. Brian and Chelsea were making sure they didn't capsize themselves, but Chelsea seemed to be the only one above who enjoyed the back and forth.

"This is fun!" Chelsea giggled.

"Yeah… lots of fun…" Brian said anxiously. He still had not-so-fond memories of him falling into the sea after Lighthouse, ahem… blew it up into the sky. Chelsea saw how anxious he was, remembering that he almost drowned the last time she saw him at sea. And she held her hand onto his.

"Don't worry. I'll bring you back up if you fall." Chelsea said with a warm inflection of her voice. Brian looked back into her eyes, feeling less afraid in their gaze. They both started to blush when they realized how close they were to kissing. The duo turned their heads away, both of them feeling rather awkward about it. And it appeared to be just in time, too. Mayor Thursten had gone out of the ship's cabin to look above.

"Brian. Are you alright up there?" Mayor Thursten called out.

"Uh… yeah! Just fine, dad!" Brian called back, attempting to rid himself of his awkwardness around Chelsea.

"You have your lifejacket on tight?" He asked to be certain. The crew was all wearing an orange inflatable vest on them. After what nearly happened to his son, the Mayor couldn't afford to let it happen again.

"Yeah, dad. It's tight." Brian assured him. To prove it, he pulled on the black cord which was meant to tighten the lifejacket. Brian grunted when he felt it constrict on him. If it went any tighter, he'd turn blue. Chelsea didn't like the fact that she had to use one of those, but it was part of the illusion to hide her being a mermaid, so she had to deal.

"Just in case, you two better get down from there in case we capsize." Mayor Thursten advised. That made Chelsea very puzzled.

"Wait, are we actually going to?" Chelsea asked.

"We don't plan to, obviously. But we're preparing. For if it does happen…" The Mayor's face softened with fear on his face as he went back into the cabin. Chelsea noticed the look and became confused.

"What was that about?" Chelsea wondered.

"Yeah, the last time I went out to sea, Gordon brought a bomb, and…" Brian tried to answer, feeling like it would sound so ridiculous.

"Wait, a bomb?" Chelsea asked in surprise. She was actually there back when it happened, but looking back, it seemed deadlier than she first thought, especially if Brian almost drowned as a result.

"Don't ask." Brian insisted. "Anyway, I was blown right out of the ship. And I was drowning. Then, the next thing I knew, I…" Brian paused for a moment, having second thoughts. Chelsea became genuinely curious about what else he saw.

"What? What is it?" Chelsea asked.

"Never mind. You'd think I'm crazy." Brian said with a shake of his head.

"Crazier than bringing a bomb to the ship?" Chelsea asked with a raised eyebrow. In practice, the idea was crazy to begin with. And it was pretty much Lighthouse's job.

"...Fair point." Brian agreed, though a bit reluctant to come forward about it. "Alright. When I was drowning, I… I thought I saw a mermaid." Chelsea's eyes lit up.

"Oh. R-Really?" Chelsea asked nervously. There was a big knot in her stomach. She started getting fantasy about being near him now. What if he knew it was her who saved him?

"And I couldn't see clearly, but for a moment, it… she looked a lot like…" Brian continued, only to come to a deep realization. He glanced at Chelsea, who had a rather awkward vibe around her, her arm holding onto her elbow and looking down. Brian looked over the top deck to be sure nobody else could hear them. The way she looked gave him a feeling that it wasn't meant to be blurted out loud.

"Chelsea. You saved me… right?" Brian asked quietly. Chelsea looked back up at him, feeling like she was going belly-up herself, or worse, that her hair was starting to frizz from anxiety.

"Uh… about that, I can explain…!" Chelsea said, her face turning red from nervousness. But before she could say any more, Brian hugged her, surprising her with the comfort she didn't expect to receive. After finishing the hug, he backed up a few feet, smiling at her.

"Okay. Explain." Brian said warmly.

"...Uh, okay. I really didn't expect you to listen to that." Chelsea said.

"My dad's been trying to understand the Kraken. So why can't I try to do the same for you?" Brian asked with a sincere smile. Chelsea could come up with a few different answers for that, but around him? She didn't want to push him away. Not when he wanted to reach out to her. She smiled back at him, starting to chuckle a bit.

"Okay, but, I'll warn you, it's a doozy." Chelsea answered with a twinkling laugh.

---

Meanwhile, Connor was out at the poop deck of the ship, staring out at the sea with worry. Even with the Kraken out and about, all he could think about… was her. Margot, Bliss, and Trevor saw this, and they could make one guess who it's about.

"Wow. Connor's been staring out into the void of space for a while now." Bliss said softly.

"You think he might be thinking about her?" Trevor asked.

"Definitely. At this point, who wouldn't?" Margot answered. She took a deep breath and was about to walk up to him, only for the Mayor to put his hand on her shoulder.

"You can leave this to me." The Mayor told her. "You keep all eyes on deck for the time being. Understood?"

The three of them nodded to him before the Mayor walked near the spot Connor stared out from.

"Wow. He's really got the vibe, doesn't he?" Margot asked, impressed with his air of compassion.

"Right?" Trevor responded, his earlier point about him today having been made clear. When he got closer to him, Mayor Thursten noticed Connor's malaise and walked over to him.

"Is something on your mind, young man?" Mayor Thursten asked. Connor turned his head around to see the Mayor approaching him.

"Oh. Hey, Mayor. Just… watching the waves." Connor answered, attempting to hide the fact he was spacing out.

"Hmm. That I can see. But I asked what was on your mind." Mayor Thursten reiterated gently. "Or… is it who?" Connor blushed a dark shade of brown when the Mayor brought that up. He scratched his head a bit anxiously.

"Actually… yeah." Connor replied. "It's Ruby."

"You mean Gillman's daughter?" Mayor Thursten asked. He'd previously thought her odd, and not sure if she could be trusted with how distant she was. He never imagined Connor would be thinking about her.

"Yeah." Connor nodded. "Before all this… before the Kraken, there's something I've been wanting to tell her. And then, I fell into the water, and that Sea Drake attacked. And now, Ruby's being more distant than ever. She ran out on us just today, too. On me… Brian said that she felt like she's guilty about what happened, but… I just wish I understood why. I want to be there for her, but… what am I supposed to do if she won't let me?" Mayor Thursten took in every word of what he said. He was no stranger to that feeling. He stood by his side and looked out at the waves near him.

"I understand more than you think." The Mayor told him. "I asked myself the same thing, you know. Countless times, in fact, when it came to Brian's mother. 15 years ago, we watched these very waters together. Whenever I was with her, there were moments of bliss. Being the naive fool I was, I thought they could last forever, stand the tests of time. But… after the Kraken appeared, I mistakenly believed it to be the enemy, and I tried to destroy it to protect my loved ones. But in doing so, I'd pushed her away. I didn't realize it until it was too late…" Connor's expression turned solemn, feeling bad for him.

"I'm sorry." Connor said softly.

"Aye. Me, too, my boy." Mayor Thursten sighed wistfully. "But this fault was my own. The least I can do is own up to my mistake– no. To my sin. If the Kraken ever does show her face again, I intend to show how much I'm willing to make things right. To both of them. If only I could see it just one more time… But until then, I will wait. Like I've always done for her." He turned his head towards Connor with a sincere gaze. "The point being, Connor, is this. You must cherish the person you adore the most as if they will be the only partner you'll have left. Do anything and everything you can for their lives. But do not forsake your own. If they can see our own lives as something worth protecting, they will see us again in their own time."

"And you think Ruby would? See me again, I mean." Connor asked honestly. "She's a bit… out of place."

"True." Mayor Thursten agreed but made a light chuckle. "But then, so was my beloved." While Mayor Thursten was stargazing with Connor, patiently awaiting any sign of the Kraken, Arthur and Sam looked down at the water past the wheel, seeing two faint glows underwater. He knew who they belonged to: Ruby and Agatha. But why would Agatha be back in the ocean after all this time? Did something happen between her and Ruby?

"Oh, no…" Arthur said to himself with worry. Whatever was going on, he hoped that it would be settled and soon…

---

Under the water, Ruby and Agatha were swimming up to a powerful current. Agatha was showing her the ropes about how to swim.

"So, where do we start?" Ruby asked eagerly.

"Ruby, before you fly through the ocean, you have to learn how to swim." Agatha told her. "And I don't mean in any plain way."

"You know, my swimming is pretty good. So, maybe we could skip ahead and unleash my laser eyes!" Ruby said eagerly, starting to do the lasers with her fingers, which Agatha chuckled softly toward. It was nice to see her still young and wholesome.

"Alright, settle down." Agatha insisted. "Remember, this is to defend yourself. And before we get to that, the basics have to be taken care of first."

"Okay…" Ruby sighed with a moan. She was really looking forward to the laser eyes. Agatha swam up gently first into the current, swimming against it to keep herself in place. Ruby watched with astonishment. She had trouble keeping herself balanced within the current the first time she rode into one. But here she was, handling it like a pro.

"See, Ruby?" Agatha called to her. "You can't think of swimming like a human would. You have to embrace the kraken side of yourself and swim like one." Ruby cautiously went into the current with Agatha approaching near her, holding onto her hand. When Ruby went inside, she felt the full force of it forcing her to lag behind her mother. The only reason she didn't completely submit to its powerful force was because of Agatha. She was making sure Ruby felt ready to actually try to swim in the kraken way.

"Okay, now, arms out, like you're trying to fly." Agatha instructed. Ruby held both of her arms wide, still holding onto her mother's hand. "Oh, whoa!"

"It's okay. I'm right here for you." Agatha told her warmly. Ruby smiled back at her, feeling reassured once more. Slowly, she began to release her grip on Agatha, swimming against the current on her own. A bright smile appeared on her face, before she tried to push herself forward. She went a little bit forward against the current, but she was making progress. Agatha swam a little bit forward to catch up to her and smiled.

"That's it. You're doing great." Agatha told her with a smile. Ruby felt herself being uplifted by her mother's encouragement. It was nice to be able to spend time with her again, especially as a Kraken. It felt like she could begin to trust her again. To rely on her again. That's when Ruby heard an ominous sound.

It sounded like a dark growl that she'd heard before. The one that kept calling her Kraken since she first fell into the ocean. Ruby gasped, losing focus, and she stumbled backward, only for Agatha to catch her, and they both spun out of the current safely together.

"Ruby. Are you okay?" Agatha asked. "What happened?"

"I-I think I heard something. Not in the current, but like, all the way out there." Ruby pointed out past the current to what looked like a grotto just beyond it. Agatha saw it, and she was astonished.

"You heard it?" Agatha asked with astonishment, to which Ruby nodded. "Ruby, that's one of our Kraken powers. Echolocation, Sonar Hearing."

"You mean, like a bat?" Ruby asked. "Whoa. That's almost cooler than laser eyes." Agatha started using her own version of the ability and listened to what Ruby heard. The next thing Ruby knew, her mother made a loud gasp of shock and fear. She knew that sound all too well.

"Mom? What is it?" Ruby asked with worry.

"Ruby, we have to get back, now." Agatha insisted. Ruby saw the fear on her mother's face again, but she saw something else, too. She saw Triton on his Sea Drake, headed toward the grotto. Ruby clenched her hand, having seen him enough times to know that he is far from a good person.

"Come on…" Agatha said when she noticed that Ruby was staring back at the grotto.

"Mom… we need to figure out what they're up to." Ruby softly told her.

"What? Ruby–!" Agatha tried to protest only for Ruby to interject.

"Mom. If I know what they're up to, if I know what's coming, I'll be ready." Ruby said.

"But you're not ready to fight them." Agatha told her with great concern.

"I'm not going to." Ruby told her. "I can camouflage, remember?" Agatha bit her lip, as if to hold back her counter. She was anxious about the idea, but like it or not, Ruby did have a point.

"Alright. But the moment it looks dangerous, we're going back." Agatha told her firmly.

"Deal." Ruby nodded back to her just as firmly. The mother and daughter then swam toward the source of the sound that they both heard, both going into camouflage to hide their presence. They stopped at the entrance of the grotto. It was a jagged cave-like opening, the pillars of rock formed like teeth, and the red glow seen at the end of the entrance that resembled a throat.

"Well… into the belly of the beast we go…" Ruby said softly. She and Agatha swam cautiously into the grotto, following the glow. Once they'd arrived inside, Ruby held onto her mother's hand (once she was sure where she was) and the Krakens both widened their eyes. They were in what appeared to be a throne room, glowing red with bioluminescent algae. And who should they find there but… Neptune. He held onto his own trident, sitting on his throne with Triton by his side.

"Neptune…" Agatha whispered with an angry tone. Ruby saw how tightly she clenched her hand into a fist, already wanting to strike him down. And why wouldn't she? According to her, he and the merfolk spearheaded an assault on their family that claimed most of their family.

"Mom…" Ruby softly spoke, trying to keep her stable. It wasn't like her to be so angry. And it scared her. Agatha noticed Ruby's concerned face, and she calmed herself down. For now. At the moment, neither of them could be seen. And Agatha would keep it that way. For Ruby. They stayed hidden and near a corner to avoid being spotted. The duo peeked out from the corner of the entrance to the throne room to see what they were planning. And they weren't the only ones present: they appeared to be talking to someone.

"I've told you. I will have the Trident by week's end." Neptune insisted. "We'll transport it directly to R'lyeh as promised." Agatha's eyes went big when Neptune mentioned the city of R'lyeh. She made no mention of it to Ruby; not even she believed it to be real. But the dark silhouette with glaring red eyes made it clear: it was no myth.

"A deal is of no value if you can't deliver, my dear Neptune."

Ruby's eyes went big next. She'd heard that voice before. The one who tormented her for the past two days now: it had to be him. Ruby took a closer look at the silhouette, and it matched exactly what she saw earlier today, when she had her mental breakdown and ran from her friends, again.

"I grow impatient with your puny gestures. Give me the agreed-upon trident soon, or the deal is off. And your precious kingdom will pay the price…"

The silhouette vanished in a puff of dark smoke. With the message sent, Triton was getting frustrated and bitter toward him.

"He's toying with us! Let me lead an assault on R'lyeh before it's too late! I can take him!" Triton demanded. But Neptune raised his free hand.

"Patience, Triton." Neptune bade. His tone was soft, yet chilling. "No one but the krakens have ever penetrated R'lyeh, you know that. I've seen what comes of such foolish plans…" He had a somber look on him. Almost as though he'd known loss… and the most grievous ones… That look didn't go unnoticed by Agatha or Ruby. "No! Strength is their weakness. We play helpless, then train them to eat from our hands. And then…" He stopped for only a moment before he turned back to Triton. "Move forward with the plan! Tell your men to up their patrols. I want that princess found."

"But Nerissa's 'daughter' has not been… agreeable." Triton reminded him with a look of doubt, not that Neptune let it stop him. "I'll see to that problem, one way or another." Triton smirked at the suggestion. Ruby tensed in anger toward the both of them. Agatha, on the other hand, was stuck on what he said.

"Nerissa had a daughter…?" Agatha asked with shock.

"And find that Kraken!" Neptune continued. "If you'd spend half as much time looking for the little brat as you spend threatening your minions, we would've pinned her royal ass to a wall long ago!"

"As you wish." Triton bowed his head reverently. "With enough motivation, I'm sure our little Kraken will come running to us."

"And that's our cue to leave…" Agatha said quietly.

"Yeah." Ruby nodded in agreement. The two tried to leave together, camouflaged to hide themselves. However, as they left, a Sea Drake picked up on the smell of a Kraken. And it loomed right behind Ruby…

"Motivation? What do you think he meant by that?" Ruby asked fearfully. For all she knew, he was going to attack her through her friends. "And who do you think they were talking to?"

"I don't know. But whatever they're up to, I'm not about to let them get anywhere near you, Ruby." Their conversation was hushed, since they were still within the walls of the grotto. But at that moment, just when they got out, Ruby felt something clamp down on her legs, making her squeal, covering her mouth to block it. But it was too late. The echo bounced around the walls, leasing straight to the throne room.

"What was that?!" Triton shouted, making Neptune growl. He knew exactly what it was. And this time, he would settle it himself.

"The Krakens…" Neptune said with a deep, gravelly tone. He rose from his throne, the trident in his hand glowing dark red amongst the black patterns. "Triton, send out your 'motivation'." Triton smirked. He could tell he was going all in for this one. "As you wish."

Outside, Ruby was panicking, trying to get the Sea Drake off of her. It was about as unpleasant as finding a leech in a swamp sucking on its prey.

"Getoffme, getoffme, getoffme, getoffme, getoffme, get off!" Ruby shouted, panicking as its jaws pressed deeper into her. Thinking quickly, Agatha punched the Sea Drake off of her with a hardened punch from her hand, sending it flying away. Ruby was once again awestruck, seeing her mother's hand hardened.

"Ruby, are you alright?" Agatha asked, looking at the bite on her leg.

"Oh, yeah. I've been better." Ruby answered, feeling the question was dumb to begin with.

"Just calm down and take deep breaths." Agatha insisted. Ruby tried to do as she asked, taking her breath slowly as Agatha picked up a nearby algae and used it to wrap Ruby's leg. Then, Ruby noticed how hard her hand had gotten.

"Mom, was that–?" Ruby began to ask.

"It's body armor. Something to protect your skin." Agatha answered.

"Now, that's almost as cool as laser eyes." Ruby said with awe. But this time, Agatha didn't smile.

"I should've taught you about this sooner. You wouldn't have gotten hurt if I…" Agatha began to put herself down, but Ruby sighed softly.

"Well, it could've been worse. At least it didn't take my leg off." Ruby said with a weak chuckle. Just then, they heard an unsettling roar echo in the ocean. Their echolocation allowed them to pick up the sound to begin with. However, the both of them were struck with horror when they realized what it was.

"Mom…" Ruby said with worry.

"I know. Something's coming…" Agatha softly spoke, her voice filled with quiet fear.

---

Meanwhile, above the sea, the crew drifted idly by on the boat, looking for the kraken. But alas, there was no sight of them. And the lack of Kraken thereof was eating away at Lighthouse's patience. It didn't help that Brill was teetering around with a bucket on his head, either. All the while, Brian was caught up to date on everything Chelsea knew, and what she planned to do.

"Wow… that's… a lot." Brian said with surprise and awe.

"Yeah. It is." Chelsea said softly. The duo glanced back at the Mayor and Connor. They were keeping an eye on the water near the poop deck to secure the kraken despite the lengthy amount of time that passed by.

"Should they… know about this?" Brian asked.

"No. Not until we make sure everything's right." Chelsea suggested.

"But what if they could help?" Brian asked. "You don't have to go through this alone. And you shouldn't have to."

"It's not just me, though." Chelsea said softly. "Ruby's in on this, too."

"Ruby?" Brian asked in surprise. He didn't figure Ruby would be doing anything like this. He'd assumed she just wanted to be normal.

"Yeah. And the reason I'm here is… is for her." Chelsea softly spoke. "So she doesn't have to hide anymore." Brian glanced at his father, who stared out at the sea, and then to Lighthouse. It would be difficult to figure out what to do. If Chelsea was doing all this to keep Ruby hidden from the Mayor, the least he could do was respect her wishes, at least until he knew that Ruby was willing to do it herself, however it all happened.

"Okay. I'll help." Brian softly said.

"What? But isn't your dad–?" Chelsea asked.

"I know. He wants to understand the kraken and what it wants." Brian said with a nod. "But… if Ruby doesn't feel like she's ready, then I'll help give her the time she needs." Chelsea's face began to grin into a smile as she hugged him.

"I knew there was a reason I love you." Chelsea said fondly.

"Huh?" Brian asked.

"What?" Chelsea blurted out quickly with a blush on her face. Just then, Lighthouse screamed at the top of his lungs.

"AAAGH! I've had enough of your stalling!" Lighthouse wailed with frustration. Brian and Chelsea hurried down to the cabin, as well as Thursten and Connor. Sam and Arthur were still at the wheel, but even they could see that it was going south quickly.

"Oh, boy…" Arthur said under his breath.

"Whoa! What's going on, old boat dude?" Connor asked, seeing that the captain seemingly lost his nerve over nothing.

"I'll put it to you straight, crew! We're being sabotaged!" Lighthouse shouted dramatically.

"Sabotaged? Come now." Mayor Thursten said, sighing as though he didn't have the energy to deal with this tonight.

"We've been off course for hours now, Mayor. Have you ever stopped to wonder why?!" Lighthouse asked, venting his anger out.

"We can't expect the kraken to be in the same spot as it was before, Lighthouse. The Kraken isn't that predictable." Mayor Thursten disclosed, but Gordon wouldn't buy it.

"Why can't anyone see it?! The Kraken must have sent spies to infiltrate the inner circle and ruin our hunt–! Er, expedition!" Gordon protested, correcting himself at the last moment. "I've had enough of your stalling! Now, where is my kraken?!"

Just as Gordon demanded an answer, an unsettling roar could be heard from below. Brill heard the noise and pointed to the source.

"Kraken ahoy!" Brill panicked, with Mayor Thursten, Connor, and Gordon looking towards the source of the noise. To Arthur and Sam, it may have gone according to their plan. But the noise still made them worried.

"Sam, that's our signal. It's go time, but be careful." Arthur commanded. Sam smirked and picked up a small bag with Nessie inside it.

"Got it." Sam nodded. He went out to the ship, and he was about to toss Nessie into the water when he heard Nessie whimpering. Sam looked into the bag and noticed Nessie was trembling. "Huh? What's wrong?" Sam asked. Then, he saw something glow with its figure rising up from the water.

Meanwhile, in the cabin, Bliss, Trevor, and Margot were struck with awe as they witnessed its rise from the depths. And with Brian and Chelsea, the former gasped in awe, seeing the bright glow in the water.

"Whoa… Chelsea… is that what I think it is?" Brian asked, getting a little worried.

"If it's a Kraken, no. That is definitely not a Kraken…!" Chelsea answered, feeling a surge of fear throughout her body. And that fear was well-founded. The creature responsible for the sound rose up from the water, its scales glistening pure platinum from the seawater that rolled across them. Its full form was revealed, snout, scales, and all. Lighthouse shuddered with anticipation as he and Davey saw the monster in plain sight.

"The face of death…!" Gordon shuddered breathlessly. The Drake King growled as it eyed the ship in its sights, intending to devour them. After a moment of tense staring, the Drake King opened its long snout and roared at the ship.

---

Down below, Ruby and Agatha heard the roar at a closer distance now. And it made Ruby especially scared when she heard panicked voices up above.

"No… my friends... They're in trouble…!" Ruby dreadfully spoke. Then, she began to swim towards the sound, making Agatha concerned.

"Ruby, wait! What are you doing?" Agatha asked, trying to get her to stop.

"You heard them, too, mom. That Drake King is going to devour my friends if I don't stop it." Ruby told her, her voice breaking at the thought of losing them.

"But, Ruby–!" Agatha tried to plead to her, but Ruby beat her to it.

"Please! Somebody has to help them." Ruby told her with a determined glance. Suddenly, a dark red blast shot right in between Ruby and Agatha. And when they turned around, they saw Neptune in all his wrath and glory. And he looked marginally different than before.

Neptune's body seemed to have hardened, his whole body appearing scaled with dark red/black gradient skin armor, and his mane of red hair appeared to be flowing red bubbling water. And on top of that, he was roughly the same size as they were now!

"So, we have a Kraken in the walls, do we?" Neptune growled. "A kraken and her spawn, it seems." Agatha and Neptune's eyes met, both filled with fury.

"Okay, Ruby. Go help them. I'll hold Neptune off." Agatha told her.

"But Mom–?!" Ruby tried to protest. She didn't like the idea of mom having to fight him all alone any more than she liked the Drake King hurting her friends.

"Neptune won't let you pass. I have to be in his way." Agatha told her sternly. Then, her face softened. "Besides, it's not the first time we've fought." Ruby still had a worried look, but she can't ignore that she had a point. Ruby reluctantly nodded and swam toward the Drake King as Agatha confronted Neptune.

"You want a fight, Neptune? You've got one now!" Agatha shouted, her skin glowing bright pink as she prepared to fight.

"Back to kill more Sirens, Slayer? Well, allow me to put you both out of your misery!" Neptune shouted, brandishing his trident toward Agatha, aiming right for her heart.

"You stay away from my daughter!" Agatha shouted, her skin hardening before they charged at each other with a roar, clashing her hardened fist against his trident.

---

Above water, Lighthouse was scurrying along to the cabin to get the weapons he brought along, despite Mayor Thursten's insistence not to.

"Davey, cue music! There's kraken to kill." Lighthouse commanded his first mate crab. Davey turned the radio on to play the music. The Drake King was puzzled by the music playing on the radio. It was nowhere near as jarring as the lighthouse bell that drove it away previously, but it was baffling all the same.

Play Yeah Yeah Yeahs Music: "Burning"

"There'll be no escaping this time!" Gordon boldly shouted as he readied the harpoon and fired it right at the beast's belly. The Drake King recoiled in pain as the harpoon had managed to pierce the scales and into its hide in the wedge between them. Gordon shouted in celebration from hitting his target.

"Ah-ha! Not so tough now, are you, Kraken?!" Lighthouse proudly spoke. But the Drake King wasn't done. It lowered its body onto the ship, eyeing the device that speared it, along with Gordon, who now began to get nervous. The Drake King opened its snout to eat him and the boat! But before it could get the chance… SPLASH! At the very last second, Ruby burst out of the water and came to the rescue, charging right into the Drake King and pushing it away from the boat, taking the harpoon with it. Connor, Mayor Thursten, Chelsea, Brian, Arthur, and Sam noticed this, and became greatly astonished, although only Chelsea, Brian, Sam, and Arthur were concerned as well.

"The Kraken…" Mayor Thursten said with awe, watching as Ruby stood in defiance against the Drake King.

"Why don't you pick on something your own size, you Roch Ness Monster?!" Ruby shouted, holding her hands ready to fight it. The Drake King snarled at Ruby, provoked by her taunt. At the same time, Connor took a closer look at the Kraken defending them, and he gasped.

"Wait. Is that…?" Connor asked himself, stupefied by the revelation. Brian and Chelsea went up near him, both surprised that she's out in the open. Margot, Bliss, and Trevor saw her, too, becoming just as alarmed. Margot gasped in shock, especially.

"Pause! Rewind! Ruby?" Margot said, seeing her out in the open as a giant kraken.

"Whoa. Didn't see that coming." Chelsea said with a look of wonder. She didn't think Ruby would be out in the open like this. Ruby looked back at the ship, instantly becoming anxious when she saw Connor, Brian, Bliss, Trevor, Margot, and Chelsea at the boat.

"Uh, hi…" Ruby awkwardly said to them, turning back to the Drake King that rose up again to confront the kraken. As they prepared to fight, Mayor Thursten turned back to Gordon as he tried to retract the harpoon back and fire it again.

"Two monsters, eh? Well, three can play this game!" Gordon said with a crazed glance, only for Mayor Thursten and Arthur to speak up against it simultaneously.

"Wait! Gordon, stop!" Arthur and Thursten said in unison.

"What? Are you here to help me kill the monsters?" Gordon asked.

"That kraken is not the monster, Gordon!" Thursten corrected him.

"No. That's my daughter." Arthur said with a worried, anxious look.

"What?" Thursten and Gordon asked simultaneously.

"That's Ruby. She's here to fight the Drake King." Arthur explained.

"So… that Kraken from the library, and last night. It was her, all along?" Thursten asked.

"Wait, last night?" Arthur asked, puzzled that she'd been out and about before now. "Oh, Ruby…"

"But, if she is a… and-and you're her… that means…" Gordon said, beginning to get anxious over the realization before he got down his knees and put his hands together as if to pray. "Please don't kill me, kraken monster!" However, Arthur was quick to slap him in the face, making the hat spin in the air as he exclaimed.

"Pull yourself together, man! We've got a Drake King to hunt!" Arthur shook Gordon out of his panic and got him back to his senses.

"Thanks. I needed that." Gordon sighed.

"I trust you have a plan, then?" Mayor Thursten asked Arthur with a stern look.

"I do." Arthur nodded to him.

"And I also trust that you're aware you have… explaining to do when this is over." Thursten told him with a softer tone despite his gaze.

"I know." Arthur nodded, a little solemnly. At that point, Nessie came up onto the harpoon gun and chirped. The crew noticed Nessie right away, seeing him point to the water. At the water, the harpoon's rope was lowering itself as the Drake King approached Ruby. Thursten saw where it was getting at, and he tried to unhook the Harpoon. Gordon became very anxious about that.

"Hey! We still need that!" Gordon shouted.

"Of course. If you want that thing to pull us to the abyss, then be my guest." Thursten said with a stern tone, reminding him of the stakes.

"Oh… But we still needed it back, though…" Gordon softly spoke. Little did he know that something else was rising up from below on the other side of the hull. A clawed hand grabbed onto the ship's edge and pulled up, holding a black spear in hand.

---

Down in the ocean, Agatha and Neptune were continuing their bout. Agatha held onto Neptune's trident as he attempted to stab her, pushing down on it. But Agatha leaned forward as she ducked, headbutting him in his abs, before she sucker-punched him with an uppercut, propelling him near the current. Neptune held his hands out, stopping himself from going into the current. He glared at Agatha as she breathed out in frustration.

"You should've never come back to the ocean, Agatha." Neptune growled. "You should've spent the rest of your days hiding in cowardice."

"You think I was scared to fight?" Agatha hissed, her eyes glowing with pink bioluminescence.

"I know you are." Neptune taunted. Agatha roared as she shot her laser eyes at Neptune, only for him to absorb the laser with his trident. Agatha stared in utter shock as Neptune glanced back at her with a raised eyebrow. "Otherwise, you wouldn't be so predictable." Neptune pointed his trident toward Agatha, firing the dark red blast right at her and pushing her to the bottom of the sea, barely able to shield herself with her body armor to counter it. Agatha looked up just in time to see Neptune ready to strike as he roared like a beast.

---

Above the water, Ruby was faring no better against the Drake King. She could barely focus on holding back its arms without having to deal with its large snout to bite her face off at the same time. And she also had a sore leg to worry about. She was lucky the Drake King didn't take advantage of that so far, or it would've been over quickly, she feared. Ruby groaned, trying to push the Drake King off of her, forcing it away from her and the boat full of her friends.

In the process, Ruby beached the Drake King on a small rise of rocks, causing it to crash against it with a howled shriek. Ruby panted her breath and turned back to the boat.

"Is everyone okay?" Ruby asked as she turned to the boat. Connor looked up at her with a soft smile.

"Yeah! We're okay!" Brian shouted from below. Ruby glanced back at him and Chelsea, smiling at the two of them before seeing someone familiar sneak up behind them, spear in hand. Ruby knew exactly who it was…

"Guys! Behind you!" Ruby shouted. Brian and Chelsea turned around to see Triton grab Chelsea from behind, his spear over her.

"One move, and the girl dies." Triton warned fiercely. His spear neared Chelsea's neck, making almost everyone freeze up with worry. Ruby glared at Triton, feeling her anger boil over as she stared at what Triton was prepared to do. But before she could do anything, the Drake King roared back to life, righting itself on the rocks as it crawled over them, shifting its body towards her. Ruby turned back to the Drake King, feeling as though she was trapped in a corner.

"Which will it be, Kraken? Yourself, or your friends? You can't protect both." Triton said with a scowl.

"Oh, I think we can protect ourselves just fine!" Chelsea grunted, trying to elbow Triton in the abs. But, it proved ineffective. Triton stood there with a raised eyebrow as Chelsea sighed in defeat. "Fronds, I knew I should've gone for the groin."

"Not too wise to say it out loud." Triton leered. "Especially if you were trying to anger me." He pressed his spear closer to her neck, ready to cut it open. Brian couldn't take that.

"Well, how about this?!" Brian shouted, throwing a punch at Triton's face without hesitation. The collision knocked her grasp off Chelsea, who retreated back to his side with Arthur, Sam, Thursten, Gordon, Connor, Trevor, Bliss, and Margot by their side. Triton snarled, picking up his spear and brandishing it toward him.

"Big mistake, my friend…" Triton said with a manic look on his face. He charged in, only for Thursten to intervene, blocking his spear with his cane. Brian looked on in shock.

"Dad!" He cried, trying to help him, but Thursten kept him back with his other hand.

"Go! Help the Kraken!" Mayor Thursten advised.

"But how?!" Brian asked. Margot, Bliss, and Trevor all looked back at the battle between Ruby and the Drake King. Ruby was looking all around the ocean trying to find it, only to get ambushed by it popping up underneath her and wrapping around her like a coiled snake. Its barbed scales dug into Ruby's hardened skin, making her wince in pain. Ruby hardened her skin to keep it from biting her. However, it didn't change that it still trapped her. That's when Chelsea had an idea, looking at the whistle in her hand.

"Conflict resolution. The whistle! Go for the whistle!" Margot suggested.

"But won't it hurt Ruby?" Connor asked with worry. He didn't forget that Bliss' Juniper Wood whistles were said to have the power to neutralize the Kraken.

"Only one way to find out…" Margot anxiously said.

---

Down in the water, Agatha and Neptune's brawl continued, though it seemed to be in the latter's favor. His glowing red trident made it hard for her to get close. At this time, she was dodging the volley of bioluminescent slashes made from his trident, which forced Agatha to bob and weave around to avoid getting struck. Agatha then charged in for the kill, only for Neptune to swat her away with his trident, smacking her straight to the ground as dust poofed up into the water as Neptune scowled at her.

"I pity you, Neptune. You just don't get it at all!" Agatha shouted. "I never stopped fighting. I fight for my family. I fight for who I love! What is it that you fight for?! Revenge?!" Neptune scoffed at her question.

"It's incredible how much you fail to understand, Kraken." Neptune scowled. "I fight for the honor of Oceanus."

"Then why did you make a deal with Nerissa?! With Cthulhu?!" Agatha shouted, feeling as though she was betrayed. Neptune's eyes lifted slowly as Agatha solemnly frowned. "You used to be a hero. Or was that just a mask from the beginning?"

As Neptune made his response, Thursten was holding his own against Triton, but barely. He was constantly slashing at his cane, chipping away at it with every blow, practically forcing him to his knees. Brian and Chelsea tried to help with her holding him back in a full nelson as Brian charged in to get a few good hits in, only for Triton to kick him away and fling Chelsea right at him, knocking them both off the boat and into the sea as Mayor Thursten watched with horror. Triton smirked as he held the spear near his neck. Thanks to the lifejackets, Brian and Chelsea were still afloat, but down there, they couldn't reach him in time, and the others were almost powerless to stop him at risk of getting hurt themselves. Almost…

All the while, Ruby tried to break herself free of the Drake King's grasp, but with no success as it got tighter and tighter around her, reaching its snout up to her neck, which made her squirm even harder. As Arthur, Sam, and Brill watched in horror, Connor dug into his pocket and got out his own Juniper Wood whistle that Bliss carved out for him earlier that day. He looked up at her, getting very worried over what would happen to her.

"Don't you get it? In this world, good men are either bought or broken. All the heroes have died long ago." Neptune countered with a somber tone. "Only survival remains by whatever means! This ocean is mine. These lives are mine! This WAR is mine! And in war, people die!" Neptune charged his trident with a dark red bioluminescence, its glow showing an adamant look blending with his somberness. "And I will not let it be mine that dies." Agatha stared back at his expression, her frown losing its sorrow and replacing it with anger.

"I won't let it be mine, either." Agatha said with a heartbroken tone which blended into her anger. The two charged at each other again as they shouted at the top of their lungs.

---

Above the water, Margot, Bliss, and Trevor all blew into their whistles at full force. The synchronized whistling reached the Drake King's ears, making it shriek in pain before it could bite into Ruby's head, forcing it to recoil, letting Ruby's arm go loose. And Triton had the same problem. He clutched his hands over his ears, groaning in agony as he was forced into a cacophony of sound as he glared at the humans responsible for the assault on his eardrums. Taking advantage of the chaos, Sam picked up Nessie and chucked him at Triton, causing his head to be swallowed up in his mouth! With Triton struggling to free himself, Ruby looked down to the boat, and she noticed that it was their Juniper Wood Whistles disorienting the Drake King and Triton.

"The whistles… They really do work!" Ruby realized. She turned her attention to the Drake King, and she took advantage of its weakness. Using her now free arm, Ruby grabbed its head and threw it down beneath her, freeing her other arm. Then, Ruby grabbed the Drake King by its tail and began to spin around and around, its face blubbering as she picked up on speed before finally launching the Drake King far away from the others as it roared in defeat.

---

Under the water, Agatha was going on the offensive, using her hardened skin to hold back Neptune's trident while pushing it away to combat him. Agatha and Neptune got close enough to clash against each other when they noticed the Drake King making an unceremonious crash right on top of them! Agatha and Neptune both backed away, but in his haste, the latter was struck in the skin by its barbed tail, making him groan in pain. Agatha noticed this and glanced down from the fallen creature to Neptune.

"Your kraken powers can't protect you forever!" Neptune shouted. "We'll meet again soon!" With that, Neptune retreated back to his grotto, leaving Agatha by herself. She had a feeling she knew who threw that Drake King like a discus. "Ruby…" Agatha hurried back to Ruby, hoping to Poseidon below that she was okay.

---

"Release me at once, you vile creature!" Triton shouted. But in his distracted state, Brian and Chelsea swam back to the boat with Chelsea pulling up on the boat, her tail wrapped around Brian's legs. Brian noticed this and blushed hard at this show of affection. Chelsea began to blush, too as she asked him, "You won't tell anyone about this, right?"

"My lips are sealed." Brian answered with a smile as Brian got hold of the ship's edge next, letting Chelsea turn her lower half back to normal. At which point, Brill grabbed Triton and glared at him as Nessie got off of him and went up on his shoulder.

"Don't you ever come near us or our family again." Brill said with a glare, throwing Triton overboard with a hard splash. Brill scowled down at where the Merman fell, crossing his arms with a huff. When he turned around, he saw Margot, Bliss, Trevor, Connor, Brian, Chelsea, Mayor Thursten, Gordon, and the Gillmans staring at him with surprise.

End Yeah Yeah Yeahs Music: "Burning"

"What?" He asked. "Just because I can take punishment doesn't mean I don't know how to dish it out." With the tension now over, Ruby sighed in relief. However, she was still worried about what had happened to her mother.

"Uh, if you don't mind, I really hope it's okay, but I have to check on my–!" Ruby began to say to them, only for Agatha to burst out of the water coming over to her. "Mom?!"

"Ruby!" Agatha shouted with worry, only to see that Ruby was still standing. Her body was covered in scratches from the Drake King's barbs, but she was still alive. Odds were, if she weren't prepared, her chances of survival would've been drastically low. "Ruby… you're okay…!" Agatha hugged her daughter carefully, hoping it wouldn't irritate her body. Ruby winced a little, but she did return her mother's hug. During the hug, Gordon felt himself becoming proud of this moment.

"Oh, I did it. I survived a deadly Sea Drake attack!" Gordon said proudly.

"Uh, so did we." Chelsea pointed out.

"Let's let him have this one." Brian advised. He knew how badly he wanted people to believe in him.

"And even better? Oh, finally, I've got my proof!" Gordon shouted with joy and cackled, going up on Brill. "Wouldn't want to divorce me now, would ya, Tammy?! Cabin boy, take a picture. This is for all my haters. Your one-star reviews mean nothing. And you won't be evicting me anytime soon, North!" Sam took the picture with his phone as everyone looked at him with confusion, and Thursten with annoyance. "Boys, this calls for a celebratory sea shanty. You go low. I'll go high!"

"Gordon Lighthouse!" Mayor Thursten shouted, making him pause his celebratory ranting before going down from Brill slowly. The Mayor took a deep breath.

"There's still the matter of the Krakens' motives that we need to figure out. Or, more specifically, you." Mayor Thursten reminded him. Gordon glanced at the Gillmans on the ship and then to the ocean. Ruby anxiously waved to them. She never thought she'd have to expose herself like this before tonight. The thought of it never crossed her mind at all. Gordon, especially, felt the most awkward.

"Ohh… Hello, there." Gordon said softly.

---

Later, everyone all returned to Oceanside, landing on the boardwalks. By the time they got there, they were all caught up on who exactly the krakens were, along with what they were meant to be: protectors of the sea. And now, tonight, the truth was wide open. Ruby shrank down to the boardwalk as Bliss, Margot, Trevor, Connor, Brian, and Chelsea got out of the ship to meet up with her. Most of the group were in awe, Connor especially. And Ruby especially felt awkward now that they knew what she was.

"Guys… I'm sorry I didn't tell you everything sooner. If I had, then… then you wouldn't have been in–!" Ruby tried to apologize but Margot interjected to reassure her.

"Ruby, my sweet, magnificent, giant-sized best friend, you never ever have to hide things from us." Margot told her gently.

"Yeah. We'll always be by your side, even when you almost ended life as we know it." Bliss said, her voice getting ominous at the second part.

"That sounds a bit dark…" Chelsea added, feeling a little offput by Bliss' words.

"Sorry. No catastrophizing." Bliss apologized with a smile.

"Kraken, Canadian, or otherwise, we'll always love you, Rubes." Trevor said with a grin. Ruby began to feel better. It was nice to know that she won't have to hide who she was to them anymore. She still has the public to worry about for now, but at least now she knew that she had people she could count on.

"Squad Solidarity?" Ruby asked, raising her arms up to hug them, which Margot, Bliss, and Trevor didn't hesitate to reciprocate.

"Squad Solidarity!" The trio said proudly as they all hugged. Brian and Chelsea saw the touching moment between them, smiling for her.

"Looks like Ruby's happy." Brian said softly.

"She does, doesn't she?" Chelsea responded in kind, a soft smile forming on her face. Then, an idea came on Chelsea's face, turning around to see Connor. "But does he?" Brian saw her glance, and he turned to see Connor next. He felt a bit awkward after what he'd said about the "kraken", and how it turned out to be her the whole time.

"Hey, Connor. Is something on your mind?" Brian asked him, feeling a little worried with how distant he looked.

"My mind?" Connor asked before he sighed. "I think I've lost my mind. For a moment, back at the library, I thought I lost my best friend. And I… I ended up calling her a monster. How could she look me in the eyes again after that?"

"Connor…" Brian tried to comfort him, but Ruby walked over to him with a gentle smile.

"You were right." Connor said with regret. "You told me from the beginning that the Kraken was scared. That Ruby was scared. And I blew it…" Before he could say any more, Ruby gave Connor a soft hug.

"Connor. It's okay. You didn't know." Ruby softly spoke to him. Connor looked at her with surprise. He wasn't expecting her to go to him, much less speak to him after what he'd called her. After the hug, Ruby smiled fondly toward him. "Hey, you."

"Ruby. H-Hey. So that was you out there?" Connor asked, gesturing to the moment when she tossed the Drake King away from the boat and its passengers.

"Guilty." Ruby laughed nervously with a smile. "I guess the Juniper Wood worked out after all."

"Yeah. That guy really didn't like the noise." Connor chuckled softly along with Ruby, recalling how irritated Triton looked before he was defeated. After sharing a small laugh together, Ruby and Connor tried to speak to each other.

"Ruby…"

"Connor…" Ruby said at the same time he said her name, leading to a short moment of confusion. "Oh, you go."

"No, you go." Ruby suggested as they laughed before Ruby cleared her throat. "Okay, I go. Connor. There was something I've really wanted to ask you. But… after all that's happened, everything's going crazy. And I have no way of knowing what the future holds. Without that knowledge, I don't know if I could even say it anymore. Still… I'm hoping that once it's all settled, like… for good, there might still be time for us. Because I would do anything to make sure you're a part of it. So, Connor… do you want to go out with me?"

Connor was about to answer, only to hold up his finger and pull something out of his pocket. It was a small calculator that he tapped into before handing it to Ruby. When she looked at it, she saw that it was written "YES". Ruby looked up at him with astonishment.

"Wait. Connor. Are these quadratic derivative graphs?" Ruby asked with awe.

"Let's just say I had a good tutor." Connor told her fondly. Ruby made a twinkling laugh as she hugged Connor. During the hug, Ruby looked up at Chelsea and Brian, who smiled back at her, feeling happy for her. At that moment, Arthur and Sam got out of the boat together as the father spoke to them all.

"Alright, now. Since it's out there in the open between us… I'll need you all to agree to keep this one on the downlow." Arthur suggested. "Can you do that?" He earned sounds of agreement from Brian, Chelsea, Margot, Trevor, Bliss, Connor, and Mayor Thursten. However, Gordon felt a bit baffled.

"What?" Gordon asked with puzzlement. "B-But the Kraken–!"

"Is not our enemy. They've proven that much tonight, haven't they?" Thursten told him with a raised eyebrow. Gordon once again felt awkward.

"But what about Oceanside, dad?" Brian asked, knowing how much it mattered to him to let the people know the truth. "Wouldn't they want to know what the Kraken really is?"

"True. I did tell them that they'll know where the Kraken stands with Oceanside. However, I never said I'd tell them who the Kraken really was." Mayor Thursten said with a grin toward Agatha and Ruby.

"Good answer." Agatha said with a soft smile.

"Which means you have an apology video to give to them, Gordon." Thursten said with a grin. He was aware of Gordon's following. "I'll get right on it." Gordon said as he went to his boat to get his phone. During which, Thursten had a soft look of regret on his own face. Agatha noticed it, and she went down towards him, wondering what it could be about.

"Which reminds me… There's something I must tell you. 15 years ago, we… didn't meet on the best of terms. I believed you to be the enemy once, and… it cost us both everything. And worse, I've… made you feel scared. And alone. If there's anything I can do to make up for the pain I have caused to you– anything at all–" But before he could finish, Agatha interjected.

"Hey. It's okay." She assured the Mayor. "I felt scared, yes. But I wasn't alone. Arthur helped me with that for 15 years. And because of that, I've had a wonderful family. A family I'd always fight for." Thursten turned around behind him toward Arthur, who nodded to him. Thursten couldn't help but smile solemnly.

"I used to be that blessed once…" The nostalgic Mayor said with a saddened tone despite his smile. "And yet, I was so quick to… throw that away…"

"I wouldn't know how to fix that." Agatha sadly spoke. "I'm still trying to figure it out myself… but your son. I'd say he's a chip off the old block. Ruby told me that he was quite the warrior when it came to Triton. Just like she was."

"Hmm. So, we've raised little warriors of our own. I suppose that makes us… kindred spirits, then." Mayor Thursten said with a mild chuckle.

"I guess it does." Agatha said softly, staring out toward Ruby and her ever-growing squad. And yet… she can't help but worry. She hadn't forgotten what Neptune and Triton mentioned in the grotto, that Nerissa had a daughter. What that meant, she didn't know. One thing she can be certain of, though, is that she will not let her daughter get in harm's way. That, in turn, reminded her of what she promised. But at this rate, she might not be enough. Like it or not, she had to let her help…

"Ruby." Agatha said gently.

"Huh? What is it, mom?" Ruby asked.

"Do you still want to complete your training?" Agatha asked. Ruby looked around at her friends, both old and new. She almost came close to losing them because of Triton and the Mermen. If one thing was clear, it was this: she had to get stronger. Strong enough to help bring peace, strong enough to stop the Mermen, and strong enough to protect her friends.

"I do." Ruby nodded.

"Then come with me. It's time we had a talk with… my mother." Agatha spoke with hesitancy. Ruby definitely wasn't expecting that. She suddenly felt butterflies in her stomach. She could almost picture them arguing at each other.

"Well… wish me luck, guys." Ruby said anxiously. She was about to take off, only for Connor to kiss her on the cheek.

"Good luck." Connor said fondly. Ruby blushed a dark shade of blue from the kiss, but she appreciated it. She took off to the ocean and swam with Agatha to meet her Grandmamah as her friends looked on. Chelsea was holding onto Brian's hand especially tight. He looked back at her with a soft grin.

"Well… looks like she might be ready after all." Brian said gently.

"Not yet… but she will be." Chelsea said fondly.

---

Meanwhile, North was walking on the boardwalk, having noticed this exchange from afar. He had a corn dog in hand, and a seagull came near him, only for the stranger to swat it away into the ocean with his open hand with little effort, forcing it to retreat from him as he growled toward the white, flying rat. Just then, an eerie dark voice came from the ocean.

"Why is that boat still operating?"

North looked downward to see a dark shadow and two red eyes staring at him through the reflection.

"The captain, Gordon Lighthouse, has proven… difficult to discourage. He's got some hired help." He told the shadow.

"Well, then… help them down the path of DESPAIR! I can't have this Thursten interfering with my plans. We've finally tracked down the Princess, and I don't want some wrinkled old deckhand getting in my way."

"I will not fail. This isn't over yet." North said with a glare toward the crew.

"Shut them down. Soon. Or else, I will be doing some exterminating myself…"

The shadow vanished, leaving only the rocky waves for him to see. North clenched his open hand into a fist, his face full of devotion and determination, ominously eyeing Lighthouse's boat. "I will see to it personally."

Notes:

A/N: I'm sure you've all been wondering what I've made this fanfic for. Well, it's actually my own personal take on Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken. To be honest, I really liked the film. Still, I feel like it could have been a lot better, too, especially with the lore. We knew about their rivalry with their mermaids, and they've namedropped the various creatures, like Leviathan and Umibozu. But it didn't really expand on these creatures. I got that it was mostly centered on the war between Mermaids and Krakens, but it would've been interesting to see them fleshed out, even if it's only in flashback.

And for another, I won't spoil it for you all, but I will say the twist was a bit of a let-down. I think Chelsea would've been fine as her own villain. On the other hand, though, I kinda liked how well Chelsea and Ruby got along despite being Mermaid and Kraken. Either way, I will make my own changes with Chelsea in this story.

There will also be a couple of new characters in the story, one of which was already introduced in the story. In case you're confused, no, she isn't Ruby's sister, but instead Uncle Brill's daughter. And as you can see, Pearl (ideal voice would be Isabella Abiera, or Hazel from Infinity Train) has her heart set on being the type of Kraken to answer the call like her Grandmamah and the fabled Princess. I figured her introduction would be a good way to show how the Krakens knew about Ruby without having met her yet. Plus, they do have a good bonding moment here.

And finally, we get to the whale in the room: Cthulhu. Since he's been regarded as a god, it would make sense that he would have sovereignty of the seas as such, commanding all of them like his minions. And of course, upon defeat, he punished the one who defied him, the Krakens, being vilifying them into the monsters humans believed they are today. And like it or not, that truth is bound to upset a few Krakens. And like it or not, Grandmamah may yet be one of those people.

In any case, he's certain that the Kraken Princess will help "get him what he wants". What exactly, I won't say, but I think you can gather the rest. And it will be helpful for you all to know that the angle I plan to have for Ruby Gillman will be similar to Trollhunters, but without that awful ending of Rise of the Titans. In fact, Trollhunters inspired me to come up with this idea, so thank you Guillermo Del Toro! Two thumbs up, really. There will be more coming soon this Fall, and I sincerely hope you will enjoy this story. :)