He made the waters form into bubbles, lots of bubbles, then he would pop them. It was while he was doing this that he felt a presence in his chambers. Thinking it was either Firth or Havelock, he said in an excited tone, "I just discovered I have water powers. Isn't that cool?"

"Indeed it is." Said a thick, but gentle voice.

Axle heard the ever so familiar voice and immediately turned around. It was a blue haired merman just like him, with bright blue colored tail and shimmering silver eyes. The merman looked like the adult version of Axle. "Your masjesty." Said Axle with his head bowed.

Aegeus swam closer to his son, giving him a knowing look. "What have you done this time?"

"Nothing, your majesty. I've been a good little Merboy, staying away from trouble and obeying the rules." He lied through his teeth, but it was seen through by his father.

"You never address me by my title unless you are guilty of doing something behind my back. Something that could make me punish you." Aegeus gave his son a stern look, with his silver eyes glistening, showing Axle that he was going to make sure he found out what that was.

Axle racked his head for a believable excuse as he knew his father might resort to using the scepter to manipulate him, making him tell the truth.

That process didn't come with any consequences, neither did it inflict pain on the victim, but he knew that once he blurted out the whole truth, he would be in so much trouble. The punishment for going up to the surface was very severe, but no one had ever been caught doing so.

As he was still little, and at the same time, a prince, it was only normal that his punishment would be made light, but knowing the kind of father he had, he knew the punishment wouldn't be too light, or maybe not light at all.

Axle put up a pitiful appearance as he said, "I'm sorry, father. I found out about my new ability, but I didn't report to you immediately."

Aegeus didn't speak for a while, studying his son to see if anything was off. "That's what you were feeling guilty about?"

Axle nodded and said, "Yes, father. I will gladly take whatever punishment you decide is best for me." with his head bowed.

Aegeus smiled in amusement. "I'll punish you, alright. Your punishment would be... a hug." He said the last part while pulling his son in for a hug.

"Seeing my son discover such an ability at a young age is something I should be really proud of." He ruffled Axle's hair.

Axle heaved a silent sigh of relief, feeling happy with himself that he managed to trick his father, the king and ruler of Atlantica into believing his little act of pretence.

The both of them then had a father and son time together, before Aegeus went to the throne room to discuss matters of the kingdom with the council.

While that was going on, Axle left the palace to visit one of the houses that were close to the palace. He knocked on the door-like frame and announced his presence.

"Blessings of Atlanca be with this household. It's prince Axle." As if his presence had been long expected, the door was flung open in no time, with two figures struggling to be the first to welcome the prince.

"He is here for me." Said a green haired mermaid who was about the same age as Axle.

The other figure was Havelock, and he replied to the little mermaid. "He is obviously here for me. I'm his appointed royal guard, so go back in and do whatever a little mermaid does."

Axle looked at the two siblings who he had never seen get along with each other and cleared his throat  to get their attention. "I'm here for Aiva." He said while pointing to the mermaid.

The green haired mermaid whose name turned out to be Aiva looked at her older brother, while sticking out her tongue to him. "Told you so."

Havelock didn't give up yet, asking Axle, "Are you sure you don't need me to accompany you?"

Axle waved his hand. "There's no need. We won't be going far." He said the last part while holding Aiva by the wrist and leading the way.

When they had gotten far enough from the eyes and ears of any living creature, Aiva gave Axle a knowing look when she saw the excitement he wasn't even trying to hide and whispered to him, "Spill it already. What did you hear or see that you are so excited about?"

"Before I do so, you have to promise me that no other ear would hear this." Axle spoke with a serious expression.

Aiva placed her right hand on the left side of her chest, and said with an equally serious expression. "The waters bear witness to this promise."

Satisfied with that, Axle's serious expression changed back to excitement as he leaned forward to whisper into Aiva's ear. "I went to the surface today, and I saw humans."

Aiva's green eyes widened, with her jaw also dropping in shock. She was silent for a few seconds as if processing the information she just received, then she yelled all of a sudden. "What!!!"

Axle quickly covered her mouth with his palm, preventing her from attracting the attention of others, but she began to struggle to remove his hand, making muffled sounds in the process and flapping her green tail against his.

Axle was way stronger and didn't budge. "I won't let go until you calm down."

Seeing the expression on Axle's face, she knew he wasn't going to let go, so she stopped struggling.

Axle let go of her and said, "Remember you promised."

Aiva heaved a sigh. "I can't believe you did that. Why did you do it? Did you go alone? What if you got caught? What if.."

Axle cut her off, saying, "A question at a time... First of all, I didn't want to do it. I just went with the others to get food, and I heard that there were sagassums very close to the surface, and you of all people should know how I really love saggasums. I sneaked away to get some and met a dolphin who told me all she knew about humans. I was curious so I went up to see for myself, and guess what."

"They are worse than how the elders described them to be?" Aiva guessed..

Axle laughed at her. "Wrong! They looked really harmless and are very similar to us. The only difference was that they didn't have tails, they have something the dolphin said was called... legs."

Aiva whose eyes were getting wider the more Axle spoke, asked, "Really? They are not ugly looking monsters? No sharp teeths and claws?"

Axle shook his head. "Nothing of such."

Aiva let out an exaggerated gasp. "We have all been lied to... or maybe the humans were hiding their true form."

"Why don't you go with me next time? That's the only way you would be convinced." Axle suggested.

Aiva thought about it. She was really curious to see the so called monsters that Axle was trying to make her believe weren't dangerous, but she still chose to be the rule abiding mermaid she had always been. "Sorry, I won't break the law, and I can't believe you are still planning on going back there?"

Axle grunted in dissatisfaction. "You are just like your brother. Always strictly abiding to the laws. Well as for me, I will keep visiting the surface, and don't worry, I won't get caught."

….

Celine arrived home very late that night.  She was exhausted, and just wanted get some sleep, but someone decided that sleeping could wait.

Nanny Pam suddenly appeared from nowhere and said, "Welcome, miss Celine."

Celine who thought that all occupants of the house were deep asleep got startled. She turned around and saw Pamela in an all black nightgown. "So creepy."

Pamela showed her a stiff smile and asked, "How was the shoot?"

"It was awesome. Thanks for asking and good night." Said Celine, then she turned around to go into her room, but she was stopped once again by pamela.

"You aren't going ask after Luca, or go see him for yourself?"

Celine groaned in frustration. "I'm really tired and I'm missing my bed right now. Besides, I'm sure he is sound asleep right now."

Pamela shook her head. "I'm not so sure about that. But If he is sleeping at the moment, then he is doing that with an empty stomach. He locked himself up in his room since you left, crying his eyes out and refused to let me in even when it was time for his dinner. And before you ask me why I didn't call to inform you, you might want to check your phone for the number of missed calls you got from me."

Celine who had a lot to say when pamela had only said the first two sentences, couldn't find any words after Pamela was done talking. She could only grumble as she made her way to Luca's room.

She got to the door, confirming what Pamela said about the door being locked to be true, and without looking at pamela, said, "You could have at least tried to break the... nevermind." She decided it wasn't important anymore.

Celine began to call Luca's name in a high pitched but sweet, and gentle tone, while also knocking on the door. "Luca! Honey! Please open the door for mommy. Mommy is sorry and would like to spend the night with you."

It was silent for while, so she decided to give it another try, but that was when she heard footsteps approaching the door from the other side, followed by the clicking sound of the locks being disengaged.

The door was slowly opened, revealing a little dumpling whose eyes where red and swollen from crying so much, and he had a frown on his face while having a staring contest with his mom.

Celine knew she was at fault, but minutes ago, she had wanted to scold Luca for locking the door and refusing to let Pamela in, but her words got stuck in her throat when she saw those once bright and lively eyes look so horrible. She began to internally train curses on herself and her innocent ancestors.

She knelt down and enveloped him in a hug. "Mommy is very sorry for making you cry. Please do give me a chance to make it up to you, okay?"

Luca began to cry again while shaking his head. "You only want to make it up to me because you pity me. You don't love me, it's your job you love. So don't worry about me, I'll be fine without you."

Celine didn't know how to feel about hearing such from her son, but one thing was for sure, she knew she had failed him as a mother, and needed to make amends, real quick. "Pity you? Whatever gave you that idea?" She asked as she held him by the hand, taking him back into his room, and they both sat on his bed.

Luca made eye contact with Pamela before he said, "You are always busy with work and you never have time for me. It's only when I cry that you feel sorry for me. But that isn't what I want. I want you to spend time with me because that's what you want and not because you pity me."

"Please don't think that way. You are my son and I love you. I promise that I'm not pitying you, instead, this is me realizing that I've not been the best mother I can be. This is me feeling disappointed in myself for making you sad." 

Having said that, Celine requested of Pamela to bring Luca's dinner, and she coaxed him into eating it all.

After the forced dinner, Celine noticed that Luca still wasn't in his best mood, so she thought of something which she hoped would work. "I plan on clearing my schedule for tomorrow, so tell me if have any place in mind that you would like to visit, or any activity you want to do with mommy."

Luca looked her in the eyes as if trying to read her mind before replying. "Really? Anywhere and anything?"

Celine nodded. "Uh-uhn! As long as it's suitable and safe for kids." 

Seeing the seriousness in his mom's eyes, Luca finally smiled for the first time that night. "Alright then, I would like for us to visit the Atlantis beach... Can we, please?"