#trimaxion

Edith silently thanked him before she grabbed hold of the ground and tried with all her might to hoist herself over the ledge. It wasn’t an easy task, given that there was at least a two and a half foot dip from where the water touched solid ground, and given that she never had much strength in her arms, coupled with the lack of legs for added assistance, she found the struggle uphill arduous.

On several accounts she tried to hop, shimmy and drag herself onto the elevated floor only to lose purchase and go splashing right back down into the water. She tried several more times by herself, and each ended roughly the same way. Her all wet and Krupp wondering what was taking her so long.

He eventually peeked over his shoulder, only to get a very nice view of her wiggling rump slowly slip right back down into the pond.

He rolled his eyes when she bobbed back up, prepared to try again.

After the eighth attempt he decided to show pity and swam behind her.

“I’m sorry. It’s just really hard to do this without legs. If I could just get a good grip on something, I can pull myself up and… WHOOOOOA!”

His hands circled around her waist and hoisted her up effortlessly. How he could pick her up (when she knew for a fact she was no Olive Oil by any means) eluded her, but he did just that without so much as a grunt.

“There. Now, as for the brace-”

“Th-thank you, Benny.”

“-let… Wait, what did you just call me?”

Edith nervously pushed her hair behind her ear again, sweeping her eyes from him to the hands still wrapped around her hips. “Sorry, I meant your majesty.”

She really didn’t know how to describe the look he gave her. Confusion maybe, or shock? Either one would’ve been close, yet even still she knew they would never encompass all of what flashed across his face in that moment.

She decided it best to push the conversation along rather than dwell on what her little slip had done to him. “Also, thank you for letting me borrow this.” She motioned towards the cape, “I have to admit, I’m not used to showing off so much skin to anyone.”

“That’s understandable. I remember how you reacted when you saw so much of mine.” The moment those stupid words came out he wanted to shove them right back in. He instantly became angry at himself for bringing up THAT incident, out of all things, and felt even more foolish when she laughed.

“That really was quite a day. But it does makes sense now that I have some context to go along with it.”

Krupp nearly buried his face in her lap, still mortified to this day. “If I could do things over…” he mumbled halfheartedly.

“Yeah. There are a few things I wish I’d said sooner.”

His brows furrowed when she whispered that, jerking his head up questioningly. “Like what?”

Edith kept her mouth shut. It would do no one any good to voice the secrets she held now, especially to the one person who didn’t need to hear them.

Instead she took off the cape and settled it around his shoulders. Once she clasped it together, she smiled down at her handy work, finding the image Krupp cut still rather dashing. “No doubt about it, red still looks good on you.”

The conversation change wasn’t lost on the king, but like before he figured it wasn’t worth chasing, since he, too, had things he’d rather leave unsaid. Especially regarding their past and all that it implies.

He looked down at where she patted out the wrinkles, wanting to snap something along the lines of, “I don’t look good in anything,” or “flattery will get you no where.”

In the end, when her thumbs grazed across his cheeks, he found the spiteful tone he’d been prepared to fling out shift into a stuttering, outright feeble, “T-th-thanks. You too.”

Edith didn’t seem to mind his flub, even when he fell all over himself to insist he didn’t mean that (though he did admit she looked good in anything or nothing or…)

“I should shut up now.”

“You goofball.”

Her smile softened when his shoulders bunched.

After a while, Krupp finally let out a snort. He met her eyes again, his lips curling upwards to reveal a jagged set of teeth. “You’re probably the only one to say that about me.”

“Well it’s true. You can be when you want to.” A sudden memory of a much younger Benjamin flashed through her mind. She could still see that silly grin he wore years ago when they’d walked down the boardwalk together.

That same grin could be seen even now as he stared up at her, though it was far sharper than before.

By all rights the view should have been frightening. His teeth were not the straight, blunt ones found in a normal humans mouth, and there was still a trace of danger lurking behind that smile. Yet, as she sat there with him still holding her waist, looking at her like he once had, like she hung the moon and stars, she felt no such fear gripping her heart.

Something else resided there, pulsing with each beat, feeling almost like…

Edith broke herself out of that spell, not willing to go down that road again. She couldn’t afford to at this point. Not when she and the children were still stuck down here by the very same man that created these feelings.

She slid her hands down the length of his arms until they rested atop his own –  he just now realizing that he’d kept them on her this entire time and peeled them off, laughing nervously to himself.

“Sorry ‘bout that. I’ll just be…” he pointed all around, not really sure where he needed to be, “I got a lot of things to do tomorrow. Gotta prepare for the ambassadors and stuff.”

“I know. A kings work is never done.”

His smile lifted a notch.

“I guess this is goodnight then?”

“Looks like it.”

Krupp swam to the ponds center, rubbing the back of his neck, not really knowing what else to say or how to end this… what ever this was. “Uh, sleep tight than.”

“Don’t let the dogfish bite.” She waved.

He returned the gesture, quickly disappearing below the water before he could make an even bigger fool of himself.

All the while forgetting to retrieve the bracelet.

Aww. Ok so she DOES know who he is. I had a feeling he’d help her up (and it gave me deja vu) and…. AAAAAAHHHH, she put the cape on him! Is this perhaps THE cape everyone knows about?!

Even though it would be awhile before things work out, I loved how you have them interacting and being all touchy-feely with each other without them meaning to. AW DANG THEY ARE SO CUTE WITH EACH OTHER! *SQUEEE!*

As it was nearing the end I was all ‘wait did he forget about the–?’ and then the DID! *laughs* Oh boy…

The two rounded another corner, then another, going in near circles in order to avoid detection. Not that they had much to worry about once they made it towards the royal wing. It seemed that unlike the rest of the castle, this area was left nearly untouched by the maids and guards, puzzling Edith some on why. Surely Krupp would leave at least SOMEONE to watch over his room, especially if he happened to have something of value hidden with in it.

But perhaps she was over thinking this, as she normally did in most situations.

“Are we almost there? We’ve been swimming for a long time now.”

“Yeah, it’s not to far now. I’ve been trying to keep us from the more crowded areas. There’s a lot of people trying to get everything ready for the kingdoms anniversary.” The girl paused when they finally came upon a long, shadowy corridor.

On the opposite end sat the doors they sought, looking just as foreboding as the one who occasionally occupied it.

Edith squeezed her hand in reassurance, smiling down at the girl who tried with all her might to appear brave. “You don’t have to come with me. You can stay here while I look for the bracelets.”

For a second Heidi was tempted to agree to this. Eventually she shook her head, sucking in a lungful of water to puff out her chest. “I’m not whimping out now. We got this far.”

Indeed they had and Edith was immensely grateful to the girl for all her help.

“We better hurry then before someone finds out we’re here.”

Heidi helped to propel them onward, biting the proverbial bullet so to speak and dashing across the expanse. “I don’t know how long we’ll have once we get in there. Mama said the king would be tied up in a bunch of meeting’s today. But she didn’t know if they’d last for a couple of hours or a couple of minutes. The kings mood has been… weird lately.”

Edith bit her lip, not knowing whether to comment on that or not. She had a sneaking suspicion she knew WHY Krupp had found himself out of sorts, but then again she was also basing these thoughts on assumptions; and if there was one thing she’d learned about Benjamin Krupp, it was to never assume anything about him.

Look where that had gotten her.

“So I’ve noticed. Still, I appreciate everything you’re doing for me and siblings.”

“It’s no big deal.”

No big deal? This girl was risking her own freedom to rescue three humans she barely knew. And that was no big deal?

“Aren’t you afraid of getting in trouble? I’d hate to think you’d end up in the same predicament as us. Or worse.”

Heidi’s shoulders drooped only a fraction. She bounced right back though, a new found determination mounted on her little features. “I’m not scared. No one should be afraid of helping someone do what’s right. That’s what you did for Harold, so I’m going to do it for you. Besides,” the girl paused by the doors, smirking almost impishly, “I want to be there to see the kings face when he realizes you guys vanished from the tower. It’ll be hilarious.”

“Or dangerous.”

Heidi shrugged, trying not to think about what his majesties face would look like when his anger was directed on HER.

The two pointed their attention onto the doors, steeling their nerves before pushing inside. Neither knew what would lay on the other side, be it vast riches or torturous devices.

What they did find was nothing either could’ve imagined.

Edith’s mouth hung open, though not in awe or fear. No, what greeted her eyes held no grandeur in the slightest.

All around her sat nothing but bare, almost empty shelves pushed against equally bare, empty walls. Even Heidi hovered in place, speechless at what she saw. She’d imagined at least some treasures lying about. After all, royalty had access to the finest riches known to merman or beast. But not in Krupp’s case it seemed, for everything from his bed to his dressers to the curtains dangling on his windows was bland and colorless.

‘Just like the person it belongs to.’

They slowly inched their way inside, turning around a few times to drink it all in. “How odd. I was expecting something a little more…”

“Grand?”

Edith nodded, pushing the door shut before they could get started. “It’s probably for the best he doesn’t have a lot of clutter in here. It’ll make searching for the bracelets easier.”

“I’ll check the right if you check the left.”

Heidi dashed to her end in record time, starting her search by popping every dresser open all at once. Again she found herself completely amazed that only the bare necessities filled each drawer. A few articles of clothing here, a couple of adornments there and that seemed to be the extent of Krupp’s possessions.

Even Edith, who lifted up a few maps on the wall to see if there was a safe behind them, had a hard time believing he had nothing, absolutely NOTHING, personal anywhere in his own room. Did he live this way by choice or did his keepsakes reside in another place? One more heavily guarded?

She made her way towards a chest at the foot of the bed, hefting up its lid to find it near empty save for a few blankets and one red cape. One by one she set the items aside, then began to feel around the chests lining, hoping that perhaps there was a secret compartment somewhere in the bottom. Sadly, nothing unusual stood out no matter how many times she ran her fingers over the center and outer edges, leaving her to sit back and huff irritably.

“Well this isn’t turning out the way I expected it to. Are you having any luck over there?”

A grumble came as her only response. The girl looked just as miffed as she felt, slamming the drawers shut when she finished with them. “Nothing but clothes, clothes and more clothes. Why does he have so many? This is ridiculous.”

“I have no idea. I’m starting to wonder if maybe your king doesn’t keep anything in here at all.”

“But I saw it!” Heidi spun around, desperation in her voice, “After he found out Harold and George stole the bracelets from the vault, he ordered the guards to move the remaining ones to where he could guard them himself. Where else would that be but here?”

Edith thought for a moment, returning the blankets and cape to their proper places before shutting the lid. “Maybe in another room?” She looked around once again, still unable to find a single thing that stood out amongst Krupp’s meager belongings. “Maybe one he uses a lot more. A library perhaps? Or a study?”

“That could be true.” Heidi took that into consideration. “He does spend a long time in his study to go over paper stuff. He pretty much lives there most days. That’s probably exactly where he hid them! But…” The excitement in her voice faded the more she talked, and the more she talked the more discouraged she became.

“It’ll be trickier getting in there. There’s guards everywhere. A lot of ‘em. And they don’t like it when kids get to close to it either. They screamed at Harold and me one time when we were looking for our mom.”

“We’d need some kind of distraction to get inside if that’s the case.”

“It’d have to be a big one to get those squidheads to move. They don’t normally leave their post unless the king tells them to.”

“Maybe we could-” A snarl echoed from behind the door, stopping both mermaids in their tracks. 

Ok, seriously Trimaxion, I know this is the first part, but I’m loving this so far! I love that you used Heidi and I liked how she’s got an attitude. (She came across as that in the CU books). I could see her taking over the role of prankster from Harold one day.

You made Krupp’s room even more depressing than I had originally written it out. He’s got NOTHING and that’s sad… though I’m grinning over the potential meaning of the red cape. :D

And saw her he did. The rant he was prepared to unleash died the moment he recognized just who stood before him.

His eyes grew larger the longer he studied her mermaid form, skimming down from her bra clad chest to the deep blue tail overflowing with purple and gold fins. They swayed in the water like the dress she’d so obviously discarded, striking him that regardless on what form she took, she was always absolutely breath taking.

The silence that hung between them might have gone on forever if not for Mrs. Hutchins, who clasped her hand more firmly around Edith’s and spoke, “I’m sorry to disturb you, your majesty. The Atlantian ambassador arrived and I thought you would like to greet him personally. I’ll take my leave and return Ms. Edith to her… quarters.”

Edith whispered a thanks to the merwoman.

But her relief was short lived when Krupp, who sat there compliantly the entire time, finally awoke from his spell.

“That won’t be necessary. I’LL deal with her.”

“B-but your majesty…” Ms. Hutchins quieted when he glared a hole clean through her, daring her to argue. When she didn’t, he pushed himself off the bed and waved for the merdolphin to leave as he approached, looking every bit like the dangerous shark that he was.

Ms. Hutchins gave one last reassuring squeeze for Edith’s sake, then bowed out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

By the time Edith turned back around, Krupp had already closed the distance between them, causing her to squeak and shuffle back a foot. She quickly remembered her lack of dress and threw her hands over her chest, suddenly very self conscious over being caught in nothing save her undergarments. It didn’t help matters that Krupp continued to stare her down, though surprisingly he kept his eyes trained solely on her face.

“Care to tell me what you’re doing in here? Or WHY you’re,” he gestured at her current state.

“Oh, this? Well, I… I’m really…” She wasn’t very good at coming up with lies on the fly, or lying in general to be honest. “I-It’s a long story, actually.”

“Is that right?”

She nodded, trying to back up even more. “I, uh. You see…” A swish from her tail sent her cartwheeling backwards, nearly knocking into a shelf had Krupp not been quick enough to catch her. His fingers wrapped around her wrist, steadying her enough to get her bearings. Even when she did finally float upright, his hold never really left her, and the embarrassed blush she felt creeping along her cheeks burned even fiercer.

She pressed a hand to her heart, feeling it quicken.

“Oh, um, th-thank you.”

Her words brought them both back to reality and he quickly released her, growling almost shyly, “You’re welcome, I guess.”

She made to move back once more, keeping herself from bumping into anything, still cowering in what he could only assume from being caught. But her actions didn’t seem to be based solely on fear. Her skin took on a rosy hue, and it seemed the more his eyes drifted along her body, the more she squirmed in place from the attention, curling her arms tighter around her chest.

As if to hide it.

After a few more seconds pondering on what her problem was, and looking her over from head to tail, his brows slowly began to lift up and up and up until reaching the tips of his toupee. The blood nearly drained from his face when a memory surfaced, one of her swinging a picnic basket at his head for seeing him… when he’d been…

‘Oh God!’

The Ocean King twirled around, mortified.

No wonder she’d been acting so peculiar. She was practically naked in front of him and unlike the merfolk who held no such rules for propriety, a human would be completely uncomfortable found in this state.

LIKE SHE WAS RIGHT NOW.

“Y-you… you don’t have a dress on.” He grimaced, so glad he pointed out the obvious.

Edith didn’t call him out on that stupid remark, thankfully, chuckling awkwardly in hopes to break the tension, “It would’ve gotten in the way of swimming, though it’s not like it did me any good to take it off either.”

Dear lord, he was flushing all the way to his ears. Krupp swam towards his chest and dug through the blankets until finally landing on the cape. He held it out to her, making sure to keep his head pointed in the opposite direction she floated.

“Here. This’ll cover you up for now so you’re not… you know.”

Edith wasn’t sure if what she felt was shock or gratitude but either way she made to retrieve the clothing… only to flounder sideways once again. And to make matters even worse, Krupp just had to glance over and witness her uncoordinated attempts to swim.

He sighed heavily to himself, having to right her yet AGAIN and throw the cape around her shoulders, being mindful to keep both his eyes and hands away from any bare skin. Once she stood there snugly wrapped inside, the relief washed over them both.

“Better?”

“Better.”

“Good. Now you can tell me where you got this.” He held up her hand that sported the spiral bracelet, frowning down at her slowly dripping smile.

One look into that determined expression and she knew there was no point in lying. He’d most likely see right through it any way and press her for more details. Details she wasn’t willing to give him if it meant Heidi and the other children would be punished.

No, she’d have to think of something else. Something that wasn’t entirely false, but not entirely true either. A half lie perhaps? Could she get away with that?

Drawing the cape more firmly around herself, she figured the best course of action would be to simply tell the truth… and omit certain parts. After all, what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt anyone else.

“This old thing? It was a gift.”

“A gift? From who?”

Now came the hard part.

“I don’t know their name.”

Krupp gritted his teeth. The suspicion from before turned into full blown skepticism. “You expect me to believe that crock of-”

“It’s true!” In a way it was. She didn’t know all of the children Heidi brought in through the secret door. There were so many that would come to visit, asking all sorts of questions regarding the world above, that it became very hard to remember them all. 

“They come by every so often to give the kids and I gifts.”

“And this mysterious person, who you don’t kbow the name of, gets in HOW?”

“I-I don’t know. Underwater somehow.” ‘That’s right, Edith. Keep things vague. You’re doing good so far.’

The grinding sound from his jaw grew in volume. He lowered himself further into her face, squinting his eyes and unconsciously taking on the terrifying Ocean King persona.

Flashing his teeth, he brought her an inch from his nose, snarling, “Then how did YOU escape?”

Edith’s shoulders sagged. No matter what she told him now, either the guards that stood watch over the tower would face punishment (which they didn’t deserve) or the secret exit would be blocked off forever, ending any more visits from the merchildren.

What ever answer she gave would break her heart one way or another. She couldn’t very well claim ignorance over this detail, and well she knew it.

‘Why did I think I could do this?’

Tears threatened to spill from her eyes, knowing she had failed everyone. How was she going to face Lisa and Billy (if she even got to see them again!) after she’d promised to find the bracelets that would set them all free?

Her lip began to tremble, her entire body shaking. Grief came crashing down on her so hard and so fast she didn’t even register Krupp speaking. At least not until he spoke her name.

She shook her head, unable and unwillingly to answer him.

Krupp didn’t know what to say.

Apart of him deep down urged him to comfort her, vut then again, why would he? He had every right to drill her for answers, to wring out every secret she kept from him and feel nothing for a lying, sniveling human (who nearly shot him he might add). He shouldn’t care if she fell apart at his tail! Many others had before and none of them moved him to lift so much as a finger to ease their suffering.

But on the other hand… none of them had been his Edith either.

Seeing her bury herself further into his cape, distraught beyond all measure, hurt something deep inside him. He could understand her fear, he could understand her secrets. Heck, he could even understand her reasons for wanting to escape.

What he couldn’t understand was why he cared, or more importantly… why it hurt.

So instead of dwelling on those thoughts, or forcing her to answer his questions (for he still planned on getting the information out of her one way or another), he simply sighed and decided to do the one thing he never would have done for any one else.

He let it slid.

But only for tonight.

“Do you need help getting back to the lab?”

His voice startled her at first, causing her squeak a “what” behind the fabric. She didn’t know if she’d hallucinated that or not.

Krupp fumbled for a second, equal parts confused until it dawned on him she did not know the place she and the children resided in used to belong to the Sneedly’s. “Oh, uh… the tower. It’s pretty far from here and I can… I can escort you there if you like. Or… something.”

Out of all the things she expected him to say, that certainly hadn’t been it. Threats perhaps, punishments most definitely. But an escort to the tower? Without an interrogation? Edith could hardly believe it.

Her hesitation must have lasted longer than she realized, for Krupp set his jaw in place, slowly drawing back to release her arm and resign himself to her refusal.

After all, he did nearly make her cry. And he was still going to have to get to the bottom of her escape attempt eventually (he still had no idea how she ended up in his room or why).

But instead of pushing him away like he imagined she would, Edith reached for his hand, stopping its retreat to cradle between her own. A hesitant, almost thankful smile stretched across her lips, surprising the Ocean King more than anything. This much she realized when he sucked in a deep breath, not knowing how to react to kindness.

“I’d like that actually, if you don’t mind. I’m not much of a swimmer yet, and this place is pretty big. Oh, but you were trying to sleep before I… when I…”

The sternness in his eyes cracked ever so slightly to reveal a gentle spark in their depths. “Heh, don’t worry about it. It’s nothing really. I could swim laps around this castle without breaking a sweat. Practically do any ways.”  

His fingers closed around her own, swallowing them up due to their massive size. The familiarity felt all to real in that moment, dredging up old memories she’d stored away long ago and yet could never truly forget. It amazed her that even after all these years, the feelings buried deep in her heart could still stir back to life just by holding his hand.

“We should probably…”

“R-right. Yes. To the tower.”

The trip there was exceptionally shorter than when she traveled with Heidi, but it was no less confusing on the many turns they took. She honestly didn’t know how anyone could swim from one end to the other on a daily basis, as Krupp had stated prior, nor remember their way around given the sheer size of this place, but the king didn’t seem that bothered, neither did he appear hindered carting her along.

The only time he did appear the tiniest bit uncomfortable was when they passed through a crowd, mainly the maids, and allowed his entire demeanor to morph into the terrible tyrant they all knew and loathed.

Though they received several curious looks, and one merwoman even had to shut her friends mouth when she gaped, Krupp didn’t stop for anything or anybody until they made it to the doors outside the tower. He paused for only a moment to glower down at the two guards before shoving them aside to pass between them.

Edith whispered her apologies to them before being yanked through to tue other side, not at all surprised to see their terror filled faces turn into confusion when they recognized just who the king dragged behind him.

Eventually they came to the end of the hall and began their ascension to the first floor - that served more as a small pond to the entire facility - until finally breaching the waters surface.

Edith shoved her bangs behind her ears, looking around, then grinning when she saw her dress still folded where she’d left it.

“I guess this is the end of the road.”

“I guess so. I’ll, um…. I’ll leave you to do what ever you need to do and,” he lifted their conjoined hands from the water, staring pointedly at the bracelet, “I’ll be confiscating this, for obvious reasons.”

The glow in her smile dimmed substantially. She knew arguing would do little good at this point. In fact, it was a small wonder he hadn’t ripped it off the moment he realized she wore it and let her drown. It’s not like he couldn’t have kissed her if he really wanted to spare her life, but then again, she supposed she shouldn’t be looking a gift horse in the mouth. He let her keep some dignity in all this, though she had a sneaking suspicion the true punishment for her escapade was yet to come.

Awww… but also a little frustrating for the romantic in me. In a good way of course.

Can she not see his face or…? Well at least he didn’t take the bracelet off.

Ah so there WAS a reason for the red cape…. a still suspicious red cape *giggles*) Also…. HE SAW HER IN HER BRA! :D :D :D I loved his reaction! ANd I love how he was able to put it together by remembering why she whacked him that day! Nice to know that despite being a jerk, he still acts respectful to her.

But by the time Edith made it to the edge of the bed it was already to late. The doors burst open, practically banging against the wall with enough force to dent them.

“I said I’ll look at it tomorrow!”

Krupp’s yell sent the merchild scurrying back out and Edith to fall flat onto the floor. She wiggled for all she was worth under the bed, thankful when she realized Krupp had been facing his adviser when he entered.

The poor merman shook something awful, clinging to his clipboard and looking several shades paler than before. He inched several paces away from his king, eyes flickering from the monarchs massive frame to the door that could very well be embedded into the wall.

“Yes sire, I know this, but the anniversary will be upon us soon and we still need to go over the seating arrangements for the dinner to… to uh…”

His voice trailed off when he realized Krupp’s breathing grew heavier. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the king’s temper held itself together by a very thin strand, prompting the adviser to clamp his mouth shut and give the monarch even more space.

“And I told you I’ll look it over tomorrow.” Krupp gritted through his teeth, trying to keep himself in check before he exploded completely.

The smaller merman bowed his head to apologize, nearly dropping his clipboard due to his shaking hands. “I understand, sire. Forgive me for bothering you, I’ll… I’ll be on my way.”

The mershark snorted through his nose, watching the sniveling twit retreat before entering into home sweet solitude.

It didn’t take much effort to pry the door loose and shut it behind him. He twisted the lock into place and sighed in relief now that he could finally, after a long day of listening to people wimp and whine and clamor endlessly for his attention, he could relax for a change.

The tension in his shoulders melted almost instantly, though the frown he sported never truly dissipated. If anything, it twisted a little more as he swam about his room, oblivious to the fact that anyone besides himself had been there.

Edith held a hand over her mouth to muffle any noise she might accidentally make, watching him circle about a few times in what she assumed to be his normal routine. Only his lower half was visible to her though, which didn’t give her an opportunity to see what he did other than glide from one place to next.

She gave a fleeting glance towards the window, spotting Heidi peep from over the bottom and return the worried expression. It became clear the little girl didn’t know what to do, nor did Edith to be honest. She debated several times whether or not she should attempt to crawl out and jump over the ledge, but the odds of her doing so without being detected seemed abysmal at best.

And the last thing she needed was for Krupp to catch her with her finny fanny dangling half way out of his window.

Instead, she continued to sweep her eyes from the little girl to Krupp’s tail, praying he left the room long enough for her to at least attempt to make an escape.

But it seemed fate worked against her, for once Krupp set his sash on the shelf, he spun back towards the bed to sit on the edge. The mattress dipped a little from the added weight, causing Edith’s fear in being discovered to sky rocket even more. It was a small wonder she hadn’t yelped yet, especially when Krupp decided to sling his entire weight onto the bed… and pin her to the floor.

‘Oh no no NO! This isn’t happening. This can’t be happening!’

Edith wanted to pull herself free right that minute in fear he would squish her, because honestly she didn’t trust the frayed ropes that held the mattress up to last much longer. But she knew if she so much as moved an inch, or breathed in to deeply, the king would definitely feel the movement and then… well… she really didn’t want to think about what he would do once he caught her.

Thankfully Krupp didn’t seem to notice the extra lump beneath him, being far to tired to notice anything besides his thoughts spinning around his head.

It’d been a long and grueling day going over the kingdoms finances for the uptenth time that week, not to mention dealing with petty squabbles between his citizens, setting up the Sneedly’s with a new lab (since they refused to go another day without some compensation for their “noble” sacrifice), to greeting the diplomats that kept pouring in for the festivities – not to mention just about anything else under the sea that needed his immediate attention.  

So all in all, it had been a normal day. Busy, time consuming, but normal in his opinion. 

In fact, he welcomed the constant distractions. It certainly kept him occupied and left little room for his mind to wander to… other things. Things he wished would stop coming to the forefront of his thoughts.

He grumbled several curses under his breath, throwing an arm over his eyes in a desperate attempt to mentally shut down. He didn’t want to think about anything at this point, especially not THEM. Heck, if he had it his way, he’d forget they even existed. After all, the three were shoved so far from his quarters they might as well be on the opposite side of the world. But even with the distance set between them, there was always SOMETHING that popped up, something that would remind the Ocean King that three humans resided in his kingdom.

He supposed one reason he couldn’t forget was because of King Mason’s notes. Like clockwork the man sent various pleas for his children to be returned. Soon enough, those please devolved into outright begging, then bribing, until a slew of empty threats came spilling out only to revert back to the former, going round and round in a twisted circle that never failed to tickle Krupp.

Well, perhaps never was a strong word. As of late the notes had become tiresome, and with other things already weighing on the Ocean King’s mind, he scarcely had the energy to egg the man on any more.

Naturally, he’d pen a few responses here and there, mostly to gloat, but other than that he left most of the details regarding the children’s fate up in the air. After all, the less the man knew the better. If in their exchange he was led to believe the children were simply an order away from being drowned, then so be it. It gave Krupp more control and, frankly, he didn’t mind having that softhearted idiot in the palm of his hand.

It served him right for building that oil rig.

It would also be poetic, in a sick and twisted way, that the king on the land suffered from a heartache similar to his own. The thought alone put a smirk on Krupp’s face, knowing someone out there would be just as miserable as he.

But that brief spark of happiness slipped further and further away, turning into its usual cold and empty void that he was all to familiar with.

So what if that man never saw his family again? It wouldn’t be the end of the world. Everything would still keep moving forward. The kingdom would still need his guidance whether he liked it or not. He couldn’t escape his responsibilities no matter how badly he wished it or how much he wanted to hole up and grieve for his loss.

He had to keep going. He had to move on… he had to…  

Krupp shook his head violently, squeezing his eyes shut. He had more important matters to focus on, not whether that stupid king mourned for his children. Or the children in general. Or even Edith.

While he lay there trying to fight the urge to scream in frustration, Heidi continued to duck up and down on the windowsill. She waved several times for Edith to follow her, but when she made no move to, the girl leaned inside even more, ready to dash down to the floor and help pull the woman along.

Immediately Edith’s eyes shot wide open. Her hands frantically gestured for the girl to stop where she stood, mouthing the word “no!” over and over again in a desperate attempt to keep her at bay. After all, she couldn’t exactly tell her she was stuck between a rock and a hard place without said hard place overhearing.

“What?” Heidi whispered, confusion spreading along her features… at least until she realized she’d spoken and quickly clamped a hand over her mouth. She watched in horror as Krupp’s arm flopped to the side, then spun his head around to look in her direction.

Like a bullet the girl shot out the window, thankfully unseen, and smashed her body against the outer wall just in time to miss the king’s curious gaze.

He slowly sat up, furrowing his brows as he looked at a clearly open window and wondered idly to himself if he’d left it that way since this morning? He didn’t remember doing so. Then again, he barely remembered removing his sash and bracers but clearly his bare skin said otherwise.

Perhaps this day had worn him out more than he thought.

Huffing, he lifted himself off the bed to shut, lock, and snap the curtains closed for good measure. The last thing he needed was some nosy busy-body peeking in on him.

Said nosy busy-body wanted to pull her hair out. She had half a mind to crawl out there and thrash that man for closing off every single exit.

Instead she kept those thoughts well in check, scuttling a little towards the foot of the bed and away from where she was once pinned. She tucked her lip between her teeth, giving a cursory look towards the curtains, then the door, trying to decide which would serve as an easier escape route.

Though the window was closer, it was also a few feet from the kings head, meaning that any noise she made he would detect and be within arms reach for him to snatch her up and most likely throttle her. The door, on the other hand, was much further away, meaning she would have a harder time getting to it but at least it would be far enough from Krupp that he might not notice anything out of the ordinary by the time she opened it.

The third option called for her to remain where she lay and wait for him to fall asleep. But then again who knew how long that might take, or how much longer the bracelets power would last, and not only would she revert back to a human and drown, she’d also be half naked.

That option was definitely out.

‘Come on, Edith. You’ve got to make a move. Time to put on your big girl britches and just go for it.’

She decided to go with the safest course of action. The door.

Counting down from ten, she inched ever so slightly along the ground until her head popped out beside the chest. After another few seconds, and seeing that the king had yet to stir from place, she crawled out a little more, eventually dragging her entire upper body out.

‘Okay. So far so good.’

Krupp seemed none the wiser, his tail swept over the beds edge in a slow, leisurely manner, much like a cats as it inched closer and closer to sleep. His belly rose with each breath, reminding Edith of just how BIG he was compared to everyone else (including her!) and could easily see why so many people were intimidated by him.

She brought herself completely out from under the bed, eyes roaming towards the door. It would take a while to reach it on hands and knees, or in her case hands and flippers, but with so little time left to spare, Edith decided to start the long process in dragging herself across the floor.

Each inch felt like a small victory, and a small eternity too.

Eventually she managed to haul herself against the door, looking up to make sure Krupp hadn’t noticed her. Thankfully he was still sprawled out over the mattress, a soft snore emanating from his mouth.

She sighed in relief, pulling herself completely up to yank on the handle. Her giddiness at finally being free soon morphed into terror, then a small but clearly audible shriek. This was soon matched with yet another merperson on the opposite side of the door, whose holler combined with her own to echo down the hallway.

I love the irony of Edith’s situation–now SHE’S the one who is struggling in a new form and forced to crawl around a bit. For a moment I thought Krupp was going to catch her on his bed (*non-innocent giggling*) though the idea of him trapping her underneath his bed is also funny. Also, thank you for introducing the words ‘finny fanny’ to me with this story, I had a laugh out of that.

I find it amusing that the Sneedlys aren’t super happy with Krupp and what happened–they lost a lot of equipment and Melvin could have died. Ok that last part wasn’t amusing.

I feel bad for Mason though–that guy would do ANYTHING to protect his kids and he’d have a ‘few words’ with Krupp over keeping them away from him. I kind of felt like strangling Krupp for a moment because of him deliberately being a jerk to Mason.