First Attack

Mariana Pov.

This can't be happening! That's why Mary isn't back yet. That evil man has her. He's using his own mate as leverage against me. How can one man be so cruel? Logan pulls me tighter the harder I cry. I'm no longer crying in misery I'm crying in absolute anger.

But crying doesn't solve anything either. I need to find a way to get my family back and safe, away from William. But how will I do that when he even has guards where Neptune hides in the middle of nowhere? Wait...

I look up at Logan and find that he is already looking at me. I have to do something but I have no idea what. I just got a part of my family back. Life keeps ripping what matters most to me away. What have I done to deserve this? Oh yeah, I'm a descendant of Neptune and also share a bloodline with Poseidon. Which means I am potentially the third most powerful person part of the aquatic kingdoms. But maybe Neptune can help with that. Getting my grandfather to well, actually leave his cave would be another problem. Or...he's going to hate me for what I'm about to do but I have no choice. And if he does care as much as he showed me, he might as well swallow his fear and come out of hiding.

"I have an idea." I say to Logan and he raises an eyebrow. "What kind of idea?" I look down at my feet, guilt already setting in and I haven't even done it yet. "Something bad, but it's the only thing I can think of now." I bite the inside of my cheek, gods below, I am never to do something like this to him again...maybe. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Ryan sounds as nervous as I feel. I'm not as nervous as I am afraid though, because if this fails things will go horribly wrong. "I'm about to throw my grandfather to the Kraken." Yeah, it's like the human saying, 'throw you under the bus' but in my case I don't have much of a choice.

"Which grandfather is this?" Maria asks me carefully, worry lacing her voice. Right, they're my grandparents too. "Not Papa, Neptune." Both the elders relax visibly, not at all caring that Neptune is the victim. "What do we have to do?" Logan asks. Like Hell am I going to risk them. I vigorously shake my head and back away form Logan, "Nope, you're not coming. I'm not risking any one of you to be caught or killed, and believe me, William will do it without hesitation. Besides, none of you can breath under water." I firmly look at all of them, meeting each pair of eyes with determination. Until Ryan starts laughing like a lunatic, walks up to me and cups my face between both his very large hands. With mild amusement he tells me, "We're all in this together whether you like that or not. You aren't my mother so I don't need your permission to help." Just like that.

Puts me in my place and walks away signalling for the rest to follow him. "Come on, princess. I have some input you might want to consider." Ugh! I sigh angrily that no one is yet again, not listening to me. "Guys! You don't get it, he's dangerous!" I shout after them while stomping to catch up with them. "Exactly why we are helping. He's dangerous." Logan says matter of factly, leaving no room for argument. I rub my hands over my face, agitated with the fact that I do need their help. I didn't even think about that which proves them right anyway. "Besides, I'm ready to kick some slimy scaly butt. William may be Mary's mate but I'm not going to let that asshole use her like bait." Carlo puts in. I stop in my tracks, "We are not slimy!" I yell enraged, fish aren't slimy they are moist!

The group turns around, Carlo gives me a blank expression that boils my blood. "So if you're not slimy, what are you?" He asks with that still blank expression and even more nonchalant voice. "We are moist! We coat our scales in snail gel which helps us move through water more gracefully and easier as well as keeps our scales bright and clean." I huff all that out in one breath. Carlo shrugs like it means nothing, muttering an 'okay' like I just recited a Shakespearean play. Completely uninterested! "Why did you divert your attention to this, instead of the problem at hand?" Ryan questions me with a slightly baffled expression. Mom would know exactly why. I rub my hands up and down my arms, contemplating if I should confess to this emotion that's been gnawing at me since all this started. "I'm...scared" I don't know if I even heard it right, coming from my own lips.

I said it so softly yet Logan still approach me like he heard what I said. He caresses my cheek with his thumb, softly and it's soothing. I exhale, releasing a breath I didn't know I was holding. Just his touch alone is enough to make me relax. "Everything is going to be all right. As long as we stick together." He assures me with so much confidence in his stance but his voice remains tender. "Okay." No more arguing, just acceptance. No point in arguing anyway, Ryan would just retort with some silly, snarky or sarcastic remark. Together we all walk at a slight rushed pace, but slow enough for the old folks to keep up with us. Since Ryan and I are on the same page, he knows where to lead the group, back to the docks. I look at our little group. There are two elders, Maria and Papa, one young adult, Carlo and three teenagers, Logan, Ryan and me. Six of us of different ages against a group of what, a hundred merman soldiers, all armed and ready to attack. William wouldn't go for a bigger group than that, would he? This plan of ours better work if that is the case. Poseidon made it out and he had a hundred times that many men to fend off, if not more. But Poseidon is a sea god. I'm not.

---

We make it to the docks just past midnight, my feet sore and out of breath. No sleep for the wicked, hey! We are all pretty tired, especially Ryan and Logan who spent the entire morning on the sea looking for me, and then meeting Mary, heading to Maria and Papa's place, all that drama and now this. Yeah, I'd say we are all pretty tired and the real fight hasn't even started yet. So not ready for this. The two oldies find themselves a bench to rest while the rest of us stand and look around. Maybe we shouldn't be so out in the open, so...exposed. I can hear a faint whizzing sound, it sounds like..."Anna!" Papa screams my name out like a cry of pain. Carlo crashes into me, both of us landing hard on the wooden platform and something else lands with a thud where I stood a moment ago. Still in Carlo's embrace I glance up and a spear is penned into the wood, nearly all of the spear tip is buried beneath the planks.

That confirms it, he's out to kill me. The others rush to our side, quickly helping us to our feet. "Run." Ryan says urgently. We barely made any move when the next spear lands right next to Carlo, in the spot where he had just gotten up form. We all run as fast as we can to get out of the rain of spears coming down on us. To my surprise, Maria and Papa are ahead of us which means they are definitely terrified. Then, with a splash out of the ocean, barreling towards us are definitely more than a hundred arrows. We need to take cover now or meet our maker. "Dive!" I yell, all of us diving beneath the tables that line the outside of the restaurants that line the docks. The arrows land hard in the wooden surfaces, their tips going all the way through. An arrow tip nearly plants itself in my forehead, making me yelp in surprise.

This is not how I thought it was going to go. When the last of the arrows land we take off again. Running like our lives depend on it, which of course it does. "You were right! He's crazy!" Ryan yells with fear and his voice is an octave higher. If we weren't being chased by Death, I would be laughing at his comment right now. More arrows and spears follow, but none of them reach us. We're already out of range but we don't stop. We need to get out of site. We round a corner and see that the twenty-four seven bar is as it should be, open. Our group burst through the double doors of the bar and all eyes inside land on us. We are disheveled, out of breath, red faced and of all ages. The bartender, who's name tag says he is Billy, looks at us with concern. "You lot all right? Looks like ghosts have been chasing you."

His deep, gruff voice makes him sound older than he looks. "Yeah, we had a slight encounter with Willy the fish of Death. He's not so pleasant when you call him crazy." Ryan tells the guy, his words raspy and coming out in short gasps. That's one way to put it. "Well, have a seat then. I'll send my fishermen out to hunt Willy, what's he look like?" I crack up at that, giggling like the immature girl that I am, is this guy for real? Nonetheless, we all move to the back where there is a booth big enough for all of us. Billy comes over to take our orders while Ryan actually explains to these so called fishermen, what Willy the fish of Death looks like. Unbelievable...

"These people are literal, they take everything seriously. Emphasis on 'everything'." Carlo whispers in my ear and just now I remember my manners. "Thank you. For saving me." He gives me a half smile and shrugs, "You would've done the same." True. I look over the other's faces, now pale, scared, shocked and a lot more tired. "You guys okay?" I ask softly not wanting to startle the old folks with a booming voice. They all nod but I know we are far from okay. Ryan joins us again looking much the same but with a gleam of mischief. What is he thinking now? He looks me directly in the eye and motions with his head to the...bathroom? Oh!

"I uh, got to go." I point to the bathroom before any of them could ask where. Ryan practically jumps from his stool, gesturing with his hands to the bathroom as well. "Me too, haven't peed all day." He pushes past me and disappears behind the wall. When I catch up to him he leads me out a back door. "What are you up to?" I half whisper, half yell at him. "Am I being too obvious?" That's what he's worried about? I wave my hands dismissively, "Just tell me what you plan on doing?" Despite what just happened he manages to smile at me, well not smile, something close to a psychopath's evil grin.

"Now is our chance to strike!" He says while jumping up and down like a school kid. "Are you crazy?!" He has definitely lost his mind! He's in shock that's what this is. "No I'm not crazy!" He shoots back at me sounding aggravated. "He's under the impression that we have backed off, so he won't expect us to be attacking him right now. Duh!" My eyes light up with this realization. We have the element of surprise. "You're right. But how will we do this without involving the others?"

His face quickly morphs into a disapproving scowl. "We are not going solo, I thought we already made that clear. Besides, for this to work you're gonna need all the help you can get."

Right, no body gets left behind. "Thanks Stitch. Then lets go get the others." I head back inside and hear him mumble 'Stitch' with question in his voice. Back at the table the others are drinking their hot chocolate out of big polished wooden mugs. We join them and Logan passes my mug to me. None of us says anything until Ryan breaks the silence, "After this were going back out there and kick some ass." I slap my hand to my forehead.

How is he going to be my advisor when he behaves like a child? All eyes are trained on me now. "We can't head back to the docks, it's a too obvious place." Seeing how William acted just now, he wouldn't risk leaving the place unguarded. "So let's head on to the beach. It's not obvious and he probably doesn't think that you'd take that risk." Logan suggests which is not a bad idea, and our only other option so far. "Alright. Ryan and I will explain the rest on the way." With that, we finish our hot chocolate and leave for the beach.