The Will of a Pendragon

Gabrielle Underwater

    Preston is over the whole of Meerlyn's inability to open up to him. He's moving on and she doesn't like it. There's only one thing she can do about it and it's the one thing she won't. I really suck when it comes to giving advice. Especially for her. The one person who seems to have all my answers. All I can do is listen to her and let her vent. I don't understand her hesitance. Preston is an amazing person and they're kind of perfect for each other. 

    "It's mindless flirting," I tried when she walked into the cabin. 

    "It doesn't matter," she tried to brush me off. 

    "Meer, we have a mission. You can't be doing this every time you see him like that. It's distracting you. It's probably the reason why you can't properly wield your-" 

    "Stop," she put her hand up cutting me short. "I know," 

    "I don't understand why you're so adamant about this. It's so obvious," I sat down next to her. "What are you so afraid of?" 

    "I can't afford this distraction, Lily. You have you parents looking out for Rose, but Merry doesn't have that. My dad- he closed off after my mom died and I don't want Merry to see him the way I did. He neglected everything. The Kingdom, your father, me, and his newborn daughter who needed him more than ever. I don't want her to feel like she's not my main priority," 

    "As someone who only has a couple of years on being the main priority. I can easily tell you that there is no way in hell, Merry is ever going to feel left out. She has all of us and you. He loves her just as much as the rest of us. I have you and Rose has Merry. That's how this works right?" she nodded. "You always seem to get the short end of the stick, Meer. I want you to be happy," 

    "Are you happy?" she asked out of the blue. "I mean. You were and now it's kind of dark inside of you again. I can feel it,"

    "I might have to kill someone I love, Meer. Someone I've known almost my entire life," 

    "She did a whole lot of bad s**t to you, Li," 

    "I know, but it doesn't change anything. A sick part of me still refuses to believe it's her. I'm not going to fully process it until she's in front of me with the intent to kill me," 

    "None of us are going to let that happen," she whispered. 

    "I'm not going to let it happen. I said I'm not going to fully process it until then," we both laughed 

    "Are we going to talk about Gab working for the Lady of the Lake and abandoning her oath of a Knight?" 

    "Gab didn't abandon anything. My dad has her working on something with Lady Elise. We're actually going to meet her now," 

    "I knew we were going underwater. I hate going under," she sighed as she let her body fall back onto the bed. "Wouldn't it be easier for us to know what we're all up to?" 

    "Assignments given by Young and I are a different jurisdiction than those that are given by my dad or my mom. Since Gabriel has completely stepped down and Gab has taken his place, she works for the throne. I'm not the one sitting on it so I'm not exactly sure what she's doing myself. My dad just told me that she was doing something for him and that it's beneficial for what we're doing,"

    "Li?" we both looked up at the door when Young knocked on the other side. 

    "Can't she have a minute alone without you?" Meer grunted.

    "You're just mad no one looks for you, Mage of Darkness," he shot back. "Princess, we're approaching our drop. I need your help," 

    "Get some rest, Meer," I sighed, as I got up to follow him back upstairs. 

    "She's not doing well," Young blurted out. 

    "Why are you yelling?" I asked him. 

    "Who's not doing well?" Preston asked behind me. Oh.

    "None of your business," he shot back before glancing back to Meer's room. I laughed when Pres walked away. 

    "Subtle," I scoffed.

    "She's bitter and I hate it. I can taste it around her. I don't know how you stand to be around her all the time. It's choking," 

    "Drama God," I rolled my eyes at him. 

    "We're in position," Luc called from the other end of the ship. It came to a complete halt. 

    Young and I walked over to the edge to look down into the water. Below is a brilliant light. The only light for miles. It looks small from here. A small smudge of brightness below, but that's only because of how deep the village down there is. Young had described it a few times but seeing it myself is otherworldly. Even for this world. My eyes scanned the layout so that I can calculate the amount of mana I need to use in order to make it down there without crashing and without being crushed by the pressure. I wasn't expecting it to be so alive.

    "You got it?" Young whispered into my ear. 

    "No PDA on deck!" Talia shouted, making the others laugh. I tilted my head to face him and then licked the side of his face. "You kinky b***h," she laughed. I flipped her off making her laugh harder. "I love you too," 

    "You don't get a lick," Young called back. We all laughed. 

    "Okay," I said looking at him."I'm ready," 

    "That's bold. In front of everyone?" he smirked. I let out a little squeak as my face burned with embarrassment. 

    "No," Cam called out. "Enough of that s**t," 

    Young stepped closer to me. The two of us placed our hands on the boards under us. I scanned the ship's structure. He's making the same movements just as we practiced so that anyone watching thinks we're doing this together. I put the shield around the ship making it heavy so that it easily sinks at a steady pace. We both stood up looking around us to see the others lingering at the edges of the ship as we were pulled into the water. 

    It's dark down here. How he can swim alone out here is beyond me. Darkness like this can take me to a dark place. Somewhere I lose myself when I'm trapped in my head. A place I pushed in the back of my head. I haven't dealt with anything. I've pretended it wasn't there until eventually, I forgot all of this was out of my normal sensibilities. With Alissa here, I'm not sure where I'm at. I know where I'm going but other than that. There's a whole lot of unresolved s**t I need to deal with and have no idea how. Asking for help is not something I'm quite ready for right now.

    The entrance to the underwater village is a barrier that only allows water magic to go through it. Young surrounded my barrier with his own to get us inside. Our ship glided along the way a sinking ship does until it broke through the barrier. I don't know what I expected but it wasn't this. The ship continued to move forward towards a docking port. There's a beach, with sand and people lounging around on it.

    This is the most magical thing I've ever seen in my entire life. There's a massive city down here. With buildings as high as the Empire state building. People. Lots and lots of people. Not just on the ground. The structures curve up over the water. There are people walking upside down above us. Fishing. Living their lives up there. 

    "Not what you expected?" Young asked, placing his hand over mine to let me know it was okay to let go of the barrier. 

    "Not even a little," I whispered. 

    "I'm hallucinating right?" Cam asked.

    "Yes, I drugged the water I gave you earlier," Young smirked. 

    "I didn't drink that. I was afraid that you might have spit in it," 

    "Dude, that was a brand new bottle," 

    "You're the king of water or whatever. I don't know your witchy powers," Cam waved him off before following behind Talia. 

    "Witchy powers?" Young looked over at me. "He does know he has powers as well, right?" 

    "Did it get on your nerves?" I asked. 

    "Yes, it did," he nodded. 

    "That was his mission," I shrugged. 

    We were instantly surrounded by people. They're going out of their way to welcome us. Young and I, especially. We were escorted to the center of the city. There's a very Atlantis vibe going on down here and most of it is brand new. Renovations that are being added along the old elvish looking decor. This is insane. Someone pinch me. 

    "I love it when you discover new places," I jumped when two sharp nails dug into my wrist with a twist.

    "Oh, my god. You're dressed like an adult," I laughed, returning the pinch.

    "Ouch, I'm not the one questioning reality here," she complained. We haven't seen her for a very long time. The others followed behind me.  

    "You really are dressed like an adult," Talia shook her head.

    "Yeah, Knights code of conduct is to look the part you are representing. Which is why you are all looking very spiffy," Gab smiled.

    "Gabrielle, you look amazing," Lucille commented. 

    "You too. You look-" she looked Luc over and then smiled. "A lot angrier at the world. I love it. Why don't we get you all settled for the night? We have a meeting in the morning and I have a lot to catch you all up on regarding Mordred and the Red Mages," 

    "She even sounds adult," Talia laughed. "Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?" 

    "b***h, they beat me down here," Gab fake-cried, jumping into Talia's arms.

    "There she is," Preston shook his head. 

    "Alright, show them to their rooms. Lily, Gray. Come with me," she smiled waving her hand in the air. 

    "Where is Elise?" Young asked her. I hate it when he's in a fight with his mother. He calls her by her first name and we all hate it. She's the Lady of the Lake. 

    "She'll be down soon. She had to go back up to the surface to speak with your father. You should really back off of their relationship,"

    "You mean like you did with your parents?" he shot back. 

    "My dad is gay. It doesn't apply to your situation. She loves him. She's just different. You were mortal for a big portion of your life, Gray. You have to remember that she's never had to worry about mundane things like death and loss," 

    "You have to remember that my father will die one day. Loss and death are at her doorstep. You need to stop pretending as if we need her down here so that she can have time to accept the mundane parts of our world or she is always going to be the cold-hearted b***h she is now," his I am superior tone is sexy and very very scary. 

    "Do you agree with him?" she asked me. 

    "Yeah, I mean. If I didn't have to stop a Crystallis apocalypse. I'd be with my parents and his parents. We're all kind of always together," I shrugged. 

    "Will you miss Lily when she's gone?" she asked him. 

    "I'm going to die when she does," he answered with no room to argue or tell him how wrong that answer is, but with what comes next, I don't know what to tell him that won't make him hate himself more. 

    "We've tracked Will through the Dark shores. He's in Midnight," 

    "s**t," Young complained. "We need to coax him out of there," 

    "Why?" I asked. 

    "Dark Shores is the lower region of our planet. There isn't any sun down there. It's pitch black. The Red Mages have been using it as of late as a hideout. The King and the Knights of the Round can't follow them in," 

    "If they can get in there, what stops us?" 

    "The Darkness down there isn't just the absence of light," Gab whispered. "That part of the planet is cursed by the Red Mages. The nastiest things we've discovered live down there and who knows what else. The Kings and the Queens have sent men down there. Those who've returned-it was a mercy to put them down," 

    "Do you have your team ready?" I asked her. She smiled.

    "As soon as my King informed me you were coming down," 

    "We can coax them out and we'll know where they're going to come out from," Young nodded. 

    "Exactly," 

    "How do we do that?" Gab asked. 

    "We shine some light on them. American baseball stadium-style," Young looked over at me. "We're going to need three more boats. Li, let's see what we can do about the darkness,"