The doors opened when Amyra and Gloria jumped right in, sighing in relief. Arthur jumped out of Gloria's arms and sat down in one of the massive cushions lying below.

"There won't be a single time where this won't be stressful!" Amyra whispered, the burns covered so much of her face, her lips could barely move, "when can we get out of these ridiculous costumes?"

"Costumes? This was the perfect disguise and it worked!" Gloria whispered back, looking around the room to make sure no one was listening in.

"Disguise! You were practically seducing the King who was drooling all over you."

Arthur meowed in agreement to which Gloria threw a shoe at his direction, "that's enough nonsense out of the both of you. If we don't find where Reina is-"

Before Gloria could finish, a knock on the door nearly gave them both a heart attack. Gloria gave a slight cough and opened the door, trying to stay in 'character' as much as possible. A man with a long robe stood by the door and gave a bow, "I'm here to take care of our guests, enjoying your stay?"

Gloria grinned and pulled Seven into the room, locking the door shut immediately. She took a wand and chanted a quick spell on herself, the mask on her face disappeared and soon, Amyra's disguise was gone too. They both finally managed to breathe.

"You did a great job at not giving us away," Gloria told him.

"I had no idea you were going to be here! You don't know how scared I was," Seven said, giving Gloria a hug, "why would you come here? I told you it's dangerous. And you even brought Amyra."

"Hey!" Amyra crossed her arms on her chest and raised one of her eyebrows, "you guys need me the most, I'm stronger than all three of you combined."

Arthur hissed, this time, in disagreement.

"Besides, it's Arthur we should've left behind. Why would we need a cat?"

Amyra ignored another hiss from Arthur who would've pounced and destroyed her hair, had it not been a crucial moment for disguise. He made a mental note to himself to do so the moment they all get home. If alive.

"One of my students disappeared, we have no idea where she is," Gloria explained, her voice still quiet.

"I'm sure she will come back at some point?" Seven tried to reassure her, but looking at the panicked look in Gloria's eyes, it made him more uncertain.

"She's not from here, she's...From the Otherworld."

"The human world?" Seven gasped, "Why...How?"

"But she wasn't originally from there. Remember I told you about this girl a few months ago?"

"The orphan? Have you not found her parents?"

"I've no idea where or who they are. But I have a responsibility to take care of her, I promised."

"And did you say she was under the care of a goblin? Where's the goblin now?"

Gloria paused and darted her eyes towards Amyra. They all looked at the little bag on the floor that Gloria brought in with her. Out of it, a little rat appeared, its whiskers protruding from its face and its teeth slightly jagged as it bit into a piece of fabric.

"That's the goblin?" Seven, asked, slightly impressed.

"She was being a nuisance. And I'm pretty sure she messed up Reina's memories."

"You've really outdone yourself this time," he said, shaking his head.

"Our disguise won't stay for very long, we need you to help us get out of here," Gloria begged him with desperate eyes, "the king wants me to stay but we can't."

"Did you show you the Blue Portal? Do you know where Reina is now?"

They all nodded.

"Very well. Where is she now?"

In the depths of the water, finding herself in a slight problem, and wondering if she will get out of it alive. The Octopus Queen surrounded them, guarding their cage within the water and Reina started to feel lightheaded. She was clearly not made to be in water for so long. For the first time, she started to regret running away from Gloria and the others in the Gremlin's Toyshop. She felt worse for Azul than she felt for herself.

Despite the serious risk of death, Reina couldn't help but notice how beautiful the sea was. She had a strange habit of feeling at peace during life and death situations. Something new she learnt about herself since coming to Azelrya. The colour of the water among the rocks, the sea, the bubbles and what seemed like fallen buildings within the sea.

She could use every single one of them in her daydreams.

Azul tugged on her arm with desperate eyes.

"How we get out of here?"

Reina shrugged. She knew how terrified Azul must be feeling. She was too. But among the beating heart, racing faster than light and her hands shaking, she felt a new sense of courageousness. A feeling of bravery.

Had she not been underwater, her body would probably be sweating to the point of a near mental breakdown. Which she can easily feel it coming, but she didn't feel as scared as before.

Whether it was because she had felt as if she was about to die, or if it was because Azul was by her side. She got up and walked towards the metal bars, covered in rust. And with a voice as loud as she could muster.

"How about we make a deal?"

She asked. Not caring if her voice was shaking or if her mind was breaking.

The Queen Octopus took no notice.

Reina was tired of being undermined and looked down by everyone else. Even back on Earth, it was all the same. She realised that the only way to solve this, was to prove herself. Prove herself to everyone that she should be listened to. She was a person. A living being like everyone else.

She deserved to be respected.

And tears filled in her eyes at the thought. Not out of sadness. But of a feeling that was arising for the first time. It was as if she no longer recognised herself. It was for the first time, she was kind to herself. It was the first time she walked through the darkness and chose to step down on her walls.

It didn't crack. It didn't budge. It changed nothing at all.

Except that she learnt to kick. To fight.

To love a little part of herself.

She raised her voice as loudly as she could and repeated herself one more time, finally getting her attention. She looked down and slowly approached her, the tentacles swimming from both sides of the cage.

"A deal, you say? What can you possibly have that I might want?"

The Octopus laughed, Reina's eyes wide open, staring at each other right through their souls.

"What do you want? I already told you I came here by accident."

"Doesn't matter. Everyone knows that any creature of the land that arrives here is to be killed. Why should you be any different?"

'Except, I didn't know that,' Reina thought to herself before she mustered up the confidence to speak again, "Well you have to give us a chance to fight for our life. It's only fair."

Reina tried to reason with her. Trying to think of every argument in her head but nothing was making any sense. And then she looked at Azul, at his hopeless face and her heart melted even further, "then at least let my him go. He was only trying to help me."

"Self-sacrifice means nothing me to me. Your friend helped an outsider so now, he's an outsider himself. He'll receive the same punishment as you."

"What is the punishment, exactly?"

"My children are hungry. You will help them with that," She gave a loud laugh, one of the tentacles flew right over the cage and hit one of the rocks in the far distance, falling and smashing to pieces.

Reina gulped, "Who are your children?"

But she didn't need to wait for an answer as three, large sharks swam towards their direction. A grey and blue, their teeth sharpened like a knife. One of them, looked as if they smiled. Reina had never seen a shark smile before.

"How about I fight them? If I win against them, will you let us go?"

The laughter increased and the Octopus jumped at her suggestion, as if it was the most absurd idea she had ever heard of, "My lovelies will eat you up in seconds."

"I bet you I can kill them in seconds. Right before I kill you!"

At this point, Reina decided the to utter the most nonsense she could think of. She had no idea how to fight sharks or how to kill an octopus big enough to smash a building. But she needed time. She needed time to come up with a plan, to find a way out of this mess. There had to be something she could do.

"Did you just threaten to kill me?" Her laughter stopped and her voice lowered, sending chills down her spine. If she wasn't angry before, she definitely was now, "Well then. A mere human wants to challenge ME?!"

The Queen Octopus swirled around and took out her spear, floating in the water. She said something to the sharks and ordered them to do something Reina couldn't hear. But as soon as she spoke to them, ten more sharks arrived, and they stood in a line. She ordered the cage door to be open.

And silence.

For a good few moments, Reina wondered if she will actually be made to fight sharks. There was no possible way for her to win. She could barely swim fast enough to save her life. But maybe, maybe if she can avert their attention to herself, Azul could escape. At least he could live.

Reina smiled. She looked up to Azul, to comfort him but he was no longer there. He was out of the cage and locked the door on her.

"Azul! What are you doing?" Shocked, she yelled at him as he swam away from her. She couldn't believe it. Did he have a death wish?

"I not let you fight. This dangerous," Azul shook his head. He turned around to the Queen Octopus and gave a little bow, "Your Highness, I fight please. And you let Fish go please."

The Queen Octopus rolled her eyes, but nodded regardless. She handed him another much smaller spear and moved to one side, "This will be interesting."

More creatures of the sea arrived, curiously whispering to each other to witness the spectacle. If Reina wasn't so worried about Azul, she would be mesmerised by the mermaids, the seahorses, the dolphins and all sorts of creatures that quietly stared at the boy, holding a spear twice his size, against an army of thirteen sharks.

"Why are you doing this? You're going to get hurt!" Reina screamed, but Azul wouldn't look at her direction.

And with a loud whistle, the fight began.

There were roars and growling. The Queen screamed and raised her tentacles in the air, the mermaids, or what seemed like them anyway, screeched and swam in excitement.

"Your friend is going to die!" A red lobster mocked Reina, as it sat outside the cage.

"Oh get lost!" Reina kicked one of the metal bars, with enough force to push the lobster away from its course. She turned her attention back to the fight. She thought they were done for, but interestingly, Azul wasn't doing as badly as expected.

His thin legs allowed him to swim fast enough and within two minutes, he had stabbed two sharks, one in its fins and the other, in its eyes. She watched the shark drop below as he continued to fight. Should she try to break free from this cage and help him? Should she pray? The helplessness that Reina felt was unmatched.

Azul swam in a circles three more sharks following him, leaving a trail of bubbles. He swam faster and faster, in complete circles until he crashed the sharks with another large group, enough to buy some time and slashed them with his spear. Three more were fallen.

The remaining sharks growled. Their eyes fuming and the Queen yelling at them with her voice echoing through the sea, "FINISH HIM NOW!"

To which one of the sharks flew towards him with so much force that they sent Azul flying, as he hit one of the rocks and came crashing to the bottom.

"No! Azul, are you okay?"

Much to her relief, he got up again. But the trails of blood that he left behind, coming from his legs, he no longer swam as fast as before. Reina gasped. He was hurt. She stared at the sharks, observed their movements, their shapes and size. She watched Azul and his spear, the way he no longer swam in a straight line, with the injury on his leg.

The blueness of the sea that surrounded them, the growls, the sound, the screaming of spectators. She took a deep breath and imagined. She imagined the water, she imagined the colour of his blood, the drops, the way it flew through the water. She imagined and as she imagined. 

The images altered in front of her.

If the sharks would be moving a little slower. If the blood in Azul's leg dripped a little less. If his spear crashed against the sharks with a little more force. If only, but it was only in her imagination. Then, something strange began to occur. The images in her brain began to twist in shape and size, they formed itself and started to grow. To become real.

She imagined a fire. The colour, its warmth, the way it would sizzle inside the lungs of the sharks. The way the blood would flow from their veins and the screeching pain they would feel. Two more sharks fell, blood spewing out of their mouths, leaving Azul confused. The six remaining sharks jumped right at him, targeting his legs where his injury was.

But Reina pictured the rocks, moving with the current, moving with the chaos. Large rocks, the way it would feel against their skin, and soon enough, large rocks fell and crashed onto three more sharks.

"What happening!" Azul shouted, wondering if this was a trick. The audience watched in amazement. But there was no one more shocked than the Queen Octopus who stopped screaming and jumping, simply stared in quiet awe.

Azul launched his spear at two more sharks and the final one that was left, the biggest one of all. Stared right into Azul's face. It opened its mouth wide open, but Azul wasn't moving fast enough among the tiredness of it. If only he moved out of the way on time. If only his spear flew into the shark, deep into its gills from above. The way its skin would tear at the blade.

Within a second, the spear flung into its gills.

Leaving Azul, the last one standing. And Reina, her eyes shining brighter than ever before.