“Yes, that would be wonderful, Your Majesty,” Jessamine said and nodded at the king. “We are all grateful you came to rescue us.”

  “Let’s exit these chambers, then,” the blue merman replied. “I’m getting tired of looking at Eudora’s corpse, anyway.”

  “Me, too,” I admitted. “I can’t wait to get back to civilization, either.”

  We all rose from our seats, and the king led us to the chamber’s massive, gleaming door, which he had left open behind him.

  I couldn’t help but glance over my shoulder one last time, though, and I smirked at the sight of the sea hag’s corpse.

  Hero of Legend: 3, Forces of Evil: 0

  When we got outside, I was afraid we were going to have to travel through the tunnel of obstacles again, but then I was amazed to see King Liron had somehow widened the passageway so it was large enough to accommodate his giant chariot. I thought I recognized one of the seahorses harnessed to the front, and I knew I was right when I heard Ariana squeal.

  “Callie, I thought I’d never see you again!” The redhead ran over to the bright turquoise seahorse and kissed her gently on the top of her head, and then she looked over at the rest of us. “I really thought that was it for my baby. Although, I’d love to know what the kingdom thought when they saw my team of seahorses floating back to the palace in that bubble.”

  “You’ll have to ask Marinus,” the king responded. “Luckily, he was at the palace when Callie returned with your note. He wasn’t able to remove the enchantment himself, but he knew enough to have me summoned immediately. I was above the surface, and… well, we’ll talk more about that a little later.”

  “Is it about Princess Rachel?” I asked, and I furrowed my eyebrows as I tried to think of what else the king could be referring to.

  “Well, yes, sort of!” King Liron thundered. “You’re all going to be very happy, trust me. In any case, Ariana, I’ll bet these humans are going to be glad to get out from under all this water.”

  “Oh, no, Your Majesty, we love it down here,” Jessamine gushed. “All your citizens are so kind, and the palace has been beyond hospitable to us.”

  “Mhm,” the merman chuckled. “Still, Your Highness, I’m sure it’s a little damp for your tastes.”

  “They’ll never admit it, Father,” Ariana laughed as she floated next to Callie and stroked the seahorse’s head. “At least, not to you. They just complain to me in private…”

  “Ariana!” Cienna scolded her with a grin and smacked her gently on the arm. “Don’t tell the king that!”

  “Ah, marriage,” King Liron said, and then he winked at me. “I do miss it sometimes… but not all the time!”

  “Well, I’m more than honored to be married to your daughter, Your Majesty,” I told him with a slight bow. I knew he was joking, but I wasn’t sure how far I could take it. In any case, I was glad Ariana seemed to be in a more cheerful mood since she’d talked to her father.

  “Well, shall we go?” The huge merman gestured toward his chariot. “Ariana, you sit up front with me, and I’ll tell you more about your mother. The other three of you should relax in the back.”

  “But Father, how are we going to get out of here?” Ariana asked the king, and she gestured out into the darkness beyond the halos of our lanterns. “For that matter, how did you make it with your chariot through all Eudora’s obstacles?”

  King Liron swam over and placed a hand on the front of his carriage, and a huge chartreuse light turned on. The giant headlight illuminated the tunnel for about a hundred feet, and I saw with amazement the passageway was entirely clear.

  “What happened to the rocks, the skeletons, and the ruins?” Jessamine breathed. “It’s like they were never there.”

  “Well, a lot of them didn’t really exist,” the king explained. “Much of the tunnel was simply a series of Eudora’s illusions. They were deadly, nonetheless, but it was easy for me to simply wave them away once you killed her. And the rest… I put up a magical barrier for me and the seahorses, and we just kind of plowed on through. If you look down toward the bottom of the trench right here, you’ll see all the weapons that were embedded into the rock when you passed by. Someday I may send a mission back from the palace to determine if there’s any hidden value in the swords and such, but I’m not going to worry about it today. Now here, sit!”

  King Liron gestured for all of us to climb into his majestic, gleaming chariot, so I assisted Jessamine and Cienna into the back before I sat next to them, and when I finally relaxed onto the chariot’s luxuriously soft seat, I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

  “Oh, Father,” I heard Ariana sigh from the front. “Honestly, I feel a little bad. You sent me on a mission, and then you had to come rescue me.”

  “I did no such thing!” the king boomed, and the whole chariot shook. “You, the hero, and the other princesses completed the mission successfully, and I don’t want to hear another word about it. Besides, there’s no doubt in my mind you could have made it back without me. I just thought it would be nice for you to ride in luxury! Joe, Your Highnesses, there are some refreshments back there, if you’d care for a bottle of the specially-brewed palace ale. And with that, we’re off!”

  King Liron gently pulled back on the reins and directed the seahorses toward the end of the tunnel, and we started to move. The king was clearly an experienced driver, because the seahorses pulled the chariot a lot faster than when Ariana was in control. Before I even knew it, we were out of the passageway and back into the dark trench. It was amazing how much more we could see in the chariot’s powerful headlights, and I now realized there had been spooky fish swimming around our bodies the whole time. I spied miniature sharks that were only a couple inches long, but I shuddered when I caught a glimpse of their telltale fins and teeth.

  I dug around the back seat until I found the ale King Liron had mentioned, and I passed a bottle each to Cienna and Jessamine. Then the three of us leaned back against each other, and I thought I might have even dozed off for a few minutes when I sensed the chariot pull to a stop.

  “Where are we?” I yawned as I looked around, and it still seemed like we were in the middle of nowhere. The only light was from our lanterns and the headlights, and we were parked in the middle of the sandy seafloor.

  “Remember I told you there was a surprise?” King Liron thundered. “Well, get ready to make your way to the surface, because it’s up there.”

  “The… the surface?” Ariana asked her father with her red eyebrows furrowed. “But aren’t we going back to the palace?”

  “Well, we need to talk again about Princess Rachel,” the king responded, and he raised his eyebrows at all of us. “As it turns out, the problems in her kingdom have escalated very quickly, and she needs help immediately. I’m actually bringing you to the surface to see you off on your journey. You don’t have any items you need from the palace, do you?”

  “No, we’ve been traveling pretty light,” I responded to the king. Then I looked around at the princesses, and they all seemed as surprised as I was. I had to admit there was part of me that was excited to return back above the surface, but leaving right this minute was certainly unexpected.

  “So, we’re headed to Rachel’s kingdom.” Ariana had a thoughtful look on her face. “As you know, I have spent some time above land, so this isn’t entirely new to me. Nonetheless, I’m sure there’s going to be a lot you’ll have to teach me about being part of your world.”

  “If we could adapt to being down here, you’ll be just fine!” Cienna laughed before she looked around at the endless ocean floor. “So, goodbye, undersea kingdom?”

  “That’s right.” King Liron nodded. “I’ll come up there to see you off, but Ariana, you need to prepare yourself to say goodbye to Callie for a while.”

  “Y-Yes, Father, I understand,” Ariana said as her lip trembled. “I’m going to miss her, and you, and please say goodbye to Marinus for me, and everyone else at the palace, and…”

  “Daughter, don’t worry,” her father replied with a kind smile. “I even come up on land sometimes, so you may run into me when you least expect it.”

  “O-Okay.” My mermaid wife blinked back tears. “Well, if the rest of you are ready, I have a hard time with long goodbyes, so…”

  I got out of the chariot and held my hand out to the princesses, and then I glanced up toward the surface. It still looked pitch black above us, but I felt incredibly happy as I thought about seeing bright sunshine again.

  “So, you can just follow me as I swim upward!” King Liron boomed. “We should be in the exact right spot, so let’s go!”

  “We just… release the switches on our armor and float?” I asked doubtfully. “It seems like we’re so far down.”

  “We are… wait a minute, I just came up with a fun idea!” The giant merman’s eyes twinkled. “How about if I temporarily give you tails like merpeople? That’s well within my power. And Joe, you’ll be able to see what it feels like from my side, since I’m sure you’ve been wondering.”

  I’d been curious what it would feel like to have a tail for the entire time we’d been under the sea, but I didn’t particularly want to talk to King Liron about what went on below the waist.

  But then, in a snap, the king had changed the three of us humans into merpeople.

  My body tingled all over as I looked at both Jessamine and Cienna, who both appeared sexier than ever due to the novelty of their colorful, sparkling tails, and I realized I’d completely lost the ability to feel aroused below the spot where my tail started. I briefly experimented by thinking about my wives naked, and although I still felt tingly in my torso at the thought of sex, the lack of sensation was startling to me.

  “Well, I guess that answers that.” I clapped my hands and tried to avoid eye contact with the king.

  “Answers what, exactly, Joe?” The merman smirked and clearly was enjoying fucking with me.

  “Um, what it feels like to swim with a tail?” I scratched my head and grinned weakly.

  “Yes, it’s definitely a strange feeling,” Jessamine chimed in as she swished her turquoise tail back and forth. “I never in a million years thought…”

  “Me, neither,” Cienna laughed and glanced down at her own light-blue, scaled appendage. “Well, should we try swimming?”

  “I’m looking forward to it!” Jessamine chirped. “I want to see how much faster I can move.”

  “Let’s go, everyone,” Ariana said with red eyes as she finished murmuring her goodbyes to Callie, but then her lips curled up into a small smile. “It’s time for a new adventure.”

  “Well, then, let me lead the way,” King Liron thundered, which sent a strong current through the water around us. Then he began to swim upward, and we all followed him.

  I had to admit I was excited to swim with my new tail, and this kind of movement was an entirely new sensation in my lower body. I felt ten times stronger and more buoyant, and I quickly figured out how to flip my tail back and forth so I could easily glide up through the water. Not having to kick my legs conserved vast amounts of energy, and I felt like I could swim forever. I knew we were leaving the sea soon, but I thought it might be nice to spend more time as a merman should we ever come back.

  My wives had swum out in front of me, and they were all holding hands as they made their way toward the surface. Their asses all looked pretty good as mermaids, though I still hadn’t gotten used to having barely any physical reaction to their bodies.

  We were swimming so fast it only took a couple of minutes to reach a place where bright beams of light broke through the saltwater. It was only a little while longer before we reached the surface, and I gasped when I inhaled fresh air into my lungs again for the first time and saw the cloudless blue sky. Seagulls squawked as they attempted to catch fish around us, and the breeze on my face was like heaven.

  And then I noticed the ship with the horse figurehead.

  “Oh, my gods, oh, my gods, oh, my gods!” Cienna cried out, and she was so excited she covered her face with her hands for a moment. “It’s the Lady Starlight! King Liron, how did you do this?”

  “As soon as I heard the news from Princess Rachel’s kingdom, I knew I had to get you there as soon as possible.” King Liron raised his massive blue shoulders in a shrug. “So, I had your ship brought close to Eudora’s cave, and here we are!”

  “This is just… wow… I can’t believe it, Your Majesty!” Cienna’s azure eyes sparkled with tears. “I can’t thank you enough.”

  “Yes, well, I’m glad you’re happy, Princess Cienna, and I’m sure you’re eager to board your ship!” the king boomed, but then a sad expression flitted across his face as he turned to say goodbye to Ariana. “Daughter, I’ll see you again soon, I promise.”

  “G-Goodbye, Father,” Ariana said, and I saw she was crying. Then the redhead threw her arms around the king’s giant neck, and he kissed her on the cheek. “I-I’m ready for this, I know I am. And Joe will keep me safe, not that I need any help.”

  “Of course, you don’t, but it never hurts to have a family,” King Liron replied as he looked around kindly at all of us. “Oh, and one more thing.”

  The king snapped his fingers, and I gasped at the sudden sensation of cold water on my balls. I found myself swimming in place like a human again, and while being a merman had been a fun experiment, I felt a little more secure with all my equipment back in its proper location.

  “Thanks, Your Majesty,” I said as I gave the blue merman a quick salute. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for us, and for… for having such an amazing daughter.”

  “Joe, you’re quite welcome.” King Liron nodded. “Ariana, Princess Jessamine, Princess Cienna, why don’t you board the ship now?”

  “Yes, Father,” Ariana sighed. “Cienna, lead the way.”

  We all swam over to the ship, and one of the crew members threw a rope ladder over the side. I watched Cienna begin to climb, and then Jessamine followed suit, but Ariana seemed frozen in place, so I swam over to her.

  “After you, my lady.” I held out my hand to the redhead, and she grasped it tightly.

  “I suppose this is it, Joe,” Ariana sniffled, but then she smiled through her tears. “I’m excited to have a party tonight.”

  “Me, too, because we have a lot of celebrating to do.” I grinned at the mermaid. “So, are you going to put on a pair of legs for me, or not?”

  “Of course!” Ariana laughed, and in a flash, she was back in her human form, and then she began climbing up the ladder.

  “Guess it’s just me left,” I remarked to myself, and I pulled myself up onto the ropes. When I admired the view of my wives from below, I was pleased to feel a familiar stirring in my shorts. “Goodbye, sea.”

  When we reached the deck, I realized just how wobbly I felt on my legs, especially when the boat pitched back and forth.

  “Well, this feels kind of strange,” I told my wives as I grabbed the rail. “I was looking forward to coming up here, and I’m glad to be here, but I feel like I can barely walk.”

  “Yes, even with the leg armor on, mermaid’s kiss made it easier to move underwater,” Ariana explained, and then she grabbed the rail, too. “I’m really not used to walking like this, either, especially on a boat that’s rocking back and forth.”

  “Having my own ship has definitely helped me get my sea legs over the years, but even I’m a tiny bit shaky,” Cienna admitted, and she grasped Jessamine’s hand.

  “I have to admit I feel fine,” Jessamine giggled, and I thought that was ironic considering how seasick she’d been the last time we were on the Lady Starlight. “But I am looking forward to resting a little…”

  “Oh, there’s Captain Barnes!” Cienna pointed as she looked up to the ship’s helm. “I really need to go talk to him. I’ll see you all in a few minutes.”

  Cienna lurched off to greet the captain, and Ariana, Jessamine, and I all looked around at each other. It was actually pretty hot out, but I couldn’t wait to change out of my soaking wet shorts into absolutely anything else.

  “Should we head to Cienna’s quarters and prepare for our celebration?” I raised my eyebrows at my wives. “After everything we’ve been through today, we definitely deserve it.

  “Full speed ahead!” I suddenly heard the captain cry out, and before I knew it, the ship was headed in the direction of the setting sun.

  Cienna came back down to join us on the main deck, and my wives and I all stood by the railing and watched as King Liron waved goodbye. My gigantic blue father-in-law kept waving until it was impossible to see him anymore, and I sighed deeply. There was definitely something great about being up on the surface again, but I knew I was going to miss our times under the sea.

  “I’m ready to spend some time alone with the three of you,” Cienna told us, and she put her arm around my waist. “The sun feels good, but I want to eat and lie down, too.”

  “Lie down,” I said with a smirk. “Sure, if that’s what you want to call what we’re about to do.”

  “I just want to take a nap,” Jessamine yawned, but she couldn’t keep the smile off her face.

  “Alright, if you all are going to be downers…” I threw my arms up into the air and headed in the direction of Cienna’s private room. The princesses all followed me, and I could hear them giggling as we went below deck.

  “Ooh, they even lit my candles for me,” Cienna said as she pushed open the heavy wooden door to the room, and we all followed her inside. “It’s a little romantic, huh, Joe?”

  “Maybe just a little…” I laughed as I wiggled my eyebrows at my blonde wife. Then I looked around the room and saw the large, ornately-dressed bed I remembered, and I thought I’d like nothing more than to lie down, or at least sit, but my shorts were still totally sodden. “So, does anyone want some new clothes besides me? It is celebration night, so you know what that means!”

  “Dresses!” Jessamine chirped. “But are we really going to wear gowns down here? I know it’s our tradition, but maybe I could make us something a little more comfortable, just this once.”

 

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