Daughter Of The Revolution: Yeah . . . sorry for making another story, but this was stuck in my head for some odd reason, and I haven't seen On Stranger Tides for a while XD

So yeah, I thought this might be an interesting idea if no one's used it (I don't know 'cause I haven't really looked, so sorry if someone has and I'm stealing ideas D:) anyways, but yeah, I don't know if I'll update this as quickly as my Nothing But Animals story, but if people like it . . . well . . . you get the idea :)

Tell me if I should continue if you like it!

Full Summary: Xehanort is looking for the Fountain of Youth. On his quest to become immortal he brings along his crew, otherwise known as the Organization, to help him accomplish this feat. But . . . there are certain 'key' objects he must obtain first before he can move forward—like two silver chalices, a map, and a Mermaid's tear. What's this? They only have a Merman, and they are especially harder to produce emotion from? Well—they better get to work in making him cry then.

Xehanort smiled to himself as he looked down at the map in his hands. He was even more pleased as he turned his head to the right to see, sitting there like trophies, the two silver chalices he also needed for this ritual. Now, as his eyes scanned back over to the map in his lap, he and his crew were on their way to Whitecap Bay, where Mermaids be.

It was the last thing he needed. The tears of a Mermaid. He wasn't quite sure what he'd do with them when he got them, but he was sure the answers would unfold once everything came together.

"LAND HOOOO! ! !"

Xehanort took his amber eyes off the map and glanced upward from where he had heard the voice come from. Even though he was in his Captain's quarters he could still hear the shouts coming from above on poop deck. So, folding the map back he placed in inside his jacket and stood up, taking up his hat in hand and exiting his room.

As he climbed the ladders up to the poop deck the noises were becoming more and more louder. His crew must be overly excited, he figured. It had taken them some time to obtain the map and two chalices, so why wouldn't they be? Some had died along the way, but these lucky 13 survived so they should feel honored, honored that they were going to witness history being made.

It is said no one has yet to make it to the Fountain of Youth. Some might have journeyed there, yes, but none has ever drunken of that blessed water. Just at the thought, Xehanort licked his lips and smirked. He was going to be the first.

"Captain! Captain!" came one of Xehanort's crewmembers, all smiles as the dirty blonde waved excitedly at his Captain. "We're here! We're finally here!"

"I can see that," Xehanort nodded softly before stepping over towards the railing. "Is that Whitecap Bay?"

"It's gotta be!" the same crewmember replied, shaking his head like a hyper child.

Xehanort took out his map and looked at the drawing of the bay. Sure enough, the longitude and latitude were correct, so were the curves of the land, but there was one important thing it had to have to make sure it indeed was Whitecap Bay.

"There it is," Xehanort whispered as he grinned, his eyes darting towards the old lighthouse that had been built some hundred years ago.

"I knew it!" the crewmember next to him exclaimed. "I could feel it in my bones!"

"Well done, Demyx," Xehanort replied, turning to the lad and patting him on the back. "But you best be returning to the nest so you can spot those Mermaids."

"You're right!" Demyx gasped, his blue-green eyes widening as he quickly turned and jumped back onto the rigging so he could climb back into the crow's nest.

Xehanort sighed and chuckled before turning back towards the cove. This was it, and they were so close.

"Captain," came the voice of his First Mate, making Xehanort turn to look at his nephew, Xemnas.

"Yes, Xemnas?" Xehanort asked, looking at his relative with the same set of eyes.

"Should we drop anchor here?" the tanned man asked, "We don't want the Mermaids to ruin the ship while we walk the lands."

"Yes, drop anchor, but tell the crew we'll be taking boats out to the bay," Xehanort replied, placing his gloved hands behind his back.

"What?" Xemnas questioned. "But . . . we've all heard the tales of sailors being dragged to their death and most don't even want to set foot in—"

"I am your Captain, and you will do as I order," Xehanort replied, unafraid of insubordination. He knew his entire crew feared him, and it was good that they did. What else did he have, if not fear, holding his crew back from mutiny?

"Aye, aye, sir." Xemnas inclined his head before turning and fetching the Boatswain to give the crew their orders.

"Yes, this day looks promising," Xehanort nodded to himself as he looked at the bay and then turned to look at his crew, the ones left from his larger one of more than 100. "Let us see what the night will bring."

Turning over on the sand where he lay, Axel let out a sigh. He could say he was officially bored from having nothing to do, but that didn't stop the smile that crept on his face from feeling the comfortable seaweed under him. He may be bored, but at least he was comfortable.

"Brother, brother!"

All-too-soon inbound his little sister, nearly jumping on his chest, making sure her big brother turned his attention on her.

"Syrena?" Axel questioned, opening one emerald eye to stare down at his little sister who was sprawled out all over his torso, her tail wrapping around his own. "What is it that's got you so excited?"

"It's sisters," she replied, pointing out of Axel's cavern towards the reef where the rest of their sisters had gathered. "They're saying humans have arrived."

"Again?" Axel asked, lifting his head and taking his sister in his arms before sitting up and looking down at the brunette. "Didn't we get some last year?"

"Yeah," she nodded, her pink lips pursing as she thought back on it.

"Damn, why won't they just leave our bay alone, hm?" Axel smiled down at his cute sister who just shrugged.

"We just happen to live near the Fountain," Syrena replied as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, don't remind me," Axel scoffed, scooting his sister off his lap before flipping his fin and starting out towards the reef where the rest of his sisters met.

The moment they came in site he could catch their whispers about the human creatures. Of course he caught a few nasty words about the intruders by a few sisters that were always known to have the worst of tempers. Axel chuckled to himself as he caught their attention and quickly the murmurs and whispers silenced as he came towards his sisters and took a seat among them.

"Oh, no sisters, please, don't stop because of me," Axel smiled, flicking his wrist to signal for them to continue.

"But brother," a sister with red hair like his own, started. "These concerns shouldn't matter you."

"Yes," another spoke up, and it was during this time as she spoke up that Syrena swam up to her brother and placed herself next to him. "You needn't concern yourselves with them, brother. We will take care of them, just like the last ones."

"If you want to," Axel replied, letting out a sigh as he leant against the coral he sat against, a little more rough than sand. "But is it wrong for your dear brother to listen in on to what you're going to do with them?"

"No," another sister answered. "But we don't want to bore you."

"I'm already bored out of my mind," Axel let out a sigh, leaning his chin in the palm of his hand and giving Syrena a playful nudge, thus making the young Mermaid giggle. "Plus, why do you girls get to have all the fun in getting rid of the intruders? I've never once got to take part in the action."

"It's because you don't have to," another sister spoke up, Axel had 100's of sisters actually.

"Yes, another spoke up. "No need to get your hands dirty. If you wish for us to provide you entertainment, we will."

"You talking about the dead bodies you brought me last year?" Axel asked. "The ones you strung up at my cavern to let me watch slowly rot? Not much fun in that."

"We don't want you to get hurt, brother," a blonde sister spoke up, the black-haired Mermaid next to her nodded, agreeing with her sister.

"You saying I'm easily hurt?" Axel asked, a slight growl in his tone. He knew his sisters well and often or not he knew they might speak about a weakness they assumed he had just because he did not partake in their 'drownings'.

"No, no!" the blonde said, waving her slender hands before her. "Look at Mira, here." At that all eyes were on a dark haired Mermaid who bore some of the worst battle scars from their previous encounter with humans. "Her skin is marred and beautiful scales shredded. We do not wish this upon you brother."

Axel inhaled before looking down at his slender pail arms that mixed in-between of milky white skin and fiery red scales. Again, Axel knew his sisters well. They adored his fiery scales and strong tale. Every day, whichever sister saw him, they always complimented his appearance and it was true . . . he's seen the scaring of his sisters caused by those human beings, but he couldn't say or not that they deserved it because he knew the aggression of his sisters over this cove—especially after their mother and father passed away.

Still, they were his beautiful sisters and he didn't like seeing some come back with such horrendous wounds—or, some just not come back at all. Of course no dead sister went missing. They would eventually sink to the bottom of the bay and his sisters would find and bury each of them, making sure all were accounted for, and all were.

Axel may have well over a 100 sisters, but they were slowly declining since the humans had discovered the Fountain of Youth, not only that, but their bay was the closest to the Fountain and so most would sail their hulking ships right into their home, without even caring on trespassing. Over and over, his sisters would fight to keep them away, and thus earning a nasty reputation. Because of their aggression, their bay had earned years of peace, but nothing lasts forever and soon more humans came in search for the Fountain.

"So, when will you attack?" Axel asked, looking at all of his sisters.

All looked amongst each other and soon the whispers and murmurs began anew, this time they were lower, making sure their only brother was kept out of the plots, seeing how they thought he needn't any part in this. With an almost silent growl Axel brought his tail up before swiping it down, causing a powerful rush of waters towards his often-annoying sisters.

"Answer when I ask, sisters!" Axel demanded, making sure they knew who was boss—whether he participated in their little hunts or not Axel was still the Merman of this bay, and so would be respected.

"Sorry, brother," they apologized, each bowing their heads before Axel saw it fit for them to raise them.

"Whatever. Just stop your whispering will ya? It's annoying," Axel murmured. Syrena, next to him, only giggled. The young pink-tailed always found it amusing when her brother became the hothead his color of hair depicted him out to be.

"This very night, we will strike," one spoke up.

"So, you're suspecting they'll be in the water?" Axel asked, looking at his sister.

"They usually are," she said.

"You know," Axel chuckled, bringing his index finger up to chew on the joint. "If you keep this up, the humans shall suspect that they know how to lure you girls out."

"Let them think what they want," another spoke up.

"It will teach them to fear us," another replied.

"Yeah!" Syrena suddenly spoke up, surprising most, even Axel, since she was the youngest of their family. "This is our bay anyway!"

"Well, well, she's got bite in her after all," Axel chuckled, nudging his beloved little sister in the rubs, just below her newly developing breasts. "I knew there was a shark in ya, Syrena."

"Stop it, stop it!" she giggled, wriggling away from her brother for a moment, just so she could breathe.

Axel only giggled along with her, that is, until he noticed the glares of his other sisters.

"What?" he asked. He never liked it when they stared at him like this.

"We suppose Syrena is your favorite sister," they spoke up, harsh eyes on their brother and their youngest sister who quickly took cover behind her big brother.

"Ladies, ladies, I never said that," Axel chuckled, knowing that they were getting into this argument again.

"Actions speak louder than words, brother," the all but nearly hissed at him.

"That's true, but she's the baby of the family," Axel explained, poking his little sister in the ribs, causing the girl to wriggle again before twirling around him and settling in his lap where his arms came and openly wrapped around her. "Father mated to his twin sister."

"So," the spoke up again. "She was his favorite, as Syrena is yours."

"Really guys?" Axel chuckled, finding their jealousy amusing, all because they were competing over him. "Look at Syrena." To show his point, Axel took the girl under her arms and held her up like some infant. "She's nothing but skin and bones. Why would I mate her?"

"Uh! So are you, brother!" Syrena defended, wiggling out of her brother's grasp by whacking him in the face with her smaller tail and swimming off to her sisters where they would pet her hair.

"Alright, enough of that," Axel groaned, rubbing his sore jaw from where his little bold sister had smote him. "When the time comes I may or may not pick one of you."

"Surely not a maid from the other coves!" one sister protested, soon getting her other sisters to protest as well.

"I never said that either," Axel groaned. "You're putting words into my mouth . . . so troublesome you lot are."

"We're your sisters," Syrena spoke up with a giggle as one of her sisters braided a shell into one of her brunette locks. "We're supposed to be possessive over our only brother."

"Well then . . ." Axel narrowed his eyes and smiled the smile of a Cheshire-catfish. "I'll just have to mate a human to get you over that."

That seemed to do it. All at once his 100+ sisters rose and began shouting obscurities over the idea, while Axel was left to roll around and laugh at them. He loved them all to death, that was for sure, but they could get carried away sometimes. Being the only male, he knew and he often wondered how his father did this.

In Merfolk society only one male is born to a bay/cove, a family. They're always born first to a couple and then the purses produced afterwards are all female. In a cove the male is always to mate a sister and thus start the cycle over, though once a single sister has been chosen as mate then the others are sent out into the open sea to live out the remainder of their days.

That was probably one of the reasons why Axel's sisters fought so much for his affection. Their bay, Whitecap Bay, was a nice place, nicer than the others, and it was their home, where they had grown up. No one wanted to part with that. So Axel was stuck with wanting to keep his sisters safe and not have them go out into the open sea, but also that of tradition, where he would pick a sister to mate to and start his own family in the bay. So the thought of staying single dwelled heavily on him, but he knew his sisters would all pitch a fit if they found out, seeing how if he died then the cove would whither away with no heirs.

All those thoughts aside, Axel still couldn't shake the boredom, so, with or without his sisters go-ahead, he'd figure he'd check out their human drownings when night fell.

"Roxas."

"Aye, sir?" Roxas looked up at whom he had come to know as the Boatswain, the one in charge bossing lower-deck men, like himself, around.

The man had an ugly 'X' scar plastered on his face from previous battles for those chalices, or was it the map? Either way, Roxas could barely stand looking at the man for more than 2 seconds. Even more so when he suddenly grinned at him in that eerie kind of way as he said—

"You're going in the boats tonight."

Roxas felt his blood run cold. He could see it in Saïx's amber eyes that his face had gone pale, especially by the way the man smirked at him. Roxas knew he could see him licking his dry lips, trying to get the protesting words out before it was too late. He knew Saïx had seen it too many times to catch it before it happened, and just as he patted his shoulder and said those two words of no returning, Roxas knew he was doomed.

"Captain's orders," Saïx stated as he walked off, readying to deliver the message to the other unlucky few.

Roxas didn't know how long he was standing there, on the beach like that, but he was pretty sure it was a long time. Long enough to nearly be tackled by a sobbing Demyx who, no doubtingly, received the same news of him.

"Ohho, Roxas, it's not fair!" the dirty blonde sniffed, rubbing his nose and eyes.

"D-Demyx?" Suddenly, Roxas was thrust back into the real world. "Are you alright?"

"No!" the older boy nearly shouted. "The stupid Boatswain, Saïx, told me I was going to be live bait tonight!"

Roxas sighed as he ran a hand through his golden spikes before patting his good friend on the back.

"Well, someone's got to do it," Roxas replied, trying his best to make light of the very dark and grim situation.

"I know that, but why us?" Demyx asked. "Have we not been loyal to Captain? Why would he want to get rid of us like this? !"

"Whoever said that, Demyx?" Roxas shook his head. "We're some of the most loyal shipmates around."

"Yeah, but," Demyx sniffed, looking like some kicked puppy as he gazed at the shorter blonde. "We've lost so many, and . . . now that there's only 13, plus Cap'n, left. You'd think—you'd think we couldn't afford to lose anymore."

"And you're exactly right," Roxas nodded. "We haven't come this far to die. We're so close to the Fountain of Youth, Demyx, that we're practically drinking it right now."

"You're right . . . I suppose," Demyx slowly nodded before he inhaled a sharp breath. "But I still don't wanna be drowned by Mermaids!"

Roxas froze once again at the mere thought of those demons of the deep. He had heard stories, oh so many stories of them. Some just recently as well . . . about how they'd lure in an unsuspecting victim to their watery grave.

"Have you heard the tales about them, Roxas?" Demyx asked, looking and finding the shorter seemingly lost in his own thoughts.

"Aye, I have," Roxas slowly nodded before blinking and looking out into the bay. "If I would have known about them when I was younger then I would have never gone out to sea from sheer fear of the unknown depths."

"I hear you," Demyx nodded. "But, on a brighter note, I've heard that Mermaids are more beautiful than even the most beautiful of humans. Did you know that?"

"Can't say I did," Roxas replied.

"I suppose you're right," Demyx said. "In judging you'd have to see both, and I've seen some pretty women in my day, from all the places we've been to. If we see a Mermaid, I'll be sure to judge."

"Just don't let that judging be your last thoughts," Roxas said, turning a worrying eye to his friend. "I've heard that sometimes a sailor won't even known they've drowned yet because their eyes are eternally fixated on the angelic face of a Mermaid."

"Eeehh, creepy," Demyx shuddered before he and Roxas turned at the sound of a whistle.

"Alright, listen up!" Xemnas, the first mate, called out, getting the entire crew's attention. "Night will be on us sooner than we think. I want those who were ordered to get in the boats to shove off already while Xigbar, and Xaldin go up to the lighthouse and fill the lantern with the whale's fat we brought along. Now I don't like to repeat myself twice, so get a move on!"

After the last word left Xemnas' mouth, the rest of the crew were hurrying around. Those designated as the live bait quickly took hold of the nets and their boats, while the others came up to Xemnas and the Captain.

"Do you have enough, Xigbar?" Xehanort asked, looking at his Second Mate.

"Probably enough and then some," Xigbar replied, his sole eye going to the bags of whale fat he and his partner had. "I'd say all this was probably once a whole whale."

"It just might have been," Xemnas chided in. "Now get you're asses up that lighthouse!"

"Aye, aye!" the two replied before darting off towards the old tower.

"Now, you two." Xemnas turned to the other two who were selected for another very important task. "Marluxia, and Larxene, do you have the harpoons needed with you?"

"We do, right here," Marluxia smirked as he turned to his partner who held them up, showing them to their bosses.

"Good, now, set them up next to the lighthouse. Xigbar and Xaldin will illuminate your targets when night comes so you'll have no worries in missing," Xemnas replied.

"Missing, us?" Larxene scoffed before cackling like a witch. "We'll have us a Mermaid in no time."

"I sure hope so," Xehanort spoke up. "I've grown impatient these last few years. Finding the map and chalices were challenging enough. Make sure she's alive will you? I know you like to kill at first shot, but please—do it for your Captain."

"Aye, aye, sir," they both replied in unison.

It was dark . . . so dark that not even the moon was out. Roxas looked up at the skies to see clouds rolling in the way of the moon's beams. Hell, not even Xigbar and Xaldin had set up that lantern in the lighthouse yet, so it was safe to assume he and the other specially selected were a little more than nervous in sitting out in the middle of the bay and just waiting to get drowned.

"Hey, you doing alright, Xion?" Roxas turned to his right to see the raven-haired girl hugging her knees to her chest.

"What?" she looked at him with frightened blue eyes before bowing her head again. "Oh, yeah."

"Liar," Roxas stated.

"Shut up," she muttered, her lips barely moving as she spoke.

"We're all a little nervous, alright?" Roxas patted her on the back, and then turned to the others whose boat was touching his. "Dem, Zex, Lux, how are you guys doing?"

"Same as you," came Zexion's reply with an exasperated sigh.

"So . . . you guys think we'll see any Mermaids?" Roxas asked, quietly clapping his hands together—someone had to start talking or else they'd all go insane.

"Suppose we will," Luxord spoke up, turning everyone's attention towards him. "What will you all do?"

"I still don't believe they exist," Zexion said, turning his nose up at the topic.

"Of course you don't." Demyx turned to his friend as he rolled his eyes. "Why are you still with us again on our search for the mythical Fountain of Youth?"

"I survived. Simple as that," Zexion stated with a slight roll of his shoulders.

"I believe they're real," Demyx muttered.

"You believe everything's real. From Father Christmas, to the elves that live in your shoe," Zexion detested.

"Hey! No making fun of the elves, alright. They're sensitive to the name calling," Demyx pouted.

"I have to go with Zexion sometimes," Roxas said. "Sometimes your beliefs are too ridiculous, Demyx."

"Stop laughing!" Demyx growled.

"Will you guys shut up!"

Everyone turned to see Xion, staring at them all, wide-eyed and shaking like a leaf.

"Xion?" Roxas questioned.

"Just . . . be quiet okay," she whispered, bringing her trembling lips back to her knees.

"Is she alright?" Luxord asked.

"I'll ask," Roxas said, motioning for him to wait for a solid answer as he attempted to scoot closer to his crewmate. "Xion, is—is everything alright?"

"No," she said. "My . . . my sister, Naminé had married an adventurous husband. He wanted to find all the wonders of the world and the Fountain of Youth was one of them. She would—she would write me letters about their journeys and how they had made it to Florida where the Fountain was said to be. They had docked at a bay, unknown to them."

By now, everything was silent, well, all but Demyx's constant gulps in suspense.

"It was Whitecap Bay and that night my sister's husband went missing. Last she had heard of him was a splash in the water. He never came back up."

Xion buried her face in her knees before exhaling, trying to calm herself.

"Maaaan, now I want to go back to shore," Demyx whimpered.

"Captain will have our heads if we do," Luxord stated.

"I know," Demyx grumped.

All five nearly jumped out of their skin once a great light shown about them. Darting around they then noticed that their crewmates had managed to handle the lighthouse, pointing the giant lantern their way.

"Sheesh, don't scare me like that," Demyx gasped, placing a hand over his rapidly beating heart.

"Sorry about the scare guys!" came a call from Xigbar from the lighthouse. "Xaldin just couldn't seem to find a match, heh!"

"That wasn't funny!" Demyx was quick to protest, standing up in the boat and shaking his fist at them.

All they heard from shore was the howling laughter of their shipmates and it only set them more on edge as they now waited in the spotlight, just waiting for the 'show'.

"I still don't like being live bait," Demyx grumped, crossing his arms and sitting back down next to Luxord and Zexion.

"Deal with it," Luxord replied. "We're here now, nothing any much of us can do about it."

"Well . . . where are they? !" Demyx nearly bounced out of his seat in impatience.

"You really want them to appear so they can drown you?" Zexion asked, chuckling at the blonde.

"Well . . . no, but I just wanna get this over with already!" he complained in a whining manner.

"Hey, losers! Start singing!" another of their crewmates called from shore, this time, it was Larxene.

"What, why?" Zexion asked.

"Silly, 'cause Mermaids like to hear us sing," Demyx teased.

"Oh, and you know everything," Zexion bit back.

"No, just on mythical creatures," Demyx replied, sticking his tongue out at his crewmate in the process.

"Hurry it up idiots!" Larxene called out again. "Captain's not getting any younger!"

"Fine, fine," Zexion groaned with a roll of his visible eye as he started up a song.

It wasn't long before everyone slowly started up with Zexion, even Xion joined in and Roxas sat close to the girl as they sang louder, in a way, hoping that the louder they sang the more Mermaids they'd scare off.

Of course, their tune was cut off by the small wave of water that hit their joined boats. That small wave was all they needed to feel to know something was swimming near, something large, like a shark. All quieted instantly and soon the bright light was away from them and towards the waters where the wave seemingly originated.

"Did you see anything?" Xemnas called out to both the shipmates in the lighthouse and the live bait he had waiting out in the boats.

"Damn, nothing!" Xigbar called down.

"Damn them. I know they're here, I can feel them," Xemnas growled from where he stood, near to where the Captain sat in a chair, making himself comfortable in his wait.

"Calm down, Xemnas," Xehanort spoke up as he leant back in his chair, knowing the show was about to begin. "They'll show . . . very soon."

"But Captain, that could have been nothing but a sea cow," Xemnas replied, his frustration in waiting easily showing.

"Was it now?" Xehanort replied, his amber eyes drifting back towards the dark waters where he had set five of his crewmen in boats to lure in the creatures and, by the looks of it, it was working.

"Did you see that, Marluxia?" Larxene whispered, her electric blue eyes keeping on the dark waters where the waves were seen.

"I did," he replied, pointing the large mechanism he was controlling in the direction he thought best for a hit, and that was right near his dear shipmates.

"You heard what Cap'n said, he wants the creature alive," she said.

"I know." Marluxia smirked as his left hand went to the small scythe nestled in its holder on his thigh. "But that doesn't mean I can't take a souvenir."

Larxene eyed her partner warily before the calls of her crewmates caught her attention. Her head shot in the direction towards the lighthouse where Xigbar and Xaldin were and instantly she saw the two idiots shooting the giant lantern around the waters, as if they were following something.

"I saw it!" she heard them shout. "I know I did! It's right there!"

Her eyes turned back to the five crewmates in the boats who were now carefully leaning against the other and seated as far as possible away from the waters as they could.

"Get the tank ready, Xemnas," Xehanort calmly ordered, knowing the fun was about to begin.

"Aye, sir," Xemnas replied with a short bow before turning and walking off to get the boatswain to help him carry it up.

Xehanort only chuckled as he watched his men in the boats shift nervously and try and seat themselves far from the waters. Fools. They will not be able to escape what was about to happen.

Another chuckle left his raspy throat as he heard a few of them calling back to those on shore, no doubt asking for permission to return.

"Guys! Guys come on! Please let us go back!" Demyx called out, nearly leaning over the boat's edge as if trying to make himself more heard to the ones on shore.

"Get away from the edge, you moron!" Luxord hissed, grabbing the younger and shoving him back closer to him and Zexion.

"They're here!" Xion gasped, her eyes widening as she grasped Roxas even tighter.

Roxas swallowed hard before letting go of the girl and slowly inching over to peer into the waters. As he did he gasped and shot back in his seat from seeing a full tail pass by under boat, and that was no tail of any dolphin or shark.

"I saw it!" Roxas gasped, looking at the others with wide eyes. "I saw one!"

"Where, where? !" the others gasped, quickly peering over the sides of the boat to see where they were coming from.

"Careful!" Xion warned, not wishing any of her fellow mates to meet a watery death like her brother-in-law.

"Look!" Zexion gasped as he turned and saw a small frame hanging onto the side of the boat.

"What? !" Demyx gasped as the others turned towards where Zexion signaled to look, but just as they had the figure let go of the boat and dove back underwater.

"It was one of them, wasn't it?" Zexion asked, his heart racing a thousand miles from actually seeing a mythical creature.

"A Mermaid," Luxord whispered before turning to the ones in the lighthouse and waving. "We've got Mermaids down here!"

"Gotcha!" he heard them call back and a few others on shore saying to get ready for an attack.

"Look!" Roxas suddenly gasped and as everyone turned his direction they saw him and Xion staring out a few meters as heads slowly began appearing, the heads of the most beautiful women they've ever seen.

"My God," Demyx gasped. "They are beautiful."

"Sirens of the deep," Xion whispered, staying close to Roxas as she watched how the boys' eyes were nothing but transfixed on forms of the creatures. "Be careful everyone."

With a gasp everyone watched as they closed in and slowly began taking a hold of the sides of their boats.

"What are you doing up there? !" Luxord turned towards where Xigbar and Xaldin remained. "Hurry up!"

"We're just in control of the light!" Xaldin called down.

"Damn!" Luxord cursed as he scooted closer with the others towards the center of the boat as the Mermaids made their way onto the ridge, all smiling sweetly and beautiful.

"We liked you're singing, humans," they replied with the most angelic of voices. "Would you sing for us again?"

"Sure?" Demyx started up.

"Don't converse with them!" Zexion objected as he hit his friend to keep him away as much as he could from the Mermaids.

"Sorry," Demyx whimpered, bowing his head.

"Aw, sisters, they're refusing," one said to another. "Maybe we should give them a push, huh?"

"Guys," Roxas gulped in warning knowing the wicked smiles on the girls meant only one thing.

As the Mermaids smiled they revealed sharp fang-like teeth and leant back, as if readying to lurch forward. Just as Roxas and the others made way for their weapons they watched the Mermaids' eyes widen before they hissed and dove back under water, all of them.

"What just happened? !" Zexion asked as everyone scooted over to the edges to look around for the missing creatures. "Why'd they leave?"

"Wait, look!" Xion gasped as she grasped Roxas tight on the arm and point out ahead of them to something coming their way.

"What is that?" Roxas whispered as they watched the thing submerge to where you couldn't even see a surf in its wake.

"There it is again!" Xion gasped as everyone scooted back towards the middle of the boats again and watched the larger creature approach the boats and swim under them before disappearing in the dark waters.

"What was that?" Luxord asked. "A Mermaid?"

"It was big though," Roxas said.

"Yeah," Demyx nodded. "But it moved the same."

"Then maybe . . . it was a—!" Xion's eyes, along with everyone else's eyes widened as much as possible as a creature sprung out of the water so high that it now sat on the side of their boat, nearly capsizing it.

What sat before them was definitely not a Mermaid, anyone could tell, but there was no doubt this creature belonged in the same family as it peered down at them with blazing emeralds for eyes and a toothy grin as it looked at the humans. There was only one swipe of a glance from the redheaded creature before it locked its eyes on a target and grabbed.

Roxas gasped out in surprise and shock as the creature took a good hold of his shirt and as quickly as it came, lunged back into the waters, with him in its arms.

"ROXAS! !" everyone called out, all leaning on the sides of the boats to try and make out where the creature had taken the boy.

"Oh my God, that was a Merman!" Xion gasped out, pulling at her ebony locks.

"Those exist?" Demyx asked, clearly only believing in the female form of the Merfolk.

"That would explain why he was so much larger than the girls," Luxord said as he continued his search for where Roxas had been taken, but so far, there was nothing but dark waters under them.

"Guys!" Demyx gasped out again, grabbing their attention as they sat up and watched as the Mermaids returned, this time circling their boats.

"Damn!" Luxord cursed as he took out his cutlass along with the others. "Xion, hurry, get in our boat.

"But, what about Roxas?" she asked, her eyes tearing up from having lost one of her closest mates to that thing.

"We can't worry about him at the moment!" he said. "Looks like we're on our own for a little while until Captain sees it fit to save us."

"When will that be though?" Demyx asked, as he helped Xion in their boat.

"Hell if I know," Luxord replied as he watched the Mermaids dive again and this time ram their boat, almost knocking them into the water, but they held their ground.

"We only need one, right?" Zexion asked as they clung to the boat again as the Mermaids rammed the sides, tearing at it with claws.

"Yeah," Luxord nodded as he watched one break through the deck of the boat, but he was quick to chop it down with his sword to where it retreated.

"Then what's taking Marluxia so long to pick one? !" Zexion asked as he turned and barely managed a dodge from one certain Mermaid who jumped out of the water and tried to snag him.

"You got me!" Luxord responded back. "They're plenty here!"

Axel chuckled to himself as he swam along under the boats, deeper than normal so he could witness his sisters in action. My, they were quite vicious. Those were his sisters for you alright.

"I swear they take fun in this," Axel said to himself with a shake of his head before he felt the familiar feeling of being embraced.

Looking down, Axel saw the human he had snatched away was now clinging tightly onto him, like a child would their parent; his arms wrapping around his shoulders and his face burning into his chest. He had never really seen a human drown before and frankly; he never really understood the meaning of the word. He knew these humans were land creatures but why did they look so innocent when they were this close to their end?

That was what baffled the redheaded Merman, as he looked down at the human he had securely in his right arm. The boy was so small Axel wondered just how old he was. He knew humans had shorter life spans because he was well over a 100 years old, but he had seen a human of only 25 to look about his age, so perhaps this human was around 17. He was quite the young one.

They're sending children to be drowned now? Axel wondered as he looked down at the blonde who was trying with all his might to hold onto the last amounts of oxygen he managed to steal before he was thrust into the dark depths below.

Glancing up towards where his siblings where attacking the humans in the boats, Axel caught sight of a few of his sisters leaking blood; some couldn't even manage to swim properly. A rage filled Axel towards those who were hurting his family and it was this rage that made him swim up towards the boats to put an end to the slaughter of his sisters.

He hadn't made it though. A sharp pain struck him in the back and in an instant he was thrust upwards and out of the water. It happened so fast that, before he knew it, his body was hitting the hard sand of the beach and hands were upon him.

"Roxas!" he heard one of the humans speak and it was then he noticed how he had let go of the human the moment he was hurtled out of the water, somehow the force shoved the human towards the beach as well. "Damn, are you alright?"

All that was heard from the blonde were gags and quick large breaths of air. Axel's thoughts were quickly taken away from the gasping blonde as the hands on him suddenly lifted him up, one pair wrapping around his tail, while the other wrapped around his torso. He didn't know what they were doing, but he didn't want them touching him and so he tried to wriggle out of their embrace but all he got were curses from the unidentified humans as well as laughs about how large their catch had been.

In that instant Axel heard the high-pitched screeches of his sisters, all of whom had stopped in their attack on the 4 humans who were barely staying afloat in their sinking ships. He turned towards his sisters who nearly tried coming on shore to save him, but they knew they couldn't.

"Gah! Damn it! What are they doing? !" Came a human's growl, this human was tan as he covered his ears with his hands.

"Look," a blonde female spoke up as she looked at the Mermaids before turning her eyes on Axel. "They're acting this way because we caught one of them."

"Get out of here!" Axel then called to the others in their language of clicks and screeches as he tried wriggling his way out of the humans' grasps. "Don't you dare come back! GO!"

His sisters were reluctant, but with loud wails they dove under the waters and were never seen again.

"Well," came a human with pink hair, his smirk on his face so cocky that Axel just wanted to whack him with his tail. "If that was all it took to get them to desist then I should have probably picked one to catch sooner."

"Yeah," the human he had once dragged down into the bay with him responded as the blonde inhaled a shaky breath to calm his convulsing lungs. "And saved the others from having been attacked by those things! I'm sure they're hurt, Marluxia!"

"That's what Vexen's for." Suddenly, their Captain (Axel assumed) came up and eyed the catch that was continuing to struggle as the two holding him tried to take him over to the tank they had set up. "So we finally have a Mermaid do we?"

"Wait," A large crewmember with violet eyes replied from where he stood as he and a man with one eye tried to move Axel over towards a glass tank. "What is this?" he asked, his larger hands roaming around Axel's torso.

Axel hissed and screeched from the touches and the large man with raven dreadlocks was quick to drop the him while he was still wrapped in the heavy netting Marluxia had shot at him, along with the harpoon that had plunged into his side.

"X-Xaldin! What the hell? !" the man with one eye cursed as his partner dropped the front of Axel, making it now impossible for him to hold him up.

"I knew there was something wrong with the thing!" the one named Xaldin pointed to the squirming and hissing creature.

"Like what? !" The tanned man returned came, his rage showing as he pushed through the others and came up to Axel lying on the beach, near the surf.

The man with amber eyes and light hair bent down and took a hold of the net to pull Axel up so he could get a better look at him. Once he did he gasped and let Axel drop back down. He turned towards Marluxia and looked about ready to kill him.

"You fool!" he growled at the man. "Do you know what that is? !"

"It's a Merman."

Everyone turned to see, even Axel, to see a young girl of about 16 with short black hair and blue eyes and the other humans who were once in the bay, slowly making their way on shore. She came up to the larger of the Merfolk and knelt next to him.

"Xion, be careful!" Roxas said, coming up to the girl. "It tried to drown me before."

"We need a Mermaid's tear, not a Merman's!" the tanned man growled.

"Do you see any other Mermaids to catch?" Xigbar asked, motioning to the now quiet bay as the night slowly turned into dawn. "And I'll bet that damn Merman told them never to come back!"

The man with tanned skin was about to shout out more curses but looked towards their Captain whose eyes were transfixed on the squirming creature.

"He's of their kind. He'll do," was all the Captain said as he turned on his heal and walked off.

"Well, you heard the Captain," The other said with a low groaning sigh. "Get him into that tank!"

Once again Axel protested as the same two men took him up and unceremoniously dropped him into a too-small tank filled with water before closing the glass lid and locking it.