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It was finally happening.
Chelsea couldn't believe her eyes as her webbed hands gripped the staff of the celestial weapon.
She could feel the power thrumming off it. It's ethereal green glow, a token of it's transcendental power, illuminated her face and reflected off her eyes.
Forged from the ore of Olympus, and crafted by the Cyclopes that hail from Uranus, the ruler of the cosmos before the reign of Cronus, and then Zeus.
The Trident of Oceanus.
Once owned by the Titan when he ruled the seas, before that right was given to Poseidon and he was gifted his own trident, the Trident of Oceanus was discarded. Thrown away. Deemed useless.
But then, someone found solace in it. It became her saving grace. A tool that was used for the betterment of her kind, so that they may thrive just like other kingdoms of the sea.
That someone was Queen Nerissa.
My mother.
"After all these years..." She whispered, "I can finally avenge you, mom."
"Chelsea...? What are you talking about...?"
And then there was Ruby.
Sweet, lovable, naive Ruby.
She thought they could bring peace and end the conflict between their species. That they could finally unite and that the ocean wouldn't be ravaged by war any more.
It's an admirable dream, but that's all it was. A dream.
There was no such thing as peace. Not with Krakens.
They call themselves defenders of the sea, but the only ones they defended were themselves. Countless times they've entered war with other civilizations that lay beneath the waves, reducing them to nothing but rubble.
Chelsea's chest ached with pain and grief. Grief of her mother, who was so unfairly taken from her in front of her very eyes 13 years ago.
"I'm sorry it had to be like this, Ruby." The trident pulsed with power, and Chelsea felt herself growing in size.
A moment ago, she was nothing but a dot compared to Ruby, but now...
She met Ruby in the eyes, electric purple meeting neon blue.
"But some things have to be done."
She sent a blast of energy at Ruby, sending her flying head first into the one of the many boulders floating around the Well of Seas.
Ruby fell down to the ocean floor, waves of dust and sand coming up as she hit the ground.
She weakly looked back at Chelsea. "Why...?"
She looked betrayed. Of course she did. She trusted Chelsea. A foolish thing to do.
Chelsea buried the pang of guilt, her face hardening.
"My mother didn't die in the Well of Seas. I lied about that. I lied about a lot of things." She said bitterly.
"Yeah... I no..ticed..." Tears leaked from Ruby's eyes as she struggled to stay conscious. "So, what? Did your mom.. put you up to this, then? Tricking me into getting the trident that way you could give to her on a silver platter?"
Chelsea averted her eyes. "No. She is dead. Killed right in front of me. By none other than the Siren Slayer. By your mother."
"...What...?"
"She ripped my mom from me." Chelsea hissed, venomous hatred burning in her veins. "Left me to fend for myself in the rubble of our kingdom. I was a weak, scared child, but now..."
She looked down at the trident, her grip tightening in simmering fury. "I can finally return the favor."
She didn't dare look back at the Kraken behind her.
"Goodbye, Ruby. For what it's worth, I enjoyed it while it lasted."
With those final words, Chelsea left for the surface, ignoring the sinking feeling in her stomach.
Chelsea, ever the one for a dramatic entrance, exploded out of the water with flair.
The trident in her hands, she scoured for the Siren Slayer, but only found terrified humans.
She approached the house where Agatha had hosted her real estate party, looking through the window.
"Oh, Mrs. Gillman... Come out, come out WHEREVER YOU ARE!!"
She curled her fingers into a fist and punched it right through the house, uncaring of the wood and debris stabbing her hand.
"HEY! THAT HOUSE WAS AN ESCROW!"
Agatha rose out of the water just in time to see that, followed by the one and only Queen of the Krakens.
"There you are, coward." Chelsea snarled, before her eyes set on the Queen. "Oh, and her royal majesty herself. It must be my lucky day."
"You're gonna eat those words when I pound you into sushi." The Queen replied spitefully, cracking her knuckles.
"What did you do to my daughter?" Agatha growled. "I don't know who you think you are, but if you laid a single finger on her-"
Chelsea scoffed. "I didn't kill her, if that's what you're thinking. She's probably just wallowing in self pity and reflecting on her life choices on the ocean floor. I have nothing against her. In fact, she even helped me get this baby right here."
She twirled the trident.
"So I let her off easy." She approached Agatha, watching her eye the trident cautiously. "You probably don't remember me, Siren Slayer."
Agatha tensed at those words. "Don't call me that. That's not who I am anymore."
"Oh, really? I should tell my mother that... oh, wait. I can't." Chelsea grit her teeth. "You killed her."
Agatha brow furrowed.
"Still don't remember? Killed so many that you can't tell who from who?" Chelsea taunted. "Fine, then. I'll give you a hint. You ended her with this very trident."
That's when it clicked.
"You're Nerissa's daughter..." She mumbled, having the decency to at least look remorseful.
"Nerissa has a daughter?" The Queen questioned.
She quickly shook off the confusion, though, sneering at Chelsea. "No matter. I'll send you to the rest of your sorry family, you pest."
"Bring it, hag."
The Queen attacked first, lunging for Chelsea with a battle cry.
However, she was years out of shape, and Chelsea was in her prime.
The mermaid quickly evaded, slamming the blunt end of the trident into her stomach.
The queen let out an oomph, falling back and causing large ripples in the water.
Students on the prom boat quickly began recording as the fight commenced.
Agatha was quick to retaliate, grabbing Chelsea and trying to wrestle the trident out of her hands. "Give me the trident! You don't know what kind of power you're tampering with!"
"Get off me!" Chelsea yelled, headbutting her as hard as she could.
She held the trident, growling, before the Queen punched her in the face.
"No one insults my daughter but me, mermaid!"
Chelsea stumbled back, holding her face in pain. She hissed, recovering quickly, and attacked her with the trident, slashing her eye and drawing blue blood.
"AGH! SON OF AN ANGLER FISH!" The Queen clutched her injured eye, leaving herself vulnerable to another attack.
Chelsea grabbed her and launched her into the cliff side, sending up all sorts of dirt and sand.
"Mamah!" Agatha shouted in alarm. Despite the bad blood between them, she was still her mother.
She looked back at Chelsea, putting her hands up. "Please, reconsider this! I understand that you're in pain, and I'm sorry! But doing this won't bring Nerissa back!"
Chelsea saw red. "Shut UP!!!"
She let out a scream and charged at her, driving the trident right into her shoulder.
Blue blood oozed out, and Agatha howled in pain.
Chelsea doesn't get the satisfaction from it that she expected, instead getting an unsettled churn in her stomach at what she was inflicting.
But she quickly buried it down - she wasn't going to let sympathy of someone who doesn't deserve it get in the way of her vengeance justice.
She was ready to deliver the final blow, when-
"STAY AWAY FROM MY MOTHER!"
Chelsea turned around in shock at the familiar voice, but it quickly turned into a glare.
She ripped the trident out of Agatha's shoulder, making her let out a pained gasp.
Ruby didn't waver. "Give me the trident, Chelsea! I won't ask twice!"
"What is she doing!?" Agatha asked frantically, clutching her shoulder.
"Answering the call." The Queen replied proudly.
"I WON'T LET YOU TAKE THIS FROM ME!" Chelsea shrieked. "I WILL HAVE JUSTICE!"
After the failed negotiation, Chelsea charged at her.
Ruby quickly activated her body armor and shielded herself from the strike, grunting as the trident scraped against the metallic flesh.
Ruby struggled to keep her at bay, but then Chelsea got hit in the cheek by a... dodge ball?
They both looked in the direction it came from, seeing Ruby's father and little brother on that wacko captain's boat.
"Leave my sister alone!" Her little brother yelled protectively, holding another dodge ball.
Chelsea scowled, and with the swish of her tail, a few waves sent the boat back out of the battle zone.
However, when she turned, she was met quite literally face-first with the house she had punched through prior being used as a projectile.
She staggered, glowering at Agatha as she breathed heavily and clutched her shoulder.
When she was distracted, Ruby grabbed her from behind and they both toppled into the water, shouting and smacking each other.
"GIVE. ME. THE. TRIDENT!!!"
"NEVER!!"
It devolved into a game of tug-o-war, much to the bemusement of the third, fourth, and fifth parties watching all of this go down.
Eventually, Chelsea overpowered Ruby, pinning her down.
"YOU REALLY THINK YOU CAN BEAT ME!?" She screamed, slamming the butt of the trident into her stomach. "I'VE SPENT YEARS SURVIVING ON MY OWN, AFTER SHE TOOK AWAY THE ONLY FAMILY I HAD!"
She used her tail to kick Ruby away, sending her tumbling into some rocks opposite of Agatha and the Queen.
She approached the latter two, gripping the trident so hard, her hands began to ache.
"No! Mom!" Ruby tried to get up, but she couldn't.
Chelsea tried to tune out the sound of Ruby's cries, her face hardening.
"I've had it with you," she spat at Agatha, her voice raw from so much yelling, but the hatred didn't waver. "You... You're going to pay for what you've done."
An eerie sense of familiarity almost stopped her in her tracks, but she ignored it.
"How dare you-" The Queen tried to get up, but a quick green wack knocked her right back down.
"Zip it, six legs." Chelsea retorted, before returning her attention to the retired warrior in front of her.
She grit her teeth and the trident glowed dangerously, as if exemplifying her rage.
Agatha put her hands up in surrender, her chest heaving.
"Please don't do this..." she tried to plead with Chelsea one last time. "All this will do is continue the cycle of revenge. I've been in your position before, so trust me, I get it. You probably want nothing more than to kill me and be done with it... and I don't blame you. You're a grieving child, probably filled with so much anger and bitterness that it could put my mother to shame."
"I'll have you know I'm in anger management therapy, thank you." The Queen interjected, mildly offended.
Ignoring her, Agatha continued. "I felt the same way on that day. Nerissa was responsible for killing so much of my family, and all I wanted was to avenge them. That's why I... did what I did."
Chelsea's grip tightened to the point that her hands started shaking from the strain.
"I thought killing her would be satisfying, and ease my conscious. But it did the opposite. I couldn't live with myself... and it's part of why I came to the surface. I'm not asking you to spare me for my sake... but for your own. For my family... even my mother, as much as I hate to include her."
"I'm right here, Agatha."
Chelsea paused, processing her words.
Was she really doing the right thing?
She brandished the trident - lifting it above her head and prepared to stab it through Agatha's heart - but instead of a twisted sense of gratification on her face, hesitation took its place.
Her hands trembled - all of this reminded her too much of when she saw her mother die.
The trident she was holding, the very one that had killed Nerissa.
Agatha had yanked the trident out of her grasp, and in a blink, it was through the chest of the mermaid queen.
The warrior sparred Chelsea a single glance, but there was no remorse on her face. Only anger... and sadness. Like she had just done something pointless.
Chelsea remembered swimming up next to her mother's dying body. Her mother had caressed her cheek, and in her final breaths, she managed to say one thing.
"Oh, Chelsea. My sweet, gorgeous baby girl," Nerissa's words were strained, both by her failing body and by the amount of emotion. "I'm so, so sorry... I know you'll grow up to be someone great... my only regret is that I'll never get to meet her. I love you with all my heart... never forget that."
The final nail in the coffin was the sound of Ruby's vicious sobs.
Chelsea dared look back at the Kraken behind her.
"C-Chelsea... p-please... don't do this..." she hiccuped. "P...pl... please..."
Chelsea blinked away her own tears, looking at the trident.
And with a deep breath, she brought it down...
...Into the earth next to Agatha's head.
Chelsea slumped over, falling to her metaphorical knees.
"I... I can't do it." She whispered.
Her voice was a ghost of the malice from just a moment ago. Like the weight of what she was about to do had finally hit her.
She looked at Agatha, slightly distorted from her unshed tears.
"I hate you. I hate you with every fiber of my being. I hate you for taking away the person I loved most. I hate you for all those years I spent alone, wondering... Why? Why did it have to be her?... I hate you for dooming my life when it had barely begun."
Chelsea couldn't hold back her tears anymore, sniffling and gasping.
"But I let anger get to me... I almost became the thing I hated." She swallowed hard. "I can't... I won't take someone else's mother away from them. No one deserves that kind of pain."
She let go of the trident, sighing. "Take it. I've done enough for one evening... I'm out of here."
She relinquished the power gifted to her by the weapon, and she returned to her normal size.
She dived in the water and swam away, finding refuge in an underwater cave not too far from a reef.
How funny. Now she was the one rethinking her life decisions on the ocean floor.