She pinched her eyes shut harder trying to block the memories and instead she thought how funny it was that she was basically sleeping on a waterbed since it was a large plastic/rubber bag that filled with water and laid inside of the coral base. She tried to think about the things that sat around her new room and the feeling that it wasn"t quite home yet.

There wasn"t much to the room but the shelves and bed. She turned to the small bedside table that held a weird light that sat inside of a clamsh.e.l.l. She wasn"t sure how most things worked down here but she sure as h.e.l.l knew that family worked the same. Like when you bring home an illegitimate daughter back to your home - correction - your kingdom, everyone acts the same. Like your the bad person, like your cancer that will destroy the family tree.

Clenching her eyes didn"t stop the memories this time and she was taken back to earlier in the day when she met her grandmother and the worst person she had ever met. Gemma.

She can remember the piercing moss green eyes meeting hers and a chill running down her spine. Part fear. Part nerves. She gulped down half of what she was feeling and gently drifted towards her when her father motioned for her to do so.

Her grandmother took her hand and before she could ask her father what was happening, her grandmother stretched out and connected their foreheads.

All of a sudden she heard hundreds of voices in her head including gasps and murmurs. Her eyes went wide when a single, separate voice began to speak to her.

"Do not fret, Darya, those voices are the rest of your people. I"ve connected you to the main line of the community including myself. I am wary of your presence but I want to get to know you more. Before that happens I want to introduce you to another family member." She remembered the heat that came to her cheeks after being ambushed by all the voices. She would have to remember to ask her father how to tune them out.

Darya looked behind her grandmother while she brought another merperson over to meet her. She had long silver hair that flowed behind her while her shimmering scales caught every tiny piece of light from around them. They weren"t pearl white but instead glistened a light blue color that nearly blended with the water around them. Her eyes weren"t the same as hers or any other family member of Darya"s, instead, they showed an ice blue that was colder than the air around her right after a hot shower.

"This is Gemma, she is your father"s protege and is set to take the crown after he is ready to step down." Her grandmother"s message cut her like a knife. Her father basically had a daughter, why did she come down here with him? After the words transmitted to her through the link, she waited for Gemma to say something but she didn"t. Instead, she showed her cards with her eyes and they screamed "back off" so that"s what Darya did.

Raj saw a bit of this and ushered Darya away from his mother and surrogate daughter and took her inside of the castle without introducing her to the rest of the community.

At that point, Darya was shaking, whether it was rage or fear she wasn"t sure. Raj rushed her so quickly through the house that she didn"t have time to see the scenery around her even if she had wanted to. Tears brimmed around her eyes but they were quickly soaked into the water that surrounded every inch of her.

The moment they arrived at the room she would spend the rest of the day in she decided that she would leave early and go back home. She didn"t know why she was down there in the first place. He had a daughter, he had an heir, there was no reason for her.

Raj didn"t say anything to her, link or no link. His expression said everything she needed to hear. The situation was weird and he wasn"t sure how to explain it. He didn"t realize his mother would spill the beans so soon and he didn"t know how to tell her that everything was up in the air now that she was in his life.

"This is your room. Feel free to do whatever you want in it. I will meet with you later." Raj said a few parting words and left her to explore her bedroom in peace.

So now she laid on her bed, the bed that would be considered a waterbed above the waves but down here it was just a bed that happened to contain water. She couldn"t get Gemma out of her head, her and the perfect hair that followed behind as she glided gracefully through the water.

Instead of wallowing in her own pity she rolled off the bed and floated to the various items in her room. She noticed that it was about the same size as her room back home. She didn"t know if this place would ever feel the way it does with her mother and Marty. She wanted to try and see if it would work but the moment she saw Gemma and the words that her grandmother transmitted to her made her think otherwise.

"Maybe I"m not meant to be a part of this world." She told herself as she ran a finger over a small sh.e.l.l on the shelf across from her bed. Maybe she made a mistake...