Chapter 5: Golden Girl

The Submarimon had traveled for 5 hours. It was dark now, and the only light was the artificial light inside the Submarimon emanating from their dashboards. Soon, they saw a shining city that lit up the dark ocean floor. "That must be it!" Jessica said. "Finally." Samantha said. Suddenly, some Divermon and Gesomon started swimming in their direction. "Looks like they sent a welcoming party." Ladybugmon said. Evander bit his lower lip and scowled slightly. He had a bad feeling about this. "Something doesn't feel quite right." He said. Suddenly, one of the Gesomon's large tentacles slapped Jessica's Submarimon hard. It then unleashed a barrage of beatings on the Submarimon she was riding in with its tentacles. "Coral Crusher!" The Gesomon shouted as it attacked. Gesomon is a large Digimon that looks like a white squid. The Submarimon grunted in pain. "We're under attack!?" Submarimon said, confused. "This is bad. We're at an advantage underwater." Gabumon said. The Submarimon that Gabumon was riding in reassured him, "We can take on these guys." Gabumon's Submarimon headed towards the Gesomon beating on Jessica's Submarimon. "Oxygen Torpedo!" It cried out. This attack discharges super compressed oxygen. The super compressed oxygen hit the Gesomon and it recoiled. The Gesmon turned to the Submarimon that just attacked it and shot ink out of its mouth. "Deadly Shade!" Gabumon's Submarimon had no time to dodge. It swam into the ink and was blinded. Even the glass over the cockpit was covered in ink. "No good! We're flying blind here!" Gabumon exclaimed. The Gesomon turned back towards Jessica and was about to start pounding again, but Jessica took hold of the controls in the cockpit of her Submarimon and caused it to ram into the Gesomon at full speed. The drill on the front of the Submarimon that Jessica was driving impaled Gesomon and he dissolved into a Digi-Egg which slowly floated down to the ocean bottom.

Two Divermon swam over in an attempt to attack, Jessica turned her Submarimon to them. "Oxygen Torpedo! Oxygen Torpedo!" Submarimon shouted. Two attacks hit the Divermon and reverted them back into DigiEggs.

Jessica used the radar on her Submarimon's dashboard to determine how many enemies they were up against. "Looks like we're up against…" Suddenly her heart sank. "There are 500 Gesomon headed straight for us!" She said. She was communicating with the others over a communication device in the Submarimon cockpit. "There's no way we can handle that many Digimon. Even if we were on land and went Mega!" Gabumon exclaimed. "There were initially just four that attacked us. I think the best explanation is that they were gaging our strength and numbers. Those were scouts." Evander said.

The radar on their Submarimon showed the Gesomon getting ever closer. Everyone's anxiety was rising. "We have to digivolve and fight!" Agumon said. "And fight underwater? Can you breathe underwater at ANY of your evolutionary stages, Agumon? Because I sure can't!" Terriermon objected. "We can let the Submarimon do the fighting for us." Ladybugmon said. "But we're still outnumbered!" Leormon objected. Everyone was starting to panic. They had never gone up against this many enemies before. Evander started sweating. He wished Mario, Flora, Zai, Tameron, Rachael, Emily, and their Digimon were all here. But even if they were, they were basically going up against a small army! The odds were overwhelmingly stacked against them. Jessica took her shirt off, revealing two pink clam shells covering her breasts. She quickly bent down and started taking her pants off. She had been wearing a typical Aqualian loin cloth underneath instead of ordinary panties. She started looking around the cockpit. "Where's the eject button?" Jessica asked. "Are you serious? What are you planning to do?" The Submarimon she was inside of asked. "Just tell me! We don't have much time!" Jessica barked. "It's the small red button on the far right." Submarimon said. Jessica held her breath before she pushed the button and as a result, the clear glass hatch opened up. Jessica swam out in human form and focused on transforming into mermaid form. It was only a matter of seconds before her legs and feet became a tail and fins. Gill slits appeared on the left side of her neck. Jessica stopped holding her breath and started breathing the salty sea water.

Evander had a hunch that she was going to use her Poseidonic powers to fight all of these Digimon and single handedly defeat them like she did before. She was right. "Evander...you told me I could use my powers for good. Well, now I will….to protect you and all our friends." Jessica said, looking at the army determined. Jessica held out her palm and attempted to manifest a trident in her hand. She focused intently, but no trident was forming. A Gesomon grabbed her with one tentacle and held her up, squeezing her tightly. Terriermon had a sweat drop roll down his fur. "Uh oh. This is not good! This is really not good!" Evander took control of the Submarimon he was driving and started heading in Jessica's direction to try to help her. But before he could, another Gesomon took its huge tentacles and grabbed the Submarimon. He started squeezing it. Jessica was being binded with one tentacle, but since Submarimon was a bit larger than Jessica, it took this other Gesomon two tentacles to do the binding. The Submarimon Evander was in started slowly being crushed under the weight. The glass covering the cockpit started to crack. "Uh oh! Not good!" Evander said in a worried tone of voice. "I haven't been squeezed this hard since I tried to put on my pants after Thanksgiving!" The Submarimon joked.

Jessica was struggling trying to get free. She was finding it harder and harder to breathe. Why couldn't she become this powerful being like when they were attacked by the Tylomon hours ago? "Why…..aren't…..my…..powers…….working?" She said, struggling to get every word out. The Gesomon slowly lifted Jessica up higher, and slung her down to the ocean floor. She hit her head on a rock and blood started gushing out of her head wound. "Jessica!" Everyone cried out in unison, afraid that she had just been killed. She floated facedown, her body was limp for a moment. Suddenly, Jessica's body started glowing in a golden aura. Jessica grit her teeth and clenched her fist. She was conscious! She looked up at the Gesomon. Her aqua blue eyes were glowing with an aqua blue light. She launched herself at the Gesomon at the speed of a missile fired out of a military submarine. She went through the Gesomon like a bullet! The Gesomon cried out in pain and turned into a Digi-Egg! Samantha's jaw dropped. "I-Incredible!" She exclaimed. "The power of a Poseidon." Evander replied.

Jessica turned to the hundreds of Gesomon and Divermon and took a fighting stance. "Give up now and I'll spare your lives!" Jessica said. Her voice sounded different. It boomed through the waters. It was deeper than usual too. She didn't notice that her voice sounded different. She soon saw the Divermon putting their spears down and bowing before her. The Gesomon were also bowing. "We will do as you say. Please forgive us and let us serve you all the days of our lives." One Gesomon said. Everyone was astonished. This giant army which could easily crush them was surrendering. Did they know the full extent of Jessica's power? Were they afraid? Jessica was as surprised as anyone. She floated in the water looking around at all the Divermon and Gesomon bowing before her. She suddenly remembered when the group of Betamon on the beach at File Island hopped over to her and stared intently at her, and what they said; "Something about you makes us want to serve you." Then one of the Gesomon said something she didn't expect to hear, "Anastasia….beautiful Anastasia." This was her true given name. Jessica was just a cover name her mother gave her to conceal her identity. But how did this Gesomon know it? All of the Submarimon also came and landed on the sea floor in front of Jessica. They began chanting "Anastasia…beautiful Anastasia." in unison repeatedly. "This is getting creepy." Terriermon commented. "Is this one of those cult things I've heard about?" Gabumon asked.

Jessica looked around at the multitudes of water type Digimon worshiping her. She felt kind of uncomfortable, but knew she could use this weird and new disposition of these Digimon to her advantage. She ordered them to seize Agent Salvation who initially attacked her and her friends and bring them to the entrance. At once, the Gesomon and Divermon took off for the entrance to the domed city. Jessica turned to the Submarimon containing her husband and Digimon friends. "We should go to the entrance. They'll be waiting for us." Jessica said. Jessica's voice echoed through the water and penetrated their ears gently as though she was speaking directly into their hearts. Her body was still glowing that golden light and her eyes were still glowing an aqua blue light. The Submarimon took off for the entrance. While they were headed there, Gabumon said "I guess I now know what it was like for Jessica whenever I obtained a new form and got more powerful. The shoe's on the other foot now." He said this over the intercom. Ladybugmon perked up and started bouncing up and down in his own Submarimon's cockpit. "Oooh oooh! Evander! You should digivolve next!"

They soon arrived at the entrance. The entrance to the dome city was similar to that of the entrance to Sandy's tree dome in the Spongebob Squarepants cartoon, but much bigger, and it took longer for the water to drain in the section separating the ocean outside from the dry dome within. But once the water had drained, Evander, Samantha, and their Digimon all got outside of the Submarimon. Jessica didn't regain her human legs. Instead she floated in mid-air with her tail dangling down. She continued to glow. Evander stared at her in awe. Jessica smiled at him. "Our troubles are almost over." She said, her voice still seeming to echo when she spoke.

They opened the gate and entered Underwater City. It was like something out of a fairytale book or sci-fi novel. It was a metropolis full of skyscrapers and automobiles going to and fro. The population consisted of all kinds of Digimon. There were trucks that imported meat and vegetables from File Island. Jessica turned to look at everyone. "We should wait here. Our enemy will be here shortly." She said. "Hey, how can I make my voice do that echo-y thing?" Gabumon asked. "Who cares about that? I just want to glow! Maybe I can digivolve into a FireFlymon!" Ladybugmon said while jumping up and down.

Shortly, they saw a humanoid looking figure flying towards them from the Underwater City's capital building. The humanoid figure was clothed in a blackish purplish aura and was unidentifiable. It was the same figure Kinandon had met the day he lost his family. It was Agent Salvation. Agent Salvation landed and started applauding. "Well done, Anastasia! Well done! I knew you would pass the test." He said. Jessica glared at him. "My name is Jessica. Jessica Glovion." She said. "And what kind of test are you talking about?" Agent Salvation chuckled. "Anastasia, I had my lackie send you here by assuming the form of someone you knew. I knew you'd come to face me, since you believed I was the one who impersonated and framed you. I wanted to see the power of a goddess in person. It's no accident that you found me here; a place where only water type Digimon can fight." He said. Suddenly, they realized that the Jijimon they thought they were talking to was an imposter. "What happened to the real Jijimon!?" Agumon demanded, taking a step forward. The shadowy figure folded his arms. "Relax. My servant probably hasn't killed him. We only care about killing Aqualians." He explained.

Evander stepped forward. Jessica was levitating in front of the entire group. She had purposefully gotten a bit of distance between herself and her friends so that if this Agent Salvation tried to attack in any way, she'd be their first line of defense. Evander walked forward until he was standing directly adjacent to Jessica. "Why do you have a grudge against Aqualia? And why take on Jessica's form in order to slaughter the royal family? Surely you could have achieved your aims without dragging her into this? Moreover, how do you know that Jessica's real name is Anastasia?" Evander asked. Evander was used to grilling suspects at this point. He was a master at gathering info and even getting people to spill information they hadn't intended to that tipped him off. He definitely wasn't the hot headed, rash, punch-first-ask-questions-later kid anymore. Agent Salvation laughed. "Yep. You are a detective, alright. Ok, since Anastasia managed to pass my test, I suppose she at least deserves to know why she was chosen as the person impersonated."

Agent Salvation tilted his neck back as though he was trying to relieve some tension. "The simple answer is that she is who she is. She's the multi-great granddaughter of Sebastian Poseidon. She's a goddess. In order to ensure that Aqualia gets wiped out, I needed to pick a planet to go to war against Aqualia and ensure victory. Although Earth in its own right is primitive compared to Aqualia, that doesn't matter. The power of Poseidon can level whole worlds. In addition to the fact that you digidestined would use your Digimon, Aqualia stands no chance. That's why the fake Anastasia said that Earth of all places was declaring war on Aqualia. I knew you had an attachment to Earth, more so than your home world. After all, you spent the bulk of your life on the human world, and even fell in love with a human." Agent Salvation explained. Jessica folded her arms, listening intently. Evander said "Ok. So you think Jessica is this powerful goddess that can level whole worlds, and you knew she'd fight to defend Earth. But that doesn't explain why you took her identity in the war declaration. Surely just getting Earth and Aqualia to war against each other, even without Jessica doing the declaration of war, would be sufficient. Jessica would fight and, supposedly, destroy Aqualia with her goddess powers. So why impersonate her?" Evander said. Agent Salvation nodded. "The reason I impersonated Anastasia was so that Kinandon would bear a personal grudge against her and try to track her down and kill her. I knew you and the descendent of Neptune would fight to the death. I needed every last one of the Neptunes out of the way for victory to be ensured." Agent Salvation explained.

Evander rubbed his chin, his finger and thumb going through his thick scraggly black beard. "This is just a hunch, but is Kinandon a descendent of an Aqualian who we Earthlings know as the Roman god Neptune, who was also said to be god of the seas?" Evander asked. Agent Salvation raised his finger in the air. "Bingo! Detective, you are on fire today!" Evander was about to ask another question, but Jessica put her finger on his lip. "Evander, I know you're an actual detective, but do you mind if I ask the next question?" Jessica asked. "Sure." Evander responded. Jessica put one hand on her scaly hip. "My mother said that Ahab overthrew her out of jealousy and anger when she wouldn't accept his affections. Is that what really happened?" Jessica asked. "That's what Queen Victoria told you, my dear Anastasia?" Jessica gritted her teeth. "Don't call me Anastasia, and yes, that's what she told me." Agent Salvation put his fingers under his chin. "Well, it may have been true that Ahab loved Victoria and was jealous of King Evangelos, but that wasn't the motivation behind the revolt. The reason was that he found out that Victoria had….well, maybe it's better if I SHOW you."

Suddenly, Agent Salvation raised his arms, "Don't be alarmed. What I'm about to do is project images of the past into your brains." He said. And then a dark cloud enveloped them. They soon found themselves seeing visions of the past. They all witnessed it simultaneously.

In the vision they were all sharing:

Victoria Poseidon was in a coral reef one day, swimming along and chuckling as the fishes swam about her. She was in her early 30s, and her hair was long and orange. Evander thought she bore a striking resemblance to the way Jessica looks now, as though her mother's past self was Jessica's identical twin. The 30 year old Victoria had clam shells made of pure gold covering her breasts with a gold collar containing an emerald on her neck. She had gloves on with emeralds embedded in the parts worn on the back of the hands. She also dawned a yellow cape, and she had a gold crown on her head. The fish clearly adored Victoria. They actually swam up to her and allowed her to pet them like they were cats or dogs. She had names for all of the fish who lived in the reef. "John, Abby, Flappers, Dingle, and Tom. You can come get your affection too." Victoria said. In this vision that the digidestined and Digimon were seeing, Victoria was much younger than the one they saw on Skype the previous night. John, Abby, Flappers, Dingle, and Tom all went up to Victoria's neck and began nipping at her with their fishy lips. "Aww! Fishy kisses! I love fishy kisses!" She said. The sound of a man's hardy laughter could be heard. "Those fish absolutely adore you!" He said. Victoria looked over and saw a young Ahab. Whereas the Ahab at the inauguration had grey hair and wrinkles, this Ahab had hair pitch black and had smooth skin, though he was still as muscular. "Well, I am a descendant of Sebastian. He could control aquatic animals with his mind. Earth revered him as a god for this and his other fantastic abilities. I think I may just be exercising this power unconsciously. I don't think it's because they *really* like me." Victoria said. Ahab smiled and laughed a hardy laugh again. "That's such nonsense. You're gorgeous and incredibly kind and gentle. You don't need to be a god with mind control powers to make them like you. Any creature would be attracted to those qualities." Ahab said as he floated closer and closer to Victoria. He then leaned in and kissed Victoria on the mouth. "And I mean ANY creature." When Ahab kissed Victoria, she felt like her breath was momentarily taken away.

Victoria looked around anxiously. "Ahab, you shouldn't be so affectionate out in the open like that. Someone might see us. You know I'm married to Evangelos." Victoria said. Victoria then sighed sadly. "If only I had fallen for you long before I met him, or if only polygamy were allowed, or…" Victoria complained. Ahab ran his fingers through Victoria's hair. "As long as no one finds out about us. You can Ahab your king and eat it too." Ahab said, trying to make a play on words. Victoria started giggling. "Oh, you like that one, do you? Well, how do fish get to a hospital? In a clambulance!" Ahab joked. Victoria started laughing harder. Ahab continued "How did the oyster manage to hide from the fish? Clamoufage! How many tickles will it take to get an octopus to laugh? Ten-tickles!" Victoria was now laughing so hard that she could barely breathe. "Ahab! Stop! My stomach hurts! Ahahahahahahahahahaha!"

The vision then cut to Victoria and Ahab at a cabin deep in the woods on one of Aqualia's islands. The vision had cut to this scene in the minds of the Digidestined and their Digimon like a movie switching from one scene to the next. Ahab had a large table set with candles on them. Victoria and Ahab ate dinner together. The whole time Ahab was eating, he kept glancing down at Victoria's gold clam shell covered breasts. He got up from the table and swam over to Victoria. He started necking her. She moaned ever so slightly.

Before things got too racy, Agent Salvation caused the minds of The Digidestined and Digimon to immediately see a scene of Victoria having a mini panic attack while holding a pregnancy test. "I'm pregnant! This is bad! I hadn't been with Evangelos in months!" Victoria said under her breath. Victoria was breathing heavily. "I must cover this up by being with him as soon as he returns from his journey." Victoria said.

The vision in their minds cut to Victoria in an Aqualian hospital giving birth. She was calm, and not in any pain at all. The Aqualians were so advanced that they had discovered a way to make child bearing painless. The mother would take a pill that completely disabled the nervous system for a few hours. Mermaids on Aqualia bear their babies live, like dolphins do. For the interested reader, check out this article I read while researching this topic to decide the most plausible biological option for Aqualian childbearing. ---> https://www.sevenseasmermaid.com/how-do-mermaids-have-babies/

If you don't want to read the entire article, here's the most important excerpt; "The fact that mermaids are half-human and half-fish makes mermaids’ reproduction, well, complicated. Do they bear babies like humans or do they lay eggs as many fish do?

Mermaids would most likely have babies not by laying eggs, but by life-bearing them in the ocean similar to dolphins. This means mermaids would carry their babies in their wombs for 9-12 months and then give birth to them from the bottom side of their tails.

This is biologically the most likely approach to how mermaids would have babies. In the following section, I explain why it is not likely that mermaids lay eggs and show how insemination, gestation and birth would look like in mermaids from a scientific point of view.

…But there is one way, that is even more likely to be used by mermaids: the fully viviparous (live-bearing) way in which the baby grows inside the mother: just not in an egg, but in a placenta just like in mammals and humans.

There are actually some fish, that are viviparous: some sharks (e.g. the blue shark).

The babies receive oxygen and food directly from the mom through an umbilical cord and are carried in their mother’s belly for 9-12 months until they are born.

This seems to be the most fitting way in which mermaids could have babies. The same reproductive system would fit their human and their fish body parts. Both humans are and fish (like sharks) can be viviparous."

A baby merperson swam out of Victoria and towards the nurse. The nurse grabbed ahold of her and cut her umbilical cord. The nurse inspected the baby's urogenital opening to determine its sex. "Congratulations, your highness. It's a girl!" She said before handing her to her mother. The nurse asked "What's her name?" Victoria responded "Anastasia. Anastasia Calista Poseidon." Baby Anastasia was crying as her mother cradled her, as all newborn babies do. She was a small infant, whose mermaid tail was the length of a grown man's hand. "Hush now, little guppy." Victoria said in a soft, motherly tone. Mermaids often referred to their babies as "Guppies" as a term of endearment.

The vision had another scene shift. It was sometime after Anastasia's birth. Anastasia was already swimming around though she was a few months old. Given that merbabies swim out of instinct as soon as they leave the womb, they can be more of a handful for new mothers than human babies can. However, the monarchs of Aqualia often had staff to help, so they could carry out their royal duties unimpeded. Victoria was trying to read a digital book, but Anastasia kept getting out of her crib. She swam over to a huge trident on the wall. Victoria quickly swam over and grabbed the baby girl as she was about to slap one of its sharp prongs. "No, Anastasia! That's dangerous!" She said as she grabbed her daughter and yanked her away from the trident. "Not only that, but it's a family heirloom."

The scene then cut to Victoria and Ahab alone in a coral reef park again. The same one as in the first vision where Victoria played with the fishes. Victoria had left Anastasia at the castle for nannies to look after. She looked at Ahab with a saddened expression. "Ahab, I don't think we should see each other anymore." Victoria said. Ahab looked astonished. "What? But why not?" He asked. "The princess. Princess Anastasia…." Victoria began. "She's an adorable little thing. What about her?" Ahab asked. Victoria was silent. This was hard for her. "She's…..YOUR daughter, not Evangelos'" Victoria said. Ahab's jaw dropped and his heart sank. "D-d-does anyone know?" He asked, afraid that news of their affair had gotten out. "No. Everyone thinks she's Evangelos'." Victoria responded. "Then why? Why can't I see you anymore?" Ahab asked. Tears started coming out of Victoria's eyes in the form of bluish dark streams. "At first, seeing her face filled with me with joy. But now? Every time I look at her, I am reminded of my betrayal." Victoria said. "Guilt consumes me. I can't stand looking at her. Every time I see her smile at me, I just want to swim away as fast as I can." Victoria said. Ahab looked down at the coral below. He saw a red fish swim by. They were both silent for a moment. "I'd... like to see my daughter." Ahab said. "No. You have to flee from here. I have to break things off with you. If you stay, my torn affections between you and Evangelos and my guilt will tear me apart." She said. Ahab clenched his fists. He felt his heart breaking within him. He loved Victoria. It was bad enough that she was dumping him, but now he finds out that the princess is actually his daughter and he was prevented from ever seeing her? "This isn't right. A father has a right to see his child." Ahab said. Victoria turned around to swim back to the castle. "I'm sorry!" She said. "Hey! Get back here!" Ahab shouted before grabbing her arm to prevent her from going anywhere. Victoria screamed at the top of her lungs as though she was under assault.

"Why are you screaming?" Ahab asked. "Let me go! Help! Help!" Victoria yelled. "Do you think I'm trying to hurt you? I just want to talk." Ahab said, baffled at Victoria's outbursts. A few minutes passed and soon royal guards showed up. They were wearing high tech cybernetic armor and had laser blasters in their hilts. They kind of resembled storm troopers except with merman tails instead of legs. They all came into view and pointed their laser blasters at Ahab. "Let go of the queen at once or we'll shoot!" One of the guards said. Ahab let go. Victoria swam quickly behind one of the guards. "You have to help me! He tried to rape me!" Victoria lied.

The vision in the minds of the Digimon and Digidestined cut to Ahab being put on trial for attempted rape of Queen Victoria Poseidon. He was sentenced to life in prison. When the judge announced his sentence, Ahab felt anger and hatred swelling up inside of him. His love for Victoria was no more, now he hated her with the fire of a thousand suns. She stole his daughter from him and she stole his freedom from him as well.

The scene switched again to the time of the revolt. Ahab had entered Victoria's chambers. Ahab had a big laser gun in his hand and was clad in armor. King Evangelos asked "How did you get out of prison?" Ahab responded "I don't need to answer to you!" Ahab had only spent several months in prison before making his escape. Ahab looked around quickly. He saw baby Anastasia crying because the ruckus of Ahab busting in woke her up. "My daughter!" He said as he went to reach for her. As he reached to grab her, Anastasia started glowing a golden aura. Suddenly a big burst of water pressure came forth from baby Anastasia's direction and slammed Ahab into the wall. Evangelos quickly grabbed Anastasia and turned to his wife and said "We must get out of here! We must get away as far as we can!"

The Visions Of The Past Come To An End

The dark bubble that surrounded Evander, Jessica, Samantha, Agumon, Gabumon, Ladybugmon, Terriermon, Leormon, Pawnchessmon, and Betamon lifted. "So, you see? Ahab started a coup d'etat because your mother falsely imprisoned him. She took away his freedom and she took away his daughter." Agent Salvation said. Jessica stopped glowing gold and her eyes returned to normal. She collapsed onto the ground with her tail folded under her. She stared at the ground as she processed all of this information. "My mother….is a horrible person." Jessica said. Evander looked down at Jessica sympathetically. Jessica was sitting on the ground with her tail folded under her. In human form, she would be sitting on her knees. Both of her hands were on the ground and she just stared downward. Evander wanted to comfort his wife, but knew that now wasn't the time. He still needed to get information out of this so-called Agent Salvation. "How exactly did you get all these images you put in our head? How can Jessica trust that you're not just playing mind games with her?" Evander asked.

"Whether you believe those visions were real is up to you." Agent Salvation said. Agent Salvation got a Digi-Worm phone out and opened up a wormhole. "War is coming to Earth soon. If you're going to be my agent of destruction, you're going to have to practice using your powers. I noticed earlier that you couldn't call upon them right away." Agent Salvation said. He then walked through it.