EPISODE 3
Hook, Line, and Sinker
A Mother-Daughter Spat (song)
Lyra is sitting next to her mother, wide-eyed and in shock at what her mother just told her. She leapt from her seat and prayed that what her mother just stated was something of her imagination. What was she talking about? Why Victor of all people? Why not another mer-siren? Queen Seraphina told her that Bluehaven had been hidden and forgotten for years. They deserve to have a place above the water, considering it’s been so long since they’ve seen land. Bluehaven, Sunnyside, and Shadyside can be a powerful trio to be reckoned with, and Victor is their way in. Queen Seraphina insisted that this was what was best for the kingdom and for Lyra, but Lyra argued that this was never for the kingdom; she only wanted to control it. Over the kingdom and over her own daughter, and she will not allow it. Lyra storms out in a tearful huff to her room. She locks the door behind her, sinks into her bed, and cries herself to sleep.
The Spell
King Thalor walks into the dining room with Lyra’s favorite desserts in hand. He looks around and sees Lyra nowhere in sight, but he sees his wife standing and staring blankly at the door. The king inquires about what was happening and where Lyra was. Queen Seraphina murmured that Lyra was too tuckered out to join them for dinner, so she went to bed. King Thalor didn’t want to disturb Lyra, so he asked his wife to join him for dinner, but Queen Seraphina declined and asked not to be disturbed while she spent some time… alone. She walks into the hall, makes sure she’s alone, and opens a secret door with stairs that lead to an even more secret room. She walks down the steps, and she’s greeted with an uncanny scene. A huge cauldron sits in the middle of the room under a roaring green fire. In one corner, a massive refrigerator full of odd and peculiar ingredients for spells, and in another corner, a ceiling-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall bookcase packed to the brim with books of spells and incantations. It turns out Queen Seraphina is a witch and a master of the dark arts. The queen walks over to the bookcase and picks out a heavy book titled “The Tidebound Grimoire”. She flips through about a thousand pages and finds a spell that’s been highlighted and underlined. She feels guilty for doing this, but she needs to do this. While her daughter Lyra is in a deep slumber, she sits on the edge of her bed, caressing her face. Queen Seraphina wanted her to do this willingly, but her daughter didn’t want what she wanted. She’s growing up. Growing up to have a mind of her own. She can’t have that. Queen Seraphina lays her hand on Lyra’s head and recites some occult words. Lyra opens her eyes, hypnotized, awaiting instructions from her mother. Queen Seraphina told her what her mission was: to get Victor to marry her by any means necessary. “Yes, Mother,” Lyra said, then went back to sleep.
Finn
Finn walks out of his house and takes a deep breath of Bluehaven air. It was way better than that disgusting, woody air from the surface. Hopefully, he’ll never have to go back there again. Finn takes a delightful stroll to the Spire entrance, walks through the immensely decorated main hallway, and up the stairs to — wait… why was the main hallway decorated? Finn looks around to find mer-sirens pacing left and right, frantically decorating the place. But for what? But does Finn really care that much to know… No. He continues his walk to Lyra’s room, but when he stops at the door to knock, he hears an odd conversation. The queen and Lyra were whispering something. A plan, it seemed like. He couldn’t hear much, but he knew it had something to do with Lyra, Victor, and something about a tour. Peculiar. He presses his ear against the door, then the door flies open, leaving him wincing on the ground. Finn looks up and finds Queen Seraphina towering over him with a suspicious, toothy smile, bidding him good morning. She leaves the room with Lyra trailing behind her. She stops in front of Finn and asks him to escort her to the surface. A flood of dread washes across Finn’s face. He begs and begs Lyra not to make him go, which makes Lyra get mad and demand that he take her as her guard. Her blowup catches Finn off guard. Lyra’s never done that before. This prompts him to ask if she’s okay, but Lyra swears she’s fine, but Finn has known her all their lives; she’s not okay. She’s not herself, and he thinks the queen has something to do with this.
A Confession Long Over Due (duet)
When Lyra reaches the surface, her one goal is to find Victor. She scours Sunnyside. Up and down. Left and right, but there’s no sign of him. Finn trailed behind her at a distance, as a good guard should. He told himself he was just doing his job, but the truth was he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very wrong with his best friend. Just when Lyra is about to give up, Vargas pops up to greet her, which startled Lyra. Vargas apologizes for scaring her; he just meant to say hi. Lyra, irritated, accepted his apology. He took up Lyra’s offer for him to take her on a tour of Shadyside, but Lyra insincerely rainchecked, which shocked Vargas. He thought she wanted the tour. Why is she so different now? Then Lyra asked a question that broke his ever-so-big heart. She asked him where Victor was because she needed to talk to him. Vargas was visibly hurt. His smile gradually disappeared as he realized she wanted Victor instead of him. Dejected, he forced a smile and led her to Victor. We cut to Nova with her hands over Victor’s eyes. She has a surprise for him that he can’t see yet, but he is catching flashes of sunlight and color between her fingers because Nova is so short. She removes her hands and says, “Ta-da!” Victor blinks in amazement. Before him stretches the Sunnyside Community Zen Garden: beds of vibrant, delicate flowers in full bloom, butterflies flitting lazily through the warm air, bees weaving between blossoms. The air hums with life and color. For a long, quiet moment, Victor just takes it all in. It’s a lovely scene. A love confession-inducing scene, in fact. Nova explains that this is where she likes to go when she’s stressed or anxious. The scent of the flowers soothes her. Victor was so touched that she would share something like this with him. It makes him want to share something with her as well. He says that he’s been dying to tell her something, but he didn’t know how to say it, or he just could never find the words. Nova smiles, encouraging him, and suddenly the air is filled with the quiet strains of a song. He sang about these feelings that he has for Nova that he can’t describe, and Nova sang back, feeling the exact same way. They sang and danced between the flower boxes, with pollen and flower petals swirling around them. It was something of a dream. They giggled and smiled throughout their song. For a moment, it feels like the world has narrowed to just the two of them and the garden’s quiet magic. Victor spots a flower that reminds him of Nova, a pohutukawa. He picks it out and sticks it in her hair. Nova is amazed by its radiance and thanks Victor for it. They begin to gaze into each other’s eyes and feel their hearts beat a million times per second. Victor draws a shaky breath, ready at last to confess— But Lyra bursts in, her voice slicing through the moment. She pardons herself for intruding and asks if she interrupted something important. Victor, with an obvious tone, said that she was, but Lyra told them to continue it another time as she was about to ask Nova to leave so she could talk to Victor privately. Nova politely but dejectedly obliges. Finn shares a knowing look as she leaves with Vargas.
Ray and Nova
Ray spots Nova with Vargas looking very down. He walks up to her, shoos Vargas, and asks Nova what was wrong. She says it’s nothing, but he knows it isn’t. Ray offers to take her to her happy place (the garden), but she frustratingly says that it’s occupied. Ray takes a peek back into the garden and spies Lyra talking to Victor. Now, he understands why Nova is acting this way. Nova sighs, snapping Ray back to their conversation, and asks him if anything is really worth it. He tells her he has no idea what she means. Nova expresses that she really likes Victor. Like, really really likes him, and she wants to tell him that, but it seems like she never can. It’s like they aren’t meant to be. With that, Nova lets a tear roll down her face. Empathy courses through Ray’s body, signaling that his best friend is really hurt. Ray sits her down and explains to her that no matter what doubt creeps in, Victor will always love her. She may not notice it, but everyone else does: the way he looks at her, acts towards and around her, the way he talks to her. He loses his head over her. Ray assures that it may not seem like it now, but he’s been dying to tell her how he feels; Nova just has to wait until they’re both ready. Nova tears up over his heartfelt speech. About a vampire, no less. Ray says that not all vampires are so bad. Like Vera. She may be like a rock on the outside, but she’s a real softie on the inside. They both take a peek at Vera, and she flashes her fangs at them. Ray flinches and insists she’s just joking… or he hopes she is. Nova thanks Ray for the encouraging words, and promises that when the time is right, she’ll put those words to action. Ray promises her that he’ll be by her side no matter what because if she’s happy, he’s happy. Even if it is with a vampire. They laugh and end with a warm hug.
Lyra's tour request
Victor stands stiffly at the edge of the garden path, hands fidgeting with a loose thread on his sleeve, eyes darting to the ground. Beside him, Lyra bounces lightly on her heels, a hopeful smile tugging at her lips. Lyra flirts that it’s customary to bow to a princess. Victor immediately bows, then Lyra giggles. She tells him that she’s so glad to have seen so much of Sunnyside. It’s such a beautiful place. Victor expresses his hospitality by saying that he’s glad she likes it. She then said that she’d like it even more if she got a tour of Shadyside. And as their heir to Shadyside, Lyra asks Victor to take her on said tour. Victor is confused. Vargas wanted to take her on that tour, and he understood that Lyra wanted to go on that tour with him. Why would she change her mind so fast? So he offered to call Vargas over so they could discuss it, because he knew that’s what Vargas wanted, but Lyra stopped him. She insisted she wanted Victor, not Vargas. It’s just a simple tour. Nothing more. Victor asks if she’s sure, and Lyra insists that it’s just a tour. Victor finally accepts, and Lyra jumps up and down with joy, and they hug. The same purple glow appears again. Victor immediately withdrew, which prompted Lyra to ask if he was okay. He swears he is, but she forces him to show her. When her hands locked with his, a faint purple glow started to shine. Lyra hasn’t seen anything like this before. Victor says he doesn’t know what it is, but it’s happened before. Lyra asks if he ever talked to his aunt; Victor replies that she wasn’t much help. This raises a lot of suspicions for Lyra, suspicions she pushed down deep into her consciousness. There is no time to be curious. She has a task at hand. She thinks it’s fine, but she jokes that maybe it’s a sign they’re meant to be. Victor’s heart drops. What does that mean for him and Nova and all that they’ve been through? Would that have all been just for nothing? No… it can’t be. Lyra interrupted his thoughts with details for their tour. Lyra bids him adieu and calls on Finn to escort her home.
Vargas Is Pissed
In the distance, Vargas leaned against a wall, listening, waiting, and watching his heart break with each word Lyra spoke to Victor. Lyra hugs Victor; they talk for a couple of seconds, then Lyra finally leaves. Vargas hides so she wouldn’t see him, then once she was gone, he would make a beeline for Victor. As Vargas is walking up to him, Victor stares blankly into space, obviously distraught. Once Victor notices Vargas walking up to him, he switches up and greets him like he normally would. Vargas greets him back, holding back a bit of jealousy and rage. Vargas casually asks Victor what the conversation was about, and Victor didn’t know what to say. He could tell Vargas the truth that would wreck him, or he could tell a lie that would wreck him as well. The truth shall set you free, right? So, Victor told the truth, but instead of anger, Vargas reacted with a small disappointment. Victor recognizes that he hurt his best friend, but he assures Vargas that it’s just a tour and nothing more. But that didn’t change anything. Vargas knew it wasn’t just a tour. He wished them to have a good time anyway, even though that thought kills him inside. Victor watches as his best friend walks away from him with his head hanging low. He can’t even imagine that he was the cause of that. He didn’t want this to happen. So what does he do now? He made a promise to Lyra that hurt two of his favorite people, but he can’t just bail on Lyra. Victor tells himself that he just has to stick it out because… It’s just a tour. But why did he feel like it wasn’t?
Vargas and Vera
Constant rejection leaves Vargas in a melancholy state, so he plops down on a bench to think about what went down and see if he can “Vargas” his way into feeling better. Vera watches Vargas lying down, looking all sad, and walks over to him. She asks him what was wrong, and he says that it’s nothing and he was just feeling blue. But Vera can read between the lines. She felt it had something to do with his new “love interest”, but instead of prying, she lies there with him and tries to lighten the mood with a horrible joke, “You know, I could just drown her. Ironic, right? A mer-siren drowning in her own element.” Vargas doesn’t laugh, and she wasn’t exactly expecting him to. “Too soon?” Vargas looks at her and almost smiles, “Yeah, too soon.” Vera nods, and they just lie there in comfortable silence.
Finn confronts Lyra
Finn catches up to Lyra to ask her what the heck is going on. She dumped Vargas for taking up her offer to ask Victor the same question. He’s confused, then Lyra gets irritated. She doesn’t understand why he’s getting so pressed over something that isn’t his business. He’s a guard, not a private investigator. As a matter of fact, he’s just a guard-in-training. Lyra tells him he needs to know his place and stay in it. Before they have to leave, she tells Finn that she needs to use the restroom. Finn realizes that she’s never acted like this. Using her status to put other people down? That’s not like Lyra at all. There’s most definitely something wrong with her. He might not be a PI, but he needs to figure out what’s going on with his best friend.
The Budget Three Musketeers
Vargas and Vera both get up at the sight of Lyra. Vargas with a longing look, and Vera with a threatening one. Vera eyes Ray in the distance, spying on Lyra and Finn. Vera sneaks over to Ray while Vargas isn’t looking. Ray is watching Finn and Lyra’s conversation from a distance and feeling more and more mistrustful. He looks over at Vera, and she’s giving the same goo-goo eyes from before to Finn. And she swears she doesn’t have a crush. Ray snaps his fingers to snap her out of it, and tells her how he feels about these… newcomers. Surprisingly, she doesn’t like Lyra. According to Vera, she’s too perfect and nice, but shady at the same time. She does not like that. Plus, she knows she hurt Vargas’s feelings. Vargas may not have said that explicitly, but she knows she did, and no one hurts her friends. Ray reminds her that they have to fight for vampires and daywalkers when they’re too blind to see the danger in front of them, so they have to figure out what their plan is. But who should they ask? Ray exes Lyra because she’s their prime suspect. A roguish smile appears on Vera’s face because she knows just who to ask. She shares a knowing look with Ray, and he automatically knows. Why him of all people? Ray doesn’t like him, and he doesn’t like Ray back, but alas, he was their only option. They walked over to Finn, who was waiting for Lyra after she went to the bathroom. Vera sashays over to Finn, bats her eyelashes, and greets him flirtatiously… unfortunately, Finn wasn’t picking up what she was putting down. He waves and gives her an awkward hello before turning to Ray, who was asking him what his big plan was. Finn swore he had no idea what he was talking about because he didn’t have a big plan, but Finn did admit to something being fishy about what was going on in the castle. He told Ray and Vera that Lyra and her mother had an interesting conversation that morning, and now she’s acting differently. The three of them knew it had something to do with the queen, but what could her big plan be? Finn told them that he’d ask around the kingdom to see if he could find some answers. Lyra walks out of the bathroom to find Finn talking it up with people she knows don’t trust her. What could they be talking about? Are they trying to foil Lyra’s plans? Approaching Finn with askance, she asks him what he was talking about with the vampire and the daywalker. Finn continues to lie to Lyra, telling her that he was just telling them to leave him alone. Lyra was unsure of his excuse but dismissed it, and they both left Sunnyside.
Vera
Just as Ray and Vera are about to walk off, Vera hangs back for a bit to watch Lyra and Finn walk to shore. She watches as Lyra passes by Vargas with his hands in his pockets and his head hanging low, giving passing glances towards Lyra and Lyra rejecting every single one of them, hiding the fact that she feels a bit of guilt every time she looks away. Vera witnesses a light in Vargas that she’s never seen extinguished. Now, she really doesn’t like Lyra. Vera may not show it as much, but she really cares about her friends, so when someone hurts them, she wants to hurt them back. She knew she couldn’t trust Lyra. Vera may not know what she’s up to now, but she’ll find out and end her.
The second-guessening
Before Victor and Lyra’s tour date, Lyra sat in her vanity getting ready with her mother while she explained the plan one last time. During the debriefing, Lyra distantly nodded in agreement, but felt a twinge of guilt, as if her real self were peeking through. Queen Seraphina looked at her daughter’s face in the mirror’s reflection and noticed that she seemed a little remorseful. She swore that this was what was best for everyone, and Lyra was doing a good service for her kingdom. But why didn’t Lyra feel that way? Lyra suggests another idea for Bluehaven to get their chance, but the queen shuts it down, while also shutting down that flicker of Lyra that was peaking through. Lyra snapped out of it, agreed to her mother’s plan, and set off to Shadyside. Meanwhile, Victor is waiting on the shore, pacing back and forth in a state of misgiving. What if this turns out to be more than it is, as Vargas thought? Why would he do this to Nova after he tried to tell her how he felt? What is he thinking? Suddenly, Nova yells Victor’s name, snapping him out of his racing thoughts. Victor stood up straight and tall to act confident, like he wasn’t just freaking out. He shared a bright, optimistic smile and cheeks as red as roses with Nova, greeting her. Nova said that she wanted to talk to him about something, but asked why he was standing out here instead. Victor told her that he was waiting for Lyra to give her a tour of Shadyside, which worried Nova. She didn’t know that Victor was supposed to give Lyra the tour. Why Victor of all people? Why not Vargas? But Nova didn’t want to think too much about it. She had confidence that Victor liked her back, so he wouldn’t do anything that would hurt her. She hopes. Nova told him that she wanted to share something with him: a secret. But then, Lyra emerged from the water, looking like an ethereal water nymph, and Victor noticed. She was beautiful, like a painting, yet stunning nonetheless. Nova watched Lyra walk over to the shore, smiling ear to ear for Victor, which made her realize that she wasn’t wanted here. Feeling discouraged, Nova told Victor that she would tell him later, so she walked away with her head down. Victor was going to call out to her, but then Lyra interrupted and asked for the tour to start immediately. Victor accepted and walked away, partly looking over his shoulder towards Nova, watching her walk away.
Victor and Lyra's tour (duet)
Victor takes Lyra through the sights of Shadyside, and she is completely fascinated by everything she sees. After the tour ended, Victor stood near the shore, nervously glancing at the shifting waves and running his fingers through his hair, but Lyra pulled him toward the water instead to conclude the tour. Lyra, filled with eager optimism, beams at him and gestures toward the water, her eyes sparkling with anticipation. She begins to sing, and the siren song wraps around him like a current he can't swim against. They step onto the water — Lyra controlling the surface tension so it holds them like a floor. Water pillars rise around them, spiraling currents swirl at their feet, and the whole ocean seems to be dancing with them. It's romantic and breathtaking and completely intoxicating. Once the song ends, Victor drowns in Lyra's big, deep blue eyes, and Lyra sinks into his. The background music swells, and they lean their heads closer for a passionate kiss.
The Almost-Proposal
After the kiss, Lyra catches the purple glow circling Victor's pupil; the spell has been cast. After the kiss, Victor is overwhelmed. He caresses Lyra's face, down her neck, then holds her hands delicately. He stares into her big blue eyes, his mouth curving into a bashful smile. He tells her that he doesn't know why he is feeling this way, but he knows what he's feeling is right. He knows that she's the one for him and that he wants her to be his forever. Victor begins to bumble and fumble with his words. He can't articulate what he's feeling, but he wants to try. "I... I think I want to marry you." Lyra stops him gently, placing a finger over his lips. She asks him to pause on opening up his heart to her after they take it slow. They shouldn't rush things, especially this soon. The spell had its own timeline. And Lyra was patient. Victor and Lyra embrace each other in a hug. We cut to Lyra's face, which seemed happy and smiley at first, but her smile then turned into a smirk, and then we cut to black. The end.