It was a stormy night and the ocean was restless with anticipation. Tonight it would pull down a victim ship from the surface world. However unknown to the sleeping merpeople of Atlantica another nightmarish creature was coming down with the storm. These creatures would change one young merman's life forever in their quest for hearts.
This storm would lead a legendary keyblade wielder to this water realm and cause the youngest princess to go for her dreams of the surface. It would cause one evil sea witch to gain horrendous power and of course cause an Organization to enlist the young merman as its ninth member, causing the beginning of the young nobody Demyx.
"Hurry up Urchin!" Edym yelled behind his shoulder.
"I'm swimming as fast as I can. Where are we going anyways?" The younger merman called swimming as fast as his tail could take him.
"I found a new sunken ship."
"So shouldn't we be waiting for Ariel?" Suddenly Edym stopped causing Urchin to run into him, sending both mermen flying forward into an unforgiving rock wall. "Ugghh… What was that for?" Urchin groaned. Edym turned around clutching his nose and stared at the younger kids auburn hair.
"Don't you know what Wednesday is?" He slowly asked. Urchin shook his head causing his hair to flail. "It's Ariel's birthday and the anniversary of when we first met." Urchin's mouth suddenly made a perfect "Oh" and he silently cursed himself for forgetting. He had heard Ariel say just two weeks prior this tidbit of information but he had forgotten.
Of course leave it to Edym to remember. Edym had known Ariel sense they were both little guppies. He was after all nobility and was allowed to play with the princesses sense the age of five, unlike Urchin who grew up alone and orphaned never once speaking to Ariel until just two years ago.
"So we are going to look for a present for the grotto." Edym continued swimming towards his goal, going slower than before to avoid hard surfaces such as rocks. "We're getting closer, hurry up." He told the red head.
They swam in silence for the next twenty feet each young merman in his own thoughts of the young mermaid that they both adored. But as they rounded the rock they saw the prize. There lay a freshly plucked ship from the surface world. Cautiously they swam towards it looking carefully for any sharks.
"The coast is clear." Urchin quietly whispered. Edym nodded and then broke out into a sprint swimming quickly towards the ghostly ship.
"Hey!" Urchin yelled after him, trying his hardest to keep up. Even though he was younger he was a strong swimmer for his age and was able to keep right on Edym's tail.
Quickly he grabbed Edym's tail sending him to a stop right in front of one of the now broken ship windows. However even though he stopped the older boy he couldn't stop himself from being flung into the ships hallow skeleton letting out a cry of fear.
While Edym burst into a fit of giggles swimming to get a look of were Urchin had landed. Peering from outside he could see Urchin had landed face first into a barrel that strangely was floating in an air pocket. This caused him to burst into another gale of laughter.
"Get me out of here!" Urchin cried out muffled by the floating barrel. Gingerly Edym helped him out of the barrel. Once the little red head was free he flicked his tail causing the container to go spinning out of its air pocket and the ship altogether, toward freedom. It amazed him that it had made it down with the broken ship but now it was leaving the boat behind, heading slowly towards the surface.
"Okay you take the left side and I'll take the right. Whatever you find is yours to give to Ariel." Edym spoke heading towards the right side of the ship. Thankfully Urchin didn't follow.
The ship was huge and had many sparkly treasures he noticed so many treasures he was sure his princess would love. But nothing special seemed to speak to him that would make the perfect gift. He saw plenty of gadgets, and gismos but she already had a steady collection growing. Something different that's what he'd get her.
Then he entered a room it looked richly dressed with blankets, mirrors, and human brushes and combs. Even some art and small statues lined the walls. However what really caught his eye was an over turned box it had what looked like human made jewelry spilled out all over the floor. Carefully he swam towards the box and picked it up. Inside he saw beautiful necklaces and hair pins. Each lined with small sparkly stones off various gems he recognized. Slowly he searched through the box and towards the bottom he found what he'd been searching for, it was special. It was the perfect gift.
"Sebastian have you seen Edym and Urchin? I've looked everywhere for them!" Ariel called coming into the pink coral music room. She was now at her last resort if Sebastian didn't know then she'd just have to wait for their return.
"Eh… What dija say, mon?" Sebastian called swimming in from the back room, where most of the instruments where held. "Ariel, what are you doin here! I've been looking for ya. You need to get ready for ya birthday concert." He lectured while Ariel rolled her eyes.
"Sebastian I can handle it besides I practiced yesterday." She stated the last part quietly. She wasn't lying but she hadn't practiced for the full two hours. However she knew the concert would go splendidly unless one of her many adventures got in the way. "Have you seen Edym or Urchin?"
"Edym no, Urchin earlier dis morning, why?"
"Because I thought maybe we could go to Coral reef." She lied through her teeth. The real reason being she had wanted to search for a new sunken ship. The storm two nights ago had to have pulled one down and she was hearing rumors of the new sunken carrier a mile from Coral reef.
"Will dey're not here, Edym didn't show up for his lessons. While Urchin raced off to who knows where mon." He said matter of factually. Ariel sighed now she would have to look everywhere over again. She had hoped they'd be here. Of course she could go alone to find the buried treasures but where was the fun in that. Edym would head back to the academy in a month and leave her alone and Urchin wasn't much fun when it came to searching the skeletons of the once proud ships. Will Flounder was just will Flounder, a guppy and usually to scared to search through the ghostly ships without nagging about something.
"Sebastian, why does Edym have to go to the academy?" She whispered.
"Because he's nobility mon, He's supposed to grow up smart and take his place as the next king and queen's console. Just like those twins ya babysit, dey'll grow up to take on da family business and fill da console spots." He stated the facts so factually for a minute he almost reminded her of a textbook. "We all have to grow up and into our destiny mon. But ya can't always tell where it's a goin."
Suddenly she felt like something big was going to happen. "Who a knows where it will a lead us but ya definitely are supposed to practice your solo man." Reluctantly she got out her music sheets; no today was just going to be a long day.
"Archimedes you home!" Edym called into the older merman's home. He had decided to make the present better and he wanted to know for sure exactly what it was first before he went through with his plan. "Archimedes!" He called again before going into the darkened ship.
"Edym is that you, where's Ariel?" The white haired merman asked coming from the back room.
"She's not here. I came by myself." The older mermaid quickly welcomed Edym inside double checking that there was no other unexpected guest waiting outside. "I came to ask you what this is." Edym began pulling the necklace from his pocket. "I think it's a necklace of some sort but it's different…"
"Aww…. My boy that is a locket usually given by a young man to his lady, I saw this transaction one night I believe it can be given for all sorts of occasions. But where did you find one?" He launched into what into definition mode. Archimedes was the only humanologist in Atlantica maybe even the ocean. Yes, Scuttle new about the human world but usually his facts contradicted the old merman. Personally out of the two Edym preferred Archimedes to the seagull.
Ah… Will I went to a new ship and found it in a jewelry box. If you want I can take you there sometime, it's down by Coral Reef. Now what's so special about a locket?"
"Will a locket is like are muses. However it holds a non-moving picture usually of a loved one and of course has no music." He recalled taking the locket and showing him how to open it.
"So could you make it into a muse?" Edym asked casually. He had guessed the locket could open but now he needed to know if this plan would work.
"Technically, but no Jeweler in the kingdom would work on it. You're not really thinking what I think you're… you are."
"Of course, It would be perfect for Ariel I've already got the song. She'll love it."
"Alright will if you want to risk it fine. But nothing good will come of it."
"Nothing bad either. So umm… do you think you could….?" The blonde asked looking up at the old merman. He knew Archimedes would do it but he felt bad for taking advantage of his kind heart. Edym of course knew the older guy was a sap for romance stories and adored Ariel, it was a done deal.
"Me you expect me!" He yelled and for a minute the blond questioned his own judgment. "Alright I'll do it for Ariel not for you, you manipulating fool."Yes, Edym thought and burst into a slight jig. "What song are you planning on?" Archimedes sighed.
"Actually it's one Ariel and I made." Edym looked down at the floor it suddenly seemed more interesting than the rest of the aged place.
"Wait you wanting a custom made song?" It wasn't a surprise he was upset, muses were tricky to make but if you didn't practice with the song of choice the muse could explode. This caused many muse makers to only use tested songs, unless it was for wealthy nobility. Which Edym happened to be both, but he was asking too much using human devices and a possible explosion.
"Okay will we'll have our work cut out for us, come on." Archimedes called over his shoulder leading the blond towards the far back room of the ship. It was going to be a long day.
"Oh… Flounder where are they?" Ariel asked her young friend. They were setting on a rock just outside the city. It had taken four hours of singing to pry Sebastian away. Frankly Ariel was tired and upset that her search was stopped for so long. If it hadn't been for Flounder showing up it might have been even longer.
"We'll find them, Ariel. If not they'll come back home before dark."
"You're right Flounder." She jumped of her perch and began swimming for the palace.
"Maybe we can go tomorrow." Flounder said trying to be comforting. Suddenly there was a loud smack from behind them. "What was that?" The fish nervously asked. Quickly Ariel scooped the yellow fish into her arms and ducked into a small forest of seaweed, covering his mouth when he let out a gasp of fright.
"Be quit!" She whispered. Gradually the noisemakers rounded the corner. They were definitely not from around Atlantica. Some looked like almost jellyfish but with a strange head inside the florescent blob. Another looked like a green human diver with a fish head brandishing spikes. Ariel had never seen anything like it.
Even though she loved meeting new sea creatures when they weren't dangerous, these creatures seemed like bad news. There were hundreds of them passing their previous rocky perch. All of which were headed in the direction of the city. Quietly Ariel swerved through the seaweed heading toward the back of the city. She had to warn her father of the unknown visitors.
I Hope you enjoyed the first enstallment of Forgotten Melody. If your wondering who Urchin and Archmiedies is, they are charectors indroduced in the Little Mermaid series. Stay tuned for the next Chappter and Xigbar.