Cherry and Atticus were going separate ways for this summer vacation to spend with their families. Cherry's family was invited to meet a young man named Eric while Atticus was going to visit his mother's family who lived 'far away', but Atticus did not tell Cherry where. It looked like a perfect day to be out at sea.
"I sure wish I could tell Cherry." Atticus said.
"Same here." Patch said.
Atticus hugged Patch. "Have a good time with your family."
"Can do!" Patch agreed, he then ran to get on a truck that was going straight to Dearly Farm.
Atticus waved, he then met his family as they were ready to visit Emily's side of the family. "Alright, let's go."
"Atticus, what do you think Patch would look like if he was part merperson or mer-animal?" Darla asked.
"I never thought about it..." Atticus scratched his head.
"He'd probably turn into a fish..." Emily shrugged as she led the way. "Oh, before I forget, your Uncle Triton promised a surprise for later tonight for everybody in Atlantica, there'll be a concert sung by the girls."
"That'll be fun," Darla smiled. "I love concerts!"
"Well, then what are we waiting for? Let's get going so we won't be late." Jessica said.
Emily giggled to them.
"Lead the way, dear." Patrick told his wife.
Emily nodded and led them straight to the beach to a hidden location. Once they got there, they all got into the water and forced themselves in. They first held their breath, but Emily took out a shell necklace and there was a glow all around them and the Fudo family turned into merfolk.
"Alright to Atlantica!" Atticus cheered swimming off to the underwater sea kingdom.
"Slow down there!" Jessica rushed after her brother.
"Last one there's a rotten turtle egg!" Darla giggled as she joined in the race.
"Come on, dear, we better go or we'll get left behind." Patrick said to his wife, then saw she wasn't there. "Emily? Emily!"
"Wait up!" Emily swam after her children.
"Hey! Wait for me!" Patrick called out, swimming after his wife and children.
The family swam and swam. There was a hidden golden castle of Atlantica as the merpeople were getting ready for a celebration. This visit had been planned ahead of time and Triton decided to celebrate by giving a concert for his sister-in-law and her family. Urchin was next to Triton while they made arrangements, but it was boring Urchin since he was stuck there while the girls were getting ready to look their best for the concert.
Well, most of them, since a certain red-haired mermaid was going to be out with her best friend and her adoptive brother and also, possibly her favorite cousin. "Daddy, are they here yet?"
"Not yet, Ariel, they should be here any minute now though," Triton told his youngest daughter. "Where are your sisters?"
"Getting ready..." Ariel rolled her blue eyes. "Hey, Urchin..."
"Hey..." Urchin nodded to her.
"What're you doing out here?" Ariel asked.
"Getting bored to death." Urchin whispered.
"Well, as soon as they get here, your boredom will soon be over." Ariel whispered back.
"Hurry up." Urchin smirked.
Ariel giggled to that. Triton swam over to the others to make sure everything would be in order for tonight's celebration.
Soon, the Fudo family came.
"I don't see anyone!" Darla said as she swam and accidentally bumped into Urchin. "Oops!"
"Hey! You all finally made it." Urchin smiled.
Atticus and Jessica came to their foster cousin's sides.
"Oh, Urchin, I'm sorry..." Darla got up off him. "You okay...?"
"Heh... Fine... Glad you could make it..." Urchin smiled bashfully to her.
Darla smiled bashfully back.
"Ahem!" Jessica cleared her throat.
Darla blinked and looked over. "Oh... Umm... Atticus and Jessica are here too."
"Hey, guys." Urchin smiled to his foster cousins.
"So, Urchin, how is it having seven sisters?" Atticus smirked a little.
"Let's just say you are lucky that you have two sisters." Urchin said.
"Yeah, though I wouldn't mind having a brother..." Atticus rolled his eyes a little, though as a joke after he saw Darla and Jessica glaring at him. "Just kidding!"
"Uh-huh..." Darla folded her arms.
"Atticus!" Ariel swam right over and hugged the strong boy.
"Hey, Ariel." Atticus smiled, gently hugging her.
"Flounder and I are gonna go exploring," Ariel whispered to him. "You wanna come?"
"Um..." Atticus looked as Triton had the others still setting up for the affair for later today. "Will we have enough time?"
"I'm sure we will, come on!" Ariel giggled eagerly.
"Ariel, what are you up to now?" Urchin asked suspiciously.
"Come with me and you'll see." Ariel smiled.
Urchin rolled his copper eyes. This could not be good.
Patrick and Emily met and reunited with Triton, talking about what he had planned for their arrival.
"Where are we gonna go?" Darla asked the fish friend.
"Um, I dunno, Ariel said it was a surprise..." Flounder shrugged his fins. "Hopefully there'll be no sharks."
Meanwhile on dry land...
Cherry was standing with her parents as the birds were flying and the dolphins were swimming. "Mom, is this Eric guy coming soon?" she asked, feeling a little bored.
"Be patient." Michelle said.
"He'll be here soon." Bud added.
Cherry sighed, wiping her forehead. "Oh, well, at least it's not hot and I'm sweating... I HATE sweating..."
There was a boat riding over and was now docked. There came a young man with wavy black hair and blue eyes, he saw the family and walked up to them.
"Hello, are you Eric?" Michelle questioned.
"That would be me," the young man smiled. "Sorry, we had to go for a ride... It's such a lovely day for a boat ride."
"It sure is." Michelle smiled.
Cherry took out a pill and swallowed it with some water since they were going on a boat.
Eric helped them aboard. "You gonna be okay?" he asked Cherry.
"I'll be better now..." Cherry said softly.
"She gets seasick rather easily, that's why she needs to take those pills." Michelle said.
"Doctor and her mentor recommended them." Bud added.
"Mentor, huh?" Eric asked. "Well, hope she does okay."
A fluffy and messy sheepdog came to Cherry's side, trying to jump at her.
Cherry kept her distance. "I-I'm not much of a dog person..." she muttered.
"Don't worry, Max won't hurt you." Eric promised.
"He sure seems to be excited." Bud said.
"Max was always like that..." Eric chuckled as he ruffled up his dog's fur.
Cherry stood on the edge and looked out to the sea.
"It's a shame your friend couldn't join us," Michelle said to her daughter, referring to Atticus. "Where did you say he was going?"
"Meeting his mother's family, they live far away from home..." Cherry shrugged.
The sailors were ready and they moved the boat out into the sea as it was a perfect day for the activity. There was fog, but luckily, it did not blind anybody.
"So strange, the weather man never said anything about a fog." Bud said.
"Neither did my phone..." Michelle looked at the weather app on her iPhone.
"I'm sure it'll be fine," Eric was excited. "Isn't this great though? The salty sea air, the wind blowing in your face?"
Max barked in agreement.
"Perfect day to be at sea, right, guys?" Eric asked the others.
Unfortunately, an old man seemed to be seasick and wasn't doing too good.
"Oh, yes..." the old man gulped. "Delightful..."
"Better him than me..." Cherry muttered to herself.
"A fine wind and a following sea," a sailor commented. "King Triton must be in a friendly type mood." he said happily added, as he tied a rope up with Eric helping him.
"King Triton?" Eric and Cherry asked.
"Who's he?" Bud asked.
"Why, ruler of the merpeople, lad," one sailor answered to him as he gently pet Max. "Thought every good sailor knew about him."
"Merpeople," the old man scoffed. "Pay no attention to that fool," he told Eric and the visiting family. "It's all nautical nonsense."
"That's what they said about witches." Michelle muttered under her breath.
"But it ain't nonsense!" the second sailor argued with the old man as he grabbed a fish to take out of the water before putting it back and not going to cook it up to eat as a meal. "It's the truth! They live in all depths of the ocean!"
"Cool, wish I could meet a real mermaid." Michelle said.
"Aw, Mom..." Cherry hid an eye roll.
The fish dove underwater, once it got there, it let out a breath of relief and swam off.