AN: I want to thank miss-cute-7 for being my first and only review. It made me very happy to get the review and so this chapter is dedicated to you since I was starting to not want to write this story anymore. = )

Chapter III

Ariel had immediately gone to her quarters as soon as they got back to the ship. She went to the chest in her room and opened it pulling out a large book. It was so old that it was nearly falling apart. She carefully opened the leather bound book and flipped through the pages till she found the page she was looking for. The ink was fading but still readable. At the top of the page it was labeled with large print 'Toxocara'.

It was the sickness that Kenta was filled with. The page was full of riddles for how to find the cure. Something she took many trips to decipherer. At the bottom of the page were instructions and ingredients on how to make the elixir that would cure him.

She read the passage out loud in a soft mumble, stopping only to write a few ingredients and items she would need. Savian and Ned came in with the chest putting it carefully down near her, she handed the paper to Ned. "Give it to Lance and have him bring it to me right away."

Ned nodded and headed off to do just that.

"Do you need anything else captain?" Savain asked her.

Ariel shook her head, and listened as his footsteps faded away.

She got to her feet and placed the book on the table. She then went to her bed in which Kenta still laid and sat down. "Kenta, wake up." She whispered putting her hand on his shoulder.

His eyes slowly opened and he smiled at her.

"We found the plant." She beamed. "Stay awake for a while ok?"

Kentas only response was a slight nod of his head.

Lance came in then placing what Ariel had asked for on the table. He was an extremely tall and thin man. He hair was a chestnut brown and his eyes were black. Despite living on a ship his skin was pale, an almost sickly white. Which probably was from him spending all his days in the kitchen and not on the deck.

"Thank you Lance." She told him and with that he left.

She went to the chest with the flower glad to see it was still intact, alive, and healthy. She carefully picked one of the flower petals, and reached into the hole of the chest grabbing a handful of dirt. She put them in the spice grinder that Lance brought her then went back to the book reading the rest of the ingredients. She picked up a salt rock and plopped it in there and began to grind the ingredients. It was a lot harder to grind the flower petal down since it wasn't dried but she had no time for that.

As soon as everything was crushed as finely as possible she grabbed the goblet of mulled wine and put two spoonfuls of it into the goblet. This cure was not just an elixir, but also a potion, a potion that called for one last ingredient. A tear of someone that truly loved the person that needed to be cured. She lifted the goblet, took in a deep breath and began to think of losing Kenta. He was the closest friend she had ever had, there was only one other human that had ever meant as much to her as he did and she was unable to save him. Tears began to rack her body. She let a tear drop into the goblet and a puff of turquoise smoke rose from the goblet. She wiped her face with the back of her hand and went to Kentas side.

"It's not going to taste good." She told him with a smile. "But you need to drink the whole cup."

Kenta nodded sitting up he took the goblet. He knew better then to ask her about her watery eyes, so instead he simply smiled at her and drank deeply. Once he had emptied the contents his body went slack. He dropped the goblet and fell back onto the bed.

"Kenta?" Ariel asked. "Kenta!" She said in a panic. She felt for his pulse, it was strong. She felt his forehead and it felt like it was on fire. She bit her lip and took his hand in hers. She could not lose him. She had lost too many friends over her lifetime and he was the only one that meant so much to her. The only person she had ever trusted her secrets with since his lost.

She had traded her mermaid fin for a pair of legs to be with a human man. His name was Eric, a prince. She fell in love with him the moment she laid eyes on him. He fell in love with her as well and they were quickly married. They had both wanted to travel and see the world so they went on an extended honeymoon for months. They explored the world on his ship; setting foot on lands they had never seen before. It was the happiest moments of her life, but unfortunately her happiness could not last forever.

They were standing on the ship watching the stars, as she loved to do, his arms were wrapped around her waist as she leaned back in him. "Are you excited to go back to your kingdom?" She asked him.

"Yes, and no. It will be good to see my family again, but there is still so much to see."

Ariel smiled. "We can always go on trips."

"Are you ready to be a queen?"

Ariel chuckled. "I suppose. Now that I've gotten all the human things down." She had told him about her being a mermaid before they were married, she couldn't lie to him. She feared he would reject her but he did not. He actually thought it made perfect sense as to how she was the one who saved him from a burning ship.

"Do you ever miss the ocean, or your family?" He asked her.

"Sometimes, but not often." She turned around in his arms. "I am very happy with you though." She kissed him then.

"Your highness."

They turned to see the captain of the guard with three others.

"Yes Geoffrey. " Eric said.

"I am afraid the ships being delayed."

"What do you mean?" Ariel asked behind Eric.

"Come with me." Geoffrey said turning on his heel and walking.

Eric followed him, with his hand in Ariel's taking her with him.

They arrived at the brig and Ariel's stomach immediately turned into knots. She suddenly felt uncomfortable and nervous. However she pushed it away blaming it on the fact that she never liked the brig. Never liked where they kept prisoners and how they were treated.

Geoffrey opened the door with a key leaving it wide open as he gestured with his hand. "Everyone has been arrested."

Ariel looked in unable to hide her curiosity. Several guards, the cook, and all the shipmen were inside. As she was about to ask what was going on she felt a strong hand grip her arm shoving her in there. The door slamming shut behind her. She turned around immediately. "Eric!"

Eric was on the other side apprehended by the two other guards with Geoffrey, his sword had fallen to the ground and she watched in horror as Geoffrey shoved a blade into her beloveds chest.

There was a sudden blood-curling scream, a noise that seemed to come from beyond the grave. It never occurred to Ariel that she was the one screaming. She fell to her knees as tears streamed down her face, and her heart shattered into pieces.

Kentas eyes suddenly opened startling her to alertness. "Kenta?" She questioned in a whisper.

He looked at her with his eyes. "I'm fine." He told her. He tried to sit up but decided against it. "I feel weak, but I also feel better."

Ariel couldn't help the grin that appeared on her face. "It worked?"

Kenta smiled. "I think so, but I feel like it won't be a fast recovery."

She threw her arms around him then hugging him tightly letting tears fall that she hadn't know she was holding back. "I'm just glad you're alive."

Ariel went above deck her crew were all there and they stared at her expectantly. Kenta was well loved among her new crew. He was kind, generous, and a teacher. He never demanded respect because he never needed too. He was a man that was easily loved. He was like a flame to a moth, drawing people to him. If he had ever desired to be, he could have been a pirate captain on his own ship.

"It worked." She told them. There was a loud cheer as her men praised the fact that Kenta would continue to live. "I think with all our hard work we are all in need of a celebration."

There was another loud cheer and she could not help the smile that appeared on her lips.

AN: For anyone who is in the medical field like myself (I am a Licensed Veterinary Technician) or simply know about parasites Toxocara is an actual word. It is a round worm commonly found in dogs and cats. I just really like the way the word sounds, so I decided to make it my fictional disease. Thanks for reading!