There was nothing but darkness.

He was accompanied by no one in the vast room, except voices that sounded familiar. The voices rang a ton of bells, but Jim could never come up with the owner of the voice. Infuriated with his vain effort, he gave up. Instead, he sat down, and listened.

He listened to every sentence, every word, every syllable, to study it. The urge to learn the owner of the voice was still there, but for now, recording it mentally was the only thing he could do.

"Well, I am from the ... , if that even answers your question."

"I want to go out there, see what's here and there."

"Oh really? Silver did that? I suppose he still had a soft side."

"Jim… that was the best story I've heard in my entire life! It beats my old bedtime stories!"

"Ah… So I'll have a picture of myself in there!"

In the middle of his session, something urged him to leave the realm he's currently in. Something almost physical was bringing him back, something that made he end up peeling his eyes.

That's the moment where he realized that he was back in his bedroom. The round window on his left was a path for the sunlight to reach his face. In an instance, he bolted right up.

"Those voices…" he muttered to himself.

And of course, he remembered none of them. He did remember memorizing every sentence, but his brain remembered nothing. The result immediately irritated him, but in the same time, emptiness 'filled' him.

When he was about to turn his head to see the window, a stinging pain prevented him from doing so. He tried to endure it by gritting his teeth and rubbing his head on his temple, but neither worked. The pain kept stinging, until it went away completely after a few seconds. Its sudden departure left the male confused.

"What was that all about—"

"JIM—BUDDY, THANK GOD!" Ben barged in from the door, but a hand pulled him away, and Sarah showed up.

"Jim! Oh my goodness…" she immediately joined him on his bed. She placed both of her hands on her son's face, cupping his cheeks. "Are you alright? What happened to you?"

"Mom, I'm alright, please just…" he tried to take off her hands while looking down, but Sarah shook him to lock her eyes onto his.

"NO! What happened in the beach? Did something terrible happen?"

"The beach? I…" The boy was certainly confused.

"Jim, I found you lying on the beach, unconscious! Your head was steaming hot when I laid my hand on it!" Ben briefly explained, sitting down on the bed. "I suspect it might be a really hard concussion, but you producing steam from your head is… well, what can I say? If a lightning had hit you on the head, then that might be the reason. But there hasn't been any rain in the past weeks!"

"My… head?" Jim ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm… not sure."

"You're telling me that you don't remember a thing?" Sarah tried to meet his son's eyes again, which were rolling from one direction to another in confusion.

"I don't think I do, mom."

"Were you meeting up with Ariel?" Ben placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Ariel?" Jim looked up to the robot. "Who's… Ariel?"

Ben and Sarah exchanged a look, both expressing shock.

"Don't joke around, Jim!" The navigator robot pushed him in a friendly way. "Your crush! Your friend who's a mermaid!"

Jim cocked a brow in response, his mouth mouthing a 'huh?' Seeing so, Ben tried again. With his robotic eyes, he displayed a 'mental' picture of Ariel to mention her physical characteristics.

"Red hair, big green goo-goo eyes, green tail, slender figure?" Ben shrugged in the end. Jim's expression expressed an even more puzzled look as a response.

"Do I need to tell the color of her seashells?"

"Don't worry, we'll meet her. I'm guessing you two had promised to… uh… meet up tomorrow, right?" Sarah desperately tried to fit some optimism into her tone. "She'll know what happened to you. The only reason why you've been visiting the beach is her, lately. I know that."

"Mom, you're making no sense whatsoever," Jim responded.

She narrowed her eyes. "Jim… Something happened to you, and neither of us knows what. It could be anything, and if it erased your memory about Ariel, it could be a possible future threat. And you're… You're the only one I've got now."

Her face saddened, with her grip onto her son adding. "Jim, anyone can burn the inn, anyone can take my husband away, anyone can take my money and gold,

but if anyone were to harm you, my beloved son, I'd only allow it over my dead body."

The small speech touched the male, as it was indicated by him taking a firm hold on his mother's wrist. "I understand mom… I'll try to remember."

She smiled endearingly, and expressed some motherly love by hugging him. Not wanting to be left out, Ben joined the two.

"Tomorrow morning…" Sarah spoke, letting go of her son. "She should be there tomorrow morning. Let's meet her tomorrow morning."

It was late in the night, with just hours away from dawn. Ariel's red hair was still a beacon in water, even with the dim lighting from the full moon. She was heading back after waiting at the beach for no one for hours.

Her grudgeful phase was a sign of her disappointed mood. Her head was constantly tilted down, finding the seafloor more entertaining to look at. Once again, she had missed dinner. However, her current mood was overshadowing her hunger, making it almost nonexistent. She swam past the dinner room, and headed straight into the bedroom. Heading to her bedroom meant passing the throne room, where her father was patiently waiting for his youngest daughter.

Ariel slowly showed up from the entrance, not even minding her father while looking down. Her father frowned upon her.

"Have you had dinner, Ariel?"

"I'm not hungry," she simply replied.

"Is something wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing's wrong, daddy. I… I'm just not in the best state at the moment." She stopped swimming to face her father.

"Hm? Is that it? Mind telling your father what had caused it?" He approached her. She looked down once again.

"It's… really nothing."

"I wouldn't consider someone forgetting a promise is a 'nothing', Ariel." King Triton placed his hands behind his back. His statement made the mermaid look upon him right away.

"W-What do you mean daddy?"

"He forgot to see you, didn't he?"

She gasped, going backward slightly. "Daddy… I…"

"Ariel, my daughter, I suppose you are very much aware of the rules we have, correct? No interacting to humans, as it will only bring possible future threat upon our kingdom."

Her eyes widened as wide as giant pearls. "Daddy, we're great friends! I trust him! I—"

"Humans are not trustworthy!"

"But he's different! He's unlike anything you describe humans as!"

The king paused for a while, crossing his arms. He returned his daughter's glare with his own. "No matter how different he is, he won't remember a thing about you."

Confusion filled her being. "What? What do you mean?"

"I wiped out every single memory in his head regarding our kind, especially you, with the trident. You left me no choice, but I have only taken action based on my experience, Ariel. No human is trustworthy."

Her mouth was agape. She wanted to cry but rage fueled her. "I left you no choice?! What could I possibly have done that made you do that, father?! I simply made a friend and got along, and that made you do that?!"

"Do not raise your tone on me, Ariel!"

"It's almost like you don't want me to be happy!" The statement pierced a hole on the father's heart. "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?! I'VE NEVER BEEN A HAPPIER PERSON WHEN I MET HIM AND NOW YOU'VE DONE THIS TO ME!" Triton's heart ached. "I HATE YOU! HOW COULD YOU?!"

Having no more fuel to add, Ariel dashed off to a direction that only her brain knew. Without noticing, she dashed past a fellow crustacean, Sebastian, who was listening the conversation in the whole time discreetly. He was definitely on Ariel's side, discreetly, however.

Sebastian peeked from the pillar he was hiding behind at his king, who returned to sit on his throne. He had a deep frown for a second before it turned into an expression of a sorry man.

Seeing that his king might need an accompany, Sebastian swam towards him. The king immediately noticed his presence, and gestured a hand to leave him be.

"Leave… I need some time alone, Sebastian."

"A-Alright, your majesty."

"And follow her, will you? No one knows where she'll end up."

"As you wish, your majesty."

Meanwhile, the mermaid was still cutting through water without a clear direction of where to go. She let her fin bring her to wherever it would end up. Only one thing mattered at this point for her, which was a nice far gap between her father and herself.

On her way, she stumbled upon her best friend. Without a word spoken, she took Flounder by the fin and continued swimming away.

"Ariel?! Hey!"

The hurt mermaid didn't bother to answer. When she noticed the path she was on was a familiar one, she made a decision of where to go. She swam and swam, until that one familiar rock was seen. Flounder noticed it too, it was the hidden grotto.

Seeing that his question wasn't going to be answered anytime soon, Flounder helped the mermaid open the entrance of the grotto, and shut it when they're in.

"Thanks…" she thanked, as she sat on the spot where dull beam of moonlight landed.

"Now, are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

She didn't answer right away. Instead, she buried her face in her arms, and crooked her tail. She proceeded to sob, mixing her tears with the water.

"Daddy… h-he found out about Jim."

"Y-Your father? He found out? How? How did he…"

"He overheard you and your sisters' conversation."

The voice was not supposed to be heard, but yet, it was, but it meant an unwelcomed guest had trespassed the grotto. Flounder and Ariel turned to the voice to find out that it was the crustacean, Sebastian.

"When he heard that you spoke of someone, he later decided to follow you when you're away to… somewhere, which was the boy." Sebastian confessed, shoving his claws together.

Ariel suspected something suspicious. She scrunched her eyes together before approaching him. "How did you know about him? Have you been following me, Sebastian?" She pointed a finger at him.

"My dear princess, yes, I've been following you, as it was tasked to me by your father. Yes, I've known about the boy for a while, perhaps as long as you've known him, only lesser. But, I have never told your father about the boy. I know that you're a happier person around him, and that's the only reason why I have lied on every single report I gave to your father after following you around. Your father found out about the boy when he saw him in the flesh."

What was a frown and a half on her face was now a face of a grateful person. Ariel brought her hands together to pick Sebastian up, and planted a kiss on him.

"Thank you, Sebastian."

He shoved his blushing cheek. "You're welcome, dearie."

She gently put Sebastian back. Flounder in the other hand, had one more question in question. "Well… if King Triton had seen Jim, what did he exactly do?"

"He erased his memory," Ariel returned to her spot. "He used the trident to wipe out the memories we've had, Flounder," her mood dropped again.

"Yes… he did that, after you left for the practice," Sebastian confessed. "I was there, and tried to convince him to find another way. But, his hatred to humans overshadowed his healthy mind. He wouldn't listen to me."

Shock occurred in Flounder's being. Filled with empathy, he gave a few rubs on Ariel's back. The trio went silent for a while.

"I… was about to confess my feelings to him this evening."

"Y-Your feelings?" Flounder asked.

"Yes," she turned to the fish. "Flounder, I love him. I think he's extremely handsome, he's sweet, he's adventurous, he's everything I want from a guy. Yes, he's a human, but I could care less."

She returned to staring back at the treasures around her. "Now… he's up there, with no shard of knowledge about my existence. I imagine my father would command his guards to prevent me from reaching the beach where Jim's inn is sat on by tomorrow." She deeply sighed.

"My father's s-so cruel… how could he possibly do this…"

"He meant to protect you, Ari," Sebastian stepped onto her fin. His response turned the mermaid's eyes fiery.

"Protect me?!" She buried her face. "I'm done with that reason. I'm done with my father," she specifically intended the last part to be spoken as sharp as possible.

"Ari… I…"

"I want to be with Jim, that's all I want. I just want…" she gazed at her fin. It was the only thing that distinguished the two. He had a pair of legs, and she had fins. She pondered of a life that she'd have, if she had a pair of legs. She'd run, dance, walk, and everything she'd do, Jim would be there as her companion. Ariel could only imagine the beautiful life she'd have with a pair of legs.

But was that all she could do?

"I want a pair of legs."

Sebastian looked at the princess with suspicion. "Ariel? What are you thinking right now?"

Ariel ignored the question. She pondered for a while to think of anyone who could make her wish come true. In order to have legs, she'd literally need magic to do the job. And there was only one person in the sea who possessed the power of magic other than the wielder of the trident.

"The sea witch… I suppose she's called the 'witch' for a reason, right?" She smiled in confidence.

"Other than having a bad history with the kingdom, yeah! Ariel, you're not going to see Ursula, right? She was banished from the kigdom for a reason!" Sebastian hopped onto her arm.

"Ariel, she's dangerous! She makes deals and merfolk often fail in keeping them!" Flounder warned, trying to meet the mermaid's eyes.

"You wanna know what's dangerous?" She looked at Flounder, "A father figure who doesn't allow his daughter to seek for happiness. That's dangerous."

With that, she swam off towards the entrance of the grotto, and left it right away. Both Flounder and Sebastian didn't manage to stop her, so the only thing left to do was to follow her, and make sure she's okay. There was no stopping for the mermaid. Determination fueled her.

In the dark water, the trio swam together. Nocturnal life was rarely seen in the reef they're swimming at, but some lives were woken up from their sleeps when the trio swam past. Curiosity caught them, but didn't make them go search for answer.

Minutes of swimming led the trio to an environment colored with underwater geothermal chimneys, exposing black chemicals in the form of smoke that chokes throats. It was a grim environment, with nocturnal life making appearance more often compared to where they came from. Ariel was feeling uneasy, but she kept on.

They eventually spotted a sea serpent; only, what was remaining was only the bones of the beast. It was named as Serpentine. The serpent's jaw was opened, and it led to a cavern, which was the lair of the sea witch herself. Sebastian, Flounder, and Ariel peeked at the menacing lair from afar.

"You sure that's her lair?" Ariel turned to the crab.

"Yes. And Ariel, this is a terrible idea. Ursula is a dirty person! She'll pull tricks on you!" Sebastian floated in front of the princess' face.

"There's no turning back now," she pushed Sebastian away. "Come on!"

The yellow fish exchanged a look with the crab. They didn't want to agree with Ariel's idea, but in the same time, they didn't want her to be unhappy. For the moment, they could only follow her lead.

When they reached the entrance, two electric eels were spotted from the base of the Serpentine's jaw. Flotsam and Jetsam. Hissing to intimidate, they faced their guests.

"What have brought you to this place, young one?" Flotsam asked.

"I am here to see Ursula. I need her help," Ariel answered with sternness.

The eels looked at each other. They've never really had a guest with a straight and determined look. However, it didn't bother the two at all. Both Flotsam and Jetsam were pleased to have such a unique guest.

"Very well," Jetsam smiled. "Do follow us."

With that, the eels guided their guests in. As they proceeded deeper, they noticed the round tunnel they're swimming in. Little did they know, it was the throat of the beast itself, used as a tunnel that connected the entrance to Ursula's lair. On the walls, polyps with faces were seen. 'Worried' would be the word to describe their looks, but Ariel didn't seem to care much. Ariel had no idea that it was a literal garden of souls, poor souls of merpeople who had failed to keep their deal with Ursula.

At one point, a polyp tangled Ariel on the hand, trying to pull her. Seeing so, she pulled, and pulled, until she freed herself.

Ultimately, they reached a big room. Ribs were seen as the decoration of the walls, and hanging on the ceiling, was a giant purple shell.

"Master Ursula… we have come with guests."

From the darkness the shell provided, a pair of eyes materialized. One by one, black tentacles came out, revealing Ursula.

"My, my… Ariel, the daughter of Triton," she crossed her arms, smiling dirtily. "And… her companions, I see. What brings you here?"

"You're one of very few living beings who can cast magic," Ariel approached her. "And I wish for a pair of legs to walk on land. No, I wish to be a human!"

Ursula's eyes widened, and so did her smile. "Very straight forward! I like it. I suppose your daddy didn't grant your wish, did he?"

"Can you grant my wish, Ursula?"

"For a price, of course. But first, let me guess." The woman reduced the gap between the mermaid and herself. Almost like reading a book, she found the answer for her question.

"Love. You're in love, aren't you?" She grabbed a few strands of Ariel's red hair. It took Ariel by surprise to see such a correct guess.

"How did you…" before she could even continue, Ursula pressed a thumb on Ariel's temple, 'reading' her.

"And it's… ah, that explains everything. A human. You're in love with a human, darling." A smug curled on her thick lips.

"C-Correct…" Ariel pulled herself off.

"No need to be touchy, Ariel. Give me a minute, I need to set the price, will you?" She smiled before heading to a black pearl, sat on a rocky base. When her hand made contact with the pearl, a spark of electricity was made. Ursula gave the pearl a firm press with both of her hands, and shut her eyes. Her guests could only spectate from behind, although it was a mistake of them. They couldn't see the smirk that Ursula had.

Once done, Ursula turned around. "Very well. I can grant you a pair of legs. However, within the next 48 hours, you will have to kiss the boy. Not just any kiss, but a kiss of true love."

"True love?"

"Yes. Aren't you two in love already? Should be easy for you, and perhaps, fun as well. After that kiss, you shall have your pair of legs forever!" This part brightened the mermaid, she was really into the offer.

"And what happens if she never kisses the boy?" Sebastian asked, since Ariel never did.

"Then… I shall have her soul, forever too." Ursula smirked. The deal affected the mermaid by a tad, but the reward she would get if she managed to complete the deal was too good to pass.

"I'm in."

Flounder gasped. "Ariel, no!"

"Very well! Just to make things clearer," Ursula summoned a paper in front of Ariel. Written on it, was the deal they had settled, and right on the bottom, a space for Ariel's hand signature. She snapped a finger, and a a fish bone acting as a pen was summoned too.

"Sign this, and we'll start the deal, Ariel!" Ursula exclaimed, as she shoved her hands on a rugged rock with patterns encrypted on it. She whispered spells that neither of the three heard, and the spell made the rock send a magical power onto the paper. It was empowered, it was alive, only waiting for a hand signature for activation.

"SIGN IN, ARIEL!" Ursula commanded, her voice echoing in the lair they're in. Without any hesitation, Ariel grabbed the pen, and wrote her name on it.

"YES! HAHAHA!"

A blinding yellow light enveloped the mermaid. Flounder and Sebastian couldn't see the whole process due to it, and neither could even Ariel herself. All she felt was the magic around her, doing its work. In a split second, the muscles in her tail were split into two individual legs. Her anatomy was redefined.

The enveloping light soon faded away, and the first sensation Ariel felt was a sense of a knotted throat. Her eardrums soon added more pain, about to explode anytime soon.

"GO NOW, LOVER GIRL!"

It didn't take long for Flounder and Sebastian to realize that Ariel was in a need for an environment that'd suit her new human body. They took her by the arms and dashed away from Ursula's lair.

Ursula giggled at the sight, and looked back at the pearl.

"That thing never fails me." She commented, giving a rub on the pearl to make it look cleaner than ever.

Little did they know, was that Ursula could see the future through that pearl. And an enemy who knows the future will always win, no matter what.

The door on Jim's room creak opened. A hand of a mysterious man appeared to be the opener of it, as he pushed it wide enough for him to come in. The man in the mask found that Jim was in a deep sleep, which meant an easy target.

The man signaled his colleague to follow him. After so, he signaled him to approach the boy from the other side of the bed. He had a big sack on his arm.

With typical old but effective style, the man prepared a piece of cloth, damped with chloroform. Soon, he placed it on Jim's nostrils.

Feeling panicked, Jim's brain immediately commanded his lungs to take a deep breath. But it never knew the chloroform. Hence, it didn't take long for Jim to return into the realm of unconsciousness. Only; the difference was, he was sedated.

The other man's muscular arm easily dragged the boy by the shoulder, pulling him into the sack.

"Right, let's head back." The man gestured at the ship he's seeing from the window.

With that, they left the scene with no witnesses.