A/N: I know it's only been a day, but I finished this chapter early. Ariel may seem a bit ignorant in one part, but she doesn't know what's plan for her later on. Also, enjoy the negotiative talking of Triton and Thor!
Chapter 9
Ariel and Arista were well on their way to the grotto to meet Urchin and Flounder and gather all of their friends when the sisters ran into Evil Manta. Arista gasped at the sight of the evil being while Ariel scowled. Or at least until she saw a smile on his face and Little Evil swim out from behind the giant creature with a smile. Ariel smiled at the sight of her friend while Arista looked on in confusion.
The younger sister laughed, making things more confusing for the older mermaid. "Arista, this is Little Evil. He's the son of Evil Manta. Little Evil this is one of my sisters, Arista."
Little Evil waved. "Hi Arista."
Evil Manta raised a brow at the two mermaids. "Hello princesses," he greeted in his usual deep voice. "I hope it's no trouble to leave Little Evil with you for the day."
Ariel smiled even more. "Of course he can. I was going to get all of my friends anyway. We're going to have the best day!"
Evil Manta smiled gratefully, scaring Arista, and swam off. Ariel quickly turned to her sister and grabbed her hand, pulling her as they swam in the opposite direction. Little Evil followed close behind.
"Thor is supposed to meet with Daddy when I get back home," the red-head explained as the three continued on. "We have to do as much as possible before I need to be back."
Arista had finally caught up with the last few events. "Why did he smile when he left his son with us?" she asked frantically, stopping her sister and the young manta ray.
The younger sister and small manta looked at each other then at the blond princess. "Because we're best friends," both answered in unison.
"Oh," Arista replied, only less confused than before.
"I also saved Evil Manta from a brain sponge a while back," Ariel explained.
"That clears things up at least," Arista commented unenthusiastically.
The three continued on to the grotto, finding Flounder outside the rock entrance waiting. He waved upon seeing the others.
"Where have you guys been?" Flounder asked. "Hi Little Evil!"
The red-head giggled. "We got a little distracted," she answered, and started looking around before she went into the grotto. "Where's Urchin?"
"He's on his way," Flounder replied. "He said he wanted to stop somewhere before meeting with us."
The young mermaid became confused. "But we're all meeting here and going to find everyone. He should be here by now." Ariel grabbed her treasure bag and swam back out with her guppy friend. "Where did he go?"
The yellow and blue tang shrugged. "He never said."
Ariel was a bit discouraged that her friend wasn't going to meet with them right away. She took a deep breath. "Well, I think we should go find everyone. Gabriella and Ollie are supposed to meet us at the coral forest. The others will be outside the marketplace. We'll all leave together from there."
"Maybe we should find Urchin first," Arista suggested with a shrug. "It wouldn't hurt."
Ariel just stared ahead as she swam with her friends and sister, acting like she never heard the older princess.
Arista huffed out a breath. "Then what about our sisters?"
The younger princess kept swimming toward the coral forest, but looked at her sibling. "I'm sure they'll know and show up before I see Daddy," the red-head answered. "For now, we find friends and have an adventure that we'll never forget!" She grinned brightly at the small group with her. They all agreed.
Within minutes, the group had grown in size from four to nearly twenty, and still grew as more came to spend their last day with the most popular, loved and energetic, fun-loving mermaid. True, she would be gone for a month, but they all still wanted to spend the day with her. Even the little Crab Scouts appeared with Sebastian!
"Let the fun begin!" Ariel shouted as she led the large group to one of her favorite places in the entire sea.
Once they all arrived, the group was in awe of the place before them. Ariel grinned at the sight, a tear escaping her eye as Attina laid a hand on her shoulder.
"This is the perfect place Ariel," her oldest sister said with a bright smile.
Ariel smiled back. "If only she could be here too."
"She is. And you know it," Attina responded. "She's also proud of you just as Father and the rest of us are."
The youngest sister gave a sly grin and held her sister's shoulder as Attina gave her sister a worried glance. Ariel, what are you—"
"You're it!" Ariel screamed gleefully and swam off.
Attina laughed as everyone swam around, laughing to each other. "You're going to get it for that Ariel!" the oldest princess yelled with a hearty laugh.
The twenty-plus friends all laughed and played in the old hidden cove that was so special to Ariel and her family.
King Triton didn't know that they were all there together, but he did know they were all having fun until Ariel had to come back home to meet with Thor and discuss the plans for the next month. In fact, the King was in the throne room at the moment, making sure the peace treaty was ready for the next day. Unfortunately, he couldn't seem to find it.
"Where is it?" Triton asked aloud to no one in particular in frustration. "I told Sebastian to keep it in a safe place and now I can't find the paper."
The king was visibly frustrated with the situation and didn't hear a certain young merman swim in. He cleared his throat, the sea king not hearing him. The merman tried again, a little louder this time. Triton heard and turned around.
"Thor!" he said in surprise.
Thor bowed slightly in respect. "I know I'm early sire, but I wished to get a head start on the plans with Ariel."
Triton tried desperately to regain his composure while still searching for the document that would be part of the discussion. "Yes, um, well Ariel is currently out with her friends and will be back in a while."
"I suppose it is appropriate for a final good-bye with her friends," Thor mused. "But as you and I both know, this is of the utmost importance."
Triton straightened and moved to another place in the throne room. "I understand, but I will allow my youngest daughter to still be with them for a while before she leaves." The ruler of Atlantica was once again digging for the lost treaty.
Thor happened to spot a rolled up paper near him and picked it up to read it while he waited. His eyes widened a bit as he noticed the words across the top. "Your highness?"
Triton faced the young prince. "Yes?"
"Is this what you're searching for?" Thor held the paper out to the older merman.
Triton unrolled the paper and sighed with relief. "Yes, thank you Thor."
Since the disaster was now averted, both mermen decided to plan how Thor would escort Ariel to Lerdois. The route would be long and possibly dangerous, even if both knew how strong the princess can be in any situation. Thor still needed to be by her side to protect the young mermaid.
"Going through the seaweed canyon would be much worse than going along the squid current," Thor explained as he gestured to the map in front of the two. "I have been through both with Prince Tsunami to test routes for his father. Neither were easy, but squid current was still safer nonetheless."
Triton rubbed his chin in thought. "True, squid current is more convenient, but I suggest using Moray Eel's delivery route. His route is only bothered by robbers and Ariel knows how to handle them quite well. She did protect the palace from quite a few."
Thor considered the suggestion. "If she chooses another, I will still protect her. But, for her safety, I will make sure we take Moray's route."
"Thank you very much Thor for volunteering to escort my daughter," the king said happily. "You are the only one who has been to Lerdois on royal business and has the experience. Ariel will be just as grateful as I am."
Thor smiled. "Thank you sire. I'm sure she will."
Both mermen shook hands and went back to work, organizing how Ariel would approach the king and deliver the treaty.
