"APHRODITE!!! GIVE ME BACK MR. SNUGGLYWINKS!!" A yell could be heard all over the underwater palace, as King Triton led his daughter and grandchildren to Atlantica. Ariel laughed.
"They must be at it again" Leaf and Sky were confused as they looked at their mother. Melody giggled.
"Aphrodite is one of our baby cousins. She frequently borrows Lena's stuff." as Melody said this a red blur, rushed past them and hid behind Ariel.
"Auntie Ariel, Aphrodite was just playing with him and Lena's trying to kill Aphrodite now!" Sky swam behind Ariel to get a look at her baby cousin.
"Hello" Sky spoke softly to the small mermaid. The girl opened her purple eyes wide as she looked at Sky. She was clutching a pink, plush toy, seahorse.
"H-hello. Who are you? Aphrodite doesn't know you" She held the seahorse closer to her as she then stared at the rest of the group. She knew her aunt, she knew her cousin Melody, and she knew her grandfather. She didn't know the pretty mermaid with the silver hair, or the handsome merman with the emerald green eyes. She definitely didn't know the other pretty mermaid and she didn't even know that humans could breath underwater!
"APHRODITE!!!" Another screech was heard. Triton looked to his frightened grandaughter and looked back to the blind human.
"Takeshi, Will you please allow me to turn you into a merperson, you're frightening little Aphrodite" Takeshi looked at the wide eyed mermaid and nodded. King Triton lifted his trident once again and pointed it at Takeshi. Within seconds, the bottom half of the blind boy began to glow. A bright light temporally blinded Aphrodite and when she looked again, the boy her father called Takeshi, had a lilac colored tail. The boy swished it back and forth as if testing it.
Just then a orange blur flew past king Triton and into Ariel. The blur, now shown as a young mermaid, (the same age as Aphrodite) looked at Ariel.
"Auntie Ariel, I know Aphrodite is behind you. Make her give me back Mr. Snugglywinks." The brown haired mermaid pouted at her aunt. Ariel looked back and forth between the two. They were so much like their mothers.
"Lena, tell me what happened" Ariel suggested smoothly as she brought Aphrodite from behind her. Aphrodite looked at Lena fearfully. She clutched the stuffed seahorse even tighter. Lena sighed and put her hand to her hip.
"Aphrodite took Mr. Snugglywinks without permission and she wouldn't give him back." Aphrodite shook her head.
"Lena left Mr. Snugglywinks on the floor in our room, and he looked lonely, so Aphro saved him from loneliness. But if Lena asked nicely, Aphro would like to give Mr. Snugglywinks to her. But he likes me." Aphrodite hid away from Lena as the mermaid lunged for the plush toy.
"Lena! Aphrodite! Stop at once!" The two mermaids stopped at their grandfather's orders. They looked and saw the older merman fold his arms in annoyance. "Can't you two share, at least once? We have guests today, now I have a very important task for you girls." The two mergirls, opened their eyes wide at the mention of an important job, meant for them. King Triton lowered himself, until he was eye leveled with the two mermaids. "I need you two to round up all of your brothers, cousins and aunts, plus your mothers and fathers, and bring them to the throne room"
"Right!" The two mermaids saluted and quickly swam away, the conflict over the plush seahorse forgotten. Sky, Melody and Rose smiled. The two girls were really cute.
"How many cousins do we have?" Leaf directed the question to his mother and grandfather.
"Thirteen" Ariel answered him. Takeshi whistled.
"That's going to be a lot of names to remember"
"Don't worry, you all will learn the names of them soon enough. It's not that hard to remember. Those two, are the youngest of the bunch. The oldest is Theo, his brother is Leo." Melody told him.
"Theo and Leo?" Sky was thinking that the names rhymed too much.
"Their full names are Theodore and Leonidas." Triton explained.
"oh"
"When we go into the throne room, I want you two to stay behind me okay?" Ariel directed her daughter and son. The two just nodded. Takeshi and Rose waited little farther back, not wanting to ruin the family Reunion. Before King Triton opened the door to the throne room, a commotion could be heard.
"If grandfather had an anouncement, couldn't he have waited 'till dinner?!" A voice spoke. "oww ! Theo!" The voice growled.
"You, have to calm down Ares. I'm sure whatever Grandfather has to say, is really important"
"Don't act all high and mighty, Theodore, you're just a kiss up!" the other voice spat. A thud was heard.
"Ares!"
"Theodore, stop right now!"
"You little piece of-"
"Plankton!" It was then Triton decided to open the doors to the throne room. His eyes scanned the scene before him. His oldest grandson had another of his decedents in a headlock. Everyone in the room froze. King Triton shook his head dissaprovingly.
"What is wrong with you? Relitives are not supposed to kill each other."
"Yeah except for siblings" Triton turned his eyes to his sixth daughter, Andrina. She caught his eyes and shrank behind her husband. "I didn't mean it" She quickly muttered. Triton cleared his throat as his grandson let go of the other.
"Father, what is it that you wanted to speak to us about? Why is Ariel and Melody here? Who are they?" Attina, swam up to her father and peered suspiciously at Takeshi and Rose.
"Attina, every thing will become clear soon. I want all of you to line u with your families. It would make the introductions easier" Attina first looked to her father, and then to Ariel. Ariel just smiled.
"Now that's done, it's time for you all to meet your other cousins" King Triton announced as he saw his daughters with their families. Everyone in the room looked to each other uncertainly as Ariel moved to reveal a shy Sky and a Leaf with his arms folded. Ariel's sisters gasped. Arista quickly went to Ariel.
"Ariel, they couldn't be!" Ariel nodded and wore a giant smile as realization flickered across her sisters's faces. Soon they were clustered around their long, lost niece and nephew. They all chatted excitedly as the rest of their families had looks of confusion.
"They've gotten so big!" Cried Arista.
"Orpheus, you've gotten really handsome, like your father!" Adella remarked.
"Ari, how do you get your hair to be so soft?" Alana commented as she touched her niece's hair. Attina gently pushed away her sisters.
"Girls, don't you think this might be a little overwhelming? They most likely, don't even remember who we are." Ariel shot her older sister a grateful look. Leaf slightly glared at Adella.
"My name's not Orpheus. It's Leaf. Also, her name is not Ari, it's Sky" The sisters look at him with confusion.
"It's their names now" Melody explained. "and those are their friends. The boy is named Takeshi, and the girl is Rose." Melody's aunts smiled at the to friends who were a little farther away. Attina smiled.
"Well then, I guess it would be better if we introduce you to your family properly." With these words she swam over to a merman and two merteens. "I'm Attina, your mother's eldest sister and your eldest aunt. This is my husband, Danny and these are my kids, Artemis and Ares." The merman, Danny smiled and shook Leaf's hand firmly as Artemis offered a friendly smile to both Sky and Leaf. Ares, with his dark eyes glared at them.
"I'm 16, Ares is only 15. How old are all of you?" Artemis looked at Takeshi and Rose as well.
"I'm 15 too." Leaf stated.
"I'm 14 just like Melody" Sky smiled at her cousin. Rose studied Artemis and Ares before answering.
"I'm 15 too."
"I'm 16. " Takeshi swam forward and looked at Ares who was looking at Rose with a weird expression. "I would appreciate it if you would stop looking at my friend. It makes her uncomfortable" Takeshi's sightless eyes met Ares onyx colored ones.
"Who are you to stop me?" The two merboys glared at each other until Sky pulled Takeshi away.
"Takeshi, Rose isn't too bothered by it, are you Rose?" Rose looked at the two boys and caught the hint.
"Takeshi it doesn't bother me, really" Takeshi sighed and nodded. Ares nodded with satisfaction. Leaf noted that Sky did not let go of Takeshi's hand with interest.
"Well....I'm your aunt Alana, second born. This is my husband Trey" Alana pulled the merman closer to her and he put his arms around her. One of the girls with the couple, giggled.
"They are so in love! Hi, I'm Serenity and I'm 13!" The Young mermaid waved to Leaf and Sky. The older one with black hair looked bored.
"I'm Naomi, 15" was all she said.
"I'm Adella, this is my awsome husband Jake and my daughter Alita, and my son , Koriko or Kori if you want" Adella was still crazy about her husband since the day they started dating.
"I'm 14 and Kori is 10" Alita explained as the shy boy hid behind his father.
"Hey Alita, hi Kori, I'm Sky" the silver haired girl briefly let go of Takeshi's hand and reached out to the small boy. He slowly came out from behind his father's back, with a little encouragement from the older merman. He came close to Sky and touched her hair. he seemed fascinated.
"He's mute, but he can use sign language" Alita explained. Sky smiled and began to move her hands.
'Are you shy Kori?' she asked him. He nodded. 'It's okay, I'm shy too. I hope we can become friends' Koriko slowly lifted his hands up.
'Me too' he smiled at her. Sky smiled back and swam backwards until she was between Leaf and Takeshi.
"Hey, I'm Aquata, another one of your aunts. This is my husband Ricky and my children Theodore, Leonidas, and my only daughter Lena" Theodore grinned and stuck his hand out for Leaf to shake. Leaf took it and Theo gripped his hand rather strongly.
"Nice to meet you Leaf, I'm 17 and Leo is 14 and my baby sister is five" Leo smiled as Lena widened her eyes in realization.
"You two are my cousins? That's cool!" Leaf smiled.
"Hey, after you guys get all acquainted and what-not, wanna go explorin'? We do that every weekend on saturdays." Leo commented. Sky's eyes lit up with interest.
"Sure! Can we go Leaf? Can we?" It surprised Ariel that Sky asked for her brother's permission to do something, instead of her own mother.
"Sure, if mom says it's okay" Sky turned her eyes to her mother, pleadingly.
"Mom?" Melody asked. Ariel sighed.
"I thought that they should show you around the palace first. And we have to be back before lunch."
"We could do that" Theo insisted.
"Kiss up" Ares muttered under his breath and Ricky had to restrain his son from attacking the younger merteen.
"Well, continuing along the line, I'm your aunt Arista. This is my husband Richard. My son Poseidon is 11 and my daughter, Aphrodite is 5" Aphrodite looked to her handsome new cousin and her pretty new cousin and felt happy. She had two new family members.
"And I'm Andrina, this is my husband Don. This is my 12 year old son Striker and my 8 year old daughter Anita" Striker looked at them with extremely cold eyes.
"Great, more peope" he muttered. The adults all had worried faces on.
"Don't worry about Striker, he's always been a sour guy." Aphrodite giggled. Suddenly a figure bursted into the throne room followed by several guards.
"Stop her now!"
"Wait! I need to speak with king Triton immediately!!" The voice shrieked. Rose quickly turned her attention to the figure. She'd know that voice anywhere and it felt like she was seeing a ghost. One of the guards grabbed the speaker's arm. "Unhand me at once!"
"Guards! Release her. If the announcement she has to make is that important, then let her speak. Now leave" The sea king gestured for his guards to leave and the captor, released his victim roughly, by shoving her away from him. The mergirl turned her furious gaze onto King Triton. Rose felt herself lose her breath. Those eyes.
"Triton, when did your guards get so rough?" The girl laughed. Oh her laugh is just the same. And the looks. Rose looked at the girl and felt her eyes stinging. The great sea king glared at the girl in front of him.
"What do you need to say? You know Atlantians are not allowed here, especially their queen." Triton spat out. The rest of his family stayed quiet and watched with interest. Rose stared at the Atlantian queen. Her face is different a bit, but it's her.
"Well youknow that Atlanticans are not supposed to attack without first knowing why trespassers are here for." The girl shot back. King Triton felt himself grow impatient. The hair is the same. Something's off though. She has a type of beauty. A cruel beauty. She saw Leaf's grandfather rub a temple.
"What do you have to say, before I get the guards to come back?"
"Oh yeah! Well.....Do you remember how you captured a dragon about 14 years ago?"
"Yes" The young mermaid cleared her throat and prepared to tell the impatient king the important news.
"That wasn't just any dragon. That was CrystalEyes, one of the Memoli of the dragons, andshe was SilverClaw's mate, the other Memoli."
"What is the problem? You're stalling."
"Well.......It seems that CrystalEyes was carrying a chick, a baby dragon. SilverClaw found out that you killed her and he's not happy. He wants revenge. Alsoword from the dragons is that, they've found the kid of CrystalEyes, and they're going to try to get her to go to their domain and become the actual Memoli." King Triton's eyes widened at the news. He quickly regained his composure. However he became angry.
"That was not my fault! At the last council meeting, we agreed that his species will not search for food in my waters! They agreed and I acted upon those agreements. I did not know that this barbaric dragon was with child!" Aphrodite and Lena hid behind their mothers at the sound of their grandfather's booming voice.
"I'm just the messenger Triton." The great sea king briefly calmed down .
"This can't be true. IceStorm is their current Memoli. That position is not earned. It is inherited. Doesn't that mean that he is the child of CrystalEyes and SilverClaw?"
"No. He is just representing them."
"Wait, IceStorm is that boy who stole my first kiss!" Melody angrily blurted out. "He crashed the birthday party last year, along with other dragons."
"Come to think of it, the dragons seemed to be looking for something that day. They never do anything without a reason" Ariel face held a thoughtful look.
"Hold up! What are you all talking about? What's a Memoli?" Leaf blurted out.
"It sounds sorta like memory" Takeshi commented.
"A Memoli, is a leader of the dragon species. The word memory comes from Memoli, the reason being dragons are the oldest species in the whole entire world and most live to be over one hundred thousand years old." Theodore explained. As the family discussed issues, the unamed mermaid felt a air of eyes on her. She turned to see someone she thought she'd never see again.
"Rose." She breathed out. The other girl seemed to be having trouble breathing as well. Then she spoke one audible word.
"Scarlet"
My special Words ( or not )
I have not been reviewing latley because of homwork and afterschool clubs. I am aslo terribly sorry about not updating in a while. I really wanted to but then my mom wouldn't let me on the computer until I did my Hw.
Well um.....Scarlet's alive and Rose is creeped out. A lot of questions for the future.
Who is IceStorm?
Could CrystalEyes be the dragon in the prolouge?
Melody kissed a dragon?!
What could 'He wants revenge' mean?
Oh yeah.....Atlanticans are from Atlantica and Atlantians are from Atlantis the lost empire.