A/N: Aye! It's time to see the mermaids!

Sorry for not posting this sooner. I got sick :(

Anyways. Enough about me. Enjoy this chapter!

Unbeknownst to the world above, an underwater city called Aquaria lay directly beneath an island. It was inhabited by all the creatures of the ocean, including the fabled merpeople. The wise and benevolent king forbade his subjects to swim to the surface world lest they be caught by the humans above. He feared that they would invade his kingdom someday and take their resources for their own selfish purposes.

However, that did not stop his daughter Christine's curiosity about the world outside of the ocean. Against her father's wishes, she would swim to the surface to learn of the world she was forbidden to see.

One particular afternoon, Christine swam in search of some hidden treasures. Trailing along behind her was her trusted friend Jammes.

"Christine," Jammes called out after the princess "Wait up!"

The mermaid was about to respond before she spotted just the place she was looking for "There it is!"

The two mermaids slowed down to inspect the sight of their discovery. The eerie sight of the sunken ship sent chills down their spines yet filled them with wonder and curiosity.

"It's…" the blonde mermaid princess whispered, too awestruck to even speak before finding the words coming from her heart "Amazing…"

"Uh-huh," Jammes nodded, knowing she would be in trouble for marvelling at human wonders but she too was amazed at the sight.

"But it's best to have a lookout," Christine began after a moment of silence, noticing the poor shape of the ship "You stay here while I'll see what I can find."

"Roger that!" Jammes nodded before Christine swan inside the ship looking for human treasures.

Christine looked around before noticing a small gleam of light. She swam towards the rubble of objects before tossing parts of it aside. At last, Christine found a small necklace along with something else… the mermaid picked the foreign object up and inspected it. It looked like her father's trident but it was smaller and silver than that. Perhaps Buquet could tell her what it was!

The princess continued swimming around, searching for more hidden treasures until suddenly, she heard a small creak. She immediately shrugged it off, dismissing it as a case of nerves. However, a few planks of wood crumbled down as she explored further in the cavern. Christine gasped before quickly swimming out of the ship, clutching her human treasures. And just in time, she escaped before it collapsed into giant rubble…

"That's a close one," Jammes sighed "Didn't you hear me earlier? I tore out my throat calling for you!"

"Sorry…" Christine chuckled apologetically before showing her finds to her friend "Let's go and find out what these treasures are,"

Christine scanned the waves, looking for a little island just around the corner where her strange sky-dweller friend resided.

"Oh, hello there!" Buquet called out as he caught sight of the two mermaids swimming nearby.

The princess smiled and swam to greet her friend, Jammes trying to keep up with the former.

"Ah, what have you got here?" the seagull asked, gesturing to the bag of items. Buquet was an eccentric one but he was always there to help the mermaids identify the little trinkets from the surface. Hence, the bird had earned the privilege of being Christine's first and only friend who lived above Aquaria.

"Well, I found these…" Christine gestured to the little trident and strange instrument.

"Yeah!" Jammes nodded fervently "We were in this sunken ship and it was so amazing!"

"Hmm…" Buquet inspected the metallic object "This is very rare, quite unique…"

"What? What is it?" she gasped excitedly, unable to handle the suspense.

"It's a… dinglehopper!" the bird gasped "Humans use these to poof up and style their hair!"

"A dinglehopper…" Christine murmured to herself as she fingered the new object…

"And this…" he continued, rummaging through her bag "Is a jewel catcher!"

"A jewel catcher?" Jammes gasped, her eyes shining.

"Back in ye olde days, people used these to collect all these shiny things!" Buquet rattled the metallic trinket "And when they got bored, they used this to make music!"

"Music?" Christine gasped before shaking her head quickly "Oh, the concert! I completely forgot! My father will kill me!"

"The concert was today?" Jammes questioned before her friend quickly dove back into the water, waving goodbye "I must go! Thank you, Buquet!"

"Any time, princess!" the bird waved back as he saw the two friends swim back to Aquaria…

When the two mermaids finally returned to the palace, however, they were met with the stern glare of the Sea King.

"Where have you been?" he narrowed his eyes as he stared daggers at his daughter.

"I'm sorry Papa," Christine began "I just forgot and-"

"As a result of-" Her father began before a little crab popped up from his crown, waving his claw "Let me handle this."

With a deep breath, the king's trusted advisor and the royal composer Nadir began to rant "Because of your careless and reckless behaviour, you made a complete fool of yourself and your father!"

"But it wasn't her fault!" Jammes threw herself in front of the princess before realizing who she was speaking to "Well, uh… We got lost! Yeah, and… then the seagull came and-"

"Seagull?"

"Oops…"

"You went up to the surface again, didn't you?" he demanded, the tension beginning to thicken.

"Well, I-" Christine began before her father continued to rant "Christine, I have told you again and again never to go to the surface world! They're greedy, untrustworthy and vile! They're only out for themselves! If they discovered we were under these waters, merpeople and sea creatures alike would be in danger! Do you understand that?"

"But Papa… How do you know they're bad?" her voice began to rise "Have you ever met one?"

"Don't use that accusatory tone on me, young lady! Go to your room now!" His voice rose with every word "And I don't want to hear another word about this surface nonsense ever again!"

Christine sighed in defeat as she swam to her room, causing the king to feel a pang of guilt. If only she knew why…

King Gustave let himself remember his beloved Sirena. She was just like her daughter, believing there was good in humans and was such a curious spirit. Until that accident which took her life…

He loved his daughter and wanted her to be happy but… it was the only way to protect her from the same people who took away her mother's life…

A/N: Buquet being Scuttle was honestly easy due to their eccentric natures. Originally, I wanted Meg to be Flounder but as I planned more of the story, I thought of Jammes instead… And this time, she's a mermaid because of the plot reasons!