Ariel and Eric met at the back of the ship. The Prince was instantly struck speechless at the sight of her. After recovering himself somewhat, he offered her his arm, and as the music played, walked her down the aisle.
They took their places at the front of the altar. The archbishop smiled at them and began the Nuptial Mass.
As the organ music played and beautiful prayers were offered, no one noticed the whale who had come to the surface for a quick breath of air, about a hundred meters from the boat.
The sea creature took a wary look towards the ship, its first instinct being to get away from it as soon as possible. However, its eye was caught by the girl in white who was standing at a prominent place at the front of the ship. The fish did a double-take. Having been to Atlantica, the giant immediately recognized the former mermaid.
As quickly as its fins could carry it, the whale dove under the water and began to swim for Atlantica.
….
In the underwater kingdom, panic reigned. King Triton had spent three days searching for his daughter, and despite his and his subjects' efforts, no one had seen a hair or a fin of Ariel. Nor had they caught a glimpse of Sebastian or Flounder.
The defeated Sea King swam to his throne and sat down for the first time in hours. What had he done? Or what had he failed to do?
He could not, for the life of him, figure out where Ariel could have gone. He had scoured the ocean floor with his armies, he had revisited her precious grotto and dug through its wreckage, he had questioned every fish and merman in his kingdom – all in vain. Soon, he would have to stop the search. His subjects were collapsing from exhaustion, and even he was beginning to recognize that it was hopeless. He would have to accept that somehow, Ariel was dea-
"Your Majesty!" one of his guards swam into the throne room in haste. "There is a whale outside who believes that he may have information regarding the whereabouts of Princess Ariel."
"Let him in!" the king bellowed.
The sea creature was produced at once.
"What do you know of my daughter?" Triton asked before the whale had managed to swim across the threshold.
"I went up for air to the surface, Sire, and upon a human ship, surrounded by humans, I saw Princess Ariel."
"Where is this ship?"
"It was sailing along the coast of Denmark, right over the Starfish Plain-"
Grasping his trident, the king swam out of the palace and upward. His worst fears had been realized. Ariel had been captured by humans! How could she have been so foolish? How would they get her back?
He was a quarter of the way to the surface before he realized that his other daughters were following him. His first instinct was to order them back home. Then he caught the pleading gaze of his eldest, Attina. Guilt washed over him. He had all but ignored his other daughters through the hours of searching for Ariel, yet they had worked as hard as his guards and barely slept. Of course they wished to see their baby sister as soon as possible, and asking them to wait at home, not knowing, would be intolerable for them. Thus, he gruffly said,
"Stay behind me at all times, and the minute I tell you or if you see any trouble, you dive for the bottom of the ocean. Understand?"
"Yes, Daddy," a chorus of grateful, but also awed, voices answered him. The mermaids had a good reason to be stunned. They were going to the surface – with their father!
There you have it. King Triton finally knows where his daughter is. Now, will he arrive in time to stop the wedding or will he be too late?