Chapter 19: A Deal

"Well, well… quite the party we have here, isn't it?"

The massive crowd somehow managed to fall fatally silent. Even King Tritons most organized counsels never managed to achieve such uniform quiet.

"I was quite disappointed at my invitation being lost, hard to deliver to the wastelands of the ocean I suppose." The sea witch's honey voice projected easily over the waves of merfolk and to the decks of the ship.

"Lucky for me they're littered throughout the entire ocean!" With a cackle of her voice, a massive shark began shoving a path through the sea of merfolk attending the ceremony.

As she spoke, her voice progressively fell to a more threatening and darker tone. "Oh, I hope I didn't miss the best part, cake, ice cream, presents… Ursula would have just loved to come, I just know she would have begged to be the godmother. I mean after all, if it wasn't for her, the little darling wouldn't even be here…" Morgana effortlessly glided along the surface of the water, slowly inching closer to the ship's port side.

"Too bad the child's father stabbed her through the heart, and left her to slowly die on the seafloor!" With a scream of rage, the sky filled with thunder, est, but Morgana was a master illusionist.

The figure that had been speaking was nearly a mirage, the real Morgana was veiled in invisibility and used enchantments to project her voice far away from her true self. From the starboard side, she approached her faithful manta rays by her side.

Just as Sebastian screamed something like "It's Ursula's crazy sister!" The mirage exploded in a cloud of smoke, and a tentacle ripped the baby right from her mother's arms.

Ariel's shrieks ripped across the air stronger than the thunder and lightning.

The with cradled the Princess lovingly, kissing her in cheek even before continuing "But that's just how humans are… one minute you're on top, royalty even, the next, your shish-kebabbed and fried into sushi!"

The crowds began to panic, but between the storm, manta rays, and mirages no one could get close. Morgana casually slid beside the ship, one tentacle dangling the Princess over churning water and a rapidly approaching shark. She flirtatiously grabbed Grimsby's chin, the prince's faithful servant.

"I don't know what everyone is thinking, are the people of Atlantica going to accept the humans? Humans who eat, hunt, and snatch fish from the sea to boil alive and garnish is salt?!" She shoved the old man away with a laugh as the merfolk and aquatic animals murmured in horror.

"Humans who will continue to do so too by the way! Humans who until a few years ago the king would banish anyone for even speaking too, countless people died from banishment, dungeons, and execution. But now his daughter gets to marry one? Just a few years later? Act like nothing happened, while people are dead and still rot behind bars?!"

A deep growl exploded through the air, "Move over pathetic mer shrimp! I'm coming through!" The shark's white fangs appeared from the water directly beneath the dangling newborn.

King Triton's voice bellowed over the panic, protests, and murmurings of agreement. "Silence! For my granddaughter's safety…you may have anything you want. "

"Tsk, tsk, this baby wouldn't be here without poor unfortunate Ursula… and she was murdered brutally for it. In her name, in the name of all the sea animals killed by humans, in the names of those Triton tortured with his cruel separation policies, I demand the two worlds remain separate! It is only fair to all that have suffered!" There was an uproarious chorus of voices, aquatic and human. Some were disgusted, some agreeing, some panicked. They filled Morgana with confidence and determination.

"For your granddaughter's life, I demand the filthy half-blood stay with her disgusting kind on land. If she doesn't, I will find her, anywhere she goes in the ocean, and I'll kill her then and there."

Triton didn't hesitate, nor take his words lightly. Deals made with skilled sirens are sealed in dark magic. "Of course, done, just don't harm her." Boos and wails of protest sprung up throughout the aquatic masses, how could the king cave so easily?

"Now, one last thing before I give the little darling back, return the trident to the rightful owners. Return my mother's masterpiece to her lineage, you filthy merman thief! Your kind couldn't even begin to wield its potential!"

The humans on deck began screaming in a mass hysterical panic, nearly stampeding on the enclosed deck. The Queen wasted no time stealing a dagger from the hip of a man near her, charging to the smug witch herself, gown, heels, and all. Morgana was ok focused on the king, and the Golden trident in his hands.

From out of the mob of people the Queen appeared, throwing the dagger with all her strength towards the witch.

It had been a gamble, but the blade sliced a deep gash into Morgana's side. Her pained shrieks were eerily identical to the one her sister made not long ago.

Morgana instantly dropped the child, but as the fearsome predator rose to rip her apart, a brilliant golden light enveloped it mid-air. With the smell of cooked shark and a primal roar, King Triton painfully damned the creature into a small piranha. This was no kind of transformation like Ariel being given legs. The bones shattered before reforming, the flesh and blood boiling out of its skin as he shrank.

Eric hadn't stood around watching his child be threatened either, like his wife, he wasted no time charging in. Paternal instincts fill him with strength and rage. As his baby daughter fell from the black tentacle into the freezing ocean, he leaped from the ship's deck. A rope in one hand, his other snatching the baby out of the air with the precision he didn't think he had.

The rope was connected to the ship's main mast, letting him swing back towards the ship in one clean motion. While he did not gracefully land back onto the ship, he had cradled his daughter so carefully she was perfectly safe. He had not been so lucky, letting go of the rope only to fall directly onto a hardwood deck. Landing directly on his back, the baby cradled in both of his arms. A sickening thud and cracks came from the king's body as he hit the deck.

Morgana's rage-filled screams churned the sea and storm into a frenzy. The witch called upon the ocean itself to expel her wrath.

"This isn't over Triton! You'll never get to see your precious granddaughter, the second she is in the water, she is mine! That disgusting half-blooded thing should never have been born!"

Now that the truth was out, a weight was lifted from Ariel's soul. "Until Morgana was found, I couldn't let you into the sea. But if we tried to take you away from it, storms and violent waves would ensue until we returned."

The Queen had hoped her daughter's face would be full of love, empathy, and understanding. It wasn't, it was lined with pain and distrust.

"So you lied to me, hid my family, and who I was from me? I'm your daughter, why couldn't you have at least told me the truth? Instead, you treated me like a prisoner my whole life, and I always wondered why? Why did my own parents everyone in the world treat me like a curse?!"

Ariel's voice was laced with hurt, "Melody, sweetie, no, you're not a curse. You're the best thing that has ever happened to me. I was so scared of losing you."

There was a long heavy silence, and then Melody took a deep breath. It felt like centuries had passed to Ariel before Melody finally spoke again. A shaky determination etched into her features.

"You lost me a long time ago Mom."

And with that, Melody handed Morgana the trident.

Ariel shrieked, but it was too late. "Melody, NO!"

Hi everyone, thank you for reading my AU of The Little Mermaid 2, with Melody at 19 and not 12. I originally posted this FanFiction on Deviantart, and it is updated there every 1st and 15th of the month. We are official caught up to that one, so the next chapter will be on 02/01/21!

If you would like to check out my Disney fan edits here is my deviantart link:

mermaidmelodyedits

You can also check out my Disney fan edits on Instagram:

mermaid_melody_edits/

I'd super appreciate if you guys could leave me your thoughts in the comments! Critique, comments, discussion, etc. I want to hear it all! Feel free to also message me if you have any questions or want to chat!

This fanfic is a retelling AU of The Little Mermaid 2 Return to the Sea, where Melody is 19 instead of 12!

The curse 💀 and all the details have been revealed! What do you guys think ? I struggled a bit with coming up with the specifics of everything, but I think I worked it all out. At the very least, everyone's motivations make more sense here than the 🎥movie, I like to think 😅anyway. Only a few more chapters left! Let me know your 💭thoughts, and any questions❓ you have in the comments! I love ❤️ reading 📖 and answering them.