Sorry for this taking so long. The heat from the summer, work, and my sister's wedding kept me from focusing on the story. Along with the worst torment of them all... writer's block.

Chapter 2: A New Plan Takes Shape and Sisterly Bonds Weakens

Port Royal

Harcourt Museum

At the same time Ariel was on her way to Atlantica and Eric was trying to understand why he was chosen as the Seablade Bearer, there were others who were up in the dark of the night. The lights of the museum were all on as if it was just another day, meaning that unlike most nights, there were people working. To those who were out late that night, they would think it was just the security guards using the lights to help stay awake, and keep an eye out for anyone breaking in. The halls that were filled with silence from the lack of people walking and reading out loud at the descriptions of different exhibits was broken by the sound of wheels rolling echoing through the halls. Then a yawn also echoed through the halls that came from one of the two employees currently moving a number of large wooden boxes and one cardboard box with a hand truck.

"Come on man, you know how contagious that i-," one of the workers said in an annoyed tone before he suddenly yawns himself, "You see," he says when he finishes as he looks at his co-worker. This man was of African descent, with straight black hair, and gray eyes. He was wearing blue t-shirt, blue jeans, and gray steel-toed work boots. He also had a security badge attached to the right side of his shirt with the name Joe Clements on it showing he could be there that late.

"Sorry Joe, this graveyard shift is killing me," the other employee said with a tone that showed he was very sleepy. He was caucasian, brown hair, and green eyes. He was wearing a black t-shirt, brown jeans, and gray steel-toed work boots like Joe was. He also had a security badge on the right of his shirt with the name Arnold Musker on it. "Why are we doing this graveyard shift again," he asked wondering why they had to work when they were usually on day shifts.

"We weren't going to. The boat was supposed to arrive hours ago but instead it came late leading to our night shift turning into a graveyard shift," Joe responded to the question as to why they were working when they should have been in bed. He too was annoyed at their job becoming harder due to the ship being tardy for it's drop off and no way of contacting the ship to know when it was going to arrive.

Arnold grunted as he and Joe continued to push the hand cart to it's intended destination but also at Joe's answer, "Then where the heck are the night shift employees now," he asked as he noticed that the halls were empty of life that he thought there would be janitor cleaning the floor or the night guards making sure no one broke into the building.

"Ahhhh they're probably on break in the employee lounge or out taking a smoke," Joe responded as they made a turn down the hall, "We'll probably see them when we take our break."

"Where are we taking this again," Arnold asked Joe as they made their way through the lifeless hallways.

"Right here," Joe said as they had arrived without Arnold noticing. They stopped pulling the hand cart as they looked at the wing for the new exhibition.

It was a large room with a blue ceiling and walls that went until the half of the wall where it became white. On the walls were hooks, several spots for the different displays, and on the side of the wall were museum ropes ready to surround the different exhibits to prevent people from getting too close. In the middle of the room was a display that was bigger than the others showing that the main attraction was to go there.

Arnold and Joe looked at the room as they wheeled the cart in. As they did, Arnold looked up and saw a red banner that said "Era of King Erik" in bold yellow letters revealing what the subject of the exhibit was. "King Erik? Who the heck is that," Arnold said as the workers moved the crates in.

"Consider this a free history lesson from being the first to see the exhibits," Joe said as he went around and started moving the smaller boxes off the largest one.

Arnold looked at his co-worker with a look of surprise, "Wait, you mean we have to set up the stuff as well," he asked with dread and confusion in his voice at the thought of being here even longer. "I thought we were just to drop off the cargo at the exhibit, go home, and finish in the morning," he said while moving other boxes on the handcart to the side.

"That was the original plan and I don't like this situation either," Joe said as he moved one of the boxes out of the way of the cart to get at the largest box, "But the cargo was supposed to arrive much sooner than it did so we're running late."

"So why the change than," Arnold asked still confused by why they had to stay and work despite what the manager said before, "We still have time to go home and sleep for a while," he said as he moved one of the boxes to one of the display areas in the room. He than reached into his pocket to pull out his cell phone, "It's only-" he activated the screen on his phone to see the electronic clock say 4:05am which leads to his eyes widening in surprise, "Oh crud."

"Exactly," Joe said while continuing to work. "The cargo was supposed to arrive at Port Royal Harbor at 9:30pm, but it was delayed until around 3:30am."

"And since we were supposed to be back at 6am with everyone else to set the exhibit, there's no point in going home to begin with," Arnold finished in a defeated tone as he realized the situation he and his co-worker were in. Since it was after four and they were due back at 6am to work on the exhibit, there wasn't enough time to drive home and sleep before they had to come back.

"What do you have to complain about anyway? We both were able to catch some winks while waiting for the ship," Joe said in an annoyed tone at his co-worker's complaints, "Plus you slept for the drive back to the museum while I did the driving." It was true that when the ship was late, the two ended up napping in the moving truck waiting for the cargo ship to arrive, and Joe did all the driving back after loading the truck. Arnold on the other hand ended up snoozing on the way back which led to him constantly yawning as they transported the boxes to their intended wing of the museum.

Arnold puts one of the last few boxes to it's designated area, "What do you want to bet that the ship was delayed because of... that name that must not be said in the area of the museum," he said the last part in a joking tone of voice while moving his index and middle finger up and down for affect. Both employees laughed at that little joke in the museum that started yesterday.

"But yeah, the ship was probably delayed because of that," Joe said referring to Atlantis rising a few days ago. When the cargo ship arrived earlier, they were both told by the captain that the ship's engines were flooded by sea water when the ship was hit by the wave from the Lost Continent rising from below the sa which led to them being delayed as they spent about half a day fixing it. "Let's just be glad that the boat didn't arrive later on when the museum opens. If Harcourt found out about it, he and his colleagues would have one more thing to be angry about."

Arnold nodded in agreement, "No kidding, but you can't deny it being some sort of karma on all of them." When word got out that Atlantis had returned, Harcourt and his colleagues reputation took a major blow when they refused to have anything to do with Atlantis in the museum. This led to them losing a large number of employed archaeologists who wanted to learn more about Atlantis. This only made Harcourt even more infuriated that by this new development along with the Thatch family being right all along, even to the point of saying the words "Thatch" and "Atlantis" became a taboo for anyone who entered the museum, employed or not. Arnold even saw it as the Spirit of Thaddeus and Milo Thatch getting their payback for the ridicule they endured from the owners of the museum.

"Now he's trying to make everyone forget about the return of Atlantis with this exhibit to this Erik guy," Joe finished after moving the last box on top of the largest and heaviest box. "Come on," he says as he turns his head towards Arnold at the other end of the room, "Let's set this one up and then rest until 6am."

Joe nodded in agreement as he walked over while picking up a set of crowbars from the cardboard box for them. They both went to one side of the long wooden box as it sat horizontally on the floor. With little to no effort, the two employees deprived of a good night's sleep loosened the nails holding the top of the box on revealing the contents of the box to the curious men.

Inside the box was a large rectangular stone box with ancient symbols on the side beyond anyone's understanding other than it being royalty. On the lid was the stone carving of an elderly old man with a beard in a standard rest in peace position with his hands clasped together on his chest. The carving showed he was dressed in royal clothing and a crown indicating the person inside was a king in his life. On the bottom of the box was the name KING ERIK engraved into it with two triangles with swirly lines similar to vines with a circle around them.

"The body of an old king," Arnold starts before shivering from a chill through his spine, "This is just inviting more trouble for Port Royal."

Joe let out a groan as he heard Arnold's recent crazy supernatural ideas from objects from tombs with curses on it or items with legends saying they have supernatural powers. "You've said that about everything ever since everyone imagined the pirates that attack Port Royal were undead," he said with an annoyed tone of voice. To those who worked with him, they knew that Arnold possessed a slight supernaturally paranoia. This became more evident ever since the Black Pearl attack Port Royal a few months ago and people reporting the crew of Barbossa being among the undead by their unnatural immunity to death blows.

This idea was dropped by the public when Norrington under Lord Beckett's orders to announced Barbossa and his crew were not undead pirates. The official word to the public and the press was that swamp gases from weather balloons that reflected the light from Venus were exposed to the citizens by the pirates, causing the citizens of Port Royal to hallucinate the pirates being undead. Despite most of Port Royal believing Norrington's words, most who saw the Barbossa's old crew take bullets to the chest like they were bug bites were skeptical about the whole thing.

"Yeah, but having a corpse from a probably cursed tomb is just inviting trouble," Arnold said nervously as he backed away in cautioness, "For all we know that could bring in more supernatural trouble to Port Royal."

Joe just groaned at this whole supernatural talk, "Come on man, it's just a corpse. Heck by now it's probably just a pile of bones covered in dust for all we know," Joe said as he walked towards the entrance of the exhibit, "Come on, we've earned our break and a bite before we finish setting up the exhibit."

"Truer words were never spoken," Arnold said in agreement as he turned the lights off, and followed his co worker to the employees lounge leaving the room silent and dark again. The silence was broken however though quiet sound of something phasing up through the floor as if it wasn't there. Suddenly, there are two new figures in the room, only they weren't workers, or even human despite their shape.

Both of them were the size of humans, but they looked as though they were born at the bottom of the sea, or mutated into their present shapes. One still had a human shape but his face looked as though it was made of dark coral found under the sea and a red eye on the top of his head. He had all sorts of different small rocks and formations formed under the sea on different parts of his body and clothing. He wore a tattered pirate clothing consisting of a white shirt, a black coat, and a bandana around the top of his head. This was Ogilvey, a crew member and head gunner on the Flying Dutchman.

The first was Ogilvey, the one with sea coral for a face, and one of the crew that attacked Eric on the school cruise ship months ago. The second resembled a large brown humanoid lobster with a human face with antenna resembling a moustache. From his chest to his waist he had small lobster legs coming out with one extra on his left thigh and on his back was the shell of a lobster including a tail. His right hand was human but his left hand was a claw instead. His right leg resembled one human sized lobster leg while his left looked like two long lobster legs stuck together. His name was Penrod and he along with four others were Davy Jones most trusted crewmembers.

The two looked back and forth around the room, "Finally! I thought they'd never leave," Penrod quietly said in annoyance, mostly from just not being able to slit their throats to make the job easier.

Ogilvey nodded in agreement as he turned his head to their current objective, the stone coffin on display. "Come on," Ogilvey said in a gravely voice that came out of the middle hole of his face with pointed teeth moving, "Let's get whatever that witch wanted here and get out before anyone sees us."

Penrod walked towards the coffin. "Not a problem," he said as he reached his claw for the lid expecting it to go through it, only for it to simply touch the stone. "What the," Penrod said out loud as he continued attempted to phase his claw into the coffin with little success, "Why isn't this working," he said with a frustrated tone of voice.

"So the Witch spoke the truth," Ogilvey said as he walked over with his hook ready which Penrod noticed, "She said this coffin has some kind of magic on it that protects it from being found or tampered with by magic," he explained as he stuck his hook into the part where the lid was and begins to pry it open, "Come on, the longer we take, the more angry the captain will get waiting for this."

Penrod walked over ignoring the fact that a crew member below him was giving him orders as he grabbed the bottom part of the lid and began to pull. "That explains why the Witch was cooped up in her ice box for so long after her last failed attempt at the Hearts," Penrod said knowing the Ursula never left her new lair or called for Jones since her failure to get the Heart of Atlantis. "Plus it must be something powerful if even she couldn't track it with magic. Any idea what it is," Penrod asked as he and Ogilvey continued to loosen the lid off.

"All she said that it would make the sea king practically beg to give her his trident. If you ask me, this whole thing is gonna blow up in her face just like the last time," Ogilvey answered annoyed as they continued to loosen the lid. It was true that Ursula's plans to acquire the Hearts of the Sea have worked in part but have all ended in failure due to the Seablade Bearer and his group of ever expanding friends. "I don't even know why the captain keeps going along with her schemes anymore-"

He stops as the sound of stone rubbing against stone is heard. Finally, the coffin had been opened after centuries of being sealed. The smell of old rotting flesh contained for all that time escaped through the small opening. To normal humans, it would be cringe worthy, but for those who serve Davy Jones, the smell was like a breath of fresh air compared to the breath of their captain's pet.

"About time," Ogilvey said as grabbed the lid and attempted to move it out of the way, "Give me a hand. This lid is heavier than it looks," said without realizing that he made a joke about Penrod who glared at him but ignored it as he grabbed an end of the lid with his human hand, and pulled on the lid. Despite two men pulling, the stone was still extremely heavy. The lid slowly began to move after a few seconds of struggling with the two pirates holding it. "Now put it down carefully and quietly. Any noise and we might-" Ogilvey starts only for his words to be stopped by a bang that caused his eye to look as though it was burning with pain. At the moment, the bottom of the lid was on his right foot which was the cause of great pain going through him. It was taking all the coral faced pirate had from yelling in pain coming from his foot.

"Oops," Penrod said with a bit of sarcasm in his voice. When the two were moving the lid out of the way, Penrod lost his grip on it due to only having only one hand on it while his claw was attempting to keep it stable. This led to the lid landing on Ogilvey's poor foot. 'That's for the hand joke,' he thought to himself as he looked inside the coffin.

Inside was a dry old skeleton in the same position as the stone carving along with the same clothes and armor. Except they had become old, torn, and full of holes from the passing of time.

"We went through all this trouble for a box of bones," Penrod said in annoyance, "What good could that witch do with a pile of-" he stopped his complaints when he noticed something. In the hands of the decaying bones was a small brown sack, as if King Erik was protecting them with his life. 'She can't be serious. All this trouble for a dirty sack that is probably empty,' Penrod thought to himself, 'Ogilvey is right to be confused if the witch is after a new change purse!'

"What... do you... see," Ogilvey said with strain in his voice from holding back a scream a pain while holding the heavy lid in his hands.

"Just a pile of old bones and a brown sack," Penrod answered with his back turned annoyed at the wasted venture.

"Well then take the sack," Ogilvey said, "Better we bring back something than nothing at all."

"Right," Penrod said with little interest in his voice as he reached for the sack with his claw and pulled it out. It was true that Penrod thought this was a waste, but better to take the what was in the coffin than return to their captain empty handed. "Got it," he said as he turned around.

"Then help me with this damn heavy rock," Ogilvey practically shouted from the stress finally becoming too much for him, "The captain ordered us to not leave any clues so hurry help and help me put this back!"

In the Sewers Below Port Royal

After struggling to put the heavy lid back in place, the two pirates returned to the sewers to make their escape without any of the guards seeing either of them. The sewers were the last place anyone would want to go unless they were being paid to work down there. The smell of waste filled the tunnels as the sewer water flowed through to where it would be put through the cleaning process and returned to the ocean. Most wouldn't dare go into the sewers without the proper gear to protect themselves from breathing in the germs that could make one extremely sick... unless those who were immune to such things. For going through the rat filled pathways of the sewer were two inhuman looking figures that didn't have to worry about such things. Despite not having to risk the dangers of deadly germs or the smell that paled in comparison to the breath of the Kraken, the two pirates were not happy with this venture.

"I don't know what's worse," Penrod said out loud as they walked through the filthy sewers, "Telling the captain this whole thing has been about a change purse or walking through this sludge filled lower deck."

'I'd say it's listening to you complain,' Ogilvey said to himself as he did his best to ignore Penrod. He didn't like this anymore than Penrod did, but orders from the captain were absolute, and he wouldn't dare go against them. This still left him wondering why the captain followed Ursula's orders anyway when they had no real grudge against Eric aside from surviving their first encounter. Something no one has ever done and lived to tell about it. 'Does the Witch know about the captain's secret? No, even she did, the captain could easily have blast the witch at any time like he did to Triton's broad. So why is he-'

"How'd we even get stuck with this stupid job!"

Ogilvey was knocked out of his train of thought by Penrod's constant complaining, "Because you decided bet eight fives at Liar and lost," said in a complaining way. Before when Jones came down to get two crew members to go to the museum, they were in the middle of a game of Pirate Liar, the only game they could play when not on duty. He decided that the losers of the game would be the ones to take the mission, which were Penrod and Ogilvey who lost to Marcus.

"I would've been right if you had one more five," Penrod said in anger at Ogilvey who he blamed for their situation, "No we're down here, delivering a useless item that's going to blow up in the witch's face and-" Suddenly a low sound echoes through the sewers, like a stream of water hitting more water and echoed in a cave. The two pirates started to look around for the source of the sound. "What was that," Penrod asked in a nervous tone as he looked around.

"Probably a heavy cart above us being pulled by horses," Ogilvey said trying to think of what it could be.

Above Ground

What they didn't know that the section of the sewer the two pirates were connected to the plumbing of one particular building near the edge of the city. The building was a medium sized two story complex with a basement shown by the windows on the bottom of the building. It had a walkway for the elderly and those who used wheelchairs leading to the entrance door between two protruding rooms. The roof was red, the main body of the building was yellow, and the bottom had bricks supporting the building. OUt on the lawn near the sidewalk was a sign that read "Port Royal's Senoirs Villa" in bold letters revealing the building was home for the elderly who were unable to live by themselves due to poor health.

The sound they were hearing was originating from the only light room at the moment in the dark of the night. A resident was finishing using the washroom as he flushed his body's waste down into the sewer system. This however led to the affects of the bladder control domino effect which the elderly are highly susceptible to. Suddenly all the lights were on and the sound of multiple toilets flushing all at once filled the building.

Back in the Sewers

The sound grew louder increased as the two pirates looked behind them to find the sound coming from a sewer way to the left of them with a low stream brown water flowing out. "Sounds like a lot of carriages out tonight," Oglivey said as the two pirates looked down the dark cave. Suddenly, a huge vibration was felt under them. The rumbling increased as the sound began to weaken. The two pirates kept staring down the sewer way with curiosity keeping them there. Finally the sound disappeared and the pirates were met with a fearsome sight for anyone.

Coming out of the sewer was a massive and violent burst of sewer water swirling around the walls of the sewer. It was as if the a massive tidal wave as attempting to form, but the cramped walls of the sewers caused the wave to become a more focused burst of violent water intended for one target rather than a wide area.

The two pirates looked with wide eyed shock as the blast of sewer water came at them. Just before the water was halfway down the path, the sense of shock and curiosity holding their bodies in place finally broke their grip on them. "RUUUUUUNNN," Penrod yelled out as the two pirates ran down the sewer ways just as the sewer burst blasted out, and overflowed the pathways of the sewers. The two pirates ran down the sewers from the blast of dirty water that continued to follow them and flooded the sewers. It was to the point where the man hole covers above ground flew off from the water flooding out like geysers throughout the streets. Despite the two being sea creatures themselves, even they didn't want to walk in filthy water that went over their heads. The two pirates ran the best they could but even with portions of the water being spurted out from above, soon they were caught in the blast of sewer water, and were pushed down the sewer system unable to break free of the powerful current.

A Few Minutes Earlier

Port Royal Graveyard

The Port Royal graveyard sat behind the Old Church near the Governor's House, with the ocean behind it with it sitting on a high cliff, and a set of buildings to the right of it. It was a typical graveyard showing the deceased over the years, from big names, nameless graves of murderers showing that one less criminal was in the world, to those simply set up for those who spent their life in Port Royal.

On the other side of the graveyard hiding from sight was the infamous Flying Dutchman, waiting for the return of it's two crew members. At the moment, all the different members of the crew were doing what they could to kill time before Oglivey and Penrod returned through the graveyard where they left from before going below the streets via the sewers to their destination. At the moment, Davy Jones stood on the rim of the poop deck looking over the ship with the helm behind him, and he was not in the best of moods at the moment.

'How long does it take to sneak into a blasted building, steal whatever is in some old coffin, and return to the ship,' he asks himself as he smokes his pipe as a means of entertainment. Due to their objective needing to be quiet, they had to be in and out of Port Royal without anyone seeing them before Eric and his friends made it back, that meant he couldn't play his organ until they left Port Royal. 'If those two are just sitting on their rumps doing nothi-' Suddenly he and the rest of the crew hears the sound of gushing water coming from Port Royal, but are unable to see what is the cause of it.

In the crow's nest, one of Jones' top men, Ratlin, the one whose transformation resembled the ship itself rather than aquatic life, was looking through a telescope to for signs of the two pirates. He did however spot geysers of brown water rising up in the air just as Jones phased in the nest, "What the blazes is going on Ratlin," Jones demanded to know.

"Appears to be water bursting out of the streets captain," Ratlin replied while still watching, "The foulest water me eye have ever seen."

Jones grabbed the telescope from Oglivey and looked himself to see the spurting pillars of sewage water high in the air. "Those two had better not be behind this-" Suddenly, a huge burst of sewer water bursts out of a manhole in front of the graveyard spraying the largest amount of sewer water yet into the air, and catching the two pirates at the highest point of the ship. Then the sound of water spraying into the air was joined by the faint sound of two screaming male voices growing louder and louder.

Jones and Ratlin look up to see the origin of the screams only to faintly see small objects falling towards the ship at an alarming speed. "What in the blazes of Hell be that," an angry Jones asked demanding an answer. Unfortunately, Ratlin nor the other crew members looking up had an answer, all they could do was keep their eyes up in the air as the two spots became clearer and clearer. Before anyone knew what happened, the two specks sped right by everyone, crashed into the main hall of the ship, and left two gaping holes in the floorboards.

The murmuring pirates crowded around the hole to see what the cause of the holes were. Out of the holes, covered in splinters, brown water, and emitting a smell so foul that it made Mole smell like a fresh bouquet of roses were Oglivey and Penrod currently disoriented from the crash. "What the hell happened to the land after all the years we've been on the Dutchman," Oglivey asked out loud as he held onto the edge of the hole catching his breath.

"I don't know," Penrod said as he coughed up sewer water onto the deck, "I'm just glad to be back on the-" he started as he and Oglivey looked to meet the cold glare from Davy Jones directed right at both of them. "You know being in the dirt water sounds pretty good right- GAAACK," Penrod stated before Jones grabbed him and Oglivey by their necks and held them up before him while maintaining his glare.

"Ye best choose ye words wisely gentlemen," Jones said with venom in his voice as his grip tightened to the point of the two pirates being unable to breath, "Otherwise you'll be tied to the front of the ship and then fed to the Kraken for breakfast!"

Penrod was struggling to respond to the captain's threats, but the claw squeezing his neck was making that very difficult. Oglivey on the other hand, despite the pain of being strangled by Jones' tentacle hand, was able to pull out a glowing green sphere the size of a person's head. Jones released Oglivey and took the sphere given to him by Ursula to transport their objective in. He looked inside to see the small bag float in the middle of it. He's glare intensified at what he saw as he dropped Penrod onto the deck as well. "A purse," he nearly yelled in anger, "All of this over a little purse," he turned his glare at the delivery boys, "This is what was in that blasted coffin!?"

Penrod coughed a few times before nodding, "Aye captain. That little bag was the only valuable thing among the dust and bones."

The Flying Dutchman's captain could only growl at what felt like a fool errand for the witch, "That witch better have a good plan this time," he declared as his glare was focused on the sphere, "Otherwise I may just put the black spot on her!" He turned to the other pirates, "Mister Legs."

A pirate stepped forward when called by his name. The pirate was quite different from the others. His transformation turned his body into what seemed to be solid plant life found under the seas and a large fin on his back. The only noticeable piece of clothing was his boot fused to his right leg. His face seemed to be a mix of a stonefish and had the mouth of a piranha. This was Jimmy Legs, the harsh buson of the crew. "Aye captain," he answered his captain's call.

"Have these two rats strapped to the bottom of the ship for the voyage back to the witch's lair," Jones ordered as the two looked in shock and fear at their current fate. Jones looked down at the two pirates with his still menacing glare, "Consider it a punishment for taking so long and... to get rid of that foul odor." Oglivey and Penrod blinked at that as they looked at the rest of the crew as the blocked their noses from the stench coming off the two pirates.

"Aye captain," Jimmy answered with glee in his voice before looking at the crew, "You heard the captain! Get these two smelly rats tied to the bottom of the ship," he ordered as two members of the crew grabbed Penrod and Oglivey and dragged them down to the bottom of the ship.

"As for the rest of you mangy dogs," Jones started in a commanding voice, "Get the ship ready to pull out and fix these holes in the deck. NOW!" Suddenly the ship was alive with the sounds of sails being released, wood being banged on the deck, and soon the ship sank beneath the waves on it's way to Ursula's New Lair with her prize on board.

Atlantica

Early Morning (7am)

The underwater city of Atlantica never looked more beautiful for those who lived there. The sunlight shining through the ocean's surface. For those who saw the city, it was a beautiful, and peaceful morning for everyone; the kind of morning where everyone is happy enough to wake up singing a song all throughout the kingdom. All in all, it was the perfect morning for everyone...

"ARIEL!"

Well... Almost everyone.

King Triton's Throne Room

King Triton was in his throne as he always sat in when speaking to someone in his throne room. Before him were Ariel and Flounder who were looking surprised at Triton's anger at the moment, it was far from what they were expecting when Triton called his youngest daughter back to Atlantica.

"I can't believe you somehow managed to put yourself into even more danger then when you were living in the ocean," Triton almost yelled in dumbfounded anger at how his youngest daughter did the opposite as to why he had her stay with Eric. "When I left you with Eric on the surface, that meant he had to protect you, not leave you to go train, and fight an ancient army!" When Eric and the others were successful in stopping the Mandarin, the ocean was soon filled with stories and talks about their successes. It was as if the stories were a virus filled with excitement and inspiration that spread across the ocean at an incredible speed. When Triton heard of the stories though, he had a lot to talk with his daughter, especially the part where Eric was not with her for a good portion of the dangerous parts.

"But daddy, all that couldn't have been avoided. Eric only left to protect the others and myself from Ursula's puppet," Ariel explained while defending Eric's name while trying not to mention that it was Eric's friend and a recently reformed Olette who did all that. "That's why I went to train with Water Bending Masters. So I could defend myself if Eric and I became separated again along with not being a burden to him," Ariel explained her reasons for separating from the group after the events at the City of the Mandarin.

Entering the throne room at the moment walking on his flippers instead of swimming was an old sea turtle with large gray eyebrows currently carrying a container of old documents. This was Dudley, King Triton's best friend, and helper in the palace. "She... makes... a-"

"I know she does make a good point Dudley," Triton interrupted as he always knows what his friend is saying before the turtle finished. He then redirected his attention to Ariel as he swam over to her, "But that doesn't excuse the life threatening danger she put herself into even with Sebastian being the voice of reason." As soon as he was right before her, Ariel was expecting him to yell some more, but instead, he held her in a tight hug which led to her and Flounder having surprised expressions, "I am proud of how far you've come since you left home," he started with compassion in his voice at his youngest daughter's achievements while living on land, "and I know your mother would be too..."

Ariel continued to look surprise at her father's words compared to before with missing the concert and at her treasure trove. It was a side she never rarely saw her father show to her or her sisters. Strange her not, her words touched her heart as she realized that her adventures in China made her and her family worry about her. "Thank you daddy," she said as she returned the hug, "I'm sorry I made you worry. It's just... It was supposed to be an expedition and things got out of control."

"I know. The hu- You're future husband's destiny requires him to be in situations like before," King Triton said breaking the hug with a smile as he returned to his throne, "But I also feel your enjoyment of adventure is what led you into getting into even more danger while he was away," he said sternly again in his regular tone of voice.

'There's the King Triton I know,' Ariel, Flounder, and Dudley thought to themselves.

He sat in his throne, "Which is why-"

"Is she back?!"

A voice was heard from behind them as the four looked to see Ariel's older sister, Arista in the entrance hall with a concerning look on her face as she saw her father, Dudley, and then her younger sister who gained a smile on her face from seeing her.

"Ariel," Arista said with happiness in her voice as she swam over to Ariel, "You're back."

"Arista," Ariel responded back with equal happiness at seeing her sister again as they gave each other a quick hug, "I've missed you and everyone else."

"Me too," Arista said as the sisters broke away, "I just wish the others were here to see you-" she looks to see her father's smiling face but knows she's interrupting, "Oh sorry," she apologized for interrupting.

"No it's all right," her father responded as he knew Ariel's sisters missed her after all the months since Ariel was placed on the land for her safety. The two mermaids looked back up at their father, "Now Ariel, because of how things are... I believe another set of eyes on you are needed to ensure your protection."

Ariel looked in shock at this, "You mean... A babysitter," she asked in shocked surprise.

"No, of course not," The king said knowing how it sounded, "Just someone else there to ensure that you are safe and don't get into unnecessary danger," he explained as to wanting someone there to watch her back.

'That's a babysitter by definition,' Ariel thought with a deadpanned look on her face to how her father described it. She was unaware though that Flounder, Dudley, and even Arista were thinking the same thing, even if they knew that Triton saw it differently. "There's already Eric, Kida, Frey, and so many others who are there for me," Ariel defended herself still not liking the idea of what sounded like a babysitter. Even after hearing of her accomplishments, Ariel felt like Triton was still treating her like a child that needed protection, something that she always disliked. "Besides, with the new school year only a week away," Ariel continued, "going on another adventure is the last thing on everyone's mind." It was true, after the events in China, summer vacation for the teen heroes was nearly gone with only a week remaining.

"You're attending a human school now," Arista asked with shock in her voice at what her little sister was doing on land, "What if you're discovered by other humans," she asked with concern of her sister's secret being discovered by humans, and then eaten by them or an even worse fate.

Ariel looked at Arista while trying to best to keep her feelings of being treated like a child in check, "It's all right. No one suspects a thing and the others won't tell," Ariel explained to her worried sister and her silently worried father. "No one has to worry. I'm doing great on land with the others and now with my new skills. So there's no need for anyone else to watch me," Ariel said with a mix of growing anger and determination in her voice, "It's great to see you all again, but I have to head back and start getting school supplies with the others," she says knowing she had little time to get ready along with wanting to get away before they revealed whoever was assigned to babysit her. "Goodbye," she says as she turns and swims down the hall.

Arista looks at Ariel's retreating form with disappointment at her sister leaving so soon as she turns to her father, "I'll go talk to her," she says before swimming down the hall as well.

As Arista goes after the hurt Ariel, King Triton simply looks with a

"Well... she..." Dudley started to say.

"I agree Dudley," Triton interrupted his friend, "She did take that better than I thought she would," Triton admitted when he thought about how Ariel would take the idea of a bodyguard.

In the Ballroom

"Ariel," Arista said as she swam after Ariel, "Wait!"

Ariel was swimming out of her former ballroom, with Arista behind her, as she continued to shake her head, not listening anymore, "No, Arista! I already have Sebastian and Dax watching out for me, and Eric and all my other friends are just fine. I don't need another bodyguard to ensure I'm safe."

"Ariel, be reasonable," Arista stated, as she swam next to her. "Dad would feel better, and I'd feel better… well, everyone would feel better if you had someone else with you."

Ariel stopped, as she and Arista stood at the edge of the doorway, as she crossed her arms, "Okay then… who?" Arista seemed to shy away, twiddling her fingers together, looking like she wanted to change the subject. Ariel, on the other hand, wasn't about to let it go, as she asked, "Well, Arista?"

"Well, I… um…" she struggled to say, until she finally heaved out a sigh.

However, it never came to be, as Ariel sighed, "Nevermind. I need to go." And she swam out of there, with a distraught looking Arista watching her nearly leave.

"Ariel, wait," she weakly spoke out. But it was too late, as Ariel's form disappeared into the deep blue horizon of the sea, heading back to Port Royal.

Well it looks like Ariel and Arista's sisterly bond has grown much weaker since they were kids... Hopefully they can repair the rope between them before it snaps for good. Especially with whatever Ursula is scheming using a relic from the past... But will this spell the end of just the land or the entire world...

First off I want to thank those who were patient in waiting for this next chapter. I also want to thank Stone-Man85 for his help with the last part between the sisters.

Sorry this took so long. Now that my place of employment has a new employee, I should have my weekends back again. Also as for why Ogilvey thought of a horse drawn carriage back in the sewers, it's because he, and most of the crew have been on the Flying Dutchman for who knows how long. They could've been recruited way before the time when automobiles and other modern day items didn't exist.

Also I'm sorry if the ending of the Flying Dutchman crew feels weak. I wrote myself into a corner and couldn't find a way to make it sound better than that.

Now I know that usually Ariel and Triton would blow their stacks like in the films and previously in the story... But I figured that by now, Triton realizes that he can't fully control his daughter because of having to let her go. Plus they both know what happened the last time their tempers got the better of them.

Finally as before, I placed a little reference somewhere in this story, but this time it's a little more hidden. I'll answer what it is in the next chapter but let's see if anyone can find this one. Thanks for your patience and I hope you all enjoy this next chapter.

Next Chapter: Truths Revealed & Plans Set in Motion