Chapter 6: New Adventure in a New Land; A Hero Makes his Debut

Olette's Home

3pm

Darkness was the first thing that Eric could see when he regained consciousness along with the sound of muffled voices. It was as if he woke up in a cave devoid of light and the voices were his only means of knowing his way out. He finally opened his eyes to see a ceiling. 'I'm... home,' he thought to himself trying to remember. Suddenly the memories of what happened flash through his mind as he remembered all that happened that day, including the beanstalk that carried his future wife into the sky.

"ARIEL," Eric shouted as he went wide eyed as he lifted himself up from where he was lying.

"Hmmm. You woke up faster than I thought you would."

Eric looked to his left to see everyone on the other chairs or on the floor looking at the now awake Eric. Lilo and Stitch however were watching TV in the corner and Sebastian was pacing on the table trying to calm down from this new problem. "Normally those hit with that spell are out for a day at best," Olette finishing explaining.

"Lucky me," Eric said as he began to stand up and head for the door, "I have to go. Ariel's-"

"What's your grand plan Thatch," Olette asked him as he walked around everyone, "Just climb up the beanstalk, save the damsel in distress, and be the hero again?"

"I don't know about the hero part but yeah that's pretty much it," Eric said as he was about to reach the hallway towards the door only to be stopped by a stern hand on his shoulder. Eric turned his head to see Seifer who was keeping him from leaving.

"Sure and make things worse for Ariel when you get there. You have no idea how far the beanstalk goes or what's even up there," Seifer said trying to calm down Eric and make him see that charging head first into unknown territory is foolish.

"All the more reason for me to find her before something horrible happens to her and her sister," Eric responded as he was worried about them.

"Yeah Sebastian told us while you were out cold," Frey joined in to try and persuade Eric. "Look buddy, I understand what you're going through, we all do. But Olette and Seifer are right as much as it makes my skin crawl to admit it. For all we know there are cloud creatures up there, Gods who dislike being disturbed, or worse..."

"A warrior must know when to fight and when to plan Eric," Kida said backing up everyone else, "If one attacks a new prey without first learning all one can, they are doomed to death," she finished bringing up one of her uncle's lessons for hunting.

Eric stood there as he took in the words of his friends along with their looks of concern and knew they were right despite his concern for Ariel and Arista. He sighed in defeat as he gave them a smile, "Yeah... You're all right, thanks," he said earning a smile from all of them. "So what do we know about all this," Eric said as he headed away from the door for the sofa.

Suddenly, the sound of something dropping gets everyone's attention. "Even in a day as crazy as this, the mail is still working," Frey jokes in an attempt to relieve some of the tension. Only to get a moan from Olette as she left the room to check.

"I knew it," Olette's voice came from the hallway in an annoyed way as the sound of her footsteps were heard by the others. She returned to the group carrying a letter sized envelope that she tossed to the a corner of the room. "Sorry, just annoying junk mail. So about the beanstalk," Olette said as she acted like the letter never appeared.

The room was silent though as to what would make Olette annoyed like that. Kida looked over from where she was sitting and saw where the letter landed. It was on top of a pile of yellow, letter sized envelopes all addressed to her, and had the name B. Blake on the return address. "Olette, what was that," Kida asked what the present elephant in the room was.

Olette simply shrugged but knew she had to tell them now, "I've been getting letters from some weirdo since I came back from Atlantis," Olette explained the origins of the letters.

"What's the matter? Scared of chain letters," Frey joked as that was what letters like that usually were.

"Not at all... I keep a list of victims to send those to if one ever arrives," Olette said with a sneer on her face while looking at the others. This sent a chill up their spines, even Wally's as if she was saying their names were on the list. "Besides, I know who they're from which is why I don't open them. Just some weirdo I bumped into while getting groceries a few days ago," she explained.

"Do you think he's in league with Ursula," Seifer asked her, "Since you're no longer on her payroll, that weirdo might be one of her new contacts on land."

"Not a chance. He was just some raggedy bum wearing a 300 year old leather jacket. Which is why I never opened his letters," Olette answered, "What boggles me is how he can send so many letters in just a few days-"

"Everyone," Lilo's voice said as she got their attention, "Check it out," she pointed to the television set.

They all looked to see a New Flash title card on the screen before it switched to a view of the fairgrounds and the beanstalk. "Breaking news at this time. A massive beanstalk has sprouted outside of Port Royal," came the words of a male voice. Soon the picture of the beanstalk changed to reveal a typical TV news room with a man at a desk.

The man was caucasian in his forties, bald, green eyes, and smile lines on his face. From what the audience could see, he was wearing a grey striped blazer, a white dress shirt, and a red tie. Below in bold text was the name Howard Handupme.

"This was the scene at the Summer Festival earlier today as the beanstalk burst out of the ground and caused massive damages to the fair," Howard explained while holding pieces of paper in his hand, "We now go to Bridgette Oshinomi for more on the scene."

The scene changed to the fairgrounds and a woman standing with a microphone in her hand. The woman was caucasian in her thirties with brown hair going to her mid back and blue eyes. She was wearing a blue headband, gold circle shaped earrings, a light blue shirt with a ribbon on her collar, dark blue pants held up with a black belt with a gold-gray buckle, and a pair of black high heels. Under her with bold text was the name Bridgette Oshinomi.

"Thanks Howard. As viewers can see, the unexpected beanstalk has caused a number of stands to be destroyed, and rides to be damaged," Bridgette explained as she walked through the area showing stands toppled, food scattered all over, rides broken, and soldiers and medical staff were moving all over looking for anyone hurt, "Port Royal soldiers and emergency medical employees are working non stop to find anyone who were caught in the destruction. So far it seems that no one was seriously hurt aside from a few scratches and bruises. With me now is Mr. Ian Mercer, acting Governor of Port Royal in Lord Cutler Beckett's absence," she said as she showed Mr. Mercer standing next to her. "Mr. Mercer, can you shed some light on this recent event," she asked Ian Mercer who maintained his cold glare.

"At the moment, we have no info regarding the origin of the beanstalk, or any indication of a guilty party. More info will be made to the public when available," Mercer said as he continued to direct the soldiers.

"Thank you Mr. Mercer. We take you now to a number of residents who were present for the event," Bridgette said as she began interviewing citizens present at the festival.

"I heard this huge explosion and thought it was some kind of pirate attack. Suddenly all this green bursts out forming the beanstalk as it tore through everything."

"All I could do was run as the vines shot out breaking anything in their path. I haven't been this scared since the pirate attack earlier this year."

"This beanstalk came flying out of the ground like an act of Mother Nature man! It's a sign that she's ticked, she wants to take back the land, and make it all green again man!"

"My children and I were at the ride when all the destruction happened. All I could think about was getting them to safety and then ferris wheel was knocked over. We were about to be crushed when this large muscular man came out of nowhere and managed to hold the ride up with his bare hands."

"He was strong like Superman but without the cape!"

"And he had arms like tree trunks!"

"So there you are ladies and gentlemen. A large beanstalk of unknown origin and a unknown strongman that saved a number of people from the destruction," Bridgette said as she continued, "As Mr. Mercer mentioned, more info will be made public when available. Back to you Howard."

The screen changed back to the previous room. "Thanks Bridgette. At the moment, the official word from the Port Royal Government is for us to stay calm as they look into the situation. And now here's Ollie Williams with the Port Royal Weather Report. How are you beating the last of the summer heat Ollie," Howard asked as the screen changed to a small lake near some trees and mountains.

Out of the left side of the screen, a man was seen riding a tire swing across the lake. He was an African American man with a bald head, black hair on the sides, blue eyes, and a beer belly. He was wearing blue swimming trunks as he swung on the tire swing. "SWIMMING HOLE," the man identified as Ollie Williams yelled out.

"Thanks Ollie. More info later on folks," Howard finished as the screen changed back to the show on before.

Everyone took all that in as silence filled the room. Ralph was looking from side to side as he tried to avoid suspicion as everyone minus Olette turned to face Ralph as he continued to look as innocent as he could. Finally he stopped as he saw them all look at him with neutral expressions. However for Ralph, he was getting a "Please explain" message from them as he could feel the imaginary pressure from them. Finally he groaned in defeat, "All right, I get it. I almost blew our secret and I'm sorry," Ralph said thinking he blew it by jumping in like that, "But I was only looking for Olette when the beanstalk was growing. I just happened to be there when the ferris wheel began to fall and," he stopped when he noticed no one was angry at him, "You're not angry?"

"Ralph, why would we be angry," Eric asked him with his usually smile, "I would've done the same thing in your place."

"All of us would have," Kida added with a smile to her friend.

"Just not by grabbing the ferris wheel," Frey added his comedic charm as he agreed with them.

Ralph just smiled at that, "Thanks everyone. So what do we do now?"

"My friend in the army told me Mr. Mercer plans to cut the Beanstalk down as soon as the clean up is done," Seifer started after reading his text message from his inside source, "But Harcourt is trying to convince Mercer to allow him to organize an expedition up the beanstalk. Something about a legend worth investigating." Iago jumped a bit as he tried to go unnoticed, but Frey noticed it as he looked at Iago while Seifer continued, "Not only that, but there are nature activists that want to keep it up. Something about it being the work of Mother Earth that should go undisturbed."

"Well why don't they," Eric asked not seeing the harm in it, "It's not like it's in the middle of the town or anything."

"Simple, it scares them," Olette said getting everyone's attention, "To Mercer and possible Beckett, it's something strange, and they have no control over. So to maintain their sense of control over the town, they want to get rid of anything that stands out in their eyes." She had seen it a number of times in human society. Either the odd one is accepted for following the rules or they are shunned for not fitting in.

A moment of silence filled the room from Olette's answer. "That's deep... Kind of," Frey said weakly. He, Eric, and Seifer lived in Port Royal most of their lives so they knew about Lord Beckett's harsh rules, but they never saw it that way.

"I wouldn't say that. Mercer and the others don't know how far up the beanstalk goes," Seifer said defending the army, "For all any of us know, it could be longer than the island itself. If something happens that causes it to fall in the wrong direction, it could land on my town, and cause more damage."

Olette simply smiled, "Hmph, Whatever helps you sleep at night. I think we should stop focusing on what the town thinks and start wondering what Ursula has to do with this."

"Ursula," Eric stood up in surprise at this new info, "You think she's behind this?"

"I'm not sure the reason, but I think she was at the festival today. That or someone working for her," Olette said.

"Maybe it's someone using magic similar to Ursula. All sorts of things happened in China after all," Lilo pointed out, "Maybe you all became famous and made some enemies without even knowing it." Stitch pulls out a pair of sunglasses and strikes celebrity poses.

"True, but when Ariel and I were on our way back, I... Sensed a familiar magic in the air. The same kind I felt whenever I was around Ursula," Olette explained as she had spent the most time around Ursula, "I went off on my own to check it out and told Ariel I would catch up with her. I should've have brought her with me."

"Hey, we can't all know the future, at least not every twist and turn," Eric reassured her, "You were thinking of Ariel's safety like friend would."

"He is right Olette. Besides now we have an idea on who is behind all this," Kida added in, "All we have to do now is find a way to bring the girls down safely."

"And doing it before King Triton finds out about dis," Sebastian added from the table where he was standing, "Who knows how he'll respond to two of his daughters in danger mon! I'll tell you how he'll respond," he says as he walks over to the end of the table where Stitch was still posing as he grabbed the blue creature's face, "HE SAY HE'S GONNA KILL HIMSELF A CRAB! THAT'S WHAT HER FATHER'D SAY!"

As the group started to think along with a confused Olette as she wondered how the group could trust her after all that she did, Frey began to notice something very odd. He looked behind him at the sofa where Iago stood with his back to the group. "Iago, you've been awfully quiet ever since the beanstalk appeared," Frey asked suspiciously at his house guest.

The bird became tensed as his feathers stood up, "Me? I guess I'm just in more shock than anyone else," Iago said while trying to hide his anxiety, "Maybe I had some bad fruit at the fair. I think I'll just fly home and turn in- HEY!" Just as Iago is starting to fly out, he is grabbed by the back of his neck by Frey, and looks at the bird in the eyes, "What do you think you're doing," Iago cried out in annoyance.

"I'll tell you what I think and it's you know more than your letting on about our current topic,"Frey said in an accusing way as he could tell that Iago was hiding something.

Iago went wide eyed at this accusation, "What!? Nope! I don't know anything about that oversized vegetable," Iago responded while trying to worm his way out of Frey's grip, "The bird knows zip, zilch, and nadda about it!"

Frey gives Iago a stern look not buying it. "Okay, it's clear that you won't talk to me. So would you like to talk to Eric," Frey asked as he put the parrot in front of a surprised Eric, "The guy who beat the Mandarin in combat, fought undead pirates, and whose future wife is in a place that you have knowledge about."

Despite the threat, Iago simply laughed as he turned his head to look at Frey, "Nice try Frey. You and I both know that Thatch here couldn't hurt his friends willingly or unwillingly," Iago pointed out as he knew Eric's kind nature.

Everyone looked at Eric waiting for his response. "It's true," he finally said admitting that he could never hurt his friends, willing or non willing.

Frey thought for a moment before getting an idea, "Okay... Than how about talking to Olette," Frey said as he turned the hand holding Iago towards Olette, "The sea sorceress in training, whose best friend is stuck on the beanstalk, and who trained under Ariel's master in waterbending."

Iago simply laughed again at this threat, "Please, Mozenrath knew spells, and did things that would haunt your nightmares for weeks! I doubt she could do anything like that," Iago responded.

"He's right... My spell casting isn't anywhere as strong as his," Olette revealed as she was far from ready for advance spells.

"You two aren't helping," Frey said with a dead panned expression at his threats failing.

"Stick to the goofy cop Frey. It's what you're good at," Iago confidentally said despite still being in Frey's hand, "Besides, I'm a parrot, not a stool pigeon."

Frey thought for a moment until he got a sneaky idea. "In that case... How about talking to Stitch about it," Frey asked in an evil sounding voice as he knew what Stitch would most likely do. "I'm sure he'd love to talk over dinner. Right Stitch?"

Stitch walked over and sniffed the sweating Iago as he knew what sort of appetite the little blue Atlantean creature had. However much to everyone's surprise, Stitch sticks his tongue out, "Naka jemo kepalla," he said showing he wasn't going to eat Iago.

Lilo looked to her cousin and was about to translate as she knew what Stitch was saying, "He said-"

"What do you mean you don't eat live things anymore," Frey exclaimed as he wanted Stitch to elaborate further on his answer, "I've seen you eat a whole roast chicken in one sitting!"

"Hicka jema zalza mabelu kachalal," Stitch said in his usually gibberish that few understood.

Frey took that in and shrugged, "Well yeah, last time you eat Sebastian, Ariel scolded you, but this is a..." Frey suddenly went wide eyed as a thought began to fill his mind with horror, "OH NO," he said as he pounded his forehead with his free hand, "I'm beginning to understand what STITCH SAYS," he exclaimed and sobbed in horror at being able to understand such gibberish. Kida patted Frey's shoulder for comfort.

"Well so much for that," Iago said triumphantly at his victory, "Now if you'd just let me go-"

"I wonder... How are we going to tell King Triton about this," Kida asked out loud to the others, "If the king finds out we cannot help not just one but two of his daughters, who knows how he may respond," she continued as everyone listened, including Iago as the parrot began to imagine the King of the Seas' response to the situation. "He could flood the entire world, submerge all lands in the sea," Kida continued as the scenario played out in Iago's mind making him sweat in fear more and more, "All birds would have to stay in the air for the rest of their lives and leave themselves vulnerable to the larger predatory-"

"ALL RIGHT! I'M A STOOL PIGEON! A STOOL PIGEON," Iago cried out in horror. Frey released Iago from his grip as he lands on the table in the center of everyone. "Well to put it simply, the redhead and her sister are probably on their way to Giant's Country," Iago said.

"Giants County," everyone responded in confusion, even Wally with his usually sound effects.

"Giant's Country? So Ariel and her sister are at an amusement park in the sky," Frey asked as the name sounded like a theme park attraction. Something that made Wally, Ralph, Lilo, and Stitch laugh. The others remained silent.

"I have heard of that place," Kida said breaking the laughter as everyone listened to her, "It is supposed to be a terrible place where dangerous creatures were banished before the Maebemuk. My uncle used to tell my hunting group the story of how my father along with other rulers of the world joined forces to fight against an army of Atlantean giants gone mad. But I always thought it was just a story to scare the new blood," she finished as she remembered her uncle's stories and how it affected some of the new hunters.

"Considering all the crazy stuff I've seen in China, I'd say it's safe to say it's true," Seifer responded to Kida's story.

"That's not how I heard it toots. Back when I worked with Mozenrath, he would always drag me on his expeditions for some magic thing or another," Iago said getting everyone's attention again, "Well, one time when we were in this hidden corner of London where they trade in magic and stories. We were at this bar and it had the best darn jam filled crumpets I ever had. And such charming people..."

"Iago, get to the point," Olette said as she could tell he was going off topic.

"Uh, anyway, that's where Mozenrath and I heard about Giant's Country, the equivalent of El Dorado for sorcerers and villains. It's supposed to be this place in the sky where an unstoppable army of giants exist," Iago continued, "The legend says that thousands of years ago they came down a beanstalk and began to steal anything they could grab. From animals, to priceless treasure, food, and they gained an especially strong liking for humans."

"You mean as collectibles like what Wally does, the pictures I take, or something else," Lilo asked thinking it was something harmless while Wally looked excited at the idea of all sorts of treasures in Giants Land to scavenge.

"Actually... The giants see humans as a rare delicacy," Iago answered as a cold chill filled the room for everyone, "One that was meant to be eaten alive and starting from the head..."

For a moment, the room was silent as everyone took that bit of knowledge in. The idea that humans were considered food by another creature was something that would scare anyone.

"You mean... They ate people that were still alive," Ralph asked finally breaking the silence in the air.

"Bones and all," Iago answered as he continued, "Anyway, this King Erik guy along with two other kings ganged up on the giants with all they had and could barely hold them back. Even the Golden Army wasn't able to defeat them. In the end, the three kings used the heart of a dead giant, combined it with this forbidden magic to create a crown that could control the giants, and sent them back to their home. After the war was over, the rulers divided the crown and two other objects among themselves to make sure the no one could call or control the giants ever again. That's all I know though." Iago finished the story.

An silence fills the room as the friends process the story until Frey shot up.

"My life... Is just starting! There are still things I need to do! I need to get my proposal perfected! Grow my first mustache! Plan out the future education plan for our future kids... though before that, I need to plan out the most romantic honeymoon in order for the conception of our children," Frey exclaimed in panic as he was clearly disturbed by this news, "But now you're telling me that Ursula somehow grew that beanstalk in order to gain more power to use against us? Then there's the army of giants that not even the Golden Army or the Mandarin could defeat!? Has hope truly left us? IS THIS THE END OF EVERYTHING," he finished yelling in horror.

"Get over it," Olette and Seifer exclaimed at the same time not having the time to focus on Frey's mental breakdown. The two realized they said the same thing at the same time as they turned to each other and looked away. Seifer and Olette maintained stern looks in their eyes but Olette also attempted to hide a small hint of red on her face.

"Wow... Do you all realize what this means," Eric asked the group with a growing smile on his face, "If what Iago and Kida says is true, that means that the three kings that worked together were rulers of the Atlanteans, Merpeople, and Humans. Which means that there was a time when all three kingdoms lived in peace and out in the open," Eric finished as his goal for the three worlds to live together seemed closer than before.

"Yeah well that was a long time ago," Olette replied while remembering her past, "Now let's focus again on how we're going to handle this problem."

Iago flew in front of Olette as he hovered there with his wings, "Were you not listening to me!? It took three armies to banish the giants, not beat, BANISH," he squacked as pointed out the odds they were against as he continued, "We are two chosen swordsmen, a sorceress in training, an otter, a crab, a knife man, a warrior princess, a robot, a mini giant, two dogs, a little girl, an Atlantean creature, a rug, and me! Wait don't count me."

"Who said anything about fighting them? That war happened who knows how long ago," Ralph pointed out, "They probably all passed away with a new less greedy generation by now. I even bet they are treating the girls like queens up there right now," Ralph finished as he imagined giants like him treating Ariel and Arista like guests at a five star hotel with their every wish being the giants' command. However that daydream was shattered by Iago yelling in Ralph's face.

"Why do you think the armies had to resort to banishing them and hiding the relics in the first place," Iago yelled out, "They are immortal! That means they LIVE FOREVER! They're probably up there right now getting ready to invade us even as we stand around and talk," he finished as the image of blood thirsty giants ready for war entered their minds.

Stitch simply stuck his tongue out before extending his extra arms, "Gigoto asmala oh MAGAN," he yelled as he pulled out tons of Atlantean guns, blades, and one rocket launcher.

Kida saw that and panicked, "No Stitch! Not in the-" but the rocket accidentally fires flying around the room before Kida could tell him to put it away.

The rocket headed for the wall as everyone jumped out of the as the rocket exploded. The group slowly came out of hiding from all over as they saw a huge hole in the wall leading outside as sunlight poured in.

Stitch looks nervous as he started to put his weapons away, Olette gets right in his face with an angry glare before he can finish. "That's... Not... Helping," She said while attempting to contain her anger through gritted teeth.

"Nibma," Stitch says looking nervous and sad.

"He says that he's sorry and before that he said stone age giants are no match for today's weapons," Lilo said from behind the wall as she walks out.

Olette took a deep breath and exhaled to remove her anger as she looked at Lilo, "It's fine, there should be a house fixing spell somewhere in my book. More importantly, Iago's right about the weapons. If the giants are immortal, than any sort of weapon no matter what era would be unable to kill them."

"If that's true, than makes it more important that I go to Giant's Land and save Ariel and her sister now," Eric said as he helped Seifer put the couch back up from the explosion. "I'll fly up using my Master Form, find the girls, and bring them back down safe and sound before King Triton finds out and the beanstalk is cut down," he finished going for the hole in the wall more determined than ever. He was stopped though by Seifer who grabbed his shoulder.

"Hold it Thatch. If these giants are as strong as 7/11 over there says, than you should save your Master Form for an emergency," Seifer said trying to talk some sense in Eric, "Unless you found a way to use it as long as you want." Eric didn't say anything or move. But his expression said that Seifer was correct in his assumption. "Plus doing all that with limit time and carrying both girls down will make being discrete impossible with the soldiers standing guard."

"In that case, let's divide and conquer," Frey suggested, "What if Orpet takes Eric and Iago up, flies back down to pick up me and Kida, and we fly to Atlantis to pick up some extra vehicles? That way we have more means of flying and defense if the giants attack," he suggested to the others which no one objected to until...

"WHAT!? Why do I have to go," Iago yelled out in horror in the air, "Why not send Ralph?! He has the muscles to fight off the giants!"

"Because you made it clear that this requires being sneaky instead of fighting," Ralph said, "Plus these arms make being stealthy really hard."

"Well forget it! There's no way I'm going up to a place where humans are considered a midnight snack" Iago defiantly said as he landed on the table and folded his arms, "There's nothing you can say or do to make me go!"

Olette simply smirked as she shrugged at the parrot's answer, "That's a shame. I mean if what you said is true about the legend, there's bound to be heaps of gold and treasure from when they first invaded the land. Just imagine it, old coins, artifacts, and treasure that museum curators and collectors would pay a fortune for," Olette said knowing what her words would do.

In a flash, Iago was gone from the room, only to return with tons of bags on his back, and all sorts of blades on his wings, belly, and legs for battle, "When do we leave," he asked with the idea of treasure in his eyes.

Everyone just laughed a bit before Eric look towards Orpet, "What do you say Orpet? Do you think you're up for it," Eric asked him. Orpet gave him a thumbs up showing he was up for it. "Thanks and as soon as we're all ready to go."

With that, Eric and Frey's group started to get ready for their dangerous venture.

On Top of the Beanstalk

10pm

High up in the dark sky, the beanstalk stood higher than any man-made building could hope to reach. High enough that it even surpassed the clouds. Tangled at the top of the beanstalk was a still tangled Ariel unconsciousness from trip up.

A cold wind blew across the top of the beanstalk and on Ariel as she slowly began to wake up. At first her mind was about to doze off again, but the sound of falling water now being registered in her mind prevented that. She slowly opened her eyes as she took in her surroundings. 'What... Where,' she thought to herself as she didn't recognize her environment, but her eyes fully shot open as the memory of before flashes in her mind. "Eric," she cried out as she tried to move after remembering how he was blasted by something while trying to save her, but was stopped by the vines. 'That's right... He tried to save me and-' she thought to herself when she suddenly remember her sister. "Arista," Ariel cried out as she waited for a reply back from her sister, "ARISTA!"

With no reply, Ariel started to work on getting untangled of the vines. With a bit of force, she was able to free her right arm. However the other vines were much harder to pull due to number of knots they were in. "Drat," she said to herself in frustration, but then smiled when she had an idea at looking at the beanstalk, and remembered her training with Olette. "If I can just," she said as she waved her free arm around in circular pattern. Suddenly, the vines began to vibrate until streams of water began to flow out of vines. As more and more water flowed out of the vines around her limbs, they began to go from a healthy green to a dried brown, and shriveled. With a smile, Ariel stopped spinning her arm, and was able to break free of the vines that held her down as he body of water she made fell from the sky.

'Well that was easy,' Ariel thought as she carefully made her around the beanstalk. But she stopped when she saw the sight before her, the sight of endless clouds, the night sky, and the moon looking brighter and larger than she had ever seen. "Wow," she quietly said as she sight before her kept her in place as she smiled at this new sight, 'This is amazing... It's like I'm on the surface of the surface world,' she thought to herself. She continued to look as she carefully moved around the beanstalk via the vines wrapped around the main body of the plant. 'I wish I could show Eric and the others this,' she wished but remembered who she was looking for again, "Arista? Are you up here," she called out as she listened for her older sister's cry. No word though so Ariel continued to carefully move around the beanstalk looking for Arista.

Finally after moving around to the other side of where she was, Ariel found Arista. There she was, out cold from the ascent, and just as tangled as she was earlier. Ariel moved and started to remove the water from the vines wrapped around her sister. After a few minutes of waving her arms, she was able to weaken enough vines so that Arista could move. "Arista," Ariel asked trying to wake her up, but she remained asleep. Ariel took a deep breath as she knew only one way to wake her up quickly, "Sorry about this," she said before blasting Arista in the face with the water from the vines.

With that Arista finally woke up as she coughed out water. "What, who, when, how," she said as her mind tried to organize itself.

"Sorry," Ariel said getting Arista's attention as she stared at her sister who had an apologetic smile on her face, "I guess I used too much water."

Arista looked confused by this until her memories flashed before her eyes. "That's right, we were arguing, and then the seaquake," she said as began to remember.

"On the surface, they are called earthquakes," Ariel pointed out, "We were caught in a beanstalk that grew from the ground. Eric tried to save us but someone attacked him before he could," she looked saddened and worried for him. Arista however didn't reply as she gained a shocked expression as she stared at something. Ariel looked confused by Arista's behavior, "What are you staring," Ariel asked as she turned only to became just as shocked, "...at," she weakly said.

There before the girls was huge angry human like face with a gaping mouth just as a flash of lightning filled the air. However the face was slightly different from a human, it's nose looked as there it was smeared onto the face with the nostrils in plain sight, and it's teeth or slightly jagged.

The two mermaid princesses looked in fear at the sight of the face as it stared right into their souls. "It's going to eat us," Arista screamed in fear, "Let's get out of here," she said as she freed herself from the vines. "Come on Ariel," she said as she grabbed her sister's to pull her down, but Ariel simply walked forward. This caused Arista to make a panicked expression, "Ariel what are you DOING," she asked her sister in alarm, "You're practically walking to the jaws of-"

Ariel simply placed her hand on the face as she looked up at it. It felt smooth, hard, and cold. She sighed in relief before turning to look at Arista, "It's okay Arista. It's just a stone statue," Ariel said as she turned to look at her sister who was stunned at this discovery. "See," Ariel asked as she rubbed her hand on the stone, "Oh and whatever you do, don't look down."

The stunned Arista stood up and carefully made her way towards her sister. "Why don't I want to look-" she lost her balance, which caused her to look down at the land below. Far far below from where she was, "AAAAAAH! Ariel, I'm looking DOWN," she screamed in horror as she instinctively jumped towards Ariel. She landed on the stone wall and began to breath heavily from the sight she had witnessed along with the sensation. She had felt the feeling of gravity before on the beach, but the thought of falling from so high was filling her with fear that it paralyzed her. After a moment of heavy breathing, she opened her eyes to see Ariel giving Arista her usually smile while still leaning on the stone, and saw she was leaning on the stone face as a water falls from the mouth to the clouds below. "It is stone... Like back home," she says as she calms down remembering the feeling of rocks and stones below the sea.

Suddenly it began to pour rain from the sky as the two girls became completely soaked. "Come on," Ariel said as she climbed into the mouth of the stone face. She then turned around and held her hand out to the hesitant Arista, "It's better in here than out there right now," Ariel said pointing out the obvious. Despite her fear of the human world, Arista took Ariel's hand as she climbed into the mouth.

Despite being safe from the rain, the cave was filled with a cold from all the running water. The two girls shivered as they took in the cave's interior. It was a surprisingly clean cave with the floor being nothing but smooth stones from all the water but the walls and ceiling was dirt. Growing down from the roof of the cave were long roots like vines.

"N-N-Now wh-wh-what," Arista asked as she held her arms and shivered, "It's to-too cold stay in here," she pointed out as their wet clothing would make it easy for them to become too sick to climb back down.

An equally cold Ariel looked around until she noticed the breeze was coming from in front of her, as if there was another entrance to the cave, "W-W-W-We should go deeper in," Ariel responded as she started to walk, "T-TH-TH-There might be an exit where we can warm up."

Arista wanted to argue as she had a bad feeling, but she couldn't deny they needed to warm up, and she caught up with her sister. As the two made their way through the cave, an awkward silence filled the air from their argument before as they walked next to each other. Both girls didn't know what to say after what they said before at the tent. This continued on until they finally reached the end of the cave. They both made their way out and came face to face with a sight that left them both staring in disbelief.

Before the girls was a grand clearing of green grass, parts that were broken stone walls, and tree trunks that looked as though they were torn down rather than cut. The clearing went on for miles all around the area, like they were standing on the shore near Eric's house on the beach with only the bright light of the moon providing illumination. But the deeper in, they could see an endless forest of tall trees that were higher than anyone ever imagined. Trees so high that they made the trees back in Port Royal looked like saplings.

Ariel looked in amazement at this new sight as she forgot about the cold, "Amazing... I've never seen such an amazing forest like this," Ariel said comparing to the forests and jungles she had seen on the surface. "Isn't it amazing Arista," she asked her sister while forgetting about the awkward feeling from the cave.

Arista didn't answer as she was speechless at the sight before her. The huge trees were amazing, but also intimidating to her. 'These things are so much bigger than the ones behind Eric's house... But why are they so much taller here than... below,' Arista thought to herself as she started to realize something about where she was. 'Wait... Extremely tall coral, high above the human's land, and we came up a beanstalk... This all sounds really-' She went wide eyed in horror as she finally realized where she and her sister was. 'Oh no, oh no, OH by Grandpa Neptune's beard! We're in Giant's Land! Just like in the book,' Arista realized in horror as she covered her mouth with fists, and her legs turned so her knees were touching, "My little sister and I are in the place with the Giants. Man eating merfolk eating Giants," she exclaimed without realizing it out of panic as the horrors she felt the day she heard the story came back to her in full force.

"OH this isn't happening! This is not happening," Arista told herself trying to keep calm, "Ariel! We need to get out of here-" Arista started to say in panic and wanting to protect her sister. Only to see that Ariel was already on her way to the forest. If Arista could see her, she would see spark of adventure in Ariel's eyes like that day they went to the ship as kids.

"Come on Arista," Ariel cried out as she continued heading for the forest, "Let's see what if we can find anything here."

"Ariel, wait! It's dangerous in their," Arista cried out as she awkwardly ran on her legs, "Why do I feel like I've done this before," she asked herself as she ran into the forest.

Deeper in the Forest

In a manner of minutes, Ariel had wandered her way into a portion of the forest far from where she started. She looked around her at the trees that were even taller up close. All sorts of plants she had never seen before grew all over, from flowers, to bushes, and other kinds of plants. Not that far from her was a mountain of stone that could easily dwarf the kingdom of Atlantica.

"Wow," Ariel said as she looked around, "I wish I brought my bag with me for my collection," she said as she looked at the new things around to collect. What she failed to notice were the large footprints in the grass.

"Ariel!"

Ariel turned to see Arista stumble before her little sister. "Can you believe this Arista? The trees are so much taller here compared to Port Royal and China," Ariel said with a smile of amazement, "If they grew in the ocean, they would be poking out of the ocean's surface. Isn't this amazing Arista?"

"Yeah, great," Arista said looking around nervously at every corner of the area, "Okay, we looked around, let's go back before we get into trouble." She was too scared to really take notice of the area's beauty.

"Why are you so scared Arista," Ariel asked her, "There's nothing wrong with this place. Think of it as a new adventure like before. Plus it's much better than waiting in the cold to dry off and for Eric."

"I have nothing against a new adventure with you," Arista responded as she grabbed her sisters arm to urge her back the way they came, "But this place is way too dangerous. There's no way either of us and your human can could handle what's here! We should go back to the beanstalk and climb back down now!"

"Arista, we're not kids anymore," Ariel said not moving from her spot, "I'm a lot stronger now thanks to my training with the water bending masters and so is Eric."

"I'm not saying your weak but I'm being serious," Arista argued back, "Besides what makes you think your human is even on his way here now? For all we know he could be on the surface eating a fish or something behind your back," Arista pointed out as she still had a low opinion of him.

This however made Ariel quiet cross as she glared at her sister, "First of all, his name is Eric. Second, he always thinks of my safety just as much as you, and daddy do. But he also trusts and believes in me. Third, he can't be everywhere, that's why I trained to become stronger for when he's not around, and so that he doesn't have to worry about me," Ariel continued to point out, "Finally, Eric is a vegetarian. That means he doesn't eat any kind of meat."

Arista looked at her sister's glare and knew that she would stand up for Eric like before in the tent. "I'm sorry, that last comment was a low blow," Arista admitted, "But still, what makes you think he's coming at all," she asked Ariel wanting to know the reason for such deep belief in a human.

"It's because he's my love, my husband, and my friend," Ariel said defending Eric, "He would never let anything happen to me, his family, and his friends. There's not a doubt in my mind that he's on his way here right now!" As the two argued, they were unaware that there were being spied on from behind the trees as the anger between the two girls continued to rise more and more.

Arista continued to glare at her little sister for her naivety at holding faith in a human. Finally Arista had enough, "Well why don't you just stay with your precious Eric and I'll go back to the sea and leave it at that," she exclaimed letting her anger to do the talking now.

"That suits me just fine thank you very much," Ariel exclaimed with just as much anger as the two girls turned their backs to each other in anger.

"FINE," Arista yelled out as she started to walk away in anger.

"FINE," Ariel replied back not caring her sister was leaving.

"I don't think so!"

A third voice filled the air surprising the girls as suddenly a loud boom and a cloud of dirt filled the air. Ariel and Arista were knocked off their feet as they sat on the ground looking at the source of the sound. There before them was the thing that Arista was afraid of the most as it stared down at the girls.

The being before the girls had had tan skin from years of being closer to the sun than humans did below. He had brown medium length hair that stood up on it's end, green glaring eyes, and bits of brown hair on the side of his lips. He had a muscular build with medium sized muscles for speed and strength. He was wearing a dirty brown toga that exposed the right side of his chest and went down to just above his kneecaps. He also wore a pair of horns tied by a rope like a necklace and a chain around his waist as a belt. Standing 25 feet tall, stood a native of Giants Land, a Giant named Thum.

Arista sat there in fear as the Giant glared at both girls. "It's a- a- a," Arista stammered unable to find the words due to her fear consuming her.

"The word your looking for... Is a giant," Thum responded in an evil tone of voice. As he went to grab Arista, Ariel used the water from the trees to attack with high pressure water blades. The Giant dodged but was hit by another as he backed away in defense. "A water dancer?! HERE," he cried out.

"Run Arista," Ariel cried out as she prepared another blade of water from a tree, "I can handle this giant!"

"I won't leave you," Arista yelled out. Despite their previous spat along with her fear of the giant, she wasn't going to abandon her sister in the face of such a danger.

"That's fine with me!"

Before Arista could respond, she was grabbed by a large hand, and held tightly by her abdomen. As she was quickly lifted up into the air, her bracelet fell off her wrist, and her mermaid tail returned in a flash of red light. When the hand stopped, she was face to face with another giant.

This one was as tall as tall as the first one along with the same tanned skin. However he had orange hair in the form of a small mohawk and sideburns that went down all the way to his chin. He had brown eyes and very crooked teeth. He had a stronger build compared to the first giant as his muscles were much larger. He wore a cape with shoulder pads that seemed to be made of old fur. It was held on by a chain and two circular markings of some sort. He also wore an armband around his right arm and a brown kilt that went to his knees. It had two rubber circular items hanging on the left of his belt that was covered with white circular bones. It was Fleshthumpeater, on prime example of a mean giant.

The second Giant looked at Arista with an evil looking smile, "Look at this delicious looking bean," he said as he licked his lips, "Since you a fish lady, I bet your taste smelly like other fish. The stinkier, the better."

Arista was terrified beyond her mind at this turn of events as she tried to free herself from the grip. 'It's just like Daddy said! They're real,' she thought in horror at her situation as the giant prepared to eat Arista head first.

Fortunately, before the second Giant could eat her, a blast of water hit the arm holding Arista, and the giant stopped. This caused the Giant to panic, "AHHHH! YUCKY WATER," he yelled out in fear as he backed away from Ariel while still holding Arista.

"Are you serious," Arista asked dumbfounded by this new info, "You're afraid of water?!"

"If you don't want any more yucky water," Ariel began to threaten Fleshthumpeater, "Than put my sister down right- AHHHH!" Before Ariel could finish, she was grabbed by the Thum while not paying attention. She was held like Arista but her arms were held by the Giant so she couldn't water bend.

"No more of your fancy water tricks mermaid," Thum said as he walked over to the first one, "Now how did you get here?! Was it the runt again," he demanded. The girls didn't reply though which only made the him more angry. "You two couldn't have made it up from Earth without a beanstalk now where is it," he demanded again but neither girl gave an answer. "Fine, if you won't talk to me or Fleshlumpeater here," THum said with a hint of annoyance in his voice, "Then you can talk with someone else!" Just as he finished, two more giants appeared out of the darkness of the forest.

Colossal, lean and disheveled giant with unruly red hair and half a beard

One giant was like the others but slightly taller and leaner than the others. He had unruly red hair and half of a beard. Like the others, he wore brown worn clothing but he wore shashes made out of street signs around his chest. He also wore no pants and went barefoot like the other giants. This was Bloodbottler, the second in command of Fleshlumpeater's gang of giants.

The other giant was slightly shorter than the others but wider width wise. He had brown hair on the side of his hair leaving the rest of his head bald along with a thick beard and mustache. All he wore was a brown kilt like Fleshlumpeater but with less accessories on it. This was Childchewer, another member of Fleshlumpeater's group.

As Ariel continued to try and free her arms so she could attack again, Arista struggled in equal vain as she was now surrounded by four giants instead of one.

The first Giant looked at Fleshlumpeater's group as he held Ariel, "We'll split up and head back to the castle from here. I'll look for anyone else that might've followed these two fish girls here," the Giant told Fleshlumpeater's group, "You three head back to the castle with that one. And don't hang out in this forest for too long! You know who tends to hang out around here," he finished as he ran off with Ariel.

"Let me go," Ariel cried out in vain as she became further and further away from the other group, "ARISTA!"

"ARIEL," Arista cried out as she kept trying to wiggle free but to no avail thanks to the Fleshlumpeater's strength.

"I guess we should get going to head back to the castle," Childchewer said as he looked up at the trees as if looking for something.

"Don't be paranoid," Bloodbottler told Childchewer in an annoyed tone of voice, "He doesn't show up at night. We can take as long as we want with this one," he finished as he looked at Arista with a sneer as he took a whiff. "This one smells really yummy. Better than the ones before," he said as he started to drool in hunger.

Arista looked horrified at the idea of being eaten by her childhood nightmares. 'This is it,' she thought in horror, 'This is how I'm going to die...'

"The only one who's going to eat this one is me," Fleshlumpeater told his two underlings, "I be the one who caught the fishey so I get to eat it! Besides, the General only needs to interrogate one of the fishes for the way down!" Then he lifted Arista in the air over his mouth as he opened his mouth as wide as he could.

"No please," Arista begged in fear at her impending death, "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPP!"

"WWWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOO YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

The giants and mermaid look in the direction of the sound to see a cloaked figure swinging on a vine while yelling triumphantly as he swings towards the giants who stare in surprise. Suddenly the vine snaps in mid air as the cloaked youth flies right over.

"WWWWWWHHHHHOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

The giants and mermaid watch as the cloaked figure flies over them and lands in some bushes with a loud thump. The stunned audience look in the direction waiting for a sign of life, until finally...

"I'm okay," loud yet in pain voice came from the bushes where the figure had landed.

"Not him again! I thought he didn't come out at night," the bald-headed giant yelled out as he was not in the mood for whoever that was. He looked at the others giants, "Let's get out of here before-"

Before the giants could run away with their other prize, they are stopped by a triumphant "AH HA!" Up in the tree before them, the group saw the cloaked figure who had quickly climbed up like a squirrel, and stood above them.

He threw his cape of to reveal himself as an eighteen Caucasian British young man with tanned skin, brown hair combed to the left, and spiked at the ends, with brown eyes. He wore a black turtleneck shirt with the right sleeve missing, and the left sleeve stopping under his elbow, and black fingerless gloves. He also wore a dark yellow hoodie vest with black trim on the sleeves, and white trim on the hood, halfway zipped up to his chest. He also wore dark yellow jean pants with the inner thighs colored black. He also had a black belt around his waist, with two pouches strapped to his thighs and connected to his belt. He also had a black and yellow one-sleeve backpack containing a staff of sorts, and black combat boots. On his right arm was a golden shoulder and arm guard ending at his forearm, with designs of what appeared to be a beanstalk.

As the three giants shot the boy angry glares as they knew who he was, Arista was shocked as she stared with a gaping mouth and wide eyes at the human standing before the man eating giants in a heroic pose with a smile to match. 'A human!? Here of all places,' She thought in shock and confusion at this turn of events, 'Did he get caught in the beanstalk too and who is he talking to?'

He started to take a deep breath when suddenly a strange sound filled the air getting everyone's attention. "Sorry, just a moment please," the boy said as he reached into his bag, pulled out a rock from his bag, tied a vine around it from the tree, and held the rock to his ear causing the noise in the air to cease, "Hello? I can't talk right now, I'm in the middle of another rescue," he looks at the others, smiles while asking for one minute before going back to the rock phone, "What do you mean that one is taken? But we spent hours- As if anyone is going to know I used their lines here. What copyright? There are no cameras in up here," the boy continued to argue with the rock as the mermaid princess looked perplexed by this while the giants became annoyed.

'What is he doing and who is he talking to,' Arista asked herself as the boy appeared to be arguing with himself while ignoring the situation.

Bloodbottler moved over to Fleshlumpeater to whisper into his ear, "He's talking to the rock again..."

Childchewer joined in on the conversation, "Let's just go before-"

"All right, all right! I won't use the lines," the boy finally gave in to the voice on the phone's demand, "But we need to settle this later on. All right, bye." Puts the rock down. "Now where was I," he said out loud trying to gather his thoughts, "Ah yes. Sorry about that and thank you for waiting. Now mates, we all know how this usually turns out, well except her since she's new here," the boy called out in a brave tone of voice as he addressed the giants, "So I'm giving you one chance to put the young lady down gently or we'll have to go through our daily routine," he continued as he made his request known while making it clear to the giants the details of his request, "What's it going to be?"

Before the giants could respond, a flabbergasted Arista finally found her voice. "Are you shells," she cried out to the boy using a sea term for insane as everyone's attention was now on her, "These monsters are man eating giants! As in they can swallow or stomp the two of us without even trying and you, a human no bigger than their thumb is threatening them!?" Arista stared at the crazy boy waiting for an answer to her question.

"Don't worry miss," the boy said in a British accent and his confident smile, "This is just like on the farm back home. One just has to know how to keep the herd in check. So gents, what's it going to be," he finished waiting for the giants' response. They thought for a moment before running under the tree the boy was standing on. The British boy simply let out a sigh while smiling, "Well... I tried," he said as he grabbed a new vine, and swung towards them.

A lady is crying, a damsel in distress

The boy sang out the same way an opera singer would sing as he swang between two of the giants. He pulled two red fruit from his pockets and threw them at the two giants. The fruits exploded in green puffs of smoke as they stop and cough. The boy flies forward towards Fleshlumpeater as he held the mermaid princess as he lands on the giant's wrist.

Foreboding Giants have made such a mess

The boy pulled two yellow rocks, quickly rubs them together to the point of faint electricity starts to form as he slams them on the Fleshlumpeater's wrist as the sparks went through the hand like a defibrillator. The Giant yelped in pain from the sudden electric shock from the rocks as he lets go of Arista as she begins to fall just as the youth grabs her arm, pulls her up so her waist is around his arm.

What I detect is a lack of respect for all that is precious and dear

He continues to sing care free as he pulls out the staff behind his back. It shouts out a strong green vine into the air and ropes around a stone high up the wall and the two are pulled up with the vine.

I am the bean-sized protector of this lost world~

He continued via song as Arista holds on for dear life as the giants climb up the mountain wall after them. The two reach the stone covered in Jack's vine as they flew up and Jack landed on the ledge while holding Arista.

But my friends call me Jack

The boy now revealed to be named Jack sang as they reach the stone the vine roped around. Fleshlumpeater slams his fist on the stone wall causing it to shake violently and the stone the two teens were on gives way and fall. The two are now falling as Arista is yelling in fear with Jack cartoonishly standing on thin air as he fell and bowing to her in an introducing way, "Jack Stalkman at your service miss."

"HOW CAN YOU BE SINGING AT A TIME LIKE THIS," Arista yelled out in confusion at how calm Jack was being considering their situation as they fell. Fum reached out, caught her, and started to jump back down the mountain wall.

Jack merely smiled as he fell towards another giant, "Simple, it helps remove the tension in the air," he explained, and held his staff forward. From the end of the staff, a huge amount of vines wrapped around it until they formed a mallet shape.

I have a message. Bullies not welcome

As if on cue, Jack whacked the giant in the head, and flung himself towards the bald giant holding Arista. The boy flew through the air and used his vine mallet to whack bald one's hand with enough force to knock down a fully grown boxer.

Return what you've stolen!

Fum cried out as he dropped Arista just as Jack grabbed her and made a leap for the wall again from Thum's hand. As the two flew, Jack pulled out an odd looking make shift knife and jammed it into the wall.

Go back where you came from! Lalalalalalalalalalalala! You know I'm here, so don't be a hater, You're all gigantic, but I am fantastic!

Jack continued his musical number as he jumped from side to side using his knife to slow down his fall and even ran down the wall as if he running down a hill. Arista on the other hand was scared out of her mind as she held on to Jack despite him being a human. The bouncing boy finally jumped into a small hole just as Fleshlumper was about to grab them. But his hand was too big to fit in the cave. He looked inside the cave at the two teens and shot them a death stare and an angry growl as he expected them to start running away.

Arista looked in fear at the monster from her childhood as he tried to get at her and Jack. She looked at Jack with a mix of fear and confusion, "Is there a good reason why we aren't-"

Figaro!

Arista sees Jack let out a triumphant cry that filled the cave and saw him put his free hand to his ear to listen to the echo as it filled the cave. He sighed with a satisfying smile as he looked at a slightly in shock Arista, "I love that echo bit." Before Arista could say anything else, the energetic singer began to march in place as he continued his song.

"Running and climbing, spinning and grinning, ducking, and dodging, diving and sliding, gliding and staying alive," he began to run deeper into the cave while dragging his dagger all around leaving a trail of pebbles with him and the mermaid as they spun around the hole like a skateboarder in a tunnel.

"These are the fewest of the things I do before lunch"

He sang out as he jumped out of the cave not that far from the giants and free fell to the ground from high up. Arista hugged Jack on instinct from falling on high with a panicked expression but Jack just smiled and continued singing,

Death defying! Danger Denying! Look, we're flying!

Soon they landed on a few large leaves that helped lesson the impact of the fall as Jack safely landed on his feet.

"You may think I'm mad, but hey you only live once."

He started to dance with Arista as the giants attempted to grab the two but he kept dodging with each move until he and Arista performed a dip.

No need to thank me. But if you insist, I won't resist.

'What is he doing? No-no-NO! He's too close and-' Arista thought in panic at being this close to a human until she stopped and took notice of Jack, 'He's actually... kind of cute,' he found herself thinking as the looked at Jack's smiling face without a hint of deceit in his eyes. She didn't even notice the three giants with their hands in grabbing reach of the teens.

Suddenly Jack moved again so that Arista was still hugging his stomach while Jack had his free arm on his side as he looked around.

Who smells like fish?

Jacks asked in an accusing tone. The question caused the giants to stop what they were doing and sniff the air. Childchewer even sniffed his armpit. Arista just looked confused as Jack's expression softened and he looked at her with a smile. "Oh it's you. Well, hold on to that shell bikini of yours," he said before lifting her up bridal style and taking a deep breath.

"What do you mean by that-" Arista started to ask while slightly blushing at the mention of her bikini.

Class, DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS-

Jack sang out a high note as the mountain wall began to crumble behind the giants as they panicked and everyone started to run. Jack however continued to hold his note as he ran with the scared Arista at the sight of large boulders covering the three giants and some heading for them. Soon the valley was filled with boulders making look as though no one survived. However out of the rocks, out jumped an injury free Jack and Arista as the boy let out one final high note as if he hadn't stopped during the avalanche.

-SMIIIIIIIIIIIIISSED

As Jack finished his opera performance by song, the dust cleared revealing a mountain sized statue of a grinning Jack in a victorious pose and Arista still being held bridal style with a look of wide eyed panic as she held Jack's shoulders on instinct.

A moment of silence passed as Jack breathed in the smell of victory in the air, "Ahhhh! I remember my first time here as well," Jack said thinking the mermaid was silently panicking from the experience to the point of silence, " Never fear maim, it's a lot to take in but your safe sound," he looked only to see Arista silent with wide eyes as she tried to find her voice. "Hmm, I have to admit you're taking it much better than how most do," Jack said told her as she looked at him as he walked away from the ruble, "Usually they run away screaming until they run smack into a tree."

A few minutes later, the giants began to rise as rubble from the mountain rolled off them, and dirt rising into the air. The first one up was Fleshlumpeater who looked around with an angry glare, "They couldn't gotten-"

"Far?"

Fleshlumpeater and the giants' attention was drawn by the voice to the side of them. Before their eyes, they saw a carefree Jack still holding a silent Arista by her waist while also stretching back a strong vine as a make shift sling shot. "Well it's been fun gents. Same time tomorrow," he asked as he untied the rock that held the slingshot in place, "Toodles," he said as he waved goodbye as he and Arista were shot into the sky out of sight like a javelin at an Olympic game. Leaving the three giants only to glare at their loss once again.

In the Air

As the two teens flew through the air, Jack had a calm smile on his face while Arista was still in silence. Jack took a deep breath and exhaled as he took in the sight, "Nothing beats a good workout like an amazing view. Wouldn't you agree miss," Jack asked as he looked at the girl in his arm. She was still in shock with wide eyes and an expression that said she was still looking for her voice. Suddenly the two began to fall at high speeds as gravity began to pull them down.

Arista suddenly blinked as her mind started to become aware of what was happening. "What? Where," she looked down as saw the ground getting closer and closer faster and faster as the fear appeared on her face, "AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

"No worries miss, I do this all the time," Jack assured her as he held his staff out and flicked a switch, "Just hold on tight- GHACK!" The Fifth daughter of Triton hugged Jack as hard as she could just as a giant flower bud popped out of Jack's staff. It suddenly opened up to become a large flower that began to slow their decent towards the forest. As Arista continued to take deep breaths from the experience, Jack's face had tightened as the lack of air became more apparent. "Quite the grip you have miss. Don't worry though, we're almost done-" the flower bud suddenly came off just as the two reached the tops of the trees, and they began to fall faster again.

"How can you stand this EVERYDAY," Arista screamed as they plummeted through the branches. Jack then grabbed a vine and the two began to swing through the trees just as fast as they were falling.

"Not to worry," Jack replied, "The worse is officially-"

"AAAAHHHH," Arista's screams interrupted as she looked a head in horror while pointing a head, "Watch out for the CORAL!"

Jack became confused as he looked in the direction Arista was pointing, "What coral- Oh you mean tree-" Jack replied now understanding what she meant but too late to change direction. The two collided with the strong branch and swung backwards. Jack shook his head to get the impact out of his system, "Well that was a new sensation. Sorry about that Miss, that's the first time that's happened," Jack apologized as he looked to see Arista out cold from the crash. "Oops. Perhaps some rest will do us both some good," he said as he swung again into the forest with the sleeping mermaid in his arm.

Outside the Fairground

Sunday 6am

At Seifer's advice, Eric waited until the early morning when the fairgrounds were empty of witnesses along with getting some extra sleep before going up the beanstalk. In the forest far from the fair entrance, the Seablade Bearer, Iago who was sitting on his shoulder, and Orpet looked towards the entrance to the fair. On the outskirts of the fairground's entrance, groups of people holding signs saying things about preserving Mother Nature, and other things were camping out while the entrance was blocked off by two soldiers standing guard.

"Seifer wasn't kidding," Eric said as he looked at all of the nature activists in front of the entrance to the park, "There's enough here for a small army."

"Makes you wish they were chained to trees elsewhere doesn't it," Iago asked Eric referring to the extreme methods of tree lovers.

"If people were polluting the ocean where I surf, I'd be doing something about it too," Eric said as he made sure his backpack was on tight enough. He looked at Orpet, "Ready Orpet," he asked wanting to make sure his friend was ready. Orpet gave Eric the okay to climb on and laid flat out ground ready for passengers. Eric nodded as he climbed on, "Ready, let's go," he exclaimed as Orpet shot up high in the air out of sight of everyone below, and flew towards the beanstalk.

After making it to just before the vegetable, Orpet began to rise up as fast as he could.

"Ahhhh, Nothing beats letting someone else do the flying for a change," Iago admitted as he laid on Orpet enjoying the ride.

"Enjoy it," Eric said, "Soon we'll be doing a lot of flying if the giants are as fearsome as you said they are," he said being prepared for whatever was up there waiting for them.

"Fearsome is an understatement."

Eric and Iago became surprised at the familiar and muffled voice as they looked around. Suddenly, out of Eric's backpack, a yawning Dax zipped his way out jumped out of the backpack. "Man Eric, you should get a bigger backpack," he said as he got comfortable on Orpet, "I had to leave my supply of clams back at the house."

"Dax? When did you get back," Eric asked his guardian who had been missing the last few days.

"Just before you left your house," a new voice said. Eric and Iago looked to see Sebastian popped out of one of the side pockets, "I saw him climb in your bag as you were getting ready and joined him to find the girls as well mon," Sebastian finished as he stayed in the pouch in fear of falling off the carpet.

"Thanks Sebastian," Eric said, "You too Dax. But do you know what's going on," he asked his friend in case he needed an update.

"Tia Dalma gave me the abridged version," Dax answered, "I would've been back sooner, but Tia was talking with someone for hours when I got there. Don't know who but I didn't see anyone. I didn't even know she had other visitors aside from us," Dax admitted.

"Well don't leave us in suspense Clam Breath. What did the VooDoo lady say," Iago asked impatiently.

"She said 'A land torn by evil will be healed when the soul in need finds the valor he needs, a drifter finds new reasons, and a torn rope is tightened once more,'" Dax answered ignoring the insult as he was tired from the quick swim over.

Everyone looked confused by that prophecy, "What does that even mean," Eric asked as he was coming up with nothing.

"No clue," Dax said in between a yawn, "Sounds like gibberish to me. Wake me when we get there," Dax finished as he started sawing logs.

"That's real helpful mon," Sebastian said in an annoyed tone as they flew up the beanstalk faster and faster to the top.

Eric simply smiled as he shook his head, "It's never that easy," he said before looking back up the beanstalk. He gained a determined look on his face, 'Stay safe Ariel, I'll be there soon,' he thought as Orpet continued to rise up the beanstalk towards a world of new wonders and dangers.

Next Chapter: Meeting the Neighbors and the Outcasts

Sorry for the delay. One of my co-workers kept avoiding their shifts so I had to cover those along with my own. The co-worker is leaving next week though so here's hoping the next one is more responsible. This one was also a tough one because of trying to make the meeting entertaining and not drawn out but also keeping all the details in it. I also want to thank Stone-Man85 for his help with Jack's debut scene. Hope you all enjoyed this new chapter to my first attempt at a story. Happy reading and have a great and safe summer.