Fantasia Crisis

By Lord Akiyama

Inspired by "Crisis on Infinite Earths" by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez

Chapter Nine

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When the twelve were first gathered, it was the first time Simba had ever encountered humans. It was quite an odd experience, especially when he had to work with them in saving the worlds. So much has changed since the balance had been disrupted. The twelve have been scattered and he is the only one unaffected by the alterations made by the balance disruption, allowing him to be prevented from possession by Maleficent. His primary objective is to find the others, but doing so means he runs the risk of having to interact with humans.

The village seemed quiet and peaceful enough. Imagine having a lion in the mix. Simba stayed close to as many objects that would keep him hidden as he moved slowly around, making sure to be on the look out for any of the others. According to the apprentice, at least one of them was here. He could only imagine how the balance disruption could alter someone. After all, he was unaffected from the spell.

"Momma, momma, look," the voice of a child was heard above him. "There's a big cat outside." His eyes shot wide open. He had been spotted. He quickly looked up and calmed himself a little. The child happened to be a kitten. The kitten had dark fur with a red ribbon around his neck. Another kitten popped through the window to see what the fuss was about. The second kitten had orange fur with a blue ribbon around his neck.

"Whoa!" the second kitten said. "That's not just a big cat. That's a lion!"

"A lion?" a third voice said. "Let me see! Let me see!" The voice belonged to another kitten, only she had white fur and a pink ribbon around her neck. "Wow! You're right! It is a lion!"

"Children, be careful," a forth voice said. It sounded more adult than the previous three. Appearing now through the window was apparently the mother of the three kittens, whose fur was as white as the daughter. "Goodness, I must apologize, sir. My children are quite curious about everything."

"It's, uh... it's alright, ma'am," Simba said, not sure what to say. "Um... I'm just... eh, looking for someone... a friend... a human friend, actually..."

"Well, sir," the mother said. "There are many of them in this village. Is there are particular friend you are looking for?"

"Actually, I'm not sure," Simba said. "I... actually have a lot of human friends I'm looking for and I heard one of them was here."

"Well, I wish you luck in finding your friend, sir," the mother said. "Now children, it is time for your lessons. Say good bye to the nice lion."

"Good-bye, Mr. Lion," the children said in unison before disappearing inside the house. The mother laughed as she joined them, bowing her head to him.

Simba smiled a little before turning back to his objective. He moved quickly and quietly through the village, hoping to find a recognizable face somewhere. The sky was beginning to turn dark and day was becoming night. It would be harder to identify a face with no lights, that was for sure. The sun was about to disappear in the hills when he finally saw something that caught his attention.

A couple was exiting a carriage, laughing as though they had a wonderful day. It was the woman that was recognizable. Long, red hair and the blue eyes was more than enough for him to see Ariel despite the blue ribbon in her hair and the fancy dress she wore. What surprised him was that she had legs. She was a mermaid, but now she had legs. It probably had to do with the alteration by the balance disruption. However, he could not see how she could possibly be possessed by Maleficent. Even still, he approached quietly and made sure he was not spotted.

Simba quietly snuck through the house, staying close to the shadows. He watched as Ariel and the man walked closer to the back of the house where there was a large room that was lighted by a fireplace. Simba looked quickly to find crates of boxes he could hide behind. He quickly snuck through as he listened to the conversation between Ariel and this man.

"Oh, I can't wait for us to have children, Eric," she said. "It's been months since our wedding and maybe the time is at hand, love."

"I can't wait for our first child either, Ariel dearest," the man said. "Well, you wanted to visit this cabin of my father's. What do you think?"

"So many treasures," Ariel whispered. "I've never seen so many wonders in my life. And this sword!"

"Oh, this one," the man chuckled as he removed the sword from the top of the fireplace. "I believe my dad called it The Hand of Triton since he found it in the sea."

"The Hand of Triton," she said. "Can I hold it?"

"Sure," he laughed, handing the sword to her. She almost buckled under the weight, but managed to hold it up. "They say that this sword belonged to a king of the sea. King of the merfolk, to be exact."

"It's beautiful," she said, unsheathing the sword from the scabbard.

"They say that this sword is a special one," Eric continued. "That only the royal family would be able to unlock its secrets and power. Maybe as powerful as the trident the king wields."

"Prince Eric?" a voice outside the room called. "Your assistance is needed."

"I'll be there in a moment," Eric called back. "You don't mind being in here, do you love?"

"Of course not," she giggled. "I have a weapon to fight back any dangers."

Eric gently pulled her close and they kissed before he left the room. Ariel watched him leave before she started to swing the sword around and giggle, pretending she was in a duel. Her laughing caused Simba to chuckle. Simba then stopped quickly, realizing she could have heard him. She did.

The boxes tipped over and crashed upon him. Many broke on contact while most piled on, keeping him pinned to the ground. Simba shook his head and looked up, seeing himself pinned. The boxes could quickly be pushed away, but there was the matter of the sword pointed at his neck.

"A... a lion?" Ariel said, looking down upon her victim.

"Ariel, don't!" Simba said quickly as the tip of the blade edged his neck.

"Wha... you talk..." Ariel said. "And you know my name. How? ... Witchcraft. A creation of witchcraft, it must be."

"No, no, I'm not a creation," he quickly answered. "I'm real. Flesh and blood."

"Liar!" she said.

"Ariel, please," he said, watching the tip begin to touch the individual hairs on his mane.

"Tell me how you know my name before you die," she said.

"Because you told me," Simba responded. "When we first met."

"We never met!" she cried.

"Yes we have!" Simba said, the sword slowly passing through the mane. "We were summoned by Yen Sid, the master of masters! We were summoned to stop Chernabog! To save the worlds! Your world, my world!"

"Worlds?" Ariel said with an arched eyebrow. "There's only one world, talking lion."

"There is now," Simba said, "but before there were many worlds. I had my world, where I was king and I had a queen, the best of friends. No humans. Your world... you were a princess."

"I am a princess," Ariel said.

"Yes, but you were not just any princess," he said. "A princess beneath the sea. A mermaid princess."

"Mermaid?" she said. "But... but I'm human."

"Now you are," he said. "But you were a mermaid princess. You had many sisters, you told me this. You were the youngest, and the most precious of your father. But your father was very protective of you to the point that... that you began wanting to see a world beyond the sea."

Ariel stood there, listening and taking in every word. It all seemed ridicules, and yet they felt true. Especially with the sword in hand. It was as though she had felt the sword before.

"We... we had a talk, remember?" Simba said, the blade still pointed at him. "I... was going to be a father soon. I was going to have a daughter, a princess. Just like you. And... and we talked. We talked about fathers before afraid for their daughters. And we talked, you telling me that I should be open to my daughter's curiosity. To let her experience and see things, even to see why I would not want her traveling to a forbidden place. So that I wouldn't destroy her treasures. ... So I wouldn't hurt her like your father did to you."

Ariel stood there, unsure of what to believe. She looked deep into the eyes of the lion, seeing the fear of losing his life but also seeing the fear of losing a daughter he would never meet. She slowly pulled the sword away from him.

"Simba?" she managed to whisper as tears began to fall from her eyes.

"Yes," he said. "It's me."

Ariel backed away as she breathed heavily. "Oh my God..." she whispered as she slowly dropped to her knees. "I... I almost killed you..."

"And you should have," a voice said behind them. They looked to see the dark figure of Maleficent standing before the fireplace. "The easily tricked can also be the easily freed, I see. Well then, I have no choice but to eliminate the both of you. You cannot possibly succeed!"

Ariel quickly drew her sword up in time to block a strike from the staff. She picked herself up and stood ready for battle. "I may not be a fighter," she said, "but I will not go down easily."

Maleficent blocked all of her sword swings with her staff, the clashes creating sparks as the blade and the staff connected. Maleficent then pushed the blade with one of her blocks, forcing Ariel back as she fell to the ground. Before Maleficent could do anything further, Simba leaped with a roar and slashed at the sorceress. Maleficent screamed as she whirled away from the lion, a fresh scar of three lines appearing on the left side of her face. Maleficent looked at the two with fury in her eyes.

"How dare you do this to me?" Maleficent hissed. "You shall pay for this! You shall both pay!" A cloud of smoke formed before her and then everything vanished.

---

"Will I ever see you again?" Eric asked in a sad voice.

"I don't know," Ariel said, equally sad. "I don't know if I'll ever return. But if I don't, never forget about me as I will never forget you my love. I will always cherish every moment we spent together."

Eric sighed before she pulled him gently to him for a kiss. "Ariel," he said. "Before you leave, I want you to take this."

Ariel looked down to see him handing her the sword. "The Hand of Triton?" she said. "Eric, I couldn't. This was your father's--"

"And I'm giving it to you," he said. "Who knows, maybe it really belongs to your father. Either way, I want you to keep this and use it to protect yourself from harm."

Tears began to roll down Ariel's face as she leapt on to him, hugging him as tight as she could. "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you, too," he said.

She finally released him. With the sword in hand, she gave him the best smile she could under the circumstances and turned away. She walked on down the road, occasionally looking over her shoulder to see him one last time. Simba watched this, knowing the feeling, as he walked beside her. Soon, all they could see behind them was a blur of the village. Ariel sniffed and took a deep breath.

"So Simba," she said, "where to know?"

"I don't know," he said. "But I have a feeling we should just follow our instincts and keep on going. There are nine more somewhere in this world and he have to find them. And then, we have to wait for her rebirth."

"I hope it's true that she will be reborn, Simba," she said. "I don't think I can take much more of this."

"Neither can I," Simba nodded.

to be continued...