Chapter Sixty One

Petition Under the Sea

MELODY

"I mean, I know it was my idea to begin with and all, but frankly I'm having second thoughts." Tracy asked as she watched Melody toss aside her jacket. They were now standing on the beach outside the castle of Denmark, where they had passed through after sending off the rest of the Warriors through a Crossing Point.

It was still raining, though the downpour had reduced to a light drizzle and the thunder and lightning had ceased. The storm had passed over to the other side of the sea, where Arendelle was, almost as if to say that now that the crisis in Denmark was over, now it was Arendelle's turn.

"I mean," Tracy continued. "What if we're wasting our time?"

Melody glanced at her. "What makes you say that?"

"Well first of all, no king likes to be woken up in the middle of the night."

"He's my grandfather, remember?" Melody reminded her.

"And second," Tracy went on. "If he isn't pissed, why would he wanna hear a petition to join a war he has no stake in?"

"I can think of a few reasons," Melody said. "For instance, my grandfather would be pretty upset to find out that the Empire took control of Denmark and kept my parents hostage."

"Fair enough." Tracy shrugged. "But then this is war we're talking about. Would your grandfather really want to commit his soldiers to a fight between another kingdom and its enemies? It technically isn't even our fight."

Melody sighed. There was a possibility of that happening. After all, now that Denmark was no longer in immediate danger, she couldn't exactly picture her grandfather agreeing to send the Atlantican army out to aid Arendelle in their fight.

And then there was her own personal issues that was another cause for hesitation. She had promised her grandfather, King Triton, that she would return to the underwater kingdom, but the last time she had done that was literally more than a year ago.

Sure, Melody still loved the sea, but her commitment to the Warriors and the League of Sorcerers had really eaten away most of her time, and she had repeatedly put off going back to visit. There would surely be a little bit of awkwardness explaining to her grandfather why she hadn't come sooner, and that the only reason she was finally visiting was to ask to borrow his army.

"Princess."

Melody blinked. "Yeah."

"It's your call."

Melody sighed. "Are we going to at least try and go down to Atlantica? Or should we just go back to the castle and take a nap while our friends fight a war against two separate armies?"

Tracy scowled at her. "Why do you have to put it that way?"

"We've wasted enough time." Melody walked out into the sea. Truthfully, she wasn't as sure as she had made herself sound. She was a great deal more uncertain about this little side mission of theirs, and hoped that it would not be in vain.

She touched the golden necklace around her neck, and it began to glow. The light grew outwards, travelling along her arms, down to her legs, and soon covered every inch of her body. The glow intensified, till it became blinding, and then it faded faster than it had started. When the golden aura vanished, it revealed Melody in her mermaid form, her legs replaced by her salmon pink tail.

"It's been a while since I've seen that tail." Tracy chortled.

"Yeah, I know." Melody sighed. She wished she had done this sooner, but better late than never, she supposed.

"My turn." Tracy waded into the water after her, and muttered something incomprehensible under her breath. A purple cloud concealed her, and then parted quickly almost as soon as the cloud had done its work. Tracy's human form was gone, like Melody's, and she floated in the water in her natural octopid form.

"Come on," Melody dove below the surface, cutting through the water like a seasoned mermaid. It'd been some time since she had done this, but the skill that took her years to master was all coming back to her as she swam deeper down into the ocean. Just like riding a bike.

"You still remember the way?" Tracy caught up to her and fell into step with Melody, or whatever the underwater equivalent was called.

Melody rolled her eyes. "It hasn't been that long."

"Alright, alright." Tracy snorted. "Lead the way, Princess."

###

Before long - and thankfully too for they didn't exactly have the luxury of time - they reached the borders of Atlantica, Melody's second home. The mermaid paused to take in the sights as they swam over the reef and the kingdom came into view.

It was more beautiful than she had remembered. Melody surveyed the kingdom in awe, wondering why she had constantly put off returning. The childhood love for the ocean had never left, but coming back here felt so nostalgic that she audibly sighed.

The architecture of the houses and buildings were a mix of ancient with a touch of modern technology, Bright lights made out of a certain rare mineral and sea salt laced the entire skyline, and vibrant colours gave the entire place a spark of life, even though it was close to midnight.

"First time?" Tracy sniggered.

Melody ignored her, and began swimming towards the large opal gates where two burly mermen were standing guard with bronze staves in their big hands. Even in the quietness and tranquil of the night, there were always soldiers posted at the entrances around the kingdom to protect the people from dangers lurking in the unknown. But by the looks of it, the kingdom had been enjoying a relatively peaceful time as of late.

It took the two soldiers a moment to recognise Melody, but when they did, they stiffened up hastily and bowed.

"Your Highness." One of them blurted out. "We weren't expecting you."

"Sorry. It's actually an urgent visit." Melody gestured at the gates. "Can you let us through?"

"Of course, Your Highness." The other merman began hurriedly undoing the massive lock on the gates. "Do you require an escort?"

"Now I'm insulted." Tracy sniggered and Melody ignored her.

"No thanks. At ease, guys." Melody swam through the open gates and into the kingdom, Tracy trying to catch up with her.

"You remember the first time we came in here together?" Tracy asked as they swam through the now quiet marketplace where goods and services were usually put on display for the locals living in the kingdom.

"Not exactly nostalgic for a trip down memory lane right now."

"Not really meant to be nostalgic. Point is, remember when we were up against Kane's brainwashed army?"

Melody honestly couldn't tell where Tracy was taking this. "Yeah but what's that got to do with anything?"

"We've been up against an army before." Tracy sounded confident. "We did it once, we can do it again."

"As I recall, we won that battle only because Kane had what he had come for." She paused. "And we didn't exactly win, did we? Kane tempted you to join him."

"Ah." Tracy went a little red. "Let's try to forget that."

"I still don't see your point."

"I guess what I'm trying to say is," Tracy continued. "We've survived a war before, sort of. We can take this one too."

"This time, we're up against two separate armies, one of which has never lost in battle before." Melody pointed out.

"This time, we have the Warriors and the League of Sorcerers to back us up."

Well, Tracy was right about that. Melody glanced at her and permitted a tiny grin. "I guess you're right. The odds aren't exactly better but at least we have our friends to help us during the war this time."

"Of course I'm right." Tracy grinned. She had a penchant for keeping her spirits up in times of crisis, which often came in useful when everyone else was down.

"Come on," Melody beckoned to her as they swam into the royal palace and were greeted by the soldiers on night duty. "Let's go make our petition to my grandfather. I bet he'll be pleased to see me."

###

"Well, it's not that I'm not pleased to see you, Melody." King Triton scratched his long, white beard and blinked away the sleep from his eyes as he floated into the throne room where the two girls were waiting for him. "And you too, Tracy. But at this hour?"

"It's good to see you too, Grandfather." Melody hugged him as he came in. His wide and tall frame seemed smaller than usual, and his face was thin, covered in his thick facial hair. "Sorry to intrude at such a late hour."

He gave her a squeeze. "I seem to recall you promising that you would come by sooner."

She looked away awkwardly. There it was, her grandfather was guilt-tripping her. "I'm sorry. I've been busy."

"I can imagine." He nodded at Tracy, who gave her best approximation of a curtsey, which Melody cringed at. She was better off not trying it, for she looked as laughable as ever.

"We…have a problem." Tracy started.

King Triton kept an unfazed expression. "As expected. You two would usually show up whenever you need help with something, and not before."

"No need to rub it in, Grandfather." Melody winced.

"So," King Triton sat down and leaned back in his golden throne. "What can I do for you two this time? Last time it was finding a sunken ship. Dare I hope that this time will be any easier?"

"Sorry to disappoint, then." Tracy said.

"As a matter of fact," Melody continued, watching her grandfather intently for any clue as to what he would say. "It's a lot more complicated than usual."

He raised an eyebrow, but opted not to say anything just yet.

Oh boy. Melody sucked in a deep breath before she went on. "A kingdom recently declared war on the continent, and has established themselves as an empire. They call themselves the Empire of Exon, and has conquered every kingdom in their path…including Denmark."

King Triton leaned forward, concern apparent on his sunken features. "Your mother…is she…"

"She's alright." Melody said quickly. "We just reclaimed Denmark a few hours ago."

"You should have come to me earlier." Her grandfather sounded anxious. "Your mother…your entire family was in danger. I could have sent the Atlanticans down to the coast to help."

"There was nothing anyone could do, Grandfather." Melody explained. "The Exonian soldiers were dug in too securely, and would have seen you all coming."

"Hmmn." He frowned. "But you said you just reclaimed Denmark?"

"My friends and I," Melody gestured at Tracy. "We launched an assault against the remaining Exonian troops left in the city."

"Then it sounds like you have things well in hand." Triton wasn't making much of an effort to hide the pride and relief in his voice. "What do you need me for?"

"Ah, you see the problem is," Tracy chimed in. "The reason why we could overwhelm the Exonians is because their main troops left to continue their campaign. They're headed up north towards Norway right now, and are going to attack Arendelle tomorrow morning. You know Arendelle, right?"

"Ah yes, Arendelle."

"And that's not all." Melody continued. "Arendelle's enemy, the Southern Isles is also going to be attacking them tomorrow morning at the same time. Arendelle will be facing two armies at once."

Triton stroked his beard, his eyebrows creased. "And I'm assuming you want me to lend my forces to aid them."

"My friends from Arendelle, the queen and the princess, they helped us to force the Exonians to retreat from Denmark." Melody said. "I owe it to them to help them in their war, but we can't do it alone." She paused, almost dramatically. "I need your help, Grandfather."

"You want me to send my troops into a war that has nothing to do with Atlantica? That could result in retaliation against the peace we've fought so hard to build after the warlord came to invade the kingdom two years ago."

"Grandfather, please. We can't just stand by knowing that an entire kingdom of people are going to be crushed if we don't help them."

Silently, King Triton steepled his fingers and leaned forward. On the one hand, Melody could understand why he didn't want any part in this. For the sake of his own people, it was better not to get involved in a war that he had no stake in, that would undoubtedly cost some of his soldiers their lives.

And on the other hand, Melody knew the benevolent, kind ruler that her grandfather was. He wouldn't just allow something evil to happen if he could prevent it. That was what made him such a great king.

Either way, she couldn't hold it against him, whatever he decided. He was the King of Atlantica after all. Melody watched her grandfather with bated breath, her mind churning and heart hammering in her chest as she waited for a response. What will Grandfather do?