Hey guys! Sorry if it's been a while, but here's another chapter for you!

If you have any ideas for me, feel free to PM me.

Enjoy!

Garret found himself drifting in the ocean's currents letting it carry him along.

It felt so peaceful and soothing as he drifted along. He then opened his eyes.

He saw nothing, but the blue waters of the ocean. He could see the sun's rays shining through the surface illuminating this strange yet beautiful space.

He also found that he wasn't sporting his merman tail. Instead, he had his human legs and feet.

"Am... Am I dreaming again?" he wondered. "If so... then why am I in the ocean? Normally I'd be outside of it... but not this time..."

Then he heard a sound drifting through the water. A sound that he had heard in his dreams before. The sound of a woman singing.

"That song again... It's just like before... Who is that?"

He looked around trying to see where the singing was coming from.

Then he saw something dozens of feet away from him. Garret squinted trying to see what it was. At first, he couldn't quite tell who it was. So he decided to try and get closer.

Using his legs and arms he swam closer and closer.

As he did, the singing grew louder and he could see that the figure appeared to be a mermaid with a long wavy crop of red hair, but he couldn't her face due to the mermaid having her back turned.

"Ariel? Is that you?" he called. "If so... what are you doing here in my dream?"

The mermaid stopped singing and slowly turned around. Her beautiful red hair waved about in the water hiding her face from view.

Then she took off swimming getting as far away from Garret as possible.

"Wait! Come back!" Garret called. "Ariel, wait!"

But it was no use. The mermaid was gone leaving him all alone once again.

"What the heck was that about?" he wondered.

Then suddenly, an ominous shadow loomed over Garret causing the boy to look up. His eyes then widened.

Before him was a giant shadow reminiscent of another certain merperson. A male muscular one in fact.

"You dare trespass in my waters, human?!" the shadow boomed. "Your kind is not welcome here!"

Garret's eyes widened in terror as the shadow glared at him with glowing red eyes of hate as it wielded a trident. Garret immediately knew who it was.

"King Triton! Wait! I mean you no harm!" said Garret.

"Liar! Why should I believe a human would mean no harm?!" the shadow snarled. "You humans care only for your selfish desires and destroy needlessly!"

Then the trident began to glow as the shadow took aim at Garret. The boy was now terrified.

"No, your majesty! Don't! I''m not your enemy!"

"BEGONE, HUMAN!" the shadow roared as he prepared to unleash the power of his trident.

"YOUR MAJESTY! DON'T! PLEASE!"

Garret woke up with a fright his body shooting up from his bed. His heart was beating five times per second and he was panting like he was suffocating. After a few seconds, he calmed down.

"It was just a dream," he said to himself. "Just a dream..."

He looked around at his surroundings and found that he was in the same room where he was staying in Atlantica. He also looked under the covers and saw that he was still a merman. He then got out of bed and looked at his hands.

"Well... normally I'd be all sweaty after having a nightmare like that," he said to himself. "But since I'm underwater I guess there's no such thing as sweat." He then stretched his body after letting out a satisfying yawn. "Well, time to start another day," he said. "Even though I had a bit of a rocky morning."

Then he made his bed and got ready to start the day. Then he swam out of the room and headed down the hall. As he did, he couldn't help but think about the nightmare he had just experienced.

"Man... I wonder why I had that dream?" Garret thought. "I know that I had dreams before... but nothing like that."

He remembered the shadow that tried to blast him and felt a shiver go down his spine. He knew very well who the shadow resembled. Then he thought back to when he saw the mysterious mermaid with red hair.

"She looked just like Ariel, but... she didn't seem to be Ariel... I think," Garret thought to himself. "And this wasn't the first time I saw her either. Just who is that mermaid? Maybe... I can find some clues as to who she is."

Suddenly Garret bumped into someone causing him to look up. It was one of Ariel's sisters, the blonde with the red tail known as Arista.

"Hey! Watch where you're-" Arista spoke about to be cross, but then she realized who she bumped into. She immediately helped Garret up. "Whoops! Sorry, Garret. Are you OK?"

"I'm fine," replied Garret. "Sorry for bumping into you, Arista."

"No, no. It was my fault," insisted Arista. "I was the one not watching where I was going."

The two of them then floated there in silence not really sure what to say next.

At last, Garret spoke up trying to break the awkward silence. "So... what brings you around here?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just... getting ready to go about my day," said Arista. "You?"

"Just woke up, to be honest," said Garret. "I... was just gonna get ready to go about my day too."

"Oh. Sounds... good," said Arista.

The two then floated there in silence once again. Then after floating there for what seems to be another long silence, then Garret once again broke the silence.

"Well... I uh... better get going," he said. "Got some... stuff to do."

And with that, Garret swam away going down the hallway. As he swam off, Arista tried to reach out to him before he was out of sight, but for some reason, her voice breath got caught in her throat and she said nothing. Garret soon disappeared from sight and Arista couldn't help but facepalm her self in the face.

"Nice going, Arista," she said to himself. "You made yourself look like a total geek! I mean 'what brings you around here'? Really? How lame is that?"

Then a couple of the other sisters came swimming up. Andrina and Aquata. When they saw their sister, they were a bit surprised to see her in her current state.

"Um... Arista? What are you doing?" asked Andrina.

Arista jumped. "Oh! Um... Nothing! Nothing at all! Just... swimming around!"

"You sure that it's nothing?" asked Aquata. "You're acting pretty weird. Did you take one of my things again without asking again?"

"No, it's nothing like that!" insisted Arista. "It's... it's... it's nothing OK."

Aquata and Andrina looked at each other and shrugged unsure what to say. Then Ariel came swimming down the hallway looking bright and cheerful.

"Morning," she greeted. "What's everyone doing in here?"

"Oh. Nothing much, Sis," said Arista. "I was just leaving. I... gotta brush my hair."

And with that, Arista swam away in a hurry leaving Ariel puzzled.

"What's wrong with Arista?" the red-head wondered. "Is something wrong with her?"

"Who knows?" shrugged Aquata. "Anyway, Ariel have you seen Garret?"

"I think he went down towards the throne room," said Ariel. "Why do you ask?"

Aquata then looked away pretending to be aloof. "Oh, nothing. No reason."

"Wait a second," said Andrina. "I've been looking for Garret too. I was hoping to get to know him a little bit and have him tell me about himself."

"Hey! That was what I was gonna do," said Aquata a bit taken aback. "I was hoping to find out a little more about him too. And hopefully get a better look at that tail of his.""

Ariel then raised a brow. "Um... didn't you already see it the other day?" she asked. "It's not that big of a deal."

"You only say that because you've been hanging around him the most, Ariel," said Aquata. "It's high time someone else had a turn with him."

"And that someone is going to be me," said Andrina. "I mean come on. I've got a lot of jokes and pranks I wanna introduce Garret too."

"You mean the jokes and pranks that are not funny?" spoke Aquata snootily.

"Like you have room to talk," scoffed Andrina. "At least I've got something that Garret would be interested in."

Not wanting to get involved in this, Ariel rolled her eyes and swam away heading to the dressing room to get started on her day.

Meanwhile, Garret was now swimming around the palace trying to find any clues to his dream. So far he saw nothing, but halls, halls, and more halls. He couldn't even tell where he was.

"Man... this is all so confusing," he thought. "I can't even tell where I am."

He looked around trying to see if there was anything familiar or recognizing, but he couldn't. Then he let out a sigh in defeat.

"Perhaps I should put the search for clues on hold for now," he said to himself. "Until then, maybe I should swim outside and see where I'm at and work my way from there. Now... I gotta find a window or something. I swear, couldn't King Triton make his palace just a tad smaller?"

But he had no reason to do that. As Garret looked around to find a window, a certain red crab came swimming about humming a little tune. As soon as Garret saw him, he called out to him.

"Hey! Crabby! Crabby!"

"Oh! Garret me boy," greeted Sebastian. "What bring you ta this end of the halls?"

"I uh... kinda got lost while looking for the main palace," Garret said. "You think that you could lead me to the main throne room? There are so many halls in here, I got lost pretty easily."

"No problem at all, kid. Why when I was a young crab, I do would get lost dese halls," said the red crab. "Just follow me. And stop calling me dat."

And so Sebastian swam down the hall leading on and Garret followed.

Soon enough, they came to the throne room where some of the sea creatures were going about their normal routine. Garret felt a bit relieved that he was no longer lost, but he felt a little bit disappointed.

"Oh well. I suppose I have to wait for another time to find any clues," Garret thought. "Until then, I should probably get back to my world soon. There's no telling how long I've been gone back there. Not to mention that I have school. I'll have to go back to the treasury and then pass through the mirror like before."

"Well, here we are kid." grinned Sebastian. "Da royal throne room. Now ta remember, if you ever get lost, make sure you make a right, den left, up, den left again. Got dat?"

"Oh! Um... yes. Got it," nodded Garret. "Thanks, Crabby."

He then looked around. He noticed that a certain king was missing from the throne room as his subjects bustled about getting ready for a new day. He also couldn't see Ariel either.

"Say Crabby, do you know where Ariel is?" wondered Garret. "I don't see her anywhere."

"First of all, stop calling me dat!" said Sebastian. "And second, dat girl's probably on freshening herself up as we speak along with her sisters. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing. Just curious," said Garret.

"This could be a good opportunity," thought Garret. "I'll just leave a little bit and then come back a little later. I might as well take advantage while the king's not around. Not to mention Ariel's sisters are a little... weird."

"Hey Crabby," he spoke aloud. "I'm got some business to take care of. If Ariel or anyone asks, tell them that I'll be out for a little bit and don't wait up for me for breakfast."

Sebastian was a bit surprised. "Wait... what do you mean business?" he asked.

But before he could say anything else, Garret had already swum off leaving him behind.

"Oh man. What is with dat boy?" the red crab wondered to himself. "He's getting ta be as strange as Ariel."

Garret carefully made his way outside of the palace making sure that no one saw him. Then like he did the other day, he swam up towards the upper levels of the palace until he came to the royal treasury. He looked around making sure that no one was around. Most especially, King Triton. When the coast was clear, he quietly swam into the treasury looking around.

"Now... let's see... I know that mirror's around here somewhere," he said to himself. "I may have seen it once... but I know it's here."

He looked around carefully trying to find it, but he saw nothing but gold, jewels, and many other valuable things.

"That's strange," Garret said aloud. "I could have sworn that mirror was in here. Where did it go?"

Then in the corner, he saw what he was looking for. There lying in the corner was the mirror with the teal gem. Garret looked around making sure one more time that no one was around in the treasury. Then he swam up to the mirror. He then reached out about to touch the surface of the mirror when he suddenly felt a shiver go down his back.

Thinking that he was sensing danger, he immediately jumped his heart leaping about ten feet and his blood going cold. He immediately ducked behind a pile of treasure and hid. He then stayed silent hoping that whoever saw him would go away and think that they saw nothing. He then peeked out and he felt his eyes widen with horror.

Entering the vault was King Triton himself with the seahorse herald and a couple of soldiers in tow. As soon as he saw King Triton's face, Garret immediately remembered the shadow from his dream resembling him.

"Oh crap! What the heck is he doing here?!" Garret screamed in his mind. "Of all the rotten luck! If I don't get the heck out of here, I don't even wanna know what King Triton would do to me!"

"Let's see here..." said the herald thoughtfully as he took out a scroll. "According to the royal agenda your majesty, it's time to count the amount of gold in your royal treasury."

"Are you sure that's what it says?" wondered the king. "I don't exactly remember such a thing on the royal agenda."

"That is what it says, your majesty," said the herald. "You said that we should check your valuables every day in case of thieves. You never know when someone would attempt to try and steal from your treasury or if someone could be lurking in the treasury as we speak."

"Yes. I suppose you're right," spoke King Triton. "Very well then. Let's get this over with." He then turned towards his soldiers. "You stand outside. Make sure no one comes in."

"Yes sir!" said the soldiers.

Garret gulped in with fright as the soldiers left and King Triton swam in with his herald starting to count the treasures. He felt his breath quicken and his heart beating like a jackhammer. He stayed behind a pile of gold trying to stay as hidden as possible. He slowly peeked out trying to see and much to his disdain, he could see that King Triton and the herald were beside the mirror blocking his escape route.

"Darn it! They're too close to the mirror. Not only that, but if I try to leave I'll be caught by the guards," Garret thought. "What do I do? Think Garret think!"

The merboy looked around trying to come up with a way to make a distraction, but as he went back into hiding behind the gold coins, some of them came off its pile fell to the ground making a clinking noise. Garret immediately gulped as he covered his hands over his mouth. Then he swam to another pile of gold a few feet away from the one he was hiding from afraid that King Triton and his herald heard him. Luckily they didn't.

Then King Triton and his herald swam to a trunk a few feet away from the mirror. Seeing this as a chance, Garret stealthily sneaked behind another pile of treasure and peeked out.

"Come on... just little bit more," he thought.

"Come on... just little bit more," he thought.

Then King Triton swam away a few more feet from the mirror. Seeing his chance and making sure that no one was watching, Garret swam up to the mirror and touched the surface of it. The teal gem began to glow and the surface grew murky and watery. Not wanting to stick around and not wait for the bubbles, Garret immediately swam through the mirror and disappeared into its surface.

King Triton and the herald then stopped taking notice of the sudden glow.

"What is that?" wondered the herald.

King Triton then swam over to investigate. He saw nothing, but the mirror which had stopped glowing. As he gazed into the mirror, he couldn't help but feel somewhat confused. Then he placed a hand on the surface of the mirror looking somewhat wistful.

"Is... something the matter your majesty?" asked the herald.

The king then looked back towards the herald. "It's nothing," he said. "Just deep in thought. Now let's continue."