It wasn't too long before Ariel and the others made it back home from their journey. Naturally, as soon as they got home, King Triton was worried and wondered where they had gone. But after an explanation and sticking to their story, Ariel and the others eased the king's worries and made sure not to say a word about their adventure.
It was soon nightfall, and Garret was getting ready for bed.
"Man, what a day," he said to himself. "First, there was that octopus, and then there were those two kids on the surface. It's a good thing I managed to scare Crabby into keeping quiet. Otherwise, we'd be feeling the wrath of Triton right now. Not to mention that we were lucky those kids we saw were nice enough to let Flounder go."
He then looked out the window and leaned out of it, gazing through the sea.
"Although, despite that little adventure, I wasn't able to find any info on my little investigation," he went on. "And I'm pretty sure I've asked everyone, including Aquata. Maybe I can ask the other sisters if they know anything, but they probably won't know either, so there might not be a point in asking them. And I'd ask King Triton, but the guy is always busy, and Aqauta herself even told me not to ask him."
Then, Garret had a thought.
"Wait a second. Why would Aquata tell me not to ask King Triton in the first place? I mean, I get the circumstances, but still."
And the more Garret thought about this, the more peculiar it seemed to him.
"I wonder. Does Aquata know something? And if she knows about it, the other sisters may also know. It sounds like I've got a few more people to ask. But for now, it's time for bed. I could use some shut-eye."
He swam over to his bed and made himself comfy, pulling the blankets over his form, closed his eyes, and went to sleep.
For the moment, things were quiet and peaceful as he entered his slumber. But then, he saw a speck of light that shone in the darkness.
Feeling curious and somewhat enticed, Garret ventured deeper trying to get a closer look. He got closer and closer still until finally, the light was just in front of him within reach.
"What... what is that? That light. It feels - so warm."
He held out his hands, gently cupping the light between them, and stared at it in wonder. Then, it exploded with blinding brightness, forcing him to shield his eyes.
Everything went white for a brief moment until Garret could see once again, finding himself in a strange place.
He was inside the water, still in his merman form, the sun's rays shining from the surface, giving the place light.
Then, he heard a sound floating in the currents and coming from above — the sound of a female singing.
"That sound!"
Recognizing it immediately, Garret quickly pumped his fins and swam straight toward the surface, eventually breaching through it.
He looked around, trying to see where he was, and he noticed a familiar sight.
In the distance, he could see the vast sands of the shore of the beach, the waves washing up against them before receding to the water.
Garret blinked, feeling a sense of deja vu from this setting. "Hold on a second. Is that the beach from my last dream?" he wondered. "Then again, it could be any other beach, but it seems so familiar."
At that moment, the singing came again, this time being much closer and louder than before, and it was coming from behind him.
Garret turned around, and in front of him, he saw a rock in the middle of the water. Resting on top of it was a woman with flowing red hair that billowed about in the wind, the same one he had seen in his last dream. And upon listening, he could tell the singing was coming from her.
He was just about to call out to the beauty when he hesitated, remembering the last time he did in his previous dream.
"I should probably stay quiet. If I call out to that girl, I might startle her, and she'll swim away."
So, he cautiously glided over, ensuring not to make a lot of noise.
He soon was just a few feet away from the mysterious siren as she continued to sing, having a voice that would make even the iciest of hearts melt. The more he listened, the more amazed and entranced he became by her.
"So beautiful. I could listen to this girl sing forever."
Garret swam a bit closer to the right wanting to see the woman's true identity, but as he did, a giant shadow loomed over him, causing him to jump and turn around, and his eyes widened in horror.
The shadow belonged to a giant ship that was heading straight towards them.
At first impulse, Garret planned to swim away, but then he remembered the woman on the rock and shouted out to her.
"Hey! You! Get out of the way! That ship's heading right for you!"
But the woman didn't seem to hear him and stayed where she sat. Garret looked at the ship, which was now right on top of them, then back at the woman.
Knowing he had to take action, he dashed toward her and leaped out of the water to push her out of the way and into the water.
But right then, the woman turned around, revealing that her lower body was a mermaid's tail, and as her and Garret's eyes met, they were a bright emerald green color.
He couldn't help but gasp, recognizing who and what the woman was as the ship barreled straight into the rock.
Then, Garret snapped awake, shooting up from his bed.
He looked around, whipping his head back and forth before realizing he was still in his bed. Then, after taking a few deep breaths, he calmed himself down.
"Oh, man. What a crazy dream."
He then took a minute to remember. While it was a dream, he could remember it vividly, most notably, the woman he had seen, of which he now knew of her true identity.
"That woman in my dreams. It was the ghost mermaid!"
But Garret was quickly interrupted. At that moment, he heard the singing again outside his window.
Immediately, he shot up from his bed and looked around to his right, the left, and up, but he couldn't see anything.
Then, he noticed that the voice was coming from somewhere down below.
He glanced back towards the doorway of his room, confirming that no one was around. Then he quietly swam out of his room and started searching the courtyard. While listening carefully, he swam about, trying to ascertain the source, but he couldn't see anything, and the sound was too far away to hear.
After that, he left the courtyard and came to the Grand Ballroom, where the Neptune Ball previously took place.
"You know, I'm starting to wonder why this happens in all these random places," Garret thought. "Then again, it's better than a ship graveyard."
He listened closely to see if the singing was strongest, but its sound was now very distant and faint.
"It looks like I went in the wrong direction. Maybe it's somewhere outside the city. Hopefully, somewhere with fewer perils and no octopuses."
He then swam out of the city and past the outskirts, following the voice. But, while he swam, he didn't realize that a pair of glowing yellow eyes were following him.
Garret continued to follow the sound until he came to a familiar area. It was the same coral reef by the base of the sea mountain Ariel and Flounder had shown him a while ago. The singing had also grown progressively louder.
"If the voice is this close, there's only one place I can think of where it would be coming from."
He pumped his fins and swam as fast as he could until he came to the one place he believed it was coming from; Ariel's secret grotto. And sure enough, when he came up to the boulder, he could hear the voice coming from just behind it.
He quickly glanced at his surroundings, checking that no one could see him and that he was alone. Then, he gripped the boulder and gave it a hard tug, managing to get it open, and quickly slipped inside before it closed with a thud.
From there, he swam cautiously inside the cave, now able to hear the singing very clearly. However, he didn't see any sign of the ghostly mermaid.
"Darn. I thought that mermaid would pop up like last time, but I guess I was wrong," Garret said to himself. "Well, since I'm here, I better look for a mirror in this place so I can head home."
He searched around all of Ariel's treasures in her collection until his eyes fell upon a familiar glow from the corner of his left eye. In the corner beside some old urns, he saw a mirror. It was about half the size compared to the others he had seen but had the same teal gem on its top. He swam over to it and was just about to touch the surface to activate it when the room suddenly darkened.
Instinctively, Garret quickly hid, believing that someone had found him. Then, he looked up in time to see something long and skinny pass by the hole at the top of the cavern. After it passed, the room was lit again.
Garret sighed in relief. "Whew. I thought someone had found me here for a second," he whispered. "Now then -."
He then returned his attention to the mirror and touched its surface. Its gem glowed brightly, and its glassy surface changed into water. Garret swam into it, vanishing beyond the surface, and the gem's glow soon faded away.
But Garret didn't realize that the things that swam by were Flotsam and Jetsam. The two had been tailing Garret hoping to find some dirt for Ursula, but they had lost track of the boy and didn't know where else he could have gone.
In the real world, Garret soon reemerged from the mirror and came down from the attic. He had just shut the door and was heading back to his room when his heart stopped right in his chest as he stopped.
Standing before him was his mother, Charlotte, who had happened to be walking down the hall holding a spatula.
"Garret? What are you doing up?" she wondered. "And what happened to your shirt?"
"Ah, Mom! Well, uh," Garret stammered. "I was just about to shower, but then I realized there wasn't a towel in the bathroom, so I was going to get one!"
"I see," Charlotte hummed thoughtfully. "Well, you better hurry and get your towel then. I don't want to catch a cold. Breakfast will be ready in a few."
"Sure thing, Mom," Garret replied.
And as Charlotte went back downstairs, Garret quickly power walked to the bathroom shutting the door.
"Good grief. As if I didn't have enough stress," Garret gasped. "I thought for sure Mom saw me. I've had just about enough of almost getting caught. It's getting to be bad for my nerves. But, at least, I managed to avoid that crisis. Well, since I'm already up, I might as well take a shower and get ready for school."
Garret then went to his room to get a change of clothes, but as he did, Lucy was peeking out of the door to her room, and she saw everything.
While watching her magic bubble back at her distant lair, Ursula was confused.
"Now, that's peculiar," she hummed thoughtfully. "I could have sworn that boy was somewhere over here. But now, it seems he mysteriously vanished."
She tapped her chin thoughtfully.
"How could Flotsam and Jetsam have lost track of him? Or maybe something else happened?"
The sea witch paced around thinking.
"I doubt he saw my little pets or knows anything about them. But, then again, this boy could be hiding a great secret. If he is, I do wonder what it could be."
The villainess Cecaelia grinned, chuckling.
"Perhaps it's something that he doesn't want dear King Triton and his precious daughters to find out about. It would be a shame if they were to find out about it. Ooh! I can feel a plan brewing! Make sure to continue keeping an eye out, my dear pets. If you see any speck of dirt on this boy, you can be sure we'll use it to stain his reputation and bring down his pretty little daughter while we're at it."