Once upon an alternative time, far out across the open sea, there are a pod of dolphins leaping about in and out on the surface of the Atlantic waves. Multiple seagulls soaring through the cloudless sky, whales poking themselves out of the water whilst echoing their song, colorful fish frolic in the glimmering reefs, and yet the mystery of the ocean is about to be discovered. This is only the beginning of the tale.

On top of the surface of the sea, there was a rare elegant feminine figure whom is relaxing on the calm waters whilst watching the seagulls flew above her. This feminine sea creature is depicted to have long silky dreadlocks with an ombre shade of burgundy to brighter fiery red, soft radiant and richly melanin skin, hazel brown to aqua eyes, lavender shimmering fish scales on her slender torso and also on the rest of her body. But she does not have a pair of legs nor bare feet. In fact, her lower body ends in an shimmering teal green fishtail. Complete with the same scales that gives off an gun-like metallic/pearly effect with the rainbow sheen reflection in the sunlight. And the fins all over her body as well as at the end of her tail also has a hint of shimmering rainbow reflection, all just to match her serenely majestic look. That creature is a beautiful young mermaid princess named Ariel.

And she has currently swam far away from home, but she couldn't care less about that. She spent her days frolicking off into the widest open ocean. While she's relaxing on the surface, soaking in the warm rays of the sun, the little mermaid look around her with a slightest bit of pure joy. Although she became particularly bored of all the nothingness surrounding the watery environment.

"It is sure a wonderful day to go for a swim." Ariel said to herself. "However, I can't help but wonder what is there to do around here. I bet there's some hidden treasures nearby. I guess I'll go explore the reefs for a bit and see what else I can find. Maybe I might swam into my friends there."

Thus the little mermaid dove in the water. As she swam across the crystal clear surface, little that she is unaware of the fact that something else is there, watching her from afar. Something, or in fact, someone. It is a aquatic bionic humanoid whom too was resting on the surface of the sea. He has never seen a creature like a mermaid before in his entire life. Seeing Ariel dive into the water and then swam off, ultimately peeks his interest. Out of his curiosity, the humanoid figure dive in the sea after her.

Out across on the ocean floor, Ariel glides away through the school of fishes whilst humming her signature tune. The little mermaid's voice echoes throughout the deep blue. Once the humanoid figure heard her humming a haunting melody, it instantly melt the core of his heart. He has never heard a voice so beautifully angelic since the very day that he was created. Although he has remembered nothing of his past nor where does he come from. All he knows is that he's built to be a aquatic humanoid with an unknown ancient technology. But none of that matters to him now. He is too focused on following the mermaid and her beautiful voice. The little mermaid swims into the cave nearby. She is unaware that the humanoid figure has been following her. With the help of the giant parrotfish, he tags after her. While swimming through the cave, they came across the kelp forest. The humanoid thanked the giant parrotfish for its assistance. Then he went off to go search for his mermaid. He follows the sound of her voice but then suddenly, she stops singing. Now he can't find her. Frustrated, the bionic humanoid figure searched all over the kelp forest but he couldn't find his enchanted little mermaid. Just as he was about to give up, he spots a tropical yellow and blue fish named Flounder, and a Caribbean crab named Sebastian. They too were also looking for Ariel.

"Ariel! Are you out there?" shouted Flounder.

"Ariel! Where are you, girl!?" shouted Sebastian, gripping onto Flounder's fin.

As they shouted her name, the humanoid figure overheard them whilst hiding in the kelp, following them from behind.

"Ariel?..." the humanoid quietly uttered his first words. "Who is Ariel?..."

He continues to follow them undetected. Flounder and Sebastian swam through the kelp forest in search for their friend. It is not so long before they finally found the little mermaid poking her head out on the surface again. Flounder and Sebastian has finally caught up to her as she was gazing at the kelp on the water surrounding the area.

"Ariel! There you are!" says Flounder, gasping out of breath. "We have been looking all over for you."

"What are you doing out here, girl?" asked Sebastian. "You are so far away from home!"

"Oh! Hey, you two! I'm just going for a swim." said Ariel, playing with her long silky ombré fiery red dreadlocks. "I don't see what the problem is. Besides, it's a beautiful day to go exploring. Especially amongst the reefs."

"Well next time, don't leave us behind! Okay?" whined Flounder. "We wanna come with too."

"Okay, I promise I'll invite you two to tag along." said Ariel as she turns to dive again. "Well now that we're all here in the middle of the kelp forest, why not go exploring? Come on! There's so much to see around here."

"Okay, Ariel. We're coming." says Flounder.

"But don't swim off too far." Sebastian added.

The three dive into the saltwater. Along the way, all of the other friendly sea creatures greeted Ariel and her friends with a hello. They too greeted back to them.

On the other side of the kelp forest, the humanoid figure stalks the little mermaid from the kelps, all the while he activates the newly discovered platforms, freeing the sea turtles. He then continues to follow them, but only for him to lose them again, due to being sidetracked by his distraction. He found a damaged little robot laying on the sand. Because he is programmed to fix any damages possible, he finally got the tiny robot to start working again. It scanned the figure from his head to his flippers. It immediately recognizes him as one of its own. So the robot tags along with him as he continues to look for the little mermaid.

So far, he has no luck. Then he choose to meditate upon the statue of a shark. Due to the ancient technology built with his body, his subconscious telepathy flows through the creatures of the sea. From a small leopard shark, to a school of fishes and a sea horse, he finally found her. With no time to lose, he stops meditating and he swims off to the direction that the little mermaid and her friends are heading.

He soared through the kelp forest with the tiny robot by his side, until they found them gazing at the strange platform on the sands. Ariel and her friends were curious about the strange thing for they have never seen a rare technology from another world before. The humanoid figure hid behind the kelp. He can't help but stare at Ariel's underwater beauty. Thus his curiosity about her kind overwhelmingly makes him want to know more about the ocean world and its habitats. His sonic telepathy causes his robot companion to make strange robotic noises and it startles the little mermaid. Flounder and Sebastian were startled by the sound as well. And it seems that sound is coming from the kelps.

"Do you guys hear that?" says Ariel.

"Yeah, Ariel. I heard it too." said Flounder as he swam to her side. "I've never had heard the strangest sounds like that before."

"Oh mon! I hope it's not what I think I just heard." said Sebastian, a tad alerted. "We should be getting outta here."

"Yeah, I'm with Sebastian on this one." says Flounder, adding in. "We should leave before something bad happens to us."

"Oh stop being a worry-whale, you two." Ariel teased her friends. "I think it's coming from over there."

Ariel swam closer to the kelps, where the humanoid is hiding.

"Ummm who or whatever you are, we know that you're there! Please come on out!" Ariel called out to the unknown. "We're not going to hurt you. So you don't have to be afraid."

Her calm voice encourages the humanoid figure to expose himself from the kelp. Startled by his appearance, Ariel and her friends backed away from him. They do not know what he is, what he wants nor what he is capable of. But he too has meant no harm to them whatsoever. So he too show a sign of his peace.

"Don't be afraid of me." he said in his gentle voice. "I'm not going to hurt you either."

Flounder and Sebastian were still very afraid of him, but Ariel was not. She swam closer to the humanoid despite of her friends warning her not to get too close to him. Of course she didn't listen to them. She has never seen a humanoid figure like him before. He too has never seen a sea creature of her kind before as well. As their eyes have met, they were fascinated with each other. Alas they became friends overtime.

"So you must be Ariel, right?" The humanoid asked her.

"Yes, that's right. But how did you know my name?" asked Ariel.

"I kinda overheard your companions calling to you earlier." said the humanoid. "They were shouting out loud."

"Oh they did?" wondered Ariel as she turn to her friends. "Well talk about go figure."

Flounder and Sebastian both blushes away in embarrassment, knowing how loud they can be when they were looking for her. Aside from that, Ariel turns to the figure once more.

"Speaking of names, do you have a name I should call you by?" Ariel asked in wonderment.

"I... I really don't have a name." he said to the little mermaid. "I haven't been given one. In fact, I don't know anything about myself. However, what I do know is that I happen to be a part of the ABZÛ program."

"The ABZÛ program?" Ariel wondered. "What is that?"

"I'm sorry but I wish I knew." the figure said in a softer tone of voice. "I honestly don't know who I am. I just have so many questions that are unanswered. I don't even know where to start looking for that purpose."

They begin to feel rather sorry for the humanoid. From the looks of his body language, it seems that he really doesn't know how he got here nor how he came to be what he is now. The poor guy needs to figure out who he really is. So being the optimistic princess that she is, Ariel vows to help him find himself on the journey that is yet to begin.

"Don't worry. We will help you find those answers together." suggested Ariel in a optimistic manner.

"You will?" said the humanoid.

"We will?" questioned Flounder

"We will?" questioned Sebastian.

"Of course we will." said Ariel. "We're always here to help a friend in need. It's what we do."

"So we're friends?" exclaimed the humanoid. "You really mean it?"

"That's right! You are my friend too, Abzû." says Ariel as she finally has an idea popped into her head. "Oh! That's it! How about we call you Abzû!?"

"Alright. I can go with that." said Abzû as he agrees to his new name. "Abzû that is."

"That's good! Now let's go find some answers." said Ariel, taking Abzû's hand.

With the flick of their flippers, they all swam off on the path through the kelp forest. Along the way, Abzû introduces his robot companions to his new friends. Ariel is at awe of her discovery once she laid eyes on the strange robotic things. She too introduces her friends to them as well. Flounder and Sebastian were a tad afraid of the small robots, but they instantly gotten over their fears once they start to play along with the two friendly machines. Also on the journey, Abzû activates three more platforms to release the sea creatures from their imprisonment. At the end of the path, it seems like a large coral is blocking their way. But the small robots took care of that by opening the passage. And now they all swim on.

Once they've reached the other side, they were greeted by a great white shark named Duncan. To their surprise, he paid no attention to them nor whatever else is in front of him. Instead, he swam away into the kelps. This is a close encounter but a safe one. Abzû lead the little mermaid and the gang through the caverns shortcuts. After a long navigation through the cavernous shortcuts, they stumble across a pillar of glowing blue light from the top of its peak. They swim towards the luminous blue light. Underneath the light is a swirling undertow that turns out to be a portal that might lead to another realm.

"I wonder what may be on the other side?" says Ariel.

"There's only one way to find out." said Abzû as he hovers closer to the light. "We're going have to enter the portal."

Flounder and Sebastian detested the idea of going in the portal if it may take them to the unknown. But Ariel holds hands with Abzû and they both swim downward into the portal, despite of Flounder's and Sebastian's wishes. So they went in after them. The portal transported the aquatic adventurers to what it appears to be a twilight realm of the ocean gods.

"Where are we?" wondered Ariel as she looks around her. "What is this place?"

"I have no clue." said Abzû, wondering himself.

The realm appears to have Greek-like pillars coming out of the water underneath them. Ariel swam down to the waters, as if she felt like she's floating above the sea.

"Is this water, in the sea itself?" Ariel wondered in awe of her discovery. "Are we floating above the sea?"

She touched the watery surface and the water begins to glow in a luminous light. It seems that the light is showing them the way, directing them to the shrine ahead. They follow the glowing pathway to the shrine. Inside of the shrine, is a lone bubble hovering in the middle of the transparent room. Abzû and Ariel swam closer to the bubble.

"What is that?" wondered Ariel as she touch the bubble with Abzû.

Upon touching the bubble, Abzû began glowing a bluish light and part of his essence fused with the bubble. Then the shrine starts to rumble.

"Yelp! What's happening!?" screamed Flounder as he hid into Ariel's long locs.

"This isn't suppose to do dat! Is it?" Sebastian shrieked in full panic mode. "Please somebody tell me this ain't suppose to do dat!"

"Abzû! What did we do!?" Ariel screams out to Abzû in fear.

"I don't know!" Abzû responded. "All we did was to touch the bubble, I was glowing and now this happens!"

The bubble began to glow so blindly brighter than the sun. From the unknown ordeal, three manta rays gracefully ascend towards the twilight surface. The shrine's power restored the natural habitats of the manta rays. It turns out to be the spiritual gods realm that is connected to the essence of all the earth's oceans. The little mermaid and the gang witness a life changing phenomenon as the manta rays stops to thank them for restoring their realm.

"Thank you for restoring our habitat." said one of the manta rays.

Ariel's heart has melted away after the manta rays dance away with rejoice. Although they haven't found the answers they were looking for, but whatever they did, must've been for something greater than one of them should've even known. Maybe there is more to the mystery than meets the eyes. So the little mermaid Ariel, Abzû and their friends must move onward with their journey to unravel the big mystery of the oceans as well as finding some answers linked to Abzû's past.