The next morning, about noon, Melody comes into her parents room and plops down on the bed waking up Eric and Ariel. "Oh, hey Melody," sighs Ariel with a groan. "What time is it?"
"It's about noon, mommy," responds Melody. "It's time for you and daddy to get up. We're supposed to do a family picnic today. Remember?"
"Okay, okay," sighs Ariel. She then gets up and gets dressed. As she watches her mother, Melody notices a frown across her mother's face.
"What's wrong, mommy?" asks Melody.
"My sisters died a few weeks back at the hands of pirates, and I, we were too late to save them," responds Ariel, tears rolling down her cheeks. At the sound of Ariel crying, Eric wakes up and goes over and comforts her before getting dressed himself.
"That's enough, Melody," says Eric, "go wait on us outside." Melody huffs but obeys, storming out the room.
A few moments later, Eric and Ariel come of the room in their picnic wear and take Melody in a carriage ride to the beach for their family picnic. There, Melody mentions nothing to her mother nor says anything for the most part but instead goes off to collect shells and sand dollars.
"I know she didn't mean to make me cry or hurt my feelings," sighs Ariel. "She's just a child. They're not necessarily known for their tact."
"My love, she's almost fifteen," responds Eric, "she's no longer a child."
"I know what you're thinking and no, we're not sending her off to boarding school, don't even try suggesting it," responds Ariel with a stern look.
"No, I would never recommend that," responds Eric.
"Don't mention betrothal either," responds Ariel. "She's still too young for that."
"Then what do you suggest?" responds Eric
"Take away her mermaid privileges for a good bit of time," responds Ariel. "You know it's the one thing she cares about most."
"True, true," responds Eric. "But that power comes from your father's music box and mother's locket. How do we take those away from her?"
"Simple, say we're taking them to the gold smith to get them fixed," responds Ariel.
Eric sighs and goes and takes the music box and locket and takes them and locks them away in his father's secret vault until Melody learns to behave herself. All the while, he can't help but feel bad about it, but at the same time, he knows Ariel is right. He also knows it goes farther than just hurt feels, but also towards a want to protect her daughter from the same fate of her own sisters. As a mother, that is the last thing she would ever want for her daughter, to be a lifeless body on the end of a pirate's spear.