As Erica glanced at the kingdom below them, she stood there breath-taken. Aqua then noticed that since she never knew about the kingdom before, he laughed lightly and waved his hand in front of her face.
"Are you alright in there?"
"Uh...yes. It's just that. This view is so beautiful."
"Indeed it is. Now, let us go. My mother is expecting us."
"Yes. Will...uh...your mother assume...?"
"What? Of course not. As long as you pretend that you are royal, then that's all that matters."
"Very well. I just don't want to get into any trouble."
"I understand."
He then started to ask for her hand once more, but she still refused. Erica then swam towards the entrance of the kingdom and glanced at the scenery around her. She never expected various amounts of mermaids and merman to roam freely. She enjoyed it so much, Erica was being pulled from the tail by Aqua.
"Enjoying the view much?"
"Sorry. It's just..."
"I understand that it is beautiful, but now is not the time for a tour at this moment. Allow me to escort you."
"Very well. You lead."
Both he and Erica finally made it to the throne room where his mother resided.
"Your majesty, your son Prince Aqua Marine and his darling fiancé, Princess Ariel."
They bowed in respect and stood there relentlessly towards the queen of the sea. She glanced at the prince and towards Erica. With consideration, the queen rose up from her seat and swam towards the couple.
"My son."
"Yes, mother."
"Why have you not told me of your darling fiancé?"
"I wanted to surprise you, mother."
"Indeed. Where is your father at this time, Princess Ariel?"
"My father had some royal duties to attend to this morning. I thought I would come to see the Prince himself."
"I see, and whom, might I ask, is your father?"
Erica stood there combusted with confusion. She never catch her fake father's name when the seahorse found them. If she stated the name wrong, then all of the problem will be ruined for him.
"Why ask questions of the Princess, mother? She has travelled a long way to see me."
"That is very true. I was testing her for a moment."
"For what?"
"To prove that she isn't working with the sea warlock."
"Sea warlock?" she thought to herself.
"Mother, don't be ridiculous. The sea warlock was banished years ago. It's impossible for him to return from his exile."
"Very well. Escort the lady to one of our guest room."
"Yes, mother."
Both he and Erica bowed and was dismissed. Tatiana watched her son and "Princess Ariel" leave, but was a bit suspicious to the princess. From what she was told by the messengers, the princess had beautiful red hair, not black hair. Was she informed incorrectly or was her hair black at the daytime, but red in the night time? Later in the evening, the sons of Tatiana were preparing to sing and Aqua was watching the view.
"Nervous or something?" a voice asked him.
He turned around and noticed Erica came behind the curtain.
"Well, it's just. The king and his daughters are here. I...I can't sing in front of them."
"I see. You have stage fright."
"Well, kind of."
"Then what is it? I don't mean to pry or anything."
"Well...the only time I sang was when...my father was around."
"Really?"
"Yes. I...I just don't have the courage to sing anymore."
She knew how he felt. Since her father had died of a heart attack in the future, it does seem hard for someone to sing a joyful song. Erica then had an idea, but knew it would be risky.
"Then get the courage."
"What?"
"I mean, think about it. People are waiting to hear you sing, but it's not just about your gift, but apart of who you are."
"But I..."
"Look, I know how it feels to lose someone you love, but you can't let that prevent you for doing something you care about so much."
He listened intentionally.
"I want you to sing your heart out to prove that you care about something important: your father."
As they stood there before the curtains, he came close to her in a few inches.
"I'm glad I found you. If you haven't told me about standing up and forgetting the past, I would've left."
He took a deep breath and turn towards the curtain.
"Wish me luck."
"I will."
He entered in and started to sing the lullaby his father sang to him. She listened intently, but while the song progressed, she felt different. Though she was in a mermaid form, Erica was in full possession that she stood there relentless. It seemed as if she forgot the power of mermaids and merman and what can do if a human heard the song. As the song had finished, the audience applauded for Aqua and he then swam behind the curtain. At that very moment, he noticed that she was on the verge of killing herself.
"Erica. What's wrong?"
She couldn't speak. Erica's ears heard the song all the way. With one move, her hands went straight towards the neck and was getting to the position of suffocating in water. Aqua couldn't handle it. He reached for his hands and grabbed a hold of her hands to stop. When two of the hands touched, the power started to glow as normal. The possession Erica was under stopped and noticed the light glowing between them.
"What does this mean?" he asked.
"The old legend." Sebastian replied.
Aqua and Erica saw Sebastian and removed each other's hands. The power slowly disappeared as Sebastian came close to them.
"It has been foretold by the elderly whale a prophecy stating that a certain leader will shine as the sun and will defeat the evil."
"What do you mean?" Prince Aqua asked.
"You have not heard of the prophecy? I'm sure you have of, do you not, Princess Ariel?"
"I'm with Prince Aqua. I honestly do not know."
"Am I dreaming? None of you were told by your fathers about this?! Oh good Poseidon. The prophecy of the elderly whale, who roams in the lightest part of the sea, mentioned that the time has come."
"Time?"
"Do you remember the sea warlock that was banished?"
"Yes? What about him?"
"He's coming back."
"He?" she thought
"How can we stop him?"
"The only way: allowing the power of true love conquer."
"When will this time come to pass?"
"It will occur when he returns back into the sea."
"Back into the sea?"
She never thought that a sea creature, in this case, a warlock would be hidden in her world. Where on earth would he be? Sebastian then noticed that Erica was pondering about all he was talking about.
"Apologies, for I have not intend to leave you in the dark, Princess Ariel," Sebastian replied, "the sea witch was banished from the sea various amounts of years ago and now roams on land. However, before the banishment, he vowed to return for revenge."
"What kind of revenge?"
"Hard to say. I believe he may intend to kill the queen or one of the sons to plan the revenge towards."
"We must inform your mother at once about this tragedy." Erica stated.
"What good will that do?" Prince Aqua questioned Erica, "even if we were to convince my mother about the upcoming events, she knows that by and large, that will never happen. I know her too well."
"Well, we can't just sit here and wait for this sea warlock to come when we do not expect him to come."
"The only way for you two to convince her is to bring the elderly whale. He may tell her what is to come."
"How will we find him?"
"We don't even know where he roams."
"I see. Well, the only ones that will know about the lightest part of the sea would be from the surface, which we are forbidden to do so."
"Why not?" Erica asked.
Prince Aqua and Sebastian looked at her in shock.
"What is wrong with the surface?"
Prince Aqua sigh deeply and looked at her.
"The surface is how my father died. He was murdered by fishermen many years ago."
"I'm sorry. I didn't know-"
"Well, now you know why Queen Tatiana would never allow any of her people near the surface. If she were to see them killed by one, she would bring war towards the one that brought them there in the first place."
"Not trying to pry or anything, but who brought his father to the surface?"
"He brought her to the surface for their anniversary, but was brought hatred in the queen."
Erica stood there in disbelief. His parents went up to the surface for their anniversary, but had to be ruined by humans. That may be the reason why Aqua didn't want to be seen the first few times they met. He didn't want to end up the same fate as his father.
"Are you alright?" Prince Aqua asked Erica.
She looked at him and knew that she couldn't have the courage to live like this anymore.
"I'm fine. Excuse me sirs."
She swam away from their presence as those two stood there in silence. Erica made it towards the corrals and started to cry. Tears couldn't fall from her eyes since the water covered her face completely that she had no opportunity to cry. In a few moments, she felt a touch on her shoulder. In fear, Erica looked towards the direction and noticed that Prince Aqua was there.
"I'm so sorry."
"For what?"
"I never knew that you felt this painful."
"What about your father? What was he like?"
Erica then thought about her father and what she was like to him. While thinking of him made her remember her mother and wondered if she missed her as well. Little did she know was at that exact moment in a different time, her mother was thinking about her only daughter too.