ToOH: I've heard of the game, but haven't played it yet. I can't really say Reine is "The Little Mermaid" because the plot, I can safely say, will be rather different than the Disney version. This, after all, is a fanmade sequel more than a rendition ^^ and I wouldn't say I'm a video game fiction writer coz saying that means I'd do the narration of the game through the MC's perspective (which is not what I'm doing for most of the time :P you can say I'm just borrowing characters from Harvest Moon and make my own stories with them :P maybe I should do the mainstream farming fanfiction after this hahahaha)

Bunnies4ever2: thanks for the enthusiasm! That really motivates me to do my job as the author better! ^^

teamBLAZE: Touché. That's partly the reason why I pick Josh Groban for Neil, since I'm aiming for I-can't-believe-you-sing-like-that reaction :P plus, since Flynn Rider's voice is already rather light and very lyrical, I can't give Neil similar sounding voice. But, like I said, you can imagine his voice to be however you wish ^^

Mew-Star-Mew: Thanks for liking his voice (technically not his, though, but oh well) and thanks for the love and the feeling is reciprocal! ^^ (from what you wrote in TAOAT) It took me three days to decide on his voice HAHAHAHA

When the thunder struck, Ariel turned her head abruptly at the window. The sudden rain disturbed her inner peace so much that she turned to her attendant and said, "Call for my grandchildren."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

She was promptly gone and the maidservant didn't return for around fifteen minutes, agitating Ariel even further. Her heart beat even faster when she heard the rushed footsteps approaching her door. "They're nowhere to be found!"

"What?!"

Ariel threw another glance at the sea, wishing that what she was thinking were wrong. "Fetch Neil."

"He hasn't come back to the quarters yet, Your Majesty."

With a burst of adrenaline, Ariel ran out to the beach, and she found three sets of footprint sets that hadn't been totally wiped out by the rain. She lost the strength in her legs and fell to her knees. "Oh no… oh no…" she wept, "Fourteen years… gone in a blink."

The current kept separating Alicia from Allen and Neil, and after a while Alicia felt that she hit something. She turned around and found a man clad in battle armour on his upper half of the body, but his lower half was of a fish.

She opened her mouth in panic and water started to pour in again. The merman quickly held her and only then Neil and Allen managed to catch up. "Give her back!" Allen demanded quickly, although his voice was rather muffled by the water.

The merman stared at their legs. "Where do you come from? How do you get into Atlantica?"

Atlantica? The siblings thought simultaneously. It's a real place?

Since the Queen concealed her mermaid origin, the younger generation had been allowed to think that Altantica existed only in fairy tales and their dreams. However, Neil wasn't as surprised as the prince and princess since he had seen a mermaid just yesterday, so nothing really surprised him now.

Just as the thought of that pink mermaid passed his head, she glided towards them, almost as if he conjured her, although actually she was attracted to the sudden commotion. "What's happening?"

On that familiar voice, Neil turned his head abruptly and Reine immediately noticed him, "Ah!" she cried out.

At the same time, Viv noticed Neil as well and she squealed happily. "That's the guy I told you about!"

Oh, so it's her dolphin. Neil noted inwardly, pair of pinks.

Allen, quick on his feet, grabbed Neil aside and whispered, "You know that… she-demifish?"

"No." Neil replied nonchalantly.

"But she recognized you!" Allen insisted, "Bargain with her!"

"We have nothing to bargain with dumbass!" Neil protested back.

Reine sighed, "At least if you want to discuss a strategy to deal with me do it behind my back—and I'm a mermaid, not a shedemifish, thank you so much." She then turned to face the merman, who was one of the soldier of the palace, "Let me deal with them."

The merman hesitated. "But, Your Highness…"

Reine glared with her brilliant scarlet eyes squarely at the soldier. "I said, I'll do it." Her voice this time was half an octave lower than the previous one and Allen and Neil noticed that the merman was shaking.

Finally, he handed Alicia to Reine and quickly swam away. Without any word, Reine gave Alicia back to Allen. "Mermaids have a sharp hearing, apparently,"

"Nah, you just talk subconsciously louder since you aren't used to having water inside your ears."

"Who are you?" Allen asked curiously, his eyes scanning her curvaceous upper body. Hourglass, he noted inwardly.

"The name's Reine," she said, "You sure you have time chatting? The girl's not gonna hang on for long."

Reine led them to the surface, grabbing Allen's sleeves so that he could ascend faster while carrying his sister. However, a silver dolphin suddenly appeared before them. "Viserys!" Reine called out.

"Mistress is here." The dolphin said almost emotionlessly.

Reine turned to the side and much to her surprise, it was really Gwen, the Seeress. "What are you doing here?!" she asked.

"I can ask the same for you." Gwen replied calmly, "You're skipping class again, right?"

Gwen swam to Neil and Allen and gave them a kind of long weeds to them, a handful each. "What's this?" Allen asked, while scanning Gwen's upper body (it was almost a natural procedure for him, especially when it was only covered with strapless bikini top). Another hourglass.

"Just eat it," Reine replied. "It will absorb the water in your breathing pathway for some good hours, so you can sort of breathe underwater during that period."

Hearing that, Allen quickly finished the handful seaweed-looking grass (anything green and grass-like would look like seaweed in the sea, anyway) and true enough, he could feel that they could breathe as if he were on the surface. He gave Alicia some of it and her previously pale face gradually regained its colour.

As for Neil, he didn't realize that he had been holding his breath the entire time, being controlled solely by his adrenaline in chasing Alicia in fear for the princess. Thus, when he opened his mouth, the compressed air in his lungs burst out and the water replaced them just as quickly. He coughed violently that the pink mermaid swam to him and hit his back firmly while helping him to take the plant. "Geez! Eat this quickly, and don't forget to breathe!"

Neil ingested the seaweed and it felt cold when it passed down his throat. However, that feeling went down to his chest—his lungs—instead of his stomach. It felt more like inhaling a minty scent rather than eating seaweed. Neil tried to take a deep breath, and it really felt like breathing in air since the seaweed—now latching onto the side of his respiratory tract—acted like gills to fishes, extracting the oxygen from the water.

"Back to my question, what makes you here? What vision do you have?"

Gwen smiled enigmatically. "You? Asking of my visions? You are the worst believer ever."

"Asking whether you have one doesn't mean I'll believe them." Reine quipped.

Gwen sighed, "That soldier reported it to our grandfather. These three," she said, turning her heads to them. "If you surface now, you'll get into trouble, too."

"I still sense you know more about this." Reine remarked, "You won't bother going out from your sanctuary otherwise."

"Is this the time to doubt me?" Gwen asked calmly.

Gwen turned her head and everyone turned to where she was staring at. This time, even more shocking than the appearance of the Seeress, it was the King himself who made his appearance known, the trident as well as the pair of his bracelets glowing in glorious golden.

"I heard about the trespassers."

"More like lost humans." Reine immediately replied.

"My sister was pulled into the sea, Your Majesty." Allen explained respectfully, noticing the golden crown on the king's head.

"Pulled in, you say?"

"Yes."

The King eyed the three of them carefully. "For humans… you have unbelievably strong lungs… to have reached Atlantica unharmed."

It was then Alicia fully regained her consciousness and she was shocked beyond belief when she saw more of this merfolks before her. Her arms quickly latched onto Allen's, who in turn put a protective arm around her body.

"Looking at you breathing regularly now, I presume you have been given the haleweed?" the King asked in a very warm tone, "Why don't we go to my palace to have a talk rather than having it… in some obscure water?"

Allen glanced at Neil, who in turn glanced at the only mermaid he had seen before this day. But the pink mermaid only gazed at the old merman fiercely, her scarlet eyes blazing in anger that couldn't possibly be stemmed by this matter.

The contact was broken by the seeress, who swam towards Reine and stared right into the latter's furious eyes. She leaned in and touched Reine's cheek lightly with her hand.

"Your untempered rage is like a fire strong enough to burn in ocean." She warned gravely in a low voice, "Old feuds root deep, but nothing will grow on it. It only begets blood, and more blood."

"That shall stop, but you must use the fire in you to forge something other than grudge."

Neil, being the closest to the two sisters, heard everything that she told Reine. He gazed at them quizzically as Gwen grabbed Reine gently by her wrist, leading her to follow their grandfather. Viserys followed behind his mistress faithfully while Viv swam behind Neil and nudged him forward. "C'mon, c'mon!"

"Yeah, I heard you." Neil responded reflexively.

"Eh? You understand what I'm saying?"

Neil quickly closed his mouth; he was surprised himself. How could I understand… a dolphin?

On their first meeting, he had responded to her actions while her voice sounded just like the regular dolphin's voice, yet now he actually could make out the words she was saying… maybe because they were in water? It didn't make sense to him at all. However, he knew that wasn't the important question now. He glanced at Allen, "What're you gonna do?"

Allen decided that he had no choice but to follow the party. To escape now, he believed, would bring more deadly consequences than his grandmother's nagging that would come afterwards.

Nevertheless, Allen glanced down and found that he had luckily brought his small sword. Not a sword for war—but handy enough to defend himself.

"You brought your sword?" he whispered.

Neil nodded—he always carried a short sword with him since he was often asked to go out to the market.

"I don't think they will attack us," Allen said, "but… just be prepared."

"Yeah."

Gwen ominous remarks on old feuds is the prelude to the journey awaiting Triton's descendants...

Is Allen's vigilance justified?

Stay tuned for the next update!

Thanks for reading! Please rate and review! ^^