Aquatic-Kingdom Hearts

Chapter 1: Two Worlds, Two Hearts

Six Years Later

Now

Port Royal

Port Royal was a large island community that had been set up during the 17th Century. It was once the center of shipping commerce in Jamaica in the 17th Century. During that time, it gained a reputation as both the "Richest and wickedest city in the world". It was notorious for its gaudy displays of wealth and loose morals, and was a popular place for pirates and privateers to bring and spend their treasure.

Port Royal was located along the shipping lanes to and from Spain and Panama. It provided a safe harbor for pirates as well, seeing was famous for somewhat the occasional pirate attacks once in a while. Now in the 21st Century, there were anti-piracy laws that were still active even after the year 1687; they city had now become a semi-Hawaiian tourist island. Its greatest attraction had always been the shipping harbor, filled with many types of boats; whether they are sailing boats, shipping boats, or yachts. The island was also famous for its beaches and surfing territories, which the island always had an annual surfing contest.

But this wasn't where the story took place; it started at Port Royal High School.

Port Royal High School

The school looked pretty big, like any other high school building would be, whether out in the ocean or in the states. The school was just like any other high school; a relic from the 1950s. With its six story window doorway and impressive six story height, it would have passed on as a college to anyone else. However, this story started in Geography, where a familiar young boy, who had become a young man, would have the adventure of a lifetime start once again for him.

"Eric…", whispered a smooth male voice, "This is Port Royal Harbor, calling Eric Thatch. Is anyone there?"

A boy staring at the window suddenly snapped out of staring at the window, "Huh? Uh…what is it, Frey?" It was indeed a fine truth. After six years of growing up, the ten year old boy had become a sixteen year old young man. His frame was a slim yet muscular build; the body of a surfer and swimmer. His skin was slightly tanned and his short black hair was messy and tussled up; the look for a young surfer indeed. He was wearing a white T-Shirt with a surfboard glyph on it with black trim, blue jeans with the knee sections torn, and a red and black jacket tied around his waist. He also had on around his neck a surfer's pendant made of carved beads along with an unidentified pendant, a silver ring on his right ring finger, and on his left ear, two silver ring piercing.

The one who got Eric's attention was a young man of sixteen, with the same slim yet muscular build as well. He was a fellow with dark tanned skin, light brown eyes, and had long but short bottle blonde hair, with a braid that was five inches long on the right side of his head. He was dressed in blue jeans, brown buckle sandals, a white T-Shirt with a surfboard Jolly Roger logo on it, and a black jacket with buckles on the shoulders, elbows, and wrists. He too had a surfer's pendant, on his left hand was a silver/black thumb ring, and on his left ear only a single ear piercing with a black and white design.

"You've been staring outside for almost half the class period", Frey pointed out as he used his thumb to point at the Teacher's desk, "Feeney's been lookin' at you, like he's gonna kill you." Eric raised an eyebrow at that and looked at the front desk. There sitting at it was a man in his fifties, with gray hair, not thinning out, a mustache, glasses, and wearing a brown teacher's suit. He was glaring at Eric with a raised eyebrow and tapping his left index finger on his desk.

Eric slumped into his desk as he innerly groaned at this. The last thing any student in this school would get on Feeney's bad side, considering most of the students thought of him as a stiff. But he was also a stiff with an authority figure, and one of that of a mentor to some who needed one. Eric just groaned as he asked his friend, "And now you tell me this?"

Frey just shrugged, "Hey, you seemed kind of contented with your sky-watching, so I didn't bother you."

Eric lightly shook his head as he corrected his friend, "I wasn't looking up at the sky…", he then pointed out farther away as he stated, "I was looking at the ocean."

Frey sighed as he too groaned, "Oh man, not that again." He grew tired of his friend's obsession with the ocean, sea, or beach in this case. For as long as Frey could remember, or how long their friendship had been, Eric had a strong fascination with the sea. To Frey, it seemed like an unhealthy obsession; but then again, who's to say he didn't have an obsession with girls. But he looked to his friend wearily as he stated, "Do you ever think about something else other than the ocean?"

Then suddenly the bell rang, dismissing the students for the day. The two boys packed their book bags and, like the rest of the students, took off as Feeney tried to yell out that there was gonna be a pop quiz later on. The two boys squeezed through the crowd as Eric finally answered Frey's question, "Aside from the ocean, I'm thinking about the next swell tide coming in."

Frey smirked at that as he raised an eyebrow and asked, "So…are we still on for today?"

Eric smirked as he ran out for the door, with Frey following behind, "The East India Trading Company couldn't stop me!" And off they were to whatever it was that they were going to.

Atlantic Ocean

In the deepest parts of the ocean, a world of untold beauty and mystery was beneath the murky depths. Fish swam in packs, passing the many corals and anemones, while huge whales swam over them in groups. A forest of seaweed was covered on every rocky topside, and every rocky topside was a canyon, pit, or tunnel of unexplored ways. In some areas or all around, coral reefs, coral polyps, and kelp forests looked like forests and flower beds on the ocean floors and rocky peaks.

In truth, someone who didn't know their way down there could easily get lost. However, aside from all the fish and sea life, animal or plant, there were those that men believed to be myth. That creature swam across the glassy and zero-gravity environment that was the sea floor itself. A man was swimming the ocean bottom…a man with the lower half of his body a fist tail. It was a merman, a mythical creature of the deep; one of the children of Neptune, as they were called. And he wasn't alone, for following behind him was a couple of mermaids and mermen, and they were all swimming to get somewhere of importance, as they were all smiling and excited as they swam into the most unexplored caverns in the water floor.

They reached the end of the cavern, which a lighted opening was revealed. Once they made it, they spotted a marvelous and golden castle with a beautiful city that lay in the sea floor. This was the city of Atlantica, once known as the capitol of an ancient lost continental empire, once known as Atlantis. It was once home to an advanced human race known as the inhabitance of Atlantis; now it was home to the legendary and mythical race of the Merpeople.

And the Merfolk were currently swimming towards a giant hallway door. And that door, led them all to an underwater theatre; the seats were all made of mushy sponge and coral, a curtain for the stage was all bubbles, and glowing coral and seaweed on the ceiling was acting as a chandelier. Merfolk and sea creatures, all big and small, old and young, boy and girl, all sat down to watch the show as the performers and musicians, all were fish, warmed up for the big evening. As soon as everyone was seated, something started to happen.

A couple of fish with noses that looked like horns and dressed like royal guards, played a royal tune to announce someone. Then a small orange horse fish swam up, wearing a royal sash with a few metals on it, swum up a little for everyone to see. He then coughed a little to clear his throat, and then announced loudly to everyone with a chipmunk toned voice, "Ahem! Citizens of Atlantica, I present to you…his royal highness, the ruler of Atlantica, the Great Sea King himself…King Triton!"

Then from a hallway opening high above to where a balcony seat should have been, three dolphins swam in. They were held together by reins as they pulled a giant turtle shell that acted as a chariot. And in the chariot was a huge merman compared to the others; he was a fifty year old Merman, but was still very physically imposing, considering he was muscularly buff, and a green tail and fin as well. His had silverish white hair and a long beard to boot, kind eyes, two gold arm bracelets on his wrists, a golden band on both his biceps, a golden crown on top of his head, and while in his left hand he held the dolphins reins, in his right hand, he held a mighty golden trident. This was the mighty King Triton; son of Poseidon, King of all Atlantica, and just ruler of the Merpeople.

As he glided his chariot over his people, his mighty trident began to glow golden, and when he was close enough to the chandelier, he pointed his trident at it. Then the trident suddenly shot out a golden beam of energy, and hit the chandelier at point blank range. But the shot didn't destroy the chandelier; it was glowing brighter, and created the effect of golden dust, falling down on the excited Merpeople as they cheered on a spectacular show brought by their king.

Then the little horse fish smiled as he made another announcement, with him speaking much faster and more excited, "and presenting the distinguished court composer…", he then pointed to the same place King Triton had come in from, "…Horatio Felonious Ignacious Crustaceous…Sebastian!"

And with that said, a fanfare of kazoos played as a pair of gold colored fish came in. They too were in reins and pulling a small conch shell with the said court composer. The said composer himself was in fact, a small red crab, who was waving to the many Merpeople and fishy occupants that applauded him. The composer, Sebastian, waved to the people and blew them kisses, but then stopped as his fishy steeds nearly went out of control.

Sebastian rode alongside Triton as he caught up to him, as Triton was headed for the back balcony. Triton looked excited and had good reason for it; tonight his daughters would perform on the stage…including his youngest daughter. He smiled at he spoke to his composer, "I must say, I'm really looking forward to this performance, Sebastian."

Sebastian was proud of this accomplishment as Triton landed on the balcony and let his dolphins go. Sebastian chuckled as he spoke in a Jamaican accent, "Oh, you're Majesty. This will be the finest concert I have ever conducted." He then pointed out with much confidence in the performance tonight, "Your daughters, they will be spectacular tonight…!", he then lost a little control as he was nearly pulled out of his chariot conch by the two fish.

As he was struggling back in his shell, Triton chuckled a little at this scene, "Heheheh! Yes, Sebastian…", he then hopefully whispered to the crab to prevent anyone else from hearing him, "And I'm hoping that my little Ariel is as equally spectacular."

Sebastian grunted as he got back on his chariot, "Yes, your Majesty." He then snapped his reins to head towards his composing station, but not before he replied to his king with a smile, "I'm sure Ariel will do splendidly. After all, she has the most beautiful voice." And after he had gained some distance from the king, Sebastian muttered as he rolled his eyes in annoyance, "If only she'd show up in rehearsals once in a while."

As the orchestra tuned up, Sebastian landed at his composing station and let his steeds go. He stood up and straightened his shell out, and then went to his conch and pulled something out. Out of the shell, he pulled out his music; he then walked over and placed them in front of him so he could see it. After looking it over, he then pulled out his composer wand. And just when he was sure that everyone was ready, he began the musical symphony; the musicians played the tune that was written, and the curtain pulled back.

As the curtain faded from view, three giant clams rose up, and opened up. in them were two sisters each in the three clams, making them six sisters; they were Triton's daughters and they were the stars of the big production as they sang in perfect melody and unison,

Ah, we are the daughters of Triton…

Great father who loves us and named us well:

Triton smirked as he crossed his arms over his chest as he watched his daughters perform on the stage. He couldn't be more proud of this little performance or of them as he continued to listen.

A blue tailed mermaid with light brown hair tied in a ponytail and a blue shelled bikini sung out her name, "Aquata…"

She was then accompanied by her sister; a girl with short blonde hair with a magenta tail and shell bikini, and doing a fancy fan dance, "Andrina…"

Then another blonde with mid long hair, and having a red tail and shell bikini swam next to Andrina, and sang out, "Arista…"

And after her, a mermaid with a pink tail and bikini shell and mid long curly brown hair, swam up to Aquata and sang out, "Attina…"

And then a mermaid with raven black hair tied in a bun, with a light purple tail and bikini swam up and sang, "Adella…"

And finally a mermaid girl with short black hair, with a yellow tail and shell bikini swam to join her sisters and sang, "Alana!"

Everyone eagerly waited what was coming next as the sisters swam together to prepare for the next number. Sebastian was on the teething now as he composed with pride in this concert. The girls swam together in a circle as another giant clam rose up from the stage floor; this one looking more glamorous then the ones they arrived in. The girls swam around it as they sang out for the big finale,

And then there is the youngest in her musical debut

Our seventh little sister, we're presenting her to you

Sebastian smiled at this accomplishment, as did Triton; eagerly waiting to hear the singing of his youngest daughter. The clam began to open slowly; drawing in suspense as the audience was seething with eagerness. The sisters position themselves around the clam as they sung out,

To sing a song Sebastian wrote,

Her voice is like a bell…

She's our sister, Ari…

The clam finally opened as the sisters looked to their youngest with much anticipation. However, the girls gasped before they could finish their musical number. For the clam had fully opened, and revealed itself to be completely empty. Sebastian gasped at this horrifying realization; his symphony was completely destroyed, and he would become the laughing stock of the entire Atlantican Kingdom. However, he slowly turned around, with fear in his face as he realized someone else wasn't too happy about his turn of events.

King Triton, was equally surprised by this little situation. However, his moment of shock and surprise, turned into fury and anger at this. Despite his strength, power, and honor, Triton was known to have a terrible temper. He tightened his grip on his trident as it glowed with energy; the whole theater shook with violent tremors, depicting the great Sea King's anger. And then he finally bellowed out that echoed all over the building, "ARIEL!"

Back at Port Royal

At Port Royal Cove

On the secluded location that was Port Royal Cove, teens from all over the island were having the time of their lives. The boys were playing beach volley ball and tried to convince the girls to join them. The girls were either talking to each other about whatnot, or lying on their stomachs or backs, just sunbathing. However, there were those who did what Port Royal Cove was founded to do: Go Surfing.

And that's exactly what two teenaged boys were doing as they ran out to the water, with their boards at the ready. It was none other than Eric and his buddy, Frey as they jumped in to catch the waves. Eric was wearing a black shorty or spring wet suit with red sleeves for the arms and legs; the legs stretched all the way to the knee. Frey had the same type of wet suit, except his sleeves on his arms and legs were golden yellow.

The two jumped on their boards as they used their arms to paddle into the deeper water. This was the best spot to get the bigger waves as they stopped paddling and waited for their big wave to come by. Eric sat on his board, at the ready to paddle straight towards the wave. Frey, on the other hand, just lay on his back on his board, looking up at the clouds without a care in the world. It was kind of an odd thing about the two boys; they were both on the swimming team…but both on different reasons: Frey used the attention to get the girls, and Eric wanted to join for love of swimming. And the two were also surfers in their leisurely time.

Frey had noticed his friend staring out at the great blue ocean, not even looking for a wave. He shook his head as he probably knew what Eric was thinking, but decided to ask him anyway. "By the way, what were you thinkin' about before you came back to reality?", Frey just asked out of the blue as he looked towards his buddy while still laying on his back. He knew Eric was a constant daydreamer at sometimes when he would look out to the sea or when he was waiting for a wave. He would often stare at the ocean or sea whenever he could; he always did so with a longing look in his face, almost waiting for someone that would come out from there.

Eric was taken out of his train of thought as he looked towards his friend. Unfazed by his friend's question, Eric replied as he shrugged, "Just thinking that's all…"

"About what? Some mysterious girl that suddenly appeared to you six years ago, and in the hopes that six years later, she would magically return to see you?", Frey replied in a comical and sarcastic tone. He saw his friend just slump his shoulders as he sighed. Frey shook his head as he was about to straighten this whole thing out, "Eric, man, get a clue; from what you told me, you were tossed around in the water, probably swallowed some sea water, and were half-tired. In a state like that, you probably could have imagined this mystery girl." Frey knew he was being harsh, but he knew the chances for a boy to meet a mystery girl like that again could only happen in a fairy tale, was nothing short of a dream.

Eric looked a little hurt by his friend's comment, but brushed it off, "Yeah I know…", he then sighed as he looked back at the ocean, thinking about that day six years ago. "But that girl…she was real; I just know it.", Eric told himself to reassure his hopes. He then took his left hand and pulled down the zipper on his wet suit, until it reached his collar bone. He then dug under and pulled out a shell pendant of sorts. It was the same Trident shell necklace that his dog Max had found that day when he first saw the young mermaid that had saved his life. In truth, he had only told Frey that it was a girl he had saw that day; if he had told him that the girl was a mermaid, he would have thought he was crazy.

Shaking that notion from his head, he turned his attention back to the sea. The waters looked pretty calm for a moment, but then the waves began to get a little choppy. Eric smirked at this as he stated absentmindedly, "A nice wind, and yet semi-violent waves." Frey shot up as he knew what that mean; easy fresh waves. However, Eric then stated with a smile, "I guess King Triton must be in either a friendly or really miffed mood now."

Frey looked to his friend with a raised eyebrow in confusion as he asked, "King Triton?"

Eric nodded as he answered, "You know, from Mythology class?" Frey still looked confused. Sighing, Eric shook his head as he answered, "King Triton, son of Poseidon and ruler of the Merpeople. Weren't you there when my uncle made a guest appearance at our school for the museum's mythology department?"

Frey thought about it for a moment, and then shrugged, "Must have been asleep during that time."

"Hey, Thatch! Asapin!"

The two boys broke out of their leisurely moment as they turned to see where the voices had come from. Heading in their direction three surfers were paddling their way to them. Their leader, a young man of sixteen years, lightly tanned skin, spiky blonde hair and sharp blue eyes. With a similar build like Eric and Frey, wearing a similar wet suit that the boys had, except the sleeves were blue, and was riding a silver surfboard.

His companion was a deep tanned sixteen year old, with short cut black hair and a muscular build that would belong to a football player. He was wearing black and red swim trunks as he surfed on a surfboard with a Chicago Bulls color scheme on it.

Following them was a girl with short purple-silver hair swept over her right eye. Her figure was slim but very attractive for a skinny girl; her face was all doom and gloom. She was wearing a one-piece bathing suit colored black, while riding a surfboard with a similar color scheme.

Eric and Frey sighed in exasperation as they knew who it was. Eric sighed, "Oh man, not Seifer and his goony friends again."

Frey asked, "What did we ever do in this life to get bugged by him?"

In the Atlantic

Not too far

In the section of the ocean that wasn't too far from either Atlantica or the Caribbean where Port Royal was, a graveyard of sunken ships laid strewed on the ocean floor. Ships from every era were nothing more than tombs at the briny deep, with their shattered wounds open and debris of the driftwood lying next to them. All of them were sited all over the sea bed, upon rocky cliffs or in canyon like trenches or cave ways. It was an eerie place where the bravest of explorers, whether they be Human or Merfolk, dare not venture…except for one brave merperson who swam there and rested at one of the remains of a crow's nest mast.

It was a mermaid around the age of sixteen years of age, with a slim and slender figure. She had clear skin, and long flowing red hair that went down her back, with the front of her hair brushed to her right. She was wearing a purple seashell bikini top, a purple bracelet around her left upper arm and left wrist, a pink satchel of some kind she was holding by her left shoulder, and had the most dazzling aqua blue eyes ever. She was the same mermaid that had saved Eric's life all those six years ago; but like Eric, she had changed from a young girl to a young woman. She looked at the wreckage of the ships with much fascination, but that was cut off short as someone called out to her.

"Ariel!", cried out a boy's voice.

The mermaid, now known as Ariel, sighed a little from exasperation, and turned to where the voice came from. She half-smirked, knowing who it was, and waved that person over, "Flounder! Hurry up!", she then turned her attention back to the ship that had caught her eyes.

As she did, the occupant who had spoken out was swimming as fast as they could. It was a little yellow fish about as big as a dodge ball; a similar appearance to that of a Regal Tang or similar fish. He had three blue stripes going down his back; a Mohawk fin on top that was light blue with blue stripes going down, two front light blue fins with one blue stripe, and his tail fin was of equal color scheme. He had the friendliest of blue eyes as he tried his best to catch up to Ariel. The fish named Flounder panted something fierce as he reached Ariel and panted, "You know I can't swim that fast."

Ariel ignored the complaint as she smiled to where she was looking, "Flounder, there it is." She pointed to where the rays of the sun cut through the ocean floor and where their destination led them. There, being half-lit and halfway in darkness, was the remains of an old brand new sunken cruise ship. It was all new to Flounder, seeing that he had never ventured out this far, but to Ariel, she was ecstatic to see it. For this was the same ship that sunk in that terrible storm six years ago; the same ship that Ariel had rescued the human boy from drowning all those years ago.

She smiled, being able to explore it now as she asked Flounder, but never taking her eyes off the boat, "I can't believe it's still in one piece, even after the storm six years ago. Isn't it fantastic?"

Ariel may have been thrilled about going aboard the sunken vessel, but it was obvious Flounder wasn't. He wasn't the sort of type to go exploring; in fact, he got terrified pretty easily, which earned him the nickname 'Guppy', which was their term for chicken. Flounder smiled uneasily as he replied, "Yeah, sure. It's really great, Ariel." And then, his fear got the best of him as he tried to swim away, "Now let's get out of here."

Unfortunately, Ariel grabbed him by the tail, keeping him there. She then asked with a raised eyebrow, "You're not getting cold fins now, are you?" And then when Flounder had stopped, she started to swim towards the vessel.

Flounder defended as he shouted, "Who, me? No way." Flounder gulped as he looked around, and for a moment hesitation, he swam to catch up to Ariel. Unknown by the two, a large yet fast shadow swam to where they were a few moments ago, and slowly followed the two without being noticed.

Flounder swam behind Ariel as she reached the ship first and looked around for a good place to get in. Flounder was still having second thoughts about this place, considering he heard rumors about it. Some Merfolk had stated that all these ships had been destroyed by the sea goddess, Calypso. Others said that a giant creature with some strange light destroyed them with one look of its eyes. And then Flounder gulped as the most terrifying rumor came up: they were all victims of the infamous undersea ship, the Flying Dutchman.

It was then that Flounder decided try and dodge his way out of going into the ship. He made several excuses as he stated, "It's just…it, uh…It looks pretty damp in there. That's all." He noticed that Ariel had paid no attention to him, but he kept going at it, "And, uh…and I think I may be coming down with something." He smiled as he found the perfect excuse as he swam up and stated, "Yeah! You see, I've got this cough." And then coughed slightly, and smirked at this accomplishment.

Ariel had found a way in through one of the boat side windows as she pushed the glass out. She then turned towards Flounder with a look, saying she wasn't buying it, but then smirked excitedly as she looked through the window and said in a whispered tone, "All right. I'm going inside.", she then turned to Flounder and gave him a sly smile, "You can stay out here, and watch out for sharks." And without much effort or problems, she swam through the window without getting stuck, and inside the boat.

Flounder sighed in relief as he smirked and whispered to himself, without having the full warning sink into his head, "Yeah, you go in. I'll stay out here and…", suddenly, it sank in as his face turned to panic as he shouted, "What? Sharks! Ariel!", and in a panicked manic way, he swam into the window, but got stuck. He struggled and grunted to get in, but couldn't due to the window's size. He finally cried out, "Ariel, help!"

Ariel turned around and saw Flounder stuck in the window's frame. She shook her head at this scene as she swam up to him and smiled at him in a loving way, "Oh, Flounder." And then she grabbed him by the fins as she helped him get in.

While trying to push himself free with Ariel's help, he nervously asked, "Ariel? Do you really thing there might be sharks down here?"

Ariel giggled at that question as she quirked, "Oh, Flounder. Don't be such a guppy."

Flounder frowned as he defended, "I'm not a guppy.", and with one final tug, he was inside with Ariel as they swam around. But none of them saw the huge shadow outside as it glided along the surface…a shadow of a menacing creature. Inside, the duo explored a little before Ariel and Flounder found their way into the rooming hallway. Flounder gulped as he looked at the half-wrecked section of the ship. He then nervously tried to sound enthusiastic but not scared, but to no avail, "This is great. I mean, I really love this.", he then looked around while not paying attention to where he was going, "Excitement, adventure, danger…lurking around every corner…", and then when he looked ahead, he came face to face with a dead passenger that was reduced to a skeleton with seaweed and barnacles growing on it.

The only thing Flounder did at that was screaming as loud as he could, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! ARIEL!" He swam straight to Ariel's arms as she caught him and held his shivering form in her embrace.

She looked at her friend with much worry and spoke in a motherly tone, "Oh, are you okay, Flounder?"

Realizing what a guppy he was being, Flounder shook it off as he responded, while still shaking a little, "Yeah, sure. No problem. I'm okay." Ariel just giggled at her friend's response and they continued onward. They had entered in one of the first rooms that they came across. It was one of the lodging rooms as they noticed beds and some suitcases that were still remaining and not fully packed with the clothes either deteriorated or preserved.

It was when Ariel was looking around, her face immediately lit up as she saw something. Near one of the beds a food tray was set up, and sticking upward form the fossilized remains of the food, a fork stood vigilant and sparkled in sight. Ariel smiled as she swam towards it, "Oh, my gosh!", she snatched the fork in her hands as she looked at it like it was the top of the walk, "Have you ever seen anything so wonderful in your entire life?"

And to her it was amazing; for to Ariel, everything about the surface world, or the Surface as her father called it, fascinated her completely as it was so new to her and the Merpeople…or at least those who wanted to learn about the surface world. She just couldn't help it; she was just so fascinated by the Surface, and all the things she saw that came from it.

Flounder swam up next to her, and he had to admit, it was pretty amazing. He smiled as he agreed with her, "Wow, Ariel! It's cool.", but then he raised an eyebrow as he asked, "But, uh…what is it?"

Ariel shrugged as she still smiled and placed the fork into her satchel, "I don't know, but I bet Scuttle will." She then swam around the room and caught her eye of another strange item. It was a smoking pipe as she took it up and curiously examined it, "Hmm? I wonder what this thing is?" She shrugged as she put it in her bag, thinking that her Surface Teacher, Scuttle, would know what it was.

But as she was about to go to the next room, something caught her eye. It was a strange thick book with the title Thatch Family Moments. She picked it up and in the book she saw pictures of humans, some were celebrating something called birthdays, others huddled together like a family. However, one picture caught her eye; it was the family photo and she saw a familiar face in it. In the picture, the same boy that she had rescued six years ago was smiling with a woman and man behind him. The mother hugging him affectionately and the father with his hands on the shoulder of the mother and the son. When Ariel saw the boy, she had a strange twinge feeling in her heart as she took her right hand to the picture and traced her slender fingers on the boy. She remembered him all this time; after all, he was the first human she had ever met…and the first that ever spoke to her. She had never told anyone of that encounter, and she had lost the pendant her mother had given her. as she looked at the photo, she secretly wished that she could meet the boy just one last time.

Flounder was looking around, a little nervously, and didn't notice the looming shadow behind him. For outside was a forty-five foot Great White shark, that had a few scars on its body, and one over its right bloody red eye. The shark looked at the little fish and mermaid, and licked its three rows of razor sharp teeth at the quick meal it was going to have. Flounder gulped feeling the shadow over him as he tried to convince Ariel that something felt wrong right now, "Um, Ariel…it's probably not safe here anymore. Maybe we should go…", but then he slowly turned around, getting an icky feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Ariel sighed as she shook her head, placed the book into her satchel, and turned towards Flounder, "Oh, Flounder. Will you relax? Nothing is going to happen." But then her voice lost all confidence, as she and Flounder saw the shark opening its mouth and roared as it crashed in. The shark tried to go and eat Flounder, but despite his lack of speed, Flounder was just too small for it to get a close catch to him. It charged right at Flounder, but he narrowly dodged as the Great White slammed face first into the steel wall, leaving a huge imprint of his face in it.

The shark shook off the pain as it charged straight towards Flounder, who had regrouped with Ariel. The shark thought it would be an easy task to take a bite out of the mermaid, but it was easier said than done. As it chased Ariel with Flounder in her arms, it was proving difficult, seeing as she was faster and more maneuverable in the water than it was. As soon as Ariel had rounded the corner, Flounder had noticed the shark had disappeared. The two sighed in relief, but still swam as fast as they could.

CRASH!

The two stopped in their swim tracks as the shark had busted through the floor in front of them. It charged right for them with Flounder screaming like a lunatic. They had found their way in as their way out, much to Flounder's dismay. As soon as Flounder got to it, he got stuck again, but with a mighty push from Ariel, he was shot out of it like a canon ball. Ariel followed behind him, and just in time; the shark busted through the steel wall like it was tissue paper.

It was a race against their lives as the two friends did their best to escape the dangerous beast. They had swam all around the ship graveyard, with the shark closing in on them. The two circled a Mast, with the shark following suit, until they reached to the top of it. However, when they past the crow's nest, Flounder didn't watch as he slammed into it. He was knocked out cold as he fell towards the bottom of an old Whaling ship. The shark saw this as it charged straight at Flounder, roaring out in what translated was, I'M HAVING FISH TONIGHT!.

As soon as Ariel had gained some distance, she took notice that Flounder wasn't with her. She looked around, until she saw Flounder's unconscious form, falling down towards a few unchained anchors. She then spotted the shark heading right towards him as she gasped in terror and shouted in fear, "Flounder!" And with all her might, swam as fast as she could towards him before the shark got to him. At the last second, Ariel reached Flounder as they stopped at a downed anchor; she caught the little fellow as he regained consciousness.

The shark roared and charged right at them with inhuman speed. The two gasped, and at the last second, Ariel pulled away, with the shark trying to get them. But much to its bad luck and Ariel and Flounder's good luck, the shark got caught in the anchor's chain link, holding him like some kind of collar. The two backed away a little as they saw the shark struggling in anger and desperation to get the duo, but to no avail.

Ariel sighed in relief as she swam away, but Flounder swam up to the Great White. He then sneered at the shark as it sneered back as he said, "You big bully!", and blew it a raspberry. However, in response to that, the Shark roared out as it tried to take a bite out of him. Easily dodging it, Flounder gasped as he let his fear regain his senses and swam to Ariel as they headed West…towards the Caribbean.

Ariel, who had seen the small feat of courage and fear that Flounder had, just chuckled, "Flounder, you really are a guppy."

Flounder pouted, "I am not." And swam to their destination to where their Surface Teacher and Informant, Scuttle, was living at.

Next Chapter: Reunited at Last; Dangerous Eyes Watching