Chapter 2 - Melody's Cousins

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6 years passed since Triton gave his gifts to Melody & Ariel. Melody's shell was beginning to show it's many years of use, while Ariel had used hers maybe about a 3rd of the times Melody had. Whenever it was Ariel using hers, it was to visit her dad and her sisters. Melody on the other hand, was always going to hang out with her friends in Atlantica, and her cousins Lynn & Tiger. Lynn was older than her by 3 years, and Tiger by a year. Lynn was an intelligent, serious-minded bookworm who would take Melody on swims throughout Atlantica. Her long, wavy black hair and sharp blue eyes seemed to resemble that of her aunt, Ariel. Tiger on the other hand, was a more obnoxious, wise-cracking guy who always seemed to be looking for trouble. A perfect fit for the role of mersoldier that he had. his shoulder length brown hair complimented his blue eyes very well. As cousins, all 3 got along very well.

It was a day before a big trip to England for Melody's father, King Eric, and Melody was spending the evening with Tiger and Lynn, playing tag with the dolphins.

"Come back here, Flipper! I'ma catch you!" Tiger chased after a dolphin

"What's the deal with the name Flipper?" asked Melody

"He ALWAYS calls them that." Lynn replied.

Tiger began skimming the surface after the dolphins. He eventually caught up to one, and tagged it. The dolphin responded by taking it's tail, and slapping him in the face. Tiger held the side of his face, while Melody and Lynn laughed at him.

"Real nice." Tiger made a face.

Melody and Lynn laughed at Tiger's lighthearted misfortune.

"I guess that's what I get for chasin' tail." Tiger replied as he swam back to his cousins.

"Ah, she's too old for you, come on, let's get back to Atlantica." Lynn motioned for her cousins to follow her.

The mermaids and merman swam through the corals, looking at the fish around them.

"I wonder what England looks like now." Melody started a conversation.

"Probably dingy and grey." said Tiger

"I hear that palace they have there is huge." said Lynn

"Huge? As in bigger than atlantica?" asked Melody

"Nah, nothin's bigger than Atlantica. And nothin's meaner than a mersoldier." Said Tiger, a proud member of his grandfather's army.

"No way, nothin's meaner than your grandfather when you crashed the chariot into the wall." Lynn made reference to a mistake Tiger made a while back.

"Hey! That chariot was in bad shape anyways." Said Tiger

"Was the chariot drunk, Tiger? Cause you were!" Lynn replied

"Hey, I learned from my mistakes. It's the kind of stuff you do when you're young and stupid." Tiger defended himself.

"You're still young and stupid." Said Lynn

"But what a party! You should've seen Lieutenant Pacifika, She's the most sober person at that party, and then she comes up to this drunken stripper mermaid and asks her if she's had anything to drink, and then my buddy Aron goes up to her, picks up the stripper's clamshells, puts them on himself, and says "Does this mean i'm drunk?" Tiger burst out laughing at his drinking story.

"Boys. Go fig." Melody shrugged

"And Captain Strong's reaction when he found the condom on the pillow in his wife's bed?" Tiger smiled again.

"That was you?" Melody giggled a bit, beause she was there, and remembered it well.

"Oh how can we forget that?" asked Lynn "Let's just say we've never heard a more vulgar tirade of words in the history of Atlantica."

The 3 entered the kingdom of Atlantica.

"Well, here it is. Home sweet home." Tiger smiled

"Speaking of, what time do you think it is?" asked Melody

"Probably around 7 or 8." Replied Lynn

"Oh, great! I'd better get home before my mom skins me alive!" Melody began to book it for home.

"See ya later, cousin!" Lynn shouted out

"Take care, Mel! See you sometime!" Tiger added.

"Bye guys!" Melody then took for the surface.

Melody broke the surface and got to the shoreline. She then re-opened her magic seashell and returned to being an air-breathing, 4-limbed, finless human. She walked towards the doors of her home.

"Mom, i'm home!" Melody opened the doors, and there was Ariel and Eric sitting on a couch together, enjoying each other's company.

"Ah, Melody, good to have you home." Ariel greeted her daughter.

"Yeah, you might want to get some sleep, we're leaving for England tommorow very early." Eric added.

Of course Melody was excited to have her dad to herself for a few days on the trade ship to England. The kingdom's collection of special goods that could not be aquired elsewhere would sell very well for gold, and special other goods that could not be aquired in Denmark. And with that, Melody went upstairs to her bedroom.

"By the way, did you have a good time with your cousins?" asked Ariel

"Totally." Melody rushed off to bed.

After Melody left for bed, Eric thought wise to do the same.

"I gotta head up. Dawn always comes so soon." Eric began to head for the bed.

"Good night, Eric." Ariel smiled and gave her husband a kiss. of course, he kissed her back.

And with that, Ariel went to go read a book for a while, where Eric went off to sleep.

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