King Triton eventually made his way to Ariel's room, wanting to be the first to tell her about the first signs of the legend starting to happen. He knew that she already knew though when he saw Melody floating in the doorway, watching some sort of scene play out.
"I can't believe the legend is coming true…" Ariel's voice was merely a whisper and she sounded more shocked than scared. Triton pushed his way past Melody and entered the room.
"Ariel, we have to warn the people." He spoke few words but they were full of alarm and Eric could sense that he was wrong about the colors being just colors.
"Would someone like to explain to me what the big dea-?" Triton abruptly grabbed Ariel by the arm and led her out of the room, completely ignoring Eric.
Feeling defeated, Eric groaned and swam over to the bed. Once he sat down, he placed his head in his hands. Coming to Atlantica had been a mistake…
Melody looked at her father and frowned, seeing the troubled look upon his face. He rarely ever just stared off into space, not unless he was thinking very hard. Slowly she made her way over and sat next to Eric, linking her arm through his and laying her head on his shoulder.
"Daddy, I'm sorry…" she sighed, trying her best to comfort him. "I would explain but, like I said, I don't know all of it… It confuses me, too."
Eric jumped, surprised to see Melody sitting next to him but pleased as well. He smiled at her and kissed her on the top of the head. "Mel, I understand. Your mother and King Triton have to tell the community about all of what's happening. Well, whatever it is that's happening…" He trailed off and looked at the wall in front of him. "You do think someone will eventually tell me what this whole legend business is, right?"
Melody swam in front of her father and vigorously nodded her head. "Of course someone will! In the meantime, how about I give you a tour of Atlantica? Even better, of this part of the ocean! Mom recently showed me something that I think will absolutely stun you!"
Eric eyed his daughter curiously, secretly nervous of what she had to show him. Before he had a chance to answer, Melody swam out of the room, towing him behind her.
"Sebastian!" King Triton bellowed. "I want you to round up everyone in the city and tell them to be in the meeting hall at half past seven!"
"Yes, your majesty," Sebastian replied. "But, sir, what is it dat is going on here? What is dis all about?"
Ariel swam over and whispered the answer to Sebastian's question in his ear. The crab gasped and brought both claws to his mouth, utterly shaken by the news.
"Dis cannot be true! Da story is just mere myth!"
Triton shook his head and sighed. "I know, Sebastian, but the town has a right to know. When my father had told me the story of what his father had told him, I didn't believe it either. But you and I both know it has happened before, twice in fact. It is bound to happen again! Now go!"
Sebastian bowed and promptly swam out of the room. Ariel began to bite her nails nervously and looked to her father for support, in which she found none.
My Eric? Ariel thought to herself. How could the legend even be linked to Eric?
Ariel was snapped out of her thoughts when the sound of a blow horn caused the palace to shake. Bubbles popped around them and Ariel's sisters quickly came into the room.
"Daddy, why for the love of Neptune are you calling such an urgent meeting on a Saturday?" Aquata whined.
Triton looked at his girls with a heavy heart and grabbed his beard, pulling at it over and over again. "Girls, listen carefully, Eric has come to Atlantica for a visit and-."
The king's response was cut off by an uproar of squeals and gasps, all the girls thrilled that their brother-in-law was visiting them for a change.
Ariel glared at her sisters and felt her hands clench into fists. "Would you all be quiet and let our father finish his explanation please? It is more important than you know!"
However, before Triton could continue, the citizens of Atlantica began to gather in the hall. They buzzed about what the meeting could possibly be about considering that a meeting like this had not been called since when Melody had gone missing.
Sebastian swam up and panted, tired from the swim to the blow horn and back. "Your majesty, the kingdom has been called. How long before you would like to get started?"
Triton placed the trident into its holder and looked over at the forming crowd which seemed to be gathering much quicker than he had figured, much to his liking. "Another fifteen to twenty minutes, Sebastian. Thank you."
Once it had gotten to the point where the hall could hold no more people and the daughter's of Triton had lined up in age order, the king gave Sebastian the signal to call the meeting to order.
Sebastian nodded back and rang the bell behind him, causing everyone in the room to cut their conversations short and turn towards their king, eager to hear what he had to say.
Triton cleared his throat to stop any of the still going on conversations. Once he was sure that everyone was listening, he rose from his throne.
"Merfolk of Atlantica, welcome," he said kindly. "As you all can see, our Ariel has come back to visit her home and has brought some special people with her."
The crowd applauded Ariel's return and smiled warmly at her. She forced a smile back, noticing that Eric and Melody were nowhere to be found in the crowd.
"Ariel has brought Melody with her, like she always does," the king went on. "However, this time, Eric decided to come visit us." The assembly of people began to talk again, gossiping about the new news of the land king coming to visit them.
"But, you highness, he's a human!" A man cried out from the audience. "What if he has just come down here to harm us or you?"
Ariel sought out the man who had said the hurtful words and scowled at him. How could anyone think that the man who had accepted and married a mermaid, even had a child with one, would want to do such a thing?
Before she could speak her mind, her father spoke for her. "I am ashamed to hear that out of one of my own kind's mouths!" Triton hollered. "That shows that you doubt me and you think I would not keep our kingdom safe! Also, those words prove that you don't trust a man who is married to and is the father of a mermaid!"
The man shrunk back a bit and let his head fall to the ground. He remained silent and let the king continue his speech.
"As I was saying, Eric has come to visit us! It is a pleasant surprise but has also brought along a lot of concern from Ariel and myself. Now, most of us here have heard the legend, correct? The one that we all should have been taught in school from our teachers or at home from parents or grandparents?"
Some nodded while others mumbled things like, "Well, yes, of course" or "Yes, but what does this have to do with Eric?"
King Triton sighed and looked to his daughter for assistance. Ariel nodded and swam next to him, deciding to take matters into her own hands.
"Ladies and gentlemen, what my father is trying to say is that… What we all thought was just an old fish tale is true," she said, her voice a bit shaky. "Eric has… He has the white tail."
"C'mon, dad!" Melody called. "If you haven't gotten used to that tail yet you're never going to get used to it!"
Eric wheezed as he tried to catch up with his daughter. "How on Earth did you learn so fast?"
Melody flipped over and started to swim backwards. She grinned at her father and for a moment, he realized how much she looked like Ariel.
"Oh, please dad," she said nonchalantly. "It is in my blood." Eric laughed and found something in him that caused him to catch up with her and even pass her.
"Then maybe you should give me a break," he replied, a smirk plastered on his face. Melody flipped back around, her eyes wide with shock. She soon passed him up, taking a big lead.
"Race ya' there!" she called back, her tail moving energetically. Eric shook his head and caught up with her.
"How would a race even be fair when I have no idea where I'm going?" he asked, thinking about the unfair advantage Melody had.
Melody grinned and sped ahead once again. "I just figured I would be in front of you most of the time anyways. That way you could just follow me."
Eric chuckled once more and began to follow his daughter to wherever it was that she was taking him.
"Ha! I told you I'd beat you here!" Melody swam into the grotto's entrance and sat down on one of the rocks, trying to catch her breath.
Eric sauntered in after her, having given up on the race a long time ago. "Mel, I wouldn't call it a win when the other person gives up."
Melody laughed as Eric took in his surroundings. The place was incredible, a secret underwater cave filled with shelves upon shelves of human items. He swam up to the top of the cave and saw a painting with a ledge full of books next to it. Upon swimming back down, he saw forks, spoons, knives, and even a pipe.
"What is this place?" he whispered. Melody smiled and swam over to her mother's collection of corkscrews and saw the face that sat next to them.
"It's mom's old grotto, where she would keep all of the 'treasures' she found from sunken ships." The teenager picked up the face and smiled at the sight of her father's appearance. "I thought you would like to see how obsessed with the human world she really was."
Melody looked at the statue piece and then to her father. Swimming up to him, she handed over the piece of rubble to its rightful owner. "And to show you how much she really loved you then. I know you knew that and all but, still, it's nice to know by proof."
Eric stared in awe at the sight of himself, and then looked at his daughter. "Does your mother know about this?"
Melody nodded. "She had the statue for a whopping two minutes until grandfather came in and blew it to smithereens. Then again, you had to go and make her fall in love with you."
Eric smiled and set the piece down on a nearby shelf. "Do you know the entire story or only certain parts?"
Melody smirked and snickered. "Well, of course I know the whole story. Oh, how romantic it was the way you two met, the way you jumped into the stormy waves so you would never lose her again." She placed a hand on her forehead and arched her back, hoping to get a dramatic look. "The story makes me cry every single time."
Eric laughed and opened his mouth to speak but was cut short by someone calling out to Melody.
"Melody? Is that you I hear in there?" The voice sounded like a young boy and when Eric looked to find Melody, he saw she was hiding behind the rock in the center of the cavern.
"Mel, what are you hiding from?" Eric questioned, swimming over to the girl's side. However, before she could explain, it was too late.
A shaggy, blonde haired boy with an algae green tail slowly swam into the room. He looked up and down, left and right until he made eye contact with Eric.
"Oh, I'm so sorry sir, I-." He suddenly realized who he was talking to and, quickly, he bowed.
"King Eric, I didn't realize that you were coming to visit A-Atlantica," he stuttered, his eyes narrowing in on the white tail. "I could have sworn I heard Melody in here no more than five minutes ago."
Eric abruptly realized that the boy was obviously some sort of crush of Melody's, whether he wanted to think that his daughter was falling for a merman or not. He knew Melody was hiding out of either nervousness or embarrassment that her father was there, so he chose not to blow her cover.
"No, she isn't here," he replied, wanting to learn more about the merboy. "What's your name son? I could tell her you were looking for her if you want."
The young man stuck out his hand and shook Eric's. "My name is Chase and if you could tell Melody I was looking for her that would be fantastic. It's been so long since she was last down here and I miss her a lot and-."
Chase stopped midsentence and looked at Eric, fear in his eyes. He was in disbelief that he had truly just said that to Melody's dad. His terror was relinquished when he saw the king of land smile and felt him pat him on the shoulder.
"I'll let her know," Eric said, giving a crooked grin. "But, then again, I have a feeling she already knows."
Chase beamed once more and hurriedly swam out of the grotto.
The crowd erupted in gasps and started talking, terror quickly spreading throughout the room. Murmurs about what the city was going to do as well as what their fate was were reaching every end of the room.
Triton couldn't handle the talking much longer and his anger spread to the trident, causing it to light up and ring loudly.
"Everyone, calm down!" he cried out. "There is one of two things we can do in this situation! As of now, Eric does not know what the legend is. If we keep him from not knowing, he won't know the things that he has to do for the legend to come true! On the other hand, if he does know, he will know what to expect will go wrong and he can avoid them or help up conquer them." The citizens were now listening closely.
"Let's have a vote, shall we?"
"So how come you never told me about your little underwater fling?" Eric asked, teasing Melody about Chase.
She sighed angrily and kept quiet, swimming back to the palace. "It isn't a fling, dad. We aren't dating or anything. He's just a friend. That's it. Nothing more. Zilch, zip, nada. Besides, I don't have time for an underwater fling with all of the suitors you and mother insist on bringing to the castle."
Eric chuckled and shrugged. "Whatever you say, Mel, whatever you say. But, let me ask you this. If he's just a friend, then why did you hide from him?"
Melody felt her face flush and would have answered had they not arrived back at the castle at that exact moment. She led her father to the meeting room, knowing her mother and grandfather would not be happy that they had missed the meeting. Upon entering the room, she saw her grandfather was speaking and she put a finger to her lips, silently asking Eric to be quiet.
"Let's have a vote, shall we?" Triton said, his voice echoing throughout the room. It had become absolutely noiseless in the hall, so hushed that one could even hear a shell drop.
"All in favor of not telling Eric about the legend please rise."
Eric felt his jaw drop. Not tell him about the legend? That wasn't fair at all. How was he supposed to know what kind of danger he was to the community if he wasn't informed?
He decided to get the sea king's attention, much to Melody's displeasure. When he started to rise higher than the rest of the residents, she grabbed his fin and pulled him to the floor.
"Are you out of your mind? If the people here see you, they will flip!" she whispered, looking around to make sure no one had seen him.
"Melody, let go of my fin. Don't you think I have the right to know about the legend?"
"Alright, that means only one hundred and twenty seven of you voted that we shouldn't let Eric know," King Triton said after counting the risen merfolk multiple times with Sebastian and Ariel's help. "I suppose that leaves the rest of you wanting to tell Eric what the legend is?"
The crowd nodded, shouted out their pleas to have Eric know, and much more. Eric smiled and Melody let go of his fin, hoping that he wouldn't do anything stupid now.
"Great. Well, I see this meeting as finished. Go on your merry way and please, if you do see Eric, do not swim away or be afraid. Be polite; remember he is a guest. Meeting dismissed."
When the mob of mermaids and mermen turned around, Eric grabbed Melody's hand and swam above them, eager to avoid being trampled. He looked at Ariel at the same time she looked at him and grinned happily. He speedily made his way over to her and gave her a look that a child might give their parent when asking for candy.
"Well? When can I know?" he asked impatiently. Ariel smiled tiredly and pushed a lock of hair out of Eric's eye.
"We'll discuss it tomorrow, I promise," she replied, yawning. "As of now, I'm really tired and it's about time we all head to bed."
She swam over to Triton and kissed the half asleep king on the cheek. "Come on Melody. We've all got a big day tomorrow and we need our rest."
Eric felt like pouting, screaming, doing something that would make someone tell him now. Instead, he heaved a sigh and followed Ariel back to their room with his head hung.