Ariel hung tight to the side of the ship, watching and listening intently to the humans. The one with the black hair, playing with the short and hairy one, was the most handsome of them all. She couldn't find a way to tear her eyes off of him.
An extremely skinny and gray haired man stepped in front of the handsome individual and smiled warmly. "Silence! Silence!" he called, getting the crew's attention. "It is now my honor and privilege to present our esteemed Prince Eric with a very special, very expensive, very large birthday present." The pride and joy that showed on the older one's face was indescribable and Ariel smiled at it.
"Ah, Grimsby, ya' old beanpole, you shouldn't have!" the one deemed 'Prince Eric' said, grinning brightly. The smile cause Ariel's stomach to flip and she felt her cheeks getting warmer.
"I know," Grimsby replied, eager for Eric's response to his gift. "Happy birthday, Eric!"
The tarp that was covering Eric's gift was pulled from it, revealing a statue that looked identical to the prince. The hairy one snarled at the sight of it and Eric's face turned sour.
"Gee, Grim. It's, uhm, it's… It's really…something."
"Yes, I commissioned it myself. Of course, I had hoped it would be a wedding present, but…"
Eric huffed as the man trailed off and stood up. "Come on, Grim, don't start. Look, you're not still sore because I didn't fall for the princess of Glauerhaven, are you?"
The older person stood up taller and walked to Eric's side. "Oh, Eric, it isn't me alone. The entire kingdom wants to see you happily settled down with the right girl."
Eric looked out to sea and wandered to the other side of the deck. "Well, she's out there somewhere. I just… I just haven't found her yet."
Ariel's heart leapt at his words, even though she knew, deep down, that the chances of ever being with him were slim to none.
"Well, perhaps you haven't been looking hard enough," Grimsby offered. Eric sighed again and sat on the edge of the boat, right above where Ariel was listening. She held her breath, fearing he might hear her.
"Believe me Grim, when I find her, I'll know- without a doubt. It'll just- bam! - hit me. Like lightening!"
Off in the distance, Ariel heard the crackle of lightening and turned around just in time to see it. Winds around her started to pick up and on the ship she heard someone call, "Hurricane a'commin'! Stand fast! Secure the riggin'!"
Suddenly, the winds grew stronger and she was blown from the boat. She held tight to a rope on the side, not wanting to be thrown back into the water. Rain began to hit Ariel's face hard and she was torn from her grasp on the rope and tossed back into the water. Quickly, she made her way back to the surface and watched as Eric tried to steer his ship away from a fast coming rock.
"Look out!" Eric, unable to maneuver the vessel away, ended up crashing it into the rock. All passengers on the ship are thrown overboard and hurriedly make their way to the rescue boat.
Grimsby, looking around frantically, finally finds safety in Eric's hand and is pulled aboard the boat.
From the sinking and burning ship, barking is heard. Eric looks up to see Max is still on the ship.
"Max!" he calls out, diving into the water and starts making his way back to the boat. Ariel watches, her heart racing, wondering why he would want to go back.
She watches as he climbs aboard and motions for the dog to jump to him. She senses his fear and panic but on the outside, he remains calm.
Once the dog jumps to him, he tosses him into the water, trapping himself on board. Ariel's eyes open wide in alarm as she watches the flames get bigger, engulfing the ship more and more.
"ERIC!" Grimsby cries out. But he finds himself too late as the ship explodes. Ariel covers her eyes with her forearm, the light of the explosion too bright for her.
Hysterically she looks around for any sign or trace of Eric. A flash of white catches her eye as she sees him slowly slip off the board he is hanging on to. She grabs him and pulls him up, not wanting him to drown, and begins to bring him to the nearest stretch of land.
However, along the way, her arms start to burn. She can feel herself losing grip of the man and sees he is starting to sink lower, falling out of her grasp.
Unexpectedly, Eric slips from Ariel's hold. When she dives under, she can't find him anywhere. She dreads the worst and to look everywhere for him.
Finally, she makes her way down to the darkest and worst part of the ocean, only to find her prince lying on a rock.
He is motionless, and clearly dead. Ariel can't believe her eyes and feels a stabbing pain in her chest. She buries her face into his abdomen and screams.
Screams for the loss of him, the loss of the possible life they could have had together, and for the fact that it was her fault that he was gone…
She hears him calling her name in the distance.
"Ariel? Ariel!"
"Ariel!" Eric shook his screaming wife, hoping it would wake her from whatever nightmare she was having.
Ariel jumped up, panting and crying at the same time. She hadn't had that dream in years, not since before she had gone to Ursula.
Quickly she turned to make sure Eric was sitting beside her. When she made eye contact with him, she threw her arms around his neck and sobbed.
"You're okay…" she mumbled into his neck. "I-I didn't lose you…"
Eric put his arms around Ariel, confused as to what she was talking about. He rubbed her back, trying to calm her down.
"Shh, yes, I'm fine," he whispered. "You're not going to lose me…"
Although she was enjoying the sound of his voice, Ariel continued to howl into Eric, fearing that she might not ever hear it again…
Ariel was quiet at breakfast and didn't eat anything. Eric tried offering her some of the things off of his plate but all she could do was shake her head no while she stared straight ahead of her.
Eric was beginning to get extremely worried and decided to confide in the sea king, hoping to obtain some answers.
After making sure he was awake, Eric swam to King Triton's room and knocked on the wall beside the entrance.
"Come in," he heard the king say, and slowly he entered the room.
"Good morning, your majesty," Eric said, bowing ever so slightly. "I was wondering if you could spare a moment of your time… It's about Ariel."
The king frowned at the mixture of Eric's concerned face and him saying it was about Ariel. He motioned for Eric to sit next to him and Eric did as he was told.
"What seems to be the problem?"
"Well, Ariel… Last night, right in the middle of the night, Ariel just started screaming," Eric began, trying to find the right words to say. "She woke me up and I realized that something was obviously wrong. So I shook her to try and wake her up. When she finally sat up, she was just… weeping uncontrollably. When she saw me, she said something about 'I didn't lose you' or something along those lines. I'm really worried about her because she won't tell me what's going on and she's not eating or anything…"
Triton sighed and shook his head. "You know, she used to do that when she was still living in the palace. Around the time she met you. One day, she woke up all happy. Humming to herself and all of that, placing a flower in my hair. That night, Attina woke me up to tell me that Ariel was sitting in her bed, screaming and crying in her sleep. She was mumbling something about a 'him' dying because she 'let go'."
Melody, who happened to be passing through the hallway at that moment, heard the conversation going on. Her heart started pounding and she swiftly entered the room.
"Mom had the dream again?" she asked. Eric and King Triton turned their heads to Melody, confused as to how she knew.
"You know about the dream Mel?" Eric questioned, concerned now not only about Ariel but his daughter as well.
Melody shook her head, fear spreading throughout her body. "This is so not good, dad. So not good!" She felt her hands begin to tremble and she looked to her grandfather. "Mom had the dream here before she went to Ursula, right?"
Triton thought back and quickly nodded. "Well, yes, but what does that have to do with anything Melody?"
"I had the same dream before I went to Morgana. Well, it wasn't exactly the same but it was a lot like it! I mean, I know that because I told mom all about the dream the night the wall came down, when we got home. She told me about having the same sort of dream when she was about sixteen."
Melody looked back to her father and made direct eye contact with him. "She dreamt about the night she saved you. Except, in the dream, she lost her grip of you and lost you to the sea. She was desperate for help, to see you again, and that's when she went to Ursula. In my dream, she lost me. But, I woke up in the sea, struggling for air and I couldn't make it back to the surface so, instead, I grew fins and became a mermaid." She motioned to her actual fin. "I wanted this badly and that's when I went to Morgana." She stopped for a second and took in a deep breath, fearing the reaction of what she was about to say next.
"All in all, that dream means one thing," she whispered. "There's another sea witch."
Down in the deep, dark depths of the ocean, a cackle escaped from a cave.
"So the youngster has it all figured out, doesn't she?" The raspy voice echoed throughout the cavern and caused the few prisoners to shiver.
Slowly, the octopus came out of its hiding place and settled down in front of the cauldron. A bubble floated above it, showing an image of a frightened Melody along with her grandfather and father. The creature allowed another laugh to escape its lips.
"Too bad she's got one thing wrong," it mumbled, slightly pleased that the fish had gotten one part of her story wrong. "I don't necessarily know if sea witch is the correct term for a male."
Two jellyfish floated into the room, each ending up on either side of their master.
"Hello there," the octopus said, scratching the top part of both jellyfish. "I think we may have a chance coming soon. A chance to take back what rightly belongs to our family. Something that neither Ursula nor Morgana could do, bless their souls. They did try so hard but I believe that their big brother might be able to do things a little more efficiently."
He snickered as his eyes caught sight of Eric's tail, the color of it sending thoughts through his brain.
"Ah, yes, the white tail. This is exactly what we need girls." The jellyfish spun in circles, overjoyed by the news.
"Yes, Atlantica and King Triton definitely have something to look forward to in the upcoming weeks. Their precious kings funeral."
As the jellyfish spun faster and higher, their owner threw his hands in the air and laughed manically, elated that his time for victory had finally come.