"Wake up, boy!" Sebastian poked the unconscious Chase who had landed on the bottom of the ocean after being shocked multiple times by a terrible duo of jellyfish. His memory was blurred with visions of the two, the cackling of some octopus creature and, worst of all, the sound of Melody's terrified screams.

Bolting upright, Chase immediately regretted his decision to do so. He groaned and held his head as the blood rushed from it to the rest of his body. "Se-Sebastian?"

The crab sighed in relief to see the young merman alive and nodded. "It's me, boy. Now c'mon, we've gotta go! Da sea king is preparing for battle and needs your help, man!"

Chase opened his eyes to Sebastian sitting in his lap. "Battle?" His heart started to race. "Where is Melody?"

Sebastian looked at him strangely, unaware as most others were about the growing relationship between the princess and the future ruler. "No one's sure, Chase. King Triton is preparing to find King Eric as we speak."

Chase's eyes grew twice their size and he began to shake his head uncontrollably. "No, no…" he said. "I could have saved her!" Before Sebastian could respond, Chase began to swim at full speed back to the castle.

"C'mon, Sebastian! Clamp onto my tail!" Sebastian hurriedly did as he was told and the two were off to receive their orders from the king.

Melody's eyes fluttered open only to be greeted with nothing but pitch blackness. She was certain she was awake because she could hear the same maniacal laughter in the distance that she had heard right before she had passed out.

Sitting up, Melody felt restraints clasped around her wrists. Seaweed was tied tightly around them and seemed to be glowing. Assuming that there was something magical on the plant that kept it from breaking, Melody soon gave up her struggle to release herself. She sighed heavily, knowing that this could quite possibly be the end. If the legend really was coming true (And by everything that was happening it certainly did seem to be), she and her mother would die in battle along with her grandfather. Soon afterwards her father would ask for death from Chase, the one to take over the kingdom, and the rest would be history.

Yeah, and Chase will marry some gorgeous princess from some other mer-city and never think about me again… Melody thought somberly, leaning her head against a wall. Would he even come and try to save her? Would he even remember the chaos that was going on? When he had fallen unconscious, his head seemed to hit the ocean floor quite hard. It was highly plausible that his memory could have been knocked out of him from the blow…

Trying to rid her thoughts of Chase, Melody looked around the room. Her eyes had fully adjusted to the darkness and she noticed her mother, tied with the same bondage as herself, lying peacefully against the wall across the room. She still hadn't woken up and Melody began to wonder just how long they had actually been in this prison cell.

Before she could come up with an answer, she heard the crunching of what sounded like rocks moving to the left of her. Light slowly began to creep its way into the room, causing Melody to squint her eyes at the bright new sight. Once the door was finally open, Cerberus entered with his genuine smirk glued onto his face.

"If you must know how long you've been here princess, it has only been a few hours," he said, replying to her thoughts. "And I must say I didn't know how easy it was to lure your family here. I heard through the coral-vine that your father is quickly approaching my cave and your grandfather and precious lover are on their way as well."

Melody narrowed her eyes at the creature and, had she not been underwater, would have attempted to spit in his direction. "You make me sick," she hissed. "And to correct your stupid remark, it isn't 'coral-vine', it's 'grape-vine.' At least try to make my last few moments a little bearable to hear, okay?"

The octopus nearly smothered the girl to death right there but knew he'd rather wait for her father to arrive or at least for her mother to wake up so that one of them could watch the light fade from their daughter's eyes. "Tut tut, princess. You really shouldn't speak to your elders with such a tongue."

"I believe my daughter can speak however she pleases, thank you very much. Especially when it's to someone who's going to kill her in a matter of moments." Eric was right behind Cerberus, his hands clenched into fists at his side and a look of rage in his eyes that Melody had never seen before. Melody turned her eyes towards her mother, urging her to wake up, even if she were half way across the room.

Ariel seemed to hear Melody's mental commands and awoke with a start. Her eyes focused quickly onto her husband and she opened her mouth to say his name.

Nothing but bubbles came out.

Upon reaching the castle, Chase stopped so promptly that Sebastian went flying from his tail and almost crashed into a nearby wall. Chase ignored the matter and looked to King Triton, ready for anything the man threw his way.

"Chase!" Triton called, quite relieved to see the boy but also even more worried to see that his granddaughter wasn't with him. "Where have you been the past few hours?"

"Well, sir, you see-." Chase was cut off by Triton's hand. He hurriedly snapped his mouth shut and once again stood in attention. He felt slightly relieved that he didn't have to explain to the king that the reason he was late was because he was too busy locking lips with Melody.

Triton grabbed hold of his trident and sat up from his throne. "Sebastian, have all the guards and soldiers been gathered?" The crab nodded. "Good… I need them to stay here and watch the palace. I don't want them coming with; it's too dangerous. The people of Atlantica need to all gather in the throne room as well. The more people together there are the better it will be. Chase, I'm leaving you in charge. If I need you for anything, this will start to glow." The sea king handed Chase a necklace with a miniature trident dangling from it.

As Chase took it and all the fear and trepidation he had felt earlier at the thought of taking over Atlantica left him. He felt strong, powerful, and confident as he slipped it over his head. Whether it was some sort of vibe the necklace was giving off or that he knew he was helping to somehow get Melody and her parents home safely, Chase knew it didn't matter.

As Triton set off the leave the palace and Sebastian hurried off to blow the horn to call the town together, Chase caught up with Triton. "Excuse me, sir?" The king turned around, hoping that whatever the boy had to say was important. "Yes?"

Chase's eyes burned with determination and hope. "Please need me. I want to fight."

Triton could only smile at Chase's words. They reminded him so much of himself when his father had gone off to fight the same battle he was leaving to do now. "Of course, Chase, but right now I need the citizens to become accustomed and comfortable with you. Keep them calm and I'll let you know at once when to come find me." With that, he turned around and left to find his family.

Chase swam back over to the throne and looked at it nervously. In the distance he heard the sound of Sebastian using the horn to call the town together. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath, wondering how the public would react to seeing a nineteen year old sitting in the chair that was normally taken by their king. Yet he also knew that it didn't matter for he was just taking orders.

Quietly, he sat down and immediately felt at ease. He stared ahead at the doorway to the room, waiting for the merpeople of Atlantica to begin entering. He grabbed a hold of the mini trident dangling from his neck, still looking ahead.

Melody, he thought as his fingers played with the charm. I am so, so sorry… I should have fought them off harder or grabbed you and swam away faster… When you get back, slap me.

Chase smiled at his last thought and released the necklace. For some reason he knew that just by holding that and saying those words that Melody would hear him, wherever she was. He also knew that she would stick to what he had told her to do and eagerly slap him when she got back. He just hoped she wouldn't hold it against him for grabbing her tight and kissing her once again after she did so.

"Mo-Mom?" Melody whispered, in disbelief that her mother could not speak. Eric felt his heart sink and couldn't help but remember the first time he had met Ariel.

Gently touching her hand to her throat, Ariel knew exactly what had happened. Cerberus had taken her voice away just as his sister Ursula had done so many years before. Yet this time she wasn't getting anything in return for it. This time it was just for the fun of its current owner.

"Oh, dear Ariel, please don't be upset," Cerberus chuckled. "I just thought I'd bring back what my sister had done to you. Give you some time to relish those memories." He turned his attention towards Melody. "As for you, I figured Morgana wouldn't like to see me forget about what she had done to you, so I gave you a little bit of a change. In about fifteen minutes, you'll have your wonderful legs back. This time, though, no one will be able to save you. Not even your precious parents." With that, he reached forward with one tentacle and grabbed Ariel while another appendage released her seaweed handcuffs. He pulled Ariel from the room and grinned evilly at Melody as he shut the door behind her and sealed it with a charm that made it look like just another part of the cavern wall.

Eric had begun to go through to the back of the cave where Cerberus stayed, looking for something to harm the octopus with. All he found was some old potions, ingredients, and two extremely livid looking jellyfish. They began to swirl their way towards him, tentacles flailing in a threatening fashion. Nothing surrounding him could harm the creatures in anyway and Eric soon felt the ominous force of Cerberus behind him. He shut his eyes, ready for the worst to come.

Suddenly, a shot of blinding white light shot past Eric, nearly touching his skin. The two twirling jellyfish were blown to smithereens, leaving only smoke in their presence. Eric spun around, now face to face with a horrified and enraged Cerberus who was crushing essentially every single one of Ariel's fragile figure's bones. Behind the stunned octopus was Eric's father-in-law, fury engulfing his eyes. The trident was still pointed in the direction of where the jellyfish had once been.

Ariel's throat was burning with the tears that she was holding back. She had just heard a crack in her side and felt the searing pain rush through her entire body, taking over every vein and muscle. Even if she had a voice, the scream that she would have emitted from the pain would have been muffled by the tentacle wrapped around her mouth. Instead, Ariel dealt with the pain coursing through her by biting down remorselessly on Cerberus's member. He proceeded to cry out in anguish and released Ariel, much to his displeasure. He lunged to snatch the girl up once more but only grabbed water as Eric had swum at full speed towards his wife, pushing the both of them to the other side of the enemy.

Triton looked around the room. "Where's Melody?" Ariel jutted a finger towards the seemingly door-less side of the cave that she and Melody had been trapped in not moments before.

Cerberus flipped around, his breath coming in ragged pants. "You killed my pets, you-!" His sentence was cut short by another bolt of lightning like power coming from the trident. He managed to move out of the way hastily, his temper and rage giving him more than enough adrenaline. Triton gripped onto the trident and spun it to the left once, sending out the call for help to Chase.

"Eric, get Ariel out of here and go back to find Chase!" Triton bellowed. "I need him to get Melody out of here!"

Ariel turned to Eric and shook her head frantically. She kissed his cheek and left by herself to find Chase, hoping that Eric could manage to find a way to save Melody before it was ultimately too late. Daddy can hold Cerberus off long enough on his own. Grandfather did, at least, she thought, ignoring the aching from her broken rib and continued flicking her tail faster than ever before.

Chase sat back down in the throne after having explained to the community, with Sebastian's help, why he was filling in for Triton and what this all meant. After a brief moment of panic, he had yelled so loudly for everyone to calm down that some still wouldn't look at him.

As he sat down, he felt a vibration on his chest and looked down to see that the trident was glowing. Suddenly, the chain of the necklace disappeared. Chase dove to catch it and as he did, the necklace charm grew to a full size trident like the one King Triton himself had.

Chase could only beam happily at the object for a matter of minutes before he started off without a word to anyone.

I'm coming Mel…

Melody screamed towards the wall where the door had been. On the outside she was still looking somewhat calm, just like a regular person crying for help in a not so dire situation. On the inside, however, she was terrified. Her heart was pounding, her stomach was in knots like never before, and her voice was hoarse from hollering for so long.

Breathless and practically voiceless, Melody sank back and leaned against the cool wall behind her. She figured she had been fighting the seaweed chains and shrieking for help for about ten minutes, giving her only around five more minutes until her legs were back and she would be left to die alone in some dark, unknown cave in the middle of the ocean.

For some reason Melody could have sworn she had hear Chase's voice right after her mother had been taken. Something along the lines of him apologizing and telling her to slap him later for not being quick enough to save her. Could I really have heard him?

Her thoughts were cut short by the sound of a blast and an appalled yell. There were more noises of hustle and bustle, people moving around. She leaned her ear as close to the door as she could to hear what was happening.

"Where's Melody?" She heard her grandfather's voice and couldn't help but feel somewhat relieved.

"In here!" she cried, begging that someone on the outside would hear her pleas for help.

"You killed my pets you-!" Another blast, this one sounding even closer to the wall than the previous one, drowned out her voice.

"Eric, get Ariel out of here and go back to find Chase! I need him to get Melody out of here!" There was a swishing sound, the one made when someone swam away. She prayed to the ceiling that both of her parents hadn't just left her here.

Suddenly, a voice popped into her head. I'm coming Mel…

"That's Chase…" Melody whispered. She had heard him before. How, she didn't know, but it had been him! She smiled thoughtfully, knowing he was coming. That this would all be over with soon enough.

All of a sudden, she began to feel a burning sensation in her lower extremity. Her stomach soon began to feel the throbbing phenomenon and she gasped at everything that was going through her. Melody knew this only meant one thing:

I'm going to die…

A/N: Wow guys, I suck... I haven't updated since when? October? Yeah, sorry... Uhm, I hope this chapter makes up for it! I have an idea of where I'm going with this but you'll just have to wait and seeeeee~~ HOPEFULLY will have a new chapter up Tuesday. And that means only one thing: 'The End' is coming soon.