Chapter 1: Next Stop: Torchwood
Prince Eric was walking about his ship. He'd spent enough time in this kingdom and was now ready to set off again for another new land. He only had the company of his men. While he did have fun with them, he was missing the company of a young red-headed girl. Her name was Ariel. He met her just one time at his last Ursula Ball. He saw it in her eyes that she wanted to be with him, which was perfect because he very much wanted to be with her. He gave her the entire next day to come and join him on his voyage. However, she did not show up and he was heartbroken, but still continued on his voyage to fulfill his dream of traveling the world.
He had one royal boat docked in the port of the main city. It was a large ship with a crew of fifty men, each one skilled in the art of sailing and fighting. They were just about ready to finally depart. Eric stood at the wheel taking in the sweet sea breeze on a bright, sunny day. Then, out of nowhere, a puff of purple smoke appeared in the center of his ship. When the smoke cleared, a woman was standing there. Her hair was black as a raven and her eyes burned with determination. The very sight of her caused the men on the boat to shiver. This woman was non other than the Evil Queen Regina.
"Hello Eric." She said to the young prince.
"Regina, what are you doing here?" He asked her.
"I need your help with something. Something important." She replied trying to get straight to the point of her visit.
"Well whatever it is, I'm not interested." Eric said to her. Regina's evil reputation preceded her. Eric wanted no part in anything she did. "Now leave."
"Ariel." The queen said. It was one word. One very powerful word. Eric's eyes widened at the mention of this name. It carried enough weight that it changed Eric's mind about listening the evil queen.
"What did you say?" He asked in shock.
"You heard me. I know all about your little...friend." Regina said.
"Where is she?" Eric demanded.
"Oh ho ho." The queen laughed. "Wouldn't you like to know?" She said as she walked up the steps towards Eric's position. She had his attention.
"What have you done to her?" Eric asked sternly.
"I took something from her. Something that's keeping you two apart." The queen replied.
"What are you talking about?" Eric asked.
"Maybe if you help me, I'll give it back to her." Regina said villainously.
"What did you take?" He shouted at her.
"Watch your tone," she said. "or you'll never see you're precious Ariel again."
This was all the convincing Eric needed. Although the queen was certainly up to no good, he had to follow his heart. He knew he loved Ariel the moment he first laid eyes upon her.
"What do you need me to do?" Eric asked having finally calmed down.
"Well I don't just need you. I need your crew, and this ship." Regina said.
"What for?" Eric questioned.
"We're going to take a little voyage."Regina said.
"Where?" Eric asked.
"Torchwood." Regina answered.
"I'm sorry?" Eric said sounding awfully confused.
"The Torchwood Institute. I need them to fix something for me and I may need to fight them in order to do it. Your crew are skilled warriors and sailors. They can clearly handle any situation and Torchwood has power beyond what I can do." She said.
Eric suddenly had a change of heart. This mission posed a danger to his crew.
"I'm sorry Regina, but that sounds incredibly dangerous. I won't risk the lives of all of my men." Eric said.
"You want to travel to far away places? Well this place is farther than even I have ever traveled." Regina said hoping to convince him.
"I'm sorry but its just too risky." He said.
"How noble." The queen remarked. "But you will be coming with me."
"Why is that?" Eric asked.
"Because if you don't," the queen said, "I'll kill Ariel."
"No." Eric said,
"Yes." Regina replied getting right into his face so that he could see the fire that burned in her eyes.
Eric knew of the Evil Queen's reputation. She would kill Ariel and she would do it joyfully. That settled it. Eric and his crew were going with the queen to Torchwood.
So, they sailed away from the kingdom and into the open ocean. Regina took out her magic bean. "Torchwood" she thought to herself and then threw the bean into the ocean. Within seconds, the water turned green. Then, the green water seemed to open up like a whirlpool. It was a green portal opening in the sea. Eric ordered his crew to sail into it. Regina and the crew held on tight to various parts of the ship. Soon, the boat sailed right into the portal and disappeared from sight. Then, the green portal closed and the ocean was once again blue, normal, and calm. Prince Eric's ship was gone from this land.
Next stop: Torchwood.