Chapter 13

"Triton Confronts Pelley"

Pelley sat in his isolated cell with his mind still in rage that he didn't get to accomplish his goals which was to make Ariel and Melody his trophies as well as free Villeneuve. He thought up until that moment that Villeneuve shared his views that women were eligible to be used as toys to fulfill their desires. He was a Frenchman, a man whose country was known for romance.

"I had her," he thought. "I almost had the Queen in my grasp. Ariel is no queen, she is a fish, a mermaid. They don't think that I know her backstory? I know everything about her and all of Atlantica from all the stories that I have heard. I will go to my grave knowing that what I did was for the good of France."

Just then, the disgraced Frenchman heard footsteps coming towards his cell and after a few moments looked to see a pair of English soldiers staring down at him. Opening the cell door, they dragged Pelley out of his cell in a very rough manner.

"Take your hands off of me!" he protested, but the soldiers didn't care. "I demand that you do so at once!"

"Shut up, you pig!" snapped one of the guards, hitting Pelley across the face with the back of his hand. "The father of her highness, the Queen of Denmark, wants to see you!"

"Really?" snorted Pelley, thinking that Triton was not going punish him. "I'm not afraid of him. I swear my allegiance to Napoleon. Long live Napoleon!"

He repeated the saying multiple times to get the attention of the other prisoners, but they didn't listen. For they all knew that what Pelley did was beyond anything that they had set out to do to begin with. Napoleon would never allow women to be treated like that, not even from other countries like Denmark.

"Just ignore him, my sons," said Villeneuve to his captured comrades. "He is a traitor and a disgrace to our empire."

Pelley continued to protest his actions for the good of his empire as he was brought up onto the deck of the HMS Victory. The winds had died down, but they were still on course and it was a perfect time for Triton to lay down the law with the man who violated his youngest daughter. After a few moments, the king of Atlantica rose up from the sea a few hundred yards away before slowly moving towards the disgraced Frenchman.

"I'd consider myself a reasonable merman," he said as he moved closer towards Pelley, before raising his voice. "But, I will not be reasonable with you for the way you harmed my youngest child."

"Your daughter?" sneered Pelley, struggling against his bonds. "Is that what this is all about, Triton? You are merpeople, creatures of the sea that are hunted every day. That's all your daughter was and nothing more."

Triton didn't take this well and fired his trident into the air in a fit of rage. He couldn't use it on Pelley, but he certainly made his presence known to everyone else in the fleets.

"Is it true that you tried to make her a trophy?" demanded Triton. "That's all you humans are, nothing more than barbarians. When I am done with you, you will be one less human to worry about."

The rage inside Triton continued to grow, but Pelley didn't seem to care at all. In fact, all he could do was mock Triton.

"You don't even know humans," mocked Pelley, trying to defend himself. "You shouldn't have even been involved to begin with. You only joined this conflict because of your daughter."

"Know humans?" remarked Triton. "I don't have to know them. You're all the same: spineless, savage, harpooning fish eaters. You are incapable of any feelings and when my daughter was been attacked, you showed to be incapable of any feelings for her well-being."

Triton had to take a moment to catch his breath, but the look of anger in his eyes was still focused down on the creature that attacked Ariel.

"Do you think that I care, merman?" retorted Pelley. "Perhaps you daughter wouldn't have been attacked if she had sided with us. It was the only way that could have this conversation be prevented. No matter what you do to me, I consider my actions against Queen Ariel were for the good of the French empire. Vive la France!"

But, Triton didn't flinch and instead kept his eyes squarely on Pelley. As much as he wanted to kill him, Triton had to understand that he needed to let the British and Danish deal with this pig.

"So, help me, human," he replied, sinking back into the water. "I will long for the day where you are punished for your actions. And when you do, I will make you and your people known throughout Atlantica as a threat to my kingdom. So be warned."

As Triton sank into the waters before him, Pelley was led back to his cell and pretended to not have cared about the events that had just transpired. Triton didn't scare him and in fact, it scared him less than the English and Danish navies.

Meanwhile, Melody had been hiding in her quarters for several hours since her mother and Vanessa were taken prisoner by Pelley. Of course, Melody had learned from Vanessa that Pelley was captured but not before attacking Ariel, which left Melody feeling frightened and scared for her mother's well-being. In fact, she was still wearing the pink gown that she wore for the prayers and vowed not to change out of it until she saw her mother again. But, instead, she heard a knock at her door and thought that it was Ariel herself. Melody darted over to the door and opened it to reveal John on the other side, his uniform torn and dirtied from fighting the Formidable.

"John!" gasped Melody, throwing herself onto him. "You're alive!"

"I heard about what had happened to your mother," he said, stepping into the room and shutting the door. "Sir Strachan had sent me over as soon as we got word. Your safety was all that matters to me at this point, Melody."

Melody began to once again feel a slight comfort as her lover stood in front with a warm smile on his face. At that point, Melody began to feel that desire that she once had with John and the young son of the late Admiral Nelson was feeling that same desire as well. Getting closer, the two young lovers began to kiss and once again, confess their love for one another.

Soon, the fleet was leaving Ortega behind and heading for England. But, the final farewells for Admiral Nelson would soon take place…