As night fell upon the sea, all the mer-people and fish went to sleep in Mermaidiana. Lights made of friendly plankton flickers on in the kingdom, making the buildings shimmer like the moonlight on the surface of the water. Inside the palace, the royal family are in their clam shell beds sleeping away. Akauriana dreamt away in her sleep about humans and the world they all lived in. The sun so warm and bright in the sky, clouds are fluffy as cotton, harden grounds and glimmering buildings. Akauriana is swimming through the waterways of the kingdoms on land where she sees a strange world around her. What caught her eye is a numerous figures walking about. Though the vision is blurry, she never quite saw them up close and personal. When she tried to talk to one of them, the figures vanishes without a trace and then the dream is over. The little mermaid awoke in the middle of the night. She sighed as she wonders about the strange world that her father, King Aquarion forbids the mer-people to ever visit it. Thus it made her longed to see it even more. Then suddenly, a strange noise echoes out of the blue.
"What was that sound?" Akauriana wondered.
She crawls out of her clam shell bed and swam to her window pane. She catches a glimpse of a shadow blocking the moonlight upon the surface. Curious, Akauriana plans to sneak out of the palace to see it for herself. She turns around to make sure that her sisters are still sleeping in which they are. Summoning up her courage, Akauriana swims out of her window. She carefully passes the guards who were keeping their guard up on every inch of the castle, making sure that she wasn't spotted. Successful at her bypass, Akauriana continues to swim upwards to the surface. By the time she finally got up there, at last she made it. The little mermaid finally get to see what the surface world looks like. When she looks around for the strange shadowy object, it was nowhere to be seen. Akauriana could've sworn she saw it. Then her search was interrupted by a young girl's voice. It was her friends from the secret sanctuary.
"Hey, Akauriana!" Lee Lee shouted from afar. "Is that you!?"
Akauriana turns to see her friends. She is happy to see them again.
"Oh hi, you guys!" Akauriana responded happily.
The mermaids swam over to join her.
"We meet again, Akauriana." says Isabella. "What brings you up here at this high tide?"
"Well I was sleeping." said Akauriana. "Then I woke up long before I heard a strange noise. It must be coming from the shadowy object."
"So you saw it too?" Isabella wondered.
Akauriana nodded. The mermaids all wondered what is the object or where can it be.
"Well ain't this something." said Taliah. "It is here, somewhere. We just gotta keep an eye out for it."
Nixie was not impress about this whole surface meeting. As much as she doesn't want to be involved, she can't help but wonder about the shadowy object herself. But she refuse to be too curious about it as much as her friends are.
"Maybe it's just a lost whale passing through." Nixie reassured. "No big deal. Let's just go home."
"Not until we figure out where that shadowy object came from." says Lee Lee, eagerly. "I want to know!"
"We all do, Lee Lee." said Isabella.
Then all of a sudden, a loud booming sound startles the mermaids and they dove quickly under the sea. But the colorful flashing lights above the water seems to caught the mermaids' interest. They rose out of the water to see the fireworks coming from the ship nearby. The little mermaid and her friends were mesmerized by this sight. Intrigued, they all swam closer to the ship. Nixie groans in pure annoyance for she does not want anything to do with human related events. But for the sake of her friends, she tags along unwillingly. Akauriana sparkled with joy as she finally gets to see what human beings look like and gets to see them with her best friends. Taliah spots a anchor chain coming from the ship. They are lifting the anchor up. The young African mermaid has an idea.
"Girls! Grab hold of the anchor!" said Taliah as she swims closer to it. "We can get a closer look at humans that way. Follow my lead!"
She grabs onto the anchor's chain and it hoists her up. Intrigued with excitement, Akauriana joins her as well as the other mermaids. As the anchor finally reaches it's top, the mermaids climbed on the ship's ledge and they all peeked through the porthole. There, they see hundreds of human people huddle around, dancing to the music, sharing laughter and joy, telling each other's stories that they never have heard before. Lee Lee, on the other hand, became easily starstruck when she sees quite a lot of hunky sailors on board. It makes her bubble up inside. The bubbly personality of this cheery mermaid makes her friends laugh. As the party goes on, an elderly captain came up to make an announcement.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Make way for his royal highness!" announced the captain and he continues on. "The man of the hour and future heir to the kingdom of Evanora, Prince Dominick!"
Everyone on the ship claps for their young ruler. The heads are turned as a noble young man walks down to the celebration party. His hair as the deepest shade of brunette red, eyes as green as the sea, skin as light tan as the colors the warm sun. Therefore, his name is Prince Dominick. The minute Akauriana saw him, she can't seem to take her eyes off of him. His irresistible charm hypnotizes her completely and before she knew it, the little mermaid fell in love.
"Ooh! I saw you googling over him, Akauriana." says Lee Lee, getting all bubbly. "You like him, do you?"
"He is the most beautiful creature I've ever seen." Akauriana exclaimes quietly under her breath.
It even disgusts Nixie even more when she turns to notice Akauriana stricken with love. As Prince Dominick chats with his subjects, one of the sailors brought him a birthday present. A marble statue of him in his honor. Prince Dominick doesn't seem amused but tries to appreciate what they all done for him.
"Well, uh...it's really something." says Prince Dominick as politely as he can. "Thank you, gentlemen."
The sailors bowed to him as continue on to their posts. One of the sailors came up to joke with the prince about a few thing of his gift.
"If I say so myself, young lad!" said the sailor, patting the young prince on his shoulder. "After all, we do hope that this can be more than a birthday present. Maybe perhaps a wedding present or so? Don't ya think?"
"Oh c'mon! Don't start with that again." said Prince Dominick, rolling his eyes as he approaches the ship's edge where Akauriana and the mermaids were hiding. "You're not still sore about it because I didn't fall for the princess from Mist'Haven, are you now?"
He sat on the ledge to gaze out at the sea. The mermaids hid carefully out of sight underneath him. However, the little mermaid, Akauriana seemed to be enchanted by his beautiful strong personality and his appearance. Not for a second she cannot stop looking at him. Her heart beats out of a strange rhythm every time she gazes at his face for a long period of time. One of the sailors tries to talk some sense into the prince.
"It's not just me, your highness." said the sailor, joining him. "Everyone in the entire kingdom wants to see their future ruler happily settled down with the right lady."
"Oh she's out there somewhere." says Prince Dominick, feeling the salty winds upon his face. "I just haven't found her yet."
"Well, my friend. You're just not looking hard enough." said the sailor.
"Don't worry, I will find the girl who is carefree like the waves, angelic as the mythical sirens and maybe knows how to swim." said the young prince Dominick. "Until then, I just wanna live my life to its fullest potential. I'll set sail on the far off seas and have as many adventures as I possibly can. Without no doubt it'll hit me! Like a bolt of lightning."
This just in, a sound of thunder crashes the sky, scaring everybody. Even the mermaids. Lightning flashed through the dark clouds and the waves rose to the size of towers. Before they all knew it, a storm is beyond the horizon. The sailors alerted the ship, ensuring the safety of their passengers to rush to the nearest safe points. The others help out with the masts. The mermaids became easily frightened by the storm.
"What's going on?" asked Akauriana in fear. "What's happening?"
"A storm is coming, girl!" says Taliah. "We do not want to get caught up in that! Trust me!"
"I'm too pretty to die!" cried Lee Lee.
"Neither am I!" says Nixie.
"We have to go!" Isabella cried as she dives back into the water.
The mermaids retreated back into the sea. The ship is being attacked by the waves crashing on it, rocking back and forth. The sea turns into a massive waterspout (a watery tornado), endangering the sailors even more than the waves. Strong winds tore down the masts, the water rose to the deck of the ship, nearly wiping out everyone on board and the thunder claps as loud as the explosion. Inside the ship, Prince Dominick can hear the sailors and passengers panic loudly. Instead of feeling helpless, the noble sea faring prince puts on his cloak and left his room. He runs out to the deck in order to help the other sailors. From the sea, Akauriana and her friends watched from below the waves as the ship battled the stormy sea. She felt that the prince is in trouble as she saw him aiding his fellow sailors on the ship.
"He's in danger!" shrieked Akauriana. "We can't leave him like this!"
"Akauriana, no!" shouted Isabella with fear. "It's too dangerous!"
She pulls the little mermaid back from this disaster. Suddenly, the lightning bolt zaps the masts, lighting it on fire. Even worse, the ship is about to head towards the huge rocks. Time is about to run out for the humans on deck. The fiery haired little mermaid knew that she must find a way to save her beloved prince.
"Please, you guys!" Akauriana says with a shaken plea. "He's going to die if we don't do something!"
Akauriana swam towards the endangered ship. Isabella tries to stop her but the broken masts blocks her and the mermaids.
"Akauriana! Don't get too close!" Isabella screamed in horror. "AKAURIANA!"
With the swish of her yellow stripped aquamarine and green tail, Akauriana pushed through the strong currents in attempts to find the prince's ship. When she found it, she was too late. She watched in shear terror as the ship is being carried by the waves, smashing it onto the rocks. The entire ship broke into many pieces, throwing everyone overboard. Many of them were already safe on the lifeboats, but there's no sign of their prince. They were looking for him. One of the passengers saw Prince Dominick, tangled in ropes on a piece of mast. Next to him were explosive barrels, set to blow due the lighted strings by the lightning bolt. Before they can try to save him, it was too late. The barrels exploded, blowing parts of the ship along with it. Even the prince was thrown into the sea by the stormy shipwreck. Akauriana sees this from the far point. Horrified, she swam closer to find him when the others couldn't. Just as she too was going to give up hope, she turns around and saw Prince Dominick, knocked out as the light and is now slipping into the water. In a swift action, Akauriana dives in the water to save him. Since the sea is dark and gloomy due to the storm, Akauriana can't seem to find him. But thanks to the light made by the fiery mast on the surface, she saw Prince Dominick's body sinking fast. Akauriana quickly grabs hold of him and carries him to the surface.
"You can't survive down here!" Akauriana exclaimed with fear as she quickly drags the prince to the surface. "I have to get you somewhere safe! Hold on!"
The other mermaids found their way around the shipwreck and were shock to see Akauriana rescue Prince Dominick. Though it is forbidden for merfolk to ever get that close to a human being, they can't believe that the little mermaid would risk her own life to save a human.
"Did she just touch a human man!?" says Lee Lee in pure shock.
"She actually did!" said Isabella who was also shocked.
"I have to admit, she's one brave mermaid." said Taliah.
"One of the most craziest mermaids I've ever met!" scoffs Nixie, unimpressed with Akauriana's actions. "As a princess, her father is not going to like this."
With all of her strength, Akauriana holds the prince close to her as she fights the strong waves in order to find someplace safe for him. After the long night of the terrible storm, it suddenly died down, leaving a mess of dead human bodies and broken ship pieces. The gentle waves carries the tired little mermaid Akauriana and Prince Dominick to a nearby shore, where they are placed on the warm sand. Akauriana looks upon Dominick's face, wondering if she have saved him from drowning or even too late. The other mermaids found them as they also joined with Akauriana on the beach.
"Was I too late?" Akauriana wondered.
"I don't know." said Isabella, checking for a heartbeat. "I couldn't say for sure."
Lee Lee check for a heartbeat in Dominick's bare foot.
"Nope! Not a pulse here." said Lee Lee.
"That because feet doesn't have a pulse, Lee Lee." chuckled Taliah, shaking her head as she turns to Akauriana. "You were very brave to rescue that human like you did, Akauriana. But I'm afraid there's nothing you can do for him now."
"Great! He's safe on land, where he really belongs." Nixie remarks in a disgusted tone. "Now can we please go home now?"
Isabella saw the prince moves his lips a little.
"No! Wait! He's breathing!" gasped Isabella. "I just saw his lips moved!"
"Oh he's alive!" Akauriana exclaimed in relief, knowing that Dominick is alive. "Just look at him, you guys. He is so beautiful. He is a new reason why I want to be part of his world."
Akauriana began singing to him. The mermaids watched as they witnessed Akauriana's love for him. They were all touch by her voice, except for Nixie who feels no such thing but wanting to be home in her bed. As the sun shines down on them, Prince Dominick awoke a little to hear the sweet angelic singing voice and took a glimpse of Akauriana's mermaid beauty. Then a school bell has rung. The mermaids turn to see some school girls running down to the beach. They must not be seen by them.
"Humans are coming!" alerted Taliah. "We can't be seen by them! We have to go now!"
"Akauriana, come on!" said Isabella as she pulls the lovesick Akauriana away from her prince.
The mermaids retreated to the sea once more. Akauriana turns to her prince one last time before she can join her friends. As the girls got close, she disappears in the water. One of the school girls is a princess from a neighboring kingdom. Her name is Daphne. She has eyes as green as foam, hair as lavender as the meadows and skin as rich as gold. She notices Dominick lying on the shore and went to his side, to see if he's alive.
"Are you alright?" Daphne says, shaking him gently. "Can you hear me?"
Prince Dominick opens his eyes, to see Daphne glancing down at him. She was relieved that he's still breathing.
"Oh thank goodness you're still alive." said Daphne as she calls out to the nearby guards. "Please take him to the castle and see to it that he has great hospitality!"
"Yes, ma'am!" the guards respond to her command as they carry Prince Dominick away with them.
From the rocks, the mermaids watch the prince receives help from Daphne and the others. When they all walked away, so did the mermaids as they all turn around to dive back home. Isabella turns to see Akauriana who is still watching her prince from afar.
"Akauriana?" says Isabella quietly, wondering about her.
Akauriana resumes singing for Dominick from the rocks, wishing to be part of his world. As the waves splashes behind her, Akauriana leaps off the rocks and back flips into the sea in shear joy. Then the little mermaid swam along home with her mermaid friends, knowing that someday she will find a way to see him once again.
