Ooh, what a treat! This is the longest chapter so far! Mostly because it covers a great chunk of the plot. Happy reading!
Sora and Ariel made sure to quickly hurry back to the palace, to avoid any questioning from King Triton. They must've been out and about for hours, and no doubt he was getting quite furious as well as worried for his youngest daughter. In Sora's case, he'd just want to avoid Cloud's cold stares, as did the twins, who only just kept up with the fast-paced duo, Sebastian and Flounder tailing just behind them.
Roxas and Ventus could both tell that something was different, by the way Sora and Ariel seemed to be swimming with wide grins, that only faded to a smile at best. They assumed that it was that human Ariel was with to be why she was acting like this, but Sora?
"What'd you think's got him?" Ventus whispered to his twin, making sure to slow down a little to avoid their brother immediately hearing them.
Roxas subtly shrugged, "Who knows?"
"What if he's…" Ventus gestured using two hands, interlocking them as if to indicate a relationship.
"Maybe." Roxas mused, "I mean, this is Sora we're talking about, so it could probably happen."
"It'd be great if it did-"
"What're ya goin' on about?" Sebastian interrupted their train of thought, causing everyone to look at them questionably.
"Us?" Roxas pointed at himself as he and his twin exchanged nervous glances, "Oh, we were just, umm…wondering about…"
"Stuff!" Ventus added for him, "Some stuff we might considering doing once we get back home, like…"
"Finding ourselves boyfriends!" Roxas slowly concluded, before immediately having a hand cover his mouth – of course, it was Ven's hand.
"Right…" Sora stared on at them. His smile from before was still as visible as it had been, as he turned back in the direction they had been swimming in. The twins sighed in relief as they followed everyone else.
"Seriously?" Ventus hissed quietly, "That, of all things?!" He did not get a response, but Roxas merely brushed him off.
"Oh, guys?" Sora's voice called to them from ahead.
"…yeah?"
"If you guys need any help with finding yourselves boyfriends, I'll be glad to help you out!"
Sora did not notice the angry blushes his brothers were accumulating, and the twins did not realize that, regardless, Sora was smirking with pure delight – even moreso than he already was.
It wasn't long before the group made it to the palace, only without Flounder, who had returned to his own living quarters. Ariel had gone on her own merry way to her and her sisters' bedrooms, while Sora, Roxas, Ventus and Sebastian made their way to the throne room, where Cloud was nervously pacing around the throne. Upon their arrival, Cloud seemed quite relieved, as well as over-protective, as he almost tackled Sora and the twins within a big, safe hug.
"Sora!" Cloud called softly as he let go, "Oh, I've been so worried!"
"Relax, Cloud, I'm fine." The brunette said coolly.
"Speak for yourself," Roxas muttered, referring to the fairly rough token of affection just given to them, and met with an eye-roll from his eldest brother.
"Where's the King?" Ventus asked, his eyes darting around the room.
"He's in some other part of the castle." Cloud replied, before turning back to Sora, "So, where were you? Is Ariel back as well?"
"Oh, Ariel took me to see something interesting," Sora shrugged, "And she should be with her sisters now."
"Ah, good." Cloud smiled, ruffling his brother's hair, "And hey, guess what?"
"What?" Ventus asked in response.
"Mom's coming shortly,"
"Mom's coming?" Roxas questioned, "Why?"
"I don't know," Cloud responded, "All me and the King heard was that she was expected to arrive in a while from now."
"But isn't she busy with stuff?" Roxas asked.
"I guess Dad's dealing with everything himself. I'm sure he's doing fine."
"Do you know the reason?" Sora asked.
"Not a clue." Cloud replied dully, "It could be something important. Mom doesn't usually hold back information like this."
"If de Queen of the Radiant Sea Gardens is coming then I better get everything prepared in the palace!" Sebastian suddenly busted out, swimming around frantically before leaving to attend to some rather important – and rather urgent and last minute – matters.
"Ariel, there you are!"
The mermaid's sisters were fussing all over Ariel left and right as soon as they saw her coming back home with the others before leading her over to their dressing room.
"Are you alright?" Attina asked.
"Did you hurt yourself?" Arista followed.
"Did you meet a cute boy?" Adella questioned, before being met with stares from her sisters, "What?"
Just as Attina was going to brush Ariel's hair, the youngest mermaid had quick to run her own fingers through the red wave of hair, before reaching for a purple flower on the counter and positioning it on her head. Along the way, she was quietly humming the cute little tune she had sung lyrics to but only a short while ago.
"Something's going on here…" Aquata mused, looking at her sister's rather relaxed expression through the mirror. It was something they had rarely ever seen in Ariel. She was usually a little sullen from the regulations of the kingdom, but now? She seemed like a totally different person.
"What's with her, then?" Arista pondered quietly over to Andrina, who shrugged in response.
"Hello, girls." King Triton greeted as he made his way into the room, his eyes immediately caught on the sight of Ariel, "Ah, Ariel, you've made it back! I hope you're alright!"
Ariel rose from the chair in which she was sitting and swam towards the exit. As she passed her father, she was twirling as she casually let out the melody of the tune escape her mouth in the form of "la's". She gave her father a hug and placed the flower from her hair in his hair, "I'm fine, Daddy!"
And with that she was out of there.
"Oh, she's got it bad…" Adella smirked with satisfaction, everyone's eyes suddenly piercing in her direction (not that it did anything to remove the smirk, though.)
"Why, what's she got?" Triton questioned.
"Isn't it obvious, Daddy? Ariel's in love!"
"Oh, brother," Attina huffed to Alana, "There she goes…"
Triton was not as skeptical, however, and plucked the flower from his head and examined it, "Ariel…in love?" he repeated, "Could it be…?"
"It probably could be!" Adella beamed, while the sisters all looked at her with doubt.
Sora and Ariel both met up around the outskirts of the kingdom, surrounded by a wonderful collection of sea flora. Ariel was picking at a flower while Sora was simply admiring the flowers, his thoughts drifting off to the handsome silver-haired human from earlier. Sebastian was with them, having finished preparing for Sora's mother's arrival, pacing worryingly nearby.
"Oh, dis is terrible, mon!" the crab exclaimed, though to nobody in particular. He started to hyperventilate, but then calmed down, "But so far, we're good. I doubt the King has any suspicions…"
"Chillax, Sebastian," Sora said coolly, as Ariel picked petals of a flower, as if to determine if the human she was thinking about loved her, "It's not a bad thing…"
Sebastian disregarded the teen's comment and went back to his pacing, "It probably won't be long until the secret's out!"
"Hey, Sora!" Flounder suddenly whispered from behind, as if to not get Ariel's attention (although she was quite invested in what she was doing, with half a flower to go), "Could you come with me?"
"Sure, what for?"
"It's a surprise!" Flounder took off after that. Sora looked on with questions flooding his mind, but shook them off as he tailed after the fish.
"He loves me!" Ariel announced as she picked the last, and lucky, petal from the flower, "I knew it!"
"Ariel, you need to get over this-this juvenile crush of yours!" Sebastian ordered, getting in the mermaid's face, before grabbing some of her hair, "Dis is forbidden! The King will surely have my shell for this!"
Ariel ignored his ranting and swam around, "I've got to see him again!" she said openly and freely, "Tonight!"
"What?" Sebastian looked on at her with anger. Had she not been listening to him?
"Yeah! We'll swim up to his castle, and then splash around to get his attention, and-"
"Nonono!" the crab countered, catching up to Ariel, "You can't go to the surface! Your home is down here, under the water!"
Ariel sighed, "But Sebastian, I-"
"You're a teenager," Sebastian interrupted, pacing on a nearby rock as he continued to give the girl a lecture, turning his back to her as he did so, "You think that you're in love with this human…thing…but I can safely assure you that you are currently just experiencing nothing more than a simple feeling of having a teenage crush on him. It's not true love – it's just you having no idea how to control these feelings. And why would you even wanna live on de land? Ya know they eat us up there, right? They fish day and night and put us on the plate! They slave away up there while we get to enjoy life under the waves! Now doesn't that sound much better than-"
But when he turned around, Sebastian found that he was alone.
Curses! That girl was more trouble than she's worth.
"Ariel?" Sebastian asked weakly. It was fairly obvious that Ariel wasn't there, but now he was getting nervous. Where did she go? Could she have gone up to the surface while he was talking? The crab immediately took off to the land, calling Ariel's name in hopes of getting a respon-
"Sebastian!" a voice from behind called. Sebastian recognised it to be from one of the King's faithful seahorse companions, this one often assigned with messages to deliver.
"Yes?" The crab responded, nervously. Perhaps it was about Ariel…
"The Sea King wants to see you right away! It's to do with Ariel."
Drat.
He knows.
Sebastian approached Triton's throne room gingerly, finding the King talking to the Queen from the Radiant Sea Gardens, and Cloud located just next to them.
"He sure is a lucky merman…" Triton mused, gazing at the flower he'd been given earlier before noticing Sebastian's presence, where he, in response, hid the flower and maintained a highly posture, "Come forth, Sebastian,"
Sebastian complied with the order, perching himself on the left armrest of the throne.
"You remember Queen Aqua, don't you?" Triton asked.
"O-of course, Your Majesty," Sebastian shook, "I've been making sure everything was prepared for her arrival…"
"I've noticed," Aqua giggled, "How thoughtful. Though I must apologize again for my last-minute intrusion. I hope it's not been a significant inconvenience…"
"Of course not!" Triton countered with a smile, "We're always happy and honoured to have you and your family visit!"
"They do make us feel welcome." Cloud added, which only further added to Triton's pride.
"Anyway, Sebastian," Triton focused his attention back to the crab, who was starting to shiver, "Have you noticed anything…peculiar…about Ariel recently?"
"Um…no, Your Majesty…" the crab replied weakly.
"You haven't found her random moments of singing to herself and daydreaming to be quite odd?"
"Well, when you put it that way-"
"Sebastian…" the King's voice took a new turn. A serious turn. "I know there's something you're hiding from me…"
"About Ariel…" Cloud added.
"In love…?" Aqua finished.
Sebastian sat there, perfectly still. His body was struck with horror. His shell suddenly felt too tight. One wrong move, and the King would surely break him in two with little stress.
"She wouldn't listen to me! Oh, sire, forgive me! But I told her that humans were too much trouble! That they were bad, malicious and dangerous, but-"
"Humans?" Aqua repeated.
"WHAT ABOUT HUMANS?!" The King fumed, pointing his trident at Sebastian in anger. It hovered only a few millimeters away from his shell.
"Come on, Flounder! Tell me! What is it?"
Ariel couldn't hold back her excitement anymore. Flounder had come by to tell her that he had a surprise for her, and now he was leading her to her grotto, with Sora, Roxas and Ventus also accompanying them. She was just dying to see what on earth the fuss was about, as everyone seemed quite overjoyed over whatever it was.
"It's a surprise!" Roxas told her.
"You wouldn't want to spoil it, would ya?" Ventus added.
"You'll love it!" Sora cheerfully noted.
And she did.
She saw it. In the center of her grotto, there stand a marvellous statue of a human. Not just any human – Ariel recognised it to be the exact one from the ship the other day. Perhaps Flounder found it from wherever the remains of that ship were. But, oh, how the stature was beautiful!
"Oh my gosh, guys, you're the best!" Ariel gave each of them a hug of appreciation as she approached the statue, stroking the prince's cheek, "It's even got his perfect eyes…" she leaned in on the statue, her head leaning in on his shoulder, "Oh, Eric, I'd love to run away with you…perhaps we could explore together." The mermaid then proceeded to twirl around with glee at her newest addition to the collection. A rather important addition indeed!
"See?" Flounder said triumphantly to the twins, "I told you she'd love it!"
The twins could only huff in response. They had been a bit sceptical when Sora had called them over for help, but they supposed that they were happy that they got to see the princess in such a joyous mood.
"It might not be the real prince, but at least she has his likeness in stone!" Sora mused with delight, "If only my prince had had his beautiful face and sexy body carved in stone for me to find…"
"And just who is this 'prince' of yours, Sora?" a familiar voice said from behind.
Everyone turned to see a mermaid with bright blue hair, a purple seashell bra with purple fabric over it, as well as a turquoise tail approaching them, following King Triton, Cloud, and Sebastian, who was firmly within the King's grip. Clearly things hadn't gone too well with him.
"Mom!" Sora said aloud.
"Daddy…" Ariel's voice faltered, almost shattering.
"So…all these years of keeping you safe in my kingdom, and this is how you repay me?" Triton bellowed at his daughter.
"But Daddy-"
"We've been through this time and time again, Ariel!" Triton's hands waved around frantically in frustration, letting go of Sebastian in the process, "Contact with humans is strictly forbidden!"
"But you don't know them!" Ariel countered, although it came out as quite weak.
"I don't have to know them," Triton shouted back, "And is it true you saved one from drowning?"
"He could have died!"
"ONE LESS HUMAN TO WORRY ABOUT!"
Sora and the twins swam over to Ariel's side, as if to defend her. Her father wasn't looking so good, and with his trident in his hand, things could always get ugly.
"And is it also true that YOU helped her?" Triton directed this question at Sora, who felt as though this took him aback.
"Well, yes, I did. I-"
"Sora," Aqua suddenly stepped in, "You should have known better than to help a human!"
"Well, it's not my fault if I love one of them-" Sora immediately stopped talking.
"You as well…?" Aqua sighed, "I cannot believe this!" She then looked over at the twins, "Do either of you have any confessions?"
"No ma'am, we're good." They answered, without confidence.
"And what's wrong with me loving him?" Ariel got her father's attention again, "I don't care if he's a human and I'm a mermaid!"
"I will get this through to you, Ariel…" Triton hissed, as his trident began to glow. Aqua, Flounder and Sebastian took cover from the damage the King was starting to commence, breaking everything on the shelves within the grotto. Ariel, Sora and the twins could only watch in pure shock and horror, the former two attempting to defend some of the gadgets and gizmos.
"Daddy, no!" Ariel cried, as her father aimed straight for the statue. It shattered into several pieces, leaving no part of the prince's figure even the least bit intact.
Once he was done and calmed himself down, Triton turned around and left the grotto. He briefly looked back with a face of regret before he did leave. Aqua gave her three sons an expression of disappointment, before leaving with her eldest.
Ariel burst into tears, resting herself in the statue's remains. Sora similarly broke down next to her, while Ventus and Roxas swam outside with Flounder and Sebastian, allowing them to have a moment of silence after the whole ordeal.
"Why…?" Ariel sobbed, "What…why…"
"C'mon, Ariel…" Sora tried to comfort his friend, "I'm sure that…umm…he doesn't mean it…" he trailed off once he realized the mermaid was too depressed to listen to what he had to ramble on about.
He looked up once he saw a lack of light all of a sudden, finding two figures that must have witnessed the whole dilemma secretly given their positioning within the higher shelves of the grotto.
"Look at that," the first one, the redheaded merman, said, "The poor thing."
"Indeed," the second one, the brunette merman, agreed, "Looks like she's had a bit of a serious falling out over a boy."
Ariel looked up to find the mermen swimming towards her, "Who are you?"
"I'm Axel," the redheaded merman spoke, "And this is Terra,"
"We couldn't help but hear you're having a problem…" Terra smiled assuringly.
"Yeah, what's it to you?" Sora asked dismissively.
"What if we said that we know someone – a friend of ours – that can help you?" Axel asked, "Help you achieve something you've dreamed of!"
"You and the prince…" Terra grinned convincingly, "Together forever…"
"Wait, what?" Ariel questioned, eyeing Sora, as if he were to go up to one of them and fight them.
"Ursula has great powers…"
"The sea witch of the Forbidden Lands?" Sora asked knowingly, "But, we couldn't possibly-"
"Suit yourself," Axel interrupted, although despite the rejection they were giving him, he and Terra didn't look unfazed, "It's just a suggestion," They turned to leave the grotto, but as they did, Terra used his tail to flick a piece of the statue from the ground in Ariel's direction.
The mermaid picked the piece up. It was a part of Eric's face. Surprisingly, it was of half of his face, consisting of an eye, half his nose, and some of his lips. She looked at it with doubt. Could they be right? Could Ursula, the sea witch who was long ago banished form the kingdom due to her practises in dark magic, be of any help?
"Wait…"
The mermen turned around, "Yes…?"
"Ariel…" Sora began.
Ariel silenced him, "Come with me, then,"
Sora sighed, but that did not stop him from following the mermen with Ariel.
And that's the chapter! And yeah, I made Aqua the Queen. I chose Aqua even though her kingdom's a sea equivalent of Radiant Garden because I just preferred her being the queen as opposed to Kairi.