Yawning underwater was probably one of the strangest sensations Sora had ever experienced, and he shook his head vigorously as he tried to wake himself up. He'd been swimming all night and now found himself among all sorts of icebergs of various sizes and shapes. He surfaced and looked around in the morning light for any sign of Melody's boat, but found nothing.
"Sheesh," he grumbled as he slipped back underwater. "Was she rowing all night? Didn't even bother to stop and sleep?" He slowly sunk to the seabed and scratched his head. "Where would she go all the way out here?" He sighed- again, an odd sensation underwater- and looked up toward the surface once more, pondering where to go next.
The sound of a splash caught his attention, and he picked himself back up and headed in the direction it had come from. He ducked behind an iceberg and peered out around it to find, to his surprise, a lone mermaid with a pink tail flipping and twirling around in the water. He frowned as she came closer, and his eyes widened as he realized who she was.
"Melody?!" She stopped short and glanced around wildly, and he swam out of his hiding spot toward her.
"Sora?" she stared at him, and they quickly looked each other over. "H-How did you get here? Why are you a merboy?"
"I could ask you the same thing," he pointed out. "Well, not merboy, mermaid. I came looking for you to make sure you were okay. How did you…?"
"You first," she said with a smile, and he sighed and shrugged, hoping a simple truth without the details wouldn't upset the world order.
"Magic," he replied. "I know some magic. I just wanted to make sure you were safe."
"That's really sweet of you," she said as she swam a circle around him. "But I'm fine! Better than fine, actually. This is amazing!" She kicked her tail and launched herself out of the water, diving back in a short distance away. "I met a really nice… uh, woman, I guess… She had magic too and turned me into a mermaid. She…" Her smile faded as she joined him again. "She understood why I want to be out here in the sea, said I was always meant to be more than just a human girl."
"Well, that was awfully nice of her to help you," Sora said. "Did she ask for anything in return?"
"Nope," Melody shook her head. "I guess she's just a nice person." He frowned and lowered his gaze in thought for a moment.
"Can I meet this woman?" he asked as he looked back up at her. "Maybe she can help me with another problem I'm having."
"Yeah, sure!" she grinned. "Follow me. I'll take you to her!" She swam off in the direction of a large cluster of icebergs, and he followed close behind her as he looked around the water. "Isn't this cool?" she asked as they navigated the ice. "Not stuck in the sand or just moving from side to side. I feel so free!"
"Yeah, it is cool," he agreed with a smile as he came up to her side. "But don't you worry about your parents? They must be worried sick about you." Melody slowed down and her smile faded.
"They wouldn't understand," she said dully. "I belong here in the sea, not stuck in the castle. It's like a completely different world here." She looked back over her shoulder to him. "Do you ever feel like that?" He smiled slightly and nodded.
"Yeah, I know the feeling." She smiled as well and looked forward again, pointing at a cavern in the ice up ahead. "She's in there." She picked up her pace and Sora followed, frowning as they entered. Melody immediately swam up to and hugged what appeared to be a mix of a squid and a woman, who looked surprised at Melody's suddenly appearance.
"Thank you, oh, thank you!" she looked up and grinned. "I love being a mermaid!" Melody's smile faded as she found the woman crying. "What… What's the matter?"
"Oh, Undertow, I'm such a failure," she said to the small fish nearby as she pulled away from Melody. "I should have known this would happen," she continued as she turned back to her visitor. "One taste and you're hooked."
"What's wrong?" Melody pressed as she followed the woman to a rocky face she laid down on.
"Oh, my dear…" the woman turned to her and shook her head. "There wasn't enough potion to make this a forever spell." Melody's eyes widened.
"Please," she grabbed onto the woman's arm. "There has to be something you can do. I don't want to go back to being an ordinary girl." Sora's hand crept up to his necklace, and he frowned.
"Oh, I'm not sure there's anything," the woman sobbed. "Well, unless-" she stopped short and covered her eyes with her hand. "No, no, what am I thinking? It's far too dangerous!"
"What's too dangerous?" Sora asked, and the woman bolted up in shock as she finally noticed him.
"Oh! I… Didn't realize we had another visitor." She frowned.
"Sorry about that," Melody said. "This is my friend Sora. Sora, this is Morgana."
"Nice to meet you," Sora said with a nod. "So what's the problem?"
"Well, I could make Melody's spell more permanent if…" She swung around one tentacle, creating an image from her ink. "If I had my magic trident. But it was stolen by a terrible heathen, and there's no one to get it back!" Once more, she started sobbing, and Sora frowned as Melody approached Morgana again.
"Maybe I could get it back for you," she said with a smile.
"Oh, darling," Morgana turned to her. "Would you really do that?"
"Well…" She looked over to her friend. "Sora, could I ask you to help me?"
"Yeah," Sora nodded. "If it got stolen, then it's only right we return it to its rightful owner."
"Bless you both," Morgana cried. "I couldn't ask for anything more!" She turned and retrieved something from behind the rock she sat on- a sheet of ice with a map carved into it. "Now. Here is where the scoundrel lives." Melody looked over the map, surprised.
"Atlantica? It's real?" she asked.
"Of course!" Morgana smiled. "Whoever told you otherwise?"
"My… Mother…" Melody replied softly as she looked down. "She said it was just an old fish tale."
"Oh, well… I'm sure she didn't mean to be cruel," Morgana said as she rested her hand on Melody's shoulder. Sora's eyes narrowed, but he stayed quiet for the moment. Melody shook her head and looked up again.
"So, if we get your trident back, you'll make me a mermaid forever?" she asked, and Morgana smiled.
"Even longer, if you'd like." Melody giggled and dipped her head.
"Okay. We'll get it back for you. You can count on me!" She quickly swam out for the ice cavern's entrance.
"Be careful, dear!" Morgana called back to her. "Enjoy those fins!"
"Miss Morgana," Sora beckoned, and she turned to him. "This heathen that stole your trident… Does he have any… monsters?"
"I'm not sure," Morgana replied. "But be careful, young man. I'd hate to see something happen to a nice boy like you. Please make sure Melody gets back here safely."
"I will," Sora nodded. "We'll be back soon." With that, he turned and headed out after Melody, catching up with her at the surface among the icebergs.
"Um… Do you know how to read a map?" she asked, turning to him as she turned the map to one side and another.
"Yeah," he chuckled and joined her. "But… Melody, are you sure we should do this?" he asked, and she looked up at him. "I don't know. Something about Morgana rubs me the wrong way."
"But look at all the things she's done for me," Melody pointed out, and he forced a smile.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Maybe I'm just paranoid." He held his hand out, and she gave him the map. "Now, let's get to Atlantica and get that trident back." He looked down at the map and studied it for a moment, then swam up to the sky. "Okay… So if the sun rises in the east, then…" He looked back down at the map and frowned. "That way." He pointed to the southeast and dove under the water, and she followed with a splash of her tail.
"This is gonna be fun, don't you think?" she asked, and he smiled and looked over his shoulder at her. "An undersea adventure! I've always dreamed about something like this."
"Then let's make the most of it," he replied with a grin. "Just don't go running off on me, okay?" She laughed and shook her head.
"Don't worry, I won't." She picked up her pace and pulled ahead of him. "Now let's hurry!"
The two shared plenty of bantering and confusion as they followed the map Morgana had given them, occasionally surfacing to check the direction they were going, and every now and again, Sora had to turn around and find Melody after she'd been distracted by some undersea cave or cliff to explore. But as the sun started to dip toward the horizon, they finally came across a golden castle under the waves, shimmering in the light that danced in the water. An awestruck smile crossed Melody's face as she stared at it.
"Atlantica…" she breathed. "It really is real!"
"It's beautiful," Sora agreed and frowned as he noticed several merfolk swimming around the castle. "We'll have to be careful not to get spotted, especially after we nab the trident."
"Right," she nodded. "Let's go." They started into Atlantica and swam around under several coral structures and around the spires. Melody looked around their surroundings with eyes filled with wonder, and Sora couldn't help but smile at the sight of her. But, in her distraction, she ran straight into the back of a merboy, who turned around, startled. Melody bit her lip and Sora clunked his forehead against one of the nearby spires.
"I'm sorry!" she said. "I just-"
"No, my fault," the merboy said at the same time. "Um… I don't think I've seen you around before. What's your name?"
"I'm… Mel-" her voice caught in her throat and her cheeks turned pink like her tail. "Mel…"
"Hey, guys!" the boy waved for a few other young merfolk to join him. "Meet Mel-Mel!"
"Hi," a mermaid greeted. "Do you want to hang out with us?" Melody started to nod, but Sora swam over quickly.
"Hey, sis," he interrupted. "Remember, we need to run that errand for Grandmother?" she blinked and stared at him, and he grimaced. "She asked us to pick up a few things, remember?"
"Oh, right," Melody nodded and turned to the other young merfolk. "Sorry."
"Nah, it's cool," the boy she'd run into said. "Maybe some other time." With that, Melody and Sora swam off and around a corner.
"Sorry about that," she said, looking down. "I just… I've never met a merperson before. Well, other than you. But I don't think you really count…?"
"Nah," he shook his head. "I understand. But you'll have plenty of time to hang out with them once we get Morgana's trident back." She nodded vigorously.
"Right, right. Let's go find it." She swam off toward a hall leading into the castle of Atlantica, and he followed close behind her. They came across what appeared to be a throne room, and sure enough, sitting in a pedestal was the trident they were looking for. Melody started toward it, but at the sound of approaching voices, they dove under a table that had been set up to the side. Melody peeked out from under the tablecloth as an older merman with a long white beard approached the throne and sat down within it.
"Is that the thief?" she whispered. "He doesn't look like some heathen." Sora frowned as he observed the merman, and he looked up as a seahorse came swimming up to him.
"King Triton, your daughter has returned," he announced. King Triton looked up and nodded, then swam up and out to the entrance hall.
"…King?" Sora thought aloud. "Is he… The sea king?" He looked down in thought. Was this the same sea king Sebastian had mentioned? Sebastian didn't seem like one to serve a thief.
"Sora!" Melody called softly, and he looked up to find her next to the trident.
"Melody, wait." He swam up to her. "I don't think-" But at the sound of voices approaching, she quickly grabbed hold of the trident and yanked on it, pulling it out of the pedestal.
"Come on!" she beckoned as she swam toward an opening in the walls, and he shook his head and followed close behind her.
"Melody," he said as he tried to keep up. "I'm not sure if…" But as they came across more open water, she stopped and he nearly ran into her. A loud growl sent waves through the water as a monstrous, shark-like creature appeared, staring at them with blank yellow eyes. Tendrils of darkness streamed off it, and on its forehead was a red and black symbol Sora had seen plenty of times in his studies.
"Heartless!" he quickly got in front of Melody and summoned his Keyblade. He shoved her to the side as the Heartless snapped at them. "Okay, Melody. Get out of here as quick as you can. I'll deal with this thing."
"But-" she started to protest, but he gave her a quick reassuring smile.
"Don't worry. I've been training for times just like this. Now go! I'll catch up." She chewed on her lip as he ducked around the Heartless and smacked it in the side of the head with his Keyblade, her grip tightening on the trident. "You don't have time for this!" he snapped. "It's okay. Really. Go!" She dipped her head to him.
"Thank you, Sora," she replied with an unsteady voice. "Be careful!" With that, she turned and swam off as fast as her tail would take her, and he turned back to the Heartless and readied his Keyblade.
"Alright, fish face," he said with a smirk. "Let's dance. I'm not going to fail Master Ven!"