Ariel sighed, and looked at Eric, "It's going to hurt a lot, so much...It's Tazio's birthday in a few days, and then his death in a few more days...I...don't know how to say it all without wanting to hide...What if she hates me?".
"Ariel, you won't be alone. I'll be right there by your side...This hurts me too, but Melody deserves to know...And you've been a wonderful mother...She would never hate you...She may be upset, but she is not that kind of child who hates their parents. After all, we love her, and we raised her with all the freedom we could ever give at a certain point.", Eric stroked her cheek tenderly, looking at her with a soft, small smile.
Taking a deep breath, Ariel glanced at one of the large windows of the grand ballroom which is showing the cliffs with the sea crashing upon them, and whispered softly, "Okay...Let's go find her...".
"Oh, we're doing this now?", Eric asked as Ariel nodded, "Yes, let's do it now, before I hesitate again and then we'll be going through this whole conversation again.".
Eric smiled proudly as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, kissing her temple as they walked out of the grand ballroom, heading to the music room, and seeing that she isn't there, headed up the stairs to Melody's room, several doors down from the master bedroom, and heard quiet barks among giggles, and knocked on the door.
"Melody? I and your mother are here.", Eric called out, and Melody called out, "Yeah, come in!", with Ariel taking a deep breath as she walked into the room, with Eric closing the door behind them, seeing Melody tossing a ball to Max who caught it, sort of sprinting slowly back to her, panting.
Ariel smiled softly, "I think you have tired him out enough, Melody...", and Melody nodded, ruffling Max's head, "Get some rest, silly boy.", and Max ruffed softly, walking around the bed to lay down on the rug ends at the base of the bed in front.
Eric smiled, ruffling Max's head, "Good boy, Max.", as Ariel ruffled his ears, "Yes, you are.", with a soft smile before exhaling as she took a seat on the edge of the bed, with Eric sitting beside her, and Melody realized that this is it, sitting back against her pillows, waiting for something to happen.
"Do you want me to start, my love?", Eric asked gently, and Ariel nodded softly. Eric then looked at Melody, "Now you know that we met not long ago, yes?", and Melody nodded, "Yeah, when you were 18, and Mom was 16, which is still a bit amazing to me...I mean, you two look great!".
Ariel gave a little laugh, and Eric chuckled, feeling the tension dissipate away with that comment, "Well, it was my birthday party on my old beloved ship, and Ariel here, she was an unexpected guest.", with a smile, glancing at Ariel who blushed, remembering that wonderful party so well.
"Unexpected is one way of putting it. Your father didn't even know I existed." Ariel chuckled. "And not in a whole just didn't know me from anywhere, I mean...", Ariel glanced away.
"Melody... listen, this is going to be a bit hard to take in... but... do you still believe in those mermaid stories that some of the sailors liked to talk about?", Eric asked.
Melody blinked, "You mean Atlantica? It's not a folktale?", and Eric shook his head, "It's not a folktale because it's real...I've been there because of Ariel...", and Ariel exhaled, "I was a mermaid, born and raised in Atlantica...Fins and all...", with a fond, wistful smile.
"I bet you'll be just as beautiful as you were, my little mermaid.", Eric smiled, kissing her forehead, and Melody widened her eyes, "Wait...but how come you're human? Or even having me and Tazio?".
Ariel's voice quivered sharply for a moment, tears prickling at her eyes, and Eric shushed her quietly, "It's okay, it's okay.", presuming that either she's remembering Ursula, or the monster who killed Tazio through her...
"I'm...okay...I'm okay...We're safe...we're safe...", Ariel nodded softly before taking a deep breath, and looked at Melody, "You remember those trips to Othonoi, with my family visiting?".
Melody nodded, "Yeah, Grandfather and my aunties...Hold on, they're merpeople?! But they were human the times they visited!", and Ariel smiled, "That's because your grandfather, my father, he's King Triton of Atlantica, and he has a magical artifact that can do wonders.".
Melody was almost giddy with excitement upon hearing this as Eric and Ariel could tell. "Okay, just slow down there, Melody... because we have reasons why you didn't know this from the moment you could even talk."
"You know the story of your grandmother? My mother, and the Barbary pirates?", Ariel asked as Melody nodded. "Well, her death was what drove my father to despise humans, which we'll get to in a moment, but her death was thanks to an evil sea witch named Ursula..."
Eric shivered, exhaling, closing his eyes as memories of that great battle came through his mind, and nearly losing Ariel to her critical injuries before Triton saved her by healing her.
Ariel grabbed his hand, kissing him on the cheek, "Breathe, Eric, I'm here, I'm here. She's dead...", and Eric nodded quickly, "Yes, yes, you're safe.", before taking a deep breath, and looking at Melody who became concerned for a moment.
"I'm alright, Melody. It's an intense, long story...", Eric spoke, and Melody nodded before asking, "This Ursula indirectly killed my grandmother?".
Ariel nodded, "Yes...You see, why she was a witch is because she had dark magic...She wanted to rule Atlantica with all her dark magic...But she had plans of plans, and she...she went up to the surface, disguising herself, and betrayed Atlantica by telling the pirates the location of a precious, secret cove where merpeople could gather from all corners of the Ionian Sea, from Atlantica and beyond the city, having fun, playing music, enjoying the sun, and laughing...".
Giving a sob, "I was three when they came...I barely remember the screams of fear, the fury of Daddy as he ordered everyone to escape, to head to safety...I didn't know until much later that I found out that your eldest aunt, my sister Attina, was trapped under a rock, and Mother, Queen Athena was her name, was rescuing her...and she was killed just as Daddy was there, catching Attina as Mother threw her to him. Attina didn't see it happen as Daddy covered her from the sight and had to swim away before Attina would even want to know what happened...".
"Daddy returned after a short time, making sure my sisters and I were fully safe before finding what was left of Mother... they... they savaged her. Father was enraged at humanity from that day, and at Ursula as well; but she hid herself away to avoid my father's retribution.", Ariel finished.
Melody was shocked, horrified, and upset to finally know why her grandmother isn't here now, and it's the first bad thing to happen to her mother and the family...But she knew more is waiting, and she isn't cowardly to run away when she wants to know especially why she couldn't go to sea here when she was allowed to at Othonoi.
"That must have been scary, Mom...", Melody whispered softly, and Ariel exhaled, "It was...now since Daddy became enraged at humanity, he made rules for Atlantica; don't be seen by humans, no going to the surface, and don't ever touch anything human-made...Well, I broke two out of the three rules constantly when I became a teenager...I couldn't help it...Sure, I was brokenhearted of Mother's death by pirates, but I thought all humans cannot be that bad since they made so many incredible things...", with a nod.
"Your mother collected quite a number of things from shipwrecks and other locations... had built quite the little collection.", Eric chuckled as Ariel nodded.
"And not really knowing what a lot of them were... I thought forks were actually combs.", Ariel laughed as she went red faced with embarrassment.
Melody laughed softly, "Oh, my gosh!", giggling with a wide smile, and Eric grinned wryly as Ariel kept blushing for a few more moments before eventually, Melody calmed down, still smiling, "Did you have fun?".
Ariel smiled, "I indeed did, having adventures here and there, along with my best friend, Flounder. He's a yellow and blue fish.", and Melody nodded before asking, "So, by breaking those two rules, you actually rebelled against Grandfather?"...
"Yes, and he hadn't found out for a long time since I kept it secret, but those adventures were often the reasons why I was late for several things...The day of your father's birthday, I was on another adventure, and I actually forgot about the concert which was in honor of Daddy...I was supposed to have a solo...Daddy was really mad...I was grounded, but I wanted to cool off, have time to myself, so I snuck out of my room...", Ariel spoke.
Melody widened her eyes, "Whoa...And then you came upon the ship from the surface?", and Eric chuckled, "She was drawn to the party by the fireworks and music...It was the first time you saw fireworks...".
Ariel nodded with a smile, "I didn't know them by the name then, Melody, as I called them 'exploding lights'. It was a bit difficult to lug my tail up, but I managed...Believe it or not, but it was Max who caught my attention as I never saw a dog before, and I followed him with my eyes, when I saw him...Your father playing with him, and playing music, smiling, and dancing.", with a chuckle, looking to Eric.
"And of course, I was none the wiser about her being there. Probably would've never actually met her if not for the sudden massive storm that came almost right on top of us." Eric sighed. "I found myself trapped on the sinking ship as the storm damaged it to that point. Everyone else had gotten off but Max was still left behind and I went to get him... but I ended up knocked out."
"And that was when I was trying to save him... but didn't have that great luck.", Ariel said as she rubbed her arm.
Melody is enraptured by the story, and asked, "What happened?", and Ariel exhaled, "I got really injured. The storm was really furious, breaking everything that wasn't nailed to the walls or floor, including the glass...My tail got the worst of it as I tried to cover myself and Eric with blankets that Max found, and from the injuries and trying to hold on into the nailed bed, I soon blacked out as well...It lasted most if not entirely the whole night as the storm lifted the remains of the ship far to Othonoi.".
"Oh, that's why you knew Menelaos!", Melody exclaimed in surprise, remembering the tutor she occasionally had in learning Greek while being on Othonoi. Eric chuckled, "Yes, but not immediately...You see, Othonoi was and is unknowing about merpeople and Atlantica because I kept a promise after I woke up to see her on the beach where we drifted into.".
"Of course, I was still unconscious, so I wasn't able to hide from him and kind of exposed the fact that I was a mermaid to him.", Ariel said. "But eventually, I woke up, we talked for a bit before he got me to the cave that you know so well and cleaned up my wounds.".
Melody smiled, now knowing why the cove was so important to her parents as it was their secret place, and now the beloved family picnics happen there, with Melody allowed to swim in the cove waters.
"Then you fell in love with each other!", Melody giggled softly, and Eric smiled, "Not quite...We were friends for a few weeks at first, but we slowly gained attraction for each other those weeks, and it came to a new level after I found out that Othonoi Village was literally on the eastern side of the island...We realized that we would have to part our ways soon...Then we then fell in love in our dreams first before having our first real kiss on the morning of the departure...".
Ariel sighed, "It was hard getting used to the fact that I would wake up without seeing your father's face in the mornings, but our dreams kept us happy for the most part. Of course, upon returning to Atlantica, the punishment from that day of the storm was still on the table, so I took it without compliant until I had enough, punching a foreign prince hard on the nose when he was getting, ah, rather inappropriate.".
Melody whistled, "Dang! Was Grandfather angry?", and Ariel nodded, "He was as he was trying to find someone for me, for security and the fact that I was the youngest princess, never having interest in any merman in Atlantica...You see, he didn't know about I and Eric being soulmates, nor that Eric is human.".
"Soulmates?", Melody asked in curiosity. Ariel smiled warmly, "Upon turning 16, sooner or later, mermaids find their soulmates by perchance of meeting them, and of course, having dreams together...I do not know if you have that since you are part of me...".
Melody shrugged, "Maybe, maybe not. So, Grandfather noticed that something was off?", and Ariel nodded, "It was my fault accidentally. Sebastian overheard me when I was talking with Arista after rehearsal a few days later after that fiasco with the foreign prince.".
"My sisters all knew... basically, I kinda talked a bit too loud in my sleep. They all agreed to keep it to themselves, but as I said... Sebastian heard us... and Daddy knew something was off, but it wasn't until Sebastian accidentally let things slip.", Ariel sighed.
"Apparently, this is, according to your mother, but her father soon found her hideaway, all her things... and Ariel admitted about us to him.", Eric glanced away.
Melody widened her eyes, "Because you broke all three rules now...", and Ariel sighed, "That's only part of it, yes, but he was more enraged at the fact that I was in love with a human, even when he knew that he is my soulmate...He didn't want to kill me by breaking the bond extremely, but he did the next worst thing...He destroyed all my treasures...Of course, he made up for it, fixing everything way later, but at the time then, I was devastated, heartbroken, and your father, even if he couldn't see it, he felt everything I felt, and he was concerned for me...".
Eric nodded, "I knew something was happening, and I prayed that Ariel was okay, and well, I saw the clouds change momentarily that day, showing that her father was angry at her for something really important. Of course, it didn't compare to what happened later that night.", with a sigh.
Melody looked at the shameful look on Ariel's face and it almost clicked for her. "Ursula?", she guessed as Ariel nodded.
"Her eel henchmen slithered up to me while I was completely devastated. Told me about how Ursula could help and... against better judgement, I went to her.", Ariel sighed heavily.
Melody frowned, "What did she look like?", and Ariel sighed deeply, "Obese, about in her 40s, maybe, light purple-skinned, with violet-black eyes, with lots of underwater makeup on her, with black tentacles with purple suction cups. She was a Cecilian; a merwoman with octopus appendages instead of a fish tail like a mermaid.".
"Doesn't sound that scary to me...", Melody commented, and Ariel replied, "And that is why appearances can be deceiving. Being a witch, and having dark magic made her powerfully dangerous, and why few people even dared to come to her over the years, is because there were rumors that she made people disappear thanks to not succeeding with their contract deals...until I found how, that is...".
"Essentially, Ariel went into Ursula's lair and the witch agreed to make Ariel human... to be with me. Of course, at a cost; she would only have three days to have true love's kiss with me and she had to do it without her voice which Ursula desired.", Eric explained. "And if she didn't fulfill the contract... she was to belong to Ursula.".
"Of course...", Ariel smirked. "Ursula didn't realize how far our love had gone so she thought she still held an advantage...".
"How long?", Melody smirked, similar to her mother's. "About a few hours maybe?", Eric thought.
Ariel nodded, "About a couple of hours since making it to the shore, yeah.", and Melody chuckled, "And you were free then to explore the whole palace, the village, anything you wanted.".
"Indeed, I have, and those days were the best ones ever as I learned so much, essentially learning a human life. Of course, Ursula wasn't done yet...When she somehow found out, probably thanks to her eel brother minions, she was upset that her essential plan was ruined as I upended her, but unfortunately as she didn't like to lose, and was so prepared with plans upon plans, she decided to do one of the most horrible things in dark magic imaginable...Making undead people as she brought the Barbary pirates back to life basically without much ability to think as they were puppets to her...", Ariel shivered as she remembered the lagoon...Poseidon, it was so perfect, dancing with Eric, with the music playing, thanks to the animals creating sounds out of nature, until it changed...