Melody held into the trident anxiously, hesitating, but when she looked at Tazio's scared face, reaching out for her, she slowly started to swim forward, not wanting to see her baby brother get hurt...technically as he is now since he and Melody is no longer twins.
Suddenly, as Melody was about to get closer, Ariel and Eric swam in, horror in their eyes, with Ariel screaming out loud, "Don't, Melody!", before Melody shouted, "Mom, Dad!", surprised to see them when suddenly, the stingrays wrapped her parents in their fin-wings, trapping them as Tazio wailed out in fear.
Ariel's eyes widened in shock and motherly instinct, "Tazio, my baby!", with Eric gasping in surprise, "Tazio...How is it possible?!".
"You'd be surprised what I can accomplish, King Eric.", Cetus chuckled. "You shouldn't think less than the son of Ursula.", he said as the family was hit with another shock.
"You...", Ariel whispered in horror. "Was it that hard to figure out? Of course, she was my mother and you killed her! Why else would I even bother with you humans if not?!", Cetus spat angrily.
Melody widened her eyes as her parents stared in shock and terror, and Tazio cried as Cetus snarled, "Shut up!", and Tazio stopped, whimpering, and Cetus took a deep breath, "I didn't have to even do it...Just a bit of grey magic to have him back to flesh and blood. Wasn't easy, I say...No, no, Tazio's alive, all thanks to Melody here...Your daughter sure is special, sacrificing her twin bond. Like brother, like sister.", with a chuckle.
Ariel looked at Melody in shock, "You...You brought Tazio back to life?", and Melody looked at her, "I really want you to be happy again, Mom...I used the trident... I want all of us to be a family again...".
"And you can be, Melody, if you'd hand me the trident...After all, family is more important than anything, remember?", Cetus smiled wryly as he held up Tazio in his tentacles.
Melody exhaled deeply, and looked at Cetus, "Can you give Tazio to Mom the moment I give you the trident?", and Cetus raised an eyebrow, "Well, since you asked politely, I suppose I could, but no tricks now.", and glanced with a nod at Ink who's holding Ariel to let loosen her a bit, but still trapped.
Cetus's tentacle stretched out all the way to Ariel, but just out of reach, and Melody bit her lip, hearing her father call out, "Don't!", and Melody looked at him, "Sorry, Dad, but a princess gotta do what a princess gotta do.", and then handed the trident over to Cetus, who let go of Tazio, falling into Ariel's arms as she hugged him, sobbing and crying.
The moment Cetus took it, he laughed, feeling the power, and the family watched in horror as Cetus then instantly slammed the trident upon Melody, knocking her down against the wall, with Eric and Ariel screaming out, "Melody!".
Cetus then grinned, "One down, three to go! Ink?", and Ink moved back, freeing Ariel with Tazio as Cetus chanted in a foreign language, blasting a beam at the mother and son, and Ariel looked at Eric with desperation, "Eri-!", before she and Tazio vanished.
Eric screamed heartbreakingly, "NO!", and Cetus laughed, "Oh, don't worry, she and the brat's alive, just misplaced, that's all.", before smiling devilishly as he saw the locket projection, and an idea came to his mind, and he then chuckled, "Now, a better punishment for you.", before chanting once again, but slightly more different in format.
Gash let go of Eric as the beam of the trident went at Eric, and Eric screamed in pain and shock as he was shrunk, and before he knew it, he was pushed by force into the projection orb, trapped in the mini-city projection of Atlantica, and saw darkness as the locket closed on him, blacking out, and Cetus blasted a beam at the locket, and it vanished.
"Easy... just way too easy...", Cetus chuckled as he took a deep breath to look at the trident. "How Triton came to this vast power himself and not go mad with it is amazing...".
Cetus then used the trident to raise his lair up and up through the water, high in the air, as the stingrays guard the base of the new raised lair, cackling, unknowing that, upon when Ariel and Eric saw the lair, they sent Attina to go get Triton and a huge army of merfolk soldiers.
Triton roared angrily as he and his army of soldiers showed up, "CETUS!", with Cetus chuckling, "Oh, oh, here comes the cavalry.", not noticing that Melody woke up down in the base of the new lair, shaking her head, and heard the commotion happening outside.
"Well... if you're here to ask about getting back your trident that your granddaughter took, I'm afraid that you're clearly in no position for me to agree to that.", Cetus chuckled. "But I'm very much glad you're here, now there's a little unfinished business we have.".
Triton snarled, "Where's my daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter?!", and Cetus cackled, "Oh, temper, watch your temper. Let's say that your daughter is occupied with her son, misplaced somewhere in the New World, in the south, I believe, and your son-in-law is trapped in an unfortunate situation, floating somewhere in the north of the New World, separated from each other, far, far away. And your granddaughter is unconscious, probably out for a while where she won't be able to make trouble.".
Attina gasped in horror, covering her mouth in shock as Triton narrowed his eyes, "You've gone too far!", and Cetus grinned, "Oh, I know. After all, I have to seize my moment, whatever it takes. Now, I believe it's time for you to bow down before me for I have the power!", the trident beaming straight at Triton, forcing him to bow down, and repeating the same for everyone in the army including Attina.
"Ursula... what a fool you were.", Cetus said to himself. "All this power in your hand and you simply had a ship end you?", he started to laugh very hard, unaware that the situation was going to change rapidly.
Melody, having snuck out of the base of the upgraded lair, saw the stingrays, and smirked to herself as she slowly swam up, and very deliberately tied their tails into a knot, and then swam under them, in a burst of speed, and taunted them as she floated in front of them, "Whoo, try to get me, guppies!".
It's one thing for a fish or mermaid to be called a guppy because it's a common name to use in terms of teasing for fun and of course, nicknames when hatched, but for sharks, swordfish, and stingrays, well, it's an insult.
Ink and Gash narrowed their eyes angrily, and swam after Melody, going up, down, left and right before Melody turned a corner, and smirked to see a pointy rock, and swerved around, and looked back, and the stingrays instinctively swerved, but were caught, whipped back and twisted around each other into the rock, pinned, with the boys looking at each other in bewilderment and shock.
"Bye!", Melody laughed, and swam up to the surface, carefully peeking, and gasped silently in shock to see a lot of merfolk forced to bow, including her grandfather, and she glanced up to see Cetus gloating and cackling. Melody swam back under, and around the back of the lair, breaking the surface, and saw the tentacles looming on atop.
She narrowed her eyes, and dove down, deep and deep, and then worked her tail hard to swim up and up, breaking the surface, up and up in a arc, taking off the bracelet off and threw it into one of the tentacles, and instantly, Cetus changed into a human man, falling backwards, losing his balance, dropping the trident in surprise, and Melody grabbed it as she changed back into human, seeing Triton in her view, throwing it in his direction as she screamed, falling.
With the trident out of Cetus's hands, everybody came out of the forced bows, and Attina swam furiously, catching Melody in a swim-jump, saving her as Triton caught the Trident, with Cetus throwing off the bracelet in disgust, changing back to his old self before realizing with horror to see Triton holding the Trident.
Cetus didn't even have time to say anything before he was impaled straight through the chest; his lungs emptied as he stared Triton right in the eyes. "Say hello to Ursula from the abyss.", Triton growled as the life began to fade from Cetus's eyes.
All the lair collapsed into pieces, and some of those pieces killed the stingrays as well when they were trying to escape the collapsing lair, attempting in unwringing themselves out of the knot.
Melody groaned lightly as she blinked up at Attina, "Aunt Attina?", and Attina smiled in relief, "Thank goodness you're alright, Melody.", as she swam over to Triton, holding her niece, and Melody looked over to Triton, "Grandfather!".
Triton picked her up from Attina's arms, hugging her with his one arm as she hugged him around his neck, "I'm so glad you're safe, granddaughter...", and Melody sobbed, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!".
"Shh, shh, it's okay, Melody.", Triton reassured her, his trident turning her legs into a tail as he lowered her down in the water, and Melody looked devastated, "But I lost Mom, Dad, and Tazio!".
Triton replied, "Cetus said they're misplaced in the New World, but I pray that he's wrong that they're dead...", chanting in a foreign language as he focused on the location of the family, and blinked in surprise, "They're alive, and they're separated...Truly in the New World's oceans...And Tazio's alive too...How?".
Melody whispered in shame, "I just wanted us to be a whole family again, see Mom and Dad happy again...Cetus used grey magic to bring his body back to flesh and blood, and then I used your trident...And then this happened...It's my fault...Cetus put you in danger...".
Melody just broke down completely, "I fell into his trap... I thought I was trying to save a mermaid and her father, but...".
"It was that woman that tricked you, didn't she?", Attina said. "Some old princess that Eric apparently met before meeting Ariel. She apparently love-potioned your father... Ariel quickly snapped him out of it.".
Melody sighed heavily in relief before widening her eyes, "God, Grim, Carlotta...How am I going to tell them?...Daddy is not dead! I can't rule the kingdom...", and Triton reassured her, "You don't have to...It would take a long time for them to come home, but they will come home, I promise you. After all, they have good reason to. And I am sure that Grim and the others will take care of kingdom duties, doing most of the work...".
"And I can certainly be willing to fill in as a temporary regent for the kingdom, if you desire.", Attina offered. "The kingdom might accept me for a short time since I'm Ariel's sister.".
Melody replied softly, "Dad said that the kingdom relies on him to keep it safe, happy, and well...It's his responsibility... I hope you're right, Grandfather...I don't want to fail them...", hugging Triton again.
Attina hugged her from behind as Triton hugged them both, "Everything will be alright, Melody. Now, let's get you home. The sun's gone about now, and it will be dark soon.", and Melody sniffed, nodding.
And so, the army, and the small family returned home to Atlantica and Eric's palace, with everything explained to Grimsby and Carlotta, with Melody back to human, exhausted and still a bit guilty, praying that her parents and brother are okay as she went to sleep in her parents' bed, wanting to be comforted by their familiar scents before they would fade in time.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the New World, in the south, off Argentina, Ariel found herself with a crying Tazio, and Ariel shushed him instinctively, "I know, I know, honey...I'm scared too...", sniffing into his baby scent, "Poseidon, you're alive...You're breathing and so healthy...".
Tazio quieted down, gurgling as he noticed that he's no longer in danger, and he smiled at her before his belly grumbled. Ariel blinked in concern, "You're hungry!", biting her lip anxiously as she removed her bra, and Tazio immediately went to latch onto the nipple, but nothing happened, and he whimpered.
"I gotta find something...I hope it's here...", Ariel prayed as she looked around, swimming lower to the floor of the sea, searching for a familiar herb called fennel. She knew that it increases breast milk production.
To her relief, she found plenty of it, and took to eating it, and Tazio then latched back onto her nipple, and milk flowed through, as he drank, and Ariel sobbed in relief as she sat down in exhaustion, watching her son drink.
"Tazio...", Ariel sniffled, even though she was underwater. "I... can't believe it... you're here again... breathing... healthy... I'm sorry... I know you probably were peaceful and happy with Mother up there...". Ariel brushed his hair before she looked up, "Mother, please... don't be upset at us for what has happened... Melody... I know her heart was trying to be in the right place... and that monster certainly...", Ariel got angry. "I... no... I can't be angry, not now, not in front of you.", Ariel looked back to Tazio.
Tazio gave her a half smile as he focused on drinking her milk, and Ariel kissed him on the forehead, "I love you so much, Tazio...My heart feels whole with you here...I don't know where we are...Maybe the landmarks could help on the surface...", and Tazio cooed.
"But right now, you need to eat, and I'm exhausted...I hope Eric is okay...along with Melody...", sighing and praying as she leaned back against a rock wall, watching Tazio...She knew she isn't leaving him out of sight...
After plenty of rest for Ariel, Tazio gave out a loud burp, and Ariel chuckled in relief, "You're truly like your sister...Poseidon, that means you can do anything you want, my darling...", and Tazio giggled, reaching up to her face, and Ariel smiled, leaning her face into his, his fingers patting her cheeks.
Ariel smiled warmly, "Okay, let's go.", replacing her bra, and swam up to the surface, carefully peeking out, with Tazio taking in a happy squeal as he enjoyed the sun and the breeze, with Ariel frowning, "I know I didn't black out...This is somehow early afternoon...It should be dark already...", looking around herself, seeing that there's no familiar Italian cliffs, or even Othonoi's familiar rocky landscape, but rather like plains with distant wide mountains on the shoreline, not knowing that she's off the Pampas region of Argentina.
Or, as the world knew it at the moment, the Viceroy of Peru; all under the rulership of the Spanish crown, like much of the New World aside from Brazil which was the Portuguese and areas of the North American continent that were slowly building tensions between the French and the British.
"I don't think we're in the Mediterranean anymore, Tazio...", Ariel admitted as she looked around some more. Ariel sighed in frustration, "I wish I had your father's compass...", before widening her eyes, "Wait, maybe I can find one!", before diving back under the sea, hoping that her old skill of finding human treasures would come handy in this situation...
Even if the landscape is different up there, it couldn't be difficult to find human stuff down here under the sea, especially if there's wreckage of ships...
"Just hold tight, sweetie, Mommy's got you.", Ariel assures her son as the two of them headed down as Ariel looked for any sign of wreckage which was mostly like to be found. "Come on, this place has to have ships... if this is that New World, we might be in some serious trouble...".
Tazio gurgled, and Ariel kissed him on the forehead again, "I know, darling.", as she searched and searched, but to her frustration and shock, no ships, just a few rotting lifeboats and some lost barrels...
"At least we're safe...", Ariel frowned softly, and to her horror, the fish around her spoke foreign or either unable to talk...Tazio whimpered quietly, and Ariel reassured him, "It's okay, darling...Wait, the currents...Maybe there's a current that is flowing south to north or something... Maybe if it's flowing south, we can follow it north!".
Ariel took a deep breath as she looked up to the sky from the water, seeing where the sun was, she was having to best judge that she was indeed guessing correctly which way north was. "I guess we'll just keep to the shores, maybe we'll run into a ship and hopefully find someone who knows our language.".
Tazio cooed at her, and Ariel smiled softly, "Yeah, you're right, we got this.", swam on for the next few hours before she got tired of swimming, and Tazio cried out hungrily.
Ariel looked for more fennel, eating it as she then fed Tazio, smiling wryly, "Well, at least I'm glad to know that I'm not rusty since it has been a long time since I fed you and Melody...And you will grow fast...I can't wait to see you do everything...".