Here we go with chapter nineteen is here and I'm glad to be back here. Also, glad to have been able to get this up before Halloween. I've been getting back more on a role with these stories. So, I'm hoping to get the next one out soon, but no promises it'll be a week.
Also, again, thank you all so much for the reviews and support. My friend who had originally made the story, has been happy with how this version is going. A lot better than he could have hoped for. And again, this part of the story is going to focus on the other characters.
Ones who I felt should have been given more screen time than they did in the television and movie series. Don't worry. We'll be back with Melody, Gabriella, and Lapis soon. Just for now?
We're going to be with Attina, Urchin, and Sally. Now, the last time we saw them arrive to the island where Lyra, daughter of Hephaestus is at. Hephaestus is the blacksmith for the Olympian Gods. They hope to find his daughter and have her fix the broken trident that Titus destroyed.
We also saw Eric finding out where his daughter is at and where Titus is heading. Will he make it in time to help save his family? Will Attina and her friends make it to Lyra to fix the trident? Or will they run into whatever it is that's hunting them down?
Tune in today to find out everyone. Now, time for the disclaimer. I don't own anything owned by Disney except the OCs of my friend. Also, again I'm doing this for my friend who can no longer work on my projects.
Enjoy the chapter everyone.
Chapter XIX
Unknown Location
It's been about an hour since Attina, Urchin, and Sally arrived at the island where they'll find Lyra, daughter of Hephaestus. The island was made as a gift to Hephaestus, who had given it to his daughter. He set it up as her home, while also as her workshop, which resides in a volcano. Not the most ideal place, but then again, Lyra is the daughter of a god.
They were warned by the former Sun God Helios, that the island is full of dangerous creatures that protect the island from intruders. While also being warned about the traps that Lyra had set up to use against any intruders. They encountered their first trouble when a giant plant monster tried to eat Sally. Thankfully they killed it, but they knew they had to stay on the path and avoid straying from it.
Otherwise, they'll run into more trouble. Whether it's from Lyra's traps or her monsters.
Thankfully, Helios left them small light orbs to lead them towards their destination. They just need to follow the path and they'll get to their destination in no time.
Urchin walked in front of the women, while he kept his hand on the handle of his sword. He didn't pull it from its sheath but kept his hand on it. Just in case they do run into trouble, he'll be prepared. While Attina watched his back and kept her eyes peeled for any sign of anything, trying to attack them.
Sally meanwhile can be heard singing to herself to a familiar song. "Under the sea. Under the sea. Darling its better. Down where it's wetter. Take it from me. Up on the shore they work all day. Out in the sun they slave away. While we devotin'. Full time to floatin'. Under the sea."
Attina hummed to the song herself as she remembers some of the sea creatures singing it, after they had been convinced by Sebastian to come together to convince Ariel to avoid the surface. At first, she didn't think too much about the song since her sister went missing soon after. But then once she was safe and got together with Eric, she began singing it to herself. While making some changes to the lyrics later.
"Hey ladies," Urchin began to speak up as he tried to keep his guard up. "I know it's a catchy song, but maybe we should focus on you know, not running into anything dangerous?"
"Oh, sorry about that," said Sally as she apologized for breaking their concentration. "I usually sing when I get nervous. It's not often I travel this far from home and after almost getting eaten…well, I guess I'm trying to help calm my nerves down."
"It's okay," said Attina who knows what Sally means well. "I'm a little nervous too, but we'll be okay."
"Me too, but I'll tell you what. You can hum to yourself if that'll help," said Urchin who tries to make it up to their bird friend.
"All right, thank you," said Sally as she begins humming the song she was just singing. "Like that?"
"That's fine," said Urchin who at least won't get too distracted as he looks around. "Still, so far we haven't run into anything dangerous since the plant monster we encountered."
"That's true. I am surprised that's all we've run into so far," said Attina who wonders why that is. "I wonder if its because they know they can't penetrate through the path."
"It's possible," said Urchin as he stops for a moment and begins looking around.
"Urchin, are you okay?" Attina asked, wondering why he stopped.
"Maybe he needs to go? You know, how humans go somewhere private when they need to go?" Sally would say the correct word, so they know what she's saying, but she was told not to say that in public.
"What? No!" Urchin replied while blushing a little. "I just…look, just don't make any noises, please. I feel like we're being watched."
Attina and Sally knew Urchin was serious, so the two began to stop talking. If he suspects something is out there following them, then they'll leave it up to him to find out. Attina knew he had been spending time learning some skills that would help him protect their home.
Urchin had gone out with the Captain of the Royal Atlantica Guards, Nereus to go hunting during the time he was being trained. Nereus taught Urchin how to track, how to tell when there's been a sea creature in the area, and how to tell when they're being followed.
Urchin begins narrowing his eyes as he kneels and looks around. He knew whatever is out there, it's watching them through the thick bushes and trees. He looks down and finds a rock on the ground. Urchin slowly goes to grab it, while he looks back at where he was staring.
If something is there, then he'll be able to draw it out. Urchin stood up and stepped off the path before throwing the rock towards the bushes. A loud roar could be heard as a large beast emerged. Urchin, Sally, and Attina look on to see it's some sort of large creature with three heads.
One is that of a lion, a goat, and its tail with at the end has a snake's head.
Attina recognizes the creature and pulls Urchin back in the path just as the creature charges at him. As soon as she got him in the path, the monster leaps at them, but then crashes into a bright barrier that sends it flying back towards the ground.
Urchin, Attina, and Sally shielded their eyes after the bright light blinded them for a moment. Once it died down, they look over and see the monster slowly recovering, while still growling at them. It charged at them again, but the barrier against blocks the attack. The monster again comes back and tries slashing through the barrier, but none of its attacks worked.
Once the group realizes they are safe and the path is protected by this creature, they begin calming down. Despite the large monster still trying to come at them.
"What is that thing?" Urchin asked as he's never seen anything like this before.
"It's a Chimera," said Attina as she walks up to the barrier and examines the creature. "The tail of a snake, with one head being a goat, the other a lion, with its body more like the lion. It's amazing. I've only read stories about these creatures, but never imagined I'd ever see one."
"Great, fascinating," said Urchin who didn't seem that impressed as Attina is. "Well, at least Helios was right about staying on the path. A good thing too, since this thing clearly has been tracking us for a while."
"Is that why you stopped talking and acted weird?" Sally asked as she figures that's why he had them stop. "You sensed this thing was following us?"
"Not exactly," said Urchin as he sees the Chimera stop attacking the barrier, but did pace around, growling at them. "Captain Nereus taught me how to listen carefully. He taught me how to tell if we were being followed by listening carefully to our surroundings. If we hear a rock move, bubbles appearing nearby, or someone's heavy breathing."
In other cases, even sense if someone or something is nearby hunting them. Looking to kill and/or eat them. It has come in handy for Urchin, especially for this trip. He knew something was stalking them and he was able to lure it out by tossing the rock to force them to appear.
"Well, we don't have to worry about it coming after us," said Sally as she flew up in front of the barrier and where the creature is at. "Not as long as we're in here, it can't eat us."
The snake tail whipped in front of the barrier and let out a loud hiss while barring its fangs. This caused Sally to jump back and almost went out the barrier on the other side. But Attina and Urchin managed to grab her before keeping her from going out of the barrier. The Chimera had leaped over the barrier in the hope the bird to get the bird, but saw the humans saved her.
"Crafty and sneaky, isn't it?" Urchin asked while he sighed in relief that they saved Sally.
"The books I read never mentioned it would be like this," said Attina as she was tempted to write this all down. "I'm almost tempted to study it once we stop Titus."
"Speaking of which, let's get going," said Urchin as he puts Sally back in Attina's bag. "I was worried that the path wouldn't keep us safe, but now I see it'll keep this ugly bastard and anything we might run into from harming us."
"At least till we get to the end of the…" suddenly Attina felt the ground shake underneath her feet. "D-Did you all feel that?"
The group soon felt the ground shake again, this caused the Chimera to look around in fear. The once terrifying Chimera now looked terrified of whatever made the ground shake. It soon begins taking off and heads back into the dark jungle. This caused the group to now get worried of whatever it is out there making the ground shake.
Whatever it was, they knew would have to be bigger and scary enough to make the Chimera run away. And Urchin isn't going to wait around to find out.
He grabs hold of Attina's hand and begins running down the path. Attina held on to his hand as they soon heard loud stomp coming from behind them. They heard the noise growing more and more as they kept running. Despite how fast they ran, it was getting closer to them.
"Wait! Stop!" Sally shouts for her friends to stop running, which they did as something flew over them. It was a large tree and it fell right in front of their path. "That was too close."
"No kidding," said Urchin who was glad Sally saw the tree being tossed, otherwise they would have been crushed. "Let's go around it."
Attina nods in agreement as they move to go around the tree when another tree is thrown towards them. "Look out!" She pulls Urchin back before the tree crashes into him. "What the hell is this thing?"
"I don't know," said Urchin as he drew his sword and got into a battle stance. "But I think we're going to have to fight it."
Attina hates to admit it, but Urchin is right. There's no way they can outrun whatever is coming towards them, so they'll need to stand their ground and hope they can outsmart thing this.
"Sally," Attina begins releasing the bird from her bag. "Go hide somewhere and don't get seen, okay?"
"O-Okay, but if you need me, I'll be there," said Sally as she begins flying towards a nearby tree and looks on as she waits to see what's coming towards them.
Attina and Urchin wait as they see whatever is coming towards them appear. The ground continued to shake, and they heard what sounded like footsteps. They see the trees in front of them beginning to shake, causing the birds to fly away. A large shadowy figure soon begins to appear from behind the trees, causing both Attina and Urchin to stand ready for whatever it is.
Two large human hands soon appear between the trees, before spreading them apart and revealing what it is. It was a large 25 feet tall male human or what looked like one. This one though had large dreadlock hair, fair skin with black markings around his forehead, short beard, and one eye. Not two eyes with one missing, there is one eye in the middle of his face.
"I-It's a cyclops!" Attina replied as she recognized the creature.
"A cyclops? Oh, you've got to be kidding me," said Urchin who knew this wasn't going to be as easy as fighting the plant monster.
The Cyclops sees the two humans and begins letting out a loud scream as he charges at them. Attina and Urchin stood their ground hoping the barrier from the path would protect them. Until they saw the giant Cyclops walk along the path, shocking the two of them. Urchin pushes Attina out of the way and swings his sword, slashing at the Cyclops' right hand, causing him to yell in pain.
The Cyclops tries to crush Urchin, who rolls out of the way. Attina gets up and thrusts her sword forward into the ankle of the Cyclops. The Cyclops yells again in pain, before he swings his foot forward and sends Attina flying towards a tree. Attina hits the tree and appears knocked out.
"Attina!" Urchin goes to check on her, but the Cyclops grabbed him and caused him to drop his sword. The Cyclops brings him close to eating him. "I'm…not…getting…eaten…today!" Urchin struggled to get freed, but he couldn't pull the monster's hands off.
Luckily, Sally flew over and began pecking at the Cyclops' eye. This caused him to let out a painful scream as he tries to swat the bird away. This caused him to drop Urchin who grabbed his sword and rushes over to slash across his left ankle, causing the Cyclops to yell in pain. Urchin swings his blade again along the left leg before going for the right.
The Cyclops screamed loudly as he begins running forward to get some distance from the human. Urchin saw his chance and charges at the monster, hoping to cut out its ankles. The Cyclops got some distance enough before turning to the human and has his eye glowing brightly. Urchin saw this and knew this wasn't good.
A bright beam of light is fired from his eye and heads towards Urchin. Sally flew down and grabbed hold of Urchin's shirt before pulling him away. However, the blast did hit Urchin's left leg, causing him to yell out in pain. The blast disintegrated Urchin's left leg as the poor merman fell to the ground, in pain.
"Urchin!" Sally flew down to check on him before seeing the injury. "Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! This isn't good!" she soon saw the Cyclops walking over to them with his eyes glowing brightly again. "Definitely not good! Come on, Urchin! We got to go!"
Attina begins slowly recovering from being hit and looks over to see her friends are in trouble. She begins getting to her feet and runs over, before hearing the Cyclops speaking in a language she instantly recognized. A language she learned from her father during her studies. She looks to see the eye of the Cyclops glowing before looking at where her friends are at.
Attina runs over as the Cyclops stands over Urchin and Sally. The two move their arms out to shield themselves as the Cyclops prepares to attack. When Attina jumps in front of her friends and speaks in the language the Cyclops spoke.
"Parakaló stamatíste! Min ton pligóseis! Attina shouted as she spoke in the same language the Cyclops spoke in, which seems to work.
(Please stop! Don't hurt him!)
The Cyclops freezes in place and looks down towards the human woman. "Aftí i glóssa. To xéreis? Aftó simaínei óti boreís na me kataláveis?"
Translation: That language. You know of it? Does that mean you can understand me?
Attina nods in response as she continues to speak in the language. "Ématha na miláo elliniká apó ton patéra mou. Eímai i Attína, kóri tou vasiliá Trítona. Engoní tou vasiliá Poseidóna."
Translation: I learned how to speak Greek from my father. I am Attina, daughter of King Triton. Granddaughter of King Poseidon.
"Poseidóna," said the Cyclops as he looks even more surprised with what she said before he kneels in front of her.
Urchin tried to stand up, worried the monster was going to eat her, but Attina kept him back and allowed the Cyclops to do what he was going to do. The Cyclops leaned in and began sniffing Attina, while Attina noticed the strange noises the eye of the Cyclops was making. It was a strange noise. One she's never heard of before, but
The Cyclops soon begins to stop sniffing and begins to stand up, before he begins laughing. "Ha Ha! Eínai alítheia! Eísai i engoní tou ídiou tou Poseidóna! Myrízo ti myrodiá tou pou vgaínei apó séna!"
Translation: It is true! You are the granddaughter of Poseidon himself! I can smell his scent coming from you!
The Cyclops began to laugh as he seemed happy to find out Attina is related to Poseidon. Attina too looks happy to see it worked. She had heard of stories of the relationship the Olympian Gods had with the Cyclops people, especially how she heard one is related to Poseidon himself.
Urchin looked on completely confused before he began getting back to his feet, while Sally lands on his shoulders. "So, um does anyone want to tell me what's going on?" Sally asked who looked confused. "I didn't understand a single thing you two were saying in that…whatever it is you were speaking in."
"It's Greek," Attina replied as she turns to the others. "My father taught me how to speak it along with a few other languages. Although, now that I think about it, it was Greek that was the language we focused the most on."
Attina wonders if her father was preparing her for the day, she would have to speak it if she ever meets an Olympian or in this case a creature that speaks it, like the Cyclops.
"Wow. That is um handy," said Urchin as he looked up to the Cyclops. "So, are we good then?"
The Cyclops kneeled again, causing the group to move back a little, before he begins speaking, but in their language, while having his Greek accent. "Yes, we are good," this caught the group off-guard, who didn't expect him to speak this language.
"Y-You can understand us?" Urchin asked who seemed confused.
"Of course. I have learned how to speak dozens of other languages since my time on this island," said the Cyclops who has shown he's more than just a brute. "I do apologize for attacking you all. I was tasked to protect the island from intruders. So, when I found Lyra's pet plant was killed, I assumed you were here to harm her."
"That was her pet?!" Sally asked while raising her voice. "That thing tried to eat me!"
"Ha! Yes, it will do that," said the Cyclops who knew Lyra's pet will try to eat anything it can get its tentacles on. "But if you were defending yourselves, then I'm sure Lyra will understand. Now, allow me to introduce myself. I am Polyphemus, son of Poseidon and Thoosa, the Sea Nymph."
"Polyphemus? Wait, as in the Polyphemus from the story of Odysseus?" Attina asked who recalls reading the Greek Story of Homer's Odyssey.
"Odysseus?" Polyphemus asked as his tone begins to shift to one of anger. "Odysseus?! ODYSSEUS!" he shouts in anger as his yelling echoed across the island, before he slams his fist down on the ground, causing Attina and Urchin to fall to the ground. "That bastard has a story written about him?! That lying, thieving, and spineless coward had a story written about him?!"
"Y-Yes, there is," said Attina who had thought about lying, but knew the damage was done. So, she tries to find a way to calm him down. "The story spoke about his return to Ithaca after the Battle of Troy."
Urchin remembers listening to Attina when she told the story to some of the young merchildren. "I remember now. You're the Cyclops from the story. The one who ate some of Odysseus' men after you trapped them in your cave."
"Lies! All lies!" Polyphemus replied in anger before pointing his large finger towards Urchin. "You don't know what really happened. But I do. I was there. I was there when that liar came into my home, stole from me, and blinded me!"
"Hold on!" Attina steps between Urchin and Polyphemus as she tries to defuse the situation. "Great Polyphemus, I apologize for what Urchin, and I had said. You're right. We weren't there and we shouldn't trust what the story said. Please, tell us, what really happened."
"And how did you get your eye back if you lost it," said Sally was more curious on how this guy got his eye back if he claims he lost it.
"That um too, I suppose," said Attina as she moves her right hand over to the Cyclops' index finger and smiles at him. "Please?"
Polyphemus looks down at the woman and couldn't help but feel his anger beginning to subside. She truly is the granddaughter of Poseidon. A man who many saw as a horny and easy to anger God, but he knew the truth. He knew Poseidon was a kind, good, and understanding man who kept his temper controlled, while giving people a chance to explain themselves.
Polyphemus moves his finger back and begins to sit down on the ground, while crossing his legs. "A long time ago, I used to live on an island, far from here. I didn't have much, but I was content with it. I had my sheep, who I raised after they lost their master. I grew crops, I would fish, I would write out small stories, and I even made my own wine."
"Your own wine? From the crops you grew?" Urchin asked.
"Of course! I grew the best grapes in all of Greece and made such delicious wine, which I would send to the Gods in exchange for a bountiful harvest," said Polyphemus who was proud of his hard work and the praises he got from his fellow Cyclops brethren who enjoyed his wine.
"You are told much differently than the stories had told, especially about your kind," Attina explains that the stories they were told were how Cyclops were seen as man-eating giants who would devour any human they meet.
"Lies!" Polyphemus who felt insulted with what he was told. "We Cyclops despise the taste of men. Too much bone than actual meat. We prefer eating beef from our cattle or go fishing. While some of us enjoy even baking and making sweets."
"Sweets? Really?" Sally asked who found it hard to believe such a giant monster would be baking.
"Of course. In fact…" Polyphemus begins pulling something from his pouch and pulls it out to reveal some baked goods, but in large form. "Try some."
Attina and Urchin both looked at each other, unsure about trying the food. Until they smelled how good it is and decided to take a handful from the giant loaf. Once they pulled it off, they began taking a bite, with Sally pecking at it to get some of it. The three soon feel stopped chewing and look shocked.
Not from how bad it is, but from how delicious it is. They have eaten their fair of sweets before, but never anything as good as this one.
"This is amazing!" said Urchin who couldn't believe how good this was. "Way different from the ones from Eric and Ariel's kingdom."
"It's better than anything the sailors give us," said Sally as she keeps on pecking the food to take more. "Oh my gosh this is so good."
"Polyphemus, this is really good. You are an amazing baker," said Attina who praises the work of the Cyclops.
"Oh, thank you. I appreciate it," said Polyphemus who felt a little bashful for the compliments he's getting. "But you see my point. We aren't man-eaters, but rather we're hospitable. But if you try bringing harm to us…" the Cyclops grabs a nearby tree and crushes it with his bare hand, proving his point.
Attina gulped a little when she saw this and is glad, they didn't get grabbed. "So um, is that what happened with Odysseus? He took advantage of your kindness?"
"Yes and no," Polyphemus continued to explain what happened. "One day I was out checking on my crops when I heard some noises coming from my cave. I went to check it out and found these men in my home. They were drinking my wine, eating my food, and stealing my sheep."
"That was mentioned in the book," said Attina as she remembers reading how Odysseus and his men when they arrived, began doing exactly what Polyphemus says they did. "What did you do?"
"I told them to leave my home, but Odysseus claimed they were simple merchants who lost their ways, they were starving, and needed a place to stay," said Polyphemus who begins remembering the exact words that Odysseus told him and how naïve he was to believe these lies. "I told them they can stay for the night, as long as they behaved."
"And that's when they tried to get you drunk, right?" Urchin asked as he remembered this next part of the story.
"Correct," Polyphemus remembered how he was tricked by Odysseus into a drinking contest with his men. "After we spend some time talking, I thought they were truly good men and didn't see the harm in drinking. What a fool I was. They not only got me so drunk, that damn Odysseus tricked me into moving the boulder that led to the exit. When I realized what he was doing, he blinded me, stole my sheep, my wine, and burned my stories."
Polyphemus tried to stop them, but it was too late, and they were soon gone. He cursed Odysseus for what he did and hoped he would pay for what he did.
"Oh wow. Polyphemus, I'm so sorry," said Attina who felt bad for the Cyclops and knew he didn't deserve to be treated the way Odysseus treated him.
"Yeah. Odysseus wasn't a hero. He was a coward and a thief," said Urchin who felt angry at what Odysseus did and how he fabricated the story to make Polyphemus look bad.
"Hold on a minute. If he blinded you, how did you get your eyesight back?" Sally asked who was more focused on the eye than anything else from the story.
"Oh, that's thanks to Lady Lyra herself," said Polyphemus as he began explaining what happened. "You see, long ago, Hephaestus had sent his young daughter to see me after Poseidon found out what had happened. She was eight years old at the time, but she was already as skilled as her father."
Lyra had spent a few weeks developing a brand-new prosthetic eye for Polyphemus. One that allowed him to see again after she studied how the body works, specifically the eye. Polyphemus doesn't remember all the details of how she did it, but what he did remember is it involved a lot of moving machinery parts. That explains why his eye makes noises when he moves it around.
"Fascinating," said Attina who is amazed with Lyra's craftmanship and how she did what feels like an impossible task. "I've never seen anything like this back home."
"I've never heard of anything like it before," said Urchin as he begins remembering something. "She also made it into a weapon too?" he asked as he remembers how the Cyclops attacked him earlier.
"Oh? This?" Polyphemus points to his eye. "She made it as a defense mechanism to help fire a bright burning light from my eye. Just in case I ran into any trouble again."
"Well, it was pretty cool," said Sally who's never seen an eye do that before. "Makes me wish I had one."
"Now that I've told you my story, I have a question to ask you three. How did you come here and why? I was told by Lyra it would be impossible for anyone to be able to find this place without the help from the gods," said Polyphemus who wonders how these three showed up here.
"We had some help. From Hermes, the Messenger for the Gods, and Helios, the God of the Sun," said Attina as she tells Polyphemus how they got here. "We're here to look for Lyra to fix this…" she begins taking out the case that she was carrying, which held the broken trident.
Polyphemus sees the broken weapon and moves down to pick up the two pieces. "This is truly surprising to see. I never thought I would see anything Hephaestus made be broken. What happened?"
Attina begins telling him everything. She tells him about Titus, his escape, his attack in the home of her sister Ariel, him kidnapping her sister, his fight with Triton, and destroying the trident before he escaped.
"According to Titus, the children of Hephaestus made the sword that allowed him to weaken the trident and allow him to destroy it," said Attina as she finished explaining everything that happened.
"Ah. It must have been the others," said Polyphemus as he recalls how Hephaestus had taught his other children how to do his work, but they weren't interested. "They only learned how to smith because they saw it to gain favoritism with some of the other demigods who weren't welcome to live with the Olympians. Lyra though was the only one who truly wanted to learn and could craft better weapons than her siblings."
Hence the reason why Hephaestus gave her this place and all the raw materials she'll need to make anything she wants. Polyphemus and other creatures were all brought here to live on the island. With Polyphemus volunteering to stay with Lyra and be her protector. Keeping her safe from all danger, including her siblings.
"Well, we need her help. Titus is out there with Ariel looking for the original trident. If we'll have any hope of stopping him, we need to get the trident fixed," said Urchin who's hoping Polyphemus will help them.
"I see…" Polyphemus hands the broken pieces back to Attina before offering his hands to the two. "If you two need to get this fixed, then I'll take you there."
"You will?! Oh, thank you, Polyphemus," said Attina as she steps forward carefully on his hand.
Urchin does the same thing as Polyphemus lifts them both up carefully before putting them on his shoulders. "Now, hang on you two. I don't want you all to fall off while I take you to Lyra."
Soon the Cyclops begins to run along the path and heads towards its destination. While Attina and Urchin held on for their life. And Sally went inside the bag so she wouldn't be blown out of the bag. Attina looks up towards the volcano and knows they're one step closer to their goal.
We're almost there. Hang on, Ariel. Attina thought, knowing they'll soon get to Lyra and get the trident fixed. Once we get the trident fixed, we'll come save you, and bring you home. I promise.
Meanwhile
In Atlantica, King Triton is seen going over some paperwork that show he's transferring his power over to Attina once she returns with the trident. Triton had planned to have her become queen but had hope to wait during more peaceful times. Not when Ariel was in danger, his brother threatening to finish what he started, and his granddaughter going with a pirate to try rescuing her mother. This was not at all how he expected to retire, but he knew it was for the best.
Triton failed to stop his brother all those centuries ago and couldn't stop him now. He needed help from a pirate, who did more damage to his brother. That very same pirate who his granddaughter broke free from the dungeon and left with her to go after Titus.
"I can't believe I'm putting my trust in the hands of a pirate," said Triton who still felt such hatred towards pirates, especially after what they did to his wife. "If it was up to me, I'd be out there rescuing my daughter instead of trusting this pirate to bring her home."
"She really is a lot like her mom in a lot of ways," Triton looks over and sees his daughter daughters, Alana, Aquata, Arista, Adella, and Andrina coming in. "And we all know if Melody had been taken, Ariel would have gone to the pirate girl and ask her for help," said Arista as she swims over to their father.
"It's true," said Adella as she swam over to their father, opposite to where her sister Arista is at. "She'd become a pirate if she needs to do it in order to save her."
Triton sighed softly as he leans back against his seat and rubs between his eyes. "I know and that's what I'm worried about. I know Melody is worried about her mother, but she should leave this to us to handle. It's too dangerous."
"It's never really stopped Ariel from doing anything that is considered dangerous," said Andrina as she begins bringing up some stuff their sister did long ago. From the incident with the dinosaurs, to the killer whale, and helping their father return to being himself again when he turned young. "And despite our best insistence, she still did her best to fix things."
"Which is what she did," said Aquata as she brings their father something to eat. "Daddy, we know you're worried and wish you could be out there to help in the search. We all know what you're feeling," said Aquata who wishes they could do more than that they're doing. "But you have to relax and clear your mind."
"They're right," said Alana as she begins bringing her father some crème, she made to help relax the body. "If you don't then when we do find out where Ariel is being held, you're bound to do something reckless. And the last thing we want is to see you get hurt again."
Triton lets out another loud sigh, knowing his daughters are right. He's still recovering from his fight with his brother and knows he's no good to anyone if he's letting his emotions get the better of him. The last time he let his emotions run wild, it was when he discovered Ariel's hiding spot, where she was keeping human things. And when he found out she fell in love with a human, he lost it.
His rage and fear took over. Overwhelming him and keeping him from thinking clearly. This caused him to destroy all her possessions, which led her towards the sea witch herself, Ursula. He can't let that happen again.
Triton needs to control his emotions and not go out into battle without a plan. Otherwise, he'll make the same mistake he did before. Only this time, it'll cost him everything. From his own life to the life of all those he loves.
"I know and believe me, I don't want to make that same mistake as before," said Triton as he begins looking up at the ceiling of his room. "Just like how my brother."
The five daughters all turn to each other, as if they had been wanting to ask their father about something. Something relating to their apparent long-lost uncle and how the story they were told when they were little was true.
"Um daddy, about Titus…why didn't you ever tell us the truth? I mean, the truth," Alana asked wondering why their father never told them about this.
"Yeah. And how it turns out our home was once the kingdom of Atlantis," said Adella who's still having trouble believing this considering how their home looks. "And if it is, then shouldn't it be more where Greece is at?"
"And if this is true, doesn't that mean the lady Alexis is your sister? And our aunt?" Andrina asked.
Triton figured this was going to be brought up. So, there's no point in keeping this hidden from them any longer.
So, he clears his throat and answers their questions. "Your grandfather had three children. Titus and Alexis, both are twins, so they were the oldest. I was the youngest and a lot different than how I am now."
"You mean, like how you were when you turned young ago years ago?" Aquata asked as she recalls the time their father became young and how much of a troublemaker he was.
Triton cleared his throat again, while embarrassed that happened to him. "Well, um, n-not really. I was a little tamer, but timid and not anything like how my siblings were. Your uncle was a great warrior and strategist. While your aunt was a skilled magic user, a skilled fighter, and trickster."
While it's true Titus was great in combat, their sister was good at tricking them. Luring them in her traps and allowing her to get the win over them every time.
"As for Atlantis, your grandfather Poseidon had intended to build our kingdom close to Greece, but due to the conflicts that occurred within that region, he ultimately build it out here," said Triton who knew there was less conflict in the land, and he knew it was a perfect area for them to live.
"And believe it or not, but our home here, is a small fragment of Atlantis," said Triton as he sees the shocked looks on the faces of his daughters.
Triton explains how their home was one of the largest cities and kingdom in the world. It was in fact as big as the British land itself. However, the kingdom when it sank beneath the sea was broken into pieces. Scattered across the sea itself. This in fact caused many of their people to become divided and leave their home.
"I did my best to maintain peace and order around here, but it was a very difficult time for everyone. All trying to adjust to the undersea life and avoid being attacked by humans, who hunted us down," it was the reason why Triton kept his people away from the surface and near humans.
"Is that why Uncle Titus hated humans?" Arista asked, figuring that's why their uncle went evil.
"Your uncle…he didn't always hate them. In fact, there was a time he saw the good in them," Triton explains how long ago, Titus was even friends with some of history's greatest and brightest. "He believed they were capable of doing so much more and could help make the world a better place. But…but then one day, he lost the woman he loved."
Titus had fallen in love with a human woman. She was beautiful, kind, caring, brilliant, and understanding. She wanted to help make the world better and even unite the kingdoms of Greece. But one day, she never returned from her journey.
"Titus went in search of her and hope she would be okay. Well, he found her…well, what was left of her," said Triton as he spares the grim details of what Titus found out. From her being violated for a week, beaten, and abused.
All of this because she was trying to help a few locals with their financial troubles. The king believed she was planning a revolution against his reign, so he had her punished.
"The king had fed her to his dogs because she dared speak out against his tyranny. Titus made sure the king and all those who followed him, all paid for what they did. By burning them and their kingdom to the ground," said Triton as he saw the looks of horror in the eyes of his daughters. "While many of us understood why he did what he did, it didn't mean the innocent deserved to be punished. Titus didn't care and since that day, despising humanity for it."
"So, that's why he rebelled? Because Grandfather Poseidon refused to give him what he wanted? Control over the kingdom? Control to allow him to fulfill his goal?" Aquata asked.
Triton nods in response as he moves his hands together and close to his face. "Your grandfather knew the darkness within his son's heart was clouding his judgement. His hatred and anger against humanity was keeping him from being the good man that he once was. I honestly still believed there was once good in him and had hope he would come back to being good. But…well, you know what happened."
The five daughters all indeed know where this went. The story they were told had it where Titus was defeated, was cursed to be a monster, and sealed away for his sins.
"Daddy," Andrina began to speak as she was afraid to ask her question, because of what she'd be told. "Do you…do you plan to kill your brother when you find him?"
Triton looks surprised by his daughter's question, since he wasn't sure what he had planned to do once his brother is defeated. "I…I don't really know."
Triton never gave it any thought before about doing that. Since, well, he just assumed he would simply lock his brother away, like he did with Morgana. But this was different. This was family and he wasn't sure if he could go through with it.
"I know of the horrible things he's done, and I know he deserves to be punished," said Triton who knows his brother is too dangerous to be kept alive, since there's always a risk he'll come back again. "But on the other hand, he's…he's…"
"Your brother," said Alana who understood her father's struggles. "I honestly can't imagine ever going through with something like this," she then turns towards her sisters who all feel the same. "None of us do."
"And that's why I'm not sure if I can go through with it," said Triton who still needs time to think of what he'll do. "I just hope your sister Attina can at least come home soon with the trident, so we can at least discuss what to be done about my brother."
"Sire!" Sebastian came swimming into the room while panting a little. "Apologies for interrupting you, but…" it was then the red crab sees the king's daughters and wonders if he's interrupting something. "Oh, um sorry. I can come back later."
"No, no, it's okay," said Triton as he pushes himself off the chair and swims over to him. "What is it? Do you have news about Ariel or Melody's location?"
"We do actually," said Sebastian as he explains they got a message from Eric himself. "It seems there has been a sighting of the ship the girls took. They appear to be heading to the city called York. It also seems that's where your brother will be heading too."
York? Triton begins pulling out the map that Eric had given him and looks over it. He saw where its at and knew it wasn't too far for them to get there. "How long ago was this?"
"Three hours ago, plus the one hour it took for the young merguard to swim down here," said Sebastian as he swims over to the king. "Eric believes with your help; we should make it to York in a day. He'll bring fifteen of his men along with any of our guards to join us."
"A day huh?" Triton knew to do that he'll need some help from the creatures of the deep to get them there. "Andrina," he turns towards his sixth youngest daughter. "I want you to get in touch with your dolphin friends and see if they can round us up some whales to get us to York. On the double."
"Of course, daddy," said Andrina as she turned to her sister Adella and Arista. "Come on you two. Help me get as many dolphins as possible together and let's get some whales."
The three daughters soon took off to do their task, while Triton turns to Alana and Aquata. "I want you two to stay here and keep an eye on things. I'll be joining Eric and take some of our men with us."
"We understand, daddy," said Alana as she figured they were going to be left in charge while Attina and their father are out.
"We won't let you down…just please be careful, okay? And please promise us you'll bring everyone home," said Aquata who wants to make sure everyone comes back in one piece.
"I promise I'll make sure everyone comes back," said Triton before he turned to Sebastian. "Get in touch with Flounder and make sure to help my daughters around here. Got it?"
"Yes sir!" said Sebastian as he gives his king a salute.
Triton soon begins heading towards his bedchamber to retrieve some things he'll need. He begins going over to his closet before he begins moving towards a hidden button. He pushes down on it, causing the walls within his closet to open. Inside, stood a battle armor in gold and green color.
One that Triton never thought he would ever wear again. He begins moving his right hand along the gold helmet and sees his reflection coming off it. He looks over and sees a sword, that is in its sheath. Pulling it off the wall, he begins slowly pulling the sword from the sheath.
Revealing the blade to be silver with markings all around it. Looking at the reflection off the blade, he can see his old age. He wasn't the young man he once was. He wasn't the warrior everyone believed him to be.
"I'm not my brother," said Triton who knew he wasn't as good as his brother when it came to combat and is worried if he fights him again, he won't come back.
Triton begins putting the sword back in its sheath, closed his eyes, and begins letting out a small sigh. "Athena, I know I promised our daughters I'll come back to them, but…but I'm worried I don't have the strength needed to stop my brother this time. I couldn't stop him before, so what chance do I have to stop him?"
What chance did Triton have in doing what he failed to do long ago? If Alexis was here, she'd be able to stop Titus.
"What if I fail? What if I can't stop him? What if I lose everyone, because I was too weak to save Ariel and Melody, like I failed to save y-…" it was then Triton hears the music box that he had given to his wife, Athena.
It began playing on its own, without anyone around to make it play. Triton walks over to the song to see inside, has smaller version of himself and his wife dancing to the music. Triton picks up the box and begins listening to the song. Making tears begin forming in his eyes as he remembers making this for his beloved.
Triton could feel the spirit of his wife being with him. He can feel her love flowing through him. It helped remove any doubts he had through his mind and helped him overcome any fears of not coming back. He wasn't sure if it was really the spirit of his wife playing the music box, but if it was, it worked.
Triton closes the box and places it back on the nightstand. "You're right. I can't let my fear keep me from letting my family down. I won't let Titus win. I won't let him take away everything from us again. I will stop him, and I will make sure his hatred doesn't destroy our world."
Triton swims back towards his armor and begins pulling out his sword. "Prepare yourself, brother. I'm coming for you and I'm taking my daughter back."
It looks like Triton found the courage he needed to help him overcome his fear and doubts. Will it be enough? Also, giving some more backstory of why Titus did what he did. Think he was justified in what he did?
Also, looks like Attina, Urchin, and Sally found the Cyclops Polyphemus, son of Poseidon, which makes him Attina's step-uncle huh? Okay, for some backstory. Polyphemus appeared in Homer's Odyssey, which talked about the story of Odysseus after the War of Troy. Odysseus offended the gods after the war and so they kept him from trying to return home to his family. During their travels, they ran into the Cyclops himself.
They tricked him by getting him drunk, blinding him, and made their escape. All the while mocking him when they sailed from his home. I decided to bring him in and give him a better story of what really happened. While also giving him a laser eye too.
What will happen when he brings them to Lyra? Will she be able to fix the broken trident? Will they be able to return home in time before Eric and Triton head to York? Or will something come along to mess things up?
Tune in next time to find out & thank you all for the support for my friend. He appreciates all the support for his story and if you like how this chapter went, then please leave some reviews. Just nothing negative please. See you all next time, take good care, and have a good day.