Sora could feel his heart race with excitement as the young boy looked outside his window; a storm was blowing outside. He wanted to race downstairs and watch the chaos with his mother and father, but he was sadly told to stay in his room. Sora pouted his cheeks out as he gazed upon the night sky, and quickly he noticed something was off about the night sky.
It wasn't the calming black sky that covered the night, but instead, he could see a dark purple sky that covered his island like a dark cloud, as he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. The six-year-old boy was getting nervous as he rushed downstairs, running for his parents to comfort him as the sacred child he was in the night. He'd deal with the dreadful stories that Riku would tell of his torment to Kairi and the others at a later date. Now was the time to hide where the dark clouds would never find him.
"Mom, Dad! I can't sleep; the storm is too crazy; I can't stop looking away from those clouds. Plus, I think I'm too nervous to fall asleep; can I stay with you guys for a little while until the sky looks better?" Sora whispered, gently rubbing the back of his neck, feeling guilty over the idea of asking his parents for help calming himself down, but he needed some way to fall asleep. He could hear it—the howling of the wind, the monstrous roar of thunder, and the sounds of waves slamming into the island that they called home.
"Sure thing, sweetheart, but remember, even though you're scared, just think of someone who cares about you, and all those bad sounds and monsters will vanish ok!" Sora's mother declared picking up her son, walking over to a chair that had one too many blankets, as the sounds of footsteps came from the kitchen. Sora turned his head to see the mess of his father's brown hair as the head of the family grabbed hold of a worn-down raincoat, looking like he was ready to head out into the storm.
"Honey, where are you going at this time of night? We've got a massive storm outside, and our little ball of happiness is scared half to death. Whatever you're planning, can't it wait till morning or at the very least until the storm has calmed down?" Sora's mother let out, sitting down in the chair, wrapping Sora in a handful of blankets, as they looked at the man's pale blue eyes.
"I'm afraid not; I can feel it in my bones; something is going on here. I need to find out what is happening to our little island, while the storm is blowing; after all, when have we ever had a storm involving purple clouds and winds this strong? You'd think the major and the other Islanders would have come asking for shelter, food or asking us to help with power." Sora's father said calmly, as if his mind were made up, and yet his voice almost didn't sound like his own, not that his wife and son would ever notice the difference until it was too late! The moment Sora's father opened the door, a powerful gust of wind blew throughout the house, attempting to push the family back throughout the house as Sora and his mother tried to keep their eyes open, desperately trying to watch for anything.
Sora's mother tried to etch towards the door, pressing her arms against her face, hoping to block some of the wind. However, it was a foolish idea. As she screamed in pain, as she made it to the door, her arms felt like they were in terrible agony, and the only thing pushing her forwards was the sounds of Sora's screaming behind her. She tried to look for her husband; however, he had vanished, causing her eyes to widen for a second only to close tightly as the sounds of the wind howled. Quickly she slammed the door closed as Sora ran towards his mother, grabbing hold of her tightly, as she gritted her teeth in pain, screaming any amounts of swear words that came to find, knowing that she'd chew out her husband for not just going outside in a storm leaving the door open forcing her and a literal six-year-old to face the brutal winds.
However, her anger would instantly fade away, as the pair heard something loud coming from outside, something louder than the wind. Quickly they rushed over to one of the windows that barely held itself together, looking outside for a second, just before the window broke, and the glass would be sent flying all over the room. What they saw would haunt Sora for his days; he could see the giant tree that loomed over the play island; it was in the air and coming towards the island where they lived.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Sora's mother let out, as she grabbed hold of her son as tightly as physically possible, waiting for the tree to hit the island. Only the wait wasn't for long, as the tree rapidly expanded into a giant mass of destruction, that had begun its descent towards the ground, ready to break the land in many pieces, as the family could hear the sounds of screaming echoing throughout the world. They closed their eyes as the tree rammed the ground with enough force to send everything flying into the wind, as the world was lost, and for a moment all hope had vanished upon the tiny world. The only one who would know of the horrors that lurked outside was a man, dawned in a brown robe, watching numerous houses floating up to a dark orb.
"This world is no longer connected; the darkness has been freed from its prison! Oh, how it's cries shall no longer go unpunished; now what will you do once you've awakened in a new world, Sora?" The hooded man declared, watching the world crumble before him, smiling deep within his hood, that today was the dawn of a new era of darkness.
—--
The first thing Sora felt was cold, as the young child didn't know what was going on. The last thing he could remember was the fear of his island being destroyed by the giant tree, and the question was whether Riku, Kairi or his father were okay. The only thing he knew was the fact that his mother, Thassa, was still in the house with him, while his father, Shivor had left them to suffer alone in the storm. Sora wanted to take a breath, but he couldn't; it was as if his lungs were being crushed as the young boy opened his eyes, gasping as bubbles left his mouth, and any attempt for air failed. He was under the ocean, falling deeper into the water; he wanted to cry as he descended. He could only ponder in what was likely his last few seconds, how much he hated this situation, the fact that his mother and him were left to drown in the ocean in some unknown world while his father was someplace else in the known universe!
Sora was beginning to accept the fact that his short life was good enough; he had a loving family, good friends and a paradise to swim in every day, but that was now a far-off memory, as he closed his eyes, waiting for the final breath to be upon him. Suddenly, a burst of light arose from behind him. As the young boy turned to see the light, as his eyes grew hazy, it was golden and beautiful. He wanted to dive deeper into the light, and feel its embrace. It felt like the same warm comfort that his mother had given to him, and he could only smile at that thought as he sank into the light. Unaware of the new life that would await him when he woke up from his transformation.
—--
Alana was curious, as the second-youngest princess of King Triton watched over a pair of merfolk who had entered her father's guest room. She was wondering what had happened, as her father never mentioned bringing anyone over, and they didn't look like anybody that lived in the kingdom beneath them. Maybe her father had the answer, as she heard the tall merman swimming into the room, with her mother, Queen, Athena.
"Honey, I thought I told you to wait with your sister's until we found out what was going on with these strangers from another world." Athena whispered, looking down at her daughter, while Triton kept his eye on the two sleeping merfolk that had entered his world mere moments ago. The older woman had seemed to be in a deeper sleep than that of her son, and while the child was still sleeping softer, he could only wonder what level of cruelty had been acted to send them to his ocean, and not allow them to breathe under his rule.
"But mom, I was worried about them, and Ariel wouldn't stop asking if they were going to be okay!" Alana let out, and as the queen bent down to look at her daughter, she smiled, and playfully rubbed her daughter's hair, then looked at the two former humans on the bed.
"I'm sure they'll be ok, isn't that right, my King?" Athena declared, looking over to her husband, as the King scratched his beard, pondering that question, holding his Trident in hand. It was a question only those who were once of the surface world could answer, all he could do was abandon some of his principles and turn them into merfolk forever, cursing them to the sea, but keeping the unknown mother and her son from the pain that tormented them.
"I think so, my dear; we just have to wait and see when they wake up; once they do, I'll ask them a few questions. Once I'm done, they shall be granted domain in our kingdom, and shall be treated as if they were born of the sea, since that is what you wanted, my queen! However, I imagine many will ask questions, especially Ariel and the girls, so do you have any ideas, since the queen is allowed some control over the fate of her people?" Triton said, flashing his queen a smile, as Athena and Alana looked at the family for a moment, as the queen quickly chuckled for a second, while Alana looked back and forth at her mother and the family. She didn't know what was going on, losing track of the conversation as soon as her mother started laughing, wondering what was funny.
"Why do I think the best answer is an arrangement? Wouldn't you agree, Triton? These two lost souls had drifted away from a far-off ocean, so now the young boy here shall wed one of our children when the time is right, and luckily we already have a daughter here to witness the beginning of this Undersea bond. We can tell our subjects that these two were caught in a storm or hit with a magic spell from that cruel sea witch that lives in the darkness and caused them some memory loss, and the thought of living on the surface world. So maybe you can give them a few memories to help make things easier to help them grasp this new life?" Athena declared, as she felt her smile growing, watching her husband be speechless, while Alana could only gaze at Sora's sleepy body; her face was red, and yet still questioning the idea of this marriage idea; she was too young, but knew that it sounded like a fairy tale that her mother would tell her upon bedtime.
"Athena, are you sure about this? I can deal with a marriage, but to alter their memories, I might as well affect the whole ocean while I'm at it. Because you know once this conversation ends, there's no going back, for better or worse, we are affecting the lives of these strangers as well, the life of Alana. Is that something you can live with, my queen?" Triton declared, feeling his heart racing just a little, as the implementation of an act of godhood was placed upon his hands, and the smile of his wife's face burned into his mind. How much could he change? What was the right answer? Could he sleep at night knowing that he was affecting human nature?
"I think so, my love. I'm not saying to completely change them, just give a little help to comfort the agony, and allow them to feel at ease in our kingdom. We'll tell them what changed once they awaken, and allow the opportunity to improve or let them stay the same." Athena whispered, feeling her arms shake as the King took a deep breath, his trident glowing brightly, and his heart sinking as if it were drowning and falling at the same time. In an instance, light and magic escaped the trident, hitting Alana, Athena and the two sleeping merfolk. Triton sighed as his wife and daughter dropped to the floor without warning, knowing what he had done for his kingdom and world.
The only thing of this conversation that would be kept intact was the idea of marriage: upon their 20th birthday, shall Alana be with the sleeping boy? It would be by his and Athena's rule. As far as the talk of memory altering, it was only a figment of his mind, a bitter idea that would be kept in the darkest part of his mind, away from the peaceful nature of his grace. Although the king did gaze upon their eyes for a moment, in that instance of power he gazed behind the curtain, witnessing the horrors of the outside world, the fall of humanity, as heartless monsters, and loved ones who had abandoned their own were to blame for this pain. Because at the moment, despite them sleeping, he could tell that they had no mouth, but screamed loudly, begging to escape the nightmares of fate.
Triton could feel tears running down his face, as bubbles rose from those tears, they were no longer humans from the outside world, not in his eyes. No, Sora, and Thassa were merfolk brought to his kingdom looking for a sense of change, and upon meeting him tomorrow, they would accept being in his kingdom, to be with his daughter, and to allow them the chance to escape the nightmares of a faraway kingdom. One where hope was lost, and the only thing they had was each other moving forward, leading them into Athena and his arms.
Triton, proceeded to grab hold of his wife and daughter, silently swimming up to the higher levels of the palace, placing them into their beds, as he grabbed the Triton for one last spell, tapping it against the ground, sending Sora and Thassa away from his kingdom, from his sight until tomorrow, placing them in an empty house with a bed, and doing the only thing to keep him sane in this dark moment of compassion, as he turned his eyes away from his weapon and fired a beam of light into his head, taking the memories away, leaving them only as a nightmare that would fade away as long as nothing would break this spell.
"Sleep tight, Alana, Athena, tomorrow is going to be a good day!" Triton whispered, looking down at his wife and the seven daughters, all in their beds. He didn't know what tomorrow would bring, but for some reason, he felt happy and willing to meet his kingdom and allow the bonds of the sea to blossom tomorrow.