"Quickly Flounder!" Filled with smiles and swelling excitement for the adventure that was to come, Ariel eagerly dragged Flounder out of her room first thing in the morning.
The guards who were supposed to make sure she wouldn't escape were deemed useless in the face of her wits. Ariel knew the entire layout of the castle like the back of her hand thanks to her years of experience in escaping whenever she wanted to explore sunken ships or visit her secret cave.
Flounder, timid and afraid of getting caught, kept trying to convince Ariel, "I-I really don't think this is a good idea, Ariel. We should go back!"
Ariel stopped and pouted, "Oh come on, Flounder. At least do this for me, please?"
Flounder gulped his saliva hard, trying his best to survive under the pressure of Ariel's tantalizing eyes.
In the end, he surrendered, "Alright fine. Just make sure to keep quiet and keep your head down. I heard pirates are the worst scum among humans." He shuddered as he recalled the words of his fellow fish, one of whom was almost caught by pirates and their nets.
"Ohh! I knew I could always rely on you, Flounder!" Ariel excitedly hugged the fish, seemingly ignoring his last few words.
With that being said, Ariel and Flounder flew out of the palace together. With Ariel's analytical mind and perfect recall over the layout along with its secret paths and holes, they squeezed inside—they managed to escape without alerting anyone.
"We're free!" Ariel squealed as she swerved around the water, flapping her fish tail wherever she went.
Behind her, Flounder followed loosely, having a hard time keeping up with her energy, "Ariel! Wait for me!"
By the time he caught up with her, he accidentally collided with her back, "Ow! Ariel, why'd you sto—" but before he could finish his sentence, Ariel grabbed him like how one would grab a pebble.
"Flounder, look over there." She thrust him forward and pointed at a certain location in the distance.
Squinting his eyes, Flounder gasped in surprise when he saw a huge net being pulled back to the surface. Normally, he wouldn't bother with it but when Flounder saw schools of fish trapped inside, with some even being his acquaintances, Flounder's eyes widened.
"T-That's Floppy and Conder!" He yelped in a panic, if it wasn't for the danger around the net, Flounder would've wasted no time in saving them.
Fortunately or unfortunately, Ariel doesn't share the same hesitation as his, "Let's save!" Without a hint of fear, Ariel let go of Flounder and bolted forward, her speed almost rivaling that of the fastest marine creatures.
"Ariel no!" Flounder gasped in shock and immediately tried to follow her.
When Ariel arrived, she tried to calm the panicking fish first, "Everyone, calm down! I'm going to save all of you!"
"Princess Ariel! Please help us!"
"We're trapped!"
"It's over! It's all over, we're going to die!"
Ariel angrily clenched her fists and glared at whoever said the last line, "No one is going to die, do you hear me!?"
A fish, particularly a clown fish, nodded his head several times and turned quiet, prompting another clown fish behind him to smack him on the head, "That's what you get for being too noisy, Marlin. Just leave it to the princess and we'll be just fine."
"I-I'm sorry, Coral. I was a bit nervous."
Now that the trapped marine creatures were silent, Ariel finally got the peace of mind to cut the net with her fingernails and teeth.
Thankfully, that's when Flounder arrived beside her and tried his best to help her albeit useless considering his small size and lack of anything sharp.
Fortunately, Ariel's body strength is twice as strong as a normal human and just before the net could reach the surface, she was able to make a gap large enough to haul all the smaller fish and creatures out of the net.
Which left only a few. Hogfishes, Mutton Snappers, Black Groupers, and last but not the least, an old turtle.
"P-Princess Ariel, are we going to be fine?" A Hogfish asked, shivering in fear and yet doing his best to stay calm.
Princess wanted to assure him, that they'd be able to escape the net but the surface of the sea is getting closer and so is the hull of the ship that is doing all of this.
With a trembling smile on her face, Ariel replied, "I'm not going to leave you guys. I-I'll try to convince them to release all of you."
The old turtle meanwhile, stared at her and with a croaky voice, he spoke, "Your life is a thousand times more important than ours, princess. We are but a mere speck in front of millions of the same kind unlike you." The old turtle then smiled, his wrinkles showing itself on his face, "So please save yourself instead. You helping us is enough for me to know that the entire sea will be in good hands in the future."
"No! I'll save you! I can do this, I'll talk to them!" Ariel shook her head and retorted. After that there was silence and it was defeaning.
'I-I'll convince them somehow…right?' Ariel gulped her saliva hard and stared up at the sky, directly at the surface closing in on them.
With closed eyes, they emerged from the sea, leaving behind a few escapees and Flounder.
"Ariel no…" Flounder muttered to himself in horror, as if knowing what Ariel's capture would cause on not just under the sea but also to the humans on the surface.
Only Poseidon knows how capable King Triton is if he's angered.
"They need to know about this. The king needs to know this…especially Henry, he might be able to free her considering he's also a human!"
With that decision in mind, Flounder turned around and quickly swam all the way back to the palace, ready to warn the King of what happened, and then after that, he'll go to the shores of Arendelle and also relay to Henry about Ariel's kidnapping.
The entire continent will tremble and this weight is now on his shoulders.
———
"Captain! Look at what we got! A real mermaid!" On the surface, a tremendous ship sailed on the sea, and on its deck was filled with feral-looking men with grins on their faces—some were missing teeth while others were wearing eyepatches.
One of the men was holding a net filled with several big fish and a turtle. However, the most eye-catching among them was the beautiful red-haired girl with a fish tail as her legs, clutching the net with a determined expression on her face.
There was clattering and murmurs among the men as they pointed their fingers at the girl.
"Is that really a mermaid? I heard the cap'n killed one once, is that true?"
"Of course it is! Cap'n Regor is the next Pirate King! No one can topple his feats!"
"Yeah!"
"Quiet! The cap'n is here!" Among the crowd, one pirate shouted, immediately silencing the entire crew.
Heads turned over the higher deck and there stood a hulking man, red coat and cap along with a simple cutlass in hand. A huge goatee on his face and a black eye patch attached to his left eye.
His face? Intimidating, as if a single look can make one freeze and piss.
"Captain! You were right! There's a mermaid around this area!" His first mate, a middle-aged man with glasses and messy blonde hair, excitedly told the man.
Regor responded with a booming laugh, "Wahahahaha! I know what I'm seeing, Roland!" his words garnered laughs from the rest of the crew, while the first mate embarrassingly scratched the back of his head.
Once he was done, he marched towards the defenseless mermaid, who was using her body to protect the trapped marine creatures behind her, "Let us go, kind sir. We have no enmity with each other."
The entire crew froze when they heard her, Regor's grin just widened as he loudly yelled, "Hear that lads, this lil lass just called me kind! Say my name!"
"Regor Dred the Dread!"
"Regor Dred the Dread!"
"Regor Dred the Dread!"
With a grin, Regor crouched in front of Ariel and whispered, "The opposite of kind is my surname, lass. Remember that name for it will be the last name you'll remember because you'll never see the sea again."
With a grin, he shouted at the crew, "Set sail to Pirate's Paradise, boys! We're going home!" After that followed cheers from the crew.
Horror appeared on Ariel's face and to the man's words, there is indeed one last name that she remembered.
'Help me. Henry…'
———
All of a sudden, Henry felt a trickle on his spine, as if an army of ants crawled up on his spinal cord.
"That's weird…" Henry murmured to himself, rubbing the back of his nape. Beside him, Elsa noticed his unusual expression and worriedly asked.
"Is something wrong?"
"Nothing…What were you saying again, I'm sorry." Henry replied with a chuckle. After breaking their fast earlier and Henry reluctantly casting Regrowth on Kristoff's balding head, Elsa invited him to walk around the garden, which at this point looks a bit dull compared to before when they were children.
According to Elsa, tending to the garden was her mother's favourite, even banning a few servants from managing her garden as she felt their gardening skills were inadequate compared to hers.
She says that plants are part of nature's body, and must be taken care of with gentleness and love.
"I was asking if I could meet this Ariel someday. I haven't seen a mermaid in my entire life." There was a hint of eagerness in her tone, mixed with a suspicious glint in her eyes.
Ignoring the latter, Henry shook his head, "Unfortunately, Atlantis is currently preventing Ariel and everyone from going outside. They saw a pirate's ship roaming above them." Then he offered, "But I can take you to the shore where we mostly meet with each other every night."
Elsa's face beamed up as she suddenly asked, "You both meet with each other every night? Does that mean you two also keep each other warm during those nights?" As soon as she dropped such a bomb, Henry instantly choked on his own spit.
"Kahk! Kokh! W-What do you mean by that, Elsa?" After recovering, Henry asked her while teary-eyed.
"Did I say something? Gerda told me she and Kai also do the same sometimes…" Elsa cutely tilted her head, innocence plastered across her face.
From the look on her face and the tone of her voice, Henry could immediately tell that she really meant her words.
"You don't know what keeping each other warm mean don't you?"
"…Is there a hidden meaning behind it?" Elsa nervously fidgeted in her place, thinking she offended Henry.
'Do I tell her? But I don't want to be the one to tarnish her innocence.' Henry fell into deep contemplation. Eventually, he sighed in defeat and gestured for her to come close to him.
Once she is, he leaned forward and silently whispered what it truly means in her ear.
The longer he whispers, the redder Elsa becomes, until her face becomes a steaming tomato as she covers her face with both of her palms, a small gap between her middle and ring fingers.
"T-T-That's so lewd!" She turned into a stammering mess, pushing Henry's face away from her as she felt like she wanted to grab a shovel and bury herself somewhere.
'I-I can't believe I said those words to him! I can't imagine him being…tangled with that Ariel!'
Unbeknownst to Henry, in Elsa's mind, the image of Henry being naked on the bed while lying down on a faceless woman appeared.
Before Elsa knew it, she unconsciously imagined herself as that very same woman.
"Kaaahhhkk!" To Henry's confusion, he found a palm planted on his cheeks.
"Lewd!" Was the last thing he heard from Elsa before she made a run for it.
———
"Hmm~ Hmm~" Sitting atop his throne, King Triton hummed happily while knitting a small sweater in red.
Just as peace and tranquility lingered in the atmosphere, the doors were suddenly barged open, a hulking merman holding a spear entered, and Flounder followed closely behind him.
King Triton instantly hid the knitting tools and the unfinished sweater behind him, before grabbing his golden trident.
"Your Majesty! I have brought upon a fish bearing grave news!" The merman, gulping in nervousness, gestured for Flounder to swim forward. No one wants to be the bearer of bad news.
"What is it?" King Triton frowned, staring at the familiar friend of his daughter, Ariel.
"Y-Y-Your Majesty…S-She…" Flounder nervously stuttered, feeling the pressure of facing the king himself and telling him the news that would make the world tremble.
"Calm down, child. There's no need to fret, just tell it to me and I won't react too much about it." Thinking that there's nothing bad about whatever news it is as long as it doesn't concern his daughters, King Triton kindly calmed him down.
With a gulp, Flounder finally revealed, "Ariel was kidnapped by pirates."
Before Flounder knew it, the entire palace trembled as the bottom of the trident was slammed heavily on the ground, causing massive cracks to appear, almost forming a trench.
"WHAT!?!"