~ Chapter 3 : Settling Down ~

Melody peered carefully round the corner of the large seashell door, turning this way and that as she looked nervously down the hallway. Feeling very much a stranger, Melody swum out of her mother’s room, the large pink seashell closing automatically behind her and thus causing the young princess to jump in surprise. She rolled her eyes at her own silliness until more voices travelled from the other end of the hallway. Someone was coming!

"Oh for goodness sake, girl, don’t act like a thief," Melody chided herself. To her dismay her memory rewinded itself to the horrid day she did sneak into the palace as a thief, in order to steal the trident from her own grandfather. She quickly pushed the memory bubble aside and straightened herself up, trying to look as natural as she could as she swam down the unfamiliar hallway.

And came face to face with three young mermaids. Melody smiled, although a bit nervously, as the eldest of three – a beautiful one with silky blonde hair – looked her up and down.

"Princess Melody, isn’t it?" the mermaid asked. Melody may have been far too nervous at the time, but she still managed to notice the hint of unfriendliness in the mermaid’s tone.

"Yes, that’s me," Melody replied. "I’m new here."

"Yes, we know," the other two mermaids chorused in their sing-song voices, and then giggled to themselves.

The blonde mermaid smiled, although it was the kind of smile a piranha gives a guppy. "I’m glad we finally meet. My name’s Reayanna. My friends call me Rea."

Melody got the feeling that she didn’t have that privilege of calling her Rea, so she carefully replied, "Nice to meet you."

Rea nodded briefly, without acknowledging their meeting as being "nice" or otherwise, and then raised a delicate eyebrow at the other two. Flashing another smile, the three swam off without another word. Melody let out a breath she had been holding.

"Just ignore them," came another familiar voice. Melody turned to see Jeremy hovering nearby, arms crossed and a smile on his face. She sighed with relief as she swam up to him.

"No big deal. They remind me of some kids I knew back on land," said Melody. "Who were they?"

"Students at the Aquatica Academy. They like to roam the palace as though they own it, especially Rea." Jeremy leaned forward to whisper, "Rea has set her eyes on your cousin Christopher, Lady Aquata's son. But anyway, they just came down here to see you for themselves."

"Me? W-why?"

 "Well, because you’re the infamous Princess Melody," to which Jeremy struck a dramatic pose, "—daughter of the equally infamous Princess Ariel, who dared to defy lore and fell in love with a human prince. Everybody in Atlantica knows you, so don’t be surprised if strangers greet you for no apparent reason."

Melody blinked a few times. "Wow, that’s amazing! I’ve never been a celebrity before."

Jeremy gave a lopsided look as he began slowly swimming down the hall. "But you’re a princess. And the only princess of your kingdom, ain’t it?"

"That’s not the same thing," said Melody, who followed him. "Being a princess up there only means that everybody else has to at least pretend to respect you. Most of the kids looked at me the way that Rea looked at me just now. It's not easy having mermaid instincts while being stuck on two feet."

Jeremy looked at her tail. "So you’re enjoying the tail."

"Its hard to ‘enjoy’ anything when my mother’s dying," said Melody.

"Sorry! Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way…"

"I know what you meant," said Melody, sighing. "It is great being back here and all, but you know… my mother…"

Jeremy smiled at Melody. "Come on, we’ll see Lady Aquata for updates on their progress."

Melody looked at him with wide eyes. "I’ve only been asleep a few hours, what could you have done while then?"

"Nothing much, to tell you the truth," said Jeremy. "She’s started research and stuff, but nothing really, you know, solid to go by. That poison was some really tough concoction."

Melody fell silent as she followed Jeremy toward the main throne room. But instead of going in, Jeremy crept behind a pillar and peered in. Melody just followed and looked around the other side of the pillar.

The tension in the throne room was incredible. Her grandfather, King Triton, was at the throne, bent over documents laid across him on a wide table. Various sea creatures ranging from fish to jellyfish were around, talking in not-so-soft voices. Even Sebastian, perched on the armrest of King Triton’s throne, looked rather vexed about something.

"What’s going on? Who are they?" asked Melody.

"Various Fish Heads of State. Ocean Politics and all that," said Jeremy. "I don’t know the details, but rumour is that various kingdoms are in unrest, or something like that."

Melody felt worried. It looked important, especially when she saw her grandfather’s brow twist in a frown that shouldn’t be physically possible. And he had looked so happy at her birthday party earlier, well, until her mother had been poisoned, that is.

"That’s why Lady Aquata has taken up duty for finding the antidote," said Jeremy. He took her hand. "Come on, let’s not bother your grandfather."

Melody nodded, and followed Jeremy past the throne room down the hallway into another meeting-room-ish place that was about half the size of the throne room. Aquata was there, talking with a merman with brownish hair, bluish eyes and features that retained their youthfulness although he was clearly an adult. They both turned and smiled when they saw Melody and Jeremy enter.

"Melody, I hope you rested well," said Aquata. "This is Urchin, a friend of your mother’s."

"Hello," said Melody politely, shaking Urchin’s hand.

Urchin merely nodded, his eyes scanning Melody’s features as though searching for something, and then he grinned when he found the same sparkle of spirit in her eyes that he recognised so well in Ariel. He gave a brief farewell to Aquata and left the room, casting another smile in Melody’s way.

"We haven’t much to go on yet," said Aquata once Urchin left. "But we’re getting more progress than I thought possible on such short notice. Come, I’ll explain what we know so far."

Aquata led Melody to a nearby table were a small glowing orb about the size of a fist hovered about a foot over a small bowl. The orb had smoky dark purple-blue-black colour swirling within it, as though it was alive.

"This is a sample of the poison that infected your mother," said Aquata, gesturing at the orb. "We know that only one sandcup of it is seashade."

"Sandcup?"

"Quarter, I believe you call it."

"Oh."

"There is no known cure for seashade, but because it is in such a small amount, it’s very likely that we’ll be able to find a way to remove all the poison from your mother’s body before the seashade can begin acting on her system," explained Aquata. "But to find out how, we need to know what other ingredients were in there, and how much. And we've got some experts on poisons coming tomorrow, so they'll be able to identify to contents in no time."

Melody looked at her aunt. "You mean… My mother’s going to be okay?"

"I believe so," said Aquata, and her voice was proof enough that she believed it with all her heart. "The Manta has underestimated our capabilities in tackling the poison, and we are a very resourceful school."

Melody mentally translated ‘school’ to ‘group’ and sighed heavily.

Aquata placed a comforting hand on Melody’s shoulder. "We’ll still need your help when it comes to getting the ingredients for the cure, of course."

Melody nodded quickly. "Of course! Anything!"

"But that means waiting until we know more about the poison," she said. "So for now… I’d advise you to relax and get to know Atlantica. After all, you were here for only a few minutes the last time, wasn’t it?"

Melody smiled shyly. She hadn’t even been thinking about exploring Atlantica, but now that she knew her mother was in relative safety, she could relax a bit. Not too much, but a bit. Aquata caught the look in Melody's eyes as the possibilities swept over her. Nobody had told her, but her eyes still had their red-rimmed look from the crying, and just to see her smile again brought joy to Aquata's heart.

"Tip! Dash!" Aquata shouted over their shoulders.

They appeared in a flash. "Reporting for duty, ma'am!" announced Tip, standing at attention on top of Dash's head.

"Melody wants a tour," Aquata told them.

Melody gaped. "I do?"

"You do," said Jeremy.

And off the four of them went, and although Melody had yet to laugh the way she normally did, she was already looking better. But when they disappeared around the corner, the smile slowly disappeared from Aquata's face to be replaced with an expression of firm seriousness. She turned back to the orb and watched the smoky mixture dance inside it.

"He underestimated us," she said, softly to herself. "I hope to Poseidon that we're not underestimating him."

*****

Elsewhere things were not so fine and dandy. Although technically still Melody's birthday, the servants of her land palace home were hardly in a celebrating mood as they picked off the decorations from the outside gazebo. There was a solemn feeling in the air, and it wasn't helping much that their King had not spoken a word since their Princess had left for the merkingdom. After telling the people the situation, Eric hadn't left Ariel's side except to briefly order the cleaning up of the birthday get-up, and the stony expression that took over the warmness that usually filled his handsome face was enough to discern anyone.

But picking through the picking up session was Duke de Klin, who for reasons no one dared ask, was still on the palace grounds. He chomped a cigar between his yellow teeth while eyeing the remains of the party, the wheels in his balding head turning like fine clockwork.

"You there!" he snapped at a servant.

The poor guy dropped the tablecloths in surprise, and had no choice to rush to the Duke's call. "Yes, Your Grace?"

"Were you there when the - ahem - sea creature jumped out with the poison dart?" he asked.

"Yes, Your Grace."

"Describe it to me."

The servant scratched his head, more out of nervousness of standing so close to the Duke rather than being unable to remember the details. "It was shaped like a manta, with huge black-purple wings and a long tail. I was on the stairs there, Your Grace, when it happened, and I-I saw it grin at the Princess when it shot the dart."

The Duke nodded, chewing furiously on the cigar. "Where was the - ahem - Sea King when it happened?"

"On the other side, over there, I believe," said the servant, pointing. "No one saw the creature jump out because he was on the other side of the boulder."

"Thank you, my good man," said the Duke, and patted the servant on a shoulder with a hand. He turned and started to walk away, and the servant sighed with relief. He wouldn't have sighed, though, had he seen the slow grin that appeared on the Duke's heavy lips.

*****

"And there is Aquatica Academy, for them nobbish merfolk that want to," and Tip shivered, "study."

"Watch it, Tip, I go there," warned Jeremy with a laugh.

Melody looked at the school building, which was shaped roughly like an open clam (or to more modern eyes an open-air stadium) and coloured in blue and green. A banner hung at the entrance, and above the coat of arms which various fish symbols on it was the school motto. Melody read it aloud, "Ajirae domni daha intarusiangti."

"Old fish latin for 'Knowledge for the seven seas and beyond'," translated Jeremy.

Dash pointed a flipper. "Look! There's a bubblestrike match going on!"

"Bubblestrike?" echoed Melody.

"Awh, the girl doesn't know bubblestrike?" asked Tip. "You've been a human for too long, I tell ya. It's the best sport to watch in all the seas. Except maybe giant seahorse racing."

The four swam high above the field, and Melody had her first look at bubblestrike. There were two teams, a high net and a bubble was being hit from player to player with their tails. To the modern human eye it's volleyball with a bubble instead of a ball. There were merpeople, fish and even one octopus among the players. A crowd was gathered around the field, cheering loudly.

"Wow," said Melody. "That looks like fun." And she meant it. Being a princess meant she although she could play rough 'n tumble games, the other kids in the kingdom tended to treat her differently. And she always won no matter how badly she played, which was so annoying.

"Come on, we haven't shown you the marketplace yet," said Dash, tugging on Melody's arm with a flipper. "They have some great deals there."

"Ah, my friend Dash, the shopaholic," said Tip, sighing dramatically.

"You're just jealous that you can't bargain as well as I can," teased Dash.

"I can too, bargain!" argued Tip.

"Can not!"

"Can too!"

"Can not!"

Then on impulse Melody hugged the penguin and the walrus simultaneously. "It's just so great to be here, guys. Really. Come on then, let's see how really good you are at bargaining. There's just so much to see in Atlantica!"

"And you've hardly started, Melody," said Jeremy, grinning at her.

And they swam off in an impromptu race. And finally, for the first time since she arrived in Atlantica, Melody laughed. It was such a beautiful sound, and bounced through the water, causing more than a few heads to turn toward the torpedo-ing quartet, but also in turn made them smile. Melody made full use of her tail, which she had almost forgotten had so much more strength and manoeuvring power than silly little legs.

They went through the marketplace, an exploration that had to be cut short when Tip got into a fight with one of the vendors over the price of a coral bracelet (which he gallantly announced he had wanted to buy for Melody). There were many other places to see, but soon the clear water began to darken with the approaching night.

"You better get back for dinner," said Jeremy. He looked at Melody. "I have to go home now, but I'll come to the palace after breakfast, all right?"

"All right," said Melody, grateful as ever that she could spend so much time with her friends. Jeremy swam off, and as Melody watched him leave with a certain softness in her eyes, Tip nudged Dash conspiratorially.

"Some-bo-dy has a crush on Jeremy," Tip said in a sing-song voice.

"I do not!" objected Melody.

Tip feigned a surprised look. "I wasn't talking about you, Melody."

Dash grinned. "U-huh. Come on then, princess. Dinner awaits!"

Three extra seating places were set for Melody, Tip and Dash at the dinner table. Melody herself sat immediately to the right of King Triton, which was the seat that had, of course, belonged to Ariel during the first sixteen years of her life. Melody was incredibly happy to see that her grandfather didn't look as stressed out as she had seen him earlier, although the worry lines over his forehead were becoming more prominent. Her Aunt Aquata sat directly opposite Melody, with her husband Damon and son Christopher to her left. Of all her aunts, only Aunt Arista and Alana were not there, because they lived with their own families outside of the palace.

"Isn't this nice," said King Triton as all settled into their seats and the cutlery was being placed for them. "Your first dinner with us, Melody."

"It's great to be here, grandfather," she said, careful not to mention her mother in case that would upset him. And then she realised she didn't know what else to say. Her cousins and aunts and uncles were perfectly at ease, chatting with each other. Tip and Dash came to her rescue, as did Sebastian who had his own seat between Aquata and King Triton, joking and laughing. Soon Melody joined in smoothly, and she quickly picked up the Atlantican terms that differed from her own, and luckily enough her friends were more than happy to explain anything she didn't understand.

Then the food was served. Melody stared wide-eyed at the strange dishes that could have been created on another planet for all she knew. It all smelled great, though.

"Palace food is always the best," said Tip, moving his flipper into what could be a thumbs-up sign.

One of the fish servants dumped a big glop of orange and blue misshapen tubes into her plate and whispered to her, "Our chef outdid his best tonight. In honour of you, Princess."

Melody peered at the dish. "Why..." One of the tubes withered for a moment and then spouted green smoke right in her face. "...Thank you."

"Settling in, Melody?" asked King Triton, who tried not to laugh.

"Dat dish is da best!" pronounced Sebastian, who swallowed a mouthful. "You take da whole bunch and swallow it in!"

Melody tried it. "It's.... It's good!" Then she grinned at her grandfather. "I like it. But don't tell me what it is or I just might change my mind."

Aquata watched her niece with a faint smile. And then something, like an inkling at the back of her neck, drew her eyes to a dark groove at the top of the ceiling on the other side of the dining hall. There was nothing there, not that she could see. The Manta wouldn't be so stupid as to sneak in the palace on the same day he poisoned Ariel. He might be cocky and proud, but not that stupid. Trying to brush away bad thoughts, Aquata turned her attention back to chatter at the dinner table.
 
 

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