Disclaimer: I certainly don't own Naruto, Disney or any of its affiliated properties. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this now would I?
"The connection of our hearts…" : Speech (Bold for yelling ,Bijuu, or massive creatures)
'The connection of our hearts…' : Thought
The open ocean, a few minutes after Naruto blew Ursula's brains out…
Naruto considered himself a seasoned dimensional traveler – he had seen a lot of strange things and accomplished even more extraordinary feats. Knowing that he had been marked as an enemy by the grand stewards of all reality basically made him numb to what might come next – after all, what could possibly trump being a godslayer? Given his experiences with magic and its users, he was expecting something significant to happen after Ursula had been slain at the hand of his overwhelming chakra claws but he had no idea of just how insane the blowback would be. Bear in mind, Ursula was akin to a devil of the ocean, a veritable Mephistopheles who made Faustian deals with the gullible and the unwary. She was such a prolific saleswoman that when Naruto freed her vile soul from this mortal coil, all the trapped ones in her polyp collection were finally able to assume their true forms. Deep in her former lair, polyps were turning into merpeople, fish and many other denizens of the ocean as they sensed the magical aura of the one who freed them wash over their bodies.
"Huzzah! We are free of Ursula's curse!"
"Oh blessed relief! Never before have I been so glad to see my own hands!"
"I am never going to complain about being an ugly fish ever again!"
The freed souls were understandably extremely elated – they were all chattering amongst each other, the din of their conversations and laughter making for quite the din in the dark, dank cave they spent ages in. One such victim however, was quiet and looked to the surface in confusion.
'What is this power? Even Father did not command this much influence over the sky and ocean…did Poseidon himself return to reclaim his artifact?' Triton wondered as his body robotically swam to the surface, unaware or rather uncaring that all the others in the cave had noticed the King of Atlantica among them and that they were also following him, hoping that he would guide them to their savior…
…and perhaps explain just what in the world had happened!
Meanwhile, back with Naruto and the others at the wedding ship…
"Naruto! You are wielding Daddy's trident so naturally! I was so scared when Ursula blasted you with so much magic that I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest! But you took the attack like it was nothing…is this the true form of yours you were talking about for so long?" Ariel said, hugging Naruto's chest as one of her hands trailed over his broad pectorals, inwardly squealing at his musculature (to be honest, she had been a little underwhelmed with Eric's physique when she had first seen him…come to think of it, while the prince had a comely countenance, she couldn't recall exactly why she had fallen so hard for him…it seemed as though Eric only regarded her as another beautiful woman now though as opposed to when he was adamant that she was his fated partner…).
"Yes…ignoring how the princess is drooling over your new looks, you do have a remarkable degree of affinity for the royal trident. Care to explain why that is?" Sebastian added, having noted that the weapon seemed to hum happily in the hands of Naruto, with the trident's magic passively moving over his body (this never happened with Triton – as the crab looked up to the sky, he could even see the clouds swirl excitedly overhead as if they were resonating with the weapon itself).
"Hahaha…well, to put it simply, yes, this is my true form! I see someone didn't really believe what I was talking about – not that I really blame ya since it must have sounded like the senile ramblings of an old man…at least you should have wondered why an old fogey had a group of nubile young ladies in love with him right?" Naruto said, letting the trident rest on his shoulders as he hooked his hands on either side of it. He was in extremely good spirits right now since his powers were unsealed completely (something that only happened in Grimhilde's domain) and the curse that made him look like an old man had been dispelled thanks to the greater might of the godly artifact he now wielded overpowering Maleficent's half-hearted curse on him, regardless of its enhancement by the Grimm Lords.
"Oh! It's not like I didn't believe you…I just thought that you were trying to impress me is all. Besides…I didn't find your relationships with your wives strange at all…I maybe…might have… already fallen for you as you were before too…" Ariel said, mumbling the last parts out with a rosy blush on her cheekbones as she tried to hide her face from Naruto's mischievous eyes.
Unfortunately for her, Naruto noticed her new mood immediately but generously decided to hold off on teasing her for now (her face looked like it was about to explode with how much blood was rushing to it) in favor of addressing Sebastian's questions.
"I can't really explain why the trident is behaving the way it is…I don't know who I really am ya know? Grimhilde and Snow were the first people who really knew me and most of my memories seem to be vivid dreams of my powers being used in a different world…I am just using what I remember from them. The golden chakra – that's what I call my magic by the way – seems to be especially powerful though despite being shockingly easy to manipulate." Naruto said as he made his right hand glow gold for second, only for a brief gust of wind to kick up on the ship, rousing the other humans on it from their stupor.
"Incredible… at least this explains why an old man was able to hunt sharks so easily. Old Man Santiago should be counting his blessings since he met you that fateful day…you must be a demigod of some kind!" Eric said, catching the tail end of the conversation. While under Ursula's mind control, he couldn't do much but he vividly remembered how Naruto killed her with his powers and even treaded on water…in his eyes, that mean that the man before him was no mere mortal but instead harbored a spark of divinity within his soul (well…he wasn't wrong per say but the gods of his world were out to kill his friend, not bless him).
"Hehe…well, I wouldn't call myself a demigod…the gods really don't like me after all. I like to think of myself as a magician with some special powers. I mean, I am sure there are stranger beings out there anyway…" Naruto said, playing with the subtle wind cloak covering him and Ariel (he had unknowingly unlocked his mastery of the wind affinity in his natural chakra pool) as he hovered in the air before landing in the midst of his wives on his caravel which was anchored close to the wedding ship by Grimhilde.
Their conversation was cut short however as the people on the ships noticed a mighty merman appear on the ocean surface, his tail remaining submerged as it propelled his upper body to Naruto's ship. Ariel shrank in Naruto's embrace when she noticed who it really was though – while a part of her was happy to see her father, another was embarrassed to show her face to him after she was scammed by Ursula ( a woman she knew irked her father a great deal…she didn't know that she was also her estranged aunt).
"Don't look so worried Ariel – you are still a young woman after all and youth are supposed to make mistakes so they can learn to be better. If he's truly a good father, he should understand that." Grimhilde said, placing her hand on Ariel's shoulder before giving it a good squeeze while Shanti and Alice gave her encouraging smiles and/or winks.
It didn't take Triton long to reach the caravel – his keen eyes quickly spotted his daughter in the embrace of a blond human who exuded a strange but regal aura. The energy around him spoke of countless battles, triumphs and travesties alike – it was the mark of a king! Upon closer inspection, he also saw that the strange man had his trident – while it was usually the first thing someone would notice, the magical weapon seemed to fade into the background in contrast with its current user.
This really caught Triton's attention – the trident magnified the essence of its wielder and granted dominion over storms and seas. When Ursula used it, he could feel her black magic stain them both in her vile colors as the world itself felt like a charnel house for those brief moments. In contrast, the trident was now releasing calming waves of power that eased the souls of everyone around – the ocean was calm and the sky above was clear as a testament to the purity of the wielder's heart.
"Ariel…my dear…I..I am sorry for all of this. If I hadn't lost my temper with you back in your little cave, perhaps all of this wouldn't have happened. At least your chosen suitor was capable of protecting everyone from Ursula's wrath…" Triton said, shocking everyone by bowing his head to Ariel, whose eyes nearly bugged out of her skull, so great her surprise.
"Oh no Daddy! You don't have to be that sorry! I was also acting out of line…I shouldn't have gone to Ursula to bargain. I won't apologize for my curiosity but I think the both of us should have been more open with each other – speaking of being open, Naruto here wasn't actually my love at the start. He was actually my human friend who showed me so much about the surface world!" She said to Triton's great surprise as she glomped Naruto before nuzzling his cheeks in delight.
"Truly? And you young man, are you aware of what you are getting into? I assume you do, given your demeanor as you carry my weapon…" Triton said, pointing towards the trident on Naruto's back.
"Eh…it's kind of a long story. I started out as your daughter's friend and was helping her get together with Eric – that's the crown prince of our kingdom by the way but along the journey, it seems as though the two of us fell for each other…" Naruto said as he scratched the back of his head with a bashful expression while Alice and Grimhilde gave him catlike smirks while Shanti only gave him a helpless one (they weren't helping him out with this one – he was irresistibly charming but watching him squirm with his in-law was just too much fun).
Triton squinted at Naruto in confusion – he had never heard of a True Love changing so upon closer inspection and combined with his growing suspicions after he also took a look at Eric (who was rendered mute by Triton's majesty as were the rest of the humans), he was quick to ask for his trident back. Naruto, seeing no harm in it, readily returned the item (unknowingly gaining even more respect from Triton, who knew the sweet allure of power all too well) and everyone watched Triton wave it over both groups on the ships before smiling in amusement.
"Ah, dear Ariel, it seems as though your conviction and curiosity are more potent than I thought!" He said, smiling warmly at Ariel, who looked at him in confusion.
"Let me explain – your mother was a powerful siren and a great songstress. You and your sisters inherited her great talent for singing but none of you were really adept with your siren heritage – at least I thought so before now. It seems that with the strength of your obsession with the human world, you sub-consciously accessed this power to hypnotize Eric and yourself. Perhaps you sang a song to him or he overheard you…it was inconsequential as the two of you were charmed into loving each other. Ursula must have recognized this ability and wanted it for herself but once your friend here retrieved your voice, he also broke the illusion over the two of you. Young man, you are truly extraordinary – I give you my blessing to wed my daughter and with the trident's power, you can live underwater just like a merman!" Triton said, noticing traces of the trident's magic seeping into Naruto's flesh, strengthening him in ways unknown.
Naruto on the other hand was flattered but had to turn the kingship down, saying that he was on a quest to save many kingdoms. Triton took that remarkably well(he knew that Naruto was no normal mortal and was quietly glad that his daughter picked such a fine mate, powerful and decisive). Instead, the proud father used his trident to give Ariel the power to shift between woman and mermaid at will and watched her leave through a portal that burst into existence behind Naruto and his bevy of lovers (with Snow's heart resonance and Ella's magic, this was extremely easy to do), unaware that he had entrusted his kingdom to a man with greater ambitions that he could have ever imagined…
And that was chapter 70! A nice interlude before heading to the next arc, Beauty and the Beast! I will put up a poll on who Naruto will take to the new world on the P***eon channel so please vote!
If you'd like to support me you can find me on Patreon on the 'search for creators' bar under DudeWithaMac (I only get free time on Sundays since money's extremely tight-details on Panacea chapter 14). Alternatively, you guys can follow this link:p#at#re#on.#com/DudeWithaMac (remove the hash tags). Reviews and comments are always welcome!