—{King Triton}—
My daughter has changed. It's been pretty obvious since these past few days. Three days ago, she went to me and told me of her encounter with a Siren, someone who is supposedly under my half-sister, Ursula.
The fact that she dares to go after my daughter, after everything that she's been through, makes my head boil in anger. I've been turning a blind eye to what she's been doing during all these years but I always tell her that my daughters are out of the question.
Could she perhaps be connected to Ariel's kidnapping by pirates? I couldn't help but assume the worst.
But still, putting that aside—my daughter's action was what truly surprised me. Knowing her, it wouldn't be shocking if she fell for Ursula's trap. But no, not only did Ariel use her newly discovered power as a Demigoddess to overpower the Siren, but she was also smart enough to threaten Ursula after the Siren's slip-up.
I know and everyone knows that the chances of Ariel doing that are less than 0.1 percent.
The fact that it happened and that she got the best out of the situation, even going back on her word and tattling against Ursula, made me realize that she has finally grown.
And I couldn't moee proud of it. Perhaps getting captured by pirates is what finally steeled her soft heart, just like me.
'This just gave me enough reason to give you this gift, Ariel. You helped me erase my doubts about you.' I smiled to myself as I raised my hand and a small light red bident appeared hovering above my palm.
My gift for Ariel, bearing an ability that she would truly appreciate. Through this bident, she would finally achieve her lifelong dream, something that I, her father, had failed to give her over these past years.
"I guess it's time to finally give this to her," I murmured to myself. Of course, how could I also forget about my other daughters?
Each of them gets their own bidents, with Aquata, being the oldest among them, getting a trident similar to mine. As the eldest daughter, she is the first in line of succession over my throne, hence she'll get the best weapon out of them all.
Combine this with the fact that she's the second most talented among the siblings, with Ariel herself taking the top spot without a doubt.
It hurts to admit but she truly shines like a pearl among the rocks.
"Come to me, children." King Triton held his own trident and lightly slammed it on the ground before whispering.
What should've been something that only he can hear, his words kept echoing through the water, for every wave it makes, it multiplies and maintains its volume no matter the distance. This is one of the perks of having fine control of power over the ocean.
The sound waves kept traveling across the ocean waters until they reached the ears of the designated targets—his daughters.
A few minutes later, they trickled inside the throne field, looking up to their father in curiosity. And as always, Ariel arrived last.
"You called us, Dad?" Aquatta swam forward and asked the question. Their daily training just finished earlier, so they're curious as to why they're being called by their father again.
Could it be a change in their routine? Perhaps their training over their powers has finally reached a certain threshold and King Triton would increase the bar?
So many questions swirled in their minds and yet, only Ariel was paying attention to her surroundings. As soon as she arrived, she immediately noticed the bidents and a trident floating inconspicuously beside King Triton. She tilted her head in curiosity.
Noticing where Ariel was looking, King Triton mentally chuckled. Out of them all, Ariel is starting to look like the most competent one considering she used to be the most naive and innocent previously.
Putting a stop to their mumblings, King Triton gestured for his youngest to answer, "Ariel. How about you guess as to why I called you all here?"
Blinking in surprise, Ariel fiddled with her fingers and hesitantly answered, "You…want to give us something? I assume it's those things over there." When she pointed her finger at the set of weapons beside King Triton, everyone's eyes followed.
"Are those…bidents?"
"Oohh! I want the silver one!"
"Are they really for us?"
"Look! There's also a Trident! Like dad's!"
"I change my mind! I want that!" While the girls were having their first fight of the day over who got the majestic Trident, Ariel's attention was somewhere else.
More specifically, she's been staring nonstop at the crimson coloured Bident that is sitting at the end furthest among the rows of bidents.
For some reason, the moment she laid her eyes upon it, it instantly got her hooked. It's like falling in love with someone at first sight. That's what she's feeling right now.
'I want that…' She silently whispered, making up her mind.
"Silence." King Triton casually raised his hand, putting a stop to what was about to turn into a full-blown rumble.
With a wave of his hand, all the Bidents flew towards their respective owners. With the last being the Trident falling towards Aquatta's palm, before the others could question the decision, King Triton already beat them to it, "Aquatta, you are my eldest. Hence, you'll get the Trident. Use it well, it's your grandfather's favorite weapon."
Leaving Aquatta reeling in shock and happiness while her sisters stared at her in jealousy, he then turned to Ariel who was busy examining the red bident in her hand.
'Already reaching the stage of such closeness despite first contact? Truly a talented daughter of mine.' King Triton softly smiled at this. He knows the importance of weapons to everyone. Without weapons, the Gods of Olympus wouldn't have won the Titanomachy.
Zeus with his Lightning Bolt, Poseidon and his Trident, and finally, Hades draped in darkness thanks to the Helm of Darkness.
Those three weapons have greatly helped the Olympus gods in winning the war against the Titans. Without them? Perhaps half of the world would've been ruled by the notorious titans.
"The same goes to all of you. I want you all to take care of your weapons. They'll be your partner for life." King Triton scanned his eyes on his daughters, mentally sighing in relief after seeing their faces. At least they're taking this seriously.
King Triton shifted his attention to Ariel, "Ariel, you have something special in it. I planted it specifically for you. Try to feel it." He urged.
Ariel nodded her head before closing her eyes, trying her best to get a feel that her father is trying to tell her.
It didn't take long for her to feel it. There deep within the core of the weapon, or at least what she assumed to be, was something mysterious and bright—like a candle that is waiting to be lit.
And of course, she lit the said candle.
Fwooosh!
Ariel's entire figure was suddenly engulfed in a bright red light, matching the same color as her hair. Aside from Triton, everyone else was forced to close their eyes, lest they get blinded by it.
"What is this?" Arrista couldn't help but wonder in exclamation.
King Triton smiled before answering, "That, girls, is how a father should grant her daughter's one and only dream." His words did nothing but to intensify their curiosity.
Before everyone's gaze, the light ended, and Ariel slowly opened her eyes. Suddenly, her pupils constricted and she started flailing her arms around along with her fish tail.
Or at least that's what everyone thought at first until they got a second look at her bottom part and realized that the scaly fish tail was nowhere to be found. Instead, it was replaced by a pair of delicate legs, soft and rippling against the water current.
"H-Human legs!" Everyone except for King Triton pointed their fingers at Ariel's new legs, shocked expression seemed to be evident on their faces.
But how could this be? Ariel is a mermaid. Correction, was a mermaid.
As if on cue, everyone snapped their heads at the only person in the room who could explain the bizarre situation, King Triton.
The King stood unwavering from their glares as he calmly explained after confirming that Ariel's attention was back to reality, "It's both my gift and a form of apology for Ariel."
Ariel looked up to him, a confused look plastered on his face, he continued, "During the past few days, I've come to a realization that everything that has happened was my fault." Everyone gasped in surprise.
The King of Atlantis is apologizing? They've never seen something like this before! Before their mother died, that is.
"The pirate attack happened because of me. If only I were more resolute and brave, I could've driven those pirates away from the ocean. If only I was more smart, I could've known that I shouldn't have locked away your powers. Because of that, all of you have become too reliant on me to protect you when you could've protected yourself all along."
King Triton tightened his grip on the clam-like throne until it showed signs of cracking and only then did he stop, "I'm sorry for yelling at you, Ariel. I'm sorry for being a bad father. I'm sorry for not being there with you when your dream is just within arm's reach. I-I'm sorry that I—" Just as the tears started to stream from his eyes, King Triton suddenly felt a warm hug on his chest.
When he opened his eyes, he saw that it was Ariel who was hugging him, looking at him with a quivering smile, "…You don't have to apologize dad. I understand…"
Soon enough, more hugs came from the rest of their daughters and together, they spent half an hour consoling their father and wiping the tears off his face. They're not used to seeing their father crying and seeing it made them emotional.
After a brief moment had passed in which they next spent on urging Ariel to use her new human legs to perform several somersaults and flips that should've been a piece of cake to a mermaid.
At first, Ariel struggled but it didn't take long before she learned and now, she can finally start swimming again just fine.
"That boy, Henry…" King Triton interrupted them by mentioning a familiar name.
Ariel turned to look back at him in slight nervousness. Is this perhaps her father's way to make her forget about Henry? By helping her achieve her lifelong dream to feel what it feels like to be a human?
Contrary to her expectations, King Triton's next words surprised them all, "He's currently sailing on the ocean as we speak. I assume he must be on his way to go back to where he came from. If you leave right now, you might still have a chance to catch up to him."
Before Ariel's bubbling joy could explode, King Triton reached out and patted Ariel's head with an encouraging smile, "Go get him, little one. And make sure to tell him that I'm sorry for everything I did."
Amidst everyone's soft smiles, Ariel shook in joy as she giggled and quickly swam out of the throne field, the way she swims would make one think that she's humanity's fastest swimmer.
———
On the surface, Henry leaned forward in the ship's railing, staring at the horizon. His hands fiddling with a golden bracelet made up of small chains while a platinum coloured heart is dangling from the middle. The platinum heart looked as if it were crudely fused together.
Well, that's actually true. This heart is the combination of the two pearls that Ariel gifted him. Yesterday, he personally melted the two pearls and crudely formed a heart shape during its melting point before attaching it to a golden chain bracelet that he commissioned from a local blacksmith.
This is just his way of commemorating his friendship with Ariel. He doesn't care if she left him on that island. He wouldn't let something as trivial as that to destroy what they have.
"I hope I can see you again, maybe not now. But tomorrow. If not tomorrow, then next week perhaps?"
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[Like I said in the past chapters, I changed my schedule to M/W/F which stands for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for those who have no idea what those means. Just reminding here since someone still asked for an update.]