Princess Ariel swam as quickly as she could through Atlantica. A couple mermen waved o winked at her as she swam passed, but she ignored them and kept going. Nothing could stop her.

“Ariel!” a voice boomed behind her.

Ariel sighed. Except her dad…

Ariel turned to face her father as he swam towards her. She crossed her arms over her chest and waited impatiently for him to catch up. King Triton was strong and powerful, but he was getting older and didn’t swim as fast as he used to.

“Is something wrong?” Ariel asked sweetly.

King Triton frowned. “Where are tu going, Ariel?”

“Just going for a swim.” Ariel flicked her fins adelante, hacia adelante for emphasis, then smiled at her father.

“You better not be going to the surface again.”

“Oh, honestly, daddy.” Ariel put her hands on her hips. “Don’t tu trust me?”

Triton raised an eyebrow. “Would it kill tu to be honest with me, Ariel?”

Ariel bit her lip and started playing with her hair. “I’m going to visit Kida.”

“No.” Ariel had barely finished her sentence before her father shot her down.

“Why not?”

“It’s dangerous to be around humans.”

Ariel rolled her eyes. “Daddy, tu know Kida; you’re friends with her father. tu know tu can trust them.”

King Triton shook his head. “It’s not them, Ariel. Atlantis recently had other human visitors who attacked them. They tried kidnapping Kida and succeeded in killing her father. From what I’ve heard, one of them stayed behind.”

Ariel lowered her eyes; her corazón sank with the sad news. “I had no idea.”

King Triton put his hand under her chin. “Please stay in Atlantica. It’s not seguro to visit Atlantis anymore.”

Ariel slowly nodded and followed her father back towards the castle. They were immediately greeted por Ariel’s oldest sister, Attina. She was holding a scroll in one hand and a pen in the other.

“Father, there tu are,” Attina said, ignoring Ariel.

“I need tu to sign these pardons.”

Ariel took this opportunity to leave. She had no interest in any of the politics that came with being royal. Attina was siguiente in line to be heir and she took everything entirely too seriously. Ariel was the youngest of seven daughters and probably would never become queen, so she didn’t bother learning what it took to rule the kingdom.

Ariel swam through the castillo and slipped out the back. She took the long way towards Atlantis, careful to avoid being caught por her father, sisters o one of the guards.

She swam for a long time before seeing the stone pillars that led towards Atlantis. As she approached, the Leviathan suddenly appeared. Ariel stopped abruptly, startled. The Leviathan looked like a large metallic scorpion. It eyed her and she remained very still. When it saw the crystal around her neck, it swam to the side to let Ariel enter. She let out a breath and continued on her way. It didn’t matter how many times she encountered the Leviathan, it always creeped her out. It guarded the entrance, protecting the Atlanteans. It was ordered to kill any outsider who tried to enter. Those who were welcome to the city wore crystals around their necks. The Leviathan knew to look for it.

Once she was passed the Leviathan, she maneuvered through the rest of the obstacles with ease. When she reached land, she pulled herself up into a sitting position on the edge and slipped the crystal over her head. She took a deep breath, then touched the tip of the crystal to her fin. A bright light shone out, surrounding her fin and blinding Ariel. She closed her eyes and turned her head away.

She pressed her lips together to keep from screaming out as the crystal transformed her fin into legs. It was a painful and exhausting experience. When the light finally faded away, Ariel moved her hand away and looked down. Her legs were pale and instead of having a green fin she now only had a simple, green bikini bottom. Ariel felt a little self conscious and slid back into the water. It was shallow and she could sit in it without it covering her head.

Ariel let out a tired sigh. She felt like she had just swum a hundred miles non-stop. She didn’t know why the transformation tired her out. She decided to rest a little bit before carrying on. The cool water soothed her legs. Once relaxed, what her father had told her came back.

Ariel hadn’t come to visit since she saw a submarine going towards the entrance a while back. At the time she didn’t know what it was, but it scared her, so she stayed away. But now that she knew humans had come, it made sense. They must have been strong to be able to get passed the Leviathan. Everything inside Ariel told her to stay away now, but she was curious about this new human living in Atlantis. She had to meet them and learn about the world on the surface.

Once she felt strong enough again, Ariel stood up and moved on. From this point she wasn’t far from Atlantis and it wasn’t long until she saw the brightness from the city ahead. She approached the bridge and took a deep breath. A couple thousand feet below the bridge was flowing lava. And, of course, the bridge was rickety. She stepped out onto the bridge and it swayed under her weight. There was nothing to hold onto so she stuck her arms out to the side to keep her balance. She carefully made her way across, avoiding the spaces where planks of wood had fallen off.

Once across she let out her breath. She finally made it. Looking out at the city, it was easy to forget she was still under water. The city was circular and sat on parte superior, arriba a large circular waterfall, like an island. The waterfall created mist and fog that rose up giving the illusion of clouds floating around the city.

Ariel made her way through the mist and hurried towards the palace, eager to see her friend and the new, mysterious, human.