A/N: Shit!! I was doing some research on the Disney Wiki and I just realised that Ariel father was Triton and NOT Neptune.
Apparently Poseidon is the grandfather, Neptune is the Great-Grandfather and finally Triton is the Father. Dammit. So if you the name Neptune in here, ignore it. This was a pain to edit.
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[Location: North Atlantic]
***
The storm was getting worse.
I could barely keep my arms up as the rain slashed across my face like knives and the sea roared beneath me like a beast unchained. The magic circle above me flickered, cracked with unstable light, and I could feel the strain of maintaining it tugging at every nerve and bone in my body.
The waves that I'd just barely managed to calm were starting to swell again—higher, stronger, and far more unpredictable than before.
Behind me, Jack's crew scrambled to keep the ship balanced. Ropes snapped. Wood cracked. Puss was clinging to a barrel, tail soaked and ears flattened, shouting something up at me that was instantly swallowed by the wind.
On the other ship—the royal one—I could see the crew doing their best to stay afloat. Sailors were tying off lines, bailing water, and shouting over the roar of the heavens.
And on the deck, clinging to each other for dear life, were the king and queen.
I don't know how I knew. I'd never seen them before, but something in me just... knew. The man with the heavy beard and stormy eyes had a presence that screamed king.
The woman with the calm, haunted expression curled up at his side—her aura was warm, protective. I didn't need to be told. That was Agnarr and Iduna.
And they were going to die if I didn't do something fast.
"Come on... hold it... just a little more," I muttered to myself, pushing more of my power into the circle, but the sky didn't care. Another bolt of lightning cracked down, close enough that I could smell the burn in the air. My circle sputtered again.
I was going to lose control.
And then, suddenly I felt something, a soft buzz and humming from my hip and I looked down.
The conch shell.
The damn conch I'd bought on a whim. That thing had been glowing and pulsing against my side like it had a heartbeat of its own.
My hands, guided by instinct, unclipped it from my belt, and the moment my fingers wrapped around it, I felt something surge up my arm. A sensation like warm sea currents wrapping around my very bones.
I didn't think. I just raised it to my lips and blew.
The sound was like nothing I'd ever heard before. It wasn't a blast or a trumpet or anything you'd expect. It was music. Pure, clean, flowing music, like the sound of a thousand rivers weaving through coral reefs, the kind of sound you could feel in your chest.
And everything stopped.
The waves that had risen to crush us froze mid-rise, trembling as though unsure of what they were supposed to do. The winds that had screamed around us hushed into a whisper.
Even the lightning, crackling across the sky in a violent rhythm, seemed to hesitate, waiting.
From across the sea, I saw the effect take hold.
On the royal ship, ropes were quickly fastened, sails drawn in just enough to stabilize. The deck crew immediately dumped spare crates and equipment overboard to lighten the load. It was like we'd all been given just one breath of time to act. Just one window to stay alive.
Jack, who had been flailing around on deck giving orders that made no sense whatsoever, turned to look at me with that bleary-eyed confusion of someone halfway between tipsy and impressed.
"Camden, me boy... remind me not to bet against ye ever again!"
I lowered the conch, stunned. The glow faded slightly, but it still buzzed in my hand, like it wasn't done yet. Like it was waiting for something else.
A rumble came from beneath the water. Not from the sky, from the ocean itself. Every hair on my arm stood up. The sea, which had briefly calmed, now began to shift in a different way. Not in chaos, but in… reverence?
Without warning, the water between our two ships exploded upward. But it wasn't a whirlpool. It was a god of a man.
King Triton.
He rose from the sea like some kind of myth torn from the pages of a storybook. A wild beard flowing like seaweed in the current. His eyes glowed bright blue, the kind of glow that didn't come from light—it came from power.
In his right hand, he gripped a golden trident, pulsing with the same kind of energy I'd felt in my circle, but stronger. Way stronger.
He stood not on the water but above it. Floating a few feet in the air like the sea itself held him aloft. For a second, no one said a word.
Even the storm froze.
Neptune's gaze swept across the two ships, his eyes flicking from one face to another. He didn't speak, but I felt his emotions. The confusion, the rage, the sadness. His trident glowed with a fury that threatened to boil the sea.
Then, his eyes locked on me.
I straightened without even meaning to. The conch still buzzed in my palm.
"You…" he said, voice deep enough to tremble through my ribs. "You have what is mine." I swallowed. "I—uh... Sorry about that?"
For a second Triton just stared. And then, very slowly, the storm responded.
Lightning arced one final time through the clouds and slammed into the ocean a few meters away, sending a geyser of steam and mist skyward. The last breath of chaos.
Then, silence...
The waves stopped churning. The wind fell away. The rain turned to drizzle and then to nothing. The sky, once dark and furious, began to split open, revealing a patch of blue.
Triton turned to look at the royal ship. King Agnarr and Queen Iduna stared back in disbelief, the queen clutching her husband's arm, tears in her eyes. The king nodded in quiet thanks.
"Enough."
His words were quiet but echoed over the seas like a trumpet.
With a flick of his trident, he sent a pulse of energy into the sea. The waters calmed further. The ships began to gently bob as though they'd never been in danger. With another flick, he turned toward me again.
And for a moment, just a moment, I saw the faintest nod of approval. Then, like a tide vanishing in reverse, Triton sank back into the sea. One blink he was there the next, nothing but a ripple on the water's surface.
I didn't move for a long time.
Neither did anyone else.
Not Jack, not Puss, not the sailors of Arendelle. Not a word was spoken as the sun finally began to shine down through the parting clouds, like the sea itself had taken a long, deep breath and decided to let us live another day.
"Camden," Jack finally muttered behind me, his voice low with wonder, "what the hell are you?"
Still holding the conch in my hand, I let out a long, shaky breath and lowered myself onto the deck. "I'm just a guy with really weird luck."
Puss finally climbed up beside me, drenched, fur puffed out like a wet rug. "I may run out of lives if I keep following you. You are a trouble magnet"
I smiled faintly and turned my eyes back to the ocean, before preparing to board the other ship.
***
=
[A few bubbles and geysers earlier] (A/N: My unit of time for merman.)
[3rd POV]
The sea was quiet in the depths of Atlantis.
Within the great coral halls of the undersea palace, surrounded by marble towers carved from centuries of ocean sediment and kissed by the light of bioluminescent creatures, King Triton slumbered in the grand pearl-clam bed that had cradled him for over a hundred years.
His silver hair flowed across the pillow like seaweed, and his mighty chest rose and fell with a calm rhythm, though his brow was creased.
He was dreaming.
And it wasn't a good one.
The dream had been the same for the past few hours—unexpected and cruel. There she was again—Athena, his queen, standing in the shallows of a glittering cove. Her hair was like the waves at sunset, and her eyes glowed with mischief and warmth. Triton reached for her, but she was always too far.
Always just out of reach.
In the dream, the skies above turned black. The waves rose, lightning forked from the heavens and split the sea. Athena turned to him, fear in her eyes, but before he could reach her, the sea swallowed her, to its dark depths. Dragged by the fin by an unholy creature
He screamed.
The trident in his chamber hummed against the wall, glowing faintly with suppressed power. As Triton tossed in his sleep, the power it held trembled, resonating with the emotional turmoil of its master.
The ocean above was stirred by its unrest, the waves responding to the sorrow buried deep within the king's heart.
Neptune's fists clenched in his sleep. Her name escaped his lips. "Athena…"
However,.....
A pure, resonant tone drifted through the sea. Not sharp or aggressive like a war horn, nor haunting like a siren's call, but soft, powerful, and strangely… familiar.
His eyes flew open.
It echoed through the water with harmonies that awakened something in him, beautiful memories of his beloved wife. It was her conch.
He sat up instantly, hair flowing around him like a silver curtain. His piercing sea-green eyes locked on the direction from which the sound came. It was faint, carried through miles of ocean, but it reached him nonetheless. That sound—how could it be?
The conch had vanished the day she died.
And now…
His gaze flicked to his trident, mounted high on the wall. It glowed with a mix of anger and confusion. The sea above churned like a beast untethered, summoned by its master's unspoken grief.
And in that moment, the mighty KingTriton understood.
He had to go.
Without a second thought, Neptune leapt from the bed. His bare feet touched the floor, and the entire palace seemed to stir. Fish darted away, ccrabs scattered. Even the guards outside his chamber flinched as the presence of the king grew heavier.
He extended his arm, and the trident flew to his hand with the force of a cyclone.
The seas listened.
"Stay here," he ordered the guards outside as he strode past them like a force of nature. "No one follows me."
And with that, he shot upward like a torpedo, trailing a comet-like wake of bioluminescent shimmer behind him. The waters around him parted as if in awe, and all sea creatures cleared his path. From coral reef to open abyss, the king surged through the ocean with unmatched purpose.
As he neared the surface, the chaos grew.
Waves thrashed like monstrous claws. Thunder split the sky. Lightning stabbed into the sea like spears from angry gods. Amid the roaring winds, he could make out two ships—one royal, the other far more ragged, built for speed and rebellion. They were both caught in the fury, battered like toys in a storm.
On the prow of the pirate ship stood a young man.
Tall, lean, black hair now soaked and plastered to his brow. And in his hand—glowing with soft, deep blue light—was her conch.
Triton's heart skipped a beat. His body paused mid-rise for a single, impossible moment. That was hers. He would know it anywhere. The swirls carved into the shell. The curve of it. The soft humming when it was used by someone worthy.
But this boy—he was human.
And yet the conch responded.
Triton had no time to ponder. A crack of lightning shattered the sky directly above the ships, casting a blinding white light across the waters. Screams echoed from the sailors, ropes snapped, sails shredded.
With a roar, Triton broke the surface, water erupting upward around him like a geyser. His golden trident was already raised, glowing like a miniature sun.
Both ships froze as the sea suddenly stilled.
Waves dropped. The wind hushed. The clouds pulled back ever so slightly like curtains, revealing a sliver of calm night sky.
All eyes turned.
There, floating between the two vessels like some ancient deity from the depths of forgotten myths, was King Triton himself.
His long silver beard moved in the gentle wind, and the glow of his trident made the sea glow around him. His eyes, bright as sea glass, locked onto the boy holding the conch.
Triton stared. The boy straightened right away instinctively. For a heartbeat, neither of them blinked. The trident lowered slightly, not in threat, but in silent recognition.
How?
The conch in the boy's hand dimmed, as though humbled in the presence of its original master.
The king let out a long breath, turning his gaze briefly to the two ships. They were battered, yes, but not lost. Not yet.
Raising the trident once more, he let its tip touch the surface of the sea.
"Enough," he said.
His voice wasn't loud, but it echoed like a sermon. The command surged through the water like a ripple from a stone dropped into a pond. The sea responded immediately, falling still in a wide radius around the ships.
Triton gave one last look to the boy.
"You..." Triton finally said. "You have something of mine," the King said, authority in his voice. To his credit, Camden managed to say a few words in reply. Albeit with difficulty.
With a turn of his body, the Sea King descended once more into the deep, his trident pulsing with fading light as he vanished beneath the surface. Bubbles followed in his wake. Then silence.
The sea was calm again. But now, new questions churned in Triton's mind.
Why did that boy have her conch? Why did the sea not reject him? And why, did he feel the power of Fate flowing through that boy, the last person time he saw such power was with his grandfather Neptune. The God of the Seas, freshwater, and horses.
He would find the answers.
Soon...
But for now, he needed to get back to his palace, he had a lot on his mind.
...
[Few bubbles later]
[Triton POV]
I should have felt rage at the thought of a human in the possession of MY Wife's treasure. I should have thundered the wrath of the ocean upon him. But I didn't. Because that boy, that strange human boy… had stilled the storm with her song.
He had calmed the very sea my grief had riled.
I needed answers—but there would be time for that.
For now, I returned to the only place that had ever truly been mine—my palace, nestled in the deepest trench of the Atlantean domain. The spires of coral and pearl glowed faintly in the dark blue gloom.
I slowed as I entered through the wide arches, the water welcoming me home. Everything was silent.
Until I heard sniffles. Then sobbing.
Then the gentle weeping of children I knew better than I knew myself.
I pushed open the massive doors of their shared chamber and there they were—my daughters. All seven of them. All huddled together like sea otters riding out a tide, their eyes red and puffy. My heart cracked at the sight.
"Ariel?" I called gently, approaching the youngest who still hiccuped through soft cries. Her long red hair floated around her like a cloak, tangled and wild.
She turned to me and instantly launched herself into my arms. I caught her without effort, holding her tightly. "Daddy! I… I heard her," she sobbed into my chest. "It was Mama's song. It woke me up…"
I glanced over to see the rest slowly swimming closer. Attina, eldest and always trying to be strong for the others, had tears streaking down her cheeks too, though she tried to hide them.
"We all heard it," she said softly. "It sounded just like her. The same pitch… the same feeling. It made us feel like she was still here."
I gathered them in all at once, their small bodies clinging to mine as I held them. For a moment, the mighty King Triton was just a father—grieving, lost, and still trying to be strong for his girls.
"I heard it too," I whispered, letting my forehead touch theirs. "That sound… it was real. Your mother's conch has been blown again. It came from the surface."
A collective gasp passed through them.
"Is it her?" Ariel asked, eyes wide. "Is Mama alive?"
I shook my head, my voice low and steady. "No, little pearl. She's gone… but her conch has found its way into another's hands. A boy… a human. He used it to soothe the ocean during the storm. I saw it with my own eyes. I felt it calm even my own trident."
Attina frowned, her brow furrowing with confusion. "But how could a human use it? That magic is ancient. Only someone deeply connected to the sea… to her… could ever draw power from it."
I looked down, eyes distant. That was the same question burning in my mind. Who was this boy? Where had he come from? Why was he there… and how did the conch find him?
"I do not know," I admitted, still holding them close. "But he stood tall, and though the storm was tearing ships apart, he stood firm. There was power in him."
A hush fell over the room. I knew what I had to do next. I had to find him. Not to punish—but to understand.
"To hold the sea in one's hand and not command it, but ask of it… that is a rare thing," I said, more to myself than them.
Ariel blinked slowly. "Will you bring him here?"
"Perhaps," I replied. "But only if he's ready."
They all seemed to drift into thought, the silence finally settling among them.
I looked at each of my daughters, their eyes so much like their mother's, and I knew she would have been proud of how much they had grown. Of how tightly they clung to each other in fear, yet how quickly they calmed once embraced.
The sea would not take them. I would not let it.
As I left their chamber, I turned back one last time. "Sleep now, my pearls. The storm has passed… and tomorrow, we begin anew."
And with that, I exited the room, my daughters slowly drifting back into slumber behind me.
But I could not sleep.
Not yet.
Not while the sound of that conch still echoed through my heart. Not while the memory of that boy's eyes still burned in my mind.
Who are you, boy?
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