Chapter 24

"Not the End, Only the Beginning"

As Eric contemplated whether to head back to Denmark, King Triton emerged out of the sea with his trident glowing. It seemed that he was even more determined than ever to find the ship that killed his wife and Ariel's mother.

"What's wrong, daddy?" asked Ariel walking over to Eric. "You still seem troubled."

"That's because I still haven't found the ship that killed your mother," replied Triton, solemnly. "I searched everywhere during the battle and it was nowhere to be found."

Ariel felt sorry for her father and understood his pain. She wanted nothing more than to support her father any way she could, but it seemed like there was going to be no easy way out of this. She had already been put at risk thanks to the French and Spanish and her instincts were telling her to leave, but her father was the most important person in her life next to Eric and Melody.

"Daddy, why don't you just let it go?" suggested Ariel. "Mother wouldn't approve of you acting like this."

This struck a chord with Triton, who was not someone that could be reasoned with easily. Just letting it go was not something that he wanted to do. It would be a disgrace to him and to Athena's memory if her killer was not found and destroyed.

"I can't let it go, Ariel," sighed Triton. "All my life, I have tried to search for your mother's killer and I will find it if it's the last thing that I do."

"If you really want to find the ship," said Eric, although he thought it was against his better judgment. "Then, we will stand by your side, Triton, no matter how long it takes."

Ariel was shocked by this and wanted to protest, but if there was one thing she learned, it was never to question her father. Nevertheless, the British navy officers knew that what happened at Trafalgar was only the beginning.

"Indeed," said Sir Percy. "This was only the first victory we have had in this fight. They will regroup and we have to stop them from doing it."

All of the men in the room nodded in agreement, including John and Victor, much to the shock of Melody and Vanessa.

"But Victor," cried Vanessa, trying to reason with her soon-to-be husband. "We are to be married."

"Not until the barbarians who ruined our wedding are completely at our mercy," replied Victor. "I will continue to join the hunt until I die."

"But, we will need a leader," suggested John, grabbing a rapier that once belonged to his father. "And that leader is me."

All the people in the room including Triton looked down at John, who was determined to pick up where his father left off. At that moment, Triton raised his trident into the air once more in the direction of where the French fleet had retreated.

Meanwhile, the French fleet had headed north towards the northern coast of Spain towards a place where they thought that the English and Danish fleets would never find them.

"We will stay here until we regroup," said a French naval officer. "We lost a lot of our best warriors France has ever had."

"Indeed," said the musketeer that had shot at Nelson. "Our leader has been captured and that there is matter of someone to take his place."

"But, what if we rescue him?" suggested the officer. "There is a chance we could still rescue Villeneuve."

The musketeer looked down at the money he had been given by Villeneuve before the battle at Trafalgar. He knew that the he had done what he had set out to do and felt that the time was right to take what once belonged to Villeneuve.

"No, he is most likely to be executed for his actions," replied the musketeer. "As of now, I will lead this navy in rescuing our captured comrades. You shall address me as Admiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley and together, we shall fight the English and Danish again. This time, we shall be victorious."

So the new minted Admiral le Pelley looked back on his fleet and drew his sword, determined to rescue all those who had been captured. The money that Villeneuve had given to him had given him power that even he didn't train or even dream of becoming admiral. It seemed to this new admiral, that killing Nelson made him all powerful and that everyone would have to bow to him as the supreme monarch of the French Fleet when in reality, he wasn't.

However, as both sides went to bed that night, the thought of the next encounter was still fresh on everyone's mind, especially Ariel and Eric, who were forced to stay on the HMS Victory along with Melody, since the Danish royal ship was damaged beyond repair.

"Eric, do you think we are doing the right thing?" wondered Ariel as she looked out at the clear blue night. "I mean, going after the French fleet or what's left of it?"

"You heard everyone in the room tonight, Ariel," said Eric, getting into bed. "We all agreed to help your father find and destroy the ship that killed your mother."

"I sometimes wonder if it is worth it," sighed Ariel, looking back towards Eric. "Do you think my mother would want to see blood being shed because of what happened when I was younger? This is isn't about glory and power, this is revenge, something that my father had taught me and my sisters to never embrace."

Eric stayed silent as he decided to focus on the task at hand, despite the injuries he had sustained. Ariel continued to look at the sky and think of why things had come to what they did. After all, she and her daughter had been attacked and Melody was violated of her personal space. She wanted to just accept what happened and move on, not wanting to see any more violence inflicted on her family and her country.

"Oh, mother," she whispered, bending down and praying for the first time in her life. "If you can hear me, I want you to think of a way, any way possible, to stop the impending horror that we have gotten ourselves into. I know you don't want to see this, so I ask you with all my might, to tell this God in heaven, to stop this relentless crusade that daddy is fighting. Amen."

Ariel had made her prayer, but only time would tell if it would be answered as another looming battle would take place…in Cape Ortegal.

TO BE CONTINUED…MERMAIDS OF ORTEGAL: SEPTEMBER 2015