Chapter Four: Beautiful and Deadly

As per daily routine, breakfast bowls, plates, and cups clattered and chimed as they made their way around the dining room table. It was seven AM sharp, and, like any other morning, dish after seemingly endless dish of food was being distributed to and passed around the abnormally long and elegant piece of furniture. And, as usual, the royal family was assembled around it in order of age. King Triton, thus, was poised at the head of the table with his daughters, starting with Aquata and ending with Allana, wrapped around the edges.

He had, in the time that had passed since Queen Andromeda's death, gotten used to having a seat missing every morning, too, seeing as Ariel hardly ever joined the family for meals anymore. He had adapted to making light conversation with his second youngest daughter with an empty chair separating them, a painful reminder of who they were still missing.

King Triton nearly choked on the piece of seaweed he was consuming, however, when he noticed the vibrant redhead at his side once again. She was so incredibly quiet that he hadn't even noticed her file in with the rest of the girls and take her seat. He didn't even recognize her presence until he leaned over to ask Allana how she'd slept and was instead met with a different daughter. What a surprise he was in for when he saw his youngest daughter sitting there instead, munching down on her breakfast. Her head was bent down over her plate and her gaze was cast downwards directly at her plate, her red curtain of hair protectively shielding her face.

He glanced over to his left, raising his eyebrows at Aquata, almost as if to say, Do you know anything about this?

She returned his gaze with one of confusion until he swiveled his head back over in Ariel's direction. Her eyes widened in surprise as she caught on, and she immediately leaned over to whisper something to Andrina. In a matter of seconds, the entire table had broken out into a series of astonished murmurs. Everybody's undivided focus was now aimed towards the little redhead that had yet to notice that she had become the center of attention in less than five seconds flat.

A hush fell over the sisters as Ariel finally held her head up. Her features tightened, and a flash of confusion, surprise, and then, finally, understanding flickered across her face. Her eyes darted from sister to sister as she chewed down on her bottom lip nervously, a somewhat uneasy expression lingering on her face.

"You're joining us for breakfast?" Arista remarked incredulously. For that, she had earned herself a harsh slap on the arm from Atina to which she responded with a smile and a slap right back. She could feel the girls around the table biting back their snickers at the sisters' display. "Well, it's about time, darling. I mean, I don't know… I just didn't think that you'd ever eat with us again."

Ariel shrugged and sighed. "Am I not welcome here anymore?" she wondered quietly. "I can go…"

"No, no, not welcome at all," Adella frowned, her tone seeping with sarcasm. "We've already decided that we're kicking you out of the palace."

"Yeah, we thought we'd just leave you out on the streets to fend for yourself from now on," Arista chimed in.

Both Adella's and Arista's lips simultaneously twisted up into a smile and all the other girls burst out laughing at the absurd nature of the comment. Triton, in turn, shot a harsh glare in Adella's direction and reached over to pat Ariel on the back. "You know that you always welcome here, no matter what, Sweetheart."

"Well, that is, as long as you don't, like, fall in love with a human or anything," Andrina amended with a giggle.

Ariel found herself smiling at that comment. In love? With a human? Right. She loved their stuff, sure, but she wasn't sure if she'd ever find it in her heart to forgive them for their part in her mother's death. Or, at the very least, it'd take one heck of a human to change her mind after all that she'd been through. Not that she'd ever even want thought of them in the romantic way. Nope, there was an absolute zero chance of that ever happening.

"I must say, Ariel," Triton remarked, hardly unable to suppress a grin himself. He watched her as she reached forward for some more food to place on her plate. "The table certainly seems livelier with you here."

She nodded slightly and continued scooping food onto her plate, offering no further commentary.

She wasn't sure that livelier was quite the right way to describe her current state of mind, but she sure felt better than she usually did in the morning. She didn't know what had gotten into her, but the mere thought that someone had proven devotion to her last night was reason enough for her to get her sorry fin out of bed. It didn't hurt that he happened to be an incredible kisser, either.

Not that she'd ever own up to thinking that thought in the first place. If only he could know how unbelievably happy he had made her in such a short amount of time. If only she wasn't such a big coward, she could probably get herself together and tell him. But, until then, he wouldn't know that she felt that way she did, and he probably never would. She knew she owed him something so much more than a 'thank you.' But how exactly did would you thank (much less pay back) someone who'd helped put you back together?

"Ariel," Triton said knowingly. "To whom do I owe your presence to this morning?"

In shock, Ariel's spoon clattered to the table, mid-scoop, and her free arm knocked up against the bowl nearest to it, causing it to spill its hot contents everywhere. How did her father just read her mind like that? Was it really that obvious that she was thinking about Netis?

She could immediately feel the blood rush up to her cheeks; they were probably about the same shade as her hair by now. She then reached for her napkin hastily to mop up the mess off of herself and Allana. "I'm so, so sorry," she muttered profusely. "I-I didn't mean to-"

The table erupted in giggles again, and all the sisters shared their joint assumptions with one another. She likes someone, they whispered. Ariel has a crush!

"Ariel has a boyfriend!" Arista proclaimed, taking it upon herself to announce the sisters' shared revelation.

"No!" Ariel exclaimed defensively, while shaking her head quickly. She could feel her face becoming redder by the millisecond, if that was even possible. "I don't have a boyfriend!"

But it was too late. The sisters had already closed in on their youngest daughter, peppering her with questions about the lucky young merman. Triton sat back in his seat for a moment, feeling memories of the past emerging from the crevices of his mind. It seemed to him that the scene before him mirrored that of so many years ago…

He fondly remembered how, whenever the queen brought home a present for Ariel, the only daughter she'd ever bring things home to, her sisters would all crowd around her, all eager for a peek at the wonderful new thing. They would all beg Ariel for a closer look, for any time to play with the new toy. If he remembered correctly, Ariel got quite a good laugh and many good deals out of her mother's generosity, too.

He chuckled quietly to himself and closed his eyes, able to recall the look of utter bemusement on his youngest daughter's face in perfect clarity. But when he peered through his eyelids again, she had, instead, a look of sheer horror plastered on her face, unsure of the hurricane she'd just unleashed on the sisters. She got up abruptly, shielding her face with both her hands and her hair this time, and scurried away quickly, leaving her sisters' questions lingering in the air, still unanswered.

Looking after her figure as she made her egress, he reflected back upon how concerned he'd been about Ariel when the queen had passed. He had observed the bond the two of them had shared, one that had been different between the bonds Andromeda had shared with that the other girls. Of course, like all parents of more than one merchild, he loved each of his girls equally. But there was a part of him that was unable to deny that little Ariel just happened to be his favorite. And, apparently, she had been Andromeda's favorite, too.

Pulling himself back to the present, he focused his attention back to his other remaining daughters.

"Was that really necessary?" he wondered out loud, staring down each of the girls individually. "She's never going to want to eat with us again now that you've gone and tortured her like that."

"Oh, Daddy, lighten up," Atina giggled. "We just wanted to find out who this special guy is. I mean, I, for one, want to personally thank him for making her so happy."

"Yeah, didn't you see it, you guys?" Adella said, her eyes sparkling. "She was practically glowing."

For once, Ariel had her binders open and was in her seat and ready to go by the time the final bell rang. She could hardly believe that she was ready to take notes the moment Ms. Ashford turned on the projector to begin the lecture for the day. She was also surprised how easily her lips cracked into a friendly smile when Netis took his seat in the desk beside her. She shouldn't have been so surprised, though, for all partners for the unit had been required to sit together for the time being.

Today, the topic of instruction was human stuff. Ms. Ashford had begun to explain the function of common human items, like fire and matches and fishing boats. A good majority of the students seated around her were awe-struck at all the information the teacher was feeding them.

Much to Ariel's dismay, though, all the definitions of the items were delivered with a harshly negative connotation. Instead of zeroing in on the beauty of the objects and their functions, the teacher provided an explanation of each item with a shadow of fear tacked to the side. She talked about all the bad and terrible ways in which they could be used and the especially harmful things that had been done with them. Where had been the awe of seeing a picture of a live fire? Or the inquiry and fascination behind the different types and colors of boots? Why was it automatically assumed that all human things were so extremely terrible?

It was almost amusing and slightly frightening to Ariel how easily these teachers could reject (and pass on that rejection) something they knew absolutely nothing about. Her father, as the instituter of this course, probably wouldn't let them deliver the lecture with a happy-go-lucky tone; no, that'd be too dangerous. But the very least they could do is acknowledge the differences between the cultures with some shred of respect. The way she saw it, they didn't even have the right to begin to judge the humans.

But she supposed they were just doing what they were told to do.

Peering over Ariel's shoulder out of pure curiosity, Netis noticed that the paper in front of her was completely blank. He knew that she hadn't been taking notes on the lecture. For all he knew, she probably was completely tuned out of the whole lesson. And, for a moment, he was glad that he had taken detailed notes, but as he watched different expressions drift across her face, he was filled with the feeling that something wasn't sitting quite right with her. No, she was most definitely listening to every word the teacher was saying.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that it was only fifteen minutes from morning break. He leaned back into his seat, wondering what was crossing her mind. He looked up from time to time to take more notes the presented slides. At the same time, he made a mental note to ask Ariel what was up the moment that bell sounded.

"Ariel," he said, following her out into the hallway. "I noticed you didn't take any notes. Do you want to borrow my notebook and copy mine?"

She glanced at him over her shoulder with her eyebrows raised. It almost looked as if she was ready to burst out laughing. "I don't need notes," she said. "I could've told you everything Ms. Ashford said right off the top of my head."

"What?" he asked, his eyebrows drawn up in confusion.

It was then Ariel realized what she said. What an incredibly stupid mental slip on her part! "Come on," she resigned, letting out a breath that she didn't even know she'd been holding. "I'll show you."

With the bell chiming behind them, Ariel took hold of Netis' arm and dragged them out of the vicinity of the school building. She had pursed her lip together tightly since that final bell had rung and had yet to provide him with a single explanation as to where they were going.

Sure, she knew that their class was in the opposite direction and that, technically, she shouldn't be dragging Netis along with her on her little excursion. But she wanted him to know the truth. And, besides, she could easily get him marked as having an excused absence in the system when they got back to school.

"Ariel?" he said finally. "Not that I don't trust you, but can I at least have a hint as where you're taking me to?"

"You know, all that stuff Ms. Ashford said about humans was kind of scary, wasn't it?" she said suddenly. "She highlighted all the faults of the human culture. But me? You know, I personally don't think she even has the right to even begin judging them. She doesn't even know a human for Neptune's sake-"

"You're not taking me to the surface, are you?" Netis cut in nervously. "I mean, that'd be real sweet of you and all but…"

"No," she said sharply, but with a slightly exasperated laugh. "But I do have something better in mind."

After five minutes of quick swimming, Ariel had led Netis to their destination. She glanced over both her shoulders and swam around the premises a few times before deeming the coast clear.

She sighed, "Look, I'm sorry for dragging you here when you're supposed to be class, but I just don't want you to get the wrong impression."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "About what? Humans?"

"Yeah. Everyone makes them and their stuff sound so horrible. And I can't say that I don't disagree sometimes; I mean, even I haven't fully forgiven them for killing my mother. But some of their other stuff – it's amazing! And I don't want you to be under the horrible assumption that every single human is a disgusting barbarian and all their stuff will instantly kill you."

He kept his mouth closed and watched as she proceeded to push a rather large rock off the covering to some cove. He immediately jumped to her aid. Together, the two of them were able to roll the rock over enough to expose a space just big enough for them to squeeze through.

She swam in front of him and blocked the entrance for a moment. "You must promise not to tell anyone that I showed you this or any the artifacts inside, okay?" she said, her voice quivering slightly. "It's sort of illegal to be doing this."

He shook his head quickly and looked her straight in the eye. "No, no I wasn't going to tell anyone or anything. I mean, not unless you don't want me to," he added. "I promise."

She smiled, "Thanks."

She took the lead and swam in quickly before him, leading the way through the pitch black tunnel. After a few moments, he reached the cove and was met with bright sunlight in the entrance along with the sight of dozens upon dozens of artifacts placed upon many, many shelves among the walls.

Behind him, Ariel had just returned from closing the tunnel entrance. "It was my mother's," she whispered. "I've never showed it to anybody, but…" she trailed off. He observed her countenance as her eyes traced each object lovingly.

"Is this… Is this h-human stuff?" he asked quietly, looking back over to her for conformation.

She smiled weakly and swam over to one of the nearest shelves. "Look, this is a candle. And a boot," she explained with a giggle. Playfully, she took the boot and tried sticking it on his fin, but he shrank away rapidly, a look of terror crossing his face.

"Get that away from me!" he cried out fearfully. "Those are so dangerous! I could die instantly if I touch it!"

Ariel's smile vanished almost immediately and the boot dropped out of her hand. "See? That's just the reaction I wanted to avoid," she said sharply. "Look, what I'm trying to tell you is that none of this stuff is harmful… that is, if you know how to use them."

To demonstrate, she placed the boot as best she could on her flipper. She waved it around Netis' face for a moment. "See? I'm not dead, am I?"

He was silent for a few moments. He then started swimming around the circumference of the cove slowly. He took the time to look at each of the objects individually, trying to remember if he could recall any memories as to what it was and any warnings associated with it. Meanwhile, Ariel placed herself smack dab in the middle of the cove floor. She discarded the boot she had been wearing previously and waited anxiously for Netis' next response.

"So, you said this was all your mother's?" he said finally. He sighed and turned slowly to face her, while running a slow hand through his sleek black locks of hair. "Who would've thought that Queen Andromeda had a secret human fetish?" he said with a chuckle.

"No one except me," she shrugged. "I was the only one she ever shared all her human stuff with."

"Don't you think it's sort of ironic how she loved humans so much, but they ended up working against her?" he pointed out solemnly.

"Don't you think that very same thought crosses my mind every day? I think about she talked so fondly about the humans and their stuff. But then I remember how her death was caused by those very same things," she said quietly, her voice shaking. "It's terrible to have such contradicting thoughts."

Netis swam over to Ariel and sank down next to her. With all these beautiful and deadly things surrounded him, Netis noted how differently the cove looked from a different vantage point. Upright and swimming, it seemed utterly overwhelming, but, from the floor, it seemed all the more daunting. The shadows of the objects, some of them hit completely by the sunshine from the world above, fell across the bottom of the cove.

"It must be hard, going against what everybody's always told you, even though you know the truth," he said quietly. "I can't even imagine."

"No… but, you know, s-she promised me she'd take me up to the surface on my fifteenth birthday," Ariel said abruptly, tilting her head upwards. "But I guess that's not going to happen," she continued. "Not now, not ever."

Now that she had finished pouring her heart out to him, she had collapsed into tears. Upon instinct, Netis pulled her into his arms again for another hug and let her cry into his chest until her sobs eventually subsided.

But Ariel needn't say another word, for, a month from now, on Ariel's fifteenth birthday, he already knew exactly where the two of them would be.

This must be a new world record for me or something. I mean, two updates in one weekend? Wow. Anyway, that's that and I hope you enjoyed!

-Dreaming Wide Awake

P.S. This chapter is dedicated to disneyqueen for keeping me company on AIM last night and earlier today. Thank you! :)