Hello, my viewers! This is another AU story of the Little Mermaid, whoop-do! There will be general things; drama, romance, horror, survival, pain, comfort and much more. There will be quite some inter-species intimacy, mpreg, politics, war, magic. There will be some character deaths as well, sorry to say.

But in all, this story will be very interesting for all of you, my dear viewers. One of my new writer friends, SquidbaggerOfWoomyAndNgyesness, has requested for me to write this, and of course, I accepted! Her/his remarkable ideas has convinced me of that. So, please enjoy, and review if you can. -Traveler.

It's a beautiful day in the region of Denmark. The flowers are blooming, the seagulls are flocking around the docks near the town, and the people are socializing.

The ocean is calm and wonderfully peaceful, the beaches unspoiled, and the cliffs lush and plentiful. In all, it's a serene moment until the atmosphere became interrupted by the gleeful laughter of children who's jumping and playing around the seaside stairs leading from the castle upon the coast of Denmark.

Five young teenagers are enjoying the warm sunshine, the cool depths of the shallows as they swam with legs or tails. They are the offspring of the royals who is living in the castle.

The eldest one being 14 years old, he is tan-skinned, having dark brown hair, and dark blue eyes. His name is Blake, and he's floating in the shallows, his dark blue/ocean blue seahorse tail flexing every few minutes.

The second eldest is a 13 years old girl, being pale-skinned, having black hair, and teal eyes. Her name is Cora, and she's sitting on the last step, her plum pink bra contrasting with her mermaid light pink tail. Her plum pink fins are dipping in the cool water.

Cora's 13 years old fraternal twin sister, Anika, she is peach tan-skinned, having very light brown hair, and ice blue eyes. She's resting her arms upon the last step, talking to Cora. Her sky blue bra is contrasting with her dark blue/sea blue shark tail which is twitching sideways under the water.

Their cousins who's human at the time, are scrambling down to jump off the last stair on the other side; 12 years old Roland, tan-skinned, and he has blonde hair, dark green eyes. He's wearing gray swim shorts with a red band on top.

And there's 11 years old Tara, pale-skinned, and she has light red hair, ice blue eyes. She's wearing a dark teal bra top and shorts.

They are all the grandchildren of the retired King Eric and Queen Ariel. Blake, Cora, and Anika are the three children of Melody, Eric and Ariel's eldest while Roland and Tara are the children of Flanders, Melody's younger brother.

Anyhow, they were talking about how they were figuring to get whatever for Mother's Day, and the twin sisters were disagreeing loudly. Cora grumbled, "A conch shell's perfect for her! What were you thinking, I mean, a seashell necklace! That's tacky, even for you!".

Anika snorted, "Conch shell? That's way too fancy! Mom deserves something simpler than that!". Blake looked bored by the argument as Roland whispered to him, "And I thought Tara's gift was fancy.".

Blake shrugged lightly, "Mom likes flowers, so I got a real good book about exotic flowers. Took weeks of travel for that as I had to ask for help with the papers.".

Roland smiled softly, "Not bad. I had to ask Great-Aunt Attina and Uncle Rafferty for help with my gift. It's real pretty with the crystals from Zelavia.". Blake nodded approvingly, "Sounds awesome. My sisters are being dramatic.".

Cora and Anika looked at him with glares, "We're not being dramatic!", before looking at each other in surprise before laughing. As they laughed, a voice sounded out from above, "You haven't seen my sisters, Aquata and Arista when they were your age, and they were about perhaps a midge more dramatic than you two.".

The children looked up to see a spry, yet elderly Ariel strolling down the stairs with Eric behind her. "Grandma Ariel! Grandpa Eric!", they all greeted happily. Cora then asked, "Really? They were more dramatic than me and Anika?".

Ariel laughed gently, "Granted, it was about silly things like borrowing pillows, brushes, and even Mr. Fuzzfinkle the stuffed seahorse doll, but it was entertainment for the rest of us girls.".

Anika glanced at Cora, "We were pretty much dramatic just now, huh?". Cora smiled, "Sorry I called your idea tacky. It would work splendid if you find different shades of shells. Mom really likes red and pink.".

Anika grinned, "And the conch shell ain't that fancy. It's the perfect amount of sparkly. Maybe a silver one to contrast with Mom's hair.". Cora giggled, "That works!".

Eric chuckled lightly, "Trying to plan what to get for your mothers next week, yes?". Blake nodded, "Pretty much, Grandpa. It's literally next Monday, and we only have three days left! I and the cousins got what we got, but like you probably think, the girls here are still trying to search around.".

Ariel sighed, "Three days goes faster than you think.". Tara nodded, "We know, Grandma, you told us so many times how you got to be human and meet Grandpa Eric again!".

Eric raised an eyebrow, "How about after? Have we told you how Melody has her octopus/shark mermaid forms?". Roland gasped, "No, you haven't told us that story! Can we hear it, please?". Five pairs of eyes became puppy-eyed, wide and pleading as they stared at Ariel and Eric.

Ariel and Eric looked at each other with the well-known signals of a long-lived couple, and Ariel then sat down upon a step with Eric's help. "Well, as you know before, my dear old friends had crashed into the ship wedding between Eric and that wicked witch, Ursula. You probably think that we had defeated Ursula and we had our happily after ever, but you're wrong.".

Eric then spoke up, "This will take most of the day to tell. Are you sure you're ready to hear this?". The children chorused together, "Yes!".

Eric then laughed warmly, and tapped his chin in thought, "Let's see here, it all started 40, 42 years ago?". Ariel gently reminded him with a slightly teasing smile, "Last month, we had Melody's birthday, remember?".

Eric nodded with recognizance, "Oh, yes, now, it's 43 years ago, and it all started with my intention to save Ariel, and the trouble began with that damn harpoon.". It was not long after sunset, and perhaps 2 or 3 furlongs from here, under the sea, is where it all began...