The gentle swell of the waves rocked the royal vessel rhythmically as it cut a sure path through the dark blue-green water of the ocean. The mood on board was cheerful, the sailors singing shanties as they hauled fishing nets in and out of the water. Two year old Prince Eric stood on his tip-toes, trying unsuccessfully to see over the side of the ship, his raven black hair being blown about his face in the sharp wind. A familiar pair of hands lifted him into the air, and soon enough he found himself in the arms of his mother. Finally able to see across the ocean, Eric marvelled at its size, at how it seemed to go on forever, and quickly became mesmerised by the twinkling of the late morning sun atop the waves.

'Pretty!' exclaimed Eric, looping his arms around the Queen's neck and resting his head upon her shoulder. Ottilie smiled at her son's excitement, and pressed a soft kiss to his rosy cheek. The look of wonder on Eric's face always filled her with such happiness, the way he found delight in the simplest of things, it brought such joy to the Queen, and indeed the entire Kingdom. She caught her husband's eye through the crowd of sailors, and returned his warm smile. Oh, how she prayed that her son would one day find a love as pure as hers and Frederik's.

The royal family were on their way back home after attending a banquet hosted by the Duke and Duchess of Glowerhaven, and knowing that marine life varied between the two Kingdoms, the sailors were taking full advantage of the journey.

The Queen stood still, holding her son close as he mimicked the rise and fall of the waves with his tiny hands, enjoying the peace and the warmth of the sun on her face. But the peace wasn't to last for long, as the sailors began shouting, and rushing over to the side of the ship.

'Mermaid! There's a mermaid!'

It had come out of nowhere. One minute, Athena had been swimming alongside her husband and daughters, her new born daughter Ariel giggling in her arms, the next she had found herself tangled in a mass of fishing nets. This was supposed to be a safe area of the Kingdom, a place that seldom saw ships, and certainly not ones that sought to capture marine life.

'Triton!' she gasped, trying to free herself but only managing to tangle herself more as the nets rose closer to the surface.

The sea King swam forward, instructing his other six daughters to stay exactly where they were, and began tearing at the nets. Had it not been his family tied up he would've wasted to time in blasting the nets and the ship above it out of the water but, as it was, he didn't want to risk it.

However, as his wife and youngest daughter disappeared above the surface, he was filled with such rage that it was no longer a conscious decision. He pointed the trident towards the ship, angling it away from where he knew his wife and daughter to be, and struck it with a blast of white hot energy, splintering the wood and blowing the vessel apart. The nets dropped back into the water, and Triton breathed a sigh of relief upon noticing that Athena seemed unharmed, and wasted no time in removing the nets that bound her. Young Ariel remained in her mother's arms, her eyes wide, filled with wonderment as she looked up to the destroyed human vessel.

'Athena are you hurt?' asked the King, placing a strong had on her shoulder.

Though visibly shaken, the Queen shook her head, and followed her daughter's eye-line to where some of the heavier objects on board were beginning their descent to the ocean floor. Unmoving bodies were carried by the waves, both humans and fish, but one particular movement caught the Queen's attention. It was a young boy, who couldn't have been any older than her daughters, thrashing about just below the surface.

Throwing caution to the current, and handing Ariel to her husband, Athena swam swiftly to the boy's side, and lifted his small body above the waves. Harsh coughs racked his chest, as he expelled seawater from his lungs, spluttering as Athena rubbed small circles on his back.

'There, there, it's okay,' she said softly, glancing around to make sure there was nothing that would pose a threat to her or the young boy. A soft sob caught her attention, and she looked down to see the child crying, his eyes darting round, wide with fear.

'Oh, darling…'

'Athena!' Triton cut her off, appearing besides her having handed Ariel to their oldest daughter, Attina. He froze as soon as he noticed to human boy she held in her arms. 'What in Neptune's name are you doing?'

'I couldn't just let him drown Triton!'

'He's a human!'

'He's a child, he hasn't done anything wrong, how could he?'

Triton gave an exasperated sigh, rolling his eyes as Athena attempted to calm the panicked toddler. It was so very her to want to provide him with comfort, her personality shining in this moment. He was about to reason with her when the boy suddenly spoke up.

'Mum-my?' he hiccuped, his eyes frantically scanning the water.

The blood drained from Athena's face at his words, and she too scanned the water for any sign of the boy's mother, though deep down she knew that she wouldn't be able to reunite them even if she did find her. She looked to her husband, but saw no trace of sympathy in his eyes; in fact, the sea King seemed completely indifferent to the situation.

'Darling, can you tell me your name?' she asked, turning her attention back to the toddler, and positioning him so that he was now facing her.

He stared up at her for a moment, tears staining his cheeks before answering timidly, 'Eric.'

'All right, Eric. It's going to be okay, I promise,' said Athena softly, brushing Eric's hair back from his face. She knew that as young as the boy was, she couldn't lie to him. It was going to be alright, she had meant every word of that, but she knew that it would take a while for him to get over what she was about to tell him.

'Darling, your mummy she's… she's not coming back.' She had tried to break the news gently, and in a way that Eric would understand; but, of course, that didn't stop the news from being heart-breaking. The Queen could do nothing but hold the boy as he cried, racking her brain desperately for a solution, for a way she could help the child.

Still, Triton felt nothing in the way of sympathy for the child, he was a human, even if he posed no threat now, he would in the future, and if Athena let herself get attached to him, their entire family would have to suffer the consequences.

A gentle tug on the fluke of his tail drew his attentions back below the surface of the ocean. It was Aquata, twiddling her thumbs as she stared up at her powerful father.

'What's mummy doing?' she asked, curiosity evident in her voice.

Triton sighed. 'I don't know dear, we'll go home soon though, stay with your sisters.'

Aquata nodded, swimming back to where her six sisters were huddled together, some appeared frightened, all of them wanting to get home before anything else happened.

Resurfacing, he was greeted by the sight of his wife cradling the human boy in her arms, his eyes half-closed and his chest rising and falling steadily, tears slipping silently down his cheeks as he cuddled up to the Queen.

'We have to help him.'

Triton could only stare at his wife. 'What?'

'Triton, his family… we can't just leave him here.'

Noticing the look in Athena's eyes, and connecting the dots, Triton was suddenly overcome with irrational anger.

'Absolutely not!' he thundered, the waves around them rising, causing Eric to cry out in fear and draw himself closer to Athena. 'Do our daughters mean nothing to you Athena? Would you rather busy yourself with humans than them?'

'Of course not,' insisted the Queen, 'but I won't have him left here alone. He can come with us… please Triton.'

Seeing the seriousness in his wife's green eyes struck something within the King, and the waters calmed. He sighed, and placed a hand to Athena's cheek.

'You're too kind for your own good, do you know that?'

Athena smiled, glancing from her husband to the boy in her arms. 'He needs us,' she said simply.

'He's a threat, or at least he will be when he's older, I don't want anything to happen to you or the girls,' replied Triton, stuck between wanting to protect his family and wanting to please his wife. After all, it was his actions that had left this boy without parents. There was no sign of life anywhere, the remains of the ship in flames, and steadily slipping below the surface, destined to spend the rest of time at the bottom of the ocean.

Eventually he sighed, a plan forming in his mind, one that had aspects that would please both him and Athena.

'Alright, he can come with us,' he began, 'but after his twelfth birthday I won't have him in Atlantica after sunset, he can be a merman during the day and a human at night.'

'We don't even know when his birthday is!'

'Then we'll make it today,' decided Triton.

Although she disagreed entirely with her husband, Athena knew that he wasn't going to be persuaded any other way, so she settled for agreeing with him.

'Eric, do you want to come with us darling, and we'll look after you?'

The young Prince nodded, his bottom lip trembling as the King pointed his trident towards him. Athena held the boy steady has he was enveloped in a bright golden light, and dipped below the surface as his legs were replaced by a cobalt tail.

Eric whimpered as his legs were assaulted by the most horrific case of pins-and-needles, and squirmed around in the arms of the woman who had saved him, kicking out in an attempt to make the sensation more bearable but soon finding that he was unable to move his legs as they were forced together. The frightened toddler began to wail, and panicked as he was dragged below the surface, instinctively trying to hold his breath but failing miserably as choked sobs escaped his lips.

Athena tried her best to calm Eric, her heart stopping for a moment when he slumped against her, seeming to lose all of his strength in only a second, but relaxing considerably when she realised that he only seemed to be sleeping. It had been an exhausting day for him after all.

'Mummy, who's that?' asked Andrina, swimming up to her mother to look at the boy.

'This is Eric, we're going to look after him,' explained the Queen as her daughters gathered round. Ariel gave a series of high-pitched giggles, clenching and unclenching her fists in the boy's direction, her ocean blue eyes shimmering with wonder and excitement.

'He's staying with us?' queried Attina, struggling to hold a now squirming Ariel.

'Yes dear, he needs a family.'

'Come girls, let's go home,' said Triton, drawing Adella and Arista into his arms and causing them to giggle. The human boy could stay, but he wanted nothing to do with him.

Athena knew this, but she was grateful that her husband was allowing Eric to stay. Her daughter's meant more to her than anything the world had to offer, but her caring nature wouldn't have let her leave Eric struggling at the surface, and whether Triton could see it or not, she knew that this boy would be loved by so many people, and that he would never pose a threat so long as they raised him well. She could persuade her husband to lift his curse in time she was sure of it, what mattered now was ensuring that this child never felt alone, and that he was made welcome and kept safe.

The Queen held Eric in one arm, took Alana's outstretched hand, and swam alongside her family towards the palace. Everything was going to be just fine.