The sun beat down on the young fox as he leaned over the railing of the ship, a breeze rustling his fur.

"Isn't it wonderful Grimsby?!" He shouted as the ship cut through the sea, seawater spraying out behind it, "The wind in the sails, the sea's not too rough. It's perfect sailing weather!" Grimsby, a rather dour looking wolf, pulled his head back from the edge of the boat and wiped his mouth off.

"I just wish you'd have more civilized hobbies young master Nicholas." He commented, swaying on his paws and looking rather queasy.

"What could be more civilized than sailing Grimsby?!" Nick laughed, ignoring the wolf's disapproving gaze.

"Especially on a day like this, when Lord Triton has blessed us with such fine weather!" One of the crewmembers, an otter, chimed in.

"Who's Lord Triton?" Nick inquired, "I've never heard of him."

"Why every sailor worth his salt has heard of Lord Triton!" The otter exclaimed, "He's the lord of the seven seas! King of the mermammals!"

"Don't listen to such hogwash Nicholas." Grimsby sniffed, "There are no mermammals."

"Of course there are mermammals!" The otter shouted, gesticulating wildly with a fish, "Just because you've never seen 'em doesn't mean they're not there!" Grimsby ducked as the fish escaped the otter's hand, flying over his head and back into the sea.

"Well there's no need to get so worked up over it." Grimsby commented, standing back up and dusting himself off, "Now Nicholas, I think it's time we headed back in."

"You sure you don't want to stay out a little longer Grim?" Nick asked slyly, "I'm sure the fish could use a little feeding."

"Very funny young mammal." He replied stiffly, "But we need to head back and get to work on finding you a wife."

"Fine." Nick sighed, "But Grim, I'm 26, I'm perfectly capable of dealing with that myself."

"Really?" Grimsby replied, "Then how come you're still single and rejecting every eligible princess that comes your way?" Nick blushed and turned away from his caretaker, ignoring the question.

"Max!" He called to the fluffy sheepdog manning the helm, "Take us home!"

"Aye, aye, captain!"

Though Grimsby had his doubts, the truth was right under his nose. Fathoms below the surface yes, but still technically under his nose. Because, the mermammals weren't a myth. In fact, they were some of the seas most potent creatures, especially their ruler, the mighty King Triton. And at the very bottom of the sea lay his palace. A golden, glittering edifice where the merfolk lived, hiding from the barbarism of the surface dwellers. Or at least, most of them hid.

"Now presenting, the mighty King Triton!" The seahorse herald announced. The audience cheered as their king, a strapping bunny, was pulled into the amphitheater by a pack of dolphins.

"And the court composer, Horatio Thelonious Ignacious Crustaceous Sebastian!" He continued as Sebastian, a small, red crab, was pulled into the room by a solitary, struggling fish to a lukewarm reception. After a few moments, he finally made it to where Triton was already seated.

"Today will be my finest concert ever!" Sebastian proclaimed proudly to King Triton, "With your daughter's voice, it will be unmatched!"

"I'm sure Judy will make the show unforgettable." Triton replied with a proud smile. Sebastian nodded his agreement and began swimming down to the orchestra.

"I just wish she had shown up for rehearsal." He muttered bitterly as he made it to the podium. He waved his baton at the orchestra and they began to play a steady, anticipatory melody.

"Ladies and gentlefish," Sebastian shouted, turning to face the audience, "I present to you Attina!" A clamshell on the floor burst open and Triton's eldest daughter emerged.

"Alana!" A second shell opened and Alana swam up to join her sister.

"Adella!" Triton's third oldest emerged and joined her siblings above the orchestra.

"Aquata!" Aquata swam over to her sisters and the four of them began harmonizing with the orchestra

"Arista!" Arista sprung out of a clamshell and began singing.

"Andrina!" The sixth daughter of Triton emerged and the audience quieted in anticipation, eager to see Judy emerge and perform for the first time.

"And Judy!" The last clamshell on the floor creaked open to reveal nothing but water. The crowd gasped.

"Where did Judy go?!" Sebastian groaned, burying his head in his claws. Triton frowned and looked at his older daughters.

"Do any of you know where she went?" He demanded. The sisters exchanged a few looks and shrugged at their father.

"Where does that child always disappear to?" Triton sighed.

Judy popped her head over the ridge and looked down at the wrecked ship below.

"Check it out Flounder!" She whispered excitedly, "I wonder what's in there?"

"Nothin' good." Flounder, a bright yellow fish with blue stripes, replied nervously, "Well, it was fun coming down to see it, but—"

"You don't want to go inside?" Judy asked, "C'mon Flounder, it'll be fun!"

"What if there are sharks down there?" He asked nervously. Judy looked back down at the ship and the surrounding area.

"It doesn't look like there are any sharks." She replied, "And we swam all this way to get here."

"Yeah, but, I don't know…" He trailed off uncertainly. Judy sighed.

"I guess I'll just go by myself." She said, slumping her shoulders and swimming towards the wreck. Flounder watched her drift towards the ship and groaned.

"Fine." He muttered, "Judy wait for me!" The merbunny spun around and lit up as her brightly colored friend swam towards her.

"I knew you couldn't resist!" She crowed.

"Yeah, yeah." Flounder replied, rolling his eyes, "Let's just check it out really quick and then leave ok?" Judy nodded her head and slipped inside the ship through a porthole. Flounder tried to follow, but got stuck halfway through.

"Uh, Judy?" He called, trying to squirm the rest of the way through, "Could you help me a little."

"Of course Flounder." Judy giggled as the fish struggled. She grabbed one of his outstretched fins and yanked on it, hard, pulling him fully into the interior of the boat.

"Wow, uh, this is nice." He said nervously, looking around the gloomy, rotting ship.

"Isn't it great?" Judy said, oblivious to his discomfort. The excited merbunny swam through the ship, searching for its hidden treasures.

"Oooo! Look at this one!" She said, picking up a metallic four-pronged object, "What do you think it is?"

"I don't know." Flounder replied, swimming up to get a closer look, "I bet Scuttle can tell us what it is though!" Judy nodded enthusiastically and put the object in the pouch she was carrying. She swam up into the second level of the ship, closely followed by Flounder.

"We should probably get going Judy." He said as they swam, "What if some sharks come by?"

"No sharks are going to come by." Judy scoffed, "We can't leave yet, there's still so much to explore!"

"I don't know." Flounder said as Judy picked up a strange, curved, hollow object with a well at one end. Judy continued to ignore the fish's reticence, inspecting the newfound treasure intensely. Out of the corner of his eye, Flounder noticed a flash of movement outside of the boat.

"Judy." He began, "I think something's out there."

"Stop being such a worrywart Flounder!" Judy complained, "We'll be fine!" Flounder swam closer to a hole in the side of the boat to get a better look at the surrounding ocean.

"SHARK!" He yelled, shooting away from the wall as the enormous predator rammed through it. Judy shoved her latest find into her bag and took off after Flounder, trying to escape the carnivorous beast. They wove their way through the rotted wreckage of the ship, slowly getting further and further away from their hunter. Just as they rounded a bend and thought they had escaped, the shark burst up from underneath the wooden floor, almost catching Flounder in its serrated teeth. As the pair turned to flee, Judy's pouch was wrenched from her grasp, getting caught on a spur of broken wood. She paused as Flounder swam away, glancing between the oncoming shark and the bag of collectibles. At the very last moment, Judy propelled herself towards the bag, grabbed it, and shot upwards to avoid the snapping jaws of the shark. She continued to tear after Flounder, the shark, mere inches behind her, snapping at her tail, trying to catch it in his jaws. As she swam, she drew closer and closer to the portholes they had originally used to enter the decrepit ship. Judy watched Flounder struggle through one of the openings and keep going. With a massive stroke of her tail, Judy flew through the opening and let loose a sigh of relief. That relief was short lived as the ravenous creature tore through the soft, rotted wood to renew the chase. Judy swam away, leading the shark up and around a wooden pole before swimming through a narrow metal hoop. The massive shark tried to follow the elusive merbunny, but got stuck as he tried to swim through the metal ring.

"Whew." Judy let loose another sigh of relief and relaxed, knowing that this time, she was actually safe.

"Not so scary now are ya?" She asked the enraged beast conversationally. The shark snapped its jaws angrily in response, glowering at the gloating bunny.

"You big bully!" Flounder accused the trapped shark. Judy waited a few more moments for her heartbeat to slow down and then tapped Flounder on the fin.

"Let's go see Scuttle." She said, "I want to find out what some of this stuff is."

Judy and Flounder surfaced near a single island, little more than a rock, that was inhabited only by a seagull living in the wreck of a crow's nest.

"Merbunny off the port bow!" He shouted, looking at the pair through a reversed telescope. Judy swam up to him and reversed the telescope in his grasp.

"Well that was quite a swim." Scuttle praised, "What can I do for you my girl?"

"Well, Flounder and I were searching a wrecked boat and we found some stuff." Judy replied. The seagull's eyes lit up.

"Do you mind if I take a look?" He asked excitedly. Judy shook her head.

"We were actually hoping you'd be able to help us figure out what some of it is." She said sheepishly, handing the eager seagull the bag. He reached into the bag with one of his wings and rummaged around, finally extracting the long metal object with four tines.

"Oh, this, this is a good one!" He said, "It's very rare, very valuable."

"What is it?" Judy asked.

"This is a dinglehopper." Scuttle replied, holding the object out proudly, "Mammals use this little beauty to straighten their hair out. So they take it and twirl it around like so," The bird placed the tines in the middle of his head, twirled it and yanked it out, causing his feathers to poof into a ridiculous afro, "and voiola, they've got a sleek and comfortable hair style." He handed the object back to Judy and she held it in her paws, looking at it happily.

"A dinglehopper!" She murmured excitedly.

"What about this one?" Flounder asked, nudging the curved, hollow, wooden object towards the knowledgeable gull.

"Oh I haven't seen one of these in years!" Scuttle said, seizing the object and marching across his little island, "This is wonderful! A banded, bulbous, snarfblatt!"

"Wow." Judy and Flounder said in unison.

"These little babies go back to prehistoric times," The gull continued, scooping water up in it and dumping it back in the ocean, "back before mammals could speak. It got very boring. So they invented the snarfblatt to make wonderful music, like so."

"Oh no." Judy groaned as Scuttle blew into the pipe and hacked as he accidentally inhaled pieces of trapped seaweed, "I forgot all about the concert! My father's gonna kill me!"

"The concert was today?!" Flounder gasped.

"I'm so sorry," Judy began, snatching the snarfblatt from Scuttle's wings, "but I have to go." She shoved her prizes back into the bag and sped away from the tiny island, headed back towards her father's palace.

"Come back anytime Judy!" Scuttle shouted after the fleeing merbunny.

As the merbunny swam back to her father's palace, she was watched from the shadows by two yellow-eyed eels. Far away, in a dank, gloomy cave, through the eyes of her assistants, watched a horrible creature, a terrifying fusion of octopus and honey badger.

"Look at Triton's precious little daughter." She tittered, watching Judy through the eyes of her eel helpers, "Swimming back to his little palace. It wouldn't be fitting for her to be late to his little party." She plucked a cowering shrimp from a dish and threw it into her mouth.

"Not that it's a real party, in my time, now those were parties! Now look at me, wasted away to practically nothing! All my talent squandered and me, trapped out here in my little cave." She paused and slithered around her cave on a mass of tentacles.

"Flotsam! Jetsam! Keep your eyes on Triton's baby girl. She may be the key to his downfall."

"Young lady I cannot believe you missed Sebastian's concert!" Triton scolded Judy.

"And neither can I!" Sebastian chimed in, crossing his claws angrily.

"But father—"

"It was completely irresponsible!" He continued, "All of your sisters were there! The whole kingdom was watching! How could you let us down like that?"

"I'm sorry father." Judy apologized, "I lost track of time and we got held up, right Flounder?

"Huh?" Flounder asked, "Oh, yeah, well we were exploring, and it was really creepy, and then it was dark, and suddenly a shark appeared, and then we escaped, but then this seagull—"

"Seagull?" Triton asked, his voice low and angry, "Judy did you go to the surface again?"

"No, no, of course I didn't." She said quickly, shooting a glare at Flounder.

"You did, didn't you?!" He exclaimed, "Judy, how many times do I have to tell you not to go up there?!"

"I really don't see the harm in it father!" Judy argued, "I've done it before and nothing bad has happened!"

"That doesn't mean nothing bad won't happen!" He countered, "Judy, I love you, I don't want those barbarians on the surface to pull you out of the water and eat you like a fish!"

"But I'm not a fish father! And they're not barbarians!" She protested, "Even if they caught me, they'd know I wasn't a fish and wouldn't eat me!"

"Are you sure about that Judy? Because most fish are perfectly reasonable and articulate and they eat them anyways!" He yelled back.

"Father, I'm not a child anymore, I'm 18!" She shouted, "When are you going to let me start making my own choices?!"

"So long as you live in my ocean, you obey my rules!" He shouted back. Judy glared at her father and swam out of the room, Flounder following in her wake. Her sisters, who had been waiting on the outskirts of the room began gossiping in low tones.

"Can you believe she just swam out like that?"

"I mean if any of us had done that—"

"Why does she have to be so different?"

Triton buried his head in his paws and sighed.

"Do you think I was too hard on her Sebastian?" He asked his composer, "I just want her to be safe."

"She's your daughter." He responded, "You can be as hard on her as you want! In fact, being a little harder on her would be better! You give these teenagers an inch, and they swim all over you! If Judy was my daughter, I would show her who's boss!" Triton nodded his head thoughtfully.

"You're right Sebastian."

"Of course I am."

"Judy needs to be kept on a tight leash, I can't give her any slack, otherwise, she'll just keep going to the surface."

"Exactly."

"She'll need constant supervision," Triton mused, "Someone to watch her every move and keep her safe."

"That's an excellent idea!" Sebastian replied.

"Then we're agreed, you can do it." Triton said happily.

"What?!" Sebastian exclaimed.

"You can watch over her Sebastian!" Triton said excitedly, "I need someone I trust to prevent my daughter from being harmed, and you can do it!"

"Oh, well, I'm not sure I'm the best crab for the job." Sebastian backpedaled, "I mean, there are so many more qualified crustaceans alone, not to mention merfolk!"

"Nonsense!" Triton replied, clapping Sebastian on the back and sending him flying through the water, "I can think of no one better to look after my daughter than you Sebastian."

"I am honored my lord." Sebastian said unhappily, "When would you like me to start?"

"Right away!" Triton replied enthusiastically. Sebastian saluted his rule rand swam off to find Judy.

"Wonderful." He muttered under his breath, "Now I have to deal with the unruly teenager."

A/N: Hi! Yes, I wrote another fic for an AU. Oops. I also fiddled with the ages of the characters a bit to make it a little more manageable and relatable to Nick and Judy. Anyways, this series is a birthday present for Trashasaurusrex. Hopefully I'll be able to finish this story up as quickly as the last one, but I don't really know. Other than that, there's not much. Uuuh, maybe Triton gave Judy a more unique name because she's clearly his favorite, who knows?. If anyone was wondering I made Ursula a honey badger because they are extraordinarily intelligent and nasty creatures who are also very resilient. So yeah, that about wraps this up for now, but you'll get the next chapter soon. Thanks for reading!