Another wonderful story by guestsurprise. :)

The Little Mermaid and Beauty And The Beast belong to Disney.

The Octopid King

"Congratulations, Ariel!"

"We love you!"

"We will miss you, Ariel!"

"Come back and visit soon!"

All was finally right in the world. Ariel had married Prince Eric and she was going to live life on land. She had finally found her prince and gotten what she wanted. But there was one sister that tried to be happy, but it was hard. Arista. She was the one that always tried to go with Ariel on adventures, but now that she was gone and married, who would she have to go on adventures with?

"This stinks," the blonde said, now sinking down to the ground and watching her red tail flow in the current. Even a small tear escaped her eye as she saw her sister's marriage ship sailing away.

"Arista? Is everything alright?" King Triton asked, now swimming nearer to her.

"Yes, everything is fine, Father," she said sadly.

"I know you will miss Ariel. I know you two spent a lot of time going on adventures, but you can still have adventures here as well," King Triton said gently.

"I know, Father; I just know it won't be the same. She was also my best friend," Arista said sadly, now swimming away and off to be alone. He was going to follow, but he knew she needed her space at that time.

As she was swimming, she thought about how much life was going to change and how things were already lonely. But she wasn't paying attention to where she was going and ended up in a net! She got so tangled that she could barely see!

"H-Hey! What is this thing?!" she gasped, now trying to tear at it with her bare hands and wiggle free. But no matter what she did, it clung harder. She then felt it tightening around her tail and she could barely swim!

"I-I've got to get free!" she said in horror, now squirming more. But the more she squirmed, the more it got tight around her face and neck. She began to get tired and could barely breathe! "H-Help!" She squealed out, now getting frustrated with the terrible net. She then turned around and let out a yell in horror; a few sharks were heading her way! "GET AWAY FROM ME!"

But the sharks honed in; they looked hungry and a fresh mermaid would definitely hit the spot. As she tried to get free, she began screaming as they came closer and closer to her. But before they could take a bite out of her, they stopped short. She slowly opened her eyes and saw a large creature looking at her. He had a large muscular chest, white hair, dark purple skin and green eyes and large dark black tentacles.

"Well, well…if it isn't King Triton's daughter." He said, now looking at her closer.

"W-Who are you?!" She said, still squirming to get free.

"The one who just saved your life." He said, looking at her even harder. "You had better get back to your castle. It is not safe to be out here at this hour."

"And who are you?"

"Names are not important. In the meantime, you better get back to your kingdom. I am sure your father will be looking for you," he said nonchalantly, now turning and slithering away with the sharks following him. "And for the record, you best keep to your side of the sea," came the cool response.

Arista looked at the being and then quickly swam away to the underwater kingdom of Atlantica. She knew that her father would have an answer for her about who the strange Octopid was.
She swam as fast as she could to the castle, but as she swam, she could feel the questions swimming through her mind. Who was the Octopid man? Why was he so close to their side of the sea?! Or was she too close to HIS side?

"I've got to get to Father," Arista said, now swimming even faster towards the kingdom. Once she swam close enough, she burst into the throne room and swam up to her father. "FATHER! I've seen an Octopid!"

"Now calm down, Arista! You've been through a lot today! What did you see?" He asked, now trying to calm her down.

"I was going past the sunken ships and…,"

"Sunken ships?! Arista, that place is forbidden!"

"But that's where Ariel was…her treasure trove place!" Arista said gently.

"It doesn't matter! Ariel is no longer here and we need to keep everyone safe and sound!" King Triton said, now running his hands through his snow white hair.

"But he saved me from a net and told me that I was too close to his territory!" Arista said.

"My dear…you must have hit your head too hard. No Octopid would ever help a mermaid or vice versa. And I am sure you must have seen someone else. Octopids are extinct. Ursula was the last one." King Triton said, now sitting back on this throne.

"But Father, he was real!"

"He?!"

"Yes, he appeared male."

"Arista, are you sure that you saw a male Octopid?!"

"Yes, Father."

"Then you stay close to the kingdom until I find out more about what is going on!" King Triton said, now pulling her closer to him. For the first time in her life, her father appeared…scared.

"But why, Father?!"

"Because of Ursula and her kind, Arista," King Triton replied. "I think it's time that you understood what happened centuries ago. A triton was formed from an enchantress for two siblings to share; one was a mermaid and one was an Octopid. These two merfolk adopted an Octopid as a son before they had a mermaid for a daughter. It was not uncommon for Octopid and merfolk to marry and adopt children from each of their species. However, one day, the enchantress told the family that one of the children was destined to rule over the entire sea. Hating to choose between their children, they decided to have a large meeting of all the merfolk and Octopids. Due to the octopid boy being the oldest, the parents were going to let him rule. However, many of the merfolk thought that the mermaid sister should rule instead. To decide, they decided to let the siblings have a friendly duel with their magic. Even though both were doing great, the Octopid boy's power was so strong and mighty that it frightened all of the merfolk which was the opposite reaction of the Octopid people. The Octopids were impressed and happy rather than frightened. Soon, there was disagreement about the power difference and how Octopid magic was more frightening and lethal than mermaid magic. Being swayed by the popular vote, the parents decided to give the triton to their mermaid daughter. This decision greatly hurt the Octopid boy and the Octopid people and soon caused a great rift between the two species. It was not long after that before the species became separated and soon decided to live apart. And that is how things stayed. Octopids slowly began to die out and were not seen again. I have used the triton to see how many were left and there were only Ursula and her sister Morgana. But Morgana is far from this area and Ursula is dead." He said gravely. "Arista. Never go near that area again. If there is one more left and he is a male, we may have an even bigger problem."

Arista sat in silence and watched as her father spoke and nodded in understanding. No wonder the Octopids hated them so much; they felt that they were the rightful rulers of Atlantica.

"But Father…were they the rightful rulers?"

"No my dear. The parents made the decision; it would have been different if the son was chosen, but he wasn't," King Triton said gently.

Arista nodded in understanding and then politely excused herself. She never knew about their history or why the triton was given to them. She decided to visit Ariel and speak to her about the matter. As quick as a tail swish, she swam towards Ariel's new home.

A few hours later…

Ariel greeted her sister by the water's edge and they discussed what had happened. Both were still shaken up thinking about Ursula and her recent defeat, but now that another Octopid was on the loose was just as frightening.

"Aren't they extinct?" Ariel asked.

"I don't think so. Father appeared horrified that there might be one more male left." Arista said.

"Oh, dear." Ariel's face paled.

"Why is it so important that he's a male? Ursula was just as evil as any male Octopid!" Arista.

"It's because he may try to steal the triton back, Arista! Male Octopids were known to be the strongest with magic and the most lethal. When they began dying out, it was only then that peace began to come." Ariel said. "But if there is still one left…,"

"Then he may be trouble." Arista finished.

"I have some friends that may help us. Prince Adam and Princess Belle. They too have had an experience with an enchantress or someone dealing with magic. Maybe they can help us because they are staying with us for a while," Ariel said. Arista nodded and decided to wait in the water while her sister went to get Princess Belle.

Once Belle came outside and the two were introduced, they began discussing the strange male Arista saw.

"If all of this got started by an enchantress centuries ago, I wonder if it is the same enchantress that enchanted Prince Adam," Belle wondered out loud.

"We don't know for sure, but there has to be more to this than meets the eye," Ariel said, now pondering.

Arista only watched them. Something was going to happen, but the question was….what?

guestsurprise's words: This is only the beginning. :)

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GoldGuardian2418