Chapter 1

Note: I must first say this: this is not my original creation. This is an adaptation/expansion of an comic fanfic written by MissMako, whom you can find on YouTube along with the original work, and done with her permission. I will say that I made minor changes to the existing work to suit the narrative better. Needless to say, this story obviously ignores (most of) the events of the prequel movie, as well as the whole of the animated series.

It wasn't that Aaron hated the sea, not at all; there was plenty to love about it actually. It was seemingly endless, and one could swim forever and ever. But it was something he had seen so many times now, there just wasn't anything left to see. But the surface…. There was so much Aaron didn't know, so much he hadn't seen, and the human world had so many strange, wonderful things for him to collect. And thus, every chance he got, he tired to learn more about it.

Swimming nimbly through the water, Aaron eventually came to a stop on a rock, as he looked up at the surface, with the sunlight brilliantly gleaming into the depths. He smiled at the sight, as he got ready to start swimming in its direction.

"Aaron, wait for me!" a voice called from behind, causing Aaron to stop.

"Marin, hurry up!" Aaron said, as he gestured with a frown. Another merman came swimming up, Aaron's childhood friend, Marin had short blonde hair, with blue eyes. For his own, Aaron had short, brown hair, a similar shade to his father when he was younger, with a light green-colored tail. Both were wearing sea-shell necklaces, with Aaron's being purple, and and Marin's being blue.

"I'm trying," Marin said, as he finally caught up, panting in exhaustion, "You know I can't swim fast."

"You're always just floundering around," Aaron said, "You need to learn how to swim faster. Now come on! I'm not missing it because you're slow!" With that, he swam up towards the surface. Marin just sighed, before he followed his prince. Soon, they broke the surface, as they came up to a small rock, which Aaron promptly climbed on top of.

"You shouldn't be up that high," Marin said, staying in the water, "Someone might notice you."

"Uncle said it would be coming by noon," Aaron said, ignoring Marin, "So where is it?" Aaron had been directed to the surface by his uncle, who told him that something called a "ship" would be passing by over the surface; from what Aaron was told, it was very big tool that humans used to travel the sea. Now King Triton had decreed that menfolk were not to go to surface unless he permitted to it, under threat of punishment. There was a slight matter for Aaron though that added an extra layer of problems for him: he was the Prince of Atlantica.

The one boy in a family otherwise consisting entirely of girls, Aaron was the heir to his father's throne, meaning he would one day weird the great trident that controlled the forces of the sea. And with that power would come all the responsibilities that such a position demanded. It wasn't like Aaron didn't know, considering how he was reminded of it, a lot.

"Maybe it's not coming," Marin said nervously, after some time waiting, "We should go back now." Aaron again, ignored him, as he looked around; he had come all this way, he certainly wasn't going to give it that easily. Eventually, something finally caught this eye; coming through the mist was a massive wooden structure. Aaron realized this must've been the ship.

As he lowered himself on the rock, as it came closer to them. Aaron was taken by the sight of it; it was so big, bigger than any human-made item Aaron had seen before.

"Look at it," Aaron said in wonder, as it passed by, "It's so big."

"Yeah, it's great," Marin said nervously, "Okay we saw it, can we go now."

"Come on! Don't be such a guppy!" Aaron said, glaring at him, as he noticed the forms of the humans working on their ship. He pondered how this 'ship" could've worked, was it magic? Was it something else?

"Aaron!" Aaron looked up at the sight of familiar seagull flapping down to their level.

"Hey, Scuttle!" Aaron greeted with a smile.

"What're you doing here, kid?" Scuttle said as he perched on the rock next to Aaron.

"I'm here to watch the 'ship'," Aaron said, gesturing to the vessel, "Do you know how humans control it?"

"Well, they use those big flappy things to make the wind blow in a particular way, which they can push int he right direction," Scuttle said.

"Wow," Aaron said, as he looked back at the ship, leaning on his hand, as it passed by, "Come on, let's follow it!" With that, he dove into the water to follow it.

"Aaron, wait!" Marin protested, as he swam after him, grabbing his prince's tail, "We should really go home before someone…"

"Isn't that Prince Aaron?"

"Notices us," Marin fished, with a grim sigh, as the two boys noticed a pair of Atlantican guards floating in their direction, sent by the king to make sure the ship passed by without incident.

"What's he doing here?" the other guard asked. Aaron just groaned, as his stomach sank.

"Maybe, it won't be so bad," Marin offered, in an attempt to seem supportive.


Turns out, it was that bad…

"How many times do I have to tell you!" King Triton said, dragging his hand down his face, "Contact with the surface world is forbidden!" Aaron just averted his eyes, as he folded his arms in defiance. The guards had brought him to his father's throne room, where Aaron was now getting chewed out, while Marin floated further back, which he could do something to help.

"I didn't do anything, Dad!" Aaron protested, "I was just watching!"

"Can't you realize just what sort of risk that presents?" Triton said, "You could've been seen by one of them. You think I want my only son to be snagged by those fish-eater's nets?"

"But I didn't get caught in a net!" Aaron responded, "Nothing happened!"

"If you keep doing these things, one day you'll get into trouble I can't get you out of!"

"I was being careful," Aaron said, "Uncle Polyphemus…"

"Polyphemus!" Triton snapped, his trident flashing, "Oh, I should've known my brother would try and influence you like this! Is it truly too much to ask that anyone in this ocean uphold their responsibilities?"

"I know my responsibilities!" Aaron said.

"Clearly you don't!" Triton answered, "And seeing as I can't seem to trust you to have any self-control, looks like I"m going to have to impose it!"

"I'm not a kid anymore," Aaron said, "And when I'm king…"

"Well, you're not king! And until you stop acting like a child, I will treat you as one! You are hereby consigned to the palace waters!" Aaron's jaw dropped at the punishment. Was his father grounding him?

"For how long?" He asked.

"Until I say otherwise."

"That's not fair!"

"As long as you live under my ocean, you will obey my rules!" Triton declared.

"But Dad…"

"I will hear no more!" Triton declared, pointing at his son "Is that clear?" Aaron opened then closed his mouth, before he just turned and swam away, Marin following close behind him, and Triton settled back in his throne with a sigh. Was there anything he could do to make his son understand?

Unbeknownst to him was a tall, dark figure, who glared at the king, before swimming away, after Aaron.


Being the only boy in a family of girls had one plus, namely that Aaron got his own room. Of course, it was rather small, at least compared to that of his sisters, but Aaron wasn't complaining, at least not about the size of the room. He was certainly complaining about being trapped in it, as he leaned on the window sill, Marin floating behind him.

His sisters hadn't been the least bit sympathetic about his situation, with most agreeing that he had it coming. Aaron wasn't sure why he thought they'd be sympathetic; maybe it was because he was their baby brother.

"Aaron?" Marin said, as he came closer to try and help, "Are you…"

"He just doesn't understand," Aaron grumbled, as he continued to pout, "What's the problem with just looking?"

"I mean, he just…"

"I know," Aaron interrupted, "He's just 'trying to keep me safe'. I've heard it all before." He sighed, as he looked away, as he ran a hand through his hair.

"I can't take being down here anymore," Aaron grumbled as he swam away from his window, "Stuck under the sea forced to follow all my father's dumb rules." He lay back on his bed, as he stared at the ceiling.

"I wish I was a human," he mused, "That I just leave this ocean, and spend time on land."

"There may actually be a way." Aaron's ears perked up at that, as he and Marin looked up to see someone else floating in.

"Uncle Polyphemus?" Polyphemus was the younger brother of Triton, and certainly looked like him, but had a…. harsher appearance to him. Due to being younger, his beard and hair retained its light brown color, and he also had a number of scars to his name, including a particularly prominent one over his left eye. He served as Triton's second-in-command, ruling half the ocean in his brother's name; instead of a trident, he carried a magic conch shell, which was imbued with a small amount of the trident's power; it couldn't command the waves the way the trident could, but it was still a powerful artificat.

"You mean there's a way for me to be human?" Aaron asked as he floated over to his uncle.

"Indeed, nephew," Polyphemus said, putting a hand on his nephew's shoulder, "Swim with me." Aaron enthusiastically followed his uncle, with Marin following with a little less enthusiasm.

"Is it some magic your shell can do?" Aaron asked.

"Unfortunately no, not the way you need," Polyphemus answered, "But there is another way, but it is far away, and difficult to get to."

"What is it?"

"There are stories of a spring in the lands of the East," Polyphemus explained.

"What's a spring?" Marin asked from behind.

"A pool of water on land that bubbles up from the ground."

"Water from nothing?" Marin said, "That's weird."

"Anyway," Polyphemus said, somewhat annoyed by the interruption, "The legend holds that anyone, or anything that bathes in the pool would become a human. It is known as 'Nyannichuan'."

"'Nyannichuan'?" Aaron echoed, "What kind of name is that?"

"Oh I couldn't tell you," Polyphemus answered, as he guided his nephew further forward, "Only that it is a powerful magic, that may just be able to get you what you want."

"Aaron!" Marin protested, as he swam up closer, "This doesn't seem like a good idea. Your father said…"

"Your father is being completely unreasonable," Polyphemus said, "There truly isn't anything wrong with just looking a the world. Your father is a paranoid man, and that's not a good trait for a king to have."

"When I'm king, I'm not going to do anything like that!" Aaron declared firmly.

"Yes, when you're king," Polyphemus said smoothly, "But I will say that's your option. I can show you the way to Nyannichuan, and even give you means to get to it."

"Aaron, we really shouldn't do this," Marin said.

"It's either this or make your peace under the sea," Polyphemus answered, "What would you rather do?" With that, he swam away, leaving Aaron and Marin alone. Aaron looked after him, before looking down at the floor. It didn't really take him long to come to a decision.

Note: I was originally going to do this is in one go, but thought it would be better to space it out over a couple chapters, just to make it flow a little better. I won't tell you what's going to happen obviously, but if you recognize the name "Nyannichuan", or watch the thing this is based on, then you'll know.

Again, credit for this goes to MissMako, and this is being written with her permission. I hope people enjoy this for what it is, and if you did, please leave a review.