"You've gotten stronger, my prince." Ser Liam stood on the deck while wiping off the sweat from his brow. He's currently having a spar against Henry, or at least that's what it's supposed to be at first, but by the end of the sparring, it turned into a one-sided beating.
Ser Liam, with all his skills and experience, couldn't touch even a hem of Henry's clothes. While the latter easily struck various vital points on his body.
In front of him, Henry was shirtless, wiping off his sweat with the towel that was handed to him by one of the crew. A small crowd has formed around them.
"Ser Liam was defeated in a spar? That's a first."
"I can't believe Prince Henry got this far. I guess it's good to say that the future of Lioncrest is in good hands."
"Idiot! Strength doesn't define good ruling! Mind does and still, Prince Henry both have them nonetheless."
"Just a little." Henry humbly replied, not being too overbearing. Ser Liam is still strong, perhaps one of the strongest knights on the continent—it's just that, he's an anomaly and anomalies couldn't be considered an equal to normal humans.
"Just a little." Ser Liam chuckled while shaking his head. The last time they sparred, he still had the upper hand and after what just transpired, would you still call that improvement as little?
If it were other people, they might've taken offense at that but not Ser Liam. Among everyone aboard this ship, he's the one who has known Henry the longest, hence he can understand that Henry did not mean anything about that.
"Same time tomorrow?" Henry asked, ready to retreat to the cabin.
Ser Liam nodded, "Same time, my prince."
Just as Henry was about to descend, to bathe himself with a barrel of hot water, there was suddenly a loud splash beside the ship. Normally, this would be ignored if it weren't for the fact that there was a familiar voice that followed.
"Henry!"
It was Ariel's voice. He'd never forget that voice, that beautiful voice that saved his life. Without thinking much, Henry's feet brought him back to the deck, leaning on the ship's railing as he squinted his eyes at the distance, where he last heard the voice.
Thanks to his sharp eyesight, he was able to spot Ariel's figure.
'Is that…human legs?' Henry's eyes widened in surprise after seeing how she was swimming while kicking her feet from behind. That's when he saw something that he shouldn't have.
'Goddamit she's naked!' Realizing this, Henry wasted no time and jumped off the ship, confusing the crew who were also shocked by what he had just done.
In the distance, when Ariel saw him jumping off the ship, her mouth curved into a full smile as she joyfully waved her hand and called, afraid that the man might not have seen her yet, "Henry!"
"Ariel!" Henry swam as fast as he could. By the time he reached her, he had already taken off his shirt.
Thud!
"Henry!" Ariel smashed her face against his chest, her breasts pressing against his stomach and her legs entangling around his, making him blush slightly.
Henry of course, hugged her back and whispered to her ear, "Ariel you're naked!" When she heard him, she gasped in surprise and looked down while reaching for her breasts, only to cup the seashells.
She pouted, "Liar! I'm not naked! You almost had me there."
Henry resisted the urge to slap his forehead and immediately whispered again, "To humans, we also cover our legs! You have human legs!"
Ariel tilted her head and looked back down again, at her legs before turning to Henry with a raised brow, "Seriously?"
Henry rubbed his head and nodded, "Yes. So cover yourself up with this." Using his shirt, he wrapped it around her waist, effectively covering her bottom part down to her knees.
"That should do. But we still need proper pants for you." Ariel nodded her head at that. She's still new to the concept of pants and anything else when it comes to covering her lower body because of, well, her fish tail obviously.
They swam back to the ship's premises where everyone gasped in shock at seeing Ariel. Did they just witness someone swimming in the middle of the ocean? And coincidentally someone that Henry knows?
Perhaps the only one who recognized her was Too-Too the Owl, who silently scowled upon seeing her. The ever observant Polynesia noticed this and asked, "Someone you also know?"
Too-Too reluctantly nodded his head before explaining, "She was the mermaid that Henry was telling us about. The one who saved her and she's also the one who called me some sort of name that I don't understand." He squinted his eyes at Ariel's face and murmured, "But I'm sure it's an insult, I just can't prove it yet."
"She looks so pretty!" Gub-Gub cheerfully jumped, his folds jiggling under the power of gravity.
"Every lady you come across is pretty to you," Too-Too remarked while rolling his eyes.
Of course, Gub-Gub took offense at that and pouted, "Every girl is beautiful, Too-Too, don't be such a killjoy!"
Aboard the ship, Henry immediately asked for someone to fetch one of his pants from the cabin while Ariel stayed on the ocean.
"Prince Henry, who is she?" Everyone aboard the deck was curious about the woman, and Ser Liam took it upon himself to ask the question.
"She's a friend. Not just any friend but someone who saved my life after that shipwreck. She was the one who brought me to the shores of Arendelle." When he finished his explanations, the looks on their faces changed from curiosity to pure respect and gratitude towards Ariel.
Henry wouldn't reveal that she's a mermaid of course, it's not his place to tell them something like that. Not to mention, she seemed to have turned into a human.
'Wait a second.' Henry's eyes immediately widened in surprise and fear at the realization. In the film, there's only one person who was capable of turning Ariel's fish tail into human legs.
'No, I need to talk to her after this. If that is the case then I'll have no choice but to personally intervene.' Henry's eyes turned serious as he clenched his fists.
Previously, he already knew or at least had an inkling of the mastermind behind Ariel's kidnapping but hesitated to make a move due to various reasons such as Ursula being a possible sister to King Triton, which directly makes her the daughter of Poseidon.
He doesn't want to put himself under the Greek gods' radar, at least not yet.
'But if Ariel got her human legs from Ursula…'
"…nry…Henry!" Henry was snapped out of his thoughts by Ariel's voice, waving her hand and throwing droplets of water in his face.
He came face to face with Ariel who was still on the water, "Are you okay?"
He blinked several times, "Yes, I'm fine."
At the same time, one of the retinue arrived with a spare pair of pants, "My Lord." Henry thanked the man before turning around and staring
Don't look. That was the meaning behind his look and everyone immediately understood and looked away in unison.
"Ariel." Henry crouched down and was about to help lift Ariel out of the ocean when suddenly, she stopped him.
"Wait. There's no need for that." There was an eerie smirk on her face and she willed the water around her to give her a boost, submerging her legs in water while the part of the ocean lifted her until she was on the same level as the ship's deck.
Henry's mouth turned agape, staring at her in shock and mesmerization. Thankfully, no one was looking at her right now, except for Polynesia who let her curiosity get the best of her.
'Mother of…' She mentally cursed.
Not only her but there was also someone else who witnessed this.
"Kyuu?" Under the ocean's depths, Aqua stared at this in curiosity. Not to mention, there was a slight instinct inside her telling her to show respect for the woman in front of her. Not to the point of obedience but enough to place her status above the others aside from Henry.
"Ariel how did you…" Henry turned speechless, he could only point his hand at the rising water below Ariel's waist and hoped that is enough to tell her his unspoken question.
Instead of answering his question, Ariel simply placed her hands on her waist and arrogantly smirked, "Surprised?"
His lips twitched several times before he curtly replied,"…Hardly." Which made her pout.
Shortly after he surrendered, "Fine. Fine. You win, I'm surprised. You got some explaining to do about this and everything, alright?" Honestly, Henry is dead curious. Last time he saw Ariel, she was still a mermaid and was sobbing as her father dragged her back home like a modern-day dad when discovering that his daughter is out partying at a friend's house.
———
Back on the deck, it didn't take long for Ariel to get used to walking with her legs. And soon after that, she was already jumping around, her cheerful personality and pretty face instantly capturing everyone's hearts. Henry also personally fetched a t-shirt to cover her upper body.
"Hi there! Oh my god, I love your hair!"
"It's a fur." Polynesia gently corrected her, her inner mother instincts taking over as she perched on Ariel's shoulder and started chatting with her.
"Say, is it true that you're really a mermaid? Aren't mermaids supposed to have fish tails?" Jip approached her with a question that had been nagging him since earlier.
Even Henry, who was watching from the sidelines perked his ear, curiosity colouring his face.
Ariel crouched and started petting the dog's fur while answering, "It's thanks to Ember that I was able to turn my fish tail into these cool human legs!" Henry found himself sighing in relief upon hearing that.
'Well, I'll let Ursula off the hook for now.' He murmured in his heart, clueless about Ursula's current situation.
"Wow." Gub-Gub's eyes were literally glittering at it.
"What's Ember?" Too-Too was the one who asked, squinting his large, round eyes at Ariel, as if trying to catch her lacking.
However, Ariel remained oblivious to this and instead, showed them what the Ember she was talking about.
"It's this." Raising her hand, a red glow appeared above her palm, much to the shock of everyone aboard. And then it slowly materialized into a familiar weapon.
When the light died down, a crimson bident now rests atop her palm, slightly glowing in scarlet colour.
"Woah!" This time, everyone including Henry's eyes glittered in fascination. They've never seen anything like this before.
Though Henry felt a bitter taste in his mouth right now. Speaking of weapons, he doesn't have a personal weapon similar to Ariel's. Normally, he only uses a sword that is sharper than normal thanks to top-tier blacksmiths in Lioncrest but it's nowhere near as capable as a weapon forged using supernatural means.
Henry didn't doubt one bit that the weapon was gifted to her by none other than her own father, Triton.
"What is that? It looks so cool!"
Soon enough, Ariel was suddenly surrounded by the animals and even some of the retinue, who were curious about magic were also pitching their questions.
As for Henry, he allowed himself to be occupied by his thoughts. Seeing Ember, Ariel's bident made him contemplate whether to get his own personal weapon. Perhaps he could find some dwarves here and have them forge him one and then find the best of the best mages like Master Elias and Master Pabbie to enchant and bless the weapon.
"Should I go with the sword? I'm used to it the most and I've been using them the longest…" Henry rubbed his chin and continued to contemplate, "Or maybe I could try the spear. More versatile and safe. I can also add various effects to it. With my talent, it wouldn't take me long to master it."
Of course, there are other good weapons out there and Henry even knew a few that don't exist yet. Obviously, guns are out of the question, he's not going to be the one who will introduce such a vile weapon that can make even a baby kill an adult.
So that leaves two choices.
Sword or Spear?