Taking Fantasia : A Disney Fanfiction

Chapter 110: Skewed To Fight

Chapter 110: Skewed To Fight

Admiral Triton never ran harder. Never. Heaving cold air he tore across the wood, a scattering of parents far in his wake. But directly behind was that woman. Sinbad’s wife. Jim Hawkins’ mother.

Triton leapt over splintered trees. The woman followed. Triton heard her fall, rise, and follow. Her breath was ratty. Her wounds bled with each stride. Still, she kept his pace.

Triton frowned. As much as he disliked Sarah Hawkins, and her family, he was impressed. Under her worn visage was a fierce intensity. In their captivity, Sarah Hawkins had protected the prisoners. She had been beaten. Repeatedly. But, Sarah Hawkins’ resiliency only withered when Maleficent threatened to kill her son.

But again, she had conducted herself admirably when that boy – what was his name, Wart? – had found them. She, and the Admiral himself, had remained calm when the boy approached, cradling the dead headmaster in his arms. The boy had only been able to warn them of the approaching tidal wave before Sarah Hawkins urged him to flee. Then, turning to Triton, she ordered him to coax the giant wave into their cages. Triton had argued. But as the wave approached, he understood her reason.

Triton had drawn the tidal wave’s power. The cages snapped at the hinges. The locks broke. And the prisoners were free.

Free…to find their children.

Triton’s heart roared. He thought of his daughters. Endangered. Hurting. Crying for their father. Triton gasped. Stumbling over the dark possibilities, he suddenly thought of Athena. His dear, dear wife. The last time he’d felt this useless…this hopeless…this…dread…was when Athena died.

Triton ran. He drove his arms and pumped his legs, tearing the snow to slush. And somehow, somehow, Sarah Hawkins did not fall back. Somehow she stopped beside him, panting for breath, when he reached Petrified Forest.

 Triton’s heart froze. Stunned, he stared.

“….Sarah.”

Sarah looked up. Sunlight, feeble in the dawn, brushed the landscape before them.

“…no.”

The land had been shoved back and the forest split apart by the tidal wave. The shore spread from the ocean to the graves of Petrified Forest. And littered across water and land were bodies. Students.   

Sarah rose. Watery sunlight rippled over the students. Indistinguishable in the dawn, Sarah could not tell if they were dead or alive. Neither could she see their faces as they clung to each other instead of their weapons.

“Skewed to fight.” Triton growled, unable to hide the shiver from his voice. “For the children…skewed to fight. Prophesy. Damn, hellish, prophesy!”

Sarah stepped. She wavered. She stepped again. She looked down. By her foot was a boy. Dark hair. Perfectly combed, oddly against his wounds. He was holding a blonde girl. He was Jim’s age.

“No.” Sarah shook. A scattering of parents, lead my Captain Amelia, climbed from the forest, but Sarah did not hear them call. Heart pounding, she suddenly sobbed. “No!”

“Wait!” Admiral Triton took her arm. Touching her shoulder, he steered Sarah back. “I understand – it’s shock. You must calm before – ”

“NO!”

Sarah ripped away. Unnoticed to the warnings, she sprinted across the shore, searching for her son.

Admiral Triton watched Sarah. His instincts roared, commanding him to pursue and stop her before she went mad with grief. But…he could not. Softly letting his arm fall, Triton touched his chest. Breathing deep, he ground a fist into his aching heart. He understood. He could not be an admiral. He had to be a father. He to find his daughters. And it had to be now.

“Admiral! They’re alive!”

Triton jerked. Captain Amelia was knelt only several paces away, a student propped in her arms. Through Amelia’s vigorous waves, the student lifted her head. It was a girl. Triton peered. Then he ran.

“Attina!”

One by one, the students were recovered. One by one, Triton reunited with his daughters.

“Adella’s missing. Along with all of your nieces. Missing.” PI Basil reported. Trying to remain methodical, he stared hard into the sand. “And…Ariel. My…my apologies Admiral.”

“Still have to search the ocean.” Captain Amelia said, voice artificially confident. Hoisting little Michael Darling higher into her arms to avoid eye contact, she stared into sea. “But…worthy news …not a villain in sight. Pestilential scoundrels! Drowned, stabbed, or fled no doubt. Mark my words…if I catch the snivelest sight of any one of those ruffians, I’ll see them all hanged!”

Michael stirred. Lowering her voice, Captain Amelia hissed through residual anger. She glanced at the admiral, hopeful her scorn had cheered him.

Admiral Triton gazed. Unmoved, he sighed as the dawn breathed over the sea.

Suddenly, his heart stopped.

“Ariel? Ariel! By the sea and stars! That’s my Ariel!”