Oceans Treasure Pt. 02

"I sent a message out to my dolphin friends knowing of their hatred for Ursula and told them they had a friend of mine's daughter as a prisoner. When word finally got around enough, a pod that was migrating back from South America actually saw a large clump of polyps and when they swam near it, looking for food, were attacked by Ursula's guardian dolphins. They knew something was up and risked getting closer, that's when they saw a young girl trapped in a large air bubble. They made it out without injury and reported back to me as soon as they could."

"So, a dolphin friend of yours that was migrating found the Garden's and informed you when it found out you were searching for my daughter?"

"Yes, it's how we found her. Then I started devising a way to help you."

Maria cried softly, "I can't even think of how to thank you Coral for what you have done."

"I sure miss holding you Maria, can we just hold each other for a while?"

As they embraced their old feelings for each other became strong again and cried in each other's arms.

"I miss you so much," Coral whispered in her ear.

"I miss you also," Maria whispered back.

After a short while Coral broke away and said, "I have to return to the whale I convinced to bring me here and wait a little while to give me a ride far from here. Besides, I don't know for how long I can stay here without being noticed because of the spell."

"I am so glad you found a way to meet me Coral, I missed you so much. I will be seeing you again soon."

With that they hugged and kissed each other farewell, and Maria returned to the hotel and met Randy.

Randy held her tight and said, "I am in debt to her for saving my life and for getting Theseus to risk everything to help us. I hope one day I can reward them for what they did."

They fell asleep quickly and woke up early the next morning ready to plan their next move.

"I think it's safe to say we are more than likely being watched or soon will be, so we need to find an approach to the location without getting caught. Coral said they have security. We need a major diversion to draw them away so we can go in and get Mariana." Randy suggested.

"So, you think we should leave and try and lose anybody that might be following us first?"

"Yes, I think that should be the first thing we do. Hopefully Coral was unnoticed visiting you. Secondly, we need to figure out a diversion. Any thoughts on how to do that?"

"Let's work on step one right now and I will think about step two," Maria replied.

They took a sight seeing tour and then went down to Cape Agulhas to see the beaches and the stone marker showing the dividing line between the Atlantic and the Indian oceans. Randy had hired a detective agency to shadow them to see if anyone could be spotted trailing them.

When they returned back to Cape Town, the detectives reported seeing two men following them and gave them photographs of them.

"Okay, we know for sure we are being followed, so now it's time to make a getaway unnoticed."

Randy made a phone call to a friend he had that had a travel agency in Puerto Rico to set up a private jet to leave at 2 am from Morningstar Airfield, near Cape Town, to Johannesburg and from there charter a private plane to Maroantsetra in Madagascar. Because it is such a small airport, they would notice anyone who followed them. They would stay there a few days planning on their next step before going back to Cape Town.

They were able to sneak out of the back of the hotel wearing uniforms and hats they bought off of two room service workers. and got some small laundry bags to conceal a few sets of cloths and personal items.

After walking a few blocks making sure no one was following them, they took a cab to a private hanger at the airport. The flight to Madagascar took a little over 3 hours.

Luckily, they found a small place to stay for the night that was near the airport so they could watch it closely before their next step.

On their second day there Randy's phone rings, "Hey Roberto, what's up?"

"The old man showed up again, he is asking where are you? He said it's important I find you and let him know where you are. What should I do?"

Randy gave Roberto their location and told him to make sure no one hears him tell the old man.

"Turn up the music and cover your mouth when you tell him. I think your place is being watched by people who are also trying to find us. Make sure you tell him that also. Thanks Roberto, I owe you big time."

"Good luck amigo, you don't owe me anything, we are like family. I'll make sure nobody knows what I say to him. Are you sure he can be trusted?"

"Roberto, other than you and one other, I trust him fully. Good-bye. "

"Maria, Theseus showed up at the bar and asked Roberto where we were. I told him to be make sure nobody hears him say where we are. I expect we will be getting a message from him or see him soon."

Two days later a young boy gave Maria a large Triton shell and said some man on the beach asked him to bring it to her. Maria thanked him by giving him one Ariary. The boy left very excited.

Maria put the conch up against her ear and heard the message Theseus left her. He gave her instructions on when and where to meet him.

Maria found Randy in the village picking up some fruits and fish and told him about the message. They made their plans to leave the following morning back to South Africa.

Randy found a pilot who had a private jet and chartered a flight back to Morningstar Airfield near Cape Town.

4.5 hours later they landed and hung around watching the airport for anyone who might be looking for them. After eating lunch and walking around town, feeling sure nobody was following them, they found a driver to take them to Dolphin Beach Hotel, just north of Cape Town.

They rented a room for three nights and at midnight on the second night, Maria and Randy made their way to the beach wearing bathing suits so it looked like they were just beach walking.

Before long, a few small pods of Dolphins were swimming around and after a few more minutes of walking they spotted Theseus waiting for them near a small shipwreck.

Maria ran and gave him a big hug and said, "Wow, it's been a very long time since we last met. Thank you so much for everything. Why are you looking for us so urgently? We also need your advice on a plan we have been thinking about."

"Ursula and Amphitrite will be taking a trip with your daughter on the next new moon, in 17 more days, to a new location. The one where they took you to become a mermaid. I wanted you to know we will try and follow them to their new location. What is your plan, and how can I help?"

"We figure we need a major distraction that will cause both of them to leave the Garden long enough for us to rescue our daughter. We thought if both of their main residences got attacked, they would figure it was us and bring as many mermen and guardian dolphins as they can to capture us."

"That sounds good, but you know it is a seven-day journey to her secret Garden so we have to act fast. Let me talk to Coral and, believe it or not, Charybdis, and come up with a diversionary attack."

"Charybdis? I thought she was dead."

"Not dead, she was wounded severely and stayed hidden away, but survived. She found out Ursula had helped in the planning to be rid of her and tricked her. She would love a chance for revenge. I will meet you here again in 2 days at midnight. My Dolphins have been keeping close watch of these shore lines to ensure we are not being watched. Being as there is an abundance of fish here this time of the year, nothing looks suspicious."

Theseus met with Coral and Charybdis and they set up coordinated attacks on the palaces of Ursula and Amphitrite. Charybdis wanted Ursula's palace so Theseus would take Amphitrite's palace and Coral would assist Maria and Randy's rescue of Mariana. It was all set to happen in 10 days at the stroke of midnight. The rescue attempt would be made the following night when everyone was on their way to protect and capture Maria and possible kill Randy.

"Charybdis, I heard about you helping my father against Zeus and how Ursula tricked you. Thank you so much for helping. I know my father will be pleased to know you are still alive." Coral told her.

"It is my honor to help Poseidon's daughter fight against Ursula." she replied back.

Maria met with Theseus at the arranged time and the plan was set in motion. Randy called Roberto and had him charter a vessel that could take them to Inaccessible Island under the guise of a supply shipment. The plan was in motion.

Everything was going as planned and word was leaked out that Maria and Randy were spotted near Ursula's palace and that they were also seen near Amphitrite's palace. As soon as word reached the Garden, plans were made to surround each palace and ambushes set up.

Ursula would coordinate the ambush at her palace and Amphitrite would coordinate the ambush at her palace.

Everything was in place. Randy rented scuba gear he and Maria would need and he taught her as much as possible on how to use it. Coral had gathered a large pod of Dolphins and spotted a large pod of Orca's passing the islands and got them to help distract the few guards that was left behind to protect the Garden.

Coral would lead the charge while Maria and Randy with the help of a group of mermaids enter the Garden and rescue Mariana.

On the 10th day the attacks at the palaces had begun and there was furious fighting at each. The ambushes were anticipated and countered. The attacks on the palace of Amphitrite pulled back as planned but Theseus made sure a large enough force surrounded the palace to keep Amphitrite inside and not let her escape, meanwhile, the attack on Ursula's palace was relentless. Charybdis had a score to settle and was not going to be denied. The ambush was countered so thoroughly it left the palace almost defenseless, Ursula was in a fight for her life. She called out to all her resources and could not slow down the assault. Theseus reached her palace and when he seen the devastation created by Charybdis, he couldn't believe what he was looking at. It was in total ruins.

"Charybdis, let's surround the palace and trap her inside. We need to give Coral enough time to execute the rescue."

"I want her dead!" Charybdis said with pure anger in her voice. "I want her to feel my wrath and die."

"You can not kill her, she will respawn and come back at you with everything she has when she builds back her powers. If you hurt her bad enough, she will cower until we pull back over forces. We can keep her in her broken palace for centuries. That will be worse than death."

Charybdis looked Theseus in the eyes and agreed to keep pressure on her and destroy her loyal mermen and make her start from scratch after a few hundred years.

Randy, Maria and Coral waited for 24 hours before they began their assault and rescue. Their Orca and dolphins had broken down and killed the guards around the Gardens until the only ones left were the ones inside guarding Mariana.

"Let me go in first and try to negotiate her release first," Coral told them. "When I tell them Ursula and Amphitrite have been defeated and contained, I expect them to just relent and turn her over to us."

"We will wait for you to return," Maria told her. "Please hurry."

Coral dove down to the Gardens and met with the first guard that approached her. When she told him the situation and the option for them to relent or die fighting, he went back to inform the rest of the guards.

He came back and allowed Corals group to enter without any resistance and brought her to Mariana.

"Mariana, my name is Coral, I am your mother's friend and I have come to bring you back to her. Would you please join me to meet her?"

"My mother is here? She came to take me back? Ursula told me her and my father were dead." and started crying in happiness.

"No dear, they are up above us in a boat anxiously waiting to see and hold you again."

"I can't leave, Ursula put a spell around the Garden that will spring if I try to leave."

"A spell? Do you know what it is?"

"All I know is the Garden will close up and I will be trapped here and drown, I have not developed the ability to breathe underwater yet so they keep me in this air bubble. The plan was to move me to a sanctuary where I would be transformed into a mermaid."

"Okay, stay here and I will go get your parents, they have to use breathing gear so maybe we can use that to our advantage."

Coral reached the shipping vessel and informed Maria and Randy of the situation. They both put on their scuba gear and went down to the Garden and found their daughter inside the sphere.

"Oh, my baby," Maria cried hugging her tightly. "I missed you so much. We have been searching for you for so long. Look at you, you have grown."

Randy was hugging both of them and they were all crying in happiness.

"I was told both of you were dead and I was going to be transformed into a mermaid so I could live underwater. Ursula was very strict with me and never let me out of here. She said when the time was right, I would be made anew. Is that what she did to you?"

"Yes, dear she did. Both of my parents died and she placed a curse on me. Your father with the help of Coral and another you will meet, Theseus, quietly helped him break the curse and set me free."

"How long did your curse last?" Mariana asked.

"Over 150 years, they were all terrible except for the moments I had with Coral. I didn't' think I would ever be free again. I was so worried the same would happen to you. I thank the stars for loyal friends like Coral and Theseus."

"I know this will be hard, but I need you to wait just a few more days until we attempt the rescue, I need to get advice on how to counter this spell," Coral told them. "I'll be back in four days.

Coral, then excused herself and went to find Theseus and Charybdis; when she found them at Ursula's palace, she couldn't believe the destruction of it.

"Wow, you sure did a good job of destroying most all of it. Is she still in there alive?" she asked.

"Yes, she is alive and will stay so for a few centuries. We will keep her and Amphitrite surrounded for that entire time. We will destroy any of their followers and all the rest of their pleasure houses. We will leave them nothing but the ruins they are in now. I had to stay hidden for almost 300 years and I want them to feel the same loneliness" Charybdis explained.

"That is for the best, Imagine the destruction Ursula could do if she respawned. This will take centuries instead of just decades and either one can't help the other escape." Coral spoke. "But now we have another problem concerning the rescue."

She explained the spell Ursula placed on the Garden if Mariana tried to leave and how she would die if they tried to get her out.

Theseus asked, "So if you sent in a whale to hold her like one did you, and we create a large whirlpool to hold up the Garden for a few minutes, do you think that would work?"

"Yes!" Coral exclaimed," That would work perfectly. That's for the great idea."

Coral swam back and told everyone their plan. Randy and Maria had to go back to the vessel and change air tanks then brought another set down for Mariana and showed her how to use it.

Theseus and Charybdis arrived with an entourage of dolphins and Coral convinced a whale to hold three passengers and release them away from the whirlpool.

With everyone is place, Coral instructed the whale to open her mouth, hold the passengers. and wait until the whirlpool was almost too strong for her to get out, then take the passengers to safety and release them as fast as possible.

Theseus, Charybdis, Coral and all the dolphins started swimming in a tight circle over the Garden and slowly but surely a whirlpool started forming. They kept swimming in the tight circle faster and faster until the whirlpool was pulling on everything around it.

The whale waited until she could barely move and struggled hard to get away, when she finally started breaking free the garden started collapsing.

Coral seeing this signaled for everyone to stop until the whale broke free then started the whirlpool back up again.

The whale, very near exhaustion, broke through and carried her passengers away far enough to open her mouth and release them. The plan worked!

Coral went to meet Maria and her family while Theseus and Charybdis destroyed the Garden and then took the mermen away and killed them.

"Best not to let Coral know we killed them," Theseus told Charybdis.

Charybdis replied back, "Yes, I agree. Thank you, my friend, for coming to me for help. I have wanted revenge for so long I was turning into hatred. It is nice to know friends still exist."

"You have more friends than you know. When word of this gets around, you may wish for solitude again." Theseus laughed. They went and met Coral and the others on their way back to Dolphin Beach. They spent a week celebrating, laughing and hugging each other.

When it was time to part ways, Maria asked each to make sure they came and visited once in a while but also reminded them, now as a human her life span was only a few decades longer, not centuries.

"Just one last piece of advice," Coral told them. "One day, in the future, your family line needs to live far away from the sea. When Ursula and Amphitrite get freed, they will be out for revenge."

With that everyone left and Randy, Maria and Mariana flew back home.

There was a huge celebration amongst friends when they returned and Randy told Roberto the whole story of how they found Mariana and about the diversion and the rescue.

"If I had not been part of this tale, I would laugh in your face and ask what kind of drugs are you taking. It has been the experience of a life time and I just played a small part of the tale. Besides, how many people can say they met and talked to a real God?" Roberto told Randy.

"Roberto, I have a gift for you for being such a loyal and true friend. Please accept it as a token of my family's gratefulness of everything you did for us."

With that he handed Roberto a check for one million dollars.

"Randy?"

"No, Roberto, you played a major role in giving us our lives back, this is just a small reward for what you did. Thank you could never be enough."

Roberto, with tears in his eyes, said "I will make sure my daughter, who left me for a better life gets most of this to help raise her young family. It will always be a pleasure having you as a friend and I will do anything to help you always."

"I know you will, my friend. Let's have a drink, you are buying."

They had a good laugh and Roberto bought two rounds of drinks.

Six weeks later.

Randy's phone rings, it is Roberto. "Randy, can you come to the bar, I need to show you something. Bring Maria and Mariana."

They walked to the bar wondering what Roberto wanted to show them and when they walked around the side, they saw him with a young lady and two children.

"Cynthia, I want you to meet my dearest friend and his family. Randy this is my daughter and two children."

The evening turned to night as they all introduced themselves to each other and became friends. Cynthia's husband left them so they came back to live with Roberto. The smile on Roberto's face was as priceless as the looks on our faces when we got Mariana back.

The End.