The Pirate and The Merhog

Arthur and Isabella

Meanwhile with Isabella who was down by the shore alone with no one...

"I can't believe I friend zoned Jules thinking that I would find someone better than him but instead it lead to him finding the right girl for him..." Isabella said to herself as tears ran down Isabella's face before she covered her face with her hands and cried. She had no one but herself to blame. She could have had Jules as her lover, but she allowed superficial reasons and the fact that he had no rank among to crew to lead her to ignore her feelings. "And now...I'm the only one with no one...Jules, I'm so sorry for ignoring you and never giving you a chance. I know it's too late to change things, but I wish I made better and smarter choices." Isabella said to herself while more tears ran down her face.

Meanwhile...

"I had no idea Isabella felt that way about me. She said she wasn't interested in me." said Jules. "She must have felt sad...you should probably go try to talk to her and sort things out..." Aleena said while she was holding Jules' hand. "I wouldn't know where to start or what to say. I've never been in this type of situation before. I don't even think Charles has any advice about this. He never had a girlfriend either. But he did have a one-night stand with that female jungle badger from Green Hill once." Jules said to Aleena.

"...I-I don't know what to tell you, Jules...and I-I just don't even know..." Aleena said as she soon broke down into tears. "It's alright Aleena. When I properly think this through I'll talk to Isabella. For now, I also need time to reflect on all this so as to not do anything to make things worse and more awkward than things already are." Jules told Aleena. "Okay and it's a good thing I got sleep wear now so you don't have to see me unclothed..." Aleena said while her cheeks were turning a bit red. "We made love passionately last night Aleena. Me seeing you fully naked in the bedroom isn't a matter to worry about anymore. You just need to be careful about that when you change back into a Merhog so no one else besides me sees you." Jules told Aleena. "I understand." said Aleena.

Isabella was wiping her tear away as her eyes were pinkish from her crying. "Are you okay?" a voice asked. Isabella turned to see Arthur standing behind her. "You were crying just now while calling Jules' name. Is he important to you?" Arthur asked Isabella. Isabella felt embarrassed but she couldn't lie to him. "I hate to admit it but I had no one but myself to blame. I could've had Jules as my lover, but I allowed superficial reasons and the fact that he had no rank among to crew to lead me to ignore my feelings towards him...which soon lead to him finding the right girl..." Isabella admitted to Arthur. "So you see yourself as the wrong girl for him?" asked Arthur. "I didn't appreciate him and I took him for granted. I always thought I'd give him a chance at some point in time." Isabella told Arthur. "Why didn't you do so sooner?" asked Arthur. "...I thought I had time to explore my options. But I've had no luck and when I was about to confess my feelings to Jules...He had his heart set on a female hedgehog with long silky dark purple hair and emerald green eyes that glisten like emeralds..." said Isabella.

'She's talking about Princess Aleena. But she doesn't appear to know who she is. Let alone, her name.' Arthur said to himself. "I'm sorry that I'm suddenly being this open with you when I don't even know you." said Isabella. "Perhaps the one you need to talk to openly is Jules himself." Arthur told Isabella. "Y-You think so...?" said Isabella. "Well, not immediately with how you currently are. I say when you had time to sought things out and clear your head. You wouldn't want to say anything reckless or thoughtless to make matters more difficult than they already are. Does anyone else knows how you feel for Jules?" asked Arthur. "Amadeus also knows about it..." Isabella told Arthur. "You mean that fox you assaulted earlier after he called you a damaged leftover gold digger?" Arthur asked Isabella. "Unfortunately, yes. That's the same guy from earlier. But I have no interest in talking to him about anything concerning Jules. Also I don't like being referred as a damaged leftover gold digger and whenever I hear someone call me that... I get mad, last time someone called me that they ended up in the ocean." Isabella said to Arthur with a frown.

"But don't pirates and treasure hunters travel and search for gems and gold? Doesn't that require much digging and effort in finding such treasures to have and profit from? Surely your time out at sea taught you this through experience." asked Arthur. Isabella was struggling hard not to laugh until she soon bursts into laughter. "Why are you laughing? Was it something I said?" Arthur said with a confused look on his face. "How are you this naïve about women being called a leftover gold digger?" Isabella said while laughing. "There's a lot of things I don't understand about women. My experience with women is very little because you're complicated." said Arthur. "Oh believe me, I might be a woman but I know how to get the job done." said Isabella. "And what job or profession are you speaking of? And how proficient are you at whatever job it is that you do?" asked Arthur. "You're a virgin, aren't you?" said Isabella. "As one, I know of no woman I can claim as my conquest." said Arthur. Isabella burst into another loud fit of laughter. "Oh my gosh, I just can't! You're cracking me up!" Isabella said while laughing.

Arthur looked at Isabella who was now catching her breath from all the laughing. "Thanks for the jokes. I needed them." said Isabella. "What jokes?" Arthur said with a confused look on his face. "About you being a virgin and what you said after that." said Isabella. "I wasn't joking. I was being serious about that." Arthur told Isabella. "What?" Isabella said with a confused look on her face. Isabella couldn't believe what she heard. She assumed that Arthur had multiple women in his life from the way he looked as a confident alpha-type guy. "You never had a girlfriend?" asked Isabella. "No. I've been too busy with training and work. It led to no time for romance." Arthur told Isabella. "That explains why you never had a relationship with anyone." said Isabella. "I told you already. I devoted my time training and working. There were responsibilities that I prioritized and I never made time for it. It never bothered me and no one ever pressured me into any relationship." Arthur explained to Isabella. "There wasn't any girl you liked then?" Isabella asked Arthur. "No." said Arthur.

"Ever heard of the news about Blackbeard and crew's disappearance that happened years ago? No one knows what happened to Blackbeard and his crew or the rich town, but all they know is that it was taken out by a tsunami." Isabella asked Arthur. Arthur thought carefully on how to respond to that without saying too much and said, "Don't quote me on this, but I heard that notorious Black Beard, his crew and that town committed a terrible and unforgivable crime that incurred the sea king's deadly wrath and vengeance." said Arthur. Isabella's eyes widened a bit as she soon heard it "The Sea King?!" Isabella said in complete shock. "It's stories and speculations is all. I'm not an official source and what actual proof do I have to show for since I wasn't there to witness those events?" said Arthur. Isabella couldn't argue with that, "Good point. But even now, there are pirates searching for Black Beard and his crew." said Isabella.

Aleena was hearing the conversation when it had something to do with incident with Blackbeard and crew including the death of her late mother Queen Athena, she soon left so that Arthur and Isabella don't notice her. "M-Mother..." Aleena said in a saddened voice.

Later...

"You actually went and spied on them?" Jules asked Aleena. "The mongoose guy looked familiar. He reminded me of one of someone. Isabella brought the topic of Black Beard and what happened to that town. But I left as soon as that topic came up. "Unless he's one of the merfolk but...only the Royal family can use magic to get legs to walk on land unless...he got permission from my father..." Aleena told Jules in a saddened voice.  "Wouldn't he have contacted you if he was sent by your father? I can't think of any reasons for a merfolk besides you to need to be up here on the surface. Perhaps the resemblances to someone you know is a coincidence. It's happens sometimes." Jules asked Aleena. "I-I don't know..." said Aleena. "If that mongoose fella is keeping Isabella busy, then I wouldn't worry too much about it. You said that they looked to be getting along as she keep asking him a number of questions. Maybe something about him spark an interest in her. Who knows..." Aleena smiled at Jules as she soon held on to his hand. "Maybe there is." Aleena said to Jules while holding his hand.