The Pirate and The Merhog

The Mastermind Revealed?!

"Being king is no walk in the park. I don't know how If I would be able to handle or shoulder that heavy load like how father can without getting emotional and heavily stressed." said Aramoana. "What can I say? Our father has been king for a very long." Amphitrite said to Aramoana. "I suppose that's true." Aramoana said to Amphitrite. "I'm sorry, Jules but I'm afraid I'll have to show you my collection another time due to this serious situation that we're all in right now." Aleena said to Jules. "That's alright. What's happening in your situation is more important and takes far higher priority. I hope to help where I can. Hopefully all of those kids can be found soon." Jules said to Aleena. "I hope so too, Jules." Aleena said to Jules.

In the war chamber, the king and colonel were being briefed in details about the kidnappings, when they happened and how it the mysterious disappearances were happening without the parents being alerted until it was too late. The general explained that he has soldiers making searches. "I have soldiers making searches right now and they'll report back once they find any traces of evidence that were left behind by the person responsible for all of the kidnappings." General Titus said to both King Leonardo and Colonel Arthur. "Excellent work, General Titus." King Leonardo said to General Titus. "Do we have exact count of the number of children and teenagers missing, sir?" Colonel Arthur asked General Titus. "At this moment, no. But it's being looked into and unfortunately the number continues to increase as we were getting hundreds of reports of missing youths coming in all at the same time." General Titus said to Colonel Arthur.

"I hope we can find the mastermind behind all of the kidnappings very soon and return all of those children and teenagers back to their families safely." said Colonel Arthur. "But we need a lead on who's the culprit and how these kidnappings were done under everyone's noses before any suspicions were alarmed. This is no ordinary situation. General, were there any signs of forced entry in any of the victim's homes?" King Leonardo asked General Titus. "No property was left damaged or destroyed but we did see a small glimpse of the culprit before it made its escape, your majesty. The glimpse however was vague and not enough to confirm with certainty who's behind the mass kidnappings. What bothers us is how these children vanished with no signs of a struggle or damages to any property. It's like they just got up and left their homes." General Titus said to King Leonardo.

"I suppose we'll have to end it here for now until we have more information about the culprit..." King Leonardo said to both General Titus and Colonel Arthur. "Are you okay, your majesty?" Arthur asked King Leonardo. "I suspected that supernatural forces was behind this for all these children and teenagers to suddenly go missing without a trace. This is far from normal." King Leonardo said to Arthur. "You suspect forbidden arts were used?" Arthur asked King Leonardo. "I do. But for now we'll have to end this here until we get any further notice." King Leonardo said to both General Titus and Colonel Arthur. "Arthur, we'll need you in our search for those missing children. You squadron and platoon will be ready and waiting for you after a briefing in being brought up to date with their reports." General Titus said to Arthur. "Yes, sir." Colonel Arthur said to General Titus. "Titus, Arthur, make searches in the out lands. And remember to report back once you both find any new information about the culprit." King Leonardo informed both General Titus and Colonel Arthur. "We'll let you know when we find something and report back to you." General Titus said to King Leonardo. "Excellent, also you both are dismissed to start your searches." King Leonardo said to General Titus and Arthur.

The king left the chamber with Titus and Arthur following close by. They returned to the training arena were the others were still waiting for them. "Athens, my training with you will be on hold today as I need to give attention to what's happening in Atlantica." King Leonardo said to Athens. "I understand, Dad... I'm just sad that you never got to tell me anything about mom..." Athens said to his father King Leonardo in a saddened voice. "I'm sorry that circumstances right now doesn't allow for that, at least for now. But your sister can tell you things about your mother Athena while I'm taking care of these serious matters happening in Atlantica. Also, I have to address and calm our people to avoid massive panic." King Leonardo said to Athens. "Okay, Dad..." Athens said to his father King Leonardo in a saddened voice.

As the search continued, Leonardo made a public address to his people and to all of the families that were victimized of the kidnappings. He assured his people that he and his soldiers wouldn't rest or stop until all of their children and teenagers were found and returned home safely. "I will assure all of you that my soldiers and I won't rest or stop until all of your children and teenagers were found and returned back home safely." King Leonardo said as informed his people and the families that were victimized of the kidnappings. After giving a public address to his people, Leonardo had thorough searches done throughout his kingdom as more reports of missing children were still coming in. In all of the cases, there was no signs of forced entry into the homes of those victimized families.

Later that night...

Amphitrite, Aramoana, Aleena and Athens were sleeping in the same chamber. The four siblings suddenly opened their eyes, but a look of emptiness in their eyes were there, as though their minds were there. All four of them started swimming away from their resting chamber. The three princesses and prince then mindlessly swam out of the palace without anyone noticing them. This phenomenon was happening around the king as children and teens were fallen under a hypnotic wave that was causing them to leave their homes to a unknown location. Jules was sleeping in the guest room when he decided to check on the others. Leonardo and his soldiers did likewise. But when the Sea King, his soldiers, and Jules entered the chamber. The three princesses and prince were nowhere to be seen and it's as if they just got up and left.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF CHAOS!!? FULL ALERT!! MY SON AND DAUGHTERS ARE MISSING!!" King Leonardo shouted as he alerted to the entire palace. The entire palace was in a state of emergency. Everyone was on guard, even the king was before the prince and princesses had disappeared. Jules found it strange that he wasn't taken among them. "That's really strange... how come I'm the only one that's still here?" Jules asked himself. Leonardo overheard what Jules said. "What did you say?" King Leonardo asked Jules. "I'm hearing some unusual sounds and rhythms. But...all it's doing is giving me weird sensations that mind shaking off as an annoyance." Jules said to King Leonardo. "It's a hypnotic frequency!" King Leonardo shouted as he soon realized it. "Wait a minute... you mean to tell me that the reason why all of the children and teenagers have been going missing is because of a hypnotic frequency?!" Jules asked King Leonardo. 

"It's a banned and forbidden song that was made by an enemy that my late grandfather killed a hundred years ago. It has a hidden hypnotic frequency that only merhog children and teenagers can hear it. You're not a natural born merhog, which is why you're not affected by it." King Leonardo said to Jules. "So that explains why I wasn't affected by that forbidden song." Jules said to King Leonardo. "I thought all of the original manuscripts of that forbidden song were destroyed years ago. Jules, are you still able to hear where that song is coming from?" King Leonardo asked Jules. "Yes, I'm still able hear where that forbidden song is coming from. But why though?" Jules asked King Leonardo. 

"I want you to try to trace and follow where the song is coming from. That way we can find where my and everyone's missing children are being led to." King Leonardo explained to Jules. "Alright. I'll do my best." Jules said to King Leonardo. Jules focused his ears to the frequency as he went made his way out of the palace. King Leonardo and his soldiers soon started following Jules as he was leading them to the location where the song was coming from. After swimming for a few hours, Jules suddenly stopped when he reached his destination.

"Alright, we're here. But what exactly is this place? It looks so lifeless and ominous. I'd hate to live here." Jules said to himself. "It's coming from this sector? It...It couldn't be her who's behind this...could it?" General Titus questioned himself. "Stella! I should have known that this was her treachery!" King Leonardo shouted. "Stella?" Jules asked King Leonardo. "Of course, it was me who planned it all out, my dear brother in law~" said a feminine voice. Everyone turned to see the tentacled culprit floating by a canyon with a sinister smile on her face.