Giving Fantasia: The Taking Fantasia Sequel

Chapter 76: Man to Man

Chapter 76: Man to Man

At 12:00 am Jim was waiting.

At 12:01 am Jim was nervous.

At 3:00 am Jim was frantic.

At 5:00 am he was at Ariel's front door.

"Come on, come on, come on." Urgently Jim knocked, pausing only to throttle the doorbell. "Get up, get up, get the hell up –"

The door opened. Jim looked down. Petty Officer Sebastian scowled back.

"Where is Admiral Triton?" Jim demanded. "I need to speak with him. Now."

Sebastian was unhelpful. 

"Definitely not. If da Admiral sees you, he will chain you to the bottom of the sea – "

"I don't care!" Jim snarled, voice rising. "This is not about me and it's not about Ariel! My sister is missing, she may be in trouble, so if Admiral Triton is in there then you god damn better haul his –"

"Before I tan yours – " Admiral Triton appeared with the scent of black coffee. "Be quiet."

Jim obeyed, but only long enough for Admiral Triton to dismiss Sebastian. The admiral looked strangely relaxed without his naval jacket and gold epaulettes, but his speech was nonetheless militaristic.

"I ordered you to keep away from my daughter –"

"Wendy is missing!" Jim blurted, causing Admiral Triton's eyebrows to raise. "She wasn't home at midnight, I know she met Peter, I waited all night, she said she would come home  but she didn't, where do Rapunzel and Flynn live?"

Normally, Admiral Triton would have absorbed every detail. A seasoned naval officer and father of seven girls, he habitually cataloged useless information. 

However, Jim's actual motives conflicted with Admiral Triton's original presumptions. He was caught off guard. Moreover, it was 5 o'clock in the morning. No one stirred this early. Well, no one except the admiral himself. 

"Repeat?" Admiral Triton said.

Jim burst. "Wendy! My sister! She's a little girl, blue eyes, blue bow, curly hair, small, impressionable, defenseless, and she's somewhere in Center-Point Sector with Peter Pan – !"

"First rule in a crisis – " Admiral Triton drew Jim inside. "—stay calm. It has been my observance that you usually do until the matter strikes your emotions. Infantile. And dangerous. Even in matters of heart – stay calm. It is in those emergencies where order is lost swiftest, but needed most. Now – "

Steering Jim into a warm kitchenette, Admiral Triton pointed to a chair, directing him to sit. As the admiral donned his naval jacket, Jim noticed family photos intermingled with nautical décor.

"Now." Admiral Triton sat across Jim. "Miss Darling is missing. Give me the facts, and facts only. When did she leave?"

It was bizarre. After years of countless conflicts Admiral Triton had instantaneously tapped into Jim's understanding. The admiral was concise and demanding -- every trait Jim exercised naturally.  In Jim's urgency, their language filter had dissolved; the two men were completely synchronized.

"Yesterday." Jim replied. "Early evening."

"To see Mister Pan?"

"Yes."