In the present day, Danny buys the old lantern in which the mermaid Celia is trapped inside. She reveals herself to him via a projection of a silhouette on his bedroom wall. Their conversation sets the stage for the story of Ebenezer and Isabel and their fateful encounter set four hundred years ago in the Legless Fish pub. Having recently returned to land from a treacherous sea voyage, Ebenezer is keen to make the most of his precious cargo, a pretty slave girl, Isabel, and an old lantern containing a recently captured Celia. But his short stay at the Legless Fish pub offers up it's own dangers. Yearning for her freedom, Celia gets into the scared Isabel's head and convinces her to fight against her servitude and take back her freedom.