I held my trident firmly as I swam through the hallways with Arista
close behind.
"Daddy, what do you think the Duchess will say?"
I shrugged my shoulders, "I really don't know... I just hope that she
will listen to us. We don't need anything else to go wrong on this trip.
*****
Arista swam ahead of my quickly, "I just saw her go in there!"
I laughed to myself silently... I guess she thought we had to sneak up
on her.
"Slow down dear... she's an old merwoman and she won't get too far," I
said with a smile.
She spun quickly with a shocked look on her face, "Daddy! If you weren't
her friend, that'd be an awful thing to say!"
"Now, now... both the Duchess and I know we're old... and since we know
that we can joke about it," I grinned. I glanced back at her quickly and
added, "But, not in front of the Duchess, ok?"
Arista just got a huge smile on her face and nodded.
*****
"Duchess?"
The elder merwoman floated around and looked at us as we came in.
"King Triton! How are you enjoying your stay? I hope you and your lovely
daughters are finding everything to your liking."
I nodded my head, "Yes, Duchess... your palace is as beautiful as
always, but I'm afraid that is not what we've come to see you about."
She crooked her head slightly, intrigued, "Oh? Well, what can I help you
with, then, my friend?"
"Well, I don't want this to sound crazy, but I believe there may be a
merghost in your palace."
I looked to my daughter and she was tense, waiting for the Duchess to
laugh us out of the room... I was waiting for it as well.
"That's nothing new... there are a few who still roam around here. Some
family and friends love this place so much they never really want to leave."
She said it so matter of factly!
"Duchess... the one called Melvin tried to push a shelf over on Ariel
earlier today."
"Are you sure? Melvin's always been a little rowdy, but I didn't think
he'd ever try to hurt anyone."
I nodded slowly, "I'm afraid so... Dylan and I checked the room and
there were no markings anywhere...."
"There has to be something else going on or something causing Melvin to
act this way... maybe something's frightened him."
"Perhaps..."
I felt my daughter's hand on my arm and I figured that meant she was
ready to go. I thought it was time to go also. We found out a little and now
we needed to see what we could figure out with our new insight.
I bowed lightly, "Thank you Duchess... I'm glad you don't think bad of
us for bringing this to you."
"Nonsense... I'm glad you brought it to my attention. If any of you need
anything at all, please let me or some help around the palace know and
they'll get in touch with me at once." She floated over to the entrance on
the other side of the room, "For now, it's time for my afternoon nap... I'm
an old woman and I could use a little extra beauty sleep." She laughed as
she said the last part.
"Farewell Duchess," I said as Arista and I left the way we came in and
shut the door behind us.
"Well," I said looking at her, "I think we should try to fill the others
in and see what all comes of it. How does that sound to you?"
Adella
"What's going on?" Ariel asked, "Why are you both so angry?"
"Andrina thinks I--" I started explaining.
"No," Andrina interrupted, "I know what I saw! Adella was with
Dylan outside, she--"
"Wait a minute," Ariel said, raising up her hands.
"Andrina, you know I don't like Dylan," I said, practically
choking on his name. "And I would never backstab Arista like that.
Really Ariel, why are you so concerned about us when there is a
merghost after you?"
I shrugged, "Going for the sister-of-the-year award."
'Adella!' I heard my name called. I was barely aware of Andrina's
laughter.
I stopped listening to my sisters for a moment. Someone was calling
me. Who?
'Come, Adella,' I heard the voice say. 'Come to your master.'
My...master? I had to follow and find out who was calling me. But
it was so noisy here...
I swam off in a flurry of bubbles, eager to find where the voice was
coming from. I was barely aware of Ariel and Andrina.
I swam out of the palace, almost knocking over a penguin at the
door.
'That's it, Adella. Come. Come to me.'
The voice was growing louder. I was getting closer! I swam over the
ice wall that surrounded the Duchess' estate. It was coming
from...over there!
I swam to the right. Behind the dark coral, I could see an enormous
iceberg. An opening was hidden behind rows and rows of icicles.
Weaving in and out of the sharp ice posts, I could hear the voice
even louder.
'That's it, sweet cakes, a little further,' There was something
familiar about that voice...
Arista
"Well," Father started, "I think we should try to fill the others in and
see what all comes of it. How does that sound to you?"
"I guess so Father," I nodded. What we had found out didn't reassure me
much. We still didn't really know what had happened. "I hope the others are
alright up there....if there really is a merghost." I whispered.
"I did think I saw Melvin when I was a young merboy." Father said. "But
not to worry Arista, I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation." He didn't
look as sure as he sounded. We swam back towards the west wing. But halfway
there, to our surprise Ariel whizzed by in a flurry of bubbles. "Ariel!"
Father called after her. She didn't even slow down, my youngest sister just
sped on in a red and green blur.
"Ariel! Where are you going!?" I yelled, but she didn't hear me. I glanced
up at Father. "Do you think something scared her again?"
"I'm not sure..." He put one hand on my shoulder, "Perhaps she decided to
try and take her mind off all this merghost business."
Daddy had a point. We all knew Ariel loved to explore new places...but she
certainly had been in a hurry.
Ariel
Andrina and I watched, mystified, as Adella took off with that far away look
on her face. Where was she headed?
"Boy! Some merpeople just can't take a joke." Andrina huffed, then she
glanced at me, "Though I have heard better ones." She added nudging me.
"No...I think something's wrong." I said softly. "She's acting strange
again."
"Adella has been acting 'strange' since we left on this vacation!" Andrina
responded.
That was true. And what Flounder had said was really starting to make sense.
Could it be that there was some king of magic to that star fish? "I'm going
after her," I told Andrina, then I started swimming as fast as I could. Dylan
and Flounder were at the end of the hall talking as I sped by. In a few
swishes of my tail I had passed Arista and Daddy downstairs and was out the
grand front door. I could barely see Adella up ahead, ducking behind some
coral. I pushed myself to swim faster to catch up. I couldn't lose sight of
her. Something serious was up, and I had to find out what.
By the time I got to the dark gloomy coral I didn't see Adella anymore. Why
had she come all the way out here by herself? It wasn't like Adella at all to
go off like this. Since I couldn't see my sister I would have to try
following my instincts from here. I saw a huge iceberg not far away... there
was no much else around. I swam up to it not knowing what I would find.
Hey...an opening! I swam in slowly, hoping I wasn't getting myself into
trouble again. Maybe I should have brought Andrina or Flounder along. Voices
came from deep inside. Hmmm. I maneuvered through a maze of icicles. I had to
keep going, for Adella. 'Wow, it's even colder in here than it is out in the
open.' I thought, shivering. I noticed some dim light just around the corner.
Aha! Just then I heard a distinct cackle. Ursula! Oh no....what could I do? I
gulped, flattening against the ice wall. I had to listen and see what that
sea witch was up to. I just hope Adella will be okay!
Ursula:
Oh good! The spell was working! Adella swam in and looked frightened once she saw me.
"Oh, don't be scared," I said, "I only want to help you."
"Help ME?" Adella repeated.
"Why yes!" I said kindly, "you want to be the most beautiful mer-princess in the sea, don't you?"
"What can you do to make that happen?" Adella asked me.
"All you need to do is bring your sisters to me. Then you can have anything you want."
"Adella! Don't listen to her..." Ariel rushed in, a green and red blur.
"Why Ariel," I cackled, "how nice to see you! Better make yourself at home," I zapped chains around her wrists, "Because you'll be here for a long long time..."
Adella
My eyes widened as I watched chains and shackles appear on Ariel.
"Good work Adella," Ursula said. "One down, five more to go. Bring
the rest of your sisters to me, and you can have anything you want."
"It's a trick, Adella! Don't you see that?" Ariel cried.
"Oh, pipe down, you little crawfish!" Ursula snapped. She pointed
her finger and zapped a starfish over Ariel's mouth.
"Stop!" I cried, swimming towards my sister.
"Uh, uh, uh!" Ursula said, holding up a crystal ball.
I felt heat in my chest. It was a force that pulled me back to
Ursula's side. "You do want to be the most beautiful mer-princess in
the sea, don't you?"
"I don't need you for that!" I spat. "I already am the most
beautiful.."
"Is that why that mer-prince was so interested in your sister the day
of the big concert?" Ursula taunted.
How did she know about that? I wondered.
"Face it, toots," Ursula said. "You'll never be the top starfish in
the family. Aquata's heiress to the throne, Andrina's got that
charming sense of humor, Arista's already got a boyfriend who
wouldn't give you the time of day, Attina's got heart, Alana is the
sweet one, and Ariel's got spirit and spunk. You've got nothing.
Nothing."
I felt on the verge of tears. I opened my mouth to protest, but I
suddenly forgot what I was going to say in my own defense.
"But...if you do what I say, you can have all of those attributes
yourself," Ursula said.
As she spoke, my mind became muddled. For some reason, what she said
made sense, even though I knew otherwise in my heart.
"Do it," Ursula said. Ariel shook her head wildly, her red hair
floating around her. "Yes," Ursula said in a hypnotic voice. "Bring
your sisters to me."
Her voice...it...it was telling me to...
I felt the warm feeling in my chest swell and I turned slowly and
swam back to the castle.
Ariel
Forced into silence by the clamping starfish over my mouth, I struggled with
the chains that bound my wrists. 'Why couldn't I have stayed hidden...maybe
gone to get Daddy?' I thought as I listened and watched the evil sea witch
'persuade' Adella to do her bidding.
"Do it," Ursula urged, her tone low and rhythmic. I could see Adella was
falling for it by the far off look in her eyes. No! It was bad enough that
Ursula caught me, she just couldn't get the others. I shook my head violently
in Adella's direction. If only she had listened to me...
"Yes," Ursula went on slowly, "Bring your sisters to me."
I continued my struggle with the shackles. I knew it was useless but I had to
try. Oh I wish I could somehow warn my family of what was going on. Maybe
they would see how aloof and different Adella was being. That slight hope
didn't do much to ease the anger and panic rising in me. I did my best to
make my voice come out through the starfish, though it was only a groaning
mumble, "No! Adella, don't believe her. She won't help you!" I watched,
wide-eyed, as my sister swam out of the ice cave. Would she really do it? Was
that awful sea witch's power that strong....to make Adella turn against
everyone she loved?
Once Adella was gone Ursula shot me a sly and evil grin. "My dear, I don't
know why you're fighting so." She cooed, "Aren't you comfy?" At that she
burst out laughing. Her voice bounced off the walls and echoed back. She
glanced at me, then with one tentacle removed the starfish gag. "Let's hear
what you have to say little Ariel." She said in a flat tone, "This oughta be
good."
"You'll never get away with this!" I shouted.
"Oh how very predictable." Ursula sighed, preparing to put the starfish
back over my mouth.
"Daddy will notice that we're disappearing--" I got out before I was
silenced again.
The sea witch just shook her head in amusement. "So? That, sweetie, is all
part of the plan."
Andrina:
At first I thought Adella was just throwing a tantrum and getting back at me for putting that seaslug in her bag, but now I was starting to worry. I hadn't seen Adella or Ariel for an hour! I wondered where they could have gone to!
I swam about the castle going from room to room until I caught sight of something in Ariel's room. I swam toward it and stopped suddenly when I realized what...or WHO it was.
"Melvin...?" I gasped.
"GET OUT!!!" it screamed, "you are not welcome here!"
"Ok, Adella, the joke's over, you can come out now!" I said, thinking maybe this was Adella's idea of revenge.
"Get out!" Melvin repeated, throwing a chair in my direction.
I swam as fast as I could, Melvin close behind.
Suddenly, I ran smack into Arista. "Andrina, where are you off to in such a hurry?" she asked.
"I saw...Melvin...and...he doesn't...want...any...of us...here..."
"Don't be silly," Arista said.
"But he was chasing after me!" I protested.
"I don't see anything," Arista said.
Sure enough, Melvin had vanished. "But I swear..."
"Don't swear, Daddy wouldn't approve," Arista said. "Now I'm going to check out the seahorses, you can play your joke on someone else."
With that, Arista started to swim off.
"Wait!" I called after her, "have you stopped to wonder about Ariel and Adella? Maybe the merghost captured them!"
Adella
I kept swimming in the dark ocean, slowly making my way to the
castle. My mind seemed as dark as the waters surrounding me. I
couldn't think clearly.
Arista came into view. She was heading towards the stables. Dylan
was no where to be seen.
I felt so tired, I longed to lay my head on my seasponge and sleep,
but...wasn't there something I was supposed to do?
I swam up to Arista. She turned around and faced me. Obviously,
she'd heard me approaching.
"Adella! You're right here!" she exclaimed.
"Where else would I be?" I asked.
"Oh, it's just that Andrina's been looking for you," she said.
Anger filled me. "She has?" I asked innocently. She probably had
ANOTHER joke to play on me.
"Mmm hmm," Arista replied, petting one of the seahorses.
Seahorses. 'There's a wild seahorse stuck in the ice cave behind the
black coral,' a voice said to me.
I gasped.
"What's wrong?" Arista asked, concerned.
"There's a wild seahorse stuck in the ice cave behind the black
coral," I repeated.
"What?!" she exclaimed.
"He's injured. He needs help," I said, repeating what the voice was
saying to me.
Arista
Andrina bumped into me in the hall, looking almost as clear as a jellyfish.
She claimed she had seen Melvin too! I dismissed the idea, even though inside
I knew she must have seen something. Good thing I was headed to the stables,
I had no desire to meet a merghost. I shook my head, and swam past my sister.
"Wait! Have you stopped to wonder about Ariel and Adella?" Andrina asked,
swimming back in front of me. "Maybe the merghost captured them!" She seemed
so serious about her theory!
"Andrina....if there is a merghost, I hardly think it would capture
anyone." I told her. "But, I do wonder where Ariel went in such a rush
earlier."
"You saw her?" Andrina questioned.
"Yes, I bet she just wanted to go exploring and got all excited." I
suggested. Sounded enough like something Ariel would do.
"Well, I think she went after Adella." Andrina stated, crossing her arms
over her shells in thought.
"Oh? And where did Adella go?"
"How should I know." Andrina shrugged. "The main thing is they are both
missing!" It looked like she thought more than she was telling.
"Calm down," I put a hand on Andrina's shoulder. "I'm sure they're all
right. Besides they haven't been gone long, so I wouldn't say they are
missing." Ariel was probably off having another adventure. What a life she
had. I wish I could do some of the things she does. And Adella could most
likely be found around here somewhere. She might even be in her room debating
over whether or not to wear her crowd outside. I smiled at the thought. "Now
please excuse me Andrina, I'd like to get to the stables." I swam on out of
the castle.
*****************
As I reached the stables I found Adella, or rather, she found me. I told her
that Andrina has been looking for her. Adella wore an unreadable expression.
I wondered if she was mad at Andrina. Suddenly her eyes got big and she
gasped.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"There's a wild seahorse stuck in the ice cave behind the black coral,"
Adella whispered.
"What?!" I yelled, looking around. Why hadn't she told me sooner?
"He's injured." She went on, "He needs help," It was weird how Adella's
eyes seems do distant as she spoke. Did she not see how important the
situation was? Something terrible could happen to the seahorse if it didn't
get free. What if something came along and... No, that's too horrible to
consider.
"Well let's go!" I started to take off, but quickly realized I had no idea
where the poor seahorse was. "Which way?"
"This way, c'mon!" Adella led me away from the stables and the castle. "See
that dark coral?" She pointed, "It's there." How did she know all this?
I swam closer, but an icy chill ran through me. Something was very wrong. "I
don't see anything..." I said over my shoulder. Adella sighed, irritated. In
a quick motion she seized my wrist and was puling me to the cave. "Hey!
Adella that hurts!" I cried out. I tried to pull my hand away but her grip
was strong. "What's gotten into you?" I demanded.
Adella
"What's gotten into you?" Arista asked me. I froze and stared at
her, letting go of her wrist.
"What...what do you mean?" I stammered, confused.
"How do you know about the seahorse trapped in here, and why are you
in such a hurry to show me?"
"Seahorse?" I echoed.
"Adella!" she cried. "You're the one who said there was a seahorse
trapped in the ice cave! Is this some kind of joke?"
'It's no joke, the seahorse is in great danger. You must hurry,' the
voice in my head told me.
"It's no joke," I repeated. "The seahorse is in great danger. You
must hurry!"
Arista looked at me as if she was trying to decide whether or not to
believe me.
"Hurry!" I urged her, as the voice urged me.
Ursula:
I heard voices coming into the cave. It was Adella and she had returned with one of the others.
"Excuse me," I said to Ariel, "but I have to go welcome our guests."
"I won't let you hurt my sisters!" Ariel protested.
"I'm sorry, my dear," I said, changing my appearance to look like Alana, the animal lover of the sisters, "but I'm afraid you don't have much say in the matter."
I left Ariel chained up and swam out to find Adella and Arista. "Arista!" I said, "I'm so glad Adella found you! The seahorse is this way!"
I led the girls back to my hideout. Arista gasped when she saw Ariel chained up. "Ariel! Who did this to you!" she exclaimed.
"Oh who do you think," I said, changing back to my original form and cackling...
Arista
As we swam into the cave I heard voices. One sounded a lot like Ariel. Hmm,
had she come to help the seahorse too? Adella led the way deeper into the
cold cave. Suddenly Alana was swimming out of the center of the cave toward
us.
"Arista!" she called, "I'm so glad Adella found you! The seahorse is this
way!" Seeing Alana made me feel a little better. I knew she would help me
take care of the seahorse. And at least she hadn't been acting strange like
Adella. I glanced at Adella, only to see that far off look in her eyes again.
We followed Alana's lead to the heart of the cave. What I saw there made me
want to scream. There was no seahorse, but my youngest sister was chained up
and helpless!
"Ariel!" I cried, rushing toward her, "Who did this to you!" Ariel started
to say something but she was cut off.
"Oh who do you think," Alana laughed, but it wasn't her voice! I stared
openmouthed as she transformed into Ursula!
My head whipped around to look at Ariel. Her face head sorrow and her tail
drooped as if she had just lost all hope. I turned my gaze back to the sea
witch, she was swimming over to me, obviously intent on locking me up just
like Ariel. Lucky for me I was much younger and faster! I faked swimming to
the right, then darted to my left and swam full speed past Ursula, grabbing
Adella by one arm and dragging her with me. I only got a few feet with her,
until Ursula screamed something and zapped me. In pain, I let my sister go,
mentally promising to get help and come back for both Ariel and Adella.
"Go Arista! Save Yourself!" Ariel yelled after me.
My arm still stung as I made it out of the dreadful cave. I could hear Ursula
shouting from inside but I didn't dare even look back. Who knows what that
sea witch had planned. And why had Adella helped her? Was that really
Adella!? I swam straight to the Duchess's castle, slicing through the waves.
I streamed through the front entry, looking around frantically for help. It
didn't matter who, but I had to find someone fast!