When Arista wouldn't take me seriously, I decided to find someone who would Aquata would get to the bottom of this, being the eldest of all of us.
I swam quickly down a corridor, nearly plowing into my sister.
"Andrina!" she shrieked, "it's very unsafe to go charging down the hall like that!"
"But, Aquata," I said, "I need to talk to you!"
Before any of us could say another word, Arista came swimming our way as fast as she could. Had something happened at the stables?
Dylan:
I started back towards the castle from the stables. After all of this
business with Melvin, the Mer-ghost, I wanted to find Arista.
One of the Duchesses Guards told me that Arista went to the stables.
So naturally, I thought I'd go down to the stables and see her.
When I had arrived, Arista wasn't there! I searched the stables, all
of the Sea-horses where accounted for and it their pens.
I checked on Current. He was happy to see me, and I fed him, and
rubbed his mane while he ate from his feed bag.
After a while, I started to get worried, and I headed back towards
the castle. I saw Arista swim full speed into the castle like
something was chasing her.
I swam as fast as I could after my girlfriend.
As I got into the castle, Aquata and Andrina where already conforting
her.
Arista was holding her arm against her, and she was clearly upset.
"Arista!!!!" I said loudly. I swam over to her and her sisters and
held her. "What happened to you?" I asked softly, not trying to get
her upset.
"It's Awful," she started...
"What is?" I asked....
Arista
I swam through the palace looking for anyone. I caught sight of Aquata and
Andrina and swam straight for them. But before I could explain what had just
happened I heard Dylan call out.
"Arista!!!!" He swam up to us, looking worried. He put his arms around
me. I was still scared and shaking. "What happened to you?" He asked.
"It's Awful," I got out.
"What is?" Dylan prompted.
"Tell us, please!" Andrina said, she was swishing her tail around
anxiously.
"It'll be okay Arista," Aquata told me, moving closer. They had formed a
tight semicircle around me.
"Ursula, the sea witch....she has Ariel." I said, trying not to cry.
"She's holding her in a dark cave, all chained up. It was terrible." Aquata
gasped, putting her hand over her mouth. I went on, "She almost got me too.
I-I got away..." I hugged Dylan for comfort. "I was so scared." Then I
thought of Adella. No....that couldn't have really been her, she had acted so
different. But that had definitely been Ariel. And she was in trouble!
Adella
"Drat that little seabrat!" Ursula cried as she chased after Arista.
"She'll be back with Daddy!" Ariel told her.
"Yes...she will, won't she?" Ursula muttered. I floated in my spot, unable to move, but only to gaze upon the scene. Ursula looked at me and smiled.
"Oh, they'll be frantically worried about Ariel, won't they?" she asked, staring at me. I wanted to swim away--she was scaring me--but my fin was frozen as stiff as an iceberg.
She cackled and threw some vials into her cauldron, green and purple swirling out of it. She chanted some magical words. When the smoke cleared, Ariel gasped.
Ursula stood before me, cackling. The way they looked at me made me cringe.
"Adella!" Ariel cried. "You're...me!"
"What?!" My voice finally cried out.
"Go," Ursula's hypnotic voice said to me. "Go, ARIEL...Convince your sisters that you're fine."
I felt a warmth in my chest again as I swam off to find my sisters in the castle.
Ariel
My spirits soared when Arista got free....now they plummeted back down as
Ursula threw together a new spell. What was she doing now? How could she stop
Arista? I still mentally cheered Arista on. Maybe Arista could get to Daddy,
then we would be rescued! I wrinkled my nose at the purple and green mess
floating out of Ursula's pot. What was that supposed to do? In a flash I got
an answer. I watched, openmouthed, as Adella was transformed into....ME.
"Adella!" I exclaimed in surprise, "You're...me!" I took in all the
details. She had my face, my tail, my hair. It was amazing...like looking
into a life-sized mirror.
"What?!" She cried. At least she still had her own voice! That would
definitely give her away. I bit my lip, hoping the sea witch wouldn't notice.
"Go," Ursula urged my sister, "Go, ARIEL...Convince your sisters that
you're fine."
"Yes..." Adella muttered, only now...somehow, it was my voice! Without
even a glance back she was off. Oh no...oh no. I felt horrible, this was all
my fault. I should have never gotten caught. I tugged on the chains more, but
to no avail. They were locked tight. I knew my sisters would believe Adella
was me, I mean why wouldn't they, Ursula sure had her looking and sounding
convincing. The others just had to believe Arista. She did get a head
start... and she was my only hope!
"Ahh soon I will have all your sisters! Then, King Triton will have to do
whatever I command!" Ursula shrieked.
Ursula:
"You'll never get away with this!" Ariel spat at me again. *Oh how predictable!* "My fother won't let you!"
"My dear," I said, "your father will have no choice! The great power that he posesses in the trident will be useless to him! No. Once I've captureed your sisters, he'll have to give ME the trident and control of the seven seas if he wants to see any of you alive ever again!" I summoned Melvin's double. "Make sure this little seabrat doesn't escape! The others are gonna worry about Adella now and I must go ease their worries." With that, I transformed into the vain little princess and swam back to the castle.
************
Once inside the castle, I swam down the hall where Ariel's sisters were hovering in a group.
"Arista, what are you talking about?" Andrina was saying, "there's Adella now!"
"Arista, dear," Aquata said, "are you feeling alright?"
"Andrina swam up to me. "Adella, where have you been?"
"Oh..." I said, "I...saw this patch in the reefs out there...and I...wondered if I could see myself in it."
Arista
"Arista, what are you talking about?" Andrina said suddenly, her eyes were
focused somewhere behind me, "There's Adella now!" She pointed and I whirled
around to see Adella headed towards us. My mouth hung open in surprise, then
it registered, maybe that was the fake Adella. What if she had come back to
get me? I floated even closer to Dylan, hoping for protection. I had never
been one to fight. And I had no idea what to expect.
"Arista, dear," Aquata said gently, "are you feeling alright?" I didn't
answer.
Andrina swam over to Adella. "Adella, where have you been?" She asked.
"Oh... I...saw this patch in the reefs out there...and I...wondered if I
could see myself in it." Adella stammered. Was this really Adella? That
sounded a little conceded, even for her.
"I don't think that's Adella," I said in a low tone to Dylan. He raised
his eyebrows, and peered at her.
"What makes you think that? It looks like Adella...." He responded.
"Yes, but what if it isn't? After what I saw, I don't know what to think.
I didn't mention it before, but some kind of Adella look-alike was in the
cave where Ariel was being held."
"We should go try to help her." Dylan said, now looking determined. Just
that moment, Ariel swam in.
"What!?" I exclaimed staring at Ariel in surprise. She must have gotten
away too! But... how? She was chained up tight. Ariel swam over to us.
"Hi!" She smiled, as if nothing had happened.
"Ariel! How did you get away?" I demanded.
"Ahh, well I was able to ....slip out of the chains." She said slowly.
"I'm fine." Ariel's voice sounded sort of off. Like she was reading
something. I looked around at the others. I didn't know quite how to react. I
waited to see if my sisters and Dylan were believing what Ariel and Adella
said....
Dylan:
I nodded slightly at Arista's comment. something didn't seem right
here... but what?
Ariel seemed like Ariel....
But with all of the crazy things going on around here, the mer-ghost,
Arista's story of the cave... something didn't seem right....
I started to think. "Arista." I said, taking her hand in
mine. "You're right, something is seriously wrong."
Arista
"You're right, something is seriously wrong." Dylan said, glancing at
Ariel. I moved my gaze to Adella, still trying to figure out if she was
really Adella. That's something I never thought I would be doing. I watched
as she talked to Andrina and Aquata. Ariel swished her tail back and fourth
innocently, but stayed not far from us. She seemed to be lost in thought.
"We don't really have any proof... it's just a feeling, but maybe we
should tell Father." As soon as I said it I thought about how Father would
respond. He would probably not want to be bothered on this vacation. He
really needed the time to relax. I blew out a stream of bubbles in
frustration. "On second thought, maybe we should wait a little while." I said
softly to Dylan.
"Whatever you think is best," Dylan replied.
"You two must come with me," Adella said to Aquata and Andrina with
enthusiasm. "I have something wonderful to show you!"
What if she meant that cold dark cave? I couldn't let that happen. "No!" I
called out, swimming closer to them.
Andrina:
"Arista, are you feeling alright?" I asked her. "You're sure acting
weird!"
"Nevermind her," Adella said, "I really gotta show you this!"
"I'll catch up to you later!" I said, taking my sister aside.
"Now..." I said, once we were alone, "something is definately doing on.
First Adella starts acting weird, and now you! What exactly is going on? And
where did you end up going today anyway?"
Arista
"I'll catch up to you later!" Andrina called to Adella and Aquata. Then
she hooked my arm and swam us into a corner.
"Now... something is definately doing on. First Adella starts acting
weird, and now you! What exactly is going on? And where did you end up going
today anyway?" Andrina said all of that without a pause.
"Yes something IS going on Andrina!" I exclaimed, not caring who heard. My
tail made an angry swish. "And I am not the problem, Adella is. If that is
even really Adella. Don't you see how... different she is acting?"
"Yes, I know, but you think--" Andrina started to say.
"And as for WHERE I was, remember I was tricked and almost held captive?" I
didn't lose my temper often, but all this was getting to me.
"Okay... and what? You think Adella is behind it or something?" Andrina
snorted.
"No. Not our Adella. I think that girl," I pointed in the direction that
Adella had gone. "May be an impostor. I know a way to find out... we'll just
ask her something ONLY Adella would know. Like... how many pearl necklaces
she owns. C'mon, let's go!"
Adella
Right, left, right left...
I mentally followed the movement of my newly green-colored tail.
Looking down, I watched my fins as I swished them back and forth.
Red hair floated down near my hands, and I felt it. How strange.
Red hair.
Suddenly, I became aware of...me...growling nearby.
It felt like looking in the mirror. Seeing myself floating there.
Except, my 'reflection' wasn't matching my own movements.
"Did you say something?" Aquata asked 'me', actually Ursula disguised
as me.
"Oh! No, I just wanted Andrina and Arista to join us. But, they can
always catch up later."
"Adella, what's so important that you need to drag us out in the cold
waters when it's so dark?" Aquata asked. "Can't we see it tomorrow?"
"No," Adella said. "It won't be there in the morning. Come on!"
She grabbed Aquata's hand and started swimming away.
"Wait!" Arista called out. She and Andrina swam back over. "Adella,
how many pearl necklaces do you have?"
"What kind of question is that?" Adella spat.
"Oh, we were just wondering..." Andrina said weakly.
"Well, who keeps track?" Adella snapped. "I mean, I've got so many
necklaces..."
"Twelve, if you count the coral and pearl strand," I said. The words
seemed to come out of my mouth automatically.
"How would YOU know, Ariel?" Arista asked, narrowing her eyes at me.
"Oh, she helped me count them the other day," Adella said. "Now, are
you two coming or not, because Aquata and I are going..."
She started pulling Aquata along with her.
Triton:
This vacation was turning out to get weirder and weirder.
I decided to go looking for my girls and see if their vacation had
looked up any.
*****
I was swimming near the edge of the Duchess' property when I finally
overheard the girls' voices.
I couldn't make out what they were saying, so I decided to swim a bit
closer.
"It won't be there in the morning. Come on!" Adella said.
It was quiet for a moment and then Arista spoke up, "Adella, how many
pearl necklaces do you have?"
I shook my head and thought, 'Girl talk... that figures.'
It puzzled me as to why they would stray so far from the castle, but
then again, the Duchess owned so much down here, they probably think they're
still on the grounds. I was sure everything was fine.
*****
I returned to my room and swam over to my bed. Closing my eyes I drifted
of to sleep and tried to forget about this stressful day.
Hopefully everything would be better tomorrow.
*****
*BANG! BANG! BANG!*
I shot up from my sleep.
*BANG! BANG! BANG!*
The pounding was coming from outside my door. I wasn't sure how long I
had been asleep, but I was definitely awake now.
I grabbed my trident and floated up from the bed.
"Who's there?" I called out. "Is something wrong?"
Andrina:
Now that Arista mentioned it, there were certainly a lot of odd things
going on. How could Ariel know how many necklaces Adella had? I knew Ariel
and she certainly wouldn't even care about a boring thing like that.
"Ok, 'Ariel'," I said, swimming over to her, "your turn! It was the
night of that concert. You had shown up late, as usual. So what was that
thing you showed Aquata and me? You know, that thing that you absolutely had
to have and you were late just getting it?"
"Ariel doesn't have to tell you," Adella said, "after all, you never
appreciated her explorations and adventures all that much and..."
"Since when do you talk for Ariel?" I said, "And since when do you care
who appreciates what Ariel does? You'd probably freak out if anything small,
green and alive so much as touched you!"
"Well, I only meant," Adella said, then she broke out in sobs. "Nobody
appreciates me around here!" she whailed. "You have no idea how hard it is
just being beautiful!"