PART 3
Ursula:
As I dug through the cupboard, I came across something. "This could come in handy," I said, "This spell hasn't been used in years! It will be the perfect trick to pull on King Triton and his daughters!"
The spell was one that when cast on an object that was admired by everybody, something unusual would happen when they touched the item they were infatuated with. Now to find something that all of Triton's daughters are infatuated with.
Looking into my crystal ball, I saw it! Everybody seemed infatuated with that little gold heart. That human thing Ariel had found. That was it! Soon, the spell would be cast and the chaos would begin. I let out an evil laugh as I cast my spell...
Arista:
I always loved riding. It makes my day whole. Father
always says that you should do one thing a day that
makes you happy. This was it for me today. The mob of
guests had been thinning out. I heard a noise behind
me and and turned to see Alana trailing behind me. I
slowed Blackfire and turned around.
"Hello Alana. What brings you out here?" I asked.
Alana:
I watched the guests as they left the castle. Arista rode on
Blackfire, watching them as well. She focused intenty on one merman
in particular. He was the prince who had been staring at my sister
during the curtain call. I slowed down and looked at him. He was
very handsome, I thought. Suddenly I realized that Arista was way
ahead of me. I swam quickly to catch up to her. As I did, my tail
knocked a big shell. Arista slowed and turned around.
"Hello, Alana. What brings you out here?" she asked.
I looked at her sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I heard a noise,
and I came out to see what it was--I guess it was Blackfire--but when
I saw you, I...I got curious. What are you doing, riding out here at
this time of night? We're supposed to leave early tomorrow for the
Arctic waters."
Arista:
I smacked myself on the forehead. THE TRIP. I had
completely forgotten it.
"I'm getting as bad as Ariel..." I mumbled to
myself. I chose to avoid the question as to why I was
out here. I really didn't know myself. Look at me
coming out in the middle of the night just to look at
some boy. I scolded myself. "Well it's a good thing i
started packing a while ago, or i'd be in BIG
trouble!" I smiled at Alana. "Thanks." Casting one
more glance in the general direction of the handsome
merman, I turned Blackfire around. "Did you want a
ride back?"
Alana:
"Did you want a ride back?" Arista asked me.
"Sure," I said, hopping on Blackfire. As we rode through the
kelp, toward the palace, I took the opportunity to ask my
sister, "Who's the merman you were watching?"
I couldn't see her face, but I thought felt like Arista was a
bit embarassed. "He's the one who was watching you during the
concert, wasn't he?"
"Me?" she squeaked.
"Well, wasn't it you he was staring at?" I asked.
Before she answered, we heard Daddy's voice booming through
the sea, "What in the Seven Seas is going on here?!"
"Go, Blackfire," Arista urged her seahorse as we sped back
home.
Andrina:
My heart raced nervously when Daddy saw our hands.!
"Wha... how? Did some sea witch put a spell on you? Oh, my poor
daughters! How did this happen?"
Before I could say anything, Ariel and Attina came coming down the hall. Ariel stopped short when she saw us, but Attina was going full speed and bumped right into Ariel, which sent them flying a couple feet. This got Daddy's attention.
Ariel glanced at my hands and at Adella's and looked surprised. I saw her trying to hide her hands, which were glowing, but Daddy had already seen them.
"What in the seven seas is going on here!?" Daddy boomed.
We all began talking at once, trying to explain the situation.
"Somebody must be playing a joke on us!" I explained.
"Who would pay a joke like this? It doesn't look easy. Glowing hands just for a laugh?" Ariel said, looking down at her hands. "What a sense of humor. I agree with Adella it must be some kind of spell."
"I don't know, but whoever it is I'd like to meet them, this is one of the best pranks I've ever seen." I said.
Everybody gave me a dirty look.
"Andtina, this isn't something to laugh about, this is serious!" Adella said, sounding annoyed.
"Yeah!" Attina added.
"I'm just trying to make light of a bad situation!" I argued.
"Well it isn't helping!" Adella snapped.
"This stuff isn't comeing off, so what do we do?" Ariel said, "I don't want yellow glowing hands forever!"
"Right, yellow isn't my colour!" Adella added.
"Why are you guys yelling at me! I didn't do it!" I whined.
"Girls, stop fighting!" Daddy said.
"Daddy's right," Arttina said, "We have to figure out how to get the glow off our hands!"
Attina had a point. Fighting wasn't going to stop our hands from glowing. We had to find an antidote! I sure didn't want glowing hands forever, even if I did want to meet the person who was playing this joke.
Adella:
I glared at Andrina. How could she make jokes at a time like
this?
"Daddy, isn't there something you can do?" I begged. "I
can't go to the Arctic waters with my hands glowing like this!"
"Hmm," he said, "there must be some reason this spell
affected all of you, but no one else in the palace. And not me." He
looked down at his hands.
"Maybe it was something on the stage!" I said. I knew that
it could very well have been the heart-shaped treasure Ariel had
found. I know I picked it up after Ariel had had it, and Andrina
admitted to have picked it up from my jewelry box. Since it had
turned up missing when I went to get it later, and Attina's hands
were glowing, I figured that she was the one who stole it from me. I
wanted to tell Daddy, but I was so afraid he would get angry at us
all for having touched a human thing. And what if he punished us and
cancelled the trip?
"I will have to go search the stage and see if I can find any
clue to what may have caused this," he said. "You girls stay in your
rooms until I come back."
As soon as Daddy swam out of sight, I turned to Attina. "It
was that human thing! You took that treasure from my box!" I accused,
pointing a glowing finger at my older sister. "And Ariel, you never
should have brought that human thing home--it's all your fault!"
"But...but I had no idea my whozit would do this!" Ariel
sputtered. "None of my human treasures have ever made my hands glow
before!"
"How can we be sure it WAS the human thing?" Andrina asked.
"You know as well as I do that we all touched it," I
said. "What else could it be?"
Attina sighed. "I suppose we'd better tell Daddy about that
whozit."
"No!" Ariel and I cried.
Attina looked at me. "Well how else are we supposed to solve
this problem?"
"Maybe you can find something in one of your books," I
suggested, "because I would rather get help from the seawitch than
tell Daddy I had that whozit!"
King Triton:
I swam off to the stage... I had to find out what had happened to my
daughters!
Looking up, I saw Adella and Arista on a sea horse... I had to warn them
about the curse and it may have something to do with the stage!
"What in the Seven Seas is going on here?" I shouted to no one in
particular... I still had no idea if a sea witch was trying to tear my
family apart piece by piece.
Before I could make it to the stage, the girls were gone... I guess I'd
find a way to talk to them later. Hopefully they would be safe until then.
I swam up and down the length of the stage four or five times and saw
nothing! I pounded the end of the trident on the floor... I knew what I had
to do...
*****
I eased the door open, afraid of what the curse could have done the
whole time I was gone.
Luckily, the girls were all just floating with golden hands waiting for
me to return.
"Now girls... I know I shouldn't use the trident for personal problems,
but this is a serious situation."
Raising the trident over my head, it began to glow in my hands. I could
feel the power pulsing through me, and I knew that it would heal my girls.
Ariel shouted out, "Daddy! What are you doing?"
Andrina and Attina shielded their faces.
Adella just floated there in shock.
The glow engulfed them all and then the light faded... and the gold
started to chip away from their hands. Within seconds, they were free from
the curse!
"Now girls... if you ever figure out what caused this please let me
know... I'll see to it that the person responsible will be punished to the
fullest!"
They all nodded silently between glancing among them and looking at
their hands in disbelief.
"Well, if you're all feeling ok, we'll head for the Arctic first thing
in the morning. I'm sure the cool water s will all do us some good." I
sighed heavily from being so tired. "Good night my wonderful daughters."
I floated out of the room and down to my chambers... I was glad this
long day had finally ended and soon we'd be on vacation.
Ariel
I swam off to my room after Daddy got the gold stuff off our hands. I didn't
know the trident could be used like that. Good thing, or we would all be
stuck with gold glowing hands. Had my whoozit caused it? None of us could be
sure. Was Daddy really right about human things? No...none of my other things
had ever caused any harm. All this one did was make hands glow, not much harm
in that. Besides it could have been something else.
Oh, I still had to pack! I got my bag out and sighed as I started to fill it
up. I was getting excited about the trip, but I was honestly too tired to
show it. I hadn't been to the Arctic since I was about 8. Maybe I could find
some new wonderful human things there! More to add to my collection. I smiled
at the thought.
I didn't take me long to pack, I didn't have to take just about everything I
own, like Adella. Still, by the time I was finished it was late and I was
exhausted. I swam over to my soft-sponge bed, settled in, and tried to
sleep....
*********
I was woken by the sound of trumpet fish early the next morning. That was one
sure way to get everyone up. I jumped up and swam out of bed. If I knew
Daddy, he wanted to get an extra early start. I ran a coral comb through my
hair and snatched up my bag, ready to go. For once I wouldn't be the latest.
I swam to the throne room, where I found Aquata, Alana, and Attina waiting.
Good, I wasn't late! I gave my bag to the octopus who was waiting by our new
chariot. He loaded it on with the others. Just then, Daddy entered.
"Good morning girls!" He greeted us. "It's going to be a beautiful day in
the Arctic. You all ready?" We nodded. "We should make good time in this."
Daddy gestured to the six-dolphin-powered chariot.
"Yes. It should go twice as fast as the old one." Aquata said, petting one
of the dolphins. Easy for her to say, at least Daddy had let HER steer the
old one. He would probably let her on this new one too.
"See, we aren't late." Andrina's voice came from behind me. She spoke to
Arista, who was swimming in right behind her. They handed their things to the
octopus.
"Right on time." Daddy told them. "Now...where is Adella?"
"I bet she can't lift her bag." Andrina joked.
"Well she certainly packed enough. I know, I had to help her close her
bags." Attina commented. I couldn't help smiling. It was about time everyone
saw that I am not the only kind of irresponsible one around here.
"We have to wait on Sebastian and Flounder too." I reminded everyone.
Daddy looked ready to get going, and my sisters looked tired of waiting. Or
maybe it was from getting up so early? Then, we heard someone coming....