Ariel’s life was currently in Hell. She thought she knew the consequences of her agreement with the witch; she thought that if anything went wrong, only she would be hurt…she was wrong. Dead wrong.
Everything was going perfectly; she was human (at the cost of her voice, however), she was with her prince, and they were only one kiss away from being together forever. But then She had shown up and stolen the heart of the prince, Eric, away from her. Ariel’s animal friends had tried to delay Her wedding to the prince, and tried to recover the Mer’s voice, but in the end, their efforts were futile on both tasks…the sun had set on her three day time limit, and Ariel, still voiceless, felt her two beautiful legs rejoin together into her former green tail.
“YOU'RE TOO LATE! YOU’RE TOO LATE!” She screamed, saliva flying from her lips as she busted out of her skin, revealing to everyone on board the wedding ship to who she really was; Ursula the Sea Witch, the one who had taken Ariel’s voice and gave the mermaid legs in the first place.
Ariel’s eyes widened as the witch dragged herself across the deck to the young Mer, and she tried to crawl away. But Ariel felt a strong grasp tighten around her arm, sinking sharp nails deep into her skin. Ursula wasn’t making her escape easy.
“So long, loverboy!” The Cecaelia growled over her shoulder, before plunging into the ocean below, with the red-headed girl in tow.
Ariel thought she heard Eric call out her name, but she couldn’t think straight over the thoughts rushing through her mind, trying to say things that her voice could only wish to speak. What will happen to Eric? What about Daddy? What about me?
The mermaid was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she almost didn’t notice the two other figures who had entered the scene; a small red crab and a Mer whose very presence commanded attention. The latter was currently engaged in a heated argument with the witch who held her captive.
“Let her go,” the merman demanded, the little crustacean nodding in agreement over his shoulder.
Daddy…Ariel realized, and she gasped. She knew exactly Ursula was planning now…she just prayed it wasn’t true.
“Not a chance, Triton!” the Sea Witch spat, “She’s mine now. We made a deal.”
Ursula waved her other arm, and the cursed scroll that Ariel had signed materialized out of thin water and into one of her tentacles. The witch unfurled it in front of her father with flourish. As the king’s and the crab’s eyes quickly scanned over the paper, Triton’s expression slowly becoming more and more horrified as he continued to the fine print Ariel hadn’t bothered to read. Sebastian looked as if he was going to faint.
‘Daddy, I'm sorry!’ Ariel tried to squeak out, struggling against the Witch’s minions, who held her in place for their master, ‘I - I - I didn't mean to! I didn't know-’
Extending the Trident in front of him, Triton shot a bolt of pure white magic at the scroll, causing a bright flash to fill the waters around them and sending Ursula rocketing backwards. When it faded the scroll was still as intact as it was before.
“You see?” The Cecaelia cackled, “The contract’s legal, binding, and completely unbreakable - even for YOU!”
Ursula smirked, and she tapped her chin, “Of course…I always was a girl with an eye for a bargain…”
The witch twirled the scroll through the water, transfiguring it into a golden, celestial ribbon, and sent it circling around the Mer princess, “The daughter of the great sea king is a very precious commodity. But…!”
“…I might be willing to make an exchange…” She snapped, and the yellow trail spiraled around Ariel until it was almost a tornado threatening to tear her apart, “…For someone even better…”
Ursula slowly clenched her fist, and the mermaid felt herself shrinking painfully. Ariel let out a silent scream of agony as she felt her insides collapse upon another, ‘Daddy, help me, please!’
The Sea King’s eyes widened in fear as he watched his youngest daughter become one of Ursula’s creatures that could be killed with one squeeze. Finally, he burst, “DAMN YOU, URSULA!”
Ursula snickered as she watched the Trident turn red in the king’s hand, “My, Triton, how very inappropriate of you to say! I expect better from a royal, especially one who has a child that looks up to them!”
By now, Ariel felt like she was going to explode. The pain of having her frame being crammed into a body at least a hundred times smaller than her was close to unbearable. I guess this is your punishment, though, for messing around with magic…She told her defeated mind.
“NoW…dO…hAvE…dEaL?” Ariel heard Ursula’s voice, mocking and cold, but it was distorted, as if she was hearing it from the end of a long, echoing tunnel.
But, she could distinctly hear the sickening zap that followed the witch’s drawl and the maniacal laughter that followed, “Ha! It's done then!”
The horrible pain coursing through Ariel’s veins stopped, and she released the breath she didn’t even known she was holding as she regrew to normal size. The Mer opened her eyes. She immediately wished she didn’t. The soul-crushing magic that surrounded her only moments before had rapidly shrank her own father into a polyp.
And before she could react, Ursula’s tentacles quickly wrapped around her weakened father…and squeezed the life out of her only parent before Ariel’s very eyes. The Cecaelia dropped the corpse of the king, and Ariel cautiously swam forwards.
He can’t be gone…he just can’t! The mermaid’s mind rushed to process the scene before her.
‘Daddy…?’
“Oh, sire…” Sebastian moaned, “Oh, your highness…”
“Shut up, crab!” Ursula practically screamed, turning around to face the crustacean, “I have no issue with you!”
Ursula snatched Sebastian into her grip and threw him against a nearby rock, and a sickening crack flooded Ariel’s ears.
Laughing, the witch swooped down and grabbed the Trident with a grin. Then she turned to Ariel, “Now…I can't have you interfering with my new plans as the ruler of the sea…but the contract says I can’t kill you, in exchange for your father's life…”
The witch’s smirk grew wider across her face, and any thought of mourning both Sebastian and Triton was completely wiped from Ariel’s mind, “…But it never said anything about seriously injuring you…so much that you could die!”
Ursula leveled the Trident to Ariel’s neck, the uppermost point just barely touching her skin, “Well, child…any last words before we part…?”
Ariel closed her eyes, and felt a single tear rolled down her cheek as she thought the most important thing she could think of...then she shook her head.
“Well, then…It’s been nice doing business with you, you poor, unfortunate soul…”
A horrible scent of something burning filled the water with a boom as Ursula fired, and Ariel felt herself falling to the seafloor. And the Mer heard her voice, once more, echoing through her head before falling unconscious, saying the same message as before.
It’s your entire fault…
~~~*~~~
Ariel awoke to a splitting pain in her head and an aching body. She was on the seafloor, surrounded by various pieces of debris and dead aquatic plants. The ocean currents were still for once, as if some unknown force was preventing the sea to act normally. The Mer groaned as she attempted to sit up, but a giant bubble of pain exploded down her arms and tail, and she collapsed on the sand again.
‘What hap-’ Ariel began, before clutching at her throat. Oh, yeah…my voice is gone…but then…where is Ursula? And Daddy and Sebastian, too?
Don't be stupid! Her mind yelled at her. Don't you remember?! They're…They're both…
‘…dead,’ Ariel finished, tears welling in her eyes, ‘T-T-They died…while trying to f-f-fix my m-m-mistake. I-I-It’s all m-m-my f-f-fault…’
The princess broke down, and hot, salty tears floated from her eyes, quickly dissolving into the ocean around her, ‘I s-s-should be the one w-w-who d-d-died, not t-t-them…’
Ariel brought her tail agonizingly up to her chest and began to sob into it, not caring about the world around her, or the gold pole glittering a few feet away…Wait a minute.
Jerking her head up painfully, the mermaid relocated the golden staff, which was lodged deep into the sand, with only the spikes protruding the surface, ‘The Trident!’
Ariel quickly tried to wipe away most of her tears, gave up after it proved to be futile, and then slowly swam towards the rod’s location. She winced as more and more pain grew inside her body, but she still managed to reach a hand out to one of the points. As soon as her finger brushed it, Ariel felt the Trident grow hot under her fingers, and quickly snatched her hand back.
‘What’s wrong with thi-’ Ariel started, before realizing what was happening.
A white-gold stream of pure light poured out of the tip of the Trident, and began to swirl in a cyclone above the points of the staff. Finally, the twirling stopped, and in its place was a projection of a figure, semi-transparent like a ghost.
Ariel felt her heart stop, and she blinked repeatedly, not believing her eyes.
But her eyes weren’t lying; they never had.
Before her stood someone she never thought she’d ever see again. Someone who had long been dead. Someone she could only just barely remember. Someone…very familiar, but almost distant, like they were from another world.
It was her mother.
AN: Well...it's been awhile! School has been stupid, and I have a habit of losing flashdrives...anyways, I killed off Sebastian and Trition! And Ariel is voiceless! And Ursula is on the loose! And Athena makes an appearance! Oh, the suspense! I promise that some characters from different films will show soon; just give it time! I'm a very busy writer, and this must be perfect.
Everything was going perfectly; she was human (at the cost of her voice, however), she was with her prince, and they were only one kiss away from being together forever. But then She had shown up and stolen the heart of the prince, Eric, away from her. Ariel’s animal friends had tried to delay Her wedding to the prince, and tried to recover the Mer’s voice, but in the end, their efforts were futile on both tasks…the sun had set on her three day time limit, and Ariel, still voiceless, felt her two beautiful legs rejoin together into her former green tail.
“YOU'RE TOO LATE! YOU’RE TOO LATE!” She screamed, saliva flying from her lips as she busted out of her skin, revealing to everyone on board the wedding ship to who she really was; Ursula the Sea Witch, the one who had taken Ariel’s voice and gave the mermaid legs in the first place.
Ariel’s eyes widened as the witch dragged herself across the deck to the young Mer, and she tried to crawl away. But Ariel felt a strong grasp tighten around her arm, sinking sharp nails deep into her skin. Ursula wasn’t making her escape easy.
“So long, loverboy!” The Cecaelia growled over her shoulder, before plunging into the ocean below, with the red-headed girl in tow.
Ariel thought she heard Eric call out her name, but she couldn’t think straight over the thoughts rushing through her mind, trying to say things that her voice could only wish to speak. What will happen to Eric? What about Daddy? What about me?
The mermaid was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she almost didn’t notice the two other figures who had entered the scene; a small red crab and a Mer whose very presence commanded attention. The latter was currently engaged in a heated argument with the witch who held her captive.
“Let her go,” the merman demanded, the little crustacean nodding in agreement over his shoulder.
Daddy…Ariel realized, and she gasped. She knew exactly Ursula was planning now…she just prayed it wasn’t true.
“Not a chance, Triton!” the Sea Witch spat, “She’s mine now. We made a deal.”
Ursula waved her other arm, and the cursed scroll that Ariel had signed materialized out of thin water and into one of her tentacles. The witch unfurled it in front of her father with flourish. As the king’s and the crab’s eyes quickly scanned over the paper, Triton’s expression slowly becoming more and more horrified as he continued to the fine print Ariel hadn’t bothered to read. Sebastian looked as if he was going to faint.
‘Daddy, I'm sorry!’ Ariel tried to squeak out, struggling against the Witch’s minions, who held her in place for their master, ‘I - I - I didn't mean to! I didn't know-’
Extending the Trident in front of him, Triton shot a bolt of pure white magic at the scroll, causing a bright flash to fill the waters around them and sending Ursula rocketing backwards. When it faded the scroll was still as intact as it was before.
“You see?” The Cecaelia cackled, “The contract’s legal, binding, and completely unbreakable - even for YOU!”
Ursula smirked, and she tapped her chin, “Of course…I always was a girl with an eye for a bargain…”
The witch twirled the scroll through the water, transfiguring it into a golden, celestial ribbon, and sent it circling around the Mer princess, “The daughter of the great sea king is a very precious commodity. But…!”
“…I might be willing to make an exchange…” She snapped, and the yellow trail spiraled around Ariel until it was almost a tornado threatening to tear her apart, “…For someone even better…”
Ursula slowly clenched her fist, and the mermaid felt herself shrinking painfully. Ariel let out a silent scream of agony as she felt her insides collapse upon another, ‘Daddy, help me, please!’
The Sea King’s eyes widened in fear as he watched his youngest daughter become one of Ursula’s creatures that could be killed with one squeeze. Finally, he burst, “DAMN YOU, URSULA!”
Ursula snickered as she watched the Trident turn red in the king’s hand, “My, Triton, how very inappropriate of you to say! I expect better from a royal, especially one who has a child that looks up to them!”
By now, Ariel felt like she was going to explode. The pain of having her frame being crammed into a body at least a hundred times smaller than her was close to unbearable. I guess this is your punishment, though, for messing around with magic…She told her defeated mind.
“NoW…dO…hAvE…dEaL?” Ariel heard Ursula’s voice, mocking and cold, but it was distorted, as if she was hearing it from the end of a long, echoing tunnel.
But, she could distinctly hear the sickening zap that followed the witch’s drawl and the maniacal laughter that followed, “Ha! It's done then!”
The horrible pain coursing through Ariel’s veins stopped, and she released the breath she didn’t even known she was holding as she regrew to normal size. The Mer opened her eyes. She immediately wished she didn’t. The soul-crushing magic that surrounded her only moments before had rapidly shrank her own father into a polyp.
And before she could react, Ursula’s tentacles quickly wrapped around her weakened father…and squeezed the life out of her only parent before Ariel’s very eyes. The Cecaelia dropped the corpse of the king, and Ariel cautiously swam forwards.
He can’t be gone…he just can’t! The mermaid’s mind rushed to process the scene before her.
‘Daddy…?’
“Oh, sire…” Sebastian moaned, “Oh, your highness…”
“Shut up, crab!” Ursula practically screamed, turning around to face the crustacean, “I have no issue with you!”
Ursula snatched Sebastian into her grip and threw him against a nearby rock, and a sickening crack flooded Ariel’s ears.
Laughing, the witch swooped down and grabbed the Trident with a grin. Then she turned to Ariel, “Now…I can't have you interfering with my new plans as the ruler of the sea…but the contract says I can’t kill you, in exchange for your father's life…”
The witch’s smirk grew wider across her face, and any thought of mourning both Sebastian and Triton was completely wiped from Ariel’s mind, “…But it never said anything about seriously injuring you…so much that you could die!”
Ursula leveled the Trident to Ariel’s neck, the uppermost point just barely touching her skin, “Well, child…any last words before we part…?”
Ariel closed her eyes, and felt a single tear rolled down her cheek as she thought the most important thing she could think of...then she shook her head.
“Well, then…It’s been nice doing business with you, you poor, unfortunate soul…”
A horrible scent of something burning filled the water with a boom as Ursula fired, and Ariel felt herself falling to the seafloor. And the Mer heard her voice, once more, echoing through her head before falling unconscious, saying the same message as before.
It’s your entire fault…
~~~*~~~
Ariel awoke to a splitting pain in her head and an aching body. She was on the seafloor, surrounded by various pieces of debris and dead aquatic plants. The ocean currents were still for once, as if some unknown force was preventing the sea to act normally. The Mer groaned as she attempted to sit up, but a giant bubble of pain exploded down her arms and tail, and she collapsed on the sand again.
‘What hap-’ Ariel began, before clutching at her throat. Oh, yeah…my voice is gone…but then…where is Ursula? And Daddy and Sebastian, too?
Don't be stupid! Her mind yelled at her. Don't you remember?! They're…They're both…
‘…dead,’ Ariel finished, tears welling in her eyes, ‘T-T-They died…while trying to f-f-fix my m-m-mistake. I-I-It’s all m-m-my f-f-fault…’
The princess broke down, and hot, salty tears floated from her eyes, quickly dissolving into the ocean around her, ‘I s-s-should be the one w-w-who d-d-died, not t-t-them…’
Ariel brought her tail agonizingly up to her chest and began to sob into it, not caring about the world around her, or the gold pole glittering a few feet away…Wait a minute.
Jerking her head up painfully, the mermaid relocated the golden staff, which was lodged deep into the sand, with only the spikes protruding the surface, ‘The Trident!’
Ariel quickly tried to wipe away most of her tears, gave up after it proved to be futile, and then slowly swam towards the rod’s location. She winced as more and more pain grew inside her body, but she still managed to reach a hand out to one of the points. As soon as her finger brushed it, Ariel felt the Trident grow hot under her fingers, and quickly snatched her hand back.
‘What’s wrong with thi-’ Ariel started, before realizing what was happening.
A white-gold stream of pure light poured out of the tip of the Trident, and began to swirl in a cyclone above the points of the staff. Finally, the twirling stopped, and in its place was a projection of a figure, semi-transparent like a ghost.
Ariel felt her heart stop, and she blinked repeatedly, not believing her eyes.
But her eyes weren’t lying; they never had.
Before her stood someone she never thought she’d ever see again. Someone who had long been dead. Someone she could only just barely remember. Someone…very familiar, but almost distant, like they were from another world.
It was her mother.
AN: Well...it's been awhile! School has been stupid, and I have a habit of losing flashdrives...anyways, I killed off Sebastian and Trition! And Ariel is voiceless! And Ursula is on the loose! And Athena makes an appearance! Oh, the suspense! I promise that some characters from different films will show soon; just give it time! I'm a very busy writer, and this must be perfect.
