Chapter 1
"Mom, I'm going with Sebastian to the sunken ship exhibit!" Melody hollered as she threw an apple into her bag. She thought better of it, and placed it back in the bowl.
She gathered as much of her raven black hair as she could and knotted it up into a ponytail with one of her father's worn ropes.
"I don't remember Sebastian mentioning any such thing!" Her mother stopped her in her tracks, puffing her overhanging bangs out of her face.
"You wanna hang out the window and ask him yourself?" She gestured to the grand windows that outlooked the settling sea. "Him and some other professors have been excavating it, and he thinks it'd be perfect to learn about. It could also give me a step up before going to school."
Ariel's eyes deeply bored into her. She got that talent from her father. "You need to be in bed by the time the moon is high in the sky." She swept the skirt of her navy dress as she stepped aside.
Melody crossed her arms. "Why do I need a curfew when I'm with Sebastian?"
"You know the waters haven't been so safe lately. Some Atlanticans and fish have gone missing, without a trace. Sebastian can only protect you from so much. Please, Mel, just don't fight on this with me."
Melody traipsed passed Ariel, "Do I even have a choice? I leave soon to go out and make something of myself, and I still need a bedtime." She closed the door as Ariel's mouth opened to utter another slew of uninvited perspective.
The damp sea air splashed her awake. She hopped down the steps and skidded to a stop in the sand. Only 3 steps away from her front door was the wide open ocean. The waters licked the edges of the shore, daring to touch Melody's awaiting toes. The wind swirled bits of white sand this way and that. She squinted her sea foam colored eyes, searching for her miniature red guide.
She moved closer for a better look, her feet a mere shuffles away from the waters. The spray of sea was already making her legs get that tingling sensation.
Up out of the water a red cheliped thrust itself visible. "Melody, over here!" A thick Jamaican accent gurgled over the waves.
She cracked her toes in anticipation. She took off running into the water, then dove in where the shelf dropped off.
A tingling sensation overtook her entire legs, like the feeling of them falling asleep. They began melting into each other, like one big foot. Their skin tone changed to a peach hue, and little gills became littered all over. Her feet slimmed and elongated to form fins. The only human qualities left were her arms, torso, head, and the tan shirt she was wearing. She dug into her netted bag and pulled out an amber shell bra. She slipped it on under the shirt. Putting it on later would prove to be an issue, so she strapped it on now when she had the chance.
Now, it isn't everyday a human can just splash into water and suddenly become a mermaid. Her mother was the daughter of Triton, the King of the Sea. For the longest time, she was clueless to this fact. Morgana, the sister of the sea witch Ursula who tried to keep Melody's parents apart, lured Melody to her and manipulated her to take away King Triton's trident. The situation headed south, but, as usual, good triumphed over evil. Triton used his powers to allow Melody to become a mermaid whenever she set foot into his waters.
She wiggled and pushed herself in Sebastian's direction, his form slowly floating down to the bottom. When Melody reached him, she snatched him into a hug.
"Thank you again so so much, Sebastian! I can't wait to see the exhibit!"
Sebastian wiggled out of her grip and shook out his joints, "Of course, child, but please don't try to kill me as a thank you next time.
Melody giggled, and flipped so she was floating on her back, hands behind her head. She closed her eyes, letting every tendril of water nudge the little molecules that made her up. As Sebastian lectured her on "de rulez of de trip", she formulated the plan of escape to meet up with her mer-friends.
"And most importantly, if I see that fin flip in a direction different from mine, I will filet you as fast as possible." Her eyes flew open as he pinched her side. "Don't think I'm carping around." He chuckled to himself. "Sometimes I wonder why I'm the only one laughing. I crack myself up." He forced himself towards a kelp garden and a darker corner of the sea.
"Probably because you're the only one to think you're funny." Melody mumbled as she followed quickly behind.
As they passed curving corals and oddly morphed rocks, Sebastian rambled on about the discoveries the teams had come up with thus far. She waved at the school of clownfish that passed by, and picked a colorful flower. She twisted it between her fingers, then tucked it into the ties of her ponytail rope.
Melody's plan was foolproof. If something were to go wrong, Triton could always get her out of it.