Hey there!
Following the huge success of my first fanfic, 'A Beastly Rose,' here's a modern retelling of The Little Mermaid, set in the Gold Coast, Australia, with different characters, so it's not Ariel and the others in a modern day setting. This will be rated a slight T to be on the safe side due to the mild use of alcohol by some of the characters.
There will be some of the songs from the original movie, but with some of the words changed to fit the story.
Hope you like it!
I don't own the Little Mermaid, just my characters.
'I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue and it's hey to the starboard heave ho. Look out lad, a mermaid be waiting for you in mysterious fathoms below.'
The sun was shining brilliantly as another day was beginning in the curiously-named suburb of Mermaid Beach in the coastal city of the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.
Seagulls swooped in the sky and towards the beach, hoping to get a few scraps of food and fish jumped out of the water, greeting the day and then jumping back in to avoid being someone's dinner that night.
Any tourist or newcomer to this laid-back town would be forgiven for thinking that they might see a mermaid or two but they never did, in spite of their best efforts and in their disappointment had to accept to the fact that merpeople simply didn't exist in this modern age, but that didn't stop them from enjoying all the sights and attractions that made the Gold Coast so popular.
However, a few residents had claimed to have seen a group of merfolk up on the surface years ago before modern-day pirates appeared and threatened them back into the ocean never to surface or be seen by humans again, but without proof, it was dismissed as another tall tale and Mermaid Beach would never live up to its name.
But deep down in the ocean, in mysterious fathoms below, a secret underwater kingdom of merpeople has existed for centuries, whose citizens had once gone up to the surface when humans hadn't been around until a terrible tragedy that made them retreat back to the deep depths of the ocean and forbidden to see the surface and make contact with humans.
This was unbeknownst to the residents of Mermaid Beach except for the few who believed in their existence and they certainly didn't know that one day, a little mermaid, who had been willing to give up her life under the sea, would change everything to be part of their world and for the love of one of its most famous residents.
The mid afternoon sun bit a young man's cheeks, as he lay on a deck chair on board the luxury yacht that was cruising lazily across the ocean, far away from the buzzing activity of the beach, smiling in content as he listened to music on his iPhone and sipped a Coke with his dog lying beside him, lost in his own thoughts as the conversations and laughter of his father and his friend buzzed around him.
He was Benjamin Steele, known as Ben to many who knew him, a handsome boy with tanned skin, dark blonde hair, blue eyes and a well-built figure, which was underneath a blue singlet with fading white text on it and Brisbane Broncos shorts.
A black thong slipped off his foot, as he lifted his long legs up in the air to stretch them and the other one followed suit, just as his dog Ruby, a Blenheim-coloured Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, eyed them just as Ben grabbed her collar.
'No, Ruby, my thongs are not chew toys!' he said, throwing a tennis ball to Ruby, who barked happily as she chased it, bumping into Ben's father, while he was talking to his friend, Des Haynes, who chuckled at the silly, lovable dog.
Ben was a laid-back, easy going, friendly and athletic boy and even though he had a good group of friends, he sometimes preferred to be alone on the beach and sea, but he was generally very social and he also had a very good reason for wanting time to himself, away from the prying eyes of the public, for he was very well-known around Mermaid Beach, if not all of Queensland and Australia.
He was the son of the legendary and well-loved former rugby league player, Phil 'Steely' Steele (nicknamed for always having nerves of steel on the field) who played for the Brisbane Broncos, Queensland Maroons and the Kangaroos, winning countless premiership titles, State of Origins, World Cups and Dally M Medals.
He had retired the year after Ben was born at the age of thirty-eight and was now the coach for the Broncos and Maroons.
Living in a rugby-league obsessed state, it was no surprise that Ben would be well-known just because he was related to him and that fans and total strangers constantly surrounded his father, asking for autographs and photos, but if there was one good thing that came out of it, it was the free gear and tickets to home games and State of Origin games that were in Brisbane.
Of course, Ben played the occasional game and watched it live and on TV but he did it for fun, as he never considered it as a career, preferring to surf. He didn't want to play the game just because everyone said that he should because of his heritage.
If Ben had to be totally honest with himself, he felt more comfortable surfing on the sea than sweating on a footy field, but he would never say it since he knew it would disappoint his father, as they hardly saw each other during the footy season, but now that it was summer, this was the only time that they were in the same place and Ben wanted to savour every moment before pre-season started.
Stretching his legs again which were starting to cramp and with the sun's rays spreading some colour on his already tanned skin, Ben rose out of the chair to join his father and Des, who was Phil's team-mate in their playing days and the assistant coach at the Broncos and had narrowly missed out on the Kangaroos coaching job.
They were having a few beers as they were leaning against the rails of the yacht that was called the Lara, named after Ben's beloved late mother, the model Lara Burgess, who died when he was five years old and who had taken care of him as Phil finished off his career and started coaching until her death.
'Ah, Ben, mate, so glad you could join us,' Phil said, 'are you having a good birthday so far? I tell you, it's a beaut day for it, hope it stays this way for your party later tonight, although I would've have preferred it to be on land in a local footy club rather than in the yacht on the sea.'
Once fit and athletic, with a full head of brown hair from his playing days, Phil was now fifty-five, balding with thinning hair and brown eyes and was a little bit tubby around the middle, but he was by no means fat and was wearing a simple white shirt and shorts.
'Yes, Dad, it's been a blast and I can't wait for tonight, so that I can drink legally! I looked like such an idiot at schoolies last year, when everyone else could drink and I couldn't since I was 'underage!' Ben said, using finger quotes for the last word.
'But I still enjoyed it, regardless,' he then said, grinning.
Today was his eighteenth birthday and he was delighted that he was finally able to drink at his party on the yacht that they were having that night, to the chagrin of Phil, who had preferred it to be at a local rugby club.
Ben had also finished school last year and was going to study at Bond University next month for a business degree, as it had always been one of his interests.
'Isn't this great, Dad?' he then said, as he saw the magnificent sight of his home and the ocean, which was the very thing he saw as he woke up every morning from his bedroom window. He truly was lucky to live in such a beautiful place.
'Isn't this what being a Queenslander is all about? Living near the beach, surfing and being out on the sea in a yacht, watching the world go by, while the sun shines in your face and the breeze whips your hair, without a care in the world?
I wouldn't swap this for anything!' Ben said, as Ruby jumped into his arms, panting heavily, as a slight breeze whipped against her fur.
'Even Ruby agrees with me, don't you, girl? You love living in Mermaid Beach, don't you?'
Ruby barked happily in agreement, as Ben patted her.
'Yes, delightful,' Phil said, rather uninterestingly, but it was about being on the water, not about being a Queenslander, since he was a true one and was proud of it.
If Ben was more comfortable on the sea than the footy field, Phil was more at home at Suncorp Stadium watching his beloved team play for him, like he had done years ago. He was not really an ocean person, like Ben and his wife had been.
'If you want to be seasick all the time, having huge swells crash against your boat, being out in terrible weather, the sun giving you a rather attractive shade of lobster on your skin and having seagulls swoop over you, looking for food!' he said.
'Your party should be a blast, Ben,' Des said, 'it's a great opportunity for you and your old man to spend time together before the pre-season starts again.
And what better place to have your special day on your yacht named after your beautiful mother, on the sea that you love so much. She'll be smiling down on you today, mate, as the weather is truly perfect for a birthday party on a yacht.
Sunny skies without a cloud in sight, sparkling warm blue water, warm sun, a slight breeze; Queen Daisy must be in a friendly, festive mood today if she's giving us this delightful weather, although there is supposed to be a thunderstorm later tonight, but let's hope it stays away during your party,' said Des.
'Queen Daisy?' Ben said, curious, 'who's she?'
'You don't know who Queen Daisy is, Ben?' Des said, shocked, 'I thought that your mother would have told you this when you were little, since she loved mermaids!
Queen Daisy is the ruler of the merpeople, mate. Deep down in this very ocean, there's an underwater kingdom called Aquaria, which has existed for centuries but although no one has seen a single merperson for years, they live down there, in mysterious fathoms below.'
Ben was amazed to hear that merpeople seemed to exist, more so than hearing the assistant coach of the Broncos talking about them. He liked Des, since he was such a friendly man, whom he had known for as long as he could remember, but he had a child-like imagination and he tended to confuse fantasy with reality.
His mother had told him many stories about mermaids when he was little, since they had loved them so much and it was one of the precious memories he had of her, but not about a so-called underwater kingdom near his home and he was curious to find out about it.
'Do merpeople really exist, Des?' he said, to which Phil rolled his eyes at hearing such nonsense.
'Of course they do, where else did Mermaid Beach get its name from?' Des said.
'I thought that it was named after the HMS Mermaid that John Oxley travelled on, when he discovered the Tweed and Brisbane rivers in 1823,' Ben said, 'at least that's what I learned in school.'
'Ah, but that's what they want you to think,' Des said, slyly, 'There's a secret bit of Australian and Queensland history that they're not telling you. Mermaid Beach was named after the merfolk who inhabit the ocean underneath it and that's no lie.'
'Merpeople,' Phil scoffed, 'Ben, pay no attention to this nonsense, mate. They only exist in fairy tales, cute Disney movies and your mother's stories. And Des, don't be going putting silly ideas into his head.
Look at you, a grown man who is the assistant coach of the Brisbane Broncos and you are talking about figments of your imagination, rather than thinking about the upcoming season! This is 2015, for God's sake, merpeople don't exist in this day and age!'
'But it's true, Phil,' Des said, 'It's not nonsense, just ask those who truly believe in it, they'll tell you what I've said. Down in the depths in the ocean they live!'
The subject was soon dropped, when Phil and Des started talking about the upcoming footy season and they were confident that this was the year the Broncos would win the NRL Premiership and that Queensland would win State of Origin again after losing to New South Wales last year.
Ben knelt down and peered into the ocean, wondering if he would ever see a mermaid in his life time, like his mother said he would, just as a little pink fish bobbed up from the surface before shyly jumping back into the water.
Deep down in the ocean, the water was clear, with a few starfish swaying amongst the kelp and flower bushes, as merpeople and sea creatures swam towards the grand palace of the kingdom that they called home.
The beautiful kingdom of Aquaria, which had existed for centuries and was unspoiled by humans; shone a brilliant royal blue, which was the colour of its many buildings and the palace, for today was its national day.
The kingdom and its inhabitants were in a festive mood, as they swam to the grand concert hall and took their seats in front of the stage, eagerly anticipating the great tradition that was soon to take place, the concert in which the daughters of their beloved queen, Daisy, sang to them as they tossed flowers around the stage and to the audience.
While the assembly were taking their seats and calming down restless children, backstage, last minute preparations were taking place, as the mer-princesses were doing warm-up exercises and practicing their flower tossing.
The distinguished court composer and adviser to Queen Daisy, Senna St. Clair, a pale red crab with a string of pearls around her neck, was carrying a clipboard around and gathering up her music notes, checking to see if everything was intact.
'Music notes, baton, flowers, clams… yes, that's everything,' she said in a plummy English accent,
'Rose, Marigold, Daffodil…' she then muttered as she ticked off six of the seven names of the princesses, as they hopped into the clams, holding their flower baskets. Senna then froze in shock as she noticed that one name hadn't been ticked off.
The princess, who was to make her musical debut today, what the entire kingdom was hugely anticipating and had been talking about for weeks.
The princess who was her mother's favourite and had the most beautiful voice in all of Aquaria, which made mermen melt.
The princess who wasn't there…yet.
'Oh, no,' Senna moaned, 'this is the most important concert of my entire career and if she doesn't turn up in time, my career is over and the queen will be most displeased! And I'll be tomorrow's night entrée!'
She nervously nibbled the tip of her claw, as she gingerly pulled the curtain back to see the entire concert hall packed to the rafters, which only increased her anxiety as her face turned white.
'Is everything ready, Senna?' Queen Daisy said, as she swam towards Senna, who quickly turned back to her normal colour and faced the queen, who smiled at the crab, which made her feel at ease..for now.
Daisy was nearing middle age, but she still looked as beautiful and youthful as the day she ascended the throne of Aquaria and still had an hourglass figure in spite of having seven children, which made her the envy of many mermaids her age.
She had lovely light brown hair in a half-bun and wore a gold crown with pearls on top of her head; blue eyes and in her hand, she carried her ever-present sceptre which possessed great powers.
She wore white seashells, with yellow chiffon sleeves and a gold decoration, a gold necklace with a shell that resembled her namesake and her tail was white with yellow fins and belt.
Daisy was the benevolent and much loved ruler of Aquaria, due to her kindness, concern about the kingdom's welfare, and her tendency to remain cool, calm and collected in public at all times, even in the worst of crises but that wasn't to say that she wasn't prone to losing her temper when something angered her or if the kingdom was in danger.
And Senna was determined to make sure that she wouldn't be losing her temper today if one of her daughters didn't show up for her debut on time, although the chances of that happening were very slim, as Daisy was in a happy and festive mood and Senna ensured that she stayed that way.
'Oh, yes, Your Majesty, we're just about ready,' Senna said, 'I've just finished some last minute preparations and we'll be good to go.'
'Wonderful,' Daisy said, 'You know, Senna, I'm really looking forward to this year's concert, more so than usual. I have a feeling that this will be the best one in Aquaria's proud history.'
'Indeed, Your Majesty, this will be the crème de la crème of concerts! The biggest one in my entire career, the finest one I have ever conducted and that's saying something!
Your daughters, they will be spectacular! They have been rehearsing hard for weeks to perfect their performance! Soon, all of Aquaria will be hearing their sweet voices that they only get to hear once a year!'
'As they always are,' Daisy said, with quiet pride, 'and especially my little Lily. This is such a big day for her, her long awaited debut concert, which she has so been looking forward to and so has the entire kingdom, didn't you know?
It's all that they've been talking about for weeks, about how excited they are to hear Lily finally sing. It'll be such a pleasure hearing her..'
Daisy's praise about Lily elicited some groans from inside the clams and Senna's anxiety came back to her, for she was the youngest of Daisy's seven daughters and her mother's favourite, not to mention the constant source of Senna's anxiety and headaches, due to her skipping rehearsals more often than once.
'Yes, yes,' she said, 'she has the most beautiful voice, hmm? One that makes all the mermen melt when they hear it?'
'Indeed and I can tell you, there's a fair number of young mermen in the audience today!' Daisy said, chuckling, 'and I bet it's because of them wanting to hear Lily sing!'
'Oh, yes, Your Majesty, very much so,' Senna said, 'if only she would turn up for rehearsals once in a while,' saying the last sentence quietly so that the queen wouldn't hear.
'What was that, Senna?' Daisy said, as she climbed into her shell chariot with three dolphins attached to it.
'Nothing, Your Majesty, just some last minute nerves, that's all,' Senna said. How right she was.
'Good luck girls!' Daisy called out to the clams, as she stood in position while Senna gathered up her music sheets and baton, climbing into her cone shell and breathing deeply to calm her nerves.
'Thank you, Mother!' six voices chorused, as the clams were positioned on the stage. As the Aquarian national anthem was played in the hall, Senna took one last deep breath and hoped that somehow, Lily would make her way to the concert on time.
The national anthem ended and the assembly resumed their seats and one merman was fanning his programme in a bored manner until his wife hit him, when the queen's herald, a little purple seahorse named Nadine blew on a trumpet, which got their attention and announced in her best voice,
'Citizens of Aquaria, please rise for the arrival of Her Majesty, Queen Daisy!'
Cheers erupted and the crowd clapped enthusiastically as the queen rode her chariot on the stage, composed and calm as usual, as she waved to her dear and loyal subjects and used her sceptre to light up a huge chandelier before disembarking from her chariot and heading up to her podium, which was flanked by two guards.
Once the crowd settled down and Daisy was seated, Nadine then announced,
'Please remain standing for the arrival of the distinguished court composer, Senna St. Clair!'
Senna's arrival was rather lacklustre compared to the grand entrance of Daisy, as the crowd clapped mildly and a fanfare of kazoos played out, as she rode on her cone shell which was pulled by two fish, but she managed a sheepish smile as she took her place on the podium and faced the crowd, who were looking at her eagerly.
Taking a deep breath, she said in her best voice,
'My fellow citizens of Aquaria, I proudly present to you on our national day, the Daughters of Daisy,'
Here goes nothing, she said, tapping her baton, I just hope that Lily has made it in time.
The orchestra played a cheerful and lively tune as the curtains were pulled back and three clams rose on the stage which opened to reveal six of the seven daughters of Daisy, as their mother smiled at them with quiet pride.
'Ah, we are the daughters of Daisy,' they sang sweetly, 'Great mother who loves us and named us well.'
Each mermaid rose up from the clams, sang their name, vocalised afterwards and tossed the flowers that bore their names on the stage and towards the audience who rose up from their seats to catch them.
'Rose,' a light brown-haired mermaid with red seashells and tail sang and threw red roses.
'Marigold,' a dark brown-haired mermaid with orange seashells and tail sang and tossed marigolds.
'Daffodil,' a dark blonde-haired mermaid with yellow seashells and tail sang, flashing a goofy smile as she tossed the yellow flowers all over the place, which the audience laughed at.
'Fern,' a black-haired mermaid with green seashells and tail sang rather sourly and she threw the ferns limply and without any enthusiasm.
'Bluebell,' another brown-haired mermaid with blue seashells and tail sang, tossing the little bluebells gently.
'Violet,' a light sandy-haired mermaid with purple seashells and tail sang, blowing kisses as she tossed the little purple flowers around.
'And then there's the youngest in her musical debut,' the six then sang, as the moment that the entire kingdom had been waiting a whole year for came, as another large clam rose up behind them and the mermaids pointed towards it,
'Our seventh little sister, we're presenting her to you,' they chorused,
The audience cheered, while Senna turned towards Daisy and grinned at her as the queen smiled, waiting for her youngest daughter to make her long-awaited debut, before Senna turned her attention back to the girls, as they continued singing,
'Who will give you the flower that bears her name and she'll sing a song that Senna wrote,
Her voice is like a bell, she's our sister, Li-'
The clam opened, which was empty and the girls and the audience gasped for they did not see Lily nor hear her beautiful voice, which confirmed Senna's worst fears.
'Oh, no, where is she?' she said, putting her claws to her head, as the girls stood on the stage, unsure about what to do next, as the crowd muttered angrily to themselves. Looking at the stunned mermaids, she whispered,
'Sing the last line again,'
'Our sister, Lily,' the girls sang but Lily still didn't appear to the dismay and anger of the crowd as Senna groaned. The concert was over, Aquarian National Day was ruined and, quite possibly, her career was over as well.
'Thanks for nothing, Senna!' someone shouted in the crowd, as the poor crab sunk behind the podium.
'Ooooh, tough crowd,' Daffodil said.
Senna couldn't even bear to look at the queen, but when she did, she meekly looked up and saw Daisy still sitting in her podium, trying to remain calm and collected but, judging by the frown on her face, curled lip and her fingers gripping her sceptre, it was obvious that she was not happy.
Uh oh, Lily is in trouble!
Read and review and you'll meet the naughty little mermaid in the next chapter!