Ariel's hands tightened on the book she had been reading all evening. It was late, but she couldn't go to bed yet. Poor Hayden was sick with a cough and considering this was the first time her baby had been ill, Ariel didn't bother to try to sleep. He kept crying anyways, unable to rest, and Ariel didn't want to disturb Eric by getting in and out of bed constantly to go comfort him. Instead, she decided to go to the study, which was only down the hall from Hayden's room. After picking out a book, she had sat down on one of the love seats, propping her legs up on the ottoman as she sunk back into the cushions.
Oddly enough, the book she had picked out was "The Little Mermaid." Of course, the title had intrigued her, and she was already familiar with the author. However, the story itself completely shocked her. It was so similar to.. to her own story. But it was so dark, and twisted, and… horrifying.
Her eyes grew wide as she flipped the pages, the night slowly wearing on. She didn't notice how tired she really was until she heard a quiet tapping at the threshold. "Ariel," came a hushed voice, and she looked up to see Eric leaning his arm against the doorway, looking like he had just woken up. The light from the study must have shone into their room.
Forcing the story out of her head for a moment, Ariel put on a smile, amused by his squinting eyes and disheveled hair. "Sleepy?" she teased, placing the book aside and rising to go over to him.
He chuckled slightly and shook his head. "I just checked on Hayden, and he's finally fallen asleep." She met him, and he bent to kiss the top of her head. He looked at her for a second, and a grin grew on his face. "…Ready to come to bed? The book will be right there in the morning, I promise," he said, extending his hand towards her. It almost sounded like he was begging.
Ariel giggled and took it, reaching over to turn off the light in the room. "Ready," she whispered, and he quietly led her to their room. However, all Ariel could think about was the book, the story, how real it all had seemed.
Luckily, she was already in her night dress, so she crawled in to bed right away and curled up next to Eric. His arm found its way to the small of her back, and she rested her head on his chest. Within a few minutes, she could feel and hear him breathing, and as they lay there, she tried to force the story of the little mermaid out of her head.
—
Ariel had rescued a prince, a human prince, and she loved him. She wanted to be with him. He had seen her, briefly. She had heard him say he needed to find her, the girl who had saved him at the temple. And now, becoming desperate, Ariel went to the sea witch for help.
Ursula stood in front of her, enticing Ariel into making a trade. "It won't cost much… Just your tongue." The sea witch threw her hands in the air. "Your voice for legs, a fair trade off." Before Ariel could say anything, Ursula made her way over to a cabinet filled with potions, finding one and extending it to Ariel. "Drink this, and your tongue will be taken in exchange for your legs. But!" she exclaimed, pulling her arm back just as Ariel was reaching for the bottle. "When you walk, you will feel like a thousand swords are piercing into your feet. In order to stay a human, the prince has to marry you. If he marries another girl… You turn to sea foam, forever. And," she said, a dark look crossing over her face, "Once you become human, you can never return to the sea."
Ariel gasped, hesitating to think about her decision as she retracted her hand. Give up her voice and her life under the sea… To meet the prince… Make him love her as she loved him… Obtain a human soul. "Well, I'm waiting," Ursula huffed, the tiny bottle dangling from her fingers. With a look of determination on her face, Ariel snatched the potion from her hand and drank it quickly before she could change her mind.
"Aha, ahahah!" Ursula's menacing laugh rippled through the cave. Within a few moment, Ariel felt a strange sensation in her mouth, and painfully her tongue was ripped from it, Ursula snatching it from the water and throwing it into her cauldron. As she clutched her throat, coughing as she tried to get used to the new feeling, Ariel felt an excruciating pain in her tail. It ripped in two and formed into legs, and, feeling herself suffocate, she rushed up to the surface.
Once she reached the surface and recovered, she tested out her legs, and tried to scream at the pain she felt. But she couldn't. Her tongue was gone, and as much as she tried, she couldn't make a sound. The prince, whose name, she discovered, was Eric, ironically found her on the beach, and was attracted to her beauty and charm immediately. He took her into the castle as Ariel struggled to get over the pain she felt as they walked. She was given human clothes, and then she met him for dinner. As they ate, Ariel struggling to, since her tongue was missing, Eric asked her if she wanted to go on a tour of his kingdom the next day, to which she eagerly nodded in agreement.
The following day was wonderful. Eric showed Ariel everything he could, and Ariel noticed him staring at her a few times. Her feet were numb from all the pain, so she hardly felt it anymore. When they were in the town, music started to play, and Ariel discovered that with her legs came a talent: she could dance gracefully and expertly, better than anyone else in the kingdom.
However, as happy as Ariel was, she was not able to get him to kiss her, no matter how hard she tried. When the day was spent and they headed back to the castle, she tried to hide her disappointment. Eric seemed to be happy, a content smile on his face as the pair traveled back to the castle. When they arrived, a man approached them. Ariel recognized him as being part of the castle staff. "Eric, I have received orders that you are to marry the princess of the neighboring kingdom." At his words, Ariel felt her heart break, and she looked down sadly. But when Eric refused, Ariel looked up at him hopefully. "I only love the girl from the temple, the one who rescued me."
With that, the man chuckled, placing a hand on Eric's shoulder. "Eric," he said quietly, an elated expression on his face. "She is the girl who rescued you. She had been there that day, saw you floating in the ocean, pulled you to shore." Eric's brows furrowed and he said hesitantly, "…Really? Really! This is fantastic! Let me go to her! We shall be married in the morning!" He seemed to forget all about the little mermaid, abandoning her and rushing out of the castle towards the neighboring kingdom to find his newfound love.
Ariel was heartbroken, and she began to panic, knowing that this was the end. In the morning, she would turn into sea foam. As soon as Eric and the princess said their vows and became man and wife, she would be sucked back into the sea, leaving her father and sisters behind. Feeling hopeless, she walked out onto the pier, gazing at the dark ocean. Suddenly, she heard some splashing down below her. She peered over and saw her sisters looking up at her excitedly. Strangely, all of their hair seemed to be gone. "Ariel!" Attina said. "We've been watching everything, we saw the prince run over and embrace the princess." Andrina pulled out a tiny sword, causing Ariel to gasp, or at least, attempt to.
"We went to the sea witch and traded our hair for this dagger," Andrina said, reaching up to give it to her. "Stab the prince with it, tonight, and let the blood drip onto your feet. You'll get changed back into a mermaid, and you can come home!" Suddenly, the girls all heard footsteps, and dove under the water quickly and silently. Ariel carefully put the dagger in the pocket of her dress, just as Carlotta came up to her on the pier. "Come on, sweetie, let's get you off to bed. Soon, when Prince Eric moves in with the princess, you can have the castle all to herself." Ariel sighed silently, her hand wrapped around the cool weapon in her pocket.
She lay awake in bed, waiting for the final light in the castle to go out. When it did, she snuck out of the back of the castle, following the path to the other kingdom. Stealthily getting past the sleeping guards, she broke in and went to the upper hallway, searching for Eric in one of the rooms. She finally noticed him in a guest bedroom, and she tiptoed inside, shutting the door quietly behind her.
She walked slowly over to the bed, where he was fast asleep. Her slender fingers wrapped around the handle of the dagger and she pulled it from her pocket, holding it by her side. She was breathing heavily as she reached the side of the bed. She raised the dagger, seeing it catch the light of the moon. But as she stood there, ready to strike, she took in all of his features. His beautiful face, the way his rhythmic breathing sounded, his ebony bangs disheveled over his forehead.
And in that instant, Ariel felt the urge to cry. She couldn't do it. She loved him too much. She couldn't kill him and save herself. She'd rather die. Hysterically, she dropped the dagger and ran out of the room, rushing out of the castle as the tears started streaming down her face.
It was over. She couldn't do it. He couldn't love her, and she couldn't kill him. With that, she ran to the ocean, looking at the moon as the waves crashed close to her feet, enticing her. With one final look at the castle, Ariel dove into the waves, immediately turning into foam. The water that had once been her home had become her murderer.
—-
Ariel gasped as she jolted out of bed, her red strands stuck to the back of her neck. She was hyperventilating, breathing heavily with eyes wide. She glanced around the room frantically. Where was she? What was going on? Was this heaven?
No, no it wasn't. She soon realized that everything had been a dream. It was all just a horrible, horrible nightmare. Worse than those that recreated her battle with Ursula. That book. She shouldn't have read it so late.
Eric wasn't dead. He was sleeping soundly right next to her. Hayden and Melody were both fast asleep in the other room. Safe. Content. Everything was okay. She moved her tongue around in her mouth; it was there. She wiggled her toes a bit; they were there, too, and they weren't numb. There was no other princess. No sea witch. No dagger.
She tried to calm herself down, putting her head between her knees for a minute. Tomorrow, she needed to tell Eric about this. About… what could have been. Ariel couldn't even fathom having to have really lived through that. Ursula could have been… so much worse. Ariel could have had to sacrifice so much more than her voice.. And suddenly, she felt grateful.
Once she had calmed down, Ariel snuggled back into the covers, trying to focus on all the memories she had with Eric and her children in order to avoid thinking about the horrific night terror she had just experienced. She got close to Eric and began to relax, focusing on the sound of his own breathing and the gentle motion of his chest as he breathed. That always had calmed her, and it seemed to be doing so now as well. As she began to drift back to sleep, Ariel let one tear fall down her cheek, knowing she would never read a book like that ever again.