Carefully, the mermaid turned the treasure around in her hands, examining it from all angles. Although she had no idea what the item was, or what it could possibly called, she still found herself mesmerized-not that that was rare for the young princess. The item in question was a golden sand dollar on a long thin strand of golden seaweed. At least, that's how it looked. She noticed how the sand dollar was split in half, almost as if it was meant to hold something inside. But whatever could've possibly been hidden inside the treasure had long been destroyed from being undersea for so long.
If only I could make him understand.. I just don't see things the way he does. I don't see how a world that makes such wonderful things could be bad…
Ariel sighed and gently placed the treasure back into her bag.
Longingly, she stared at the sandy beach from her perch on the rock. She didn't know how she had found herself in Montressor. When she had woken up that morning she had felt… off. Without even stopping to get breakfast, or to tell her friends where she was going, she had swam as hard and fast as she possibly could away from the palace… away from Atlantica.
She had almost laughed at how her unhappiness had caused her to swim to Montressor of all places. She hadn't been here for a decade, nor had she ever wanted to return during that time. All kinds of memories were flooding back to her, more and more the longer she thought.
"Ariel?"
Her heart skipped a beat. She whirled around only to see her friend, Urchin, swimming towards her.
He pushed his heavy blond bangs from his eyes and hoisted himself onto the rock next to the redheaded mermaid, "We've been searching for you everywhere! Have you been here all day?"
Ariel shrugged and smiled sheepishly.
"You haven't…" he glanced down at her tail to check for dehydration. "You haven't been above water all day, right?"
"Of course not!" Ariel rolled her eyes slightly. I'm not that stupid.
He touched her hand gently, "I'm just worried about you."
"I'm fine," Ariel replied softly.
"Good," Urchin smiled and tried to get eye-contact, but Ariel refused. He sighed, "You need to come back to Atlantica so your father can relax, I feel like he's going to start a hurricane if you aren't home soon."
Ariel frowned, "Can I have a few more minutes? Please? Just tell Daddy I'll be home really soon."
"I was told to escort you home if I found you," Urchin replied. "And you and I both know you'll just get distracted and stay here all night if I let you. And then your father will end up tracking you down himself, and you'll be confined to the palace for a week."
She shook her head, "Urchin, please? I promise I won't this time."
"No. I'm not going to let you get in trouble again," Urchin said sternly.
"But Urchin…"
"No!"
Ariel wanted to shrink herself and hide in a clamshell. Urchin was terrifying when he raised his voice.
"Hey, is someone out there?"
The merpeople both froze. Slowly, they turned to look at the beach, where a figure was standing near the water's edge, probably struggling to see in the dark.
"Human!" Urchin hissed. "Ariel, we have to go! Now!" He slipped into the water as quickly and quietly as he could.
Although she tried to be quiet too, the water splashed when Ariel slid off the rock.
"Are you all right?" the human called. There was a sound of water splashing as the human began to walk towards the sound.
No! Bad human! Go away!
"Ariel! Come on!"
Although she knew it was stupid of her, Ariel didn't dive under the water. Instead, she poked her head around the rock, hoping to catch a glimpse of the human. But, before she could focus her vision on him, something grabbed her tail and pulled her under the surface.
"Brilliant idea! Just wait around for the human to catch you!" Urchin shouted sarcastically as he swam, pulling Ariel along behind him. "I can't think of a better way to get yourself killed!"
"Let go of me," Ariel ordered.
After a moment, the merman complied. He waited for Ariel to turn herself around before swimming again.
"I just wanted to see him," Ariel insisted. "I was just about to go under right when you grabbed me."
"He was only a few feet away."
"So?" Ariel shrugged. "I can take care of myself."
They swam in silence the rest of the way back to Atlantica. The moment they reached the palace gates, two swordfish guard swam up and lead the princess to the King's throne room. As if Ariel didn't know where it was already. Urchin swam ahead of Ariel and the guards so he could get the first word in with the King.
"Your majesty," Urchin bowed. "I found Ariel."
King Triton's tense expression quickly turned into one of relief when he saw his youngest daughter swim up next to Urchin, "Ariel…" his expression turned to anger again when he asked, "Where were you?"
Ariel stuttered, "Well.. Well you see.." She struggled to come up with an excuse. Montressor was well outside the borders of Atlantica, there was no reason for the princess to be swimming that far away.
"She was swimming around the reef," Urchin lied. He said it without hesitation, Ariel almost believed him herself. "At least, that's where she was when I found her."
King Triton raised a skeptical eyebrow, "We checked the reef twice."
As always, Urchin didn't miss a beat, "She informed me that she has been here and there nearly all day. Perhaps your search parties were searching the wrong places at the wrong times?"
"Maybe you just aren't good at hide and seek," Ariel giggled to herself.
"Ariel," the King said sternly. "This isn't a game! I don't know how much more of this I can take. If you're always slipping off the face of the ocean, how am I supposed to know if you're safe or not?"
Ariel hung her head in shame, "I come home every night…"
"But one day you might not!" he shouted. "Am I being unreasonable? Am I asking too much of you to know that you're safe and not on some fish-eater's hook?"
"I'm not a child!" Ariel protested, balling her fists in anger.
"Don't try to argue with me, young lady," he replied sharply. "As long as you live under my ocean, you will obey my rules!"
Ariel sighed and glared at the ground.
"Urchin, please escort Ariel back to her room," King Triton sighed, rubbing his forehead. "You're safe now, that's what matters. I don't want to discuss it any further tonight."
"Yes sir," Urchin gently grabbed Ariel's wrist and began to lead her from the room.
As the pair left, she whispered, "Goodnight Daddy."
"Goodnight Ariel," he replied, softly.
Once they were far enough away, Ariel jerked her arm away from Urchin and continued to swim on her own. Her head was spinning from anger and confusion, and she didn't want to be around anyone.
"Ariel.." Urchin called after her.
"What?" she asked, unable to keep the sharpness from her voice.
He hesitated before speaking, "You know that it's not just your father who gets worried when you swim off like that…"
She sighed, "I know. Attina. But that's just because she's the oldest and thinks she's my mom."
Urchin shook his head, "It's not just her. It's all of your sisters. And Flounder. And me."
Ariel's expression softened the slightest bit, "Urchin, there's no reason to get worried about me."
He swam closer to her, "What happens when no one else is there and you want to stay and see the human? How many times have you almost been caught like that? Tell the truth."
"Just today," she lied. The other time didn't count. He had been unconscious and the moment his eyes began to open she swam away as quickly as possible. As badly as she wanted to, she would never actually let a human see her. She knew the risks.
His blue eyes grew cloudy, he could sense her dishonesty. But, to her relief, he didn't call her out, "Just be careful. And don't just take off without Flounder, he was shaking like a guppy and making a list of worst-case-scenarios all morning."
The princess sighed, "Goodnight Urchin."
"Goodnight."
Ariel parted the purple seaweed curtains draping over the entrance to her room. Since her sisters were all asleep, she swam as quietly as she could. Although, it wasn't likely she could be much louder than Attina's snoring.
Rather than going straight to her seashell bed, she swam over to the large window her mother had requested be carved into the girls' room. Ariel spent many of her sleepless nights sitting there, looking out at the incredible view of Atlantica. If only Ariel wanted an incredible view of Atlantica. With a sigh, she pulled her golden treasure from her back and began to look at it again.
Vaguely, she recalled finding a treasure just like this a little over ten years before in that same bay. It had occurred to her that it was possibly the same treasure, and she had merely re-found it. Queen Athena, Ariel's mother, often took Ariel to shipwrecks and even some active ships to hunt for treasures. Ariel remembered this specific adventure quite vividly: the ship had been utter chaos of sailors loading cargo and saying goodbye to families. Random objects fell into the water, and the humans either knew better or just didn't care enough to jump in after their lost treasures.
One of the sailors was holding the golden sand dollar tightly in his fist. Ariel recalled how it sparkled in the rising sun before the man let it slip from his fingers. He didn't react at all, didn't even look down at the ripples as it splashed into the water. She remembered wondering how he could give something so beautiful up so carelessly.
Ariel had caught the treasure, and held it excitedly in her tiny hands. But her attention was diverted to something else almost immediately, and she dropped it unknowingly.
The moment the ship began to set sail, she saw a young human boy running towards it. He ran to the edge of the pier and reached an arm out desperately, as if he were trying to catch the boat and pull it back to him. He was shouting as loudly as his little voice could, begging for it to stop and for the sailors to turn it around. When his cries went unheeded, he began to sob for his dad to come back… to not leave him like this.
Ariel's heart ached for the boy despite not really understanding how he felt-a mere two weeks later she understood perfectly...the very same ship his father had left on was the one to steal her mother away. But, at the time, she was merely empathizing. She stared at the crying boy. Then, just as her mother had taught her, she focused on seeing his soul. What she saw startled her, she had never seen a soul with such an intensity-it was the bright, fiery orange of a solar flare.
Before her death, Queen Athena would tell stories of humans and how-unlike mermaids-they had an immortal soul that would live on even after their bodies had passed away. All of the princesses thought it was fascinating, but only Ariel questioned her mother about it further.
Athena taught the youngest mermaid how to look for a human's soul, and how those with dim souls were generally cruel people without a care in the world for anyone other than themselves. After a while, the Queen had confessed that she used to be a human. She had legs and a soul, but she had given it all up to be with Triton.
At first, Ariel thought she understood. Who wouldn't choose that kind of deep love her parents shared over something silly like a soul?
But when she saw the boy's beautiful soul that fateful morning, something stirred within her, something that sparked an intense need to have a soul of her own. This need was only fueled by her mother's death, by the thought that Athena could still be alive if she hadn't sold her soul.
Ariel's desire to have a soul, to not be connected to the sea like the other merpeople, was just another reason she wished she could walk on land with the humans. When she died, she wanted to grow wings and fly to the clouds, not turn into sea foam and be washed away forever.
But a mermaid has no soul.
Ariel sighed and hid the memory-inducing treasure away in her bag. She plucked a purple flower from the underwater lilies decorating the window. After touching the petals gently, she released it and watched it float away in the current. She wished she could be whisked away just like that, to somewhere she truly belonged. Unfortunately, that was all it was: a wish.