Poor and Unfortunate
I wasn't always such a heartless sea witch. In fact, the first 17 years of my life were filled with joy and I was happy. If you're reading this, then you likely want to hear my side of the story, so let's start from the very beginning.
My family comes from a long line of octopuses (octopi is not the correct term, and we get very annoyed when people mess it up.) When the fish and humans started falling in love and having kids those many years ago, there were many different types of merfolk. Octopus mermaids, puffer fish mermaids, squid mermaids, and of course the plain ole' fish mermaids that most people are familiar with today. Where I grew up, it was not uncommon to find an octopus mermaid, but when we moved to Atlantica when I was six, we were the only family of our kind.
I grew up as an only child with two loving parents. My mother was a lovely woman who served as the local witch doctor. She wore a beautiful seashell pendant around her neck where she kept most of her magic. I loved her pendant and she promised that she would give it to me one day when I was older. She was beloved by all and was loved deeply by my father, an equally good man. He served as a butler to King Triton when he first took the throne, and that is how we became acquainted with the royal family. (I'm going to take a little detour and talk about them but only because it's important to my story.)
Triton was in his early twenties when he took the throne, but he was a spectacular ruler of the kingdom. When he met Queen Athena everyone knew that they were meant to be. The King was happy, and he and Athena eventually had seven daughters. One day, my father was helping the family out while they played in a lagoon above the water. It was his job to serve as lookout for the family, as the area was a hot spot for pirate ships. While at the lagoon, King Triton surprised his wife with a music box, and everyone was enamored with the little tune it played. My father was so caught up in the family's happiness that he had accidentally looked away for a moment, and that is when tragedy struck the family. A pirate ship quickly approached, and while almost everyone was able to escape, poor Athena was struck by the ship. King Triton was furious and put all of the blame on my father. He banished him along with my mother and I to a cave much deeper in the sea.
My parents were suddenly out of work and the happy childhood that I knew would quickly come to an end. My parents did the best they could with money, but times got tough. Mother began making sketchy deals with merfolk looking for things that only magic could get them. Father spent most of his days moping around and wishing that he could have changed that fateful day at the lagoon.
I began to get lonely because there were no other kids around this new part of the ocean, so I befriended two eels since they were the only creatures that deep in the sea. Their names were Flotsam and Jetsam, and we became a trio of best buddies. One day, when I was about seventeen, we all decided to go exploring. I told my parents that I would be back by dinnertime, and the eels and I set off looking for sunken ships. We had a great day out at sea, and I was excited to tell my parents all about it when I got home, as I knew they'd be happy to hear the news.
However, when I swam back into our cave, I knew that my life would be changed forever. The cave was a mess. Mother's cauldrons and potions were thrown about, and father's favorite chair had been smashed to pieces. Everything was a wreck, and I couldn't find my parents anywhere. They'd vanished. I broke out into tears and that's when I saw the note with mother's pendant sitting on top.
"Ursula, Forgive me, but I couldn't deal with my anguish any longer. Your father wronged me and my family, and my life is much worse off because of him. I couldn't bear the thought of your parents getting their happily ever after while my Athena is gone forever. I've banished them to the Forbidden Sea, and you'll never see them again. I know you're still young, but I'm sure you'll figure something out. Sorry you were too late. –His Royal Majesty, King Triton"
I was in shock. My parents were gone forever. Why couldn't the King just banish me too? I didn't understand. Flotsam and Jetsam came over to comfort me, and I was happy to at least have someone left that supported me. I didn't understand why life had to be so cruel and unfair. I hadn't wronged anyone, and the day at the lagoon was a tragic accident. I slipped on my mother's pendant, the only memento that I had left from either her or my father.
It was then that I felt my heart turn cold. I had no love for anyone since all of the love I'd had from my parents was banished away forever. I spent many months grieving, but I realized that I had to start making a living for myself if I wanted any money. I decided to pick up mother's business of making deals. However, people in all of Atlantica and the surrounding seas knew who I was and hated me. I was the only octopus mermaid around, and the story of my father and Queen Athena was told and repeated everywhere. My eel pals agreed to help me in my business, and after several trials and errors with mother's old potions, I had finally found my way around magic-making. Flotsam and Jetsam served as my client finders, using their eyes and ears to find people unhappy with their lives. However, I wanted people to appreciate what they had because their problems seemed usually pretty trivial compared to me completely losing the two people who mattered most in my life.
My first client was a man whom Flotsam and Jetsam had found outside of a local tavern. He was upset because he'd tried to ask a girl on a date and she'd refused. "I just want to get the girl," the eels had heard him say. They snuck up on him and asked him if he would do anything to get what he wanted. He agreed, and so the boys sent him my way. I promised him the same promise my mother gave to all of her clients ; I will give you what you wish if you give me something in return. The man had a lovely seahorse that he traded with me, and in return I gave him the confidence and ability to get the girl to date him. However, I wanted this man to really appreciate and work hard for what he wanted ; I didn't want him to take what he had for granted. I decided to increase the stakes, and told the man that he had three days to get the girl, or I would turn him into a polyp and start a garden. After all, three days is more time than I got when I abruptly had to live without parents. Flotsam and Jetsam kept an eye on the man over the course of the three days, and it was obvious that the man didn't have the drive or desire to truly work for what he wanted. At the end of the three days, the man returned without the girl, and I unfortunately had to make good on my word. I wasn't sure how long I would keep him in my little garden, but I wanted him to be sure he'd learned his lesson.
I kept this up for a while, serving as a sort of teacher to these people. If they worked hard and truly desired their wishes, then they lived happily ever after. If they were unappreciative, then they lived in my little garden. Many years went by of this, when the eels suddenly came to me one day with news they were sure I wouldn't expect.
Triton's youngest daughter was unhappy and wanted nothing more than to be a human. What a twist indeed, especially considering her father's hatred for humans after the day at the lagoon. I sent the boys off to fetch her for a deal, and sure enough she came to me begging for some way to grant her wish. We made the deal, and Ariel set off trying to snag the man of her dreams. (She'd rescued and sang to him one day on the beach.)
I was angry, though. I resented her father for sending my parents away, and I resented her for having such an easygoing life in the palace and not appreciating it. I wanted her to REALLY work for what she wanted. I told the young girl that the deal had to be trading legs for her voice, as I knew that this would make her work much harder to get what she wanted (she did have a lovely voice, after all.) She agreed and soon enough the classic three-day deal was done and the princess was headed to shore to get her man, a prince no less.
However, the prince was a fool and was smitten from the moment he saw her. I didn't understand why the princess could never have any hardship in her life. Why did everything have to work out so perfectly for her and so horribly for me ? I had one final test that would really determine if the daughter of my sworn enemy desired the Prince.
I disguised myself as a beautiful young human named Vanessa and used the voice I'd stolen to enchant the prince with a spell. The spell was to be broken by Ariel if only she'd told Eric how she really felt. After all, she knew her way around a pen and paper. I thought that my plan would work out perfectly; either she would write down her love and get her prince, or she wouldn't, I would end up with him, and Triton's youngest heir would be just another little flower in my garden.
After enchanting the prince, he introduced me to his butler Grimsby, and Ariel, rather than confront the prince and question (write) why he would turn away from her so quickly, ran away and cried like a little baby. I was dumbfounded. All she had to do was write down or act out to the prince that she loved him or even that she'd rescued him from the beach. A deal's a deal though, and the sunset of the third day was fast approaching. The love enchantment on the prince was working, and we'd set up a wedding date before the deal was set to be over.
The wedding came with still no note from Princess Ariel. It looked like maybe life was finally going to turn around for me. The wedding was beautiful and on Eric's family ship, and we were just about to get to the kiss. Out of nowhere, an awful seagull swooped down out of the sky and snatched my mother's pendant. I tried to snatch it back, but he was stronger. The pendant flew through the air and smashed into pieces on the floor of the ship. Hearing Ariel's voice return to her body, I knew it was all over. All of my mother's magic and mine flew out of the pendant, breaking any deal or spell any of us had ever made. Not only was the magic gone, but the last memory of my mother was gone, too. The girl had found a way to fight for what she wanted, and she was going to get it. I had to test the prince though, too, and decided not to go down without a fight.
In the end, the prince and the young mermaid princess prevailed, but at least I went down knowing that they would truly appreciate each other and what they had to go through for the rest of their lives. Anyway, that's the truth and the whole truth. Oh, and when I was so ruthlessly stabbed by the ship at the end of the story it actually turned out for the better. I was injured, but Triton ultimately banished my broken self to the Forbidden Sea where I was happily reunited with my (very old) parents. I guess you could say things worked out for everyone.