a/n: Hey guys! So I really have no excuse for leaving this account barren for so long other than my own horrifying lack of organization skills. So I apologize for that! I do have a schedule now, so updates should be constant and more regular. Anywho, this story is a four part commission for the wonderful retro mania for his Wubbulous World of Walt Disney series. It was an honor to write this for you, so I hope it lives up to your expectations! Well, thanks for listening to my rambling, it's time for the good part - the story! Enjoy!
In the very depths of the sea was the city of Atlantica. A city of unrivaled beauty, strength, and culture, it was the pinnacle of underwater living. Adding to its beauty were seven princesses – the daughters of King Triton. Though no citizen of Atlantica dared to question their beauty, the girls themselves had no problem of questioning it themselves, and sometimes this leads to more trouble than it was worth...
Adella took one last glance in the mirror, putting a loose hair back into place as she did so. Tonight was her big night – her first ever date! She thanked her lucky starfish that her father was away at a conference, or else she'd never be able to go. She raised a perfectly manicured hand to the string of pearls she wore around her neck and frowned. She had pearls in her hair too… Was she going overboard?
She turned to Alana, the fashion guru of the sisters. "Can I have your opinion?"
"Of course," Alana responded, looking up from her expertly painted nails.
"Am I wearing too many pearls?"
Alana looked her over with a critical eye. Alana could spot an imperfection in an outfit from a mile away, and she'd never been wrong in fixing it. She swam over to the younger sister, getting a closer look at the ensemble. Soon afterward, she pulled the pearls from her neck and replaced it with a black choker with an orange shell in the center.
"There we go, that's much better." Alana swam back to look over her handiwork.
Adella looked in the mirror again, and a wide smile broke out on her face. "It's perfect!"
"Hey, Adella!" Ariel swam through the doorway. "That guy's here to pick you up."
"Good luck," Alana said with a warm smile.
Adella took a deep breath, then made her way to the doorway.
"Have fun!" Ariel chirped. Adella gave her a grateful smile, then swam out to her meet her date.
The evening had turned to night, and the six remaining sisters had gathered in the living room to hang out for the night. Ariel was showing the newest item in her thingamabob collection to Adrina, who was already thinking of ways to use it for a prank. Arista and Aquata were fighting (again) about whether Arista had taken Aquata's sapphire earrings or not, neither of them realizing that they both owned a pair those same earrings. Alana was adding the last touches to her nail art, and Attina was looking herself over in the mirror.
Being the eldest of the seven sisters, Attina was the heir to the throne. This meant that she was going to need to find a husband – and soon. But in all her life no one had ever shown any interest in her, let alone wanted to be her boyfriend.
She often wondered why this was. Did she have a dislikeable personality? Did she get out enough? But the one thing that plagued her the most was the concern that she was getting too old. She knew it was strange to be 22 and have never had a boyfriend, but would her age hamper any future efforts?
With a frustrated sigh, she collapsed on the bed beside Alana. Always the one to be concerned, Alana abandoned her nail art to ask what ailed her sister.
"What's up?" she asked.
"Am I too old for a boyfriend?"
"No, I don't think so." Alana paused in contemplative silence. "You know, I heard that people older than you get together every day."
"Yeah, but those people aren't heir to the throne of Atlantica…"
"Is that what this is about? Responsibility?"
Attina nodded and Alana frowned.
Aquata had long since finished her argument with Arista, and couldn't help but overhear Attina's woes. Deciding she wanted to give her two cents, she floated over to her older sisters.
"I think I have something that can help you, Attina."
Perking up, Attina gave her attention to the brunette. "Go on."
"Well, I remember ages ago I found this stone that could apparently reverse aging. Maybe that could help?" Aquata suggested.
Alana opened her mouth to speak, but Attina beat her to it. "That's perfect! Do you remember where you put it?"
Aquata thought back to when she got the stone. It was a long time ago now, who knows where she put it… Perhaps she'd just have to turn the castle upside down…
"I think I know the one you're talking about." Apparently, Ariel had also overheard the conversation, and it seemed that Arista and Adrina had gained an interest too.
"You do?" Aquata inquired.
"Yeah. If it's the one I'm thinking about, I think you gave it do me for my thingamabob collection. We could try looking there," she suggested.
"Sure!" Aquata nodded. "We'll go look for it, then bring it back for you to use, Attina."
"We'll be really quick, promise!" Ariel twittered.
With that, they were out of the room like a flash. As the sisters chattered excitedly among themselves while they waited for Aquata and Ariel's return, Alana gave a disheartened sigh.
No one seemed to realize how terrible this idea was…
"Be careful!" Ariel cried as Aquata chucked a silver goblet on the ground. The red head managed to catch it before it landed – she couldn't risk her precious thingamabobs being damaged.
"Any clue where you put it?" Aquata asked as she gazed around the room.
The girls had been at it for a few minutes now, rooting through Ariel's endless clutter to try and find the stone. Sure, they'd found other stones, but not the one Aquata remembered. Ariel could tell Aquata was getting frustrated, and that was not something she wanted.
"I could try looking up the very top. I've got a lot of old stuff up there," she suggested, and Aquata gave an enthusiastic nod.
Ariel rose to the top of the room, where her oldest thingamabobs lay. Some had rusted thanks to exposure to the water, and Ariel cringed as a few bugs crawled through the cracks in some of the china. She decided she needed to clean up sometime soon… She tentatively reached into the clutter, feeling around for a stone.
Her fingers brushed against something cold, round, and smooth. Gripping onto it, she pulled it out from the depths of the collection. When she opened up her hand, she revealed a deep purple stone with light purple streaks across its surface. Maybe this was it? She swam down to confirm it with Aquata.
"Is this the one?" she asked, showing the smooth stone to her sister.
Aquata's face lit up. "Yes! This is the one!"
The two girls started laughing together, wide smiles breaking out on their faces. Now all they had to do was bring it to Attina and use it on her, then she'd be as young as she wanted! But that begged the question on how the stone even worked…
"Uh, Aquata?" she asked, catching her sister's attention.
"Huh?"
"How does it actually work?" Ariel looked over the stone trying to find anything that could lead to it activating.
Aquata furrowed her brow, digging through her memories to try and remember how the stone worked. It didn't need to be in a certain place… It didn't need to be broken open… Suddenly the solution occurred.
"Oh! I remember now! You need to say this incantation thingy," she told Ariel excitedly.
"Yeah? What is it?" Ariel swam closer to her sister.
"Uh… Let me think… Stone of beauteous youth, hide my age's truth… I think that was it."
As Aquata finished the incantation, the stone began to glow a brilliant, vibrant purple. The sisters watched the stone with wide eyes as it started to vibrate and shake in Ariel's hand. It started to warm up, and soon it was too hot to handle. Before Ariel could drop it she was enveloped in the purple light, covering her from head to fin in glowing lavender.
"Ariel!" Aquata screamed, but it was too late for her to do anything. The light had completely surrounded her, and then she started to… shrink?
"Oh no…" Aquata murmured under her breath as she realized just what was going on.
The light got brighter and brighter, and Ariel got smaller and smaller until the light dispersed with a loud pop. The purple light filled the room, the force of it shoving all of Ariel's thingamabobs to the walls. The light started to fade, and soon the room looked as if nothing had happened. Save for the broken thingamabobs and the child on the floor.
But it wasn't just any child – it was Ariel!
"Crap!" Aquata muttered to herself, then the full panic of what she'd done set in.
How in the seven seas was she going to explain this to Attina? To Triton? To the world? Even if she did tell someone, she still had the responsibility to fix it. Maybe she could hide Ariel from everyone until she figured out what to do… But someone would find her eventually, Arista was always snooping around her room… She didn't want to go it alone…
She had no choice but to tell Attina.
Aquata glanced over to Ariel. She was sleeping peacefully, so hopefully Aquata could make it to Attina in time before she woke up and started to panic. Composing herself, Aquata darted from the room just as Ariel started to wake up.
"What's taking them so long?" Adrina complained.
"They probably can't find it," Arista suggested.
"Maybe I should go check on them?" Alana wondered, though she'd be going to discourage them rather than help them find the stone.
Suddenly the door banged open revealing Aquata, looking disheveled and panicked. Attina's eyes went wide, and she swam over to Aquata as quickly as she could.
"Did something happen? Where's Ariel?" she asked, checking Aquata for any injuries.
Aquata shook her head. "No… We found the stone and… and we used it… and…" She suddenly burst into tears.
Attina pulled her sister into a tight hug, though her mind was racing with all the possibilities of what happened. A thought popped into her head that made her arms fall from Aquata's side, and she looked into her sister's eyes.
"Aquata?"
"Yes?"
"Did you use the stone on Ariel?"
Aquata hesitated, then her face fell and she nodded. Attina's face went bright red. She pushed past Aquata and speeded down the hall to Ariel's thingamabob room, keeping her eye out for her vivid red hair.
When she made it to the collection room, however, there was no sign of her youngest sister. After searching through all the shelves she left the room and looked around there. Her heart dropped when she saw an open window.
Ariel's gone…
She stifled a scream, but she could feel the tears flowing anyway. If the stone had worked on her as Aquata said, then Ariel was just a young child lost in the depths of Atlantica. Who knows what could happen to her…
She needed to compose herself, she needed to figure out what to do. A plan started to formulate in her otherwise frazzled mind, and since it was the best thing she could think of she decided to run with it.
After taking a deep breath she swam back to the living room where the other girls were waiting.
"Is she ok?" Alana asked the moment Attina floated into the room.
Attina shook her head. "She's gone."
Aquata made a noise somewhere between blubbering and screaming, and the other sisters chattered amongst themselves in panic.
"What are we gonna tell daddy?" Adrina asked, looking like she might cry herself.
"What we need to do is keep a clear head," Attina announced, and her sisters looked at her like she was crazy. "I have a plan, so don't look at me like that. Alana, Arista, Adrina, you three are in charge of finding Ariel before dad gets home. Aquata, you and I are going to find out how to fix this since we were both responsible for this whole mess. Alright?"
"Alright." The sisters nodded in unison.
Alana, Arista, and Adrina swam out of the room and out into the sea, leaving Attina and Aquata alone together. Attina was determined to fix this, so she decided to start from the very beginning.
But first of all, she needed Aquata to stop bawling.
"Hey, Aquata. If this is going to work you need to calm down, ok?"
Aquata wiped her eyes and nodded. "Mhmm."
"Good. Ok, so can you tell me where you got that stupid stone in the first place?" she asked when Aquata had calmed down.
"Well, it was a really long time ago…