Chapter Four: In Which Apple Settles In
The journey to Atlantis was not a smooth one. Apple felt as if she was hurtling down the world's craziest water slide. She slid down a dark tunnel full of twists and turns, and every once in a while, bright bursts of magic flashed before her eyes. The experience was so intense, she didn't even notice her body transform. Or the point when she became completely submerged in salt water.
After ten minutes of this wild ride, a blue light appeared at the end of the tunnel. And the next thing Apple knew, she was unceremoniously dumped on the ocean floor.
It was an undignified way for the crown princess of the United Fairytale Kingdoms to begin her time abroad, but Apple quickly forgot her rough landing when she saw the beauty around her.
She was in the middle of a massive coral reef that looked as though it had been painted by a master artist. Up close, the coral looked like strange, multicolored sculptures, but from far away, they looked like masses of bright flowers. Small fish flited among the coral and a dainty Angel Fish swam right in front of Apple's face. In the distance, a sea turtle glided through the water as if he was flying through the air and a dark figure, that could have been a dolphin or seal (Apple couldn't tell which), darted into a nearby kelp forest. Apple looked up and immediately shielded her eyes.
Aiden was right! She thought. You really can see the sun from down here! The sun shone as brightly as it did at home. The only difference was that it looked more like a wavering reflection of the sun from where she was.
"Well, what do you think?" Apple whipped around to see Aiden floating behind her in her mermaid form, her thick dark-gold hair floating in a mass around her head.
"It's incredible." Apple breathed, her eyes shining in wonder.
Aiden looked around fondly. "Yes it is." She agreed, and she wondered how she could have stayed away for so long.
Apparently, the portal hadn't been the best and hadn't dropped Apple and Aiden off near Aiden's house as planned. "No matter," Aiden said. "It's only a short swim from here."
The 'short swim' took much longer than expected since Apple wasn't used to her new fins. Too late, Aiden realized that she probably should have taught Apple to swim in the EAH pool before coming to Atlantis. First, Apple tried to rely on her arms as opposed to her fins and floundered about at a sea slug's pace. Then she tried using her fins alone, but found that she couldn't steer herself and crashed into a bed of seaweed. But after a while, Apple finally began to get the hang of propelling herself with her fins and steering with her torso.
Finally, they reached the Merlins' house. It was at the edge of a neighborhood filled with beautiful underwater homes. The Merlins' home had a circular shape and was painted light green with dark green trim. The backyard faced the wide expanse of coral reef and contained a large, circular shed that Aiden identified as Roland's workshop. It had a charming garden of sea flowers and a statue of a human couple waltzing in the front yard. Roland was waiting for them by said statue with a grin on his face.
"Somebody's happy to be back in his natural element." He stated, as a small seal hurtled towards Aiden and smothered her with kisses.
"Haha, settle down Toby!" Aiden laughed as the little pinniped encircled his mistress at hyper-speed, overjoyed to see her.
"Awwww…" Apple cooed. "He's adorable!" Toby immediately picked up on the praise and began showering Apple with love too.
"Good thing you like animals, or this would be a very awkward six months." Said Aiden.
"All animals love me!" Apple declared.
"Do Krackens love you?" Roland asked innocently. Aiden frowned at him from behind Apple's back.
"What's a Kracken?" Apple asked.
"Never mind." Said Aiden. "Love, has Toby had his injection yet?"
"Yeah, and I've got the scratches to prove it." Roland groaned. "Speaking of which, Apple's medication is ready, you can give it to her while I finish dinner."
"Medication?!" Apple shouted in alarm. Would she have to get shots too?!
"It's just the booster to the transformation formula and your digestive pills."
"Digestive pills?"
"I'll show you." Aiden said. "Come on in."
Apple followed the Merlins into their cozy, circular living room; the lower walls were completely covered with six foot high shelves of books and magical items. Above the shelves were several pictures: a large framed poster of the magical elements; a sign saying "A Very Spoiled Seal Lives in this House;" several framed posters of lands under and above the sea (including the U.F.K.); and several framed photographs of the Merlins and other various merpeople. There were also several doors that led to the upper rooms, but Apple quickly noticed:
"Where are the stairs?"
Without a word, Aiden swam up to a door and quickly opened and shut it.
"Oh." Clearly, living beneath the sea meant that certain architectural features didn't apply.
Shortly afterwards, Aiden went into Roland's workshop and came back with a small pink bottle and matching pink jar. "Here's your potion and pills." Said Aiden. "The booster potion ensures that you'll keep your fins and continue to breathe underwater. You need to take it every night before you go to bed and let us know if you need any refills. And remember, if for some reason you run out, and we're not able to get you more in time, get someone to kiss you fast, and you'll be OK for the next hour."
"But, I'm not supposed to kiss anyone until Daring…"
"Apple. Your first kiss won't mean much if you die first." Then Aiden remembered who she was talking to.
"Look at it this way, Apple: it's not THE kiss. It's just a means of getting by, like what your friend Hopper has to do on a regular basis. And if you keep track of your booster potion, you'll never have to do it."
Apple nodded, somewhat reassured.
Aiden reached for the pills. "These will help your digestive system."
"Why do I need these? I'm perfectly healthy, I've never been sick a day in my life."
"Maybe so, but that's not the point: merpeople have different digestive systems than humans and although you have fins, there's a good chance your intestine and bowels haven't gotten the memo. These pills will ensure that you digest all of your food properly and that you won't die from congested excreta your body can't expel."
"What?"
"You can't poop in this form."
"WHAT?!"
"It's true, every bit of food a mermaid consumes goes towards maintaining strength and being able to breathe underwater. But on the plus side, you won't have periods either."
Apple blushed; this conversation was getting rather embarrassing. Princesses did not discuss bodily functions. Thankfully, Aiden closed the topic by saying: "Just take one of these pills every night along with your potion, and you'll be fine."
"Dinner's ready!" Roland called.
Even though Apple hadn't eaten very much that day out of sheer excitement, she lost her appetite when she got her first look at Atlantean cuisine. She had never had sushi before, and wasn't eager to try it; at one point, she could have sworn that some of the pieces were trying to swim away. And although Roland repeatedly assured her that the dinner rolls were green because they were made from seaweed flour and NOT because they were covered in mold, she didn't dare try them. In fact, seaweed seemed to be a prominent part of the meal: seaweed rolls, seaweed salad, seaweed wrapped around the sushi pieces…it was almost as repulsive as Hopper's swamp sandwiches. Apple would have given anything for her delicious namesake right now. Thankfully, Toby was more than happy to eat her leftovers.
Desert was considerably better. Somehow, merpeople were able to recreate chocolate; delicious pieces of rich, dark chocolate with sea salt sprinkled on top. Apple never would have thought of combining chocolate with salt, but it was surprisingly good and she ate three whole bars' worth.
But I can't eat chocolate all the time here, she thought gloomily. Think of the havoc it will play on my perfect complexion!
After dinner, Aiden showed Apple to her room. It was a decent sized room, but it was nowhere near as big as her royal princess suite at home, or even the dorm room she shared with Raven. The closet would have been far too small if it weren't for the fact her wardrobe now entirely consisted of swim suit tops. She had a four-poster waterbed with gauzy red curtains that fluttered in the water and a quilt with bright coral reef patterns and a red border. She had also had a set of drawers, a vanity desk, a night stand, a book case, and an unfortunately non-magical full length mirror. All of her suitcases and boxes were there, untouched.
"I recall you saying that you liked red, so I picked out red bedding for you. But other than that, I thought I'd leave the decorating up to you. When I was a student at Atlantis U, I had a roommate who decided that she'd decorate my half of the room for me. " Aiden recalled, grimacing at the memory. "She meant well, but it was all her taste and not mine. I didn't want to accidently put you through that."
Apple was glad that she hadn't been that inconsiderate when she roomed with Raven. She had decorated Raven's half as befitting a future evil queen.
So why didn't Raven seem too happy? A little voice in her head pointed out. Apple frowned a bit. Where did that come from?
"Thank you, Aiden. It's very nice." Apple said politely.
Aiden smiled secretly as she left Apple to her unpacking. She had overheard Raven complain about her half of the room to Maddie last semester. Nothing like a little telepathy to start building self-awareness, she thought.
A couple of hours later, Apple's room was in nearly perfect order. Daring's portrait and several framed photos of her and her friends adorned the walls. Her bikini tops were all put away and her cosmetics were carefully laid out on the vanity. Her books, all water-proofed, were in the bookcase and her potion, pills, photo album, and Mirror-pad were on the bedside table. Maddie's tea set was decoratively placed on the window sill. Apple thought he only things that kept her room from being absolutely flawless were the smaller size and the non-magic mirror (Apple deeply regretted that she wasn't able to bring her beloved magic one with her). But this would do for six months.
Her work done, Apple got ready for bed, took her potion and pills, and nestled in her waterbed, too excited to actually sleep. From her window she could see the coral reef glimmering softly in the moonlight and hear whales singing in the distance.
Although Apple could see the moon, she couldn't see the stars too clearly. But she finally identified one and made a wish:
"Please let me find the answers I need here." She said reverently. After all, wishing on a star never failed; every good fairytale character knew that!
With that, she turned off the lights and tried to pretend that she was Briar.
Once again, Aiden smiled secretly as she heard Apple's wish through the closed bedroom door (Apple didn't realize just how loud her soft, sweet voice really was).
Granting wishes was one of the many things that good sorceresses did. Yet most people never bothered to specify how their wishes should come true. But that made Aiden's work all the more interesting.
Sleep tight Apple White. Aiden thought. Tomorrow your education begins.