a/n: Sorry for the lack of updates last week! I had the flu and I felt that if I wrote something it would be complete nonsense! So I decided to hold off until I was better, and I am, so things will be uploaded this week as usual! Sorry for the delay, but now for the part that you came for - the story! Enjoy!
Ursula paused, thinking. Then, with a scheming smile, she floated lazily back towards Attina. "How about I offer you an ultimatum?"
"Go ahead," Attina replied, and Ursula looked her in the eyes with a mischievous smile.
"How about… The Elder Stone in exchange for control over Atlantica?"
Attina took a double take, flabbergasted at the sea witch's offer. Ursula? Controlling Atlantica? Who did she think she was, asking for something like that…? It was utterly ridiculous.
"I can't do that," she responded, and Ursula didn't look surprised – just mildly annoyed.
"Well…" she sighed, gliding back into her chair, "I suppose I should've seen that one coming…"
Suddenly her look of frustration turned into a mischievous one, and her mouth turned from a frown to a coy smile. She sat up a little straighter, looking Attina straight in the eye. "Why don't I ask you again? You get the Elder Stone, and I get control over Atlantica."
"I told you I couldn't do that," Attina protested, but almost as soon as the words left her mouth one of Ursula's tentacles launched out and grabbed onto her slim waist, gripping it tightly. Attina cried out, struggling against Ursula's grip.
The sea witch only squeezed tighter, and Attina only screamed louder. She drew Attina close to her, so much so that their faces we almost touching.
"What do I have to do to you to get you to obey me…?"
Aquata knew that she had to do something to save her sister, but what? Could she distract her somehow? Her eyes darted around the room looking for a way to help Attina. Her gaze fell on a doorway that she recognised from her first visit to Ursula's lair. It was the entrance to Ursula's stash – the place she got the Youth Stone from!
If she'd got the Youth Stone from there, then surely the Elder stone must be in there too. If she found it she could distract Ursula with it and divert the attention towards her, making her let Attina go, and then the two could escape! It was the best plan she could think of, so Aquata acted on it.
She hated to leave Attina alone, but it was her only choice. She dove down into the stash and almost instantly started digging around for the stone. It was then that she realised that she hadn't the slightest idea what it looked like…
"It's gotta look like the Youth Stone, right?" she mumbled under her breath, tossing various treasures in favour for any stones that looked remotely similar to the Youth Stone.
"Where's the other brat?" she heard Ursula's voice thundering from the other room, and Aquata froze in her tracks, "Flotsam! Jetsam! Go find her now!"
Now Aquata was searching even faster before. She found several rocks and stones, but none of them looked anything like the Youth Stone. She heard Flotsam and Jetsam swim in, and when she turned to face them they were already charging towards her. With a yelp, Aquata dodged out of the way, knocking into another pile of treasures. The two eels crashed into the pile she was just searching for, sending the objects careening into the air.
Of the objects that were dislodged, Aquata's eyes fell on one of them in particular. It was a small, smooth, dark blue stone with light blue lines scored across it. It looked so much like the Youth Stone it could be the Elder Stone! She needed to get her hands on it as soon as possible, but Flotsam and Jetsam had noticed it too. They were circling it, keeping it as close to them as possible. They were sneering at her, a gesture that only made Aquata more determined to get it from them.
Without looking, Aquata grabbed onto to objects beside her. One was a smooth gold trophy decorated with a muscular looking man, and the other was a small, broken, marble statue of a cherub with a harp engraved with precious gems. They looked solid enough to use as weapons…
"Give me that stone!" she cried as she charged through the water, her makeshift weapons clutched tightly in her hands.
She smacked Flotsam away with the trophy, sending the eel flying across the room and colliding with the wall in a cloud of dust. Jetsam lurched towards her, but before he could attack her Aquata brought the statue down on the eels head. Jetsam went tumbling down into the sand, leaving the stone free floating and unprotected. Aquata grabbed hold of the cold stone and held it tight.
If Flotsam and Jetsam were trying so hard to protect it, then it must be the Elder Stone!
Stone in hand, Aquata darted out the doorway and into the main room where Attina remained held in Ursula's grasp. She'd fallen unconscious, and Ursula's lavender skin tone and flushed to a deep plum colour.
"How did you get that?" she asked menacingly when she laid eyes on Aquata and the stone.
"I found it," she told her, folding her arms triumphantly, "Now give me back my sister."
Instead of responding verbally, Ursula sent another one of her tentacles towards Aquata, but the young mermaid jumped out of the way before she could be grabbed. She darted towards Attina, putting her arms underneath hers and trying to pull her out of Ursula's grasp. But it was hopeless – the witch kept on squeezing.
"If you carry on like that I'll crush her." Ursula sneered, putting emphasis on "crush."
Aquata faltered, loosening her grip on her now pale sister. She couldn't let Attina die like this way… She was about to give up when she saw Flotsam and Jetsam emerging from the stash looking somewhat dazed but just as angry. Another idea popped into her head.
"Flotsam! Jetsam! Over here!" she called, getting the eels attention.
They started after her, but Aquata started to swim around the room, always making sure they were still on her tail. Ursula looked around in bewilderment as she went, loosening her grip on Attina. Confident that they were going to follow her no matter what, Aquata sped towards Ursula. She grabbed onto one of her tentacles, waiting for Flotsam and Jetsam to approach.
Ursula swatted at her, trying to bat her away. But Aquata didn't budge. The eels came speeding towards her, and soon they had reached Ursula's tentacle. As soon as they started to zap her, Aquata let go and swam away, letting the eels electrify their own master.
Ursula howled in pain, letting Attina go. The shock had jolted Attina awake, and she hovered in the water gasping for breath. Not wanting to waste any time, Aquata grabbed her sister by the arm.
"Let's get out of here," she said, and Attina nodded.
The two sisters escaped before Ursula could recover. Rubbing her fingers over the Elder Stone, Aquata lead her and Attina back to the safety of Atlantica.
Ariel had long since stopped crying and was now sleeping softly in Adrina's arms, though Adrina was still whimpering in fear. The four of them had been stuck in the cramped hideaway for twenty minutes yet the sharks still showed no signs of leaving. Its snout was still firmly shoved into the hole, and Arista was starting to wonder if it was still trying to eat them or if it was just stuck.
"Do you think there's any way we can get rid of it?" asked Arista.
"I don't know…" Alana sighed, "I just hope Aquata and Attina get back in time to help us."
"They should do. Even if those two don't find us I doubt no one's going to notice the giant shark stuck in the wall."
Alana giggled, but a sudden bite from the shark jolted them all into a scream. The four girls moved further towards the back of the small cavern, just to be safe.
The shark stayed there for another twenty minutes. It came as a surprise to all the girls when suddenly it cried out and dislodged it's snout from the wall. Alana handed the still sleeping Ariel over to Adrina and poked her head out of the hole. A smile broke out on her face when she saw Attina and Aquata wielding rocks and chucking them at the shark.
"It's Aquata and Attina!" she cried out, swimming out of the cramped hole they'd called home for the past forty minutes.
The other sisters followed, including Ariel, who had just woken up.
"You took your time!" Adrina laughed, earning her a frown from Aquata.
"Well, it's not like we fought off a sea witch or anything." She pouted.
"We can tell stories later. Right now we need to get Ariel back to the way she was before Father gets back," Attina announced, and the girls nodded in unison.
Aquata glared at the Elder Stone in frustration. They'd all tried saying an incantation to see if would work, yet to no avail. Ariel was still a six-year-old and showing no sign of changing. She was also starting to play with the stone, which was distracting.
"There must be something we can do," Alana said, who was touching up her nails.
"If there is we've tried it," Aquata complained.
Adrina looked deep in thought. "What if you try something similar to the Youth Stone incantation? Swap a few words around or something."
"That could work," Attina agreed, looking to Aquata.
Aquata shrugged. "I guess that could work."
She glanced at the stone, remembering the Youth Stone incantation. Stone of beauteous youth, hide my age's truth. What words would she switch anyway?
"Uhh… Stone of ugly… uh, oldness… show my age's lies?" She flushed at her failed attempt and tried to ignore Arista's face palm.
"What about stone of beauteous age, show my age's truth?" Alana suggested, but still, there was no reaction.
"I think I've got one," said Attina, and she approached the Ariel. "Stone of grace and years, show my age's truth."
As Attina said the words, the stone began to glow a bright sky blue. The glow from the stone transferred towards Ariel, and the little mermaid looked at herself in wonder as she was enveloped by the blue light. She began to grow, her red hair and tail growing longer.
Soon she was nothing but a ball of blue light, and her sisters waited in anticipation as the light slowly started to fade. As the light disappeared, it revealed Ariel. She was just the same as she always had been – a sixteen-year-old mermaid. She looked around at her body in wonder and then beamed at her sisters.
"Thanks you guys! I thought I was gonna be a six-year-old forever!"
When Adella returned from her date she was rather confused as to why all her sisters were exhausted, zombies. They claimed they'd stayed up all night talking, which was technically true, but they left many gaps in their story. When Triton met with them for breakfast he was just as confused as Adella, but they just told him the same thing.
It was as though nothing had ever happened - and as far as Adella and Triton were concerned - nothing ever did.
a/n: Hello, I'm back again! So that was the end of Stone of Beauteous Youth, so I hope it lived up to your expectations! I really hope you all liked it (especially retromania since you requested it!). I had a lot of fun writing it, so I hope you had fun reading it. Well, that's all from me today - see you later!