Chapter 7: Elaborate lives

They traveled on and found transportation with the help of a large albino kestrel. Ariel felt a small twinge of nostalgia remembering Scuttle and gentle nuzzling of the bird reminded her of Spot the baby killer whale. Along the way, Jack tells them the story of how he lost the sword time ago.

He'd walked to the top of a mountain accompanied by three little purple rams, upon arriving, one led Jack to the time portal. He immediately jumped in, only to be literally pulled back by Aku, who proceeded to destroy the portal with his eye beams when Jack attempted to use it again. To add more frustration the demon taunted him with the knowledge that it was the last time portal in existence. Overcome with anger, Jack lashed out at Aku, who spitefully mutated the three rams into monstrous forms to 'play with' the Samurai before escaping. Jack fought and killed the corrupted rams, only to lose his sword in the process, perched precariously over the pit where the portal once stood. When the dead rams reverted to their original forms, Jack realized he had spilled innocent blood to his horror. A collapsing pillar fell and he leapt away to avoid it. But the resulting tremor caused the sword to fall into the pit.

"And so, I was not able to find it again." Jack finished the tale, he looked haunted by the memory.

Ariel put a hand to her mouth in commiseration. That explains why he'd looked so despondent the few times she saw him before they were reunited.

In the meantime Ashi had a pending question for Ariel.

"Why is it...though you've known him for over fifty years," Ashi asked. "You seem only to be a few years older than me?"

~The merpeople can live for three hundred years, maybe four hundred if lucky.~ Ariel's glowing words answered for her. ~Fifty years is barely out of our teenage years for my kind, as though when we die we become foam on the waves~

Ashi looked surprised at hearing that, a race that just disappears when killed or when their life span ends?

The human turned mermaid looks up to the sky wistfully, and Ashi followed her gaze, as the sun shined down through a passing cloud giving a heavenly appearance.

~But we have immortal souls, just as the humans and other sentient beings do. Though it was not always so, but now we have our lifespans and our souls. So, when we die we rise up from the Ocean, and live forever in radiant splendor, and golden paradise in worlds unseen to man~ Ariel winked impishly. ~Or, that is how my old Aunt used to tell it to me and my sisters.~

"Will the wonders never cease?" Ashi said in amazement, admiring the sky.

~The surface is full of much more wonders than you imagine~ Ariel replied with a smile, ~Even if my first experience had been intended as a trap, I feel fortunate for experiencing the world above the waves, and now here I am seeing it once more.~

"I know so little of the world itself, forced to train for killing by our 'mother' and what we heard were only lies. I don't know what's true." Ashi exclaimed.

~Do not worry, if you stay with Jack and Me, we'll make sure the stuff you had withheld from you is told. Or at least as much as we know, we will tell you~

Ashi smiled at Ariel, but frowned at the charm around her neck.

"Are you really to be mute forever?" Ashi asked. "Is there no way that you could...I don't know, get your voice back?"

Ariel held the golden musical note between her fingers with a furtive expression. ~I don't know. I didn't think to ask HER, but I have heard she is fair. But I can't think of what would be precious enough to trade for my voice. And I can't make any more deals with her for a full year~

They arrived to the mountain then descended into the gaping crevasse. When they began to search the bottom of the pit, they were surprised when Ariel's necklace start glowing, and from the clef shaped necklace a ball of golden light. And soon, they were able to see the entire pit.

"Wow. That necklace sure comes in handy," Ashi exclaimed. "Did you have it before as a mermaid?"

Ariel shook her head, and looked at the necklace in amazement. ~The Dark Spectre Queen of the Ocean gave it to me...she said...my mother had done her a very kind service. And she'd been looking for a way to repay her~

Jack looked at her thoughtfully. "So, she gave you that necklace, and that hair-pin I assume?"

Ariel nodded.

"A fair trade. Yet if she wanted to repay your mother," Jack looked a little upset. "She could've turned you human without taking your voice."

Ariel looked a little conflicted, and Ashi cut in.

"We'll figure something out, for now we need to find your sword." Ashi said.

Jack nodded, and the trio continued searching for hours. Finally they reached the bottom. To Jack's horror, he found the skeletons of the goats he had unknowingly murdered. He shut his eyes tight, and looked pained. But a soft hand on the shoulder, revealed to be Ariel, cut him out of the grief. She nodded towards the bones, and gave him a small smile to comfort him. Jack pressed his hand against hers, took a deep breath and came to a conclusion.

"I realize now, that I did not lose the sword." He opened his eyes with a sad expression. "The sword left me."

Ashi looked a little alarmed.

~Is there a way to find it somehow?~ Ariel inquired.

They rose up on the giant bird once more to the top, they climbed off and thanked it. When the girls said theirs the avian nuzzled them each with low cooing sounds before flying away.

Jack explains he will meditate, and through his inner self, traverse the astral plane for a solution.

"We'll go with you." Ashi offered.

"You cannot. This is something I must do on my own." He smiles softly at the two. "But...now that you won't be searching for me. This gives you two a chance to talk, and learn about each other."

And Jack turned and went into the lotus position near the edge of the cliff.

"Okay, we'll just...wait here." Ashi said turning to Ariel. "Is he always this vague?"

Ariel nodded her head with a sheepish smile. The two girls sat down close by to talk while they waited.

"Tell me about the sea kingdom." Ashi asked, "What is it like down there?"

~It's beautiful. It's so far away, deeper than any ship's anchor can reach. And the fish swim through our windows like birds, and quite a few of them I'm good friends with~ Ariel looked nostalgic. ~I loved exploring the Ocean, I had...what my father called: 'wander-lust'. A need for adventure. But when you live as long as my kind do, and being a princess of Atlantica..~

"You're a princess!?" Ashi asked in surprise.

~Why else would the Dark Spectre Queen give to me a trident made in image similar to that of my Father as one of these particular gifts?~ Ariel showed it to Ashi with a self-conscious blush, ~I've seen my father wield the family trident to do many things. Some were great, others...not so much.~

She silently sighed remembering how he'd destroyed many of the human objects she'd collected in her grotto five decades ago. It was that very incident that gave her the impulsive motivation to become human and prove him wrong.

"Astonishing. And is your trident like his?" Ashi asked.

~Oh, no. Father could do much more than me, control the whole Ocean if he wanted to...the waters and its denizens~ Ariel elaborated. ~Even Aku feared my father's trident, only it and Jack's sword could harm that evil demon~ Ariel said with a bitter frown and creased mouth.

"And your other family?" Ashi asked to change the subject.

Ariel beamed with a happy smile.

~My sisters, I have six of them.~ Ariel gladly told Ashi, whose eyes widened.

"Oh, we have more in common than I thought." Ashi remarked.

~In what?~ Ariel asked in bright curiosity.

"I too have sisters - well used to anyway."

~Used to?~ Ariel looked confused.

Ashi looked toward Jack with a sad expression.

"We were born...for one purpose. To kill Jack." Ashi explained.

Ariel covered her mouth in shock, obviously thinking she was stifling a gasp, but had no voice to cry out with anymore.

"I'm the only one left." Ashi then turned to Ariel with a panicked expression. "But I don't hate him, he had no choice! And it was all we knew, so we relentless pursued him...I'm grateful to be alive. To live, to have hope, and to live for my sisters. I will do all I can, enjoy all there is in their places. And they won't be dead...not as long as I remember them."

The ex-mermaid pulled Ashi into a tight hug, and to Ariel's surprise tears started to fall from her eyes. Being a mermaid, they did not cry tears since they live underwater, so their sadness was always deeper. But now they spilled, and Ashi hugged her back tighter, letting out a few tears of her own as she and Ariel hugged for a long while.

The sun was already a few hours from setting as the girls continued their conversation. Each sharing some secrets, and the occasional questions to simple things. In Ariel's case human things, and Ashi things she'd seen on the surface world, even making the younger woman laugh with the names Scuttle had used for common everyday objects.

"Were you alone the first time you became human?"

~At first~ Ariel answered, ~I didn't know it then, but my friends Sebastian and Scuttle had followed me from Atlantica. Flounder wanted to but there was no water for him to trail. I stayed with a farming family for a few weeks and had hoped to help them with the county fair but...~

Ashi looked at Ariel with a furtive look.

~We were attacked...by Aku~ Ariel said with a sad sigh.

Ashi looked stricken with trepidation. "You saw the Shogun of Sorrow himself?"

Something her mother longed to happen, and it was bestowed upon the mermaid. Though Ashi sees clearly it wasn't the blessing she and her sisters were made to believe.

~I thought I was the only survivor...~ Ariel rubbed her eyes. ~I never figured out what happened to the others, on my mermaid instincts I ran. As far into the woods as I could. And I'm grateful now, that I was able to run so fast. When I met Jack many months later, we found a slave camp where the farmer and his family were held captive – we freed them and the other slaves so they could escape to a hidden sanctuary. Turns out they thought I'd perished in the invasion and were very much relieved to see me alive and well. Unlike now, it didn't feel like walking on knives when I was human then.~ Ariel looked at Ashi. ~In fact, every time I got wet with water my tail would grow back~

Ashi looked surprised. "Then, you didn't go to the Dark Spectre Queen for the first transformation?"

~No~ Ariel shook her head and visibly paled. ~No, it was actually Aku's doing, he had me turned human. At least for a year with a magic potion. His plan was to capture me and use me as a hostage for my father's trident. I had gone to a hermit in a swamp for the potion, not knowing it was Aku in disguise at the time~

"He is the master of deception." Ashi said crossing her arms with a frown.

~He kept attacking wherever I went to drive me further from the sea.~ Ariel closed her eyes tightly in remembrance.

He'd known how young, curious and trusting the little mermaid was of the surface world and took shameless advantage of it for his own wicked ends.

~I just wish I had the hair-pin I do now, when I was there then. Maybe I could've fought him off~ Ariel said with a thoughtful expression.

"Don't let it sadden you, Ariel." Ashi said putting a hand on her shoulder. "You're here now, and well-armed from the looks of it. And you have me and Jack, and I feel this 'Vanessa' might be keeping an eye on you. And won't let Aku get near you again, if what she said is true."

Ariel nodded. And perhaps, now that she thinks about it – in some way Vanessa had been doing her a favor. Without her voice, maybe she'd be less of a target for Aku's corruption.

~I can't think what it was my mother did for her to go to such lengths. But everyone in Atlantica loves my mother, everyone. So, it's not surprising she cared for her. But I never heard Daddy mention it once~

"What was your mother's name?" Ashi asked.

~Athena~ Ariel smiled wistfully at the memory of her. ~She...died...in an incident...killed by humans~

Ashi gasped.

"And...yet you still wished to come to our world, even after the first trip? And..." She looked back at Jack. "You love Jack, even though he's a human?"

~Not all humans are the same, just as all merfolk aren't the same. We can't all be held responsible for others' actions. Just as I'm sure Jack doesn't hold you responsible for your mothers.~ Ariel turned to look at Jack with an expression Ashi had come to recognize as loving. ~And I love him, even if it meant giving up all my three hundred years just to spend one whole day in love with him. If it meant spending an eternity in the afterlife paradise with him~

Ashi was amazed, thinking over what she'd learned. Then she happens to glance downwards and saw something that had her stand to attention.

~What is it?~ Ariel questioned then became just as alert when she saw why: an army was marching towards the very mountain they were on. And it sure didn't look like their intentions were good.


As the army began to march up the path the word ~STOP!~ Suddenly appeared in front of them in golden letters, it stopped them in their tracks.

They looked around and spotted the two girls, standing on top of a large rock.

"Where do you think you're going?" Ashi asked with teeth gritted slightly.

Ariel's hands were balled up next to her sides, ready to whip her hair-pin out of her hair, and transform it into her trident if need be.

"Up the mountain to kill the Samurai, what's it to you two?" The leader of the army asked.

Ariel's chin lifted after hearing those words, and her blue eyes narrowed.

Ashi grabbed Ariel by the waist, and the two jumped to the path in front of the soldiers, making sure Ariel's feet were kept from landing on the ground due to the pain.

"We're going to stop you!" Ashi declared.

That got a snicker, and the whole army started to cackle, guffaw and laugh.

"Hey, why'd we stop?" asked on soldier.

"It's two girls, they say, they're going to stop us." Another answered.

"So two little things like you are gonna stop this whole army?" the lead soldier taunted.

Ariel scowled then whipped out her hairpin which became a trident. She then pointed to some rocks with it; instantly the trident emitted a deep humming sound punctuated with high-pitched melodious tunes as it glowed a deep purple.

A blast was fired causing boulders to break loose and fall or roll towards the army.

"Wow. Not bad." Ashi exclaimed with a big grin.

Ariel smiled with a satisfied smirk. And then, Ashi ran forward and slammed into the remaining soldiers in the path. She shoved them backwards into each other, till they all came out at the bottom of the mountain, and they fell backwards onto the spears of their allies.

Ashi then delivered several punches, kicks and slaps to the faces of the soldiers. When a group lowered their spears at her Ariel looked up at the sky, and lifted up her trident. It let out the melodious sound again and fired a purple beam of magic into the sky, thunder crackled which caused the soldiers to look up.

And bolts of purple lightning shot down from the sky, striking the spear wielding Soldiers. Ashi looked up at Ariel who was making her way down the path, slowly due to her feet, and continued to beat the other soldiers. All the time, Ariel waved her trident and shot out balls of electricity, shot beams of energy, or caused lightning to shoot from the sky onto the army.

Soon the army was defeated. Ashi has blood on her which Ariel offered a cloth to wash off. The mermaid turned away from the carnage, shivering. She didn't really like fighting to the death, she'd been ill the first time she'd been forced to eliminate a dangerous foe whilst training with the infamous mermaids of white cap bay.

However something caught her eye.

~Wait, something moved up there!~ She alerted Ashi.

Ashi and Ariel began to run back to the mountain. Ashi felt her heart pounding, for she recognized the black robes of the figure, but hoped she was wrong. She whistled sharply, and the giant avian from before swooped down. It scooped up Ashi in his talons, and the girl thought Ariel would be left behind, but an energy whip shot from the trident to wrap around her waist. So, now Ariel was being pulled up with her.

"Ariel, how did you do that?" Ashi called down.

~I learned sea-weed whipping from the Mermaids of White Cap Bay,~ Ariel answered. ~I didn't know the Trident could form a whip, but I thought I'd give it a shot.~

Suddenly, the bird screeched in horror, and looking down the two women spotted an arrow being notched to shoot. Ashi gasped, and swung herself and Ariel back and forth, before leaping through the air. Ariel put her feet on the bottom of the fork end of the trident, and held onto it like a pogo-stick. And when its spear tips hit the ground, there wasn't a massive shock, or pain from landing hard. As a purple light spread out like a cushion, thus Ariel landed safely.

In the meantime, Ashi caught the arrow before it hit Jack in the back of his head, and clenched it tight in her hand.

A torrent of arrows then rained down in their direction, nearly catching them by surprise. Ariel zapped a few away while Ashi held up a slab of rock to catch the rest. Once that was out of the way they saw something walking towards them from the mountain mist. It was female dressed all in black with a headdress in the shape of Aku's horns and a mask.

"Mother?"

To be continued...