After her meeting with Scuttle, Ashley glanced out the window and looked out toward the sea. "Maybe I'll let them know soon." She thought to herself.

When she got up the next day, she felt…different. Maybe a little stronger. She headed downstairs and brought her bag with her. As she headed outside, she could tell something was different about herself.

"Ashley? It's a little early, isn't it?" She looked up to see Brandon outside.

"Oh, it's just you." Ashley said. "I thought you were someone else for a moment."

"Hey, it's no big deal." Brandon told her. "Where were you headed, anyway?"

"I…don't remember." Ashley said. "I had a dream last night. It was almost as if something was calling me."

"You want to talk about it?" Brandon asked. She sat down on the steps and he sat beside her. "Can you remember anything from your dream?"

"I remember a crystal, a voice, some kind of figure." Ashley told him. "That's all I remember."

"What was this strange shape you saw?" Brandon asked.

"It was blacked out, shadowed." Ashley said. "I think it was a mermaid, but I couldn't tell."

"Interesting." Brandon said. Ashley got up to go and nearly tripped. Brandon caught her. "You alright?"

"I have a headache." Ashley told him.

"You should spend the rest of the day inside, resting." Brandon told her.

"Okay." Ashley said. "I'll try to take it easy." A few hours later, she woke up feeling a little better. She heard a sound outside her window. She drew back the curtain to see Scuttle on the rail.

"Hi." Ashley said.

"Oh, it's you again." Scuttle said. "Are you okay? You don't look so good."

"I've been feeling a little sick." Ashley told him. All of a sudden, she sneezed. Scuttle flew back a few feet. "Sorry."

"Guess you can't help it when you don't feel well." Scuttle pointed out.

"I've never felt this bad in my entire life." Ashley said.

"Perhaps you need to get out to sea again." Scuttle suggested.

A few hours later, she went into the beach cave and slowly lowered herself into the water. Once her lower body was in she allowed herself to fall into the water. It wasn't long before she was a mermaid again and swam into Ariel's Grotto. She sat down on a rock.

"It's been so long since I've seen you." She turned around.

"Ariel! I'm so glad to be back." Ashley told her.

"I am so glad to see you." Ariel said. "By the way, I found this." She held up a small pendant with an aquamarine stone in it. "I thought you should have it. It reminded me of you."

"Really?" Ashley asked. She looked at it. Suddenly, she put a hand to her forehead.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think I just remembered something." Ashley said. "About my mom."

"Here, if this could be the key to unlocking your memories of her…" Ariel placed it around Ashley's neck.

"Thank you." Ashley said. "Anything happen while I was gone?"

"Just some music practice." Ariel said. "And I explored a few sunken ships."

"Isn't that dangerous, Ariel?" Ashley asked. She liked her friend and all, but was concerned about her safety.

"Most of the human items in here are found from those ships." Ariel explained. "Besides, I'm not just that little girl everyone needs to protect."

"I know." Ashley told her. "I wish I had the freedom to stay here, but I know my family would panic."

"Same here." Ariel said.

"I wish I could help you get to the true surface, Ariel." Ashley said. "So you could see how beautiful it is."

"I know, but…" Ariel looked at her in surprise. "Ashley, your tail…" Ashley looked down. Her tail was glowing and her body was in a lot of pain.

"Oh, no. This never happened before." Ashley said. "I won't be a mermaid much longer if this keeps up."

"Calm down." Ariel told her. "When we met, you said something about magic affecting you. The reason your being able to switch forms like that."

"Is there somewhere near the surface where no one will see us?" Ashley asked.

"This way." Ariel grabbed her wrist and helped her swim toward the rocky area by the surface. They both pulled up.

"You two okay?" Scuttle asked.

"I was losing control of my transformation." Ashley told him.

"Ashley, it's normal again." Ariel told her. She looked down. Her tail was still there.

"I wonder…" Ashley jumped back into the sea and swam toward the Grotto. She pulled out three pearls.

"What is it?" Ariel asked.

"I need to try something." Ashley told her. She held her hand toward the pearls and concentrated. They began to levitate and circle around her wrist.

"No way." Ariel said. "How are you doing that?"

"I don't know." Ashley told her. "But I think it's magic." She formed the pearls into a small bracelet. They landed around Ariel's wrist.

"That's amazing, Ashley." Ariel told her.

"Guess it's a gift." Ashley said.

"I hope you're not related to the Sea Witch." Ariel told her. "She's terrible."

"I've heard about her. She uses dark magic to complete her spells." Ashley said. "If it's one thing I know, it's that not all witches use dark magic."

"How do you know so much about this?" Ariel asked.

"When I was eight I went through a Wiccan phase." Ashley told her. "It lasted a couple years before I switched to writing."

"Wiccan?" Ariel repeated.

"They were healers who used natural remedies to heal the sick." Ashley explained. "I think that's how the whole witch thing got started anyway."

"Whoa, that's cool." Ariel said.

"I promise, I'll try to return as soon as I can." Ashley told her. She noticed the sun starting to set.

"Thanks for coming by, Ashley." Ariel said.

"Anytime." She swam up to the surface.

Ariel swam out of her grotto and was headed home herself. "Ariel, where've you been? I haven't seen you all day." Sebastion told her.

"Sorry. I've been a little busy." Ariel told him.

Ashley went back to her room. She decided to see if it was true. She went over to her desk and placed her hand over a feather. Surely enough, it started to levitate. "I really do know magic." Ashley realized. She fell back on her bed, tired from the day's events.