Disclaimer: I don't own the Little Mermaid, though I absolutely love it :) Enjoy. Sorry for the long delay...
Ch 10-You've Got Mail!
After Ariel had assured Eric that Arianna was okay, she decided to see if she could get a hold of Cephan. Picking up a shell from the sand, she looked inside and seeing that it was hollow, spoke into it, "Message for Cephan son of Gilder: Have you found her yet? Let me know! From Ariel, daughter of Triton." Throwing the shell into the sea, she turned her back on her beloved sea and walked the path back to the castle.
Arriving in the room she was borrowing while she was human, Ariel had time to collect and ponder her thoughts. She had less than two days for Eric to truly kiss her and it had to happen soon or she would turn back into a mermaid and belong to Ursula. She shivered at the thought. Of course she didn't want that, but how was she supposed to get Eric to kiss her and bring back his sister before the sun set on the third day? She was up to her gills in something that she had no idea how to fix.
Arianna was already feeling better by the time that Cephan announced that he was going to show her the palace.
A shell came zooming out of nowhere and into Cephan's hand. Cephan immediately put his ear to it. After listening to it for a minute, he replied into it. "Message for Ariel, daughter of Triton: Yes I found her, wandering the streets of Atlantica. She's fine, but she isn't human anymore like you thought. Ursula has granted her un-spoken desire and she now has fins. But Ursula also put Arianna up to one of her quests. I won't say what that is, just know that it involves your father's prized possession." After his long reply, he took the shell, threw it and it zoomed off.
"So, what do we do now?" Arianna asked.
"Wanna see Ariel's room?"
Besides trying to find his fiancée, Phillip was waiting for his family to arrive. They were scheduled to arrive near mid day. Ever since grammar school, his family had teased him about the types of girls he found. Yes, they were beautiful but if you wanted to hold a conversation with them, expect it to last no longer than five seconds. His father always told him that marrying someone with either a title or who held very high respect, was someone you wanted to marry. That was the girl who was smart, pretty and respected. Phillip had always brushed him off but the girls he was with before he met Arianna didn't appeal to him the way they used to.
After he had lost count on how many girls he had dated, he still hadn't found the one who he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, he had just basically had given up. One day a messenger from the city of Avengale, Arianna's town, came saying that Queen of Avengale was trying to find her daughter, the Princess of Avengale, a husband since she was nearing nineteen years. Phillip had no idea why but he felt that he had needed to go to this town and meet the Princess. And thank God he did or he would still be searching for his princess and Arianna would still be sifting through suitors. Meeting her, he knew that she was the one and she had felt the same way about him. Now, they were engaged and soon to be married, if she ever decided to return.
Knocked out of his dreams, the messenger was announcing his family. "…their Majesties from Cornwalth, Lord Dauntor I and Lady Jessalyn.
Phillip ran down the steps of Arianna's castle, composing himself as the carriage pulled to a stop. The carriage door opened and out came his mother. His mother was very young, having Phillip at a young age, always said that she was 'a mother first, and then a Lady.' His father would comment that she needed to set straight her priorities and they would laugh. She stepped out and hugged Phillip. "Phillip! So this is Avengale, indeed. It is lovely just like you said, but you didn't give it justice."
"Phillip!" His father said, stepping off the carriage, with less grace then his wife."How are you dear boy?"
He hugged Phillip as Phillip said, "Fine."
"So, where is this, what did you say, 'beautiful, enchanted, smart girl' you've been talking about…nonstop?" Jessalyn asked.
"Oh, she needed a little bit more time to get ready." Phillip replied, "Besides, her mother and father would love to meet you, in the dining hall. I'm going to go see if Arianna is ready yet."
His parents mounted the steps to the castle and proceeded inside to meet Arianna's parents.
He went up to her room and still not seeing her, walked out to her balcony. "Arianna, where are you?" he whispered out loud, looking out to sea."
"Any luck?" Eric asked Ariel.
"I sent a message to Cephan and I haven't heard anything back from yet….."At that moment, a shell zoomed into Ariel's room.
Eric watched as she listened to this shell that had flown into her room. After a minute, she put the shell down. "So, Cephan found Arianna." Ariel said.
Eric let go of the breath he hadn't known he had been holding. "Good where is she? In the next town?"
"No. Ursula took her and forced her to do a quest for her."
"Who's Ursula?" Eric asked.
Ariel couldn't tell Eric about Ursula without telling Eric what she truly was, would she risk it?