Alana sat up straighter when she saw Eric coming. Finally! He would explain where Ariel was, and everything would be quickly sorted out. All would be well once more, and Ariel could come and visit for the rest of the day, maybe.

"Hello!" she smiled and waved at him.

"Alana?!" he cried, in great confusion, dropping to the sand in front of her. "Have you seen Ariel? Please?"

Alana felt a great surge of nerves. Nothing about Eric's manner of soothing, and if he hadn't seen Ariel either…

"No." she said truthfully. "Haven't you?"

Eric looked to be on the verge of tears, and his voice was jagged. "Not since last night. Everyone I know has looked all over the castle and the grounds, and we fought last night, and-"

Alana gasped. "Do you think she ran away?"

Eric laughed without humor. "I almost wish she had. Alana, I think she may have been kidnapped."

Alana slid down the rock slowly. "It can't be…" her voice trailed off. "There has to be another explanation."

"I hope so." Eric said solemnly. "But I can't think of what it might possibly be. Is there any way she could be with you?"

"No." Alana shook her head. "We got here a little late, but we all got here together. So best case scenario would've been her floating a bit in the water, but she wouldn't have gotten far enough for us to not notice her, even if she swam."

Eric could feel the hot flames of panic coursing up and down his body. "Alana," he said, never expecting a scenario where he'd be confiding her. "I don't know what to do. Please help me."

Alana felt pressure at this, but knew she had to do her best to help. This was for her baby sister, this was for Ariel. "Put up a reward for anyone who finds her. Have your men canvas the kingdom. I'll…I'll tell Daddy. He has a whole room full of elixirs and such, maybe something can help. "

"Thank you, Alana. Sincerely." Eric stood up. "I have to keep looking."

"Godspeed, young prince." Alana said, disappearing back beneath the waves.

…

Ariel's head was still clouded as Devon approached her and sat down next to her. She rose to swim away, but Devon placed a firm hand on her shoulder and guided her back down again.

"Rest, fairy, you've had a trying day." Devon said soothingly, brushing her hair off her shoulder.

Ariel wanted to yell at him to get his hands off her, to say that his fingers were too cold and too unwanted to be anywhere near her, to say that she was not a fairy, and didn't like being called that, but her mouth was still numb and her tongue felt swollen, so she just scrunched up her face and tried to lean away.

"Where am I?" she said softly, struggling to get each word out.

"Why darling, you're home."

"No-o-o. I'm not." She said firmly, despite the stammering. She had never been in this room before!

"Yes, you are." Devon insisted. "You've had a bad dream, is all. You were a bit worn out from all the festivities, and now you're just a little disoriented."

Ariel shook her head vigorously. There was no way this was real! She had never been here! She knew what her home in Atlantica looked like, and she knew what her home with Eric looked like, and neither of them looked like this!

"Where are my sisters?!" Ariel demanded.

Devon looked very confused by this. "Why, they're at your childhood home. Ariel, you haven't lived with your sisters in over a year."

"Where is Eric?"

Devon looked a little put off by this, but still spoke with absolute certainty. "Who is Eric? We don't know an Eric."

Ariel shook her head, beginning to cry again. "No! No! No!-" she buried her face in her hands. He was real! She knew he had to be! She remembered the castle and the beach and the cabin and how her rubbed little circles on her thumb whenever he held her hand. She remember the laughing during their weekend trips and the stress from the past weeks and exactly how Chef Louie's lemon tarts tasted. She could still sing a melody and could almost hear him echo it back. Eric had to be real.

"Ariel, here." Devon held out a glass of muddy liquid. "You had a nightmare. This will help."

Ariel shook her head, pushing the glass away, pushing him away.

"Ariel, I insist. I worry about you."

"Oh, why do you care!" she exclaimed, finally accepting the gulp he poured down her throat.

She heard him speak before she began to feel extremely dizzy again, but she hoped she had dreamed this part up. If not, then she knew even less than she thought.

She swore she had heard him firmly say. "Ariel, I am your husband."

"No!" she yelled, jolting up and swimming for the door. "No!" she kept calling as she raced down the deserted hall, dizzy and lightheaded still. This wasn't her home! She had to get out! She had to get her legs back.

She was quick, but she this strange drink in her system, and Devon caught her quickly, gripping her shoulders and steering her around to face him. She thrashed and shrieked and he quickly put his hand over her mouth.

"Ariel!" he said, his voice deep and rough. "What you think is true is not. I don't know what you're blathering about, but I can tell you what has happened."

She kept thrashing, but she was growing weaker by the second. It was harder to resist. Oh, what was in her head?

"You are Ariel, seventh daughter of Triton. You grew up with your sisters."

Ariel steadied herself a little bit. This much was true, maybe he would tell her where Eric went. Why was he doing this to her? He had barely even spoken to her before!

"We met at a party the night before your choral debut, when you were sixteen. We did not get a chance to dance, and both of us lamented this. I invited your family back to my estate, and we found ourselves to be quite in love. We've been married for several months now, but you've only now moved into the estate. For the sake of publicity. There are rumors of Adella beginning courtship now, and it's more appropriate for the youngest to marry if the other sisters are at least dating. You're just not used to the estate. You just aren't used to it, darling."

She had stopped yelling now, so he gently removed his hand and tugged her closer, and continued speaking. "You may not be used to the estate, but you're not fighting me, right?" he spoke in a way that presumed the answer to be 'no'.

"Where is Eric?" she said matter-of-factly, and even through her haze, she could see the shadows that crept across his face.

"Who?" he asked, his tone innocent.

"What did you do with him? With me?"

"I don't know who you're talking about, darling." Devon tugged her back.

Ariel ripped herself from his grasp, and struck him across the face, delighting in the noise it made, even beneath the water.

Devon's nose twitched a few times, and he tightened his grasp on Ariel's left wrist, removing his right hand to rub at his face. He glared down at her, but if you had asked him, he would've insisted there was only love in his eyes.

"You're tired. You need rest. Food. Let's go."

"I don't want to!" Ariel protested, but his grip was too tight.

"You know, I think I have a new room for you. Hopefully this one will be less jarring." He dragged her down the stairs and into a corridor that wasn't lit, or dusted. It seemed no one had been there in ages. Fumbling with keys clipped to his jacket, he opened one of the heavy doors and pulled her in.

"Keep quiet in here until you can finally realize the truth." He spat. "Ariel, I love you, and you love me. You know this."

He slipped out the door and left her there, with just enough strength to collapse on the bed, the potion affecting her more. She ran her left hand through her hair, trying to stay as still as possibly, trying to regain some sense of balance. There was a snag, and she held a shaky hand in front of her face, devastated to see a ring she didn't recall, a ring Eric did not place of her finger, was most definitely on her finger.

Could this be reality?

…

Alana didn't know how to break the news to her father, but she knew that Triton had to know. Moreover, he may be able to help with whatever potions he had. She knocked on the door of his study, wishing she had backup, but not quite ready to break the news to her sisters yet. No one knew how it happened, if it happened, but she was a little afraid they would assume she was taken because they were late.

Knock knock. "Daddy?"

"Oh, come in!"

"Daddy, I have something to tell you, but I need you to keep calm." She said quietly, noticing how the nervousness her father now felt showed so clearly on his face. She became very glad she hadn't brought her sisters now.

…

Artista was absentmindedly thumbing through a magazine, trying to take her mind off the events of today. Just as she was about to read an article about a great new kelp treatment, she heard her father yell "WHAT?"

An impressive feat, she reasoned, as he was across the castle, in his study.

She decided to investigate, and see what was the matter.

She knocked lightly and pushed into his study, seeing a strange scene before her. A framed portrait lay on the ground, glass smashed, with the trident laying in the rubbish. Triton was seething. His fists were clenched, his face was scrunched up, his eyes were flaming, and he wasn't even looking at Alana! What could she have possibly done?

"Is…everything okay?" Artista bravely asked, swimming only slightly forward.

"You tell her!" Triton snapped. "I'm going to kill that boy." He lunged for his trident, and Alana held out her hands to stop him.

"Oh, please, Daddy, no! It wasn't his fault!"

"Serves me right!" Triton spoke on, pushing his daughter to the side. "I knew humans were bad, I knew they were trouble, and I knew something bad would happen if Ariel kept getting involved. Oh, why didn't she just listen to me in the first place? If she had never married him, then she'd still be safe! She'd-" he cut himself off there, heading for the door.

"Daddy, no!" Alana exclaimed, rushing after him. "There's a better way than this – it's not his fault!"

Artista swam of with them. What was happening?

"Daddy!" Alana screamed. "Don't hurt him!"

She saw Alana's urgency, and knew that Triton was going to do something he'd probably regret. "Daddy!" she yelled, trying to help Alana, and seemingly Eric out.

"He has lost Ariel!" Triton yelled back. "That never would've happened if she had stayed a mermaid."

"Daddy, she loves him!"

Review, please!