A.N: Thank you to those who have reviewed and a Huge thank you to Arielle Ceres who is following both this and my other story. Here is the next chapter, I hope you enjoy reading it as much I enjoyed wirting it.
Chapter Ten
Around Midday Anna swims up to the ocean surface like she has done every day for the past six months. As she swims closer to the shore she sees someone sat on a wooden pier. After swimming for a few minutes she realises that it is Emily and that she is crying. When she is close enough she calls out Emily's name. Upon hearing her name being called Emily looks up and is shocked at first, she is sure that she has seen Anna only a few hours ago and she'd had a pair of legs. Anna looks at Emily curiously.
"I saw you a few hours ago and you had legs and was inside the palace with Luke" Emily exclaims, completely bewildered by what's going on.
"Okay, as far as I remember I haven't had a pair of legs since you and I switched places" she says.
"But I saw you" Emily protests. Anna sighs.
"Well, there's only one way I'm going to prove to that it wasn't me" Anna says. With that she ducks back under water. A minute later she jumps out of the water, makes a semicircle shape with her body and plunges back into the water. Emily is confused by what she has seen, Anna still has a tail.
"But how? I don't understand" Emily says.
"Well it wasn't me that you saw, unless I've got an evil twin that I didn't know about and looks exactly like me" Anna says. Then she has a thought.
"What if? No, would she? Well she is a witch, she could probably use the ring I gave her to make herself look like me and make it seem as if I've returned" Anna thinks to herself. Emily notices Anna's concentration and wonders what she's thinking.
"Anna, are you okay?" Emily asks her.
"Emily, wait here, I'll be right back but there's something I need to check to confirm my theory" she says.
"What theory?" Emily yells while Anna starts to swim away.
"I'll explain later" Anna yells back. She then disappears under the surface of the ocean
To look for Medusa while Emily ponders what's happening as she still doesn't understand the situation.
After hours of searching Anna comes across a dark cave. She decides to investigate and enters. Inside she finds shelves dug into the rocks filled with all sorts of vials and jars containing unusual ingredients that she assumes are for making potions. She also finds a cauldron that looks as if it has been used quite recently. After having looked around for a few minutes she assumes that the cave is Medusa's home. She also notices that Medusa is not in the cave thus confirming her theory. After thinking for a few minutes she decides that she is going to need help if she is going to succeed in stopping Medusa from carrying out her plan, whatever it may be. She wonders who to ask and then realises that King Neptune should be able to help so she heads to the underwater palace to ask him. She swims to the palace as fast as she can knowing that time is of the essence and so very limited. When she gets there she goes straight to the throne room, hoping that that is where King Neptune is. She is in luck, he is sat on the throne and another merman is next to him. She peeks in to check that she would not be disturbing anything important, but then she remembers the time limit and rushes in. She stops before the king and bows.
"I'm sorry your highness but there is something important I need to speak to you about" she says urgently.
"One moment Anna" he says to her after turning to face her. He then turns back to the other merman and speaks discreetly.
"We'll talk more later" he says. The other merman then leaves. King Neptune the returns his attention to Anna who is before him. There is a moment of silence.
"So Anna, what seems to be the problem?" he asks her.
"Well" she says as she begins to explain all that has happened recently from the engagement party to the present moment, with all the details. There are a few moments of silence after she finishes her story.
"So that's why I need your help, do you understand?" she asks him. King Neptune looks at her for a moment.
"What I understand is that you lied to me, you told me you came from another ocean, but you didn't, you came from the land. I should have realised when I met you, I admit I had my suspicions but I thought it was just me. Your skin is too light for you have to have been born in the ocean" he says.
"It doesn't matter where I come from, what matters is whether or not you're going to help me before it's too late" she says, her eyes pleading with him. He can tell from her voice that it might not be long before she breaks down and cries. After a minute he decides what he is going to do.
"You lied to me and fro that I won't help you "he says.
"But" she starts, trying to think of something to say to get him to change his mind but nothing came.
"Fine, if you won't help then I'll just have to sort things out myself" she says before furiously swimming away feeling herself on the verge of tears. A few minutes later the other merman returns to the throne room.
"Your Highness, are you alright?" he asks after noticing that the king appears to be distressed. The king then tells him what he was told by Anna.
"What are you going to do sir?" the other merman asks.
"Anna lied to me and Emily disobeyed me, what should I do?" he asks.
"I think you should help them, I'm sure there is an explanation as to why they did what they did" the other merman answers. The King thinks for a minute and wonders what to do.
Meanwhile Anna is swimming as fast as she can to get to Emily so they can discuss what to do. A short while later she gets to Emily, who is still sat in the same place. Her head is bowed and her legs are dangling over the edge of the pier. When Anna's head breaks the surface of the water, Emily looks up at her. Anna then swims over to Emily and hauls herself up to the pier so that she is leaning on the pier with her tail hanging off the end. She takes a minute to catch her breath.
"Emily, the sea witch, Medusa has assumed my identity and is using it to marry Luke" Anna says.
"Anna, slow down, the sea witch did what?"Emily exclaims.
"The sea witch" Anna starts explaining slowly, "has made herself look like me and is going to marry Luke as if she were me". Emily looks at Anna for a minute, gobsmacked.
"We have to get to the ship and stop the wedding" Emily says. Anna nods then suddenly Emily stands up and remembers the time limit.
"What is it?" Anna asks, curious as to what Emily has seen.
"It's nearly sunset; we don't have much time left" Emily replies.
"What do you mean? Hold on, Luke is getting married and it's nearly sunset; the time limit on the spell is almost up" Anna says. She spots a passing seagull and whistles to get its attention. It notices her and dives down her to her. It lands on the pier. Anna gives it instructions and it takes off again, squawking as it goes. A minute later it is joined by many other seagulls as well as an assortment of other birds and water creatures. The newly formed crowd flies to the ship where the wedding is in progress. The Bride is at the bottom of the isle about to begin her journey to the altar. Just then a loud noise is heard as more than 100 birds dive bomb the ship and spread out to attack the people on the ship. Soon there is mass panic as the people start running around on the deck trying to get away from the birds. A few minutes later seagulls start diving into the water and fill the beaks with water. Then they fly above the ship and dump the water onto some of the people running around on the ship, soaking them through completely. This continues for a while.