All day, Eric was forced to silently watch as Vanessa planned their wedding. She ordered Louis to make a large cake, five dress makers were hired to make her wedding gown, and dozens of servants were put to work organizing flower arrangements. The priest was requested, the organist was chosen, and the honeymoon location was picked. Eric hated every bit of it. He wanted to scream. To make matters worse, Ariel kept spying on them. Eric caught her peaking around the corner more than once and each time, he saw the pain in her face. She wasn't smiling today. He longed to tell her that he had nothing to do with the marriage planning, but communication was getting more and more complicated between them.

` When the wedding barge was ready, Vanessa and Eric went onboard and were shown to their separate dressing rooms. A manservant formally attended Eric. The prince didn't like to be waited on but Vanessa had insisted.

All dressed in his finest suit of clothes, Eric stood at the end of the deck. There were several nobles gathered on either side of the aisle. Eric could hear them gossiping about the suddenness of the wedding and the unknown origin of the bride. He tried for the thousandth time to move his legs, his arms, anything but he was completely immobilized.

Let's go, handsome, Vanessa said in his head. She came out of her dressing room and stood beside Eric. Tell the organist to start the music.

Eric nodded to Grimsby who then nodded to the musician. Eric and Vanessa began to walk towards the priest on the purple carpet with blue trim that was laid across the deck. The wedding guests bowed and curtsied as they walked by. Eric heard Max growl when they passed him. Good boy, he thought. Then he heard his dog whining. Did the witch just kick my dog? he wondered angrily.

"Dearly beloved," the priest whined. "We are gathered here on this vessel to join this man and this woman together in, uh, holy matrimony." The priest was talking slowly. He kept squinting down at his book, trying to read the passage clearly. "Eric, do you take Vanessa to be your lawfully wedded wife for as long as you both shall live?"

Say it. Say, "I do."

"I do," Eric said. No! He thought. No, I don't! Can't anyone tell how strange I am acting? I"m clearly under a spell here!

"Ah yes, and do you, Vanessa," the priest continued. Suddenly, a flock of birds swooped down and attacked the enchantress. She squealed and ducked. The priest hardly noticed. Eric couldn't move. But the rest of the ship broke out in chaos. "Take Eric to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Vanessa screamed again.

"Then by the power invested in me, um-"

The deck was being attacked by all sorts of sea creatures. Crabs, starfish, seagulls, and some seals did everything they could to bother Vanessa. Eric was still facing the priest. He wished he could see what was going on behind him. From Vanessa's yelling, he thought it would be worth it. There was so much noise. Eric couldn't distinguish much.

But then, he heard the sound of breaking glass. Like a wave washing away a sand castle, he felt the magic seep out of him. The spell was broken. He stumbled forward and turned around. Vanessa's necklace lay shattered at Ariel's feet. Ariel! He rubbed his eyes and watched in amazement as a light from the necklace traveled up around Ariel. She looked scared. Eric could hear Vanessa's voice singing but when he glanced over at the witch, her mouth was closed. What? Eric thought. The light reached Ariel's throat and plunged inside of her. She touched her neck and suddenly, she was the one singing.

"Ariel?" Eric asked.

"Eric!" Ariel said. A warm feeling filled Eric's chest. She said his name.

Max barked and ran up to Ariel, looking back at his master and barking again. Ariel smiled at him and then at the prince.

"You…" he said, his voice soft. "You can talk!" Eric ran to her. Suddenly he understood. Ariel had been under a spell just as he had been. She was, after all, his rescuer and the one he had been waiting for. Vanessa had stolen her voice. "You're the one!" He took the redhead's hands in his, wanting to kiss her right there in front of the setting sun.

"Eric, get away from her!" A strange voice said behind him, but he ignored it. Nothing could take his eyes away from his beautiful Ariel.

"It-it was you all the time!" Eric said excitedly. He pulled her hands to his chest and wrapped his own around her small waist. They were so close. He couldn't wait to kiss her.

"Oh, Eric, I-I wanted to tell you."

Eric closed his eyes and leaned down to finally place a kiss on her smiling lips just as the sun dipped beneath the ocean waves.

"Eric, no!" the strange voice screeched.

Ariel jerked away from Eric. His eyes snapped open in surprise. Her face was twisted in pain. She inhaled sharply and then slipped out of his arms. He tried to catch her, but the light was back and it was wrapping around her feet. He set her on the deck gently and was astonished to see that her feet had turned into fins. Ariel was a mermaid.

"Hahaha! You're too late!" Eric turned around and saw that the strange voice belonged to Vanessa. She cackled. "You're too late!" She reached her hands to the sky. Purple veins of lightning came down and surrounded her. She broke free of her wedding dress and in a flash of violet light, she turned into half an octopus. She was hideous, with white hair, blue eye shadow, and a pointed smile. Her tentacles were black, her skin almost purple. And she was huge. The wedding guests screamed as she crawled across the deck. She slithered past Eric and grabbed Ariel. Then she climbed onto the railing of the wedding barge. "So long, lover boy," she said. Her fat arms were around Ariel's neck. With one final cackle, she jumped over the side of the boat.

"Ariel!" Eric yelled. "No!"

"Eric," Grim said, grabbing Eric's shoulder. "What in all the blue ocean is going on here?"

"There's no time to explain, Grim," Eric said. He tore off his fancy suit coat, leaving a plain white shirt underneath. He peeled off his gloves and ran over to the row boat that was attached to the side of the barge.

"Eric, please. Just explain to me what's going on. I want to help," Grimsby said.

Quickly, Eric told him everything. He told him about meeting Vanessa and being trapped under her spell, he explained that Ariel was under a different spell the whole time, and he told Grimsby how he had fallen in love with Ariel even before she got her voice back. As soon as he finished, he lowered the boat into the water and began rowing.

"Eric! What are you doing?"

"Grim, I lost her once," Eric said without turning around. "I'm not going to lose her again."