Chapter Fourteen: In Which Apple Learns the REAL Story of the Little Mermaid

Oh Father Ocean, and Beauteous Love,

Who rose from the sea to spread joy to all;

You now invisible to those below,

Witness the vow of passion that is mine.

Wherever you may hide, great artisans,

Reveal your immortal strength to me.

I am fathoms deep in the need of needs;

I crave the glance of the ocean's great child.

He more the son than anyone may claim.

He, who watches while the Father will rest.

He, the jewel all long to clutch to their hearts.

I have the jewel within my breaking chest

While the others seek what they do not have.

The injustice of numbers is most strong,

But the mysteries of within are strong;

Therein lies what makes all people sing out,

Be they of sea, land, sky, or even hell.

Let others begat offspring from the land,

I will not sing for just mere endurance

But for the mighty jewel of my strong heart.

For though my chest is broken with hardship

The treasure inside remains golden bright.

I shall prove myself by seeking a crown,

A crown worthy of a shining queen,

A crown worthy of my mighty jewel.

Therein great silent ones who watch the world,

Witness the solemn promise of Raidne;

She in fathoms deep of the need of needs.

Cheer the weak one on to glad victory

As she journeys to dark Hades and back.

Apple sighed as she put down her mirrorpad. And I thought riddlish was confusing, she thought ruefully.

Thanks to her sleepless night of questioning the morality of Raven's role in her story, Apple hadn't been able to memorize that soliloquy from Raidne's Labor. Miss Kelperman had been most irate about it. Thankfully, Percy managed to convince her to give Apple a second chance. Miss Kelperman begrudgingly agreed, but told Apple that she had to turn in an analysis of the speech as part of her make-up. She also made it a point to tell Apple that if she failed to deliver on either count, there'd be a big, fat "F" in store!

Now Apple was sitting in the royals' study hall, trying to force the words of Alexandra, the great Atlantean playwright, to make sense. Some of the works she had studied in Professor Nimble's class at Ever After High used flowery language, but they were a lot more straightforward than this! She knew that the main character, Raidne, was saying something important (important enough for this to be one of the most famous speeches in mermish literature) but for the life of her, Apple couldn't figure out what Raidne was going on about. And she had been banned from looking up a summary online. All Apple was allowed to do was pull up the speech on her mirrorpad.

"Percy," Apple pleaded, "Can't I have a clue as to who this 'Father Ocean' is?" Percy looked up from his math homework to give his friend a sympathetic glance.

"Sorry Apple, but you heard Kelperman: 'No help, No hints, Prince's honor.'"

Apple groaned. Even below the sea, princes were duty-bound to keep promises. Especially promises made to maidens. Even if the maiden in question was an old-maid literature teacher with the disposition of a bull walrus with shingles.

"However…"Percy reflected, as a crafty gleam appearing in his bright, green eyes. "She didn't make every prince promise that…"

"Are you sure it's OK?" Atticus asked dubiously.

"Atticus, Miss Kelperman's being totally unreasonable. She can't expect Apple to do this with no background. It's like asking a seal to balance a ball on its nose."

"Seals do pull that off, Percy." Atticus said dryly.

"Only when someone teaches them! Come on, it's the princely thing to do."

"I don't know…"

"Atticus. You'll get to talk history. And Apple will actually listen." Percy said.

After years of trying to discuss antiquity with his peers (and failing miserably), Atticus leaped at the opportunity.

"I'm in!"

"So who is Father Ocean?" Apple asked. She figured she might as well start from the beginning.

"That's what the ancient mermaids used to call Poseidon, since he created all life in the ocean and therefore, all merfolk are descended from him." Atticus explained.

"Poseidon's everyone's grandfather here?" Apple asked amazed. That hadn't been mentioned in his biography, only that he once ruled the merpeople.

"Well, he's my direct ancestor, but it's not literally true for all merpeople. You see, when Poseidon created all the plants and creatures that dwell in the sea, he also created water spirits called oceanides, to help care for his creations. The oceanides, which were feminine in nature, mated with human men and from those unions, the first mermaids were born. The mermaids took on the oceanides' work after the oceanides faded away. And before Poseidon disappeared from Atlantis, he made a merman named Triton king of the Atlanteans. Triton actually was Poseidon's son in the traditional sense and the royal house of Tritinius is descended from him, and consequently, Poseidon."

"How could water spirits marry human men?" Apple wondered.

"They didn't, Apple. They mated with them." Atticus said. Apple didn't seem to understand the distinction, so Atticus spelled it out: "You know: just sex, no commitment."

Apple was scandalized. "But, but…that's…"

"Just the way it was back then." Atticus finished. "It's not like the oceanides and humans could have homes together, Apple. Their needs were too different. It was the only way the oceanides could carry on their line at all. Besides, sex outside of marriage didn't matter so much then. It's doubtful that the oceanides even knew what marriage was, they were pretty primitive beings."

Apple blushed. She understood Atticus's explanation, but extramarital coitus was an awkward topic for the rather conservative princess. She decided to move on to the next question:

"What does Raidne mean when she says: "Beauteous Love, who rose from the sea?"

"She's referring to Aphrodite, the goddess of love, who was supposedly born from mystical sea foam."

Apple was confused. "But I thought the deity of love was male." She said.

"You're thinking of Cupid. Aphrodite is his mother and she was the main love god first." Atticus explained.

So Aphrodite must be C.A. Cupid's grandmother, Apple thought. She wondered if Aphrodite was the same "Ya-Ya" who sent Cupid those yummy chocolates that she shared with everyone last fall.

"Why does Raidne call them 'invisible' and 'hidden artisans?' " Apple asked.

"At that point in history, the mythological gods had essentially disappeared. When most people stopped paying tribute to them, they decided there wasn't much point in hanging around on earth. So they all retired to Mount Olympus and nobody's seen them since. Except Cupid, since people kept believing in him. Probably because people kept believing in love."

"But why him and not Aphrodite?"

Atticus looked thoughtful. "There's a lot of debate regarding that. I personally think it's because Cupid was able to adapt to changing times, and his mother wasn't."

Apple nodded. That made sense.

Atticus continued: "Anyway, Raidne calls the gods hidden artisans because even though they can't be seen anymore, they're still the ones who shaped the world."

"So, Raidne is praying to Poseidon and Aphrodite?" Apple guessed.

Atticus smiled. "You got it. Can you figure out what she's praying about?" He prompted.

Apple frowned. "Well, it says she's in 'fathoms deep in the need of needs…'" Suddenly, Apple brightened. "I've got it! She's in love! She's praying to Aphrodite and everyone knows that love is the greatest need of all!"

Atticus grinned even wider. "Right! Who do you think she's in love with?"

Apple thought aloud. "The speech says: 'I crave the glance of the ocean's great child; he more the son than anyone may claim; he, who watches while the Father will rest'…it must be Triton, since he's Poseidon's biological child and the appointed king!"

"Excellent deduction!" Atticus praised.

"Woo-whoo! Way to go Apple!" Percy cheered.

"But I still don't get the whole part about the jewel and the chest." Apple admitted.

"In the play, Triton is repeatedly referred to as the jewel that all mermaids hope to obtain." Atticus explained. "And the 'breaking chest' refers to Raidne's broken heart."

"So, Raidne loves Triton, but he's in love with someone else?" Apple asked.

"Not quite. All the mermaids want to marry Triton and Raidne worries that she doesn't have much of a chance. In the next line, 'others seek what they do not have,' she implies that the other mermaids only want to wed Triton for his position and not for himself, as she does."

"OK, that explains the line that comes after. Raidne is saying it's not fair that there's so much competition. But what about the 'mysteries within?'"

"That refers to inner strength. According to Raidne, inner strength gives every person courage, no matter where they come from."

"And what about the next two lines: 'Let others begat offspring from the land, I will not sing for just mere endurance?'"

"That refers to the gender imbalance at that time."

"Gender imbalance?"

"You see back in ancient times, mermen like Triton were a rarity. As in only one in every twenty babies born to mermaids was male. In order to keep their race alive, mermaids had to do what their oceanide ancestors did: mate with human men. It's why merpeople have such powerful songs," Atticus explained. "Mermaids would sing to men on the shore, seduce them with their songs, mate with them, and then leave. Eventually, the mermaids would have children, mainly daughters, raise them on their own, and the cycle would continue."

"But you're here," Apple pointed out. "And now there's lots of mermen. What changed?"

"Centuries after Raidne's time, a couple of magical mermaid sisters came up with a way to alter mermish genetics and solve the gender imbalance problem. After that, all Atlantean mermaids were able to marry mermen and form stable families. Eventually, seducing humans was outlawed since it was unnecessary and basically rape."

Apple shuddered. "It's sounds terrible…for the men and the mermaids."

"Well, it wasn't so bad for the most part," Atticus said. "Most of the men involved were unattached sailors and they usually had no memory of what happened. As for the mermaids, it was just a simple matter of necessity. But there were exceptions." He added darkly.

"Like what?"

"There were some mermaids who chose to drown the men right after they mated with them."

Apple was appalled. "Why?!"

"Because they wanted to. These murdering mermaids were referred to as 'sirens' and today, the term describes anyone who likes to be cruel for the fun of it."

"Like three certain sisters we know and love." Percy added sarcastically.

"So when Raidne says: 'Let others begat offspring from the land, I will not sing for just mere endurance,' she's saying that she won't mate with a human just to keep her race alive, she only wants Triton." Apple said.

"That's right." Atticus confirmed.

"And when she describes how the treasure within her breaking chest remains golden, she's really talking about her own inner strength."

"I do believe she's got it!" Percy grinned.

"But what about finding-a-crown part?" Apple asked. "Is that a metaphor too?"

"No, it's literal. Raidne decides that to prove that she's the best bride for Triton by looking for a rare crown that's been lost for centuries." Atticus clarified. "And at the end of the speech, she asks Poseidon and Aphrodite to bless her quest."

"How romantic!" Apple sighed. This soliloquy was rather wonderful when you understood the context. Apple thought the princes in wooing class at Ever After High could learn a thing or two from the passionate Raidne. "Does she succeed?"

Atticus smiled. "Sorry, I don't do spoilers. You'll have to read it yourself. But if you do, you should take this:" He reached into his knapsack and pulled out a battered, well-loved book of Atlantean history. "This will help you get the whole story."

Apple enjoyed Raidne's Labor so much, she read the entire play in one evening. She spent hours soaking in the poetry of Alexandra's verses and alternately looking up references to immediate post-Poseidon life. The next day, she started reading the rest of Atticus's history book.

Mermish history was fascinating to Apple; it was filled with one adventure after another! The pages powerfully retold the stories of mermaids throughout the ages. Raidne, the first queen of Atlantis (unless you counted Poseidon's wife Amphitrite, of course). Megara, the great warrior princess who slew the terrible Ceta. Idola, the valiant explorer who braved uncharted waters. Dionne, the wily queen and military strategist who devised the plan to defeat the bloodthirsty harpies once and for all. Sandrine, the sorceress who rerouted a giant whirlpool and saved the city from destruction. Alexandra, the prolific playwright, poet, and historian. Stella, the queen whose inventions brought about a new era of prosperity and modernization. Cynthia, the unusually strong princess who saved an entire ship from sinking singlehandedly. Catherine and Cassandra, the sorceress/magician sisters who fixed the unfortunate aspect of mermish biology that had plagued the Atlanteans for centuries.

After Catherine and Cassandra solved the gender imbalance issue, the number of events featuring great mermen significantly increased. But this did nothing to diminish the further accomplishments of mermaids.

Halfway through the chronicle, Apple found a story that she recognized. A well-known fairytale that had never been represented at Ever After High for some unknown reason.

The story of the Little Mermaid.

Whoever rewrote the story as a fairytale had taken some creative liberties. The real little mermaid, Princess Lena, was actually the eldest of her sisters and the crown princess. The whole plot point about mermaids living three hundred years and turning into sea foam at the end of their lives was utter nonsense since merpeople lived and died no differently than humans. And it was obvious that merfolk had souls like everybody else.

A lot of details turned out to be true, though. Lena was indeed petite (at least, petite for a mermaid. Her entire length was 5"6, fins included.). She was by far the prettiest of her sisters with bright golden hair, dainty features, and eyes as blue as the deepest sea. She did possess a singing voice that was exquisite, even by high mermish standards. She did venture to the surface one night and save a human prince from drowning. She did fall hopelessly head over fins in love with said prince at first sight. She did watch his palace for several nights, just to catch another glimpse of him. And she did visit a sea-witch to gain human legs.

Back then transfiguration between races was a risky practice, especially when witches with dark proclivities were involved. The sea-witch told the little mermaid that the transformation process would be extremely painful and that the pain would linger even after she got her legs. Every step Lena took would feel like walking on sharp glass. And as payment, Lena would have to surrender her greatest talent: her magnificent voice. Lena agreed to all this and ventured to the surface to be with her prince.

One thing that the fairytale hadn't mentioned was the political consternation Lena's choice caused. The merfolk of Atlantis were scandalized; how could the crown princess abandon her people?! And for a man she hadn't even had a conversation with?! And who would be the next ruler?! Tension was high as the people demanded that King Alpheus either force Lena to return or choose a new successor from his daughters, nieces, and nephews.

But Alpheus did nothing. Maybe he believed that there was nothing wrong with Lena's decision. Maybe he resented her at the time and figured that she had exiled herself. Or maybe he was simply indifferent and negligent (King Alpheus was not the best of rulers). Whatever the reason, he didn't insist that she return. Nor did he make any attempt to choose a new heir to the throne. The only thing he did do was forbid all Atlanteans from visiting the surface, save himself and his other daughters. Hence, there was no opportunity for anyone else to intervene or alert the human kingdom of this situation.

Months went by, and the situation in Atlantis grew worse and worse. With not-so-peaceful demonstrations in the streets, several businesses going on strike out of protest, and fights between factions that supported different potential rulers, the progressive and prosperous kingdom of Atlantis entered a state of turmoil and decline.

All the while, "Lena the Dumb" resided on land with her precious prince. Far away from all the strife she had caused.

Then a shocking development occurred: the prince decided to marry someone else! He mistakenly believed that the princess his parents wanted him to marry was the same girl that rescued him from drowning (although the princess had nursed him back to health after Lena brought him ashore, so his affection wasn't entirely unfounded). And Lena made no attempt to correct him otherwise. This turn of events might have never reached the ears of the Atlantean public had one of the younger princesses not accidentally blabbed to the press.

When Lena's half shark-devoured corpse was discovered in the ocean a few days later, the rest of the story came out. The royal family had offered Lena an escape in the form of a magic dagger. If the prince's blood fell on her feet, they would turn back into fins and Lena would be free to return to Atlantis.

But Lena chose death. She stabbed herself with the dagger and tossed it into the ocean before drowning herself.

Whether Lena "The Dumb" Tritinius became a "daughter of the air" as the fairytale depicted wasn't mentioned at all. It was probably yet another artistic embellishment. But the end of Lena's story had terrible consequences for Atlantis.

King Alpheus finally took decisive action. He set the kraken on the prince's wedding ship. Then he sank the prince's entire island kingdom with the Trident.

Atlantis was never a kingdom that sank beneath the waves, Apple realized. Atlantis sunk a kingdom beneath the waves!

The majority of Atlanteans were outraged by the king's genocide. Alpheus was promptly dethroned and beheaded. Civil war broke out amongst the various political factions and Atlantis suffered for six whole years. The details of the war took up an entire chapter in the book.

At the darkest point of the war, Alpheus's sister, a wise mermaid named Melusine, prayed to Poseidon save Atlantis from self-destruction. For the first time in centuries, Poseidon provided direct divine intervention. He revealed to Melusine in a dream that the Trident would do the choosing from now on and that it would always pick the most worthy ruler, regardless of birth order.

All of the former king's nieces and nephews were gathered (the remaining princesses were killed long ago). Since they had all performed great deeds during the war, there was no need to issue challenges. Out of the ten eligible mermen and mermaids, King Atticus the Second was the first ruler to be selected by the Trident. And under his leadership, Atlantis began to recover.

Years later, Atticus the Second's five children competed for the throne in the first set of challenges. Princess Cora was chosen, and Atlantis continued to thrive in her care. And so Atlantis's unique system of succession was firmly established.

Suddenly, Apple didn't feel much like reading anymore. The story of the Little Mermaid wasn't nearly so beautiful now that she knew the whole story.

On the one hand, Lena defied her country's traditions, so perhaps what happened was the equivalent of having her story erased.

But the story hadn't been erased. Lena's name lived on and as far as Atlantis was concerned, not in good way. The history book depicted her as an irresponsible, selfish princess void of commonsense. It even mentioned that after her desertion, "Lena" became an extremely unpopular name for all future generations of baby mermaids.

Apple couldn't shake the nagging feeling that Lena wasn't despised because she defied tradition. Lena was despised because she was an idiot.

An idiot worthy of a fairytale.

Apple had another sleepless night ahead.

The next day, Apple returned Atticus's history book to him. The intellectual prince quickly picked up on the sadness in her expression and voice.

"What's wrong? Didn't you like the play? I mean, I know that Raidne's faithful dolphin companion died, and the spirits of the dead sailors couldn't find release, but it was a happy ending otherwise."

"Oh no," Apple assured him. "The play was beautiful, I enjoyed it very much."

"Then what's wrong?" Atticus wanted to know.

"Well…"Normally Apple would have confided this sort of thing to Percy. But Atticus looked so concerned, she decided to open up to him.

"I read more of your history book." She admitted. "It was so full of amazing stories, I just couldn't put it down. But then I came across the story of Lena the Dumb."

"Yeah, it's kind of dark, isn't it? Especially the how the entire kingdom of Calbana was destroyed…"

'No…it was awful, but it wasn't that. It's just…I already knew the story of Lena the Dumb. On land it's known as a fairytale called The Little Mermaid and it's supposed to be a beautiful story. But here…it's terrible. She fell in love and it caused nothing but pain and suffering. Everybody hated her for what she did and Poseidon had to step in to prevent anyone like her from becoming queen. On land she's a perfect example of a fairytale princess, but here…" Apple's eyes welled up with tears.

"Is that why you all hated me?" She asked. "Because I reminded you of that?"

Atticus shifted uncomfortably. Yes, he and his siblings (save Percy) had repeatedly compared Apple to Lena the Dumb before she rescued Septimus. He was ashamed of that now. It was obvious that Apple White was not within the same realm as Lena Tritinuius. Or at least, she shouldn't be.

He took a deep breath. "We did notice some…similarities at first…" He confessed. "But after getting to know you, it's clear you're way smarter than her. And your story isn't bad, not like hers turned out to be. It doesn't make much sense, but I don't think it's likely to cause a full-out war…"

"But why is Lena considered so foolish?" Apple wanted to know. "All she did was follow her heart. And aren't we all fools in love?"

"Was it her heart or plain teenage lust?" Atticus challenged. Apple stared. "Come on, Apple; she hadn't even spoken to the guy. Kissing dead girls may be weird, but at least you actually know the prince in your story. Lena completely disregarded her kingdom's well-being for a stranger."

"But, True Love doesn't need words!" Apple protested.

Atticus raised an eyebrow at her. "Think of the couples you know. Do they say nothing to each other?"

Apple wracked her brains. Her parents seemed to enjoy their lighthearted conversations over tea. Aiden and Roland loved to joke with each other and discuss magic. Ashlynn and Hunter liked talking about nature and animals at length. And Orlando couldn't seem to stop telling his new girlfriend how much he adored her, and she him.

"No…" She admitted, "But True Love doesn't mean just talking, there's other ways of communicating…"

"Exactly! That was her whole problem; she didn't communicate. The whole thing was completely avoidable.She knew where he lived, she could have spoken to him; it's not like she was some hideous monster. Even after she lost her voice she could have told him through writing who she was; there wasn't a language barrier. Or maybe she could have had one of her relatives say to the prince: 'hey, that mute girl with you is a mermaid who saved your life, so maybe you should marry her. Or take her out sometime.' But she didn't. She just assumed he would recognize and love her because it was destiny. And that was stupid." Atticus asserted. "There was no way the prince could have made that connection. And because she acted like a stupid little damsel in distress who didn't take any initiative beyond getting legs for a guy she didn't know beyond looks, an entire kingdom perished."

Apple was silent. Atticus realized that he was being too vehement. Lena was a disgrace to the house of Tritinius, but there was no need to upset Apple over it.

"Apple," he said gently. "You do realize that Lena wasn't responsible for the war, right? That was more about her father did. Alpheus was easily the worst ruler Atlantis ever had. Lena may have been dumb, but at least she didn't set out to hurt anyone."

"I know." Apple said quietly.

"When you think about it," Atticus pondered, "Lena actually did Atlantis a favor. Before her, Atlantis was just like every other kingdom; the firstborn would always get the throne, regardless of ability. Atticus the Second would have never become king if Lena hadn't given up the throne. And he was a great leader, I'm proud to share his name. Even though we had to go through a war for it to happen, we now have a fair system of succession that's done nothing but benefit the kingdom."

"You see, history is the story of change, Apple. And sometimes the reality of those changes can be scary and ugly. But even those changes can lead to good things in the end."

That night, Apple thought about what she had discovered: a beautiful fairytale could be ugly when you looked at it realistically. The story of Snow White certainly wasn't very good when Apple took time examine it critically:

A princess is targeted because she's beautiful, and nothing else. She's too foolish to listen to the advice of her friends. She talks to strangers and takes food from said strangers. And in Apple's specific case, she quite possibly commits a dreadful act by insisting that a good person should become evil. Then she brutally punishes that person for adhering to her wishes.

It was the first time Apple felt ashamed of her story.

Apple also considered what Atticus said: even scary changes can lead to good things.

Raven choosing to make her own destiny is a scary change… Apple thought.

So maybe it's a good thing. The strange little voice said.