Chapter 28: Children Have Got to Be Free
Because the Fairies had put Kingpin Stephen and everyone in his house to sleep, Ariel's father Triton King was unable to do the business merger and so he didn't show up during the Fall Semester Ball which was the intended time when Ariel would have taken her father's magic trident away from him and given it to Mrs. Ursula in exchange for snapping Eric out of his trance. In response, Mrs. Ursula kidnapped Eric and disappeared with Ariel frantically trying to look for them herself since she didn't want the police to get involved fearing Flotsam and Jetsam were still watching her. She was also running low on Sea Pills, which kept her from turning back into a Mermaid, but because the CEO of White Apple Pharmaceuticals died the company was forced to temporarily halt production. As a result, Ariel started drinking more water and got into the habit of wearing long dress-skirts to hide the green scales that were starting to appear on her legs.
Eventually in spring, she happened to find an article titled "Mayor's Son to Wed Mystery Girl at Sunset on Cruise Ship" noticing the couple were none other than Eric and Ursula in her Marina disguise. So she looked up the location of where the ship was docked and left with Scuttle driving her there. It turned out to be a large seaside town just south of the city where her school was with many piers and elegant buildings and what appeared to be an ancient castle built on the edge of a seaside cliff.
"Something about that beach seems familiar," Ariel said as she pointed to a long beach below the cliff where the castle was. "But I can't seem to remember why."
Scuttle shrugged. "I'm not sure what to tell you, but what's your plan for stopping the wedding?"
"I don't know," Ariel sighed. "If I can just get onto the boat and talk some sense into Eric—
"Or you could just kiss him," Scuttle suggested.
This made Ariel blush. "No, I can't do that."
"Why not?"
"When I was trying to get my voice back, I tried kissing Eric but he noticed pretty quickly which made me stop. So if I'm going to kiss Eric, I want it to be meaningful."
"And you don't think snapping him out of a Witch's enchantment isn't meaningful enough?"
As Ariel thought about it, a foghorn caught her and Scuttle's attention as they approached the pier where the cruise ship was docked. There were white banners all along the deck and various people crowded around a gangway that was slowly being lifted up.
"They're leaving already?" Scuttle parked in the nearest spot and looked at his watch. "It's not even close to sunset."
"Ursula must have known we were coming," Ariel guessed. "Scuttle, I need you to fly me onto that boat!"
"And expose myself as the only male Siren in existence? Forget it!" Scuttle stated, folding his arms firmly.
"Please!" Ariel begged. "If we don't stop Ursula now, she's going to do worse things than marrying a minor!"
Looking at the departing ship, and at Ariel, Scuttle removed the red scarf from his head revealing a patch of white feathers in place of hair. "The things I do for you."
Holding onto his shoulders, Ariel was hoisted into the air as Scuttle's arms turned into white seagull wings which he used to glide along the sea breeze towards the cruise ship. As they got closer, Scuttle let out an ear-splitting caw which caused a bunch of sea birds crustaceans starfish seals and dolphins to start gathering around the ship which briefly distracted the people onboard. This in turn allowed Scuttle to lower Ariel down onto the lower deck of the ship while he flew higher cawing at the top of his lungs. While Ariel ascended the stairs, she found the task more difficult than usual as she felt her legs growing weaker. Realizing she forgot to bring her emergency Sea Pills, Ariel gritted her teeth and kept climbing up until she got to the upper deck where a bunch of people were scattering from a woman in a white dress who was being attacked by crabs starfish and seals. Meanwhile, Eric stood nearby doing nothing and so Ariel stumbled towards him.
"Eric!" Ariel called, which also got the attention of the woman who just so happened to be Ursula/Marina.
"Get away from him, you Mermaid!" Ursula shouted in her normally deep voice. "He's mine!"
"Not anymore, Witch!" Scuttle shouted as he kicked Ursula from behind which caused her to fall facedown and the shell necklace she wore to break.
At that moment, the glassy look in Eric's eyes faded and he blinked looking around in confusion. Feeling her legs weaken, Ariel fell into Eric causing him to look down at her.
"Ariel?" Eric said, noticing Ariel was breathing heavily. "Are you okay? What's going on?"
As Ariel sank lower, Ursula started laughing menacingly.
"You're too late," she said, revealing her true form only this time her legs were replaced by a group of black tentacles. "Now without those pills, you're a Mermaid forever!"
Looking down at herself, Ariel noticed a green fishtail had replaced her legs while Eric still seemed confused.
"Oh, Eric, I-I wanted to tell you," Ariel muttered, feeling tears running down her face.
Then before Eric could respond, Ariel leapt overboard into the water.
"So long, lover boy," Ursula taunted and leaped off the other side of the boat.
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A few days later, Eric returned to shore after paddling out to sea for the seventh time. An elderly man with white hair tied back into a ponytail stood nearby, giving him a condescending frown.
"You know, Eric, you're wasting your time looking for this 'Mermaid' girl you claim was a classmate of yours," the man said. "Your grades are slipping and Principal Disney is seriously threatening to expel you."
"Then I'll take the online course, Grimsby," Eric replied, tethering the boat to a rock. "But I won't stop until I've found Ariel. I may have lost her, but I'm not losing her again!"
Taken aback by Eric's tone, Grimsby huffed. "Very well, then. I shall let Principal Disney know of your decision."
As Grimsby left the beach, Eric lay down in the sand and looked up at the sky hoping to see that strange bird he thought looked like Scuttle. Just then, he heard the sound of rippling water and looked down to see Ariel emerging from the ocean wearing a blue shimmering dress with bare legs and feet. Without saying anything, Eric got up and embraced Ariel as the two shared their first kiss.
"I'm so sorry, Ariel," Eric apologized, after they finished kissing. "Will you forgive me?"
"I do forgive you," Ariel smiled.
"So…what happened?" Eric looked down at Ariel's feet, just to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "I've been looking all over the ocean for you."
"It's a long story," Ariel replied. "But it all started a few years ago when I saved you from drowning after the boat your parents were on sunk."
End of Chapter 28
