Ariel woke up in the middle of the night, unable to sleep. Hali hadn't even bothered to make contact with the family in days. Ariel was quite irritated with her daughter. After all, she had raised the girl better than that. The queen rolled over on her side, and silently watch Eric sleep for a moment. Ariel loved her husband, but she couldn't understand how the idiot could be sleeping like a baby. Wasn't he the least bit curious why their little girl ran off to Atlantica so suddenly, without saying why? Finally, no longer able to contain her displeasure, Ariel pushed her husband off the edge of the bed. Eric let out a yelp of surprise as he hit the carpeted floor. It wasn't long before the king's head popped back up, with his black hair disheveled.
"What just happened?" he asked confused.
"Eric, are you okay? Ariel gave a convincing gasp, "you must have rolled off the bed."
"I'm fine, love," Eric replied, climbing back into bed, "the soft carpet broke my fall."
Ariel laid in bed for a while, staring up at the ceiling. She sighed, and swung her legs, gracefully over the edged of the bed, and got to her feet.
"Ariel?" Eric murmured, as Ariel tided her pink silk robed closed.
"Yes, Eric?" she questioned absentmindedly.
"Where are you going?"
"I can't sleep," the queen replied, "I'm going to take a walk along the beach."
"A walk?" Erick croaked, "the sun hasn't even risen, yet. Come back to bed, love. I'll keep you warm. I promise."
Ariel smiled to herself. Ever since Eric had captured that dreadful pirate woman, he seemed to have reverted back to his eighteen year old self. It was beyond cute, but his lack of concern for Hali's whereabouts, was beginning to alarm her. She needed a husband now, not another child to worry about.
"I won't be long Eric," Ariel promised.
"Fine," Eric grunted, and rolled over, "but I'm going back to bed."
Before Ariel even had the chance to walk out of the door, she could hear the sounds of Eric's snoring fill the room. Ariel slipped down the hallways, quiet as a ghost. She had become an expert and making silent escapes to the beach, as a young homesick bride. As she passed the guest room, Melody was using, Ariel heard the young woman pacing the floors while humming, a sweet, soft tune. Lance still had not returned from Westland. Whatever trouble King Leroy had gotten his kingdom into, must have been pretty serious. He hadn't even seen Melody since he first left. Sure, he wrote to her faithfully, but that's no excuse. What was wrong with men, these days.
Attina was just as restless as her baby sister up on land. She had had half a mind to chase after Cricket as soon as she discovered that the girl was missing. Only, her father had understandably taken the news of Adelaide's kidnapping pretty badly, and the stress wasn't good for him. Attina couldn't very well have just left her old father alone, and consequently abandon Atlantica. What's worse, her imbecile of a husband, had said, 'Cricket is Cricket, Attina. She's grown now. Every merperson has to learn to care for themselves eventually.' Attina's lips curled at the memory of her husband's words. She turned to face the sleeping Marin, and pushed him off the edge of the clam shell bed, in her annoyance.
"Ouch!" she heard Marin cry out.
"Marin, what happened?" Attina pretended that she had just woken up.
"I must have fell off the bed," Marin replied, rubbing his arm that bore the brunt of his fall, "that''s strange. The last time that happened was two years ago, when I had forgotten our anniversary."
"That is strange," Attina covered her moth with her hand, to suppress a giggle.
Then, Attina swam out of bed, wordlessly, to the surprise of her husband.
"Where are you heading off too, dear?" Marin asked in confusion, "you should get some sleep."
"I'm going to the surface."
"At this hour, Attina?"
"Yes," sighed his wife, "I just want to hear the crickets, um, what does Ariel call it? Oh, yes, I just want to hear the crickets chirp. They should still be out at this time. I won't be long, I promise."
Ariel was pleased to feel the fine grains of sand beneath her dainty feet. She strolled just along the edge of the shore, gazing out over the ocean. The half moon, illuminated the water very prettily, and Ariel felt at peace, that was until she noticed that surface of the water was being disturbed. Her first thought was that it was Hali, popping out from the sea to say hello. Imagine the level of Ariel's surprise when she saw the face of her sister rise up from the water. The queen hiked up her robe and nightgown to her knees, and waded deeper into the sea.
"Attina!" Ariel called out, "Attina! What are you doing here?"
"I came to hear the crickets chirp," answered her sister.
"Why?" Ariel wrinkled her nose in confusion.
That was when Attina realized that Ariel was completely unaware of the events that had taken place in the past week. How could she have forgotten to tell her sister? Attina chastised herself. She really needed to learn and be more considerate for the feelings of others.
"Um, Ariel," Attina began in unsure tone.
"What is it, Attina," Ariel frowned, because she knew very well that when Attina used that tone of voice, she was about to deliver some bad news.
"Hali isn't in Atlantica, right now."
"What!" shrieked the queen.
"Let me explain from the beginning," Attina said calmly.
"Yes, explain," Ariel narrowed her eyes.
"Well, apparently, Hali came down to Atlantica, to discover an Ocean Star, who ended up being Serene. Only, we didn't realized it until after Adelaide was kidnapped, and Cricket slipped into a coma."
"Say that again, Attina," Ariel said breathlessly.
"Adelaide has been kidnapped by Murkens," answered Attina.
"Murkens!" Ariel shivered, "I thought we saw the end of them. How's Daddy?"
"How do you think? He's miserable."
"What do they want with Adelaide."
"That's the disturbing part, Ariel," Attina tried to explain, "Serene can look into the future, and it seems that the Murkens need Adelaide's blood for something or other."
Ariel felt her legs give out from under her, and she quickly whispered the word, fins. Feeling musch more safe, in the ocean, with her trusty tail.
"Her blood?" Ariel nearly cried.
""Hali and Merrick left to rescue her."
"Their going into Murken territory!" Ariel gasped, "that's crazy, Attina!"
"That's not all," Attina winced.
"It's not?"
"I'm afraid so, dear," Attina began, "They needed to take Serene, because she's the star, and all. Oh, and that Xavier boy went along too."
"Xavier!" Ariel exclaimed, "I thought he had gone after Hali, but how did he get his fins?"
"You mean Hali didn't kiss him?"
"She couldn't have," Ariel replied, "they weren't even on speaking terms when she left for Atlantica."
"Huh?" Attina mused, "I didn't know they were angry with each other. Well, they seemed to have made up since then, that's for sure."
"Wat's that supposed to mean?"
"Well she had snuck out of the palace, the night Adelaide disappeared. No one knew where she was, and it wasn't until later that we found out she had spent the night with Xavier."
"What!" yelled Ariel, "Of all the irresponsible things!"
Ariel was fuming. Young girls should not behave like that. Ever. Oh, she was going to tell Eric. That should spark some sort of reaction out of him. That girl was in a world of trouble, worrying her parent's like that.
"Oh, shut up, Ariel!" snapped Attina, "you're not the only one who's daughter disappeared."
Ariel looked at her older sister empathetically, "What did Cricket do now?"
"She followed Hali and the others to Murk, I just know it," Attina sighed, "And what's worse, Marin doesn't even seem concerned at all. I'll bet Eric never acts like that."
"You'd be surprised," Ariel replied darkly.
Ultra Special Blah Blah Blah
Ha! Ariel and Attina, and Eric and Marin are more alike then people might think, huh? Well, for any of you who were curious about how the two mothers were dealing with all this drama, tadah!
This is dedicated to the one and only Converse r life. I promise the next chapter will answer your request about Hali, and her search for baby Adelaide. Do you forgive me now?
I want walk like you, talk like you too,
xJadeRainx