Hali continued to stare at the script that had appeared so spontaneously on the aged parchment in front of her.

"Speak your words," Hali repeated out loud.

"Rather vague, isn't it?" Eric contemplated.

"I think," Hali stated "I have to craft my own spell. I've never done that before."

"That makes sense," mused Melody, "It's not like the Ancient Alaticans would create a 'Find Tiamat' spell.

"What if I can't do it?" Hali doubted herself once more.

Hali had made a habit of putting on a iron facade for most of her life. Oh, outwardly she was a tough girl, but recently, these awful events had chipped away at her armor, exposing her for the soft-shelled girl she truly was.

"If you couldn't do it, " encouraged Kaliani, "the book would have never chosen you as the new keeper, Princess."

Hali patted Kailani on her smooth head, "You're right again, my friend."

By this point, all of Hali's companions had quit questioning Hali's sanity. They had learned, rather difficulty, that absolutely anything could happen.

"Why don't you give it a try, darling," Ariel suggested.

"Alright, here it goes," Hali cleared her mind, and took in one deep cleansing breath.

Hali's eyes glowed with a intense blue light, as she formed the words of her spell, her original spell.

Кніга майго народа,
Старажытнай і мудрай,
Дапамажы мне.
Tiamat хаваецца ў помста
Карабель доўгі затонул.
Прынясеце я і мае сябры
Каб знайсці яе.
Такім чынам, мы можа пазбавіць акіян
Ад гэтай чумы.


The spell was finished. Hali's body experienced a strange sensation as a result. Everything around her was a blur, as Hali's body was propelled through the water at an alarming speed. The only thing she could make out was flashes of light that appeared before her eyes here and there. She wasn't sure how much longer this process would continue, and she wondered if she had cast the spell in time. It couldn't possibly be much longer to the full moon. Just as Hali finished these pressing thoughts, her body came to a halt, as if time had frozen. However, Hali assumed that she had not just defied the laws of physics, so she concluded that the spell must have run its course. She was rather dizzy form her travel, so it took the Guardian a moment to regain her bearings. But soon, her azure eyes came back into focus. Hali spotted a rather stunned-looking Xavier and near by, was Sam, rubbing his eyes intently. Hali looked around, for the rest of her companions, but to her surprise, they were no where to be found.

"Where is everyone else?" Xavier questioned.

"Beats me," answered Sam.

"I was talking to Hali," Xavier growled.

"No need to be rude, landlubber," Sam shot back.

Hali fully ignored the men and their ridiculous quarrel. They really were quite reminiscent of Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum. Which of the two was Tweedle-Dumb? Well, that argument was still up for debate. Somewhere, Hali's spell had gone wrong. The Guardian racked her brain trying to recall the words she had spoken. This was most definitely a result of the words she had chosen. Hali should have been more aware. Murphy had warned her that when crafting an original spell, each word must be carefully selected. Hali sighed, for she came to realize where she had failed to make the spell sufficiently specific.

"Friends," Hali slapped her face, "I said the word 'friends' in my spell."

"Huh?" the two fools left off their argument and turned to face Hali.

Hali rolled her lovely azure eyes. Honestly, she would prefer to have her mother at her side, but she was stuck with the likes Sam and Xavier. Obviously, there wasn't any time to craft another spell; the moon could rise at any given moment. Well, they should be of some use, Hali supposed. Really, Hali wouldn't have gotten as far as she had, in this battle against Tiamat, without them. Still, it wasn't bad for a first attempt at an original spell. Hali was rather proud of herself, actually.

Also, the spell had failed to bring them directly to Tiamat. Hali retraced the words of her spell in her brain, once again.

The Guardian sighed, "I asked the spell to help my friends and I find Tiamat."

"So?" the mermen were speaking in unison, and neither of them liked the idea very much.

"That means we have to look for her," explained Hali.

"Well," Xavier looked pensive, handsomely pensive, "if you asked the spell to help us, maybe it will leave us clues along the way."

"Pff," scoffed Sam, "I was just going to say that, Lorelei."

"Look," Xavier said angrily, "her name is Hali, and I don't appreciate..."

"Oh, boys," Hali chided with exasperation in her voice, "if you're going to tag along, you really need to stop the bickering."

"Bickering?" Xavier tried to hide his shame at being disciplined by a girl two years is junior, "we're not bickering."

"No, not bickering," added Sam given Xavier a playful pat on the back, "it's witty banter, that's all."

Hali knew they were lying, but did not care to acknowledge the fact. Precious time was slipping away, and they needed to locate the ice queen post haste.

"Hey, what's that!" Xavier suddenly exclaimed.

"What?" Sam turned to look at where Xavier was pointing.

There was a large rock, easily six feet tall jutting prominently out form the sand. This alone wasn't an abnormal sight in the depths of the ocean, however, the shape of the rock surely was. The formation was that of an arrow pointing northward.

"It's an arrow," Hali couldn't believe her eyes.

None of them needed to ask anymore questions. Without another word, Hali, Xavier and Sam, followed in the direction the arrow was pointing. The merfolk encountered several more of these rock arrows throughout their journey. Each was aware that this was a dangerous quest, but adrenaline pushed them onwards, adrenaline, and the knowledge that ocean could fall into evil hands in the blink of an eye. Sooner than they could have hoped for, the debris that was wreck of Bonnet's Revenge, came into view.


Ultra Special Blah Blah Blah

Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum are characters fashioned after a popular nursery rhyme that appear in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There. The book was published in 1871, and was a sequel to Carroll's beloved children classic, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Now, my darlings, I thought you might be interested in this tidbit of fascinating information. I was listening to some random compositions of classical music, like I often do when I type, when a familiar tune reached my ears. "That music is from Beauty and the Beast," I said to myself. Looking up the composer's name, Saint-Saens, (I was unfamiliar with his work, or so I thought,) I discovered that the music was form a larger piece called the The Carnival of Animals. Looking it up on Google, I affirmed my suspicions. The background music to Beauty and the Beast, was indeed set to The Carnival of Animals (1886). This discovery is so mind-blowing I don't think I will be able to sleep a wink tonight. Imagine all the classical music that was reinforced in our brains as children through cartoon and movies! Why do parents say that television is bad, again?

Don't sit under that apple tree, with anyone else but me,

xJadeRainx