Chapter 25
Buttercup P.O.V
Willow the ghost loves to have us guess things but also blow our minds apparently. I wonder if it ever dawned on her that telling us that we are not full humans and that our entire ancestry isn't either, is a lot to handle. Especially in one day. Especially in one hour. Heck it was one sentence! How am I supposed to react to that. But no she just kept walking down the hall as we had to figure things out for ourselves.
As we walked down the hallway which may I add was giant, there were so many doors that we passed that I lost count. Those royalty had it tough I mean how could you tell where you were going in your own house? Apparently Willow could tell what I was thinking because she turned her head to look back at us and said "Quite large isn't it?" I nodded in agreement. She didn't even stop moving as she asked us.
"What happened to the queen?" Blossom asked.
"Quite a sad story actually." Willow answered. We all shared a look of concern but yet the curiosity seemed to weigh on us as if we could feel the thousands of gallons of water above us.
"May we hear it?" Bubbles asked. Willow sighed before she responded.
"After locking away her trident, she was captured and pulled to the surface and turned into a human. To further emphasize her loss the king then decided to make her his concubine. He tortured her inside his palace until she eventually took her own life." She told us. I could feel my heart drop inside of me. We all were quite torn by the story. Looking at Blossom I could see tears in her eyes. Bubbles couldn't help but look down at the floor. Willow could sense it too it seems because she didn't even look back when she told us, "My apologies for bringing down the excitement." We all lifted our heads.
Maybe she actually does understand the weight of the situation. Then it dawned on me.
"How do you know all of this, since you became a mermaid in 1924 and this happened, what 4000 years ago?" To this she paused then continued down the hall.
"My ancestors were mermaids too therefore I was able to become one. However, once I chose to sacrifice myself to help future mermaids, I was able to see the entire history of the mermaid race." She told us but the more she told us the more questions I had.
"Why didn't you guys use the trident if it's so powerful? I mean it could take care of everything?" I asked. With this she paused and didn't look at us with her answer.
"The trident has stipulations and neither me nor my friends met those stipulations so we were forced to use our own mermaid powers as well as our life force to stop it. Now let's just hope that at least one of you meets those stipulations or else you might end up like me." With that she continued and the water around us seemed very heavy now. I hesitated to ask my next question but I couldn't help it. With my head down I asked, "What about the mermaid who cursed the mirrors?" We didn't move forward.
"We never saw her again;however, after giving my life it was then that I learned that there is an instinctive dislike in the mermaids of those who were human. They saw us as tainted and decided to get rid of us." I could hear Bubbles gasp at the thought that there might be mermaids who want to hurt us.
"W-w-what about now?" I could hear Blossom ask. Willow turned her head to look at us.
"I believe that the attitude has lessened over the years as more and more humans are working towards a better ocean." We all sighed but I could see the look of pain in her eyes.
"Shall we continue?" She asked us. We all nodded our heads and continued swimming.
Blossom P.O.V.
The stories Willow told us sounded more and more like a horror story. Also what did she mean stipulation? What will we have to do? All those questions and more raced in my head when the hallway finally turned and we were led to a wall.
"It's a wall." I said but Willow walked right through it so I looked at Buttercup and she rolled her eyes and swam as hard as she could but the entire portion of the wall turned and suddenly she was gone. Me and Bubbles quickly followed her and I can now truly say that it is a lot more like a revolving door in a hotel but with a lot more motion sickness. Buttercup was leaning against the wall on the side of the tunnel. It seems as though her going full force into the revolving wall sent her flying into the tunnel wall. That's got to hurt. Me and Bubbles helped her up and kept going.
It wasn't much longer before we reached a gigantic door. Willow stopped before the door.
"It is beyond this door." She told us.
"Then let's go!" Buttercup said and started forward but Willow stopped her.
"You must remember the stipulation, you must pass numerous tests in order to not only get to the trident but also to wield it." She told us.
I looked at Buttercup then at Bubbles, I could see the fear in their eyes but beneath that fear was determination. I took both of their hands. It was a silent agreement between us that no matter what, we go forward together.
"We're ready." We all said in unison. Willow moved her arm and we all swam in together.
Bubbles P.O.V.
Swimming into the door was a unique experience, but when I got to the other side I had legs, I looked around me and I couldn't see Blossom or Buttercup. I was in my room and I was 6. I looked around to see I was in my old house with my parents and they were fighting, again. I ran to them. They glanced at me then went back to fighting then my mom picked up a brochure. She was telling my dad that this would fix their problems. I kept saying no don't do it but no words were leaving my mouth. Suddenly everything changed. This time I was older with my grandma. I felt my heart drop but I was also relieved. She was cooking dinner telling me everything was going to be ok but then I heard a pan drop. I watched as my grandma fell to the floor. I heard myself screaming, I ran towards her but I wasn't moving. I was terrified I wanted to get away from whatever this was so I turned my back.
Buttercup P.O.V.
That was weird. But at least I still had Bubbles and Blossom beside me. They were smiling at me as we swam toward the trident. I can't believe that Willow was so worried about a so-called stipulation. We all reached for it at the same time. I smiled as I felt that we finally did it and we were going to fix this together. Time slowed down and I turned to look at Blossom. She was in pain as if she were being hurt. I turned to look at Bubbles and she was screaming. I wanted to let go to help them but I couldn't let go.
I could feel the fear in my rising as I screamed. Blossom started turning white before me. Bubbles was already fading away. I tried to grab her hand with my free hand but my hand went through hers. Then Bubbles faded into the water. I turned to Blossom and I could hear myself saying "No don't leave me!" Tears welled in my eyes as I watched her disappear. I could finally let go and I swam away from the trident.
Blossom P.O.V.
The portal put me back at school, ahead of me I saw Bubbles and Buttercup. I was so relieved to see that they made it here too. I walked up to them and tried to give them both a big hug but when they saw me they both started laughing. I shrugged it off and went in for the hug. I was stopped by a hand to my chest. It was Bubbles.
"Do you really think we like you? Please, we were just pretending to see how far you would take this whole friend thing. I mean who would be friends with a geek like you?" I am pretty sure my heart stopped then or at least I wish it did.
"You know it's your fault we're in this mess ya know." Buttercup told me. "Now we have to deal with being fish for the rest of our lives you know and it's all your fault." She said as she pushed me against the lockers. Tears were rolling down my face by this point.
"You knew it didn't you that nobody in this school likes you. The truth is that you are all alone and will be for the rest of your life." Bubbles told me. I bolted as far as I could. I saw the exit ahead of me and just as I reached out to it I hesitated.
What is going on? My friends would never say that. Sure I might be a geek, I might have been the one to strand us out on that boat that day, but still all through it we were friends. We never left each other's sides. It was then that I realized that me taking the easy way out wasn't going to fix anything. I'm not sure what may have been happening but I knew that those were not my friends because I knew that my friends had to be near me somehow. And I wasn't going to leave them. Not here, not anywhere, I wasn't going to walk away.
So I turned back and walked straight towards them. I could hear them laughing still and mocking me but it didn't matter as I looked at both of them and asked, "Where are Bubbles and Buttercup?"
"We are standing in front of you, dummy." One of them said but I just shook my head.
"No you aren't my friends, you aren't the people I came in here with, so where are they?" I asked again, becoming more impatient.
"Yes we are, you just are too scared to admit it aren't you?" the other one asked me.
"You're right I am scared, I don't want to go back to where I was before I met Bubbles and Buttercup, but that doesn't mean I will just abandon them when they need me. No matter how scared I am that isn't what friends do." By this time I was staring straight into their eyes. I watched them smile and slowly the school faded around me and all that was left was another door. So I swam to it.
Bubbles P.O.V.
Walking away from my dying grandma was one of the hardest things I have ever done. Each step I felt more and more guilt until eventually I collapsed on the ground crying. I wanted somebody, anybody to help find me and pull me out. I thought of Blossom and Buttercup and how I wished they could be here with me. Then I remembered they are with me. Somewhere around me they are here. And if I was suffering then they must be too. I stood up and faced my grandmother as she lay on the floor clasping her heart. I could hear her crying out for me. I took a deep breath.
"Grandmother it's ok, I understand that you won't be there one day for me. But I am not alone, I have Blossom and Buttercup, they need me right now. I hope you understand that I can't turn my back on them." I said as loud but as calmly as I could.
The crying stopped and soon everything around me disappeared to reveal a door in the middle of it all. I swam towards it with all of my might.
Buttercup P.O.V.
I looked up at the exit looming over me. What was I even doing here without them. They were my everything. How could that thing take them away so quickly. They couldn't just leave me like that. They were the only ones who didn't treat me like they were scared of me. They believed in me. And just like that they were torn from me. I looked back at it. Then it hit me, they would never just leave me without saying goodbye. They were my best friends, they wouldn't just do that.
"My friends are stronger than that, they wouldn't just leave me. They would at least say goodbye. Not to mention I believe in them and I don't believe that they are gone, and you can't make me!" I screamed at the trident.
I watched as it slowly disappeared and in its place was a door. I took a deep breath before swimming towards it.
Blossom P.O.V.
Beyond the door was an open cavern full of water. At the bottom was the trident, stuck into a rock. I knew that is what we came here for but I didn't swim towards it. Instead I turned and waited to see where Bubbles and Buttercup were. I didn't have to wait long because soon Bubbles swam out of the door, her face full of tears. I gave her the biggest hug I could. Then swam Buttercup, she was still crying. When she saw me and Bubbles she almost tackled us. I don't think either of us have ever been so happy to see each other.
"We all made it." I said sharing a look with both of them.
"What all did you have to go through?" Bubbles asked us.
"Our deepest fears. Mine was that you guys hated me and were pretending to like me." I replied.
"Mine was that you both were killed after touching the trident." Buttercup said.
"Mine was watching granny die and not being able to do anything." Bubbles responded.
"But we all made it through, even though it was terrible." I said.
"Absolutely awful." Bubbles said.
"And I never want to go through that again." replied Buttercup. We all shared a laugh before looking down. The time has come, we finally made it. We looked at each other and shared an understanding.
"Together." We all said at once before swimming down to meet our fate.