nina del carmen: Thanks! :) And I don't think you'll be able to. She took them down a long time ago. :(

We swim for what seems to be a half hour. We get exhausted and rest on the sea floor. I look around me. There's nothing but open sea, though we are surrounded by coral. Dawn starts to wail again, and Rose grabs some seaweed and feeds it to her. "How much longer till we get there?" Rose asks.

I rest my hand on her shoulder. "It'll just be a while longer, alright?"

Rose pouted as Dawn munches on the seaweed. "Like you would know."

I giggle and give her a playful shove which she returns with a smile.

Alicia talks to Kayla. "We've been at this for a while. Did you not think to ask for directions again as we go?" Kayla looks down sadly. "Sorry. I'll go ask another fish friend." She swims away to the top. Alicia calls to her, "Where are you going now?!"

Victoria says, "Alicia, come on. That was a bit harsh."

Alicia huffs, "We need to get this over with and find Jenna. Who knows what's happening to her? That Master Villain guy could have…" She buries her face in her hands and takes a deep breath. I go up to her and rub her back. "We will find her. I know she's alright."

Alicia glares at me, causing me to flinch a little. "How?"

"We can just ask as we go and…"

She sighs. "That's not what I meant. I meant, how would you know if she's alright?"

"Huh?" I look at her puzzled and nervousness creeps into my stammers. "I mean…she must be since…well…she has to be if…what exactly are you asking?"

Before Alicia could answer my defensiveness, Kayla hurries back from above. "Guys! I found Scuttle!" We all look up at her. "Come on!" Kayla swims back up and we follow her. I tell Alicia, "See? Things are working out, now." Alicia doesn't respond, but sets her determined eyes on the surface. I sigh and move upward.

I come out from the water and look to the bright sun and blue sky. Not one cloud can be seen above us. I spot a rock ahead with a pile of junk. So, she did find Scuttle. Talk about sheer luck. Victoria smiles, "Good job, Kayla!" Kayla smiles back. Apparently, Victoria wanted to make up for Alicia's outburst. But, to be honest, I don't think Alicia meant to hurt her. I especially feel uneasy with the thought of what's happening with Jenna.

But…what was with that question aimed toward me?

And where exactly is Kayla, for another matter?

We see the white albatross upon the rock, and he gives us a wave. We paddle to him as he says, "You must me the girls Kayla was talking about! I gotta say, your friend is such a darling little thing!" He pinches her cheeks and Kayla giggles. "Pretty as a peach, I must say."

Alicia chuckles a little. Phew. This is the first time I've seen her relax. Maybe Scuttle's good vibes are working into her.

Scuttle continues, "So, you what do you kids want to look at first? I've got a ton of things up here to show you!" He goes through his things and pulls out a loop earring. "This is the loop-di-loop! Fun for kids of all ages!" He twirls it around his finger ferociously. "Or at least for people looking to fidget with something other than their belt loops." He then pulls out an empty beer bottle with the bottom broken off. "This baby can amplify your own voice! I call it the scream-cone! You can even sing in it!"

Lulu blurts out, "Uh, I don't think that's a …"

But his incessant squawking begins, anyway. I cover my ears along with the others, but I can still hear him clearly. I even hear Dawn wail from the sound. Scuttle finally stops and beams at Dawn. "Hey! We make a great duet! You looking to perform? I'll look you up!"

Victoria says, "Yes, that's good and all, but we need to—"

"Oh, and you must take a look at this one!" He gets out an old paintbrush and says, "Isn't she a beauty? This is the schnauzer-cleaner! It cleans the inside of your nose in a jiff! Here, let me give you a free demonstration…"

"No!" We all yell.

Yvette shouts, "We don't want your stupid booger-picker!"

Scuttle says while crossing his arms, "Huh! Suits me just fine. I didn't want to give it away, anyway."

Victoria tells him, "Excuse me, but we're looking for an Ursula the Sea Witch. Could you maybe tell us where he is?"

He looks at all of us as if we asked him to deep dive into a live shark. "The Sea Witch!? Are you out of your minds?! Haven't you kids ever hear of what happened to our princess?!"

Rose says sheepishly, "Well, unlike her, we have brains. Don't worry, we won't make any deals with Ursula. We only need to ask her for…beauty advice?"

Scuttle looks at her for a moment and laughs out. "Okay, you crazy kids! I'll indulge ya!" He points off and says, "You'll have to go down pretty deep, though. It'll get dark, but I doubt you'll miss the skull cave."

"Thanks Scuttle," Victoria says. "Let's go, girls." With that, Victoria dives to the bottom as do we. As we swim down, Yvette asks me, "When do you think Lulu's going to remember that we can breathe underwater, now?" I turn and notice that Lulu is holding her breath and her nose. I giggle. "Give it a minute."

Soon, Lulu's eyes widen with realization, and she takes in a gulp of air…I mean, water…and exhales loudly. Lulu looks at us with our big grins and she sticks her tongue out.

"Hey, Kayla," I hear Alicia call out. Kayla reluctantly swims up to her. Alicia looks at her.

"I…owe you an apology," Alicia says while looking down at the sand. "I shouldn't have been so cross with you back there. And your power has helped a lot with this mission. So…thanks." Kayla smiles with understanding and playfully flicks her satellite earrings. "It's what I do!" Kayla says cheerfully. We continue onward.

The ocean gets darker and darker as we swim deeper and deeper to the bottom. Despite all the fogginess of the water, we still manage to catch the skull cave. Dreary green light glows from its eyes and mouth.

Yvette spits out sporadically. "Ech! This water is so filthy. I can't stand to breath in it!"

Dawn spurts out small coughs and Rose pats her on the back. "There, there. We'll be out of here soon, sweetie."

Alicia swims ahead of us and has us hide by the entrance. She looks inside before motioning us in. We slowly move through the entrance. And I can't put my finger on it, but something about this place seems different.

Lulu was the one to bring it up. "Where are the little plant guys?"

Victoria added, "Yeah. In the movie, they were the first things Ariel had seen when entering the cave. They should be here."

We freeze when we hear a low growl.

Kayla gasps and whispers, "Does this lady have a sea monster now?"

Lulu shakes. "Maybe that's her new way of nabbing her victims. You know…if they don't follow up a deal?"

Alicia breathes deeply. "You could be right. Let's keep a look out." We nod and keep moving deeper into the cave. As we come close to the sound, it becomes louder and louder. I can soon hear a high-pitch whistle following the horrible sound and…

High-pitch whistle? Is that…snoring?

Author's Disclaimer: I don't own anything Disney-related. All rights to Disney. We only own our OCs.