CHAPTER 2: A Big Mistake
An hour before sunrise, Melody expertly slipped out of her room. Palace life was suffocating, no matter how luxurious or pleasant it seemed from the outside. She had been sneaking out of the castle for as long as she could remember, but the last time she had been caught was 7 years ago. Everyone now falsely assumed the princess had outgrown the bad habit.
Her thick raven locks were neatly pulled back into a high ponytail, natural curls flowing down her back. A thick green ribbon held her hair in place, tied off securely with a bow. She wore a black hooded silk robe, meant to help hide in the dark. Beneath the robe, she wore her swimming clothes, which she had made herself.
The top she wore was just a long green strip of fabric. She wrapped it tightly around her back and over her chest a few times before tying the ends off behind her neck. A thin coral skirt hung loosely down to her mid-thigh, tied off at the hip. Her outfit was designed to not drag her down, the way all her other clothes would.
Normally she would be very uncomfortable wearing anything that exposed her legs, back, shoulders, and stomach, but she only ever wore it in the water. Always covering herself as soon as she got back to land and slipping completely unseen to her room.
She silently crossed the royal courtyard, keeping herself in the shadows the entire time. The courtyard before she was born had been the royal beach, with a lovely garden leading up to the ocean side. When the walls went up around the palace, only a few feet of the shoreline were left within the perimeter. A metal grate was installed into thick walls, meant to allow a bit of the ocean water in. It created a small beach within the courtyard for the royal family to enjoy, and it was a disgrace to Melody.
The tiny puddle of seawater was nothing compared to the real coastline and the fathomless depths of the ocean. If Melody had never snuck out, she never would have seen those things. She had grown to resent her parents for purposefully robbing her of these things.
When she was 14 years old, she found a way out of her prison. At this point she had been sneaking for years, even making it to town a few times. Yet she had never swum in the open ocean before, and she craved it. She craved it in ways she didn't understand, heard the sea calling to her in a voice she couldn't reply to.
It was found by accident, after a screaming fight with her mom. She fled outside to her sad little beach to be alone, hot tears streaming down her face. The stupid grate was taunting her, letting her glimpse everything she couldn't have. In a frustrated rage, she kicked one of the metal bars, and to her shock, it came loose. Melody almost immediately forgot why she was upset.
The bar hadn't broken off completely, but she was easily able to move it to the side. It was just enough for her to slip through, and it could be pushed back to appear normal. It felt unbelievable, but it worked.
She never forgot those first moments completely submerged with the whole ocean stretching in front of her. She floated effortlessly in the water, holding her breath with ease. Her vision was crystal clear, eyes immune to the salty water. It was hard to put into words how at home she felt in the currents, in ways she never did in her family.
Her mother could never understand, she was too terrified of the ocean and all its beauty.
Over the next 5 years, Melody learned wonderful things she could never have imagined. The seafloor was always shifting like desert sands, the water currents cycled with the moon, and it was full to the brim with life. Melody learned things about herself too, she could hold her breath for over 10 minutes, and dive to the sea bed with ease. She discovered the water always felt warm on her skin, like the sun on a summer day, and strangest of all, she could speak to marine life.
Princess Melody had been around many animals before, horses, dogs, birds.. but never could she speak to them. Yet she could overhear the fish talk, even carry a conversation with a dolphin. Ironically, the only birds she could understand were seagulls.
Melody was 19 now, and going out to sea was second nature. She left an hour before the sun rose when everything was still dark. She would watch the sunrise under the water, the morning sun like a brilliant diamond above her.
With the fresh daylight, she would explore the ocean floor, looking for beautiful treasures to add to her growing collection. She gathered all sorts of things, sea glass, sand dollars, shells, and everything else she found fascinating. When she got home she would stash her clothes and newfound treasures in a lockable chest. She stashed it in her closet and kept the key under her pillow. Her collection from over the years was her only true prized possession.
After years in the water, Melody made friends, something she never found on land. Dolphins occasionally helped her find shells, and many of the local fish knew her on a first-name basis. Her best friend was a sweet green and yellow flounder, with a smattering of freckles across her face. Her name was Lily, and she was always by Melody's side these days. She taught Melody a lot about the ocean and was there to answer her every question. Melody had no shortage of questions either.
The Princess spent the morning chatting with Lily, exchanging teen girl secrets and giggling. The time passed too quickly, as it always did, and soon it was time to leave. As she began to swim back home, a sharp reflection caught her eye. She dove quickly, snatching up the strange treasure into her bag.
Melody didn't look at what she found right away, there was no reason to rush.
Instead, she pulled herself onto a smooth rock not far from home, that jutted above the surf. It was her favorite place to relax before heading back into her restricting life.
The glinting object was the first thing she looked at in the light of the sun. After cleaning off the sand she realized it was a massive clamshell, but made of glimmering solid gold. A thin chain was connected to the shell, way too long to be anything but a necklace. She turned the shell over, and for a second she didn't believe her eyes. Engraved in cursive was her name, Melody.
"Woah Lily look! This locket has my name on it."
The fish shot her a skeptical look, "No way, let me see!"
Before she could show her friend, they were interrupted by a screeching bird call. It was too far from any bird song to be anyone but Scuttle, a kooky old seagull.
"Melody! MELODY!"
Both of the girls were so startled they forgot all about the locket.
"Woah Scuttle, what's wrong? Are you hurt?!" Melody tried to fathom what he could be so upset about.
The bird landed then immediately found himself at a loss for words.
"Now wait a minute, I have something incredibly important to tell you. Something you need to know right away."
"Okay… so what is it?"
"Now don't rush me, I had a thought and I lost it…" he scratched the top of his head focusing as hard as he could.
"Something about a lot of people at the castle… some kind of party…"
Melody and Lily immediately looked at each other in terror, and in sync, they screamed,
"THE PARTY!"
Hi everyone, thank you for reading my AU of The Little Mermaid 2, with Melody at 19 and not 12. I originally posted this FanFiction on Deviantart, and it is updated there every 1st and 15th of the month. I will be adding chapters to this story every Monday till it's caught up to the deviant art version.
If you would like to read ahead or check out my Disney fan edits here is my deviantart profile name:
mermaidmelodyedits
You can also check out my Disney fan edits on Instagram:
mermaid_melody_edits
I'd super appreciate if you guys could leave me your thoughts in the comments! Critique, comments, discussion, etc. I want to hear it all!
Here in chapter 2 we finally meet Melody! We also meet a kind of OC of mine here, I say kind of because she is actually one of Flounder's guppies/kids from the actual Little Mermaid 2. She is the green and yellow one with freckles. She is sort of an OC because she never got a name, so I went with Lily. Sort of inspired by water lilies.
In the original movie Melody only ever meets Flounder, but doesn't ever meet his kids. I thought the fish made a better companion than Sebastian who just nags her constantly, and I have no idea why she would hang out with him. She has no idea Sebastian knows her human family, all she knows is he is an annoying elderly crab that follows her around and nags her for no reason. I thought a teen fish who was Flounder's daughter made way more sense as a friendship.