That was harder than I thought it would be. Fanfic was acting up for some reason. Anyway, here's part two.
Chapter 12 Horrible Meals; Dream Dreams pt 2
Antarctica
Arctic Circle
Ursula's New Lair
In her lair, Ursula continued to stare into her crystal bubble to see through Pacifica's eyes. Through them, she watched the giants prepare their armor and weapons for the invasion tomorrow.
'Well... At least something is going according to plan,' Ursula stated as she watched her plan in motion, 'But another Wielder of Destiny in Giants Land of all places. What are the chances of that?'
"WITCH!"
Ursula was broken out of her train of thought as she looked out of the corner of her eye to see Jones outside the hallway, "Are you picking up the little Angel Fish's habit Jones," Ursula asked while not breaking her concentration on the bubble, "You know how I feel about those lurking in my doorways."
"I care not about what you find rude," Jones declared as he moved forward glaring at Ursula, "What's important to me is this insane plan of yours!"
"This plan is full proof, Jones," Ursula told him, "Once it succeeds, the ocean and land will be mine to command!"
Davy Jones moved to the side of Ursula to make her to look at him, "Until the Giants consume and steal everything," Jones declared with anger in his voice and on his face, "You weren't there when they went on a rampage all those centuries ago! I was," he said as he pointed his tentacle finger at himself as he recalled the memories of that time, "I've seen what they do! They treat Man, Atlantean, and Merfolk like food! They eat them like they were those little worms you eat or a shark eating their prey in one bite! They steal everything that they can get their hands on and destroy anything like it's all a game! You may bring an end to the boy, his girl, and their friends. But the Giants will destroy everything you wish to rule once they tire of the land!"
"I never thought you of all people were actually afraid of something Jones," Ursula sneered at Jones sign of weakness, "As long as I have the crown, the giants are forced to obey my commands. Once the crown is delivered to me by my new puppet, they will never so much as enter the ocean. Now leave. This spell takes a great deal of concentration and I don't need your panicking!"
SLAM!
Jones slammed his claw hand against the wall of ice, causing it to crack under his strength as shards fell onto the frozen floor, "I fear nothing, Witch," Jones declared, "I just have the common sense to know that using the giants will lead to your death and the death of everyone one in the world! It's hard to recruit more crew members if they're eaten alive!" He began to leave the cave, "Mark my words! The moment the Giants sense any weakness, they will go for the crown! Then, there will be no safe place on land or at sea! You'll rule nothing but a dead and empty world until they find you as well," Jones finished as he left the cave.
Ursula said nothing as she continued to use her magic to control Pacifica and watched the Giants prepare. 'Jones really is afraid of these brutes,' Ursula thought as she continued to watch the scene before her, 'He clearly overestimates them.'
Giants' Land
Forest
11pm
Eric slowly opened his eyes only to see the night sky. His senses felt fuzzy at the moment as though he was half asleep. As soon as he could sense the taste in his mouth though, Eric shot up coughing and hacking with a disgusted look on his face. "Oh man," he exclaimed, "That was the worst thing I've ever eaten in my life! That thing almost enough bad enough to turn any vegetarian into a meat eater!"
"That's what I said when I first ate one."
Eric looked to see Jack, Chamo, and the Gooseling sitting next to the fire. "You must a really strong sense of taste to faint from eating one bite," Chamo said as smoked a cigar casually.
As Eric began to shake off the sleep he had been forced into, he began to notice his surroundings. It was night time with the stars shining brightly without any clouds blocking them. He also saw that they were now outside of the forest and in a clearing filled with grass. Near him were his friends still out cold with looks of disgust on their faces from eating the fruits. The two sisters slept together peacefully with rainbow drool on the side of their mouths as though the rift between them didn't even exist. Dax, Sebastian, and Iago slept in spread out position as though they had been worn out from working hard labor all day.
"I don't know how the three of you can eat that vegetable three times day," Eric exclaimed, "They taste like they should come out of people! Not go into them!"
"No denying that," Jack replied as he reached into his sack and pulled out a purple ball, "I'm still getting used to it even after eating it for years." He then tossed the sphere in the center of the group. As soon as it landed, it began to release purple smoke around the group.
"What is that," Eric asked Jack as he hoped it wasn't anything dangerous.
"It's one of my Stink Weed gas bombs," Jack explained, "As a plant, the smell is bad isn't that strong. But properly processed and the stench can wake anybody from the deepest of sleeps. Think of it like smelling salts but strong enough to keep a person awake for hours."
Before Eric could say anything else, everyone that was asleep shot up gasping and coughing.
"Mother of pearl," Sebastian exclaimed as he scurried away from the gas cloud, "I thought the river at Jang Hui smelled horrible!"
"In Calypso's name, that's bad," Dax said as he ran out of the gas, "That's worse than the sulfur pits near Ursula's old lair!"
"It's in my nose," Iago squawked as he flew up and out of the stench before falling next to the other critters and rolled around in pain, "IT'S IN MY NOSE!"
"That is so BAD," Ariel yelled as she ran out of the smoke covering her nose and collapsed next to Eric, "It feels like my nose is on fire!"
"My nose," Arista also yelled out as she staggered out of the gas and fell on her front next to Jack, "Is there anything that doesn't taste or smell like the worst thing in the world!?"
"Sorry everyone," Jack said as he took responsibility for their unpleasant wake-up call, "I didn't want to resort to such a method, but you all need to see this," he continued as he walked towards something in the distance.
As everyone began to slowly shook off the horrible stench, they looked in the direction that Jack was looking at. Near the BFG, stood a large tree that made even the redwoods look like saplings compared to it. The branches stretched far and wide allowing one to see the stars in the night sky through them. At the end of each branch were sets of green leaves wide enough to cover a king size bed. The tree stood on an island surrounded by water that spread all over as though the tree was making the water itself.
Everyone got up and walked towards the BFG as they got a closer look at the tree.
"What's he doing," Arista asked Jack as she noticed the BFG seemed focused on something, "And is that what we came here for?"
"Yep, that's what we came for," Jack answered Arista, "And the BFG is listening to the world."
"Listening to the world," Iago asked, "What's that? Some kind of crazy giant magic or something?!"
"It be being able to hear everything around you," the BFG answered as he sat down next to the others, "Often when it is clear in the sky, I hear distant music living of the stars in the sky."
"Really," Ariel said in amazement, "What else?"
"I see two little lambs chatting to each other," the BFG continued describing what he could hear, "Caterpillars are the worst chatty. Always arguing about which is the most beautiful butterfly," he continued as he stood up.
"Can't be any louder than some competitive beauty pageant contestants," Iago whispered into Dax's ear.
"Follow, please," the BFG asked the teens and animals as he walked towards the tree and continued, "I hear the footsteps of a ladybug while walking through the leaves. But the funniest stories always I hear from the same plants and trees."
"The trees and plants talk," Eric asked the BFG.
"Oh yes," the Giant answered with a warm smile, "They are always growing and living and laughing and chattering like you, me, and everyone here." As they neared the pool, the BFG gained a solemn expression and tone of voice, "I hear everything wonderful and everything terrible. Terrible, terrible things. All the secrets whispers of the world." The BFG looked down at the pool. Everyone else looked down and saw something that made their jaws dropped.
Below their feet was the pool of water. But the reflection of the tree was an amazing sight to behold. Unlike the tree before them which covered in the dark of the night, the tree in the reflection had an otherworldly glow about it. Like the tree had its own Aurora Borealis as it glowed brightly. Surrounding the tree were hundreds of different colored lights shinning around and on the tree like Christmas lights.
Everyone stared at the reflection in awe at the glowing tree as if it were something out of a dream.
"Now, I'm still new to things on the surface world," Sebastian began to say as he stared down at the illuminated tree from Ariel's shoulder, "But I don't think that's how reflections, mon."
"Hehehe. Well, things work differently here in Dream Country, Governor," Jack said as he stepped forward, "Here, is where the magic happens," he said while pointing to the lake.
"The magic," Arista asked, "What exactly happens here?"
"Can it beat the magic of my nest egg's endless gold mine," Iago asked as he sat on the gooseling's head, "If not, then I have no interest in whatever that oversized tree does!"
"You all be finding out," the BFG said as he stepped forward and presented the tourists the lake, "Jump."
Everyone other than Jack and Chamo looked at the BFG showing them the way to the lake saying he wanted all of them to jump in.
"Oh no! Not a chance wise guys," Iago squawked in anger, "I've already seen what giants do to pools just like that before! There is no way you are getting me in that pool for all the treasure in the world! No way! Not happening! Forget it!"
"I'm with Iago," Dax said as he looked nervous at the pool, "Last time I went into a pool of water here, I ended up becoming traumatized me for life!"
"Sebastian," Ariel asked as she looked at her shoulder, "What's Dax tal-"
Ariel's eyes shot open in surprise to see Sebastian curled up in a ball and rocking back and forth with eyes filled with fear, "The ocean is the best there is. The ocean is the best there is. The ocean is the best there is," Sebastian started to chant in an attempt to calm himself down.
"Oh man... Don't tell me some of you," Chamo began to ask as he began to figure it out as he didn't know whether to laugh his head off or gasp in shock.
"If you know, then you understand that there's no way we're going in that stink hole," Iago exclaimed again speaking for the group.
After a moment of silence, Jack sighed, "Oh well," he said as he began to walk towards the group, "So much for taking the easy way to Earth. I guess we'll just have to back track through the forest, across the giant infested fields, and walk all the way to the beanstalk which is probably guarded by now," he continued as he walked past everyone.
"Well, we better get going," Jack said with his back to the others and a sly smile on his face, "We have a lot of ground to cover."
"Hang on a minute," Iago squawked as flew in front of Jack's face with a nervous smile on his face, "Maybe I was a little hasty when I said we wouldn't go into the pool. But is there no other way from here?"
"Well, there's always the Fly of Despair," Chamo said as he pointed to a zipper in the air just floating in place, "But that's only if you don't mind years of therapy."
Dax and Sebastian who was now sitting on Dax's head ran towards the Gooseling and jumped on its back. "High ho, Nest Egg," Dax exclaimed like a cowboy from a western film, "AWAY!"
The gooseling however did nothing as it stood there looking in every direction possible.
"HA! Nice try Oyster Breath! But he'll only listen to me," Iago exclaimed confidently from his spot on the Gooseling's head, "And he won't do anything stupid like charging into danger!"
As Iago continued boasting, Sebastian quietly crawled down Dax's back and towards the back of the Gooseling, and got his claws ready. With a quick motion, Sebastian pinched the Gooseling's read causing the baby bird to chirp in pain and surprise. It charged forward away from the danger behind it and ran straight towards the pool.
"Wait, no Nest Egg," Iago exclaimed as he hung on for dear life, "You don't want to go that way! That's filled with danger and I'm allergic to danger! NOOOOOO!"
As the Gooseling ran past the teens towards the pool, Jack ran after it to stop the Gooseling. "Wait," Jack yelled out as he tried to stop them, "It's not that kind of-"
But it was too late. The Gooseling leapt into the air and fell into the pool along with its occupants. Only for something unexpected to happen when the two critters disappeared... No splash... Not even the sound of the water's surface being broken. Everyone minus the BFG, Jack, and Chamo stared at the spot where the animals disappeared at in shock.
"Oooookay," Arista said as he broke the silence, "I know this place is different from the surface near Atlantica, but even I know there's normally a splash when someone jumps or falls into a body of water."
Ariel nodded in agreement while Eric continued to stare in disbelief from his years near the ocean.
"That would be true," Chamo said as he approached the pool, "If this was actually water." He then leapt up in the air and dived down into the pool as silent as the last two. Everyone other than Jack continued to stare in shock as the BFG walked over to the edge as well.
"In this place, anything can be happening," the BFG said with a warm smile as he walked into the pool, "All one be having to do is believe and take the first step," he finished as he entered the pool and disappeared.
As the remaining group stood there, everyone minus Jack was still not sure what to think despite seeing the BFG and Chamo enter the waterless pool with ease.
"How can a pool have no water in it," Ariel asked breaking the silence, "That's like a giz- I mean a watch without the hands to tell the time!"
"Yeah," Eric said, "But we've seen crazier things this year. So, how is a pool with no water so out of the ordinary?"
Ariel looked at Eric and knew he made a good point. From fishmen pirates, undead pirates, a lost civilization under the ocean, to giant ancient fish water benders. Nothing should seem so crazy to her now, but still... "Good point," Ariel said in agreement, "Okay... I've- No, we've got this." She and Eric started to walk forward towards the pool under the large tree. They both looked down and saw the glowing tree in the water.
'It's okay,' Ariel thought despite the anxiety from such a dangerous looking jump. She looked away from the pool and at Eric who was looking down before looking at his future wife, 'Because as long as I'm with Eric...'
'There's nothing I can't do,' Eric thought in unison with Ariel as the two smiled and grasped each other's hands out of instinct. The two then took one more step forward and fell into the pool without a sound like the others.
Arista stood there with mixed feelings flowing through her. Taking a leap of faith into a pool with no water, seeing her sister holding hands with a human, and seeing her so happy. 'This is insane! How did I go from trying to convince my sister to come home to the sea to jumping into a pool with no water in it in a land filled with giants,' she asked herself, 'Sure, I missed going on adventures with her like before, but not where one is considered a delicacy! Is everything above the surface this crazy and out of control!?'
"It's a lot to take in, isn't it?"
The sound of Jack's voice broke Arista out of her train of thought as she looked next to her.
"I remember my first time jumping in there," Jack said with a nostalgic smile.
"It must have been easy for you," Arista asked him, "Considering where you live and do every day."
"It is now," Jack answered, "But the first time... It took me a little bit to take that first step. Although I was still a kid when I first jumped in."
"How did you do it," Arista asked him in an uncertain tone of voice, "How do keep going despite all that's here? And with a smile no less!" Throughout the time she spent with Jack, whenever they weren't in a death-defying situation, he was usually smiling. As though everything he goes through from dodging giants, to avoiding giant spiders.
"I guess I've gotten used to it by now," Jack continued to smile, "Honestly, I can't imagine having a life below anymore. That and one can't really go anywhere just standing or floating around," Jack added knowing Arista was used to floating in the water than standing on the ground
As Arista took those words in, she and Jack looked at each other in silence. "You know I'm a mermaid, right," she asked him, "I've swam my whole life. Every step I've taken feels like my first."
"Hmmm, good point," Jack admitted after thinking about that.
"But I understand what you're saying," Arista said, "I've been-"
"Hey!"
Iago's loud voice got the teens' attention as he flew out of the hole and flew towards the two. "Are you two going to stand there like status all night or are you going to get down here," he squawked at them, "We're on a time table you know!" Iago then flew back into the pool.
"He's right," Arista said ignoring what just happened as she took deep breaths, "I just need a minute to prepare myself." Despite her words, Arista could still feel the fear as memories of when she almost drowned when she went to get Ariel. Suddenly, she felt a warmth wrap itself around her hand. She looked and saw that Jack had taken her hand.
"Sorry," Jack said, "I just remembered when I was scared growing up, my parents used to do this for me. I figured you needed a little help too."
Arista switched her line of sight from Jack's face to his hand holding hers a few times before she looked away. "You should ask before taking one's hand," Arista declared while secretly hiding her blushing face, "But thanks... I do feel a little better."
"Yes, to both. Sorry," Jack said while his face burned red as well, "We should catch up with the others."
Arista nodded as the two stepped towards the pool until they reached the edge. Arista's grip on Jack's hand tightened instinctively as she looked down, but her eyes were filled with awe at the sight before her.
The water's surface was so calm, that it looked like the reflection of a mirror as the tree continued to glow brightly. Despite the beautiful sight, Arista still felt a bit of unease about taking the next step into the pool.
"I can promise you that nothing bad will happen," Jack said with a reassuring smile. For some reason, despite her hard time trusting humans, his smile made Arista feel safe for whatever reason. She nodded as the two stepped forward into the pool of water.
Only Arista didn't feel wet and didn't feel a sense of vertigo from being upside down. If anything, it felt as though she had walked or swam into another room. "What just happened," she asked out loud, "Didn't we just-"
As she turned around, she was left speechless along with everyone else that jumped into the pool. There before them was the tree that was in the reflection of the water... Only now, the glowing tree was as real as the normal one everyone had seen in the water's reflection.
"Mother of Pearl," Sebastian exclaimed in shock from such a sight.
"It's beautiful," Ariel said in awe at the glowing tree along.
"Okay... Are we in some kind of food coma from the bad fruit," Iago asked the tourists were thinking as he stared at the tree, "There's no way this tree is anything other than a dream!"
"You're not far off," Chamo responded to Iago's question, "This is the heart of Dream Country and this is where dreams are born."
"You mean, dreams are made here," Arista asked as they approached the tree for a closer look, "They don't just come from our minds when we sleep?"
"No. They be coming from this," the BFG said as pulled his net out. "While passing a dream come," he began to say as beams of light passed through the leaves of the tree and different shades of blue and purple travel through the veins of the leaves, "It soft and warm. And it makes a small buzzing sound, like music." As soon as the light reaches the tip of the leaves, the lights fell off like droplets of rain, and danced around the tree like fireflies at night.
"It's incredible," Eric said as he watched the dream light show, "It's like... Something my grandpa would talk about discovering one day..."
"That or discovering a whole chest of human items," Ariel said in comparison as she felt the same excitement she felt when she salvaged a new human item from the surface.
"I've never seen a more beautiful piece of coral in my life," Arista said in awe at the glowing tree.
"We call them trees on dry land," Jack whispered, "The biggest differences are they are made of wood and some bear fruit."
"It's almost as beautiful as the piles of gold I envisioned when I was convinced to come here," Iago added before patting the gooseling's hand, "But nothing can beat what you bear."
"Leave it to Iago to always think of treasure," Dax said unsurprised by Iago's words.
Arista looked at the BFG, "This is beautiful... But what does this have to do with dreams? I mean, what do you do with them?"
The BFG smiled, "I catch them and take them down to the towns and places where people be living and give them a good sleep time."
Suddenly, a golden light began to fly around the tree at fast speeds. The BFG, Chamo, and Jack gasped at the sight of it while the others stared at it. "Now what," Dax exclaimed.
"Boggswinkles," The BFG stepped forward as he pointed at the light, "It's a fizzwizard," he exclaimed in amazement as his ears wiggled in excitement, "I don't be seeing many of them anymore." As the golden light shot across the water, the BFG armed with his net went after it as he attempted to catch it. But it proved faster than the BFG as it easily dodged his net and flew around him like a housefly flying around a person.
"It's behind your elbow," Ariel exclaimed as she pointed at the Fizzwizard behind the Giant's left arm. The BFG looked to see Fizzwizard and catch it in his net, only for the ball of light to dash over to the BFG's body.
"It's on your other elbow now," Arista exclaimed as she revealed the golden dream's hiding spot. The BFG moved to catch the Dream, but the Fizzwizard countered every one of the BFG's attempts to catch it even with the other's helping him.
After a few more moments of dodging the BFG to the point where the giant fell on his back, the golden dream shot into the grass disappearing from everyone's sight.
"Where did it go," Sebastian exclaimed as his eyes swiftly looked all over for the ball of light, "It could not have of just-"
Suddenly, the ball of light shot up from Arista's feet surprising everyone. Arista jumped back in shock but he light followed her as it stared at her.
The glowing yellow dream floated in front of Arista as it shined brightly in front of her. "Umm, hi," she said nervously as she stood back up and looked at Jack, "Jack, what exactly does this- WHOA!"
Suddenly, the Fizzwizard shot forward and spun around the princess like a firefly. The next thing Arista knew, she was suddenly lifted into the air by the yellow light. "What's happening," she exclaimed as she continued to float with a worried expression on her face, "Please tell me this is safe!"
"It wants to play," Chamo explained from the BFG's shoulder, "That's all. Also, your bra is clearly on too tight. Please allow me the honor of adjus-"
PINCH!
"YE-OOOOOWWWWWWW!"
Before Chamo could finish, Sebastian pinched Chamo's tail with all his might causing the mammal to fall on his stomach with a pained expression on his face.
"The princess can adjust her own bra," Sebastian exclaimed in anger, "Thank you very much!" Everyone just stared at Chamo lying on the ground with nervous smiles from it.
"At least he didn't just leap at anyone this time," Jack nervously said.
Before anyone could reply, Arista found herself being lifted higher and higher. "I'm not sure I like being up this high unless it's in the ocean," Arista admitted as she flew higher and higher off the ground, "Please tell the Fizzwizard to-" Suddenly, she was shot up through the air and towards the Dream Tree, "STOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPP!"
The next thing the princess knew, she was flying through the air at an incredible speed all around the tree. She felt as though she was caught in a current of water and had no control over where or how fast she was going. While some people with a thing for thrill seeking would find this a blast. For a mermaid princess who had legs for only a day and was now flying without any water around her, it was more horrifying than exciting.
"I want off this ride now," Arista exclaimed the dream flew her around the tree at lightning speed as though it was a game to it.
"Never fear, ma'am."
Arista looked to her left to see Jack's smiling face next to hers going up and down. He was currently using his staff as a means of keeping up with her by shoot a vine from the tip and swinging after her and the dream.
"Please tell me there's a way to stop the fizzwizard," Arista asked hoping for a positive answer, "I'd prefer to be in control when I'm swimming like this!"
"I'm afraid it'll stop when it feels like it. Fizzwizards are very fun loving and would never hurt anyone," Jack explained while continuing to swing from branch to branch to keep her more comfortable, "Second, you're flying actually. Think of it as like swimming but without being wet."
"Flying? Well whatever," Arista said as she processed that, "How long does a Fizzwizard-"
Before she could finish, the sound of something snapping filled their ears. They quickly looked up to see the vine that Jack had shot out to swing from was carrying a part of an old branch from the tree. Immediately, Jack was pulled down by gravity.
Just as the Giant Fighter was about to shoot out another vine, Arista immediately grabbed Jack's wrist to save him. 'Why did I,' Arista asked herself as she held onto him tightly as her heartbeat rose, 'I just saved a human. Even though he saved me first but... What is happening to me?'
"Thank you, ma'am," Jack said with an awkward smile, "But it wasn't neccess-"
"Arista," she suddenly yelled with a slight glare, "My name is Arista! Not Ma'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The fizzwizard suddenly increased its speed further before Arista could finish. For both of them, the surroundings looked like a blur as they sped around the tree.
"HOOOLLLYYYYY SSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLSSSSSSSSSSSSSS," Arista yelled out in horror as she and Jack flew faster dodging each branch at lightning speeds. After a few moments of flying, the high-speed sensation came to an end, and a sense of stillness replaced it. "Is... Is it over," she asked nervously due to keeping her eyes shut the whole time.
"I believe so," Jack voice answered, "But you need to see this Ma- Arista."
Slowly, Arista opened her eyes unsure what she would see, only for all the fear on her face to disappear, and be replaced with shock and a red blush. There in front of her was Jack who was once again, in her personal space just like when they met in the forest.
'Why- Why is he so close,' Arista asked herself, 'Before I just grabbed his arm, so why-' As soon as she got a better look, she realized where Jack was. She was now holding him in her arms tightly with her arms around his back as the fizzwizard continued to glow around Arista. He was looking out away from her while his staff was still in his left arm. 'Oh no! When the fizzwizard sped us up, I must have grabbed on to him by instinct. I mean, I'm glad he's okay, but still!' As she moved her head away, all stress she felt faded away at the sight before her.
It was an endless field of dark green with the lights in the night sky still burning as brightly as ever. The grassy fields looked as though they could go on forever along with the bright lights.
"Wow... This is just," Arista said as she found herself speechless at the sight before her. It was like a dream she didn't want to wake up from.
"Amazing," Jack asked her as he continued to observe the view, "I've seen this a number of times, but it never gets old for me."
Arista just kept staring at the sight before her. "I think I'm starting to understand Ariel better," she said as Jack looked at her in confusion as she continued, "Growing up in the ocean, I was always taught to fear humans because of eating fish and throwing garbage in my home."
Jack looked a little shocked by this new bit of info. 'Dumping garbage in the ocean,' Jack thought to himself, 'How long has that been going on and why would people resort to that?'
"Ariel's fascination with the surface always confused me... I could never understand why she would want to learn about a world that has caused so many problems for our family and kingdom," Arista continued as she stared at the scene before her, "I thought there was nothing good up here. But now... Seeing this view makes me feel happy about being here..." She continued to stare at the sight before her.
Jack just smiled as he looked back at the view while secretly hiding his blushing face. A part of him wanted to say something, but he thought it would be best to enjoy the view.
After a moment, the fizzwizard began to slowly return the two to the others. Even though they could've stayed up at the top of the tree forever.
Back below, everyone was watching the sight before them. The BFG was warmly smiling at his friend finding another friend his size after all the years in Giants Land.
Ariel and Eric stared at the two from above and smiled. "They look so happy up there," Ariel said, "It must be an amazing view. Plus, look at the two of them," Ariel said as she pointed at how happy the two seemed.
"Yeah, they do seem pretty happy up there," Eric said as he enjoyed the sight, "They kind of remind me of when we started dating." Eric imagined how he and Ariel must have looked when they were dating. Even when Ariel didn't have a voice, the two were inseparable and were always smiling.
"Well of course," Chamo said with a confident and proud smile on his face, "I taught him everything he knows. Why wouldn't Arista have fallen head over heels for him?"
"You mean everything not to do," Sebastain asked making Chamo's face go from confident to annoyed.
Ariel, Eric, and the BFG all laughed at that. As they laughed, Ariel stopped, and began to look around, "Say... Where are Dax, Iago, and the Gooseling," she asked as she looked around.
Eric looked around the tree as well. But there was no sign of the birds or the otter. "I'm not sure. They were just here," Eric responded as he looked around, "I can't imagine he would just go looking for trouble unless there is some kind of treasure or oysters involved."
"I saw him go over that ridge with the gooseling and Dax," Sebastian answered as he pointed to the ridge to the right of them, "Not sure why."
"HELP! OVER HERE!"
The moment Iago's voice filled the air, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction of the voice.
"Something tells me he just found more trouble," Eric said as he, Ariel, and Sebastian ran in the direction of the voice.
Soon, Arista and Jack who had just landed along with the BFG, and Chamo were following after them. "Were we followed by the other giants," Arista asked Jack.
"Doubtful," Jack explained, "The giants can't enter this part of Dream Country. It's why they can't go to Earth from here."
"But I be knowing what the bird be yelling about," The BFG said with a serious look on his face.
The moment they crossed the ridge, everyone saw Iago shaking like a leaf with a horrified look on his face. Behind him was the gooseling staring down at the ground and Dax standing next to it staring down as well.
"NO ONE TOLD ME HE'S HERE TOO," Iago screamed in fear, "WE'RE ALL DOOMED!"
"Iago, calm down," Eric said, "Who's here? Fallon?"
Iago didn't answer. He simply pointed one his wings towards the front of him causing the group to look down.
Before everyone's eyes was a large burn mark in the grass. The lines were black while the grass around it remained as green as leaves at Spring time. The shape that the burn mark was a triangle with a pair of stick arms and legs hanging from the bottom. On the tip of the triangle was a small top hat. In the center of the triangle was a large eye and below it was a small bow tie. At a first glance, it looked a crop circle of a cartoon character.
"You can't be serious," Arista asked Iago not buying it for a second, "This triangle is supposed to be the end of us? What is it supposed to be anyway?"
"It looks like the Eye of Providence but as a cartoon character," Eric explained as he looked at it, "It's a religious symbol back on Earth."
"Oh yeah, that makes sense," Iago yelled as he shook with fear, "People are crazy enough to worship an interdimensional demon like that!"
"A demon," Ariel asked, "This thing is a demon? It looks too funny to be a demon."
"Iago be right," the BFG said in a fearful voice, "That thing, whatever it bein, it nothing but being trouble." He then looked back at the tree with a sad look in his eyes, "Long ago when all the giants bein good, this place was used to bring happy thoughts. One night though, things be badly changing here." He pointed to the tree, "Late that night, hundreds of red glowing dreams flew into the sky in a panic and be going poof. I never be seeing anything like it before. In the morning, the bad giants start appearing and things became bad in Giants Land. When came to see what been happening," the BFG said as he looked back at the ground, "All we be findin is that. Since then, such a thing hasn't happening twice."
Everyone looked back down at the picture in the ground. For some, the burnt grass gave up an uneasy feeling. It was as though the eye in the center was staring right at them.
"You think this picture made the nice giants turned into man-eating ones from seeing this picture," Dax asked while not buying it, "I know it's a bad picture but it doesn't seem bad enough to make giants snap."
"You were a statue for who knows how long Oyster Breath," Iago shouted as he pointed at the picture in fear, "That picture in the grass is of the biggest evil known to universe! No one knows his name, but they know he's powerful and crazy enough to burn the universe just for kicks!"
"How do you know so much about him, mon," Sebastian asked, "And if he's so bad, how come we've never heard of him until now?"
"Mozenrath studied every kind of spell book and scroll he could find," Iago explained, "And no one is crazy or foolish enough to try and summon someone like that!" Iago suddenly stopped panicking and flew up to the BFG, "Wait... You mean it only happened once?"
"That be so. Nothing like that night never repeated again," the BFG answered, "Before, the giants that be turnen were able to journey down to the world. But after they went down, then were forced back up all the ages ago, they haven't been able to use the Dream Tree to go there even since."
"I see," Eric said as he thought about it, "I wonder what it could be. Maybe King Erik's Crown or whatever made them go bad."
"I don't be knowin' I'm afraid," BFG sadly answered, "But things have not being the same here since the day the sky turned red." He turned around, "We better be goin'," the BFG said, "We have little time before Fallon's army marches for the beanstalk."
Everyone followed after the BFG. As they headed there, Eric looked back one last time at the burned picture in thought. 'What kind of creature could turn a community of nice giants into the ones at the castle,' Eric thought to himself as he turned away and caught up with the others.
As Eric caught up with the others, Iago flew over into Jack's face, "So, how do we get back to Earth anyway," he asked one of the experts of Giants' Land, "Do we do some kind of crazy ritual or have to eat more of that nasty vegetable!?"
"Oh no, nothing like that," Jack said, "It's rather easy. All we have to do is-"
Suddenly, another burst of light shot across the group as fast as the fizzwizard did before. Only this one was red, was sparking like an angry flame, and was spazzing in all directions.
"Whoa! Look at that fizzwizard go," Ariel shouted in surprise, "But is it good for it to be acting like that?"
"Blimey," Jack exclaimed as he readied his staff much to tourists' surprise.
"Oh, mince my maggots," the BFG said in shock as he looked afraid, "It's a Trogglehumper," he continued as he quickly backed away as the red light dashed back and forth.
"I take it those are bad, right," Arista asked as she stood with her guard up.
"Basically, they are bad dreams that came the night before Fallon and the others giants decided to go from vegetarians to meat eaters," Jack told her and the others, "Thankfully, one isn't enough to turn someone evil."
"There have been a lot of people who have ended up here by accident and attacked by the trogglehumpers," Chamo explained to the others quickly, "You wouldn't believe how popular a spot this is to those who aren't trying to come here."
"What? If it's just a dream that had more coffee than that the golden one," Dax said as the trogglehumper picked up speed, "What's the worse it can-"
Suddenly, the trogglehumper shot forward through the group causing everyone except the BFG to fall off their feet and onto the ground. The throgglehumper flew back up into the air while giving off what sounded like a laugh as it danced in the air.
"They being the bad kind of mischievous," the BFG said as he prepared his net, "The bad kind that makes people feel sad faced and red faced."
Ariel got back onto her feet with a glare on her face. "Oh, so it likes to play rough, does it," Ariel said as she got into a water bending pose, "I'll show this throgglehumper rough!"
The throgglehumper looked at Ariel and let out a sinister sounding laugh showing it accepted Ariel's challenge. It reeled back and charged forward. Ariel stood her ground and prepared to perform a water whip at it.
"Ariel, wait," Chamo exclaimed as he got back up.
"Don't worry," Eric said, "You saw her water bend before and she knows how to gather water from anywhere. She can handle a mischievous little dream."
"He's right," Ariel said as she waved her arms around, "I can gather water from any- Where?!" Much to her surprise, as she moved her arms trying to gather water from the ground, no water was being called forth from the grass. "Umm... We might have a problem after all," Ariel admitted as she jumped to the side of the throgglehumper's attack.
The red dream didn't stop though as it flew up and back for another attack at a defenseless Ariel.
"Oh no you don't," Eric exclaimed as he ran forward summoning his Seablade and swinging at the air to drive the nightmare back. But that didn't stop the dream as the red light dodged Eric's attacks before getting around him and going for Ariel again.
Ariel jumped out of the way again, only she wasn't fast enough as the throgglehumper spun around Ariel's leg, lifted her up against her will, spun around her whole body creating a red tornado around her.
"Ariel," Eric and Arista shouted as they both ran toward their shared loved one and reached out to help her from opposite sides. Only for the red energy to send them back onto the ground.
"Make this stop! PLEASE," Ariel said as she was spun around quickly with her hair spinning around with her, "I'M GONNA BE SICK!"
Arista and Eric stared in fear as Ariel was spun around like a mini top.
"Oh no, not again," Sebastian cried as he jumped on to Arista's shoulder, "Last time Ariel was like this, Ursula was turning her into a human!" He looked at Chamo in fear, "What's that throggle- whatever going to do to Ariel, mon!?"
"And why can't she water bend," Dax asked as he pointed out their surroundings, "This place is filled with healthy water filled plants!"
"That's what I was trying to tell her," Chamo tried to explain, "This place doesn't follow the rules of the real world. Namely, there's no water in Dream Country! Only dreams!"
"As for Ariel... I'm afraid there's nothing we can do until the throgglehumper is finished with its prank," Jack explained, "On the plus side, Ariel won't be physically or emotionally hurt."
"What's the bad news," Iago asked as he hugged the gooseling, "Don't tell me it's going to want to trade Princess for gold!"
Just then, the red dream went sideways, and shot out Ariel face first into the dirt before everyone. Everyone looked to see she had swirls in her eyes from being spun too much as she lay on the ground with her butt sticking up in the air. But Eric was now blushing at the sight before him while Arista and Sebastian were in shock at what they saw.
"The bad news... We're all out of extra clothing at the moment," Jack admitted as he looked away with respect for Ariel.
Due to the bad dream's tornado, Ariel's clothing was worse for wear. Her blouse had been torn to bits leaving only her seashell bra, her skit had been torn leaving her wearing a small mini skirt on, and her boots were torn to bits leaving only her soles nearby.
The throgglehumper laughed at its successful prank but suddenly found itself captured in the BFG's bottle. "No more of you causing trouble us being," the BFG said as he put the cork on the bottle.
Taking the opportunity, Eric tore his jacket off, and put it around Ariel as he helped her up. "Ariel, are you okay," Eric asked as he held her up in his arms.
"What's an Ariel," she asked him in a goofy voice was out cold with her silly smile.
"Yeah, she's okay," Iago said.
"Okay Ariel," Eric said as he helped her up on her feet, "Let's get going." Ariel simply laughed in a daze as she stood up but kept losing her footing from the sense of vertigo. 'Wow... Deja vu,' Eric thought to himself as he remembered when Ariel first got her legs and he had to help her to his house due to her inexperience with them.
Arista walked over and looked up at the BFG. "Why are you bringing that with us," she asked him not liking the idea of having that thing with them.
"We be safer from the throbblehumper while it's in here than on the loose," BFG explained, "Better than hearing it's loud and angry voice." The BFG looked at the dream as it glowed brighter and bashed against the glass, "Look at what you have done. And there will be no forgiveness!'"
Arista looked a little unnerved by the Bad Dream's words of vengeance against them.
"Okay, enough show and tell," Iago squawked loudly, "Let's get out of here before more of those find us!" He then looked at Jack, "Now how do we get out of here!?"
"Easy, just walk that way," Jack said as he pointed towards the horizon and walked towards it. Everyone, including a still dizzy but recovering Ariel walked down the hill in the direction Jack had pointed too. Suddenly, they were engulfed by a huge blast of light so powerful that they had to cover their eyes.
Everyone covered their eyes as best they could. When the light faded, they could all hear the familiar sounds of the waves. They all looked and saw the ocean in the dark of night.
"Are we," Arista began to ask as the feelings of relief and happiness began to fill her.
"WE'RE BACK," Sebastian, Dax, and Iago exclaimed in happiness.
Iago flew to the trees behind the group, "Oh, sweet normal sized trees! I'll never wish you were taller and bearing larger fruit!" The gooseling followed after Iago as it pecked at the trees almost knocking them over.
"Oh, my lovely ocean home," Sebastian exclaimed, "No source of water can compare to you!"
"Oysters! My kingdom for oysters," Dax shouted as he searched high and low for oysters.
Eric just smiled, "Those three sure are happy to be back," he said as he looked to his left to see his home not that far from them, "Not that I can blame them." He then looked at Ariel who was still a little out of it, "But we should head for the house to get Arista and Ariel some clothing, and plan our next move," he continued as he looked at his future wife's and sister's current attires.
"I don't know why, I mean this is what she and I usually wear under the sea," Arista said as she looked at herself. "Besides, I'll worry about human attire after we cut the beanstalk down," Arista continued, "Then we won't have to worry about Fallon's giants."
"Right, very easy," Jack said, "But I'm afraid we'll have to ask that you take care of that part."
Arista along with everyone else looked confused by that as they looked at Jack who had an uneasy smile while Chamo and the BFG had slightly sad faces.
"What do you mean," Dax asked as he jumped on Eric's shoulder, "We can all do that together. It will be easy."
"True, but there's still one last loose end to tie up back in Giants' Land," Chamo stated, "The girl with the crown still has the crown and the beans."
"That's right," Eric said remembering Pacifica was still under Ursula's control, "Pacifica is still up there. If she loses the crown, she'll be at the giants' mercy!"
"Not to mention the giants will have a new supply of the beans," Jack added, "That's one resource no one should have."
Arista stepped forward with a scared expression, "But if you go back, you'll be on your own. You can't fight an army of giants alone!"
"It's not the ideal method," Chamo explained as the three started to fade from sight, "But the doorway only works at night. We'll get the girl and crown somewhere safe and drop them off close by tomorrow night."
"It be good meeting more nice people like you," the BFG added with a smile, "Hopin' to be meetin' again one day."
The three began to fade more and more from sight to the others' surprise. Arista looked at Jack in shock as he disappeared with a smile on his face.
"Sorry Arista, but this is the safest thing for everyone," Jack said, "Besides, fighting giants is what I do."
Arista looked as though she as on the verge of tears as she reached out for Jack, "But- Wait!"
Suddenly, the three vanished as quickly as they appeared from sight much to everyone's surprised. Arista fell onto her knees as she looked down at the sand. 'But I... I never said thank you,' she thought in sadness as Sebastian jumped on her shoulder to comfort the princess. The group was left in silence as one question rang though most of their heads...
'What if Jack fails?'
Well that went from happy to sad quickly. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, sorry again for the wait, and thanks for your patience. Before anyone asks though. I added the part where Ariel was defeated by the Bad Dream because I thought that she needed a defeat somewhere along the way. That and something funny should happen to her. Why should the sidekicks get all the laughs. Also the reason why Jack didn't give Arista his shirt when she lost her jacket was because his was dirty and he didn't want to give her something smelly to wear. He's a gentlemen after all. Hope to update again when I can.
Next Chapter: Leap of Faith; New Plan