Chapter 18 Mermaid Musical
Ludwig gripped his brother's hair in his claw as they swam around. In general, the underwater scenery turned out to be very dark and murky. All that met Ludwig's eyes was endless navy blue. Not very surprising, but not very stimulating either. You would think a show that had mermaids in it would go the extra mile in terms of designing the background and scenery, but nope. The darkness was so strong that it almost made Ludwig want to fall asleep.
He yawned. This was going to be a chore. He realized that, if Iggy was stuck in this show, it would take close to an eternity to find him. Why? Because this was the literal ocean. It covered seventy percent of the entire world. Even with the strength Roy had in his new mermaid tail, trying to traverse the entire ocean would take forever. And that was assuming that he and Roy didn't run into any trouble on the way. There was the possibility that they would run into a shark, which would more than likely want to eat them.
Ludwig's heart sank. "We're never gonna find Iggy."
Roy laughed. "Not with that attitude we're not. We just need to go faster." He put on a burst of speed. Ludwig tightened his grip on Roy's hair, nearly flying off his back.
"Roy! Slow down!"
"Why? This is fun!"
"SLOW DOWN RIGHT NOW!"
Roy came to a screeching halt. "Okay, sheesh." He sighed in frustration. "Man, what's the point of having a pretty mermaid tail if you can't even use it?"
Ludwig rolled his eyes. "I think the question you should be asking is 'what's the point of having your brother on your back if you move to fast for him to hold on?'" He squinted at Roy. "Go slow. Iggy's already lost; I don't need to be next."
Roy huffed. "Fine. Fine." He moved at a significantly slower pace. Too slow as a matter of fact; it was like the water had been turned into molasses.
Ludwig groaned. "Not that slow, doinkus."
Roy picked him off of his back and gave him a heated glare. "There is just no pleasing you, is there Mr. Snobby?"
"Mr. Snobby!?" Ludwig gave him a glare right back. "I'm just trying to be practical!"
"No, what you're trying to be is stuck up!" Roy put the hand that wasn't holding Ludwig on his hip. "Look at me, I'm Ludwig! I have such impossible standards that nobody in the world can possibly follow them!"
Ludwig's face grew warm.. "Why you little…it's not my fault that you don't have any sense of speed!"
"And it's not my fault that you don't have any sense of humility!"
Ludwig groaned. "You ass!" He slapped his claw to his head in a facepalm. "It's no wonder Bowser grounded you and Iggy!"
Roy's face turned red. "That wasn't my fault!" A playful, mischievous twinkle appeared in his eyes. "Crabcake!"
If Ludwig still had nostrils, steam would have shot out of them. "That's a lot of attitude coming from the person who I had rescued from a hungry lion!"
The two bickered back and forth for about five minutes. Roy shot insulting nicknames and heated remarks toward's Ludwig, and Ludwig responded with retorts, both of the caustic and defensive variety. Just as Ludwig was about to tell Roy that he was an inch away from leaving him stuck in the show, something fell upon his ears. He turned around, blinking his eyes out.
"Roy, do you hear that?"
Roy sharply exhaled. "I don't know. Maybe I would if you didn't deafen me with your yelling!"
"Roy, I'm serious!" He turned back toward his brother. "Just stop talking for a minute and listen!"
Roy sighed in frustration, but thankfully, he did do what his brother requested. The two Koopalings stayed silent for about two minutes, trying to pick up on the sounds that reverberated throughout the water.
Ludwig felt mighty confused. "Roy, is it just me, or does that sound like…music?"
"No, it's not just you." He swam forward a little bit, a smile appearing on his face. "It..it sounds…happy."
Ludwig nodded. "The allegro tempo does make your heart flutter, doesn't it?" He turned back to Roy. "Why don't we go investigate what's making it? Maybe we'll be lucky and find Iggy there."
Roy beamed. "Sounds like a plan!" With a flick of the tail, he swam forward. Ludwig stuck to his hands like glue, relishing in the underwater melody. It was so snappy and interesting. The instrumentation actually had a jazzy feel to it, which was appropriate considering the instruments seemed to be letting out notes that seemed to be improvised. Ludwig didn't listen to jazz as much as he listened to classical, but he had to admit that this piece was really dynamic and fun.
The further they swam, the louder the music got. Not only that, but Ludwig noticed some changes to the scenery. It appeared…brighter. More lively, less like it was the middle of the night. Colors in the coral popped out, the reefs had an almost festive quality to them. Ludwig could also see more wildlife. Fish of all sorts swam around, some dull and basic in color, others lively and vibrant. Ludwig had to admit, he was in awe.
"Man," Roy said. "This place looks sweet!"
Ludwig nodded. "I couldn't agree more." Right as he said that, a merman appeared literally inches away from Roy's face. Ludwig shrieked and stumbled backward.
"Princess Alina!" The merman said. He bowed. "We were beginning to wonder if you would ever return."
Roy blinked. He looked down at Ludwig. "Who's this Alina chick?" he whispered. "Is this guy confused?"
Ludwig rolled his eyes. "He's talking to you, genius?"
"Me?" Roy examined his body. "I don't know if I look like an 'Alina.' I was thinking I was more like a Nancy or a Jessica, or maybe even an Ariel."
The merman laughed. "Funny as always, your highness." Right as he said that was when a group of other merpeople appeared from just beyond the reef. To Ludwig's confusion, fish with all sorts of different instruments in their possession appeared right alongside them.
"Princess Alina!" The merpeople exclaimed. "You're back!"
"Yes!" The first merman exclaimed. "The princess is back!" His eyes sparkled. "Time for us to celebrate!"
The fish began playing their instruments. Before Ludwig even knew what was going on, the merman began singing.
Our princess so fair
Has returned to the sea
When all the mermaids se her
They all shout yippee!
The other merpeople began singing along, sounding like some sort of underwater choir.
We should all dance!
We should all jive!
The sight of our princess
Makes us all feel alive!
Roy and Ludwig exchanged a look. What the actual flip was going on?
"We love you Alina!
We'll love you eternally
You fill up the ocean
With a special sort of glee!
Ludwig looked back at the singers. "Well, at least now we know what kind of show this is." He swam forward. "I wasn't expecting to encounter a mermaid based musical, but I have to admit…" he smiled. "This music is pretty good."
"Pretty good?" Roy asked. Ludwig turned toward him and saw that he was dancing around, his tail wagging about in a jerky manner. "This song is a straight up bop!"
We should all dance!
We should wag our tails!
The princess protects
The fish and the whales!
Ludwig found himself head bopping to the beat as well. Before he knew it, he was dancing right alongside Roy. As a professional musician, he really enjoyed this song. The tune was lively, the instrumentation screamed 'playful,' and the lyrics were all round nice.
"Hey, Roy?" Ludwig said. "Why don't we stay here for a while?"
Roy laughed. "Yes! Yes! Oh my gosh, yes!" He twirled around in the water, laughing as he did. "This is the best show ever! Let's stay here for a long time!"