Chapter 3 - Wish I Could Be

Choir practice was a dull proceeding to say the least. Since there was absolutely no chance of sneaking off this time and being forced to attend every second of it, it was almost excruciating. The repetitive, monotonous motions of sitting down and getting up at Stella's command puffed Arron out, and the song selected for that day was as boring as the grey stone of the palace music room. The brothers sang the piece with focus and dedication while Arron had his arms folded tightly across his chest the entire time, with an expression one couldn't deny was decidedly grumpy.

Stella could see her youngest pupil's impatience and rolled her eyes. Had he learned nothing from yesterday? This was the least he could do to make up for his careless absence at his brother's concert.

"Arron!" Stella whacked her baton on the music stand when she saw the boy's attention drifting, and the red-head whipped back around. Since she had been charged with keeping an eye on the kid, Stella was taking extra precaution to get Arron to pay attention, meaning she would snap at him for the slightest behavioural error. But it was better than him slipping out the window when her back was turned.

I cant believe all a 'dis… she mumbled. I should be orchestrating symphonies! Not micro-managing some headstrong teenager…

Although, as the rehearsal dragged on, and Stella gave out notes and directions to her pupils in regards to their vocal performance, it was clear that Arron needed no correction. He had truly been given a gift. Pitch clear as water, a flawless vibrato, and a strong belt. If only that kid actually put some effort into his musical education, he could really make something of himself. But he seemed to be completely uninterested in the voice he held.

Eventually, the rehearsal came to a close and the princes filed out one by one. Arron collected his things as the last of the rainbow-tailed brood left the small stone room, but Stella stopped him before he could make his exit.

"Arron? A word, if you please." said Stella, and Arron heaved a sigh.

"If we're talking about the third chorus, I swear to Poseidon that was Aquatis, not me." he huffed.

Stella only rolled her eyes. "I agree, Aquatis has a long way to go. But 'dat is not it. Listen, I've listened to your voice grow over the years, and as your teacher, I've never found a fault with it. Not one."

"So, can I go now?" Arron stated bluntly.

Stella grunted. "What I'm trying to ask, young man, is why. Why are you so determined to get away from every musical endeavour provided for you when you posses the skillset to make something special out of it? A skill others would kill for. Your brothers seem to appreciate the opportunities given to them, even with only half the talent you have. So why doesn't my best pupil?"

There was silence for a few moments as Arron collected his thoughts. Eventually, he averted his gaze and felt tears brimming in his eyes.

"I don't know, it's just... the last time I sang on stage, I-" Arron began, but stopped himself before he could finish the sentence. Stella wasn't the right person to tell this too, to so suddenly spill his innermost feelings. Not even his mother was. Right then and there, he needed to leave, to get away from this invasion. In a blur of bubbles, Arron shot out the door and out of the palace.

"Arron, wait!" Stella called after him, her little pinchers scuttling rapidly to keep up with him, "But we were making such good progress!"

Stella scoured the ocean floor in the direction she had seen the merman dash off in, and eventually saw two shadows nearby, one clearly of a tail and the other one of a much smaller fin. She immediately knew it was Arron and Flora.

"What are 'dey up to?" she whispered, and hurriedly scuttled after them.

Stella stealthily trailed after the duo, her tiny crab legs aching the whole way as she attempted to catch up with two creatures with fins, until finally she saw Arron pull back a large boulder to reveal a doorway to some sort of cave. He looked around to make sure no one else saw what he was doing, then swam in, Flora in tow.

Stella ran after them, but got her back legs caught in the doorway as the stone closed on her as she only made it just in time. She grabbed a nearby weed and pulled on it to free herself, only to stumble and roll over a couple times, her face buried in the sandy floor. She got up and shook herself off, and once she caught her breath, she looked around and realised she was in a large cave with rocky shelves displaying dozens and dozens of human items.

Mirrors, jewellery, goblets, and so many other human trinkets were hidden in this secret grotto. Stella's mouth dropped open. Arron had been storing this the whole time?! The Queen had obliterated two of his objects yesterday, but that had been nothing compared to what lay before her here! It was as if the Queen's disapproval had only spawned the young prince's need to rebel and acquire even more bits of human rubbish. Talk about having the opposite effect...

Arron lay on a rock in the middle of the floor, looking forlorn and vulnerable. Whenever he needed time away, he would come here to the abandoned grotto he had found long ago, simply happy to be in blissful harmony among his beloved collection. He lay on his front, running his fingers along an item he couldn't name that held two objects on either side, one with a smooth dent at the end of a stick and the other with a sharp blade. He felt the space in the middle of the stand where the dinglehopper would have fit perfectly, completing the trio. Letting out a sigh, he rolled onto his back and put his hands behind his head as he gazed into the skylight above, a small hole in the roof granting him light and access to the sea just outside the rocky walls. Flora swam up to him and placed a fin on his shoulder.

"Arron?" she started, "Are you okay?"

Arron kept his gaze on the opening above him, knowing that the human world he loved so much was just beyond it, so far away and yet so close. "Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks for suggesting coming here. It makes me feel at home."

Flora beamed. "Anytime, buddy."

"I just wish... I just wish I could make her understand." he said, thinking back to his mother's words from the previous day, "I just don't see things the way she does. I don't see how a world that makes such wonderful things can be oh-so-horrible. I mean, to really be up there, to see what they see... surely that's the only way to really know what it's like, right? I just feel so choked down here, I'm sick of it! If I could just be... up there. I kind of... really want to be up there. 'Have for a while..."

Flora frowned and felt sorry for her friend, truly not knowing what to say. She had never heard her friend say anything like this before, and now all of a sudden he didn't want to live in the sea anymore? Luckily, Flora didn't have to say anything, because right as she was about to comfort her friend, Stella fell off of one of the shelves she was hiding on and fell onto a pile of of Arron's things, making a huge noise. Both fish and merman looked up to find Stella scrambling out of a jewellery box, necklaces tangled all over her. She looked ridiculous.

"Stella!" Arron exclaimed, darting up in surprise. How in Neptune's name did she get in here?! He thought.

"Arron!" Stella replied, dumbfounded. "What the... how could you... what is all 'dis?!" she demanded to know as she shook a string of pearls off her leg.

"It's just, my, um... collection…" Arron mumbled defensively. No way was Stella going to let this slide. She was a type-A perfectionist and under-secretary to the Queen, after all.

Stella grinned a fake smile as she picked up a fishing hook. "Oh, I see. Your collection… IF YOUR MOTHER KNEW ABOUT THIS PLACE SHE WOULD-"

"You're not gonna tell her, are you?!" Flora pleaded on behalf of her friend.

"Oh, Stella, please don't, she would never understand any of this!" Arron pleaded. "Plus, I'm grounded for a year if I slip up again!"

Stella sighed. So this was what Arron was constantly thinking about, why his mind always seemed to be elsewhere. He actually liked the human world? It seemed to be more than that from the looks of things. But this obsession wasn't going to grant him any favours at home. Lord knows he was estranged from his family enough as it was, and this was not going to help him.

"Arron, you're under a lot of pressure down here. I get it, you're royalty and you have responsibilities 'dat others ain't got. But being around here isn't helping you concentrate on what's important! Come with me, I'll take you home-"

Arron's train of thought wandered off as he felt a shadow engulf the cave, covering the ceiling-window and blocking out the light. "What the…" he trailed off and slipped away, swimming through the hole to inspect what had made the shadow.

"Arron? Oh, damn you for bein' such a damn child…" Stella grumbled when she realised the Prince wasn't next to her, and yet again hurried after him, Flora behind her.

When he broke the surface of the water, Arron was speechless. What had cast the shadow was none other than a vast, strong, wooden, human ship. And not a sunken broken one, a proper moving one! Stella noticed the huge vessel not too far away and jumped in surprise.

"Jumpin' jellyfish!" she cried. Huge, colourful fireworks ignited the night sky one after the other as they launched from the deck, making such a spectacle, Arron was entranced by it.

Without a moment of hesitation, the merman swam after the ship at full speed, desperate to get a better view. Stella's heart began to race when she remembered her promise to the Queen, to keep him out of trouble. Now, the boy was off swimming after a human ship! This couldn't be going any more wrong.

"Arron!" she called after him in desperation, "Arron, please, come back! Oh, god. Look after him, she said. I'm just the crab to do it, she said..."

Arron swam up to the ship and climbed up the side, using his arms to hoist himself up the ship's ladder. The cold, night air going in and out of his lungs felt strange to him, strange but also invigorating. It wasn't often that he got to experience a new sense or physical feeling take over his body, and it was as if someone had simply switched off his gills and replaced it with lungs. Although he felt much heavier above the waves, it was far more open and free, and he didn't feel the water pressure slow all of his movements that he had to grind his tail to swim through.

Carefully craning his neck to peek over the side, his eyes widened in amazement as he saw dozens of humans on-deck, all dancing and clapping along to music coming from peculiar looking objects, too busy and happy to notice the crimson haired boy spying on the party.

Suddenly, Sienna appeared out of nowhere and flew down beside him. "Hey, Arron, sweetie! How ya doin', what's the hot-goss?" she blabbed, rather loudly.

"Sienna, be quiet!" Arron shushed the bird. "They'll hear you…" Arron and Sienna looked at the spectacle before them, and whenever a human looked his way, he quickly ducked his head down and slowly made his way back up to steal another glance. "I've never seen humans this close before…" he whispered to himself, secretly having the time of his life.

A plump, white animal of some kind picked up an unfamiliar scent and pattered over to Arron, giving him miniature licks on the nose. Arron laughed at this strange animal, and ducked his head again as the cat's owner came over to the ball of fluff.

"What is it, girl?" a female voice said to the creature. Arron looked up at this new human from his hiding spot, and when he saw her, his heart stopped.

Never before in his life had he seen a girl so beautiful. Mermaids were gorgeous creatures, of course, but this human girl seemed to have something that no one else could ever dream of possessing. It was as if her wild soul reflected so perfectly through her complexion, shining inside and out that Arron could tell how spirited she was without even knowing her. Her pale face and long black curls shone in the night sky, and her eyes were as black as the darkest depths of the sea, dark and glistening.

Arron couldn't take his eyes off of the human girl, and sat perfectly still, not wanting the moment to break for a second.

Grimsby walked to the middle of the deck in front of a large object covered with a tarp, and addressed the crew.

"Thank you, thank you everyone. Tonight, we celebrate Erica's fifteenth birthday. And to commemorate this event, we present a very large, very expensive present to the birthday girl." he said, and two sailors ripped off the tarp at his command. "Happy birthday, Erica!" said Grimsby.

Erica looked in disgust at what was under the cover. It was a large marble statue of herself, her hair in an elegant bun and a dress with ruffles extending for what seemed like miles encased body in stone. Erica hated formal get-up, and much preferred a simple shirt and skirt, much more practical for being at sea. Maxine hissed at the figure.

"Wow, Grim..." she started with fake gratitude, "It's, uh, its really something..." Grimsby saw through Erica's distaste, but didn't say anything to admit it. "You really shouldn't have…" she chuckled, not wanting to appear rude in front of the man who had raised her since her parent's untimely death.

"Oh, I know." Grimsby replied. "And to think, I was hoping it would be a wedding present."

Erica sighed in an 'ugh, not this again' way, and walked over to the side of the ship. "Must you bring that up yet again, Grim."

"I know Erica, but it isn't me alone. The entire kingdom wants to see you happily settled down with the right boy. Or girl."

Erica knew that this was coming. "You're not still mad because I didn't fall for the Prince of Arendelle, are you? I only met him this morning, and he was a total shut-in! I'm sorry the journey didn't go as planned, I really am. But don't worry Grim, when I find that person, I'll know that they're the one! It'll hit me, like... like lightning!"

No sooner had the words left her lips however, then thunder and bright flashes of lightning appeared in the sky.

Author's note: God dammit, Erica...