Chapter Six

Chapter 6: New Alliances

Melody crashed into the side of the cave's uneven rocky wall, and fell to the seabed in a heap. Ugh, that hurt. She groaned, pushing herself up off the seabed, woozy from the slap to the cheek and the impact against the stone wall. Covered in a cloud of dirt, Melody looked up to see a shadowy figure lurking in the opposite side of the cave, near the shelves carved out of stone.

"Stay down! I know who you are! Don't come any nearer!" the figure in the shadows warned nervously from across the spacious cave.

Melody was dumbfounded. The attacker knew who she was? "Who are you? How do you know me?" she asked.

"Of course I know who you are," the figure floated out from the shadows, revealing herself as a slim teenage octopid with tan skin and blue tentacles. "How can I not know the girl who destroyed my life!"

Now, Melody's shock was replaced by confusion. Who was this octopid? She had never seen her before, much less destroy her life! "I don't understand, I don't even know who you are! You must have me mistaken for someone else." Melody edged closer towards the octopid cautiously.

The octopid immediately grabbed a vial of green liquid from a shelf using one of her tentacles, and aimed it at Melody in a state of panic. "That's far enough. Get back!"

Melody raised both her hands, inching backwards in compliance.

"You killed my mother, Morgana!" the teenage octopid cried in anguish. "Do you even remember her?"

Melody was startled. Morgana had a daughter who thought that Melody had killed her mother? What was going on? There was something very wrong here! "You've got it all wrong!" Melody shouted, dodging as the vial of green liquid was hurled her way and smashed to smithereens onto the wall of the cave. "I didn't kill your mother! She was frozen and banished by the King of Atlantica!"

"Liar!" the octopid screeched, throwing a beaker of inky black liquid at Melody's direction.

She ducked again, and swiftly closed the gap between her and her assailant. Grabbing the octopid, she pinned her firmly against the wall, wary of the squirming tentacles that swung about hysterically.

"Let go of me! You're not going to kill me too!" the octopid hollered, struggling to break free of Melody's strong grip.

"Listen to me, it's not true! I didn't kill your mother, she was frozen alive by King Triton!" Melody loosened her grip on the octopid, who had stopped struggling. "If I wanted to kill you, wouldn't I have done it already? I didn't kill your mother. She's still alive." She let her go slowly, and the octopid slid down against the rocky walls, sitting on the seabed.

"Still doesn't change the fact that my mother's gone and she ain't coming back." the octopid muttered.

Melody looked at her, at a loss for what to do next. "What's your name?" Melody asked after what seemed like an eternity.

"Tracy." the octopid glanced up at Melody. "Should have figured that it was a lie all along. Something didn't feel right. If my relatives lied to me about you killing my mother, then maybe everything else they told me about my mother were lies."

"And why would you choose to believe me over them?" Melody asked, confused as to why this girl would believe her so easily.

"Because they're all sea witches and wizards. Lying scum. Some family huh."

"What do you know about your mother?" Melody asked guardedly, careful not to upset the volatile octopid any further.

"She was a sea witch like the rest of our family, bur she wanted more out of life than just staying here…with me, her daughter. So one day, nine years ago, she just disappeared and never came back. My aunts and uncles told me that she was killed by you, a mermaid from Atlantica that looked exactly like you." Tracy glanced at Melody, sizing her up and down.

This mermaid didn't seem like a killer. Her family had probably just made it up just because they hated merfolk from Atlantica. Then that meant that everything she had believed about her mother for the last six years was a lie. She couldn't go anywhere near Atlantica as octopids had been cast out and forbidden to enter, so that meant relying on whatever her relatives had told her. Tracy sighed, swimming past Melody and over to the other end of the cave to clean up the mess she had made. At this point, Tracy didn't know what to believe. The fact that she chose to believe a complete stranger over her relatives spoke volumes about her family's credibility. What could she expect of them anyway? They were sea witches and wizards. It was in their nature to lie, cheat and manipulate.

"Tracy," Melody swam over to the octopid and put her hand on her shoulder. "I don't know if you knew, but I'm sorry to tell you, but your mother committed some serious war crimes against Atlantica and attempted to rule the seven seas by force. I was a victim of her manipulation, a pawn in her schemes. She used me to get what she wanted, and in the end my grandfather, King Triton, had to freeze her alive to stop her from hurting anyone else or causing any more damage."

Tracy looked at Melody. "She was my mother, but she was no saint. Sorry I attacked you and that you got involved in all this, but I think you should leave now." Tracy used her tentacles to pick up the broken fragments of glass and swam away from Melody, her face downcast.

Melody looked at Tracy. This girl wasn't evil. She was just as much a victim of sea witches as Melody had been. Maybe Melody hated Morgana for what she had done to her six years ago, but deep down she knew that the daughter of Morgana didn't deserve to a life of isolation and hurt. "Tracy!" Melody called, swimming after her.

Tracy stopped and turned around.

"How old are you?"

Tracy was a little stunned, unsure of why Melody wanted to know her age. "Seventeen. Why?"

Melody bit her lip. Tracy was slightly younger than her when Morgana had used her as a means to an end. How could Morgana have manipulated a girl that was almost the same age as her own daughter? Only a monster could do something like that. "What will you do now?" Melody asked.

Tracy scoffed and tossed the broken fragments onto a pile of trash. "What I've always been doing, I guess. Destroy all human vessels that pass over the Bermuda Triangle. I'm destined to follow in my family's footsteps."

In all of the chaos, Melody had completely forgotten about her friends being stuck up at the surface. "What do you mean? Sea witches are responsible for causing all those mysterious disappearances?"

"You sound like you know about the human world a lot." Tracy replied, trying to evade the question.

"I was born a human. I'm not a natural mermaid." Melody explained. "So you're the reason ships and planes mysteriously disappear?"

Tracy nodded, evidently not proud of the fact. "It's been my family's job for generations. We were guardians of the Dark Zone, or else you know it, the Bermuda Triangle, and we destroyed human vessels that passed over our waters. We don't know why we do it, but it's always been our job. My mother wanted more out of life than just destroying stuff, and so she left, apparently to try to rule the seven seas. Looks like it didn't work out too great for her huh." Tracy scoffed sarcastically at her last comment. "I guess that's a lesson for me. I wanna break free from my family's cycle of violence and mediocrity too, but I know better than to try now. I'm destined to follow in their footsteps. Otherwise, I'm just gonna end up like my mother, frozen in ice at the bottom of the ocean for all eternity."

Melody's heart sank. She had no idea that Morgana's actions back then would have had such dire repercussions on her own daughter's life. Tracy just wanted to forge her own path, away from her family's evil ways, but even then, Morgana's actions were shackling Tracy to a life of evil, keeping her afraid of the boundless opportunities that awaited outside of the Dark Zone. Melody had the chance to free Tracy from her internal prison, and she wasn't about to pass it up.

"Tracy, you can't stay here. There's nothing for you here in the Dark Zone." Melody attempted to reason with her. "What if I could offer you a chance to break free from your family's cycle of violence? To be more than just a sea witch in the Bermuda Triangle?"

Tracy looked at Melody with disbelief in her eyes. "I can't. I'm fated to be a sea witch, like my mother before me. And if I try to break free, it's just going to end badly." Tracy folded her arms. "I can't risk that. I rather live a life of mediocrity here in the Dark Zone than die a horrible death alone out there."

"I don't believe in fate. I believe that we all choose our own paths. And it was the choices that I made that led me here to you, Tracy." Melody said confidently. "You don't have to be evil like the rest of your family. If you choose not to be evil, what reason is there for you to end up dying out there?"

Tracy kept silent, considering all that she had heard.

"And you won't be alone. You have me. I know you don't know me very well, and you just learnt that I wasn't responsible for your mother's fate, but I'm asking you to trust me." Melody bit her bottom lip, hoping that Tracy would accept her offer and leave the Dark Zone together with her.

"I don't know where to start." Tracy admitted, after what seemed like forever.

"That's alright," Melody assured her. "You can start by coming with me. We could use your help."

"We?" Tracy asked, with uncertainty in her voice.

"Come on, I'll explain on the way. First, let's get out of the Dark Zone."

###

Standing on the deck, the Snow Queen looked out into the ocean that lay in front of her. Elsa never told anyone, but she felt uneasy about being on ships. Her parents had been on a ship that was caught in a storm that claimed their lives, and since then, she had an irrational fear of dying out at sea like her parents. Now, the chances of that happening seemed rather high. Stealing a glance down at the inky waters, she turned away quickly, shuddering to think about what lurked beneath the surface and how Melody was so quick to dive into the ocean without any hesitation. She was shocked beyond words when Melody grew a pink tail out of the blue and dived into the dark waters below. Speaking of her, it had been quite a while since Melody had disappeared below the waters. What if something horrible had happened to Melody down there? Elsa twitched, trying to get the thought out of her head.

"Hey,"

Elsa was jolted out of her thoughts, and looked up to see the whale-turned-human towering over her.

"I couldn't help but notice, you're looking rather lonely and broody. I'm Maui, the shapeshifting demigod." Maui beamed, bowing proudly.

"I'm Elsa." Elsa replied promptly, inching away from Maui and walking towards the other side of the ship, making it clear that she didn't want to hold a conversation.

"Right, Elsa the 'Snow Queen'. Quick question." Maui followed Elsa to the other end. "How did you get your powers and what exactly can you do with them?"

Elsa looked at Maui with slight irritation.

"It's just that your reputation has spread far and wide. I'm curious, how did you end up freezing your entire kingdom?" Maui continued cheerfully, blissfully unaware that Elsa was staring daggers at him.

"Actually, I would prefer to be alone right now if you don't mind. I'm trying to think." Elsa decided that a direct approach would be the best way to get her at least some silence for a while.

"You know, we're gonna be stuck together on this trip for quite a while, so maybe we should get to know each other better. An ice breaker of sorts, right?" Maui ignored Elsa's request to be left alone, much to her annoyance. "I'll start. I was born an ordinary human, and was chosen by the gods as a child. And so, I was raised as a demigod and possessed unique abilities, such as-" Maui transformed himself into a leopard and roared, startling Elsa, who backed away from the edge of the ship. The sudden shock caused her to lose control of her powers temporarily, and the part of the deck where she stood was frozen over. "Yeah, you get the idea." Maui chuckled, transforming himself back into human form. "How about you?"

Elsa exhaled, and sized Maui up in exasperation. He wore a skirt made up of palm tree leaves and was very tall and muscular, with long curly hair. Despite his attractive appearance, she found him simply annoying, especially since he couldn't take a hint and wouldn't leave her alone. It seemed that she wasn't going to get her peace and quiet while on this mission. What a pity. "I was born with my powers, and I was taught by my parents to hide them from the world," Elsa began, knowing that there was no ignoring the demigod. "And for the longest time, I did, but everything was revealed by accident at my coronation a month ago. But even after I returned to Arendelle, things weren't the same anymore." Elsa suddenly found herself pouring out her personal issues to this complete stranger, much to her horror, but she couldn't seem to stop.

"The Arendelle Council launched a referendum to allow the people to decide whether they wanted me as their Queen. But I know how it's going to end. The people of Arendelle fear me, I'm like a monster to them. I can't ignore the fact that I'm different. An outcast." Elsa avoided eye contact with Maui. "My powers are a curse, and if I stay, I'm only going to end up hurting someone sooner or later. If it isn't my sister, it'll be someone else. The people deserve a better ruler. It's safer for everyone that I left Arendelle." Elsa looked up at Maui. "Which is why I don't understand, why drag me into this? I'm a liability to everyone here." In telling Maui her story, she had allowed her emotions to run wild, which in turn caused the beam which Elsa had been holding on to to freeze over completely.

Maui looked at Elsa, at a loss for words. Making her upset certainly wasn't part of the plan and he actually felt bad, not knowing what to say to her next. He had just been looking for an excuse to strike a conversation with the Snow Queen, and admittedly had not expected such a heavy conversation with her. He was hoping that the conversation would lead up nicely to a point where he could tell Elsa about the mission and what they were up against, but now didn't seem like a good time at all. Not after what she had just told him.

At that moment, Melody broke through the surface of the water, which had surprisingly cleared up and was no longer dark and inky, and soared through the air. She grasped her necklace while falling towards the deck, and in a blinding golden light, she transformed back into a human, her salmon pink tail vanishing and being replaced by legs clad in dark jeans and boots. She landed gracefully on the deck like she had practiced a thousand times and whipped her head back, sending the hair covering her face to the back of her head. "Problem solved. Oh, and one more thing." Melody leaned over the deck. "You can come aboard now!" Long blue tentacles grabbed onto the ship.

Tracy used her tentacles to pull herself out of the water and climbed aboard the ship, dripping wet, glancing around awkwardly at her new surroundings.

"This is Tracy. She's the one who helped us clear the waters and she'll be joining us on our journey." Melody introduced the octopid, and Tracy tried not to make eye contact with anyone in particular.

Elsa stood by, watching things unfold. She looked at Tracy, and when the newest member glanced at her, Elsa gave a small polite smile.

Maui cocked an eyebrow curiously. As far as he knew, the prophecy didn't mention anything about an octopid joining the team of warriors in stopping the Major. Well, then again, the prophecy wasn't even complete. It didn't tell him whether they would win in the end anyway, so what if it also didn't tell him about all the members of the team? He was so confused.

"If it makes y'all more comfortable." Tracy chanted something softly under her breath. She was quickly engulfed in a purple mist, and immediately, the mist cleared to reveal Tracy in human form. She wore a navy blue t shirt with long sleeves and denim shorts with brown boots.

"Wait, you're a shapeshifter too?" Maui asked, shocked at the stranger who had just boarded their ship.

"Nope…just a plain old sea witch." Tracy replied, sticking her hands into the pockets of her new denim shorts. "Look, I'm sorry about stopping your ship, it was kind of my job. I understand if y'all don't want me here."

"Nonsense. You're coming with us." Melody insisted, and turned to Maui. "I think it's time we continued our journey."

"Sure thing, mermaid." Melody hadn't told him before that she was a human-mermaid hybrid archer, but by now he had seen enough to know that she was most definitely the warrior he had been looking for in Denmark. Maui tied one end of a long rope to his body and the other end to the ship. "Onwards to Motunui!" He let out a signature battle cry and took a huge leap back into the ocean, causing a huge splash and sending water flying everywhere. In a flash of light, he transformed back into a big brown whale and began pulling the ship rapidly through the water.

Writer's Commentary:

Tracy's an intriguing character isn't she? And what's more, she's the daughter of Melody's most hated enemy! That ought to be an interesting dynamic between the two characters in the coming chapters.

When I was thinking of ways that Melody could redeem herself other than the main mission of stopping the Major, I realized that I could help her redeem herself through a subplot, which led to the introduction of a victimized sea witch. Tracy is stuck in a vicious cycle, and longs to break free. Melody sees her chance to help Tracy and in doing so, moves one step closer to redeeming herself. This action also goes to show Melody's kind-hearted and forgiving nature. She doesn't hold a grudge against the daughter of her enemy, although the same can't be said for Tracy. I wrote Tracy to be rough around the edges, to exemplify how a rouge/thuggish character could eventually evolve, and I promise that you'll get to see that as the story goes on. She's sure to serve as a nice foil to the heroes around her!

For the subplot between Elsa and Maui, I purposely inserted tension between them, as that makes for more interesting character dynamics. See, what if the heroes couldn't get along? How is that going to affect the mission at hand? Hopefully this spices things up. Also, Elsa seems to be rather hostile towards Maui, and we see why she doesn't want to talk. When she does, Elsa is unable to prevent herself from pouring out her problems to Maui, which is more than he had expected. We will be exploring more of the Elsa/Maui dynamic later in the story. I mean, pitting the quiet Snow Queen against the boisterous demigod? That's going to be fun to write :)