Waves crashed to and fro as Erica cried helplessly inside the cave. With no way for her to save the mermaids and mermen on time, she felt that all this was her fault the entire time. In depression, she blamed no other person or mermaid, but herself and was about to stab herself to death to meet her father. As she looked at the water, Erica remembered carefully what has happened.
*** Earlier that day ***
The mermen dragged her towards the Shark Cove to prepare for her execution. All that were there were Sebastian, the mermen and mermaids of the kingdom, and Tatiana. Erica was tied with all the mermen's might with some seaweeds and placed her to the center of the rock for all creatures to see the event.
"My people," Sebastian read through a scroll. "We all are here to witness an execution of a murderer. This mermaid has been caught in the act to cut a precious hair from royalty that has been forbidden for all to slice. Once cut, the power can never be restored. From her weapon, she was able to cut clean off and is a spy of the evil sea witch. The sentence of her treason is death."
Not knowing what to do, Erica started to squirm away from the rock to escape, but the seaweed that they used was too hard for her to get out of. Tatiana looked at the victim and glared with much hatred.
"You knew from the very beginning that you never belonged to any of us, didn't you?"
She bowed her head to not look her in the eyes.
"Didn't you?!"
She spoke not a word.
"If that is how you treat the queen, so be it. Men, whip her with the electric eels."
A few men grabbed the eels by the head as they started to electrocute her from their tails. Erica knew that this was the punishment she had to face, but the pain she felt was not as painful as the disapproving eyes of Prince Aqua. She finally realized that she had fallen in love with him, but what she did was unforgivable. The queen stopped the men for a moment, seeing if she could respond after that situation.
"Well, traitor, how do you plead for guilty?"
"I already feel guilty enough." Erica calmly stated.
The queen and all the mer-people looked at her.
"I never deserved to be a mermaid I have ever dreamed so much about. I never deserved to be the fiancé your son wants me to be. However, I do deserve to live through each day to feel so ashamed of what I have done. So, if you want to kill me, then kill me!"
In tears of regret, her power started to flow all around her as if she had it hidden all along.
"My queen, do you see this?"
Tatiana was able to see this magnificent power. Erica was glowing bright as the sun as before, but started to die down as before. From what they all saw, Erica was returned back as a human again with her legs and arms tied with the seaweed. The dream as a mermaid had ended.
"A human in our presence?" a merman asked in fear.
"What are we to do?" a mermaid asked.
"Your majesty?" Sebastian asked in preparations.
Tatiana looked at Erica and made no assumptions of the prophecy.
"Execute her."
The mermen and mermaids prepared their song as they sang. Erica was unable to cover her ears since she was tied in seaweed and started to feel possessed. Before the climax of the song took place, many seagulls and pelicans started to come close to the group and attack the mermaids and mermen by their hair. Shack, the leader of the seagulls, went towards Erica and snipped the seaweed off.
"You're free to go, miss."
"Why?"
"Prince Aqua requested your freedom."
"Why should he care? He never wanted me."
"Now why would you say that?"
"He hates me. He always have. From the first moment I met him, he always hated me. All because I was a monstrous human. Now that I took his hair away from him, he never ever care about me again."
At that exact moment, Tatiana became so impatient of all the birds coming at her people for distraction.
"Enough!"
Her voice boomed all of the creatures far away from the cove that all the birds fled towards the skies, leaving poor Erica alone. Tatiana went towards Erica with her magic, leaving all the evidence behind. As she was about to attack once more with her music, the sea witch came from behind his hiding spot and grabbed the hair strand.
"Your Majesty! It's Him!" yelled Sebastian.
The queen and all her subjects looked at the warlock who held on to the strand of hair.
"You!"
"Thank you, your highness for killing her for me. Otherwise, my plan would not be able to go through at all."
"What plan?"
"Why, to take over the sea, of course."
"You will never take control of the sea."
"Not with this strand of hair, I won't. Thanks to her."
"What?" Erica asked in pain.
"You fell for my plan all along, you naïve little girl. Now, watch all of the kingdom fall towards the ground because of you!"
His power of hatred grew from within his hands and shot thunder towards the people around the cove. Many people shook in fear and swam under the sea, others tried to stop him, but was getting very injured, and Sebastian tried to enter in the sea without getting hurt.
At that exact moment, Aqua, Erica's mom, and Fowler started to swim towards the surface to save Erica completely. When they were extremely close, Ms. Germaine started to feel like she couldn't breathe.
"What's wrong?" Aqua asked.
"You...need...to-"
The light started to glow on hers as well and started to dim away, leaving her helpless underwater.
"What's happening?" Fowler asked as she tried to hold her breath long.
"She transformed. Which means-" Aqua replied.
Something finally hit him. If she transformed, then her mother then noticed Erica's transformation as well.
"We need to go up. Fast."
Mrs. Germaine held on to Fowler as he quickly swam her towards shore. As all three of them made it, they seem a bit too late. The queen, Erica, and the sea witch was battling all throughout the cove. From what they all saw, the sea witch held the strands of hair on his hand.
"We're too late." Fowler replied.
"Not if we have to say anything about it." Aqua replied.
All three of them went towards the battle and called Erica for her attention to see them. However, when they looked at her, she was in a trance that she felt like Erica was dead. Aqua tried to find a way to reverse the spell his mother cast by using a different song, but each time he tried, there was no way for her to wake. Fowler and Mrs. Germaine tried their best to keep all of the mermaids and mermen to safety.
"Come on, Erica. Wake up!" Aqua asked as the waves started to crash to and fro.
"There's no stopping me, Tatiana." the sea witch replied. "You are too late."
"While you have the strand in your hand, there is no magic that can allow you to return."
"Not according to this."
He then revealed the book in his possession.
"Where did you get that?"
"All creatures get their secrets and ways."
As Aqua started to come close to Erica for release, he glanced at the book the sea witch held in his hand.
"The Forbidden Arts." Aqua shuddered in fear.
"Now, with this strand, there will be no stopping of this fair kingdom than to see all of you fall to rot. For today marks the brink of extinction of the mermaids and mermen."
The sea witch grabbed the serum he had hidden in his pocket, poured all over the strands of hair and started to place the strands of hair over the water.
"Once this strand falls, then time will change and all will be lost forever!"
"Seize him!" the queen ordered. "Don't let him get away with
As her mermen went towards the sea witch with full rage, the sea witch used a powder from his other pocket to toss towards them. All of her men screamed in terror and started to melt in foam-like water as it started to sink towards the sea. Aqua, who was coming close to Erica within a grasp, noticed the foam they have become and started to shake in fear. Just within a moment, the sea witch dropped the serum towards the ocean as Aqua started to reach. By one touch, all time itself started to reverse as if nothing had happened, but lead Erica back to the beach.
"Wh...what happened?"
All around her was as if all had been a dream. However, when she looked at the warlock walking towards the beach, all memories started to come forth quick as a flash. In fear, she started to run away from the warlock as he looked at her running. She ran as fast as she could until she came to the cave where her father died. In tears, she started to cry and cry until she could not cry any more. The two henchmen walked towards her to torture her.
"What are you doing here?" Erica asked.
"We couldn't help but noticed how you were not a mermaid."
"You know why I'm not. His plan succeeded."
"Who's plan?"
"You know perfectly well who."
"We have warned you before, did we not?"
"Now all of the mermaids and mermen now will have to suffer because of you."
As they blamed her for what she has done, her mind was stating those thought to herself in a trance.
"However, there may be a way for you to save them."
"How?"
"Sacrifice."
They handed her the knife her father used before he died.
"Kill yourself and they will all be spared."
She glanced at the knife and looked at them.
"Why can't I go back in time to stop before it happens?"
"The Lake of Time is not a game that you can reset every time."
"You use the time only once and can never be used again."
"There is no possible way for it to restore as before."
"So, what will your decision be?"
She didn't say a word.
"We'll let you think about it for a while."
"Each time you think, your boy will end up in peril because of you."
The two creatures left her alone in the cave with the knife and allowing her to die in piece. Waves crashed to and fro inside the cave as she thought about these things.
"I guess it's time. It really is my fault."
She prepared the knife and was about to plunge it in her heart to save all the mermaids and mermen, but all she heard was a voice that changed her life forever.