~Chapter 9~

Noella

Joel and I took little time to dry off especially since it was raining so much still, but there were covered places about the ship, so that was nice. I wrung out my red dress and I found to my surprise that it wasn't weighed down by the dampness. It was quite light to my surprise even while wet. I ran my fingers through my long, auburn hair trying to tame the tangles to the best of my ability. Eric pulled Joel away to ask a few questions leaving me alone for a few. Joel soon joined me as we both looked over the side of the ship.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Mhm, you?"

"I'm wet, but what else is new?" He smirked.

I put a hand over my mouth trying to hold back a laugh.

"Oh, this is yours by the way." He suddenly commented.

He handed me my backpack and I was immediately overcome with emotion.

"I thought I lost this when Monstro attacked." I muttered.

"I grabbed it before the tail hit the ship. Your walkie was in there and I know how much you need to keep in touch with your sister. It was important to you, so I grabbed it."

I was at a loss for words. He went out of his way to keep my pack safe for me. Riley would be hearing about this later. Eric soon joined us as we followed him to his cabin for food. The room wasn't too large with portholes on one side and on the other, decorative antique looking cannons that looked like they came from Pirates of the Caribbean. The three of us sat at a long rectangular wooden table and I placed my pack on the back of my chair while I sat down.

We explained our story keeping it as brief as we could to Eric. He was quite the attentive listener especially hearing about other worlds out there and magical mirrors. When I asked him about the name Ariel, the person we were looking for, he didn't have the slightest idea. Eric stuffed us with a delicious spread of food. Joel and I were both very grateful. As the evening progressed, I found myself feeling so seasick as the ship swayed this way and that. It was nauseating. It didn't take long for the subtle swaying to become stiff jerking about. It almost felt like airplane turbulence, but on sea not in the air. Soon one of the sailors knocked on the cabin door coming in only after gaining Eric's permission.

"Excuse me, your highness, but you're needed on deck. The storm is getting worse and it has plowed us into some reefs putting damage to the hull. We're considering the lifeboats…" The sailor explained.

I didn't like the sound of that. Joel and I exchanged glances and he raised a curious brow.

"Your highness?" Joel commented.

"Sorry guess I failed to mention that I'm a prince. The formalities get annoying."

"I get it." I replied.

"Please, excuse me for a moment." Eric said and quickly left the cabin with his shipmate. As the door flung open, a crack of thunder startled me making me knock over my water glass. Joel and I watched as waves of water splashed across the deck of the ship with the sailors frantically running about trying to fix this and that. Joel and I got up from the table and went outside to investigate. Eric soon ran over to us urgently.

"Joel...Noella...I'm afraid we must abandon ship. The damage to the ship is beyond repair and water has already started flooding the lower levels. Get yourselves to a lifeboat and we'll regroup back at my palace."

Every person on board, split off into several small groups boarding a lifeboat and winching it down off the ship. Joel and I boarded one of the boats and sat down waiting to be dropped down to the water. Then I realized something and without thinking, I leapt from the lifeboat as it had begun to descend and grabbed onto the side of the ship climbing back on board.

"Noella!" Joel yelled frantically.

"I forgot my pack!" I yelled back as I held up the hem of my dress as I ran back to the cabin. I slipped once and fell hard on the deck, but quickly jumped on my feet getting inside the cabin again. The room was already ankle deep in water. My backpack was exactly where I had left it on the chair and I slung it on my back. The ship suddenly rammed something hard making me lose my balance splashing to the ground. I got up again now to leave and I took a single step toward the door and I was stopped. I looked down and one of the antique cannons had rolled onto the hem of my red dress.

"Ugh, come on!" I groaned feeling annoyed and pressure to free myself and escape the ship. I pulled hard trying to yank my dress out, but it wouldn't budge. I tried pushing the cannon itself away, but I wasn't strong enough. The water was now up to my knees. Desperately, I tried to rip the bottom of my dress off so I could escape, but this dress those three fairies made me must have been made of steel. It wouldn't budge. Suddenly something struck the cabin crashing through the wall sending more water in. I was trying my best to remain calm, but it didn't take long for panic to set in. My breathing quickened and I couldn't take a deep breath. Even with my shallow breathing, I had to try to sing for help. So I began to hum a tune even with my obvious quivering. The water was up to my neck at this point and I took a breath putting myself underwater going down below for one last ditch effort to free my dress from the cannon. Soon, another pair of hands joined mine pushing against the cannon. The extra help worked and finally the hem of my dress was free. I yanked it out and when I looked to acknowledge my rescuer, I wasn't looking at Joel or even Eric. In fact a young woman with bright red hair and equally bright blue eyes. However, what really caught my eye was the fact that she was wearing purple seashells covering her chest, but instead of legs she had a green scaly tail.

"W-Who are you?" I asked her when I got my head above the surface of the water.

"I'm Ariel." She smiled. "I heard your song. So I came to help."

"Thank you." Was all I could manage to say.

I think my brain was still trying to catch up especially since I was practically hyperventilating in the cabin just seconds ago.

"Are you with those humans?" She asked curiously.

"Yes I am." I replied, "Are you?"

Ariel stifled back a laugh.

"I've got a tail and I live under the sea. Have you ever seen a mermaid before?" She asked.

I shook my head blankly.

"Well, thanks for your help Ariel. I'm Noella by the way."

"Nice to meet you, but I must go. A human man was in trouble, but I saw you first."

"Right, go help him."

Ariel swam away as I looked at the debris around me being thrown around in the waves. My face was being pelted with water and several yards away I spied the lifeboats. However, I knew I had to find Ariel again. She was my key to the next mirror, so I closed my eyes bringing my hand to my forehead making sure the gold circlet Flora gave me was still there. It was and I used my gift.

"Make me a mermaid like Ariel." I said.

Immediately my body began to glow and I watched as my legs came together and before I knew it I had a red, scaly fish tail of my own. Along with a set of blue seashells covering my upper half like a bikini top. The transformation didn't hurt, but it definitely took a lot out of me. I went underwater and I found that I could breath no problem and I swam at high speeds with the help of my new mermaid tail. Down into the depths I went and it was a lot quieter under the surface. Perhaps I could wait out the storm, find Ariel, and regroup with Joel.

Learning to drive with this tail was quite the chore. I swam around the best I could, but frankly I felt like a toddler who was learning how to walk with this thing. When I took all my focus off my tail, I was extremely aware of the fact that I was breathing underwater no problem. My backpack was still on my back. The walkie talkie I'm sure would be shot at this point. I wasn't sure if I would be able to speak to Riley again and that idea alone hit me hard. The surface still looked rough, but I knew I had to find Joel. So to the best of my ability, I swam up and pushed myself up through the intense waves. They knocked me this way and that, but I pushed through. It was hard to get a sense of direction with the rain coming down so hard. Eventually, I spied the small group of lifeboats and even spying Joel on the one. He was easy to find due to his tall stature. The ship was no more, but the sailors were heading in a general direction the best they could with the combative waves. Nothing was around that I could see, but after squinting a bit. I saw land hundreds of yards away, so I think it was a safe bet that they were headed there. With my attention momentarily distracted, a large crest of a wave came down on top of me sending swirling underneath the currents. When I surfaced again, I spied a familiar green tail and redheaded mermaid traveling ahead of me nearby. Ariel looked scared pulling an unconscious Eric in her arms trying to keep his head above water. I quickly swam over to her.

"Hey Ariel!" I called out, she was shocked to see me coming toward her, "Need some help?"

"If it's not too much trouble." She replied.

We each took an arm and began swimming for shore that way. It was faster, but still a trek. The storm began to die down as the sun of the early morning hours began to peak up over the horizon. The sailors in the lifeboats docked on the sandy beaches just below a large palace overlooking the water. I spied Joel in one of the last boats that made it to shore. Ariel noticed my distraction.

"Hey you go talk to that human." She told me, "I heard him call out your name earlier. I got this one." Ariel smiled.

"I'll be right back." I promised, "I need your help, so don't leave without me."

Ariel glanced around and pointed out some nearby flat rocks not too far from shore.

"Meet me there." Ariel instructed.

I nodded and quickly swam over toward Joel. He excluded himself from the rest of the sailors lagging behind a bit. I watched him curiously as I saw him take the bow from his back and yell throwing it in the water in a fit of anger. I dove down to grab his weapon, it wasn't hard to see with it's intense glow. When I surfaced again, I swam the furthest in I could manage. Half of my body was submerged still. My tail was hidden, so I started making a ruckus trying to draw Joel's attention.

"Hey I think you dropped something." I called out.

Joel spun around in my direction and his face immediately lit up when he saw me. He ran toward me splashing his boots in the water, but he suddenly stopped. Clearly, he was relieved to see me. However relief morphed into disinterest really fast. Joel crossed his arms kicking the water with his boot.

"I thought you drowned…" He muttered hardly making eye contact.

What was with him?

"I almost did." I answered, "I found your bow." I said handing it back to him.

"T-Thanks." He mumbled returning the weapon to his back. He curiously glanced my way and I could tell he noticed my change in attire, at least on my upper body.

"So I found Ariel." I shrugged, "And I'm going to ask for her help with finding the mirror. I'm sure she knows where it might be."

"Well that's good. Let's go talk to her." Joel commented.

"Yeah, uh she isn't exactly human. She lives under the sea, so I might be out of contact for a bit, but it should be quick. I'll meet you back here once I have the information from the mirror that I need. In the meantime, stay with Eric. "

"I'll come here at sundown every day." Joel nodded.

"Okay, perfect." I agreed. "See you soon."

As I turned to swim away discreetly, my lack of knowledge with this mermaid tail betrayed me and my fish tail surfaced showing Joel my transformed appearance. He looked shocked.

"Noella, what happened?" He said stepping toward me getting deeper in the water, but I held up my hand.

"I'll explain later, but don't worry it's only temporary." I promised.

He stared blankly at me, but then turned away. Before I swam too far, I forgot about my pack and called out to Joel again. He turned toward me and I tossed him my pack.

"Can you carry this for me?" I asked, "I want to keep it out of the water."

He nodded and slung it over his back as we parted ways for the final time today.

As promised, I met up with Ariel by those rocks and we both watched as Eric and Joel regrouped.

"I think they'll be okay." Ariel commented resting her hand under her chin flicking her tail back and forth. I watched Joel curiously as he looked back at me scanning the water.

"So you said you needed my help?" Ariel asked quickly asserting her focus on me.

"I'm looking for my mother and I've been told by a reliable source that I was to seek out Ariel to find a magic mirror to get some information."

Ariel looked at me completely confused.

"I'm sorry Noella, but I have never heard of such things…" She mumbled glumly.

My heart sank. This whole journey was a wild goose chase.

"But let me get you an audience with my father. He'll know for sure. After all, he's the ruler of the entire ocean." She reassured me. "Come, follow me and I'll take you to get an audience with him." She said grabbing my hand. I quickly followed and noticed two pairs of yellow eyes staring in my direction. They were shadowed underneath some rocks so I couldn't see what they were, but there were two of them they watched us as we swam by. Their gaze sent a chill down my spine.

Ariel led me by the hand as we made our way through the ocean depths. We got deep and I thought my human self might start feeling the pressures of the depths, but no such thing came. For what seemed like miles, Ariel and I were alone. My poor little red fin had gotten the workout of the century with all the swimming we were doing. After this trip I don't think I'd ever have to think about cardio ever again. We passed some sea turtles, friendly dolphins, and even a whale. I had never gotten to appreciate the habitat of the ocean until now. It was pretty awesome. Eventually, we made our way through some tall reeds and finally we saw a large, golden palace in the distance. Merfolk really began to appear now swimming all around toward the bright lights of the palace ahead.

"We're here." Ariel grinned.

"Your home?" I confirmed.

She smiled with a nod as she looked at the large structure.

"Atlantica."

There was a small marketplace just outside the gates leading toward the entrance. Several merfolk watched Ariel and I curiously as we swam along. Frankly, it made me feel subconscious and I definitely didn't like all this attention.

"What are they all staring at?" I asked Ariel.

I had a brightly colored tail complete with a seashell top. Surely, I could blend in unless maybe I did smell like a human or something.

"You're with me...it comes with the territory unfortunately. Sorry." Ariel shrugged.

That was certainly a load off and at least I was blending in on my end anyway.

The guards at the front gate of the palace bowed as Ariel and I went inside swimming along not getting too far before we were halted by a single crustacean bowing his head as he swam up to Ariel and I.

"Ariel, just where have you been today?" The crab immediately asked.

"I was helping a friend." Ariel shrugged gesturing toward me.

"You ditched the concert, so you should stop dat." The crab grumbled.

"Noella, let me introduce you to our court composer and daddy's right hand crab…" Ariel said beginning the introductions.

"Sebastian." He replied giving me his claw to shake. I shook it timidly not sure if he would pinch me or not. He did seem cross.

"Where is daddy, Sebastian?" Ariel asked.

"He is out of the palace, but he will return promptly I'm sure." Sebastian replied.

"So am I off the hook?" Ariel pleaded with Sebastian batting her eyes playfully.

"Ariel, you're never off de hook. One of these days, your rebellious attitude will get you in trouble."

"Aw c'mon Sebastian. You know you love me." Ariel smirked. "I keep you young inside."

"Tell dat to my aging shell." Sebastian replied. "Excuse me…" He said quickly before promptly swimming off.

"Well if daddy's not here right now. I guess we get to wait." Ariel shrugged.

"In a place like this?" I questioned looking at the ornate decor all around the room, "Yeah I don't think I mind." I answered taking notice of the chandelier above our heads perched in the ceiling made entirely of pearls and large seashells.

"Come I want you to meet my family." Ariel said leading us down the hallway.

Ariel pushed open a pair of double doors and went inside to what looked to be a large bedroom. On one side of the room, there were seven beds, which immediately made me think of the dwarves from weeks ago. I missed them and all their ridiculous shenanigans. On the opposite side of the room were seven vanities. So far Atlantica had seemed pretty human to me other than everything being submerged underwater. As we entered the room, all the mermaids looked our way and stopped what they were doing and pretty much dog piled Ariel surrounding her. If I hadn't swam a little to my left, I might have been shoved aside.

"Ariel darling, where in the seas have you been?" One mermaid asked. She looked to be the oldest out of the bunch. Her color of fin matched my own.

"I was saving lives." Ariel answered proudly and she pushed the other mermaids out of the way making her way over to me, "Girls, meet my new friend Noella." Ariel introduced. "Noella these are my sisters."

They all looked at me curiously once again scrutinizing me from head to tail.

"Honey, I have a sea salt scrub that works wonders on your skin." One sister told me.

"I have a seaweed wrap that helps bring back a nice sheen to your tail." Another commented.

"Enough!" Ariel shouted slightly raising her voice, "Leave her alone."

"Can we sing her our song?" A sister with a blue fin chimed in.

"Alright, places ladies." Another sister piped in.

Ariel looked annoyed, but she went along with it. They were going to sing me a song. I think I would much prefer the pestering of random ocean products. The mermaid sisters got in a single file line after pulling up a chair for me to watch this performance of sorts. They really weren't going to sing right?

"Oh we are the daughters of Triton…" They began in unison in a melodic tune.

Yep, they were committed and this really was happening. At least I learned their names. In order oldest to youngest. Aquata. Adrina. Arista. Atina. Adella. Allana and finally Ariel. Their song was cute full of harmonies, but I had to stifle back several laughs during the song. Mainly because I couldn't believe they would break down and sing like that. I applauded at the end and soon another clapping of hands was heard. We all turned to find a man with the fish tail. So did that make him a merman? He entered the room looking stern as he swam toward us taking specific notice of me. I didn't like the way he looked at me. All other merfolk had just looked curious, but this was different. His long white hair, floated in the water and I took notice of the crown on his head and the large, golden bracelets on each of his wrists.

"Daddy!" The girls squealed.

Ariel hung back by me sheepishly looking like a toddler with their hand caught in the cookie jar. The king approached me and I stood up bowing nervously. I was proud of myself for remembering to do it on my own without prompting. He looked at Ariel sternly crossing his arms.

"What was the meaning of your absence this morning?" He asked.

"There was a storm causing trouble and I needed to help…" Ariel shrugged.

"As I recall, there were no changes in current or whirlpools that could possibly…" The king suddenly stopped and his eyes widened, "Ariel you didn't! You went to the surface again, didn't you?" He challenged.

"I saved two lives...isn't that worth anything!" Ariel replied, "Daddy, may I introduce…"

"Let her speak." The king replied.

He had a loud commanding voice and frankly I had no desire to answer him, but I was scared not to. Nobody had ever been so intimidating to me before.

"I'm Noella, your majesty."

"I am King Triton and I know every face of every merfolk in my kingdom. Why haven't I seen the likes of you before?"

"Well, this is Atlantica and I'm not native of these waters. I'm used to the pacific." I muttered trying to make light of the situation and joke mildly.

Triton frowned and clearly wasn't amused. Ariel swam up putting a hand on Triton's shoulder.

"Please daddy," She mumbled, "Be reasonable. She's my honored guest and she needs our help. Can't you be kind and civil? Punish me, not her."

King Triton exhaled a sharp breath and softened his body language.

"Ariel, go help set the table for dinner." King Triton ordered, "We'll need an extra place setting for your friend."

Ariel smiled happily kissing Triton on the cheek.

"Right away.." She grinned swimming off with the rest of the sisters for dinner.

Triton and I were instantly alone and I suddenly felt so awkward and nervous. With a word finally breaking the silence, Triton offered me his arm.

"My I escort my daughters guest to the dinner table?" He asked.

I nodded subtly taking his arm and he led me to the palace dining room.

All eyes watched us as we entered the room, all the daughters were seated waiting patiently. Triton was at the head of the table of course and I sat just to his left while Ariel sat across from me on Triton's right side. I was starving, but frankly I wasn't too sure what merfolk ate, so I was afraid to stick out like a sore thumb. Swordfish came around slicing off a purple looking item for each of us and it landed on my plate. I watched everyone else dig in first, so I would have an idea how to eat this food. I didn't want to give Triton another reason to suspect me. I picked up a utensil that was a fork with prongs missing. This thing only had two. I stabbed the food and plopped it in my mouth. The second I chewed, my teeth were met with resistance. This thing whatever it was that I was eating, was extremely tough to bite through. On the plate there looked to be green chips, but they weren't crisp of course. I took one of them and it tasted like cucumber, but just very salty. As we ate, the oldest sister Aquata asked Ariel about the performance absence and they got in a heated debate. I tried to just sit silently and eat. Family dysfunction apparently was an issue on both land and in the sea. As the sisters started arguing, Triton turned to me whispering in my ear.

"I know what you are and I refuse to help you. There is something about you that's false and I won't back down until I expose it."

Before I could react to him, he rose from his chair.

"I refuse to share a table with the likes of her." He grumbled and quickly swam away in an angry snit. Ariel called after him and glanced at me looking concerned.

"I'm sorry, Noella. He's not always like this. His temper is on point today because of me earlier today. This isn't about you." She nodded reassuringly.

However, I knew she was wrong.

"I'll let daddy go cool off some before I ask him about the mirror or whatever you needed." Ariel continued.

Ariel and I both finished our dinner early and we excused ourselves and Ariel led me out of the palace grounds and to large cove just east of the the Atlantica marketplace. There was nothing particularly interesting about this cove. Until she led me to a steep rock face. She spun around looking at me holding onto the large boulder.

"This is my own personal haven. I come here often to be alone or just think. Promise you'll keep it secret."

"Your secret is safe with me." I promised.

With that, Ariel nodded and pulled back the boulder revealing an entrance to a cave.

Ariel led the way swimming forward and there was sunlight peeking through a small opening in the rock ceiling of this place. It was a grotto of some kind, but as I looked all around the walls held crevices that looked like makeshift shelves and on these surfaces, there were human things. There was no theme to what was collected here. It all really was so random, but it was human stuff. Music boxes, silverware, paintings, and even some jewelry and those were only on one.

"Welcome to my treasure trove." Ariel smiled throwing her arms up above her head excitedly.

"You've got quite the collection here." I commented.

"Nobody knows about this place except Flounder and I."

"Oh you mean the fish?"

"Well, of course I do that's his name." Ariel replied.

Suddenly a yellow and blue fish swam into the room.

"Ariel, your father is looking for you and he isn't too happy." The fish said quickly panting.

"Noella, this is Flounder." Ariel introduced.

"Nice to meet you." Flounder smiled.

"You too." I nodded.

"I better go see what daddy wants before he comes and looks for me." Ariel shrugged, 'I don't know what would happen if he found out about this place."

"Take your time, I'll wait here." I replied.

Ariel swam away leaving Flounder and I alone.

"This is kind of perfect Noella…" Flounder suddenly said.

"What do you mean?" I said looking at the fish confused.

"I just said that to get Ariel out of here. I have a surprise for her. Can you help me bring it in here?" He asked.

"Uh, sure." I agreed. "Where is it?"

"It's outside hidden in some kelp." Flounder replied. "Follow me."

He swam quickly out of the top of the grotto and that hole was too small for me, but I just pushed against the boulder to get out. Just around the corner from the entrance to Ariel's secret grotto, I found the tall kelp and Flounder with a large object hidden within the kelp.

"Pst, Noella. Over here." Flounder called as I pushed my way through.

Flounder was floating beside a large stone statue of what looked to be Prince Eric. The sculpt was very robust and almost like Eric's face was put on a suit of armor that should be found in medieval times. Below the display of armor was a large sculpt of the letter E.

"I know this man." I mumbled.

"What?" Flounder replied, "How? He's a human. Ariel hasn't been able to keep her mind off the human world. Do you like human stuff too?" He asked.

"You could say I'm very familiar." I replied. "How did you get this here?" I said changing subject.

"It appeared earlier today." Flounder answered, "It fell from the surface of the water and landed amongst the kelp."

"Convenient." I added. "But I don't know if we can move this thing with just us."

Or at least me, I thought since obviously Flounder wouldn't be able to help. Quickly, I began singing and a pod of dolphins and a large purple octopus. I never knew what would come whenever I sang, but this was going to work. I asked the sea creatures for their help moving the statue and they were happy to help. It took a bit of teamwork, but we got it inside. I thanked the creatures and they swam away. Soon we heard the sound of the boulder being moved and Ariel was back.

"Flounder, what was that about?" Ariel complained, "Daddy, didn't call for me and…"

She froze when she saw the statue and immediately beamed.

"Noella, who did this?" She asked.

"It was all Flounder…" I shrugged.

"Noella helped." Flounder added giving me some credit.

Ariel swam around the statue of Eric inspecting it thoroughly and she happily danced around it acting like a high school girl with a crush. As Ariel was goofing off, I thought I heard the boulder roll again. I turned around toward the cave entrance and there I saw King Triton looking furious with Sebastian the crab resting on his left shoulder. Ariel hadn't noticed their entrance until she almost bumped into her father.

"Daddy!" Ariel said in surprise and immediately looked nervous, "W-Why are you here?"

"Sebastian came to me…" Triton replied. Ariel glared at the crab sitting on Triton's shoulder and he squished himself back in his shell. Of course he was Triton's perfect little spy sneaking in and out. He must have followed us earlier.

"Sebastian...how could you betray Ariel like that?" I scolded crossing my arms sternly.

King Triton turned toward me looking stern himself.

"It's not your place to have an opinion here." He growled.

"Daddy, don't get mad at her!" Ariel snapped, "She's been so kind and she needs our help."

"I'm not at liberty to help a human!" Triton spat, "Ariel, do you know what she is?"

"She has a tail just like everyone in Atlantica…" Ariel reasoned.

"And the deceptions continue...look at this place…" Triton said glancing around, "You know that contact with humans is forbidden and still you disobey me and rescue a human from drowning."

"You don't even know them!" Ariel said.

"I don't need to. They are murderers of merfolk… all of them." Triton replied glaring at me and then giving a disgusted scowl at the statue of Eric.

"But daddy I love him!" Ariel snapped, but then bit her lip immediately knowing she revealed too much. Even I was surprised by her declaration. Apparently, she knew more about Eric than I realized. Triton's face widened in shock and disbelief.

"Have you lost your mind?" Triton growled, "You are from two separate worlds. Humans aren't trustworthy."

"I don't care. You just don't understand...and you never will." Ariel replied looking away briefly.

"You're right...I don't understand." Triton continued pulling out a large golden pitchfork looking thing from behind him, "Unfortunately, choices have consequences and I know this is the only way to get through to you."

The golden weapon began to glow and Triton went to town destroying every single object in the room. Ariel was screaming for him to stop and I watched her face look as broken as the human objects. Triton saved the statue of Eric for last and he destroyed that with one final blast. Everything was in pieces and shattered everywhere on the ground. Ariel immediately threw herself down against a rock in tears. I watched Triton look almost remorseful bringing his daughter to such tears and then he looked at me.

"You're not who you say you are and I want you out of Atlantica as quickly as your false tail can take you." He said and promptly left.

Flounder came out from where he had been hiding and rested beside me as me watched Ariel unsure of what to do. I asked Flounder to give us a few minutes and he left us alone. I patted Ariel on the shoulder and soon she sat up wiping her face. I'm not sure that mattered much underwater, but what did I know.

"I'm sorry Ariel. What he did to your human treasures was wrong."I said as she sniffed wiping her nose, "What he said about you being false...don't listen. He was just mad." She replied.

"Ariel, it is true." I mumbled.

"What?" She looked shocked and I was surprised because I figured she saw my legs before the transformation.

"Back in the ship when you pushed the cannon off me...you didn't noticed my legs?" I questioned.

"It was hard to see. I was just focused on getting you out of there." She shrugged. "So you're like Eric?"

"Yes, I met him just before we met."

"He's so kind isn't he?" Ariel added.

I nodded in agreement.

"I'd be happy to help you replenish some human things, but I really need to first find that mirror. I'm just so anxious to find my mother…" My voice trailed off. This lack of answers was really frustrating at times. I really wondered if the mirrors were leading me even close to my mom.

"I'm anxious to meet Eric again." Ariel commented in a daydream like state. "He was unconscious when I saved him after the ship and you helped me. After we split up, I got him to the human beach and I sang him a song. I smirked keeping my comments to myself in that regard.

"I'm sure we can make it happen…" I smiled assuredly.

"But how?" Ariel added.

Suddenly an eerie voice echoed from the shadows of the room.

"We know someone who can help."

Ariel and I glanced up and two ferocious looking eels slithered their way down to us.