Ariel awoke with a start, pushing back the duvets and turning to see her sister Alana, jet-black hair arranged in an elegant French twist threaded with pearls. Tiny flecks of amethyst sparkled on a delicate silver chain, entwined around the older mermaid's lilac tail, while small studs of polished rose quartz hung neatly in her perfect shell-shaped ears.
On her head sat an intricate tiara made of mother-of-pearl, and it occurred to her younger sister that her fifteenth birthday celebration was no ordinary birthday party - it was practically a royal event.
After that fateful day, her father had banned all citizens of the Sea Kingdom from going to the surface ever again, to keep the merpeople safe from more 'accidents'.
However, through the persistent pleadings of her sisters, sobbing that they would forget their mother completely if they were barred from her most loved place, Triton agreed to let his daughters back up into the open air after they turned fifteen, the accepted age of maturity in merfolk society.
"Ariel, dear sister, it's your fifteenth birthday! Father is... expecting us at the festivities an hour before the moon rises beyond the Sailor's rock, and you're not even dressed!" Alana clasped her sister's hand in her own and pulled her upright. "And after today... we can start visiting the lagoon as a family again."
Sea-chariots pulled by magnificent hippocamps thronged in front of the palace's ornate, golden front entrance, and soon enough, the grand foyer of King Triton was crowded with citizens from all across his kingdom from all walks of life, murmured excitedly, anticipating the arrival of the royal daughters - particularly the famed youngest child who looked almost exactly like her mother - whom Triton had locked away from the outside world after the Queen's demise.
"Citizens of the Sea Kingdom, men, women and children alike... I present to you... The youngest daughter of King Triton and the late Queen Aspera, Princess Ariel, first of her name!"
The royal musicians blew their ornate conch shells and pounded their traditional drums, while handmaidens wearing filmy rose-colored veils gently drew back a linen curtain to reveal a breathtakingly exquisite mermaid of fifteen.
Her spectacular flame-colored hair was painstakingly braided and twisted into an elaborate bun, complete with wavy tendrils framing her delicate face. Her vibrant virescent tail was enhanced by a simple gold choker inlaid with emeralds, and the ivory colour and creamy texture of her skin was enhanced with a silky jade tunic.
Seas of merpeople fell silent as soon as she crossed them on her way to the throne, having no choice but to succumb to the resplendent beauty that was the youngest royal mermaid.
Ariel glided past the crowds as she made her way to the royal daïs, painfully unaware of her citizens' stares. She was distracted - her heart was pounding in her throat, for she had not seen her father up since her mother's death.
Of course, there were the few royal banquets that they would attend and of course the fifteenth birthdays of Ariel's sisters... But the most she had seen of her father was from a distance, wrapped in the thick blanket of assorted crowds of merpeople and the din of voices which accompanied. She never got to see the creases around his eyes deepen with each smile, nor the thin streaks of silver appear in his mahogany hair.
She knelt before the throne, awaiting Triton's deep, rich, familiar voice and the taps of his trident that were ever-present during the royal ceremonies of her past, such as the fifteenth birthdays of her sisters.
"Citizens! A daughter of the sea reaches the age of maturity today, and by the power vested in me, I proclaim her eligible for the throne. Ariel, child, rise. Do you accept this new standing?"
"I, Princess Ariel born of King Triton and the late Queen Aspera solemnly accept this responsibility, my king, with the ever-present consideration of the sea and all its present citizens." Ariel rose and recited the phrase she had committed to memory with every sister's coming-of-age celebration.
"A daughter of the sea reaches the age of maturity today, and by the power vested in me, I assign her the vast district of Rhodon to matron, where she will serve the people as a leader. Does she accept this new standing?"
"I, Princess Ariel born of King Triton and the late Queen Aspera solemnly accept this responsibility, my king, with the ever-present consideration of the sea and all its present citizens."
"A daughter of the sea reaches the age of maturity today, and by the power vested in me, I hereby allow her to travel to the surface region with air separate from the water, where she must not travel past our domains onto human territory of the shores. Does she accept this new standing?"
Ariel thought her heart might burst.
"YES! FATHER! YES! I DO ACCEPT! OH, THANK YOU! MOTHER WOULD BE SO PLEASED! YES YES YES! I ACCEPT!"
She wrapped her arms around her father impulsively, but the currents of water that burst from her tail were so vigorous that the majestic statue behind the throne of the Sea Kingdom's royal insignia
slowly
split
in
two.
CRASH!
Hearing the noise, Ariel hastily unhooked herself from her father and gasped at the half of the statue on the floor, completely oblivious to the fact that that everyone was watching her, gaping.
"Ariel!"
In the complete silence, the harsh tone and sour pitch of Attina's voice pierced her immense happiness.
"Whoops... Um... I'm sorry, father... I'll... "
With her cheeks burning, she swam out of the foyer as fast as her tail could take her.
"Mother!" Attina screamed, small tears coursing down her face. "Where is my mother? I want my mother!"
Softhearted Arista was deep beneath the ocean, sobbing as her tears joined the current, while the usually sarcastic Andrina with short, choppy, sandy hair and clear grey eyes was unusually pale and tearlessly weeping, in loud, hoarse gasps.
Alana's lovely violet eyes had rolled back in her head as she sank to join her younger sister at the seabed, and twins Aquata and Adella were wailing so loudly with the rawest form of utter despair that they started to cry tears of blood.
But little Ariel with auburn hair and innocent, azure eyes, stared into the sea foam, knowing that her mother was watching her from afar...
Or below the sea, where colors illuminate the water like jewels and there is life but not death, happiness but not sadness, forever and ever.