Author's Note: I'm very sorry for the late update for the final chapter. First finals kicked my rear, and then when the chapter was almost completed I accidentally deleted my only copy. I was so discouraged that it took me a while to muster up the nerve to write it again. My relationship of two years has also crashed and burned, so I don't have a very good opinion of love right now. (Thank God, only one chapter left.) So, I do apologize. I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: No claim or gain to any version of Hellsing or The Little Mermaid.


As Seras held her hands over her eyes, trying to keep herself steady for the impending sunrise, she was roused by a sudden sound.

"Seras Victoria!" several female voices call at once.

She jerked her head up suddenly, and looked around. She knew those voices.

"Over here, Seras Victoria!"

She realized it was coming from the starboard bow, closer the center of the ship. She was currently looking over the stern, or the very back of the ship. She hastily ran down the wooden steps along the starboard bulwark, which had been carved over the roof of the captain's cabin, where the sleeping bride and bridegroom slept. She looked over the side of the ship, where the light of the soon-to-be rising sun was brightest.

Then she saw the five stage girls rise up among the waves. They were still as pale as she, but there was no sign of their lovely long hair that the breezes used to blow. It had all been cut off.

Seras gasped silently. 'Your hair!' she thought, 'What happened?'

Long, luscious locks were a mermaid's pride and joy. They would no sooner cut it than a human girl would cut off her feet, unless through serious trauma or self-sacrifice.

They each spoke one at a time.

"Seras, look! We gave our hair to the Sea Witch."

"We needed her help to save your life!"

Seras could only stare dumbstruck, even if she had a voice to speak.

"She cut off our hair, but in return she gave us a magic knife for you."

"Schrodinger! Schrodinger!" another called behind her.

Just then, Schrodinger emerged from the water behind the five stage girls. Seras had forgotten how large and silver-green his eyes were, and how rubbery his fin-like ears and barbels were.

"It's the only way out, Sera Victoria!" one of the stage girls cried.

"Catch it, Seras Victoria!" Schrodinger cried, and he disappeared into the water to leap up to her.

Seras' countenance hardened into stubborn resolve; she would not use it.

Schrodinger leapt out of the water and arched into the air toward her. For a wild moment she seriously considered pushing him away, or refusing the knife. The look in his eyes stopped her, though, and at the last second she accepted it, as he arched through the air and fell back into the water with nary a splash.

Seras looked at the magic knife in her hand, and she gasped and wanted to drop it. It looked like the pointed fang of a giant sea monster, with tip of the tooth filed down to a smooth, fine, straight point. Her hand clutched a handle carved into a tooth with a magic ruby at the tip, and the red on the tooth was enough to feel her viscera spilling out of her abdomen.

She looked at the five stage girls in helpless horror, but they took her look as one asking what to do, not asking how they could expect her to do this.

"You must plunge the knife into the Count's heart!"

"When his blood sprinkles your feet, they'll join together and become a tail!"

"You'll become a mermaid again!"

"Once you've slain the Count, you'll be out of danger!"

"But you must hurry!"

"Harkonnen is very worried about you!"

Seras' stubborn countenance softened into one of great worry and consternation.

"He's so grief-stricken that his white hair is falling fast, just as ours did under the witch's scythe."

"He talked to the Sea King for you, and he received a pardon for you!"

"The Sea King said that you could return to the royal palace, and make concerts with us for the rest of your three hundred years as a mermaid!"

"You can be with us again, Seras Victoria!"

Seras was deeply touched. Harkonnen had gone to all that trouble, for her? These stage girls had all given up their hair, their most prized possessions, to save her life? The Sea King had lamented? He would allow her to come home, and she could… she could… have a life, should she return to the sea?

Suddenly, the thought of living three hundred years under the sea did not seem like an endlessly dark, empty, miserable experience to shrink away from, but a full three hundred years of beautiful colors, and light, and music, and friendships to live to the fullest until she rested happily in her watery grave, like going to bed after a long night of joyous festivities.

"Be quick! The sun will rise soon!"

"He or you must die before sunrise!"

"Please don't let it be you, Seras Victoria!"

And then Schrodinger—smirking, impish, cocky Schrodinger—did something that Seras never thought she would ever see him do. He cried. A single tear slid down his eyes, and he cried, "Seras Victoria, come back to us!"

She was so shocked, she could only stare. "I know I shouldn't have encouraged you to go to the Sea Witch. If I had known what would happen, I wouldn't have…" his voice wavered, and instead he said, "Please, don't let my mistake destroy your life. Come back to us!"

So saying, he turned and skipped away.

"We'll be waiting, Seras Victoria!"

So saying, they gave a strange deep sigh and sank beneath the waves.

Seras stared for several moments. Her first instinct had been a firm "No." No, no, no. She would never prolong her own life by taking another's; especially not with the tooth of a sea monster. She remembered viscerally how horrifying it had been when monsters from the deep had emerged into the light and sank their teeth into her father and mother, tearing them apart and eating her alive and…

But then she thought of kindly Harkonnen, and the stage hands, and Schrodinger. She had thought her life with them was over when the Sea King had banished her, and that she would have a long, lonely three hundred years of floating listlessly in dark waters ahead of her. Now, she thought of beautiful walls of living coral, and soft glowing lights of many colors, and music and singing and festivities that would last long into the night, until her endless night claimed her. If they really cared about her enough to try to save her life… if she could be with them again…

Now Seras felt she owed to them to at least try. Out in the horizon she could see that the sun was rising soon, and she would never get another chance.

She walked slowly to the main cabin, where the young couple slept. She felt every step like she was walking on daggers, and she feared every creek would give her away. When she placed her hand upon the door, she thought she saw a flash of shadow on the other side of the cabin, and she looked up suddenly—but saw no one there. It reminded her of the night she first gazed upon humans, and had seen Captain Bernadotte's face covered in shadow, as he stood by a cabin door much like this one.

Her heart pounded painfully, eat beat feeling like it was being pressed in on all sides by the tips of daggers, and she went into the cabin.

The honeymoon cabin was richly furnished, with red plush cushions and gilded paintings and furniture. In the center of the room, she saw a great canopy bed, surrounded by gossamer curtains. The little mermaid parted the curtains of the bed and saw the beautiful bride asleep with her head on the Count's breast. She looked truly beautiful and at ease, with her head delicately perched near the Count's heart, and her long slender arm draped loosely over his chest.

The mermaid bent down and kissed his shapely forehead. She looked out the open door at the sky, fast brightening for the break of day. She looked at the sharp knife and again turned her eyes toward the Count, who in his sleep murmured the name of his bride. His thoughts were all for her, and the knife blade trembled in the mermaid's hand.

Even in sleep, their happiness seemed to mock Seras.

She forced herself to think about all the misery the Count and Countess had put her through over the past year, and all that she stood to gain by living past the day, and she raised the knife—but even as she raised it, she knew that she could never lower it.

"Seras," a soft voice murmured at the door, and she looked back to see Captain Bernadotte.

His eye said he knew everything—of her plight, of her dilemma, and of the choice he knew that she would never make. Even as she stood there with the knife raised, there was no fear or alarm on his face. His eye said that he had heard everything, when she and the mermaids had thought they were alone above deck, and that he wished there was another way.

She looked at him, and her endless eyes said all that her words could not say.

And then the young bride's eyes flew open, and she saw the mute foundling standing over her with a knife raised.

She screamed bloody murder.

Seras gasped, and dropped the blade so that it clattered on the wooden planks. The Count shot up, and the brass bell right above their cabin clanged long and loud from the startled watch who had been awakened by the Countess's scream. Seras stumbled away and Pip ran forward, trying to explain what happened as the Count's bride loudly condemned Seras.

"SHE'S TRYING TO KILL ME, HUSBAND!" the Count's new bride screamed. "THAT FOUNDLING OF YOURS JUST TRIED TO MURDER ME IN MY SLEEP!"

"That's not true!" Captain Bernadotte yelled.

"I SAW IT WITH MY OWN EYES! SEE FOR YOURSELF, HUSBAND! THERE'S THE KNIFE SHE USED TO TRY TO KILL ME!"

'No…' Seras thought numbly as the Count glared at her with pure hatred in his eyes, and then lunged at her with a sword.

Seras scrambled out of his reach, then raced for the door. Captain Bernadotte was yelling in protest and tried to catch her, but she darted past him out into the cool salty morning. The deck was now filled with frightened noble ladies and gentlemen roused from their sleep by the brass bell, both frightened and confused. Seras wanted to get as far away from them all as she possibly could, and she could see the endless horizon and the sea beckon to her like a swallow to an open window.

With eyes already glazing she looked once more at the Count and tried to hurl herself over the bulwarks into the sea, where she knew her body would dissolve in sea foam without any more fuss.

However, she felt herself tackled from the side, and then held fast by large, strong arms. Her nostrils filled with the familiar earthly scents of tobacco, dust, and musk, and she knew Captain Bernadotte had prevented her from throwing herself overboard.

Panic seized her. 'No! Let me go!' she thought, and she flailed and writhed in his arms.

Any moment now she would dissolve in his arms, and she could not bear to think of the grief he would carry with him for the rest of his life, when he saw his beloved dissolve into foam in his arms.

She could feel dozens of concerned and frightened eyes upon them, and hear confused murmuring from the disoriented onlookers. She could see the dark Count storm toward her like dark cloud, and hear the pure hatred in his voice as he ordered the onlookers "MOVE!" The Count stalked toward her like a dark, vicious predator—like the two black hunting hounds she had seen hunting small, helpless animals. His eyes were like an animal's. Pure rage and instinctive murder filled his irises, with a golden gleam. She thought the golden gleam was because the sky was turning gold for the approaching sunrise. None of the tender affection or regard he had ever shown her was present now.

The Count stalked toward her, goaded on by the Countess screaming, "KILL HER! SHE TRIED TO KILL ME, HUSBAND!"

The Count lunged at her with a sword, and Captain Bernadotte had to push her away to keep the blade from striking.

A gasp rippled around the crowd as she landed painfully on the deck… vaguely she could hear the Count order, "Step aside, Captain" and the said Captain to say clearly, "Non." And then she heard barking, and she could see the Count's two prizing hunting hounds circling around them. When the Count tried to stalk toward her again, the hounds stood between them, snapping and snarling at their master.

"What's gotten into you?!" the Count cried, in no little surprise.

"They're in league with her, husband!" the Countess screamed from the cabin door. "She's bewitched them!"

By now the guests of the ship were all on deck and fully awake, no longer groggy with sleep or half-convinced they were dreaming. They gathered around while murmuring wonderingly. Many women were frightened by the news that the mute little foundling had tried to murder the bride in her sleep; and on her honeymoon, no less! Other, more mean-spirited voices said they were not surprised, for they knew that she was crazy and she was in love with the Count. A few of the servants said they knew the Count should have locked her away in an asylum months ago. Others said they always knew there was something wrong with her, and this attempt on the Countess Integra was confirmation enough.

She could hear their malicious whispering, and Seras felt like she was surrounded by spinning, judging eyes.

'This is a nightmare,' she thought numbly. This was the worst thing she could possibly think could happen. It wasn't bad enough that she would die at dawn, but now she would die being hassled and harried into her grave, surrounded by the faces of people who never thought highly of her and now whispered their confidence in her guilt. She felt trapped, helpless, and doomed—doomed to die in the worst way, surrounded by people who hated her, murdered by the man she once thought she'd loved.

Vaguely, she could hear Captain Bernadotte and Dr. Van Helsing arguing with the Count, trying to get him to see reason as he remained itching to plunge his sword into her.

As all of this was going on, Seras noticed that the Countess stood oddly quiet by the cabin door. Despite all the fuss she had kicked up with her earlier screaming, she now stood apart from the very crowd she had gathered, and seemed to watch the chaos of the crowd with pleased interest. Despite the gasps from the crowd, the barking and snarling from the hounds, and the fighting between the Count and Doctor and Captain over a mute foundling—Lady Integra seemed pleasantly entertained by the whole affair, like she was watching a picnic rather than a distressing scene.

Seras looked closer; then the Countess turned to look right at her! Her eyes were bright green with a lazy eye. Her grin was psychotic, and her canines now seemed too large for her mouth. And around her neck, Seras saw, a golden spiral shell she remembered from long ago.

Seras's eyes widened, and the false bride's green eyes glinted with malice as she silently mouthed the words, "Foam! Foam on the waves!"

Seras's eyes narrowed, and she shook with a terrible rage. Quick as a blink, she pulled a dagger from Captain Bernadotte's belt and dashed at the young bride, silver glinting from the swinging blade.

Panic broke out over the deck. Noble ladies and gentlemen screamed and ran every which way. The hounds barked and circled around.

Seras slashed at the false bride's face again and again, satisfied by the arrogant grin snapped off her smug face; replaced instead by sudden, genuine terror. Just then, Seras noticed the spiral shell bouncing over the false bride's breasts. All at once, she dropped the blade and clasped it in her hands.

"If I die," she thought savagely, "You will not get my voice!"

The Count yelled in concern for his bride and tried to stop her, but the two hounds got between him and the girls, snapping and snarling threateningly.

Seras tried to snap the cord by yanking it through the Sea Witch's neck, but when that failed she tried to slip it off and over. The false bride cried piteously for her husband and tried to hit and shove Seras away; but Seras was like a bull dog, latching her strong jaws on a mouthful of her opponent. No matter how the false bride screamed and hit and slapped her in the face, she scowled in determination and bore the abuse. She would not let go.

Just then, two things happened at once. As the false bride grasped her hands around Seras' neck and tried to shove her away, the Count broke through the wall of protective hounds, ripped Seras from the false bride, and shoved her backwards so hard that her back slammed into the bulwark. She gasped as the air was knocked out of her.

At the same time that the Count got past the hounds, one of them circled around and bit the false bride right on the butt. She screamed at the same time that the little foundling was ripped from her, still clutching the shell; and the cord snapped as the spiral shell went flying through the air.

All eyes on deck followed the little spiral shell as it arched through the air, then shattered at Seras's feet. A little golden wisp emerged from the shattered fragments, and the sweetest, prettiest voice anyone had ever heard sang a wordless song from the wisp.

The golden glint left the Count's eyes, and he winced and shook his head as though to clear it of fog. Soon he, and the entire ship, inched closer to gape at the singing golden wisp, floating steadily upward from the mute foundling's feet to her neck.

The false bride glared daggers.

Seras looked down at the little wisp in worry, then it spun around and merged with her throat. Her little neck glowed gold, and then she smiled as the voice from the wisp emerged from her lips. Then her neck ceased glowing, and she completed the wordless song with her own voice.

Everyone on deck gaped. All but one.

Captain Bernadotte grinned. "Seras?"

"Berenadotte!" Seras cried in her sweet, pretty voice.

The hounds ran up to her and start licking and jumping on her, barking happily; just as they had done the morning Captain Bernadotte had found her a year ago.

"You… you can talk?!" the Count exclaimed.

But Captain Bernadotte could care less about any of that. He loved the girl, not the voice.

"… You're the one," the Count whispered as it all dawned on him.

Indifferent to all the world, Captain Bernadotte ran up to Seras and clasped her hands in his. She grinned as she looked up at him; pure love shining through both their eyes. No words needed to be said.

In all the commotion, the real bride emerged from below deck, quickly followed by a frightened servant.

"What's going on, here?" Lady Integra asked.

The Count, Walter, Dr. Van Helsing and Sir Hellsing all looked at her, then their eyes grew big as saucers.

"You-!" the Count exclaimed.

"I found her sleep walking, sir," the frightened servant said. "She was wandering below deck—I thought you might want to know."

"I just woke—what's…" the real Integra gasped when she saw the impostor.

They were the only ones who noticed the doppelganger, however; all too stunned for words. Every other eye on deck was looking at the formerly mute foundling gazing lovingly up from the arms of Captain Bernadotte; including the impostor.

"Bernadotte! Get away from her!" she ordered, then stopped short when she realized how harsh, grating, and gravely her voice sounded.

Captain Bernadotte wove his arms around Seras' waist, looking all for the world like he wanted to kiss her. Seras moved her hands to his chest, and looked all the world like she wanted to kiss him back. She stood on the tips of her toes, and moved her face up to meet him as he closed his eye and moved toward her.

"BERNADOTTE, NO!" the Sea Witch screamed.

Just before their lips touched the sun rose, and its first rays stabbed Seras like a blade. She convulsed in agony, then slipped between Bernadotte's arms.

"You're too late!" the impostor gloated, and cackled.

Pip exclaimed, "Seras, are you all right…?" but then he felt his boot hit something unfamiliar.

His eye widened in horror at what he saw. The impostor continued to cackle wickedly as Seras lay sprawled on deck before him, with a glimmering fish's tail emerged from her white ruffled night dress. Pip looked at her in shock and realization, and Seras' eyes said that this was the secret she had been hiding.

The imposter threw her hands to the sky and bellowed, "YOU'RE TOO LATE!" Lightning shot from her hands and covered her body, then she laughed maniacally as she transformed into a monster. Her skin turned grey and muscled, the right side of her body covered in tattoos, and eight black octopus's tentacles ripped through her white night dress and curled up on the deck.

Everyone on deck gasped in shock and horror, and averted their eyes.

The cackling Sea Witch then crawled quickly toward Seras. Every body on deck that didn't faint rushed to get out of her way. Before Captain Bernadotte could react, the Sea Witch crawled right up to Seras, snapped her up, and crawled onto the bulwarks.

"So long, lover boy!" she sneered over her shoulder, ignoring the little mermaid struggling in her arms, and she jumped overboard.

"Seras!" Captain Bernadotte exclaimed.

The ocean was much colder than Seras remembered. Colder and wetter. She had not floated weightless like this in so long; not since the watering hole in the Carfax Estate. That had been a much happier time. The ocean was much darker and deeper too. They made so much time descending deeper and deeper into the fathoms below.

The Sea Witch swam differently from mermaids. They took a swift swim forward then stopped abruptly, then took a swift swim forward then stopped abruptly, then took a swift swim forward then stopped abruptly; like an octopus.

Her great strong hand held Seras' wrist tight as a vice, and try as she might she couldn't yank it free—no more than she could from those poor polyps in the Sea Witch's garden. Soon the loose fabric of Seras' loose night dress fell away, and Seras was as naked as the day she was born. She felt naked, cold and vulnerable now that she was alone with the Sea Witch at the bottom of the sea.

"Poor little princess," the Sea Witch sneered as she dragged her along, now at the ocean floor. "If only you had kissed him seconds before."

". . . You tricked me!" Seras exclaimed. It was all she could think to say.

The Sea Witch laughed mockingly. "Of course I tricked you! Und it worked." She yanked Seras closer, so that her frightened little face was inches from her toothy leer. "I couldn't very well haf you believing you would live to see the sunrise; otherwise your wounded little heart would haf fallen in love with the captain, und there would be no heartbreak to turn you back into a mermaid."

"You lied to me!" Seras said numbly. She could think of nothing else to say.

The Sea Witch through her head back and laughed such a loud, bellowing laugh that it echoed off the rocks. "Of course I did, und it was all too easy." Just then she swung Seras around so that she floated right in front of her, with her slim little body and her pert breasts floated before her. Seras instinctively covered her breasts with one arm, shrinking away from the Sea Witch's leer.

"What are you going to do with me?" the little mermaid asked, and tried to look as small as possible.

"What, indeed?" the Sea Witch murmured huskily, and descended on her like a hungry octopus to a sea shell.

Seras gasped and swam backwards, trying to keep as much distance between herself and the sea monster in front of her as possible.

"God, I could have you now," the Sea Witch panted. But then she suddenly swam ahead, and jerked Seras behind her. "But thankfully for you, I've a much bigger fish to fry…"

"Zorin, STOP!" Baron Vladimir Harkonnen ordered. He was indeed much older than Seras remembered him. His fiery red hair had indeed turned white, just like the stage girls had described, and his hairline had receded considerably. His face was filled with more wrinkles and lines than ever, and large puffy blue bags lined the bottom of his eyes.

The five stage girls, with their short hair floating around their faces, hovered around and behind Harkonnen. Most of them trembled with fear, but they all set their faces in determined scowls. "Hmph!"

"Why, Baron Harkonnen," Zorin cackled, "How are you?"

"Let her go!" Baron Harkonnen ordered.

"Not a chance, Baron, she's mine now!" Zorin retorted, pulling the little mermaid closer. The tattoos along the right half of Zorin's body glowed, and then the same tattoos glowed all over Seras's body, showing that the Sea Witch owned her.

"That's not fair!" one of the stage girls exclaimed.

"Yeah, we gave you our hair to let her go!"

"Yes, on the condition that she use the knife I gave you to slay the Count," the Sea Witch cackled. "Which, sadly, she did not use."

The stage girls all gasped and looked at each other and Seras in horror. Harkonnen just looked sad and tired.

Seras never felt more sorry for her actions than she did that moment, when she saw how her deal hurt and worried him.

"Then why is she still alive?"

"Because I still have use for her," the Sea Witch grinned, and pushed Seras so that she floated in front of them. She then wrenched Seras's arm behind her back and clutched her breast with the other; Seras winced and tried to struggle away. "Now, would you be so good as to tell the Sea King that I haf his youngest daughter?"

Seras and the stage girls all gasped.

Up on the surface, Captain Bernadotte had taken a lifeboat and was rowing out into open water. From the ship, Walter cried out, "Captain, what are you doing?!"

"Walt, I lost her once! I'm not going to lose her again!"

Below water, Seras could only watch in shame and horror as the consequences of her bargain played out before her.

The stage girls and Harkonnen looked at each other, and then they were forced to admit, "Seras is not the Sea King's daughter."

The triumphant smile slowly faded from Zorin's lips. "What are you talking about?"

"The Sea King only has six daughters," the stage girls said. "Seras is but a chamber maid."

Horror and denial filled the Sea Witch's features. "What are you talking about, of course she's his youngest daughter! The daughter obsessed with the human world? The daughter who had the cave of human treasures?"

"That was Ariel!" the stage girls said.

Shock and humiliation filled Zorin's features.

"You already gave her the means to fall in love with a prince, remember?"

Zorin had only done so because she had believed Ariel to be his second oldest daughter. She had heard that his youngest had been his favorite daughter, and the one he would do anything for. So, she had allowed that little mermaid's deal to go off without a hitch since she had believed she still had another Ace up her sleeve; the Sea King's true favorite daughter as a bargaining chip. But this...

"Then why did...?"

"Why did I tell you that Seras was the Sea King's daughter?" Schrodinger piped up cheerfully.

The others gasped when he seemed to appear out of nowhere. Seras was used to it by now, but she was struck with another shock; one far more upsetting than any jump scare could cause.

"Because, I knew that the only way you would agree to give her the potion that would spare her life would be if you thought Seras was a prize worth keeping" Schrodinger gloated carelessly."

Seras felt as thought daggers stabbed her stomach; and it hurt worse than daggers in any heart.

"Seras had become so obsessed with the Count that she could not appreciate what she had right here on the sea floor," Schrodinger continued cheerfully. "She spent all her time with her head in the clouds, I knew she needed to learn what she had right here on the sea floor. You und I knew the Count was already in love with another, but the only way Seras could get over him would be if she went to the land herself, und experienced it for herself. I knew that the only way she'd get her head out of the clouds und back into the water where it belongs would be if she got her heart broken, und appreciated all the friends she has right here under the sea."

Far from touched by Schrodinger's gesture, Seras was crushed; hurt and betrayed. It explained why he encouraged her to knock on the Sea Witch's door... and she could only bring herself to repeat a line she'd heard in a play; "Et tu, Schro?"

"A-ha!" he grinned, "So you have read Shakespeare!"

Willing herself not to cry, Seras closed her eyes and turned her head away. She'd expected this kind of treachery from Zorin Blitz; the Sea Witch who'd lied and tricked her and jerked her around on land for her own amusement. She'd known that Schrodinger was a bit of a self-centered braggart, but he'd always seemed to have her best intersts at heart, even if he was bad at showing it. She would have never believed he'd pull such a cruel trick, and jerk her around and intentionally try to break her heart the way the Sea Witch did.

The Sea Witch, for her part, was positively seething and trembling with rage. Her tattoos began to glow with anger.

The stage girls and Harkonnen all braced themselves nervously; for they all knew an enraged Sea Witch was a dangerous Sea Witch.

Schrodinger alone did not seem bothered by her anger, and chattered blithely on: "Of course, now that you know she is not the Sea King's daguther, you know that she is useless to you. No doubt you won't want to keep such a reminder of your failure in your polyp garden. But since she is a mermaid now, you might want to let her go."

Zorin exploded. She hated the little catfish boy, but given that he could be anywhere and nowhere, and Harkonnen had power of his own and the stage girls were under his protection, Zorin took her rage out on the one being she had power over.

She wrapped her tentacles tightly around Seras's neck and torso and screamed into her face, "WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD I WANT A USELESS, WRETCHED, WORTHLESS LITTLE WORM LIKE YOU?!"

Before Seras could respond, the Sea Witch forced a tentacle down Seras' throat and strangled her with another, so that she couldn't breathe. When Seras tried to wriggle away, the Sea Witch wrapped two more tentacles around her torso and tail, so that she could only flail helplessly in her grasp, unable to breathe.

The arrogant little grin disappeared from Shrodinger's little face faster than a blink. "Zorin, stop!"

"You worthless, insignificant THING!" The Sea Witch roared as she plowed the little mermaid into the white, soft sand, intending to crush her as well as strangle her to death.

Seras's friends cried out and tried to save her.

"Zorin, no!" Schrodinger exclaimed, for the first time alarmed.

"Zorin, stop it!" the stage girls all exclaimed, and they flocked around her, trying to get her away from Seras. But the Sea Witch was bigger and stronger, and swatted them away like they were shrimp.

"I'll trade you anything! Just let her go!" Harkonnen cried.

But Zorin's eyes were white with rage. She hated everything that moment, and all her rage was channeled into killing Seras.

"I can't believe I wasted so much time and energy on a worthless little nothing like you!" she yelled, and swung her around to slam her against a large boulder.

Little did they all know, Captain Bernadotte could see the Sea Witch's glowing tattoos from the surface, and he readied a harpoon he'd brought.

Seras channeled all her strength into her jaws and bit the Sea Witch's invasive tentacle as hard as she could. The Sea Witch cried out in pain, and the time it took to see Seras's defiant glare was the time she needed to wrap her remaining tentacles even tighter around the little mermaid's neck, torso and tail, and she began to beat her black and blue.

"DON'T FOOL WITH ME, YOU LITTLE BRAT!" she yelled as she struck her again and again.

Seras' face turned blue with the bruises, and she writhed like a worm on a hook as she struggled to get out from the grasping tentacles.

"After all the trouble I've wasted on you, you'll be lucky if I..." A harpoon grazed the Sea Witch's shoulder, and she cried out in pain and surprise.

The momentary shock was all she needed to release Seras, who gasped and coughed violently as she struggled to breathe.

The Sea Witch looked up to see Captain Bernadotte hovering above them in the water, glaring defiantly.

"Why, you love-sick fool," she growled, temper rising.

"B-Bernadotte!" Seras croaked, still struggling to breathe. She tried to go to him, but Zorin held her down with a tentacle. "Bernadotte, look out!"

"AFTER HIM!" Zorin ordered her eels, and they raced toward him.

Captain Bernadotte swam quickly for the surface, the eels close behind him. He managed to make it to the lifeboat, and went to grab another harpoon, but they dragged him down, fully intending to drown him.

"Come on!" Harkonnen ordered the stage girls, and they swam up to the eels. They hit and slapped at them until the eels loosened their grip on the human, who once again swam for the surface.

But the Sea Witch had other ideas. She grabbed her scythe, and aimed it like a boomerang. "Say goodbye to your sweetheart," she sneered at Seras, and took aim.

Seras scrambled forward, then at the last second she grabbed a handful of Zorin's hair and yanked it back. She didn't stop her from throwing it, but she ruined the aim. The scythe spun in the air like a boomerang but sailed far away from the human, and instead sliced her eels.

"Babies!" the Sea Witch exclaimed, and Seras broke free of her remaining tentacle and dashed for the surface. "My poor little chickabiddies…"

She glared up at the human and mermaid she held responsible. Captain Bernadotte was close to the surface, and the little mermaid not too far behind him.

The Sea Witch had finally snapped. Humiliation after humiliation got to her, and now she was truly enraged. She fumed and ground her teeth furiously as she produced large clouds of black ink, and the tattoos on the right side of her body glowed. She flexed her right hand so that the great purple eye in her palm glowed as well, and she plunged it into the ink cloud. Soon the glowing tattoos trailed off her body and flooded into the black ink, which now glowed purple thanks to the tattoos. Soon, all of the ink she had produced was covered in glowing tattoo symbols as well, and the cloud of ink reshaped and reformed into something huge and monstrous. Baron Harkonnen and the stage girls could only tremble and gape in horror at what they saw from the sea floor.

Seras made it to the surface, and she and the captain swam toward each other.

"Mr. Bernadotte, you've got to get away from here!" she said as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Non, I won't leave you!" he said.

Her heart throbbed in appreciation, but before she could say anything the water beneath them swelled and shook.

Then, they found themselves pushed out of the water and on top of the orange, spiky hair of a giant Sea Witch. She emerged from the ocean cackling and laughing maniacally, and growing steadily huger and higher. Around thirty feet up they jumped into the water. When they emerged she was still growing huger, and the two clutched each other fearfully as she grew to her full height—a good hundred feet high.

The Sea Witch floated on the waves before them—huge, purple, with glowing green eyes. Her canines flashed as her gravelly voice boomed, "YOU PITIFUL, INSIGNIFICANT FOOLS!"

"Look out!" Pip yelled as the Sea Witch brought a giant tentacle down on them.

They desperately dove to get out of the way.

"DID YOU TRULY THINK YOU COULD OUTSMART ZORIN BLITZ?!" the giant roared.

Though it was a clear early morning, huge and thick storm clouds formed almost instantly, and it became as dark as dusk. Rain and lightning soon formed around them, and the relatively calm water turned wild and choppy. Pip and Seras desperately tried to stay together in water that lifted them up and down as high as twenty feet.

"I AM THE MOST POWERFUL SORCERER IN ALL OF THE OCEAN! THE WAVES OBEY MY EVERY WHIM!"

So saying, great fifty foot waves emerged from her tentacles; and one such wave forced the couple apart.

"Bernadotte!" Seras cried she got caught in the undertow, but he was flung through the air by the crest of the wave.

Before she could go to him though, she was aware that the current was pulling her closer to Zorin.

"THE SEA AND ALL ITS SPOILS BOW TO MY POWER!" the Sea Witch bellowed.

So saying, she dipped the blade of her scythe into the water, and spun it around a few times. The current then picked up, and formed a giant whirlpool that went to the bottom of the sea; just like the many whirlpools in her realm. Many shipwrecks at the bottom were wedged loose, and many shattered masts and damaged hulls alike spun around the spiraling whirlpool at Zorin's tentacles. The giant Sea Witch grinned maniacally at the scene before her.

Though a terrific swimmer in her day, Seras was a year out of practice. Whereas once she could swim faster than a human blink, now she struggled not to get swept along by the current. She dodged giant shipwrecks that creaked and groaned around her that threatened to crush her; and she desperately clung to a large pointed rock now sticking out of the water

One formerly sunken ship threatened to crush Captain Bernadotte, who desperately tried to swim away; until he too was caught in the undertow.

"BERNADOTTE!" she screamed, and dove into the water to swim to him.

Little did she know, Captain Berndotte managed to grab a rope from under the hull of the ship, and pulled himself up onto the deck.

Seras did not have time to react, for the Sea Witch then leered her way. Raising her giant scythe, the Sea Witch took a stab at her. The little mermaid dodged the giant scythe that stabbed into the water right by her, but to her horror a new whirlpool formed right underneath her! She felt the water disappear from underneath her, and she was soon falling in mid-air, with the watery walls of the whirlpool around her and center of the whirlpool ever deepening under her as she fell.

Little did she know, back on the ship Captain Bernadotte was desperate to get to the helm. However, at the same time the old whirlpool was merging with the new one, and the sudden change in direction and current doused Captain Bernadotte with a huge wave that crashed on deck.

In the center of the whirlpool, Seras fell painfully onto the now-dry ocean floor. She winced and tried to push herself up, then grew pale as death. At the eye of the monstrous whirlpool above and around her, she could see the eye of the giant Zorin Blitz blink and leer at her.

The Sea Witch then raised her giant scythe, and brought it down on the little mermaid.

Too injured by her long fall, Seras could only barely dodge out of the way. She could feel the giant scythe stab into the hard ground next to her, causing it to crack and shake. When the Sea Witch withdrew her scythe, the whole ground shook, and huge rocks and rubble were pulled loose, nearly crushing the little mermaid beside her.

Taking advantage of Zorin's distraction, Captain Bernadotte managed to grab hold of the helm. The ship was flowing toward her in the whirlpool, although it was aiming to flow harmlessly behind her back in the water. He knew he had only one shot to stab her with the sharp, shattered staff sticking out of the bow. He knew he was in her peripheral vision, so if she looked directly at him before it was time, he was done for.

Thankfully, Zorin was too engrossed in her game of "stab the mermaid" to notice him. She lifted her giant scythe and brought it down on the little mermaid again and again, not caring that she was missing because she was having so much fun tormenting the poor girl.

Seras dodged her desperately, then frantically tried crawling in a straight line toward the edge of the whirlpool. If she could just get into the water, she would be safe!

But Zorin saw that coming and brought the scythe down directly in front of Seras's face, blocking her exit. When Zorin wedged her scythe loose, Seras was covered in rubble.

'Almost there…' Pip thought determinedly, gritting his teeth. He was so close to the Sea Witch; walking a knife's edge of keeping the ship flowing closely enough toward her so that when he changed direction at the last minute it would stab her square in the gut, but not close enough that she would notice before it was too late. She could still notice at any moment. Pip grit his teeth and hoped this worked.

Thankfully, Zorin still did not notice him. She was glorying in her triumph.

Seras was trapped under large rocks and other rubble that weighed her down, unable to crawl away or dodge the next scythe. The rocks scraped painfully against her sensitive fish scales, and she looked up in horror.

Zorin Blitz laughed maniacally, and raised her scythe. "SO MUCH FOR TRUE LOVE!"

Seras gasped in horror, and Zorin slowly lifted her scythe from behind her head to make the final swing down.

"NOW!" Pip thought, and suddenly turned the helm to ram into her.

Zorin finally noticed him, but too late. She only had time to cry out in surprise as the splintered shaft of the bow stabbed her completely through. At the same time, it disrupted the swing of her scythe. Rather than arcing down onto the little mermaid like she had intended, it arced into an almost complete circle and stabbed her right in the breast.

The Sea Witch cried out in pain, then succumbed to her wounds. She collapsed onto the ship, and wrapped her giant tentacles around it like a kraken to bring it down with her. Captain Bernadotte tried to escape, but one of her tentacles collapsed the deck of the ship around him, and crushed the outsides over on top of it.

She soon succumbed to her wounds, and her giant body melted into formless purple ink filled with glowing tattoo symbols that bubbled and boiled as she dissolved.

The Sea Witch's collapsed body also meant her spell collapsed, and the great storm, giant waves, and whirlpool dissolved instantly. The little mermaid closed her eyes and braced herself as the water rushed in around her and swept her away.

From far away, all that the wedding guests could see from their ship was the calm after a storm, and a collapsing ship sinking beneath the waves.