I'm sorry it took such a long time to upload a new chapter to The Queen and the Mermaid. I hope you can forgive me. Even with being on such a long hiatus this story has still gained more Followers and for that I truly thank all of you. I'm happy you like the story as much as I do and here's to getting back to regular updates, hopefully! Have a wonderful weekend and I hope you enjoy the newest chapter. :-)

Chapter Eleven: Godslayer

(Ariel)

As Ariel sank deeper in the clear water she held her head up, her eyes cast to the dark, starry sky high above her. Her red hair floated all around her face and her tail arched in the shape of a 'U' with the two tips of her tailfin playing in her floating hair.

"Mother," Ariel whispered, "she's great. If you're watching us, I know you can see that, too. There's more than just beauty to her, though she is quite pleasant on the eyes." With that, Ariel felt a warm flush fill her cheeks. She grinned. "She's nice and wonderful, mother. I know you'd like her. Father"—and Ariel shrugged—"probably won't like her seeing as how she's a human with magical powers, but she's not out to hurt me. If she were, she would have done it already." A moment of insecurity settled in Ariel's thoughts. Right?

Ariel shook her head, dismissing the hurtful thought. The stars became a wash of wavy white light that settled on the surface of the water as Ariel sank lower to the seafloor. "I love you, mother," Ariel said finally.

When her belly settled atop the loose dirt of the cool seafloor, Ariel laid herself flat like a worm in the soft, wet soil of the late evening hours. Her hair fell around her head and settled on the seafloor with her. Her dark-sea vision turned everything bright green and the young mermaid suddenly had crystal clear vision under the sea. Her eyes darted back and forth searching the waters for something to eat for dinner.

Nothing in the water moved or at least nothing considerable that would provide the mermaid and her human companion enough for a dinner. Ariel sighed. She figured she must have been too close to the island for any of the larger fish to approach. Still she kept silent and motionless. If given time, surely something would swim by and approach her.

Several minutes passed by and still nothing approached her. Ariel dug her sharp nails into the loose soil. The wet, clammy feeling of mud sifting between her fingers felt good. She kept curling her fingers in the mud as if she were groping the seafloor. And she waited.

And waited.

And waited.

By the time Ariel had given up hope of anything swimming close enough by her to reach up and snatch out of the water, her stomach had started to growl at her. It was demanding that she move away from her current spot in the soil and go out and find some food so she could eat. Ariel relinquished and pushed herself up out of the soil. She mounted her hands in the mud and ejected herself up using the strength of her arms and chest. She beat her tail against the seafloor and kicked up a thick brown cloud of dirt that enveloped her. Ariel darted out of the dirt cloud, twisted her body around, and took off in the opposite direction of the island. If she was to find food, she would have to go farther out into the sea.

By the time that Ariel had settled in an area away from the island, she was sure that she had been away from Elsa for at least half an hour. The blonde that made Ariel blush whenever she thought about her was surely thinking about her right now, too, Ariel presumed. She's probably thinking, 'Where is Ariel with our dinner? I'm starving!' Ariel knitted her eyebrows together. I'm a competent hunter! Why has it taken me this long to get us dinner?!

Where Ariel settled along the seafloor long, wavy seaweed danced in the water around her and empty clamshells littered the ground. Her green vision lit up the dark sea and yet still nothing worth eating approached Ariel. Sure, there was seaweed which Ariel actually enjoyed eating with her dinner, but that was the thing. It was with her dinner, not as dinner. Ariel equated it to lettuce from the human world. From her time being human, she remembered lettuce being used from everything to sandwiches to salads, but it was never a full-on meal. Humans never just ate lettuce as a main course and as so merfolk never ate just seaweed as a main course. Ariel had to find something with substance. She had to find something with nutritional value. She had to find something with a pulse.

Ariel slowly slithered around in the mud and watched for something to move other than the seaweed surrounding her. Her eyes danced back and forth in her head as she searched. Minnows crept by overhead, but they were two small for Elsa and herself. Even an entire school of minnows wouldn't be enough seeing as how the two ladies would primarily be feasting on scales and bones. How whales survive on algae will forever baffle me, Ariel thought.

Ariel continued to slither through the mud when something caught her attention. Up ahead there was a rock sitting in a patch of sea grass. However, this rock wasn't a normal rock. Normal rocks had algae buildup on them and barnacles plastered to them. She slithered closer to the patch of grass and noticed the faintest movement come from the rock. And they don't breathe, Ariel thought.

She straightened herself out, her tail flat to the ground and her body just slightly arched so as to keep her head elevated. Her coral red hair danced all around her face and there was little Ariel could do about it. Being in the sea, though, a lot of things had a tendency to want to float toward the surface so it wasn't like her hair was out of place. In fact, it did a great job at covering her face.

Through the waves of hair floating around her, Ariel kept a careful watch on whatever it was that was sitting in the grass. She had seen many creatures in her life under the sea, but for some reason this one wasn't registering in her mind. Something moved next to the breathing rock and when Ariel darted her eyes at it she recognized it as a tendril. The tip wriggled like a worm and suddenly there was a fish staring at it. Wide-eyed, the fish puffed its lips and flared its gills. She could see the fish's hunger deep in its round, green eyes. It moaned and Ariel heard the fish say softly, "Tonight I will dine like the King."

A deep, foreboding voice followed. "For you are the King, then I am the god, Poseidon, which will devour you."

The fish's eyes widened and it turned to dart away. However, the tendril was just barely faster. It reached up and gripped the fish with one of several of its sticky pads underneath which Ariel had only now noticed and the breathing rock came to life. Its large round eyes flashed past Ariel not noticing her as the tendril swept into the body of the rock with the fish disappearing.

Octopus, Ariel thought. No wonder I didn't recognize it. They're some of the stealthiest creatures in the all of the oceans.

The octopus settled back into the grass and continued to chew on its meal. Ariel lowered herself further and carefully slithered her way into the patch of sea grass. It tickled her skin, especially near her belly button, but she did all that she could to suppress the need to giggle. She kept her sight focused on the cephalopod with all other thoughts but capturing it for dinner leaving her mind. She was now determined.

Ariel felt her stomach tighten as she crept closer to the octopus. Her nails dug into the dirt and she felt the roots beneath the soil between her fingers. Her jaw tightened and her sharp teeth ground together. She took in a deep, slow breath as she settled no more than two feet behind her and Elsa's dinner.

In the split of a second, Ariel darted forward, arms outstretched and nails ready to dig into the slimy creature. A cloud of thick, black substance shot out at Ariel and blinded her. She screamed, or at least tried to, when she found herself choking on the thick, black cloud. The octopus had darted off and had shot ink at the mermaid. "You can't kill a god," it mocked.

Ariel coughed and wiped her eyes. They burned. The ink was oily and sticky. She fought to breathe and for a moment she thought that she might actually die from choking on the natural defensive tactic that all merfolk were taught back in school. How she had allowed herself to forget such a memorable trait of all octopus and squids had been a result of her hunger overriding her thoughts.

Ariel flapped her tail, clearing the cloud of black ink from around her and heaved and choked. She finally was able to breathe again and she managed to clear her eyes and face of the oily ink bomb. The octopus was nowhere to be seen as Ariel twisted and turned while floating above the ink-stained sea grass below. She pushed currents out and away from her as her tail whipped back and forth. Her face was red from her lack of oxygen and her lip curled as she gnashed her teeth. Ariel could hear the octopus mocking her with a chuckle and she screamed.

Ariel dove to the seafloor and began swiping her hands through it. Clouds of dirt and debris filled the water all around her as she searched for the octopus. Her jaw was clenched tight; her fiery red eyebrows knitted together. She twisted and turned, hacking at the ground. "Come to me," Ariel growled as if she had actually expected the octopus to just jump in her arms.

"I am fearless," Ariel heard the octopus say. "You will never find me."

Ariel paused. The dirt settled around her and she listened for the octopus. "I will," she said.

"I am immortal," said the octopus. Ariel heard the words coming from somewhere over her right shoulder. As she looked in that direction she noticed a sunken life boat much like the one she had put Elsa in to save her life. She focused her attention in that direction. "Poseidon cannot be killed," added the octopus.

Ariel was now sure that the octopus was somewhere near the sunken life boat. She decided to play along. "And what makes you so sure that you're our god—the god!—Poseidon."

"Look around you. Where is everyone? Where are the fish? The crustaceans? Where are the squids and the octopi?" Until the octopus had mentioned it, Ariel hadn't realized that the octopus was right. There were a few fish around, but nothing of what should be expected out in the sea. "They know better than to settle in my realm. And, soon, you will too."

Ariel settled herself on the seafloor again. Her tail whipped back and forth across the mud, her breasts pressed under her chest, and her red hair settled all around her. She crept forward making her way to the boat. "If you make threats, then you better be able to back them up." She inched closer and closer to the sunken lifeboat. "Your ink may slow me down, but it won't stop me."

"I seem to disagree," said the octopus. "You had a fairly rough time with that last ink bomb. You nearly choked... princess."

Ariel froze. How did the octopus know who she was?

The octopus began singing in a low, gravelly voice, mocking the mermaid.

Daughter of Triton

Princess of the sea

You shamed your family

When you traded fins for feet

With her hands on the seafloor, Ariel coiled her fingers into her palms. Slick, thick mud oozed between her fingers. Her tail whipped back and forth. Her upper lip curled.

You did it all for a man

You rushed into love

You wanted out of the sea

To live in the world above

But things were not great

You would soon come to understand

For he did not love you with his heart

Just with the back of his hand

Had Ariel been able to produce tears, she was sure that she would have been crying. A sleuth of memories came flooding back to her: memories of pain, heartbreak, and anger. She did her best to forget about them and instead wonder how the octopus knew of her past. The only explanation that Ariel could come up with was that stories of her return to Atlantica must have spread from the kingdom and all throughout the oceans. After all, it was hard to keep such news as gargantuan as her return secret from everyone, especially since she was the daughter of the King of Atlantica, ruler of the sea.

The octopus continued singing.

A couple of years of abuse

And your best friend dead

You had to call on your daddy

And, "What a disappointment," he had said

The anger returned to Ariel. "How dare you talk about Flounder!" she screamed. "And, my father may be hardheaded and strict, especially after what happened with Eric, but I know without a doubt that he would never see me as a disappointment!" Though, after running away for a human for a second time she now wasn't so sure. Her feelings of insecurity returned.

Oh, and need I forget

Your mother sees you, too

She looks down from above

And sees a disappointment, too

"Sorry for rhyming too with too in that last verse," said the octopus, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I just made the song up. So, please, I hope you can forgive me?" The octopus chuckled to himself.

"You don't talk about my mother!" Ariel was livid. "Or Flounder!" The color in her face matched her hair and she darted up off of the seafloor and twisted up and around the sunken lifeboat. She roared as she spotted the octopus in a crevice between wood and rock. The octopus's eyes widened and it darted off leaving a cloud of black ink that consumed the boat.

Ariel held her breath, closed her eyes, and darted through the ink. When she came out the other side she opened her eyes and spotted the octopus fleeing. The cruel, mocking cephalopod was now screaming and spurting ink uncontrollably. Had rage not blinded the mermaid at this moment, she was sure that she would have found the sight amusing. As it was, though, she kept after the octopus, dodging all of its ink.

They raced over the sea grass that Ariel had found the octopus in earlier and kept going until they both disappeared into a large patch of seaweed. Ariel didn't let that stop her though. She had gained on the octopus and with arms outstretched she fastened her grip around one of its tentacles which caused the sea creature to shriek. He began pleading for his life.

"Please, please, please! Please, don't kill me! I didn't mean any of what I said. Of course your father and mother are proud of you. Of course they love you!"

Ariel's nails dug into two of the octopus's eight tentacles. He cried out again. Her eyes seethed with anger. Her chest heaved and her face was still as red as her hair. "A god begs," she said, now being the one to mock the other.

"Ah! A god?! No, no, no! I am no god! My name is Don! I just call myself Poseidon to sound tough! Please, don't hurt me!" He quivered and babbled.

Ariel bared her sharp teeth to the octopus. More ink spurted out from him. "Well, Poseidon," Ariel hissed, "if you want to be a god, then you can call me Godslayer."

Ariel opened her mouth wide, ready to sink her teeth into the soft, fleshy skin of the octopus.

"Godslayer," growled a voice from above.

Ariel's eyes narrowed. Her eyebrows met at the arch of her nose and lifted her head to look above her. Floating just above the seaweed was a large, crustacean-like creature that also happened to be part merfolk.

The creature's hair was pearly white with two, long, blue antennae sticking out from her head and her skin was light brown. Her eyes gleamed with a green glow and her hands were not normal hands, but rather small pincers. She was thin with small, bare breasts and below her waist was the body of a beautiful, rainbow-colored shrimp. However, it wasn't the body of a normal shrimp. Her other half was enormous. She appeared significantly disproportionate. She had too many legs to count and two massive spear-like pincers attached to her shrimp body.

Ariel loosened her grip on the octopus. He fled from the mermaid, crying and praising the arrival of the creature above her. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He cried. "I did as you said. I found the mermaid that killed your children."

Children? Ariel thought.

The octopus was now floating next to the sea creature. He pointed a tentacle at Ariel. "It was her! It was definitely her. She was the one at your nest! She was the one that killed most of your babies! She's the daughter of King Triton. I could recognize that nasty, red hair and abhorrent, green tail anywhere!"

Ariel's upper lip twitched at the octopus. Her red hair and green tail had been genetically passed down from her mother. To call her red hair nasty and her green tail abhorrent was to say those things of her mother and Queen Athena had not been ugly!

"You did well, Don," said the creature. She then turned her gaze down to Ariel. "I will now teach her what it means to mess with the Mantis Queen," she snarled.

All anger suddenly subsided in the little mermaid. A shiver went up her spine as her breath became ragged. A lump had formed in her throat that wasn't wanting to be swallowed. She remembered the sign a few days prior when she had fled from the kelp forest. It had told her to beware of the Mantis Queen. Being naive, Ariel had thought of the sign as a joke, thinking it was a sign that warned of mantis shrimp being in the area and nothing more. Never did she actually believe that there was a real queen of the mantis shrimp. She had never once heard stories about her! She had only ever heard of the stories of how dangerous it was to catch mantis shrimp.

The Mantis Queen began clicking her two pincers together as she grinned down at Ariel. "This is where you run for your death," the octopus mocked.

Ariel's eyes widened. A tingling sensation ran from her shoulders down to her fin and within a second she was gone. Ariel darted through the seaweed and back across the sea grass. She could feel the water shifting behind her and she could hear the whirr of the large creature racing after her.

How am I always getting myself into these situations?! Ariel screamed in her thoughts.

She beat her tail as fast as she could. She wanted to get back to the island. And for what?! So this monster can get Elsa, too? She remembered Elsa's magic. Maybe she can freeze her?

Ariel had traveled pretty far from the island, though. She was strong and an obviously excellent swimmer, but endurance was never a high point with her. She could already feel her body wanting to slow down, but she couldn't. At least, she couldn't if she wanted to live. She had to get to the island and warn Elsa and hope to the god—Poseidon—himself that she could use her magic to stop the Mantis Queen.

Ariel's heart was ready to explode in her chest. It was beating too hard and too fast and her gills and lungs were working on overdrive. As she neared the surface she noticed the petals from the trees along the beach floating in the moonlight. She was close!

When Ariel finally surfaced and landed on the beach, she gasped for air and was unable to speak. The cool sand felt good on her skin.

"Ariel," Elsa said in a cheery, excited voice.

Ariel felt a flush settle in her already reddened face. She found herself wanting to cuddle up next to Elsa and run her fingers through the blonde's hair. She had no time for that, though. She had no time for anything in fact, as Ariel heard a large splash break the surface of the water.

The Mantis Queen was here!

Ariel rolled over staring frightfully at Elsa. "Run, Elsa!" Ariel screamed. "Run!"

"Ariel!" Elsa shot up to her feet pointing out at the sea. "Ariel, what is—"

"RUN!"

Ariel shrieked as the Mantis Queen fell over her, wrapping Ariel up in her arms. "Come Princess," she growled, "we're not finished yet."

Ariel writhed and squirmed in the queen's grasp and did her best to get free, but to no avail. Ariel dug her nails in the cool, beach sand as the Mantis Queen began to drag her back out to sea. It did no good, though. The Mantis Queen was too strong.

"RUN, ELS—" and then the water swallowed the mermaid.