DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING! ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS!
"Orcuagarorcuagarorcuagar!" The thirteen year-old mermaid cursed as she swam into the concert hall. Empty.
Ariel balled up her fists at her side and kicked her fin at the coral wall in frustration. She'd missed it! Her own concert!
"About time you got here young lady!" a voice chided.
Ariel groaned and turned around to see a small red crab standing on a ledge, tapping one of his claws.
"Hi Sebastian," Ariel said weakly.
"Where were you? Tanks to you, dis concert was a total catastrophe!" Sebastian exclaimed.
Ariel winced. "I . . . I . . ."
"Ariel!" a voice boomed.
Ariel winced again. Squid just hit the fan.
A large, muscular merman swam into the room, his long white hair billowing out behind him, his mouth set into a hard frown behind his massive white beard. Around his neck was a medallion with the family crest on it, a trident.
Ariel weakly smiled. "Hey Daddy,"
"Your sisters worked very hard on preparing for this day. And with one careless mistake you have destroyed all they worked for!" Triton exclaimed.
"Daddy, I just forgot –"
"Forgot about the very concert you were performing in?" Triton exclaimed.
"Dis may not have mattered much to you, young lady, but it was very important to your sisters, and very important to me! And now I am a total laughing stock!" Sebastian cried.
"As are your sisters, and I! Where were you, pray tell, as we could not locate you no matter how hard we tried?" Triton asked, his voice dangerously calm.
"Umm . . ." Ariel stuttered.
"Spit it out!" Sebastian exclaimed.
"I . . . I . . ."
"It wasn't her fault!" a high voice cried, a small yellow fish swimming up to in front of Ariel. Flounder!
"Oh?" Triton asked, glowering at the fish.
Flounder faltered. "Uh, no. I mean – there was this shark! And it was all 'Grr!' and we were all 'Woah!' and then it was like 'I'm going to eat you for dinner!' and then Ariel was like 'Hold on while I use you as bait, Flounder!' and then it was all boom! Trapped in a hole! And then there was this seagull that was all 'this is this and that is that,' and then –"
"Seagull?" Triton repeated, his eyes opening in anger.
Flounder gasped as he realized his mistake, and he swam around to hide in Ariel's hair. Ariel rolled her eyes and glared at Flounder. Open mouth and insert fin.
"Daddy, I can explain –"
"Ariel, how many times do I have to tell you to stay away from the surface? It's the law!"
"It's a stupid law!"
Sebastian put his pincers over his ears. "I'm not hearin' anyting about Ariel going to da surface, no! I'm goin' home and forgettin' about dis whole ting!" he cried, swimming away.
"It does not matter! Do you want to bring this family to shame?"
"That's all you think about, isn't it? Preserving the family honor!"
"It's all we have left!"
"We have each other! We have our friends!"
"They won't be of any help to us if you get yourself snared on a hook or arrested!"
"WHEN MOM DIED DID SHE TAKE ALL OF YOUR LOVE FOR US WITH HER?" Ariel shouted.
Triton stopped, narrowing his eyes at Ariel. The mermaid gulped. Uh oh. She knew that look.
"I suggest you start packing," Triton growled.
Ariel felt a strange sense of foreboding. "Why?"
"Because I've signed you up to attend Loreley's Academy for Young Mergirls," Triton said.
Ariel's eyes opened wide. "You're sending me to finishing school?"
"You have to learn to be responsible somehow: if this is the only way, then so be it,"
"You can't do that!" Ariel exclaimed.
"It's already done! Now go home, and start packing your things. You leave in three days," and without another word, Triton turned and swam off.
Ariel stared after her father in horror. No. Nononononono! She couldn't go to a boring old finishing school! There was no way she could explore sunken ships or go to the surface if she was sent to one of those places!
"Ariel?" Flounder asked worriedly.
Ariel looked down at the yellow fish. Just the sight of his big, innocent green eyes almost sent her into tears. She couldn't leave him. Not him, not Urchin, not Gabriella, not even Ollie!
"I . . . I have to go," Ariel said, swimming off.
Her father had told her to go home, but she didn't want to. If she did she would only get yelled at by her sisters for humiliating them. That could wait. No, she needed a place to think. Someplace quiet.
Ariel swam out of Atlantica, to the outskirts, and to a cave blocked by a large rock. What with the water pressure and the actual weight of the boulder, it was immovable. That is, to those who didn't know the trick. Ariel swam to the top of the boulder and slipped the tip of her fin between it and the cave opening, and she brushed it against a piece of seaweed. Instantly, the minor opening spell was activated, and it gave Ariel enough time to swim into the cave before the boulder leaned back towards the opening, sealing it. Ariel smiled. She had bought the spell off of voodoo merman. Best fifteen coral pieces ever spent.
Ariel swam down to the bottom of her grotto and sat down on the rock there. She crossed her arms on top of her knee and put her chin on her arms, looking around at the human stuff displayed around her. She couldn't go to that stupid academy. She couldn't! She wouldn't! She'd run away, or find a loop-hole, or something!
"Huh, so this is where you keep all your human stuff," a voice said.
Ariel spun around and stared at the merboy that had entered her grotto. She narrowed her eyes and sighed. "What is it Omar?" she asked.
The merman with the dog's face looked up from the snarfblat he was examining. "Hm? Oh, I was just passing by and that annoying sister of yours – the one who's always jumping random boys on the street – came up to me and started blabbing about how you were going off to some obscure academy off in the middle of nowhere,"
Ariel sighed. "It's true. Father's sending me to finishing school."
"Hell no!"
"Yes! He says that it's to make me more responsible,"
"That's manatee shit and you know it!"
"Try telling him that. You know my father: once he's made up his mind there's no convincing him,"
Omar tapped his chin thoughtfully. "What if you proved you were responsible? Then he couldn't send you away,"
"I only have three days Omar," Ariel reminded him.
"Three days, huh? Bummer. I guess you won't want to see what's in my satchel then,"
Ariel's eyes immediately brightened. "Why? What's in your satchel?"
"Oh, nothing that would interest you . . ."
"Omar! Tell me!"
Omar chuckled and pulled out a scroll, handing it to Ariel. The mergirl took the scroll and opened it, her eyes scanning over the words squid-inked on. She frowned in confusion.
"This is just a flyer stating that Lord Jesturma needs a new bard and messenger. This has been up for months, it's old news."
Omar's eyes twinkled. "Ah, but when you first heard, you were listening with different ears. You had a different mindset, different problems,"
Ariel blinked and then her eyes opened in understanding. Her face split into a grin and she tackle hugged Omar. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou! You're a genius!"
"I know I know. Now I'd appreciate it if you let me go, as this genius can't get any water to his gills,"
Ariel looked down and fiddled with her hair in nervousness. This was one thing she couldn't mess up on. If she did, it was straight to that stupid academy for her.
"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Atina asked.
Ariel looked up at her older sister, and she nodded. "Yes,"
"You don't have to do this to make father proud –"
Ariel snorted. "No, but I do have to do this to prove that I'm not a 'disgrace' and that I really can act responsibly."
Attina frowned. "It's going to take more than some flashy job to prove that, Ariel."
"True, but it'll force father to let me stay for at least a while longer, and if I can keep the job then it'll prove that I can be responsible. Now stop trying to talk me out of it, Attina."
Atina pursed her lips, but she nodded.
Ariel took a deep breath and swam into the contestants' room, and she almost cried out in despair. There were so many people! And most of them were older than her! There were a few who were younger, but a majority were older! And almost all of them had instruments, too! How could she possibly win when she was up against all of them?
Atina gave Ariel a reassuring squeeze of the shoulder before swimming off. Ariel looked back at her older sister for a fleeting moment before returning her attention to the contestants.
"Well, looky who's here," a voice said.
Ariel cringed and turned around to see Heather and Amber – the town sluts – swimming towards her.
"Hey Heather, hey Amber," Ariel said, attempting a smile but failing.
"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in school or something?" Amber asked.
Ariel bristled, and she glared at Amber. "I got out of merschool three years ago, you know that,"
Heather feigned surprise. "Three years? My god, you can't even tell!"
"Must be because she still looks ten years old," Amber snickered.
Ariel clenched her fists at her sides, but she refused to say anything to the two girls. She wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing her explode.
"How are your bastard sisters and your tart of a mother? Whoops, she's dead, never mind," Heather said, her eyes glinting cruelly.
Ariel was sure she was going to draw blood, what with how tightly her fists were clenched and the intensity of which her fingernails were pressing into her palms. Ariel was no stranger to rumor, and she had heard the stories going around about her mother. So what if Ariel was the only one who looked like Athena and Triton's daughter? So what if it looked like all six other sisters were the products of affairs? Ariel knew that wasn't true . . . she just wished everyone else would know it, too.
"Wow, calling my mother a tart. Look who's talking," Ariel laughed.
Heather glared down at Ariel, and the red-head flashed the older mermaid a smile before swimming off. Gods that felt good!
"Those two sluts giving you trouble again, Kid?" a voice asked.
Ariel spun around and cried out in surprise. "Omar!"
The merman with the dog's face chuckled. "Hey, Kid, how are you?"
"I'm good. What are you doing here? Are you auditioning –"
"Me? Nah, I don't think that Billy Idol impersonator of a god would appreciate my kind of music," Omar said, stretching.
"Nope, I'm here for morale support," he said.
Ariel raised an eyebrow. "You mean to comfort the crying girls who weren't accepted,"
"Well, duh, I said morale support, didn't I?"
"You're hopeless," Ariel laughed.
"And you're an insufferable nutcase,"
Ariel just rolled her eyes and started when she heard the conch.
"Sounds like they're starting the auditions. You'd best get prepared," Omar said.
"Do you really think I can do this?" Ariel asked.
Omar looked down and snorted. "Kid, you've got a hell of a set of pipes there. Jesturma would be an idiot not to hire you. And I also happen to know that you swim faster than a minnow being chased by a shark. I'd be surprised if you didn't get both jobs,"
Ariel smiled and looked over at the large doors sealing off the chamber in which Jesturma always appeared in when summoned. A crowd was already gathering outside them, and Ariel took a deep breath.
"Wish me luck," she said, looking at her cousin.
Omar raised an eyebrow. "Luck? Kid, luck's for amateurs. You wish someone luck when you think they're going to suck. So, no, I'm not going to wish you luck. I'm going to wish that the high priest hasn't been taking bribes and that he's sober enough to tell what a real steal he'd be getting by hiring you. Now go and nock Jesturma's holy socks off," Omar said.
Ariel beamed at her cousin and embraced him before darting towards the doors. Not too soon after, they opened slightly and the high priest of Jesturma came out, his seaweed robes billowing about him. He had a scroll tucked under one arm, and he glanced at all of the contestants for a moment before sniffing.
"You all know why you're here. Lord Jesturma – Magnificent God of the Oceans and Terrible God of Curses – is in need of a new bard, as well as a new messenger. Some of you are applying for only one of the positions, some for both. However, only two of you shall receive the highest honor of serving Lord Jesturma. No more, no less," the priest said, glancing over the crowd once more.
"Lord Jesturma will not be present at these meager 'auditions,' but he will be making the final decision on who is to be serving him. So keep that in mind: your performances will be seen by Lord Jesturma," the priest said, glaring at the audience before straightening his robes and unrolling the scroll.
"You each shall be called one at a time to be tested. Try not to make too much of a ruckus while you wait," the priest said before calling out a name. A young boy with a lyre swam up and the priest gave him a once over before leading him into the chamber. Ariel took in a shaky breath, and her tail flicked nervously from side to side as she waited.
Ariel waited there for what felt like years as countless merfolk were each called into the chamber. Omar lingered in the back, and he always gave Ariel an encouraging smile when she looked over at him.
"Ariel Erumollien!" the priest called.
Ariel started and she looked over at Omar. He nodded and she gulped, swimming over to the priest. He looked down at her, and he sniffed, opening the doors for Ariel to swim through. She took a shaky breath before swimming into the chamber.
She couldn't help but stare.
It was huge! The entire room was made of blue coral, and there were markings in elfish all around it. There was a circle in the center of the room, and Ariel squinted at the writing.
"Call me and I shall come. Plead to me and I shall consider. Cross me and I shall punish," Ariel read.
The priest looked up in mild surprise. "You speak the tongue of the elves?"
Ariel nodded. "Yes, I studied it in merschool,"
The priest sniffed. "Impressive. I thought elfish wasn't considered an acceptable language to be taught,"
"I took it as an elective," Ariel explaned.
"What was the required language you took then?"
"Latin. I'm more fluent in Elfish, though," Ariel said.
The priest seemed mildly impressed, but he just sniffed and wrote something down on his scroll. "So I'd assume you're applying for bard then,"
"Bard and messenger," Ariel said.
The priest sniffed and took out a long rope with consistent markings along it. A measuring tape.
"Right. I'm going to need to measure your fins to see if you have the correct proportions for messenger," he said.
Ariel gulped but nodded, and she held out her arms as she let the priest measure her waist and fins. He sniffed and wrote down his measurements on a scroll. Ariel waited for his prognosis, but he gave her none and looked at her.
"Very well then. I want you to swim around this room as many times as possible in sixty seconds," the priest said.
Ariel started. "Don't you want me to sing first?" she asked.
The priest raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"
"If I swim around this room with all of my strength, I'll be too out of breath to sing well. Shouldn't I sing first and then swim?" she asked.
The priest sniffed. "Smart girl. Very well then; what shall you be singing? A folk song perhaps, or maybe a song dedicated to Jesturma?"
"Just a song my mother would sing to me and my sisters, sir," Ariel said, blushing.
The priest sniffed, but he nodded and motioned for Ariel to sing.
The mermaid took a deep breath, and she began.
"Oh the waves roll low
And the waves roll high
And so it goes
Under a bright blue
Endless sky
Waves try to measure
The days that we treasure
Wave hello
And wave goodbye," Ariel finished, looking down and fiddling with her hair.
The priest sniffed and nodded, writing a few things down his scroll before looking back at Ariel.
"Is that all?" he asked.
Ariel blinked and nodded.
"Very well then. Start swimming," he said.
Ariel nodded and immediately started to swim. She had been practicing this part for a long time. She had been to many races, and she had seen how the fastest swimmers swam. They didn't do the big graceful strokes with their fins that many of the girls in merschool liked to do. No, they flipped their fins in short, quick strokes, only using the very tips of their fins. Ariel had been training herself to copy that technique, and she knew that her swimming had become faster ever since she had gotten into the new swimming style.
Ariel lost track of how many laps she completed, and the priest gave no indication if she had a good number or not. He just sniffed and scribbled something on his scroll before rolling it up and putting it in his cloak.
"Very well, you may leave," he said.
Ariel nodded and quickly swam out of the chamber, her eyes searching for Omar. When she found him, she swam over to him, and raised a questioning eyebrow.
"Well? How'd it go?" he asked.
Ariel shrugged. "I don't know! He didn't tell me anything! No feedback whatsoever," she said.
"Eh, you were probably so awesome that he couldn't find words awesome enough to describe your awesomeness," Omar said, slinging an arm around her shoulders.
Ariel rolled her eyes.
They waited for hours as more merfolk went into the chamber to apply for messenger and/or bard. Both Amber and Heather emerged with smug grins on their faces, and Ariel felt her stomach drop.
"They screwed the priest. I know they did. Those sluts!" Ariel snarled.
"Relax, kid. Jesturma's making the final decisions, not that fossil," Omar said.
"Yeah, but that pervert could influence his decision," Ariel reminded him.
Omar looked down at Ariel, and he gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
When the priest finally came out, Ariel straightened up, and she watched him expectantly, as did the rest of the contestants.
The priest looked at them all, and he sniffed. "Well then, Jesturma has made his final decision," he said, looking at all of the contestants.
"As his messenger . . . Heather Largo," he said.
The blonde mermaid smirked as the crowd clapped hesitantly.
"And as his bard . . . Amber Sweet,"
The brunette smirked as well.
Ariel looked down, and she felt Omar put his hand on her shoulder.
Then . . . something in the water changed. It seemed to crackle with something . . . magic. Ariel looked up in surprise as the chamber doors opened, and out swam – no, stepped . . .
. . . oh, orcu agar.
It was Jesturma.
Well, Ariel had never seen Jesturma before, but it had to be him! There weren't many humans who could walk underwater without drowning and giving the appearance that they weren't even in the water. He wasn't walking sluggishly and his hair wasn't even floating around him – and it would, it was long enough. He looked at the high priest and smirked.
"Bravo, bravo," he said, clapping.
The high priest gulped.
"I must say, I am surprised. I never knew my high priest could be so wonderfully corrupted," Jesturma said, smirking.
The high priest blanched.
"However much your taking bribes amuses me, I'm afraid I must disagree with your choices. Neither one of those sluts can sing a note or swim an inch," Jesturma said.
Heather and Amber's mouths dropped open in indignity.
"Now, let's take a look at that scroll of yours, shall we?" Jesturma asked, the high priest's scroll appearing in his hand. He unrolled it and his eyes swept over the names on it.
"Nope. Nope. Hopeless. I can't believe you even considered that one. Nope. No. Definitely not. Good Gaia, are all of you incompetent?" Jesturma asked, looking out at the contestants.
"Well, there are a few promising people on here," Jesturma mused, looking at some of the names.
"Hmmm . . ." Jesturma said, tapping his chin thoughtfully.
"Well, I suppose I can only take the least horrible out of you lot. Very well then. Ariel Erumollien?" Jesturma called.
Ariel blinked and looked up, Jesturma's eyes sweeping over the audience. She found herself rooted to the spot as his icy blue eyes met hers, and he smirked.
"Well, come on up. Don't be a guppy," he said.
Ariel gulped and swam up to the platform and looked up at the god meekly.
"Congratulations. You've just become my new messenger," he said.
Ariel blinked in shock. Did she hear him correctly? Almost as if in assurance, Ariel felt a sudden weight on one of her shoulders, and looked over to see that a small red bag had appeared on her shoulder. A messenger's bag. It was rumored that the bags belonging to the messengers of the gods were bigger on the inside. Ariel had to prevent herself from sticking her head in to check.
"Yeah! Go Kid!" Omar shouted.
Jesturma smirked and looked back down at the scroll. "Now . . . Ariel Erumollien?" he called.
The audience was starting to murmur some more.
"Come come, I haven't got all day," Jesturma chided.
"I'm the only Ariel Erumollien here, my Lord," Ariel said quietly.
Jesturma looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. "Really? Well then, you're my bard as well,"
Ariel's eyes widened in surprise as the blue sash of the bard of Jesturma appeared around her waist. Bard and messenger? Orcu agar, this couldn't be happening!
"My Lord, you can't do that!" the high priest exclaimed.
Jesturma raised an eyebrow and turned to look at the priest. "Oh?"
The priest gulped. "I mean, you must choose two separate people to be your messenger and bard –"
"No, I must choose the best to be my messenger and bard. Or in this case, the least awful. And Ariel here happens to be the least awful at singing, and swimming. Those two sluts you chose have absolutely no sense of pitch, and they spent so much time trying to seduce you whilst swimming that they barely made it around the room once," Jesturma said coolly.
The priest gulped again.
"Now, there was something else I wanted to say . . . oh, right. Is Taliesin here?" Jesturma asked.
A slightly younger merman wearing robes that signified him as a lesser priest hesitantly swam up. "Yes, my Lord?"
"Congratulations, you've just been promoted to high priest," Jesturma said, snapping his fingers, the lesser priest's robes becoming longer and more elaborate. And as the lesser priest's robes grew, the high priest's robes shrunk. They kept on shrinking until they had disappeared, and he looked down in dismay.
"Gorlois, you've just been let go. I suggest you leave. And take those two whores with you," Jesturma said.
Gorlois opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out, and dejectedly he swam out of the temple.
"Perhaps you did not hear me: I asked you two to leave as well," Jesturma said coolly.
Heather and Amber huffed, glaring at Ariel before swimming off, their heads held high.
Jesturma turned his icy eyes to look at the audience, and he raised an eyebrow. "Well? What are you all staring at? Don't you have better things to do?"
The crowd started nervously, and they slowly began to disperse.
Jesturma rolled his eyes and he looked over at Ariel and Taliesin. "And as for you two: Taliesin, I'll need you to clean up this temple: I want no trace of Gorlois left around here,"
Taliesin nodded hurriedly. "Of course, my Lord," he said, swimming off to get started.
Jesturma turned to Ariel, and she once more found herself rooted to the spot by those icy eyes. They seemed to go right through her, and she had to keep herself from shaking.
"I'll need you here at eight tomorrow; I like to have a little music echoing through my temple in the mornings," Jesturma said.
Ariel blinked and nodded quickly, managing to break herself from his penetrating gaze and turning to swim away.
"Oh, and for the record?" Jesturma called.
Ariel stopped and turned around. The god smirked at her.
"You were the only one who had enough of your head intact to suggest singing before swimming," Jesturma said.
Ariel blinked, and she nodded, not really sure of what to make of that. She turned and swam out of the temple. Omar was waiting for her at the door.
"Didn't I tell you you'd land both jobs?" Omar asked.
Ariel rolled her eyes and punched him on the arm.
When Ariel arrived home, she had a swish in her swim and a smile on her face.
"I don't see what you're so happy about: you're going to Loreley's tomorrow," Adella commented.
Ariel beamed. "No I'm not,"
Adella stopped. "What do you mean?"
Ariel smiled and showed Adella her messenger bag, and the sash around her waist.
Adella's eyes opened wide. "No freakin' way . . ."
Triton swam into the girls' room, his eyes narrowing when he saw Ariel, and then opening wide when he saw the messenger bag and the bard sash.
Ariel laughed nervously. "Hi Daddy. Guess what I've just been hired as?"
Triton's eyes flashed. "I don't remember you asking my permission to apply for either of those jobs," he growled.
"Well . . . doesn't matter now! Lord Jesturma chose me!"
"The priest chooses, Ariel! Everyone knows that!"
"No! Lord Jesturma came out himself and chose me!"
"How many times do I have to tell you not to lie? Now, what did you offer the priest to get both of those jobs?"
"Daddy I –"
"What did you offer him?"
"I didn't offer him anything!"
"Then I don't see how you were able to get both jobs!"
"Lord Jesturma –"
"Lord Jesturma should have better protected us from humans! But he let himself grow idle and as a result your mother is dead! I'm not about to let my youngest daughter go into his employment!" Triton boomed.
Ariel stopped, and she narrowed her eyes. "Then I hope you're prepared to tell Lord Jesturma why his new bard and messenger is unable to serve him. Somehow I don't think he'll be very happy about that," Ariel said coolly.
"Ariel –"
"No, you wanted me to be more responsible, remember? Well, I think this is a wonderful opportunity to show you just how responsible I can be," Ariel said before swimming off.
Gaia, why did her father have to always ruin everything?
I know, I know, not much of a resolve there, but things really were an ongoing battle between Ariel and her father. It was always one argument after the next.
For those of you who are going "O_o the fawk is this?" Let me give you a little background info: this fic is based off of a YouTube roleplay called the Knights of Zodiakos. Twas created by Bananabug247. The roleplay centers around these four gods fighting each other for the position of Gaia, the king/queen of the gods. The four gods are Macalli (air), Dali (fire), Jesturma (water), and Falia (earth). Those involved in the roleplay choose a character who is to be a knight for one of the gods. My character is Ariel, and she fights for Jesturma. She is also his bard and messenger (as you probably have guessed from the premise of this fic. XD)
If you want a better image of the gods, they are all based off of Final Fantasy characters. Macalli is Vincent Valentine, Dali is Tifa Lockheart, Jesturma is Kadaj, and Falia is Yuna.
Oh, and if you're wondering who Omar is, he's the guy from Rock and Rule. Yes, he's part dog. Yes, he's Ariel's cousin. He was attacked by a werewolf as a child, okay? But he was just scratched, not bitten. So he only has the facial features of a dog instead of the going crazy at the full moon thing.
Any other questions, just leave a comment.
~FantasticMisticalWonder (FMW/Wonder)