Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original The Little Mermaid or The Little Mermaid II characters. I do, however own characters of my own creation such as Christella.
Gargantuan thanks to dazzeling diamond and StoryWriter92.
Last Time: "I want you to kidnap Princess Melody."
Chapter 8:
Darcy smiled unnervingly, not the reaction Rhiannon had expected.
"I was going to kidnap Christella, but I suppose Melody will do." said Darcy offhandedly. Rhiannon scowled.
"What about the other things?' she asked. "Easy," he said, with another of his smiles.
Rhiannon swam to her room to do some planning. After so long, everything was beginning to go right.
Darcy watched his sister leave and chuckled to himself at the stupidity of what his sister had asked for.
He knew what she was planning and it seemed the most idiotic thing to do. He would have asked for something completely different. Typical girl.
A mermaid swam out of the shadows; she had a bulky pale green tail and webbed hands.
"Planning to kidnap Christella now, were you," she asked. "No," said Darcy with a scowl.
"She was getting all high and mighty, she's better to stay in her place. And can you get those crystals on the black market?" Darcy asked.
"Easy, Fever and Pink-Shifter wasn't it." Darcy confirmed with a nod. "I can get them to you by tomorrow morning."
Melody woke earlier than normal the next day, exited as she would have been on her birthday or Christmas.
She laid her entire wardrobe on her bed. She took a pair at a time, compared them, put away the losing pair and keeping the winning pair.
It came down to her most revealing top, an elegant evening pair in white and black stripes and the mother-of-pearl pair she had bought that fateful day in the markets.
She chose the mother-of-pearl.
Rhiannon's plan was simple. Every night, she, Ray and Darcy had dinner together. She would give him a cup of red grape jelly as usual.
But this time, before she gave it to him, she would place the Fever Crystal in it which would dissolve nearly instantly.
The Fever Crystal would work in five minutes. Ray would feel nauseous, unable to eat. Rhiannon would offer to take him to his room.
He would be too weak to refuse. Then, she would have fifteen minutes to get him to his bedroom before he would fall into a deathlike sleep for five minutes.
Five minutes would be all it took for Rhiannon to use the Pink-Shifter Crystal.
Melody was already waiting for Ray when he arrived. Ray was surprised at how beautiful she looked.
She had her hair tied back in a loose pony-tail and was wearing one half of a broken heart on a gold chain and a simple gold bangle on the wrist.
Melody had stressed over how to do her hair and accessorise for hours. But had decided to go simply because that was how she felt.
"Hey," said Ray. "Hi," Melody replied shyly. They smiled timidly at each other and without a word Ray took Melody's hand, and they swam off.
Christella lay on her bed, thinking. A knock came from the door. She looked up, it was Derek. "Hey!" she exclaimed, "Come in."
He grabbed a chair from the desk, put it beside the bed and sat down. "How is my little princess this morning?"
"Okay, I guess. Melody's out on her little date."
"How long did she take to get ready?" asked Derek jokingly.
"Three hours," answered Christella truthfully. Derek laughed, "Good old Mel-Mel."
They were both quiet for a moment. "I think you're beautiful." Derek blurted out.
Christella's eyes jerked up and she sat up to face him. "You really think so?" she asked. "Yes," he said softly.
Melody and Ray got lunch from a small take-away shop. They both refused that the other pay, so they went halves instead.
They ate in a small, quiet park that was like a maze made of coral. "You know," said Melody, taking a bite out of her sea olive and jellyfish on shell bread.
"After I first saw you, I never thought I'd see you again. And usually I would have thought 'Oh well there are always other merman in the sea'. But you were different, you stuck in my mind. I… I even dreamt about you…"
Ray stared at her. "I guess you think I'm just another silly girl…"
"No," Ray interrupted, putting a finger to her lips. "I've dreamt about you too."
They smiled shyly at each other, their food lying lifeless in their hands, forgotten.
Melody bent closer to Ray, but he sprang back, as if shocked. The pain was visible in Melody's eyes.
Ray took her hand. "Not here," he whispered. Then he turned and swam off, fast, pulling Melody behind him.
"Ray. Ray!" Melody exclaimed, "Where are you taking me?" Ray just smiled back at her.
They reached a wall with a door in it at the end of the park. Ray took a small key from underneath one of his scales and opened the door.
It was a small courtyard, walled all around, with a thorny coral roof that let in the light from above but was still impenetrable.
There was a small bench, carved from white stone with many hearts and swirls engraved in it.
Ray sat down, and Melody sat beside him. Ray leaned towards Melody, and she towards him.
They kissed.
It seemed like hours until they drew away from each other, still holding each other close.
"I made a promise to myself," Ray murmured, "That the first mergirl I ever kissed, I would kiss here. Because of a dream, it seemed silly, but I did it all the same…"
Melody smiled at him. It was a smile full of content and innocence. Her hair had come undone and Ray thought she looked like a goddess.
"I've never felt this was before," said Melody with a mock frown, "It must be love… What do you think, Professor?" she asked Ray.
"I have done extensive research on this topic," he said, playing along, "And from this I deduce, yes, this is love." he finished softly.
Melody lay back against Ray's chest with a sigh and Ray held her close.
Derek sat beside Christella on the bed and slipped his arm around her waist. Christella reached around his neck and they pulled each other near.
They kissed.
They fell backwards and move up towards the head of the bed so they lay beside each other, still kissing.
Slowly, Christella drew away, curled up into a ball and rested her head on Derek's chest. He draped his arm over her and closed his eyes, smiling.
Everything was ready. Darcy had given her the crystals. Rhiannon smiled. All she had to do was wait.
Ah, the romance… Review if you know what's good for you.