Chapter 12: Ocean's Fury
To be honest, with the switched roles in this alternate fight scene, I had a little trouble finding the strengths of the two heroes against Ursula. However, I would like to thank Axantur for providing me with some of the pros and cons of them. Thanks a bunch, Axantur!
Enjoy the chapter!
What once had been a gorgeous sunset sky shining down on what would have been a sweet, memorable event had suddenly been ripped apart from out of nowhere and replaced with darkened sky, savage winds, and raging waves. And in the midst of it all, a massive octopus-tentacled woman threw it all into motion. Her great harpoon stirred up the waters, creating a massive vortex in the already fearsome maelstrom. Her cruel eyes searched through the waves, looking for her two intended targets that were being swept with and tossed around in her storm.
Deep underneath the water the vortex began to pull up sunken relics from a long ago age. Old, broken ships and pieces of debris began to rise up from the deep and come up to the surface. They exploded to the top, some of them breaking even further from reaching the surface before they began to follow in the whirlpool's wake. Rotting, broken giants rising up from the dead like skeletons, they matched the maelstrom the sea witch had wrought.
Beneath the waters and struggling against the powerful currents trying to pull him in was a merman. His tail and fins flapped uselessly, as he had not yet gotten used to using them. It didn't help that he was also carrying a heavy, powerful weapon that was crucial to keep on to. Between holding the triton and learning how to swim, his eyes scanned through the waters, looking for his fiance.
Also in the midst of all this havoc was a human female, being tossed like a ragdoll by the waves. Her body was not yet adapted to swimming underwater without fins and gills, so all she could do is hold her breath and desperately try to keep her head above water. But with the storm stirring up the water and pelting rain down below, and her strength waning, she feared she couldn't last much longer.
A rock protruding out of the water soon came into view and close range. She desperately reached out for it, her legs kicking out from beneath her to get closer to it. Her nails dug into the rough surfaces and eroded niches as she grasped on and tried to pull herself out of the water. Her limbs felt numb and she couldn't hold on much longer if the conditions didn't improve in her favor soon.
Up above her, the giant cecaelian surveyed the powerful scene she had made. Even without the triton, the power over the sea still coursed through her veins like hot blood. The two others might had gotten away from her once, but she would never allow them to escape this time. With each of them in their opposite and unfamiliar forms, they would not be able to survive past the foreign elements and dangers put before them. The prince and his new tail would be utterly helpless against the rising shipwrecks and would undoubtedly crushed by them. As for the princess, her eyes fell onto rock near the vortex she made. Raising her weapon, she blasted the rock, sending her into the water that now betrayed her.
Through the air Ariel sailed until finally hitting the inside of the whirlpool. The strong current finally caught hold onto her weakened form and she was pulled under the waves and into the ocean. In her shock she accidentally let out most of the air in her mouth and began holding the remainder as best she could. Her head began throbbing with pain from the depth pressure and rapid spinning.
All of a sudden, she found the liquid being stripped away from her face and replaced with frigid air. Her body was limp as she was flung from the sea and onto the exposed, damp seafloor. Her hands shakily lifted up to her head and she clutched it, trying to lessen the pain. Her vision was blurred and she could barely make out the shapes of the rocks beside her, tinged green from the light up above.
Though her senses were dulled, she could hear the maniacal laughter of the sea witch above her, obviously staring down into her handiwork and spotting her. Her eyes were stinging from the salty sea and grains of wet sand, so she could barely make out the glowing gold and black weapon she was holding. Despite her limbs protesting against movement, she knew that she was in grave danger at that moment and had to get away from the spot she was in.
A gold beam, enhanced with wisps of black and purple shot down from the weapon, hitting the ground and singing it. She looked up to see the sea witch taking aim at her again. The harpoon growled again and energy grew towards the tip. As it shot out, she weakly pushed herself out of the way, moving to the side by a few feet. The ground turned to melted rock where the laser struck. She dodged again, before beginning to realize that she had limited space to move.
Meanwhile, Eric was struggling to not be struck by any of the shipwrecks. He was a strong swimmer to be sure, but not entirely used to swimming with a tail instead of legs. Luckily for him, he was usually one be adapt quickly to a situation. He soon discovered that if he straightened out his back like a board and flapped his tail up and down instead of sideways like a ship's rudder, he could get through the carnage. With the additions of fins on his body, he could steer as well. Adjusting to his environment now, as well as maneuvering aside from some wreckage, he could now begin to search of a way out of this mess.
A flash of light reached his vision. At first he thought it was lightning, but then noted that it was way too bright and close to be the kind that came from the storm. He spotted another one, this time seeing where it was going. He realized he was now swimming and looking through the whirlpool into the exposed part of the ocean the witch had opened up. More blazing projectiles entered the vortex and he realized that she was firing at something on the ocean floor.
A horrible thought came into mind and before his mind could process it further, his body dipped forward and his tail began flapping madly, thrusting him directly into the whirlpool. When his brain finally caught onto what he was doing, he swam faster. The direction the swirl was going into only increased his speed. When he finally got close enough to the bottom, he began leaning out of the vortex, hoping he would fall out without injuring himself or losing the great artifact of power.
The water seemed to fly off him as he finally pushed through the strong currents and into exposed pocket of air. He had thankfully landed from just a few feet above, only leaving him with a small pain in his shoulder when the triton hit against it. He cringed when his lungs transferred into the much cooler air, yer he put the pain aside and searched for Ariel.
"Ariel!"
"E-Eric!"
His head turned to the side and he gasped when he saw her, laying frightfully close to a blasted, molten area of ground. Her eyes left off him for a moment, looking upward, before she scooted away a few more feet. An explosion happened where she was, sending hot rocks and steaming sand flying up. When it finally cleared, he could see the identical-looking scorch mark like the previous one.
He let out a yelp when another explosion happened right beside him. He winced as he felt a hot chunk of rock touch his side, burning his skin. He quickly rolled over, letting the heated part of his body cool down in the muddy sand. He was sure that the wound would be ugly once he got a chance to see it.
As he looked up and saw the sea witch readying for another blast, he knew that he had been spotted and was now another target for her to shoot at. He soon realized that moving across the bottom of the ocean without the water was a difficult task with his heavy tail slowing him down. That and trying to keep the triton in his grasp.
"Eric," Ariel cried out again, trying to reach out to him. She yelped when another blast, this time nearly hitting her, came in front of her. Feeling determination and anger surge through him, he doubled his efforts to get himself closer to her. When the smoke cleared and the time between now and he next blast was ticking down, she weakly made her way past it and tried coming closer to him.
Above them, Ursula took notice of their plan to get closer to one another and waited a few more seconds to let them reunite, as well as preparing a much larger and powerful blast. Afterall, why go for one when she could get two birds with one stone. As soon as the two came into close enough ranger, she aimed her harpoon at them and fired a shot. Only instead of the two blowing up, one the ships circling around her whirlpool was blasted to smithereens. She roared as smoke and shattered wood planks blinded her vision.
While she was momentarily distracted, the two finally managed to crawl across over to one another. Eric curled his tail to the side and reached out to embrace her, holding her tightly. She hugged back, though her hold was weaker then his.
"Thank goodness you're safe," he whispered, using the free hand that was not holding onto the triton to place it behind her head and press her closer his his.
"Eric please, you need to get out of here," she pleaded and tried pulling away from home. He refused to let her go and grabbed her by the shoulders before looking directly at her.
"I'm not leaving you," he said. He knew that he was being stubborn, but he'd died with her if it meant they'd be together in the end. She stared at him and he could see the realization in her eyes that she knew he wasn't going to leave. All of a sudden, they widened with fear and her hand reached out and pointed up.
"Eric. Look out!"
He turned, just to see Ursula smiling wickedly down at them. The shipwreck had been cleared from her range, as well as another one, and she now had the harpoon aimed right at them again.
"SO MUCH FOR TRUE LOVE," she cackled, boring down on them.
The beam headed straight down towards them. There was nowhere else to go, nowhere else to escape the fired shot. The couple just held on to each other as tightly as they could, preparing for the last few minutes they would ever be with each other.
"WHAT?!"
The searing heat of the blast never came. As the smoke cleared, the two never let go of each other, but did open their eyes to see what had happened. To their astonishment, a golden spherical shield was above them, blocking any incoming projectiles. They looked down at the triton, which was glowing bright. As soon as the two started to break away from each other, the light started to flicker and so did the shield.
"The triton," Ariel suddenly said, making him look at her in confusion. "Of course! I remember daddy telling me how the triton works. It requires the wielder to be of merfolk form and a child of the sea," she explained. He blinked and shook his head in confusion.
"Ariel, what are you-"
He stopped and looked at the triton, which was gowing as brightly as before when her hands grasped around it too. She took them off for a moment and they began flickering again, but kept a steady glow once she placed them back on. He took his hands off it too, before grasping it again when the exact same thing happened.
"YOU FOOLS!"
They looked up at the sky. The lightning flashed, casting shadows across Ursula's face as her red eyes glared ferociously down at them. Her grasp of the harpoon tightened until her knuckles began to whiten. Her eyes started to glow with the same menacingly dark light as the harpoon. Her jaw clenched, revealing her teeth which now looked more like monster fangs.
The weapon directed at them and began crackling with energy as Ursula prepared her most powerful attack yet.
"LET'S FINISH THIS NOW!"
They grasped tightly onto the triton, focusing all their thoughts and remaining strength into it. The artifact glowed with such a burning intensity that they had to shut their eyes and shield their face from the heat and light emanating from it. They felt the power surge through their bodies and connect with the triton. Light gathered at the tip and at the same time they pointed it up towards Ursula.
A gold beam shot out, but unlike Ursula's, it was devoid of the dark aura. It's course was true and it hit its mark.
Ursula screamed as she was impaled right through her cruel, cold heart. Her eyes grew wide as pain spread throughout her form, paralyzing every part of her. The lightning that she once controlled danced all around and struck her. Her form started to teeter back when she then changed direction and descended onto the remaining shipwreck. Electricity coursed through her body, making her drop the harpoon which disintegrated into nothingness without a wielder.
Her arms and tentacles tried to desperately grab onto the boat, but her weight and the extent damage done to it were causing them both to sink. The ocean around them started to boil and even smoke as the evil sea witch met her end.
With no longer anything keeping it in motion, the whirlpool fell apart, flooding the exposed sea floor again with water. Eric grasped onto Ariel tightly as they were swept up with the ocean once more. The triton was wrenched out of his grasp in the process, yet he paid it no heed as he brought Ariel up to the surface. She laid limply against him as they broke through and he began swimming her to shore.
When they reached the beach, he pulled them both onto the sand and collapsed, dripping water and breathing heavily. His hand came under her cheek, pulling her face up to his, but her eyes were closed and he couldn't tell if she was breathing or not.
He encircled her waist with his arm and pulled her close to him as real tears began to fall from his eyes, despite him being in merman form.
Beneath the waves, Ursula's remains fell into her lair and into her garden where miraculously the polyps turned back into merfolk who same away joyfully, finally free from the sea witch's power. Yet he didn't care.
The triton had descended down and landed at the base of it's original, rightful owner and restored him to his original state. Yet he didn't care.
All around him, the world had restored to it's original state. The storm had faded away, the sea had calmed down, and everything was alright now. Yet he didn't care.
All he did care about now was that Ariel would come back to him.
I noticed that this chapter was shorter then previous ones. I probably should've taken out some of the previous scene from the end of the last chapter and instead placed it here, but I guess it's too late now. Anyways I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. The next one should be the wedding scene and I intend to do the epilogue on another chapter after that. Please leave a review and I'll see you next time. Sincerely, v.t.7
