Disclaimer: I do not own The Little Mermaid.

Chapter 23: Creeps and Troubles

"Well, well, well," Remidima snickered. "Isn't this just sweet? All seven sisters are here at once. Oh! Cat, you and your lover boy forgot these two brats."

Estar, Anna, Kanade, Ara, Quellie, Cat, Melody, Nathan, Kichirou, Rez, and Lee all hissed at her.

"Oh, shush now. Hissing won't make anything better."

Cat and Nathan resisted the sudden tempt to talk back and fight verbally against her. They knew it would just cause more trouble, though. They couldn't do it; not if it meant risking someone's life or making the situation worse. Cole and Topher brought in two more figures and threw them to the ground of the cold cell. Cat found out who they were instantly and rushed to their sides along with Nathan.

"Twizz! Mikey!" she exclaimed. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Mikey responded in a sore voice. "We're fine. Just aching."

"Now that all of you are here, you're all going to be here for three days before we meet again. That's the amount of time your grandfather has, Cat, to set all of you free by giving up his trident. If not, you will all live here for all eternity."

With that, Remidima let out a loud cackle before taking an ice wand and pointed it at the entrance of the cell. Melody quickly ran to Cat and shielded her little sister, for she didn't know what Remidima was doing until it was done. When she looked up, she saw a thick sheet of ice in replacement of the door.

Kanade and Kichirou began to twiddle with each other's fingers, talking to each other silently. Their foreheads were pressed together, in a hope they can get out of there safely. All of them.

"Kichi."

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Why... Why would she do this? How can she do this?"

"She wants power. What else would she want? I don't know how though... It's mind-boggling to me, too."

"Then... how will all of this turn out?"

"How do you think it will?"

There was silence between the two. Finally, she came up with an answer.

"In all honesty, I think we're all going to die."

"Why would you think that? There's no way I'm letting you die." He gave Kanade a smile. She laughed a little.

"I'm just thinking of all the possibilities... But don't let me live without you, okay?" Kanade looked into his eyes, searching endlessly into them. How did she get them...? Did she just take them from their homes, their family? That's unforgivable. But then... what's going on with their families? Something else just seems to be wrong... It's not settling well with me.

Anna and Lee were sitting cross-legged in a circle with Estar and Rez, meditating. They were trying to relax and calm down. If any of them were to stress or go insane from panic, all of them would. Under any circumstances, that wouldn't be a very good thing.

"Don't freak out, don't freak out, don't freak out..." Anna and Lee chanted. Veins were visibly popping out on the forehead of Rez.

"Oh, my gosh! Shut up and be quiet!" Rez whisper-shouted at them.

"Chanting and yelling isn't helping anyone. Just take deep breaths, it'll help get oxygen to your brains. People don't always get the chance to sit still and just," she exhaled and closed her eyes, "relax."

Anna, Lee, and Rez raised their eyebrows at her.

"What? It's true," she reacted.

"We've never seen you so calm, Estar," Anna said.

"It's kind of... kind of sweet," Rez said, kissing her right temple. This caused Estar to blush and quickly say,

"Just get to relaxing!"

Just great. Melody thought while still holding her sister. Now we're all trapped here like I was, six years ago. But wait... How could she have done it? Morgana needed the trident, but Remidima just did that without it.

"Melody? Melody?" Cat called, pulling her sister back to reality. "Melody, snap out of it. Are you okay?"

"Yes," the elder of the two replied, shaking her head to bring herself back to what was happening. I wish this was all just one big dream... "I'm fine. You?"

"I'm fine. Just saying, you can let go of me now."

Melody released her grip on her little sister and went back to staring at the sheet of ice.

"Cat, did you see how Remidima created that?" she asked, pointing wearily at the ice.

"She used some sort of ice wand," Cat replied with a shrug. "Why do you ask?"

"Because Morgana did something similar to me, but she had to use the trident. And the fact we were underwater... and I was a mermaid... and you guys weren't there..."

"Can you get to your point? Don't make things any more complicated to understand, please."

"Sorry. If Remidima just used a wand, then that means... What does it mean? Hm..." Melody's eyes widened as she saw an image of the dreaded bottle. "She used her aunt's magic."

"You mean Ursula? The one who nearly killed mom?" Cat began to freak out and panic. Ursula (as you probably already know) was the evil sea witch that terrified Cat so much when she was little. Just the mention of her name gave her nightmares, after hearing what almost happened to her mom. Cat shuddered at the thought.

"Everything that happened six years ago, Cat... It's all happening again," Melody said softly. She gripped her hands onto Cat's shoulders and shook her lightly. "And you might be our only hope!"