IM ON TIME THIS WEEK!

Honestly, can you see the effort I put forth?

I do try. I really do.

Anyway, here's a short chapter to hold you until next time.

I appreciate any comments!

Enjoy!

.

.

Ariel

.

.

Ariel opened her eyes to blinding sunlight. And the face of a wrinkled monster.

Sitting up quickly, she shook her head and realized, the 'wrinkled monster', was actually a woman. She had a crisp, purple outfit on, a tight bun that held her brunette hair up, and a little book at her chest, which she gripped tightly.

"Good morning." Ariel said, after a moment.

She had actually expected to wake to singing birds and another music number by Snow White, but she supposed being waken by a woman who worked in the castle was more proper, and should have been expected at one point or another.

"Yes," the woman drone on, holding on to each syllable a beat too long, much like Grimsby did, "Pleasant morning."

The woman turned around, beckoning at a door, and almost as if whoever was on the other side had x-ray vision, it opened. Two women, polar opposites of each entered the room. One of the woman was short and paunchy. She had a bright smile on her face and fat cheeks that simply added to a look that was genuine. The other woman was tall, skinny, and had a tight expression on her face. The woman looked like she hadn't laughed in years.

"Lady Ariel," said the crisp purple suit woman, "I'm Prudence, and my ladies and I have been instructed to prepare you for your day."

Ariel nodded, climbing out of bed, where the short, paunchy woman ushered her into a bathroom. Ariel had by now learned how to change her own clothes, but even so, both maids removed her clothes for her, and helped her into a bath that had already been run.

This bath was different, though, as it was full of bubbles. She'd bathed before, but never in a bath of bubbles. Even so early in the morning, she couldn't help the excitement she felt, sitting in bubbles. Taking a handful in both of her hands, she blew them into the air, watching as they popped. Bubbles were as common as waves, underwater, but there was something magical about them on land. Something that was amazing and wonderful and completely fascinating.

"Lady Ariel," the paunchy woman said, "I'm Daphne. Would you like me to wash your hair now?"

"Call me Ariel." Ariel said, offhandedly, blowing another handful of bubbles in the air, "And no thank you. I can do it."

Daphne looked shocked at her answer, and Ariel wondered whether it was because she asked to be called Ariel, or that she refused help to wash her hair.

"Your grace," the tall skinny girl spoke up, "That simply isn't right. Daphne and I are very capable."

"That's Beatrice." Daphne spoke up for the girl.

"I know your capable." Ariel said, "I just like washing my own hair."

"Please quit this nonsense," Prudence said, "Your ladyship, this is simply how the book says it must be done. With all due respect, id like to do things the right and proper way."

It was too early for Ariel to get into an argument, so she shrugged, allowing Prudence to have her way. Honestly, getting her hair washed wasn't a big deal, but Ariel wondered what else that little book said. She was willing to bend on some things, but not all.

After being thoroughly washed, shampooed, dried, lotioned, oiled, and freshened, Ariel was dressed for the day. Beatrice zipped the zipper up on her olive-green tea dress, as Ariel recognized it, and Daphne handed her a pair of cream gloves.

Daphne and Beatrice were both in the middle of brushing her hair out, not missing a single tangle, when Prudence entered the room, her small book open as she read.

"Lady Ariel," she said, "I've gotten strict instructions from Grimsby to get you to The Academy ASAP."

Ariel stiffened, as a knot in her hair was brushed out, but looked to Prudence in confusion.

"The Academy?" she asked, "But Eric said we didn't leave for a few days."

Prudence raised an eyebrow, as if she didn't know what Eric had to do with the situation.

"His highness is already there." she said, her voice cold.

Ariel took a moment to take the information in. Eric and her was supposed to travel to The Academy together. Why would he leave her?

She reasoned in her mind that it had to have been out of his control. They'd talked about this. The only reason she was even going, was because of Eric himself. They were in love. And the love of a royal accompanied him/her to The Academy. That was all there was to it.

"He left yesterday," Beatrice spoke up, "I think Lady Jewel was with him."

Ariel would have denied that claim, but just happened to see Prudence nod in confirmation. Ariel felt her head spin and her heart ache, though she knew this was all a big misunderstanding. Eric wouldn't leave her without saying goodbye. He wouldn't take Jewel to The Academy because he wanted to.

It was all a big misunderstanding.

The last time she'd jumped to conclusions, she'd sent herself into a panic and depression for no reason. She had every right to trust Eric. He'd given her no reason not to.

Taking a deep breath, she cleared her head. It was easy see this was all as a big misunderstanding now. There was no reason to be upset, especially since she'd be on her way to The Academy anyway. She'd see Eric, and all would be well. She always felt better when she was with him.

There was a sudden knock on the door, and Prudence opened it to reveal a young servant. He whispered something to Prudence and she nodded, closing her little book with a small thump.

"Lady Ariel, come along." she said, "Your plane is ready and your clothing is packed."

Ariel wondered what clothing Prudence was talking about, and how it could be in the plane when no one had entered her room. But she shrugged, at least glad to be done getting her hair tortured, and followed Prudence out the room.

.

.

Eric

.

.

Eric held the phone to his ear, his wet hair melding into his eyes, as he watched his things being hauled into the side door of The Academy. It was raining hard, so Grimsby had instructed that all his things be covered in tarp, despite the fact that his things were already in bags and suitcases. It was just an unnecessary step that took longer.

"Your Highness?" came the voice on the other end of the phone.

"Yes, I'm here." Eric said eagerly.

"I'm sorry sir," the man went on, "But no one's seen her since this morning."

Eric sighed, frustrated, as he massaged his forehead with his free hand.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes, sir. I've asked all the maids and servants and guards. No one's seen her."

Now where was she? Ariel couldn't have gone far. He doubted she'd of left the castle.

"Eric!" called Grimsby, waving at him from the doorway of The Academy, "Come inside, you'll catch your death out here."

Eric held up a finger to the man. There were no phones allowed in The Academy, something about distractions and making sure no one cheated on assignments and tests. Eric thought the rule was stupid. The only phone on compass was the one land-line he was on. And it just happened to be a good 100 feet or so from the actual Academy.

"Well," Eric said, to the man on the phone, "Do another sweep of the castle, and let me know your results."

"Yes sir," the man said strongly, and Eric could practically hear a solute in his voice, "Right away."

With that, Eric hung up the phone, pulled the collar of his shirt up higher, and quickly made his way to the door of The Academy.

The school was bustling with kids by now, girls squealing and laughing as they reunited with other girls they hadn't seen since last year. Guys screaming at the servants who were bringing their things in. Younger children running about, tripping on furniture that was brought with the nobles, and tripping the older kids who were too stiff to think about looking down.

The first day was always chaotic, and the administrators stopped trying to control everyone a long time ago.

Eric pulled the hood of his jacket up and over most of his face. He was 1/5 of the only royals of Pangrea, and that made him very likely to be crowded and bombarded by the usual crowd of kids who all wanted to either be his best friend, or his future wife. He wished Ariel was there. She could put some of the girls in their place.

A crowd of noise went up, mostly made up of the sound of screaming girls and yelling guys. Eric looked in the direction of the noise, and spotted Charming, who had just arrived. Charming had been smart, entering the front doors of The Academy only with a barrage of guards surrounding him. The guards tried to remain courtly and polite as they gently pushed back the crowd of people trying to get closer to Charming, but Eric could see the guards were loosing patience, and roughly shoved a boy back and onto his back. The boy cried out indignantly, stomped his foot from the ground, and screamed something to a servant.

Charming was escorted to the front desk, where he could sign in, and Eric debated whether or not he ought to go over to Charming. But Eric thought against it, already seeing in his mind, a guard throwing him through the air, mistaking him as just another nosy noble. Eric knew he would see Charming later, and turned on his heels.

Backing up, he accidentally stepped on one of the younger students feet, and a little girl, no older than 6 wailed pitifully. Not being able to stand the girls tears, he picked up and set her on his waist, carefully picking his way through the crowd and out of it. He made his way down an empty hallway aware that the little kids were gathered just a few hallways away.

No matter his attempts, the little girl didn't stop crying. Knowing he couldn't leave the little girl in tears, he stopped a few hallways away from where the children gathered and stood in front of a large window, thinking perhaps the girl would like to watch the rain slide down the glass.

This stopped the girls tears almost immediately, and Eric removed his hood in relief. The young girl, having recognized him, laughed, jumping up and down on his waist excitedly. It made him happy to think that not all girls saw him as a possible husband first, and friend later.

He really liked children.

In but 10 minutes, Eric had learned the girls name was Penny, and that Penny enjoyed racing raindrops. It was a game he'd played with himself as a child during long car rides in the rain. The game was simple in that you chose two raindrops, and raced to see which one reached the bottom of the glass first.

Eric made sure Penny won each time, and he realized that children really liked to win games. He pretended to pout when his small, stubby, raindrop lost for the 6th time in a row, and Penny giggled excited, as her large raindrop hit their imaginary finish line first.

Their game got even more exciting to her as they imaged his raindrop as an ogre, and her raindrop as a damsel in distress. His raindrop would chase her raindrop down the glass and Penny would stiffen, as if his raindrop really meant harm to hers. But of course, Penny's raindrop always won in the end, and the girl would laugh as Eric stomped his foot and sulked, pretending to be upset with the outcome.

Eric and Penny were about to replay their game for the 9th time, when Grimsby rounded the corner.

"There you are." Grimsby said, shaking his head, "I'd of known you'd found a child to play with."

Eric looked to Penny wistfully, glad the girl didn't understand Grimsby's words enough to take offense in what he'd said.

"Come along young lady." Grimsby said, and Eric set Penny on the ground, where she obediently went and stood at Grimsby's side. "Eric, you ought to go settle in your room. The front entrance has been cleared for you."

Eric waved goodbye to Penny, who had begun to whimper silently at having lost her new friend. He told himself that he'd visit her again, as he left down the hall in the opposite direction.

Grimsby hadn't been lying when he'd said the entrance had been cleared. Not even the woman who always sat behind the front desk was there. Eric didn't ask to have the hall cleared for him. He was perfectly capable of making his way to his room on his own. But there was little Eric could do when Grimsby did things without his knowing.

Eric had stayed in the same room for as long as he could remember, probably since before his parents died. And when he entered the code into the keypad and went in, he found that nearly everything had gone unchanged. Same dark gray walls, and blue accents. Same navy bed and navy curtains. Black carpet and large oak and teak furniture. The bathroom would be entirely covered in dark marble and earthy stones. The shower and bath would be huge. The sink wide and deep. The toilet worth more than most houses itself.

It was all very dull to Eric.

Eric threw his damp jacket on a large chair, and opened his curtains, letting in the little light the clouds allowed through. Eric laid back on his bed, wondering just how exactly he was supposed to get Ariel to The Academy, when no one could find her.

Maybe she'd just gone down by the beach. He'd noticed she had a particular fondness for it. Maybe she'd gone to town. She might have fallen asleep in one of the guest rooms. She might be chatting with Carlotta or chef Lois. Maybe she got lost again.

Just because she couldn't be found, didn't mean she was in danger, Eric reasoned. People go missing all the time and turn up, having just been out using the bathroom, right?

Eric groaned.

Not knowing was killing him.

Eric looked at his jacket swung over his chair for a moment, before getting up. He planned to go back outside, call his castle, and see if there was any news, but someone knocked on his door just as he reached to grab his jacket.

Opening his door, he was met with Charming, who was bouncing on his toes.

"What are you doing?" Charming asked him, incredulously, "Why aren't you in the dinning hall?"

Eric raised an eyebrow, "Why would I-"

"-For the welcoming speech. Hello? We do it every year."

Oh, right. They did do it every year, didn't they?

"Where's your head at?" Charming asked him, leading the way down the hall.

"In Germany," Eric confessed and Charming nodded.

"I heard. But you know she'll be here soon right? It's really no big deal."

Eric stopped in his tracks, and Charming rubbed the back of his neck, knowing already that he'd said something wrong.

"Don't you know whats just happened?" Eric hissed, keeping his voice low. "How would you feel if you'd left Ella?"

Charming sighed, "Nothing was found. We don't know that anything happened."

"Someone was shrieking their head off." Eric deadpanned, "I know you heard it. And you say nothing happened?"

"I think," Charming said, "That your reading into Florian's story way too much. Your letting him get to you."

"You don't believe his story?"

"I think that Florian climbs trees for fun," Charming said, carefully, "I'm not calling him a liar, but his wife talks to squirrels. She may have, I don't know, rubbed off on him a little bit."

Eric folded his arms, "You can't deny the pictures."

"His maid died, I know that. And I don't think Florian would lie about that. But, the rest of the story is a little sketchy, at best. I think that if Florian isn't totally off his rocker, than his maid was. She was old, remember? She probably wrote that letter herself."

"How do you explain the rest of her family being killed, then?"

"Wildfire. Asteroid. Bear attack. Rogue gorilla. Who knows, there are lots of explanations that could fit."

Eric rolled his eyes. Once Charming had his mind set, then it was set in practically stone. Whatever Eric said, Charming would have an equally legit excuse.

Eric still shook his head, running a hand through his still damp hair. It was as if he was the only one to have heard that scream. You couldn't deny some things. That woman's scream, it wasn't any old scream. It was a scream that had sent him running. Made Ariel freeze and fearful. Made Max's hair stand on end. It was no ordinary scream. Someone had been in pain.

Charming stopped, took both of Eric's shoulders, and shook him.

"She'll be fine." he said, emphasizing every word. "Have faith."

Faith in what? From his experience, bad things happened for no reason at all sometimes. But he nodded anyway, and Charming continued the rest of the way to the dining hall.

This room, too, was no different than Eric had remembered. Deep plum-purple walls. Golden chandeliers. Black granite flooring. Golden chairs like little thrones sitting in front of rectangle tables, upholstered in the finest of silk.

The room looked like it was ready for a ball, something Eric didn't much like, but would have liked very much to have shown Ariel. She had a way of finding amazing things in even the simplest of rooms. He wondered what she'd like in this room.

Eric hadn't even realized where Charming had been leading him, and he'd zoned out to the point that the assemblage of voices and sounds went up when he and Charming had entered the room had gone over his head. Charming took a seat next to a gawking Cinderella, and Eric sat down, realizing the seat beside him was empty.

He dropped his face to the soft fabric of the table.

Even the furniture reminded him of his absent love.

A hard hand pat his back, and Eric knew it belonged to Adam. Adam, who was next to Belle. Who was next to Jasmine, who was next Aladdin, who was next to Snow White, who was next to Florian. Everyone had someone... but him.

"Thanks, Eric." came Aurora's voice, as she sat beside him, as if he had saved it for her.

Correction, everyone had someone... but him and Aurora.

The thought disgusted him. Until a boy sat beside Aurora. The boy was one Eric had never seen before. His slender face was sharpened into a point at his chin, but framed by his tamed, straight brown hair. He wore an outfit of high nobility, consisting of the black and gray colors most noticed near Aurora's province.

He introduced himself to the table immediately as Phillip, and Aurora rolled her eyes.

"How many times have I told you?" Aurora spat at him, "If I can reach out my arm and touch you, your too close."

Phillip smiled at her, a goofy look on his face and he and his chair scooted back with precision that could only come from practice. Aurora held out her arm, actually checking his distance, and raised an eyebrow when she realized Phillip was just barely out of her reach. She flipped a curl over her shoulder and squared her shoulders.

New correction. Eric was the only one alone.

Phillip continued to look at Aurora, his head resting on his fist, that goofy smile on his face, and Eric realized something. Phillip, poor, dimwitted Phillip, actually liked Aurora.

How strange. Good luck to him, because Aurora rarely liked something more than herself. If ever.

"Aurora," Snow White said gently, "You are aware that we aren't allowed to bring servants, aren't you?"

Everyone looked to where Snow White had motioned and Eric immediately recognized Jim Hawkins sitting at a far away table. And right beside him, was a humorously angry Jewel.

"Who Kim?" Aurora asked, "Oh, he's not my servant. He's my friend."

Yeah, right. Leave it to Aurora to find a way around the rules.

All conversation ceased, and a round of applause went up as the headmaster walked into view and went to the front of the room with what looked like a bedazzled mic. Eric clapped, politely, but still, his head was not where it ought to have been.

"Good Evening!" the headmaster said, overly cheerful, like he was every year, "Welcome back students, to another year."

Eric sighed, resting his head on his arms. If he was this miserable without Ariel now, he wondered how on earth he was supposed to make it through the rest of the day.

.

.

Ariel

.

.

"Lady Ariel." came a voice, and Ariel woke up with a start.

Her head still felt groggy, and she shook it, trying to rid the fogginess away. Being on a plane had been familiar enough, but flying? She'd nearly had a panic attack. She did not like heights, and Beatrice, who had also been on the plane along with Daphne and Prudence, had given her something that had made her incredibly sleepy. She wasn't sure how long she'd slept, but now, she was sore all over.

Things would have been so much easier, if she'd simply come with Eric.

"Lady Ariel." came the voice again, and Ariel looked up to see Prudence looking down at her with disdain.

The woman looked so mean. Ariel wondered what on earth she'd done to the her.

"This way."

Ariel stood, but wobbled on her legs.

"Let me help." Beatrice said, and she and Daphne grabbed her arms to help steady her.

Beatrice wore a tight smile, but Daphne was silent, which Ariel now knew, was strange. The girl's lip jutted out, quivering every few seconds like she was ready to cry. Ariel wanted to wait until she and Daphne was alone to ask to poor woman what was wrong. She didn't doubt Beatrice or Prudence had done something to upset her, they both seemed so hateful compared to Daphne's bright, sincere, smiles.

The door to the plane was opened, and Ariel realized with a start that it was raining. Very hard, in fact. She wished she had a jacket of some sort, but didn't even have the chance to ask before Beatrice and Daphne led her out into the rain and down the planes steps. It had to be late at night, for The Academy was well lit, and Ariel marveled that she'd slept a whole day away. Especially without eating, which her stomach now reminded her.

Off the plane now, she got a chance to get her first look at The Academy. Her first impression was huge. Her second and third, was cold and scary. The Academy looked like a old, medieval, castle. Gray stones made up the entire thing. Neat, sharp lines cut up into the square towers that reminded Ariel of the pictures of Queen Victoria's castle she'd once seen in a book.

The rain distorted her view, though, and she reasoned that that was why she felt The Academy looked so scary and foreboding.

A quiet sniffle caught Ariel's ears, and she looked down, realized Daphne had begun crying. It was only by Daphne's shaking shoulders that Ariel realized this, for the rain carried her tears away. Ariel, still wobbly, leaned down to Daphne, so that Beatrice couldn't hear and whispered,

"Are you alright?"

The woman shook her head, shaking water out her hair.

"I'm so sorry." she hiccuped quietly, "I didn't know, and I'm so sorry."

Ariel was about to ask what Daphne had meant by that when she reached The Academy's door. Or side door, rather. Ariel had seen the drawbridge-like door up ahead, but Beatrice had led the to the side of the building.

Prudence took the lead and opened the door with a key she pulled out of her book. Ariel wondered briefly, if that book held any other surprises.

With a clear beep, the door opened and Ariel, Daphne, Beatrice, and Prudence, walked into the dark room ahead. A click was heard and light flooded the room. They had all apparently entered a small sitting room, full of grand furniture and teak wood and marble floors. Ariel wasn't sure why she hadn't been expecting such posh, high-end displays. This was where Pangrea's royalty went. Where rich noblemen sent their children.

She supposed being home-schooled her entire life had dulled her common sense.

"Daphne." Prudence spat, turning on the woman who cowered back, "Wait here."

"I want her to come with me," Ariel said, using her official voice, not at all happy about how Daphne was treated.

Besides Carlotta and chef Lois, Daphne was the nicest human servant/maid Ariel had met, and she wasn't about to have that nice behavior beat out of her. Prudence had a blank look on her face but shook her head.

"I've strict instructions from Grimsby," Prudence said, "What I say goes. Grimsby is higher above you."

Not even. But Ariel had no way to say this without revealing her secret to the woman, so she spared Daphne a look that said 'sorry'. But this sent Daphne into another fit of tears and the woman wrapped her arms around herself.

Eric would hear about this later. She'd make sure of it.

Beatrice, still holding onto Ariel led Ariel after Prudence who had made her way down a hallway. Without Daphne on her other side, Ariel felt like she'd fall for sure.

What did Beatrice give her?

"What," Ariel asked Prudence, "was Grimsby's exact instructions for me?"

Here she was at The Academy, and that was all well and good, but Ariel didn't trust Grimsby further than she could throw him. She couldn't shake the suspicion that Grimsby had something underhand planned for her. Daphne's tears did little to soother her mind, too.

"He said to make sure your comfortable," Prudence said, "Where you'll be staying."

Ariel nodded slowly, "And where will I be staying?"

Prudence didn't answer, and Beatrice's grip on her tightened. Ariel's breath quickened, and in a burst of strength, she snatched her arm from Beatrice and made to run. To where she didn't know. Yet anywhere away from these mad women was better. But her feet tangled in themselves, her body weakly gave out on her, and she fell to the marble floor.

Her hair fanned out around her, hiding her embarrassed face from view as she tried desperately to make herself get up. To move. To run!

"Temporary paralyzing agent," Prudence said, as a guard appeared from nowhere, heaving her up without so much as a twitch of effort, "Grimsby's orders."

The guard threw her over his shoulder, and all she could do was limply lye there. She knew for a fact, that while she might have broken Beatrice's hold, this guard she would not let her escape. She recalled how the guards back at the castle had held back even Eric. She was no match for them.

Over the guards shoulder, Ariel could not see where she was going, but she found it odd as the guard began making his way up a set of stairs. She managed to prop herself onto her elbows, leaning on the guards back, but the man had a bouncy walk, and her elbow slipped numerous times.

Hadn't she been dragged away by guards before? This all felt much too familiar.

"Here we are." Prudence said, after they had made their way down many hallways.

Ariel had tried to commit the path to memory, but they had twisted and winded too much, not to mention the fact that she'd been going backwards. She sighed, dejected.

The guard set her down, and Prudence unlocked a wooden, unkempt door. Unlike the rest of the wood Ariel had seen, this one wasn't sanded or polished or even wiped of dust. It looked thoroughly ignored and discarded.

Ariel was no longer expecting a 5 star room, not that she had been, but it was nice to be optimistic.

Once the door opened, Ariel was met with the smell of chlorine. She'd learned about the chemical back when she was a mermaid. Chemical symbol Cl. Atomic number 17. Melting point -150.7°F. She prided herself on being a good student... occasionally. But chlorine she remembered because Adrina had claimed that fish died in chlorine and Ariel hadn't believed her. After some research, she found Adrina had been right.

"Come on," Prudence prodded, and the guard pushed her into the darkened room.

The floor was wet, Ariel realized, and different pumps and cords crisscrossed around the floor. Something loud was buzzing in the room and immediately, Ariel's eyes were glued to the sole source of light in the room.

A tank, full of unnaturally blue water was lit by blue lights lining the rim. The tank was well lit, but the room was not. Artificial coral, colorful rocks Ariel knew were fake as well as plastic treasure chests which spurted bubbles lined the bottom of the tank. The tank was atrocious, reaching from nearly the floor to the ceiling, and wrapped around the entirety of the room. Which was rather large in itself. But aside from all of that, Ariel thought, it was the worse imitation of an actual habitat she'd ever seen.

Small fish swam around within the tank. A big, yellow puffer fish. A black, white, and yellow Moorish Idol. A white and red Banded Cleaner Shrimp. A Royal Gramma. A starfish. A Black & White Humbug. A Yellow Tang. A small orange and white clown fish, one of his poor little fins deformed and too small for his body.

And they all looked so sad miserable.

Rage built up inside of Ariel at the mistreatment of the sea creatures, and perhaps she was biased, but seeing those fish alone, in the dark, and sad just made her blood boil. She whipped around to Prudence, about to demand she let the fish go out to their natural habitat, when she noticed Prudence had her back to her, bent over a desk, seemingly hard at work.

"Why have you brought me here?" Ariel demanded, storming up to Prudence, "And why do you have those poor fish trapped in that cage?"

"Tank." Prudence, corrected, "Trapped in a tank. And don't worry, their fed regularly."

"Let them go." Ariel petitioned, only for a new laugh to fill the air.

"So much fight for someone so weak." said the new voice, and out of the darkness, a woman stepped out of the shadows.

Her brunette hair was down in wavy curls, and her brown eyes sparkled with anger and hatred.

"Whats the matter angel-fish?" the woman asked her, "Catfish got your tongue?"

It wasn't until the woman laughed again that Ariel recognized her.

"U-Ursula?" she stuttered, but the woman didn't miss a beat, smiling wickedly, her perfectly arranged teeth sparkling in the dim light.

"It's Vanessa now," she corrected, "But yeah, sweet-cheeks, its me. And I'm all better now."

Ariel regretted giving the old hag her money. A sick Ursula was better than a healthy one.

"Vanessa has come to lend a helping hand." Prudence added, getting a slightly annoyed look from Vanessa, who Ariel decided would still and always be Ursula to her.

"But," she added, "Not for nothing."

"Of course not," Prudence nodded, "We'll all be ready to meet with you tomorrow morning."

"I'm not worried," Ursula said, "I'm all but guaranteed. That is, if you humans know whats good for you."

"We're stronger than you think." Prudence said, and Ursula laughed.

"I only want in to get on the action. Once you all know what I can do, you'll be begging for me to join."

Ariel was confused, but slowly tried to slip past the guard and out the door. But the guard caught her hand and she let out a surprised yelp.

"Not so fast." Vanessa said, "We've unfinished business."

The guard roughly brought Ariel over to wear Ursula had begun mixing different liquids.

"What are you going to do with me?" Ariel asked, making sure her voice didn't shake.

"Your causing a lot of riff up in this human world," Vanessa said, "We've got to keep you under wraps for a while. By the way, hows your prince doing?"

Just the mention of Eric brought the fight back to Ariel, and pulled on her arms, uselessly, as the guard held her tighter.

"Leave Eric out of this." she spat, and both women shared a look before giggling quietly.

"Dear child," Ursula laughed, "Whoever said anything about touching him? Its you we've got here. If we wanted him, then he'd be here and not you."

Ariel wasn't sure whether or not to feel relieved or even more frightened.

"There." Ursula said aloud, "Finished."

She held a bottle up, the liquid inside glowing orange. It reminded Ariel of the potion she'd taken back when she'd turned human.

"And your sure this will work?" Prudence asked, and Ursula irritably scoffed.

"Of course I'm sure. I'm me."

Both women, scarily in sync, then turned to face her. The guard must have sensed her apprehension, because his grip on her tightened again.

"Down the hatch," Ursula said, and Ariel gulped looking between her four captors, including Beatrice, who lurked in the corner.

Beatrice wouldn't help, Ariel knew, and besides the fishes, she was on her own.

A/N: And TADA! Reviewso that I may receive feedback and do better in future chapters.

...that's it.

_TheForgottenName