No one in the crowd took their eyes off Lily's tail as they stared at it-and her- in total shock and disbelief at what they had just seen if they didn't count the debauchery Sandy and the sea creatures had caused earlier.
'I don't believe it,' some men whispered.
'She's a mermaid!' some girls gasped, 'just like Ariel, only she's blonde!'
'I think my phone just picked up the Disney Channel,' a boy said, having recorded Lily's transformation on said phone.
Still staring at the mermaid, the crowd didn't know what to think. Yes, they had heard stories about mermaids living in the ocean that was near their beautiful, thriving and lively city and their suburb had lived up to its name but few believed them to be true.
Never did they think it was possible that they would be seeing a mermaid right in front of them in twenty-first century Australia, especially one who had traded her tail and voice for legs.
Ben was still watching on, his eyes blinking in disbelief as he realised his suspicions were correct,while his father and friends came behind him, all with the same shocked expression on their faces.
'Lily, you really are a mermaid,' he whispered as she looked at him. She opened her mouth to explain but a menacing cackle soon came from 'Carly' and everyone turned around as she said, triumphantly,
'You're too late! YOU'RE TOO LATE! That little mermaid is MINE!'
The early night sky turned an ugly purple colour as lightning crackled through it and thunder boomed, which frightened the crowd as it was not a typical Queensland storm and a swirling teal light surrounded Sharla as she transformed back into her true self.
Everyone gasped in horror and some women even screamed at seeing the beautiful but clearly bogan bride Carly transform into a hideous half-woman, half-shark creature and they darted out of her way as she clawed through the deck towards the frightened mermaid.
Ben knelt down and held her protectively, determined that the creature that had hypnotised him would not hurt his little mermaid.
The boy with the phone kept taking pictures, which irked Sharla as she was getting sick of having those stupid things flashing in her face, like they had done all day and she sneered at the boy as she grabbed his phone and threw it into the ocean.
'My phone!' he wailed as he reached for it uselessly, 'that cost my dad eight hundred bucks!'
Sharla soon shoved Ben out of the way as she grabbed Lily effortlessly with one arm and the girl screamed as she struggled against her but Sharla held her tight and muffled her screams with her hand.
'Lily!' Ben shouted as he quickly got up, 'don't you dare hurt her! She loves me and I love her and if you lay a single fin on her, you'll soon be served with chips and sauce!' he then shouted to Sharla, who simply chuckled at him.
'You wouldn't dare, I'm way more powerful than you and she's MY little mermaid now!' Sharla said in her mockingly sweet tone, 'and what a typical love story this has turned out to be.
Girl meets boy, girl rescues boy from drowning, boy falls in love with girl only to discover that girl is really a mermaid and there will be no happy ending, that's for sure!
So long, lover boy, it was fun while it lasted,' Sharla said, pinching Ben's cheek as he scowled at her and heaved herself on the railing with Lily still struggling against her, her screams muffled by Sharla's hand.
She desperately reached out to Ben, who could only watch helplessly with tears in his eyes as his love was yanked back into the ocean and her bracelet came off her wrist and landed onto the deck.
'Ben, are you okay, mate?' Cody said, as he, his father and his friends comforted him, but he was numb from shock as he picked up Lily's bracelet and held it close to him as tears fell down his face and he didn't bother to wipe them away.
'Let me go!' Lily shouted when she and Sharla were back in the ocean and the witch was dragging her victim by the wrist to her lair, thinking about her upcoming triumph with Teale and Neale following close behind, preventing any escape.
'Oh, do stop struggling, little princess, it's making you more weak and pathetic than you already are,' Sharla said, frustrated by the mermaid's attempts to fight her, 'and it's not even you I want. You see, I've got bigger fish to fry, a bone to pick…'
'If you don't want me, then let me go!' Lily said again, 'and you were wrong about me, I'm not a weak little pufferfish and I'll never stop fighting you…'
'Sharla, STOP!' a familiar voice rang out through the ocean and Sharla soon froze in her tracks as Queen Daisy stood right in front of her with the most furious look on her face and her glowing sceptre was pointing at the sea witch's selfish and cruel heart.
'Mum!' Lily whispered when she saw her mother and she was shocked at how haggard she looked, hardly the vibrant mermaid everyone knew and loved.
Next to her, Senna stood with the same displeased look, which explained how she knew of her daughter's plight but this time it was to help her, not to get her into trouble.
'Why, Queen Daisy, long time, no see!' Sharla said, regaining her self-assurance and acting as if nothing was wrong, 'and I hope that there are no hard feelings about me trying to overthrow you twenty-seven years ago and you banishing me which, let's be frank, was rather hasty on your part.
But enough about a grudge that has been going on for three decades, how have you been, anyway? How's palace life treating you?'
'Sharla, stop this nonsense right now and let Lily go!' Daisy shouted, clearly in no mood for pleasantries.
'Fat chance, Daisy, she's MINE! We made a deal and contracts never lie,' Sharla said, throwing her head back and laughing, while presenting the scroll to the queen and she gasped in horror at seeing her youngest daughter's hastily scribbled signature at the bottom.
'Lily, why did you do this?' Daisy whispered, the hurt and disappointment evident on her face as Sharla allowed Teale and Neale to take Lily and they firmly wrapped their tails around the mermaid as their prisoner squirmed against their iron-tight grip, her tears blending in with the ocean.
'Mum, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!' Lily cried desperately, 'I didn't know, I wasn't even thinking and Sharla took advantage of that and tricked me…'
Wordlessly, Daisy raised her sceptre and aimed it at the scroll and used all her might to destroy it, but no matter how hard the queen tried, she couldn't make even a single tear in the paper while the sea witch laughed at her vain attempt.
'Aw, too bad, Daisy,' Sharla said, in a sarcastic pitying tone, 'I've should've told you that the contract is unbreakable, even for the queen of the sea, but then again, no one ever reads the fine print.'
The queen lowered her sceptre in despair, having failed to save her precious daughter who looked at her pleadingly and Sharla saw this as her moment to shine as she swam towards Daisy and placed a cruel hand on her shoulder, which made her shiver and scowl at the heartless creature.
'Then again, I've always been a girl who knew a great bargain when she saw one. The youngest and favourite daughter of the benevolent and beloved Queen Daisy is a very valuable asset but she's merely the runner-up prize, the silver coins.
And as such, I'm willing to make an exchange for someone even better..'
'What do you mean by that, Sharla?' Daisy said, sceptically.
'I'll let your precious little girl go, Daisy, on one condition,' Sharla said, 'that you give me your soul. That's all I want and Lily will be free. It's an offer too good to refuse, Daisy.'
'You don't care about my soul, Sharla, you only want my crown and kingdom,' Daisy said, firmly, knowing very well what the motive behind Sharla's offer was,
'You've hated me ever since I banished you from Aquaria and you've carried that over for three decades and you used Lily to lure me into your deadly web and I won't have it.'
'Fine, have it your way, then,' Sharla said, 'say goodbye to your precious little girl,' as she snapped her fingers and a teal light emerged from the scroll, surrounding the frightened princess who screamed before she slowly transformed into a polyp, like the many other unfortunate victims in Sharla's garden.
Daisy let out a cry of despair as she saw her daughter transform into the ugly little creature and she desperately reached out to her before being pushed back by Sharla who smiled wickedly at the distraught queen.
The storm on the surface was worsening as Ben, wearing only his white shirt and black trousers, lowered one of the lifeboats into the water and jumped over the railings into it, ignoring the shocked looks of the crowd as he rowed effortlessly against the choppy surf, determined to rescue his love.
'Ben, where are you going?' Phil called out, concerned for his son's welfare as he didn't want a repeat of the night of his birthday, 'come back, it's too dangerous!'
'I lost Lily once, Dad and I'm not going to lose her again!' Ben shouted over his shoulder while blinking back tears as he rowed away from the yacht.
'I can't lose her, not now, not ever,' Ben then whispered and looked around the ocean, hoping to find Lily before he saw a glowing golden light on the surface. Picking up an oar, Ben took a deep breath and dived into the water.
'Now, do we have a deal?' Sharla said, grinning maliciously at Daisy, while flashing the scroll at her. The queen sighed heavily, her heart breaking at seeing the pain in her baby's eyes and seeing her as an ugly little polyp.
She hated to give her power, her kingdom and crown to this malicious sea creature but she wouldn't abandon her precious child no matter how much trouble and hurt she had caused her.
Closing her eyes, Daisy raised her sceptre and aimed at the scroll again, replacing Lily's name with her own and Sharla cackled gleefully.
'Ha, it's done then! Finally, after all these years, I get my revenge! 'she said, triumphantly as the teal light abandoned Lily as she transformed back to normal and she watched in horror and disbelief as it swallowed her mother.
'Oh no, oh no!' Lily cried out, reaching out to her mother but she was helpless to save her as Sharla's cruel laugh echoed around the sea.
Senna and Aurora, who had only just swam in to see the terrible sight, gasped in horror as the light died down which revealed an ugly little polyp with the queen's crown and sceptre lying next to it.
'Your Majesty,' Senna said, sadly looking at the creature that was once the queen of Aquaria.
'Mummy,' Lily said as Sharla placed the crown on her head and picked up the sceptre as it glowed.
'At last, it's mine!' she said as her amused smirk turned into a wicked beam as she cackled and looked at the pathetic-looking polyp on the ground, from whom she had taken her power and kingdom.
'I hope that you'll enjoy the garden, dear Daisy, as much as I'll enjoy the PALACE!' she said as Lily started at her, her anger and fury burning in her eyes.
She had once called her mother a monster when she had destroyed her grotto but seeing how much she loved and cared for her by sacrificing her life for her, she realised who the true monster was.
'You..you MONSTER!' Lily screamed and angrily lunged towards the sea witch but Sharla was too quick for her and easily pinned the mermaid against a rock with the sceptre, which was glowing brightly.
'Don't fool with me, you little brat!' Sharla hissed, 'you caused all this with your silly wishes and naivety and you will now pay the price! Contract or not, I will have…Ahhh!'
But what Sharla wasn't aware of was that someone else had a grudge to settle with her as she let out a screech of pain as she felt the crack of an oar against her skull and looked up to see Ben behind her, holding the oar above his head and holding his breath remarkably well for a human as he floated up and down, ready to strike again.
'Why, you little fool,' she hissed at the boy as she aimed the sceptre towards him.
'Ben!' Lily gasped, 'Ben, look out!' as Sharla took a swipe at him, but he dodged it as he swung his oar again only to miss. He was fast running out of breath but he was defiant in fighting the sea witch as she kept aiming at him, missing every time.
'Don't just stand there, go after him!' Sharla ordered to Teale and Neale as Ben was swimming up to the surface and the eels obeyed, with Senna and Aurora following behind to stop them, but the eels were too slippery and got away from them.
Ben had barely made it to the surface and taken a gulp of air before he was forcefully pulled back into the water by Teale and Neale, who wrapped themselves firmly around him and he struggled to break free from them.
'Come on, Aurora!' Senna called when she saw the boy struggling and she pinched Teale on the tail which made him yowl in pain but he still held onto to Ben, as Lily watched in horror as his face started to turn a tinge of blue which she knew wasn't from the water.
Aurora flicked her tailfin against Neale while Sharla, seeing Ben in a vulnerable position, aimed the sceptre towards him and chuckled to Lily, whose eyes widened at seeing the sea witch about to hurt her beloved.
'Say goodbye to your sweetheart,' Sharla said. Panic flooded through Lily's veins and she immediately grabbed Sharla's hair and yanked her head back which made her screech and caused her to jerk the sceptre upwards, which hit Teale and Neale.
The eels yowled before being crumpled to dust and allowed Ben to escape as he swam towards the surface.
'Teale! Neale! My poor babies!' Sharla wailed as the ashes of her beloved pets floated down into her hands, 'my precious little poopies!' There were very few people that she cared for in this world but they had been her pets for years.
Her grief and despair soon turned into vengeful fury as she growled and her eyes became bloodshot as she glared at the mermaid princess as she, Ben and her friends dashed towards the surface.
That little brat would pay for what she had done in the most painful way possible…
The waves were lashing against Lily and Ben as they swam towards each other with the thunder booming and lighting crackling brightly in the sky, much like the night that they first 'met'.
On land, terrified residents bunkered down in their houses, watching the fierce winds, the loud thunder and bright lighting illuminating their dark rooms, the power having been knocked out by the storm, which not even the weathermen on TV had predicted and they hoped that it would all be over soon.
They had endured cyclones such as Larry, Yasi, Ita and the January 2011 floods but they had never encountered a storm this ferocious and especially not one created by a devious and murderous sea witch and the worst was yet to come…
'Ben!' Lily shouted as he swam to her and she threw her arms around him as he held her close to him, determined not to let her go, 'Ben, listen to me, you have to get away from here! You and everyone in Mermaid Beach are in terrible danger!'
'No, I'm not leaving you, Lily!' Ben shouted back, 'It took me this long to find you and I'm not letting you out of my sight again!' and Lily sighed to herself. She had to pick a boy as stubborn as she was, didn't she?
'But Sharla will…' Lily said but Ben remained defiant.
'Are you okay?' he asked her and she nodded as she clung onto him.
'Don't ever scare me like that again!' he then said, scolding her like she had done something silly like partying all night and getting drunk, not grown fins and started an oceanic war with Mermaid Beach the unwitting host.
'Lily!' a little voice cried out and Lily turned around to see Aurora and Senna bobbing up against the ferocious waves, trying to get to her and Ben, 'Sharla's coming!'
'Are you alright, you two?' Senna's voice called out.
'They can talk?' Ben said in surprise at hearing the fish and crab talk, since he knew that ordinary sea creatures couldn't.
'All sea creatures can if they trust you enough,' Lily said, unfazed by the idea of talking animals.
'So that's where the Pommie voice came from,' Ben said to himself as he saw the crab with a pearl necklace, having finally realised who it was.
A moment later, the ocean bubbled and the Earth shook beneath the raging sea, which could be felt all the way to New Zealand as the giant figure of Sharla rose from the ocean, having grown twenty times her normal size with the combined power of the sceptre and her own magic.
She laughed with a deep and menacing voice as Lily and Ben were raised up into the air on the crown before they dived into the ocean, holding hands tightly and held each other close as they watched the horror unfold before their eyes.
'YOU PITIFUL, INSIGNIFICANT FOOLS!' Sharla bellowed as she looked at the couple and flicked her giant tailfin against the water.
'Look out!' Ben cried as he and Lily dived under.
'Now I am the ruler of the entire ocean!' Sharla thundered, raising the sceptre to the sky and more lightning crackled behind her and the winds picked up speed,
'The waves obey my every whim and the seas bow down to MY MIGHTY POWER! And you two won't live to tell the tale!' she then thundered as she used the sceptre to create a raging whirlpool, which raised long dilapidated shipwrecks to the surface and monstrous waves that crashed mercilessly towards the hapless town and quite possibly the entire east coast of Australia.
'Ben!' Lily screamed when a wave separated him from her and sent him tumbling into the fierce waters.
'Lily!' Ben screamed as he felt the roaring of the water in his head as he desperately grabbed onto a rope from a ship and held onto it for dear life as he managed to bob his head up to the surface, feeling the howling winds whipping against his hair.
Lily held onto a rock but the ocean who was once her friend and home was now her deadly enemy and its waters were determined to destroy her as Sharla stared at her prey, ready for the kill.
Sharla blasted the rock, sending a screaming Lily into the deadly whirlpool she had created and the mermaid landed onto the sandy bottom, using her wrists to break her fall and she soon found herself dodging many blasts from the secptre as Sharla looked at her maliciously as she blasted another shot at the hapless little mermaid who faced her with fear in her eyes as she barely avoided being hit.
'Why did I even trust you, Sharla, knowing that you would do everything to prevent me from kissing Ben?' Lily shouted above the howling winds and swirling waters,
'You didn't do it out of kindness, which you don't even have a shred of in your cruel body, you just used me so you could get back at my mother!'
'And the prodigal daughter gets it at last,' Sharla thundered, 'well, it's too late for that now since I will DESTROY BOTH YOUR WORLDS AND YOU HAVE NO ONE TO BLAME BUT YOURSELF!' as she prepared for the final blow to end the little mermaid's life and it would take a miracle to save her now.
Elsewhere, Ben had managed to climb up onto the ship and was stumbling across the half-rotting deck, trying desperately to reach the wheel as the waves ruthlessly thrashed against it and soaked him to the skin.
Several times he slipped, being in the same position on the night of his birthday when he rescued Ruby from the burning yacht and got hit by flying debris and nearly drowned.
But he was a strong, athletic boy and his inner determination, strength and passionate love for his little mermaid shone through as he battled the howling winds and waves that threatened to throw him into the ocean.
Ben managed to reach the wheel and gripped it so hard that his knuckles almost popped out and it took nearly all of his strength to control the ship as the waves pushed it towards the whirlpool where the giant sea witch hovered, pointing the sceptre towards the trapped mermaid and with the fiercest and determined look on his face, Ben edged closer.
Please don't miss, he thought. This was his only chance and if he missed, he'll lose Lily forever.
'SO MUCH FOR TRUE LOVE!' Sharla cackled manically as she raised the sceptre in the sky, her eyes filled with pure evil and battle fury, ready to deliver the final blow to kill Lily, as the frightened little mermaid looked at her with fear.
Suddenly, the sea witch let out a terrible scream as she felt the sharp javelin-like edge of the ship pierce her stomach as Ben drove it into her and pinned her down like he was doing archery and her body shuddered and convulsed, shaking the ship violently.
Ben held onto the wheel for dear life before jumping from the fast sinking ship and swam far away from it just as Sharla's body turned into teal foam and dissolved into the water, the crown and sceptre sinking to the ocean floor, shrinking back to its original size and its power forgotten.
The whirlpool disappeared as Lily dived back into the ocean, unhurt from her ordeal and the waves slowed down to ripples as the storm ended, the dark clouds giving way to early morning, much to the relief of the residents who had endured a hellish night and were just relieved that it was over and that they came through it unscathed.
The sun's rays were shining as a spluttering and exhausted Ben was washed up by the waves onto the beach and he coughed violently as he crawled along the sand before collapsing in a heap, one word escaping from his lips as everything went black,
'Lily,'
Phew, what an epic battle! Thank goodness Ben was able to defeat Sharla! And those poor residents of Mermaid Beach, that sure was a hellish night for them! Thankfully, it's all over now!
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