Whaaat? Another chapter within a week? Might I add that it's also a super-long chapter? Like, THE longest thus far! Hope you enjoy!
With his flute in hand, Eric was playing the tune he remembered hearing the other day. He just couldn't get it, or the girl who had sung it, out of his head. And so, here he was, out on the coast with Max, resting on a rock for hours, hoping the girl of his dreams would appear again before him, hopefully taking notice of the-
"Eric!"
The prince's train of thought paused as he saw a flash of silver coming towards him from the direction of the castle. Upon reaching him, Riku stood next to the prince, his arms resting on his friend's shoulders.
"You know, we've been looking everywhere in the castle for you, buddy," he explained, "I didn't think you'd come here. What brings you out here?"
Eric sighed, "I just…I can't get the voice out of my head. Am I crazy if I want to find this girl?"
"No, I wouldn't say so," Riku shook his head, "I mean, it's all in curiosity, right?"
"Right," The noiret prince solemnly replied, "I've been looking everywhere for her, but I've not been lucky at all. I know she's real, but…where could she be?"
It may have taken a while for them to reach the surface, but Ariel and Sora were intensely grateful for having been, even if they could no longer express such gratitude verbally.
Ariel had been quick to perform an unintentionally dramatic hair flip as she emerged from the water, as the two friends made their way to the beach, positioning themselves against a rock. As they sat on the sandy surface, they each lifted up a leg.
They had legs!
Sora joyfully wiggled his toes (from what he remembered Ariel telling him when it came to human body parts) and giggled, watching in awe when Ariel did the exact same thing.
"That was a close one!" Ventus panted, joining the two with Roxas, Sebastian and Flounder.
"I'll say," Roxas agreed, also catching his breath, "But, how the hell are we going to get them to over there?"
"They've got legs now!" Flounder interjected, "They can walk there!"
"Hey, hey!" A voice from above called. Everyone looked up to find Scuttle flying about, before he landed on Sora's leg, "Look what the tide's pulled in! Ha ha, look at you guys!"
"Hey there." Ventus greeted, "And you are…?"
"Scuttle," The seagull flapped a wing. He started to look between Ventus and Roxas, "Ooh, well…I'm guessing the pool's very small then, eh?"
"We're twins." Roxas pointed out dully.
Scuttle turned his attention back to Sora and Ariel, "But hey, something's a little…off…about you two…." His face started to look more perplexed, "Hmm…is it a new haircut…or umm…new seashells, Ariel?"
"LEGS!" Sebastian exclaimed as Sora and Ariel giggled at the seagull's inability yo see the obvious, "They're got legs, ya idiot! Jeez…"
"They traded their voices to the sea witch to get legs, so now they're human." Roxas explained.
"Uh huh." Scuttle nodded, but still looked confused.
"So they've gotta find true love kiss!" Flounder added.
Ariel looked at her legs, and decided to try them out. Better see how she was at walking. She found it quite a struggle to compose herself and balance herself out, but she eventually made it, her legs wobbling slightly. Sora proceeded to follow suit, and immediately grabbed Ariel's hand, both of them finding themselves stable, but not completely.
"They've only got three days!" Ventus finished as the turned around to find Ariel and Sora falling back into the sea.
"They need to learn how to use those legs," Roxas commented, "I mean, just look at them…"
Sebastian huffed in exasperation, "This is a catastrophe!"
"God, imagine what Mom and the King would have to say about this…" Ventus whispered to his twin.
"Oh, I'll tell you what they'd do!" Sebastian chimed, waving his claws frantically as the new humans stood up again (this time more successfully), "They'd cut me in half and eat me whole, that's what they'd do!" He angrily strutted in the direction of the ocean, "But I'm gonna march right back to 'em and tell them what their kids have done so they might just have time to convince Ursula to-"
To his surprise, he was picked up by Ariel, who shook her head rapidly, Sora next to her staring at the crab with wide eyes.
"And don't you shake your head at me, young lady!" he ordered, "You should be back with all the normal fish and just be…and just be…"
He took notice of the expression on Ariel's face, her eyes bulging with sadness, and her lips further adding to this. She wasn't going to be happy in life if that's what he was going to make her do, Sebastian noticed. He glanced over to Sora, and also noticed that it wasn't what the boy was wanting either. He just wanted to help Ariel, and quite frankly, so did Sebastian. It was the least he could do, for her sake. Just to make sure Ursula's hands were as far away from Ariel as possible.
And so he wasn't a dead crab. Couldn't have that.
Sebastian sighed, "All right…all right…" He looked up at them both, "I'll help you find your love…"
Ariel and Sora gleamed, the former giving the crab a peck on the top of his head.
"Ey…what a soft shell I'm turnin' out to be…"
Ventus spoke up, "And we'll help you guys out too!"
"We can't have Mom finding out about this, can we?" Roxas muttered, before being elbowed by his twin and catching Sora glaring at him, "What? It's true, though, she would kill you, dude."
Scuttle piped up, holding some white fabric that appeared to be a ship's sail, but nobody asked any questions, "All right, well, guys, if you're gonna be humans the first thing ya gotta do is dress like one!"
Ariel looked over to Sora, who shrugged as they made their way to get human fashion tips.
Roxas chuckled darkly, "Ooh, this I gotta see…"
Riku had begun to relax along the coast, playing a few games of Fetch with Max. He'd been throwing small pebbles around the coast, not daring to use the same one after seeing the dog slobber all over the first one.
"You must let Max out a lot, Eric," The silver-haired teen observed, "He surely does love the beach."
"It's what the kingdom is known for," Eric responded, "Some say it's because there's a kingdom at the bottom of the sea, home to King Triton, ruler of the merpeople."
"Isn't that myth?" Riku asked, puzzled, as he threw another pebble (and rejected the one in Max's mouth).
Eric chuckled, "I mean…when I was told the tale the other day it didn't seem mythological."
"Would be cool to see a merman though," Riku sighed, "That'd be something…"
"Yeah…" Eric turned to the direction in which the pebble had been thrown, to see where his dog was, but could not see Max in sight, "Max?" he whistled, but his only response from the dog was barks in the distance.
"Come on, then!" Riku said as he started running in the sound's direction. The barks were getting louder as the two princes ran, and more frequent at that.
What they saw him barking at was extraordinary.
Before their eyes were a young man with spiky brown hair and a young woman with vibrant red hair, both sporting blue eyes that shined like the ocean's waters. What they were wearing was…mildly concerning, at the very least, for their clothes seemed to be rather make-shifted, as if they had come in from a terrible storm, which was unlikely, as Eric knew perfectly well that there hadn't been anything of the sort since the one he got tangled up in. The one with…
"Are you alright?" Eric asked sincerely, as he beckoned for the dog to come towards him, since he'd made them cower behind a rock, "He's harmless, really, but he can be a bit…" He found himself looking directly in the woman's eyes, dazed for but a few moments, "Uh…"
"Your clothes…" Riku pointed to the aforementioned 'garments', "Have you come from afar?"
He was met with silent nods, as well as the brunette's eyes interlocking with his own, almost coyly.
"Well, we can't allow for this, can we Eric?" Riku elbowed his friend lightly.
"What?" Eric asked, finally paying attention, as the redhead and brunet gave the silver-haired prince wide eyes, that screamed confusion. Eric cleared his throat, "Oh, er, that's right! We've got to get you to the castle and cleaned up! Say, what're your names?"
The redhead looked as if she was going to give an answer, but suddenly shied away and tapped her throat, shaking her head.
She couldn't talk. Oh.
"What's wrong?" Eric asked softly. Perhaps he had been a bit too harsh on the maiden, "Can't you talk."
He was met with sad eyes.
"Oh…" He sighed to himself, "You can't be the one…"
"What about you?" Riku gestured to the brunet kindly, "What's your name, and if you know, what's her name?"
The brunet shook his head.
"You can't talk either?"
He shook his head again.
"All right, then. We best get you to the castle. Hopefully, we'll be able to help you guys out."
The silent acquaintances were about to get off the rock, when the redhead began to topple over, almost falling. The brunet also fell in response. Had they not been saved by Eric and Riku respectively, they would have been goners.
"Whoa, now!" Eric exclaimed as the redhead gathered herself in his arms. She wrapped one of her own around his neck quickly to regain balance, which led to the two to be within close eye contact. Oh, her eyes are beautiful, Eric thought, losing himself in her wondrous gaze…
"Can't have you falling over!" Riku said to the brunet in particular as he wrapped an arm around his waist, "Let me help you." The brunet shivered slightly as the touch, but warmed himself up to it quickly, tilting his head to rest on the silver-haired prince's shoulder.
"Guess you guys must be tired," Eric noted, "Hey, we'll help you get there…"
And with that, the four made their way to the castle.
Well, that was successful.
"Yes!" Ventus cheered, hugging Flounder, "That went great!"
"See how they looked at their outfits?" Scuttle asked, almost smugly, "You're welcome!"
"Yes, yes…" Sebastian huffed, "But now we've got to make sure they'll get them to fall in love with 'em! How are we gonna do that?"
"Well…" Roxas pondered, as a smirk began to dominate his face, "There is one of us who's able to walk on the surface…"
"And who is…"
Sebastian looked down. He was on the coast; from when he was help Scuttle make the outfits.
"Oh, no, I'm not-"
"C'mon Sebastian!" Ventus pleaded, "We promise you won't be alone! Scuttle can monitor everything from up above and Roxas, Flounder and I can find a way to get closer to the castle! All you have to do is keep everything under control inside! Pleeeeeease?"
Sebastian looked up at the twins, then and Flounder, and lastly at Scuttle.
There was no other way…
"All right, I'll do it…" As everyone else cheered him, he made his way to the castle, huffing, "I swear, when dese days are up, mon, I'm retirin'!"
"Washed up from a shipwreck…" Eric's maid, Carlotta, sighed as she tended to Ariel, who was occupied in the bath playing with bubbles. Sora was beside her in the rather large tub, giggling to one another as the two played with the water.
"Don't worry, dears," Carlotta went on, "We'll do our best to take care of you both," She went over to a nearby counter and picked up what she presumed to be a dress and hastily-made pair of trousers, "I'll just send these to wash. I'll be back shortly to tend to you getting out."
With that, the maid left the room, closing the door behind her. The only noise present was the sound of the drought coming from the nearby window. Otherwise, they were in blissful silence.
Suddenly, they began to hear a small pitter-patter of legs.
Crab legs.
Both newly humans turned to the window to find a flash of red, which had fallen from the window. It screamed in agony as it approached them. They instantly recognised it to be Sebastian.
"Ey…" the crab winced, "I've been' lookin' everywhere for you two!"
Sora giggled, as if to apologize. Ariel nodded her head as well.
"Anyways, we best be thinkin' of how you two are gonna impress the prince!" Sebastian made his way onto the edge of the tub, arms crossed. Both humans were watching him attentively, "Right well, I believe that if we could-"
He stopped as soon as the three heard the door open, diving in the water to take cover. Carlotta walked back in the room with a towel in hand, joined by a young man with brown hair, similarly holding a towel.
"Right, dearies," She came closer to Sora and Ariel, the young man following her, "Time to get out. I'll be tending to you, young lady, getting you ready for dinner this evening. And for you, young man, Leon here will be seeing to you." She turned to the young man beside her and chuckled lightly, "Ooh, put him in something dashing, would you, Leon? I've noticed how that Prince Riku has his eye on him."
"Of course, Carlotta," Leon smiled, slightly peering at Sora, who blushed slightly.
"What the-" After the two had gotten out of the tub, Carlotta had noticed something…but what could it have…
Sebastian!
The maid went over to grab a piece of cloth and covered him with it, "Oh my! I best take this to Louie! It must have escaped!"
She tucked it under her arms as she escorted Ariel out. The redhead wanted to object, as did Sora, but Carlotta and Leon seemed far more determined to get right into dressing them for the evening.
They'd just have to find a golden opportunity to rescue him.
Eric paced back and forth in front of a family portrait in the dining room, while Riku leaned against the wall nearby. The former was wearing a black jacket with dark grey trousers and flashes of red and brown while his friend preferred a grey suit. They had been ready for quite some time, and now they were waiting for their guests to arrive. Grimsby was also with them, seeing to the cutlery, laying out several pieces for himself, the princes and the visitors.
"Eric, let's be serious," The confident scoffed, "Young ladies don't just pop by to save you from drowning then flutter away as if nothing happened! Surely you can't-"
Eric leaned on a glass panel, his back to the other two, "I'm telling you, she IS real!" he countered, staring off at the ocean, "And when I find her, you can be sure that I will marry her."
"Now, Eric, really, what's wrong with the maiden you found today?"
The prince sighed, "She's not-"
Riku slipped into the conversation, "Well, you might be unsure about her, but what about her friend, eh?"
"Yes," Grimsby examined one of the glasses on the table, wiping it with a clean piece of cloth, "We've all noticed your opinion on him…"
"Says so on your face." Eric smirked, briefly distracted from his own love-life, watching his best friend blush furiously.
"Come on, now." Carlotta's voice from outside the room was heard, "Don't be shy!"
The redhead was first to walk in. She was wearing a beautiful green dress consisting of different shades, as well as purple shell-shaped earrings and a pearl necklace. The brunet stepped in after her, wearing a crimson suit.
"You look absolutely stunning…" Riku was the first to speak, walking over to the shy brunet, taking his hands in his and walking him over to the table. From where he was standing, he gestured for Eric to do the same.
!And you are beautiful…" The raven-haired prince complimented, walking his companion over to her seat, "That dress really brings out your eyes."
The redhead silently giggled, looking absolutely pleased with herself.
And she had every right to be.
"You two must be quite hungry after your little misadventure." Grimsby noted, as Carlotta stood by him. He looked between the two visitors and smiled, "It's not every day we have visitors, is it Eric?"
"Huh?" Eric looked away from the redhead and focused his attention back to the current situation. Grimsby merely shrugged him off, seeing that he was enjoying himself as is…
Hey! A dinglehopper!
Ariel saw quite a few dinglehoppers in front of her at the table, all varying in size. She found herself picking the biggest one, and with a wide, child-like smile on her face, she put it through her hair, stroking her already-soft hair playfully.
She stopped in her tracks once she saw Eric's reaction opposite her. He seemed…bewildered, to say the least at her actions. Likewise, Riku and Grimsby were equally shocked. She was quick to place the fork down on the table, exchanging a quick nervous glance with Sora next to her.
"Did you just…?" Riku stammered, "With a fork…?"
Ariel looked at Sora, puzzled.
A fork?
She might have to talk to Scuttle whenever she got the chance.
Breaking the tension she felt, she brightened at the sight of a snarfblatt, which Grimsby was…um…he was putting fire in it…? She did not quite understand what he was doing.
"Do you like it?" Grimsby asked her, as she took it from him, "It's quite-"
She immediately blew into it and, unexpectedly, blows some black substance in his face. From the top of her mind, that's probably something to do with the fire. But it was rather odd that it didn't play music. Perhaps Scuttle was also wrong about that.
Sora, Riku and Eric started laughing, while Carlotta muttered an "Oh my."
"Oh, Eric!" The maid began, taking notice of the prince, "That's the first time I've seen a genuine smile from you in ages!"
"Yes…yes…" Grimsby said sourly, "Have a pipe blown in your face can be rather amusing." Quick to wipe himself off with a cloth, she looked over to Carlotta, "Carlotta, dear, what might we be having for dinner?"
"Stuffed crab!" The maid replied gleefully, "Louie's specialty!" And with that, she was off, presumably to get the food.
Stuffed Crab?!
They DID eat sea creatures here! But that must also mean that…?
Sebastian! Oh dear…
Ariel looked over at Sora, her eyes widened with panic. He also looked at her in a similar manner.
"What's wrong?" Eric asked.
"Do you not like seafood?" Riku also asked, sipping some of his wine.
Ariel and Sora shuffled in their seats, unsure of how to voice their opinion.
"Sorry for the delay!" Carlotta huffed, a little out of breath. As she approached the table, Sora noticed that a few strands of hairs were hanging loose, and her apron slightly unkempt, "Louie's made a mess of the kitchen preparing the food, apparently."
Grimsby, unfazed, laughed, "He's been working hard on the dish, no?"
While Eric and Riku seemed absorbed in a conversation with Grimsby and Carlotta on the castle, Sora and Ariel noticed Grimsby's plate cover lifting itself slowly. It slowly revealed itself to be Sebastian holding the cover up, somewhat surviving in the kitchen. Ariel beckoned for the crab to quickly come to her plate, slightly creaking hers open. He was quick to accept her offer, and scuttled over to her plate without a second thought.
"…a tour of the kingdom, perhaps?" Grimsby tailed off, at least, from what two could make out from having just started to pay attention.
"What do ya say?" Eric asked Ariel, who slammed her cover down, playing it cool with her arm firmly holding it down, "Would you like to tour the kingdom with me tomorrow?"
Ariel nodded her head vigorously. This could just be it!
Riku cleared his throat and looked over at Sora, "And would it be alright if-" But Sora was already agreeing to it, his head nodding violently in excitement.
"Then that settles it!" Grimsby declared, "I'll have Carlotta and Leon sort out some peasant-wear for your tour, just so you don't stick out from the crowd too much. We can't have that can we?" Not knowing how else to take that, the two just nodded and smiled. "Now let's get into this food, before the crab walks off my plate."
Oh, Grimsby…
Wearing a simple, pink nightdress later that night, Ariel watched Prince Eric as he played with Max. She could say that the first night went rather well. He had certainly given her long periods of time in which they had direct eye contact, and while he may have initially been weirded out by her using a fork to brush her hair, he'd warmed to her immediately after.
It also helped that she got soot in his confidant's face.
Ariel sighed. She had only two days from now to get him to fall in love with her and kiss her, and in a sense, Ursula was right; she didn't exactly need a voice to have an impact on him. From the distance, he caught her gazing at him, which he responded to with a friendly wave. The former mermaid stepped back coyly into her sleeping quarters, but not before giving him an awkward yet meaningful wave.
"De things I do for you, Ariel…" Sebastian muttered, as he took out a piece of lettuce from his shell. Ariel had been successful in sneaking him out of the dining room without much commotion, but for now her attention was focused on her reflection in the vanity, as she quietly brushed her hair with a brush (which she knew would have been the reasonable object for such a task).
"Now, we've got to get de prince to fall in love with you on your trip tomorrow…" Sebastian continued, as Ariel jumped into the bed, nearly sinking into the mattress, "We should also look into helping Sora. Now I suggest that if we bat our eyes like this-" he batted his eyes, "And puckered our lips-" he puckered his lips, "Then there's no doubt that he'd-"
He looked over to Ariel, who was enjoying a peaceful slumber. The crab sighed softly as he blew out the candle and rested next to her.
"You are hopeless, sometimes…" Sebastian commented before sleep overtook him as well.
In another part of the castle, Leon was guiding Sora, accompanied with Riku, to his bedroom. The castle seemed far bigger on the inside than it did on the outside, but then again Sora had never actually seen much of the castle's exterior back when he was a merman.
"Here we are," Leon gestured to the door, "Your room, young sir."
"It's right near my guest room!" Riku pointed out, unknowing of Leon's smirk, which suggested it was intentional, "So, hey, if you need anything, you know where to find me!" he pointed over to a door on the right, before turning back to Leon, "Thank you, Leon. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to see to him now."
"Of course," Leon only complied with the prince's orders, making his way to the servant's quarters.
Riku led Sora through the latter's bedroom door, and watched as he plopped himself on the bed.
"Right, well," Riku began, walking over to the vanity opposite Sora, looking around for something. He turned back to Sora holding a brush, "Now, I don't know if you know, but since your friend tried using a fork to comb her hair at dinner I might as well remind you," he sat quite close to Sora on the bed, "This is a brush. This is the proper tool used on hair."
Sora giggled. Of course he knew that, he wasn't an idiot.
But it was refreshing to hear it come from this human's mouth…
"May I…?" Riku asked, raising the hand with the brush in. He leaned forward, the hand coming in contact with Sora's hair (the former merman had managed to get Leon to keep it spiky for the evening).
Sora's eyes shut as he felt soft strokes of the brush on his hair. Time passed, and who knew how long it had been until Riku stopped. From the glances Sora made, it seemed like Riku was also getting lost in the moment, continuously stroking that particular spot.
"Oh, I-I'm sorry…" Riku stammered, retracting his hand. "I got a little carried away…I just…I really like your hair, it's…different."
Sora shied away at the compliment, and the two sat in silence for a while. Riku then got up and made his way out the room.
"Anyway, have a good night. I'm looking forward to our outing tomorrow."
Sora heard the door shut quietly behind the prince, and stood up, making his way to the balcony.
He had a wonderful ocean view. It almost made him homesick. He'd never been away from home, or family, for such a long time, or even so far away from them.
The former merman could also make out a few figures in the distance – Roxas and Ventus were looking on at the palace. In hopes of capturing their attention, Sora waved in their direction, and was pleased to having been waved back at by one of the twins (it was hard to distinguish them from such a long distance).
Sora leaped back on the bed and leaned back, allowing for sleep to overtake him.
Things might just go great tomorrow.
Aaand...there we go! Day 2 is on the way!