Chapter 35: War Games (Ariel)

This is real. This is barbaric. This is real.

They're trying to kill me.

Ariel sprinted through the forest. Frozen students gaped at her like horrified, icy blue statues. Aurora. Prince. Charlotte. Milo. Alice. Tigerlily. Naveen. Jane. Belle. Taran. Ariel winced. Alana, the gentlest Triton sister, clutching her stomach.

Gripping the trident, Ariel forced herself not to look back at the frozen, painful expressions.

ZING! A golden arrow sliced a hair's breath from her abdomen. Robin Hood.

WACK-A-TACK! A glass slipper with a lethal heel boomeranged around her legs. Cinderella.

WHOOSH! A magic carpet fluttered overhead like a vampire bat. Jasmine.

SILENCE. Ariel glimpsed Wendy's curly pony tail. She called the girl's name but her voice vanished. Kocoum.

Veering sharply, Ariel switched directions, chasing Wendy.

"Ariel!"

Ariel kept running. The voice called again.

"Ariel! Ariel! Stop! You're going to wrong way!"

No I'm not. I know exactly where I'm going. Wendy went this way. Ariel heard rasping breaths behind her as the voice kept calling, insisting on her mistake.

"Ariel! Stop! That's the wrong way!"

Ariel's thoughts came sluggishly. Her brain felt like slush. Maybe…maybe I am going the wrong way. Gradually, Ariel slowed to a trot.

"Ariel." The voice behind her was smooth as cream. "Ariel. Trust me. You are going the wrong way. And that trident: Ariel you don't want that trident."

Ariel stopped. The voice was right. She was going the wrong way. Relieved, Ariel turned, to ask the voice which way she should go.

"The trident, Ariel." Side stepping from the nettles, tall and regal as the dark trees he hid behind, was Hans. Smiling, Hans nodded at the trident. "Remember. You don't need it anymore."

Ariel nodded. Kneeling, she placed the golden trident in the shadowy underbrush.

"Good girl." Hans extended a hand. "Here Ariel. Let me help you up. Take my hand."

What a gentleman Ariel thought. Dismissing the alarm itching the recess of her mind, Ariel reached for Hans.

"Ariel! NO!" Someone was crashing through the forest. "Ariel! His magical power! It makes you believe his lies!"

Ariel blinked. "Eric?"

"Hold on!" Eric yelled, holding his steering wheel and turning it ninety degrees.

The world turned upside down. The earth back flipped over the sky. Ariel somersaulted as gravity wrenched her in grotesque directions. She felt sick.

Suddenly, the world turned upright. Ariel fell. Moss and needles crunched under her back. Roots stuck into her spine. The trident gleamed under her elbow.

Suddenly, Hans was on top of her. His white hands shot into her face.

Without thinking, Ariel swung the trident.

Blood spurted from Hans' palms. Hans screamed like a tortured animal as Eric attacked. Terrified, Ariel leapt to her feet. She ran, following Wendy's path. The tip of the trident dripped red.

Light suddenly bled through the canopy as Tarzan ripped through the forest, swinging unimaginable distances with his vine. Three Pixies fluttered around him in pursuit. Ariel sprinted up a rock and jumped. She caught Rosetta's heel with her hand. The Pixie froze and crashed through the branches.

"Sorry." Ariel mumbled, passing Phillip and Phoebus in a ravenous duel. Both were bleeding. "But three against one is unfair."

Ariel skidded as Phoebus and Phillip suddenly stopped in mid swing. Pushing Phillip away with his sword, Phoebus pointed. "See that?"

Phillip looked. "Together?"

Phoebus nodded. "Let's get her."

Ariel panicked. Were they talking about her? Slamming behind a wide stump, Ariel peeked through decaying roots. Phillip and Phoebus were headed in the opposite direction, chasing someone considerably smaller. Ariel squinted. She saw a tiny, blue bow.

Wendy.

Spinning her trident in stride with her start, Ariel ran after Phillip and Phoebus. The forest quickly evolved. The ground hardened. The slope steepened. The darkness became less dank. The boulders grew, encasing into the trees and earth. They were approaching cliffs.

Ariel heard Wendy cry out. Disregarding stealth, Ariel plowed through the forest until she reached a clearing. The clearing emptied onto a naked cliff.

Wendy, her back to a sheer drop, was cornered by Phillip and Phoebus.

"We're out in the open!" Wendy protested. She wavered, heels slipping off the edge of the cliff. Nevertheless, she glanced worriedly to the cold, clear sky. "The Pixies, Jasmine, Peter – they can fly! Please, go away or they'll tag you too!"

Ariel paused. She hadn't thought of that. Carefully, she scanned the sky. A black speck hovered near the sun. But Ariel couldn't tell if it was a student or just a crow.

Phoebus laughed. "Nice try, Wendy.

"Come on." Phillip said, more kindly than his fellow assassin. Eyes on Wendy's feet trembling off the edge, he inched forward. "This is just a game. Don't get heroic or anything. I'm just going to tag you, okay?"

Wendy shook her head. Fumbling with her needle and squeezing her spool of thread, she dipped dangerously.

"No, not okay." Wendy cringed, regaining her balance. "S – s – stop! Or I'll – "

"She's bluffing, Phil." Phoebus strode directly at Wendy, extending his arm. "She has no idea how to use her gift."

"But I do!" Ariel sprinted from the forest. Leaping like a gazelle, she launched herself off of the boys' shoulders. As Ariel landed, stumbling over her trident, Phillip and Phoebus froze.

Ariel's head snapped up. Her blood red hair lashed like a whip as she pointed the trident at Wendy.

"I was about to say thank you!" Wendy abducted her arms to keep from falling. Ariel glanced up. The black speck in the sky was flying closer, gaining form. "Ariel, what are you – "

"I'm sorry about your father!" Ariel interrupted. She swung the trident, preventing Wendy from escape. "But I wasn't there! My sisters and cousins – "

" – your sisters and cousins – "

"Wendy, I said I was sorry!"

"Sorry?!" Pink blotches colored Wendy's cheeks. The black speck in the sky was flying faster. "Sorry?! You are sorry?! Sorry won't pay my father's bail! Sorry won't buy food for my brothers! Sorry won't bring my mother back!"

Ariel paused. Wendy, realizing her mistake, covered her mouth in horror.

"Father." Wendy corrected, tears prickling the corners of her eyes. "Sorry won't bring my father back."

The black speck was closer. Its shadow sliced back and forth over the rocky cliff.

"Listen." Ariel edged the trident closer as Wendy tried to slink away. "Wendy, if you would just listen! I'm sorry, I am! I'll talk to Lana and Adella. Ask them to leave you alone."

Wendy glared. She gave a little huff.

"But before we can survive these games." Ariel pressed, her heart starting to beat harder. "And before I let you go, you have to do me a favor."

Wendy frowned. "And what is that?"

Ariel's heart was thundering. "What is your boyfriend's name?"

Wendy was taken aback. "My what?"

"Boyfriend. That boy you hang around with." Ariel was gripping her trident so hard, her fingers were numb. "Shorter, but taller than you or me. Rugged. Little curved nose. Sunken blue eyes, kind of teal, kind of grey." Ariel grinned, inspite of herself. "Really weird messy brown hair. Rat tail."

Wendy's eyes narrowed at Ariel's last descriptor. The black speck circled overhead. "Why?"

Ariel extended the trident. "No reason. Just tell me your boyfriend's name!"

"He is not my boyfriend."

Ariel's heart sprouted wings.

"But he is my best friend." Wendy said callously. "And I would never ever let anyone hurt him. Ariel!"

Wendy lurched backwards as Ariel slashed the trident. The golden tip chinked a little too dangerously in her excitement.

"Just tell me Wendy! Come on please! Then I'll let you go!"

With precarious balance, Wendy steadied herself. Then she looked at Ariel. "All right. But you have to do something for me."

"Anything. What?"

Wendy clenched her fists. "Your father is Admiral Triton. Tell him to free my father."

The black speck suddenly looped into a dive.

Ariel shook her head. "Wendy…that's not so easy…my Daddy…he's very…"

"Promise!"

"…Wendy…"

"Promise, Ariel!"

"Fine. I'll do it." Ariel placed the tip of the trident against the needle woven into Wendy's hoodie. "Now. Tell me his name."

The black speck suddenly screamed. Wendy and Ariel looked up. The black speck metamorphosed. Peter and Tinkerbell.

Then Wendy's eyes snapped down. She looked at the forest. "Jim!"

Ariel panicked. Instinctively she sliced the trident. Something happened. Like the surge of a tidal wave Ariel felt power propelling through her body and into the trident. The power was deep as the ocean, vicious as a shark, and savage as a killer whale.

Without warning the energy of an electric eel exploded through the trident. Tinkerbell blasted downward. Peter, his fingers inches from Wendy's head, cut upwards to avoid the electric sting.

Ariel turned.

She slammed onto the cliff as the boy with sunken, vulnerable teal-grey eyes attacked. CRACK! Ariel and Jim fell, hands intertwined around the golden trident.

Jim stared.

Ariel stared.

"Hi." Jim breathed as magic spiraled down his fingers and into Ariel's body.

"Hi." Ariel smiled as the magic froze her muscles and sparkled over her eyes. "Jim."

sultal's note:

THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the support. Guys I absolutely love writing this story (hence have not started studying for finals lol) and I am so glad many of you report the same.

party on dudes!

keep writing!