sultal's note: Hi all. few announcements.

Shout out to HeartOfGold7. She is possibly one of the most integritous (aka having integrity) people I have ever met! PLUS, she is writing a really cool Treasure Planet story called Call of Heaven. Go check it out! Support your fellow writers!

Dancer who loves Westerns: Strega Nona! Yes this is part of my childhood. Strega Nona is a children's book with an Italian cook slash witch (aka "Strega" = witch in Italian). ALSO on DeviantArt, I entered a contest "Make Your Own Disney Movie" and for one of my entries, I decided to make the Disney movie Strega Nona! So...it was too perfect and I had to add it. thank you for asking!

Refer to chpt 63 for the connection to aquapathy...you'll see...just start reading...:)

Chapter 89: You Know I Speak Whale

Ariel plunged. But she was too late.

The trident and Aladdin's magic lamp dropped into the black mire of ocean before her first stroke. Wart sunk as the whale dug into the darkness. Only the clicking of the monster's teeth penetrated the muted landscape.

Babbles spewed from Ariel's mouth as the whale's dorsal fin ripped by. Thrashed violently by the current, Ariel reached blindly for the whale as it dove for Wart. Her hands slid over the spine Suddenly, her thumbs caught. Joints bending, Ariel flipped upside down, holding to a notch in the fluke.

Kicking for a grip, Ariel held.

The whale pulled her down.

And down…

And down…

Down where the cold chewed her mind.

Down where the pressure rucked her skin, muscles, and bones

Down where the only thing keeping her alive…was the memory of a boy with angry eyes, iron smile, and heart of gold.

The whale swerved. Ariel's eyes flew open. She searched for Wart. She found him, a helpless skeleton frozen in fear and trapped beneath the monstrous jaws. Ariel struggled. She fought to keep her eyes open against the current as the whale grinned for the boy's neck.

Then, she saw it.

The trident! Winking in the waning light.

Ariel choked. The trident was falling, but was outpaced even faster by the whale. Water ran through Ariel's nose and throat as the whale blazed through the ocean. The trident bonked harmlessly of the whale's snout and somersaulted soundlessly towards the tail.

Clinging with one hand, Ariel lunged. The trident twirled over her palm and nicked against her fingertips. Hand slipping off the fluke Ariel reached.

And as she grasped the shaft, the whale jerked. The great fluke wrenched, flinging Ariel into the ocean.

Fists shot into Ariel's face. The ocean pulled her body, suspending she and the trident in a block of black water.

Locked in panic, Ariel froze. There was nothing. Nothing but the haunting click of teeth against a boy's silent screams.

Aching, Ariel curled over her trident.

Help.

Her hair rose like a flame as she sunk.

Help.

The trident glimmered. The teeth throbbed. A ripple pushed against the ocean.

Help. Wart. Lamp. Whale. Help.

"Whale?"

Ariel hugged the trident. The teeth pressed into her cheek.

"You know….I speak whale."

Ariel's head lifted. She tried to look. She couldn't. Again, she tried.

"…Ariel?"

Slowly, Ariel's eyes opened. Hair waved like red silk across her face.

The trident sparkled in her surprise.

Fish. Weaving in and out of the trident's golden light, were six fish. A regal blue tang with huge purple eyes. She was flanked by two clown fish, one small the other not. They were covered in the shadow of three—

— the trident sputtered gold as Ariel choked –

– sharks!

The sharks grinned. Teeth gleaming, the great white advanced.

"'ello. Name's Bruce."

Ariel screamed.

"Ariel!"

A yellow and cerulean blur fluttered into her hair. Frightened, Ariel thrashed as the sharks nosed closer, smiling.

"Ariel! Ariel! It's me! Me!" A yellow snout pressed against her nose. "Ariel! It's me! Flounder!"

Ariel cringed. Her heart was pulverizing her chest. Flounder?

Flounder nodded. Shuffling backwards, he pointed at the trident.

"Remember? The trident? Aquapathy? We felt you – we heard you thinking. Ariel –?"

Anxiously, Flounder dartled around Ariel as she tried to speak. Her panic and pain bled through the water, disorienting her thoughts.

"Ariel? What's wrong? What's –"

Ariel opened her mouth, groping for air. Her lungs were begging for air. Her head was buzzing. Whale!Wart!Whale!Lamp!Whale!Wart!Whale!

"Geeze." The royal blue cocked her head. "She looks uncomfortable."

"She's thinking too fast! Moving too much!" The larger clown fish flapped besides Flounder. Placidly, he flattened his fins. "Okay human. Calm down. Deep breath. Deeeeeeep –"

"Dad!" The little clown fish waddled forward. Ariel noticed a gimpy fin as he tugged her streaming hair. "Dad! She's a girl! A human girl! She can't breathe water!"

"Yikes!" the royal blue smiled. "Gutsy! Wonder what she's doing way down here in the big blue sea –"

"Dori! Marlin! Nemo!" Flounder scolded the royal blue and father and son clown fish. The sharks glided closer as Flounder gestured urgently. His voice squeaked with panic. "Bruce! Anchor! Chum! Get Ariel to the surface! Quick! Quick! Quick!"

The sharks darted. Their teeth glittered as they swarmed Ariel.

"Right-o mate!" said Anchor the hammerhead, burrowing under her arm.

Ariel felt the water rushing over her shoulders as the mako shark lifted her by the other arm. "Aoi, Bruce. She smells tasty! Just a nibble? She don't need all those toes—"

"Save it Chum!" laughed the great white. His face was red as the setting sun bled through the ocean. "Remember: friends of fish are still friends – not food! Annnnnnd here we go! Up and up and – "

The ocean exploded. Hair flipping back, Ariel sprayed icy droplets into the air as she breathed.

"Flounder!"

"Ariel!"

Flounder and his fishy friends – Dori, Marlin, and Nemo – scuttled through the water. The sharks sliced around them as Flounder panted. "Ariel are – "

"Wart!" Ariel shouted. The fish jumped. "Wart! The boy! My friend! There's a whale! Chasing him! And the lamp it sunk –but Wart! Help him! Save him! The whale!"

Flounder jittered but turned without hesitation to his friends. "Ummmm okay! Okay! Umm! Sharks! Bruce! Anchor! Chum! Go get the boy! Ariel's friend! Don't eat him! Just stop Monstro! Stop the whale!"

"Whale!" The mako –Chum— bounced excitedly through the waves before diving underwater. "Oi! I love whales! Taste like fish! Yummmmmmmmm!"

"Marlin! Nemo!" Flounder waved a fin at the clownfish. "You come with me! Let's go find that lamp! And Dori—"

"Huh?" Light snapped open the royal blue's eyes. "Oh, oh, oh! That's me! That's me! Yeah? Yeah? Yeah?"

"Help Ariel!" Flounder ordered as he and the clownfish dove. "Don't let her drown!"

"Rrrrrrrrrright!" Dori saluted as they disappeared. "Don't let Ariel drown! Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming….Oooooo…"

Blankly, Dori turned in a circle. Bumping into Ariel she smiled. "Ooooo boy. Who's Ariel?"

"She's fish bait!"

Ariel buckled. Face slamming into the water, she curled over the trident as Lana pounced. Bubbles popped into her eyes as Lana hooked one arm around her neck and the second around the trident.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!' Dori wailed, tumbling over the mermaid's tail. "Ahhhhhhhhhhh! That's bullying and that's not cool!"

"Don't worry!" Lana hissed, squeezing Ariel's throat. She wrestled for the trident as five mermaids dragged Ariel underwater. "We're only going to drown her –"

Suddenly they sagged. The water sucked Ariel, Dori, and the mermaids into a vacuum like puppets on a string.

Pulling against Lana, Ariel looked down.

Flying upwards, Wart straddled unconscious in their fins, were the three sharks. Fluttering over their heads, lamp in hand, were Flounder, Marlin, and Nemo.

Below them was a mouth. A red, raw, razor sharp mouth.

Monstro.

"Whale!" The mermaids scattered. "Whale!"

"Whale?" Obliviously, Dori gazed down Monstro's bloodstained gullet. "You know…I speak whale. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed hellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllp-puuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhh!"

Ariel grabbed Dori. She kicked.

But they hadn't a chance.

Monstro struck them like a thousand storms.

Ariel crashed as the savage whale ripped the ocean to shreds. Mermaids, fish, arms, fins, teeth, and darkness collided across her vision.

The moments attacked without sequence, without sense. Lana grabbed her trident. Her wrist twisted back. Flounder whirled through her hair. Wart slammed into her arms. Her lip cut open against a rail of teeth. Dori yowled Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed hellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllp-puuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhh as Monstro roared so hard Ariel screamed just to make the sound end.

Then, came another sound. It trumpeted suddenly from a steady background hum underlying the chaos. A staggeringly calm, beautiful baritone…

Ariel opened her eyes.

A whale.

Another whale.

An ancient, graceful blue whale with a singing …yawning…enormous….mouth….

"No!" Lana squealed. Frantically, she yanked the trident as Ariel and Wart swirled downwards into the blue whale. Hair flapping in her face, Lana squeaked as they plummeted. "No! No! No! Give me the trident! Give it to me!"

Ariel screamed. Wart dislodged and disappeared into the blue whale's mouth as she struck the baleen. Arm angled painfully, she wrestled Lana for the trident.

"Give me the trident!" Lana shrieked as Flounder, Marlin, Dori, and Nemo pulled her hair. Behind her, the sharks were retreating. Monstro charged, eyes crazy with hunger.

Venomously, Lana thrashed knocking the fish from her hair. She turned the trident, twisting Ariel's wrist. "You'll never be a mermaid!"

Monstro dove. The water boiled with his hate.

Ariel tried to speak, tried to warn her.

Lana twisted the trident again.

"You'll never be a mermaid! You're nothing! Nothing! Dead as your mermaid mother!"

Monstro roared.

"Give me the trident!" Lana screamed into Ariel's eyes. "Give it to me so I can give it to the seawitch you —eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

Monstro hit.

Lana spun. The trident ripped from Ariel's hand.

And the blue whale closed its mouth, covering Ariel in darkness.

"NO!"

Ariel knew she was screaming. But she could not hear. Her ears filled with thick, slimy water burning with the whale's heat.

She was falling down, sliding through the darkness, going too fast to stop.

Then…

….SHPOOOOSH!

Ariel vaulted upwards. Breathless she lifted, suspended in a stream of air as water droplets danced over her feet.

Then, after a fleeting glance at the blue whale's blow hole, Ariel fell.

Thud.

Every bone cracked.

Ariel opened her eyes. She saw the sky. A battle of crimson and magenta in the sunset. She flexed her fingers. Snow. Snow. She was…on land.

Suddenly something chicked by her ear.

Then, she heard her name.

"Ariel! Ariel! Ariel!"

Slowly, Ariel turned her head.

The lamp sat innocently by her ear.

Pushing up, one hand on the lamp, Ariel searched the ocean.

Jumbled in the waves were the three sharks, the two clownfish, the royal blue, and Flounder.

Frantically, Flounder waved as the blue whale slapped it's fluke triumphantly. "Ariel! You okay?"

Suddenly, the waves trembled. A shadow crossed the ocean as Monstro roared and the mermaids amassed.

"Bye Ariel!" Flounder waved, jumping in line with his friends. His voice turned into bubbles as he left. "Remember – call if you need me! Good luck! Good luck!"

Weakly Ariel raised a hand, in thanks.

Then, closing her fist, she remembered.

"My trident…Lana has…my trident! Flounder! Wait!"

Scampering across the snow, Ariel ran to the edge of the cliff. Snow slipped under her shoes as she reached for the disappearing fish. "Wait! Flounder! Flounder!"

"Ariel."

Ariel turned. "Wart!"

Skipping over the snow Ariel seized Wart. The lamp dropped as she hugged him. "Wart! You're okay! You're okay! Wart I was so scared!"

Wart was shaking. But, with surprising steadiness he spoke. "Me too. But…you did it. You did it, Ariel. We got out."

Shivering, he drew back. His blue eyes were bloodshot. "Are you okay?"

Ariel scooped up the lamp. "I am. Now. Thanks to Flounder. But…the lamp. I didn't get it to Aladdin. And…my trident…"

Angrily, Ariel yelled at the ocean. "She stole it! Lana you...! Lana! She stole my trident!"

Wart bit his lip. "So…neither of us have a magical gift…"

Ariel glared at the waves. She could still hear Monstro. "No."

"And…they're still trapped inside the school? Merida, Robin, Mulan, Rapunzel, and Flynn."

Ariel raked her hair. She gripped the lamp in both hands. She felt naked without the trident. "Along with everybody else."

Wart gazed at the horizon. The sun sunk in the sky. "Sunset…on the second day…" he murmured. "Sunset on the second day…Ariel?"

Ariel nodded. "What?"

Wart nodded at the sun. "On the third day….sunset on the third day….what happens?"

Ariel swallowed. She fought a shiver. "Maleficent said…she was going to…kill our families. Our parents."

Wart stiffened. "And…Headmaster Mickey…he set up the magic wall. He's…he's the only one that can take it down. But… he put it up with the magic broom and bucket…to protect us. Before he left. Right?"

Ariel nodded. "Right. He left to…"

"…surrender." Wart finished. "To Maleficent."

Ariel was quiet. Helplessly, she turned, looking for the black vortex in the sky. Immediately she found it. Off in the distance. Curling over Petrified Forest.

Wart whispered to her back. "Ariel. I don't think Headmaster Mickey should surrender."

Sunlight spilled over Ariel's shoulders. Her shadow bent crookedly across the snow.

Securing the lamp and taking Wart's hand, Ariel headed for Petrified Forest.

"At least…not without a fight."

sultal's note again: This is prob a good time to mention this. Above, I did a shout out for HeartOfGold7. I know that a lot of you are writers and readers and you come across (or are writing) awesome fanfictions (for peter pan, treasure planet, little mermaid). I believe in spreading the word about new fanfictions. Typically, I do not review (because time is an issue), but I have no problem doing 'shout outs' for stories in these end notes. So, if you read a story or have a story and want me to shout it out to spread the word, just shoot me a PM and we'll get 'er done!