Chapter Thirteen

Melody sat on a nearby rock and stared at the mermaid in front of her. The Little Mermaid, a being of words, didn't seem to have a care in the world. She sat on her rock overlooking her garden as still as a statue, giving Melody little heed. If Melody had to guess, she was no older than seven years old. Her hair floated freely in the water and her chest heaved up and down ever so slightly as she breathed, but other than that, it was as if she were made of the same marble as the statue.

"So, who is that?" Melody gestured to the figure amid the flowers.

"I don't know. The statue was found in one of the shipwrecks. I rather like the look of his face. And it's a wonderful addition to my garden. Aren't my flowers pretty?"

"Yeah, but I prefer cornflowers. What's your prince's name? Mr. Andersen didn't name any of you." Now that Melody understood where she was, it was easy to put together the sailor during the storm was the prince character.

"I don't have a prince."

"Sure, you do. He's the one you were saving from drowning during the storm."

"What storm? There hasn't been a storm in these parts for at least several months now."

"You really don't know the rest of your story, do you?" Melody put together. "You don't know anything about the sea witch, or the prince, or the…" Unhappy ending.

"Of course, I know about the sea witch. Grandmother has told me about her plenty of times," the Little Mermaid sounded hurt. "But I don't have a reason to go see her. Magic can be very dangerous and is not meant to be played with."

"That's true." Melody thought of the trident and how dangerous it was in the wrong hands. And right now, the trident was in Morgana's tentacles. Melody could picture Morgana wielding the trident and putting her entire family in blocks of ice. Or changing them into polyps.

Or worse.

"Hey, are you okay?" The book character abandoned her rock to pat Melody's hand in comfort.

"I'm just worried about my family. I don't know what Morgana's done to them." Melody's tears were swallowed by the ocean as soon as they left her eyes. "And that means I can't just wait around. I must find a way out of here and save my family."

Determined to escape, Melody got up from the rock.

Just how do you escape from a book?

Morgana intended this to be a prison. And prisons had windows; prisons had doors; prisons had locks.

Everywhere she looked was normal ocean. Except when Melody had come across the white void.

"Look, Little Mermaid…actually, do you mind if I call you Atiana?" The name came from a mermaid story she had overheard the servants speaking of while they worked. It was so long-ago Melody couldn't recall what had happened in the story, but she always remembered the name: Atiana. At it seemed better to call someone by a name instead of just adjectives. Even if that someone was a book character.

"Atiana," the character rolled the name around. Then she smiled. "I like that very much."

"Come with me. Please. I'd like to try something."

They swam in a random direction, but as Melody suspected it didn't take long for them to arrive at the void.

"Can you see it?"

"Yes." Atiana put her hand into the void before Melody could warn her. Thankfully the mermaid was able to pull her hand back without difficulty.

"Did you feel anything? Do you know what this is?"

"I didn't feel anything. And…no. I have no idea what this is. I've never seen it before."

"Could you try swimming through it? See what's on the other side? Only if you want to. I'm not sure what will happen."

"I'll do it."

Atiana swam ahead and was swallowed by whiteness. Melody swam in circles, waiting for any kind of sign her cellmate was fine.

Atiana came swimming through again.

And swam directly towards her garden, ignoring Melody completely.

"Hey!" Melody got in front of her. "What was there?"

"What was where?" Atiana looked confused.

Melody groaned. Not this again. "You don't remember me at all?"

"Of course, I do. You're Melody."

"Right. And you agreed to swim into the void. Remember that?"

"I did?"

"Hey, what's that?" Melody pointed to a seashell in Atiana's hand. On the shell was scribbled a hasty note: It was my birthday.

"Birthday?" Melody questioned out loud. Was that the next part of the story? She had only heard the story once; the minor details seemed to escape her.

Atiana must have swum back to the rock while Melody was looking at the note. The Little Mermaid had resumed her position and remained quietly content to gaze at her statue. Melody remembered the storm and the waves being on a loop; it was as if Atiana was caught in one just for her.

She's waiting for her story to be read.

"Atiana?" Melody approached.

"Hello, Melody."

"Do you know what happens on your birthday?"

"When I turn fifteen, I will be allowed to view the world above. But that's not for a few years still."

"Atiana, I don't know how else to tell you this, but we're, I mean, you are a storybook character. I've been trapped inside your book, and I need to get out. I think if we swim through those voids we can get to the end of the story and that will be how I get out. Will you come with me? Will you help me? I'm not sure what will happen if I do it by myself."

Atiana took the news that she was a product of imagination and ink very well. She didn't argue or complain but accepted it as if Melody had told her the sun was hot. Her only reaction was to smile and say, "Of course. What are friends for?"

And the two mermaids swam straight ahead into the first white void.