Chapter Eighteen
"Guess we better get going." Melody gulped at the thought of having to swim through the polyps.
"I guess. After you?" Atiana looked just as scared.
"No need to be scared. You'll be fine. I know you make it through." You die at the end, not here.
"Well, I haven't made it through just yet." Atiana began to wind her long hair around her head, clipping it in place with oyster shells. "Want one?"
"Thanks." Melody followed suit, even though her hair was not as long.
"On three? One…two…THREE!"
Atiana crossed her arms in front of her chest and darted forward, her body moving as straight as an arrow. Melody did the same and tried to stay right behind her friend. Both girls breathed a sigh in relief when they made it to the other side.
The witch's hut stood before them. It was made from bones, like a peasant might make a hut from twigs instead of logs. Yellow water snakes were rolling about in the yard, and there was a small porch where the sea witch sat in a chair.
And that was the most disturbing sight of all; a toad was eating straight out of the witch's mouth.
"That is so gross," Melody mumbled as she swam closer. "Uh, hello. My name is Melody and I need your help."
The sea witch paid Melody no attention. She just sat there, content with her mouth open and a toad eating from it.
"Hello? Paying customer in need of magic here."
"I know very well what you want," the sea witch finally spoke. The toad was now in her lap, and she pet it like a lapdog.
"Great. How do I get out…"
"You wish to get rid of your fish-tail and have two limbs instead…"
"Um, no, that's not why I'm here." Melody turned around and saw Atiana had been behind her. It was to her the sea witch had been speaking.
The sea witch continued, explaining the deal and the price the mermaid princess would have to pay. Both went on as if they were actresses in a play, completely oblivious to Melody standing by. There was a small break when Atiana agreed to the terms and the sea witch began to gather the necessary ingredients.
"I need help, too." Melody swam in front of the witch. "How do I break Morgana's spell?" At the mention of Morgana's name, Melody couldn't help but notice how this sea witch had a passing resemblance.
Mr. Andersen's sea witch had the green tinted skin Morgana had, and the white hair. Unlike Morgana, this witch looked younger and prettier with softer features. Her hair was in seven braids that were piled on top her head. It reminded Melody of the voodoo priestesses she had heard about in other stories she had read. And this sea witch had a black fin, not tentacles.
Still, the sea witch went about her business of cleaning her cauldron, unaware of Melody's presence.
"Cleanliness is a good thing," the sea witch said as she scrubbed her cauldron with a bundle of snakes.
"Atiana," Melody swam up to her friend. "You need to ask for me. How do I get out of here? Atiana!"
Melody had to shake her literary friend. It was as if she was in the same trance when she was sitting on the rock in her garden.
"I need your help. Please. Ask her how I get out of here."
"How might my friend break from a spell?" Atiana spoke with difficulty.
The sea witch looked up from her task. Both the witch and the mermaid stared at each other for a long while. Then the witch returned to making the potion and Atiana back to patiently waiting for her tongue to be cut out.
Fine. I'll get answers myself.
Melody swam inside the hut. There was a bed, a small cushion (Melody assumed that was for the toad) and a shelf full of books and various jars. Melody grabbed a book at random, saw the cover read "Spells" and flipped it open to page one. A pit began to grow in her stomach as she went from page to page to page.
Each one was completely blank.
"What?" Melody desperately grabbed and opened another book. "Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and caldron bubble? This is from Macbeth!"
Melody swam over to the jars and began to read the labels. "Eye of newt? Frog toes? Dogs tongue? There aren't even dogs under the sea!" Upon further inspection, Melody found that each of the jars were empty or impossible to open. They were little more than props.
Going back outside the hut, Melody could see the sea witch tossing ingredients into the cauldron. But the "ingredients" weren't really anything. Just colored clouds of dust. When Melody inspected the tossed aside jars, there weren't even labels on them.
This sea witch wasn't really a witch. She was a creature made from ink and imagination; just like Atiana.
When the drink had been brewed and it came time for the payment, the "sea witch" took a knife to the mermaid's mouth. Melody squealed and covered her eyes.
Oh, Mr. Andersen, why did you have to write something like that?
There was the faintest stream of blood that left Atiana's mouth as it dispersed through the water. Atiana clutched the bottle she had paid dearly for and darted off again through the polyp forest. This time, the polyps all shrank back from her.
Melody was too tired to chase after her, but within a minute she saw Atiana return, without the bottle.
"I know very well what you want," the sea witch repeated as Atiana swam up to her.
Melody huddled into a corner of the sea witch's porch, away from the fat sea snakes and the ugly pet toad. She watched as the scene repeated itself over and over. Melody allowed herself the chance the rest.
She wasn't getting out anytime soon. And Melody was simply out of ideas.
I want to make it clear, the whole part about the toad eating from the sea witch's mouth is actually from the story. I did not come up with that.