Chapter 9
Good Night, Sweet Princesses
Attina sat in her bed alone, with her tail close to her chest. In her hands, she held her most prized prosecution, her childhood doll Friedrich, handed down from her mother. A sorrowful, teary-eyed expression covered her face as she remembered her mother, missing her dearly.
"Attina?" She was brought back to reality. She looked up to see her sisters had come into the room each with a concerned expression. "Are you ok?"
She didn't say anything, she just looked away. Aquata sat next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Attina, you know that you can talk to us."
"Why did she say it?"
"I... I don't know."
"I know she's mean at times but I never thought she would stoop this low," Arista said.
"You know, Sometimes I wonder if she's even our sister," Adella admitted.
"Of course she is," Attina said. "Just because we argue doesn't change the fact we're family."
"She doesn't act like it," Andrina stated with her arms crossed.
"Yeah. Come to think of it, I don't remember ever being nice to us." Alana added, looking down at the floor.
"Neither can I." Adella signed.
"Even when Ariel lived with us," Attina said. "She treated us like..."
"Threats to the throne." Aquata finished.
They sat in silence unsure of what to say next. Arista was close to tears. Aquata handed her Mr. Fuzzyfinkle which the blond cuddled to calm herself.
Suddenly, the silence was broken by a heated argument between Vanessa, Kath, Kari, and Susan. The six sisters were shocked by Vanessa's language towards the older women.
"Can you believe those old hags? Thinking that I'm too argent." Vanessa rhetorically stated as she came into the room.
"They're not wrong," Attina stated.
Vanessa glared at her older sister. "What did you say?" She gritted threw her teeth.
"They're not wrong." She bravely said, meeting Vanessa at eye level. "You've been acting horrible to us lately. Snitching on us, calling us names, and treating us like we mean nothing to you."
"Oh, and you're any better? You boss us around like we're your followers or something."
"No, she doesn't." Aquata defented. "She looks out for us like a real sister should. More than you ever have."
"Watch it, Aquma. I don't want Daddy to beach you for two more months," she mocked.
"For what? Standing up for Attina?" Alana said.
"No for bullying me."
"Bullying you? You're the one who's been bullying us!" Adella yelled.
"And we've had enough of it," Andrina added.
"We're your sisters, you should start treating us nicely," Arista stated.
Vanessa groaned and went into bed angrily. The others signed, and Attina shook her head in disapproval before heading to bed. One by one, they fell asleep.
"Thank you for sticking up for me," Attina said.
"What are sisters for?" Alana said before closing her eyes.
Attina smiled to herself, then fell asleep holding Friedrich close to her.
"Aquata," Arista whispered.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for letting me sleep with Mr. Fuzzyfinkle."
"Don't mention it." She yawned before going to sleep.
It was dead of night and the princesses slept peacefully, all except Vanessa.
"Time to get rid of them once and for all." She whispered.
She took out the potion from under her pillow. Quietly as she could, she dropped a small bit of the potion into each of their ears, one by one. Then she wrote a note before she swam out of the window towards the kelp forest where Flotsam and Jetsam were waiting.
"You know what you do?" She asked.
"Affirmative." The eels beamed.
"They swam towards the window while Vanessa swam into the kelp forest.
They picked up six diminutive pebbles and threw them through the window. Each hit one of the sisters on the head, waking them up.
"Ow." Arista rubbed her forehead.
"What the?" Alana said before heading to a mirror to check for any bruises.
Attina looked towards Vanessa's bed and saw the note.
Alana examined her reflection. She squinted her eyes. Was that a... grey scale?
"My teeth feel weird" Arista worried.
"What do you mean?" Aquata asked.
"They feel different."
"Different how?"
"Sharp." She gasped.
"What?"
"Girls," Attina called in horror.
They came over to their sister and read the note.
Dear Sisters
I can no longer live with myself after the way I have treated you. Therefore, I am going to spend the rest of my days in Dead-Fish Canyon.
Vanessa.
"Dead-Fish Canyon?!" Alana gasped.
"What have we done?!" Arista said guiltily.
Andrina looked out the window and saw a figure swimming deeper into the kelp forest.
"There she is." She pointed.
"Come on we've got to make things right before it's too late," Attina communicated.
Without losing a second, they saw out of the window and into the forest.
"Vanessa!" Aquata called out but Vanessa didn't stop, instead, she went faster.
They swam until they came out of the forest. They looked around trying to see where she was.
Adella weakly groaned, putting her hand on her forehead.
"Are you ok?" Andrina asked.
"Just feeling a little lightheaded." She looked at her sister. "What's wrong with eyes?"
"My eyes?" She hadn't noticed that her irises and pupils had turned white.
The others frantically searching for Vanessa.
"I see her!" Attina pointed, not noticing her clawed fingers.
They raced after her as fast as their fins could move. Aquata didn't notice her tail beginning to move side to side like an eel's.
Vanessa looked behind as she reached the edge of the canyon, a villainess grin on her face as she swam into the ravine.
"NO!" They screamed.
They looked over the edge unable to see anything through the mist.
"What do we do?" Arista asked.
"We can't go in there," Adella said.
Attina looked down determinedly. "We have to. She's our sister."
Bravely the sisters dove into the gorge. From a hole in the wall, Vanessa swam out and exited the canyon just as Flotsam and Jetsam arrived.
"Keep an eye on them." She said, stroking their chins.
The eels chortled and then swam into the canyon and into a hole that led to a network of tunnels.
Vanessa softly cackled before heading for home.
The Princesses reached the floor and every ounce of fear came back to them.
"Stick together." Attina communicated, earning nods from the others.
They swam deeper and deeper into the spooky canyon, their eyes darting around in case of predators.
"Vanessa," Arista whispered.
They paused at a rumbling sound.
"What was that?" Andrina asked.
"Barracudas?" Aquata gulped.
Suddenly Adella fell unconscious onto the rocky ground.
"Adella!" Arista screamed. "Are you... o... key?" She too fell out cold.
"Quick get... help... them..." Attina didn't finish before fainting.
"Atinna?!" Andrina cried before losing consciousness.
"What's happening?" Alana panicked. "Why are..." She fell to the ground.
"Don't worry girls, I'll get help," Aquata reassured, but before she could move she felt dizzy before falling out cold as well.
They lay there unconscious, unaware of the metamorphosis that was happening to them.