Chapter 2

The chatter of seven sisters could be heard from far outside of their dressing room and throughout the many halls of the palace of Atlantica. Getting ready for their day was never a quick task as they all passed combs and bottles of lipstick back and forth. Each daughter of Triton knew they were respected members of society and needed to look their very best (a few of them were even trying to get the attention of some lucky mermen).

Ariel sat at her vanity and watched the exchanges. Attina and Alana each passed some hair clips back and forth, deciding which one would best serve their purpose. Arista and Aquata bickered over who a comb belonged to (neither, it was Alana's). Andrina casually pestered Adella about a shade of lipstick. "That one makes your boobs look too big."

Ariel looked back at herself in her mirror and sighed as she returned to slowly brushing her tangled hair. Maybe one day she would be able to find a quiet place in the palace. However, she also cherished her sisters' presence. She could only imagine how eerie it would be every morning if she awoke to no morning chatter, gossip, or arguments.

Actually, she didn't have to imagine what it would be like. She had experienced it once before during the first weeks following her mother's passing. The sisters found themselves suddenly having to get ready for their days without the help of their mother. It was quite a few somber mornings before the girls finally settled into a new motherless routine with only each other's company to occupy them.

"Ugh, Ariel. You still have a huge knot in the back of your head," Attina criticized as she swam past Ariel.

Ariel looked at her oldest sister in the mirror and shrugged. Obediently complying with her sister's silent request to hand her the hairbrush, Ariel placed it in Attina's hand.

Attina immediately began working through the knots of Ariel's unruly hair. "You know, you really should start wearing your hair up. It will help with all the knots. Letting it flow around you like this just gets it tangled faster."

"She's right. Even just a half updo would help," Alana added.

The youngest mermaid shook her head. "Then I'll have to spend time every morning brushing and styling my hair."

"Well, the point of it would be to spend less time brushing it, so it would work in your favor in the end."

"I guess so. I just–Ow!" Ariel winced as Attina tugged on a knot. "Can't you be gentler?"

"Yeah, Attina. Stop hurting our baby sister," Arista chirped in.

Andrina added, "You're supposed to start at the bottom and work your way up."

"I know how to brush her hair," Attina snapped, placing her hands on her hips as she stared down at her sisters. She then held out the comb towards them. "Would one of you like to come over here and brush her hair out? Andrina?"

"I'd rather do anything else than deal with that mess."

Ariel winced at the mention of her hair being a mess. Why couldn't her mother have been alive long enough to help her find her unique hairstyle like she did for the rest of her sisters? She took the brush out of Attina's hand, quickly retorting, "I can brush my own hair."

"Alright," Attina replied, placing both hands up as she swam back from her sister, giving up on her mission to help.

Returning again to brush out the knot, Ariel casually mentioned, "You know, I read that it's easier to brush our hair up on the surface when we're out of the water. It keeps our hair still. That's what our ancestors used to do."

With the immediate response of silence, she quickly regretted bringing up that topic. Ariel cautiously peered around her vanity and saw her sisters, paused in their tracks, all staring at her, a few of them with intense glares. Sheepishly, she focused back on her image in the mirror, but caught Attina's glare from behind her.

"And how many mermaids got themselves killed by brushing their hair on the surface for humans to see them?"

"We don't know. It was so long ago. It's all a myth," Ariel argued.

"Where did mother get killed?"

"Let it go, Attina," Alana jumped in, rising from her vanity. As the second eldest, she gracefully swam over to Ariel. "Father's not here. We don't have to discuss this topic so seriously."

Ariel crossed her arms. Turning to face Attina behind her, she snapped, "Mother didn't die brushing her hair!"

"Enough," Alana ordered. She placed her hands on Ariel's shoulders and turnedher to face the mirror. She watched through the reflection as Attina gave an annoyed "hump!" and swam out of the dressing room. The other five sisters returned to discussing topics amongst themselves. Alana began playing with Ariel's hair, gently using her fingers instead of a comb to finish detangling it. "You know, I really think just putting half your hair up would look nice. It would shape your face really well."

"I don't care about my hair," Ariel replied, looking down at her hands on her lap. She mindlessly picked at her cuticles.

"Sure, you do," Alana replied, picking up her youngest sister's chin. "You're beautiful and you should wear your hair accordingly. You're sixteen, Ariel. You're not a child anymore."

Ariel only shrugged in response, mumbling, "If only everyone would stop treating me like a child."

"Well, you are our baby sister. It's kind of our job," Alana laughed, curiously holding up different sections of Ariel's hair to see what different kinds of updos would look like on her. She then leaned in closer to Ariel's face and spoke in just a whisper, looking at her sister's reflection in the mirror as she did so, "I read about the surface thing too in one of my cosmetology books. It would be a lot easier."

"That's what I'm trying to say!" Ariel smiled.

"Alana? Are you ready?" Adela asked.

Alana dropped Ariel's hair. "Yep!"

"Where are you guys going?" Ariel inquired, slightly disappointed her moment with her sister had some to such a sudden end.

"Just…out…" Alana replied. The girls giggled then swam away. Alana's voice then faded away, "Think about that updo!"

"Okay…" Ariel softly responded, mainly to herself as her closest companion of her morning swam away. She glanced around at her three remaining sisters, all giggling with each other.

"I'll catch you later guys!" Aquata waved.

Ariel turned as Aquata swam past her. "Where are you going?"

"I'm off to early morning snail ball practice," she replied, her tone partially annoyed as if she was in a rush.

"If you're low on players, maybe I can help fill a spot for practice?" Ariel suggested, her stomach fluttered in the anticipation of acceptance.

Aquata raised an eyebrow then shook her head. "Nah, we're good. A kid from a school over is coming today to teach us some new plays. It's gonna be great!" She then swam off.

"What are you guys up to today?" Ariel then swam up to her two remaining sisters in the room, Andrina and Arista.

"I've got plans," was all Andrina replied before swimming away.

"Sorry, Ariel," Arista offered. "I've got a day planned with some friends. But I'll be at the Catfish club tonight if you want to come!"

Ariel frowned as her last sister swam away leaving her alone in the dressing room. Her sisters barely had any free time to spend with her anymore, always making plans without her. Besides, why would they want to hang out with their annoying, surface loving, baby sister anyway? Each time she made a comment about humans or the surface world they grew more and more weary of her.

"I guess I'll go see what Sybil is doing today," Ariel mumbled to herself.

Soft laughter rolled through the dreary house in Atlantica's outskirts. For the first time that day, Ariel finally felt surrounded by warmth and calmness. The first thing she did upon arriving at Sybil's was, after knocking politely, rant about her troublesome morning.

"Being the youngest is dreadful, isn't it?" Sybil commented, having finally gotten Ariel to take a seat at the table with some freshly made cookies before her. "Although Alana is right. An updo would look good on you."

"Actually, she said half updo," Ariel replied, rolling her eyes but finally smiling for the first time that morning as she took a cookie, well deserved after dealing with her sisters all morning.

"Nah," Sybil scoffed. "You're born for greatness. Put it all up. Show 'em you mean business."

Ariel made a face and shook her head. "I don't want to be like Attina. She's all bossy, and stuck up, and is just like Daddy. Every single time I make one mention of humans or the surface she gets herself into a tizzy. I mean, c'mon! I didn't even mention humans this time. All I was referring to was how our hair is different when in the air as opposed to in the water."

Sybil leaned back in her chair, hoping to shed light on Ariel's predicament. "Well, how old was Attina when your mother passed?"

"Twelve."

"That's twelve years of time she had with your mother suddenly ripped away from her. Imagine how much that must have hurt. It's still a sore subject for her," she explained. "We all know how your father wasn't there to help you girls through all that trauma."

Ariel nodded. "You know, you're the only person I can complain about Daddy to. No one else criticizes him on anything. Everyone immediately respects him since he's the king."

"Well, I believe respect needs to be earned," Sybil replied. "Don't get me wrong, he's done much good for this kingdom, but as a person and a father, knowing what I know from you and my experiences with him, he certainly has his flaws."

Ariel simply nodded, pondering the woman's words. Everyone had their flaws, and it wasn't as if she didn't love her father. If something ever happened to him, she would be devastated. She had many fond moments of her father laughing at the dinner table when they sat together as a family or of him coming to her rescue in her (many) times of need. But he lacked. He lacked so much that she needed. Her sisters lacked too. What did they lack? She did not know how to describe it. Perhaps it was a connection, or possibly the ability to understand her. Maybe it was their ability to accept her. As the youngest, was she born too late into the family to truly be a part of it? Was she the one with too many flaws?

"Let's go back to that hair thing again," Sybil suggested.

Ariel raised an eyebrow. "My updo?"

"The surface," Sybil corrected. She leaned forward from across the table as if she was about to tell a secret. "I've heard of that myth as well. Honestly, it scientifically makes sense. It's hard to brush hair when the tide keeps swaying it left and right. Long before the surface ban, when there were less humans around, merpeople spent much more time above the waves. I have recipes for sunburn treatment in some of my older medicine journals."

"What's sunburn?"

"The sun gives off light, but also heat. If you're out in direct sunlight for too long, your skin can get burnt. A burn without fire. Basically, it stings a lot and turns your skin red and dark. The medicine for it soothes the skin," the older mermaid explains.

"What's fire?"

Sybil thought for a second about how to best explain what she also had very little knowledge of. "It's another source of heat, except much more potent and dangerous. I'm not quite sure how it comes about, though."

"Wow," Ariel made a mental note to stay away from fire the next time she was on the surface.

"It's been a while," Sybil commented, gazing out a nearby window.

Ariel cocked her head to the side. "A while since what?"

"Since I've been to the surface. Neptune only knows what your father would do to me if he caught me up there."

Ariel sheepishly smiled as she confessed, "I've been up there a handful of times."

"You think I didn't know that already?" Sybil teased with a laugh. "You have a whole grotto filled with human items! Of course, you're going to sneak a peak of where they come from. I'd be shocked if you didn't."

"It's just so amazing up there!" Ariel exclaimed, ecstatic she could finally discuss what made her happiest. It was a secret she kept as best as she could, not wanting anyone to know she, Princess of Atlantica, broke the surface ban more often than she should have. She had been cautious to give this information to Sybil, knowing the woman's fragile status within Atlantica.

"How close do you get to land?" Sybil inquired, casually leaning back in her seat.

Ariel shrugged. "Not very close. Just up to some of the larger rocks that are nearshore. Everything still looks very small."

"Why don't you get a little bit closer?"

Ariel's heart skipped a beat at the thought. She felt a little bit nervous, a little bit scared, a little bit glad that Sybil was indulging this fascination of hers. "Closer?"

"Why not?" Sybil shrugged. "You're already breaking the surface ban."

"I couldn't. It's too risky."

Sybil leaned forward. "Fill that missing piece in your heart," she winked.

The older mermaid rose from her seat to let the young princess ponder her words. Ariel remained seated, silently, her heart beating faster at the idea, her brain now foggy with a flood of voices swimming though her head. She could gain that missing piece in her heart, but what was there to lose? Well, potentially her life or banishment from Atlantica. Still, the possible risk of danger could not quell the curiosity and passion pent up within her. The human world, it called to her.

Young Ariel would have never imagined it: Ms. Keryndel, the evil witch, who cooks merkids up in some soup and tells young princesses to visit the human world.

"Okay. I'm gonna do it."