Into the Spotlight: A Little Mermaid Remix

Chapter 13

A/N: Picture of Queen Natalie... surprised? ^

Prince Liam smiled happily to himself.

He'd talked to Oceania Remembered! For hours!

He'd learned both so much and so little at the same time, but learning something was better than nothing.

Rem was the youngest of a lot of siblings. The exact number, Rem wouldn't say. But it was clear he was both highly pressured to live up to them and ignored at the same time.

It was apparent only a select few of Rem's family knew his identity. Liam knew Rem had to have at least five siblings because he'd stated that four of them knew of his alter ego.

At least five! That's insane! I could never imagine having four more Willows. How does he ever get anything accomplished? How does he keep everything straight?

Prince Liam had no idea.

He'd also learned Rem's siblings were all very accomplished individuals, and that Rem was expected to live up to them.

And here's where things got confusing.

Liam couldn't understand why Rem would hide his musical success from his family. If he was so highly pressured to be great and successful in life, why would he hide it from his family?

It made no sense.

Not to mention, Rem's strange actions with salt.

Liam wasn't an expert, but he knew people didn't drink straight-up saltwater. After going home, he'd asked Willow about it, and she'd given him an in-depth, but also simplified biological explanation.

*v*

"Rem did what?! Why didn't you stop him?!" Willow gasped, her fiery red hair waving about her face as she clapped her hands over her mouth. "He could really hurt himself doing that!"

"Uhh why exactly? And how? It's just salt and water." Liam did not understand why his sister was so pale or freaking out so terribly.

"Exactly! It's saltwater! I knew you didn't pay attention to our biology lectures last year." Willow was positively fretting, hastily tucking her hair behind her ears and pacing the floor in agitation.

Liam watched with wide eyes and arched eyebrows from his spot on the couch in his sister's bedroom. He'd returned late, but had accidentally woken her up by tripping and falling with a thump on the floor right outside her bedroom. After he tripped over his words apologizing, she'd managed to pry out of him what he'd been up to. Now, the lamps on both of her nightstands were casting a warm yellow glow throughout the room, giving Willow, with her red hair and light blue floor-length nightgown, a halo.

Her actions were making Liam more nervous by the second. He truly had no idea what he'd done, or rather, what Rem had done to make his sister so anxious.

Abruptly, without a single warning, Willow stopped her pacing to face him, with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Salt is soluble in water, which is a fancy way of saying salt dissolves in water. The dissolved salt could also be called a solute. Water always follows solute-"

"Like the sentinel guards follow the king." Liam repeated automatically. That was the one thing he remembered. But it had no context... or relevance.

"Yes! You're not so forgetful after all." Willow beamed slightly, proud that he at least tried to pay attention before her expression sank back into one of seriousness. "Do you know what water following solute is supposed to mean?"