The Sea's Dark Secret [A Little Mermaid Fanfic]

Chapter 1

Ariel suddenly gasped, flying out of her bed. Her ruby red hair matted and sticking to her face, the sweat forming beads as they slowly dripped down her cheeks. She looked wildly around the room, wondering where she was. Thankfully, she was still in the royal bed-chamber that she shared with her beloved husband, Eric. She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the moonlight fall on his face, his hair unusually messy. Perhaps he had also had a rough night.

Instead of falling back asleep, Ariel slipped out of the bed, her feet meeting the cold ground below. They felt around for a minute before she was able to find her slippers. Once her feet were warmed, she lifted herself from her bed, throwing on her baby blue night covering and leaving the royal bed-chamber. She often did this when she couldn't sleep, which had been happening more lately, for some reason. The first thing she always did after this, was to go and check in on her beloved daughter.

Sure enough, when Ariel poked her head into the room, she smiled when she saw her sixteen-year-old daughter asleep in her bed. Melody had become slightly more troublesome lately, but it was nothing that Ariel couldn't handle. Melody had inherited her unpredictable behaviour from her after all. Ariel would simply have to endure it as her father had.

Once she was sure that Melody was safe and asleep, Ariel headed out to the balcony where she often went to think. It was the one time when she could be alone. The balcony was one overlooking the sea and Ariel sat down on the bench, leaning against the stone back of it and staring out at the moon's reflection on the water.

What had awoken her this time? Like every other time, Ariel was unable to identify what had woken her. It always felt like a nightmare, though she was always unable to remember it. It was like something was blocking her from remembering, and the only way she did remember was in the nightmares.

She let out a sigh and slumped. Ever since her sisters had come to visit a month ago, she had been having more and more nightmares. Was it something to do with them?

"Honey?"

Ariel glanced over her shoulder to see Eric standing in the doorway, his hand resting on the stone arch. He gave her a soft smile and walked over to her, sitting down next to her and pulling her into his embrace.

"Did I wake you," she asked, inhaling Eric's calming scent of the sea. He had just returned from a treaty across the sea and the smell of her home clung to him like glue.

Eric chuckled and pressed a kiss to her forehead, "Maybe."

Ariel frowned. "I've been waking you up the other times too, haven't I?"

Eric nodded. "So what's on your mind? Is it Melody?"

Lately, Melody had gotten it in her head that she wanted to accompany her father on one of his trips to try out her diplomatic skills, even though both Ariel and Eric knew that she was nowhere near ready enough to face the trials that Eric dealt with. She didn't see him stress before the meetings, nor did she see him nearly ripping his hair out when he returned. He often fell asleep within an hour of returning home. Ariel always told Melody that he was just tired from the trip, but she knew that these meetings took a lot out of him.

Ariel shook her head. "No. It's something else." There was no use in lying to the prince. He had figured out years ago how to tell when Ariel was lying.

"Nightmare?"

"I think so. But I can't remember anything about the nightmare. It's like it's just out of reach, or something is blocking it."

"How long has this been happening?"

"Since my sisters came a month ago."

Eric sighed. "Well, your sisters will be here tomorrow. Maybe you should talk to them about it. I'm sure they could help you more than a human could."