It was all Ariel had dreamed and more. She had had one of the best days of her life. Although she had had a day almost like today with Harry, she felt Eric was better for her. Prince Eric was her true love; not Harry. All her feelings of depression over Harry Potter left her as she rode with Eric in a horse-drawn carriage.
Eric decided to go out with Ariel to a river. He felt the ocean was too unpredictable and they might drown. ("Pity the girl with the voice wouldn't be there to save us, I don't think," said Eric, causing Ariel to smile awkwardly, then she face-palmed herself.)
Eric took a boat that he left there a long time ago after going fishing by himself. Ariel noticed that it looked similar to the boat from Durmstrang, in shape and size at least. She felt that this might go the same way as it did last time; getting so close to true love's kiss, but so far, and with some catchy song being sung in the background. Since Sebastian, Flounder, and Scuttle remember nothing of Harry, they'd most likely do the same thing as last time. Ariel wanted to kiss him herself, but she knew that he had to kiss her in order to be free from Ursula's hands.
~~~
"Hey, guys! What's happening?" said Flounder, as he swam over to Sebastian and Scuttle, who were watching Ariel and Eric float down the river.
"Nothing is happening!!" shouted Scuttle, waving his wings in the air out of frustration. Sebastian and Flounder shushed at him.
"Dey spent all afternoon taking a tour around the kingdom, had a small dance, and now dis," said Sebastian. "And not so much as a peck on de cheek!"
"What do we do?" asked Scuttle.
"This may be our last chance," said Flounder.
"First, we got to create de right kind of mood," said Sebastian.
"You mean like...candlelight and champagne?" asked Scuttle.
"Nonsense, it don't take all dat," said Sebastian. "Everyting we need, we got right here." He dove underwater to find a good conducting stick. He swam over to some ducks and turtles, and began to conduct them. "Percussion!" The turtles allowed the ducks to beat on their shells like drums. Sebastian swam over to a chorus of crickets. "Strings!" The crickets began to play a sweet melody, one similar to that of a violin chorus. "Winds!" Wind blew through the blades of grass all around them, creating a sound as sweet as that of a dozen flutes, oboes, and other winds. He then climbed onto a rock near the boat. "Words," said Sebastian. Then, he began to sing, as he did last year.
"Dere you see her, sitting dere across de way. She don't got a lot to say, but dere's someting about her..." He climbed onto a low tree limb and weighed it down towards Eric, and sang in his ear. "And you don't know why, but you're dying to try; you wanna...kiss the girl..." Prince Eric turned his head to see who sang in his ear, but the tree limb swayed back up just as he turned around.
"Did you hear something?" asked Eric.
Ariel shrugged and smiled sheepishly.
"Yes, you want her," continued Sebastian, and he was joined by many other animals. "Look at her, you know you do. Possible she want you, too. Dere is one way to ask her... It don't take a word, not a single word; go on, and kiss de girl." Sebastian swam underwater, and spoke to all the fish and animals underwater.
"Sing wit me now."
They all joined Sebastian in the song. "Sha-la-la-la-la-la, my-oh-my! Look like de boy too shy, ain't gonna kiss de girl! Sha-la-la-la-la-la, ain't that sad? Ain't it a shame? Too bad! He gonna miss de girl."
Eric put the oars down and looked at Ariel. "You know," said Eric, "it's a shame I don't know your name... Maybe I could guess?" He sat for a minute, thinking. "Um, Mildred?"
Ariel took slight offense to this and a disgusted look swept across her face.
Eric laughed. "Okay, no...Diana?" Ariel shook her head. "Rachel?"
"Ariel! Her name is Ariel!" said Sebastian in a hurried whisper, in Eric's ear.
"Ariel..." repeated Eric. Ariel smiled and nodded her head quickly. "Ariel??" asked Eric, excited that he had finally known her name. "Hey, that's kinda pretty... Okay, Ariel..."
The sea creatures began singing again, as the boat - which Eric had stopped steering, so the current steered them - drifted into a small lagoon.
"Now's your moment," sang the creatures and Sebastian.
"La, la, la," sang some tadpoles.
"Floating in a blue lagoon."
"La, la, la."
"Guess you better do it soon! No time will be better..."
"La, la, la, la, la, la..."
"She don't say a word, and she won't say a word until you kiss de girl!"
All the creatures sang together.
"Sha-la-la-la-la-la, don't be scared, you got de mood prepared! Go on and kiss de girl!"
A group of tuna sang, "Woah, woah!"
"Sha-la-la-la-la-la, music play, do what de music say; you gotta kiss de girl. You gotta kiss de girl. You gotta kiss de girl... You gotta kiss de girl... Go on and kiss de girl!!"
Eric leaned in towards Ariel, who was already leaning in towards him, her eyes closed.
"Go on and kiss the girl!"
Just as their lips were about to touch, the boat was forcefully tipped over. All the animals fled from the lagoon in fear. Ariel and Eric fell into the river.
"Are you okay?" asked Eric.
Ariel nodded, but she was crushed deep down. She didn't know if it was river water or tears that streamed down her face.
~~~
Flotsam and Jetsam shook tails on their job-well-done, as Ursula spoke to them through her crystal "ball".
"Excellent work, boys," said Ursula. "That was a close one..." She swam away from the crystal bubble in frustration. "Too close! Oh, that little tramp!" She swam to her cabinet of ingredients, and pulled out a vial with a butterfly in it. "It's time I break out what I should have broken out yesterday... It's time I make history repeat itself, just as that little blue one-eyed demon told me! It's time Ursula took matters into her own tentacles!" She swam over to her cauldron, vial in hand, and threw the vial into the cauldron, lifting up her seashell necklace. The cauldron smoked up and the color was green.
She began to sing the incantation for her transformation into Vanessa.
"Mascarus, tiarus, thy winds of the tropics appear! Catharsis, lavorious, et qua manicurus, mutato me here!" She began to turn into a beautiful, brown-haired lady, and, as she cackled, her voice changed into Ariel's voice, and it was quite scary hearing the sound of a sweet, innocent young lady's voice laughing maniacally from the Sea Witch's mouth.
YOU ARE READING
The Voice, The Witch, and the Dark Lord
Fantasy[SEQUEL] Ever since Hermione's memory potion erased the memories of all the events that took place during the Triwizard Tournament, Ariel has lived a quiet life. She resumed her old passion of discovery, with Flounder by her side, and Scuttle to gi...
