The Turtle and the Bird

Chapter 5

The street was a buzz of activity. Ariel and some of the princess' friends had formed a band and were playing a jazzy tune. Girls rushed around with food and table settings. On Fairytale Circle, Ella, a large orange pony, and a green and yellow dragon were pushing a giant table out of the castle. Bluebell and Turtle tried not to be crushed as they made their way towards them.

Ella waved when she saw them. She'd changed into a light blue dress adorned with light purple ribbons and magenta bows. "Where are your friends?"

"They had to leave." Turtle told her. "Is that your step-sister?" He asked, pointing to a girl about her age with neon yellow hair wearing a pink shirt and light blue skirt with a purple jacket, boots, and a hat.

Ella nodded. "I'll introduce you."

The walked over to the castle. "Anastasia!" Ella called.

The girl turned. "Hi Ella." She said, smiling.

Ella introduced her to Turtle and Bluebell and then led them over to the table, where they helped bring out utensils. Turtle saw two trolls and pointed towards them. "I thought you said they were evil."

"They are, but they're still a part of the community." Ella explained. "They whole community gets together for dinner tonight."

Cinderella walked up to them, her pink and white dress swishing around her. "Is your table suitable?"

Turtle and Bluebell looked at each other. "Um..."

Ella laughed. "We set up a table in the middle for you." Turtle and Bluebell looked where she was pointing.

In the spot right between Magic Street and Fairytale Circle, a chandelier was handing from ropes attached to the castles of each side. Underneath it was a small table, just the right size for a turtle and a bird. There were two miniature chairs, two plates and glasses, and a big bunch of flowers in the middle.

Turtle and Bluebell both turned bright red.

"You shouldn't have gone to all that trouble just for us." Bluebell told them.

"Nonsense," Cinderella replied. "You're our guests of honor." She and Ella pushed them over to the table, and they sat down. Olaf wheeled over a cart carrying an ice sculpture of a turtle with a bird sitting on its back, which he and others moved onto a silver stand. Turtle looked back to see Elsa with a pleased look on her face.

The dinner was amazing. Tiana had cooked it, and everyone, including Turtle and Bluebell, showered her with complements. Then dessert was served, and Snow was given the same treatment. Snow White was also thanked many times for the delicious fruit and apple cider.

Afterwards, everyone got up and started dancing in the streets. They seemed to be used to it, since they never bumped into any of the tables. Turtle had a harder time with this.

He decided to cannonball into the lake and join the mermaids in their water dance. This was much easier. Bluebell flew above, mingling in the dances of all three groups.

Turtle saw that Arianna was dancing with a tall, dark haired man he'd never seen before. He wasn't the man who'd been playing in the band earlier, who was now dancing with Tiana. He seemed to have come out of nowhere. Maybe he'd just come when Turtle wasn't looking.

The night ended beautifully, with Turtle and Bluebell sitting at the edge of the forest, watching the stars. The air was a little chilly, thus they were huddled together. No one else was outside of their castles, so they had the street to themselves. Turtle turned and looked into Bluebell's deep blue eyes, and she did the same. A few moments went by. Then they turned to the sparkling sky once more.

Finally, Bluebell moved away. "We should get some sleep." She told him. "I'll see you in the morning." Turtle watched her fly to her birdhouse.

He was about to swim into the lake to find his hole when something caught his eye. The man he'd seen earlier with Arianna was slinking down the street towards her castle. Turtle watched, unmoving. The man walked to Arianna's summer castle and stepped inside. The door closed softly behind him.

Turtle noticed that there was a light on in Ashley's castle. She was moving around. Then the light turned off. Everything was still.

Turtle padded over to the other side of the lake and swam down to the coral reef below her castle. He noticed that, among the shells and flowers, there was a small hole, big enough for a petite mermaid but rather unnoticeable. He slipped through easily.

Turtle found himself in a small storage room. There were crates stacked around the walls. At the back there was another hole, this one bigger. He went through into a long, narrow passageway with pale blue walls.

On the other end was a large room. The water flowed around the deep green floor. Giant clam shells slay around the floor, along with a treasure chest, a boulder with etchings carved in its side, and a huge fire pit. Somehow, a blazing fire was coming up from its depths. Turtle heard voices and hid behind a shell.

Arianna came in and made Turtle do a double take: she had a tail! It was brilliant green. She also wore a lavender shell top and a yellow flower in her hair. Ashley followed.

Arianna threw something into the fire, and it shot even higher. The room became extremely hot. Turtle tried very hard to breathe soundlessly.

She nodded to Ashley, who then reached into the treasure chest and pulled out a pearl necklace. Arianna's hand went into the fire and came out holding a small flame, which she deposited into an iron bowl on a stand. The necklace was fastened onto a hook above the stand.

Arianna touched the larger, center pearl and pulled her finger down. A shimmering line came with it. She took both of her index and middle fingers and pulled the line apart. A scene formed on the oval that was now hanging in the air.

Arianna and Ashley crowded around the stand so that Turtle couldn't see. They began speaking in low voices. He crept around the edge of the room. There was another hole in the opposite wall. So he swam through that and into another passageway.

Turtle found himself in a large blue room. He swam up to the surface, which was about the mid-point of the wall. In the corner was a canoe sitting on the water. Turtle paddled towards it. He saw a rope ladder hanging down from a rectangular hole in the ceiling. It stopped about a foot above a wooden plank; the boat was tied to one of the poles attached to it.

Turtle climbed on the small wharf and peered through the hole. When he heard footsteps, he silently leaped  back into the water and pulled himself towards the far reaches of the underground pool.

The man from Arianna's summer house climbed down the rope ladder and stepped onto the dock. Turtle guessed that they were under the summer house. The man was still wearing the same thing from the dance: a white long-sleeved button-down shirt, brown pants, and black boots. He climbed into the boat and rowed to the far end of the room. Turtle sank beneath the water. The man rowed back and forth across the pool. It seemed like he was waiting for someone. Finally, he went back to the dock and sat cross-legged there. Turtle slowly returned to the surface.

Arianna and Ashley swam through the hole. The man looked up. The mermaids cut through the water and came up at the dock. "They leave in the morning." Arianna told him. "He's posted."

The man nodded. "Is there anything else I need to do?"

"Contact Erasmus and tell him what's happened." Arianna said. The two mermaids swam back through the hole.

The soft glowing lights in the passages were still on, but the room under Arianna's castle was dark. The fire was out. When he got to the storage room, the only light was the glow of the moon in the water, guiding him through the coral reef and to his cave. He slipped into a deep sleep.

A/N: Sorry but I won't be uploading for a while. I hand-wrote this first and now I can't find the paper copy so I gotta look for it.... Just wanted to to let you know and sorry again.