Vanessa [A Poor Unfortunate Soul]

18. They Say I Did Something Bad

"What are we celebrating, exactly?" Vanessa asked, once they'd reached King Eric's palace with the other mer-folk.

"Land and sea re-joining" he said, with a large smile stretching across his mouth.

Princess Melody stood high up on a rock, now with legs once again. The king handed her his trident. Which had apparently been returned. She'd missed a lot.

"That can't be safe" Vanessa said.

Instead of electrifying herself, the young princess aimed the trident's magic at the wall that separated the palace from the sea.

Its 'magic' if it were such a physical form, was golden in color. And shot like a pistol.

The king and queen walked down the steps, to meet the water. The queen smiled proudly at her daughter, and she waved to her mother.

"Finnick" someone said, taking their attention.

"Mom!" He exclaimed.

The woman that swam to them wasn't a mermaid at all. But human. Her hair was brown, and skin, tan. The dress she wore was a deep purple, and was damaged after being submurged in the water.

"This is Vanessa" he introduced them. "This is my mother"

"Christina" she said politely.

Vanessa smiled.

"I wish you two could come in, Ariel would be thrilled to meet you" Christina beamed with delight.

"We can" Vanessa spoke up.

"How?" Christina asked.

"Yes how?" Finnick asked, somewhat flabbergasted.

"I'll be back as soon as I can" Vanessa said sweetly, and returned to the water.

Vanessa pushed her tail behind her, fast as she could.

Unsure what came over her, but she simply couldn't shake the feeling to want to make Finnick smile. And happy.

Retrieving the bottle, Undertow had given her, she remembered his words. 'Just think of whatever you need, and the magic'll do the rest'

Before sunset, Vanessa returned to the party. Not quite as lively as before, but far from over.

"There you are" Finnick called over to her.

"You said you wanted to go on land?" She asked.

"Yes, but how?" He asked back.

Vanessa looked him over.

"Your bracelet" she said, holding his wrist.

"What about it?" He laughed.

"Give it to me" She said, a tad annoyed.

He handed her his wrist, with the crisp black band still on it. Removing the jeweled tip of the bottle, Vanessa dropped a single drop of the magic onto the bracelet.

A bright luminescent light beamed from it, a deep lavender in color. Just as soon as it happened, it was over. And Finnick hunched himself over, groaning in pain.

Vanessa panicked, and motioned for his mother.

Christina swan to his side, her legs kicking furiously behind her. As she rushed to her youngest.

"What did you do?" She shouted, in Vanessa's general direction.

Her outburst had made Vanessa go pale. She couldn't blame the mother for protecting her child, it was mostly her fault he was in pain.

Without warning, Finnick's body split up its middle. His scales faded, and the color turned to his upper's complexion. A new appendage grew, below his middle. What was left of his tail, had formed into two muscular legs. And his fins, shrink-ed up into feet and toes.

For a mere moment, Vanessa was somewhat pleased by her work.

His new legs splashed everywhere, as he returned to his senses.

"Are you alright?" His mother asked.

"I think so" he said, panting somewhat.

"What did you do?" Christina asked, again. This time in a more concerned tone.

Vanessa shrugged. She couldn't speak. No words came to her mind then. What would she say? What would anyone, in her position?

Christina motioned over to the queen. They talked for almost a minute, of course in Danish. Vanessa couldn't understand a word.

'The Magic'll do the rest' Undertow's voice repeated in her head.

Taking a breath, Vanessa un-did the top of the bottle, and took a long drink.

"Vanessa no!" The queen shouted, and swam closer.

She'd clearly seen the lavender bottle of magic before.

The liquid burnt going down, and stung Vanessa's tongue.

They all looked at her then. Almost anticipating something to happen.

For a moment, nothing. They all just blankly stared at each other. And it got somewhat boring.

"Vanessa" the queen started. "Where did you get that bottle?"

"The witch" a now human, Finnick spoke up. "She knew the witch"

Her heart sank at that. The one person she'd trusted, rescued, and would even marry, threw her under the metaphorical horse drawn carriage.

"Is this true?" The queen asked.

Vanessa couldn't move. And it wasn't for lack of trying. The entire left side of her body, had gone numb.